Chapter 45: Acceptance

Chapter 45: Acceptance

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Acceptance

"Ah, I see," Grandmother nodded in acceptance, sipping her tea. "Then this flower is my great granddaughter. My, how time flies"

We sat at the dining room table of my Grandmother's huge house, drinking from cups that must have been of Vacuo make. Mom had barely gone inside before leaving again, off to handle business I assumed. Gou had sniffed around curiously for several minutes, exploring the new place until my grandmother's own dogs had walked in, massive hulking beasts that were several times the growing puppy's size. Despite that, they had played around the room, prancing around until Gou's adventures lead him out the open door and into the rain outside, immediately drawing his attention. Currently, he seemed to be engaged in battle with it.

He also appeared to be losing. I suppose it was fine so long as he had a good time of it, though.

Autumn, on the other hand, now rested within a pot of soil Grandmother had had one of her men fetch from outside. At a touch, Autumn had unwound herself from my wrist and taken root in the soil, transforming quickly to appear the same as any other rose. My grandmother had watched the process with interest as she'd listened to my explanation.

"Truly though, she's amazing," She continued, blowing gently on her drink. "There have been many experiments over the years, but I've never seen an awakened plant grow so advanced. The most I've ever even heard of was a plant capable of limited motion, but they were unable to get any definite responses to signify intelligence."

"They probably just couldn't communicate with it," I mused, hands around Autumn's pot. "I encountered something similar; when Autumn first became self-aware, she was blind, deaf, and numb to the world. I ended up connecting us through Aura, in the end, but"

I shook my head, imagining those other plants, who'd never had someone to bring them out of the dark. I hopedwell, I wasn't even sure what I hoped for. That they'd found peace somehow, I suppose.

"Remarkable," Was all my grandmother said, stroking one of Autumn's petals. There was a reaction, after a moment, but I don't think she'd been able to speak to Autumn as such, merely draw her attention with her Aura. "Truly, my granddaughter is quite amazing, isn't she? And very beautiful, as well."

There was a kind smile on her face as she spoke the words and I translated them for Autumn, giving her a rough understanding of the context as well. Autumn reacted by changing her face, blossom shifting somewhat in both color and shape as it opened. I'd explained to Autumn how humans considered her flowers beautiful and she'd used them as one of her many forms of response ever since.

"A Middlemist," My grandmother breathed. The name of the flower, I supposed? I didn't recognize it. "It has been a very long time since I've had the pleasure, Autumn."

She tapped her blossom again, a gentle contact with a single finger, and then looked up at me.

"You said she could consume plants, as well?" She asked. "That's how she grows?"

"I think it's more complicated than that," I replied. "It seems more like a melding of minds then a consumption of thembut yeah, that's one of the ways she grows. She's gotten to the point where she can consume entire trees. She feeds on Aura spent around her, as well."

Grandmother smiled at me gently, so her next words were a tad jarring.

"Have you given her anything poisonous yet?" She asked.

"Not yet," I shook my head after a moment's pause. "Issues with when to use it, mainly; she tends to keep her natural defenses up at all times. Until recently, she would cover herself with Atlesian Blackberry thorns, even while wrapped around meand sometimes she still does, if something frightens her. She"

I paused, trying to put the thought into words before my grandmother did it for me.

"She's blind and deaf and numb. Trapped in a silent, lightless world, surrounded by strangers," She said calmly, smile momentarily fading. "It's only natural that she'd get scared."

"Exactly," I agreed. "But even so, a lot of people could get hurt if she reacts the wrong way. I've been working on that with her, butwell, it's something that needs to be done right."

"Then see that it is," She inclined her head towards me. "But once she is prepared, do you have any plans?"

"A few," I shrugged. "The merging seems to have greater results when used on another awakened plant and there are a few good ones I can get to easily. Ranunculus, Aconite, and Oleander seem like good places to start."

"Ah," She said fondly. "A good place to start indeed. But don't be afraid to aim your sights a little higherAbrus and Brugmansia, Conium and Cicuta and old Cerbera and dear, sweet Manchineel. At the very least, you should have no trouble finding Ricinus in Vale, should you so need. But if I might make a suggestion?"

I tilted my head to the side, not recognizing all of the namesand somewhat worried that my grandmother did. Even so, I raised an eyebrow inquisitively, bizarrely curious.

