Authors Note: I just noticed my authors notes take too many words out of the word count. No more.
This chapter was influenced by Blood-Island among others. Check link in profile if curious.
I need to know, has the pacing improved? Is this better than the last attempt at the Albion escape? PM or review appreciated.
Chapter 20
Dead calm (Part 3)
A new day is born atop the floating island of Albion. Darkness gives in to light in waves as there are few clouds higher than the island itself. The trees in the distant forest fight to keep their shadows just a little longer but are engulfed by the light in a matter of minutes. Bird species that have either adapted to this island or have managed to get up here otherwise are singing their praise for the sun.
Yuuka wakes up stretching her arms and legs. The rays of warmth energize her body just as much as the nearby plant life. Her eyes fall on the beautiful scenery in front of her. A meadow in all directions ending in a forest a short walk away. On the other side grass gives way to rocky ground that ends abruptly in a cloud. Clouds drift past Albion leaving some additional morning dew on the few stalks close enough to the edge.
The morning cold doesn't bother her much. It burns on her exposed skin but as a Youkai she has high pain tolerance. Not only pain either but she can take quite a few things that would kill ordinary people. Her bones ache and her muscles protest against every move but she pays them no mind at all. Compared to last night the sensations are rather underwhelming.
She rises to her feet taking in the fresh air. Her chest throbs with pain. Any more and it may burst like like a balloon. She exhales slowly, unwilling to risk another pang like that. Another reminder of her close encounter with death. Just being able to breathe fills her with gratitude and joy. She is just happy to be alive. When was the last time she felt a surge of emotion like this? It must have been quite some time since she can't remember.
Yuuka steps forward and quickly slows down to a limp. Her lips curl into a smile. Recovering from that will take some time and medical attention. This is beyond what even her supernatural regeneration can do. She continues her limp toward the tents, eager to share this beautiful day with her little master. A beautiful day like this should not be wasted in bed.
Curiosity overtakes her and she traces a finger along the tents outer wall. Its certainly not made by any of them except for the supports. She can imagine anyone but Tabitha failing miserably at setting them up and just resort to magic. Two pillars of stone pierce the tents upper walls on both ends destroying the beautiful fabric of cloth not designed to endure this kind of treatment. The fabric is coming undone around the puncture.
The other tent beside it looks better. The poles are completely covered. There are no holes in the fabric and is in turn properly insulated. Poor Guiche must have frozen in his bed all night long. It will serve as a lesson to do his job well next time.
She wonders where they got so many blankets from anyway. Looking at them separately she can tell how different all of them are. Maybe they picked up some decorations from the castle? But when did they have the opportunity?
She pulls apart the two thick layers of cloth that make up the door.
"Rise and shine!", she sings at the three sleeping girls sharing a tent.
Louise doesn't take kindly to the wake-up call, no matter how gentle and welcoming. Unlike her familiar she is moody from the getgo. Going on no more than four hours of sleep doesn't help either.
"Get lost!", she groans curling up inside her blanket.
Tabitha wakes up without much fuss, although with an expression on her face. She seems irritated for some reason, as does her redheaded friend.
"Get up already, you bum!", Kirche looks down at Louise in contempt, trying to pull the blanket off of her.
Louise stirs under her blanket holding onto it tightly.
Eventually the redhead just leaves her laying in her spot envious.
Yuuka grabs the blankets making up the tent and one by one rips them away until the pillars keeping them up fall down burying her master further in blankets. With a mighty pull she removes the rest off of her too.
A quiet groan signifies her masters displease at the turmoil she is involuntarily being part of. With one more yank she pulls the last blanket up, including the angry girl underneath that bares her teeth with a hiss. From a sitting position Louise tries to pull the blanket back down with all her might but gives up when the sun tickles the sleep out of her head.
What's even worse is seeing Yuuka beam with joy after the stunt she pulled last night. The audacity to even show her face to her master and with that attitude is just asking for punishment.
Louise complies reluctantly, knowing that she will not get a second chance at sleep anyway. The cold air beats the remaining fogginess out of her. She frowns. What a horrible day to be spending so far away from the comfort of her room.
She gets up similar to her familiar on shaky legs though only due laziness. Yuuka shakes her head. Shake up the world, it doesn't matter but don't you dare wake this girl before her time. She ruffles her masters hair and limps off leaving her fuming. What an adorable kid.
