Way too early before their turn on stage, both Stannis and Louise stood together in the backstage of the newly appointed stage, watching as each individual has given their best performance on stage. Stannis held Louise close in an effort to comfort her, but Louise wasn't at all ready to stand before a crowd that knew her as the "Zero," which is not about to change at all.
All the students they have witnessed almost all had an impressive feature to show about their familiars. Stannis' only feature is that he was the only human, nothing like every other person in the entire institute. It won't be impressive at all. It would be just an old man walking up on stage and presenting himself before the students and both of them didn't like it.
After the next contestant left the stage, both Stannis and Louise emerged from the side of the stage, walking side-by-side with one another in close proximity, like a knight escorting a princess. Just by the different reaction of their faces upon stepping out, everyone could see the level of mistrust they have for each other about what is about to happen, which is a fact as Stannis wasn't about to fail another girl and Louise wasn't about to remain a "Zero" forever.
"Just remember what I told you Stannis: only bow and walk off the stage." Repeated Louise, nudging at her aide, only causing Stannis to nudge her back.
"Are you sure, Louise?" Stannis questioned, completely against the idea that a simple bow is enough to appease the students of the academy. "I doubt you would get another opportunity to see your friend again and I am sure this would only increase the notion that I am indeed in servitude right now."
"Are you to tell me you suddenly have something worth performing?"
Stannis then went silent, too ashamed to even lift his head for her.
"That's what I thought."
The duo then arrived at the center of the stage and turned to face the crowd, though it was Stannis who had the nerve to raise his head and look on at the gleaming eyes of the students, Louise followed suit after.
Stannis kept his composure at sight of the sniggering crowd, almost as if he was void of emotion, but Louise, on the other hand, was shaking from embarrassment. She was only calmed when Stannis put his hand on her shoulder and told her to relax. It wasn't enough. Louise felt like she was about to collapse, as if walking on the stage wasn't enough to lose her composure.
"Allow me to introduce him," Louise spoke up, voice filled with a lot of lost composure. "This is my familiar, his name is Stannis Baratheon. Where he comes from, he is known as King Stannis Baratheon, ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. He's a –"
Stannis gave her a look of pure repressed rage, knowing just the word she was about to utter, but Louise paid no mind to the anger of him and looked beyond the crowd. Across in the distance, she could see the Princess seated at the best view of the entire crowd, surrounded by her royal guards, and the smile she had on her face gave Louise a sight of embarrassment. This was her only chance to show what Stannis could do, but now it is reduced to a simple bow.
"HE'S A PEASANT, ALRIGHT!" Louise screamed.
Stannis cringed, but stood his ground. The sudden outbursts of laughing and pointing have demoted him to a turtle in its shell - but if only his head can go deeper into his armor it would be complete - but the Baratheon stood firm, embarrassment is not an emotion Stannis understood, only something to look over, but it was one that stood out to Louise the most, as he clearly saw she almost started to tear at just the sound of laughter. It almost made him scream at the students to shut their fucking mouths but saved himself from embarrassing Louise any further.
Louise, on the other hand, was almost reduced to tears; this was exactly how she would picture herself: being laughed at by her fellow peers, this time more than usual. At worse, Stannis' only talent was to bend the knee and NOT put on a performance for anyone, even though she knows that is literally his worst talent. At least the wound healed up completely, courtesy of the nurses, so he wouldn't have any trouble bending his legs.
At the corner of the ears of Stannis, he could hear someone refer to him as something not of hearing to him, but he heard it anyway and started to feel his blood boil in his veins.
"Peasant King!" Stannis hissed at the speaker. He always hated that word but to put it next to the word of royalty made his veins appear. "You disrespectful little shit, I will -" If not for the hand of Louise preventing him from moving anymore further towards to end of the stage, Stannis would have jumped down and tried to kill the one who spoke the words. "Sorry, Louise," Stannis said, returning to his calm stance.
Someone amongst the crowd said, "Such a violent man. Maybe he is Louise's match after all?"
Stannis grinded his teeth. Every face of the students that stared at him just made his head thump, just seeing all these children undermining a man who has been through hell all his life and who has already shown his true worth as a warrior when he already defeated one of them in a duel. Arrogant bastards, Stannis thought.
