Hello, I am back once again, after a quite long break, because I had to attend my family's cycling trip. After that I hung out with my friends because the summer holiday is coming to an end and I hadn't seen my friends in quite a while. That's why I've been slow to update my story.
Now that I've explained the reasons why I haven't updated, it's time to get back to the story. Chapter three is a rather long chapter and I did have a really nice time writing it. I would love to let you participate more in the elements of my story, and at this time I want to ask your opinions about side pairings. Would you like to see some other side pairings in this story, or should I keep it strictly about Saito's and Louise's relationship?
And I also want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart that has read, reviewed, favorited, and/or put this story on alert. I really can't thank you enough. That's enough with the boring blabbering…now it's time to present the third chapter of my story. Please enjoy.
Chapter 3:
The Revelations
Somewhere in the country of Albion
When your eyes get used to the faint lightness, you notice there is a total of eleven figures in the cavity. The strong smell of soil hints that the room is located underground. When you look closer you see stone arches holding up a mossy ceiling that looks like it could come down at any time. Rotten wooden pillars are supporting the walls, and the floor is completely covered with litter. You can also hear rats scurrying there from time to time.
Even though the features of the space appear to be quite abnormal and disgusting, it seems like the figures are enjoying the gloomy atmosphere that the chamber radiates. Then you might spot something very surprising: although everything else is old and rotten, the furniture the figures are using looks rather new and stylish. It looks almost like some sort of magic has been used to create the room.
Suddenly one person raises his hand and silence overtakes the room once again. Everybody in the chamber turns their attention to the rather tall man who cleared his throat for the upcoming speech. The man claps his hands and the lifeless darkness is replaced by sparkling lightness. With light filling the cavity, you can finally study the participant's looks. At first it might be hard to believe your eyes because the clothing of the characters is really bizarre.
One way to describe their attire is to say that it looks like a combination of Circus costumes with art-exhibition regalia. Despite all the differences in the garments, one common thing connects them – all of them wear the same kind of cloak. But the most peculiar attire is worn by the man who is just starting to speak. He has a green, alien-like beard. Both of his chins bear a symbol of three orange-colored lines. His nose is really small and the darkness of his eyes gives the impression of twin black holes. Rumor tells that if you look into his eyes too much, they will suck your life right out of you. There is a huge scar on his forehead and a black turban encircles his head.
"Fellow men and women of the brotherhood; as you have heard from brother Alexandros, our plan has suffered from several hardships, but there is no need to worry! We have already set new plans in motion, and we still have many huge advantages on our side. Let me share with you the plan that will lead us in the glorious path of our idealistic future!"
At Tristania's Royal Castle
Saito's POV
After reading the letter, I got a sudden urge to go see Louise and declare that she belongs to me, so I parted ways with the lunatic knight Julio and started my journey to Louise's room. But that is easier said than done, because the castle is an enormous maze-like a pyramid-and it's hard to find your way around the castle. Luckily, I am pretty popular with ladies, too, so I encountered some maids that were really eager to help me. Hopefully, Louise won't encounter me right now.
"It's my pleasure to help you, Hiraga-Dono," one of the maids said and smiled towards me.
"Thank you so very much," I said as I smiled for the maids. Some of them squealed from happiness.
"So where can we guide you, Hiraga-Dono, or do you need another kind of guiding service?" One maid with a rather developed body asked me and blushed.
"E-ehh…I just need some guiding to Louise's room, that's all," I said with a casual voice as possible. But speaking of the devil, there she was…but she not alone. She was like a light in the dark night dragging all those insects near her. Then that bastard really crossed the line. He took Louise's hand and kissed it while wearing a stupid, huge grin on his face.
Then Louise saw me with my companions and you could see the anger building up her body. You could almost feel the flames coming out of her body. But I was almost as angry as Louise, so I couldn't care less about the upcoming danger. Then I heard Louise's enraged voice and hoped for the best.
"You bloodsucking leech-acting like a dog in heat! You are already trying to fascinate other girls after I let you go for just one day!" Louise yelled at me with a hellish tone of voice.
"Just look at yourself! You are the one that is totally flattered by those guys fawning all over you, not me!" I yelled back with a pissed tone. No way am I giving this one up to Louise.
