The bright, blue light of the full moon shines through the many windows of the manor halls. Door after door, Lisa and Julius find themselves walking through the seemingly endless labyrinth of rooms.
The only light that illuminates the halls other than the moon, is a small but bright flame held just above Lisa's hand. A flame that Julius cant take his eyes off of, mesmerized by the casual display of magic before him.
As the two slowly walk down the halls with their hands interlocked, Julius snaps out of his trance towards the flame.
[Julius]: "Does that hurt?"
[Lisa]: "Hm? Oh. No, it doesn't. Well, not unless you touch it."
[Julius]: "I see."
Questions start to fill his head again at the sight of her magic, but he cannot decide which to ask. The thing he is more focused on is where they are going.
Ever since she showed up at his room late at night asking him to walk with her, she hasn't said a word about where they are headed to.
[Julius]: "Where are we going?"
[Lisa]: "Outside. I want to show you something. Its really cool, and worth the walk there, don't worry."
She smiles at him happily, sending a soothing warmth through him at the sight of it.
He returns the smile and continues to walk with her, before deciding to ask one of the many questions in his head.
[Julius]: "I have a question, Lisa. About magic."
[Lisa]: "Mmh, go ahead, ill try to answer any question you have to the best of my ability."
[Julius]: "Just how strong is magic here? Whats the extent of it?"
She looks at him for a moment with a neutral face, before responding.
[Lisa]: "That depends on the person. Like i said earlier, what matters is if someones body can handle it. But if you mean the absolute limit of it, well, id have to say it would probably be strong enough to tear apart continents, maybe more."
He takes in the information slowly, letting the vision set in that someone could be that strong if they were just born with the high affinity for magic.
[Julius]: "Would someone like that be like Alcard? He's really strong right?"
Her face shifts to a more surprised look at the mention of Alcard.
[Lisa]: "I shouldn't be surprised when you don't know things anymore."
She giggles to herself, smiling warmly at Julius.
[Lisa]: "Alcard is different. Hes, special, you could say."
[Julius]: "Special? How so?"
[Lisa]: "Alcard is the strongest knight in the capital. But his affinity for magic is actually quite bad. His body can handle a lot of mana, which strengthens him, and he makes up for the bad magic with his many aspects."
[Julius]: "Really? That's surprising to hear. Wait, many? Someone can have more than one?"
She nods her head, smiling gently.
[Lisa]: "Mm-hm. Its rare enough to just have one, but yes, its possible to have multiple."
[Julius]: "Wow. How many does Alcard have?"
[Lisa]: "No one knows. But from what is publicly available, he has at least 5, but rumored to have a lot more."
Julius is rendered speechless at the discovery that he has at least 5 aspects, and probably more. It's starting to really sink in just why people see him as a good omen.
[Julius]: "He must be very lucky to have that many."
[Lisa]: "Yeah, but i guess that's what you'd expect from the royal family."
[Julius]: "Wh-whaa? Royal family?"
She notices her mistake in not telling him, forgetting that he knows nothing about her world.
[Lisa]: "Oh, right... Sorry J, should have told you... Alcard is the kings grandson, hes the current front of the royal family."
[Julius]: "The kings grandson? That's another reason as to why hes so famous then."
She laughs to herself, Julius joining in with a chuckle.
They still walk slowly through the halls, the flickering of the flame visible on the walls as she continues to conjure it.
[Julius]: "And what about your magic? How strong is yours? Is there more you can do with your flame?"
[Lisa]: "Are you really that interested in magic, J?"
[Julius]: "Of course i am! We don't have magic where I'm from, so its all very interesting to me. Im really intrigued."
[Lisa]: "The place your from sounds really boring."
The two laugh together, enjoying themselves in the moment, all while still connected at their hands. The moment is tranquil, and the peaceful silence helps to soothe Julius's rocky mind.
[Julius]: "I cant deny that it is, really boring. Compared to this place at least. Despite being really confused still, and all the events that happened...I enjoyed myself today. Ive never been out like that before."
