Midori found herself in the graveyard again. But this time she wasn't as scared or hesitant anymore. She watched calmly as Alucard came into view with his lantern.
'No running off this time? 'He asked in his smooth baritone voice, a small smile on his lips. Aside from the unnerving luminescent eyes, Alucard was quite handsome. He tilted his head to the side, motioning her to follow before starting his trek down the path to her crypt. Midori quickly followed, not wanting to be left alone in the dark cemetery. She doubted anything was lurking around but she wasn't about to take her chances. Alucard opened the wrought iron door with a loud creak that resonated through the silent space. He Midori go in first before closing the door behind him. Alucard held the lantern above her head to light her steps, which was quite easy since he was a great deal taller than her. She reached the bottom and found Igor at the very same place he as the last time she saw him. She took a quick glance around the room wearily and noted that one of the candelabrums on the wall was now lit alongside the one of Igor's desk.
'AH I see you've made some comrades already. The rehabilitation is going smoothly. These connections will serve you well in the future' the man said in his gravelly voice. Midori approached his desk while Alucard went to stand behind him with his lantern.
'What do you mean?' Midori tilted her head curiously, genuinely curious. Igor stapled his fingers in front of himself, his grin ever present on his face. Midori wondered idly what would happen if the man stopped smiling…
'Each connection will have their perks and will bring something special to you with each steps' the man explained, still sounding somehow cryptic but Midori got the gist of it. A loud unsettling sound that sounded like a screaming demon startled Midori.
'Seems like our time is up, until next time…'
Midori jerked awake when she heard her alarm sound from her phone. She had set an alarm a bit before she had to meet the group at Leblanc. She sat up and groggily rubbed her eyes, letting out a loud yawn. When she arrived home bearing bubble tea for her mom, she had decided to take a nap, feeling strangely exhausted after her adventure in the Metaverse. There was a knock on at her door as she was gathering her things to head out.
'Sweetheart, are you awake?' her mother asked as she opened the door and peeked her head in. Her mother was all dolled up in a pretty dress and had pinned her hair up.
'Wow mom, you dressed up nice' Midori said smiling as she hung her purse on her shoulder. Her mom smiled prettily and did a little twirl.
'Yes your father and I are going on a date tonight' She beamed, sounding like a teenager in love. Midori smiled at the display, glad that her 'parents' had such a loving relationship. Not that she was just noticing it now. She saw plenty of instances where they showed their love for each other. Sometimes she even felt embarrassed about it.
'I'll be going out for a bit too, if that's ok' She sure hoped it was ok…How could she alert Morgana of her not going…
'Sure honey, going out on a date? Hmm hm, no, don't tell me, you hit it off with the handsome young man from the ballet school?' Her mother gushed, stars in her eyes as she clasped her hands together in front of her.
'No mom, stop, I'm just meeting up with some people at Leblanc' she pouted, trying to evade her mother's affection. She hurried into the kitchen with her mother following behind her. Midori spotted her dad in the kitchen.
'Dad, please help me' she pleaded as she hid behind him, peeking around his shoulder.
'Hime leave the poor girl alone' her dad chuckled deeply from within his chest and ruffled Midori's hair. 'Now hurry my love, we'll be late to our reservation.'
Her mother beamed and grasped her father's arm as he extended it out to her like a gentleman and a M'lady. Her mother giggled and leaned her head against his arm.
'We won't be out too late, please come back at a reasonable time' the last part really did seem like a genuine plea. She could see the concern on both of her 'parents' faces.
'No later than 11' she promised with a smile and continued jokingly' so you should you' she wagged her finger at them playfully.
'You are so on daughter of mine' her mother smirked suddenly, her eyes narrowed. 'Last one here has to do breakfast tomorrow!'
Her dad let out a small yelp as he was dragged out the door by her mother.' See you sweetie, there's some left over pastries in the fridge if you want em, love you!' her mother called. Midori chuckled before shaking her head. She went to peruse the pastries in the fridge and debated if she should bring them along for the 'meeting'. She gnawed on her lip, suddenly feeling very nervous. What if…they didn't like her…what if they didn't want her to be part of their team, what if they welcomed her then throw her away because they found her annoying….like many others did when she showed her true personality…
She had to stop herself before she spiralled down into an anxiety attack. She could feel it buzzing at the base of her skull, lurking deep within the recesses of her mind, waiting for her to be vulnerable to strike. She closed her eyes and took deep breath to recenter herself. She gave a small sigh as she finally opened her eyes. The blond took the pastries that were kept in a plastic take-out container. There were at least 8-10 pastries in there, she hoped it would be enough… She took a reusable bag that was in one of the kitchen drawers and carefully put the container inside. She closed the fridge and went to put on her shoes. She took a deep breath and opened the door. It was now pouring rain outside, stark contrast to the nice sunshine they had this morning. She grabbed a cute pink umbrella from the umbrella holder in the entrance before slipping out the door. She tucked both back full of goods and umbrella into the crook of her elbow and locked the door. She opened the umbrella and stepped out into the rain. She quickly glanced at her phone to look at the time, not wanting to be late.
