A/N: This is basically an exposition Chapter. Also, damn it me. You have free time, you should be able to write more. Why can't you write more?! 'Muffled Paladins theme playing in the background'.
The princess' room was quiet, no sound could be heard from outside and if any were to peek inside they would understand the silence.
The moon shined through the windows of the room, illuminating it alongside the magical torches and Lumafly lanterns. It gave the room a nice mix of pale white and soft orange.
The two inhabitants of the room, Agnes de Milan and Princess Henrietta de Tristain herself, were both still at where they were.
Agnes was standing by the door with the princess herself in her sight. This meant that she was ready to react to anything that might step into the room, or would pose a threat towards the princess. Or at least, that's how she should be. Instead, the princess' bodyguard was instead leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as she glared a hole into the ground. A frown on her face.
Sitting by her desk, the moon light shining through the window as if to bring attention to the, rather important, letter that lied on top of the desk. She wasn't even reading the letter, instead she was just looking at it.
Minutes passed as the silence continued to stretch longer and longer, the only sound was the occasional crackle of the flames and the slight 'clinking' of the Lumaflies inside their lanterns.
Eventually, Agnes broke the silence with a heavy sigh.
Henrietta blinked, before she turned away from the letter on her desk. Looking at her bodyguard, she saw that her finger was tapping violently against her arm as her frown had grown into a snarl instead.
"Is something th-?" Henrietta started to ask, her voice wavering slightly. Quickly she coughed and cleared her throat before saying it again "Is something the matter Agnes?"
She didn't answer at first, instead she was still glaring at the ground while her snarl was on her face. Then a few moments later, she let out another sigh. One hand went to her head and scratched her blonde hair in frustration.
Turning her head towards the princess, Agnes answered "I was just thinking about… what had happened."
Henrietta's mouth pulled into a straight line "Are you still thinking about the mission?"
Agnes merely nodded, the snarl gave way into a more conflicted look. "I made a mistake," she muttered, just loud enough for her to hear "I thought that they'd be safe in the castle, I didn't think it could chase us that fast…"
The princess herself keep a neutral one, although that didn't stop her hands from clenching and grouping up the fabric of her dress "We all made mistakes Agnes, you don't have to feel guilty alone."
Agnes eyes snapped towards hers "But you trusted me to protect your friend, and to make sure that the mission was successful. And what did I do? Leave her alone, and nearly left her to die at the hands of that monster!" Agnes' snarl returned "I just… I didn't think it would be there waiting for her."
"Neither did I."
Henrietta turned away from her bodyguard, she looked out of the window that her desk sat by. Her eyes focused on the two moons, both the green and the red moons were exceptionally bright lately.
"I sent that letter towards the pope, knowing that it would take at least a week for it to arrive." She informed Agnes "I expected it to reach him, and at that point Louise would already be far away from Tristain on her mission."
"You informed him?" Agnes asked, interrupting her story. There was confusion in her green eyes as the bodyguard pushed away from the wall "Why?"
Henrietta eyes narrowed "It was meant to be a warning," she answered "Better for him to know the consequences of attacking Louise before he find outs himself and sends in that creature to level Tristain Academy just as he had done to various other villages in the past." Henrietta could only sigh "But it didn't seem to work. Either that creature of his doesn't follow his every order, or he thinks that it's strong enough to take on Karin."
The name of the legendary former knight sent shivers down Agnes' spine. Karin de la Valliere of the Heavy Wind, said to be the strongest knight that had served Tristain, and that even in her now advanced age she was still a terrifying threat. Loyal to the kingdom and the crown, ready to take on threats.
Even Wardes, the captain of the Griffin Knights had nothing but utter respect towards the former captain. And that was saying something, considering his own talent and skill.
She was a powerful warrior, a trusted citizen, and most importantly a mother.
"So that means," Agnes started "Either that thing isn't as on a tight leash as we hoped, or that it's strong enough to take on the Heavy Wind herself."
"Indeed," Henrietta nodded "And since it could arrive at Tristain and Albion faster before Count Mott even arrived at back Tristain, that means it's more dangerous than we thought."
The bodyguard clicked her tongue in annoyance "That doesn't matter Princess," Agnes said "Both of us know how it would be considered suicide to fight that thing, how those students survived is something I'm still trying to figure out." She shook her head "What I'm actually worried about, is that all those excuses that the Pope gave about that thing going around wiping out villages and how he had nothing to do with them, might actually be true."
Henrietta was silent, the implications of what her bodyguard had said weighed on her.
"Damn it, to think that I'd rather wish for that thing to be strong enough to take on Karin instead." she turned to the letter on the table, it was from Albion. New Albion to be specific, it seemed that they wanted to make a non-aggression pact just after their little coup.
