Well, you know the drill by now. All answers to questions will be on the end of the chapter and if the question has already been answered/is too spoilerific/will be answered by the chapter or coming chapters anyway, then I won't bother answering them.
Oh, and I gotta ask: Where the fuck do all the Familiar's go later? After a while the Familiar's just up and disappear, which is especially jarring since they feature prominently in the early chapters. Seriously, the only Familiar left later on is Sylphid; every other Familiar gets put on a bus and disappears from the plot, even when their help would've been greatly appreciated.
And why do only a select few seem to have them in the first place? None of the teachers are shown to have them and Henrietta, the soon to be monarch of Tristain, is oddly missing one despite the ritual being some kind of mark for honor. Do the Familiar's just disappear after a while because their lifespans run out or what? It seems really odd.
This is even lampshaded by the anime opening. Each mage has a portrait of their Familiar behind him, but Henrietta gets a portrait of Wales...yeah. Nice fanon I suppose. Siesta's portrait is also her in a sailor uniform, but since she's not a mage I let that go.
Lastly, re-reading Volume's 1 and 2, some of the character's seem really...odd. Colbert seems way more of a goofball and even has no qualms flirting with and asking out Fouquet on a date, despite the age gap of about 20 years. Discounting Kirche's attraction to him later, he's also shown to frequently lament being dateless and unmarried, even to Saito who he barely knew at the time. Afterwards he also drops this habit.
Henrietta is the weirdest one here, though. In her first chapter she comes off as a somewhat mean-spirited and manipulative drama queen. She insults Cardinal Mazarin right to his face when he's lecturing her, which is a stark contrast to their interactions later where they seem to be close as family, and the way she asks Louise for helps honestly looks like she's trying to manipulate her. Look at this line:
"Impossible! It's impossible, Louise! How could I be so terrible? It's all confusing! When I think about it, I couldn't ask you to do such a dangerous thing as to go to Albion while this conflict between the nobles and the royalists is unfolding!"
So she doesn't want Louise to do it...and yet she specifically says what she wants Louise to not do? Louise had no idea Henrietta wanted before she spouted that sentence, so it seems like she was baiting Louise to accept it. Beforehand she even loudly laments how she's doomed and dramatically flops to the floor, which looks really odd considering how subdued and formal she is even in personal company later on.
I dunno if this is character development since they simply drop these habits the next time they appear, or if its just character exaggeration from the author. What do you guys think?
P.S. I went back to some a couple of the earlier chapters and removed the responses to Random Reader and DaggerDoom. From now on, all long responses will be done by PM:) And, in case anybody missed this from the last chapter: "No, this is not a crossover with Legacy of Kain. I just based the scene off of the Soul Reaver intro".
Anyhow, sorry for the rant. Let's start!
How did he keep getting into these situations?
Raziel sighed, head bobbing left and right as his salamander friend dragged him by the collar to God's knows where. Already he could smell the distinct odor of burning cloth and flinched. Creature's made out of fire had this uncanny biology. Their internals were often fiery hot, regardless of whether their externals were under control. So while the Salamander was room temperature in everything else, his mouth felt as hot as the center of a flame.
With nothing better to do, he started thinking about how he got here.
He was staying out of his master's room as always, exploring the campus like he usually did in his nighttime. Given how early his master slept - provided she wasn't reading up on her lessons - he usually had over 8 hours to explore the campus or do whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, his unusual exploratory hours meant that he almost never met anyone, which was particularly annoying when he wanted to see Siesta.
Sleep always tried to come for him, but he never let it take him. He'd figured out pretty fast that the trigger for those debilitating flashes of memory back to his past adventures, and the end result of those flashbacks tended to manifest in extreme headaches that left him wanting to puke; which was of course impossible since the gag reflex in his body didn't work anymore.
And so he left his master's room every night, walking around the large campus in order to stave off sleep. At times he would practice with Derflinger (assuming the sword wasn't asleep) or do his master's laundry; with Siesta's help, of course. He still didn't get how to fold underwear and he was really grateful Siesta helped him despite having no reason to do so.
But tonight was an odd case. In the middle of his daily explorations he'd found Flame, the salamander who had taken a liking to him, following him from a distance. Since he'd decided by now that he wasn't going to get attacked, he continued his exploration, the silent salamander trailing behind him like a shadow. He actually found it kind of relaxing, in a way. It felt nice to know he wasn't alone.
Or at least that's what he thought before Flame tackled him to the floor and started dragging him by the collar.
Raziel sighed, more out of annoyance than anything. He could've struggled really, or he could've attacked Flame: Even with his bare hands he probably could have seriously injured and even killed the giant fire lizard. But, a part of him grew curious as to where he was being led - or dragged, which would be way more appropriate. Laurentius chided him at times for his curiousness and willingness to place himself in danger for them, but he never let it bother him. If he blindly followed orders and everything he was told then things would have ended quite differently; both here and in Lordran.
"Where are you taking me?" He asked him. Flame gave a small grunt, which caused the cloth around his collar to burn even more, but continued to drag him. Raziel understood however. "Wait and See"
Feeling his eyes glaze over from exhaustion, he thought back to earlier today. It would keep his mind occupied at least.
It had been six days since he'd recovered part of his memory. After recovering a part of his memory, life for both him and his master slowed to an utter crawl. Derflinger was true to his word: He couldn't help them unlock any more of the seals on the runes, and so the two of them agreed it would be solved at another time. Life had pretty much turned to normal after that; for a given degree of normal, anyway.
Classed continued for Louise, which meant she and Raziel had to work on a fixed schedule. Raziel would be the first to awaken - or rather, he didn't go to sleep - and woke Louise up before the sun's first light, as instructed. Afterwards he would dress her, though there were times she preferred to do it herself, and they would make their way into the Alviss dining hall, trying to avoid any crowds that they would pass.
After the incident with Guiche and her Familiar, no one pointed fingers at her or called her Zero, or at least not with her in hearing distance. She was sure her peers were still calling her worthless. Now they just didn't do it for fear of getting choked by her now armored Familiar and his rude piece of crap- I mean, talking sword.
While she ate, Raziel left her side, preferring to either leave the hall altogether and lie in the fields or look for Siesta and help her with her duties. Louise had to admit that seeing some of her snobbier classmates choke on their food when he arrived with a tray to their table to be extremely gratifying. They probably thought he was going to use the tray as a projectile weapon or something.
As all this was going on, she had never seen him actually eat any of the food he handled on a daily basis. Sure she saw him sniff the breads or soups on the tray once or twice, but he always shook his head and placed it back. She mostly assumed the maid was feeding him when she wasn't looking out of gratitude but, given that she seemed to always insist he eat and he always refused, it seemed kind of unlikely.
Normally she would've been more worried. Her Familiar was at least human in appearance if nothing else, and yet he never slept or ingested any food since he'd been summoned last week. At times he could hear him mutter about stomach aches or saw his eyelids drooping from exhaustion from time to time, but whenever she took note of it he always seemed to have no problem saying it was a minor thing.
Classes were the same as the first day. He would stay outside with some of the larger Familiar's while she did her best in class, which was helped greatly by the reduced amount of heckling she got from her peers. Kirche still teased her relentlessly, but she didn't let that bother her. The Germanian flirt was a sworn rival of the Valliere family and she would've found it more worrisome if she didn't constantly try to make her life a living hell. A Zerbst being nice to her was a harbinger of the end times.
It was only after 6 constant days of this did she finally remember another reason for going into town: The Familiar's Day. In the bad mood she'd gotten into because of him trying to cut off Sylphid's tail, she nearly forgot the presentation. A couple of weeks after the Familiar summoning, the Mages were required to show in front of both the students and teachers their Familiar's skills.
