I know it's really not the point but um. That can actually happen?
[ in her defense, Fragaria has very little documentation on the Mors outside of "do not engage" so there had been all of nothing for her to learn but. What an exciting and anxiety inducing piece of new information to learn after she's already been hanging out around them for the past two and a half weeks. ]
I-is there something I need to do to make sure it doesn't happen to me? It'd be inconvenient for you if I came here as as a tribute then got sick or worse while I was trying to be useful...
Yeah. Well, not that I've had a chance to see it happen, but curses are tricky like that. Left unchecked, they tend to affix to the nearest physical object so they can move to the next unfortunate soul to come across them.
[ Maybe he shouldn't be so forthright with the nature of his servants, but hey, it's not like she'll be going back home anytime... ever.
In any case, he continues to stride through the castle, not quite caring about how his stride is larger than hers, so she has to put in more effort to keep up. ]
Well, you are a Saintess. If you're worth anything as one, some leftover curses ought to be child's play, no?
The nearest physical object, huh. Like a precious belonging. A castle.
A kingdom.
The thought simmers in her mind for a moment before she forces herself to dismiss it and picks up her pace a bit to keep up with him. ]
I'll do what I can. We don't really know anything about Mors in Fragaria so I'll have to learn how to handle their curses myself... but so long as they aren't trying to curse me on purpose, I should be able to manage it.
[ not that she'd put it past him to tell them to try. but. ]
Hmph. Just channel your magic through yourself. It’ll either work and prove your worth as a Saintess, or you’re weaker than a lingering curse.
[ He reaches the chamber where the cleaning supplies are kept, striding inside and scanning the tools. Everything is fairly worn from frequent use for who knows how long… but nothing is in too much disarray. ]
…Tch. This little? I shouldn’t have bothered.
[ He sighs and turns around, tail swishing and briefly smacking the ground in annoyance. ]
Consider this a test. If you can’t deal with something of this level, then Fragaria has completely forgotten the meaning of the word “saintess”.
[ This little, he says - it's more than she'd expected to get to work with, especially in a castle with so few other occupants. Really, she's surprised there's anything to use at all. ]
Mm. I can manage with this easily. There's no problem.
[ The lashing of his tail catches her by surprise, though. He always plays at bored irritation, but even though his expression hasn't changed - that's the first time it'd moved since she'd walked into the throne room. Maybe he really had been as bored as he looked. ]
If there's things to dispose of or dirty water to dump out, where would you prefer me to do it?
Who cares. That's for you to figure out. As long as you aren't making a mess of the inside, do whatever you want.
[ His tail now drags on the floor in disinterest, his expression slowly changing to match. Sure, it would probably be better if he was at least a little more helpful... but is it really so surprising that he isn't? ]
[ This is more help than she was expecting to get, honestly... ]
Mm. I'll change my clothes then I'll get started.
[ She dips her head in a polite little farewell and then sets off back to the bedroom to do just that.
... Come to think of it, though, isn't that the first time she's willingly exposed her back to him he entire time she's been here? Usually she instinctively protects her vitals like prey, but... ]
[ He glances at her briefly as she sets off... briefly striking him as unusual as well. It's not like she hasn't had her back to him... in fact, she's forced to have her back to him every night, to expose herself and submit to him.
Yet for some reason, he can't help but instinctually notice the opening that she just provided... an opening that he normally has to pry out of her. ]
...
[ He scoffs and leaves the room, his tail smacking the ground once more. What is he going on about now? It's just her back, it's not a big deal... ]
[ It feels a little... invasive, almost to be cleaning someone else's quarters. She might be staying here, but she's under no illusions that this is her space - just one she's permitted to occupy until he grows tired of having her around. But she's a guest here and one not really earning her keep, so the least she can do is tidy.
She changes her clothes - a dark blouse paired with a dark skirt seems safest - and sets to her task as promised. It's not as though there's terribly much to do with the Mors handling the day to day upkeep but the smaller details and more fiddly tasks have slipped through the cracks and those take the majority of her time.
She doesn't so much as glance at the wardrobe.
