Chapter Text
"Where is he?" The hooded man asked, walking menacingly towards the chair where the skinny maid was seated. "Where is the old man? Where is he hiding?"
The questions were followed by the loud sound of a slap. Then another. Then another. That was enough for Fiona. She had hated violence ever since she was a child¹. From school bullies to college abusers, nothing made Fiona grit her teeth more than to see someone harassing other people. Especially women. She always felt obligated to interfere whenever she witnessed such injustice, and this time was no different. Even though that maid scares her to death, she doesn't deserves to be treated like this. No one deserves.
Fiona take some steps back from the keyhole and rush into the door, throwing it wide open with a slam.
"I won't let him touch her!" The man were saying at the exact same time Fiona bursts into the room.
"And I won't let you touch her!" Fiona stands up and points a finger towards the man. "Hewie! Now!"
The white shepherd rushes through the door, jumping at the man's throat swiftly like a ghost. Blood spills on the floor as the man moves trying to get free from the dog's jaws. Unfortunately, he had quick enough reflexes to able to protect his neck and Hewie ended up biting his arm instead².
Fiona quickly scans the room looking for something she could use as a weapon. The mobilia, covered in dust and spider webs, seemed too heavy for her to hold. There was no other choice: she dashes towards the hooded figure, tackling hard enough to make him lose balance.
The maid was sitting still, motionless observing while the man tries helplessly to free his arm of Hewie's grasp, only to be tackled to the floor. He stumbles, making an old lamp fall upon the white shade of vengeance that seemed ready to bite his arm off. This makes the dog finally let him go, ripping apart his sleeve and the skin below. The hooded man has no other choice but to crawl trying to get up as fast as possible.
As soon as the man stands up, Fiona's boots meets his guts with a strong impact, making him curl his body while groaning in pain. The dog now aims for his leg, growling while sinking it's sharp teeth in his skin. The maid feels Fiona's tight grip in her wrist, and soon enough has her body pulled off the chair.
"Run!" The girl says, and jolts through the door. "Hewie! Let's go!"
The animal let go off the man, and runs beside them. Even that it was not difficult for the maid to accompany her pace, it was obvious that she was running as fast as she could, her hand still firmly closed around the maid's wrist. The girl's touch gives a strange sensation to the maid: it was like a small tickling that starts right under Fiona's hand and extends to the hand and forearm. The woman doesn't know exactly what to think about this.
Fiona runs through a whole wing of the castle until she finally stops, her exhausted pantings almost suppressing the sound of the old clock at the hall.
"Are you ok?" She asks, catching her breath.
Silence. Only Fiona's breath and the clock tickings. The girl turns her head, looking directly at the maid. A shocked gasp scapes her mouth, and she reaches for the other woman, touching the corners of her mouth.
"Oh no… Your lips… That bastard!"
The maid's eyes slightly widen with the unexpected touch… And the sensations it produces. What started with a tickling now suddenly makes the hair in the back of her neck stand up. It never happened before, and she didn't know how to react. None of the sensations she experienced until now were like that, and it was unnerving. Nonetheless, she decided it was a pleasing sensation after all. "So this is the power of Azoth?" — The thought almost was turned into words, but she decides to keep her mouth shut and silently observe Fiona's actions.
"Are there any first aid kits in this place?" The girl asks, clearly worried.
"At the infirmary, miss." Were the maid's first words, as frigid as any other action she has taken up until now.
"Alright." Fiona retrieves her hand, and the pleasing sensation retrieves with it. "Let's go there."
The maid observes, astonished, as Fiona starts walking, only to stops a few steps later.
"Hey…" She turns to the maid, calling with her hands "Come on…"
The maid slowly walks towards the girl, following her around the castle. Everything about Fiona makes the maid… Curious, at minimum. She never have seen another woman, a real woman, and now she couldn't stop staring at the one in front of her. Her body and her cautious, shy moves, her dirty clothes and bruised skin. Her ears were protuberant, her hair was a mess, and she smelled like mud and sweat. She was far from being perfect… And yet, she was complete.
"You never said your name." Fiona breaks the silence, looking to the woman behind her.
It snaps the maid out of her deep daydream, and she lowers her eyes. A life being called "maid", "childe", "creation" and "whore" didn't made it necessary to actually think about a name before. She had her duties, and that was the only thing she needed to think about. Yet…
"Daniella." She says. It wasn't necessary, but the thought about a name, after all. Even Debilitas had one, why wouldn't she?
"It's a beautiful name." The young lady slightly smiles. "I'm Fiona."
"I know who you are, miss." Daniella states, suddenly stopping walking. "The infirmary is this way." Daniella points to the opposite corridor, and Fiona follows her.
Daniella reaches her pockets for a bunch of keys. She selects one of them, and unlocks a door at the end of the corridor. The "infirmary" was actually an ordinary bathroom with white and blue tiles. The maid stands still next to the door and rest her hands in front of her body, patiently waiting for Fiona to enter.
