image [https://i.imgur.com/f5EXvxb.png]

Carmen slowly opened her eyes as the following morning came, her face now illuminated by an orange glow peeking through the window. She sat up on the couch and looked around, not finding this environment familiar in the slightest.

‘Where am I?’

She averted her gaze to the left and took note of the quaint little cabin walls. Suddenly, a door across the room opened up and a shirtless man walked out, shrouded by the bathroom's steam. Upon closer inspection, he was clean shaven, his hair cut to a normal length and wrapped in a little bun, and his physique was incredibly chiseled. Despite the muscular tone of his chest, there was a long scar that raced down to his stomach. It still seemed fairly fresh, barely a year old.

Feeling a little on edge, Carmen slowly backed away on the couch as she didn't recognize who this was. The man walked forward until the light from the fireplace revealed his face.

“V-Varric!?” She asked with a confused expression.

“Who else would it be? Little brat.” He replied in his usual annoyed tone.

Varric walked past her and into his kitchen, grabbing a small cup of water. Carmen was shocked by his sudden change in appearance, caught off guard by his surprisingly good looks. She eventually came back to her senses and posed a question.

“Where am I?”

“My place, or rather, one of my places. You fell asleep outside so I brought you here.” He replied, taking a quick sip from his cup.

“Oh.. I see.”

Carmen continued to look around, finding it interesting that someone like Varric Clover would live in such a cute little place.

“Will you stop gawking at my cabin and take a bath already? You stink…” Varric barked, pointing his finger towards the bathroom.

She smelled her arm and grimaced as the stench attacked her nose. Wasting no more time, Carmen quickly got up and walked to the bathroom, closing the door gently.

The room was surprisingly tidy and on the furthest wall was a little tub filled with steaming water. She undressed and hopped into the soothing, soapy water. Even though the tub was quite small, having barely enough space for her to stretch her legs out, Carmen couldn't help but relax from the water's warmth. She stared at the ceiling and pondered many thoughts as the the minutes ticked away. Once she finished cleaning herself, Carmen noticed that there weren’t any towels on the nearby rack.

“Varric! Do you have towels!?” She yelled out, hoping he could hear her from inside.

Without warning, the door flew open and Varric stood there holding two towels, looking directly at her naked body. Carmen quickly covered her lady parts with her hands and squealed.

“What the hell!! Don’t you know how to knock!?” She exclaimed, angrily blushing from embarrassment.

“Oh please, I have no interest in that underdeveloped body of yours. Are you going to take these towels or what?” He replied, showing zero interest in her birthday suit.

Carmen quickly snatched the towels out of his hands and slammed the door in his face. She dried herself off and after getting dressed, she walked towards the kitchen. As she continued to dry her silver hair with one of the towels, Carmen glared at Varric with an annoyed expression.

“Come over and eat.” Varric said, his tone incredibly short as he sat at the table.

Carmen laid down her towel and reluctantly pulled out a chair. In front of her was a bowl of simple porridge and a cup of water. Carmen picked up the spoon and dipped it into the thick, piping hot brown soup. Once she took a bite, she noticed the large scar on Varric’s exposed chest again, growing more curious about it.

“Where did you get that?” She asked with great interest.

He sat his cup down and looked at Carmen with a blank expression.

“Where do you think? That damn sister of yours gave it to me… It’s the only scar I’ve ever gotten in my life.” Varric replied with an annoyed tone, remembering his defeat to Azhane during the war a year ago.

“Oh.. Right, sorry.”

“What’re you apologizing for? I’m the one that thought it would be a good idea to fight that woman.”

“Why did you think it would be a good idea? Do you guys not already know each other’s strength?” Carmen questioned, growing curious about the respect between Calamity class Vestas.

“We do, but unlike the other Vestas in my class, I’m not afraid of the challenge. I always like to know where I stand amongst the many others out there.” Varric said, his voice sounding slightly excited by this conversation.

“And believe it or not, we Calamity class Vestas rarely, if ever, fight each other. It would cause too many problems politically and environmentally. So the moment I was given the opportunity to fight one of the most feared Vestas in my class, I couldn’t wait to take her on.” He added, now reaching for the newspaper on the opposite side of the table.

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“I guess that makes sense. Now I see why they don’t have a ranking for you guys, since there’s no way to see how you all stack up against each other.” Carmen replied, enjoying her surprisingly tasty bowl of porridge.

“A ranking would be entirely pointless because you can’t quantify our strength based on resonance level alone. Our range of abilities have too much utility and unless we fight each other, there’s no way to see who truly counters who.”

“Have you fought anyone else?” Carmen wondered, feeling a little surprised that Varric was being this chatty.

“Besides Azhane, I’ve fought Von Melrose and Jonn Ravenfell. Von is almost as strong as me, but my barriers are too much for him to overcome. Jonn Ravenfell was… Well.. Let’s just say that I had to retreat from my mission because of him.”

Slight irritation leaked into Varric’s tone as he remembered that moment in his life.

“Oh wow, was he that strong?”

“Fuck yeah he is. I’d say he and your sister are pretty neck and neck as far as strength goes. Only difference is that he actually knows how to fight. He’s definitely a Blade Monarch for a reason.”

“Wait, what do you mean by he knows how to fight? Didn’t you say he’s the same strength as my sister?”

Carmen was confused by his statement, not knowing the difference between the two.