Louise nudged him, indicating it his time to bow. Stannis looked down at his sword and back to the crowd and realized a simple bow would not get Louise in common with the students of the academy. He gambled with his chances of performing a sword routine, looking into his deepest memories and remembering witnessing a simple routine performed in King's Landing before Robert and the council, it impressed Robert but not so much with Stannis, as he viewed it as too easy to swirl a sword. He didn't want to tell Louise, but he already somewhat memorized the basics of the swordplay as he witnessed it. I won't let another girl down, Stannis thought, his only motivation.
Louise nudged him again, as if he was frozen in his own time, urging him to bow so they can get off the stage. But instead, Stannis raised his sword in the air. Louise noticed as she witnessed Stannis start to swirl his sword in place, and it looked almost majestic as he proceeded to switch it in different hands mid-air and started to spin the sword, looking like he was performing a military routine. She looked over at the crowd and saw they too were entranced by his routine, even though it is just a king swinging his sword around, and noticed they were actually impressed.
"Ow!" Stannis screamed, having accidentally jabbed himself with the sword.
"Oh no," Louise whispered. Every momentum and every possible connection to the crowd was suddenly blown away at the sudden failure mid-twirl and everyone started to giggle as they looked at Stannis desperately trying to recover.
Stannis then noticed Louise was staring at him, opened mouth, as if she is witnessing a failure. He tried to again attempt the twirl, but ended up jabbing himself again on his palm, this time drawing blood, causing the giggles to get louder. Stannis stress reached his boiling point as he looked over to both the crowd and Louise, but more to Louise as he could see the tears of embarrassment roll down her face, and it was all Stannis' doing - he was supposed to bow, but he chose to try something different and now he is paying the price with his mentality. His face cringed and went pale as his heart started to beat really face until suddenly . . . it stopped, and Stannis gripped his sword tightly and breathed heavily.
"Lord of Light . . . give me . . . POWER!" Stannis screamed as loud as thunder cried as he pulled his hand right down the blade of his sword in a fit of rage, scratching his hand and drawing his own kingly blood onto it.
But suddenly, as just the urge to break out into pure laughter began to go over the top, there was heat. Louise, the whole stage, and the audience were silent with complete shock, no longer holding in cruel giggles or giving a look of embarrassment at a failure. The sword that Stannis wielded now suddenly lighted an aura of burning red across the steel. And it wasn't staged at all; Stannis' sword was burning with fire. Red glistened against the steel and it made the entire stage astonished at quite possibly one of the most unique performances ever: a peasant giving birth to magic. It couldn't have been more impressive than the "peasant beating a noble" quota, but it was indeed the rarest.
Stannis knew the sword was once enchanted by his red priestess to be lighted on fire during his conversion to the Lord of Light, but he could never expect it to still have enough power to become alight. Was the sword truly fueled by light or blood? Stannis only just remembered the power a king's blood can have, but taken to the point he can actually light his sword like never before? That's just crazy.
"Unbelievable," Louise whispered, finally not in a sarcastic tone. "You're actually a mage."
Stannis was still dumbstruck; he still couldn't believe what he had done. His king's blood made his sword turn to fire, nothing like what he could do before. "Guess I'm no longer a 'Peasant King.'" He uttered.
Louise was even more shocked, Stannis never told her he was a mage. This was certainly something that no human familiar has ever done before since the dawn of Brimir, and that was thousands of years ago.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Louise spoke up, gesturing her hand at Stannis – more primarily, his sword. "I have made an error in the proper talent of my familiar. He is not a peasant. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Stannis Baratheon, a dot-level mage!"
At that, Stannis raised his flaming sword high and the student's doubt turned to awe with clapping and cheering, though it wasn't loud enough to be considered a big performance. But, above everyone else, Louise was the happiest of the entire stage. Everyone was actually cheering for her, rather than refer to her as the "Zero," and it was all thanks to Stannis and his ability to put fire to his own sword, but her face turned from happiness to anger at the notion that Stannis was a little more than a peasant and he never told her.
Within the crowd sat Kirche and Tabitha, one was confused while the other was busy reading a book, having already dismissed her dragon. Kirche was dumbstruck as she stared on as she witnessed her lover bring magic to his sword, more-so concerned about Stannis' future.
"As impressive as this was, Tabitha, I am still awed at the fact my boyfri- . . . lover . . . has given birth to magic while at the same time showed no signs of it in the first few weeks. Unless he kept it a secret, but why is it he never seemed to use it when he fought Guiche or Count Mott? If I had it my way, I would have revealed it sooner or later than to spare myself from being called the 'Peasant King.'" Kirche said, leaning into her blue-haired friend, arms crossed with a disappointed look.
