Just reposting this here.
Halkegenia Online v2.0 – Chapter 3
Yui, Kirigaya Yui, former Mental Health Councilor Prototype in the game world of SAO, an AI, and now a very real young girl in the world of Halkegenia, grimaced with concentration as she sat atop a pile of pillows in the parlor of the home she shared with her Mama, Papa, and Aunt Suguha.
The object of her meditation was a small, silvered card that was just a little too big for her to get her hand around comfortably. [<Annoyingly]> she had experienced as little success today as she had any time in the past. Logically, she had no reason to expect that things would be easier this time, but she had at least hoped to invoke a different response. Still, every [<Interrogation]> of the GM access card returned nothing but random data, or so it appeared.
"Maybe you should rest Yui-san." A sweetly honeyed voice said from beside her.
Yui allowed herself to relax, putting the GM card down before turning her attention to the Pixie Shaman seated atop the coffee table.
"It's alright, one hundred thousand milliseconds isn't that long at all!" Yui assured Hinagiku, but the Shaman remained unconvinced.
"It might not seem that way." Hinagiku warned, flitting up from her place on the table. "But even Shamans rest often when we commune with Yggdrasil-sama. You certainly shouldn't push yourself to exhaustion when you don't even know what you hope to achieve." Her eyes naturally fell to the card beneath Yui's hand.
It had not originally been Yui's intention to ask for Hinagiku's help. In fact, when she had learned that the Tarbes Pixies were in Arrun, she had only ever meant to say hello and introduce her new friends to her Mama.
Meeting Hinagiku, Kigiku, and Ajisai had seemed like a pleasant diversion for Mama while she continued to recuperate. And the sooner she helped Mama, the sooner she could help Papa. Privately, Yui knew that Papa needed almost as much care, but that his own [<Healing Process]> would require seeing the results of Mama's recovery first.
The Pixies were practically [<Walking Therapy]> in their own right, non threatening, childish, and inquisitive. She was sure that Mama would take an immediate liking to them. And the more that she relaxed, the more Yui could probe at some of the more sensitive [<Traumas]> that her Mama was still carrying.
Meeting with Hinagiku and the others had begun mostly as Yui had expected. The Pixies were being lodged within several spare rooms at the Governor's Mansion, a huge space for just the Shamans and their Knight escorts, but hardly anything at all to their Faerie hosts.
The Sylph and Cait Syth Guards at the mansion had let Yui and her Mama in immediately. Almost all of Sakuya Ojisan's staff knew her by now and they had been greeted with warm welcomes as they walked the halls.
That was where things had first started to err from her predictions.
The very first Pixies they had seen had been a trio of Vespid Knights standing guard from the vantage of a wall mounted lamp fixture. The Knights had come to attention the instant Yui and Asuna had rounded the corner. Yui didn't recognize any of them, which meant they were probably from one of the other Gardens that had been discovered after Lady Sakuya had ordered a search of Tristain.
As they grew nearer however, the trio of Knight had become suspicious and then openly guarded, two drawing their swords while the third retreated back down the hall and slipped beneath a doorway.
"Halt!" The Lead Knight ordered as she held her sword at the ready. "Identify yourself!"
Neither Yui nor her Mama knew quite how to respond. "I'm Yui and . . ."
"Not you." The Knight said, her eyes had never left Mama. "You, identify yourself at once!"
Asuna's confusion redoubled as she gestured to herself non threateningly. "My name is Asuna. Yui-chan and I are here to see the Shaman Hinagiku."
"The Tarbes Garden Leader." The second of the two Knights observed.
The first shook her head. "You don't smell like the others . . ."
Mama blinked in surprise. "Smell?"
"You're not right at all, not a like a Sylph, or a Salamander, not like a being either . . . I know this smell . . ."
The comment about her [<Scent]> must have been [<Embarrassing]> for Mama, her face grew faintly red, and she lifted her wrist to her nose as if trying to identify what the Pixie was talking about.
"They're not trying to be rude, Mama." Yui explained, pleased to show off what she had learned about Pixies. "The Pixies have a very acute sense of smell, so they can identify humans and Faeries just by scent." The Knight must have been put on edge by Mama's unique scent as a [<Maeve]> type Faerie.
After accepting that this had to be the case, Asuna waited patiently with Yui for the third Knight to return with several more Shamans and Vespid Knights. Thankfully, one of them was Hinagiku.
"Yui-san?" The Priestess had questioned, flying out to meet her with a warm smile. She had stopped half way to Yui as if she had run into a glass wall. Her head spun about as she sniffed at the air curiously. Her attention came to rest entirely on Mama.
A dozen pairs of Pixie eyes watched Asuna expectantly. By now, Mama was growing a little [<Nervous]> being the center of so much attention, smiling uncertainly at all of the strange looks.
"Yui-san." Hinagiku looked between Yui and her Mama. "Who is this person?"
Yui answered quickly, eager to prevent a [<Confrontation]>. "This is my Mama, remember, I told you about her."
"Asuna?" Hinagiku whispered to herself and then looked to Asuna. "This is most strange." The Priestess raised a hand, gesturing for the Knights to lower their weapons. "Please, this person is no threat."
The Pixie Shaman settled on Yui's shoulder to show her faith in this judgment. "You must be Asuna-san. Yui-san told me a great deal about you. I'm very sorry for all of this. Your scent is strangely familiar and put the Knights ill at ease, they wanted to be sure it was safe."
"Familiar?" Asuna tilted her head. "I'm sure I've never met any Pixies before."
Not entirely true. Yui thought, Mama had met Suisen, Argo's Navigation Pixie, and Yui herself still technically counted.
"I shouldn't think it would matter." Hinagiku concluded. "I'm certain this scent is something that every one of my Sisters was born knowing. But I can't say for certain why." She shook her head, warm smile returning. "In any case, it's obvious that we have nothing to fear. Sisters, please stand down, these two mean us no harm. Yui-san is a close friend."
The others looked doubtful but were unwilling to speak out against a Shaman, and at Hinagiku's continued [<Gentle Urging]> began to stand down. The last straw had been the casual greetings exchanged between Mama and a pair of Lady Sakuya's staff.
Realizing that neither their revered [<Eldest Sister]> nor their hosts thought anything amiss, the remaining Knights had sheepishly re-sheathed their blades, looking about like children who had jumped to conclusions.
"Again, I beg pardon for my Sisters." Hinagiku bowed apologetically. "They are simply very protective, and more than a little nervous. Lady Sakuya has been a most gracious host, but this place is still very strange for us."
"No no, there's no need to apologize." Mama dipped her head back to the small priestess. "There was no harm done. Maybe we should start over."
"Start over?" Hinagiku asked.
"How do you do, my name is Asuna. I'm Yui's mother." Mama waited patiently for Hinagiku to follow suit.
"How do you do." Hinagiku bowed once more. "I am Hinagiku, Shaman and Eldest Sister of Tarbes Garden."
"It's my pleasure to meet you Hinagiku-san." Yui felt [<Relieved]> as Mama extended her hand and Hinagiku accepted the offer, gingerly setting down in Mama's palm.
"Likewise, Asuna-san." The Shaman answered before returning her attention to Yui. "Yui-san, Kigiku and Ajisai are also here if you wish to see them. I'm sure they would both want see that you're doing well."
"That would be great!" Yui smiled genuinely. When last she'd seen them, Ajisai had still been regrowing her damaged wings and had only barely regained her ability to fly. She still wanted to properly thank the two Knights for risking their lives to help Antoine and Euphrasie.
Hinagiku made to lead them back towards the room set aside for the Pixies and then seemed to think better of it.
"Actually, forgive me for saying this, but I worry that some of my sisters might grow anxious if you come inside. Most aren't used to being around Faeries or Beings just yet, and with your scent . . . But I would like to visit if possible . . ." She bit her lip. "Perhaps I could ask to use one of the other rooms, or go outside, the gardens here are quite lovely . . ."
That was when Mama had gently pressed her index fingers down on Hinagiku's shoulders to draw the Shaman's attention. "If it's not too much trouble, we'd be happy to host you at our home for lunch."
The Shamans eyes went wide and she began to gesticulate wildly. "N-no! I mean, that is very generous, but it shouldn't be necessary at all. We are guests in your city and shouldn't seek to inconvenience . . ."
"I insist." Mama said. "Yui-chan would like it as well. Isn't that right, Yui-chan?"
"Un." Yui nodded. "Please consider it Hinagiku-san." Then she thought to add. "Mama's a really good cook, and we just picked up some honey at the market yesterday . . ."
"H-honey?" The Shaman grew intensely thoughtful. "I really shouldn't . . ." She mumbled softly. "Well . . . We don't have anything planned this afternoon. The other Shamans are preparing for a ceremony this evening. It's a rare opportunity to stand beneath Yggdrasil-sama's branches."
"Then, if you would like, you and your sisters are welcome in our home." Asuna said encouragingly.
"Of course, thank you." Hinagiku bowed again.
It hadn't taken long for arrangements to be made. The Pixies were being treated as special guests at Lady Sakuya's orders and were free to go wherever they liked. After collecting her Sisters, Hinagiku, Kigiku, and Ajisai had seated themselves on Yui's shoulders for the walk home, the three Pixies looking all about the city streets like [<Tourists]> fascinated by the sights and sounds.
