Chapter Nine:
Golden Mean
|i.|
Reim. The name didn't ring any particular bells which brought Noé to the conclusion that it must be a recently founded nation. One of the many she'd seen in the past centuries. Time had warped much in her mind after her half a year spent locked away underground. A jail, they had called it. She came to know it as an exhibition room where her captors brought in potential buyers—people who bought time to see the strange one-winged woman, those who bought her feathers that turned to tempered steel when ripped from her wing before they fell, or those who bought time to have their way with her.
That had been a new experience overall. One that she hadn't had in the time she lived there or otherwise. Despite the years she spent on the world, her body lagged behind having a much slower biological clock due to her Vastagian blood. Where she lost count of the years she spent wandering, Noé could easily tell the man who rescued her from those slave traders that she was but twenty and four when he asked her her age. Reluctantly, her name as well. The man replied with his in kind, Pernadius Alexius, and brought her back to the city of Remano the capital of what was but the newborn nation of Reim to his home. The trip from where he found her was a short one and Noé was thankful for that. There wasn't much she wanted to due except rest.
"How are you feeling?"
Her hands grasped the silver arrowhead resting around her bosom that Pernadius' men had fortunately found in the mess of the slave traders' hideout. Bastards had taken Andromalius away from her after they had drugged and caught her. They had stripped her of everything she possessed much of which they burned or threw away. Everything except the valuables, which thankfully Andromalius' metal vessel was among. The slow trot of the horse she was on was steady and didn't cause much pain to her still healing and slightly emaciated body.
Alright, I suppose. Not as well as the last time we talked but, better now that I'm not there anymore.
Andromalius kept quiet for a second before addressing the giant elephant in the room. "Noé, what are you going to do about it?"
The mere thought of it moved her hand underneath the clothes Pernadius and his soldiers provided her with to her distended belly where something grew, feeding off of her.
I don't know.
"Noé." The bright and gentle voice that came as Pernadius turned to her livened her and she forced a smiled out of her chapped lips. Pernadius reciprocated the smile as he stepped up to the side of the horse she rode before stretching out his hands to her. "Here, let me help you off." Careful around her stomach, Pernadius easily plucked her from the horse and placed her gently on her feet beside him. Still working on regaining usage of her limbs, Noé leaned against him to use him to balance herself. "There, be careful now." His quiet whispers did wonders to encourage her forward and Pernadius walked her through the expanse of a courtyard that led into what appeared to be a palace. Small compared to some she'd seen but a palace nonetheless. Inside, old men that appeared important from how they were dressed approached Pernadius in concern, though Noé could recognize the disdain and animosity underlying some of their words.
"Perdanius! What took you so long!?" The shrill voice that rose over the rest caught Noé's attention the most and made her look up beyond the old men to a trio much more prominent than the rest.
Two women and an older man. The first woman, who's beautiful amethyst eyes shone despite being so wide, was primly dressed with all sorts of gold and silver adorning her person. The man accompanying her looked like a replica of Pernadius but a few distinctive things made Noé realize that whoever this was was probably related to him. The last woman was much shorter than the other two with long, wavy, blonde hair held away from her cherubic face by a garland around the back of her head. Baby blue eyes stared in astonishment first at Noé and then at Pernadius.
"What happened?" Hearing the petite blonde's voice let her in on the fact that the shrill voiced one was the other, taller female.
"Who's she?" There's the banshee.
"Brother, what's the meaning of this?" the older man called approaching them. At noticing this, Noé's instincts went into overdrive, her mind still on high alert despite the few days of freedom. Behind her, the large red wing tinted gold bristled and the feathers on it steeled piercing through some of her clothes on her back. Though she couldn't control her wing, the feathers were a different story. They hardened shot off in all different directions; a couple pierced the alabaster pillars beside them, some reached back towards the soldiers who gasped and jumped out of the way, while the ones that shot straight forward towards Pernadius' relative were blocked by a golden sphere Noé recognized.
They have a magician here? Narrowed, emerald eyes scanned the crowd and stopped at the petite blonde who held a staff in her hands outward to cast the borg over the three of them.
"You're a magician."
Baby blue eyes narrowed onto her. "And you are?"
"Scheherazade, please," Pernadius said bringing an arm across Noé to calm her down. The gesture did relax her, her shoulders slumping down and feathers turning back to simple plumage not made of steel. "Noé isn't our enemy. We found her at a slave traders' hideout. Beaten to an inch of her life and with child."
"And you brought it here?" the banshee called out, the antipathy seeping into every punctuated word. The derogatory term didn't escape Noé's ear either, but being called anything but an abomination had been something usual where she came from.
"I couldn't leave her there, Diana," he told her, his voice rather tempered despite Noé hearing the conflict in it. "She's a victim, hurt and scared, and I'm not about to abandon her—"
"I'm not a victim." All eyes turned to her then and the scrutiny made her skin crawl. Having eyes on her had become something unsightly. Rubbing her arms, they came down to protect her stomach. "Don't misunderstand, I'm grateful for you freeing me, but I don't need your help any longer."
"Noé."
Many voices agreed with her own words but Pernadius shushed them all with a raised hand. Turning to Noé, he held her by her shoulders and turned her fully to him so that she wouldn't be influenced by the words or actions of others around her. He doesn't know me if he thinks people will sway me that easily.
"Noé, what you went through is not something you need to be ashamed off."
"I'm not ashamed," Noé told him straight forward, her brow knitting down. "I got careless and the bastards caught me. I've fought to survive my whole life, and I lost that time." Her hand moved up to rest atop her distended belly and frowned, "Now I'm paying the consequences of that loss." Piercing eyes shot up to him then. "And like I said, I'm grateful but I'm not a charity case. And I don't need anybody's pity."
"Alright, alright, fine." That Pernadius was giving up so easily struck Noé as strange. Perhaps she only knew the man for a few days but he didn't appear to be the type of person to simple give up on someone who appeared to need help. It seemed to be like an impulse that drove him to aid others in spite of himself. Noé could respect that, no matter how foolish she thought it. "But think about your own wellbeing for one second. Even if you leave, you'll be with child and a woman, no matter how strong, cannot fight like that."
"I'll manage." She had managed as a little girl to fight the unfairness of the world, she'd managed now with a baby in tow.
Pernadius shook his head trying to find a way to make her understand. It was then that a soft voice rose beyond the rest and both of them turned to the magician, Scheherazade. "If not for yourself, think of the child inside you. Will you have it die because of your carelessness?"
Noé tilted her head to look better at the short magician, her words swirling around in her head and bringing to mind the words of her meistras.
"Children should not carry the resentment of those who bore them. They are new life, a new beginning, and one that can be nurtured to be the good that counters the malice which conceived them."
Her hands grasped helplessly at the child inside her and she grimaced. Noé vowed to never be like the woman who conceived her nor like the one who raised her. Those who hungered for nothing but power held no love in their hearts. And she had no need for power. This child wouldn't grow up spoon fed disdain and hatred; no way would she allow history to repeat itself.
