- Location
- norway
thank god, shade has awoken.
now i won't have to try writing about Natsuki Subaru in Brockton bay.
now i won't have to try writing about Natsuki Subaru in Brockton bay.
Noblesse Oblige [Znt/SI]
- Location
- Tel'aran'rhiod
Make it a cross with acolyte of zero for maximum angst and irony as the SI curses himself
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
Take a Quiz that matches your element, or find the element of your birthday or name. Or if you don't want to bother with that nonsense, just pick fire.
Why Fire? Because it is rather easy to manipulate* when small, but is dangerous to let it grow out of hand.
*Performers play with fire to impress audiences in the real world.
Note: My cursor jumped right in the Quote box when I added the asterix to manipulate, replacing the member number and the first two words of the Quote with "manipulate*" despite no additional key presses other than '*'.
So if you didn't receive an alert that I quoted you that's why.
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shadowace2400
Planeswalker Extraordinaire
- Location
- Texas
I personally prefer wind. personal enhancements via wind magic, the possibility of wind blades ala naruto, thoughts of applying a high frequency blade type enchantment to a blade, using air pressure to fuck with enemies, creating a vacuum in the vicinity of the opponents head, cutting off enemy incantations via air manipulations, suffocating enemies from a distance, increasing the density of the air around the enemies so they're slogging through it, discreet tripping of unlikable people, possibility of separation of air molecules for discrete usage like covert poisoning, this stuff is nearly endless. If you can get even half of that stuff usable, then you get a lot of options. not to mention that your element is noted to be the easiest and most cost efficient to use, and you can work on other elements for a significant cost.
Molder
An annoyed Lalafell
- Location
- In orbit of a planet orbiting a star.
Yeah but their is something terrifying seeing a wave of fire or blades of ice coming at you that I just want to do
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
I personally prefer a non-classical element (or multiple elements) when available. I advocate fire for persons who haven't made up their mind and are too practical to attempt to divine their element.
But when limited to the classical elements, fire is the odd one out. Air, Water, and Earth can correspond to states of matter or particular substances, however fire is a chemical reaction.
Plasma might be shoehorned in as a state of matter similar to fire, but it is more akin to lightning!
Manipulation of fire can be disguised as being able to manipulate metal or decay/rotting. You might be able to poison someone with wind powers, but you most definitely can choke someone with fire powers!
shadowace2400
Planeswalker Extraordinaire
- Location
- Texas
true true. just don't use a fireball like it's a grenade. From what I understand most of the damage of the average grenade is the explosion causing internal bleeding rather that the fire itself. work around that if you must. also remember wounded soldiers are the best way to slow down an advancing army and to fuck with their morale.
Molder
An annoyed Lalafell
- Location
- In orbit of a planet orbiting a star.
I just want to set the world on fire, And it would depend on the army who you leave injured a normal army yeah, but a army of wizards/benders/supernatural creatures yeah no they all die no leaving the injured of its them, that's just asking for trouble.
shadowace2400
Planeswalker Extraordinaire
- Location
- Texas
meant it more in the sense if you are required to retreat, take the chance to cause injuries to the more mundane soldiers so they have to slow down or divert resources to help them. even if they don't help them the damage to morale that lugging around a fuck ton of injured people, along with sickness and disease due to it is valuable in and of itself.
Molder
An annoyed Lalafell
- Location
- In orbit of a planet orbiting a star.
Yeah but anything that is not vanilla human is being shot, it's not racist I just have no idea what special abilities they have to heal faster or anything else magical, it's why I included wizards. But I totally see and agree with what you mean.
Chapter One
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter One
I vaguely remembered opening my eyes and thinking 'this is wrong'. The rest was a confused blur. No, more than a confused blur, it was a sort of 'not going to think about this, not going to remember this, no, no, no' followed by screaming. Much to my dismay, I didn't stop screaming for a long, long time.
When the screaming did end, it was simply because not only I had grown tired of it, but I had begun learning how to vocalize. Vocalization was important, and my lungs were pretty much set to make me an opera singer. Some things were net positives. For example, I had a lot of time to think. Thinking was really important, see, because it kept me sane. At the same time, there were some honestly funny moments going around, one of which was the dawning realization that Karin the 'Heavy Wind' and the future-yet-to-be-born Louise had the same character.
Whenever 'mother' had some free time, she would 'take care' of both myself and Cattleya without the help of a wet nurse, and the reason for that was because...well-
"Peek-a-boo!" Karin the Heavy Wind wasn't just 'Tsun'. She was the epitome definition of 'Tsun'. The hard lines, the harsh outer layer-she was an onion, and beneath the incredible amount of layers, there was also the one that made her do funny faces to her children when she was sure no one was looking. It put things in perspective, honestly. The moment nobody was looking at her, she transformed into just any other 'mother', or so I guessed.
"You're a cutie-who's a cutie? You're a cutie!" She made giggling sounds, fiddled her fingers over our faces, and pretty much acted so much out of character that I had to wonder what, exactly, was wrong with her head.
Cattleya laughed, cried, fiddled around with her baby arms that made me wonder why she couldn't just stick them somewhere they wouldn't hit me, but I took it all in stride. Well, mostly. There were some things that I would never speak of, nor now, nor ever.