Now and then, Ajisai or Hinagiku would point and say something to one another. Meanwhile, Kigiku struggled to remain composed and serious, but the Facade wasn't perfect, and Yui caught the small Knight drooling openly at the scent of baked apples as they passed a bistro just off of the main street.
Yui came to a stop at the doorstep of the Kirigaya residence, Hinagiku and Kigiku drifting down beside her. Ajisai and Kigiku looked up at the front facade while Hinagiku admired and complimented Mama on some of the herbs that she had started growing in the flower boxes by the front steps. The Shaman's discomfort from earlier had all but vanished. That was, until the diminutive spiritualist had crossed the threshold of the Kirigaya residence for the first time.
Almost immediately, Hinagiku had grown anxious, as if she had sensed something out of place and even her Vespid Knight escorts had become [<distracted]> entering an almost trance like state. The closest analogy that Yui could devise was that it was akin to the way that some animals were known to sense imminent natural disasters.
It had not taken long to isolate the source of the [<Phenomena]> that had placed the Shaman on edge. Hinagiku had homed in on the source with unerring certainty until, standing before the small jewelry box in Yui's room, she had demanded that Yui reveal its contents.
For Yui who had already developed a strong model of Hinagiku and her [<Typical Behavior]> it had been a shocking experience to face the forceful side of the normally mellow Pixie's personality. The surprise had caused her to obey almost without thinking.
What had transpired next could best be related to a [<Religious Epiphany]>. Hinagiku had looked at the card from all sides as if she couldn't quite see it clearly, and then cautiously, reverently, she'd placed one hand atop its flat, geometric surface. She'd recoiled almost at once, her biorhythms spiking far in excess of even Sayuri at her worst before pulse and respiration had both plummeted back within their normal range.
"Hina!" Yui had shouted, taking her friend up in her hands and holding the shivering Pixie close to her chest. Even with Mama close by, Kigiku and Ajisai had drawn their swords as if they could protect their leader from whatever had happened.
Thankfully, Hinagiku hadn't been harmed by the experience, though she showed symptoms that Yui could best describe as [<intense euphoria]> for approximately thirty seconds after physically contacting the GM card followed by several minutes of dazed confusion that had only subsided after she had been taken outside to catch her breath.
Once the Shaman had calmed herself and her agitated sisters, she had apologized to Yui and Asuna for her brash behavior.
"I over stepped my bounds, Asuna-san, Yui-san, I have been a most ungracious guest." The Pixie Leader begged for forgiveness. "Please accept my sincere apologies."
[<Hypothesis]> The Pixies were intensely sensitive to the GM card. [<Query]> Did the card actively broadcast to the Pixies? [<Query]> Was this a result of the card's status as a [<magic artifact]>? [<Query]> What did this imply?
Yui hadn't thought there was anything to forgive, but in the end, it was up to Mama to decide. Yui looked to her mother, waiting for her answer. Thankfully, Mama's disposition towards the Pixies was exactly as Yui had predicted.
"It's alright Hina-chan." Asuna offered gently, offering her hand to the Pixie. "I'm more worried about what happened to you. Are you sure you're alright?"
Hinagiku fidgeted nervously. "I . . . Yes . . . I'm alright. I was concerned to sense something here is all . . ."
"Sense?" Asuna asked.
"That . . . relic in Yui-san's possession." The Shaman explained as she regained her composure. "I've never seen anything like it before, and . . . it sung with Yggdrasil-sama's song, like the Shoot near our Garden."
Yui's eyes widened at once. [<Query]> Could Hinagiku interpret data from the GM card? [<Conclusion]> This could be invaluable if Hinagiku could identify patterns and filter whatever [<Noise]> was interfering with Yui's own attempts to interact with Cardinal. If the Shaman could even pick out key patterns from the noise then she could serve as a sort of [<Rosetta Stone]> to backwards engineer Cardinal's data packets.
"Hina-chan?" Yui asked hesitantly. "Can you understand the GM card?"
Asuna shared a look of alarm with the two Vespid Knights. "Yui-chan?"
Hinagiku shook her head as if trying to clear her mind. "Yui-san, how did you come to possess such a thing?"
"Please Hina," Yui clasped her hands before her, "If you could off any help, it's very important I learn more about that card!"
The GM Card that had been Mama's [<message in a bottle]> to Yui and her Papa during while imprisoned at the top of the World Tree, had been entrusted to her by Papa and the Faerie Lords in order to unlock its secrets. It was an important task that could only be entrusted to her.
As the only person among the Fae with the ability to communicate to any extent with Cardinal, and thus potentially the GM consoles, it had fallen on Yui to decipher the coding of the GM card, and by extension, Cardinal itself. But her every attempt had been frustrated by her own limitations. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't make sense of data being returned by her queries.
Yui wasn't normally one to grow impatient, but this was becoming almost [<Intolerable!]>. There were times when she had risen from her examinations of the card and simply wanted to throw it at the wall or yell at the top of her lungs until all the built up frustration inside of her was used up. She wanted to run around, to act, to shout. She felt like she was close, but no matter how hard she tried, the answers evaded her.
Even worse was the very idea that she could feel that way at all. Before, Yui could have simply [<Accepted]> her limitations and moved on, if she couldn't crack the Card, she would have apologized and that would have been the end of it. But now, she kept coming back to it, even though she knew it was useless, even though she hadn't thought of anything new.
It [<Frightened]> Yui that there was some part of herself that she couldn't examine and quantify precisely, that rebelled against her normally logical and methodical analysis. It felt [<Wrong]>, like something fundamentally alien crawling its way into her [<Primary Logic Cluster]>.
She'd spent almost as much time running self diagnostics as she had examining the card, and again, [<Frustratingly]> she'd made no progress. The need to find answers to one simply spurred her to find answers to the other.
But now, a [<Lead]> was sitting right in front of her and more than anything, Yui desperately wanted Hinagiku to agree.
The Shaman breathed softly. "Yui-san, that thing is not for Pixies."
"Hina?" Kigiku settled onto the wood deck of the back patio, coming to stand beside her Sister as she continued to recover.
Hinagiku smiled reassuringly. "It's alright Kigiku. Whatever it is, it wasn't trying to hurt me, it was just overwhelming, I guess . . . like Lightning perhaps?" The Shaman grew contemplative as she tried to explain what she had experienced.
"This is a first." Ajisai muttered, getting Yui and Asuna's attention. "I've never heard Hinagiku-sama being so vague."
"I wouldn't be vague if I had the words for it." Hinagiku rose slowly back into the air. She paused to look Yui in the eye. "Yui-san, this thing, it is important that you learn to commune with it, why?"
[<Query]> Should she tell her? Yui wondered. The Card had been entrusted to her in secret, and she really didn't have [<Permission]> to spread information about it. But Hina had found it all on her own and probably had some idea of what it was. It would be worse now if she lied or omitted something, especially if Hinagiku told the other Shamans.
Her Mama gave her a small nod. "I'll tell Sakuya-san and the others that I said it was okay. You don't have to worry, Yui-chan."
"Un." Yui looked back to the Shaman. "I think that card will allow us to communicate with Cardinal, with Yggradsil-sama, again and maybe help us find a way home." Though that was only conjecture, and what the consequences of that be were beyond Yui's ability to predict.
The response from the Pixies was considerably more [<Sedated]> than Yui had expected. The small Fae looked back and forth between one another. Kigiku and Ajisai didn't have much to add, both Knights preferring to defer to their Eldest Sister and Spiritual Leader.
Hinagiku looked troubled, eyes closed as she began to pace the patio. "What you're asking is . . . difficult Yui-san. Very difficult."
"You said the GM Card wasn't meant for Pixies." Asuna asked. "Then, is it safe for Yui-chan to be near such a thing?"
The Shaman looked thoughtfully up at Asuna and smiled. "We are very sensitive to Yggdrasil-sama and her song, but I don't think it will do Yui-san any harm. It was simply very overpowering for me is all." She began to tug thoughtfully at a few loose locks of hair, muttering to herself. "To commune with Yggdrasil-sama . . . maybe . . . maybe this is . . ."
Yui waited patiently for her answer.
"I think . . . that this is acceptable." Hinagiku decided. "If Yui-san wishes, and if Asuna-san is willing to permit it. I would be happy to help."
Yui brightened at once. "Really?!"
"Mm." The Shaman smiled. "Despite everything, I still consider you to be one of my Sisters Yui-san. I could hardly consider myself a Shaman if I refused to offer Guidance."
"Mama?" Yui looked up at her mother.
Asuna looked pained and Yui could almost sense the conflict as she decided whether to accept or refuse. She knew that her mother was just worrying for her and wanted her to be safe. But what would she do if Mama said no? She would listen of course, but she still wanted to try. She looked on [<Pleadingly]> hoping that Mama would understand.
Asuna sighed. "I'll allow it, but only if Yui-chan promises to be extra careful. And you too Hinagiku-san."
Mama still didn't look too happy as she helped Yui set up in the parlor and left her with Hinagiku, the two settling in for what had turned into an all afternoon session.
About halfway through the day, just as Yui was taking her break, there had been a knock at the door. Standing up, she rubbed at her sore posterior as she went to answer.
A Faerie Woman with short cropped brown hair and green eyes stood on the other side of the doorway in a bright green sweater and slacks. A bag hung in one hand while a sword in a shiny new scabbard was held in the other.
"Good afternoon Caramella-san." Yui greeted politely, just like Mama had taught her.
