Chapter 9:
XxXxX
"Squire, my armor!"
"Yes, My Lady!"
"Squire, clean my sword!"
"Yes, My Lady!"
"Squire, collect my spoils!"
"Yes, My Lady!"
"Squire, bring me my luncheon!"
"Yes, My Lady!"
Today's diving into the dungeon has been…bizarre in Rigo's opinion.
He expected many things yesterday when he brought Ais Wallenstein to the house that they used as a cover in Orario. He honestly thought that Ais was going to ask for a duel against Artoria. Never in his wildest dreams did he think of seeing Ais on her knees asking, no, begging to be Arturia's apprentice. Although, perspective is 20/20, and after a good night's rest, Rigo could start imagining the mental gymnastics that resulted in Ais Wallenstein being turned into the squire for his King of Knights.
It was rather simple.
Ais is very skilled when it comes to fighting, but she's pretty bad at everything else, such as social interactions. She ends up doing weird things when she panics. Plus, he is more than sure that Arturia's Charisma B had something to do with this.
Arturia told her that would consider her petition, and she would have her answer in the morning.
Lo and behold, Ais was already waiting at the door of their Familia's building, with a grumbling Loki and a sheepish Finn in tail.
Loki, despite being born a woman and in a reality as foreign as this one, was still as smart as a fox, and was always looking for deals that would end up in her favor. But not even her scheming ways would find any sort of loophole into Ais' request of serving as Arturia's apprentice/squire for a short time from which she could end up with the Europa Familia indebted to her.
It was such an honest request on Ais' part that no one really had the heart to refuse. As such, Arturia decided that if Ais wanted some sort of mentorship on her part, she would act as the King of Knight's squire for the time being.
As a result, the party had a tagalong today in their daily session at the dungeon. Being appointed as squire, Ais has been acting as Support for all of them for the time being, although she was mainly Arturia's. It didn't stop the rest of the party from using the willing girl as the Support at the moment.
Rigo has…refrained himself with Stamping Ais for the moment. Call it sentimentality or whatever, but at the rhythm things were going, he was kind of sure that she was going to fulfill the True Love Declaration binding on her own towards Arturia…maybe. Posible.
If that doesn't happen, Rigo will have plenty of chances to Capture Ais in the future. It is not like she was bound to die any time soon.
The group had stopped 4 hours into their expedition, deciding that now was a good time to have their lunch. For today, Rigo had prepared rice balls, 3 for himself, Sita, and Irisviel each, and about 2 dozen for Artoria and Arturia. The cheeky Fae may put on an illusion when they were in public of Arturia eating on her own what both of them were actually sharing, but down here in the dungeon she could eat her healthy share without trying to uphold any sort of noble image she has been cultivating at the Hostess.
"Hunger is an enemy that every living being has to face, squire," Arturia was lecturing Ais even as they were eating.
"Of course, My Lady," Ais was actually taking notes while eating.
"Combat can break at any moment's notice, squire. As such, we must take advantage of any moment of respite and consume our aliment," Arturia practically consumed her rice ball in a single bite, and kept talking.
"I don't know who is the crazier one among those two," Sita whispered in his ear, watching the conversation of both blonde women with raport.
"I honestly don't want to find out," Rigo admitted. It could go either way.
"How long do you think this whole squire nonsense will last?" Sita asked.
"I guess that it depends on how long Ais will take to find what she was looking for," Rigo answered, before his expression turned sour for a moment. "It may last for a couple of weeks."
XXX
Ais was uncertain if she was worthy of what was going to happen.
"My Lady, are you sure?" she asked, sitting on her Lady's bed back at the Europa Familia compound.
Today's session at the dungeon had gone smoothly, and Arturia invited her to her bedroom to have a celebration of sorts for her first day as a squire.
It was an order of her Lady, and as such, Ais obeyed to come back with her.
"It is a rite of passage, squire," her lady told her from the other side of the changing screen that she had installed in her bedroom.
The way the light shined behind the screen made it visible for Ais how her Lady was disrobing herself through the shadow. Ais herself had already helped her Lady remove her armor, so her battle dress was something that her Lady could remove by herself.
Ais' breathing was starting to turn erratic, something she herself didn't expect at all. There was no reason as to why she would be nervous. Just like Loki had revealed to her that attacks are more powerful when one calls out their name, the goddess had told her that this was a normal practice between two women.
"Lift your head, squire. There is nothing to be ashamed of."
Ais stopped breathing for a moment. The image before her was simply so majestic.
Her Lady, ever since the moment Ais had first set her eyes over her, had radiated an aura of elegance and power in equal measure. Her beauty did nothing to embellish her persona of a warrior, it only added to the impact.
Looking at the image of her Lady, Ais felt ashamed of only wearing her white nightgown. She felt out of place with the beautiful visage in front of her. And it seemed that her Lady thought the same too.
"Those clothes aren't fit for the occasion, squire," the breathtaking creature in front of her said, hands on her hips. "Worry not, I have a solution for the dilema."
In what felt like the blink of an eye, Ais was looking at her own image in a mirror. Not quite believing what she was looking at. Her Lady was looking over her shoulder, a smile on her face.
"How do you feel, squire?" although it was a question, the knowing look that her Lady sent her told her all she needed to know.
"I-I feel…I feel so comfortable in these clothes my lady!" completely uncharacteristically for herself, Ais couldn't help but do a little twirl on her toes inside her brand new lion onesie!
A mirror copy of the sameone her Lady was wearing, the pajama set was the most comfortable piece of clothing that Ais had ever worn. It covered her whole body, making it warm and fuzzy. The fabric must have been enchanted by some powerful magic, because Ais felt it completely breathable also. A set of pajamas that could be worn in any type of conditions. It was magical for her!
