Angry German: *walks in as France, turns to the reader* I worked all day to get zis done for you, my lovelies! *blows kiss, then turns back into Germany* Vhat just happened?
Roderich's voice could be heard from within the chambers. Ludwig sighed, I don't need him around, it's not like I've ever hurt anybody before… "Nein, ve'll get zhis over vith now," He called through the door. I don't need him nagging me about every single thing I do wrong. The doors were flung open, and all Ludwig could see was the silhouette of the new'sacrifice'. The door closed, and they were left in the dark room together
Using what little magic he knew—which he had learned from Valdemar during his time as a beast—Ludwig lit the candles of a candelabrum that sat on a table near his guest from across the room. Though still being in the darkness, Ludwig could now see the person whom Roderich had led into his chambers, and gasped.
"You…. You're a girl…" his voice was a whisper, barely audible, but it reached the ears of the young woman across the room from him regardless. "Uh… yeah… I know I'm the first girl to be chosen… You're not going to eat me, right? I mean, that's what Roderich said, but you—" She looked quite panicked, but at the last remark, Ludwig couldn't help but laugh. Every year, the person that was brought to him asked the same question—for good reason, of course, but still.
"Nein, I have no intention of eating you. I've never eaten somebody before, und I have no reason to start now." He suddenly felt quite nervous. He hadn't spoken to a girl other than Elizabeta in over seven years. This could be his chance. He fumbled over his words now. "You…er... Vell, I've never killed any of zhe… 'sacrifices' zhat zhe village has sent here… Zhey all just vork here as servants."
She looked confused now. "If they aren't dead… why don't you let them go back to the village?" Ludwig was at a bit of a loss for words. He knew why he didn't let them go, but telling her... it seemed selfish now. But, he did it to protect his own life; didn't that mean something? Of course, why would this girl care about the life of a monster like him? You took her from her family. You practically kidnapped her, because you wanted to protect yourself. Why would she care about your life at all?
He walked to the window now, and drew the curtains, and let her see what he looked like. This, he knew, would be sufficient to cause her to forget her question. "You…. You really are a monster…" She sank down to her knees, gaping at him all the while. His brow furrowed.
"Please, get up…" He approached her carefully, slowly, and she got up with a start, and he stopped. "…Turn around." Her eyes widened; she clearly did not believe that he wasn't going to kill her, no matter what he said. Getting impatient, he approached her again.
"Okay, okay, I'll do what you say!" She was practically sobbing now, and turned her back to him. There was a loud tearing sound; the sound of ropes being cut, and the girl's hands were free. When she turned around, Ludwig was sitting in a chair by the window, staring outside, his face turned away from her.
"Oh… Thank you…" She rubbed her wrists, and Ludwig pulled on a rope beside a second door in the room. Promptly, Roderich entered the room, "Vhat do you require, sir?" Without turning to face his servant, Ludwig replied, "Zhe new arrival…she'll vork in zhe kitchen," and he shooed him away with a quick wave of his hand. "Now, leave me." With a second motion of his hand, a gust of wind pushed the both of them out the door, which slammed shut behind them.
"Vell, zhat vasn't nice… Hmph!" Roderich turned to the girl. "So, vhat's your name, anyvay? I should at least know vhat you call you." She straightened now, turning to face him as well.
"Uh, it's Felicia… But you can call me Feli." She tried her best to smile. "So… I'll be working in the kitchen? That's what your master said… I do like cooking…"
"Just call him Ludvig. Zhat's his name, und he doesn't particularly care vhich you call him." Roderich began walking away. "I'll show you vhere you'll be sleeping, und zhen I'll show you vhere zhe kitchen is." After taking a quick glance back at the door, Felicia followed him.
Valdemar entered the chambers from the door behind Ludwig, but he just continued staring out the window.
"Vell, vell, zhis year it's a girl, is it? Maybe all hope is not lost, hm?" Valdemar's minor attempt at consolation was wasted on him, however, for Ludwig was having another inward battle with himself.
You are stuck like this forever! Don't even start thinking that she could ever love you. You're a monster, and you will stay a monster.
Embrace it. You could learn to love it, if you would just let it free. Let your thirst for blood be slaked. You don't need love, not when you have something better.
You're going to have to work a lot harder if you want to even TRY to win her affections. But really, what makes you think you could get her to care about you?
