X
Unfamiliar Zero
Chapter 3
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Louise slowly stirred from the clutches of sleep.
She had just come out of what had to be the craziest dream she had ever had in her life. Somehow the summoning ritual had gone awry and she had been transported to an unknown far away land where she met some clearly dangerous and terrifying characters. And there was this massive castle that seemed far too large for the number of people who appeared to live in it. On top of that, she had even been forced into service as a maid under the implied threat of death!
It had felt so real. Too real.
But it was over now, thankfully. Her anxiety over the summoning ritual must have really been messing with her mind for her to dream of something so elaborate.
She turned over in her bed, eyes still firmly shut, and winced. Her body ached. Every muscle felt sore and abused. Why did she feel so exhausted? She didn't think she had been studying that long for the summoning ritual to get so stiff and tired. That was happening today, wasn't it?
"Oh, you're finally awake," said a strangely familiar voice, sultry and sophisticated. There was a rustle of bed sheets next to Louise.
She froze. Someone was in her room. And in her bed.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
A beautiful pale face framed with blonde locks filled her vision. Red eyes stared back at her with interest.
Louise blinked. Then she yelped and sat up so quickly that her body took a second before it protested the swift movement by reminding her about how tired and achy all her muscles were. Such moves were very much discouraged by her tired body at the moment.
Lying in bed next to her, very much real and present, was the blonde lady from her dream.
She no longer wore the form-fitting red dress from before. Instead, she had on a simple white gown of silk that looked like something she normally slept in. It was quite revealing, given her shapely proportions, and Louise felt some heat rise to her cheeks as she tried not to look any closer, which was difficult considering how uncomfortably close they were right now given how small the bed was. It was hardly big enough to accommodate the two of them.
Had the lady slept in the same bed with her? Why was she here?
A quick glance around the room also confirmed that she was not actually in her bedroom at the Academy.
"W-What... Who...?" She failed to form a coherent sentence as her mind raced, confused and groggy. Her throat felt dry. Was she still dreaming? Once before she had a dream within a dream, but this didn't seem like it at all. Was it not actually a dream then?
"Good morning! We weren't properly introduced last time and I do apologize for that. I may have gotten a little..." she paused either for dramatic effect or to find the right word, "Enthusiastic... about meeting you for the first time last night," the blonde said with a toothy grin, showing her now familiar fangs. "I already know your name, Louise, so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marielena von Nifleheim, but you may simply call me Lady Elena."
So she was a noble after all.
"P-Pleased to meet you, Lady Elena," Louise managed to say. That was probably the right response, even though she instinctively wanted to yell at the lady and throw her out for climbing into her bed without permission. But it was easy to suppress that instinct given that the lady in question most likely could easily end her life if she were so inclined.
"Oh the pleasure's all mine, dear."
Louise had never heard of the von Nifleheim family though, but it did sound Germanian. Maybe that meant that she was currently in Germania? That was entirely possible. And also not a good thing since Germania was not necessarily on the best of terms with the Kingdom of Tristain the last time she checked.
But what was Lady Elena doing in her bed? And how did Louise get into bed anyway? The last thing she remembered was cleaning the bathroom of the master chambers and then feeling so tired that she decided to close her eyes to rest for a little while. Obviously she had fallen asleep longer than intended, but she was surprised that she was brought back down here without being woken and berated.
Had Lady Jade actually carried her down here?
"You know, Jade wanted to wake you up around two hours ago," said the blonde as if reading Louise's mind, "But I managed to convince her to let you rest a little longer. You looked like you needed it." The lady adjusted herself into a more comfortable position while she spoke.
"Thank you, Lady Elena," she managed to say without difficulty, although she felt an itch in her throat. Her mind was finally waking up and starting to work properly, ridding itself of the last vestiges of sleep fog.
Louise considered telling the lady that she was nobility too, but thought better of it. If Lady Elena didn't recognize her family name, what use was there in telling her that? Besides, if she was indeed in Germania, revealing such information could backfire and cause her trouble.
Louise swallowed. Or at least tried to. Her throat was very parched and she ended up launching into a rather prolonged coughing fit, which she covered up with her hands.
Elena briefly gave her a disgusted look and then reached out a hand.
At first Louise didn't know if she was supposed to grasp it or what as she continued to cough, but then a glass of water floated into the lady's outstretched hand from somewhere behind Louise and then was offered to her.
Unsurprisingly, Lady Elena was able to use magic. She was a member of the nobility after all.
Louise took it and gulped down the liquid greedily, some of the water spilling out the sides of her mouth.
"Ahh... Thank you, L-Lady Elena," Louise said softly after downing the whole glass of water. The coughing stopped as the cool liquid soothed her dry throat.
There was an amused twinkle in the woman's eye as she studied the girl.
"Do you want some more?" asked Elena.
Louise nodded quietly.
A whole pitcher of water suddenly floated next to Louise from somewhere behind her.
"Help yourself, dear," Elena said encouragingly.
Louise stared at the floating pitcher and then glanced towards the blonde woman. She repeated this twice before she finally took hold of it and poured herself another glass. She drank a few more glassfuls after that before she felt satisfied, keenly aware that Elena was watching her the whole time without saying a word.
It made her feel like she was some prize animal put on display, or some strange experiment being studied by academic researchers.
When Louise was finished with the pitcher of water, it rose into the air out of Louise's grasp and moved towards the nightstand next to the bed where it had been sitting earlier. Apparently, Elena didn't even really need to gesture or look at what she was manipulating with magic to move it.
Louise held her partially full glass of water with both hands as she knelt on her bed, warily keeping an eye on Elena who looked extremely relaxed as she lay on her side. The first time they met she had tried to bite her, and here they were now alone in her room without Jade to protect her. She reached up with a hand and brushed the side of her neck with her fingers, checking for any bite wounds.
