Points of Familiarity

by Charles Bhepin

On one hand, a young mage who begged fate for something that would validate her reason for being. At the other, a young man who sought the desolation of his existence. Where they meet, is the terror that would shake the very foundations of magic.-deadfic

3. Chapter 3: Spring

I

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Points of Familiarity

Chapter three

i

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Louise slept. Her expression flickered now and then, but of whatever dreams she may be having, Shinji had no interest. He stared out at the night, and the two moons. One blue, one red. It was a world full of magic, and yet still a part of him wondered how two moons could have different colors. Were they large enough to contain their own atmospheres? He took a deep breath of the cold night air. "It's a nice night." he whispered. He reached out with both hands, and through the trick of perspective put his hands over the moons as if he could drag them down.

The boy's hands trembled. Snarling, he turned away. He didn't know, there was just the chance that he -could- pull them down. "What am I doing here?" he spat. He struck at the wall behind him and was rewarded with a hot flash of pain running up the back of his hand. The stone cracked.

He looked down at his shaking hands. "Is this really it...? I went through so much just to become some noble brat's plaything...?" He looked up. "Is it really that easy...? I'm that easily swayed by a pretty face? This is pathetic. I'm pathetic." He dropped to his knees, closed his eyes and put his hands over his ears. "Asuka, tell me what to do. Insult me. Hate me. Please... where are you? Don't leave me alone. Asuka! I'm scared, Asuka..."

'The Well of Souls is not there for your convenience, Third Child. Did you really think there would be no penalty for such shameless pilfering?'

"What is this...? Father?" Shinji opened his eyes and looked around. The room was gone, though Luise in her bed was just a short distance away. A multitude of eyes watched from the darkness. "Are you going to stand in my way again? I'm not afraid of you anymore! You don't control me!"

'Foolish boy. You will fail. As I have failed.' Gendo stood in the middle of the hallway, with his hands in the pockets of a white NERV lab coat. 'This behaviour will lead nowhere but to more destruction.'

"I'm not you! You spent your whole life running to and from things. I'll stop it! Here!"

'I do not run. I... Ride.'

"Oh gods you're still going on about that." Shinji palmed his face. "What did mother ever see in you anyway?"

'Beneath that academic exterior is a truly frightening fangirl. But enough about that.' Gendo cough into his fist, trying not to look embarrassed. 'This is for your own good. You can leave, right now, while the chains are still weak. You are the greatest danger to her. Save her and the world from the truth of what you are.'

Shinji turned to look at Louise's sleeping face. The young mage clutched at a pillow, and murmured something. He looked down at his hands again. They were still shaking.

'It will be painless. It will be a mercy compared to what is to come. Do you deny this...?'

He imagined it. Without her wand, Louise was no more than any other human caught helpless in her delusion of security. He could almost feel it, her nubile body writhing beneath him, her screams muffled by the pillow on her face. Her fingers would claw away in futility, trying to get free, until slowly her struggling slackens. He was ashamed, but could not ignore that the thought... excited him. It would be so easy. And he would be free again.

Shinji grit his teeth. "N-no. Where I go, there's nothing but pain. Life is pain." He looked up. "But I'm through running away. This is MY life, not yours!"

'Then stop your whining and start living up to your childish boasts! If all you're going to do is to stand around in indecision, you might as well sink back into the Red Earth!' Gendo pushed his glasses up and glared at his son. 'You won't escape the consequences of your actions this time, Third Child. No other random omnipotent being can just wave its hand and solve all your problems.'

The boy shivered and hugged himself. "I understand..."

'Sohryu has her own issues. There is still the matter of your punishment.'

Someone stepped out from behind Gendo. He too wore glasses, which glinted in the lightless void. 'Yo, Ikari. Been a while, yeah?' Kensuke Aida waved cheerfuly. A wide grin was on his face. He wore military fatigues.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Shinji muttered.

'Oh, don't be like that, buddy. I've got a great idea this time. It'll help!'

"I hate you all. Seriously."

'Remember, you brought this on yourself.'

i

i

With the sunrise, it was a full week since Shinji Ikari was summoned. Morning brought with it new weirdness. The staff were puzzled by the set of footprints sunk deep into the stone, and an entirely missing wall. Mr. Colbert lightly leapt through the perfectly round hole. On the other side was Mrs. Chevreuse , the new Earth Magic teacher. "This was certainly not done with any Fire spell." he said, touching the glassy edge of the hole. "Only searing heat could make a cut this smooth, but there are no signs of scorching anywhere. And even the finest Fire spell can't just destroy all matter." His voice dropped a fraction from an unpleasant memory. "There should be ashes at least."

Mrs. Chevreuse waved her wand and tried to pull out some of the bricks. After a few moments of the wall next to it bulging out, she flicked her hand and put it back to shape. "Even for a Square-class mage, there would be at least be pebbles and cracks in the mortar. Where did the stone go?" She could understand if it was some other shape, bricks being pulled out to form a golem or something like it. Earth magic didn't create matter out of nothing, but, like as Guiche's own Valkyries, molded themselves out of raw material. It was a fairly advanced form of Transfiguration. This was something simpler, and yet at the same time more difficult. "The only thing I can think of is one absurdly powerful cleaning spell. It's the only thing that makes sense!"

"I agree. Not heat, nor force or even removal of the stones. Any other spell trying to blast through should have marked the other wall, not just this one." Mr. Colbert rubbed his shiny bald pate. "I'm almost starting to think this wasn't done with magic at all."

"There's no need to be snide." the round-faced woman said dismissively. "Well, at least there's not too much damage." She waved her wand and easily fixed the gaping hole. "I've got classes soon, please handle the rest of it, Mister Colbert."

Colbert just sighed. He held an important piece of the mystery, Gandalfr's identity, but that only raised even more questions. It was not the only mysterious thing that arrived overnight. What wasn't dug out was blown up in the courtyard outside. How did all of that ever escape notice, even if happened deep at night? There should have been noise. He scratched at his chin and wondered just how far he could take the Headmaster's order of 'just observe'. He was a Fire mage, and despite his bland exterior he still held on to the warm light of discovery. He didn't like being left in the dark.

i

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Tristain Academy was more than just a school. It taught the art and logic of magic, but was also made to allow young nobles to form the connections that would serve them later in life. As Shinji Ikari walked around while Louise was in her classes, he pondered how this 'magical college' could help him. As a familiar, he was little more than an unpaid butler. Inevitably his wanderings took him closer to the kitchen. He needed training. His fingers itched. He needed knives.

"Why?" he was asked. Marteau, for once, was not going about in overexpressed joy. "We're quite busy here. We don't have the time to let a novice run loose in our kitchen."

"An even trade, Marteau-san. I'll show you my recipes from the East and you or your apprentices teach me how to cook some simple dishes and re-train my skills."

"But will we even have ingredients for them?" As a chef, Marteau was hardly ignorant of the importance of geography. Tristain's larder was well-stocked, but even he had to choose carefully his menu according to seasonal availability and difficulty of preparation. More exotic ingredients were harder to acquire, and their freshness could not be guaranteed. His standards were high. While he was feeling good-natured enough to grant such a simple request, his own pride as a chef would not allow someone to give up halfway.

Shinji nodded. Just as colors and technique made up a painting, ingredients were just one part of what made true cuisine. He knew thousands of recipes, that was one memory that was not denied him.

It brought Kensuke, his current overwatching personality, to consternation. He was given one free skillset, and instead of sword and martial arts styles or taking from the knowledge of every strategist that ever lived, Shinji had chosen to become some sort of cooking master boy. How could that help anything?

Shinji had no money. Even if he wanted to cook, there was no way of getting his hands on the instruments and ingredients except by borrowing them. Or stealing them outright, but he was trying to be lawful and neutral about things. No need to complicate things. Despite constant subconscious demands to act cool and impress the chicks, the boy still preferred to hide from sight. He had power, but none of the skill. As he quickly cut through lean meat, he ignored how occasionally a leg of mutton would flash in his perceptions as a human arm, or that a dressed turkey would become a skinned human head. Kensuke, as expected, was useless in stopping this sort of thing from happening. Shinji focused instead on the smells and the sounds of the kitchen. His hands knew what they had to do. With his knives and from dead things he made living art.

Siesta was delighted, of course. The kitchen crew were at first just wary and tolerant of mistakes, then gradually their attentions turned to approval and even awe. For some reason, in his hands all knives became impossibly sharp. He could cut through bone as easily as apples. Marteau saw the practiced efficiency of muscle training. No chef could be that sure and precise with his slices unless he had trained himself so thoroughly that putting his mind to the task would actually slow down the process and make mistakes more likely. He soon moved on to helping them directly in day-to-day activities. It felt like cheating, to the boy, but he had to admit there was no point in hiding from his inhumanity. A world was murdered for his benefit, trying to deny that would not fix anything. Covered by a white glove, no one could see the glowing of the familiar runes.

Shinji took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was a sweating cook, trying to feed an army of Zhou, and. He was a street vendor of noodles in Spanish Manila, cutting strips of wet noodle with scissors while brown-faced children watched giggling. He bringing out sake for a salaryman with only this brief time to himself before heading home. Siesta watched, wide-eyed, as he flicked the dough into the air, stretching it between his hands, and slamming it into flour-sprinkled table.

"I've always thought pasta was a Romalian recipe." the maid commented lightly.

"No, it was brought in from the East five hundred years ago. Some kind of merchant got shipwrecked and took ten years to get back." Marteau replied, still carefully observing the boy's skill.

Shinji opened his eyes. "From what I know, there was a man named Marco Polo."

"Hm... it sounds familiar, but I don't think that's him."

Shinji shrugged and made a mental note to look it up in the library. Then, getting an insistent urge, he looked to Siesta. "It's an old story where I come from. Would you like to hear of Marco Polo and his visit to the great court of Kublai Khan?"

"Yes, please!" the young woman nodded. Her expression was hungry. Every day she visited the kitchen, begging away from all her other work in the castle and running up favors with her co-workers, just so she could sit and assemble whatever little personal tibits that dropped from the boy as he worked. It was perfectly obvious to everyone there. This was someone that desperately needed a friend, and it would be tragic if a conniving noble would see and take advantage of such a helpless innocent. The joy in his face as he worked, it was easy to understand. At such moments time itself fades away and all memories are forced aside by the focus of the deed.

'He's opening up to us.' the maid thought, with her own sense of desperation. It was like watching a flower bloom. It was all so very fragile. Her heart ached the inevitability of someone who already suffered so much being crushed under by selfish nobles. It was bad enough that he was the familiar of one. Louise barely had any power as a noble. She would not be able to protect him. The best protection a commoner had was in being ignored. The boy's face was excited, his tone rolling with a Romalian accent, as if he was that man kneeling before the Great Khan. 'That won't happen now. That noble... she's too self-centered, she'll want him on display to reflect a little glory back on her face.'

Siesta wanted to protect him, but she had no power of her own. She was happy to be around him, and she wanted to cry.

ii

"Why are you smiling?" Louise asked, as she dipped into her crab and mushroom soup.

"No reason. Is it good?"

"So-so." the young mage replied, not really caring. Never having tasted anything but the most luxurious of foods, she had no point of comparison.

Shinji turned to his own meal. The other students were pretending that there was no such thing as a commoner actually eating at their table. The far end where Louise sat might as well have been another world. Shinji looked around and frowned. Louise could use a friend, at the very least it meant she wouldn't be too inquisitive at what occupied his free time. He was getting into a comfortable routine, but he could feel it... neither of them still fulfilled anything. They were just counting the days, going with the flow. It was the school daze.

That was unacceptable. He refused to believe that he was called forth from his own self-imposed demise just to serve as some noble girl's servant. It was really not that bad. He could be content with just that, but he had a lifetime's experience of nothing good ever happening. It was not paranoia as much as an inevitability. He was afraid. He was afraid of nothing, ironic as that may be. Just waiting for things to go horribly, horribly wrong was even more nerve-wracking than running around in panic trying to do damage control.

i

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It was indeed a sleepy, humdrum day in Tristain Academy. At the Headmaster's Office, Miss Longueville the secretary was busily writing. Old Osmond had led the Academy for so long that he had mastered how to limit the paperwork that actually reached his office. As Headmaster this involved a hands-off approach to administration and a whole lot of delegation. Miss Longueville supposed that over the years most people just realized asking the old man to work on paperwork was just futile.

Since Osmond had outlived most of his contemporaries, it wasn't as if he had much personal correspondence that required a secretary's attention. She stopped writing for a moment and glanced over at the sequoia desk at which Sir Osmond was busy taking a nap.

The corner of Miss Longueville's lips rose in a faint smirk, an expression she had never shown anyone before. She stood up from her desk and, in a low voice, she murmured the incantation for a Spell of Tranquility. Dampening her footsteps so as not to wake Osmond, she crept out of the office.

Her destination was the floor directly below the Headmaster's Office. Stepping off the stairs, she confronted enormous iron doors. They were kept shut with a thick bolt mechanism, which in turn was secured with an equally large padlock.

This was the Academy's own Treasury. An old institution, the Academy contained various artifacts of historical, curious, and confiscated nature. There were even several artifacts that predated the castle itself. After cautiously surveying her surroundings, Miss Longueville withdrew her wand from a pocket. It was about the length of a pencil, but with a flick of the wrist, it extended to the length of an conductor's baton, which she whirled expertly.

Miss Longueville began to murmur another invocation, and complete, she pointed the baton at the padlock.

However... nothing happened. She smiled slightly. "Well, it's not like I really expected a Spell of Unbinding to work anyway."

Smiling deviously, she began reciting the words to one of her specialty spells. It was a Transmutation spell, this one reducing elements back into impure and more brittle forms. It was easier power-wise than transmuting ore into purer ingots, but at the same time requiring far more imagination and focus. Chanting loud and clear, she waved her baton at the heavy lock. The magic cascaded over it... but even after a considerable wait, there was no visible change.

"Looks like it's been magically reinforced by a Square-class mage," she muttered.

A Spell of Reinforcement was one that prevented the oxidation and decomposition of matter. Any substance that had this spell cast on it was protected from any chemical reactions, and allowed it to be preserved forever in that state. Even transmutation magic would have no effect against something protected like this. Only if one's magical skill surpassed that of the mage who cast the spell could it be overcome.

As it was, the mage who had enchanted this door was apparently an extremely powerful mage, considering that not even Miss Longueville, an expert in Earth magic and transmutation in particular, was able to affect the door.

Taking off her glasses, she stared at the door once more. At this point, she heard footsteps coming up the staircase. She shrunk down her baton and slipped it back into her pocket. Her expression shifted into the earnest but eternally overburdened assistant.

The person who appeared was Mister Colbert. "Greetings, Miss Longueville. What are you doing here?"

"Mister Colbert, I was going to catalog the contents of the treasury, but..."

"Oh, that's quite some work. It'd probably take you all day to go over each and every item. There's a lot of junk mixed together with them, and it's a rather cramped space they've been arranged in too."

"Indeed." she replied evenly. "I was just thinking about it, if it was really worth the trouble. I haven't decided yet if I should even do the paperwork to get permission."

"Why don't you just borrow the key from Old Osmond?"

The woman smiled. "Well... I didn't want to disturb his sleep. In any case, I'm in no immediate hurry to complete the catalog..."

"I see. Asleep, you say. That old man, I mean, Old Osmond, is quite a deep sleeper. It seems I shall have to visit him another time." It concerned his report from the morning, but already the teacher looked discouraged.

Mister Colbert began to walk off, but paused in his tracks. He took a deep breath, firmed his expression and turned around. "Miss Longueville?"

