Tabitha, as always, woke up soundlessly. She simply went from sleeping to awake, not even her eyes opening yet. The previous day ran through her memories, and after she sorted through all of that she decided she didn't want to open them because, for some reason, she knew that Nymph was standing there and staring at her. She KNEW that she had full control of her now but that didn't alleviate the itch in her arm even a little bit.
She forced both eyes open and indeed there she was standing motionlessly.
"Good morning master." Nymph said after a few more moments of staring.
"Good… Morning." As she looked around she noticed that she had fallen asleep with her clothes on. With Nymph standing behind her and watching her every step, her morning routine became significantly harder.
It was very early in the morning so she doubted that Louise and Kirche were up yet.
Her expectations were proven wrong as a few moments later there was knocking at her door.
With a nod, the Angeloid turned invisible and Tabitha opened the door carefully.
Immediately both Louise and Kirche walked in followed by their familiars. Flame, notably, was very nervous.
"Good morning."
"Morning..." Louise said lamely as she flopped herself on Tabitha's bed. "To answer your yet-not-asked question, I didn't sleep in the whole night."
"You're not alone there." Kirche admitted and now Tabitha noticed the rings around their eyes. "First of all, how are we even still alive after doing something so incredibly dumb like going back to the place we know they have under watch?"
"It's the only place that we all know by heart, also the fact that it's something so incredibly dumb makes it less likely that the enemy suspects it." Tabitha explained.
"I guess…" Kirche drifted off. "That still leaves the question of what they wanted."
"That is a dumb question, they wanted Ikaros of course, and apparently my head alongside hers." Louise said rubbing her eyes. "As to why, well," Louise then explained her dreams, the ones she had before summoning Ikaros and then the warning from her dream that she originally wrote under the Inquisition.
"Ok, just wait a moment here, are you telling us that Ikaros here is literally an angel that was foretold to come to you in your dreams?!" Kirche was now visibly freaking out. "What the hell are you then, the next coming of Brimir?"
"How am I supposed to know!" Louise shouted back. "All I know is that I did that stupid summoning and that That, somehow, lead to what apparently are heavenly soldiers trying to kill me!"
"Quite!" Tabitha raising her voice was rare, but she really didn't need them arguing right now, especially that she still had no idea how she would explain what happened to her and one of Louise's supposed pursuers.
"Sorry..." both of them said.
"Those two big ones did have a kinda-of demonic look to them, do you guys think…?" Kirche asked.
"What other options do you see?" Louise said tiredly, "For now the only thing that we can assume is that fallen angels are after Ikaros and me." she then remembered something. "Tabitha, Kirche…?"
"Yes?" the girl was still trying to get the topic where she liked.
"What happened after we got separated? Because as I said, they literally chased me to the very bottom of Albion."
"Well, after I took off with Sylphid it was practically over for me, both just charged after you and they were way too fast for her."
Both turned to Tabitha who sadly still had no idea how to properly explain it. "I won… kinda."
"What do you mean with 'kinda' won?" Louise narrowed her eyes while her mind was flooded with worry.
"I couldn't hurt her really..." she admitted trying to find the right words.
"So what Did you do?" Kirche asked.
"I took her… prisoner." Tabitha explained.
…
"You mean, like in ice? Imprisoned her in ice?" Louise asked carefully.
"No, I took her prisoner."
"And… where is she?"
"...here." Tabitha said.
"Here as in...?"
Kirche became more and more worried. Tabitha just showed them the chain and Louise traced it until she reached a spot in the room where there was nothing but empty air. "Reveal yourself," Tabitha ordered.
Suddenly the air started to shimmer, and where nothing was, Nymph stood, her wings still not fully repaired and with a grumpy look on her face.
Immediately Louise and Kirche both had their wands out and aimed.
"What, I, WHAT?!" Kirche just shouted while Tabitha was unsure at how she could defuse the situation.
"Could you, like, not aim your sticks at me, that would be much appreciated," Nymph said with annoyance in her voice. "Because my master shattered the chain to my old master she now is my new master and I am bound to follow her order until the end of days, got that?" She explained tiredly.
"I would have liked to know something like this yesterday!" Louise shouted.
"Sorry, I… had a lot on my mind," Tabitha admitted.
Slowly, the wands were lowered again but kept ready. "Why aren't you reacting to this?" Louise asked Ikaros with surprised, normally she expected the angeloid to instantly smash Nymph through the wall.
"Nymph poses no danger as long as Tabitha doesn't give her an order that will make her attack us. She is incapable of going against her programming." Ikaros explained.
