Author's Note: Onto chapter 12 and probably fluffies. We'll just have to see how this plays out. STORY HOOO!
The first thing he felt upon regaining partial consciousness was a painful throbbing in his abdomen. Beyond that, was the pain in his back and the back of his head that he couldn't quite remember how he had received. Groaning, he blearily opened his eyes and attempted to sit up but a hand on his chest easily arrested his movement. Before he could voice his displeasure a voice he recognized spoke. "Be still, master, you are still hurt ever after my sister and I treated your wounds." a woman spoke. Turning his bleary gaze toward the source of the voice, he blinked a few times to refocus his eyes on the woman next to him. Recognizing Riku and seeing the Elf maid Miku standing behind her, he allowed some of the tension in his body to release itself. "The vampire?" he asked. "In the infirmary and healing. Though it will be some weeks before she will be allowed to leave. Apparently, the damage done was…extensive." she replied keeping her voice neutral though all she wanted to do was shout to the world about the little menace being taken down a peg or ten.
Andrew nodded his head, he wasn't really surprised, the M6D Magnum was a beast of pistol. Capable of, if you were fortunate enough, killing hunters in a single shot, so now he wasn't really surprised that it had both taken her arm off and that it would take so long to heal. Replacing all the bone and blood vessels that had been vaporized by the Semi-Armor piercing High-Explosive round, even for a vampire, was going to be a drawn-out process. In all actuality, he was slightly surprised that she was expected to make a full recovery in time, though she probably owed that to her vampire origins more than anything else. Say what you will about them, but they were resilient fuckers he'd give them that.
He sighed then turned his attention to the other elf in the room. Noticing his gaze, she instantly averted her eyes to the floor, nervously waiting for him to speak. "What is your name?" he asked. "Miku." she responded. He nodded, he had thought that was what Issa had called her but he hadn't been paying much attention after the initial nod from the man. "Your relation to Riku?" he queried. "My twin sister." she answered. He nodded again, then his train of thought halted as her words fully digested in his brain. 'Twin sister' she had said. He allowed his mind to wander at that and a perverse grin almost split his face, but with a mighty force of will Andrew was able to keep it off.
Shaking his head to clear the last of his perverted thoughts he turned his attention back to the two Elves. "How long have I been out and how long am I going to be bedridden for?" he asked. "Only a few hours have past since your spar, and the family physician declared that you shouldn't be up until at least tomorrow." Miku explained dipping her head. Andrew nodded then proceeded to throw his comforter from his body and swing himself up to a sitting position at the edge of his bed. The response was both immediate and expected, Riku who was closest attempted to gently but firmly arrest his movement and get him back in bed while Miku made a small noise of complaint in her throat and stepped forward. A sharp glare from Andrew froze the Elves in place.
"I've been confined to a bed for far longer than I want to think about, so I'm going to get up, get dressed and spend the day in the library." he said forcefully. When the women flinched at his tone and bowed their heads Andrew felt a twinge at their reactions though didn't say anything. He simply nodded, stood and dressed himself though it took an extra few minutes due to his ribs protesting some of his movements. Once dressed he motioned for one of the Elves to lead him to the library. A brief glance between the two and Miku bade him to follow her while her sister attended to his room.
As Andrew followed Miku he allowed his eyes to do a once-over of her body, and mentally compared her to her sister. While Riku had the larger bust Miku had wider hips and a plumper derriere. Of course, he didn't mean to imply that Miku's bust didn't exist they were just almost noticeably smaller than her sister. On the opposite side of that coin Riku had almost noticeably slimmer hips and a less plump rear compared to her sister. Though it didn't subtract from her attractiveness, of course now that he thought about it they complimented each other. Covering each other's 'deficiencies' though how you could call those any type of deficiency he had no idea.
Shaking his head to clear it of his comparison, he returned his attention back to their surroundings. Mentally going over the route from his room to where they were now a question popped into his head. Still keeping an eye out to help memorize their route so he wouldn't become reliant on his maids to lead him around the estate. "Miku, beyond the obvious, do the maids serve any other purpose here?" he asked. Not expecting her Master to talk to her, there was an almost unnoticeable hitch in her step to belay her surprise. Catching her misstep but not commenting, Andrew waited for her answer.
