The bird at my window was terrified from the sound and look of it. I went to my window and was shocked to see Orsted out there, but now it makes sense as to why the bird is terrified.
I pushed the window open, and the bird hid in my hair confusing me. "I'm gonna go out there." I warned it and it still stayed so I rolled out of the window.
Orsted went to catch me, so I didn't use my wind magic and he easily caught me. "You are alive." He hummed as he repositioned me and saw the bird hiding in my hair.
He went stiff when he felt my forehead. "Yeah, I'm a radiator." I sighed.
"Radiator?" He asked me.
"Lava machine." I explained.
Orsted looked slightly worried making me panic. "You can turn it off." I told him.
"Where's the button?" He lifted me up higher, and I laughed.
"Already pressed it, you need to wait." I grinned.
"I see. I came into town since you didn't come to visit, I now have my answer for why you didn't show up." Orsted gently held me in his arm.
"Didn't you say you would just wait for me before?" I mumbled confused and a little sleepy, he was really warm.
"I can't since it is for your birthday." Orsted informed me and my eyes widened.
"A gift?" I asked a little worried.
Orsted nodded. "I took notice that you were sad over the blue flower dying that I gave you, then the cherry blossom tree I gave you on your eighth birthday." He mumbled unsure as to why I didn't really like it altogether.
He literally pulled a cherry blossom tree out of the ground or someone's garden and brought it to me. I saw the drag trail go on for a while.
I had said about how I always wanted to see one up close since there were many at the hospital, but I could only glance at them from the window.
I got really hyped one day when a petal flew into my room and landed on my hair. I definitely didn't scream in joy scaring everyone in the hospital.
I really did love the gift, but I felt sorry for the tree, so in the end we planted it in the field we always meet at, but it seemed to have died causing me to lose my smile making him panic a little.
I could tell because of the small twitch of his hand. I have been able to read him as time went on.
Orsted put his hand out in front of me and I saw in the middle of it a bracelet that looked to be made of scales leaving me in awe. They were all white and when the light shone on them it gave off a light with all the colours of the rainbow.
"This looks..." I was in awe.
"I can take it ba-" Orsted went to grab it, but I turned away with it once I grabbed it confusing him.
"You gave it! It's mine!" I yelled.
"It is." He nodded.
I turned back then hugged him around his neck and he was shocked. "Thank yo-" I let out as I fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
Orsted gently moved me and tried to take the bracelet, but I had a tight grip on it. "I could break her if I use force." He admitted so he let go and then looked up at my room.
He knew it would be a bad idea to go inside, but the thought of me staying outside for the night was not one he was going to allow.
Orsted easily got into the room through the window I used. He ignored those two and didn't even glance at them as he placed me down in my bed. He made sure I was covered as I snuggled more into my bed and held onto the bracelet still.
He looked down at me as the door to the room was flung open. Ghislaine was on full alert and didn't shout or anything to wake us up in case he kills us. She felt that he was here to bring disaster to everyone while really he just wanted to give me a bracelet.
Orsted glanced at her. "A beast woman, your instincts must have told you I'm here, you are brave for opening that door." Orsted admitted.
"Why are you here?" She hissed as he turned from her to look down at the bed.
Orsted was used to everyone being aggressive toward him, but this time he felt happy about it. He knew there were people around me who want to protect me.
He left through the window and took off so quickly that Ghislaine wouldn't be able to track him down, not like she wanted to.
She didn't speak of that incident, but we noticed the next few days she seemed quite protective of us all. She just seemed to have been rattled by something and that's shocking since to us she is the strongest person we know.
When I was well enough to take part in the lessons again Rudeus quickly noticed my new bracelet. "What is that?" He asked me.
"Oh, this?" I held up my hand with the bracelet on it, and Rudeus found it cool.
"Are those actual scales?" Rudeus asked me.
"No blue!" I answered, and he laughed seeing I have no clue, but was just happy to have received it.
"I don't like it." Eris groaned, and she seemed to be glaring at it.
"Why?" I asked disappointed.
"I don't know, the feeling I get..." Eris mumbled. "You shouldn't wear."
"I'm wearing it forever." I decided.
"HUH?! WHY?!" She complained.
I took out the earplugs she gave me, and she was shocked. "I have and use them." I informed her. "I treasure them since they are from you, so I will do the same with this, it's from someone precious."
"Well, of course, you treasure something I give you." Eris mumbled then turned away. I could see in the reflection of a window a huge grin on her face making me smile, but I do wonder why she got such a bad feeling from the bracelet.
I just shrugged it off since this is from someone really precious to me.
Even Ghislaine stared it down, but my pout made her stop.
I was upset when I saw Orsted again since he actually expected me to never wear it. "You gave me it!" I yelled. "I'm wearing it! Even if you tell me not to!" I declared.
Orsted stared at me like I'm very confusing and he has mentioned many times before that my behaviour around him is weird. He's weird himself, he acts like I'm supposed to attack him any second whenever we meet up, so I hug him more now.
"Expect love from me! Only that!" I ordered and he slowly nodded making me grin.
When it was Rudeus's birthday I went running around the house to find him since I just finished the present I have been preparing for him. He was peeking into some room, but that's just a common hobby of his now.
"Happy birthday Rude!" I exclaimed as I held out a new figurine to him. He flinched for some reason then we heard some smashing in the kitchen he was looking into.
Rudeus sighed then took the stone tablet the figures are on and he was in awe. "It's...everyone." He mumbled.
It was a big figurine of all the people we love and care about. "No, it's your motivation." I informed him.
'But panties are.' Rudeus's mind said, and I motioned him to move it. 'I CAN DESIGN ROXY'S PANTIES! MY SISTER KNOWS ME WELL...Wait, my nine-year-old sister, made this design on purpose for me?'
'You like panties for some reason.' I explained confused as to why he does.
"My sister, thank you!" Rudeus exclaimed. "But where are we?"
"Oh, here." I opened my hands to have our figurines float up using my wind magic. "I made them separate, so we can put them together when we meet up if we ever do go different ways."
Rudeus looked at me upset. "Your mind keeps talking about Hankypanky." I explained. "I don't want horn near me and you have people you want to...live with."
"I see." Rudeus grinned as he took the version of me and I took his one.
We put them together to show them hugging each other 'This is the sweetest thing anyone has done for me...Man, I really should have paid attention to my siblings. They kicked me out that night. I ruined that connection while Ceres desperately wanted one, but couldn't get it.' I heard him think.
'If we traded lives in that world it would have been better for the both of us.' He sighed.
I smacked his head surprising him. "You were still lonely in yours. I don't want it. You would have suffered in my life, so no I will keep all that trauma, thank you." I explained and he laughed making me laugh.
We then heard talking from the kitchen and I also listened in with Rudeus.
"I'm sure they suffer for being from a branch house." I heard the maid say confusing me.
'I suffered?! WHEN?!' I was having a mental breakdown. Rudeus was patting my head making sure I don't go over the edge and cry.
'She's like a kettle.' Rudeus thought. 'I wonder if they are talking behind our backs. I'm confident the maids will have more work once I'm done sobbing into my pillow.'
'Petty.' I commented.
'I am.' He agreed.
"We have to get it ready for Rudeus's tenth birthday and Ceres had her ninth recently, but I wasn't able to give her the gift then!" Eris cheered surprising us. "If only they had been born into a different family."
That part made us both froze and a memory came up that I never knew how to confront.
Rudeus could tell and got me out of there. He held my hand as he took me to another part of the building, but we ended up outside in the rain. "Did I make Eris suffer because I was born?" I asked Rudeus.
"No, not at all!" He reassured me.
