As always, a big thanks to my betas

Home is where the heart is

Final Chapter

And things stay the same

There are others on this earth that could, too: Ysmir, Pelinal, Arnand the Fox or should I say Arctus? The Last Dwarf would talk, if they would let him. As for myself, I was here and there and here again, like the rest of the mortals during the Dragon Break.

-Mannimarco-

The sight of La Rochelle, Louise thought, would be an awe-inspiring image even for an Imperial citizen.

The city was a port, but with the peculiar feature that there was no body of water in sight.

"Wow!" Siesta called out dreamily. Like this one, there were similar ports all over Halkeginia, but none were this big.

If Louise had to describe the city, she would say it looked as if a giant had cut the mountain in half with a giant axe, leaving the space created free for humans to build their city there, patching the wound up with stitches of brick and wood.

The construction reminded her of the ancient Dwemer cities, having been built in vertically and connected by bridges and stairs at different levels, instead of the spread-out fashion that humans often preferred.

"Look at the size of that!" Exclaimed the plebeian, this time pointing to a ship that had just crossed over their heads. The three-masted stocky vessel projected a shadow that hid the sun for a few seconds.

"That's the Cheerful Green." Guiche explained, drawing attention to the sails of the same color. "It's a ton and a half commercial Fluyt."

"How do you know that?" Montmorency asked him.

"As a child, my father took me to our port in Utrecht. That ship was there, and I got on board. "

Cheerful Green went straight to the city, flying gracefully at over three hundred meters above the ground. It seemed it was about to crash against one of the buildings but started to slow down until it was left parked next to the port and under an enormous wooden crane. Within seconds, sailors and dock workers had surrounded the ship, tying it up with thick ropes and deploying wooden walkways to connect it to land.

That was an image that repeated itself all over the mountain, with dozens of boats coming and going at every moment and in every direction.

Louise felt a special affection for ports. Those were cities that were always in motion, always in constant renewal under the unending flows of souls and information. Best of all, when in doubt, you could always take the nearest boat and travel to new places.

"So, what are our plans?" That was Kirche, glad to see their journey reaching an end.

"Well, first we find an inn," Explained Miss Longueville. "And then we'll have a full day to do whatever we want before having to return to the Academy."

"Fine by me." Louise agreed, already thinking about what she would buy.

The city had three main accessways, and it was obvious that La Rochelle was as active on the ground as it was in the sky.

"I've never seen so many people before." That was Siesta. Again. Who couldn't stop marveling at the smallest thing.

"Be careful with your pockets." Louise told the rest with some humor, though it was a suggestion that she would recommend following.

There were three main roads going in and out of the city but, apparently, only the rightmost one could be used by particulars or, as it was their case, tourists. The other two were not trodden by people on foot or on horseback, but only by large commercial caravans moving at a steady pace, the carts always filled to the brim with merchandise. Alongside the roads, there were various grim-faced soldiers keeping order with the help of their sharp pikes and powerful crossbows.

As they approach their correspondent gate, they saw that it was surrounded by a mass of people waiting patiently while a single bored guard checked each person's documents. "We may have a problem." Kirche commented.

"Everything in order!" Shouted the man and the guards who accompanied him opened the doors to allow a man to enter with his family.

Seizing the opportunity, a boy of no more than fifteen tried to sneak in. The beating he received from the watchful guards made sure to deter anyone who might have the same idea.

"Next!" A man walked up to him with a paper in hand to restart the long inspection process.

"Wha-what do we do?" Asked a worried Montmorency. "We don't have any documents or anything! Do we have to ask permission from someone? If not how..." Putting a hand over her shoulder, Longueville silenced her.

"Allow me to use my feminine wiles." The secretary said with a mischievous smile, and drove the cart forwards.

"Hey! Don't cut in line!" Shouted one of the guards.

Far from being intimidated, Longueville jumped down from her place and walked up to the man, all the way swaying her hips seductively.

"Look at the secretary!" Kirche remarked cheerfully after seeing the woman whispering something in the guard's ear. "I'll have to take note of her technique."

Louise couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw the quick hands of Longueville subtlety placing a few coins in the guard's pocket.

"We're good to go!" The woman announced returning to her students. They saw the man with whom she had spoken with discussing something with his boss, and within the minute they were ordering them to advance.

"Come in, come in!" Cried the captain, greeting them with a wave of his arm to the great annoyance of those still waiting in line.

Longueville pulled the reins of the horses, stopping the cart in front of a hotel chosen, apparently, at random. "What do you think of this place?" It was a quaint three-story inn with blue roofs called 'The Mermaid and The Barrel' located in one of the upper levels of the city, directly above the harbor depots.

"It looks good." Louise replied.

Their plan for the day was to look for a place to rest and take a well-deserved bath. It was already after seven o'clock, so they wouldn't have much time to enjoy themselves before having to go to bed, but then they would have a whole day to walk around the city and buy things.

"Good morning, ladies and gentleman!" The owner of the inn greeted them. He was an aging man, big and bald, who spoke with a heavy Albionesse accent.

After Longueville arranged their stay, a group of five young waiters, three men and two women, came to help with the horses and luggage. To the great disappointment of Louise, this group was nothing like the ones she saw at 'The Charming Fairies'. They wore flat and boring clothes, and weren't particularly nice to the eyes. They were competent enough, but that was it.

"This way, please." The Albionesse, who had presented himself as Peter, led them to the third floor where he had rooms available.

"Careful, Guiche! Be careful with that." Montmorency ordered her boyfriend while Louise contained the urge to punch her in her huge forehead. The two were busy trying to rotate the girl's trunk on the narrow staircase.

"Annoying." Charlotte muttered softly and Louise gave her an approving smile.

They kept walking and reached a long 'T' shaped corridor.

"Here you have your keys." The innkeeper explained showing them seven key rings. "All rooms have two beds. If you want to share, the price will go down." He said with sly voice, throwing a knowing look in Guiche and Montmorency's direction.

"We-well, I ..."

"Mr. Gramont can sleep alone." Longueville said, picking up one of the keys and throwing it to the boy. "After all, you aren't afraid of the dark, are you?"

"Of course not!" The young man stated firmly as he pulled away from the group to go check his quarters. Louise noticed that he sounded more relieved than disappointed.

"I'll share a room with Miss Montmorency." Longueville continued, giving the blonde girl another key. "Do you agree?"

"Yes, yes. Sounds good." She also sounded grateful with that arrangement.

The next one to choose was Charlotte. "Siesta." It was all she said.

"Me? A-are you fine with me after..." The Gallian silenced her with a stare. "A-as you wish." Siesta accepted with a slight bow and a slight blush on her face.

'Of course it would end like this.' Louise thought when she saw she had been left alone with Kirche.

"I'll sleep alone, thank you very much." She said, taking one of the remaining keys.

"Like every night, Valliére." Kirche shot back, grabbing another.

Louise gave her a look. After the encounter with Isabella, the two had returned to their old relationship. They spoke, but only to exchange insults. "And I hope that the walls are thick enough, because I don't want to know who this one takes to her bed."

"Don't be jealous."

"As if I were to be jealous of the likes of you."

With the discussion over for now, everyone dispersed, going to their respective rooms. The number twelve, the one Louise had ended with, was at the end of one of the arms of the 'T', so she had to walk past all the other rooms before arriving. Midways, she heard a *Click*, indicating that a door was opening. Deciding to take the opportunity to meet the neighbors, Louise turned to face them.

"Hey, good mo... waah? What are you doing here?!" Her moment of surprise gave Agnes, Chevalière de Milan, the opening she needed to punch the noble in the face.

"It's not fair! Your room is bigger than mine!" Kirche complained, sprawled all over the huge bed that dominated the center of the room.

"We didn't know, we haven't been here before." Siesta answered. "It was just chance, Miss Von Zerbst."

"Don't you 'Miss' me. I will be many things, but 'Miss' is not one of them." The redhead told her with humor.

"As you wish mi... uh, Kirche."

"You see? It's better that way. But I don't believe this was an accident. I mean, I find it suspicious that you just happened to choose the room with the double bed. "

Siesta's face reddened. Charlotte, seated in a corner, turned the page of the book she was reading.

"Do-don't joke with that, Kirche!" The maid scolded her. "That was the fault of Montmorency's potion!"

"Nah, nah, my good Siesta. Don't tell me you didn't like it. "

"Well , of course... *Pang!* What was that?"

