"Yes ma'am, I'll bring it to him right away!" said a young woman in a maid outfit as she hurried out of a large, yet somehow cramped, kitchen. The room was massive in volume, but due to the sheer number of workers inhabiting the area at any given time and the number of countertops and tables present, one could not help but feel cornered. The young lady hurried out of the room through a sizeable double door, passing underneath a sign labelling the chamber as 'Main Kitchen'.
The woman, aptly named Acco, was carefully balancing a small kettle of green tea on a circular silver tray, alongside a bowl of dried fruits and a beautifully plated assortment of biscuits. She rushed out of her usual station as a sous chef in the kitchen into the vast abyss that was the castle's hallways.
Standing still outside the kitchen door, Acco was once again reminded of the innate beauty of human architecture. She tilted her head back and set her eyes upon the serene ceiling that soared one hundred feet above humanity. Arches reigned supreme in the castle's design, their elliptical nature present in almost every crevice of the building. The walnut-brown ceiling was layered with white marble arches, each almost forming the shape of an arrowhead. Each arch was lined with gold as it stood, defying gravity in order to point forwards. Complying with the laws of nature, however, were the many golden chandeliers strewn across the ceiling, all dangling at different heights, something that had annoyed the Lord ever since he had moved in.
"Oi! Get out of the way, missy!" berated an old butler, who had just burst through the kitchen, almost making Acco drop her tray in surprise. "This is no time for daydreaming, Acco—move! The Lady has requested this rotisserie chicken be sent to her room immediately!"
"Since when could Evti knock down a whole rotisserie chicken? Last time I checked, she weighed no more than me."
"Acco! Please refrain from referring to the Lady with such informalities!" he barked back.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry, Arthur. But it's not my fault. She insists I call her by that nickname."
"Tsk. This new generation of servants acts as if they've been raised by a pack of wolves rather than fellow distinguished labourers such as myself. Keep in mind, Acco, your parents were some of the best chefs this castle has ever seen. Don't embarrass them," the grey-headed butler replied, ignoring Acco's explanation. "Now head over to room 121 and give that poor boy his food. He must be starving by now."
"That's if the loser's woken up," Acco murmured under her breath before beginning her jaunt to the first floor of the castle. She passed by many large, expansive windows that showed glimpses of the small country of Aria. Separating the glass from the white marble floor was dark brown oak, which stretched across the hallway, resulting in the windows beginning at chest height for most people. The continuous stretch of oak was separated by mahogany pillars made of limestone with gold accents. Each section of the oak had the same quote engraved onto it:
"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."
'I think Michelangelo said that one,' Acco thought to herself as she reached the spiral staircase at one end of the passageway.
'Why couldn't the castle be somewhat modern like the rest of Aria? An elevator never hurt anyone. Well, that's not really true. A bunch of people have died because of elevators, but you get what I was trying to say—climbing up these steps while balancing this tray is gonna be pretty hard.'
With that, the girl reluctantly made her way up the coiling staircase before finally arriving at room 121, the tea almost about to cool.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Acco rhythmically knocked against the wooden door before waiting a few moments for a response.
'Nothing. I guess he's still sleeping. Who is this good-for-nothing the Lord brought in?'
Thereupon, she grasped the door handle and twisted it down, the clicking noise of the door unlocking giving her permission to enter. She pushed the door open, stepped inside, and closed it right behind her again.
The girl was greeted with a barren view: a single, unimpressive bed lodged away in the far-left corner of the room, while a thin desk, one of whose uneven legs was balanced by a piece of paper slipped underneath it, sat opposite. To the left of the door was a large, dark green wardrobe, which was currently devoid of any clothing. The chocolate floorboards matched nicely with the wardrobe, and the room as a whole was a masterpiece in colour combination, with walls painted olive green.
Atop the bed rested a lanky, black-haired boy whose weakness was apparent on his ghoulish face. The boy was sleeping on his back, the upper third of his pale face hidden by his hair.
'Let's see if this kid at least has his looks going for him,' Acco thought as she made her way to the bedside table, placing the tray atop it. She then turned to face Taiga before gently pushing his hair off his face.