"I-is something the matter?" the secretary asked apprehensively.

Colbert looked slightly embarrassed as he opened his mouth to speak.

"If it would be all right, how would you like to, say... join me for lunch?" She took a moment to consider, then smiled brightly as she accepted the offer.

"Sure, it would be my pleasure."

Colbert blinked in surprise. Inwardly he was doing backflips in joy. It was no surprise that Miss Longueville was popular among the teachers. She was quite pretty and competent, and above putting up with Old Osmond's foolishness. However, while she was personable and friendly, she had often rebuffed romantic attempts by her male colleagues.

The two of them headed down the stairs. In slightly informal tones, Miss Longueville struck up conversation again "Hey, Mister Colbert."

"Y-yes? What is it?" Emboldened by how easily his invitation had been taken up, Colbert responded quite eagerly to her.

"Is anything important actually inside the treasury?" She smiled sweetly. "Despite its name, I doubt that it actually contains treasure."

"Oh, aha haha... that's true. It mostly contains artifacts and archeological documents. Although… Old Osmond does use it as his own personal vault too."

Miss Longueville's smile remained fixed. "With his long life, I'm sure Old Osmond's accumulated quite a collection of… things."

Colbert nodded, trying not to look too forward. "Despite how he looks and acts, in his day Old Osmond was quite the powerful and well-traveled mage. He's described to me several of his artifacts, but the one he's most proud of is known as the 'Staff of Destruction'."

"It sounds dangerous. What is it? Have you ever seen it?"

"Oh, yes. As a teacher of some tenure here in Tristain Academy, I've examined many magical items and artifacts. The Staff of Destruction… Old Osmond said it was able to destroy a three-headed dragon in one hit!"

"How fascinating, Mister Colbert. What does it look like?"

"Ah, that… its quite a curiously shaped item, indeed."

Miss Longueville's eyeglasses glinted. "What... kind of shape?"

"It's extremely difficult to describe, except as simply strange, yes. But never mind that, what would you like to eat? Today's menu is flounder baked in herbs... but I'm quite well-acquainted with Marteau the head chef, and I can have him make any of the world's finest delica-"

"Ahem." Miss Longueville interrupted Colbert's babbling.

"Y-yes?"

"I must say, the treasury is quite amazingly built. No matter what kind of magic is tried, it would be impossible to open, I assume?"

"That's quite right. It's impossible for just any one mage. After all, it was devised by a group of Square-class mages to resist all spells."

"I'm very impressed that you're so knowledgeable about this, Mister Colbert." She regarded him with a comfortable expression.

"Eh? Well... Haha, I just happened to come across a lot of documents pertaining to this floor, that's all... I like to consider it a part of my research, haha. Thanks to that, I'm still single at this age... yes."

"I'm sure the woman that you find will be very happy to be with you. After all, you can teach her so much about things that nobody else knows..." Miss Longueville fixed him with a contemplative look.

"Oh, no! Please don't tease me like that!"

Colbert flustered nervously as he wiped sweat from his balding forehead. Then, regaining composure, he faced her seriously.

"Miss Longueville. Have you heard of the Ball of Frigg that is being held on the day of Yule?"

"No, I haven't."

"Haha, I guess it's because you've only been in Tristain for two months. Well, it's nothing spectacular, just a party of sorts. However, it's said that a couple who dances at this ball will be destined to be together or something like that. It's just a petty legend of course! Yes!"

"So?" Smiling, she pressed him to continue.

"So... if it would be all right, I was wondering if you would dance with me, yes."

"I would love to. While ball parties are fabulous, I'd like to know more about the treasury right now. I'm quite fascinated by magical items, you see."

Wanting to further impress Miss Longueville, Colbert racked his brains. 'Treasury, treasury, she says...' Remembering something she might find interesting, he put on an important air and started to talk.

"Ah yes, there's one thing I can tell you. Although it's not particularly important..."

"By all means, do tell."

"Certainly, the treasury is invincible against magical attacks, but I believe it has one fatal weakness."

"Oh, that's intriguing."

Colbert leaned in close and whispered dramatically. "That weakness is... physical force."

"Physical force?"

"Yes! For example, well, not that this is ever likely, but a giant golem could-"

The secretary paused, and her voice pitched up suddenly. "A giant golem?"

Colbert stated his opinion quite proudly to Miss Longueville. And once he was done talking, she couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. She bowed to him slightly, as the parted ways before reaching the main hall.

"That was most intriguing indeed, Mister Colbert." she whispered.

i

i

Some hours later and inside of the corridors connecting the pentagramic towers to the central keep of Tristain Academy's castle, two different monsters tried to stare down each other.

"Oh, Flame-san. Hello." Shinji was unsure of the proper behavior around other familiars. He could tell there was keen intelligence, beyond that of a beast, glinting in the salamander's eyes. It was not intellect as a human would understand, however. Abstract thoughts were not part of such animalistic awareness, but it seemed it could understand human speech and managed well enough from a wealth of instincts and feelings. "Do you want something?" Shinji looked down at his suit. Maybe the beast could smell the lingering aroma from the kitchen? "I don't have any treats right now..."

The salamander sniffed arrogantly, and arched its back preparing to pounce.

"For a lizard, you're too cat-like, Flame-san." Shinji said, smiling slightly. The salamander looked offended. It dropped its chin to the ground and flicked its tail up. "Uh-oh…"

The boy spun around and ran. It eagerly bounded after him down the halls.

Shinji looked back over his shoulder, and was happy at being hunted. 'Just as I thought. All that bulk, all that muscle powering its speed, but it can't change directions as quickly.' He came to a T-section, leapt and kicked off the left wall and was soon running down the right corridor. Behind him, he heard Flame trying to control its direction, its claws digging into the stone. It came out the connecting corridor skidding, reversed, bumping lightly against the wall. With a strong flick of its tail, it launched itself back into the chase.

It was almost eight o'clock at night. Louise should be in her room. Being there would only distract her from her studies, it was not like he could help her with magical homework anyway. As Shinji ran and dodged, he exulted in the feeling of physical exertion. School days were safe and boring, it was nice to cut loose a bit once in a while.

He was not using Gandalfr's speed. Like it or not, Shinji Ikari was very good at running away. He had a runner's physique. On a straight line, the powerful muscles and stamina of the flame lizard would eventually overtake him, but the other familiar lost too much time dealing with sharp turns.

Shinji eventually came to a staircase. He could leap down to further add to the lead, but the beast might hurt itself trying to follow at high speed. He couldn't feel any hostile intent from the other familiar, anyway. The boy stopped and turned around. He got into a half-crouch, holding his left arm out with the palm up. Flame, bounding exuberantly down the corridor, slid to a stop and stared back with a slitted gaze. With their backs to the wall, the two familiars paced around each other, until it was Flame that now near the staircase and Shinji having a clear run back where he came. The boy took deep breaths as his adrenalin rush began to fade. Flame paced back and forth, its hooded head and tail held high. It displayed its powerful, agile frame. It was a tiger's physique. Shinji realized that while Flame was often called a fire lizard, he could not be sure if the beast was actually reptilian. Something that could breathe fire, could it even be cold-blooded?

Flame pounced. It struck and slid off a red shield that appeared in the air off Shinji's left arm. The boy spun around. He didn't fear the salamander. He was certain it was just playing around. As he had no natural fear of death, he also had no fear of being torn to pieces and being devoured. Without that and any desire of his own to kill or harm the creature, he was left with just the list of entertaining things to do when facing a magical beast. He had no red cloth, so he settled from jumping on its neck.

He could not resist the urge to yell "Famirya Ride-o: F-F-FLAME!"

He felt something grab his at his ankle. Like a cat, the salamander could 'stand up' resting on its back feet. He looked down to confirm that, yes, a Salamander had partly opposing thumbs and its arms could reach that far. He was yoinked off his mount and thrown into a wall. As he slid down, Flame grinned, showing its rows of sharp teeth. It huffed a plume of fire and leapt. Shinji caught the familiar with both hands, one on the top row of teeth and the other by the jaw. The much larger familiar wriggled its head, but could push no further. It was strange strength from a two-legs. Shinji could feel the building heat from the back of the salamander's throat.

"Oh, no you don't." He forced the salamander's jaws shut. Flame shot out of Flame's nostrils in two fast jets. The familiar backed off and began coughing. While unharmed by its own fires, the backlash tasted horrible. It looked up, and there was a nasty glimmer in its gaze.

The two familiars headbutted each other. "Ow!" Shinji Ikari fell on his butt, clutching his head. Surprisingly, so did Flame. It scratched at a much smaller spot, but it still stung. Its inherent magic reacted like a shorted circuit.

Shinji groaned. His body had a difficulty remembering that it was not hundreds of feet tall and weighing in the tens of thousands of tons anymore. "Not that it hasn't been fun, Flame-san, but do you have a reason for chasing me down beyond just playing around?"

The salamander nodded. Unable to form words, it tried to convey its meaning through an insistent jerk of its head and lightly biting down on Shinji's shoulder. It began to drag him off.

"Wait, you want me to come with you? Uh... okay. Let go, Flame-san! I'm not a kitten! You're not a mother cat!"

Flame opened its mouth and let him drop to the ground. It then licked his face.

"Euurgh!" the boy moaned, aghast. He touched goopy saliva on his face. He was regretting now not following the advice of always having a towel on his person. He resolved never to make that mistake again.

i

i

Kirche blinked and her vision returned to own natural sight. She licked her lips and shivered. As she had expected, her latest target was more than just any of the pack of amorous nobles that followed her around. No magic, but then in Germania magic was not a prerequisite to being a noble. There were those who bought their titles with wealth, and those who earned their place with sheer force of will. She giggled in expectation. Not yet a man, but she knew very few men who would be willing to fight a salamander with their bare hands. How primitive. How barbaric. Halkeginia thought Germanians were little more than barbarians. They who valued caution over all virtues did not understand what it meant to put everything into claiming one's desires. "Mmmm."

It might be too late to introduce the boy to the world of sexual experience, but such bravery needed to be... rewarded. She had enough of effeminate, easily cowed Tristainians. There was no challenge, no fire to it. She made sure that they would not be interrupted, sealing off the windows and a magical lock ready to be activated on the door.

All the way back up to the tower dormitory. "But I was just here..." the boy whined from beyond the door. "Oh? This is Kirche-san's room." Flame snorted and pushed the door open with its snout. The room was dark. With no other choice, Shinji went inside.

"Um.. hello?"

"Close the door." went Kirche's voice from the darkness.

Doing so turned the room pitch-black again. Shinji pondered 'Query: Night vision?' and got back 'Denied. Wait for your eyes to get used to it like any normal person'.

With a snap of her fingers, lamps lit up on their own. Starting from the ones nearest him, the lights one by one drew gaze up to Kirche lying on the bed. He gulped.

She was dressed in sheer lingerie, her pose was seductive, but there was a faintly worried expression on her face. "Don't just stand there." Kirche patted the bed near her. "Sit and relax a bit."

Nervously, Shinji did as he was told. He carefully kept his eyes up to Kirche's face, avoiding the captivating sight of her nearly nude body. She frowned. "You're not exactly what I was expecting." the young noblewoman said carefully.

"I'm sorry?"

Kirche sighed heavily,causing her cantaloupe-sized breasts to jiggle in interesting ways. "You must think I'm a despicable woman, don't you?"

In truth, he had never really thought about it at all. He had no interest in the nobles, and without Asuka's insistence had no enthusiasm for figuring out how their studies could help his own situation. "Um... no, not really?"

"Don't be afraid." she whispered. Kirche reached out to trail a finger across his cheek. "Now, don't hesitate. Do you know why I called you here?"

"I don't really know." he replied sheepishly, though by how still and statue-like he sat while Kirche played with the lines of his face, he had an inkling.

"You don't trust me." she said flatly. "I suppose I can't blame you, if what you know of nobles come from Guiche and Louise and those commoners at the kitchen. We're not all like that." She grabbed him by the collars and pulled him down to eye level. "Some of us want to see... heroes rewarded for their bravery." Kirche breathed into his face.

The boy flinched. "A hero?" He frowned slightly. "I don't deserve to be called that, Kirche-san." 'To call me that is an insult to every hero that ever existed!'

"But you are! When I saw you out there, it was like watching a hero straight out of the legends. And..." here she leaned over conspiratory manner to whisper into his ear "... I saw what you were willing to do for Louise. That girl, she has no idea how much you really -care-. If she won't reward you for your dedication, then I will."

"That's okay, I don't really expect much. You... why are you doing this, Kirche-san?"

Kirche smiled at the edge of anger in his voice. Now that was more like it. "To be thought as lowly, conniving woman... it's inevitable. Do you underestand? My runic name is 'the Ardent'."

"Uhm... I know that, but, I'm sorry. I don't understand."

"I burn, my dear. My lust is flammable as hay. That's why I called you here. Do you get it yet? Is that really so bad of me?"

"Ugh. Aha. Abebebe..." Shinji rubbed at the back of his head and smiled weakly. He had no idea of how to deal with being thought of as an object of raw sexual desire. 'Disgusting' was one the pet names Asuka tended to use. It was not like they had much choice in their pick of partners. "No... I don't think that's bad, but..."

"Oh, you forgive me?" She looked at him with moist, watery eyes. She looked so vulnerable in her naked yearning.

"There's nothing to forgive, Kirche-san." The boy was trying to inch away. Kirche suddenly clasped his hands within hers, lacing their fingers together. "Um... please? I'm not really much good with... this sort of thing?"

"That doesn't matter. I am a detestable woman, but it can't be helped. It's improper, it's sudden, but it's true. My dear... I love you."

Shinj flinched. 'Okay, that's it. I've had enough.' He shot back to his feet and off the bed. Angrily he stomped back towards the door.

"Stop." Kirche called out softly. "Don't go. Those eyes... I've seen those before. You're just so lonely, aren't you?" He was so quiet, so focused. That reminded her intensely of another precious person. Many lived lives of silent despair. So what if more 'proper' people called her nasty names? She was happy in her choice. She was happy to reduce in her own way the amount of sadness in the world. "What's wrong with just putting it down for a while? Let the pain go for a while..."

"It's YOU who doesn't understand." he spat back. "I'm not your plaything, Kirche-san. This was cruel of you, and I forgive you, but don't try it again."

Kirche shook her head, her face still serious."When I saw you... at that moment, I fell in love. This is passion! Passionate love! You're worthy of being loved!"

The boy grimaced again. "I don't... you can't be serious. Kirche-san, please stop."

"My runic name, the Ardent, is the flower of passion. I've been writing love songs in my mind, I've been dreaming of you since that day. That's why I've been sending Flame to see how you were doing. I saw... your face when alone, I want to wipe that sadness!" Kirche squealed and put her palms to her face. Girlishly she turned away, showing her shoulder profile. "I'm so embarrassed, but it's true! It's love, I say! It's all because of you."

Shinji clenched his fists. "You keep on saying love as if it's not meant to hurt." he said without turning around.

Kirche got up off her bed, trailing her satin sheets like a cape. She walked over and draped her arms around his neck, wrapping herself around him like a cloak. The feel of her breasts around his head made the boy's face burn. "I won't hurt you. I love you. Let me take it away..."

Shinji snarled and turned around. "How dare y- gahk!" That was a mistake, for that just gave Kirche the chance to push his face into her breasts. He had to lever his hands into the tiny gap between their bodies and gave a shove. The older noble shrieked in feigned fear as she stumbled and landed flat on her back. "Will you stop tha-.. guh!"

