POV Vox
Honestly, this was not how I expected this situation to go.
After Val got his ass beat by Julius and the Princess, this woman (whose name I learned was Makima) told us Vees to gather in our conference room. Although it irritated me to no end being told what to do, I held my emotions in check.
Who would be stupid enough to try and piss off the woman who managed to calm down the Untouchable Overlord who also seemed to be his girlfriend!?
I called Velvette and told her to meet in our conference room for an urgent meeting, which pissed her off. I had to try my hardest to not lash out at both her and Valentino, who was cursing like a sailor in his weird islander language right now, for their shitty attitude.
Once all three of us reached our conference room I felt my blood pressure rise along with my anger. Makima was casually sitting in my seat at the head of the table. As if that seat was meant for her!
The three of us took a seat before a heavy silence fell upon the room. I looked around the table to see what the best approach was to make sure Val and Velvette don't fuck up this potential luck.
I say potential luck because, if I manage to persuade Makima enough, I could get her to convince Julius to join us!
I don't give a fuck how Val would feel about it. Getting someone as powerful as Julius to join us would surely push us (ME) to the top of Hell!
"Well,-" I began before being interrupted.
"Alright, I'm tired of this silence bullshit. Why is the weird bitch here? And sitting in your chair no less Vox?" Velvette said flatly.
My eye couldn't help but twitch at her hostile tone. But more importantly... "Velvette, do you perhaps know Makima?"
"Of course. This is that weird new fucker that was at the Overlord meeting you sent me to." Velvette said as she began typing on her phone.
I had to take a deep breath to calm myself. So, Velvette KNEW about Makima and DIDN'T TELL ME!?
"I'm sorry, Makima. Please forgive Velvette. She is rather young and has trouble acting with decorum sometimes. Right, VELVETTE?" I said through grinded teeth as I turned my head towards Velvette. Giving her a wide smile while very obviously signaling to her with my eyes to keep the attitude in check.
Velvette simply rolled her eyes and gave a monotone "Sure" before going back to being on her phone.
Patience, Vox. Patience!
"Her attitude is of no concern to me." Makima said, clearly unbothered. "In fact, I don't even care about how you all are or how you act. I'm here to get two things done."
"Oh? I thought you were only here for the issue between Julius and Val?" I asked Makima. What else did she intend to do besides dealing with Valentino?
"That is the first thing. Valentino needs to release Anthony, aka Angel Dust, from his soul contract." Makima said calmly.
"Like hell I will!" Valentino shouted as he slammed his fist into the table and got up from his seat. He was mostly healed up by now from his beatings from the princess and Julius.
"Valentino!" I shouted but stopped when he got up to get into Makima's face.
"Fuck off, Vox!" He said before turning back to Makima. "Why do you care if I have ownership of that slut's soul or not!?"
"I don't." Makima replied, clearly unbothered that Val was in her face. "In fact, I couldn't care less about anything any of you do. But," Makima turned to look at me. "If you want the image of Julius allying with the Vees, you will do this."
"Ha!" Valentino laughed. "Like hell-."
"Valentino will release Angel Dust from his contract." I interrupted.
"Vox!"
"SHUT UP AND SIT YOUR ASS BACK DOWN, NOW!" I ordered, channeling electricity to run over my body to appear more threatening.
Val growled a bit before going back to his seat and sitting down with a "humph".
I turned to Makima, returning to normal. "Now with that dealt with, what is the second thing you said you needed to do?"
"This." Makima stated before appearing right behind me. Before I could question what she was doing, I felt her hands touch the sides of my head. My vision darkened before all kinds of strange images flashed in front of me.
There was a massive battle between the exorcist and the hotel. Me learning that angels could be killed by angelic steel.
My slander campaign against the princess and her hotel.
Me defeating Alastor and making a deal with him.
Declaring war on Heaven to the High Seraphim's face.
Using Lucifer to power a superweapon that blasted Heavens gates open.
