Memoirs 491 - The powerpuffs (Patreon)

The grand buildings of Elystead passed steadily beyond the carriage windows, their decorated facades broken up by rows of leafy trees, pillared colonnades, and the occasional statue overlooking the street. Scarlett’s carriage rolled along Sunset Walk amid the regular flow of traffic filling the broad avenue.

Her eyes wandered over carved balconies and gilded trim, then down to the people going about their business along the wide walkways. Shopkeepers stood outside their establishments. Well-dressed couples and groups moved between carriages. Servants hurried along carrying packages and messages while street vendors competed for the attention of anyone passing close enough to hear them.

It was almost strange how ordinary it all looked.

With everything the empire—and Elystead itself—had been through lately, Scarlett might have expected more of it to show. Yet somehow, most people seemed to have already settled back into the rhythms of their everyday lives. It wasn’t quite the same bustling city she remembered from when she first arrived all those months ago, but there was still an impressive amount of life moving through its streets.

Perhaps that said something about human nature.

No matter how strange or terrible things became, people eventually adapted. Normalcy wasn’t some fixed state that the world returned to when everything was fine. It was simply whatever people grew accustomed to living with.

She supposed she was the same. How many times had her own ‘normal’ changed since arriving in this world?

Scarlett had never considered herself much of a people watcher, but at times like this, she could partially understand the appeal. Sitting inside a quiet carriage, feeling the gentle sway of its enchanted suspension beneath her, and simply watching the city pass by without any immediate need to interfere with it.

It wasn’t too bad.

That said…

“You do not have to stay silent simply because I am around,” she said.

She turned from the window to the trio accompanying her.

Three girls were staring at her.

Scarlett met the three large lavender eyes set into the white mask watching her from the seat directly opposite.

“Is it truly that interesting simply observing me?”

Nol’viz blinked slowly, each eye closing at a slightly different pace. The crimson-robed girl then gave the faintest shake of her head, pale hair shifting against the edges of her mask.

“No,” she said. “It is uneventful. Your outward appearance is less intriguing than the rest of you.”

Scarlett gave her a long look.

“I see.”

She gestured towards Hilde, seated beside Nol’viz, then to Slate at her own side.

“Then there is no need for the three of you to spend the entire journey staring at me. You have done little else since we left the mansion, and to be entirely frank, it is becoming somewhat awkward. There are three of you. Surely you can find something to discuss amongst yourselves.”

Scarlett wasn’t actually entirely certain how true that was, considering who those three happened to be. But if it stopped them from staring at her, she didn’t particularly care.

Nol’viz kept her attention on Scarlett for another few seconds before turning to exchange looks with Hilde and Slate. Eventually, her gaze settled on the princess.

“What will we discuss?”

Hilde’s brows drew together slightly as she considered the question. Then she looked between the other two.

“Do you like music boxes?”

“We are unfamiliar with those.”

Nol’viz turned to Slate.

“Music boxes,” Slate said. “An automatic musical instrument contained within a small housing. It produces musical notes through tuned lamellae, plucked in a precise sequence by pins set into a revolving cylinder.” She tilted her head slightly. “They are often ornamented.”

“Lamellae?” Nol’viz echoed.

Slate’s head tilted the other way.

“Lamellae. Thin layers, plates, or membranes. Gills have lamellae.”

Nol’viz gave her a curious look.

“Music boxes have gills?”

A faint frown appeared beneath Slate’s hood.

“The lamellae she first referred to are the thin metal teeth that produce the notes,” Scarlett explained. “The word has several distinct applications.”

When Slate drew understanding from her ability, concepts with multiple meanings could sometimes become tangled together if she followed them through separate associations.

Nol’viz nodded.

“We understand.”

She turned back to Hilde.

“We do not know if we like music boxes. We would like to learn.”

“This would also be an unfamiliar experience for me,” Slate said. “I would like to learn.”

Hilde lightly caught the braid hanging over her shoulder between her fingers.

“Mm. I can show you mine, if you want.”

“We do.”

“Yes.”

Slate and Nol’viz nodded almost in unison.

Scarlett let out a quiet chuckle at the exchange.

Both Slate and Nol’viz could be blunt, strange, or occasionally difficult to follow in their own ways, but none of it seemed to bother Hilde in the slightest.

Scarlett had spent most of the last few days focusing on her recovery, so much of what she knew about their sudden friendship had come secondhand from the others. She had seen Hilde and Slate together a few times and thought they made a surprisingly natural pair, but she hadn’t been sure what would happen once Nol’viz was added to the mix.

Slate and Nol’viz could become remarkably difficult to follow when left together for long enough. Anyone watching from the outside usually had to work to keep up with whatever line of thought they had wandered onto.

Scarlett had wondered if Hilde might be too normal for them.

Apparently not.

