Youmu slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the unusual lighting around her. She was lying on a futon, but the ceiling above her was not what she had expected. Rolling herself to the side to get up, she quickly found herself flat on her face, on the floor. Only then, as she pulled herself up did her memory finally begin working, and she remembered where she was.
The Vallière Estate Manor. Louise had taken so long the day before in explaining to her family everything that had happened to her that her mother had insisted they stay the night, and so they had. Youmu knew that there had to be an ulterior motive however, just the way that Louise's mother kept glancing at her during the story told her as much.
Standing up in the spare bedroom she had been allowed to use, Youmu walked over to the nearby desk and took her clothes off of it. It took her no time to dress, what did take time was navigating the hallways of the estate to get to the dining room she had been shown just before turning in the night before.
The Vallière Dining hall was very large, with a table with enough chairs for easily a few dozen people, perhaps more. At the one end sat Louise and her sisters, her mother being nowhere to be found.
"Ah, morning, Youmu!" Louise said with a smile as she noticed Youmu and waved, motioning for her to join them.
"Morning," Youmu said as she walked over and sat down in the chair beside Louise, the two seats directly across from them being used by Louise's two sisters. "How do you manage sleeping so high up off the floor?"
Louse looked at Youmu for a second before the realization hit her and she began snickering to herself, much to her sister's confusion. "You fell out of the bed, didn't you?"
Youmu blushed slightly as she shrunk down in the chair, "Um, is your mother not around? Hadn't she said she wanted to talk some more this morning?"
"Our mother shall be here presently, she had a sudden meeting with a noble," Eleonore said stoically as she took a class of something off the table and sipped its contents carefully.
"That is not a problem. It was merely a man with a superiority complex. He's quite understanding of his position now." Karin Vallière said with a smile as she walked into the room proudly and sat down at the head of the table, "Did you sleep well, Miss Konpaku?"
Youmu nodded as she looked at Louise's mother. She had seen her all of the day before, and just like then she reminded her of both Yukari and Yuyuko –sama in a way. "Yes, I slept well enough. Thank you."
Karin nodded and looked to Louise, taking a folded piece of paper from somewhere and handing it to her, "I didn't bring this up yesterday as I had to think it over a bit but, you should bring that to the academy."
"What is it?" Louise asked as she took the folded paper and looked it over, finding the Vallière family's wax seal on its reverse.
Karin seemed to take a deep breath before answering, as if preparing herself for what she was to say. "It is a formal signed notice to the academy that you will continue your education under a personal teacher of my allowing. It will allow the time you are learning under this Yukari Yakumo to not count against your schooling at the academy."
Both Louise and her sisters were frozen in shock, so much so that none of them seemed to move at all as Youmu spoke up. "Um, is that a serious thing?"
Karin laughed quietly to herself, covering her mouth with a hand as she did. "It is yes. Such a declaration from myself, the head of our family, and marked with our seal is tantamount to a direct order of approval as if I was there giving it in person."
"Ah, I understand. . . . But, why are they so shocked? Is it a big deal?" Youmu asked in reply, causing Louise and her sisters to finally break free of their shock.
"Yes, it is a big deal! Mother, are you sure about this! Having an unknown person teach Louise!" Eleonore asked loudly. "Not to mention she beat the stuffing out of numerous teachers and abducted Louise!"
"Louise went with her on her own, Eleonore. It just seemed like an abduction." Cattleya said warmly as she put a hand on her sister's shoulder to push her back down onto her chair.
"But that's not how the teachers at the school will view it!" Eleonore growled, "I don't think the teachers will allow it at all!"
"They will have no choice. I've made sure of it from what is written." Karin said with surety as she looked to Louise and smiled. "Take a horse or two and head out whenever you want to!"
"Oh, um, are you okay with a bit of traveling, Youmu?" Louise asked meekly.
Youmu nodded with a smile, "Sure, I'd like to see more of Tristania anyway, if that's alright."
