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Coil

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For several weeks after the incident at the temple of the eight, the Count has us start our lessons. Because we’re noble children now, we only get the best of the best to teach us. Scarlet and I specifically have to take extra lessons on the duties of being an heir. The Count ends up impressed by our hard work and progress and decides to let us catch up to other people our age. All of us missed out on an important part of growing up here, a rite of passage. Most of us would’ve done it years ago if we were actual noble children.

The rite we had missed out on was choosing our main class. Every person chooses a class when they reach the age of twelve, putting them on a general path that they follow for the rest of their lives. The Count’s class is Ruler, but he started as a Speaker. A person improves their class over time through hard work and the occasional epiphany.

A dour old woman stands in front of me, pouting disapprovingly down at my posture. “Lord Coil! How can you not already know what you want as your class?” My successor teacher gives me a penetrating stare. “A noble should not hesitate in decision making. You should have a choice already made about important things like this!” Her cold eyes make me shiver.

Maybe I’d already know what I want to choose, like she said, if I had had twelve years of childhood to think about it. I give her a lethargic look, trying to seem pathetic. After enduring her look for a few more moments, I sigh.

“Baroness Wilma, I’m just so overwhelmed with options.” My words sound hollow, since I picked what I wanted last night. She rolls her eyes at me, before pulling a small red orb out of her pocket.

“Lord Coil Holdings, use this to choose your class, I’ll give you three minutes.” She places the ball of glass into my hand before walking out of the room. Once the door shuts behind her, I relax.

The red orb glows softly, as if looking back at me. I hold the ball tightly and crush it in my hand. Instead of filling my hand with glass shrapnel the ball explodes into red motes of light. The lights float around me slowly, waiting for me to make my choice.

“Informant, covered by Speaker,” I call out clearly. The dots of red freeze in place before shooting into my chest. Bracing myself, I wait. Eventually an orb of red light floats out my chest and drops into my hand, crystalizing back into the original tool. As soon as the glass ball touches the skin of my palm the door opens as the witch returns.

Her cold tone snaps at me, “Well?” Trying to avoid her gaze, I give a curt nod. “What did you choose, Lord Coil?” Annoyed by her question, I don’t meet her eyes.

“I chose Speaker, like my father.” The word ‘father’ leaves a strange taste in my mouth. “I aim to get to Ruler as well.” Playing the role of the proud noble boy I puff out my chest. My answers are met with a loud hmph.

“Well, now that you’ve chosen yours, I must get your siblings to choose as well.” Nodding to herself, the older woman snatches the orb from me and returns to her place in front of my desk. “Anyways, let us return to the lesson.” Her voice begins to drone as she resumes her lecture.

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Scarlet

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I sit on the cold stone in my private garden, relaxing. Looking over the numerous strange plants, I think over my previous experiments. I have been testing my blessing on seeds of every description. The blessing on its own is wild and follows my emotional impulses, so I’ve been trying to direct it with my class ability ‘Nurture’. So far either the blessing has caused the plant to grow wildly, or Nurture has caused the seed to grow moderately.

Giving the small green seed in front of me a look, I grin. Father gave me a rare flower monster seed this time. My hopes are high for this test. The basic idea is that the monster seed might be able to absorb two different forces at once, unlike normal seeds. Crossing my fingers, I raise my right hand over the dark green lump.

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“Nurture.” My voice is layered, empowered by both the ability and my blessing. The seed shudders in response, wiggling back and forth. After several minutes of minor movements, the seed splits open, revealing a moving mass of roots.

The numerous roots writhe, searching for the soil. After breaking into the ground, the roots start to grow small green shoots on top. The shoots wrap around themselves, slowly creating a bulbous shape. As the shape grows larger leaves sprout randomly along it. Soon enough the mass of plant matter is the size of a medium sized dog.