Kirche gave him a sultry smile and spread her legs a little wider. She lifted a slim arm and pointed. "Well, at least I know you're not a Mannliebhaber."

The boy blushed and turned around again to hide his erection. "T-that doesn't mean anything!"

"What are you afraid of? Is it... Louise? Just tell me your heart is owned by Louise and I'll stop." Kirche got up, and her voice lost that sultry tone. She didn't look quite as sad as her voice implied, but rather held a satisfied smile that he couldn't see. "It's my principle, you should know. I won't take what isn't mine to have. Although I follow the philosophy of "Do whatever it takes to get what I want," I'd never take what's most important to someone."

'My pain is important to me.' Shinji wanted to say, but she wouldn't understand. "My heart is not for you, Kirche-san."

"Really? You can't keep it closed forever, that's not healthy. Will you give Louise the key to it, then?"

Shinji clenched his jaws again, and whispered. "No..."

"You've got fire in you, I can tell."

"You're playing a dangerous game here, Kirche-san."

The young noblewoman laughed. "I know! Isn't that great? Louise doesn't think of you as her most important thing. It's her pride that's most important. If I ever wanted to take someone's most important thing, then I'd be ready to fight for it! A passionate affair that turns all life to ash and burns everything to the ground."

Shinji faced her again, and sighed. "I can't say that's not admirable in its own way, but what if I want to be just left alone?"

"No one really wants to be alone." she replied. She thought of silent, unperturbable Tabitha. Just because one was quiet doesn't mean one wasn't hurting. "I mean it. I love you... and all of you. Don't try to hide from me. Let it burn through you, it's not so bad."

"You.. fall in love far too easily."

Kirche blushed and looked away, the comment hit her weak spot. "Yeah... I guess I have more passion that others. That can't be helped. Love is so sudden, and burns through my body so quickly."

"Is that really love, though?"

"Of course it is! Even if you move on from me... I won't ever forget the affection and the meaning of the times we shared."

Shinji looked pained. He gave her a sad grimace. "I don't trust being able to say it's love so easily. I think... I could grow to despise people like you."

"Noo...!" Kirche moaned. "Don't say that!" It was the risk she willingly chose to take. "This isn't a trick. I can see that you need it... let my body teach you how to let go. Trust me, it's is a song offered as a gift to worthy men."

'Asuka... come back! Kensuke's advice is stupid and useless.' And, as expected,quite obvious. The glasses-wearing teen never had a chance to grow up. 'Wait... what did she just say?' He looked up and took in Kirche's deep red hair, her tall tan frame, her full red lips and dark amber eyes. She was from Germania, but her looks...? Why would she have a natural tan in land of long winters?

"You... you've got Rumanesca blood, don't you?" he whispered.

Kirche looked shocked. The actual Halkeginian word was different, but the truth of it carried through. It was as if there was a twang in the air between them, of things locking into place. "The- the last of the Old Blood was lost centuries ago. We don't even have legends anymore. But I guess part of my family did come from deeper inside Halkeginia."

"Walacssia..." the boy breathed. The map of Halkeginia differed greatly from that of Europe; Italy was a little further east than Romalia, and the entire Iberian peninsula was missing from the continent. The British Isles were larger than many expected, and its absence was significant, specially on climate conditions. Some things just felt the same however.

"Oh, you know?" Kirche nodded approvingly. "It's from before the Elves put a barrier to the Holy Land."

"Blood calls to blood. No wonder you felt so familiar..." Shinji began to chuckle, and the lamplights began to dim. Puzzled, Kirche took a few steps back. The room suddenly felt colder, somehow.

"H-hey, you said you're from the East too, right?"

'What's this? Who are you?' the boy asked as the silvered moon cast its reflection upon the Well of Souls.

"Legends lost... have they forgotten the Son of the Dragon? In this world, was there no one who took up the cross against the Turk? Did the Romensa flee from the sound of his voice?" His voice echoed oddly. He stepped forward, and Kirche gave an 'ooh!' of surprise as she felt hands clutch at her breasts. "I must admit, these are impressive. But girl; he who willingly gives you one finger will also give you the whole hand."

The lights went out and there was the sound of a meaty smack in the dark.

The door opened, and the boy's silhouette showed in the gap. "I'm sorry, Kirche-san. I don't hate you at all... but being with me might make your fire go out. Thank you, but I'm not... worthy of anything. Please be more careful.."

The door shut again with a decisive click. In the dark, Kirche lay sprawled on the floor, unsure of what to feel. Shocked, certainly. Fearful, no question. Very aroused, that was strange but true. She began to giggle and slapped her palms down on the hard stone floor. That was unexpected. Her charm had never failed her before!

A fun challenge, a dangerous game!

She laughed as she touched her cheek. If he thought this was supposed to dissuade her, he was being an idiot. It was giving her exactly the very excitement she'd been missing in Tristania. She was a von Zerbst, leaving early from her studies in Vindobona Magical Academy in Germania, and had fled to Tristania to avoid being married off to some old Marquis. Once she took a liking to something, she did all she could to get it. Being rebuffed on her own terms was never going to work. The boy thought he could dictate the terms of the chase? She grinned. It was just adding more fuel to the flame.

As a woman, she had her own pride. She was angry, she wanted to burn him, but that had shown more spine than all the Tristanian nobles she'd met all combined. 'Ohohoho. My fire... will melt that cold lump of rock you call your heart!'

i

Shinji exited Kirche's room just in time to see Louise with her hand on the doorknob of her own room, freshly having returned from searching worriedly for her familiar. "Crap." the boy muttered.

i

i

Louise, like most nobles, kept a diary. It was a habit encouraged to let them reflect upon their deeds and thoughts for the day and confirm if they gave meaning to their lives. For many, it was their only road to posterity, and filled their journals with blatant self-propagada to deny their otherwise uninspiring days spent in self-indulgence. Louise was too terrified to even think of trying to write like that. Her upbringing under a domineering mother and just slightly less fearsome eldest sister, who had no compuction about breaking security charms just to make sure she was even thinking like a proper young lady, ensured she kept her true thoughts and feelings to herself. Even far from them she could not do it. Her thoughts whirled around, she couldn't put them to paper and out of her mind.

She couldn't focus on her studies. Magical terms shifted back into 'Why?' and how good it felt to be held. In many ways her father was an ideal nobleman patriarch: wise, patient, and aloof. Not since she was a child had she been in a man's arms like that. Cattleya, her kind older sister, was the only one who dared show her any affection these days.

'Why did he do it? Does he... like me?' In one moment sheer terror, in another- bliss. Appearing out of nowhere, sweeping her up like some heroine outside of the legends. Louise hated feeling so weak and helpless, she had enough of that from home. She had no power. With him by her side, she felt beyond all worldy worries.

She forced herself to put down her quill. Her hands were shaking too much. Something to be protected. Like a child. That was an insult, an insult! And part of her hated that it felt so good. He was a commoner! A commoner! But there were also plenty of stories that had princes masquerading as peasants.

Louise looked to the corner where he slept. The hay from the first day was gone, replaced with an old but serviceable thick wool carpet. A pillow and a blanket, and that was it. That was poor reward for someone who saved her life. She could hardly believe she'd forgotten about that last night.

That was the problem. Again 'Why?' Was it just the magic of the familiar bond? It was only natural that commoners serve nobles, but if it was just that it was his job... Louise felt hollow. For every bit of reserved politeness he showed, there were also moments where he revealed hints of actual fondness. Irritating! Holy mixed signals, guy who dresses like a bat! Kirche had it easy, she just had to throw her chest out a bit, and men would come running. Absently, Louise realized she was imitating that pose while sitting down. She blushed and put her arms over her chest. It was... lacking in impact. She was glad that her familiar wasn't around.

Her arrogance and her pitiful magic talent made sure Louise had practically no experience whatsoever in matters of love. She only had rumors and stories to guide her expectations.

'Where is he, anyway?' Giving the excuse of not 'being a distraction' to her studies, the boy often had two hours to himself before returning and helping her prepare for bed. It was near past time for that. Louise looked to the book on her desk. It was useless anyway, she couldn't focus. Maybe she too needed a walk to clear her head, and maybe she could get some answers too. A part of her wished for the happy accident of meeting him outside and maybe talking under the moonlight.

Two people side by side, alone in the dark, watching the stars... how romantic. She tried not to think too hard about that.

While loudly proclaiming inside her head that it was not about that, her irritation built up as she failed to find him. She'd even gone all the way down into the kitchen, but it was closed. She had to walk all the back to the dormitory tower. It was a familiar who should be trotting along after his master, not the other way around! She was already in a bad mood when she returned, resolving to snub him for quite a while when he got back from whatever hole he was hiding in.

Hole. In. These two words stuck in her mind as she saw Shinji Ikari come out of Kirche's bedroom.

i

i

A few minutes later had him sitting on the floor in a seiza position while Louise conducted her interrogation. "L-like a stray dog in heat! What were you doing in Kirche's room?" Louise brandished a whip she found somewhere. "And if you say 'gathering information' I'll use this on you!"

Shinji just sighed. "I was trying to resist her attempts to seduce me, Louise-sama."

She actually growled. If her hair could rise from the back of her neck, she would be howling by then. 'This... shameless pervert!' "So you admit it!"

"Admit what? I've haven't been here long, but it's already obvious that Kirche is the type who tries to make men her playthings." He made a face. "I don't have time for that."

Louise was not yet mollified. "Oh, you don't, do you? Yeah, that's right! Maybe you need more chores to make sure!"

"Please, my Noble Master, nothing happened."

"You're lying! Lies! Filthy lies!" The pink-haired girl swung with her whip. It lashed a red mark against the boy's cheek. He shut his eyes reflexively, but otherwise did not react.

"Torture is not a reliable method of gathering intelligence, you know." he warned cooly. "Most people will just agree to anything to stop the pain. Why are you so angry about this, anyway?"

Louise was shaking. Commoners needed to know their place. A noble had to act according to her station. It was something her mother had said: "There is no lesson as easy to remember as pain." Doing that, she'd expected to feel a rush of power, but it was as if she'd struck herself.

Those eyes...! Always he looked as if he could see into her soul. There was no satisfaction. Instead, blind overwhelming fear. Aching moments passed, which had Louise trying to get her thundering heart under control while Shinji just looked bored about it all. It was as if it was all beneath even his contempt.

Louise inched backwards. She'd done it. He hated her now. She wanted to curl up and cry, but forced it all down with an angry look on her face and shouting louder. "You're a dog wagging your tail on that Zerbst bitch! What's so good about her, huh? I don't know what I ever saw in..." Louise clapped her hands over her mouth.

Shinji sighed. "If you want to hit me to feel better, go ahead. I kind of gathered there's some sort of rivalry between you and Kirche."

Louise looked at the horse whip in her hand, a long thin flexible rod with a looped strip of leather on the end. She raised her hand to strike again, but couldn't find any strength. She looked up at the red welt on his face and his completely placid expression and couldn't keep the tears at bay anymore. "You...why are you making me do this? I didn't... I didn't mean to!"

"Louise-sama, please. I. Don't. Care. Just tell me what this is about."

She could feel his cold disdain for her excuses. 'I'm a nasty person!' the girl wailed inside. Her mother's punishments replayed in her mind, and this sort of stoic indifference was the proper reaction to such corrections. She'd tried to keep the facade, but always afterwards she'd run to her middle sister's side to start crying. It was supposed to help her grow, but there just bitterness and fear. 'He's... he's not going to fear me, no matter what, is he? Am I that -weak-? Or... he's strong. He's strong enough to be -loyal-.'

Louise dropped the whip and sat down facing him. Her face was screwed up, pouting and trying to keep the tears from showing.

"Oh gods." the boy groaned. He had to reach out and pinch Louise's cheeks.

"Hey, wha- do fuu hink yoor dohin?"

"You're just so -cute-, Louise-sama." Shinji grinningly said. "You're so cute it's like I want to -break- you."

"Hu asshul. Ow!"

"What was that?"

"Ahm horry. I fed ahm horry!"

Louise rubbed at her cheeks when he let go. She glared angrily up her familiar, and was surprised to see a delighted twinkle in his eyes. She felt her cheeks heating up. Looking at her, appreciating only her, laughing at her. Amazing how shame could feel so good. "I keep forgetting... you're just fifteen years old, aren't you? I can't... as long as it's not Kirche!"

Shinji scratched at the side of his cheek. He was lost in this tangled mire of human emotions. It was not like he could read minds. "Um.. Louise-sama, if you want this to be an abusive relationship, then I can play that game too. But I won't accept punishments that are... arbitrary? At least tell me what it is that I did wrong."

Louise took deep calming breaths. 'A soldier. Right. If he fought in a war, he shouldn't be unfamiliar with being punished. Okay. Okay. Louise, stay calm. Try to make it look like you had a reason.' It would keep her pride and her stature in his eyes. 'What would father say?'

"It's her usual tactics. Kirche goes with many different guys at once and likes to see them fighting. If you keep on going after Kirche, tomorrow you'll be run through by ten nobles. Is that all right to you?"

"No, actually. Louise-sama, please believe me, -nothing- happened."

Louise looked into his eyes. "I believe you."

"But that's not really what this is about, is it?"

Louise winced. That was her weak spot. "It's unacceptable! First, Kirche isn't a Tristainian; she's a noble from neighboring Germania. I hate Germanians!"

"Oh?" Shinji's expression was tinged with faint disapproval. "All Germanians? What did they ever do to you?"

"The...the Vallière and the von Zerbst family has been feuding for generations. My house, Vallière, has estates on Germania's borders, so we're the first on the field against Germanians the moment any war starts. Even worse, right opposite to us on that border is Kirche's birthplace. So, the Zebst family is our sworn enemy! "

Shinji nodded. "I can accept that, Louise-sama. How long have the two families been fighting?" He wondered if there was a Romeo and Juliet type of thing going on.

"Kirche's great-great-grandfather stole away my great-great-grandfather's lover! That was around two hundred years ago."

Shinji blinked. "That's... quite a while ago."

"Zerbst constantly slanders Vallière! They call themselves a passionate family but they're just a low, unworthy family that takes what it wants no matter who gets hurt in the way! My great-great-grandfather's fiancé was stolen away because of that."

"Huh? Stolen?"

"My great-great-grandfather's! His wife was taken away just like that."

"Is this the same great-great-grandfather with the lover or... you know what, I don't even care anymore." Oh, gods. It was a Romeo and Juliet situation after all, and as expected everyone was acting like romantic morons, including those who just kept enabling them by not doing anything. "So, basically, this is just because your family lost a lover to to Kirche's family?"

"Not just that. We've lost count on how many family members we've lost from the wars."

Shinji nodded again. A far more sane reason, though he recognized that he was hardly anyone to cast aspersions on anyone's sanity. "Is it really that bad to associate with Kirche? I don't think I want to make her an enemy at this point, if she can grab amorous male students so easily."

Louise laughed weakly. "I... ahahaha... I can't afford any more reagents."

"Maybe I -should- let her get to me. I mean, if you're rivals, then once she's done with me she's just going to lose interest. It might save trouble in the long run."

"No!" Louise glared. As she'd thought, he was just another stupid, easily-tempted man after all. "I will not let Kirche steal a single bird. I'll shame my ancestors if that happens." She leaned a bit closer. "That's why Kirche is forbidden!"

"Understood, my master." He palmed his face. "This is going to get troublesome."

"You should thank me. If word gets out that Kirche's lover is a commoner, do you think you'll survive?"

It was the boy's turn to laugh. There was a savage edge to his amusement. "Oh, easily. They might not. Thank you, master." He bowed, putting his forehead to the floor. "Don't worry. I won't let this inconvenience you too much."

