CHAPTER 8: CONFESSION
(Multi-person POV)
"What did you just say, flamebreath?"
"I'll take you on anytime, snowflake!"
"BRING IT ON THEN!"
As expected, a cloud of dust formed in the center of the hall, where a fire element dragon slayer, and an exhibitionist ice mage, were duking out against each other.
"HEY! WATCH IT!"
"YOU STEPPED ON MY FOOT!"
"CRAP! THAT WAS MY LAST BOTTLE OF BEER!"
"THAT'S IT!"
And soon enough, more than half of the guild had joined the fray, the mass of brawlers spinning like a top, sending chairs and tables flying in every direction.
"ENOUGH!" shouted a red-haired swordswoman in her most intimidating tone.
"HAHAHA! THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT ?!"
"I'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO FIGHT LIKE A REAL MAN!"
No effect. The fight continued as if they had not heard anything.
"I SAID ENOUGH!" shouted the female, this time with even more force, only for her to be ignored once again.
"YEAH, THAT HURT, DIDN'T IT, PINKY?"
"YOU WISH, YOU STRIPPER! YOU HIT LIKE A LITTLE GIRL!"
"Kihihihi, this looks like fun!"
"Darn it," cursed the scarlet-haired female, as more and more people started to join in the mess. "Why the hell are they not listening to me?"
"Want me to make them stop?" inquired another female voice.
"Please do," the other woman sighed. "It seems like my threats are no longer working like they used to."
"Alright then," replied the other female.
"HEY GUYS, MIND IF I JOIN?!" she shouted in a cheerful voice.
Suddenly, a chill was felt emanating through the air, the noise coming from ongoing brawl suddenly stopped, as everyone became stiff as a statue.
The brawlers slowly turned their heads toward the direction from whence the voice came, and saw a pink-haired female looking at them, her eyes closed, wearing a 'gentle' smile on her face.
For a moment, everything was still, as if time itself has stopped. Then...
"SHIT!"
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
It was fortunate that all of them had managed to either get out of the hall, or find cover under a table, for in the next moment...
BOOM!
There was a blinding flash of light, and soon enough, dust and smoke was flying everywhere, as the boyish female with pink hair unleashed her wrath upon them, firing a powerful explosion which brought destruction to everything in its wake, except for the lives of its victim, the poor fools who dared piss her off now cowering in fear.
"There, that should do it," said the girl cheerfully, as she rubbed her hands together, wiping the dust off them.
For as they soon realized, the girl, while she had a rather long patience on most things, unfortunately had a short fuse on others, and aside from that...
"'Cough. Cough.'Hey salamander, you still alive?" asked a spiky haired man with nails on his face, who was currently wearing his usual annoying grin on his face but it was obvious he was shaken: the fact that he was sweating profusely, as well as the fact that he was clutching his jewels, gave him away, remembering that his Secret Dragon Slayer Arts: Balls of the Iron Dragon, had not been able to save him when he irritated her in the past.
The person he was talking to, however, was not listening, for he was too busy contemplating on his misfortune.
"Why," wailed a pink-haired male, tears flowing from his eyes. "Why, of all people, did she have to end up being friends with ERZA?!"
And as he continued crying his heart out, many in the guild could not help but bow their heads in sympathy, both for the others, and for themselves, for each one of them, having faced the pinkette's fury before, despite their personal differences, could not help but share the same sentiment.
-BREAK-
(Louise POV)
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Mmmm," the girl replied to my questions, nodding head, as she began rinsing the clothes.
As she told me this I merely smiled in response, before turning my attention back to the task at hand, as I tried to take as much of the work off her a possible. For Siesta may try to act fine, but there was no way she could fool me. The fact alone that her hands were slightly trembling was a dead giveaway.
I wanted to talk to her, about what happened, but whenever I tried, I found that I couldn't. For from what I could tell, she did not seem to want to talk about it, and I thought it would be best not to press her. In fact, if I were to be honest with myself, I have no idea what to tell her, and since we were apparently in silent agreement with the issue, I decided to put it off for later. Besides, there are more pressing matters at the moment.
It was morning, and currently, Siesta and I had been tasked by Madam Porsha to take care of the laundry, and I have to admit, I could not help but be grateful to her for it. For as of the moment, the rumours about me were still on the go, and the fact that my fellow worker, save for a few, had been treating like I was some superior entity, something which really irked me, and I was glad to get away.