But her anxiety unwinds a little as she works. She'd been terribly restless, wound up with nothing to do and even though this is physical labor it's almost a release to do it. So much so that while she's in the midst of mopping the floors in the late afternoon - one of the last things she has to do before retrieving the laundry - she catches herself half-humming, half-singing to herself as she goes. ]
[ Oberon does exactly what he says, making his way back to his throne room and promptly sitting himself down and supposedly monitoring the outside world through his Mors... but in truth, "lazing around" is a more apt description of what he's doing.
After all, it's not like they can do anything about him. That they gave up their Saintess is proof of that much.
Yet even then, his senses are sharp enough that he can catch disturbances within the castle with ease. Sure, as a dragon this is a given, but even moreso within his own domain. It's how he's so confident that there's no escape for Ai... he'd be able to tell the second she tried.
Speaking of her, it really does seem like she's working rather diligently. It's baffling, really. He knows he'd made it clear that there was no chance of her escaping, but a part of him did wonder if this was all some kind of ploy for an escape attempt...
And yet if he focuses, he can hear the sound of her rustling around, mopping the floors, handling the smaller details that the Mors fail to pick up on in their autonomy. ]
Hah...
[ He can only sigh, really. What the hell is he even doing, he wonders? This is hardly the kind of captivity that should be expected of him, but... ]
...Hm?
[ Something catches his ear, something different... something small, but different enough from the usual that his attention is grabbed by it.
...no, it'd be more accurate to say that he's captivated by it. ]
[ It's been a while since she'd had reason or opportunity to sing, hasn't it? It'd been the first thing Saitou had used to sell her - how could a girl with a voice this angelic not be blessed? - but it'd fallen by the wayside quick when he'd realised just how much more captivated people were by her grace, her youthful beauty, her supposed purity. If she was in the mood to find it ironic, she might have laughed.
It's a shame, though. It's not like she's a musician or anything, but... she's always liked singing.
The songs well out of her, even though it's really not the time or place... it's a good distraction. And more importantly, she doesn't want to forget any of the music that kept her going in Fragaria. She sings folk songs and lullabies, all while scrubbing the floors and only trails off to give a satisfied little sigh when it looks like she's done. Then she scoops up the bucket of water, turns around and- ]
Ah-!
[ Promptly comes within a hair of spilling it. H-hold on, when did all those Mors start crowding in the open door?! ]
[ The Mors King isn't aware of it, of course. If he were, he'd have put a stop to it right away... but while he himself scoffs and tries to tune out the sound of her voice echoing through the halls... his servants seem to have other ideas.
Weird to say, considering that they're supposed to be mindless. ]
...
[ It's a peculiar sight, really. The Mors take all kinds of shapes... some of them are just blobs of dark mass with glowing orbs for eyes. Others take more humanoid, armored appearances, like knights... even though they still consist of the same black mass of curses. Further than that, some have even copied the forms of various normal Monsters.
This all comes together to make them all rather intimidating, a scourge on the land that threatens even other monsters. They're powerful, hard to kill, and often times fighting just one is enough to leave a human bedridden afterwards, if not outright dead.
And yet right here, in front of the open door, stands a crowd of various Mors, each with their unblinking and glowing eyes locked directly onto the Saintess-turned-maidservant.
In any other scenario, this would be a sign to make peace with one's god before they're brutally killed... and yet none of them make any movements. Sure, there's so many of them that the door is now thoroughly blocked, but they seem to be intentionally keeping their distance. ]
[ Perhaps understandably, there's a good ten seconds where she freezes in place and simply meets the stares with a wide-eyed one of her own. She might be getting more used to them after spending so much time in their presence now she's here but that doesn't make it any less terrifying to be suddenly faced with a crowd of them. Her heart slams into her chest and she waits for them to rush her but... no. They're just staring.
What are they even doing here...? Is she being watched to make sure she does a good job? No, even if he did bother to send one of them to keep an eye on her, that didn't explain the entire crowd. And it doesn't explain why they're so... intent. Or why they're keeping such a careful distance.
[ Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's no response... but they still remain adamantly in the door, as if expecting something from her... maybe? Honestly with how little they have in the way of expressions, it's hard to tell what they want. Especially since, by all means, they shouldn't "want" anything.
With that said, there really is a lot of them, isn't there? If she looks closely, she might be able to see that there's even more Mors crowded out in the hallway on account of them not actually moving into the room.
It really is excessive. Too excessive for something he would do, especially since one Mors alone is enough to deal with her. ]
[ Hahaha!!! This is terrifying!!! She feels her mouth twist into one of those brittle, appeasing smiles for lack of anything less damning to do with her expression and she purposely tightens her grip on the bucket, trying to make up for the way her hands are trembling. She was told not to make a mess, after all. ]
Um... I'm not really sure what I did... [ because surely for them to be gathering like this, she must have done something wrong ] But... Could I come through?
[ She takes a very tentative step towards the doorway. ... J-just how many of them are out there now...?! ]
[ At first, there's still nothing... but as if considering it, in response to her tentative step forward, the Mors in the doorway start to shuffle backwards... exactly one step before stopping, as if maintaining their distance from her.
They haven't stopped staring at her, though. Seriously, terrifying is right, it's no wonder these things are given such a high danger rating. They certainly look the part, that's for sure. They've been passive in her presence so far as per the King's will, but had she encountered a Mors under more normal circumstances, they'd have attacked her instantly.
And yet here she is... staring down a crowd of them as they move back in response to Ai coming closer. ]
[ This is really horrible... they're not even doing anything but just the staring is enough to make her skin crawl, especially now she's thinking about curses and all the rest of it. She's been quietly channelling her magic through her body ever since she was warned but if a horde of Mors all tried cursing her at once...
Ugh. She's almost tempted to try calling for him to come get them under control, but she's pretty sure he'd just delight in her discomfort. In fact, chances are good that if they are all here on his command, that's exactly what the intent was.
She purses her lips tight, feeling an uncharacteristically spike of irritation in her chest. Then, pulling in a sharp breath, she lifts her chin and starts striding purposefully - stubbornly - forwards, like she means to go about her business Mors or no Mors. ]
[ The Saintess chooses to stride stubbornly into the crowd of Mors... and fortunately for her, the Mors seem to part for her perfectly as she walks. It's almost satisfying, the way they all clear and make way for her as if there's an invisible barrier in a circle around her keeping them from coming close.
Whatever amount of Mors she thought were outside the door, though... the actual amount is so much more, and even though they cleanly part to make way for her stride... they also follow her when she walks away.
It's the strangest thing. They've never acted like this before, and it's not like the Mors King has ever assigned much in the way of physical security to her... at least not this much. ]
[ They're still following her...?! Just what is this all about, anyway? Sure, he's had Mors escort her to and fro often enough before that it barely merits comment anymore but what's with this huge security detail all of a sudden? He should know by now that she has no intention of trying to escape or any way of following through even if she wanted to try so...
She swallows hard, heart still battering the inside of her chest, and does her best to pretend she's not bothered at all, actually. She doesn't spare any of them a glance as she passes and forces herself to start singing to herself again - distractedly and entirely at ease, as if she can't even be bothered to be tense.
She just has to get this water outside to dump it off and then maybe they'll leave her alone...! ]
[ Soon after she starts to sing, something... changes. It's subtle, as objectively they're still just as expressionless and lifeless as before, but it's as if a wave washes over all of them, a low growl... or rather, more like a satisfied hum emanates from the many curse-filled forms and echoes through the halls.
They're still doing the same thing as before, though... simply following her while keeping their distance.
At some point, the Mors King has to notice the odd clumping of Mors in a single area, right? ]
She doesn't do anything as obviously as stop and stare at them but her feet do gradually slow to a stop as she realises the sound she's hearing is coming from the Mors. It's a little unsettling just by virtue of coming from them to begin with but it's not... threatening.
Never mind. She's absolutely stopping and staring. Her voice peters out just for a moment, just from uncertainty - there's no way, right? - but then after a few seconds, it picks back up with another song.
