Walking slowly, Reina sat next her mother. Her mother reaching out to hug her, a look of jealously flashes on her father"s face."Lydis, how are you feeling?" Her mother releases her and pats her body being careful not to touch the area where her arm had been torn off.
"I"m fine mother."
*ahem* "Now on to the matter at hand. Lydis put your hand on this crystal." Her father held out a round purple orb the size of her fist. Getting up she walked over to her father sweat forming on her head. "When you touch it try to imbed slyphir into it." Nodding her head, she touched the crystal. Feeling a warm and silky energy flow from her fingertips she tried directing it into the crystal. A few seconds pa.s.sed before it shattered.
"Wh- Honey!" Her mother ran up and hugged Reina almost suffocating her. "This is wonderful!" Her father was tearing up again.
"Lydis…" Now her father was hugging her. His face glowing with pride. "Now, now she can protect herself." His slight beard scratched at Reina"s head. Stuck in their tight hold she was powerless to do anything except let them squash her in their hold. A moment pa.s.sed, and a slight knock rapped against the door. Looking over Reina saw that it was the big man and the young man, each wearing a floor length cape that covered their bodies. Clearing his throat, the young man walked inside. Glaring at the men her mother and father squeezed her tighter. The young man walked to them and kneeled to Reina.
"Young miss, please be satisfied with the punishment." He removed his cape and he was missing his right arm. Head bowed he glanced over at the big man, a scowl appeared on his face. "Roland get your *ahem*, body, over here." He hissed at the other man. Shrugging the big man walked over and kneeled like the young man did and removed his cape in the process. Reina saw that he had also gotten his right arm removed. Bowing his head, the big man continued where the young man had left off.
"I have allowed harm to come to the young miss. If you"re not satisfied with this discipline, please correct our mistake." The big man"s voice was deep, like a low hum of a machine. Reina looked at her parents "What"s happening" plastered on her face.
"Lydis dear, they have been punished for allowing you to get hurt. It"s only natural." Her father replied. She looked back at the kneeling men.
"Well, if they don"t have both arms how can they protect me?" Lydis pulled out her best puppy eyes. Her parents looked at their daughter with questioning eyes. "And if they aren"t able to do that because of the punishment then whose fault is it?" Her parents began to think about it too. Silently her mother whispered,
"…us…" Reina nodded her head and pointed to the men"s missing arms.
"They need their weapons to protect me, and they need their arms to use their weapons." Looking pleased Lydis reached over to the kneeling men and placed one hand on each of their shoulders.
"You are my protectors since young, I will not allow your service to end here as I"m selfish like that." Smiling she turned back to her parents. "Is it possible to have their arms back?" Speechless her parents looked at her. Her mother reached out to touch her hair.
"L-Lydis, are you alright?"
"What do you mean mother?"
"Well, it"s just, you"re acting so… mature." Rubbing her red hair her mother"s face continued to fill with worry.
"Don"t worry mother. I have just had my eyes opened to a new light." She smiled again, and her parents didn"t question further. Turning away and whispering to one another her parents had a hushed talk, occasionally looking over their shoulder to look at Lydis and the two men. Reina turned over to talk with the two men.
"So, you"re part of the "no right arm club" now?" She waved her nub of a right arm at them. "Man-fairy and big dwarf. Seems about right." Nodding her head in conclusion she ended it there.
"M-miss! My name is Derick. What is that man-fairy nonsense?" His face flushed as he tried to avoid that name. Roland on the other hand was laughing too hard. His loud booming laughter filled the silent hall.
"Man-fairy! Hahaha! What a perfect name!" He continued to laugh his head off.
"At least I"m not called a big dwarf. Dwarfs are known to be ugly, even they admit it." Derick laughed to himself.
"I"m not ugly, right young miss?" He looked at her with puppy eyes, or at least what seemed to be
puppy eyes. His beard and square jaw made it hard to call him cute. Especially the slight wrinkles in his face and the scar on his cheek.
"Uhhh…" Not sure what to say Reina turned away and commented on the tablecloth. A hurt look pa.s.sed through Roland"s face but it didn"t last long as he turned his pain into anger that fueled his verbal a.s.saults against Derick.
"Derick the man-fairy!" Laughing out loud once more he held onto his stomach. "Well with your feminine features any man would be after you!" He wheezed as his lungs couldn"t take in the amount of air he was using. "Skin like silk, eyes like a lake, and long hair to boot! Watch out ladies, here comes the man-fairy!" His never ending mocking laughter angered Derick to the point where his face was like a tomato or maybe he was just embarra.s.sed.
"Roland you better stop right there." Gritting his teeth Derick clenched his fists.
"Oooh, what"re you gonna do? Hit me with your noodle arms?" Roland continued to mock Derick.
"At least you"re going to be alone for the rest of your life. And can you imagine a dwarf trying to act cute?" Derick mockingly laughed at Roland returning his insults.
"Better than becoming a toy for some n.o.ble with a pretty boy fetish."
"Lies, you"re just jealous of my good looks." Derick flung his head in victory.
"Heh, you"re just jealous of my muscles." Roland flexed his bulking muscles.
"Your muscles are useless in battle. They get in the way."
"Like you can do any better with your girly face." Going head to head Roland and Derick continued to bicker with each other practically fighting. They didn"t dare use their fists and weapons in the presence of their superior. Chuckling to her self Lydis turned away from them. Her head throbbing again. The sharp pain almost made her stumble forward but she caught herself on the table, trying to look as if she was just touching the tablecloth. The pain intensified, it"s like her head was splitting open from the inside. Sweat formed on her head. Swaying she stumbled forward landing face first on the floor. Landing with a loud thud her parents and the two men looked at her with worry.