Yes, it was annoying. Ever since I returned, I ended up having to face plenty of problems. True, my objective for coming back to Halkegenia in the first place was not to take a vacation, yet I never expected other complications rising, and they just had to come one after the other. Just my luck.
"Right, we're done here," I said, as I hung the last piece of laundry and left it to dry. "Let's get back to the castle."
As we walked towards our quarters, however, I could not help but notice some of the students gossiping as usual, although this time, I was not the centre of their attention. True, some of them would still stare at me when we passed, but the topic they were talking about, however, was something else.
"Hey, did you know?"
"I heard Osmond's office was attacked."
"Have you seen the large hole on the wall?"
"It must have been a powerful spell for it to be able to do something like that."
"They say Foquet was behind it."
For what happened the night before was one which made me greatly worried, not because of what happened to the wall, not because the mage who had caused it was powerful, no. The reason I was on edge, was because of the fact that my sister was involved, and I have to admit I was really badly shaken.
For while I no longer consider myself a Valliere, that did not mean that I no longer care of them. And if I hadn't made it on time, I don't even want to think about what could have happened to my sister. Still, at least because of it, I had been able to achieve one of my objectives, at least I hope so. If not, then I'll just have to find another way to convince her to take it, perhaps I could have Madam Emily back Zero on this one.
After all, it was for Cattleya's sake that I had, with difficulty, asked our guild's medic to make them.
That aside though, I was once again faced with another crisis.
To be honest, I did not really have much of an idea as to what exactly was going on, and I actually contemplated on visiting Old Osmond in my mask to ask him about it, but I decided not to. For the night before, I had just allowed myself to be seen. True, it was dark at the time, so it was unlikely any of them could have recognized me, but if... no, once Cattleya tells them about what happened, they might realize that the person they saw with her was Zero. And while I did save her life, and I could not help but feel that she will try to defend me, but the fact that I was in the school at the middle of the night, at the same time that an attack occurred, was just too suspicious.
True, I could always say that I was there in the act of apprehending a criminal, but the timing of my appearance... well, it would be best not to draw too much attention to myself than I already have.
Thus, I had to gather information through other means, and directly asking for answers was not an option.
Based from the rumours, however, I somehow managed to piece some things together. True, gossip normally has a lot of inaccuracies, but that did not mean that none of it was true.
Foquet the Crumbling Dirt. According to the rumours , he is an infamous thief, stealing valuables from the nobility. Once he has set his eyes on something, no one is able to stop him, and not even the most powerful mage/s, nor well-laid traps, and not even vaults protected by powerful spells, could keep them away from his grasp.
An earth mage who wore a mask over his face, able to summon a powerful golem, and most of all, a master of stealth. Based from the descriptions, the person I encountered the night before definitely fit the bill.
For the night before, after I left my sister, I attempted to track him down, but no matter how hard I tried, I was unsuccessful. True, I was able to lock on to his energy for a while, but then, all of a sudden, it vanished, and I was left without direction, and since it was pointless to continue, I decided to let it go. True, I held a personal grudge against him for what he did to my sister, but there were other things I needed to prioritize, namely taking care of Siesta. Besides, despite the damage, no one had been hurt in the encounter. And letting a thief get away with stealing some jewels wouldn't harm anybody.
Or so I thought.
...
"... if it falls into the wrong hands, it would doom us all..."
...
In truth, I only heard about it by accident. Given what happened, as well as the fact that some member of the Royal Family would be arriving in two day's time for the Familiar Evaluation Fair, I knew that security would become even tighter. And it is for precisely this reason why I refrained from attempting eavesdrop on their conversations. For while did have some skill when it comes to stealth-related magic, I was not sure if it was enough to bypass any and all security measures that had been put in place.
However, that one phrase, which I accidentally overheard old Osmond telling Colbert the moment they went out of the office, was enough to put me on alert.
For based from what he was saying, whatever it was that had been taken, was not simply wealth or riches.
It was something dangerous.
"?!"
Thinking about things while walking is certainly not a good habit. For when you don't pay attention to your surroundings, a lot of things could happen. You could end up tripping on a branch, slipping on a wet floor, or if you're unlucky enough, walk headfirst into a wall like an idiot.