"Don't change the subject, Siesta... *Crash* *Tumph* *Pum* Okay, I guess you can change the subject."

Practically fighting to leave the place, Kirche was the first to reach the door and open it. "Ahhhh!" Just in time to see Louise flying in front of her clinging to a woman who looked very familiar.

"What the…?"

"Oh, founder!" Siesta cried seeing the two women engaged in a fierce fight on the ground. "What happened? We have to do something!"

"You're right!" Kirche announced resolutely and turned to Charlotte. "Lotte, get me some mud!" The look she received left no doubt about how much the Gallian disapproved of that idea. "Okay, okay."

Under the watchful eyes of several curious customers (the fight had attracted the attention of the rest of the hotel), Kirche walked to the violent human knot that seemed to be trying to strangle itself. Coughing in her fist, she cleared her throat.

"Look!" She yelled. "It's Princess Henrietta!"

"What...?!" Louise's head shot up, trying to find her monarch. Taking advantage of her distraction, Agnes pushed her back, directly into Kirche's open arms that locked firmly under the Tristanian's armpits. "Hey! Let me go you barbarian! "

"Not until you calm down." Kirche replied biting the inside of her own cheek. "And tell us what happened here."

"I have nothing to explain, you ..."

At that moment a new figure joined the discussion. "My lady Agnes, are you alright?" He was a young man, perhaps not older than thirty, with ashen hair falling over his shoulders and a stylish beard. His fine clothes and elegant hat enhanced, even more, his handsome features. "I saw you running and ..." Then he saw Louise, and a flash of recognition and surprise lit his face. "Louise? Is that you?"

With a half-open mouth and her cheeks burning, Louise could hardly believe who stood before her. "Lord Wardes?"

"You know this man, Valliére?" Kirche asked without lifting her gaze from the very attractive specimen in front of her.

"Of course she does!" The newly named Wardes said. "But it has been years since I last saw little Louise. Well, not so little anymore, am I right?" He added with a bright smile.

"Ye-yes." Louise confirmed with a nod of her head. "Viscount Wardes is... is my fiancé."

After calming the irascible innkeeper and paying for the damages caused -fortunately Louise had found herself with enough money after Tarbes- the group settled in one of the saloons of the second floor.

"So, tell me Lord Wardes, how did you know each other?" Kirche asked, clearly interested in knowing more about the man. And in annoying Louise.

"Well, my good lady Von Zerbst." Louise, seated next to her fiancé, made a nasal sound at that. "I was my father's squire during his time with the Manticore Knights. There, I met Duchess Valliére and, well, she saw in me a mage worthy of her daughter. "

"How fascinating." The redhead whispered seductively. "So, you're a skillful mage too, aren't you?"

"Well, I always say that too much pride is bad for a man, but ..."

"Why don't you mind your own business, Von Zerbst? Let Lord Wardes alone." Louise barked at Kirche.

"Don't be like that, Louise. Your fiancé is a very interesting man, definitely much more than mine was." The Germanian replied playfully. "Don't you want us to swap?"

"How dare you, you ..."

"While I appreciate your interest, Lady Von Zerbst." Wardes intervened. "My heart belongs to Louise, and she is the one I intend to marry."

With her face on fire, Louise was forced to look away. How could anyone respond to such a statement?

"And you are a knight under Her Majesty's service?" This time, it was Guiche, in front of them, who made the question.

"That's right, young Gramont. I am the captain of the Griffin Knights, and it is our duty to ensure the safety of the royal family."

"Amazing." The boy exclaimed with an expression of adoration. Montmorency, to his right, wasn't sure if she should feel jealous. "Do you have your griffin with you?"

"Indeed. He's resting in the stables."

"And what brings you to La Rochelle?"

"Well, you see..."

"He doesn't need to know that." Agnes, standing a little behind them with her back against the wall, spat at the boy. "It's confidential."

"Please, tell me it isn't about that stupid plan." Louise protested and Wardes gave her a surprised stare.

"That's none of your business!"

"Please, Agnes." Wardes intervened diplomatically. "I'm sure my Louise is trustworthy."

Lousie grimaced in discomfort. The Viscount's words were sweet, but she didn't like the way he said them. "I don't belong to you, my Lord." She told him in a controlled tone.

"That hurts me, my sweet Louise!" He replied with a hand over his chest. "Don't you love me anymore?"

Louise kept her gaze leveled, not blushing this time.

Love? It was true that she had loved him as a child, but that had been years ago. They were engaged, true, but she wasn't sure if that still meant something.

A disturbance outside the hostel gave her thoughts a grateful respite.

"Ah!" Cried one of the waitresses, followed immediately by the sound of several dishes and glasses breaking against the ground. "What's that thing?"

Charlotte, engrossed in her book in a corner, gave an exasperated sigh and rose from her chair. She walked at a steady pace toward one of the windows, pulled back the curtain, and found a huge eyeball staring back at her. "Bad girl." She scolded her familiar, who answered with an embarrassed 'Kyuu'.

"A dragon?" Wardes asked amazed. "Those are very rare familiars."

"That's Sylphid." Longueville explained. "It's a wind dragon."

"Fascinating." The Viscount nodded, scratching his chin before returning to Louise. "Now tell me, love, how are your classes going?"

"The classes we haven't been attending?"

"Shut up, Kirche" Louise silenced her. "Well, my lord, I have improved a lot lately."

"Really? I knew you were having some complications…"

"Well, not anymore." She told him with her hands at her waist. "I'm doing much better now."

"You don't know how happy that makes me, dear." He complimented her with another of his bright smiles. But… this one was different, too stiff. "And what's your element?"

"Fire." Louise answered mechanically.

A shadow of... something, flared across Wardes' face, but soon it was gone. "Would you mind giving me a demonstration?"

Longueville made a dismissive sound with her throat, but Louise didn't pay attention to her.

"My good Viscount ... aren't you exaggerating a bit?"

"What do you mean, my dear Louise?"

"It's just that... this is a bit much."

Louise and Wardes stood on the courtyard of the hotel, a small square of green and fluffy grass with some flowers around. They were alone at the time, the group having dispersed after Wardes asked them for some privacy. 'I hope you aren't a screamer, Valliere' Kirche had told them to the great annoyance of the Tristanian.

"It's so I can carefully analyze your skills, Louise." In front of them, and on top of a stone pillar that had previously been holding a pot, was a watermelon that had been acquired and placed there by Wardes himself. "And to also check your aim. Being a great mage means nothing if you can't hit your target."

"Yes, it's true." Louise nodded with some embarrassment. She remembered that when she was a child, she used to hit everything surrounding the target, except for the target itself. Her father had joked once that she would make for a great artillerywoman.

"Well, go ahead, dear!"

Wardes's insistence made Louise frown. "Yes, yes, don't push me!" She pulled out her sword and took careful aim at the watermelon. "Yol!" A fireball hit the fruit, scorching it on impact and blackening the pillar on which it rested. "You see? What do you think, my Lord?" Louise turned to Wardes but, instead of seeing him smiling at her success, found him with a darkened face.

"Th-that was perfect, my dear Louise!" The Viscount told her returning to his normal warmth, although his voice remained oddly strained. "I mu-must assume that you overcome your old problems."

"So it is. It was just a matter of training and practice. "

"Practice." Repeated the man. "It was only your lack of practice why you kept failing?"

"My good Viscount," She interrupted with a raised a hand, clearly annoyed. "I ask you not talk about things that you don't understand." She said gruffly.

"But, my sweet Louise ..."

"Look, I don't know what do you think, but it wasn't easy for me."

"Yes, but ..."

"I thought that you, of all people, would be happy for me."

"I... I'm sorry." Wardes bowed his head. "It's just... when you were young, I was always your white knight." Louise threw him a confused look. "I was the one who defended you. I guess I'm a bit sad that my fiancée no longer needs me to protect her. "

"No. Not anymore." She answered and her face hardened. "And that's one thing I wanted to talk with. I'm not wife material." She said coldly.

"But..."

"Let me finish! Listen, it isn't in my plans to marry or have children in the near future. Maybe never." She sighed sadly at that. "I don't know how, but I'll find a way to heal my older sister Cattleya. I'm sure she'd be happy to have a man like you as a husband."

"But I don't love Cattleya, Louise. I love you."

