Chapter 3:
Potential
Erica had split up with the others, heading back to the market quarter on her mystery mission, while the rest accompanied Ophelia to the boarding school on the edge of the city of Garland.
Given the chaos the arrival of the eclectic group caused amongst the children the first time they had visited, most of them ended up staying outside, waiting on Nameless and Ophelia.
The school was a trio of enormous stone building, three stories tall, with dozens of children and teachers living there.
Due to it being situated on the edge of the city, from the upper stories of any of the buildings the inhabitants could look out over the stout stone walls to see the valleys and mountains that surrounded Garland.
Having never been to any sort of school, Milly was fascinated with the place, and spent some time just wandering the grounds and looking about with curious eyes.
The laughter of children soon drew the monster girl’s attention to a little hedge-maze that abutted the eastern-most building.
For the briefest of moments she caught sight of an angel’s wings between the snow covered hedges.
Curious, she moved to investigate.
As she got closer she heard youthful voices, strung together with her bond-sister’s mature words.
Well, mature sounding anyways.
“-and if you finish the knot like this, your teacher won’t even notice until it’s too late!”
“Whoa!”
“Cool!”
Milly rounded the corner of the maze entrance to spot Volka amidst a group of schoolchildren, holding a tied bit of string between her fingers.
The Valkyrie looked up to meet Milly’s puzzled expression, then smiled wide and drew her audience’s attention to the Minotaur.
“Uh-oh, busted! Quick, hide me!”
She crouched low and folded her wings over herself, the children immediately getting in on her game by standing in a huddle between her and Milly.
“Nothing to see here!” One of them said.
“Yeah!” Volka called from beneath her wings; “I can’t see you so you can’t see me! Nark!”
Milly blinked in confusion.
“What’s a nark?”
In unison the children all laughingly pointed at the Minotaur.
“You are!”
“Yeah! The golden lady said so!”
“Nark!”
A little hurt, she put her hand to her chest.
“I’m not a nark! I-I don’t even know what that is.”
At the Minotaur’s pout Volka gave up the charade, unfurling her wings and standing upright again, her translucent golden feathers grazing over the heads of some of the taller children, causing them to duck and giggle.
“Oh hello Milly, didn’t see you there. Everyone, this is my bond-sister Milly, and I can vouch that she isn’t a nark.”
“What’s a nark?” Milly repeated with an exasperated stomp of one hoof in the packed snow.
With a quick flap of her wings Volka sailed over the children who all whooped and shouted gleefully at the sudden acrobatics, their breaths cloudy from the cold as their faces tracked her flight.
She set down in front of Milly and embraced her, whispering in her ear.
“I’m not entirely sure. One of the children said it earlier so I was just running with it.”
When she pulled away Volka noticed the Minotaur’s suspicious gaze on her.
“What is it?”
Milly’s scowl deepened.
“Did you put something down my back again?”
The Valkyrie drew her head back in surprise.
“No, of course not.” She said innocently.
But Milly’s expression remained distrustful as she checked herself over.
It took a minute or so before she was satisfied nothing was amiss, all the while Volka watched her, working to hide a smile.
“Is Ophelia ready to leave?”
The cow-girl shrugged.
“I don’t know. It has been a while though.”
“Then let us go and find out.” Volka turned to the inhabitants of the boarding school; “It was nice meeting you, children. And remember what I said: a joke is only funny if everybody is laughing.”
With her back to Milly, she made a shushing motion with one finger against her lips.
Even with the angel’s warning, the children still giggled and snickered when the two monster girls turned to leave, Volka quickly plucking away the note that she had just pinned on the Minotaur’s back.
“You really like children don’t you?” Milly asked as they exited the maze and headed back towards the stout school building where their master was.
Volka put her arm low around her bond-sister’s waist, while the pleased cow in turn put her own arm over the Valkyrie’s to return the embrace as they walked.
“I do. They are the truest measure of mankind’s potential for kindness. Ophelia sees this as well.”
Milly sighed.
“I haven’t been around them a lot. Or at all really, except for one time when Master first took me to Ophelia’s orphanage.”
“That is a shame, but maybe one day we can correct that.” She shot her a speculative look as they walked along; “My dear Milly, you would make an amazing mother.”
Milly turned pink at the praise.
“N-no, I couldn’t! I mean, I wouldn’t know what to say, or how to say it!”
The warm chuckle of the angel at her side chased away her feeling of awkwardness.
“My own mother once said to me that motherhood was the only job in the world that you could never prepare yourself for.” She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss Milly on the side of her head; “You would be amazing at it. I promise you.”
“You learned a lot from her.” Milly said slowly, a hint of regret seeping into her words.
“I did.” Volka tilted her head up to consider her bond-sister’s wistful expression; “Milly, I don’t want to open up old injuries, but... have you considered looking for your mother?”
The Minotaur stopped walking, shocked beyond words.
She had not considered it, at least not seriously.
Volka stepped in front of her, ignoring the whispering of some nearby people as they took in the sight of her glorious form.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you-”
“You didn’t!” Milly said immediately, then repeated herself, calmer this time; “You didn’t, you just surprised me.”
Not wanting to keep the others waiting they started walking again.
It was only when they rounded the corner of the central building that Milly broke the silence between them again.
“Do you, I mean, do you really think that would be possible? To find my mother?”
Volka was slow to answer, wanting to articulate herself as well as she could.
“Milly, I’m sure that if we worked together, we could find her someday. I am also sure that we would have no shortage of people willing to help.”
Their conversation was cut short however when Nina pushed off from leaning on the stone wall by the front entrance.
“Hey golden-tits, mind if I borrow our bond-sister for a moment?”
She had been standing guard while Nameless and Ophelia were inside, her vigilance undeterred by the big city and the proximity of the Aegis.
“Of course, oh Mighty Destroyer of Worlds.” Volka replied sarcastically.
“Finally someone gets it.” Nina nodded in approval; “Come on Milly, we need to talk.”
She walked briskly towards the main gate, the Minotaur closely behind.
“What is it?” Milly asked when Nina turned to face her.
The Gigas set her hammer down and leaned back against the wall, the noise of the children playing and learning within was much quieter outside the stone wall as she stared at her bond-sister.
“Something I’ve been neglecting for way too long.” She answered finally.
The Minotaur’s apprehension spiked at the giant’s grim tone.
It took the little red monster a few minutes to gather her thoughts before she would explain.
“When you and Erica first wanted to learn to fight, why did you go to the Amazons instead of me?”
Milly’s eyes widened and her mouth worked as she tried to find words.
“Nina we-”
But Nina answered for her.
“I’m not complaining, just making a point. You did it because you thought I was out of your league, maybe you didn’t know it consciously but there it is. Same reason you would never have asked Xalanth.”
The cow girl frowned, processing the giant’s words.
“M-maybe?”
Inside, they heard some more children making a noisy fuss over Volka, which distracted them both for a moment, until Nina continued.
“Before Evadne, I was more than happy to let the Amazons train you. Even when we got home and I knew she was around, I focused on my own shit, in my head I saw her showing up and me standing between her and all of you.” The Gigas ground her teeth together as she remembered the sight of Milly slumped against the ruined Hornet hive; “I was so focused on making sure I was ready that I didn’t do a damn thing to make sure that you were.”
Milly couldn’t speak around the lump in her throat so instead she fell to her knees, reaching out and hugging her strongest sister.
Nina hugged her back, but the embrace was brief as she wasn’t done talking.
“It’s time for me to do what I should have done months ago.”
The Minotaur leaned back and tilted her head to one side in confusion.
“What do you-”
“It’s time I taught you how to fight outside your weight class.”
Milly’s mouth fell open in surprise.
“Neat hat by the way.” Nina added as an afterthought.