A Campbell Estate Interlude

The Campbell Estate was in turmoil as the storm continued to rage. Their lady, Maria Campbell, had somehow fallen into a sort of mindless stupor, furrows on her face carved by her own fingers as she lay curled up on the ground, her face set into a rictus of deepest horror. No one knew what had befallen her, though the maids and older wards who'd gone to her mother's house to pick her up and carry her to her room– after Anne had come rushing to the manor for help, wearing only a robe– had taken one whiff of the bedroom their lady had collapsed in front of, and the mortified expression of their lady's mother's face, and made a pretty good guess. It would have been cringingly amusing if it hadn't been their lady.

The women sworn to her had nearly fallen over themselves getting to her, all eight of them picking her up gently, as her ladyship's mother fretted, carrying her out into the storm and back into the manor to bring her up to her room. It was made difficult by their lady staying curled up like a frightened child, but fortunately the manor had large doors. Her ladyship's mother followed, and no one mention how she was wearing only a bed sheet. It was quite fortunate there were very few men in the manor.

The oathsworn women placed their lady upon her bed, and she seemed to just curl up tighter upon herself, making distressing sounds that, were chillingly like the sounds they remembered in of those dark times before their lady, when they heard someone pushed to the edge of despair and beyond. Still, they made room for her ladyship's mother as she tried to come forward to comfort her child.

"Maria…" Alice said hesitantly.

Maria screamed, and her mother flinched back as Maria curled up even tighter, her hands pressing against her eyes, her face pressing down into the bed as she was trying to bury herself. Alice wore a face of anguish and despair, cringing every time Maria's voice rose as if it were a lash upon her Dark Soul. She stepped back, and would have collapse on the carpet if Sadako didn't smoothly sweep up behind her and place a chair behind her sheet-covered behind. As Alice bowed her head, looking lost and forlorn, an uncharitable person might have said that overly dramatic reactions ran in the family. However, all these women were much too polite to say so, leaving such things to the narration.

Children peeked in fearfully from the door, their little faces fearful as they peeked to see their fallen guardian. Their faces were haunted, and some started to wail, no doubt imagining terrible things, and the end of this dream-like life they were leading. The older one and their caretakers tried to comfort them, urging them to go back to their rooms, but the children refused, not wanting to leave their mama and lose her. This was how you lost mamas, a part of them whispered darkly. And so they stayed, more and more crowding around them the door to her room. The storm continued, and with every loud howl of or roll of thunder, the children became more and more upset, because no one seemed to know what to do, not even grandma Alice, who smelled funny in a way that summoned memories like abyssal monsters in some minds…

Grandma Anne came, dressed properly in her maid uniform and carrying a bundle of clothes for Alice. Sadako wordlessly opened the bathroom for her sempai, and the other maid nodded thankfully as she brought Maria's mother there for some privacy so she could get dressed. Or possibly washed, then dressed.

As Maria's oathsworn felt more and more helpless to do anything, as the children grew more and more upset, their cries echoing down to disturb the accountants, Shana risked entering the room. On seeing the scratches on Maria's face, apparently from trying to claw her own eyes out, Shana gasped and rushed forward, crawling onto the bed next to her mama. One of the oathsworn half-heartedly moved to intercept her, but Sadako stopped her, shaking her head as Shana gently rested her hands on Maria's face and, with a constipated face of concentration, called forth her Light Magic.

No one saw anything. After all, Light Magic did not generate visible light when used. Still, the self-inflicted scratches on Maria's face faded away, and Shana let out a sigh of relief. Hesistantly, she reached over and shook Maria by the shoulder.

"Mama…?" she called tentatively.

She instinctively jerked backwards, bouncing on the bed slightly at the sudden move, as Maria let out another bloodcurdling scream, curling up in a tighter ball and covering her face with her hands, letting out pathetic, whimpering sounds as she did so.

What followed was a horrified silence filled only with the howling of the storm.

As the accountants valiantly tried to ignore the creepy sounds and Jade Sevenights dragged a chair to jam the door of the office shut, Shana reached over again, and then awkwardly tried to hug Maria despite her awkward position and the fact she was bigger. Still, she did her best. "I love you, mama," Shana said, doing her best to let her mama know she meant it. Looking up towards the door, she waved at the other children– at her brother and sisters– and waved at them to come in.

Slowly, hesitantly, they entered the room, and at Shana's urging they climbed onto the bed and started snuggling close to Maria.

Sadako watched, silent. Then she stepped out of the room, looking for Ghirardeli.

Rafael wondered how long he could keep wearing his ministry uniform before he had to launder it. When he'd moved out of the Ministry's dormitories, he'd taken everything with him– which wasn't much– so his unexpected stay there while the storm raged left him needing to sleep in his underwear, since he didn't have any changes of anything. The Ministry was a little under-staffed, because a lot of people had stayed in their homes due to the storm, and only the ones who lived in the dorms had shown up to work that day. Them and Rafael, since Maria had chosen not to send the carriage, but he'd expected that, since she'd been planning to pick up those accountants. The carriage probably hadn't arrived early enough to pick him up in a reasonable time.

Sure. That was it. Definitely.

Rafael was trying to do paperwork for the department when there was a commotion at the door. He sighed, wondering which department thought they could fill in the blanks of their roster by taking their people.

"Boss," Sora called, "some creepy maid is here to see you."

…

What?

Rafael looked up. So did everyone else. Siena, Marsha, and Laura all cried out as a familiar, shuffling-gaited figure stepped through the door of the department behind Sora.

Rafael blinked. "Sadako?" he said. "Why are you here?" He looked behind her, but there was no Maria to be seen. Had something happened? Sadako never left Maria's side unless ordered to do an errand.

