Chapter 3: Power
That same day, later:
Once again, Henrietta was surprised by her little familiar's abilities. She had never seen anyone eat that much or that fast before.
Henrietta and PARIAH had gone down to the great dining room of the palace, where the cooks had already taken care of having her food ready, along with many other similar dishes for her newly invoked familiar. Sitting elegantly at the table, Henrietta clasped her hands to thank Brimir for the food received, when suddenly PARIAH began without a warning. Under the surprised gaze of the princess and her escort, the little boy began to grab large handfuls of food and shove them in his mouth, emptying the dishes quicker than the cooks could fill them. Despite their speed, Henrietta could see that many dishes weren't actually touched by his hands. Instead, it was as if some kind of tentacles came out of his body and caught the food, dissolving it before retreating. A couple of minutes later, PARIAH let out a satisfied sigh, having devoured the equivalent of a banquet for several dozen people, with Henrietta so surprised that she did not realize that she had not even started eating herself, too absorbed as she was seeing him eat.
"I will have to teach him some manners, or the receptions from now on are going to be truly a headache ...", thought the princess, resigned, taking a small bite of her food. And what was more important, how much would it cost her to feed that child every day? Having seen the amount he could eat, he was quite capable of emptying the palace pantry in a week or less!
After the meal, Henrietta had to attend more of her tedious lessons, with PARIAH as a silent spectator. That day, her instructor had decided that they would practice dancing in the palace hall, a large room where banquets, dances and parties for the nobility had been held on numerous occasions. At that time, the room was almost empty. The marble floors were being polished by several servants, while many others rushed to clean the intricate ornaments of the walls, or to remove the remains of wax from the large lamps that hung from the ceiling and from the crystal chandeliers. At the centre of the room, Henrietta struggled to follow her teacher's instructions, circling elegantly while pretending to dance with someone. On one side of the room, sitting silently in a chair, stood PARIAH, watching them from a distance.
"One, two, three ... One, two, three ... Longer steps, your majesty. Remember that you have all the dance floor for you" said the instructor, a man in his thirties who dressed in elegant modesty, and who wore a large ponytail of dark hair and something too similar to carmine lipstick on his lips. Under his watchful gaze, each one of the princess steps was meticulously reviewed, correcting every mistake calmly, but firmly. "... turn a little more ... Very well, keep it up ... One, two, three ... One, two, three ..."
Henrietta, while continuing her practice (and trying not to laugh at his instructor's peculiar way of speaking, more similar to that of a woman than a man), could not help looking sideways at PARIAH, who contemplated with childish amazement the great rooms of the palace, and with even greater interest her lessons. "Poor thing, he must be bored ...", thought Henrietta with a smile, determined to play with him as soon as she had the chance. For now, she would focus on what she was doing. After all, her dance lessons were one of the few things she actually enjoyed practicing.
As she practiced, PARIAH watched dutifully the princess's elegant turns. It seemed very funny, and not that complicated at all. Making use of his kin senses and his excellent vision, PARIAH was aware of every gesture and movement the princess made. The length of her steps, the angle of rotation, the pace at which she moved, ... His eyes could even capture small details such as the movement of her muscles, or the brightness of her gaze every time the princess turned to where he was.
Unconsciously, PARIAH descended from his chair, imitating the princess's posture. Remembering how he had seen her move, PARIAH began to dance as well, imitating each and every one of the movements he had seen the princess do over and over again. Despite not having an actual partner, PARIAH managed to recreate each of the complicated turns and steps of that dance, quickly drawing the attention of some of the servants. Sideways, Henrietta watched her little familiar dance along with her, contemplating amused and curious as he seemed to dance quite skilfully with his imaginary companion. Of course, the dance instructor also noticed the actions of PARIAH.
"No, nononono ..." he said, quickly approaching PARIAH, who had stopped in the middle of a turn to see the bizarre professor approach. "You have style, kid, but your dance is littered with mistakes! Also, that part corresponds to the lady's. The gentlemen dance like this ... "
And having said that, the instructor set out to do a dance demonstration, hoping to impress the little princess's companion and show her how one should dance at court. However, instead of just looking at how he danced, the instructor noticed that that little boy with strange eyes had begun to imitate each and every one of his movements perfectly, dancing next to him as if he was some kind of reflection in a strange mirror. Did he seriously believe that he could do the same dance as him so easily?
"Hmpf, don't think the art of dancing is so simple, child ... Let's see if you can do ... THIS!" thought the instructor, annoyed and determined not to be ridiculed so easily.
Suddenly, the instructor began another dance, changing to a more complicated and technical style, full of complicated pirouettes, multiple turns, and convoluted positions of arms, legs and even fingers. Despite his training and his years of experience, the instructor soon began to feel his forehead beaded with sweat, but still smiled satisfied.