"Agnes," Henrietta called out to her bodyguard "While you were there, did you manage to see it?"
Agnes was quiet for a few moments "I saw its eyes, way in the distance at La Rochelle. It did that thing where it can take over other creatures and controlled the Valliere's…" she paused as her eyebrows furrowed "Water Spirit?" She shook her head "The Familiar with the four horns. We managed to get them back, and then we left the town before it could do it again. After that, there was this Dragon, it was another Familiar of another student that followed us. I don't know how, but it managed to take over and forced it to fly away."
"So it's doing what it usually does then," Henrietta spoke "I'm just glad that Louise managed to get out of Albion alive."
Agnes went quiet again, before she muttered "I'm sorry again princess, that I wasn't there to protect her. Wherever that monster is, and that damn pope that's controlling him, they're probably all to happy that we and your friend can't say anything about it being in Albion."
"Yes…" Henrietta looked down at the table once more "Most likely."
[Scene]
"You disobeyed my orders, Familiar…"
Standing in his room, Vittorio Serevare stood before the massive Void Vessel that was his Familiar.
As always it was hunched over, less their horn put holes into the ceiling. Even then, it was still tall enough that he had to crane his head backwards to look it in their eye sockets.
Around them, the other Void Vessels stood and watched. Their empty eyes staring at them with their usual empty gaze. Sometimes he wondered if they thought of anything, or if they could even think at all.
But now wasn't the time to think about such a thing.
Because now, he was disciplining his Familiar.
The Void Vessel had arrived just this morning, the length it took it to arrive already told Vittorio that it had not completely followed his orders. But what told him that it hadn't just simply observed the girl, was its damaged state. Small cracks around their skull, 'wounds' that it never showed before and would have never experienced from just observing from a distance.
The fact that it did not carry more of its Siblings as it would usually do whenever they rescued them, meant that it at least hadn't killed the Valliere girl.
Vittorio held out a hand, one that his Familiar reached over and took it. Cold covered his hand, the warmth in the room vanished in an instant.
Vittorio once more looked his Familiar in its eyes and asked "Did you disobey my orders Familiar?"
…
His eyebrows rose slightly at the hesitation, normally it would've answered immediately. But it was quiet, the 'Voice' that he would hear was absent.
"Answer my question, Familiar." He told the Void Vessel, eyes narrowing as he did.
…Yes. I Disobeyed Your Order.
He frowned at the confirmation, and asked another question "Why did you go against my orders, Familiar?"
…
Once more the hesitation worried him.
I Was Unsure, If The Girl Was Truly A Void Mage.
"So you attacked her then?" Vittorio questioned.
His Familiar was silent again, merely looking forward.
He frowned "Have you any idea how many students and witnesses could have seen you there in Tristain Academy?"
I Did Not Attack Her At The Academy.
"So you did attack her then," He let out a sigh, and irritated one. He gripped his hand tighter, not that it could do anything, but it showed that he was displeased.
His Familiar looked at their joined hands, and lowered their head.
"I told you, that you shouldn't have attacked. The chance of your existence being linked to mine, as well as the none too subtle threat of the Princess sending Karin to take you out, should've been enough for you to leave her alone." The pope closed his eyes, his head was throbbing in pain right now.
It was an odd headache that had appeared just a couple days ago before his Familiar had returned. He didn't know what it was, all he knew that others were worried about his eyes glowing. He was lucky it was just the guards that saw him, rather than a guest.
I Wanted To Be Sure That She Was Or Wasn't a Void Mage.
"I told you to leave, either way." The Pope opened his eyes, irritated "Even if she was a Void Mage, I told you not to bother her."
Vittorio shook his head "Did you at least confirm that she was a Void Mage, and that she had a Void Familiar?"
Yes. It Was The Gandalfr. The Runes Appeared When It Grabbed My Nail.
"And the girl?"
It nodded its head.
The Spells She Casted, They Were Coloured By The Abyss. However, She Showed No Void Spells As Yours.
"At least we get that," Vittorio muttered in an exasperated tone "Even so, you didn't need to chase her to make sure that she was Void Mage." He remembered the contents of the letter, and let out a grimace "Her death, or even just injury, would've been disastrous for us both."
There was a pause of silence.
You Said That It Would Be Acceptable If She Were To Die In A Warzone.
Vittorio blinked at the words, before his eyes widened as his pulse rapidly sped up. "Where?" He asked as his hands gripped the Void Vessel's hand tighter "Where did you attack her?!"
Albion, At Newcastle.