Normally the range of these tests extended to the Familiar itself. Small Familiar's like mice and frogs simply had to squeak or go somewhere on command while larger Familiar's like dragons, wolves, and various other creatures had to perform extraordinary feats. Technically walking up the stage and introducing one's Familiar was enough, but there was an unspoken agreement that such a display was pathetic, even among the teachers.
And so, one day Raziel found himself sitting with his master at a field on the back of the school. Or rather, he sat while Louise paced around and mumbled what he assumed was a curse in an ancient language. The way she waved her small fists in the air reminded him of the chained prisoners mumbling abyss magic back in the depths of the Oolacile prison.
"Hey, what's wrong girly? Working on a plan for your forbidden romance with partner here?" Derf mocked, rising up from his scabbard. Raziel had removed him from his back and placed him in a way that he was leaning across the tree. Derf said it was more relaxing than being strung straight out across his back.
Louise response was quick, "Shut up, stupid sword!" She whirled around and, with the accuracy of a trained archer, kicked the talking sword right at his laughing hilt. With an "Ow" and a muttered curse, Derf slid back onto his sheath.
"Master, what do you require?" Raziel ignored the odd couple's arguing, "I have done all the laundry for the week and have practiced in case of attack. Is there something I have done wrong?" He asked warily. He really didn't want to be sent back to the kiln because he made her mad. Sure she wasn't the nicest person he'd met, but that didn't change the fact that her yelling was a thousand times preferable to his eternal torment.
Besides, he'd Hollow out sooner or later, so the servant for life thing really didn't matter to him much. While he did admit that this place was practically a paradise compared to Lordran, it didn't change the fact that he had no place here other than this loose contract. He was honestly surprised that he hadn't Hollowed out at this point. Still, better make do while it lasted.
Louise sighed, "No, this is about something else," Raziel raised an eyebrow expectantly, "As you've no doubt noticed, the student's are practicing with their Familiar's around the field."
Actually, no he didn't notice at all. Now that he paid attention however, he could see a few of the students around the field with their Familiar's. The redhead Kirche with his friend Flame were practicing making precise shapes with fire while she could see a fat blond boy directing a small owl (he'd learned the name from Derf) through some hoops. He could even see his target- Flames, he meant the dragon Familiar, circling the air and doing a few acrobatic maneuvers. Other students with their Familiar's also tried to do tricks or various other performances, but he didn't find them all that interesting.
"Right, well in a few days it'll be The Familiar's Day," He titled his head to the side in confusion. Louise sighed, "It means every Mage who summoned a Familiar has to put on a performance in front of both the teachers and their other students. Usually we show what the Familiar is capable of and try to entertain the crowd. It's also no unusual to get visits from outside nobles during days like this."
"So it's a glorified pet show then?" Derf interrupted with a mad cackle. Louise threw him another glare and raised her wand, chanting the spell for fireball under her breath. Derf gave another muffled curse and slunk back into the scabbard.
"This year is more special than the previous ones however," Louise started, a hint of excitement seeping into her voice, "According to what Mr. Colbert taught us, Princess Henrietta is coming this year along with some of the other nobility!" She nearly yelled out before recomposing herself. Raziel nodded blankly at the excited announcement, though he flinched slightly when he heard the word princess.
Call him immature, but he hated hearing the word. Whenever he heard it he remembered Gwyndolin and Gwynevere, the two biggest spoiled brats of Anor Londo. Oh, how he wished he could see Gwynevere now. He would bet a thousand prism stones that the snake God didn't expect him to ever get out. If he ever got a chance to pummel the cross-dresser into slimy paste, he could die without regrets...well, if Kaathe and Frampt were added in then all the better. But he would settle for either.
"So who else is coming to this little show?" Derf once again spoke up.
Louise scowled at him, but she answered his question anyway, "Other than Princess Henrietta, the Griffin corps, her personal guards, will also make an appearance. I've also heard that the acting monarch Cardinal Mazarin and the Imperial messenger Count Mott might show up, but that's mostly rumors and hearsay. Really, why does it matter? The princess is going, and that's all that you should care about."
Okay, whoever this princess was, it was obvious his master adored her to a significant degree. He certainly couldn't imagine why. Princesses were spoiled brats who did nothing but lounge around in chair's while their knights did all the work. They also had no problem leaving their assigned job to take care of Humanity and go running off with Foreign God's, leaving their followers to be experimented on by an insane blind dragon.
God of Fertility his ass...
"The reason we're having this conversation now should be obvious: We need to think of what you'll do for the performance coming up." Louise grit her teeth when she saw her Familiar's continued bored expression, "Hey, this is serious! Almost nobody believes you're my Familiar, so we need to find a way not to embarrass ourselves. I don't want a repeat of what happened with Guiche."
"I could make a speech, if master desires it." Raziel commented flatly, looking up at the sky above. It still amazed him how entranced he got just staring up at the blue sky and puffy clouds above. It felt like he could lose himself in them; so bright and pleasing to the eyes.
Louise gave an annoyed sigh and threw him an irritated glare. Ever since he'd gotten that stupid piece of crap from the weaponsmith he'd started being more and more disrespectful of her, at least in the verbal sense. He still did any task she gave him efficiently and rarely did he complain or make any notion that he would disobey her. Still, a Familiar mouthing off to his master was a bad show.
But really, what could she do? There was absolutely nothing she could do to punish him even if she wanted to. She couldn't deny him meals because he never ate and she couldn't kick him out of the room because he left anyway once she fell asleep. She could whip him if she wanted, but even she was not cruel enough to whip someone summoning full body burns and was still healing.
She hated to say it, but maybe it would have been better if she summoned a Human Familiar to begin with. Whatever he was, he was certainly no ordinary human being. She would've been scared if not for the fact that he honestly seemed mentally challenged.
His throat was practically healed by now, though due to his new-found rudeness she rarely considered it a good thing. His flat and airy affect when talking did little to help accurately gauge his emotions whenever he spoke to her. Guiche talked in a typical annoying way, Kirche had this flirty or energetic touch to hers, and even Tabitha managed to show annoyance and tiredness. This meant she could see how they felt when talking. He was simply...blank. She could never read or gauge what exactly he felt or if he was being sincere in his words, so she had to take his words at face value and guess when he was being ironic.
"Yes, I'm sure the teachers would love to listen to a speech between the wolf howling and owl acrobatics," Louise deadpanned, "No, we need to show them something that you can do that no one else could. You have any ideas?" Normally she wouldn't bother asking for his opinion, but she was completely at a loss here. The only thing she could think of was him not needing sleep or food, but there was no way to prove that without extending the show for a week.
Raziel looked down for a moment in deep thought before an idea came to him, "Could I perhaps stab myself as a show of-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence before Louise kicked him in the stomach. Hard, "Are you an idiot!?" Raziel barely even flinched as his master retracted her foot and pointed an accusing finger at him, "You may think you're immortal because you survived Guiche's attack, but that doesn't mean its true. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time, got it!"
Raziel nodded, ignoring the slight pain in his stomach. Louise barely had reservations of attacking him like that whenever he made her mad - which was exceedingly rare - because she knew for a fact that he barely felt or reacted to it whatsoever. Hey, just because she didn't want to whip him didn't mean she had no way of disciplining him if he got too stupid.
"Okay, let's start from the beginning," She suggested, "The first thing we have to do is give you a proper name. I know I call you Familiar, but we need something to-"
"Raziel," Raziel spoke out without thinking. Louise looked at him in confusion, urging him to elaborate, "Some...memories," He started off awkwardly, "Seem to indicate that it was my name in the past. Or at least, that it was what people called me..." He trailed off awkwardly. Truthfully, no one called him by that name at all. His past self, who he still didn't relate to very well, simply took to calling himself that way when Gough suggested it.