Then finally, my party that ended with me being defeated and all the Overlords joined hands to stop my super weapon from destroying half of Pentagram City.
My vision suddenly shifted back to normal. I could feel sweat coated on my forehead and back as I was panting heavily. I looked up to see Val and Velvette in a combat stance, ready to fight Makima.
I turned my head to Makima, who was standing where she was previously sitting.
"Wh- What was that!?"
"That was your future. Or what was supposed to be your future." Makima simply stated. Again unbothered by the hostility Valentino and Velvette were showing her.
"How does it feel?" Makima asked, slightly tilting her head to the side.
"How did what feel?"
"How did it feel, knowing you got so close to everything you ever wanted? Only for it to be stripped from you at the last moment?"
"Vox?" Velvette and Valentino asked, looking at me with concern.
Those images of the supposed future flashed in my mind again. I was so close to ruling over everything. To being a god! And the feeling of having all of that stripped from me infuriated me to no end!
"I can make sure that future doesn't repeat itself." Makima said softly. She walked over to me and used a hand to turn my head to face hers. A shiver ran down my spine as I looked into those ringed eyes.
"I can help you achieve what you should have achieved. What you were meant to be."
"R-really!?" I could feel my heart beating faster at her words.
"Of course, this deal comes with certain stipulations."
I immediately began to worry. Stipulations? Hopefully that doesn't mean I have to sell my soul!
"What stipulations exactly?"
"Simple." Makima said before walking back to the head of the table. "You toe the line. Do not try to change the future you were shown. Actively play along with it. And in return, you will gain my backing when the time comes. How does that sound?"
What? What kind of deal is that!? I essentially have to listen to what this woman says for her backing "when the time comes"?
"I'm sorry, but that deal is way too vague for my liking. For starters, the future you showed me doesn't include Julius or you anywhere in it. Which does not make sense seeing how powerful both of you seem to be. This deal also doesn't include the backing of Julius as well which, you should know, he is very deeply tied to the hotel. How can you be so sure he won't get involve in this and try to stop us?"
Makima simply smiled before responding to my questions. "Do not worry about why we weren't in the future I showed you. What matters is making sure it doesn't end the way that it did. As for Julius, you won't have to worry about that. After he deals with the attack on the hotel, I will be making sure he is preoccupied for Hell's proper uprising."
Makima calm voice made it sound convincing despite not offering anything specific. I looked over at Val and Velvette, and they were totally confused by the current situation. It seems that the deal Makima was offering was only for me and not the other two.
"Can you guarantee our *cough* my * cough* future success?"
"I can as long as nothing unexpected happens." Makima said with a gentle smile on her face.
I took a bit of time to think about it. From what I saw of what happened in the future, my deal with Alastor broke because of stupid wordplay. So, I must be extra careful about making a deal with Makima.
Toe the line. Don't change the future. Play along with it. It's obvious she wants most of what happens to play out the same way. Maybe only the major points like slandering the hotel's reputation, me successfully getting all of hell to rise together, and declaring war on Heaven, right? There could be some leeway with what I can do as long as those major events play out the same.
As for her backing me when the time comes... It obviously must mean when the major battle between me and Alastor happens and my influence plummets. If her backing truly is enough for me to stay on top despite what happens, then I will naturally agree to that! As long as I can feel the same way as I did right before I die, I'll do anything!
"As long as you can guarantee our(my) future success, I will agree to your deal!" I said as I reached out my hand.
Makima walked over to me and began raising her hand. "For you to toe the line, to try not to change the future, and to play along with what happens. I will back you when the time is right and, if nothing unexpected happens, guarantee your success. Do you agree to this deal?"
"Hahaha! Deal!"
The moment we shook hands, electricity shot through the room. Pushing Valentino and Velvette away from the force of it. At the same time a shiver ran down my spine as a stinging cold feeling wrapped around my heart. Weird, is this how her power works when making deals? That is creepy as hell!
"Great." Makima said, her gentle smile seemed kind of sinister. "Now let us talk business, shall we?"