'There it is again!' Louise whined inside her head. 'Just what is he thinking? What's his plan?' No one was that relaxed about the risk of bodily harm without having some trump card to play.

As he lifted his had off the floor, the girl checked out her familiar. Avoiding looking into his eyes, which always had her forget his apparent age, he just looked so frail and defenseless. She put a hand to her chin and nodded. "This can't stand. It can't be helped... tomorrow we'll have to get you a sword."

"A what?" Was that even... legal? "I'm a commoner. I'm allowed to carry swords?" That was why he kept a hidden belt of throwable fruit knives on his back.

"Of course! We're not barbarians here. If you need to fight then a sword would be good."

"Pistols?"

"Pistols are too expensive! Denied!"

"You even sound like -her- now." the boy muttered softly. "All right. Thank you again, master." He smiled that thin, sad little smile of his. Louise growled. It was like looking at three different people in one body.

I

i

Kirche groaned. She woke up just before noon, with the open window stinging at her eyes. Why was it open and why didn't anyone wake her up for breakfast? Dimly she remembered that it was the day of Void. An empty bottle of wine showed why- she was a little drunk last night to celebrate, but trying not to get too drunk decided to pour half the bottle out the window as a tribute to the Saints.

She yawned and got up. It was the sort of tradition that had Tristanians clucking about 'waste', lie good little bean-counters. All good things come from a bit of sacrifice. Nothing taken so easily was ever worth having. She stretched out lazily. It was not like her beautiful body was easy to maintain, after all. It would be too easy to just let go of her own unique of self-discipline and drop from her self-determined measure of perfection. Kirche yawned once more, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and forced herself into full alertness.

She opened her eyes and smiled as last night's memory returned vividly. She licked her lips and began to freshen her makeup. A born hunter, she knew the worth of attacking quickly when least expected. The boy... and here she chuckled again... would expect her to back off from that little display of his. "WROONG!" she shouted into the mirror, and laughed. She was not some fragile little Tristanian to be scared off like that.

Kirche left her room to wait in front of Louise's door. She considered knocking or just barging in. If she knocked, then the so-obedient little familiar would have to answer the door and she could grab and immediately put a kiss to his lips before he realized what was happening. Would that shake him up enough to let poor blind little Louise see the savage little dragon inside instead of the whimpering little puppy that fed her ego? How would Luise react? On that thought, she decided not to be too forward. For a Tristanian, Louise was quite a little berserker. It was too late in the morning for that sort of thing.

She knocked on the door and waited. Frowning, she tried the latch and found it locked. Without hesitation she cast an unlocking spell on the door, something supposed to be forbidden on campus. That didn't matter anymore. Passion! To the hunt!

The room was empty. Right. Little Louise and Little Shinji liked to keep their polite little masks. The only reason Kirche would have kept her door locked so late in the day of Void was for bedroom activities. It took a little off the spice of the hunt if her only competition was just so boring. Kirche looked around. "The same tasteless little room..." she muttered. Louise's bedroom was clean and orderly, and showed very little personality.

She noticed more the absence of Louise's backpack. Adding to that it was the Day of the Void, then they must have gone out somewhere. "Why that conniving little bitch...!" Kirche muttered with a smile. It's what she would have done. She nodded to herself, in that case there was no time to hesitate.

Kirche left Luise's room, closing the door behind her and letting the generic security magic lock it back into place, and hurried over several doors down the dormitory.

She didn't bother trying to forcibly unlock the door. Unlike the basic enchantments provided to student's rooms, this one was reinforced by a powerful mage of Triangle-class skill. "Tabitha!" she shouted while knocking hard on the door. "It's me, Kirche! Open up, Tabithaaa...!"

Inside the room a slim, blue-haired girl sat among a mound of books. She sat with her knees up on her bed, with books of all sizes piled high on the table beside her and a smaller pile within easy reach near her feet. She looked four of five years younger than she actually was, shorter than even Louise. Her blue eyes behind eyeglasses sparkled with intent upon the pages. Opinions of other people didn't matter to Tabitha. She let out a huff as she turned the page. Days of Void were her own. She could sink into her favorite worlds, rather than endure all the noise and chaos of other people intruding on her senses.

Loud knocking at her door burst this little self-content melancholic bubble. Without even looking up, Tabitha reached out with her left hand to pick up her staff. The gnarled length of wood was taller than she was. In a barely-perceivable whisper she cast "Spell of Tranquility", a Wind-type spell that effectively blocking out those door knocks. With a small sigh she turned back to reading.

There was a loud bang and her door was forced open. Not a hint of surprise crossed Tabitha's face. She looked up. It was Kirche, who rushed into the room and began excitedly babbling. With the silencing magic however, none of her words reached Tabitha. Only another Triangle-class mage could have broken her lock. Her deep blue eyes showed only bland disinterest, and she turned back to reading.

Kirche was having none of that. She pulled out the book from Tabita's hand and grabbed the little reader's shoulder to make her look straight. For a moment a surge of irritation passed across Tabitha's eyes, but that quickly receded. Any other person would have been blown away by a cyclone then and there, but Kirche was Tabitha's friend. Seeing no other way, she cancelled her spell.

"Tabitha! Get ready! We're going out!" spilled out in a hurried stream from Kirche's lips.

Tabitha softly replied "Day of Void", and reached out to take back her book. Kirche stood up and raised the book over her head, the height difference barring Tabitha from the recovery. The smaller girl did not change expression however. It seemed she was used to being denied.

"Yes, I know how Days of Void are important to you, I really do, but this isn't the time for that talk! I'm in love! LOVE! Don't you get it?"

Tabitha clenched her tiny right fist, as if considering punching Kirche in the gut just to get her to bend down. The blue-haired girl shook her head. Where Kirche was propelled by her emotions, Tabitha was a cold and deliberate thinker. Slowly, she opened her hand, but the look in her eyes was faintly accusing.

"I'm not doing this if it wasn't IMPORTANT." the Germanian girl continued, still holding her arm up. "You won't move until I explain, geez. Fine. I'm in love with a boy. He's got to be mine! Louise doesn't deserve someone like that!" She sighed and lowered her arm. Swiftly Tabitha grabbed her book while Kirche went on to explain.

Tabitha didn't look like she was listening, sitting on her knees and carefully flipping the pages of the book until she could mark the part where her reading was interrupted. She understood that the familiar of Vallière was Kirche's target this time. It was not outside of expectations. That had been a fairly unusual display of power, however outside of that Tabitha had never really cared to acknowledge anyone else's existence. All the virtues that her friend extolled were easily ignored. She knew just how biased Kirche could be, and how just as easily losing interest once her conquest was completed.

"And then he hit me." reached her ears. There was a slight rip, as part of a page tore free from the bindings. Tabitha looked up, and behind her blue eyes a cold wind howled. Outwardly however, she showed no interest in Kirche's tirade.

"I mean, not hard, but enough to leave an impression." Kirche grinned wickedly. "Tabitha! Does he think I don't know how to play that scene?" Excitedly the tall dark beauty put both hands on the bed and bounced in play. "I didn't think I'd find anyone in Tristania with actually the guts to play the game."

Tabitha's expression didn't waver by the slightest bit, but she didn't think it was any sort of game. There were certain events in her books, she didn't dismiss any genres - that would be an insult to the books - but Kirche was not one of those vapid, needy heroines with no distinctive traits to them other than extreme dependency issues. If anything, was the other way around. She put down her book and faced Kirche.

"If the mouse is running, then the cat must chase! This is the passionate love that burns through anything! Love! It can't be denied, Tabitha! But that annoying Louise took him out for the day and I want to go after them. Do you get it now? I don't even know where they are!"

Tabitha continued to look blank. That mattered to her, how? Kirche was her friend, but she -was- annoying too. If Kirche could not respect her isolation in her own special day, then she saw no reason to indulge her friend's manic obsessions.

"They just left! On horseback! I can't catch up without your familiar, you know? That's why I need you. I need your familiar." Kirche looked about to cry.

Tabitha nodded. If Kirche was that desperate then she had no choice but to help search for the boy. Yet glaciers had more kindness than that glance.

"Oh thank you." Kirche gushed and patted her friend's head. "So, let's hurry up!"

The smaller mage reached for her staff and got off the bed. Her black cape rose on its own to drape over her shoulders. She went over to her window and whistled. The sound hung in the bright, sunny morning. Turning back to Kirche, she grabbed entwined the vivacious yong woman's left hand with hers and pulled.

Kirche offered no resistance, even when the gentle pull brought her over to and out the window. Tabitha's room was on the fifth floor, and Kirche gave no more than an excited whoop as she threw herself out into the empty air. Glittering blue scales flashed. There was a loud flapping noise and strong tough wings met them in midair in a smooth practiced maneuver. Though she looked like the calm and collected sort, Tabitha didn't really have much patience, and tended to forgo doors entirely when going outside because jumping out was often far quicker.

"No matter how many times I see it, your familiar is just too cool, Tabitha!" Kirche whooped as she grabbed a protruding spine and steadied her riding stance. Tabitha's familiar was an infant wind dragon. It turned slightly to catch the upward draft around the tower and expertly rose to high in the air in the blink of an eye. "Sylphid is just awesome."

Riding near the dragon's neck, Tabitha asked "Where?"

Kirche winced. "I... don't know? I was panicking." Trusting Sylphid to keep her balanced, Kirche crossed her arms together and put a finger to her chin in a thoughtful pose. "Maybe the city? There's really nothing much to see around us than forests and farmland. That's a few hours away by horseback."

Tabitha nodded. Less than half an hour with her Sylphid. "Two people on horseback. Don't eat them."

The wind dragon gave an obedient *chirrup* and rose higher, scouring the unfolding vista for a horse. It was a simple task for a dragon, for their entire body was made for quick swoops down on unsuspecting prey. Satisfied that her familiar was doing her job, Tabitha reached into the folds of her robe and took out the book she was reading before. Her expression flickered with displeasure at the ripped page, though as she'd left the door to her room wide open it was strange if she actually valued any physical objects. She was more angry that she herself had damaged her property.

I

i

Shinji and Louise walked briskly down Tristain's city streets, having deposited their campus-owned horse at the stables by the city gates. Shinji rubbed at the small of his back now and then. They rode for three straight hours just to get to the capital city, though it was hardly a straight path. Shinji was starting to reconsider Tristainia being roughly analogous to the Netherlands from his world, because it had too many damn hills and deeply curving roads.

"Honestly, haven't you been on a horse before? I know you're a commoner, but that's... weird."

"Honestly? No, Louise-sama. I've never really had to go someplace too far for me to walk, and if it was necessary transportation was always provided for me."

Louise nodded. Coaches, then. The military was composed mostly of commoners, but they were a step up from the plebes. Her familiar was too young and too small to be a footsoldier, despite his strange abilities, so he probably served as an aide-de-camp. She wondered how that fit into his monster-hunter job though. How else was he supposed to chase down his targets? Using monsters to fight monsters... something like ogres or dragons, maybe?

Louise swept her arm proudly. "Don't get too used to me bringing you here. This is Tristain! It's worth the ride, isn't it?"

The boy winced slightly. The streets were cobblestones, the buildings were brownstone. It was quite charming, actually, rather far from the mass-produced geometric facades of Tokyo-3's buildings. It was like being in a theme park. Vendors on the streets sold fruit and meat, while most shops had colored panes of glass. It was quite crowded with people walking and porters running, but at least the streets were clean and not smelling of horse poop. It wasn't quite so medieval, Kensuke noted, more like the Renaisannce period, but the smaller buildings did look right out of a fantasy Role Playing Game.

"It's quite a bit tight." Shinji replied. So many people. So many human souls, loud and full of life. He wanted to shrink into himself. They felt like shards of glass being rubbed into his skin.

"This? It's already a wide street as it is. With the Day of the Void, I guess the main street is kind of busy. Horses aren't allowed to pass here." They passed a porter carrying several large sacks of fruit on his shoulders. Shinji sighed at the unchanging human condition.

"This is a main street?"

Louise nodded. ""Bourdonné Street, Tristain's widest avenue. The palace is straight ahead." Louise pointed to the large white structure in the distance.

More French naming. Shinji told Kensuke to just drop it and toss away the old map. It was useless. Geography, and no to mention History, was different here. Kensuke supplied another bit of information. Tristain was not a walled city. It was wide enough that at some point, like in the Earth that was, walls became pointless for defense. Cannons made them obsolete. But even way, way back in ancient times, Sparta didn't have walls. Tight, labyrinthine streets forced the splitting up of armies on the assault. Shinji looked carefully. Most buildings were made of stone.

'What about magic to make things stronger than normal?' he asked.

'You'd need some sort of magicannon, then. Master SPAA-'

Shinji cut off that thought. Definitely he missed Asuka. While no one could hurt him so deeply with so few choice words, Kensuke just. Wouldn't. Shut. Up. It was incredibly annoying, and perhaps, the perfect punishment. On the other hand, having to constantly suppress unwarranted enthusiasm did help in keeping all other feelings buried. Louise frowned at him. He looked far too bored.

He could at least be grateful! If she demanded it though, it wouldn't mean anything. "Hey, keep your head up! Be alert! Dont forget, you -are- looking after my wallet, aren't you?"

Shinji nodded and patted the bulge in the black suit. It was messing with his sense of balance. These people still used gold- actual gold! If they had the ability to transfigure elements, he wondered how gold could still be valuable. No, wait. He did not wonder at all. He forced himself not to wonder about -anything-. He accepted it all, no matter how weird, no matter how illogical, there was no room for curiosity in his mind. It might be accidental, but he was learning Zen meditation.

It was better than stabbing himself in the brain. That didn't work out too well last time.

"Safe." Shinji said. Only two things: follow Louise at just a slightly slower pace, and keep a hand near the wallet. "No one will be stealing this. I wonder how a pickpocket is even supposed to- " Oh dammit.

Louise sneered. "Magic." Magic. Of course. "With magic, it can be done is just in a second, and floating away faster than you can run."

"That doesn't quite fit with the profile of only nobles being able to use magic, though." Maybe it can spontaneously appear among the lower classes, but we. Will not. Be researching that. Right now. Shut. Up. Shinji looked around. Nobles were easy to identify by that they were the only ones who wore capes, and had a distinctively arrogant way of walking. Of course, stealing using magic, anyone had to be downright stupid to do that while being so easy to pick out from the crowd.

Not all those who used magic were nobles, Louise explained. They could be disowned or leave his or her family name of one's own accord, dropping in status to become a mercenary or criminal. Sometimes there were children of unknown parentage, and they best they could hope for is to be fostered by someone of noble lineage. There were -no- magic-using commoners. It was a very simple split. At least commoners could take comfort in knowing their place in society.

Shinji nodded to show he was listening. "Excuse me, what? Only ten percent of the population are nobles?" The entire history of the world unrolled at the back of the boy's mind. Assuming that Halgekinia had the population of Europe in the Middle Ages, then that was a surprisingly huge proportion of nobility to peasantry. He found a cruel smirk crossing his lips. Magic was completely unnecessary to perpetuation of arbitrary suffering.

While Shinji could understand any language ever spoken by a human being, the written language was a different matter entirely. The knowledge in the library was closed to him, unless he asked for help from some of the nobles there... a tricky prospect, since for some reason the male nobles would eventually try to push a few coins into his hands and run away, while the girls just pretended to faint... and a part of him asked "How long?" with the voice of a sun-drenched shaman. "How long before these magic-users stopped thinking of themselves as unto gods and remembered that they too can be hurt? What did it take to teach them humility?" The cackling of crows echoed through the cliffs. "Are we here to instruct them in the meaning of mortality again?"

He knew mankind. If the pharaohs and the ancient god-kings actually had real magic, real power, then sure as hell they'd be ruling with fear and ostentation to the hilt. It would have been very difficult to get them to stop- worlds with magic tended to grow their own gods and their own damnation. Something was different here; he could taste a balance forced from without. No; Shinji decided as they followed Louise through steadily narrowing roads, tasting the fear and disgust rolling off the young woman. Even reduced as he was, it was a waste of his time to try and fix an unjust society. He had no faith in justice, or mercy, or truth. Fate and destiny were not for things such as him, but likewise he had no motivation to meddle with either. It was no sin to be an asshole. It wasn't like he was in any position to forgive -anything-.

"Where is it... I know it's around here somewhere..." Louise was muttering. "Ew." the girl recoiled from a stinking heap of trash just left lying along the side of a building. "It should be near Peyman's Potion Shop."

"Louise-sama, I realize we're looking for a blacksmith, but surely there are ones more accessible to the public."

"Well, yeah, but... it's your fault anyway! There's a reason why nobles don't come here too often."

Shinji bowed slightly. It took a lot for a noble to admit to being poor. "Didn't we pass a guard recruiting station? Um... do they also semi-randomly hand out bounties for slaying monsters?"

"No, because that's what the enlisted guards are for!" Louise replied curtly.

Not an RPG game; Shinji had to remind himself. Helping out in the kitchen was enough to get him a tiny stipend to cover ingredients costs, but he could likely make more by just randomly mugging nobles for gil and XP and goddamit Kensuke stop doing that. Louise would probably feel insulted if he tried to help out. That wasn't a servant's place. It wasn't like they were married or something.

Louise cried out happily at seeing a sword-shaped bronze sign. "Ah! Found it!"

"Over here. They don't just sell swords though."

She saw a bronze sign and happily cried, "Ah! Found it!" Brazenly she walked up the stone steps and entered the shop. Despite the bright sunlight outside, the interior was quite dim. Walls and shelves displayed a disorganized mix of weapons, shields, and pieces of armor. A rotund man with a pencil moustache and mouselike front teeth, idly smoking a pipe, eyed the newcomers with suspicion. His eyes widened on seeing the pentagram on Louise's cloak clasp.

"My lady!" the arms merchant greeted loudly. "My noble lady! All of my wares here are genuine and reasonably priced! There's nothing criminal goin on here!"

Shinji blinked. "That was... a rather specific denial." he had to say.

Louise ignored it. "I will be your customer." she told the merchant. "I'm here for a sword."

The merchant rubbed his palms. "Oh, that's good. Very good. At your service my lady...!" and in a lower voice "A noble buying a sword. That's strange."

"Oh? How so?"

Stammering at his indiscretion, the arms dealer replied ""Well… priests wave sacred staffs, soldiers wave swords, and nobles wave wands. Isn't that the rule?"

"That's not actually true." Louise said aside to her familiar. "There are certain mages who can focus their magic through a sword as easily as they can a wand. I know for sure that Her Majesty's Mage Guard can do it. And so can my father." she added proudly. Then, turning back to the merchant "But I'm not going to be using it. My familiar is."

"Ahh… a familiar that can use a sword, huh?" The shopkeeper spoke in a lively voice, and looked at Shinji. "Would that be this 'gentleman' over there?"

Shinji meanwhile was looking dubiously at the assortment of weapons. Being only slightly taller than Louise, this made most weapons unwieldy. He looked at a few shields and discarded the thought. Short sword and kite shield; but he didn't know if he'd look any good with a pointed foolscap.

"Yes. I'm not too knowledgeable about swords, so show me something that's reasonable."

The shopkeeper turned and walked into the warehouse just behind his shop, silently muttering to himself about how he much he could raise his prices. He came out with a long sword with a relatively thin blade, a pointed tip, and had a cuplike hand guard on the short handle. He gave it over to Louise, who easily held it with just one hand.

"Nobles seem to like to let their servants bear swords lately..." the merchant commented idly. "The last one who came here picked this type."

Louise took a few practice swings. It was light enough for even her to carry. Could anyone do any damage with such a flimsy-looking thing? It looked like it would break against any form of armor. "Is that the trend?"

"Oh, yes. There's been an increase of thievery lately. Some mage thief is going around stealing valuables, and that's why the nobles are arming their servants."

"Do you have anything like butcher knives or a large cleaver?" Shinji asked. "Something that's heavy enough to do enough damage if thrown? A sword is fine, but... if it's against magic, having to go close range doesn't seem to help much."

"This is a weapons shop, I'm not a blacksmith." the arms dealer cooly replied. "If you want to throw something, throwing knives are smaller. Kitchen knives are useless for that." He scoffed inwardly. Ignoramuses. Well, as long as they had money.

"I don't like it." Louise said, giving back the sword. "Don't you have anything heavier or longer? Something more... impressive looking."

"My lady, please forgive my bluntness – swords and people have compatibilities, just like men and women. As I look at it, this sword fits my noble lady's familiar very well."

"Didn't I say I want something bigger and broader?" said Louise, impatiently glaring at him.

"I'd still prefer a knife, though..."

"Shut up!" Louise shouted at her familiar. Defeating enemies with kitchen implements? Honestly! That was not the proper way to do things. "The longer the sword, the better! Don't talk to me about knives anymore! You have to be bigger than that!"

"Are we even talking about swords anymore...?" the merchant whispered under his breath.

"I actually have no idea." Shinji replied in the same low tone.

The shopkeeper went inside again, remembering to silently mumble, "Oh, the laymen…" After a while, he returned, one hand rubbing the new specimen with an oily rag. "How about this, then?" It was a splending broadsword, with a handle made for two-handed weilding and decorated with jewels. Its blade had a mirror-like finish, and anyone who saw it would say it was an absurdly sharp and broad blade. ""This is the best thing I have. Rather than say it's for nobles, it's more like something nobles wish they can wear on their waists, but that's something reserved for very strong men. If not, wearing it on the back isn't half bad."

Shinji leaned closer to the sword. "It's really impressive, but..."

"What did I just say?"

The boy sighed. Shinji rubbed his white-gloved fingers, hesitating to let any grime touch that golden hilt. "I don't deserve such a fine blade, master."

She turned and pointed. "I've seen you do weirder things with your bare hands, carrying that shouldn't be a problem right?" Her familiar walking around with a sword that should be too big for him to use, what a good way of showing that this was no mere commoner! That this was powerful familiar of a powerful master!

"Um..." Shinji supposed the excuse of being tired or being physically weak would eventually wear thin. "I suppose that it -is- big enough for blocking." Trying to block with the flat edge of a knife, that just might lead to impaling himself with his own weapon. Normally that would just be an inconvenience, but it would be harder to explain away than just being able to carry things his slight bone structure shouldn't even allow.

"How much?" Louise eagerly asked.

"Well… it's made by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Shupei. It can cut through metal like butter because of the magic infused in it! See this inscription here?" The shopkeeper proudly pointed at the words on the handle. "You can't get this cheaper anywhere else."

'But I can already -do- that.' Shinji wisely chose not to say. Who knows, if Louise gets annoyed beyond reason she might decide to just have to go try to forge his own goddamn blade instead. It appeared that the girl wouldn't be budged from the idea of having a swordsman at her personal behest.

"Well… I -am- a noble." Louise held her head up high.

At that, the shopkeeper bluntly gave the price, "This will go for just three thousand new gold coins."

"What? You can buy a holiday home with a garden with that!" Louise said, shocked.

"A famous sword is worth as much as a castle, my lady. A holiday home is quite cheap compared to this."

"…I only brought 100 new gold coins…" Louise, being a noble, had little skill in bargaining, and made the taboo of giving away her wallet's contents. Even Shinji, who had never really needed to manage his own finances, winced at the error.

The shopkeeper only waved his hand dismissively. "Come on… even standard broadswords cost at least two hundred new gold coins."

Louise's face turned red. "I didn't even know swords cost that much."

"But that means gold really, really, sucks as the basis for currency!" Shinji wailed suddenly. "Don't you people ever break it down to silver and bronze? No matter how magic gets thrown around, steel should never cost that much." He looked close to crying for some reason. "How can you deny me XP and yet inflict this exponential price growth on me?"

Louise rubbed her forehead. "What are you going on about this time?"

The boy hunched his shoulder and looked away. "Uh... nothing. Nothing. Don't look at me, I have no opinions."

"FOOLS!" a strong voice resounded through the shop. "Don't tell me you're buying that horse tripe! A single piece of gold is worth ten silver, and a silver is worth ten copper. Such has been the rule since antiquity!"

Louise eeped. "Who said that? S-show yourself!"

"And you, boy! That false humility makes me sick! You, carry a sword like that? You're more suited for a stick!"

"It's coming from... over there?" Shinji blinked. There was an open barrel with old swords stuck in it. His left hand itched.

"Derf!" the merchant shouted at the swords."Don't say such impolite things to my customers!"

"Oh my gods." the boy moaned. He wondered why he didn't notice it before. The magic there held the same 'flavor' as that which was inside the familiar runes. "It's a magic talking sword, master. I'm being scolded by a sword. I've hit a new low."

"Could this be.. a sentient weapon?"

"That's right, lady. It's a sentient, magical, intelligent sword. I wonder what kind of mage could make a sword speak… but it's got a rotten tongue, always arguing with my customers. Hey, Derf! Keep up the insolence and I'll ask this noble here to melt you!"

"Sounds good to me! I'd like to see you try it! I'm kinda tired of this world. I'd love to be melted down!" the sword replied.

While Shinji Ikari had no wish to meddle with such things as fate and destiny, the opposite was not quite true. It couldn't be more obvious that fate wanted to screw around with him some more. "Might as well get it over with..." he turned to Louise. "Louise-sama, I'd like to have this sword."

"Are you sure? It's kind of... annoying." Louise scowled at the magic sword's rusty appearance.

"Hah! And what makes you think you're worthy of using a sword such as the great Derflinger?"

The boy reached into the back of his coat and quickly flicked out his arm. There was a soft *thunk* and a kitchen knife was buried to the handle into the stone near the barrel. "Probably not worthy, Derflinger-san. But I -can- carry you." Turning again to Louise "A magical sword should have some sort of generic protection spell, right? It sounds like it'd be a waste to make a talking sword and have it easy to break."

"Ooh! A user, is it? So you can throw, that doesn't mean you can use a sword. Fine, I'll let you carry me! Don't worry, I've trained my share of swordsmen in my day."

"I'm regretting it already." Shinji sighed. "How can you even see that? You don't have eyes."

"Are you stupid? What, are you an imbecile or something? What the hell do you think I am?"

"... I'm really starting to hate magic."

"You and me both, partner!"

Louise groaned. "Are you really, really sure you want this? Hey, shopkeeper, I think you should be paying us to get rid of this thing."

The arms dealer cackled. "Nice try, my lady, but I will let it go for just one hundred gold. It's still a magical sword."

"The things I have to go through. Familiar! Pay the man!" While she would still have preferred something prettier, it was better than nothing. As Shinji counted off the gold coins from her wallet, Louise approached Derflinger and tried to pull out the knife stuck in the wall. It was lodged in there quire solidly.

"Ooh, so it's you that's the user." Derflinger said. "Hey, noble girl, make sure to feed my partner well. You'll need him at full strength soon."

"Don't talk to me." Louise hissed back. She looked contemplatively at her familiar again. Hidden strengths, hidden depths; it was all kind of pointless if no one was ever allowed to know, right?

The arms dealer took Derflinger and put the sword into a bronze scabbard. He then handed it over to Shinji. "If it gets noisy, just shove it back in the scabbard, and it'll shut up."

"Make sure to polish me well when you get home." Derflinger said as Shinji strapped it to his back. "It's been a while since I had a good rub-down. A swordsman should polish his weapon regularly! That way he doesn't get strange urges when in battle!"

"Let's just get out of here." Louise grumbled. She turned around, angrily striding out the door. A hurried Levitation spell brought two eavesdroppers to the roof of the shop. While she couldn't really say it was an unproductive day, it was also deeply unsatisfying. Instead of impressing her familiar, she'd humiliated herself again. She'd lost again; can nothing in her life ever go right? She winced at the harsh sunlight after the dim shop.

"Louise-sama."

"Yeek!" The young noble jumped and clutched at her ear. "Do-don't stand too close like that. Don't speak right into my ear like that!" she complained, while blushing.

"Um... you were blocking the way, and..." Shinji looked down and began scuffing the stone steps with his shoe. "I do appreciate what you're doing for me, master. Thank you."

'Wa-wa-why is my heart pounding like this?' Louise turned around sharply. "T-that's right. Remember that! If you serve me well, I'll reward you! Now let's go!" A hundred gold left. That was good enough for a small snack in a cafe somewhere, Louise thought. Wait; she'd already bought him a sword. No, he hadn't done anything to deserve that yet. People might get the wrong idea! "Let's go back to the castle now."

Shinji nodded eagerly. "Hai!"

'That was disgustingly yandere of you.' Kensuke commented.

'Shut up.'

ii

"So, Louise, trying to warm your relationship with buying a sword? Using gifts to get to his heart so quickly. Well done, Louise- I didn't think you had it in you." Kirche whispered, while floating back down. If Louise the Zero was incompetent in anything more than magic, it was obviously in matters of love. There, Kirche was the master. "We can't let this stand, Tabitha! Time to counterattack!"

The blue-haired girl, as usual, was reading. Without even looking up from her book, she followed Kirche into the shop.

The shopkeeper stared at Kirche as if he couldn't believe it. "Whoa… another noble? What the hell is going on today?" Noticing Tabitha, "Two nobles. This is... this never happened before."

"Hey there, boss…" Kirche played with her hair, a charming smile in her lips. The shopkeeper's face turned deep red, never having ever imagined that a noble would use such blatant seduction. "Do you happen to know what that noble bought not long ago?"

"A s-sword… she bought a sword."

"I see… so she did get him a sword…" Kirche muttered. She looked around the shop and scoffed. So many ugly blades. "What kind of sword?"

"A d-dirty and rusty one."

"Oh? Rusty? Why?"

"Because she didn't bring enough money."

Kirche laughed, putting her hands to her chin and swaying from side to side. "She went broke! Vallière! Your Duke's house will cry for this! Isn't that just too funny, Tabitha?"

"Uh… is my lady here to buy a sword, too?" The shopkeeper perked up, not willing to let go of the chance. This noble was... stacked... and looked richer than that other tiny one. The other noble girl still seemed absorbed in her book.

"Of course! Show me the best you have." The man walked inside, brushing his hands in excitement. He returned, of course, with the broadsword he just showed earlier. Kirche cooed at her reflection on the blade's perfect finish. "Ohh… a very well-made sword!"

"You have a good eye, my lady. That noble not so long ago had a servant that really wanted this one, but it was too much for them." He was not above telling white lies just to get a sale.

"Is that so?" 'The noble's servant? So this is the sword that Shinji wants to have.' Kirche thought of the boy holding a blade nearly bigger as he was. She imagined some sort of fur-lined red cape, and for some reason in the distance was a dark castle and large white moon. It was definitely a heroic and faintly sinister sight. "Yes, yes, that fits."

"Of course… this sword is made by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Shupei after all. It can cut through metal like butter because of the magic infused in it! See this inscription here?" The shopkeeper repeated what he had said before.

Tabitha looked up from her book. "Spear."

"What?" Kirche looked down in surprise.

