Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OC
Karin sat inside the tent waiting for the result of the meeting to come forward, the three generals of Helkeginia had talked to the commanding officer of the Belfast military, Amanda Cutler, and had discussed the possibility of working with them. It was clear by now that magic was involved in this war and that the Confederacy had somehow taught themselves magic and was using it against their enemies, that meant that the Belfast military would need to have the aid of more magicians. Although Louise and co. were more then capable of dealing with any mages that they might come across there was also the high possibility that mages would be spread all over the land and they could not deal with them individually. Hence the need for more mages, the Belfast military had been receptive of them especially when they learned that Louise was from a noble family and not from common stock...quite ironically Karin had noticed that they were much more favourable once they learned that they too were from nobility.
Things therefore were no different than Helkeginia and that worried her immensely, would they be able to work together with the militia? Or would they simply leave them as cannon fodder? Karin for one always believed that in war it didn't matter what your status was, if you were commoner or noble, all that mattered was how much effort you put in. Karin could only hope that they would understand this simple statement and learn to treat the common soldiers equally. She took a deep breath and looked at a picture of Louise and her sisters that she kept in a locket, in the time that she entered the base she had learned a lot about her daughter, it seemed she had underestimated just how much her daughter had done in this world. What she did at Barton, Riang and countless other battlefields were the stories of heroism and true bravery...never in a million years did she think that Louise would be this capable on the battlefield.
However just as there are many stories of her bravery and heroism there were stories of her countless injuries and trials. Most notably was her lost eye, lost during a grenade explosion at Barton, that sent mixed feelings for Karin...she had not talked to Louise about it and was about to in a few minutes along with her other daughters. Of course her natural reaction was fear, she was now afraid of what else Louise suffered while she was fighting, she had been hurt many times during her time as a soldier but never to the extent that Louise had. Did she want her daughter to continue fighting? Or would she much prefer to have her daughter on the sideline now? No...if the stories were anything to go by Louise would insist she continue to fight on despite the dangers. She would not abandon her comrades for mere safety, she had that chance when she was offered a chance to retire from the frontlines the first time she lost her eye, that made Karin proud that her daughter had a high standard for herself.
"Mother did you want to talk to me?" Louise asked poking her head into Karin's tent surprising her.
"Oh yes come in Louise," Karin said as her daughters came in and sat down, "I want to talk to you what you have been doing in this world."
"I see," Louise said fidgeting slightly, "I hope they have been good ones."
"Exceptional ones," Karin replied, "I'm quite glad that you have upheld the Valliere name and shown extraordinary bravery on the battlefield."
"Thank you," Louise said softly, "I try to do so."
There was a moment of silence amongst the Valliere family before Karin stood up and went to Louise, "Let me see your eye..." she said softly as Louise looked at her for a moment as she wondered whether or not she was ready to reveal to them the hardships that she suffered. However she knew that it was better to do it now rather than later so she took off the eyepatch revealing the gaping hole that once was her eye, "by Brimir..."
"Oh my god, you lost your eye?" Cattleya asked with shock on her face, she knew that Louise would undergo many trials when she was in the military. But never in her life did she expected her sister to be wounded so grievously and in a manner which would hamper her life so much! She now feared more for her sister than ever before in her life and it took all of her self-restraint not to hug Louise and never let go of her.
"Grenade explosion, I'm sure there's a good story behind that," Louise said humorously.
"This is nothing to joke about, you could have died," Eleonor said, like her mother and sister, she too was shocked at how much Louise suffered. She had thought that she acted just like plain old Louise: timid, weak and a tad arrogant. But now she saw that Louise had changed into someone almost unrecognisable, there was an air of confidence around her as well as the attitude of one who has undergone many life and death situations…far from the Louise that she used to know and tease.
"Yes thank you sister I'm well aware, but I am alive as you can see and quite well," Louise said putting the eyepatch back on not wanting to dwell on it any more than neccessary.
"How are you faring?" Karin asked, "It is no easy task to live with one eye only."
"It is sometimes hard, especially in combat as I have to look all around me to get a good visual sense of what is going on, but I have grown used to it and it is now second nature to me to do so. It was naturally difficult at first, but I persevered and I have overcome this obstacle," Louise explained though it had taken many months for her to actually recover and get use to her current situation.