It wasn't even much of a name to begin with. If what Gough said was accurate, then it was just the Giant's way of saying Undead, which meant he was still going by a moniker or designation rather than a title. He found it kind of irritating that he couldn't remember anything before the Asylum. A name would have at least given him a higher sense of self.
"Hmm~" Louise cupped her chin and narrowed her eyes at his answer, "Do you identify with the name?' She asked after a long while. Just because he was called that before didn't mean that it would be accurate to call him that now; or at least, that's how Louise saw it. She couldn't really imagine how one could live their life without knowing their true name. To an aristocrat, name and honor were everything.
Raziel raised another eyebrow, an action he preferred to voicing curiosity verbally, and nodded. In all honesty, he really didn't. Sure he seemed to identify with it eagerly in the past, but he felt very little in relation to the figure he saw in his dreams. His years spent in the Kiln had changed him too much...or maybe he was simply thinking about it too much.
In either case, going by the name would be way more convenient for the both of them.
"Alright, so that's one part done," She sighed, "The next part is the most important one: The demonstration. We need to show something that you can do that- So help me if you suggest stabbing yourself again I will whip you!" She snapped at him before he could speak up.
Raziel mumbled something to himself, but kept quiet all the same. Really, apart from showing his sword skills, he didn't have much that the average determined person could do. Well, he could handle situations much more calmly and rationally than even veteran soldiers could, but again there was no way of showing that unless a giant monster just happened to attack the school. Being Undead was the only thing that saved him from dying permanently over and over and over again.
He would've suggested Pyromancy, but there were two reasons against it: The first being that he still couldn't use it very well and the second being Sorcerer's natural disdain for it. Pyromancy was considered chaos magic, and so many Sorcerer's advocated the banning and ostracizing of all users. It was one of the reasons Laurentius considered being Undead to be an actual improvement over being alive.
"Oh, having trouble with planning, Valliere?"
Louise turned to the source of the voice and immediately voiced her displeasure, "What do you want, Zerbst? Can't you see I'm busy?" She glared at the busty redhead.
Kirche smiled and waved off her concerns, "Aww, and here I thought about helping you and your sweet Familiar here with your plans for the Familiar's Day. Let me guess: No idea what you can do for the presentation?"
'Sweet Familiar?' Louise thought, eyes narrowing at her Germanian rival. No doubt she planned to steal away her Familiar from her. After all, it was the only thing their fake noble family always did; steal from their betters like her family. While she couldn't say she was particularly attached to him, having her Familiar stolen from her would be an insult to her pride as a noble.
That and she couldn't deny that, should she ever need protection, he seemed capable enough for it. Especially now that he had a sword (annoying as it may have been) and a decent suit of armor.
Raziel was content to ignore their conversation - like he usually did - and contented himself with petting Flame across his scaly head, "Kyuru kyuru," The salamander grunted, biting at the sleeve of his left arm. It was quite obvious that the salamander wanted to see his burn scars again. Due to his new armor and the (stupid) arm-guard the only bandages that could still be seen were the ones on his head and left hand. He looked almost normal.
"Not today, sorry," He smiled at the Familiar. He hadn't changed bandages since that night with Siesta, so he really wasn't sure how mangled his body was now. And since he'd just gotten used to how tight they were on his arms, he really wasn't keen on removing them again. Siesta would insist she re-do them and he didn't know how much more of that he could take.
"Kyuru kyuru," He could've sworn Flame frowned at his refusal.
"What I and my Familiar are doing is none of your business, Zerbst," He heard Louise start, "Or rather, shouldn't you worry about yourself more? I'm not sure if an overgrown lizard is really capable of doing much to impress the nobility attending," She bluffed. In all honesty, she would've loved to have a Salamander for a Familiar. They were one of the strongest fire based creatures next to the dragons.
Kirche could immediately see through her fake bravado, "Oh? Then I wish you luck on your presentation, Valliere. I hope you don't embarrass yourself in front of the princess. I heard she's going to attend and it would be horrible if you embarrassed yourself in front of royalty, Zero~." She drew out the name.
With a flip of her hair, Kirche gave one last smile at the two of them and left, whistling for Flame to follow her. He gave Raziel one last glance before turning to follow his master, tail swishing in annoyance. Evidently he'd gotten annoyed at not being given his request.
It was only after they left the field did Louise allow her reaction to show, "Ohhh, that Zerbst!" She stamped her feet on the ground in frustration, "I hate her! I hate her! I hate her! She's always so smug and acts so superior to me!" She ranted, ignoring Raziel's quizzical tilt. They seemed to get along really well, all things considered. He'd seen hate, he'd felt hate. And what his master felt wasn't hate.
Hate was when you wanted to destroy someone utterly. Where compassion, mercy, and other trivial concepts took a lower priority compared to the anger you felt at something or someone. He felt hatred for Lautrec, he felt hatred for Petrus, he felt hatred for Gwyndolin and his serpent manipulators. What Louise felt wasn't hate, at least not yet.
"Her and her entire family are a bunch of thieves!" She ranted again. Thankfully everyone in the field was already gone, save for Tabitha circling overhead, "They stole the lover of my great grandfather and my grandfather after him! Spreading rumors about him being impotent and even going as far as to spread horrible commissioned paintings made by cheap painters!"
"Hmm..." He began to look at the sky again; an action that signified he either wasn't listening or didn't care about the topic. Hmm, Siesta said that she would end work soon, maybe he could see her after this.
Unfortunately, Louise was too far gone to care, "And now she dares insinuate that I'll make an embarrassment of myself in front of the princess!" Didn't she say royalty and not just princess? Or at least, that's what he heard, "To think she would dare say I would do such a thing in front of my childhood-" Louise stopped, lips pursing in annoyance as she remembered she was in an open field.
What she was about to say was childhood friend. She felt like slapping herself for being so arrogant. Yes, she and Princess Henrietta were childhood friends in the past, but that was all it was. The princess had no doubt forgotten her by now, as Louise expected her to. The last time they spoke was when she needed a favor from the pinkette to act as a decoy for her. That was 3 years ago, and no doubt the passage of time had changed their relationship.
"Childhood?" Raziel parroted her.
"It's nothing..." The frown on her face indicated otherwise, but he wouldn't pry on it, "It doesn't matter. In either case, we still have to think about what we're going to do for the demonstration."
"Having a little trouble, Valliere?" A snobby voice interrupted. Louise flinched at the greeting, though less so than when Kirche did it. There was only one person who could sound that annoying without even trying.
Guiche made his way towards them, arms folded behind him like a general overlooking his troops. Wearing the same frilly uniform and impractical pants as always, Louise could almost find it hard to believe that he was nearly killed just a week prior. The bruises around his neck, which were the only thing that marked him as being hurt, had already healed by now either through the passage of time or, as was more likely, water magic.
Based on the light scowl adorning his handsome face, it was quite obvious he wasn't happy. He had been beaten by a commoner; a man who had no magic or nobility in his blood. Just as embarrassing was the fact that his womanizing ways were exposed to his peers, in addition to having his reputation sullied by being defeated. The other boys had made fun of him in class and girls whispered behind his back, calling him a shameless defiler who tried and failed to pin his crimes on someone else.
Of course they completely ignored that they were perfectly fine with it till he was getting his arse beaten by a serving tray. Nobility, wasn't it so wonderful?
The only saving grace of the entire thing was the fact that his family hadn't gotten involved. As Old Osmond said, neither the Valliere or Gramont families were told of what happened that day, meaning that Guiche had managed to just barely escape publicly humiliating his entire family throughout the nobility in Tristain. Louise guessed that if the entire incident was exposed then he would've been disowned on the spot by his father.
