CH.3: Black Jack
That lion's pride
That mind of a wolf
That night when their fates so thunderously collided
Usually, when waking up in an unfamiliar place, someone is to be afraid, perhaps confused. Well, aside from the fact that Estellise is not normal, she is also quite familiar with her surroundings. The cool floors, the calm air, the comforting darkness, and the smooth moonlight. All of it was exactly as it was in her dreams. Even her cat-like ears and cute tail were exactly where they were in the dream.
The questions going through her mind wasn't where she was. Her question was why she was brought to this place. She didn't fall asleep, that she knew very well. She clearly remembered the Nightingale and its fabulous light. Why?
"Trrchee," A familiar cry brought her attention upwards. The Nightingale sang once more, circling over Estellise's head to catch her attention. When it was sure she was focused on it, the glowing bird darted towards a shaded hallway.
Without really thinking, Estellise got to her feet and ran after the strange Nightingale. While she ran, Estellise noticed how her body felt much lighter than usual. On top of that, she felt as if she has seen this dark hallway before. This mystery was put aside when the Nightingale stopped flying and perched itself atop an old Grandfather clock. "What are you trying to show me?" Estellise asked, looking around curiously. If her dreams were any clue, then she should be lighting the beacons of the angelic statues in the castle.
"Trr, trrchee." The Nightingale sang once more, and flapped its wings.
Estellise blinked in confusion before her eyes fell to the clock. Did it want her to look at the clock? Perhaps it wants her to touch it? Deciding to experiment, Estellise started with examining the grandfather clock. The design seemed aged, yet well kept. The hands seemed to move in time, and she is sure it will bellow when the hour comes.
The Nightingale prodded again with its song. Estellise figured it wanted her to do more than just look at the clock. Reaching out, Estellise touched the grandfather clock and yelped at the results. With the faintest touch, the clock clicked and split into three sections. Mechanically, the clock folded back, revealing a passage way.
Singing once more, the Nightingale took off into the passage, and revealed a staircase with its light. Estellise quickly followed without a second thought. It felt natural to follow the strange bird, but why?
The dark passageway seemed to go on for miles, as Estellise continued to follow the light of the Nightingale. She took another step into the passageway and felt herself fall through the shadows. In moments, she found herself in a strange chamber with the Nightingale circling above. "Ouch," She frowned at the pain in her knees and elbow.
"Trrchee!" The bird sang again and perched atop a strange structure in the middle of the room.
Estellise looked around curiously. The room astonished her. Unlike the hallway above, she has never seen anything like the design of this chamber. The floor is a deep crimson, with gold trim running along the walls. The walls themselves are made of a dark marble, and a thin layer of mist hung around the room. Coupled with the strange crystals forming in various places, Estelle could hardly contain herself. It's like something from a book.
"Trr, trr!" The Nightingale called for her attention. Estellise looked to the bird and gasped at the structure it chose as a perch. It was a flat slab of stone with a person stuck to it with a strange, red substance.
Captivated by the strange scene, Estellise approached the strange structure. Her quick wit told her that it is some sort of seal, and the person inside it is one of two things: an old royal, or a dangerous criminal. She touched her fingers to the red substance. It felt like wax, but firm like metal. "How interesting." She looked up to get a better look at the person and gasped. Emerald eyes wide with surprise, she put her hands to her mouth.
A waterfall of black hair hung from a pale, bowed head. The person's face is relaxed in slumber (or death but Estellise didn't want to think of that). Estelle knew the person's strikingly handsome features instantly. It is the man from her dreams.
"Its you." Estellise whispered in shock. For what felt like hours, she simply looked up at his slumbering face. Surrounded by his long, black hair, she could feel her cheeks warm at the sight. Her heart gave a hard beat, as if to snap her out of the trance. Feeling that he should be free, she tried to pry the red substance off of him. However, it held strong, as if by magic, to the slab imprisoning him.