Don't worry, masyliz, if I don't find it in me to love you, then I will make sure you grow with someone who will.
Mind made up, Noé hung her head and sighed through her nose before turning to Pernadius. "Fine. I'll wait till they're born and make my decision then. Meanwhile, I'll stay here. That is if that's fine with you."
The news spread a bright smile on Pernadius and he nodded. The smile struck Noé as too brilliant to look at and brought an unfamiliar warmth to her face. Her gaze went askance and back to the three others who finally found the chance to come to Pernadius after that was dealt with. After overhearing their interactions, she understood who they were to him.
His brother. His lover. And his magician.
A magi.
|ii.|
"You're still willing to take me? Even after yesterday?"
The rowdy laughter that erupted from Shambal made Noé jump slightly in her skin as he smacked his palm against his robust belly. The rest of his tribesmen were at his back, most of them in their animalistic masks and standing tall in their show of solidarity. One in particular caught Noé's eye. A young girl with black hair and piercing, charcoal eyes that stared her way. If she remembered correctly, the young lass had been among the rest of the burly men the other day during Alibaba's match.
Wasn't she the one yelling to stop the fight when he looked to be losing?
"That would be her, yes."
Chief's voice struck her a little. Despite having slept through her anger from the night before—both from Chief's and Scheherazade's words—it still irked her mildly to hear that what happened didn't seem to affect Chief as much as it had her. Then again, Chief was an old crone that had lived for much longer than Noé had, so she must know when to let go of things. Tough luck Noé didn't. Or rather wouldn't.
That all ran from her mind when Shambal let his hand heavily land down on her shoulder and shake her back and forth, the broadest smile on his face. "But of course! We have all kinds of vibrant and flashy personalities in our clan. Though you were quite feisty yesterday, I will admit that you are powerful."
Well, he's not blind in his old age, at least.
"So I'm in?"
Shambal raised a finger and wagged it in front of Noé's face. Emerald eyes chased after the motion and though something in her temple twitched from the way he treated her like a child, she let it simmer down to allow him a chance to explain himself.
"You still need to take that test we mentioned before."
"Will it be like Alibaba's?" she asked. Shambal turned sideways and motioned with his hand for her to follow. Noé saw herself forced to trail behind the old Yambala warrior when the rest of the tribesmen left the way open for her to walk after him. She cursed under her breath hating that they'd be at her back but dealt with it keeping her feathers bristled and taut. Just in case.
"From what I saw yesterday, you're much more agile than Alibaba and well-suited for a single hand-to-hand battle. That being the case, I believe pitting you against something different would be best."
"That's your test?"
Shambal confirmed her suspicions without having to answer when they entered into the lower levels of the colosseum in silence. The poignant odor that struck Noé's nose made her reel back and cover her nose and mouth as they walked through. Just that told her that this was where they kept most of the beasts they used for battles. Nothing else explained the stench that permeated the very air around them. Growling could be heard in the distance along the stretching hallways and the scratching of claws against metal or the pounding of walls weren't far behind. A menagerie if she had ever seen one.
Oh, scratch that. I have.
Shambal stopped at an exit to the colosseum's main floor, one she assumed Alibaba had crossed the day before for his own match. Shambal slapped her back and unbeknownst to her caught part of her wing, making her cringe. The old man scoffed and motioned his other hand out towards the arena.
"You've got the first slot of the day, child."
Noé reached back and pushed his hand away from her without tearing her eyes away from the sun-bathed arena where she could hear the quiet murmurs of the crowd outside. Hearing them made her click her tongue out of frustration. "So if I win this, I'm in and you train me for magoi manipulation?"
"We will see once the fight is over."
Fair enough. "Alright," Noé said, cracking her fingers and stretching herself out, preparing to go in and beat the living hell out of whatever they pit against her. After crouching down a few times and standing with a smug smirk on her lips, though, Noé was met with Shambal's outstretched hand, palm facing up. Eyeing his hand for a brief moment, she raised an eyebrow at him while continuing her stretches. "What?"
"Alibaba wasn't allowed his metal vessel in the arena. It stands to reason that for it to be fair, you should not be allowed yours either."
His words caught her slightly off guard, her stretching stopping only briefly before she went along like nothing. Her smirk became a taut line though the playfulness in it didn't change in the least. "What if I'm a magician and not a metal vessel user? Did that not cross your mind?"
"It did," he admitted. "But from what I saw yesterday and my years of training many others, including other metal vessel users, I can tell you're one of them. Now, if you would." He extended his open hand closer to Noé and she eyed it suspiciously.
Parting willingly with Chief wasn't something she fancied. The one time they had been separated had been after she overestimated her abilities and lost a fight. It cost her much but after that she vowed never to part from Andromalius ever again if she could help it.
"It's different now, Noé," she assured, her voice much calmer than before. "This is a test. And it will only be for a short while."
It did little to appease her but knowing that to get stronger she needed to pass this lousy test and train with them, Noé begrudgingly groaned and took the leather necklace where Chief's silver arrowhead rested off over her head and let it fall into Shambal's hand. "I better have it back or I'll kill you all."
"Duly noted." Shambal pocketed the arrowhead, Noé's eyes following it until it disappeared inside it, and motioned off to the rack of weapons nearby. "You have your choice of weapons. Whatever you wish to take into battle is yours. Best of luck to you, Noé." Shambal extended his hand, this time to shake hers and Noé took it after a brief glance. That done and over with, the Yambala left Noé to herself.
Her hand instinctively missed the vacancy that Chief's voice left in her head. After all this time, having her with her felt natural, a must and necessity. But Noé knew that Chief was right. It'd be only for as long as the fight went. I'll make it short then.
Striding over to the rack of weapons, Noé eyed them and weighed her options. Most of them were swords of varying lengths and grips, mallets and spears as well, and even small daggers. What caught her interest immediately was the small choice of bows and arrows. Those didn't seem to be anybody's first choice by the dust they had gathered on them. From the small bunch, her choice came down to either a long bow or a recurved one. Thinking that firing speed would be a better advantage than power, she took the recurved bow and a quiver of steel arrows. They weren't as strong as her light arrows nor as sturdy but she'd have to work with what they gave her. Noé pocketed a few daggers in between her obi for good measure before heading towards the arena's entrance.
Noé found herself stopping just underneath the shadow that still hid her from the crowd and tapped her sandals against the patted-down ground as she put her thoughts straight. Whatever they pitted her against would be fine, she knew this, but fighting in an arena with spectators brought back sour memories that she rather wouldn't have. Chief's absence only made them come to the forefront even more. But before they could overtake her mind, Noé shook them away and walked through the archway and into the sunlight.