4:45… It wouldn't take that long to get to Leblanc right? She quickened her pace anyway. She always hated it when she was late.
She reached Leblanc with 5 minutes to spare. Her feet and ankles were all wet but she made it just in time. She shook out her umbrella once she as safely covered by Leblanc's awning. She decided to leave it outside so she wouldn't get water everywhere. She closed it and left it by the door. She walked in and sighed in relief as the warmth of the café enveloped her.
'Hey kid, what are you doing out there in this weather?' Sojiro commented, eyeing her up and down.
'I came to meet up with Morg-Akira' she quickly covered up, not wanting to sound stupid if she said she came to meet up with a cat. Her godfather raised an eyebrow at her curiously.
'How long have you and the kid been talkin?' He asked curiously as he wiped down the counter. Midori gulped as she rummaged through her brain for an excuse.
'We occasionally run into each other when I go jogging' she blurted out in one single breath. Sojiro gave her a dubious look but didn't comment on it. 'He's upstairs with his friends'
Midori smiled and nodded before digging into her bag.
'I-I brought some pastries from the shop, would you like one uncle Sojiro?' She opened and held out the container to him. He hummed as his eyes scanned the goods.
'Is that your mother's famous dragon fruit mousse cake?' Sojiro said, eyes set on a pale pink mousse cake decorated with raspberries and little pink dragon fruit balls. Midori nodded as she beamed.
'I'm actually the one that made it' she said proudly, puffing her chest a little. Sojiro carefully took it out of the container and cradled it into his hand before heading behind the counter to fetch a spoon. He took a spoonful of the cake and put it in his mouth and she watched as his face spread into a rare wide smile.
'You nailed it kid, man it's been too long since I've had this cake'
Midori felt pride bloom inside her chest at his words. It wasn't an easy feat to copy her mom's recipe, especially when the woman had been doing this for far longer than she did. She closed the container with a wide smile.
'Oh you're here' A voice startled Midori and she looked down to meet Morgana's eyes.
'Hello Morgana' She greeted with a smile, trying to act casual. She assumed it was safe to speak with the cat when she noticed that Sojiro seemed entranced by his piece of cake. A rare sight indeed.
'They are waiting for you upstairs' The cat said as he went for the stairs at the end of the café. He waited for her on the first step before heading up when she joined him.
'Oh is that food?' The cat eyed the container of good hungrily, licking his lips.
'Uh yeah, I thought I could bring a little something while we…talk' she trailed off when she made it atop of the stairs and 6 pairs of eyes were instantly on her. They were scattered all around the, room?* She felt her stomach drop as she stood frozen on the last step. Her anxiety came back with vengeance, clawing at her heart viciously.
There were two blonds, a guy and a girl. There a short brown haired girl with crimson eyes, a boy with blue hair and slate grey eyes. A girl with long red hair and brown eyes who she recognized as Futaba And of course there was Akira, who gave her a reassuring smile and a nod. Midori fervently wished that the smile would put her at ease but unfortunately, it didn't. Morgana hoped onto the table that everyone was gathered at.
'h-hello' she said in a small voice, wanting to curl in on herself as the others continued to stare at her. She felt the buzz of anxiety at the base of her skull once more, whispering mean things to her.
'Is that cake!?' The blonde girl exclaimed, eyeing the treats in her hands hungrily. Midori snapped out of it and nodded, gently settling down the container on the available space on the table. She opened it and gave a small smile as everyone seemed to be interested.
'Yes, I thought I should bring a little something to this uh meeting, to show…my good intentions' She offered a small smile, her heart beating quickly against her ribcage. 'Pick anything you want, these are extras from my mom's pastry shop'. Midori suddenly swore to herself when she noticed she hadn't brought any utensils to eat the cake with.
'I forgot to bring the utensils' she murmured sheepishly, fingers coming to grasp the strap of her purse. Akira stood up from his seat on his bed on the far wall.
'I'll go get some downstairs, you can sit anywhere you want, make yourself comfortable' He smiled reassuringly before heading downstairs. Midori felt a strange lump in her throat when her eyes swept the room, trying to decide where to sit.
'Don't be shy, it's ok' the blonde girl piped up, surely noting her hesitation. 'We don't bite' she reassured then patted the available seat beside her 'come sit here'.
The girl's reassuring smile felt like a soothing balm to her racing heart. Midori walked over to the small couch and sat down between the two blondes, tucking her purse between her feet.
