Welp, I guess I decided this will be a multi-part story after all, although I don't think I will write that many chapters. Maybe one or two more at most. So here we go, inspiration strikes so here's chapter two.
The teenaged Queen
In a pleasant afternoon of late spring, Semiramis leisurely walked towards her play date appointment with the "terrible trio", as she liked to call Jeanne Lily, Nursery Rhyme and Jack the Ripper. When little Jeanne was by herself, she was the perfect image of a smart, dutiful and obedient girl, ruled in equal parts by logic and childish innocence. Yet when the kid was around her two best friends, she became a little hellion, no doubt by the influence of the two more chaotically inclined girls. Hence she called them the "terrible trio".
She would never admit that she smiled when she looked at the three playing when no one was watching.
And so she kept walking through the halls of Chaldeas when she suddenly saw a scene that made her stop and hide behind a corner. Shirou was talking with the elder Jeanne, the one more lawfully inclined, not the dark one. And they were engaged in such lively conversation that she decided to hide and see instead of being a proper adult and greeting them. She saw Jeanne chuckling in her maidenly way at something Shirou had said and she somehow felt her face heat up in...
"I was wondering where you were w-" a young voice she perfectly knew shocked her out of her stalking and she reacted faster than she could think, covering young Jeanne's mouth with her hands. For a split second she panicked and looked down to see if her hand ornaments had injured the girl, but then remembered she had started leaving the more elaborate parts of her servant regalia behind whenever she wasn't in battle, precisely because of the kid she had grown to like. Servant or not, she would rather not hurt little Jeanne in any way.
Yet Jeanne still grabbed the hand covering her mouth and trashed around to release herself from Semiramis' hold. As the Queen relaxed her grip, Jeanne managed to gain her freedom back and whispered "What was that for?!", a little peeved.
"Just keep quiet!" Semiramis whispered back and resumed her ill-adviced stalking. When she turned back to see what were Shirou and the elder Jeanne doing, she couldn't find then anywhere.
And as she walked into the hallway the Ruler pair were in just a moment ago, a hand on her shoulder made her jump on her spot in surprise.
"What a coincidence to find you here, Semiramis! I thought you were hanging out with the girls? Or so Lily told me before..." Amakusa greeted her, then placed his index finger to his lips wondering if perhaps he had heard wrong from little Jeanne earlier that morning.
"We were supposed to but then Semiramis wouldn't show up, so I went looking for her! Then I found her here app-" For the second time that day Semiramis covered Lily's mouth, to stop the girl from spilling the beans. And again Jeanne trashed around to release herself.
"Why yes, that was the plan but it seems I got myself lost around these halls. It hasn't ben that long since I joined Chaldeas so I sometimes need to gather my bearings to get to my destination, you see! Haha!" Semiramis nervously lied as she wondered what had possessed her to act like a teenager, despite deep down inside knowing exactly why she did.
"Stop that!" Jeanne finally gained her freedom again and slapped Semiramis lightly on her arm, which gained her a muffled "ow..." from the woman.
"Ah, I see. Well hopefully you manage to learn the lay of the land before long. I was just going to head over to the four of you myself, to see if perhaps you needed refreshments but I suppose we can all go together instead. Shall we?"
"Yeah! Jack and Nursery have been waiting for a while now and I fear they might be planning some mischief since I'm not around. I have to temper those two, you know?" Jeanne grabbed both Amakusa and Semiramis' hands and started walking.
"Very well," Semiramis regained some of her composure, "while a Queen can arrive fashionably late it wouldn't do to release hell into Chaldeas from my neglecting the terrible trio."
"We're not that bad!" Jeanne complained.
"You sometimes kind of are, Jeanne." Semiramis retorted.
"Oh, Mr. Hans will live through it next time as well. It's his fault for making Nursery cry."
"Now now, Jeanne. Remember what I told you about being proper? If anyone can keep those two in check it's you." Amakusa softly chastised the little saint.
"Fiiiine..." She conceded.
"So...what were you up to before you found us, Shirou?" Semiramis asked as non-chalantly as she could while Lily jumped a bit still holding their hands.
"Oh, I was talking with the older Jeanne." Amakusa replied matter-of-factly.
"I see." Semiramis reflected that it couldn't have been anything important if he admitted it so easily. Unless he didn't think of themselves as she did.
She did reflect that as much as she wanted, she hadn't made any true effort to make them become something more than friends. Were they even friends? What were they, she wondered? As far as she knew, he probably thought she just liked hanging around with Lily and that was why she was here. And while she did like Lily and did enjoy spending time with her, there was no reason to think anything further. Yet from what she knew about Shirou it was unthinkable that he would pursue a relationship with the older Maid of Orleans.
Or would he? Chaldeas was a rather different enviroment. What they were doing as soon as they met with the other two girls was also unthinkable in normal circumstances. Why, so it was unthinkable that she'd be holding hands with a younger version of Jeanne D'Arc as she was right that moment!
And as she kept stewing in her thoughts, his voice made her come back to reality. "So can I count on you, Semiramis?"
"Oh? Oh, certainly, I'd be happy to!" She replied without quite thinking.
"Excellent. I was worried the elder Jeanne would not be enough chaperone for Lily's all-girl's night. Having you both take care of the little ones will allow me to relax. And thanks for providing the room for the sleepover." He smiled warmly at her.
"Yeah! Bunyan is still getting used to her small form so I wanted to have her play with us! And Illya is usually so reserved and private I'm glad she finally accepted coming! You being around will make my plans be a success!" Lily grinned happily at Semiramis as she kept sinking in what the Assyrian Queen had just agreed to do.
"...yes that'll be quite the fun night." She finally claimed in resignation.
And with that, we finish chapter two. Leave a comment or send a PM if you liked it! See you around!
