Speech = ``...´´
Thoughts = [... ]

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There were three things that one should ever fear and tread carefully if one had any regard for their own safety life if they were to ever be at the other end of said horrors.

The tax collector surprise knocking at your door when they caught wind of your… "freedoms" of not paying your debts.

The sharp sound of your mothers voice calling you sternly by stating your full name from the distance while she was pulling up her slippers ready for throwing.

And lastly but not least the sight of a living wave of children sprinting at you in some sort of unholy stampede of small limbs and heads approaching rapidly.

Terror number three seemed to be right on the menu for today, however.., unlike any other situation where common sense would call one to remove themselves from the clear path of collision at hand, this time she was not given such luxury.

Either be it because in the few moments that remained before they reached her did her legs choose a rather inconvenient moment to forget they could move….or because it would look rather weird for everyone else to see their "Mother" duck for cover like a World war II movie character.

To be honest, she did not know which one was worse...or funnier.

And so with half a prayer on her lips and a curse in her heart for whatever god was kindly listening by she clenched her jaw with a weak and wavering smile as they crashed on her.

Hard.

Like holy shit those little gremlins could do some damage if she was not some sort of named character right now as she felt her heels literally scratch the floor underneath as they tried to keep her steady if just barely from tumbling down.

"Mother! Mother! How are you...!?"

"Where have you been, Mother…..?"

"Mother! Are you feeling better...? Do you still feel sick?"

"Buah! Mother…..! Please don't scare us like that…, I thought we would never see you again"

She could barely breath, the air driven out from her lungs first with the tide smashing into her, and now surrounding her from every angle.

She tried to smile,...but she could only flinch with the ever back and forth of bodies pushing against her. A bead of sweat started to slid down her forehead, prickling her nose as it slid down as she tried to wiggle in futility against her fate.

[Please, stop…..don't turn me...into a sandwich…]

She groaned inwardly with a pained whimper at the way they tried to wrap their arms around her and squeeze as hard as they could.

Forget Peruere pulling the power of friendship card in the duel, she was gonna die right here and now by overly emotional children!

One by one, or all at the same time...a myriad of voices and cries echoed loudly within the room like a tempest thrown into a tea cup before then picking the damn thing and throwing it against the closest wall.

Yeah, perhaps not the best way to phrase it...but right now it would do!

It was hot and cold, rapid and cumbersome, all mixing in a blurry mess of arms, faces and cries from boys and girls of different ages and sizes went by uninterrupted as they tried to reach for her, tugging at her clothing with their little hands and fingers.

Holding her as if she would vanish in a puff of smoke

Clinging to her with the happiness found after a long path in darkness.

Smiling and crying for her….as the only thing they had ever known as a Mother returned to them once more.

It was…

It was a bittersweet scene.

Whether or not it was real, she would not lie that there was some strange sense of warmth to be the center of all of this affection, to know that all of these children were looking up to her, worried for the mother that from day to another had disappeared from their sights and they had been pushed aside from even letting them see her or heard of her.

They loved her..

They loved their mother.

But they loved a lie…

She unconsciously bit her lip, the pain flaring rapidly from the touch of her teeth against the soft flesh. Not enough to draw yet blood, but just the necessary amount to distract her of the way that line of thought made her stomach churn.

And so, after taking a moment to take a breath and pushing away any cartoonist thoughts from half a hundred anime's with this kinda of scene trope she rose her hands in a placating manner

..

..

And then utterly failed to contained her more simple chibi self as she then allow her arms to fall gently over their heads. Gloved fingers caressing and stroking with great care, playing with their hair.

Why? Why not..!?

..

What? That is not good enough of an answer? Ok, fine….it was a solid strategy to calm them down two at a time, not because she wondered and had some sort of motherly feeling been prop up on the spot ok?

..

Ah~, they were so warm, and the look in their faces….! No one had told her that children could act like a bunch of cats purring at the first show of affection.

No wonder they were so easily brainwashed into flesh puppets to throw and disc-

[No…]

[No…]

[Nop...]

[I am not going that way…., think of happy thoughts, yeah…..happy thoughts] She admonished herself from her annoying pendant instinct of letting those intrusive thoughts taint her fun with their cynicism.

