Janus came to take Eustis away.
“Please don’t struggle.” Eustis obeyed.
He knows that he’s no match for Janus, Setsuna thought, but who is?
Renard looked down at a bloody Ancil.
“Hahaa! Sorry prince, but you just got a royal ass kickin’!”
Ancil was not amused.
“TA GUEULE!”
Ancil stood and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Radio the capital! Tell my father to send the Violet Witch! We’ve found a lead on Dark Ether!”
Ancil stormed out the room with Renard following suit. The meeting had come to an abrupt end.
“Our captain follows Ancil’s orders like a dog!” Margaret pointed out in disgust.
“Are you actually surprised?” Laurel asked. “Ancil is The Commandant’s son.”
“That should have no bearing on The Captain’s treatment of a subordinate!”
“It shouldn’t,” Laurel replied, “But we all know that Ancil was given this position as a sinecure. Renard’s obedience is an act of self-preservation.”
Margaret shook her head in contempt.
“True. He dare not disobey Ancil. The Captain must listen to Ancil if he ever wants to move up in the military. Sadly, this land is still far from just. Oww…!”
Margaret had started to frown when she felt a sharp pain in her nose; her nose was still bleeding from when she was hit by Eustis.
“Come here Margót. I’ll heal you.”
Yelena leaned across the conference table and rose her right hand up towards Margaret’s face, gently touching the tip of Margaret’s nose. As her hand began to emit a soft glow, Yelena spoke.
“You aren’t hurt too bad.”
After a few seconds, the glow had disappeared.
Margaret smiled, “Thank you Yelena.”
“You’re welcome” Yelena replied, before shortly adding, “Also, ummm, please don’t be too mad at Eustis. I’m sure he didn’t mean to.”
Margaret nodded. “I know,” she said softly, “I feel so sorry for him. I want to see how he is doing…”
Laurel stood up.
“Then lets go.”
As Margaret, Yelena, and Laurel were getting ready to leave, Setsuna was lost in thought.
…This doesn’t make sense. Why is the republic looking into dark ether? I thought that manipulation of dark ether was a lost art of the Hakamori? How does Ancil know about it? Did this ‘Violet Witch’ tell him? Who is she? What does she know? Could she also be…”
Setsuna felt a nudge on her shoulder.
“Setsuna, what are you thinking so hard about?”
Setsuna snapped out of her contemplative daze to see Yelena standing beside her. As she looked into Yelena’s eyes, her heart began to pound. How did she get so close and I didn’t notice!?
“Wha...? I uhh… Why do you assume I was thinking hard on something?”
“Because your eyes were closed and you were holding your temple. That’s your thinking face.”
“Well aren’t you observant?”
“Yes I am! In fact, now I see you're blushing! Are you embarrassed?”
Setsuna broke eye contact with Yelena.
“Don’t make fun of me!”
“Oh, don’t be mad Setsuna! Anyway, are you coming with us to see Eustis?”
Setsuna would normally be irritated by Yelena’s teasing, but decided that it was preferable to seeing her cry. "If it makes you smile, then I’m fine with it... But I do need to find some answers."
“Actually, I have to pass. I want to ask Ancil something. Go on without me.”
“What is it?”
Setsuna looked at Margaret and Laurel.
“It’s about the Violet Witch. Who is she? What could this witch know about dark ether? And what is her connection to the Bellerose family?”
The girls all exchanged confused looks.
“I have never heard of this witch,” Margaret finally replied. “I’m sorry.”
Laurel seconded Margaret’s ignorance.
“Same.”
“Well in that case, I’ll just have to ask Ancil myself.”
Setsuna got up to leave when Yelena called out to her.
“Setsuna!”
Setsuna turned back to see a misty eyed Yelena.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice instantly filled with concern.
“I just wanted to say thank you.”
“Why?”
“Well, I… I’m just glad that even with all of the unexpected things I’ve heard this morning, I can *sniff* I can still know what to expect from you!”
As Yelena smiled, a single tear fell down her check. Not knowing how to react, Setsuna did the only thing she could; return the smile.
“If that were really true, you would know I think you're really cheesy when you talk like that.”
Yelena wiped the tear streaming down her face.
“I knew you’d say that!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's the end of Chapter 4! I hope you guys liked it! How did you guys like the divided release schedule?
As always, feel free to comment. If you enjoyed the story, please vote and spread the word. Thanks!
Next time: The Violet Witch
ВЫ ЧИТАЕТЕ
The Secrets of Ether
Художественная проза"A desire great enough to kill for..." When a mysterious murder occurs in the isolated Sinclair Monastère, the limits of trust are breached by suspicion and paranoia. Setsuna Fuyutsuki, the assassin, must maintain a façade of innocence to get away w...
