The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Chip changed his face to resemble a grotesque Nightmare Creature and prepared to pounce on the rude patron. 

The mundane people could not react to how fast the drunk had turned from docile to dangerous. 

But Noble could. 

Chip leapt into the air, determined to rip the mundane human apart like the monster which he had accused the Master of being. 

Only Chip never landed. 

Instead, he hovered in midair neither ascending nor descending despite his efforts. The drunkard floundered like a fish out of water. 

"Put me down!" Chip flailed. 

"No," Noble answered calmly. She smiled at the other patrons, "I think that Abyss is giving a behind-the-scenes tour. Anyone who wants to look at the magic behind the pastries you enjoy, please follow him down the hall. Ladies and children first, of course ." 

Noble felt her attribute stir in her, and the people around the room filtered toward the counter. Not all of them would fit in the small bakery, but Noble hoped most of them would be far enough away from the storm outside and the danger inside to remain out of harm's way. 

The rude patron tried to rise from his seat only to find his clothes too heavy to manage such a feat. His face looked up in panic. 

"Help!" 

"You stay right there for the moment," Noble's swirling eyes glared at him. "I'm not finished with you yet." 

At last most of the room was cleared of people, leaving only Sarai, Rain, Noble, and her two male companions in the main part of the dining room. The floating warrior wanted to order her daughter to get back behind the counter with the other bystanders, but she hoped that the man in her shadow might help if things went sideways. 

Though Noble was determined not to let that happen. 

"Please let me go!" The mundane man screamed. "He's going to kill me!"

"Blast it, let me go!" The Master's voice overlapped the first. "I'm going to kill him." 

"No!" Noble answered both men. "I already said no one is being murdered today. Sarai and Abyss worked really hard to make this place nice and I won't have it messed up with any more bodily fluid."

Noble looked to the seated customer with a knowing glance.

"What's your name?"

"Bick." The man tried to shift in his seat, still trying to discern what had happened to his coat and pants to make them so heavy.

"Well, Bick. I need you to apologize. Your words were both untimely and hurtful." Noble felt Rain's emotions spike behind her.

Yes, the floating Master was treating these men like she did her children, but they had both behaved childishly.

"But he is a mon—" Bick fell suddenly silent as Noble scooted his chair toward her, and toward Chip as well.

"You know, I have always found it fascinating when people would rather be right than alive." The professor mused.

"Fine." Bick gritted his teeth. "I'm...sorry...sorry that you are a heinous..." 

"What was that?" Noble shifted the chair even closer. 

All she needed to do was lower Chip a small amount and the Master would be able to reach his prey. If the man were sober enough to remember to summon a Memory, he could have already taken out the foolish mundane heckler. 

"I may be here to protect you now, but out there in the city, that's a different story. I'm doing this for your own good." Noble clicked her tongue. 

Bick was worse sober than Chip was drunk! 

Chip pushed against the air to snap at Bick's face. The mundane man pushed against the ground, knocking his chair and himself onto the ground.

"I'm sorry, alright!" He squirmed. 

Immediately, Noble released him from the pressure of her [Light as a Feather] Ability. Bick scrambled to his feet away from the menace and his beautiful captor. 

Sarai handed him a lid for his coffee. 

"You are not welcome back here. I will see you to the door." 

"You are throwing ME out?!" The man scoffed. 

The baker nodded. 

Bick straightened his coat and took the lid. "I don't want to be here anyway. The snow is better than this dump any day." 

Chip roared, swimming through the air and almost reaching the ground. In response, Bick turned and ran, not looking back to see if the Master would follow. 

"It's alright, Chip." Noble cooed. "He said he was sorry."

"I'm not even mad about that anymore. He insulted Sarai's lovely business! He needs to come back and grovel. Maybe then he can keep all ten of his toes…or at least nine."

His anger peaked and for a moment, Noble thought she might lose him altogether. If he snapped entirely, there wasn't much she could do if Clan Song or the government demanded justice. He had already gotten on the wrong side of the army.

When Awakened went feral, they had to be put down for good, and Noble didn't want it to come to that.

Not today and not ever.

She tried to calm him with a gentle nudge, but he raged against her becoming more violent. Soon he would hurt himself trying to get out of her floating grasp.

'I have to get him to stop!'

So Noble used her ability in the way she hated the most.

As a weapon.

"I insist you calm down!"

Noble sent a tidal wave of the emotion to push against Chip's consciousness, emotionally pinning him to the wall. 

Fortunately, Chip was in no state to struggle effectively against a strong mind attack, and the calm filtered into his senses through the cracks in his defenses. 

As his body slackened, Sarai stepped forward. "I am not upset and neither should you be. People are just idiots sometimes." 

"It's sweet how you want to take care of Auntie Sarai. And me too, earlier," Rain added. 

The floating man held his head. Thoughts were forming slower than he would like.

"What you are saying is… that I shouldn't try to fix your problems for you? Jo used to say something to that effect also. She was always the brains between the two of us. Could see the bigger picture while myself and Coy focused on the details." Chip's mouth returned to normal, not that any of them could see it. 

"I always liked her," Noble had met the lady a few times and always found her pleasant. "Why don't we sit down and you can tell me some stories about her?" 

Chip nodded slowly. "I'll talk about Jo all day long to anyone who will listen."

Noble lowered him to the ground, and when he didn't immediately dart for the door to chase after Bick, she released her hold on his body.

"You do the talking and we will do the listening." Noble motioned to the two other ladies who nodded.

Chip gave her a sideways smile. "Thank you. Both for the offer and for the help."

She ushered him back to his table with Sarai and Rain right behind.

The teen set down the cup of coffee that she had fetched from the counter and scooped up his soul shards from the floor.

"Here." Rain held them out for Chip to take.

"Sweet, just like your mum."

"Here's some bread that she helped me make earlier," Sarai set a plate on the table. "It should soak up some of what's in your stomach."

"Well in that case I can add a little more…" Chip reached for the Memory on the ground, which had somehow managed to land upright.

"No more alcohol just now," Noble warned. "Maybe you should try the coffee the way that Abyss intended."

"Spoilsport!" Chip grinned, dismissing the Memory. "Between your calming influence and that quip about my sobriety, it almost feels like Jo is here."

"Did she scold you often?" Rain asked, leaning her elbow on the table.

Chip barked a laugh. "Only every day about nearly everything! Why there was this one time she even chastised me for doing the right thing. You should have seen her face when I pointed it out…"