Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
[X] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[X] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
-[X] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
So You've Become a Villainess: an (Otome) Isekai Raising Project
- Thread starter FourthWall
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
[x] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[x] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
-[x] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
Omake - Walk It Like You Talk It
"Young Mistress… What are you doing?" Your maid asks as she watches you pace back and forth along the hallway.
"I would think that should be self-evident," you say, your tone removing any sharpness from your words. You don't see Chiaki's expression, what with the pacing and all, but you can imagine her rolling her eyes.
"Practicing I can see…" she says, a bit curious. "But I would expect you would just go running again if you wanted to stretch your legs."
You turn back to walk towards Chiaki and gesture at your heels. "If I tried to run in these, I'd probably fall flat on my face," you grumble.
"I see." Your personal maid covers her face with one hand, but can't quite conceal a smile. "Not going to kick them off like last time Young Mistress?"
You blush a bit, but don't answer. The bait's a bit obvious even to you, and she wasn't wrong. Striking the prince and princess with your shoes was a contributing factor to your decision to get used to them.
<Sporty> "You shouldn't ever give up because you fail at something, just try again harder!"
<Emo> "Try harder, fail worse, never learn from your mistakes. Yaaaay..."
<Sensible> "At least she's trying to walk before she runs this time…"
Instead, you do your best to project poise with what you think is a dignified expression. Chiaki trying to stifle her giggles makes it somewhat difficult.
<Flashy> "A lady must look her all-time best at all times."
<Brainy> "And make a infinite feedback loop? "
Soon enough, you find your maid matching your stride, moving back up and down the hallway. It's impressive how she can match your stubby legs and boundless energy.
"Autumn, why are you following me?" You ask her confused.
"It's my duty to be at your side should you need anything Young Mistress," she says primly. "Besides, I was just headed the same way."
You'd find that a tad more believable if she wasn't walking back and forth with you. She starts outpacing you; you could feel yourself getting annoyed.
You hitch up your dress and hurry to match her. "I thought a maid's place was at her lady's side?"
Your maid ahems. "Just want to be sure the route was free of obstructions Young Mistress. As you said, we want to make sure you don't fall."
Chiaki said that with a straight face, but you don't believe a word of it! Besides the fact your friend was always a bit better at concealing her feelings than you, if she was being serious she'd offer you more than such a transparent lie. What was this, some child's cartoon? There's not going to be some banana peel in the way, or a toy left in the middle of the room, or something else to make you the punchline of a gag.
<Emo> "With the way our souls ended up here, we're certainly a cosmic punchline to someone."
For good or for ill you were your parent's only child, and neither you nor Chiaki were sloppy enough to leave that much of a mess-
"Young Mistress's footwork is much improved," Chiaki says, all of a sudden. You blink, confused, unable to parse such a sudden change in conversation.
"I guess…" you say cautiously, before it occurs to you why exactly it might be worse. You had been walking at a fast clip in the heels for the last several minutes, all without consciously being aware of it.
Your eyes widen. "Chi-cha...I mean Autumn! I'm walking in heels! I'm really walking in heels!" Not that you hadn't before, but it didn't take the conscious effort or sheer force of will you needed before.
You stare down at your heels, with half a mind to kick them off in celebration. "How did that happen…"
"Young Mistress has always been a fast learner, she just needed a little bit of…priming," your maid says demurely.
Brainy preens at the compliment while Flashy raises an eyebrow skeptically.
<Flashy> "I believe that's a compliment more aimed at me than you, Darling."
<Brainy> "Clearly, everything involving learning falls under my domain!"
You pout at her. "So you were just gonna troll me until walking in heels *clicked* for me?" You stifle a chuckle of your own. "Heh, heels clicking."
Your maid looks faux-shocked. "I would never troll you, Young Mistress." That's a lie and you both know it.
"Okay, now you're just goading me," you say, and something clicks again. She tried to make you feel competitive in order to spark your inner drive to succeed, and it worked.
<Sporty> "Hoo-yeah! A challenge is always a way to get the blood pumping!"
Chiaki's figured out that you've figured it out; she has the biggest, smuggest, most frustrating smile on her face right now.
<Sensible> "Shouldn't we take it as a compliment our friend knows us so well?"
"Congratulations on making a breakthrough Young Mistress," she says, glowing with honest pride. Darn it! She said it so earnestly too you couldn't even be mad at her.
With one last victorious glance at you, your maid shifts back into character. "Just in time too, Duchess Claudius wanted to meet with you."
"Justine wants to-" You panic. "Chiakiiiiii! You can't just drop bombshells like that on me!" You needed time to mentally prepare yourself for meeting with the blonde Duchess and current self's mom.
"It's nothing bad Young Mistress," Chiaki says. "I think she just wants to see your hair for yourself; rumors have been spreading all around the manor."
You pluck self-consciously on your new golden locks, they curl tightly against your fingers.
"Now don't you feel more confident now that you've had a breakthrough in your training?" Chiaki says, trying to salvage the situation.
You stand up taller, more confident at that. "I guess I do, so I'll let this go...for now," you say, hoping it didn't come out as childish as it sounded!
She might have meant it for the best, but Chiaki could get really pushy when she thought she was helping you. And her cocky smile was practically begging for a reaction! You couldn't be too mad at her, she always knew what to say or do to make you the best version of yourself.
You'd need to be, in order to handle Justine.
((()))
As you enter her study, you note your mother's attention is consumed by a large stack of documents at her desk. A reminder that being a noble means a lot of administration, which means a lot of paperwork
You bow your head to Justine and do a textbook perfect curtsy. "Hello, mother. My maid said you called for me?"
"Your maid tells me you treated your hair with a lot of the Sverna herb," Justine says casually, not looking up from her papers.
"Are you displeased, Mother?" You ask, trying to match her calm tone despite your sudden case of nerves.
The Claudius matriarch sets down the paper she was reviewing to look at you with dispassionate eyes. She gives you no hints at what she's thinking or feeling.
"Just curious as to your reasoning," she says.
You sweat under her gaze. Why did you have to remember just how much of that hair product you ended up using now? It probably isn't about the cost, right? With how rich you are, it'd be a rounding error and Chiaki would have told you if using that much would cause a problem! You could always count on your best friend to hold you back when needed.
You glance to your side and see empty air.
You know you throw yourself into things at full effort and full throttle, but for the first time since you got here, you realize how much of that is due to Chiaki being at your side.
Your eyes drop to the floor, not able to meet her gaze. "Y-you're so elegant and amazing, Mother. An S-class adventurer, a Duchess, a guiding light to all nobility." You're starting to gush, blushing as you stumble over your words."…And despite not meaning to, it seems like I only cause you headaches. I w-wanted to be more like you, even if in just one small way…a-and your hair is so long and pretty…" You run your hands through your golden locks, unconsciously mirroring her.
<Flashy> "Your delivery was little gauché, Darling, but it's understandable to be cowed by the Platonic ideal of fashion in Justine."
<Sporty> "Anyone who can put lions in a chokehold has to be pretty badass. The Adventurer thing just adds to it."
"Oh, Grace." Justine says.
You trail off and look back up at her. To your surprise, you see Justine's expression soften in a way you don't think you've ever seen before.
She gets up from behind her desk and comes over to stand by you. Unlike her usual demeanor, she doesn't radiate intimidation, but tenderness.
"If I'm strict with you sometimes," she says, "it's only because I know you have such potential. And honestly? I love what you've done with your hair. Soft to the touch, but as dazzling as molten gold."
She runs a hand through your locks, you shiver at the contact. You're unprepared for the gesture of physical closeness with Justine who always seemed to keep her distance.
"So you're not mad?" You ask in a small voice.
Justine is taken aback. "Why would I be upset by such an inspired choice? I was curious if you did so with the goal of drawing allusions to the God-Imperatrix. Our hair is a sign of our direct descent from her," she explains. "It was a more…political ploy than you usually make."
You wince inwardly at that. It was a rather polite way of saying that Grace tended to act without consideration of how it would look to others, riding on her family name to get whatever she wanted.
Justine appraises your enchanted light blue dress, which had a large fluffy skirt and train to rival her own outfit. "Your explanation does give some context to other decisions you've made recently as well."
"D-do you like them, too?" You ask quietly, your voice lacking its usual confident energy.
She nods. "I do. They give you an air of elegance and maturity, daughter, if one you seem to flout on occasion."
Her gentle chiding makes you flush a bit.
"Though I suppose I shouldn't be *that* surprised, I was unruly at that age too." Justine pauses to reminisce.
"R-really!?" You squeak disbelievingly. You suddenly imagine Justine as a delinquent, every inch a 'foreigner' stereotype with her blonde hair. She's in a blue jean skirt and a black leather jacket over an American flag shirt. She's chewing bubblegum, while resting a baseball bat casually over one shoulder while giving a challenging look.
Justine sighs. "My mother was aghast of course. Only now do I realize how many headaches I gave her. I was far more interested in becoming a knight than in inheriting our family's responsibilities, always sneaking off to learn to use the sword."
Suddenly you were glad she had no knowledge of your lessons with Camille.
"What changed?" You ask.
"I realized that a noble's duties call for her to defend those under her care, to be their shield, and ensure justice is done." Justine says. "And that as a knight, I'd lack the authority or influence to right certain wrongs."
You remembered the tale of Lady Augustine, and the efforts by her stepmother to seize the title from her. You wondered if that was when she made that choice.
"But to wield that authority, I would need to accept the responsibilities that came with it," Justine says. "I would need to prove myself worthy. And earning that worthiness would be a quest any knight would gladly undertake."
…That jived with what you knew about your mother. She was heavily driven by her sense of duty…and that made you feel bad about the way canon Grace turned out. With such a cool mother, how could you turn into a bully!
"Once I reconsidered my assumptions on my duty, I also reconsidered other assumptions I made, and realized that what I once considered mere ostentation could instead become a source of strength," Justine says with a hint of pride, running a hand down the battle dress she wears.
You nod vigorously, recalling that even as an adventurer the various books detailing her exploits always had her elegant gowns. While she hadn't been the first to wear layered enchanted dresses, she pushed the design further than anyone else, and popularized the style.
As a cosplayer, you always wanted to feel as cool and elegant as the characters you liked. Cosplaying Grace Claudius was the coolest you ever felt, which probably explained to a degree your affinity for her. But to have the approval of Justine herself for your changes to Grace's setting was a compliment of the highest order! Plus being able to combine style with kicking ass? The best kind of combination. You felt the heady thrill of vindication at your choices.
"Looking at you like this makes me feel nostalgic..." Justine's face grows slightly stern. "But don't forget Grace, it's not enough to complete a task, you must ensure it's done with style and grace lest your opponents try to undermine you as a brutal simpleton."
