Eyes of the Fog
Sometimes, you need to stop seeing faces and start hearing voices to see who your true friends are.
For Immortal x Snow's weather pairings contest. I was originally going to write a Maria x Beatrice (in that order) fic, but I hit a roadblock and decided to take another, more interesting route. Check out her profile, join the contest, have fun.
Disclaimer: I do not own Umineko. This fan fiction may contain minor spoilers for Eva's past. Any and all text is not a reflection of the writer's opinion, and should be entirely self-contained, except for some intertextuality regarding Understanding the characters and setting of Umineko.
"Speech"
Narrative
'Thoughts'
In the midst of the thick fog, surrounded by the various roses of the rose garden outside the Ushiromiya mansion, Natsuhi cried to herself. It all seemed unfair-Kinzo had himself told her that she wore the crest on her heart. But yet… the others couldn't see it. They just treated her like she was a mutant-something not quite one of theirs, to be mocked and humiliated. Even her beloved, Krauss, did not stand up to defend her at times.
Natsuhi had just recently been insulted and embarrassed by Eva…again, she sighed. Natsuhi was tired of this-even if the rose garden was covered by an impenetrable fog, she still felt Eva's glare of distaste, of rejection-was Eva trying to show her superiority to her other family members in order to make up for her own weakness? She just seemed to be a bully. Even if it was true, it still didn't help when Eva sullied her name in front of the rest of her family-especially her husband, who didn't do a damn thing to defend her honour.
It was humiliating, isolating, depressing, even-at times like this; Natsuhi wished she had an adult to talk to. Someone who understood her plight, who saw her not for what she lacked (the prestigious Ushiromiya blood in her veins), but for what crowned her (A heart of hard work which is willing to love).
--
Eva-Beatrice never liked the fog. It wasn't a particular pet peeve, but even so it was just...eh. She just preferred to be able to see-or more importantly, to be seen. It was the thrill of recognition, the comedy of seeing another's blunder, the sense of progress which came with viewing the results of an ever-expanding reputation. As a child, she was never considered for the position of heir, expected just to marry into some rich family-but yet, she still tried to be great, to make the Ushiromiya household proud of her. But it was all for nought.
She hated that feeling.
It was one of the reasons Eva-Beatrice hated feeling like a second fiddle player in the meta world, despite having the title of The Cruel Witch. Weren't witches supposed to be cruel?
All of her hard work, it would seem, would equate to nothing as family and colleagues alike bereft her of the praise she deserved. She'd be damned if she didn't change that. Just as she was about to leave the fog, however, Eva-Beatrice's curiosity was piqued by the sound of crying hidden within the fog. Eva-Beatrice decided to investigate the noise.
'Who knows, maybe this damnable fog may prove to be of some use.'
"Hey! Why are you crying?" Yelled Eva-Beatrice to the unknown person.
--
Natsuhi turned around to the approaching stranger, who no doubt had just come here to taunt her in her misery. She wiped the tears from her eyes, a once deep upset replaced with anger. Anger at her helplessness, anger at the voice, anger at
"What do you want?" She hissed, hoping the sound of her voice would convey her lack of patience right now.
"H-hey, wait a minute! I was just wanted to help out! Sheesh!" The voice yelled back, before murmuring a little "Sorry" loud enough only for Natsuhi to hear.
Natsuhi felt off guard. This fog hid from view the owner of the mysterious voice, but yet… it felt familiar. It sounded like the voice of someone she knew, but at the same time, it played a very different melody on her ears.
"Sorry for snapping at you. It's just…just…" Natsuhi felt tears return to her eyes, further clouding her view. She had felt her defences racked up against all variety of taunts and insults, but genuine care was just…just…
--
"Look, I do care about your problems, but I can't actually do anything about them unless you tell me. So… tell me, ok?" Eva-Beatrice softly called, still not sure why she had moved to comfort the upset unknown herself. Even within this fog, it was surprising that Eva felt so much compassion for such a weird entity.
'What is wrong with me?!' Eva screamed in her mind. 'Why am I not just going over there and killing her? If anyone finds out about this, I'll be ruined! Never thought I'd be grateful for fog…' But Eva-Beatrice's thoughts were sharply interrupted by the unknown person bursting into sobs, before sniffing, wiping her eyes and whispering
"It's just that…"
--
"It's just that… No one seems to care for me!" Natushi yelled, finding her voice again in the midst of the fog-like confusion.
"That damn Eva keeps putting me down whenever she can! Just what is her problem, huh?! What did I ever do to her?!" She felt herself choke slightly on those words, before finding the momentum to continue telling the stranger just what was wrong with the world, and for that matter, anyone else who wanted to hear.
"None of them even care about it! They all just stand there, looking down at me as she belittles me and humiliates me! Not even my husband does a damn thing about it!" She roared in her fullest now, feeling all of her emotions exploding out of her for the entire world to see, like the eruption of a volcano or the sudden parting of the fog.
"All I ever wanted… All I ever really wanted…" She felt her voice waver. Her eyes couldn't see a thing- not only because of the fog, but because of the tears welling up in her eyes. It was surprising to her, really-the smell of roses seemed surprisingly absent as she told her inner most desires to a complete stranger. Why?
Because she was there when Natsuhi needed her.
"I just want to be accepted. Is it really so much to ask for?" Natsuhi broke down into full blown sobs-this was all too much for her. Her emotions had been shown too much-her façade had been lost to the fog.
--
For a good two minutes, the two of them shared this moment, the only sound penetrating the grey, bleak fog was the sound of the sound of Natsuhi's depressed sobs. The wind had lost its pace, the rain never left the clouds, and no one came forth to witness the two unlikely people sharing a small moment in the fog. Eva could only stare at the location of the apparition of the voice, she- she felt sympathy. The Cruel Witch slowly shuffled towards the crying figure, before hugging her tightly.
"You're just like me." Eva-Beatrice whispered to the sobbing girl, whom she recognized as Natsuhi from her purple dress and ever-familiar hair-style. It was an ironic twist of fate, how once Eva-Beatrice saw Krauss' husband as far from her as possible, but yet they were so alike.
"It's hard to get appreciated-trust me, I work my dress of for those other witches, but they still treat me like dirt. But, if I accept you, accept me, OK?"
The tightening of the hug was the only response she needed.
"I'll accept you…um…"
"E-Beatrice, The Cruel Witch."
"Thank you."
--
At the beginning of the next game, Natsuhi and Eva-Beatrice found themselves alone in the dining room as dawn approached. The smell of last night's French style dinner filled the room with a As the shadows of the two women danced upon the wall, Eva revealed her Beatrice form before launching herself into Natsuhi's arms, the two sharing a warm embrace as sunlight filled the room.
"Hey, 'tsuhi-chan." Whispered Eva-Beatrice from her hugging position, her arms latching onto Natsuhi's neck while her partner's were forming a protective bubble around the surprising couple.
"Good morning, Eva." Natsuhi smiled- even though they had only begun to 'appreciate' each other* during the last game, they had become really close in that short period of time.
"Couldn't sleep?" Eva cheekily replied, feeling a smile spread across her face. It was kind of cool how Natsuhi was now a part of the meta world loop with her, especially after the amount of effort it took to get Beatrice's permission. And the amount of cake, too.
"Not really." Natsuhi thought back to her first time in the meta world. It was… surprising, at most, to find out that Beatrice really did exist. The differences between her
Beatrice and The Beatrice were enough to earn a small chortle out of the elder of the newest pair.
"…what?"
"I still think it's funny you introduced yourself as just Beatrice."
"Hey! I am too a Beatrice!" Replied a flustered Eva-Beatrice, who struggled to turn to face Natsuhi from her current position, but succeeded nonetheless.
"I know." Natsuhi replied, her face solemn.
"But you're my Breatrice." She leaned in to Eva-Beatrice, lightly kissing her on the forehead.
"And I'm all the more grateful for it." She stated as she hugged her Beatrice softly, allowing her the freedom to move as she wished, but still showing that she was there, and there for ever.
"Natsuhi?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks."
--
*Get your mind out of the gutter, please.
Fun fact: This is the third Eva-Beatrice story on .
But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Read and review as you feel best.