As if reading her thoughts, Elena let out a small laugh that sounded quite pleasant and said, "Don't worry, dear. I won't bite. Not this time at least. Though I will admit I was quite tempted to while you were sleeping. You looked so very cute and scrumptious."
"Y-You slept here...?"
"Me sleep here? Goodness no," she responded as her eyes swept the room with a look of disdain before settling once more on Louise, "I came in maybe half an hour ago. I thought you might want a few things since it seemed like you were... lacking some necessities." She pointed to a bag that lay on top of the small dresser in the room.
Louise blushed, remembering that it was Lady Elena who had noticed her lack of undergarments last night, and thanked her. She assumed that's what was in the bag.
"Consider it an apology for our initial encounter," said the blonde lady with a small smile.
Louise absently rubbed her neck where Elena tried to bite her before. She had to remember to be careful around this lady.
"Lady Elena. This... This is real, isn't it?" Louise asked, her fingers rubbing the cool, damp glass in her hand as water started to condense on the outside of it.
"The glass of water? I would think so, dear. You just drank a gallon of it I think," Elena replied with a mixture of confusion and amusement.
"N-No! I meant... I meant this place. You. Jade. That... That demon on the throne. This is all real. It's... not a dream, I mean."
Elena shifted so that she rested her head on her hand, elbow bent to support her while she continued to face Louise. "Oh yes. All of this is quite real, dear. Very much so."
Louise looked down at the glass in her hands. It wasn't a dream after all.
"But I'd be happy to give you a hard slap across the face to try and wake you if you think that might help ease your mind in some way," offered Elena with a little too much eagerness.
Louise immediately shook her head. "No thank you!"
Elena laughed. "Pity."
"Lady Elena," Louise said after another short silence, "Where... where are we? What is this place?"
The blonde looked mildly surprised. "Huh? You don't know?"
Louise shook her head.
"Before I answer, it would probably be helpful if I know where you're from first," replied Elena, looking very much intrigued with what she had to say.
"I s-suppose..." Louise said, taking a deep breath. "I'm actually a second year student at the Tristain Academy of Magic, which is located near the city of Tristain, capital of the Kingdom of Tristania."
Elena looked surprised, and then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Tristain? Tristania? I've never heard of such places. They sound made up. Why are you lying to me?" There was an edge to her voice that frightened Louise.
"I swear I'm not lying!" she cried in dismay, raising her hands in a calming gesture towards the blonde lady and almost knocking over the water tucked between her legs now. "I swear that's where I'm from! Really! Please, you must believe me."
Elena studied her face for a while and then sighed. "Very well. I believe you, Louise. But unfortunately for you I also speak the truth when I say I've never heard of such places. And I know every country and major city in the entire continent. Tristain and Tristania are most definitely not among them. You appear to be a very long way from home, my dear. How interesting!"
"That... That can't be..."
Louise felt disheartened. She thought that she might be able to find a way home somehow if she could at least figure out where she was, but how far had she really gone? Could she really return home? If Tristain didn't exist in this entire continent, then where in the world was she?
"I'm afraid so, dear. You're currently in the continent of Azuria, in fact. We are in what is informally known as the Dark Territories. Officially, however, these territories are known as the Eastern Territories or the Shadowlands, depending on who you ask. They are, as you might have guessed, in the eastern part of the continent."
"Azuria...? This isn't Halkeginia?"
"Halke- what?"
"Halkeginia. That's... that's the continent where I'm from. Tristania. Germania. Albion. Gallia. Romalia. Those are the countries in Halkeginia."
Elena shrugged. "Never heard of any of those places, I'm afraid. This is definitely not Halkeginia, or anywhere near it for that matter."
"There must be other continents then..."
"Certainly. There's Ethiros and Igdria. And most recently discovered on the far side of the world, New Ethiros. Which, if you ask me, is a fine display of a total lack of imagination, but that's sometimes what you get when a group of fools go off exploring the world," she let out an exasperated sigh, "Back to the point, there is no Halkeginia that exists here, and the explorers - the reputable ones at any rate - are sure that they've discovered all the major landmasses in this world by now."
"Perhaps it's called something else?"
"If it was, I would know about it. You might say that I'm an... avid collector of information." Elena gave what was quickly becoming her trademark smirk.
"Well," Louise said with the last vestiges of hope that her home was in the same world, "What if they haven't come across it yet?"
"Like I said, dear, there have been plenty of expeditions to explore the world and it's pretty much entirely mapped already. We can find a world map for you, if you'd like to see it yourself."
Louise took another sip of water. This was bad. If what Lady Elena said was true, then that meant she was in a completely different world. How was that even possible? She wasn't capable of magic that would take her to other worlds. She was barely capable of doing any magic at all! And the only thing she did recently was... the summoning ritual.
That was it! The summoning ritual. It was supposed to summon a familiar to the caster's side, a real live being that existed elsewhere, and part of the ritual was determined by the incantation. And her incantation did include finding a familiar somewhere in this universe, which meant there were multitudes of worlds to choose from. But because she was so bad at magic it must have backfired and sent her to another world instead!
Maybe she just had to do the ritual again and it would bring her back? She thought about it some more, then realized that while it was definitely possible it would work, it was also very risky. There was no guarantee that it wouldn't simply send her off to yet another world, one less hospitable than the one she was already in. And this world had almost been the death of her right from the start. No, doing the ritual again was probably going to end in disaster. But how was she going to get back?
"If you want to learn more, you could always read the books in the library," Elena said, then asked as an afterthought, "You can read, right?"
"Y-Yes, I can read, Lady Elena." She was elated to discover that there was a library here. Books were a good place to start finding a way back home.
"That's good. If memory serves, the collection here at the Black Fortress is one of the largest that I'm aware of, so you're in a good place to study up on any subject you might fancy delving into. Might I suggest geography?" mused Lady Elena.