Huh, you're guessing someone tried that with her? It feels hard to imagine anyone talking down about Justine.
"I've been worried the last few years," shw says, "but you're growing into a fine lady now. With time, we'll smooth out your rough edges. And hearing you wanted to be like me… it warms me to know I've raised such a dutiful daughter."
"M-mother..." You can feel tears at the edge of your vision. Justine was always scant with her praise…to say something like that-
"There there, Grace," Justine says, dabbing at your eyes with a handkerchief. "Nothing, to cry over."
You shake your head. They weren't tears of sadness but joy. Emotion overcoming you, you reach out and pull her into a hug. She freezes, seemingly caught off guard again. But her body softens and she slowly wraps her arms around your back.
"It might not seem this way now, but know this: one day, Grace, you will bloom into your full potential, that you will carve out a legend of your own."
The tears were coming heavy now, and you wondered a bit how much of that was Grace shining through, of hearing the words she always wanted to from her mother.
"I'll seize that legend with full effort, at full throttle," you mumble against her chest, repeating your motto. You want so dearly to match her expectations for you.
Justine laughs. "That's right Grace, boldness, conviction, duty. The hallmark of our family," Justine whispers to you. "Never forget we are the descendants of the God-Imperatrix, that same potential for greatness lives within you. Build upon what I've accomplished, yes, but surpass it. That if I am a moon, then you will be the blazing sun." You hug her tighter, desperately wanting to meet her expectations.
You had a good relationship with your family, but they were always a bit lackadaisical, content as long as your grades were good and you went to college. Hearing someone encourage you, to not only shine brighter, but the brightest? It ignites an inferno within you. And in that moment you can feel your desires match with the motivations of Grace Claudius. To make Justine, no, your mother proud.
"I promise Mother," you solemnly swear. "I'll further your legacy, to be an inspiration for everyone. " Not just in this life, but when you return home. And for the first time, you truly feel you can do it.
Justine pulls away, offering you a confident smile. "I know you will."
You accept the handkerchief from her and dry your eyes. Ideas race through your head like you do on the track, all of them ways you can do better, do more. And to achieve it all with style!
Sporty and Flashy share a knowing smile.
<Sporty> "The best way to kick ass-"
<Flashy> "And look good doing it, darling."
<Sensible> "Why do I feel a sudden sense of foreboding?"
<Emo> "Because you're finally starting to understand..."
Running a hand through your hair, you preen remembering the praise Justine gave it. Hmm, perhaps a pair of ribbons would add a splash of color to contrast nicely with your golden ringlets. Blue perhaps?
Another change you'd like to make is to eventually enchant your fists for more damage. Perhaps anchor any such spells to a bracelet on each arm? Gloves might work better but you've never liked wearing them. Felt too thick and restrictive of your movements, and took away from the sensation of punching someone who deserves it in the face. Well it's not like you're even sure that kind of magic is possible anyways, so you can table the idea for the moment.
What else…you think about the other signature parts of Justine's look and style. Something to do with the gown itself, perhaps. But how might you improve on it there-An idea comes to mind. Yeah that's a particular threat it might be good to prepare yourself for.
"Mother, I just had some inspiration…" You explain your ideas to her the best you can.
She nods in consideration. "Not a bad notion, as an Adventurer, I can see it has some potential, and certainly none but the Claudius line could achieve it. Something quintessential of our family, but with your own flair. I would caution it would take practice to get used to that particular change. So for the moment, let's have the House Tailor modify some of your outfits so you can get used to it. Get changed and expect something by the end of the day."
"Oh mother dear," you say, all smiles. "The modifications weren't just for me."
((()))
"Young Mistress," Chiaki asks as she covers her eyes. "Is this really necessary?"
"It most certainly is," you say primly. "No peeking."
Mother had certainly delivered, within only a few hours the Manor's local tailor had finished modifications towards your request. You weren't sure how he did it, but you wouldn't be surprised if there was some type of tailoring magic involved.
It'd taken some effort to keep your maid busy, so she wouldn't hear of what you had planned. Chiaki always did have a sixth sense for gossip, but you managed to get the modified outfit delivered to you and changed into it while she waited, eyes covered.
Positioning yourself in front of the mirror you grinned. "Okay, you can look now."
Chiaki uncovers her eyes, and let out a little gasp. "Young Mistress! It's so pretty. "Your hair…your dress."
You preened at her compliment. Even for a rush order, the quality was exquisite.
The new dark blue ribbons contrasted nicely with your hair, and your skirt's new floral pattern was rather eyecatching, if you said so yourself.
"Still…I thought you were taking after your mother, Young Mistress?" She asks, turning around to look at your dress directly.
"I promised Mother to find a way to further her legacy, to build upon it and make my own legend," you tell her. "And her signature enchanted battledress was a corner stone of it, this simply builds further on it."
What you didn't want to admit was that meeting Tanya had … been an uncomfortable reminder of the number of landmines you'd have to get around. You'd been so focused on dealing with your death from the Prince and the other love interests, that you'd entirely forgotten the alchemist mowing down you and everyone you knew in an attack on your estate. You fought off the bile rising in your throat at the thought it had been intended as a hidden extra you could unlock in My Bloody Valentine game.
To help prevent, you decided to up the defensive protection of your outfit having the tailor fluff out your skirt more, adding additional layers of petticoats you would be able to layer more defensive enchantments over. As well, you added more decorative ribbons and flowers cleverly interworking some gemstones as anchor points for future spells that would help cover the battle gown's traditional exposed areas. While Mother's enchanted gown made her resistant to damage, resisting gunfire simply wasn't anything it had been designed to deal with. Something your planned changes hopefully would. If her battle gown made her as resilient as a World War II battle tank, then yours made you think of something like an advanced battle tank with reactive armor.
"This dress only has comfort enchantments for the moment, but this helps me get used to the weight and moving in them. Later, after I prove myself, Mother says I can expect an enchanted battledress." Something you were very eager to get.
As your mother explained. It wasn't as much a matter of money, such that there were only so many skilled enchanters capable of that kind of work, particularly with the novel ideas you had. More importantly the Claudius matriarch had stressed that just as she had to prove herself responsible to receive her first fencing sword, so you would need to prove yourself responsible. But with how unstable Tanya got in canon there was no telling when she might go off. So getting as much prep time as you could ahead of it only made sense.
Chiaki nods, "It's a very you think to do Aachan." Somehow leaving you unsure if it's a compliment or not.
<Sensible> "It's the only way to describe the logic we run on, sometimes."
"Glad you agree," you say giving her a bit of a toothy smile. "It's only fitting you get a reward for your hard work from earlier too."
Now your maid's expression seemed a bit concerned. "Now Young Mistress that's not necessary, it's a pleasure to serve."
"And a maid's dignity reflects on your master," you counter. Her shoulders slump.
"What…'reward' did you have in mind Young Mistress?" You could practically hear the air quotes there.
"Why a modified dress of your own," you say, heading to your closet to take out the other rush order the tailors handled. It was a maid outfit, but modified with additional frills and ribbons added to it and fluff out the skirt till it mirrored your own.
"You shouldn't have," she says a bit mechanically.
No, you really needed to. Tanya didn't just target you or your family in that bad ending, but had mowed down both your friends and the entire Claudius servant staff. There wasn't any way you'd leave her any less protected than you.
"Thank me later, change into it!" You encourage her holding the dress in front of you.
'Young Mistress, a maid should help her lady dress not the other way around-" She protests as you help her into the outfit.
"Just think of it like that time you cosplayed with me, and I helped you with your outfit!" You'd gone as Livira Matsuragi, sole heiress of the Matsuragi Heavy Industry corporation. Chiaki as your maid and protector Isa Steele, a homeless girl who you insisted on hiring on one of your many vacations around the world and had become fiercely devoted to you.
It had been the later season depiction of her so she even had an eyepatch!
"Ooh, it looks even better than I expected," you squeal excitedly. The adorable sight helping to take your mind off why you commissioned it. Adding a bit of pink definitely made the normal black and white maid outfit cuter.
For her part, your friend was plucking at the skirt unfamiliarly while giving you a long-suffering look.
"Don't be like that Chiaki! it's so cute! Besides, Combat Maid August! Just think of it!"
At this, your personal maid can't avoid chuckling. "You'll never lay a hand on my mistress!" She says, mimicking Isa Steele's voice and even doing the pose!
"And you tell me you didn't have talent at cosplay," you tease, giving her a smug smile of your own. "Mother says she'll have a warded outfit for you when I get mine. Something about me needing a guide most when I'm in the thick of things?"
Chiaki nods. "Young Mistress is helpless without a minder. And I suppose our dresses will match this way." And she was seeing the bright side already!
You clap your hands together, pleased with yourself. "This is the only one the tailor has ready yet, but he promises he'll have most of our wardrobe done by week's end."
Your maid's eyes widen. "Ours?"
You smile brightly. "As you said, this way our outfits match!"
Chiaki gives you a smile that says "I'm ditching the dress the moment your back is turned."
If your scheme was to work, you couldn't give her any wiggle room. While the battle gown would remain out of your reach for a while, getting your ordinary clothes enchanted with all the defensive enchantments they could hold wasn't something entirely different. You wouldn't be shrugging off bullets, but it'd ensure you'd survive being shot with just some bruises.
You hoped so, at least.
The more layers of defensive enchantments the better, so it made sense to have your dresses tailored to include the extra petticoats you planned for your battle gown to have. You never knew when the Bad End flag would trigger, so it only made sense to ensure your whole wardrobe provided that protection, and there was no way you'd leave Chiaki vulnerable either. Which meant getting the both of you into gowns with full skirts stuffed with defensive enchantments.
Knowing Chiaki, she'd just insist you were being paranoid, but if you play it off as a flight of fancy...
Well, sometimes there were advantages to a friend thinking they could read you like a book.
"I would think that should be self-evident," you say, your tone removing any sharpness from your words. You don't see Chiaki's expression, what with the pacing and all, but you can imagine her rolling her eyes.
"Practicing I can see…" she says, a bit curious. "But I would expect you would just go running again if you wanted to stretch your legs."
You turn back to walk towards Chiaki and gesture at your heels. "If I tried to run in these, I'd probably fall flat on my face," you grumble.
"I see." Your personal maid covers her face with one hand, but can't quite conceal a smile. "Not going to kick them off like last time Young Mistress?"
You blush a bit, but don't answer. The bait's a bit obvious even to you, and she wasn't wrong. Striking the prince and princess with your shoes was a contributing factor to your decision to get used to them.
<Sporty> "You shouldn't ever give up because you fail at something, just try again harder!"
<Emo> "Try harder, fail worse, never learn from your mistakes. Yaaaay..."
