Prose Magica: The Ballad of the Seventeenth Part 14

"How is she?" A voice asked.

"Stabilized," a second voice replied. "She should be waking up any second now."

"Great, great," the first voice paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Thanks for doing this, Red. It... It really means a lot."

"Ain't no sweat for Snowflake. Gotta keep the old lady's girl alive, after all."

"You look pretty swell in that outfit, by the way."

"Oh for fuck's-"

Odette groaned. An all too familiar tingle ran through her body - the feeling of freshly regenerated tissue and organs. It felt as though she'd just gotten the best sleep of her life. Her mind was refreshed, her body felt new. It was really as much as she could have asked for, given the past week. Her one eye blinked open and she winced as blinding white filled her vision.

"Speak of the devil."

The one-eyed girl pulled herself upright, blinking and squinting until her vision finally adjusted. The room was typical of the Officio's sickbay; a standard hospital bed, a couch to her right and the door at the far end of the left wall. The tables on either end of the couch were covered with cards, bouquets and what Odette sincerely hoped were boxes of sweets. The couch itself was occupied by the retired Vindicare only known as the Russian, polishing her rifle with a rag. Her wife, the Bartender, fiddled with medical equipment to the left of the bed, dressed in what appeared to be a light pink nurse's outfit, complete with a little cap. Finally, at the end of the bed sat Lotte Laufson, stroking a white blob in her lap that the former warmaster could only assume was the Seventeenth incubator.

Odette rubbed her one eye and let out a long yawn. Her brain still hadn't fully shifted into gear as she greeted the room with a simple, "Mornin' guys."

All eyes suddenly shifted to the one-eyed girl - even those of the moustachioed incubator. A moment passed in silence. Then another, and another after that.

"So, uh," the former warmaster started, "can anyone maybe get me some juice or something?"

Everything seemed to speed up the instant she stopped speaking. It was as if time had stopped for a few precious seconds and was suddenly trying to catch up to where it should have been. The blonde at the edge of the bed burst into tears, launching the incubator off of her lap as she embraced Odette in a smothering hug. The one-eyed girl's vision went dark as her face was abruptly swallowed by a soft and pillowy sensation.

"I was worried sick!" The blonde cried. "I thought you- you- you were dead, you s-stupid- stupid... STUPID!"

Finally relinquishing Odette's face from the grasp of her cleavage, Lotte sunk lower, burying her own sniffling face against the former Warmaster's chest. "I- I thought..."

"Come on, Lotte," the silvery-haired girl muttered, still barely awake as she ran one of her delicate hands through the Callidus' hair. "You didn't think I'd die that easy, did you?"

"You should've seen her," the Bartender said, passing a glass of juice into Odette's free hand. "And here I thought we retired from babysittin' you two dumbasses."

The one-eyed girl took a quick sip of the orangey-yellow juice, then nodded contentedly. "Peach."

"Your favourite. Still remember."

Odette nodded again, suddenly shifting her gaze to the redhead's clothing. "Cute outfit."

"Come on! It's standar-"

"She is wearing because it is making her look cute!" The Russian interrupted, rising from her seat to step over to her partner and plant a kiss on the redhead's cheek. "Is okay for her to do the dressing up some times, too! Believe or not, she is still girl on squishy inside parts, even when she makes the grouchy pretends."

"Th-thanks?" The Bartender muttered, half a question.

"But," the blonde foreigner added, taking a seat beside Odette, opposite the still-sniffling Callidus, "do not be mistake. Your big sisters did much worrying. It is good to see you safe, malenkaya." She punctuated the statement by ruffling the smaller girl's white hair and planting a motherly kiss atop her head - forcing Odette to turn her head away bashfully.

"I, um," the former warmaster mumbled, trying to regain her words. "Th-thanks, everyone. This, uh, this really means a lot. I didn't... I didn't think-"

"That's your problem, shorty," the Bartender butted in, "you don't think."

The Russian snapped her gaze to the redhead and made a "Tsh!" noise to silence her wife.

"I guess I didn't really think people would miss me all that much," Odette concluded, almost whispering as she reached the end of her statement. She gave a last sheepish shrug as her eye shifted between the three girls in the room, unsure of who exactly to address. "I'm... I'm sorry, guys."

"Stupid!" Lotte cried out again, pounding the silver-haired girl's chest with her fist - all without lifting her head.

"What she said," the Bartender muttered, smirking.

"Yes, yes, you are two of the same kind," the Russian laughed as she rose from her seat, hooking her finger under the redhead's short sleave. "For now we will leave the little ones. You must return uniform to supply closet, yes?"