"You'll make me blush." Louise replied, lowering his head. "But it would be wrong to continue with our marriage. We know nothing of each other! "

"I used to know you."

"Not anymore, I assure you."

What followed was an awkward silence that lasted for just too long.

"What… what happened to that sweet girl I used to give boat rides to?" Wardes asked sadly.

"She caught fire and crashed, my lord." Louise replied with acid irony. "In hundreds of little pieces."

"I don't know what to say."

"Say nothing. Maybe we can talk about this later, once your mission is finished."

"Yes," Wardes said absentmindedly with a wave of his hand. "See you later."

On his way out, Louise didn't see the expression of pure rage that flooded his face.

"Do you believe me now?"

"This complicates the plan."

"Really? Don't tell me. What will you do now?"

Louise had been left alone in the garden with her thoughts. What she had told Wardes was true: there was nothing left of the innocent girl he used to know. That girl had been destroyed, broken apart, before being meticulously reassembled again, piece by piece.

She didn't know what would have happened to her if Sheo hadn't been there for her.

Shaking her head, she straightened up and stretched her tired muscles. She was getting ready to return to her room when a new voice called her.

"Do you know what she told me?" Louise turned and found Agnes leaning against the doorframe. "She told me that Louise de la Valliére was her best friend, a kind person who would know how to help her in her time of need."

"Please." Spat an offended Louise.

"I don't think you understand the sacrifice she's doing for her people."

"Sacrifice? She's the Princess! She shouldn't be making sacrifices, she should be ordering me to make them for her!"

Agnes raised an eyebrow. "You? You making the sacrifices? Are you so selfish that you believe no one can match you? "

"Believe?" She paused. "No, I'm certain of that."

The Chevallière gritted her teeth. "You disgust me."

"I assure you that I care very little about your opinion." Louise stepped to the side and started walking away from the place.

"My Princess used to tell me about this great friend she had, how she had always been there for her, how Henrietta used her as her measure." Louise stopped. Her measure? That was pure nonsense! Henrietta was the Princess and Louise and was nothing more than the third daughter of a duchess! The spare. The failure. Louise was the one who should feel proud that the Princess even deign herself to learn her name. "She's been trying to hide it, but I know she has been going to sleep crying these last nights." She walked past Louise and put a hand on her shoulder. "I hope you're proud of this."

Agnes left her while Louise did nothing more than look at her departing back.

The Chevallière was an intelligent person, but she was just a commoner, she didn't understand what it meant to be a noble. She didn't know what she was talking about.

But…

If that was the case, then why had her words cut so deeply into Louise?

She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, but Agnes' words refused to leave her mind, always returning to distract her. To make her doubt.

Was it true what she said? At the end of the day, Henrietta was Henrietta, and Louise's duty was to obey her every command. But orders that put her integrity into play... she couldn't remain quiet about that!

No.

There was no room for doubt, only certainty. The strong don't doubt, because doubt leads to weakness. Doubt leads to failure.

So focused she was on her own thoughts, that Louise didn't see the person coming from the other side of the corridor, and accidentally hit her shoulder. "Sorry." She told that person and kept walking. Then she stopped, turned around, and came face to face with Kirche von Zerbst.

The two girls exchanged glances.

It was like one of those duels of yore, with the two rivals analyzing their opponents waiting for the perfect opening to reveal their move.

In this case, that was Kirche.

"Is it true what you said, Valliere?"

Louise was tired, mentally exhausted, and didn't want to keep dealing with this.

"Why do you care, von Zerbst?" She didn't answer, only stared back at her with a straight face. "If you want to talk, I'll be in my room." She didn't need to turn around to know that Kirche was following her.

Louise walked into her room and stepped aside to give place for Kirche. The redhead came in and made herself comfortable in the bed. Louise closed the door and dragged a chair to sit in front of the Germanian.

What followed was another awkward silence during which none of them spoke.

"And?" Louise asked. "Aren't you going to make a joke?" No answer. "You know, we are alone in a room, the two of us and all that."

Kirche kept staring. After a few seconds, she raised her hand and pointed at her own face. "This looks like a face willing to make jokes?"

"No, not really." Louise had never seen her so serious before. In fact, she thought that Kirche was physically incapable of taking anything seriously.

"Besides, you have to give me better material than that. I'm not that easy." Her face remained fixed, but after a few seconds the side is her mouth curved into a smile.

With the ice broken, Louise felt more comfortable talking with her. "Half of the Academy would say otherwise."

"More than half, Valliére. I assure you that." That statement suggested several things, but Louise decided not to dwell too much on them.

The Tristanian settled in place and folded her arms. "I guess we should talk about what happened at the Academy."

"I guess so."

Louise took a deep breath before starting. "I try to, I really do, but I just don't understand you. Germania and Tristan have been at war for generations, our families always at the forefront of every conflict. I don't understand how you can be so calm about this. "

Kirche shook her head and sighed. "Of course you don't. You really have no idea, do you Valliére? "

"What are you talking about?"

Kirche clicked her tongue. "Religion and politics? To me, they mean nothing. I don't care about any of those things. At least, not as much as you do."

"Not what it sounded like."

"To you maybe. Look, when your Princess told us her plan, do you know what I thought? I thought 'great, that means that maybe our families can leave their old feud behind'. These last days... with all and the near-death experiences... I've been having more fun that in the last eighteen years of my life. I thought that with this we could be friends, like, really friendly. No stupid rivalries and all that. "

Louise blinked. "You… you really think we could be friends, after how we treated each other?"

"Well… yes." Kirche replied sheepishly scratching the back of her head. "I'm an optimist, you know?"

Louise pursed her lips. "I'm not. I just want the best for Tristan, but Henrietta's plan... it's cowardice! One doesn't solve her problems by hiding behind a shield and praying that the problems just vanish on their own! One solves them by going straight to them and exterminating them! The more fire, the better."

"You know, to be so critical about Germanians, you talk like one."

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day."

"I know. That's why I still listen to you every now and then." Kirche smiled, Louise made a big effort to not do the same. "Look, Henrietta wasn't asking much of you, only your approval for her to make a small sacrifice..."

"No!" Louise busted out, jumping from her place. "Am I surrounded by brainless mudcrabs? No sacrifices! No concessions! If you have to sacrifice something to get something else that's because you aren't strong enough to just take whatever you want!"

"That... that's a very cruel way to see the world."

"The world is a cruel place, von Zerbst! Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, how much you wish it, you simply fail." Louise paused and gave Kirche a serious look. "That's something you were always ready to remind me." Kirche at least had the decency to look flustered at that.

"Please, those were just childish pranks."

"You… you dare calling all that childish pranks?" Louise's eye widened, not believing what she just heard. "Do you have the least idea of how much you made me suffer? How many times you made me cry? How many times I thought about jumping from the tallest tower and just be done with it?"

Kirche opened her mouth suddenly feeling short of breath. "I… I never knew." She said softly, making a clear effort not to cross her rival's eyes.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me!"

"I just… just wanted you to laugh." The redhead said hugging one arm with the other. "That's what I always do. I laugh at everything! Even at myself. Especially at myself! That's how I deal with my problems."

Louise rolled her eyes, unconcerned with the other girl's excuses. "You're a high ranking noble and one of the Academy's top mages. You say 'jump' and men ask 'how high?' What problem could you possibly have?"

A shadow ran over the other girl's face. "We… we really don't know each other."

Louise stared back at her, pressing her lips into a tin line and feeling like she was sixteen again. Then she suppressed a sob and had to clean the tears off her eyes. She turned around, embarrassed to be seen like that. "I thought… I thought that I had left this behind me. That I was over you. That I was no longer that weak and stupid little girl."

"I never thought you were any of those things." The Germanian quickly shot back.

"I was! I was weak and useless, unwilling and incapable of striking back!"

Kirche's eyes widened in realization of what Louise was getting at. "But now you can."

"No." She said and Kirche flinched at the amount of poison in those words. "Now I can do much more than that. Preemptive strikes, von Zerbst! Why should I wait to be hurt before defending myself? No! The answer is to kill my enemies before they become a real threat!"

"Then why haven't you killed me yet?"

"What?"

"Yes, I mean, I'm a Germanian, and a von Zerbst on top of that. Following your logic, I'm just waiting for the right moment to attack you." Louise opened her mouth but no word came of it. Encouraged, Kirche kept pressing. "You know what I think? That you want to be my friend too, but you're still trapped in you little shell, your little armor, not wanting to open up to experience the pleasures of life. You're as stubborn and close minded as you can get."