"How's it going Yui-chan?" Caramella grinned as she stood with her hands on knees so she could meet Yui at her own eye level. "Is your Mom around?"
"Un." Yui nodded and took the Faerie woman's arm. "She's making lunch right now. Did you come to eat with us?"
"I really only meant to drop by for tea." Caramella said as she kicked off her shoes at the front door. Her nose twitched as she caught the first faint whiff heralding Mama's cooking. "But maybe I'll change my plans."
Caramella had been coming by fairly often over the past two weeks to check up on Mama, usually bringing some new ingredient from the market or else just dropping by to [<Chat]>. Mama seemed to really like it when Caramella came by, and Papa got along well with her too, so naturally, Yui had taken a liking to her as well.
Caramella treated her like a real [<Younger Sibling]> and had even gone with her and Mama to see the children at Arrun Home. It didn't hurt that Caramella also didn't show any [<Interest]> in Papa either, which meant Yui could rest easy knowing that there was no chance of [<Infidelity]>.
"Oh, Caramella!" Asuna poked her head out of the kitchen. "I was expecting you a little later. Why don't you sit on the back porch with our other guests. I'll have lunch done in just a little bit and Kirito-kun should be back soon."
"Other guests?" Caramella glanced back to the entry and then almost jumped out of her skin as she turned back around and was met by a hovering Hinagiku. "Jesus!"
"How do you do." The Pixie curtsied in mid flight. "I am Hinagiku, a Shaman of the Garden of Tarbes. You must be Miss Caramella. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."
"Uh, yeah, likewise." Caramella nodded sheepishly. "So you're Asuna-san's guest?"
"Yes. Myself and my sisters. Asuna-san has been a most gracious host." Hinagiku replied. "And she has told me a great deal about you Miss Caramella, though . . . I confess I'm at a loss."
"Okay. About what?" Caramella asked.
Hinagiku fidgeted and wrung her hands apologetically. "I thought I was well versed in all of the Fae Tribes, but not yours. Are you perhaps kin to Asuna-san?"
"My Tribe?" Caramella grinned. "I'm just me."
This answer didn't seem to sit well with Hinagiku at all, but the minute Priestess didn't try to press the matter either.
Asuna emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of nuts that she had baked in honey as a special treat and urging them all to follow her out back. The scent made Hinagiku drool in a very un-Shaman-like fashion before drifting after Yui and a curious Caramella.
"You're not with Kino today." Asuna noted as she set the tray down on the patio table.
Caramella's grin widened as she took an offered seat and plucked up a few of the nuts. "I would be. Except Kino has been making googly eyes at that cat girl for the last week. You know he begged her to help him with his wing work?"
Asuna scowled. "You better not be teasing him about this." She warned.
Yui nodded thoughtfully to herself. Kino-san was another of Mama's new friends. Actually, he reminded Yui a little bit of her Papa in some ways. Good ways, and bad ways. Which was why she was happy to see him opening up to people his own age now that he had the chance.
"I'm not!" Caramella raised her hands. "Actually, I'm rooting for him, Silica-chan is a real cutey."
Instead of softening her tone, Asuna's eyes drooped, "Then you better not be giving him advice that's too forward."
"Never." The elder swordswoman said neutrally. "Kino's a good kid, and I'll keep him that way." She looked over to the two Knights who were now nibbling contentedly on their own snacks. "Us girls have to keep guys in line, huh."
Ajisai set her own nut down. "Guys?"
"You know, boys." Caramella elaborated. "They get themselves into a lot of trouble."
Ajisai looked on with complete incomprehension. Yui was [<Tempted]> to explain but she wanted to see how the [<Misunderstanding]> would resolve itself.
"She means males." Hinagiku elaborated for her sister. "You know, like Dagger Dogs."
"Oh." Ajisai absorbed this revelation. "We don't have those."
The normally outspoken swordswoman was given pause. "Excuse me?"
"No guys." Ajisai confirmed.
"Caramella-chan, you did read about them, right?" Mama raised a hand to hide her smile. "They're born fully grown from flowers in their Gardens. Like Thumbalina."
"Ajisai and Asuna-san are telling the truth." Hinagiku said calmly as she selected a honeyed nut from the tray and found a seat beneath the shade offered by a vase. "Yggdrasil-sama created us without the need for Gender. When the Light Faeries created the lesser Fae tribes from our errant Sisters, they recreated half in the image of King Oberon and half in the Image of Queen Titania so that they might go forth and multiply across the lands."
Yui didn't miss the way that her [<Mama]> blanched at mention of the Faerie King and Queen. It was very [<Suspicious]>, she suspected she would have to ask her about it later. The only other person who seemed to know was Caramella who grinned mischievously.
"Go forth and multiply huh? Sounds like this 'Faerie Queen' was sort of kinky."
"Caramella!" Mama said dangerously.
"Oh no doubt!" Ajisai cut in. "I can't imagine what that has to be like, but it's probably really gross and uncomfortable to have to mate and get all fat like a bitch while babies grown inside your body . . ." The Vespid Knights eyes widened as she remembered who she was speaking to. She began to wave her arms furiously."I mean . . . It's perfectly natural for Faeries and stuff, just not for Pixies!"
Caramella ignored the apology, curiously, Yui noted a slight spike in Caramella's outer body temperature. Capillary dilation was consisted with embarrassment but she didn't seem to be displaying any of the normal social cues.
"So . . . No guys." Caramella mimicked.
"No guys." Ajisai agreed again.
Yui expected this to be the end of it. "But you have boobs!" The swordswoman emphasized her observation by pointing to Ajisai's chest. Caramella certainly had an interesting way of thinking.
The response from all three Pixies was as violent as it was sudden. As one, all three girls crossed their arms over their chests, faces turning bright red. "Caramella-san!" Hinagiku stuttered. "You're not supposed to draw attention to them, it's improper!"
Yui tilted her head, wondering if this was some remnant of the [<Ethics Code]> that was still if effect within the Pixie psyche.
Caramella raised her hands again. "Sorry, sorry! It just seems like, well, it's just kind of weird is all. I mean, humans and Faeries have Mammary glands to feed their babies. So why do Pixies need them?"
"It's just a natural part of Blossoming." Hinagiku said as she tugged delicately at the collar of her robes. "Yes, just natural. Perfectly natural!"
"Uh-huh." Caramella sounded unconvinced.
"Now that we have that cleared up." Asuna got up from her chair. "I'm going to go get lunch ready. You're welcome to stay too Caramella-san."
Caramella gave a small wave of acknowledgment as she returned to watching Kigiku and Ajisai, the Pixies watching back just as curiously.
It was long before Yui heard the front door opening and two pairs of shoes being kicked off. She perked up almost instantly, scooting for her own chair and rushing inside to greet her Papa. Papa picked her up and spun her about once before setting her down.
"Hello, Yui-chan. You look even happier than usual. Tis a special occasion I presume?" Argo asked as she slipped past Kirito.
"Un. We have some guests over. Come on Papa, I want you to meet my friends!" Yui tugged at her Papa's hand, leading him towards the patio as Mama stepped out of the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches.
Papa's eyes widened at the sight, and then got wider still as he saw the smell white jar taking up the place of pride in the middle of the tray. "Is that . . . ?"
Mama smiled slyly. "Uh huh. I think I've got it close enough this time."
Papa all but salivated as he stared his soon to be eaten lunch, one hand rising to hover over a particularly artfully filled roll.
"Not so fast, Kirito-kun!" Mama said, all humor suddenly gone from her voice and face. "Before that, I have some question for you and Argo."
"R-Really?" Papa stumbled awkwardly. Yui noted that Argo had managed to vanish from the inside of the house, Yui couldn't even detect the Cait Syth with her expanded senses.
"Yes, really." Asuna confirmed. "Starting with just what you've been doing for the Faerie Lords since yesterday."
Papa swallowed, looking suddenly like he wanted to [<Be Someplace Else]>. Mama leaned a little closer, ruthelessly extending the sandwich tray so that Papa could get a good whiff of the herbs she'd used.
Papa's final line of defenses gave way. Shoulders sagging beneath his coat, he sighed. "Could you put the sandwiches down first . . . you might drop them when I tell you."
Yui decided that this was an important lesson. No matter how strong he was, Papa could never beat Mama.
________________________________________________________________________________
Returning to Royal Palace after their brief visit to the home of the Faeries, Louise and Botan had been dismayed to discover that their query of the Royal Archives had yet to bear fruit.
In Louise's opinion this was nothing less than a shameful failing of whatever low ranking Noble had been assigned to the task. She had shown her credentials as an Agent of Her Majesty's Will when she had lodged the request with the Palace, so she should have had the highest priority and utmost cooperation of the scribes and clerks that managed the tax offices.
Only through those records could they hope to discover the whereabouts of the man named Terrance de'Martou in any sort of timely fashion.
She had apologized profusely to KoKo, bowing over and over again. The Cait Syth had come all this way to help and now it looked like Louise was just wasting her time.
"T-this is inexcusable!" The youngest Valliere daughter stammered, glaring to the clerk who had given her the bad news.
"It's okay Louise, these things happen." KoKo waved a hand, smiling all the while.
"Louise-san is right!" Botan's wings fluttered as she stood atop her partner's shoulder. "Every day that we lose here is another day that my Sisters are left alone."
