A/N: So... my dumbass really forgot about this chapter on ffnet and posted it on all the other sites months ago. Shaking my fucking head. I have never been so disappointed in myself, truly. I'm so sorry for dealing this for you guys - especially because of such a stupid reason.
Anyway, rather obviously, this chapter was meant to be longer. I decided to cut it short because it was getting to the 6000+ word mark. So the next chapter is basically a continuation of what happened. I'm super sorry for the cut off everyone - as well as the late update time! It honestly couldn't be helped.
CarBarrier - Thanks a ton for the reviews :)
Till next time,
D.L.D
Elizabeth's P.O.V
Break comes much quicker than expected. Despite sitting through a whole double lesson of History, I felt as if only a short hour had passed between *tutor and break.
Like I had thought, having a more diverse class did help with subjects such as History and Culture classes. Myths and legends and primary accounts were much easier to understand when given the background information from people of that specific culture and history. Accounts from the First Holy War - fought well over a thousand years ago - detailed battles that made much more sense when given crucial context from actual Goddesses and Demons.
There had even been intense discussions during the lesson, our teacher actively encouraging us to talk about our opinions and takes on the war with each other. As a result, History had been a really fascinating and eye-opening lesson - especially with the added perspectives of students from mostly reclusive races.
In all, so far I've found Britannia to be a rather pleasant and enjoyable experience. No-one has tried to be mean and no-one has directly declared their dislike toward me. I even sat next to a member of the Demon race, Derieri, for History and she had smiled at me when I mentioned that I had a sister. She even told me a little about her family, opening up a little, but not completely. Which I wouldn't expect. You can't trust everyone you meet.
After queuing up to grab a snack at break, I made myself comfortable at a table located by the canteen's large windows. Taking up the entire wall, the glass panes spanned the length of the outside space's courtyard, displaying some of the students tending to the plants growing around the paths. Filmy and insect-like wings sprouted from their backs, showing their unique origins, but I didn't focus on that. I was captivated by the bright flowers and healthy green that sprouted from their touch.
A few Goddesses were also around the area, talking to the teachers and helping some of the Fairies with the plants. Human students drifted in between, many of them using the courtyard to get to the canteen or to race off toward the playing fields. I heard that the Demons and Giants were having a match of football down there - something about letting off pent-up aggression. No doubt they were all flocking to spectate or sign their own team up.
"Elizabeth!" Mael approaches me with a large and friendly grin, carrying a tray stacked with something that looked a lot like tarts. A girl followed behind him, her blue hair short and diamond earrings hanging from her ears. They both matched, their uniforms perfect and neat, and their white and fluffy wings trailing behind them like elegant capes.
Nervously, Mael hesitates as he plops his tray down, raising a brow, "You don't mind if we sit here, do you? No-one else is... as friendly as you."
Blinking, I look around the canteen, confused. Everyone was talking, mixed into their own little groups of chatter and cheer. A few students - mostly Fairies and Humans - spoke animatedly around a phone; another group - Giants and Fairies - laughed as they attempted to dance; then there were the other groups, all mixtures of different people and faces, all talking and chattering and laughing. They didn't look cruel. They didn't look isolating.
They looked friendly.
"Between the lines," The girl behind Mael huffs, shaking her head. Still frowning, she points toward the groups, then gestures at herself and Mael. "They all think that because we're Goddesses, we're too posh and snot-nosed to even level with them. The damned idiots..."
"Not that you would be nice, Jelamet," Mael snickered a little, grinning at his companion. He nudged her with his shoulder. In response, Jelamet blushed, her mouth and brows pulling to form a stubborn frown.
"You idiot!" She hit him on his back, rather hard. So hard that Mael cringes a little from the force. Then Jelamet pouts, her cheeks puffing with annoyance. "I only came to this place because you said you were giving it a shot. You know how it works, Mael. We're best friends and best friends do everything together."
I can't help but grin at the girl, Jelamet's, words. Best friends did do everything together. When you had a best friend you tended to stick with them and tell them everything. All of your secrets, all of your worries, became theirs as well as yours. You shared everything with each other. From the looks of it, Jelamet and Mael were extremely close. Very close. There was no way that you couldn't see that, especially with how they easily fell into a playful back-and-forth, jabbing at each other but never intending to truly hurt each other.
Pricking fills the backs of my eyes and something wavers in my grin. It must be beautiful - having a best friend. I wouldn't know because I've never really had one. It's part of the deal when you are the daughter of an influential politician. No-one can ever truly be a friend.
"You guys can sit here if you want," I cough a little, interrupting their banter. Effortlessly, I give them a smile - my most polite one - and nod toward the empty seats across from me. "I don't mind sitting with anyone, Goddess or not."
At my words, a wide grin breaks out onto Jelamet's lips, "I like her!" She nods as she sits down in an empty seat, plonking her tray in front of her on the table. "You seem like a good person, Elizabeth. I guess Mael was right to say that you were like us."
"Jelamet!" Mael groused, a blush creeping onto his face. Frowning, he glares soft daggers at his friend, taking a bitter bite from his tower of tarts. "You weren't meant to tell her that! Now Elizabeth knows that we actually like her."
"Oh well," Jelamet smirks, snatching up one of Mael's tarts. Still grinning, she eats it all up, never breaking her smug eye contact with us both. "Sometimes that's just how it goes."
Warm and golden, something nice gathers within my chest. Something soothing and gentle and soft settles within me, like when you drink a hot, sweet tea on a cold winter's day, and it oddly makes me feel welcome. At home. Somehow, sitting across from these two Goddesses, both of them closer friends with each other than I can ever wish to be, I feel as if I can belong to something. They make me feel welcome. They make me feel accepted.
And that is an odd feeling for me. I am too used to having to please others.
"So... you both think that I am like you?" I ask, stunned that anyone could ever see themselves in me - could ever equate myself to them. I am quiet, shy, very forgettable. I try to make sure that no-one can remember much about me nor see much fault in my ways. That doesn't stop my clumsiness though, nor does it stop my kindness. If anything, it makes it all the more noticeable when I do something unprecedented.
"A believer in peace?" Jelamet hums, raising a brow as she picks up another one of Mael's tarts. As if it were obvious, she laughs, shaking her head. "Yeah. Of course, we do. You're the mayor's kid."
Ah, there it is, the true reason for people thinking that I belong: my father. Everywhere I go, whether it is a private school or a state school, everyone only sees the long and proud legacy of the Liones family. Elizabeth Liones - Baltra Liones' youngest daughter. I am only ever seen as a gated princess, the youngest child who continually wishes for unrealistic realities within the city of Britannia. They see me as the reason why my father is so soft on the race regime. They see me as the reason why he was deranged enough to open this school.
Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised that people see me in this way. I shouldn't be upset about it. I shouldn't cry.
But that doesn't mean I don't want to.
"Oh..." I can't help but sound deflated as I go to pick at my food, suddenly dissatisfied and feeling rejected with the presence of Jelamet and Mael. Mael is not like-minded to me; I should have known. To find someone who thinks like me, someone who does not see only status, is hard in times like these. All anyone sees is status.
"There's more to it than just believing in peace," Mael sighs, causing me to glance at him. Visible, he shakes his head as he shoots a light glare toward Jelamet. "I would explain further, but break's nearly over. We could discuss it over lunch, though? Do you want to eat lunch with us, Elizabeth?" Mael turned back to me, his blue eyes filled with hope as he waited for my answer. "I wouldn't usually ask but- "
"It looks like you don't have any friends," Jelamet grinned, a little too widely, as she looked at me. Another tart was slipped into her mouth, her red-shaded lips making the last word pop. "I guess Danafor and the other private preps don't really forge the strong sisterhoods that they boast about."
I don't comment. I'd rather not comment. Something about Jelamet's grin unsettles me, especially with how her eyes are pinned on me. Often, I encounter those who like to pick away at me because of my sheltered upbringing. They see me as someone who has never seen any real hardships - a girl who is filled with nothing but silly dreams. When I was younger, my father taught me to ignore them; as I grew older, I learned how to deflect them. Now, they are just another part of my life.