"We Elves are taught by our families in our younger years basic healing magic, though that is mostly just channeling our innate magic to repair damage to tissue. Beyond that we only learn our basic duties expected from maids, it is up to our individual Masters to 'teach' us beyond that." she explained. Though she couldn't see, Andrew nodded at her explanation though he did have a frown on his face. 'So, I've essentially been given a pair of women with a beyond basic understanding of healing that amounted to brute-forcing their own power into others with the command to heal.' A grin then split his face. 'He had been given a pair of literal blank slates.' he thought.
As Andrew began scheming on how to most effectively use this massive boon that was given to him they arrived at the library. Waving her off with instructions to inform anyone who wanted to find him of his current location, he set to work finding books on Elven physiology and abilities. He had plenty of studying ahead of him.
Several hours later he was sitting in a high back chair with a few books spread across a side table to the right of his chair. A pen and paper with notes and observations was on his lap along with the most recent book to fall under his gaze. Andrew's notes were separated in two columns labeled Miku and Riku respectively. Between his reading and observations of the two Elves he now had a basic idea on how to effectively put his maids to use. And if Mizore was open to allowing 'additions' to their eventual bed then he wasn't going to complain overly much. After all, he had to put up a token resistance to hide just how fine with the idea he was.
A knock on the door brought him out of his musings as he was going over possible equipment lists for the Elves. Turning his gaze to the door with a raised eyebrow, he debated not saying anything and seeing what would happen then sighed. "Come in." he said. The door opened, and Kahlua stepped through, still dressed as regally as the day before. Setting his 'project' aside Andrew stood and turned his full attention onto his new sister. He shook his head slightly at that and knew he was going to have to get used to the fact that he now had sisters.
Returning his attention back to the woman before him he raised an eyebrow "How can I help you?" he asked. Kahlua's gaze swept over Andrew to the books and papers and a cute look of confusion overcame her face. "What are you working on?" she asked as she stepped forward, picking up one of the books. "A way to make my servants more useful." he answered. She tilted her head as she turned back to Andrew, book still in hand. "They are not useful to you? I could speak with our father about having them replaced if you wish." Andrew twitched, he had a fairly good idea about how they would be replaced, and he would carry that guilt for the rest of his days if he allowed that to happen.
Andrew took a deep breath to sooth himself "Thank you, however that will not be necessary." he said with a slight edge to his voice. She nodded though whether she acknowledged the slight reprimand in his voice for what it was or not wasn't really his problem. "I suppose I should have chosen my words with a little more care. While they are useful in the domestic field I am looking to expand their abilities beyond that." he explained. She nodded again but Andrew wasn't sure if she understood or was just humoring him.
After a moment of standing in silence, Andrew cleared his throat "Was there something else you came to see me about?" he asked. Kahlua started, having been studying Andrew's notes rather intently and partially forgetting he was present. Setting his notebook down, she smoothed imaginary creases in her dress and turned her full attention back to Andrew. "Yes actually, I came to get to know my new brother. We haven't had a chance to speak since you arrived." she stated. One of Andrew's eyebrows rose but conceded the point, he motioned to an open chair near the one he occupied.
Once they were seated Andrew figured that something to munch on during their talk would be appropriate. Remembering what Riku had told him about the collars she and Miku wore, he decided to make use of them. "Riku." he called. There was a rustle of cloth and she was at his side, Andrew was barely able to suppress his flinch at her sudden appearance. As it was, he twitched slightly and took a moment to calm his sudden jump in heartrate. "Yes master?" she intoned. Deciding to question her later about her sudden appearance, he looked over at her "Bring us something light, with coffee for me. Black with no sugar." he said before turning his gaze back to Kahlua. Understanding what he was silently asking her she addressed the maid. "Tea." she said simply. Riku bowed her compliance and just as silently as she had appeared she left to the kitchens.
After her departure, Andrew turned his full attention onto Kahlua "Ask any question you wish, be aware, however, that I reserve the right to not answer one or more of them." he said. She nodded her understanding as she crossed her legs and got comfortable in the chair she was sitting in. "What do you like to do for fun?" she asked. Andrew felt his eye twitch, then sighed, he didn't know why he had thought that this was going to be a serious conversation. Issa had told him that she had the mental capacity of a child, so he should have expected her to ask him something like that. But then again, the question did have merit, what did he do for fun? He could hardly tell her that telling raunchy jokes and poking fun at other people's problems were just a few of the things him and his squad mates had done to pass the time between operations and battles. So, he simplified "Hanging out with friends." he said, then thought to what he had been doing the last couple of days when he wasn't bedridden or fighting brats. "I also enjoy reading." he allowed.