"The Black Fortress," Louise repeated. So that's what they called this place. The name sounded ominous, though from what she had witnessed so far that did seem to be rather appropriate.
"That's right. And you've apparently already met the master of this place."
Louise shuddered as she remembered the utter fear she felt in that throne room.
"Yes, he does have that affect on people sometimes," Elena said, amused. "But you should feel honored to have met him and survived. Not only that, you've even been granted a chance to live within these walls. Quite the blessing, if I do say so myself."
"A blessing? I nearly died!" Louise looked incredulously at her, but the woman appeared to really believe the words she had just spoken.
"But did you die?" Elena asked with a smirk. "You just met a true Demon Lord, one of the most powerful beings of this world, and are now allowed to serve him and live under the same roof at his discretion. Some would kill for that chance," explained Elena seriously.
Louise was finding it hard to see how this was supposed to be a blessing. Living with a demon was probably the most dangerous thing someone could possibly do. And why would anyone want to live with one anyway? Demons were known to be creatures of darkness and therefore they were evil! Louise was most definitely not evil, and in fact she wanted to become a strong magic knight one day so that she could fight against evil, not serve it.
"But he's... a demon," Louise said.
"Demon Lord," Elena corrected her, wagging a finger playfully. She apparently didn't see anything wrong with this at all.
"Lady Elena," Louise looked straight into her red eyes. "Aren't demons evil? They're demons... terrible beings who bring misfortune, death, and destruction to the world! Surely you can't be seriously happy to serve a Demon Lord?"
Although now that she thought about it some more, Lady Elena did try to bite her when they first met. Her fangs, her red eyes. It was possible she was some kind of monster that looked like a human, which would make serving the Demon Lord not a problem for her. Louise tried not to think about that possibility too much.
Elena gave her a curious look. "Are demons evil because they're demons? Who says they're evil?"
"Everyone!" she replied, incredulous. "That's why they're demons!"
"Everyone? I don't think they're evil and I know plenty of others who think similarly. At least not all of them are evil. Not that I've met many demons myself, but that's beside the point," she replied, "My Lord can be cruel, merciless, and downright frightening at times, which is also quite sexy if you ask me, but he's not some manifestation of evil or anything. He knows what he wants and will go to great lengths to make sure his goals are met, his interests are secure, and his enemies are broken and defeated. Does that sound evil to you?"
She paused as Louise considered her words, then continued. "Think of it this way. There are humans capable of the most evil things imaginable, right? Humans hurt and kill each other all the time. Wars are fought, backs are stabbed, misery is spread, and yet you don't go calling all humans evil simply because they're humans, do you?"
"N-No, but..." Louise blinked, unsure of what to say to that. The lady did have a point. Still. A demon was supposed to be evil, wasn't it? Weren't they born evil? Raised to be evil? Wasn't that why they were called demons in the first place?
"Louise. Have you ever met a demon? Gotten to know one? Other than my Lord, of course."
Louise shook her head. She had only ever read or heard about them in folklore and myth. It would be quite the uproar if demons roamed all around Halkeginia after all. Besides, if she ever got to know a demon as she knew them to be, it would probably be the end of her.
"Then how can you be so sure that demons are evil?"
Louise shifted uncomfortably under Lady Elena's watchful eye. "But... all the books... and stories..."
"Are written and told by non-demons," Elena said, "There are always two sides to a story. I'm not saying all demons are good, but what I am saying is that not all demons are evil. And really that's applicable to all races if you think about it. Some are really good, some are really bad, and all of us are some mixture of both when it really comes down to it."
Louise frowned. Lady Elena was making too much sense. The young girl had been brought up with this general idea that there was a distinct line between those who were good and those who were evil, that it was easy to tell which was which, but now she wasn't so sure.
"Do you think I'm evil?" asked Elena, reaching up to run a hand through her golden hair.
The question caught Louise so off-guard she stammered to reply, careful to make sure she didn't anger the lady. "Uh.. n-no! Of c-course not!"
"Now, now. Be honest with me, Louise," the lady said sternly. "I promise you that whatever your answer, I won't be upset."
Louise was silent for a while, and like when they first met Elena patiently waited for her to respond. Again she wasn't entirely sure if she could trust this woman, but the alternative was to lie again and she was admittedly a pretty terrible liar.
"I... can't say. I don't know you well enough." Louise simply didn't have enough information. While Elena did try to bite her before, she didn't, thanks in no small part to Jade. Now she seemed to be acting fairly normal though. Friendly even. Certainly different than before.
"Now that's an honest answer." Elena nodded, satisfied. "To be fair, I'm not so sure about you either." The lady smiled as she said that.
"I-I'm definitely not evil!" Louise exclaimed, shocked that anyone would even consider her to be evil. She was a good girl!
"We'll see," said the lady, letting out a quick laugh.
"I'm not evil," repeated Louise firmly.
With a thoughtful look Elena said, "We can discuss this all day, but I tire of the subject so I'll leave you with this thought: good and evil, right and wrong... if you think about it, and I mean really think about it, that distinction all depends on how you were raised and what you were taught. What you've experienced in your life thus far. Who you hang out with. Because what you might think is evil, someone else might think is good. And the opposite holds true as well. You might think you're doing good, but someone else considers what you're doing to be evil."
Louise's mind was swirling and starting to hurt. Both from the revelation that she was not in Halkeginia anymore and probably as far away as she could possibly be from home and also from all this surprisingly deep discussion about good and evil with the red-eyed noble lady.
"Well, that's what I think anyway." Elena sighed and said, "Experience is the best teacher though, so you'll figure out what you really think about it all eventually. Hopefully spending more time in the presence of Lord Kaji and the rest of us will help you see that the world isn't all black and white, good and evil. Most of it is shades of gray, a mixture of both light and dark."
