ReLive: The Unreasonable Routes To Redeeming The Villainess (ch7)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!!

All this time, Claudine has been trying to keep her conscious... but what about the girls who are trapped inside the play not knowing their true identities? This chapter will be told from Maya's POV!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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						Chapter 7. The Duchess' Promise

Duchess Maya Tendo was born to two purebred magicians - perhaps two of the most well-known in all the land.

Ever since the day she was born, all she'd known were the skills of casting magic. It hadn't taken her much effort at all to master the powerful art, and her parents always claimed she was a prodigy. They only expected the best from her, and never anything less.

The Duchess had felt a sense of relief when she'd finally moved away from home to attend the Magic Academy. Her parents' grasp on her had loosened significantly, and she was intent on making friends and building relationships the likes of which she'd never had the opportunity to forge in the past.

She had never expected to make quite so many friends, and especially not as quickly as she had.

She attributes all of that to the kind and positive Village Girl, Karen Aijou. Had it not been for her easygoing charisma and welcoming smile, Maya is certain she never would have encountered the seven other girls whom she'd grown so close to over the weeks.

She'd taken a particular liking to Karen early on. Maya had never harbored these kinds of feelings for anyone else before, but she was certain right away that what she was feeling toward the Village Girl was different from what she felt toward anyone else.

She kept getting wary of the others whenever they would speak to Karen or get close to her, and before long Maya recognized that wariness as jealousy.

She was particularly jealous of the Viscountess Saijou, as Karen seemed especially close with her; close enough to give her a nickname on only the first day.

But even so, Maya did her best to be amiable and fair, even toward the person she viewed as her rival in love.

But as the school days went on, the Duchess gradually found her interests shifting.

Before she knew it, she found herself looking at the Viscountess more than she looked at the Village Girl.

And it wasn't because she liked her - at least, not at first.

At first it was because she was jealous, then because she was curious, and eventually…

She isn't really sure why or how, but the Duchess found her affections directed toward the Viscountess now. After all, the Village Girl seemed to be very fond of her roommates, Lady Kagura and Dame Tsuyuzaki anyway, and only saw the Duchess as a friend.

And the Duchess was rather shocked to discover that she wasn't terribly hurt by that. Rather, she was completely fine with it.

The Viscountess had piqued her curiosity since day one, but she drew Maya's attention even more as their school days progressed.

For the first week or so, Viscountess Saijou was as pleasant and friendly as the rest of them were, always joining in on the conversations and smiling with everyone.

But ever since the incident with the dragon, she'd changed.

Maya believed she knew why. She believed the Viscountess had thrust Lady Kagura and Dame Tsuyuzaki in harm's way by accident, and ever since then she had been weighted by a terrible guilt, so much so that she no longer believed she deserved to be a part of their group. She distanced herself, became cold and unapproachable, and began acting out - particularly against Karen - though she did still say nasty things to the rest of them and give them dirty looks for no apparent reason.

Maya believed she was making herself out to be a villain because she blamed herself for hurting Karen's friends. She believed the Viscountess was punishing herself by trying to do bad things to make the rest of them despise her now.

But none of the things she attempted to do were particularly bad. And because no one else perceived them as such, she kept trying to do things that were progressively more severe.

She'd started by hiding Karen's clothes, but that had only been something the Village Girl had enjoyed by coming to class in her pajamas. She'd had more fun that day than any other until that point.

Maya had observed the Viscountess pouting that her prank hadn't worked the way she'd wanted it to. And it had been such a harmless prank to begin with, Maya couldn't help but think the Viscountess was rather cute for trying to be a bully when it was clear that wasn't the type of person she truly was.

Maya believed she had the enigmatic Viscountess figured out right from the start.

Her next prank had been to start and spread rumors about Karen, but those had only ended up becoming funny stories that Karen herself and everyone else laughed at in good fun.

And even if they had been nasty rumors, that's all they had been. Just words.

And even when she'd hidden Karen's clothes, she'd still left her the pair of pajamas she'd been wearing so there was still something she had left to come to class in.

The Viscountess had then tried again to use words against Karen by denying that she be able to sit with Claudine for lunch at the picnic tables. And she'd been surprised to hear the Baroness explain that the chair was wet with fresh paint, but Maya believed the Viscountess had known that subconsciously, and had told Karen she couldn't sit there because she didn't want her to embarrass herself.

And, knowing Karen, even if she had ended up sitting in wet paint, Maya knows she would have just laughed and not minded one bit.

And even when the Viscountess moved beyond words and hiding things from Karen, her pranks didn't really get to the level of 'bullying'.

