The Starlit Void
(Chapter Five)
"Speaking"
'Thought'
'Written'
Disclaimer: Zero no Tsukaima / Familiar of Zero (Light Novel) was written by Noboru Yamaguchi, illustrated by Eiji Usatsuka, and published by Media Factory (Seven Seas Entertainment in the US and Canada.) The first anime was directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki with Studio J, and licensed by Geneon in the US and Canada... but as bluntly as possible in order to save time going through all other installments in the series – these authors are none of these people and have no legitimate claim to the series. Thus this work is strictly non-profit. Any use otherwise is not these authors' doing. Similarly, Mabinogi and all characters, races, concepts, ideas, and other material taken from it is the work and property of Nexon and BGEntertainment. These authors are likewise not affiliated with either group in any way or form and lay no claim to that property.
.XXX.
Crowded.
That was the first thought that came to Linde's mind as she entered the Cobh market. There were so many people. Most of them were human, but she still saw a fair number of giants among the crowd - their tall forms stood out easily among the shorter populace. And there were just as many pointed ears about as there were giants, she was sure, though they were harder to spot.
The giantess paused to brush her purple hair out of her eyes to glance across a stand filled with various foods, some fine, some cheap before continuing on her way. Maybe she would make a stop after her business was through, that roasted fish looked tasty.
Speaking of business... Linde could see several strong looking giants here and there - perfect candidates for what she had in mind. Stepping up to one of the more experienced looking of her fellows, a heavily armored woman carrying a hammer fit for a warrior from Vales, she interrupted the woman's lunch by clearing her throat. "Excuse me, do you have a moment?"
The woman turned, hand frozen midway to her mouth with a sample of food. Her brow rose, "Yes?" She responded curtly.
Linde fidgeted slightly in place going over the way she wanted to phrase her request. "Hello, I'm a merchant from Vales..." She paused, the silence stretching for a moment. "I'm travelling back home with a caravan... but they're going through Fillia. I don't really feel that safe going through Elf territory with only some human guards for protection." Linde looked around for a moment before continuing. "Would you be willing to escort me? I would pay a healthy sum."
She was greeted with a complete lack of response as the woman stared before she suddenly shrugged. "How soon do we depart?"
.XXX.
Linde followed morosely behind Louise as they walked through some town, Tristain she thought the name was. She gazed down at her empty hands and had to force her eyes not to begin tearing up again. She had held it in her hands! These hands! Billions of ducats worth of magic staff! She captured a dangerous thief, surely the least they could have done was let her keep the one little magic staff... it wasn't like they knew how much it had been worth or anything!
"Stop moping." Linde's pink haired summoner said from ahead of her. "There wasn't any way they were going to let you keep a priceless magical artifact like that." She said turning around in the middle of the street to, once again, berate Linde for her attitude. "You're supposed to be an honorable warrior, so stop being so greedy!" Linde rolled her eyes and fought the impulse to remind the girl that she was first and foremost a merchant. Greed was expected. Honor was… optimal, but not… absolute.
"At least give me my gold pouch back." Linde whined doing her best to channel the 'begging puppy' technique children of every race seemed to be so damn good at... devious little imps...
"No!" Louise barked before turning and resuming her walk. Linde hissed insults under her breath but followed behind. "I can hear that you know." Louise said flippantly, or as close to flippantly as the girl could get. Linde's mood only soured further. Deciding just to remain silent and fume, Linde hardly noticed the stares from the locals or the meandering progress they were making toward a little weapons shop in an out of the way alley. There wasn't anything particularly noteworthy about it and Linde had her doubts that they could find a weapon suitable for her inside even if the wares were of good quality, but anything was better than nothing.
The interior was even less noteworthy than the front wall. Several racks of weapons, mostly swords, were positioned to the left, a barrell of lower-quality weapons was placed on the right, and the counter rested directly in front of them with a door into another room visible just beyond it. Standing behind this counter wringing his hands together was a greasy, mousy little man who somehow managed to personify every stereotypical 'crooked-merchant' trait she could think of. It was almost insulting, actually.
"Ah, welcome to my shop, m'lady!" The man exclaimed excitedly, his eyes spotting an easy mark and glimmering in a manner that reminded Linde entirely too much of a bandit. The giantess took a somewhat smug sense of satisfaction from the way that excitement died when she stepped into the shop, barely short of scraping its ceiling with her head. It was tempered by the fact it was due to surprise at her sheer size and not any sort of recognition, however. "And… ah… your… fair… retainer, as well."
"We've come looking for a new sword for my servant." Louise said, trying to sound as though she could barely stand the man's presence. Judging from the persistent flicker in his eyes rekindling itself, it was a tactic he was well-used to and fully prepared for.
