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Author Topic: ~Marguerite~ (LILIUM)  (Read 4035 times)

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~Marguerite~ (LILIUM)
« on: March 23, 2018, 01:15:55 PM »
Another kind-of MaaDuu effort. This is a bit long but it's practically a one-shot.

This is a prequel to the musical LILIUM.

I hope you guys enjoy this.

~Marguerite~

/Present at the Ballroom/

Marguerite was giddy as False approached. On bended knee, he offered her a hand—an invitation to dance. Her lord father watched nervously from his seat on the dais, somewhat perplexed by her demeanor. False planted a kiss on her hand before rising to his feet and leading her to the dancefloor. Her mother and father looked at each other with apprehension at how well behaved she was tonight. It was so unlike her usual self and much less like her attitude that morning towards their esteemed guests, the emissaries of the Blood Council.

/Earlier that morning/

False and Lindou sat across the lord and lady of the ancient castle. From where they were seated, they could see a seemingly endless garden with an intricate hedge maze. 

“The Blood Council received your request and sent us here immediately. We must apologize for coming unprepared. The council sensed the urgency in your letter.” False bowed shallowly. “However, as your request was scant in disclosing the nature of your daughter’s symptoms, there was little we could do in preparation.” He laid down the letter on the table. “Normally, the council would refuse to send assistance based on a pro-forma request but as your family has been a generous benefactor of the Clan, they decided to make an exception.”

“We are terribly sorry, Sir.” The lord nervously bowed.

“My lord, please call me False. I am a mere agent of the council. I am not worthy of such titles.” False humbly entreated them.

“Yes. False. We are grateful for the council’s understanding and again, we sincerely apologize, but we ourselves do not know her symptoms completely.” The lord said with a deep sigh. “We only know that she sneaks out of the castle at night. We do not know where she goes.” The lord lied. “We posted guards all around her chambers but she manages to leave undetected.” He lied again. “Even when our agents are able to follow her trail, they somehow lose track of her movements. We could only surmise her activities based on reports from the small human settlements around the castle that some strange incidents have been attributed to our kind.”

“Strange incidents?” Lindou probed.

“It’s nothing serious. Horses were set free, chicks were gathered in strange places, and indecipherable markings were vandalized in chapels.” He lied yet again.

“Is that all?” False inqured.

“… That we know of.” The lord answered, visibly uneasy.

“We need to make an assessment of her to find out if her Chrysalis symptoms are severe enough to warrant confinement at the sanatorium.” Lindou said and asked.
“When can we see her?”

“She is probably on her way here now.” The lady replied, herself appearing quite nervous. “Please excuse her behavior. She can be quite irritable.” The lady apologized in advance.

“Father-dear~! Mother-dear~! Marguerite is coming~!” A voice echoed in the halls of the castle.

“Here she comes.” The lord said as a smile grew on his face.

The young lady skipped into the room, tailed by her handmaids, Jasmine, Clematis and Mimosa. “A lovely morning, Father-dear, Mother-dear!” She curtsied before both of her parents before each giving them a kiss on the cheek. First to her mother and then to her father.

“A lovely morning, dear princess!” The lord answered heartily. Her mother, too replied, but with fewer dramatics.

“We have some friends with us today.”  The lord began to introduce the agents of the Blood Council. “We will hold the ball tonight in their honor.”

Marguerite turned to look at their guests. As soon as she made eye-contact with False she hid behind her father’s chair.

Lindou bowed in the princess’ direction before rolling her eyes when False got up from his seat.

“A lovely morning, princess.” False flashed a smile as he stepped out of his place and towards her. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Instead of greeting him back, she hid further behind her father’s chair.

“I am sorry, False. My sweet daughter is really shy around handsome boys like you." The lord joked.

False politely laughed along.

“Marguerite, these are False and Lindou. They are from the Clan. They will serve as your escorts to the sanatorium.” The lord spoke slightly slower than before.

Marguerite’s expression instantly darkened. “I don’t need escorts because I don’t need to go to the sanatorium. I’m not going there!”

False looked the princess in the eye. “You don’t need to be afraid, young miss. We are all going through the Chr—“

“How dare you address me directly?!” She quickly interrupted him. “You lowlife!”

False was obviously taken aback.

“Marguerite.” The lord muttered under his breath.

“I can smell your blood, vermin!” She went on.

“Marguerite.” Her father called, firmer and louder.

“Your blood smells of rat! You, dha—“

“Enough!” the lord shouted. “You will show proper respect to these vampires. Young but kind, they came all this way to help us! You will apologize to False now!”

