Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 326- Beth


I knocked on the door to Sabah's flat. This was the good part of town, at least in part thanks to our efforts. Although if I was being honest with myself, Alexandria deserved most of the credit. She was a one woman army, and pretty much all organized crime had been dealt with. Or, at least, the kind involving drugs and gangs and stuff inside the city and the nearby area. There was always petty bullshit, and people trying to fly under the radar. And there was always the Elite, but they tended to avoid the kind of crimes that drew that sort of attention. At least anywhere near LA.


After a couple minutes, the door opened, revealing a slender young Asian woman. She'd clearly just got done taking a bath, her hair was still wet. Really, Sabah, you were dismembered last night and you still found time to bring someone home with you? What the hell?


"Umm, hello?" The girl asked.


"Sorry," I smiled awkwardly. What do I even say to her? "I'm Beth, I was here to check up on Sabah."


"Oh, uh..." she glanced back into the room. "She's getting dressed."


Of course she is. "Let her know Beth's here, okay?" I asked.


"Uh, okay, sure," she agreed, then she looked back into the room again and shouted. "Someone by the name of Beth!"


"Oh!" I heard Sabah yell. "She's a friend, you can let her in."


"Umm, come in," she smiled cautiously, stepping back. "I think I remember hearing about you." Sabah talks about me to her... uh... friends? "I'm Lily."


Lily? Oh! "Sorry! I didn't recognize you!" I smiled for real this time. "I'm Beth. Anima. I was just coming over to see how Sabah was doing after Beelzebub, I didn't think there'd be anyone with her already. I've been a big fan of yours for a while. I just didn't... you look so different in person!"


She relaxed a little, at least. "I get that a lot, actually," she responded. "The armor's actually designed to highlight certain features and play tricks on the eyes. Makes me look about five years older, about a foot taller, and more like a dignified head of state than a nineteen year old girl."


"It does a really, really good job of it," I agreed, marveling at the difference. She was actually younger than me, and shorter. Even knowing this was the same girl as I saw on camera, taking off her mask for the whole world to see, I had trouble seeing the resemblance.


"Thanks," I heard Sabah respond, stepping out of her room. She was dressed nicely, as usual. "I worked pretty hard on that." She stopped for a second. "Minerva helped," she admitted. "A little bit."


"Are you okay?" I asked, looking at her leg. "I mean, that was... your entire leg was gone."


"A little stiff, a little sore," she responded. "It's not as bad as it was last night. Lily helped me with some stretches. " She blushed.


Oh that's... I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. Lily and Sabah were both all smiles, so I was glad for them, but this was a little awkward for me. Then again, I had gotten used to awkward. The only way a power could be more embarrassing than mine would literally involve use of bodily functions as the power's main mechanism. "I should probably start an exercise routine," I admitted instead, acting like I missed the point entirely. "It's just, my power really doesn't depend on my physical abilities, and with the armor I never have a need for other reasons."


"It's a good idea," Lily agreed with me. "I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that I never stopped my workout routine even after getting the armor. It's one of those things you don't really think you need. Until, suddenly, you need it and wish you had more."


"I can imagine," I agreed. "So, umm, how long are you staying? Are you planning to join the west coast team?" If you do, does that mean Sabah's going to be spending all her time with you and I'll be a third wheel? I was painfully aware that I already was a third wheel right now, and they probably wanted me gone so they could... do whatever it was they were planning to do.


"I can't, unfortunately," Lily admitted, looking for all intents like a lost puppy. "I mean... the portals still haven't been completed. Then there's the coronation ceremony. Well, not coronation, but whatever it's called."


Sabah deflated visibly. "You mean you're still going through with the marriage?"


Marriage? There was more here than I knew, so I kept silent for now.


"No, we got to skip the whole marriage part of it," Lily responded. "They're pretty much just making me a princess, nothing else."


There was a time when I would have wept in jealousy at that news, I thought. Now I was just glad it wasn't me.


