Hadrian Ladrian and his sister left the Marnithok mansion. They boarded their private cruiser that was waiting for them outside without a word to anyone, including each other. What they wanted to discuss from here couldn't be talked about in view or hearing of the servants of the Marnithok family. Although Hadrian figured that it wasn't unique or rare among the generations on what they were planning.
Once inside the cruiser, it slowly lifted into the air and took off into the distance.
Hadrian sat down while throwing out a large sigh. His sister sat near him. Across from both of them were Alice, Dornom, Rictor, Vargol, and Joshua. Joshua was tied to his seat and gagged while staring daggers at everyone in the cruiser.
Rictor looked up from his book he had been reading and asked, "So, how did it go?"
Hadrian stretched out on his seat in a very informal fashion before saying, "She was very interesting. She seemed to have this intimidating presence even though she's younger than us." He lowered his head to look at Rictor and added, "It was like I was facing an instructor." Hadrian was able to keep a straight face through the whole discussion but he did find it odd how Altair was able to carry herself so highly. She didn't have a feigned or forced arrogance about her when she spoke and moved. It was like she had been through a lot more than her age let on.
Celestine had something she wanted to add as well when she said, "I can't wait to see how the other noble families react to her."
Rictor and the others, with the exception of Joshua, smiled wryly at her comment before Rictor said, "Well, that doesn't answer my question. How did it go towards getting close to her?"
Hadrian grinned at Rictor as he fixed his posture, "Convinced her to fight with my sister. We my sister wins then she had to be our friend. So when my sister does beat her in a sparring match, she won't be able to refuse our requests."
Vargol looked at Celestine and asked, "Are you sure Celestine can win that?" He had never seen Celestine in a fight because they were in different grades but he had also never heard her being mentioned in the top students of her grade either. He had seen Altair fight and knew that she was a fierce opponent. With how tricky and odd her movements were he didn't want to end up fighting her as he knew it would only result in pain.
Hadrian smirked at Vargol, "You know who our family is. Do you really think that either of us would lose to an untrained opponent like her?"
Vargol was unconvinced, "I know that your family is famous in the military but she's different. You haven't seen how she fights." He pointed at Joshua while adding, "Joshua ended up being a sandbag for her, you know."
Alice shook her head before she protested, "You are exaggerating. If anyone was turned into a sandbag it was Dornom."
Dornom scratched the back of his head before saying, "She was really fast, stop picking on me."
Hadrian interrupted, "Joshua might be good for his age, but my sister would thrash him. Probably in less than five moves."
Joshua mumbled about while trying to get free from his bonds. It was clear that he took offense to what Hadrian was saying.
Hadrian noticed this before giving him a mocking smile, "That reminds me. Just by looking at Aria you wouldn't know she could defend herself. She looks like a wall flower. Did she really break your nose twice? And you didn't even land one blow on her?"
Rictor shook his head while Joshua struggled even harder to get free. He then looked at Hadrian and asked, "Are you sure you've pinned her down with your challenge? If she tells her servants to block you from showing up then she won't have to do anything of the sort, you know." That was all it would take to ruin the plans they had come up with. If Altair blocked them from visiting her there was nothing they would be able to do. Rictor and the others were relying on her being too proud to do that. But they had no proof that she wouldn't. Since she held the same rank as them they couldn't force her to do anything.
Celestine smirked at Rictor, "She probably doesn't even know that she can block us from meeting her." She had observed Altair the entire time she was in the room. From what she could tell by the body language Altair had shown, it was unlikely that she was aware of that fact. Because of this, Celestine and Hadrian knew that they got her. Although Celestine was originally against even meeting with Aria, she had been convinced that it would be fun to have her around. She was very different from all the nobles she knew, likely because of the memory loss but also because of the way she carried herself and the strange presence they felt from her.
"It felt like she wanted to attack me, you know," Hadrian stated while crossing his arms. "It was really tempting to just fight her right there. It took a lot for me to hold back while lying to her face."
Celestine scoffed at Hadrian, "You were just acting as you figured she predicted. Stop saying nonsense."
Rictor looked at them oddly before he reluctantly stated, "I told you she has a way with words that would surprise you." He set his book down at his side before leaning forward and asking, "So, why did you guys come back so soon? I thought you were going to take care of it today."