"Lydis!" Her mother appeared by her side in an instant. Cupping her body gently her mother brushed the hair away from her sweat soaked face.
"Get a doctor!" Her father saw the blood trickling out of her ears and nose. The two men nodded and vanished. Her father hurried to Lydis"s side.
"Dear, what"s happening to Lydis?" Her mother was crying again. Warm tears slowly made their way down her face. She shook Lydis gently, as if she was a baby again, rocking her back and forth.
"Don"t worry. Whatever it is the doctor will be able to help." He hugger her gently. Taking Lydis"s body from her mother"s hands he carried her to Lydis"s room and laid her down gently. Her mother appeared with cloth and water, wiping away the dried and new blood from her face and ears. Blood was no longer coming out of her ears and nose but Lydis continued to sweat terribly. Roland and Derick returned with an exhausted looking young man. He was dressed in a white overcoat with a bright red cross band on both of his arms. His curly light brown hair bounced as he took wide strides to Lydis"s side. His gla.s.ses reflecting of the light. Carrying a large briefcase, he hurried over.
"What"s her condition?" His voice was light and calm, despite his ragged breathing and his unsteady looks.
"She fainted earlier with blood coming out of her ears and nose. It just stopped just now but she won"t stop sweating, in fact it seems like she"s sweating more now." Her mother continued to dab the cloth on Lydis"s head to soak up the sweat.
"I"m afraid I"ll have to ask you to leave the room." The young man quickly set his briefcase down and unb.u.t.toned it.
"I"m afraid not. That is my daughter there and I am her mother. I am to be by her side at all times." Her father nodded in agreement with his wife. Before he could say anything more, bursting from the case rows of medicinal tools and medicines propped themselves up, almost reaching the ceiling of the twelve foot tall room, a robotic voice sounding from the case.
"What do you need Dr. Fernand?" The rows of medical stuff shifted as more and more came out.
"Open file number 0089523. Read out paragraph number 163."
"Request confirmed." A second later a file had been brought to the surface. "Reading file number 0089523 paragraph 163, "Under a case of an unknown syndrome or alignment of any kind all unaffiliated personnel to the medical doctor at present is to obey all orders received from the doctor. Refusal to so may allow further extreme methods of removal of said party. Further resistance to follows orders will result in a penalty of jail or execution based on the severity of the crime." Paragraph finished. Any further orders?" The young man looked over at the husband and wife duo.
"Please don"t make any trouble. I would like to start examining the problem as quickly as possible, but I need you to clear the room. It"s procedure." He couldn"t meet the gaze of Lydis"s mother as she glared at the young doctor.
"Now, now dear. If we want Lydis to get better, it"s best to allow a professional to do it." Her father tried to coax his wife to not do anything rash. Reluctant she patted Lydis"s head one more time before brushing past the young doctor and whispering in his ear,
"Should I find that she has not gotten better after your visit I"ll make sure you can no longer can work as a doctor. And I don"t just mean your career, your life will end by my hands." Her mother"s killing intent knocked the young doctor back a little.
"Dear, don"t scare the doctor. What if he"s to scared and doesn"t do his job properly?" Again her father coaxed his wife out of the room, leaving the doctor and his daughter.
"Whew… I"ve heard stories of the great Ghost Dio who ended the rebellious war two decades ago but to think even he must succ.u.mb to his wife. I guess all men are the same when it comes to someone they love." Smiling slightly, he turned around and began to examine Lydis.
"Drove, scan her body for any internal wounds. I want you to scan her head multiple times since that was where the bleeding began."
"Roger." The robotic voice hummed slightly, and a small flying orb eye floated up from the numerous rows of stuff. A light blue ray scanned over Lydis"s body.
"No scannable injuries on the body. Unable to scan the mind for injuries." Puzzled the young doctor became interested in what was happening, his curiosity taking over his fear of Lydis"s mother.
"Scan again using Eye-13."
"Roger." Another eye came out of the rows. Bigger and bulkier than the previous one. It scanned Lydis"s body with a variety of lights, blue, green, red, and yellow.
"Processing scanning...…"
"Well?" The doctor was getting excited.
"Cause of error unknown. Unable to scan the mind. Recommend procedure-cut open the skull to investigate further."
"No! If I did that my head will fly first." He tried to shut the robot up, hoping that no one had heard it but, unfortunately her mother and father along with her two bodyguards had heard it all.
Grinding her teeth Lydis"s mother clenched her fists. As she took a step towards the door she remembered what her husband had said and grabbed Roland by the back of his collar. Dragging him along as she turned away.
"U-um miss? W-where are you taking me?" Roland was obviously scared for his life. Glancing back at him she smiled an evil smile.
"Training." Before he could retaliate she continued to drag him away, tears coming out of his eyes. Smirking Derick watched as Roland"s body disappeared around the corner.
"I pity Roland a bit now." Her father looked at where Roland had been standing and sighed deeply. "Not even I can stand a couple blows from her, especially when she"s angry. I pray that he"s still in one piece when he returns." As soon as he said those words Lydis"s mother returned, rounding the corner with loud stomps. "Honey, what"re you doing?" Without even saying anything she grabbed both of their collars by the back and dragged them away too. "H-honey, me too?" He pointed at himself. Smiling again she looked beautiful but he knew that under her smile she was furious and almost ready to tear down their mansion if it comes to that. Accepting his fate Lydis"s father let himself be dragged to the training grounds.
"Mmadame. Even me? If no one is here to protect the young miss who knows what could happen when…" He got quieter and quieter as Lydis"s mother glared at him, her eyes piercing into him. He felt his knees buckle under him and he too let himself be dragged away. All three men cried silent tears of pity for themselves as they were dragged off to the training grounds.
All afternoon their pained cries could be heard throughout the mansion as Lydis"s mother let out steam and all her pent up stress.