"But they don't keep them in the- Oh," the Bartender paused as a grin slowly crept across her face. "Ooooh, yeah. Yeah. Definitely gotta return it. To the supply closet."

"Yes, dorogaya," the blonde sighed. "Subtlety is not strongest suit, is known. Now come."

"Coming!"

With that, the couple disappeared through the door, leaving Odette alone with the Callidus who had found her way into the former Warmaster's arms. Her mind was still clouded in a painkiller-induced haze - even the edges of her vision seemed a bit fuzzier than normal. The last thing that she could remember was leaving the cottage in the woods. Everything else melded together in one big blur that seemed to waver between dream and reality. She could pick out bits and pieces, but couldn't entirely make sense of them. Odette could swear that it was none other than the white Culexus herself that had driven her back. Then there were the images that didn't seem to match up with anything. A pastel shade of pink. A pair of jagged, crystalline talons coloured with the dusky crimson of dried blood. A ragged, empty eye-socket. And gold - something about gold that seemed to invade every dark crevice of her mind.

The silver-haired girl's brief musings were interrupted as Lotte began to stir once more, turning her face up to look Odette in the eye.

"Hey," she muttered, red-eyed and sniffling.

"Hey," Odette greeted her in return, smiling gently.

"Ah, erm, excuse me," a Fubey added, rolling out from under the hospital bed. "I apologize, but I believe we agreed that I would be allowed to speak with Odette first, Miss Laufson."

The blonde groaned as she seemed to slither off of the bed. "Yeah, yeah. You won," she grumbled. "I'll see you in a bit, O."

Odette waved as the Callidus stepped out of the room. The incubator balled himself up like a big, fat coiled spring, before launching himself at the edge of the bed. Fubey made it halfway up, his paws out-stretched as he clawed at the sheets, grunting and groaning to heave his entire mass up onto the bed. He placed himself in the one-eyed girl's lap, staring at her with his beady red eyes, his face inexpressive.

"My god, you've gotten fat while I was away," Odette remarked.

"You know full well that I am the same size as I always was, Odette," Fubey replied, blinking.

The former Warmaster shrugged and giggled to herself, a lazy, painkiller-adled smile on her face. "My mistake. You're just as fat as you always were."

"Are you quite finished?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good," Odette laughed, waving a hand at the incubator. "I'm sorry, go on."

"Thank you," Fubey said with the slightest hint of derision. "When you were found, you were extraordinarily close to becoming a witch. It is no small miracle that you were returned to us intact. I look forward to a full debriefing when you are in better condition. Might I ask how you are feeling now?"

Odette looked up and down herself, then replied, "A bit tingly. Pretty tender, but otherwise okay."

"Excellent. When we found you, you were in... rather poor condition, to say the least. Once the ice was removed from the wound in your shoulder, your arm very nearly fell off entirely. While it was a simple matter to heal the injury, you will note that a scar has formed in its place. While I am aware that you detest retaining such blemishes, I was unable to remove it, despite my best efforts."

Odette peered down, hesitantly lifting the light hospital gown away from her chest. There, just below her left shoulder, was a circular scar, no more than an inch across, marring her pale skin exactly where the golden hook had pierced her. It looked, strangely enough, unusually similar to a bullet hole in glass. Odette had always made it a matter of pride to allow any injuries to heal completely, a habit picked up from her predecessor. 'Scars are for magical girls with something to prove,' as Brie had always told her.

"But, I take it you are not feeling any mental side effects?" Fubey asked.

"I don't think so," the one-eyed girl responded, blinking. "Why?"

"Good, good," the incubator nodded. "When you were found, you were clutching a set of golden chains and hooks rather tightly. I assume they were the ones mentioned in Mister Rossi's account. According to Miss Laufson, you were also repeating some phrase involving 'angels'. You have no recollection of this?"

Odette shook her head. "Nope. After I left the cabin, everything's kind of hazy. I didn't even know I brought those things with me."

"Interesting," Fubey nodded again. "As I said, you were holding onto them rather tightly. Regrettably, the Russian was forced to break some of your fingers to remove them."

"Ah..." The one-eyed girl muttered.

"Yes... I may still schedule you for a class two psychological evaluation, just to be sure," the incubator continued. "The hooks have been placed in our maximum security vault until we can determine whether or not they possess any anomalous properties. Currently, only yourself and the Warmaster have been given clearance to handle them. Miss Corbin has been assigned to investigate any previous reports of such weapons from my brothers. It had been brought to my attention earlier, but the reports seemed irrelevant at the time."