"Aw...grumpy Henry is grumpy?" Karin's voice was a mixture of cooing and care, "You don't like mommy ignoring you?" No, by all that is holy, don't you dare tickle me-I'm-I'm ticklish-that's-
All in all, the sooner I forgot about my 'early years' the better. There was enough trauma associated with how things went that, honestly, I couldn't wait for time to pass faster than it already did.
Eleonore was another handful. Differently from 'mother', she didn't change much -then again, there always was a wet nurse with her, and a few maids too. On the plus side, she'd read stories with a delightfully childish voice, which would have made me coo at her, if only the positions had been reversed.
"And Founder Brimir said to the big bad elf, 'No, you cannot have this land, for it belongs to the chosen race-'," she recited dutifully and carefully, fumbling every now and then a word, but mostly allowing the sense of the story to push through. All in all, she was adorable. All in all, it was an 'adorable' situation.
At least, until the day Cattleya began to cough.
By the time I was six, I had seen my fair share of 'birthdays', of 'stuff' and Eleonore was already nine and rummaging about with bigger-looking books. Cattleya was mostly bed-ridden, which in turn made Eleonore spend her time reading to her. Since I was Cattleya's twin, it was obvious I'd spend my time attached to her. Well, for a certain definition of 'Obvious'. One thing I disliked, but still happened, was 'getting help getting dressed'.
Nobility or not, young age or not, nobody dressed me but myself. Still, I had to smile all the same and did my best to make the job easy on the servants. The poor maids didn't remark on how little I fussed, but it was the small things that counted -at least, in my modest opinion.
So most of my childhood, I spent it inside Cattleya's room. It was a spacious room, filled with carpets of soft fur and plush furniture, the wide windows letting the sun inside, with one open to allow for fresh air to seep in. While Eleonore read to her younger sister, I sat down on the floor nearby playing with toy soldiers. There were no computers to play games on, and if the choice was between listening for the umpteenth time to 'The Tale of the Holy Knight' or 'Joffrey the Dragon Slayer', or playing with toy soldiers, then I'd pick the second option.
The reason I hadn't a book in my hands like Eleonore was that, the absolute gibberish of Halkeginia's writing system aside, I wasn't a prodigy in learning such a different grammar like Eleonore had been. She had learned how to read at five, and had gone progressing further with time. I was simply glad I had managed to understand how these guys spoke and quickly caught up to the verbal part of it. Having proper conversations rather than nonsensical cooing on one side and baby-talk on the other is bliss after years of practically one-sided conversations with oneself inside one's own head in order to maintain a facade of sanity.
Unfortunately, boredom could only be staved off for so long before it finally broke my patience, and much of my self-control.
"Big sister Eleonore," I once said with a puzzled frown, "Can't you read us something new?" as soon as I asked that, Eleonore shook her head with the firm poise of a noble lady-in-training.
"Mother says these are fine," Eleonore said, her lips thinning already. Eleonore had somehow managed to get most of the 'Tsun' out of Karin, but mixed with her own form of 'Kuu' and very little 'dere'. Whatever mother said, or ordered, was to be done. Whatever mother said was 'not to do' then she would absolutely not do. Also, I couldn't ask her for books to read that would teach me how to read, because it didn't work that way.
There was the Holy Founder's Bible. There were myths and stories books, and there were military and magical themed books hanging around the library, but each of them was written in such a difficult form of writing that trying to make sense of them took the better part of the day -and that was just to get the first word right. I was stuck with a tutor who taught me the letters, their pronunciation, the way they merged together to form words-it was like learning a mixture of Latin and Greek, if Latin and Greek had Norse runes in them.
Runic alphabet, why are you so...emblematic?
"But they're boring," I mumbled.
"I like them!" Cattleya said with a chipper tone, her smile already on its way to become the 'elder sister kind and warm' type of smile. Cattleya sort of radiated kindness even in her six year form, if such a thing was possible. She was pale, and spent most of the time either resting in bed or sitting down on the floor by my side. We didn't even play, because lifting blocks and moving them along, or 'playing house' with dolls outright fatigued her beyond belief.
Honestly, she was like a porcelain doll. She still kept this sort of firm calm to herself, this 'mature-like' poise which, in a six year old, was truly out of place.
I sighed, knowing that my defeat was inevitable, especially with Cattleya-beaming-warm-smile on the opposite camp, but I still could make a last valiant attempt. "Can I try to read?" I pleaded. If I had to suffer another tale of Joffrey the dragon slayer, then at the very least I would put sentiment and emotions into it. Eleonore read the fairy tale as if it was a clinical examination, and she barely altered the tone of her voice -if she actually had a 'tone' in her voice when she read.
It was clear she was trying her hardest, but her 'hardest' was going in the wrong direction.
Eleonore took my suggestion as an affront of her skills, and thus, unfortunately, I was forced to retreat under the flurry of a resolute set of 'no' that echoed with such strength that it felt like a slap in the face.
