"...I must hurry."
A little maid with chestnut hair was going through the corridor of a great manor, her apron was stained with dirt and her forehead sweaty, yet she didn't stop to fix her uniform as she hurried through the halls.
"I must find them" the brown haired girl muttered as she arrived at a certain door, before reaching for the doorknob she patted her lap and knocked on the door, only after hearing an affirmative reply from inside she entered the meeting room. "Excuse me, Emilia-sama and everyone."
"It's ok, Petra-chan." said the silver haired half-elf, as she rested her teacup on the table in front of her. "What's wrong?"
"Uhm, I just finished cleaning the floors on the eastern wing and...hm." Petra fidgets blushing shy under the gazes. "I, I wanted to ask if Beatrice-sama wanted to play with me!"
"I think you should go ask Frederica fiiiiiiirst~" said a clownish man comically "I think I saw her with Garfield a whiiiiiiile~ ago"
Petra gave a small glare towards her lord, then begrudgingly bowed. "Then I'll be leaving, Emilia-sama." she before leaving and closing the door, having omitted her Rosswal's name on purpose
"She's such a sweetheart, don't you think" Said Emilia towards the couple on the other side of the table
"I agree, Miss Emilia" Said a purple haired knight as pulled his hair back "I'm sure she's been waiting all this time to play with Beatrice-sama"
The group had just came back from their adventure on the Pleiades watchtower and everyone was resting and planning on what to do next
"I think she's also worried about... y'know" said a petite merchant in Kansai dialect as she gently patted her fox scarf
"That's truuuuue~, knowing that our knight has been taken to a rival nation also chills me to the boooooones~" said dramatically a blue haired man with clown makeup
"Yeah, if it were Kararagi I might be able to cash in some favours, but Vollachia? It will be hard to get him back with the borders closed we might even incur a war…" the petite merchant pondered while petting her fox scarf softly, there was no doubt this might have make them be on her debt if she played her cards right, but a any gambler worth their name new when a bet was dangerous, and trying to set foot on the land of the wolves as indeed dangerous
"That's right, besides we need to deliver the dragon blood to the capital and Priestella" said the knight of knights as he remembered the goal of their journey, while rescuing Subaru Natsuki was definitely important they also needed to cure the sleeping beauty sickness caused by the gluttony archbishops "Besides, there's also the luggage we brought here"
"Yeah, and we also need to deal with the archbishop we brought" affirmed Emilia as she remembered Roy Alphard, one of the Gluttony brothers and the one they captured after their fight on the tower "Maybe he can help us find Subaru"
"If we guess that his sister is still with with our Natsuki-kun then maybe they could be conneeeeected~" the court magician offered as he turned around to face his pink haired maid "What do you say, Ram?"
"Ram?"
"Huh?" *CLANK* Suddenly, Ram dropped the silver tray she was carrying *I'm sorry, Rosswaal-sama, I wasn't paying attention" apologized the devoted girl as she kneeled and picked up the tray from the ground
"You seemed distracted, what were you thinking about?" Inquired greedily the head of Hoshin trading "I'm kinda curious, y'know?"
"It's nothing, Anastasia-sama, just..." The pink haired maid mumbled as she looked at the door that the new maid just opened. "Don't you all think that Beatrice-sama has been acting a bit weird lately?"
That question left everyone frowning as they remembered how the great spirit was behaving after her contractor was taken to Vollachia by the shadow
"You're right, Beatrice-sama spent whole days in the Taygeta library" said Julius as he remembered bringing her food up the stairs to turn it into mana for sustenance... curiously she was always on the same spot in the library...
"She took it upon herself to make a detection spell and try to communicate with Subaru-kun" said Anastasia as she visualized how hard it would have been to connect them through this distance... this only made her eventual failure of such a link even more pitiful
"Yeah, and she didn't even say a word to us on the trip back home" said Emilia as she recalled how awkward was the travel as she just hugged her and Subaru's luggage, probably thinking about him "I'm sure Beako reaaaaaaally misses Subaru"
"I wasn't talking about that..." Interrupted Ram while pondering the suspicious behavior that the contracted spirit had displayed recently "Did anyone notice her... gaze?"
