A/N

Ello world!

I didn't die and I never stopped. So what have I been up to? Well I have a job now. Been having to make preparations for that. Now as for chapter 16... originally when I was drafting chapter's 15,16,and 17. I ran into a slight problem. now chapter 15 went off without a hitch, it demonstrated that my new writing system works, but when I wrote chapter 16 and seventeen I decided to try putting a single story day into two chapters. The result of that is the then unfinished chapter 17 became part of 16. Hence the near doubling in material for this chapter. I think in the future I may try to avoid breaking it down into just two pieces. I can say that it can be done. I can also say that my I have only posted this one chapter in the span of what would have been several. As I want to avoid having everyone think I up and forgot about this writing passion of mine I think I should break it down. So I will be revising my future chapters to accommodate that, with my current system that is possible thankfully as I'm not flying by the seat of my pants with this. Now enough from me here's to you enjoying the fact I'm here. Now go enjoy the reading. As always advice is welcome.


(Schnee) Arc:

Ch. 16:A satus tardus autem

-A Reaper… Perhaps, but I am doing what no one else can or will to save what matters. This will change everything.-


Mr. Clutch's POV

"Alfred, tell me, why we are releasing Mrs. Dion?"

"Because we are at the end of her contract period Hellen."

Assumptions are, as ever, a damnable offence to whatever that god watches over me. The moment I had assumed that Mrs. Gretel had departed to her kitchen she returned. She has since then stayed with me for the nearly five long hours as she had somehow gotten word that a wider schedule change for staff, as well as the young miss and the boy, was nearing implementation. She had since then been weighing in on my decisions as we went over them, page by page, point by point.

"Normally we just renew the contract?"

"Normally yes, however as I have stated with every other point, times are different now."

"Yes, the bit about a need for new lessons and 'live experience'."

"Aye, time is limited and I believe that the young misses instilled drive for competition indeed, if it should come to that we could always ask that she refine herself. I'm sure she would consult her notes or read a book, much like I imagine she is now."

The girl has the drive, she just often needs a push to 'show someone'. It's always made her live up to the standards we set for her. You just need to slowly increase the amount asked as she thinks she becomes more capable.

I suppose that is a trait her father has as well, makes for interesting demands on his part.

"I know that Weiss-"

"The young miss"

Mrs. Gretel gives me a brief look at my correction. I'm curios how she will react as I have never done this before.

"It's just procedure Mrs. Gretel, we need to refer to her correctly within our capacity."

Since we are implementing changes it might be best of me to try and see what I can do with mannerisms.

"Weiss is a capable girl, however we should still keep Mrs. Dion as a resource for her."

This one would be simpler if Mrs. Gretel would remember that she is only the head chef now. Well seems I just need to be diplomatic about this and meet her halfway.

"Mrs. Gretel. I'm sure that we can ask her to drop by for singular events in the future, We just no longer need to keep her contracted to us. What about her own career, surely you don't want us to keep her committed to us for another decade? Im reasonably sure she will keep in contact with the young miss even if we told her otherwise."

"That… is a good point, she could still get reviews for the performances you plan on her having."

"Yes and the young miss would be able to get out, like I promised you, we can save on her contract, and Mrs. Dion would likely give input and keep track of those performances. There is social media now"

"OK OK! You have made your point, now this bit about Mr. Laufer and the fencing instructor I-"

Whatever Mrs. Gretel was going to say is interrupted by my scroll ringing out its staff tone. I raise my left hand to have her stop and pull out my scroll.

Speak of the devil. It's Mr. Laufer.

"Mr. Laufer good to hear back from you, I take it you are nearing the retreat?"

"Yes sir, I will be touching down shortly I-"

No time for this.

"That's good Mr. Laufer when you do so make sure to head to the Managerial Office, Mrs. Gretel and I need to speak with you about your plans for the young miss and the boy."

"I can do that, however I will be delayed."

"Something I need to know Mr. Laufer?"

"Negative sir."

"Oh?"

"Sir believe me you don't need to know."

"Thats for me to decide."

"...Copy that, I'll tell you when I get to the office."

"Very well then."

I end the call and glance back over to Mrs. Gretel.


"Why don't we wait for before continuing this?"

"We could" The Head Chef leans back in her chair nodding. "We could also talk about what you have assigned him to do as he is the instructor. What are your goals?"

Well there flies that bird.

"The goals are unique to each of the children."

I watch her, but only get an expectant look that asks for more.

"I need the young miss prepared for her unlocking"

The way she was looking at me would indicate a renewed interest in the topic, but her relaxed posture said she needed more.

"So you're actually going through with that this year?"

"Indeed, we will be making preparations shortly"

"I need a date Alfred."

"We are still working on this"

"You... have said that to me for three years now? When?"

Silence was her answer. I had opened a white folder pertaining to Aura unlocking for the young miss.

"Alfred."

"I don't know. I do know that this time is different because Jacques has ordered for preparations. See here."

I slid the still opened folder across the table, She let it stop right next to her hand. Her eyes slowly reviewed the material as I watched them scan the document. When she finishes her eyes close for a moment. What thoughts are you thinking Hellen?

"You mean he's actually with the program, even considering what Winter did?"

"Yes, even with the eldests actions, He still wants for the young miss to set about unlocking her aura. Then she needs to take up the role that Winter once had."

The woman appeared conflicted about this, but it didn't matter.

"So long as she listens and respects her father's requests it will be fine." I reassure. Sometimes I miss the old her, this emotional side of her makes it that much harder to judge her.

"You say that knowing how she is now?"

"Mrs. Gretel that is only temporary I'm sure the girl with act her age once she has some real responsibilities that suit her."

"Alfred, I appreciate this, but it's not the responsibilities I'm worried about. She needs to enjoy herself."

"She will learn to."

"Alfred…"

"Yes yes. She will though. She is her father's daughter. It's in her blood."

"Alright, but I will be watching these proceedings."

"Very well"

We sit in silence after that. Hellen continues to go through the folder I gave her. I on the other hand open up the boy's black leather folder. I'll need to fill this with additional materials later, but for now I suppose we can have him learn on the fly. I flip to a blank page and begin to write.

Regardless of what Ms. Jude thinks, The boy's talents are in his physical abilities. The good doctor reported that the boys body was in a state of near complete atrophy, including the legs. This had indicated either an excessively sheltered lifestyle or that the boy could have been in a hospital with a coma prior to this. Stranger still was how, in light of this, his body had performed during the tests. Honestly I wish Jacques would explain how he came to be here, but he had been tight lipped about the whole affair. He had simply told me to "do what what I wanted with him."

That was exactly what I had in mind. The SDC groom the next generation's minds and find intellectual talent, but the body and semblance one is given is a unique resource. If training went smoothly and he is taught properly, then he could become a valuable asset once his aura was unlocked a year from now.

Perhaps I could get him to train with the young miss. The boy acted like a pacifist, but he changed when he entered the dynamics room. The tests that Ms. Jude had conducted revealed a healthy competitive streak.

I just need to be sure to start it before she get's her aura unlocked. Hmm. I have the better part of a month for this. With the schedule changes it should work. If I can have the fencing instructor arrive earlier perhaps? Once he learned to wield a there's another option.

The young miss did take lessons and had observed her sister's training while here… The problem is she had only learned the basics to build upon.

She has to wait for aura unlocking as aura arts are fundamentally different. Well it would be a good opportunity for her to demonstrate and reinforce her knowledge of the basics. The boy could get some lessons in. We could get some recordings for the instructor as well. Hmm. Alright I'll see what I can do on that note. I should make some reservations.

He will need a weapon. A training weapon will suffice for now. I'm getting ahead of myself with him. Stage one.

I suppose the real question I need to know is how quickly we can get started on stage one. I'll need to make some phone calls later to-

Knock knock


That should be Mr. Laufer. I cleared my throat up as I finished the bullet points I had made thus far. "Enter"

The white door opens to reveal the man I expected, however he has a subtly perturbed look about him. Oh right…

"Take a seat Mr. Laufer."

The instructor nods and moves to the grey table, taking a seat closest to the door before setting down his hat. Once he's settled I start.

"So tell me… what happened?"

"Well sir, we went shopping in flachland as you already knew. We acquired most of what we set out for, including what you asked for. I have had the clothes taken to the White Rose for later."

"Alright. I expect that you send send me a report detailing exactly what was acquired. Do you have the paper?"

Mr. Laufer slides a copy of the Flachland times (check) to me, which I deposit in the hollowed edge of the table for later.

"You will have report within the hour after we finish this meeting."

"Good, now what delayed you?"

"I will reiterate once more that it was nothing sir, just took an additional five minutes."

"Five minutes that I need to know of, what happened?"

Mr. Laufer sighs.

"I had to show him to the latrine in his room, and then teach him how to operate it. I then had to go to the doctor for Pepto- "

Well that explains it.

"Alright excused." I had questions, mainly about the boy and why, but I suddenly did not want to ask them.

"Alfred you're forgetting that we need to talk about their training."

"Right, stay here, I will need a report about that as well, but we do need you for this."

Honestly that was the last thing I expected to ask a report on, but we needed to move on.

"Yes sir, what specifically did you want to know about?"

Mrs. Gretel jumped the gun and immediately began barking out the questions that I could not answer, the instructor possibly tired due to just flying a round trip and perhaps more, looked surprised at Hellens presence and sounded like a wounded animal trying to outrun a firestorm.

"Mr. Laufer when does training begin?"

"Today ma'am!"

"At what time?"

"Fifteen-Hundred-hours ma'am!"

"How do you plan on starting them?"

"With light exercises, stretches, and then an endurance test"

"Scratch the endurance test, replace it with a build-up leading up to the fourteenth of February."

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Alfred will that work with the schedule?"

Oh dust help me.

"It shoul- It will"

"Good, Mr. Laufer I expect a build-up program that can be conducted without equipment, You may have a separate build up that includes them. I'll assume you're capable of generating the programs draft on your own?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Good, send a copy to the Managerial Office once your done, I should still be here with once your done. Now before you go I want to be clear on our objectives with Weiss and her friend.

I stand corrected, she hasn't lost her touch, she was just holding back earlier, until everyone was here. I sharpen my mind and flip open the folder, pen in hand, to brace for her inevitable storm of questions, each demanding an answer.


Weiss's POV

The classic sound of a piano, with strings, softly flowed from the gramophone that sat on the glass top table at the end of my bed. A series of relaxing and low energy pieces, possibly from the royal era had been my sole companion since I dined this morning.

I loved the elegant pieces that came from that from that time. I especially loved the piano. Grand, Elegant, capable of broad demonstrations that could reach deep into the soul and lift it to newfound heights or shatter it. The ultimate expression of music.

'Modern music' that the common rabble listened to often lacked the... sophistication and beauty that the past had. It wasn't their fault that they can't appreciate it. The world had diversified since the great war, bringing about the new age of music along with it.

The Piano had unfairly been treated due to its heavy popularity during the royal era. Thankfully, that was not my problem as I my family had a large collection of pieces from the era, another excellent decision by my grandfather. Those pieces now were collectors items and extremely limited in number, highlighting the severity of the great whiteout as well as the visionary nature of grampa schnee.

Now aside listening to music once I had finished dining, there was actually very little for me to do. Mr. Clutch was unavailable as he was working, much like everyone else. Normally I would be doing something or another, like writing a report, or answering questions on a given chapter from a book. I could have been taking notes on the content of a lecturer's speech, or… wait a minute.

I close Glenn Aura Principles: The Primer By Gin Friede just enough to confirm the writer's name.

I don't think I have had a lecture from this person? Then again I have had quite a few lecturers over the years. I don't recall anyone's speech resembling much of what was said in here. Gin Friede had a way of being… optimistic, yet critical, without being was something that most of my lecturers often refrained doing during speeches as they usually had a cause. This Gin Friede, however seemed to lack such a thing and was purely informative. I did think he used metaphors to often, but they were simple enough to follow. That and I found his optimism slightly… refreshing.

What did annoy me is how he kept on asking questions! I found myself having more questions after reading this instead of fewer. That and I was now more uncertain about my knowledge of aura.

I could ask If I can invite him for a lecture? No I'm a schnee I can definitely get the staff to invite him, question is would he come? My father or Mr. Clutch is usually the one asking for and scheduling them. If I myself asked…

It's worth a try? How do they even contact the lecturers? I'm getting ahead of myself. I can just tell them and If I'm going to invite my first lecturer then I need to finish this book and then perhaps the main article, which I assume we have somewhere in the main library. That way I get the most out of the experience and possibly then I can consider further lectures if it goes well.

I just need to keep writing down my questions. Originally I was writing them so I could look up something from another book, but perhaps I should wait? No… I should read other books and see if they help. I make two more notes about reading additional material and asking for the lecture. My eyes briefly review my own take aways from chapters one and three.

The part that excited me the most was the multiplicative power of a disciplined mind. Chapter three had been quite emphatic on the matter.

Was my excitement because somewhere deep down I knew I had never physically trained myself beyond fencing? I would never openly admit to it, but I did feel my training had been lacking. We were training up until my tenth birthday and then we just stopped for the last year. I was then told to not practice! Instead I had been made to work my mind diligently, like always, towards furthering my knowledge. I did have a near perfect grasp of all the material I had been taught thus far. I would have a similar grasp of fencing by now if they had continued.

"Haaa."

I push the binder across the round silver table away from myself. I gazed up briefly at the chandelier fashioned lamp, blinking away the tiredness that had crept around my eyes, before leaning back in the light blue sheaf chair. The white leather padding was just supportive enough to help, but rigid enough to keep me awake.

I picked up the book of interest that rested on my blue round skirt and made sure to set aside a bookmark for later. I then placed the book on top of the desk before getting up to stretch and walk around,bare feet against the dark blue rug that dominates the room.

