The Starlit Void
(Chapter Four)
"Speaking"
'Thought'
'Written'
Disclaimer: Zero no Tsukaima / Familiar of Zero (Light Novel) was written by Noboru Yamaguchi, illustrated by Eiji Usatsuka, and published by Media Factory (Seven Seas Entertainment in the US and Canada.) The first anime was directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki with Studio J, and licensed by Geneon in the US and Canada... but as bluntly as possible in order to save time going through all other installments in the series – these authors are none of these people and have no legitimate claim to the series. Thus this work is strictly non-profit. Any use otherwise is not these authors' doing. Similarly, Mabinogi and all characters, races, concepts, ideas, and other material taken from it is the work and property of Nexon and BGEntertainment. These authors are likewise not affiliated with either group in any way or form and lay no claim to that property.
.XXX.
Linde raised her arms high into the air, hands grazing the top of the stone arch that held the door to the dormitories. The evening air was cool and pleasant and Linde smiled as she listened to the humming of the insects. She had left Louise and Princess Henrietta alone to catch up some time ago and she wondered just how long they would stay up chatting as she set off across the grassy courtyard with no clear destination in mind.
Linde wondered briefly if Siesta was still awake but opted out of disturbing her if she was. She paused as she made her way across the courtyard to look up at Eweca and Ladeca, or whatever the moons here were called and couldn't help but pick out the differences she hadn't noticed earlier. The pink moon here was almost glowing with due to its smooth and crater free surface, a big difference from the beaten and battered Eweca.
The slight sound of disturbed grass pulled Linde's attention away from the sky to see a green haired woman closing the door of the main tower behind her. The woman glanced up and looked slightly surprised by the ten foot giant standing out on the lawn.
"It's a beautiful evening." The woman said as she walked over to stand in front of Linde.
"It is, the moons are much brighter here then where I come from." Linde replied returning her gaze to the pair of celestial bodies for a moment. "I haven't caught your name, I'm Linde Miss...?"
"Ah, forgive me, I'm Miss Longueville the secretary for the headmaster. "You're the familiar of Louise de la Valliere correct?"
"That's what they tell me." Linde said turning to smile at the woman.
"I met your companion yesterday, Nao Pryderi right? She was interesting to talk to."
"Interesting? I've never heard Nao talk very much, really, so I can't imagine what the conversation was like." Linde mused thoughtfully, "She usually seems so busy with the Milletians."
"Milletians?" Longueville asked.
"Ah…" Linde didn't want to answer that. It was a difficult question. What were Milletians? It's not like she could say, 'We're dead people reincarnated as the closest thing to a demi-god our world has ever born witness to.' The reaction to that would be simply wonderful. "It's the name of my people. Our people."
"You mean the giants?" The secretary wondered aloud.
It didn't take much effort for Linde to come up with a response now that she had resolved to portray them this way, "Some of us, yes. It would be more accurate to call us an ethnic group than an actual race."
"So not a race then? Are there humans where you come from?" Longueville asked, leaning forward a bit in interest.
"Yes." Linde replied immediately, "They don't travel to Vale often, but we still see them. Most Milletians are human, actually."
"And what does Nao do that would keep her so busy with all the Milletians?" Longueville's gaze was oddly intense.
"She takes care of us." Linde responded simply, eyes sharpening into daggers the moment Nao's name was mentioned. "She heals us when we're injured. She guides us when we're lost. She sends us gifts to remind us that we're not alone, sometimes. That's why she's here, actually. I went missing, and Nao found me."
Longueville took a step back and inclined her head slightly. "Ah, I did not mean to offend you. In any case it has been pleasant to talk with you Linde the Giant, I hope you sleep well."
"You as well, Miss Longueville." Linde returned curtly, arms folded. Linde watched the woman walk away for a while before turning to see the lights in Louise's room were out. Convinced that meant it was fine to head to bed she turned to walk back to the dormitories.
.XXX.
Later that night a shadow crept through the hallways of the Tristain of Magic. The specter dodged maids, half asleep teachers and the occasional familiar as it made its way to the large door which guarded the school's vault. Within was the prize it sought - a magical staff said to be able to magnify destructive spells. Such a thing was well worth the risk of infiltrating the school. It regarded the door, pulling out a wand to gently probe the spells protecting it, square class magic. It would not yield to the shadow's usual method of breaking through the barriers that protected the riches coveted by many.
With an almost inaudible growl of frustration the shadow slipped out through a window and vanished into the night. It would just have to wait until tomorrow and try something a little more direct.
.XXX.
The following day found Louise and Linde standing nervously behind the stage. For once the other students were being quiet. Whether that was because they did not want to shame themselves in front of the Princess or because they were scared of Linde, Louise had no idea. She didn't particularly care either as she was too busy with her own thoughts to even register their uncharacteristic silence.
