Whew! I'm finally done with part two. Don't know how long this one will
take, either. I hope you like the latest installment, and remember feedback
is greatly wanted and appreciated. Thanks!
====*====
Darcie continued her work, a joyous smile on her face but an annoyed and grim aura around her heart. How she loathed Carrot, who only mocked and annoyed her and took delighted pleasure in slapping her legs and making sores on her fingers and palms. And, to top it all off, the little devil acted as if she were as holy as a saint in front of Lady Nanabu, as if mischievousness was not a part of her attitude. Darcie sighed through clenched teeth, and then resumed smiling.
In another room, Darcie heard Lady Nanabu hustling about, speaking in a rushed tone to different servants who all filed out through the doors. They were all higher ranked than she, and thus did not have to do petty jobs like housekeeping for a revolting creature like Carrot. Lady Nanabu was dressed in a soft silken cloak embroidered with gold, hair glistening upon her back. Her wise eyes were flying down a long scroll.
"Deiter! Make sure the beds are ready, please. Monica, tend to the sheets and make sure they are nice and clean, oh yes and make sure they're the pink silk ones-not the white silk ones. Spengler! Make sure that the windows are freshly washed, and that the books and pictures are all straight. Oh, Madeline, please sweep the floors and clean the corners of the ceiling: I fear that the room is a little musty," she said. The servants nodded politely and headed off.
"Boy, I wonder who the 'guest' is?" Darcie pondered, leaning against her broomstick. The household was usually without visitors ever since Lord Rayall's death and Lady Nanabu liked to keep to herself most of the time. But by the way she was acting; she could tell it was someone of great importance. The last visitor had stayed so far back even Darcie couldn't remember who it was. She sighed, and then continued her work.
Madeline pulled her shoulder-length auburn hair back into a ponytail with a white cord as she took the elongated feather duster and swept out the corners of the ceiling, which were indeed a bit musty. Deiter, a tiny Moogle, Monica, a short-haired Viera, and Spengler, a young Human boy, were all bustling around the room bumping into one another. Deiter flew like a bird over the bed again and again, tucking in the sheets and puffing the pillows by beating them against the floor. Monica was folding and unfolding silken sheets like crazy, trying to find out which ones were the ones that Lady Nanabu wanted on the bed. Spengler was scrubbing the windows like crazy while simultaneously straightening books and paintings. The whole room was buzzing with activity, which was quite unusual for a room in Lady Nanabu's household to do.
Arthur took his familiar broomstick from the closet and headed to the pantry. The pantry was much larger than anyone would expect: in fact, it had to be custom-designed by the builder of the house to fit all the requirements that Lady Nanabu had ordered. It was more like a hallway with shelves of food than a pantry. It was a tedious task to sweep the floors, but it sure beat taking care of Carrot! Upon this thought Arthur remembered his two friends and their loathsome task. But then he noticed something: who would be the third caretaker of Carrot? He pondered this as he began to sweep the long, dusty pantry.
Madeline entered the kitchen to find Arthur sweeping the pantry and Darcie finishing her thorough scrub of the floors. The two girls sighed, minds fixated at the task ahead. Madeline helped Darcie to her feet, and with a sighing wave to Arthur they headed out the door and down the hall to Carrot's room.
"Who's the third member of our group?" Madeline asked as the thought popped into her mind. It wasn't long before her question was answered, though. As the two neared the brightly-painted doorway to Carrot's room, they saw their third helper. Lini stood by the door, shaking like a frightened mouse and glancing edgily at the door as if the door was about to leap up and strike him. Madeline stopped in her tracks, and Darcie gaped.
"What the. Why are you doing this job, Lini?" Darcie asked, eyes widening. Lini's eyes slowly fixated themselves upon Darcie's tan face, full of terror.
"Lady Nanabu said that she'd get someone else to do the job, kupo," Lini started, "but it turns out, kupo, that the person has to go weed the north courtyard, kupo, and now I have to do it, kupokupo! It's just not fair, kupo, to make a little Moogle like me to do a task such as this, kupo!"
With a tone of ice in her voice, Madeline said, "Join the club." As she did so, an astonished Lini and Darcie gazed at the door, where Madeline was headed. She reached the knob, twisted, and opened it. The three quickly filed inside, Lini as jittery as a wet spider.
Carrot was currently teething on curling ball of slimy rubber when the trio entered the room. She gazed up from her current activity, eyes bored at the sight. With a slightly disappointed gurgle, she released the rubber, which fell to the ground with a sickening plop. Then she waddled like a slippery penguin to the back of the room and huddled in a ball.