Tabitha simply turned the book page, continuing her book of histories of Gallia, but she did indeed pay attention at what the Familiar King has accomplished, and was almost as shocked as Kirche - despite the fact her face never reveals such emotions - and too tried to come up with solutions as to why Stannis never brought up such a useful talent.
"Perhaps him being in his original world left his magic capabilities weak, and now it has risen above him," Tabitha whispered, sounding more like a gush of air than actual speaking.
Kirche glared down at the top of Tabitha's bright-blue head, thunderstruck as how she could possibly come up with such a conclusion. "But that doesn't make any sense at all! You're telling me just by him being here it suddenly awoken his magical capabilities? A magic that he never used before? You know that magic is related to life itself here, and there is no way it could be granted to him without some kind of divine intervention. Perhaps he brought it over here and lied about it . . . or he . . . . I don't know!"
"I could be wrong, but it is a nice theory, especially when compared to him. Stannis has all the makings to be a magician, primarily in his willpower to succeed in his goals, especially since he had the will to walk into a noble's manor without authorization. Or perhaps, something has gotten to him, like a fire spirit."
"Hmph, you read too many books, Tabitha." Kirche uttered defiantly.
Then suddenly, Kirche noticed a girl stand up and point at the two instead of cheering. "Why are you all cheering for him!?" The girl yelled into the crowd of cheering people, causing them all to stop and look at the speaker.
Stannis and Louise stared into the crowd to get a good look at the person with the insolent tongue. Stannis was the first to notice the speaker as a young girl, probably Louise's age, with blonde hair that had two parts stretching right down to her waist. Her beautiful light-blue eyes showed a degree of arrogance as she stood up and pointed with three of her friends behind her, giggling wickedly like witches.
"Beatrice." Louise snarled, so rage-filled that Stannis knew he too had to hate the girl.
"Didn't any of you hear him praising a foreign god as he brought fire to his sword?" The blonde continued, looking around at the shocked students. "He's a heretic!"
A loud gasp of shock rung into the air, as if a very harsh verdict has just transpired. Stannis himself stood firm, not letting the students' glares get to him, and gripped his fire sword tightly, not letting a single ounce of fear get past his skin. He looked around and could see the expressions of utter shock staring at him, as if he stood before them as a headsman.
Stannis looked around the crowd and found he was the center of attention. All the eyes of the students, the guards and even the teachers escorting the four interrupters out of the area were staring at both him and his flaming sword, questioning if he truly was a heretic. "You have got to be joking," Stannis quietly exclaimed. "Even here the Seven still continue to mock me."
Louise only watched as Stannis spat on the ground and walked to the other end of the stage, clearly distressed at the increased amount of murmurs that accused him of his misdeeds. She looked over the crowd and saw Princess Henrietta watching on with her palm covering her mouth, clearly in a state of shock at what transpired. Louise hid underneath her cloak as she ran off the stage and chased Stannis, who was amidst a crowd of students who were questioning his faith, but had to pick up the pace as Stannis was shoving them out of the way and putting distance between him and her.
"Just why didn't you tell me, Stannis." Louise whispered, grinding her teeth.
Stannis stomped away into an open plain away from the stage, escaping the crowd of people who were astonished by his magical capabilities, but more of the fact that the blonde bitch had the gall to label him, a king from a foreign world, a heretic in front of the entire school, as well as the Princess herself! He was more embarrassed by her than himself, and that is saying something about the man who cut himself multiple times trying to perform a sword routine. Guess there is some pieces of Westeros that made it here after all, Stannis thought.
Stannis then stopped in place and decided to get a closer look at his sword, still alight with fire, and realized this revelation means a turn from peasantry right into nobility, which almost terrified him. He then proceeded to sway the sword left to right, but not even the air seemed to make the flamed go out, confirming that the fire was indeed magical.
From behind Stannis, Louise was stomping towards him, anger in her eyes, no longer pleased at his new-found talent but felt a feeling of betrayal that Stannis never revealed to her that he had magical capabilities. Her blood boiled at the notion that Stannis kept away a very crucial detail about himself away from her and only revealed it at the worst time to be dubbed a "heretic" by a high-ranking noble. This transgression would not go over well for both her and Stannis when word gets out on how a heretic is in the employ of a noble, especially one so close to the Princess.
