(Source: eijiniizuma)
“Oh… I’ve heard Elliot talk of you…”
“Elliot was..?”
Why was he talking about her? Did she give him permission to talk about her? She most certainly did not! How dare he go and talk about her to people she didn’t know!
“Well, he didn’t have much to say… but he did mention a rather noisy girl. I presume such a person is you?”
I noticed they didn’t invite me…
She wasn’t sure what to say? She couldn’t apologise for her family’s cruelty to the brothers, or her own. She was just as much a product of Nightray predujice against them as her brothers, even if she was perhaps a little less negative towards them. She had been so young after all when they’d been growing up in the house and had never seen them too much. Just shadows and whispered words in corners and terrible tales told to her by Ernest and Fred which frightened her. They told her that Vincent tore up her teddy bears, that Gilbert with those luminous eyes of his was a demon come to take her away if she was bad… childish tales but ones that still had their lasting effect. Yet, looking at those golden eyes now, she could see very little there that would terrify her. The past was the past and maybe… she could make a better future.
“It’s true, I suppose that you’ve never been very welcome in this family. I can’t deny it… my parents may have adopted you but even so, you were never truly treated as one of their own. I know that I have not treated you as a brother… I can’t blame that upon others. I suppose I… apologise. If that counts for anything… I suspect though that the damage is long done and cannot be repaired.”
She looked back at him then, contemplatively. When his eyes met her own, she didn’t flinch away.
“Yes, Elliot is probably the best of us, the most noble of us all. He sees things that… the rest of us cannot even imagine. I’m more proud of him then I can say, even if he drives me up the wall sometimes with his silly rages. He’s more family then the others are sometimes, I think… And you’re right. I owe him nothing. Maybe… that truly is what family can be…”
An apology was not something he had been expecting or seeking. Gilbert had simply been musing, trying to reason things out in order to understand. The past was the past, after all, and he wasn’t about to seek to change it. He knew the consequences could be less than desirable and all this had been rather trivial, really. His ultimate goals had little to do with these specifics.
Yet he did find himself longing for some kind of acceptance from Elliot and now, perhaps, Vanessa as well. Though he had not been able to follow her logic entirely, the fact that they were even attempting this kind of conversation and that she was managing the patience to tolerate his blunt and perhaps seemingly ignorant questions had to mean something. Perhaps he understood her if only a little bit better.
He didn’t know what to say to her apology, despite not feeling that it was quite necessary. That sort of statement regarding years of mistreatment wasn’t something to be disregarded when it was given, even if it wasn’t something the recipient had been after. So he did the only thing he could think to do and nodded, as if to accept it if nothing else. Their gaze connected as she spoke and he didn’t break it when she finished and he began.
“Have you ever thought before that family doesn’t need to be defined by blood?” The ‘family’ he could best remember was the Vessalius family, even if he had acted as a servant. He couldn’t think of a time he had ever known his blood family, so it had always been based on something else. As he had spoken with Vanessa, though, it had become apparent that this was not necessarily a standard line of thought. He wasn’t sure what else to say, but he hoped that while he felt that he was slowly coming to better understand her, the same was happening to her in respect to him. This question seemed a fitting way to ask her thoughts.
She was glad that he didn’t dwell on her apology, such a thing was embarrassing to her anyway and she’d rather not hear any more on the matter. She had done what she thought best on the matter and for once, she felt a slight happiness that she had done it of her own will and not as a Nightray.
“Not by blood? I.. confess I have never thought of such an idea. But I know that you do not see us as your true family - that you likely have found others to replace us in that matter. But to me… all I have is my true family. Until I find someone outside of that circle, no one else exists for me.”
“You think it doesn’t make sense? You’re… more foolish then I thought. Do you have no concept of the enmity my family has against yours? How we must clean up the Vessalius’ messes again and again and gain no recognition for it. To be looked at with fear by other families simply because we are Nightray? No… I don’t suppose you would, boy. And now you think things can be well between us?”She hadn’t meant to argue with him, to throw all her anger in words at his face but there was just something about the open cheerfullness on his face that riled her up. It was completely off guard and innocent… she didn’t think she could stand it.