Her eyes trailed around her the room, taking in the color of their eyes, the look and shape of their faces. Feeling how new and yet so familiar they felt to her, how uncanny and scary was to feel this ethereal certainty of knowing each and every little secret they held with the thought in her mind that this was the first time she ever met them in the first place.

The wrongness of it.

The warmth that there was.

The disparity of sensations, gripping her so tightly that it almost felt…...physical?

..

..

..

Nah, it was surely just her that was in the clouds. Her friends had always said she had a rich imagination and it was not like her current whereabouts were doing her any favors.

Yeah..that was...surely it. Nothing wrong with her at all, just her head doing too many double takes for her liking see? HAHAHAHA…!

The weight on her chest started to alleviate just a moment after, lifting its heavy burden from her as a broad and cheerful smile started to warp on her lips as she doted on the children. One not born of childish joy at been subjected to wave of cute chibi characters brought to life, but of relief…

A detail that was not left unnoticed by a certain watchful pair of eyes.

Her train of thought came to a stop when she got a brief glimpse of something at the corner of her sight and the prickling feeling of been watched. Not from the children already asking her to play with them or the servants who dutifully stood away to let her handle the tide of children, but something else.

Slowly, tilting her head in that direction, her eyes widened slightly when they found two more individuals that had entered the room with the rest, yet they had to approach like the others had.

And not because they were shy or anything…., well, perhaps one of them was.

Two children of white and pink, dimmed bleeding red and bright cheerful green…, black and elegant simple white, the warm sun and the cold moon that faithfully followed it.

She had to swallow a breath, her heart starting to pound a little harder.

Yes, she had watched her from a far through the safety of the windows of her office….but this was the first time less than a few scant meters stood between her….and the future master of the House.

Clad in that plain black shirt and shorts that showed those slim and little legs of hers that were so painfully white. The shadows below her eyes spoke of restless nights adding to what should have been an expression filled with wonder with a painful haunting look that she knew would never fade away. A stark contrast with the somehow beaming and smiling blur that was Clervie to her side.

It was an amusing sight that almost made the mood swing back to its festive nature, the girl clearly wanting to either comfort or emulate after her fellow friends on their show of affection to their mother only making the target of her attention her white haired companion.

As if she would be sad to be left out…

Clervie really was one of a kind.

Still, the fact that they had not truly approached her like the rest and instead were standing there...as if barred by an invisible wall between her and them should have been painful knowing or at least thinking on the reason behind it…

The callous lies covered with a soft voice…

The unreasonable and cruel beatings…

Or the darkness behind a heart so shredded in evil for so long until she was left with it just a few days ago.

..

..

Yeah, she would not have blame them for it, hell..she would have been weird out if they hadn't. That moment when Clervie had hugged her and cried in her room out of sheer relief probably been just the worry and fear of a gentle soul of losing the only blood relative they had washing away in sheer relief.

Now that such a thing was clearly not the case….then perhaps the fear of the darkness that they knew existed on her had come back.

That….bothered her.

However, the fact that they had entered holding hands and that they still seemingly held them, fingers softly intertwined with each others had completely washed away those thoughts just as fast as they came.

I mean, how could she not..!? That was so CUTE..!

Rainbows started to morph above her head as delusions of fluffy thoughts rampaged unopposed, stroking away the unease from her weary heart. Ah, it was nice to be alive. If she survived until the Traveler arrived in Fontaine she would make sure to copy a page of a certain feathery adeptus and embarrass Peruere like any good mother should in-front of guests.

That managed to break a laugh from her.

Oh yes… it would be a perilous trip, but one that she would do nonetheless if she could get to see the future stern woman blushing out of embarrassment.

Unbeknownst to her a strange and sudden shudder ran over said small white haired girls back.

[Well...enough of day dreaming., I have children to take care]

And so..

"Mother? What made you laugh..?"

"Well you see...I was thinking of a certain thing that I wanted to d-"

"Mother why are you wearing a bandage on your head?"

"Well...something did happen when I was-"

"Mother, did you fight a terrible monster?"

"If you could consider a monster a set of s-"

"Mother lo-"

"Children, please…..one at a time" She huffed with a shred of exasperation in her voice, a small twitch in her eye at the incessant chorus of voices.

[For gods sake, there is no way to start a conversation here is there?]

"But mom-"

"No buts my dears…."

She cut them off, her voice still tempered with a genuine softness...though one that she had to sharpen a little to make the point land as she slowly knelt to their size, not really wanting for them to tilt their heads up anymore if she could help it..