'I'm Ann Takamaki' the blonde girl introduced offering a disarming smile and Midori took a moment to admire how pretty the girl was.
'I'm Ryuji Sakamoto' the other blond said with a grin, no ill intent or malice on his face. Midori idly wondered why she even looked for such a thing on the boy's visage.
The boy with blue hair stood up to bow and introduce himself' I'm Yusuke Kitagawa, a pleasure to meet you'
'As you already probably know, I'm Futaba Sakura' Futaba introduced kind of bashfully and Midori actually felt that, cause, god damn, that as a lot of new people for her to meet.
'And I'm Makoto Nijima' the brown haired girl introduced with a dry tone that made Midori's hackles rise in alarm. She kept a frown from showing on her face as the girl stared her down. Midori felt a particular tension coming from her and she didn't like because…what the hell did she do? Or perhaps the old Midori had done the girl wrong and she had a grudge against her? Then again, if a memory had to hit her, it would've done so the minute she looked at the girl in the face like it did most of the times. Midori gulped and licked her dry lips.
'I'm Midori, Midori Madoka' she finally introduced, offering a smile.
Akira suddenly appeared from the stairs, holding a tray with a handful of spoons and a coffee pot with mugs. Ann cheered, happy that she finally got to taste whatever Midori had to offer. Everyone took something and seemed to be enjoying them if the pleased sounds that they made. The only person that didn't take anything was the brown haired girl, who seemed to watch her like a hawk. She sat there awkwardly, biting her lip, trying to stifle her fight or flight instincts.
'Coffee?' Akira's soothing voice snapped her out of her panicking. She blinked up at the raven and nodded, accepting the cup from his hand, their fingers temporarily brushing. Midori fought a blush as she thanked him softly. They all waited till everyone was done eating before addressing the important issue at hand.
'Alright Midori, why don't you fill us in about the Palace me and you went in earlier today' Morgana said as he washed his face, trying to get the bits of cream that was left on his whiskers from the cake he ate. Midori froze her body seizing up as everyone's gaze turned to her. She felt as if the cat was putting her on the spot on purpose, but she knew that he wanted her to talk and explain what she saw and perhaps, try to integrate her into the group gradually. Midori felt as if she was in high school all over again, standing in front of the class…shaking like a leaf.
'The person's Palace belongs to the ballet teacher from Petits Pieds Ballet studio' Midori began as she stood.
'That's quite a renowned studio….it's been around for years, aren't they celebrating their 10th anniversary next week?' Yusuke said pensively.
Midori nodded in approval' Yeah, I ended up going there since they asked my mother to do the catering for their sweet table for the event, and that's how I found out about the Palace' Midori crossed her arms over her chest and cupped her elbow with her hand.
'The Palace hasn't been there for long but the security is ridiculously high in there, probably because he's highly stressed because of the event' Morgana piped up' and unfortunately, we didn't get any maps and were unable to open any chest that we found since we didn't have Joker's tools'
'Did you guys observe anything in there that could tell us why he would have a Palace?' Akira questioned, his smooth tone now all business likes, a somehow serious look in his eyes. Morgana looked at Midori, once again forcing her to talk.
' I…I think, it's because of the death of his mother and sister…' Midori trailed off, remembering the sad spectacle she had witnessed in the Palace with the ice sculptures' He's probably drowning in his grief and with the event coming up, a lot of pressure must be on his shoulders to keep up the imagine his mother made of the studio…'
'What…what happened to them' Ann said softly, a sad look in her eyes.
'his sister was born with leukemia, she fought it most of her childhood, she went into remission at one point but she finally died at 11' Midori had to hold back the tears as she retold the man's story' As for his mother…she was so saddened by the death of her little girl that she committed suicide not long after his sister died…' Midori swallowed around the lump in throat as a sob threatened to come out. No she couldn't cry in front of them, she had already cried once today…
'Man… that's horrible…' Ryuji whispered, slumped over in his seat, leaning his elbows on his knees.
'How did you get all these info's?' Makoto suddenly questioned, her sad look replaced with a serious one. Midori bristled once more at her tone.
'There, there was ice figures in his castle that did a dance that narrated his whole life' Midori supplied.
'Does he act badly with his students?' Akira asked and then shared a look with Ann and Ryuji, a brief shadow fleeting over their faces.
' I only know two of them, one of them insists that he's only stressed while the other said he acts like a bastard…'
'Does he…' Ann trailed off, looking to the side.
'No, not from what we've seen' Morgana reassured Ann, which had Midori wondering what hidden message they were sharing.
' I do think he see some of them as…ugly ducklings while two of them were swans' Midori said, recalling how he had held one of the swans closely.
'Swans…ducklings? How does that have to do with anything' Ryuji said in confusion, scratching his scalp.
