Speech = "..."
Thoughts = [... ]
º
º
Fontaine was a nation of a rather unpredictable climate, one either spent their days in a dry weather from the hot winds coming from either the deserts of Sumeru or the volcanic mountains of Natlan or the humid proximity with the ocean brought with it weeks and weeks on end of rain.
True, normal days were possible, but it mostly depended in which season of the year one stood in, and on the wind itself.
Which was why, even under the heavy toll of a particular hot day a soft breeze blew gently over the tree tops and the bushes of Fontaine, from the city to the landscapes around it, carrying with it a much desired cold stream of air.
Birds sang and flew from tree to trees under its cool embrace, leafs floated away as if enthralled by an ethereal dance within the sway of the currents while flowers tried to bloom under the brief, yet never ending strays of light punching through cups of the trees into the ground proper.
The heat was a bothersome thing for the creatures of nature as it was for the common people in their homes, and while the common people had technology to make due for it, the common wild animal could only try to hide under the shadows cast around them.
However, none had it easier than the small looking otters swimming in peace in every body of water bereft of the attention of people.
Floating gently in the calm waters of the lake and with their eyes closed most of the fluffy creatures appeared to be deeply asleep, letting the rummage of the waters carry them around.
Softly rocking them back and forth as if they were been held aloft by mother nature in a silent lullaby..
All...but one.
A small, smooth white haired head poking out from the depths of the lake before it made its way through the pristine waters instead of joining the rest of its kind, instead choosing to take a step on some rocks at the very edge of the pond they all where.
Small, cute looking paws carefully palming before fully stepping over the rough surfaces while the other held tightly a small shell. However, nothing deterred the otter from slowly making its way to the highest point of elevation, leaning its head down on the warm surface after hours of contact with sunlight.
Purring in delight and it started to play with the-
"Gotcha..!"
The sound of a flash could heard soon after the gentle yet decisive press of a button, the turquoise eyes of a small girl gleaming with anticipation as the flash easily captured the image of the small looking creature.
Charlotte could not help but smile at the product of her patience.
Another outstanding success.
Startled first by the momentarily flash of light and then the thump like sound that followed it, the Otter squealed cutely in confusion, its diminutive eyes blinking twice before it swiftly dived back into the safety of the crystal waters around it
Though not after a different shot from somewhere else caught the creature midway the attempt, capturing the movement its body started to hit the waters in time.
A few seconds later Charlotte came out from her hiding spot.
The pink haired girl slowly approaching the edge of the lake as she watched with no small smile at the otter resurface and swim back to its friends somewhere further away, the cute little things nudging and rubbing their noses with one another as it to welcome their friend before they set sail into deeper waters.
All while small smooth paws paddled the water away
"Gosh, they are so cute…." She squealed softly with stars in those pretty turquoise eyes of hers.
With those fluffy furs shaded like the colors of fresh snow and the soft blue takes of the ocean itself, with those little sad yet gentle eyes and those stark black pudgy little noses in what otherwise would be a field of white and blue.
What was not to like of those fluffy creatures?
The only best thing to make photos of them was to pet one.
Though, now that she was talking about, the only thing she wished different would be to have a camera that would actually make the image clearer in order to capture the essence of the target better.
She did not mind much though, but scraping her knees to get closer was not something she thought could be maintained constantly.
A rustling of leafs and bushes told of the arrival of her father a few seconds later. A tall, slim man carrying on his back a particular heavy looking tripod. The nicely groomed mustache over his lips twirling with delight as he approached her with a gentle smile.
"Well done Charlotte, you caught it just when the moment was ripe. You are getting better at this.."
Charlotte felt a warmth spread over her cheeks thanks to the praise.
"Though I don't remember ever teaching you to speak out loud a few instances before taking a shot..."
The smile that had been warping on her lips became twisted at the very end at that reminder..making her pout in return
"I..I was just a bit caught on the enthusiasm…"
Her father knelt to her eye level, a wishful look in his eyes as he placed a hand over the top of her head. Ruffling her pink hair in the process.
"Its ok…, that is one of your most endearing qualities"
"Father…!"
She gasped in embarrassment, yet she could not help herself from moving away from the soothing touch.
"Ah, what one would do to be young again..." Her father chuckled to himself before he shook his head "Still, I am pretty sure it was a good catch nonetheless..."