"Ha, how did you like that? Maybe now you'll understand that dance is not something you can master so- WHAT !? ".
Surprised, the instructor discovered that the young man from before had not only kept up with him, copying each of his movements with pinpoint accuracy while not looking away from him for a moment, but on top of that he seemed neither tired nor agitated . Every turn, every posture, every jump ... It was like looking in a strange mirror. His movements were there, clearly, but his body was totally different. The ease with which that child seemed to perform the feats that took him so many years of rigorous training to master was ... insulting. Although, he had to admit, it was also inspiring. With a little practice, that young prodigy could become the envy of all the ballrooms in the country. If he became his apprentice ...
Henrietta, on the other hand, was fascinated contemplating the singular duel that seemed to be having her dance instructor and her little familiar. As it seemed, the instructor struggled to get PARIAH wrong, performing dance steps so perfect and complicated that Henrietta knew at first glance that she would never master them. And yet, PARIAH seemed to imitate him perfectly without any struggle, always watching him with the attention of a hunting hawk. Henrietta could not help but smile when she saw how her strict teacher seemed to find his most worthy opponent in that young boy, while both performed their impromptu dance show for the enjoyment and enjoyment of the princess and how many servants were there, too absorbed with that singular show how to keep cleaning.
Finally, the instructor seemed to admit his defeat, and finished his dance with a complicated and elegant posture which, obviously, PARIAH imitated perfectly, except his face, that he continued as impassive as at the beginning, with his two eyes still fixed on the defeated professor. Henrietta and the servants applauded the ability of both dancers, while the former crestfallen teacher seemed to focus his attention suddenly on PARIAH, approaching him with leaps and bounds. Grabbing him by his shoulders, he stared into his eyes, causing no change in PARIAH's expression.
"Young man, become my apprentice" he said firmly, while Henrietta looked worriedly at that and hurried to get to them. "Do it, and together we will be the greatest… huh?" Without a warning, PARIAH grabbed the surprised professor by his shirt, and effortlessly threw him up, suddenly turning him into a frightened human projectile that screamed in a very high pitched voice. Luckily, his body crashed into the crystal chandelier, where he got tangled up while shouting to be helped and brought down from there at once with a strident voice.
"Pariah! Why did you do that?" Henrietta asked, alarmed, while she and PARIAH watched the frightened professor struggle to get free.
"He was weird ... and too close" said PARIAH, slightly frowning, as if the frightened professor's shouts bothered him.
While the servants arrived with a long staircase, Henrietta could not help looking at her familiar somewhat worried and sighed. It seemed she still had a lot to work with him ...
...
And so, Henrietta and PARIAH began to live as familiar and mistress in the castle. Despite the princess's protests, Mazarin had insisted that it was not convenient for her to spend all of her spare time with that strange being, arguing that he was not safe and insisting that PARIAH should remain guarded at all times. In addition, Agnes, who had recently left the infirmary where her wounds had been treated, supported the cardinal's idea, so that Henrietta had to give in. PARIAH was locked in one of the most luxurious rooms in the palace, where he had a large bed to rest on, enough food for several days, and a thick escort guarding his door day and night. However, despite all these security measures, no one could prevent PARIAH from exploring the palace at ease.
On the first day of "captivity," PARIAH discovered a small hole in the wall the size of a mouse. Using his powers, he modified his body to decompose it into a tangle of fibres and tentacles that allowed him to crawl like a snake through the hole, which ran inside the walls of the room until he reached the continuous room. From there, it was a matter of hanging from the ceiling and moving from there, taking advantage that nobody ever looked at the ceiling without necessity. Occasionally, PARIAH was forced to hide, using his powers to briefly blend in with the environment, changing the pigmentation of his body to mimic the colour and pattern of the walls. Using these two techniques, PARIAH could move freely through the palace without anyone ever finding him.
As soon as he got bored of exploring the palace halls, PARIAH always went, without exception, to where Henrietta was, who always smiled when she saw that his young familiar had managed to escape once again, no matter how much Mazarin increased security with each attempt. Although the princess scolded him a little at the request of the cardinal, once he didn't look, she always thanked him for making all that effort to meet her and brighten her day, rewarding him with some caress or some other kind of prize, like giving order to his knights to cease the search and allow him to observe life in the palace with tranquillity. Sometimes, PARIAH watched Henrietta work, either writing reports, taking lessons, or chatting with some important nobleman or merchant, always trying to stay out of sight in the latter cases. The first time Henrietta saw PARIAH camouflage against a wall, she couldn't give credit to what her eyes saw. On other occasions, Henrietta took him to see how things worked in the palace, explaining the task of each servant they found, showing how Agnes trained her musketeers (PARIAH seemed to have enjoyed that specifically, judging by how childishly attentive and excited he seemed while watching the battle formations of the knights, and imitating the movements and attacks of Agnes), or simply chatting with him animatedly, trusting him with her worries and concerns as if he was her confidant. For his part, PARIAH simply listened to every word of the princess with great interest, making few or no comments at all.