When Stannis' back was turned, Louise walked up and tried to slap his back, but only ended up hurting herself from the impact of hard metal. Stannis swore he felt something tap on him and turned around, but only let out a sigh of annoyance as he saw it was his little pink aide who followed him, red-faced with an obvious desire to yell at him.
Louise started by yelling, "Why didn't you tell me you were a mage!?" But as Stannis tried to speak, Louise immediately cut him off by saying, "If you've got some magic capabilities in you, you have to tell me right now! I can't believe you had the nerve to hide something as crucial to your detail as being able to enchant your sword."
Almost a million thoughts clouded Louise's mind, almost half of which came from the confusion regarding Stannis' newly acquired magic. Stannis, on the other hand, was just as confused as Louise, it wasn't like he kept it hidden out of fear.
"I never even knew I had this power until now!" Stannis blurted, just a second before Louis could interrupt again. "Louise, if I ever knew I had the capability to light my sword on fire, why didn't I use it when I fought Guiche or Mott? I am not an idiot, I would have used it the very moment I had the chance. Maybe the rune on my neck –"
"THE RUNE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Louise screamed, almost blowing out Stannis' eardrums. "I already told you magic here is reminiscent of life. The rune just MIGHT have given you an increased amount of agility, but it could never bless a familiar with any power, especially a power as strong as fire, unless it was a special one. You must have brought it here, or that sword of yours is related to blood magic. I prefer to believe the former, or the inquisition would surely boil you alive for heresy."
Stannis stepped backwards, getting out of her line of screaming. "If it is related to life here, then why it is a man who has zero relations to this world could come across such a power? It is not like I ever had magic from where I come from, unless it came from a deity. Or Perhaps . . . perhaps-"
He cut himself off. He only just remembered the tale of Thoros of Myr, a red priest, who literally ran into Pyke with a flaming sword, said to have been brought to life using his blood. That was exactly what he just did, made fire out of his own blood. Does the Lord of Light have a connection here? It may have been too farfetched to presume it, but the God of Stannis, or another deity, must have blessed his kingly blood with this power. That and the connection of Kirche's book of R'hllor are definitely not a coincidence anymore, Stannis was now certain there is something going on between his world and the one he is in.
Louise only watched in discontent as Stannis put his hand on his chest and caressed the ornate shape of the flaming heart on his chest as if he actually believes that his god has a place in the land of Halkeginia.
"Are you seriously going to debate me on the existence of your god again?" Louise sighed.
Stannis sighed with annoyance. "Then how about you tell me, Louise, how is it magic works here if not for a deity? You told me that magic is related to life here, so what is life!? Please, tell me what I need to know right now and don't think you can confuse me. I have no idea what life is anymore if this is the outcome. Perhaps you can teach me what it is before I lose my mind."
"I can't!" Louise said, but Stannis replied, "Why not?"
Louise then took in a deep breath in her nostrils, as if Stannis was completely oblivious to the fact that stood before them. "Because you are a heretic!"
"Heretic?" Stannis questioned, giggling at the repetition of the blonde bitch. He always spat on the usage of the word. A word used to denounce a person just to kill them, one of the advantages the Seven used to have, if not Maegor Targaryen's use of his dragon on the rebellious fanatics or Stannis too would have been killed when he gave up on the Seven pantheons. "I broke none of your religious laws. I simply worship a different god who granted me this power when I didn't even know I had it, and it seems it paid off in my blood."
"Then you are a pagan, then. But it makes no difference because this is indeed heresy, especially blood magic." Louise said, with enough angst to make her an actual cleric of the church. "You worship a foreign god from a foreign world and continue to do so, despite the fact you already studied the five elements and the teachings of Brimir, making you one of a kind. What Beatrice said was true, Stannis, it is a fact you are indeed a heretic, and if the church finds out they will kill you for your beliefs, for your heresy, if the inquisition or the Pope gives the order to."
"My faith is my own concern!" Stannis groaned, clearly giving up on the religious debate. "The story of my flaming sword is when a man of my faith suddenly set fire to his sword and led a charge into a score of raiders, a sword said to be brought to life using his very own blood . . . Louise, if magic is reminiscent to life here, why am I suddenly granted the ability to suddenly put fire to my sword, without any reason in my life. Perhaps life itself has decided to grant me the ability to use magic, or perhaps I am a blood mage after all . . . or the Lord of Light has a place here after all."