Lisa's face turns to surprise, her mouth open slightly as she looks at him. He had never gone out like that before? She didn't think his life was THAT boring.
[Lisa]: "J...You've never been out in a city like that? Why not."
[Julius]: "---"
She observes his face as he looks slightly downwards ahead of them, his silence brings her to remember what he had said earlier in the capital.
She sees that look in his eyes again, the look of loneliness, and despair.
[Lisa]: "Is this about what you said? About you being sick?"
His grip on her hand tightens, drawing her attention to it for a moment, before looking back up at him, with a face of concern.
[Julius]: "....Yes."
[Lisa]: "Could you tell me about it? Is that okay?"
He glances down at her, his head motionless. After looking into her eyes again, he flickers his gaze back to the hallway.
[Julius]: "There's not much to be said. I'm sick, Ive spent most of my life in a hospital bed."
He eyes turn to a more sad tone, but an understanding one.
[Lisa]: "Its really that bad?"
[Julius]: ".....Yes."
The halls fall silent as they continue to walk, with no more words to be said.
They entered and left several rooms, going down stairs, all on their way to the back of the manor.
[Lisa]: "I-its just up ahead."
She smiles up at him warmly, trying to lighten his mood, which has the effect she was hoping for.
Looking into her eyes as she smiles at him melts his heart, her teeth showing as she does, an adorable contrast to her rosy cheeks.
He smiles back, and with a small flick, Lisa dissipates the flame, watching as it disappears into the air.
Lisa opens the door with her now free hand, letting Julius to walk out first, letting go of his hand as he goes ahead of her.
[Julius]: "Whoa..."
As we walks outside, he sees a large field of flower bushes and tall hedges, defined with a path and small glass gazebos placed throughout it.
Lisa walks out behind him, stopping beside him, looking up at him with a proud smile as his jaw drops at the beautiful garden, bathed in moonlight.
He looks down to her, reaching down and softly grabbing her hand, which startles her.
[Lisa]: "G-gaah!"
[Julius]: "Don't be so surprised now, Lisa. Have you not gotten used to holding my hand?"
She blushes furiously, averting her gaze, and hiding her face.
[Lisa]: "I a-am. It just catches me o-off guard every time."
[Julius]: "And you cant contain your blush still. Your so adorable Lisa."
[Lisa]: "Ga-Whaaaa!-"
He chuckles at her flustered reaction, which she listens to and eventually joins in with a giggle of her own, her face still a bright red.
[Lisa]: "You tease me too much, J."
[Julius]: "Sorry, i cant help it."
They start laughing softly again, enjoying the moment together. Julius's mind cant help but wander back to the small moment he spent alone with Lisa's mother, remembering what she said.
He had no idea what she meant by wanting to test him, but he had a bad feeling about it all.
With his hand interlocked with Lisa's, she leads him down the stairs and into the garden.
[Julius]: "Ive never seen these type of flowers before. They're beautiful."
[Lisa]: "Mmh. They are, aren't they."
She leads him through the vast field of flowers and hedges, giving him plenty of time to take in the view.
Leading him into the center of the garden, where the flowers give way to a fountain, and some patches of grass. They stop on top of one of the grass patches.
She sits down, softly pulling him with her, letting out a soft grunt. With both of them now on the ground, she turns to him, with a warm smile on her face.
[Julius]: "You must have had a great childhood, growing up in a place like this."
[Lisa]: "I cant say i had a bad one. This all seems normal to me now, after living here my whole life."
She lies down on her back, looking up at the sky, then turning her gaze to Julius.
She reaches her hand out to him, which gets his attention as she adopts a subtle smile.
[Lisa]: "Come join me on the ground, this is what i wanted to show you."
[Julius]: "Don't have to tell me twice."
He takes her hand and lies down next to her on his back, staring up at the sky.
He takes in the view of the countless stars, each shining their own level of intensity. In the middle of them all, is a bright moon, overshadowing all of the stars with its light and density.
The two of them take in the beautiful sight, staring upwards with her hands intertwined.
[Lisa]: "I like to come out here and do this at night. Just look at the stars. Its a great night for it tonight, the moon is so bright and so clear."