From time to time, the princess managed to get some information from PARIAH about himself, using questions and the occasional cookie-based bribe. This way, Henrietta learned many things, such as that PARIAH seemed to come from a small town called Hope, and that he had never met his father. Someone separated him from his mother when he was born, and had never seen her again (strangely, PARIAH had commented that he believed her mother had died, but was not entirely sure. Nor did he seem very affected by it). The same men who had separated them were those who had locked him up from the moment of his birth, conducting all kinds of experiments on him. While PARIAH commented on the horrible experiments and torture they practiced on him as it was nothing, Henrietta could not help being horrified when she imagined her little familiar suffering such frightful torments, pitying the strange child and assuring him that she would not allow anyone to hurt him again. She also discovered that, curiously, Pariah did not like to go outdoors. The first time she had tried to take him out into the courtyard, he had backed away and hid so well that Henrietta had to mobilize the entire palace until she found him. With patience and some effort, Henrietta tried to treat his fear of open spaces, taking him by the hand and helping him to go outside outdoors little by little. Finally, Pariah overcame his initial fear of not being covered by a roof, although he remained uneasy anyway. So many decades locked in a room had made him suspicious of the open sky.
So, the first days went like this, with Henrietta turning restless in her bed every night while she thought of her little Pariah, her mind full of questions about his life. Where did he come from? Where was his mother? Was she like him? What was that about the Redlight or Blacklight that Pariah mentioned so much? At some point, Henrietta tended to smile as she remembered how shy Pariah seemed to behave when he was facing someone unknown for the first time, always hiding behind Henrietta or camouflaging himself on the ceiling, while grunting like a puppy to the newcomer in a rather tender way in Henrietta's opinion (and only from Henrietta. The others found him either weird, or rather disturbing), or she also frowned when she remembered the strange abilities his familiar sometimes demonstrated, as his tendency to find her wherever she was easily, his strangers movements that allowed him to stick to the walls and walk on the ceiling like a spider, or his tendency to be aggressive with some people, as if his first instinct was always to attack or bite. Although, having heard about his past, Henrietta could not help but understanding the little familiar. He could not be blamed for anything, considering that all the people he had known so far were enemies and evil people, and that he had practically spent his entire life locked away from the world and all its inhabitants.
"I will change that," she thought determinedly, "I will make Pariah happy and behave like a normal child, as it's the last thing I'll ever do". With thoughts like that, she quickly falls asleep.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the palace, Mazarin was writing a report with a tired, resigned look on his face. Once again, he had failed.
Without the princess knowing it, obviously, he had tried by all means to get rid of the little threat that the princess seemed to have taken so much care for. He had tried to poison his food, but the monster seemed unmoved even when using the deadliest poisons they could get. They had tried to attack him at night, sending murderers to his room under the cover of darkness, but they were never seen again. Just a couple of bloodstains that the servants had to clean the next morning, and nothing else. He had even tried to attack him with traps such as throwing heavy weights on him when he passed by and other "accidents", but it seemed that the strange being with the appearance of a child was more resistant than he seemed, since most of the traps broke against his body like they were made of paper. Mazarin had only one more thing left to try ...
The sound of someone knocking at the door suddenly caught his attention. The person he had called had arrived.
"Come in," he said, putting aside his last report of the night.
The person who had opened the door was Agnes, who as usual wore her musketeer armour, while she squared respectfully and closed the door behind her.
"Did you want to see me, Cardinal Mazarin?"
"Indeed. Please, come in". Agnes approached the desk, entering the light of the candles that the cardinal had personally lit. Putting his hands together on the table, the cardinal started to speak. "I imagine that you have noticed the unusual activities of the ... familiar of the princess."
"Yes. Just today, he and the princess have gone to witness my musketeers' morning training"
"And I guess you are also aware of ..."
"… Of your assassination attempts?" she asked questioningly. "Yes, I am aware. If it wasn't because I know it's improbable, I'd say you're trying to betray the princess, cardinal."
"I would never do such a thing!" He replied, indignited. "All I have ever done is to protect her from any kind of danger, such as that strange creature she has taken as her familiar. She just doesn't understand how dangerous that monster truly is! Sir Wardes, for example, remains bedridden after being bitten by it.