What if Linde messed up? What if she wasn't impressive enough? What if her humanoid nature disqualified her as a participant? What if Louise's own lack of direct involvement disqualified them? What if Linde backed out at the last moment? What if…?
Like that. Her thoughts continued repeating themselves in a merciless cycle of tense worry that showed no hope of reaching a resolution any time soon. Students were called to step onto stage, performed, and stepped off to join the crowd. One after another, they trickled out of view until only a few were left. So distracted was Louise that she noticed none of the above until Linde tapped her shoulder.
"...de la Valliere and her familiar, Linde, a giantess." A professor's voice announced.
"It's time." Linde offered, gently pushing Louise - who had frozen on the spot - forward.
Collecting herself and trying to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, Louise stepped onto the stage with her familiar behind her, absently noting that she was inside Linde's shadow and stepping surreptitiously to the side.
"For this demonstration," Louise explained, doing her best to keep her voice level, "my familiar will be performing a display of strength." As she was talking, Linde herself was doing her best to ignore the weight of several dozen - or more - eyes on her, absorbing their stares with the experience of one who traveled into human lands often enough to realize that giants were still something of a spectacle, even now, to those that were aware of them.
When Louise finished and stepped aside, Linde took that as her cue and took a brief bow before kneeling, and then pushing herself up onto her hands. Supporting the entirety of her weight with her hands, and well aware of it, Linde began a series of pushups. After it was established these were no trouble for her, she began doing them one handed while holding the other to the side. Then she started alternating. For the finale, she pushed off mightily enough to propel herself into the air and, with a bit of adjustment, landed on her feet behind where she had previously been 'standing.'
The audience was quiet for several moments, with several members muttering softly to one another. Eventually, someone coughed and they began to applaud politely - if not enthusiastically. Somewhat put off - it had taken a lot of effort to pull that off - Linde was nevertheless happy to note several expressions of astonishment among those present who were aware enough of human limitations to realize how difficult what she'd just done truly was.
Louise, it seemed, either did not notice these individuals or did not care, however, and upon leaving the stage she departed from the fair with as much dignity as she could muster on such short notice. Sighing in exasperation, Linde followed after her.
.XXX.
Catching up to Louise, Linde snatched the girl up by the back of her shirt. The pinkette kicked and yelled for several moments before finally tiring herself out and hanging limply from Linde's grip. "You done?" Linde asked blandly.
"Shut up! They hated it!" Louise shouted before crossing her arms and generally taking on the appearance of a scolded kitten.
"They were confused. They didn't hate it. I saw several that were impressed." Linde tried to keep the smile off her face. "And besides we did better than Guiche. I saw him posing with his mole on the way out."
Louise's face softened a little. "Really?" She asked.
"Yeah, I saw a bunch of the guards and a couple of teachers were really impressed." Linde said trying to mollify the still fuming, and airborne, girl.
"No, did Guiche really just pose with his mole?" Louise tried to spin herself so she could look over at the still in progress exhibition.
Linde nodded solemnly. "On a bed of roses."
"You're right, that makes me feel so much better…" Louise said as Linde finally returned her to the ground. She might have been about to say more when a large cheer came from the crowd as Tabitha and Sylphid performed an airshow… followed by an absolutely deafening explosion. And it wasn't Louise's fault.
Louise and Linde shared a glance before Linde pointed a finger at Louise with a questioning look on her face.
"IT WASN'T ME!" Louise shouted and kicked the Giantess in the shin.
Linde rubbed her aching leg vigorously before turning around and searching for the source of the loud bang. She didn't have to look far. Just out of view of the exhibition, an enormous golem had formed and struck the tower. It removed its hand from the wall to reveal it was mostly unscathed, only to strike again.
Linde felt a bolt of panic shoot down her spine like a misfired lightning spell. She hated fighting golems. They were all kinds of dangerous and she only ever managed to win when she kept the things off balance. She looked back toward the crowd of the exhibition and hoped she would see teachers or the numerous guards scrambling to fight the thing but instead they were scrambling to get the princess and students out of harms way. Deciding that was as good a plan as any, Linde turned to grab Louise and run for cover when the sound of a second punch was echoed by another much louder blast. Groaning to herself Linde spotted the tiny mage several yards away pointing her wand defiantly at the giant walking dirt pile.
A hole big enough for a human to fit through had been blown into the side of the tower and a dark figure that had been crouched on the Golem's shoulder was keen to take advantage of it. Linde rushed forward and tried to grab Louise who was starting a chant for another attack. The figure reemerged from the tower holding a long wooden box just as Linde reached Louise and snatched her up to make a run for cover.
"What are you doing!? I'm winning!" Louise shouted from her place tucked under the giantess' arm.
"No, you're blowing holes in everything but the golem!" Linde replied as she ran.
The pair heard a faint laughter from the dark shape on the golem's shoulder and a shadow suddenly overtook them, fearing what was coming Linde threw Louise as far off to the side as she could manage before the world vanished in a sudden blast of pain.
.XXX.
The Soul Stream was white. And bright. An endless bleached expanse of incandescent nothingness stretched as far as Nao could see in any direction. The entire world was alabaster white, broken only by the marble of a round platform in what Nao preferred to think of as the approximate center of this place. Though, of course, to say it had consistent enough dimensions to have a 'center' would be somewhat inaccurate… but she was digressing.
The Soul Stream was, to all appearances, exactly the same as it was when she last visited only…
There were no owls orbiting overhead and occasionally landing for a treat or to offer a gesture of affection. There were no Milletians sporadically appearing and disappearing for various reasons. No letters. No shadows. No anything The presence of her Milletians could still be felt, but they seemed so far away that Nao could almost miss them.
Except one.
In fact, Linde was even more present than she should be. Rather than the others being distant in comparison, it was like…
Oh. What in this world could have… how did her Milletians manage to get into these situations?
Concerned, though she knew she needn't have been, Nao disappeared from the soul stream.
.XXX.
When Linde tossed Louise to the side, the short-tempered Valliere already had several choice words forming regarding the careless treatment.
Those words died before they could leave her throat when the world was overwritten by an enormous crash. For a moment, she thought she had gone blind. All sense of self awareness was obliterated by the sound of the golem's titanic fist striking the ground. Nothing could be heard over it. And through the fog of upturned earth, nothing could be seen either. For a brief moment, Louise truly thought herself dead.
Then she flinched, her side was racked with pain from where she had struck the ground, and she realized that she was alive.
The earthen fog fell back to the ground as quickly as it had soared into the air, covering everything in a fine layer of powdered earth. Shakily raising herself to her feet, Louise saw what had happened. An enormous arm was embedded into the ground several feet away, surrounded by broken shards of earth. Staring numbly at the appendage, Louise tried to process the chain that events had followed. They were running. A shadow covered them, and Linde tossed her to the side… Didn't that mean…? No, she could have gotten out of the way as well, right?
While Louise was trying to forestall the inevitable conclusion to her thoughts, the golem shifted and lifted its arm from the ground, several random pieces of debris falling off of it as it rose. It left behind a sizable crater, though it was not so deep that Louise could not see Linde's immense form laying prone, dwarfed by the sheer scope of the indentation she lay within.
The enormous sword she had strapped across her back had broken in half, and blood was leaking out of her back.
'What…?'
Louise couldn't think much more; what she was seeing was something that shouldn't have happened. Linde was more than a strong woman - she was a giantess. She was immensely strong, Louise knew, even if Linde herself tried her best not to show it. The odds of seeing anything actually break the hardy woman were so astronomically small that it was the next closest thing to impossible. What was a golem doing here, anyway?
While Louise was staring in mute shock, that golem dissolved into a large mound of earth as its owner seemingly disappeared into the ground.
Consumed by the sight in front of her, Louise did not notice. Instead, she strode tentatively forward until she was at Linde's side. The wound was much worse now that she looked at it closer. Fragments of the sword had embedded themselves all across the giantess' back, mauling the colorful shirt she wore and likely the skin beneath. It was a wound that would leave scars even with immediate healing. It was horrific, really. Blood was everywhere, and the bits of shattered metal distributed about it caught the light eerily and drew attention to themselves.
'Though, frankly, she should have been crushed into paste,' some vindictive part of Louise's mind noted clinically.
This wasn't supposed to happen. It couldn't have happened. Linde was hurt, surely but… her body was still in tact. She wasn't… spread across the crater. So…
"H-hey!" Louise spoke shakily, "What was that? You… you just threw me! You couldn't dodge? Or block? Or… or do anything?" Those weren't tears gathering in her eyes. She was angry, so her eyes were burning. That was all. "You're a giant, right? You're strong! Something so small as this… why don't you just stand up already?!"
Intellectually, Louise was aware that moving an injured person directly could agitate their wound but she didn't register that thought. Linde was a giant anyway, so she was strong enough to endure. She had to be, because not only was she a giant, she was Louise's familiar. She couldn't be hurt too badly, because she was still here. She couldn't be… dead. Not so soon.
Or such was the logic going through Louise's mind as she shook the unconscious giantess' shoulder furiously, shouting in anger. Anger, not sadness or despair. Or fear. Anger. Because Louise was a person with a short temper, she knew. It was easy for her to be angry. And better than the alternatives. If she wasn't angry, that could only mean that there was something to be sad about. Something to be afraid of.