There wasn't any helping the silence that suddenly washed over the colosseum and it brought a grand, satisfied lopsided grin to Noé's lips. Glad to know I'm not easily forgotten. Delighted at their reaction, Noé took it in stride, mockingly sending out kisses and waving at the crowd as if she were some beloved fighter. The silence that answered her only goaded her further. That some even up and left afraid for their lives made her giggle even. The booming voice of the presenter echoed easily through the colosseum and introduced her by name. Their job though was quite difficult at the moment since the crowd didn't appear the least bit enthused about the fight.
Knowing this was supposed to be nothing but entertainment, she took a bow at being announcement and brandished out her bow and strung it out before letting the string loose. The flinching from some of the spectators got her chuckling all the more. But just then her opponents were announced and a heavy iron gate was opened by soldiers who let out the beasts she was to battle.
Those are...Maurenian Sabertooths? Dubious of her own memory as she was, Noé had to look closely at their large incisors that protruded beyond their snarling snouts. The liquid that ran down them though coated in their saliva wasn't just that; despite the distance between them, Noé could smell the hint of poison coming from their mouths. Yep, they're sabertooths. And if she remembered correctly, their poison had a paralyzing agent in it too. Eyeing them briefly to count, there were five fully grown tigers in the arena. One of them in particular seemed to be the alpha of the bunch, threading forward before the others and letting them follow. It also went without saying that they looked like the one that had spent the most time as a colosseum beast by the myriad of scars on its body and the scarred out left eye.
Vicious, deadly, and riled up—perfect killing machines. I'm no different though.
Without needing to wait or measure her up, the tigers charged forth to attack as the pack they were. Noé sized the closest one to her and ran up to it before jumping to avoid its jaws. The stench of poison hit her nostrils and kept her on her toes as the others piled on to attack her. Relentless as they were, they weren't giving her anytime to grab her bow and aim. Noé knew that such a weapon would be disadvantageous but she had hoped that against a single enemy, it wouldn't have been enough to matter. Five was a different story. Taking one of the daggers from underneath her obi, she twirled it in her hand and rushed against the first tiger that rushed her way. Though they were quick on their feet, the difference in weight made her much quicker than they were. Twirling around the first that came at her, Noé plunged the dagger deep onto one of its hind legs and pulled out to avoid the others coming after her. Noé backed out to give herself some distance and scanned her surroundings once more.
Four were at the ready and the one she stabbed limped forward still wanting to fight. Persistent. But that was fine—the dagger twirled in her hand as she produced the other one she brought along—stubbornness was definitely her forte.
"Let's dance, my beauties." The snarling roar that erupted from them was deafening as they lunged at her.
Noé had her plan out from there. She avoided the first ones that attacked her and went to disable the one that lagged behind unprotected. And though some nicked her drape or even parts of her hair, they weren't fast enough to grasp her with their jaws or claws. With practiced ease, Noé knew how larger predators relied on their strength and agility to hunt but that was taking into consideration that their prey was weaker and slower.
And I may not be as strong as you are but I sure am faster.
The first one went down when it could no longer use its legs. Two more got the same treatment with a stab to the side for good measure. The fourth almost caught her arm as she went for it but with a quick side step that bought her time, she managed to stab its side and slash at one leg. And though she lost the dagger in the process, it had worked to cripple it out of the fight. Now with only her and the big alpha in the ring, things slowed down significantly.
The deafening cheers of the crowd that Noé hadn't even noticed before didn't distract her from how the scarred tiger prowled around her, enormous paws meticulously stepping to make the least amount of noise possible. Emerald eyes narrowed, she followed its every movement. She knew how a predator moved; she was one herself.
"Try all you want," she told it, twirling her remaining dagger in one hand and tossing it up in the air for show. She knew it wouldn't intimidate an animal but it felt good to have the upper hand and flaunt it. "You won't find any openings. Beasts who scour the earth can't possibly hope to reach a bird of prey."
The tone of her taunt must have incensed the tiger as it charged at her. Knowing there were no more distractions for it and that it'd be much harder to weaken it enough to get the battle called off, Noé ran her options through her head. Before she could get through half, the tiger feinted with a bite but when she raised the dagger to dig it up the lower part of its jaw, its claw rose to attack. Eyes widened, slightly taken aback, and Noé barely managed to react in time to redirect the dagger towards its clawed paw. The steel pierced through, the snapping of tendons and tearing muscle with the blade shaking her grip loose. Lost to it now, Noé jumped back and shook her hand as the tiger forcefully gnawed the blade from its foot. It took a step forward and limped when it stepped with its injured limb.
Guess it's time. Her hands went to her shoulder to grab and brandish her bow in one hand while the other reached down to the quiver tied around waist and thigh. Just as she nocked back the first arrow, the tiger charged forward and forced Noé to move as she aimed. Thankfully, with the wall a good distance behind her, she had enough track to travel and run backward while still aiming. Once ready, she let it fly and it struck one of the tiger's uninjured legs. It toppled in its run and smashed against the ground and when it did, Noé herself ran towards it. Taking another arrow from her quiver, she plunged it onto one of it's hind legs as she ran past it and heard the boisterous howl it let out from the pain. Retrieving the arrows wasn't prudent so she left them lodged on its legs instead and ran to the middle of the arena to give herself more space. Though her muscles ached and her breath was rather haggard from all the running around, Noé needed to hold out just for a while longer. As things stood, she knew that just a few more minutes and a few more hits would end the battle. But just as she thought this, she caught movement out of the corner of her eyes and turned to see one of the other tigers fighting to rise despite its injuries. Before it could fully balance itself on its legs, Noé shot an arrow that hit them near the back to push them back onto the ground. Her fingers reached down to the quiver and when they only felt the one arrow's tail, she cursed herself for not taking more.
A thunderous bellow rung through the chiseled stone walls of the colosseum and brought Noé's attention back to the tiger that was already charging her way. The distance it covered without her knowledge gave it enough of a start for it to claw her across and catch her side. Though the claws themselves didn't pierce through, Noé groaned at landing on her back ways away from where she'd been, hacking out the air it pushed out of her lungs. Feeling her hands empty, emerald eyes frantically scanned the area around her to spot the bow she'd reluctantly let go of some feet away. Just as she was about to get up to run to it, a large paw stepped on her chest and pushed her back down. Noé could feel her bones straining to not break and the pain that struck her from her wing didn't help either. Her hands frantically tried prying the large animal's paw off of her but when it's jaw opened ready to maul her down, Noé reacted. Taking the arrow still in her quiver, she plunged it as far as it would go into its side and got the tiger to howl and step back off of her. Not letting go of the arrow, Noé yanked it from taut muscle and skin—dark, warm blood spraying onto her face—before she sprinted out from under it and took her bow. Pivoting on her heels, she nocked the arrow and aimed but the blood that ran down her face and into her eyes burned and tinted her vision.
Dazed for a moment, her breath hitched when the scene before her suddenly changed and Noé's fingers trembled in their grip.