"Yes, I have heard something. According to the healers, sir Wardes had suffered horrific outbreaks of fever, and his injured arm had begun to undergo quite strange changes, such as swelling and the appearance of huge pustules on its surface."
And all that, for a simple bite of the creature. Bite that the princess had also received in her hand, from what she had heard from her knights. So far, the princess seemed fine, but ...
"Well, it doesn't matter. There's nothing we can do at the moment. Our top priority is that, despite my many attempts, we are no closer to getting rid of him than we were at the beginning. The poisons have failed, the murderers have failed, the traps have failed ... We only have two options left: either the princess sees sense and gets rid of that being, or ..." Mazarin looked implicitly at Agnes, then directed his gaze to the gun located on her belt. The knight understood the meaning of that look without Mazarin having to say anything else.
"…understood. I'll take care of him personally" she said, determined. Mazarin nodded, content yet reluctant.
"Are you aware that the princess will surely not approve? She could even severely punish you for this."
"I'm fully aware of the risks, but something tells me that the princess is in danger as long as she stays next to that thing. So if giving my life is the price to pay in order to protect her, I will gladly pay that price ..." Agnes turned and left the room, deep in thought as she walked through the halls of the palace. Mazarin didn't say anything as he saw her leave.
She needed to prepare herself. Soon, she would face and kill a monster.
The next morning:
"Are you serious?" Henrietta asked Agnes, sitting at the table with her breakfast in front of her. While she was eating, her knight had approached her and had requested the presence of her familiar at the training ground, both to watch and participate at the knight's morning training. The proposal had surprised the princess, both by how sudden and how peculiar it was.
"Absolutely, your highness. Just yesterday, we all could see that your familiar seemed quite interested in our training, and I think it would be an excellent opportunity to test his physical abilities." Henrietta meditated about it, while Agnes took the opportunity to look sideways at her target, who seemed too focused on devouring his profuse breakfast to pay attention to either of them. Seen up close, it seemed almost human. Despite knowing her role well, that didn't make her task any easier. She had to kill him, put an end to that child-like being. One part of her told her that that was wrong, while another part yelled at her not to be fooled. As human as it seemed, it wasn't.
"Okay, I approve. But be careful so no one is in danger, captain of Milan "said Henrietta, drawing the attention of Agnes, who hastened to bow to the princess. Henrietta turned to PARIAH. "Have you heard? You will be able to see the training up close. Isn't that great?"
Clearly, he was happy. With his feline eyes shining with pure emotion and with his mouth full of food, PARIAH waved his arms like an excited little bird, just like a child who had just learned the best news. Agnes gave one last look to the excited familiar, and to the smiling princess who was watching him. She knew this was going to break her heart, but there was no other choice.
"I hope one day I can forgive myself for this ..." Agnes thought, leaving the smiling couple behind.
...
At the moment, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Agnes had taken PARIAH to the training yard, quickly gaining the looks of surprise and suspicion of the other knights and musketeers, until Agnes explained the situation. Little by little, they got to their usual routine, while PARIAH was content to look everything from the side, occasionally looking at the sky with suspicious eyes. Henrietta, who had insisted on being present despite the cardinal's protests, watch them all from her seat. Aware that Pariah's presence might disturb her knights, she had thought that, perhaps, her presence would somehow balance the situation, while inspiring her faithful warriors to give their best. Although it had worked to a certain point, Agnes couldn't help but feeling somewhat uneasy about it. If possible, she would have preferred not to have to do what she needed to do in front of the princess, but there was no turning back. She would carry her hatred, if necessary.
The training continued as usual, with the occasional stop to test to PARIAH, as Agnes had said. While this was nothing more than an excuse to know specifically what she would face, Agnes could not help but be curious about the abilities of that young boy, having already shown that at least he had more physical power than an ordinary human.
Agnes subjected PARIAH to various tests of strength, speed and endurance, such as running him against the other knights in a race, making him lift heavy weights, or jump from extremely high places. Without exception, PARIAH left everyone speechless. He completed the track in a tenth of what it took the others, lifted weights so large that it would have taken a crane to lift, and jumped from a third floor to the ground without receiving the smallest of injuries. She even made him punch a brick wall, only to watch his fist go through it completely.