<Sensible> "At least she's trying to walk before she runs this time…"
Instead, you do your best to project poise with what you think is a dignified expression. Chiaki trying to stifle her giggles makes it somewhat difficult.
<Flashy> "A lady must look her all-time best at all times."
<Brainy> "And make a infinite feedback loop? "
Soon enough, you find your maid matching your stride, moving back up and down the hallway. It's impressive how she can match your stubby legs and boundless energy.
"Autumn, why are you following me?" You ask her confused.
"It's my duty to be at your side should you need anything Young Mistress," she says primly. "Besides, I was just headed the same way."
You'd find that a tad more believable if she wasn't walking back and forth with you. She starts outpacing you; you could feel yourself getting annoyed.
You hitch up your dress and hurry to match her. "I thought a maid's place was at her lady's side?"
Your maid ahems. "Just want to be sure the route was free of obstructions Young Mistress. As you said, we want to make sure you don't fall."
Chiaki said that with a straight face, but you don't believe a word of it! Besides the fact your friend was always a bit better at concealing her feelings than you, if she was being serious she'd offer you more than such a transparent lie. What was this, some child's cartoon? There's not going to be some banana peel in the way, or a toy left in the middle of the room, or something else to make you the punchline of a gag.
<Emo> "With the way our souls ended up here, we're certainly a cosmic punchline to someone."
For good or for ill you were your parent's only child, and neither you nor Chiaki were sloppy enough to leave that much of a mess-
"Young Mistress's footwork is much improved," Chiaki says, all of a sudden. You blink, confused, unable to parse such a sudden change in conversation.
"I guess…" you say cautiously, before it occurs to you why exactly it might be worse. You had been walking at a fast clip in the heels for the last several minutes, all without consciously being aware of it.
Your eyes widen. "Chi-cha...I mean Autumn! I'm walking in heels! I'm really walking in heels!" Not that you hadn't before, but it didn't take the conscious effort or sheer force of will you needed before.
You stare down at your heels, with half a mind to kick them off in celebration. "How did that happen…"
"Young Mistress has always been a fast learner, she just needed a little bit of…priming," your maid says demurely.
Brainy preens at the compliment while Flashy raises an eyebrow skeptically.
<Flashy> "I believe that's a compliment more aimed at me than you, Darling."
<Brainy> "Clearly, everything involving learning falls under my domain!"
You pout at her. "So you were just gonna troll me until walking in heels *clicked* for me?" You stifle a chuckle of your own. "Heh, heels clicking."
Your maid looks faux-shocked. "I would never troll you, Young Mistress." That's a lie and you both know it.
"Okay, now you're just goading me," you say, and something clicks again. She tried to make you feel competitive in order to spark your inner drive to succeed, and it worked.
<Sporty> "Hoo-yeah! A challenge is always a way to get the blood pumping!"
Chiaki's figured out that you've figured it out; she has the biggest, smuggest, most frustrating smile on her face right now.
<Sensible> "Shouldn't we take it as a compliment our friend knows us so well?"
"Congratulations on making a breakthrough Young Mistress," she says, glowing with honest pride. Darn it! She said it so earnestly too you couldn't even be mad at her.
With one last victorious glance at you, your maid shifts back into character. "Just in time too, Duchess Claudius wanted to meet with you."
"Justine wants to-" You panic. "Chiakiiiiii! You can't just drop bombshells like that on me!" You needed time to mentally prepare yourself for meeting with the blonde Duchess and current self's mom.
"It's nothing bad Young Mistress," Chiaki says. "I think she just wants to see your hair for yourself; rumors have been spreading all around the manor."
You pluck self-consciously on your new golden locks, they curl tightly against your fingers.
"Now don't you feel more confident now that you've had a breakthrough in your training?" Chiaki says, trying to salvage the situation.
You stand up taller, more confident at that. "I guess I do, so I'll let this go...for now," you say, hoping it didn't come out as childish as it sounded!
She might have meant it for the best, but Chiaki could get really pushy when she thought she was helping you. And her cocky smile was practically begging for a reaction! You couldn't be too mad at her, she always knew what to say or do to make you the best version of yourself.
You'd need to be, in order to handle Justine.
((()))
As you enter her study, you note your mother's attention is consumed by a large stack of documents at her desk. A reminder that being a noble means a lot of administration, which means a lot of paperwork
You bow your head to Justine and do a textbook perfect curtsy. "Hello, mother. My maid said you called for me?"
"Your maid tells me you treated your hair with a lot of the Sverna herb," Justine says casually, not looking up from her papers.
"Are you displeased, Mother?" You ask, trying to match her calm tone despite your sudden case of nerves.
The Claudius matriarch sets down the paper she was reviewing to look at you with dispassionate eyes. She gives you no hints at what she's thinking or feeling.
"Just curious as to your reasoning," she says.
You sweat under her gaze. Why did you have to remember just how much of that hair product you ended up using now? It probably isn't about the cost, right? With how rich you are, it'd be a rounding error and Chiaki would have told you if using that much would cause a problem! You could always count on your best friend to hold you back when needed.
You glance to your side and see empty air.
You know you throw yourself into things at full effort and full throttle, but for the first time since you got here, you realize how much of that is due to Chiaki being at your side.
Your eyes drop to the floor, not able to meet her gaze. "Y-you're so elegant and amazing, Mother. An S-class adventurer, a Duchess, a guiding light to all nobility." You're starting to gush, blushing as you stumble over your words."…And despite not meaning to, it seems like I only cause you headaches. I w-wanted to be more like you, even if in just one small way…a-and your hair is so long and pretty…" You run your hands through your golden locks, unconsciously mirroring her.
<Flashy> "Your delivery was little gauché, Darling, but it's understandable to be cowed by the Platonic ideal of fashion in Justine."
<Sporty> "Anyone who can put lions in a chokehold has to be pretty badass. The Adventurer thing just adds to it."
"Oh, Grace." Justine says.
You trail off and look back up at her. To your surprise, you see Justine's expression soften in a way you don't think you've ever seen before.
She gets up from behind her desk and comes over to stand by you. Unlike her usual demeanor, she doesn't radiate intimidation, but tenderness.
"If I'm strict with you sometimes," she says, "it's only because I know you have such potential. And honestly? I love what you've done with your hair. Soft to the touch, but as dazzling as molten gold."
She runs a hand through your locks, you shiver at the contact. You're unprepared for the gesture of physical closeness with Justine who always seemed to keep her distance.
"So you're not mad?" You ask in a small voice.
Justine is taken aback. "Why would I be upset by such an inspired choice? I was curious if you did so with the goal of drawing allusions to the God-Imperatrix. Our hair is a sign of our direct descent from her," she explains. "It was a more…political ploy than you usually make."
You wince inwardly at that. It was a rather polite way of saying that Grace tended to act without consideration of how it would look to others, riding on her family name to get whatever she wanted.
Justine appraises your enchanted light blue dress, which had a large fluffy skirt and train to rival her own outfit. "Your explanation does give some context to other decisions you've made recently as well."
"D-do you like them, too?" You ask quietly, your voice lacking its usual confident energy.
She nods. "I do. They give you an air of elegance and maturity, daughter, if one you seem to flout on occasion."
Her gentle chiding makes you flush a bit.
"Though I suppose I shouldn't be *that* surprised, I was unruly at that age too." Justine pauses to reminisce.
"R-really!?" You squeak disbelievingly. You suddenly imagine Justine as a delinquent, every inch a 'foreigner' stereotype with her blonde hair. She's in a blue jean skirt and a black leather jacket over an American flag shirt. She's chewing bubblegum, while resting a baseball bat casually over one shoulder while giving a challenging look.
Justine sighs. "My mother was aghast of course. Only now do I realize how many headaches I gave her. I was far more interested in becoming a knight than in inheriting our family's responsibilities, always sneaking off to learn to use the sword."
Suddenly you were glad she had no knowledge of your lessons with Camille.
"What changed?" You ask.
"I realized that a noble's duties call for her to defend those under her care, to be their shield, and ensure justice is done." Justine says. "And that as a knight, I'd lack the authority or influence to right certain wrongs."
You remembered the tale of Lady Augustine, and the efforts by her stepmother to seize the title from her. You wondered if that was when she made that choice.
"But to wield that authority, I would need to accept the responsibilities that came with it," Justine says. "I would need to prove myself worthy. And earning that worthiness would be a quest any knight would gladly undertake."
…That jived with what you knew about your mother. She was heavily driven by her sense of duty…and that made you feel bad about the way canon Grace turned out. With such a cool mother, how could you turn into a bully!
"Once I reconsidered my assumptions on my duty, I also reconsidered other assumptions I made, and realized that what I once considered mere ostentation could instead become a source of strength," Justine says with a hint of pride, running a hand down the battle dress she wears.
You nod vigorously, recalling that even as an adventurer the various books detailing her exploits always had her elegant gowns. While she hadn't been the first to wear layered enchanted dresses, she pushed the design further than anyone else, and popularized the style.
As a cosplayer, you always wanted to feel as cool and elegant as the characters you liked. Cosplaying Grace Claudius was the coolest you ever felt, which probably explained to a degree your affinity for her. But to have the approval of Justine herself for your changes to Grace's setting was a compliment of the highest order! Plus being able to combine style with kicking ass? The best kind of combination. You felt the heady thrill of vindication at your choices.
"Looking at you like this makes me feel nostalgic..." Justine's face grows slightly stern. "But don't forget Grace, it's not enough to complete a task, you must ensure it's done with style and grace lest your opponents try to undermine you as a brutal simpleton."
Huh, you're guessing someone tried that with her? It feels hard to imagine anyone talking down about Justine.
"I've been worried the last few years," shw says, "but you're growing into a fine lady now. With time, we'll smooth out your rough edges. And hearing you wanted to be like me… it warms me to know I've raised such a dutiful daughter."
"M-mother..." You can feel tears at the edge of your vision. Justine was always scant with her praise…to say something like that-
"There there, Grace," Justine says, dabbing at your eyes with a handkerchief. "Nothing, to cry over."
You shake your head. They weren't tears of sadness but joy. Emotion overcoming you, you reach out and pull her into a hug. She freezes, seemingly caught off guard again. But her body softens and she slowly wraps her arms around your back.
"It might not seem this way now, but know this: one day, Grace, you will bloom into your full potential, that you will carve out a legend of your own."
The tears were coming heavy now, and you wondered a bit how much of that was Grace shining through, of hearing the words she always wanted to from her mother.
"I'll seize that legend with full effort, at full throttle," you mumble against her chest, repeating your motto. You want so dearly to match her expectations for you.
Justine laughs. "That's right Grace, boldness, conviction, duty. The hallmark of our family," Justine whispers to you. "Never forget we are the descendants of the God-Imperatrix, that same potential for greatness lives within you. Build upon what I've accomplished, yes, but surpass it. That if I am a moon, then you will be the blazing sun." You hug her tighter, desperately wanting to meet her expectations.