'Hmmm, not bad. Not my type, but I'd be lying if I said he has no potential. If he starts to eat a bit more, I might even consider letting him ask me out and then rejecting him. Right now, he's at the "slap in the face if he so much as speaks in my direction" stage.'
Before she could continue to critique the boy's appearance, her attention was drawn to a handprint engraved on the boy's neck. He was wearing a baggy, white nightgown, so his whole neck was clearly visible, including a red mark in the shape of a hand wrapped around it.
'Huh, Arthur never mentioned anything about strangling. He just said the Don casually knocked him out and brought him here.'
She reached out and leaned in to pull his collar down and get a better look, but was almost immediately met with a headbutt as the boy jolted upright from his slumber.
"Ouch!" Acco cried out, stumbling to the floor and clutching her head in pain.
The boy also grabbed his head and winced before recovering and looking around at his surroundings.
"Aaaagh!" he began screeching, both of his hands clasping his skull as he slowly rocked back and forth in bed, his knees now tucked in.
"Tsk, it didn't even hurt me that much. Stop being such a cry-baby," Acco groaned, raising herself up.
"Not even an apolog—"
"Where's Shin?! Silver?! Noctis?! Where are they?!" The boy had jumped out of bed and was now grabbing Acco by the neck of her maid uniform.
"Gah... ge... get your hands... off me!" she said, kicking him in the stomach and forcing him to release his grip. The kick made him sit on the bed once again, this time on the edge.
"You don't just grab people like that! I know you're on edge from something, but that doesn't give you an excuse to go around assaulting people."
Taiga diverted his eyes downwards before replying.
"Yeah... I'm sorry. Where am I?"
"You don't waste any time, do you? You're currently being held in room 121 out of 250 in the Everlasting Fortress."
"Everlasting Fortress?"
"Yes, this castle is situated on the outskirts of Aria. From certain windows, you can see the whole of the capital city, Aethelgard, and its beautiful waterfall. This place is the home of the 33rd Don, Noctis Vale, and his wife, Evztanaziya Von Lyubov. I am but a humble, beautiful maid tasked with delivering those delicacies over there to you."
"Was touching me up part of your order?"
Acco cringed before replying in a defeated tone.
"How do you know about that—if I ever did that in the first place?" she asked while playing with her fingers.
"My hair's unnatural for the position I was sleeping in and, more importantly, one of my loose strands is currently jammed between your finger and your ring on your right hand, meaning you probably did something to my hair."
Acco diverted her gaze to the window on her right. The cloudy skies made it difficult to see outside, especially due to the height they were at. Despite being on the first floor (excluding the ground floor) and the castle only being one hundred and fifty feet tall, the pair were still thousands of feet above sea level, as the base of the castle itself was built atop a large mountain.
"Anyway, so that means he's here right now, in this very building. And the fact that you didn't mention anyone other than myself leads me to believe Shin and Silver are still in Berry Town, or at least Emberstan," explained Taiga.
"I'm assuming Shin and Silver are people you left behind before coming here. Friends or siblings, maybe. Not that I care too much. But are you not boiling with anger? From what I know, you were taken away from them against your will. How come your rage has subsided so quickly?"
"It hasn't. I'm going to make my way towards him right now. I'm holding in that rage you're blabbering on about because I don't want to involve innocent people—no matter how ugly they are."
Obviously annoyed by his remark, Acco crossed her arms and stamped her foot.
"Well then. Good luck trying to figure out where the Don is without me. I would never help an ungrateful brat like you," she retorted, stomping out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her.
'I should go wash my face,' Taiga thought to himself as he got up and made his way to the small en suite built into the corner of his room.
'The light to the bathroom is on the outside? That's weird,' he thought while sliding into the bathroom slippers waiting for him in front of the door.
'Last I remember, my Fraze finally awakened, but I was knocked out practically a second later. I wonder if there's a bump or bruise from where he hit me.'
He entered the bathroom while feeling around the back of his neck and shoulders for any sort of damage, but was instead greeted with a grisly sight in front of the bathroom mirror.
'What the hell?'
He stared deeper into his own reflection, focusing on what stood out to him—his neck.
He continued to stare.
He started to feel the print with his calloused fingers.
He leaned in closer.
His eyes furrowed.
He was confused.
He smashed the mirror with a single punch.
The mirror had already paid him back in kind.