Lord Joyde: Heylo, Everyone! How are you guys doing?

Soooo, I've been doing some research and I've noticed how, once again, the time line in my story is PRETTY FKED UP.

Some things have happened sooner, some later, some never did.

The reason for this is SAITO. Since there is no Saito, most of these events never even happen. I think all my readers who have a brain somewhere in their bodies (It don't have to be in ya heads, I no discriminato you!) will realize this by themselves. But for all of you who didn't, there's the reason.

Anyway, I've kept on saying how I'm getting closer to giving Canon the finger... BUT, turns out that is not very bloody true.

As I seem to have forgotten the Entirety of The Anime's Fourth Season.

Meh, a minor, still fixable miscalculation.

Anyway, that's enough of my blabbering around, lets get on with the story!

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

The Following Day – The Dreaming Garden – Louise's Point of View...

"Mmmmmhm." I wake up with an elongated yawn, quickly noticing the still sleeping form of my newest lover, Amethyne.

I scan my surroundings to see that my barrier is still up, probably kept in check by dad.

"Thanks for that, Father." I send him a mental message with a hand on my forehead.

"No problem, Louise. And good morning you two." Wait, two?

"Good Morning to you as well, Lord Zeus." I hear another voice teeming with respect near me. I turn around to see that Amethyne had woken up.

"You can talk to Father too?" I ask and she nods.

"Elementals, no matter what kind, are always aligned to the energy they are made of. As I was remade, the life-force of this place fueled my rebirth and, as such, I am aligned to it."

I felt the gears twist and turn in my head as I processed this information. I blinked."Wait, does that mean you are not an Elemental of nature?"

She shakes her head in negative as we both get dressed, finding our clothes thrown aside all around the area.

"No, I am bound to Lord Zeus now. My alignment is not nature, but life itself."

"A Dryad of Life, eh?" I cork an eyebrow and she nods again.

Suddenly, she tilts her head to the right, as if remembering something important.

"Oh yeah.. While we are on that subject, there are a few things I'd like to tell you."

"Like what?" I ask as I finish dressing myself and walk over to a nearby bench.

"The first is that when a mortal forges a connection to an Elemental spirit, like we did yesterday, they tend to gain some form of power. Do you feel any different?"

I shake my head."No, not really... Am I supposed to look for something specific?"

She places a hand to her chin in thought."Hmm, I figured that you would get something that has to do with fire... Usually, these things come instantaneously or when the mortal in question does something to awaken that power... Maybe if you use a fire spell since those are your favorite?"

I do as I am told and forge a simple flame out of my hand and suddenly, a massive amount of knowledge enters my mind. The knowledge of a fire elemental, that is.

I feel things magically make themselves visible to me. Things I've failed to see before are now crystal clear.

And all have to do with fire.

When Father first told me that fire wasn't an actual element but just a chain reaction, I scoffed and denied him, my pride blinding me to this fact.

I tried to ignore this knowledge when he gave it to me so freely, I threw it away. But now that proof of that has been forced into my brain, do I finally realize the meaning of Fathers words.

Fire is not an element. It is a chain reaction, just quick movement of particles within a certain area.

When mages use fire, they do not know what they truly do and this is why fire magic is not considered all that powerful. Not when one has to compare it to the mighty winds and stalwart earth. All say how fire comes from ones heart and emotions.. and while rage and anger can surely fuel ones fire, they will also do that for any other type of spell. This is why I am as strong as I am, because I knew that this was not completely true, even before this moment.

A mage is only as good as he knows, after all. The more one knows about the magic they cast, the stronger it is.

This is the reason why I have become so powerful in such a short time. My time experimenting with the various metals and enchantments has made me doubt my own ignorance.

I learned what fire can do. How melted metals may merge to form stronger ones, or something else completely.

How fire and its heat are necessary for life to properly function, how waters transformation into steam does not happen because of magic but a natural phenomenon doing its work in five different stages, no less..

The things I've learned and yet, somehow remained blind to are finally starting to make sense in my mind.

And now, like a puzzle that has constantly been missing a piece only now found, I feel my link to fire grow by no small margin.

But it does not stop there... The elemental from whom I've gained this knowledge from, did not know these things himself until he came here, to Olympus.

And just as we, the mortals, did experiments, he did ones of his own.

He saw our alchemy and our science. He read the books from my library, studied our works and challenged our facts.

… And he found them to be true.

Then, just before Amethyne consumed him, he made an astounding discovery. By using alchemy to force the particles of stone to move at an astounding speed and then adding heat from his own magical flames, he was capable of melting stone and creating natural lava, albeit from an unnatural phenomenon.

But creating natural materials with unnatural phenomena is what alchemy is all about, right?

He did not stop there thought. He also managed to control said lava, as it was magically made and has his mana within it.