"I am so glad that you are all in high spirits...but if you all speak at the same time your poor mothers ears are gonna blow.."

"B-blow..!?"

They all gasped, eyes open wide and mouths left hanging in some sort of abject horror at the prospect of it coming reality in the following seconds.

One should not really found it funny, but they really were too easy to mess with….so sweet and gullible.

Still it was a good way to keep her hearing from going deaf through this menagerie. That she managed to keep her spine in the right place from their tight grip was just a bonus.

A surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one at that.

With an inward sigh she went to stand up a little bit, but a pang of pain went by, running through her skull. She bit her lip, a bit annoyed at the moment the wound decided to flare up to remind her of its existence.

"Mother, are you feeling ill? You look...a bit pale..?"

Spoke a short blond girl with a rather recognizable orange clip on her head, her name was Sarah and- wait...what? How did she k-you know what? Right now is not the moment to ponder on that.

Looking around she could notice that gone was the vibrant or cheerful sound of the children around her, their eyes looking at her with a palpable sense of worry like when a father buys them an ice cream but instead of answering why they did it they can not help themselves become lost gazing at the horizon.

[Shit, was it so noticeable?]

She wanted to take a brief look at Clervie and Peruere, but chose at the end not to.

"Me? N-no, not at all….just a bit caught on the enthusiasm of my brave little lions"

Honestly? It was not her best attempt with how her voice did crack a little at the end...

"Are you sure...?"

[Yikes, thanks for the vote of confidence…] She thought with apprehension, the words feeling like a stake ran through her heart. Nonetheless, she soldiered on with what she had in hand.

A brittle smile...

"I would not be here if I wasn't, right…"

It was not much, in fact it was down right cheap but that use of logic seemed enough to placate their present curiosity as they nodded and giggle with one another. In their minds the answer clear as day, if you were sick then you were bed ridden if you were not then you would be on and about. Simple as that.

She really would have to thank Gerard from pushing out that white lie later. Sighing inwardly, she rubbed the back of her head.

[One mess averted, a million more to go….]

Though looking over her shoulder at the special pair she knew that they….may not have fully bought that excuse. Good news were that they were finally approaching and merging with the rest of the group.

"Mother..?"

She tilted her head to her right, looking at a young boy of brown hair and eyes, dressed with a simple white shirt and a plain, sleeveless vest that matched his hair.

"Yes, Tomy..?"

"If you are fine now, then...that means you will continue reading tales to us..?"

"Of course, why would I stop?"

A wave of enthusiasm started to roll down at the news, it was as if she had never broke the back of her head in the first place.

"But enough of me, what have you lot been doing in my absence? Surely you did not acted naughty, right?"

She said amiably yet with a tone of playfulness, hoping to change the subject with something else. Placing both of her hands over her hips while leaning down just enough for her back to bend a little bit forward.

"No, mother…"

"Well, that's is good to know-..."

"Michael tried to set a cat on fire..."

..

..

..

[He tried to do...what?]

She had to blink several times as the nature of the sentence became harder to process in her mind. All while chaos started to brew once more into the room.

"What? NO! I was not doing that Sarah. How could you say something like that?"

"Yes you were..I saw you. Lying is an ugly thing"

"I was not, I was merely trying to make a fire-cat"

"A-are you listening to yourself.!? That is not the way to do that.."

"Says you..."

"She is right, that is not the way to do things.."

"Oh, quiet you Gary..."

[Oh, thank you...a responsible and right minded b-]

"Everyone knows you have to drown them first.."

[I regret my words...]

"Mother! Look at the necklace of bug heads I made from the garden"

The sight of a collar of different butchered looking bugs pierced and woven together by a series of threads where their heads should have been was almost shoved at her face.

It took her a moment to realize that...thing was the necklace he was talking about. Not some silly thing of paper made bugs drown with crayons...but actual fracking living bugs as if emulating after the second coming of Frankenstein!

She almost threw up.

The burning sting of the bile rising through her throat, yet unable to spill out as the muscles of her neck tried to clog the entire thing down, making the experience all the more bittern and unconformable.

"That….looks like.. it took a lot of... work"

"Yeah, but I never tire in hunting them down and ripping their heads one by one ehehehe.., the way their bodies squish, squish, squish when I get my hands on them."