The girl quickly searches the place looking for something useful; patches, cotton, bandages, antiseptic. She gathers the items and head back to Daniella, a piece of cotton in hand.
"First, let's clean this." Fiona drops a bit of water in the cotton, and gently runs it in Daniella's bruised lips.
She knew that probably Daniella was well aware of everything that was going on in that damned place, and that she probably would be brainwashed or something… But despite that, Fiona chooses to help her. "I must be really stupid"— she thinks, while applying antiseptics in the maid's injuries — "She would rather rat me to that freaks in no time. Unless…"
Fiona cautiously observes Daniella; she was unhealthly skinny, her skin tone was an almost-dead-pale, and her hands were covered in dry blood and scars. Fiona fights the urge to ask about her hands, and resumes patching her wounds. "Daniella certainly does not lives a happy life here. If only I could convince her to help me…"
The girl finishes the care-taking and looks up to the maid, whose eyes meets hers with curiosity. Daniella had slightly lowered herself to observe Fiona, so now their faces were only millimeters apart. Fiona startles herself due to the sudden proximity, but Daniella does not step back. Her gaze was intense, almost unblinking, and certainly frightening.
"Uh… T-there you are!" — Fiona tries to mask her terror with a smile.
Daniella looks down to her hands; the patches were comfortably placed over her cuts, even in the fingertips.
"I won't be able to bite my nails for a while, I guess." — The maid contorts her mouth, mimetising Fiona's smile, to make clear the humorous tone of the conversation.
"Y-ou… You shouldn't bite… Uh…" — Fiona gulps, shrinking away from the creepy maid. Certainly it wasn't her kind of humour, and smiling just made Daniella look even creepier. — "Nevermind. Is it too tight? Can you move your fingers?"
Daniella looks down to her hands, slowly moving her fingers.
"I can move, yes." — She turns her hands as she was admiring a piece of unprecedented art. — "Good work, miss. A very good work indeed..."
"Thank you. I'm a nurse. Well… I'm studying to be a nurse." — Fiona sighs — "I shouldn't have left college."
"A healer, I see…" — Daniella's face was no more motionless; her eyes now have an amazed sparkle. — "It means you can manipulate Azoth…"
"Uh… I keep stumbling with this word, but I don't really know what it means. I found a book in a study talking about it being the essence of life, but that's such a vague explanation!"
Fiona stops talking to look at Daniella. Hopefully, she could care enough to explain one thing or another to her.
"Azoth is the essence of life." — Daniella robotically says.
Fiona lets out a frustrated sigh.
"Okay, but…" — She started talking, but was interrupted by Daniella.
"It's what makes a human complete…" — The maid raises her gaze to some point far behind Fiona, as in some kind of trance. — "Complete… I am… Not… Complete… Not..."
Daniella's body shivers and her hands shakes, along with random and brutal spasms in her face and neck. Fiona steps back, frightened, but fights the urge to flee; Hewie barks at Daniella, making the maid covers her ears and starts hyperventilating.
Just then Fiona understood what was happening: Daniella was having the worst panic attack she had ever seen in her life, and she must do something about it. First the girl scolds Hewie, making him silent. Second, she steps forward and knees down in front of her, in order to keep eye contact.
"Daniella?" — Fiona's voice was as calm as she could manage it to be. — "Daniella, it's ok. I'm here with you. Let's breath together, and everything will be alright. Shall we?"
She didn't wait for an answer. "It's time to put your mental health classes in practice, Fiona…" — The thought go by as fast as it came.
"Let's smell the flowers…"
"There… Are… No… Flowers…"
"They're imaginary flowers. Take a deep breath, with me…"
Daniella shivers and spasms interrupts her breathing, making it even more difficult to handle. Fiona gently holds Daniella's head between her hands, making her look directly in her eyes.
"Daniella, please focus on me. Only in me. Okay?" — She keeps her voice low and as softly as she can. — "Let's smell the flowers…"
Daniella barely manages to catch her breath.
"Good. Now, blow the candles… Oh, imaginary candles."
The maid slowly blows the air out of her lungs.
"Yes, that's it! Very good, Daniella. Again, smell the flowers… And then blow the candles…"
They repeat this exercise for quite some time until Daniella's breathing returned to normal. Fiona slowly takes her hands away from Daniella's face, but the woman grabs it with her own. She spends some moments staring at Fiona's hands between her padded fingers, in silence.
When she finally looks at Fiona's face, at first there was a mix of amaze and relief, like she was staring at some kind of saint; it desappears moments later though, and Daniella's face returns to it's default marble-statue expression, although this time a bit more saddened.
"I shall prepare dinner." — Daniella stands up, her rigid posture and blasé voice returning as she walks out the bathroom door, leaving a startled and confused Fiona behind her.