4.3 Service

*clang clang*

Muffled clangs echoed through the wooden door as the trickling sensation in my head never seemed to stop. Lise had told me to stay put... Should I check up on her? She never did tell me where she was going.

*clang clang clang*

*TRICKLE*

The sounds became louder and more frequent as the seconds ticked on... It was as if there was someone fighting just outside the door. That... shouldn't be possible, right? There was no way that anyone would dare to fight the Madam in her own room, much less even be able to open the door to it in the first place. On top of being a Zahler of notable rank and stature, she was the Number Twelve of the Primzahl Dreizehn; the Empire's thirteen top Zahlers.

Speaking of which, the Madam did say that they were inducting someone new to the group in a few days. Apparently, there has always been an open slot for the past decade and a half. Aria was ecstatic, but at the same time, strangely morose at the prospect the last time we had a heart-to-heart. Huh. The pounding in my chest became stronger for some reason.

*clang clang...*

The hypothetical clash outside continued as I found no will in myself to move from my designated spot. That's... kind of odd, actually. I couldn't help but wonder why. I just couldn't seem to find the motivation to do anything beyond doing what I was told. Maybe Aria could explain it to me once we talk again.

*Splash! clang clang*

I raised an eyebrow as the wooden door to this room creaked under some kind of impact. Water seeped from underneath the door as the clash of metals seemed to move away from the door again. A dull pain emerged from the back of my head as I felt my feet move on its own. Strange...

*clang... Clang*

The sounds became more audible the closer I got to the soaked door. I felt a familiar weight settle on my right hand as the other went on autopilot; resting itself on the door's wet surface. Huh? When did I get the katana?

*CLANG! SHIIIING! SPLASH!*

The pounding in my chest intensified the more I tried to think about opening this one wooden door. Why should I even bother? Lise did say that I should stay put. I should trust her. Yes...

*DRIP DRIP*

I should trust her...

*CLANG!*

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON, BLUTMOND?!"

I felt my head rise up towards the wooden door. That voice... Lise?

"UNDO YOUR DAMNABLE SPELL, WOMAN!"

*SPLASH!*

"But I don't wanna~" That sweet, titillating voice... That's got to be Aria. "Besides, you wanted this to happen. Right, little sis?~"

*CLANG!!!*

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL ME THAT!" My heart almost stopped. I've never heard her scream with that much venom in her voice before. "STOP BRAINWASHING ROUGE THIS INSTANT!"

The grip on my katana tightened at the accusation. Brainwashing? Madam Aria would never do that to me. She loved me. And I, in turn, loved her.

*TRICKLE TRICKLE*

There must've been some miscommunication here that I wasn't made aware of. My little sis couldn't possibly be this mad over something so blatantly false. But somehow, there was a part of me that believed her...

*Drip*

That deep down...

*Drip*

There was something wrong with my current way of thinking...

*Drip*

...

...

*CLANG!*

But that took a backseat when it came to the safety of those that I cared about. This has gone on long enough.

With my heart still pounding inside my chest for some reason, I opened the door separating me from two of my most precious people in this world.

"Guys-"

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

*SPLASH!*

The sudden deluge of water that hit me was a surprise. It wasn't the strongest of attacks that I've endured, but it still hurt like getting the wind punched out of me.

"Oookay?" I sarcastically remarked as I picked myself up from the nearest wall. "Madam, what was that for?"

*DRIP DRIP*

"Oh! Sweetie~" she cooed. The beautiful Aria, to her credit, looked absolutely sincere with the amount of remorse she was putting out. "I'm sorry~ I didn't mean to get you wet~"

I found myself chuckling at the obvious innuendo. How typical of her to hide it under her seemingly innocent tune.

"Oh, I don't mind, Madam," I quipped back as I wiped the excess water off of my face. "I just never expected it to be so... soon."

I had vivid memories of our... promiscuous activities with one another. It was usually whenever the Madam ordered Lise away for some errand, leaving just the two of us in the same room. In the same bed... Damn. Now I was actually getting hard at the thought of it.

*DRIP DRIP DRIP*

The Zahler smiled at me with the grace of a thousand suns. "Ooh. Is that another one of those-"

*CLANG!*

A resounding clang interrupted the blue-haired beauty as Lise now occupied the space in front of the woman. In my little sis's grip was a blade that was surely of her own make; a shortsword with a telltale pattern only seen in katana forging.

"YOU BITCH!" Lise spat out as her sword ground against our patron's rapier. "YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON HIM?!"

"Woah there!" I stepped forward in an attempt to play mediator. Also, since when did my little ball of cuteness learn how to figure out 'adult' talk? "Lise, what's going on?"

*CLANG CLANG CLANG*

Three sword swipes came from Lise in resounding succession. The first was a downward slash aiming for the head, followed by a right-hand slash after the first attack got rebuffed. She then finished off with a roundhouse horizontal slash using the momentum she gained from the second parry. I fought the urge to clap at Lise's progress. That was some fine technique coming from my charge. Too bad it all got deftly blocked by our patron.

"BROTHER!" Lise shouted as she backed off from a forward thrust from Aria's rapier. "YOU'VE BEEN-" A jet of water then almost clipped her right ear as she ducked. "-BRAINWASHED!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Brainwashed?"

*DRIP DRIP DRIP*

I didn't understand.

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