Louise raises her fist contemplating just beating her up for a moment. Now has to be the best time. Its what the demon taught her after all, strike when the enemy is most vulnerable. Right now, she does feel like an enemy. All of them do. When was the last time she felt so much rage toward a person? A few instances come to mind but none are comparable. Some horrible things lead to that rage but she wonders if her reaction is justified. Its almost as if she wanted Yuuka dead. But isn't that contrary to the reason of her anger? The contradictory feeling adds confusion to her anger which in turn makes her more angry.
The group of disgruntled mages sits down around last nights firewood as they did the previous night, with the exception of Yuuka standing where she sat that night. Guiche feels uneasy being surrounded by sour faces. He holds onto his arms still shaking from the cold. He should have just asked them for some help.
Louise noticing it gets up on her feet. "Its cold. I'll get some wood." With that she storms off into the forest leaving the others bewildered. They were about to discuss what to do but are now short on one member.
"She is a dear.", Yuuka misinterprets her excuse to get away from her. Everyone turns to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What?", she asks them dumbfounded. Tabitha and Kirche ignore her much for the same reasons.
"You're kinda weird today.", Guiche remarks.
"How so?", she wonders.
Kirche gets an idea and gets on her feet too.
"I'll go help her. The sooner he's warm the sooner we can go, right?", she excuses herself and rushes after the strawberry blonde girl.
Yuuka shrugs. Maybe she should have told them it was a pointless endeavor. Not that it matters to her. Soon they will realize just how warm an island gets when there are hardly clouds to obstruct the sun. They better have a thick ozone layer or this will turn into a scorching hell in no time. She takes up the seat formerly taken by her master, waiting patiently for their return.
…
Kirche waits for Louise to disappear into the woods where her familiar won't see her before finally deciding to catch up with the smaller girl. Her pride took a blow the day before. She is hellbent on getting her revenge before going back to their everyday life.
Kirche grabs Louise by the shoulder forcing her to a stop.
Louise, still mad at Yuuka doesn't pay much attention and looks right through the redhead.
"What is it, Zerbst?", she asks vacantly.
Kirche takes offense at her attitude and tightens her grip on the smaller girls shoulder.
"We have unfinished business to settle.", she threatens her classmate with a scowl.
Louise rolls her eyes. Of course she wouldn't be able to just let it slide. She is at least as prideful as all the other mages in her school including Louise herself. Unfortunately for her, Louise is no longer the same girl. Even without magic she wouldn't lose to her as she has proven already. With the sun up she has the advantage of all the powers Yuuka granted her at her disposal. But she doesn't feel like wasting any time on her at the moment.
"Its against the rules to duel.", she argues halfheartedly.
"We're not at school, Zero.", the redhead taunts back.
Something kept bottled up comes up within Louise. A deep hatred for the nickname people have given her. She turns her eyes toward the girls hand still holding onto her shoulder.
"Hands off.", she commands.
Her demeanor is far removed from her usual self. She starts giving of a menacing aura just like her familiar. If looks could kill, Kirche's hand would fall off this instant.
Kirche pulls her hand away surprised at the threatening appearance of someone she views as a lesser person.
"With that ability of your familiar I presume? You're nothing without her.", she mocks
Louise turns her eyes to look at Zerbst. "Fine. I'll use only my own magic. I'll make short work of you."
Louise waits patiently for Zerbst to make the first move. There are a few tricks she still wants to try out. Yuuka's methods are strange but weirdly effective against the elemental forces at a nobles disposal. A small whirlwind sends the dirt around her feet rolling away.
Kirche taking her threat as an invitation to fight, takes a few big steps back and pulls out her wand. Without a second thought she casts a fireball at Louise's face.
The fireball changes its trajectory passing closely by Louise's face. Once passing her it shrinks in size until it has no more heat to keep its fire burning.
Louise feels her face burn up and wants to scream out in pain, having overestimated herself, but wills herself to endure it for the sake of keeping appearances. Don't cry Louise. You can do this. As long as her skin doesn't turn red, she will get away with it. Keeping up appearances is as important if not more so than the weapons at your disposal if Yuuka's war tactics can be trusted.
Kirche grits her teeth. Her opposite doesn't even move an inch. She doesn't show emotion. Its as if she were just doing some mundane chore. But there is an easy solution for Kirche's problem.
She takes a few more steps back and starts casting again. "Flame burst!"