"R-right...I am.. happy for you?"

She muttered weakly, not really sure of what she was supposed to say to….that.

Still, if it made him happy, then who she was to judge him? The only thing she hoped was that he did not tried to upgrade his tendencies with other living beings in the future.

Then they would have a problem.

"Thanks Mother, wanna wear it? I made it for you.."

If someone had dropped a pin she would surely be able to locate it on an instant.

[Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! You have to be kidding me, those things are still moving..!? Crucabena what kind of children were you grooming...!?]

"P-perhaps another day, is that fine with you sweety?"

"Ah, oh….ok"

[Please, don't look at with those eyes when you have committed war-crimes…., please not the puppies eyes]

She muttered inwardly with dread.

Steeling herself from the pained look in the cute little psychopath face she took a few steps back towards a particular spot of the room. It was easier said than done knowing the amount of eyes stuck on her back, but she did it anyway.

"Now…..I know that you have been worried, that you have been talking with one another wanting to know what may or may not have happened…...but you need to fret no longer for your mother is back."

She took a moment to take a deep breath, hands clenching, fingers flexing before turning around, a practiced smile back on her face and an exquisite plate containing a large example of bakery of this world on her hands.

"But if words are not enough, I brought gifts to earn forgiveness. So…...who wants to eat some cake~?"

A loud chorus of voices and raised hands was her unanimous answer as the entire room came alive on the spot at such a joyful occasion.

Even a certain pair of red x looked at her with a spark of confusion instead of that dreadful apathy in which the girl shielded herself in while in the mind of a certain someone who was at the epicenter of this new found chaotic mess a different yet so similar line of thought was going through their head as they watched the event unfold.

Unable to keep down a gentle and true smile from breaking through her lips

Yeah, she could make this work...

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She had been right.

Clervie….had been right.

It was a statement that Peruere still had some problem to understand let alone come to terms of how it had come to be in the first place.

But it had happened nonetheless.

Somehow, against all odds and what her guts had been telling her since the announcement had been made public….that bubbly cheerful girl had been spot on in her deduction.

Which was what had prompted her to look down at the large piece of cake that rested on a plate before her with a dumbfounded expression.

Its creamy and delightful form bathed in black and white, a slim yet perceptible red streak coursing through its interior separating the sweetest spots from the rest as if trying to emulate after her own appearance.

She could only look at it with a frown as if by doing so it would reveal it was something else than just a normal cake.

It made no sense, good things didn't happen for no reason. It was an unwritten rule.

It was how things worked.

The dread that had been bothering her these last few days and this strange summon to this room with the other children at this hour with no previous warning….even though the pink haired girl had tried her best to convince her otherwise, she had expected the worst anyway.

The moment the doors gave in as the rest entered the point of no return as her heart started to beat faster.

Either their "mother" had perished between the window of time that her friend had seen and spoken with her…..which would have totally devastated Clervie. Or they were meant to be punished for some reason or another.

A morbid thought… but one that had a modicum of truth, and with her luck she was sure of which one was going to become a reality.

..

..

Instead….., they got a party..?

She rose her gaze from her half eaten plate, trying to ignore the sweetness of the chocolate or the soft coolness of the cream towards the people around her, red weary eyes trailing on those she was sharing this moment with.

Children were laughing and talking with each other, some who had already finished their plates were playing or running on the floor, heedless of the words of the caretakers around them, there was even some sort of music been played by a disk at the far corner of the room as if they needed more to make the mood more festive than it already was.

Had someone told her this was what she was gonna get herself into….she would have thought that to be just another lie. One to placate their worries...but just another lie.

She had been wrong, but why..?

She switched her attention back to her plate, small slender hands closing in around the spoon she was holding. A part of her wanting to just carve another piece of it, the other warning against it.

Why had she been wrong..? Why was she when she still sensed the strangeness in the air, slowly prickling at her chest..?

Surely she was not imagining things…, right?

With a loud sigh her eyes soon found out the source of all of this on the right side of the room. The elegant woman sitting on a chair in order to allow Clervie to sit over her lap while the woman did the girls hair.

The two seemingly talking and laughing about something they had just shared between one another that she could not manage to hear. The way their lips curled into bright smiles instead of the shaky pretense of trying to play mother and daughter...tugging at something inside her.

Peruere bit her lip as she promptly stabbed the cake and brought another piece to her mouth as if the sweet taste of the sugary treat could distract her mind from these thoughts.