“You know nothing…
Oz was surprised at first with her reaction. He surely knew little about Nightray’s and Vessaliu’s history. But somehow he was relieved that it was not some personal conflict with someone in his house. He felt that no matter how strong and vivid their history was, it wasn’t still late to erase the dinstance between their houses.
“Well its true that i don’t know much, but from what i have heard all this enmity is based on what happened 100 years ago. But don’t you think that both families would achive more if they cooperate with each other? After all you can’t judge what we do by how much it looks like the things you are responsible for. My family has lured out useful information quite a lot of times for Pandora. On the top of that holding a grudge against some members of Pandora surely damages the image of the household in the association and make you unreliable, haven’t you notice that? It is only natural for pandoras headquarters to not be fully able to trust you, when you work behind the scences. By pointing the finger on the Vessalius house is like your whole family wants to hide something. All that leaves unclear whether you act for pandoras gain or internal motives.”
“Cooperation? It’s a fool’s notion… a Vessalius’s notion. We, Nightray’s take pride at being able to stand alone, to be strong. Yet… you think this makes us unreliable?”
She pondered the idea for a few seconds. She supposed there was some truth in what the brat was saying.
“But who’s fault is that? It’s the Vessalius’s who have gone down in history as heroes. Only natural I suppose that we should be considered a scapegoat for everything else. Perhaps we do put our own interests above those of Pandora’s, but is it not human nature to want to protect one’s own family?”
“Oh, that man just told you to wait here? How rude… even if you are his servant, you’re still a lady and you shouldn’t just be kept hanging around.”
Really, the Vincent was just too much… if she saw him she would give him a piece of her mind. Not that she thought he would listen. Their relationship had always been frosty at best. Still, she felt sorry for this girl, lumbered with such a master.
“He didn’t need you? Well, I’m sure he will find a use for you later on. In the meantime… perhaps you would like to help me with something instead, Echo?”
“A lady—-.” She repeated. Well that was a first. She never viewed herself as a lady or anything of the like. She was simply Echo and nothing more. Bringing her gaze back up to the woman, light colored optics not giving out any sort of emotion, she nodded and took a step forward.
Afterall she was Vincent’s servant and he was a Nightray. If he wasn’t around than she should listen to the others till a certain degree. This woman before her seemed kind enough though but Echo would remain cautious. The sweetest people could suddenly turn evil and disgusting.
“What is that Lady Vanesse needs? Echo will try to help you with it as good as she can.”
“Well, of course you’re a lady… being a servant makes little difference in that respect, Echo.”
The girl seemed to be trusting in her just a little… something which surprised Vanessa. She wasn’t one to make friends easily with other women, and this girl of Vincent’s was always so… aloof. Still, she found herself wanting to make time for her, to find out more about her perhaps.
I wonder how she puts up with that brother of mine… she seems quite the sensible sort…
“Ah, well it’s nothing too major. But you see I keep losing such important papers and it’s causing so much trouble. Mother wanted some documents from me regarding the estate but… they’re lost in my office. Helping me locate them would be a big help….”
“I understand that he was traumatised from losing his…. wait, did you say his… friend? I was under the impression that the boy was his master. Then… perhaps… it is no wonder he was so damaged. To not be able to stop the person dearest to you from being taken is truly…. horrible.”
“He was his master as well. Those two just shared… a more profound bond than one of the usual master and servant realtionship. They were very close ~ Well I do use the past but they still are though.”
“That Vessalius boy does seem to have a knack of sneaking into other’s hearts, doesn’t he? It was bad enough that he has Gilbert in his thrall but now Elliot too seems to share the interest. It makes me wonder what it could be about him that makes him so… different?”
He certainly does ~ I do wonder also what makes him like this… I guess he always seems to radiate this warm light, he is full of flaws and yet …. It’s as if people are drawn towards him, he is the kind that makes you want to protect him you know ~”
“To protect Oz? No, I can’t say I’ve ever felt such an inclination… You speak of him as if you are in love, Miss Sharon.”
Hmph, two odd girls…
“Ah, you are Lady Vannesa Nightray, aren’t you?”
“Hmph…yes, that’s right. And I suppose by that blonde hair of yours… a Vessalius. Pray tell, what is it you want of me, girl?”
About Lady of Nightray