Montmorency still refused to talk to him; a far cry from her worried behavior when Raziel nearly impaled him. Once the adrenaline of the situation wore off, she remembered that he was still a womanizer who lied and promptly slapped him in the face (again) and left, ignoring his pleas. Even now, a week after the entire thing happened, she still refused to talk to him and locked her room whenever he was near. It was practically the gossip of the dorm nowadays.
And now he was walking towards them, "Is something the matter, Valliere?" He started off lightly, "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"No, more like an annoying stain," Louise huffed, ignoring Guiche's rapidly reddening face, "What is it you want? I'm still busy planning and your presence here is distracting me from that."
"...I heard you did not involve my family in the incident a week prior," He said quietly, bowing his head. Louise nodded, though the look of annoyance had never left her face, "Then on my honor, I thank you. If you had not done so, my entire family would have been disgraced and no doubt I would have been disowned by my father; as he rightfully should have."
"I don't want your gratitude," Louise waved him off, "If you want to thank someone, thank Headmaster Osmond. He's the reason you're not lacking your title right now." Louise didn't think much on it; he'd been tormenting her for over a year now, and not once did he get in trouble. Even if she did send complaints to his family it wouldn't give her any satisfaction knowing that he got disowned. She was angry at him, but not to that degree.
Guiche flinched at the cold reply. Still, he had promised himself he would do this today and he wouldn't give up on it, "That's not all. There's something else I wish to do."
"Oh? And what's that?" She raised an eyebrow neutrally. No doubt he wanted to say that this didn't change anything and that she was still a Zero in his eyes. He was already expecting him to laugh now.
Which meant his next actions sent a jolt of surprise through her.
With a deep breath and a mumbled prayer, Guiche knelt on one knee and bowed his head, "I did not come here to simply express my gratitude, but to show my regret. I wish to...apologize," The last word came out as noticeably more forced than the rest of the sentence.
Louise's eyes widened, staring at Guiche in surprise. Raziel looked down from his skygazing and glanced at Guiche, slightly interested in what was happening. He'd already heard Guiche's half-hearted apology before; though the boy obviously didn't want him to. Having good ears was very useful at times.
"I apologize for making you bow your head to me. I know it was dishonorable of me, one who calls himself a noble, to make a fellow aristocrat lower herself when she had no fault. And for this I seek your forgiveness, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière!" He practically shouted out. Raziel looked up and found Tabitha staring down at the scene briefly before practicing her flying maneuvers again.
"Wh-What...d-d-d-"Louise wanted to answer, she really did, but all that came out of her mouth was disjointed stuttering. He had used her full name; in the world of aristocracy, one noble using another ones full name was a show of either absolute respect or absolute dedication. It was actually the first time since attending this school did she hear her full name uttered by someone other than herself. It was basically an ultimatum of sorts to show one was serious.
And she never imagined Guiche of all people would be the first to say it.
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before speaking out again, "Why...Why are you apologizing now?" She forced her voice to stay neutral, though it was getting increasingly hard to do so the more she realized that this wasn't just one of her daydreams. This was really happening; the blond playboy was actually apologizing to her.
Guiche gave a wry smile, "Well, truth be told this isn't actually due to my own initiative. It was mostly my brothers idea," He looked down again, a light blush adorning his cheeks, "I know you didn't mention this to my family, but my third older brother has friends in the academy and they told him about what happened a week ago. And...well, let's just say he wasn't happy."
"That doesn't answer my question," Louise commented.
"Right, I'm getting there," He sighed, "Well, he sent me a letter a week ago and told me to meet him at an alleyway in town. You couldn't imagine how scared I was. Why an alleyway and not a room at an inn? I thought he was going to kill me on the spot; skip past disowning altogether." He shuddered. Louise could slightly sympathize with his fear. Kinslaying was a most grave crime, but that didn't stop it from happening; usually from younger siblings in the family that wanted their older siblings out of the way for the inheritance. Older siblings killing younger ones were more rare, but happened nonetheless.
It was kind of like slavery in a sense. It was obviously illegal, but unless shown ironclad proof then other nobles could get away with it. It made her sick. How could one own another persons life and treat it like it belonged to them? It was sickening. To own people and treat them like animals.
Of course, Familiar's were exempt from this rule. They weren't people; they were bonded to the mage through magical rite. Regardless if they were mice, salamander, dragon, or human look-alike.
"It was actually one of the reasons I was awake so early, as your Familiar can attest." He pointed at Raziel, "I got to the town pretty early in the morning by horse and met him at the entrance. He greeted me with a smile and asked how I was doing. For a moment I thought I had misread his letter and that everything was well...and then he dragged to the alleyway near the shops."
'Hmm, so that was what I saw,' Raziel thought idly. He could've sworn he saw something that peaked his interest in the alleyways while he and his master were in town buying the weapons and armor. Unfortunately, Louise had forced him to drop it since she was worried about thieves and he let it go. Oh well, perhaps it was for the best.
"He hit me right in the jaw once we got there," Raziel sighed. Okay, maybe not, "He told me that he knew about what I did and that our mother, may her soul forever be by Brimir's side, would be turning in her grave once she realized what I was doing. Seen some of the things I've done."
"Understandable," Louise nodded, "A noble losing to a commoner (though she used that term VERY loosely in regards to her Familiar) is an absolute disgrace. If you were in Albion now you might have gotten executed."
"Well...not exactly," Guiche shook his head, "He yelled at me about everything: Cheating on Montmorency, making up tales of adventure with father, and...various other things," He looked away, unwilling to elaborate, "He told me he always knew about me doing these things but he hid them from father and our older brothers because he thought that it wasn't drastic enough that they needed to know. It was only this recent incident that seriously tempted him to inform our father."
"And how does that relate to the apology?" Louise still didn't see the connection.
"He told me that he doesn't mind me doing these things - he said I would grow out of it - but that I needed to take responsibility for my actions lest he tell father about them. I had decided to apologize to everyone I wronged recently; and I chose to seek your forgiveness first. A noble takes responsibility for his actions, as he said, and I need to take responsibility for mine."
Louise felt troubled. Didn't she always want this? Ever since he had teased her she dreamed of him begging her for her forgiveness of his own will. She didn't want to use her family name or the like; she wanted him to genuinely regret insulting her and calling her a 'Zero'. She always imagined herself filled with pride, sneering down at whoever asked for her forgiveness.
And yet, looking at him now, all she could feel for him was pity. Why didn't she feel better about this? Why did she feel no sense of pride? She'd waited so long for something like this to happen and yet she couldn't relish in it at all.
"You were one of the first who bullied me. For over a year you mocked me about my magic, my appearance, and even my claim to nobility..." She gripped the wand inside her skirt pocket tightly, "But, that's not what you're apologizing for, is it? No, you want forgiveness for what happened the past week."
Guiche hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Even if you don't forgive me, I won't blame you. Had our positions been switched I may have ordered you to bow down to the ground and beg for my forgiveness. However, I'm aware I will slip back to old habits soon, so I'm apologizing now before I do. I seem to have a chronic case of making an idiot of myself," He joked, though Louise wondered if he really was joking or not.
It was to be expected, of course. He was like a child: Doing whatever he wanted until someone of a higher authority punished him for it. After that he would be all regrets and apologies, but after the shock of the punishment and reprimands wore off, he would go right back to his old ways. She supposed she should relish it while she could. No doubt once he got Montmorency's forgiveness he would slip back to being a womanizer; assuming there were still girls willing to talk with him, that is.
Sure he acted like a gentleman now, but she gave him a week before he was back to his old stupid self.
Louise herself was experienced with a variation of what he was going through. As a child she was often reprimanded for her lack of magical skill by her family (sans Cattleya) and she frequently cried and ran away to hide as a result. When her family inevitably found her they would apologize and say that her safety was more important than her magic. It would give her hope - a cruel illusion - before the same thing happened again. Even now it still happened, and even now she still relished the brief illusion that her family would accept her for who she was.