Agnes knew PARIAH was strong, but… she did not expect to such a degree. This being was extraordinary, too powerful to bring it down in a face-to-face. Luckily for her, she had an advantage: the element of surprise. PARIAH did not suspect her, and that only breach in his defense would be his downfall. While watching Henrietta caress her familiar's head and praise him for a job well done, Agnes gave one last look of doubt to PARIAH. His face was, as always, hard to read. He rarely showed any expression, beyond a slight wrinkle of his eyebrows, the occasional gleam in his eyes when he was excited, and a few smiles reserved for Henrietta when she caressed him. In those moments, although he didn't smile, one could see that he was liking it from the slight blush of his cheeks, clearly visible on his pale face. Seen that way, he didn't seem like a threat. He looked more like a shy child, trying hard not to show that he liked when the princess pated his head. But it wasn't, the knight once again told herself. It was something else, something strange and dangerous whose first instinct once it appeared had been to attack everyone, using an excessive force for such a small body. It climbed the walls, became invisible, and there were even servants who claimed to have seen it hunting birds from the window, trapping them with its tongue like a toad and then devouring them whole. The princess was in danger by its side. It might not be an immediate danger, but it was a danger nonetheless. And her job was to destroy what could endanger her highness.
Determined once again, Agnes headed to the centre of the courtyard, where the knights had cleared a circular combat arena. After throwing her cloak at one of her musketeers, Agnes drew her sword, pointing it at PARIAH.
"Now, without further delay, I request a spar with her highness' familiar, in order to demonstrate his abilities once more!" she said, drawing the attention of a confused PARIAH, and a startled and worried Henrietta.
"A spar?" she asked, looking at her captain's sword. "And wouldn't be a wooden sword better for a spar match?"
"With all due respect, your highness, having seen what your familiar can do, I don't think that a practice sword could hold more than a few seconds against him. In addition, it is a simple practice match. The point of this exercise isn't draw any blood. You have nothing to worry about" told her knight, lying while keeping a straight face, and trying to show a confident smile despite her nerves. Henrietta, somehow still insecure, looked at PARIAH to see what he thought about it. He just shrugged slightly, and went to meet Agnes. One of the other knights handed him a sword, identical to that of Agnes, which PARIAH simply dragged along the ground to the centre of the arena.
Face to face, Agnes and PARIAH prepared for combat, she adopting a perfect fencing posture, and keeping herself standing in place, with her sword held to one side of the body. Her opponent didn't seem to know how to fight with a sword, considering he had plenty of opening in his posture. As tempting as ending quickly might be, she knew that it was best not to be overconfident, and not go for the deadly blow at first. For now, she would test it, and then look for the perfect chance. PARIAH, meanwhile, entertained himself a little by examining his sword, curiously observing its sharp point and how long it was, almost as he was tall.
"Begin!" Exclaimed one of the knights, who would arbitrate the match.
Upon hearing the signal, Agnes stood her ground to see what would PARIAH do, but he merely stood still too, his weapon resting in his hand as if he couldn't even lift it. Seeing that her opponent wasn't going to be the one to start the match, she threw herself headlong into PARIAH, throwing a quick thrust into the young man's chest. At the last moment, PARIAH seemed to react, suddenly waving the sword in front of him and deflecting the thrust of the musketeer, which had to use all her strength to prevent her sword from flying from her hand. "Such strength!" she thought, clenching her teeth. "If that hits me once ..." Her line of thinking was interrupted when she saw that PARIAH seemed ready to fight back, raising his sword above his head with one hand. Agnes raised her guard by pure instinct, but when she saw the young man's arm lower, she changed her mind and chose to roll to the side. Her decision was correct, since the area where she had previously been found was destroyed in an instant, as a result of the tremendous coup of PARIAH. Quickly, Agnes stood up, and resumed a fighting stance. Meanwhile, PARIAH examined his now bent sword impassively, having not resisted the crash against the ground. Undeterred for a moment, PARIAH threw it aside, then faced the captain once again.
Suddenly, PARIAH's shoulders seemed to tremble, as a tangle of tentacles and tendrils began to spread from them to his hands. When the tentacles disappeared, Agnes found that, somehow, his opponent had managed to become even more dangerous than before. PARIAH's arms ... had changed. They had grown longer and changed colour and shape, as if their muscles had deformed and covered with spines and red veins. His hands had stretched, while each of his now four fingers was finished in a long silver claw that looked very sharp. Opening his arms with the flexed claws, PARIAH crouched slightly, allowing Agnes to sense that the monstrous family was about to jump on her. And he did, since just one jump was all it took PARIAH to cover the distance that separated them, his two claws ready to split her in two upon landing. Without giving him the chance to do it, Agnes quickly jumped back, dodging PARIAH's attack, while looking for ways to counter that. She would never have imagined that this thing could turn his arms into monstrous claws just like that. That was a skill that no other Halkeginian creature possessed. Even the elusive Slimes, despite having amazing polymorphic abilities, could not create appendices as solid and real as those. It was not simply appearance. Those claws, somehow, were made of actual metal.