However, as I look at Mael and Jelamet, I don't feel as if they are the type to pick and belittle me. Jelamet was perhaps a little more prickly than Mael, clearly having firm and brash opinions, but she has not personally attacked me yet. Mael has been nothing but kind. Therefore, I see no harm in getting to know them a little more. My father always said that I should try to get out there more often. Usually, it is my own bashfulness that prevents any long-lasting friendships.
"I don't mind eating lunch with you both," I say, giving them both a smile. Naturally, it is returned, both of them appearing highly pleased.
"Great!" Mael smiles, and despite how I feel, how I feel like I'm being watched, I can't help but grin back.
Oddly, he has that sort of effect on me.
Diane's P.O.V
I ended up dragging myself around the school for the next two periods. Even though break offered me a chance to calm down with an intense game of football against the Demons and Humans, I decided that hiding out in the canteen would be a much better move. Less time around Giants and sports meant the less opportunity to get mad. That meant I wanted to reduce my time around the playing fields and athletes as much as possible.
After passing twenty minutes with a rather sad sausage roll and a small piece of cake, the bell rang and it was time to go back to class. Those two periods, one a Math lesson and the following English lesson, allowed me to calm myself a little before lunch. English and math, after all, are two subjects that are so boring that it allows you to kinda sort your thoughts out. So by the time lunch came by, I was a feeling a little bit better. But only little bit.
"Diane!" Dolores calls for me, waving excitedly as she practically sprints to my side. Reddened, her face betrays the effort she placed into running down the hall. Her backpack hung from one shoulder, matching leopard print with mine - as I had insisted. "Are you ok? After you ran off during PE, I wanted to check on you but I ended up losing you in the crowds and- "
"It's alright, Dolores," I laugh at her suddenly panicked and flustered state, well used to her concern for me. Out of the pair of us, I was always the one attracting trouble. Dolores was the one who constantly worried and fussed, quietly apologising for my antics and then scolding me for being so brash and forward. Every time I brushed her aside. Every time I told her that I would always be fine. I was, after all, a good fighter.
Nevertheless, Dolores still fussed and worried after me. Even when I told her that it wasn't necessary and that I could look after myself, she would always double check and fetch me whatever aid I'd need. Once, when I had been grounded for getting into a fight at school, Dolores had risked getting in trouble with me, sneaking me her phone so that I could continue the war online. Of course she didn't know about the social media aspect - I made sure of that - but Dolores always did trust me. She trusted everyone.
"Are you sure?" Dolores asks me quietly, frowning a little as someone pushes her aside. We're located in the middle of the hall, blocking the double doors leading to the stairway. We should move, but I can't find the effort to.
"Yep," I nod, humming. I flash her my biggest smile, linking her arm with mine as I drag us toward the throng of people rushing down the main stairway. "Now, let's get some lunch! I'm starved after dealing with a double period of Math and English."
Giggling at my words, Dolores agrees with a slight hum as we break our way into the crowd of students. Following the current, we move with them down the stairs, making our way from the first floor to the ground floor - where the canteen was. Since we were year elevens*, we ate first here at Britannia - a nice change from eating last - and so we easily made our way past the library toward the bustling canteen.
However, just as we were passing the double doors that led toward the drama hall, we stopped - well, I stopped - noticing something amiss. While the rest of the students passed on by, chatting excitedly and racing toward the playing fields or canteen, I had spotted an interaction that looked a little too intimidating to be friendly.
Standing by the doors across from the drama hall's entrance were a group of around six. Huddled in the middle of it were two younger-looking girls, one with short blonde hair and the other a head of long blonde hair. Together, they held each other's hands, the one with shorter hair puffing her chest and cheeks out at the older girls. Beside her, the girl with longer hair shivered a little, her feathered wings twitching.
To the unassuming eye, it could pass as a group of older years just speaking to a younger student. To a passerby, it could look like they were telling them something important. But to me, it didn't look anything like that. With how the two girls looked, with how one held their friend's hand, shrinking away, I couldn't see anything else other than a group of bullies picking on two young girls.
But maybe I was just hyper-alert because I had been bullied. Maybe I was just projecting myself and Dolores onto them...
"Diane?" Dolores asks, raising a brow at my sudden pause in our journey. Softly, she tugs on my arm, trying to gain my attention. "What's wrong? Why have we stopped?"
Suddenly, I turn back around, lowering my voice as I whisper to Dolores, "Do you think we should help?" I then point to the two girls. "They look highly uncomfortable. I think they're being picked on."
"P-picked on?" Dolores echoes, the colour draining from her cheeks. Wide, her soft brown eyes fix onto the girls I had pointed at. "If they are we should help them. But... " She presses her lips together, frowning as she whispers to me. "Are we sure we should interfere? I heard that those girls are rather influential in our year..."
Frowning at her words, I turn back to study the older girls in the group. Matching Dolores' assumptions, they were a handful of Human and Demon girls who were rather loud among our peers. No doubt they were the sort who were influential in their old schools. Noise tends to be an indicator as to who knows certain people within a school environment. Yet, despite the threat of their influence, I find myself willing to help.
No-one should have to be bullied. No-one should go through horrible teasing just because they are different. Whether they are Human, Fairy or Giant, whether they are Goddess or Demon, a person should never go through bullying. Ever.
"We're helping!" I decide, firmly taking Dolores' hand in my own and marching toward the group.
At our approach, the girl with the longer hair shivered even more, shrinking behind her friend's form. No doubt our taller heights were intimidating her. Being a Giant, we knew that most people did not see our towering heights as something comforting nor safe. Giants were known to be extremely powerful and violent. Many of the stereotypes that lingered around my race unfortunately painted a pretty grim picture of us all.
Yet, despite that, the group of older girls did not shrink. Instead they stood taller, probably assuming that we would back them up. They were probably used to that sort of thing, their old schools being the perfect place for such disgusting actions.
"What's going on here?" I ask, raising a brow at the group of older girls. My anger is not at all hidden as I place a hand on my hip, waiting for an answer.
"We were just asking these girls about where my perfume disappeared to," One of the girls answers, her blazer dotted with shiny pins and badges. None of them were to do with school - most of them from bands or movies. Her long lavender hair is loose, trailing all the way down to her hips. "They were the last ones near my bag."
"Well, we didn't take it!" The blonde with the short hair shouts, her features still puffed with indigence. Huffing, her golden eyes narrow at the group of girls. "You're only accusing me and Invisible because we're easy targets. No-one would question you asking us because we're quiet."
"My missing perfume says otherwise!" The older girl snaps, her agitation obvious as she glared at the blonde. A slight hiss leaves her lips, her eyes narrowing in a predatory fashion. "It was extremely expensive and the nerve of you pipsqueaks to even suggest- "
"Are you being serious right now?" I interject, entirely disappointed with the scene unfolding before me. All of this over perfume? What a petty and irrelevant argument. Even if the perfume was crazy expensive, you shouldn't yell at two younger years who were probably already petrified as it was. Plus these girls seemed innocent enough, being extremely small and definitely appearing like the type to keep quiet and keep their heads down.
"Keep out of this, Giant!" The older girl snaps once more, baring her now fanged frown at me. It's then I notice the growing demon mark, clouds of miasma gathering around her tense body. "It's none of your business. Stay out of it."
Going to a school filled with meathead athletes, I am well-used to being told to stay out of people's business. When Dolores was picked on, I was often shoved aside and told to go away. None of it was meant to be my concern. None of it was meant to be something I should worry about. Not my problem, not my business - that's what I was taught to believe. Well, despite what I was advised to do, I always stuck my nose into where it wasn't wanted anyway. At this point, it was in my nature to defy what was normal.
"I'm not staying out of it!" I step closer to the student, trying to make myself seem bigger as I raise a my voice a little. Dolores says something behind me, so quiet that I miss it, and I don't ask what it is as I am too busy trying to prove my point. "You should know better than to pick on younger students! So what if your perfume went missing? I doubt those kids even tried to steal it off you."
"Are you accusing me of lying?" The demon girl hissed, her dark eyes growing dangerous as she stared back at me. Floating, she was matching my height, more miasma swirling around her body as her fingers flexed. "Because I can assure you that- "
"Just leave them alone," Dolores speaks from behind me, garnering everyone's attention. Blushing, she lets out a little squeak as she continues. "We don't want to start a fight with you, we know who you are. All that we ask is that you leave the girls alone. We'll teach them to not upset you again and we'll make sure that your perfume is returned."
"Dolores..."
No response comes from her at my concern. Nothing. Instead she continues to stare at the student - someone supposedly influential - waiting for her approval on the request. While she did, I prepared to fall into a fight, my muscles and nerves twitching with anticipation as my hand begged to reach for the umbrella I kept on the side pocket of my bag. Only, I don't get to use it. Instead, the student calms down and smiles, her miasma fading as she nods at Dolores.
"Very well," Her voice is back to calm and regal. Polite. "I will forget that this happened. Just make sure to keep these girls in line. We can't have such brutish behaviours going on in the younger years of this academy. It's simply uncivilized."
No other words said, the student turned on her heel and motioned for her group of friends to follow her. Like a haggle of ducks they did, all chattering and whispering and staring as they went to join the bustle of the students outside the main building. That left me and Dolores with the two small girls, both of whom were stunned into silence, one in disbelief and the other filled with awe, her golden eyes wide with wonder.
"Y-you're amazing!" The blonde with short hair beams as she launches into me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. "I thought that she would never leave us both alone. Thank you so much!"
"E-Elaine!" Her friend blushed profusely, her voice a soft hush as she reached out for her friend. Feathered wings fluttered behind her, much smaller than a Goddess'. "You shouldn't just hug people! You have to ask first."
"It's alright!" I laugh, opening my arms to welcome Dolores and the other girl, Invisible, into the hug. Dolores softly shakes her head, opting out of the hug, and so does Invisible. "Wow, you two really don't like hugs."
"They're too touchy," Both agree, speaking at the same time.
Elaine and I laugh.
"Really, thank you for the help," Elaine says once more, separating from the hug to loop her arm with her friend. "Without you both we would have gotten into serious trouble. That girl, Melascula, she likes to pick on the Fairy students here."
"Well, if she causes any problems, you know who to call!" I grin, looping Dolores in with me as I strike a cheesy pose. All three of them laugh, giggling at the silly pose I'd done. I shake my head. "But seriously, don't hesitate to find us. We don't mind helping out, right Dolores?"
Blushing, she nods, "Right."
We then turn to leave, ready to grab some well-deserved lunch. I was starving now, that confrontation taking a lot more out of me than I had thought. But just as we were about to leave the two girls behind, a soft voice calls out, filled with gratitude.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" We turn to see Elaine smiling at us, her golden eyes filled with hope and awe as she looked at us both. Smiling, she taps her heart, before pointing at us. "You two are really kind! I hope that one day everyone can see past the stigma of Giants being cruel."
"Thank you..." I breathe amazed at how she can see me in a different light. How did she even know about how I wanted people to see me as kind?
Usually, when people learn that I am a Giant, they see me as a force of muscle and strength. Never before has anyone thanked me for being kind. Never has anyone seen me for being something other than an athlete or freak. Yet, here in Britannia, I have gained the gratitude of a girl, a girl who sees nothing but the deed I have done, and that warms my heart. It restores a small chunk of the faith I had for this place.
"No problem!" Elaine giggles back, her smile bright and wide as she held up an arm to wave warmly at us both. "Consider it a compliment from a friend!"
Grinning, I return her warm wave, unable to stop feeling entirely happy. Then Dolores and I are back to grabbing some lunch, grinning as we joined the queue. This is my first friend since meeting Dolores. My first friend who isn't family. I never thought it would happen.
Smoothly, the queue shifted forward. As I grabbed my lunch tray, I smiled to myself. Maybe Britannia really is a place of change.
Some UK to US conversions:
*Tutor = Homeroom
*Year eleven = Tenth Grade