The tiger was gone and in its place was a young boy. Though he appeared no more than ten, she knew he'd spent centuries as she had training for this moment. Bright red wings were limp from her attacks and dragged behind him as he dashed towards her. A dagger in his tight bloody grip, he charged at her with fury and killing intent in his glaring eyes. Noé's grip quivered more and she heard herself whisper, "...stop." Her hands shook more but the boy wouldn't stop. He wanted to kill her. He wanted to win. But so had she. Doubt vanished from her heart and it hardened instead as her grip tightened once more around her bow and nocked arrow.
Forgive me.
The arrow flew and a loud crack resounded through the colosseum as it pierced right between the tiger's eyes and through its skull. The massive beast walked a few languid and directionless steps before falling to one side, dead. The crowd erupted into cheers that deafened Noé as she wiped the blood away from her face to show a grimace on her lips. Tossing the bow aside, she made her way to the tiger to make sure that it was actually gone.
It was and that made her stomach sink. Reaching up to its eyes, she closed them while whispering, "I know you were just fighting to survive but I wasn't going to die either. Your fight is over, mano draugas. Rest now." Eyeing the rest of the tigers that were still left alive, she offered them a tait line of her lips. "I didn't mean to kill him. I hope you understand that." The remaining four were quiet for a moment as they struggled to stand back up despite their injuries. They somehow managed to but instead of pouncing to attack, they stayed back and laid their whole bodies low in submission. They didn't want to fight any longer, not after having lost their leader. It told them exactly who held the upper hand and they weren't willing to fight a losing battle. Smart of them.
Though the crowd cheered, Noé didn't listen to their requests to kill them. She didn't even feel like scaring them like she did the day before. Not after what she did in her dazed stupor. Crouching down, she grunted as she tried maneuvering the massive tiger over her shoulders, the crowd slowly losing its rowdiness the longer they saw what she was doing. It quieted down to a hum by the time she managed to settle the tiger right on her and headed out towards the entrance.
Nobody stopped her. Nobody dared approach her. Not when her expression promised much worse than what she'd done to the sabertooths to anybody who would.
—{ii}—
The sharp clashing of knives grating against each other echoed in the lone room Shambal had provided Noé. After the battle, he and the young girl whom Noé figured now was named Toto found her taking the dead tiger away. They tried stopping her but when she mentioned that she planned to make sure his death didn't go in vain, Shambal lent her a private room in the colosseum where she could do just that. Toto helped Noé with carrying the tiger into the room and onto a stone table before returning to Shambal.
"It's her spoils," Shambal told Toto when the girl asked Noé what she planned to do with it. "What she does with them is for her to decide." Scanning the tools nearby, he took the couple of knives she was sharpening now and offered them to her. "These would work best for what you plan to do. Maurenian sabertooths have tough skin on them" was all he said before he ushered Toto and himself out of the room to leave her alone with the tiger.
"He knew what you were going to do?" Shambal kept his word and returned her metal vessel, the warmth of it now laying where it belonged on her bosom.
"He guessed more than likely," Noé muttered under her breath. Finally done sharpening the machete and knife, she set the bigger blade aside and held the small one in her hand as she hung her head to recite the prayers her meistras would say to those who perished in battle.
Leave in peace, my brother, for though you, the brave and the just, have left us in the flesh, you will never leave us in spirit. May we meet again in the new world. In our paradise.
Touching the flat part of the blade against her lips, Noé laid it against the head of the tiger before getting to work. Skinning an animal wasn't hard—she'd done it numerous times before when little—it was just time consuming. And with such a massive beast as this one, she would certainly need time.
"You seem...pensive."
"Odd?"
"Very. You seldom take the time to mull over things. Much less killings."
"It didn't deserve to die."
"Yet you did it. You answered nature's call as a predator and established yourself in the chain they knew."
"We are birds of prey," Noé recited, dragging the knife along the long lapel of skin she had opened to expose the inside of the tiger. She prepared a few bags on the side before continuing her skinning. "The Vastago are the regals of the skies. Nothing that flies above nor that which roams below will subjugate us." Nothing except the red lions. Thinking about that, brought something to mind. "Why scare the children with tales of the red lions?"
"Pardon?"
"The old hag, Theone—she used to tell me stories about how Vastagian chicks would get eaten by the Fanalis if they roamed outside their nests. Where those true?"
Chief remained silent for a moment, thinking of how to phrase her sentence before replying, "Not exactly. We were never close enough to their territory for that to happen. Adults did scuffle with the red lions, though, and many who did returned mauled at best."
"Dead being the worst?" Chief hummed in confirmation and Noé mimicked the noise in acknowledgement.
"We wished to protect those prospects for the conclave. You all were precious hopefuls to guide the clan forward."
"Not all of us," she muttered under her breath and snapped the tiger's hind leg after finishing the skinning to start with the meat on its body.
Knowing the dangerous path their conversation was treading into, Chief changed the subject. "What do you plan to do with all the resources you get from it?"
Noé wasn't quite sure. A lot would come out from the tiger, that's for sure. The meat could feed a dozen and a half families for a month, the pelt could make some blankets or clothes for the upcoming winter, and the fangs and poison gland sold well in the market. But that all came after she finished. Taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat from her forehead with her forearm, Noé stood back to hang the skin she'd peeled off to tan later.
"Quite the work you've put in."
Taken a bit by surprise by the sudden voice, Noé took a brief moment to realize that it'd been Muu who had said that. She hadn't heard him walk in nor smelled him, but with the work she'd been doing, Noé didn't think it too odd. Wiping some blood from her hands as she picked the larger machete now for the muscle, she threw him a lopsided smile before returning back to the tiger.
"Still got lots to do too." She filleted part of the muscle easily with how sharp the blade was and tossed the piece of meat to the side to prepare for preservation later. Her voice carried on as her hands mindlessly took to the task. "What brings you here, cub?"
Though she hadn't gotten a whiff of him before, now that he stood closer to her, Noé caught the smell of bittersweet sweat, wet earth, and the fresh outdoors. A perfect and welcomed contrast to the stench of carnage that permeated her nostrils at the moment.
"Came to congratulate you."
Mm-hmm. Despite her skepticism, she ran with him for what it was worth. "Watched the match?"
"Yes." He stepped on a wet patch on the floor of blood, which she could see just out of the corner of her vision, but didn't bother removing his foot. It didn't bother him in the least. "It was...interesting watching you fight."
"Really. How so?" she inquired in a sing-song tone as she finished boning one of the sides and turned the tiger over to do the other, not minding Muu in the slightest.
"Well, your temperance was a surprise."
"He's impressed you didn't kill them?"
Noé held the same amount of skepticism in her words when she turned sideways to speak. "So what if I held back? Not only did I get accepted into the Yambala, it got me new pets too. I would've had more had I not accidentally killed this one."
"I wouldn't call it an accident."
"What would you call it, little cub?"
"Mercy."
Hearing the word snapped something in Noé's mind and she struck the stone table beneath the tiger hard enough with the blade to let it stick. The shock from striking the stone transferred to her hand and Noé shook it off before going to clean her grip from the fluids covering it. "Mercy's for the weak...and stupid. I just thought to put the rest in line by killing their leader as an example." A wicked grin came to her lips as she turned to him again, "I can do that with people too, you know?"
