Alright! Chapter 3 baby! There's not much to say about this one. Though I do have a neat little announcement at the end of the chapter! Enjoy!
The sound of someone knocking on Nova's thin wooden door pulled him out of another dreamless sleep. He got to his feet and grabbed his bag. As he approached the door, he pulled out his dented dinner tray. He threw open the door, ready to strike, but was met with a stoic avian face.
"Good morning, Novigrad," the bird said. He had readorned his black tailcoat and pants, and stood firmly with his hands clasped behind his back.
Nova groaned and pinched the bridge of his snout. "You couldn't have waited until after I had woken up?"
"No. Lady Seraph is on a very tight schedule and has given me specific instructions to come and retrieve your things."
Nova sighed and stepped to the side, allowing the avian to step over the threshold. "Not much here to retrieve bud." Nova did not own much, considering he had to manage to fit any possessions of his into his tiny room. The only thing he had was a thin, rectangular black case tucked under his bed.
"I will take this," the bird said, grabbing the case by its handle. "Lady Seraph will be by shortly."
"Why is she coming by?"
"You are still an orphan. Documents still need to be signed relinquishing your custody to her." Without another word, much less a goodbye, the avian stepped out of the closet and disappeared down the hall.
Nova sat down on his bed. He laced his hands together and his brow furrowed as he thought back to last night.
…
"My name is Seraph, Guardian of Lightning, and I would like you, Novigrad, to become my student." Seraph gave Nova a confident grin. Nova's face, however, remained unchanged, set in an all too common icy glare. Her grin melted, giving way to a puzzled look.
"Hello?" she asked. "Did you hear me? I said—"
Nova suddenly doubled over and burst out laughing. Seraph and the avian stared at Nova in shock. They obviously were not expecting that kind of reaction.
"I'm sorry!" Nova wheezed. He put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "But do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
Ploys like this were textbook in the criminal world. The trickster would approach someone and offer something amazing, money, sex, drugs, things of that sort. They'd take their unsuspecting prey to a secluded location. Once they got there, the poor sap who took the bait was robbed, beaten, raped, killed, sometimes all of the above. Nova had luckily not experienced the latter two, but he refused to fall for the same trick twice.
Nova kept laughing. "You're good! I mean," he gestured at the avian, "you even got feathers here to put on that stupid getup!" His fit of giggling had grown to a deranged cackle at this point. "You honestly expect me to believe that a Guardian, of all people, would show up and want me, a Sadrian, to be her student? No Guardian is that dense!"
The reason behind the raptor's reaction suddenly dawned on the dragoness. "I get it," she said. "You think I'm a fraud."
"Of course I do! You dragons have wanted nothing to do with me for the last ten gods-damned years! And now, all of a sudden, you want me to become your student. All Nine Hells would freeze over before that happened!" Nova's childish giggling suddenly stopped, and his icy glare returned.
"Now that begs the question," he growled. "What do you really want from me? Money? Because if so, you're not getting shit!"
"I already told you who I am, and what I want," the dragoness responded in an even tone. She reached into her cloak. "If you want proof, here it is." She pulled out a silver, circular pendant. It was engraved with the side-profile of a dragon: a symbol recognized everywhere.
"That's the Seal of the Guardians," Nova said, his eyes wide.
The dragoness grinned, pleased that she had finally gotten the reaction she wanted. "Yes it is, and I'm sure you know the punishment for forging a false Guardian's Seal."
Nova swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, a death sentence." His surprise did not last long, for he quickly wiped his astonishment off his face. "So, you have some pretty substantial proof, but that doesn't explain one thing: why in the hells would you want me, of all people to be your student?"
It was the dragoness' turn to change expressions. Her confident smirk had been replaced by a somber frown. "Tak," she said, "would you step outside for a moment?" The avian, who had remained silent since the dragoness had entered, nodded and left the room.
The dragoness looked back at Nova and sighed. "There are countless reasons for me to want you as a student. You show promise, Novigrad. You're easily one of the most talented fighters that I've ever seen. You already outclass most of the students at the Temple. You have the mind of a master tactician. You can almost predict an opponent's moves before they make them. And I think that the Temple is the perfect place for those talents to grow."
Nova crossed his arms over his chest. "So you want me because I can fight? I don't need some aristocrat's permission to kick ass. I was doing that before you ever even thought of coming here." His eyes narrowed. "But I get a sense you already know that. So that means there must be another reason."