[Julius]: "Its beautiful. I can see why you do this."
They relish in the close moment, staring up at the starry sky. Listening to the trees blowing in the wind, and the subtle chirping and clicks that come from within.
[Lisa]: "I also wanted to talk to you, J."
[Julius]: "Hm? Of course, Anything."
She pauses for a moment, before facing him.
[Lisa]: "I'm confused about how you managed to end up here. And why Alcard said you reek of death."
His breath catches itself for a moment as he hears her words, his face turning a shade more serious.
He can think of a good reason as to why he said that.
[Julius]: "So am i. But I'm hoping that with your mothers help, i can find my way home."
[Lisa]: "I hope so too."
Looking over at her, he can see a tint of sadness in her eyes. He can tell that she doesn't want him to go so soon.
[Lisa]: "Lisa. Do you have many friends?"
Her eyes widen at his blunt question.
[Lisa]: "H-Hah!...."
Julius looks into her eyes patiently, giving her time to answer.
[Lisa]: "...N-no....not really. I have Yuri...But i don't really have any friends. I think my mother scares them all off. She's always trying to decide whats best for me."
He listens to her, his face adopting an understanding look. He knows that lonely feeling all too well, and he feels a sting in his heart knowing that this young girl has to go through that too.
[Julius]: "I know i don't plan on spending much time here....But, Lisa.... I know how you feel, surrounded by all these people, but still feeling alone."
[Lisa]: "---"
She watches him as he speaks, her eyes filling with small tears, which she tries to hide.
[Julius]: "And because of that...I'll happily spend all the time i have here, by your side. I will make sure that you can find joy in calling me your friend."
His words touch her heart, causing her tears to flow past her eyes, down her face.
After a slight pause, she leaps into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
[Julius]: "Hn-Aah!... Lisa?"
[Lisa]: "Thank you Julius! I'm so happy to call you my friend!"
She cries into his chest, causing him to wrap his arms around her, reciprocating her embrace and affection.
He doesn't say anything else, he simply just allows her to let out her emotions, providing a comfortable hug.
They spend a long time just holding each other, under the moonlit night sky. Lisa's tears have passed, but she refused to let go of him, still wanting to feel the warmth of his arms around her.
[Julius]: "Do you remember what you said earlier today about showing me a map, Lisa?"
She looks up at him in the embrace, her face a flush pink.
[Lisa]: "Yes, i do. I thought if you could point out where your from, it would give us a good starting point to get you home."
[Julius]: "Do you have a map in the manor somewhere? I could show you."
She smiles up at him, her arms tightening ever so slightly around his chest.
[Lisa]: "Yes. There's one in my mothers office. I can take you there now if you'd like that?"
He returns her smile ten fold, which ignites a subtle fire in Lisa's eyes.
[Julius]: "That would be great!"
[Lisa]: "Okay then, lets go!"
She gets off of him, standing up and helping him off the ground, not letting go of his hand once he's up.
She leads him back through the garden, and into the manor. Once again walking through the halls of the mansion.
Julius watches as Lisa opens her free palm upwards in front of her, and a small spark appearing. One that quickly grows into a flame, once again lighting the dark halls further.
[Julius]: "So. Does everyone use fire magic? Or are there more?"
[Lisa]: "Nope. There are several types of magic, But you are limited to what your body is attuned with."
[Julius]: "Attuned with? What other types of magic are there?"
As they slowly make their way through the halls, Lisa takes her time to explain more about magic to Julius, happy about how curious he is, and prideful that she has the answers to all his questions.
[Lisa]: "Everyone's body is attuned to a different magic, whether they can use it or not, they have it. The main types are Fire, Lightning, Wind, Water, and Earth. There are a few others, but they are incredibly rare. Attunements are mainly decided through heritage and personality."
Julius listens, fascinated by the powers that inhabit this strange world.
[Julius]: "I see, So your attunement is fire then?"
[Lisa]: "Mm-hm. That's right. My flames aren't really much to awe over, but I've been training hard to make them stronger."