"Preferably something long and durable," Linde cut in, to Louise's discontent. "Weight isn't an issue."
His eyes lit up, and Linde restrained herself from sighing in exasperation as he disappeared into the back room to retrieve the piece he was going to attempt to sell. In the mean time, Linde started browsing through the various weapons on display. Rapier, short sword, long sword that may as well have been a short sword, mace… There was nothing here that she would really consider wielding. It wasn't really the quality of the weapons either - they simply didn't fit properly into her hands.
When the man returned from his back room Linde had to fight the urge to slap her palm over her face and groan at the gaudy ornament the man carried in his arms. "This is the finest blade in the shop." He claimed as he proudly handed over the thing. It felt like a blade at least, the grip even fit fairly comfortably into her hand. Too comfortably even. A quick glance showed that the hilt had warped to fit her fingers. Another quick squeeze had the gold twisting into a mangled mess. It was obvious the blade was real gold, an ornament fit for a kings mantle... and nothing else. Linde didn't really didn't know that much about blades really as far as their combat worthiness. She had gotten better not too long ago after... well anyway the blade was garbage.
"I'm sorry, it looks like you had mistaken this a piece of art for a weapon... care to correct that?" Linde said flatly as she handed the twisted mess back to the gaping and... weeping man. Really, what did he expect after handing a giant a toy like that? She wasn't a warrior but… she still had her pride, at least! Out of the corner she saw Louise also shaking the glitter from her eyes. It was obvious she had been taken in a little by the shopkeeper's game.
"Ha! Looks like someone finally called you out on that piece of junk! Ha Ha!" A disembodied voice like that of an old man seemed to echo from nowhere in particular drawing the attention of everyone in the shop.
"Shut up you old hunk of crap!" The shopkeeper shouted, his despondency turning to anger as he turned to a barrel in the corner of the room. "I should have you melted down!"
Her interest piqued Linde wandered over to the barrel the old man was shouting out and, spotting a flash of movement, pulled a rusty blade out of the junk. "Well well, hello there missy. Come to take a look at the famous Legendary Great Lord Derflinger?" Linde was stunned by the presence of a spirit weapon in the shop of otherwise pedestrian examples of weaponry. Linde stepped away from the barrel and tested her grip on the blade, what she guessed would have been a bastard sword to a normal human, finding it comfortable and easily holding up to her strength. "Thats some grip you have there missy, feels great on my-"
"Agh!" Linde dropped the weapon as she rubbed her hand on her shorts. "You're a bit dirty for a spirit weapon... not even taking the rust into account." Linde said to the blade that lay embedded in the floor in front of her.
"You try living six thousand years without getting a little... rusty." Linde fought the urge to groan even as a slight blush crept onto her cheeks. Had the spirit been a man she was sure he would have been waggling his eyebrows at her like she was a loose barmaid. Still his words didn't escape her completely and it took a moment for them to fully process. "Wait... you're how old?"
"Somewhere around six thousand years, give or take a century... I got too bored to keep track." Derflinger answered, the quillon moving with his speech like a jaw. Linde contemplated the sword for a few moments before pulling him out of the floor boards and placing him onto the counter. "How much do you want for this rusted, dirty, hunk of junk?"
The shopkeeper looked stunned for a few moments before regaining the gleam in his eyes. "I could not charge less than three hundred new gold."
The giantess gave him a flat stare before sighing. "Tell you what; I'll take this off your hands and I won't have to tell the guards how you tried to pass off an ornament as a usable weapon."
"T-Thats extortion!" The shopkeeper's glare turned nervous as he kept glancing towards the back room... could he really be more obvious? "F-fifty gold!"
"And trying to rip us off was any better? No, I think I'll just slip out, I think I saw a guard go by a moment ago." Linde said as she turned toward the door, shielding her eyes from the glare and looking out of the window as if for a passing watchman.
"FINE! Just take the junk and go, scares off my customers anyway." The shopkeeper said sulkily. Smiling Linde snatched Derflinger from the counter and hurried Louise out the door. Maybe this day would turn out profitable after all...
.XXX.
Kirche von Zerbst's eyes glinted in the morning light as she watched from her window the backs of her targets of interest slip out of the academy's courtyard. Louise and her giantess Linde were off and heading towards Tristain to do... something. Something she desperately wanted to know about. Of course they hadn't left with the third and most interesting of their little group, so she would have to find some way to observe all three of them. Pulling away from the glass pane of her window she turned to sit on the edge of her bed to ponder the twisting, labyrinthine mysteries that seemed to have suddenly grown up like countless weeds around the youngest Valliere.