Agnes began to retreat, as PARIAH advanced throwing left and right blows. The musketeer did everything she could to catch up with the speed and force of PARIAH's blows, but doing so prevented her from attacking, too focused on avoiding a lethal strike. Her sword could barely match the ferocity of the familiar's rush, which forced her to use all her strength just to not lose it, forcing the knight to dodge or roll. At one point, but, PARIAH managed to catch Agnes off guard. Taking advantage of the fact that the knight was in full somersault, PARIAH jumped over her, turning his body in the air and landing at her back. Before Agnes could turn around, she was knocked down by the familiar, who quickly threw a claw towards her neck.
Too fast to cover.
Too dazed to try to get up.
Agnes could only see how that huge claw fell on her ... and stopped a few inches from her neck. What…?
Henrietta let out a sigh of relief once she saw PARIAH stopping his attack just in time. Despite having discussed it with him before, she was worried that he had decided to ignore her plea.
The day before, during a conversation they had, Henrietta discovered that PARIAH had killed people in the past, whether by accident, fear, or moved by fury. On occasion, the victims were members of the same group that had kept him locked up all his life, although before being summoned PARIAH told her that he had also killed and ... "consumed" several beings of his same species, the first ones he saw in person, who they apparently answer to a man named Alex Mercer. Too scared to ask him what he meant by "consumed" (it sounded too much like he had eaten them), Henrietta had made him promise that he wouldn't kill anyone unless there was no other option, or without having a good reason for that. She would have liked to be able to make him promise that he would not kill any more, period, but even she understood that sometimes there was no choice but to take a life, so she tried to make sure that PARIAH wouldn't become a heartless murderer at least. If he had to kill, it had to be for a compelling reason, or to save himself. PARIAH, despite not understanding what the princess actually meant, accepted nonetheless. After all, what she was telling him to do was not to kill anything that didn't try to kill him before, right? He could do that.
Agnes, recovering from the impression of having been so close to dying, saw how PARIAH removed himself from her, and returned to adopt a fighting stance a few meters away from her, eager to continue the test. Agnes, meanwhile, leaned on her sword to stand up.
"Captain de Milan, can you continue?" Asked the referee of the match. Agnes simply nodded, focusing all her attention on PARIAH as she resumed a fighting stance. "In that case, continue!"
This time, Agnes let PARIAH throw the first blow, focusing more on defending herself while waiting for an opportunity to fight back. PARIAH, seeing that his opponent was not going to approach him, decided to take the initiative, rushing towards her with his claw ready to strike. Throwing a horizontal cut, PARIAH missed it when Agnes leapt swiftly up, kicking him hard in the face in the process. Stunned by the sudden kick, PARIAH stopped his rush, allowing Agnes to get into action.
"Now!" she thought, taking the chance to pull off her gun. Before PARIAH, Henrietta or the other knights realized what was happening, Agnes pointed the gun at the young boy's head, who stared at the gun barrel, merely an inch from his face. "Forgive me, your highness ..." were her last thoughts, before she decided to pull the trigger.
BUM!
The echo of the shot travelled through the whole courtyard, surprising the knights attending the confrontation and Henrietta, who opened her eyes wide once she saw how the bullet pierced her familiar's head, entering through an eye and exiting as a blood splash from behind. Her face went from surprise to horror as she saw Agnes, throwing her gun, striking with a quick slash against PARIAH's neck, cutting it halfway.
Before PARIAH's body could fall to the ground, Henrietta was already on her feet, running towards him. No one else seemed to be able to react to what they just saw, unable to decide if they should apprehend Agnes or not. Running to where they were, too horrified to say anything, Henrietta felt as if time slowed down, with Agnes turning on herself and finally nailing her weapon into PARIAH's chest, whose body had not yet fallen because of how fast the attack was, right where his heart should be. The knights, seeing the princess run, turned away to let her pass, allowing her to see how her familiar fall to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, while Agnes fell to one knee on the floor, gasping from the effort. Henrietta couldn't believe what her eyes saw, her hands covering her mouth to hide her grimace of horror and desolation. With tears in her eyes, she stared helplessly at the corpse of her familiar, and then with increasing fury at her knight, who by then had turned and bowed still on her knees, her weapons long forgotten.
"... What ... what have you done ...?" said Henrietta, her voice no louder than a whisper. "... What have you done !?"
"I'm so sorry, your highness, but it was necessary! That being was too dangerous to allow him to stay— " Henrietta reached down to grab Agnes by her shoulders, forcing her to sit up and look her in the eye. Agnes didn't remember ever seeing the princess that way. Her eyes seemed to dig into hers like daggers, hot with rage while thick tears of pure sorrow pour down her face.
