Kallsi yawns into her hand as she walks a few steps behind Nacht, watching the way he turns his head ever so slightly to glance at her before looking straight ahead again. She hums some off tune melody she had heard while in town the other night with Finral, folding her arms behind her head. That earns her another look over the shoulder, but she doesn't stop.
What is his issue? Am I really that unbearable to be around? Everyone else seems to like me.
Is it what I'm wearing?
She glances down at her clothes, the simple shirt and pants she had received from Father Orsi and Sister Lily after first arriving in Clover. On top of those is her Black Bulls cloak, something she always wears with pride despite the mean looks she gets from the other people. She shakes her head, removing the thought from her mind as she drops her arms and picks the pace up, now walking side to side with Nacht through the forest leading to the lake cave Yami assigned them to plunder.
"So, you get missions like this a lot?" she asks him, trying to get some semblance of conversation going. "Or are you always so wound tight?"
"I believed Yami and I both made it clear this is one of the only missions you will be allowed to participate in," he replies, his smile pulled taut as he tries to put distance between them. However, not one to take that for an answer, she keeps up with him, even if it means having to jog the slightest bit.
"That's not what I asked."
"That's the answer I gave you, Princess."
"Don't call me that."
"Call you what?"
"Princess. I hate that. I'm not one."
"You're Royalty, supposedly the only remaining Spade Royal alive," he retorts, giving her another side glance as her eye twitches. "So you're a princess. Don't like it? Don't talk to me and I won't have to call you by it."
"We're doing this mission together, we have to communicate," she tells him, a small whine to her voice. "Come on. You owe me."
"Owe you for what, exactly?"
"Watching me sleep?"
"I told you already, I didn't recognize your mana, I had to make sure it was safe-"
"A simple glance would have been fine. You could have even talked to Yami. So why did you stay as long as you did?"
"Better question," he says, the slightest edge to his voice as he stops and looks at her. "How the hell did you know I was there? I used so little mana that it shouldn't have even come across your pretty little head when I was there."
"Yeah like you can hide whatever you have going on," she laughs, running her fingers through her uneven bangs. "You used a lot more than you're saying you did."
"Still didn't answer my question."
"You didn't answer my first one, so why should I answer yours?"
Nacht's already thin smile falls, his eye twitching as she glared up at him and crossed her arms over her chest. He wants to open his mouth and say something, anything that would make her stop, but he'd be lying if he couldn't admit he liked it a little bit. All of the pictures he'd seen of her, and the few in person close ups he'd managed to sneak while in Spade, all showed this tired, small girl that would do anything to avoid a confrontation. Where her eyes were dull, they sparkled and shone with defiance and a challenge to do anything. The corners of her lips twitched as if ready to pull back into a smile, as if she were about to have a good laugh at his expense.
She was the opposite of the cowardly girl everyone described to him.
"Alright Princess, you want an answer then?" he asks, tilting his head as she flinches, obviously not expecting his response. "I don't do many missions. I have a main one, and that is to gather intelligence on your former husband."
"He was never my husband," she corrects him, a small growl undertoning the words that made him smirk. "He was a lot of things, but never that."
"Apologies then. The way it seemed, you two were conjoined at the hip. Now, I answered your question. Answer mine."
"Hmm..I don't think I will," she replies, turning on her heel with her nose in the air as she continues the way they were walking. "You were so rude about it."
You fucking brat. You absolute brat.
"You're the only one being rude here," he murmurs, taking a deep breath before hurrying behind her so as to not let her go off on her own. "And you're supposed to stay near me. You never know who's out here, Princess."
"Oh, now you wanna care?" she mocks, pursing her lips as she replicates his over the shoulder glance. His eye twitches again, and he closes them to take another breath and count to ten, flashes of her pale thighs coming to mind and forcing a heated blush across his cheeks.
He cares a lot more than she thinks he does. Last night alone he wanted to wrap his cloak around her, even though he knew Yami wouldn't be looking. As much as he dislikes the man, he knew that much. He also took comfort in the carefree way she slept, curled around her pillow and blanket, knowing she was truly safe in the Bulls' hideout.
"It's not that I care, you were assigned to work with me," he says instead, watching the way her shoulders slump the slightest bit. "If you're hiding something I should know, then you need to tell me, Princess."
"You know everything about my life, so why don't you tell me what I'm hiding?" she snaps, running her fingers through her uneven bangs again and the pulsing in the electric webbing through them flaring with her irritation. She drops her hand quickly. "I just knew you were there, okay? Living in that place, you get attuned quickly to any shift in mana."
"Is that so?" he murmurs, a small smile tugging at his lips seeing the bands and, despite knowing better than to ask, "What's their name?"
She nearly trips over a rock, Nacht reaching out to catch her before she rights herself and takes a breath. He makes another mental note of her clumsiness, the same way he had last night when she had dropped the water glass. She falters when confronted with questions. Maybe we can use that…
"So you know about that too?" she asks, not looking behind her as she keeps walking. Without a second's hesitation, he slides his hand down her arm and grips her wrist, lifting it up so he could study the band. Warmth runs through her, a small shock following at the touch of his skin on hers. Her face flushes and she tries to pull her arm away, only to feel his grip tighten.
"You've only the one, though it is surprising you don't carry a relic of some sorts. Perhaps the higher level devils don't require one. Or you're just that powerful in your own right," he tells her, skimming his thumb over the webbing.