I stop in front of the armoire when I notice that my white button up is slightly crinkled. I give it a firm pat down and glance again at the embedded mirrors. Ok better. Now then… I've spent five hours reading and taking notes, I would like to do something else, play a piano, sing, fence, something! I could sing in my room? No I sing where I'm supposed to sing.

Well seems that, for once, I don't know what to do with my free time once I actually have it!

The nearest piano is in the White Rose… why don't I have one? Actually… Why do I have so little in this room? It's just the bed,bookshelf, desk with two chairs, the armoire and then the glass top table with a gramophone on top and a chest below. There is the rug, and I suppose the armoire has things inside, then there's the bathroom, which has the usual things.

Why so little? I go back to when I first came here. God it feels like forever. It's been five, almost six years? Ahh I remember. I'm usually too tired to do anything by the time my day is over. I'm rarely in my room to begin with.

Sure that explains the lack of want for things, then there's the part where I frequently replace things, Myrtenaster being one of the few things I haven't replaced within the year.

I only really 'get' things on my birthday, and those are from Winter. She usually gives me something practical, like Myrtenaster, which was last years present. Other people's gifts tend to come in year round, sometimes I replace what's in my armoire with them.

I wonder what Winter is doing? Could I- No I can't call her to begin with. She might be busy, also there would be no purpose to the call.

I pace the room, trying to find something to do, but am currently coming up with nothing.

This lack-

I snap my fingers.

"I could put my book and binder away."

It's a start.

I turn back from my place near the armoire, walk over to the table, and begin collecting the binder, book, and pencil into my arms.

The white drapes are still closed. I can see the light coming through now, I suppose I can do that afterwards.

"Step one first."

I put the binder on top of the glass desk, next to the gramophone and leave the pencil with it. I confirm that the bookmark has not fallen out of the book once more, before then climbing the ladder and placing the book between the two books I had pulled it from. Alright.

I climb down the latter with a little more speed and grab the inside corner of the drapes, which I slide individually to their corners as I do so the sunlight begins to make its way in. It penetrates into the room, lighting it up far more than it was previously. I should get one of those drapes you pull by a rope, or better yet an automatic one.

Now what to do? I could pull out my old fencing rapier… Wait… I don't have it anymore...

I lift my hand to my chin as I to recall why.

right… it was taken out since It was no longer needed. I slowly pace the room, trying to put together a plan for what I could do for the rest of today.

Well there was my earlier plan, go to the watchtower, teach a certain someone the more on the alphabet, and then learn more about sign language. Oh right there was that book as well I had forgotten about it after putting it away in the chest.

My shoulders slump as a sigh escapes me.

More reading though? I would at least prefer using my mind, answering history questions, word problems, multiplication, division exercises, not just being a receiver of knowledge.

Its surprising honestly, how little there is to do once I'm off the clock.

The schedule was predictable, yes, but I was always engaged by something until I went to bed. Possible perk of having everything decided for you?

Well I suppose I could-

Knock knock

Ah that must be Mr. Brennen again with lunch.


"Enter" I straighten my back and walk over to the window, pretending to look outside into the central courtyard.

The door opens. I notice the sound, or rather, the lack of Mr. Brennan's ever boisterous tone and accompanying greeting so I turn around to see the other light colored individual that I've the been meeting lately.

"Heiter?"

He looks ghastly. His eyes are closed slightly and his face is a little pale, despite that I note a look of excitement on him that tells me he's just fine.

I lean forward and cross my arms.

"Enjoy your trip?"

He smiles and walks over to me and thrusts a bag into my face, but then pulls it back slightly. I grab it quickly before he can pull it away as I look inquisitively between the bag and him.

I'm… angry, this is so like father, taketh away, and then much later give me something that I'm entitled to in the first place. Like my unlocking.

Well he was quicker about it. Plenty in fact.

I quickly feel the bag and notice something hard and rectangular with flat surfaces. Alright.

I take the bag over to the table and set it down. I reach inside and pull out a chessboard.

How… quaint, classic, but quaint.

It ocean themed with white and navy blue squares dotted across it in the usual fashion with a reflective sheen. A latch on is on one side, a hinge on the other. I unhook it and discover the pieces inside. They look translucent and come in dark blue and white variations. I pull a pawn out and study it briefly, noting the whirlpool spiral that is inside.

I set it down and look back to note that Heiter disappeared. Did he?

I'm a good judge of people. Heiter is unpredictable in his actions, but there is one consistency.

He's lazy.

I walk around to my door, open it, cross the hallway and open his door.

No? He's not here? Then?

Actually this is the first time that I have been in here isn't it?

It makes sense, but he has even less in here than me. Just a drawer, and a desk, oh there is a chair against the wall… With a fairly interesting black and white robe? Well it's much too big for Heiter so I doubt it's his. I pick up the collar of it and note the lack of tags. Guess I'll have to ask who made it. I throw it back over the chair.

Now where is Heiter? How about the bathroom on right side of the wall opposite his bed?

I open the door with energy and note that he is also not in here,before closing it.

Well I suppose I have an idea on something to do, but I need to find him first!

I walk back to my room to get my mid-calfs, but stop when I notice my partner on MY bed.

Ohhh this is not flying.

"Heiter get up now."

He stirs slightly, did he already fall asleep in that what two minutes?

I walk around the bed, placing myself in front of him. I stare down at him and hit my hand against the bed.

"Heiter what did I say about falling asleep when with company?"

God he is like a rock. Even when I'm this close he doesn't wake. How does someone fall asleep this deeply this fast?

Should I smack him?

I actually consider that as I want him out of my bed now.

Fine. I'll do that.

I grab him by his coat and begin to pull him out of the bed.

He only just wakes up when I'm about to fully have him out of the bed, so I drop him. That will teach him.

I notice the immediate rise to full attention that I wanted in the beginning ,but he doesn't fall to the floor without grabbing me by the waist in an effort to stop his fall as his legs slip out of the bed.

He is heavier than he looks. My knees were unprepared for the sudden increase in weight and so we fall onto the blue rug on the floor.

I just stare at the ceiling for a moment as I get my bearings and wait for the world to stop spinning ever so little.

I pull myself together, but notice Heiters arms are still wrapped around me.

"Heiter, I believe you can let go now, nice job on making us both fall." I deadpan.

I can't see his face as it's on the right side of my lower rib cage, but I feel him release his grip on my waist, but nothing after that.

"I'm going to need you to do more if I'm to get up."

He tugs his arms, but nothing more. I notice his arms are pinned between my back and the floor.

Ohh.

A few moments later we are both standing up and perhaps a little more awake than prior.

"Ok for future reference Heiter, sleep in your own bed got it? I will do something to you otherwise."

The copper headed boy nods as he pats down his white coat and pants, who sleeps in their dress clothes anyway? That's a whole other realm of lazy.

"Ok now that THAT is out of the way. I want to do a few things with you. Go grab that second chair and pull it over to the table. "

I walk over to the table, take a seat and set about setting up the chessboard for a game. By the time I'm halfway done Heiter has his chair set up next to mine.

"No Heiter, put the chair across from me."

He nods as I continue to set everything up, by the time he has his chair in the proper spot I have finished.

"Ok now I assume you know what chess is?"

My partner, no opponent right now, nods.

"Very well, all the same I will go over the rules."


I could not for the life of me figure out what he did before this. He lacked common sense for so much, but knew what a chessboard was.

"The objective" I raise my white king. "Is to remove the king from the game . This is called checkmate. You can do this several ways, but in the end you need to put the king in a situation where they cannot escape or fight back, victory must be total." I set the king in the middle of the board.

"Now the king can move in all directions, he can move one square forward, backward, left, right, or diagonal. This is good, but he is far from your most powerful piece."

I look up from my demonstrating and confirm that Heiter understands as he has one hand on his chin as he studies the middle of the board.

I then set my king back in his proper place and pull the queen out from next to him and hold her above the board.

"The queen is that piece." I place her on the board.

"She can dominate the board so long as you plan accordingly. She can move in the same fashion as the king, but glide an unlimited amount of squares. This doesn't mean she can move on direction then another, she can only move infinitely in one direction until she is blocked or takes an enemy piece. Because she is so versatile she is often both a subject to be guarded as well as used. An idle queen does very little for the game."

I return her to her side beside the king and begin to move the bishop, but stop.

"This isn't related to the gameplay, but when setting up the queen goes on the center square that matches her color. See how yours in on the blue?"

Heiter looks over to his side and nods his head understandingly at the simple rule.

"Good now every other piece except the pawns exist in pairs."

I grip the bishop and lift him by his crown.

"The bishop is somewhat unconventional for a piece because he can only go diagonally. This keeps him confined to the initial color of the square he starts on. His real power is that he can go as far as he wants, until he hits an obstruction or takes an enemy piece. Similar to the queen. The benefit of this is that there are not one, but two bishops.

I set the white piece down and then bring up the knight.

"The knights are special in that they move in a given direction two squares and then turn before moving one more.

I set the piece down and move it accordingly.

"The Knights can also 'jump' over units until they reach their destination so they can completely ignore other pieces until they arrive."

Oh right.

"This figure is actually that of our L, the twelfth letter of the alphabet."

I return my white knight to his position and pull up the final special piece.

"The rook is, like the bishop, similar to the queen in that he can move infinitely in a cardinal direction until he meets an obstruction or takes an enemy piece. That's it for the special pieces."

The rook gets returned to its proper place and the I snatch up a pawn.

"The pawn is your most abundant unit. It is also your weakest. Each side gets eight pawns , which are meant to signify the peasant infantry of older times."

I set the pawn back down, but keep my fingers on the top to manipulate it.

"When you start your first move with a pawn you have two choice. You can move one square forward or two. The next move with the pawn can only be one square forward, unless you're capturing an enemy piece. This requires you to move forward diagonally."

"If a pawn makes all the way to your opponent's side of the board you can promote it. I doubt anyone else will tell you, but the side closest to you is your first rank. Promotion allows you to replace the pawn with any given piece you want, since it makes sense to replace with a queen this is usually referred to as queening. This process occurs before your opponents turn."

I return the pawn to his proper spot and stretch before looking up at Heiter.

"One more thing. If you touch a piece that means you intend to move it, and once you let go of it you cannot take it back. This means make your decision before you touch. Oh and... white moves first."

I smile and start things off aggressively by moving the pawn in front of my queen from E2 to E4. My opponent doesn't move for awhile and I look up at him as he studies the board.

It's going to be like this then…

I pull my chair in closer and lean into the white leather padding as I watch Heiter's varying expressions of concentration. He eventually decides on mirroring my move and now our pawns are infront of eachother.

Alright.

I well best get my knight from G1 to F3. I momentarily recall Winter playing this with me as she would often do so while checking in with me, I guess I fell into the habit of mentally knowing every spots name like her. She had this projector based one on her scroll where we would both have to say where it went.

I get a tap on my shoulder.

I refocus my attention outward to Heiter, then the board and notice he has again mirrored my move.

Oh so is that how we are going to play it.

Knock knock

I move my bishop from F1 to B5 and then stand up.

"Wait here."

Knock knock

I walk over to the door, leaving Heiter to study the board, and open it.

One of the staff that I don't recognize. Not that I need to know everyone.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Clutch has instructed that you be in the White Rose's Main gym by 3pm young miss."

"Alright, notify the kitchen staff that I need food for two."

The staff member bows and turns to head down the hallway to the foyer.

I close the door and look back to Heiter, who has already made a move.

"Now then let's continue this."

I take a seat and look over the board. Oh he mirrored me again.

"Heiter I will recommend that you not continue mirroring me."

He nods and finally makes a different move. I nod approvingly and begin to lose myself in the game, just letting the time whirl.

"Heiter, what… Never mind forgot you can't communicate detailed answers yet… How about after everything is done we continue working on you learning more of the alphabet?"

The boy excitably nods, a smile on his face ever since we picked up the pace. Well relative to what is was before. For me this is a casual game as the ones with Winter tend to be of a faster pace, often involving, three, four or even six games as we sit for hours on end, catching up.

"Good, we can return here and continue, I even have the book and folders in that chest over under that table near my bed."

Oh that was a bad move on his part, well no sympathy from me.

I almost begin to ask another question, but then remember the problem of a failing social dialogue.

Right.

I suppose I just need to start it. Not like he is ever going to start one just yet.

"Heiter it seems we will be doing this for quite some time."

He nods and moves a knight into position to take a bishop, to which I pull back.

"I don't just mean now."

I reposition my queen to be more able to contribute. Heiter looks at me with a questioning gaze.

"Actually I played chess plenty of times in the past with my older sister. She often would come here to visit."

Heiter raises an eyebrow as he takes one of my pawns.

"Ah yes she used to, father and her got in a fight about something. Father then forbid her from visiting or calling here."

His face is like an open book.

"No I don't know what they argued about. I'm usually the last person to find about a reason for things here."

I suppose that also means I never know unless it's deem that I need to know why.

"Anyway Winter would often ask me about how I was doing. She even got me my Myrtenaster"

Oh right he hasn't seen my rapier!

"Actually let's break for a moment. I want to show you it."


We both stand up and I make my way between my bed and the hallway door. I reach under my bed, feel around for, and pull out a silver suitcase by the black handle. I take the item over to the table.

"Heiter could you move the chessboard over to the glass table behind me?"

Heiter pouts a little, but seems interested so he packs the pieces back inside and moves them over quickly.

He didn't need to do that, but oh well. I'll just beat him later.

I set the case down on the similarly colored table and pop it open to reveal the contents.

"This is Myrtenaster. It's a multi-action-dust-rapier."

I pull it out and allow the folded prongs to spring out.

"This mastercrafted rapier makes many is extremely sturdy, both in part of the craftsmanship, material, and the lack of many parts. It also has many uses for dust. See this spinnable piece section here? It functions similar to a revolver and spins whenever I pull this trigger near the grip. Now no dust is inside it right now, but if I pull this trigger under this prong then I can activate the dust inside."

