Alvarez was usually fairly organized and calm while their emperor was away. August dealt with the majority of political matters, with Invel and Irene supervising. Occasionally, they'd bring in Jacob for assistance, but the rest were more so for military purposes. Brandish specifically was difficult to persuade into focusing on actual work, which explained why she was the first to encounter them.
Really, Brandish had assumed they were simply cats at first. She'd been wandering around, trying to find the most exotic fruit smoothie in Ishgar for a change when she saw the first one. It was a cute little guy, with grey fur and a white spot around one of his eyes. The cat had stared at her, and seemed to be even dressed up as many people did with their pets. Yet…he was cute. Brandish wanted him. So, when the cat began walking away, Brandish followed. "Adorable. I want to find you another cute outfit to wear."
The cat turned towards her, seeming to pause at that. "Wait. You want to…dress me?"
She blinked, wondering if she'd heard properly. "You speak." She tilted her head, frowning. "Maybe you aren't a cat after all." Yet, that didn't change what she desired. "If you come with me without resistance, this will be easier. His majesty doesn't let me keep pets when he's around. He claims allergies will make his army less likely to focus. If you can speak, it means you are intelligent and can stay hidden. Which means you are the only suitable pet for me to have."
"A pet?" The cat actually seemed to glare at her, crossing arms over his chest. "I'll have you know that I'm an upstanding member of the Exceed race! Our queen will surely stop you from—hiya!" He made a strange shriek as Brandish made him even smaller than he was before. She was almost certain he was cuter that way, and it also made it impossible for him to run from her. Bending down, she picked him up, holding him between her index finger and thumb at the base of his neck. "Put me down! I'm not some pet—"
"I'm going to call you Spot, because you have a spot by your eye." His opinion didn't matter, after all. She could take whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it.
Spot became her first pet, and Brandish did just as she promised. He was fed, given clothing, and used for her personal entertainment when she was forced to be in Vistarion for work. Not even Invel suspected of her hiding the Exceed away in her private room in the palace. Even if he did, Brandish left him shrunken in size when she left, so he would appear to be nothing more than an insect wandering around her room should someone enter. Yet, the next time she took a vacation to Ishgar, she found another like him. Considering how Spot continued to resist, she decided perhaps he was lonely being without others of his kind. She'd tried to be kind with the new cat too, but again, none of them seemed to want to be her pet. She just couldn't understand why not.
It happened the same way as before, and again, the same pattern emerged. It did not take long for her to grow a rather large collection of cats in her room. There were enough that Brandish could hardly let all of them wander around at full size at once. Yet, things could not remain as peaceful as she pictured them being.
"Brandish! You've been hiding away in there all day. We must complete the trading agreement with Bosco before the end of the day." Dimaria was pounding on her door, demanding her attention. Again, she wondered why they didn't just leave it to August and Invel like usual. Sighing, she glanced at the door.
"Go away." One of her pets was in her lap, sitting stiffly as Brandish pat his head. She reached over, grabbing a brush to start styling the cat's hair too. She had just gotten a new bow for her pets and thought it would look perfect on the orange one sitting with her now. "I don't feel like working on trade right now. We're on a break until his Majesty returns, after all. If he doesn't work, I don't know why we should."
"Aww, don't be like that, Randi." The door opened without warning, and Brandish quickly shrunk down her pet as the blond entered. Dimaria glanced around, frowning. Little specs seemed to crawl around the room everywhere, different colors without any distinct features to be seen. "Did you have secret visitors? Seems like you're trying to keep something hidden after all."
"Don't tell August." Dimaria might be okay with them, but August would take her pets away. With a wave of her hand, the cat in her lap returned to full size and Brandish began brushing her again. "They're my new family. I've been bored, and I started a collection of them, here in Alvarez. Since they're in my room, we don't have to worry about it hindering training."
"So that explains what Invel was complaining about earlier…"
"Invel? My pets have nothing to do with him."
Dimaria grinned, reaching forward and grabbing her wrist. "Come with me, and you'll see exactly what's up with our little ice prince right now." Brandish barely had time to shrink down Cathy (her pet) before she was dragged out of her room once more.
Brandish would have resisted, since she wanted to be with her pets, but it seemed like too much effort for little reward. She'd return after seeing what Invel was up to. So, Dimaria brought her into their gathering room, where Invel seemed to be scrambling to write out over various pages of paper. "Any luck, Invel?"
"Shh. Don't interrupt." Invel glared over at her, shaking his head. "How they even managed to be destroyed is a mystery, but it is of utmost importance that I recreate our guild records exactly as they once were. Luckily, we have among us one who has an excellent recollection." August was sitting down as well, looking up and nodding. "As for me…I am unfortunately stuck with trying to decipher what was once on these shredded remains of our records. It is as if someone let a wild animal into our home…"
"I know. I wonder exactly how such a thing could get here…" Dimaria grinned, glancing over at Brandish. "Do you know anything about that, Randi?"
Staring down at the table, she huffed and turned her head. "I'd hardly concern myself with such remedial work. You know I've been away on vacation lately."
"And that's all you've been doing." August looked over at her. "I do believe I taught you better than this, Brandish. There are times to relax, however, it is important to remember our duty first. As one of the Spriggan Twelve, you have responsibilities here as well, and your constant absence has been putting too much strain on us."
"I'm starting to think I might need to take another."
"Now?" Invel stood up, glaring at her. "When we have to recreate records that have existed for decades now? His majesty will think we are failures if he returns now. If these records are not recreated, everything will fall apart. Records are the first step to maintaining peace. Without them, how can we know which wizards are involved in a legal guild? We might just let a criminal go free, simply because he claimed to be a part of the Flying Monkey guild, despite truly being a murderer. We could let an assassin into the heart of Vistarion, believing him to be legitimately harmless!"