“No!” Marguerite stormed out of the room. Her hand maids ran out after her.

False was frozen where he stood. The things Marguerite said took him back eons—to where this all began. He only snapped out of it when he lord turned to him. “I am very sorry. She did not mean what she said. It’s her Chrysalis symptoms.”

“We understand.” False perfunctorily replied, still shaken by her words.

“She is just apprehensive about the possibility of having to leave home.” Lindou assured the lord. “It is not new to us.”

“Please help us.” The lord pleaded.

“Of course.” False said. “Only we, vampires, will look out for one another.”

“Thank you.” The lord answered, relieved. “I hope you are not dissuaded from attending the ball tonight. You are our guests of honor.”

“We will be there. It may be a good opportunity to ease the princess into opening up to us so that we can comprehensively assess her condition.” False proposed to the lord. “However, if we may observe her through the day to see if any symptoms manifest, that may be ideal. Would that be alright, my lord?”

“Yes, of course. She normally spends the day in the hedge maze.” The lord looked towards the window. “Ah. There she is now.”

/Present at the Ballroom/

Perhaps it was False’s composed and gracious demeanor despite her uncouth and brutal remarks that melted her heart and changed her mind about the representative from the Clan and the possibility of passing the Chrysalis at the sanatorium.

The young ladies swooned and the young men jealously watched as he danced with the princess across the hall.

False smiled as the princess pulled him closer as they stepped in time with the waltz. The flames burning the candles illuminating the hall swung and swayed with them,
joining in their dance.

It was only towards the end of the music that they realized that everyone else had stopped dancing and became wallflowers watching them. Marguerite’s pale skin suddenly tinged of pink.

“Do not be embarrassed, dear princess. You are more beautiful than moonlight tonight. They are all envious of you.” False flattered her as the music finally stopped.

“Perhaps, at the end of her Chrysalis, we will have to begin planning an engagement ball.” The lord japed with Lindou who politely laughed.

False let go of one of her hands, took a small step back and bowed to her, in gratitude for the dance.

“T… there are fireflies in the garden during night time.” She said to him nervously. “If you want to see them, I can take you.”

“Please. I want to see them with you” He said as he offered his arm to her.

Her father and mother wondered where the two were off to. The lord looked towards his man-at-arms, silently requesting him to follow them and keep an eye on her.

The guests had begun to go home. The lord and lady of the castle were terribly worried. It had been more than an hour since they last saw their daughter leave the ballroom with False. They hoped that the two were merely enjoying each other’s company in the gardens.

Their worst fears were about to come true.

The castle’s man at arms came back into the ballroom in a rush, covered in blood. “Lord! The princess has attacked the boy! They’re in the garden. Some guards have fallen!”

The lord and lady looked at each other and after a nod to his wife, the lord rushed in the direction of the garden. “Call for all guards.” He commanded as he ran. He was stopped on his way by the sight of two guards bleeding on the ground. One of them was close to dying. “The princess…” He cried as he breathed his last. The lord left them, knowing that the apothecary was on his way. He ran towards the hedge maze where he thought his daughter would be. He hoped that False was still alive. Part of him regretted not telling the council’s agents about this symptom.

/One month before/

“My lord…” An adviser spoke barely audibly. “The princess’ Chrysalis…”

“Yes, I am aware.” The lord answered equally softly. “We’ve all had to go through—"

“No, my lord. Not like this.” The adviser interjected. “Humans and… some vampires.”

“Casualties?” The lord was surprised.

“Yes.” The adviser had to close his eyes. “One of my sons. Just yesterday, my lord.”

The lord turned to his adviser. “I am sorry. You will be compensated.”

“My son was merely wounded. That would not be necessary. But you must do something about the princess. The Blood Council…” The adviser trailed off into silence as
he heard the princess’ voice echoing in the halls, approaching them.

/Present in the maze/

The lord watched in horror as his daughter swung a rapier across False’s chest. It slashed his clothing but did not touch his flesh. False skillfully parried the subsequent swings despite the shock of her sudden violence.

The princess appeared as if she were in a trance. Her face was expressionless. She did not speak. She did not even grunt or shout in the heat of battle.

False could tell she had no training whatsoever in wielding a weapon but that did not make her any less dangerous.

From his peripheral view, False saw a crossbowman take position on a ledge overlooking the maze. The situation was getting bad. “My lord! Leave this to me!” False shouted over that clanging of their swords. “I will save her.”

The crossbowman took his aim at the princess, following orders from the lord to end it swiftly if bad went to worse.