"Right, right." KoKo nodded, the mellowness leaving her voice, and with it, the good humor from her eyes. The she knew just as well as Louise what was at stake. "But is it really weird for it to take this long?" Her tail twisted to and fro as she speculated aloud. "I'd think there would be some sort of organizational method."
"Actually, that is the matter at hand." The clerk spoke, gathering the attention of all three investigators. "Your query was seen to promptly Miss Valliere, but the records you requested are currently being held in their entirety by a third party. I fear that they cannot be released at this time because they simply are not in the possession of the Royal Archives."
"What?!" Louise knew, just knew, that her shout must have broken windows somewhere in the Palace. Not in their possession? The records weren't lost or misplaced, they were missing out right!
"As an appointed Agent in the service of the Crown of Tristain, and a daughter of the Valliere family, I demand to know the meaning of this!" Louise ordered.
Relations with the Pixies had piqued Mother and Father's interest after a Garden had been discovered on the edge of the Valliere lands. When Louise had last spoken with Mother on the matter of her mission, the Valliere Matriarch had given her permission to use their family name and status to tactfully leverage the cooperation of any troublesome Nobles.
Louise concealed a smug smile. Acting with the full authority of the Valliere family and a mandate from the Crown, there were few doors that would be closed to her.
The clerk hesitated before apologizing once more. "I beg your Pardon Miss Valliere, but we were ordered not to disclose the business or identity of the person who is holding those records." He then added carefully. "I assure you that they are acting with the fullest faith and authority of the Crown." In other words, he was covering his own posterior in these paranoid times.
Louise stared at the Clerk, trying to comprehend what she'd just been told. Certainly there were people entrusted by the Crown with much greater responsibilities than her own. But the thought that she might cross paths with one of these people, much less in the midst of her own investigation, had never occurred to her.
"I see." Was that all she could say?
"Louise-san." Botan tugged at her hair for her attention. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Louise bit her lip. If brute force didn't work, Louise wasn't above humility in the face of a superior. Nodding her head respectfully, Louise crafted her reply. "Then, if it is at all possible to contact this person, could I please beg their audience. It should be known that the documents in their possession are essential for my own work."
"Very good, Miss Valliere." The man said, looking relieved to have seen the situation diffused. "I will relay your message and any reply at once."
"Thank you." Louise said courteously before turning on her heel and making her way back down the hall in the most stately fashion she could manage. KoKo quickly falling in behind her.
The Cait Syth placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry things haven't worked out smoothly Louise-chan."
Louise shrugged loose. "Don't be." Truthfully, she felt like she was the one who had to apologize. Even if it was through no fault of her own, she'd stumbled in front of KoKo. It was almost, no, it was just as embarrassing as letting Cattleya or her mother see her fail.
She stole a look at the Faerie woman from the corner of her eye. KoKo's expression remained serene, but the Cait couldn't hide her body language quite as easily. Her tail was stiff, and held up in a fashion Louise had only seen once in Tarbes while they had investigated the burned Garden, and her ears were not quite as high as the were when she was genuinely at ease.
Louise frowned, when had she gotten so good at reading KoKo?
"So." KoKo said at last. "What now?"
Louise frowned, what now indeed. "I think . . . I think we need to wait." She held her breath for what she knew was coming.
"Wait?" Botan pulled hard at Louise's hair. "We've been doing nothing but waiting. I'm sick of waiting!"
"Unless you want to walk the entire city asking random people if they know a man named Terrance de'Martou." Louise replied.
Botan seemed to seriously consider this proposition before her wings drooped slowly. "That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"
Louise nodded sympathetically. She hated seeing the Pixie look so dejected.
"Actually, that reminds me." KoKo raised her right hand as if to ask a question. "Tristania has town criers and places where you can post news and stuff, right?"
'And stuff?' Louise wondered and then shook her head. "Right. You Faeries did something similar in Arrun if I recall." The Faeries didn't use criers very much, instead relying on large 'Message Boards' which Louise supposed made sense when everyone was literate.
"Yep." KoKo agreed. "Works pretty good too. So what I'm wandering is, since your working for the Government, couldn't you post a request for anyone with information about this de'Martou person to come forward?"
Botan perked up at this. "Yeah, that's right! Couldn't we do that?"
"We could." Louise agreed thoughtfully. It hadn't occurred to her before because it would be an awful lot of effort when they had been making satisfactory progress finding the other Pixies. But now, it was probably the most efficient method of searching out the identity of this de'Martou person."It will take time to arrange, in any case." Prints would have to be made and then they would have to be stamped with the marks of both the City and the Crown before posting.
A good print house could probably produce them by the end of the day, for a price. Louise frowned, on that subject, a small reward probably wouldn't be out of place. But what would a 'small' reward be? This de'Martou fellow certainly wasn't anyone highly placed. What would Commoners and Petty Mages consider a reasonable sum?
"Lets go check in on Tabitha and Kirche first. They might have found something while we were gone." She decided, waving for KoKo to follow her down a branch in the hall.
They found the two foreign mages situated in a study in the Eastern Wing. Kirche lounging on a sofa while Tabitha had seated herself at the bottom of a tall ladder, a pile of books taken from the tall shelves that lined one wall situated at her side. Neither of them looked the least bit motivated as Louise surveyed the scene, eye twitching.
"I suppose it's too much to ask that you've found something." Louise decided out loud as she watched the two. She was gone one day and it appeared neither of them had lifted a finger.
Tabitha turned the page of her book and Kirche yawned, stretching slowly as she was roused from a nap. "Oh," she blinked sleepily, "Valliere."
"Zerbst." Louise answered mechanically.
The Germanian's eyes turned next to the Faerie at her side. "And KoKo, how have you been?"
The Cait smiled easily. "Doing real well actually, Kirche-san."
Tabitha looked up from her book long enough to give a small nod of greeting before turning back to the page.
The relaxed air was rapidly getting on Louise's nerves. First Kirche and Tabitha, and now KoKo too? It was like she and Botan were the only ones who were taking this matter seriously anymore. "Kirche!" Louise snapped bluntly, foot tapping the hardwood floor of the study. "My question."
"That de'Martou guy?" Kirche asked as she sat up. "Yeah, we've been looking into him. But no luck finding his whereabouts so far."
"Of course not." Louise muttered under her breath. She'd at least held out hope. "So I suppose we haven't gotten anywhere at all."
Kirche kept a neutral face as she answered. "Now, now, I didn't say that."
Louise narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Germanian. "Oh really?"
"What do you think me and Tabi were doing all last night?" Kirche asked.
Louise noticed the bags under the other girl's eyes. It seemed she wasn't lying about being up all night. Louise gave a small snort, nevertheless, "With you, I should think some sort of heathen debauchery."
Kirche smiled thinly. "Haha, very funny Valliere. But I'll have you know that after a long day of asking all over the Capital for your mystery man, we were up all night going through familial records at the archive."
Familial? Louise grimaced. Were they trying to find some record of Terrance de'Martou? If so, then she could only have wished them good luck. Unlike the tax registry, which had good reason to be kept up to date, records chronicling the family lines of the low Nobility were rarely kept with any degree of consistency. It would be a nightmare to track someone down through that.
"And? Did you find anything?" Louise asked.
Tabitha held up a blue, leather bound book embosed with a chivalric crest. "de'Martou, three generations of Chevaliers. Served the Kingdom of Tristain with distinction in the War of the Rose and the Three Years War."
"The Three Years War?" Louise shook her head. "But that was almost half a century ago!"
Tabitha nodded. "Family died out." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Or fell on hard times." She nodded again to signify satisfaction with her assessment.
Meaning, Louise thought, that if there had been further de'Martous, they had not qualified to inherit any sort of title and had likely wondered off into obscurity like so many other families, great and small, before them.
"So the trail went cold, again." She took a seat beside Kirche. Well, it had been a distant hope.
A hand rustled her hair, and Louis looked up at KoKo. "Hey, don't get so glum, there's no guarantee that those de'Martous were related to the one we're looking for anyway."
Kirche propped her elbows against her knees, holding her chin in her laced fingers. "While that's true, de'Martou wasn't really a common name in the records, and their former land holdings aren't far from the Capital. I'd be willing to bet the de'Martou we're looking for is a son or grandson of the last Chevalier de'Martou."
"That estate wouldn't happen to still have people living on it, would it?" KoKo leaned back against the arm of the sofa. "I mean, if it does, maybe someone there would know the whereabouts of the person we're looking for."
"That sounds like a good idea." Botan settled onto the table in front of Louise and Kirche. "If there are fewer people to ask, we might be able to get answers there."
"Sylphid's out hunting." Tabitha said. "Plan to fly out this afternoon."
"Then we should probably instruct someone to have those posters made in the mean time." Louise said, feeling a faint charge of energy. They weren't entirely stuck, they were still making progress, however slowly.
"Posters?" Kirche quirked a brow and then listened to KoKo's explanation. It seemed like a good idea, and seeing the Zerbst agree gave Louise no small amount of satisfaction.
Arranging for the posters turned out to be simpler than Louise had expected. A number of small print houses existed in the districts adjacent to the Royal Palace and were frequently called upon to mass print copies of Crown edicts and updates to the legal and tax codes for dissemination throughout the Kingdom.
A simple flash of the document proving her credentials had been all that it had taken for Louise ensure that an order of five hundred fliers would be completed by the end of the day and sent on to the Palace for authentication and posting. That only left the matter of payment.
Louise had left the haggling to an all too eager Kirche, watching with growing irritation as the Germanian used every asset at her disposal to drive the cost of the order down to the price of the paper and ink and then some. They'd walked out of the printer's with KoKo congratulating the Zerbst on her mercantile prowess, an experience that left Louise feeling strangely ill tempered. Certainly she couldn't be jealous over Kirche flaunting her body!
It was just shocking was all. Especially after having grown to see her as something other than the school harlot.
Sylphid had yet to return from her hunting expedition into the near forests, though Tabitha remained unworried. The Faeries had picked the region around the Capital clean of most of the dangerous mobs, leaving only the native wildlife, that which could survive in the face of the competing ALfheim Fauna, and a number of smaller mob species that could best be described as 'snacks' for something the size of a wind dragon.
With little else to do, Kirche had suggested, and Louise had relented, to return to her practical studies.
The Royal Palace was situated near the northern edge of the city, behind low, thick walls that could be easily fortified in times of war, such as now. From the air, the Palace seemed to consist of a large, central structure rising five floors with two, large, four floored wings stretching out to the East and West. A pair of shorter wings extended from the North side of the Palace, parallel and opposite to one another, partially enclosing a memorial garden for the late King.
The two Northern wings terminated near a grove of cherry trees surrounding one of the many, smaller, isolated gardens that made up the Palace grounds. Botan had discovered this place after growing homesick and between its seclusion and the baffling provided by the surrounding trees, it had become the ideal practice grounds for Louise to work on her smaller spells.
A familiar, black feathered formed, jumped and glided through the trees before diving down at Botan's commanding whistle.
'Gyaaa!' Schwartz cried shrilly as his master patted soothingly at his nose and offered him a piece of jerky nearly as large as herself.
Devouring the morsel hungrily, the black feathered dragon settled down to be groomed as Louise and the others made their way deep into the garden. KoKo stopped in mid stride, ears pivoting about as if possessed of a mind of their own.
"What is it?" Louise asked.
The Cait tilted her head, not worried, but a little more alert. "I think there's someone else here."
Louise paused to listen, she thought she'd heard something, but maybe it was just the rustling of the leaves. "I don't hear anything."
"Me neither." Kirche said.
"No. Someone's there." Tabitha said softly. "I can hear them."
"And I can smell them." Botan said, having risen from grooming her mount, the small Knight took her place cautiously at Louise's side. "Like sweat, and soap."
Following the foot path through the the trees and shrubs, Louise got her first glimpse of the person who had intruded on her favored practice spot. And then it was her turn to pause. For one, she didn't think anyone could move that fast, a Faerie maybe, but not a human, at least, not without magic.
Sword glinting, a blonde haired youth was in the midst of fighting an invisible enemy, or in fact, seemed to be fighting four of them at once. Guarding, countering, and spinning lightly on the balls of his feet, more like a dancer than a fighter, always perfectly balanced, every motion well timed and confident.
Louise noted both Kirche and Tabitha nodding in approval. Even though she'd never touched a sword, Louise knew enough from seeing her mother practice to tell that such grace was a mark of true accomplishment.
She had little time to observe beyond that. The swordsman had noticed them. Stopping his form in mid swing and swiftly re-sheathing his blade, he came to a stop as swiftly as he'd sprung into motion with hardly a breath to hint at his exertion.
Still at last, Louise got her first good look of the man. Young, blond, garbed in dark pants and a white cotton shirt. A military style jacket was hung across a wooden bench beneath the shade offered by one of the cherry trees. His features were a mix of what she would have thought of as Gallian and Romalian, not unattractive, but the eyes were something different. Red and Blue, 'Moon Eyes', a rare trait, very rare.
He was watching her. It couldn't have been for more than a second. It was those eyes. Blue and Red. They calmed and disquieted her at the same time. Like she was looking at a coin stood on edge, two halves a whole, mostly the same, but standing out all the more for their lone difference.
The Youth lowered his hand from his sword and bowed lightly. "Good day Madams. I hope my presence hasn't disturbed your walk."
"Oh, not at all." Kirche purred like a predator that had just sensed blood.
Louise rolled her eyes. "Actually, we came here to practice ourselves. It never occurred to me that someone else might favor this spot."
The youth smiled. "Yes. It reminds me of a place back home. Though there, it is olive trees, and the weather by now would be a good deal more sweltering I should think." Blinking as if he had just realized he'd forgotten something, he smiled apologetically and bowed once more. "Forgive my manners, my name is Julio Chesare."
"Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst. Charmed" Kirche said cheerfully. "Oh, and this here is Tabitha." She added on behalf of her silent friend.
Kirche was braking out her full name, Louise noted, interesting. Wait, had he said Chesare?
"Excuse me." Louise paused, "Ah, Louise de La Valliere." She introduced herself in short. "But Julio Chesare? Is that not the name of the representative the Holy Father?" Had she just barged in on the personal representative of the Pope?!
The boy smiled genially. "Well, I don't care for such address, but that would be I."
"Uhm. Holy Father?" KoKo asked. "Like as in the Church?"
"Why yes." Julio took a rag from where he had left it to hang on a nearby tree branch and began to wipe away the sweat. "Specifically, a Holy Knight of Romalia. And you must be one of the Cait Syth. I mean no disrespect if I have that wrong."
"KoKo." The Cait nodded politely. "And you're right on the money. It's a pleasure to meet you Chesare-san."
Tilting his head, Julio had apparently noticed the smallest of their group. "And if I may be so forward as to assume that you are one of the Pixies I have heard mention of?"
Nodding her head reluctantly, Botan rose to give a small courtesy and introduce herself. Louise wasn't sure if the mistrust was Botan's own, or something that the small Knight had picked up from Louise herself. In either case, it only fed her own sense of uncertainty.
"I am Botan, a Knight of the Garden of Tarbes."
"Well then, it is an honor to meet you Dame Botan." Julio's voice dripped with sincerity. "I had to abstain from the opportunity to accompany the Princess to meet with Lady Sakuya and your Sisters. But I hope to observe when your people are included in the settlement treaty. The Holy Father and myself pray only for harmony between our peoples."
"On behalf of my Sisters and Mother Yggdrasil, I thank you." It was hardly an elegant reply, Louise appraised, but given that Botan was at her core a fighter above all else, it had been the picture of diplomatic grace.
Julio nodded once more. "Again, forgive me for occupying your training area. Though I would think this place a little confined to practice magic." The young priest observed as if making conversation.
"Oh it is!" Kirche agreed. "But we don't want Louise here to disturb anyone while she practices." The Germanian's smile could have illuminated Arrun. "She has a bit of an incendiary reputation."
"Thank you Kirche." Louise muttered. One thing she could be thankful for. As long as Kirche was around, she would always get the worst out of the way at the very beginning.
"Incendiary?" Julio looked perplexed.
"You know. She casts something and," Kirche shrugged, "Boom."
"Boom?" There was a hint of something oddly grave in Julio's voice as he parroted Kirche's monosyllabic reply. Understandable. He probably didn't want to be anyplace near her when she started casting. Though in her defense, she'd gotten much better at controlling the potency of her spells.
"Explosions." Tabitha elaborated in a single word. "Always."
"Really," Louise repeated, "Thank you so much, Kirche, Tabitha." The second was usually tolerable enough, which made her weighing in all the more a hurtful betrayal.
Kirche slapped a hand against Louise's back. "Relax Valliere, being ashamed of your problem doesn't help you find a solution. Besides, you never know who might be able to help." She cast a meaningful look to Julio.
Louise was actually quite surprised by his reply. He raised his hands in apology. "Sorry, but actually, I'm not a Mage."
"Not a Mage?" Louise repeated, not sure if she believed it.
If he were simply a priest like he had claimed, it would have been plausible enough. There were many commoner priests and even a handful of non-Mages of even higher rank within the hierarchy of the Church. The Church viewed such men as essential to properly understand the lives of its flocks. But a Knight was something else entirely.
Especially a Holy Knight of Romalia. Romalia, the Kingdom of the Church of Brimir, swayed with words ten times more often than it did with the sword. Romalia had rarely involved itself in the wars that cropped up on the continent, preferring to act as a neutral arbiter. This had served the Church well over the centuries, and the Kingdom had accumulated tremendous wealth and influence while enjoying nearly uninterrupted peace.
Thus, Romalia's army was a small, lavishly equipped, and highly professional.
The Romalian Navy's ships were regarded as second only to Albion's ships of the line, with many built in the very same yards that were now held by Tristain's mortal enemy. Its small standing army was perhaps the only force in all of Halkegenia that could field formations containing a higher proportion of Mages than Tristain. Romalia's army also contained a much higher proportion of knights, holy soldiers of the Church, who were of equally higher caliber.
To be without magic and yet able to achieve such distinction spoke incredibly highly of both Julio's natural ability, and the trust afforded in him by the Church.
"It is just so." Julio lamented. "I fear the only aid I might offer in regards to magic are my prayers."
"Well, we'll take those too." Kirche decided. "Believe me, Louise needs all the help she can get."
Muttering about Kirche's less than ladylike qualities, Louise made her way to a clearing at the middle of the garden. With hardly more than a few soft chants, Tabitha made the necessary preparations. The stone foot path at the center of the garden began to sink and flow until it had formed well around three mails deep and four across. Water began to spill from the end of Tabitha's staff, fast filling the small pool.