She thought of it for a while and determined that Stannis had to have brought the power here is the likely truth, but she took in the fact that Stannis saying he never had the power to set fire to his sword as the truth as well, since his voice and posture shows no sign of lying. Everything that has happened is openly defying the doctrine of the church's teachings of humans acquiring such power, and Stannis was from a foreign world wielding foreign magic in his blood - literally.
"Stannis, please tell me the truth," Louise said, abruptly latching her tiny hands on the greasy face of Stannis, like a mother wanting a confession, "did you use to have magic where you came from?"
"No, Louise," Stannis said, tears in his eyes. "I have never had such power from where I have come from, not ever. It was never a possibility to bring fire to a sword in Westeros since Azor Ahai, any R'hllor priest and possibly the ancient valyrians. There might be more, but just to give you an idea of what we have in my world, besides already mentioned."
Louise then let go, unsatisfied with the answer. "Do you have any idea what this means, Stannis?" Louise exclaimed, almost losing her breath. "This means you are no longer a peasant, you are a noble!"
Stannis chuckled with satisfaction and replied, "I realized that part already, but I thought familiars aren't supposed to be nobles."
"But when your duty to me is done, I won't be able to control what happens to you in the future. For all I know, Princess Henrietta would actually go through with trying to make you one of her commanders."
"Well isn't that a good thing that your familiar now has a magical ability?"
"No, it isn't Stannis, because a noble isn't supposed to be a man like you. At worse, you are a heretic!"
Stannis smirked. "I thought familiars are exempt from religion altogether?"
"But you're human, Stannis!" Louise screamed, going back to her original angsty self. "Even the Pope himself has a human familiar and even he converted to our beliefs without question, but you on the other hand openly praised a foreign god and brought fire to a sword with his magic."
"Then at least teach me to hone my magical abilities and try to turn me into a proper nobility, dare I ask a child?"
"I-I can't," Louise stuttered. " It-It's just impossible, Stannis. A wizard takes years to study the magic, and apply it with his willpower . . . I'll tell you the full explanation later; this is not the right time to tell you. I prefer-"
"Not the right time? This is the perfect time to explain what I need to know now! I have to know what true magic is, I need to know what life is, and I need to know -
"I meant not in the middle of a plain, glaring at each other like we always do. I'll tell you back in my room, sitting down and talking to each other like we are proper individuals, not as enemies all over again. Besides, you look like you really need a rest and a few herbs for those cuts you received and THEN I would tell you."
He looked around himself, getting a good look at the emerald grass that eavesdropped on their conversation, and realized she was right. He too was sick and tired of arguing in broad daylight instead of sitting down for once and discussing it like normal people, not as an angsty little girl and a rage-repressed old man.
"Fine, have it your way," Stannis said, putting his sword back in its holster, extinguishing it. "But know this: I am now capable of producing magic on my sword, so you best give me an explanation for this element and how it is possible for me to get it here. I will NOT be left behind on affairs."
Fouquet the Sculptor, the greatest master thief in Tristain, stood before the door that led to the vault, placing her hand on the locks to slice the fixture magic that held the door shut, wanting nothing more than the grand prize that laid within. She started to snarl in frustration underneath her hood as her magic was almost useless against the sophisticated magic of the academy. "I didn't know fixture magic could be so sturdy, in that case . . ."
The sound of cheering followed by the voice of an announcer broke her concentration. The announcement of the expedition's judgment of best familiar meant she was out of time to do this the thieving way, leaving her no choice but to break down the door by force.
Using her elevation magic, she hastily made her way outside and to an open plain on the other side of the institute, away from where the students were now. She placed her hand on the soil and pulsed a magical force into the ground, ready to summon her most prized possession. Suddenly, the ground shook violently and immediately a giant monstrosity broke out of the ground in the form of a rock golem. It towered over almost every structure in the entire institute, except for the main building, and stood firm until its master came upon its shoulders and instructed it to turn around and try to punch the building vault, but it proved to have as much affected as iron trying to penetrate metal.
"I was sure a physical shock would have done the trick. Maybe it needs something more?" Fouquet deduced.
Despite this, she wasn't going to give up. There is something special that she wants that lies within the vault, a powerful weapon being kept safe away just waiting for someone to take it and put it to good use. Suddenly, her concentration was broken when she noticed two people, a man, and a miniature woman, come out of the archway.
