13. The Castle and the Vulpine Soldier

Christie drowned in embarrassment as she undressed inside the carriage. Her only saving grace was that no one beyond Adrien had seen her spill her innards out. The mortifying problem was that she splattered her lovely dress with vomit.

"Look at the bright side of things," Adrien commented as he kept watch. "The dress was already dirty and you will do better with a clean one."

"I would prefer washing myself before donning another one, though…" Christie responded weakly. She took advantage of this awful situation to also change her undergarments, a proposition that hadn't been offered many times to her during the journey.

Even though the climate was quite chilly atop the floating island of the Skyscraper Academy, Christie opted for a far lighter dress than the one she had been wearing. Mostly because she didn't want to spend half an hour changing in the carriage, but also because she was bound to start donning the school uniform soon. Actually, I think I can do without a dress, she thought to herself before grabbing a blouse and a simple dark red long skirt. Whilst nothing too fancy, it was an attire of overflowing etiquette and composure. Perhaps it was more suited for a chamberlain than the heiress of a house, but no one would protest when the attire was this modest and refined. The wide-brimmed hat that she chose to complement the set was definitely the gemstone that brought the refinement forward.

As she left the carriage, Christie had the impervious need to burn the dress if just to erase her sin. Noblewoman probably would do so, but she wasn't a noble herself, and she couldn't do such a disservice to clothing that her dearest father had bought for her.

"How do I look?" The redhead did a small twirl once she got out and the red skirt flared in kind.

"Cute as always, Christie," the old coachman smiled at her. "Now, though, we should get going. If the carriage stays still for longer, it is bound to garner attention. And I fear you would not like that."

"Y-you are right, I would not," Christie hid herself behind her mane to hide her growing redness before shoving herself unceremoniously back into the carriage.

"Adagio, noble steed!" Adrien jested back at the driver's seat as he commanded François to prance again.

The island in the sky was of colossal proportions, but only that meaning truly sank into Christie's mind as the carriage started rolling again. It wasn't only the academy building, but the whole perimeter and installations with gardens included. Stoneshells weren't exactly renowned for their speed, but it still took them a solid ten minutes before they reached the actual academy building. As Adrien opened the door to the carriage and guided her outside, Christie comprehended right there and then what it meant that the academy was a repurposed castle. The entrance alone shone with more presence and nobility than her whole mansion.

"I will now be looking for the stables and try to reunite with you as soon as possible. Will you be capable of managing all by yourself?"

Christie wanted to say – shout even – that she wasn't a child and that of course she could do it, but as she was about to talk, her hands moved by themselves and landed on her viciously-beating heart.

"I-I will manage," Christie responded with a nod and all the courage she could muster.

Adrien replied with a simple yet warm smile before riding again in the carriage and departing with the ever-slowness of the stoneshells.

Between the nervousness of joining the academy and her whole mishap, Christie needed a slow and deep breath before she was capable of taking a step forward. It was a slow step, yes, but it started a chain reaction accompanied by far many more steps. One after another, all combined in that intricate process called walking, and soon the girl found herself going up the carpeted stairs of the Skyscraper Academy.

A door stopped her.

She needed another breath to open that wall, both literally and figuratively.

Christie was met by more light in the inside of the building than the outside. It was clear that the Skyscraper Academy would be overflowing with agate veins considering that the whole perimeter was soaring in the skies, but she hadn't expected that the agates would still thrum with this much potency in them.

Whilst it was a surprise, the lithic lighting wasn't overbearing, and after a handful of blinks, she had grown used to it. The hall of the academy didn't look anything like she thought a castle would look like, but it had an academy-esque vibe with the many armchairs and tables lying around. Instead of being met by a maid of a castle or a student at an academy, the person who welcomed Christie was yet another soldier.

Thankfully, this time it was a woman.

It wasn't that the soldier had been specifically waiting for her as she leisurely rested in an armchair with a book in hand. Her constitution was lithe, a thing the girl was able to behold from the rather tight black uniform that highlighted the modest bosom and earthshattering calves of the woman. Her hair was kept short and otherwise unremarkable with its brunette nature; however, those brownish-red eyes that seemed a set of agates called for her attention.

As soon as Christie had opened the door, the uniformed woman had looked at her. The soldier calmly closed her book with a grace that people would kill for and walked toward her with a march expected from a soldier.

"I suspect you are a new student, are you not?" Her voice was calm and collected, yet it cut through the air like a knife through butter.

"Y-yes, ma'am!" In contrast, Christie's was a mess.

"No need for formalities just yet, girl. It will take a handful of years before you are an actual soldier."

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"R-right…" The girl relaxed and slightly deflated, but in a comfortable manner, not in a… well, the way people normally deflated. This was a good kind of deflation because no one expected anything from her. The best kind of expectations!

The soldier cleared her throat and frowned her vulpine visage. Huh? Christie mused in internal confusion as she realized that the woman was standing closer to her than before, and she had an extended hand.

"The letter?" She said.

It took Christie half a breath to realize that she had missed a sentence at some point, then by the other half, she was already blushing. Haphazardly, she took the letter of recommendation from her handbag.

"H-here…" She offered meekly.

Wordlessly, the woman in the black uniform accepted the letter. Though instead of scowling at her, she gave Christie a soft smile before checking the contents.

They stood in the middle of the hall for an uncomfortable minute – though something told Christie it was only uncomfortable for her – before the soldier made a gesture to hand her back the letter. Sheepishly, Christie took it.