He's giving me the clueless look oh no...

"Heiter… please tell me know what dust is?"

The boy shakes his head.

"..."

I don't know what to say for once. Am I actually right? Did Heiter crawl out of some rock?

Well this won't do.

"Ok… well let's remedy that. There is a chance you may not understand what I'm saying but dust is a naturally occurring material. It's natural state is that of a crystal, but it can be refined into a powder for different uses."

He is nodding understandingly, but I still see some confusion. It doesn't help that I have no raw or powdered dust on me. I'm a schnee I should have plenty but no… "there is no use in my daughter having dust until she has unlocked her aura."

I will find a loophole around that so I can properly teach him.

"Powdered dust is more volatile than crystallized dust and is largely intended for a single use. Its crystallized counterpart is far more stable, but still susceptible to combustion. It also lasts much longer than the powdered state. This entire building, as well as the others here function because of a series of generators that use crystallized dust.

Now dust is an energy propellant that the world over uses. It is extremely important because without dust society would collapse and we would be hard pressed to defend ourselves. Now there is one trick to using dust. You need aura to activate it. Those generators that power the retreat are no exception."

OH.

"The cab you took this morning made use of multiple forms of dust and has a generator that is constantly running until the crystal degrades. Without dust you would have had to walk the distance. Do you understand how important it is now?"

Heiter nods firmly this time as he seems to have a basic grasp of dust now

Sometimes aura can cause dust to accidentally is especially true of powdered dust due to its high volatility. No… you don't need to worry about it. Ok really!"

He's looking around the room warily at everything.

"Just because everything runs on dust doesn't mean everything is going to blow up. You don't have your aura unlock so don't worry about it!"

Honestly.

Knock knock

"I- Enter!"

Now I have to deal with Mr. Brennen's fiery attitude.

He has one tray balanced his left hand as he walks over to the table.

"Good afternoon young miss and hello good sir! I brought you your meals. Young miss you will be having sliced grilled chicken caesar wraps with blue cheese, A pumpkin scone glazed with a touch a cinnamon. Would you like coffee or hot chocolate? "

"Hot chocolate, with cream."

I pack Myrtenaster quickly, folding the prongs to allow it to fit inside the case and then set it aside, next to the right legs of my light blue sheaf chair.

"Very well, sir you will be having cinnamon flavored applesauce, banana slices, along with toast and milk!"

Heiter nods and eyes the tray until Mr. Brennen lowers it and unfolds the legs. He then moves over our meals unto the table.

I nod to the annoying blonde.

Mr. Brennen bowes, puts away the legs of the tray energetically and carries it out..

"Heiter pick up your napkin first! You should always- no don't just drop it!"

Heiter returns a helplessly confused look. Fine.

I refold and pick up my napkin.

"Look, all you need to do is unfold the napkin like so and then drag it across your lap so that it covers the majority. You will refrain from just dropping it in the future, understood?

The copper headed boy smiles attentively and returns a thumbs up.

"Very well, enjoy your meal then."

I eat methodologically eat the scone with my fork and knife, cutting off a piece, returning the knife to the side of the dish, eating the piece and then trading the fork for the knife once again.

"Heiter, use the fork for the banana slices, yes that's the fork."

Honestly I-

I shake my head and continue to observe how Heiter eats. He's far more enthusiastic about it.

"Heiter the food isn't going to run away, slow down."

There much better. I'm almost glad I didn't have to bear to watch him in Flachland. A shiver runs its way up my spine.

Brown eyes look over to me inquisitively almost immediately.

"I'm fine, just cold."

I put down my utensil, clean my lips of any stray crumbs with the napkin, which I return to my lap and then grab the hot chocolate. I make of point of drinking it slowly for him. A warmth slowly works its way through the middle of my body until I set the mug back on the silver table.

"Heiter why is it that you- never mind."

He can't answer complicated questions.

The copper headed boy looks over to me briefly with a questioning look, but the disregards me and works on the applesauce with the spoon, that is after he stared between the fork in his hand, the spoon, and then the bowl of applesauce.

Well at least he can problem solve. I would have said something, but he made his decision quick enough. I suppose I should work on my grilled chicken caesar wrap slices. I pick up the small wraps and slowly eat them.

He keeps his mouth closed. Good. I wonder why he brought a chess board if he didn't know the rules? Father? I grimace as I deal with the current wrap in my mouth. He's probably involved somehow. Why the chess board though? Is he saying that I need to teach Heiter? No He has shown little interest in Heiter.

It could be that father wants me to prepare for chess games with other people? Heiter is just a convenient delivery boy? That would seem like something father would do. So the game with Heiter serves no purpose then... That means it's not a test. Well not like it would reflect anything as I was casually winning, even if he was taking some of my pieces.

I look down at my empty plate, realizing I don't even remember eating the food. I wipe my mouth once more with the napkin to deal with any stray remains and return it to my lap. I then firmly hold the handle of the mug as I sip from it, absently enjoying the creamy texture.

Heite had apparently also finished and was wiping his mouth. He must have been watching me. Well that's to his benefit so there is no problem. Except for that.

"Heiter put your utensils on the right side of the plate like mine."

Heiter jumps slightly, almost spilling his milk, but lowers it and sets aside his fork and spoon as he glances between our plates. Good. Oh wait.

I sigh and lower my mug again.

"Heiter you have milk above your mouth. Clean that up. You should also try and not be so jumpy at the table. It gives off a bad impression."

Heiter paused for a moment and appeared to shrug his shoulders.

"No Heiter you can do it, trust me I will drill it into you for your own good otherwise."

Heiter leaned back, but then nodded and cleaned himself up.

Good. I relaxed in my chair and finished my hot chocolate. I set the mug down and begin to think about what to expect at the White Rose. I can't quite imagine myself using the machines there. Then there was always the stretching and then fencing practice, but aside that nothing else should be done.

Hmm. Does that mean my partner will be learning about the finer method of fighting that is fencing? I glance at Heiter as he aimlessly looks around my room. I look at my scroll on the table and grab it, confirming the time to be 2pm. Well it's not like we have anything else to do and to be on time is late.

"Heiter I think that's enough of us milling around." He quickly looks over to me as I stand up and grab my weapon case from next to my chair.

"I am of the mind that we should head over to the White Rose ahead of schedule."

I open my armoire and retrieve some white flats. I pull my legs up behind me as I slip them on.

"Heiter I meant now"

I wave him over and he finally understands. He gets up and starts to walk over to me."

I debate bringing my weapon or leaving it in the room for later.

I don't need it right now, but I could practice my form if given the chance.

I'll take it.


I hold on to the case in my right hand and head over to the door, opening it and making my way down the hallway to the right. I glance behind.

I still can't hear if he is following me, but there he is.

We hit the end of the hallway, make the left past the managerial office and down the two flights of stairs.

We arrive at the bottom of the last flight and continue past the fourway to the slight bend to the right, which leads me up to the door to the sunroom.

"Heiter…"

I nod my head to the door. He wakes up and begins to open the door, he closes it behind me as we make our way around the small table to the other side of the room and pass through to the other side of the sunroom. We make it to the end of the hallway and follow the bend to the final two doors.

Heiter opens the door without my reminder this time, and makes it in time to the next one.

The white door opens to reveal a brilliant sunlight that is occasionally covered by clouds. All traces of the fog this morning are gone except for the still present dew on the grass. I can clearly make out the Winter Tower as well as the White Rose.

Heiter makes his way in front of me and head down the stone walkway.

"Heiter."

He stops and turns to me, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you know where you are going?"

He nods with a smile.

"Ok good, also don't raise your eyebrow like that. It reminds me of someone."

The eyebrow goes further up, but then he shrugs and continues down the path, passing the bushes that have yet to bloom.

Wait…

I follow Heiter, watching his steps, but still don't hear him.

How does he do it? I would like to ask, but one it's not something he is capable of answering and two he probably does that naturally.

We walk over the bridge and take the left at the large fountain. I notice Heiter look in the direction of the statues and the tower.

"We can head over there after we finish what they have planned for us in the White Rose."

Heiter waves positively at me and continues onward to the White Roses main entrance.

I walk under the massive arches that lead to the two large doors, walking over the Schnee insignia that is engraved into the large floor.

Heiter opens one of the large doors and waits for me to pass through before slowly closing it. I do wait for him this time as the door is quite heavy.

"Onward then." I smile and watch him speed up past me across the hallway. I ignore the trophy cases, but slow down to let Heiter glance at them.

"We can look at this on the way out." He nods and speed up, but still gives glances to the paintings and decorations.

We finally arrive at some of the old gym rooms, but pass them through the two series of doors, at least Ms….. Jude isn't here this time. We make our way into the main hallway that circles the main facilities, following it until we reach a staircase down.

I don't have to remind Heiter so that's a plus. Despite him being ever so expressive with his hands, face, and body language, the lack of verbal communication and responses is mildly new…

I'll just have to get used to it.

Heiter opens the final door and I can make out the circular room and accompanying side rooms, and upper deck that make up the gym.

There's Mr. Laufer at the counter going over a paper, but he immediately eyes us as if he were expecting the two of us.

"Glad to have you here." His voice carries over to us quite well, must all military people be so loud?

"Yes the main building was quite a bore, so we decided to head over earlier. I trust that isn't going to be a problem?"

Mr. Laufer shakes his head.

"None at all. Infact, since we have some time, I'd like to hear your opinion on what you think you should do. Yes I do already have a schedule for you, but I want to hear it all the same."

I walk over and lean against the counter, letting my arms rest on it as I debate what useless input to give.

"Well since you already have something planned how about you tell me what we will do?"

"After you."

"Ok…"

Hmm.

"Well I was imagining some stretches…"

I watch him to see if I get any kind of affirmation.

"That and perhaps some drills for my fencing technique as I happen to have my weapon here."

I tap the case which I had set down on the service counter.

"I imagine that and perhaps some lunges and jumping exercises."

"While that isn't entirely what we have for you, you're welcome to start yourself as you…" Mr. Laufer then glances down to his watch "Forty Five minutes to get dressed and prepped."

I nod. " That seems fair, I'll head down then." I walk to the right side of the room and walk down a flight of steps, hit the bottom of it and then make a right down one more light of steps before hitting the Gym basement level. I walk down the hallway passing several doors on the left and the equipment counter on the right before spotting my VIP room on the left just before the bend to the right.

VIP 02

Weiss Schnee

I smile at one of the few places that actually has my name around here. It may be the door, but getting called 'the young miss' is something I find aggravating, despite being used to it now. I walk up to the white door and push it inward after turning the knob. It's somewhat spartan due to my absence, but the various lockers are still there and there's the bench in the middle of the room with the shower at the end of the hallway. The private restroom is on the right. It would probably be best if I used that before heading back up.

I walk over and open one of the lockers on the left, pulling out white fencing shoes, and then…

These are all new?

I sigh.

This could take time to find something that fits. Something I would rather use for warming up.

Oh wait…

I'm not sparring with someone so I can just put on something more mundane!

I snap a finger and pull out a thick sky blue turtleneck along with white cotton legging. I then grab a pair of white gloves and socks. Well that looks like everything now then.

I turn around and make sure to set everything down on the bench, but stop as I feel my blood pressure rise.

"Heiter…"

I don't even...

I set down my things. Grab him by the shoulders, spin him around and push him out of my room.

"Mr. Laufer!" I raise my voice so that he can hear me.

"Ma'am?"

"Please. Take Heiter to wherever you left his clothes."

"Right away ma'am." I hear the instructor moving closer to our position as he responds.

I spin Heiter around to face me.

"Just… wait here ok?"

He nods ever so cluelessly.

I nod and let go of him before closing the door.

I turn around and look at my clothes.

Honestly. He just sneaks up on me. What's worse is that his lack of manners. More like his lack of education? I shake my head as I once more find myself wondering about his upbringing. Well I'll have to deal with that at some point.

I sit myself on the bench and remove my White flats, followed by my blue round skirt and white button up.

That's that…

I then put on my pair of white gloves and socks, making sure to use all of their length, My socks cover my knees, while my gloves cover my elbow. I then put on the thick sky blue turtleneck, which firmly secures my gloves. The white cotton leggings treat my socks similarly.

Alright everything feels new, but it seems I got the right sizes on the first try. Well I did check beforehand.

I put on my fencing shoes, feeling the reinforced inside on my left foot and the heel of my right. Well considering it should be fine.

I stand up and reach into the locker, pulling out the main protective glove for my right hand.

Hmm. I won't need this much longer will I?

Oh well safety first. I may not even wear it until I pick up Myrtenaster

Speaking of which, time to get it out~.

I pop open the case and pull out the Rapier.

I actually test the weight letting my right hand feel the grip without and then with the right hand protective glove.

Well it's a little lighter than it should be, but that's because it's empty.

Should I practice with dust in the chamber? It probably won't matter today… Well there might be the odd time where a schnee doesn't have dust in their weapon so consider it practice for that.

Hmm Well I may do something with this later. I put the weapon back inside the case. The main glove should go too. I'm only doing some exercises. No point carrying it. Seems I was overeager.

I move around, appreciating the breathability of my clothes before I make for the door. Oh wait. I walk back to the locker and pluck a hairband with which I tie my hair up in the middle.

I walk to the door, but make a quick detour to the restroom before heading out.

I cross the hallway to the opposite side, ignoring the large hallway that heads to the left about halfway down this intersecting hallway and wait outside VIP 003, standing attentively next to the wall.


Heiter eventually comes out, but not from the vip room. He came from the hallway that was beyond the intersection.

Heiter is sporting a dark blue Polyester mesh T-shirt and similar shorts.

"Thank you Mr. Laufer, for future instruction I would like Heiter to have this room." I tap the door lightly with my left hand "I imagine there is no problem with this?"