"No problem! Um, should we leave right now?" Louise asked her mother calmly, as if she didn't want to leave.
Karin nodded, much to Eleonore and Cattleya's surprise, "Yes, get going. If you leave now you should get to the academy just before lunchtime. So get going. Now!"
"Ah, err right. Okay, we're going!" Louise replied as she hurriedly got up and ran out of the room, Youmu struggling to keep up with how quickly Louise did so.
After a few moments of silence Cattleya looked away from the door that Louse had left through and over to her mother, "Why did you get her to take it to the academy herself when a messenger could have, Mother?"
Karin smiled and took a cup off the table, sipping its contents casually as she smiled to her eldest daughters. "Because, the princess is visiting the academy today."
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"The countryside really does just go on forever, doesn't it?" Youmu asked as she sat uncomfortably on her horse and tried to keep herself centered. She could not help but let her eyes wander as the two of them trotted along the road. The rolling hills covered in grass blew gently, and the skies were clear with only a few clear white clouds in the sky.
Louise smiled as she looked over, moving her horse a bit closer so that she could calm down Youmu's horse to make it easier for her to ride. "The country side is a little big, but that's because of all the farmland, I think." Louise explained, pointing ahead at the horizon. "There, you can see Tristania's magical academy now!"
Looking off into the distance Youmu could see the silhouette of a large building, a building that looked to be a number of large towers jutting into the sky. As they got closer Youmu could tell that each tower was made of a light grey stone, and surrounding all of them was a high wall that looked like it encircled the entire thing.
Getting up to the walls and the open gate to the academy, Youmu could see how tall the walls really were, and just how imposing they seemed. It was if they had been built more to keep people out than in, just like the walls of Hakugyokurou but unlike them, these walls seemed to impose a sense of inferiority to those outside it.
"It looks quite imposing, doesn't it?" Youmu said as he and Louise passed under the archway of the gates.
"Yeah, the school is only attended by nobles, and I remember reading that when it was built it was decided to include the wall specifically to remind plebeians both inside and out of their place. Oh, um on that note, if we meet anyone, they may not be very respectful to you, so um . . . "
"It'll be fine. You know that I am aware of how those of high ranks live, and I do serve Yuyuko-sama after all." Youmu said with a smile as the two of them broke free of the wall completely and entered into the school grounds courtyard.
On one side of the courtyard were dozens of students, looking to be enjoying tea, or some kind of snack, and on the other side, dozens more seemed to be practicing their magic. Just looking at them, Youmu could judge their power, and few of them could hold a candle to most mages she knew. Heck, with her current power Youmu figured few if any of the ones she could see would be able to even approach Louis's power.
Looking around she noticed that more and more of the students in the courtyard were stopping what they doing and looking at them, some of them even were even walking toward the academies central building that they were heading to. "It looks like they're curious."
Louise smiled a she pointed toward the main doors of the school that were opening, "Yeah, and it looks like the teachers have already been informed. This will either be very quick, or painfully slow."
"From that man's look, unfortunately, the latter." Youmu commented as she pointed ahead to where numerous teachers headed by a mid-aged man with a long beard stood in front of the schools doors, all of them holding their wands and staff at the ready. The students that had gathered seemed aware of the situation at least partly, and were keeping a significant distance.
"Oh, this should be fun. Hopefully Kusae is out of her stupor if I need her," Louise said hopefully as she stopped her horse and climbed down from it, walking over to in front of the teachers as Youmu struggled to get down on her own. "Hello, is Headmaster Osmond around?" Louise asked with a bright smile, intentionally sounding as if nothing had before transpired.
The middle aged man stepped forward, stroking his beard in an all too familiar way. "I am Osmond. Young Vallière, though I doubt you recognize me as I am currently." Osmond said strictly as he glanced at Youmu and then back to Louise, "It is good you were able to escape from the one who kidnapped you, is that girl in the strange clothing one who helped you, or a servant perhaps?"