Louise and Stannis finally got away from the stage and were heading back to their dorm, not daring to speak to each other before they can finally get to someplace more able. They stopped in their tracks when they noticed a shadow looming over them. They looked up and saw something ginormous blocking out the sun, only getting a glimpse by shading their eyes.
Stannis was terrified, naturally.
"Seven hells," Stannis uttered, drawing his sword in desperation. "What is that thing!?"
"It's a golem, Stannis. A monster of stone summoned out of power to do someone's bidding."
At that, they were cut off when they felt the force of the golem's hand strike the side of the building, realizing the golem is being driven by a rider and is trying to break down the entire building.
Stannis rebalanced himself. "And I am guessing that includes destruction!"
Stannis then ran his hand on his sword, bringing the sword to fire once again, hoping it would cause more damage. The golem and its rider paid no attention. Fire can't set stone ablaze. And it was then Stannis just realized the fact he looked like a complete idiot, not like he was against Mott but more than that, wielding a sword while trying to go against a giant rock monstrosity. But Stannis wasn't one to give up and tried his hand in trying to pierce the golem's foot with his flaming blade, only making him to appear to be mining the creature for its stones. Stannis managed to pull the sword out and hurry back to Louise.
"Damn!" Stannis screamed. "How do we kill this thing, Louise?"
Louise glanced over at her rage-filled familiar and said, "Well obviously not with a-" but was cut off by the scream of Stannis yelling, "Look out!" This was followed by Stannis shoving Louise as hard as he can away from the shadow that loomed over them, leaving only Stannis. Then the golem's hand reached forward and shoved itself into the ground where Stannis was, covering all view of Stannis' position with dust.
Louise only stared in horror as she witnessed her familiar in the oversized hands of the golem, only being more horrified as she heard Stannis' screams as it proceeded to crush him slowly. Stannis tried speaking out to Louise to free him, but the tightness of golem's grip combined with his armor made it near impossible to struggle out. He could only try to withstand the pain and try his best get free.
"LET GO OF STANNIS, RIGHT NOW!" A squeaky voice screamed.
"L-Louise," Stannis coughed out. "G-Get me . . . out of here!"
Despite his barely audible coughing, Louise heard him and was terrified.
She looked on and witnessed the painful groans of Stannis trying to stab his way out of the hands of the golem, realizing there was only one way to free him from what would be a very gruesome death if she was to fail. Louise then put herself in position, raising her wand in both hands in front of her, and mumbled the words that would form a magical blast.
"Louise!" Stannis screamed, voice sudden laced with agony, agitating Louise.
A wicked smile found itself on Fouquet's exposed mouth, taking in the pleasure of hearing Stannis scream in agony. Then, the mysterious Fouquet ordered the golem to grab Louise too, extending its arm to take out, wanting nothing more than to end the two miscreants as soon as possible.
At that, Louise screamed as loud as thunder cried, ". . . FIREBALL!"
The golem then stopped mid-motion, the arm suddenly recoiled at the sound of the spell, but continued its onslaught when nothing happened. But suddenly, a large amount of power blasted into the air, but instead of hitting the golem it instead hit the building it tried to break down, sending a wave of vibration into the air.
"What part of that was a fireball?" Fouquet chuckled.
Just then, she noticed the side of the building was scrapped and started to weaken from the "fireball," looking like it is about to crumble. Fouquet was mesmerized as she knew what kind of magic the annoying pink girl used, a piece of rare magic that hasn't been seen since the times of Brimir. Before she could think, she could hear the little pink girl yelling at her from afar.
"Let go of Stannis, right now!" Louise yelled. "I'm serious this time."
Fouquet smirked. "I any case, this is a lucky break."
Then Fouquet returned to commanding her golem and spoke the words that made the golem's free hand curl into a fist, bring it right back, and smash into the wall one last time, this time hitting its mark as the stones broke open and destroyed what was already going to crumble. Fouquet jumped at the opportunity to right straight in and out in quick haste, only grabbing a single case before going back to commanding her golem.
"I have you to thank for this!" Fouquet taunted.
The golem then suddenly released Stannis from its grip and sent him falling to the ground at too great a height to survive. Stannis didn't scream, not wanting his last moment to be a cry for help. He only closed his eyes and prayed a miracle would save him, just like Louise did during his fight with Mott, and it came in the form of a blue dragon that came and caught him on its back. He opened his eyes and saw he was yet again riding a dragon, again being the only Baratheon to have ever rode one in centuries.