You had a good relationship with your family, but they were always a bit lackadaisical, content as long as your grades were good and you went to college. Hearing someone encourage you, to not only shine brighter, but the brightest? It ignites an inferno within you. And in that moment you can feel your desires match with the motivations of Grace Claudius. To make Justine, no, your mother proud.
"I promise Mother," you solemnly swear. "I'll further your legacy, to be an inspiration for everyone. " Not just in this life, but when you return home. And for the first time, you truly feel you can do it.
Justine pulls away, offering you a confident smile. "I know you will."
You accept the handkerchief from her and dry your eyes. Ideas race through your head like you do on the track, all of them ways you can do better, do more. And to achieve it all with style!
Sporty and Flashy share a knowing smile.
<Sporty> "The best way to kick ass-"
<Flashy> "And look good doing it, darling."
<Sensible> "Why do I feel a sudden sense of foreboding?"
<Emo> "Because you're finally starting to understand..."
Running a hand through your hair, you preen remembering the praise Justine gave it. Hmm, perhaps a pair of ribbons would add a splash of color to contrast nicely with your golden ringlets. Blue perhaps?
Another change you'd like to make is to eventually enchant your fists for more damage. Perhaps anchor any such spells to a bracelet on each arm? Gloves might work better but you've never liked wearing them. Felt too thick and restrictive of your movements, and took away from the sensation of punching someone who deserves it in the face. Well it's not like you're even sure that kind of magic is possible anyways, so you can table the idea for the moment.
What else…you think about the other signature parts of Justine's look and style. Something to do with the gown itself, perhaps. But how might you improve on it there-An idea comes to mind. Yeah that's a particular threat it might be good to prepare yourself for.
"Mother, I just had some inspiration…" You explain your ideas to her the best you can.
She nods in consideration. "Not a bad notion, as an Adventurer, I can see it has some potential, and certainly none but the Claudius line could achieve it. Something quintessential of our family, but with your own flair. I would caution it would take practice to get used to that particular change. So for the moment, let's have the House Tailor modify some of your outfits so you can get used to it. Get changed and expect something by the end of the day."
"Oh mother dear," you say, all smiles. "The modifications weren't just for me."
((()))
"Young Mistress," Chiaki asks as she covers her eyes. "Is this really necessary?"
"It most certainly is," you say primly. "No peeking."
Mother had certainly delivered, within only a few hours the Manor's local tailor had finished modifications towards your request. You weren't sure how he did it, but you wouldn't be surprised if there was some type of tailoring magic involved.
It'd taken some effort to keep your maid busy, so she wouldn't hear of what you had planned. Chiaki always did have a sixth sense for gossip, but you managed to get the modified outfit delivered to you and changed into it while she waited, eyes covered.
Positioning yourself in front of the mirror you grinned. "Okay, you can look now."
Chiaki uncovers her eyes, and let out a little gasp. "Young Mistress! It's so pretty. "Your hair…your dress."
You preened at her compliment. Even for a rush order, the quality was exquisite.
The new dark blue ribbons contrasted nicely with your hair, and your skirt's new floral pattern was rather eyecatching, if you said so yourself.
"Still…I thought you were taking after your mother, Young Mistress?" She asks, turning around to look at your dress directly.
"I promised Mother to find a way to further her legacy, to build upon it and make my own legend," you tell her. "And her signature enchanted battledress was a corner stone of it, this simply builds further on it."
What you didn't want to admit was that meeting Tanya had … been an uncomfortable reminder of the number of landmines you'd have to get around. You'd been so focused on dealing with your death from the Prince and the other love interests, that you'd entirely forgotten the alchemist mowing down you and everyone you knew in an attack on your estate. You fought off the bile rising in your throat at the thought it had been intended as a hidden extra you could unlock in My Bloody Valentine game.
To help prevent, you decided to up the defensive protection of your outfit having the tailor fluff out your skirt more, adding additional layers of petticoats you would be able to layer more defensive enchantments over. As well, you added more decorative ribbons and flowers cleverly interworking some gemstones as anchor points for future spells that would help cover the battle gown's traditional exposed areas. While Mother's enchanted gown made her resistant to damage, resisting gunfire simply wasn't anything it had been designed to deal with. Something your planned changes hopefully would. If her battle gown made her as resilient as a World War II battle tank, then yours made you think of something like an advanced battle tank with reactive armor.
"This dress only has comfort enchantments for the moment, but this helps me get used to the weight and moving in them. Later, after I prove myself, Mother says I can expect an enchanted battledress." Something you were very eager to get.
As your mother explained. It wasn't as much a matter of money, such that there were only so many skilled enchanters capable of that kind of work, particularly with the novel ideas you had. More importantly the Claudius matriarch had stressed that just as she had to prove herself responsible to receive her first fencing sword, so you would need to prove yourself responsible. But with how unstable Tanya got in canon there was no telling when she might go off. So getting as much prep time as you could ahead of it only made sense.
Chiaki nods, "It's a very you think to do Aachan." Somehow leaving you unsure if it's a compliment or not.
<Sensible> "It's the only way to describe the logic we run on, sometimes."
"Glad you agree," you say giving her a bit of a toothy smile. "It's only fitting you get a reward for your hard work from earlier too."
Now your maid's expression seemed a bit concerned. "Now Young Mistress that's not necessary, it's a pleasure to serve."
"And a maid's dignity reflects on your master," you counter. Her shoulders slump.
"What…'reward' did you have in mind Young Mistress?" You could practically hear the air quotes there.
"Why a modified dress of your own," you say, heading to your closet to take out the other rush order the tailors handled. It was a maid outfit, but modified with additional frills and ribbons added to it and fluff out the skirt till it mirrored your own.
"You shouldn't have," she says a bit mechanically.
No, you really needed to. Tanya didn't just target you or your family in that bad ending, but had mowed down both your friends and the entire Claudius servant staff. There wasn't any way you'd leave her any less protected than you.
"Thank me later, change into it!" You encourage her holding the dress in front of you.
'Young Mistress, a maid should help her lady dress not the other way around-" She protests as you help her into the outfit.
"Just think of it like that time you cosplayed with me, and I helped you with your outfit!" You'd gone as Livira Matsuragi, sole heiress of the Matsuragi Heavy Industry corporation. Chiaki as your maid and protector Isa Steele, a homeless girl who you insisted on hiring on one of your many vacations around the world and had become fiercely devoted to you.
It had been the later season depiction of her so she even had an eyepatch!
"Ooh, it looks even better than I expected," you squeal excitedly. The adorable sight helping to take your mind off why you commissioned it. Adding a bit of pink definitely made the normal black and white maid outfit cuter.
For her part, your friend was plucking at the skirt unfamiliarly while giving you a long-suffering look.
"Don't be like that Chiaki! it's so cute! Besides, Combat Maid August! Just think of it!"
At this, your personal maid can't avoid chuckling. "You'll never lay a hand on my mistress!" She says, mimicking Isa Steele's voice and even doing the pose!
"And you tell me you didn't have talent at cosplay," you tease, giving her a smug smile of your own. "Mother says she'll have a warded outfit for you when I get mine. Something about me needing a guide most when I'm in the thick of things?"
Chiaki nods. "Young Mistress is helpless without a minder. And I suppose our dresses will match this way." And she was seeing the bright side already!
You clap your hands together, pleased with yourself. "This is the only one the tailor has ready yet, but he promises he'll have most of our wardrobe done by week's end."
Your maid's eyes widen. "Ours?"
You smile brightly. "As you said, this way our outfits match!"
Chiaki gives you a smile that says "I'm ditching the dress the moment your back is turned."
If your scheme was to work, you couldn't give her any wiggle room. While the battle gown would remain out of your reach for a while, getting your ordinary clothes enchanted with all the defensive enchantments they could hold wasn't something entirely different. You wouldn't be shrugging off bullets, but it'd ensure you'd survive being shot with just some bruises.
You hoped so, at least.
The more layers of defensive enchantments the better, so it made sense to have your dresses tailored to include the extra petticoats you planned for your battle gown to have. You never knew when the Bad End flag would trigger, so it only made sense to ensure your whole wardrobe provided that protection, and there was no way you'd leave Chiaki vulnerable either. Which meant getting the both of you into gowns with full skirts stuffed with defensive enchantments.
Knowing Chiaki, she'd just insist you were being paranoid, but if you play it off as a flight of fancy...
Well, sometimes there were advantages to a friend thinking they could read you like a book.
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- Pronouns
- He/His/etc
It's it's a ballroom blitz
It's it's a ballroom blitz
It's it's a ballroom blitz
Yeah, it's a ballroom blitz
- Location
- St. Petersburg
*In a narrator's voice* She meant Autumn.
"you" is missing, "she", and an erroneous comma.
A dot is missing at the end.
...and I don't know how Justine knows what throttle is, but I'll chalk it up to mother's all-knowing heart or something.
"is", I think. Either instead of "it", or before "to".
"it" is missing.
Say it yourself already, Grace.
"yourself"
Closing quotation marks are missing.
"is" is missing.
This reminds me of another quest on this forum, where we pseudo-isekai'd a powerful sorcerer inside a Hamefura protagonist and had him replace one of the Council-Katarinas. The result was a dual personality disorder with both characters driving the body independently in turns. The first thing the sorcerer did was try and brew healing potions -- unheard of in-universe -- to keep the character alive, but not willing to risk discovery (and possibly exorcism), he talked the head maid into accepting the credit for the alchemical breakthrough. Soon the poor girl was credited for every supernatural or hard-to-explain feat Katarina did. Fend off a forest monster? Foil a kidnapping attempt? It's not like the original Katarina was conscious to see it, so the only explanation is that the combat maid must have done it.
It became a running gag that the maid was so awesome she could take on anyone and do everything, especially when the parents, powerless to prevent all the disappearances and kidnappings of their daughter (which was just the sorcerer-in-charge being up to no good and sneaking out), assigned her as a bodyguard in all but name.
...is Chiaki even combat capable?
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Link, please?
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Void Voyaging Sci-Fi - Fantasy
All consuming black holes caused by ill-timed pokemon summoning! Misleading government officials into investigating Nazi conspiracies! Instigating a war between demons and werewolves! Blown up moon chunks raining down to cause planetary devastation! Pinning an immortal wizard for your own...
forums.sufficientvelocity.com
It's a sequel to A Conjuror's Journey, a fantastically written sandbox quest where we played an absolutely immoral wizard by the name of Cynric Tyne trying to outrun his doom. It is set in a crossover multiverse where we can relatively freely travel between the worlds and interact with plots from multiple franchises. Eventually, one way or another, the players find a way to break the world, and flee over to the next one. The sequel is nicknamed Tragedy Voltron, thought it might take you a few updates to find out why. It references lots of characters and plotlines from its predecessor, but their knowledge is not crucial to enjoy it.