Tabitha glanced up at her friend, to the sword, then back to her book. "I will buy."

"Wait, you're going to buy a spear? Why?"

"Practical." the blue-haired girl said simply.

At this, the arms merchant nodded. "It doesn't take as much strength or skill to be deadly with a spear." There was a reason why the polearm was the main weapon of every footsoldier since ancient times. "That boy seemed to like t-throwing things. You can throw a spear."

Kirche still looked doubtful. "But it's still a commoner's weapon, right? That's not so impressive. Doesn't sound like the thing to bring indoors anyway."

"Collapsible spear." Tabitha added.

"You're certainly well-informed." the merchant beamed. It was a refreshing change from the ignorant brat from earlier and her oddly disturbing familiar. On the other hand, he still wanted to sell the shiny sword, and having someone knowledgeable might harm that. "A collapsible spear won't be as strong as a normal spear. It's something you give to someone who's going to go to war, not really a good present."

The short mage just stared blankly up at him, as if to say 'Irrelevant'. It was starting to piss him off. "A-all right, then. I'll just go get one. You're here to buy, right?"

As he left, muttering to himself, Kirche asked her friend "Hey, not that I mind, but why are you doing this? This was supposed to be my gift." She cheerfully poked Tabitha in the cheek. "Are you planning on being my rival?"

Tabitha shook her head. "Practical." she said again, and that was the end of it. Kirche could recognize when her friend could be stubborn and hard to dislodge as boulder stuck in an ice sheet.

The arms merchant returned with a bundle of sticks wrapped in blue cloth. He unwrapped it to reveal three wooden staffs with metal caps and a blade about a hand and a half long. Three short metal pins were clearly for the holes in the open metal caps, to secure the spear-parts. "A collapsible spear isn't meant for thrusting into chain mail like a normal spear. With just one section, it's solid enough as a short spear, but don't try parrying with it."

Tabitha looked to her long staff. Then to the merchant. He had difficulty assigning that look to either 'I know how to use a long weapon, but it's not for me' or 'I can just magic the hell out it, dumbass'. In truth, Tabitha's mind very rarely bubbled over with unecessary thoughts. It was just that people seemed to think her behind her bland gaze she was always insulting everyone. If this was ever revealed to the girl, it was likely she still wouldn't give a damn.

"How much?" Kirche asked for her friend.

"Two hundred gold, my lady."

Tabitha lightly tapped her staff on the floor. The door to the shop blew open, and a cold wind quickly surged into the room.

"One hundred thirty-five!" the arms dealer shouted suddenly, while feeling his moustache start to stiffen. "No, wait, seventy-five!" It was the street price.

Tabitha placed three large gold coins on the table, and waved her staff slightly. The collapsible spear floated and began to follow her as she turned to leave.

"Hey, that's it?" Kirche called out. "What am I supposed to do now? I still need a ride back to the castle."

Without looking back, Tabitha answered "Buy what you want." She pointed with the gnarled end of her staff, to where Syphid had landed. The arms merchant boggled at seeing a dragon, barely even fitting into the alley.

Kirche sighed and put her arms over her breasts. "I guess I have to apologize. She's always like that." Then, brightening, she leaned over the counter. "I still want this sword! How much?"

The shopkeeper let out a held breath in relief. He asked for more, seeing how Kirche looked a lot richer, "Hmm… for new gold coins, four thousand five hundred."

"Hmm… that's a bit pricey." Kirche frowned.

"Well… great swords need to be paid for their worth, you know?"

Kirche thought for a while, slowly moving her body towards the shopkeeper. "All good things come from Germania. This is a Germanian sword, I must have it!" She smiled widely. "But boss… isn't this just a bit expensive?" Upon being caressed at the throat, the salesman suddenly lost his breath.

"Uh… but… great swords are…"

Kirche sat on the counter, raising her left thigh. "I'm a Germanian. I take what I want, no matter what I ghave to do to get it. Now, isn't the price a bit too high?" She slowly raised her left foot onto the counter. The salesman's eyes irresistibly stared at her thighs.

"Th-that's right… then… four thousand new gold…"

Kirche raised her thigh further so that he could almost see in between them.

"Ah… nonono, three thousand would do…"

"It's getting hot in here…" Kirche ignored him, only opening her shirt's buttons. "I feel really hot in here. Help me take off my shirt, please…" She threw her most sultry expression at him.

"Ah… I got it wrong, I got it wrong… it's two thousand five hundred!" Kirche blew at his face. She smelled of sweet fruit. "Two-two thousand!"

Kirche took off one button, and looked up at the shopkeeper.

"One thousand eight hundred new gold is fine!" he yelled, his voice pitching up.

Another button, exposing her cleavage. She looked at him again. He went down to just one thousand six hundred. Kirche stopped with her buttons, and turned her attention to her skirt instead, raising it just so little. The man looked like he couldn't take any more. He was shaking all over, his pencil moustache quivering up and down.

"How does one thousand sound?" she suggested, slowly lifting her skirt more.

The arms merchant was starting to hyperventilate. "Oh… ohhhhh…" Temptation warred against good business sense.

Kirche got off the counter, to a regretful moan by the merchant. She straightened herself out, and asked again, "One thousand."

"Oh! It's... one thousand will be fine!"

Kirche reached into her cleavage to take out a small book. Quickly she wrote a check, and slapped it on the counter. "Sold!" She then picked up the sword and left the shop, leaving the salesman to stare at her check.

A few moments passed in disbelieving silence. The merchant was unmoving as a statue, then, suddenly, screamed. "What? DAMMIT! Did I really just sell that baby for one thousand gold? Damn nobles!" He reached under the counter for a bottle of red rhum. "That's it... ohh... it's not worth dealing with nobles at all. I'm done for today." Taking a deep swig, he began to close up the shop.

ii

It took three more hours just to get back to the academy. Kirche was already waiting, having again broken into Louise's room. "What the hell." the girl said evenly. Fortunately she was too tired to offer much more than just token ire. There was the surreal moment when Shinji first caught glimpse of Tabitha. His response was a surprised "NGYAAAAAAH!" and frantic backpedaling out of the doorway. He crawled up the far wall, his fingers gouging handholds into the plaster.

Was that a flash of satisfaction briefly passing across the slim girl's gaze?

After calming down a bit and being scolded again by Louise, Shinji looked past Kirche's somewhat (disapproving) expression to really see Tabitha. The short blue hair and the bland expression, it was uncanny, but she was clearly not Ayanami. It was extremely difficult for him to forget that Rei Ayanami had been quite… well-shaped… for her age. It was part of why he had such resistance to Kirche's cantaloupes. Once you've had breasts the size of the Himalayas, others just fail to compare anymore.

So it was that as dusk fell across Tristain, Louise's room became the scene for a heated standoff as Kirche and Louise tried to stare each other down. Tabitha was at the study desk, reading by lamplight. Though apologies were made, it was still obvious that the boy was uncomfortable being around her. Shinji sat crosslegged on Louise's bed, the weapons in front of him.

"What's the meaning of this, Zerbst?" Louise hissed. "Just get out and stop interfering in things that aren't your business?"

"Oh, but I'm not really interfering, am I? As I've told you, Valliere, I'm just here to give dear Shinji what he wants."

"He doesn't want that! As you can see I've already gotten my familiar a sword." Louise turned around to see Shinji holding the expensive sword by the pommel. "What are you doing?"

"That's strange… it weighs practically nothing at all." Shinji spun the broadsword in his palm a few times.

"I carried it here. I'm sure it was heavy." Kirche commented excitedly. "Strong! You're actually strong!" That was manly enough. The distinctly unheroic shriek from before was forgotten.

"What…? Hey, you already have a sword! Didn't you beg me to get that sword? Give that one back!"

"An old rusty sword? Such jealous words are unmannerly, Louise!"

"Jealous? Who's jealous?"

"Aren't you? I, Kirche von Zerbst, easily got my dear Shinji the most desirable sword as a gift. You can't say you're not jealous, can you?"

"Jealous, my arse! That aside, I will not accept even a tiny little bit of generosity from a Zerbst! That's all there is!"

Kirche looked at Shinji who was now staring puzzled at the collapsible spear. His looked up towards Tabitha, and visibly shivered. This somewhat saddened her, as it would have been nice if her closest friend and her most recent paramour could actually get along. Here Tabitha had been uncommonly obliging enough to help out.

She turned back to Louise. "Anyway! This sword is created by Germania's very own alchemist Lord Shupei!" Kirche threw a seductive glare to Shinji. "You listen here… all that is good under the sun, let it be swords or women, can only come from Germania! Tristainian women, like Louise, are all extremely jealous, impatient, miserly, and snobbish, and nothing can change them!"

Louise snarled, and made as if to pull out her wand. "It's night-time, master." Shinji said idly, while trying out how to assemble the spear. "If you destroy the room, I won't be able to fix it until tomorrow."

Kirche smirked in triumph. Louise's assorted personality defects were easy to spot. "See? I'm just telling the truth."

Louise growled. 'This familiar, how dare it embarrass me like this, even after my generosity!' Another, slowly growing practical part warned that it would be –terribly- inconvenient if the room did get destroyed. Where would they sleep? If her magic was liable to just make things explode, this left her familiar's manpower to rub soot off the walls. Her familiar had that irritatingly calm way of turning her own arguments back on herself. Better go after something she could actually attack.

She laughed coldly. "Oh… how… amusing. Women like you are all romantic-minded idiots! Didn't you hook up with too many guys back in Germania, making nobody trust you, and ending up dropping out and running all the way over here to Tristain?"

Kirche's face darkened. "Oh, you've got guts. I'll give you that, Valliere. Germania's soil has fed from a lot of Valliere guts."

"That does it! Eat this!" Louise pulled out her wand, with Kirche following at almost the same instant.

Tabitha waved her staff idly, blowing the two mages apart. "Indoors." she said blandly. At the same time, Shinji had his arm outstretched to do… something. He looked surprised and somewhat grateful to be outmaneuvered.

"And who is this anyway?" Louise asked, meaning Tabitha. "Why is she even here?" 'And giving gifts to my familiar too!' Turning to Shinji "And why are you so scared of her?"

"S-scared? I'm not… okay." A deep breath. "Maybe a little. She reminds me of someone I knew before. Sorry again, Tabitha-san."

"An enemy?"

"Family."

Louise nodded, as if that explained everything. She returned to glaring at Kirche.

The taller woman shrugged. "You know, if this is going to be a problem, then why not have your familiar decide. It's his weapon, you know. If you want him to have to protect you with nothing more than old, rusty sword, then I'm not going to stand in the way of that."

Louise growled again. "If it comes down to that… fine! Hey, you decide!"

Shinji looked up. "Me?"

"Yes, it's your choice of swords."

Shinji smiled sheepishly and scratched at the back of his head. "No offense to you or Derf-san, but between an old talking magical sword that might be indestructible or a new magical sword that's said to really –be- indestructible… it's a really difficult decision." His expression brightened for a moment. "But.. um… regardless, I think I'll be keeping the spear, if you don't mind."

"Really? Why?" Kirche asked.

"Practical." Tabitha said from the other side of the room.

Shinji nodded. "What she said."

"The sword!" Louise insisted, pouting. "Which sword do you pick?"

Shinji lightly touched each of the weapons near his feet. Even he was not that oblivious. They were basically asking him to pick between the two of them. Louise or Kirche. Normally, there would be no contest, he'd side with his master, but Kirche did raise the painful point that his master was jealous, impatient, and miserly. "Um… I can't decide right now. I guess I'll have to try them out for a while."

Louise growled and grabbed him by the collars. "I won't accept that! Decide!"

"I refuse." her familiar replied firmly. "A spear, a two-handed broadsword and an arming sword. You're asking me to choose between three fighting styles on a whim!" At least he could throw the spear, if necessary. The problem was that it was harder to conceal than knives. Also, someone was talking about triple-wielding and he desperately needed to give himself a punch to the face.

Louise looked as if she might just boil over, but she let go. Her fists were tightly clenched. It would have been so much easier if she could just hit him, but in full view of a von Zerbst and her friend? That would have just added more fuel to the flame of their contempt. 'It's… fine. It's fine. I'm stronger than this. I just have to believe…' Louise moaned internally. She wanted to believe he'd be loyal, but that dratted von Zerbst woman had her outbid. Why –should- he be loyal? She was a failure as a mage and as master. Louise resisted raising her hand to wipe her slightly wet eyes.

Behind her, Kirche nodded, approving his strength not to compromise on his principles.

'See? Not all my suggestions are stupid.' Kensuke commented.

'You meant it as a sexual metaphor. It was just pure luck they bought it.' Shinji moaned silently. 'Aaasukaa… come baaack!' Aida, unlike Sohryu, didn't have a strong enough personality to manifest outside of the subconscious. Unfortunately, this also meant that Shinji couldn't reach back far enough to give a much-needed kick to the teeth.

I

I

Shinji Ikari kept no diary. While it was unlikely even his meddlesome master would be able to read kanji, it was more of that he had no need to leave anything of himself to posterity or require anything else for self-reflection. The experience of linear time was only a matter of preference to beings such as him. He stared dully up at the shadows on the stone ceiling, wondering how long this peaceful illusion would hold.

'Hey, Ikari, do you hate me?'

'You're not Kensuke Aida.'

'No... not explicitly... but haven't you ever thought that those around you could have done just a little bit more so you wouldn't have turned out like... this?'

'It's a little too late to be dredging up excuses, isn't it? Even going back won't change anything. I can't really forgive anyone, but it's not like I can just throw blame too. It's too late for that. I am what I am.'

'Good enough for some of us. Your master's not going to accept that excuse tomorrow, you know.'

Shinji groaned and got up. 'There won't be any time clones, and there won't be a San-tou-ryuu. If they didn't know I'd just refuse they'd probably won't let you get away with saying things like that.'

'It's kind of hard to moan and play the martyr when the worst you can complain about is "semi-critical annoyance" isn't it?'

Gendo Ikari definitely had a hand in this; the boy thought. Everything had a vulnerability of some sort, but it took special attention to make it ironic. Shinji got up and tiptoed over to the desk. The weapons were bundled in blue cloth and tied with a string. It was a weird feeling to hold them. A long time ago, he hadn't really thought of himself as a violent person, but over time had come to accept that brutality was part of mankind. It was the reason why they became the apex predator of their Earth, and that same ruthless thirst for ever-greater experiences that ended up turning one boy into the undying orphan of their ambitions.

He carefully hefted the bundle, only to stumble slightly off-balance. He froze in panic as the tip of a scabbard scraped against the wall. After a while, he shook his head in and chuckled at himself. So afraid at discovery. So afraid at... what? Being seen as less than human? Louise, status-conscious little terror that she was, would have preferred a release of monstrous power. She'd hate him if he was nothing more than a useless commoner.

As Shinji jumped out the window to almost certain doom, he wondered for the first time, if he would even like himself if he suddenly became just a normal human again. A flickering red plane appeared under his feet just before hitting the ground, and he landed with nary a noise.

'Dude, seriously, when was the last time you ever allowed yourself to have fun? When was the last time you tried to learn anything new? You're free like no one else can be! Even if you tie yourself down to that girl even if you keep on angsting all over the place, we don't really care. But dammit, Ikari! We're due for some variety!'

Shinji slowly and calmly walked to the center of the deserted courtyard and opened the bundle out into the grass.

"Oh? You're testing out the styles right now, partner? I don't know why you'd even bother! These lumps of metal aren't half the weapon I am!"