She scrunched up her face "I only like books with pretty princesses and pictures in them. And only then when Daddy sits and reads to me." she said. Andrew was not surprised, when his sister had been younger she had only liked the books with pictures and princesses and pictures of princesses. "What's your favorite food?" she asked. Their conversation followed that vein for the next few hours, swapping likes and dislikes and other such innocuous information. At some point Riku returned with a platter of small sandwiches, and two cups one tea, the other coffee. Conversation tapered off as they ate, sitting in relative silence as they methodically cleaned the platter.
Once it was cleaned and removed, the two sat in a relatively comfortable silence before Kahlua asked her next question. "Earlier you said that you were working on a way to make your servants more useful, more useful how?" she asked. Andrew was quiet for a moment, debating with himself on how he should answer her question, if he should answer it at all or just give a bullshit answer. He sighed, there was no real point in lying to her nor just not answering, so mind made up he straightened in his chair. "While their domestic use is most likely unparalleled, I am more concerned with making them more…combat oriented." he explained.
Kahlua tilted her head while her face scrunched up in confusion. "Why would you need to make them more combat oriented? You did manage to defeat my sister yesterday after all…even if I would have preferred you not maiming her." she asked with the final part said under her breath. "Yesterday was a fluke, if she had hit me any harder she would have caved my side in and killed me. I am only human after all." he brushed her question off easily, it was the truth after all. He watched as her eyes widened as he admitted his race to her "Did Issa not tell you that I was human?" he asked. At her shaking head he sighed, 'Really Issa? You're not going to inform your daughters that I'm human?' he asked himself in exasperation.
He shook his head then refocused his attention on Kahlua "Now that you know you understand why I would want my servants to have combat capabilities, right?" he asked. "Yes." she said simply. They sat for a moment before she stood, brushing her skirt down to smooth out any wrinkles. Andrew stood as she spoke "Excuse me, it seems that I need to have a conversation with our father." she said as she curtsied and left the library. Andrew nodded, when she was gone he sighed then slumped into his chair. He ran his hand down his face as he contemplated his situation.
Now was as good a time as any so he called his maids to him. He sat for a moment until they were at his side, heads slightly bowed hands clasped in front of them. Andrew stood from his chair and turned to them, looking them up and down "Do either of you have any weapons training?" he asked as he walked around them. The two shared a glance of confusion, wondering what relevance the question had for them. Knowing that their master was waiting for an answer, Riku spoke first. "Our father taught us where to stick a knife if we wanted a quick kill." she answered. Andrew turned his gaze from Riku to Miku, silently asking for conformation which she gave in a small nod.
'So, they're practically blank slates, perfect.' he thought. "Do either of you own any clothes beyond your maid uniform?" he asked. They both shook their heads in the negative, which wasn't all that surprising all things considered. "Ok I'll get some work out clothes for the two of you then you are going to join me in my morning workouts." he said. Andrew expected the looks of confusion on their faces and had already thought out his response to said confusion. "While the two of you are good maids, I have no use for your 'other' talents. Therefore, I will be teaching you skills that will be useful to me." he explained. A brief look of…something crossed their faces, but it was gone before he could identify what it was.
The sisters were shocked, though they hid it well. It was not unheard of for masters to 'customize' their servants to their own personal tastes but this…this was different. If their master was being sincere he was going to teach them to fight. To be useful in other areas rather than domestic chores and 'activities'. It was a liberating thought, if he followed through.
Andrew turned from the sisters and began cleaning up his work area. "Riku I need you to see if Lord Issa is free at some point today." he said. Riku nodded, then bowed herself out, closing the door quietly as she left. "Miku, I need you to send a message to the headmaster. Tell him that I need two full kits, he'll understand." he continued. "Yes master." she said as she bowed and left. Absentmindedly nodding to her acknowledgement, Andrew continued gathering the books he had used for his research and replacing them on the shelves. Once done he gathered his pages of notes and left the library.
Meandering through the halls though on a rough path that would lead back to his room, Andrew lost himself in his thoughts. If he was going to make his servants into credible combatants in any short amount of time he was going to need to hit the ground running. The first day would be about finding their limits, both mental and physical. After that he would be able to start pushing them to surpass those limits, getting them used to the idea of physically intensive activities that didn't involve the bedroom. Then once Mikogami got him the two kits he would be able to start drilling them in weapons handling.