"Oh, but father, you took the photo when it was transitioning from ground to water…how I am to compete with that..?" She mumbled slowly into a whine.
The people around her said that she had a knack for it, and in a sense it was true. However there was something refreshing on catching up the movement of a living being instead of having the shape of their form static in a sheet of paper..
As if a flow of life had been blown on them even if the photons they used to take the photos were….kinda bad outside a controlled environment.
Too big to hide with ease from the local fauna.
Too heavy to carry around everywhere for long...
And the images always came in black and white...
However, amusement glinted in her fathers eyes, a sense of pride behind those gentle depths.
"Well, in no time you will get better than little old me. Soon you will be the one catching them on the spot..." Her father said as he started to raise up.
"R-really? Are you sure..?"
"What do I say about a reporters gut feeling..?"
"That one must always trust it.."
"That's about right..."
She stared at him for a moment...before she beamed a broad smile in return.
"Thanks dad…."
The two then started walking away from the edges of the lake, back to retrieve the heavy machines for their photography work. However, as they did, they walked past a heavy rock dome in a clearing.
Nothing noteworthy though, just a big lump of rocks piled on top of each other by natural causes and clearly not by a huge hand of a god or something. Resting just across a small shallow looking pond of water.
However, she halted, her feet refusing to carry her anymore for as long her eyes remained fixated on it.
..
..
..
"Hum…..we met Lucas here for the first time, didn't we?"
She heard her father slow down his pace, and though she was unable to look at him in the eye she was sure he was thinking about it too.
"Uh? Oh...not quite, he was a dozen meters to the left...sitting on that boulder if I remember correctly.."
Her father corrected. He was probably right, for some reason those details were hazy in her memory of the time, perhaps given the fact that her mind had been focused on something else that day.
The first time she had met the older man had been here on the wilderness at night under the shade of the pale moon shining above them to guide their footsteps instead of using lanterns to light their path.
Why? Because artificial lights made for the quality of the photos become lower than they already were at night, and since they were out to catch glimpses of the natural fauna such sources of light would have scare them off.
However, the salmon pink haired girl had stumbled with him almost by accident, so focused on her surroundings that she had failed to take note of the rather visible adult sitting on a boulder.
He had looked tired, no…, sad. There had been sadness in his eyes.
Luckily once the two started talking something had lighten up in the older mans mood.
"Do you think he is doing alright..?"
Her father turned around, still a cheerful look on his face though one that changed once he took notice of her expression.
"I bet he is, why..?"
"Its been a few days since we last saw him..."
"Hmm..., I see. If you want we can always try visit him later tomorrow to cheer him up if you would like...I am sure you have many things to tell him"
"That would be nice.., thanks dad"
"It was nothing. Now, I think I saw a Pearl seahorse in the other shore of that lake across the valley a few days ago. Lets get closer to take a better picture of it. Are you ready..?"
Charlotte punched the air with one of her fist as enthusiasm once again flowed freely inside her veins.
"Always..!"
º
º-…New Institute of Fontaine…-º
Lower levels
º
Dear god…..he was gonna die here wasn't he?
Alone, in a dusty and unkempt workshop that seemed to contain more dust than books and exuded the same thrill a mirthless clown could bring from a deaf audition of spectators.
Those were not very hope filled thoughts to have at what could be considered the prime of his life, but when you got yourself stuck underground in a room by accidentally breaking the only key that opened said door when he tried to open it last night with no one knowing or perhaps not even bothering to check up on him did not left room to many happy thoughts.
Especially if one took into consideration that the cleaning crew did not particularly work anymore on the lower levels of the institute, all thanks to the megalomania of some very paranoid scientist who guarded their work with too much zeal.
Lucas could only curse at his misfortune.
Why..?
Why had he not thought of asking for a replacement in case he either forgot the one he got..or I don't know, have one spare on him to prevent something like this from ever happening...!? Why was only in moments like these when he had already screw up that he thought about it…!?
He groaned out loud at each belittling thought coming by in his head, slumping further down a worn down chair that creaked at each and every time he brought a pair of slim fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose or just wipe away the sweat trailing down his face.
With a defeated sigh he let his head hang low.
An aggravation that came from the barely working ventilation system connected to his workshop...one that he had fixed most of the time by having the door itself open to create whatever flimsy current of air was available to flow inside.