Forget about love, just kill her. You know you want to taste that sweet flesh. You can SMELL it.
A hand touched Ludwig's shoulder, and he turned about suddenly, eyes blazing, ready to kill.
"Ludvig? Are you alright?" Valdemar looked concerned, but Ludwig's eyes went back to normal. He turned back to the window, "Ja… I'm fine."
"If you're sure…" He was about to take his leave, but he faced the young man again. "Get her used to your presence, it'll make zhings easier. You have zhree years left, don't vaste zhem." And with that, he left, and the internal battle continued.
"He seems to think there's hope for you. You better hope he's right. The other one is gaining more power.
You don't understand. You can live just fine the way you are. It's not a curse, it's a gift. Freedom from humanity itself. You know you want it.
If you give in to it, you might as well just die now. You need to shape up quick if you're going to stand a chance.
Ludwig held his head in his hands. "Just go avay… go avay… Somebody… help me…" He sobbed silently.
Don't think it goes away so easily. It won't give up, it'll keep fighting. But I'm still here. Don't forget that.
When Ludwig next looked up, the sun was gone, and the room was dark. Standing, Ludwig lit the candelabra closest to him, and left his room. The mansion was silent, and dark, but he knew exactly where to go. Valdemar's room was close to his own, a plan designed by him after his transformation, after it started to consume this thoughts. He stopped at the door down the hallway, to the right of his room.
He didn't bother knocking; he opened the door and entered. The older man was at his desk, reading, and didn't notice-or didn't care-about the unexpected guest that had just arrived in his chambers.
"It's bothering you again, huh?" Valdemar saw Ludwig nod from the corner of his eye.
"It's been getting vorse… Und it only happens vhen you're alone." Again, Ludwig nodded. "I don't know vhat I can do for you. My suggestion is to keep from isolating yourself so much." Ludwig groaned. "I'm sorry, but zhat's about all you can do. I can't reverse this, or anyzhing zhat comes as a byproduct of it. I'm sorry, Ludvig, I've done everyzhing I know how to. I can help little bits, but I can't make a huge difference now. You vill have to do it on your own for zhe most part."
Sighing, Ludwig took a seat beside his mentor, advisor, and friend. "I don't vant to be alone. It terrifies me. I can't even describe it…" He stared at the floor.
Valdemar closed his book, and turned to Ludwig. "I can't get rid of it, but I can at least help you sleep." He searched a drawer of his desk, and pulled out a box. He opened it, the smell reached Ludwig's nose quickly, and he grimaced. Still, Valdemar rummaged through it and pulled out a small bag.
"Go brew zhis tea. It'll put you out quickly, und it von't have much time to bozher you." He handed him the teabag, and Ludwig took it, albeit reluctantly.
"Do I really have to drink it? I hate tea, und you know it." He looked at the bag with disgust.
"Vell, you could just listen to it all night and hope you don't go insane." Ludwig immediately got up and left, taking the candelabra, and stalked toward the kitchen.
After having been led to the kitchen, Felicia wondered if they ever ate in the place. It was spotless, as though it was never used. There was only one other person in the kitchen, a young woman, about her age, who was cleaning.
Why would she need to clean a kitchen that's already clean? She approached the young woman, and spoke in a small voice, "E-excuse me…?"
The woman turned around, taken aback at seeing another female in the mansion. "You… You can't be zhe person zhe village sent!" Roderich entered the kitchen then, "Ja, Elizabeta, she is. I alvays zhought zhey just chose males from the village, but apparently not." Feli saw that he was quite noticeably avoiding making eye contact with the other woman. Elizabeta sighed.
"I suppose… if it keeps Ludvig safe anozher year…" Wait, Ludwig? Why would he need protecting? Felicia voiced her thoughts.
"But wait… Why would… he… need to be protected? He's…" She felt like she should just keep her mouth shut.
"Just because he's transformed into a monster doesn't mean zhat he's safe. Quite zhe opposite. If zhe villagers knew, zhey vould come after him to kill him. Humans fear vhat zhey don't understand, und ve don't vant zhem to act on zhat fear vizh violence." Elizabeta turned back to the counter she was cleaning.
Though still quite confused by the whole situation, Felicia resolved to let it go, and instead asked her what her duties would be.
"Cooking, mostly. Ve don't need any more people to clean around here, und zhose of us zhat are good at cooking hate it, und zhose zhat like to cook are terrible at it. You can cook, right?"
