Ch II - Waking Up
"Poor thing. Just when she got to go outside, this happens…" "Such misfortune… I wonder what's going to happen to her…" "She'll probably go away to relatives." "Relatives? Do they even have any?" "I've heard the family was closely connected to another aristocratic one. Maybe the child will go there?" "Yes, you're probably right. After such a tragedy, I'm sure they'll take her in." "Yeah, for the inheritance…"
Strangers clothed in black passed by the child, who stared numbly ahead at the two wooden boxes in front of her. Their conversation confused her. Why would she have to leave? Her home was here. Meme would take care of her as she always had until her parents woke up. Didn't they realize that? Maybe they were just worried since they'd been asleep for a whole day. But they'd slept longer than that – especially after the really long trips they sometime took to Asia.
"Noelle?" the named looked up to see an elderly man with short grey hair and classic religious robes smile sympathetically at her, "Do you want to join me for some tea and cookies? It's been a long day, and you must be very hungry."
"No thank you," Noelle shook her head, "Meme's brother cooked me a yummy dinner before I left, even gave me some ice cream. I'm too full for cookies and tea."
"Alright then," the priest consented, "How about a game then?"
Once again, the girl shook her head, "No thank you. I want to wait for Mother and Father to wake up. They should soon, you know, and I want to be there when they do."
The man frowned, going down to her level, "Noelle…" Gaining her attention, he sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Honey… I-I don't know how to say this but… Your parents, they're not going to wake up."
Frowning as if he said something blasphemous, the child responded, "What do you mean? Of course they're going to wake up." Brightening slightly she patted his shoulder, "You must be worried like Meme. Don't be! Once they slept for an entire two days – almost three! I had to jump on their bed to wake them up. Maybe I should do that now, it'll work just like it did then!"
When she tried to stand, the priest held her still, concerning her, "Remek-sama? What is it? Why won't you let me wake them up? I'm sure they won't get mad at you, promise."
"No, no. I'm not worried if they get mad at me dear," Remek sighed, turning his heavy eyes on her, "I'm worried about you, Noelle."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because, it seems that you don't quite understand it yet. I'm sorry to put it so blatantly, but your parents aren't going to wake up. You must understand that."
"They will!" Noelle argued, brows furrowing as she squirmed under his grip, "You'll see! I'll jump on them right now and they'll wake up!"
Managing to get free, she raced forwards but the priest snatched her hand and hissed, "No! Jumping on them won't wake them up!"
At his tone, the child flinched and gave a scared look, causing him to regret losing his composure. Releasing her hand, he said, "No matter what you do, they won't wake up Noelle. They're dead. That carriage you saw hit them by accident. I'm sorry, but you must try to accept that your mother and father won't wake up this time."
"Dead?" Noelle's eyes widened.
Memories associated with the word coming to the surface: first of all being Horatio, an injured starling that landed in the western courtyard a year ago. Despite her best efforts and love, the bird had eventually had fallen asleep and refused to wake up. In her opinion, the child believed it was too sad that it couldn't fly and see its family again, and that's why it died – so that it could fly in heaven with all the other birds and butterflies and angels. It was her first experience with death, and had left her heartbroken, doing Meme's job of cleaning her sheets for her.
Now that it was associated with her parents, however, Noelle's body froze and she began to shake. "No, you're wrong," she argued, "Mother and Father were happy! They wouldn't want to die!"
Shaken, she began to wonder about the truth of those words. Maybe they were sad to leave the house after getting back so soon. But the only reason they left was so that she could go to town. Did that make it her fault then? Tears stung at her eyes. Had she made them die?
Seeing this dilemma brewing a storm in her cerulean eyes, Remek went to dispel it as best as he could, "No, Noelle, this isn't your fault! I'm certain your parents weren't sad at all and wanted to stay with you."
"But, then why did they die?" Noelle asked sadly, trying to keep the tears in her eyes and away from her cheeks but her nose began to get runny and make it hard to concentrate.
The priest sighed, "It's just one of those tragedies, my dear. There was nothing anyone could do about it – including you. So please, promise me you won't blame yourself."
"I promise," she nodded. A silence washed over them as they listened to the remaining taps of feet on the marble floors.
"Now, do you want to come back with me? The offer for tea and cookies and a game is still good," he gave a weak smile, but the girl's frown remained unchanged.
In a small voice, she whispered, "I think I'm going to stay here, if that's alright…"
"Of course, stay as long as you want," Remek consented, rising to his feet, "If you need anything, I'll be just around the corner. Alright?"
The child nodded, and approached the coffins, reaching down into her mother's to perhaps brush her hand against her cold skin. Remek's heart broke at the scene, a feeling he allowed to stay a while longer before he left the room. He had a town to comfort and help recover from this tragedy. Maybe along the way he would be able to remedy himself, but the large question remained: Would Noelle recover?
…
The sound of the church bells echoing down the hallways and into his office woke Remek, his head rising from where it rested in his palm. Rubbing his eyes, he listened to the ringing, counting each until coming to the number twelve. Midnight. He must have fallen asleep after returning to his office to counsel any who needed a private word.