"No," she said, "you can't read it, because I'm the one reading it. Mother said I was the one who had to read it so you're going to sit there and-"
I swear to God, by the time she left for other 'lady like' stuff to do, I exhaled in relief and slumped my back against the Cattleya's bed side with the firm decision to just ignore her the next time she came by to read us a story.
"I could tell the story better," I grumbled, "She could at least try to make it nice."
"Really?" Cattleya said from the top of the bed, the noise I heard a clear indication that she had shifted a pillow by the side and was looking down at me from the side of the bed, a grin on her face. "Why don't you?" she asked next, the hopeful tone in her voice pretty noticeable.
I hummed thoughtfully, and then nodded to myself.
"Well-it was a dark and stormy night," I said in a hushed tone, my fingers twiddling in the air, "And the rain fell down from the skies-thunder and lightning streaking across the clouds-"
"What does 'streaking' mean?" Cattleya asked, scrunching her eyebrows up.
"Like running, but more...slithering, like-a snake," I said.
"What's a snake?" Cattleya asked, "Is it like mother's manticore?"
"The tail of mother's manticore," I said, "A snake is covered in scales-" I dutifully began to explain, my hands moving in the gestures of a snake's normal movement, and by the time I returned to the story, Cattleya's face had already dropped against the pillow, a smile on her lips even as she breathed slower still, probably asleep.
And once more, I was down to my lonely self.
My bored, lonely self.
If I had known what awaited me once I was finished learning how to read and write though...
I would have rather remained an illiterate for the rest of my life.
I vaguely remembered opening my eyes and thinking 'this is wrong'. The rest was a confused blur. No, more than a confused blur, it was a sort of 'not going to think about this, not going to remember this, no, no, no' followed by screaming. Much to my dismay, I didn't stop screaming for a long, long time.
When the screaming did end, it was simply because not only I had grown tired of it, but I had begun learning how to vocalize. Vocalization was important, and my lungs were pretty much set to make me an opera singer. Some things were net positives. For example, I had a lot of time to think. Thinking was really important, see, because it kept me sane. At the same time, there were some honestly funny moments going around, one of which was the dawning realization that Karin the 'Heavy Wind' and the future-yet-to-be-born Louise had the same character.
Whenever 'mother' had some free time, she would 'take care' of both myself and Cattleya without the help of a wet nurse, and the reason for that was because...well-
"Peek-a-boo!" Karin the Heavy Wind wasn't just 'Tsun'. She was the epitome definition of 'Tsun'. The hard lines, the harsh outer layer-she was an onion, and beneath the incredible amount of layers, there was also the one that made her do funny faces to her children when she was sure no one was looking. It put things in perspective, honestly. The moment nobody was looking at her, she transformed into just any other 'mother', or so I guessed.
"You're a cutie-who's a cutie? You're a cutie!" She made giggling sounds, fiddled her fingers over our faces, and pretty much acted so much out of character that I had to wonder what, exactly, was wrong with her head.
Cattleya laughed, cried, fiddled around with her baby arms that made me wonder why she couldn't just stick them somewhere they wouldn't hit me, but I took it all in stride. Well, mostly. There were some things that I would never speak of, nor now, nor ever.
"Aw...grumpy Henry is grumpy?" Karin's voice was a mixture of cooing and care, "You don't like mommy ignoring you?" No, by all that is holy, don't you dare tickle me-I'm-I'm ticklish-that's-
All in all, the sooner I forgot about my 'early years' the better. There was enough trauma associated with how things went that, honestly, I couldn't wait for time to pass faster than it already did.
Eleonore was another handful. Differently from 'mother', she didn't change much -then again, there always was a wet nurse with her, and a few maids too. On the plus side, she'd read stories with a delightfully childish voice, which would have made me coo at her, if only the positions had been reversed.
"And Founder Brimir said to the big bad elf, 'No, you cannot have this land, for it belongs to the chosen race-'," she recited dutifully and carefully, fumbling every now and then a word, but mostly allowing the sense of the story to push through. All in all, she was adorable. All in all, it was an 'adorable' situation.
At least, until the day Cattleya began to cough.
By the time I was six, I had seen my fair share of 'birthdays', of 'stuff' and Eleonore was already nine and rummaging about with bigger-looking books. Cattleya was mostly bed-ridden, which in turn made Eleonore spend her time reading to her. Since I was Cattleya's twin, it was obvious I'd spend my time attached to her. Well, for a certain definition of 'Obvious'. One thing I disliked, but still happened, was 'getting help getting dressed'.
Nobility or not, young age or not, nobody dressed me but myself. Still, I had to smile all the same and did my best to make the job easy on the servants. The poor maids didn't remark on how little I fussed, but it was the small things that counted -at least, in my modest opinion.
So most of my childhood, I spent it inside Cattleya's room. It was a spacious room, filled with carpets of soft fur and plush furniture, the wide windows letting the sun inside, with one open to allow for fresh air to seep in. While Eleonore read to her younger sister, I sat down on the floor nearby playing with toy soldiers. There were no computers to play games on, and if the choice was between listening for the umpteenth time to 'The Tale of the Holy Knight' or 'Joffrey the Dragon Slayer', or playing with toy soldiers, then I'd pick the second option.