By manipulating the mana within, he moved and shaped the lava into many different shapes and forms.

And now, this knowledge is mine, to use and abuse as I see fit. I can practically feel myself smirking from ear to ear.

However, not all is sugar and honey.. as the elements memories revealed unto me a terrifying secret.

There are... gigantic wind stones all across the human part of Halkeginia. If those wind stones are ever allowed to reach their final stage, many new Albion's would pop up here and there.

I am going to have to do something about this soon... but now my mind should be focused on other matters.

"Louise, are you alright?" I hear the voice of Cattleya resounding in my ears as I re-enter the real world, having once again fallen into one of my dream trips.

Damn this garden is having quite the effect on me, does it not?

I open my eyes to find Cattleya holding a hand to my forehead, Amethyne long since gone back to her real body.

"I'm fine, sister... The better question is how are you doing? Are you sure you should be outside?"

She smiles."I've never been better actually. This castle of yours may be scary but the atmosphere is making me feel rather energetic!"

Her smile is infectious as I feel my own face twist into a kind smile."I'm glad you feel that way. Here's to hope it cures your condition one day... By the way, are there any news on mothers condition?"

She sighs."I think that shes recovering, but you'll have to ask mister Istvan for the details yourself. I can only barely comprehend his words once he starts speaking."

Ah yes. Istvan also has his own form of my mind trips.

Except he has one big problem."Did he start spewing nonsense again?"

"Yes, something about great advances in medicine and... nope, that's about all I could understand."

I laugh a bit. You see, unlike me, Istvans mind trips make him monologue much like I do, but he does it out loud. When he does this, he starts talking really, really fast.

Not even my evolved ears can keep up with his mouth when he does this. When one knight commented on that, he just said it was an after-effect of being an Absolute Genius.

To which I tend to agree, mostly because I have the same.. affliction, I suppose one could call it.

Recently, an elven worker of mine made a device which would record how many words Istvan says while in his mind trip within the span of one second.

The result was over thirty-two. You can guess the after-effect of that one yourself.

"That's quite alright, Cattleya. Now, is there anything else you've come to tell me?... And by the way, how did you break my barrier?"

"Truth be told Louise, I did come to find you for a reason. And I didn't feel any barriers around here?" She tilts her head slightly to the left, making her seem very cute, albeit confused.

I nod."Must have evaporated while I was in my Mind Trip. Anyway, whats up?"

"Nothing unusual. Two knights arrived today and gave me two letters. One for Mr. Gramont and one for you. It has your academies symbol on it. I know what it looks like since Eleonore works there now."

"Truly? Since when?" I ask her as I take the letter out of her hands.

"Since a couple weeks ago, actually. It seems that the Academy needed a few new professors after the attack, mainly fire and air ones. The previous ones were either killed or quit their jobs, deeming it too dangerous to stay because of the war."

Her face seems to twist into an amused expression."Ironically enough, once the Teachers left, the student population experienced a boom."

I cork an eyebrow."What do you mean?"

She blinks."Well, with our new Queen publishing the new law of Racial Equality, several orcish tribes have sent their shamans into the school and Mr. Osmond gladly accepted them."

I panic a little."But that is far too soon! The children are going to get bullied!"

She looks confused."Louise, when was the last time you've read a newspaper or updated yourself on the happenings here in Tristain?"

I rub the back my head, shamefully."A...er... a very long time ago, actually."

She sits down onto the bench."Well then, let me update you on what has been happening so far."

She takes in a breath."I guess you know that Albion has been fully merged with Tristain after the war ended, yes? Good. Thing is, even with the war ending, things did not calm down as many new problems arose with its end."

I blink."But if there were any uprisings, Henrietta would have called for me, surely?"

"There were no uprisings, just a bunch of arrogant nobles trying to swindle some of their lost power back and failing."

"What exactly happened?"

"Nothing much. Henrietta and our new king Wales valiantly rose to the challenge. If a noble could be subjugated peacefully then Henrietta would do so via a chess match, if not, Wales would completely destroy them."

"Interesting.. wait a minute, did you just say king?!" I exclaim, loudly so.

"... Did you not hear about their marriage? You were even mentioned in the newspapers, Louise."

"I was?.. People were probably asking why we weren't there but if Henrietta and Wales didn't invite us over... aww, Hell.. They got married sometime after father got assassinated, right?"

She nods, sadness evident in her eyes."Yes.. two days after, actually... They said that they didn't send an invitation since we of the De La Vallierie probably weren't up for many celebrations right after living though something like that and I... can't say I don't appreciate their courtesy."

I nod and let out a sigh."Is that all or do you have more surprises for me, sister?"

She picks a purple rose and enjoys the aroma it gives off before planting it back into the ground and then watching the rose reconnect itself with its roots.