Their "mother"….

She felt…... different.

It was hard to say what exactly it was…., the others may not have noticed in their idolization, but it was palpable to her.

The platitudes and sweet words had always been at the disposal of their mother when she spoke to them in any way or form, smiling and offering some words of encouragement here and there to the children when they asked for it...loving the way they all fell in line a the smallest show of appreciation.

But those moments of warmth had been hollow things.

Crooked.

Tainted.

Like a mask that was nice to look at…, but fake nonetheless if you dared to look further into it.

And so, when she had been drag so unceremoniously here by Clervie in her enthusiasm and her desire to prove her that she was fine she had expected to see it happen again.

But not this time.

The pain flaring behind the depths of her eyes from the wound at the back of her head when she tried to fully stand up, the look of shock at the nature of the children's creepy and chaotic subjects of conversation, the relief, the gentleness of her demeanor, the playfulness of her voice….

It had been all real.

She had felt real.

There had been no lies, no deceit, no pretense...instead their mother had been honest, nervous and...even worried?

Worried of them..?

Of her..?

No, that could not be. It was a senseless notion…., but she had noticed the way her eyes had gazed at her, meeting briefly yet still long enough to feel her suspicions become vindicated yet all the more puzzled when the answer stared right back at her yet needed no words to make itself heard.

Why had there been sadness on her "mothers" eyes..?

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It had been a rather strange few days for Gerard.

From the usual scrip of things as things continued like they had for decades with honest work and dedication to maintain the Hearth, to a down right spiral of chaos when his master became a victim of circumstance and sheer bad luck

Had he known that the annoying little shit that continued to pester around with her attempts of escaping would eventually led to such an unfortunate accident he would have killed her right then and there.

Picking her up, doing anything humanly possible to keep the master alive and cleaning the scene so that others would not find any clue of why she was so suddenly "indisposed"

After more than fifty years of service one would think that he was ready for this, but the amount of grief and stress he had gone through were not good for his heart.

The only thing staying his hand right then and there when he found the Knave bleeding down on those stairs while that brat cried nonstop like the idiot that she would always be was if Madam Crucabena would want to do the deed herself.

That….had been what he had expected to happen when she woke up. But now..

He stopped on his wandering, taking a moment to pull off his glasses and clean them with a some pocket handkerchief. Watching the frown on his old face through the reflection.

Now he did not know what to expect.

Head injuries were no laughing matter and this one was the worst he had seem that did not carry with it instant deadly consequences. However...perhaps the master wanted merely to placate the worries of the children which otherwise would only continue to grow if she continue to kept her distance.

He could not help but find a little of mirth on that line of thought.

Yes...that was probably it, a simple return to the status quo and the only thing she needed to do was show her face for a brief moment. Crucabena had always been efficient when it came to her work, and this was no different.

Then…..she had asked something of him.

And though the request had been a rather surprising at that in the context of the situation, it was one that he was more than willing to see it done with the utmost haste and competence he could muster.

A servants existence was to serve, there was no need to question anything that was requested of them.

Which was the reason why he was now strolling through the now mostly empty streets of Fontaine as the twilight had completely receded and the skies were now claimed by the arrival of the night instead of remaining by the madams side.

The guards patrolled the streets and their mechanical pets followed dutifully behind by the stirring though of cogs and pistons. The shops were either closed or finishing with their last customers of the day,

Some people were wandering as-well, some mingling their own business while others seemed to be far more content to enjoy the coolness of the gentle breeze blowing through the street as they either gazed at the starry sky for a moment before returning home.

Just another quiet and simple day in Fontaine.

Now, there was only one problem though.

..

..

What on the archons name was a god damn camera and where was he supposed to find one...!?

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A/N

Here is another chapter, it took some time to get it out as I have been busy now as of late but hope you enjoy it and have a fun time. Review or share your ideas if you like, the more the merrier.

DDDXXX: About your question on my fic on "A fair ladies misfortune between Harbingers", no, that fic is not related to this one given that Crucabena in that story is dead, this is story is apart from that one. A fair ladies misfortune between Harbingers however is in related to The Doctors patients and the Lonely Fair lady fic as they are on the same universe telling the same story just in different moments in time.

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I hope this was helpful, though if you are interested on that story as-well I hope you have a fun time reading it.