Mr. laufer shakes his head. "None at all, now you technically have Thirty minutes until we start." He motions that we follow him upstairs. "That is unless you wish to start early."

Hmm.

We make our way up a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway and then take a right up a second to find ourselves on the opposite side of the room from where we went down first.

It would be best if…

"Mr. Laufer. Why don't we start now… That way I can do my fencing practice once I'm warmed up?"

"Fair enough. Ok I'm going to need you two to accompany me to a side room…" He points behind us to the left side of the room. "One of those should have what we need." He makes his way over to the room directly behind the stairway and passes through the glass doors that lead to the side room.

Heiter and I weren't far behind.

The room itself is modeled after a ring section. On either side of the door are counters, one of which I walk over to and sit on as I begin to untie my shoes.

I glance to my left as I put away my shoes, (comment to Heiter) and see Mr. Laufer unlock the storage room on the left and slide the doors apart.

"Heiter."

The copper head looks over to me questioningly as I open a counter next to mine.

"For your shoes."

With that simple message he heads over next to me, sits down, and begins to take off his black tennis shoes.

I finish first naturally, so I stand up and take up a spot near the center of the room.

Mr. Laufer returns from the storage room with three mats rolled up. He throws down a green mat closer to the wall and then throws down a grey and black mat before sitting the one near the wall.

"Mr. Laufer?"

"Ma'am?"

I point at the grey mat in front of me.

"You do know I prefer white?"

"Ma'am." Mr. Laufer looked over to me as he spoke with enviable calm. "You're forgetting that I'm the instructor here, not one of your… attendants. If you have a problem with the mat, go switch it out with one in the storage room. It should still be unlocked."

You couldn't just say yes ma'am and bring me one could you?

Well I want a white mat so that settles it.

I reach down for a corner of the grey mat, pick it up and walk towards the still opened doors on the left. Once inside I look to the right and head over to a storage shelf, looking for the my prefered mat.

Why does the white one have to be on the shelf the second from the top?

I look around for a stool and sure enough I find it's still here.

Should be enough boost me the rough…

I put my hand to my chin a moment as I estimated the height I would need as I set up the stool. I think I need 40cm, no my calculation should be good.

Let's see 40cm… I finish adjusting the stool set it down. It becomes a simple matter of depositing the grey mat anywhere in…

No that doesn't look right, which shelf did he take the grey from?

I count up the varying amounts of rolled up mats until find a shelf with the least.

I roll up the grey mat and put it away, before climbing to the top of the stool to comfortably take the white mat.

It would have been much simpler if Mr. Laufer had just done what I asked.

Well I now know where Mr. Laufer stands with me. He forgets that everyone here IS attending my needs as per fathers orders.

I make my way down the stool and begin to move it off to the side… Why is everything made of metal in here? Why not a lighter and easier to replace plastic?

This would be so much simpler if he listened to me.

I set down the metal stool and begin to head for the door.

That's the issue isn't it? He won't listen to me, just my father, or Mr. Clutch.

Haaa. I shrug, but then raise my chin.

One day. Hmm. Actually 'one day' may be sooner. If father intends to have my aura unlocked then…

I smile.

Yes there will be a day where I can tell people what to do. I only need to get out of the birdcage that is my father's influence. I'm more than talented and skilled for it. Once I'm finished with this training perhaps I'll have something to work with!

I exit the room with the white mat under my left arm and see both Mr. Laufer and Heiter on their mats already. Mr. Laufer's dome is as annoyingly shiny as ever as his position is illuminated by one of the lights buried in the ceiling. He is currently just sitting with his legs crossed in some sort of meditative stance?. Heiter on the other hand.

"Heiter don't poke the mat."

He stops and looks over to me as I throw the mat out near his black one.

"Ready?" Mr. Laufer calmly asks.

"Yes sir." I return coolly.


begins to exit his weird stance and stands up. I poke Heiter and beckon him to stand up, which he does as he pops up from his spot with as he practically throws himself onto his feet as he stands.

"Now then I want us to start off with some stretching-" I expected as much.

"-and after we finish this we will be heading into the main gym to work on some machinery-" Ohhh. "-and then some alternations between jogs and walks on the upper ring." Well the last bit was expected, but the machinery will be a new one."I would like to inform you that your schedules will be dependant on the outcome of this as it will determine both the pace and initial level of your individual training regimens. Understood?"

"Yes sir." I say with cool energy. Alright so I'm going to need to play it smart here, something I should be fine with.

I look at Heiter briefly and note the look of anticipation and energy in his eyes. Haa. well he will understand that being engaged by the dynamics room is different from using the machinery. You can't go 100% all of the time and expect to not tire out.

"Now then first off cross your arms. Your left sir."

I smirk slightly as Heiter switches to the correct arm."

"Ok hold that… and switch."

I casually do so, stretching myself just enough to feel something from my shoulder.

"Back again to the left… and hold…"

I continue to follow, but occasionally glance at Heiter out of the corner of my eye, noting the lack of effort as he stretches.

"And another on the right…"

He is still being as lazy as possible. I need to deal with that.

"One more on the left… hold… hold…"

Actually, I don't that's what Mr. Laufer is here for.

"Switch to the right one more time…hold… "

Even then , Heiter will have to realize later that a lack of effort here will impact the real exercise.

"Alright stop, now rotate your right arm in a circular motion like this, sir left arm please, you should use the arm opposite the one of me."

Haa. I thought Heiter would have gotten that bit the first time. Oh well.

I rotate my arm, but not so hard as to feel my blood flow to it, just one centimeter from comfortable.

"Alright switch directions and continue rotating."

Heiter has a lack of any real form. His laziness is still there as he keeps letting gravity help him instead of making controlled rotations.

"Now rotate your other arm."

I wonder why Mr. Laufer isn't saying anything?

"Change directions."

I'm unable to discern his reasoning, perhaps he is just… not noticing what I am?

"Ok we will now use both arms, rotate forward."

It could be because they are only concerned with me?

"Change directions on one arm only."

Huh. Heiter actually wasn't caught off guard by that. Good for him.

"Now switch."

Seriously though Is he going to just ignore him?

"Stop. Now put your left arm over your head, grab it with your right hand and pull. Good… Now hold…hold…hold"

I pull , having my left elbow stop behind my head.

"Now… Switch."

I mean why ignore him if you're going to be teaching… Heiters right elbow is almost over his left shoulder… I pull my elbow , but it stays firmly behind my head. Well being Limber isn't something I should worry about. My fencing form has no need of it.

"Stop, Now stretch your arms as high as they can do, keep your feet firmly planted on the surface."

It would seem he can stretch quite a bit. How is he not popping something in his shoulder? I look along the length of his arm, noting his hands turn my way and… did he wave with his fingers?

"Hold."

Well I suppose the smile that he had indicates as much. I frown and face the front. Is he treating this whole exercise like a game? He won't get as much out of this with that mindset…. Is Mr. Laufer going to let our arms come down?

"Hold, keep your arms aligned with your head."

… and He's still looking over here. I put my hands together, letting my thumbs touch, before clenching my fist. Haa He need to stop playing with his wrist and fingers.

"Now then, bring your arms down. Now widen your stances till your feet are shoulder width apart. Sir, mind the angle of your feet, have them look like mine."

Well thus far this whole exercise has been remarkably tame.

"Ok now twist your torso to the left and hold that position. Maintain an upright form sir,no bending of the back, no changes to your feet, just your torso… and hold."

And there's the correction I was waiting for. Again full effort doesn't equal controlled effort, specially when you treat this like play time. I hold as per instruction maintaining an almost tight hold on my torso.

"Now switch."

I spin,locking myself into a grip on the right. With me being afforded a look at Heiter's back I make note of everything wrong with his form to bring up later.

"Alright return to neutral. Now put your left arm over your head and bend your lower torso out to the left, while lowering your upper torso to the right. Make sure to reach out to the right wall with your left hand."

His torso leaves much to be desired, but his shoulder is flexible.

"Now switch"

Well the least I can do for him is show him how it's done.

"Switch again, however bend your right knee and lunge to the right."

Why isn't Mr. Laufer saying anything? He just keeps observing Heiter!

"Back to the left."

Fine. I'll just need to show Heiter and hope he catches on.

"Alright stop, now rotate your left leg."

And he's back to playful laziness. He should be holding his form, but he is only thinking about rotating his leg.

"Switch"

Well… It is the first time he has come out and probably done these stretches.

"And. we are finished. With the warm up that is. Ok-" Mr. Laufer claps."Everyone put away your mats. Ma'am I trust you can show the sir where to go. I will be out in the main lobby."

"Yes sir, Heiter follow me."

We head back to the left storage room, passing through the still open doors and make a right turn where I stop.

"Ok Heiter, now first off see the rolled up mats in that shelf?"

He nods.

"We need to put ours in there, but note that one shelf has three open spots.."

Did Mr. Laufer already put his mat away when I didn't notice?

"Never mind, see the one with two less mats than the rest? We need to put our.-"

Heiter practically sprints and jumps as he smoothly slides the mat into one of the upper shelves.

"-...Heiter we don't jump to put the mat away."

I don't even… why?

"We have a thing called a stool to prevent us from jumping and potentially- What if you had hurt yourself just now?

I put my hands on my hip as I stare patiently at him for an answer, but then remember he can't speak. His face though is an open book as he waves it off however, smiling, as if It wouldn't be a problem.

"It will be a problem if you hurt yourself so be careful next time. Now let's head back out. Mr. Laufer is waiting for us."

I turn around, passing through the exit and making for the main room, but stop to sit on the counter near the glass doors.

"Heiter, shoes."

He stops at the door absentmindedly until he looks at me. Its funny in a way. He really does wear his emotions on his face. You can see the recollection, embarrassment, and decision making as they occur on his face.

He takes up a spot next to me and begins to pull out his shoes.

I stand up and pass through the glass doors.


"Mr. Laufer."

"Yes Ma'am"

I turn to his voice and spot him near some machinery.

I walk over to him and look over the machines.

"Escalator?"

"Yes you two will start with an automatic mode that will assess you on the fly, and then send that information to me once it's concluded. I would like to start once the sir arrives… Where… Did you leave him? Wait here."

I almost moved, but stopped and waited as I watched Mr. Laufer enter the side room and waited… and waited… Eventually they did come out. Mr. Laufers face said nothing, but Heiter was happy for some reason?

"Ok as I explained previously I will need the two of you to mount an escalator."

I step up, grabbing the rails as I climb up two steps.

"Now once I start it the machine will run for roughly Ten minutes as it makes its assessments. There will be no breaks. Ready?"

"Ready"

Mr. Laufer looks to Heiter, who nods. He then presses something on his scroll and the machine below me begins to move, forcing me to climb or else be deposited on the floor.

I take my steps in a controlled manner, as if going for a stroll.

Heiter on the other hand seems to be playing again.

Could he just take this seriously?

Haa.

I settle into a tempo as I begin to look around the room.

"Mr. Laufer."

"Ma'am?"

"What will we be doing next?"

"Focus on the current exercise ma'am."

"Ok. Can you bring a drink then?"

"That I can."

I watch Mr. Laufer leave for a vending machine. He brings out his scroll and moments later I see the machine pick out two bottles.

When he returns he deposits a water bottle inside a cup holder near the rail.

He does the same for Heiter, but loosens the cap first with a pop.

I eye my bottle, but grab and drink from it, taking a few sips before returning it to the holster.

Heiter looked at it briefly, but he seemed preoccupied with the idea of playing with the escalator.

Honestly…

He isn't even using the handrails.

Well I suppose he will learn.

Right now I should think about after this.

Eventually the machines stops revolving and Heiter almost walks himself into the main panel at the top of his machine.

I lightly step down, continuing to maintain an instilled grace. I think back on the dance lessons, but my thoughts linger on strict court discipline of maintaining an image. The thoughts are short however as I get back to business.

"Mr. Laufer where to now?" I breath as I maintain a one-two three-four tempo when I had began to regulate my breathing.

I grab the plastic water bottle and drink from it, noting it was slightly carbonated this time. There. I hold the bottle close to my chest as I glance to Heiter as Mr. Laufer is typing into his E-scroll.

My partner on the other hand had his chest rapidly rising and falling, but the playful look in his eyes had failed to diminish, in fact… had that gleam only brightened in his brown eyes?

"Heiter, drink some water." pointing behind him he seems to finally register its presence. He grabbed it, took a sip, but then stopped after making a face. I look at him questioningly, but decide to ignore it and quietly cooldown with my own water.

"This way ma'am." Mr. Laufer walked over to another set of schine machines that were place on top of a large dark blue mat that was serving as the floor for a group of machines. The machine had a two motorized weights that connected their own cables, which rose up to and through pulleys and then down to and fed through an additional set of pulleys before each ended on one of those ergonomic handles I had heard about. The second pulleys were vertically slid down a rail until it was around my shoulder's height.

"I will be moving the two of you to these machines next. Now sir you are to stand with your back to this and punch, you may attempt trusts and strikes as if you were carrying a weapon, but please slide and lock the second pulley into a proper position. Ma'am you're close to his height so please demonstrate."

"Yes sir." I drop my empty water bottle in a trash can and then head over to the machine and turn my back to it once in position. I grab the handles and take a step forward, repositioning it once more.

"Have you set the resistance level?"

"Yes ma'am"

I look forward and position my hands just in front of my face re grip the handles before pressing a button on each handle. The tension suddenly increases on the cable and I feel a slight tug. I lunge forward with my right, throwing a thrust and feeling the tension increase the moment I move out of my neutral position. My right arm returns, controlled so as to avoid slamming back into neutral due to the motor.

"Excellent thrust ma'am. Sir while you may not start with a thrust always note how she controlled her return." Mr. Laufer beckoned for me to repeat my action and I did, making sure to slow the return.