"By the founder, I love this garden!.. Anyway, as I was saying before all this, when Henrietta published the racial law, she also made several other laws stating what exactly is going to happen to those who dare break it.. and the punishments are... quite severe."

"How so?"

"So severe that nobody broke the law from the moment of its birth." Ouch.. man, I gotta go read what exactly my sister has been doing all this time.

Aside from fucki-sorry, laying with Wales, that is. Makes me wonder how hes performing in that particular aspect, hehe.

I chuckle."Anything else?"

"Other than the fact that you've been named the richest person in all of the Human Lands, along with several other titles and many, many rumors surrounding your renowned, albeit mysterious persona and the respect you've gathered for the Vallierie name challenging even the levels of Royalty, no sister, not much else."

I blink."I've been named what?"

"The richest person in the Human Lands." She simply repeats herself.

"Please, there is no way that could be true. I mean, sure I've got a lot of money bu-"

She interrupts me with a very judging glare."Louise, you have tables made out of pure gold, alchemical machinery which is capable of creating true gold from simple stone, not to mention how you can't seem to do a transmute spell without making something a diamond or a completely overpowered material. I don't know when was the last time you checked on your treasury, Louise, but Eleonore's mathematical prowess allowed her to estimate the amount of coin to be in a good seven or so zeroes."

I blink, stupefied."I... really need to start keeping track of reality." I can already feel the head-ache.

She laughs."Yes. Yes you do, Louise... May I recommend going out of your castle and back to your Academy while peace still lingers.. chances are that's exactly what the letter I've given you is about."

Ah yes, the letter. I have already forgotten all about it while talking to my sister.

"I suppose that would be a good idea... Maybe it will do me some good to get away from all this experimentation and move back to regular studying again... Not that The Academy should have anything I can still gleam from it."

She nods."Maybe, you have proven to be quite the genius in the last couple months, but you never know. Maybe you get some form of inspiration while in the Academy."

I smile at her and then put a hand to my chin in thought. I guess it was about time that I went to see my friends and explain myself to them... God, I really miss Kirche. I wonder how Tabitha and Katie are doing?

I also can't wait to see Guiche's eventual reunion with Motmorency... I wonder if its going to be the other way around this time.. with her begging him to be with her instead.

As I am about to fall into another Mind Trip, the clicking sound of high heels wakes me from my semi-trance and I re-open my eyes to see Matilda approaching me.

Who is this Matilda, you ask? Maybe you would remember her better as Fouquet? Yes, the thief-woman herself approached me one day when I was scouting out potential fallen nobles for my workshop.

She was one of the first I've hired. No hard feelings, indeed!

"Mistress, master Gramont is waiting for you outside the main gates. Something about a letter he received."

I nod to her and get up."Thank you for telling me. I suppose I may as well be my way now."

She grabs my sleeve and I turn around."W-wait, Mistress. T-t-there is something I would like to ask of you."

I blink and turn to face her to find her expression a worried one."What's wrong, Matilda?"

"M-m-my sister. She was in Albion during the Seven Week War.. I would like it if you could grant me leave to go and find her."

"You could have done that even without my approval. I am your boss, not your master or.. mistress." I seem to have trouble pronouncing mistress for whatever reason.

She nods."I know but.. that is not all... You see, my sister.. she's a little bit special."

I tilt my head in confusion."What do you mean and please don't dance around the subject?"

She gulps."W-w-well... she is a.. a half-elf." Oh my! What a shocker!... not really. Truth be told, I've known this for quite a while, seeing as I consumed a piece of her skin quite a while ago, but Matilda here does not need to know this, now does she?

But why would she tell me this right now?.. wait... could it be?"Do you by any chance want me to enroll her into The Academy?... if she is still alive, that is."

She nods, shakily so."Y-yes. I would like if you could do this for me. I do not know how I would repay you for this, however."

I nearly laughed."Please, don't try to play this kind of game with me, Matilda. I think we both know how to read beneath the words of another, but don't take this as a no. You don't have to repay me at all... but if it would soothe your heart..." I trail off as I approach her and then whisper huskily into her ear.

"All you have to do.. is say the word." I feel her shiver from my words and I grin.

But then I turn around back to where I was going."However, I simply do not have time for this right now.. maybe some other time, eh?" I wink at her and I get to see the older woman appoint a crimson blush to adorn her pale cheeks.

I laugh a little as I wave behind myself to her, maybe sparing her life was the right choice after all!

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

Lord Joyde: And that is it for this quick little update and chapter 38.

As you might have guessed, this whole chapter was just one big time fix.

It had to be done in order to pave the way for the next chapter in which Louise will finally return to the Academy in order to properly face her friends alongside Guiche.

Anyways, Read and Review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!