"I wasn't told I needed one," she replies, her voice thin and breathy as she flashes back to the day her grimoire chose her, and the bloody streak that remained on the floor as a warning. "I've had him for almost ten years now. We work well together. At least I think we do."
She's tensed up. She doesn't like to be touched?
"Of course," he hums, letting her wrist slip from his fingers. She gently rubs the marking, not looking him in the eye. "I do consider myself a bit of an expert on devils, if you ever wished to discuss such things."
My family was much more knowledgeable than the Triad.
"Maybe. If you can stop being such an ass." She continues walking forward, a small smile on her face despite the way her skin tingled, a feeling she still hasn't deduced as good or bad yet. "And his name is Belzeb. He's the one that warned me you were in my room last night."
Why am I not surprised she's starting to open up? When was the last time she had genuine attention?
"Well, thank you for being honest then. If you had kept lying, I would have turned you over to Julius when you and I returned with the item he requested us to bring."
"How wonderful to know. I'll keep that in mind in case I ever decide to plan any kind of treason."
The rest of the walk to the cave is quiet, the both of them walking side by side until getting to the lakeshore. The cave is located on a small island in the center of the wide lake, glittering in the sunlight as gentle waves rolled over the surface. Kallsi's eyes shine as she sees the site, stepping forward a bit to crouch before the water line and run her fingers across the sandy surface and feel the gentle coolness of the water gloss over them.
"This is a lot prettier than I would have expected," she says mostly to herself, forgetting for a moment the man standing behind her with his head tilted and pale blue eyes glued onto her, watching her every movement as she appreciates the view in front of her. "Is the ocean as pretty as this?" she asks, looking over her shoulder.
He stiffens with the question directed at him, watching the way her head ever so slightly tilts, her dark hair, almost a black violet color in the sunlight, falls into her yellow eyes as she studies him. His face flushes again, more images of her asleep on her bed coming back, and that stray intrusive thought of how badly he wanted to lay with her flits back to root itself in his head.
'Guys I think Master Nacht is having a heart attack!' Giudelo says, concerned in his master's head as Nacht's heart races in his chest.
'No, I think it's more to do with that girl. He's having dirty thoughts,' Plumede added, a small giggle tacked onto the end. 'Dirty, dirty, sir!'
Shut up, you irritants. This doesn't concern you. And stay out of my head!
"I think it is," he tells her, smiling softly. "But beauty is subjective. You'd have to tell me if it is yourself."
"You think they'd let me go?" she asks, standing up and flicking her fingers to get the water off of them. "I think a beach would be a lot easier to get lost at or discovered."
"If you ever actually wanted to go, I wouldn't have a problem with taking you. So long as you behave like a good little princess and not a brat."
"Aw I thought you like it when I acted like that," she teases, looking towards the lake island. "So…want me to freeze a little bridge to get there?"
"By all means, go ahead. If you fail, I can simply transfer us there with my shadow magic."
She rolls her eyes and sweeps her arm out, the water slowing and starting to freeze in a bridge just wide enough for them to walk over it one at a time. He's almost impressed by that display of magic, seeing how she was able to do it without bringing her grimoire out or saying a spell. He's interested to see just what else she's capable of, especially when pushed to her limits.
"Ladies first," she says to him, giving a mock curtsy that causes his eye to twitch once again. First I want to train that mouth off her. But that isn't my place.
"Why of course. It isn't everyday that a manly woman like yourself is so kind as to let another person go ahead of them."
Her lips purse as he walks across the bridge, her own eye twitching as she follows him. She's obviously pouting that her little taunt got turned around on her, but says nothing. Instead, she looks down at the water, seeing small fish swimming just under the surface. She whispers a small apology to them, feeling bad for freezing a portion of their home, albeit temporarily.
She steps off the bridge and onto the island, glancing around the small cave entrance. Nacht watches her, seeing the way her brow furrows and the side of her nose scrunches as she thinks.
"We're just supposed to walk in?" she asks, looking at him. "And take what?"
"A pearl Julius was sure would help with magical ability," he replies. "It's supposed to be bluish in color, if I remember correctly. I've never heard of such a thing, but I typically place my studies elsewhere."
"Right.." She looks back at the cave entrance and takes a breath, walking into it. He wants to slap himself, watching her go inside without even checking for traps. He follows quickly, wanting to be there in case she triggered something and could scold her for it.
Inside the cave, it was lit by the sunlight coming through the entrance, leaving some of the further corners still shadowed in the mid-morning sun. Water drips into small pools around the cave, leaving an eerie silence between droplets that makes Kallsi jump when they do finally fall. Beyond that, it seems like a typical cave, no pedestal with the pearl emblazoned so proudly atop it, saying grab me grab me.
"Are..they sure it was this one?" she asks, glancing at Nacht as he narrows his eyes, just as confused as she was.
"Positive. These are the coordinates Yami received from Julius. It should be here. Perhaps it's just buried in the walls or something else."
"Alright. Let's get to looking then," she says, nodding her head. She takes a few steps forward and there's a shifting noise, specifically coming from underneath her feet. She can't say a word before a hole just big enough for her opens up and she falls through, screaming and trying to grab anything to keep herself from falling.
"Kallsi!" Nacht yells, diving to catch her and not being fast enough. He sends his shadows down to grab her, only to notice they stop just under the lip of the hole. He curses as the hole starts to close, only for it to move just underneath him and swallow him as well before completely closing and leaving him in the pitch black.