After a few more useless attempts, Estellise huffed. "How am I supposed to break him out?" She craned her neck and frowned up at him. She wanted to see his eyes. Overcome by such a foreign feeling, she reached up, just to touch him. Lightly, her fingertips brushed his cheeks.
Boing
"H-Huh!?" Estellise looked up past his face and to the top of his head. Out of the river of black hair, two, long, black bunny ears had sprung out. The shocked girl blinked, not believing what she is seeing. "E-Ears?" The moment she spoke, she leaped back when the red substance began to crack. With a thud, the young man dropped from his cracked restraints, followed by a simple sword.
Finally, the story can begin
Estellise looked up when she heard the strange voice. A chill through her body, and the shrill cry of the Nightingale, alerted Estelle to the presence of another. Looking around, Estellise found that the mist has turned black and is swirling around in three places.
Keep faith, you have alerted the darkness to your arrival
"The darkness?" Estellise echoed and kept her eyes on the swirling black fog. A trio of low growls coupled the fog taking shape. The now frightened girl stepped backwards, nearing the motionless body of the man in her dreams. The shadows took on thin, dog-like bodies, with long claws and sharp, black teeth.
Estellise felt herself shiver at the deep plunge in the room's temperature, and shutter on the hungry gaze of the shadowed beasts. When she saw the beasts pounce towards her, she reached back anything she could use to defend herself.
"Azure Edge!" A strong voice cried out, as a wave of azure energy killed one shadow and blew the other two back. Estellise stared in shock when the owner of such an attack stepped in front of her.
A fine entrance, but can he overcome the guard of this prison?
At that moment, the remaining black mist swirled together into a larger cloud of fog. The new shadow took on the form of a large man with chains wrapped about his wrists and torso. With a loud roar, the large shadow barreled towards Estellies and her savior.
He turned and scooped Estellise up, "What a thing to wake up to." He muttered to himself and rolled out of the way of the giant. He released Estellise and rolled back towards the giant, stopping near its legs to slice at them. He struck the giant's calves twice before driving his fist into the wounds. As the giant screamed in pain, he leaped backwards. However, he forgot about his enemy's long reach, and received a club-like blow. The monster's large arm sent him flying into the wall, "Ack,"
Estellise flinched at the pained sound and rushed over to him, "A-Are you alright!?"
"That's what I get for taking a nap before a fight." He brushed off her concerned hands and stood up from the wall, "You might want to get out of here," He looked down at her with a smirk, "this might get a bit out of hand."
"No," Estellise shook her head, "I can't just leave you to fight alone. Allow me to help!" She looked at him with pleading eyes, and received a confused expression in return.
He looked around, a bit taken back by her response, "Okay," He looked at her with a smug smirk, "where's your weapon?"
"U-Umm,"
He was about to tell her to leave again, but instead shoved her aside when he saw the giant rush towards them once more. Much to his annoyance, the giant decided to pursue him right after it had hit the wall. He ducked under the massive fists of the giant, making sure to watch its hands in case it tried to grab him.
Estellise watched helplessly as he struggled against the giant. Without her father's knowledge, a few of their butlers had taught Estellise the basics of handling a sword. They figured it necessary in case someone tries to harm her in the future. What little training she received instilled the want of a weapon in this situation, "There must be something I can do." As if to answer her call, she felt a heavy tap at her foot.
Estellise looked down at saw a large chain slightly shifting at her feet. She followed the chain up to the giant and saw that it had wrapped itself around one of its legs in the struggle. An idea instantly struck her, but she had to rethink a part of it. She isn't nearly strong enough to trip the giant with the chain, "I need something sturdy."
From the side of the room, the once slumbering young man ducked under another fist. "This thing just isn't slowing down." He rolled between its legs and circled around it again, hoping to confuse the giant shadow. On his second time around, he spotted Estellise rushing towards his former prison, a large chain in her hands. "What is she up to?" He followed the chain up to the giant's leg and blinked. It's a good idea, he had to give it to her.