He smacked himself, he had forgotten to ask if either of them had a greater proficiency in their innate healing magic. If one of them did he would have to enroll her into some type of corpsman course to teach her how to heal the human way and some basic triage. After all, it wouldn't do to have her exhaust herself using her magic when a piece of gauze would work just as well if not better. Oh well, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon so he would have plenty of opportunities to ask.
Finding himself at the hall to his room he noticed a woman outside his door. She was a maid by the dress she wore but he didn't recognize her. "Can I help you?" he asked as he approached. She nodded "My mistress, Moka, wished for you to join her for tea." she answered. "Now?" he asked. The maid nodded causing him to sigh softly to himself. "Very well, let me put my stuff away then lead the way." he acquiesced. Entering his room and placing the papers on his desk he followed Moka's maid from his room through a different set of hallways until he found himself outside a rather unremarkable door other than the plaque with Moka's name on it.
The maid knocked on the door, opened it slightly to announce him then opened the door farther after receiving an acknowledgement from within. Stepping through the door and past the bowed head of the maid he entered Moka's room. It was just as he had expected, pink was everywhere, but it wasn't done in a way to make you want to gouge your eyes out if you looked at it too long. After giving the room a once over he turned his gaze to the girl who was standing next to a table. She was dressed in a conservative blouse, only allowing the tiniest amount of cleavage to be seen. While the skirt she wore was still shorter than he thought was proper, it did come down to just above her knees so there was very little possibility of panty flashing.
"Andrew, welcome it's been awhile." Moka said as she stepped forward to embrace him. Andrew stiffened slightly but willed himself to relax and reciprocated Moka's embrace. "It's only been a couple days Moka." he said as he pulled from the hug and pulled out Moka's chair. She flashed him a smile at his actions as she sat. "We've been living in the same building for those same days, so you have no excuse for not seeing me sooner unless you've been avoiding me." she admonished. Andrew shrugged noncommittally and sat across from Moka. Once seated the same maid from before set a platter on the table and began setting out small plates, saucers, and cups, before pouring tea into the cups and leaving a platter of sandwiches as she positioned herself behind Moka.
They sat in silence for a moment as Moka made up her tea, while Andrew munched on a sandwich or two only taking small sips of the tea, barely hiding the grimace of distaste. "So, was there a reason to this get together beyond you missing me or…?" he asked with the question left open-ended for her to fill in the blank. Moka did not respond immediately, instead she grabbed a sandwich and munched on that for a moment. "I did have a reason for asking you here." she said eventually. "It's about my younger sister Kokoa." she continued. Andrew nodded, he had been wondering when someone would bring up what had happened a few days ago, and was honestly surprised that Kahlua hadn't brought it up earlier when they talked beyond simply acknowledging the fact that he had defeated her. He said nothing as he waited for Moka to gather her thoughts and put them into words. Finally, Moka seemed to gather herself and looked Andrew in the eyes.
"I can understand why what happened, happened, Kokoa has always been impatient even when we were younger she was always one to act before she thought. I also thank whatever deity has ordained to watch over us that your aim was off. Don't try to deny it, you were either aiming for her chest or head and the blow she dealt you threw you off." Andrew had opened his mouth but closed it and reluctantly nodded with her analysis. "Was there a point to this?" Moka sighed "I suppose my point is that you should be careful for the rest of our stay here. Kokoa will not take her defeat lightly and will most likely seek retribution." she explained. Andrew nodded, he had expected something like that to happen at some point, which incidentally, was part of the reason for getting his maids some combat skills.
They made small talk for a time after Moka's reveal before Riku entered the room and stopped behind Andrew. "Lord Issa is available now." she said by way of greeting. Andrew nodded and stood, turning his attention to Moka he gave a small bow. "This has been pleasant, we should do this again." he said as he left, following Riku to the throne room where Issa was waiting for him. Entering the throne room after being called in, Andrew took a few moments to cast his gaze around the room. It was decorated just as the rest of the castle, paintings, suits of armor, tapestries, and all other manor of expensive items. His gaze gradually migrated to the throne and the man sitting upon it.