And since Linde was fine, that wasn't the case. Right?
"This… this isn't funny, you lazy familiar!" She shouted, eyes burning with 'anger.' "Get up! Get up! You're… you're a disgrace if you… Get up! Everyone's watching!"
No one was. They were too busy evacuating and hiding in case the golem turned its attention to them. But Louise was too busy trying to wake up her lazy familiar to care. It was just like her to take a nap right now. It's what she had always done whenever Louise needed her.
She didn't notice the gentle hand touching her shoulder either.
She did notice the aura of light that suddenly engulfed Linde's body.
Before her eyes, blood seeped back into wounds that closed themselves. The metal fragments slid out of ravaged skin like water and the shredded remains of the shirt stretched themselves back together into a single, unblemished whole. Before she knew it, it was as if Linde had never been injured at all… if one ignored the myriad fragments of her broken sword. This… this went beyond a healing spell, no matter how powerful.
For a brief moment, the world was silent as Louise stared in awe at what had just transpired, blinking as if it would assure her of the veracity of what had just occurred.
Then Linde shifted, her hands rotating so that the palms rested against the earth. An instant later and she was on her feet, whirling in place while drawing her sword with one hand… only to stare at the ruined hilt with an expression somewhere between amusement and resignation as she realized the golem had disappeared.
"I paid thirty-thousand gold for this…" She murmured sorrowfully.
"Swords can be replaced," Nao's voice came, reassuring. "And you're hardly defenseless without one."
The giantess turned an unamused look to the kind, terrifyingly skilled healer, "Thirty. Thousand. Gold. Nao… that's… more or less four times my current wallet, taking my transaction with that inventive professor into account."
"Gold can be replaced too," The woman responded serenely, "you are a skilled merchant, right? I can repair your wardrobe, but weaponsmithing isn't something I've ever practiced. You'll have to adapt."
Linde groaned in frustration, dropping the ruined sword in favor of cradling her head with her palms, "I hate golems. So much."
Louise, meanwhile, was steaming with a complex mix of relief, confusion, and fury. Mostly fury.
"Y-y-y-y-y-y-ou!"
The giantess turned her attention to the fuming pinkette and cringed. This wasn't going to end well...
"What is wrong with you!?" Hot tears rolled down the girl's face as she shouted, cheeks red with emotion, "You… you were dead just now! You were hit by a golem! It smashed you into the ground! And you weren't moving, and there was blood everywhere, and now all of a sudden you're fine… and you're worrying about replacing your sword?! That's, that's… do you have any idea…?!" She trailed off, unable to continue speaking coherently.
"Ah, well..." Linde looked to Nao helplessly, unsure of how to explain this situation to Louise.
"Louise!" It was a voice Linde had only heard once before, last night, "Louise Francoise, are you alright?" Princess Henrietta called as she rushed across the lawn with her dress hiked up so she could run without tripping. A whole squad of grumbling knights and one particularly angry blonde followed shortly behind repeatedly calling for the princess to do everything from slow down so she doesn't sprain an ankle to fleeing to the carriages for extraction to the capitol.
"Princess?" Louise in surprise, steam venting out as she turned to face Henrietta. "Ah… yes. I'm fine. Linde got me out of harm's way..."
Instead of responding, Henrietta cast some sort of spell as she came to a stop nearby, "Well, your side is quite bruised but…" A murmured incantation conjured some water seemingly out of thin air, which was quickly applied to a protesting Louise's side. After several moments it was removed, and Louise couldn't deny that the pain from the blow she'd taken had eased greatly. "There. What about you Miss Linde?" She continued, turning to face the giantess.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm perfectly alright." Linde assured, waving her hands. The princess cast the spell regardless, but it only affirmed Linde's claim.
"So it seems," She murmured thoughtfully, eyes drifting speculatively to the ruins of Linde's sword strewn about the ground.
"The golem shattered it," Linde said by way of explanation, "I'm made of sterner stuff."
"Sterner than steel?" The princess mused, "Well, you must be quite sturdy indeed. That was an impressive demonstration earlier, by the way; it's a pity so few appreciated it. You have my thanks for lending that strength to Louise."
Before Linde could respond a slim hand reached out to gently grasp the princess' shoulder. "Princess we shouldn't linger here." Came the urgent voice of the armed blonde woman standing slightly behind Henrietta.
"Of course." Henrietta nodded to the woman. "If everything is fine then I must take my leave Louise." She said smiling apologetically at her childhood friend.
Louise nodded and tried to smile despite her shivering and tear streaked face. "We're fine, thank you for your help Princess." She bowed deeply before looking up with a sterner expression and fire in her eyes. "Don't worry, I will apprehend the scoundrel who would dare to do this!"
