Bit of a long POV chapter, exploring Ravel's feelings about recent events. Her perspective on things. You can skip if you want. There will be a TL;DR at the bottom. Still, try it and tell me how it was if you're up for it?
Enjoy!
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(Ravel POV)
Ravel ran her eyes over the text again, the words swimming in her vision, the big, difficult calculations jumping straight over her head.
"Muuu!" She pouted slamming the book shut.
She was frustrated. She couldn't make any sense of it. But she needed to. She really did.
Teleportation magic. If she could just learn that, then she could go and be together with Riser again.
She missed her brother. So, so much.
She missed playing with him. She missed sitting here, in the library, in his lap as he read her stories. She missed his hugs, and little forehead kisses. The way he tossed her high and spun her around like a top in his whirlwinds. The way he secretly snuck her his sweets after her mother scolded her for eating too many.
His absence had left a hole in her life, and nothing could fill it. Magic tutor in the morning. Etiquette in the afternoon. And then, she was free. And bored. And alone. With no Riser to keep her company.
She clutched the book close to her chest.
'Once you master the basic magics, you can come and train with me.' Riser had told her when he left.
'Be a brave girl for me. I'll come back very soon.' He had wiped her tears the day he left, 'Will you be a brave girl and wait for me? Just a little while?'
She had promised. She was a brave girl. She had been a brave girl. A very brave girl. And she hadn't cried.
She had waited patiently. And he had come back. Three, long months later.
But those months she didn't quite mind. Even though Ruval and her father had been busy, her mother was still there to keep her company. To fill the hole Riser had left. She never felt lonely then.
Then he came back, and she was happy again. So happy. They played hide and seek, ring around the rosie, Dulio even played house with her. She liked him.
And then they had a sleepover. With so many friends. Three friends. She counted on her fingers. That was a lot. And even though Magdaran couldn't come, she was happy.
Then just as soon as he had come, he had to go again.
But Ravel didn't cry. She was a brave girl.
She would wait. She had promised him. She would wait and learn all the basic spells. And then she would surprise him by teleporting to him. And they would be together again!
She was giddy at the thought, though the reality of that was… less than concerting.
A big word. She didn't know what it meant, but she had learnt it from Riser. She had learnt a lot of big words from him. Another fun thing she liked to do.
But not anymore. Riser was gone again. And this time it was worse than before.
Suddenly, everyone else was gone too.
Rigal had always been busy, to the point she saw him more along the lines of her uncles and aunts and cousins. Distant and friendly, but without much place in her heart.
But now, even mama and Ruval were busy. Always so busy. No one had time for her.
The last two weeks, she hadn't seen any of them. Not at lunch. Not at dinner. Not when she practiced her dancing- mama had always been there before, but now?...
Why didn't they care about her anymore? Why were they ignoring her? Her four year old mind could not comprehend it. This change, all of a sudden.
And she felt so… alone. In the huge castle Phenex. In its long, unwinding corridors and grand empty gilded halls, the huge garden that was deserted of people, and the skeleton crew that staffed it.
She wasn't even allowed to leave it. It was too dangerous. What if something happened to her?
She growled in frustration, her little claws digging into the book. Her emotions roiled like a rumbling flame in the pit of her stomach. Sadness, anger, frustration, loneliness.
All she saw was a cage. A gilded cage of overprotective, overbearing love. Love that now was all but barren to her, where just weeks ago it had made the place, feel warm and lived in.
She didn't have any friends. Her cousins were all older than her and always busy too and the only other older girls she knew were those she saw sometimes at parties.
They were the same as the servants.
They never looked at her. Only through her. She wasn't Ravel. She was little lady Phenex. And though she, being just four and change old, didn't understand the meaning of their gaze, nor the greed in their eyes, she could tell. It wasn't right. She didn't like it.
And they never wanted to play.
And she was just left in the castle, all alone. She knew whatever they were doing was important. They had explained it to her, though she didn't understand it. She was a good, responsible girl. She didn't want to bother her parents.
But for a girl who had never been alone her entire life, this was a crushing experience.
She held back the urge to cry. She was a brave girl.
She was going to wait. Just a little while more.
She told herself.
She was-
"Ravel!" Her mother came into the library, carrying in her arms an older girl. She looked just like her, and mama. Golden, silky hair, deep blue eyes like gemstones. And behind her an ugly, creepy doll, stumbling by slowly.
"Look who I've brought with me! A new older sister for you!"
Ravel understood that tone. She had heard her mother speak like that before. When she introduced Dulio to her.
A new peerage member. Riser's new peerage member. And a scared gear. She came with a doll.
Ravel didn't have a doll. Even as ugly and creepy as it was. Ravel was just Ravel. Plain old Ravel.
Was this why they were away? Why she was left all alone?
