The Adventures of Bao's Characters: Black Cross Final Examination
[[The time setting for this is supposed to happen sometime during the time skip/clean up as mentioned by Yuetchi in the G.A. Just something I figured I'd do to bide the time and hopefully restart my activity in here.]]
Friday evening was the best time to leave Mahora.
Ren had acquired the dean's permission to leave campus for the weekend back up to the Aefentid Estates - her home - in Sapporo along with the company of Alba (and Ferri) Grey. After trying to find a solution to the testing issue, the former instructor finally came up with one: to return to her school of Archery in order to safely test Ferri.
"Arigatou-gozimasu," thanked Ren as she took the two train tickets and the change from the clerk. She tucked the change into her coat pocket and walked back to the bench where Ferri was currently sitting. Handing her the ticket, they both remained seated on the bench observing the empty and quiet station. "You might have wanted to bring more Grey-san. The weather in Sapporo can get fairly rough, you should know that." Ren readjusted her scarf around her neck and stuck her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. Even though it was early winter, here in Tokyo temperatures had plummeted to far below normal and knowing how far up north Sapporo was, the weather wouldn't be any better if only worse.
Ferri glanced at Ren's warmer wear in comparison to her own sweat jacket and jeans. Sure it was cold although it wasn't anything too horrible since her body was well adjusted to the weather. At least her other form. Human bodies were much weaker to extreme temperatures despite coming from England and growing accustomed to the weather there. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, shrugging as if the cold did little to hurt her. "I've fared worse. I brought some extra clothes in case however if it gets really cold."
Ren chuckled softly and leaned back on her arms, stretching her legs out in front of her. "Trust me, you're going to regret it." She straightened up however hearing the faint whistle of the train and stood up to pick up her bow case. Leaning out over the edge of the platform, her eyes did not deceive her. The train was coming in and she motioned for Ferri to follow. Thankfully the train was warmer than outside, but not a whole lot more than maybe a ten degree difference. And once the temperature fell low enough, cold was just cold. She took a seat closest to the door, finding it comforting to lean against the railing for the ride up north. Their car was empty when they came on and it stayed that way for a while. Taking this chance, Ferri pulled out her hooded sweater and changed into that before switching to Alba who was glad to let her other rest from the cold for a while. "There, I think we'll be alright for now."
"It won't help you much Grey-san. It's still going to get relatively cold by the time we get there. And we still have a ship to catch and another train before we arrive."
Alba wouldn't know just how badly she would need those clothes until she got to Sapporo...
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"Urgh... Holy cow this is cold!" exclaimed Alba as they stopped at the bus stop near the estates in Sapporo. And just as Ren had predicted, the air was starkly freezing and stung their skins like needles. Even the instructor had to admit the weather was different than before and she glanced over at her poor student who was doing her best to even stay warm. Readjusting her case on her shoulder, she grabbed Alba's arm and tugged her in the direction of the estates.
"Come along, let's hurry before I'll have to end up carrying you back and then the both of us dying from hypothermia."
At the gates, Ren wasn't surprised to find them locked - after all it was well into the night before the both of them had arrived. She fumbled for the keys in her pocket, unlocking the gates and letting Alba in. Surprisingly enough the flora had withstood the onslaught of bitter cold and some even looked to be flourishing in the icy weather. She would have to thank and pay whoever was keeping the place so well after all the years she had been gone from here, but it was certainly a relief knowing that it hadn't gone to waste like the last time she had been gone for so long. Climbing up the steps to the great front doors, she unlocked the doors and pushed one open with some difficulty - they had been heavier than she imagined. Alba still couldn't comprehend how a single elf like her had rebuilt and managed such a large piece of land all by herself for so many years.
One of the night maids inside looked up startled to hear the front doors open. No one had ever come in this late of night but when she approached the two that had entered and shined her candle upon them, she nearly dropped it and clasped her hand over her mouth. "O-Ojou-sama!"
"I apologize for not sending an advanced notice. I'm not staying long this time, just for the weekend. A special case involving a former student of mine." Ren was helping Alba out of her jacket and hanging it up before taking off her own coat and scarf. "Is there anyone else up at this hour or is it just you Fushina-san?"
"There may be a few others awake, but none of which can be of much service. Should I wake the others?" Ren shook her head and held her finger up to her lips as if to make a "shh" expression. "You all have done well in keeping this place orderly and that is more than I can ever repay you all. Let them sleep in so turn off their alarms quietly. It's the least I can do for now at this late an hour." The maid nodded and quickly retreated down the hall towards the servants quarters and with her own magic summoned a ball of light to lead her way down another hall. Alba was glad that the entire mansion was set at a comfortable temperature although when passing a couple of exposed windows she could feel the chill run through her body and up her spine.