Anyway, the sequel quest splits the heroes into three protagonists acting independently on different worlds. The part relevant to the quote happens after Tyne, the prequel's main character, dies by the hand of Void Voyager, the personification of the spaceship he built and the second quest's protagonist. His isekai arc starts here, from Chapter 46 to 69, and picks up again starting with Chapter 101. The Saga of Anne the Genius Alchemist Bodyguard Maid starts at Chapter 52, though taking down forest monsters and slaying shadow demons (RIP 146) won't be attributed to her until Katarina regains consciousness in later chapters.
Also featuring: punching yet another Royal Prince in the snout. He was a far worse sports about it than Alteisen, though. Got three extra hours of piano lessons for a month in punishment... which we promptly dumped on the other Katarina.
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- Pronouns
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So what do male adventurers wear these days? I can think of three main ways it could have gone.
1) They wear what they always have, metal armour over a sensible gambeson with chain or leather patches over vulnerable parts. This has relegated men to mostly the lower end of the adventuring spectrum, unable to keep up with the sophisticated enchanted equipment used by wealthier women.
2) They wear the same thing as the female adventurers. Pretty-boys-in-dresses are very in this season.
3) They've developed their own style, though less advanced than the women's due to the lack of a pioneering figure like Justine. Think Thirty-Years-War fashions, with lots of slashed silk to show off multiple layers, pantaloons worn with hose, and extremely complicated hats. Oh, and lace. So much lace.
1) They wear what they always have, metal armour over a sensible gambeson with chain or leather patches over vulnerable parts. This has relegated men to mostly the lower end of the adventuring spectrum, unable to keep up with the sophisticated enchanted equipment used by wealthier women.
2) They wear the same thing as the female adventurers. Pretty-boys-in-dresses are very in this season.
3) They've developed their own style, though less advanced than the women's due to the lack of a pioneering figure like Justine. Think Thirty-Years-War fashions, with lots of slashed silk to show off multiple layers, pantaloons worn with hose, and extremely complicated hats. Oh, and lace. So much lace.
As if Camille didn't have enough trouble convincing people he's a dude.
- Location
- Nox Castle
No, no, no.
Don't you get it? It's multilayered pauldrons. Lots of sheets of metal stacked over each other, high enough that they make Space Marines seem small-shouldered.
Apply that principle to the rest of the armor, and male adventurers probably have more in common with medieval Gundams than anything else.
Don't you get it? It's multilayered pauldrons. Lots of sheets of metal stacked over each other, high enough that they make Space Marines seem small-shouldered.
Apply that principle to the rest of the armor, and male adventurers probably have more in common with medieval Gundams than anything else.
Snerk. Now I'm tempted to edit that song in there.
Corrections made, didn't agree with all.
Gambeson is layered clothing so it would benefit from the same sort of enchantment.
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- Pronouns
- He/His/etc
It could be the name of our dress. "Ballroom Blitzkrieg" sounds more stylish than "Second-Generation Battledress Prototype (Defence Variant)"
[X] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[X] With Tanya (Brainy+)
lets not destroy poor Bainy too fast guys
-[X] With Tanya (Brainy+)
lets not destroy poor Bainy too fast guys
But it's so much fun!
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[X] With Tanya (Brainy+)
-[X] With Tanya (Brainy+)
Omake - Your First Impression's Got To Be Your Very Best!
You fussed over your appearance in the mirror. Not a single lock was out of place on your long golden curls; they fell neatly along your shoulders, held in place by two dark blue ribbons like grand prize bouquets. No wrinkle dared mar the floor-length white gown with light blue highlights you were wearing, either. It had been modified with your latest changes, patterned along Justine's style including her train but even frillier: with elaborate floral roses and bows and an even fuller skirt fluffed out with petticoats.
It looked, if you weren't being immodest, quite pretty. And yet despite your reflection being pristine, you were anything but composed.
"What could Bridgette want with this invitation," you nervously said aloud. "Why would she want a meeting with me given how badly our last encounter went." Revenge! It had to be revenge.
<Sensible> "Now now, you're the daughter of a Duchess and you haven't had any consequences yet. Presumably, it's all been smoothed over-"
<Emo> "Ha. That's funny. You're funny."
<Sensible> "And you're dripping with sarcasm."
You could see it now! She'd scrutinize your appearance, finding some fault and then wham, slap you across the face with the full weight of Royal authority!
<Sensible> "...We can't rule out the option that she could be looking for some pretense, yes."
<Emo> "Like Royals need any excuse to exert their authority..."
You start to pace back and forth. "I knew I should have practiced running in my heels more!"
<Sporty> "You gotta run on your toes though?"
<Sensible> "In her heels, not on her heels."
You start chewing on a nail. "At this rate I'll definitely need to make a run for it..."
Your choice of outfit hadn't been by chance, this was the first one to reflect the defensive enchantments you would incorporate into the rest. It was far inferior to a Battle Gown, but it would at least let you take a hit and still run away-
Your loyal maid places a reassuring hand on your shoulder. "Everything will be fine, Young Mistress."
Of course she'd say that! Even if everything was on fire, Chiaki would still say things would be fine, if only to keep your panicking from making everything worse.
Rather than ruminate on Chiaki's honeyed words, you try to distract yourself by focusing on her outfit. Its cuteness soothes your screaming soul. Her new maid outfit was a fluffy, frilly white and pink number with a full skirt to rival your own. Sadly, her outfit didn't have any protections worked in yet, so you intended to ask her to stay behind.
"I have it on good authority that her Royal Highness Bridgette intends this as a social visit, not a trap," your maid says.
You stare at her in disbelief "Ch-Autumn, how can she not have it in for me, I beat her up." You're so frayed you didn't want to even bother keeping the setting right.
"As I recall, she was the one that wanted a fight with you, Young Mistress."
"Royalty plays by their own set of rules," you protest, arms flailing. "That's why half of my bad ends involve the prince just cutting me down!"
"From my observations," your maid says, "She's a lot like you, Young Mistress. And you wouldn't hold a grudge there."
You roll your eyes, hands balled into fists at your side. "Even I know how weird I am about fights, Autumn."
"You're not the only fight weirdo in this world, Acchan," your maid says, giggling. "Her Royal Highness Bridgette is known to enjoy a spirited bout of fisticuffs. She's well known for pestering the soldiers on duty for fighting lessons. Not that any would risk injuring her in a spar."
<Flashy> "Hmm. She DID have a…rather…rustic quality to her, dahling."
<Sporty> "And it sucks not having trainers take you seriously when you're trying to git gud."
You started pacing faster, shaking out your wrists as you went. Despite Chiaki's reassurances you were still agitated, and the more agitated you got, the more fidgety you got. It didn't help that the click-clack of your heels kept reminded you of the faux pas that lead you into this mess.
Your maid coughs to get your attention. "Young Mistress, have you considered wearing a pair of enchanted high heels?"
You pause, looking down at your feet. "Enchanted...heels?" You look back, bewildered, to your maid-slash-bestie. "Did you say enchanted heels?"
Your maid holds out a hand for you to consider the following. "Just as comfort enchantments can be passed to clothing, so too can they be passed to footwear. I'm told moving in enchanted heels is akin to moving barefoot."
"Hopefully they're not as likely to leave me barefoot," you say morosely.
"Just wait here, Young Mistress," Chiaki deigns not to respond to your remark, instead hurrying off to rifle through some cabinet. She returns moments later with a high quality mahogany box. Your curiosity starts winning over your moodiness and you crane your neck to see the box better. Your maid takes a knee and presents the contents of the box to you; a pair of crystal blue pumps glimmering with enchantment.
Despite your mood, you can feel your toes tingling in anticipation as you slip off your red heels and slip into the new ones. You notice the difference immediately. The little pinch at your Achilles tendon from the red heels are gone; these fit as though they were custom-made for your feet.
<Flashy> "Dahling, all your footwear is custom-made. All your couture is custom-made."
Gingerly, you take a step. To your surprise, while the heels have the usual effect of shifting your center mass forward, there isn't the discomfort from all the weight falling to one part of your foot. It's like wearing top-of-the-line athletic wear from your world, the stuff you had to work three part-time jobs to even be let in the store to buy.
You begin to walk, lifting your skirts to break into a jog, then a full on sprint as you gain confidence. You rush from one side of the room to another completely unencumbered. You whoop with unhindered delight.
"Okay," you think, "My running form is unimpeded, but how well do these bad boys hold up to combat?" You lean instinctively into a fighting pose, one foot forward and your hands up in a guard position. You toss out a quick jab and pivot into an uppercut. And finally, for the real test, you lash out with your foot to kick an imaginary opponent square in the crotch. Your footing remains rocksteady, even with a kick chambered.
There's some quiet applause behind you, you turn back to see your maid giving you the slow clap. "Satisfied, Young Mistress?"
You bring your leg down and nod, flushing. It surprised you to see how much of your stress had abated, too.
<Sporty> "Effort and friendship are the best ways to deal with stress!"
Flashy nods in agreement.
<Flashy> "The effort that True Elegance requires finds its reward with an audience bearing witness."
<Emo> "When did this turn into Shonen Jump..."
"But if we had enchanted high heels, why did Mother issue me normal heels to begin with," you ask. "These are *so* much better!"
"Luxuries are a privilege the Claudius family can well afford, but Lady Claudius did not wish for you to grow overly dependent on them." Your maid clears her throat before launching into an impressive impression of your isekai mom. " 'One must learn to act without assistance before requesting it' were her exact words."
You sigh and flop onto your bed. "Yeah, that sounds like Justine alright."
It's not like she didn't make sense. In a way, you guess past experiences had prepared you for your current full gown. During your cosplays you always welcomed the challenge of particularly intricate dresses and dresses, and while your costumes were always visually appealing they were often difficult to move in. Learning to move gracefully and not show any discomfort had taken long time.
And despite the fact your current dress was far frillier and poofier than any of your cosplays had become, with its comfort enchantments it was still much easier to move in compared to any of your costumes. Honestly, you'd worn dresses to dances more difficult to move in than this. Awkward teenage experiences had become modern poise, all thanks to a fantasy land that combined fighting with high fashion.
Your maid sidles up beside you. "I wrote up a few notes on her Highness Princess Bridgette. If the Young Mistress would like to study them, I'm sure it could only help~."
You pull her into a hug, drawing a surprised squawk. "You're the best Chiaki!"
She blushes and mumbles as you leaf through her notes.
