because I felt like it.
"Oi, Yukino!"
No reaction.
"Yukino?"
No reaction.
"Yu-"
Poke.
"-ki-"
Poke.
"-no."
Poke ...
"Ah!" the short haired woman seemed to snap out of whatever deliberations had held her attention so intently. "Haruka-chan! Is something wrong?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Haruka Armitage frowned. Well, frowned more.
"That girl is in Windbloom," Yukino Chrysant, President of the Republic of Aries, said. There was no need to further specify, since it was Haruka who'd originally started referring to their erstwhile mysterious visitor in that manner. Especially since she'd slipped the minders she'd been assigned and almost literally disappeared off the face of the planet. The potential for causing ... problems the near perfect, if younger, double of Shizuru Viola had was significant, and in the sort of state Earl was right then, it wasn't something to be taken lightly.
And now she'd found out that that girl was in the place that, for all intents and purposes, was the powder keg of the present.
Just how she'd found out about this was something that concerned her more, though. Two sources. One from the intelligence operative currently in Garderobe, the other from her cousin ... who should have, by all rights, informed her far earlier since that girl was apparently working with him.
Not three hours later, and the preparations for departure were complete. She may not have been able to intervene in the Lutetian conflict, but she sure as hell would get to the bottom of what was going on in Windbloom.
***
Tumultous. That was one way to describe the events of the past days.
Add to that this most recent kink in the matter, and you could understand why Natsuki Kruger was not a happy headmistress right there and then.
"No changes?"
Yohko Helene shook her head to indicate the negative.
"Nothing. Her body and the nanites are both functioning at nearly optimal efficiency, and it isn't even a coma - there's brainwave activity across the board and the obvious indications that she's merely in REM sleep."
"For four days," Natsuki remarked.
"Whatever it is, it's not something we can do anything about right now. The best bet would be to just ... wait."
***
It wasn't hard for her to put two and two together. Just look for the person with the motive, watch, and ...
"Anything I can do for you, Major?"
If he was surprised to see her there, it certainly didn't show.
Her own poker face didn't let anything through either. Chie Hallard may have been a relatively junior operative of Aries' Military Intelligence, out of neccessity, but she was damn good at her job.
"What did you do to her?"
A frank question to ask right outside of the building the man worked in, but she wasn't in the mood for subtlety.
"Your job," he deadpanned, glaring. "For one thing, Yumemiya-kun is very important to a person of my acquaintance. For another, your precious little Marguerite's actions were reprehensible. You should think on that a little, and see just how they reflect on _you_."
That had hit a bit too close to home, and Chie couldn't quite suppress a wince.
"Be that as it may, she should be awake soon enough," the red-eyed man continued. "I suggest you see to it that this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Good day."
***
"I suggest you see to it that this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Good day," I said, brushing past the girl.
For someone as reportedly intelligent, she'd really dropped the ball on this. The little brat had been her responsibility, and I didn't believe that Hallard had been ignorant of her actions.
I had other concerns now, though, than the already dealt with issue of the person who'd tasked Clochette with having her 'associates' trap and rape Yumemiya Arika.
Ren's message had reached Aries, Yamada had managed to get through to Miyu ... and we all knew Schwarz was moving. We knew the most likely date of when they would move - what better time to strike than when the whole city would be preoccupied with a large event, like the unveiling of the new Castle and the Otome Graduation Ceremony.
Hopefully, when that time came we'd be ready to reply in kind.
And as for Tomoe Marguerite?
The human mind is an incredible place, capable of experiencing and processing several times that which it consciously is. Which is why a dream during a half-hour nap can sometimes seem to last for hours on end, for instance.
And apparently, I was getting better on working with them. Or placing memories was far easier on a mind than yanking them out was. Painful? I'd imagine so. But not lethal.
Marguerite was the living proof of that.
Though she'd likely wish she weren't.
There were plently of nasty things floating around in my mind, and most of them were actually mine. The ones I'd used in this case were not, and they weren't ones I'd thought I'd ever actually use.
Horrors, nightmares and recollections.
Maybe it was too impulsive a decision. Maybe I'd acted too rashly. Part of me was telling me that it would have been kinder to simply kill her and be done with it but that would have been ... something that could have unpleasant circumstances for the state of things.
And 'kind' was the last thing on my mind at the time.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. A punishment fit for the crime.
Sleep it off, Marguerite. And dream of Genaros.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
"Oi, Yukino!"
