Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I.. I'm alive. 

That's a surprise.
Not sure if it's a welcome one.

I feel, so tired. More tired than I thought possible.
I can't really think anymore? This is as deep as my thoughts can go. I feel like if I try to remember things my brain will just short out my whole body.
I can't move, but I can feel the cold of the table underneath me. Muted, like all my senses are asleep.

The only thing that is registering clearly is the pain from that stupid snake bite. But I get a headache just trying to find where it is. I know where it is. I can feel it. But I just can't find it.

I can vaguely hear voices next to me, but I can't figure out what they're saying.
I know every word they say, but I can't figure out how they relate to one another.

"And you're sure she's got nothing left? That girl has a big tank, if she has any mana left it'll mess with the transfer."

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure. I pushed that snake right to the limit and cut it off just before she could die."

"Wonderful, then tell me when you're done with her. I need a day's time to provide transport, so be sure to alert me as soon as you can."

"Naturally! What type of restraint were you thinking? I don't know what you'll be using her for, after all."

"You don't need to know, in a perfect world I'd ask for a Crucele potion, but for this matter I'd like a new variant of a Obedi potion. Thank you."

"Ha! You'd want to take her in as your own? You'd never get away with it, you know?"

"Hence why I request an Obedi potion. New variant, don't forget."

"Heh, sure. I'll make it extra strong, extra difficult!"

"Thank you, I will take my leave."

Pretty sure that that conversation was important.
Yet I can't do anything except float in and out of consciousness.

I've been getting weird looks in class.
Might be because I've been quite loud in chasing down the shadows of my maid.
Haven't found anything either.

Misha is joining me this afternoon. It's been three days since Rae's been gone.
We're in the carriage heading over right now.

"Claire, be honest with me." Misha says, we've been looking out the window in silence so far so it took me by surprise. "Have you found anything regarding Rae?" She asks, not taking her eyes off of the outside world.
I sigh.

The search party turned up nothing except for a discarded uniform from our school, making it very clear that Rae did indeed stumble onto trouble. It also means that Rae is most certainly not in the area anymore. However we have no idea where she went.
The guards at the gates have been questioned, the street kids around the place where the uniform was found were questioned. No one had any answers.
No one knows where Rae is.

"Nothing that can help us."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

The well is squeaky clean, the water in it is pristine, though it looks like the wall on the inside was messed with for some reason.
"Misha, can you cast a search spell?" I ask as I look down the well, part of me wants to drink the water. If only to be close to her in some way. But I resist, a lady of my stature cannot be seen drinking from a well in the slums.
"Well yes, I can. But we already know that Rae isn't here." Misha answers confused.

I nod before turning to look back at her. "Yes, but I want you to search for any item that looks like it might help us, not a person."
"Ah, I can certainly try."

Misha is quick to cast, but quicker to stop.
"Did you already find something?" I ask, but she doesn't answer. She walks over to some bushes close to the well. They're not big enough to hide much of anything, so I highly doub-

Misha pulls out what is unmistakably Rae's wand.
I stare at it while Misha softly begins to shake.

It takes another few moments of me staring dumbly at the proof that Rae has not been able to defend herself from whatever is happening to her before I realize that Misha is having a panic attack.

It hurts. Everything hurts. Every single nerve feels like a Christmas tree on the 25th.
I try to scream but nothing comes out. It feels like my heart has been ripped out, or like it's melting in my chest, making my bones hit their boiling point and killing me from the inside out.
I can focus on any part of my body but none of it helps. I can feel every fingertip touch the cold table, which feels impossibly cold under my probably feverish body.

I can't- I just.. It hurts. It hurts so bad! Make it stop!

Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!

Help me please..

I'd rather be back in Tokyo than continue to go through this.

It feels like Dominator but if it were targeting my body instead of my magic.. I don't know how else to describe this.
I'd do just about anything to get away from this. I can't imagine a pain worse or more intense than this.

"You're perfect." A distorted voice says somewhere far, far away from here.

Or am I far away from them?