Louise knows Kirche's magic. She is after all the most studious of the bunch. Kirche will control the flame until it hits its target, meaning a slight change in trajectory will only delay the inevitable. In response Louise lifts her hand waiting for the fireball to come close enough and swats it away as if it were an annoying fly. The fire is snuffed out the moment it touches her hand.
Louise still feels somewhat tired from her lack of sleep. She doesn't try to suppress the coming yawn, rather accentuates it with her voice, "Wahhh!" not even putting a hand in front of her face. Going by the fury plastered on Kirche's face it did its job well. Yuuka always provokes her into doing something she shouldn't in the same manner.
Kirche starts chanting, casting magic after magic in an attempt to make her budge, wasting lots of energy in the process and playing into Louise's hand. In a battle of attrition Louise has the upper hand as she doesn't use magic per se. Compared to Kirche who wastes magic just by casting whether she hits or not, Louise only uses up magic equal to the amount being snuffed out of existence, which is only the minimal amount necessary to break apart the forces that keep the actual spell alive.
By the time Kirche looks exhausted, Louise is almost falling asleep again from the lack of exercise.
…
Yuuka is starting to get itches all over her body. The pain is slowly returning and along with it a headache as if she had oceans worth of alcohol in her. She leans forward barely able to hold herself in a sitting position. Her hands look blurry in front of her. Come to think of it the pain was always there so how could she move around as if it wasn't? Thinking back, she didn't actually move all that well. There is a reason she could only limp to her sitting spot. A sense of déjà vu overcomes her. She can't remember where she has seen things unfold in a similar fashion before.
"They're taking too long, don't you think?", Guiche points out slightly uncomfortable.
He is right too. They were supposed to grab a few sticks and come back. Hell, they could down an entire tree and hurl it over to them if they really wanted to. What could possibly keep them away this long?
A short but massive explosion rattles the ground. They all turn to look at the forest. Either someone is trying to send a signal or something is burning up as there is a trail of smoke rising high above the trees. Not long after fireballs fly in each direction followed by more shaking and a lot of noise.
"Do you think..we should go check up on them?", the blonde boy suggests.
"No..", Yuuka lets out through pained gasps.
"No..", she repeats shaking her head, remembering a most unpleasant experience that she could very well have to relive in the near future.
Guiche is rubbing her back. "Is something wrong? You don't look good."
Yuuka strains her eyes to get a clear image of her hands. Fine dark lines are running from her fingertips all the way down her arm. Her wounds are outlined by the same dark substance. Its gotten into her bloodstream.
This draws the quiet girls attention too. Yuuka takes the opportunity to look at her face, although just raising her head hurts. Tabitha's complexion is a sickly green. They should be suffering from after effects but these symptoms are starting to resemble an overdose.
…
Louise is enjoying herself now. Kirche can't seem to make her move even an inch, not even by circling around and attacking from her back. She smirks at her classmate whose face goes red in anger.
"So its true.", Louise interrupts Kirche's assault.
"What is?", the redhead inquires.
"You are called the ardent because of the people around you, rather than your fire."
"I will show you why they call me that.", the redhead retorts visibly angry at her sassiness.
There is still one thing Kirche didn't try. She points her wand at Louise and throws a steady stream of flame at her.
Louise feels the fire slowly burn up her protective shield. Her face is burning up as are her hands that she puts up to protect her face from the heat. With every passing second the fire is eroding more of her magic than it can snuff out. Is this how Yuuka felt when Louise hit her yesterday, she wonders. When the stream of fire ends she finds Kirche smirking at her. That woman got some nerve looking down on her as soon as she made a single breakthrough.
Louise copies another one of Yuuka's favorite attack patterns, to destroy their confidence first, then their bodies. Louise slowly brings her singed arms back down, smiling at first. A fake smile that quickly turns into a sadistic one.
"My turn.", she states coldly grabbing the hilt of Yuuka's parasol behind her. It is the first instance of her making an attempt to strike back.
Kirche's face loses all color when Louise points her familiars parasol at her. Without uttering a spell she charges it up as much as she can.
Kirche starts running as fast as her legs can carry her. She doesn't want to end as target practice for whatever strange magic Louise may cast.
"Remember to conserve your energy from now on.", Yuuka's voice echoes in her head. Louise shrugs it off. Its been a while since she got to show off her explosive failures. Might as well go all out and show her how she got her name.
