Fort Geranium

Fifth Chapter: Who?

[Mariana Ulysses's Point of View]

“Astrid, it's all going to be okay; look this is our little girl," I heard the deep and commanding voice of a man, yet in his tone I sensed hesitation and anxiousness. The shroud of darkness that Aegis had placed on me was relinquished and as my lungs drew in new air I felt a profound sense of 'renewal'. My entire body was being held up, embraced wholeheartedly by a loving figure. It was a strange sensation but also a warm and nostalgic one, 'how many decades has it been?' I asked myself. "Here, Astrid." I was being handed over to another person as though I were a parcel.

"She's... beautiful," another person spoke, a soft woman's voice who at the same time gave off an aura of frailty and weakness. She had haggard breaths and coughed a lot, almost as though she was about to- "I'm glad... she was born." Her voice trailed off with only the painful ringing of silence being left behind.

"Astrid...? Astrid!" I was gently placed down as the man frantically called out the woman's name. Hearing the man's helpless pleas I was filled with a sense of empty sadness; an important part of myself had disappeared. I could only imagine what it was like for the man, he desperately begged, "Astrid... no, not like this. Please god, no." Tears ran down my face, his words echoing into my very being.

I would learn of it only later, but this was the day that my mother, 'Astrid Von Ulysses', had passed away due to complications during child birth- my birth. I took her life away and was given life instead, I, 'Mariana von Ulysses' shall never forget her sacrifice.

***

-Seven years later-

“Huh?” I spoke to myself. Dazedly, I stared out onto the open skies watching white puffs surfing across a serene, blue backdrop. The sounds of swaying trees and singing birds filled this moment with what was only possible to be described as the pinnacle of ‘tranquility’. However, perhaps it was the sudden amnesia, but there was five distinct questions running through my mind right now.

Who? What? When? Where? Why?

“Yo~ looks like you’ve finally come to, Mariana~” an instantly recognizable and oddly familiar snake-like hiss played directly against my right ear. In fact, there was sharp digging sensation on my right shoulder as well. Driven by curiosity I turned towards the source but was met with the horrifying gaze of a blood red jewel. Ghastly red eyes- glowing impossibly sharp- pierced through me. Its body was a darkened mesh that bordered on being a mass of shadows that somehow formed into a vaguely avian shape.

“What the fuck?!” in sheer surprise I shouted and jumped back. I fell hard to the ground but luckily the ground was a nice grassy plain that broke most of my fall. Still, my mind was scarred. It was not the bird that was particularly scary but the sudden juxtaposition of a daunting figure against peaceful scenery that got to me.

“Oi, oi, you didn’t have to act that surprised. It actually kind of hurts my feelings a little,” the shadow bird replied in a sarcastic tone. It flew by and landed just before me as it gazed up through its blood colored eyes. “Well, whatever. It looks like the transfer was a success. I mean, with a ninety-five percent success rate, why wouldn’t it be? Anyway, how do you like your new body?”

“Transfer? My new body?” confused I looked down to see that something was indeed a little off. For some reason I distinctly remembered myself being a bit bigger than this. These short, cute arms and legs of mine felt unnatural to move and somehow cumbersome. “Huh?” I looked down at my baby hands. I also tried touching my face only to find that they were smoother than silk, “this doesn’t feel… right. What the fuck is…?”

“Hey, I don’t think a woman, much less a child, should be swearing so much,” the bird shook its head disapprovingly. “I mean, it ruins your image and is overall unladylike. You’ll never be popular with the boys if you talk like a delinquent.”

“Boys? Eh… huh, no what?” I took a quick glance around my surroundings a second time. Certainly everything from the open air to the gentle brushes of wind felt extremely vivid. Yet, at the same time, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that everything was somehow different. “This… isn’t a dream, right? No, who am I again?” I asked.

The bird flapped its wings for a bit before flying up only to land atop of my head. The sharp and stabby feel of its talons that dug into my scalp felt particularly annoying but I decided to ignore it for now. “Did you get amnesia? Eh, whatever, you’ll live,” it shrugged as it continued, “anyway this is one hundred percent your new reality!” The bird majestically waved its wings around as though they were arms for some kind of dramatic effect. “I welcome you to ‘Terra’, this exciting world filled with fantasy and adventure shall be your new home from hence forth. Do enjoy your stay~” with obvious malicious intents it acquainted me to this fantastic, new ‘world’.

