Thank you JHOSUEM15 for the fave/follow!
SilentXD7: Thank you for the review! Even though Knives is temporarily out of the picture now, having to escape the academy under heavy fire, I fully plan to make use of him, the angel arm, and his...unique temperament in this story. As for him opening up to humans, well...you'll see :)
DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.
"Words" - speaking
Words - Narration / Thought
(Words) - Location
X - Change of perspective
XX - Timeskip in scene
XXX - Change of scene
Chapter 3 - Healing
(Tristain, Tristain Academy Infirmary)
"...Louise...Louise! You're awake!" exclaimed a certain fire mage, having stood vigil over her unconscious friend for the past four hours.
"...Kirche?" replied Louise in an uncertain voice, her mind still shrouded in a dense haze, unable to recall how or why she was in the infirmary, with a massive bandage strapped around her left shoulder.
"Wh...Why am I...here? Did something happen with the summoning?", Louise apprehensively asked, nearly certain that she had failed and blown herself up, yet again.
"Louise…" whispered Montmorency in a soft voice. "Can you really not remember?"
"Remember?" Louise nervously chuckled. "What do you mea…"
Louise trailed off, eyes widening, and she involuntarily gasped as all the memories flooded back to her in an instant.
Kirche's dragon, the humiliation, the fear, the failure, and then…
The smoke clearing, four terrifying figures before her, and him.
Louise shuddered, remembering his terrifying gaze.
She was walking forward, angry...
BANG!
So much pain...nothing like she had felt before. She was looking up in shock, confused…
Professor Colbert was enraged, drawing his staff...why was he angry?
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Louise? Louise! Louise!" cried Kirche, attempting to rouse the unresponsive pinkette out of her frozen, terrified state.
"I..I...Colbert...he.."
"Shh...It's okay, Louise. Colbert's okay. Everyone's safe now," soothingly replied Kirche, pulling Louise into her embrace, and running her fingers through Louise's soft pink hair.
"Uwahh…" sobbed Louise into Kirche bosom, completely overwhelmed by the traumatic events of the past few hours.
Letting her emotions flow out, she cried and cried into Kirche's chest, the stunned fire mage gently comforting her all the while.
"It's okay now, Louise...It's okay."
XX
Finally, Louise's tears ran dry, as she regained enough composure to cease her sobbing, if only for a few minutes.
"Kirche...thank you." spoke Louise, filled with gratitude for her "sworn rival" saving her life from the hands of that insane...being.
"Thank me? Oh no, Louise. You need to thank them."
"Huh?" replied a confused Louise, suddenly looking at two other girls in the room with her.
"Tabitha...Montmorency?"
"M-hm. Montmorency stabilized you with water magic until you could be brought to the infirmary, and Tabitha…"
"I failed," interjected Tabitha, looking down at the floor.
"Bullshit, Tabitha! If you hadn't cast your wind magic when you did…"
"Couldn't stop it."
"Tabitha! You saw the size of that wound! If you hadn't pushed that bullet away from her heart, even a square wouldn't have been able to save her!"
"Tabitha…" whispered Louise, in awe of the quick thinking and power exerted by the quiet, unassuming blue-haired girl next to her. Even if she hadn't stopped the bullet, diverting something that powerful must've taken incredible timing and skill, a feat simply impossible for a second-year student to pull off!
"Anyway…" started Kirche. "Osmond came by, but you were still asleep. He told me to let you know to come to his office as soon as you were awake."
"...His office? Why?"
"Three people. Still here. Have to talk to them." spoke Tabitha woodenly.
Louise instantly went pale.
"W-W-What do you mean, I have to go talk to them! Did you not see what they did! Just one of them took on an entire group of noble students, nearly killed me, dodged an attack of one of the most powerful squares in ALL OF HALKEGINIA and nearly killed him, too, and lived to tell the tale! And you want me to go in an enclosed space with THREE OF THEM?! Are you insane!
"Also broke through the wa-" started Tabitha, before being rapidly shushed by Kirche, her left hand covering the smaller wind mage's mouth.
"Well…", began Montmorency quietly. "You did kind of summon them…"
Immediately, Louise's demeanor changed from one of a stuttering, immature teenage girl to that of a serious, contemplative young woman, as the gravity of the situation hit her.
