#i didn't expect to finish it today while there were still last bits of daylight left so. you actually get photos of it today!!

[copper-skulls]

something a bit different but what still makes me happy - i just finished this queer chevron tag I'm gonna have hanging off my backpack now :) The button was a gift from a friend after I busted my previous rainbow pin, so it's a little bit special, ahah

[boldlyanxious]

Mistaken Identity

@sailormarelda apparently your wish is my command

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Just her luck that some asshole on the subway dumped his sticky energy drink all over her. It wasn't just wet. It was sticky and soaking through her shirt. Somehow he managed to pour it on her front and back.

He didn't even apologize. He just shoved past her and got off on the next stop.

It was only a few more stops until her stop. She checked her directions again before she climbed the stairs to get to the street. Maybe luck was on her side because there was a vendor right there with shirts for sale and a very inviting looking coffee shop. She bought a shirt and hoped the coffee shop had a decent bathroom for her to clean up in.

She laughed in the mirror at the shirt and artfully tied it so the ab muscles drawn onto the Superboy shirt for where hers were and it still showed off her dark skinny jeans. It was the best she could do to show off her designs on her outing since her blouse was not currently worth seeing. She hoped she could get the drink stain out later.

The barista did a double take when she ordered and looked a bit confused. She clearly wanted to say something but she took a breath and told Marinette the total. They didn't know her here so they wouldn't know that she frequently ordered drinks like that. She could probably chug it and then take a nap but she definitely needed it for the rest of today.

---

Roy was by the back of the counter throwing away his paper cup when he heard a name he knew coming from the baristas,

"If she weren't clearly a girl I would think it was Tim Drake. It's the exact same order too."

"He was here earlier today. He was wearing the same shirt."

"Maybe there is an evil plot in the city and he got turned into a girl."

"Stranger things have happened for sure."

Roy pulled out his phone and tried to text Tim. Girl Tim was on the phone and definitely not reading any messages. He snuck closer to hear the conversation.

"... Definitely got a look for ordering my regular coffee.

…

I've got a new look though. It is guaranteed to protect me from villains.

…

Okay. Well I have my coffee and I'm on my way. I'll see you there."

She hung up and grabbed the coffee. But Roy couldn't just let her leave. Tim needed help and the Bat family would want to know about this right away.

---

Marinette walked down the street happy to have her coffee. It was exactly what she needed. She was already feeling better. She jumped back from the street when a car suddenly came right at her. So much for American traffic coming from the other direction. Luckily her coffee didn't spill.

"Hey, did you need anything?" the driver called out.

"I'm fine," she responded then muttered to herself, "You clearly need driving lessons."

She hoped he didn't hear her because he was suddenly getting out of the car. He was walking towards her and ask her alarm bells were going off in her head.

"Are you sure? We probably need to get you help."

Marinette looked around trying to make a plan. She looked one way and then took off running the other way. That didn't do enough to confuse his reflexes. He grabbed her quickly and closed her into the back seat of his car. She tried the handle and it was locked from the inside.

She had dropped her coffee and her purse before he pushed her back here. He had grabbed the purse off the ground before he got in and sped off but she didn't think she could reach it. He had a flashing light on the car so no one would question his erratic driving.

Maybe she had been confused with a criminal. She would just need to wait it out until she could explain who she was. Her stomach turned when he pulled off the street and into an underground parking area. He went all the way to the lowest level and to the back. There was only one other car and a door. No one was around.

---

Roy didn't know what had happened to Tim but he seemed to have no memory of who he was. Jason had probably contacted the others by now and they could figure out how to help him. Although it would be easier if she weren't fighting while he was trying. He ended up pulling her out of the car by the leg and throwing her over his shoulder.

She was still yelling at him and hitting his back but no one was around to hear before he entered the code and went through the door. He didn't even bother with greeting Jason. He deposited Girl Tim into a safe room and closed the door. They had a 2 way mirror they could use and an intercom system.

By the time he was finished, Jason was already looking through the glass.

"Damn, Tim makes a hot girl. And loud." Jason said.

"Do we have any idea what might have happened?" Roy asked.

"Oracle is searching and the others are coming. I'll let her know about the loss of memory too. That could complicate things for anyone else affected. If people don't know anything happened we will have to rely on missing person reports."

---

Marinette tried not to think of all the warnings she had gotten before moving here. They had been plentiful but she brushed them off. It couldn't be that bad. She knew people who had lived here for years and they said it was mostly over blown. But sure had been here under 3 days and had just been kidnapped in broad daylight.

She knew the guy had been acting weird. She should have run immediately. She should have stopped being polite and thrown her $12 coffee at his face before running away. She tried to be nice and it was going to get her killed.