Where am I?

"Are you two with that one student that went missing?" A small girl asks, clearly uncomfortable with talking to them.
Since Misha is not really mentally available at the moment, I take charge and try my best to look nice and open and friendly. Which knowing me, I will inevitably mess up.

"Yes indeed we are! Can I help you with anything?" I try to ask kindly. I think it worked because she's smiling a little.
"I was hoping to help you guys actually!" She announces proudly. I bend down to her level and nod with a smile.
The little girl hesitates for only a moment before steeling her nerves. "I saw the clothes get dumped."

That.. Actually helps..

"Can you remember by who? What they looked like? Where they went?" I ask, probably a bit too quickly. The girl looks away as she shies away a little, fiddling with her hands awkwardly. "It was a masked man, he threw it out of a carriage before continuing towards the East gate."

In one sentence she just gave more information than a royal search party got in three days.

"Thank you, thank you so much." I stutter out as I struggle not to cry tears of hope.
I root around in my uniform until I find a spare gold coin and put it in her hands.
"Thank you for helping me save my-… maid." That last part is so awkward I consider confessing my feelings right here and now purely to get out of it.
But I was raised better than that!

After once again thanking the little girl, who couldn't stop staring at the coin with tears in her eyes, I grab a still shaking Misha and run for the carriage.
Now that we have a direction, we can get the search party moved for more effective results.

"Prince Rodd!" I yell as I jump out of the still moving carriage, I can't be bothered with anything besides finding my stupid maid. I faintly hear Misha follow but her steps are drowned out by my running.

I have not a clue where he is, but the moment I find him I will tell him everything.

My eyes are burning.
It's like I spilled chili on them a while ago or something.
My nails, nose, mouth and ears feel much the same actually.

Oh, wait. Now besides the soft burning I can feel little bolts of electricity running through my body. It wants to jolt and thrash at every sting, but I'm probably already pretty bruised all over. I wouldn't be surprised anyway.
I can't hear too well over the burning feeling, but my gut tells me someone is standing next to me.

"I'm so sorry my dear, but healing you now would be quite inefficient. Hate to get rid of the new elements, wouldn't you agree?"

They asked me a question, that much I can tell. But I can feel a headache bloom even without actively figuring out what they're saying.
My body feels far more heavy than I remember it being, yet it also feels lighter? Maybe I'm exactly who I was, but I just can't tell myself anymore? Ugh, this philosophical stuff is not making me feel better.

Strangely enough, the pain that I faintly remember from before I blacked out is completely gone. Like my body was healed with something stronger than water magic, as that tends to leave phantom pains at least.
If anything, my heart feels like it's never been better. Like nothing can keep it from beating on anymore.

It doesn't even squeeze in pain and longing when I think about Claire.
Oh, how worried she must be, how insulted she must feel that I left her alone.

I'm so sorry Miss Claire.

And I'm sorry that my heart isn't apologizing with me.

"WE FOUND OUT WHERE RAE WENT!!" I scream in Prince Rodd's general direction when I spot him talking to some students down the hall. He looks up with an emotion I cannot describe accurately.
"Where." He commands. I almost feel the need to do a double-take as this is the first time I've seen him behave like this.
"She was seen headed to the East gate." I tell him instantly, figuring that asking him to redirect the search party is wasted breath and wasted time.

He proves me right when he excuses himself from the conversation he was previously in and stoically walks in the direction I just came from.
"Claire, with me." He tells me curtly, I nod and follow.

His pace is fast, but I keep up just fine.

"Where did you get this info?" Prince Rodd asks in a tone I haven't heard from his mouth before.
It reminds me of father.

"From a little girl, I assume she was too shy to speak to the search party." I tell him, smiling a little despite the situation due to just how cute she was.
"And how did she come to know this?" Prince Rodd asks as we turn a corner, nearly bumping into some students before they make themselves scarce with one look from the Prince.

"She said she saw Rae's uniform get tossed out of a carriage before it headed East." I tell him, we see Misha walking over to us, was I running that fast? We turn another corner before she can reach us.
"And what was she like?" Prince Rodd asks. That question strikes me as odd.

