Karin is currently walking through the halls of the Tristain Magic Academy while feeling simultaneously pleased and annoyed. On the one hand, the dragon had basically pulled Tristain's collective pants down and proceeded to mock them about it. On the other, he wound up being an opponent who is actually worthy of her full might and skill. So much so that by the time the two had to cut things short, they had demolished not only the mansion they started off over, but most of the surrounding area as well.
What her dignity would never allow her to admit openly, however, is that the latter part was a complete and total accident.
She wasn't even sure how it happened, in all honesty. Her Heavy Wind spell is designed to crush the target and grind them into so much dust, but when it hit Aoi's Dragon Wind barrier the two spells began to behave oddly. Rather than cancel each other out, the two somehow started to combine and grow more powerful and violent for it, while gradually slipping out of both of their attempts to control it. Thankfully the resulting tornado headed away from the Princess and ultimately gave the pink-haired legend and the dragon an opportunity to actually stop it before it managed to destroy something genuinely important.
Mostly it simply took hitting it with wind spells to counter its rotation, and once it was slowed down enough it dispersed on its own. In fact, that part was so dull that it was barely worth talking about. No, it was what the dragon mentioned after that that has her attention.
Her youngest daughter, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, is not in fact a failure as a mage. Her element just happens to be incompatible with the four main elements. With a little more prodding, she was able to get the dragon to tell her what it is.
Louise supposedly wields the Void.
On the one hand, it is blasphemy to even suggest such a thing. The Holy Void carries a great deal of weight thanks to the Romalian Church, and anyone who has it is effectively more important than any other person alive. After all, they have the same element as the Founder himself. Thanks to the way the scriptures were written, such a person could even supplant the current ruler of a nation is they happen to be charismatic enough.
So naturally, it was declared heresy to say that one wields the Void.
In truth, this change was not made without reason, so far as Karin knows. More than a few impostors have cropped up over the ages to attempt to seize more than is rightfully theirs, or to cause chaos and discontent. Not helping matters is that even if someone has the Void as their element, there are no known teachers of that element. ...Which in retrospect would handily explain why her youngest daughter is incapable of casting any form of useful magic. In fact, she would rather believe that her daughter wields the Void rather than believe she is truly inept.
It's just that neither explanation is entirely welcome, seeing as what could happen to the young girl.
She comes upon her daughter's room and raps on the door smartly. "Louise, open up." Though Eleanor had brought up the concept of pulling Louise out of the Academy, Karin had overruled that immediately. So long as Louise keeps trying, she has reason to be there. Even if she cannot truly use the spells she learns, there will be a time in the young girl's life where she will come to appreciate having such an expansive knowledge base to draw from. Hopefully not because she'll be forced to figure out how to dismantle an opponent's spell quickly on a routine basis.
"Mother!" The door swings open to reveal the youngest daughter, who is surprised and honestly somewhat terrified of the unannounced visit. Karin couldn't quite blame her for her reaction. The last time she announced her visit she basically tried to murder someone who was, at the time, nothing more than an elementally adept young man for no appreciable reason. "W-why are- It's nice to-"
Karin raises an eyebrow at the stammering. It's something she's used to hearing, yet internally she cringes slightly. Her daughter is supposed to be strong and unflappable, not... this. Still, she doesn't press that issue. "My apologies for the unannounced visit. However, it appears something rather important has come to my attention. May I come in?"
Louise steps to the side, then shuts the door when her mother crosses the threshold.
"You again." Karin notes that Aoi is leaning against the wall with his usual devil may care attitude about him.
"Yup!" The dragon must have cleaned himself up since the tornado incident, because the Heavy Wind could have sworn she managed to put a support beam through him later on.
"Don't you have anything better to do, you degenerate?" Despite her choice of words, the Heavy Wind isn't interested in pursuing hostilities, and instead sits in an available chair.
"What, being Louise's emotional support in trying times is unimportant?" The dragon's choice of words manage to be annoyingly cutting, somehow. "I mean, I did let you know she's a Void mage. Figured I should take responsibility for that as best I can."
The Heavy Wind's general presence exudes minor annoyance, but she doesn't deign to take the bait. "Then I take it you understand just how important this is."
Louise manages to sit on her bed a slight distance away from Karin's position, but otherwise says nothing.
