Neuvillette's POV
"Neuvillette, that's enough." Wriothesely said as he stepped between me and the girls, blocking my line of sight.
Enough?
Enough?!
Yes...
Enough is enough.
With a flick of my wrist, I held him by his troath and slammed him up against the wall.
"Do not think for a second that me allowing you into my home time and time again gives you any right to meddle in my affairs, Wriothesely. And don't assume that Fontaine's laws will keep me from snapping your throat should you interrupt me again."
He wouldn't have been able to answer even if he wanted to.
He was barely able to breathe at all but at the moment I just couldn't find it in myself to care.
"You are not-"
Ba-dump!
I could clearly feel that single warning heartbeat as a wave of heat and dizziness washed over me.
Wha-
No.
No!
Not here!
Not now!
My hand shook and Wriothesely's neck slipped out of my grasp, causing him to fall to the floor.
"Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!"
But...
That's good.
I need him-
I need him to-
"Duke.. Wriothesely... Take... the girls... to the house I let you stay in... the other night. There.... you will find a crystal.... on the nightstand... in the second-floor bedroom. Break it... and tell Furina to come here... Right now."
I could barely breathe as I spoke.
I could barely contain myself.
And to top this all off, he didn't move an inch, just stared at me warily.
"Now! Go!" I shouted and I finally saw movement.
Sigewinne ran out from among the group, stood in front of him, and slapped him hard.
"Duke Wriothesely!"
That slap coupled with her shout seemed to finally snap him out of the daze he was stuck in.
But before he could make a move, the front door slammed open and Furina stormed in.
"Neu-vil-lette! Are you the damn electro archon?! What the hell is with the stupid lightning sto- Oh gods..."
Furina's POV
That's not good.
Oh, that's definitely not good.
This situation is horrible.
"Kids! Upstairs! Right now!"
I pushed the girls along with a wave of hydro, doing the same for Duke Wriothesely who in the end didn't need all that much encouragement.
As soon as I saw the last of them disappear up the stairs I put a barrier between the floors and another outside the house.
Then, within seconds, I was at Neuvillette's side.
He had slumped down onto the floor the moment the girls were out of sight and was now barely leaning against the wall.
"Neuvillette! Look at me!"
With some difficulty, he raised his head to look at me and-
Oh god...
He was losing control of his form.
Fast.
His eyes which were usually just slightly different than normal were now clear slits, glowing with power, the blue streaks in his hair hardening into horns.
His body was hot as if he was running a fever and oh... How I wish it was merely a fever.
His scales which usually appeared only in small patches under his clothes had already climbed past his collar and I had no idea how to stop it.
This wasn't the first time I had seen Neuvillette slip out from his human form into a slightly more draconic one, but at those times, he was in complete control.
But now, he clearly wasn't.
Just what-
What am I supposed to do?
What can I even do?
His emotions were a mess and I could feel it all.
They were overwhelming not just him but me as well.
What can I-
"Neuvillette... Please..."
It was then that I felt myself getting yanked to the side.
I locked eyes with a pair of steady light blue ones, feeling his hands holding my shoulders firmly.
"Lady Furina. I need you to talk to me. What is going on right now?" He asked.
His tone was steady, calming even.
I forced myself to take a deep breath before starting to speak.
"He's losing control and he needs to be stopped before he does so completely. Otherwise..."
Otherwise even I'm not sure what will happen.
"Alright. How do we do that?"
"I- I- I don't know. I don't- I can't-"
"Lady Furina. Take a deep breath and think. Someone like Neuvillette would have surely told you something to do in case of an emergency like this."
When I heard his words something seemed to click.
Right.
Neuvillette would never leave any uncertain factors that could potentially lead to disaster.
So what is it?
When did he tell me?
"Lady Furina."
"What? Why are you being so serious all of a sudden?"
"Should I at any moment look like I'm about to lose control, you need to give me a blow big enough to knock some sense back into me."
"What kind of ominous nonsense are you saying?"
"It doesn't have to be a physical one."
"A blow."
"What?"
"A strong blow, either physical or mental will do."
Right.
That was it.
But...
"I'm guessing punching him won't do the trick."
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.