Chrysidea had decided she was going to sleep in for the entirety of her Saturday morning, not wanting to have to get up early for a change.
She had violin lessons and sword practice in the afternoon, but her morning was totally free.
The night before, Chrysidea had washed off her Silver Rose dye, returning her hair to its usual turquoise, her skin to its charcoal grey, and her eyes to her light blue with slitted pupils. She didn’t add anymore dye, because she wanted to be herself for the night, free of any restrictions in her acting or behavior.
Today she was to go back to being Moonglade, but she figured it could wait a little longer.
Rolling around, the young changeling cuddled Mishter Schniffs to her body as she pulled the sheets closer to her head, sighing with content at her peaceful and restful morning.
She dreamt about a squadron of pigs flying through the skies, performing all sorts of aerial tricks, but unfortunately, her dream was swatted aside as a series of knocks rapped on her door.
Chrysidea groaned and turned, opening an eye as the knob turned, revealing the face of one of her maids as she pushed the door open a crack.
“Princess Chrysidea,” she whispered. “I apologize, but your mother wishes to wake you.”
Chrysidea put her head back down on the pillow and sighed very deeply. “Thank you. I’ll be up shortly…”
Only after the door closed did the girl get up, rubbing at her eyes and scratching at her hair.
So much for sleeping in…
Dragging herself to her bathroom, Chrysidea got to brushing her teeth and washing her face before rearranging her turquoise hair, making sure she was presentable enough. After picking out a dark blue tank top and a grey skirt, the young changeling slowly made her way downstairs, stretching her arms out to try and remove the stiffness she had gained from sleeping.
Her mother was already halfway through her morning coffee, sitting at her usual seat at the dining table in her bathrobe and slippers, reading through the newspaper.
“Good morning, mother,” Chrysidea said as she pulled up her chair across from her mother.
“Took you long enough, Chrysidea,” Chrysalis breathed and lowered her newspaper. “I had something important to tell you. To think that you would be here sooner was a mistake on my part, but it doesn’t matter.”
The young changeling sat there in silence, waiting for her mother to continue, but after a few more minutes, she realized she wasn’t going to unless asked.
Groaning internally, Chrysidea fixed a smile on and asked, “So what did you want to tell me, mother?”
Chrysalis took another sip of coffee and brushed her teal hair from her face. “Your aunt spoke to me last night about things you could do after school. I have the say, I don’t agree with a few of the things on the list, but I suppose, after much consideration on my part, I have decided that you may pick one to participate in.”
“What, really? I get to choose?”
Chrysalis nodded once. “Choose wisely.”
Chrysidea leaned her head on a hand as she tried to recall the activities her aunt had listed.
A part of her had secretly wanted to learn how to ride a bike.
“How about motocross, mother? That… sounds fun, right?” she ended with a sheepish smile.
Chrysalis lowered her eyelids and corners of her mouth. “Much too dangerous, Dea. I would prefer if you didn’t.”
“Oh…” she tried not to sound disappointed.
She thought again. If not for motocross, then another one of them stood out in particular.
“Maybe… I could try the fencing club? I mean, I’m already taking sword lessons here, so maybe I could use those skills at school?”
Chrysalis sipped at her coffee. “Fencing is not quite the same as the swordplay that you’re used to.”
“It isn’t?”
“No. It isn’t, but I’m confident that with a few lessons, you’ll pick it up well enough. The kind of swordplay I trained you with is far more effective. Fewer rules about where you are and aren’t allowed to hit.”
“Umm… no offense, mother, but would that make it harder for me to learn fencing?”
“I was there when fencing first became a sport, Chrysidea. It’s quite simple. Parry, thrust, parry, thrust. Of course back then, it was used to settle disputes in duels to the death. I’m fairly sure that won’t be the case at school.”
“So I’m allowed to pick fencing? I mean, I think it sounds pretty interesting.”
“Yes, Dea. I think it’s the preferred activity, actually.”
“Thank you, mother,” Chrysidea contained her excitement to not annoy her mother with a sudden outburst. “So is that all you wanted to see me for?”