"Louise..." Henrietta began before she was nudged insistently by the blonde woman. "Oh fine!" Henrietta tsk'd as she allowed herself to be led away. "Be safe Louise!" She called back with a small wave.
"I will Princess! You can count on me!" Louise called back, completely missing Henrietta's worried face as she climbed into her coach.
.XXX.
Linde barely took notice when the door to Louise's room slammed shut. Nao, Louise, and Linde had finally pulled themselves from the mire of probing questions from guards and over excited teachers to finally take refuge in the dorm room just as the sun was setting. Linde's attention was focused on the fragments of her sword she was able to recover from the ground as well as shaken out of her clothes. The blade had served her well for years but it seemed as though the poor blade had seen its last day. She was so engrossed in reminiscing over the fragments she completely missed the fuming little Mage that stomped up behind her.
"No more lies!" Louise suddenly shouted from directly behind the giantess making Linde jump in surprise. "I want to know what the two of you are! Right now!" Louise had crawled into Linde's lap as the giantess sat there stunned and tried her hardest to shake the much larger woman by the collar of her shirt. Of course Linde being so much larger and impossible to budge it instead gave the impression Louise was clinging to her out of desperation.
"I don't know what-" Linde started before Nao shook her head. The pair shared a look before Nao made an encouraging gesture with her hand. Linde shot her a pleading look but Nao just smiled and giggled quietly.
"You were dead I saw it!" Louise continued, ignorant of their silent conversation. "You were down there and there was so much blood and-" The girl broke down into a yammering mess as her grip on Linde's shirt only tightened.
"Hey, it's alright, I'm fine." Linde said, prying Louise's hand from her shirt to hold it firmly in hers. "Nothing will ever be able to hurt me, ok?"
"But WHY!? I don't understand it!" Louise shouted tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.
"Ok, but you can't tell everyone..." Linde waited for Louise to nod in agreement. "It's because I am what's called a Millettian Louise." Linde answered. "Millettians are immortal. We can never die."
"What?" Louise stared up at Linde. "That's impossible; even spirits can be killed! Besides you were dead! I saw it!" Her gaze shifted to Nao, who sat serenely as she usually did in a chair at the small table, but Nao only nodded as if to confirm Linde's words. The sad look that appeared in Nao's eyes made the simple statement all the more concrete.
"When a person dies, if their soul is good and pure it sometimes makes its way to Erinn where they are reborn as a Millettian. Millettians were created by the gods to battle a terrible threat to Erinn called the Fomor. The best way to make sure the Millettians wouldn't be defeated by the Fomor was to make sure that, no matter what happened, the Millettians would never be able to die." Linde explained to a captivated Louise.
"But if that's what you are... Then what is she?" Louise pointed to Nao who was examining the fine wooden grain of the table.
Linde turned to look at Nao for a moment, and receiving no indication one way or the other decided it wouldn't hurt to tell Louise at least what she knew. "Louise, I would like to introduce you Nao... Mother of the Milletians."
Nao blushed lightly, but otherwise gave no reaction as Louise put two and two together and began sputtering. "T-that would make you-!" She pointed a trembling finger at the woman sitting calmly at her table. It was an impossible conclusion to reach, but it fit far too well with what Louise had witnessed so far. For a human, the sorts of miraculous spellwork Nao could weave with a flick of her staff was utterly unreal and outside of reach. But… Well, at the least, Nao was some sort of spirit. There was something supernatural about her. She wasn't necessarily a goddess, even if she blessed these… Milletians… in such a manner. Right?
Louise's faith warred with her reason while the source of this conflict daintily sipped her tea, unawares.
"A-are you trying to tell me she's a goddess?!" Louise accused, somewhat irrationally as she knew very well that was exactly what Linde was trying to say.
"Nothing so grand," Nao answered placidly, taking Louise's raised voice in stride, "I could not reasonably be compared with the likes of Neamhain or Morrighan."
"I know little of Morrighan or Neamhain, as those are human deities, but you brought me back to life." Linde stated bluntly, refuting Nao's point. "I was witness to total oblivion before waking to your face. If that does not speak of divine power, nothing does."
"Divine power..." Nao stared down at the table clutching her staff with a forlorn expression. "Morrighan's power, yes." Nao finally returned, "This has little relevance, though. Linde is a Milletian, and so she cannot die. That was the source of this conversation, right? There isn't anything more to it."
Louise made to say something more, but before anything else could be said, she abruptly vanished from the room in a haze of white light.
.XXX.
Tabitha steadily returned the gazes of the collections of old Osmond and the various teachers that had been arranged in the headmaster's office. Louise Valliere and Kirche were also present and despite their animosity toward one another they both seemed occupied with their own thoughts. Tabitha had a good idea what was bothering Kirche, the same ideas she had told her about after witnessing the events of the previous day.