Now barred form that...well, he was left sweating like a pig like those first weeks when he got started here. And he didn't have the muscle mass to kick open in the opposite direction a heavily reinforced metal door. Which was just peachy..
"Oh Archons….I really don't know what I may have done in a previous life to spend my last renaming days here..…"
It just wasn't fair. There were so many things he wanted to do, that he had to do! Surely it could end like this?
He weakly rose his head up, a pair of blue eyes shyly, almost desperately staring at the ceiling above his head with a bleak expression on his face. Hands clasp together in prayer though he had never been a religious fellow.
"But could you throw me a bone or two, please..? Just for a tiny little bit..?"
..
..
..
..
..
Of course, nothing happened.
Lucas closed his eyes in abject disappointment. The young man had no more strength to curse or just get angry about things when they didn't go his way.
Not like it would change anything if he did. With a heavy sight he wiped away another trail of sweat.
"Oh dear, what I was expecting.…? When have the gods hear the wishes of a nobody engineer instead of people more important..?"
Slowly, he glanced at a small looking box over his table, different from the others in the room by the way it had been shaped. The answer to that was obvious..
It was a photography machine, but not those ugly, lengthy contraction that the photographers of Fontaine used that were so tardy and complicated to operate properly in the best of days.
His glared softened, a hand stretching forward and gently caressing the rough edges of cut and crafted wood and the slabs of iron that had been crudely drilled into it by his hands truly, taking in the bottoms that made for the controls and the cylinders attached to one side.
No…
This one was better than any of them….
No longer people would need to wait days and days on end in order to know if the photo they took had been done right. People would not need to carry so much weight around as they would be able to strap the machine to their hip instead of carrying that many leg monstrosity they called "Photom"
Urgh, the mere reminder of the many articulated thing made him grimace. It was just so impractical that it hurt how many steps one had to go through to actually use them.
Good thing that he had come up with a way to fix such a travesty.
Day or night, the quality of the images produced would not decrease, and last but not least... the images produced would no longer be encased in a monochromatic world of whites and blacks, but there would be colors as-well.
He took a deep breath, watching the droplets of sweat slid down his chin and fall one by one over the box in his hands
He had been breaking his back into putting all the necessary contraction and the math required of it to shove it down a small portable size...and yet, he had done it. Against all odds...he had done it. The first thing he ever made and did not stink of failure a mile away.
Bad as things were right now, he could not help but feel a little bit of pride fill his heart.
"At least...I tried to keep my promise, Charlotte..."
He mused to himself, a small, thin smile cracking the stiffness of his lips as the memory of a certain pink haired girl and her father came to mind.
He closed his eyes, reminiscing of those days that….he may never relieve again if he never left this sauna of a room.
"Life really is not f-"
Click..
..
Click, click..?
[Uh...?]
CLICK..!
"Wait..."
Clack..?
"Is that...?"
..
..
..
Click,click,click,click,click ...?
His eyes finally start to widen to comical proportions when he realization strucks like a dome about where was that noise coming from.
As if poked by a needle on his arse he Standing on the spot from where he had been brooding until them. Sending the poor chair back as a result in a loud, chiming crash.
Something that went by unnoticed and unmourned as his eyes were focused on the handle of the door that was chiming up and down rather loudly.
"Oh god, the door….someone finally found me..!?"
Hope flared inside him like never before at the prospect of rescue from this hideous place for once and for all. Had the gods heard his prayers after all? If so he swore that he would religiously pray to them until his last breath in order to return their favor.
"Hey! HEY..! I am here...! Please, get me the hell out of here!"
He called as loud as he humanly could to whoever was on the opposite side of the seal door, hoping for any answer or noise to return as a result.
That they knew he was here.
That he was not going to be abandoned or ignored in this…..in this terrible place!
However, the last thing he expected to see was the reinforced doors which had so stubbornly kept him trapped in-there to fly off its hinges into the room as if punched by a literal god of war.
Something that was no small feat...
However, at the present moment, the only words he could give such strange scene playing before his eyes wer-
"Oh shit….!"
He yelped out loud in shock before his self preservation kicked in, barely managing to duck for cover as the entire door now turned metal bent projectile almost turned his head into paste.
It was a chilling fact feeling the entire thing whistle above his head as it was a bullet rather than a heavy metallic frame before eventually crashing loudly against the closest wall it could find.