"But she said...I'm happy, I was born this time." I admitted and he was surprised. "Even in my last life I was glad I was born since I got to experience such fun games, but even now people are asking why I was born into this family?"
"WHO?!" Rudeus yelled with anger and I was the one surprised this time. 'Sorry that anger wasn't directed at you, but the ass who asked that...who was it?'
He made fire magic and it got extinguished by the rain immediately making him look devastated and I laughed.
"Well, it was my father." I mumbled.
"You met him once, right?" He asked me.
"Yeah, it was raining like this. I thought it was her who was going to visit me that day then a man who looked very similar to me walked in and I went to greet him..." I sighed and remembered back to the only thing he ever said to me.
"Why were you born into our family?" The person who was called my father asked me and I couldn't answer him.
The look he was giving me made it seem like I had ruined everything just by existing making my want to not cause suffering even bigger, he just left disappointed and hurt in the end.
'What was I supposed to say? Was dying the thing he wanted me to do like what mother wanted?' I asked Rudeus in my mind.
"Him dying would be the better one." Rudeus mumbled making me panic. "Anyway, Eris feels like you're suffering because of what family you were born into."
"Really?" I asked hopeful.
"Yeah, we don't have a good reputation." He sighed. "So don't worry about it."
"Will do thanks!" I grinned. We both went into the other building and once we went past a maid she threw towels on our heads trying to get us dry.
Rudeus was loving it for some reason while I just wanted to be left alone, I then noticed four flags on the wall high up. 'What are those?' I asked Rudeus in my mind since half of my face was being smothered with a towel still.
'I think I know what you're talking about'. Rudeus thought and I saw they were attacking his face with the towel to. 'Apparently, the Boreas family can't be too public about us. Paul's full name is Paul Notos Greyrat. The Notos are one of the four main Greyrat families. Their head is Paul's brother.'
"Fam-!" I got cut off by the towel.
'No, he's scummier than Paul, don't go near him!' Rudeus warned me.
'Worse? You can get worse than that?' I asked shocked.
'Yes anyway, they want to replace him and as members of the Notos bloodline being under Boreas protection could invite unwelcome misunderstandings, so we both can't have big parties like Eris did for her tenth birthday, they must feel bad about it.' Rudeus explained to me.
We were finally able to escape the towels and went to play what Rudeus called badminton. He taught me it one day, and I'm bad at it, I wish that was a pun, but no it wasn't it's just the truth.
I whacked the ball against the wall, and Rudeus gently hit it back and it went flying past me. "Na!" I exclaimed annoyed then used my wind magic on it.
Rudeus had to go quickly to hit it back in time. "That is unfair Ceres! You need to use your natural ability!" He yelled.
"This is natural." I retorted.
He was left exhausted and I laughed. 'It looks like they are planning a private tenth birthday party for me.' Rudeus informed me in his mind as I sat next to him. 'It's not really a tear-jerker.'
'Why are you trying to make everyone cry? Don't be a villain.' I demanded.
'But they are cool.' Rudeus retorted.
'They are.' I hummed excitedly.
We were walking around where there were no walls, but a fence so we could look out onto the town. I can send my wind magic out so I could hear the rain, it was peaceful and nice as I closed my eyes.
I leaned on the fence and hummed happily, and Rudeus joined me. "We've been in this world for almost ten years now." He mumbled.
"Nine." I retorted.
"Yes, little Ceres you can still count." Rudeus patted my head and then laughed.
"I want to live for 2000 years!" I declared and he was confused. "I want to see everything still, beyond the mountains! Sea! Sky! That's why I learned all those languages."
"That's quite the dream." Ghislaine spoke up and grinned at us nervously when we turned to her.
It was an awful smile even I could tell she had something planned and it was me.
I looked to Rudeus and he looked to me, but we decided to act ignorant of it all. It was funny as she desperately tried to keep us in Rudeus's room, each time we tried to leave she would freak out.
When there was a knock at the door she sighed in relief.