[/Spoiler]
You were glad your maid had written this all in Japanese. Otherwise, your reincarnated friend would risk running afoul of lèse-majesté laws.
"Autumn, where did you get all this information?" you ask, already having an idea. The wording, the phrasing didn't seem the kind of thing she'd come up with.
"Valentine Wiki," she answers succinctly.
Yeeeah, that makes sense. Chiaki always did like reading all the supplemental material for games.
You remain unconvinced on some things, though. "You suuure this information about her becoming a fan of anyone who defeats her is true? This isn't Nanoha; you can't just befriend people by beating them up." You admit the idea of Bridgette becoming your Fate Testarossa is funny, though.
Your maid gives you a "Seriously?" look. "You're an isekai case reincarnated into the twelve-year-old body of a fantasy otome game villain, but befriending someone through fighting is somehow a bridge too far?"
Your maid's counter catches you between the eyes. You don't have a good response to that. Hell, you had kinda forgotted you died IRL.
<Sensible> "...Yeah I got nothing either, she has a point."
"It's definitely story canon for the Prince Alteisen route," your maid says, "and you definitely walloped her pretty good. If she asks you to train her, then I'd consider it solid enough to rely on. Whatever the case, I'd give her some encouragement, she doesn't seem to have a lot of people who think she can achieve much."
You wince with shared pain. You definitely had a few teachers who didn't think you'd amount to much, if anything. In your darker moods, sometimes you agreed with them.
"Aw great," you groan. "Now I'm imaging Bridgette as some kind of beer-swilling delinquent let down by the system."
Your maid pats your head like she used to when you were JKs instead of master and servant. "Hitting too close to home, Acchan?"
You lean into her. "I can't be afraid of someone I'd offer a drink to back home, Chiaki."
She smiles. "Isn't that a good thing? Know your enemy, and you will not fear one hundred battles."
You look at the clock, and realize you don't have many minutes left to prepare. Time to accept the inevitable.
Your maid cheers you on. "You'll do great Young Mistress! You befriended Tanya, surely you can manage Bridgette."
You let out a nervous laugh. Calling Tanya your friend felt like a bit of a stretch, but you put on a brave face for Chiaki.
<Sporty> "Don't think about it just do it! Go befriend Bridgette and be the best friend she never had!"
It looked, if you weren't being immodest, quite pretty. And yet despite your reflection being pristine, you were anything but composed.
"What could Bridgette want with this invitation," you nervously said aloud. "Why would she want a meeting with me given how badly our last encounter went." Revenge! It had to be revenge.
<Sensible> "Now now, you're the daughter of a Duchess and you haven't had any consequences yet. Presumably, it's all been smoothed over-"
<Emo> "Ha. That's funny. You're funny."
<Sensible> "And you're dripping with sarcasm."
You could see it now! She'd scrutinize your appearance, finding some fault and then wham, slap you across the face with the full weight of Royal authority!
<Sensible> "...We can't rule out the option that she could be looking for some pretense, yes."
<Emo> "Like Royals need any excuse to exert their authority..."
You start to pace back and forth. "I knew I should have practiced running in my heels more!"
<Sporty> "You gotta run on your toes though?"
<Sensible> "In her heels, not on her heels."
You start chewing on a nail. "At this rate I'll definitely need to make a run for it..."
Your choice of outfit hadn't been by chance, this was the first one to reflect the defensive enchantments you would incorporate into the rest. It was far inferior to a Battle Gown, but it would at least let you take a hit and still run away-
Your loyal maid places a reassuring hand on your shoulder. "Everything will be fine, Young Mistress."
Of course she'd say that! Even if everything was on fire, Chiaki would still say things would be fine, if only to keep your panicking from making everything worse.
Rather than ruminate on Chiaki's honeyed words, you try to distract yourself by focusing on her outfit. Its cuteness soothes your screaming soul. Her new maid outfit was a fluffy, frilly white and pink number with a full skirt to rival your own. Sadly, her outfit didn't have any protections worked in yet, so you intended to ask her to stay behind.
"I have it on good authority that her Royal Highness Bridgette intends this as a social visit, not a trap," your maid says.
You stare at her in disbelief "Ch-Autumn, how can she not have it in for me, I beat her up." You're so frayed you didn't want to even bother keeping the setting right.
"As I recall, she was the one that wanted a fight with you, Young Mistress."
"Royalty plays by their own set of rules," you protest, arms flailing. "That's why half of my bad ends involve the prince just cutting me down!"
"From my observations," your maid says, "She's a lot like you, Young Mistress. And you wouldn't hold a grudge there."
You roll your eyes, hands balled into fists at your side. "Even I know how weird I am about fights, Autumn."
"You're not the only fight weirdo in this world, Acchan," your maid says, giggling. "Her Royal Highness Bridgette is known to enjoy a spirited bout of fisticuffs. She's well known for pestering the soldiers on duty for fighting lessons. Not that any would risk injuring her in a spar."
<Flashy> "Hmm. She DID have a…rather…rustic quality to her, dahling."
<Sporty> "And it sucks not having trainers take you seriously when you're trying to git gud."
You started pacing faster, shaking out your wrists as you went. Despite Chiaki's reassurances you were still agitated, and the more agitated you got, the more fidgety you got. It didn't help that the click-clack of your heels kept reminded you of the faux pas that lead you into this mess.
Your maid coughs to get your attention. "Young Mistress, have you considered wearing a pair of enchanted high heels?"
You pause, looking down at your feet. "Enchanted...heels?" You look back, bewildered, to your maid-slash-bestie. "Did you say enchanted heels?"
Your maid holds out a hand for you to consider the following. "Just as comfort enchantments can be passed to clothing, so too can they be passed to footwear. I'm told moving in enchanted heels is akin to moving barefoot."
"Hopefully they're not as likely to leave me barefoot," you say morosely.
"Just wait here, Young Mistress," Chiaki deigns not to respond to your remark, instead hurrying off to rifle through some cabinet. She returns moments later with a high quality mahogany box. Your curiosity starts winning over your moodiness and you crane your neck to see the box better. Your maid takes a knee and presents the contents of the box to you; a pair of crystal blue pumps glimmering with enchantment.
Despite your mood, you can feel your toes tingling in anticipation as you slip off your red heels and slip into the new ones. You notice the difference immediately. The little pinch at your Achilles tendon from the red heels are gone; these fit as though they were custom-made for your feet.
<Flashy> "Dahling, all your footwear is custom-made. All your couture is custom-made."
Gingerly, you take a step. To your surprise, while the heels have the usual effect of shifting your center mass forward, there isn't the discomfort from all the weight falling to one part of your foot. It's like wearing top-of-the-line athletic wear from your world, the stuff you had to work three part-time jobs to even be let in the store to buy.
You begin to walk, lifting your skirts to break into a jog, then a full on sprint as you gain confidence. You rush from one side of the room to another completely unencumbered. You whoop with unhindered delight.
"Okay," you think, "My running form is unimpeded, but how well do these bad boys hold up to combat?" You lean instinctively into a fighting pose, one foot forward and your hands up in a guard position. You toss out a quick jab and pivot into an uppercut. And finally, for the real test, you lash out with your foot to kick an imaginary opponent square in the crotch. Your footing remains rocksteady, even with a kick chambered.
There's some quiet applause behind you, you turn back to see your maid giving you the slow clap. "Satisfied, Young Mistress?"
You bring your leg down and nod, flushing. It surprised you to see how much of your stress had abated, too.
<Sporty> "Effort and friendship are the best ways to deal with stress!"
Flashy nods in agreement.
<Flashy> "The effort that True Elegance requires finds its reward with an audience bearing witness."
<Emo> "When did this turn into Shonen Jump..."
"But if we had enchanted high heels, why did Mother issue me normal heels to begin with," you ask. "These are *so* much better!"
"Luxuries are a privilege the Claudius family can well afford, but Lady Claudius did not wish for you to grow overly dependent on them." Your maid clears her throat before launching into an impressive impression of your isekai mom. " 'One must learn to act without assistance before requesting it' were her exact words."
You sigh and flop onto your bed. "Yeah, that sounds like Justine alright."
It's not like she didn't make sense. In a way, you guess past experiences had prepared you for your current full gown. During your cosplays you always welcomed the challenge of particularly intricate dresses and dresses, and while your costumes were always visually appealing they were often difficult to move in. Learning to move gracefully and not show any discomfort had taken long time.
And despite the fact your current dress was far frillier and poofier than any of your cosplays had become, with its comfort enchantments it was still much easier to move in compared to any of your costumes. Honestly, you'd worn dresses to dances more difficult to move in than this. Awkward teenage experiences had become modern poise, all thanks to a fantasy land that combined fighting with high fashion.
Your maid sidles up beside you. "I wrote up a few notes on her Highness Princess Bridgette. If the Young Mistress would like to study them, I'm sure it could only help~."
You pull her into a hug, drawing a surprised squawk. "You're the best Chiaki!"
She blushes and mumbles as you leaf through her notes.
Bridgette is a secondary antagonist of the first Bloody Valentine visual novel game, who opposes the romance of Prince Alteisen to the Heroine protagonist. She is known to have inherited the short temper typical of the Royal Family.
1. Appearance
Younger Bridgette
Older Bridgette
Princess Bridgette has blonde hair reaching her knees, though she tended to wear it shorter as she grew older. Her skin is moderately tanned from outdoor activities and has a few pale scars on her upper thigh due to an unfortunate fall. She favors white and other pastel colors in her clothes, with a tendency towards white frills and and blue ribbons when she wears outfits with any ornamentation.
She's in decent physical shape especially upon entering the Academy, though retained some childhood pudginess before she entered her teens.
2. Personality
Bridgette outwardly has a rough and prickly persona, with a sharp tongue. She is very defensive over any perceived offense to her brother, and tends to discourage anyone outside the family, particularly other girls, from hanging out with him. Beneath her combative veneer, she secretly has an insecurity complex regarding her ability, as she lacks much attitude at social graces but also lacking the affinity for command and the sword her brother has. Not helped that none of the Royal Guard is willing to teach her to use weapons. This has inclined her to fighting with her fists.
She throws herself into training, but has stymied from lack of a good trainer. One of the few sources of frustration she has against Prince has been his unwillingness to fight her 'seriously.' She deeply respects those stronger than herself, and will dedicate herself to learning from them and patterning herself after them in hopes of echoing their prowess.
While her behavior is outwardly tomboyish, she does secretly enjoy cute things and dresses, feeling the more feminine and frilly the better which her brother likes to tease her over. Her inability to talk about them with peers without seeming denigrating has led her to lean into her 'tough girl' persona, and wearing simpler clothes. If no one expects much of her, then there isn't any way she can disappoint them. She's secretly envious of other girls who can pull it off girly fashions well.