Her words didn't faze him in the least. Not the same way they had before, anyway. Now those crimson irises only watched her more serenely than before. Patiently almost. Not getting the reaction she'd hoped for took all the fun out of teasing him and she blew a raspberry at him before turning back to work. Muu kept silent and watched her work for another second before saying, "I also come with a proposition."
"Not interested."
Muu didn't care for her answer without hearing him out first. "Latitude to go about the capital without being accosted by the authorities."
Noé tilted her head to the side so that she could hear him better, the hint of a smirk coming to the corners of her lips. "Now why would I need that?"
"You're on a blacklist after what you did yesterday to both the citizens and Lady Scheherazade. For as much as you'd like to ignore it, you are a person of interest to the military as a possible national threat."
"I'm famous?" she cooed childishly. Finally done with the skin and meat, Noé went on to clean the bone. The snapping of the fangs as she broke them off the head sent chills down her spine each time she did it.
"Infamous," he corrected and waved a hand to the tiger that laid as almost nothing but bones now. "And today only added to their suspicions."
"So what," she said with a scoff, dropping the act. "It's not like they can arrest me for being threatening. I haven't killed anybody...yet." Eyeing him when she said that and actually getting a small frown from the cub made her chuckle. "I kid, little cub. About the killing anyway. I know Reim's authorities won't hold me for nothing. Not when Hera-chan's on my side."
"She's voided the immunity you've held in Reim."
That caught her off guard completely and she missed nicking off a tiny piece of tendon on a bone, almost catching her hand instead. Noé placed the blade down before turning to Muu with a raised eyebrow. "Come again?"
"Lady Scheherazade told us about your implied immunity the other day after you arrived so unceremoniously," he explained. "She met with the court and the royals about it afterwards and it was utter madness. She tried holding steadfast but the council and the emperor himself, who heard about your threatrics, were against protecting someone like you."
They forced her hand. Noé knew Scheherazade wouldn't have lifted her implicit protection without a reason. For all their differences, the magi still cared, she supposed. Must've not been enough if they made her recant it though. Damn bastards narrowed the playing field that Reim was for her immensely with that decision.
But if Muu could offer that, she wanted to make damn sure she'd get it if she agreed. "You can't possibly give me the latitude a magi's word gave me."
"You're right, I can't," he admitted, "but I have ways of giving you something close enough to it."
She could find some truth in his words. As far as she knew, Pernadius' descendents were treated as royalty and that included little cub over here. And that being the case, that he could have people on the inside that could help her reach some semblance of the freedom in Reim that Scheherazade allowed her wasn't such a far-fetched idea. But still.
If it's sounds too good to be true…
"What do you want in exchange?"
"I don't—"
"I hate liars. So if you're going to lie, it better be a damn good one." Skin, meat, and bones done, Noé focused on packaging everything to take away with her.
Muu lowered his gaze pensively and it took him a moment before he locked his crimson eyes on her emerald ones. "I want to be able to keep watch on you."
"Stalk me?"
"Crudely put."
"Why?"
"I agree with the court and the emperor's choice." His confession didn't strike her as odd but that he willingly voiced it did. "You shouldn't be allowed to roam freely when you are obviously a threat with no connection to Reim. But I don't think Lady Scheherazade would put her faith and trust in someone for no reason either."
Busying herself with cleaning the blades she used, Noé tapped the flat end against the stone table at hearing that and pointed the tip at him for emphasis. "Guilt does that to you."
"I don't think it's solely guilt."
Goodness, he's unshakable on that blind faith of his.
"Somewhat," Chief added, "he didn't deny that remorse is part of the reason she'd been holding to your side."
They could agree to disagree on that matter. But that wasn't here nor there. "Let's digress to what I'm interested in and get it straight. You want to keep tabs on me so I don't go in some make-believe killing spree and in exchange, you'll give me the freedom to do just that if I want to?"
"Overlooking you is what will keep the latter from happening," he corrected and then nodded. "But yes, that is basically what I'm offering you."
Interesting. There was more loot to gain from this open chest though. "Alright, I'll accept your terms if I can add some of my own."
His brow knitted together in confusion. "What terms?"
"Food and lodging firstly." Though her cottage was nearby, she only went there when she needed to. And with Maahes taking care of Elior's garden, there seldom was anymore. "I hate having to scour for that when I'd rather be doing other things."
"Done," he quickly said.
That he was being so accommodating brought a grin to her face. It also made it very plausible that he'd agree to her next demand. "And I want latitude to train with the Fanalis corp."
The statement threw him for a real spin then and this time, he asked before even considering agreeing. "Why?"
At least he's not stupid. Noé could respect that.
"I'm trying to get stronger. It's why I bothered with this match in the first place, to get into the Yambala tribe and be taught about magoi manipulation." She tapped the clean blade against the large bags of skin, meat, and bones that she neatly set aside. "My forte isn't strength either. Fanalis are strong by nature but they have to learn to control that strength. If I train with you bunch then maybe I can better myself in that regard." The sudden way his gaze went askance brought a grin to her lips. "What? Scared you'll be breeding a monster you'll fight later?"
"Not particularly." His words exuded confidence. The way he stood and somewhat fidgeted in place told a different story.
Noé went to dispel his uncertainty seeing as she had more to win here than he did. "Don't worry. I told Hera-chan already that Reim's near the bottom of my list, so you won't have to deal with me anytime soon. If anything, I could even come to your rescue in the future—that is if I find merit in helping you, of course."
"You're quite blunt."
"I'm a woman that knows what she wants." Waving dismissively at him, she stepped closer and jutted a pointed finger against his gold breastplate. "But don't worry about that last part though. If you manage to get me what you said and some training on the side, I'll be owing you one."
Crimson eyes still didn't meet hers until a few moments later, this time the confidence from his words reaching his eyes and body as he stood tall over her. "You've got deal."
Noé extended her hand out with her palm open and tilted her head back to look at him properly. "Shake on it?" Scoffing at her playfulness, Muu took her hand in his and shook it. Letting go of him, Noé clapped his breastplate with an open hand making him jerk back. "Fantastic! Now, if you could help me get these out of here that'd be fabulous too."
Muu eyed the bags for a moment. "Where to?"
—{ii}—
Precise. Careful. Meticulous.
If Maahes wasn't absolutely cautious with what he was doing, things could implode in themselves and utterly destroy everything within a twenty foot radius. And since they left him to himself most of the time in the workshop there would be no one to warn the rest of Remano if he made even the slightest mistake. Maahes held the mixed contents he concocted up not long ago in the small ceramic flask, inspecting the dense and somewhat murky liquid inside. The mixture was warm, releasing heat from the reactions happening inside, and Maahes slowly made his way to a small bucket with water and ice to chill it. It needed to be cool before he could add the last droplets left in his formula.
