Octo

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude was a little taken aback. She had hoped Fanilly might interrogate her: what do you plan to cast? Are you planning on doing something bad? How can I trust you with a task of this import if you behave like you do?

She liked when people disbelieved and distrusted her, she felt it proved a point. Instead she only got a mild admonishment, which wasn't near the reaction she had hoped for. She clicked her tongue.

"I'll be a perfect lady in front of the mad codger, no need to worry," she replied, a mask of smug over her face.

---

'Mad codger' may have been more apt than Gertrude had intended. She had imagined a forgetful old man, or maybe a violent one. It looked more like the duke was putting on a one-man play, and a poorly-written one at that. Unless he was making liberal use of metaphor, but Gertrude hadn't been there since the start, so she doubted she had the context for interpretation.

Without missing a beat, the lout immediately began joining in the farce, and Gertrude found herself mildly amused. She doubted Fionn had the acting chops to imbibe the lunacy in a way that would give him any insight, but it was funny at least. Gertrude looked down at her own maid uniform.

"Am I in royal marching uniform now?" she mumbled to herself, turning to Fleuri when she was called on.

"I may be able to come up with something. If not now, then when the duke is sleeping. It will be easier to analyze the old goat when he's not thrashing about," Gertrude replied, shrugging, "but until then, might as well enjoy the show, eh?"

It was disturbingly obvious that Gertrude was getting some level of amusement out of the whole situation. Still, she had a job to do. She closed her eyes, and tried to block out all distractions, concentrating only on the flow of mana. The presence. The scent. And what she came up with... was odd. She opened her eyes.

"It's magic," she announced plainly, "but that much seems obvious. It's certainly not the type I use, and it mustn't have been the type a priest uses either. It's queer. Could be fey or demonic or something cast by an idiot with more mana than sense. It will require more investigation, but it's probably something fixable. Probably."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude floated alongside the knights, a thoroughly unimpressed expression on her face. A few seemed to be just as off-put as she was that they were being sent to interrogate a madman. Old age? Disease? Too many siblings for parents? It didn't seem the sort of matter for a contingent of knights to occupy themselves with, but with the medical and magical experts already called in and nothing to show for it, she supposed a horde of dunderpates might as well give it a shot.

A noble probably wouldn't have had a hack mage called in unless they were someone's nephew, but it was possible she could pick up on something that even an experienced finger-wiggler wouldn't. The rest seemed a bit excessive, save for the alchemist, but apparently the Roses had enough bad experiences in this forest to warrant considerably more firepower than Gertrude thought they needed.

Still, the lout wasn't completely wrong. Names had power, and it seemed that this wood had historically more than enough animosity for the Roses. It would be best to remain alert, so Gertrude opened her senses up as much as she could to the presence of mana, trying to tune the vampiric nexus out as much as she could.

...Goddesses, that woman could fawn over a horse.

"Think they'll let me cast on the old sod," Gertrude called up to Fanilly, "if I promise it's to his benefit? I mean, if you can't trust the Roses, who can you trust?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"More comfortable? The further away I am from you, the better," Gertrude replied haughtily, "but sure, I'll take a room if the Iron Roses can afford it."

Gertrude would, of course, be perfectly comfortable just bunking with Gretchen (who Merilia had sent back first), but she liked the prospect of having two rooms to herself. Gertrude couldn't for the life of her figure out why she came later and appeared in a tree, but assumed it was simply to the fancy of the old bat. Had she been forgotten? Was she being punished? Gertrude would get revenge later, either way. She floated down on her broom, and came eye to eye with the lout. And a Niyar? And...

"Tyaethe?" Gertrude questioned, tilting her head at the Vampire who was even now attempting to disappear into the foliage as her hair was being braided.

"You bunk with the lout in a tree? I suppose my conception of you was a bit off," she continued in an obviously mocking manner, "I'd imagined pride and nobility. But my, look how you've grown."

There was no chance Tyaethe would recognize the current form of the little girl who had thrown a rock at her so many years ago, but it was still a bit novel meeting again like this. Gertrude reached out to pat her head, as was her normal behavior for short ladies that she wanted to tease.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude, to some dismay, found herself at the top of a tree when she next opened her eyes. If this was to be her quarters going forth, she might have just stayed in the other place. She had magic to make herself more comfortable sleeping outside, but privacy was even nicer. She yawned as she picked a spider off her blouse, and placed it instead on a nearby branch. Whatever. It was still dark, and she was still tired. Gertrude closed her eyes, and then...

