Belobog has gone through a lot recently. The Fragmentum expanding, the end of the Eternal Freeze, the loss of Supreme Guardian Cocolia Rand, the re-introduction of the Underworld to the Overworld, et cetera.
Essentially, a lot’s been going on.
The issue is that with the new transportation lines through the Underworld and the Overworld, repairing the Underworld’s facilities, preparing soldiers in case something else happens….
There’s just not enough money.
Especially after one of the Ten Stonehearts from the Interastral Peace Corporation came to settle some 700-year-long-debts. Of course, they were able to avoid having to pay the full amount, but the planet still lost a lot of currency in the process.
And that brings us to where three people are right now.
Inside the newly-appointed Supreme Guardian’s office.
Intelligence Officer Pelageya Sergeyevna, Silvermane Guard Captain Gepard Landau, and commander & Supreme Guardian Bronya Rand are all pathetically sprawled out on the floor of Bronya’s office, groaning and filled with stress.
All three of them had been at it for hours, attempting to tackle the mess of fixing the ever-increasing budget problem, before the whole of Belobog went broke.
At first, they all thought something similar, like we’ll just cut down a bit here and some there and everything will be just fine.
While it was true that Belobog was no longer in debt…
They were dangerously close to the red line.
That’s how they’ve been trying to figure this all out for so long.
And now all of them are exhausted and still have nothing solved.
Finally, one of them had had absolutely enough.
“Supreme Guardian…let’s take a break?”
“Pela, we’ve got nothing done, we can’t take a break ye-”
At that moment, the door burst open with a loud bang effect.
Pela would have sworn up and down she saw stars.
Bronya turns her face up from the floor to look at who it was, and then immediately brightens up.
“Seele!”
“Oi, princess. I hear you guys got a problem up over here?”
“My…saviour…”
The Underworlder looks at Pela reaching up her hand to make a small, weak wave in mild shock.
“Jeez! Don’t kill your coworkers, Bronya!”
“Seele, the budget…”
“Shut the f*ck up about the budget, I could hear you groaning about it from outside of your goddamned Fort!”
Then, Seele looks over to see Gepard, actually asleep on the f*cking floor.
Naturally, she walks over to him and gives him a well-meaning slap to the cheek to wake him up.
“Captain dude, wake up. I brought Mr. sh*thead with me too.”
“Guh?..”
She sighs, then beckons for the mystery figure to come in.
In waltzes Pela’s worst nightmare, and in a moment of suffering beyond belief she has the guts to walk up to her, grab her by the collar, and say with much hysteria, “Why does everybody I know have to be friends with him?!”
“Oh, lighten up, Pel! Seele brought me up here to help out with your issue!”
“Are. You. Serious. Right. Now. You got freaking high the last time I spent time with you!”
“You did too!”
“Only because you were driving me goddamned crazy!”
Bronya chooses that moment to butt in. “Pela, you got high?!”
Seele pushes both Sampo and Pela away from each other with ease.
“Both of you, shut the actual f*ck up. Let’s get them,” she nods to Bronya and Gepard, “to bed first. Then we talk.”
(For good measure, she locks both of them with a well-practised glare that could actually kill people.)
…..
After much difficulty persuading the Supreme Guardian to take some rest (the captain is already asleep) and sending the both of them home, they return to the office.
Pela begins to groan again. “The…budget. Still needs to be dealt with.”
She just gets shoved aside.
“Y’know, I actually gotta help out my girlfriend ‘cuz the Underworld is being included in all the…governmental stuff now, too, I guess.”
Then, Sampo speaks up. “Seele, I’m not by any means saying you’re not capable, but even that’s too much for you to do.”
She snorts. “That’s why I’m not doing it myself, dumbass.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“That.”
Right on cue, a whole flurry of familiar faces spill into the office.
Serval, Natasha, Oleg, Luka, Clara, Lynx, Svarog, and even little Hook arrive in front of their eyes.
If that wasn’t enough to make Pela feel motivated, then what Seele did next most definitely was.
“Yeah, and then we got some o’ the Astral Express people on call.”
On the screen behind all of them, a few faces come into sight.
Stelle, Caelus, March 7th, Dan Heng, Himeko and Welt are all gathered around the phone.
Oh, does it feel good to be told what to do once in a while.
Seele walks up to Bronya’s desk and stands on top of it. Then, she claps loud enough for everyone to hear and quiet down, and begins to assign tasks.
“Okay, so the common goal is to make sure the whole o’ Belobog doesn’t go into debt, right?”
A few yeps and yes’es and mhms and yups are thrown around.
Serval and Clara are working on the machinery costs, Natasha, Oleg and Sampo are thinking up ways for foreign trade, Luka and Hook are put in charge of training the soldiers to save money for other costs, and Lynx & Pela are given free reign over supplies.
Himeko and Welt chart the courses after confirming things with connections on other planets, March and Dan Heng work on introducing trade to the citizens, and the twin Trailblazers are just helping everyone they can.
(Pom-Pom’s the mascot, of course. They weren’t very happy, but..)
By evening, the entire issue is solved in a single day, even though it should have taken at least four weeks.
And by then, Bronya walks back in to see everybody sitting down and toasting over apple juice.
Seele looks over. “Oi, princess! Glad you finally decided to join us!”
“I-is it already done?!”
“Yup!”
“I- I can’t begin to thank all of yo-”
The girl with purple hair groans. “Oh, save the formalities for later, why don’tcha. Just come over here, babe.”
(In no time at all, everybody is enjoying themselves over a job well done.)
