Welcome to Gaia! ::

But now that I think about it, I have older works I've never published either. Perhaps I should put a few of those up for review. Who knows, I might even get the confidence to seek publication if they go over well here...

...anyone interested in reading about a Magical University?

Somehow this chapter feels different than the others... maybe that's because there is story development at the expense of all action, or maybe it's just the darker nature of Cosette's family line coming into play. Still, the story's been getting too much of a "go here, do that" affair. I wanted to drive home the antiquity and scope of the story once more, so I've put together a chapter that focuses on the setting, and not on an adventure of sorts.

I'm normally pretty Victorian, so it's difficult to write Cosette's thoughts about her own body and sex (but there's no sex in this story, so don't worry about that). Does this chapter go too far, or does it unrealistically represent how she should feel? I'd prefer a female's opinion on this if I can get one.

Anyway, all comments are appreciated! Please let me know how you liked/disliked this chapter!

-----
Ninth Movement -- Carmine's Dark Throne

It was an important day for the residents of Villa Vivikadvra. All awaited--some with excitement, and others with trepidation--the arrival of a most singular guest. Today was a day appointed for a visit from a fellow member of Narshe's clan--and one of very singular importance at that.

A knock sounded through the old Romanian Villa. Once, then again. In her usual fashion, Narshe swept up calmly from her laboratories to answer the call of whatever guest might wish to enter. This time, however, when she looked through the peephole in the door, she gave a disgusted look at the main entrance to her villa. For a few moments she considered that she might feign not being home, but a voice outside called to her softly, interrupting these thoughts.

"Narshe... do open up for me..." The voice was soft and trailing, yet incredibly unnerving, like a mosquito buzzing into one's ears, yet darting away too quickly to be struck. With a little reserve, Narshe opened the door. He did have an appointment after all.

In the doorway, a figure stood dressed in a red wine colored suit and hat. His skin was dark, and his hair was white and stringy, falling just above his shoulders. Cold gunmetal eyes looked out from a healthy, African face. Around his neck was tied a silk bandanna, and upon his red hat rested a large white feather. His suit was trimmed in gold and lace, and gave a general impression of eccentric taste. His nails and lips were painted as well--a deep red to match his suit.

The man stepped inside, carrying a large book in one hand, and what appeared to be a handbag in the other. He looked around the foyer of the old mansion carefully. "Disrepair... I suppose it's fitting... Will you summon the heiress?" The man looked sideways at Narshe, taking the liberty to set his bag down upon the table.

"Of course, Lord Malgrave." Narshe bowed a tense bow, and walked up to the second story towards Cosette's bedroom.

In her own room, Cosette was powdering her already pale face, arranging hair, and making sure the black ribbon binding her ponytail together was sitting just right upon her ghostly platinum blonde hair. Gold eyes met golden eyes in Cosette's old mirror--the vanity her own grandmother had once used. The girl blinked while looking at her eyes, and looked away hastily. Those eyes had the power to haunt and chill others, but even Cosette herself felt as though someone else were watching when she saw them.

Hearing Narshe's knock upon the door, Cosette got up excitedly and opened the door to her room.

"Lord Malgrave is here to see you, mistress." Narshe said, barring emotion from her voice.

"Ah, I thought so. Excellent." She smiled, and the makeup actually had a decent effect upon her face, making her normally sharp features softer and more approachable.

"Today is an important day, mistress..." Narshe began, "but don't get too caught up in your expectations. You may find Malgrave's methods to be a bit... disenchanting."

"Hm." Cosette seemed to consider and disregard this advice in a second of thought. She practically skipped down the steps to meet her guest. On her way to the foyer, she stopped as she sometimes did to look over a massive tapestry of her family tree. At the root of the tree, Carmine Garidion, the family founder was set in the earth, rising up into a tree that was topped with Cosette and Merribelle. Her tree widened in places and dwindled in others, but there was always a single strong trunk--an unbroken line of female succession from her most ancient ancestor to herself. Today, she would do her part in this legacy--she would find a suitor to take her hand in marriage.

"Ah, heiress," Malgrave took a hand, and knelt down to kiss it as she approached him, "Imperial Breeder Malgrave Landraner, at your service."

"Welcome to Villa Vivikadvra." Cosette nodded, "So, how do we begin?"

"Well, there are various questions to ask, things to consider--we want to preserve existing legacies while breeding new ones into the family, keeping traditions alive," he scratched his chin with his long red nails, "I want to start by verifying my genealogies against the ones you keep here in the villa. Do show me to your library."