Slamming into it violently and becoming embedded the same way an arrow would get stuck on a big, fat target. However, much to his dismay unleashing in the process a torrent of dust that filled the room, making him curse his luck between coughs as the hoarse dust got stuck in his throat and stubbornly refused to get dislodged from it
He grunted inwardly as he tried to swat away the dust with his hands to keep it from bothering him anymore in between fits of coughing. A useless endeavor if there was one…bur right now that was the only thing he thought he could do.
Luckily, he would not suffer it for long as the dust started to settle thanks to the soft current of damp air that started to pour into through the cavity on the wall the door had so tightly sealed.
The fog of dust and debris was slowly swept away, revealing the room around him once more.
The floor was littered with specks of thick dust and small pebbles the size of a finger, sheets of papers laying everywhere he could gaze. A large open gash carved into the walls where the door had been once before before been so brutality pulled out, and beyond it... the tall shape of the one that had rescued him..
It was all a bit surreal to him, but hey, he was not gonna nag much about it. With some luck he could blame the old man upstairs for giving him faulty equipment that led to this.
"Hey! Wh-whoever you are….thank you for that"
He muttered, surprising himself at how weak his voice sounded but decided not to think too much on it as he took his first steps towards the figure.
"I don't have much on me right now but….if you want I could pay for some drinks down at the closest tavern.
A loud crack reached his ears, he had stepped over a pebble.
"I mean, its not much but its the least I could do to rewar-….Oh.. my... fucking god…"
He started to say only for his voice to die on a whimper along side that new taste of confidence brought out by the adrenaline of almost dying that had been running through his veins until them. His eyes unable to look away from the source of his liberation as the dust cleared enough for him to view her in all her glory.
Unable to pry himself from that smooth, velvety mane of dark pink hair that cascaded down her shoulders like liquid fire, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of those wet, kissable crimson lips that seemed to have been drawn by the gods themselves, his legs shaking alone from the enthralling, innocent blush that colored her otherwise snow hued skin and the timid yet fiery gaze of her eyes.
Neither noticing the nervous fidgeting of her fingers or the older man behind her facepalming himself.
Perhaps he had indeed died here and he had not noticed….because there was no other explanation to the fact he was looking at an angel.
º
º
Ok, it was definitely official.
This was a disaster.
A stupid, nonsensical, regrettable one at that. A mess thrown at her shoulders as if she had nothing else to do at the moment. Murphy's general laws of bullshitery was at its finest rearing its ugly head once more.
And all because she couldn't wait just a little bit more…
Even though she tried to hide it, Crucabena could not but grimace at that particular incriminating thought that was rendering merciless judgment on her conscience.
Poking at her like a child with a bat would poke a pinata.
Rough and painfully.
[Urgh…, nothing of this was meant to happen.] She whined in silence, biting her lip as a new wave of depression washed over.
It was intended to be a mere poke.
A well place kick like in the movies she had seem a million times over…
And with some half added math she had made in her head in between the seconds that led for her boot to slam against the door she had thought that the spot she had chosen to target would give her the results she was looking for faster.
Well….about that. It seemed she had got her wish. Just…. not in the way she had expected it to happen in the first place.
She brought a hand to her head, pinching the bridge of her nose as she shut tight her eyes.
[Sealed metal doors are meant to be hard and heavy, so why? Why earth someone thought it was a good idea to make blast seal doors so damnable feeble..!?]
She had been trying to kick it open, not blast through it like a knife through a wet tissue! Such notion was so ridiculous that she still had trouble believing, let alone acknowledging it had happened in the first place.
But it had…so what that made her? Low discount anime She-Hulk? At any other time she would have laughed at that.
She wasn't laughing now...
[Arrrrrrrrrrgh, my head hurts just to try put some sense into any of this..]
At least not all were bad news…
"My angel, are my hear not playing a trick on me? You came here because of my work..?"
Well…..mostly
With an inward sigh she rubbed the back of head trying to ease the headache eating her alive. They had been going at this for a while by now.
"Sir, for the last time I am not an angel, and yes I did.."
"Then goddess..?"
A sweat drop slid behind her scalp at that. [Gods that feels so cringe and weird.…]
"I... would prefer it if you didn't do that."
A look of despair sparked in his eyes for a brief few seconds "I-then what about your excellency...?"
She rose a placating hand, this nonsense was way out of a left field for her.
"Just...Crucabena, sir.."