Louise had to stifle a laugh as she shook her head and handed Osmond the sealed paper.
Talking it without a word Osmond opened it and glanced over it, his eyes flicking across it in arcs. Finally after a few moments he narrowed his eyes to Louise and scowled. "We need to discuss this in private. Please follow me to my office, alone."
Louise nodded and looked over her shoulder to Youmu, "Looks like this will take a while, will you be alright?"
"Of course, I am sure I can find something to occupy my time, take however long you need to, Louise."
Louise nodded her acknowledgment as she turned and followed Osmond into the school, keeping her hand on the blade as she noticed the glares the teachers seemed to be giving her.
After Louise disappeared through the schools doorway Youmu could instantly feel the stares of all the present students and teachers glue to her. They were stares of confusion, interest and of fear, though Youmu was not sure what would be causing such stares. Sure her clothing made her stick out, but they shouldn't give feelings of fear. Unless her spirit self, hovering just behind her was the cause, which was likely considering how many people were looking past her, and not directly at her.
Sighing lightly Youmu tried looking around for somewhere to sit, but found that none of the teachers or students seemed to be moving, stopping her from getting a good look at anything except for their bleak black and white uniforms. None of them seemed like they were going to move, too enthralled by Youmu's dress and her spirit self.
"You, are you an acquaintance of Louise Vallière?" a young man with a head of blonde hair asked as he stepped up toward Youmu. His eyes were those of a man with a reason, but his hand was gripping his wand tightly, it seeming strained under his grip.
Youmu nodded to the boy and turned to him, making sure that her sword sheathes would clatter a small amount, just in case the boy was intent on trying something. "Yes, I am a friend of Louise. Why do you ask?"
"My name is Guiche De Gramont, son of the late General Gramont." Guiche said strongly, as if trying to impress Youmu, "you are the one who protected the queen and princess from the traitorous actions of Jean-Jacques Francis de Wardes during the battle of Tarbes, are you not ?
Youmu looked at Guiche for a moment and nodded, "Yes, I was. Louise had asked me to. Why?"
Guiche's face seemed strained as he took another step forward, shrinking the distance between them "As a noble of Tristania I must thank you for that. But in the report it was said you were likely nearby, so why did you let the general be killed. Why did you let my father be killed!?"
Youmu opened her mouth to answer, but nothing immediately came out. It made sense now. The older man's body that she had seen that night must have been this boy's father, and he had figured that she had been just watching from a high place. She hadn't. She had only been able to get there in time to listen in to the conversation, not stop the man's death, but from the way Guiche looked, he wasn't about to take that kind of answer easily.
"I arrived in time to stop the death of this countries queen and princess. I did arrive in time to see the General's death or prevent it and-,"
"Bullshit!" Guiche yelled angrily as he pointed his wand at Youmu, an intimidating action to some, but not to her. "From the reports you beat Wardes like he was nothing. If you had such skill then you easily could have saved him! And then you appear with Vallière after she had been kidnapped, you work with the one who kidnapped her, don't you!? I bet you're just waiting to kill or usurp us all and-!"
"Guiche!" A tall red headed and tanned girl yelled as she grabbed Guiche's shoulder and pulled him back a few feet, slapping him in the face as she did, "Just because you are mourning your fathers loss does not mean you take it out on a friend of Louise!"
Guiche's face became full of hate as he glared at the redhead. "Brimir damn you, Kirche, you have no right to say anything when all you did was run off while those of us that could fought for our lands!" Guiche stopped and turned back to Youmu, his eyes like warped steel, "I challenge you to a duel!"
"You can't just-,"Kirche began to say, before Guiche turned to her and pointed his wand at her face.
"She is no noble, it breaks no rules! I challenge you to a duel to see if you really are as strong as the reports suggest. If I win, you WILL tell me everything I demand to know!"