"Of course, right this way." Cosette began to lead him down a hallway. "So do tell me, Lord Malgrave, what this process will entail. When shall I expect to meet my suitor?"

"Ah, that is the question, isn't it?" Malgrave perked an eyebrow. He seemed to have been expecting such a conversation.

"Perhaps Narshe hasn't explained quite in detail what it is that I do..." Malgrave entered, setting his book and bag down upon a reading table of the massive library. Towers of shelves stretched toward the ceiling, and an old ladder running on a rail was the only way to reach the highest volumes. A second story balcony with even more books ran around the perimeter of the chamber, which was topped with a large domed glass ceiling.

"You see, heiress... I'm not a matchmaker." Malgrave stepped forward, reaching out a hand and running Cosette's fair hair through his dark fingers. "Or let me illustrate... Did you know your father?"

Cosette stopped to think for a moment. She had never even wondered about it before, with the constant distractions of her learning, studies, friends, and the doting of her mother. It had crossed her mind once or twice, but it was never really a pressing issue to her--she was always defined in terms of her mother, and nothing about her even suggested that there might be another side to her illustrious family. Fathers were not mentioned on her matriarchal family tree. "No." She replied at last.

"It may be best to anticipate the same fate for your daughters." Malgrave stepped back, admiring the girl's china-doll powdered face.

"So I won't be married...?" A bit of realization started to spread across her features.

"Well, I prefer to do things as naturally as possible..." Malgrave opened his bag, and took out several strange instruments--a few of which Cosette was sure she had seen in Narshe's laboratories, for use in the vampire's more repulsive 'experiments'. "But if it comes down to it, a sire isn't strictly necessary. Even if we find one, he would be a man of similar breeding, with his own house, holdings, and servants. Your best hope is certainly a 'visiting marriage', if any at all."

Cosette stood silent for a moment, letting everything he had said sink in. She had read in novels and heard from her mother of some wonderful thing that was love. Today she had expected to find that secret--to learn what love really meant. Before Malgrave's sharp smile and hungry stare, however, she felt that dream fade away in the harsh light of truth.

"But what about my expectations? My choice?" Cosette looked back at him with a loathing glare. Not only was his attitude disgusting her, but the reality of her own origins were beginning to sink in. They repulsed her.

"Tsk tsk..." Malgrave shook his head, putting his instruments down, and looking back over to her. "Despite being heiress, your duty to this family is as clearly defined as mine. When you think about what your legacies have given you, the act of taking away your freedom to marry is rather... paltry, by comparison. Besides, you can always take a lover, after your duties are complete."

"Hmph." Cosette did not like it one bit, and struggled for a retort, "since I fully intend to live forever, the family line is already more than secure." She crossed her arms and turned her nose away as though disgusted by Malgrave's suggestion.

"Oh, you do. You do." he smiled a wry smile, continuing in his calm yet sinister voice, "but you don't understand how it will happen." Malgrave went on, "I've made an extensive study of these things, dear, and I know best what to do, and how to do it."

"But I--"

"Don't tell me you had some girlish dreams of falling in love and having some sort of storybook life. Loving families and homely lives are things reserved for the peasant class." Malgrave chuckled, which came out as more of a hiss. "Now, I have work to set out to, and I'll need a little sample of your blood." He picked up a dangerous looking tool from the table, and started to walk towards her.

Stiffening her lip, and closing her eyes, Cosette held out a pale arm, underside up, towards him.

"Oh no... not from there." He smiled wickedly, flashing fanged teeth at her and grabbing hold of her dress.

"What are you--? Stop that!!" She struggled to step away, but his grip was too strong for her weak body to resist.

The heavy library door slammed into the wall as it burst open.

"Is there a problem, master?" Hylie flexed her fingers, opening and shutting her hands as knuckles cracked. Malgrave stepped back, but the demon walked up purposefully and grabbed him by the silken bandanna around his neck, pulling his face close to hers. "Something I need to take care of?"

As Narshe would do, Malgrave's body dissolved into a mist, and he swooped back behind the library table. "No, the only problem here is a lack of education and responsibility. I suppose Narshe is wasting my time with the summons. I'll take leave." Malgrave shut his large book, and began repacking.