"Mister Rafael-san," the Ashina woman said. Her dark hair was even darker from being wet, and it clung to her face even more, making her one-eyed gaze look even more disquieting than usual. "Please go home. Lady Maria-dono hurt."

Rafael took a moment to parse that, and then cold flooded his veins as he quickly jerked up to his feet, making his chair clatter backwards."Is Maria all right? What happened?"

Sadako hesitated, her hands waving vaguely in her oversized sleeves. "Lady Maria-dono… hurt. Saw… ecchi. Okaasan yuri ecchi." She mimed scratching her eyes out.

Rafael wasn't sure what she was saying, but it sounded… well, unlike Maria…

He froze, remembering someone who could make people unlike themselves.

The Dark Magic Wielder who hated Maria, Sarah.

"Director, I need to get back home, it sounds like something happened!" he called, not waiting for a reply as began rushing out of the department. "Also, I might not be back for the next few days!"

He passed Sadako, who well in beside him, and he slowed a little on account of her dress, since it forced her to take small steps. She was taking those small steps very quickly however.

"Did someone attack Maria?" he pressed as they hurried for the entrance he always met the carriage at.

Sadako shook her head, then nearly tripped as that completely blinded her. "N-no, no attack. Lady Maria-dono…" From what he could see of her face, she grimaced. The she stopped and held up her hands, holding out her middle and forefingers. Then she started pushing those fingers between each other. "She saw," Sadako said.

"I have no idea what that means," Rafael said.

Sadako gave him a look of very tried patience. She held up one hand. "Alice-dono." She held up the other hand. "Anne-sempai." Then she shoved the fingers together again, and through her hair, started making disturbing moaning sounds. "Lady Maria-dono saw."

Rafael stared at her. He turned and looked back at his department with longing. Then he sighed, and started walking towards the carriage again, slower this time. "Ah. The day has finally come."

Sadako nodded solemnly, falling into step beside him. Not behind, as she did with Maria, but beside. "Lady Maria-dono…" and she mimed clawing at her eyes again.

Rafael nodded, then sighed. "Well, it had to happen sometime," he muttered.

Sadako nodded.

"You realize that if you, or anyone else, were in my place, they'd have to be the one dealing with this problem, right?" Rafael said.

"Otsukaresama desu," Sadako said, whatever that meant. "Rafael-san tired."

"I'm going to assume that didn't translate well," Rafael sighed. "Come on, let's go home and help the woman we love."

Sadako nodded, then gave a start and turned to stare at him. In the little slit of her face he could see, she was blushing.

"Are you blushing?" he said disbelievingly. "Wait, did you think it was a secret?"

Her pace quickened, trying to get ahead of him.

"Unbelievable," Rafael sighed. "You actually thought…"

The ride home, with an actual carriage driver since Maria hadn't sent the carriage, was in awkward and exasperated silence.

As Rafael glanced out the window after a trip that was more than twice as long as it usually was, he had to admit that if it wasn't home by virtue of the presence of the woman he loved, their many children-in-all-but-name, Maria's inadvertent harem, his hopefully-future-mother-in-law and his awkward future-step-mother, Maria's mansion looked like the setting for some sort of Scholar of the First Sin-type unnatural experiments against nature.

They dropped off Sadako at the front door while Rafael followed the carriage to the stables, and he used his Light Magic on the horses to prevent them from getting sick, before making his way to the manor himself. Ghirardeli met him, of course.

"Master Rafael," he said, in the same tones he'd used to say 'Master Sirius'.

"Ghirardeli," Rafael said, in the same tones he's always said the man's name. "Anything I should know about?"

"Her ladyship's new accountants have arrived and are dining in the small dining room," the steward said. "Her ladyship was supposed to dine with them, but that was before she became… indisposed."

Rafael nodded. "I'll talk to them in the morning then, if Maria is in no shape to. Have you sent food up to Maria's room?"

"Given circumstances, all the food is being taken their, Master Rafael," the steward said.

Rafael paused. "What?"

"The children insist on not leaving her ladyship's side and telling her they love her," Ghirardeli explained. "They are taking turns attempting to comfort her, and the rest are camping in her ladyship's room and the hallways outside with their pillows and blankets. They wouldn't budge even from hunger, and so food had to be sent to them. Likewise her ladyship's sworn vassals, who insist on guarding her while she cannot protect herself. Her ladyship's mother and Miss Shelley are… distressed by events, and by the fact that if Mistress Alice approaches her ladyship, her ladyship starts screaming and clawing at her eyes. Miss Shana has needed to heal her twice already. We fear she genuinely wishes to blind herself."

Rafael shuddered. "What happened? Sadako was unclear enough I could stay in denial."

"I fear her ladyship saw her mother in a state no child should ever have to see," Ghirardeli said.

"Still vague enough for me to be in denial, Del," Rafael said.

The stewards smile at the old nickname. "Her ladyship saw them linking their flames. Sitting on the throne of want. Binding themselves to each other's Nexus. Filling their estus flask from the bonfire. Praising the sun together. Delving into the Old Chaos. Betraying black-clad goddesses. Exploring their cata–"

"Right, denial destroyed, please stop, that's my future mother-in-law and step-mother-in-law you're talking about," Rafael said hastily, vagugely ill at the thought. And if he was ill… "Where are they now?"

"They have retired to Lady Alice's house sir," Ghirardeli said. "I believe Miss Shelley is trying to convince her ladyship's mother she is not, in fact, hated, and trying to take the blame for this."

"Have they had dinner?" Rafael asked.

"Dinner has been sent, but I do not know if it was eaten," the steward said.

For a moment, Rafael wondered who he should speak to first, Maria, or her mother…