When she tampered with the sprinklers, a witch of her calibre easily could have made fire or acid spray down on Karen. But she'd kept it as harmless, cool water; a shower Karen had enjoyed immensely and not minded one bit.

The Village Girl didn't even know she was being bullied at that point, because the Viscountess was so bad at it.

And Maya knew that was because her heart wasn't really in it. She knew the Viscountess didn't want to hurt Karen, so all of her pranks were rather harmless.

Even in their potions class, when the Viscountess had altered Karen's concoction. She could've transformed her into a snake or spider that would have made everyone else in class run away, or turned her into a giant rampaging monster.

And yet, what had Karen become but an adorable and soft little hamster whom everyone adored?

Even when the Viscountess was trying to be mean, she subconsciously always made sure to do things that would never really hurt Karen or anyone around her, or would do harmless things in safe places.

Maya could tell from the start the Viscountess' heart wasn't in her actions.

She tried to approach her a few times, to tell her she didn't need to blame herself and play the villain for what she'd surely done on-accident in the height of panic.

And even though the Viscountess snapped at her and told her off every time, Maya somehow always found herself coming back, or looking at her from afar much more often than she looked at Karen now. She was both worried about and interested in Viscountess Saijou, and Maya had more or less made it her own personal mission to let her feel absolved of her crimes, and have her join their group of friends once again like she had in the beginning.

But then, the broom race had happened earlier today.

And it had almost changed Maya's mind about the Viscountess. Almost.

She hadn't heard the spell she'd uttered herself, but she'd heard the accusations of it possibly being dark magic. The Viscountess had allegedly taken control of Karen's broom and made her fall, hoping to seriously injure her for everyone to see.

Had Maya not already been watching the Viscountess from afar, she likely never would have witnessed Karen falling or have been quick enough to save her. In a way, it's thanks to the Viscountess Saijou that the Village Girl Aijou is still alive and unharmed right now.

The incident today had nearly changed Maya's mind about the Viscountess; if she'd take her pranks far enough to truly cast dark magic, maybe she was too far gone.

And yet…

Even when she'd been getting what she apparently wanted - even when Karen had been falling toward a painful and terrible landing as the Viscountess claimed she wanted…

Maya hadn't missed the bed of flowers that had appeared beneath Karen - if only for a brief second.

Most of their friends had missed it due to how quickly the Viscountess had canceled her spell, and Maya herself had only seen it because she'd been diving down to save Karen at the time.

But there's no doubt in her mind that the Viscountess had cast those flowers there in an effort to soften Karen's fall if no one else managed to save her in time.

Even when she was raising the severity of her actions, and going so far as to possibly use forbidden dark magic to hurt Karen…

Even then, the Viscountess could not put her whole heart into it.

Deep down, she didn't want to hurt the Village Girl, or any of the rest of them. Maya has seen her prove that countless times now.

And even when all was said and done, and the nine of them had landed, the Viscountess had proved one more time that she didn't want to be doing the terrible things she did.

She'd harshly shouted at Karen and insulted her, told her she had no shine or talent, said all the right words to hurt Karen in all the right ways. After all her failed attempts, this had been the only time the Viscountess had truthfully managed to hurt Karen.

And yet, when she'd finished her verbal onslaught, she hadn't stood firmly and smirked or laughed - as someone who had meant those words would do.

Instead, the Viscountess had turned and fled.

That was the reaction of someone who hadn't enjoyed or meant to do what they'd done.

That was the reaction of someone being torn apart with guilt.

That was the reaction of someone in much greater pain herself than any of the pain she'd attempted to inflict upon others.

Maya and the rest had been frozen in disbelief at the time as they'd watched the Viscountess turn and run away from them all, whimpering. And though Karen had shed a tear or two from the initial shock of the harsh words that had been thrown in her face, she'd quickly recovered and spoken words that agreed with Maya's belief. She'd claimed to the others that the Viscountess hadn't truly meant to do any of this, or cause anyone any pain.

And though the others were rightfully suspicious and uncertain, Maya knew her theory about the troubled Viscountess was correct.

And so she goes after her.

Presently, now that she knows Karen is all right, Maya leaves the other girls behind and follows in the Viscountess' footsteps. She knows she can't have gotten far with how distraught she was, but Maya soon suspects she'd cast an invisibility spell on herself.

And again, that isn't something that would be done by a person who was proud of the misery they'd just inflicted. That's something that would be done by a person who was terribly ashamed and frightened.

Maya scours the campus for her, until the sun sets. When twilight settles in, she passes by the gardens.