"Not like you are any better!" Nymph shot back.
"Ok, this… this is actually good." Kirche said. "Now we can find out what the heck is going on. Have you questioned her on anything yet Tabi?"
"Nothing important." She answered.
"Well let's start right away then." Kirche said turning to Nymph. "What the hell are you and what do you want?!"
Nymph just looked at her for a moment before turning to Tabitha. "Do I need to follow the request of this bug?" again annoyance was very clear in her voice.
Kirche nearly lost it then and there, as she could barely stand Nymphs presence already, her wand hand twitching dangerously.
"Those 'Bugs' are my friends and you will treat them with the same status as me." Tabitha answered her voice filled with similar malice that Kirche felt.
"That would conflict with the master commands and is impossible." Nymph answered checkely.
"Then give them the next best status." Tabitha shot back.
"Yes, master," Nymph said with annoyance, again, clear in her voice and a disgusted look at Kirche.
"Now answer my questions!" Kirche near shouted.
"I am Type beta, Nymph, electronic warfare class angeloid in the service of Tabitha and I want whatever my master's desires." Nymph said with a bored voice.
Kirche only looked at her with a blank look.
"Allow me." Louise said pushing Kirche out of the way. "What was your task before you were pulled into the service of Tabitha?"
"To get the rogue Angeloid with the designation Alpha back to the Synapse or, failing that, destroy her." Nymph answered.
"Why?" Louise asked again.
"I do not know why my former Master asked for it."
"Make a theory." Louise insisted.
"It probably has to do with the fact that she was imprisoned for 6000 years after she went rogue and destroyed about 85% of the synapse." Nymph answered without a pause.
"Let's destroy her, this chick is messing with us." Kirche said with her wand out again.
Louise calmly pushed Kirches wand out of the way before answering. "It's not her, it's how they all are, including Ikaros, they take everything literally."
"How is that they don't know why they were after her?!" Kirche insisted, looking for a reason to fireblast Nymph in the face.
"Because it was what she thinks the reason was." Louise explained. "She doesn't know the reason since her former master didn't tell her, it's her own assumption but she has not been given a direct reason."
"I... that sounds dumb!" Kirche complained.
"If she's anything like Ikaros that is how she thinks." Louise afirmed.
"Back on topic." Tabitha reminded them.
"Ah, yes, apparently Ikaros is a traitor of the heavens that went rogue..." Louise said more to herself that any anybody else. "Ikaros, what exactly is going on here?" Louise asked a bit desperately.
"I have no information regarding this topic." Ikaros answered in the same tone as always.
"Figures..." Louise said with a sigh.
"What do you mean, no information Alpha?" Nymph asked confused. "If anything you are the only one that is supposed to still have that information."
"Specify," Ikaros asked back.
"All the records were sealed or purged to prevent data corruption, I was given the reason that her faulty data could corrupt my own." Nymph got a sour look on her face. "Which is strange considering I was literally made to access and manipulate all kinds of data."
"How is Ikaros supposed to be some berserker Angel? Her first memory is literally getting summoned by me." Louise asked.
"That is another thing I don't understand, from what I have been told she was locked up very thoroughly, how did you get her out in the first place?" Nymph asked back
"We didn't get her out, I summoned her in the familiar summon ceremony. Again, that is literally her very first memory." Louise said with strain in her voice.
"Well, one information in this chaos is wrong and the answer is in your little head." Nymph said approaching Ikaros and placing her hand on her forehead.
"What are you...?" Louise asked as a glow surrounded the two angeloids as their eyes started to spin.
"A hardware block? No, a program pretending to be one, now those are some interesting firewalls, what is..." That was how far she got with her mumbling as she got thrown back into the wall.
"What. The. Hell." Nymph shouted out as she dislodged herself from the wall. "How dare you resist my Hacking!" she screamed at Ikaros angrily.
Meanwhile, Ikaros remained quite, unusually so because it seemed like she wasn't even acknowledging the others in the room.
Finally, she looked at them and said. "I have no information regarding this topic." What made the others sweatdrop.
"So much for getting information..." Louise said."What do we do now?"
"I still need to fulfill the mission." Tabitha reminded them.
"Yes, that will be a problem..." Louise said. "If they knew what you plan to do then they will wait for you."
Tabitha turned to Nymph. "What combat capabilities dose Synapse have?"
"As of last inventory, there are 2 Harpy class angeloids. Model Delta is currently in production."
They all looked her expecting to continue.
"That, is all?" Kirche asked carefully.