“The thing that makes your sister so strong is her ability and her Manifest. Sure she knows how to utilize her abilities to the absolute fullest, but her Manifest pretty much operates on its own. It’ll do everything in its power to fight for and protect her. You take those two things away and she’s as useless as a doorknob. No talent for combat at all.” He replied with a nonchalant tone, putting the newspaper down and looking Carmen in her eyes.

“But Jonn Ravenfell, he’s a true fighter. There isn’t a Vesta alive that can beat him in a close quarters fight, abilities or not, and it isn’t even close. Then you throw in his powers and high resonance level on top of that? Pfft, you’ve got a dangerous man. It’s honestly comical how unfair of a fight it would be.” He added with a snicker, taking one last sip of water.

“Huh, I never thought about it like that. Interesting…”

“Power isn’t everything. Your abilities can be incredible, but if you don’t train your body and learn the fundamentals of combat, what good is it? Someone with more knowledge and experience than you will pick up on that quickly and easily exploit it. Never forget that.”

"Got it. Are you ever going to challenge anyone else?" Carmen asked.

Varric sat his cup down and took a brief moment to think.

"I dunno, maybe. There's only seven of us, so it's not like I have a lot of options. Besides Jonn, Azhane, and Von, everyone else is a bit too elusive. There's not a chance in hell I'll get to fight the Ocean Goddess Lovell and the other two Calamity Class Vestas are so shrouded in mystery, no one even knows who they are or what they look like. Bunch of cowards if you ask me." He replied, crossing his arms in a disapproving manner.

"I see..."

'Now I understand why Azhane has kept Priscilla and Solana hidden for so long. Revealing two more Calamity Class Vestas to the public could have some serious implications, especially if someone like Varric catches wind of them.'

Carmen couldn't help but feel uneasy by the idea of her teacher fighting against people she cared about again. She placed her spoon down and leaned back in her chair, trying to clear her mind of such negative thoughts.

Varric began to stand from the chair and picked up Carmen’s empty bowl, taking it to the sink to wash it out. Carmen thanked him and reached for the newspaper, flipping to the first page to further pass the time. As she glanced over the many articles, her eyes went incredibly wide at the biggest headline: LaVeda University Tragedy - The Principle Exposed!

Underneath the title was a large image of Lady Ravala in shackles as she was getting pushed into a carriage. Carmen immediately spit water out of her mouth, nearly choking from the nonsense that she had just read.

“The hell is wrong with you?” Varric said with an irritated cadence, finding her actions to be out of line.

Carmen ignored him as she buried her head into the paper, reading line after line with the utmost focus.

Tragedy struck LaVeda University earlier this week as the principal of 18 years, Ravala Tidus, criminally used her mind control ability to take over multiple students within the school. Her powers transformed them into savages, forcing them to brutally attack other students and destroy the campus grounds. It is believed that she did this to create enough chaos to later point the finger at the longstanding Headmaster, Reginald Quinn. Proving his inability to lead and protect the school properly.

Olun Authorities have reported that Ravala planned to have the Headmaster leave the premises to seem as though he abandoned his post, all while she stepped up and helped the students in their time of dire need. This information was fully documented in various journals hidden within her office desk and scattered throughout her home in Eastern Olunas. All details were laid out with immaculate detail, proving just how elaborate of a plan this tragic event was.

Many students were injured from the assault and the Headmaster is still missing. A search party will continue to extend their efforts, hoping to figure out his whereabouts.

Authorities have questioned Ravala Tidus extensively, however she has continued to feign ignorance and claim that she had no involvement, despite all of the overwhelming evidence against her. A trial will be held in the coming weeks, but for now she will remain in custody with the Olun Knights.

Carmen couldn’t believe her eyes at the lies she was reading. The article made her sick to her stomach as she read it again, making sure she wasn’t going crazy.

“What the hell?!” She exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table.

“Huh, what’s wrong?” Varric responded, wondering what had gotten her so worked up.

Carmen proceeded to explain everything to Varric mentioning the pills, the dead bodies she found, her fight with the Headmaster, and the strange masked man.

“Everything in this paper is a lie! They don’t even mention the amount of people that died during all this mess!! I can’t believe it!” She yelled, feeling furious by this false retelling of such a tragic event.

“Hmm, seems like someone doesn’t want the world to know what really went down. Wouldn’t be the first time something like this happened. What did that man say his name was?” Varric replied, crossing his arms and pondering all of the information he just learned.

"He called himself Watcher Delandy. Have you heard of him?"

"Watcher Delandy? Hmm, doesn't ring a bell. I've had run ins with all kinds of dangerous and strange people, but I've never seen anyone wearing a white mask with a tuxedo." Varric said as he stroked his chin with great intrigue.

Upon hearing his response, Carmen quickly stood from her seat and rushed towards the door, newspaper still in hand.

“Where are you going?” He curiously asked as he watched Carmen take one of his coats.

“I need to contact my sisters, surely they know something about all of this. I’ll catch you later and thanks for the help yesterday!” She said, running out of the door and closing it behind her.

“Oookay… Well then.”

Varric stood there with a blank stare, feeling that things moved a bit too quickly for his liking.

'Whatever she's gotten herself into, I hope I did enough to prepare her for it. This sounds like it could get messy real fast if she's not careful.'

He leaned back against his kitchen counter top and continued to ponder a few thoughts, hoping that Carmen would be able to handle whatever was coming in her future.