Chapter 10: A Brief Discussion
"An Otome ceremony is very similar to the marriage ceremonies that the Earl Order instructs." Shizuru explained as Natsuki calmed down. "On the rare occasion they run differently, but this is for higher ranking Otome such as the Columns." These specialised Meister were essentially the leaders of the organisation, and even held governmental rights internationally. It was very rare that they underwent a ceremony with a Master as disconnecting from the Founder was an illegal offense.
Natsuki supposed that becoming the Master to an Otome was like marriage. Still though? Rubbing an eye, Natsuki sighed as she pulled her gaze towards the garden's central gazebo. Government officials were beginning to filter from the building towards it as it was lunch.
She was pretty much getting married to a woman she hardly knew. Natsuki wasn't lying if she told the Meister that she had never dated, nevermind married anyone. Love hadn't interested her before. Affection, romance, sexuality; the concepts were a mystery for her. She merely could not fathom what they were nor why people seemed so obsessed by it.
"I've heard nanomachines feel weird." Natsuki mentioned nonchalantly, playing with the cuff of her sleeve. "Doesn't it feel gross under your skin or something?" She passed her Meister a curious glance.
"It felt—and still feels like bugs crawling under my skin." Shizuru said easily. Her lips pulled in amusement as Natsuki's face scrunched up in disgust. "During the injection, I could feel all of the nanomachines swarming my veins to the point they constricted my blood flow. I had never experienced the cold so forcefully before." Leaning against the wall of the Hexagon, she continued: "You will likely experience a similar feeling. Some feel queer during the process." Receiving an odd stare, Shizuru wondered why. 'Oh. That is why.' "Queasy." She added, supposing Aries still used their language peculiarly.
"Huh." Natsuki could only sound lamely. Maybe it was time to change the subject. "You understand a thing in this?" She gestured to the documents, handing them over.
"I am afraid not, unfortunately." The Meister flicked through the pages. "The actual process to heal palaysis and amputation does not seem to be present." The report was mainly just statistics and prosthetic data. Shizuru mildly wondered whether Natsuki's legs would require a form of exo-skeleton. Alas, there was no mention of this; the research probably didn't deal with Natsuki's precise condition. "It would seem that the participants were studied before, during and after their treatment. There are scientific results and participant feedback." From the little she had read, anyway. The document was an impressive size—even for a research paper.
If Shizuru couldn't figure it out, then she definitely couldn't, Natsuki realised. Oh well, she'd find out eventually. "What was it like at Garderobe?" She asked suddenly.
"It was difficult but fun." Shizuru responded, closing the paperclipped documentation up. "Though it was only two years, some of my best memories reside there. But I was ready to leave." Honestly, she had been incredibly anxious to graduate from Garderobe—and become a Hexagon Meister, no less? She hadn't known who her sponsor had been; imagine her surprise when during her graduation it was revealed to be the Krugers? She was an Otome to one of Earl's most powerful governments—if not the most powerful one. It was astounding, to say the least.
"Yeah, same." Natsuki would probably feel similarly cooped up in a stuffy school like that. Since Garderobe's enrolment system was so narrow and expensive, it was probably flooded by entitled brats. She would have adored the training sessions, but the academic side would've bored her to death. That and she couldn't stand people who thought they were better than her. 'If I was an Otome, what would my robe and weapon look like, anyway?'
A/N: Hi everyone. Thanks so much for the positive reviews throughout this story. Since I've already been asked about this: the chapters are short because I have a lot of problems getting the words down these days. If it helps, rather than chapters, view them as scenes instead. Now that the timeline is further structured, I am gradually working towards increasing the chapter sizes.
Also, for anyone interested, I am rewriting Renascence. You can check my progress on my profile. Yes, I will eventually be adding more chapters.