That was a lot for Louise to think about, though she did have one pressing question. "Who is Lord Kaji?"
Elena plopped her head back onto a pillow and looked up at the ceiling. "My master, of course. His name is Arkajian. Demon Lord Arkajian. Although he might instruct you to just call him Lord Kaji like he's told the rest of us. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough whether you consider him evil or not, and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts when you do."
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Jade Fazier rarely met a task she could not accomplish. Any task that proved difficult or challenging she would redouble her efforts and find a way to get it done. And she always got it done. She was disciplined, determined, smart, and athletic with years of experience out in the field as a scout, warrior, general, and adviser to the great Demon Lord Kaji.
But she was most definitely no cook.
In fact, other than roasting game over a firepit while out on scouting missions, and those had been mostly charred, she had rarely cooked any meals in her life.
For the last few hours she had been trying with frustratingly little success to cook and season the venison and rabbit meat she had gone out hunting for. She meant to cook a nice venison steak for her master and some rabbit stew for herself, Elena, and the girl. While it sounded easy enough, she was finding it hard to properly gauge just how long to cook things as well as when to add other ingredients like vegetables and spices, which the butler had brought over from Elena's mansion.
At least she had the good sense to only cut up small pieces at a time so that she wasn't wasting too much of the meat. However, in the past few hours she had used up a significant amount of it, most of it ending up in the garbage heap.
"Lady Jade, perhaps I may be of some assistance?" spoke the gray-haired butler who had been standing by for the entirety of the process.
Elena had brought him along from Nifleheim. His name was Bartholomew, or Bartho for short. He had offered to help in the beginning, but she adamantly refused because she had promised to cook Lord Kaji's meal personally. And she would be damned if she was not going to follow through on it.
The butler did not protest or try to convince her otherwise, simply accepting her decision and keeping quiet all this time as he watched from the sidelines. He made no comments nor did he display any reactions as she failed again and again to properly cook the meals the way she envisioned.
"Be quiet, you! I said I'll cook it myself," she practically growled as she threw away another chunk of charred venison.
The butler bowed his head for a while, but then boldly spoke again some time later after another failed attempt, "My Lady, forgive me for my rudeness..."
Jade's spear was somehow in her hands in a flash and the blade was now pressed against the butler's neck. He made no move to dodge while this happened as he raised his arms in a show of surrender. A trickle of crimson blood flowed along the razor sharp edge of her spear as they both stood still.
"I thought I told you to be quiet," she growled with frustration, both at her continued failure and at the disobedient butler.
"... but if I may, my Lady, I can show you how I would cook these dishes and then you can do it yourself. I am only here to be of service."
Jade's emerald eyes glared into his red ones as he offered her a friendly smile, unafraid of the sharp blade that could cut open his throat at any moment.
That meant she would still be cooking the meal herself, but just following Bartho's guidance on how to cook it properly. She had already wasted so much time and resources, and she wasn't sure when her master was going to awaken. She needed his help and they both knew it.
"You will speak of this to no one," she ground out as she retracted her spear. The red-orange metal glowed and the blood that had been on it immediately evaporated with a sizzle.
The butler bowed at the waist this time, gloved hand pressed against his chest. The cut on his neck was already healed as if it had never happened.
"Yes, Lady Jade."
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Elena looked down at the bowl of rabbit stew that Jade had prepared for her.
It looked edible enough, and the smell wasn't unpleasant. But she knew Jade well enough to know that she couldn't cook, and so she was very apprehensive about actually eating it.
Across the table from her sat Jade, who seemed to have no trouble digging in to her own bowl of the stuff. Normally, that might make anyone feel more inclined to eat their own bowl, but again Elena knew that Jade could eat pretty much anything so long as it wasn't spoiled or rotten. So seeing her eat a bowl of her own cooking did nothing to inspire confidence that the food wouldn't taste bad.
Unlike herself, Jade did not seem to have a very discerning sense of taste. Thankfully, poorly cooked foods wouldn't really hurt either of them too much. They both had incredibly strong constitutions that could withstand most common poisons, while the effects of more potent poisons would be reduced. Herself especially, being a vampire. Bad tasting or poorly cooked food was not necessarily a health risk, but neither was she going to go out of her way to eat bad tasting food.
Her attention then turned to the only other person seated at the table.
Louise, dressed in her still very loose maid outfit, was wolfing down her own bowl without any complaint. The girl was certainly famished though, so again she wasn't exactly the best indicator. Studying her closely, Elena couldn't find any indications that the meal was repulsive to the young girl in any way.
She looked back down at the bowl set in front of her, still steaming a little.
"Are you not hungry, Elena?" Jade asked, wiping her mouth with a cloth napkin. Her bowl was now empty.
Elena gave her a fake smile. "Oh, I'm just admiring how it looks before I dig in."
"You should eat before it gets cold," advised the warrior.
"Of course," replied the vampire, "Wouldn't want to eat a cold meal now, would we?"
She lifted her spoon and placed it into the bowl.
Jade looked on with interest.
"I didn't realize you knew how to cook, Jade," Elena said, stalling.
"I'm still learning, actually. But I think I did a good job on this one," Jade said with pride, then she gave the vampire a look. "Are you going to eat it or not?"
Taking some of the stew in her spoon, Elena raised it up to her mouth and took another sniff. It definitely smelled okay. And it looked okay too. Well, there was no holding off now. She could practically feel Jade's eyes boring into her. Time for the moment of truth.
She opened her mouth and placed the spoonful of stew in. And froze.
It was bad. But surprisingly, it was not 'I want to spit this out immediately' bad. More like a 'this is not very good and I'm not really enjoying this but it's still kind of edible' bad. This was actually an improvement over what she remembered Jade capable of cooking long ago, if that could have even been called cooking.
