Keeping her head down as she made her way through the halls of Luna Nova, scarlet red eyes burned with unshed tears as bandaged hands swiped at them. Feeling the bandaging nearly tear at her skin, the likes of Chariot Du Nord could only stifle quiet whimpers as she bit into her cheek till she tasted blood. The last few days had been a whirlwind and the events should’ve rendered her immobile–Obsolete even. With how it had gone..? She was surprised she was even standing..
“Chariot?”
Hearing the soft voice behind her; Chariot turned around with a glint of fear in her eye. Looking up into teal eyes, she watched them falter as Croix opted not to take another step forward. Tilting her head with a bit of a frown, the older, lilac-haired witch observed as Chariot seemed to close in on herself without her even saying another word.
It was obvious what had happened, and Croix could only grumble quietly in defeat to herself. Gentle in her approach, she showed Chariot her hands, keeping them out so the girl could have her eyes on both of them the entire time. Offering the least threatening smile she could muster, Croix let out a small sigh as she spoke.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
Naturally, Chariot seemed to snap at that, turning back around as she started walking. Despite the pained expression and longing that had been etched into her features, she had refused the concept of comfort entirely.. It was painful for Croix to accept, but all good things take time she supposed. Forcing it was far from a good idea.. Slowly falling in beside Chariot as she began to walk, she kept a respectable distance as she kept her head up, eyeing the halls as they walked.
The evening was quiet aside from a few students that gathered items from their lockers. Classes were over for the day and last Croix had checked, her and Chariot were going to go out to pick some things up from town. Spending the evening there had sounded like paradise to the younger redhead at the time, but as Croix looked her over, she couldn’t seem to see a hint of anything in those broken features. Forgoing the desire to frown, her mind already tried to think of thousands of different ways to fix the problem at hand. The last thing she needed was for Chariot to get caught up in whatever her head had come up with.. Or whatever was said to her..Done…To her.. Bringing her bottom lip between her teeth as she slightly looked up at the ceiling, Croix was glad when their walk had brought them to the courtyard.
“It’s nice out..”
Her voice was quiet as she tried to break the silence. No matter what though, the redhead beside her didn’t seem to budge. Caught in her own reality, Chariot seemed lost. Croix hated when she got like this.. Not because it annoyed her or anything, but because she knew why it was happening. If she could just.. Damn it, Cheri.. Family isn’t everything.. Why can’t you see that..?
After a while as they just walked in silence, a part of Croix couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted this issue solved. She just didn’t know what to do, and she hated not knowing.. It made her feel helpless–Useless.
“Is there anything I can do for y–”
“No–”
“I’m not just going to sit here in silence, Chariot.”
Blinking at the response, Chariot just glanced up, glaring at the older witch as she looked her up and down.
“Good thing you aren’t sitting then.”
And she continued walking. They were just looping around the courtyard at that point and Croix let out an exasperated sigh.
“Tch, smartass.” Continuing to walk after Chariot, Croix let her words out with a bit of annoyance. “Can you at least try to talk to me here? I-I can’t help you if you don’t–”
“When the fuck did I ask you for your help, Croix?”
That..
The pure venom in her voice..
She’s still in a state where she thinks everyone is against her.. Frowning at that revelation, Croix stopped her walk. Chariot had turned around, glaring at her down.. Those pretty little eyes were brimmed with tears and Croix just offered a half-smile. As annoyed as she was with being cursed at, she let it in one ear and out the other. This isn’t my little Chariot.. This is her defending herself after whatever the fuck he did to her..
“You didn’t–”
“Exactly, then leave me the fu–”
“But when do you ever?”
Making a pointed statement, Croix watched the anger falter in Chariot’s features as the redhead slightly turned, averting her gaze. Fixing her glasses on the brim of her nose, Croix pressed them back up with a small chuckle.
“You’re too stubborn to ask for help, Cheri.. Hence why I try to help without you asking..”