"How can you speak to your master like that? You are such an ungrateful dog barking all over this place!" The anger was in her voice, but there was also a bit of sadness. When she continued, I heard her faint, sad tone and it started to haunt me. There was already a storm in my head and the current turn of events encouraged that storm. "Just look at your perverted grin and the redness of your voice! Only Brimir would have known what could have happened if I hadn't stopped you."
"One key requirement of the master is to trust her familiar because otherwise there is no bond between them! I can't imagine how stupid you are for not trusting my feelings. You always keep blabbering about my behavior without trying to understand it. And the worst part of this is that you are surrounded with guys with a visible blush. I am getting tired of you playing with my feelings!" I screamed with agony. This conversation provoked me to lose my cool completely and I was just planning to apologize when Louise's last words pierced my heart.
"I am the one who is playing with the people's feelings? You are always full of sweet and mighty talk but in reality you act conversely. I have trusted you so many times and every time you betray me. How do you think I felt when I saw you kissing our Princess? I forgave you that time and how did you repay me – by kissing Tiffania! And after all that you think I should listen to your bizarre explanations and believe all your crap! Just go away from my sight you big traitor!" Louise yelled with a tear-filled voice then started to run away.
I realized the situation and spent no time in thinking and charged after her. Unfortunately, a boy about my age blocked my path and declared something with his cheesy voice.
Somewhere in the country of Albion
The man with a turban clapped his hands and another cloaked figure started to move. She took a harp from her backpack and started to play a song with beautiful melody.
"Gandalfr, God's left hand – The valiant shield of God; Windalfr, God's right hand – O God's gentle flute," the man sang in a voice sounding like a drunken amateur, earning some laughter for his prize.
"This version of the song is one part of our greatest achievement that we've earned through hard work. Yes, the melody of the song is genuine, but we have changed the lyrics to control the knowledge of the history. Whoever knows the history oversees the future and controls the present. For over five hundred years we have manipulated all facts of the history for our favor and now the time has come that only we know the genuine history," the man spoke with a confident and very calm voice.
"It's really impressive that we have manipulated and created false history, but how will that help us in practice?" A woman with flaming red-colored hair asked curiously and she didn't have to wait long for the answer.
"That's a really good question, indeed, and it does have a good point. Can something that has happened before in history really help us in the current time that much? You might first think it does not have any effect but when you think about it seriously, you realize the huge difference it makes. If they don't know history they won't know the nature of Brimir or the power of his possessions. They have no idea about the ways of magic that were discovered in the past and the possibilities of the legendary items. They have no idea what conflicts have happened in the past and what was the root of them! They don't know the right way to solve these problems, and most importantly, they don't know everything about void magic!"
There was a short break in the speech and it looked like everyone was impressed, like they had won a jackpot or the lottery. But soon the silence was broken once again by the same man as he continued his speech.
"Yes! We do possess secret, ancient knowledge about void magic that no other human beings on Halkeginia know, except for the mystical old sage and us. That knowledge is like a thunderstorm – at first it is only an irritating rain, but then it grows into a dangerous thunder shower. But even though the lightning hardly ever hits people, I can guarantee the thunderstorm we will create will force our enemies to beg for our mercy." The man's voice strengthened in the process and he howled the last words out, like a beast.
"I shall introduce to you once again, our leader, the fifth void mage of the continent of Halkeginia: Alexandros the Great."
At Tristania's Royal Castle
Louise's POV
I was running as fast as my legs could take me, but it felt like I was running up an infinitely long uphill road. My legs started to feel sore, but I still continued to run like there was no tomorrow. That big, idiotic, heated, backstabbing dog has no right to make me feel like that! I have no idea what he has on his mind, nor am I even sure that he does have a mind. I should have used an explosion to punish him for his barbaric behavior, but I was surrounded by high-ranking nobles and as a fellow aristocrat, I can't endanger them.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't put an end to the tears. Also, there was the feeling like someone was ripping my heart into little pieces. And suddenly I saw a flashback of Saito's charming smile and I almost stopped. Why would I feel these emotions for a tapeworm that keeps consuming my feelings as a lunch and then just slithers away to a new victim? I am a noble; a daughter of Duke de la Valliere, renowned aristocrat from Tristan. But suddenly I heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer so I looked behind me to see none other than Saito – man of mysteries.