The dragoness shook her head. "I know about the orphanage. I know that you were beaten, and neglected as a child. I know that you started going into town to buy your own food because sometimes the orphanage staff forgets to feed you, and when they do, it's the leftovers from previous meals. I know that you sleep on a wooden board in an old cleaning closet with no windows. And I know that it's been happening for the last ten years."
Nova's arms dropped to his sides and his fists clenched. "So that's it?" he growled, through gritted fangs. He stared at the floor. "You want me to come with you because you pity me?" His eyes met the dragoness'. They were full of rage. Primal, violent, merciless rage. "Let me explain, since apparently no one can seem to get it through their thick skulls! I DON'T WANT YOUR FUCKING PITY!" He punched the wall, sending a spiderweb of cracks shooting across the marble surface. "WHERE IN THE HELLS WAS THAT 'I'M SO SORRY FOR YOU' SHIT TEN FUCKING YEARS AGO, HUH?! I'LL TELL YOU FUCKING WHERE! IT WAS NOWHERE! FUCKING NOWHERE! WHERE WAS IT WHEN I WAS HAVING TO CATCH AND COOK RATS, FUCKING RATS, TO KEEP FROM DYING OF FUCKING STARVATION? NOWHERE! WHERE WAS IT WHEN I WAS TEN AND GOT FUCKING STABBED FOR WINNING A CARD GAME? FUCKING NOWHERE! IT'S THE SAME FUCKING SHIT OVER AND FUCKING OVER AGAIN! AND I'M FUCKING TIRED OF IT!"
Nova's furious sneer began to melt into a horn-to horn smile. "I FINALLY REALIZED THAT YOUR PITY DOESN'T MEAN JACK-SHIT! SO DO YOU KNOW WHAT I DID? I STARTED KILLING TO SURVIVE! AND I GOT PRETTY FUCKING GOOD AT IT TOO! YOU KNOW LAST NIGHT WHEN I GOT BACK TO MY ROOM, SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A BRILLIANT FUCKING IDEA TO TRY AND TAKE MY WINNINGS! SO YOU KNOW WHAT I DID?"
Nova took a step towards the dragoness. "I BASHED THAT STUPID, UGLY, PARENTLESS, PRICK'S SHIT-EATING FACE IN! HE'S DEAD! HE'S FUCKING DEAD, AND I'M THE ONE WHO FUCKING KILLED HIM!"
The dragoness backpedaled as Nova took another step in her direction. "YOUR PITY MEANS FUCKING NOTHING TO ME! SO YOU CAN TAKE IT AND FUCKING SHOVE IT WHERE THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE!"
The dragoness stared at him in stunned silence for several moments. Then, albeit quietly, she spoke. "I that you feel that way Novigrad. I know that you've only relied on yourself for years. I know that you don't trust anyone except yourself."
Nova sneered at the dragoness. "So now you think you know me? You think you understand? You don't know shit about me, and yet you come to me acting like you do!" He clenched his fists.
"We've done our research, Novigrad," the dragoness explained. "I do know you, because it's my job to know you."
"Then why the hells are you still acting like you feel sorry for me?"
The dragoness sighed and shook her head. "I'm not doing this out of pity, Novigrad," the dragoness said softly. "I'm doing it because the life you've been living is turning you into someone you don't want to be." She took several steps closer to him. "Come with me to the Temple. I can help you."
Nova thought back to what Dianha had said: "One day someone will come along who out of the goodness of their heart, wants to help you, who wants to save you from this terrible life you live. But you won't be able to recognize that." The she-wolf had been right, he knew that. But he never expected her words to apply to something like this.
"Fine," he said. "I'll do it." He looked up at the dragoness, his scowl returning for the umpteenth time. "I mean, if it turns out that you really are a fake. I can just kill you."
The dragoness, oddly enough, smiled at that. "I would expect nothing less from the infamous Black Blade. I look forward to seeing you in action, Novigrad."
…
Another set of knocks tore Nova's thoughts from his mind. He stood up and opened the door to be met with the confident grin of the yellow-scaled dragoness.
"Good morning, Novigrad," she said.
Nova groaned and grabbed his cloak and bag. "It's barely morning, woman," he said, pushing past her.
The dragoness followed him with her eyes. "Where are you going?"
Nova didn't even spare her an over-the-shoulder glance. "You already signed the papers, right? Let's go."
"Well, someone seems eager to get out of here," the dragoness observed, trotting up beside him. Her eyes narrowed and she stared at him for several moments as they descended the stairs. "I can't tell if you're excited or not? Are you?"
"I'm angry," Nova mumbled, frowning.