They had discovered early on in Louise's practice, while Guiche had been helping them, that Earth magic was less than optimal to shield against Louise's spells.
More often than not, the magically conjured barriers only made things worse by adding debris to the concussive force of Louise's explosions. It also proved, to Louise's smug satisfaction, that Guiche wasn't nearly the master of Earth Wards that he claimed to be.
Seeking an alternative to mitigate the collateral damage of her practice sessions, it had been Kirche of all people who had offered a solution from her home country. Put simply, they would fight fire with water.
Germanian fire mages generally began their training standing at the center of a pond or lake. A large reservoir of water provided a ready made means to extinguish powerful flames, and a place for the mage to quickly escape to if they lost control of a spell. Likewise, a pool of water could contain the power of Louise's own spells by absorbing the energy of the blasts.
Even better, unlike Guiche's stone barriers, the worst the water could do was splash all over the place with little risk of debris becoming a hazard to anyone nearby, or not so nearby as Headmaster Osmond had almost discovered on one unfortunate occasion.
"Ready?" Tabitha asked.
Louise breathed. "Ready."
This time, Tabitha didn't bother with magic, instead simply selecting a number of small stones from beside the footpath, hefting each to determine its weight, then, one by one, tossing the stones across the pool sometimes throwing them overhand and sometimes more forcefully skipping them off of the water.
Tabitha completely ignored Louise as she threw the stones, instead focusing on maintaining her tempo. If Louise couldn't keep up, that was her own problem.
The objective of this exercise was to catch each stone with a levitation spell before it made it to the other side of the water. The reasoning was, that since Louise had at last managed to start using common spells, albeit with mixed success, the next step was to force her out of her developing comfort zone and force her to cast quickly and accurately. So far, the results had been mixed.
While Louise could now reliably levitate small objects without causing an explosion, she could only do so reliably while completely focused on the task at hand. If her attention wavered for even an instant, well, Botan thought it was a marvelous way to make apple sauce. Now, attempting to catch the fast moving stones, her success rate was closer to one in three or even just one in four. For every stone she caught and tossed into the pile at her feet, she blasted three to gravel.
Julio observed politely until Tabitha exhausted her ready supply of projectiles. Eyes following each stone, his lips twitched every time one of the small rocks burst. "Well then, I believe I've kept you long enough from your practice. I shall take my leave. Miss Valliere." His smile grew mysterious. "I do truly hope for your success."
Louise barely noted the Knight's departure, her attention was completely wrapped up examining her latest series of partial failures.
Some of the things that Kirche had suggest had helped, duelist techniques meant to circumvent thought and make the caster act on reflex. It seemed to bypass whatever Louise was doing to sabotage herself, but the results weren't perfect. Common spells were workable enough, but manipulating any of the elements was still beyond her.
Sighing to herself, she listened for the hundred time as Kirche walked her through technique with the occasional comment from Tabitha.
"Don't let the stone distract you Louise." Kirche stood behind her, taking hold of her wand arm and adjusting the tilt of her head. "Urgency is the bane of a mage. Until you can fully control your magic, speed wont do you any good."
"I know that already!" Louise snapped back. Founder, she knew it! But knowing was one thing and doing another.
It was these baby steps, she thought. Her systematic retraining had seemed to be paying dividends after her return from Tarbes. She'd been delighted at first to see herself making progress. But success had spawned impatience and a gnawing insistence that she should be able to do more, faster, better.
She'd almost let herself forget the lessons that had gotten her this far, and it had been frustrating to return to them.
"I thought it would get easier is all." Louise grumbled as she examined her new wand, a graceful focus purchased from one of the Capital's best craftsmen. Mother had been in a very generous mood, going so far as to examine each wand in person before giving them to Louise to try for herself.
Kirche looked bemused. "Oh, is that so? I think if it really got that easy, you'd see a lot more Square mages running around."
"Kirche-san has a point." KoKo chided. "Back when I was in school I worked really hard at archery and I still wasn't even close to being a master."
"Archery?" Kirche cocked her head.
"Oh yeah," KoKo grinned, "I was a pretty fair hand with a bow but I was never as good as some of my friends and not even close to my instructor." The Cait's ears twitched thoughtfully. "But my point is, it never gets easy Louise-chan, because if its easy you aren't challenging yourself anymore."
Louise nodded slowly. Right, she was back to failing, but it was at a higher level than she had ever failed at before, and once she stopped failing at this, she could move on to failing at something even more challenging.
"So that's why you use a bow?" Louise asked.
KoKo scratched at the back of her head. "Yeah, I was already pretty good with them, so I just stuck with it when I started playing ALfheim. I really shine with longbows, but they're a little tricky to use in midair."
"But you use magic as well, don't you?" Kirche questioned. "I mean, you didn't just use your bow and arrow back in Tarbes."
"Right." The Cait held up her hands. "I'm pretty good at tagging my arrows with enchantments and elemental buffs," she smiled, "And I guess it comes in handy for other things too."
That was another thing Louise couldn't quite wrap her head around. The Fae didn't act like their magic made them anything special. Though it made a little sense, perhaps, Louise thought, knowing what she knew.
After all, the Faeries had been humans in that other world, if KoKo was to be believed, then nobody in that world had possessed an ounce of proper magic. It explained why the Cait Syth woman could seem so giddy at the prospect, like a first year waving about a brand new wand.
Any further comments were cut off by a faint 'Kyuui' from far above signaling the return of Tabitha's dragon, no doubt having had her fill of the small mobs that had taken to infesting the lands beyond the Capital.
"Well then, back to work!" Botan chirped as she dropped back down onto Schwartz and took hold of his reigns.
Louise was all too eager to agree as they made their way from the concealed garden and back towards the Palace. Sylphied was smart enough to know exactly where to land to await her master and had already settled near the far end of the Palace's Eastern Wing.
The group picked up pace when Louise noticed a solitary figure dismissing a servant at the nearby steps and walking out to meet them.
By the time they reached Sylphied, the figure had resolved itself into a severe looking, blond haired young woman moving briskly and with purpose. The way that she stared straight at them left no doubt in Louise's mind that her arrival was no coincidence. But what gave Lousie pause was her dress.
A uniform, a proper military uniform, Trousers, durable blouse, and heavy cotton jacket dyed in the colors of the Royal Guard, and most importantly, the sword on her hip. Not a servant, a soldier!
And as she got closer, Louise noticed something else hung from her belt opposite her sword. It took her a moment to identify the clumsy looking device, a pistol. Louise had never had reason to examine one up close. Guns were a commoner weapon with little utility to a Mage.
"Good day." Louise called. "What business would you have with us, Miss?"
"Agnes." The woman said coming to a halt with rigid military stance that reminded Louise all too much of her mother. "Lieutenant Agnes of her Majesty's Royal Musketeer Squadron. Would you happen to be Louise de La Valliere?"
'Lieutenant?' Louise thought, eyeing the pistol once more, and a commoner as well? Louise hadn't even known that there were commoner officers. Didn't one have to be a Mage to achieve that status in the army. Then again, she had just met with a Commoner Knight. It seemed such people existed if one only looked.
She shook her head, that wasn't important right now. "Yes, I am she. How may I be of service to a member of her Majesty's Guard?"
The blonde woman's eyes narrowed suspiciously, noting Tabitha, Kirche, and KoKo. "My business is only with you Miss Valliere."
The youngest Valliere daughter bit off an unladylike reply. No, of course she was right to be cautious in these times. "If you're worried about eavesdropping, I can vouch for everyone here." Louise said diplomatically.
After some apparent deliberation, Agnes nodded reluctantly, then regaining her momentum. "I'm here to ask about you inquiries about one Terrance de'Martou."
Louise was fully alert at once. She didn't even spare a moment to wonder how the Musketeer had learned of her investigation. "Truly?! Then, do you know something of the whereabouts of this man?"
Agnes nodded again slowly. "I do."
Louise had to strangle a triumphant cry in her chest as she spun around to look back at Botan. The Pixie Knight looked every bit as excited, maybe even more so. That joy died a heartbeat later as Agnes continued.
"I've come to learn your business with de'Martou and if necessary, to warn you off." Agnes said.
Warn them off? Louise wondered, everything beginning to come together. "Then, do you have something to do with the missing documentations on Terrance de'Martou?"
In reply, Agnes reached into her jacket and withdrew a carefully folded letter. "Those documents are being held at my order." She explained, allowing the letter to fall open so that Louise could see the Royal Seal embossed, granting the holder the full authority and cooperation of Tristain's government and Nobility. "Terrance de'Martou is currently under investigation for tax embezzlement and ties to the Radical Revolution Movement Reconquista. I demand to know your business with him."
___________________________________________________________________________________
With a loud thunk, Kirito set down a wooden crate and spilled the contents over the Library table. [<Adventures in Paperwork ]>, Kirito was beginning to understand, hadn't been an exaggeration.
After talking with everyone who had known Novair, and the few Faerie who might have witnessed something on the night of the murder, they had next turned their attention to reconstructing just what exactly Novair had been doing prior to his demise, hoping that his work might shed light on why anyone would want to kill him. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
The table was covered in files and ledgers, the contents of Novair's office, their indecipherable hand written titles the only hint to what they contained. It was like a puzzle of a perfectly blue sky. Kirito felt his eye twitching, not for the first time that day. He wanted to put this off, but Lady Sakuya needed these documents back as soon as possible. The smooth running of Arrun depended on it.