Youmu looked at Guiche and nodded, "And if I win?"
Youmu could hear the crowd of surrounding students begin to whisper in hushed tones, as if the idea of her winning was an impossibility as Guiche scoffed at her, "Then I will answer any questions you like I suppose, not that you have the chance!"
Youmu smiled softly as the surrounding students began to spread out, making a large circle around them, "Then what are the rules of this duel? I would assume to first blood? Or just until the other is unable to fight back?"
Guiche nodded as he pointed his wand to the ground, "Yes, or unless the other person yields. Are you ready, plebeian?"
Youmu smiled softly as she rested a hand on her blades sheathe, "Yes, let us end this pointless duel!"
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Louise could not help but smile as she followed Osmond through the halls of the academy. It felt good to be back, even if temporarily and the stares of confusion and awe from the students that poked their heads out of doorways was very funny. It was obvious they were interested in her return, but it was much more obvious that they were looking at her clothing, the short Kimono like top above her skirt and the sandals she now wore on her feet were not things often seen in Halkeginia after all.
"So, how did you manage to make yourself look younger?" Louise asked as she followed Osmond up a spiral case of stairs.
Osmond slowed his pace slightly and sighed, but continued to move forward as he spoke, "I do not know how it happened. When I was recovering from the little, fiasco that woman who took you caused, I woke up one day like this. My body returned to the prime of my midlife."
I wonder if Yukari-sama altered his borders, Louise thought to herself as she nodded seconds before Osmond stopped in front of the door to his office, hesitating as he touched the handle.
"Is something wrong?" Louise asked noticing the headmaster's hesitation.
"No, there is another here on business as well. I will have to ask them to wait though, for yours is, a more pressing a matter for the academy. Please come inside." Osmond replied as he opened the door and walked in.
Louise followed Osmond in, and quickly found herself pressed against the doorway, a soft and warm figure latched onto her tightly.
"Louise! It is you! I'm so glad you're okay! I can't believe you disappeared like that! Did they hurt you? What did that woman want? Did she-"
"Henrietta, I'm fine!" Louise managed to say between pained groans, "please let go. I can't breathe when you hug me that hard!"
Henrietta looked up at Louise for a moment then let go and nearly leapt backwards from embarrassment. It was clear from how she brushed off her dress and didn't look at Louise that she knew she should not have acted like that with Osmond present, but it didn't look like she really cared. She only felt bad because she knew she shouldn't. "Are you sure you're okay, Louise?" Henrietta asked after a few moments of silence. "All I heard was a report that you had been kidnapped by an unknown woman, and then a rumor about you appearing at the battle of Tarbes."
Louise nodded as she looked to see Osmond close the door beside her and walk across his office, sitting down behind his desk, "Yes I'm fine. And I was at Tarbes.
"So you did appear and save your mother then! But why did she say differently in her report?" Henrietta asked, not entirely expecting an answer from Louise or Osmond.
"That may have to do with why Louise is here actually." Osmond said calmly as he waved the letter from Karin in his hand so that Henrietta could notice it, and its broken wax seal.
Saying nothing, Henrietta walked over to Osmond's desk and opened her hand. Osmond handed the letter over to her without so much a nod. Within seconds of opening it and looking over it, Henrietta's eyes began darting across the page, and her eyes quickly widened in shock. "This, is this true, Louise? Do you really know the Founder's magic? Do you really know void magic?"
Louise nodded as she walked around the room a bit and sat down on a chair to one side. "Yes. But I don't know what my mother's letter says, so . . . . "
"It describes things tantamount to treason and heresy." Osmond said plainly.
Henrietta nodded as she looked it over some more, then looked to Louise, "It describes your magic and what that person that kidnapped you-"
"She did not kidnap me." Louise said, interrupting Henrietta. If Agnes or any noble of army officer had been present they would have struck her for interrupting royalty. Where was Agnes though? For as long as Louise could remember she had been near Henrietta, acting as her bodyguard when not on a mission? Was she on a mission?