"Are there any other wounds?" Karin asked dreading the answer.
"A couple more, nothing too major," Louise replied uncomfortably.
"I shall be the judge of that," Karin replied. Louise did not move for a moment before she went and zipped up the tent to make sure that there was absolute privacy before she began to undress herself and let the clothes fall off to reveal the scars that marred her back, hearing the exclamation of shock and surprise again from her sisters, "what happened Louise? It looks like a demon gouge at you," Karin asked shocked to see such gruesome scars on Louise's otherwise petite body.
"Funny you should say that, it was actually a demon that did this," Louise said with a soft chuckle, "a demon familiar. I got this when I was attacking a Confederacy base."
"And this one?" her mother asked trailing another scar.
"A knife wound when I was protecting my friends," Louise said, "the Deloitte sisters did that."
"The Confederacy assassins? I'm surprised that you survived such an encounter."
"The Black Raven intervened at the last moment and helped us."
"Ah I see...he does seem to be the reliable type doesn't he?"
"Indeed he does though he is very mysterious in his words and actions."
"So we have gathered."
"Mother Louise cannot go back onto the battlefield anymore," Cattleya said holding Louise tightly, "she'll be killed!"
"Cattleya I'm sure Louise is more then capable of being on the battlefield if she has been fighting for two years," Eleonor said.
"No," Cattleya said shaking her head, "I'm not going to let her. She's nearly died three times!"
"That's a little bit of an exaggeration sister," Louise said, "only twice, in Barton and with the demon. But I'm alright...I want to fight." She of course lied about the countless other times she was nearly killed, but it would be best not to push her sister with that topic.
"No I'm not going to lose you! I don't care what happens, but I'm not going to lose you," Cattleya said.
"And you won't," Louise reassured her sister breaking free from her hug and looking straight into her eyes, "you won't lose me. I promise you, I will not die, I have people I need to protect...people that are counting on me."
"Please Louise...I'm begging you," Cattleya pleaded as Louise wiped a tear with her hands.
"Thank you Cattleya for always believing in me, you were the only one that always encouraged me, now it's time for me to stand on my own two feet," Louise said.
"I think that we should believe in Louise sister," Eleonor said softly, "she has grown up during her absence, she has grown into a remarkable young woman who has shown immense bravery in the face of the enemy. Her squad trusts her immensely and I heard that she is in favour with the Cutler family."
"But not the Rose family from what I heard," Karin quipped making Louise chuckle in embarrassment.
"Yes I'm not exactly friends with them," Louise said.
"That's alright, not everyone can be friends with you especially when you're dealing with the nobility," Karin replied, "it is ultimately up to your decision what you want to do Louise. I can tell that you are determined to fight on in this war and I cannot stop you, I can only remind you to be careful and that you do not need to shoulder this alone."
"I know mother," Louise said, "I need to go back to my squad, can I be excused?"
"Of course, you are free to go," Karin said as Louise said her goodbyes and then left the tent, "now you two may discuss," Karin said aware that Cattleya and Eleonor wanted to say their piece, but not in front of Louise.
"You cannot be seriously considering sending her back mother, hasn't she suffered enough?" Cattleya said.
"It is her choice sister, she had made hers," Eleonor argued, "she seems determined to end this war once and for all."
"What soldier would not want a war to end? But she is so young mother," Cattleya said.
"There is an even younger girl fighting in the frontlines, I think her name was Elise or something like that, same squad as Louise. She seems able enough and she looks up to Louise for guidance...at least that's what I've been hearing. You should also remember that mother fought in a war alongside Princess Henrietta's mother when she was a young girl, in fact it was where she received her nickname as Karin of the Heavy Wind."
"Nothing more then conjecture Eleonor, we cannot trust any of these stories, Louise has already lost one eye and her back is riddled with scars. I do not mind her fighting and serving the Belfast military until such time the Confederacy is defeated, but she cannot remain in the frontlines."
"It is inevitable that Louise would suffer some sort of injury whether she is on the frontlines or not!"
"But it would be better for her survival to stay off the frontlines."
"You're babying her too much!"