Louise shook her head. Armors were there for a reason, without them it's easy to get hurt. "If you have a mind too open, your brain can end up falling out. I prefer to be decisive, striking without doubt or fear."

"That's why you don't regret making your best friend cry?"

"Don't you dare talking about Henrietta!" She screamed at Kirche baring her teeth. "I know her better than you ever will!" She made a pause. "She was being too naive, ready to martyr herself and expecting that we would just accept her suffering and be fine with it."

"Suffering?" The doubt was clear in the redhead's tone. "She's getting married to one of the most powerful men of Halkeginia! Many women would only dream of something like that!"

"Henrietta is not just any woman!" Louise countered. "You never heard her talking about how her perfect wedding would be. About her ideal boyfriend." Another pause and a sad sigh. "She deserves more than being treated as currency. More than being a trophy wife. She deserves someone who truly loves her, who can appreciate the beautiful and wonderful woman that she is no matter the power she carries through her crown. Someone like..."

"You?"

"Yes."

If their faces were anything to go by, then Kirche was as surprised with that statement as Louise herself. "Louise... are you in love with Henrietta?" The Tristanian opened and closed her mouth but no word came from her. "Please, tell me this isn't just a lover's spat."

"No!" Louise protested, maybe too energetically to sound convincing. "No, I do not! Of course I... no... I don't ... oh, fuck me. "

"Is that an offer?"

"Shut up Kirche!" Louise returned to her seat, crossed her arms and bowed her head in deep thought. "For years she was my only friend, you know? I respected and adored her, always seeking her approval and afraid of disappointing her. Only my mother's opinion ever mattered more to me than hers." She had to clean her eyes again. "When I heard she was about to marry the Germanian Emperor... It felt like if she had betrayed the love I felt for her. Yes, I think that jealousy played an important role there." She took a deep breath. "God, what have I done?"

"Want a hug?" Kirche offered, opening her arms.

"Don't you dare touching me!" Ignoring Louise's words, the Germanian started closing the distance between the two. "Hey! Stop right there! I'm going to hurt you if you don't…" Her words died in her throat when Kirche grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a warm hug.

"Better?"

"…No."

"Whatever you say." Kirche let her go and returned to her place on the bed, but with a smile on her face at the sight of Louise's embarrassed expression. "So, are you... you know… uh ..."

"Going to apologize to Henrietta for the things I said?" She cut in before the redhead could finish her question. "It's not in my plans. Nothing I said was a lie. "

"Yeah, that... that's not what I wanted to ask."

"I know." Louise replied. "I just evaded your question with grace."

"Yes! With the grace of a clumsy ox!" The two shared a hearty, if somewhat forced, laugh. "Mmm, so, you would say you could start a relationship with anyone?"

"As long as they aren't elves." She replied firmly.

"As long as they aren't elves." Kirche repeated in confirmation.

"If you ask me, the rat-ears are the proof that God has a sick sense of humor."

"Eh, I find evidence of that every time I look into a mirror."

Louise looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "There you… you were supposed to insult me back."

Kirche shrugged. "That would have been too predictable, wouldn't it? I prefer to go against the current." She laughed. "You know we Germanians aren't as bad as the elves, don't you?"

"I couldn't say. I know a Germanian who's as obnoxious as one. "

"Har, Har, Vallière." Kirche replied with a crooked smile. "You think yourself so funny." The two looked at each other with serious expressions on their faces, but couldn't contain themselves and broke down into laughter. It took them a couple seconds to recover their composure. "What are you going to do now, Louise?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "I guess once we're done here I'll go back to the capital, talk to Henrietta and... and ask her what she really wants."

"You can't go wrong with that plan."

"Like I said, I don't consider what I told her to be wrong. But maybe... maybe we can make this work." She frowned. "I wonder if she even asked my mother about her opinion. Or any other noble. I refuse to believe that she was hoping for everyone to accept such a big decision and fall in line with no objection. There's too much bad blood between our peoples." With that, Kirche agreed. "If she really wants to go ahead with this plan of hers, she'll need help. A loyal counselor who isn't afraid of getting her hands dirty. Who knows, after the Emperor gives her a healthy heir, the man could have an accident. Maybe during a hunting trip. An arrow to the back never fails and... and... and what am I doing talking about this with you?" She cried out remembering the nationality of her current company.

"I don't know." Kirche replied, casually shrugging her shoulders. "But I told you that I don't care about politics. So don't worry, your regicidal plan is safe with me. "

"That fills me with so much confidence."

"Heh." Kirche laughed and leaned forward with a sly smile. "So..." She began and stopped.

"So..." Louise repeated crossing her arms.

"So…"

They could have kept going on like that all night long, Louise was sure of it. Both were just as stubborn. "So..." But this time, she decided to concede. "Do you want us to be friends?" Louise proposed and offered her hand.

"Nope." Kirche replied popping the 'p'.

"What?! Oh, come on…"

"Just kidding!" Kirche cut in with a big smile. "Come on, Valliére, you need to develop some sense of humor." Louise closed her hand, leaving a single extended finger, before opening it again so Kirche could shake it. "Yes, let's be friends."

"I hope you understand that this doesn't make me forgive you for what you did during first year."

Kirche puffed her cheeks. "And I hope you understand that you haven't answered my question yet."

"What question?"

With a jerk of her arm, Kirche pulled Louise to the bed and, with a seductive smile, whispered into her ear. "Was that an offer back there?" Kirche grinned. Dragon or not, Louise was still the easy to embarrass girl that she knew.

When the redhead pulled away, she was expecting to see Louise with her cheeks red as succulent apples. Instead of that, she saw only determination on her face.

Louise grabbed Kirche by shoulders and pressed her body against hers.

That... that was an unexpected development. But not an unwelcome one.

Pushing with all her strength, Louise threw Kirche on the floor, pressing her back against the wooden boards.

Kirche closed her eyes, ready for whatever would happen next.

And then…

Then the room blew up.

It took Kirche a couple seconds to understand what had happened. There had been a violent sound and then a strong jolt, but the details were blurry.

She opened her eyes and saw the stars. As in, the real stars, the sky!

That... that wasn't right. She had been inside Louise's room, how was that...

It was difficult, because her whole right side was sore, but managed to stand on her feet and look around. She was still inside the room, or rather, what was left of it. The entire outer wall had ceased to exist and part of the roof was missing. The bed they had been using was now nothing more than a bunch of splinters all over the place.

After cleaning the dust that covered her face with the sleeve of her shirt, Kirche started to look for Louise. It didn't take long to find her. Her pink hair was noticeable. As was the image of the noble standing on top of the roof of the house across the street, some twenty meters away.

Kirche saw Louise jumping back. A second later, a heavy rock of more than a meter in diameter fell in the space she had been occupying, shattering the tiles and wooden slats beneath them.

What the hell was going on? Kirche frantically looked for the origin of the deadly projectile and found it on giant golem that was taller than a three-story house. On its shoulder, it was carrying a person covered in a brown coat.

"Fouquet?" Kirche exclaimed in surprise. That was Fouquet, no doubt about it. The image of the elusive thief, with his cloak and his golem, was so well known that it had even reached Germania. But what was he doing there? Would he be looking for revenge? Why? That made no sense!

And where were the guards? They had seen several patrols that morning, but now…

*Boom!*

Several explosions and the unmistakable flare of fire at the distance gave her the answer. It seemed that the thief wasn't alone.

The golem attacked with one of its heavy arms but, with a perfect timing, Louise dodged to her left and sliced it with her glowing sword. "Good one, girl!" Kirche cheered but understood that the battle was far from over.

Pulling out her wand from the neckline of her shirt -the place where she kept all her important possessions- Kirche aimed at the person standing on the construct. With a successful hit, she could put an end to the fight right there.

The violent sound of the bedroom door opening with a kick ruined those plans.

She turned and found herself facing two men, both with handkerchiefs covering their faces.

Fortunately for Kirche, the bandits had been waiting for a helpless victim, and the image of the mage with her wand at the ready made them pause. That was an opportunity Kirche didn't hesitate to take advantage of.

"Ignis! Ignis!" Two cantrips and two fireballs. The first hit one of the men in the chest, killing him almost instantly, but the second went wide, finding the shoulder of his target.