"Well?" Jade looked at her eagerly.
"It's... really something," Elena managed to say after she forced herself to swallow the concoction that was apparently rabbit stew. She shivered, but forced a small smile in the direction of the warrior.
Jade looked pleased with herself. "I hope Lord Kaji will enjoy the meal I'll prepare for him, whenever he awakens."
Elena carefully placed the spoon back on the table. The bad taste continued to linger in her mouth and she felt the need to wash it out.
"He's still asleep?" she asked while she reached for her cup of tea. She jokingly hoped that he wouldn't be knocked unconscious by whatever Jade planned on cooking for him. They had only just gotten him back after all.
"Yeah," replied the warrior sadly, "He's locked himself in his chambers and when I call out to him he doesn't respond, so he must still be sleeping. He seemed very tired when I drew that bath for him last night so he must really need the rest."
"You didn't go in to check on him since then?"
Jade tapped her fingers on the wooden table. "Like I said, the door is locked. There's also a magic barrier placed on it, so it would certainly take a significant amount of power to break it down. Not to mention his personal wards around his chambers are apparently up and running."
Elena sighed. That meant their master seriously did not want to be disturbed. What a shame. He had only just come back and now he was isolating himself again. She had hoped to have that long talk with him today. There was so much to update him on and to ask him about now that he was back. Well, she had been waiting for him for two centuries, what's another few hours or days?
"You don't think he's already sealed himself off again, do you?" she said with sudden concern as the thought struck her.
"No. Not at all," came the quick reply from the warrior. "Right now, I don't think he has the strength to cast whatever that was he did before to seal himself away. Besides, that magic felt very different from what I'm feeling coming from his chambers."
Elena breathed a sigh of relief.
"How are the wards you put up doing?" asked Jade as she drank some of her own tea, changing the subject.
"They should work fine for now. I doubt anyone will attack the fortress anytime soon. Besides, I have my Night Guard patrolling the forest and the mountain. We can head off any threats before they reach the fortress if need be. And if it comes down to it, the main defense magics are still functional. Only the protective wards have failed, so we'll be more than okay even if we had to fight here. Besides, now that Lord Kaji has returned, we have little to worry about."
"This Night Guard of yours," started Elena as she sniffed at her tea. "I don't remember ever hearing of them before. You mentioned that they're all elite fighters from the vampire clans of Nifleheim and that they are your strongest fighting force."
"They are." Elena could already see where this was going.
"How good are they, really? How much battle experience do they have?" Her emerald eyes sparked with excitement and leaned closer to the table. There was no denying her warrior's spirit.
"Jade, darling, you've fought vampires before haven't you? Perhaps you should find out their competence for yourself. I can bring out a few of my best for you to spar with at the arena later."
Jade looked away, feigning disinterest, "Oh, I probably shouldn't-"
"I insist. It would be a win-win for everyone if you did," she told the warrior with a toothy grin.
"A win-win?"
"You get to show off, shake the rust from being on ice for two centuries, and gauge the level of skill of my fighters. In turn, my fighters get some training by fighting you. And they'll also learn that not all humans are weaklings," she explained, "It's been a long time since any of them have fought with humans who could keep up. Plus, I'm sure to be mildly entertained by the whole spectacle."
The warrior had that eager look in her eye that wasn't quite bloodlust, but it was something similar. She did well to keep her face calm in comparison. "Well, if you insist..."
"Will two hours be sufficient time for you to prepare?"
Jade looked at her quizzically. "Am I supposed to prepare? I'm in my armor and my spear is right here."
"One hour then."
With a shrug, Jade took another sip of her tea. Her spear was standing upright on the floor next to her chair, red-orange blade shining.
"Bartho," Elena called and the butler appeared a few seconds later a step behind her chair, bowing at the waist low enough that his head was level with her own.
Louise noticeably jumped in her chair with a yelp, startled at the sudden appearance of the butler as she eyed him warily.
"Yes, my Queen," said the butler.
Jade's eyebrows shot up at that.
"Have Marcus bring his best soldiers to the training yards in an hour."
"As you wish, my Queen."
The butler disappeared a moment later.
"Queen?" repeated Jade questioningly.
"Oh I haven't told you yet, have I? It's a long story, one that I do plan to fill you in on later, but suffice it to say that I am currently the Night Queen and ruler of Nifleheim," she replied.
Jade studied her with interest but said no more as she took another sip of her tea.
Elena looked to the pink-haired girl on the far end of the table. The girl had finished her bowl and finally seemed to show subtle signs that she did not enjoy the taste of it. Elena had been correct in thinking that her hunger overrode her taste buds in this situation. Now that she had her fill, she likely would detest the taste even more now.
"Louise, dear. I'm sure that wasn't nearly enough to fill your hungry belly. Here, you can have the rest of mine," she said as graciously as she could.
"Oh! No thank you. I-I'm fine, Lady Elena. I'm really full now, honestly..." Louise said nervously.
"There's no need to be shy, Louise. Not when Jade worked so hard to make such a delicious meal for us," she said with a devilish grin, "And don't you worry about me, dear, I've already had a meal earlier so I'm quite stuffed myself."
The look of horror in the young girl's eyes filled Elena with much satisfaction as she used magic to float the bowl over to the meekly protesting girl.
"Elena is right, girl. You're scrawny enough as it is. We cannot allow you to die from starvation or malnutrition. Eat up! And when you're done you may go about your duties as I instructed earlier today."
Deflated, Louise could only bow her head in defeat as she reached for her spoon. "Yes, Lady Jade."
"And thank Lady Elena for her generosity," said the warrior.
"Thank you, Lady Elena."
When the girl finished, she bowed to the two of them, took all the empty bowls and used utensils, bowed again, and then left. Looking very unsure of herself the entire time.