The skull of the Void Vessel snapped to the side as Vittorio's other hand smacked it.
The Pope pulled his hand back, the appendage throbbing in pain from hitting the skull. It probably hurt him more than it hurt his Familiar, but it served its message.
From the corner of his eyes, he was aware that the other Void Vessels had reacted to his sudden slap. All three had stood up from their seats, but they stayed where they were.
I Apologies.
"Why?" He asked, gulping down his saliva. Already he was thinking about the worst, about the fact that everyone there would be aware of his Familiar. "Why did you follow the Valliere girl to Albion?"
His Familiar turned their head back to face him.
She And A Few Others Were On A Secret Mission From The Princess Herself. I Do Not Know What The Mission Was, But They Had To Reach The Castle.
"Who else saw you, besides the girl?"
Other Soldiers From Albion, The Other Mages That Followed Louise, And The Prince Himself.
Vittorio felt his heartbeat calm down, he closed his eyes and let out an all too relieved sigh.
"Damn it," he released his grip on his Familiar's hand as he pulled back. His pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a couple of deep breaths while he was at it. He paused as he waited for the warmth to return to his palm.
When it did he lowered his hand and glared at his Familiar "You were lucky that circumstances were as they were," he stated angrily "Had any of them not been on some secret mission, your existence and mine would have been exposed."
The Pope's Familiar looked at their Master, the young man was looking at him with an expression he had only seen a few times before. Back when it had been first summoned, and acted on its own rather than listening to orders.
He pointed a hand towards him "You are not to leave this castle for a week, under no circumstances should you even think about leaving this place." His words were harsh, angry at what it had done.
It understood, it disobeyed an important order just because it wanted to do something that it shouldn't have.
Their Master went quiet for a moment, before he let out groan. His angry look faded as he looked at her with a tired one.
"Just understand why I am punishing you, it's for your own sake."
For a moment, instead of its Master, another image flashed in its sight.
The room they were in suddenly changed from the warmly lit room of orange and pale light, into one that shined a bright pale glow.
Their Master looked at them with black narrowed eyes that contrasted with the glow that he was emitting. The horns above their head that was shaped in a crown, made him tower over their small form, their grey-ish cloak stretching out behind him.
"But I am still disappointed in you."
The image in their sight turned back towards their Master, the blonde human had already turned around and left the room without another word.
The Void Vessel simply watched, before one of their hands went to their head.
It was aware of its Siblings approaching them, they all stared. With one of them grabbing it by its cloak.
The three horned Sibling's body glowed as it shared its Soul to heal them.
The Pope's Familiar reached out for their head, and gave a little pat.
[Scene]
"There we go Wardes," The water mage smiled as he tapped the arm he was just treating "That should at least make it so that you can use that arm now."
The action earned him a wince and hiss from the Wind Mage, who pulled his arm back. Hs grey eyes narrowed for a moment, before he simply said "Thank you." He looked at his arm, and couldn't help but wince at the sight.
The boiling blood had dug in deeper than he thought, and despite the healing magic it was still smaller than its original size. It was also redder, but whether it was due to the blood or it was because of his flesh being burnt, he wasn't sure.
"What happened to your arm anyway?" The Water Mage asked.
Wardes frowned "An Insect got lost somehow in the castle, it was… tougher than most of them."
"Yeesh, the Royals were using Insects to help them?" The Water Mage shook his head "Seriously, how low can they go?"
"I don't think it was working with them," Wardes replied "I just think that it was aiming for something else in the castle, and just decided to go on a rampage while it was there." He rolled his shoulder, happy that it had been untouched by the boiling blood "It wanted to kill something, and went through most of the attack force while it was at it."
A silence went through the two as the words sunk in.
That was an understatement. Wardes knew that it had done more than 'went through' the forces, it had massacred a good half of them while they were busy attacking the Royals. He supposed that they were lucky that the siege had been underway when it had 'arrived'.
He wasn't aware at first, but the survivors that were could only babble about a pale Insect tearing through entire groups without stopping as it ran for the castle. Some even just got out of the way, claiming that it would've been suicide to just stand in its way.
With the added damages that they were experiencing from Newcastle retaliating, their 'victory' over the Royals was a very pyrrhic one.
The only good news that it had brought was the fact it had helped blow a hole through the outer walls.
"It was an unfortunate outcome, but in the end we were still victorious" a new voice spoke, causing the two to turn towards the entrance of the tent that they were in. A moment later a man in his mid-thirties and dressed as clergyman stepped forth. He had blonde hair that poked out of the green hat that he wore, and blue eyes that were shining rather excitedly despite the situation around them.