"We are going to have to get her outside," Madeline said quite flatly, then motioned for the two to follow. Darcie responded quickly to the signal, but Lini did not.
"Famfrit, please protect me, kupo," he whispered urgently, gazing to the sky. Then he quickly followed the others, who were making a circle around Carrot.
Carrot refused to budge. Madeline poked her in the side with a swollen finger, and Carrot growled a bit, but didn't move. Madeline poked harder, and ended up having a sticky slime cover an already sticky finger, which got her to the point of cursing. "Get up you lazy lump of fat, or I'll will kill you!" she spat at Carrot, who finally decided to move. However, it was not in the way anyone wanted. Carrot uncovered her face; make a peculiar gurgling noise, then let a mouthful of foul-smelling saliva fire from her mouth into Madeline's face. Madeline screamed, sniffed, and fell like stone to the floor.
"Madeline!" Darcie yelped, and then dove for her friend. Carrot decided to huddle back into a ball, which Lini dared not poke. His eyes were fixated upon the creamy mass of flesh that lay in a ball before him, thanking Famfrit for protecting him from the foul creature.
Darcie wiped the slime off Madeline's face, ignoring the stench. Madeline finally came to, partly because she regained her sense of smell and woke up in an affect similar to waking someone with ammonia. Darcie sighed in relief, and then gazed fearfully at Carrot. Madeline gave a drowsy, almost drunken-like grin, and then slowly picked herself up. "I won't say mean things anymore," she said, and Darcie knew that Madeline was not herself.
"Madeline? Are you okay?" Darcie said, and Madeline simply groaned. Darcie sighed, then shook Madeline, instantaneously recovering her senses. Darcie stopped shaking, and Madeline started smelling the foul stench around her.
"Dear Mateus, what in the world is that smell?" she said, and then gazed at Carrot, who let out a pleased gurgle within her spherical position. Madeline sniffed again, and then looked at the neck of her blouse. "Why I am covered in Carrot's spit?" she said quite blankly.
"I guess you offended her, Madeline," Darcie said, "so she spat in your face." Madeline nodded, as if the entire thing was quite normal. Then she looked straight at Carrot, not angry but fearful. Carrot released herself from her position and gave a wet grin, making sure the foolish Human saw the saliva she had just been covered with. Madeline cringed.
"I have a plan, kupo!" Lini squeaked. "How about we lure her out? You know, with bait, kupo!"
Madeline and Darcie looked at Lini, nodded slightly. "But what would we use? I have no idea what a Malboro eats," Darcie said, then gazed at Carrot and wondered what was apart of the putrescent fiend's diet.
"It says right here, kupo, that Carrot eats crushed Choco bread mixed with raw Chocobo egg yolks and drinks Flan acid, kupo," Lini said, disgust rising in his voice. "That doesn't sound too pleasant to make, if you don't mind me saying, kupo."
"Let's do it," Madeline said without much thought. Darcie let out a long sigh, and then followed her friend to a small cupboard painted with greens and yellows. They found three large eggs, two pieces of Choco bread, and eleven bottles of Flan acid. Amongst the items were two bowls, one made of iron and the other of silvril. The silvril bowl was obviously for the acid, and so Lini gingerly poured enough acid to fill the bowl to the brim, and then set it near the door. As he did this, Darcie and Madeline broke the three eggs and crushed the bread, mixing it into one goopy, soupy ooze of pale brown flecked with gold. They set the bowl down next to the acid, letting the two hideous smells entice Carrot.
During this time, Carrot had gone into a sleepy state. As she did so, her instinct once again called out to her. "Carrot," it said, "the time is almost here. Get outside and free yourself, and never look back. Never come back here." Carrot puzzled over this, as Lady Nanabu was too nice to just leave. As she thought of this, her instinct said, "Carrot, you will find Lady Nanabu. Go home, and stay home." With this, Carrot began to think upon something new. Since she hadn't seen her mistress, could she be at home in Jagd Helje? Carrot had to believe her instinct, and so she figured it so.
Before the cloud of vile stench could reach Carrot's nose, she was all ready across the room, slurping down the food and drink like a ferocious beast. The trio of servants backed up, trying to avoid a splash of Flan acid, which would hurt severely. Carrot finally finished chomping down the crumby goop in the iron bowl, then gave a gurgle and headed out the door. The three servants, amazed, watched as a somehow changed Carrot made for the west courtyard, the courtyard specified for the day.