"*KNOCK KNOCK* Arturia, are you guys ready?" Artoria's voice called from the other side of the door. "The others are already waiting downstairs."
"We are ready!" her Lady called to her twin, going to open the door.
On the other side, Artoria, now wearing a curious moth-looking onesie, had her arms crossed over her chest, a look of impatience on her face. She was even tapping her foot on the floor to signal her mood.
"Looking good, Ais," Artoria gave her a thumbs-up once she saw Ais for herself, making the youngest blonde shift on her spot out of pure embarrassment. "This was a good idea," Artoria talked to her twin.
A sleepover at the Europa Familia compound. An idea of Arturia's to sort of celebrate the beginning of Ais' apprenticeship under her.
Ais still couldn't believe that this was happening.
"Let us go, squire. It is bad etiquette leaving our comrade waiting," her Lady was always willing to impart her wisdom on Ais.
"Yes, let's go," there was a small smile on Ais' face. She couldn't contain her happiness.
As the trio of blonde women excited the room and passed through the lone corridors of the compound, Ais couldn't help but think as to her own reasoning behind her apprenticeship under her Lady.
It wasn't any grand and noble gesture. Ais at first didn't wanted to learn chivalry or some sort of code of conduct from the woman that managed to project such an aura of power and impress her Captain. She wanted to learn a way to sharpen her skill from Arturia Pendragon.
Although a new Level 1 adventurer, Ais herself knew that levels didn't matter in the grand scale of things. As such, every new venue of looking for strength for herself was always welcomed.
Ais Wallenstein wasn't an adventurer looking to be a hero. She turned into an adventurer looking for revenge.
XXX
Rigo honestly didn't know how to feel about the whole situation. Although Arturia's idea sounded fun from an outsider's perspective, years of being a social outcast and introvert made him feel uncomfortable. And because he bought his Stress Defense way after the beginning of his patronage by The Company, most of his negative emotions weren't immediately turned off. Something that he will admit, gave him a unique outlook that most Contractors tended to overlook in their power-high.
"You look so cute in that."
He was still able to cringe.
"You think?" with a forced smile on his face, Rigo asked Europa, who was wearing a sheep-themed onesie.
A golden sheep-themed onesie.
Rigo for his part was wearing a bear-themed onesie. He seriously had no idea when Artoria had the time or drive even to decide and make animal-themed onesies for all of them. It may have had something to do with Arturia already having one in her closet while Artoria didn't, but it was still vexing being dragged into all of this.
"Smile a bit more, Master, the night is still young!" Irisviel exclaimed on her part. The Einzbern Homunculus was wearing a wolf-themed onesie herself.
And finally there was Sita, occupying a whole couch for herself in the living room, while Rigo and the two other women were forced to sit on the floor. The redhead gave them all a lazy wave, before closing her eyes and taking a minute-nap. Kind of fitting with her sloth onesie.
"We are here!"
Turning to the stairs, Rigo couldn't fight the smile forming on his lips at the sight. Both Artoria and Arturia were smiling, while an embarrassed Ais took hold of Arturia's 'tail' and used as a sort of guide to walk to the living room.
The trio of blondes seated themselves side-by-side on the floor too, making six people plus a sort-of absent Sita seated around the hearth of the living room.
"Let's begin!" Europa declared with excitement, starting to pass around marshmallows, chocolate, and crackers to all those reunited around the heart.
Irisviel for her part was passing simple sticks, and once everyone had one, plus the ingredients, she was the first to start cooking over the fire.
Rigo and the rest joined the white-haired woman too, and as such, began to cook their smores.
They spend the night like that, cooking smores and telling made-up stories, simply having a good time.
It wasn't until the next day started that Arturia didn't suggest this activity just for Ais sake, they were all doing this for him too.
He didn't care. It was one of the best nights he had ever had.
XXX
A little over a week had come to pass since Ais started her apprenticeship under her Lady.
The results had been…unexpected for Ais.
Yes, her spars against her Lady had greatly increased her own martial prowesses, and thanks to the convenient healer on stand-by, Ais has been able to go back to the ringer in no time at all.
It was during those spars against her Lady that Ais had started to form a bond with her fellow apprentice Rigo. And although he had more on his plate considering that he was studying magic, Ais will admit that with his potential, it wouldn't be surprising if he beat her record of Leveling up in less than a year.
It sparked something inside Ais. Just thinking about it, Ais felt…competitive for the first time in her life.
It had made her decide something. She was already planning for it, but seeing the progress of Rigo, it made her put forward her own agenda.
"My Lady," Ais spoke to Arturia during a rare moment of privacy between the two of them, something about a new Familia member.
"What is it, squire?" Arturia asked her apprentice, sipping a bit of her morning coffee. Even for such a normal task her Lady did them with grace.
Ais didn't lower her sight, her Lady would admonish her for it. She looked her straight in the eye. "I am going to fight the Monster Rex, Goliath on my own, tomorrow. I would like for you to be there."
A pin could have dropped and both would have heard it at that moment.
Arturia didn't emit a single sound while she studied Ais with her sight alone. Ais never once shifted in place, she let her Lady examine her.
As if she had found what she was looking for, her Lady gave her verdict.
"It would be an honor to witness your battle, squire of mine," Ais' heart skipped a bit for the smile her Lady directed at her.
She knew that it was everything she needed for the task ahead of her.
Tomorrow, Ais Wallenstein will fight the Goliath, with joy in her heart knowing that her Lady will be there to witness it.
XxXxX
AN: You can always count on Arturia to make a girl question her own sexuality.
Next chapter we have the introduction of the new member, plus the battle of Ais vs the Goliath. See ya!