"The reason she does that is to limit the chance of injuring herself and use proper form. If she didn't then she might hit the machine behind her with her elbow. That is also the reason she stepped forward. Now there are additional strikes you can perform but your foundation will be the punch. Sir. take your place in front of the machine next to hers.

My partner moved , and stood there for a moment before putting his bottled water to the left of his area.

"Now before you start there are a few things you should know. If you press the button on the handle.-" Mr. Laufer had moved over now and was holding Heiter's hand as he held the handle. "-it will set your neutral position. Now stand here and press the button once you have assumed a stance. No like this here." Mr. Laufer slowly got Heiter into something resembling a proper stance, where one hand was one the hip and ready punch while the other was already extended. He then had Heiter pull both hands next to his hips and set the neutral setting on.

"Feel that tension?" Heiter nodded. " You will punch like so, making sure to rotate your hands as you practice. For now until you get a combat instructor you may practice the punch and only that. No copying the Ma'am's lunges, thrusts, and strikes. "

Mr. Laufer stood back and worked on the E-Scroll for a moment. "Begin, when the machine buzzes you are finished. I will be back at the main desk, report to me when you're done.

Just like that we start our exercise. It goes on for awhile and eventually I find myself having to regulate my breathing again. I make varying strikes, rising, downward and thrusts with my right as Heiter continues to punch, not as enthusiastic as his climbing was.

"Heiter. Keep punching." I say nothing for now about him watching me as it would do him good to imprint what I do. On that note I need to move my right foot forward a little and reposition my left again. Did I slide on the mat?

"Mr. Laufer!"

"Ma'am?"

"I request that we have the mat's replaced, I have begun to slide on them."

"Yes Ma'am. I'll make sure to bring it up with Mr. Clutch."

I almost expected a 'no ma'am' there. "Ma'am it will take time so please continue your exercises and be wary of the sliding."

Right.

I make my thrusts, making sure to walk back to my neutral position as after my lunges. Being able to stop oneself is important as Mr. Laufer said. Although a lunge is more likely to resolve in me falling on my back, but I would need to poorly execute it or be exceptionally tired… No if I was tired then I wouldn't attempt such a lunge as I would know it would fail.

I finished taking a break from my current lunged after having reset and made another.

Heiter on the other hand was continuing to punch as I noticed him a resetting a little bit too fast, but I could tell he was resisting the pull.

"Try and slow your return Heiter, just a should also put more energy in your punches if you want to match the pace you were setting earlier."

He did so, responding to my input when I gave it over the course of what felt an hour.

I noticed the neutral button brighten along with the tension immediately slacken and had to stop my thrust midway so as to not throw myself.

I let go of the handles and watched them slowly slide back into position as the motor quietly whirled.

I immediately began to walk over to Mr. Laufer, not needing any time to catch my breath this time.

Heiter on the other hand was gazing at his hands weirdly as he shook them slightly. The playful aura that I had thought dealt with immediately returned upon finishing. That didn't change the part where he was out of breath though. Well It's for his own good, he needs to get in shape.

"Heiter let's go."

He picked up the water bottle and began to follow me over to the main counter. Mr. Laufer made some additional note In the E-scroll, before glancing up and pointing to a staircase.

"You two will now go for a jog on the upper ring, two minutes of jogging and alternating with two minutes of walking." Mr. Laufer pointed towards the nearby spiral staircase. "Repeat the set six times. An alarm will sound each time you will need to switch. You have five minutes." He then handed me a fresh plastic bottle of water. Heiter of course didn't get one since he was still on the first one.

"Yes sir."

I walk away from the counter to the staircase and stop at the bottom to confirm that Heiter is still with me and of course he is. I know he will follow its just weird not hearing him.

Oh! I hit the palm of my hand with my fist. He will be jogging this time so perhaps?

I calmly walk up the steps. Heiter passes me on the way up as he is playing with them like the escalator machine.

When I catch up to him at the top I look around the track briefly as I open the cap on the bottle and drink from it. Now then… I seal the cap again and look for something to place it on other than the floor. I eventually find a cupboard near the staircase and place it ontop.

"Heiter please drink some water." He nods and opens the cap and takes several sips. "You need more than that." He nods again and drinks some more. I nod satisfied as he places the bottle near the track.

"Heiter place that on a cupboard you don't want anything getting on it."

He looks at me questioningly. "Heiter…" He nods again and picks it up and this time places it on the counter.

We wait.


I stretch a little and mentally begin to count out a tempo for my jogging, setting a slow and steady count that will allow me to maintain my breathing.

"Heiter we should be starting soon so get ready."

He perks up and walks over to me. I point at the floor. "Make sure to stay in your own lane, I don't want you to accidently bump into me." Heiter nods as a brief look of worry then self assurance appear on his face. "Good." I smile, but then drop it as I get ready. "Oh by the we should probably start walking now since the first clock with be for jogging."

We both start and Heiter follows my pace. Hmm… Considering my impression of Heiter… He will run instead of jog… "Hei-

Bring!

My voice was drowned out by the alarm and like a horse in a derby He just sprinted off. I on the other hand calmly began to jog, however I kept an eye on him.

Well he is certainly booking it, although not in- he's having fun again… He really likes running… and climbing… I'll need him to tell me sometime.I frown. Yes sometime because he can't read or write. Illiterate...

His form has absolutely no discipline to it! He just runs… No he is clearly sprinting considering the pace he is setting…

I begin to settle into a rhythm, easily maintaining it up to the bend in the track.

You know. Why is it that tracks are used in gyms and not obstacle courses? I always end up taking these pointless left turns. Well I suppose the dreariness of it allows me to focus on just maintaining my pace and building my strength.

I spot the back of a dark blue mesh T-shirt in the distance as Heiter is nearing the middle of this sides track.

I look down through the floor and spot Mr. Laufer working. Focus on the track.

I continue like that for a time as I count out my tempo of one-two three-four

until the alarm sounds off again.

I begin to walk, putting my hand on my chest to note the heart rate is steady. Good. Not pushing myself beyond what I can maintain. Just keep that focus and perhaps I can reap the reward of a good mental multiplier. I little over a month so perhaps I can set a good foundation for my mind.

Now then… Ah Heiter's at the bend… and he's looking back at me and waving… Haa. focus Heiter… I open my mouth, but stop from yelling across the upper floor. An inside voice should be maintained as should my calm appearance. That is also part of my mental multiplier foundations training. I begin to focus on the walk and allowing myself to cool down despite not needing it. I will walk when I walk and run when I run.

Bring!

I begin to run again doing nothing but looking straight ahead. I eventually make it to the other side and begin to turn to the left again. I make sure to keep my pace and avoid leaning into the bend or speeding up. Once I have rounded the corner I note the lack of a dark blue T-shirt. I don't bother to look, but know that if he isn't in front of me, he must be off on the other side of the track already.

He will eventually have to face the reality of being unable to maintain that pace, he isn't a dog that chases… whatever dogs chase.

I suppose his training type will have to go with a physical foundation considering his undisciplined nature. No… I could remedy that for him. The only problem is his laziness… I frown. I can't call his sprinting lazy so what is it?

I think about that, but maintain my tempo until the alarm goes off again.

I slowly walk along still caught on the odd question until I settle on an answer.

If you do what you need to do then it's discipline. If you do what you want to do then it's having fun. If you don't do what you need to do then it's being lazy. Following that logic then yes Heiter is lazy, extremely so. I even noticed the change when we went from the escalator to the punching machine and again when he started this sprinting…

I suppose the quick solution would be to have him learn to have fun doing everything? No thats absurd. It's impossible to have fun with everything. It would be far more beneficial for him to develop a disciplined mind. The problem is his nature. I had to drag him out of MY bed. I mean how did he even get in without me noticing.

Bring!

I start running.

Well naturally it's because he is even quieter than a house servant.

The next moment I feel a small amount of wind on my right and look over my shoulder to see the cause, but fail to spot anything. I look ahead and notice the Dark blue T-Shirt speeding away, its wearer doing something of a mad dash suited for the Great Marathons hundred meter dash. That reminds me I think I spotted that event among the others.

It would seem Heiter is definitely pushing himself… Wait…

I purse my lips.

He just lapped me!

He will eventually tire out and besides I'm training my mentality.

In that regard he is one big distraction.

I shut him out of my thoughts and keep the pace I set until the alarm goes off another four times.

One-Two -Two -Two Three-Four…

Perfect. Ah I messed up. Well I know I can do that now. I even ignored him slipping by me twice… He passed me twice… I know that he passed, but…

The energetic copper headed boy passed me again… And I didn't hear him despite him sprinting… How? I almost slow down, but get back into a running tempo. How?

...Ah he almost tripped. Did he learn his lesson? I watch him somehow speed up even more. No… No he didn't. Worry begins to crawl into me. He might be making me look-No That won't help your mental foundation. It really is hard to stay focused for an extended period of time. Just keep running at the same pace. I run, control my breathing as I finish another lap and make use of my irritation to fuel my discipline through two more sets.

Bring!

That is… the eleventh time the alarm has sounded. Unfortunately I have forgotten how many times I have lapped and been lapped. My irritation was discarded at some point due to no suitable outlet for it aside running, which would be the opposite of what I want guiding my mind. I did wonder about why Mr. Laufer just stays down there at that desk, but that too was a useless thought as I needed to stay focused on my objective. This is the last time to run, but I keep my mentality just as I keep my pace.

Bring!

I begin to walk for the final time. I managed to gauge my pace so that my final walk should have me end near where I started. I continue to walk slowly stretching my legs again as I do feel some heaviness in them, but only that. My controlled breathing did most of the work. Such a simple thing really.

Bring!

Almost perfect. I walk over to the plastic water bottle and twist the cap off. I raise it to my mouth and drink from it as I look back at the track and sure enough there is Heiter.

He looks utterly exhausted. I frown. He is still smiling, but his absolutely out of control breathing makes it hard for him to keep it. When he finally get over to where I'm standing near the stairs he stops and puts his hands on his thighs as he leans over. He then glances up at me and smiles again. I nod.

"You might want some water now?" He doesn't even nod his head, rather he rights himself for a moment to pick up his water from where it sat on the floor. He then sits down against the block pillar as he drinks one...two...three gulps of water before stopping for a moment. He then stands up and walks back to the track. Is he going to run again?

Heiter proceeds to unceremoniously sit down and lay his back on the floor as he pants like a dog.

I smile. Well at least he isn't running again. He did prove me wrong earlier by lasting the whole time, but this is clearly his limit.

I put my hand on my chest, feeling the now calm beat of it.

I'll… let him rest before we head down.

"Seems someone is tired?" Heiter doesn't even bother to lift his head as he only rolls it to face me. He makes eye contact with me. The brown orbs still have a bit of mirth in them. The rest of his body seems content staying on the floor. Slowly he nods his head and looks back at the roof.

The corners of my mouth turn upward as I observe him.

"Want to run some more?"

If he had any thoughts about what I said he didn't respond. Clearly he was more exhausted than I thought.

Oh well. I'll give him… one minute. Then we need to head downstairs. I stand by content to count the seconds away until time runs out.

"Heiter get up, Mr. Laufer will need us downstairs."

Heiter didn't move and I rolled my eyes as I walked over to him.

I stared down at him and put my hands on my hips as I called out to him again.

"Heiter!"

He finally moved as he opened his eyes, visibly startled… Did he fall asleep?

"Did you fall asleep?"

He nodded in a very matter of factly fashion.

Haaa. "I see, well get up Mr. Laufer will need us downstairs and I am not dragging you to the stairs. Bye."

I turned around and began to make my way to the stairs and once there proceeded to descend to the main floor.


"Mr. Laufer!" The instructor at the main desk looked my way. "Welcome back ma'am" I gracefully made my way over to him. "Am I finished?" He shook his head. "No Ma'am. You still need to cool down then I can set you free to do what you want. "Right." I turned around looked to see Heiter still wasn't there. "Heiter!" I waited, staring expectantly at the staircase… and there is the bundle of copper I can barely make out finally coming on down.

I look back to the instructor. "Will we be cooling down in the same side room?" I hold eye contact until he looks from Heiter to me. "Yes Ma'am we will be starting shortly." He then walks away from the desk as he heads over to the room, taping briefly at his scroll before pocketing it.

A glance back reveals that my partner has finally made it to the main floor. "This way." I make my way to the doors and push them apart before taking a seat on the counter. I remove my shoes and place them inside. I sit for a while, taking the time to finish the bottled water and setting it down on the counter. By then the door opens again and Heiter walks in heading deep into the room.

I roll my eyes.

"Heiter." hopefully I don't need to say anymore.

He stares at me… Haa. "Shoes Heiter shoes."

He nods absently as he walks over and begins to take them off. I stare at him as I frown for a moment. Ignore it for now. I stand up and walk over to the center of the room. I settle near the mats and note the lack of a white one. I wordlessly roll up a blue one near me and head back into the storage room.

Why? It's such a simple thing. Am I ignored, forgotten or have was that a denial of who I am?

I look to the right and spot the shelves of mats and place mine in a lower shelf where it could have been taken from. I then grab and have to tire my arms with the metal stool. I strain to place it down gently so as to avoid creating a scene, thankfully I manage that.

Why do we have such a heavy stool? It's no small victory for a one my age to pick that up.

I mean really now.

I climb the stool,put away the blue mat and pull out a white I'm off the stool I look at it briefly, before deciding against moving it back into its spot. If Mr. Laufer isn't going to get me the right mat then I'll just leave this till I put my white mat away. I grip the mat with both hands as I walk out of the storage room and eventually throw it on the floor, allowing it to roll itself out.

"Ready." I take my place on the mat and look toward Mr. Laufer.

"Alright everyone, lie down on your right side." He does that so I follow.

"Now keep yourself straight and pull your left heel into your glute. Hold… You should be feeling the stretch in the front of you thigh. Hold…

Ok Now switch, lie on your right and stretch…

I keep the stretch just there enough to feel it.