Which, due to my distracted state, was exactly what happened to me, except that instead of banging into a wall, I ran into a moving pile of books, though given that it was a moving pile of books, it meant that whoever was carrying them, since they couldn't see up front, had been just as much of an idiot as I've been.
Plump.
Still, at least I did not fall to the ground in a pathetic manner, for while I lost my balance, my head ended up landing on something soft, which prevented my...
Wait... something soft?
"WAAA! I'M SORRY!" and before I could stop myself I was shouting on reflex, as I bowed my head in apology, partly for being partially responsible for the accident, but more because of the thought that entered my mind. Damn it. Why the hell am I having these kind of thoughts?!
"No I should be the one apologizing," replied a gentle female voice. "I was the one who wasn't looking where I was going."
As I heard the person speak, I could not help but feel my heart leap, for that voice.
Slowly, I raised my head, and found myself face to face.
With my sister, Cattleya.
-BREAK-
(Louise POV)
"Oh, Founder," squealed a female voice in delight, as she cuddled a fluffy little creature in her arms. "He's so cute!"
"She, actually," another female voice, belonging to a pink-haired woman, corrected her.
"I really wish I could keep her," the black-haired female pouted, as she handed the furry white cat back to her owner.
Meow
To the pink-haired woman's mild surprise, however, said cat suddenly slid out of her grip, before jumping onto the maid's shoulder.
"Oh my, she seems to have taken a liking to you, Siesta. Perhaps it would be better if she stayed with you instead?"
"Really? Can I really keep her?"
"Of course."
"Thank you very much!"
And with that, the black-haired female once again squealed, while the ball of fur started rubbing itself against her cheek.
Yes, the scene unfolding before is quite amusing, and thus, I could not help but feel my lips curling upwards into a smile. After all, it was nice to see that some things haven't changed.
"Meredy, are you alright? You look kind of pale." My friend Siesta looked at me, worry written all over her face.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," I replied in assuring tone, and as I moved my eyes to the side, I could not help but notice that my sister Cattleya, was wearing the same concerned expression.
In truth, I already had a feeling that my body would react like this. After all, the room we were currently in, was the exact same room that was once used by Louise Francoise le Blanc de La Valliere. The room where she... where I, spent my time crying in agony, yet having no one to hear me, no one to give me support, no one to give me words of comfort, and the only witness to my struggle were the four walls which surrounded my room. There were so many places in the Academy that brought back painful memories, yet this one place was where all of it was fused together.
For this was the room where I had taken my life, a room that was filled with memories of nothing but the nights I spent in torment.
In truth, I already knew where we were headed, the moment my sister told us we were going to her room. After all, it was no secret that my two sisters had been it as their living quarters whenever they visit the school, having made sure that no one else would occupy it, and while I must admit that I was touched by their gesture, it did not exactly made me feel any better.
I actually wanted to run away, to refuse, but I had been unable to, for the care and worry I felt for my sister Cattleya overwhelmed me, and thus Siesta and I helped her carry her them. Besides, as I thought about it, it would look even more suspicious if I refused anyway, since it might appear to her that I was afraid of coming here, which was actually, exactly correct.
And now I could not help but sense a feeling of dread, adding to the already unpleasant state I was in, in fear of being discovered. For already it was taking a lot out of me just to keep my composure, yet despite this fact, my discomfort was still evident to my companions. I need to find a way out of this and fast, for I was almost at my limit.
"Oh, look at the time," I began, while I thought up a good excuse in my head. "I'm sorry, Ms. Valliere, but I believe it's time for us to..."
?!
A few moments before, I was afraid, afraid of the possibility that I would get caught up in my lies. Now, however, as I saw her fall to her knees, trembling, clutching at her stomach, I could not help but feel fear, fear which was much worse than what I felt before.
"MS. VALLIERE!" shouted Siesta, as she rushed forward to support her, the cat jumping off her shoulder, hissing in protest at her sudden movement.
"Wait!" I cried, as I grabbed Siesta's hand, who looked at me with a puzzled expression mixed in with her worry.
"Wha..."
"Siesta," I cut her off, keeping my voice as calm as I could. "Please go and fetch Madam Emily."
"But..."
"NOW!"
Upon hearing me shout, Siesta seemed to have been brought back to her senses, nodding, before she went off, her new pet following behind her.
It had been difficult, extremely difficult, to keep my composure, and the fact that I was now riddled with worry was not helping. However, if I allowed myself to panic, if I allowed myself to lose to my fear, I would not be able to help anybody. I would not be able to help her.
