Chapter 3: Delicacy
Leon brushed aside the golden locks of his beloved, Vivian. "Don't fret, my dear. I'll be back before you know it, and in your arms once again."
The fair maiden, with tears streaming down her eyes, shook her head and cried out "You can't! No one can defeat Lord Valkras! You'll surely meet your end on this quest!"
Good, so this book does have someone that isn't blind, Viridian thought to himself, unsure of whether he wanted to read on. The brute mulled over the next pages detailing their teary goodbye. He struggled to find interest in this book Dr. Elmahdi lent him.
"Chris," Leon began, struggling to find courage to speak on. "If I don't... If I don't make it... Take care of her for me."
"Don't say that. You'll return. We'll all return. All six of us. And the castle will prepare a celebration so large, it will be remembered for ages to come." Leon smiled at Chris' optimism, finding hope within himself. That's right, he thought. I can't let everyone down.
This is asinine. Why does Chris, the largest friend, not simply eat the other five? If they're stronger together, I see no other way. He wants Vivian for himself, anyway. This was why he hated stories like this. Tall tales of suspense for eager-
"Knock knock." A girl interrupted his chain of thoughts, alongside the action she narrated. Viridian recognized the voice without looking up, opting to instead slouch further into his bed. Sherry poked her head through the door with that same coy smirk. Unchanging as ever. She hung off the open door, partially inside his room.
"What do you want?" He barked. Viridian just wanted to return to solitude. His plan was to get this over with as soon as possible and be on his way.
"Oh, a couple things," she replied with a posed look. "See, Prof. Teikoss needed a favor. Something about moving some stuff, looked real heavy." Now Sherry leaned against the doorframe. "Too heavy for a delicate little lady to carry by herself." She added with a giggle.
The brute let out a heavy sigh. If he didn't help, Teikoss would get up in his face about it. Seraphina would reprimand him for turning Sherry away. Coal wouldn't care, but just imagining his face ticked him off. He needed a distraction. Well, manual labor isn't the worst chore to do. "Fine. I'll get this done and over with." He murmured as he got up to leave.
"Shall we, then?" She chimed in, clinging to his arm. Just like that witch.
Viridian cast an evil eye at the bubbly girl following him like a lost puppy. "Where is it?" He asked, stomping down the hall.
Sherry seemed to trip up for the briefest of moments, an action almost unnoticed by the brute. "O-oh, umm, should be by the... Armory. Yeah. He mentioned Dust capsules."
It sounded like they should really go and see the professor to find out the full details. But the titan and him did not get along one bit. "Whatever." He muttered as he turned the corner.
(-)
"Hook, line, and sinker." Seraphina snickered to herself. "It's all up to you now, Sherry." Amused with the webs she weaved, the psychic turned the corner and entered. Now was the time to relax, some bubble tea, review their notes on the students, and add some details to Sherry's file. Lounging as though living the high life, Sera relished the moment of peace.
Which lasted exactly twelve seconds, after which the door slammed open. "You lying harlot!" Coal shouted upon entering. Almost choking on her drink, Sera lost all composure. Not a moment to give her any time to think, Coal began pacing around, mumbling nonsense. "I never should have trusted you. Never should've thought you'd actually stop. Of course you wouldn't! Why would you? You're a psychopath!"
"Coal?"
"You witch! Just when I thought you might have a shred of decency-"
"Coal-"
"Never again! Never-"
"Will you stop this?!" She shouted. "You're treading a hole into the floor below!" Coal finally stopped his pacing, glaring at her with such intensity. The psychic groaned, planting a hand over her face. "Now, while I'm not refuting your original declaration, I must know the circumstances which led you to such a hypothesis."
Coal scoffed with disgust. "Don't pretend like you don't-" Seeing she was getting nowhere, she tossed a box of tea leaves at him to shut him up. Once he recovered, she shot him a silent stare and a gesture that read 'Well? I'm waiting.' Gritting his teeth, the aspiring hunter finally announced his findings. "How long have you been leading on Dusk?!"