"As I said, nearly all of the Synapse got destroyed as Alpha went rogue, that includes most of the fighting force and production facilities."
"Can you show us where the Synapse is?" Louise asked hoping to finally find out more about this elusive place that Ikaros mentioned so often.
"Imposible, my only connection to it was my imprinting chain and that is no longer connected to it." Nymph explained
"So it's an impasse, they can't safely attack us and we can't attack them," Tabitha said with a slight smile. "Then I can safely finish the mission and then..." she interrupted herself.
"And then what?" Louise asked curiously.
Tabitha fidgeted around a bit unsure of herself, but after a few moment in which both Kirche and Louise mercifully waited, she said. "I, have a confession to make Louise. I had a specific reason for trying to get close to you."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Louise asked.
"I needed your assistance with something, to be exact I need the assistance of something… angelic." she continued
Louise got a saddened expression before she finished. "And now that you managed to capture her you no longer need me."
"No, I, that is not what I..." Tabitha was struggling with words.
"What my master is trying to say is that while you did serve your purpose and she only approached you for that reason the time spent with you was a pleasure and she would like to continue the friendship, did I miss anything?" Nymph asked mockingly.
"I… sorry for jumping to conclusions." Louise said.
"Sorry for… using you?" Tabitha said still unsure of herself.
"What do you need help with so badly?" Kirche threw in.
"My mother, she is very sick, I am running missions because as long as I do, she can live." Tabitha explained.
"That… sounds cruel." Kirche commented.
"I need to go." Louise said standing up. "Ikaros we are leaving the academy."
"Wait, why so suddenly?" Kirche asked but Louise ignored her. "Hey, Louise?"
"I need to go home." she simply answered.
"But why so suddenly?" Kirche insisted.
"Because I am a horrible person, I have someone I need to heal, and only now I thought about it." Louise admitted with tears forming in her eyes.
Suddenly the door opened and in came Siesta, butt first with all kinds of cleaning materials while humming to herself.
When she finally turned around all eyes were on her and she looked around the room unable to make anything comprehensible out of the situation.
Suddenly without any warning Nymph was behind Sista in one moment and grabbing her head.
In the next Nymphs arms were in a hold by Ikaros while the rest of the girls had a short panic attack. As they realized what Nymph just tried to do.
"Stop!" Tabitha, shouted, actually shouted out and immediately Nymphs movements stopped. "What did you just try to do?!"
"Kill her of course." she answered as a matter of factly.
"K-Kill me?!" Siesta said panic filled now on the ground more confused than ever.
"Why would you try to do that?" Kirche.
"The original order was to not get seen by anyone, if she isn't alive she can have seen me." She explained calmly.
"New. Absolut. Order. No Killing!" Tabitha dais desperately.
"Yes, master..." Nymph said obviously disappointed.
Siesta just fainted then and there.
"Great, what do we do now?" Kirche asked into the round.
"Ok, so, Tabitha and Kirche will go and heal Tabitha's mother with 'Nymph'." She shot an evil look towards the blue-haired Angeloid. "Meanwhile, I will take Siesta and we will go to my sister to see what we can do with Ikaros."
"Again, I strongly suggest that you all get Oregano-class Angeloid for any kind of medical actions," Nymph said with annoyance clear in her voice
"Until you find a way for us to somehow get one of those to our side, that will help us nothing," Louise argued and Nymph quietly glared at her reminding herself of the no killing order.
"Ehm..." Siesta said carefully.
"You are going along with me because you have seen too much and the only alternative is going with them or her," Louise explained pointing at Nymph.
Siesta promptly hid behind Ikaros after the explanation.
"This is risky… but we can't stay put and just wait." Kirche commented.
"We will meet back at the academy in a month and see if we found anything so far." Louise explained. "Anyone, any questions?"
All shook their heads and with goodbyes and went their ways.
Louise decided that they shouldn't bother with anything on the ground, she just ordered Ikaros to pick her and Siesta up, and pointed at where they needed to go.
The only problem was that Louise had no idea where her home was from the bird's eye view and as a result they got horribly lost with Louise constantly pointing in a new direction with no actual clue where she was going.
"This way!" she pointed the fifth time.
"Miss Vallière..." Siesta tried to say.
"Shut up I am not lost!" Louise shouted back
"But I haven't even said anything..." Siesta complained quietly.
"If this road leads to there then this one has to lead to, wait now that one leads to, but that one has to..." Louise was thinking out-loud.
"May I give advice, lady Vallière?" Siesta asked carefully.
"I said I'm not lost!" Louise shouted out.
"Master, I am detecting something unusual, I suggest we begin an investigation." Louise just looked at Ikaros with surprise, it was unusual for Ikaros to just take the initiative.
"Ok, what is unusual about it?" Louise asked back.
"Scans reveal that there is a material that is not supposed to exist, its composition is impossible for human standards and is normally found in Angeloids. However, the quantity is too great to be any kind of Angeloid."
Louise got very uncomfortable at that. "Are you telling me you are detecting an unusually large amount of Angeloid flesh?"
"Correct."
"That sounds disturbing," Louise commented while Siesta shrieked.
"I strongly suggest we investigate." Ikaros repeated.
"Alright, let's go then." Louise agreed while Siesta whimpered quietly.
They reached high speed and quickly saw a village getting bigger in the distance, they flew over it and landed at the entrance of a cave right at the foot of a mountain.
Siesta immediately recognized it. "But this, this is where the Dragons remnant is." She turned to face the town in the distance. "And this is Tarbes, my hometown!"
"Slow down, your hometown?" Louise asked. "And what do you mean with Dragons remnant?"
"I am originally from Tarbes milady, and this cave leads to the Dragons revenant, an artifact that is somewhat a village heritage. It has been here since the village was built as far as we can tell, my grandmother was actually the one that discovered it."
"Scans show that our objective is inside this cave." Ikaros commented.
"Could it be that both are the very same thing?" Siesta asked.
"Only one way to find out," Louise commented as they entered.
The inside of the cave was dark until Ikaros lit up her wings to illuminate the surroundings.
They walked for what felt like hours to Louise, and there were several turns and crossroads. Ikaros just kept walking fixated on her target.
They reached the end of the cave and came to a clearing where a small hill was, on top of the hill there was something white, it poked out of the ground and Louise immediately saw how it got its name being shaped like a dragon head.
"That is the Dragons revenant." Siesta said.
"Target confirmed, this is the source of the disturbance."
"So whatever that thing is it's made out of the same stuff that you are Ikaros?" Louise asked with worry clear in her voice
"Yes, master." Ikaros said approaching the structure.
As she placed her hand on it, it started to glow and Ikaros alongside it as well. This went on for a few moment before Ikaros stopped and turned to Louise. "Master, this is a Uranus system class warship, it is not functional but its sensors allow me to pinpoint the current location of the Synapse. With it, we should be capable to enter it and acquire an Oregano-class for the healing task you require."
"That… That is greater, we should go immediately!" Louise said with joy in her voice.
"Yes, master." Ikaros was about to pick the two of them up again but Siesta interrupted them.
"Wait! Don't you find it a little strange that apparently some Angelic warship is right here, and waiting in my hometown of all places?"
"I..." Louise was lacking any kind of response. "Ikaros, do you know how this got here?"
"Records indicate a battle that damaged its systems, it was here for at least… age incalculable." she said after suddenly interrupting herself.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Louise asked filled with confusion
"I am currently incapable of calculating this object's age, all my scans show improbable results." Ikaros explained.
"So it doesn't make sense to you?" Louise summarized.
"Correct."
"This seems like a trap..." Siesta repeated.
"Where are they then?" Louise asked back. "Because if this was a trap, we should be under attack already."
"I agree, the trap would have been the most effective when we reached this place and walked into the cave, this being an enemy trap is very unlikely."
"You heard her, so let's go already!" Louise didn't want to waste any time.
"Yes, master." With that Ikaros picked up Louise and Siesta, who cried out in surprise, and she took off again, this time skywards.
This time they flew for a while and only straight up, as Louise and Siesta finally looked down both of them had to fight to stay conscious, they were so high up that they had the whole continent in their eyes.
Suddenly their view changed, from one moment to the next they no longer were in the sky, but on the ground, as if they just appeared out of nowhere none of them saw how they got here just that they suddenly where.
There was grass below them and in front of them stood a huge obelisk made out of what looked like the purest of marble.
The sky was clear with not a cloud in sight and as they looked around the spotted many more structures made out of this marble-like stone.
"Where…?" Louise asked carefully.
"This is the Synapse." Ikaros supplied.
They landed and as they did Louise took a look at Ikaros' eyes, they were blood red and spinning rapidly, she has never seen something like that and frankly is scared her a bit.
"Ikaros?" She asked."What's with your eyes?"
Suddenly all the movement stopped and there was an odd break before Ikaros answered. "I have analyzed the surroundings, we should fine Oregano Angeloids east from here."
"I still have a very bad feeling about this." Siesta said with panic in her voice.