Louise looked from the ground and couldn't help but smile upon witnessing her familiar is safe and sound. Her feelings were cut off when she heard a massive vibration and witnessed the golem get away with its rider, going over the walls and into the open plains, disappearing in great haste before everyone who heard the commotion arrived to assist. Louise only stood firm, arms clenched in rage and screamed, "This won't be the end!"
Stannis and Louise stood in the plain where the golem lefts its footprints with the dawning sun by their side along with the rest of the students who have come to get a glimpse of building with a giant crack in it. Louise stood behind Stannis as he was busy giving information to two of the Royal Guards seeking a witness about the act, since Stannis would be the one to be able to explain it without causing a headache, while Louise wasn't paying attention at all, more concerned about what is about to transpire now that the "Staff of Destruction" was stolen under the administration of the Princess herself.
After the guardsmen finished hearing the witness report, they left and rejoined the rest of their unit, leaving Stannis to come back to Louise's side. Despite what he had witnessed, Stannis wasn't at all shook but was more so confused at how such a massive creature could exist, but it wasn't as surprising as dragons exist throughout the world he was in. At least it took everyone's minds off the fact I'm a heretic, Stannis thought.
"That was an enormous golem she was controlling," Louise said. "I have no doubts that she was a triangle-class mage."
"Osmond said that something called the 'Staff of Destruction' was stolen from the vault, and by the way, he talks about it makes me believe that there is going to be fallout soon. I am guessing that the staff must have weighed more than a king's ransom to be so."
"You are right, Stannis," Louise sighed. "I just hope the Princess won't be held responsible for what has happened here today. I have been hearing vicious rumors about what is going on in the palace."
"You don't need to worry, Louise," Stannis assured. "They wouldn't dare speak out against a princess, especially in her own palace. Even if they do, Princess Henrietta shouldn't care about the opinions of the sheep, as it is here authority that matters on all affairs. A king knows that better than anyone."
Louise stood silently as she saw Henrietta herself trot over to her, followed by a contingent of her Royal Guards, visibly shocked after most likely hearing of how Stannis and Louise encountered the golem. Louise only kneeled before the Princess with her head down in distraught, eyes filled with tears at the notion that she failed her friend in preventing the robbery.
"Your Highness, I'm terribly sorry," Louise said tearfully. "With the palace treasure being robbed a-and . . ."
Henrietta simply kneeled to Louise's level and said, "There was nothing you could have done to stop her, Louise, especially against a golem."
Louise stuck her head up, giving the Princess a glimpse of her tears. "Yes but . . ."
But the sound of one of the Princess' escorts broke her concentration, urging her majesty to return to her carriage to return to the palace. "I have to go now and make a full report on this incident to the palace, I'll see you again in the near future, Louise . . . and King Stannis."
At that, both Louise and Stannis watched as Henrietta walked away, with Stannis coming by Louise's side and comforted her with a hand on her shoulder, letting her know that she isn't alone anymore. Stannis also had the urge to have tears, but saved himself from turning into a boy, after realizing Louise's efforts in order to free him for the golem's grasp which prevented him from adding more to the crime scene with his blood and guts, making him owe more to Louise than when she saved him from Mott and before he even arrived in Tristain.
"Louise . . ." Stannis called, coming close to her.
Louise looked up, eager to hear Stannis something to make her feel better, like the time he comforted her just yesterday and managed to move her with his words.
"Thank you for saving me, from the golem and before that," Stannis said with a curve on his mouth that suggested he was actually smiling at her, probably for the first time in his life – definitely a page in a history book.
"If she is to return, I would be there to support you till my dying breath. Things have clearly changed for me here, both in status and in person. It is the least I can do for you, considering you have saved me three times over the course of a month, leaving me to owe you my entire kingdom, if I had one, as well as my life," Stannis told Louise, noticing her start to smile at his words. "If you have any doubts in me, Louise, just remember my House's words: Ours is the Fury."
Louise got out of his grip and wiped the tears off her face with her sleeve and proceeded to look up into the sky, Stannis following her lead. "Perhaps there is a place for you beside me, Stannis. But it won't last for long when until your duty to me is up, then you can choose your own path. But for your sake, I hope you do well, as I have my doubts that the church would leave you alone after word gets out that a heretical man calling himself king is in my presence. But I doubt you would pay attention, because Ours is the Fury . . . words of a true warrior."