"Hold."

I wince.

I'm feeling a muscle I may have used when climbing that escalator. I pull back a little , but then carefully pull the stretch again. Is that Heiter I hear panting?

"Alright now lie down on your backs, lift your left leg directly above your hips. Hold your calf or thigh with your hands and pull toward your chest, but keep your legs pointed to the ceiling. Push out your feet as much as possible… Good now hold…"

I pull, feeling something in the back of my leg distinctly tighten for a moment before I have to coax it to stretch just enough.

"Now switch"

The right leg was even worse as it tightened further with some spasms, I beared the pain, but a gasp escaped me as I pulled it out to a spot similar to where I left my left leg.

"Hold."

It was painful to hold…

"Hold…"

I frowned at the ceiling.

"Hold."

I suddenly felt the tightness give in my right leg as it finally cooperated with me.

"Good, now still lying on your back, cross your left leg over your right knee, which you will bend. Then bring your right knee to your chest. Make sure to hold onto the back of the thigh… good, now press your left knee wide and hold."

I feel a muscle being stretched in my posterior. Thankfully this time I don't experience any pain… and Heiter has stopped panting at some .

"Now switch… and hold."

This one is pretty easy for a stretch.

Now on all fours, round out your back. Hold… and invert. You should be making a small hill and valley with your back. Repeat four times. Make sure to do this nice and slow to get the most out of it…

Correction this one is pretty easy.

"Now stand up."

I do so, absently stretching my legs as I do, noting how they feel different. It doesn't feel like i'm being stretched now.

"Now stand straight. Interlace your fingers behind your back, straighten your arms and lift your chin to the ceiling… Sir, adjust your posture. Good, now hold."

I had relaxed a little to look at Heiter, but when I went back into the stretch I felt something in my upper chest. Ow. That… Probably my thrusts. Forgot that worked on my arms and not just my legs. .OW…

"Hold."

I firmly pressed my lips together as I kept myself from letting any sound out.

"Hold."

"Good,now release. Next take your left arm overhead and bend it at the elbow. Extend the palm down the center of your back and gently pull with your right hand. Hold. Now take your left arm and cross your your chest and pull at the elbow with your right. Hold. Good now switch and repeat.

Honestly I don't feel much from this one either. I pull at my elbow for the first stretch and feel it go until it just stops. The Second stretch however would have elicited a yelp from me if i hadn't been in deep thought about a matter.

"Ok, That's it for today go ahead and do what you have planned ma'am."


I nod and look to Heiter, but notice he isn't here. Where?

Once I look to my left I notice he is already heading to the storage room with his grey mat… I was going to have Mr. Laufer put things away, but fine.

I bend down to grip the edge of the mat, which I then pick up and begin to roll as hold the edges firmly. Once finished I head after Heiter.

Once inside I spot him making a mistake.

"Ah Heiter make sure to put that mat in the third one, not the fourth. The shelves should have a similar amount of mats, notice the fourth has the same as the rest except for the third."

He stops and pulls out the grey mat and places it in the proper spot. When he turns around I have already handed him mine.

"Put this one in the same spot."

He grabs the other end of the rolled up mat and then swings it around before sliding it into the third shelf. Good that leaves only Mr. Laufers.

I clap once.

"I'll see you in the main section."

I turn on my heel and make for the exit, but stop just short of it.

"Oh and put the stool over there." I look away and leave Heiter to finish putting things away.

I look to the right and head to the counter that has my shoes inside, noting Mr. Laufer's presence over by the main desk through the glass door before I cross it and sit on the counter to pull out my shoes.

I waste no time putting them on and exit the room, pushing the two glass doors open.

I walk over to the front desk. "Mr. Laufer."

He doesn't look up from the terminal for a moment, but after typing something in he lifts his face to me. "Ma'am?"

I bring up my hand to my chin as I allow my fingers to touch my chin before flourishing them slightly. "I wish to have something to drink."

green eyes look down to the terminal briefly, but then back to me before, he walks out from behind the desk toward one of the vending machines.

The walk is a short one. When we arrive I glance over the options, Spotting something other than carbonated water. "Ol King Cold." Once He passes his scroll over the scanner and punches the appropriate buttons the internal mechanize moves as it slides up and then to the right. The dark blue soda can slides into the tube, which then transports it back to the left and down before dropping it into the bin. Since was closer he grabbed the can and handed it to me. It was chilled since the vending machine is equipped with a refrigeration unit Well it's better than what else they had and it is the king of sodas so nothing else would do.

I turn it in my hand, briefly noting the primarily blue background with a grey circle that has the white words 'Ol King Cold' written inside and the occasional schnee emblem scattered on the background.

I pop the cap and let it fizz before I begin to walk away to the door where my partner should be appearing. Once I stop I begin to take some sips of the Ol King Cold, letting the chilled carbonation perk me up ever so slightly.

Where is he? "Heiter?" No response. Well he will eventually come out. I look down at the can in my hand, noticing the slight bit of water begining to form on it. Oh what did one of my science lecturers call it. Perspiration? No that organic. Its Condensation then...right.

Wait… I did perspire it seams. I look at my slightly dampened clothes. I guess I may have chased Heiter at some point unintentionally.

"Heiter!" I said I would be here, but I want to get out of these clothes.

Ok I've busied myself quite a bit here. "H-" He came out. I look him over and notice something disturbing.

He didn't put on his shoes.

I frown slightly, but ignore it as I have more pressing things. "Let's go get changed."

I walk toward the staircase, finally noticing the slight mixture of lightness in my muscles, the result of properly working out.

I take the time to explore the sensation that I had forgotten as I make my way down the two sets of stairs and stop in front of the third VIP room. Right… I grab the handle on the door and twist, but realize it is still locked " !"

I stand there with Heiter waiting as I put up with wearing my current attire.

Tapping my left foot against the floor I cross my arms as I eye the stairway.

" !" I almost have the mind to head back up the stairway for him, but stop as I drink more of Ol King Cold. He eventually arrives not from the stairway, but the hallway that joins the two VIP hallways.

"Ma'am?"

I stop drinking the beverage, lowering it to make eye contact. "I thought I said to have my partners room ready."

Without a look of apology finishes descending the stairs. "Ma'am the room will be his come tomorrow.."

"And why is that?"

"The keys for the door are made off site."

"But that doesn't keep us from entering."

"Normally."

I crossed my arms again.

"Normally?"

"Sometime during the purchase of this estate the key to this room was lost, given that had no need for it he decided against contacting the keymaker."

"And why did father decide that?"

"There wasn't a need for a single room in the underground of the White Rose. He purchased it for the upper floors to host."

"...The key will be available tomorrow?"

"Yes Ma'am I personally bought the key."

Oh… I lower my arms and look to Heiter, but glance at one last time.

"Well good job for expediting this. I expect to see the key tommorrow."

I then look to Heiter who appears to be just watching as usual.

"Heiter go back to your other locker room. I'll be waiting outside the VIP room across the hall. "

My partner nods and we both walk down the hallway. Once we are halfway through, he makes a right at the intersection and leaves. I watch him leave in his dark blue Polyester mesh attire and then turn to continue walking towards my room.


VIP 02

Weiss Schnee

And now I'm back here.

I open the door and walk in , finally able to shed the now dirty clothes that had been stuck against me for far too long.

First I discard the empty soda can into a trash can near the door.

I then remove my white gloves, making sure to remove them by the tips of the fingers and let it pull off from my elbow. It seems that they have been collecting sweat from underneath my blue turtleneck. Hah. Once I have both I toss them onto the bench in the middle of the room which I then sit on.I hurriedly remove my white fencing shoes, crossing my legs to remove them. Next to come off are the white socks. I roll them down from my knees, feeling the slight dampness that is from my perspiration. Ugh. I place them next to my gloves.

With the smaller items off I remove the sky blue turtleneck, pulling my arms inside before gripping the bottom of the shirt and lifting it off me and onto the bench. My white cotton leggings then come off. I stand up and push them off and finally free myself of the majority of the sweaty clothes.

Ah… I look-No feel how my undergarments are sweaty. With little hesitation due to a desire to be rid of the foul feeling two more white articles of clothing are now on the bench.

Ok now what am I to wear? I walk to a locker and open it and stop.

Nothing. Ok must have been one I didn't use.

I open another and see some more sport wear. No.

I opened several and have found that I am completely lacking in anything not related to sports. Why is this? Probably because of poor planning on Mr. Laufer's part for not remembering my clothes had been moved out awhile back.

I grab my scroll and swipe through my few contacts and call Help WinterRetreat.

"Hello This is the response desk at Winter Retreat how may I be of assistance?"

"This is Weiss Schnee. Clothes need to be brought to me in Vip Room 02."

"I will have them shipped to you immediately."

"Good, that is all."

I hang up and begin to make my way to the shower on the side of the room opposite the door, passing through and arch into a sub room. I look to the right and note a towel handing on the wall above a bench. I follow alongside the bench slightly before stopping next to the towel

I reach up to my head and undo the hairband, letting my hair fall out of the pony tail I had set. I put the dirty hairband on the bench before turning to the shower.

I then walk through the blue curtain and over the small raised section of the floor that serves to cordon off the shower from the bench that leads to the shower. I glance briefly at a light blue stool that has faded in some places in a corner before I walk to the left wall and twist the handles as I stand out of the way. First I twist the hot all the way and then slowly up the amount of cold applied, testing the water with my hands until I have a lukewarm current to avoid walking under the current and burning myself.

Once everything is set I walk underneath the current and begin to wash myself off, making sure to rub my face with my hands in a circular motion as I wash my forehead and cheeks. I let my hands then move along to my neck , rubbing off any pieces of grime left there. I take my time cleaning, but eventually continue downward, making sure to lightly rub off the sweat that wasn't washed away by the water as it flows down my body towards the white marble floor draining in the center.

Having gotten uncomfortable with the heat I reach infront and turn the knobs again to lower the water temperature to a refreshing cold.

"Haaa."

I then address my arms as I run one over the other, slowly and leisurely removing the foul proof of my exercise. The cold is almost shockingly refreshing as my arms feel much lighter after treating them to my hands tender care.

I distinctly hear three knocks on the door, which brings me out of my trance.

"Yes?"

"Clothes for the young miss."

"Leave them on the bench, then wait outside, When I'm done put everything away."

A maid walks in and places three sets of clothes on the benches edge before bowing before leaving upon seeing me peak around the curtain.

I stop briefly to hug myself, but then return to showering and run my hands down my sides to sweep away anything from my stomach and make slow strokes as I move from my front to my side and then back as I continue to clean myself. I eventually give the same thorough treatment to my hips and thighs before pausing. I walk over to the stool and pick up the light piece of plastic and place it just ahead of the falling water. I take a seat on it, positioning my legs in the water as I face the showerhead. I begin to tend to my knees and legs as I make long repeated strokes down my calves and finally treat my feet. I run my hands along the top, bottom and sides of my fair skin as I finally rid myself of that feeling of dirtiness. My hands run over some tight places on my feet and I inspect them to find some minor signs of a blister forming.

Ah this must be… because of my choice of footwear. I run my hands over my feet as I gently knead them. Well I suppose that settles the issue of exercise mmmh now. I finish caring for my feet and stand up to stretch, enjoying the sensation of a cleaned body just after a light exercise.

Now to repeat the process and truly be done with the foul stench by starting with some Sea Shine Shampoo. I look to the wall on my right and notice a horrifying lack of any of my hair and skin care products that should be in their respective baskets.

I just stare, having to repeatedly confirm their emptiness before it finally sinks in that I took them with me to my room's shower and didn't bother to have this shower restocked as it is technically a personal room. Mr. Laufer should have had it resto- No I don't want him in here. The shower is my safe place. I'll just order more through the help desk, but then I still- I'll have use those in my rooms shower then since they won't arrive.

I grimace, but stand up and put the stool back in its corner before turning off the shower. I can just head back to my room.

I stretch, enjoying the relaxed sensation that permeates my whole body, before I walk out and grab one of the many white towels I unfold it, revealing a light blue schnee emblem.

I dry myself with the same care I gave myself in the shower before I place it on the bench and walk back to the main room to inspect the three sets of clothes.

There was a white jacket dress with silk stockings. A silver mandarin blouse with an asymmetrical sapphire skirt to match and another set of white stockings. The third and final set also has a pair of leggings,except these are black. A similarly colored puffed sleeved blouse with a white collar and light blue skirt sit next to it.

For shoes… Ah the black patent leather mary Janes, Truly a classic, even if they only brought me one pair to choose from this is probably what I would have picked from among the others.

Then my undergarments… more of the same white.

I glance between the three attires, debating the time of day, the temperature, and then how I will be using it, It must also not subtract from me.

I also need to decide whether I'm heading straight for the shower in my room, the watchtower, or additional exercises, which would simple mean putting on another set of practice clothes.


For today I will use the white jacket dress.

I step into my underwear and pull it up, and then clip on the bra. With the basics done I sit down on the bench and roll up a silk stocking and position it at the end of my toes. I pull my stockings over them, letting the silk slowly enveloped my foot and then my leg as I extend my leg outward to assist with getting the full length of the stocking used, which I accomplish around my thighs. I repeat this process with the other leg, applying the same slow, but very much ritualized process for me.

Once done I grab the dress off to my side as I stand up. I hold the bottom and the top of the dress and, with a practiced motion, lift it above me and let it the lower portion fall down on me, letting me fill it. I then release the top portion as I still keep my hands above my head. The sweetheart dress falls completely, but its size is perfect. It stops right where it should, leaving my shoulders and collar bare. I then pick up the white jacket, which I put my arms into, first the left, then the right and I finish by buttoning the singular button.

With that done it is now a simple matter of putting on the black patent leather mary janes. I sit down, put them on,fasten the strap and am set.

