As I sit in my chair, looking at the twin moons hanging in the sky peacefully outside my window, I take a moment to berate myself. Just a few hours earlier I failed my first self-appointed task since my first success, to not lose my temper then break down like a child in front of my familiar. "I'm a Zero once again," I whisper to myself.
Her small embrace reminded me of Cattleya I tell myself, not that it makes any sense. Cattleya has always been much larger than me. Cattleya, I thought after I had regained rational thought, would be ashamed that I had forgotten about her. She understood me, or at the very least tried. I am not alone, and never have been. My familiar's care is not a new concept to me, regardless of what I may have thought in the heat of the moment.
I hear a creak as my door opens slowly as if worried that it might wake me up. Turning around I am caught by the sight of my familiar in a rather plain green. Where her arms and legs were previously covered completely, now their snow like, untouched skin is clear to see. It isn't until you get a good look at perfectly undamaged skin that you realize that yours is anything but. One of those perspective changers I suppose, like when the temperature gradually rises and you don't realize it until someone points it out. Though it does raise questions as to how a Child of War has managed to get away without even marks from the sun. Is it possible this is the first time her skin has been shown since birth? Bah, I laugh at the prospect. It is ridiculous, and most importantly, completely irrelevant.
The small, or large based on perspective, sword at her hip is held in place with a belt that looks like it was hastily stitched into the fabric solely for serving that purpose. Without the grime and knots to hold it in place her bright green hair trails far down her back, stopping as it reaches the hilt of her sword. On her other hip rests the accessory I had earlier misjudged. It is clear to me now that without magic, it is more than likely in fact a pistol.
Most importantly, at least as far as my floor is concerned, she's dripping from her bath, as if she couldn't be bothered to use a towel. Perhaps they don't have them in Germania? I decide to look into it tomorrow. I don't really feel like talking.
"We need to talk about earlier." Or now, I suppose we could talk now if she really feels it is important.
"Could we just pretend that didn't happen?" I ask hopefully, absentmindedly chewing on the back end of a stray quill that was on my desk. "We could start over, hello, my name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, you are?" I hold out my hand in the small hope that she will take my offer, and as it turns out, Adeline Akuma is not one for starting over. Very little surprise there I suppose. Well, at least I tried.
"As your familiar, I am to protect you." Well, she has certainly taken a bold understanding of the role I think. She will also need to help gather regents if I should ever need them, but for now, I choose not to correct her. "I can not do that if you run away from me when you are upset." I wince at the reminder, why can't she just let it go? It has been less than a day and already I feel as if there are eggshells everywhere and I can't help but stomp.
"I'll admit that was a mistake." I attempt to meet her halfway.
"Mistakes do not tend to end in massive property damage. That was the start of a problem." I'm being lectured by a child bereft of magic. The fact that said child is only a few inches shorter than me does nothing to lessen the blow to my pride.
It certainly doesn't help how close she unknowingly struck to an already festering wound. "What would you have me do next time then?" I ask testily, narrowly avoiding gritting my teeth. You'd think she'd be grateful for the bath and dress… My floor is soaked, did she even wait a moment after jumping out of her bath to rush to me?
Of course not. I dare say, were she in any more of a hurry, she wouldn't have dressed at all.
The thought conjures up an amusing image 'Zero's new familiar streaks through the halls, flinging bathwater on unsuspecting students.' At least it would freshen up their list of insults. They've begun to get a bit stale, lately.
"I would have you speak to me when you feel pent up, instead of flying away on your heels. Do you have any idea how worried I was when I approached your position and heard rapid fire explosions?" I can't say I thought of it that way. I am so used to the sound of my explosions that I failed to consider what a Child of War might think upon hearing one.
"In my defense, you outright stated you thought I planned to- you thought I would...Take you into my bed, and defile you!" That, at the very least, is a point I feel strongly she can not counter.
She squirms a little bit, like she knows she's walking into embarrassment, but is about to do it anyway. I briefly wonder what it is. "That was a mistake."
"Mistakes do not tend to end in massive property damage," I repeat her own line back at her, and she flushes.
She pouts silently, looking over my shoulder outside my window, in an attempt to avoid eye contact, and her eyes widen. I turn my eyes to match her sight and see nothing amiss. Perhaps there was a shooting star, or Tabitha's dragon flew by? Surely a dragon would be a surprising sight for her. When I turn back her expression has reverted back to normal. At the very least, whatever she saw wasn't shell-shocking.