The reason I hadn't a book in my hands like Eleonore was that, the absolute gibberish of Halkeginia's writing system aside, I wasn't a prodigy in learning such a different grammar like Eleonore had been. She had learned how to read at five, and had gone progressing further with time. I was simply glad I had managed to understand how these guys spoke and quickly caught up to the verbal part of it. Having proper conversations rather than nonsensical cooing on one side and baby-talk on the other is bliss after years of practically one-sided conversations with oneself inside one's own head in order to maintain a facade of sanity.
Unfortunately, boredom could only be staved off for so long before it finally broke my patience, and much of my self-control.
"Big sister Eleonore," I once said with a puzzled frown, "Can't you read us something new?" as soon as I asked that, Eleonore shook her head with the firm poise of a noble lady-in-training.
"Mother says these are fine," Eleonore said, her lips thinning already. Eleonore had somehow managed to get most of the 'Tsun' out of Karin, but mixed with her own form of 'Kuu' and very little 'dere'. Whatever mother said, or ordered, was to be done. Whatever mother said was 'not to do' then she would absolutely not do. Also, I couldn't ask her for books to read that would teach me how to read, because it didn't work that way.
There was the Holy Founder's Bible. There were myths and stories books, and there were military and magical themed books hanging around the library, but each of them was written in such a difficult form of writing that trying to make sense of them took the better part of the day -and that was just to get the first word right. I was stuck with a tutor who taught me the letters, their pronunciation, the way they merged together to form words-it was like learning a mixture of Latin and Greek, if Latin and Greek had Norse runes in them.
Runic alphabet, why are you so...emblematic?
"But they're boring," I mumbled.
"I like them!" Cattleya said with a chipper tone, her smile already on its way to become the 'elder sister kind and warm' type of smile. Cattleya sort of radiated kindness even in her six year form, if such a thing was possible. She was pale, and spent most of the time either resting in bed or sitting down on the floor by my side. We didn't even play, because lifting blocks and moving them along, or 'playing house' with dolls outright fatigued her beyond belief.
Honestly, she was like a porcelain doll. She still kept this sort of firm calm to herself, this 'mature-like' poise which, in a six year old, was truly out of place.
I sighed, knowing that my defeat was inevitable, especially with Cattleya-beaming-warm-smile on the opposite camp, but I still could make a last valiant attempt. "Can I try to read?" I pleaded. If I had to suffer another tale of Joffrey the dragon slayer, then at the very least I would put sentiment and emotions into it. Eleonore read the fairy tale as if it was a clinical examination, and she barely altered the tone of her voice -if she actually had a 'tone' in her voice when she read.
It was clear she was trying her hardest, but her 'hardest' was going in the wrong direction.
Eleonore took my suggestion as an affront of her skills, and thus, unfortunately, I was forced to retreat under the flurry of a resolute set of 'no' that echoed with such strength that it felt like a slap in the face.
"No," she said, "you can't read it, because I'm the one reading it. Mother said I was the one who had to read it so you're going to sit there and-"
I swear to God, by the time she left for other 'lady like' stuff to do, I exhaled in relief and slumped my back against the Cattleya's bed side with the firm decision to just ignore her the next time she came by to read us a story.
"I could tell the story better," I grumbled, "She could at least try to make it nice."
"Really?" Cattleya said from the top of the bed, the noise I heard a clear indication that she had shifted a pillow by the side and was looking down at me from the side of the bed, a grin on her face. "Why don't you?" she asked next, the hopeful tone in her voice pretty noticeable.
I hummed thoughtfully, and then nodded to myself.
"Well-it was a dark and stormy night," I said in a hushed tone, my fingers twiddling in the air, "And the rain fell down from the skies-thunder and lightning streaking across the clouds-"
"What does 'streaking' mean?" Cattleya asked, scrunching her eyebrows up.
"Like running, but more...slithering, like-a snake," I said.
"What's a snake?" Cattleya asked, "Is it like mother's manticore?"
"The tail of mother's manticore," I said, "A snake is covered in scales-" I dutifully began to explain, my hands moving in the gestures of a snake's normal movement, and by the time I returned to the story, Cattleya's face had already dropped against the pillow, a smile on her lips even as she breathed slower still, probably asleep.
And once more, I was down to my lonely self.
My bored, lonely self.
If I had known what awaited me once I was finished learning how to read and write though...
I would have rather remained an illiterate for the rest of my life.
Dragonskyt
Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?
- Location
- Kiln of the First Flame
Oh no...
They've found out!
How can this be...
They discovered your talent!
You became a writer, didn't you?
And now fans on that world are asking for fanfictions too!
einargs
Verified Spiller of the Egg Yolk
- Location
- The Egg Yolk, Outer Layer
- Pronouns
- They/Them
They... they are the same.
That's... sorta the whole point. I mean, sure, it'd be nice to see this Shade act somewhat different from all the others thanks to his experiences, but as an adult his identity is mostly settled; he shouldn't diverge very much unless circumstances demand it.
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
Most of the ones we've seen Shade has been an adult or at least a late childhood with adult memories who gets timeskipped to teens. Therefore his personality being similar is justified, although it should've been creepy especially in japan!