Chrysalis lifted a hand. “One more thing your aunt discussed with me. She insisted I let you roam about on the weekend, to experience life outside school. I told her I would consider it, just to let you know.”
“Thank you, mother,” the young changeling said again. That actually sounded really fun and she had Aunt Psithyra to thank for that. She made a reminder to go give her aunt a hug later. “If that is all-”
“Stay, Dea,” her mother returned to her newspaper. “No point going back to sleep. Sit. Eat your breakfast. You can’t go about your afternoon activities with an empty stomach.”
Chrysidea wanted to remind her mother that there was still lunch, but she knew how touchy her mother was when she was corrected. She simply nodded and replied with a, “Yes, mother.”
After having a full plate of Prench toast and orange juice, Chrysidea found herself back in her room, assuming her identity of Moonglade, a towel around herself, her now blonde hair still partially wet from a shower. She walked over to her closet and threw the doors open, entering the expansive space to pick out her clothing. The girl tossed her towel aside as she looked at herself in her closet mirror.
Moonglade loved admiring herself, and she found out her mother and aunt did too. Maybe it was a changeling thing to make sure you look your best, with or without clothes on.
Sifting through her rows of clothing, the tan-skinned girl eventually decided to go with her usual outfit, which consisted of her red jacket, white shirt, a black tie, skirt and stockings, and of course, a set of white underwear.
Once she put it all on, the girl moved back to the mirror and adjusted her tie, making sure every article of clothing was in place. When she was done, Moonglade braided the sides of her hair, ending at the back in a small ponytail, just the way her mother had taught her and she liked it very much.
“All set,” she said to herself as she turned a few times before the mirror.
Leaving her closet, Moonglade picked up her glasses from her bedside table, and put them on before leaving her room. The sirens’ door was still closed, so Moonglade guessed they were really sleeping in today, seeing as they too didn’t have to go to school.
With nothing left to do until after lunch, Moonglade made her way to one of the studies and powered on the computer. She figured she could use her time more effectively by learning more about Silver Rose’s Crystal Prep students through MyStable, if they did indeed have accounts, though that would be very likely.
Setting her browser to incognito mode, Moonglade swiftly logged into her account and cracked her knuckles deviously.
“Alright. Time to see what you’ve got.”
The first name she typed into the search bar was none other than Sunny Flare’s, the only student at Crystal Prep who really seemed to hate her guts.
The profiles came up and Moonglade easily found Sunny’s, which was a picture of herself in a short indigo dress.
“Think you’re so wonderful, don’t you, Sunny Flare?” Moonglade muttered to herself. “Well, guess what? I’m going to pull the carpet from under your feet one day, just you wait…”
Then she mentally slapped herself. “No, no. I’ve got to be nice… well, Silver Rose has to be nice. I, Moonglade, don’t have to be nice. I’m her sister after all.”
She trawled through Sunny’s gallery, looking for anything useful. There were quite a large selection of photos, most of them featuring Sunny and the Shadowbolts. In fact, most of them seemed to have been taken in school, while they were still wearing their uniforms.
In the end, she couldn’t find any photos that could put Sunny at the other end of the stick. Sighing, Moonglade went on the search up the rest of the Shadowbolts, trying to find out if they had any information on things they might like. Her ultimate goal was the befriend them, after all. To her surprise, a few of the photos on their profiles were that of Silver Rose, probably taken surreptitiously while at school.
Writing down information on a piece of paper, Moonglade smiled to herself as she reviewed everything she had gathered. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly enough to get the Shadowbolts on her side if she worked hard enough at it.
“Watch out, Sunny Flare!” Moonglade said to herself and snickered.
With her move made, Moonglade sat back and watched fail videos on the internet until she was called down for lunch.
Having a wide variety of meats and vegetables, Moonglade wasted no time in picking out what she wanted before making her way to her seat to dig in.
Her mother and aunt rarely ate a lot, seeing as they didn’t really need a lot of food to survive. Moonglade herself was different. Because she was only part changeling, she still needed a steady diet of food, though she could still go without a few meals if she didn’t have to.
