LRAB 7.20 – The Eldest Sister II
7.20 – The Eldest Sister II
7.20 – The Eldest Sister II
Elodie calmed from her over-excited state, fortunately, as the conversation began in earnest.
It had been a while since they had talked, so they had a lot to catch up on. Both practical—like the shard-eaters, her new team, and Zoey's sponsorship—along with the personal. Which Elodie had gotten a vivid preface to.
Idly walking through the estate's expansive garden, the two sisters talked about all sorts of sensitive topics under the protection of her sound-barrier artifact.
Unlike with her father, Rosalie gave the full story, since hiding her relationship with Zoey was out the window. She omitted the exact details, of course, because her sister didn't need to know what they were getting up to in each shard, but with some awkwardness—and delight and insistence on Elodie's part—she explained how she had fallen into Zoey's orbit, and the strange nature of her class and the shards they ventured into.
Even Elodie, carefree as she could be, sharpened her attention when the shard eaters were brought up, and what Ephythithys choosing a champion implied for the world at large. But she had talked with Father already, and so she wasn't shocked by anything she said; she'd gotten the overview earlier.
Elodie was much more interested in the personal side of things. To Rosalie's chagrin.
"I really can't believe it," she lamented. "I've been gone two months, and when I come back, my prudish little sister has not one, or two, but two and a half girlfriends. And I didn't even get to vet them."
"I'm more than capable of selecting my own romantic partners, Elodie. Your personal approval is wholly unnecessary."
Elodie clutched at her chest like she'd been struck by an arrow.
Grumbling, Rosalie amended, "Though your concern is appreciated."
The beaming smile returned, easy as that. "Tell me about them."
"Haven't I already?"
"You recited a list of events. Pared down to the most crucial details, a commander giving a battle report. No, Rosalie. Tell me about them. How did they melt that cold, frozen heart of yours?"
Rosalie eyed her.
"Actually, that's not true. You don't have a cold, frozen heart. You just pretend—" Rosalie made a sound of protest. "—But how'd they get past the mask to find the gross and gooey insides?"
"Evocative as always, Elodie." Rosalie sighed, well accustomed to her eldest sibling's antics. "Must I really? It's embarrassing to just ... talk about such things."
"Really? It's embarrassing to tell your sister about the girls you're in love with? See, that's where Enzo messed you up. All of us up," she corrected. "We're family. Who else would you talk about this with?"
Rosalie grimaced, and Elodie rolled her eyes.
"I don't need you to write poetry about them. I just wanna know why you like them." She narrowed her eyes. "So I can decide which ones I have to kill."
She delivered the sentence so deadpan that Rosalie paused, however much she knew it was a joke.
"I would prefer if you don't kill any of them," she said anyway, "regardless of what conclusions you come to."
"I'll take that under advisement."
This time, Rosalie was the one to roll her eyes.
"Seriously, gimme the juicy details!"
Rosalie wrinkled her nose but reluctantly obliged. She hardly had to think deeply about the answer; she knew why she liked Zoey, and—reluctantly—why she liked Delta too. Her affection for Maddy was less deep, but it was burgeoning, and Astrid, well, she'd only known Astrid a few days, so she wouldn't throw her into the mix yet. When Elodie had said 'two and a half girlfriends', Maddy had been the one who half counted.
"Zoey is ... a breath of fresh air," Rosalie said, choosing the words carefully. "Someone completely removed from our lifestyle. It's surprising how much I appreciate that. Even now that she's adjusting to being a wayfarer, her personality hasn't changed in the slightest. She's kind, considerate, insightful. A gentle soul, for all that she's handling herself well in combat. Empathetic, too. Brash and impulsive in her own way, but not thoughtless. I feel like she always knows what I'm thinking. She ... has always assumed the best out of me, too."
"And she's got great tits," Elodie said.
Rosalie looked at her reproachfully.
"She's more of your girlfriend's girlfriend, right now?"
"Yes. And the two of them aren't official yet either. It could change, there's a lot I respect about Maddy. Just, I've interacted the least with her." Though those interactions had been pleasant. She fought a flush as she remembered having her head stuck between the girl's thighs.
Elodie bobbed her head in agreement. "Makes sense. Hmm. Oh. Enzo told me to ask about your advancement, he wouldn't tell me himself. What's up with that?"
Ah. This topic again. With Charlotte, it had been a much more uncomfortable reveal because of their rivalry. But there was no such antagonism between her and Elodie. Why would there be? Charlotte felt spurned for being passed over for heiress despite being Rosalie's elder; the one who should have been given the title. But Elodie had deliberately ceded that responsibility. Even her lesser responsibilities, for that matter.
Elodie was sixth advancement. At four years older than Rosalie—twenty-two years old—that made her an unprecedented prodigy. Again, her not being the family heiress was entirely for factors outside of her combat ability. It was possible she was more of a prodigy than Rosalie herself. Unfortunately, a concrete answer to that would be difficult to find, because while Rosalie was making a better pace through the ranks than Elodie, it was obviously thanks to Zoey's skills as much as personal talent.
"Probably because he wanted to keep it a surprise," Rosalie said. "It shocked him too. I arrived as fourth advancement."
Elodie tripped and face-planted into the grass.
Rosalie looked down at her disdainfully. Elodie had never once 'tripped over something'. She was a monster among monsters, a wayfaring prodigy not seen in generations—and was sixth advancement at twenty two years old. Nothing in the world was capable of making her lose her basic coordination.
So she was just doing it to be dramatic. She'd always been the odd one of the family.
"Get up, Elodie," Rosalie said patiently. "Before someone sees you."
Elodie gaped up at her from the ground, still sprawled out. "Fourth? In a few weeks? How is that possible?"
"I've already mentioned Zoey's skills."
Well, in generalities, not specifics. She guessed she hadn't explained the experience-boosting skill.
"They make you advance faster? That much faster?"
"Get up, Elodie. I realize you don't respect the family name, but you should still act with decorum in public." At least the garden was semi-private. Only staff would see them.
Elodie climbed to her feet and dusted herself off. "Agree to disagree. You take yourself too seriously." They smoothed past it easily; it was an old piece of friction between them, and not worth getting into here and now. "But seriously, the baby goddess makes you advance faster? That's insane."
"Indeed. It's a highly conditional skill, though, and involuntary on her part. She needs to bond with someone."
Even to Elodie, she wouldn't leak the true nature of how Zoey's Bonds worked. Because already, a skill that massively improved advancement speed put the world's largest target on Zoey's back. Few were poised as well to defend her as the d'Celestin family, but—it was best that only the bare, bare minimum number of people knew that secret, even in vague terms.
"Wow," Elodie said. "You're gonna catch up to me in no time, then, aren't you?"
There was a brief moment in which Rosalie worried wariness would creep into Elodie's voice, or jealousy, but rather than that—or even vague frustration—the taller girl lit up with a beaming smile.
"That means we'll be able to run a shard sooner than I thought! That's so cool!"
Elodie paused, then coughed.
"Er, a duo shard, the two of us, I mean. For funsies. I think I'll stay out of your—uh, orgy shards. Those are all yours."
"Please don't call them that."
"Do you, or do you not, have orgies inside them?"
"A threesome is not an orgy," Rosalie hissed, disbelieving she even had to say those words. "Or a foursome for that matter."
"And when there's five? Six?" Elodie arched an eyebrow, and Rosalie hated that there was some kernel of logic there.
"S-Shut up." She hastily picked up her stroll through the garden, forcing a laughing Elodie to jog after her—giving her a second to think about how to deflect from this awful topic. "Enough about me. What have you been up to?"