It was at that moment something at the back of my mind resurfaced. Like long detached circuits finally being reconnected, a faint memory danced at the tip of my tongue. Memories of my life prior came rushing into my mind, clashing together to form a brilliant kaleidoscope of queer and nostalgic memories. ‘As though a damn burst wide open…’ I remember such words as tears trickled down my face. “Ah… I remember, I was killed by that guy.”

‘That guy’, I didn’t even want say his name.

“Oh good, you still have your memories of your previous life,” the bird breathed a sigh of relief. “If you didn’t, it would have wasted an entire hour’s worth of work for me to get the settings on you right.” Ignoring his outrageous commentaries I simply sat there staring back up at the skies with tears in my eyes.

“Hah… hahaha… ah…” I wiped away those tears and took a deep breath. “Shit… it still hurts,” I lightly touched the surface of my neck. The sensation of those meaty fingers wrapping around my neck… It was impossible to get it out of my head as it played over and over. The feelings of helplessness and suffocation only amplified as time went on.

“Lady Mariana?” I heard a distant voice calling out. I wasn’t sure of exactly how long I had stood there in a daze, but by the time I came back to reality the skies had already turned orange. The tears in my eyes had already dried up long ago and thanks to the orange-tined atmosphere my reddened expression from crying were neatly hidden away. “Is something the matter?” she asked me.

It was a Victorian-styled maid with lustrous blonde hair and caring blue eyes. She looked relatively young, younger than I was in my previous life- she was perhaps in her late teens or early twenties. “Mariana…?” I quietly repeated after her. Was she talking about me? While my memories regarding my previous life had returned to me, it seems that my amnesia hadn’t completely cleared up. “Ah… no, I’m fine. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Eh? Lady Mariana, are you truly sure you’re fine?” she drew closer and placed her hands over my forehead. “Hmm, you don’t appear sick but…”

“Aha, it’s nothing, truly.” I lightly shook her off while giving my best ‘rich young lady’ act. That being said, this was a rather disadvantageous situation; I knew next to nothing about this world, nor what kind of life I lived. Thankfully, due to her servant attire and how she addressed me, the assumption that I was some high class young lady was probably close to accurate. However, things will only grow more suspicious if I don’t know her name.

“Umm… if you say so,” from her concerned tone I could tell that she was somehow unconvinced. Perhaps it was my mannerisms or speech was a little off but I don’t think I blew my cover entirely. At least she seemed like a good girl and didn’t drag on the topic for closer examination. “I suppose we should return to the manor…”

However, just as she decided to return me home, we were interrupted by a distant rumble in the sky. ‘A black sun?’ I thought to myself as I spotted a dark speck in the distance. ‘No,’ I reconsidered as the object approached at steady speeds. “Aegis,” I called out the name of the bird, however it had already disappeared off to somewhere. He did say that this world was filled with ‘fantasy and adventure’ but this was beyond my expectations.

What I was looking at was a ship- a flying ship. It soared through the skies and clouds as though they were atop the oceans, slowly descending onto this great green plain before us. The actual size of the ship was nothing too impressive, being the size of a yacht. A torrent of gale rushed past me as the ship tried to descend before me. I clung on tightly to my dress, fearing that somehow it’d rip off of my body due to the blast of wind.

My tiny heart raced as the ship landed before me. I hadn’t noticed it but a small crowd of servants dressed in similar Victorian-era fashion appeared behind me. When? Were they ninjas or something? However, the ship before me was of greater concern so I directed my full attention towards it. I’ll deal with the servants later.

There was one strange marking on the ship, however. A small emblem: a black circle with an ‘X’ through it upon a blood red background. ‘Seems… familiar,’ I thought to myself, but that curiosity was short lived as the doors on the side opened to let out the occupants on board. The first figures to exit were a couple of heavily armored knights, decked out, head to toe, in full plate armor, to which my first concerns were if they could breathe in those.