"Wait a moment." Narshe's voice called. She stepped from behind a bookshelf on the second story of the library. "I'll provide you with a sample of Cosette's blood, Lord Malgrave." Narshe produced a vial from under her cloak, tossing it down to him. It was a vial Cosette recognized--Narshe had taken the sample from her during her monthly cycle several weeks ago.

"You need to wake her up, or this won't go well, Narshe." Malgrave looked at Cosette with a disappointed frown. "I'm surprised you've waited... are you becoming lax with your responsibilities?"

Narshe breathed a sigh, then looked down to her charge. "Cosette, we need to have a talk."

Hylie looked at Cosette, perhaps waiting for a directive to destroy Narshe and Malgrave together. Instead, the girl just let out a breath of air, straightening out her dress, and walked from the library, like a skulking animal.

-----

"Cosette, I should have prepared you better for this... I'm sorry." Narshe waved the smoke of Cosette's pipe out of her face, as she spoke to the girl. The two of them sat together in the heiress's study, surrounded by books relics of the past, but no relic quite as old as Narshe herself. "But this is the way your mother, and grandmother--generations of Garidions--have preserved the family line. It's not pretty, but it's fact."

"And I suppose you were just going to watch the show, Narshe?" Cosette scowled at her, taking a deep breath of Ritherwhyte from her antique pipe. "The sanctity of this body is an important source of power for me as well, or is Lord Malgrave unaware?"

"He knows little of magic, admittedly." Narshe bowed her head. For a moment, Cosette sounded just like her... "I'm deeply sorry." The pungent smoke around Cosette made Narshe's eyes water.

Cosette reached forward and slapped her hard across the face. "Why didn't you explain to me what this was? You've set me up to be a fool."

"Mistress... my job is to watch over you, but not just you--I have to care for the future of the line as well. I have to act in the best interest of the Imperial family--your family--and not just according to your whims."

Cosette watched her silently, a look of deep loathing plastered across her gentle features. Whether it was contempt more for her, or Malgrave, or both, Narshe could not say. Malgrave is right... I do have to wake her again... she thought, but quickly balked at the idea... she had seen too many of her line follow the fate Cosette must undergo... she had put it off so long. But no, there was really no other way at this point. There would be punishments in store for waiting so long. Narshe shivered at the thought.

-----

Villa Vivikadvra, Romania, 1324 AD

A twenty-one year old Narshe Landraner sat by the window of the old Villa. Villa Vivikadvra--a place she would never dream to call her own, was the home of a most ancient sect of her race of Vampires. For over three thousand years, the Landraner clan had worked steadily--grooming, refining, serving, and supporting a particular family--a family they referred to as the Imperial Line.

What was it that made the Imperial line so worthy of their interests? Narshe had often asked her mother, a most ancient creature who rarely ventured forth from her room deep within the heart of the villa. There had never been a satisfactory explanation, except her mother's words--A servant follows his master, and the master shelters him. She would not realize until later, when she tried to make her own way in the world, that her kind were not truly capable of living with humans--not in any meaningful sense.

In those days, the Landraner clan was as vast as the Imperial Line, which connected kingdoms and powers all across Europe, and even a few into the Middle East and Africa. They were a civilized breed of vampire--not the feral monsters that plagued human countrysides in those days, but aristocrats among their kind. Narshe would learn to appreciate later that it was their closeness to the Line that granted them such a lofty status.

Today was not a quiet day like most others in the villa. Downstairs, there was a commotion. The entire Villa seemed to have awoken--hundreds of vampires had come into the foyer to see the new arrival. Pale men and women of Romanian features and stature strained over one another, some wearing friar's robes, others exquisite clothes of the nobility, and still more dressed in simple rags--all focusing on the spectacle in the room's center. A pile of large boxes stacked near the door contrasted in size with a small girl bearing silvery hair and bright golden eyes.

Narshe did not have to strain to feel a significant magical force from her. She had a frightening aura--something dangerous, hidden deep within, as all of her descendants would. As the young vampire watched from the upstairs railing, Narshe's mother--the matriarch of a large portion of the clan, stepped from her room, long decaying gowns and lace flowing from her body like a ghost.

Beckoning the girl towards her, Narshe Millicent Ruth Hellicene Landraner the Second, matriarch of Villa Vivikadvra, knelt down, and kissed the feet of the young girl. She stood, addressing all of her family in an oratory fashion. "My children, my brothers and sisters... before you stands Carmine Garidion, the future of the Imperial Line, entrusted solely to our caretaking. Serve her, teach her, empower her... for the glory of the Empire, and of our clan."