The sirens had made their way down partway during lunch, with Adagio and Aria looking like they barely got any sleep, though it was likely the opposite. Sonata was as cheerful as ever, giving Moonglade a hug from behind, glad that she was back again.
After eating her fill, Moonglade went up to her room to practice her violin, enjoying the sounds the instrument made. An hour later, her teacher showed up, ready to begin their lesson.
Moonglade did as she was told, correcting her movements and copying her teacher when she could, earning praise from her teacher; she rather liked the taste of it.
After the lesson, Moonglade headed into her closet to change into her swordsmanship gear, which consisted of a long sleeved corselet, a pair of laced up shorts and thigh high boots, all in figure-hugging black leather. She wasn’t sure about the practicality of such an outfit, but her mother seemed to like it, having put it together herself.
Grabbing her sword from one of the shelves, Moonglade strapped it to her side before doing up her wavy blonde hair into a ponytail. She didn’t want it flying around or worse, obscuring her vision during her practice.
Aunt Psithyra had expressed interest to watch Moonglade practice her sword fighting, but unfortunately, unless she was well enough to put on a disguise, she had to stay indoors while she trained.
“Maybe next time, Aunt Psithyra,” Moonglade patted her aunt on the arm.
She exited the house and went to the courtyard where she had her sword lessons, finding her tutor, Ms. Lionstrike, already swinging her sword in the air as she waited for the girl.
“Hi, Ms. Lionstrike,” Moonglade greeted her tutor as she stopped by a garden table to pour them both a glass of water from a jug one of the maids had left them. “Sorry for being late. My violin tutor wanted to show me some extra finger work.”
“It isn’t your fault, I suppose,” the silver haired woman pointed her sword tip up and placed her other hand behind her back. “Let us not waste more time then. Are you ready, Moonglade?”
“Oh, of course, Ms. Lionstrike!”
The blonde haired girl quickly made her way to the center of the courtyard after drinking from her glass and pulled her sword from its scabbard. Its straight double edge gleaming in the afternoon sun, she gave the sword a few practice swings before taking up her position opposite Ms. Lionstrike.
“So what will we be doing today, Ms. Lionstrike?”
“Hmm…” the tutor examined the girl from head to toe. “For today, let us work on your form. I shall attack. Your first goal is to defend. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Moonglade said and stuck her sword out towards her teacher.
“Very well. Ikuzo!”
Moonglade’s tutor rushed at her, sword raised for a diagonal strike. Moonglade waited until the sword was already on its path downward before stepping aside and parrying it with her own blade. Sparks flew as the two clashed weapons, Ms. Lionstrike’s movement rapid and erratic to try and throw her student off her pattern.
But Moonglade would not be deterred. Carefully watching her footwork, the girl parried, blocked, and counterattacked with careful, measured strokes.
“Very good, Moonglade,” her teacher said as she tried to trip her, but Moonglade lifted her foot and spun away from Lionstrike’s next slash. “You’ve improved since last week.”
Moonglade didn’t say anything in return, rather stepping forward and swinging her sword in a horizontal slash, which found itself blocked handily by her teacher.
The two sparred on late into the afternoon, until both combatants were dripping with sweat and covered with dust from their clash.
“Well done, Moonglade,” Lionstrike said as she wiped her face with a towel before drinking from the glass the girl had poured for her earlier. “Of all my students, you’ve improved the fastest. I have a student who’s been with me for seven years now, but even he cannot compare to what you can currently do.”
“Aw, you flatter me, Ms. Lionstrike,” Moonglade bowed her head modestly.
“You learn new forms and moves so easily, one might think that you’re something other than human!” Ms. Lionstrike laughed. “Well, that concludes the lesson for today. Why don’t we go have a shower, then I’ll head off.”
“Sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” Moonglade asked, wiping her face with a towel.
Ms. Lionstrike smiled. “As tempting as the offer is, I have another student in forty-five minutes. I’ll just take the shower and be on my way.”
“I see,” Moonglade said. “Well, thanks for coming today. Same time next week?”
“Of course.”