"Your Excellency," both Wardes, and the Water Mage that had been treating him bowed down when he entered.
"Yes yes," he quickly waved and bowed, before he stepped closer towards Wardes "I was looking for you Viscount!" He said excitedly "Did you manage to acquire the letter from the Prince?"
Some of the excitement faded from his eyes when Wardes shook his head.
The Wind Mage lifted his head "I regret to inform you, my Excellency, that the Prince managed to destroy the letter before I could acquire them." He lowered his head again "I have failed, as such I will accept any punishment you give."
The clergyman shook his head "Oh come on Viscount, you don't have to go that far." He reached down and patted him on the shoulder "Even if you failed to get the letter, you at least managed help secure the castle." He pulled his hand back and held them behind his, he closed his eyes and hummed "And while it would've been the best to retrieve that letter, we do have the next best thing."
Wardes lifted his head "Your excellency?"
The man looked over to the Water Mage "Is he fit to leave this tent?"
The healer blinked, before he nodded "Yes, his arm injury is stable now. But, just don't make him carry anything heavy."
"I wouldn't." The clergyman reassured, he turned back to Wardes "I wanted to say, that while we do not have the letter, we do have Prince Wales."
There was confusion in Wardes' eyes "If you wanted me to have spared him your Excellency, I must apologise once more. I was under the assumption that I was to kill him as well."
The clergyman jerked his head over his shoulder "You were. However, just because he is dead, it does not mean that he is useless." He turned around and walked out of the tent "I did ask you to make sure that his body was preserved and unburied until I arrived?"
"Yes your Excellency, it should be by the corpse pile that we intend to bury." Wardes followed, the Wind Mage wincing a bit as the light from the sun beamed into his eyes. He looked around, seeing the various other tents that had been put up around the courtyard of the ruined Newcastle. Some had complained that they should stay inside the castle, the smell of corpses silenced those complaints real quick.
Pained and agonising groaning could be heard from most of the tents. Often times he would see an open tent, seeing the various wounded that rested inside and the ones that tended towards them.
But as they moved past them, more than a few mustered their strength to greet the man that was leading him. And he returned their greetings with a smile and wave, the ring on his hand glinting in the sun light.
Soon they moved past from the tents, and towards the graves that were currently being dug. The larger holes were being taken care of by any Earth Mages in their company, while more than a few that couldn't use magic were digging the graves with shovels.
A massive pile of bodies lied in wait, all of them a mix between the Reconquista Rebels who fought to acquire the castle and the Loyalist to the Royals that had given their life to defend it. Even if they were enemies in life, in death they were the same.
Off to the side however, placed on a wooden crate, was Prince Wales himself. With the blanket wrapped tightly around his body, some would have thought that he was asleep.
But the hole in his throat told otherwise.
As they approached him, Wardes' eyes widened as he realised what the plan was.
The clergyman let out a sigh of relief as he approached the corpse "Ah Prince Wales," some of the excitement returned as his steps quickened until he was standing by the body "In life you were a thorn in our side, mine especially."
"And now you seek to turn him into an ally?" Wardes asked, catching up to the clergyman. He nodded at the young man that stood by the body, before turning his attention back to the corpse.
"Of course!" He reached for his waist and pulled out a small wand "Having the Prince himself working for us, it would be very advantageous. After all, if the Founder himself has blessed us with his great power for us to complete this mission, then we must use it to further our great goals."
Wardes nodded silently, while he heard the young man let out a gasp of awe.
That gasp only grew as the ring glowed a deep dark as the clergyman began to chant, words that weren't human. He held his hand with the ring over the wand, and with a final chant he pointed the wand towards the corpse.
As he did, the corpse awoke. The eyes that had been closed for the past days snapped opened.
They were a bright orange, before they shifted to a scarlet red, turning into a pitch black, until they returned back to Wale's original bright blue. The rest of the body started to move, the towel that had been wrapped around him fell apart as Wale's slowly sat up.
He looked around, until he saw the one that had revived him.
He gave a nod "Greetings Archbishop Cromwell."
Cromwell clicked his tongue in frustration "I am no longer an Archbishop, as of today I am now an Emperor." He told the newly resurrected prince.
Wales nodded again "Of course, my apologies your Excellency."
"By the Founder…" The young man said in awe at what he had seen.
Wardes however merely observed the demonstration of Void Magic with a silent look. That reminded him, about his fiancée.
She was thought to be a Void Mage due to her incapability to use magic, not tied to any of the four elements while still being able to cast spells. Even since she had been young she could never cast anything other than explosions.
Yet, she had been using spells when they were fighting that massive Insect.
Had Joseph been wrong?