The dragoness cocked her head to the side. "Why? You're getting out of this place, right? You'll be getting three meals a day. What's there to be angry about?"
Nova bared his fangs and the muscles in his neck flexed. "The fact that I couldn't burn this place to the ground on my way out the door."
The dragoness shook her head. "Sadly, it is my duty as a Guardian to prevent you from doing that."
As the two entered the lobby, Nova was surprised by the number of people up and about. Almost the entire orphanage had been packed into the bottom floor, and stared as Nova and the dragoness descended the stairs.
"Sorry about all this attention," the dragoness whispered. "I think when the carriage pulled up it woke them up."
Nova smirked. "They're intrigued by you. They can tell just by looking at you that you're filthy rich." As he scanned the crowd, Nova took a hint of satisfaction when he saw the surprise on their faces. "Most of them will never see even half as much money as you're carrying right now." The dragoness frowned at that, but kept her head high as she and Nova walked towards the door. But before they made it, two drakes stepped in front of them, blocking their path.
"We're not letting you out of here!" Tobias growled. "Granite and I won't let you get away with what you did to Rheagan!" The crowd, who had been eagerly chattering had fallen silent in an instant. Tobias stared at Nova with hatred in his eyes.
Nova stepped forward and met the Ice drake's scowl with one of his own. "I hope that Rheagan's grave isn't as shallow as he was, Tobias." The raptor's lips parted, forming a terrifying smile. "Because they're going to need more room when I'm done with you two!"
"Bring it on, bastard!" Tobias roared, launching at Nova. The raptor dropped into a fighting stance as the Ice drake extended his talons.
Suddenly, a yellow bolt of lightning struck Tobias in the chest, ringing out with a loud BANG! The Ice dragon careened through the air and slammed into the wall. He crumpled to the ground, his chest now sporting a small scorch mark.
Nova turned to the dragoness next to him. That bolt had come from her. She glowered at the Ice drake as he shakily got back up. "I suggest you not try attacking him again," she said in an icy tone. "As a Guardian, it is my prerogative to protect my students from harm."
Tobias's jaw dropped. "Y-You're a… G-Guardian?"
Nova smirked at the Ice drake's reaction, even though he had wanted to be the one to fight him. He cast a quick glance at the dragoness next to him. Tobias had never seen her attack coming, and Nova barely saw it land. Whether she was a Guardian or not was still unknown to Nova, but he was sure, especially now, that she could fight.
"Come along Novigrad," the dragoness said, continuing on her way as if nothing happened. "Our train leaves in an hour." Nova quickly fell into step behind her, but as he stepped over the threshold, he paused and looked back. He remembered everything that had happened in the orphanage, all of the memories he had made, and how he wished that he had never come here.
"See you around, shitheads!" he called, making an obscene gesture. "Thanks for fucking nothing!" Content with his parting words, he turned and sauntered down the steps. Waiting for him in the snow was a carriage. Both the avian and the dragoness were standing in front of it, watching him as he approached.
"That was a pretty passionate parting message," the dragoness said, grinning. Nova responded with a silent nod.
"Shall we be going, Lady Seraph?" the avian asked.
The dragoness nodded. "Yes, we shall. This cold is starting to get to me." The avian pulled the carriage door open and the dragoness clambered in like a child excited to go on a trip. Nova followed her in.
The interior of the carriage was ornate, to say the least. The seats were a lavished crimson velvet and the walls were an intricate crisscross pattern of gold and garnet. The dragoness splayed out over the seat opposite of Nova.
"Ugh!" she groaned. "Upholding a public image is exhausting!"
From what Nova could tell, the dragoness had two sides. One was the stoic and charismatic Guardian that the people saw. The other was a laid back, sometimes obnoxious, child. Nova got a sense the latter of the two was more prevalent.
"So, Novigrad," the dragoness said, sitting up. "Once we get to the train station, we'll take the direct route to Warfang. Once we're there, we'll head into the city and get a bite to eat and prepare for the ball tonight."
Nova's eyes widened. "A what?" he asked, not quite sure he heard her right.
"A ball, silly," the dragoness said with a small giggle. "This is the beginning of a new life for you, and that calls for a celebration!"
Alright, time for the aforementioned announcement:
The characters that you know and love will now have their own theme songs! In addition, the chapters themselves will have themes as well. I have yet to find themes, but I've been able to narrow it down to a few. There should be some within the next one or two chapters. As always, make sure to leave a review, or PM me if you desire some form of human interraction.
Arrivederci!