No reaction.
"Yukino?"
No reaction.
"Yu-"
Poke.
"-ki-"
Poke.
"-no."
Poke ...
"Ah!" the short haired woman seemed to snap out of whatever deliberations had held her attention so intently. "Haruka-chan! Is something wrong?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Haruka Armitage frowned. Well, frowned more.
"That girl is in Windbloom," Yukino Chrysant, President of the Republic of Aries, said. There was no need to further specify, since it was Haruka who'd originally started referring to their erstwhile mysterious visitor in that manner. Especially since she'd slipped the minders she'd been assigned and almost literally disappeared off the face of the planet. The potential for causing ... problems the near perfect, if younger, double of Shizuru Viola had was significant, and in the sort of state Earl was right then, it wasn't something to be taken lightly.
And now she'd found out that that girl was in the place that, for all intents and purposes, was the powder keg of the present.
Just how she'd found out about this was something that concerned her more, though. Two sources. One from the intelligence operative currently in Garderobe, the other from her cousin ... who should have, by all rights, informed her far earlier since that girl was apparently working with him.
Not three hours later, and the preparations for departure were complete. She may not have been able to intervene in the Lutetian conflict, but she sure as hell would get to the bottom of what was going on in Windbloom.
***
Tumultous. That was one way to describe the events of the past days.
Add to that this most recent kink in the matter, and you could understand why Natsuki Kruger was not a happy headmistress right there and then.
"No changes?"
Yohko Helene shook her head to indicate the negative.
"Nothing. Her body and the nanites are both functioning at nearly optimal efficiency, and it isn't even a coma - there's brainwave activity across the board and the obvious indications that she's merely in REM sleep."
"For four days," Natsuki remarked.
"Whatever it is, it's not something we can do anything about right now. The best bet would be to just ... wait."
***
It wasn't hard for her to put two and two together. Just look for the person with the motive, watch, and ...
"Anything I can do for you, Major?"
If he was surprised to see her there, it certainly didn't show.
Her own poker face didn't let anything through either. Chie Hallard may have been a relatively junior operative of Aries' Military Intelligence, out of neccessity, but she was damn good at her job.
"What did you do to her?"
A frank question to ask right outside of the building the man worked in, but she wasn't in the mood for subtlety.
"Your job," he deadpanned, glaring. "For one thing, Yumemiya-kun is very important to a person of my acquaintance. For another, your precious little Marguerite's actions were reprehensible. You should think on that a little, and see just how they reflect on _you_."
That had hit a bit too close to home, and Chie couldn't quite suppress a wince.
"Be that as it may, she should be awake soon enough," the red-eyed man continued. "I suggest you see to it that this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Good day."
***
"I suggest you see to it that this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Good day," I said, brushing past the girl.
For someone as reportedly intelligent, she'd really dropped the ball on this. The little brat had been her responsibility, and I didn't believe that Hallard had been ignorant of her actions.
I had other concerns now, though, than the already dealt with issue of the person who'd tasked Clochette with having her 'associates' trap and rape Yumemiya Arika.
Ren's message had reached Aries, Yamada had managed to get through to Miyu ... and we all knew Schwarz was moving. We knew the most likely date of when they would move - what better time to strike than when the whole city would be preoccupied with a large event, like the unveiling of the new Castle and the Otome Graduation Ceremony.
Hopefully, when that time came we'd be ready to reply in kind.
And as for Tomoe Marguerite?
The human mind is an incredible place, capable of experiencing and processing several times that which it consciously is. Which is why a dream during a half-hour nap can sometimes seem to last for hours on end, for instance.
And apparently, I was getting better on working with them. Or placing memories was far easier on a mind than yanking them out was. Painful? I'd imagine so. But not lethal.
Marguerite was the living proof of that.
Though she'd likely wish she weren't.
There were plently of nasty things floating around in my mind, and most of them were actually mine. The ones I'd used in this case were not, and they weren't ones I'd thought I'd ever actually use.
Horrors, nightmares and recollections.
Maybe it was too impulsive a decision. Maybe I'd acted too rashly. Part of me was telling me that it would have been kinder to simply kill her and be done with it but that would have been ... something that could have unpleasant circumstances for the state of things.
And 'kind' was the last thing on my mind at the time.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. A punishment fit for the crime.
Sleep it off, Marguerite. And dream of Genaros.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm