The Arcobaleno

Bonus Chapter - The Incident

"Another package arrived today again, Ms."

Azazel gazed up from her book to stare up as one of their servants deposited another box by the door. The woman sighed, "Thank you Robert, just place it by the pile." The man nodded politely, placing the heavy-looking box down by the door next to several other boxes of the similar size. Once done with the task, he bowed politely and stepped out the room.

"Honestly, are they still sending us those?" Came Vivien's quiet voice.

The woman laughed softly, placing a small yellow bookmark with a tied black ribbon on her last page. "You can actually say what they are Vivien. The items aren't actually cursed."

The illusionist sniffed, "They simply aren't the greatest of items for them to give."

"Well, they are trying to appease someone in particular." Azazel pointed out, a smile on her face before she tried to divert the topic into something more pleasant for the other women. "How are you finding the chamomile tea? Does it help?"

"My sleeping habits are somewhat legendary and therefore difficult to solve." The hooded woman replied. "But, the tea does seem to help, however slightly."

"I'm glad to hear that." Azazel stated, smiling brightly at the other women. The only reply she received, was the soft rustling of fabric as the elusive magician hid her features behind her hood. The woman however, was unfazed, and simply smiled at the action before turning back to her book.

The silence continued for a few moments, before the two women were yet interuppted as a blonde man slammed open the door before he marched angrily towards them.

"This is the last straw! There are mountains of coffee cans in the storage shed; which we just built last month by the way, that we literally cannot fit amything else!" The blonde shouted out in frustration, waving one of the aforementioned can in hand as he did.  "If this stupid tradition goes on any longer, we're going to have to find another storage space! Again!"

Collonello panted slightly after his rant, looking much like an enraged beast ready to tear up an enemy. "Honestly, who needs mountains of coffee anyway? And where the hell are they buying these things from?!"

Azazel giggled, "Calm down Collonello, getting worked up over this isn't going to change anything."

"Well, it helps me feel better about all this." The blonde sulked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wish they'd never tried that ambush in the first place. I mean look where it got us."

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2 years ago

It happened one autumn day, where the leaves on the trees outside had just started to turn red; a few of them already flowing with the early morning breeze. There was nothing special about the day, however, it was one of those rare moments when the entire manor was wrapped in a warm sleepy daze. The servants had only started to roam around the house, just beginning their duties for the day, as the manor's inhabitants stirred into consciousness. 

Azazel awoke to the streams of sunlight passing through the sheer curtains of her window, the woman stretched lightly, easing out the slight kinks in her back from last night's sleep. A quick snap of her fingers had the curtain drawn back to allow more sunlight to illuminate the room, which was quickly followed by the sound of running water from her bathroom. A quiet morning soak sounded quite lovely, and for some reason she had felt that she would need this early relaxation before the day started. 

Azazel sighed happily as she left her room, a bath really did work wonders, she was dressed casually in a plain white blouse paired with a cream-coloured skirt that stopped at her knees. She softly made her way towards the kitchen; knowing that most of the others preferred to sleep in when they have the chance, humming under her breath, she wondered on what to make for today's breakfast when the manor rumbled. "What in the world?" She echoed out confused as she steadied herself. The doors around her banged open, as their sleepy and rather irritated occupants rushed out, weapons in hand. "What in the name of nine realms is going on at 7 in the morning on my day off?!" Collonello bellowed, rifle in hand, eyes still somewhat shut.