Saito's POV
"Thou who made such a lovely lady cry deserve severe punishment from a fellow man! I shall protect my precious Miss de la Valliere and prevent a filthy man like you from causing any more pain to my beautiful flower."
Does he really think I have time to listen to his cheesy speech? The speech felt like it was taken from some romantic book, but his attire really surprised me. He had a deep-blue colored cloak which matches his hair color. He wore a red-colored vest, but he didn't have a common ruffled shirt under it. There was a black shirt that contained deep blue flames. That shirt was clearly from my world, and probably was some sort of treasure to his family.
But do I really have time to think about totally irrelevant stuff? The light of my tunnel is running away and I am just standing here doing nothing. The guy is standing in front of me and looking straight into my eyes. I don't see a magic wand in his hand, so now it's time to play everything or nothing.
General POV
Saito looked the guy straight in his eyes and breathed slowly before starting to move. The aristocrat tried to prepare himself for what was coming. First Saito stepped to the right side and when the noble countered Saito stepped quickly back to the left. The noble quickly leaned from his left but at the same time Saito sidestepped to the right and rotated his body with the right foot to pass by the noble. The noble was leaning left and saw Saito's moves too late; the combination of looking backwards while trying to rotate with his right leg caused him to lose his balance.
Passing the noble, Saito sprinted after Louise, but his problems didn't end there. The aristocrat had no intention on letting him go and took a magic wand from his cloak and started to chant a spell. Saito was trying to take Delfringher from his back but there was only emptiness. The sad memory weighted down his shoulders so much that losing another precious person would be just too cruel. But the casting of the spell broke his thinking down and he was back to the reality of standing against a mage without weapon. Not the world's luckiest situation.
Saito's POV
I looked instantly behind me when I heard the aristocrat chanting his spell and realized the situation I was in. Would this really be the ending point for me? One thing was clear: no way in hell would I give up here. Luckily, I saw light in the tunnel even though I couldn't tell if it was the exit or a train. I heard how the spell was coming toward me and prepared for the worst.
Julio's POV
Here I was alone, walking in the corridors, because that guy was too shy to trust his feelings for me. How couldn't he trust me, Julio Chesare, the master of the unpredictable as well as the most sinful man of Romalia? Or maybe he is bluffing me and is secretly in love with me. Yes, I am still a flamen, but in order to transfer to the magical academy I had to return to secular life-so now I can enjoy everything that a normal person can. Yes, the last half-year of school was going to be so much fun.
Then I arrived to a place where corridors crossed and was just thinking which one I should pick when I heard noises coming from the left corridor. It sounded like Lover Boy was in trouble again and he desperately needed the ordeal of love to come and save him. A grin developed on my face and I charged towards his voice.
Lady Luck was smiling upon me because I arrived at the right place at the right time. I ran toward the man that was lying on the ground and fancily performed a backflip over him so I was between him and Saito. I rotated 180 degrees, grinned toward the mage and blocked his spell with my sword.
"It's not fair to attack a man without weapon," I said while grinning and winked at the audience I had. Then I turned to Saito's side and sent him a flying kiss.
"Your princess is waiting for you, so you better hurry up, because I might try to steal her away," I said, then laughed. Saito was clearly still a bit shocked from my flashy appearance, but he mumbled how he owes me one and started to run away.
But my mission didn't end here because the aristocrat was already planning out his next move, and this time he wasn't alone. The other flies were joining forces with him and I realized that some of those guys weren't the ones you would like to encounter, even if you weren't alone.
Saito's POV
I released every bit of power I had to my legs and ran as fast as I could. I saw a hint of tears on the floor that gave me even more willpower to run. Then I saw bit of pink hair in front of me and I knew I was soon at my destination. I heard voices from behind that sounded like Julio getting beaten up. I won't let your sacrifice go to waste, Julio, I thought and I kept drawing closer to Louise.
"Don't you dare to come any closer to me, you womanizer!" Louise screamed to me with a tear-filled voice. "If you still insist to come closer I will seriously use an explosion on you!" She yelled, this time with a bit of anger also in her voice. But still, despite all the threats, I kept running toward her, saying absolutely nothing. Words weren't needed in this situation-only actions could tell her how I truly feel.