"She was shy, grateful when I paid her for her info, not that she seemed to expect that." I say with a haunty laugh. It was more hollow than I'd like.
Prince Rodd swerves to look at me and his analytic gaze held plenty heat even without magic, I didn't flinch, but it was close.
"She didn't expect payment?" He asks slowly as he stops before a door, he opens it and gestures for me to enter first.
"No?" I tell him as I enter with a light curtsy.

Prince Rodd enters and closes the door behind him before grabbing a sheet of parchment and a pen.
I look over his shoulder as he writes out the orders for the search party.

"Change of orders due to new information.

Split the search party into two sections. One will search the East outside of the Capital walls.
The other the West.

Focus on buildings that can house a carriage, even if no carriage is present.
Mark off all searched location with a date.

By power of the King's Permission.

First Prince, Rodd Bauer of the Bauer Kingdom."

That's.. Such a waste of manpower..

Prince Rodd rolls up the parchment and whistles a tune, a pidgin flies over at his call. He ties the message to its feet and guides it to the window before letting it take off.

"Prince Rodd, that's not the order I expected." I tell him, my tone betraying my emotions.
He sighs, something that I didn't expect him to do.
"That little girl might have been placed there to throw you off track."

What?

"She might have been asked or even threatened to tell you false information. Think about it, three days after the fact? And remembering enough to paint a pretty picture? No. I think that she was told to give the opposite direction. But what if they accounted for our suspicion and had her tell the truth?"

Prince Rodd looks about as desperate as she's been feeling. I suppose he also cares for Rae. But not in the way I do.
He glares ahead, fierce and determined. “I'm not playing mind games. This isn't Chess. This isn't a game. So I will divide and conquer."
Well, he certainly has a solution to the dilemma at least.

That also explains the weird questions.

The weird scientist is back. I can see him now. My sight is weirdly okay considering I couldn't even open my eyes the last time I was awake for.

"Hope you're well rested." Oh. I can hear him properly now too. I can even understand what exactly he's saying.
Wauw, my body is handling everything quite well for what should have been a game-over.

The scientist guy proceeds to undo the clasps for my legs, which brings my attention to how sore they are, or rather. To the fact that they are very much not.
Then the clasps for my hips, my stomach, my wrists, my arms and finally my head.
I can't remember getting strapped in anymore though. I know for a fact that I was, and that I would probably have been awake for it. It's a lot of movement after all. I feel like it would have woken me up if I was asleep. And yet, I can't remember.

I lay there for a time, the scientist eying me like he wants to cut me open for a second time, if only to see if I heal again.
Oh, another thing I don't remember.
I remember being in pain, I remember my chest burning like it could melt through anything, I remember having the cut. But I don't remember getting the actual injury.

I wonder if I had white hair before all of this, I don't think so. But I'm not sure.

That's probably concerning, but like before with my dearest Claire, my heart isn't reacting at all.
Just beating on. Like I'm not thinking anything.

I should try to get out of here.

The thought hits me harder than it should have, but then, it also hits me later than it should have.
Running should be my first priority. Being unstrapped from the table is enough motivation, isn't it?
But I don't move.

I'm not sure if I can, my body isn't responding to me.
It's telling me everything that's going on with my body, if it's hot or cold, if it's feeling a texture, everything.
But as if my mind has been put on mute, nothing I tell my body to do goes through.
It stays exactly where it is.

The door opens, and while my eyes flick over, my head stays where it is.
Still, I know who it is even if I can't quite see him.

"She's ready?" The voice of the masked man asks the scientist.
The scientist hums his approval happily.
"She's my best work! Excellent aptitude on all counts and greater temporary healing to boot!" He raves.

The masked man chuckles. "Wonderful, you will see her work eventually. When she's ready."
The scientist nods. "Can't wait to see it! Though I would have loved to keep her, oh, and the stress turned her hair white."
I feel myself get angry, but it doesn't feel like I'm properly angry. Like there's a cap on my emotions and I'm hitting my limit before I'm satisfied.
What did he do to me?