"Ah, but I could not dare speak so informally to someone as esteemed as you my lady…, I must convey my gratitude one way or another, my pride and honor as a man demands it!"
Nop.
This was not going anywhere…
She didn't know what was bothering her more, the glowing anime stars in Lucas eyes, or his stubbornness to drop the issue. With an annoyed sigh slipping through her wet lips she tilted her head to the side, switching her attention from Lucas to Gerard. Hoping for him to lend her a hand on this.
He glared back at her, staring for what felt like an eternity in silence before he gave her a reassuring nod. Making her sigh inwardly in relief.
[Oh thank god, he gets the message..]
"I guess that the man is right madam…, though what he lacks in sense he does in enthusiasm. Something I greatly appreciate"
[WAIT, WHAT!?]
"Gerard.., what are-"
"After the mess from upstairs from that rapscallion of Marious I believe I would rather hear this than suffer any more insolence, don't you agree madam..?"
A feeble smile was plastered on her face yet her left eye started to twitch with anger.
[Oh come on! In which side are you on dammit...!? This was not what I was asking of you...!]
"Wait, did you just said Marious..?"
Lucas sudden interruption stop her from voicing her displeasure out loud. Though it was the tone of his voice that caught her attention most of all.
"Yes..?"
"Marious... as the main mother fucker Marious the technician working on indemnitium..? "
[Great, I sense a story behind this…] She mused to herself in her head before she gave a weak nod in return.
Which only seemed to rile Lucas up all the more visibly.
"Of course that bad son of a lady would dare disrespect someone as gracious and kind as you my lady. Oh, I should have known he would do that, always thinking of himself as better than anyone, always flaunting his projects in everyone's faces, always acting as if he owned the-"
"AAAAAAAAAAANYWAY, lets not wander off topic any longer or I swear I will start going barnacles" She cut him off, rude as it may be she did not care "I came here because of your work of your project of photography. I. Want. To. See. It.."
"Oh, I….I am honored my g-I mean madam.." Lucas started to say, yet quickly correcting himself in the process when he noticed her frown.
[Better.., though it needs so work]
"But how did you know I was working on a project related to photography..?"
"Well that's-.."
"Wait, perhaps you are really a-"
She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose "No, no,nononononono...you told my butlers a few days ago about it, don't you remember..?"
"I did…?"
[YES!] "Indeed, in fact it was you who said to meet us here today…, didn't he.. Gerard?"
"He indeed did..."
"Ah, yes...I did something like that" The engineer muttered at last, rubbing the back of his head with a gloved hand as the memory of that day came back to his mind, however instead of nodding he bit his lip "But….."
"But?" She inquired, arching an eyebrow.
"Wasn't that meeting not schedule for Monday...?"
"Today is Monday…, sir"
He stared at her in confusion, brows so knitted together that they seemed to fuse into one. Then…. in denial, before horror stetted in. His face losing quite a few shades of color in an instant when reality hit him like a brick.
"Oh shit, it is...!? I-I my apologies madam, it seems that with everything I-"
"Forgot? Dully noted.." She said with a dry laugh "Now, can you show it-oh, is right there…"
She started to say, only for her eyes to land on the object of her visit. And well ladies and gentleman…..that at the left side of the only working table of the room was a camera, or Kamera as the OG version of Tevat would eventually called it.
She had to admit, it was….quite similar to the designs in game as she grab the boxy object and held it carefully in her hands.
[Ah..., at long last I have you in my grasp...]
It had taken a while and with some unnecessary touch of insanity to it but she had made it this far.
A maniacal look warped around her eyes as she clutched the Kamera tightly. The things she would do with this thing...eh, just you wait Peruere.
Back at the House of the Hearth a certain white haired girl shivered for reasons unknown to her, yet….
"Ah, please be careful madam...its a"
"Important, I know..." She said softly before turning on her heels to face Lucas, smiling kindly at him. "Its a beautiful thing, isn't it?"
A brush of heat started coloring the mans cheeks who tried to look away from her eyes.
"T-thanks...it m-means a lot."
[Hum...cute] She thought to herself with a chuckle.
"I was wondering….would you mind if I were to ask you a business proposition about this machine..?"
"Me? Are you sure?"
"Well, there is no one else here but us chickens right?" She said placing a hand over her hip and leaning forward.
..
..
..
..
"What..?"
