Reconnection
Above the skies of the old world, three figures zoomed across – leaving white streaks. They were in a triangular formation with the one leading them having long crimson hair. Her cyborg eyes scanned the ground beneath them while making sure to zoom in on some spots that were particular. It was clear that she and her group were looking for someone.
Or more specifically a 'something'.
The radio that was built in her blared to life as a voice made itself known, despite the noise of moving at the speed of sound the voice could still be heard loud and clear, "Zen, we've been looking for three weeks already, I'm pretty sure it's not anywhere near here,"
"Cairn, shut up, the ones sitting on the Chairs told us that there was an anomaly that is suspected to be Ravager Brutus. The system never makes a mistake, we've used it for a long time,"
"I know, I know… but don't you think that three weeks without any sightings of it straight is considered safe?"
"Ravager Brutus doesn't just disappear like that," Zen replied as she continued to search the ground.
"And how would yo-, "Cairn was cut off when the third man on the team opened a private channel to him.
The third man looked at Cairn with a face that told him to not push it. One look from the third party told Cairn that he was already stepping on thin ice, deciding to ask another time he held his tongue. They continued their search for another hour or so. With nothing but sand, sand and more sand Cairn was about to complain once more when all of a sudden, a public channel blared through everyone's head.
"-ho can hear this, this is Cypher-01 we've caught sightings of Ravager Brutus, it has not seen us but its… SHIT!"
Sounds of explosion came through the radio making Zen and her group worry, "This is Red-01, Cypher-01 what's your location,"
"Red-01, we're in grid 65734, please come and assist us,"
Everyone froze and slowly repeated the number that Cypher-01 had said, Grid 65734… seven miles away from Bans. Considering Zen's past, she was confident that seven miles was already too close for Ravager Brutus. Not even giving any words of preparation, her feet merged together, transforming into a single engine which gave off another loud boom as she raced towards the grid.
Cairn was about to give a complain but was cut when the third party zoomed past him, he gave a groan of frustration before doing the same thing that both of his squad mates did. As he slowly catches up to them, over the horizon his servos froze as he looked at the carnage that was happening over the distance.
Smoke billowed above the clouds, sounds of weapons and war cries echoed across the barren desert. On the ground a black figure stood, twenty feet high, armour thicker than any of the old-world tanks could offer, missile pod on both shoulders smoked as it launched another volley towards the already broken squad Cypher. Steeling his nerves, he prepared for the worst.
With a war cry Louise split the tree that she had been using as a punching bag. A day had passed after her argument with her elder sister and it still lingered around her artificial brain. While she couldn't blame her for almost harming Bench, she needs to understand that things don't always come to her and that she had to work for it.
Hell, that's what Louise had done for the past eight years while living in Bans.
She had thrown away her pride as a noble during her first month the moment she realized that it weighed equally to air, nothing. So, it was quite understandable that she was pissed right now. She exhaled, releasing a generous amount of steam out of her mouth. Deciding to move away from her frustration, she chose to admire her new body. It was sleeker than her old one, considering the fact that is was made of nothing but nanomachines. To the eyes of everyone in the school they might think that what she was wearing was nothing short of scandalous.
Her curves were accentuated very well to the point that she had notice some of the boys in the academy stealing glances from her, it didn't help due to the fact that her breasts were more developed in this body while in her old one was just a flat chest which had more purpose housing her core. Pink lines glowed dully from inside of her body, she traced one of them and found herself ending up in the circular glow in her chest. She realized that they only glow bright is she's fighting or when she's accessing her overdrive. She had the mind to do just that when she had just remembered Bench's words were to not abuse her overdrive until he can guarantee it was safe to do.
After admiring her body she started to look into her weapons, she brought her arms up and with a single thought the nanites shifted under her will – producing two arm blades, the sides of said blades glowed a bright red, she could see the air bend near the blades telling her that the blades were nothing short of scorching.
Removing her blades, she was slightly surprised that there wasn't any lingering heat from the nanites that was heated. That's Ravager tech for you, always ready and ever adapting.
