Bab 13: Taking A Stand
"What do you mean there's more?" Lady Zula asked cautiously causing Ariana heart to squeeze. She started to fiddle with the ends of a chef's jacket as she met Lady Zula's piercing gaze. "I'm not normal, I know things that I shouldn't, I do things that are almost impossible for someone of my age to do and I have people coming after me for God knows what..."
Ariana took a deep breath in and looked at everyone in the room. As she exhaled she gave them a gentle smile before she dashed under the counter and towards the double door. She cracked opened the door a bit, took another deep breath before she let out her booming voice. "Roy can you come out here for a second!" Soon enough Roy rushed out of the kitchen with soapy hands while Rin followed closely behind him. They both looked at Ariana perplexed and wondered why she shouted to loudly for Roy. Ariana gave them an awkward look. "I need to tell them." Ariana said when she finally made eye contact with Rin.
Within seconds Rin's confused faced turned into horror. She grabbed Ariana's little shoulders and stared at her with complete rage. "You can't!" she hissed. Ariana tilted her head to the side, her face was void of all emotions. "Yes I can and I will. They deserve to know what they're getting into. they need to have a chance to choose whether they wish to stay with me or not. Who I am to force someone to do something against their will? Nor do I wish to hide anything from the people who are important to me at this moment."
Rin swallowed back the words she wanted to say, she let go of Ariana's shoulders and clench their hands into fists as she lowered her arms. Ariana tore her gaze from Rin and faced everyone in the room. She held up her head high, steadied her nerves and in the clearest voice she began her explanation. "I am not be possessed by any demon, ghost or what have you. I am human, I can't guarantee that I am an ordinary one but I can tell you that I am different. It's not fair to hide this fact from you as this might be the reason your lives may be at risk in the future."
Sammie walked up to her first and placed a hand on top of her head. "I gave you an examine earlier, if you had any special or magical ability I would have been able to detect it right away. The only different thing about you is your fear of needles. I would probably find that your blood is ordinary, it's alright you are perfectly normal." he said as he looked at her with a sincere face.
Ariana removed his hand off her head and looked at Rin indifferently. "Go fetch the rapier from downstairs." Rin's face turned bitter as she did a semi bow to Ariana. She quickly rushed towards the door and ran downstairs. Moments later she returned with what they look like a long thin blade with an expertly crafted swept, twisted metal basket. Rin laid the rapier across the palms of her hands as she presented it to Ariana. Before Ariana took the rapier from Rin she looked at Sammie "Step back." she commanded him. Sammie felt a cold shiver run down his entire body and obediently took a couple of steps back.
Ariana then turned her unforgiving gaze at Rin. "Are you really obediently handing this over to me? It's probably smarter to place it on the counter and take a few steps back yourself. Unless you want to relive what happened last time." Every word she said dripped with sarcasm. Rin flinched then shook her head determined to hand the sword over to her personally. Ariana shrugged her shoulders and looked at the crowd "Do not take your eyes off of me, do not approach me, do not touch anything that you see or you will instantly regret it!" she said with a dark tone then grabbed the sword out of Rin's hands.
Ariana was prepared for a strong reaction. When she saw it downstairs, it glowed a bright blue and out shone the piano. After what happened with the piano she was leaving the rapier as a trump card. The light that glowed from her feet shone brighter than it ever had before, the gust of wind that would wrap itself around her was stronger. The little balls of light that would come up and float upwards were brighter, more colorful. Her eyes were glowing a soft light blue and her ponytail came undone and her hair shot straight up.
A stronger memory surfaced before her while the present scene was playing in the background. To her it looked like both images were overlapping with one another but her memory was more solid-looking while the background was more transparent.
There was a man standing right before her presenting her with some sort of metal with the words 'Champion' engraved into it. The medal was placed over her and she looked towards the crowd. The people sitting on bleachers were all applauding and cheering. She felt nothing, no sense of pride or accomplishment, just emptiness as this is what was expected of her.
The memory started to fade away and Ariana could see their shocked faces. Brian had put a protective arm in front of Lady Zula, Sammie had stumbled backwards and landed on his rump. Becca was leaning forward while Clawdean and Seeley had reached for their weapons but refused to draw them out.
Ariana's heart start to tighten, she didn't think she'd be rejected this badly. She clutched at the fabric before chest and gave them a pitiful smile. "This is the mystery about me. The truth... I just hoped you wouldn't see me as a monster." she said tearfully before she fainted.
When she woke up she saw that she hadn't been moved, her head was resting on Rin's lap while Sammie was looking her over. When he saw her eyelids flutter he through his hand up.in the air, holding them up in defense. "I was just... I was just looking you over." he said awkwardly as sweat started to collect around his temples.
Ariana groaned as she sat up. "It's fine." she mumbled passively. She tried to get up by herself but stumbled back down. Rin quickly helped her up and Roy brought her a chair. "Now you know... and that is out of the way... let's talk business." she said as she sat on the chair trying to stop her vision from spinning.
Brian stepped forward with his chest puffed out. "No." he said in a booming voice. "Not until we find out that Lady Zula is actually safe around you. If anything were to happen it would most likely be you turning on her and killing her with your own hands."
