Act 1: Groundskeeper: Chapter 4

I just knelt there, sweating buckets from places I didn’t know it was possible to sweat from. I tilted my head up slightly to look at Lucifer to see her smiling cheerfully like she had just been thrown a surprise birthday party. I was so nervous. I had been caught consorting with the enemy, and caught by a Gardener no less! I was so screwed. I was-

My thoughts were interrupted by Lucifer.

“Good job, Agent 2222! You completed your secret mission perfectly!”

I looked up at her with a confused expression. “What secret mission? I wasn’t given multiple objectives.”

“Well, duh, silly!” She said, giggling. “Because if you knew, it wouldn’t be a secret!”

Lo then turned and looked at me. “Twin, what the hell is she talking about?”

“I-I don’t know,” I said, stuttering while turning to face him. I was confused and panicking. (A great combination. Nobody asked Mio. Ouch.) I then looked back to Lucifer, “But what about the dying branch and the-”

“That was just a decoy, a trap to get The Anomaly to investigate, and it worked.”

“But why me? What about the rest of my squad? And that shadow monster?”

She seemed to gloss over my questions, as if she wasn't even listening, and gave me a seemingly comprehensive but vague response. “It was all just a sacrifice for the greater good.” She then turned to address Lo.

“If you know what’s good for your family, you’ll come with us quietly.” Lo paled as he realized the gravity of the situation, and then so did I. His wife and daughter’s lives were on the line.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Time is ticking!” Lucifer said while humming and tapping her foot in the air impatiently. (What did it sound like? What? The humming. Oh. It sounded something like this: (Hums Jeopardy theme.) Why do you ask? No reason, just curious, that’s all.)

“I’ll go with you,” Lo said eventually. “But only if you leave my family alone.”

“You know very well that I can’t do that completely.” Said Lucifer with a sly grin.

Surprisingly, Lo nodded his head wistfully. “I understand.”

Lucifer nodded, snapped her fingers, and Lo disappeared. She then turned to face me.

“You don’t have to keep kneeling, you know.”

“S-sorry ma’am.” I said as I stood up.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, let's head back to HQ, 2222. You have a mission to debrief, and then I have a surprise for you! But first, take that outfit off and throw it away. I have a spare uniform for you.”

“No!” I said to both of our surprise.

“No?” She said as I felt her surprise start to turn into anger at being directly spoken against.

“S-sorry ma’am, I meant that I’d like to keep it as a souvenir of a successful mission. If that’s okay with you!”

She eyed me suspiciously as I tried desperately to hide my nervousness.

“That’s… an amazing idea!”

“R-really?” I asked, surprised by the sudden change in tone.

“Of course! I’ll even help get a mannequin for you! It’ll be so cute! But first, let’s go back to HQ.”

I nodded before taking one last look around, hoping that Mem and Rem were safe. I wondered what Lucifer had meant when she said that she could never completely leave Lo’s family alone.

“I’m ready.”

“Alrighty-doki then!”

Then Lucifer snapped her fingers, and everything went dark.