I plan to take back the advantage, and almost open my mouth when I hear my stomach growl. As it turns out, the both of us missed dinner, not just her. How fitting. "If it would please you, I saw quite a few animals on our trek back earlier that would make a fine meal."
Does she, really think I would want her to hunt for us? I just left her with a servant not too long ago, she has to know we have a full staff on hand. "That simply won't do, it isn't too late, surely the chef wouldn't mind catering to us."
She blinks, as if not sure she heard me, or at the very least rethinking something. "Us?" She asks with notable hesitance. Strange, of course, us, why wouldn't she - "Yes us, dinner was hours ago." Strangely, she does not seem relieved at my use of loopholes, even if it does end in food. She nods anyway and then follows silently as I get up and leave the room.
Luckily the only distraction on our way to the dining hall is Guiche with some poor naive first year. I ignore him and his newest victim entirely, but Adeline gives the scene far more attention than I would like as we pass by. My only solace is that she is far too young for the fop to chase even if she were to find an interest. Though I suppose I should give a warning. "Pay him no mind, he's not worth the time," I speak, and she gives me a look. I'll admit to having a harder time reading her than I would like, while some of her expressions are childlike and morph her entire face, some of them are rather subtle and hard to distinguish. The clearest I can make out is that she is most definitely displeased.
After a few moments, it becomes clear she has no intentions of voicing her thoughts, so I prod her. "Ecu for your thoughts?"
She hesitates for a second, but only a second. "Excuse my audacity master, but I find it pertinent to express that I feel no one is worth less than a few seconds of my time."
"What about criminals?" I ask, I'll admit I am curious.
"You should never ignore a criminal, lest you find a blade in your spine. Why, is he a threat? I could take care of him if it would please you." Her change in tone, or perhaps it would be better stated as a lack of tone change, brings forth a rapidly growing feeling of chilled blood. One I am growing annoyingly familiar with.
I pause my steps instantly, and she stops just as quickly, as if she was watching me more than the environment, or at the very least expecting my pause. "Do not 'take care of' any of my classmates." I give an order, more than a little afraid at what might have occurred when I left her with the servant. Could that be why she didn't bother drying off, was she running from the scene of some heinous crime? No, that's crazy, she would have said something before now. Perhaps I am hungrier than I thought.
She giggles lightly, not easing me nearly as much as I assume she thinks the action is supposed to. "As you wish, master."
The rest of the walk passes with no incident..
The dining hall is of the finest designs. Three massive tables spread across almost the entirety of its marble floor, checkered like designs lay below our feet, and stone statues depicting figures with weapons, shields, and armor mark the walls.
At the other end of the room from the door where we stand, is a pair of massive windows that during the day would let in natural light to aid the sparkling floors in setting the almost magical scene that any young noble at Tristain's magical academy would recognize.
Not now, however, now the hall is rather dark, the only light being moonlight let in from the twin moons behind us. "Anyone home?" My familiar cracks a joke from beside me, her voice echoing in the long hall. And I can't help but play along. "Who, who?"
I had assumed that as a school for nobles, there would be a number of entitled students who would request evening snacks, meaning the hall would at least have a lone member of the staff on hand. As if mourning the loss of whatever meal of beauty was left after the other nobles partook in dinner, my stomach loudly protests with another growl.
Turning my head, my Familiar almost looks relieved for some reason. I ignore it as a trick of the poor lighting. "Hunting?" She asks, sounding almost eager. I nod reluctantly, not liking the idea of subjecting my familiar to more bloodshed, furry creatures or not. I take solace in the fact that she suggested the idea.
As I sit around a fire made with some sort of commoner trick my familiar no doubt had to pick up for this apparent passion of hers, reluctantly nibbling at some meat on a stick, I find myself thinking about what an interesting event watching Adeline hunt was. Yes, watching. When I had assumed she would stick to the ground and require my help, she instead took off into the trees darting from branch to branch like some kind of possessed monkey.
It was certainly not graceful, or even easy to follow, but sure enough a minute or so later she had dropped down and started dragging me to a rather small clearing before gathering wood and making a small fire.
I couldn't bare to look to find out whatever she had caught, but it was definitely small, the meat on this stick isn't exactly overflowing. I also have to wonder why she chose a stick, and just how clean it is. Am I perhaps putting too much trust in her?
As I take another reluctant 'bite', I take note of my familiar, gleefully staring into her flaming creation. "Where's yours?" I ask, noticing she isn't eating anything.
"I already ate it." She informs me without looking up from the fire. I choose not to question it, even if I didn't see her cook it. After all, my eyes are rather heavy, telling me it is well past time for bed, meaning it is not the time to be making judgments involving her. Though that doesn't stop the slightest tints of irritation at the fact that I do not always appear worth her full attention. Perhaps that is something to discuss in the future when I am aware enough to be sure it is a rational concern.
The strange thing is, despite how hectic today has been, she doesn't look even a little tired. Was I that energetic at her age?
As I lay in bed, my familiar sleeps next to me quite soundly. Her breathing soft and slow. While awake she looks guarded, perhaps even on edge, but in this moment she has a touch of innocence. And not just because the moonlight on her skin is quite literally causing an almost luminescent effect. It is actually kind of bright...Oww, my eyes. Tomorrow, I am resolved to ask her to tone it down.
Looking back on it, It is strange. The amount of work it took to convince her to lay down next to me was insane. The moment she realized I wasn't completely comfortable with the idea given our previous misunderstanding, despite being the one trying to coax her under the covers, she started throwing out excuses to stay out of the bed, rapidly growing ridiculous in nature.
Before I was finally irritated enough to simply order her to get in the bed, she had gone as far as to claim she didn't need sleep. A claim proven very wrong shortly after, as the second her head hit the pillow she was unconscious.
That was another strange quirk to her personality, whether it is an asset or not. When I first realized my summon was a noble, back in the explosion from the summoning, I worried that she would be adverse to serving me. I know I would be, if I was taken from my home or this academy, forced to adapt to a new setting, demanded to follow the orders of some girl I had never met. I cringe at the thought, before throwing it aside. No way I would be ok with that.
Instead, even if it is only the first day and therefore lacking in quantity of examples, she has shown excitement at the prospect of serving me. Stranger yet, the moment I phrase my request as an order, she folds without even the slightest argument I would normally expect from fellow nobility.
A part of me worries what her motive is, that perhaps this is a ruse of some sort. That there is some loophole I do not know of, and that when given the chance she'll take advantage of it. Only the knowledge that this is paranoia allows me to feel comfortable. Healthy paranoia perhaps, but paranoia nonetheless.
The fact that she has given me a reason to believe she is happy to serve me because she was otherwise living on the streets does little to ebb at my worries. Surely she would be plotting some way to gain back her position.
Or the topic of her previously family in general. What threat could she have been thrown out for stopping? What did she do? As her master, her actions reflect on me. Am I in danger of suffering the same fate if she repeats the same course? Is she perhaps some wanted criminal? It is clear she does not wish to elaborate on what she did, and I do not wish to force her, but as the youngest daughter of Duke Valliere, I need to know. As much as the thought bothers me, my only recourse aside from ordering her to tell me is to ask Kirche if she knows anything.
Surely she would have heard of this 'Akuma' family, it is her country after all.
My eyes droop, my ability to fend off rest failing rapidly in the face of the long and stressful day. Classes are canceled tomorrow, I think as reality fades, perhaps the extra time will shine answers into this shadow of mystery.
Whew.
I had about half this chapter written before I even posted the second one, but the second half fought with me like a hydra. And until now, I did not have any flames.
You've probably noticed by now that Louise's vocabulary is improved to a small extent. I attempted to keep similar quirks to contain the same spice, but it occurs to me that as the third scion of one of the most powerful noble houses in the country, her vocabulary should at the very least not look like that of a third grader who owns a dictionary. I choose to believe her language use is more of a design choice to make the series easier to parse, and less a reflection of her actual character and intelligence level.
Aside from this, I strive to try and keep Louise as in character as possible for any given situation, perhaps gradually changing her as the story moves. (Though certainly not this quickly, three chapters in or not it has still only been one day. Next chapter we get to move into canon. Or at the very least, derailing canon.)
So if you happen to notice her acting wildly out of character, feel free to call me on it in either review or PM. I may not agree, but I will try to respond with an explanation if I do not. And who knows, maybe I will agree, and try to fix it in the future.
(Edited on 7/25/2016 with the help of a bro)