"Keep those feelings to yourself, for now we have a job to do here." Louise said as she started walking towards the direction Ikaros pointed.
They reached a strange place, it was filled with houses, but those were very small and all of them were suspended in the air with various means.
Louise wanted to ask more about this place but as she looked around she started to notice other angeloids appearing, some coming out of the houses, some just landing, others simply materializing from thin air.
They all looked identical, somewhat short, violet hair, white clothes, and short white wings.
"Oregon class located." Ikaros said. "I suggest we acquire one quickly and leave to not attract attention."
"How do we 'acquire' one of them?" Siesta asked.
With a burst of speed Ikaros was gone and, in an instant, she was back holding one of the angeloids in her arms. Said angeloids was in the middle of watering plants and still had the watering can in her hand.
"Take her chain into your hand." Ikaros said and Louise did as instructed as Ikaros took another end of the chain and ripped it apart with her bare hands.
Instantly the chain reattached itself to Louise hand. Again she didn't even feel it and commanded it to make itself invisible as soon as it attached itself.
"Please, give me orders Master." The Angeloid said as Ikaros let go of her.
"I feel like I am doing something incredibly bad." Louise commented.
"What about lady Tabitha?" Siesta asked with concern in her eyes.
"You are right, we should take two just to be safe." Louise agreed.
Again Ikaros quickly disappeared and reappeared holding another identical Angeloid in her hands.
They repeated the procedure and when they were done Ikaros said. "I suggest we leave as quickly as possible, we might already have attracted attention."
"You think?" They turned around and were faced with the two airborne harpies that had both their guns aimed at them.
"Now, tell us what you have done to Nymph." Gomo said threateningly. "After that, we will kill you slowly and painfully."
Ikaros wasted no time and immediately took off with all four of them in her arms.
"Get back here!" The Harpies were already after them and with so many people even Ikaros started to get problems navigating properly.
"Master, it is unlikely that we will escape. I can't accelerate at my max speed while protecting all of us from the air pressure." Ikaros said as shot flew past them hitting buildings and trees.
"How many of us can you protect?" Louise asked desperately.
"Only one." That sends a whole new wave of panic through them as Siesta imagined how she would be left to die here and Louise couldn't bear the thought of not being able to save her sister.
Ikaros barely managed to avoid one of the shots, but one of the Oreganos slipped out of her grip as a result. They watched as only a moment later it was impacted by the attack and was ripped apart leaving only metallic limbs and a few chunks.
Siesta shrieked in horror as Louise could only watch with dread.
"Master I suggest cutting losses," Ikaros said as the beams were getting more and more accurate every moment.
Louise was looking around in panic, trying to find anything that could help while Siesta only looked more and more scared, the Oregano Angeloid stayed emotionless during the whole ordeal.
"That won't be necessary." A new voice said behind them.
As they looked back, the Harpies were falling towards the ground lifelessly and in their place, the blue haired Woman from Louise's dream was standing.
"The Angel from my dreams!" Louise said with surprise.
"Hello Louise, it's nice to finally meet you in person." She said approaching them. "We have much to discuss but I suggest first we leave this place."
They flew towards the large obelisk where they first entered, the angel first and Ikaros behind her, still holding all three.
The angel moved to the edge of the platform, and with her hand moved the air until it revealed the planet beneath them. It still was breathtaking despite the hell they just escaped. "Let's leave."
With that, they flew away.
As they landed they found themselves on top of a mountain.
Siesta Immediately collapsed and started hugging the nearby rocks.
"Now we can talk." The angel said and her serious face finally morphed into a smile. "Hello again Louise, thank you for taking care of Ikaros, I understand that all this might have been confusing to you."
"Why me?" Louise asked nearly screaming in her face. "During the last month, there was one question that has been bugging me more than any other. Why me? What makes me so special compared to the others that you chose me to do this?"
"There are two reasons for that." she started to explain. "One, you are a void mage and as such capable of actually hurting other Angeloids."
Louise could only stare at her in shock. "I.. am what?!"
"A void mage, yes." the angel reassure.
"But… I… WHAT?!" Louise could hardly believe what she was hearing.
"As I said this is not the only reason. The second one is that you are the only void mage that is close to a position of power and not corrupted."
"What do you mean with corrupted? And there is more?"
"Yes, there currently are 4 void mages including you. One is the King of Galia, the other one is the current pope, and the other is a half elf."
Louise's eye twitched at that list.
"You were planning to heal your sister with this Angeloid." She stated. "Let's go do that, after that, we need to start making plans with your parents."
"Plans for what?" Louise curiously.
"To overthrow the church of course."