"That's fine, am I free to move her now, or does she still need to be prepared for the road?" The masked man asks, walking into my field of view. He seems surprised to see my eyes open and on him. I try to glare, but my face stays still.
The scientist joins him. "She's ready when you are. She can't move her body for another 16 hours."
Ah. Well, that explains that.

Makes me wonder what's gonna happen if I need to go to the bathroom in that time though. Eugh..

The masked man hands the scientist a seemingly pretty heavy bag of coins before walking over to me and tracing what I think are the bite marks the snake left on me. His grin fills me with a reserved disgust that feels disproportionate, but again, my heart gives no response.

He picks me up from the table like I weigh nothing to him, maybe I don't.
I never did eat well, in this life or the one before.

He says his goodbyes to the scientist and goes to leave with me in his arms.
Once outside I'm surprised to see buildings around us. I expected him to have hidden me away in a forest or something. Not a street where anyone can spot us.

"I don't think you were conscious when I brought you in." He comments with a smile in his tone.
He climbs into the carriage and lays me across one of the benches before strapping me in.

"You're probably hoping that someone will spot you here and call attention to this whole affair." He goes on to say as he lays a blanket over me, effectively hiding that I've been secured rather than laying here of my own free will.

"Well, keep dreaming if you wish. This is a ghost town." He says smugly.
I'd spit in his face if I could move.

This does give me an exact location though.
There's only two ghost towns with brick houses like that, and one is north of the capital and is surrounded on all sides by trees, as it was built in a clearing.

The other is a location is to the East and a place that the player can actually visit, a group of assassins temporarily house themselves here while they destroy evidence of the crime the player tracks them down for. They flee when you get too close and leave a swarm of undead monsters behind.
If all are slain then you can find some leftover evidence that helps intercept their next plan, ultimately putting a stop to their efforts.

Guess this is what was taking place before all of that happens.
~The More You Know!~

To finish off the look, the masked man puts a sleeping mask over my eyes.
My ears tell me he left after that to go drive. I hope he keeps his mask on while he's on the move, would be nice if he gets recognized and that's what does him in.

There's a lot of homework I missed. More than one would expect for a few days of not attending classes.
And while I would love to let it wait for longer, I should work so I can be sure that the school has zero reason to keep me here when Rae inevitably gets spotted.

Because she has to get spotted while someone is moving her.
There's simply no way that she slips away from me.
She's not leaving me.
She's not.

Catherine, my roommate, has been giving me sad looks. And while I'm used to the pity and disgust that I see in the halls, I don't need it from my own roommate thank you very much.
"Catherine, I would like to do my course work, so if you could please focus on yourself that would be much appreciated." I tell her in a tone that feels far more familiar than I'd like.

Strange to think that less than a year ago, with venom was almost the only way I knew how to speak.
Until Rae changed that.

I fight the urge to doodle her in my notebook, I need to focus.
Also there's no need for the teacher to see just what I was thinking of while I was doing their assignments.

Right, onto the next equation.

Just as I plan to write out my answer, the door slams open and I very nearly ruin half a page with how my hand goes flying.
"SHE'S BEEN SPOTTED!" Misha yells.

Misha?? Yelling???
Alright.

I stand up so fast that the chair falls to the ground, without looking twice I grab my wand and cross the room.
"Lead me." I tell her, she nods and runs off. I run and easily keep pace with her. Part of me wonders if she's using wind magic to support us both or if it's adrenaline, because I most certainly do not get tired.

We run out to the front of the school where Prince Rodd is just riding in with his siblings, each on horses.
"Wait!!" I yell and they turn towards us. Princess Yuu smiles kindly and Prince Thane looks surprised to see us before he chuckles.

Misha joins Princess Yuu's horse and I sit behind Prince Thane.
This won't be as comfortable as getting our own horse, but we simply don't have the time.

