Edmund Ebner

    She stooped down. She’d not meant to give him such a fright; the least she could do was collect his pen and paper. And she did, holding them out to the boy that had finally regained his footing. She smiled- a peace offering, an attempt to combat what could have been a foul mood in response to her abrupt appearance. 

    But curiosity won again. Her eyes widened, her mouth forming a small o of intrigue as her extended offering listed a bit. Her eyes trailed down to the device. Measuring mana and aer? It definitely sounded like something Aunt Rita would have made. She bent again, freeing one hand to scoop up the delicate device. She was not foolish; it was likely a sensitive and fragile piece of equipment, and she would handle it with no less than absolute reverence. But it looked so.. unassuming…

And when she smiled, he couldn’t help the lump forming at his throat. Attempting to clear it a couple of times barely helped, but he managed to wipe his sweaty palms on his clothes before taking his gathered things off her hands. That was… something, at least.

Cerulean eyes followed the movement of her hand as it curled around the device (fortunately handled with care) and settled eventually on chestnut ones, laced with a certain wonder that almost rivaled his own. It was… refreshing to see, rather than locking gazes with eyes that only expected results. With eyes that crushed you with their disappointment when you had none.

“Aer is essential when giving rise to an Adephagos—even the slightest use of it is unacceptable—thus the monitoring.” Edmund flipped through the pages of his notebook and stopped at the most recent page. “It’s a precautionary measure, to avoid accidentally creating technology that utilizes aer.”

    He looked so deep in thought that she almost was reluctant to press the matter. But Aria was ‘curious’, as Karol had affectionately dubbed it ( most others just called her nosy or invasive, but it came from an honest and kind place! ). And in her curiosity, she would not be deterred. So she approached the boy, leaning over his shoulder to inspect the device that he was poking it.

“It l-l-looks like one of… of D-Don’s toys.”

“Ya—agh!”

His pen and notebook flew in different directions—a result of his abrupt flailing. He regretted turning around when he did, seeing her face had been even closer than her voice had sounded, and then it was Edmund himself who practically flew (more like jump back—he liked to exaggerate) and landed squarely on his bottom.

“P-Please,” he sputtered, fixing his glasses in an attempt to conceal his blushing face. “I would appreciate even a small bit of warning next time you decide to sneak up on me like that.”

Given that he had the profound bravery of a field mouse, startling Edmund (a challenge most people seemed to think were entertaining, and one he most certainly did not appreciate) was a piece of cake. He straightened himself up in an attempt to salvage what little was left of his dignity.

Edmund winced as he stumbled forward, his glasses propelling across the room from the impact, blurring the everything as a result. It’d been a while since he’d gotten another one of Rita’s karate chops. The nostalgia almost made him want to smile.

However, her words stopped him.

“Friends?” He sounded bewildered even as he straightened himself. “You are correct in your assumption. I’ve never had any friends.” Those people were merely tools to be used, and so was he. They were all pawns of men who happened to hold all the chips. Why shouldn’t he treat such people accordingly?

If everyone was going to use him anyway, he might as well beat them to it.

    ~ gєηιυѕ мαgє ♚ я ι т α

From the height of her five feet, Rita threw him a death glare. She knew Edmund better than to think this was some self-pity depressed-call-for-help opinion–he was really believing the bullshit he was spouting. She also knew very well that Karol’s kids, Estelle’s and Flynn’s, all of those good-hearted brats had let him into their circle, offered their friendship. And that’s how he repaid them?!

“You really are the biggest of idiots, Ed. Do you even hear yourself? You sound pathetic. Like closing yourself on others somehow makes you stronger, when all it actually means is that you’re alone, that’s it.” Tired of having to look up from lower ground as she was telling him off, she pushed him hard so he’d fall into the wooden bench behind, not caring if that’d hurt him or not as she turned her back on him. 