"Dusk?" Well, my mission has been to obtain information. Best method for that, given my standing, is through flirtation. "Since we met. What brought on this sudden discovery?"
"Gee, you tell me, Miss Psychic!"
"Ugh..." Sera rolled her eyes. "I thought you were vehement on me not using my powers on yourself."
"Oh, now you pretend like you don't-" He stopped in his tracks once he saw Sera gripping another box. Enough of the theatrics. We've all established I'm a horrible person. "Turn Dusk down. Reject him, or I swear..."
"And finally, you get to the bottom of... excuse me?"
(-)
"...And that's how me and the girls made it to Atlas! Still hard to believe we've beaten the odds and made it all together!" Sherry fondled her escort's arm, massaging the muscular build. "I like to think it was fate that brought me to this school."
Viridian said nothing. As he had for the past two minutes. Sherry talking his ears off was almost as hellish as that witch. With one arm clutching the base of a crate, he sped up his pace. The bubbly girl followed suit, almost tugging at this point. She claimed to inform him when he needed to take a turn, as she was leading the way, but so far had filled the air with nonsense.
"So, enough about me. Let's hear all about you now." She said in a cheerier voice than normal. This is stupid, the brute thought to himself. Investigation is their job. Not mine. I want no part of this. He tried to shake her off, switch arms to carry the box. But she only traded places to his left side. "Where did you grow up?"
"Vacuo." He grumbled.
"That's interesting! Anything special about Vacuo?"
"No."
"I see, I see. Say, what's your favorite band?"
"Don't have one."
"Huh? You don't listen to music?"
"No." Things went on like this for quite a while. He lacked all empathy to respond as though he cared.
"Do you have a favorite color?"
"No."
"Favorite animal?"
"No."
"Favorite food?"
"N-" He paused. The mention of food did spark his interest. While Viridian didn't care for anything that wasn't related to violence and his ambition, he did have a favorite food. A food he had discovered shortly after being employed by Sorrell. "Sweets..." He murmured.
Sherry's ears perked up. "You like sweet food?" The brute nodded, his thoughts now filled with all variances of sweets he had eaten. Chocolate, ice cream, jub jubs, candies, and- "Do you like cakes?"
"Cakes..." Viridian licked his lips in anticipation. He hadn't tasted cakes yet. He didn't know what all could be sweet. Not everything coated with sugar was sweet, after all.
"Store bought ones, or home made?" Sherry also reflected his eagerness with hope twinkling in her eyes. The brute never noticed, dazed and lost in thought.
"You can make cake?"
"Totally! And chocolate, and cookies too!"
All this time, I could have been making all these things? He shook his head, trying to force the thought out. His ambition was everything. Anything that wasn't aligned with it did not matter. Finally, he asked "Where is this supposed to go again?"
"Huh?" She seemed a little bewildered by the change in topic, as if forgetting their place and task. "O-oh, yeah, right, right-"
"Well?" He demanded, tapping his foot in impatience, stopping where two halls met. Now that he was staring her in the face, he noticed something. She was stammering with her words, a faint touch of panic in her expression. Those cherry colored eyes, never meeting his own gaze... She's leading me astray on purpose.
The box crashed to the ground, sending the thousands of canisters scattering to the walls and down beyond their sight. No longer flubbing, Sherry looked up to see Viridian's expression twist with rage. He was crackling his knuckles, gritting his teeth. He seethed in silence, before making a simple demand.
"Which one of them was it?" He barked. "The clown or the witch?"
"M-my, you're so close, V..." Sherry murmured, startled, yet not daunted. If anything, she breathed a little faster, a rosy tinge creeping on her cheeks.
"Well?!"
"I... Don't know what you're talking a-"
The brute pulled back, his gaze turned down the hall they came from. "So, it was the witch." If it was the clown, he would have insisted she pin the blame on him. No, not blame. He would want credit for this little stunt. Viridian kicked aside a can before leaving Sherry. "Excuse me a moment."