Last time, when Dulio came, her brother had gone away for three months. Now this doll girl was here. She was smart enough to understand what that meant.
Her stomach sank, her feelings rumbled like a storm within her little body.
Was Riser going to go away again? How long? More than three months?
The last time she had had her mother with her, and even though she missed Ruval and Riser, she hadn't been alone.
But now? If this was how it was going to be, if she was going to be left all alone, to be ignored, cast aside for that thing…
Fear and hatred bubbled within Ravel.
She was going to steal her brother from her. That blonde doll thing.
She was going to take her family away.
Thief! Nasty, dirty thief!
No. She wouldn't allow it. She would never allow it to happen.
She glared at the other girl with burning hatred.
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We heard Ravel's tantrum before we even reached her room.
"Don't wanna!" She cried, stomping her little feet on the carpet, her blonde pigtails flying around like twin whips of gold, "Don't wannadontwannadontwanna!"
"Ravel, don't be like that now. She is trying so hard-"
"Nooo!" Ravel glared at Lavinia crouching on the floor, rolled into a sad little ball of blonde fluff, with murder in her eyes, held back only my mother.
"What happened here?" I asked, shocked.
"Ravel… is having a conniption about your new peerage member." My mother sighed, "She won't even tell me why."
"I don't like her!" Ravel screamed at Lavinia, flames sparking on her hands.
"Oh no, no no no!" I jumped in front of Lavinia as my mother manhandled little Ravel.
"Lavinia? Lavinia!" I cupped her face, gently at first, but when I saw her eyes, dull and hollow, fearful, I grabbed her hard, shaking her by the shoulders.
She woke from her fugue state, looking up at me pitifully, like a kicked puppy, and just as soon tried turning her eyes away, only… I was holding her face in place, so she failed.
"I'm sorry." She apologized, instinctively, unwilling to look me in the eye, "I shouldn't have come… I'm… I-"
"Then go away!" Ravel shouted at her, tears twinkling at the corners of her eyes, "And take your creepy doll with you!"
"Ravel!" I glared at her and she reeled back in shock, shaking with rage, as the tears threatened to spill.
"Why? Why are you hugging her? Don't hug her!" Ravel cried, tears flowing now, and I stopped, taking the moment to consider why she was acting like this, when it clicked.
"Ravel..." I called out to her, softly, beckoning her to come to me.
"No!" She refused to come over.
I felt my breath hitch. This is bad.
I looked back down at Lavinia, then at Ravel, something that further pushed Ravel to tears, her little blue eyes quivering with a deep distress.
"Do you like her more than me?" Ravel asked, her voice cracking, "Are you replacing Ravel? Why don't you like-Waaah!"
Ravel began to sob.
"Oh." My father finally realized too, and my mother kissed my sister's forehead.
"Ravel, it's not like that."
I picked up Lavinia under one arm and appeared beside Ravel, pulling her into a hug with the other.
"Hush." I whispered, caressing her head as she sobbed, "No one can replace you, Ravel. You're my most precious little baby sister." I kissed her cheek.
"You never play with me- no one ever plays with- hic-" Ravel sniffled, crying harder, "Always busy… no time for Ravel. Why don't you lihike- me anymore? Do you… hate Ravel? Did Ravel do something bad?"
We had all been busy the last two weeks, prepping the factories, assembling and check the pre-production models, negotiating materials and logistics. Not to mention the majority of last week that Ruval spent blowing my head off.
She must have been left to the servants and babysitters, not seeing a single member of her family for two whole weeks.
For my mother and father, for Ruval and Rigal, who have lived for over a century, two weeks is like a few hours, especially when they have work to keep them busy.
But for a four year old child, two weeks is a long time. It's practically a lifetime for all they know. She must have felt so alone.
Not to mention, I was away for the past three months, training. The only person who is usually free enough to spend time playing with her, the brother who had practically been stuck to her side since the day she was born, vanished for months on end.
She must have felt so lonely, so ignored. Abandoned.
I can understand why she feels this way.
"I'm so, so sorry, Ravel. I didn't realize." I rubbed my face against hers, and my family chimed in.
"We didn't realize you were feeling so lonely, sweet bird. I'm so sorry." My mother nuzzled against her.
"You did nothing wrong Ravel. It was all our fault. We shouldn't have forgotten to include you." My father clarified what I had forgotten, as he rubbed her back.
Good thing too. I don't want Ravel to turn into a second Lavinia, internalizing such thoughts.
"Waaaah!" She wept, her boiling tears steaming against my coat, as she collapsed into our arms, wrapping her arms around me.
"I should have visited more often." Ruval added behind me, in a haunted tone as the realization set in for him too.
Unable to squeeze in, however, he did the next best thing. He pulled Lavinia out from the little hug pile and sat her down in his lap, comforting her.