"Really?" Sabah asked. "No strings attached at all?"


"Well, the part where it's very clearly in name only is supposed to be a string," she responded. "There's absolutely nothing coming with with the title, like at all. They're not even going to give me a place to stay. I get the title, I get a fancy parade, and then the royal family does its best to pretend I don't exist at all. Until the anniversary of Leviathan's death comes along. Then I get another fancy parade. I have no idea how they pulled it off, but that's the deal."


"That sounds perfect," Sabah responded. "Congratulations... Princess Lily." She giggled at little at the silliness. I died a little inside, if only because I was used to phases like that being said with absolute seriousness.


"It's everything we wanted without all the parts that sucked ass," Lily agreed. "Well, I might still need a PR coach or something to make sure I don't say things like 'sucked ass' in public. So, y'know, can't win them all."


"That might not go over well," Sabah nodded.


"So, how long are you planning on staying?" I asked.


"Another day or so," she responded. "We have to reevaluate the portal plan, because some countries are afraid the Endbringers will attack other portals and we'd be forced to collapse those, too."


"That's actually not an unreasonable fear," I mused. I may not be a traditional Thinker, but I'm not stupid, I can follow a tactical conversation. "I mean, the last three Endbringer battles happened in areas that threatened portals. Paris, Brockton Bay, and while Avalon's other portal wasn't in San Fran, it would have been caught in the destruction if the tectonic plates gave way. I can see why they'd be worried."


"I guess, but it's a real pain in the ass," she agreed.


"It's probably more than that," I continued. "Pantheon showed it had the ability to break portals during the last fight. Cutting countries off from their colonies like that is a pretty devastating weapon if you use it intelligently. And I imagine a lot of countries are wondering what else you can do with the portals. If they can be shut off, can they be moved? Set to a different world? Can you simply move a gateway from its rightful country to Avalon and invade?"


"We'd never do something like that," Lily responded, defensively. Ooops, guess I could have phrased that better.


"I know," I agreed. "Hell, you don't even need to do that. If the Empresses wanted to conquer a world, they could do it a hundred different ways. The Yggdrasil, turned into an invasive species. Those giant bug monsters. The threat of sending you or Victoria in would probably be enough to make most nations surrender on its own."


"You really think so?" Lily asked. "I mean, I've gotten used to the idea of me being a political icon. I use that all the time to push social equality in some of the countries I've been to. And I know I scare villains. But you're talking about me as if I'm like a nuclear weapon."


"In a way, you really kinda are," I continued. I was warmed up to this conversation, now. "A lot of Pantheon's heavy hitters are. Maybe that's why you don't feel like you're that special, because compared to the people you work for you're top tier, but not alone at that level. Pantheon has so many ways to win a war that nukes look almost benign in comparison. You're scary as hell, too, Sabah."


"You really think so?" Sabah asked. "I mean, the armor makes me pretty strong, but not that strong."


"Yeah, I really do," I responded. "Khepri doesn't even need the biomonsters, she could destroy a country in minutes just using regular bugs. Vicky's rep is insane, and Sveta's close. Avalon's been a country for only a few months and it's already considered a military super power, with the strongest Cape forces that aren't Scion. Pantheon controls almost all of the Endslayers, and they do control the most famous and powerful of them. You're led by the most dangerous S-class threat ever imagined. You have at least three of the top five Tinkers on the planet. If there was a war between Avalon and Bet, right now? I'm not sure Bet could win. No wonder other countries are afraid of accepting your gifts, when you've shown you can take them away so easily."


"Wow, when you put it like that," Lily muttered.


"Yeah," Sabah agreed. She reached over and grabbed Lily's hand. "That's pretty scary to think about."


"Hey, if you think it's scary for you, how do you think it feels for everyone else?" I asked.


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A/N- I am soooo surprised no one called this ahead of time. I was afraid I made it too obvious.