"Well, I can't say you're not sincere," Louise mumbled, "Alright, even if it may not be my place to do so, this humble daughter of the House of Valliere hereby forgives you for the incident that happened on the previous week. May this be a new beginning for you, Guiche de Gramont," She did her best to lay the drama on thick. Tristainian nobles had a flair for dramatics and it was common custom to do it this way. Not like the barbarians of Germania who liked to drink and have coitus whenever apologies were had.
"R-Really?" A smile overtook his face briefly before he bowed again, "Then, this humble noble sincerely thanks you, Miss Valliere. However, there is one other person here that I would like to ask for forgiveness."
Both nobles turned to Raziel, who was looking at Sylphid circling the sky again. Right now he was busy wondering how fast Derf would go if he was thrown and if he was sharp enough to cut of a tail with a single swipe. The damn swishing appendage was still there; mocking him with its wholeness. That she-dragon was mocking him with it, he knew she was!
"Ahem, Mr. Familiar," Guiche called out with a polite cough. Raziel blinked out of his reverie and turned to face Guiche, "I, Guiche Gramont, humbly wishes for your apology-"
"No need," Raziel interrupted the soon to be lengthy apology, "I do not hate you, and Siesta is okay, so there is no point," At his side, he could hear Derf laughing at his scabbard at Louise and Guiche's expression. Honestly, why did they look so surprised? Sure he would've liked an apology, but a simple 'I'm sorry' would suffice. The people here had such a flare for the dramatic.
The two nobles coughed awkwardly, the tense atmosphere from before absolutely crashing down at the blunt refusal. They were really getting into the whole thing, too.
"Still, there must be something I can do," Guiche insisted, "It would be a dishonor for me if I could do nothing to repay you for the injuries you sustained-"
"That's it!" It was Louise who interrupted him this time, "Guiche, you can still summon Golems, right?" He nodded, "Me and Ra- My Familiar are having trouble thinking of what to do for the Familiar show next week and we need a backup plan just in case. If we aren't able to think of something, then can you summon one of you Golem's to hold a spar with him? That should be enough to count as a demonstration."
Guiche processed her request before nodding. Raziel nodded as well, though his attention wasn't really focused at their conversation.
"Alright, at least we're not doomed to embarrass ourselves on the Familiar Day. Thank Brimir..."
He and Louise had separated not long after that. She had gone to the library to study up for the coming tests on wind theory and Raziel was given free reign to do whatever he wanted till nighttime hit.
And, as hard as it was for him to believe, he was completely free. No more laundry needed to be doing, he already memorized the layout of the dorm and part of the campus buildings, and Louise didn't give him any instructions apart from practicing with Derflinger. He couldn't even do that since swinging a sword without a target felt pretty pointless and there wasn't a single threat for miles. It almost made him miss Lordran.
"Hey partner, what are you doing now?" Derf asked from his sheath. Raziel looked back at the sword and shrugged, an action he had taken to doing a lot ever since he had spent more than a couple of days here.
Without Lordran's constant danger, he had to admit life felt boring. Sure he didn't miss getting stabbed by skeletons, undead, snake people, golems, and various other monstrosities, but at least the constant stream of threats allowed him to let off frustration and boredom from his solitary journey. Here there was nothing to distract him apart from empty hallways and people who avoided him. The only person he ever talked to was Siesta, and she was busy with her job being a maid.
She had invited him to come to the kitchen for food once or twice, but he had continuously rebuked her offers. Food like moss and grass clumps were only ingested in times of great need. Undead had deadened senses of tastes in addition to their dead cells, so one piece of food barely ever felt different from another. He still remembered the day he had run out of purple moss in Blighttown and had to make do with ingesting a dung pie in order to counteract the stronger poisons. Thankfully his tongue was long dead and could not feel the matter he had forced upon it.
But now he had to find something to distract himself. Sleep came with more intensity the more his mind wasn't occupied and he was trying as hard as he could to put off sleeping. He had to do the process at some point, but not now. It was silly in a way; he felt no fear of injuring himself with his blade but he regretted sleep simply because it gave him a few headaches. He chalked it up to anxiety due to never having it before.
"The sacrifice is rejected. You will know my wrathhhhh"
"Stand away, monster!"
"No, that voooiceeee. Not possible. I knowwwww that voice. But he feeeelll- He ended there!"
"I did not fall-"
"Ohhhhh, it remembers THAT, does it?"
"I was thrown in, by my own-"
"Hey, partner, is it just me or is someone sleeping over there?"
Raziel blinked his drooping eyes and looked around him. In his unconscious walking he had somehow found himself at another field; the school had a lot of them, it seemed. This field looked smaller than the others and was surrounded by a thicker covering of tress. By the large size of them, he had to guess that these trees were here even before his master and some of the students.
That wasn't what garnered his attention, however. At the side of the field was Siesta, lying on her back and sleeping away. Raziel looked around the area cautiously before walking towards her. There was no one else here, so that meant it was only the two of them here now.
"Weird place to sleep, huh?" Derf commented, "You should probably wake her up, partner. These aristocrat brats hate catching the servants sleeping on the job and some of them carry around whips."
Raziel disregarded his words and knelt next to her, carefully observing her face. She slept differently from Louise. The small pinkette always had these unconscious frowns on her face whenever he woke her up and always seemed irritated. Siesta by contrast had her mouth parted open ever so slightly and a miniscule amount of drool was going down the side of her lips. Did he look like that when he slept?
Tentatively, he reached out his left hand and poked her cheek, "Muguuu," She twitched and shook her head, but gave no other reaction to the unwanted contact. Intriguing, so people could still go to sleep right after contact with another person? The only other things he'd seen sleep were Seath's snake guards, and the slightest contact was usually enough for them to try and skewer whatever was in front of them.
"Hey partner, what the heck are you doing?" Derf asked.
He once again ignored him and poked her face again. This time she gave no reaction to the contact, so he decided to try something else. Looking at the grass next to his knee, he reached a hand out and took some blades of grass in between his fingers. Careful not to wake her up, he slowly placed his hand atop her face and dumped the grass on top of it.
"Mmmmm," Her face twitched as she felt the greenery make contact with her skin, but again she continued to sleep. Siesta was known for being a deep sleeper among her friends; a fact which was being used against her now. If only she realized how idiotic she looked...
"Hey partner, you're sick," Derf suddenly called out, "I know I'm not one to judge, but taking advantage of a girl while she's sleeping is never good no matter what you say," He admonished him, clicking his hilt in disgust.
Raziel sighed and rolled his eyes. Derf was right: It was wrong for him to take advantage of his friend while she wasn't conscious, "Siesta, wake up," He grabbed her shoulder gently and tried to shake her awake, "Siesta, wake up," He repeated. While he was still curious on how she would react, he would have to rein it in. Curiosity killed the Oolacilian's, as Chester would say.
"Mmmm~" Her eyes twitched for a moment before she finally opened her eyes, "Mr. Familiar...?" She mumbled sleepily, stifling a yawn as her senses came back to her. Blinking a few more times to clear her vision, she finally realized what exactly was happening. The first was that she had fallen asleep somewhere she shouldn't have (again), and the second was that someone saw her before she woke up.
"Uwaah!" And, as predicted, she stumbled back and nearly hit her head on the ground, "D-D-D-Did you see?" She managed to stutter out, face turning red as the Undead continued to stare at the grass clumps still clinging to her face. Quickly she raised up her right hand and used the sleeve to wipe away any drool she may have had.
"See...?" What was she talking about?