And luckily for her, it would seem the Viscountess had only concealed her presence visibly, but not audibly.

Maya can hear the soft, choked sounds of sobbing.

The kind of sobbing that comes from a person who is being shredded apart from the inside out.

The kind of sobbing that the person tries to force down and quiet, but it's so heavy and deeply-rooted in the pit of their stomach that it just ends up becoming all the louder.

The kind of sobbing that makes anyone who hears it feel like crying, too.

Quietly, Maya follows the source of the sound to a small moonlit patch of grass nestled between the rose bushes. Maya cannot see her, but she can hear that heart-wrenching anguish.

The sobs that double-up on themselves between fragments of her voice that get lodged in the back of her throat.

The hiccups that get stuck at the top of her chest and cause her to cough and the tears to fall even more quickly.

The thin, broken, wails and anguished weeping that comes from the soul.

These are not the sounds of a girl who enjoys doing what she does. These are not the sounds of a girl who wants to be hurting people.

Maya keeps herself hidden behind the roses as she listens, and not a moment later, the invisibility spell the Viscountess had cast on herself finally wears off. Or rather, she likely has no strength left to maintain it. The spell breaks and reveals the shattered girl underneath.

She weeps with her whole body, gasping as she hugs herself and hunches forward, muffling her cries into her dress.

Maya is no longer certain of the Viscountess' reasons for committing such acts. It can't simply be that she wants the others to see her as a villain because she feels she doesn't deserve to be with them. Maya would go so far as to say it's very possible the Viscountess had been cursed - forced to do these things against her will.

And somehow, Maya gets the sense that whatever had cursed her might be more powerful than this world can comprehend. It may even come from another world entirely, a place where the rules of magic don't even apply.

As such, Maya doesn't know if she can be saved. Perhaps this curse will doom her in the end.

But Maya doesn't want that. Not if she can help it somehow.

She isn't sure what she can do for her. She isn't even sure if there's anything she can do for her. If this curse came from some other mastermind in some other world, Maya may not be strong enough to help her break it.

But that doesn't mean she won't try.

She longs to go to her now, but she fears that if the Viscountess realizes she'd been seen in such a sorry state, she might use magic on herself to disappear for good.

So though it takes great effort not to go and comfort her, Maya refrains.

But she does linger behind that rose bush well into the night, until the sobs from the other side have finally dwindled away. Only then does Maya cautiously venture out from her hiding spot.

The Viscountess - Claudine Saijou - is slumped on her side in the grass, her eyes closed, her face and neck drenched from so many tears. A girl who cries herself to sleep alone in the rose gardens is not someone who takes pride in the terrible things she'd done.

Maya goes to her now and kneels at her side. She reaches out to her, gingerly brushing her fingers against the Viscountess' cheek where the skin is soaked-through; the first time she touches her, and the first thing Maya feels is the cold wetness of her agony.

She strokes her thumb across Claudine's cheek, gently tucking the frazzled hair away from where it's stuck to her face. The collar of her dress is damp from where the tears had dribbled down, and there's also a stain in her lap from where she'd hunched over to cry.

To Maya, this girl seems to be made of tears. She is covered in them. She is drowning in them.

Maya has never seen someone in more pain in all her life.

She almost doesn't touch her, because she truly fears the girl may shatter if Maya makes contact beyond just her fingertips. But she refuses to leave her out here with the night growing colder, and she refuses to let anyone else see her like this.

So with great and tender care, the Duchess reaches out to gather the Viscountess into her arms, cradling her gently in her lap. She brushes the silvery-blonde bangs aside to reveal a brow so furrowed from so many conflicting emotions it's a miracle the skin hasn't already wrinkled permanently. Her cheeks are swollen red, and there are still faded tear trails glistening all down her neck.

Maya supports the girl's shoulders and head with one arm and softly rests the other over her chest. The heart that beats beneath her palm does so with a heavy and tired pulse.

Whatever curse has befallen the Viscountess is powerful enough to force her to act against her will and her true desires. It is something that makes her push herself to her limits for the sake of causing others harm, to the point where it exhausts and depletes her energy entirely.

Maya is certain such a curse will claim her life before very long.

If Claudine continues doing terrible things, only to be so severely affected at the prospect of causing others' pain, it will kill her. Whatever curse this is seeks to transform a caring girl with a gentle heart into a hateful monster and - if she fails - it will steal the life from her soul.

Maya waits a moment longer, feeling several more of the girl's weary, pained heartbeats. The Duchess draws in a deep breath now, and resolves herself.