But just as he started taking small steps to reach the ice bath he'd set aside for it, the workshop's door swung wide open with so much force that the building itself shook and caused the poor boy a heart attack. Startled out of his mind, he lost the grip on the flask and could only stare in panic, bright blue eyes wide-eyed, as the flask made its way straight to the floor. Fortunately, a tanned, sandaled-foot shot out and caught the flask on its flat upper side, holding still to not let it fall from its place.
"Whew, quick safe." Maahes rushed forward and swept the flask in his hands before exhaling out in deep relief that he hadn't just accidentally blown a chuck of Remano out. Blue eyes strayed towards the foot and up to meet Miss Noé's cheerful grin and dark emerald eyes. "Sorry about that, Maa. Didn't mean to scare you."
"Miss Noé," he muttered with a nervous chuckle before heading to the ice bucket and placing the ceramic flask inside before pushing it as far against the wall as he could. Maybe that way it won't fall. Turning sideways back to her, he was about to continue his small reprimand when he spotted the gargantuan Fanalis a few steps behind her. "A visitor?"
"Delivery boy," she corrected and patted the man's plated chest. Pointing a finger onto the table where he left his ingredients, the long-haired man carefully placed the rather large bag there. "Maahes, meet Muu Alexius."
"A-Alexius?!" Maahes repeated awestruck. Having heard about the Alexius family in Reim for years now though never seeing hair or hide of them explained why he didn't outright recognize such person. Clumsily, the young Heliohaptian boy saluted him as he'd seen many soldiers and guards do to each before raising to his full, small stature. "I didn't know. I-I'm sorry about my imprudence."
"It's quite all right," Muu replied with an amiable smile. Seeing that did get Maahes to relax a little. Reimian royalty was much more easy-going than the ones from his own country. Crimson eyes scouted the vast workshop and lingered on the strange concoctions he either had boiling or freezing over or on the half-constructed prototypes of some invention of his. "I've never visited any of our magicians' research quarters before."
"No, I'm not—"
Before Maahes could correct Muu's erroneous assumption, his words died in his throat when Miss Noé wrapped a strong arm around his neck and brought him closer to her. "Maahes, isn't a magician, cub. He's an alchemist and an inventor."
Muu's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "Is that so? That's quite impressive."
"Isn't it?" Miss Noé agreed, a wide goofy grin on her face that only made Maahes want to shrink out of her hold from the embarrassment. There's wasn't a way out of the tight chokehold though, no matter how much he tugged at her arm. "Maa is a genius! He's been working under one of your relatives, old man Natty."
"Natty?" the Fanalis repeated not recognizing the name.
"Commander Ignatius, sir," Maahes explained with a wry smile. Pushing through Miss Noé grasp, he popped from underneath her arms, leaving her to pout by herself and head to the bag Muu had left aside, to explain things further for him. "I work under him. At least that's the official decree. I spent most of my time making things to help the soldiers with their training." Maahes motioned off to a small heap of contraptions he'd been tinkering for the past month or so strewn about in a lone corner. Most in the pile were failed attempts that got rendered useless after minor explosions but he knew better than to scrap them. Failure meant nothing really. Only made him want to try harder. "And I've only recently been delving into alchemy. I'm not much of anything despite what Miss Noé says."
"Nay I say!" Miss Noé rambunctiously shouted, rising from rifling through the bag they'd brought with them with a armful of bones and teeth. Big blue eyes brightened at realizing what those were and brought a cheeky grin to her lips. "Who else but an innovator like yourself would want all these crazy things to tinker with?"
"Are those Maurenian sabertooth tiger teeth?"
"And bones!" Miss Noé called joyously as she ran up to another vacant workbench and laid them there for him to inspect. Maahes eyes took in the whole beauty of what she'd brought him. They were in pristine condition and perfectly preserved. And...fresh.
"Um," Maahes lips pursed, pensive with what he wanted to say, "Should I be concerned about these being fresh?"
"Not at all." Miss Noé took one of the larger incisors and scratched at the sharp end with her nail curiously. "It's my bounty from the colosseum fight this morning."
He had to grab ahold of the edge of the workbench to stop himself from falling over from the news. "Your what?"
"She entered a fight to join the Yambala," Muu explained, standing aside and leaning as far away from any of the mixtures brewing but remaining close enough to converse with them still. He nodded at the remains of the tiger with a ghost of a smile on his lips. "She has four others still alive as trophies."
Head tilting his way, Miss Noé inquired, "Where are they again?"
Maahes didn't bother hearing the end of that conversation with his mind still reeling with the thought of Miss Noé fighting in the colosseum. Adamant as she was about how inhumane that place was with both its fighters and beasts, it didn't make sense that she would join one at first. But then the second thought sunk in about her wanting to join the Yambala.
What is she trying to accomplish? Maahes knew he wasn't her confidant. Ever since she rescued him from slavery in Heliohapt, she took a more motherly role for him by taking care of him and teaching him ways to fend and survive for himself when she couldn't be there. It'd been her who incurred his curiosity to tinker and make odd inventions and who got him a place to work at where he could satiate his interest. But for all she did, Miss Noé seldom talked about herself or what she wanted. Maahes never asked, yes, but that was out of a sense that he shouldn't. For as motherly and caring as she was, there seemed to be a heavy cloud hanging over her head that deterred him from saying anything. So instead, he learned to pick up hints from the way she said things and how she moved or reacted. Never from what she actually said though because, more often than not, spoken words were more an over exaggerated truth than anything when coming from her.
But from the little bit he got now and the last few weeks of her coming and going into the cottage, Maahes could make an educated guess for what it was worth.
"Is it because of your dungeon diving?" Maahes' breath hitched at noticing her suddenly stiffening and quieting from her enthusiastic spiel. Regretting having asked, Maahes brought his arms out to dispel any importance that might've come off from his words but before he could get through his muttering mess of a sentence, Miss Noé turned to him with a taut line of a smile and ruffled his hair.
"Yes, Maa, it is."
Curt and to the point. Is she sick?
There wasn't much time to ask when Muu beat him to the punch. "You dungeon dive? I thought you already had a djinn."
"I do." She pulled the necklace out by the leather cord with one finger and brought out what Maahes recognized as the tiny arrowhead of a metal vessel. It fell right against her chest when she released her tight hold on the cord and she busied herself with arranging the bones in her own odd way. "But I don't dungeon dive for djinn—to conquer them, I mean. Maahes, look!" Her quick change of subject gave off how she truly didn't want to talk about this now as she shoved a tiny bone into his face. "Isn't this what you wanted the other time you were making some fuel thing?"
"It is." Maahes had lost most enthusiasm after realizing he probably said something he shouldn't have in front of strangers. Taking it in his hand mindlessly, Maahes didn't notice when Miss Noé reached out to flick his nose. He let out a small yelp and jerked away from the hit only to hold at his nose with both hands and glare mildly at her. The soft smile plastered on her face came off as reassuring and brightened when he reciprocated it with a small one of his own.
"Anyway, Maa, I'll be sticking around Remano for sometime."
