Arc 1 - Chapter 2: The Cat (1/3)

Some time before the fall of Yu Valarfin.

This was one of the places Neko should never have been.

It was awful, why on earth had she been brought here? She didn't want to be in the sewers. Neko was a sweet child and a precious lady, someone as exalted as her shouldn't have to wander around in places like this.

Although they tried to protect themselves from the stench of the sewers with cloths tied around their mouths, Neko realized that their precautions against the stench were not effective when she felt nauseous. She had used her wind magic to drive the foul-smelling air away from her and her mother, but the stench of the sewers was already clinging to her.

"What was my mother thinking when she brought me, the superior being, here?"

Ever since Neko had learned the meaning of the word sewer, she had resisted the idea of entering it.

They were in the sewers because a trusted source known to her mother told her that they could reach Sigma Tower by following the sewer system they were in. No one had told Neko what the sewers actually were before they set out.

"I wonder what thou had in mind, mother? Why thou let a superior being like me, a dignified lady, into this place? I demand an explanation immediately." Neko puffed out her cheeks and tried to look as sweet as she could to get an answer. But she didn't have to force herself to do so.

"Come on Neko, it's not that bad. Okay the smell is bad but I'm happy to be on duty with my master," Sharley said.

"No one asked you to explain, stupid human."

Sharley was Neko's mother Rie's apprentice. Like her mother, he was a sorcerer with a knack for dark magic. Because he was a fast learner, he didn't bother his mother and volunteered to run errands for her.

Sharley was not a bad person, but Neko did not like him because of his feelings for Rie.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to be so rude to Sharley? And you're not just rude to Sharley, you're rude to everyone. Even what does this 'stupid person' mean?"

She was happy to hear her mother's beautiful voice scolding her, and her mother's beautiful voice scolding her made her grimace. She had been scolded by her mother because of Sharley and now she had another reason to hate Sharley.

Like every child, Neko wanted to be embraced by her mother's love and affection, to be praised and appreciated by her.

Being scolded was something that Neko was not used to, even if she did experience it from time to time, it hurt her little heart.

"Except my mother! Thou are the smartest person!" She didn't want to call her mother stupid.

Rie, whom she considered her mother, was her creator and a powerful magic user. There was no way she would disrespect her mother by calling her stupid, and even if her mother was stupid, she would not say such a thing.

"Besides, I don't smell, how do you smell, Sharley?"

Neko was only using wind magic to protect herself and her mother from the smell, not to waste mana on Sharley.

"You don't smell? My nose has been breaking for half an hour here... Neko? Why are you laughing?"

Snickering, Neko was pleased with Sharley's condition.

"I protect my mother and myself from the stench with my magic. But a helpless creature like you do not worth to wasting my magic on."

"Neko..." her mother called out as if accepting her insulting attitude.

"It's all right, master. I'm used to Neko's behavior. Neko acts like this because she has a hard time accepting her feelings, I'm sure she has love for me inside."

"You're lying yourself, there's no such thing."

Neko didn't love Sharley. Sharley wasn't right for Neko's mother and she didn't want to share her mother even if someone else came along who was right. As long as Sharley loved Rie, Neko would not love Sharley and would try to get rid of him.

"Really, you're not being honest." Sharley thought that if he spoke with a smile he might soften Neko.

But Neko was not a girl he could soften easily. She didn't want to be anywhere near him. She didn't even want Sharley to see Rie's gorgeous face. She turned to her mother without bothering to give her an answer.

"I want thou to explain why thou brought me to this filthy place, and if thou don't have a proper explanation, and there is no proper explanation for bringing me to this place, I want thee to take me in thine arms. Yes, that's what thou should do. Carry me in thine arms like thou carry a rare work of art, with care, making sure that no dirt gets on me."

Maybe by excusing her condition she could get her mother to carry her.

"How clever I am," she thought and smiled. She liked to be close to her mother, to be hugged and kissed. Now she was sure that her words would have an effect and she will hold her.

"No, no."

Rie, focused on her task, firmly refused Neko's request, just as Neko had refused Sharley's love.

The little cat-eared girl felt her heart breaking. How could someone like Neko, an elegant young lady, a sweetness, be rejected? The floor was dirty and the soles of her shoes would get dirty when she stepped on it. It was also possible that the clean white dress she wore when she walked would get dirty. Neko had to be protected like a weak and beautiful flower under a hailstorm.

In protest, she grabbed her skirts and lifted them, quickened her pace and cut her mother off, her cheeks flushed with anger.

"What do thou mean no? What if I get dirty? The stench is already on my delicate skin. What if my clothes get dirty? Thou bring me here without informing me and thou don't even provide me with protection! Because I was rude to Sharley? Is that why I, Neko, was rejected? If so, should I apologize for that low life form? Will thou take me in thine arms if I do?"

She pointed her finger at her mother and spoke in a loud but respectful tone, without missing a beat. Neko could not be rejected. Even if she was rejected, it should not be by the one she loved the most.

"If we were walking in the safe streets of the city, I would say okay, Neko, but there might be giant bugs or something. If there are, I need to be ready for a fight, we could get hurt if I'm caught unprepared while carrying you."

She hadn't been informed that there would be monsters, and if there were such a thing, that was another reason why she should be carried. With her strength she could kill a giant insect if it came her way, but fighting insects was no job for a lady.

"If there are bugs, I need to be carried so they can't get to me. And when the bugs come, Sharley will go ahead and be the bait for us to escape - I mean... He sacrifices himself. I shouldn't have to deal with bugs, and neither should thee."

"If it's for my master, I don't mind, but if there's a scenario where I don't get eaten by bugs, I prefer that." Sharley again tried to sound sweet to gain Neko's sympathy and thinned her voice to sound like a child's.

"It would be best if you were the bait. That way there wouldn't be another unwanted person between me and my mother."

The argument was going nowhere and Neko's answers were not going to change, so instead of answering, she stopped talking to him, but she was smiling at the thought of Sharley as bait.

"I'd at least like to hold my mom's hand." Neko sighed and looked at her mother's elegant fingers. Her hands were busy as she held a map with both hands.

"According to this map, somewhere near us there is a staircase leading down one floor. The professor told me that when we go down from here, we will enter a larger area that is not connected to the sewers.  After we go down, there will be a few forks in the road, and after we cross them, we will go straight ahead and we will be under the Sigma Tower."

"Here!" Sharley, who had found the ladder as soon as Rie had finished, was glad that he was useful to Rie and looked at Rie as if expecting a praise.

Rie didn't give him the praise he wanted and Sharley was the first one down the stairs to check if the path was dangerous. It was better that way, if there was something dangerous down there, Sharley, the weak link, would be eliminated first and Neko, realizing the danger, would escape with her mother.

"Mom, I have to go down first so that the life form below doesn't look thine underneath as thou descend." Neko stepped in front of her mother who was preparing to descend the stairs.

Her mother thought Neko had a good point and let her go down first.

"Get out of there, low life form, I'll tear you to pieces if I notice you lifting your head up."

Sharley was disappointed that Rie was not the first one down. He moved away from the stairs as Neko descended. After Neko came down, making sure Sharley looked away, she told her mother to come down.

"My mother's chastity has been preserved, well done me!"

A proud smile appeared on her face and she puffed out her chest, placing her hands on her waist as if she had accomplished the greatest task of her life.