Maybe she's just imagining it... but the only way to know for sure is to try again and find out, right? ]
[ Nothing happens as she stops... but indeed, as she starts to sing once more, yet another hum echoes through the halls as they follow her. It's the most emotion she'll have ever seen out of the supposedly mindless servants... not that it's much, considering how they still stand as stiffly as ever, but there's something about her singing.
Something about her singing that's drawn them all to her... but not like a prey broadcasting their location to nearby predators.
She truly has just... drawn in a crowd. An audience. ]
[ This doesn't make any sense. The Mors are mindless monsters, aren't they? Beasts who do nothing but take orders from the king and kill without a thought. That's what they're supposed to be - if the teachings she's received in Fragaria are anything to go by, that's what they were made to be.
But even though nothing about them has really changed, all of a sudden they all seem so much more... gentle? And even if she knows for a fact that can't be true...
[ She keeps on singing, and so they keep on following her, an audience of Mors following her everywhere she goes as she goes about her duties. Unfortunately, she's still doing all of the cleaning on her own, but thanks to the Mors keeping their distance at all times, they avoid getting in her way as well.
It's almost cute how passive they are right now. If Ai moves forward quicker than usual, the Mors promptly start to scurry a little faster away from her. The same can be said for when she moves away from them as well, and they truly are just... vibing.
Listening to her song and following her around like devoted fans.
But of course, it was only a matter of time... ]
...what the hell?
[ ...before the Mors King finally realized the strange sudden lack of Mors in their proper positions and went to investigate, only to find them all crowded around his singing prisoner. ]
[ She stops abruptly mid-song, with a pile of bedding laundry in her arms and a sheepish smile on her face. She's doing exactly as she was told and yet she still somehow feels like she's been caught red-handed doing something she shouldn't.
She looks around at the Mors crowded around her, wonders for a moment how she's going to explain all this... then promptly decides not to bother. It's probably his fault in the first place! ]
Um... The cleaning's almost done...
[ Because apparently that was the part that needed to be addressed right now??? ]
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no subject
I know it's really not the point but um. That can actually happen?
[ in her defense, Fragaria has very little documentation on the Mors outside of "do not engage" so there had been all of nothing for her to learn but. What an exciting and anxiety inducing piece of new information to learn after she's already been hanging out around them for the past two and a half weeks. ]
I-is there something I need to do to make sure it doesn't happen to me? It'd be inconvenient for you if I came here as as a tribute then got sick or worse while I was trying to be useful...
[ INCONVENIENT. FOR HIM. SURE. ]
no subject
[ Maybe he shouldn't be so forthright with the nature of his servants, but hey, it's not like she'll be going back home anytime... ever.
In any case, he continues to stride through the castle, not quite caring about how his stride is larger than hers, so she has to put in more effort to keep up. ]
Well, you are a Saintess. If you're worth anything as one, some leftover curses ought to be child's play, no?
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The nearest physical object, huh. Like a precious belonging. A castle.
A kingdom.
The thought simmers in her mind for a moment before she forces herself to dismiss it and picks up her pace a bit to keep up with him. ]
I'll do what I can. We don't really know anything about Mors in Fragaria so I'll have to learn how to handle their curses myself... but so long as they aren't trying to curse me on purpose, I should be able to manage it.
[ not that she'd put it past him to tell them to try. but. ]
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[ He reaches the chamber where the cleaning supplies are kept, striding inside and scanning the tools. Everything is fairly worn from frequent use for who knows how long… but nothing is in too much disarray. ]
…Tch. This little? I shouldn’t have bothered.
[ He sighs and turns around, tail swishing and briefly smacking the ground in annoyance. ]
Consider this a test. If you can’t deal with something of this level, then Fragaria has completely forgotten the meaning of the word “saintess”.
no subject
Mm. I can manage with this easily. There's no problem.
[ The lashing of his tail catches her by surprise, though. He always plays at bored irritation, but even though his expression hasn't changed - that's the first time it'd moved since she'd walked into the throne room. Maybe he really had been as bored as he looked. ]
If there's things to dispose of or dirty water to dump out, where would you prefer me to do it?