"I had intended on keeping you from the start, Derf-san. I'd rather face Kirche-san's disappointment than my master's childish tantrums." The boy picked up the fancy Germanian broadsword.

"Hoho- tricky, tricky. You're fine with that sort of dishonesty? What's with this excursion, then? Trying out the goods without obligations? Looks like I made a wise decision after all." The boy waved the sword about slightly, frowning a bit as he tried to figure out it balance. Then, a glittering arc spun through the night. "…you just threw a broadsword, didn't you?" Derflinger asked curtly.

"Hai."

"You do know that swords aren't supposed to be used like that, right?"

"Um... it used to be that I'd stupidly charge straight at the enemy to stab them in the core or rip their faces off with my bare hands, but... that's stupid." Shinji gave a somewhat hysterical little laugh and put a hand to right eye. "I think... I've learned that ranged attacks have their own value."

"I should probably insist you try to learn how to use a bow, but as long as you PROMISE NEVER TO DO THAT TO ME-"

Shinji raised his hand high. The spinning sword returned and the hilt slapped onto his open palm.

"... boy, just because something is unexpected doesn't mean it isn't equally stupid. You could chop in half maybe one mage before the rest wise up and blow it away with a good wind spell or even a decent water spell. People with a lick more sense would just dodge."

"Why do people keep assuming I'm going to be slaughtering mages left and right? I just don't want to see Louise-sama hurt."

It was a distinctly selfish way of phrasing it, Derflinger noticed. Usually people would use the very covenient words 'to protect'. "As a user, who do you think is going to be the greatest threat to her? Ohh, things never change. Never change. Mages just keep on messing with things that they shouldn't, that they do."

"You're strangely knowledgeable for a sword, Derf-san." Shinji reversed his grip and stabbed the broadsword into the ground. He picked up the collapsible spear and began to assemble it. At the end, he stood with a bladed staff half an arm taller than he was. Awkwardly he grasped the spear and made a few experimental stabs.

"A long, long, long, long time... even a sword learns things. Even a sword has things to regret. No, closer to the center! Carry the weight with your far hand, the forward hand just eases it in!"

"Uh. Oh. That works." Again he did the thrusting motion. "Thank you, magical talking sword sensei."

"This is pointless. Use me, partner."

Shinji felt magic surge out from his left hand, and into his arms. He flicked the spear in and out in swift cutting motions. He stopped and frowned. "The weight." A spear could be faster than a sword going from point to point, but the broken sections messed with the sense of balance. He wasn't sure if the increased reach made up for it. He looked at the flat single-edged blade on the end, which looked cut from the end of a dagger. Not the diamond-shaped piercing tip expected of most spears, he supposed technically the weapon in his hand had more in common with a naginata than a conventional European polearm. Was that ironic or appropriate?

A cold hush fell over the courtyard. The light of the moons dimmed a fraction as a faintly serpentine silhouette pased. A broad-winged shape flapped noisily, reminding nocturnal creatures to beware that which hunts whenever it so pleases. Shinji turned around to see a blue-haired girl floating down with all the grace of a snowflake. "Tabitha-san?"

The girl landed silently, and looked at the spear in his hands then to her gnarled staff. She nodded approvingly. "Fair." she muttered to herself. She angled her staff towards Shinji. "Duel." she announced.

"...what?"

Silence claimed the courtyard as she waved her staff and cast Spell of Tranquility. There was no sound to draw interruptions, or even to disturb her friend's rest, as Tabitha sent a spiked pillar of ice lancing across the field.

I

i

Tabitha was in many ways the ideal student, if one with practically nil class participation but constantly perfect exam marks to give weight to the grade. Unfortunately that same calm, studious, easily-overlooked demeanor also made for the ideal assassin. As the deceptively helpless-looking girl switched from big, obvious spears of ice to near-invisible globes of bludgeoning wind, Shinji Ikari ran like a scared little bitch.

'Ah.' Kensuke commented sagely. 'Being attacked by a crazed ultraviolent loli. I really missed this.'

Shinji pondered for a few moments that maybe being locked out of Paradise was possibly a good thing.

'You're enjoying this, by the way. Whee. Blind terror. How nostalgic.'

The boy ran out of ground. He began to use the castle walls. Unlike the fight with Guiche, there was no hesitation in his movements. The magic flowed freely, while his soul, his personality centre. sang with relief. Man was still animal. With the fight or fleet instinct, often there was greater respect attached to the 'fight' option. However, there was also a certain atavistic satisfaction in just surviving. He had no grudge against Tabitha, and no pride in his own power to push himself to prove his might.

He was slammed into the wall and slid down headfirst.

Tabitha was starting to get frustrated. For all that she looked like some meditative doll, she actually had very little patience. It was ever-so-much easier to ignore than world than to deal with its people, because if she had to pay attention she might need to cut bits out of it. Not out of loathing, not out of appetite, but because there was no point to it. They were just passing scenery in the life she was bound to discharge.

There was no grace to it, his dodging. No backflips, no grand leaps- just semi-random zig-zagging and the occasional lucky bounce. He could do better than that. Was he looking down upon her? She changed her hold on her staff from one-handed to two.

Shinji eep'ed as a bolt of lightning struck the ground uncomfortably close to his crotch. He looked up to see Tabitha incline her head slightly to the side, as if to ask 'Are you ready to take me seriously now?'

'Can't we talk about this?' he wanted to ask but lack of noises coming out of his mouth told him 'no'. That was troubling. In the fight with Guiche, he was stabbed, bludgeoned, and bled, but it was not unexpected to be so vulnerable to physical attacks. So it turned out he wasn't actually immune to status effects.

He took a deep breath and got up, using the spear as a third leg.

His main problem was that he didn't actually know -how- to fight. It wasn't as if she was trying to kill him, resemblance to Ayanami Rei aside. If she was, then Tabitha wouldn't have been using attacks that he could actually dodge. A duel. He shivered. He could almost see in in his mind, her young form torn and violated. His instincts were not those of a fighter. Kensuke was useless as a buffer. He pointed to the sword still left unused on the field, and Tabitha relaxed slightly. She took several careful steps back as he walked towards Derflinger and put on the straps to let the sword hang off his back.

"About time, partner. Any reason why you're not fighting back?"

Shinji blinked. "... any reason why you're not affected by this Silencing spell, Derf-san? Hey! I'm not affected anymore." In somewhat petulant tone "This would be more useful if I were a mage."

"The bond between a swordsman or woman between his or her blade is stronger than the puny wand-waving of any mage!"

"Oh gods." Shinji wanted to put a palm to his face, but wisely kept an eye on his opponent. "But I'm not a swordsman, Derf-san."

The sword proved it could chuckle evilly. "Oh, but you will be, boy. You will be. Now- to the left!" Shinji narrowly avoided being impaled by a spike of ice. Being able to condense ice right out of the air and send them flying- that didn't sound like an easy spell, at least having to combine maybe Water and Wind. That Tabitha could do it so easily... Shinji wondered which would actually make him feel worse. Punching a cute girl in the face or getting stabbed again. If Asuka were around, she would be able to get him out of this 'gentleman nonsense', but Kensuke had his own delusions of fair play.

All mages needed to have some device to focus their magic. That was obvious vulnerability. Shinji charged forth, the spear-point angled down. Magic flooded his body, and as the ice spikes became smaller, faster, and more numerous he found it easier to knock individual slivers out of the way. His body felt light, and the slightest change in the angle of how his foot touched the ground threw him from side to side. He flipped the spear over and stabbed out with the blunt end.

There was a resounding crack. Tabitha stood with her staff held out at arms-length, her posture braced, and immovable as a mountain. The spear-end had struck and was stuck along her mage staff's end. Shinji had both feet on the ground now, holding the spear in an overhead stab. Around them, icicles fell.

Shinji saw satisfaction flicker across Tabitha's gaze. He was not the first to fall for that. For many lesser mages, that was a weakness. For a mage of her skill and experience, that just put the enemy exactly where it couldn't dodge.

There was a sizable explosion. A globe of glittering ice flakes blew out, covering everything. As it thinned, the two combatants revealed themselves. They were quite some distance away from each other, both on their knees in identical postures, clinging to their respective pole weapons for support. They were breathing heavily, and their heads and shoulders were caped with a light sprinkling of snow.

Derflinger was laughing. "There! That's what I was waiting for, partner! Barriers are the natural counterpoint to magic! You can do that… so it's true after all. Waiting so long, another one like you will come along!"

Ignoring the weirdness of the magical talking sword for the moment, Shinji forced himself back to his feet. The girl was no ordinary mage. He thought about just letting her beat on him for a while, it wasn't like there was much that could be done to kill him, but in the end rejected it due to the inconvenient period of convalescence. Louise would not be pleased. He would be stuck on a bed with nothing but the voices in his head for company, for days or even weeks, and the hell with that noise.

Deep inside him, something wanted to roar. He wanted to just surrender to the rage, to show the world the foolishness of drawing the notice of something such as him. He swayed on his feet. Gritting his teeth, he forced it back. Man in some deep part was still an animal, and that old, primal power sluiced through the normal barriers that separated his external awareness from the greater mass of humanity, of his core identity, inside the Well of Souls.

He was the vessel of humanity, and while that existence had its own limits, no one could deny him that he was only human by choice and their blessing. He was also all the hatred of a world that was broken and violated.

'Oh my gods.' the boy realized with horror. 'I'm a kaiju.'

'Born too big, too powerful. That is their tragedy.' Kensuke added sagely.

He looked up to see that Tabitha had already recovered, a funnel of wind howling around her. Her skirt and cape fluttered, drawing attention to how she was standing on tiptoes. Motes of light from her magic lit up her face. A beautiful, innocent manslayer. Shinji sighed. "What should I do…?"

No way around it. His was the measly power of his physical form, the unreliably and deeply distrusted foreign magic intruding into it, or the total loss of control, sanity, and limitations.

"Hm? You're talking to me?" asked Derflinger.

Sadly "You're the only one I can rely on now, magical talking sword sir."

"Partner, hey, listen. Most mages have some habitual combat range. In short ranges less than ten steps away, you don't need much power and spells can come flying quickly. At long ranges beyond twenty steps, it's more difficult to hit but because they're putting that much power in each spell anyway it's going to hurt you more. In the middle is where they have to worry about being countered. Knew it or not, you did something good when you ran from battle early on... you made the girl waste some of her energy in distance attacks."

"This... this is where knives would have been useful." Shinji moaned. "I could just keep on throwing them from a distance."

"Boy, what makes you think a good Wind mage won't just throw those knives back."

"That's giving me back my own ammunition! Lucky!"

"This feeling. It's familiar. So familiar. It's not knowing if my user is actually smart or an idiot." Derflinger spoke up suddenly. "Partner! There's your enemy! Go hit her with your stick."

"Uh... hai!" The boy moved.

"... so much the same. Still I don't know."

i

i

Information was the second most important thing to a thief. A thug could wait in a dark place and just hope for someone to come along, the contents of whose wallet was out of proportion to the ability to defend it. To find wealth, and to escape pursuit, a much smarter criminal was far more discriminatory. A thief needed to know where to find objects of value. The most valuable thing to a thief was time. Time to oneself, time to flee, time and freedom ahead of interruption or capture. Trying to randomly ransack every house was a stupid waste of time.

Where then, could a thief gather a list of potential bounties. One was to infiltrate high society, to take from the lips of arrogant nobles just what it was that they valued most. The inherent problem with this that it required a certain level of wealth and influence… enough that someone who could afford this method of information gathering would have little incentive to indulge in petty thievery.

There were more than one type of nobles, however. If one didn't care to go to parties and pretend, one would be just as well served by eavesdropping or finding a convenient list. If information was power, then Foquet wondered how it was that people continually overlooked just how much power they gave Tristain Academy as a record-keeping institution.

Not until recently however, had Foquet considered taking on the Academy as a target in itself. It was too useful, but it was steadily becoming far too bothersome. A thief didn't like to be tied down for too long.

Pressing a foot against the wall, Fouquet felt the wall's power and couldn't help but admire it. 'The main tower of the Academy is as strong as it looks… is a physical attack really its only weakness? I can't break through something this thick without attracting attention.' It wasn't hard for an expert in earth magic like Fouquet to check a wall's thickness with their feet, but breaking a wall was completely different. 'It looks like they used only hardening spells on it, but I can't even break this with a golem. Damn it… and I already got this far." The thief's teeth grit in frustration. "I'm not leaving the Staff of Destruction, no matter what."

While concentrating on how to solve the problem, the thief's attention was drawn to the courtyard below. 'Some more students with their play-fighting.' Foquet noted dismissively. Far enough and involved enough with each other, the thief felt safe enough. However, they might get others to come out and investigate. What a poor coincidence.

The battlefield below erupted in white smoke. Foquet drew the cloak overhead and slid back to behind the curve of the tower wall. The thief let out an eep of surprise as chunks of rock slapped against the cloth. Wait... rock? The light of the moon showed it clearly to keen, observant eyes. Though not significant compared to the sheer size of the tower, magically-reinforced bricks were blasted right out of their mortar.

i

i

A cluster of ice spikes rising from the ground stalled the boy, slowing him by half a step lest he impale himself. That moment was enough for another wind bullet to strike him in the gut. Again he was blown off his feet. Coughing, he crawled back to his knees. Carefully he removed his black manservant's jacket, sliding the sleeves under the strap keeping Derflinger's scabbard on his back. Snarling soundlessly, he stabbed the collapsible spear into the ground and hauled himself back to his feet.

He took great lungfuls of air. Sweat and blood dripped from his brow. His shoulders shook with the heaving effort of breathing, but slowly his gasps began to even out. His breathing grew shallower and shallower, the shaking subsiding into solidity, until it seemed like he wasn't even breathing anymore at all.

"Partner? You've gone quiet all of a sudden. Where'd you go?" Derflinger asked. "It's cold here. It's cold and dark."

He looked up and hell was in his eyes.

Tabitha nodded. Finally. This was no longer the self-effacing little servant nor the silent, studious little mage girl.

Again, he ran to get into range, while Tabitha began her pattern of wind bullets and ice walls. Unlike before, there was now a fluidity to both their motions, a seamless dance of danger and dodging. Explosions that would have thrown off the boy earlier, not he just leapt through. Invisible whips of wind, he slid under. Spikes of ice, he effortlessly just hopped upon.

'Not everyone you hold in you hates you, Ikari. There are those who want to give you everything you want, whenever you want, instant access to the limitless power of the Well of Souls. Of course, when that support base is led by old man Keel, that kinda erodes the validity of the position. We're different. Sohryu's about pure power, pure suffering. Akagi's about the power of discovery? Me? Knowledge. Useless knowledge. Until you need it.

Ikari! I will show you your moves!'

"[PROGRAM LOAD] NORTHERN MANTIS STYLE!" Derflinger shouted suddenly.

His spear spinning in his palm, the boy dived from the sky. The spear-point flashed in the moonlight, pausing suddenly and then suddenly stabbing, it looked like silvered leaves falling. Tabitha was hard-pressed to keep parrying with her mage staff.

There was a ripping noise. A tear appeared on her white shirt, exposing that despite her very modest endowments Tabitha did wear a bra. She frowned. Slightly. A tornado centered around herself erupted, throwing Shinji into the air again. She followed that up with three blasts of cutting wind.

The boy landed on his feet, ready for more. Then, the collapsible spear fell apart in his hands. The wood was sliced clean through. Not missing a beat, he took on step back as the spear-tip slowly tumbled down. He kicked quickly, sending the spearhead darting across the distance. Tabitha watched calmly, and it bounced off some sort of windy shield.

