Short Stories

Otome

A dagger plunged into my side, the blood sealed inside by it. She tried to yank it out, but to no avail, only causing me to grunt and blood to flow.

Bitch.

The poison stifled the air in my lungs as hysterical screaming sounded in my ears. My hip ached and what blood was still in me pounded in my ears. Quickly yet somehow slowly, everything faded as if I was swaddled in cotton.

Such a shame, who actually knows their regrets the moment before death?

Everything seemed fuzzy in a strange manner. Memories settled back into my head like floating mist, impossible to grasp. Moving was always better than waiting, so I stood up, facing quite the large figure in front of me. It didn't move, so I presumed it a statue. Everything in my head has settled like soup particles sinking to the bottom of my noodle soup. I frowned.

"Fuck, Mom, didn't you say people should marry within their level? Well, that son of a bitch, no offense to you, married a bitch himself. God-fucking-damn, how did he go from reluctant to sharing in her murder plot to encouraging her?" I sighed and looked at the moving statue, "Yes?"

"You have died," I nodded agreeably, "so I have decided to reincarnate you." Do you have to explain it to me?  "You will be the villainess of the otome game XXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX." I perked up. I didn't know what she was talking about, but...

"Is she rich?"

"Yes, she is a noble. But you will be the villainess. You will be reborn as the villainess." Oh, I get the point.

"So, don't you think this..." 

"Love game."

I smiled, "-mating dance game will be going too slow. Males can only fluff up their feathers so much," she narrowed her eyes, "so I'll make sure the lucky lady gets everything so much faster. I heard noble ladies have to dress up only to marry fat, balding men or indifferent plotters playing God. What a pain, a villain has to fall, so I don't mind my fate. I won't complain to customer service, promise."

"One of the capture targets is your not blood-bound brother, don't kill him," she quickly said. Before my lips could raise in a snarl, I had already left.

.....

After she left, another being had appeared. 

"Cynthia, darling."

The goddess' eye twitched, "You..."

"Don't say that. Having stolen a soul of mine, is it to play the villain for your favorite little soul?"

She immediately stiffened, saying, "It's only one soul, can you be more stingy?"

He stopped smiling, "One soul, one soul? Do you think that you can take things from me? I give you just a bit of leniency and you've forgotten your place. Now, don't look at me like that. If I gave that little soul you've stolen some power, it might come for revenge."

.....

When I opened my eyes, I was sitting up in a chair, facing a black-haired boy standing across from me. Because I had given a little start, my old and sickening father at the head of the table turned to look at me. 

"Ivoria, is there something wrong with your brother?" I closed my eyes and didn't answer. This body's memories swirled in my head, both the past and future playing out brightly the way memories do.

"No, but my lord, may I retire to my room."

"Is Alex displeasing to you?" Alex glared at me, as if daring me to say yes. I raised my eyebrow.

"No, nothing is displeasing."

"You may leave. Alex will guide you back to your rooms." How convenient, for I didn't know where my room was yet.

.....

After a good night's sleep, my memories had settled down. Turns out this 'brother' of mine was just picked up and that my father had taken a slight liking to him. Because of this, no one had realized he would become quite powerful in the end, but that was later. Ivoria had also gained some hate for him. I had to admit he was quite pitiful, but...

I glanced at him as he weeded in my garden, "What are you looking at? Do you have a problem with your master?" He didn't even look down. He was very cute,  but I wasn't looking for a a brother. "Do I not pay you enough? Will you stop staring at me so terribly?" He didn't, and I returned to eating my pastries. I was only eight, I had time later.

.....

Next week, I had been invited to a party before our powers were determined. Of course, Alex came as well. I was excited to meet the other capture targets. As we arrived, there was a blockade of fawning children at the entrance. Most of them stood on their toes and were jumping, so I neither could pass or see what the commotion was. 

I looked at Alex, who was evidently also curious, "Do you want to gain my favor, Alex?" He glanced at me, confused, "Do you want to know what is going on unconditionally?" He probably didn't even know what 'unconditionally' meant, so he nodded, still managing to look at me suspiciously. I didn't blame him. "Then kneel." He got on his knees and I looked strangely at him, but it was his choice to stand with so little support.

I elegantly stood on his shoulders and heard him grunt, but I was too busy looking at the capture targets, who were the source of this crowd.

They were all looking down on the people at the forefront, so I also saw their face and eye colors. I had forgotten their names, though. One had red hair and brown eyes with the aura of an imprinting puppy, I'll call him Dustin. One had blue hair and silver eyes with glasses, I'll call him Ashe. The last one, with blinding gold hair and sharp, intelligent blue eyes, I'll call... Chad. Wait, wasn't there five? 

I turned around to see black hair and yellow eyes staring at me. Didn't this black hair and baleful look seem familiar? Oh yeah, Stare 1 and Stare 2 were brothers. I looked deeply at my feet, thinking about the shipping found in must popular fandoms. Incest all the way, brother. Shade, as I'll call him, cleared his throat.

I patted Alex on the shoulder, "Alex, move, you've been blocking people." I was surprised he was able to shuffle at all with my weight.

.....

What can I say, we missed the party unintentionally, but we still had to wait through all this assesment. Most notably, Dustin had earth as his element, Shade had shadow(haha, get it?), Ashe had ice and ...Chad had the blessing of the sun. Did they just avoid the question entirely? Most notably, a girl who looked no colder than I had arrived and had the power of all five basic elements. (Oh, I wonder who else the reincarnated favored lady could be?)

I was left last. As I approached the opal-like stone, I could feel the rising anticipation. I rested my hand on the stone and reached inside of me, but there was only a twirling strand like mist. What appeared on the stone barely glowed, and the whole audience had already started to snicker. 

It was air. Not even wind, not even imbued with movement. 

"Wait," Chad said. I glanced at him, "Since you do not fit the requirements, would your servant stand in your stead?" He looked so smug, both my approaching brother and him. I turned to watch my brother place his hand on the stone and saw his face glow with the brilliant red shining from the stone.

He looked up and everyone clapped(?), even Ashe invited him to stand with them. Immediately, Alex looked down his nose at me. This was the last straw.

I approached him, smiling coldly. "How is it, are you happy with yourself now, brother?" He only tilted his chin up further. All of the Pretty Boy Alliance stared at me warningly as I narrowed my eyes.

 "Well, then," everyone's eyes were on me, "your fired." I was about to walk away, but he grabbed at my arm confusingly. I raised my eyebrow, "Miss me already?" His hand loosened in shock and I walked through the laughter.

I skipped the after party and hopped into my carriage elegantly, too lazy to try and contract a familiar. As we drove home, I wondered if I had forgotten something.