With a sigh she walked back towards the academy, with a now cooler head.
It was noon and the kitchen couldn't be anymore busier. Servants walked back and forth, carrying trays that had appetizers and entrees that the nobles outside had ordered. Siesta, a fellow commoner maid who was also in duty of serving the nobles stepped out of the kitchen with a plate of cake on her trey. The cake had been ordered by a student, one that she doesn't concern herself with, all she knew was that the student wanted the cake and denying that order could get her fired.
On the way to the courtyard where the nobles sat and ate their snacks, she stopped where she was heading in favour of looking at one of the academy's most peculiar students, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. The pink haired girl wandered around the courtyard with a troubled look on her face. While she didn't see the fight between her and the golem, everyone dubbed as 'Ravager', she did watch the entire fight between her and a couple of golems that were the smaller variant of the Ravager.
Suffice to say, her jaw dropped at the sight; it wasn't like those stories that her grandfather told her. It was more brutal and there were no signs of glory after each victory. It saddened her that what her grandfather told her was a lie but at the same time her performance was definitely eye opening.
"You know it's very uncomfortable for someone to be watching me," Louise called out.
Her eyes widened and started to wonder how she had noticed her presence without even looking back. Louise turned around and locked eyes with her, a smile on her face as she tapped the side of her head with one of her black fingers.
"I have a sensor that highlights heat signatures that are within a 200m radius. I knew you were looking at me because you were just standing still and pretty close to me,"
None of what Louise had said gone through her head as she gave a scripted nod to show that she was acknowledging her. Louise gave a short chuckle before walking towards her. Once she was within arms-reach she placed both her arms on her waist as she looked at her up and down.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"I-I'm sorry?" she said dumbly.
"Name?"
"My name is Siesta, Miss Valliere," she said before she bowed with practiced ease.
Louise brought up a hand and dismissed what Siesta had just said, "Bah, cut the formalities, just call me Louise,"
Uncertainty flashed over the maid's face as she looked at the shorter girl. This was a first for her, a noble addressing herself as her equal? This could become a scandal and the fact that the one who is addressing themselves to her as equal is of the Valliere family! She had only heard of stories; stories that her mother, Karin the Heavy Wind, managed to stop an entire invasion from a neighbouring country with nothing but her familiar and herself.
What makes it worse is the fact that her sisters were also walking around this academy at this very moment, what if she is spotted by one of the nobles, Founder help her for she knew that the only thing faster than a well-bred horse is spreading rumours.
Seeing Siesta's worries arise, Louise decided to ease her tension, "You don't have to regard me as a noble,"
All thought of the maid suddenly came to screeching halt as she repeated the words that came out of the youngest of the Valliere family. The carriage which was housing her thoughts began to move again only to be stopped when a pitch-black hand made itself known to her vision. Tracing the arm, she found out that it connected to the Valliere, she was smiling at her while patiently waiting for her to take her hand.
"She must want a kiss," Siesta thought.
Taking the hand with her own free hand she raised it up and brought it close to her lips only for it to be taken away. She gave a surprised 'huh?' as she looked at Louise who was now raising an eyebrow at her.
"What are you doing?" Louise asked, the tone of her voice suggested that she was not offended and asked the question more out of curiosity.
Curiosity now spread across the maid's face as she answered her, "I thought you wanted a kiss?"
Louise looked at her for a few second, looking for any signs of sarcasm. When she found none, she stifled a laugh before she shook her head side to side, "I didn't ask for a kiss silly, I wanted to shake your hand,"
Siesta never got to say anything because before the words came out of her mouth Louise had already taken her hand and clasped it with hers similar to how she would help one of her siblings when they fell down or tripped, once getting a firm grasp, she moved her arm up and down. Not knowing what to do, Siesta decided to just limp her arm and let Louise do the strange gesture.
