Soup du Laboureur

Making their way down from the elevator, Maya and Caleb had separated, with her heading off to check the bounty board and saying that she’d probably head out from there to check the sabotage shop. It took a lot to keep this overall sentiment from worrying Caleb, but at this point, he trusted Maya to stay true to the spirit of the game that was in her head, and luckily that game didn’t involve hurting people on purpose. And to be frank, he was slightly relieved it was enough to keep her from immediately asking why sex was weird.

So it was alone that he made his way to the breakfast hall to see everyone huddled around Maddy. As he entered, Mira was the first to jump to her feet.

“Caleb! Have you seen Maya? Madeline says she never returned to the room last night after the game night.” The agent’s eyes were wide with panic.

Caleb smiled softly; it was nice to see this genuine caring side from the agent after everything that had happened. “Yeah, no worries. She was in the master’s suite with me all night. Her choice; we probably should have found a way to pass word on to Maddy though.”

Maddy blinked in her chair, “Oh…she spent the night with you. Was everything ok?”

Scratching his cheek, Caleb nodded, “Yeah…um we just talked a bit after game night and from there…things got…” He let the words hang and expected a cat call from Stella, which never came.

Lily frowned, but then sighed in her seat, “Well, I guess she got over her anxiety then. Though I hope she’s doing this for the right reasons.” After their talk about wishes last night, everyone had the same thought in their heads.

“I had the same thought; we talked. It’s ok. I-” Caleb paused and began to make his way to the buffet, “I believe in Maya, just like I want to believe in everyone else here.” His gaze fell on both Eliza and Mira. “Everyone. I know the last week has been rough, and now Lucy’s sugar momma is here, but let's not lose sight that we’re almost halfway through. We can do this.”

As he began to put food on his plate, Noemi cheered; she was a little offset from the rest of the group, having not been nearly as concerned about Maya’s absence. “That’s right, soon we’ll all be back home, living together and living our best lives.”

Lily shifted uncomfortably. After the discussion from last night, Lily had to admit the merit to Noemi’s idea for the wish, but still…”I mean, if it ends up that way, great- that sounds fine. We probably should have a talk about what people want to do when we go back, though.”

Eliza took a sip of tea. “That’s very pragmatic; some of us already have property to be concerned with, not to mention jobs.”

Mira nodded and then looked towards Caleb. “Caleb, have you seen Stella today? I thought she might have come to see you given that it’s your scheduled date.”

Caleb’s hand holding a spoonful of cottage cheese froze. “Was she also not in her room?” Of course, of course it couldn’t be easy, not with her.

Shaking her head as she sat down, Mira responded, “No, she must have gotten up even before curfew ended. I didn't notice her leave, so she must have been up and ready to go. I had assumed that she was doing something for your date…but…”

Finishing gathering mood on his plate, Caleb moved to sit down with everyone before running a hand through his hair, “Has anyone seen her at all?”

“I have! She’s right here!” A bright voice spoke up at the table behind them, and Caleb turned to see Amy sitting with a full breakfast in front of her. He hadn't noticed her there before, separate from the rest of the group, but the oni was smiling cheerfully in a partially undone top while she worked at some eggs on her plate. And also, sure enough, Stella was there. Well, a Stella that was around a foot in height and floating and giggling around Amy’s shoulder.

Caleb blinked, seeing the floating imp there before recalling the transformation that Stella had received at the end of last round:

Wicked Shoulder: Everyone has those little voices often depicted by an angel and devil, except we don’t have any angels here. Stella must now choose someone per day and act as their shoulder devil, splitting a fraction of her consciousness into a chibi version of herself with no impulse control that rides on the person’s shoulder. It acts independently of Stella herself, but when it vanishes, Stella regains all its memories. (Tiny Devil)

Lily tilted her head. “Does that mean you saw Stella this morning? I mean the real one.” Seeing Amy’s confused face, Lily sighed, “The big one”

Amy shook her head, “No, she was just here when I woke up after my shower; she said she’s here to look after me while I'm broken.”

Eliza looked over, “That explains it. I left when she was taking her shower, so I wouldn't have seen her appear. Based on the wording of the transformation, it doesn't even seem like she needs to be anywhere near the person she’s giving the little one to. So that doesn’t narrow it down at all.”

“Can she talk?” Caleb asked, gesturing to the little imp that was shaking her rump now at all of them.

“Um, yeah, like didn’t I just say she told me why she was here?” Amy giggled.

Caleb exhaled in relief, “Well, in that case, we've got nothing to worry about.” He got up and walked over to where Amy was sitting and leaned towards the micro-stella, “Hey there Stella, do you mind telling me where the big version of you went off to?”

The tiny demon pulled on her eyelid and stuck out her tongue before speaking in a pitched-up version of Stella’s own voice, “I don’t gotta do shit for you bucko! I’m here to help out Amy.” She paused and lifted her skirt, “Unless you wanna take this pocket pussy for a spin!”

Caleb’s eyes twitched. Of fucking course. He leaned away. “So that solution is out.” The tiny Stella flipped him the double bird before pushing another Egg onto Amy’s plate. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t get it. Despite showing up with Amy’s horn broken last night, everything seemed fine…so why now?”

Amy nodded and crossed her arms. “Yeah, she didn’t seem sad anymore after breaking my horn, so I don’t get it.”

The wording didn’t escape Noemi’s notice, who scoffed, “Stella? Sad?”

Eliza picked it from there, “Amy, before your horn broke, what were the two of you arguing about exactly?”