"Well you know...the saying?"
"I...I don't get it.."
She faked a cough, trying to hide away the pang of embarrassment from her voice.
"Nothing, just me saying things. So..?"
"Well, I..I would be honored" He answered, yet he sounded….not as cheerful as before.
"Huh? I thought that you would be happier to hear this...is something wrong?"
"Its just... I...I cant sell it to you…"
The gears in her mind came to an abrupt stop as she stared at the young man with a perplex look in her face.
"What..?"
"Sorry...I mean no disrespect madam, sir...its just….I made a promise.."
She blinked. What was he on about?
"A promise..?"
He nodded, stiffly. "Yes, to a..friend. She and her father helped me when I was down once, when I thought that things could not get better.."
"I...see?"
So I…wanted to give, to make something new and better for their work of photography. They helped me and I…"
"You wanted to reward their kindness with something of your own.." She answered for him. At least catching on where he was leading to.
"Yes.."
"I see…"
In a sense it was really cute and nice of him to try make up for his friends help.
Still...
"Still, that does not seem it would be much of a hazel for me or my request.." She said crossing her arms, which...prompted a far more puzzling look from Lucas as a result..
"Wait, what...? You...were not thinking on just buying my work?"
"No…well yes, but not just that mind you.."
"….?"
[Ok, that was not very self explanatory.. ] She belittled herself.
"Look, it is just as I said, I wanted to talk to you about a business proposition you dum dum.." She then leaned back, tilting her chin higher as if looking down on him, though that revealed a rather elegant neck in the process "True I wanted to take the camera and a go with it, but there is so much more that we could do with it "
"More..?"
"This...marvel you have built, its going to open so many doors towards the future" She muttered softly, caressing the box like thing in her hands. "Not just for a brief moment of time, but it will change the world in ways you cant even begin to imagine.."
Films.
Dramatic plays in theaters..
The day life news..
All immortalized in neatly photos in color with all kind of detail. Creating in the process a myriad of other professions that would pop out just to adapt to the changes coming and going. Not even her knew what kind of waves this Kamera would create in Fontaine.
She was not that kind of nerd thank you.
She took a step forward
"Imagine a world where everyone can enjoy picturing the world around them with the same splendor and beauty that it shows us instead of looking at a sheet of paper bathed in blacks and white?"
She then wrapped her free arm carefully around Lucas back while with the other she extended to the sides. The two bathed in a metaphorical spot light
"Capturing every inch of emotion, every speck of movement and fold in both person or animal, immortalizing such beautiful instances with the respect they deserve.."
"That's-.."
"With me backing you….you could make that dream true... "
"But..the expenses.."
"Would be all covered.., I am more than just my looks you know?"
Surely if something the House had in lack of
"But, but why? Why would you really do that for me..?"
"Why not.., you have worked so hard to create this..surely you deserve some praise?"
"B-but everyone says that it wont have a future, that I am just wasting my time.."
"But you never gave up, didn't you?" She asked softly, their eyes locked with one another.
Lucas stared at her in shock at first, unable to digest what he was hearing. And yet...after a few seconds he slowly shook his head. A glint behind those depths that had not been there previously.
Of confidence.
Of gratitude.
"See? Everyone are just fools…"
"Madam….I think I could die just now with a smile on my lips even if you were to tell me that you were joking.."
She scoffed at the sudden surge of dramatics. What was with everyone talking about dying..?
"Nah, if you did I would just slap you awake back to life.."
"Ah, and what a beautiful way to be reborn would that be.."
[Please don't make this any weirder than it has to be..] "So, do we got a deal..?" She said, taking a step back, placing a hand on her back while the other lunged forward for a handshake. One that was equally met in its sheer eagerness
"More than a deal…you got a lifelong partner madam.."
She smiled at him.
Yeah, this seemed the beginning of a productive friendship.
º
...A few minutes later...
º
º
YESSSSSS...
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS...
OH YEAH! SHE HAD FUCKING DONE IT…...!
Where some of the thoughts going by in her mind as she happily traversed back to the entrance of the institute while humming a song.
It was a rather thrilling experience, was it not? She had come here not really expecting things to go her way, in fact, they had not...but hey, who was laughing now? She got the proverbial hat of this adventure.
[Ha! Take that Murphy! I won this round..!] She thought with a wicked grin.