After the third shake, Louise let go of her hand, letting it rest on her sides. She looked around before regarding her with a smile. "Well, I'll leave you to your own,"
She bid her farewell by saluting before walking up, whistling an unknown tune. As she walked away, Siesta stood on the same spot without moving. She looked at her hand, the one Louise had shaken, and looked back to Louise only to find that she's gone. Finally, all alone she shook herself out of her stupor and quickly rushed towards the courtyard.
Louise walked back to the warehouse, eager to see Bench. She was thinking about running another simulation test just to see her new limitations. Her thinking came to a halt when she spotted the one person she didn't want to see yet.
Eleonore stood in front of the warehouse doors looking at her. The Eleonore from before she got slapped and the Eleonore now was a big difference. Where she once emanated arrogance and confidence, now she looked uncomfortable as she shifted in her position, her hands were clenched on her skirt as she tried to maintain eye contact with her.
Louise steeled her visage, she continued to walk towards the warehouse, her elder sister slightly perked up as she tried to say something. Louise halted and stared at her coldly. Her mouth moved up and down as she tried to say the words she wanted to say. Patience running thin, Louise's frown increased as Eleonore continued to stutter. With a sigh she decided that she was going to give her a chance.
It was one of the things she had learned during her time in Bans, holding grudges can only bring trouble. When ever adapting machines want the entire human race gone, it was better to trust each other and not hold past grudges. Unfortunately, she learned that holding grudges was bad the hard way. She never got to say goodbye to him, which was why she was going to take a shot in the dark right now.
"You want to say something?" she asked, while trying to not sound annoyed or impatient.
Her stuttering stopped as she looked at her with worried eyes. While Louise knew what message her sister was trying to sending her, she was not convinced. She needed to hear her voice. Closing her eyes, she pulled the warehouse doors open enough so that she can enter. Halfway through entering Eleonore finally spoke.
"I apologize!"
Louise paused but didn't turn to address her, from the way her breathing was ragged she knew that apologizing was very tough on her. It was to be expected anyways because she was like that before. While there was no explanation to her apology something told her that she should say something.
"I was never angry at you, Sis," She said before turning around and giving her a smile. "I just wanted to show you that you should open your eyes a little wider,"
"W-what?" she asked as she tried to connect what she was trying to say.
"C'mon, let's face it, you were acting immature. If you were a big sister, you should've taken Bench's insult lightly. He never came here in Halkeginia, his customs are more… mechanical shall we say,"
Louise's words somehow cut through the blonde like a how knife through butter. Their mother would be angry at her if she saw this happening right in front of them. It should be the other way around with Louise the one being lectured. Still now that she thought about it thoroughly, she probably acted immature when the pod bot insulted her… in fact now that she thought about it Bench never did insult her. All he said was a snarky remark about the Day of the Void.
Her thoughts were put to stop when Louise spoke up again, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to though," she said before gesturing her head in the door.
Knowing what she's trying to imply, Eleonore was about to rebel at the idea of apologizing to a golem only to shut up when Louise glowered at her, "Do you want to make up it to me or not?"
Her resistance lasted for a few seconds before she gave up and gave a tired sigh. Louise smiled and moved away from the door to let her big sister in. She reluctantly walked towards the slightly opened door; it was as if she was a little girl who was too scared to look in the closet. Louise rolled her eyes before pushing her inside and closing the door behind her sister. She yelped before a loud thud echoed inside the warehouse.
Turning around Eleonore began banging on the wood, "Louise Valliere, you let me out this instant!"
A muffled reply came back, "Not until you make up with, Bench,"
Eleonore tried to push the door open only to find it not budging, courtesy of Louise leaning on said door, exerting all of her weight on it. She heard a muffled sigh from the door before her sister's footsteps slowly became softer and softer. Once she heard her voice addressing Bench she stood up and walked away from the warehouse only to stop when she noticed a blip on her radar.
"You can come out now, sister Cattleya,"
True to her words, the middle sister of the family came out with an intrigued look on her face, "How did you know I was there?"
Louise smiled at her, "Your body emits heat and I can see that heat,"
"That's it?" Cattleya asked as she raised an eyebrow.