He had his greatest divergence as Henrietta's brother.
However I would like to see Henry have a more carefree and childish personality while growing up.
He had his greatest divergence as Henrietta's brother.
However I would like to see Henry have a more carefree and childish personality while growing up.
Hehehe. I wonder if Henry will tease his mother in private.
relevant~
[spoiler\]
relevant~
[spoiler\]
Dragonskyt
Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?
- Location
- Kiln of the First Flame
Umh, you better switch two words around if you wish to fit that picture.
Also a bad choice of words, for people with lesser minds like me.
- Location
- Elsewhere
The more he read the more he realized the truth of the world. "In the world of ZNT, coffee did not exist."
Giygas
Cutest Sawk i could find. Lucario is a nice extra.
No, it does exist.
But the elves are blocking the importation of it to Halkeginia. You know what to do, Henry/Shade/shadnight123.
Chapter Two
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter Two
A Noble's life isn't all fun and games. It's mostly books. He who has the title has responsibilities, and he who has responsibilities must bear them with pride and dignity. I was a male, and thus my duty was that of Knightly Duties. I would become a Knight, be it in the Manticore Knight order after my mother, be it in the royal Griffin Knights, be it in the proud and stalwart Dragon Knights, or something simpler like one of the minor orders of knights. Though being the only male son of the Duke de la Valliere, nothing short than one of the 'famous trio' of orders would suffice.
Thus, in order to be prepared for any circumstance, I had to first prepare my mind for my body wasn't yet ready. It was clear on which part of the 'trio' my mother veered me, if nothing else due to the fact that she once decided I would 'enjoy' a ride on a Manticore, and thus decided to bring her familiar out of his well-earned retirement just to make me experience first-hand what it was like to fly in the sky.
Liberating? Perhaps.
Scary? Oh, you have no idea.
I kept my eyes closed throughout the entire ordeal, gritting my teeth and hoping it would be over soon. If man was meant to fly, then they'd be given wings rather than feet!
"Young lord," the tutor said gently, thought with a strictness not unlike that of Karin's steel-clad voice. "Are you still proven from your ride?" The man was a polished-looking servant by the name of Claude. To his name, he had a minor title like 'Vidame'. Nothing much, nothing that would get him into court, or earn him more than a plot of land that could be comparable to a small villa in modern times, but it was enough to make him a respectable teacher of the young, priceless sons and daughters of rich nobles.
He was strict, but he was fair, and he had no need for boot-licking. Honestly, if I could drop the title of 'Future-Duke' and get myself a position like his, I'd enjoy it immensely more.
"Yes," I said.
"Founder Brimir teaches us nobles to endure, and the more one is noble, and endures, the more he is in his eyes graced by-" and this was another thing. I'll make no qualms about it, I did not have a particular opinion on religion. My grandmother was a devout catholic, a good old grandparent who did not care the slightest about anything. Hell, she didn't have a problem with people being homosexuals or not, because in her opinion, it was up to God, and God alone, to judge.
My mother, by contrast, simply decided to give both my brother and I the baptism as a sort of 'just in case' contingency, and then pretty much said 'depending on circumstances, try to make a sound case to whatever God's up there or make your own decision'.
I shrugged back when I was told it all, and decided that since it's a matter for the near-dead, I'd decide once I was near the end of my life. All things said though, I'll probably rest my case in front of whatever God there is, if there is one, or enjoy reincarnation, or perhaps nothingness.
Still, I never understood how much it grated me to learn theology until this precise moment in time.
By contrast 'religion' courses in middle school were honestly gratifying experiences -four time champion of the local middle school classroom-wide poker championship, because yes, Religion teachers are there to let you sleep or play for whole hours.
"And what does Founder Brimir say should be done in order to improve one's endurance?" Claude asked pointedly, his wand in his right hand gently tapping against the open palm of his left.
"That...we should test ourselves by submitting to the Church's teachings and trials?" I hazarded, only to receive a slow nod from my tutor, which heralded that indeed, I had answered correctly and wouldn't be on the receiving end of the 'wand'.
It wasn't that corporal punishment was...harsh. It was that I didn't want to risk finding out. Call me whatever you wish to, but if I'm seeing a whip in front of me, I'm not going to play the 'sassy' part unless I'm deadly sure I can avoid it. Perhaps all the man did was swing his wand and emit tiny whip-like sounds, or perhaps he had a form of water-sprinkler spell. I didn't want to find out, I didn't want to risk finding out, and thus I kept my best, straight-faced and honest poker-face on while I answered questions that honestly made me die inside a little bit at the time.
"If I have two carts of apples, and one is lost in a flood, one cart remains," I said. I didn't show off. I knew that if I did, he might just increase the difficulty to see at what point I'd crash, so I simply didn't. I did the homework -perhaps in the same day as he gave it out- and studied the verses -why, Gods, why did you have to write a bible that was eight hundred pages without even considering the additions tackled on by your future 'popes'?
Cattleya's tutors were nice ladies, young women who taught her a lot of interesting stuff like knitting, embroidery, stitching together silk to form symbols on handkerchiefs, stuff like that. She also had to memorize the Founder's Holy Book, but at least she was excused from the other part of the 'deal' with being a noble. As I quietly entered her rooms during one of her 'free' periods, I was surprised to find mother in there too.