"My...My sleeping face..." He continued to look at confusedly at her, "Well, what I mean is..." She shook her head and took a deep breath. It was obvious given his track record for being clueless that he didn't understand a word that she was saying. She had to accept that quirk about him; it was like how Head Chef Marteu liked to kiss people on the cheek or forehead despite how uncomfortable or awkward it was.
"N-Nevermind," She shook her head again, dislodging the few pieces of grass still stuck on her face, "Mr. Familiar, what are you doing here?"
Raziel looked down for a moment, as if in deep thought, before shrugging his shoulders, "Master is in the library, and I cannot read," He answered. While he would have loved to read the books they had on here, there was no way to currently do so without months if not years of learning the language. He was lucky enough that he knew the language around Lordran when he first came across scrolls in the Asylum. That and he didn't want to tell her he was simply looking for things to distract from sleep.
He was never much of a scholar, but he had to admit he found the various books he found in his adventures to be intriguing. Most of them were more often than not about the various sorceries and magics around Lordran or the God's and their legends. And, though he suspected much of the God's benevolence was fabricated, reading about their tales was intriguing all the same. It was a shame all the books in Seath's archives were translated in a language only the Channeler's could read.
"Oh, well...why not come with me then?" Siesta suggested, a bright smile making its way to her face. It was always nice to have company, "Umm, I'm actually going to the halls near the headmaster's room right now to do some light dusting. Do you want to come with me? I could use the company."
Raziel nodded, smiling slightly as well. It was something to keep himself occupied and at least it was better than laundry.
"The preparations are complete. Set an exact time and signal, and we will follow through," Fouquet read the letter carefully, silently mumbling a silence spell around the area. Even if she screamed out the contents of the letter now no one outside the room would be allowed to hear her.
While she was a renowned thief, in this school she was known as Ms. Longueville; the perfect irony. Pretending to be one of the servant's of the nobles while stealing and taking advantage of them right under their very nose. It would make for a good book.
It had been days since she went to the camp and even still she couldn't keep the distaste out of her thoughts as she forced herself to accept that this was happening. She was going to willingly loose psychotic bandits on students and teachers simply because of a little threat given to her. She was supposed to be a thief, not a murderer for hire who worked for whoever held her leash.
It was ironic. She had no love for the aristocracy, and yet she still found the thought of the teachers and students getting slaughtered to repulsive. Many of the teachers here, while either bumbling or self-important, had their good traits as well. In fact, she could recall nothing but fond things for Colbert and Old Osmond in particular.
Sure the former tried to not so subtly hit on her and the latter was an old pervert of heretical proportions, but they treated her with kindness and like an equal where others would have mocked her for her missing aristocracy. She would miss them when she left this place.
She hoped that all the bandits would die in the process. They needed to serve as distractions and she would lose no tears if they all perished in trying to do their task.
After this 'job', she would have to join the contact assigned to her and make way for Albion. The Reconquista revolution was starting to take power there and she had a hunch that her mysterious employers were either heavily connected with the group or was the group itself. It certainly couldn't have been the royalists; they were too bogged down in honor, virtue, and various other concepts that the art of subterfuge was utterly lost on them.
Sighing, she folded the letter and placed it back onto the envelope. There was a torch hanging on one of the walls on the left side and it would be perfect for her needs.
"And it all burns to ash..." She placed the paper against the orange fire and watched as the paper was slowly engulfed in the flames. Letters were typically disposed of after reading the contents so they couldn't be used as evidence later. In a way it was a sure sign that whoever commanded her now was either very careful or heavily paranoid. Neither option appealed to her; harder to defect and get away from an employer with either qualities.
The sound of the door opening greeted her not long after the last traces of the letter disappeared. Muttering a curse under her breath, she whispered the incantation that would remove the silence spell and turned to face her visitor.
"Oh, Ms. Longueville! What a coincidence to see you here!" Colbert greeted her enthusiastically, "What brings you up here?"
"Ah, Mr. Colbert," She bowed respectfully, "I was here delivering a letter to a friend. Private correspondence, you understand?" He nodded, "May I ask the same of you?"
"Just more research," The smile on his face faded slightly and he sighed, "I heard of a new phenomenon happening on one of the far-off countrysides and was hoping to investigate. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that my propositions to take time-off to travel there will be rejected due to how absurd it sounds."
"New phenomenon?" She asked, slightly intrigued. Despite his quirks, she did find his curiosity for the unknown to be slightly endearing. Most Mages had arrogance en-mass or they believed their magic was simply used to overpower others. Colbert was one of the few Mages she knew that devoted his life to using his magic to help others rather than himself.
"Yes, there are some rumors of ruins found with ancient markings and unknown script!" He quickly regained his enthusiasm, glad to finally find someone who shared his curiosity, "Murals depicting a city surrounded by lush forests and even wands that appear different to ours; though I doubt they could actually practice magic before Founder Brimir founded it. There are even hints that they worshiped God's different to ours! Imagine how far back this must date!"
"Paganism?" Fouquet asked dubiously. The church of Romalia took to the worship of heathen God's as a very serious offense, "This seems oddly detailed for rumors. It seems more like a fairy tale."
"Ahahaha, I can see why you would think that," Colbert laughed, "Truth be told, the only source we have is the journal of some man who claims that he isn't aware of the exact location due to his exhausted state when he found it. However, his journal is very detailed: His findings and descriptions of the God's on the murals are very detailed and are a very interesting read."
"God's? So they worshiped more than one God?" Oh, the church was not going to like this...
"Yes! Intriguing, is it not?" And of course, Colbert cared little for church politics, "There for were four murals in all: The first depicts an old man standing tall and proud, donning a regalia of impressive armor and leading a group of silver knights; the second is of a woman, covered in a deep black cloak and surrounded by fire; the third is more similar to a monster. A large skeleton, its body wreathed with the body of smaller corpses like armor; the last mural is cracked and destroyed, unfortunately. The image has been destroyed and any traces of the God that it depicted is lost."
"It really does sound like something out of a fairy tale," She giggled softly, "Well, I wish you luck on your research. I must get back to work now," With a last goodbye, the teacher and the thief separated from one another.
"Hmph, I am grateful that the institution's understanding and full cooperation."
Raziel blinked curiously as the voice reached his ears. He and Siesta had just arrived in the halls and already the maid was busy dusting a bust of some obscure woman wearing a crown he didn't know about. Best not to question it, he figured. The nobles in this academy were vain, and most likely it was some kind of past monarch.
"Understanding and cooperation are irrelevant with an order from the palace," Ah, now this voice he recognized: The old man who talked to him earlier, the one they called Old Osmond. Unlike his tone from before, Raziel could make out some slight hostility and annoyance in it. It seemed such a far cry from the calm and even somewhat senile old man he first met.
Sometimes having sharper hearing was a bad thing. It wasn't as if it was naturally inborn: He ears had learned to naturally pick apart sound due to the paranoia he experienced in the Tomb of the Giants. He spent days there, the darkness being his only constant companion. He'd foolishly dropped his lantern running away from an overwhelming giant skeleton and he found himself stuck with no light source.
And so he had to rely on his hearing to save him. Every little crack, every small groan, every time he even so much as heard a flicker of a sound his ears would amplify the noise and he would have to determine whether it was just his paranoia or it was another monster waiting around the corner to send him back to the bonfire.
It was actually weaker this time around. Before he could make out noises behind closed doors and even hear his opponent's breaths and heartbeats (provided they had one) once he was focused enough. Now the only reason he could hear was because the door to the headmaster's office was ajar.
"Hmph, very well," The unfamiliar voice replied. Raziel heard a bunch of footsteps making their way to the exit and he turned his head away from the door.
Off to the side he could see Miss. Longueville walking towards the office. She saw the two of them and gave a courteous nod, the two of them giving nods in return. Raziel was about to voice out a warning to her about the conversation still taking place before the door fully opened.