[Julius]: "You've been training? Is your mother also a sorcerer?"
She giggles, and shakes her head, her blonde hair swaying as she does so.
[Lisa]: "No, my mother cant use magic. My teacher is Lawrence."
Julius's ears perk up at the name, noting that he said he was a groundsman, but never said he could use magic.
[Julius]: "That groundsman with the green hair? I didn't know he could use magic."
She nods her head, smiling up at Julius.
[Lisa]: "He doesn't talk much about anything. But under my mothers order, he teaches me how to use my fire."
[Julius]: "I see, so what magic does Lawrence use?"
[Lisa]: "Lawrence's attunement is earth. He's pretty skilled with it too. You would never guess he was so strong just by looking at him."
[Julius]: "Your right, that's very interesting. So would i be right to assume that Lucille can also use magic? What is her attunement?"
Lisa's expression does not change, still smiling and giggling slightly.
[Lisa]: "Nope."
Julius's voice and face turn to shock, more so at her casual correction.
[Julius]: "Wha! Really?"
[Lisa]: "Mm-hm. Her body handles mana terribly. But if you still want to know, her attunement is water."
Julius recomposes himself, taking in the information. Putting his free hand up to his chin in thought.
[Julius]: "So if attunements are mostly hereditary, is your mothers also fire?"
[Lisa]: "Mm-hm. Yes it is."
His face lights up as he guesses correctly, smiling at his own small achievement.
[Julius]: "And... What about Alcard. Even if he cant use it, he has to have a cool one right?"
[Lisa]: "I said he was special earlier, and that's for a reason. He doesn't have one."
[Julius]: "What? He doesn't have one?"
[Lisa]: "That's right. It caused a lot of problems in his youth."
Julius listens and his face shifts to a more curious look.
[Julius]: "What kind of problems?"
[Lisa]: "The Castellan family is a long bloodline of extremely powerful sorcerers. The current king is even considered to be the strongest one alive. So when a baby was born that didn't have an attunement, he was considered a disgrace to the family, and outcast."
He feels a strong tug at his heart, feeling bad for the knight. He thought that maybe his rough upbringing would explain why he is so harsh.
[Julius]: "And the aspects he has allowed him to redeem himself? Did his family accept him once they found out."
[Lisa]: "It took years for them to accept Alcard as their own blood. It was only when Alcard was 7 years old, his father gave him a wooden training sword, that they would see how powerful the kid really was. He was able to throw fully trained adult men to the ground with ease, the kid had a lot of potential, and his grandfather saw that, and sent him to train and grow up with the knights."
While explaining Alcards story to him, they had gone up the stairs, and walked over to a double door that was larger than the rest in the manor.
[Julius]: "That's really sad. No wonder he was such an asshole."
Lisa chuckles at his words, before stopping their pace at the door. Lisa once again puts out the fire in her hand.
[Lisa]: "Here we are. Try not to touch anything, we probably shouldn't be going in here without asking mom."
[Julius]: "Wha-? I didn't know we weren't allowed to be in there?"
Lisa stops him by putting her index finger over Julius's mouth.
[Lisa]: "Shhhhh!"
After giggling softly to her self, she opens the door quietly and leads him inside. With her hand tightly wrapped in his, he has no choice but to follow her closely.
She closes the door softly behind them, allowing Julius to admire the room.
It was a large, fancy office with bookshelves covering one whole wall of the room, With a large map covering the one opposite it. There is a large window at the back of the room, that lets in the moonlight, and in the center of the room, is a large desk, with a red pelt chair.
The desk has stacks of paper on it, towering over the chair.
[Julius]: "Your mother must be a really busy woman."
[Lisa]: "You could say that. She's the head of a major merchant trade route, so she has a lot to oversee."
She leads Julius over to the map on the side of the wall, resembling a mural.
[Julius]: "Alright, lets see. Its a bit difficult to make anything out on here. Do you think you could do that fire thing again?"
She giggles as she nods affirmatively and happily, her smile shining through the dark.
She opens her palm, allowing a flame to spark over it, illuminating the map.