Shinji was left holding two sticks. "[PROGRAM LOAD] E-E-ESKRIMA!" Derflinger shouted again. "Huh? Why did I say that just now?"

He -flickered-. One moment, thirty paces away. In the next, right at her face. No stranger to dealing with beasts much faster than herself, Tabitha's body responded even when her mind was yet unready to accept the change. Spikes of ice erupted from the ground, impaling inwards towards herself. The spikes missed just so, the largest ending less than an inch from her neck, but they sufficed. Shinji was forced to leap away lest he get rammed up by an ice spike his backside.

Slyphid watched from one of the gabled roofs. Her serpetine eyes missed nothing. Down below, Tabitha had her eyes closed. The vision of a wind dragon had much greater ability to discern rapid shifts of motion than any mere human's. Flicking in and away, from the ground level it would have been abrupt and unpredictable. From her perch, she could clearly see the lines of approach.

Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak. Wood upon wood. Tabitha had never been physically strong, and was being forced back by the hammering rain of blows. She was doing extremely well all considering at just being able to barely keep him at bay. Until, finally, Shinji apparently just gave up on all subtlety and tackled her into the ground.

Tabitha grimaced faintly as she was trapped by her own staff at her neck. With him sitting on her, there was no leverage. She kicked and writhed to no avail. His face was still set into that emotionless, inhuman mask.

Sylphied gave out a feral screech and dived. Shinji rolled aside, letting go of the staff, as the infant wind dragon snapped to bite his head off. A buffet from a tough leathery wing sent him tumbling across the field again.

"Two on one now?" Derflinger sneered. "What kind of duel is this? Oh? You're back, partner?"

Groaning, the boy forced himself back to his knees. When he looked up, his eyes were again warm brown. The unnatural strength from earlier had faded, leaving only the price of an adrenaline crash. He gasped for breath. Tabitha looked fresh as ever. The expression in their eyes however- that stubborn refusal to die, spitting in the face of the universe, to survive no matter what... it was identical. Those were the eyes of those who had accepted the eventuality of their own deaths, only now determined to make the price of their demise as dear as possible.

Tabitha could understand what it was that Kirche could find so compelling in the boy. It was why she found it so difficult to forgive. For this one to do violence against her precious friend... somehow, it felt like she'd done it herself. Unacceptable. Unforgivable.

Shinji Ikari reached out with his left hand and touched a sword hilt. "[PROGRAM LOAD] ZWEIHANDER." Derflinger announced.

Despite her appearance, Tabitha was starting to feel she had bitten off more than she could chew. Already she'd shed too much magic. It was only her iron discipline against her hated flesh that kept her from showing any weakness. Her opponent looked much worse off, but he should have stopped a long time ago. The boy was broken, bruised and bloody, but unfortunately his personal reserves were just this side of infinite.

A princess and her dragon. From an early age sent out in missions that would have been suicidal for grown men, succeeding again and again, hers was the power claimed by burning her childhood on the pyres of experience. A disgraced knight errant. The last of his order, never having protected anything or anyone, rejected even by the sea of chaos that was his home. Which was the monster?

The air crackled as battle re-commenced. A simulated life-or-death encounter... even under self-imposed chains and boundaries, they would empty their vessels.

i

i

A small quake rocked the castle. Kirche woke up. "Wait, what...?"

Soon after she was banging on Louise's door. "Valliere! Wake up, you lazy brat! I'll break this door down! Wake up, something's happening!"

"Oh, something's happening all right..." Louise sleepily murmured. "I will break. Your. Face."

She had no chance to do anything however, as Kirche immediately yanked her into running down the hall. The two girls paused and clung to the wall as another quake rumbled through the castle. "What are those two idiots doing?" Kirche blurted out.

i

i

Tabitha couldn't help but to make a small grunt of pain and surprise. She blew away the dust to see her opponent had cut open a stone wall. Sylphied snapped and lunged, and even the broadsword looked like a needle in comparison to the dragon's mighty jaws, but needles could still hurt. Tabitha sent a small brace of ice daggers, but the boy took one hand away from the sword and opened his palm towards her. The magical blades of ice smashed harmlessly upon a flickering red barrier.

Sylphid lunged again, putting her full weight behind the charge. She slammed against a larger flickering hexagonal barrier. The much smaller boy didn't budge by the slightest fraction of an inch.

The vulnerability was obvious. The barriers required him to wave his arms around, the same way a mage had to use a wand. He was also unable to move while using the barriers; apparently he had to use his own location in space and time as a reference point to manipulate them. Shinji grimaced as a lash of wind tore a strip of shirt and skin out of his back. He reversed his hold on the expensive Germanian sword, and held back the wind dragon with nothing but its flat edge. He slapped at Slyphid's snout and blocked with it braced against his forearm. With his left hand he swept out again, and a chain of small red hexes formed. Each and every one spun out and met each and every one of the myriad cold projectiles coming rapid-fire from the curve in Tabitha's staff.

Sylphid let out a loud screech and slammed her head into the boy's guard. Shinji willed his puny human bones not to break, so they didn't give way. The supposedly indestructible sword, however- shattered.

Dropping the pieces, the boy crossed his arms together and formed a large curving barrier even as he was again thrown across the air. Explosions battered the shield as he fell, finally losing cohesion as he couldn't in space anymore.

He landed heavily, his feet digging into soil up to the ankles. 'Am I alive yet?' he wondered numbly. It still felt so -weird-. Fighting as a human being, and not as extension of an Evangelion. He was beginning to get an idea of what this was about. No one fought this hard without some sort of prize in mind, or something to prove, or something to claim. This was... punishment, pure and simple. 'Dammit. Yes. I -hate- you.'

'Your pimp hand was not strong enough.' Kensuke added sagely.

"Nnngrh. I suppose, you won't accept if I just say I'm sorry? That I'll never do it again?" Shinji plaintively asked Tabitha. No. They understood the look in each other's eyes. Still unbroken, still undefeated. It would be meaningless if the price wasn't paid. Pain and injury was very poor coin, the way the boy stood proved that. It meant nothing to him; and thus worthless as an offering.

A dark shape obscured the moons. Sylphid landed on the other side, pacing with muted hostile intent. Shinji reached for the sword on his back and yelped from the stinging electric pain running up his fingers.

"The piece of junk fell apart because you forced all the magic out of it. I -can- absorb your power well enough, partner, that's how it was made, a sword and the swordsman shares one soul, but it's very dangerous... soul magic... you realize this? Throwing your soul out so easily. I've seen what happens when it breaks. It's not pretty,partner. It's so dangerous."

"Not to me, Derf-san."

"Hmf." Derflinger deferred to the voice of age and experience. It was a strange, and fascinating experience to be in touch with someone actually older than him for a change. "I can tell you haven't really fought mages before. You did better against the dragon than against the girl. Any plans?"

"Um..." Shinji looked over at his condition. Louise was going to be pissed. The sleeves of his shirt were gone, and he was running around barefooted. This was going to use up his meager little stipend from the kitchen. Fortunately he wasn't above begging to borrow money from working-class commoners. He sighed. Yeah. Just like how scars formed over wounds, and muscles knit together stronger from being slightly torn from exercise, so did his mortal shell decide to toughen him up after every life-threaning incident. He had to get this done before he was stripped naked. "Ow!" Shinji reached for Derflinger and again was rejected by the sword.

"Training is one thing, but in battle don't pull me out unless it's serious, partner. Learn to walk before you try to run."

"Derf-san... I'm sorry if this sounds offensive, but... I'm a lot more deadly with my bare hands than with any sharp weapon in my hands."

"A scrawny brat like you? I... almost believed that for one second." It was not all that unlikely. Sadly, magic was vindictive like that. "It's obvious from the start what you need! What you wish for! Control! That can't be given to you- earn it yourself!"

The boy's shoulders drooped as Silphied charged from behind, her wings flapping powerfully to add even more force to the assault. Even the dragon was getting annoyed; no human should be able to drop a dragon, apex predator of the magical word, on its haunches so easily. A large reddish-orange barrier appeared. Sylphid jack-knifed her body, her forelegs pistoning against the ground, and leapt -over- it.

Shinji dropped the barrier and switched it over to defending against Tabitha's magic. The boy dropped to a half-crouch, wth his left arm wardingly held out. He stepped back several times as several tons of angry teeth and muscle bore down upon him.

Then, suddenly, Slyphied veered aside as something large and orangeish slammed into her neck. More in surprise than in pain, the infant wind dragon toppled. Shinji blinked. "Flame-san?"

Much smaller than the wind dragon, the salamander nevertheless huffed and made the larger beast back down. The wide plumes of fire wouldn't do more than singe, but Sylphid was lost in how to deal with a creature she'd never until then considered an enemy.

A storm of fist-sized balls of hard ice rained. Shinji put his arms over his head and cowered, enduring the heavy spheres just to get moving. "Huooooh...!"

"[PROGRAM LOAD: Hokuto Shin Ke-"

"Oh hell no." Shinji spat suddenly. He reached back and pulled out Derflinger. This time, there was no shock of refusal. His speed instantly increased, and the globes of ice might as well have perfectly frozen in mid-air.

'Ow! Ow! Class rep? How did you get ... ouch! Leggo!'

'I'll take care of this. Sorry for the bother, Shinji-kun. You can go back to your normal business now.'

Kirche was screaming in the distance. Tabitha and Shinji nodded at each other, feeling a flush of furtive shame. They were like little children getting caught doing something they'd promised never to attempt. One last thing, then.

i

i

White mist flooded out to fill the courtyard. Kirche and Louise stumbled in. The tip of Kirche's wand glowed with bright amber light, she held it up while yelling "Heey! Heeey! Cut it out, you two! You're going to wake up the teachers! Where are you? Tabithaaa! Dear Shiinji!"

Louise followed up with "You stupid familiar! What foolishness are you up to now?"

There was a hard, loud crunch somewhere off to her left. The two young mages stumbled through the fog until they reached a wall. There, slumped against the bottom, lay the two exhausted fighters. Shinji had his right arm protectively around Tabitha's neck and shoulders, while the slim girl's hands rested on his chest. A staff and an old sword were planted into the ground on either side. It was an unexpectedly intimate pose.

"Tabitha!" Kirche screeched. "What's the meaning of this? I thought you said you weren't going to be my rival. What have you been up to?"

Tabitha lazily opened her eyes, saw her friend, and tiredly closed them again. "Lesson." she said.

"Learned." Shinji added, weakly raising his left hand for a wave at Louise. "H-hi, ma-master..."

"You... you... you jerk! How dare you bully Tabitha."

Shinji glanced aside to Tabitha, as if to ask 'Do you feel bullied?'

Her even gaze returned 'Don't make me kick your ass again.'

Kirche moaned and flicked her hair. "I don't understand what's going on, but..." Suddenly she bent down and grabbed Shinji's left hand and Tabitha's right hand, and clasped them together under her own palms. "But we're all friends now, yes?" she asked. Her eyes glittered joyfully.

Tabitha looked up . 'She's a good person.' she tried to communicate with a look. She deserved more. She turned back to Kirche and nodded.

'Not like us.' Shinji wanted to reply. Maybe he'd been to hasty. Kirche may exude raw sexuality, but she was a precious friend to Tabitha. There had to be more to her personality than just an excitable bimbo. She was someone who shed living warmth and spontaneity into an existence that until then had known nothing but cold, bland predictability. In short, she was Tabitha's own Asuka. He sighed and smiled weakly. Kirche squealed with glee.

Louise, standing apart, fidgeted in place. She had no idea what was going on, but knew enough to say she didnt like it. She didn't like that weird girl clinging so close to her familiar. She didn't like that von Zerbst woman being so happy for some reason. And... Shinji raised his left arm, stringy and grass-stained, and beckoned. His expression was pleading.

When Louise was close enough, he unexpectedly reached out and suddenly grabbed her hand. "Wha-!" Louise was yanked down into the ground, stumbling to her knees. Before she could get too angry, she found that her hand was placed right over Kirche's.

The Germanian woman looked puzzled. Louise scowled, trying to pull away from skin contact. "Let go! What do you think you're doing? I'll never be friends with a von Zerbst!"

"Oh, but you will, master. Please. Give yourself the chance." Shinji mumbled weakly. Unconsciously his thumb began stroking the flap of flesh between Louise's fore and middle fingers. "We all need friends."

Louise blushed deeply, all protests dying at the tip of her tongue. She shivered, and not from the night air.

Tabitha let out a sigh and snuggled deeper into Shinji's side. "Hey!" Kirche complained again. "Tabitha... make your intentions clear."

"Tired." the girl replied. So noisy. She just wanted to go to sleep. She was a girl of simple means and simple desires.

Shinji leaned over and put his cheek on top of the blue-haired girl's head. A deliciously yandere blue-haired girl. She smelled like home. It was never about power… but connections. The balance was restored. The world made sense again. He was asleep within moments, and his face was open and unguarded in contented relief. Kirche and Louise looked at each other, deeply suspicious, but having to rush and work together to get their two completely exhausted friends out of there as others drawn by the commotion were starting to arrive. .

i

i

Clinging to the side of the central tower, Foquet touched again the damaged section of the magically-reinforced castle wall. The one right outside the Academy's treasury room. That was an interesting little skirmish... what kind of spells were those kids using, if just by incidental damage they could crack a permanence spell not even a master Earth mage couldn't dispel? Stronger even than Square-class mages... ah, how the youth liked to test the patience and experience of those who came before them. The thief smirked. This could prove useful.

However, even as she slid off the wall to the shelter of darkness, even Foquet was being watched. Two more figures observed the little goings-on in the deep of night, their outlines faintly visible as distortions in the air behind a gabled roof.

As Kirche had to levitate her stupidly earnest and now well-deservedly injured friends back to their beds, and Louise followed pouting, no one noticed a little red dot linger on the back of Louise's head. Watching through crosshairs, the thermo-optically cloaked figure had to mightily force herself to put down her beam rifle.

i

i

i

Aftermath:

i

Personalities tended to take longer than a single night to change. Louise was still irritable and easily taunted, Kirche still vain and clingy, and Tabitha still preferred the company of her books to the noise and chaos of people. However, it was as if the air was lighter now, and they spent the next day in exagerrated normalcy.

As the teachers and rumors roamed about what happened to the courtyard, they acted completely above such discussion. No one had any proof, no one should even have to look for any proof. Since Tabitha was normally so calm and trouble-free, no one paid any attention to that she was all but ouright ignoring the class again. With her head down, looking at the book, no one seemed to notice that she had yet to turn the page. Kirche had to prod her after each class.

Shinji at the kitchen tended to the soups. His body still hurt all over. Nevertheless, there was a surety to his movements that was missing from yesterday. Therapeutic beatdown was therepeutic, some might say.

And, when lunchtime came around, Kirche and Tabitha sat at the opposite end of the table to Louise and Shinji. Louise grumbled a bit, but made no protest. No words were said or needed. It struck them all how strange... that it felt so absolutely normal. The change they'd been expecting or dreading, it never arrived. In the end they were just students hanging around with each other in their free time. Greater things however, had begun with even less fanfare.

So began some of their most pleasant memories of student life. These blissful days of study, bickering, and the formation of a weird but lasting friendships... Shinji relished these innocent, never-again to come again times. The peace lasted a mere handful of days.

---

AN:

Despite the excellent effort of my pre-readers (thanks, TFF), I tend to get stupid with my source document, so please... if there are still any errors, feel free to chime in. :) Unlike my other fics, this isn't about power and curbstompy battles. Because it would be so -easy-, I'd like to avoid it. Thanks for reading, and please review or criticize if you feel like it.