Henrietta didn't seem to care as she cleared her throat and continued, "What matters is that everything written here goes against the Brimiric church and all of our beliefs. And even more than that, your mother is stating that she trusts this, Yukari person, to teach you in place of the school! She is nearly accepting what is also written here!"
Louise's face darkened slightly at the meaning of what she just heard. "So if you wanted to, or if the church got a hold of that letter, my mother could be tried for heretical speaking and preaching's?"
Henrietta nodded shallowly." Yes, and I don't doubt the Church would do just that. What do you plan on doing though, Headmaster?" Henrietta asked Osmond, her face as cold as stone as she waited for Osmond's answer.
Osmond sighed and took the letter from Henrietta, looking it over again as the room became as silent as a graveyard. His face never changed as his eyes slowly glanced over the letter, his mouth didn't even twitch. It was like he had become a statue, and while he was now younger looking he seemed just like Louise remembered him.
After what seemed like an eternity, Osmond carefully placed the letter on his desk and looked up at Henrietta, then at Louise and sighed. "While much of the information contained in this letter could be considered heretical, the important piece is that the Lady Vallière has made it quite clear that Louise's absence will not count against her schooling. It does permit a test to be done to confirm this, but she has made her point very clear."
"Wait, you're just going to let that go? You're going to let Louise be taught by some random heretic who attacked you and other nobles of Halkeginia!" Henrietta exclaimed in shock and protests.
Osmond nodded, "Yes. I am a noble of Tristania, but I am the headmaster of this academy, and as such I serve the nobles of Halkeginia and their children. In this matter I must step aside and allow it."
"Well, that's good. Now that's settled." Louise said with a smile as she stood up from the chair.
"What do you mean that's good, Louise! Why are you so fine with this!? Why are you willing to be taught by someone who kidnapped you and-"
"She didn't kidnap me, Henrietta. I went with her of my own will and-"
"And why would you do that!? Why would you forsake Tristania's greatest minds in magic to learn from a heretic who doesn't believe in Brimir!" Henrietta was nearly screamed, her breathing now heavy and ragged.
Louise was silent as she thought to herself. A lot had happened to her, and all of it had meaning. She had learned so much about magic from Yukari-sama and Marisa, and had learned more swordplay than she ever thought possible from Youmu. She had learned much more in the past few weeks than she had in entire years of schooling in Halkeginia, but more than that, she learned more about herself than she had realized she didn't know.
When she thought about it all, numerous reasons as to how she learned went through her head. The fact that the people teaching her were not so stuck up as nobles was just one of them. But she couldn't just say that. The environment was more laid back and casual, letting her learn at her own pace and study what she had problems with more easily. But that would sound like an excuse, not a reason. The more she thought about it, the clearer the reason became. It was that she was allowed to learn about all magic and pursue what she was interested in. Before she hadn't even known that other magic's existed, and had always tried to use magic in the exact and precise way that every noble in Halkeginia did, but knowing that there was a nearly infinite amount of magic's and ways to use and cast them, it changed everything.
"Why, Louise? Why would you be willing to be taught by such a heretic?" Henrietta asked her voice now more quite.
Her voice felt like a hammer striking Louise's stomach, it pointed out the singular thing that Louise had just realized and was avoiding. The Brimiric church was the primary faith of Halkeginia, and was very strict in its teaching about magic. According to it, only the five kinds exited, but that was wrong, as her magic proved.
Louise could hear Henrietta still talking as she tried to think, still pleading for her to answer instantly as if it was a test of faith. She wasn't sure if it was from learning in Gensokyo or from realizing so much, or if it was because Yukari-sama was being called a heretic, but she just couldn't stand it any longer, and snapped!