"You would have thought the guy would have been more organized." The latest addition to their team said.
Caramella picked up a thick manilla envelope, hefting the document as if to weigh its contents, and only then read the title. "First month, food consumption report, Northern Region . . . City of Tau Tona . . . City of Goubniu . . ." She shook her head as she dropped the document into a sorted pile before moving to the next.
Kirito sighed softly. He still had mixed feelings about this, but Asuna trusted her, so that should have been good enough.
He had been right to worry about Asuna finding out about his involvement in the murder investigation. When he had told her, his wife had been more than just furious, she hadn't even raised her voice, instead, she'd gotten quieter.
Kirito swallowed as he recalled. Asuna could be terrifying when she wanted, but the other day had been on a whole new plane of existence. He'd felt like she could have scared off the [<Skull Reaper]> with that look.
And she was right to feel that way. As much as he wanted to keep her safe, he'd kept something from her. They'd argued about it well out of earshot of Yui. Things had gotten more than a little heated, and naturally Kirito had lost. But he had held his ground about Asuna remaining uninvolved.
After all they'd been through, he wanted her to have at least a taste of the normal life she'd missed out on for the past two years, if only for a little while. That had been enough to cause her to relent, mostly.
In the end they had settled on this. If Asuna wasn't going to get involved personally, then someone that she trusted would just have to go in her place. Caramella had barely even needed to be asked. The former Aincrad Liberation Army member seemed all too happy to accept Asuna's request. Kirito's eyes narrowed, annoyingly too happy.
"Tis probably an eccentricity." Argo decided as she looked over the documents. "He had his own system and didn't think to teach it to anyone else."
"Lucky us." Caramella observed as she flipped through a ledger. "This one is an expense report. Looks like . . . everything we've been buying from Tristain to keep people fed."
"Yeah, I think Novair was keeping a master ledger to be sure we didn't get cheated. That could be important. Put it on Kii-bou's pile for now." Argo instructed, burying her nose in another folder. "And if you find anything else on security or intel gathering, toss it to me."
Seeing to the autopsy had just been the start. A real life murder, as opposed to the murders perpetrated against the trapped players in the death game of SAO, left behind a lot of physical evidence. Blood trails, paper trails, and hundred of connecting threads. But unraveling them took time and work.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that these papers documented Novair's life. The saying that 'Behind Every Great Man, there is a Great Woman', came to mind, and it seemed that the reverse could also be true. Every business dealing, meeting, and transaction that Novair had performed on behalf of Lady Sakuya was recorded here. And that was the problem.
[<Information Overload]>. There was just too much here to find a common thread, because in the end, everything was so tightly connected. The trail started at Novair, but Novair was connected to everything. If there had been a [<motive]> behind his murder, than it would be easier to find out who didn't have a reason to kill him.
"Just what was Novair's job title anyways." Kirito wondered. Did [<Secretary]> really do all of this justice?
"I don't think he really had an official title." Argo said as she read on. "He just did a little bit of everything. Briefed Sakuya-san, kept her appointment books, took notes, managed her guard rotations, that sort of stuff."
Kirito grimaced, he'd thought it was something like that, but hearing it out loud just reinforced his suspicions. "Then, what's the chance that the real target of this murder was Sakuya-san?"
Argo sat back in her chair. The possibility had obviously occurred to the information broker. It was just an extremely unpleasant thing to consider, and not one they would want to raise with Lady Sakuya without solid evidence. "You're thinking about that tasteless banner from the other day?"
"We can't rule out the possibility." Kirito warned. "Especially right now. Novair was Sakuya-san's friend. It seems really petty, and the vandals might have just been Trolls, but the timing is too convenient. This looks like it was designed to hurt her."
"So a political opponent?" Caramella thought out loud. "Uhm, okay, does Sakuya-san have any of those? I mean, it's only been, what, six weeks? I mean is that really enough time for that sort of stuff to start up? Unless, it's something she brought with her."
Argo tilted her head, puffball ears pivoting as she thought. "As a matter of fact," Fishing around in the pocket of her cloak, she extracted a small, leather bound notebook no larger than the strategy guides she had created in Aincrad, "Here."
She turned the book over for Kirito to read. "There's really only two people that could be called serious opposition. One of them is a person name Ryo, he ran against Sakuya-san in the last elections, but he didn't get very far. He's been making some noise over the last couple of weeks about how Sakuya-san tisn't qualified to be a real leader. But it just sounds like he's a soar loser."
Kirito scanned the page. Argo had been as thorough and concise as always. A Sylph resident of Sylvain, previously a raid party leader, now head of the Sylvain City Council. Mage build, wind magic specialty, claimed management experience IRL. He needed to be checked out, if only because he probably knew other people who held similar sentiments.
"Has anyone been paying attention to him?" Caramella rested her head against her hand.
A thoughtful look briefly flashed in Argo's golden eyes before she came to a decision. "Some. Mostly former Trolls and Gankers that didn't get along well with Sakuya-san to begin with. One of them, might have been capable of this. Maybe."
"And the other one?" Kirito asked.
Argo asked for her book back and quickly flipped the pages the end. Held between the last two pages, a thin scrap of paper fell to the table. At first glance it appeared to be a handwritten letter.
"There's also this guy. A Puca named Regin. He and his friends have been posting letters like this on the message boards in Sylvain, Arrun, and Freelia for the last week." Argo said.
"And this guy wants Sakuya to resign too?" Caramella frowned.
"Actually, he's been pretty generous towards Sakuya in his letters. He thinks she's done a good job." Argo tapped a fingernail impatiently against the table top. "But he does say the Faction Leaders are acting as dictators and that it needs to stop. He wants an election date to be selected and for the Faerie Lords to stick to it."
Could they really afford to do something like that at a time like this? Kirito wondered. There was a war looming on the horizon, and even beyond that was the difficulty of integrating into Tristain, and looking for a way home. Did they really have the luxury of bickering among themselves just now?
It would be different if the Faction Leaders were abusing their authority, but that really wasn't the case. Even Lord Mortimer had been abiding by the self imposed limitations that he and the other Leaders had agreed to.
"It seems very optimistic." Kirito decided.
"You mean naive." Argo corrected, voice almost dripping with contempt. "But unlike Ryo, it doesn't sound unreasonable, and that tis winning Regin a lot of support, even with the people who like Sakuya-san and the other leaders. Tis nothing big right now, but lots of people are starting to feel like they don't have a voice with the Faerie Lords."
"So you don't agree?" Kirito was actually a little surprised.
Argo shrugged her shoulders, a motion that was replicated by her ears. "I just think we have bigger fish to fry right now, Kii-bou." She looked over her shoulder to where a doll like figure sat atop a nearby bookshelf. "Hey, Suisen, you're sure we have everything that was in Novair's office, right?"
Suisen stopped nibbling on her snack, a crumb from a fruit tart, and gave a small nod. "Yes, Argo-san." She enunciated the name awkwardly. "I watched them just like you instructed. Jensen and Vakarian-san didn't remove anything during their investigation."
Not 'Mistress' like when they'd first met, Kirito noted. But that was to be expected. The discovery of the sentient Pixie Mobs in Tarbes had simply confirmed what many players had already begun to suspect about their tiny partners. The former player support AIs had, like the rest of ALfheim, become fully realized in this world, possessing intelligence and wills of their own. Although, judging by Suisen, the generally submissive personality and attachment to their masters turned caretakers had remained mostly unchanged.
Ethical treatment of the Navigation Pixies, and what was to be done with them had become a hotly debated issue since the Wild Pixies had arrived in Arrum. Almost as discussed as the murder. Through Yui, Kirito had learned that the Garden Pixies were evenly divided on the matter, half wanted the Nav Pixies to be taken back to the Gardens to be integrated into their fledgling society, while the other half thought the Nav Pixies should be allowed to make the decision for themselves so long as they were treated well.
Kirito didn't think he really had the right to weigh in on the matter, but he favored the latter option. Just watching the way that Argo fussed over the tiny girl had decided it for him.
In the mean time, the Nav Pixies had found their way into almost every endeavor, volunteered by their caretakers to help around Arrun and the other cities as living calculators and databases. The Arrun Library alone was home to over a hundred of them, constantly flitting about on slender wings in their ongoing efforts to index and organize the entire repository.
"What about his desk, did they move anything?" Argo patted a crate marked [<Desktop]>, filled with the open reports and letters that had been left scattered across Novair's desk the day before his murder. With the help of Suisen's photographic memory, it was possible to exactly arrange the contents of Novair's office as they had been left.
"No. Vakarian-san and Jensen-san only read over what was already opened." Suisen answered and then tilted her head. "They were more interested in questioning the people who worked with Novair-san and checking his apartment." Something that Kirito and Argo had already done as well. But the questioning hadn't led to much. The Sylph had seemingly lived for his work and that was all anybody really knew.
"What are the chances that this was a crime of passion?" Caramella got both Kirito and Argo's attention.
Argo snorted faintly. "Yeah right. I didn't know Novair very well, but off the job, he was about as exciting to be around as a block of raw Tofu."
"One of those guys?" Kirito thought out loud.
Some people played MMOs to pretend that they were more interesting than they really were IRL, but doing so required a fair amount of talent in a full dive game. Some succeeded spectacularly while others did not. Novair appeared to have been the latter.
"Tis the sad truth." Argo sighed. "He didn't drink, and I'd be very surprised if he had anyone he was seeing."