"What are we going to do with her, by the way?" Elena asked, her gaze settling on the armor-clad lady now that they were alone.
Jade leaned back in her chair, the wood creaking against the weight of her armor, her emerald eyes staring right back at Elena. "How do you mean?"
"I mean you don't plan to simply keep her as a maid forever, do you?"
"Why not?"
Blinking, Elena replied, "Well, for starters she can do magic. She was a student at some magic academy before she came here, you know. Not that I know how good this academy is, but she must be at least somewhat capable of casting useful spells."
"Then she can use her magic to fulfill her duties as a maid," replied the warrior, then she cocked her head at the vampire, "You've been talking to the girl, haven't you? Since when have you two become friends?"
Elena scoffed immediately. "Friends? We're not friends. Why would I want to be friends with a weak little human girl like her? I'm simply trying to maximize her potential as an asset of our Lord, and so I simply had a little chat to learn more about her earlier."
"You're saying she has potential? As an asset?" Jade sounded doubtful and gave her a dubious look to match.
"Potential to be more than a simple maid at least," stated the vampire.
"But you just called her weak."
Elena sighed. "Weak for now. We were all weak once. She just needs to be trained."
"Are you offering to train her? Because I certainly am not going to."
Elena didn't say anything at first as the wheels in her mind turned. Jade training the poor girl was definitely going to be disastrous, but if she trained the girl herself that might prove fruitful. "You know, that's not a bad idea," she said agreeably.
Training Louise would allow her to figure out what exactly made her special enough that the Demon Lord would take her in, and it would probably help her get closer to the girl to find out any secrets she might have. Additionally, she would be able to learn more about magic in other worlds, or at least in Louise's world. So far though, she didn't really see anything special about the girl beyond her pink physical features.
Jade crossed her arms. "Come on. Out with it. What are you playing at, Elena? Why are you so interested in the girl?"
"You're not?"
The warrior poured herself some more tea and said nothing.
"You never did tell me how she came to be here," Elena remarked.
"That's because I don't know. You'll have to talk with Lord Kaji about that. She was already here when I came to," said the warrior without elaborating.
Elena knew she spoke truthfully, but couldn't help but feel that Jade wasn't quite giving her the whole story. She didn't press any further, however. She was going to find out eventually.
"Well, this has been lovely. Thank you again, Jade, for the... meal. I should go check on the ward stones and defense crystals one more time before the fun begins later," she said, pushing her chair back and getting to her feet. "Meet you at the training yards?"
=x=x=x=x=
Louise busied herself with a long list of chores that Jade had left her with. Most of it was simple cleaning of various rooms and hallways throughout the keep, which was what she was doing now.
With broom in hand, she swept her way down one of the upper hallways of the keep, careful to make sure she didn't miss any spots. The lady warrior was sure to check on her work later and she didn't want to be punished for any mistakes.
Thanks to Lady Elena's generosity, she now had multiple sets of underwear and no longer felt embarrassed to be out in her maid uniform. Although the underwear that she received were definitely more risque than she was comfortable wearing, they were better than nothing.
She was just about finished with this hallway when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her.
With a yelp, she jumped and turned to see a familiar gray-haired butler standing with one hand behind his back while the gloved fist of the other arm was up to his mouth, presumably to cover the cough he had just produced. His eyes were crimson like Lady Elena and his skin was just as pale. He was the one who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere earlier during her meal with Lady Jade and Lady Elena.
"W-Who are you?" she demanded, her heart still racing. She was trying to figure out how he managed to sneak up behind her like that without making a sound. The hallway was absolutely quiet save for the sounds of Louise's cleaning and even the slightest sound reverberated across the stones. Footsteps were particularly easy to hear from her short experience roaming the halls, but this butler apparently made no noise at all when he walked.
The butler smiled without showing his teeth as he placed his other hand behind his back too. "My name is Bartholomew, young miss, and I am the personal butler of the Night Queen. However, I am also known as Bartho. You may call me that if you wish." His speech was measured and easily understandable, carrying with it a confidence that seemed quite appropriate for his age and station.
"Okay," she said uncertainly, wondering why he was there, "I'm-"
"Louise Vallière. Did I pronounce that correctly?" interrupted the butler.
"Y-Yes," she replied, feeling nervous all of a sudden. Given her track record so far of meeting people here in this world, she was expecting him to threaten her life somehow. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. As if being thrown into some strange, unknown world wasn't enough, it had to be filled with dangerous individuals who all seemed to be lining up to meet her too.
"Good. I was concerned that I misheard it from the queen," he admitted.
"I'm sorry, was there... something I could help you with?"
"Yes," said the butler, "I saw you dining with the queen and Lady Jade earlier. A rare thing to dine with such fine individuals. I've never seen you before and I thought you might be a guest of some sort, but I noticed that you wore the uniform of a maid." He made a show of looking her up and down and it made her cross her arms and hold herself. "I then thought perhaps this was simply a fashion choice on your part, but here I am surprised to see that you are, in fact, an actual maid."
Louise listened quietly, unsure of where this was going.
"Young miss, I have served the Night Queen for over a hundred years now," Louise was visibly surprised at this revelation, "And she has never invited me to dine with her in private like you just did. So I stand here before you with the greatest of curiosity. Who are you? What is your relation with them? Why were you invited to dine with such esteemed individuals? These are things I must know." His face remained impassive, red eyes watching her closely.
Louise didn't know what to tell him. She hardly knew herself why she was invited to eat with them like that, not that she really minded because there was food. The thought of the food did make her stomach turn a little. She normally would have refused to eat whatever that was earlier, but since Lady Jade had personally made it and she was absolutely famished, she forced herself to wolf it down as quickly as she could.