"Well duh. Louise's future couldn't be in greater peril if we tried." The dragon crosses his arms and matches the legend's presence.
Karin closes her eyes for a moment before speaking. "Louise, if what he says about you is true, then you should know at least one spell of your element."
"I... I do know one, yes, mother." The youngest daughter looks less like a dignified member of the Valliere line and more like a bundle of nerves.
The Heavy Wind looks to Aoi next. "Dragon. I believe it would be better if we both exerted some effort to keep this secret."
"For once, I couldn't agree more." The dragon snaps his fingers and covers the windows in a fierce black wind on the outside. "Now then, what about the possibility of scriers?"
"Scrying." Karin corrects the dragon again as she casts a silence spell on the door. "As far as that goes, the only one who should have that kind of power here is Headmaster Osmond. As much as I may disapprove of some of his hobbies, he is none the less remarkably trustworthy."
"Alright, so I think that takes care of unwanted peeping. Louise, are you ready?" Aoi looks to his summoner after changing his mood to not make her feel more uncomfortable than she already is.
"I am." She replies simply as she draws her wand. "Mother, the one spell I know is apparently called Mind Shock. It's a Void element spell that disrupts one's ability to think or cast magic, and with greater strength can completely shut down a mage's ability to do anything useful."
Karin nods in response to encourage her daughter to go on.
"...Wait, if I'm supposed to cast this, what am I supposed to cast this on?" The pinkette asks in a puzzled tone.
The legend and the dragon exchange a glance. "Him/Her." Both speak at once, while pointing at each other.
Louise finds herself inexplicably confused. Either her mother has developed a sense of humor, or she hates Aoi that much. The scary part being that she can't actually tell which is which.
"I'll take the opportunity to experience this first-hand." Karin speaks again, her tone level and perfectly serious.
"You're maintaining that silence spell." Aoi points out.
"That is irrelevant. Once my concentration is cut, you can pick up the slack." The legend responds simply.
"Mother, are you sure about this?" Louise asks worriedly.
"I am. Now cast that one spell of yours, and prove to me once and for all that you have succeeded." The Heavy Wind locks eyes with her daughter.
Aoi rolls his eyes, but otherwise remains silent.
The pinkette swallows once, then begins to chant. She'll just use a half-strength chant. That'll be fine.
Louise couldn't feel more nervous if she tried. Her mother had flat-out told her to use her new Void spell on her, and she had done so flawlessly. The problem being that even at half-strength it basically knocked her mother right out in one go, and even Aoi wasn't sure why that happened. He speculated that by all means she should have been able to withstand it better than most due to her self-control, but she's out like a snuffed candle.
She's still breathing at least, so there's that.
Karin was promptly relocated to Louise's bed, which is still large enough to easily accommodate the grown woman and her armor despite what one may think. In fact, the bed frame didn't so much as groan under the effort. The pinkette then suddenly remembers something else through her mild panic. "Aoi, wouldn't covering my windows in dragon wind grab attention?"
The dragon blinked. "...Come to think of it, it probably would. Sad part is I know light techniques that would have worked better and be harder to spot."
Then as if by clockwork, the two hear a gentle rapping on the door. "Who is it?" Asks the pinkette.
"Tabitha." Comes the clipped reply.
Louise opens the door and ushers the bluette in quickly, though apparently the Gallian princess had seen fit to bring a maid along with her. "Eh, Siesta?" The pinkette blinks as she recognizes the maid.
"I figured something was going to go wrong." Charlotte replies simply before turning to Aoi, and looking a touch more cross. "What were you thinking? You're not even supposed to be here. That spell of yours is practically one of your staples and it's currently on full display." The change in speech pattern is incredibly jarring for those not used to it, though the dragon is.
"Ah, Ms. Valliere! Well, it's like Lady Tabitha says, she figured I'd be helpful for whatever's going on and... oh my, is that Karin?" Siesta finally spots the legend unconscious on Louise's bed.
Charlotte somehow manages to look even less amused than she already is, then whacks Aoi over the head with her staff as Siesta goes off to do her thing. "Explain."
To his credit, the dragon didn't so much as flinch when struck. "I told Karin about Louise's affinity and she wanted to confirm it for herself. We didn't have an acceptable target on tap, so she wanted to have it cast on herself."