My back stiffened abruptly and my entire face snapped into a marble-like semblance of absolute stiffness and precision. Nothing less would suffice with 'mother'. The hidden 'Dere' side wasn't just hidden, it was suicidal to even as much call it forward. Mother expected frank rigor, stern acting, and no revelation of inward turmoil or emotions. A noble had to always be composed -as much as it was hypocrite for a Tsundere of such magnitude to ever say that- and as such, any show of 'affection', be it hugs, grins or smiles were absolutely prohibited in front of servants.
The 'holier than thou' attitude could be broken lightly when in private, but even then there were limitations. The act of hugging someone, for example, could not be done. A smile however was actually allowed.
Draconian and perhaps silly, but tell that to the face of Karin the Heavy Wind, I dare you.
"Mother," I said with my brows lightly furrowed, "Has Cattleya had another attack?"
What Cattleya had could better be understood as some form of 'fatigue' mixed with asthma, which made her breathing shallow and insufficient for much. She could move around a bit now that she was older, but even then, most of her day was spent in her room.
"No," Karin replied curtly. It wasn't really 'curt' as much as 'stern'. It was like talking to a block of ice. I knew she didn't really mean to come across like that, but she took her duties very seriously, which meant she wanted us to take them seriously too. Between a happy, but unfair noble, or a fair but stern one-she definitely preferred us to grow up as the latter type. If I ever ended up like one of the Gramont children, she'd give me a taste of her Heavy Wind. She didn't say it, but it was clearly underlined thrice in the way she acted whenever father mentioned them and their 'escapades'.
"Should I come back later?" I asked, my eyes moving from mother to Cattleya.
"No, no!" Cattleya shook her head. "I mean, I was telling mother about your stories." My eyes widened at the candor in Cattleya's words, which kind of made my feelings known. Unashamedly, I knew this would end horribly. Undoubtedly, Karin knew this would end badly too, mostly because her eyes on me where fixed like those of a snake ready to pounce. No, to be honest, I already knew how this would end.
"Henry," Karin said with a quiet voice, not really a 'displeased' tone, because mother never made 'displeasure' known -it just was there. "You have been reading from the library, have you not?"
And this was the problem. We weren't allowed to read from the library yet. At least, I wasn't. It was a righteous concern. It's one thing to give a kid a book that can be easily reprinted in a matter of minutes, but in this 'time period', a book costed a pretty penny -or ecu, it was 'ecus' and it ranged easily in the hundreds. Books were costly stuff, handwritten for the most part, even though a few had been 'magically' printed, some form of magic process to recreate the words on parchment from one side to the other.
So imagine giving them in the hands of a kid who might paint over them, or rip at their pages.
"Without asking for your or father's permission, mother, I would never do such a thing," I said resolutely, calmly hinging my future punishment on the act of utter denial.
Karin didn't answer at first, her eyes narrow enough that I was sure she was reading my mind. "Is that so, Henry?" she asked once more, firmly.
"Find me a servant, any servant, that can claim the opposite and I will gladly allow their words to be my sentence," I said with a hand against my chest, "Otherwise, on Founder Brimir's holy word-as one of his descendants upon this land, then I assure you, mother, I have not set foot in the library without supervision yet." I looked up at her, biting my lower lip. "This does not stop me from peeking from over Eleonore's shoulder while she reads a book however," I added in a quiet whisper, "But you never said I couldn't do that."
Karin nodded once, very curtly, and then spoke crisply, "That will do. I will tell Eleonore she will be considered responsible for any books you damage," she then stood up, much to Cattleya's dismay, and made to leave, "However, Henry-you should concentrate on your studies. If I hear you have been fantasizing about dragons instead of properly studying-" she left the 'threat' hang in the air. To me, it was no different from a mother saying she'd hang me by my ears out on the clothesline, though in this case, I should have been afraid since she was the 'Heavy Wind' and her 'punishment' would have probably amounted to a hurricane-like blast of magic, if toned down to be non-lethal.
When the door closed, I exhaled in relief and slumped down on the bedside, Cattleya shifting a pillow by my side to drop her head on it. "I'm sorry about that, brother," Cattleya said in her childish tone that made her look utterly adorable, especially with how wide her eyes could become. "It's just-mother asked what we were doing and-"
"It's all right, sister," I said with a sigh. "I feel sorry for big sister though-but...let's talk about which new story you want to hear. I had time to think a few...tell me, how does the tale of a snake that devours the world sound?" Cattleya's eyes widened, and then she grabbed one of her dolls to hug tightly, shaking her head imperceptibly in a 'nod'.
"It was on a day like any other that the White Knight met a Lancer," I spoke offhandedly, "The lancer, without reason, attacked the white knight in a much uncouth form-for it, the man gave no explanation, but as the sides of the knight were pierced, and blood copiously poured out, the white knight made his escape back home-"
It was cheesy, but Cattleya needed a bit of cheesiness in her life.
I, on the other hand, would soon be all out of cheese.