Louise's POV
My legs were crumbling from the vigorous running, and they started to feel limp. Although I tried to force them to move, I was losing speed rapidly. My threats didn't have any effect on the dog and he was getting closer and closer. I put every tiny bit of energy I had left into the legs, but the muscles began to feel sorer and sorer. I was reaching my limit, but I vowed to keep running until the bitter end. But the end came faster than I expected when I felt strong arms wrap around my body from behind to embrace me.
I tried my best to escape from the embrace but my body didn't respond to my command. My hands loosened up and fell down. My whole body calmed down and I froze to that spot. I didn't feel the pain in my legs anymore, and I could force small movements, still struggling to break free with my legs, but soon even my legs froze up.
The embrace was so strong and protective at the same time. It felt like Saito was forcing all of his power just to keep me in the embrace. I smelled Saito's scent and suddenly I started to forget all of our problems. But even though my body was certainly at ease, my mind couldn't join my body yet.
"Let m-me g-go you i-insolent, foul b-beast," was the only phrase I could mumble, but the embrace just got stronger and stronger. My eyes were closing up and a hint of a smile appeared on my face. The blissful feeling was overtaking my body and I started to savor the moment. Saito noticed this development and released his hands from my body. I was finally free, but my legs didn't move, almost as if they had been nailed to the ground. He placed his hand on my shoulders and slowly turned me around to face him. I could see the seriousness in his eyes and it felt like he was looking straight into my soul. "J-just l-let m-me go!" I stuttered, but my heart clearly didn't want that, and my lips were going towards his lips. Then suddenly a spell floated me away from Saito and I didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse.
But clearly the biggest problem was whether or not I could forgive Saito again. I didn't know the answer, but I knew I had to find a solution soon because I couldn't handle these stressful emotions for much longer.
I saw all the heirs of the renowned noble families here but at the moment my mind was in chaos and I couldn't just consider the situation. Luckily, my room was so close, so I could just open the door and escape the situation for the time being.
Saito was walking back toward the place that he came from, but when he passed by the nobles, he raised his voice and said with a really serious tone: "A word of warning to everyone who is here. I can be a really jealous guy and I make it clear to all of you that no one is stealing the love of my life-Louise-away from me."
After that there was silence as Saito walked towards his room, and as I walked to my own door my heart was throbbing in my chest.
Somewhere in the country of Albion
All the listeners applauded for the turban-headed man as he sat down, and then the other figure with a purple cloak stood up and studied everyone in the room. When the cheering was over, the man started to speak.
"Thanks to the Strategist for the introduction, and for recapping our plan to the fields of glory and honor. But now is not the time to calm down and fool ourselves that we are invisible. We have the advantages, but the game can turn around even within seconds. Imagine a tower which relies on eight stone bases. If you remove one or two the tower can still stand, but it becomes unreliable. The tower will definitely fall if you take too many bases away. In the current situation the tower has become shaky and the people who live in the tower are noticing that something is wrong. So what are our options in this situation?" The man's voice was powerful, but at the same time calm.
"Either terminate those who start to investigate, or destroy the possibilities of investigating," a man's voice replied to Alexandros.
"Exactly. And that is the reason we are sending a spy to the center of the storm-the magical academy. The headmaster there is the leading investigator of the history and void magic, and it's rumored that there is a huge library of books underground. The mission is clear: to locate the materials they have and spy what they have already figured out. After that you should try to escort the materials they have to us for further reviewing. Since anyone except Bane is occupied with missions, that honor will fall to your hands, Bane!"
"Yes, Sir! But I have a question: If I somehow get a really good chance to eliminate some researchers or void mages, shall I take the opportunity and slay them?" Said the man that from his height looked like an eighteen-year-old boy.
"The permission is granted, but remember this: don't underestimate them. They clearly have some resources, because they have located items and know some of the raw powers of the familiars. Your main mission is to gather information for us and to destroy the information that they have."
"Yes, I understand, Sir."
"Good. And don't call me 'Sir' anymore. Just Alexandros is enough. Now that the meeting is over, I wish good fortune for you brothers and sisters. Let's make our ideal future to come true! Remember that no matter what happens, our brotherhood will never abandon its members!
A huge clamor of cheering and clapping overtook the room for a minute, and then everyone left to their own ways. But how much longer would the calm last before the storm would start?
So that was the chapter three. Did you like it or hate it? Let me know and write a review so I can improve. Also, I would love answers to the question I asked at the start. Thank you for reading my story so far, and until the next chapter, this is it.