It took a while for her to settle down and for Lavinia, who had at some point reached out to hold my hand for comfort, to nervously let go.
"Big Brother Riser…" Ravel finally asked, hesitantly, "Are you leaving again?"
She wasn't exactly wrong to come to the conclusion.
Dulio was added to my peerage. Then I left for three months.
Now, there is another member being added to my peerage. She can add two and two, even if her reasons for reaching the conclusion are wrong.
"I will come and play with you every week." I didn't answer her directly, instead offering her the assurance she really needed.
She seemed to consider it for a moment, looking between me and my parents for a moment, gauging their reactions before she accepted it.
"Promise?" She asked, extending her hand and I curled my pinky finger around hers.
"Pinky promise." I smiled.
The training was less intense now, and I'll finally have the energy leftover at the end of the day to do anything except just lay there like a beached whale, recovering.
I had planned on teaching Dulio and Sai magic with my free time now, but my adorable little sister is more important. Spending time with her was mostly magic practice anyways. She like watching me practice.
I would pretend to read her stories while working on my magic back when I was still here. It helped train my concentration and multitasking ability.
Maybe I can even combine both. Lavinia does need magic tutoring. She had a high talent for magic in canon. She became a peak High Class purely through magic, because she refused to train her Longinus due to her trauma, even as a mere human. Be a shame to waste that level of talent.
Now that she was a devil? Under my guidance. High Class is just going to be the starting point.
But before that…
"Now isn't there something you want to say to your new big sister?" I pulled Lavinia to my side, even as she looked away, unsure.
"Muuu!" Ravel pouted, refusing to give in, to apologize.
"Ravel, will you be a good girl? If you won't be a good girl, I might just stay away~" I teased, and Ravel went pale.
But then something happened that I did not expect.
"Don't!" Lavinia looked up at me with resolve, grabbing my shirt, "Don't say that to her."
It shocked me, for a moment. It was so unlike her.
Gone was the shy, depressed girl. This was a maternal, big sister. Standing bravely against a bully.
I hadn't considered it but I suppose she would have some feeling in relation to those words. This situation. She must have resonated with it.
Even Ravel was surprised.
"Never say that." Lavinia's voice wavered, as she slowly realized what she was doing, her maternal instinct fading away as her mind returned to the present, back from that fleeting moment of bravery, "I-… she has nothing to apologize for."
I chuckled. She was like this in the original story too. The team mom. Or big sister.
When Vali felt alone or sad, she was the first to comfort him. When Shigune or Tobio were lost in doubt, she pulled them out of their funk. She was the heart of Team Slash/Dog. And I hoped she would fill the same role in my peerage too.
Save me the effort of attending 24/7 to all of the brooding, tragic backstory idiots I plan on pulling into my peerage. I can't spend all my time dealing with them and their trauma, their inevitable clashes.
The major stuff I will handle, but for the minor abrasions, the well-oiled functioning of the team, I needed an emotional load-bearing beam. The glue that binds the team together, even when I'm not there. The team mom. That was the role I needed Lavinia to fill.
"You're right." I took her hand in mine, "I shouldn't have talked to her like that Lavinia. Thank you."
Lavinia smiled purely, like an angel, at my words, and loosened her grip on my shirt, nuzzling into my chest in embarrassment.
And that's when Ravel spoke.
"I'm sorry." She looked like she had swallowed a pill bud, but she was determined. It mustn't have been easy to reconcile with her feelings so quickly, but she still apologized.
"Ravel. You did good." I patted her head.
"Un!" She made a noise in agreement and nodded, holding back her tears again as my mother pulled her into her lap again, comforting her.
This went… well. Not as I would have expected, but that was my- no our oversight.
At least they reconciled. That was good. Now, all that's left is to help Lavinia get over her trauma and begin training with her Longinus. Then everything will be perfect again.
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TL;DR : Ravel was lonely and missed her big brother. Everyone was too busy to play with her, cuz internet plan setup work. She got even lonelier.
When she saw Lavinia, misunderstanding ensued. She thought she was being replaced. That they didn't love her anymore.
Misunderstanding resolved. Everyone hugs. Family moment.
Lavinia grows a spine. And MC sees things through, emotionally speaking.
Thanks. Sorry I got stuck at this chapter for three days and didn't post.
The loss of readers, from 1500 to 200 really hit me in my motivation, and this stupid POV didn't help. But it was necessary, so here we go.
Anyways, tell me what you think of the chapter. No, this will not be a regular thing, unless you guys like it. it's just that Ravel was the only family member whose personality we hadn't had a chance to see, so I figured, let's get it out of the way.
Next time, Rias' birthday, Lavinia gets over her trauma slowly, and the second to last part of Touki training begins.
Till then, thanks for reading.
Don't forget to donate your powerstones.
I will get to the extra chapters soon. Today evening.
See ya later, alligators!