Chapter 28: Claire
A few days later Alexia was headed to the boys' dorm. She had some great news to share with Poochie! That was fortunate as there hadn't been much since her encounter with Rose. Alexia had stopped searching for her as there didn't seem much point to it now. If her friend was really determined to do something stupid there didn't seem to be much Alexia could do to prevent it. She could only hope there would be some future opportunity to intervene and help.
At least Doem was still sending out search parties and offering a reward to the public. So at least Rose was still free. Iris had dug in her heels and blocked her from interviewing the guy, so Alexia was still blind as to what had caused all this in the first place.
The preliminaries to the God of War Tournament were over and the Primaries would begin tomorrow. A whole lot of rural nobility and foreign visitors were now in town just for that. Unlike the early rounds, the stadium would be completely packed for the next three days. And even the worst nosebleed seats would cost a minimum of fifty thousand zeni. Poochie is just so blessed to be with me! He really better appreciate this!
When she'd planned to take him with her to Lindwurm for a once in a lifetime experience, he'd ruined things by going there on his own without even telling her. There was no chance of that happening this time around. Of course, Poochie being Poochie she fully expected him to grouse and complain about the amazing gift she was giving him. At least at first. Poochie would definitely show her some gratitude though, even if she had to beat it out of him.
She strolled into the dormitory lobby humming a happy tune and asked the man behind the counter to send a message to Cid's room. The man went off to deliver the message and after a not too terrible wait Poochie arrived. He looked tired and was yawning. His school uniform was even more rumpled than usual.
She was just about to greet him and give him the great news when she caught a whiff of something foul. Alexia slapped a hand to her nose and ran six steps away from him.
"Ewwww! Poochie! Where have you been?!" She glared at him. "Did you go back down into the sewers on your own?"
He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "What are you talking about? There's no way I'd do something like that."
"Then why do you smell so putrid?!"
He shrugged. "Dirty socks maybe?"
Alexia wanted to yell at him but that would have required breathing. "Get back upstairs and take a bath right now! Then return here as soon as you're no longer poisoning the air."
"But-"
"Take a bath or I am dragging you to the river and throwing you in!"
He slumped his shoulders and went back upstairs moaning like a convict bound for forced labor.
About half an hour later he finally returned no longer reeking of sewage. Alexia's mood hadn't been completely ruined. Yet. But she was not as happy as she'd been when she first arrived.
"You went back to the labyrinth to search for hidden treasure, didn't you?"
"No idea what you mean," he said sounding as innocent as a five-year-old denying taking the last cookie with cookie crumbs on his shirt.
"Don't go back there again. Especially not alone, there are bound to be traps and it could be a bandit hide out! Besides, I'm sure if there really are hidden vaults, you'd never find them."
He nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Oh, by the way, have you ever heard of a magical sword with a read blade and a naked woman carved into the handle?"
"Huh? Are you talking about the Vermillion Blade of Osiris?"
"Yeah, that's the one. What do you know about it?"
"I know it's a dangerous weapon with a terrible curse on it that was lost more than a thousand years ago."
"Cool! I knew it was a plot device!"
Alexia narrowed her eyes. "Wait, you're not saying that you… ughh! What am I even thinking? There is no possible way someone like you could stumble onto anything as legendary as the Vermillion Blade."
He shrugged. "Of course not, that would make no sense at all."
Alexia let out an exasperated breath. Trust Poochie to always get her sidetracked.
"Anyway, I have got some unbelievable news for you," she reached into her purse and pulled it out with a flourish, holding it out before a stunned and amazed Poochie. "I did it! I managed to get you a ticket to the primary rounds in the VIP section where I'll be sitting."
In her hand was a literal golden ticket, it had been printed on gold leaf.
"Do you have any idea how precious and exclusive this is? There are exactly twenty seats in the VIP section. Twenty! My father personally authorizes who receives them. Every year there are a flood of requests; counts, dukes, archbishops, court officials, even minor kings all get refused. This ticket," she waved it before his eyes. "Is absolutely impossible to acquire by theft, bribery, or even blackmail. It's something someone like you could never obtain even in a hundred lifetimes."
"Wow."
She nodded. "Even those hundred gold coins I gave you are nothing compared to this. You better be grateful to me Poochie. This is a once in a lifetime experience for you that will never come again. You can go ahead and start thanking me now and telling me how generous and kind I am."
"Yeah, about that," he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "It's actually okay, I already have one."
And there in his hand was another golden ticket.
Alexia froze and stared for a moment before giving an articulate and well-thought-out response.
"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL, POOCHIE?!" She snatched the ticket out of his hand.
[This is our protagonist.]
Her initial instinct was to tell him it was a cheap fake and to rip it into pieces right there and then. But the moment she had it in her hand she knew it was the genuine article. Gold leaf was expensive to produce, and no one would waste it just to make a counterfeit. Plus, on closer inspection, she could see both tickets were identical. The only difference being the ticket she'd brought had the number eight stamped on it and the one from Poochie had the number five.