""Gaze?"" Asked everyone at the same time
"... it must have been a mistake then" said Ram as she corrected herself "Excuse me for being suspicious"
"It's ok, Ram-chan" said Emilia as she tried to calm down the seemingly worried maid. "I'm sure she's just concerned for Subaru."
"... Ram hopes you're right, Emilia-sama." Mumbled Ram as she thought back upon how Beatrice had looked at her a few days ago during the trip back home, with pure hatred and spite... almost as if she was looking at a villain who killed her parents, it only lasted a moment but it still sent chills down her spine the sheer bloodlust that those eyes portrayed. Before Ram could ask what happened Beatrice walked away leaving her with no explanation... and since that day Beatrice always looked at her with disgust and every interaction between them was short and unpleasant... "...I hope you're right."
Petra hurried down the stairs as she found the 'parkour course', as Subaru called it, *thump* just as she arrived at the last step something heavy landed at her said, as the maid slowly turned around to see
"That was a record! I'm sure my amazing self
Is gonna do it even better next time" Said a sharp toothed blond haired youth as he stretched his limbs, after all that training it was surprising that Garfield still had the energy to run a hundred laps around the mansion and then some. "Hey Petra, didn't notice you there, how are you doing?"
"Ah, I'm ok Garfield-sama, I wanted to ask where Fre-"
"Garfield!" Said a platinum haired boy as he tried to run by the side of the parkour course, only to stop a couple of steps away from Garfield to catch his breath. "Huff, I'm, huff, done with this."
"I'm sorry, Otto-sama, this is what happens if you tried to match Garfield in speed" said a sharp toothed blonde maid as she walked towards the group. "Oh, Petra, what are you doing here?"
"I-I finished doing my tasks and now I wanna play with Beatrice-sama please." Asked Petra as she bowed to her senior maid
"Hmmm, alright" answered Frederica "But make sure to come back for dinner, understood?"
"Understood, Frederica-oneesama" said Petra as she jogged back into the manor
"Beatrice, huh?"
"Hm? Something wrong Otto-bro?" Asked Garfield, seeing the quizzical look on one of his best friends made him worried.
"No, it's just that… I feel something odd with Beatrice." Replied Otto as while thinking
"Something odd about her? Besides not being with the Cap'n?" Garfield said grumpy, knowing that Subaru had been taken into Vollachia was quite a shock for the impressionable youth, he wanted to go rescue him but no one on the camp would let him go and storm into Vollachia, so he would need to wait to fulfill his goal of saving Cap'n and fighting one of Vollachia's divine generals, well, one a bit more alive "I wish you would all just let me go for him, it's not gonna take us a month, me and Cap'n are invincible together"
"I'm not talking about Natsuki-kun, at least not directly, have you all noticed how weird Beatrice is behaving?" Said Otto as he thought deeply
"What kind of behavior? Otto-sama" asked Frederica curiously "I haven't noticed anything"
"Maybe she just misses Cap'n or something? Everything is awesome with him" said proudly Garfield
"I'm talking about how she doesn't talk to anyone, spends all day on Subaru's room and then there's that weird stare she has sometimes, like looking at something… and how she ignores everyone around here…" mentioned Otto as she recalled how Beatrice had acted once she arrived at the manor. "And then there's that chest she's been carrying…"
"Chest? What chest?" Asked Garfield quizzically
"Beatrice-sama has been carrying a big old chest since she came back from the tower." explained Frederica. "And she hasn't let me or anyone else in the manor touch it, let alone carry it for her…"
"Yeah, when I tried to lift to help her she just slapped my hand away and screeched at me to never touch it again…" muttered Otto. "She didn't even apologize."
"I'm sorry, Otto-sama, but you should know better than to touch a lady's luggage without asking." replied Frederica. "You should go apologize to her later…" the maid then thought back to the mysterious trunk, she could understand a bit Beatrice's overprotective behavior towards it, after all… "That was Subaru-sama's luggage, after all"
"Oh, I didn't know." Otto suddenly felt guilty, surely Beatrice felt as if he was trying to take it away from her… "Wait…" but then he noticed something curious about it. "Didn't Subaru take only some clothes and provisions in his personal luggage?"