Issa hadn't changed in the few days that they had been here, still wearing a greatcoat, double breasted vest, black dress shoes, black slacks, and a white undershirt. Stepping up to the center of the room Andrew did a short bow, little more of a bending of the waist before he spoke. "Lord Issa, I was wondering if you would allow one of my servants to study under one of the doctors in the infirmary?" he asked. Issa tilted his head in slight confusion while one of his eyebrows rose in interest. "Why would I allow this? The healers we have are the best in their fields." "That is the reason, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life here in the castle and I'm going to be bringing my servants with me when I leave. While the nurse at the academy is decent enough at her job of treating the kids' injuries, where I'll end up and I'll be doing…well…it'd be better if I had more than a nurse with me." he explained.
Issa conceded that point; the boy was a warrior to the core and after the academy would probably go on to continue fighting in any way he could and having a skilled healer with him would lessen his odds of debilitating injury or death. "Very well, I will allow it." he said as he snapped his fingers. A maid entered the room and bowed her head waiting for her orders. "Inform the healers that they will be receiving a student and they are to teach her everything she knows." he ordered. The maid bowed and left the room to inform the healers of Issa's proclamation. Issa returned his attention back to Andrew "Was there anything else?" he asked. Andrew nodded "I need to take a trip to the human world, I need to get some clothes." he said.
Issa's face was unreadable as he processed Andrew's words. On the one hand he could forbid him from going to the human world, but he saw that working just as well as when he had tried to forbid Moka from going there. Of course, he was human in the first place, so he would have a much easier to blend in than his daughter did. He sighed, "Very well, but you must take Moka with you. As much as I may not think of humans they are still the dominating species of this planet and I would rather she have at least neutral feelings about them." he said. "I'll have the car waiting for you, the driver will have instructions to bring you back two hours before sundown otherwise he will be at your disposal." he continued.
Andrew nodded his agreement then turned and left. That was better than he was hoping for, he had expected to have to sneak out of the castle but not only getting permission and a vehicle to boot was a nice piece of luck. Andrew entered his room, grabbed his coat and his pistol and made his way to the entranceway slipping the pistol into his thigh holster while donning his coat. When he arrived, he saw Moka standing in the center of the room dressed in a simple shirt and knee-length skirt. She was fidgeting in place and she just practically screamed nervous. Andrew sighed, had her experiences in the human world really been that bad or was she nervous about it being just the two of them? The driver didn't count, because he was just going to get them from point A to point B and back and wasn't going to follow them into the stores.
He shook his head and approached her, setting his hand on her shoulder he didn't react when she practically jumped out of her skin. She spun to face him with one hand over her heart in an attempt to calm it with wide eyes. "Andrew! You startled me." she said breath coming in short gasps. "Sorry about that, what's got you so nervous anyway?" he asked. After taking a moment to compose herself Moka inhaled deeply then let out a sigh. "The human world." she said simply. Andrew nodded though on the inside he was slightly relieved that her nervousness was not about him. "What about it specifically? If you don't mind me asking?" he asked.
Moka turned to not meet his gaze. "I don't have many good memories about humans as a whole." she explained softly. Andrew nodded "Quick question, the humans you spent most of your time with…were they children or adults?" he asked. "Children." she answered. "I see…Moka you need to understand, children are assholes." he said, causing Moka to whip her head around so fast Andrew thought she was going to snap her neck and stare at him with wide eyes. He shrugged unapologetically. "I'm not wrong, children don't have an inner filter that tells them when to shut up before they put their feet in their mouths. That's usually why they aren't told any type of dire secret, they'll blurt it out without much thought in exchange for a few sweets." he explained. "Adults have the maturity to understand that they have their own quirks they wouldn't like to be made fun of for, so they don't make fun of other's quirks…well most of them anyway." he continued with the last part said under his breath. "My point is, don't let your past with humans color your opinion of them now. Just, have to make a few good friends and ignore any and everything else." he finished.
Moka had a look of contemplation on her face as he led her out of the castle and into the limo waiting for them. "Take us into the nearest human city." he ordered. The driver nodded, entered the driver seat and drove off through a portal. A few moments of passing through the rainbow tunnel they exited into a heavy city-scape with the ocean just visible over some of the shorter buildings. They pulled into a parking lot of a mall and stepped out, Andrew taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh of nostalgia. Clean air was fine but there was nothing like the smell of smog and people to remind you of the strangest things.
"Andrew? Moka?"
Author's Note: Heh…hehe…ha…haha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I FINALLY FINISHED IT! HOLY FUCK! *cough, cough* So yeah, I have no excuse so just enjoy this. My mind is kinda burnt out with this for the moment, so I'll work on my other works and get them up dated soon. So yeah…HAVE A GREAT LIFE!