Ren led Alba to one of the guest rooms where she finally found some refuge and fell on top of the blankets without even taking a second to cover herself properly. Sighing inwardly, she helped the poor girl get settled in comfortably before stepping out and shutting the door quietly. Much to her surprise, Fushina had returned and smiled towards the faithful maid. "I take it you've already turned their alarms off?"
"Yes Ojou-sama. Why though for this one student?"
"Because she actually came to look for me after more than a decade of me being gone. She has some determination and I think I owe her some proper closure to her time here." Ren turned in the direction of her room but before she could, she found the maid hugging her tightly around the waist. Of course after not seeing her for so many years, a hug for one of her dear friends was the only thing she could think of. "Nonetheless, welcome back."
"It's nice to be back. Now you go ahead and finish up your things and get some rest Fushina-san. It might be a long day tomorrow."
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Alba woke with a start, finding herself laying on her side and with the blankets covering her. She sat up slowly and wondered how she managed to get under the covers when she clearly recalled falling asleep on top of the bed before she could really do anything else. Her eyes scanned around the room and she found a set of neatly folded clothes on the table with a neatly written note on top.
Grey-san:
Wear this set of clothes after you've finished showering. I suggest you step outside of your room right now if you have any questions.
-Aefentid
How odd. Alba went over to the door and opened it, finding the same maid from last night who had greeted them pass by at that exact moment. Fushina glanced at the rather haggard looking Alba and giggled quietly to herself. "Good morning Grey-sama. You look like you could use some tidying up."
Alba blinked and rubbed an eye, nodding slowly at the woman. In fact she was thinking about asking for directions to the bathroom but hadn't had a chance to ask that since waking up and opening the door. She still couldn't understand how Ren worked things out so... precisely like that. Telepathy? Not likely. Did she have some hidden camera in the room for that? But then how in the world would the note be there precisely the moment she woke up? And Alba was a rather light sleeper so any noise would have woken her up on the spot. Shaking her head inwardly, she went back to pick up the pile of clothes she had been given by the instructor and followed Fushina down the hall. Despite the size of the mansion, everything looked simple, clean, and orderly. There were few things on the walls, aside from the occasional mirror or a depression in the wall where a small vase of flowers were set. All in all, a very easy-to-manage place.
No wonder it didn't take that many people to keep it up while Ren was gone.
Instead of leading to showers, Fushina led Alba down a hallway and then appeared to be a completely different area of the mansion. Except this wasn't the mansion but instead part of another area on the estates. And this led to some open air hot springs. The elf's jaw would have dropped to the ground if she hadn't placed her hand on it to keep it closed. Last time she recalled there weren't that many hot springs around Sapporo at least those she knew of. So how was it that she hadn't seen this before when she practiced archery here?
"There are a few things you might find useful down to the left. I believe Ojou-sama is also here right now - she tends to bathe here instead of using modern conveniences." Fushina bowed and left Alba to her own devices. Alba went to the left as directed by the maid, finding a basket and a couple of towels inside. It felt like a good time to soak especially with this cold weather. Despite the chill in the air, she found that the steam from the hot springs manage to stave off a majority of the cold air and undressed before slipping a towel around herself.
Sure enough, she found Ren sitting on one of the boulders with her feet in the water. She sat there staring out over the surface of the water, leaning on both of her legs. Alba wondered what the other was thinking about until the night-haired elf noticed her presence. "Ah, I was wondering when you would wake up."
"Not too long ago. I hope you weren't waiting for me to come."
"On the contrary, I just came in. I finished making breakfast for the servants before coming here." Ren slipped into the water this time, letting the warmth envelop her entire body as she sunk down to her mouth. Alba slipped in along with her and sat there awkwardly, leaning against one of the rocks. She felt strange being so exposed near the instructor but the other didn't seem to care. The silence that followed weighed heavily on her and she struggled to try and think of anything to make conversation. After all, it had been years since she last saw Ren. "So how were you able to install this in your place?"
"Actually I built it from natural elements. Albeit it took forever to manage but after some work I managed to get everything set correctly in place. The water, the rocks, even the heat I redirected it somehow from the elements to form this. It actually benefits the surrounding flora as well, providing shelter for the more delicate plants from the sting of some winters and maintaining a consistent environment. Plus it cleans itself so that makes it one less burden for the servants here."
"Built it from the elements? But you don't have the ability to control them, do you?"
"Nope, believe it or not, this was built from my archery."
Okay, now that was a bit harder for Alba to believe. How could you make and move boulders with a bow and arrow? That didn't seem possible in any way and the more she tried to comprehend the logistics of it, the more she lost her grip on the matter. Instead of questioning it, she simply went back to where she was. There were plenty of things she didn't know about Ren - making her the strangest mystery to solve in her lifetime.
[[I'll finish this up/edit it tomorrow maybe. o-o]]
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