"Ahhh!" The man screamed in pain, as his clothes and flesh ignited.

Gritting her teeth, Kirche was forced to aim carefully at the desperate man. "Iaculum!" Her new spell didn't summon a fireball, but a small spear of flame that erupted from the tip of her wand and connected with the side of the bandit's head. He was dead before his body stopped convulsing.

Feeling weak in the legs, Kirche leaned her body against one of the still standing walls.

The moment had been terrifying, but now that she savored victory, "That ... that was intense." Her heart was beating wildly as it had never done before.

No, no, that was wrong. The sensation running through her body was not different from what she felt each time she shared her bed with one of her many lovers. She wasn't sure whether or not to feel disgusted with the comparison.

"Louise!" She remembered immediately, but there were no other traces of noblewoman left. Her struggle with Fouquet must have moved to another part of the city.

Kirche got ready to look for her, but then she heard a scream, "Ahh!" That sounded like the innkeeper! And behind that cry came the unmistakable sound of metal and wood betraying a fight.

Without hesitation, Kirche clenched her fist around her wand and broke into a sprint, ready to provide all the help she could. "Let's see how being the hero goes."

If there was something that Louise had to admire of Fouquet, it was that the thief was smarter than your average cutthroat.

She jumped to the side to avoid an earth-spear that split the chimney at her back.

At least, much more intelligent than the last one she faced. What was his name? Gustavo? Gabriel? Something like that.

The noble tried to shorten the distance, but Fouquet's golem destroyed the columns supporting the roof they were fighting on, forcing Louise to retreat and seek firmer ground.

After his failed earlier attack, the thief had made sure to keep his distance, knowing very well that he couldn't hope to triumph over Louise if he allowed her to fight in close combat.

Louise heard a battle cry and saw a half dozen warriors climbing up to her position.

'And he even has reinforcements.' In Tarbes, they had the advantage of surprise and had fought tired and ill-prepared enemies. Now the tables had turned, and that group of mercenaries looked well trained and well equipped. How could they let this happen? To be ambushed? They never had...

'They…'

There was no 'they' here. Louise no longer had at her disposal the survival instincts of Teldryn Sero or the powerful magic of J'zargo or Serana.

A brave mercenary stepped forward and charged her. Louise looked at him, turned around and with a precise use of "Fus" sent him to the ground some twenty meters below. "Excuse me, I was having a moment there!" Unconcerned with her explanations, the partners of the now-probably-deceased fellow wasted no time jumping at her.

Louise dodged to the right and cut to the left.

These warriors were good, much better than the bandits from Tarbes. Maybe the reason was that they weren't half-asleep, but still, they were no match for her. "His! Grah! Dun!" With her body accelerated to superhuman levels, the attackers had no hope of challenging her.

They had good plate armors, but no armor was perfect. A neck, a knee, an armpit, every joint and chink was an opening that her sword showed an almost supernatural ability to find and explode.

Another cut and another severed arm. A final scream silenced and no warrior was left to face Louise, leaving her free to...

*Bang!*

"Agh!" The noble fell on her knees. Her right leg was burning in pain as if she had been branded with a red-hot iron.

What the hell had that been?

She heard the sound of footsteps and Louise pushed herself up just in time to see a last attacker charging her, armed with a sword in one hand and a strange pipe in the other.

If the man had been more cautious, maybe he would have been a real threat, but he relied too much on the inflicted wound and rushed at his prey with a lunge that showed no technique or grace.

Gritting her teeth and enduring the pain, Louise got back on her feet just before the sword could fall on her. Supporting all her weight with her left leg, the noble lunged forward.

The man had a second to understand the fatality of his situation before his heart, lung and spine were punctured in a single stab.

With the latest threat eliminated, Louise had the opportunity to analyze his weapon. It was a... "I'm an idiot." It was a matchlock pistol. "How could I forget about those?" That had been a mistake that almost cost her life.

Settling in a sitting position, Louise inspected the wound. It was deep, but fortunately the bullet had entered and left her thigh without touching the bone. The muscle would heal, but that would require time she didn't have because, not wanting to be forgotten, Fouquet resumed his attack once again.

Perhaps it was carelessness, or perhaps it was overconfidence after seeing his rival wounded, but the thief had discarded his effective ranged strategy in favor of simply smashing his way to victory. Well, Louise wasn't going to complain. She was down, but if the damned thief thought that something as insignificant as flesh wound would stop her, he would be sorry.

Turning over her left shoulder, Louise dodged by just centimeters the fist of the huge construct. Seizing her chance, the noble channeled her magic through her sword. With the blade wrapped in the power of the Void, she buried it into the Titan's arm. But she didn't slash it, no, she just needed leverage.

When Fouquet pulled his golem back to analyze the situation, he didn't notice that he had brought with him an undesirable passenger who was only waiting for the right angle to attack.

The thief was still standing on the shoulder of his construct, completely exposed and distracted. "Wuld" If receiving the shot felt like getting a burn, then crashing against the thief was like pouring salt on the wound. Fouquet tried to raise his wand to defend himself, but wasn't fast enough and Louise body-slammed him, forcing a grunt of pain that turned out to be female, and strangely familiar. 'No, it cannot be.'

The two bodies continued their trajectory until hitting a wall, breaking through it and ending inside the building, back at the inn where Louise and company had stayed.

Before the impact, the noble pushed Fouquet's body in front of her as a cushion, so it was the thief that was first to hit the floor of the room. "Ugh..." Again that familiar voice.

Louise was the first to stand up. Fouquet tried to ready his wand but Louise kicked his hand away and grabbed him by the collar of his coat. With her free hand, she tore his hood away.

It was hours past midnight when the hooded figure entered the hidden cabin in the forest they had previously prepared for the occasion.

"You're late." Said the male voice of her contact.

"I had trouble getting out with this." The woman answered, presenting him with a wooden box of about a meter in length and half in width.

"I was beginning to doubt you could do it." She frowned but said nothing as he opened the box to check its contents. "What a strange device. How does it work?"

"You didn't hire me to find out." She spat back, but quickly corrected herself, understanding that it was risky to make an enemy of this man. "Old Osmond spent over a decade trying to make it work, don't expect miracles from me."

"I guess that's fair." He put it away. "You did your part of the deal, but my superiors aren't happy that you had to sacrifice one of their 'assets' in the process."

The woman clicked her tongue. "I had no choice. I doubt they would have won, even with my help."

The man made a hideous laugh. "The great Fouquet scared of some students? Who would have thought? "

"You weren't there." Fouquet replied. "There's something wrong with the crazy fire mage."

"Problems with the Von Zerbst girl? I wouldn't consider her particularly dangerous. "

The thief smiled in victory. The man had always taken every chance to flaunt his knowledge, knowledge that he shouldn't possess but, this time, he had made a mistake. "No, you're wrong. I'm talking about the Valliére girl..." And suddenly her back was against the wall, her feet no longer touched the ground and the man's hand was around her throat. "What-what's the meaning of this?"

"You lie, thief." The man threatened her. "The girl is a useless mage who doesn't even know her own element!"

"We-well, then she makes a very convincing impression of one."

The man stared back at her, as if considering whether or not it was worth keeping her alive. "I have new orders for you." He said as he released her.

"That was not part of the deal!"

"I'm altering our deal! Pray that I don't alter it any further." The woman glared at him as she moved her hand toward her wand. "Don't do anything stupid, Mathilda." The color drained from her face. "Yes, we know about you. And we also know about Tiffania." She clenched her fists so hard her nails cut the skin of her palms. "So, do we understand each other?"

"Yes. Yes, we do. "

"Good. This is what I need you to do. "

"You?!" Louise cried out, her face a mixture of horror and surprise at the sight of the person who was under the hood.

"Wha-what can I say?" Said mockingly the woman she had known as Longueville. "Reconquista pays much better than Osmond."

In a fit of rage, Louise raised her up and threw the secretary against the nearest wall. The wood had been weakened due to the battle and couldn't withstand the force of impact, so Longueville -Fouquet, Louise reminded herself- ended up in the next room.

With an anguishing *thum* the woman's body impacted heavily against the floor.

Pushing with her arms, Fouquet tried to crawl away. "Wa-wait a minute. Le-let me say something ..." But Louise wouldn't allow it. With a kick directed to her abdomen, the noble forced the air out of her lungs and, if her ears weren't deceiving her, broke one or two ribs. "Ugh!"