3. In Game Encounters
Bridgette can be encountered in any of the Heroine's routes, but for most only appears if certain event flags are triggered, such as visiting the Academy's Training Yard Tuesday and Thursday at sunset She will also challenge her, if you win any of the athletic competitions.
She has the largest presence during the Prince Alteisen route, where she has a 60% chance of interrupting a date with the prince, and will occasionally pilfer gift items from the heroine's inventory if she's gifted that type to the prince before. Upon achieving a 50% route completion, she will challenge the Heroine to a spar for the right to date him. It's recommended players have at least a Great Athletic rating before attempting it. Failure will lead the Prince to ending the romance with the Heroine, out of a desire to protect her and appease his sister.
Should the Heroine win, Bridgette will change her tune and become a follower of the Heroine, cheering her on and occasionally offering advice on date locations and gifts to win the Prince over. She will also notably change her clothing style to mirror what in game outfit the Heroine is wearing including purchase outfits. She's often depicted in fanworks as a comedic character, despite most of her own screen lines being opposed to the Heroine.
In the other routes, she is defeated by Camille Asuka and can be seen pursuing a romance with him. While canonicity is debatable, supplemental material from the mobile game has the two become engaged. Noticeably, Bridgette changes her outfit to better match with Camille.
1. Appearance
Younger Bridgette
Older Bridgette
Princess Bridgette has blonde hair reaching her knees, though she tended to wear it shorter as she grew older. Her skin is moderately tanned from outdoor activities and has a few pale scars on her upper thigh due to an unfortunate fall. She favors white and other pastel colors in her clothes, with a tendency towards white frills and and blue ribbons when she wears outfits with any ornamentation.
She's in decent physical shape especially upon entering the Academy, though retained some childhood pudginess before she entered her teens.
2. Personality
Bridgette outwardly has a rough and prickly persona, with a sharp tongue. She is very defensive over any perceived offense to her brother, and tends to discourage anyone outside the family, particularly other girls, from hanging out with him. Beneath her combative veneer, she secretly has an insecurity complex regarding her ability, as she lacks much attitude at social graces but also lacking the affinity for command and the sword her brother has. Not helped that none of the Royal Guard is willing to teach her to use weapons. This has inclined her to fighting with her fists.
She throws herself into training, but has stymied from lack of a good trainer. One of the few sources of frustration she has against Prince has been his unwillingness to fight her 'seriously.' She deeply respects those stronger than herself, and will dedicate herself to learning from them and patterning herself after them in hopes of echoing their prowess.
While her behavior is outwardly tomboyish, she does secretly enjoy cute things and dresses, feeling the more feminine and frilly the better which her brother likes to tease her over. Her inability to talk about them with peers without seeming denigrating has led her to lean into her 'tough girl' persona, and wearing simpler clothes. If no one expects much of her, then there isn't any way she can disappoint them. She's secretly envious of other girls who can pull it off girly fashions well.
3. In Game Encounters
Bridgette can be encountered in any of the Heroine's routes, but for most only appears if certain event flags are triggered, such as visiting the Academy's Training Yard Tuesday and Thursday at sunset She will also challenge her, if you win any of the athletic competitions.
She has the largest presence during the Prince Alteisen route, where she has a 60% chance of interrupting a date with the prince, and will occasionally pilfer gift items from the heroine's inventory if she's gifted that type to the prince before. Upon achieving a 50% route completion, she will challenge the Heroine to a spar for the right to date him. It's recommended players have at least a Great Athletic rating before attempting it. Failure will lead the Prince to ending the romance with the Heroine, out of a desire to protect her and appease his sister.
Should the Heroine win, Bridgette will change her tune and become a follower of the Heroine, cheering her on and occasionally offering advice on date locations and gifts to win the Prince over. She will also notably change her clothing style to mirror what in game outfit the Heroine is wearing including purchase outfits. She's often depicted in fanworks as a comedic character, despite most of her own screen lines being opposed to the Heroine.
In the other routes, she is defeated by Camille Asuka and can be seen pursuing a romance with him. While canonicity is debatable, supplemental material from the mobile game has the two become engaged. Noticeably, Bridgette changes her outfit to better match with Camille.
You were glad your maid had written this all in Japanese. Otherwise, your reincarnated friend would risk running afoul of lèse-majesté laws.
"Autumn, where did you get all this information?" you ask, already having an idea. The wording, the phrasing didn't seem the kind of thing she'd come up with.
"Valentine Wiki," she answers succinctly.
Yeeeah, that makes sense. Chiaki always did like reading all the supplemental material for games.
You remain unconvinced on some things, though. "You suuure this information about her becoming a fan of anyone who defeats her is true? This isn't Nanoha; you can't just befriend people by beating them up." You admit the idea of Bridgette becoming your Fate Testarossa is funny, though.
Your maid gives you a "Seriously?" look. "You're an isekai case reincarnated into the twelve-year-old body of a fantasy otome game villain, but befriending someone through fighting is somehow a bridge too far?"
Your maid's counter catches you between the eyes. You don't have a good response to that. Hell, you had kinda forgotted you died IRL.
<Sensible> "...Yeah I got nothing either, she has a point."
"It's definitely story canon for the Prince Alteisen route," your maid says, "and you definitely walloped her pretty good. If she asks you to train her, then I'd consider it solid enough to rely on. Whatever the case, I'd give her some encouragement, she doesn't seem to have a lot of people who think she can achieve much."
You wince with shared pain. You definitely had a few teachers who didn't think you'd amount to much, if anything. In your darker moods, sometimes you agreed with them.
"Aw great," you groan. "Now I'm imaging Bridgette as some kind of beer-swilling delinquent let down by the system."
Your maid pats your head like she used to when you were JKs instead of master and servant. "Hitting too close to home, Acchan?"
You lean into her. "I can't be afraid of someone I'd offer a drink to back home, Chiaki."
She smiles. "Isn't that a good thing? Know your enemy, and you will not fear one hundred battles."
You look at the clock, and realize you don't have many minutes left to prepare. Time to accept the inevitable.
Your maid cheers you on. "You'll do great Young Mistress! You befriended Tanya, surely you can manage Bridgette."
You let out a nervous laugh. Calling Tanya your friend felt like a bit of a stretch, but you put on a brave face for Chiaki.
<Sporty> "Don't think about it just do it! Go befriend Bridgette and be the best friend she never had!"
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Chiaki: "Combat capable might be a stretch, but I took Cardio Krav Maga and can hit a bullseye on a dartboard with a playing card as a party trick."
Post in 24-48 hours.
Weekend 3: Sunflower Syndrome
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
How to win friends and irritate people
You take your first step into destiny, and by destiny, you mean your play-date with Bridgette. She's in front of the royal gardens, a short, tan sunflower amongst tall, iridescent poppies. You notice she's wearing a goldenrod silk dress somewhat in Justine's style, but with the black shoulder cages uncovered.
It looks pretty metal in at least two senses of the term.
She appraises you as you walk in with your ass-saving finery. "One of these days you're going to be one giant frill."
It's blunt, but not mean.
You chuckle. "If I'm gonna be a frill, it'll be the fanciest frill of all!"
Bridgette rolls her eyes. "Why'd you decide to hang out with me anyway? Don't you have that petty noble fighty kid to hang out with?"
You tense up. "Who, Camille?"
<Sensible> "How does she know about Camille?"
<Emo> "Probably a stalker..."
Bridgette snaps her fingers. "Yeah, that one. His dad's like a baron or something."
You can't out and say "I'm learning his way of combat to protect myself and my maid from a horrific Bad End and also may have gotten him to fall for me a little?"
Bridgette gets really close to you, face scrunched with concern. "Wait huh? You think people are gonna come after you and your maid?"
<All> "She said that out loud?!"
Sensible cracks open a beer, Emo grabs some popcorn.
<Sensible> "Sapporo give me strength..."
<Emo> "Toss one here, Sensible. Self-schadenfreude is best enjoyed with beer."
Sensible beans Emo with another can of beer, sending her into a heap of stringy hair and scattered popcorn.
The internal drama rages as you're frozen to the floor. At least you didn't tell her you were from a different world. You bite down on your inner lip to prevent yourself from telling her that by mistake too.
Bridgette huffs. "Yeah, yeah, you're a Claudius. Everybody who doesn't kiss your mom's feet wants your family knocked down a peg, especially the Royalists who think your mom's gonna try and make a move for the kingdom."
"Mother would never do that!" You snap, feeling the most like Grace you have since getting here. Your ringlets writhe with anger.
Bridgette leaps back and into a boxing stance. "S'blood! What is going on with your hair?!"
You pat your hair to calm it down, feel magic pulsing through it more than usual. "Just a new hair treatment is all..."
Bridgette frowns. "You trying to become a Zhenzhu Hair Witch?"
"A what now?"
She snorts. "Never mind. You're weird, you know that?"
You're taken aback a bit. "Well yeah...But you're really blunt!"
Bridgette laughs and stretches. "Course I am. I'm Crown Princess right now so I can say what I want and do what I want..." She suddenly gets glum and kicks a rock.
<Sensible> "Touchy subject?"
<Flashy> "Freedom can be paralyzing, dahling. Why, even I can falter with an infinite closet of haute couture."
"Well, uh, we're gonna be princess sisters eventually," you say. You remember that marrying the prince makes you a princess too, but you also remember that the knot doesn't get tied until after graduation.
You wince and rub your neck as you remember Grace doesn't make it to graduation.
Bridgette's nostrils flare and she gets back in your face. On a second look, you can tell she's very built for a kid, with the same functional fighting muscles as Camille.
"I won't accept you as a princess or as Big Bro's wife! You're all weird after falling off your horse now but once you recover you're gonna turn into that she-devil PUNK you used to be!"
<Sporty> "Man, we haven't been called a punk since we punked out that girl-hating judo captain!"
You get up in Bridgette's face. "Hey! I'm not that person anymore, and I'm not gonna go back to BEING that person!"
[ ] The way I used to act was a disgrace to the Claudius line. I will no longer be that disgrace.
[ ] That fall really knocked some sense into me. Sometimes you just need to get hit to see the truth.
[ ] If I go back to that, bad things will eventually happen to everyone I care about. I can't let that happen.
Bridgette shoves you and puts up her dukes. "Prove it then, Fist Princess. Fight me again."
You put your hands up. "Hey, I said I'd train you so we can spar if you want, but do we have to get into a fight fight?"
"What, am I not good enough? You say you've changed, but you're gonna look down on me like everyone else?!"
You watch her blink back tears and grit her teeth.
<Emo> "There is a gaping wound in this girl's heart and I say we poke it as hard as possible."
<Sporty> "You're a mean drunk, Emo."
<Sensible> "At least we're not depressed drunk; she's even worse then..."