"HE WAS NOT A THREAT! He was… just a child…! " she said, her anger turning to sadness as she shook the stunned knight. "He just…just ..." Henrietta released Agnes, staying crestfallen before her, while Agnes stared wide-eyed at the distressed princess she had made suffer so much. For Brimir ... what had she done?
Her senses shot up. Murderous instinct. Behind her.
Quickly, Agnes pushed Henrietta away from her and stepped aside, just in time to prevent a huge metal blade from splitting her in half. The impact to the ground was so strong that the entire field trembled slightly, while Agnes jumped away from the impact zone. When she saw who had attacked her, she couldn't believe her eyes.
Right there, was the familiar who she had supposedly just killed. His blood still fell from the wounds she had inflicted on him, with the hole on his head so fresh that light could be seen passing through it from the other side, his head twisted and hanging from his almost severed neck, and the musketeer's sword still stuck firmly on his chest. With a hand transformed into a long two-headed metal blade similar to a huge and malformed axe, PARIAH removed Agnes' sword with the other, throwing it aside as if was just a splinter. Before Agnes' increasingly astonished gaze, and Henrietta's terrified gaze, PARIAH began to heal his wounds, as his body created tentacles that quickly covered them, making them disappear in an instant. The holes on his chest and head regenerated in an instant, while his head returned to its original position when the little tendrils put the two halves together once again. Making it creak a couple of times as if testing it, PARIAH was back to normal. To normal, with two little exceptions.
His face was no longer impassive, but it showed that he was quite upset, and his eyes were completely red, only his torn pupils serving as a contrast against them.
Turning on himself, PARIAH went back to attack, launching a spinning attack on Agnes, who dodged it by crouching just in time. The blade had passed so close from her that she had almost felt a pair of hairs being cut off. The familiar threw himself against the knight again, trying to reach her with his "weapon" or to catch her with his other hand, but Agnes managed to resist for the time being. Several of the knights present tried to help Agnes, but without exception, they were sent to fly by PARIAH, who simply got rid of them with a sweep of his hand.
"What ... what's going on? How could he survive? How…? " Thought Agnes, when suddenly PARIAH managed to reach her. Using his speed, PARIAH managed to grab Agnes by her neck, pinning her to the ground with him on top. Raising his arm, PARIAH metamorphosed it into a claw again, pointing it directly to his opponent's face, who struggled to free herself from the tight grip of the familiar. He really had a lot of strength, because despite the difference in sizes, Agnes couldn't get loose.
"Pariah, stop it! Stop at once!" Said Henrietta, trying to stop her familiar. However, it was as if the princess's words couldn't reach him, too focused as he was in ending Agnes. And considering the tight grip on her neck, he wouldn't have to wait much longer. Her head felt as if it was going to explode any time soon, her eyes fixed on the cold gaze of the familiar, who threw his arm with the intention of piercing her head. Making a final effort, Agnes managed to reach her dagger, sheathed at her waist, and used it against PARIAH's face, piercing an eye with it. Although it did not get him to release her, it did serve to make him miss the blow, since instead of piercing her face, he only caused a small scratch on her cheek. With a sudden twist, PARIAH forced her to release the dagger, holding her arm on the ground with his foot and removing the weapon from his eye, which regenerated in just a couple of seconds. Again, the young familiar raised his arm to finish off the knight, who had run out of options.
Agnes resigned herself to her destiny, without fear or the intention of crying. "Princess ... forgive me ...", she thought, closing her eyes as PARIAH's claw descended swiftly on her direction.
SLAP!
A second passed. Two. Three. She felt now blow on her head. She heard something, yes, but clearly it wasn't the sound of the kid's hand nailing her head to the ground, because she was still alive. Opening her eyes, Agnes wanted to see how it was possible, and what she saw surprised her even more than anything she had seen so far.
The princess ... had slapped her familiar. With tears falling from her eyes, and with a hurt expression, the princess had hit her familiar hard in the face. Despite his superior strength, PARIAH seemed shocked by what had happened, looking with his now normal eyes at the princess, quite surprised. No one said anything, too surprised after seeing their peaceful princess hit someone. It really was something they had never expected to see.
PARIAH put a hand on his face, touching the beaten area with a confused look, while he standing up and releasing the surprised musketeer. Suddenly, Henrietta burst into tears, throwing herself at her familiar's neck and surrounding him with her arms in a tight hug, which baffled PARIAH. He felt the tremor of the princess's body, and heard her cry beside his head. Why was she crying? He had done what she asked him to do. He hadn't tried to kill the woman until she hadn't tried to kill him. So why was she sad? He didn't understand.