"And what'shername?" Odette asked. "The little shit?"

"Miss Vance?"

"That's the one. I brought her gem back, right?"

"Indeed, you did. She has been placed in holding cell nine-oh-one," Fubey answered. "I would suggest interrogating her prior to your debriefing. She is to be detained indefinitely until we are confident that she can provide no further useful information."

"The ninth circle?" Odette asked with a devilish grin. "Thought you would have decommissioned that place by now."

"They are still perfectly adequate silent rooms, despite their secondary function being inoperable."

"Until now," the silver-haired girl added, smirking.

"Yes," the incubator agreed, his voice seeming to trail off, "until now. I am quite pleased with your handling of this assignment, Odette. Your behaviour has, for the most part, been exemplary. I look forward to utilising your talents once more, assuming you are willing."

"It'll be good to be back, if you'll still take me."

"As I said," Fubey replied, "it would be an honour to see you return to service. You will be pleased to know that Miss Bernard has made a full recovery. I believe she wished to speak to you about her father's funeral. The only matter remaining is that of a recent amendment to the Officio's contracts. Due to the incident with Miss Vance, I have deemed it prudent to add a remote observation clause. With respect to your privacy, I have not amended your own contract as of yet. All of the girls have been given until the end of the month to report in. Should you miss the deadline for any reason - barring anything too extreme - your supply of grief seeds shall be cut off until I am able to perform the amendment. Is this agreeable?"

"Guess so," the one-eyed girl shrugged. "Seems to work just fine for the others."

"Wonderful. I believe that will be all then?"

"Yeah," Odette nodded, trying to think of any unresolved matters, "yeah, I think that's it. If I'm gonna be running combat missions again, I've got a bit of a shopping list for Holly. Just a few things that would have come in handy earlier."

"I will see to it that you get what you need. I believe we have kept Miss Laufson waiting long enough, then. Good afternoon, Odette."

With his peace said, the incubator leapt off of the bed and disappeared beneath it. After a moment, a dull whirring was heard as Fubey pulled out, riding atop his roomba steed. One arm of his prehensile moustache seemed to extend unnaturally as he made his way to the door, using it to grasp the knob. Just as the incubator was about to open the door, Odette called out to him once more.

"Ah, Fubey, one- one more thing," she stammered. "About the past couple years. I, uh, I'm really sorry. For everything. I... I'm gonna try to make things right."

The incubator froze in place, the hand of his moustache still resting on the door knob.

"One day of good does not make up for two years of wrong, Odette," Fubey replied, slowly turning his head to look the former Warmaster in the eye, "but, it is certainly a start. I look forward to our next meeting."

Odette watched as the incubator rode out of the room, smiling at the absurdity of the sight. After several moments, Lotte stepped back into the room, this time wearing a pink nurse's uniform, near identical to that worn by the Bartender. Her eyes were still noticeably puffy and red - though, the flow of tears had finally been stymied. The Callidus made her way to the top of the bed, her stride lacking its usual enticing swagger. The one-eyed girl shifted over, making room for the blonde to take a seat by her side and allowing her to hold one of Odette's pale, dainty hands.

Lotte glanced nervously at the former Warmaster and held her hand tightly, as if fearing that she would disappear at any moment. "So, um," she said, "how are you feeling?"

"A little sore," Odette answered, giving the Callidus a weak, but reassuring smile. "Been through worse. Probably. Got a neat scar, though," she added, pulling her hospital gown aside to show off the circular blemish. "Tubby says it won't go away."

"Huh," Lotte muttered, tilting her head to look at it. "Weird. So... what happened?"

"Not really sure," Odette replied, shrugging. "I slipped up at the mansion, next thing I know the little shit's got me strung up in the woods like a slab of meat. Don't remember much of it. Just that I woke up feeling... refreshed, I guess. Like, suddenly I've got some kind of," the one-eyed girl waved her fingers through the air, trying to find the right words, "inner harmony or something like that."

"Really?" The Callidus asked, with no small hint of disbelief.

"Yeah, I don't know," Odette shrugged. "What about you? Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Well, um, a couple things, I guess," Lotte said, anxiously chewing her lip. "I- I decided to stop talking to those people. Y'know, the, uh, the ones that-"

"Said they'd make me Warmaster again?"

"Yeah," the blonde mumbled, "them. I don't know what they want, but I don't think I want anything to do with it anymore."

"You said they were from another Officio, right?" Odette asked. "Probably wanted someone in power who was under their thumb or something."