"You have nothing to say." Louise spat with venom in her voice. "You have nowhere to run." The noble's leg was soaked with blood that kept pouring from the wound but fury was an excellent sedative. "When I'm done with you..." But she would never finish that sentence.

"Louise!" Came the unmistakable voice of Viscount Wardes, standing at the door frame with his sword-wand raised.

Louise made a pause of just one second to look at him. That was a mistake.

She only had one second to recognize the smell of ozone invading her nostrils.

Only a second to understand that he wasn't pointing his wand at Fouquet, but at her.

A second wasn't enough to raise her sword and defend herself from the attack.

With a loud *Crack* lightning burst from the tip of the Viscount's wand, crashing into the unprotected flank of Louise.

Then she heard a loud crash. It took her a moment to realize that sound had been produced by her body when she went flying out of the nearby window.

"Ugggh…" She groaned when she landed on the garden several meters below. Luckily the grass and soft earth had cushioned the impact. With her whole body aching, she ran her hand over her belly and found the grotesque reddish bump that the electric attack had left.

'Another one for the collection.' She thought bitterly.

She looked around and found she was no longer inside the hotel. She had fallen and was now back in the inner garden where she had shown Wardes her magic.

'Wardes!' That… that bastard. He had attacked her! Why? 'Reconquista!' Were the Albionese rebels behind this? Why? What was he getting with this? Had that been really him or just a part of an elaborate hoax? And what did Longue... Fouquet have in all this? She had far too many questions and no way to answer them.

She tried to stand up but pain flared down her left foot, forcing her back to the ground. She looked down, "Shit." Her left boot no longer existed, and the skin of her sole was open and scorched, exposing the muscles underneath. It was from there that the electrical charge had escaped her body. It was a miracle she hadn't lost a toe.

She needed to recover. Those two traitors had a griffin with them, if she didn't catch them now who knew when she would find them again?

"Ahhh!" She heard a scream.

Of course, it wouldn't be that easy.

'Option one, I go back up there and brutally murder those two.' She thought. 'Option two, I save her and let them escape.'

That was a though choice.

Awkwardly, she stood up. "This is going to hurt."

Kirche threw a fireball to her right, but the mix of fatigue and fury betrayed her and ruined her aim, so the attack ended up going well above the man's head.

She stepped back only to trip with a wooden beam that had fallen off during the confrontation. That ended up with her on the ground and a broken wand in her hand.

Taking advantage of her moment of vulnerability, the mercenary grabbed her by the leg and dragged her towards him. "Come on, I want to have some fun today." He lifted her by the neck. "You look funny." He brought his face close to hers and licked her cheek.

That was what she gained for trying to be the hero. She had not only failed miserably in her attempt to save the innkeeper's life -he was already dead when Kirche arrived- but, thanks to her overconfidence, she was now at the mercy of the disgusting man.

Enraged, Kirche grabbed one of the pieces of her wand and buried it in the man's arm.

"Ahhh!" That set her free, but her victory was short lived. With a well-aimed kick, her attacker smashed her against the wall.

"Ahhhh!"

"Bitch."

Kirche's heart felt like bursting. Was she... was she about to die? Was the man about to kill her? The realization was terrifying, but also awoke an intense fire inside her she had never felt before.

She licked her lips and, in a final show of defiance, did the first thing that came to her mind: she rammed into the man and punched him in the stomach.

He barely felt it.

Under his worn-out shirt, the Germanian could feel the thin outline of powerful muscles that her weak arms couldn't overcome. "That's all you got, bitch?" With the back of his hand, the man hit her Kirche's head and sent her to the ground. "Come on, I wanna hear you scream." He raised his sword.

"Wuld! Nah! Kest!" The wall to Kirche's right blew out and through it came Louise in a fairly credible impersonation of a cannon ball. The Tristanian smashed against the man and Kirche could hear the grotesque sound of bones clicking and breaking. She didn't dare to find out who those belonged to.

The man, shaken by the blow and sore due to the piece of wand that was still embedded into his arm, swung at Louise, but she evaded him with ease.

Why wasn't Louise using her sword? Kirche wondered. She had it holstered at her back but didn't look interested in pulling it out.

Another slash.

Louise's movements were clumsy and slow, it was obvious she was in a lot of pain, but her enemy wasn't in dissimilar conditions and she managed to break through his defenses.

Then something happened that made Kirche stare with wide eyes. Louise pressed her body against the man's chest, put a hand behind his neck and closed her lips to his.

It looked like... like if she was about to kiss him.

"Gaan! Lah! Haas!" A thread of violet light connected their two mouths and, before the astonished eyes of the Germanian, the man aged a hundred years in just an instant. His skin turned gray and brittle, his eyes withered and rolled back inside his skull. While that happened, Louise looked reinvigorated herself. Multiple scrapes and recently open wounds covering her body vanished, leaving only small, almost invisible lines zigzagging over her skin.

Louise let go of the body. What fell was nothing more than a pile of bones that turned into dust upon impact with the ground.

"Lo-Louise..." Kirche called her but then, with a loud *Shreek*, the entire structure of the inn shuddered. The building had already suffered a lot under the attacks of the golem and the Germanian's fire. The hole that Louise had opened with her dynamic entry was the straw that broke its back.

She was tired, but fear and adrenaline gave Kirche the push she needed to stand up. Louise didn't allow her to do much else because she immediately ran up to her and, without asking for consent or opinion, picked her up in a bridal carry.

"Hey! What…"

"Hold on! Wuld! "

Kirche felt a tremendous pressure pushing her forward, and the next thing she knew was that the two were rolling on the street in front of the inn. She was scraped and tired but had survived.

With a last plaintive cry, a whole section of the building collapsed.

"I'm... I'm alive!" The Germanian announced, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She checked her body and was pleased to see that, although her clothes had been torn in several places, there was nothing broken or damaged.

"Good! Now get off me! "

"Hehe, sorry." Kirche apologized and rolled to the side, allowing Louise to rise up. "We... we did that?" She asked after seeing the sad remains of what had been a nice inn. "... It's hard to believe, isn't it?"

Louise's response was a dismissing grunt. "Mhm."

"Hey, Louise, are you ... are you okay?!" She asked, only now noticing the state of the Tristanian. The wounds she had received had healed, but she had new scars all over her skin, her clothes were stained with far too much blood, and she was missing one of her boots.

"No." She said in a strained voice. "It was Longueville."

"What…?"

"Longueville! She was Fouquet. "

Kirche gasped. "Longueville? The secretary...? You ... did you...? "

"No." She replied. "Wardes saved her at the last moment."

Kirche didn't know how to react to that. Yes, Fouquet was a dangerous criminal, but she knew Longueville! Or at least, she had believed to know her. And Wardes? Louise's fiance? What the hell was going on? "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I looked her straight in the eyes when I broke her jaw." She said clenching her fists. "And then he attacked me with the lightning bolt that almost broke me in half." She put a hand on her belly.

Kirche looked to one side and then to another. "You two couldn't wait for the wedding night?"

Louise gave her a deadpan stare. "I really want to strangle you right now."

"So... pretty much as always?"

The Tristanian tried to keep her face straight, but couldn't contain herself and her lips arched up into a smile. "Ha ... haha!" She threw her head back and laughed. "You and that mouth of yours."

"They praise it well enough, believe me."

"Well then…."

"Sylphid!" They heard a scream and fell silent. That had been Charlotte.

"Oh, no."

When Kirche and Louise arrived at the stables, the first thing they found was Agnes defending the door. The Chevallière had a bandaged head and was breathing heavily, evidence of her exhaustion, but stood strong, with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Just a few meters next to her was the inert figure of Sylphid, her eyes closed, with Siesta and Charlotte with her. "No! No! No!" Louise had never heard the Gallian so desperate. She had never heard her… anything, in fact.

"Valliére. I see you survived." Agnes received them. By her tone, Louise couldn't tell whether or not she was disappointed.

"That's right, Chevallière." While Louise talked to the bodyguard, Kirche ran to meet her friend. "And not for a lack of effort on our enemies' part." She said, pointing at her bloodstained pants.

"Our enemies." Repeated the woman.

"What are you trying to say?" Louise asked narrowing her eyes menacingly.

"This?" Agnes said pointing at her bandaged head. "Is your boyfriend's doing." Louise clenched and unclenched her fists. "A man who, interestingly enough, was trained by your mother."