It was obvious the mess had started the day of the familiar summoning... so Linde seemed to somehow be the ultimate source of everything. But then there was Nao, a mysterious noblewoman from some far off land who had immediately dropped any previous engagements or responsibilities she might have had to chase a missing retainer... and find her an unknown distance away... within a day...which was completely abnormal in several ways. In fact so many little things didn't quite add up for the infallibly serene woman.
Like the fact Tabitha had seen her seemingly bring Linde back from the dead or at least heal some injuries that a dozen square class water mages couldn't have fixed in time. The ability to vanish at any time and reappear at will... sometimes several meters away instantly. A strange fixation on commoner life, sharing many duties of the academy staff as a hobby. She was kind, had many strange powers and had a weakness for those less fortunate. If she had also had some great moral lesson to spout Kirche might have mistaken her for a saint... In any case both Linde and Nao had to be watched for the sake of both Germania and Halkegenia... but mostly her own ravenous curiosity.
Kirche pulled herself from her seat and made her way out into the hallway. Tabitha would want to know about Louise and Linde's departure. After a short walk Kirche found her best friend exactly where she expected to be on void day, sitting in her room alone with a thick novel in her hands. She paused at the door for a moment to watch the quiet girl. Tabitha so desperately needed to live a little, a few romantic flings would really bring some vital life to the poor girl... anyway back to business.
"Tabitha." Kirche called for the girls attention as she took a seat on the edge of the mattress where Tabitha was sitting. The girl didn't seem to react at all but Kirche knew she was listening. "I saw Louise and Linde heading off towards Tristain about an hour ago. I'm not sure what they're planning to do there but its an opportunity we shouldn't miss."
Tabitha's eyes flicked to Kirche for a brief moment before the book she held in her hands closed with a snap.
.XXX.
A delicate tea cup clinked against the saucer held in Nao's hands. She had decided to take the morning off of helping with the chores around the academy, though not for an entirely selfish reason. Sitting across the little white table that held the tea was a green haired secretary that had asked to meet her this morning. Mathilda had seemed to become somewhat fixated on her after the events in the forest clearing she had only learned of after the fact. She had wished that Linde would have mentioned the situation to her, but then again Nao had always done her best to allow her Milletians to live their lives without smothering them too much.
Still... Linde was somewhat especially precious to her in the current situation, alone as they were in a strange world where the two of them were the only things that from Erinn. She didn't want to lose that tiny bit of familiarity and that led inexorably towards the worry Nao now felt for the giantess. It was irrational; Milletians could not be slain by any martial or magical means known to the gods and man alike. In fact the only thing she could remember actually coming close was the perfect food dishes some Milletians had created… but she couldn't help but worry. There might be untold dangers that lurked in this new world, something she hadn't made the Milletians impervious against.
"Something on your mind?" A voice belonging to Mathilda pulled Nao from her thoughts.
"Oh? No, it was nothing. Just worrying about senseless things." Nao replied turning to watch the pleasant, green, scenery outside the window absently noting the decorated carriage that was arriving.
"Perhaps I could help set your mind at ease if you told me of it." Mathilda replied before taking a sip of her own tea.
Nao began to deflect the woman's concern. "No. It's..." She paused unable to continue with her usual tactic of abruptly changing the subject when someone brought up anything she found to be uncomfortable to speak about. Her worries niggled at her mind and she was unable to completely dismiss them. Perhaps if she mentioned something it would at least help.
"Well... I'm worried about... Linde." Nao finally forced the words past the barrier built up in her mind.
"Your giantess friend?" Mathilda looked at her with an astonished expression. "The same giant who tossed halves of trees at a man?"
"...Well... yes?" Nao shrunk at little at the look she was getting from the green haired woman. Perhaps mentioning anything wasn't the best idea.
"What exactly do you fear befalling someone like that?" Nao was surprised at how the woman's voice had suddenly become soothing and supportive rather than mocking.
"S-She's just a long way from home and I can't help but fear that there may be things shes not prepared for." Nao watched the steam rise from her tea for several long moments as Mathilda was silently stirring her own thoughts.
"I wouldn't worry too much. Even if she encounters something she isn't ready for I'm sure she will be able to adapt." Nao was again taken off guard by the amount of sheer understanding she saw in the eyes of the woman across from her. Just as she opened her mouth to say something more a rapping was heard on the window pane. Curiosity pulled the eyes of both women to the window to find a while owl perched on the windowsill.
"Elridge?" Nao rapidly moved to the window allowing the bird into the room. The owl flew around the room for a moment before settling on Nao's shoulder and dropping an envelope into her hands. She looked at the paper, the handwriting on the front addressing the letter to her and knew instantly who had sent her the letter.
Perhaps the… energetic… way in which Nao opened the letter after recognizing its origins was a tad ungraceful (and maybe even entirely unladylike) but she didn't particularly care and - in any case - would likely be unable to restrain the blossoming joy in her heart at the familiar writing. Ignorant of Mathilda's attempts to garner her attention, Nao lost herself into the message written in the letter...
.XXX.
'That's another one down.'
Siesta hummed to herself as she cleaned the various rooms throughout the academy. It was a tedious, monotonous task but not a particularly difficult one. Repetitive as it was to go from one room to the next cleaning up after the nobles' messes, she couldn't really complain. Aside from the futility of a commoner speaking out against a noble in the first place, the job paid well and - honestly - of all the tasks she was expected to perform in the academy this was one of the ones she preferred most. Truly, it was a vexing and time-consuming effort to clear every room in her assigned area before inspection, but it was that same mind-numbing repetition that called to her. It was not a difficult task, only time-consuming. Because it was time-consuming, she had a fair amount of time to do it. And because it was a simple, easy task, she was free to allow her mind to wander uninhibited by the random trespass of a particularly entitled noble.
Today in particular, her thoughts were lingering on the enigmatic woman who had introduced herself as 'Nao.' The eccentric (and Siesta winced here at the accuracy of that unkind thought) noblewoman had integrated herself into her daily life almost seamlessly over the course of the last couple of days. She would show up in the mornings, shortly after the serving staff awoke, wide-awake herself and looking for something to do. It didn't matter to her, as long as she was helpful she would do anything from peel potatoes to fetch firewood and feed the stoves. With a smile on her face, the woman would dirty her hands and perform the commoner's work as if she were a commoner herself; though even without the occasional display of formidable magic, no one would believe anyone with her coloring and demeanor was anything but a noble.
And yet the lady's kindness (and, indeed, strangeness) didn't end there as while she performed these tasks she did her best to get to know the staff and make small-talk with them to pass the time away, never slipping in her tasks despite this and even completing them with at least the same modicum of skill that the more dedicated of the staff's number achieved, if not surpassing them. Without a care the lady that was clearly a noble acted the part of a commoner. And succeeded. It was a bizarre occurrence, and it was only with the passing of recent events that Siesta had realised that she'd started to… categorize Nao. Rather, she'd started holding other nobles to the same standard and… and - Founder help her if it were ever discovered - found them… lacking.
The worry over such thoughts being revealed by a slip of the tongue was matched only by the sense of safety Nao's presence exuded. For some reason, Siesta couldn't help but believe Nao when she said she would help if Mott came to bother her again. Nao had a certain earnest demeanor to her that made it hard to disbelieve anything she said, truthfully, and Siesta had her doubts that the woman could tell a lie at all. Her poker face, if such was the case, was absolutely terrible, even if Nao's kind actions hadn't conveyed her sincerity to the staff.
As well, when Nao had suggested she bring the matter to the attention of the Headmaster, she had acquiesced and the man had assured her (though his eyes lingered perhaps a moment or two too long on her body, rather than her face) that he would not let go of her contract for such a petty reason as a visiting nobleman growing overly fond of her. Thus she was humming in contentment as she worked diligently at her duties, secure in the belief - for once - that the nobility could actually care for its subordinates, if only a little.
Her good spirits suddenly fled when she opened the door to the servant quarters only to be met with the face of the person she least wanted to see.
"Ah, Siesta I was looking for you. Get your things we're leaving for your new home." Count Mott said boisterously as he sidled up to her side, once again putting his filthy hands on her body.
"B-but the Headmaster said..." Siesta stuttered, trying to protect her fragile standing without causing offence. Even in this situation the man could make her life terrible if she managed to draw his ire. Her eyes fell on the other girls trying to cower from the man without drawing his eyes to them. Siesta tried to stand up a little straighter, trying to conjure her confidence in face of the situation.
In response the count unfurled a roll of parchment right in front of her nose. It was a form... a form for the transfer of a contract and ice shot up her spine as she spotted her name written neatly at the bottom with signatures from both Count Mott and the Headmaster scrawled across the bottom. Her heart froze and an overwhelming sense of betrayal clouded her thoughts. Wasn't the headmaster supposed to protect her? He was supposed to... Siesta covered her mouth as tears forced their way out from clenched eyes like water seeping violently out of a crack in a dam.
"Go on, get your things and go out to the carriage." Mott smiled and patted her on the behind like one might treat a child... yet even as she bottled up her emotions and marched towards her sleeping space Siesta could not reconcile the way his hand lingered there with the innocent urgings of a parent to their children.