---

They all took turns looking through the glass at their friend/brother/son. But Girl Tim didn't know any of them. Oracle had confirmed that the coffee shop was the last place Tim's phone had been and Steph had seen him before he left wearing the same shirt. Roy told them about the phone conversation he has heard and it all fit.

Now they just had to figure out what had happened and how to reverse it.

---

Eventually Marinette got tired of taking to the wall. Technically it was an intercom imbedded into the wall but it felt like it because they didn't seem to hear her at all. There were more of them now. She didn't know how many more but it had to be at least 4 separate people. She was pretty sure it was more than that though.

She didn't know what they could possibly want with her.

She flopped down onto the bed and covered her face with the, hopefully clean, pillow and screamed into it. It felt really good. It was exactly what she needed, aside from her coffee and freedom.

But apparently they choose that time to make a move. Hands were on her holding her and moving here. She saw a needle and she did everything she could to fight them. She definitely hit a couple of them but the needle still went into her arm.

She wasn't sure what they were expecting the result to be but she allowed herself to relax against the arms that still held her. One moved to lift her back in while the others filed out of the small room.

She waited until the doorway was clear before she moved. She jumped back up and hit his chin with her head. He was not dazed for nearly long enough but she ran for the door anyway. She was out of the room and halfway to the exit when he caught up with her and pinned her down.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Another man walked in right then.

"What is the deal with you all blowing up my phone? I'm trying to get some work done."

The room froze. They all just stared at him until the man pinning her down spoke.

"If you are there and perfectly fine. Then who is this?"

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@theymakeupfairies | @emjrabbitwolf | @vixen-uchiha | @trythisagainlove | @adrestar

[lunacyofdukevenomania]

Chapter 3-Gumina Glassred; Scene 5

The Lunacy of Duke Venomania, page 101-107

For Sateriasis, having relations with women was something that had become a very normal aspect of going through his everyday life, just like eating and breathing.

At present there were five women in his basement. About every night he would amuse himself with four among them (excluding IR) and indulge in pleasure.

That was of course to make sure that the demon dwelling within him did not weaken.

But if it was only for that, there would be no need to have several women for it. Though, it wasn't certain that there existed a woman in this world who could withstand Sateriasis' extraordinary lusts on her own.

It wasn't that he was ensnaring women at random. It was because Sateriasis genuinely and equally loved all four of them that he'd invited them to the mansion.

--Although Mikulia had partially been out of circumstance, to be accurate.

I love several women at the same time. Who decided that such a thing was immoral? Religion? Government? Or god?

At any rate, having made a contract with a demon, Sateriasis had no reason to follow along.

That day, having finished his liaison with Mirigan, Sateriasis left her room. Before him appeared a red cat.

"You have visitors, Duke," she said, pointing her nose to the ceiling.

"Visitors?"

"I saw them at the gate just now. It's that guy...your uncle. Though there are several others with him."

"Huh…That's perfect. I was just thinking that I needed to go meet with Marquis Glassred soon."

Sateriasis fixed up his appearance and headed upstairs.

Marquis Glassred was already lying in wait for Sateriasis in his foyer.

"I'm terribly sorry to keep you waiting, uncle."

"Oh, Lord Sateriasis! Forgive me for just barging in on my own. You see there are…no servants here in this mansion, yes?"

It might have been an excuse, or it might have been sarcasm. Sateriasis greeted him with a calm expression, not letting any slighted feelings show.

I still dislike him…this man.

He felt as though the kind of misconduct peculiar to a parvenu oozed from Marquis Glassred. Try as he might Sateriasis couldn't stand it.

"So then what's the matter today? …At this late hour."

"What do you mean? It's been so long since you've shown your face. I came to see how you were doing. …And I have several things I want to talk to you about."

In that case he didn't have to come in the middle of the night--Sateriasis' frustration with him grew, but then he too had some things he wanted to ask Marquis Glassred now. So he held himself back and decided to lead him further in.

"For now let's talk in the drawing room."

The drawing room was a room on an offshoot of the entrance hall to the right, on the ground floor. It had gone untouched after Lukana had cleaned it before she'd entered the harem, and so as Sateriasis had hardly ever gone in there since then, it was fairly well maintained and clean.

"Excuse us for the interruption...Gumina, you come along too."

"--!"

"Gumina"…?!

The name that Sateriasis had been planning to ask Marquis Glassred about had most certainly come from his own lips.

And then, peeking her head in from outside was--

"…It's been a while since we've spoken, Lord Sateriasis."

That white dress, and large decorative flower. That green hair.