"At home?" he asked.
Miss Noé shook her head and fished a small piece of parchment from out of her pocket to pass it to him. Blue eyes became wide as saucers when he read the address. "H-How?"
"Courtesy of mister royalty over here," she said, pointing her thumb back at Muu who only scoffed lightly and shook his head. The faint smile told Maahes that perhaps Muu found Miss Noé a little bit amusing. "I'm having a luxury stay and delicious food too. Feel free to drop by and we can spend some time there and clear out the kitchen!"
"I hope you're kidding."
"She's not," Maahes assured him.
Patting his shoulder for good measure, Miss Noé grinned his way before turning to go. "You take care, Maa. I'll be coming over to visit more often so heads up, alright?"
Maahes let out a hum in agreement and watched the two leave his workshop. Letting out a relieved sigh, he started reorganizing the mess she made out of the bones all the while thinking that it'd be nice to be having her around more often.
So long as it doesn't involve us causing accidental explosions.
—{ii}—
Luxury's overrated as hell.
Bored out of her mind, Noé laid with her back on the slick floor of her brand new abode in the Alexius residence and, with her legs stretched out and leaning against the wall overhead, attempted to lessened her boredom by tossing an apple up in the air to catch. The fruit gave off a loud smack every time it hit her open palm and flew into the air higher with each subsequent throw. Big though it was, the room had nothing that kept her attention for more than an hour. Yes, the bed was enormous and soft with its silk sheets and feathery pillows and the bathing room was spacious even for her, but novelty lost its charm quickly for Noé.
"You are an overactive child in the body of a grown adult."
"Technically not fully grown yet."
"No, no," Chief punctuated each word with a tinge of disdain and annoyance. "You are fully grown. You stopped being a fledgling a couple thousand years ago."
"Five thousand actually," Noé corrected, throwing the apple higher and almost hitting the ceiling that time.
"See?"
Scoffing at how easily irritated Chief got when Noé played around with those numbers, she tossed the apple higher and accidentally smashed it on the ceiling. Immediately cringing and rolling out of the way, she avoided most of the smashed pieces of fruit that rained down from overhead. An airy chuckle escaped her at the mess that littered her floor now. Good thing Muu said they'd be cleaning up this place every day.
"Child in a grown body."
"I'm bored though," Noé said, smacking her feet lightly against the wall. "You know I hate staying at one place for too long."
"A night won't kill you."
Some months could. That much she learned from overstaying her welcome in Maladh. But this was Reim and a part of her wanted to believe that perhaps she could spend even just a couple months peacefully training. A very, very small part. The thought of going out came to mind but she didn't feel like scouring the streets tonight after her whole trek with Muu in tow that afternoon. They had delivered Maahes his ingredients and he'd help with delivering the meat and skins to a shelter. From what Noé knew, they helped house homeless children and women and that put them on her good side. She even spotted the little orange-eyed girl from the other day who, though still too skinny for her own good, was at least being fed and clothed. Fighting the tigers—her new pets that were being held at the colosseum for her at the moment—had also taken a toll on her. That her mind was conflicted between resting her tired body and finding rest boring was the biggest problem at the moment. Emerald eyes scanned the messy floor sticky with juices and that it smelled rather nice made her stomach growl somewhat.
Food sounds good.
Noé flipped to stand back up and grabbed one of the silk blankets off of her new bed to shroud her shoulders. Already having undressed to sleep, she only had on a thin nightgown on her body that left her wing free. But if she was going to go out of the room, she'd rather hide it without much hassle. The blanket was perfect for that. Silk felt incredible against her back, the coolness of the fabric sending chills down her spine, and it certainly helped soothe the aching from having had laid on her back this whole time. Not bothering with her sandals either, Noé wrapped the blanket securely around her arms and let it hide her wing as her bare feet pitter-pattered out beyond her room and into the silence of the residence.
The Alexius had a decent taste—she'd give them that—alabaster walls and columns were decorated with silks of lavish royal blue and golds and the floor beneath her feet was smooth as could be. The color reminded her of beautiful blue eyes. Reaching out with her hand, her fingers brushed against the cold, rough stone of the walls as she aimlessly made her way to the kitchen. Muu had given her a quick tour of places she could visit freely. By the looks of it, that hadn't covered half of the residence. But exploring her new abode would have to come later. Or at least until after she got some food in her stomach.
Pushing a heavy set of doors open, Noé found herself in a dark room that, as far as she could see, was quite vast. Not strange if this was the sole kitchen meant to feed an entire royal family. Noé let the door close behind her before lifting her hand and letting a little bit of light gather at her palm and form a small floating orb. To anybody looking from afar, it'd appear like a firefly. Up close, though, it was as big as her arrowhead and gave off enough light for her to scour the place. Though she tried making the least amount of noise, she couldn't help the couple of pots and pans that knocked against her shoulders or head. Damn if this wasn't the one time she hated being taller than most women. It took maybe a few minutes for her to gather a small basket of bread and jams to take back to her room. Certainly this would get her through the night.
And if it doesn't I'll just sneak out for more. Snickering as she came out, her light mood broke when her ears caught a far off noise. The instant her ears perked at hearing it, the light vanished to leave her in complete darkness and she stopped dead in her tracks.
It sounded like ice cracking.
Where?
"Sounds far but it could be the echo. It's coming to the left of you."
Following Chief's directions as she went, Noé made her footsteps as quiet as she could make them and followed after the ice that kept cracking and falling apart with heavy thuds onto the ground. It took her a few minutes to find the outer grounds of the Alexius residence; the place looked to be where most training took place judging by dummies and weapons strewn about. The sudden flash of blue and ice jutting out from the floor towards one of the makeshift enemies caught her eye almost instantly. Magic. Stepping out closer but not enough to be seen, her emerald eyes caught a petite figure clad in comfortable clothes with a wand in one hand, shooting off magic attacks at the dummy. A platinum blonde braid rustled with every movement they made and somewhat haggard breath filled the otherwise empty air.
At a glance, they seemed familiar. It wasn't until she saw seafoam green eyes doggedly staring down at the dummy she attacked that Noé knew from where. The little regalis. Just as she was preparing to shoot more magic, Noé raised her hand and brandished her hand outward towards the dummy. Doing so conjured an arrow of light that appeared in midair and pierced the dummy, taking its head fully off.
Seraphina, astounded and alert, pivoted with her wand held aloft ready to fight. But the sharp glare that those seafoam eyes gave Noé softened at seeing her, her brow slightly furrowing trying to figure out why she recognized her.
Basket in hand, Noé stepped forward into the moonlight to make herself seen and waved a hand languidly with a crooked smile. "Hey, little regalis."
It seemed that hearing her voice brought some recognition to Seraphina, her eyes widening as she lowered her wand. "You're...that woman. The one who saved us the time those pirates abducted us."
Nice to know I leave an impression.