Estellise pressed her lips together and managed to wrap the chain around the base of the large stone slab. When she finished, she braced herself. Even with the extra leverage, it will take a solid grip to make the giant trip.
"Don't just stand there!" He taunted the giant and waved his sword. The large shadow growled before stomping after him. However, before it could take a large lunge for him, its foot got caught on its thick chain. It grumbled in shock before crying out, as it toppled over and slammed into the cold floor. "You're gone!" He leaped into the air, spun forward, and brought his sword down on the giant's head.
In a puff of smoke and a bright purple light, the giant vanished, leaving a pile of ashes in its place. Estelle dropped her knees at the sight, both from astonishment and relief. Her face remained agape until her lips slowly turned upwards into a victorious smile, "W-We finished it off!" She felt like leaping up with joy, but contained herself.
"I finished it off." He dusted off his shoulders and sighed. "Good idea about the chain though, you saved my skin." With a large smile, he approached Estelle and held up his open hand.
Confused, Estellise just stared at him. Did he want a hand shake? Then why is he holding it up close to his head? Deciding to experiment, Estelle poked his palm. She saw him give her a strange look before he chuckled. "W-What? Was that wrong?" She blushed when his chuckles became laughter.
He continued to laugh for a few more moments before shaking his head, "You really do meet all kinds." He gently took her hand and opened it. After he was sure Estelle was following, her slapped her palm with his, "There, call it a 'victory hand shake'."
A feeling of amazement flooded Estellise. Her emerald eyes dropped to her hand, as another smile grew on her face. "A victory hand shake,"
"Uh... yeah," He could hardly believe her reaction. You'd think she just found a jewel or something. "By the way," He spoke over his shoulder as he turned for the door, "my name's Yuri."
Estellise couldn't help but frown when she heard this. "The name I had for you was cuter." She mumbled under breath. Her eyes widened from their drooping state when she saw one of Yuri's black, rabbit ears twitch.
"Huh, you say something?"
"Uh n-no, I um," Estellise cleared her throat and bowed politely, "my name is Estellise, it's a pleasure to meet you Mister Yuri, and thank you for saving me."
Yuri looked around the room uncomfortably, "Alright, three things wrong with what you just said." He walked back over to her, "One, drop the 'mister' thing, it's just Yuri. Two, as I recall, you're the one who released me, and helped take down that giant, so thank you. Three," He paused to give her a playful smirk, "I'd rather call you Estelle."
"W-What did you-" Estelle put a finger to her lips, recalling the shortened version of her name, "Estelle," She blinked towards the ground, "Estelle,"
Yuri, oblivious to the state he had put her in, looked around the room again. "I wonder where he is. I doubt they caught him after it took them a whole day to even find me in this castle." He tapped his chin before shrugging, "Oh well, he'll turn up eventually." He sighed and turned to Estelle, "Hey, just what is a person like you doing in a place like this anyway?"
Estelle broke away from her examination of her new nickname and looked at Yuri, "I followed that little bird down here." She pointed towards the door, where the Nightingale is perched above the frame.
"Bird?" Yuri followed her gaze, but saw nothing, "What bird?"
"The one right above the door. It's hard to miss in this dark room." Estelle looked questioningly to Yuri. Is there something wrong with his eyesight?
Yuri shook his head, "I don't see a bird here Estelle."
"Trrchee!" The Nightingale sang. The sharp noise caused Yuri's ears to perk.
Dark eyes sharply looking around, Yuri quickly pieced the puzzle together. He slowly turned to Estelle, "You mean to tell me that you can see the Nightingale?"
"Yes," Estelle suddenly felt shy under his much heavier gaze, "is that a strange?"
Yuri slapped his forehead, "Why does my luck suck this bad?"
A/N: Now Yuri has joined our lovely Estelle, and the mystery of this tale is just beginning. What lerks in the shadows, and why was Estelle brought to such a place? So many questions and so many people to meet. Until next time, please drop a review. Thank you for reading!