Angel: Gomen, gomen! I keep fading out from this world called Fanfiction. Hehe –sweatdrop- It's just that I'm finding so many fun things to do. But don't worry! As loser-ish as it sounds, I keep a notepad with me in case any good ideas come up. And believe me I have a lot. You probably don't want me to ramble anymore ne? Okay.
P.S. Happy (very, very) belated New Year!
Oo ZelasMetallium oO: I'm sorry you didn't like the previous chapter, but. How could you HATE Mireille! She's AWESOME! And sekushii too. :3
Cherry-ripe: Of course it's funny! I mean, I'm the one writing it. Heh, being too modest. And I'm glad you loved chapter three. I liked that one too. Hope this one's better though.
Hai! Gambarimasu! (or however you spell it)
Disclaimer -yawn- Yeah, yeah. We ALL know I don't own Noir. Cause if I DID, I would have let Chloe live. :D
Childhood Memories
"Err…I'm sorry about what your parents did to you, Mireille," Altena apologized.
"Sorry doesn't cut it," The blonde muttered softly as she bowed her head. Just to add to the dramatic effect, her semi-bangs shadowed her closed eyes while everyone thought they heard sad, lamenting music start to play.
No one spoke, allowing Mireille to cope with her parents' decision in vain. Minutes passed by, and still not a word. Kirika held her partner's hand while the blonde quietly sobbed. Chloe had not been paying any attention at all; she was focused on cleaning her fingernails with her knife, with the most bored look on her face. Altena was carefully watching the Corsican girl, waiting for the right moment to speak.
She dared to break the silence, "Um. You know, the stories of how Kirika and Chloe got here are yet to be told…"
Chloe practically turned to stone, her eyes wide open (which probably wasn't really that wide) in shock. Even her cloak that had been swaying peacefully paused. Kirika froze, her hand still grasping Mireille's. The blonde woman slowly brought her eyes up toward the priestess. Both of them stared at each other. Once again complete silence took over, this time only about thirty seconds.
The corner of Mireille's mouth twitched. Gradually she brought it into a smile, then a smirk. Then she began to laugh somewhat insanely. The other three women stared at her and sweatdropped.
Altena said, "Uh. I see you've recovered," she muttered under her breath, "And quite a bit too fast, there."
The Corsican's laughter ceased abruptly, "Apparently."
"What happened to your hatred towards your parents?" Kirika asked.
"Oh, it's still there. Don't worry, I'll track them down and kill them myself."
"Eheh…yeah, about that, Mireille," Altena hesitated, "We killed them years ago."
"..Dammit!" she had a mock angry face. Then she smiled and shrugged, "Oh well. At least I get to hear how Kirika got here."
"Actually, Chloe was the one who arrived first," the priestess told them with a knowing smile.
The cloaked assassin choked on the wine she was drinking, "Shi—" Chloe saw the angry glare Altena was giving her, "—zz!"
"Really now?" Mireille looked intrigued.
"Yep."
It had been about two years since little Mireille Bouquet had been left at the Manor. Surprisingly she enjoyed staying there, even if the place was just a rundown building surrounded by a large vineyard.
One peaceful day, Altena was out tending to the grapes and Mireille was inside playing with her bear Bubbles.
"Would you like more tea, Mr. Bubbles?" Little Mireille asked her fuzzy friend. As expected the bear stayed quiet, merely smiling his sewed on smile. That didn't matter though. A little bit of imagination could make her tea party seem like there was more than one person taking part. (That same imagination could also make the young girl believe Bubbles' threats to burn her hair off and look like a billiard ball come from the smiley face she made out of sand.)
"Pshh!" Chloe scoffed. "You are so weird, Mireille."
"Hey! That's a normal thing between kids and their toys. I mean, come on! Kids these days play with their Barbie dolls!" the Corsican shot back.
"I wasn't talking about that."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind."
A thud was heard outside. "What was that?" The now eight year old girl wondered. Being the curious child she was, Mireille went to the doorway to see what happened. To her surprise, she saw an open picnic basket.
"Food?" A magenta blob poked out of the opening, making the curious little girl jump back, "Guess not. But then, what is it?" She prodded the blob.
It wriggled a bit, then a head popped out of the blanket it was wrapped in. It was asleep. "A…baby?" Little Mireille asked out loud. She gasped and as quickly as her legs could carry her, Mireille rushed to where Altena was.
"ALTENA-MAMA!"
Mireille gagged, "I called you that?"
"Yep," Altena answered with obvious humor in her voice.
"ALTENA-MAMA! ALTENA-MAMA! ALTENA-MAMA!"
The woman in question cringed at the high-pitched annoyance. 'Just ignore it…keep your attention on the grapes. That's good. Okay, now fondle the grape a bit…very good,' Altena thought to herself.
"ALTENA-MAMA!" She was getting closer. Still, the somewhat young priestess tried in vain to ignore the voice. "ALTENA-MAMA!"
'Don't think about it! Just…focus…on the grapes!'
Little Mireille stopped in front of her. 'Dammit!'