Ariana laughed mockingly. "Really?! Do you believe that she's not safe with me?! I wanted her to know the truth before she made a huge mistake, I wanted her to be safe, I have never received so much love and affection from a female figure in the last 7 years and yet she gave me enough to make up for it in the last 3 days! If anything I think that I can do a better at protecting her than you." she said defiantly as she narrowed her cold gaze at Brian.
The veins in Brian's toned arms started to pop out. His face twisted with anger as he bent down as he took strong strides towards Ariana. He stopped an inch away from her and brought his face down to her eye level. "Are you challenging me you little brat?!" he hissed between his clenched teeth.
"Yes I am... brace yourself." She answered him with a side grin. "Accept-?!" was all Brian could say before Ariana started her attack. In one swift motion she brought both hands upwards. Both her hands slapped against Brian's ears, the shock he received from the impact caused him to lose focus and balance. As Brian started to stumbled downwards Ariana leapt up from her chair, she brought her knee up to her waist and snapped her foot forward. Her foot made contact with Brian's chin causing him to fly backwards.
The kick knocked some sense back into him, Brian caught himself before he completely fell backwards. He lifted his head up and gave Ariana a murderous look. He slouched forward, shifting his weight to his legs as he let out a growl from the pit of his stomach. "Let's play little girl." Brian cracked hos knuckles as he moved his fingers in the air.
He took a few quick steps forward and threw a fist at her. Ariana turned side ways and caught his wrist mid air. She used his momentum to her advantage and flipped him over her shoulder with easy. Brian's eyes became wide as he was flipped into the air, everything moved in slow motion as he caught Ariana's smug look. A loud crash was heard throughout the whole room as Brian landed in the chair, unable to move from the shock of his defeat.
Ariana placed a foot onto his chest and look down at Brian's face. The menacing look she gave him made him gulp, causing his Adam's apple to bobble. "Yes I believe I can." she said as she eased up her gaze.
Sammie quickly ran up to Ariana and grabbed a hold of her hand. He spun her off of Brian and had her face him, with a giant smile he inspected her body. The moment the adrenaline rush was over Ariana's knees started to buckle. Sammie quickly caught her within his arms. "Hey, hey, hey, hey sweetie I got you now." he cooed as he gently lifted her up.
"Well that was quite a show! My dear Ariana I can tell you now that this hasn't changed my mind at all, if anything it has reinforced my opinion of you. I believe you are extraordinary and I will finish the adoption process as soon as possible!" Lady Zula said with a smile and round of applause.
Clawdean and Seeley on the other hand looked towards her with murderous intent. "Sammie... let her go." Clawdean said as her hair spiked upwards. In confusion Ariana looked at Sammie's face, his eyes looked borderline perverted causing a cold sweat to break out all over her body. "Hand her over now!" Seeley demanded as he stretched out his hands towards them.
Ariana started to squirmed as she tried to get out of Sammie's arms but reacted by tightening his grip around her. "Can't I just you know... get some blood from her to run some tests to see what's going on? I have no idea what she may be, a unique mage, a mutated wizard or enchantress. She could also be an embodiment of an elemental spirit?" he said excitedly.
Roy stepped beside Sammie and placed a hand on to his shoulder. "Let go." he said happily while Sammie started to wince in pain. Ariana was released, she stepped back as she eyed them, making sure not to turn her back.
"Well now everyone's happy." Becca said as she slammed her fist against the table. "Drama's over, now I want to get to work. My interest is piqued I want to see what you called me here for!"
Ariana beamed with delight when she heard Becca's words. She took a peek at Rin and gave her a cocky smile making Rin roll her eyes and cross her arms over her chest. Ariana felt relief that the outcome was not worse case scenario.
She her sight towards Lady Zula. "My plan is to change this a brothel into a Cafe." she announced proudly. Becca's smile froze as she awkwardly slouched back into her chair. She moaned loudly as she rubbed her face with her hand. "How is that going to challenge me exactly?"
With a broad smile Ariana walked over to Lady Zula and extended her hand outward. With a small chuckle Lady Zula reached for a package the was hiding behind her. Ariana walked over to Becca's table laid out the plans in front of her. Becca peeked at the design and did a double take as she jumped out of the chair.
As Becca looked at the blueprints her eyes twinkled with delight then she looked up at Ariana's face. "Unbelievable...." she whispered under her breathe. "Thank you!" Ariana said with a huge smile. "Now for the rest of you who don't know what a cafe is... well it's like a little mini cafeteria were we serve food like the hall in the guild. However unlike the guild we have capable staff that can provide a wide range of specialties and delicacies. We will focus on customer service to men, women and families. We will sell food and sweets for people to take home with them or eat here. The ladies will all wear the same uniform, they will serve food and talk to our customers making them feel more like they are at home rather then an eatery."
"I want these girls to feel like they have choices in their lives and know that they will never have to servicemen the same way they had before! We will give them a chance to buy their freedom back by giving them a reasonable wage, we will educate them in reading, writing, mathematics and self defense so they can go back out into the real world. My plan and design is simple enough for any business to copy. I am keeping it this way to encourage more brothels to close their doors and open reborn! I want to bring down the sex industry and modernize this civilization so that women will not be sold off by their families to lighten their debts!" she said proudly as fire burned behind her eyes.
"So now is the time! Choose will you join me or will you back out."
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone