Author's Notes:

Hey guys! Sorry for no chapter yesterday. Some stuff happened in my personal life that I had to take care of. I don't know how this chapter is going to go, but either way, I hope you enjoy it! I'd also like to say a big thank you for 1000 views. It really motivates me to keep going. Anyway, here's chapter 9. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Calm Before the Storm

Saito and Louise arrived back at the Academy. They had stayed at Henrietta's palace for a few weeks so that they could relax without being bothered by their friends. When they finally arrived, all of the Academy's students were outside, cheering to celebrate their arrival. Both Saito and Louise despised being around large groups of people, so it made them extremely uncomfortable to be watched by so many strangers.

They ran as quickly as possible to Louise's room, where they were finally alone. As they sat in silence, relaxing, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" They both said. It was Colbert, holding a large stack of textbooks. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

"Forgive me for interrupting, I just needed to speak to you, Saito." Saito stood up and helped him carry the books

"What's wrong, Colbert?" Louise asked.

"It's the runes on Saito's arm. We were already able to identify the on his hand as a Gandalfr rune. The others, though…I've been trying to work it out ever since you arrived. I couldn't find anything in any textbooks, so I looked elsewhere."

He put a massive book on the bed. "This is a book of ancient Halkeginian stories and legends. They've all been studied and regarded as nothing but folklore. However, in one of the myths, I saw something very interesting."

He opened the book, revealing several, worn out pages. All of them had either drawings or writing on them. He turned several pages before stopping and pointing at a picture. Saito observed it closely. It was a drawing of some kind of large, scaly serpent. It had a long body, four legs, and two arms. It's scales were thin and sharp everywhere except for the top of its head. Instead of the thin, sharp scales, there were 3 large and flat ones. As he observed more closely, he noticed that it had runes similar to his wrapping around it's body. Underneath the picture was the text, "Guardian of existence, Brother of time. Soren."

Saito was confused. "What is this thing?"

Colbert closed the book. "That's what we call Soren. It's an old story. It is said to be a god that controlled everything around it except time. It's widely regarded as a nothing more than a false religion. I don't believe anyone still believes in it. However, your runes are eerily similar to these ones. I'll investigate further, but tell me if you notice anything strange. If you have any visions or anything of the sort."

Colbert bowed and kissed Louise's hand. He picked up his books and left their room in a hurry. Saito sat next to Louise, looking down at his hands. Louise rubbed his back.

"You okay, Saito?"

Saito held her hand and nodded. "Yeah. I'll figure this out. It's probably a coincidence anyway."

He kissed her cheek and stood up. "Let's just relax for now. We've both been through a lot."

She nodded and went to the bathroom to bathe. When she was gone, Saito's face became more serious. In truth, he was extremely worried. He knew that he would have to deal with Joseph and, possibly, the Ancient Dragon soon enough. As he thought, someone entered the room. Saito's immediate reaction was to grab Derf, who had been asleep for weeks. Saito relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Oh. It's just you, Siesta."

She looked at him with a confused expression on her face. "You know my name?"

Saito immediately realized the mistake he made, so he tried to cover himself. "Oh, well uh…I heard someone talking to you and using that name, so I thought it might be yours." She looked at him blankly for a few seconds, then smiled. "Yes, that is my name. I came here to bring some treats for Ms. Valliere." She set a tray down on Louise's table. The whole situation felt very awkward for Saito. Normally, the Siesta he knew would make a move on him when Louise wasn't around. This Siesta, however, simply bowed and left the room.

Louise came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. Saito hadn't noticed. He had gone back to thinking about what his next move should be.

"Saito, stop sulking." Saito didn't respond. He was too deep in his thoughts to hear, or even see her. After a few minutes of trying to get his attention, she became impatient and kicked him to the ground.

"How dare you ignore your master!" She kept kicking him as he finally woke from his trance. He grabber her foot and looked at her. He seemed angry, making her feel afraid. After a moment though, he just started laughing.

"Got ya! You should know by now that you can't make me angry." He grabbed the treats that Siesta brought extremely quickly, as he saw that Louise had already gotten a hold of her riding crop. She stopped just as she was about to hit him. She had an intense passion for sweets, so she instantly forgave him for his transgressions. As she sat, happily eating her sweets, Saito looked at his sword.

"Hey, Derf. Wake up. It's been weeks." He didn't receive a response. Normally, Derf would wake up if Saito asked him to. Saito just assumed that he was very tired and ignored it. When Louise finally finished her last piece of candy, she laid her head on Saito's lap. Saito stroked her hair and looked into her eyes.

"I thought you said you couldn't fall for me so quickly."

She blushed and hid her face. "I haven't! Your lap is just comfy, that's all!"

Saito leaned towards and gave her a kiss. She was left speechless at this random gesture of affection, however, she did not try to stop it.

In Kirche's room

Kirche stared out of her bedroom window. Saito's battle in Albion had clearly left an impression on her. She couldn't keep his face out of her head. As she kept staring out of the window, she heard a voice behind her.

"Thinking of Saito?"

Kirche turned around to see Tabitha standing behind her, reading a book.

"What makes you think that?!" Kirche said, in self defense.

Tabitha barely looked up from her book. "Obvious."

Kirche sighed and turned around. She had been thinking of Saito for weeks, but did nothing to address her feelings.

"Should act quickly." Tabitha said as she walked away. "He's in Louise's room."

Kirche thought about what Tabitha had said. She stood up and made up her mind. She was going to confront Saito. She ran out of her room as fast as she could and stopped in front of Louise's room. It was dead silent. She slowly cracked the door open and peeked inside. Her eyes widened and filled with sadness when they were greeted with the sight behind the door. Saito and Louise were in a passionate embrace. They're lips were locked together and both seemed extremely happy.

She quietly closed the door and went back to her room, feeling depressed. Tabitha came in a few moments later.

"You failed."

Kirche looked at her somewhat angrily. "Way to cheer me up." Tabitha sat down next to her. "He is dangerous. Better this way."

Kirche looked at her with a confused expression. "Dangerous? What do you mean? He saved an entire country."

Tabitha didn't look up from her book. "Don't trust him. Suspicious." She handed the book to Kirche. It was the same one that Colbert had shown Louise and Saito.

"Must be careful. Not what he seems." With that, she left the room, leaving Kirche alone to read the book.

In Henrietta's Palace

The leaders of Tristain, Germania, and Albion had been discussing Joseph for several weeks. They had conflicting ideas on how to deal with him.

"We know he's going to be a threat!" Said the Emperor of Germania, Albrecht III. "We need to launch a preemptive strike before he has the chance to put his plan into motion!"

"We cannot!" Argued Prince Wales. "If we did so, the citizens of all of our nations would label us as war mongers. He would gain a larger following and we would have to watch our own streets to make sure his sympathizers don't do anything!"

"Please, calm down." Said Henrietta. "There must be some sort of compromise."

They all remained quiet for several minutes before Albrecht's eyes lit up. "Assassination." He said.

The other two stared at him. "What?" They said at once.

The Germanian looked at them both. "Assassination. Think about it. If we simply send a skilled assassin to kill him and his familiar, all we have to do is blame it on some random terrorist group. We then all send gifts to Gallia and attend his funeral, making our public images even better than they were before!"

Henrietta and Wales were quiet. They knew deep down that Albrecht was right, but they didn't like the idea of killing a man before he has done anything evil. What if Saito turned out to be wrong about the future? However, after a while, Henrietta conceded.

"Very well. We shall organize his assassination."

Wales was shocked to hear Henrietta say something like that, but he too eventually agreed.

"Very well. It will need to be a skilled assassin though."

Albrecht nodded in agreement. "What if we send the boy? He's already proven himself capable of immense destruction. As long as he isn't seen, that is. We cannot have someone who is looked up to in all of our country's found assassinating someone. A king, no less."

"Sending him in alone would be too risky." Wales said. "I propose we anonymously hire at least 4 other assassins to complete the mission."

Henrietta looked at Wales. "Anonymously?"

Wales nodded. "Only Saito can know about this. After all, these are hired killers. They'll sell information to anyone willing to pay enough money. Saito is the only one who we can trust to know who has given them this mission."

The other two nodded. Albrecht stood up and prepared to take his leave. "I suggest we also prepare our militaries, just in case war is inevitable. Our generals need not know what we are preparing for. This is strictly between us and the boy. We should meet at a later date to discuss who we will send with him."

He bowed towards the two leaders. "Ms. Henrietta, Sir Wales, I will take my leave now. May we meet again soon." With that, he left the room with his guards, leaving Henrietta and Wales alone. Henrietta looked extremely worried. She didn't like the idea of sending Saito on an assassination mission. She barely knew him, but he had already proven himself to be a fine warrior. To make things worse, she had agreed with Wales and Albrecht to send him on this mission with other assassins he didn't know.

Wales noticed how nervous she was, making him feel quite sorry for her. A lot of responsibility had been put on her shoulders in a short span of time. As she looked down at the ground, Wales sat next to her and quickly kissed her cheek, making her blush.

"It'll be fine." He said. "Saito is a strong person. I've witnessed his power first hand. Don't stress about it."

Both Henrietta and Wales had feelings for each other, but had to keep it a secret because they were, in fact, cousins. They relished any time they ever had to themselves, as it gave them an opportunity to express their feelings for each other without facing any ridicule.

Henrietta kissed his cheek in return, smiling. "Thank you, Wales."

She hugged him for several minutes, as all of the stress from her day melted away.

In the Tristain Academy of Magic

Louise had fallen asleep. Saito was wide awake, stroking her long, pink hair. He couldn't bring himself to fall asleep at all. He was thinking deeply about what Colbert had shown him.

"Soren? What does that have to do with me?" He thought to himself. As he was thinking, he was interrupted by a loud voice.

"Partner! How've you been?!" This startled Louise, making her rise from her slumber and draw her wand. Saito hugged her, trying to calm her down. She looked around, sure that she heard a voice.

"You heard that, right?" She said, feeling frightened.

Saito began to laugh at her, making her feel angry. "Don't worry." He said. He turned towards his sword, smiling. "That was some nap you took, Derf."

Derf started to laugh. "Teleporting you took a lot out of me! But I'm back at one hundred percent again!"

Louise was confused for a moment before she realized what was happening. She looked at Saito. "So this is that legendary sword you kept talking about? I thought he was supposed to be in some rickety, rusted sword?"

Saito began to explain to her. "Actually, Derf is the spirit that inhabits the sword. The last one he was in kind of shattered, so I had to find him a new one."

Derf turned his attention to Louise. "Pleased to meet you again, Ms. Valliére!"

She didn't know what to do, so she simply bowed. "Pleased to make your acquaintance…again."

"So partner," Derf began "did you finally do it? You know…make her yours? You kept talking in your sleep about it before, after all."

Saito was speechless. He knew Derf was always a loudmouth, but this was downright betrayal. He could feel Louise staring into the back of his head. He turned around slowly. Louise was towering over him. It was as if he had shrunk to the size of a mouse when faced with her anger.

"What did he mean by that, Saito?" She said coldly, as her eye twitched in anger.

Saito didn't even try to defend himself. He simply sat there with his eyes closed, like a dog that was frightened of his master. Sure enough, as he expected, a strong kick landed directly on his face. It threw him across the room into a wall, rendering him unconscious.

Derf sheathed himself, trying to make sure he drew as little attention to himself as possible. "How tragic." He thought to himself. "How poetic it is to die by the hand of the one he loves."

Author's Notes.

First and foremost, I'm really sorry for not posting a chapter yesterday. As I said in the Author's Notes at the beginning of the chapter, I had some personal troubles that I had (and still have) to deal with, so I simply did not have the time to write anything. I'm just going to give you guys a heads up that I may only write one chapter a day for the next week. They'll probably be short and a bit sh*t, but at least the story is moving along right? I hope you understand. Anyway, please leave a review. Good or bad, it doesn't matter. I really appreciate your feedback. And again, thank you so much for 1000 views! See you next time!