After spending about an hour watching a plant grow, a small green creature stumbles forward from the now open bulb. My eyes lock with those of a long, dark green lizard. The creature sits in front of me, totally relaxed. Almost the size of a hunting dog, the monster looks as if a bush imitated a large reptile, leaves growing out of its limbs and head like feathers. The new life in front of me licks its root-like front legs with a flower petal tongue.

“Wow,” my wonder slips out. Two berry-like eyes lock on me. The creature jumps to its feet, too fast for me to react. Before I can even move, the lizard has launched itself into the air, jumping at me. I close my eyes and brace for the pain of impact, but it doesn’t come. Instead I feel a heavy thump on my legs. Opening my eyes, I see the green leafbeast laying on my lap, curled up and sleeping. A thump runs through me as I hit the ground. Staring at the starry sky, I let out a loud laugh.

“Guess it worked!”

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The silence in the dining hall is deafening. My usually chatty father is stone faced and silent, staring at the lizard begging between his legs.

You’re so dead. I can almost see Coil’s smirk.

“Oh lovely daughter of mine…” Father begins his interrogation with words that don’t match his expression. “What, and why, is this thing between my legs?” Across the table Zenith almost chokes with both bodies, trying to not do a spit take.

Avoiding my father’s gaze, I mumble quietly, “It’s the monster seed you gave me.” Wow, my dinner is so interesting, I think I’ll just study my plate of noodles for the rest of my life.

“Oh, a monster, huh?” The Count’s grin doesn’t reach his eyes. “And do tell me, why is the monster inside my home, let alone under my table?”

I explain to my plate of food what the scary man wants to know. “It won’t let me out of its sight, I tried to stop it outside.” Finally looking at Father, I hit him with puppy dog eyes.

His face returns to a flat expression. “Why didn’t you close it in a cage or behind a door, Scarlet?”

Indignant, I raise my voice a bit. “I did that! I’m not stupid, the thing just pulls itself apart and finds its way out of anything I put it in!” I cross my arms, trying to suppress a pout.

The serious mood in the room is shattered by my father’s thunderous laughter. “You made a monster that is so attached to you it burrows through furniture.” Tears form in his eyes. “Oh, that is just too funny, I only gave you a seed! I didn’t expect you to make some new monster with it.” Stroking his chin, he mumbles to himself, “I honestly expected to hear that a monster thrashed your garden.”

The Count lifts a meatball from his plate, slipping it to the leafy lizard. The green creature swallows the food in one bite. After giving Father some licks on the hand, the monster trots over to me, and curls up under my chair. Father smiles contentedly at the turn of events.

Distracting myself from the embarrassment I’m feeling, I look over to Zenith. Their two bodies no longer look almost identical, the female body standing out. Her muscles are much more defined than her male counterpart, gained from the constant training she does. She is shoveling her food into her mouth, eating as much as she possibly can. In contrast to his female self, the male Zenith has barely touched his food. His eyes are unfocused while he twirls the noodles in front of him.

“So, Scarlet, what is the name of the little thing you’ve birthed?” Father’s smirk irritates me, but I keep calm.

Thinking over names quickly, I think of one that will annoy my father. “Father, I named him Hack, after you!” I try to keep my face straight and watch my father's reaction.

Instead of the frustration I expected, his smile widens instead. “Excellent, Scarlet! What a noble name for such a lovely critter.” Before my father can continue, a horrid sound comes from under the table.

A loud coughing sound that echoes through the dining hall, quickly followed by a creaking sound. When the sound of splintering wood stops, Father looks under the table. Watching him leaning over in his seat, anxiety wells within me. What if that was Hack? Is he alright? Before my nerves can worsen, Father lifts his head back above the table. His mustache is stretched into a smile.

“I’ll be damned,” he chuckles to himself. “The little bastard paid me for the food.” Father raises his hand, which is holding a large orange fruit. “He just came over and spit this out for me.” Without hesitation, he bites into the strange fruit. “Mmmm! That’s… damn good! Should we call it a hackberry?” Father’s eyes swim with mirth as he makes eye contact with me.

I cover my face with my hands, wishing the lizard would just stay in the garden.