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[ His tail now drags on the floor in disinterest, his expression slowly changing to match. Sure, it would probably be better if he was at least a little more helpful... but is it really so surprising that he isn't? ]
You can clean as you please. I'm heading back.
no subject
Mm. I'll change my clothes then I'll get started.
[ She dips her head in a polite little farewell and then sets off back to the bedroom to do just that.
... Come to think of it, though, isn't that the first time she's willingly exposed her back to him he entire time she's been here? Usually she instinctively protects her vitals like prey, but... ]
no subject
Yet for some reason, he can't help but instinctually notice the opening that she just provided... an opening that he normally has to pry out of her. ]
...
[ He scoffs and leaves the room, his tail smacking the ground once more. What is he going on about now? It's just her back, it's not a big deal... ]
no subject
She changes her clothes - a dark blouse paired with a dark skirt seems safest - and sets to her task as promised. It's not as though there's terribly much to do with the Mors handling the day to day upkeep but the smaller details and more fiddly tasks have slipped through the cracks and those take the majority of her time.
She doesn't so much as glance at the wardrobe.
But her anxiety unwinds a little as she works. She'd been terribly restless, wound up with nothing to do and even though this is physical labor it's almost a release to do it. So much so that while she's in the midst of mopping the floors in the late afternoon - one of the last things she has to do before retrieving the laundry - she catches herself half-humming, half-singing to herself as she goes. ]
no subject
After all, it's not like they can do anything about him. That they gave up their Saintess is proof of that much.
Yet even then, his senses are sharp enough that he can catch disturbances within the castle with ease. Sure, as a dragon this is a given, but even moreso within his own domain. It's how he's so confident that there's no escape for Ai... he'd be able to tell the second she tried.
Speaking of her, it really does seem like she's working rather diligently. It's baffling, really. He knows he'd made it clear that there was no chance of her escaping, but a part of him did wonder if this was all some kind of ploy for an escape attempt...
And yet if he focuses, he can hear the sound of her rustling around, mopping the floors, handling the smaller details that the Mors fail to pick up on in their autonomy. ]
Hah...
[ He can only sigh, really. What the hell is he even doing, he wonders? This is hardly the kind of captivity that should be expected of him, but... ]
...Hm?
[ Something catches his ear, something different... something small, but different enough from the usual that his attention is grabbed by it.
...no, it'd be more accurate to say that he's captivated by it. ]
no subject
It's a shame, though. It's not like she's a musician or anything, but... she's always liked singing.
The songs well out of her, even though it's really not the time or place... it's a good distraction. And more importantly, she doesn't want to forget any of the music that kept her going in Fragaria. She sings folk songs and lullabies, all while scrubbing the floors and only trails off to give a satisfied little sigh when it looks like she's done. Then she scoops up the bucket of water, turns around and- ]
Ah-!
[ Promptly comes within a hair of spilling it. H-hold on, when did all those Mors start crowding in the open door?! ]
no subject
Weird to say, considering that they're supposed to be mindless. ]
...
[ It's a peculiar sight, really. The Mors take all kinds of shapes... some of them are just blobs of dark mass with glowing orbs for eyes. Others take more humanoid, armored appearances, like knights... even though they still consist of the same black mass of curses. Further than that, some have even copied the forms of various normal Monsters.
This all comes together to make them all rather intimidating, a scourge on the land that threatens even other monsters. They're powerful, hard to kill, and often times fighting just one is enough to leave a human bedridden afterwards, if not outright dead.
And yet right here, in front of the open door, stands a crowd of various Mors, each with their unblinking and glowing eyes locked directly onto the Saintess-turned-maidservant.
In any other scenario, this would be a sign to make peace with one's god before they're brutally killed... and yet none of them make any movements. Sure, there's so many of them that the door is now thoroughly blocked, but they seem to be intentionally keeping their distance. ]
no subject
What are they even doing here...? Is she being watched to make sure she does a good job? No, even if he did bother to send one of them to keep an eye on her, that didn't explain the entire crowd. And it doesn't explain why they're so... intent. Or why they're keeping such a careful distance.
She swallows uncertainly and wets her lips. ]
Um... hello?