For when the bell struck 'seven years old' for Cattleya and I, and Eleonore's age reached 'ten', Henrietta was born into this world.
And this meant a simple thing.
The nobles had to gather in the capital to welcome their new princess.
Thankfully, Cattleya was excused due to her sickness, but on the other hand...
Eleonore and I were not.
A Noble's life isn't all fun and games. It's mostly books. He who has the title has responsibilities, and he who has responsibilities must bear them with pride and dignity. I was a male, and thus my duty was that of Knightly Duties. I would become a Knight, be it in the Manticore Knight order after my mother, be it in the royal Griffin Knights, be it in the proud and stalwart Dragon Knights, or something simpler like one of the minor orders of knights. Though being the only male son of the Duke de la Valliere, nothing short than one of the 'famous trio' of orders would suffice.
Thus, in order to be prepared for any circumstance, I had to first prepare my mind for my body wasn't yet ready. It was clear on which part of the 'trio' my mother veered me, if nothing else due to the fact that she once decided I would 'enjoy' a ride on a Manticore, and thus decided to bring her familiar out of his well-earned retirement just to make me experience first-hand what it was like to fly in the sky.
Liberating? Perhaps.
Scary? Oh, you have no idea.
I kept my eyes closed throughout the entire ordeal, gritting my teeth and hoping it would be over soon. If man was meant to fly, then they'd be given wings rather than feet!
"Young lord," the tutor said gently, thought with a strictness not unlike that of Karin's steel-clad voice. "Are you still proven from your ride?" The man was a polished-looking servant by the name of Claude. To his name, he had a minor title like 'Vidame'. Nothing much, nothing that would get him into court, or earn him more than a plot of land that could be comparable to a small villa in modern times, but it was enough to make him a respectable teacher of the young, priceless sons and daughters of rich nobles.
He was strict, but he was fair, and he had no need for boot-licking. Honestly, if I could drop the title of 'Future-Duke' and get myself a position like his, I'd enjoy it immensely more.
"Yes," I said.
"Founder Brimir teaches us nobles to endure, and the more one is noble, and endures, the more he is in his eyes graced by-" and this was another thing. I'll make no qualms about it, I did not have a particular opinion on religion. My grandmother was a devout catholic, a good old grandparent who did not care the slightest about anything. Hell, she didn't have a problem with people being homosexuals or not, because in her opinion, it was up to God, and God alone, to judge.
My mother, by contrast, simply decided to give both my brother and I the baptism as a sort of 'just in case' contingency, and then pretty much said 'depending on circumstances, try to make a sound case to whatever God's up there or make your own decision'.
I shrugged back when I was told it all, and decided that since it's a matter for the near-dead, I'd decide once I was near the end of my life. All things said though, I'll probably rest my case in front of whatever God there is, if there is one, or enjoy reincarnation, or perhaps nothingness.
Still, I never understood how much it grated me to learn theology until this precise moment in time.
By contrast 'religion' courses in middle school were honestly gratifying experiences -four time champion of the local middle school classroom-wide poker championship, because yes, Religion teachers are there to let you sleep or play for whole hours.
"And what does Founder Brimir say should be done in order to improve one's endurance?" Claude asked pointedly, his wand in his right hand gently tapping against the open palm of his left.
"That...we should test ourselves by submitting to the Church's teachings and trials?" I hazarded, only to receive a slow nod from my tutor, which heralded that indeed, I had answered correctly and wouldn't be on the receiving end of the 'wand'.
It wasn't that corporal punishment was...harsh. It was that I didn't want to risk finding out. Call me whatever you wish to, but if I'm seeing a whip in front of me, I'm not going to play the 'sassy' part unless I'm deadly sure I can avoid it. Perhaps all the man did was swing his wand and emit tiny whip-like sounds, or perhaps he had a form of water-sprinkler spell. I didn't want to find out, I didn't want to risk finding out, and thus I kept my best, straight-faced and honest poker-face on while I answered questions that honestly made me die inside a little bit at the time.
"If I have two carts of apples, and one is lost in a flood, one cart remains," I said. I didn't show off. I knew that if I did, he might just increase the difficulty to see at what point I'd crash, so I simply didn't. I did the homework -perhaps in the same day as he gave it out- and studied the verses -why, Gods, why did you have to write a bible that was eight hundred pages without even considering the additions tackled on by your future 'popes'?
Cattleya's tutors were nice ladies, young women who taught her a lot of interesting stuff like knitting, embroidery, stitching together silk to form symbols on handkerchiefs, stuff like that. She also had to memorize the Founder's Holy Book, but at least she was excused from the other part of the 'deal' with being a noble. As I quietly entered her rooms during one of her 'free' periods, I was surprised to find mother in there too.
My back stiffened abruptly and my entire face snapped into a marble-like semblance of absolute stiffness and precision. Nothing less would suffice with 'mother'. The hidden 'Dere' side wasn't just hidden, it was suicidal to even as much call it forward. Mother expected frank rigor, stern acting, and no revelation of inward turmoil or emotions. A noble had to always be composed -as much as it was hypocrite for a Tsundere of such magnitude to ever say that- and as such, any show of 'affection', be it hugs, grins or smiles were absolutely prohibited in front of servants.