Rising, the priest stretched his stiff body, muttering something or another about being too old to sleep in that fashion and that it was a miracle his back hadn't given out while heading towards the main alter room. He'd hoped that Noelle had been taken back to the Vermillion estate, but found the small form still huddled beside her departed parents.
"You should get some rest," Remek spoke up, causing the girl to turn slightly at his entrance, "There's a bed in the back. You can sleep there if you want since it looks like Chabert-san hasn't arrived yet."
"Meme came a while ago, but said I could stay a bit longer," Noelle wearily replied and the priest observed dark circles under her eyes.
"I see. Do you want me to call her?"
Noelle shook her head, prompting him to finish, "Alright. I just thought you'd enjoy sleeping in your bed."
The girl shuddered, "I don't want to. Not anymore. But I guess that's a good thing since I'm going away…"
"Going away? What do you mean?" Remek questioned with a frown.
"You know, to Father's old business partner's family. The one everyone keeps talking about," she explained dully, a clear disinterest in her tone.
"Noelle, you're not going anywhere if you don't want to," the priest said, earning the girl's surprised attention.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, that if you wanted to, you can stay here in Nevers."
"How? I don't have any relatives here. And I don't want to go back to the estate, not when Meme and the others have to leave and find new jobs," she stubbornly said as if someone were forcing her to live there that moment.
A spark of sorrow and pity washed over him at the child's outright rejection of her home, a decision born of pain no doubt. He couldn't blame her; after all, that place only held sad memories now. Ghosts of a once joyful past.
"Well, you can always stay with me," Remek offered, "It's not much, but it should do until we find someone who will take you in."
"Really?" the child said; hope finally reappearing in her eyes, making the priest smile as he nodded.
"Of course."
Noelle beamed happily, hugging the man, "Thank you so much Remek-sama!"
He chuckled and patted her back, "You're very much welcome Noelle. Now, do you want to start heading to bed or stay here a bit longer? Any option is perfectly okay."
"I'll stay here a few more minutes," Noelle answered, and the priest nodded, turning to leave her in peace before she called, "Actually… Can I have some tea?"
"Of course, I'll bring it out in a few," Remek smiled, and the child watched until his form disappeared behind the pillars to turn to her parents, her response of gratitude echoing off the walls.
Wrapping her hand around each of theirs, her smile softened, "It looks like I won't have to leave after all, huh? That's a relief; I don't think I'd like your old partners Father. Not that they're bad people, just that they live too far away…"
Trailing off, her smile disappeared as she rasped out, "I wish you were still here, you too Mother. I was so happy to go to town with you, but if I knew about this then I'd be happy just to read a story with you by the fire. I would, you know? But I guess that won't happen…"
Sniffling, she continued, "I miss you…. Why did you have to go and leave me behind? Couldn't you have brought me with? I wouldn't have minded…"
"Please… Just come back. I promise I'll never ask to go out to town again. So please, you have to wake up now…" Noelle's hand shook them, a few trails of salted water raining down on the soft satin. "Please, wake up. Don't dream any longer. Wake up. Wake up… Please… I need to say thank you. I need to be grateful like you told me to, and to do that you have to wake up. So please, wake up. I need you… Please…"
She shook as her throat painfully constricted in efforts to keep back a wail of sorrow and longing as tears streamed down her face. All she wanted was for them to wake up. That's all. She'd give anything, surely that was enough to bring them back right? So why wouldn't they wake up? Retrieving her hands, Noelle rubbed her face, trying to stop the pain in her throat and eyes, unaware of the figure behind her until it greeted in an oddly, almost happy tone in the grim place.
"Good evening," the stranger greeted, prompting Noelle to turn and recognize his presence.
A strange man dressed in formal attire stood a few feet away from her – although he didn't look like a person. He was really big and round, making the child wonder if he would feel squishy if she hugged him, and had a vague resemblance of an elf or odd rabbit with his pointed, long ears. His enormous top hat, decorated with a simple red band, was equally bold, and too big. That was it. Too big. The man before her was too big, too bold, too odd…
"Who are you?" Noelle questioned, blinking as if to ascertain he wasn't a dream.
"Someone who can help – or rather guide you," the man replied, large grin never budging.
"Help me? How?"
"Why, by bringing your parents back of course!"
Noelle's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes widened, "W-What?"
"Yep, it's just as I said. I can wake your parents up, just like you wanted. I'm here to grant that wish," the man affirmed.
A hopeful smile came to Noelle's face, "Really? Then you must be an angel, right?"
"Eh?" the man stuttered.
"A real angel… Wow," the child murmured, approaching the man and circling around him curiously, "I thought angels were supposed to have wings. Are you hiding yours? Is that why your coat is so big?"
I lied, it's not going to be a whole week until I update. Hope you all like the new chapter c;
Oh, and for those holding out for other familiar faces, don't worry they're on the way