"Ms. Valliere?" I asked, as I approached my sister, who was still in a kneeling position.
No response. It seems like she has fallen unconscious.
"Ms. Valliere, are you alright?" I asked again, as I reached out to tap her gently on the shoulder, only for my sister to slump sideways on the floor, still and unmoving.
I have already seen it. The number of times I have seen something similar happen was so many that I have already lost count. However, every time it happened, even if it happened to an enemy, I have never really enjoyed it. True, it was fun taking down opponents, and leaving them lying face-first into the dirt, but it had never been amusing, and had in fact been painful, whenever I had been forced to take the extra mile, even if my objective was to protect my friends.
For no matter how evil they had been, in the rare occasion that we were left with no other choice, no matter how many people had suffered, how many innocents had lost or had their lives ruined because of them, even if they were a hopeless case, even if we knew that if we let them live, they will only continue destroying the lives of more people, it had never been fun, nor had it ever been easy, to kill them. Whether friend or foe, innocent or not, it had always brought us grief, to see people die in front of our eyes.
But when it was your friend, when it was someone who you loved dearly, it was even worse, much worse, as if the world around you was falling apart.
And right now, the fear that I felt, which had already increased tenfold, had gone even higher, and for the first time in a long time, I was terrified. For I realized, that my sister Cattleya, had no pulse.
?!
And to make things even worse, lying on the floor, was the bottle, from which my sister had swallowed something just a few minutes back. It was the bottle of medicine I gave her!
"No, it can't be, it was supposed to heal her! It was supposed to cure her!" I could feel my vision becoming blurred, as I desperately started shaking her limp body.
"Ms. Valliere?"
No response.
"Ms. Valliere, can you hear me?"
Still no response.
"Ms. Valliere, please wake up!"
No, this isn't real.
"Ms. Valliere, please... wake up!"
This can't be happening!
"Ms. Valliere..."
No, this has to be a dream. There's no way that... no...
"Big sister... big sister... please..." I pleaded, as I felt hot tears begin flowing down my cheek, yet no matter what I did... it was just too hard to accept...
"Big sister, please wake up."
I know it was useless.
"Big sister!"
I know there was no point, yet I just couldn't stop myself.
"BIG SISTER!"
There was nothing I could.
"I'm s-sorry. I know I shouldn't have lied to you... I was scared. I didn't know what to do."
And as I held her lifeless body in my arms, I was unable to stop myself from crying in grief and sorrow, as I shouted the words filled with the truth, words the contained my true emotions, yet it was too late.
"BIG SISTER, IT'S ME! IT'S ME LOUISE! I LOVE YOU! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"
For my words, no matter how loud I say them, she would never hear them, my feelings, no matter what I do, would never reach her.
"I know, little Louise, I know."
?!
The moment I felt her pulse gone, the moment I realized she was no longer breathing, I felt as if the world was falling apart around me.
But now I could feel it once again, her pulse, her heartbeat, her warmth.
And as I looked down at her face, tears flowing down her eyes, as she wore a gentle smile on her face, I could not help but feel joy and relief at what I saw.
"And just so you know, I love you too."
"BIG SISTER!" I cried, burying my head in her chest, as my sister wrapped her arms around me.
I was confused. I was puzzled. I did not know exactly what was happening. Still, it was not really that important. All I know was that my sister was alive.
And to me, that was all that mattered.
-BREAK-
(? POV)
Inside of a carriage, which was being driven by winged horses, two people, an auburn-haired female wearing armor, and a purple-haired woman, whose body was wrapped in a brown cloak, were currently seated, the former eyeing the latter, who was currently looking out of the window, curiosity written all over her face.
"Your Highness?" inquired a stern, but respectful female voice.
"Hmmm?"
"I hope I'm not being rude or anything, but I thought that affair at the academy did not interest you? What made you change your mind?"
As she asked this question, an eerie silence passed between them, and the only sound that could be heard was the gentle flapping of wings..
"I'm sorry," the purple-haired woman whispered after a while. "But this is something personal."
"I see," replied the auburn-haired woman, before she too looked out of the window, not to enjoy viewing the clouds, but to hide the grim expression that appeared on her face.