The man that came out the door was...well, he wasn't going to mince words: He was possibly the stupidest looking person he'd ever seen. His main attire was a mix of a robe and what looked like a puffy slime. The main color of it was blue with gold trimmings, but the cape around his back was red and the collar around his neck was even frillier than Guiche's uniform. On his legs he wore pants that ended just below the knees, the cloth puffing rather oddly like it had been compressed with air. To complete the ensemble he wore what looked like white stockings or leggins and brown shoes.
Really, he looked other than Domholl of Zena, and that was a major feat.
Ms. Longueville bowed to him, "Hmm, how about we have dinner sometime, Ms. Longueville?" The strangers eyes not so subtly moved towards her chest. Raziel noticed that it happened to a lot of nobles. Many of the ones he observed often found their eyes drooping down from the female's face to their breasts without fail every single time.
Though, he couldn't help but notice that it never happened to his master the rare times she actually found herself talking with her male classmates. Perhaps it was simply because she demanded attention that they couldn't lose focus and stare at her chest.
"Huh?" She blushed and put her hands against her chest. She apparently noticed it too, "Oh, Count Mott, you flatter me! That would be an honor!" She hid it well, but she was obviously forcing herself to lie about it. The giggle and the smile were fake and the redness of the face seemed to be more of a conditioned reaction than anything else.
"Good, I will look forward to it then!" Mott smiled lecherously and walked walked away from her. Immediately after his back was turned the smile dropped from her face and was replaced with a disgusted frown, her hands still on her chest. Raziel couldn't help but smile internally at the quick about face and the slam of the office as she went in.
"Oh, and who is this?" He stopped his casual walk and stared at the two of them. Or rather, stared at Siesta. He ignored Raziel's presence entirely, "In my visits to the academy I'm afraid I've never met your acquaintance. Would you introduce yourself?"
"M-My name is Siesta, my noble lord," She grabbed both sides of her uniforms skirt and bowed. Like Ms. Longueville, she had a stiff smile on her face and she could see her shoulders slightly tremble. Whoever he was she was afraid of him. Given by the cane he had on his hand he must've been a sorcerer as well
"Hmm, Siesta~" She shivered involuntarily as the name rolled off his tongue, "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you my dear, but I'm afraid I must be going."
Giving another bow to the retreating noble, Siesta waited for half a minute to pass before she finally sighed in relief, "He's gone, right?" She whispered softly to her friend. Raziel nodded and she gave another relieved sigh, "Thank goodness~ I thought it would be the end then and there."
"What is the matter?" He pretty much figured out that mages were the equivalent of Darkmoon blades for the common populace and many showed a fear of them. But the way Siesta was reacting indicated that it wasn't the problem she had with him.
"That's Count Mott, an Imperial messenger of the palace," Siesta informed him, "He visits the academy from time to time and hires some of the servants; all of them have been maids so far, and some of them were my friends..."
"What happened?"
"That's the thing: We don't exactly know. We've tried to keep contact with them but none of them have replied to our letters. Commoners are also not allowed to visit an Arisotocrat's place without invitation, so we have no way of visiting them. I'm really scared, not knowing what happened to them. When he looked at me I thought I would be next and that it would be the end."
Raziel looked at his worried friend and sighed. He couldn't do anything to comfort her; he wasn't one to look for when needing comfort. Still, he had to try his best, "Do not be afraid," He placed a hand on top of her head. Given that they were the about same height it was somewhat awkward, "If he takes you, then I will save you. I promise," He smiled at her.
It was a promise he didn't know he could keep. He had already failed Anastasia, what was stopping him from failing Siesta too? But his friend needed re-assurance and he couldn't simply stand there and let her wallow. Losing a sense of life was the first things that led to Hollowing, and he didn't want to see that happen to someone as affable as her.
"Thanks...Thanks Mr. Familiar," Through her shivers she managed to force a smile on her face.
They'd separated not long after that and he met up with his master in her room. After getting her dressed for sleeping he waited till she was fast asleep before leaving the room to clear his head of everything that happened.
And that was when he got dragged into this situation now.
Flame opened an unfamiliar door with his front paws and all but tossed Raziel in. Raziel blinked, his eyes trying to adjust to the darkness of the room and the weird smell permeating the air. It smelled lightly of burning candles, but there was a sweetness mixed in that he couldn't identify.
"Welcome to my room," A sultry voice called out from the darkness. He recognized it immediately: Kirche von Zerbst, his masters supposed mortal enemy.
The candles around the area immediately lit all at once, dousing the room in a sea of orange light. He flinched: He still wasn't a fan of flames in high amounts and spread across a large area. Flame was fine because he was more of a creature of fire, not fire itself. That and he seemed to have the properties of a bonfire, which he sorely needed.
The interior was similar to Louise's room in a way; only more lavishly decorated and covered in scented candles. Off to the side he could see Flame yawn and lay down, watching him idly and flicking his tongue at his mistresses direction. So she just wanted him too meet Kirche? He didn't have to drag him in here like that.
Raziel turned to the bed and saw Kirche wearing...not much of anything at all. Like his master she seemed to think about taking clothing for its design rather than its actual usefulness. In contrast to his master's somewhat conservative nightdress, Kirche wore a purple nightgown that did absolutely little to hide the flesh from her thighs and breasts. It was the way she dressed when going on her little 'hunting trips'.
Personally, he wondered how she wasn't cold at all. Even he shivered in his armor and deadened body from the nights cold winds.
"Well, well, we finally meet alone at last~" Kirche smiled seductively, beckoning him forward with her finger. Raziel didn't move, "Aww, you're shy, aren't you? Don't be. I just want to ask some questions."
"Questions?" He still didn't move from his spot. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling getting too close to her would end with him getting burned. After all, she would have to be a strong sorcerer if she could tame a Salamander. The only person stronger than her around had to be that blue haired child riding that dragon. It takes skill to tame one of those hellish beasts.
"Hmm, yes," She walked over to him, hips swaying with every step. If he didn't want to come to her then she would go first, "I wonder what my Flame finds so interesting about you," She nudged her head to the direction of her Familiar, "He's usually so shy around new people. Even to me he doesn't lick or show much affection: Salamanders are a proud species. I wonder what he sees in you."
He must have passion in him that equaled even hers. Salamanders were attracted to flames, intensity, and passion. So Flame must have seen the passion in his fight with Guiche and felt attracted to him as a result. It made her excited. To see someone with such deep passion and intensity that they could attract the normally proud creatures intrigued something in her.
The only other explanation was that his soul was being barbecued, but that was just plain absurd.
Raziel honestly didn't know anything firmly, but he had an idea. Silently, he removed the bandages from his left hand and exposed the burn wounds hidden underneath. Flame immediately crawled over to him and started licking the exposed skin with his flaming tongue.
"Interesting~" She looked down at show of affection and grinned. It was cute in a way to see her normally stoic Familiar licking someone's hand, "Hey, can I ask another question?"He nodded, still looking at Flame, "What exactly happened that day on the summoning festival? Valliere's a lot of things, but she's not one who hires actors to pretend to be her Familiar's. And you don't look like a monster to me."
Most of her peers still refused to budge on their theory that he was anything but an absurdly skilled commoner actor. She didn't know what he was, but her hardly seemed like the monster she saw Valliere summon a week ago. He looked like any regular teen, albeit with more bandages.
"...I do not know..." He looked down, unable to look her in the eye. All he could recall was a green gate and pushing forward to it, trying to escape his torment. After that his memory became a blur till he woke up in the clinic. Given some of the whispers he heard in the clinic, he obviously did something he wouldn't do normally.