"I have confirmed your identity, Miss Valasela. Welcome to the Skyscraper Academy." Somehow, the soldier's gaze had shifted from indifference to interest. "Normally, one of the maids would guide you around, but I happen to be free. Would you like me to show you around?"

"I would be delighted," Christie bowed, "Miss…?"

"Sandra will do." The way the soldier – or rather Sandra now – smiled at her deeply reminded the girl of her dearest father. Whilst they weren't anything alike beyond lithe builds, the two shared the same foxlike grin. One ready to ambush its prey.

That should have unsettled her, especially considering how much people terrified her, yet somehow that only calmed her down. It was a… familiar sensation, and she could deal with familiar.

Sandra strutted with a calm yet constant pace, and Christie followed behind as she had her hands clasped before her crotch with the handbag hanging in between. The corridors of the academy were decorated with the typical resources like colorful curtains, polished tiles, and agate lighting, but otherwise, it boasted none of the opulence of the Valasela state. In a way, it was too barren yet exactly what one could expect from something that was technically a military institution.

From what she could see, the Skyscraper Academy had a palette of four colors without taking into consideration the veins of agates that they passed by from time to time as those always tended to stick out like a sore thumb. These colors were blue, whether navy, azure, normal, or whatever else; brown, which normally manifested through wooden furnishings; white, most prevalent on the tiling and wallpapers; and finally, the small splotches of golden highlights, which were bound to be actual gold instead of the tactful brass.

"If you have already not found the corridors to your taste, I am afraid that the dormitories will disappoint you."

"No, it is not that, Miss Sandra."

"Sandra will do," she interjected.

"Uhm…" Christie blushed. "It is not that the corridors are not up to my taste, Sandra, but rather that I expected more from something that used to be a castle."

"Castles, like any other structure, deteriorate without proper maintenance. Prior to the Shining Knight's hijinks, this fortress was mostly forgotten."

"I see…" The redhead girl mused softly, though other thoughts took over her head. I don't know about calling the prowess and adventures of the Shining Knight as 'hijinks' though.

Before the conversation could continue, Sandra stopped in her tracks and turned to face Christie with her vulpine expression. "Here we are."

"And what is 'here'?"

"The… fractures," the soldier cursed. "I know it has a name, but I always forget about it. From all the times I forget, when I show it to a newcomer, it is certainly the worst," Sandra scratched the back of her head and sighed, yet she still managed to maintain a straight back. "Anyhow, this is the place where you can get your uniform. There are some pre-made ones, of course, but we should let the seamstress take your sizes so you can get delivered one of your sizes to your dormitory."

"Of course," the prospect of having her sizes taken wasn't alien at all, if still a bit embarrassing.

What continued was a dizzying waltz across the repurposed castle as the vulpine soldier guided her from one place to another. From the mess hall, which still hosted soldiers and students even though it was well past breakfast yet not quite lunch time, to the gardens, which were characterized by the lack of people. That fact alone made them way better in her mind. From the classrooms of the first years to the dormitories of the newcomers. The academy's installations weren't that big, but Christie found herself with a lagging breath by the end of it.

"I thought this revelation would have affected you more," Sandra commented as they returned from the dormitories. "I have seen some nobles cry out of disappointment after seeing what the academy offered."

"Well… it has certainly been striking, I will not deny that, but… I had thought worse myself."

"Ah, that is a great mentality. If you always expect the worst, then the average will just be a welcoming surprise."

"I… I would not call it a great mentality," Christie whispered so softly that if the soldier managed to hear it, she made no mention of it.

Soon, the uniformed soldier and the newcomer student made it back to the hall. A certain coachman was waiting for Christie there.

"Well, this marks the end of the tour. I have been rather shallow with the details, but fret not, you will be guided through your hand before your first day. Though after that…"

The last part she didn't manage to hear, though Christie's thoughts on Sandra's concept of 'shallow' as the woman had had her stroll around the installations for almost two hours.

"Take care, Christina!" Sandra waved her goodbye before she disappeared into the labyrinthine corridors of the academy.

"Likewise, Sandra," Christie was more polite with her farewells.

Hmm, when did I tell her my name? The girl mused to herself. I guess she read it from the letter of recommendation. Before she started lingering on her thoughts for too long, Christie approached Adrien, who had been too humble to sit down on any of the many free armchairs.

"Have you made yourself acquainted already with the locals?" The coachman prodded her teasingly.

"I would not say so exactly…. Though I did become acquainted with the academy. Or so I would like to believe."

"Ah, that eases the load in my heart," the old man said with a hand on his heart. "Now I can depart with a clear conscience."

"What? Already?" The girl's hands slightly trembled, and so did her lips.

"I am a servant of the Valasela family, after all," Adrien responded with a wry smile. "Your father needs me, Christie."

"I know that, but…" I need you too, yet she didn't muster the courage to speak those words up. She seldom did.

"But fret not, I will not leave you alone!"

"How so?" Now she was plainly confused.

"I have talked it out with the lads at the stables, and they have allowed François to stay with you at the academy."

"Really?" The girl's bicolored eyes shone like agates commanded by Light. "Wait… but how will you go back?"

"Your father provided me with a handful of assets, so to speak. I will return on a horse, which was already time for the estate to boast them."

"I see…" That made the farewell even more real, and she couldn't help but let loose all of that glee that she had portrayed a moment ago.

As the redhead girl looked crestfallen at the ground, she felt pressure on her head. Through the corner of her eyes, she saw the wrinkled hand that patted her.

"Remember what your dearest father said before we departed?" Adrien said with a grandfatherly smile.

"That it got to eat the world?"

"You know the words," he chuckled. "Now do follow them."