"What? No!" You shake your head, causing your ringlets to slap you about the face. "I'm not looking down on you, I just don't normally punch people I want to be friends with!"
"Talk talk talk, all everyone does is talk! They talk and they lie!" Bridgette yells, stamping her ballet flat-clad feet.
It's your turn to stomp in your enchanted heels. "I'm not lying!"
She takes a peek-a-boo stance again, like the first time you met. "Fists don't lie, Grace Claudius."
[ ] Accept her challenge...
-[ ] But go easy on her {Formidable Sporty check: DC 13}
-[ ] But let her win {Challenging Flashy check: DC 12}
-[ ] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}
[ ] Convince her to do a different challenge {Challenging Brainy or Flashy check: DC 12}
-[ ] Write in challenge type
[ ] Talk her out of the fight {Challenging Sensible check: DC 12}
[ ] Refuse the challenge {You're too Sporty for that!}
***
You take your first step into destiny, and by destiny, you mean your play-date with Bridgette. She's in front of the royal gardens, a short, tan sunflower amongst tall, iridescent poppies. You notice she's wearing a goldenrod silk dress somewhat in Justine's style, but with the black shoulder cages uncovered.
It looks pretty metal in at least two senses of the term.
She appraises you as you walk in with your ass-saving finery. "One of these days you're going to be one giant frill."
It's blunt, but not mean.
You chuckle. "If I'm gonna be a frill, it'll be the fanciest frill of all!"
Bridgette rolls her eyes. "Why'd you decide to hang out with me anyway? Don't you have that petty noble fighty kid to hang out with?"
You tense up. "Who, Camille?"
<Sensible> "How does she know about Camille?"
<Emo> "Probably a stalker..."
Bridgette snaps her fingers. "Yeah, that one. His dad's like a baron or something."
You can't out and say "I'm learning his way of combat to protect myself and my maid from a horrific Bad End and also may have gotten him to fall for me a little?"
Bridgette gets really close to you, face scrunched with concern. "Wait huh? You think people are gonna come after you and your maid?"
<All> "She said that out loud?!"
Sensible cracks open a beer, Emo grabs some popcorn.
<Sensible> "Sapporo give me strength..."
<Emo> "Toss one here, Sensible. Self-schadenfreude is best enjoyed with beer."
Sensible beans Emo with another can of beer, sending her into a heap of stringy hair and scattered popcorn.
The internal drama rages as you're frozen to the floor. At least you didn't tell her you were from a different world. You bite down on your inner lip to prevent yourself from telling her that by mistake too.
Bridgette huffs. "Yeah, yeah, you're a Claudius. Everybody who doesn't kiss your mom's feet wants your family knocked down a peg, especially the Royalists who think your mom's gonna try and make a move for the kingdom."
"Mother would never do that!" You snap, feeling the most like Grace you have since getting here. Your ringlets writhe with anger.
Bridgette leaps back and into a boxing stance. "S'blood! What is going on with your hair?!"
You pat your hair to calm it down, feel magic pulsing through it more than usual. "Just a new hair treatment is all..."
Bridgette frowns. "You trying to become a Zhenzhu Hair Witch?"
"A what now?"
She snorts. "Never mind. You're weird, you know that?"
You're taken aback a bit. "Well yeah...But you're really blunt!"
Bridgette laughs and stretches. "Course I am. I'm Crown Princess right now so I can say what I want and do what I want..." She suddenly gets glum and kicks a rock.
<Sensible> "Touchy subject?"
<Flashy> "Freedom can be paralyzing, dahling. Why, even I can falter with an infinite closet of haute couture."
"Well, uh, we're gonna be princess sisters eventually," you say. You remember that marrying the prince makes you a princess too, but you also remember that the knot doesn't get tied until after graduation.
You wince and rub your neck as you remember Grace doesn't make it to graduation.
Bridgette's nostrils flare and she gets back in your face. On a second look, you can tell she's very built for a kid, with the same functional fighting muscles as Camille.
"I won't accept you as a princess or as Big Bro's wife! You're all weird after falling off your horse now but once you recover you're gonna turn into that she-devil PUNK you used to be!"
<Sporty> "Man, we haven't been called a punk since we punked out that girl-hating judo captain!"
You get up in Bridgette's face. "Hey! I'm not that person anymore, and I'm not gonna go back to BEING that person!"
***
Dialogue Choice! What does Grace tell Bridgette?
***
Dialogue Choice! What does Grace tell Bridgette?
***
[ ] The way I used to act was a disgrace to the Claudius line. I will no longer be that disgrace.
[ ] That fall really knocked some sense into me. Sometimes you just need to get hit to see the truth.
[ ] If I go back to that, bad things will eventually happen to everyone I care about. I can't let that happen.
***
Bridgette shoves you and puts up her dukes. "Prove it then, Fist Princess. Fight me again."
You put your hands up. "Hey, I said I'd train you so we can spar if you want, but do we have to get into a fight fight?"
"What, am I not good enough? You say you've changed, but you're gonna look down on me like everyone else?!"
You watch her blink back tears and grit her teeth.
<Emo> "There is a gaping wound in this girl's heart and I say we poke it as hard as possible."
<Sporty> "You're a mean drunk, Emo."
<Sensible> "At least we're not depressed drunk; she's even worse then..."
"What? No!" You shake your head, causing your ringlets to slap you about the face. "I'm not looking down on you, I just don't normally punch people I want to be friends with!"
"Talk talk talk, all everyone does is talk! They talk and they lie!" Bridgette yells, stamping her ballet flat-clad feet.
It's your turn to stomp in your enchanted heels. "I'm not lying!"
She takes a peek-a-boo stance again, like the first time you met. "Fists don't lie, Grace Claudius."
***
Salty Runback Time! What do you do?
***
Salty Runback Time! What do you do?
***
[ ] Accept her challenge...
-[ ] But go easy on her {Formidable Sporty check: DC 13}
-[ ] But let her win {Challenging Flashy check: DC 12}
-[ ] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}
[ ] Convince her to do a different challenge {Challenging Brainy or Flashy check: DC 12}
-[ ] Write in challenge type
[ ] Talk her out of the fight {Challenging Sensible check: DC 12}
***
NAME
Kid A Grace Claudia, Age 12
AVATAR GRADES
Brainy: Average (+3)
Artsy: Below Average (+2)
Flashy: Great (+4)
Sporty: Great (+4)
Sensible: Great (+4)
ACTUALIZATION SCORES
BRN 45 ART 37 FLA 52 SPO 93 SEN 54
STRESS 41
DESTRUDO LEVEL
Elevated
AVATAR GRADES
Brainy: Average (+3)
Artsy: Below Average (+2)
Flashy: Great (+4)
Sporty: Great (+4)
Sensible: Great (+4)
ACTUALIZATION SCORES
BRN 45 ART 37 FLA 52 SPO 93 SEN 54
STRESS 41
DESTRUDO LEVEL
Elevated
[X] The way I used to act was a disgrace to the Claudius line. I will no longer be that disgrace.
[X] Accept her challenge...
-[X] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}
Vote logic:
[ ] The way I used to act was a disgrace to the Claudius line. I will no longer be that disgrace. Honest and truthful.
[ ] That fall really knocked some sense into me. Sometimes you just need to get hit to see the truth. ...I mean as a muscle wizard in training it's not like we can't believe that. I just don't know if we should encourage Bridgette's feistiness even more.
[ ] If I go back to that, bad things will eventually happen to everyone I care about. I can't let that happen. This invites certain questions we may not want to answer, if the advantage of being true.
[ ] Accept her challenge... Best move to win her favor
-[ ] But go easy on her {Formidable Sporty check: DC 13} This seems a mistake
-[ ] But let her win {Challenging Flashy check: DC 12} This even more of one
-[ ] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure} Risky, but she'll appreciate it I think. Plus with our sportiness low risk of failure.
[ ] Convince her to do a different challenge {Challenging Brainy or Flashy check: DC 12}
-[ ] Write in challenge type I'm cool with a Flashy challenge if we can come up with good ideas.
[ ] Talk her out of the fight {Challenging Sensible check: DC 12} let's be honest it's the sensible thing to do...but not too in character
[ ] Refuse the challenge {You're too Sporty for that!}
Vote reaction:
She wants someone to take her seriously. I say we oblige.
[X] Accept her challenge...
-[X] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}
Vote logic:
[ ] The way I used to act was a disgrace to the Claudius line. I will no longer be that disgrace. Honest and truthful.
[ ] That fall really knocked some sense into me. Sometimes you just need to get hit to see the truth. ...I mean as a muscle wizard in training it's not like we can't believe that. I just don't know if we should encourage Bridgette's feistiness even more.
[ ] If I go back to that, bad things will eventually happen to everyone I care about. I can't let that happen. This invites certain questions we may not want to answer, if the advantage of being true.
[ ] Accept her challenge... Best move to win her favor
-[ ] But go easy on her {Formidable Sporty check: DC 13} This seems a mistake
-[ ] But let her win {Challenging Flashy check: DC 12} This even more of one
-[ ] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure} Risky, but she'll appreciate it I think. Plus with our sportiness low risk of failure.
[ ] Convince her to do a different challenge {Challenging Brainy or Flashy check: DC 12}
-[ ] Write in challenge type I'm cool with a Flashy challenge if we can come up with good ideas.
[ ] Talk her out of the fight {Challenging Sensible check: DC 12}
let's be honest it's the sensible thing to do...but not too in characterVote reaction:
Having some difficulty visualizing the shoulder cages bit. Do you mean puffy sleeves like some wedding dresses have?
I mean she's fairly frilly herself so...
Lol, I was imagining it too!
Alas being powerful means everyone either wants to curry favor or rise in the ranks, sometimes both.
I've seen that in Ojou-sama sometimes for humor, but our hair really moved!?
For some reason this makes me think of Prehentsile hair.
Lol on princess sisters.
She wants someone to take her seriously. I say we oblige.
***
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MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
[X] If I go back to that, bad things will eventually happen to everyone I care about. I can't let that happen.
[X] Accept her challenge...
-[X] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}
You guys seems to have forgoting something, Grace is a hyperactive muchikin with no filter now, and just point out that she is smart enought to know had realized that he prior behevior would hurt people she cares is not a stetch.
[X] Accept her challenge...
-[X] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}
You guys seems to have forgoting something, Grace is a hyperactive muchikin with no filter now, and just point out that she is smart enought to know had realized that he prior behevior would hurt people she cares is not a stetch.
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] The way I used to act was a disgrace to the Claudius line. I will no longer be that disgrace.
[X] Accept her challenge...
-[X] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}
[X] Accept her challenge...
-[X] But go all-out {Normal Sporty check: DC 10. Chance of injury on failure}