It was that day that the first heiress of the Garidion line came to live in Villa Vivikadvra, a citadel wherein they had reigned for six centuries since.

In the following days, Narshe met and became a good friend to the new heiress. Carmine's youth made the vampire feel old indeed, but she would laugh at those thoughts in the generations to come. The girl had ambitious dreams--the same dreams Narshe would see in every member of Garidion's line to come. Still, none would possess quite the talent and understanding of that first heir... or more accurately, all would possess Carmine's talents, rather than their own...

Narshe's mother called to her one day years and years later, bringing her namesake into the heart of the Villa for a private conference. Another man was there, an elder member of her clan known as Malgrave, who served the larger Imperial Family throughout the world.

"As I've explained to your mother, the Garidion line," Malgrave spoke to her, after introductions were made, "is an experiment of sorts--a risk the main family wants to take. Princess Carmine's magical ability is substantial, I'm sure you've noticed. We want to cultivate that--refine it at the blood level. It may take generations, and that is why the Landraner clan, and most especially you, Matriarch, are required." Malgrave bowed to Narshe's mother.

"Carmine's soul will sleep in this house, and reemerge to guide each generation of the Garidion line." Narshe's mother explained. "You must lead each generation to her--to teach them their duty."

"I don't understand what you mean." Narshe shook her head.

"You will learn in time. There's no rush." Malgrave smiled. "No need at all to rush things."

-----

"I have a duty... to teach you the truth about your family, Cosette." Narshe grabbed her wrist. "I've waited too long, but if you meet Carmine... she will help you understand."

"Great Grandmother Carmine?" Cosette's eyes widened at the name of the first Garidion. The only time she had ever seen it was at the root of her family tree. There was nothing before Carmine, and no record of her. Even Narshe and her own mother, Rozalina, kept silent to her inquiries about the woman. "You'll meet her soon enough" was always the reply.

Narshe led Cosette silently down corridors into the dungeons of the villa, even deeper than Hylie's quarters in the dungeons. When they were so deep beneath the earth that Cosette began to shiver from the chill, the two of them stopped before a massive door of black iron at the end of a dark tunnel. The place was lit only by a small flicker of light Narshe had conjured, but it was enough to reveal a forboding, dangerous place.

Cosette had played before the door once with Nateel, when they were children. At that time when Narshe had found them here, she had sent the two girls away with a punishment and forbade them to come near it again. "Were you called here?" Narshe had demanded in a rage. Cosette had no idea what she was talking about then. Now, however, she did feel a strange kind of pull from within the room. Without being told, she stepped forward and placed a pale hand on the chilling iron.

For a moment nothing happened. But then, as the two of them watched, locks unfastened all at once with a huge clanking. Deadbolts rolled back, floorbolts lifted--like some hideous machination or doomsday device, the iron door rolled open automatically and a rush of stale air like a scream from beyond the grave echoed forth.

The room was large and empty, save for a single dais in the center. There, upon the dais, sat an all at once strange, familiar, and otherworldly object. Climbing several steps, Cosette placed a hand on a throne forged of mysterious metal. It had a winged back, like the chairs she liked to collect, and reflected her image back at her in a dark radiance.

"The Imperial Throne." Narshe offered in explanation. "You were born to sit upon this throne, Cosette. This is your destiny, as it is hers."

Cosette should have asked who the "her" was in Narshe's explanation, but she was too absorbed in the device to pay much attention to her mentor. It was covered in runes and designs which even Cosette's immense magical knowledge could not place. It was something of mystery--but more than mystery, it was something Cosette felt was inexplicably tied to her soul.

Unbidden, Cosette turned to sit in the throne. She paused. For a second, it dawned on her that she was dealing with something she did not fully understand. She felt a powerful spiritual presence from the relic, but there was something within it calling to her... something she neither wanted to nor felt able to resist.

She seated herself upon the thing and closed her eyes. Now she was falling... falling into a deep sleep.

"The Empress sits upon a throne of iron, and the world turns by her hand." Cosette's lips moved of their own volition, in a harsh rasp that was as otherworldly as the device upon which she sat.

A wave of darkness seemed to surge outward from the throne, or rather, a living darkness so strong that it swallowed up the regular blackness in the room emanated forth. The small conjured flame Narshe had summoned was consumed in a puff of smoke by the onslaught of shadow, plunging the room into darkness deeper than midnight. Cosette's eyes opened in a glow of gold stronger than anything Narshe had seen before. Carmine had returned.