Voices. One she recognized, and two she didn't. How many people were in this damn tree? Merilia liked to have her fun, that was for certain. The lout and two unknowns... maybe if she just ignored them? She didn't want to deal with anyone.

...But goddesses they went on. They were nipping at each other and whining and braiding each other's hair like a damn slumber party. She'd done such things with the other maids as a girl, but there was a time and a place, and it wasn't in this tree while she was trying to sleep.

"Hey, quiet down there," she growled bitterly after one began singing, "some of us are trying to sleep!"

She grabbed up another insect, and tossed it down at whoever was making noise.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

It was more than a little disorienting, charging Thrinax from her broom one moment and being patronized by Merilia the next. Gertrude wasn't exactly raring to get under the thumb of yet another Witch, but Merilia had already apprehended her and tossed her in with the Roses and this was her reward for acquiescing thus far (not that Merilia ever really gave her a choice, just like she wasn't really giving anyone a choice now). The expression on Gertrude's face was far less than content, even with their victory over Thrinax.

Gertrude clicked her tongue. It wasn't necessarily the geas that annoyed her, but the detestable reminder that she was now in yet another collar and the only decision to be made was 'which one'. Gertrude leaned towards Merilia in order to get on eye level, and tilted her head slightly.

"I'd appreciate if I didn't have to do this. You can either trust that I really don't care enough about the dead old people here to ever drop any of these names, or if you absolutely need me to accept this geas, I'll do so, but I won't be happy. You're obviously still sore about what's-his-face's betrayal. I get it. But one of these options will breed resentment instead of loyalty."

Gertrude drew herself back up to her full height, and sighed.

"It's up to you to decide if that's worth the cost. You've asked for an argument, and I've provided one."

She glanced over at Fionn.

"And for the record, I don't mind staying a little longer if it means I might get to watch Florian get his ass handed to him. I suppose I'm throwing in with the lout again."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude clicked her tongue. This guy just couldn't stop saying things that annoyed her. Still, from their vantage point, they had a pretty good shot at finding a time to make a difference. The trick was being close enough to take advantage of it, which would be difficult if Thrinax didn't have some good distractions.

"It's everyone else who's difficult," Gertrude growled, "it's not my fault they're all witless dunderpates."

As she said this, the dragon fixed his gaze on the captain and swung, his fearsome claws only narrowly evaded. Gerard converged as Rolan took his shots, and the rest were doubtless not far behind. Gertrude, for her part, wasn't able to do as much as she'd like against the dragon's powerful hide. Gretchen was already chanting, but that was a powerful wind spell that would make escape for the dragon (if he tried it) considerably more difficult. For once, she had the chance to take any interest in what Fionn was doing.

"I didn't figure you for a magic-user, even if it's idiot magic," Gertrude snorted, looking at the modifications the man had made to his blade, "still, idiot offense is a perfectly acceptable answer to idiot defense. I think we can close in a little more without being in too much danger."

Gertrude's broom turned sharply, and she began heading towards the dragon from behind while still maintaining a respectable distance. It was a large creature, and despite being terrifyingly agile, it would take it a moment to get turned around. If it wanted to spit fire, Gertrude would have a good amount of warning. Normally she'd bombard something at this point, but there might be some value in a more sneaky approach.

"If you have any more stupid plans like during that last test, I'm all ears."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude did not hide her distaste when Fionn stepped in once again to take her prey away from her. She only wanted to toy with Fanny, and this shithead just would not allow it to happen. Gertrude let out a low growl like a particularly displeased feline when he grabbed at her shoulder, and shot him a glare. Praise was praise, and it didn't feel too bad to have someone stick up for her, but this feeling was grossly overshadowed by his depriving her of the thing she wanted.

Gertrude wanted the captain's own response, in her own words.

Even Rolan stepped up and whispered... something. Gertrude couldn't hear it, and didn't particularly care to. All it meant was there were just that many people between her and an actual talk with her employer.

Then, when Fanilly was finally about to say something, it was interrupted once again by that old hag and the dragon. Gertrude clicked her tongue, and got on her broom. She was going to offer to lift Rolan and Fanilly out of harm's way, but they were both already tumbling down the hill. Maybe if the captain had trusted her at all, she would have just grabbed Gertrude's broom.

...It wasn't as if Gertrude didn't want to help at all.