"Don't you dare finish that though, Chevallière." Louise pointed at her stomach. "This was his way of breaking our marriage."

"Not such a serious wound if you're already on your feet."

Louise parted her lips, baring her teeth.

"Can't you keep quiet for a moment?" Kirche shouted at them.

Louise growled at Agnes, but accepted that the redhead was right. 'And I hate myself so much for admitting that.'

"What happened?" Louise asked, approaching others. Charlotte looked like a walking dead, oblivious to the world around her.

"Poison." Agnes threw in.

"Wardes?"

The Chevallière nodded. "I guess he didn't want us to follow him."

"Follow? Where?" Demanded the Gallian princess raising up from her place. "Where?!"

Agnes crossed her arms and sighed. "I guess at this point I can tell you. We were going to Albion to retrieve a letter that could put in jeopardy the marriage between Princess Henrietta and the Germanian Emperor. "

"A letter? What was so special about that letter?" Louise asked.

"Ask Henrietta yourself after she decides to forgive you."

The noble clenched her fists again. Each new word increased her desire to break the woman's face with her feet. "Hey! Can't you leave that for another time?" Kirche interrupted walking between them. "We have an emergency here!"

Louise threw the Chevallière a last defiant look before nodding at the Germanian. "What can we do?" The dragon released a sad, tired 'Kyuu'.

Kirche ducked her head. "I was going to ask you that. Can't one of your tricks help here?"

"...No." Louise pressed her lips in frustration. "Sylphid isn't a Dova. If she were..." She left that sentence incomplete, there was no point in losing themselves in the maybes.

"Montmorency can help!" Siesta cried. "Lord Gramont went to get her!"

"Guiche? Was he with you? "

"Yes." The maid confirmed. "He protected us when the mercenaries attacked, just some minutes before you arrived."

Louise rubbed her forehead.

Despite her differences with Montmorency, they couldn't underestimate her alchemical knowledge. After all, not any teenager could brew a love potion in their bedrooms.

The sound of moving metal startled them and Louise raised her sword in a defensive position ready for whatever would come. Fortunately, those weren't enemies, but Guiche's Valkyries.

At the front of the formation were two of the constructs, both carrying heavy shields and armed with large swords. Their bodies were battered and their weapons were stained with blood.

Behind them came a grim-faced Guiche. In his hand, he was carrying a sword with an intricate floral design running along the blade. That was his rose-wand, transmuted and bloodstained.

Behind them were two other Valkyries, these ones unarmed, carrying between the two the trunk of Montmorency, with the girl herself seated on top of it.

"You have to be kidding me." Louise complained under her breath. The Golems stopped and deposited their cargo at the middle of the barn. "Are you still carrying that?" She criticized while Montmorency worked with her trunk. "We have more important things than your..." But her words died in her throat after seeing what was inside.

Far from being full of garments and fine fabrics, the trunk was a laboratory in miniature. The front was occupied by a set of cauldron and distilleries, and all the rest by dozens of small bottles and compounds of different types, shapes, and colors. Montmorency unlocked a hook in the center of the trunk and the base split opened, showing that underneath a false bottom there were even more bottles.

Montmorency took an empty container and a short brass rod with a piece of cotton around the tip.

"Guiche explained the situation." She said putting the objects in Louise's hands. "Here. Do something useful for a change and take a sample of saliva from the patient. "

"I…"

"Don't say anything!" The girl lectured her. "Don… just don't distract me and obey." Louise nodded and went to the dragon, who was too tired to resist the Tristanian's proximity.

With great care to not lose a finger, Louise ran the rod between Sylphid's teeth, soaking it with saliva.

"There." She returned it to Montmorency, who deposited it in a test tube containing a blue liquid that turned ochre after mixing with the sample.

"Ricin." The blonde muttered to herself.

"What?"

"Ricinus Communis." She repeated mechanically as she set her equipment of cauldron and tripod ready. "Shrubby plant. Causes death by apoptosis. In humans it's fatal. In a dragon..." She explained in a faithful imitation of Charlotte's mannerisms. "Guiche!"

"Ye-yes!" The boy replied straightening up.

"I'll need your help with the antidote." He nodded without hesitation. "Von Zerbst!" Kirche looked at her with a stony face, ready to do whatever was necessary to help her friend's familiar. "I need a controlled flame under my cauldron! Charlotte, Siesta, Valliére!" The other three weren't slow to react either. "Keep the patient calm and warmed. And you..." She finally turned to Agnes. "I have no idea who you are, so just keep doing whatever you're doing." The Chevallière just shrugged.

What followed was a frantic race against time. Siesta and Charlotte did everything in their power to keep Sylphid calm and conscious while Louise whispered something into her ear. Kirche had put all her concentration to the task of keeping the flame under the cauldron stable, raising and lowering it according to the alchemist's instructions. Guiche was busy obeying his girlfriend's every order, passing her from the trunk the tools and compounds she needed. Agnes kept guard.

"Please Sylphid, please." The Gallian whimpered as she hugged the head of her familiar.

"You'll be fine, girl, just a little more." Siesta told her as she covered the most she could of her body with a burlap cloth she found on the ground.

Louise wanted to share that opinion, but Sylphid was getting worse by the minute. Her Shout of Animal Allegiance was probably the only thing preventing the dragon from having a panic attack.

Then things took a turn for the worst. "She's trembling!" The maid cried.

"She's suffering a septic shock!" Montmorency cried out. "Guiche, saffron! Von Zerbst, more fire!"

Fearful of what she could find, Louise used Aura Whisper to inspect her condition. "How much more? We're losing her here. "

"Almost done! Almost done! "Montmorency replied as she frantically stirring the contents of the cauldron with a wooden spoon.

"Sylphid!"

"Montmorency!"

"She stopped breathing!"

"Oh, damn it!"

"Monmon, what?"

Ignoring the cries of concern from her boyfriend, the young alchemist grabbed the hot cauldron with her naked hands. "Open her mouth!"

Jumping to the front of the dragon, Louise planted a foot on her lower jaw and pushed the upper one with her hands. With the help of Charlotte and Siesta, they opened the huge jaws.

Flexing her knees, Montmorency pushed forward, throwing the antidote directly into the dragon's throat.

Sylphid shuddered and went limp.

"Sylphid! Sylphid! "

For a few agonizing seconds nothing happened, but slowly the dragon opened her eyes.

"Kyu?" Her master couldn't contain herself and hug her lovingly.

Louise smiled at that. "Mon... Montmorency!" She turned to talk to her fellow Tristanian, but found her kneeling on the floor being attended by her boyfriend and Kirche. Her hands had been badly burnt. "Are you…?"

"Of course not, Valliére! Ouch!Ouch!" Guiche was carefully wrapping the hands of his girlfriend with cloths soaked in a viscous liquid. "B-but I'm an alchemist!" She said with determination. "This isn't the first time I burn myself and it's not going to be the last!"

Louise nodded. Her pride wouldn't allow her to admit that she had been wrong about the blonde, but that didn't mean she didn't feel a trace of respect for the girl. "Let me know if you need anything."

"What do we do now?" Kirche's question caught her off guard, and with fury remembered the bad situation they found themselves in.

"'We' do nothing." She replied. "You'll stay here and get to the capital to tell Henrietta about this." One by one she looked at them in the eyes. "I'm going to Albion."

"What?" That was Agnes, who looked shocked at that statement. "You want to continue with this alone?"

"Yes." Louise replied. "You are in no condition to go anywhere. And the rest... you aren't prepared for this."

Kirche opened her mouth to say something, but just lowered her head and nodded.

"What do you need of us, Louise?" Guiche asked her.

Instead of answering, Louise went to Agnes. "What was your mission, again? This time with details."

The Chevallière thought for a moment about it before answering. "We were going to Albion to contact Prince Wales Tudor. He has the letter. "

"How would you get there?" Guiche cut in. "I understand that Reconquista put a blockade around the island."

"In a frigate of sulfur smugglers." The woman explained. "Wardes would use his wind magic to propel it and get us there faster."

"Can he still go ahead with this without your help?"

The woman bowed her head to the side and spat on the ground a mixture of phlegm and blood. "Henrietta gave us a letter and the Water Ring as a way to show our identities. Wardes kept them because, well, I'm just a commoner and they would be safer with him." The disgust in her voice was clear.