Charlotte just plain gapes at both the legend and the dragon before recovering her composure. She takes a deep breath in and sighs it out before continuing. "I figured the Heavy Wind would have had something along the lines of common sense. I guess not."
"This is mother's first time dealing with the Void... I think. I don't think she knew what to expect. Or maybe she just didn't take me entirely seriously." Louise's gaze slides off to the side as she considers another possible reason for her mother disregarding her own safety to that degree.
Charlotte simply shakes her head. "This is just ridiculous. There are literally dozens of ways that this could have been handled better, and she picked one of the worst."
"Sooooo... aside from berating the poor life choices of an otherwise functional living legend, what brings you here?" The dragon attempts to shift subjects since the previous one is all but exhausted.
"I mostly just wanted to see you." The bluette admits shamelessly before putting on a mildly mischievous smile. "Plus Sylpheed misses her 'big brother'."
"Oh, for... I can't tell what that girl is actually thinking half the time." Aoi facepalms when the Gallian princess brings up her familiar.
"I think that's a bad habit she's picked up from you." Charlotte's face takes on a faint hint of amusement. "Just wait until she matures mentally a bit more and understands what it is she's saying."
The pinkette feels incredibly lost in all this, and is mostly just sitting to the side again. "What are... are you talking about your dragon?"
"Yes. Sylpheed looks up to Aoi's dragon form as a sort of older brother figure." The bluette clarifies. "It's hard for her not to, seeing as he took down an elf for my sake."
Meanwhile, Aoi seems to have moved off to talk to the maid about something.
"That's still hard to visualize. Elves can take on at least a hundred normal soldiers before being brought down, mages included. I know Aoi's strong, but..." Louise trails off.
"Aoi's not human. In fact, I'm not sure what he is." Charlotte starts up once she's sure the pinkette won't continue on her own. "He passes himself off as a dragon reasonably well, but..." The bluette pauses for a moment as she thinks of something. "Right, this room isn't soundproof, is it?"
"Mother was handling the silence spell on the door before I knocked her out, so no." The youngest daughter almost sounds sheepish over the admission.
"Thought so. This place has a few too many gossipers for me to just reveal everything." The Gallian princess walks over to the door and puts her staff to it before chanting some. "Shockwave."
The door rattles, but stays in place. Whoever was on the other side, however, wasn't so lucky as there are two distinct thumps. Charlotte's expression goes from almost smug to embarrassed as she sees Kirche on the floor ahead of her... and both embarrassed and annoyed when she sees the humanoid form of her own familiar next to her. Then just plain embarrassed again when she sees Professor Colbert just to the side of them as well.
"I can explain." She states simply.
"That was a rather impressive use of wind, Tabitha! I take it you adapted it from my own version?" Colbert seems oddly nonplussed by any of this as he responds.
"I did." The bluette nods. "Can you help me get those two in here?" She points to the two dazed women in front of her.
Meanwhile, as the teacher and the princess move a couple of bodies...
"You know, this place gets pretty lively." Aoi leans against the wall near the maid, and seems to be drinking some kind of soda. "Okay, now that they're in... Still Air." Rather than cover just the door, the entire wall is suddenly covered in a barrier of still, solid air.
"It really does. Though it's still awkward for a servant like me. Most nobles don't give us the time of day unless they want something." Siesta's mostly been ensuring that Karin is at least physically fine. Magically, however, is something she simply can't confirm or deny.
"I wish we had someplace a bit more spacious than my room, though. It's getting crowded in here." Louise gripes somewhat when she notes that there are eight people in a room meant to entertain half that comfortably. "Not to mention all the need for secrecy is annoying. I understand why it's needed, just... bleh."
"Well, you're in good company at least!" Offers the maid as she stands next to the dragon.
"Mostly good company." Louise corrects as she looks to the dazed Zerbst.
"Mostly good company, indeed." Aoi smirks as he takes another drink.
"...What is that, anyway? I don't think I've seen anything like it." Louise asks quizzically, the previous mood forgotten.
"It's called soda. To be perfectly blunt, it's basically liquid, fizzy candy." The dragon answers simply.
"You certainly have a sweet tooth, don't you Mr. Aoi?" Asks the maid in an amused tone.
"It helps keep my energy levels up." The answer the dragon gives is decidedly off-point from what he was asked, though Siesta doesn't buy it for a second.
"Like you really need the help." Louise responds dryly.
"Big brothe~r!" Was all the warning anyone got before Aoi finds himself being latched onto in a borderline inappropriate manner by an entirely too energetic, surprisingly voluptuous, and slightly immature humanoid Rhyme Dragon. "Ikurukuu missed you! Big sister is fun to be with, but Ikurukuu likes it best when she has big brother and big sister!"
"I actually do." The dragon responds while petting the Rhyme Dragon's hair. "Didn't big sister say something about you not using your real name like that?"
Ikurukuu tilts her head in confusion before suddenly getting it. "Oh no! Ikurukuu is so happy that she forgot!"
Charlotte can be heard facepalming in response, but is otherwise content to leave Aoi to his fate.
Then, as if the world decided that such a level of chaos is insufficient, the Heavy Wind came around with a groan. "Louise...?" She asks.
"I'm here, mother!" Responds the pinkette.
The Heavy Wind shakes her head and gets up so that she can sit properly. "That was... Ugh... That was a true spell. Louise, you've done it." She seems at least somewhat unsteady for the moment. "You've made a fool out of everyone who ever doubted you. Cattleya will be overjoyed."
Louise isn't quite sure how to respond to that. Her mother's tone lacks much in the way of emotion, so it's hard to tell what she's actually feeling.
"To think that you wield the Void after all. I can't even begin to tell you..." Karin goes unsteady again for a moment before forcing herself back upright. "How proud of you I am right now."
"You're... not mad?" Asks Louise.
Then the room is treated to a very rare, almost unsettling sound. The Heavy Wind laughing. "Mad? Mad? I couldn't be happier! I was starting to think my family was cursed!" She starts to take off her armor, revealing a white undershirt and a pair of... hotpants of all things. She then sweeps her youngest daughter up in a hug. "I couldn't be happier that I am wrong!"
"...Did Mind Shock knock a few screws loose?" Asks Aoi quizzically.
"This is remarkably uncharacteristic of her." Notes Colbert.
"The two of you can just shut up." Karin sounds distinctly annoyed by the commentary. "...Speaking of which, what are you doing here, Colbert?"
"Well, I was mostly wondering what in the world Louise's summon was doing here again. Though part of my motivation stems from wishing to confirm my suspicions about her element. Judging from what you've just said, however, I think my suspicions are correct." Colbert explains.
"That Louise is a Void mage." Charlotte interjects.
"...You've already proven it?" Asks the professor.
"You're kinda late to the party, prof. She's even got a spell under her belt." The dragon explains a bit further.
"The Mind Shock spell you just mentioned?" Colbert sounds rather excited about this.
"Yup. Though I'm guessing you have some other way to prove it?" Aoi actually feels somewhat curious about this, so he feels the need to ask.
"There is. If Louise contracts with someone, her familiar should produce a set of runes on either their left hand, right hand, forehead, or over their heart. Each one represents the markings of a Void familiar." The professor speaks almost too rapidly for anyone to keep up with, but not quite.
"...So who do you plan to have her contract with?" Asks the dragon, attempting to dodge the obvious answer.
"Well, since she summoned you, would you not be the most fitting?" Responds the professor.
"Noooo! Big brother has to be saved for big sister!" Sylpheed makes her opinion of the matter known and manages to position herself so that she's almost blocking the slightly smaller hugee from view. "Or saved for Ikurukuu..." She mutters too quietly to hear while blushing.
"And to build on that answer." Aoi continues on in a muffled tone as if nothing happened. "Me. Public enemy number one. Just got done 'kidnapping' the princess to showboat and keep suspicion off Tristain. I am not going to put Louise in danger just to satisfy intellectual curiosity."
"Ah. ...Wait, that's still going on?" Colbert seems rather surprised by that, even if he understands the dragon's concerns.
"Gallia's still a confirmed problem, Albion is almost certainly going to become one, and we need to smooth things over with Germania." Aoi explains.
"I see... Well, no pursuit of knowledge is worth the lives of others, especially those of my students." The professor seems somewhat disappointed, but understanding.
Karin, on the other hand, looks as though she's contemplating something. She then flicks her eyes toward Aoi.
He narrows his in response. "What are you up to."