"Do you think it was the food, kupo?" Lini asked, puzzled. Darcie shrugged, but Madeline stared off at where Carrot was headed. "I don't think so," she said, stroking her chin. "Let's go, before she runs off."
The trio caught up with Carrot, who was now playing merrily with a loose pile of weeds a servant had idly left out. The threesome was confused at all of this. Why was she acting so obedient? They couldn't tell, but nonetheless they didn't care. If Carrot was going to be obedient, it was fine with them. In fact, they hoped Carrot would always be this way.
Carrot gurgled delightfully, but not at the weeds she tossed around. She gurgled delightfully in the fact that her three caretakers were foolish enough to believe what she was doing was real. This was all an act. Once they turned their backs on her, she'd make a mad dash for the bushes, go through the secret mud passage, and then head for Jagd Helje: to head for home. She watched them with one eye as all the others were fixated on the weeds. If they were smart, they would've known Carrot wouldn't be caught dead playing with weeds. She had long learned that many plants gave uncomfortable rashes, and didn't like to take chances with them.
"Good Carrot," Darcie mumbled, and Carrot gurgled delightfully. She was acting rather peculiar, but it was in a good way, nonetheless. The rustling of the weeds was like music to Darcie's ears, as she expected to be groping through the mud at this point with Carrot pounding her on the back with her tentacles. Darcie smiled, then turned away to face the Sprohm mountains which were barely visible atop the highest pinnacles of the Nanabu manor.
Madeline wiped a trickle of slime off the end of her left ear, and then turned back with Darcie to watch the mountains. "I never noticed how beautiful this courtyard is," Madeline mumbled, knowing that the only reason why she hadn't was that she was always taking care of Carrot. She carefully looked over all the bushes and flowers, eyes full of a newfound wonder.
Finally, Lini turned his tiny head to the sky, thanking Famfrit from sparing him from the mud, pain, and disgust that would normally come from caretaking Carrot. With a smile, he thanked all the Totema for granting peace amongst Carrot's devilish soul and making her delightful and not loathsomely obnoxious.
The minute Lini turned around Carrot dropped the weeds. By the time they were all gaping at the misty peaks of the mountains Carrot was at the bushes. When they finally turned back around, Carrot had squirmed her way through the narrow, muddy secret passage and was now halfway down the hill, gurgling with pleasure. She was finally free to go where she wanted to be: home.
====*====
Darcie continued her work, a joyous smile on her face but an annoyed and grim aura around her heart. How she loathed Carrot, who only mocked and annoyed her and took delighted pleasure in slapping her legs and making sores on her fingers and palms. And, to top it all off, the little devil acted as if she were as holy as a saint in front of Lady Nanabu, as if mischievousness was not a part of her attitude. Darcie sighed through clenched teeth, and then resumed smiling.
In another room, Darcie heard Lady Nanabu hustling about, speaking in a rushed tone to different servants who all filed out through the doors. They were all higher ranked than she, and thus did not have to do petty jobs like housekeeping for a revolting creature like Carrot. Lady Nanabu was dressed in a soft silken cloak embroidered with gold, hair glistening upon her back. Her wise eyes were flying down a long scroll.
"Deiter! Make sure the beds are ready, please. Monica, tend to the sheets and make sure they are nice and clean, oh yes and make sure they're the pink silk ones-not the white silk ones. Spengler! Make sure that the windows are freshly washed, and that the books and pictures are all straight. Oh, Madeline, please sweep the floors and clean the corners of the ceiling: I fear that the room is a little musty," she said. The servants nodded politely and headed off.
"Boy, I wonder who the 'guest' is?" Darcie pondered, leaning against her broomstick. The household was usually without visitors ever since Lord Rayall's death and Lady Nanabu liked to keep to herself most of the time. But by the way she was acting; she could tell it was someone of great importance. The last visitor had stayed so far back even Darcie couldn't remember who it was. She sighed, and then continued her work.
Madeline pulled her shoulder-length auburn hair back into a ponytail with a white cord as she took the elongated feather duster and swept out the corners of the ceiling, which were indeed a bit musty. Deiter, a tiny Moogle, Monica, a short-haired Viera, and Spengler, a young Human boy, were all bustling around the room bumping into one another. Deiter flew like a bird over the bed again and again, tucking in the sheets and puffing the pillows by beating them against the floor. Monica was folding and unfolding silken sheets like crazy, trying to find out which ones were the ones that Lady Nanabu wanted on the bed. Spengler was scrubbing the windows like crazy while simultaneously straightening books and paintings. The whole room was buzzing with activity, which was quite unusual for a room in Lady Nanabu's household to do.