Those being the miraculous existences that were the Giantess Linde and the possibly even grander Nao Pryderi. Tabitha cast her gaze down at the floor as the thoughts ate away at her ability to focus. Linde should have been nothing but a puddle after what happened and Nao shouldn't have been able to do anything about it but the purple haired woman was standing behind her summoner, alive and well... 'Impossible.'
"While questioning those who live nearby, I was informed of a suspicious person who has been going to and from the nearby forest. There is an abandoned house inside that I was pointed towards as a possible hideout for the thief." Longueville announced to the gathered teachers who quieted their own whispered conversations in favor of listening to the secretary.
"Thank you, good word as always, Miss Longueville." Osmond nodded in approval.
"Based on what they told me I was able to draw this." Longueville held out a scroll of parchment that was quickly taken and looked over by Osmond. After a few moments he turned the paper around to show it to Louise and Tabitha, the only two who were close enough to get a look at the thief.
Tabitha nodded her assent while Louise didn't even notice what was happening for a few seconds, continuing to look at the wall lost in her thoughts before Osmond cleared his throat and drew her attention. "Oh, yes, that is him." Louise finally replied. The surrounding teachers muttered for a moment the name Fouquet was thrown around quite a bit.
"We should alert the Palace immediately, the Mage Knights will have the best chance of running the thief down." Professor Colbert said as he stepped towards Osmond.
"That will take far too long, if we do not act quickly the thief which I believe to be Fouquet the crumbling dirt will have plenty of time to escape. As the situation stands, he is likely to be running low on willpower and will need to rest before moving on, we have to act ourselves and quickly if we want to salvage this situation." Osmond replied, shifting a serious look towards the balding professor. "This task may very well determine the future of this academy, any of you who wish to volunteer please raise your wands."
The room resonated with a sudden quiet.
"Whats wrong? Does no one in this room wish to gain prestige by capturing Fouquet? They have an enormous bounty on their head as well, around three hundred thousand I believe. Surely one of you would like to claim the wealth if not the glory?" Osmond looked around to the other teachers in the room. No one moved forward, though Colbert shifted somewhat uncertainly and looked to be on the verge of saying something when Louise raised her wand.
"I'll go!" She declared quietly, though not without passion. Her lips were still pursed in thought.
Not to be outdone, Kirche volunteered soon afterward. Somewhat concerned for her friend, and interested in seeing what would happen were Linde to face Fouquet once more, Tabitha raised her staff alongside the others' wands.
.XXX.
Louise fumed, grumbling threats to the headmaster and his various body parts as she sat on the cart Longueville had commandeered for their short trip. Linde trotted beside them, easily keeping time with the horse after a short experience proved the poor mare had no chance of pulling her weight. The headmaster had completely glossed over her achievements! Well... achievement but she still felt he could of at least mentioned that she could summon a giant of all things.
Tabitha and Kirche were there, sitting at the back of the wagon, whispering about something.
"Ugh, its too hot here." Linde groaned as she trotted alongside the wagon face dripping with sweat "It's almost like visiting Fillia…"
"Fillia?" Miss Longueville inquired.
"Home of the elves," Linde commented distractedly, "It's in a desert. We were feeling the heat before we even saw any sand…"
"Elves?" Miss Longueville repeated, eyes penetrating. She wasn't the only one, either - Kirche and Tabitha had both ceased their conversation while Louise, who had been about to reprimand Linde for complaining, remained silent and listened attentively.
"Yes. I was accompanying a caravan destined for Fillia when… well, that doesn't matter." Linde replied before suddenly cutting herself off. "Physis, the homeland of the Giants, is far in the north. It's very cold, and the air there is thin. This humidity is unfamiliar. I've been to other places, of course, but never really acclimated to them." She changed the subject so fast and bluntly that it left everyone listening blinking in shock.
'What is it about Fillia that she doesn't want to bring up?' Louise wondered. Was it the elves? Were they on good terms with each other and aware of the enmity between elves and humans, and so trying to conceal it?
"So travelling through the desert was rather unpleasant, I take it?" Kirche 'innocently' proposed, dragging the conversation back to its original subject kicking and screaming.
"Very." Linde answered simply, without elaboration.
A catlike smile stretched its way across the Germainian's face, "Oh? Was it just the heat, or maybe the company?"
"You could say we encountered some very unpleasant company." The giantess returned, unamused, with a distant expression on her face. "The kind that carries knives in hidden pockets, you know?" Despite complaining about the heat, the mammoth woman shivered. "Sharp knives that cut well, just as cold and uncaring as their wielders." She fixed a steely, almost dead gaze on Kirche. "We never reached our destination, and only two of us returned."