"Okay, then bare with me." Caramella insisted. "Sakuya-san is pretty popular in a lot of circles. Maybe one of her fans didn't like Novair being so close to her."
The table fell silent, each of the investigators digesting what had just been said. Could someone really do something like that? Kirito didn't need to wonder, he knew the answer first hand. In fact, he was surprised it hadn't occurred to him sooner. Why hadn't it?
Because . . . Because he didn't want to think that way. He didn't want to think that sort of idea had followed them here.
"I guess that's another thing we'll have to look into." Kirito closed his eyes and stretched back in his seat until the chair was balanced only on its back legs, feeling the tension fading from his arms and shoulders. Super human strength made muscle cramps an all new type of hell.
"Please refrain from misusing Library furniture." A whispered voice got his attention.
Kirito looked up, and almost fell out of his chair as a pair of severe, hazel eyes regarded him authoritatively. Wobbling, a hand caught the back of his chair just as it began to tip, pushing him back from the brink.
The eyes belonged to a Faery Girl, short, wavy brown hair pulled back in a small bun, a pair of spectacles balanced on the bridge of her nose. They had to be a prop, Kirito didn't know of any Faeries who had anything but perfect vision. That might change as time went by, but not in just six weeks.
The girl was dressed in scholarly robes and cap, a book tucked into the crook of her arm. A trio of Nav Pixies flitted about, settling on her shoulders and forearms, watching silently with identical calm expressions.
"Oh, Bishop-chan." Argo said. "Good timing."
The girl looked over at the Cait, a small frown appearing on her lips. "Miss Argo. If you are going to reserve a table in the Library, I do ask that you respect the rules." The girl looked back to Kirito, glaring balefully from behind her glasses.
Kirito swallowed, there was something almost instinctively frightening about her, like he was looking right into the eyes of a truly terrifying Boss Mob that had appeared as if from nowhere. How had she even been able to do that? With his [<Perception Skill]> she would had to have had her [<Hiding]> and [<Sneak]> skills both mastered to move up on him like that. What sort of [<Ninja]> build character was she?
"You two know each other?" Kirito quickly attempted to shift the attention away from himself, and more importantly, escape the murderous [<Killing Intent]> that should have been impossible to sense in this real world.
"Un." Argo nodded. "Bishop-chan is the head Librarian. Bishop-chan, this is Kii-bou and Caramel-chan."
"That's Ca-ra- . . ." The Swordswoman began to lean back in her own chair, and then thought better of it as the small Librarian gazed menacingly at her. Slowly, the dangerous look vanished as Bishop adjusted her glasses.
"It's is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kirito-san, Caramella-san." Bishop nodded to both of them.
"Sorry to bother you with this, I'll keep Kii-bou in line from now on." Kirito felt a foot kicking him beneath the table.
"Sorry. I'll keep the Library rules in mind for now on."
"I ask that you do. Rule breakers can be most disruptive." Bishop answered with a small, satisfied nod before turning back to Argo. "Rule breaking aside, I came to give you this. I believe you said you were looking for a copy."
"Oh, excellent!" Argo cheered as she took the offered book. "Tis this the whole thing?"
The Librarian nodded. "It was cataloged just this morning. You'll be the first to check it out."
Argo opened the book and began to thumb through the pages, grin widening all the while. "Thanks, I owe the Library big time for this."
"There is a collection box for donations on my desk." Bishop said.
"Right, right, I'll toss something in the next time I have some spare cash." Argo tilted her head. "So, tis that all?"
"You're investigating the murder of Mister Novair, are you not?" Bishop asked.
The three Faeries exchanged glances, again it was Argo that acted as spokesman. "Tis what we hope to sort out." She said softly. "We owe it to Novair-san to find his killer at least."
Tilting her head oddly, Bishop blinked. "I see." She gave a small nod. "Please do. I suppose you will be staying until closing time."
"Until we have this solved, tis our top concern." Argo laced her fingers atop the table. "I was actually going to ask if we could stay late. I know it tis a rule, but . . . "
"As long as a Librarian is on duty, it isn't a problem." Bishop gave a small bow. "Very well. I'll bring some tea later." As she turned to leave, the Librarian stopped and stared at Kirito once more.
Kirito couldn't help it, he fidgeted, it was like he was being put under observation. "Uhm, yes?"
"Please try to obey the rules from here on, Kirito-san." The Librarian's words were quiet, but surprisingly forceful, and he had a menacing feeling that she had ways to make that into a threat.
"Y-yes Ma'am." He scratched nervously at his cheek.
Satisfied, Bishop gave a small nod and vanished down one of the rows of bookshelves, muted footsteps vanishing almost as soon as she disappeared from sight.
"Where the hell did they find her?" Caramella wondered out loud.
"Here apparently." Argo rested a hand on the book she had been gifted.
"Well, I guess it takes all kinds." Kirito finally looked back from the hall down which Bishop had vanished. Whatever that strange impression had been, it could wait.
They'd set back to work, burying themselves in reports and letters. That this much material could be generated in just six weeks was insane, it seemed Novair had been very thorough if nothing else. The spots of sky visible through the small, high set Library windows slowly turned from blue to orange, and then finally pale violet, the fading daylight being replaced by the soft yellow glow of ore lamps hung by wires from the ceiling.
They'd worked through it all, catching only a brief break to eat when Bishop returned with the promised tea and a platter of triangular cut sandwiches. They weren't Asuna's masterpieces, but hunger was its own spice.
Stretching slowly, the three investigators set the last crate aside, rubbing tired eyes.
"So, what do we know?" Argo asked as she pawed at her face.
"Novair was a bureaucrat, first class?" Caramella chided and then shook her head. "And that he wasn't doing anything special just prior to his murder. Just expense ledgers and diplomatic reports."
"He also wasn't spotted by anyone after he left the Governor's Mansion." Kirito added. Which meant they had no way to tell where he had been ambushed.
"Novair probably wasn't carrying anything of value, so motives to kill are either political, or a crime of passion." Argo rose and began to pace back and forth like a prowling cat. "Either that or a serial killer."
"H-hey! Don't even joke about that!" Kirito felt himself stutter.
"Tis no joke." Argo grimaced. "We can't close our eyes, especially if that tis the case sa! There's no [<ethics code]> or [<safe zones]> in place to protect people here. So tis up to us nya!" She took a breath, composing herself. Her Cait Syth verbal ticks had become painfully evident. "I really hope this tis a crime of passion like Caramel-chan said. Because otherwise . . . "
Because otherwise, they had a potential mass murderer wandering the streets of Arrun, someone who was well equipped to kill Faeries, and no way to tell when or where he or she would murder again.
"We can't quit until we've got a lead." Argo decided, tail waving slowly about. "But we're not going to figure anything out while we're exhausted. It's almost ten o'clock now and we have a meeting with those two watch detectives tomorrow morning. You guys should go grab some shut eye."
"What about you." Caramella poked Argo on the shoulder. "You look ready to fall over. Shouldn't you get some sleep too?"
The Cait waved a hand dismissively. "I'll catch a catnap later. There's some notes I want to check before I finish up for the night."
"Right, right." Kirito patted Caramella on the back. He knew when he wasn't wanted, and Argo was almost as much as a solo player as he was. Besides, she invariably did her best work while alone. "Lets go. I bet Kino's worried about you." And hopefully Asuna had kept some leftovers waiting for him at home.
The Swordswoman let out a short barking laugh as she followed. "You know when he heard about the murder, he insisted on locking all the windows and doors, and wouldn't let me go out at night alone? What a worrier!" Her grin softened into something much more sincere. "But you know, Asuna feels the same way."
Kirito remained silent as they climbed the wide stairway to the Library entrance. He stopped on the last step. "Yeah, I know."
"You want to keep her safe, huh?" Caramella reasoned. "Yeah, I get it, but remember she needs you safe too."
"Is this your way of telling me something." Kirito stuffed his hand in his coat pockets. Jeez, as if he didn't feel guilty enough as it was. "What about you and Kino?"
Caramella gave him a solid smack on the back, grinning. "Ah, that? I wouldn't worry too much about me. I'm invincible after all!"
'If only', Kirito thought, but he shared in the good mood as they reached the doors and were met by an Undine and Salamander pair just reaching to open the door. The four stared blankly at each other for a moment. And then . . .
"Kirito-san." One of them, the Undine, said quickly, looking all about as he spoke.
"Uh, oh, Vakarian-san?" Kirito felt like this was a hint that the other shoe was about to drop. "Is there something about the investigation you needed to talk about."
"Yes. Something like that." The Undine breathed, pushing past Kirito and rushing down the hall, his Salamander Partner hot on his tail. "Is Miss Argo still in?"
Kirito took this as a cue to run after him. "She hasn't left yet. I think she was going to sleep here. It must be important if it can't wait until morning." Kirito watched the Undine's stride quicken until it wasn't quite a run, but he definitely wasn't walking anymore either. Kirito was on high alert immediately. "Vakarian-san, what's happening?"
"Hey, answer up!" Caramella demanded at his side.
Reaching out, Jensen grabbed the shoulder of his partner, bringing him to a stop. "We need to tell them."
Vakarian bit off a curse in his partner's general direction. When he spoke, he didn't look at Kirito or Caramella. "The report just came in. We have two more murders in Freelia, a Sylph and a Cait Syth, same MO as Novair."