Amy blinked and touched her forehead, “Oh gosh…what was it?”

Noemi rolled her eyes, “Guys, Amy isn’t smart right now. It's not fair to put all this pressure on her.”

Lily sideeyed the Chilean woman, “She lost some IQ points; she didn’t stop being a person”

Before another argument could break out, Caleb got on a knee and looked Amy in the eye, “Amy, if you could remember anything that might be helpful, it would be a big help.”

The oni’s face flushed a deeper red as she blinked and averted her gaze before raising a finger to twirl a loose strand of hair, “Jeeze, even if you ask me that…oh!” Her face brightened, “I remember now- she was talking about how like…nobody loves her, and she doesn’t love anyone, and she doesn’t care about anything, and I tried to tell her that we were friends and she got angry and threw the glass at me.”

Caleb balked, “That’s why?! You tried to tell her she had friends and she freaked out?”

Amy giggled and tapped the side of her head with her fist while sticking out her tongue, “Guess so, hehe.”

Across the room, Mira was already standing. “And now she was supposed to go on a date with a person she was forced to admit feelings for during the challenge? Yeah, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

Maddy shifted her gaze between everyone, “But…the show. You don’t think Lucian would let her do anything too dangerous, like hurt herself, right?”

Caleb went over to his plate and carried it over to the trashcan after shoveling some into his mouth. “I am not risking anyone’s safety on what that man thinks is reasonable.”

Maddy raised her hand. “B-but if she doesn’t want to be found?”

Caleb wiped his mouth. “Yeah, I know it’s not going to be easy, but I have to try.”

“Not what I was s-saying.” Maddy paused, “If she doesn’t want to be found, do we have a-any right to look for her?”

Stopping his motion, Caleb paused and looked around the room. “I don’t care who it is, I’m not letting anyone harm anyone here, even themselves. They can be mad at me later.” He walked to the stand that held his umbrella. “Does anyone want to help me look? I’d appreciate the extra eyes.”

“Noemi and I were going to grab coffee together.” Lily spoke up, glancing over at the other woman who nodded brightly, “But we can help afterwards if you haven’t found her by then.

Caleb locked eyes with Lily and saw from the expression she was giving that whatever this was wasn’t about coffee and was important to her. “Alright, yeah.”

Maddy raised a hand, “I’ll stay here in case she comes back.”

“Good plan.” Caleb nodded towards the chef, who blushed slightly before looking at Mira and Eliza.

Then, surprising everyone, Eliza said, “I think it’s fair to say Mira and I know Stella the least well of the group, so while we might cover more ground separately, it's probably best that we work together.”

Mira looked over at Eliza, who gave her a look that told her, regardless of the response, she didn’t want to be pressed on it, “If that’s what you think is best.”

Caleb could sense a landmine and was not going to touch it and instead looked to Amy, “Amy, can you just pay attention to what mini-Stella says? It’s possible it might give us a hint as to what the big one is up to.”

Amy gave a salute against her broken horn, “I will do whatever mini-Stella says to do.”

“Not what I said!” Caleb frowned and shook his head, “Alright, for now I’m going to search the places I think are most likely for hiding and from there…well, I guess I’ll take shots in the dark.”

Mira patted his shoulder, “If we see Maya while we’re out, we’ll let her know the situation as well.”

“Thank you. If anyone hears or sees anything, try to let someone else know. We’re already running blind, so let's do our best to communicate,” he turned his gaze skyward, “Miss my cellphone something fierce right now.”

The group then hustled out of the room, all except Amy, who bit into a pancake as mini-Stella whispered into her ear before responding, “Oh! That sounds fun!” before she hastened her eating.

Elsewhere, alone, was Stella. Accurate to what people had assumed, she had been ready to leave the room well before curfew. What people didn’t connect was the reason Mira never noticed her leaving the bed is because she had done so the minute that Mira had fallen asleep. She had wandered their bedroom, pacing, reading occasionally but mostly alone, with her thoughts swimming inside her mind at what felt to be one hundred miles per hour.

The moment she could leave the room, she did, walking the still dark halls of the hotel. She used her transformation to send her mini version to hopefully help out Amy with her day. It was her fault after all that the Oni was stuck the way she was. Not that she had much say in what the little her did once she let her loose. The feeling was so odd. She could feel that other version, distant and so far away, like a limb connected to her without being attached. But like a leg, she couldn't peer into its intent. She would only know what it got up to once it was in her mind again.

A dangerous place to be, the imp mused, a sad smile crossing her features as her footsteps echoed and splashed as she entered deeper into her seclusion. The place was dark and almost seemed to go on forever. The ceiling, walls, and floor were covered in inky blackness.

She hadn’t even intended to come here specifically, but while sitting in the gondola, the Faun seemed to know what she was looking for and took her here.

The inky surface of the liquid made it an almost perfect mirror in the dim light, reflecting the hollow expression of the redhead's face, the dullness in her eyes. Even the cute outfit she had picked out seemed drab against her flat, curveless features. She gave a mirthless chuckle. Love? Who could love this? Who could even care about someone like this?

She began to unbutton her blouse while staring down at the reflection. Button by button, she revealed the smooth skin of her flat chest, the red lace of the bra that she wore to try and make it seem like she was an adult woman despite her appearance. But none of that is what mattered. What mattered is as she stared down in the reflection, she saw the truth.

Not a chest, but a void. A gaping hole with no love, no joy, no future within it. The true essence of who she was.

Love? Who could love this? Who could care when inside and out, she was nothing?