Had it been in her hands to chose she would have danced all the way out the building while showing the middle finger to whoever R.O.B had sent her here. Sadly with Gerard in tow and dragging with himself all the things she had told him earlier to buy she was forced to keep...a sense of demeanor.
Well, it didn't matter. She got what she came looking for. Like Cesar: she came, she saw, she won…
She could not help but smile at that. Tooting her own horn never felt more amazing.
Though perhaps it had to do with the fact that not only she was carrying the glorious Kamera in her hands, but also she had managed to get all the blue prints to make more of the thing. The patent, the reports to write down to who belonged what, all done.
And with the 40-70 percent ratio of wining she had agreed with Lucas then she knew that the Mora was going to fill a few too many pockets real soon. The people of Fontaine were suckers for new things,
And more so for useful things.
[Damn I am good at this..]
She thought, patting herself in the back as she made to reach the handle of the door leading outside of the institute inner grounds.
Nothing could go wrong now.
Nothing except then the door leading outside opening up inwardly and smacking her right in her face.
Yeah...everything became a blur after that.
Noises echoed dimly in the depths of her skull, something warm and slick slid down her lips and right down her chin. Shadows loomed around her, someone...someone was speaking, saying things or whatever.
However the only constant was the bitch breaking pain in her head. Life was such a petty bitch.
By the time she regained some of her sight she was left confused about why she was staring at the ceiling...or, perhaps, for how long had she been laying on the ground like a dead pigeon.
[Gods...what a lousy way to end the day..] She thought, yet that she struggled with.
Men...or perhaps women were walking around her, they were dressed in blue, wearing...top-hats? However she did not have long to delve in that line of thought when a gloved hand was offered at him.
Slowly her head tilted to the side, the effort taking her longer than she expected yet it did not matter as in time she end up meeting the owner of the offered appendage. When she did however...she felt.. a sort of deja vu.?
Strange…
Though perhaps it had to do with his face immaculate, god built face that was bereft of any imperfection or flaws. Like an angel that had been carved into stone and then given life he exuded a cold elegance that was double down by the sharpness of his features and the intoxicating way his eyes pierced her soul with the soothing touch of waves.
Well dressed, clad in blue, gold and silver and with two blue like antennae that descended behind his long silvery mane yet that did nothing to hide those sharp yet exotic elf like ears of his.
There was also the fact that his presence felt both reassuring and awe inspiring.
"Wow...aren't you a cutey? "
She slurred in her stupidity without second thought or shame, her brain cells still readjusting to the blow, neither not noticing the look the people around her, let alone the gentleman now gently holding her hand directed at her.
Was it shock...? Surprise? Well...she didn't really care. Hello!? She had a dent in her skull...!? She had a right to say stupid shit…besides, he was handsome so it wasn't a lie either.
Also, he had quite a strong grip though gentle by now...
..
..
Wait, antennae? Blue? Men in-Oh…...shit.
With a terrible gut feeling about this and swallowing with difficulty a lump that had gotten stuck on her throat she meekly rose her head to meet his glare once more.
And-
..
Y-yeah.
..
It was him..
..
What did she do now?
[Think, THINK you poor excuse of a dofus in space! What do we say to get out of this mess..!? What do I even do that doesn't suck..!?]
It had to be smart.
It had to be clean and smooth.
No half attempts ok? She only got one shot at this…
So...
..
..
..
"Oh….is that you Neuvillete...? Whatss-up...?"
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Obtain the Kamera? : Success...
Survive Chief Justice Neuvillete..? : Pending/ High risk of failure.
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A/N
Here is another chapter, I hope you enjoy it and have a fun time. Review or share your ideas if you like, the more the merrier. Have a great day...which I am not having as I am down with sickness :(
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UNIVERSE : All in due time, there are going to be a ton of those chapters where we can enjoy the fluffiness of family bonds and where a certain future Harbinger is going to wrack her head around the fact that her mother is a kind woman now.
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grifman275: Ladies and gentleman, hold fast to your chairs because the blackmail is commencing, poor Peruere wont live this one down any time soon. Or ever..
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BOW-B-4-ME: I am happy to hear that
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galaxy123: "I wonder if i'm a degenerate or not lol" Dont worry, we all have been there, besides, that would not be the strangest genshin relation ship ever, that place belongs to Dottore/Collei. So yeah, cross your fingers because mother/daugther action is not off the table.