"Ah..." A high, careful voice spoke from Cosette's lips. "This body is an even more powerful vessel than Rozalina was. So good to be young again." She stood from the throne, stepping down the dais, stretching as though to get a feel for her new form. Narshe bowed down.

"You waited a long time." Carmine's high voice said, and she gave a condescending look at the vampire. She ran her fingers through her own young hair, getting the feel of it. Neither she nor Narshe needed light to sense what was around them. "Perhaps you did not want to see me again?" The woman flexed her hands, and a crackle of power echoed through the room. "Cosette can't understand the true weight of her legacies... that's why I'll be her teacher from now on."

"There will be punishment for your tardiness in waking me, Narshe." Cosette's face twisted into Carmine's familiar smile--a smile Narshe had come to know and fear over six hundred years of reincarnations. Shackles of darkness formed in the ambient shadows around Carmine, binding Narshe down, pulling her into a well of shadow removed from this plane. Narshe said nothing, and did not resist. She had been punished before, and terrible though it was, fighting Carmine's magic only ensured greater torments.

With Narshe disposed of at present, Carmine moved upstairs, slipping through floors and rooms as through they were not there at all. She was power itself in her new form--a power more real than the flimsy world of matter and energy. In a surge of living shadow, she stood in the old foyer. It had fallen into disgrace, like she had seen it through Cosette's eyes for so many years. Time was limited, however, and she wasn't there to redecorate. It was time for an interview with an old ally--the first one she met every time she awoke.

She stepped into the library. "Malgrave." Carmine said, but she already had the man's attention. For his part, the Impreial Breeder saw the change in Cosette's bearing at once, and felt much more at home.

"Princess Carmine, welcome back." He bowed with a long flourish. "And how does this generation's progress suit you?"

"Hm..." The lights in the library flashed off, and the sun blackened overhead as Carmine considered the depth of her powers. "I want more demonic blood in the next generation. Physical weakness is a problem, though not such a glaring one that magic won't make up for it." Carmine looked down at her hand, which twitched a little bit of its own volition. "Cosette can't serve me as a permanent vessel with this level of soul tolerance. I need ideal conditions for a more lasting possession."

"What course of action do you suggest?" Malgrave was making notes in a small leather-bound book.

"It's not within your expertise to understand how this works, Malgrave, but Cosette's will has a strong friction with mine--I can feel it. She is worthless as a vessel for extended possession. I want a shamaness--someone who can endure year-long or even lifetime possessions. I'm disappointed in Cosette's disjunction with my soul--she'll be awakening soon, and she tries to resist me now. I might be able to control her in bursts, or even with her consent in cases... I don't like it."

"You need a balance between will and malleability, Princess." Malgrave consulted charts in the larger book he had carried, licking his fingers carefully before turning a page, "a strong-willed host like Cosette resists you, but a weak one will not be able to bear the weight of your powers. We saw that happen in Jaquelle three generations ago."

"I remember. It was insightful of you to secure the next line before she died. What it really involves is training--an occupation at which Narshe has failed miserably. I want a host whose will is so aligned to mine we appear as one. I feel like a master working a disobedient puppet every second I spend in this body."

"It's not too late..." Malgrave mused, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "I've been doing some rather interesting reading on Psychology... you can do wonderful things with the right teaching processes these days."

"Perhaps if she were only younger." Carmine looked her body down, noticing that her dress was a little loose on Cosette's small chest. "And do try to keep my measurements the same--I hate having to modify my clothing to fit each new body."

"Forgive me. I will take extra care to include it in my calculations this time."

"I'll trust you to take care of things then--at least until we meet again. Take a room in the house, until your work is completed here." She paused, feeling the girl's will starting to reawaken within her. "Cosette and I will work out our own arrangements, for the time being."

"Milady's will be done." Malgrave gave another flourishing bow. As Carmine left the library, the sun shone once more overhead, and the torches in the chamber flared back to life. Malgrave set his feathered hat back upon his head and scratched his chin thoughtfully with long nails. Business as usual. Business as usual. He thought pleasantly to himself.

-----

Cosette awoke in a sweat in her canopy bed. She felt like she had been watching a dream she couldn't quite remember--the feeling of being completely possessed by some powerful entity. Nothing in the room seemed out of place. It was evening time, and the sun had just set, throwing her chambers into darkness.