Feli nodded. "And I really like cooking, too!" she said with a smile.
"Ahem…" Roderich apparently hadn't left yet. "I still have to show you vhere your chambers vill be." He began to depart from the kitchen, clearly expecting Felicia to follow him. After a moment, she did follow him, and behind her she heard Elizabeta's voice, "Hmph, vhat a snob."
Roderich led Felicia to the stairs in the foyer, and up the first set to the second floor, instead of the third floor where she had been shown to the Master. The room he showed her to, she noticed, was almost directly below Ludwig's on the third floor.
"Here is your room. You can get freshened up und go to vork vhen you feel ready. If zhere's anyzhing else you need, you can ask Elizabeta. You remember zhe vay to zhe kitchen, right?" She nodded. "Good, zhen I can leave you here to your own business." He walked back the way he came, then went upstairs. Feli opened the door slowly, and stepped inside.
The room was dark, except for a little light from the window across the room. She found a box of matches, and lit the candelabra, to take a look around. The room wasn't anything special, but it made Felicia think of home.
Right about that time, Lovina would be back home, probably crying because she thought Feli was dead. She imagined herself in her own room. Felicia saw her father enter, look around the room sorrowfully, then walk out with tears in his eyes. Next came Lovina, who stood in the middle of the room, staring. It was several minutes, and then Lovina burst into tears. Felicia reached out for her sister, she wanted to comfort her; tell her she was alive, everything would be alright. But her hand just went through the image she had conjured in her mind, and everything vanished.
Feli could no longer bring herself to stay in the room, and thus went back to the kitchen to start work.
"Back already? I vould have zhought you'd vant to freshen up a bit first." Elizabeta shrugged. "Vell, you have your vork cut out for you. Mostly, everybody just cooks for zhemselves, but vizh you around… Vell, altogezher, you have tvelve people to cook for."
Felicia nodded, "That shouldn't be too hard!" and smiled. She was, for the most part, back to her cheerful self. Her episode in her room was put out of her mind, and she got to work immediately, until a thought occurred to her.
"Wait…. Will Ludwig be eating, too?" She tried to imagine him eating at a table with everyone else.
"Ja, he vill, but he von't be coming down to dine. He stays in his room for zhe most part. If he's not in his room, he von't be in zhe mansion at all." Her voice was somber, it was plain that she cared about Ludwig very much, but Feli couldn't exactly tell in what way she cared about him. Hm… Maybe they're kind of like a brother and sister. She tried to ponder what kind of relationship they all had with Ludwig, when there was a horrible sound outside the kitchen.
"KESESESESE! Hey, Eliza, you in here?" A man with white hair entered the kitchen, and like all the others that day, was speechless when he saw Felicia. She knew instantly what he would say next.
"Yes, I'm a girl. Yes, I'm this year's 'sacrifice', so don't even say anything about it!" She took a deep breath. It was unlike her to get so irritated, especially over something so insignificant as the fact that she was the first female to be sent to them by the village.
Was it that insignificant? She was the first girl to be sent in the whole seven years that it had been going on. Felicia started to question why Ludwig was a monster. Seven years ago, everybody would gather in this mansion for parties and get-togethers. Everybody told stories about it. What changed, and why? Feli had no idea how somebody could go from being the talk of the town like that, and then being a hideous beast.
The man that had walked into the kitchen was still dumbfounded. He was not expecting such an outburst from a complete stranger.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to offend you…" He looked like he was afraid somebody was going to hurt him. Elizabeta looked like the one that might do just that. She was glaring daggers at him, and he just looked at the floor and blushed, his red cheeks standing out against his pale skin. "Really, I am sorry…" He backed up and left the kitchen in a hurry.
Feli turned to Elizabeta then. "What was that about? The way he looked at you…" Eliza turned away, "Just forget about it."
There was no more conversation between the two of them for the rest of the day. Servants, who had come from the village, occasionally entered the kitchen, and just as quickly, they left. Feli was too busy cooking for everybody to notice much about them, but when it was time for dinner, instead of going to eat in the dining hall with the rest of them, she stayed in the kitchen and ate by herself.
Felicia stayed in the kitchen until late that night, cleaning dishes, washing the counters, mopping the floor. She didn't mind it, and it helped to take her thoughts away from her troubles. She was so absorbed in her cleaning, that she didn't notice when the door to the kitchen opened.