False, though skilled with the sword had difficulty given the unpredictability of his opponent. Just the shock from her sudden change in temperament became a handicap to him. Just a few minutes ago, her smile was beaming at the sight of the fireflies. “Princess Marguerite! Please get a hold of yourself.”

False heard a sudden twang from the direction of the crossbowman. The catch of the crossbow broke, sending a bolt flying in their direction. He pushed the princess aside, the bolt piercing his left arm. Luckily, it did not go any further. Due to the faulty mechanism, the crossbow did not fire at full force. False pulled the bolt out of his arm and tossed it to the side.

He raised he rapier again, engaging the princess in successive small parries until he knocked her weapon out of her hands. As soon as he succeeded, he tossed his own weapon aside so as not to harm her. He managed to grab her arm and briefly grapple with her when to his and everyone’s surprise, she suddenly fell limp and unconscious in False’s arms. From exhaustion, False, himself, fell to the ground but safely cradling the princess in his embrace.

When he awoke, he was in a large bedroom, in bandages and in pain.

The maid watching him was startled by his first grunt.

“The princess?” He asked.

“She was still unconscious as of this morning.” The maid politely replied as she rose to pour water into a glass for him. He thanked her as he sat up. “How long was I asleep?” After receiving the glass, he realized just how thirsty he was and drank the entire glass in one go.

“It’s been three days. You lost much blood. The apothecary was surprised you didn’t die.” The maid took the glass from his hands. “Thank you for saving our princess. Please wait here, the lord and lady wish to see you.” She excused herself and left him alone in the room.

False looked at his bandaged arm. “That was close.” He said out loud to himself. He imagined that Lindou would be stationed by the princess’ side, watching her condition. As expected, Lindou knew their priorities.

“Please, do come in.” False responded to the two knocks he heard from the door. It was Marguerite’s parents. Her mother was in tears as she approached False.

“How is the princess, my lady?” False kindly addressed her.

The lord was impressed by False’s lack of concern for himself. He, by now, was not surprised why the council sent him and Lindou to escort their daughter to the sanatorium. 

“She has been asleep since… what happened. Lindou has been very kind to watch over her. We really must apologize. We did not tell you of her violent tendencies.” She bowed to him deeply.

“So, she has done this before?” False inquired.

The lady merely nodded.

The lord, however, was now more forthcoming. “We have not witnessed anything like what had happened ourselves but we have received reports even from the human settlements. She had almost killed one of our kind. We are really very sorry, False. You were left unaware by our dishonesty.”

“I did not die, kind lord. I will be alright.” False paused and chose his words carefully. “There is no doubt in my mind that she must be brought to the sanatorium. There, we have medicine to manage even the worst symptoms of Chrysalis. But for now, may I see her? It’s such a shame how that night ended. Your daughter was lovely, playing among the fireflies.”

“You are too kind, False.” The lord remarked. “Of course, you may see her. She is just in her room. Likely still under Lindou’s watch.”

“If you may excuse me, my lord, my lady. I wish to prepare to visit the dear princess.” False endeavored them to leave.

“Ah. Yes. Thank you, False.” The lord led his wife out of the room.

False unwrapped his arm from its bandages. The wound from that bolt had completely healed. Not good. He would have to dress it again after he washed up. They shouldn’t know.

After washing up and getting dressed, he left the room. He walked down to the great hall and approached one of the guards stationed there. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for the princess’ room. Can you tell me where it is?”

“I will take you there instead. This way, sir.” The guard offered. Dear sir, I witnessed how hard you tried to stop the princess without hurting her last night. It was amazing how you immediately heard the crossbow fire. The castle guards thank you deeply.”

“Thank you for those kind words, sir. We all live to serve.” False kindly bowed.

After two flights of stairs and stretches of corridors, the castle guard stopped walking in front of a solid wooden door with animal faces carved on them. “The princess room.” He knocked on the door. “Mr. False, emissary of the council, wishes to enter!” He called at the door. He then turned to take his leave.

“Thank you, sir.” False bade him farewell.

Lindou opened the door to the room. “Emissary of the council?”

“Hey don’t ask me. He made that one up for me.” False greeted her back. “Have the lord and lady come by. It’s almost time for the young lady to wake up.”

Lindou stepped out to do as False stepped in. He took a seat on the bed, beside the princess. He brushed the fringes of hair on her forehead aside. “Should I take some of your handmaids with us?” He asked the sleeping girl. He expected no response, of course.

Lindou knocked on the door before letting herself and their hosts into the room.