Even though the three had only known each other for a short time—and Nol’viz had only popped in and out sporadically during most of that—Hilde appeared completely at ease around both of them. She showed no issue with Nol’viz’s appearance, her mannerisms, or the generally suspicious nature of her existence.

Scarlett honestly found that rather impressive.

Fynn’s siblings had found Slate and Nol’viz fascinating as well, but they had never managed to interact with either of them quite as naturally as Hilde seemed to.

That had removed at least one of Scarlett’s concerns about allowing the princess to stay at her estate.

Not that she lacked others to take its place.

Today’s outing, for one, was the result of a sudden summons that had arrived at the mansion that morning.

Scarlett had so far been allowed to remain home and focus on recovering, partly in recognition of what she had done at the palace and partly because she had continued answering whatever questions were sent to her by letter. This summons, though, concerned something important enough that she doubted she could have avoided appearing in person unless she were literally bedridden.

So, reluctantly, she had left the mansion.

Thankfully, the [Accolade of Ordan] Deacon Solnate had given her the day before had actually helped with her recovery. At least where some of the mental fatigue and lingering lethargy were concerned. Enough that Scarlett felt she could manage a single excursion lasting a few hours.

As for why Hilde and the other two were currently sharing the carriage with her, the summons had specifically named the princess, which left Scarlett little choice but to bring her along.

When she had gone to collect Hilde this morning, she had interrupted the girl midway through breakfast with Slate, and Nol’viz had happened to appear around the same time. The masked Cabal girl had grown curious about where they were going and asked if she could come.

Scarlett hadn’t quite had it in her to say no.

Of course, neither Nol’viz nor Slate would be accompanying them into the palace itself. But Scarlett had agreed to let the pair come along for the ride, if nothing else so Hilde would have some company.

She left the girls to their conversation, with Hilde now quietly listing some of the music boxes in her collection.

Scarlett’s hand drifted to the empty seat beside her and came to rest on a small rectangular case of glass-smooth black stone.

Her eyes lingered on it.

To anyone else, it probably looked like little more than an unusually elaborate stone coffer. Aside from the material itself, there was nothing particularly remarkable about its appearance.

To Scarlett, the Anomalous power bleeding from it stood out like a sore thumb.

Her own, in this case.

While staying at the estate, she had been communicating back and forth with Yamina to keep track of developments and discuss their plans. When Scarlett mentioned needing some way to safely handle Eidolon’s book—as she had started thinking of it—the woman had sent this over.

Apparently, the case had begun as a piece cut directly from one of the Hallowed Cabal’s altars that Yamina had studied in the past. With some quick modifications, she had hollowed it out and prepared the interior to suit Scarlett’s needs. Scarlett had then enlisted Slate’s help as the Tribute of Dominion, bending the rules of the world just enough for her to infuse a small amount of her own Anomalous power into the stone.

The result was something close enough to an artifact, suiting Scarlett’s needs specifically. Anything sealed inside the case was about as isolated from the rest of the world as they could reasonably make it.

Considering Scarlett didn’t particularly want to carry Eidolon’s book around in the open, but also had no intention of throwing away one of her best leads on the entity, it was a decent solution. The only downside was that the case itself couldn’t be placed inside spatial storage.

Scarlett had tested that with her [Pouch of Holding], and it had nearly destroyed the pouch.

But she could work with this.

She tapped one finger against the black stone, then returned her attention to the passing city.

When the carriage began approaching Dawnset Bridge, connecting Dawnlight Palace to the rest of Elystead, Scarlett looked towards Nol’viz.

“I believe it is time for you to say your goodbyes.”

The three girls stopped their conversation.

Nol’viz regarded Scarlett for a moment before rising and crossing the cabin towards Slate. Without warning, shadow spilled out from beneath her crimson robes, swept around them both, and swallowed their figures.

A heartbeat later, the darkness sank away into the floor and they were gone.

“It appears she has yet to learn what saying ‘goodbye’ generally entails,” Scarlett said.

She glanced at Hilde, now sitting there quietly, before turning back towards the window.

The carriage soon rolled onto Dawnset Bridge, carrying them out over the waters of Rellaria Lake. Ahead, the bronze-red walls of Dawnlight Palace rose higher. There was visible damage on them, though this side of the palace had escaped the worst of it. The opposite walls would have suffered far more during the attack, facing the creature that Godwin and Mistress had fought.

Scarlett wondered if this was the first time in the empire’s history that those walls had ever truly been tested.

The conversation that had died with Slate and Nol’viz’s departure didn’t resume even as they neared the gates at the far end of the bridge. As their pace slowed, the only sounds that remained were the muted rumble of wheels through the carriage walls and the distant cries of birds circling above the lake.

Scarlett watched the palace for a little longer before turning back to Hilde.

“How are you?” she asked.

The girl had been looking through the opposite window, back towards Elystead behind them. She turned her head slightly, giving Scarlett a faintly puzzled look.

“Good.”

“Is that so? I am glad to hear it. We have not had much opportunity to speak over the last few days, but I hope you have been able to relax even with the new surroundings.” Scarlett studied her. “And to process things.”

“It was nice. Everyone was nice.”

She let out an amused breath.

“I suppose they were. And it seems you were successful in making friends during your stay.”

Hilde gave the smallest of nods before looking out the window again.

“What do you think of Slate and Nol’viz?” Scarlett asked.

“They are interesting.”

“You do not hold their forms or origins against them?”

“No.”

“That is very kind of you.”

Hilde glanced back at her.

“Is it?”

“Yes.”

Scarlett couldn’t say for sure how much Hilde understood about what Slate truly was or which group Nol’viz belonged to, but she had almost certainly figured out that neither of them was human. It would have taken quite a lot not to notice that.

The carriage pulled to a halt.

Outside, one of the palace guards approached the front to speak with the coachman. Scarlett observed the man for a moment before turning to Hilde again.

“Are you comfortable returning here?”

Hilde stayed quiet for a while.

“I am okay with meeting Brother.”

“Only him?”

The girl didn’t answer.

That was somewhat worrying, but Scarlett wasn’t sure there was much she could do about it. She still didn’t have a clear idea how Hilde truly felt about her life at the palace, much less how the girl was dealing with the possible loss of her father and the whole complicated mess surrounding her ‘mother’.

Scarlett had considered trying to talk to her about both. In the end, however, she had decided that Hilde might benefit more from simply being left alone for a while. A few days where no one pressed her or expected anything of her.

What happened from here was another matter, though.

Scarlett had only agreed to look after Hilde temporarily, so the natural expectation was probably that the princess would stay at the palace after today. If the crown prince insisted on that, Scarlett wouldn’t fight him.

The problem was that keeping Hilde anywhere against her will clearly wasn’t possible.

They would have to figure something out.

Scarlett also couldn’t deny that, beyond simply wanting the girl to have somewhere she was comfortable staying, she would very much prefer to maintain some access to Hilde’s ability.

She would have to think about how best to handle that without taking on unnecessary risk.

The guard soon waved them through, and the carriage rolled beneath the gates into the broad forecourt beyond. Rows of trees with gold-red leaves bordered the open space, framing the approach towards the palace, while the building itself rose ahead in its usual bronze splendour. Their carriage followed the paved way across the square before stopping near the foot of the wide stairs leading up to the main entrance.

Several palace attendants were already waiting when they stepped out.

Hilde was greeted with all the bows and ceremony expected for an imperial princess. Scarlett received a reception of her own, addressed as the ‘Revenant Flame’ more than once and thanked rather effusively for her actions during the attack.

That was going to take some getting used to.

Sir Holdger and Fynn—who had spent the ride seated up front with the coachman—joined them as they were escorted inside.

They entered the palace’s grand entrance hall, with the statue of the empire’s founder presiding over it all from the far end. But Scarlett quickly found herself paying less attention to their surroundings than to Hilde.

Something about the girl changed once the attendants closed in around her.

Hilde was always quiet. Usually difficult to read, too. But here, that usual inscrutability seemed to take on a different quality. There was something more sober about it now, for lack of a better word.

It was as if she became a tiny little adult whenever she stepped into her role as a princess.

Not that Scarlett could truly think of her as one. The strange composure Hilde had about her didn’t change the fact that she was still clearly only a child. If anything, Scarlett thought there was something immature about that too. She was just closing herself off from everyone.

The attendants guided them out of the entrance hall and deeper into the palace. They passed through one corridor after another, climbing several floors along the way and moving past guards, servants, and officials who all seemed to have somewhere important to be.

Scarlett assumed arrangements for the same thing she had been summoned for were underway. She wondered how many nobles would actually attend. Probably nowhere near the number that had gathered for the establishment of the Empyreal Barrier, but a fair portion of those guests were likely still in the capital with the Kilnstones inactive.

Those who weren’t injured or too frightened by the attack to avoid the palace entirely should at least show up. Although she supposed politics might also come into play and cause some not to come.

Not that it mattered much to her.

They continued for several more minutes before the attendants finally led them into a quieter wing of the palace. At the end of one broad corridor stood a pair of familiar figures guarding a set of closed double doors.

Dame Iyana noticed them first, offering Scarlett a nod before saluting Hilde with a fist pressed to her chest.

Dame Leandra followed the motion, then her eyes settled on Sir Holdger, and she gave him a sharp look.

The mountain of a man didn’t seem bothered at all.

One of the attendants stepped forward and knocked on the doors.

“Your Majesty,” the woman called. “The princess has arrived with the Revenant Flame.”