"No, I'm not so arrogant as think you, of all people, would agree with me," he told Rita, shaking his head. He had observed her work for a while, along with her personality. There'd been little bits of kindness in things she did. In the way she harshly reprimanded him for his mistakes, but took the time to explain (though in a discreet manner) anyway. Edmund wasn't so dense as to find such kindness unrecognizable. His mentor lived alone, but she wasn't lonely, and her words today only proved that fact. Sometimes he almost made the mistake of getting attached to her. "Nor am I so foolish as to believe such things can make me stronger, but I have survived this way." And survival, to someone like him, was very important. "My methods thus far haven't failed me once, but you know what has failed me?"

He might have had a taste of that world once, might have felt the joy of being by someone's side. However, that happy dream shattered the moment that person left him--threw him aside like worthless garbage. So what failed him?

"Trusting in others."

Correct.

"Trusting my parents did not stop them from selling me to the empire. Trusting the council did not stop them from treating me like I'm expendable, and trusting Lorence--"

He had seen her name at the end of every documents that fascinated him, the reports she had written always a brilliant cornucopia of information that enlightened you after consuming it all. That was what he thrived on, Edmund Ebner, as his hand turned every last page and saw the messy scribble of a name he grew to greatly admire.

Rita Mordio.

It took a bit of sniffing around to learn where she lived these days. The documents at the council were seemingly outdated given that Aspio no longer existed on the map, but after doing some investigating on his own, there he stood in front of her run-down doorstep, gaze sweeping over the ruins surrounding him.

Of course! If you took residence in the very place you’d like to study, it would cut down traveling costs and save more energy. The convenience of your research area equating to your very own backyard was immense. And while he would love to keeping marveling at the idea for a bit longer, Edmund had a purpose.

A purpose that made it difficult for him to swallow, and his breath hitched. Balling his hand into a fist, he then proceeded to rap on the door, waited half a minute before knocking again. His brows knit into a frown when no one answered. Another half-minute. Again. He was about to knock a fourth time when it finally opened and he was met with a sharp gaze and an even sharper mouth.

‘Who’re you and what do you want?’

Just as she’d suspected, he was from the Imperial Academy. Those guys were nothing like Aspio used to be, since their campus was closer to the empire, thus more closely inspected and restrained. Rita looked down upon most of their researchers except for a few exceptions. Perle had been part of their ranks at some point, so they weren’t all bad.

Still, she wasn’t about to give this kid the benefit of the doubt or the time of day. What did he think he’d accomplish, suddenly intruding and asking for free lessons?! Sure he must’ve been real persistent to even find where she lived, didn’t mean he was bright.

So he straightened himself then knocked. Again.

"Please reconsider, Miss Mordio!" he yelled as he rapped on her door. "I can assure you I won't get in the way of your research!"

"Even just observing your work process would suffice!"

It was humiliating, in a sense. Edmund had never begged for anything in his life, not since... not since a long time ago. He carried himself with pride almost to a fault, the pride he readily set aside for this moment. He wasn't going to let it go to waste.

“Alright alright,” Rita grumbled all the way to the door, miffed that the persistent knocking at the door had interrupted her calculations. It couldn’t be Perle since she would’ve just let herself in, Rita thought, as she grabbed her sash on the way and wrapped it quickly around her thin waist in an attempt to look presentable–at least she was already wearing her leggings this time around.

He had seen her name at the end of every documents that fascinated him, the reports she had written always a brilliant cornucopia of information that enlightened you after consuming it all. That was what he thrived on, Edmund Ebner, as his hand turned every last page and saw the messy scribble of a name he grew to greatly admire.

Rita Mordio.

It took a bit of sniffing around to learn where she lived these days. The documents at the council were seemingly outdated given that Aspio no longer existed on the map, but after doing some investigating on his own, there he stood in front of her run-down doorstep, gaze sweeping over the ruins surrounding him.

Of course! If you took residence in the very place you'd like to study, it would cut down traveling costs and save more energy. The convenience of your research area equating to your very own backyard was immense. And while he would love to keeping marveling at the idea for a bit longer, Edmund had a purpose.

A purpose that made it difficult for him to swallow, and his breath hitched. Balling his hand into a fist, he then proceeded to rap on the door, waited half a minute before knocking again. His brows knit into a frown when no one answered. Another half-minute. Again. He was about to knock a fourth time when it finally opened and he was met with a sharp gaze and an even sharper mouth.

'Who're you and what do you want?'