[Lisa]: "There we go. Now, please point to where your from."
[Julius]: "---"
[Lisa]: ".....J?"
She looks over at him with concern as he drops to his knees, his face in shock as he looks at the map.
She grips his hand tighter as she speaks, her face full of worry.
[Lisa]: "Careful! Don't make too much noise! J? Are you okay?"
[Julius]: "Is....is this the whole thing?"
She is taken back, not knowing fully what he means.
[Lisa]: "Yes. This is a map of the whole world."
Julius looks at the large mural of the planets continents. He sees large land masses, sparse oceans, and most importantly, a complete lack of any familiar shapes. No continents that resemble the ones he is used to.
[Julius]: "You cant be serious."
[Lisa]: "What do you mean. Whats happening?"
[Julius]: "Ive never seen any of these before. My home isnt here."
Lisa's eyes widen in shock, similar to Julius's.
[Lisa]: "Are you sure? But.... this is the map of the entire planet."
[Julius]: "---"
He looks down in defeat. His eyes start to tear up, which Lisa notices, and tries to help, starting by wiping away the tears that had already started to fall.
[Lisa]: "Its okay, J. I'm sure there's an explanation for this, maybe this map is outdated or something."
[Julius]: "I doubt its outdated."
His voice is defeated. He just continues to look down, slowly forcing himself to accept his predicament.
[Julius]: "Its no use. I'm sorry for wasting your time and risking getting you in trouble just for nothing."
[Lisa]: "Hey, no. Its okay, really."
She cradles his cheeks in her hands, looking into his eyes with a smile, and a face of comfort.
He places his hand on one of hers, leaning his head into her warm touch. He closes his eyes.
[Julius]: "I think i might just need to speak to your mother about it. Surely someone around here knows about what happened to me."
[Lisa]: "Nnnnhhhgn"
At the sound of her subtle whine, Julius opens his eyes, seeing her extremely red face with a flustered look, her mouth open slightly as she cant help but make the noise, any words she tried to say would just come at as another high pitched whine.
Julius smiles, leaning further into her palm.
[Julius]: "Your too cute, Lisa, you cheered me up."
[Lisa]: "MMHN-GAH-! I-...I'm g-glad i could h-help!"
Julius stand back up, taking her hand, looking at her with a wide smile.
[Julius]: "I think we should head back to bed now. Thank you for showing me the night sky, i don't think ill have trouble sleeping anymore thanks to you."
Lisa smiles back, a subtle giggle escaping her lips.
[Lisa]: "Alright. Lets go."
The two silently walk out of the room, closing the large door behind them, when an unexpected voice shoots through them, making them both jump.
"What are you two doing out of your rooms?"
[Lisa]: "GYAAH!"
Looking behind them, is Lucille, leaning against the wall next to the door that leads to Muriels office.
[Lisa]: "Lady Lucille! I- Um....We w-were just-"
[Julius]: "She was showing me the map. I wanted to see it so i could point out my homeland. Im sorry for intruding, don't blame her."
Lisa looks up at Julius in shock, her grip tightening as she speaks with a light voice.
[Lisa]: "Julius...."
Lucille looks at him with sharp eyes, Shooting a sense of fear into him.
[Lucille]: "Lady Astoria told me to keep watch of you. You just show up out of no where and now i find you in her office with her kid?"
Julius puts up his hands in defense, his voice pleading and desperate.
[Julius]: "Hey now, don't go getting the wrong idea. I just wanted to know where this place was on the map, i had no intention of looking at anything else in there."
[Lucille]: "I don't care what it is you wanted. Go back to your rooms, and don't let me catch you walking around at night again!"
Her voice is mean and just as sharp as her eyes. She has a deep respect for Muriel, and that shows in her actions, wanting to follow her orders tightly.
[Julius]: "I-...I unders-"
[Lucille]: "And you, Lisa! You should know better than to go into your mothers office without her permission!"
Cutting him off with little regard, she turns her attention to the girl, hiding behind Julius.
[Lisa]: "EEK! I'm s-sorry Lady Lucille. I promise it w-wont happen a-again!"