"Is it wrong of me to do so? When she has suffered so much in our world already? When she thought nobody loved her?"
"Alright enough you two," Karin intervened, both of her daughters looked ready to blow things up and that was never good in an argument, "both of you make fair points. However Cattleya think deeply about this, are you barring Louise from fighting on the frontlines simply because she has suffered, albeit grievous, injuries? Or is there a personal reason?"
"I am her sister, I have always been the one to support her even when Louise thought the rest of the world was against her, I always had her best interest at heart," Cattleya said as a pain expression came on her face, "the thought of Louise continuing to fight in this war and ending up further injured or worse? I cannot even bear to think about it."
"I understand, we all share that same fear, however Louise is now an adult she has to make her own decisions...it is up to her now what she wants to do in the future. We cannot stop her no matter what we say or do, she has grown up much faster then we ever anticipated...in a way I'm jealous on how independent she has become...but also proud of that," Karin said.
"I..." Karin said looking down before nodding slightly, "alright...I'll trust in her..."
"It is difficult to simply watch Louise go to a battle and not know what would happen, however we must believe in her and have faith," Karin said, "that is how the family of soldiers does."
Louise wandered around the base without a fixed destination in mind, there was little doubt in her mind that her family was talking about her in their tent, something that they did not want her to listen about. That didn't matter to Louise, she had long gotten used to being left out of the loop especially when it came to her, before she would just go with the consequences and did not complain. However if they wanted her to leave this world and go to safety they would have to drag her with them because there was no way that she would be leaving everyone behind. "Hey Louise, did the meeting with your family went well?" Suzie asked hugging Louise.
"Hello Suzie, yes it did, they were just concerned about me that's all," Louise replied.
"So am I..." Suzie said trailing the location of the scars.
"I'll be fine, I always have, you should have also come...you're part of the family too you know."
"I don't know...your mother didn't seemed pleased when she was told that I was your adoptive sister."
"Well I say you are my sister, adoptive or not, you are part of the Valliere family now. And if mother has a problem with that then she can go through me, I won't let you be abandoned again."
"Thank you sis...you were always so kind to me...I love you."
"I know you do, I love you too," Louise said patting Suzie's head. She then felt a kiss on her cheek and it could only be one person, "hello Alexander, your sister done with you?"
"Yes finally, she had me going here and there relaying messages back to the various squads, it's hard work I tell you," Alexander moaned.
"Well I had something to do so I couldn't help you out."
"It's not a problem...is...everything okay?"
"Yeah it is, I'm sure my mother and sisters are having a good time talking about me."
"That sounds quite depressing."
"Not really, I got used to it, besides if they want me to do something I don't want I suppose I can always stay in this world."
"I think my family would be quite pleased to have you here.
"I'm sure they would."
Louise then sighted the Black Raven talking to another person, she had a question to ask him coincidentally and she needed to talk to him, "I'll be back soon I need to ask something," Louise said parting from them and going to the Black Raven.
"Ah Corporal, good news it seems that the Helkeginia forces are allied with the Belfast military, they have agreed to work with them," the Black Raven said.
"That's great to hear," Louise replied.
"It is...now is there something you wish to talk to me about?"
"Yes, how did you manage to transport an army of troops and mages to this world? I don't think there's a spell in either world that allows that to happen."
"Ah...I was thinking that you might ask this question someday, well to answer your question Louise: it is an impossibility. I did not summon your mother and all of those forces, the tears between this world and yours did however."
"Tears?"
"Correct, a tear to be exact, a small tear at the walls between our world and your world. Through those tears you, Miss Zerbst and everyone else was able to cross from your world into this world albeit of course by pure accident."
"Is there a way to our world then?"
"In theory yes, but I still have to research it to get a better understanding of it. But for now you're stuck here."
"I see, well I guess I'm stuck here as you said."
"Well...it's just life, you gain it the more you use it, and for me...I have a lot of experience. But now we'll need to think up of a plan to stop the High Priestess and to make sure she doesn't destroy Belfast right?"
"Why is she so insistent on destroying Belfast in the first place?"
"Who knows what she's thinking? She might just be a mad person with a God complex."
"Perhaps...though I really hope this war ends soon."
"So do I, so do I."