"Yeah...you're right, Monty.", replied Louise. "This is my doing. As a noble, no...as a subject of the Founder, I have to take responsibility for what I've done. Even if it means...that."
"Louise, think about what you're doing!" exclaimed Kirche. "You've just been shot, for Brimir's sake, and you want to put yourself into mortal danger again just like that!"
"Kirche…I'm sorry. I have to do this," spoke Louise, forcing herself upright, before crying out as her left shoulder, still wrapped in heavy gauze, shifted under her weight, sending a powerful jolt of pain throughout her entire body.
"Louise…" whispered Kirche, a pained expression on her face.
"Dammit. At least let me carry you."
At that, Kirche resignedly sighed, activating the levitation spell once again on Louise and lifting her out towards the door.
"W-W-What are you doing! Kirche! Put me down this instant! Kirche! KIRCHE!"
XXX
(Tristain, Tristain Academy Infirmary)
Slowly opening his eyes as he regained consciousness, Jean Colbert took his surroundings, eyebrows raising at the unfamiliar environment.
"Where…?"
"Oh good, you're awake, Jean," spoke Osmond simply, waiting across from Colbert in a simple wooden chair.
"Osmond..?"
"Yes, Jean, that's my name. Any other questions?" replied Osmond flippantly. As his best friend woke up, his serious demeanor fell away, replaced by his usual carefree self. After confirming Colbert was still alive and well, the headmaster finally allowed himself to relax for the first time in four hours.
Returning a small smile, Colbert finally exhaled the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Seeing Osmond back to his usual self, he felt safe in knowledge that the danger had passed.
Looking down, Colbert touched a series of bandages strewn across his entire upper body, binding the muscle tissue in place as powerful water magic slowly rebuilt his skin underneath. Slowly returning his gaze upwards, Colbert gave Osmond a very concerned, interrogative look.
"You're fine now, but...seriously though, Jean you're lucky to be alive." responded Osmond to the unspoken question. "If you didn't have the innate magical protections of a square, those bullets would've punched right through you. As it is now, you probably should give it at least a week to heal.
A week? Founder, those wounds must have been deep. Thankfully he made it out alright. If he had any less bodily protection...any less magical ability…
Colbert felt his stomach drop, as a flash of wild fear shone across his light-blue eyes.
Instantly noticing Colbert's sudden change of demeanor, Osmond frantically rushed forward, placing his hands on Colbert's shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.
"Louise is alright, Colbert. She's asleep right now, recovering. There's no longer any risk to her life."
"Thank Brimir…" breathed Colbert, exhaling slowly.
Thank Brimir indeed. It was bad enough that he allowed one of his students to become critically injured: he didn't know what he would've done to himself if anyone died due to his inadequacy.
"...Well then, Jean. I have a meeting I need to attend, so I'll be seeing you around, alright?", announced Osmond as he turned to leave.
"Osmond...wait a moment."
"Hm?"
"The white-haired human...when I attacked him, I felt something strange. Almost as if...as if his body wasn't that of a human's."
"What exactly are you implying, Jean?"
"Outwardly, his physique matches up perfectly with what you'd expect from an adult male. But on the inside...I don't even know how to begin to describe him, Osmond. His body is so intrinsically different than a human being. It was incredibly strange, powerful, and terrifyingly efficient. It was even somewhat self-sustaining, almost...almost like a plant! Also, there was another thing...forget it, it's nothing.
"Jean…"
"I'm not sure if it was the shock of the situation, or something else...but whatever the hell that thing was...it was easily over one hundred and fifty years old.
"..."
A deadly serious expression flashed across Osmond's face, fleeting, but still terrifying compared to his normal happy, eccentric, albeit slightly lecherous demeanor. But as quickly as it came, the cold expression passed, with Osmond returning a cheery smile.
"Well, I'll be going now, Jean. Get some rest."
"Osmond…"
"?"
"...Be careful."
With a wordless nod, Osmond left the room.
XXX
(a/n) Sorry for the kind of short chapter (again). Next one's longer, I promise. Anyway, this is the end of everything I have pre-written, so the next chapter should be up sometime before Monday. As always, thank you for reading!
Cleaned up on 9/5/18
