7. Eat the World

Christie had made her decision, but she couldn't help but be nervous. As soon as she had announced that she wanted to go to the Skyscraper Academy, her father told her that she would be departing that same week as to make it to Knight's Ascent, the city at the foot of the academy, in time for the start of the academic year as their state unfortunately fell rather far from the institution.

Which translated into a single concept: she had become an emotional wreck as she now only had a few days to prepare.

Sure, she didn't really need to physically prepare anything as an academy as important as Skyscraper would take care of all the needs of their students, whether it was lodging, clothing, or academic resources. No, what she needed to prepare was her mentality.

Whilst Christie considered herself quite academically gifted, she didn't have the necessary traits of a lithorist, let alone a lapiloquist with her weak body. That meant that most of the academy's curriculum as a military institution was… a bit out of her reach.

And that made her really anxious.

Like, there were not enough words in the Crochetan vocabulary to describe how anxious she felt. However, physical phenomena were enough to describe them as her agates vibrated with the same tense expectation as her body did.

"Oh, I feel like puking, mock turtle…" Christie whispered to the felt turtle as she lay on her bed looking straight at its white canopy. "Was this a bad decision? Do I really have what is needed to be there? Dearest father has said that regardless of what my scores might be they will not make me out of the academy, but still… I do not want to be a deadweight…"

Sleep came to her before she noticed, the jitters having taken a toll on her frail body.

Still, as the night flared on, two people gathered in one of the rooms of the Valasela mansion. It was none other than the office of the patriarch. The walls of the room were covered with many books that the man had actually read, and it was illuminated by the soft glow of the mansion's agate lamps. The soft lighting was no more powerful than candlelight, but the consistent light and its scalability made it the best devised system to vanquish the night.

Miss Diorite waited whilst standing up in front of the desk as Hasel penned a letter.

Dear friend, it read. It has been quite some time since we last spoke, yet I regret to inform you that the subject at hand is not you, but my Christina. It seems impossible, but my dearest daughter is finally ready to walk down her destined path. Alas, as much joy as this revelation brings me, my sweet Christina will not be able to survive in the ruthless environment of the Skyscraper Academy. I write to ask you for a favor, to redeem the debt you owe me. You are to protect my dearest daughter during her stay at the academy and teach her yourself, if possible, until she is capable of controlling her agates and eat the world like you have done.

Your mentor, Hasel Valasela.

PS: Congratulations on your victory.

"So, it is official?" The head maid said as the patriarch proceeded to clean the tip of his pen.

"It has always been," the man told with an unwavering smile. "It is just about how much help I can provide to my little darling whilst she is out of reach."

"Is something ever out of reach for you?" Miss Diorite said with a relaxed and polite posture, even if her squinting was anything but that.

"It is not the range that matters, but the time to act," Hasel stood up from his leather armchair. "Would you be so dear as to accompany me for a walk?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"Of course, master."

Even though the Valasela state was somewhat far from the sea at a few days of travel, the night oozed with the temperate temperatures of the coast. A divine, cold breeze graced them as they walked across the gardens of the state. They weren't that massive compared to those other nouveau riche or nobles may have been, but it didn't need to be. It was a little piece of land reserved for peace, tranquility, and beauty, and in a way, being bigger only worked against those principles.

Either way, Adrien and Diorite alone wouldn't be able to handle a bigger garden by themselves, especially since they had lost a helping hand. And Hasel didn't like the idea of hiring more people. He could trust in Diorite and Adrien, but the people he could trust kept vanishing, and he wouldn't dare to introduce another one to his life.

The blue glint of the moon was enough for them to follow the white tiles of the garden path as it was especially bright today. There was no need for agate lampposts to illuminate the way.

Then they made it to their destination.

It was a building white as lilies. Her favorites.

Hasel didn't dare to make his way into the small building. Instead, he just knelt down at the entrance. "Diorite, could you go pick a lily for her?"

"She would not like to have a life extinguished for the brevity of the conversation," the old maid responded.

"Right, right…" Hasel let out a weak chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. "How could I have forgotten about that?"

"It has been fifteen years," Diorite mused.

"Indeed," the patriarch sighed. "Fifteen long years."

They endured a long and painful silence until Hasel spoke again.

"Cordellia, our dearest daughter will be making her way to the Skyscraper Academy. Your alma mater." The only response was that of the soft breeze. "She has grown into a fine, polished agate. She has your lovely scarlet hair, but you already knew that…"

"Hasel…" Diorite blurted out, forgetting for a moment their master-servant relationship as she saw the pain in those green eyes.

"Right, right…" He reiterated as he recomposed and looked back at the mausoleum. "I just wanted to tell you that I will protect her. Nothing in this world will stop me from protecting our dearest daughter. I promise you that she will eat the world."

Hasel placed a single agate, his highest quality one, in front of the tombstone – yet still on the entrance of the mausoleum – before standing up. That agate would remain there until he left the state, and he had no intention of doing so.

"Let us go back, many letters remain to be penned and sent," the patriarch said softly with words devoid of strength yet bursting with conviction.

***

"Ah, my heart aches seeing my dearest daughter finally leave the nest…" The patriarch of the Valasela House expressed his distress as the whole five members of the estate gathered at the entrance of the mansion.

"I am not going to be gone long enough to merit such a reaction, dearest father…" Christie said with a blush-laden visage.

"Nonsense!" The tall man pounced on the small girl and trapped her in a mighty hug. "The academy is too far away to make it here for the winter holidays, you will only be able to visit once a year during the summer holidays, so I must make the most out of this goodbye!"

It was already shameful enough having to be hugged and swayed around, but once her dearest father started kissing her seventeen times per second – there might have been a slight exaggeration – Christie couldn't hold it anymore.

"Father!" She shouted in protest, and the world shook.

All the other members of the state, Adrien, Miss Diorite, and François, tensed up upon hearing her cry, yet her father remained unperturbed, a giant and roguish smile drawn by his lips. They all feared the lithic sea that rested within her, but her dearest father – always strong, always divine – remained steadfast and raised Christie's body up as if she didn't weigh anything.

"Do you remember our promise?" Hasel spoke softly, and Christie felt like a child once again.

"Yes…" She added softly.

"That is good. Yes, good," he nodded to himself and placed her back on the ground. "Now, remember. When you are out there to eat the world…"

"Do not let it eat you back," she finished his sentence.

The Valasela patriarch looked at the girl with insurmountable pride. Christie wasn't able to understand where her dearest father got that confidence from when she couldn't trust herself to control her agates, let alone eat the world.

"Now," her dearest father knelt on one leg in front of her. "I have secured you an ally at the academy – you will know who they are when you see them – but it will be challenging and dangerous either way. Everything you have learned until now will matter not before the inevitability of unpredictability. You must be quick on your feet rather than rooted to the ground. Understood?" Christie silently nodded. "Then go out there and show the world your cute might!"

"Are 'cute' and 'might' not opposites?" She added with a whisper.

"Not if your name is Christina Valasela." That vulpine smile combined with those sharp eyes was enough to convince Christie that everything would be fine.