Ludwig was irritated when he got to the kitchen and found out someone had left the candles lit inside. He opened the door and almost dropped the candelabra he was carrying.
Felicia was in the kitchen, cleaning, and Ludwig was internally debating whether he wanted to make the tea or just try to go to bed and pretend he was never there. Before he had a chance to decide, another internal debate started.
Hehehehe… Go ahead… Give in… You can't escape it forever! Stop trying to run away from it and just do it!
Ludwig could feel his willpower fading, his head felt light, and he struggled to fight back.
No! Don't do it! You still have a chance! It will be all over if you give in now, and you'll never have another chance!
He felt normal again, but he was afraid if he left the kitchen, it would return, stronger than before.
You're weak! If you give in, life will be peaceful again. Pure bliss.
It was quiet again, and Ludwig finally spoke, "Vhat are you doing in here this late?" Felicia jumped, dropping the mop she was holding. "Oh, Ludwig! I'm sorry, I didn't know you would be in here, I'll leave now!" She was about to head for the door, just behind Ludwig.
Feed.
"Nein!" Felicia stopped in her tracks; she'd barely taken a step. "It's fine… Just go ahead… I just vanted to make some tea." His heart beat faster; he wasn't sure if it was because of… it, or because he was alone with Felicia again.
"…How long have you been standing there?" Ludwig noticed that she was slowly backing up.
"I… I just got here… I vill leave, it's alright, I didn't need tea anyvay." He turned to leave, but he was rooted in place.
I said feed! You won't ignore me; I won't let you ignore me anymore.
"Are you alright, Ludwig?" Feli's voice was more fear than concern, but there was concern there. He could sense it.
Ludwig struggled to put the candelabra on the counter beside him, then took his head in his hands.
You can hold out against it. You're still human on the inside, don't let it consume you! He stood up straight now, or at least as straight as one can stand up with the stature of a wolf.
"I'm fine. Please, don't vorry about cleaning, just go to bed." His eyes showed his sincerity; however, Felicia showed reluctance to comply, due to Ludwig's close proximity with the door.
"I could make the tea for you…" Ludwig had forgotten what he was even in there for, and looked at the teabag he was holding. "Oh… Ja, zhat vould be nice." He tossed the bag to her, fully aware that she wouldn't allow him to approach her, and she started to boil some water.
Ludwig turned to leave, "I'll be in my room. Vhen you're done, just bring zhe tea und leave it outside zhe door, alright?" He left without waiting for a response; he was used to his word never being questioned, and he wasn't about to change that now. He went back to his room, knowing that his orders would be carried out, and she would bring the tea to him when it was done.
As soon as he was alone in his room, though, it was back.
Why don't you listen to me? You've made your first transformation; you might as well go all the way!
If you allow it to win, you'll lose your humanity, and you'll never get it back.
There was a knock at the door, and the sound of footsteps receding. When Ludwig couldn't hear anything again, he opened the door, and picked up the tray left there. He could see her walking down the stairs from over the banister that overlooked the front foyer. When she was out of sight, he went back into his room to drink the tea. The tea she made for him.
Angry German: *cries* I wrote half of this without CanaDERP being there to fangirl over it! It was incredibly depressing, but I made it through and finished it somehow!
CanaDERP: *pats AG* I'm sorry, Angry German! I had to go to a baby shower full of people who hate me! ;A; If I could have, I definitely would have stayed to read it with you! ;A;
Angry German: I know you would have rather stayed with me, CanaDERP. *wipes away a single tear* I missed you so much. The highlight of my day was when you came back and I got to show you the rest of this chapter, and you fangirled all over it.
CanaDERP: AG, I fangirl over just about everything you write. XD YOU WRITE THINGS WHICH AMUSE AND ENTERTAIN ME, AND YOU WRITE THEM SO AMAZINGLY. *weeps and hugs AG while simultaneously admiring her PruCan mouse cursor*
Angry German: Erghh... Get off of me. *tries to push her away* I suddenly don't miss you anymore...
CanaDERP: *laughs maniacally and derps atop AG's head* Well, anyway...how'd you like this chapter? I, personally, loved it-Feli and Ludwig meeting, the tension, the possibilities...OH, THE POSSIBILITIES! *leaps off of AG's head and spins around happily*
Angry German: *facepalm*