Moon Glaive

Chapter 8: Indu

"Do you want to scold me too?"

"Ah, no, no, not at all. I already scolded you enough, and Maxi here has scolded you far more too. I'm sure you've learned your lesson already." Gremio whistled and looked away, clearly not wanting to answer any more questions. Indu assumed he was hiding his anger and not letting it show.

"Reckless, reckless. So. Damn. Reckless!" Maxi gritted her teeth – she, on the other hand, was letting her anger be known to the world.

"I'm sorry..." Indu said meekly as she lowered her head to stare at the ground.

"Why do you make us worry like this, Indu. You almost died. When will you learn not to be this reckless." Maxi's tone softened, her voice sounding as if holding back a sob. "Just when I thought everything was okay, you say something like this."

Maxi was about to start crying again, so Indu gently hugged her and rubbed her back. Gremio crept up behind Maxi and soothingly rubbed her head while she cried into Indu's shoulder. I made her worry so much. How foolish am I?

"Now, now, sweetheart, everything ended up well. We should be thankful that's the case." Gremio said.

Maxi cried for a solid ten minutes before calming down. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her lip quivered, but she looked fine for the most part.

"You met the requirements. Take the dress." A blush crept up Maxi's cheeks. Indu chuckled – Maxi was extremely embarrassed right now. Who wouldn't be after completely breaking down in front of their friend?

Indu grabbed the dress with a thanks and headed into Maxi's room. Axer's robes were easy to remove, and Maxi's dress was even easier to wear, so Indu came out less than two minutes later.

"...wow, so girls can get ready that quickly," Gremio muttered under his breath. Indu couldn't tell if he purposely said that loud enough to hear, but it got a response from Maxi.

"I'm not that slow in getting ready!" Maxi pouted and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not snuggling with you tonight!"

"Ah, my beautiful wife who shines brighter than the sun and radiates ethereality like the moon, you are wise and merciful like the ancient gods – no, even more so. Your loveliness puts nymphs to shame, your battle prowess leaves Count Vasilios seeking your tutelage-"

"Okay, stop, stop, stop!" A blush ran from the tip of Maxi's head to her neck. "I get it, so please stop saying such embarrassing things, especially with Indu here."

"Why not? I'm sure Indu agrees as well?" Gremio looked at Indu, who clutched her stomach from laughing too much as tears rolled from her eyes.

"I agree with Gremio; everything he said about you is true." Indu giggled.

"Not you too!" Maxi was practically crying from Indu and Gremio's teasing.

"But Indu, that dress looks so good on you! You look so cute!" Maxi seemingly forgot about her embarrassment as she eyed Indu up and down.

The chemise stretched halfway up her forearms. It covered everything up to her collarbone, leaving only her feet exposed at the bottom – a modest dress, just as she liked (though she was surprised Maxi owned something like this, as many of her clothes were very...daring, to say the least).

"Please, I only look like your everyday town woman." Indu blushed at Maxi's praise.

"I'm serious! It bothers me when you are so negative about yourself all the time. You're cute and pretty – every boy would want you."

"I'm pretty and cute..." Indu's face darkened a little. She may think so, even Gremio may think so, but they're wrong. They're just being nice. Everyone else thinks I'm ugly, so why would they be any different? I shouldn't take their praise to heart.