.XXX.
'Nao, this is… well, you already know.' The letter read simply at the top - written in the same way as it was every time (and the same way Nao herself had always written hers) though Nao didn't need an introduction to identify the author. 'Hello. Are you well? Have the fomorians been causing trouble again? Is the Soul Stream in danger of invasion? If you require my aid, remember that you only need to ask. I will find my way to your side without fail, for sure.''
Nao smiled indulgently at this, as - impossible as it seemed to be - Elridge's presence was proof of the child's sincerity, and wasn't that a thought? Nao simply couldn't think of that girl as anything else but a child. Her child, even. Without any uncertainty. 'Such dire circumstances aside, I will of course be happy to simply visit and keep you company if you're feeling lonely. Owls aren't people - though they can come peculiarly close - I should know. Please, again, do not hesitate to call. It is not petty to desire human company.'
That indulgent smile twitched a bit; Nao truly did want to call the girl to her side. Her surrogate daughter provided an unusual sense of security - she was like a determined rock in the midst of stormy waters, ever-unyielding even to the steady erosion of countless seasons. It would be infinitely reassuring for Nao to have her by her side once more… but it was a selfish thought. The girl had left to pursue matters of her own interest, and it was just as likely she was idle and living her years in peace as it was she was locked in a mortal struggle with some monstrous foe. In either case Nao didn't want to disturb her, though certainly she wished more for the former than the latter.
'...and on that note, I would like you to know that I am safe and I am well - though it is a certainty as I would not be writing this letter otherwise, no? I would not, of course, break schedule for anything… but, it seems, Elridge would like to stay in your company for a while. At least, he has seemed unusually restless. I hope your presence will calm him… Again… Nao, please… Don't hesitate to call on me. Elridge can find me with as much ease, you trained him that well. Send word if anything is amiss. Anything at all… I will come without fail.'
"News from home?" Mathilda asked bemusedly, breaking Nao from her concentration. Ah, that's right… she wasn't alone right now…
"Yes!" She replied enthusiastically, before catching herself, "Well… of a sort. A dear friend of mine sends their regards - they're doing well." The owl hooted and Nao, familiar with these creatures more than any others, walked over to the window where it promptly took flight and began to circle above. Smiling gently at the energetic bird, Nao took note of how pleasant the day was once more as the breeze carried the warmth of summer indoors. Gaze drifting back down, she spotted something odd in the courtyard. There was a carriage with several guards… and two familiar figures were stepping into it.
The smile faded from Nao's face, and with it went the joy and contentment she had felt, as if they were but an illusion and had never been truly existed at all.
"Mathilda," She asked, eerily calm and collected after her previous joy.
The emerald-haired woman jerked in surprise at the sudden shift in mood, "Yes?" She asked, somewhat unnerved.
Nao's ever-present smile was gone and her eyes, having lost their ever-present cheer, had flattened into something approaching flint. "Could you tell me the name of that nobleman, down there?" She requested, tone cordial yet still somehow positively glacial at its heart.
Nervous, but unwilling to show it, Mathilda did as asked and moved closer to the window and frowning, "That would be… judging from the crest... Count Mott - the Royal Messenger. He's an… unpleasant… man whose hands often wander more than they should."
"I see…" Nao stated, turning from the window to regard Mathilda with an utterly flat expression that - truthfully - terrified her on some primal level she didn't know existed. "Could you tell me where I might find his place of residence?"
She could. Easily. Mathilda knew the whereabouts of many a noble's lands, and what was within them. Guiding someone there would be trivial for her but… Gazing into those cold, nearly dead eyes, Mathilda hesitated. There was something utterly wrong with seeing such an expression on this woman's face. It was not utterly alien to her, this expression, but… Such coldness had no place on this woman. Somehow, Mathilda held this opinion as undeniable truth - though she had only spent a token amount of time in her presence. There was an utterly terrifying force behind those empty eyes. It was an anger few could hope to match - a profound sense of injustice that yearned to be corrected. It was an expression she knew well, after all. For many years it had worn itself upon her own face.
They were the eyes of a corpse, risen restless from the grave, and unable to be satisfied 'til it had littered the world with more corpses.
.XXX.
Number III (Author's Notes):"O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth…" For those who might be held in confusion… Well, simply put, Nao is angry. Nao is angry and Mott is a man that might wish he were never born come the morrow. We look forward to the next chapter greatly, do you?
(Magnanimous Laughter)
Radon (Co-Author's Notes): Well that was a dark turn wasn't it? Then again you all probably knew this was coming from the Mott scene a few chapters ago... And as always we beg for your opinions!