Disclaimer: Princess Tutu does not belong to me, and neither to the characters. I only claim some responsibility for those whose names are unfamiliar. The rest is up to the story.

Chapter Seven

The next day, Fakir jotted some notes in-between classes, and set to work with his ink as soon as he was able. He didn't want to let things sit for too long. He really hadn't had an idea that worked well with him for this long, and he didn't want to let it slip away.

After a little bit of listening to obscure magic-talk and giving instructions to Leopold from afar, Kurt finally tired of it. "No, no, you aren't even keeping the right posture!" He finally caved, striding over to help Leopold.

Marie watched Kurt walk away, and lowered her voice a little again. "Alright, now Princess, what was your plan exactly? Just to go out and show that our kingdom fully supports those fighting? As a royal, that would be the most obvious message."

Princess Sylvia had managed to at least pretend that she wasn't thinking about the utter uselessness of her plan until that point, but Marie's words brought it back again. "I…" she started, tearing up a little, "I'm s-"

"Princess, do not give in!" Marie admonished her, grabbing her arm supportively; "I know that you want to help, and you still can!"

The Princess looked at Marie in shock, but also hope; "What… What do you mean?"

Marie noticed the firm grip she was giving, and quickly let go. "Sorry, Princess-"

"No, please!" Princess Sylvia took Marie's hand pleadingly; "What do you mean I can still help? That I can still exit the gates?"

Marie took hold of returned the Princess' grip, and gave a small smile. "… I believe so, yes. But it will require some magic."

Kurt had finally managed to convince Leopold to work more with his body than against it, and backed off. "Now, just keep that in mind while you're outside."

"Y-yes sir!" Leopold managed to say. He hoped that the Princess' spirit was lighter now, for she had looked so… disheartened before. He had easily fumbled his forms for a while, but he could only fake failure for so long, especially since Kurt was not in the best of moods. Leopold wasn't naturally a fighter, but he wasn't stupid. While he definitely had a better grasp of the techniques now, he couldn't keep Kurt away any longer either. Not only that, but the expedition was starting to head towards the gate. "Thank you, Sir Kurt!" He bowed, and when he straightened Kurt was already turned around and heading back. Leopold sighed and followed to pick up his ration pack.

The Princess' blue hood and the girl's brown hood were up as Kurt approached. Before he reached them, though, the one in brown knelt down and picked up the extra ration pack, then rushed off past Kurt. Marie had been her name, Kurt recalled. Kurt watched her pass questioningly, but relaxed as she went straight towards Leopold. He turned back to the Princess.

Leopold was rather confused as Marie walked past his reaching hand, still carrying his pack. He stopped; had she changed her mind again about going on the expedition? Well, if she had, there was no point arguing this late… He looked longingly back at the Princess, wishing he could say goodbye to her properly, but Kurt was already talking with her, and the expedition group was moving without him. With a disappointed sigh, he waved. Not surprisingly, she didn't seem to notice. So he turned back and rushed to catch up again.

"… I cannot say that I'm surprised that you were discussing magic, my Princess," Kurt was saying, "but I did not think you were quite so involved with it. Or that this Marie girl would have so much to tell you."

The Princess did not respond.

Kurt waited and frowned momentarily, but moved on, although he watched her closer; "But the speeches went well. Although, I will say that yours was more elegant than mine, but I do not claim to be a speaker."

Still the Princess said nothing. She seemed withdrawn, actually, and possibly a bit morose.

Kurt sighed, assuming that she was still gloomy about not being able to do more. "Let us go, my Princess; King Marius would prefer that you not be any nearer the gate when it opens."

That was when she finally reacted; "… The tower. Let us go to the tower."

Kurt paused; "… Which tower?" he asked warily. Her voice sounded a bit tense, as well.

She turned and pointed towards one of the other gates.

Kurt pursed his lips; "My Princess, you know that your father dislikes you being at any of the gate towers at any time, especially during the expeditions."

"The barrier will be closed by the time we arrive." She insisted, "And it is not the gate being used."

Kurt studied the location of the tower. "… No, it is not. But if I am correct, it is near the path on which the expedition is headed." He waited a few moments for a response, but made connections despite its absence. His voice softened a little as he continued; "My Princess, it will do them no good for you to stand and watch them, as they cannot see you at such a distance. You have done what you can; not trust the people to do what they can."

"I do trust them, but…" she responded, "I want to help. I want to use some magic to help them."

"… And what about the barrier?" Kurt brought up.

"Marie gave me some ideas."

"… Ideas?" Kurt protested; "My Princess, it is unwise to tamper with the barrier based on mere 'ideas'."

"They're just protection spells." She countered, "The worst that could happen would be that they get absorbed and reinforce the barrier."

Kurt sighed. "My Princess… I am sorry, but I do not feel comfortable allowing that." He approached her openly; "I know that you-"

"I need to do this!" she exclaimed as she recoiled from him.

Kurt was shocked into silence.

After a few moments, she added, "Please."

Kurt couldn't see her face, but her voice was certainly tight enough for her emotions to get across. He lowered his arms and set his face. "I see… So, this was your whole plan, then? To get close to the gates with permission, somewhat, and push the limits of your father's patience?"

Her silence answered him clearly enough.

"I should have guessed as much." He sighed again; "I will accompany you if you wish to go to that particular tower, but I do not advise as-" Before he finished, she started walking in the tower's direction. Kurt cut off, and pursed his lips before following. "I hope that that Marie girl gave you good advice, my Princess," Kurt remarked, "because you will be the one justifying this to the King later."

She just continued walking determinedly and didn't look back.

Meanwhile, the young woman in the brown hood caught up to the tail end of the expedition. She clutched the single ration pack to herself, and anxiously glanced back. Catching a glimpse of Leopold, she quickly turned back.