"Because I can actually learn from her! I can actually use magic because of her teachings!" Louise suddenly shouted as she wordlessly summoned Void glass and threw it down at Osmond's desk, talking a whole section out of existence without a sound as if proving her point. "I can use magic because of her teaching not in spite of them, unlike when I was being taught here!"
"H-how could you say that, Louise! The teachers here are the best in all of Halkeginia and-," Henrietta began to say, her voice quaking with surprise at how angry Louise was. In her entire life Henrietta had never seen Louise this angry. Sad, upset, and hateful yes, but never this angry.
"And they know nearly nothing! There are hundreds of kinds of magic in the world. Whatever my mother wrote in that letter was what I had told her. So tell me, what in that letter is so heretical! What have I said that is so heretical! What have I been taught and what have I learned that is so heretical!?" Louise demanded to know, her anger hitting a fever pitch.
Henrietta said nothing and looked at the floor between her and Louise, her throat unwilling to speak what the letter said, unwilling to utter such a heretical sentence.
"It read that you had found proof that more magic's than just the five under the Brimiric faith existed and could be utilized. Nothing more, nothing less." Osmond said calmly as he looked up at Louise and Henrietta with a small smile. "Imagine how much chaos in Romalia that simple sentence would cause."
"It would cause quite a bit of chaos I would think." Louise said, Osmond's words and voice having calmed her down as it often did to most students and other teachers.
Henrietta sighed to herself and leaned on what was left of Osmond's desk, "Fine, I'll drop this for now."
"Thank you, I don't like arguing with you."
"But, there is something actually, Louise." Henrietta said as she looked to Osmond out the corner of her eye.
"What's that?"
"I had come here to the academy to talk with Osmond actually, but if you're here . . . Could I ask you for a favor instead?"
"Of course, what is it?"
"Agnes went off to look into a rumour almost a week ago. She hasn't come back, and neither of the two musketeers she took with her have come back either."
"What town did she go too?"
"Rembal."
"That's, a day away from Germania's border . . . .She would've been able to get there and back in just two days, right?"
Henrietta nodded, her worry painting her face as she waited for Louise's answer.
Louise didn't even need to think about it, but somehow knew she shouldn't agree. "Alright, I can look into it. I've been showing Youmu around and I haven't been to the north in quite a while myself."
"Oh, thank you!" Henrietta said with a sigh of relief.
Osmond stood up from his chair to speak, but as his lips parted, the sounds of swords clashing echoed from outside, grabbing his and Henrietta's attention. "What in, is someone fighting outside?" Osmond asked calmly as he stepped up to the window and looked out, hoping to see who was making the noise.
"I'm thinking someone challenged Youmu to a duel. Probably Guiche Gramont, if I had to guess." Louise said in an annoyed tone.
"Oh, you have a friend with you?"
Louise looked to Henrietta and nodded. "Yeah, she's also my sword teacher."
"That brings up a few questions but let us discuss them once we stop what is going on down there!" Osmond said calmly as he walked around his desk and out of the room, leading the two girls down to the school's main courtyard.
As she followed behind Osmond and Henrietta, Louise felt something, tinging, glancing and blowing at the back of her neck and ears, making her hair stand on end. It was like a handful of inaudible whispers that she could hear but not make out, like the strange pulse that she had heard at the battle of Tarbes. It was chaotic and orderly, pained and pleasant, and intelligent yet mindless. She couldn't make out any of its meaning, and the more she concentrated on it, the harder it became to make out. As they stepped out into the courtyard the whispers seemed to suddenly grow in tone and pitch, and as Osmond called out to Youmu and Guiche, one of the voices broke into a cacophonous roar, and with it, the countryside was rocked by the sound of a blast like no other, and the horizon far to the north exploded into a cloud of red smoke, fire, and destruction.
Authors note: I am so sorry for the massive break! I never meant it to be so long, and I am so sorry.
I do however hope everyone enjoys tis chapter, and again I am sorry, now that I'm back into the swing of things my updates should, mostly be back up to my usual strange updating rate