Invel was panicking. Brandish blinked, titling her head at him. He never panicked, not over anything. Invel was calm and collected, patient with everyone. Yet, this side of him made her smile faintly. "Well…if it means an assassin trying to annoy us, I don't think I have a choice, Randi. Sorry, but I can't let this keep going."
"No!" Brandish moved towards Dimaria, grabbing her arm and pouting. "You can't…"
"Invel, I'd suggest directing your anger towards our little princess here." She ruffled Brandish's hair playfully, while Brandish squeaked in anger. With a quick motion, she shrunk Dimaria down before she could say anything more, picking her up to try and run out. However, August was faster, releasing her spell and returning Dimaria to her regular size. Brandish moved to shrink her again, but August countered her spell this time before it could hit.
"Brandish, that is enough! We do not attack each other, not when we need to understand exactly how such an event could have possibly occurred."
She looked at her feet, finally stopping her resistance at August's demand. Since he was the one that found her after losing Grammy, she'd never been able to resist his orders. She wanted to serve her country, to defend her home, but most of all, she wanted to not be so alone, to stay with August and thank him for all that he'd done for her. Dimaria looked up at them, glaring at Brandish and shaking her head.
"What the hell, Randi? I'm trying to freaking deal with this before your stupid collection destroys even more of our work." Brandish looked up at her, while Dimaria crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you want to be stuck doing all this work around here? Or would you rather get help getting rid of those pests so you can continue traveling as much as your heart wants instead?"
Were they really worth all of that work? Thinking about her collection, Brandish paused. None of them were fond of her, and they had indeed placed her in a position where she was being cornered by August and Invel and forced to do work that wasn't her responsibility at all. "Collection? What could Brandish have possibly gotten into that could cause such damage?" Invel glanced over at her. "Surely, she wouldn't be stupid enough to let this happen."
Yet, cats didn't need to be large to have claws. Staring down at the shredded papers, she could see how some of them merely had holes scattered throughout, while others had the tiniest of tears dragged through them in small intervals. "I…I was lonely…and they were so cute…" She trailed off, seeing Invel glaring at her. The room got colder, and she took a step back while August gave Invel a narrowed gaze in warning. "I'm sorry. They were supposed to stay in my room! I told them to stay there, but I guess they didn't listen."
"Who was supposed to stay there?"
Brandish glanced towards the door, away from Invel. "My pets."
"His majesty explicitly told us that we were not allowed pets in Vistarion."
"But they can talk! They're not like normal cats." She sniffled, looking up at them. "One of them even tells me she's supposed to be their queen. They are adorable and have their own hierarchy and everything!"
"Brandish." Invel spoke calmly, looking up and meeting her gaze. "Get rid of them."
"But where should they even go?"
"Anywhere but here!" Invel lifted the shredded papers, shoving them in her face. "They've caused too much damage, and I cannot allow it to continue. Clearly, you have no respect for his majesty's orders and if you do not get rid of them yourself, I will make sure to freeze over each and every one of your little—"
"You wouldn't." Brandish met his gaze, narrowing her eyes.
"I would. If it means protecting Alvarez, there is nothing I would not do."
She steadily watched him, before sighing, realizing Invel never joked around about such things. Her poor little babies…she wouldn't be able to keep them after all. Though, that didn't mean they had to go far. Slowly, an idea formed. There were those mountains far off, where people couldn't build cities due to the lack of water around. His majesty said dangerous creatures were there, but her cats had survived alone before she came along so they'd be fine. Plus, she could visit them there whenever she wanted. "Fine. But I'm not helping with recreating any of your stupid records then. I'll have my hands full with trips to and from Vistarion with my pets."
"Just how many pets could you possibly have?"
Brandish tilted her head, trying to think about it. How many had she found? "Hmm…was it 153? No, that seems too low…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "At least 155."
"Brandish! What on earth made you—" Invel pressed his hand to his temple, pushing his glasses against his face as he sighed. "Never mind, I don't think I want to know. Just…make yourself useful and get rid of them. Now."
With a nod, she ran off to do just that, giving them their new home in the wild. Oddly, her pets seemed happier there, and welcomed her on more friendly terms when she visited them less often. However, they always stood as a reminder that maybe she really should listen to his Majesty's rules more often. She had nearly destroyed Alvarez, after all, simply because she had an interest in owning a few cats of her own. At least, that was the story Invel told, in the vaguest possible terms. Really, it must remain Alvarez' greatest secret in his mind. Enemies could not find out that the only thing required to bring Alvarez to its knees was a swarm of flying, talking cats with claws that could sneak into the records' room for revenge on the one who had taken them captive.
I'm still alive everyone! It has certainly been a while since I've posted anything, but things got really hectic for me lately with work and school. As a result, all of my writing projects got put on halt, and I no longer really have anything ready to post here. This is a one-shot I wrote a while ago, a bit of a less serious piece inspired by wondering what happened to all of the Exceed after they came over from Edolas (as well as trying to come up with a way to make them an actual threat to Alvarez in some form). I won't have another full-length story being posted for a while, since my last project was going to be a rather long story and I've forgotten a lot of the details on where I was going to take the draft. It's gonna be another strange one, but I'm still rather excited for where it's gonna go. For now, I figured I'd post this to at least say I'm still writing and that more stories will come soon, now that classes are over. I just don't know exactly how soon, since it depends on if I hit any blocks when writing the story idea of mine or not. Either way, feel free to leave a review on this ridiculous story and tell me what you think!