Desire is such a cruel mistress, Desire for change, company, affection. Power.
Kirche Von Zerbst liked to think of herself as a being of pure will, if she wanted to do something, she did it, there wasn't any in-between. If she couldn't obtain something right away, well. That made it all the more appealing. Be it a spell she couldn't quite figure out, a separate field of study, a man. It really depended on how she was feeling, or what she focused herself on.
Recently her center of focus had been a frankly peculiar man. Who'd made a small name for himself in his short time at the academy. Mainly from being summoned as a familiar, also with his evident magical prowess, and lastly with his capture of Fouquet the crumbling Earth. A notorious thief who'd ran around stealing from a plethora of nobility.
Of course, it wasn't only the power of the man that allowed for continual interest, though it was what sparked her curiosity. It was beyond that, the man behind the actions and power he seemed so free in displaying. It was the mask he held. She could tell, she held one too. Though for different reasons she assumed. It was a little less than childsplay to accurately determine if someone was lying. Lately, the real challenge was figuring out if someone was being truthful.
Everyone wanted something for their own gain. Genuine charity was a commodity so rare, with as much value as the dirt people walked on. It was somewhat depressing, though in all honesty she couldn't really care less. The majority of the nobles "Selflessness" Came from their own desire to obtain something of their own.
She could read people like the open book that they were. They all wore their intentions on their sleeve.
Not this held an air of mystery about him, like a dark cloak Kirche simply couldn't see through. If tabitha was to be believed (Which she always was) The man, although able to cast magic, might not receive anything in the form of a reward due to being Louise's familiar, and the kingdom's inability to recover any records actually proving nobility. Which was curious in and of itself.
This could mean a plethora of things, one. He simply wasn't a known resident of Tristain. Which was common for the traveling lower class, but his refined clothing and mannerisms spoke of exquisite training in formal etiquette. For one reason or another. He at the very least appeared to be a noble. Which thusly brought her to her second conclusion, He was a noble of some neighboring country.
Obviously she could certainly remove germania from that potential list. She'd done extensive research on that silvery pendant he wore around his neck. Nothing she found recent or ancient made mention or had anything to do with the coat of arms it depicted.
It frustrated her to no end to come up dry on all ends, beyond just failing to obtain information on someone. She could still remember those first few days he'd been here, confused, wide eyed, and cautious. He'd tried to run away on his first night here! For reasons she still hadn't quite discovered. This however led her to her first real piece of information. The boy, the familiar was a wizard. Obviously, this sparked interest, especially since he used magic so fluidly with nothing but his hands.
Kirche's first thoughts were that he was an elf, which proved to be true fromTabitha, who warned her to stay away from the boy. But as close as she was with the cerulean haired mage, Kirche did what she wanted when she wanted, which led her to her current situation, sitting idly by, watching Izaneus pour over tome after tome, scrounging around the texts in the library for something of use.
What that was, Kirche didn't know, nor did she particularly care, aside from mild curiosity. Currently however, she wanted nothing more than to learn the same type of magic as Louise or that maid.
f Izaneus had been trying to keep their afternoon lessons a secret from anyone, he'd done a poor job of doing so. If someone had been keeping a vague interest and observation on him as Kirche had, they'd had found out nearly immediately that he was teaching Louise and that maid something. Something she wanted part of.
For a myriad of reasons, firstly to get closer to Izaneus himself, Secondly to stick it to Louise, to prove she could beat the girl in that as well. And thirdly of course, there was something familiar about that magic that she wanted to explore.
Of course, she wouldn't give up her formal education in any regard. That would raise too many suspicions. She would merely ask Izaneus to show her how to begin on that path, and walk it herself, alongside her traditional magic.
It was weird. Though she knew he was an Elf, and that he was likely a killing machine of mass destruction, she couldn't quell the fascination growing within her, begging she get closer to the man.
She forcibly threw those emotions to the side. While rather cute, they were little more than an annoyance right now. She needed to focus, after all. It wasn't smart to simply throw away previous notions on an unfounded base. That led to carelessness, which she simply didn't care for. Accomplished student and all.
Standing from her desk a fair ways away from Izaneus's, she stood, pushing the chair back into place as she strut across the carpeted floor to her quarry. Eyes focused, and centralized. Ready to finally be able to question this man. The chances eluded her until now. What with Fouquet, then His whole being unconscious thing. Then Tabitha wanted her to stay away from him. Kirche sighed
Ah well, she'd still probably be able to get in his head, which would be fun in and of itself if the other questions didn't pan out.
Izaneus sat solemnly, his eyes focused on the texts his eyes scrolled through so relentlessly, as fast as they could while scanning for anything that may make mention of certain strange artifacts a select few could actually use.
The majority of the books however didn't hold anything he could correlate at face value with his current situation. There were interesting mentions of certain artifacts, such as swords that could attack its user with its force of will alone, or other such mentions.