[ ...
What is she doing... ]
no subject
[ Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's no response... but they still remain adamantly in the door, as if expecting something from her... maybe? Honestly with how little they have in the way of expressions, it's hard to tell what they want. Especially since, by all means, they shouldn't "want" anything.
With that said, there really is a lot of them, isn't there? If she looks closely, she might be able to see that there's even more Mors crowded out in the hallway on account of them not actually moving into the room.
It really is excessive. Too excessive for something he would do, especially since one Mors alone is enough to deal with her. ]
no subject
Um... I'm not really sure what I did... [ because surely for them to be gathering like this, she must have done something wrong ] But... Could I come through?
[ She takes a very tentative step towards the doorway. ... J-just how many of them are out there now...?! ]
no subject
They haven't stopped staring at her, though. Seriously, terrifying is right, it's no wonder these things are given such a high danger rating. They certainly look the part, that's for sure. They've been passive in her presence so far as per the King's will, but had she encountered a Mors under more normal circumstances, they'd have attacked her instantly.
And yet here she is... staring down a crowd of them as they move back in response to Ai coming closer. ]
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Ugh. She's almost tempted to try calling for him to come get them under control, but she's pretty sure he'd just delight in her discomfort. In fact, chances are good that if they are all here on his command, that's exactly what the intent was.
She purses her lips tight, feeling an uncharacteristically spike of irritation in her chest. Then, pulling in a sharp breath, she lifts her chin and starts striding purposefully - stubbornly - forwards, like she means to go about her business Mors or no Mors. ]
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Whatever amount of Mors she thought were outside the door, though... the actual amount is so much more, and even though they cleanly part to make way for her stride... they also follow her when she walks away.
It's the strangest thing. They've never acted like this before, and it's not like the Mors King has ever assigned much in the way of physical security to her... at least not this much. ]
no subject
She swallows hard, heart still battering the inside of her chest, and does her best to pretend she's not bothered at all, actually. She doesn't spare any of them a glance as she passes and forces herself to start singing to herself again - distractedly and entirely at ease, as if she can't even be bothered to be tense.
She just has to get this water outside to dump it off and then maybe they'll leave her alone...! ]
no subject
They're still doing the same thing as before, though... simply following her while keeping their distance.
At some point, the Mors King has to notice the odd clumping of Mors in a single area, right? ]
no subject
Huh.
She doesn't do anything as obviously as stop and stare at them but her feet do gradually slow to a stop as she realises the sound she's hearing is coming from the Mors. It's a little unsettling just by virtue of coming from them to begin with but it's not... threatening.
Never mind. She's absolutely stopping and staring. Her voice peters out just for a moment, just from uncertainty - there's no way, right? - but then after a few seconds, it picks back up with another song.
Maybe she's just imagining it... but the only way to know for sure is to try again and find out, right? ]
no subject
Something about her singing that's drawn them all to her... but not like a prey broadcasting their location to nearby predators.
She truly has just... drawn in a crowd. An audience. ]
no subject
But even though nothing about them has really changed, all of a sudden they all seem so much more... gentle? And even if she knows for a fact that can't be true...
What else can she do but keep singing? ]
no subject
It's almost cute how passive they are right now. If Ai moves forward quicker than usual, the Mors promptly start to scurry a little faster away from her. The same can be said for when she moves away from them as well, and they truly are just... vibing.
Listening to her song and following her around like devoted fans.
But of course, it was only a matter of time... ]
...what the hell?
[ ...before the Mors King finally realized the strange sudden lack of Mors in their proper positions and went to investigate, only to find them all crowded around his singing prisoner. ]
No, seriously, what the hell?
no subject
[ She stops abruptly mid-song, with a pile of bedding laundry in her arms and a sheepish smile on her face. She's doing exactly as she was told and yet she still somehow feels like she's been caught red-handed doing something she shouldn't.
She looks around at the Mors crowded around her, wonders for a moment how she's going to explain all this... then promptly decides not to bother. It's probably his fault in the first place! ]
Um... The cleaning's almost done...
[ Because apparently that was the part that needed to be addressed right now??? ]
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