'The swans are obviously the star pupils while the ugly ducklings are I could say the less talented ones' Yusuke murmured softly, cupping his chin.
'He did mention that since they were a reputed ballet studio that they valued talent above all, he even boasted about it…' Midori said as she recalled her conversation with Sebastien.
'Seems like we will need to dig a little bit in the Palace but we'll be short on time since I'm assuming our deadline is next week on the day of the anniversary' Akira spoke up and everyone nodded. His grey eyes were suddenly on her.
'Seems like we have ourselves a new member' He offered a dashing smile to her that made her heart melt. She offered a bashful smile as everyone cheered. 'Can't wait to see what you are made of in there ummm…'
'Right you'll need a code name too Midori' Morgana spoke up and tilted his head. 'You were wearing all white with that golden mask'
'Oh, how about Angel!' Ann said excitedly with a smile. Midori held back the cringe at the nickname, it sounded so…cliché.
'That's lame' Ryuji said then grunted in pain when Ann punched him in the arm with a pout. Everyone tried pitching in names and Midori felt a bit overwhelmed, not knowing which to choose.
'How about Swan' Akira said aloud. Midori tilted her head, mulling it over in her head. She liked the sound of it.
'Let's go with Swan' she agreed with a nod and a smile. The room broke out in cheers.
After discussing a bit more about the Palace and exchanging ID numbers, everyone went home, only leaving her, Akira and Morgana. Midori took a look at her phone. Oh it was already this late? Time sure had flown by.
'Oh man, I should head home' Midori said, starting to gather her things and shoved them into her purse. She took a peek outside and noted dully that it was still raining.
'I'll walk you home' Akira offered taking his jacket and slipped it on.
' I don't know… I wouldn't want you to get sick because of me and you would have to come back by yourself…' She frowned, slipping the strap of her purse onto her shoulder. Akira's merely waved it off and gently coaxed her downstairs by putting a hand on her lower back. An involuntary shiver aced down her spine as she tried to conceal her blush.
'You guys go ahead, I'm going to stay here' morgana said sleepily as he yawned widely and settled down in Akira bed.
The lights were off downstairs when they made their way down the stairs, Uncle Sojiro having already left along with Futaba. Midori concentrated to not fall over in the stairs and make a fool of herself in front of the handsome boy… damn it…They made it safely down and walked to the door.
'Did you have an umbrella?' Akira asked, taking one from the umbrella holder near the door.
'Yeah I left it outside, I hope it still there' she grinned sheepishly. She opened the door and peeked outside and luckily for her the umbrella was still there. She took it into her hands and stood back as she watched Akira closed and lock the door. She carefully opened the umbrella and waited for the teen.
'Why don't we share? It'll be easier that way, here I'll hold it' How come his sultry words had this effect on her. She couldn't pinpoint why. She gave him the umbrella trying to advert her eyes so he couldn't see the effect he had one her. But how he knew and actually found pleasure in the little reactions you were having.
The walk was quiet, but somehow, it wasn't an awkward silence. It was comfortable; the only sound between them was the pitter patter of their feet against the wet ground. It didn't take long before they arrived in front of the Pastry shop.
'Here we are' she said awkwardly, rocking back on her heels with a small smile. She took the umbrella from Akira and waited till He opened his to close hers. 'Thank you for walking me home, I really appreciate it' she found herself gently touching his arm. His eyes briefly looked at her hand and he offered another one of his charming smile.
'It's really no problem' He reassured and caught her hand as she went to pull it away. He kissed the back of it gently and grinned 'Until next time, Mademoiselle' He bowed dramatically and Midori found herself laughing a little bit as she tried to fight her blush. She watched as he walked away until she couldn't see him anymore.
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall be one of the beacons that will guide you out of the darkness. With the birth of the Fool Arcana, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.
Fool Rank 1
Midori tossed and turned as she tried to find sleep but couldn't for the third night in a row this week… She kept thinking about the meeting and the Palace. If she closed her eyes, she would have vivid images of it… wait.. Morgana did say that didn't find a map but what if.
She pushed the comforter off and stood up from her bed. She looked turned the lights on and looked for some paper and a pencil. She doesn't know how long she stayed sitting down on the floor of her room, drawing a map on multiple pieces of paper that she all aligned and pieced together with tape to make a makeshift map. She blinked slowly as she snapped out of her creative headspace. She blinked a few more times to clear her head. She looked over her work and gave a satisfied smile. She stood up over her work, her spine protesting at the amount of time she stayed hunched over her project. She grimaced and rubbed her back idly before reaching for her phone to snap a picture of her work. She opened the chat app and went to send it but hesitated. What if they laughed? What if they mocked her… She shook her head and just sends the picture anyway.
Suddenly feeling tired, Midori closed the lights and went to snuggle into her bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.