"How?!" Alexia practically howled. "How did you get your hands on this? My father got a five hundred million zeni offer and turned it down flat. How could you have gotten this?"
He shrugged and had the most infuriatingly bland expression on his face. "My sister gave it to me."
"Your sister? You mean the one you're always comparing me to?"
"I only have one sibling, but yeah. Claire gave it to me and told me to come watch her matches."
The primaries consisted of only three rounds with eight participants. Of course, Alexia knew that Claire Kagenou was one of them. According to the odds she was the most likely finals opponent for Iris. She'd replaced Rose as the Midgar Academy representative and torn right through the primaries. Unlike Poochie Claire was considered an outstanding talent and great things were expected from her in the future.
But even so…
"That still doesn't make any sense though! The contestants each get a pair of free tickets, but to the lower general admission seating. There's still no way your sister could possibly get a VIP ticket. How exactly did she acquire this?"
"No idea, she didn't say. But since I already have one, I guess I don't need-"
Alexia grabbed his right wrist and slapped the ticket she'd originally brought into his palm. "Go down to the dojo and warm up. I'll be along soon."
She stomped off clutching the remaining ticket.
"Uh, where are you going?"
"To return this, since you don't need it anymore."
XXX
Alexia had never actually met Claire Kagenou.
Claire was a year older and so they had never shared a class. She was not a Royal Bushin practitioner, so they hadn't been in section one together. The girl had a reputation of being very driven and had kept a small circle of friends, none of whom Alexia had been close to. She'd seen her regularly around campus and at the qualifier tournament, but the girl had never once approached her. Like her brother she didn't seem to have any aspirations to climb the social ladder. For obvious reasons, Alexia had never felt the need to go out of her way just to meet her. During Alexia's freshman year, when Iris was a senior, Claire was considered the fourth or fifth best spellsword at the academy. This year she'd been number two and had given Rose a very hard match in the qualifier tournament final. (Rose's first and final matches had been against Kagenous.) So, Alexia had known Claire as a top spellsword at school but had not given her any thought beyond that. When Poochie originally confessed and told her his last name she hadn't even made the connection until much later.
When she and Pooch began their fake relationship, she'd fully expected Claire to introduce herself. Maybe beg forgiveness for her younger brother being such a lazy idiot and ask her not to hold it against the rest of the family. At the least it was a prime opportunity for a baron's daughter to meet the second princess. But the girl never approached her, apparently the entire Kagenou household really didn't care about social connections.
At the start, Alexia had no reason to try and make nice with the sister of the guy who was just a convenient tool for her. After her kidnapping, when her feelings for Pooch had gotten more serious, introducing herself would have felt awkward. Plus, the fact Poochie kept comparing them to each other didn't help.
Now though, the long-delayed meeting was going to take place. She absolutely had to know how Claire had gotten this ticket. Returning to the girls' dorm she asked the front desk to send a message to Claire's room. Luckily enough, she was present and soon came down to the lobby. Alexia had seen her plenty of times around campus and on the arena floor and so recognized her immediately.
She had the same raven hair and ruby eyes as her brother. There was a strong family resemblance that meant both she and Poochie were quite attractive. Unlike Pooch, her school uniform looked pristine, and her hair was neatly combed. Where Poochie tended to blend into the background his sister very much stood out. Claire strode towards Alexia without hesitation and met her gaze with ease. Alexia was about to greet her when the girl spoke first with a firm and certain voice.
"I got a message to come down here and meet with you. What do you want?"
Alexia immediately disliked her. Thanks to years of practice, she kept a serene mask in place. "Is that normally how you greet someone you've never met before?"
"Yes. Were you expecting something else just because you're a princess?"
Alexia could feel a vein throbbing in her forehead and had to fight back the urge to scowl. Poochie also talked to her like she was just anyone. When he did it, she found it honest and refreshing. Coming from his sister it felt rude, almost downright insulting.
Alexia screwed on a genteel smile and tried to be her usual charming self. "Why don't we actually introduce ourselves before we continue any further?" She placed a hand to her heart and bowed. Considering the difference in their station this was quite a gesture. "I am Alexia Midgar, second princess of the Midgar Kingdom."
Claire had a slight frown but returned her bow. "I am Claire Kagenou, daughter and heir of the Kagenou barony."
"It's a great pleasure to finally meet you, Poochie talks about you all the time," Alexia lied.
"Poochie?" Claire spoke in a way that could have turned water to ice.
Alexia didn't miss it but pretended not to notice. Instead giving a girlish laugh. "Oh, that's what I call Cid. It's my pet name for him."
"And you think referring to my brother as a dog is fine?" Alexia expected to see the floors and walls nearby begin to frost over.