Hadrian's gave an exaggerated sigh, "Well, Lady Marnithok summoned her right before we were going to get to the good part. The maid seemed to be a very no nonsense type of servant as well, as she completely ignored me and sis. She didn't even spare us a glance and practically dragged Aria with her." He leaned back before adding, "I half expected Aria to fight the maid with how forceful she was being. Who knew that Aria was weak to such actions."
Rictor looked at Joshua with an odd expression, "Didn't you tell us that Aria is basically ignored by your parents?" He leaned over to pull the gag from his mouth while adding, "Why would she suddenly summon her?"
Joshua glared at Rictor and ignored his question by shouting, "I'll get you for this! How dare you tie me up! I'm the leader of or team! This is—" Rictor gagged Joshua to stop him from continuing to be noisy.
Rictor frowned at Joshua after doing so and said, "Look, you wouldn't shut up when we brought up the idea anyway. You really need to toss away your pride for this. I already explained the plan for her. At least consider the benefits before you keep being angry about losing to her." He saw that the fire in Joshua's eyes still remained there and shook his head in disappointment before he turned back to Hadrian.
Hadrian chuckled loudly at this mini-show before him. This drew Joshua's angry glare towards him, which Hadrian returned a mocking smile. "You should listen to Rictor. You know he's the brain of your group."
Joshua couldn't frown harder as he roared into the gag. No one could understand at all what he was saying.
Hadrian shrugged and said nothing further. Celestine smiled broadly at Joshua due to his claim. If Joshua didn't want anything to do with Altair then it only benefited Hadrian and Celestine. They were more than happy to welcome her into their group as Celestine confidently stated, "Then we'll take her into our group."
Rictor rushed to block this move as he interrupted, "Please don't forget the deal we have. You already have the agreed upon payment."
Celestine tilted her head, "Oh, but isn't your leader against it? I see no problems with taking something you don't want."
That was their real goal about the deal they made with Rictor and his team. Once they received the details on what happened after they agreed to scope out Altair's abilities, they immediately changed their minds. They wanted to take Altair into their team. They had no doubt that having such a wild, unpredictable, and powerful card would be beneficial if played properly.
They couldn't be happier that Joshua was angry because the payment they asked for was too high. Then again, they already received it so it wouldn't matter how much he complained.
Joshua struggled in his bonds and wound up rolling off the chair he was on. He was now facing the bottom of the chair with the back of his head facing everyone else. Hadrian couldn't stop himself from laughing at him.
Celestine took this as the response she wanted and clapped her hands together to draw everyone's attention, "See? It's settled then. You can all back off from her and I'll take her into my own team."
Rictor's expression turned unsightly and he turned toward Dornom and Vargol for help. They could only shrug because they didn't really care as long as they got to see Altair's current capabilities and growth in the future. He looked at Joshua and sighed in resignation. "Fine. As long as you follow through on your end and give us updates on how she is over time then we won't say anything."
Alice moved to untie Joshua but was stopped by Hadrian when he said, "No. He can stay tied up. You're in my cruiser so I would appreciate it if he behaved himself. The only way he would do that is if he stayed as he is."
Joshua turned his angry face towards Hadrian and muffled an angry sound.
Hadrian smirked back at him, "So you want to walk the rest of the way then?"
Joshua decided to stop making noise at that point. He didn't have his communicator on him so if he was forced to walk it was unlikely that he would get home until tomorrow.
Rictor sighed heavily once more as he turned back to Hadrian, "Guess we're giving you stuff for no reason. So, when are you going to set that sparring bout up? I'd like to watch it myself."
Hadrian turned to Celestine who smiled at Rictor while saying, "Tomorrow seems appropriate. I want to invite her to Lothan's party this weekend." The sooner she could get Altair out into the group of those other noble girls the sooner she could be amused at their unsightly expressions. She was sure that Altair would openly mock them to their faces without a care in the world. It was bound to be an amusing sight.
Joshua burst out into muffled laughter at the side which drew everyone's looks. He was laughing so hard in his gag that tears started to form at the edge of his eyes.
Wondering exactly what he found so amusing, Celestine pulled the gag out and he immediately spoke through his laughs, "You idiot… That's right you said… You wanted to invite her to… Those types of things… But you know… My father is intercepting all… Invitations for her… I bet she won't even find out… About the party ever or your invitation to her."
Celestine's smile changed to a thoughtful expression as he put her hand to her chin. If invitations were intercepted before they got to Altair, then couldn't she just give the invitation to Altair herself? "I see. In that case, I'll just give the invitation to Altair directly. Then your father won't be able to stop it."