At first nothing happens. She stares at the tip of her parasol dumbfounded by the lack of an explosion. A little spark flies from the tip catching her interest. Then everything goes white.
…
A shockwave unlike the ones before shakes the trees, the ground beneath their feet and the air itself. Guiche and Tabitha jump from their seats startled by bang and the resulting tremors and even though she can hardly move even Yuuka gets up on her feet. Even Sylpheed jumps up in surprise screeching like the young dragon that she is. Tabitha rushes to calm it down all the while keeping an eye out for the source of that noise.
Upon closer inspection there is a spot suspiciously devoid of trees in the forest that was too thick to see through earlier. Also there is no smoke to be seen anywhere. Only a bunch of leaves falling from the trees lucky enough not to be blown away completely.
It doesn't take long for the culprits of that racket to emerge from the woods. Both of them are covered in soot, their hair is disheveled to put it mildly and their eyes portray the immense shock they are currently suffering, wide open and irises dilated. They are shivering from head to toe as they come closer.
Yuuka alone can take a guess as to what caused this. Working out so hard to control her aura all this time has increased her firepower. Louise didn't take it into consideration. That's what she gets for brushing aside her advice.
Yuuka would laugh if she could, but the sharp pain all over her reminds her of more important matters.
"We have no choice now. Get ready to leave.", the demon urges them. They don't have the luxury of discussion anymore. No chance to snatch away any letters, to ambush and annihilate the Rebels or anything of that sort. Its down to escaping with their lives intact. The rebel army is sure to have heard and maybe even felt this blast.
But there is something she has to tell them that is even more urgent than that.
"Louise-", she begins but is cut short by an attack from the side that catches them of guard. A strong wind blows her away from the group, an air hammer sent by the same mage that zips right past them and at his target. Yuuka who can barely move in her state and is forced to take the slash of his sword-wand fully.
She drops pitifully on her back, groaning and struggling just to raise herself without evoking another painful wound from the night before. She has trouble breathing and the new wound across her chest is starting to bleed.
The Viscount turns his mount facing the rest of them.
"Wardes!", Louise steps forward.
His appearance throws her off and the words are stuck in her throat. His complexion is of a darker green than should be possible for human beings. Thin, dark lines are running from his forehead to his extremities. His skin is shriveled up like an old grape. Overall he doesn't look to be in much better shape than the green demon, as evident by the raspy breaths he lets out. To top it off, the wound he inflicted on her familiar is a mere scratch, no bigger than the sword-wand itself in spite of his successful surprise attack. The bleeding can be stopped easily and her life won't be at risk.
"What happened to you?", she finally confronts him.
Wardes grins at her mad with an uncontrollable rage. With a yell he charges at her next.
As far as Louise is concerned this is the best opportunity to try out another trick she's been eager to use. She snaps her finger and an explosion rocks the Viscount off his mount. She snaps again and the resulting explosion narrowly misses them, hurling them high into the sky. Snap. Snap. Snap. Explosions shake the ground again and again just narrowly missing their target.
This continues until the entire area is covered in a cloud of smoke so thick they can't see their hands in front of their faces. When a cold wind blows the dust away she finds both him and his mount laying motionless on the grass with bruises all over them.
"Missed every single one!", she grumbles.
Guiche puts a hand on her shoulder. "Do you even realize what you've done?"
"This is nothing.", she shrugs off. "I can do better."
Her reply worries the others.
"Maybe we should have helped Yuuka get rid of Louise for us instead?", Kirche whispers in Tabitha's ear.
She too is starting to wonder who the real monster is in this situation.
They gather around Wardes eyeing him closely.
"Look at you. You're a wreck.", she remarks taking a closer look at the fine lines on the viscounts forehead. "Just what happened to you?"
"The same thing that will happen to us all.", Yuuka's strained voice cuts through.
She is barely standing, holding the wound on her chest with one hand leaving the other hanging down.
"Louise.", the demon begins anew ignoring Wardes's sudden visit altogether. "Do you still have the flower?"
Louise takes a moment to realize what her familiar is talking about. Eventually she fidgets on the hem of her blouse and stops when something unexpected happens. She doesn't pull the flower from her back but just a slime covered hand.
Yuuka can feel the numbing effect already. It continues to poison them even now. "You let it run the entire night, didn't you?", Yuuka asks in between uneven breaths. "Nevermind. Lets get out of here before-"
Another blast of lighting throws her back a few feet. Once again she lays there albeit sizzling like a freshly cooked steak. Louise rushes to her familiar kneeling down.