Lucille looks at the two of them, specifically at how close Lisa has grown to him over the span of just a day. She seems to not take the affection well.
Her face scrunches up as she lets out a "Tsk!" and swivels around, walking off.
The pair let out a sigh of relief, and start to walk back to their rooms.
[Lisa]: "Sorry, J. I got you in trouble."
She looks sad, guilty that she got her and Julius told off. But she is met with a delicate head pat.
[Lisa]: "GYA!-"
[Julius]: "Don't worry about it, Lisa. Its okay."
She blushes and averts her gaze, before giving in to the touch and smiling at him.
[Lisa]: "T-thank you. Come on then, i-ill walk you to your room."
The two continue down the halls, walking in silence, but there is no awkwardness or discomfort in the air, the two just enjoy each others company.
Arriving back at Julius's room, he opens the door and steps inside, followed by Lisa.
[Julius]: "Thanks for walking me back Lisa, but i really should be the one to walk you to your room, that's usually what the man does in these kind of things."
chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck, watching as Lisa shakes her head playfully.
[Lisa]: "Its no problem. I wanted to."
[Julius]: "Well i appreciate that. You gonna be okay walking back on your own?"
[Lisa]: "---"
She looks down at her hands, fidgeting with them.
[Julius]: "Lisa?"
Lisa looks up at him through her lashes, her cheeks flush a red color, which takes Julius by surprise.
[Lisa]: "Could I....Um....S-stay in here t-tonight?....."
His cheeks feel hot as they burn a pastel pink.
[Julius]: "Stay....In here? What for? I'm sure your bed is much more comfortable."
She gets even more flustered as she continues her request
[Lisa]: "I just....I get l-lonely in there. And y-you said... Well... That you'd stay by m-my side."
He didn't mean it like that when he said it, but there's no way he could crush her heart by saying no, not that he wanted to say no anyway.
[Julius]: "If you really want to sleep in here tonight, you can. But don't expect much room in the bed."
He jokes and laughs, which is responded by a quick hug, as her energetic side re-ignites.
[Lisa]: "Yay! Thank you so much, J!"
[Julius]: "Its no problem, Lisa. Come on now, its really late and a young girl like you needs to get lots of sleep."
She giggles and follows Julius to the bed.
[Lisa]: "Hehehe, I know."
She crawls into the bed, flinging the blanket open to let him in beside her.
Getting into the bed and pulling up the covers, They relax in the silent room, lit only with the glow of the full moon.
He can feel the warmth radiating off of her, and she can feel it from him, which sends a small red hue to her cheeks. The comfort of each others proximity proving to only rush the drowsiness that consumes them.
She speaks, with her voice tired and groggy.
[Lisa]: "N-...Night night, Julius..."
He smiles at her, finding her sleepy voice adorable.
[Julius]: "Goodnight.... Lisa."
He had enjoyed the night that she showed him. He found himself slowly learning the layout of the manor, understanding its complexity. If there's anything he wishes for at this moment, its to form a stronger bond with the maid and butler, but that will be a task for another day. Right now he just wanted to enjoy the comfort of the bed, and more importantly, the comfort of his new friend. The two shared a bond, a feeling. One that was formed over loneliness, and understanding. Despite having such a close new friend next to him, he still wanted to go home. Back to his family. Back to his bed. He could already feel himself weakening over the day. He knew how little time he had. But somehow, its as if none of that mattered. Not with Lisa next to him. She scared away the bad thoughts, the nightmares, the terror of the present and the past. She took away the confusion of this strange, vast world that had scared him so much. She found him, and he found her. He felt comfort when she was around, especially in their little moments of contact and affection, such as holding hands. And a part of him, no matter how small, felt a sting of sadness at the thought of leaving her, he didn't want to. He didn't... Want to.... Leave...................
Observing Lisa, he could tell that the strong pull of slumber had taken her a while ago. And he knew, that she was thinking the same thoughts as him. With a content smile on his face, The same powerful but warm darkness engulfed him.... Falling asleep, with a peaceful hum.....
---