This brought a grin to Joshua's face. He didn't think of such a way for it to happen but now knew that he would probably need to go to Lothan's party as well. He wouldn't pass up the opportunity to watch that commoner making a fool of herself in front of others. He knew that Altair had not been studying noble etiquette for long and would probably make a fool of herself.
He could then use her performance as an excuse to get her kicked out of his family. He doubted that Rictor was correct in his deduction about how dangerous she was. Still, if she was removed from his family than the threat would definitely be gone so there wouldn't be a need worry about it. He had grown cautious of her because of how she had basically thrown all of his friends out her room by herself.
With all that going through his mind, Joshua stated, "That could work."
The cruiser came to a stop which prompted Hadrian to look at Rictor and the others and say, "We've arrived at the split. Time for you all to leave."
Alice finally untied Joshua who rubbed his wrists and walked out of the cruiser with his head held high. He had been humiliated up till now but wouldn't let that lower his pride at all.
Dornom, Alice, and Vargol walked out after him, leaving Rictor alone with the Ladrian twins.
Hadrian looked at Rictor and asked, "I don't see what you see in that moron."
Rictor gave him a pained smile, "He has potential."
Hadrian scoffed, "Which amounts to ignoring others with potential. It's a fool's errand to stay with him. You'll see that yourself soon."
Rictor shrugged as he stood from his seat, "I'll be the judge of that. In time I hope he can learn to be smarter." He then walked off the cruiser after finishing his statement.
The cruiser closed and took off back into the air. Celestine was watching the others fade into the distance before she asked her brother without looking, "You didn't tell them about that commoner?"
A mischievous smile crept onto Hadrian's face, "Why would I tell them that? If she manages to advance into their class and sweeps them just as she's done to every class so far, that will be enough to make me smile."
Celestine turned her head towards him, "You think she can?"
Hadrian gave her a knowing smile, "I don't know how much of a supposed monster Aria is, but I can tell you that Rosebloom commoner probably won't lose to her. She's an absolute genius in personal combat."
Celestine shared the same knowing smile as she stated, "And soon we'll have both of them with us."
Hadrian Ladrian and his sister left the Marnithok mansion. They boarded their private cruiser that was waiting for them outside without a word to anyone, including each other. What they wanted to discuss from here couldn't be talked about in view or hearing of the servants of the Marnithok family. Although Hadrian figured that it wasn't unique or rare among the generations on what they were planning.
Once inside the cruiser, it slowly lifted into the air and took off into the distance.
Hadrian sat down while throwing out a large sigh. His sister sat near him. Across from both of them were Alice, Dornom, Rictor, Vargol, and Joshua. Joshua was tied to his seat and gagged while staring daggers at everyone in the cruiser.
Rictor looked up from his book he had been reading and asked, "So, how did it go?"
Hadrian stretched out on his seat in a very informal fashion before saying, "She was very interesting. She seemed to have this intimidating presence even though she's younger than us." He lowered his head to look at Rictor and added, "It was like I was facing an instructor." Hadrian was able to keep a straight face through the whole discussion but he did find it odd how Altair was able to carry herself so highly. She didn't have a feigned or forced arrogance about her when she spoke and moved. It was like she had been through a lot more than her age let on.
Celestine had something she wanted to add as well when she said, "I can't wait to see how the other noble families react to her."
Rictor and the others, with the exception of Joshua, smiled wryly at her comment before Rictor said, "Well, that doesn't answer my question. How did it go towards getting close to her?"
Hadrian grinned at Rictor as he fixed his posture, "Convinced her to fight with my sister. We my sister wins then she had to be our friend. So when my sister does beat her in a sparring match, she won't be able to refuse our requests."
Vargol looked at Celestine and asked, "Are you sure Celestine can win that?" He had never seen Celestine in a fight because they were in different grades but he had also never heard her being mentioned in the top students of her grade either. He had seen Altair fight and knew that she was a fierce opponent. With how tricky and odd her movements were he didn't want to end up fighting her as he knew it would only result in pain.
Hadrian smirked at Vargol, "You know who our family is. Do you really think that either of us would lose to an untrained opponent like her?"
Vargol was unconvinced, "I know that your family is famous in the military but she's different. You haven't seen how she fights." He pointed at Joshua while adding, "Joshua ended up being a sandbag for her, you know."