Gently trying to close the distance between them, Croix showed Chariot her hands again. Naturally, Chariot eyed them both and took a small step back as she pulled at the pocket in the hoodie she wore. One of mine.. She adores that thing.. It was a little rough around the edges.. About three years she had it in her possession now..? It certainly made her happier when I ‘forgot’ it in her dorm..
“Well, I don’t need i–”
“Oh cut the shit.”
Rolling her eyes, Croix was a bit more firm as she entered Chariot’s personal space. Noting the way Chariot immediately broadened her shoulders and lowered her lips in a near snarl, Croix still extended a hand. Gentle fingers brushed against the bandage beneath Chariot’s eye, her thumb slowly rubbing along the bruised skin.
“I told you, and I’ll tell you again.. I’m not going to hurt you, Cheri.. I’m not your enemy here.. Never am, never will be.”
Croix hated how she had flinched under her touch.. The way those tears started slipping down her cheeks and connecting with her hand.. Croix had to bite back every ounce of emotion to crack. She needed to be strong.. Not for herself in that moment, but for the broken child before her.. She’s only two years younger, but I swear sometimes it’s hard to remember she’s still just a kid.. How she acts certainly doesn’t help aha.. But I reckon that isn’t all necessarily her fault..
Over the years, Croix had heard plenty of stories about Chariot’s family. A family of ten.. Crazy, right? Croix was an only child, she couldn’t even think of what it was like to have that many siblings.. As far as she was aware, Chariot was the ‘forgotten middle child..’ And lived in a.. Less than a functional household before moving to Luna Nova. Every holiday the students were allowed to go off of campus grounds so long as their families vouched for their departure and arrival. Protocol for any witch when entering ‘human territory.’ Her parents..
It needed to be said that Croix didn’t really remember much of her parents.. They were good people as far as she was aware.. She was seven when she had lost them. Both amazing scientists.. Sometimes she swore she could remember sitting on the couch while her father had tinkered with a few magical components at his desk in that same stupid chair.. Her mother would be in the kitchen cooking her favorite dish.. A simple girl who loved nothing more than instant noodles~ But.. The accident had taken them..
Parents were a sore spot for Croix, but she had easily gotten over how ‘poor’ her childhood had been. Growing up alone in orphanage after orphanage.. Then she met Chariot.. Despite the girl being given up to the system on the account of both of her parents being taken into custody.. She still went to see and reconnect with them after everything. After how much shit her father has done..? Leaving her battered and beaten on Luna Nova’s doorstep.. Croix despised the concept of her ever leaving her sight, but it wasn’t like the school could deny written documentation allowing for their daughter to visit every holiday.. It always made Croix sick to her stomach..
Still.. She held those timid eyes, as the sun hit them just right..
Croix was gentle as she had offered her other arm to the young redhead. And it wasn’t long before she felt a body connect with her form. A soft ‘oof’ left her mouth at the impact, but she wrapped her arms tightly around Chariot the minute it happened. Protectively shrouding the redhead, Croix pressed her face into her hair, breathing in the familiar scent as the soft cries left into the air..
“You’re alright.. I’ve got you.. I..I’ll never abandon you, Chariot.. I promise..”
A promise like that had sounded so innocent back then.. A quiet promise that children make to one another when they’re scared.. Those red eyes looked into her own.. And for a minute she saw life in them.. Genuine, bright, light.. She hadn’t seen that since she returned from holiday..
“You.. You really promise Croix..?”
She had been stupid then.. Making promises she couldn’t keep. Quickly standing back, a childish air met the lilac-haired woman as she did her best to mimic Chariot’s cheery demeanor, praying to Arcturus she’d get to see that bright smile soon. Holding out her hand, she stuck her pinky out, smiling far too out-of-character for someone as cold and as stoic as she.
“Pinky promise~”
A deal is a deal.
Chariot’s eyes lit up like Christmas trees.. A bandaged pinky wrapped around her own.. Chariot couldn’t even properly wrap her pinky around her’s, so Croix had to gently use her other hand to seal the deal. She heard the soft laughter that day as she heard Chariot’s words, thanking every higher power for the smile she had seen that day.. The life that had been breathed back into her beloved little performer..