"Heh, Cid likes it when I call him that."
"I really doubt that."
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"Not yet."
Alexia felt her hands begin to twitch and a sudden desire to teach this girl a little respect. Not counting Pooch, the last time anyone had gotten on her nerves like this had been big tits McElf. The other girl was openly frowning, not even pretending to be friendly. Where did she get off being so disrespectful to royalty?
"My sister speaks very highly of you. Have you ever implied she was a liar?"
"No. But then she's never referred to my brother as a dog."
Alexia wanted to get this over with and be away from this rude bitch. She reached into a pocket of her school jacket and pulled out the ticket she'd taken from Pooch.
"I am guessing you got this from Iris."
The instant Claire saw the ticket she dropped into a fighting stance and yanked out her sword. Alexia instinctively leapt back and drew her own. In her life she had never felt such a strong murderous intent, not from Zenon, not even while fighting for her life against those slashers. The staff in the lobby all ran for cover.
"Are you crazy?!" Alexia shouted; all pretense now forgotten. "Do you know what the penalty is for attacking a princess?!"
If she did, Claire didn't seem to care. "What are you doing with that? I gave Cid that ticket so he could watch me win the tournament championship!"
"You expect to win?" Alexia mocked. "You and Iris haven't sparred yet, have you?"
"That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is why did you steal my brother's ticket?"
"I didn't steal anything! I just exchanged tickets with him."
"Exchanged?"
"That's right. I went to give him a VIP ticket so he could watch beside me as my sister repeats as champion. I'm here to return this to you."
The killing intent lessened but didn't vanish completely. "Does that mean Cid will still be able to see me triumph?"
"No, but it does mean he can watch you get your ass handed to you by Iris."
Claire was still frowning, but the remaining killer intent disappeared and she resheathed her sword. "So long as Cid gets to watch me from the VIP section, I don't suppose it matters whose ticket it is."
Alexia also put her sword up. The staff began to come back out. "I don't see any reason this needs to be reported to the guard. We'll just call it a little misunderstanding between girls."
Heads bobbed up and down.
She then glared at Claire. "You should be grateful. I could get you expelled from school and exiled just for drawing your sword."
"I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't thought you'd stolen my brother's ticket from him." The girl came up to her and snatched it out of her hand.
"I would never steal anything from him."
"No? I guess you'll just settle for assaulting him."
"What does that mean?!" Alexia cried in outrage.
"Rumor is you had a lovers spat that required healing by the school medical staff. This after he spent five days under arrest and being tortured because of you."
"Hey! You can't blame me for getting kidnapped. As to what happened after, that was just a little misunderstanding between me and Poochie."
"You're still calling Cid, Poochie," Claire growled and placed a hand back on the hilt of her sword.
Alexia grinned back and did the same. "Yes, I am."
The two girls held their ground and glared at each other.
"Cid never says anything but there are rumors. You bully him all through his sword training, you drag him through the city with you wherever you go, and you even got him involved in a fight with some slashers."
"Hey, I just want the best for him! And if I get a little violent from time to time that's only because he's so lazy and unmotivated he wouldn't do anything at all if I weren't there to push him."
Claire opened her mouth to argue, hesitated, then let out an aggrieved sigh. "Okay. Well, that's true. Cid is lazy. I sometimes think he'll stop breathing one day because it's just too much effort."
"I know, right!"
The two girls nodded in agreement and actually took their hands off their blades.
"Even so," Claire continued. "My brother is very special. Though people can't see it, he has incredible potential and could do really great things with his life."
Alexia nodded. "I totally agree. He just needs the right person by his side."
"I'm very glad to hear you say that. So, does this mean you're breaking up with him?"
"Huh? Break up with him? Why would I do that?"
"You just agreed with me that my brother could do great things if only he had the right person there to support him. He needs a patient, kind, and compassionate woman who'll be there to bring out the best in him. Someone more like me."
Alexia's jaw dropped and she just stood there staring wide eyed at the other girl. "Wait a bit. Are you saying that I am not good enough for him?"
Claire nodded. "I'm glad you agree. So, you'll break up now?"
XXX
When she finally arrived at the dojo Poochie was just lying on the floor relaxing. She slammed open the door and stormed in. Her school jacket and skirt were both torn, her hair was a tangled mess, and there was a large bruise on the right side of her face. He sat up and gawked at her. Before he could say a word, she yelled out.
"Your sister is a rude, pushy bitch who thinks she knows everything and can't take no for an answer!"
Pooch sat there and blinked. "Wow. So, I guess now you get how you two are so alike."
XXX
Because Alexia was a very gentle and kindhearted princess, she only stomped on Poochie's balls six or seven times. Ten tops. Once they mutually agreed she and Claire were nothing at all alike the most benevolent princess hauled his sorry ass to the infirmary.