"That is correct, Otto-sama, why?" Answered Frederica as she remembered how she helped Subaru pack his things
"I mean, I could be wrong as I only held it for a second but.." Otto thought back to the sensation he had in his hand… "I swear it felt like there were books in it.."
"Books…?" Frederica asked curiously. "Why would there be books on Subaru-sama's luggage?"
"Hehehe, you two seriously are clueless…" laughed Garfield mocking the pair. "Those are surely Cap'n's own epic stories." The cat boy was certain of these as he knew that Subaru was a legend himself, so his legends must have been documented someway. "She must read them to sleep or something."
"Garfield, why would Subaru-sama hide something like that? Or Beatrice-sama keep it away from everyone?" Doubted the sharp-toothed maid.
"Aneki, it's obviously embarrassing for a man like Cap'n to have your stuff read by someone else, and Beatrice must also have some secret books." Replied Garfield with a smug expression "It's bad manners to read someone's adventures without asking permission"
*Sigh* "I guess you're right, Garfield, but I hoped they would trust me with just some old books" muttered Otto as he remembered that Beatrice didn't let anyone near her hidden treasure "Not like I would have broken it or anything"
"What kind of stories do you think there are? I would love to read how he hunted down the white whale." said Garfield as he remembered the legendary battle that he unfortunately couldn't witness.
Seeing the optimistic behaviors of his friend, Otto shakes his head and replies. "I bet there's something about Priestella, although they must have forgotten about my participation…"
The group then kept talking among themselves about the adventures they would have loved to read about, with their favorite nasty-eyed knight as the hero.
"Beatrice-sama must be in Subaru-sama's room" said Petra as she walked towards her destination, she spent almost a month away from Subaru and the rest of the gang after they went to the sage's tower and while she loved accompanying her Frederica-oneesama at work living with Rosswal was, honestly, a pain in the ass, she had a newfound respect at Ram for being able to love him.
So when she heard that Emilia-sama was coming back she hurried towards the entrance hall to welcome them properly, yet Subaru was somehow tangled into some mess in Vollachia... so only Emilia, Ram, Meili, Anastasia, Julius and Beatrice... the latter seemed particularly shocked after losing her contractor
"If Subaru isn't here then I'm gonna be the one to cheer up Beatrice-sama" she wanted to help Subaru when he needed her, and while Petra couldn't go to Subaru's aid she would at least go help make beatrice happy for him. As much as Beatrice likes to deny it she really enjoys teaching Petra about the past and magic, they were really good friends and playing together might lift their moods. She was almost arriving to Subaru's room, just around this corner and...
"...not dangerous, I suppose" Petra suddenly heard someone talk from inside "Don't worry, Betty will protect you in fact" guessing by the voice and mannerisms it was probably Beatrice, but... who was she talking with you?
"Betty will allow you to take her hand to calm you down, I suppose, so stop crying and calm down" Petra was surprised for many reasons, first whoever she was talking with was, apparently, in a bad shape. Second, Beatrice was allowing them to take her hand, only Subaru was allowed to hold Beatrice's hand, even Petra received a scolding each time she tried to lead her through the halls while pulling her hand.
Petra was a bit curious so she leaned against the slightly-opened door and tried to find who else was there, but all she could see was Beatrice's back as she argued towards whoever was accompanying her "About Clint and Annerose? Don't worry, they're not as troublesome as the rest, in fact." Troublesome? For who?
"Betty doesn't like being here anyway, in fact, if it weren't for you then Betty would have already left this hateful manor... It only has bad memories..." Bad memories? Leaving them? Why? They just spent a year here and Beatrice seemed really happy during that year, especially with Subaru... could it have been a lie? Nah, she wouldn't.
"It's tiresome to try to act nicely towards those bugs, in fact, Betty wants to give them payback for everything they've done to you, I suppose." HOLY SHIT, IT WAS A LIE! Petra was shocked to hear that, to know that the cute and innocent Beatrice was just acting nice left her gaping, she thought back to poor Subaru and how much this would hurt him.
"What do I honestly think about everyone? Well Julius is a hateful womanizer who's pushing just pushing you around, Anastasia tries to manipulate and use you like a chess piece, the maid older sister is honestly unbearable with her abuse towards you, don't get me started with that Rem you so much love, she even left you alone to die against that hunter, I suppose! Don't even get me started on Rosswal and his schemes, half of your troubles were his fault, in fact. And then there's your so loved Emilia-tan who not only takes your love for granted but leaves you behind to DIE WITH THE BURDEN! Uggghhhh!!"
Beatrice was hissing with exasperation, her hatred was evident in her words as she argued how despicable everyone, why was she so mad with everyone? "I suppose the only ones worth saving are Otto, Frederica and Petra-chan, although that tiger boy is growing into something more useful to you, I suppose. In fact, I don't understand how you keep trying to save them and make them happy... even at the cost of your own life, in fact they don't deserve you..." Beatrice muttered as her anger slowly calmed down, Petra was shocked by how deep Beatrice's feelings went, she would start to cry if Beatrice and her unknown companion listed her as unforgivable too. Who was there and why did they hate the Emilia camp so much?
"And where's Betty on this list you ask? It's obvious, I suppose... she's unforgivable too in fact" wait, what? "Twenty... more than twenty times did Betty fail you on that damned tower... And all you did was keep trying and save her and everyone else... Betty-... I don't deserve you, in fact!" Beatrice's voice now was heavy with self-hatred, it surprised Petra to hear the prideful spirit say all this...
As Petra notices the water drops falling down the floor in front of Beatrice, she swore to herself wouldn't forgive the one who made her friend cry like this. But what did she mean with twenty? Who was she trying to help so much and why? Did Subaru know of this? Petra leaned closer, trying desperately to find the one responsible for her friends misery, if she could just see their face then she would have answers, or at least she could help Emilia and the other know about it "But Betty will make up for this, in fact, Betty will make sure that no one will leave you behind again, in fact, Betty won't let you di-" *creak*
Petra held her breath as she watched the door slowly open, she could swear her heart stopped right there and then for a second as she waited for Beatrice to do or say something... She knew that it lasted just a couple seconds, but Petra could swear it was an eternity until finally
"How much did you listen, I suppose?" The coldness on Beatrice's voice ran a chill through Petra's back, she was still facing away from the door and she could swear that her left hand was shaking wildly "I asked you a question, in fact"
"Uhm, I just... I just got here and didn't hear anything, so now I'll just silently leave..." A sharp purple Cristal flew past besides her face, cutting a lock of her hair and even leaving a small and thin cut on her cheek, once she noticed what just happened she fell down on her butt and trembling "I-im so-sorry, B-beatrice-sama"
"Betty's doesn't care about your apologies, I suppose, they may work wonders on HIM but Betty has room in her heart for one person, in fact, now answer" Beatrice's hand was now being stretched, she didn't bother to turn around or even look at Petra
"I-i heard you said so-something was d-dangerous, and I just wanted to know who you were t-talking with so..." Petra was starting to cry now, watching the girl she considered her friend like this hurted her deep into her soul, she didn't want to be here, why did she have to come with Beatrice to play? She should have just stayed alone... like she was for the past few months
Beatrice's arm was now raised to the said with the fingers stretched apart, and Beatrice slowly turned her head sideways "This is troublesome, I suppose, Betty needs to think about how to deal with you, HE won't let me hurt you and I don't have more chances, but Betty can't let you run your mouth and ruin her act, in fact, not until everything is ready for HIM..." Beatrice stayed there pondering her options for a bit as she held Petra's safety on the tip of her extended fingers
"Uhm, if you let me" Petra calmed herself down and tried to talk some sense into Beatrice, she didn't know if this was something that happened in the tower or Priestella, or if she was like this from before... But there was one way to answer all the questions that were in her mind "I'm sorry, but can I thank this HIM, Beatrice-sama, I dont know why they spared my life but I want show my gratitude." Obviously, Beatrice, seemed to have a really high esteem into whoever HE was, and as Petra was apparently also on good terms with this unknown benefactor, she believed that if she asked it to HIM, then Beatrice might not do anything to him, there was just one tiny issue "I'm really sorry, but I can't see this 'HE' you're talking with, if you show me where he is I'll bow down and apologize"