Arthur took his familiar broomstick from the closet and headed to the pantry. The pantry was much larger than anyone would expect: in fact, it had to be custom-designed by the builder of the house to fit all the requirements that Lady Nanabu had ordered. It was more like a hallway with shelves of food than a pantry. It was a tedious task to sweep the floors, but it sure beat taking care of Carrot! Upon this thought Arthur remembered his two friends and their loathsome task. But then he noticed something: who would be the third caretaker of Carrot? He pondered this as he began to sweep the long, dusty pantry.
Madeline entered the kitchen to find Arthur sweeping the pantry and Darcie finishing her thorough scrub of the floors. The two girls sighed, minds fixated at the task ahead. Madeline helped Darcie to her feet, and with a sighing wave to Arthur they headed out the door and down the hall to Carrot's room.
"Who's the third member of our group?" Madeline asked as the thought popped into her mind. It wasn't long before her question was answered, though. As the two neared the brightly-painted doorway to Carrot's room, they saw their third helper. Lini stood by the door, shaking like a frightened mouse and glancing edgily at the door as if the door was about to leap up and strike him. Madeline stopped in her tracks, and Darcie gaped.
"What the. Why are you doing this job, Lini?" Darcie asked, eyes widening. Lini's eyes slowly fixated themselves upon Darcie's tan face, full of terror.
"Lady Nanabu said that she'd get someone else to do the job, kupo," Lini started, "but it turns out, kupo, that the person has to go weed the north courtyard, kupo, and now I have to do it, kupokupo! It's just not fair, kupo, to make a little Moogle like me to do a task such as this, kupo!"
With a tone of ice in her voice, Madeline said, "Join the club." As she did so, an astonished Lini and Darcie gazed at the door, where Madeline was headed. She reached the knob, twisted, and opened it. The three quickly filed inside, Lini as jittery as a wet spider.
Carrot was currently teething on curling ball of slimy rubber when the trio entered the room. She gazed up from her current activity, eyes bored at the sight. With a slightly disappointed gurgle, she released the rubber, which fell to the ground with a sickening plop. Then she waddled like a slippery penguin to the back of the room and huddled in a ball.
"We are going to have to get her outside," Madeline said quite flatly, then motioned for the two to follow. Darcie responded quickly to the signal, but Lini did not.
"Famfrit, please protect me, kupo," he whispered urgently, gazing to the sky. Then he quickly followed the others, who were making a circle around Carrot.
Carrot refused to budge. Madeline poked her in the side with a swollen finger, and Carrot growled a bit, but didn't move. Madeline poked harder, and ended up having a sticky slime cover an already sticky finger, which got her to the point of cursing. "Get up you lazy lump of fat, or I'll will kill you!" she spat at Carrot, who finally decided to move. However, it was not in the way anyone wanted. Carrot uncovered her face; make a peculiar gurgling noise, then let a mouthful of foul-smelling saliva fire from her mouth into Madeline's face. Madeline screamed, sniffed, and fell like stone to the floor.
"Madeline!" Darcie yelped, and then dove for her friend. Carrot decided to huddle back into a ball, which Lini dared not poke. His eyes were fixated upon the creamy mass of flesh that lay in a ball before him, thanking Famfrit for protecting him from the foul creature.
Darcie wiped the slime off Madeline's face, ignoring the stench. Madeline finally came to, partly because she regained her sense of smell and woke up in an affect similar to waking someone with ammonia. Darcie sighed in relief, and then gazed fearfully at Carrot. Madeline gave a drowsy, almost drunken-like grin, and then slowly picked herself up. "I won't say mean things anymore," she said, and Darcie knew that Madeline was not herself.
"Madeline? Are you okay?" Darcie said, and Madeline simply groaned. Darcie sighed, then shook Madeline, instantaneously recovering her senses. Darcie stopped shaking, and Madeline started smelling the foul stench around her.
"Dear Mateus, what in the world is that smell?" she said, and then gazed at Carrot, who let out a pleased gurgle within her spherical position. Madeline sniffed again, and then looked at the neck of her blouse. "Why I am covered in Carrot's spit?" she said quite blankly.
"I guess you offended her, Madeline," Darcie said, "so she spat in your face." Madeline nodded, as if the entire thing was quite normal. Then she looked straight at Carrot, not angry but fearful. Carrot released herself from her position and gave a wet grin, making sure the foolish Human saw the saliva she had just been covered with. Madeline cringed.
