-RELGION, GLUTTONY MANOR-
The manor didn't particularly stand out amongst all the other manors Penelope had seen. It was a lot more modest than Greed's, every brick made of gold, or Pride's, which might as well have been a tower rather than a manor. It just sat there, not too far away from the shopping district, with nothing else surrounding it aside from the trees.
It was a lot more welcoming, though. Or, at least, Penelope thought it was as she cleaned her hooves on the welcome mat and peered in through the window. Already she could see the Prinnies playing about and watching TV and cooking. A cheerful bunch, those Prinnies, even if they were sometimes layabouts. She did remember reading about them from a book written by this "Etna" woman, who spoke so harshly about those poor, adorable penguins. They were souls drenched in sin, worthless in life, damned by the gods to be sewn in a suit of special hide and to work towards redemption for their sins. Always working, trying to do better, improve themselves for the next reincarnation.
Sometimes she wished she were a prinny, with cute stubby legs and a cute little pouch around her hips. So cute and cuddly.
She blushed as she realized she was thinking too much about prinnies when she had actually came here to speak to Renais. She then hastily rang the doorbell over and over and over, hoping someone would come over and stop her from thinking about those cute, adorable, cuddly-wuddly prinnie-winni-
The door swung open.
"May I help you?"
Penelope suddenly felt tiny again, as the muscular maid towered over her. She was reminded of the behemoth, paling for a moment before mustering the courage to ask, "U-Um, is Renais here...?"
"Whatcha need her for? She's busy flailing about about Gluttony."
"I-it's a personal thing...could I?"
The maid shrugged and helped Penelope in, allowing her to see the complete interior of the manor for the first time.
She had never once stepped within, only coming here to deliver the goods Gluttony normally ordered from the Emporium. But now, she marveled at the golden chandeliers, the velvet carpet, the bustling, clean kitchen, the little living area where the prinnies sat with a child to play video games... everything. It all had a warm, welcoming feeling to it, and she couldn't exactly explain why. Maybe it was just the chattery voices, cheerfully talking about the days of past. Or maybe it was the various photos that hung about, with smiling faces all around.
Penelope took a seat at the kitchen table, turning and watching the game on TV, which looked like one of those fighter games. Whoever was playing as the guy in red was kicking major butt, which she assumed was the little girl, smirking as she pushed button combinations and watched her prinny opponent flail about. It wasn't long until she was poked from behind, though.
"You caaaalled for me, Miss Penelope?"
Miss Kiki always said that Renais was a special sort of Prinny. She wasn't like the others, believe it or not. "A saint, delivered unto us by the Fates," she called her. Penelope wasn't sure what she meant by that, but she did look different: she was pink, first of all, and wore an outfit she believed she saw in some anime. Maybe it was "Doki Doki Princess ~ Sentinel of Love"? She even had one of the magical, heart-shaped scepters the heroes used!
Either way, Penelope's heart fluttered as the cutest prinny of them all graced her presence. She struggled to speak, awed by her presence, until she could force out a, "Y-you know me?"
The prinny did a little twirl in place before she replied, "Of course! I know everyone! You're the nice little girl that delivers all of those magical tomes Gluttony likes to order! Thank you soooo much for your help, by the way; he absolutely loves what you bring!"
Penelope's cheeks flushed bright red as she stammered, "Th-that's good! That's great, even! Um, er, but I didn't come for that or anything. I mean, there's a... something I neeed to... uh..."
Renais tilted her head to the side. "What is it?"
"It's really important, uh... I just... it's... um..." The baphomet gulped, her entire body trembling before she forced the truth out. "I-I want to change and become braver and I was wondering if you knew how to do that!!!"
Oops. Too loud. All eyes were on her again, and she could do nothing but slump and try to appear as tiny as possible. The pink prinny, however, just took both of her flippers and held one of Penelope's hands as she said gently, "Oh, I know. But it's a really, really long process."
"I-is it?"
The prinny nodded and said, "Yes, it is! It involves going on adventures with friends and exploring who you are from what you say, what you do, and how you think! And changing what you say, what you do, and how you think ever so slowly! Learn from those that inspire you! From your own beating heart, from your own will, bring about the change you always wanted!" She accented her talk with exaggerated movements and flourishes, and for a moment, Penelope was pretty sure the background changed into that of Mt. Fuji, with waves crashing into it.
Probably just her imagination.
"U-um... b-but what if... you don't have any friends? Or people you know? And don't go out on adventures? O-or... or anything...?!?"
Renais stopped her routine and stared right into Penelope's eyes. She then waved her scepter around, summoning forth a brochure. Penelope took it from her and stared at the front page, showing a city of neon lights under the blanket of night.
"Then you make some~!" the Prinny said happily before turning to the muscular maid, who was busy watching the video game. "Sophiiiiaaa, did Gluttony tell you you guys were going to that city?"
The maid didn't turn back as she replied in a flat tone, "Yes. Pretty sure he drilled it into my head back then, with how eager he was to eat at every buffet there."
"And you know that these Kobbers are going there too, right?"
"Yeah. Gonna be fun with them around. They draw trouble like moths to a flame, and beat the everloving crap out of it. Betting Gluttony is gonna start doing some serious planning after he puts himself together again."
Penelope's eyes widened in shock. "Gl-gluttony is...?"
Renais sighed and replied, "Oh, he's six feet under again! Got involved with Pestus and ka-blooey, he was all gone, gone, gone!"
"By a beam that screams 'magical girl powers'," Sophia added with a smirk. "Should have been there, it was great!"
"But yes, he won't be back until November 28th! No earlier, no later! Did you need him for something?"
"O-o-oh no, no," Penelope said, flailing her fuzzy arms about. "I was just shocked because you guys talk about it so... so casually!"
Sophia shrugged. "Death happens. For Gluttony, moreso than others. He's the cat who comes back every time, no matter how far you shoo him away or how fucked the planet is. Besides, with the Kobbers? Death doesn't mean much when there are priests on-call."
The three didn't speak for a long while, only the cheerful yells and pleads for mercy echoing throughout the manor. It was Penelope who spoke first, getting close to Sophia and all in her face and pleading, "Please! You have to lead me to these kobbers! To this city! Th-they can bring about change, can they? M-maybe they can help me change, too!"
"They're gone for the season, but maybe in a few months," replied the maid. "You shouldn't rely on them too heavily, though. I heard some people changed in their presence, but it took a lot of dying and being beat up for that to happen. That, and maybe people telling them how much shit they are or whatever, I don't know. What I'm trying to say is that maybe you should try going out on your own and find yourself a bit or something like that before you go all gung-ho on this kobber train."
The baphomet blinked once before looking down at her feet. "But I'm so busy... I can't always go on adventures... I mean, I help run the store, so uh..."
Renais walked over and patted Penelope on the back, replying with a smile, "Oh, no worries, no worries! We'll make time to help you get your beautiful wings, help you take that first step towards adventure! Towards learning! Towards living! Towards loooooooooove~!"
Again, the Prinny posed dramatically, only this time hearts and rainbows appeared behind her. Penelope rubbed her eyes, but they simply wouldn't go away.
Either way, she did feel a little comfortable with the answers the duo gave her.
The city of neon lights... these kobbers... Renais and Sophia...
Fate was certainly smiling on her now. Maybe she would be able to change. Not for her family or her friends...
For herself.
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