(-)
"Be quiet for a moment. I need time to think." Seraphina spat with her fingers pressed against her temple.
But of course, Coal would all but comply. "It's not rocket since, Sera. Dusk plans on asking you out. Reject him. I don't care how harsh you are about it, just leave him be!"
The psychic rolled her eyes. "How many times must I remind you to look up the word delicacy?! There's a process! Plus, you know what Dusk is like! He's an innocent and frail soul!" She bit her bottom lip, averting her gaze. "With some frankly obscene thoughts that may need addressing, but-"
"Oh my God, how long must you play the puppeteer?! Dusk is our friend!"
"Precisely why this must be dealt with tenderly! I care about him as much as you do!"
"You do?" Dusk blurted from behind. They both spun to see the soldier just about to knock on the door almost off its hinges. He flustered and turned away, scratching his hair. "That... Makes me happy." He said with a faint smile.
Oh, shoot. Sera never noticed his approach because Coal was screaming at her face. "Well, speak of the de-" She began with a wide smile, but Coal intervened.
"No, no, no, no." He started pushing the soldier out the door. "Dusk, give us a moment. The adults are talking."
But before he could be ushered out, someone was pushing him back in. Rather, someone was pushing him aside, scrambling to get in the room. Viridian's hulking figure loomed over Seraphina. In a swift action, his closed fist collided against her jaw, sending her to the ground.
"Returning the favor." He grumbled. Satisfied, he resumed his reading position and continued as if nothing had happened. But beyond his vision, and well beyond his empathy, Dusk rushed to Sera's side, helping her to her feet without waiting at all.
"Sera, are you all right?" He practically shouted.
A headache she had been mitigating until now had surged through her head. "Ugh... I should have seen that coming."
"How dare you!" The soldier shouted. "What in Remnant would cause you to raise a hand to a lady?! And your teammate, at that!" Wow, he's really taking the high road, she thought. Not all too surprising, in all honesty. "I can't believe you're such a barbarian!"
"And who do you think you're talking to?!" Sherry screeched, now also making her entrance. Things are quickly spiraling into chaos. Dusk and Sherry bickered back and forth, no progress made on either side. Just more noise to fill her pounding head. Coal glared with the fury of a thousands Suns, making all kinds of mental threats.
"Would all of you SHUT UUUUUP!" Viridian bellowed. His booming voice echoed, even down the hall. All other noise came to a screeching halt, his voice still ringing in all of their heads. The brute jabbed his book in Sera's direction. "You. Sort this out. It's probably your fault anyway."
Dusk looked as though he were about to argue back, but a swift, intimidating scowl from the brute silenced him. Indeed, the soldier now assumed a sitting position, like an obedient little dog. Sherry, it seemed, also mimicked his submissive stance. A door creaked open without any of them noticing. All the while the psychic's head throbbed in unfathomable pain.
Clapping her hands together, she pretended as though her skull wasn't splitting open. "All right, we'll settle this like Hunters. Dusk, you and one other teammate of your choosing will spar against Sherry and one teammate of her choosing. The winner will be graced with courtship for one, romantic evening."
""What?"" They all said in unison.
"Sherry, you get a date with your beloved Viridian if you win-" The bubbly girl almost began to drool, with starry eyes. "-And Dusk, I'll accept your advances should you win." Dusk shied away, but could not hide his grin.
"You-" Viridian began, but to mend her still throbbing temple, Seraphina pressed a finger to his lips.
"Hush, V, I'm resolving the situation, as you had asked." She could have sworn she saw a vein pop on his forehead. Must have been her imagination. No matter. Now there was only one nuisance left to be dealt with. The psychic met Coal's gaze, feeling the intensity of his seething fury.
This isn't right, Sera. This isn't what I asked. There was a noble anger in his eyes, but also a forlorn pity. Both Dusk and Sherry, you can't lead them along like this.
It will be all right, Coal. She answered. I will handle things with Dusk. You need not worry, I will ease his quivering heart. As gently as possible, I assure you.