"I have a plan, kupo!" Lini squeaked. "How about we lure her out? You know, with bait, kupo!"
Madeline and Darcie looked at Lini, nodded slightly. "But what would we use? I have no idea what a Malboro eats," Darcie said, then gazed at Carrot and wondered what was apart of the putrescent fiend's diet.
"It says right here, kupo, that Carrot eats crushed Choco bread mixed with raw Chocobo egg yolks and drinks Flan acid, kupo," Lini said, disgust rising in his voice. "That doesn't sound too pleasant to make, if you don't mind me saying, kupo."
"Let's do it," Madeline said without much thought. Darcie let out a long sigh, and then followed her friend to a small cupboard painted with greens and yellows. They found three large eggs, two pieces of Choco bread, and eleven bottles of Flan acid. Amongst the items were two bowls, one made of iron and the other of silvril. The silvril bowl was obviously for the acid, and so Lini gingerly poured enough acid to fill the bowl to the brim, and then set it near the door. As he did this, Darcie and Madeline broke the three eggs and crushed the bread, mixing it into one goopy, soupy ooze of pale brown flecked with gold. They set the bowl down next to the acid, letting the two hideous smells entice Carrot.
During this time, Carrot had gone into a sleepy state. As she did so, her instinct once again called out to her. "Carrot," it said, "the time is almost here. Get outside and free yourself, and never look back. Never come back here." Carrot puzzled over this, as Lady Nanabu was too nice to just leave. As she thought of this, her instinct said, "Carrot, you will find Lady Nanabu. Go home, and stay home." With this, Carrot began to think upon something new. Since she hadn't seen her mistress, could she be at home in Jagd Helje? Carrot had to believe her instinct, and so she figured it so.
Before the cloud of vile stench could reach Carrot's nose, she was all ready across the room, slurping down the food and drink like a ferocious beast. The trio of servants backed up, trying to avoid a splash of Flan acid, which would hurt severely. Carrot finally finished chomping down the crumby goop in the iron bowl, then gave a gurgle and headed out the door. The three servants, amazed, watched as a somehow changed Carrot made for the west courtyard, the courtyard specified for the day.
"Do you think it was the food, kupo?" Lini asked, puzzled. Darcie shrugged, but Madeline stared off at where Carrot was headed. "I don't think so," she said, stroking her chin. "Let's go, before she runs off."
The trio caught up with Carrot, who was now playing merrily with a loose pile of weeds a servant had idly left out. The threesome was confused at all of this. Why was she acting so obedient? They couldn't tell, but nonetheless they didn't care. If Carrot was going to be obedient, it was fine with them. In fact, they hoped Carrot would always be this way.
Carrot gurgled delightfully, but not at the weeds she tossed around. She gurgled delightfully in the fact that her three caretakers were foolish enough to believe what she was doing was real. This was all an act. Once they turned their backs on her, she'd make a mad dash for the bushes, go through the secret mud passage, and then head for Jagd Helje: to head for home. She watched them with one eye as all the others were fixated on the weeds. If they were smart, they would've known Carrot wouldn't be caught dead playing with weeds. She had long learned that many plants gave uncomfortable rashes, and didn't like to take chances with them.
"Good Carrot," Darcie mumbled, and Carrot gurgled delightfully. She was acting rather peculiar, but it was in a good way, nonetheless. The rustling of the weeds was like music to Darcie's ears, as she expected to be groping through the mud at this point with Carrot pounding her on the back with her tentacles. Darcie smiled, then turned away to face the Sprohm mountains which were barely visible atop the highest pinnacles of the Nanabu manor.
Madeline wiped a trickle of slime off the end of her left ear, and then turned back with Darcie to watch the mountains. "I never noticed how beautiful this courtyard is," Madeline mumbled, knowing that the only reason why she hadn't was that she was always taking care of Carrot. She carefully looked over all the bushes and flowers, eyes full of a newfound wonder.
Finally, Lini turned his tiny head to the sky, thanking Famfrit from sparing him from the mud, pain, and disgust that would normally come from caretaking Carrot. With a smile, he thanked all the Totema for granting peace amongst Carrot's devilish soul and making her delightful and not loathsomely obnoxious.
The minute Lini turned around Carrot dropped the weeds. By the time they were all gaping at the misty peaks of the mountains Carrot was at the bushes. When they finally turned back around, Carrot had squirmed her way through the narrow, muddy secret passage and was now halfway down the hill, gurgling with pleasure. She was finally free to go where she wanted to be: home.
