VD - The invitation

Morrigan’s invitation isn’t fancy. It’s a nice card, but it’s straight to the point: she wants you to meet her at a café in Demon City. Wary of… shenanigans, you call Demi, who is nonchalant about it.

“I went to school with her,” she says. “She’s mayor now, but she’s still just this girl, you know? Just see what she wants.”

So you don’t know how Demon Society works or what all these demons are doing downtown in all the beautiful skyscrapers, lit up with neon pink, red, and orange—but whatever they are doing, they are doing it in style. The café that Morrigan invites you to is more like a lounge that movie gangsters would hang out at on a balcony toward the top of a huge tower.

It’s… pretty cool.

Looking glamorous in her bizarre outfit of pantyhose and a weird corset, Morrigan tosses her beautiful green hair and beckons you to her table. You try not to stare at her ridiculous cleavage as you sit down with her. She pushes a milk tea toward you.

You’ve played soccer with her and gone to her parties, but you’ve never really talked.

“This is awkward,” you say.

“No,” she replies, smiling and shaking her head. “It’s fine. I owe you an apology.”

“For what?”

“For immediately getting defensive and treating you like a threat. I’m sorry. I have a lot of political enemies. You’re new, you’re good at sports and you’re human. I just did it automatically,” she confesses.

Wow. That’s so candid. But you understand. You were never the most popular girl in school, but you were not a loner. You kind of get how these things work.

“I know that escalated things by recruiting crazy players to my team,” she admits. “And I’m sorry. It’s supposed to be a fun game. It’s an excuse to go back and party on work days. I’m mayor. It’s community relations. But I messed that up.”

“Well,” you say, embarrassed. “I messed it up too by getting my, um, employees to build this castle. Maybe that’s overdoing it.”

“I don’t think so!” Morrigan counters, laughing. She lifts her teacup in a kind of salute. “I think it’s funny. We need stuff like that sometimes. A gigantic castle outside the city? Why not?” She shrugs. “Demi got the paperwork together.”

“What?” you say blankly.

“The permits. You can’t build a sinister castle without a permit. Just like you can’t import a human without one,” she adds, nodding toward you. “But Demi’s good about that stuff. She was always an underachiever. She could’ve been mayor if she’d wanted. Anyway, listen… can we try being friends?” She puts her cup down and offers her hand.