Leopold slowed to match her pace once coming up beside her, and took a little bit to catch his breath.

"Marie…" he eventually said, "I know that you want to come along, but we already talked about this, with everyone else going, too. You're needed more behind these gate, safe so that you can continue to help keep everyone safe."

She didn't respond.

"I mean," he continued, "it's not that you wouldn't be appreciated in the group, and I really wouldn't mind having you along as well. But, but that's not the point! It's just… you're one of the kingdom's best magic users. True, given the time of day, not much is likely to happen on this expedition, but if it did… Ok, you would probably be fine. But…" he flustered, trying to provide a good argument. However, he hadn't been the one to say the final word on the discussion about this before, so he was coming up blank. At length, he sighed in defeat. "… I could still carry my own ration bags," he offered sulkily. She held the bag she had tighter. Leopold readjusted the two bags he had, and fell quiet.

Soon, they arrived at the gate. The leader performed one last head count to ensure they had all the needed supplies. He frowned as he approached Leopold. "I thought we discussed this, Marie."

She seemed to retreat a little further into her hood, and stood closer to Leopold. Leopold noticed, and offered her his hand. She loosened one hand to take it, but hesitated and quickly gripped the bag with both hands again. Leopold frowned, and the leader scoffed.

"What did you say to her?"

"Nothing!" Leopold responded defensively, "I mean, I said things, but I didn't mean anything! I mean, I tried to convince her again, but-"

The man put up a hand. "Since this is a low-risk run, I'll let it pass. We don't have time to argue again right now, and I imagine the Princess' speech had some effect. But don't expect to push this forever." She and Leopold nodded. "Do you know the return knock?"

"Oh," Leopold answered, "it's three, three, one, right?"

"I was asking Marie, but since that's right, I suppose she knows now."

"Oh, s-sorry…" Leopold apologized awkwardly.

The leader dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Just remember it."

He returned to the front. He nodded at the head guard at the gate, who then called upwards, "Give the signal!" His order was received, and a guard with flags began signaling the castle. In a little bit, the gate shimmered as a wave of light flashed from the other side of it. As soon as it faded, the gate was unlocked and all party members were ushered through quickly. Once they were all through, the gate was closed and locked. Not long after, the shimmering wave passed over it again. They were now effectively barricaded out until they returned later.

Fakir got up from his desk and walked around a little. His writing sessions were getting longer, and his body wasn't exactly used to it. But that wouldn't deter him in the slightest. And it wasn't like he noticed while he was writing. He had been writing for at least an hour now, maybe a little longer. He glanced outside and was a little surprised at the sun's location; he'd been writing for at least a couple of hours. He backtracked in his memory of the day to get a more accurate idea of the time he'd been writing.

Suddenly, he realized what time it was and froze. If he had been writing for several hours… that meant he had entirely forgotten to take Duck back to Charon's! Not that she wouldn't insist she could manage without him if she really wanted to, but he had told her he would do it, every day. He'd gotten out of class a little early today and thought to write before going back with her. Now here it was, two hours or more later…. He swore and immediately put his ink and most of his papers away, except for those still drying. He searched for a bit of bread to apologize with, and eventually found it, of course put away where he'd stored some before. Fakir had the sense to put away the rest of his pages, for they'd dried while he searched, and rushed out the door. He closed it with his momentum, and took off down the hall.

However, before he got very far, he almost collided with another person. Fakir had to practically throw himself to the side, and then spun around to miss hitting the wall. He managed to stop himself without falling over. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" He exclaimed, then paused in recognition.

Autor glared at him. "I could say the same to you, and be more justified!" He straightened his jacket and pushed his glasses back up. "I was just on my way to talk with you, as it turns out."

Fakir went on alert; "Why? What's happened?"

"Nothing," Autor said, "Nothing at all. And I checked over the local record again; things are still fine there as well."

"Then why waste your time coming to tell me that?" Fakir asked.

"Because you are still writing, and a bit more prolifically, from what I've noticed," Autor replied, "The more you write about the past, the greater the possibility that you will affect it. And the fact that you've written this long and I still see no changes has me a bit worried. Either you have suddenly become so masterful at writing as to hide your effects on reality, which I seriously doubt, or your writing has become so dry that nothing changes. If the latter, which is the most likely, you need to be saved from the delusion that such writing is worth much of anything, let alone your time."

Fakir grimaced with frustration; "Maybe there are other options that you're not looking at," he retorted.

Autor raised his eyebrows; "Unlikely."

"Try looking again," Fakir said through gritted teeth, then scoffed; "Whatever. I don't have time for this. If something actually happens, let me know, but until then-"

"Oh, I see," Autor interrupted, noticing the scrap of bread, "You won't take the time to even give me your theme or topic, but you'll share anything with her. I suppose I can't really blame you, after all that's happened, but-"

"She doesn't know anything about it either!" Fakir retorted.

"Oh. Well then, you really are keeping this under wraps. Is it that bad that you won't even talk to Duck about it?"

"She knows that I'm writing," Fakir defended, "but I'm not showing her any of it yet. There's… not enough done yet."

"I thought you said you were almost half way?" Autor questioned.

"I am!" Fakir retorted, then tried to regain control of himself; "I told you I'd show you when I was done. Let me make my own progress, Autor."

"Fine, if you think you're making progress," Autor responded, "be my guest. But when you get stuck, I will have to have context in order to help you."

Fakir narrowed his eyes. "Then I won't get stuck."

They stared at each other for a few moments, and then Fakir started to leave.

"Fakir;" Autor said. Fakir paused and looked at him reproachfully. "… Say hello to her for me."

Fakir continued looking at him for a second, then turned and hurried off.