"Menagerie is quite famous for itsinhabitants," She said, lips quirking slightly upwards. "If its dangerous plants you intend to look for, I'd recommend you aim for the top and research the matter. There's a species of Heracleum that has a fascinating poison; I've seen men fine one minute and blister and burn as they walked back into the sunlight. There's another I'm familiar with, a rather spectacular Dendrocnide, which stings those who touch its leaves, injecting them with a toxin so agonizing and persistent that most chose commit suicide to escape the pain. There's a distantly related tree called the Urtica, though that's native to the north-east, and its one of the few plants I've known to have killed people who simply made the mistake of walking into it. There's also a very poisonous breed of plant by the name of Daphne, though you may know it better as a Spurge-laurel, though it's neither a spurge nor a laurel; regardless, those who eat it tend to meet rather horrible deaths."

She made the words sound conversational.

"These are all on the Kingdomless Continents?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Most of them," She shrugged. "It's among the many reasons why they're that way, though a bit down the list. Still, some have been taken away and grown successfully elsewhere, throughout Remnant's history. Mistral has quite a record of making use of such poisons. I've done some research on that topic myself, as you might have guessed."

I could guess why, too.

"As you grow older, you'll find that all manner of skills can prove useful," She continued. "I and several of my old friends developed some small skill at knitting while at school and it's seen us all a ways. That's where I first met your grandfather, you know, though we didn't get to know one another until sometime after that."

"I've found a number of odd skills useful myself," I admitted. "I can believe it."

She reached over to pat my hand gently.

"Will you be going out tonight, then?" She changed the subject. "If you wish, I'll take you to see the festivities tomorrow."

"Thank you, Grandmother," I replied. "I'd love to. But I do think I'll take a look around some, since I'm new in town and all. I don't need to do anything for the tournament tomorrow, right?"

"Not tomorrow, no," She shook her head. "Preliminaries will start the day after, however."

"Then I'll go for a walk, if that's all right with you, Grandmother."

"I don't mind," She said. "I'll send Grigio with you to make sure you don't get lost."

It wasn't a request, but I didn't mind anyway. I really did just want to take a look aroundand, okay, maybe scope out the city so I knew where everything was if, against all odds, something happened to go catastrophically wrong in my proximity. Unlikely as it seemed, I felt it might be wise to prepare myself anyway.

Still, a guide could only help with that.

"Okay," I agreed. "Would you be okay with looking after Gou or should I take him with me."

"It's fine if he stays," She answered with closed eyes.

I nodded once, even though she couldn't see me, and then picked up Autumn and rose to leavebut I stopped when she spoke again.

"Jaune," She said. "If you're going into town, you may want to leave Autumn here, as well."

"Oh? Why?" I asked, frowning. I wasn't suspicious of my grandmotherokay, no, that was a lie. I wasn't an idiot; I was totally suspicious of my grandmother. But I was sure she wouldn't harm me or Autumn. But if she wanted me to leave Autumn here "You know that without me"

"I know," Grandmother said, opening an eye to look at me. "Butit's your first day in town, Jaune."

"How many of the books can be read?" I asked, curiously. "That is, how many are open to the public and how many have been translated?"

"It's hard to say," Grigio shook his head. "Though the connections between the Kingdoms has done much to increase the library's size, much of it came from the conquest of nearby nations over the millennia or from the transcription of ancient texts. In its totality, it's believed the library contains books in over two thousand languages, very few spoken today. With the issues of syntax, culture, translation and transcriptionit's hard to say, but decrypting many of the works held within the Library is a major goal of its keepers. The vast majority can be read, however, and the access of that majority will not be an issue."

"Oh?" I asked. "Do we?"

"It is maintained and funded by the Alexandria and Roma families, with some aid from the Khagan, but the library is not owned, as such," Grigio shook his head. "It strives to be an open source of knowledge for all of Mankind, supported by deals and agreements old and new. Even during the Civil War, the library was agreed to be off limits for its 'enterprises of service to all Mankind.'"

He gestured to indicate the quotation and I nodded, remembering the words.

"It's this way, sir, if you're interested," He said, pointing down the street as we reached the intersection. "If we cut across Ashina, we can head towards Primus fairly easily."

"Sure," I smiled. "One second, though; would you mind checking my notes? On the people following us, I mean."

"Not at all, sir." Grigio assured.