He shook his head, brought out of his thought just as he saw Cromwell dismiss the young man and pronounce that the newly resurrected Wales would be his bodyguard.
He would need to bring up that later, for now.
"Shall we continue with the plan to take Tristain your Excellency?" He asked.
Cromwell nodded "Of course. Not only is Tristain important, carrying artefacts such as the Prayer Book of the Founder himself, not to mention they would still be no match to the air force that we now have even if they joined forces with Germania." Then for a moment the usually happy look on his face darkened "Furthermore, Hallownest, that detestable 'Kingdom' of Insects reside there. Their destruction will be our first step in taking back the Holy Land."
Wardes nodded "Then I shall return to the castle your Excellency. I will learn all that I can, so that we may further our goal."
"By the glory of the Reconquista."
[Scene]
Montmorency blinked as she stared down at the cup in her hands.
The tea reflected her face back at her, her blond hair framing her face and her oran-
No, her blue eyes, staring back at her.
She didn't know why she was just staring at the cup, but she felt just a little safer as she did.
Unaware of the world around her, she just… stared into the water.
"-orency dear!"
A loud shout knocked her out of her staring, blearily she turned to where it had come from. The sun was shining, that she was sure of, since she was sitting outside with a couple other students. Sitting just opposite of her was another blonde with blue eyes, but it was boy.
Guiche… That was his name wasn't it?
She blinked as the memory returned, forcing her to wince as her head pounded with a headache.
Yes, Guiche… her boyfriend. She opened her eyes again, and she allowed herself to smile. She opened her mouth "Is something wrong Guiche?"
A worried look came over his face "You've been staring at your tea for a whole minute without doing anything." He gestured to the food on the table, all of hers was untouched "And you haven't eaten anything at all."
"I'm fine Guiche," she replied back. She smiled, looked at the ground next to Guiche "Just ask Verdante, he'll tell you that I'm fine."
The blonde furrowed his eyebrows and turned to where she was looking at. His Familiar wasn't there; the giant mole was off somewhere else whenever they ate like thi-
Suddenly the ground beside him suddenly shifted and a moment later the sight of his Familiar's head popped out of the hill of dirt it had created.
His Familiar turned towards him and nodded at his direction with a happy expression.
Guiche looked more than a little startled. He turned back to see that Montmorency was still smiling, but the smile slowly dropped as her eyes caught something. Eventually she stopped smiling and an angry glare was on her face.
Guiche followed her eyes, and he saw that she was glaring at Louise again.
He let out a sigh "Montmorency dear, why won't you just tell me why you have been so hostile towards Zero lately?" He asked. It was rather ironic that he was still using that nickname considering that her spell capabilities had suddenly shot up the past month. But it was a force of habit now unfortunately "Every time it looks like you want to kill her, did something happen between you and her?"
She argued that she was wrong, that she was wrong to call them Water Spirits.
Louise's reaction was subdued, she seemed to accept her words, before she puffed up and said that it didn't matter.
Some part of her bristled, and she stomped her foot. She said that it did matter because she didn't want her to start spreading out lies about Water Spirits.
Her hand reached out towards the one that she had summoned, the Familiar with the horns that split into two-
"Montmorency?"
The girl looked at her boyfriend, and she smiled "It's fine, I'm not angry at Louise. I just really don't like her Familiars."
Her eyes glazed over, orange overtaking her blue for a split moment as she continued.
I WOULDN'T REALLY MIND IF THEY GOT SMASHED TO BITS.
Guiche reeled back, his eyes wide as his mouth fell open.
[Scene]
"No…"
She couldn't believe it.
Her eyes had to be deceiving her.
She took a step back, and the horrors in front of her followed after her.
"This can't be real…" She tried to deny it. She thought that things were too good for her for the past few days, having gone a few days without any issues.
But Marion should've expected that it shouldn't last.
"Damn it, WHY ARE THERE TWO OF YOU NOW?!"
Both of the Valliere Familiar simultaneously tilted their heads at her panicked shriek. The original one, the one with only two horns lifted its small hand and seemed to wave at her. The other one, the one with four horns looked at its fellow Familiar before doing the same.
She let out a distressed sigh, the laundry basket in her hands nearly toppling over. She lifted her head and glared at the two of them "Great, now there's gonna be twice as many stolen knives and twice as many rat carcasses." She sighed as she stared at the two.
Some part of her wanted to be more than little harsher towards them. Maybe drop the basket in her hands and hope that they would get hurt or something.
But…
They hadn't done anything that bad towards her. The thought vanished as she smiled "Good to see you again Knife Thief," she paused "Or is it Knife Thieves now?"
They two of them just looked at each other.