"So you have memory loss too?" Kirche grabbed his chin and made him face her, another arm snaking its way around his neck. She was surprised at the feeling of the contact; his skin felt cold at first but gradually warmed the longer she held onto it, "Well, why don't we try making some memories now?" She leaned forward, lips puckering in anticipation. She was excited. Half in curiosity and half in the knowledge that she was stealing something from Louise. The girl called her a whore and a thief, so she was at least going to indulge on the second part. She obviously didn't care about her Familiar that much considering how distant she acted towards him.
"Ah!" Raziel backed away as Flame bit down on his hand, causing Kirche to lose her hold and nearly topple to the floor, "What did-" He looked down at his hand and stopped the question. It was healed again, but something felt different. He didn't know how- call it instinct - but he could immediately tell that the burns wouldn't come back anymore. Had Flame given him something when he bit him?
"Oh, what did Flame do?" Kirche asked, worry actually seeping into her voice, "I'm not an expert in water magic, but maybe I can burn the wound closed. Here, just bite your lip and count to 5," She reached inside her bosom and pulled out her wand, muttering an incantation. A tiny ball of flame ignited at the end of the wooden instrument.
Raziel ignored the injury, though calling it that would be a stretch, and focused on Kirche's catalyst, "You use pyromancy as well?" He asked. He couldn't keep the slight excitement from his voice. He assumed all the nobles here were Sorcerer's and that they frowned upon Pyromancy, But here was one of them using it.
"Pyromancy?" Kirche looked at him in confusion, "This is called flame magic. I don't know what pyromancy is."
"This," He pointed at her wand, "You are using a catalyst, but the flames of chaos run through the flame. The flame is stronger than normal, similar to Quelana's. Just like Laurentius..." A burst of pain enveloped his head. His eyes started fogging over, becoming more and more unfocused as he stared at her wand, "Laurentius said...he said...that the flames...and Anastasia..."
Kirche's eyes widened as his eyes suddenly closed he fell forward, nearly toppling her under his momentum, "Hey, what happened?" She shook his shoulders, but he gave no reaction. He was barely even breathing, "Hey, wake up, this isn't funny!"
"Are you sure about this, Laurentius?" Raziel asked the over-eager pyromancer, "The swamps of blighttown are really dangerous. Maybe I should go with you just in case you run into trouble."
"My friend, in this land, danger is a guarantee," Laurentius smiled, "But without risk, there can be no reward. You braved the swamps and received a reward for your efforts. How could I call myself a pyromancer when I don't risk myself for further teachings?"
Right now there were only three of them in Firelink shrine. Raziel, Laurentius, and Lautrec - Four of them if one counted Anastacia. The sad warrior that usually insulted them had gone down to New Londo in order to do something about Frampt's breath. What he hoped to find there was a mystery to him.
"I still don't like it," Laurentius stood up and offered a hand up to Raziel, which he accepted, "Don't you see the amount of dead bodies down there? The swamp is poison as well, so you'll need herbs and moss to counteract the poison. Here, take some of mine," He reached into the pack of his knight armor and fished out clumps of moss, offering them to the Pyromancer.
"I will be fine, don't worry me," He pushed his friends hand back, "Thank you. You have been a great friend the short time I've known you and I truly appreciate it. May the God's watch over you."
"Hey, you're making this sound like it's our last meeting," Raziel smiled, ignoring the fact that it couldn't be seen from under his helmet, "We'll see each other again. I need to pass by the swamps later on for new pyromancies, so we'll be seeing each other again. Good luck with my friend."
The two friends shook each others hands and waved goodbye to one another. Once Laurentius went up the stairway from the shrine, Raziel sighed. There was only one other person here he could talk to and he certainly didn't relish in the idea of talking to him. But, he had helped him in fighting that abominable dragon in the depths and he needed to thank him.
Passing by the central bonfire, he could see Frampt sleeping and shook his head in amusement. For a great guardian he sure seemed clueless a lot of the time. Making his way down the stairway, he came face to face with the man he could barely consider a friend.
Lautrec of Carim, the Undead he'd saved from the cage not too long ago. Lautrec was honestly a mystery to him; he came off as sinister at times and distant, but when he needed help against the Gargoyle and Dragon he was one of the few apart from Solaire who actually helped him.
"Ah, there you are," Unusually, Lautrec made the first move to talk to him, "Rang the two bells of awakening, did you? This means the path through Sen's fortress is open now."
"That's what Frampt said," Raziel answered, "The fortress leads through Anor Londo where we can get the Lordvessel. Why, are you planning to go there as well? If so, it might be safer if we travel together," He suggested. Lautrec was a formidable fighter and he had experience fighting together with him twice already. It would be beneficial for both of them to work together even temporarily.
"Perhaps..." He turned his head to the side and stared at the cage holding Anastacia, circling around Raziel so he was behind him, "That Firekeeper has served me well...but enough with her..."
"What are you-" Raziel stopped, unable to finish what he said. Lautrec had stabbed him through the back, the crescent blade embedding into his skin. The familiar feeling of his life leaving him started to spread throughout his body.
"You have outlived your usefulness as well," Lautrec kicked him to the ground and pulled his blade out, "I needed you to succeed so you could open the way to Anor Londo," He stepped on Raziel's back, denting the armor, "You'll come back from this death; we all do. But without the bonfire here how long will it take you to catch up to me? I need to make preparations for my Goddess and you will try to stop me from doing what is necessary.. "
He gave him a kick to the side and made his way to the bars of the cage. Anastacia was looking up at him, showing neither hesitance nor fear of her coming fate. Seeing this, Lautrec laughed and offered a small prayer for her. Her soul was about to find rest in Fina's embrace.
"Lau...trec..." Raziel tried to drag himself forward but it was too late. Helpless, he looked up and saw Lautrec slowly slashing Anastacia's neck with the crescent blade. The girl didn't struggle at all as the life left her body.
"I'll...kill...you...!" He crawled forward again. Lautrec laughed and, in a burst of light, he'd disappeared. A homeward bone, Raziel noted bitterly. He'd prepared for this beforehand.
Feeling the last of his life leave his body, Raziel continued to crawl forward till he reached the cage. It was there that he saw it; through the crumpled remains of her clothes, there stood a singular black orb. An instrument of taking revenge.
With shaking hands, he grabbed the orb in his hands and held it tightly in his fist. He was going to kill Lautrec and he was going to save Anastacia. With that last thought in his mind, he allowed his body to once again enter the cycle of death and rebirth.
Woah, this chapter ended up longer than usual! This chapter was actually supposed to be longer: I planned not to have a timeskip and actually show Guiche meeting his brother. But, I really need to get on with the story, so the next chapter will be the Familiar show:) I swear it will be the next chapter or next next chapter if it's the last thing I do.
Also, I apologize for re-posting chapter 8. Tired night and I repeated it by accident. Oh, and for the last time in case anyone missed it, this is not a crossover between Legacy of Kain and Tsukaima. I'm just using the dialogue and scenes because they fit with the tone of Dark Souls.
Anyway, I'm going to answer questions quickly and post a question of my own so I can get some sleep. It's 4 in the morning here.
Blinded in the Bolthole - He's based of the real life Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander the VI and a right bastard even for renaissance times. He's also the main character in the tv series "The Borgias", which is where I got the idea of the politics here from.
Junky - Oh yes, very soon.
Ashlands of the Cold - Actually yeah, they say THE Furtive Pygmy in the intro, so there's only one of them. Whether Manus is the Pygmy or not is the realy mystery, though I personally believe he is since there's only one grave of Primeval man, which would make sense if any human can become a giant ape.
Daniel - Already removed the answer to Random Reader and DaggerDoom. Though you're free to not read if you want, I'm not forcing you.
Lastly, does Kirche sleep around or just date around? I keep getting conflicting answers.
Alright, that's the end of this chapter! See you in the next one where the plot actually moves forward:D