I glance at a full length mirror and confirm that I look exactly as I expected.

Classy as instructed. I smile, but then my eyes linger on my hair. I suppose a hairband should tidy things up nicely.

I walk to a locker and open it to reveal the several hairbands I had left here.

I face the mirror again as I stand to the side allowing me a partial view of the back of my head, which is more than enough. I quickly tie a better ponytail than the one I previously went for when preparing to exercise.

"... and… done!"

I prepare to exit the room, making sure to grab Myrtenaster, which I regrettably didn't and probably won't get to use for a the immediate future. My efforts will be spent on training my mind for now.

I pack it away in it's case and after checking everything I pocket my scroll in my jacket before turning to leave.

"Young miss."

The maid bows to me upon my entering the hallway and I nod, giving her permission to enter the VIP room again.

Once the door is closed I look to Heiter, who is now sporting the same formal attire consisting of a white morning coat, grey vest, white trousers and wing collar dress shirt.

I'll… That is probably the same pair from earlier.

I look away toward the stairway on my right. "Let's leave this place."

I walk briefly, but stop just short of the stairway to look at Heiter and confirm that he is wearing black topsider and still not making a sound. I look up at him and make eye contat. A question lingers on his face. I smile, which does the job of turning his question that I don't wish to answer into a smile. I look ahead and walk up the stairway and make a left to finish the other half of the stairway.

I then quickly make my way to the door, as we pass the main desk I remember something. "Mr. Laufer, the key will be here tomorrow?"

Green eyes look up from whatever they were focusing on at the desk.

"Yes ma'am. They should arrive tomorrow."

"I see, carry on then."

The shipper will have more than a little problem if it doesn't arrive on time.

"Yes. ma'am."

I look to the door to find Heiter has already opened it. This time a genuine smile tugs at my lips as I walk through the door. We make our way to the next door on the opposite side of the circling hallway, through the stairway it connects to and onto the main floor. It's a simple matter for us to then exit. This time however instead of the back I choose to go through the front, which required us to walk into the old gym rooms as we exited the main ring. We quickly pass into one of the main hallways. The various decorations and trophies reflect us in their metallic splendor as we near the main door. I would stop to check on Heiter, but so far every time I have looked he is fairly close behind or looking at something. Now if I don't look behind, he should keep up with me because I won't stop. That and… There he opened the main door.

I walk out onto the stone floor,passing between large stone columns. The Schnee emblem under my feet, I look to the white rose's entrance briefly, noting the twin set of wooden doors. I see we came out of the right door. Well I was in a hurry to get out. My eyes then linger on Heiter, whom I wave over as I begin to follow the stone path to the fountain.


When we get to the watchtower… I still have the material we need there. I just need to make sure Heiter stays on point and doesn't get too comfortable on the couch and fall asleep.

That…

I suddenly remember how quickly he fell asleep both in the gym and in my room…

That could be a problem.

"Heiter."

I spot him perk up out of the corner of my eye, he was looking around everywhere again, but is now his attention is on me.

"When we get in the watchtower we will take roughly two hours for you to continue your studies on the written language. I'm sure you would like to be able to read the next time you visit Flachland?"

Heiter for his part seems to miss any subliminal message I put and merely puts his hand to his chin as he thinks. I walk, generously giving him time.

"You could hold a conversation if anyone spoke to you and not just nod, of course , that is dependent on how studious you are."

He nodded again and then pointed ahead.

"Yes Heiter, that is the fountain."

I roll my eyes internally as I'm raised better than that.

Well I suppose it is a proper Schnee fountain. Mom did design it.

So help me though if he points at everything in the future though, like the sun and clear sky today. Well that would imply that I let him have initiative.

He may be random currently, but I'll figure him out eventually.

"let's head north now. Oh and don't get in front of me."

One method is to simply pretend I don't see what he is doing I suppose and then call him out if I turn around. I just need to keep him behind me and not laze around.

Ok there's the statues. Don't look… Just walk past them, quicken my pace just a little… There's the fork take the right and follow the slight bend to the left.

The slight chill in the air is about all that comes to my attention and even that is ignored as I make my way toward my destination.

It takes some time I suppose when you aren't educating as a tour guide. The time seems to pass just a little slower. We still arrive at Winter's Watch without any complications and there goes Heiter for the door. He stopped briefly to look at the statues directly near, specifically Captain Winters and then he opened the blue door for me.

I walk inside, noting the slight chilliness,likely due to a lack of natural sunlight like that outside. I take a left and walk down the four stone steps, circling my way down to the floor and then passing the stone statues that sat around the would be fire pit. I walk over to the fake firewood and flip a switch, resulting in a pop and a brightening glow from beneath the wooden prop.

I glance to the right, noting the iron chest under the staircase that spirals up from the platform and up right side of the wall in a counterclockwise fashion.

I walk over to the chest, inspecting the mahogany coating with my finger and noting the lack of dust as I bring up my finger to my face for inspection. Good they sent someone out to clean.

Well since it's not as cold as it was yesterday, there's no point in opening the chest.

I see Heiters shadow as he passes me towards the couch.

"No naps today Heiter."

I look to my left and spot Heiter moving some of the books on the sofa around.

Oh. He's picking up the writing binder!

I stand there for a few moments as I watch him open the binder, put the pen in his hand and begin to write in it.

I place my right hand across my mouth as I lean back slightly and watch.

He didn't even need me to tell him what to do.

Wait, that might not be accurate. He still needs help.

I placd my weapon case and settle down on the gray leather chesterfield sofa, opposite the entry platform then look over Heiters shoulder as I place a hand on it.

I glance over my partner's work and notice he is writing a little bit faster than he was yesterday.

"Now do try and be consistent with how your letters look, Oh and aside A, B, and C, I want you to do D, E, and F. D is for dog, E is for… elephant and F is for Fox."

He looked over his shoulder and gave me a blank look for a moment before I noticed a change in his ever so open face. He seemed quite happy about something.

"Understand?"

He glances my way and smiles wider before he sets about writing.

I glance between his handwriting and his far more expressive face than yesterday and smile before letting go of his shoulder and standing up briefly.

The room had warmed to comfortable levels as I had the staff change the dust exchange filter this morning. With the new filter in place this room could easily become one of the warmest on the estate.

I unbutton the white jacket and remove it and then place the article over on a coat hanger near the bottom of the staircase.

I walk back over to the couch and sit down to the left of Heiter, taking the time to open a book about sign language and my small binder with notes in it.

I glance over my notes as I remember the details.

There are multiple problems with teaching Heiter sign language.

Firstly there exist multiple forms of sign language that were

Devised by each kingdom's territories. The second is that almost all of the forms still persist as everybody locally uses them.

Ok let's go with chapter three. I have several pages to flip through apparently. Lets ignore the depictions for now. Just go slow and take notes.


"There are mutliple forms of sign language yes, but sign language places its origin in the old world order of Calor, It was devised primarily as a way for legionaries to communicate via simple hand signals.

This was eventually picked up by the upper levels of the military, many of whom were knights of noble standing that frequented the court. The hand signals eventually formed a social group that could communicate without speaking, thus allowing for new forms of both entertainment and further refining the language beyond military use. The militarized nature of Calor allowed it to spread quickly through the civilian population given that mandatory service existed at the time.

When Calor eventually encountered what would become the kingdoms is when we begin to see variants begin to appear. Due to a lack of military training, eventual nobility in what would become the kingdoms lacked a standardized form, merely adopting the language, instead of being taught by the military system of Calor.

This Royal Sign language as it became known as , varied from each kingdoms court. Mistral, being the closest to Calor both in geography and political standing, had the least changes manifest, which were the result of many years of subtle, but unintentional changes.

Kingdoms such as Mantle and Vale, however were far removed from the setting of the Far East and thus devised their own variations. This time however the sign language flowed from the court to the military, arguably contributing to the differing performances of these kingdoms militaries in the Great War due to the cultural origins of each sign language.

The Kingdom of Vacuo, being refuges of the Great Wave, used a system fairly similar to Calor's with the shared military origin, that instead dissolved

Into the civilians due to a lack of nobility, as the civilian population had limited use for it it became something taught exclusively to the military thus the military sign language was left largely to just the military and kept as is.

Sometime during and after the great war, when soldiers went back home, the royal sign language was broken down into Color Sign language, resulting in a fragmentation of the language. Huntsmen have used this variation as during the war it became necessary for Rebel forces to use a sign language different from the royal armies, given that the same spoken language was used.

Despite these varying forms of languages they are all still used and more variations of Color Sign language are coming into existence. The-"


I close the book for a moment and begin writing in my binder.

There are four primary sign languages. Calorian, Royal, Military, and Color.

Well considering that Color descends from Royal it might be best to learn royal, but then there's the problem of choosing a Valean or Altesian variation.

I set the pen aside and reflect.

According to chapter one Altesian is largely used by the upper ladder of society now. If I learn that and teach Heiter then he would understand some of Altesian color… Or I could teach him Vale's variant and have a secret form of communication with Heiter that would be useful… at some point.

I could teach him one and then the other…

I stop my thoughts for a moment to glance over to Heiter who has been writing several pages worth of letter's, granted they are larger than normal, but that's writing lessons for you.

I think I'll prepare some material later for Royal… Vale. I'll teach him Royal Altesian later. Besides he will only be with me for the foreseeable future.

I don't know if dad knows Royal Altesian, but at least this way I can switch from Corporate to Vale if I want. Then since commons derive from royal some of the the normal population signs should be decipherable.

"Heiter." He looks over my way as brown eyes linger on me. Oh he is attentive right now. Well good for him. "I think that we can stop here for now, good job on your work. Now continue a little longer.I have a phone call to make."

I stood up again, stretching as I released some of the tension in my arms that were slightly cramping from staying still. I reach across my chest as I stretch one arm and then the other. I assist the process by letting my other arm hold the elbow firm.

With the cramps dealt with for now I walk to the left, circle around the back of the couch and then to the right. I run my left hand along the couch and make my way past to the coat hanger, where I retrieve my scroll from a pocket. I stand there and message Mrs. Gretel.

"Mrs. Gretel I will need food delivered to my room for two, I leave the food selection to you."

I back out of the messaging app and glance over to Heiter.

It's a pity that we need to go, he's been working so well.

I pick up my white jacket, adorn it, and fasten the single button slowly and gracefully.

No need to rush this.

I walk over behind the couch again and glance over Heiter's shoulder.

"Heiter show me your work."

He glances behind to me and then looks back at the binder before setting his pen to the side and the binder to me.

I open it and flip back to the beginning and browse his work like a judge would at an art exhibit.

The form is very consistent, and he did write more this time.

I flip through more pages.

Ah.

I walk around the couch and sit down on his right as I point to something.

"See the fifth line on the fifth page?" I watch childishly Heiter's attentive eyes look from me to the binder as he looks for something.

"Your form starts to deteriorate at this point. It can't be helped, but if you get tired while writing make sure to pay attention to it, otherwise you will make mistakes and not be practicing what you need to. You have a very consistent form so it's even clearer when it changes."

He looks down as he focuses his attention on it. "This isn't something I can teach you, you simply have to be vigilant against this in the future. In the meantime I will take the trouble of reminding you so you avoid sloppy work."

"In other words everything before page five is excellent, but pages six, seven, eight, and nine are not. Thats somewhere in the range of a forty percent success rate. In other words… Not something I would approve. SO! In the future make an additional effort to check your writing, don't get lazy and start repeating a process, rather… make individual attempts to keep the form you set."

I notice a look of deep thinking in Heiter.

"If you do go astray I'll remind you, don't worry about it until we are writing again."

He nods as he stands up with the binder in hand.

"No leave the binder here, I have something back in my room for that purpose."

My scroll vibrates and I check to see that I got a message from , I don't bother to check it since it is undoubtedly a confirmation.

"Well then that is our sign to head back."

I grab my weapon case,stand up, walk around and deactivate the fire and then walk along the wall towards the four stone steps. Heiter passes me as he practically skips his way up before opening the blue door.

We pass the Captain on our way down again and begin our trek back to the cottage.

This time Heiter is behind me as we walk our way back. With most of the work out of the way I focus a little more time and humor his interest in the statues as we walk back.

Eventually, he taps me on the shoulder and points at the sky. A dark cloud in the distance. I frown. I can see the sheets of rain. Why is it raining this much in January?

Suddenly it dawns on me that we shouldn't be watching. Unlike last night we don't have umbrellas.

"Heiter we will need to cut our venturing among the statues short for now. No don't give me that look, we can always do this later. Besides dinner will be served soon."

That did the trick.

Heiter was then running along ahead, forgetting to stay behind me again.

I shrug and smile slightly. It wouldn't be that easy would it?

I expedite my walk and pass the place where the path converges, the fountain, the bridge, and then slowly approach the door.

I glance at the clouds, thinking about how this will effect things, perhaps a flash flood somewhere, which then means construction, rescue operations…

None of which are my direct concern. I do however need to clean my hair so this has been a welcome reminder.

With thoughts of Sea Shine Shampoo I enter the cottages west exit.

I pass through the double doors and the winding hallway, taking just a moment to clean my shoes against the mat before continuing.

The glass doors to the sun room slide quietly, though not as quietly as Heiter does as he walks along the blue carpet with newfound energy. I have no idea where he gets it.

He glances at the blue cushions that are scattered across the white benches, hiding them under a sea of blue.

He seems to have an epiphany as he drops his fist onto the palm of the other.

He stops me as I pass, him and then makes a motion of opening a book, before pointing to the benches.

I smile. He is honest, but he can't understand my reasoning.

"It could be used as a place of study, but I prefer the quiet of the watchtower."

A half-truth of course.

With that discussion over I wait by the other glass door after circling around the silver table that rests on a lone pedestal.

A lone whole supported by a singular pillar.