Knowing that this was a ‘fantasy’ world, my expectations were hampered a little, giving me room to not act as surprised as I otherwise would have been. I kept calm with my poker face and continued to observe the situation. The knights themselves became part of the reception as they got in line, giving way for another main character to disembark off the ship.

My eyes widened, both with awe and fear at who came out. All the knights and servants immediately fell down to their knees and held their heads down as they bowed graciously. His majestic figure finally entered the frame. Harsh, jet black hair with stripes of white mixed in between. Rugged expressions and wrinkles upon his face with decorative scars revealing his history with violence. His upper body seemed stern enough to wrestle a grizzly bear to the floor and his overall atmosphere was ‘imposing’ at best and ‘overwhelmingly smothering’ at worst. All in all, this man had a real ‘blood and iron’ kind of presence about him.

For a moment we locked eyes. Those faded blue eyes bordering on white bombarded me with pressure unlike anything. My poker face was about to slip if not for the swift intervention by a certain black bird. “Your father is as impressive as always,” before I knew it Aegis had returned to my shoulder.”

“When did you?” I was about to ask but he stopped me.

“Shh, your father’s coming this way. Concentrate.” Aegis directed me. As he said this monster of a man, my ‘father’ slowly approached me. I wasn’t entirely sure if I was ready for this, in fact I didn’t even know his name so there was no way this could end up fine. “Lord Sigmund von Ulysses, that’s his name,” he quickly informed me.

The giant stood before me, waiting for me. “Welcome back, father. It is nice to see you.” I did a little curtsey as I greeted the man who almost stood three times my size with a smile. His face relaxed a bit when he saw me, which eased the surrounding tension. I glimpsed to the side and saw that even the servants weren’t all that composed as small beads of sweat dripped down the sides of their face. As for me, it was as though all the accumulated stress from my previous life had evaporated on the spot.

The man, my father, crouched down to meet me at eye level. He gently stroke through my hair and spoke, “I’m home Mariana. Have you been a good girl?” In an instant, the ideal soldier of ‘blood and iron’ disappeared, replaced by the expression of a doting father.

I gave a small nod. “Yes, I’ve made sure to keep up with my studies and have listened to all the instructions by the servants.” Of course I wasn’t entirely sure if that was true, but the maid from before didn’t seem to hate me. Rather she seemed to be genuinely concerned, which gave me the impression that we had a great relationship. If that was the case then my character was probably generally well behaved, so I rolled with whatever came to mind using that as basis.

“Ho~ is that so? That’s good, very good, Mariana. Then for my excellent little girl, a present.” My ‘father’ gestured to one of the knights, silently ordering them to ‘bring out that thing’. What they brought out was a small decorated box. “I know how much you adore plants so I’ve brought one of the more exotic looking ones as I could.”

Oh, so my character in this world was also fond of plants? Well, I mean it could be that some of my traits from my previous life carried over as I was transferred into this body. That being said however, this ‘plant’ was a little different from what I was expecting. Actually I didn’t think that my knowledge of flora could be applicable to this fantasy world but apparently it was… I grimaced at the present. “Thank you father, I’m very grateful.”

Noticing the small discrepancy in my reaction, he asked. “Is this plant not to your liking?”

“No… nothing of the sort. In fact it is rather the opposite, I was a little absorbed by its splendor.” Somehow or rather, he had bought my excused and smiled back gently.

“I see. Then do take care of it well. My men had to expend quite a bit of effort in order to procure it after all.”

“Yes, of course. I would not dream of treating this with any less respect.” I also turned to the knights and uttered, “thank you very much for your efforts.” While their faces were hidden behind those bulky metal frames, I could tell from their bashful reactions that they also enjoyed the attention.

“Now then, we can’t be standing out here forever, let’s return to the manor,” father ordered both the knights and the servants.

As everyone removed themselves from the area, only I stayed behind, staring at the plant that father had given me. Mixed feelings swirled around me as various thoughts flooded my head. “Hey, that plant. It’s ‘that’ isn’t it?” Aegis seemed to have noticed it as well.

I nodded. “Yeah… an Erythroxylum.”