Arc 1 Epilogue - One Year Later... (3)

Meili walked alone towards the path leading to the royal stables, where the ground dragons are kept and taken care of. As she walked, she can see some of the maids passing by and bowing at her. It seems to her that they had completed their task in cleaning the place. So she should expect a cleaner Patrasche as her mount for the mission she is about commence.

Recently, she had been thinking to herself about her life from before and after her adoptive father had disappeared from her life. At first, it was pretty weird to be pampered on by someone in the first place, especially now as a daughter of someone she used to hate but came to respect after the crisis at the watchtower.

For all her life, she had been trained to become an assassin, working with the now defunct assassin organization ran by her mama, Capella the sin archbishop of lust. For all her life, she came to fear her, and only obey her words as to not get punished, before she met Elsa who she sees as a sister figure. She was taught by her how to understand words and write them, how to braid her hair, and how to avoid her mama whenever possible.

She came to respect and love her as a sister by that point, and cried when she died in the battle at the old mathers mansion. And after that, she was imprisoned in the basement after the place had been rebuilt. Honestly for her, she prefers that place over escaping and potentially face her mama's wrath. That is when her life was turned upside down.

First thing she was given was an overly luxurious room fitting for a girl of her age as her jail room. The door can only locked on the outside, and there are little to no way she could tell time except for the crystal clock she received as well. And little by little, the room is filled with dolls and gifts made by both Subaru and Emilia and the others. Meili had never been given so much things as a child before, even during her time with Elsa. Little by little the childish side of her came and grow on her, making her forget her training. And even after her attempt at murdering Subaru at the watchtower, the one who captured her, she was forgiven, and had been taught the gift of love.

Familial love, it was something so rare to her that it feels foreign. But it was something she longed for so long that after she was officially adopted, his influence and antics grew on her and she began to imitate him too. But unfortunately, it was only for six months she started to feel like the average girl and grow up normally, because now she had been left alone once more. Even the members of the Emilia Camp can't fill her emptiness she suddenly got after his disappearance.

But she was yet again wrong like always. Because after the death of her mama and Roswaal's sacrifice at the end of it, she felt love from all around her. Starting from Emilia then Petra, all throughout the combined forces of the Felt and Emilia Camp. She felt as if she was a normal girl again after that. But really, there's just one thing she really needed in all her life after Elsa's death. A parental figure is what she needed, and most if not all can't fill that role except for the nasty-eyed boy she came to love and respect.

"Living as an orphan again is really hard huh....." Meili uttered to herself. "I really miss Papa Nii-chan. Do you miss him too, Shaula? Wait....Shaula, where are you!?"

Meili began to panic as she cannot feel the little scorpion beside her. Did she forget to bring her pet scorpion with her? Or did Shaula decided to jump off of her and ran off to nowhere?

"This couldn't be! Shaula! Where are you!?" She yelled, looking in all directions for that tiny crimson scorpion she had played and lived with for what seems to be all her life, "Papa Nii-chan will be soooo mad when he gets back!"

"Ankle biter?"

Meili turned towards the source of the voice. It sounds so familiar to her that it feels almost nostalgic to hear. Before her was a half naked woman, wearing the colour scheme of orange and black the same as her father, looking at her confused.

"Shaula? Is that you?"

"It is me, Shaula! Master's personal sex slave! Nice to meet you again, ankle biter!" She said, doing the signature pose of pointing up to the sky, reminiscent to her master.

"You should really start calling me by my name you know!? I'm Natsuki Meili now!" Meili exclaimed

"Hmm? That last name feels familiar....wait! Is my master here!? Where is he!? I can smell him just fine even from here! Let me see my master!" Shaula said as she dropped to her knees, grabbing the blue haired girl by the collar, shaking her.

"Wait a minute! He is currently not.....here? Wait wait wait! You can smell him!? That means...Shaula! Scan our surroundings! This couldn't be!" Said Meili, a bit dazed.

"Hmm?" Shaula stood up and began to scan surroundings as told, "I see...trees! And more trees! And grass! And the bright sun!"

Meili facepalmed, but internally panicked, "That's the point! This is not the royal stables anymore! It should be surrounded by walls and well trimmed bushes! No trees of any kind!" Meili said, recovering from the sudden shake and beginning to look at her surroundings.

It is clearly different from what she can see with her eyes. Certainly no ground dragons and the area is certainly surrounded by a forest of some kind. Both of them can conclude one thing from what they had just observed, "Do you know what I'm thinking?" Meili said.

Shaula nodded, looking at her after scanning the whole clearing out. And both of them began to utter the same thing.

"Just where are we now?"