“We must talk about her confinement in the sanatorium, my lord.” False started. “There is no doubt in our minds that it is utterly necessary that she be separated from the general vampire and human populations. Is it alright for us to try to wake her up?” He politely asked her parents.

They nodded in unison, not wanting to raise any opposition to False after what had happened.

False laid his hand on Marguerite’s shoulder. “Princess, it is a lovely morning. Please wake up.”

Her parents didn’t expect the gesture to wake their daughter up. It had been three days since she fell unconscious and they themselves tried that morning. However, Marguerite opened her eyes slowly and upon seeing False’s face sat up and hugged him.

“Are you okay?” She immediately asked him.

Shock showed on False’s face. “Do you remember… what happened?”

“You… were hit by an arrow… in the garden… right?” Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to recall. "While we were watching the fireflies."

“Ah.” False showed the bandage on his arm. “I am alright, my lady. My wound is healing now. Thank you for your concern.”

Marguerite did not let go of him.

“Ah… dear daughter…” Her father awkwardly interrupted. “It has been decided that it would be best for you if you will pass your Chrysalis at the Clan.”

“Will you be there, too, Mr. False?” She asked softly and sweetly.

“Boys live in a separate dorm, my lady, but I can come visit you if you so wish.” False placed a hand on her forearm, hoping to be released from her embrace.

“I’ll go then.” She very easily gave her assent, much to her parents’ surprise. “Can Jasmine, Clematis and Mimosa come too?”

False looked towards the lord. Fearing that saying no would change Marguerite’s mind, the lord replied. “We will arrange it to be so.”

“Dear princess, I must go to make preparations for our departure. If you would kindly let go of me.” False politely requested.

“Promise to come back to me later.” The princess smiled.

False patted her on the head as she released him. “Of course. I can’t leave this place without you.”

He, Lindou and Marguerite’s parents walked down the corridor back to the great hall of the castle.

“How are you going to transport her to the Clan?” Her father immediately inquired.

“Well, I think we can still all fit in the carriage Lindou and I came here with.” False replied matter-of-factly. “Even with the party increased by four.”

“Are you not going to need additional men… to ensure that no further incidents happen?” The lord asked.

“It is by strict instruction of the Blood Council that only those authorized may know its location.” Lindou informed them. “We are vested with no power to authorize any entry other than those to be confined.”

“But her handmaids…” the lord protested.

“Are in their Chrysalis as well.” False interrupted. “We did not make an exception for them, we only extended your initial request to accommodate them. Trust that we can bring them all safely to the sanatorium.”

“You are all so young…” The lady trailed off.

“Can we at least send a contingent with you to the borders of our territory? To ensure not only your safety but also that of the general population?”” The lord insisted.

False relented. “We understand, my lord. A small contingent of four lightly armed men may escort us to your territorial boundary.”

“Thank you, False, Lindou.” Their hosts bowed.

Later, on the way to the Clan, towards the end of the territory four vampire corpses littered the road. “That was a good workout. I should have asked for more men.”

Lindou handed him his cloak. “If you keep on stalling like this, this trip would extend for more than a week. How long can you keep these girls asleep?”

False laughed. “You worry too much, Lindou. I thought that was Silane’s job! I can keep them asleep for as long as I want.”

“Impressive performance… Master.” Lindou said with a smirk. “When did you get hold of her Initiative?”

“Just after our initial audience with the lord. For as long as I keep the job clean, there shouldn’t be any hitch.” He bragged. “But I must admit, keeping focus during the fight while simultaneously controlling her mind was difficult. It was like fighting a less skilled version of myself.”

"I was referring to the dance." Lindou teased him. False merely grinned.

Lindou looked at the three handmaids they managed to take along with them. “Silane won’t be pleased. I don’t think we will need to take in anymore vampires within the next five decades with these four.”

“We will see. You never know when the need will arise.” False looked at Marguerite’s sleeping form. “I didn’t think anyone could still smell the stench of human blood in my veins. I will have to weaken that sense of smell or something of the sort.” False went on. “Perhaps I should make her averse to boys, too. It’s hard when they get too clingy.”

“Was it not constant companions that you wanted?” Lindou japed. “Were you not looking for love?”

“Only when I know it will last for eternity. Until then, I just need these flowers to populate my garden.”

=THE END=

Comments are welcome.

Thank you very much.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2018, 04:00:35 AM by tru_harmony »

Offline Ruka Kikuchi

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Re: ~Marguerite~ (LILIUM)
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2018, 02:16:46 PM »
Lilium OS, yaaaay! :D

I like this one! ^-^)d
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