Her table manners might have been a bit lacking, but the two other women didn't seem to mind, busy as they were talking between themselves about something or other. She tried not to listen in to their conversation, though she couldn't help but hear a few things.
The silence stretched on until finally the butler spoke again.
"Very well, if you do not wish to tell me, then that is your business," his voice seemed to get a little harder though he remained polite. "However, I cannot stand by and allow you to continue on like this." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
This was not totally unexpected. Louise was waiting for him to finally threaten her well-being, like all the rest of the people she'd met so far have. She noted that the nearest door was only a few feet away. If she turned and ran now, she might be able to get in and lock it behind her before he could react. But then, before she could put her escape plan into action, she was actually surprised by what the butler said next.
"Your outfit is far too large for you and your boots are worn and dirty. You are also quite terrible at your duties as a maid," he pointed out in quick succession. "This is totally unacceptable, young miss, and must be corrected at once. I will not have you sullying the presence of Her Highness with your poor appearance, nor can I abide your continued lack of proper skills at performing your duties, simple as they are. Since I am now to be stationed here at the Black Fortress, as Head Butler I have been charged by my Queen with the responsibility of returning this place to proper working order. As such, you are now my subordinate and it is my duty to make sure you look and act appropriately. Now if you would please follow me, we shall begin at once starting with your attire."
With his speech done, he turned on his heel and walked off.
That was totally unexpected. Groaning inwardly, Louise was starting to wish he had simply threatened her life instead.
=x=x=x=x=
The training yards were located in the Lower District of The Black Fortress. They consisted of several buildings dedicated to martial training. One of the buildings was oblong in shape with elevated stands that ringed a wide stone field that was perfectly flat. It was a fighting arena.
It was here that Marcus found himself summoned along with a couple of hand-picked soldiers from his vanguard, as instructed.
Marcus rolled his shoulders as he readjusted the heavy pauldrons of his armor. Each pauldron was ringed with gold and had a roaring dragon's head in the center rising up out of the metal. His black cape fell behind him, swaying as he walked towards the middle of the field. Behind him followed Katarina and Ramsey.
Waiting for them was the Night Queen in an elegant long black gown with a provocative thigh-high slit and a woman standing next to her in magnificent emerald green armor. She didn't appear to have any weapons with her, though from the armor alone it was plain to see that she was a warrior of some repute and was probably the reason that they were called here.
"She's human," remarked Ramsey from behind him, sounding surprised.
"This should be interesting," Katarina said with a hint of excitement.
Macus stayed silent. The woman definitely appeared to be human, but what possible reason could the queen have to bring her here? There was no way they were supposed to train with this woman, were they? He had encountered some humans with superhuman skills and abilities before, but when it came down to it they had been no match for his own strength.
The Night Queen watched them approach with her piercing red eyes. Her expression was unreadable.
The vampires each dropped to one knee once they reached a close enough distance.
"My Queen," greeted Marcus as he bowed his head. The other two followed suit.
He could really smell the lightly fragrant scent of the woman in armor. Definitely human.
"Get up, get up. No need to be so formal all the time, especially not in front of Jade here," fussed the Queen and they promptly got to their feet.
"They look pretty strong," the armored woman called Jade noted with an even tone.
"Yes, they're quite capable," sniffed the vampire queen. "This is Marcus, he's Captain of my Night Guard. And the two with him are, I believe, Katarina and Ramsey. His subordinates."
Each of them bowed their heads in greeting to the woman as they were introduced.
"And this," said the queen with a smile and a hand gesturing towards the armored woman, "Is my good friend Jade. Although that's Lady Jade to you. Or Commander Jade? Which do you prefer, my dear?"
Jade snorted. "Seeing as how I don't currently have an army at my disposal, I suppose Lady Jade will do."
Marcus couldn't help but feel surprised that the woman was some kind of military general, and more significantly that a human was friends with the Night Queen, though he was careful not to show it. What country was this woman from? And how did she become friends with Queen Elena?
"There you have it. I present to you the fierce and legendary Lady Jade," said the vampire queen.
Jade rolled her eyes at first but then she inclined her head to the three vampires. "A pleasure."
"Now that you're all acquainted, let's get to the reason why we're all here. My dear friend, Lady Jade, would like to spar with some of the best from my vaunted Night Guard because she's a little out of practice," explained the Night Queen with a smirk, "And I do hope you won't disappoint either of us."
Katarina and Ramsey gave each other surprised looks. Even Marcus was taken aback and was unable to hide his reaction, his expressionless mask broken momentarily.
"Ah. You must be thinking that this isn't fair to Jade, but I assure you that she is more than capable of handling herself. So please don't hold back, or you'll be sorry."
Jade started to do a few stretches, showing that her armor was custom-built for her because even with it on she was still quite flexible. That was only possible if the makers crafted it to the exact specifications of the wearer.
"Here are the rules," continued the queen vampire, "No weapons. No magic. All combat will be hand-to-hand. You lose if you get knocked out, badly injured, or pinned to the ground for more than five seconds. Oh, and you must stay within the arena field at all times. Is that clear?"
"Yes, your highness," the vampires said in unison.
Jade gave a silent nod of acknowledgement.
The Night Queen glanced between Jade and the Night Guard before she continued.
"Great. Which one of you wants to start us off?" asked the queen with a toothy grin.
"I'll be first, your grace," announced Ramsey as he stepped forward, beating Marcus by a half second as he was also about to speak up, his mouth already halfway open.
"Excellent. You two please follow me then," said the queen.
They walked towards one side of the arena where a heavy gate built into the sidewall led to a tunnel with some stairs at the end. They ascended to the first and lowest level of the audience stands and went to the first row, which was at least twelve feet above the arena floor.
"Your highness, may I speak freely?" asked Marcus as they looked on at the two fighters standing in the middle of the arena.