Alice shook her head before she protested, "You are exaggerating. If anyone was turned into a sandbag it was Dornom."
Dornom scratched the back of his head before saying, "She was really fast, stop picking on me."
Hadrian interrupted, "Joshua might be good for his age, but my sister would thrash him. Probably in less than five moves."
Joshua mumbled about while trying to get free from his bonds. It was clear that he took offense to what Hadrian was saying.
Hadrian noticed this before giving him a mocking smile, "That reminds me. Just by looking at Aria you wouldn't know she could defend herself. She looks like a wall flower. Did she really break your nose twice? And you didn't even land one blow on her?"
Rictor shook his head while Joshua struggled even harder to get free. He then looked at Hadrian and asked, "Are you sure you've pinned her down with your challenge? If she tells her servants to block you from showing up then she won't have to do anything of the sort, you know." That was all it would take to ruin the plans they had come up with. If Altair blocked them from visiting her there was nothing they would be able to do. Rictor and the others were relying on her being too proud to do that. But they had no proof that she wouldn't. Since she held the same rank as them they couldn't force her to do anything.
Celestine smirked at Rictor, "She probably doesn't even know that she can block us from meeting her." She had observed Altair the entire time she was in the room. From what she could tell by the body language Altair had shown, it was unlikely that she was aware of that fact. Because of this, Celestine and Hadrian knew that they got her. Although Celestine was originally against even meeting with Aria, she had been convinced that it would be fun to have her around. She was very different from all the nobles she knew, likely because of the memory loss but also because of the way she carried herself and the strange presence they felt from her.
"It felt like she wanted to attack me, you know," Hadrian stated while crossing his arms. "It was really tempting to just fight her right there. It took a lot for me to hold back while lying to her face."
Celestine scoffed at Hadrian, "You were just acting as you figured she predicted. Stop saying nonsense."
Rictor looked at them oddly before he reluctantly stated, "I told you she has a way with words that would surprise you." He set his book down at his side before leaning forward and asking, "So, why did you guys come back so soon? I thought you were going to take care of it today."
Hadrian's gave an exaggerated sigh, "Well, Lady Marnithok summoned her right before we were going to get to the good part. The maid seemed to be a very no nonsense type of servant as well, as she completely ignored me and sis. She didn't even spare us a glance and practically dragged Aria with her." He leaned back before adding, "I half expected Aria to fight the maid with how forceful she was being. Who knew that Aria was weak to such actions."
Rictor looked at Joshua with an odd expression, "Didn't you tell us that Aria is basically ignored by your parents?" He leaned over to pull the gag from his mouth while adding, "Why would she suddenly summon her?"
Joshua glared at Rictor and ignored his question by shouting, "I'll get you for this! How dare you tie me up! I'm the leader of or team! This is—" Rictor gagged Joshua to stop him from continuing to be noisy.
Rictor frowned at Joshua after doing so and said, "Look, you wouldn't shut up when we brought up the idea anyway. You really need to toss away your pride for this. I already explained the plan for her. At least consider the benefits before you keep being angry about losing to her." He saw that the fire in Joshua's eyes still remained there and shook his head in disappointment before he turned back to Hadrian.
Hadrian chuckled loudly at this mini-show before him. This drew Joshua's angry glare towards him, which Hadrian returned a mocking smile. "You should listen to Rictor. You know he's the brain of your group."
Joshua couldn't frown harder as he roared into the gag. No one could understand at all what he was saying.
Hadrian shrugged and said nothing further. Celestine smiled broadly at Joshua due to his claim. If Joshua didn't want anything to do with Altair then it only benefited Hadrian and Celestine. They were more than happy to welcome her into their group as Celestine confidently stated, "Then we'll take her into our group."
Rictor rushed to block this move as he interrupted, "Please don't forget the deal we have. You already have the agreed upon payment."
Celestine tilted her head, "Oh, but isn't your leader against it? I see no problems with taking something you don't want."
That was their real goal about the deal they made with Rictor and his team. Once they received the details on what happened after they agreed to scope out Altair's abilities, they immediately changed their minds. They wanted to take Altair into their team. They had no doubt that having such a wild, unpredictable, and powerful card would be beneficial if played properly.
They couldn't be happier that Joshua was angry because the payment they asked for was too high. Then again, they already received it so it wouldn't matter how much he complained.