Yes, she knew that it was not her place to question her superior's decisions, especially if they did not have anything to do with military affairs. However, as it was her to duty to protect her at all cost, she firmly believed that even if that were the case, she should at least know the reason behind it.
For the female knight remembered, the number of times that the two of them had gone out in secret, personal affairs of her superior which, while normally harmless, one of which was now a possible threat to the very security of their country. And while their current trip had a legitimate cause, she still could not help but feel worried.
"?!"
Suddenly, with a reflex that could have only been gained through years of training, the auburn-haired female knight caught her purple-haired companion before she fell to the carriage floor, and allowed her to slump her head on her shoulder, for she had fallen asleep.
She knew what her duty was to her country, and she knew that she should have told her superior's mother, who was in turn, her superior's superior, about it. However, she had not, she had not performed that particular obligation, for her superior was no longer just her superior...
...she was also her friend...
Still, she could not help but wonder exactly what it was that piqued her friend's interest.
And as she too, closed her eyes to get some rest, though one of her hands never left the hilt of her sword, she hoped, and prayed to the Founder, with all her heart, that whatever it was would not add to her list of problems. For she already had enough on her plate, worrying about the well-being of her friend, while at the same time, making her own personal plans, to uncover the truth of a certain affair, in which her whole family, was burned along with an entire town...
...so that she can take her revenge upon the ones who were responsible for it...
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Alright, another chapter out. Well, I have to admit, this chapter was quite the challenge for me, since I attempted to write a heavy drama scene using the first person point of view. Yeah, I know it might suck, and perhaps some of you really think that it does, but really, this is the best I can do with it, so I hope you find it good enough.
Anyway, as of the moment, I am actually having some trouble with making flashbacks of Earthland, owing to the fact that there is a possibility that there will be character deaths, and apparently there was one, in the FT canon. Yeah, Mashima's plots are great, but I really hope he's just trolling with the supposed death of a certain cool ice mage from last week's manga release, and that puts me in a dilemma as to the time Louise spent in Earthland, as well as the ones who will appear in my story. Of course, I always have the option of making an alternate route, but I really want to follow FT canon to an extent at least.
Also, as for the thing about Saito not appearing thing, well, a friend of mine advised me to think about it, due to the fact that I'm planning to follow some canon facts of Zero no Tsukaima, and if I say part of what I intend to remain canon-based is related to the twin moon'seclipse and Staff of Destruction, I think you can guess what I mean. Well, I am already firm on my decision that he will never be summoned by Louise, but who knows, he just might make an appearance later on the story, but that's still up for debate.
Back to FT, we all know that they refrain from killing people, or even their target monsters as much as possible, and mostly they are shown to have only been beaten to a pulp. However, FT was made to look that way, and even though it was toned down, and even if they avoid taking lives if they could, it is unlikely that none of the protagonist characters had killed anyone (well, except Lucy and a few others, but who knows what happened in the unwritten missions) in the past. I'll post examples at random.
Natsu for one, killed Brain/Zero (and since he ate Jellal's flame of guilt, according to Brain/Zero, it would be as if he committed the same crimes as its source), Jellal killed Simon (and together with Ultear and Meredy, annihilated several Dark Guilds later on as atonement), Mystogan obliterated Phantom Lord's branches, and Erza's weapons are blades, so it's unlikely that no one has fallen to her blade, especially during her escape from the Tower of Heaven, Gajeel and Juvia were once members of Phantom Lord and we all know what type of person their guild master Jose was, and as for Ultear, well it's obvious, and with Mira's former personality before Lisanna disappeared for a while and everyone thought she was dead, as well as the fact that she was said to have destroyed an entire city with Satan Soul: Halphas (correct me if I got the spelling wrong), it's even more obvious. Oh, and I forgot to mention, when the Raijin tribe was first introduced in the anime, the four had obliterated an entire guild, and since Laxus was still more of a hothead, proud, ruthless, and headstrong at the time, even though he had undergone a lot of development and had actually matured to a point that he could keep his cool even against the worst insults instead of immediately blasting them with lightning, well, they were unlikely to have been simply beaten to a pulp.
Yeah, the plot's somehow romanticized, but it's more likely than not that they have killed before, even Wendy, one of the nicest among them.
And as to the reason why Louise returned to Halkagenia, well, I've already placed bits and pieces about it, and I will be slowly revealing it.
But enough about that...
And like always, I hope you enjoy this chapter...
Later then people...