"You may," came the reply.
"Is it truly a good idea to pit your friend against us like this? Aren't you worried that she might get seriously injured?"
She placed a hand on his shoulder, stroking the protruding lion's head and admiring the craftsmanship. "Oh Marcus, I'm more worried about you lot getting injured than I am about her. You'll see soon enough."
Marcus felt his pride take a hit but said no more as the queen yelled for the two to begin. Was this human woman really that strong?
With his heightened sense of hearing and sight, he was able to hear and see everything as clearly as if he were right in the middle of the two combatants.
Jade started bouncing on the balls of her feet, making it look easy even with all her armor on. Marcus figured that she must be a lot stronger than she looked.
"I don't understand why we're doing this, Lady Jade, but if it is the queen's will, so be it," Ramsey said as he bowed at the waist to the warrior.
"You don't have to understand," replied Jade coolly as she shook her arms to loosen them up and continued to bounce, "You just have to fight."
Ramsey chuckled. "Very well. Would you like to strike first, my Lady?" he asked nicely as he raised his fists and got into a solid fighting stance. He was certainly confident in himself.
The dark-haired warrior laughed, her emerald eyes alight with excitement. "If you insist."
With the sound of rushing wind she lunged forward with such speed that Ramsey barely had time to react. He tried to block and redirect the incoming punch, but he was too slow and Jade's low punch connected with his abdomen as her gauntlet slammed against the vampire's armor with an audible thud that echoed through the empty arena.
She stopped her forward movement a step behind where he had been standing, one knee bent while her trail leg was straight after pushing off of her foot and twisting her body for maximum power output. Her right arm was outstretched as Ramsey was sent flying at least twenty feet before he tumbled across the ground even farther, kicking up some dirt along the way.
He came to a stop in a crumpled heap almost forty feet away from where he had been standing.
Standing upright, Jade placed her hands on her hips and looked at the fallen vampire critically.
"How was that for a first strike?" she asked playfully, bouncing on the balls of her feet once more.
He groaned.
Both Marcus and Katarina leaned forward as they stared dumbfounded at the scene before them.
"How is this possible?" Katarina said in disbelief.
Marcus couldn't understand it either. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but no matter how many times he blinked or rubbed them, he could still see Jade bouncing on her feet while Ramsey lay motionless on the ground some distance away from where he had been only seconds ago.
Was the women really a human? He was aware that there existed humans with gifts and abilities that allowed them to fight on par with vampires, but to actually see one in action was surprising. Not only was Lady Jade incredibly fast, she was also supernaturally strong to knock Ramsey off his feet like that. He was most definitely impressed.
"She better not have killed him," Katarina said with a mixture of worry and anger.
"No, I don't think she did," replied Marcus as they watched Ramsey struggle to get back up. "But she definitely hit him hard. Harder than should have been possible… for a human."
Next to them, the Night Queen was smiling.
=x=x=x=x=
The outpost built atop a cliff overlooking the valley below was small, with a garrison of only thirty soldiers. A collection of simple wooden structures were enclosed by a wall made of thick tree trunks, weathered and aged from the elements. In the center, a watchtower stood tall to give a commanding view of the surrounding area.
Along the walls and on the sides of all the structures hung the banners of the Acheron Empire, proudly displayed for all to see.
Decurion Alan Rogarde was busy writing a letter to his family telling them that he would be home on leave soon when he heard the commotion outside. There were men shouting in the yard and he heard the sound of the gates being opened. Putting down his pen, he made his way outside to check on what was going on.
His Tessarius, the next highest-ranking officer in his unit, was running towards him with a worried look.
"What's all this about?" he demanded, feeling a bit annoyed.
"A rider is fast approaching, sir!" replied his second.
"A rider? One of ours?"
"Yes, sir."
"From which direction?"
"From the east!"
The Decurion's face scrunched up. "From the east? But that's..." he trailed off. There was only one scout currently deployed in that direction at the moment.
"Ready the messenger birds," he ordered grimly, and the Tessarius ran off immediately.
Not long after, a horse thundered through the gates that closed quickly behind it. A cloud of dirt followed in its wake and filled the courtyard as it came to a halt. The horse and the rider looked like they had been through hell. Bruised and bloodied, they were both barely conscious and looked like they were ready to keel over dead at any moment.
For a few seconds, every soldier in the outpost simply stared at both rider and mount and there was total silence.
A crow cawed overhead.
"Fetch water and medical supplies! And someone help the man off his horse, damn it!" yelled the Decurion as his glare swept the courtyard, startling the soldiers and spurring them into action.
A few men helped the exhausted rider off his horse as others led the horse away to rest in the small stable nearby. A few more ran to their storehouse to get medical supplies.
Leaning on one of the soldiers, the scout was practically dragged to the Decurion, who stood with arms behind his back waiting in the shade of the porch of his office.
"You look like hell. What's happened? What news do you bring?" said the Decurion. He had a feeling about what it might be, though he hoped he was wrong. For all of their sake's he hoped that the news was not what he feared.
"The Black... The Black Fortress... there's activity..." the scout managed to say before he passed out.
The Decurion frowned as silence reigned across the camp. He was not wrong after all.
Some distance away, a figure with crimson eyes moved between the shadows of the trees, heading east.
=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=
Author's Note: Okay, next chapter I think will be mostly if not all about what's going on in Tristania. Thanks for the reviews and support! Let me know what you think so far and if you have any constructive criticism/comments :)
For the purposes of this story, a Decurion is an Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) of the Empire who commands 30 soldiers. All that will be explained in more detail later on.
This world is inspired by a lot of media that I've consumed over the years, but this world and these new characters are entirely my own creation. This, along with a few stories I'm writing right now, is an exercise in world building and character creation. I'll probably dabble in crossovers at some point too, just to play around with that genre creatively.