Longueville reached out and placed her hand on Linde's shoulder a sympathetic look in her eyes. "That sounds unpleasant indeed," The woman stated sincerely, "with luck, our own little expedition won't be nearly so ill-fated."
The rest of the trip passed in silence while Louise chewed over her thoughts.
.XXX.
Louise crouched behind a bush some distance from the shack Longueville had brought them to. Linde and Tabitha had rushed ahead and were now crouching next to the wall, ready to rush inside at a moments notice. The shack was nestled on the edge of a large clearing and the forest rose all around them to give the appearance of being walled in by the trees.
"It just looks like an old Lumberjack's cabin." Louise muttered.
"Any place will do for a thief on the run. It should not be a surprise they hid in a place like this Miss Longueville replied.
Linde peaked in through one of the broken windows before waving Tabitha past her. With as quiet of a gait as the giantess could manage she took a spot next to the door. With a sudden movement Linde kicked in the dilapidated door and she and Tabitha quickly vanished from view as they rushed inside. A few tense moments passed before Linde stuck her head out of the door and waved them forward.
Louise and Kirche quickly emerged from their hiding place but a voice stopped them before they could head for the cabin. "I should go scout the perimeter, the thief may be hiding nearby." Miss Longueville said in a low tone. Louise nodded and in only a moment the secretary had vanished into the surrounding trees.
When Louise and Kirche made it into the cabin they found it in a state of disarray. Linde was rapidly searching through drawers, tossing their contents all over the floor, while Tabitha calmly searched through each one without disturbing much.
Louise coughed while Kirche moaned about getting covered in dust.
"There isn't anything here." Linde said as she dumped another drawer full of items onto the ground.
"Stop being so messy!" Louise yelled wagging her finger at her unamused familiar.
"I'm just trying to be quick." Linde shot back.
"Staff of Destruction." Tabitha said quietly, stepping away from a chest on the other side of the room with a long box in her hands.
"You're getting dust everywhere and-" Louise suddenly stopped and turned towards Tabitha, an astonished look on her face.
Kirche quickly walked over to the box and was just about to undo the latch when a massive crash suddenly resonated from outside. Before anyone had a chance to move the roof was suddenly, violently ripped off of the wooden cabin.
A massive stone golem lumbered into view. It was smaller than the one that attacked the academy, but much more solidly built. The group tensed as suddenly another, more familiar golem made of dirt pushed past the cabin, some wooden debris trailing off of it, and crashed into the stone golem with tremendous force, knocking it back into the forest and crushing several trees.
The dirt golem straightened itself for a moment and shifted back toward the cabin. It took a step, and an instant later the stone golem from before charged out of the forest and slammed into its dirt counterpart with a thunderous sound that all present had reserved in their minds to Louise's explosions. But it didn't stop after impacting its foe. Wrapping both of its stubby, fingerless arms around the dirt golem, the diminutive stone golem lifted it into the air and charged past the cabin, disappearing from sight in the process. The sounds of trees falling in beat with its massive footsteps gave an indication of where it had gone, and several moments later there came another enormous crash. Then another. And another. A bizarre drum-beat of distant shockwaves sounded out through the air as, presumably, the golems pummeled one another into submission.
Wasting no more time, Linde quickly deposited Louise onto her shoulders before lifting Tabitha and Kirche under her arms and fleeing the cottage… just as a hooded figure stepped into view from the trees. "Nice job. I'm impressed that you found me so fast. And so young, too! Certainly, the clues I left behind were expected to help… but within a single day's time!"
Wordlessly, Linde dropped her passengers and stepped in front of them, one hand absently gripping where her sword once was. "So you were expecting us?" She queried, eyes scanning her surroundings for something to use as a weapon in case the thief summoned another golem. Where was Longueville?
"Yes," The thief's androgynous voice replied, amused, "was it not obvious? One would think an infamous rogue such as myself would cover their tracks better. As impressed as I am by the swiftness of the response, I wonder at the wit of it."
"It's a daring plan that invites enemies to your doorstep," Linde retorted, eyes landing on ruined terrain where the golems had been fighting before. "I wonder at the wit of it, myself. Surely an infamous rogue such as yourself would know better than to take such profound risks, yes?"
"Oh it is a great risk, I'm sure, with three school children and a weaponless brute. What do I have to worry about?" All traces of amusement were gone, though the thief's voice retained a contemptuous lining, "I've seen you before, I think. Squashed you flat, in fact. I wonder how you're still here?"
The giantess twitched, and an unsettling air settled over the clearing. "Your bounty. You're worth… three hundred thousand, was it?" She asked, surprisingly calm considering she had just been insulted. The thief nodded, and a predatory smile settled onto Linde's face. "Good. That sword you ruined - your broken body should suffice to replace it, yes? With interest, of course."