Some were exaggerations, others were lies. The majority of texts were faithful to others, and often sited sources for their information in regard to the academic nature of some of the world.
Which Izaneus appreciated. It wouldn't be long until he found something. Of course, if he could reverse whatever sent him here, that would be most ideal, but if not.
Well. he would find a separate way.. Home.
It had been a little since he'd had the luxury of thinking of that place
A part of him felt it best to leave forever, his eyes dulling as his memories unleashed the full weight of his depression upon him, like a horrid chain he couldn't remove, choking him, his motivation to stay awake.
What would it prove going back? That his mother was right? That he was as talented as she wanted? What then of his own future? Of course, his path was his own, he would need to fight to make his dreams true. But finding the power to do so was no easy task. Especially among the multitude of impossibilities he'd taken on as of late.
Before he knew it an unmistakable anger began to subtly grow within his breast, why him? Why did it have to be him? More importantly, why now did these thoughts and feelings choose to surface? Was not even his own heart privy to his respite? The subtle anger began to evolve into an ever growing rage, his fists clenched, he felt himself fall into the spire of depravity and unilateral self deprecation. He felt a sadistic smile grow as his mind grew hazy, where was this coming from?
He couldn't quite tell, the anger only decided to grow. And in the library Izaneus sat still, his thoughts slowly being taken over by an unquenchable rage that demanded he let it free, He couldn't think, he couldn't move. His eyes began to take everything in a manic shade of crimson. Hatred, he felt, hatred for the world and it's inequalities. Hatred for the spoiled and their naive interpretations. Hatred for himself, and his inability to do anything. He was a failure, and he knew it.
He opened his hand, magic beginning to well within it.
Perhaps it would be so much easier if he just-
" Hello~ Izaneus was it?" called a sweet, feminine if somewhat sultry voice.
A voice called out to him, and just like that the anger vanished, the world was vibrant with an array of colors once more and he himself felt appalled at his recent thoughts, dispelling the fire he conjured not moments prior. He turned to face the feminine voice who engaged him in conversation as though what previously transpired had never happened
Fiery red hair which reached down to her waist was his first observation; the second was that she was rather tall, almost as tall as he was. Her dark skin reminded him of the hour before dusk. When the sun was ready to finally set, yet her amber eyes drew him in, as easily as any spell.
Looking past her to more easily keep his composure, and not stumble over his words like a careless plebeian. " Yes? How may I help you?" He asked politely, doing his best to avoid looking at her directly in the eyes. Which proved difficult as she always noticed he was looking just away from her, and moved so eye contact would be nearly inevitable.
Somehow, with only a few words spoken. This already felt like an interrogation,
" I am Kirche Von Zerbst, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind." She asked sweetly, looking down on him smugly. Or what he assumed as much in any case.
" Ah, I suppose not, have a seat, there's plenty around" Izaneus offered lightly, making casual banter as he continued with his ruminations. Doing his best to ignore her presence, as he continued his studies. He was aware that whatever she wanted couldn't have been good, she made that much clear at least.
" Well, If I can be rather blunt~ I wanted to ask about your magic, and your Elven heritage." She stated teasingly, as she sat, rather closely.
Izaneus sat in silence, It was blunt.
So blunt in fact that Izaneus did not have a reply, the most he could do was simply widen his eyes and think "Ah, Shit" As Kirche's smirk widened devilishly. " Aww, now isn't that cute? C'mon, you can tell me now, I already know your secrets~" She played, to which Izaneus had to unfortunately agree, she did have his secrets, most of them at the very least.
He sat for a minute, silent amongst Kirche's continuous teasing. This was becoming more, and more annoying, and strangely, a small voice in the back of his head chastised him for his next action. " Very well. I can show you what I know, but I don't know how much of a splash this can have, so I need this to stay between you, Louise, Siesta and I." He stated, to which Kirche chuckled slightly and added " And Tabby of course!" to which Izaneus replied with a very confused. " What?"
Kirche continued, " Oh! Tabitha's the one who told me about your ah- E-L-F Thing" She stated, chuckling slightly to herself. Izaneus simply sighed, of course, things just had to keep, getting more and more complicated. He began to feel the same anger from before begin to well... wait, nevermind, it was just pure annoyance. it was often difficult for izaneus to tell the two apart.
Regardless, Izaneus could slowly feel things beginning to change more and more, and he wasn't sure if it was for the better.
Hey Everybody! It's me again! Things are starting to look up again! So I'm gonna keep trying to post as early as humanly possible!
Honestly, your words of criticism and thoughts have been pushing me forward, and as many times as I do, I can never thank you all enough for how much you help me as an author, I hope you're enjoying the story, as well as the story to come. I certainly am!
Anywho, with that I gotta say goodnight again. It's late and I need sleep! Goodnight everybody!