"Please ... please ... that's enough ..." he heard her mutter between sobs. Somehow, seeing her so sad made him sad as well. Such a reaction surprised him, as he didn't remember ever being sad before. Simply, he had never before encountered a situation that actually saddened him: torture, death, loneliness ... They were all part of his life, there was no reason to be sad about it. And yet, seeing that girl cry on his shoulder made PARIAH feel sad for the first time. Clumsily hugging Henrietta with his already normal arms, he tried to comfort her as best he could. While he wasn't used to being hugged yet, he was even less used to hugging others.
"Don't cry ... don't cry ..." PARIAH pleaded, awkwardly, not knowing how to solve that situation. How could he make the princess stop being sad? "Ok, I won't do it anymore… but don't cry…" he said, drawing Henrietta's attention, who looked at him with teary eyes.
"Y-you…you promise?" She asked, uncertainly. PARIAH hesitated to respond. After all, killing was the only thing he knew how to do, what he did best, even what he liked to do from time to time. If he had to stop doing it, what was he supposed to do from now on?
"Yes, I promise" he responded, much to Henrietta's surprise and joy. Wiping her eyes, the princess stood up, before turning to Agnes, who had seen all from the floor.
"Captain de Milan," she said with clear voice, alerting Agnes and causing her to quickly stand up and square. "We will talk about what have happened here today. Right now..." Henrietta rubbed her right temple, obviously exhausted. "... I need time to think."
Henrietta left the courtyard, followed by her familiar. Agnes, still standing on the same spot, made great efforts to contain the tears that struggled to sprout from her eyes. The look of disappointment and sadness in the princess's eyes ... What had she done ...?
Far from there, Tristania's Academy of Magic:
Just as usual, the Vallière girl had managed to explode her spell.
One would think that she could do something as simple as s summoning correctly, but somehow, the result instead of a familiar had been a tremendous explosion that raised a huge cloud of dust that made her fall on her ass.
As the stunned students began to recover from the shockwave, some began to make cruel comments about the girl's apparent ability to always fail at using magic, who looked with sad resignation what she and everyone assumed was another failure in her long list of mistakes. However, while the dust was starting to settle, something began to appear on its centre.
Louise Françoise LeBlanc de la Vallière and the rest of the students looked surprised at the mysterious figure lying on the floor. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary human, although he wore strange clothes that they hadn't ever seen before. His suit looked like a strange combination of cloth and armour, with a peculiar pattern of different shades of green. A thick dark breastplate covered his chest, equipped in turn with bags and with a matching bulky belt on his hip. In his right hand was a strange contraption, similar to ... well, it didn't really look like anything they had ever seen before, but it had what appeared to be a butt and a trigger, so it must be some kind of weapon. A helmet the same colour as his clothes covered his head, with a handkerchief that covered his features and left only his eyes in sight, preventing students and Colbert from deducing anything from his appearance.
Gradually, the mysterious newcomer started to awake and stand on his feet, watching everyone with confused eyes. Upon standing, Louise found that he was quite taller than her, about the height of their teacher, Jean Colbert, although some extra centimetres taller.
"Where ... where am I?" He asked, revealing a young but mature voice. Quickly, professor Colbert emerged from his stupor, and stepped forward to answer the confused young man.
"You are currently in the grounds of the Academy of Magic of Tristania. I am professor Jean Colbert, in charge of this class " Colbert explained, smiling kindly, while holding out his hand somewhat suspiciously to the newcomer. "And you are…?"
Although visibly confused, the young man shook his hand. Taking off his helmet and handkerchief, he revealed that he wasn't much older than them, maybe by three or four years. His hair was black and quite dishevelled, with a small beard trace adorning his pleasant features, and light blue eyes that seemed typical of someone with a sympathetic character, although they possessed a strange shine that Colbert could not identify, but find strangely familiar.
"Sergeant Hiraga Saito, infantry division of the army of the United States of America. My pleasure" said the newcomer in a firm tone, surprising Colbert, since he didn't expect the young boy to be a soldier. At least, that was what he understood he claimed to be. "Sorry if I misunderstood you, but ... did you just say "magic academy?"
Louise, meanwhile, looked surprised at the man her summoning spell had called. What ... what did just happen?
And Hiraga Saito makes his appearance, although not as we know him and remember. What has happened so that our beloved Japanese has ended up as sergeant of the American army? What will happen when he meets PARIAH? You will know on another occasion ... surely ...
Also, I'd like to apology for the delay with which I'm uploading this fic. I'm trying to pass my college exams, and it took most of my time. I'd try to upload more chapters from time to time, I only ask you to be patient. Also also, I'd like to know what you think of this translation, because I can't help but think that some parts haven't been translated correctly. I tend to use Google translator for the most part, reviewing it and correcting any mistake I manage to find, but some things may elude me.
Bye bye