The Iudex's day off

Chapter 10 - Lost control

 Wriothesely's words sounded almost like a joke but I wasn't in the mood to laugh.

 Because he was right.

 Neither of us was capable of dealing a physical blow big enough to achieve anything.

 So all that's left is a mental blow.

 Now then.

 Question of the day.

 How do you deliver a metal blow to the ever-so-calm Iudex of Fontaine?

 While I was deep in thought I saw movement from the corner of my eyes.

 I followed along as Wriothesely walked over to Neuvillette, grabbing him by the collar to force him to look up.

 "Look, Neuvillette. I have no idea what the hell is going on here, but if you continue on like this you'll end up hurting somebody."

 A warning growl escaped Neuvillette's lips as one of his hands reached to clench around the Duke's hand.

 "You'll hurt the girls."

 It was as if time had stopped the moment those words left Wriothesely's mouth.

 "You'll hurt the very same children you've tried so hard to protect." He continued.

 And almost immediately I felt the violent energies in the room lessen before completely disappearing.

 Just as things were calming down dozens of footsteps could be heard storming down the stairs.

 Oh oh!

 Before I could stop them the girls were already at Neuvillette's side, two of them jumping directly into his arms.

 The hydro energies in the room spiked once again and just as I was prepared to pull them away, two firm hands wrapped around them.

 "Oh god... I'm so sorry." Neuvillette mumbled, hugging the little ones tightly.

 As soon as he spoke with some clarity, we could all breathe out a breath of relief.

 Tough, the girls went a bit farther than that.

 "Waah!"

 "I was so scared!"

 "Mosieur Neuvillette..."

 One by one they burst out crying.

 More and more of them wriggled themselves into his arms till eventually, none could fit. At that point, they all just threw themselves at him in an attempt to be as close as physically possible.

 "This is our fault!"

 "We broke the rules!"

 "We're really sorry!"

 "We shouldn't have touched the safe!"

 Wait.

 Safe?

 Is that the reason for this whole thing?

 But...

 "Hey, Neuvillette. Isn't that the safe where you keep the bottles of Primordial Seawater I keep finding?"

 The girls all stiffened in an instant and a deafening silence descended onto the room as all eyes turned to me.

 "So... There are bottles of Primordial Seawater secretly circulating on the market and when I collect a few I give it to Neuvillette to store away." I explained quickly.

 Dear Celestia!

 I'm used to attention but these girls are something else.

 Luckily, as soon as I finished speaking they turned back to Neuvillette for confirmation.

 He sighed, shifting his position slightly into a more upright one.

 "I didn't want you meddling with that safe because I can't be sure what would happen if a melusine came in contact with Primordial Seawater. And no, don't even think about it. We aren't going to test it out."

 He sent them a glare noticing their unspoken intentions, but that glare wasn't all that threatening.

 "I shouted at you because I became too worried about what might have happened if you succeeded in opening it. I wasn't angry at you, I was... I was angry about the fact that I let it happen in the first place.

 I gathered you all here because I wanted to keep an eye on you while you were sick. And now I discover that not only did I fail to pay attention, but I also failed to notice someone trying to break open a safe I reinforced with my power."

 So he was incredibly worried and angry with himself and all of that ended up overwhelming him.

 A few more quiet sniffs came from the girls as-

 "Uhm... Monsieur Neuvillette?" One of them spoke up weakly.

 "Yes? What is it, Mela?"

 Luckily, Neuvillette was back to his usual caring self.

 "I hate to interrupt the moment, but Blathine fell asleep." She gently pointed to the other little melusine leaning against her, fast asleep.

 Neuvillette let out a sound that was almost a chuckle as he attempted to climb out from beneath the pile of Melusines.

 "Don't worry. I'll-"

 "You will do nothing." I stopped him.

 "Excuse me?" He looked at me completely baffled as if I had told him he had been fired.

 "You will do nothing before you solve... this."

 I motioned to his still very much draconic traits and he finally seemed to notice.

 Sadly, he wasn't the only one.

 And after you've solved whatever that is, you will give me an explanation." The forgotten Duke Wriothesely's voice suddenly sounded.

 Oh well.

 That's not a conversation I want to be part of.

 I attempted to slip away when I was yanked back by my collar.

 "I will have to kindly ask you to say, Lady Furina." The Duke said.

 And oh, I've never seen a smile this forced in my life.

 Gardes!

 Someone is holding an archon prisoner!

 Sadly no one could hear poor Furina's cries.