Seraphina's body turned to stand tall and prim, shoulders held back and chest out with her hands together at her lap. She'd grown into the epitome of grace even in her night clothes. She made a point to cover her upper body with her shawl and hide her wand in the process as she swept back a strand of loose hair behind her ear. How mechanic.
"I'm...stunned," she admitted, her voice tempered and leveled. "I didn't know you were back in Reim after these many years. Especially appearing no different at all."
"I come and go," Noé replied. Picking out a piece of bread and popping it in her mouth, she walked down the few steps to be closer to the girl. Despite having grown, she barely stood up to her shoulders but that didn't deter her from looking up in annoyance she was obviously trying to obscure with pretty words.
"Were you invited here by Master Basil, miss?"
"Don't know who that is," Noé confessed and took another piece of bread to chew on. "But little cub Muu offered me lodging." Not for free though.
The mention of him seemed to perk her up somewhat. "Muu did?"
"Yep," she said through another bite of it. "Not permanently though. He made it clear that I'm not welcomed here by your emperor or the parliamentary court. But I couldn't care less about what they think. And my name's Noé, little regalis."
Seraphina's gaze went askance at that, "Likewise, Miss Noé, mine is Seraphina."
"Sera's cuter," she said. That's what the cub had called her way back then anyway. Noé gave a slight nod towards the dummy she'd been ravaging with ice and that Noé decapitated. "I thought Regalus weren't trained in combative magic." The accusation made Seraphina avert her gaze, eyes glaring at the floor instead. "Relax, I won't tell on you."
"You...won't?"
"Nope!" Noé called out before going off to sit on the steps she had climbed down and set her basket of goodies beside her. "It's good to know you took my advice seriously."
Seraphina shook her head adamantly. "That night made me realize just how much of a sitting target we really were. And despite our efforts, Lady Scheherazade didn't agree with arming us."
"So you train in secret?"
"I'm not proud of doing it behind her back but—"
"I'm not judging you. In fact, I applaud your audacity." It took a lot of guts to go against a magi's word. Well, for those that revered them anyway. Noé, on the other hand, had no trouble doing that. She reveled in it, frankly. This isn't about me though. Eyeing one of the other dummies left standing, she made a small motion to it. "Strike it."
"Excuse me?"
"Strike the dummy. Show me what your attack magic is like."
Seafoam eyes held her gaze for a second before Seraphina stepped back and drew her wand out. Pointing at the dummy, she took a deep breath and released the ice that ran down the ground in a straight line. It encased the dummy but broke easily after a moment or two.
"Weak hold."
"I'm aware," she replied with a frown.
"Try spears."
"Spears?"
Noé lifted her hand and gathered a little bit of light in her hand using Chief and swiped her arm across, striking the wall behind the dummy and leaving a deep-sized hole when the light shattered. "They're more condensed magic and take much less concentration too. Aiming will need some practice but if it strikes its target, it can be deadly. Give it a try."
Heaving a sigh, Seraphina raised her wand and focused. The air around Noé chilled more than it did when she summoned the barrage of ice on the ground. It made sense too since she was condensing a large amount of ice into single spears. Soon enough icicles formed around her, solidly hard and giving of a gelid air around them. Soft, seafoam eyes narrowed on the dummy and she brandished out her wand shooting them out.
All of them missed.
Noé snickered and Seraphina faced her, fair skin flushed in embarrassment and hands holding her wand tightly. "I-I'm not used to this!"
"I know," she replied through another chuckle. Noé took the bread she'd been eating, lathered it in strawberry jam, and put in her mouth. Before she went on chewing, though, she offered some advice. "Concentrate. Envision what you want to hit before you even conjure your ice and shoot when you know what it is you want to hit." Once done, Noé took the full bite of her bread and jam and watched as Seraphina tried again.
All missed. Seraphina heaved a long sigh and hung her head, but Noé nodded knowing she'd need more than a couple of tries to master something like this. "Good, keep going."
"I didn't even scratch it."
"And you won't unless you keep practicing." She shoved the whole bread into her mouth and spoke through a mouthful of it. "Now, keep at it, Sera."
|i.|
"Again."
Her lip quivered as ragged breath escaped her, already too exhausted to continue. "A-Auntie—"
She ignored her pleas and sneered once more. "Again."
"I can't."
"What?"
Theone's sharp word cut threw acutely, making her shake as she held tightly onto her limp, bleeding wing. It offered nothing close to any sort of protection. All it provided was a vague sense of security. One that failed her at her aunt's acerbic words. Fed up with her uselessness, Theona swiped her arm across the table where few clay figurines and cutlery laid, flinging them across the room. The hardened clay crashed against the granite walls of the underground cavern Theone called their home and shattered into smithereens, the echoing noise jolting Noé in her skin from the fright.
Taking the strides to get to her with ease, Theone took a knee before Noé and grabbed her small face in her clawed fingers. She whimpered at her grasp, her tiny hands—human hands—desperately trying to pry those claws from her jaw. All that accomplished was anger Theone more, her claws digging into Noé soft skin and drawing blood.
"I won't tolerate your poor excuses for inadequacy. Not when the conclave if fast approaching." The hiss laced with animosity and desperation terrified Noé all the more, large and dull emerald eyes widening in response. Eyes a color much brighter than hers mimicked the emotions twined into her words. "It will be here before we know it and you will be ready. You will win!"
"B-But I can't, auntie." Noé's words cracked at the end as her eyes brimmed with tears that spilled onto her cheeks. Theone knew she couldn't. She wasn't fit to fight the others—not when her wings had never fully formed.
"You will," Theone repeated more intensely than before. Without warning, she snatched the overgrown wing that hung limply by Noé's side and clutched it painfully tight in her hands making Noé cry out that it hurt. "I've told you before, not a single one of them will receive you with open arms. No one in their sane mind would accept such an atrocious abomination as you unless—" The word was punctuated with pain that ran through her wing at Theone's tightening grip, "—you prove yourself to them! You will fight, Noélia, and you will win!"
Only then will I be a part of them. Only then will I have a place to belong.
Noé had heard the speech a hundred times over. Theone fed it to her so diligently, that Noé knew it by heart now. She knew what stood on the line. She knew what it'd mean if she could win the conclave. What she could gain. The one thing she wanted: a real home.
Accepting this and swallowing her fear, Noé nodded with a quivering lip and forced the same answer she gave every single time. "I-I'll try."
"Don't try." Theone released her wing and forcefully shoved her away by the grip on her jaw. "Succeed."
A/N:
Yay! Another chapter! I liked how this one came out :3 There isn't much action other than the fight in the first part. I guess the character interactions were what made it easy to write for me. The next few chapters will be something like this, I'm hoping. Much character interactions and development with spare fighting scenes here and there.
Huge thank you to rbadillo, Azulish, and icegoddess52 for the favorite and follows! And also to Aviantei for your review! I love you all and give you tons of hugs~
That's all for now. Next time, we'll get some Yambala training (I'm thinking) and def meeting the Fanalis corp! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you stay tuned for the next update~
- Evie