What has happened to me? Cosette felt a kind of force within her moving--like something that had lain dormant all her life had woken up and wanted out. She walked to her washroom, trying to shake off whatever feeling had overtaken her.

A little shaky on her feet, she walked slowly through her bedroom towards the washroom. Her eyes wouldn't seem to adjust to the dark, but feeling the wall she made it there well enough, candles in the washroom flashing to life at her command. Her eyes adjusted to look into the mirror before her, and she stopped there.

The figure of a young woman in the mirror was staring at her, running fingers through her own silver hair. She looked similar to Cosette, though not so pretty. Wrapped in tattered black silks and with flowing white hair that trailed to the floor, she would have made for a somber image indeed, were her face not filled with such emotion. A roman nose was set into the milky white skin of her face, and deep red lips formed an unnerving, knowing smile--a smile filled with dark ambition and dangerous, violent power. The same golden eyes looked out to her--those piercing, inhuman golden eyes she had looked at in the mirror all her life--now more than ever, she knew they couldn't be hers. The eyes in the mirror blinked once as Cosette watched them.

As Cosette shook her head in surprise, the figure vanished--replaced once more by an ordinary image.

She vomited into the sink.

Oh gods... She breathed heavily, both hands on the sink for support... I'm haunted.

Good point. I think I'll go back and make some minor edits to tone down the expectancy in her voice, and make her keep her more businesslike airs about her.

That said, it is difficult to balance her weakness and strength realistically. Sometimes she seems to come off as a total fool, and other times I feel like she's "Mary-Sue"-ing in her own story.

What's wrong with rooting for Cosette anyway?! eek
You realize she's the main character right? xd

I'll do the edits tomorrow and post afterwards. It's 2:15 am here, and I must sleep. Planning to read the next chapter of VA then too. I was just about to poke you to write more and then you did. Nice timing. biggrin

Can any amount of over analysis really make a story worse? There are so many things to think about when writing--I have to think of a handful before and a handful after and even more three stories later. The only way to write better is to poke every detail until it becomes perfect.

In case you were still wondering, yes--I do agonize over whether my work is ever "good enough" to stop reworking and reviewing. stressed

I finished the cover to the first volume of DMO! Want to see? It's here!

As for the catchline on the back, I have:


How does that sound? Does it make you want to read DMO all over again?




I made some edits based on your suggestion, and thought I should post them up here before making them permanent. Any thoughts?



I think this section preserves her personality, and develops a little more of her inner qualities. We find out here that Cosette really is interested in finding "love"--a concept that is complete mystery to her. I want to make this a major theme in the coming sections of DMO...

Wow KK keep this going or i'll poke ya, it's truly one of a kind.
a few things that caught my eye



did you mean it? or did I read it wrong?



Um best? maybe beat? I wasn't sure.

sorry it took me so long to reply. just been busy lately with things going on.

You're right. It's easy to fall into such a trap because DMO is so plot driven. Since I'm trying to tell a full story, it's difficult to get the characters to shine brightly through the epic events in their everyday lives. I'll work on this in future chapters.

That said, Cosette is, at least in her own mind, an empress and an infamous witch. She keeps alot of emotions and thoughts bottled up all the time, while people like Narshe are far more straightforward about what they want and feel. Do you really find her character unrealistic, or just closed off?



You're right, but you underlined the wrong "I". It's supposed to be: Of course you can level the manor, but it would be more, hmm... healthy--at least for us--if you were to wait until Cosette and I were outside.

Thanks for the catch, and I'm glad you took the time to catch up on such an obscenely long story. biggrin

Cosette doesn't seem so much unrealistic as she does...closed off. I suppose. It's just...she seems like a character rather than a person. If that makes sense. Though...in this chapter, we see her mask begin to crack a bit. And putting things in perspective, this would only be Chapter Nine--we're still in single digits. There's a lot of time for her development. And characters to help that along.

Don't sweat it so much.

Love and Vale,
-LD

Well, it works. I'm continually enraptured by Cosette, and increasingly startled by Narshe's sentimentality towards our little witch. It does seem very well layered, and certainly you can take any chapter as a stand alone story, but they fit together so flawlessly.... It actually reminds me of Fruits Basket a little bit, but much, much darker.

And you have no idea of how big a compliment that is coming from me. I am obsessed with Fruits Basket.

Love and Vale,
-Leavaros