It was the appearance of this "Gumina" that he had been searching for, that he had imagined inside his mind.

.

What Marquis Glassred wanted to talk about by visiting the mansion had been, in brief, a report regarding the serial disappearance of women going on in Asmodean.

Naturally, it was the case that Sateriasis was causing.

It appeared the marquis had no idea that Sateriasis was the culprit.

He had erased the memories of anyone involved in Lukana and Mikulia's cases due to the "ritual", and had since then gone ahead as carefully as possible so as to not be seen by anyone. So, while it was perfectly obvious, Sateriasis was a little relieved to be able to confirm it from the Marquis himself.

More than the discussion of the case, Sateriasis was captivated with Gumina, who the marquis had brought along with him.

So she'd been connected to the Glassred family after all. What was more, she was the daughter of the marquis, the family head.

She was so close by, and yet up until now I hadn't caught even a glimpse of her…

Seeming to have noticed Sateriasis' gaze, Marquis Glassred smirked and cut in, "Have your memories come back?"

"No…Not yet, not completely."

The marquis failed to hide his disappointed expression, that answer clearly not what he expected.

"…Then, regarding my daughter, regarding Gumina…"

"I remember her face. But anything more than that…Right up until we met face to face like this I had even forgotten the fact that she was your daughter."

"I see… But then, in that case it looks like I made the right call bringing her along." Marquis Glassred turned to Gumina sitting in the chair next to him and said, "Gumina. From this day forward you will live here with Lord Sateriasis."

"Huh!?"

"Huh!?"

Gumina and Sateriasis both voiced their surprise at the same time.

"There's nothing strange about that. You two are engaged, after all."

"En…gaged!?"

Does this mean Gumina was my…fiancée!?

That fact was surprising for Sateriasis, and at the same time it didn't make sense to him.

After he lost his memory, there was a conversation that he'd had with Gumina that would often play in his mind and then vanish.

In that conversation, she had looked down on Sateriasis with a cold expression and spoken to him abusively.

--If the two of them were engaged, then what in the world was that about?

During the whole dialogue between Sateriasis and Marquis Glassred, Gumina remained silently looking down with a listless expression.

Was that the figure of a woman sitting before her fiancé?

And why hadn't she come to see Sateriasis at all until just now? Wouldn't she have rushed over at once upon hearing that her fiancé, her family, was cooped up in his mansion all alone, having lost all of his memories?

Does this mean you didn't…love me, Gumina?

In that moment, welling up inside Sateriasis' heart was both an unbearable affection for Gumina and, as though running counter to that, hatred.

What was it…what happened…between Gumina and I!?

"What's wrong, Lord Sateriasis? Are you feeling alright?"

When Marquis Glassred addressed him, Sateriasis snapped back to reality.

"Uh…Ah, beg pardon."

"First thing tomorrow I will have Gumina's personal effects taken to this mansion."

"No…Please wait a little bit on that."

Sateriasis stopped the Marquis' suggestion, panicking on the inside. There were women in his basement. Once Gumina came she would surely find them, and then everything would be brought out into the daylight.

"I told you before, I want to live in this mansion alone for the time being."

"Bringing that up again…! I thought I'd heard that you'd been showing your face in public lately…"

"This and that are two different things. At any rate I just need…a little more time."

"You are being so unreasonable...Lord Sateriasis, you are the man who will govern Asmodean! Surely even you must see that this type of conduct is unsightly!" Marquis Glassred stood and shouted angrily at Sateriasis.

For a short period, silence fell on the area.

Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, Gumina opened her mouth for the first time.

"Father…The mental anguish Lord Sateriasis sustained seems much deeper than we'd thought. We shouldn't force the conversation alo--"

"You will be silent!"

Indignant at his daughter's advice, Marquis Glassred turned the brunt of his anger on Gumina.

But he let out a long, slow sigh, as though having calmed down a little by yelling at her, and sat down once more with a loud thud.

"…Well, alright. But Lord Sateriasis. Please meet with Gumina from time to time. You and my daughter have known each other since you were little. Maybe talking to her will help trigger your memories coming back."

That did align with what Sateriasis wanted. And he had a lot of things he wanted to ask her.

"Would that…be alright with you, Gumina?"

Gumina nodded in agreement with her father's suggestion.

"Mhm…Well then, we'll take our leave. I will be working on government affairs from morning tomorrow. You should enjoy your spare time as much as you can now. What I'm doing now, someday you will have to do yourself, Lord Sateriasis--or rather, Duke Venomania."

After giving his last dry remark, Marquis Glassred left the mansion with his retainers and Gumina.

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