”I promise to never abandon you either, Croix.”
Looking up at her from where she was, Chariot swore that this scene was familiar.. It was something pulled from her worst nightmares as blood trickled out of her mouth. Everything looked lopsided, the world was spinning, a portion of her vision was blocked out.. Coughing harshly, Chariot heard the cruel laughter overhead and she could only spit blood on the stone before her in response.
“Amusing, really. You try so hard.. Always have.”
Turning on her heels at the scene, Croix sighed as she gazed up at the Noir Rod. With how the red lights cascaded over her, Chariot swore she had seen someone else in her sight for a moment. Swallowing hard, a hand went to her chest as she immediately spat more blood out, her body caving in as a low whine left her.
“L..Li..--”
“Hm? Spit it out, I can’t hear you from down there.”
Barely looking over as she kept her eyes on her tablet, Croix’s body froze as she heard the word slip from Chariot’s lips.
”Liar.”
Blinking teal orbs, a brow raised as she looked over. Letting out a low snicker, she shook her head.
“Liar? Pray tell; How so~?”
Rolling her eyes, Croix sighed as she continued with her preparations for the Noir Rod’s power-up.
“You.. A-All of.. T..This..”
Pressing her hand into her chest, Chariot swore she could feel how her muscles tensed and threatened to give up. Regardless, she managed to get herself off of her knees, staggering to her feet as she grabbed at the ground, narrowly missing where her wand was. Trying a second time, she watched the blood slap atop the metal, splattering out along the stones as she picked it up and watched the familiar green beam slither out of it.
“All of this? That’s vague.”
With a disinterested sigh, Croix turned to look at Chariot.
“You said.. You’d never lay a hand on me..”
There was a sad air to that sentence and for a moment Croix felt her resolve shatter. Those sad, quiet days on the quad.. Walks through the forest where she comforted the only person that had made staying at Luna Nova worth it.. Biting into her cheek, she rolled her eyes as she spat the words out.
“Tch, you broke our promise first!”
Glaring at Chariot, Croix gripped the tablet tightly as her head shook.
“Last I recall, we both promised we weren’t going to abandon one another.” Croix looked Chariot up and down, eyeing the dagger still embedded in her side. “Funny how that turned out.” Shrugging as she turned her attention elsewhere, she did her best to emotionally detach herself, but it was hard with each word that left Chariot.
“You left, Croix! I’ve always been here at Luna Nova– I.. I had nowhere to go–”
“I left?!”
Cutting her off with a loud yell, Croix closed her fingers around the tablet, not even realizing how tightly she was holding it.
“I was always there, Chariot. Always. You were just too caught up in your own little world like you always have been. God forbid you had looked. It’s always about you, huh? You just can’t seem to fuck anything up. I wonder where the hell that mindset came from.”
Ouch.
That was something she had always used to say about her father.. Even Croix cringed at a low-blow like that.. Clearly it had stirred something in the redhead, and Croix had nearly been too slow to react. Her Pixels flew to her, easily colliding with the saber that was presented to her. Taking a step back off of her podium, she staggered slightly back towards the edge closest to the Noir Rod. It hadn’t even been an argument at that point as that saber slashed through her pixels. Growling at the sight, Croix got onto one of her units rather quickly, more than thankful to be out of Chariot’s range.
She just seethed.. Croix hadn’t even seen the tears mixed in with the blood slipping out of those ducts. Tch.. Like I should even care.. She left me not the other way around.. I’ve always been around.. She just.. She never looked for me..
“The last note you had left me.. Was that I shouldn’t look for you.. Clearly I was stupid to have listened to an idiot like you, but god did I try and respect it, Croix.. No matter how much it fucking hurt.. I just wanted you to be happy and if you were happier without me…”
Chariot spat blood at the ground as her head shook. Curling her saber backwards in her hand, she eyed the unit the woman stood on, her eyes squinting through the haze, blood and tears..
”Then so fucking be it..”