"..." Beatrice finally turned around and looked properly at the scared girl on the floor, her eyes were cold, almost like she was watching an insect
"..." And Petra felt like an insect being dissected by those cold blue eyes with pink butterflies, maybe she was the butterfly being opened slowly by Beatrice
"Huff, seems like you do have some hope for the future" Beatrice sighed as she looked down on Petra "I will need to ask you to keep the secret, I suppose, do a pact with Betty just to make sure anyways, there's no hurry at all for no-" *THUD*
Suddenly, a black book fell down on top of a chest at the end of the room, and before she could even blink Beatrice had already moved to look at the dark tome, almost instinctively, Petra's breath was caught on her throat as she watched Beatrice slowly lift it in her hands, with extreme care as if she was treating something more precious than her life, the only black books she knew like this were the gospels the witch cult used, but that didn't make sense, Beatrice wasn't part of the cult, right? Right?! Her urges to turn around and run for her life were growing stronger each second
"Change of plans, I suppose" Beatrice said as she opened the chest in Wich fell the tome and opened it, taking off another book like it, why did she have more?! Petra noticed that they had some illegible drawings and a number on top, the one she took of the chest was 13 and she couldn't see the number on the other as she held it to her chest "Betty doesn't have time to deal with you, in fact" Petra slowly crawled backwards as she watched Beatrice walk closer to her with the books, one hugged tight to her chest as if to not let go and the other on her hand as it slowly approached
"P-please, y-you don't have to do this" Petra almost begged with tears in her eyes, as she felt a wall behind her back her despair only grew stronger "I'll just leave and forget this, I never met you or heard anything, just let me go..."
"Betty won't let go, in fact, Betty won't ever let go of the one who's important to her" said Beatrice a she opened the book on her hand and pointed her towards Petra, who closed her eyes in despair "Open your eyes or Betty will open them for you, I suppose"
As Petra held back a sob, she frowned her eyes closed
*Step, step, step*
Surely all this was just a joke, something that Subaru teached her...
*Step, step, step*
This must be Beatrice's idea to lift her mood or something...
*Step, step, step*
Subaru must be doing this all the time with Beatrice and they would laugh after it...
*Step, step...*
There was no way Beatrice would hurt her...
Petra took a deep breath, as she silently asked for someone to come fo- "Shamac"
Suddenly, the whole world lost shape for Petra as all her senses were shutted off, she couldn't hear anything, she couldn't feel anything, she tried to scream but even her voice was muted, recognizing Subaru's signature spell she prayed that the knight might have somehow saved her, she opened her eyes, ready to see the black, inky cloud around her but…
All Petra could see was a book practically shoved in front of her face, and as she slowly loses consciousness her last thought was I'm sorry, Subaru… I couldn't help Beatrice…
*Thud*
Beatrice looked around and searched any presences on the corridor that might have seen or heard what happened, as she didn't find anything she left both of her almost sacred tomes on the ground carefully and took Petra's ankles to drag her into the room, if anyone asked she was unconscious for a yin spell gone wrong, it was partially true as she used a variant of shamac that didn't blind the sight, nothing strange or dangerous
"You shouldn't have done that"
"..." Beatrice kept carrying the unconscious girl and rested her on the bed, normally just her and Subaru were allowed to use but this was an exception
"She was just scared, she wasn't gonna tell anyone"
"..." After making another Shamac variation to keep all of Petra's limbs tied together in case she woke up early she walked towards the book and took 13# to put it into the collection, making sure it didn't have even a speck of dirt on it before saving it. Then she walked towards the bed and lied lifting the book over her face to see it carefully
"Beako, please, don't do this to Petra-chan, don't do this to yourself"
"...Subaru"
"..." The black haired youth with sanpaku eyes stopped as he thought of finally talking some sense into his Beako, maybe she would apologize to Petra-chan and explain everything to everyone, and she wouldn't need to suffer so much, he might finally sav-
"Lend Betty a bit of your strength, I suppose"... and she opened the book