"Altena-mama I found a baby!"
"I'm sure you did little one," she responded nonchalantly.
"No! Really! I found a baby!" the child insisted, tugging on Altena's sleeve, "I'll show you!" and proceeded to drag the woman to the basket.
"See?" she pointed to the little child inside.
"By the gods, you're right!" Altena exclaimed.
"I told you!"
The brown haired woman then saw a note attached to the basket. She took the short letter and began to read it.
To whoever it may concern,
Please take her! We don't want to live our lives with such a burden on our hands. (She was an accident! And uh, don't ask us how she came to be…please.) That's why we're giving her to you. :D Oh, and if you're wondering, yes. She did fall from the sky.
Thank you! XD
-Rimelda and Madlax
"MADLAX?" Kirika looked surprised.
"You know her, Kirika?" Mireille asked.
"I think so.."
"Rimelda..? Where have I heard that name? Eh.." Chloe pondered.
Altena sighed, "Another one.."
"So Altena-mama, does she have a name?" Little Mireille questioned.
"GAZTH-SONIKA! I remember who Rimelda is!" Chloe burst out suddenly. Altena, Mireille and Kirika gazed angrily at the cloaked teen.
"…sorry."
Altena removed the blanket and picked up the newcomer. The magenta haired child smiled hugely, her eyes (finally) open wide as well. Being the simple-minded baby she was, she clapped her hands in amusement and laughed cutely for no reason. This made Altena smile and say, "Aww! How cute! Let's name her…Chloe!"
"Chloe? What kind of name is that?" Little Mireille asked dumbly.
"I agree," The present Mireille said. And the present Chloe just stuck her tongue out. She was very proud of her name.
"It's a name perfect for a future assassin," Altena said with a dreamy voice.
"Assassin? What's that?"
"Uhh…it's like a…"
"Like a what?"
"Oh nothing. You'll find out in a while," she smiled.
"Okay…"
"Now, go back to your tea party with Mr. Bubbles," Altena suggested, smiling.
"Okay. But what about Cleo—I mean Chloe?" the little girl asked.
"Don't worry, child. I'll put her in one of our spare room—" The priestess was interrupted when Little Chloe had suddenly vomited all over her purple and white dress, "Ugh! Nastiness!"
"Eww.." Mireille scrunched her face while holding her nose, "You smell, Altena-mama!"
Altena outstretched her arms and held Little Chloe at the new distance. Then she ran inside to clean herself up while repeatedly screaming and slipping over recurring vomit.
"Eww, that's so nasty," Mireille shuddered, "I didn't know Chloe was such a disgusting baby. I knew she was a bitch, but not a disgusting baby." Chloe stuck her tongue out.
"Yes, it was a very painful experience.." Altena sighed.
"Heheh…" Chloe put her hand behind her head, smiling nervously, "Sorry Altena."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you three are grown up now. At least I won't have to deal with it anym—" Just then, as fate would have it, Kirika began to vomit on Altena's black boots.
The Japanese teen wiped her mouth with a cloth and apologized profusely.
"Oh crap! I'm so very sorry Altena! I didn't mean to! I think the gallon of milk I drank was bad!"
"..You drank an entire gallon of milk?" Mireille and Chloe asked dubiously.
"Yeah...and I think the expiration date was a week ago.."
"Eww!"
Altena just closed her eyes and stayed quiet, not moving at all, except for her twitching eyebrow, "It's okay, Kirika. I can burn this pair. I have ten more anyway."
"I'm still sorry!"
"It's fine. Just to make it up, you can take off my boots."
Kirika sighed, "Okay.." She moved toward and put her hands on Altena's shoes. Chloe's eyes widened, suddenly remembering something, "Noo! Don't do it!"
It was too late though, Kirika had already removed the left boot and was now in the process of taking off the right.
"You're going to kill us—" Chloe collapsed.
"What happen—" A moment later Mireille had as well. Kirika looked very confused, then a second later had joined the other two on the floor.
Altena gazed at the three passed out figures. She looked at their faces and noticed they all contained the same expression. Their eyes were shut tight, noses scrunched and mouths in huge frowns. Even the fire that had been burning in the fireplace was quite alive until a few seconds ago. It just burned out suddenly? What happened? The priestess's eyes grew a bit wide.
"My! Do my feet really smell that bad?"
Angel: Heheh. I love screwing with their untold childhoods. It's so much fun. I really had to force myself to sit down at the computer and type for long consecutive hours to get it done though. Meh, I'm happy anyway. Hope you are too.
Yes, that was Rimelda and Madlax from the Noir replica Madlax. Yes, I was pulling more than half of this stuff out of my ass. Yes, I was trying a new approach for the past, letting the present characters butt in when they wanted to. And YES, Altena does have a severe case of…whatever you call it. I mean think about it. Those boots are leather, and she seems to NEVER take them off. Only one word comes to mind: Nasty.
Anyway, the only reason why I wanted to update was because I missed the reviews. That should give you a clue, guys. If you're too dense to understand that, please review. 2/24/05