The 'holier than thou' attitude could be broken lightly when in private, but even then there were limitations. The act of hugging someone, for example, could not be done. A smile however was actually allowed.
Draconian and perhaps silly, but tell that to the face of Karin the Heavy Wind, I dare you.
"Mother," I said with my brows lightly furrowed, "Has Cattleya had another attack?"
What Cattleya had could better be understood as some form of 'fatigue' mixed with asthma, which made her breathing shallow and insufficient for much. She could move around a bit now that she was older, but even then, most of her day was spent in her room.
"No," Karin replied curtly. It wasn't really 'curt' as much as 'stern'. It was like talking to a block of ice. I knew she didn't really mean to come across like that, but she took her duties very seriously, which meant she wanted us to take them seriously too. Between a happy, but unfair noble, or a fair but stern one-she definitely preferred us to grow up as the latter type. If I ever ended up like one of the Gramont children, she'd give me a taste of her Heavy Wind. She didn't say it, but it was clearly underlined thrice in the way she acted whenever father mentioned them and their 'escapades'.
"Should I come back later?" I asked, my eyes moving from mother to Cattleya.
"No, no!" Cattleya shook her head. "I mean, I was telling mother about your stories." My eyes widened at the candor in Cattleya's words, which kind of made my feelings known. Unashamedly, I knew this would end horribly. Undoubtedly, Karin knew this would end badly too, mostly because her eyes on me where fixed like those of a snake ready to pounce. No, to be honest, I already knew how this would end.
"Henry," Karin said with a quiet voice, not really a 'displeased' tone, because mother never made 'displeasure' known -it just was there. "You have been reading from the library, have you not?"
And this was the problem. We weren't allowed to read from the library yet. At least, I wasn't. It was a righteous concern. It's one thing to give a kid a book that can be easily reprinted in a matter of minutes, but in this 'time period', a book costed a pretty penny -or ecu, it was 'ecus' and it ranged easily in the hundreds. Books were costly stuff, handwritten for the most part, even though a few had been 'magically' printed, some form of magic process to recreate the words on parchment from one side to the other.
So imagine giving them in the hands of a kid who might paint over them, or rip at their pages.
"Without asking for your or father's permission, mother, I would never do such a thing," I said resolutely, calmly hinging my future punishment on the act of utter denial.
Karin didn't answer at first, her eyes narrow enough that I was sure she was reading my mind. "Is that so, Henry?" she asked once more, firmly.
"Find me a servant, any servant, that can claim the opposite and I will gladly allow their words to be my sentence," I said with a hand against my chest, "Otherwise, on Founder Brimir's holy word-as one of his descendants upon this land, then I assure you, mother, I have not set foot in the library without supervision yet." I looked up at her, biting my lower lip. "This does not stop me from peeking from over Eleonore's shoulder while she reads a book however," I added in a quiet whisper, "But you never said I couldn't do that."
Karin nodded once, very curtly, and then spoke crisply, "That will do. I will tell Eleonore she will be considered responsible for any books you damage," she then stood up, much to Cattleya's dismay, and made to leave, "However, Henry-you should concentrate on your studies. If I hear you have been fantasizing about dragons instead of properly studying-" she left the 'threat' hang in the air. To me, it was no different from a mother saying she'd hang me by my ears out on the clothesline, though in this case, I should have been afraid since she was the 'Heavy Wind' and her 'punishment' would have probably amounted to a hurricane-like blast of magic, if toned down to be non-lethal.
When the door closed, I exhaled in relief and slumped down on the bedside, Cattleya shifting a pillow by my side to drop her head on it. "I'm sorry about that, brother," Cattleya said in her childish tone that made her look utterly adorable, especially with how wide her eyes could become. "It's just-mother asked what we were doing and-"
"It's all right, sister," I said with a sigh. "I feel sorry for big sister though-but...let's talk about which new story you want to hear. I had time to think a few...tell me, how does the tale of a snake that devours the world sound?" Cattleya's eyes widened, and then she grabbed one of her dolls to hug tightly, shaking her head imperceptibly in a 'nod'.
"It was on a day like any other that the White Knight met a Lancer," I spoke offhandedly, "The lancer, without reason, attacked the white knight in a much uncouth form-for it, the man gave no explanation, but as the sides of the knight were pierced, and blood copiously poured out, the white knight made his escape back home-"
It was cheesy, but Cattleya needed a bit of cheesiness in her life.
I, on the other hand, would soon be all out of cheese.
For when the bell struck 'seven years old' for Cattleya and I, and Eleonore's age reached 'ten', Henrietta was born into this world.
And this meant a simple thing.
The nobles had to gather in the capital to welcome their new princess.
Thankfully, Cattleya was excused due to her sickness, but on the other hand...
Eleonore and I were not.
- Location
- Postcard from the Root
My first thought was "Shade, are you getting engaged to Henrietta?"
Older-than-Time
[Eating My Muse]
- Location
- Somewhere in the Sol System
- Pronouns
- He/Him/ThatIdiot
The Harem Will Be Fed!!!
Perhaps, if the crown ever felt the need to ensure a more secured alliance with the Vallière family.