The thief laughed, "A sword? You would settle for a mere sword, instead of three hundred thousand gold?"
The giantess shifted slightly, placing one leg behind the other in preparation for… something. "Don't get me wrong, I plan on taking every penny. But you owe me. That sword cost thirty thousand gold!" Without any indication of warning, the enormous woman had taken off at a dead sprint, leaving small craters and clouds of dust with every heavy step she took.
Surprised, the thief didn't react for a moment, but that moment was not enough for Linde to close the gap and before she could get close a ramp of earth rose up beneath her. Whether it was meant to crush her or simply trip her, no one could tell. It didn't matter because the giantess simply jumped into the air and, using the platform as a stepping board, leaped… past the thief and into the forest.
The thief blinked, staring at where the giantess had been, before turning to the remaining party, audibly suppressing a snicker. "Well, that was-"
Before he could finish a broken log sailed out of the forest and clipped him on the shoulder. Crying out in pain, the thief was sent spiralling through the air before landing ungracefully onto the ground. Whimpering, he forced himself onto his feet and stared in the direction the log had come from, wand now held in the hand of his uninjured arm.
"THIRTY-THOUSAND GOLD!" Linde roared, standing triumphantly on an overturned boulder with another log in her hand, ready to toss. Before any response could be gathered, she pulled back her arm before rapidly chucking the log forward. Not particularly aerodynamic by nature, its steady path was a sign only of the tremendous force with which it had been thrown… and ultimately pointless as the thief conjured a wall of earth just in time for the log to splinter harmlessly against it.
The thief let out a sigh of relief… just in time to notice the area around him had grown rather cold. Before he could fully process what was happening, ice shot up from the ground, closing in around everything beneath his head. Then his wall crumbled as another log tossed by Linde broke through it and struck him in the chest, shattering the ice and knocking him onto the ground.
Hastily, he started mumbling a spell now that his wand had been freed… only for his eyes to widen into saucer plates as he was draped in shadow. Frantically rolling to the side - and losing his wand in the process - he barely avoided six hundred pounds of falling giantess striking the ground with enough force to leave a crater and kick up a cloud of dust.
Within, Linde's shadowed figure slowly stood and faced him, violet eyes glowing almost demonically due to a trick of the light. Trembling hands reached for his spare wand even as he shuffled backwards as quickly as he could. "Three months. Three months of travelling between cities, painstakingly building a large enough fortune to buy it and recover from the purchase afterward." The woman stated, voice unnaturally cold as she stepped forward every time he managed to gain any ground, "Three months of walking across the ENTIRE DAMN KINGDOM."
With a roar, Linde charged forward and lifted the thief into the air. Shaking him several times as if fighting the urge to simply strangle him, she casually snapped both his forearms with her free hand before tossing him aside like a rag doll and staring at him contemptuously, like a cat after it had caught a particularly troublesome mouse… only to find it was particularly runty and not even worth eating.
"Schoolgirls and a weaponless brute, eh?" A familiar, mocking voice came as Miss Longueville stepped out of the forest to stand over the thief's fallen form, a wand in her right hand. "What could you possibly have to worry about?" She shook her head in mock disappointment, "For such an infamous thief… I'm really disappointed."
She flicked her wrist and the thief - who could no longer scrape up even the barest of whimpers - was encased neck to toe in stone.
Such was the ignoble end of the thief, 'Fouquet' the Crumbling Dirt.
Louise and Kirche stared at the man encased in the stone prison, completely stunned by the sudden almost anticlimactic end to the battle. In her hands Louise held a winged staff that she had been waving around in vain right up until Linde had leapt across the clearing like some kind of maniac.
"Where have you been?" Linde asked as she shot Longueville am annoyed look.
"I was off dealing with that other golem." She answered simply, waving a hand in a dismissive manner. "Or didn't you notice?" She grinned at the flat look the giantess gave her.
Linde turned to walk back over to the rest of the group but froze the moment she laid eyes on the staff held in Louise's hands. Her eyes slowly grew to the size of saucers. "Louise... do you have any idea how much that's worth?"
.XXX.
Number III (Author's Notes): So are you confused right now? This was a fun chapter to write, though it took a bit of time to write out [for which zere are no excuses!] but we hope it was worth the wait. Linde's fury over her ruined sword was actually Radon's idea, and was only thought of when we reached the actual scene.
Radon (Co-Author's Notes): It was ME! I did it, even if it didn't fit 100% and.. I didn't actually write it. Also Longueville's role in this chapter was something we've been planning for some time. If you made it this far why don't you review and tell us what you think? We are always happy to get them!