Joshua struggled in his bonds and wound up rolling off the chair he was on. He was now facing the bottom of the chair with the back of his head facing everyone else. Hadrian couldn't stop himself from laughing at him.
Celestine took this as the response she wanted and clapped her hands together to draw everyone's attention, "See? It's settled then. You can all back off from her and I'll take her into my own team."
Rictor's expression turned unsightly and he turned toward Dornom and Vargol for help. They could only shrug because they didn't really care as long as they got to see Altair's current capabilities and growth in the future. He looked at Joshua and sighed in resignation. "Fine. As long as you follow through on your end and give us updates on how she is over time then we won't say anything."
Alice moved to untie Joshua but was stopped by Hadrian when he said, "No. He can stay tied up. You're in my cruiser so I would appreciate it if he behaved himself. The only way he would do that is if he stayed as he is."
Joshua turned his angry face towards Hadrian and muffled an angry sound.
Hadrian smirked back at him, "So you want to walk the rest of the way then?"
Joshua decided to stop making noise at that point. He didn't have his communicator on him so if he was forced to walk it was unlikely that he would get home until tomorrow.
Rictor sighed heavily once more as he turned back to Hadrian, "Guess we're giving you stuff for no reason. So, when are you going to set that sparring bout up? I'd like to watch it myself."
Hadrian turned to Celestine who smiled at Rictor while saying, "Tomorrow seems appropriate. I want to invite her to Lothan's party this weekend." The sooner she could get Altair out into the group of those other noble girls the sooner she could be amused at their unsightly expressions. She was sure that Altair would openly mock them to their faces without a care in the world. It was bound to be an amusing sight.
Joshua burst out into muffled laughter at the side which drew everyone's looks. He was laughing so hard in his gag that tears started to form at the edge of his eyes.
Wondering exactly what he found so amusing, Celestine pulled the gag out and he immediately spoke through his laughs, "You idiot… That's right you said… You wanted to invite her to… Those types of things… But you know… My father is intercepting all… Invitations for her… I bet she won't even find out… About the party ever or your invitation to her."
Celestine's smile changed to a thoughtful expression as he put her hand to her chin. If invitations were intercepted before they got to Altair, then couldn't she just give the invitation to Altair herself? "I see. In that case, I'll just give the invitation to Altair directly. Then your father won't be able to stop it."
This brought a grin to Joshua's face. He didn't think of such a way for it to happen but now knew that he would probably need to go to Lothan's party as well. He wouldn't pass up the opportunity to watch that commoner making a fool of herself in front of others. He knew that Altair had not been studying noble etiquette for long and would probably make a fool of herself.
He could then use her performance as an excuse to get her kicked out of his family. He doubted that Rictor was correct in his deduction about how dangerous she was. Still, if she was removed from his family than the threat would definitely be gone so there wouldn't be a need worry about it. He had grown cautious of her because of how she had basically thrown all of his friends out her room by herself.
With all that going through his mind, Joshua stated, "That could work."
The cruiser came to a stop which prompted Hadrian to look at Rictor and the others and say, "We've arrived at the split. Time for you all to leave."
Alice finally untied Joshua who rubbed his wrists and walked out of the cruiser with his head held high. He had been humiliated up till now but wouldn't let that lower his pride at all.
Dornom, Alice, and Vargol walked out after him, leaving Rictor alone with the Ladrian twins.
Hadrian looked at Rictor and asked, "I don't see what you see in that moron."
Rictor gave him a pained smile, "He has potential."
Hadrian scoffed, "Which amounts to ignoring others with potential. It's a fool's errand to stay with him. You'll see that yourself soon."
Rictor shrugged as he stood from his seat, "I'll be the judge of that. In time I hope he can learn to be smarter." He then walked off the cruiser after finishing his statement.
The cruiser closed and took off back into the air. Celestine was watching the others fade into the distance before she asked her brother without looking, "You didn't tell them about that commoner?"
A mischievous smile crept onto Hadrian's face, "Why would I tell them that? If she manages to advance into their class and sweeps them just as she's done to every class so far, that will be enough to make me smile."
Celestine turned her head towards him, "You think she can?"
Hadrian gave her a knowing smile, "I don't know how much of a supposed monster Aria is, but I can tell you that Rosebloom commoner probably won't lose to her. She's an absolute genius in personal combat."
Celestine shared the same knowing smile as she stated, "And soon we'll have both of them with us."