"I count a girl down the street, trying to stay out of sight, that guy we've seen leaning against, like, seven different walls, and that guy who's not even trying to hide. There were a few people who watched us closely when we were nearby, but didn't follow usI figure they just reported back to someone elsethough I'm more worried about the guy way over there, watching us on top of the tower." I said calmly, like I was mentioning the weather. Like so many times before, I knew appearances would matter greatly here, so staying composed was important. Grigio, for his part, didn't even twitch until I mentioned the last one, at which point his eyes flicked to follow my gaze and he couldn't stop himself from frowning.

"You're Grandmother mentioned that you had good eyes," He said. "My apologies, sir; I had missed that last one. His name is Swart; he works for the Barca family. He's"

Grigio frowned, seeming displeased.

"How bad is it?" I asked him.

"I hesitate to say," He murmured. "He's not armed, but it's what his presence implies that's worrisome. If you'll allow it, I'll address the matter later, sir. For the moment, it may be best to pretend he isn't there while keeping him in mind."

I nodded at him and watched him closely.

"Since you're more experienced at this than I am, how do you think I should handle this?" I asked. "Directly or indirectly?"

"The ones following us are of the younger generation," Grigio said after a moment of thought. "The heirs and one of their close companionsthey want to get a feel for you and where you stand, most likely with their parents' permission. For themI feel a direct reproach would be best. Just remember that first impression are important."

I nodded, already thinking the same thing.

"Ulaan Khagan," I said, raising my voice even as I kept my back turned. "Kyanos Alexandria. Melania Delphos. Do you need something?"

I saw Grigio glance at me sharply at that but didn't flinch, didn't even turn around until I heard footsteps come nearand when I did, I made sure it was slow and casual. I looked over them almost absently. Ulaan, the large guy who'd leaned on a few walls and watched me openly, was a large, tanned man in red and white. Kyanos hadn't even bothered with that much and had openly tailed us, wearing a green T-shirt and jeans. Melania had stayed in the shadows, which I'm pretty sure had darkened around her, but when she stepped out she was wearing pastels and a floppy hat.

"It's Melanie," She said. "Only my mom calls me Melania."

"Didn't see you there, Melania," Kyanos said despite her words, smiling at her. "You worried about me?"

"Well, you're an idiot, Kyanos." She answered. "Of course I'm worried."

While they were speaking, I looked at Ulaan, the one with the highest level. He was big, so much so that he towered nearly half a foot over me, but more than that he was calm. He looked me over and did the same to him. After a moment, he nodded at me in acknowledgement.

"Jaune Roma," He said at last. "Welcome to Mistral."

"It's good to be here, thank you," I replied, not correcting him. I wasn't a Roma, but then, he probably wasn't a Khagan; whichever family was in power held those names in Mistral. That he extended that name to me was an act of respectif probably more to my grandmother than to me. "I'm surprised to see you so soon, though."

"No, you're not," He answered.

"No," I said, smiling a bit at that. "I'm not. Still, it's good to see you, I hope. I take it you're here to get to know me better?"

"Something like that," Kyanos smiled widely, showing his teeth. "Itri was too busy being an asshole to come, but you'll see him around eventually. He's like a coldeveryone has to put up with him eventually. Look forward to it."

"I will," I replied, thinking he may have already sent a representative. "So then, what should we do?"

"Well" He seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Originally, I was gonna pick up some porn, explosives, and beer so we could all go up to the catapults and have a nice male-bonding experience"

"Don't ask," Ulaan murmured as I raised an eyebrow.

"But Melanie's blown that plan all to hell with her damn cooties and boobs," He shook his head and sighed. "God, what a bitch."

Melanie leaned back without the slightest change in expression and kicked him in the ass. He stumbled forward a few steps but recovered quickly and continued without comment, ignoring her interruption but for a widening of his smile.

"Well, she's my friend so I have to put up with her, however much she sucks, so try to do the same, okay? I'll make it up to you later," He said, sidestepping another kick in the pants without even looking at her and placing a finger to his lips thoughtfully. "Let's see, though, what could we do to get to know each other"

He smiled suddenly and pointed in the opposite direction of the library.

"I guess we could play some games?" He said. "We can hang out with some of my friends. What do you say?"

I looked at them all carefully.

Heir of the Scourge

LV37

Ulaan Khagan

Heir of the Conqueror

LV34

Kyanos Alexandria

Nymph's Shadow

LV31

Melania Delphos

"You sure you want to?" I said, pretty sure I knew what he had in mind. "Because I'mpretty good at games."