I smile at the thought, but then direct Heiter to hurry ,adopting a matter of fact tone.

"Heiter. Do you want the food to get cold if it arrives before we do?"

He taps the table as if saying goodbye and walks over to the door.

With that opened it is a straight path to my room, well as straight as anything is in the cottage.

I walk past the intersection, taking the stairway up before taking a left and finishing the other half.

The staff hallway is something we quickly pass though as we have no business with them, well perhaps Mr. Clutch, but he is another story.

We round the bend at the end of the hallway. Wait. Has.

I call out to Heiter.

"Heiter stop playing with all the furniture as we pass it."

He has been running his hand across the wall this whole time.

"What if something fell over?"

He looks at me and then places his hands behind his back as he continues onward up to my room.

"Wait Heiter."

He stops right outside.

"There is something I haven't covered with you. Someone like you need to always knock before entering my room. Also go get changed into something else I need to take some time to clean up. When your done wait outside my room and if the food come by don't eat it!"

With that potential disaster averted I walk back into my room and lock the door.


Now…

I walk over to the bed , take a knee and slide Myrtenaster's case under the bed.

I remove my scroll from my jacket before placing it on the desk at the end of my bed. I unbutton my jacket and then slip out of it, then place it over the back of one of the two chairs, but pick it up again as I remember myself not being clean before putting this on.

Unclean clothes go in the laundry basket. I walk back toward the door with the item in hand. I then round the corner on my bed and head to the wall near the head.

The proper place for unclean things in my room is either the trash or the laundry basket. I look at the two white baskets, one with a black L and the other a Black T on the top. I reach out and press down on the lid of the laundry basket,which flies open once I release the pressure of my hand, to deposit the jacket.

With that I leave the top open as I begin to get out of my white dress, a task that requires me to pull it off and over my head , the silk stockings come of next as well as my undergarments. These too, go into the laundry basket as they won't be fit to wear once I am cleaned properly.

Ok now… I walk back alongside the wall with my black patent leather Mary Janes in my hand to the armoire in the opposite corner.

I open it and push aside some of the clothes until I settle on a simple blue nightgown. I trade the item with my shoes, taking the nightgown off its hanger and placing the shoes inside.I then walk to the door opposite my bed, between the armoire and table near the window.

I open the door and walk into the bathroom. I glance around a moment and then hang the nightgown on the inside of the door after I close it.

I walk over into the hot tub, I lie down and input a few commands into a screen on the wall. Slowly the water begins to surge at a preset temperature as it slowly adjusts the temperature. The hot tub is quite large though so it takes just a little bit of time to fill to a point where it would go over my legs, but then again. I re position myself so that I'm sitting and my feet hang over the central pit where the water is currently pooling as it flows past me. I adjust myself on the waterproof layering that serves as a cushion.

The water rises past my legs and settles around my collarbone. At this point the water begins to not fill, but circulate and mix in various ointments and all purpose care products. Somewhere in there is Sea Shine Shampoo. The water begins to take on a slight pink color as the products mix according to my instructions in my pre plan.

The water swirls,circulating as the current brushes against me and cleans my body. I relax inside the pool, content to let the machinery finish its cycles as I have no worries about any of the remaining ick as it gets cleaned, then cycled out of the hot tub. I lean further into the hot tub and stair at the ceiling, letting my hair soak in the water.

I can feel it flow and turn with the current as it adjusts.

I take a breath and let myself sink further still as I kick my legs out and float. I run my hands through my hair briefly to enjoy the sensation, but stop to let the machine continue to treat it.

My body begins to sink as I close my eyes exhale slightly, but just enough to sink a few inches below the surface and rest on the cushion. I make a few gentle kicks with my legs as I let them stay straight over the hole in the middle.

The current is like a whirlpool, but bent and restrained to service my needs and follow my instructions that I left it. The water flows around and between my extremities, over and under my body in shifting patterns that reach every corner of my body to massage and treat it.

I enjoy the sensation as I let it go over my face as I calmly hold my breath. The addition of the various agents had turned it from one of running water to an experience of one rubbing cream, yes a nice and soft cream was being rubbed in by hands only nature could provide in the form of water. The softness refreshed my own skin and finally left me feeling revitalized from the experience as my body took it all in.

I slowly began to feel a slight need for air so I propped myself and pushed my body into a position where I could sit. The water still ran up to my collarbone, but it had already done everything I wanted, the rest of my time was spent in leisure. When my body had made contact with the air that too felt refreshing as my skin enjoyed the wonderful sensation after being revitalized.

I ran a hand behind my head and brought a lock of hair around my shoulder as I ran my hand through and inspected it. It looked and felt like fine silk. The dandruff, the oil, the sweat, anything irksome had been removed and by bringing that out and giving it proper treatment my hair now showed its true brilliance.

I suppose that even my own hands are incapable of bringing this out, but nature's hands are a different story. When brought to bear it showcases the proper image befitting of a schnee that few in the land can hope to match in fairness.

I smile and decided to reach out toward the screen. A few commands later the waters begin to recede as I sit still. The waterline slowly falls, from my collarbone, to my waist, then into the hole where it shortly disappears.

The water may be gone, but the air blows gently for a few minutes as it shifts with jets that gently dry me off. The sensation tingles and tickles and is certainly pleasant.

Once my body is fully dried I stand and head over to the door, where I grab the blue sleeping gown and with a flourish don the garment.

There. I grab the hangar, which I take back into my room before making a right to the armoire where I return it.

I walk to the door, compose myself and open the door.


Heiter is in his own set of white silk pajamas.

"Come on in~."

I turn around and walk back in, but stop to look at Heiter who seems to be just staring.

"?"

I cock my head to the side as I look at him.

I spin around and look at him as I place my hands on my hip.

"Well?~"

My partner makes a motion with his hands as he centers them and then shoots them out up to the ceiling with a jolt as he spreads his hands outward.

I'll need to ask what that meant sometime, but I'll take that as a sign of approval.

"I see, well don't just stand there now.~"

I beckon him over and walk to the table.

As I pass the desk at the end of my bed I gracefully retrieve my scroll from the table and a binder from the chest below.

I then take a walk around the table and sit in the chair with the wall to my back.

Heiter sits as he looks at me expectantly from across the table.

"We shouldn't have to wait much longer. This way the food will be fresh."

"However i'm not one to waste time so... "

I open the binder I bought and passed it to Heiter.

"Keep that. Make spare time to write the letters we have practiced so far. In the future I don't plan on having you repeat your ABCs aside for drills. When I ask you to write on your own , use this and write however many pages I asked for."

Heiter browses through the empty pages and then flips to the front.

"You have three pens to use there, make sure to retract the pen when you're not writing."

He nods and looks at them before closing the binder and looking at me.

"Work on that in the future, once you can read a whole other world opens up to you. We schnee's do keep a large collection of books in the library. Those will help you once you start getting homework as some questions need to found with some research. This free time we have currently is the exception, not the norm. If you want a better chance at opening your schedule then you need to frequently perform well. Also you-"

Knock knock

I stop and exhale as I right my posture.

"Enter."


"Young miss."

A maid. Well at least it's not that annoying blonde.

She is carry a large tray with something I can't make out from where I sit.

The sound of her shoes against the carpet are the only thing I hear as he walks over and then sets down two plates of the same dish.

"Salmon patties with seasoned mayo, a salad, and a glass of milk for both of you."

She bows and then stands straight before leaving."Young miss I will leave the tray outside the room so as to not have the staff disturb you."

"Very well, leave me."

Once the door closes again I look at the food.

A single warmed Salmon pattie with a cold salad and seasoned mayo for each of us.

I reach over for the napkin and place it across my lap,before then taking the fork and knife. With one fork I pin the pattie before cutting some of it off into pieces with the knife. I then set the knife aside at the edge of the plate and begin to eat.

A hint of lemon… oh is that honey?

I slowly, but methodically go through my dish, eating equal portions of my salad and pattie.

"Heiter, use your knife, not the edge of a fork."

I glance over at him occasionally having to correct him.

"Keep your elbows off the table when eating."

He makes mistakes so it is best I catch them now.

The milk is the one thing I slowly consume

Thankfully I don't have to correct Heiter about keeping his mouth closed when full of food

Huh.

I guess I will never have to correct him about talking with food either.

The food does go down though and I wait for Heiter to finish. I clean my face just in case I got something, thankfully it was an unnecessary action.

"The future is likely to have several bumps for you , but work hard and keep with it. As I said earlier this lax schedule of ours will change in the near future so prepare yourself."

Heiter, finished with his meal, mirrors my earlier actions with the napkin as he nods.

"Alright then I think ahhh" I stretch a moment." I think it is time for bed so!"

I pick up my dish and walk as Heiter begins to follow me out.

"Let us put our dishes away."

I pull the door open and off to the left is a tray currently standing on its legs. I place my dish and glass on it and shortly after Heiter does as well.

We walk back into my room and I walk to my bathroom again, but glance at Heiter.

"Go back to your room once you get your binder. I plan on heading to sleep after I clean up."

With that I walk inside and head to a sink. I step on the stool in front of it and then reach for my Shi-nee and toothbrush.

I turn the faucet and have the water run as I unfasten the cap and squeeze the toothpaste onto my brush before letting the water run over it.

Brushing my teeth takes a few minutes as I need to get all of my teeth, my gums, and even my tongue as I address each section of my mouth.

Once I spit into the sink I repeat the entire process two more times before being satisfied.

I then set aside the Shi-nee and my toothbrush in their crystal cup before turning around and making for the bed.

I walk alongside the window side and begin to hear a patting sound originating from the ceiling and my window.

I brush aside the curtain and note that the rain had arrived.

Hmm.

I carry myself to the bookshelf where I remove a thick white book.

It is a fine book with artistic designs on the cover.

A bookmark marks a place a fourth of the way through the pages.

I jump in the bed and reach for a button. Once I press it the lights dim in my room and only a soft glow is comes from the lights as if they were far off stars.

A light casts its rays from above me as a it illuminates the area immediately around me in the bed.

I open the book and reach for a blue pen that rests on a shelf above my head rest.

I begin to read the newest pages.

"January 9th:

Dear Diary:

Something different happened today.

A boy came to the estate. I named him Heiter after his little performance upon greeting me. It seems he will be staying for awhile. Who is he? He seems simple,but elicited an unusually energetic response from me. Anybody who enters work at a Schnee property has to go through some hoops. He lacks the usual mannerisms of such a person.

Oh he is mute as well. I admit that is a first for me. I would like to think myself educated, but I didn't know it was possible to be unable to speak.

He seems to be exceptionally lazy. He fell asleep during singing practice!

I wonder what Mr. Clutch is thinking. Tomorrow I'll arrange breakfast and try to learn about him slowly.

January 10th

Dear Diary:

My plan to get Heiter to breakfast worked, but then the doctor wanted him for a check up and after that everything was out of my hands.

We went to the White Rose and Heiter underwent 'tests'. Normally tests occur off site as I understand it?

I met a director… Director Jude. No idea who she is, but she acted as I would expect, perhaps slightly friendly. No idea if that is the usual currying of favor or just natural charisma.

When Heiter finished in the dynamics room I took him to the Watchtower. I showed him the statues and some of the surrounding from up top. Oh by the way he has no sense of danger! I came up the staircase to see him practically begging for something to happen. I stopped him , but I should keep an eye on him in the future.

I studied the basics on sign language while I had him read , but went to the managerial office to talk with after he called for me.

Apparently my schedule is undergoing changes and the one I submitted (forgot to mention that to yesterday). The schedule was partially accepted and I then went to the white rose to meet the instructor. He will be taking Heiter to Flachland. I.. originally thought it was beneath me, but after seeing Heiter's reaction to the idea I decided to join them. I just need to bring it up tomorrow morning."

I sigh.

"January 11th

Dear Diary:

I made preparations, but I didn't get to go with Heiter. Turns out I was a distraction. I sat here and read most of my day on aura. I learned aura has a two factors. A physical and mental. The physical is straightforward, but the mind allows for one to excel. I decided to work toward developing a disciplined mind as that road is something i have already worked towards considering my upright upbringing.

Heiter returned with a chessboard. We played briefly. Heiter is good, yet bad. If he wins any pieces it's usually with a straightforward move that lacks premeditation.

I showed him my weapon and explained dust to him. Turns out he is clueless about several things. Part of who he is I suppose. Well currently.

We went to the gym and worked out. First time in some time that I have been there. We went through stretches, a workout, some running, and then more stretches. OH about the clueless nature of Heiter. He apparently just keeps running till he drops.

We went through more writing lessons inside the watchtower and then came back to the cottage. It seems the current method is working and Heiter is learning to write. I also decided to teach him Vale Royal Sign Language.

I got a chance to spend some time in the hot tub for once instead of the shower. Oh right I apparently took everything with me when I stopped practicing at the gym. That was remedied, as was a certain issue about a key. Remember to ask about that tomorrow. Aside that these past few days have been quiet relaxing, mentally at least. Going at my own pace even partially has been a rare treat, although honestly I almost went mad this morning when I didn't know what to do.

The memo from these past few days would be that things don't always go as planned, but it works out, despite discomforts."

I finish writing and close the book. The pen goes back onto the overhead shelf ,where a pen holder receives it.

I move from where I sat in the bed and got out briefly to put the diary back into its spot at the bottom of my bookshelf.

I then crawl back into the bed and relax as sleep begins to take hold of me since it's now that time. The roof and the slight sound of rain see me off.

I enjoy the sensation of the sheets against my limbs briefly, but then settle in for the night.


A/N

Ello all!

That does it for me. Honestly don't expect a chapter this large again as I prefer having frequent releases. I do want to celebrate writing this chapter though as I now know I can do this if I wanted. it seems when I moved the doc to fanfic it likes to lose names so I may have missed that.

I did like writing a novel length chapter though!

Hope you have a pleasant day!

Till next time!