Well, it wasn't Gertrude's fault if the captain didn't trust her. It was Fanilly's. She could have chosen to have a talk with her new employee at some point. It's what a proper leader would have done, but instead Gertrude was left entirely to her own devices. People should pay attention to her. She was talented, so everyone owed her their interest and she wasn't getting as much as she should.

The one person who was still there, and apparently trusted her enough to take her broom when things were about to get very warm, was perhaps the person she detested the most out of everyone she'd met so far.

"Fuck," she growled at Fionn, "hang on tight!"

She roughly yanked the knight high into the air as the ground below them was turned into a flaming hellscape.

Gretchen, who was not on the hill in the first place, began chanting once more.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Finally, the farce was over and done with. It was seriously annoying having to deal with a mage of Gisela's experience, and more humbling than Gertrude could ever be comfortable with, but that big smokescreen at the end may have been what clutched it. Gertrude was pretty proud of that idea, and was also expecting some degree of praise for how amazing she was. She wished she could just cut out the dumb middle parts and get to the point where Gisela admitted that Gertrude was talented and powerful.

But that point did not come. Instead, the Hundi woman prodded her boob and castigated her in front of everyone. How quickly positive feelings could be boiled down into an ichor of anger. Gertrude was frankly flabbergasted and felt betrayed, but she wouldn't let that show on her face. If she did, the old bat would win. She'd think she was right, vindicated somehow by Gertrude's own negative feelings.

No, there was no point in trying to reason with women like her, so Gertrude turned away and ignored the Hundi, only briefly moving to get a look at the Dragon they would be fighting. But that was only the second most important thing right now. When Rolan suggested a plan of action and Fanilly pleaded with her using the usual flattery, Gertrude only crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks.

"I don't know, mistress. I'm feeling a bit disrespected right now," Gertrude growled, side-eyeing Gisela, "I might not be in the mood to help. I had only thought... as my captain and mistress, shouldn't you be defending your charges against slander?"

If Gertrude could manipulate Fanilly into standing up for her, even if it wasn't genuine, it might be enough to cut the bitterness she was feeling. Besides, she wanted to see that tiny, inexperienced wreck talk back to someone stronger than her. At the very least, it would be amusing.

"Then again, all this time and you haven't even tried getting to know your newest recruit. Maybe you were just that busy, or maybe you just don't care..."

She figured guilt would work, if nothing else.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gretchen had thought she had a shot with all the distractions, but Krysia still managed to scope her attack out before it collided. Gretchen still had pride, but not like Gertrude. It was tempered in her own weakness, and allowed her to make decisions like tactical retreat. Gretchen called off the rest of the Celestial Spears. She might have been able to hit Krysia if she'd loosed the lot of them all at once, but her own... allies? Comrades?

People she had to tolerate.

Her own people she had to tolerate would be caught in the crossfire, and she'd likely deal more damage to her own chances than to Gisela's. At the very least, Krysia didn't seem offended enough to go after her. Like a small injured animal, she slinked back behind a tree and began chanting again. It looked like a lot of the Roses were about ready to make a charge up the hill, and Gisela was already focusing that way. Gertrude would be back up in the air to bombard Gisela from the flank again in no time, with the Hundi's attention so thoroughly elsewhere.

---

Gertrude groaned. It was probably time to get back in the air, but fighting Gisela annoyed her. In fact, not being the strongest mage in any given place annoyed her.

Old hags annoyed her, especially. Eternally clutching at their power and prestige and refusing to make way for the next generation with a headstart that reached practically an eternity and would get only more egregious as the years wore on.

Oh, how she yearned to teach Aleksiya a lesson.

Or Gisela. Whatever. Only, she was incapable at this point. All she could do was offer a distraction. Well, a victory was a victory.

Gertrude lifted up off the ground, seeing that Gisela was pretty aggressively targeting those who were charging up the mountain. It was time for a different sort of bombardment. Gretchen had chanted up a pretty massive fire spell, and Gertrude unleashed it from Gisela's flank. She didn't necessarily want to burn Gisela, but the hilltop that surrounded her. The flames and smoke would likely make it difficult to see and chant, and the Roses wouldn't need to worry about it until they crested the hilltop and achieved victory regardless.

Then, once that massive spell was unleashed, Gertrude would continue bombarding as she had been earlier. She was pretty sure Gisela would have an answer for this, but nothing that wouldn't cause her some distraction.

A Cry In Darkness: A Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni-inspired RP Interest Check

Consider me interested! I think I wanna be the arm-finder.