The younger pink haired girl gave shrug, "It's the simplest way I can tell you,"
"Are you telling me that I'm dumb?" Cattleya said with a face of mocked offense.
"Yes, yes you are,"
The two sisters stared at each other for a while before bursting out in giggling fits. Once they had their tickle bone in control, Cattleya spoke up, "thank you for giving big sister Eleonore a chance,"
Louise shrugged, "I learned not to take grudges," she said.
Cattleya nodded in appreciation, happy the Louise had matured. Her thoughts about a mature Louise were suddenly put on hold when she noticed a certain glint in her younger sister's eyes. Already knowing her question Louise spoke up, a smirk coming to her face.
"Besides, I got this,"
Louise's eyes glowed pink before a ray of light shot down the grass, a figure slowly formed from the ground up. To Cattleya's surprise the figure was none other than Eleonore. She walked around her elder's doppelganger, observing her nervous form. She didn't get what Louise was trying to imply so she looked at her for further elaboration. Seeing her confusion Louise gave a low chuckle before answering her sister.
"When was the last time you saw sister Eleonore like this?"
Her eyes closed as she scoured her memories for a time when Eleonore looked shy or meek. Her eyes widened when she finally realized that she does not remember once she looked embarrassed to do something. She was always confident and arrogant even before Louise came to the world! If word came out that Eleonore looked like this…
The glint on Louise's eyes spread to Cattleya as she too now sported a mischievous grin.
A/N: I'm back boys! Sorry for the long absence I was writing other stories like:
'I'm Just a Narrator!'
'Remnant's Mightiest Heroes'
'A Viral Huntsman'
Blah blah blah, basically I was writing other fanfictions that I recommend that you all should check! I was doing this because frankly speaking I got bored of this fanfiction for a moment, I wanted a new stimulus so I started writing other fanfictions. Now I'm back with renewed interests!
With all that said I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I hope I didn't make Eleonore's apology scene too forced. In fact, I hope I didn't do anything in this chapter that might feel or even look forced. If you, fellow readers, do find something do tell me. I aim for improvement!
With that said let's get right into the reviews!
wolves567: True I kind of portrayed Louise to be more cynical in this story and of course there is a reason why, you have guessed it correctly, Louise did come out from a war. A war that will be shown is the backstories that you read at every start of the chapter. Louise's flash back deserves to be a story on its own thus why I'm only giving my fellow readers only snippets of the world where the floating city, Bans resides.
science over magic: First things first I agree with your username. To address your question because I like it blunt. For a more reasonable argument I shall give out the main definitions of what you suggest I should call the cyborgs and flesh-skins.
To me the word 'Hybrid' means a mixture of two species like a hybrid of a lion, and eagle gives me a griffin. Basically, what hybrid means to me is two living species that are combined. Louise is nothing like that, she'sa combination of a living thing (her) and a non-living thing (cyborg parts/Ravager nanites).
'Organic' is more general, 'organic' plant life, 'organic' lifeform, etc. even the word 'organic' lifeform is too general. Organic lifeform could be many things that are breathing both aerobically and anaerobically. Animals, insects, germs, etc.
Another point would be the fact that the two words you suggested make it sound off, you know? 'Organic' kind of sounds like it belongs to science. On the other hand, 'Hybrid' leans more on mythology. Yes, I know that Halkeginia is a place full of mythological creatures but look at it this way.
In Bans, technology triumphed while magic never advanced. Aside from that it's already a custom! Louise even said it, and I quote:
"after all flesh-skins and cyborgs are both under the classification of 'human' it was only used to create a race that separates us from flesh-skins."
So yeah, that's why it's better to stick with 'flesh-skins' and 'cyborg' as they are easier to understand.
GemWarrior: Thanks for your opinion! Now, let me go get a taco!
Guest: I wouldn't go so far as to say 'fuck Valliere'. Thanks for your input though!
Guest: Here you go lad, one very matured Louise!