"Whatever," Lotte grumbled, shaking her head. "Doesn't matter now, anyways. I'm done with them."

"Good to hear. And the other thing?"

"Ah, well," Lotte murmured as her breath caught in her throat. Her hands fidgeted, holding onto Odette's one hand even more tightly. "It's just- A-actually, maybe now's not the best time, anyways, y'know? It can wait until you're better a-and-"

"Lotte..."

"It's nothing. I just-"

"Lotte."

The Callidus bit her lip and groaned, almost bringing herself to tears once again. "God, fine. It's just... I was wondering if maybe, y'know, since you've got this new lease on life and everything, maybe you might want to... retire. Together. With me."

"Ah..." Odette's voice trailed off. She couldn't quite think of exactly what to say to the blonde sitting at her side.

"I- I mean, we've both been doing this for a while, right? You're going on to seven years, I'm almost at six. Maybe we could find a nice quiet place... You could do your poetry or whatever. A-and, y'know, Red and the Rusky, they, uh, they were a couple years younger than us when they retired, right? I just thought, I don't know-"

"But, we aren't..."

"I know, but maybe-"

"Lotte," Odette smiled gently, squeezing the Callidus' hand. "I, um, I'm grateful for the offer. I am. Really. But, I was kind of planning to get back into the game. I already told the boss that I would, anyway. I was even thinking that I might put my name in for Equerry, assuming Therese didn't settle on that shitstain Argente."

"Oh..."

"I just," the one-eyed girl shrugged, not quite able to look Lotte in the eye, "I don't want to be like some of the other Warmasters. I don't want to let myself just fade off into obscurity and be remembered for being a screw up. I know I'm not what Brie hoped for, but I can at least try to fix my mistakes."

Lotte nodded silently. She didn't dare stop looking at the hand she was holding. She couldn't let Odette see her crying again. "Yeah," she muttered, voice strained. "Yeah, I understand. I should... I should probably g-"

As she was about to stand, Lotte felt Odette squeeze her hand once more, holding her back.

"Hold up, I'm not done yet," the former Warmaster stated. "I appreciate the offer, and... I'm sorry I can't take you up on it, but... maybe we can compromise a bit?"

Lotte blinked, her attention snapping to the other girl against her will. "What?"

"I was just thinking that, y'know," Odette started, rocking her head back and forth as she tried to find the right words, "my apartment got trashed and it was a bit of a shithole to begin with. I heard the building might have bedbugs, too. And there's this one outlet that doesn't work and the super won't return my calls and basically what I'm trying to say is... If you're cool with it, maybe I can stay with you for, say, the indefinite future?"

"You," the Callidus muttered, her eyes widening in disbelief, "you want to move in with me?"

"I guess that would be a better way of putting it, yeah. Assuming you want some washed up deadbeat like me hanging around."

"Of- of course, that would-" Lotte tried to force words out, coming out as mere half-sentences. "I mean- Yeah, I-"

"I get it," Odette said, waving the blonde over. "Now shut up and c'mere. I'm cold."

✱✱✱

Therese Witton drummed her fingers on her desk, anxiously swaying back and forth in her chair. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the black Warmaster's cap sitting at the corner of her desk. Over the past week, she had felt more like a Warmaster than at any point in her two plus months of office. There was no one to hold her hand, to pick up the pieces if she screwed up. It suddenly seemed so real. It was exhilirating.

"Warmaster," Holly called out over the intercom.

Therese glanced over, only offering a quizical, "Hm?"

"Odette's woken up, if you want to go see her."

"Oh, yeah," the Warmaster answered. "Yeah, I will in a bit."

The intercom was silent for a moment before Holly's voice came through again. "Everything alright?"

"I'm fine," Therese replied dismissively.

"You're sure?" Holly asked again. "You know how we've talked about bottling things up."

"I'm FINE, Holly," Therese insisted. "I'll go see Odette in a little while."

"If you say so."

Following the distinctive click of the Vanus disconnecting, Therese leaned back in her chair let out a sigh of relief, tilting her head back as far as it would go. It had seemed so real. Yet, as soon as Odette returned, that old feeling came crashing back to her like being shaken out of a dream. That hollow, oppressive feeling that she was nothing more than a substitute, keeping the seat warm until Odette was ready to take the position back.

She was relieved, of course. How could she not be? The person who had taught Therese everything she knew was safe. Her mentor, her comrade, her friend. Which was why it made her sick to her stomach to know that deep down, in a part of her that she didn't want to admit existed, she was disappointed to see Odette return.