Louise scratched her chin. "I understand." So, not only would she had to recover the letter, she would also have to retrieve the ring. Typical. "Then we must assume that if Reconquista wants to ruin the alliance it's because they're already planning to invade us." That was a bitter revelation. "I'll see to stop them in Albion, but you better prepare for the worst."

The students looked at each other. They were nobles. They had been trained for this… but the cruel reality of war still sent a chill down their backs. They stared back at Louise, but found no words to say.

"Why this outburst of loyalty, Valliére?" Agnes asked wryly.

"Loyalty?" Louise said giving the woman a vicious smile. "This has nothing to do with loyalty or patriotism. This is just about revenge." She leaned against the doorframe and took a solemn stance. "Before this is over, I promise I'll rip the bastard of Warde's eyes out of his skull with a spoon."

And with that last statement, she walked out to find transport.

Whether it was luck or coincidence, the only boat she found in conditions at that hour was the Cheerful Green, its captain having stubbornly refused to escape even after several nearby warehouses burst into flames. Unfortunately, things hadn't been as simple as approaching the man and paying for the passage.

"I offer triple and nothing more!" Louise said, raising a hand with three extended fingers. She was standing in the center of the deck of the great ship directly under the main mast. In front of her, with his attention divided between the noble and the sailors who were loading different goods, was the captain of the ship.

"And I already told you that means nothing!" Replied the man. He was muscular, but with a healthy belly and prominent sideburns. "I have a cargo to carry to Germania, and... eh! Careful with that! The knot is loose!" He yelled at a couple of men who were using a pulley system to lift some heavy crates. "As I was saying, there's no way in hell I'm going near that damn place! Do you have any idea how many pirates started popping up after the war?"

Louise stared at him. A pity she didn't have the slightest idea of navigation, or she would have simply thrown the man overboard and taken over the ship.

"Ahem," They heard someone clearing her throat. When Louise turned around to see who that was, she found Charlotte standing next to her.

"Charlotte? What are you doing here?"

The girl looked at her but didn't answer, just walked up to the captain.

"Look, lady, I don't care who you are, but as I was telling your friend..." From one of the pockets of her shirt, Charlotte pulled out a ring. It was a silver ring with its mount crafted in the shape of a fleur-de-lis. The man saw it and paled. "Y-you...? Please forgive me!" He dropped on one knee. "I didn't know she had sent you." Louise raised an eyebrow. She had no doubt who was the 'she' the man was talking about, but hadn't imagined that Isabella would command that much influence. "B-but, milady, I have schedules to fulfill, and the danger of pirates ..."

"Don't care." The Gallian interrupted. "Take us halfway."

"Halfway?" Louise asked. "But how…"

"Ahhh!" They heard a scream and saw a huge blue claw clinging to the side of the deck. The talon pulled and next to it came the head of Charlotte's familiar.

"Sylphid? But how did she...?" The dragon finished climbing up and Louise could see how she had arrived.

Around Sylphid's abdomen, there were fastened two large bronze wheels. To Louise, those looked uncomfortable but, judging by the expression on the familiar's face, Sylphid didn't care.

Next to her was Guiche, who was using his magic to strengthen the harness, with Montmorency using her magic to levitate the dragon and facilitate her movement. Behind them came Kirche (who had lost her wand) and Siesta with baskets full of meat.

Before the frightened eyes of the crew, Louise moved to greet the students.

"What are you..."

"Oh, quiet you, Louise!" Kirche silenced her. "We know you don't want company, but that doesn't mean we can't see you off! That's what friends are for, right?"

Louise blushed. That camaraderie felt nice.

"I promise I'll do my best to help you from here, Valliere!" Guiche said resolutely punching his own chest.

"Mmm. I have no intention of letting some filthy rebels attack our kingdom." Montmorency was next.

"I... I don't know what I could do, but I'll help somehow." That was the nervous Siesta, who had left the food with the chef of the boat.

"That's right!" Kirche reasserted. "Besides, I wouldn't have let you go without this." The Germana handed Louise an object and the Tristanian blushed seeing that those were a pair of boots.

"I... thank you." She said. "Where did you get them?"

"Well, their old owner didn't need them anymore." That was the polite way of saying she had looted them from a corpse.

"Ha. I can still make an adventurer out of you, von Zerbst." The two exchanged smiles and Louise turned to Charlotte, who nodded and looked at the captain.

"You'll take us halfway." The Gallian told him again. "We'll take her to Albion." She said pointing at her familiar with a movement of the head. "You will wait for my return." That was no question or suggestion.

"Ye-yes, of course." The man stuttered and proceeded to explain the crew the change of plans. "Okay, boys! New orders! "

"Are you sure about this, Charlotte?" Louise asked her. "Are you sure Sylphid will be in well enough condition?"

The blue-haired girl walked to her familiar and rubbed her head. "Kyuuu!"

"Yes. Two, three days. Enough time to recover. "

"I... I thank you, Charlotte."

"No need. I also want vengeance. "

In the heavy and slow merchant ship, it took them five days before they could see the White Continent. It was a vast mass of rock floating in the sky surrounded by a dense wall of fog around the edges that gave it its distinctive name.

The days had been rainy. That had been a calamity for the sailors who had to endure the fury of the elements, but not for Louise. The inclement meant that the fog around Albion was particularly dense that day, perfect for concealing Sylphid's flight.

They left early in the morning, hours before the sun rose. The dragon was still uncomfortable around Louise, but after La Rochelle she was much more tolerant of her presence.

"Thank you for this." Louise told Charlotte, dismounting with a jump after landing.

"You're welcome." The Gallian replied with her characteristic apathy.

"Sure you'll fine on the trip back?"

Charlotte nodded. "Won't dare upsetting Isabella." Louise answered with a smile. Influential allies could open many doors.

"Be careful anyways, alright? And I suppose I should thank you too." Louise told Sylphid and reached out to pat her head. The dragon shuddered and the noble tore her hand away. "I'd really like to know why you don't like me."

Sylphid lowered her head, not daring to look at Louise's eyes. The Noble shrugged and turned away. Before she could take a single step, she heard a feminine and childlike voice. "It's... your smell." If Louise hadn't known better, she would have said that voice belonged to a ten-years-old girl. "You smell of blood... blood and madness."

Louise sighed. "I know." She threw a glance at Charlotte and another at Sylphid. "And don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

The Gallian answered with a nod of the head and a look that spelled 'you better'.

With a flap of her wings, Sylphid -if that was even her real name- took back to the sky. Louise followed her flight until she couldn't see her anymore.

"I'll be damned." Louise looked around and smile at the situation in which she found herself. She was alone, in a foreign land ravaged by a civil war with a mission to save her people. "Fuck it! This is Skyrim all over again!" She palmed her trusty sword. "At least this time I'm ready for it."

Well, Albion was very cold that time of year, so one of her immediate goals would be to get adequate clothes. She would start with a good pair of wool socks.

Whistling softly, she started to walk.

…

A/N: Hello! That took a while, didn't it? But finally this chapter is out! As always, a big thanks for reading my story. Now, this chapter marks the end of Act 2, next chapter will begin Act 3 'For Queen and Country'. No Time-Skips this time, I promise, but before that I'll be posting three interludes, Tiffania's side story, Tyranny of the Sun part one, and On the summit of Apocrypha. As the names suggest, two of those will be about Louise's times on Skyrim.

With that out of the way, I want to point you to...

*KABOOM!*

Hydra: READ THE STORY WRITTEN BY THE GODS!

Poliamida: The heck are you doing here? AND WHAT DID YOU TO MY WALL?

Hydra: I, THE GOD, CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL!

Poliamida: Please don't start singing like Miley Cyrus.

Hydra: The hell are you talking about, I just literally crashed your wall in with a wrecking ball!

Poliamida: I guess then you didn't watch the video then?

Hydra: What video?

Poliamida: -.- 'Presses a button and in a flash of light five Black Templar Terminators pop up' Look! A heretic!

Black Templars: Raaaaage!

Hydra: AAAAAAA, RETREAT TO THE BUNKER!

Poliamida:*Sigh* I have to be more careful with who I give access to these files, sorry for that. That was Hydraliskenmaster, the author of FoZ fics like Cry for an Angel and Celestia takes a vacation. He helped me with the medical jargon this chapter and together we started a story, a SI called Ouroboros. Check it out at his account.