"You have my word…" she murmurs to the sleeping girl. "You have my word that I will do everything within my power to break that curse and save you, Viscountess Saijou Claudine."

And she isn't fully aware of it herself, but the first time she'd spoken this girl's full name, Maya had reversed her first and last names for some reason.

Even though in this world it is always the given name that comes first and the surname second, her name simply falls from Maya's lips in that manner, and she can't explain why.

But she doesn't dwell on it for too long.

Maya slips her arm beneath Claudine's knees now and cradles her against her chest as she gets to her feet, trying not to jostle her. But even though the walk back to Claudine's room takes about ten minutes, she never wakes.

When Maya eventually arrives at the Viscountess' dorm, she finds the door locked by magic, as is customary here. And she truly does consider bringing the girl back to her room tonight instead. But Maya fears she will be frenzied and upset in the morning if she discovers Maya had found her like this tonight, and she doesn't want to distress her any further than she clearly already is.

Therefore, just this once, Maya utilizes her skill of being born to two of the purest wizards in the country and casts a spell that overpowers the one Claudine had cast on her door to open it. Maya nudges her way inside, murmuring an apology for intruding as she carries the Viscountess to her bed.

Maya lays her down with great care, hoping Claudine will believe she'd made her own way back to her room somehow tonight and merely forgotten it before losing consciousness.

Maya lingers there for a long moment at her bedside, where the silver moonlight bathes the Viscountess in a glow that is somehow both pale and bright at the same time. She reaches out to touch her cheek one last time.

"I will do all I can to help you," she murmurs again. "I promise."

She doesn't know if this curse transcends worlds. But even if it does, Maya is determined to fight. She won't stand idly by and watch as an innocent and loving girl gets destroyed by something beyond her control, without so much as her own choice in the matter.

The Duchess stays a moment longer, until she can feel past the cool dampness of Claudine's skin and recognize a subtler, softer warmth underneath. Maya offers her a tiny, honest smile before she withdraws for the night, closing the door behind herself, and recasting the spell to lock it.

She will keep what she's discovered to herself, and do everything she can to keep her promise.

Even if it's a promise she'd made to a sleeping girl who hadn't even heard her.

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In the following days, Maya continues to observe the Viscountess, taking much more of an interest in her than she takes in all her other friends combined.

Claudine continues trying to act horribly, not just to Karen, but to all of them - Maya included.

She snaps insults at them, but it always seems to be Claudine herself who is more wounded by saying them than the others are from hearing them.

She trips Kaoruko in the hallway, but Maya notes that she does so in a place that is flat and open, not near a staircase or in a crowded room where she might get stepped on.

She casts a spell to turn Nana's hair green, but Maya observes it only changes the color, when she could've easily made it turn to seaweed, or made it fall out altogether.

She slips a certain herb into Mahiru's soup when she isn't looking, one that makes the Dame's eyes water. But Maya is aware that Claudine had chosen the herb over a certain spice that would have caused Mahiru's tongue to burn.

All the bad Claudine does, she does half-heartedly, further confirming Maya's theory that she doesn't really want to do any of this. Rather, at this point it's been proven time and again beyond the point of hypothesis; it is a fact.

The Viscountess is doing these terrible things by no will of her own, and the more she does, the more she is hurt by upsetting her friends.

And the more she is hurt, the more Maya sees her true colors and the kindness in her soul.

And the more of that kindness Maya discovers… the harder she falls for her.

At some point, though she can't be sure of exactly when, the Duchess had begun to fall for the Viscountess.

Little by little. Day by day.

Maya feels she can't stop glancing at Claudine, nor can she stop worrying about her, or wishing for her curse to be broken so she can be the sweet and gentle girl she truly is.

And she knows Claudine doesn't see her that way. After all, Maya keeps her feelings very tightly locked away so no one else will suspect anything. And she wants to help Claudine not just because she has feelings for her, but because she knows it is the right thing to do.

Maya is the only one aware of her anguish, and she refuses to let this cruelness go on any longer. She has made her choice, and that choice is to interfere with whatever higher power is in control here, with whatever is causing Claudine such terrible pain…

But little does she know it is that very interference that will shatter this world - this ReLive - that she has no knowledge of.

As Maya's character strays further and further from the intended, scripted path of the play, she jeopardizes 'Ashes of the Phoenix' and makes it all the more possible that the play will not be fulfilled.

And as such, in trying to help save Saijou Claudine, Maya may very well be what causes her destruction in the end.

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A/N: Of course Maya does not know this is a play, or that she must fall in love with the Village Girl. The heart wants what the heart wants, even if it will doom them all in the end...