As we ride, Princess Yuu explains that they have some mana potions to make sure that Yuu can heal the horses whenever they get tired. So we can run full gallop over to where Rae had been seen.

But as we go, Prince Rodd doesn't say a single word. He just continuously scans the horizon.
I'm only dimly aware that there's another 5 knights on horseback behind us, though something tells me that they're there for the Royals, not for Rae.

I ask where exactly we're headed, Prince Thane explains that a carriage with a masked man was spotted leaving an abandoned village, headed North-East.
My heart beats faster knowing that I will likely have to fight to get her back.
I know what lies North-East of the Capital.

It's one of the three locations where a lot of human trafficking gets done.
If you lose a person there, you won't see them again.

It's not a place I plan to lose Rae to.

We ride for a good few hours, certainly faster than any carriage with horses that can get tired will ever be.
We pass the ghost town of a village, with houses of brick that we spot through the branches as we gallop past.

Then, after what feels like far too long, we see a carriage up in the distance.
We speed up.

Prince Rodd goes to get ahead of the carriage, Princess Yuu and Misha take the left, Prince Thane and I take the right, the knights stay behind. Together we box in the carriage with ease.

Show time.

The carriage stops and for a moment I fear that I'll fall onto the ground, but the bindings hold true and keep me on the bench.

I hear talking. And despite the fact that there's a door in between, I can actually make out the words.

"You have her?"
"Indeed, everything went well."
"Wonderful. Do you expect her to cooperate? Be honest."
"I'd give it a month, then? Yes, to the letter."
"A month is quite some time, she might already be Queen by then."
"Queen or not, she'll still be mortal, and now you'll have a quad-caster to match her with."
"Guess so, bring her in."

And the carriage door opens.

I don't know why, but part of me had hoped that the reason we stopped was because of Miss Claire.
It feels like a stupid thought now. He had warned me that no one would see us leave.
Should have known.

He takes off the blanket and undoes the bindings, I can hear and feel it.
He pulls me out of the carriage and carries me into what I presume is a building, it isn't until I hear the door close that he removes the mask. It's pretty easy to see here despite the lack of light.

My eyes wander around the stone carved halls, I guess we're underground or something then.
He carries me past quite some hallways and doors, easily navigating the place like he made it himself.
Eventually he stops and opens a door, there's several empty holding cells, and he places me in the one closest to the door. He lays me on the cot before closing the metal door that I presume is supposed to hold me here.

As he stands in the doorframe that leads back to the hallway, he looks back at me between the bars.
"Good luck, I expect you to be the top student." He tells me with a sick grin. I feel muted anger bubble up before bubbling away again.
And then he leaves me in silence.

I look at the masked man. He's holding on to the reigns of the horses despite them standing still.
"Take off your mask." Prince Rodd commands, glaring.

The man shakily does as he's told, but I already knew that he's not who we're looking for.
I've seen a man with a mask before, when he poisoned Prince Thane after setting loose a Chimera. If anyone with a mask would take interest in Rae, it would be him.

But this is not that man.
The man reveals a middle aged face, with terror written all over him.

"M-May I ask what you're here for, your Highness?" He asks politely.
Prince Thane sighs. "We're not here for you." He tells the man. Looking down at the muddy grass beneath his horse's hooves.

"I still insist I must search your carriage." Prince Rodd persists. A knight looks over at him.
"We will do that for you, Prince Rodd." They tell him kindly.
Prince Rodd nods before looking away as the knights search the carriage, with no protests of the owner.
"I'm sorry for the trouble kind sir, we're simply looking for someone dear to us." Princess Yuu tells him with a kind smile.
In all of her time around the Princess, Claire has never seen such a strained smile on Yuu's lips.

Before she knows it, the search is done and they confirm that this man does not have their missing classmate.
And so, they turn around to head back.

Knowing full well that the odds are that this is when Rae is getting moved, and that wherever she actually is, they'll be too late.
They ride back in a cold silence as the night falls.

Silently, they grieve the potential that tonight is the night they actually lose Rae.