Yuuka pulls her down by the arm before she can say a word. "Pretend I'm dying.", she whispers into her masters ear unwilling to take any more stray shots.
Louise throws her arms around Yuuka as if she were weeping over her death.
"My body aches but I can cast magic fine. Do you have any ideas?", the demon whispers inconspicuously.
Louise takes a moment to mull over her options.
"How much can growth can you unleash in a minute?", Louise inquires.
...
By the looks of it their camp isn't all to far away. The sound of marching echoes in the distance. Soon their little group will be surrounded by flying mages and the infantry is going to catch up shortly after.
"Drop your wands!", the first of the floating mages to demands.
His comrades are close already close by. There is no time to fight them off and anyone getting on top of Sylpheed will be shot in a similar fashion to Yuuka. They only choice is to comply so they do as told and drop their only means of defense.
The mages keep them surrounded until the infantry marches out of the forest. A rough looking man steps up taking charge of the situation.
"I suppose you are the children that Wardes mentioned.", he asks none of them in particular.
Louise rises to her feet. Sunflowers bloom around her feet far surpassing her in height. She pulls the grotesquely mutated flower from the back of her blouse squeezing it tightly in her palm.
"What do you want with us?", she demands.
"What do I want? The body of your dead friend over there.", he points at Yuuka's motionless body laying right behind her unfazed by her magic. "Hand her over quietly."
Louise turns to look at her once more. Yuuka is smiling but Louise is blocking his view.
"What will become of us if we do?", she continues to lock him in conversation.
The man smirks. "We have no need for you, alive that is. Either way you will die."
He raises his hand signaling the men under his command to prepare firing.
Louise is unperturbed. Her only job is to stall for some time which she is about to do. The first flying mage around them drops to his back surprised by the sudden fall. One by one his comrades join him on the ground, some prepared enough to land on their feet, others not so lucky and crashing face first into the ground.
Her lips curl into a smile.
"Magic won't work on us as long as I'm alive.", she half lies at him.
He thrusts his hand forward. "Shoot them!"
But its already too late. Most of their spells don't work. The few that manage to create an element are snuffed out before they reach their targets. Sweat runs down Louise's forehead. Keeping up the lie is taxing.
"I don't believe it!", the commander declares.
"You're right not to.", Wardes voice echoes behind them.
He stands on his feet once more.
"Its obviously just a bluff. The next one will hit.", he explains.
The commander is taken aback by his condition but decides not to dwell on the matter for now.
"You're going to die slowly Wardes." Yuuka's voice echoes from even further behind. Startled, the Viscount rushes to the commanders side.
That is the cue. Louise runs back to Sylpheed dragging her two classmates along the way.
"Fire!", he orders his men.
But Yuuka is faster. A wall appears before her feet blocking the view of anything behind it. It bends back after reaching up far enough and digs back into the ground on the other side, effectively encasing them in a protective shell.
…
Tabitha finds herself once more reduced to the role of an attendant holding the light for her employer, or that's what it feels like to her anyway.
"Illumina.", she says clearly disappointed to be doing this again.
A passageway big enough to fit the young dragon covered in some kind of greasy growth catches their attention immediately.
"The plan is simple.", Louise explains as she makes her way through the makeshift tunnel. "These plants provide oil, we heat them up and add some water."
She turns around looking at them expectantly.
"You know the shell will only last so long against that kind of attack.", her familiar provides.
An especially loud blast rattling up the tunnel convinces them to hurry along after all.
Louise takes note of their discomfort and holds in her snicker.
"Have any of you ever cooked before?", she asks into the round as she walks ahead still holding onto the gross mutation of a flower in her hand.
The plan was to throw it away and have it burned along with the rest but the temptation to prank them is stronger. As they walk some of the growth behind them rustles and moves closer to them, touching their feet and getting in their way.
"If you add water to boiling oil it will create an explosion.", she continues as the tremors behind them grow quieter.
"That is basically what we're doing here. Eruption.", she finishes her explanation of the setup.
"Eruption?", Kirche inquires. She opens her mouth to specify her confusion but the dots add up one after another.
Louise turns around once more to witness their 'Aha' moment. They know now a lot of things about her supposed fire magic. The long set up time, how she created the effects. Its all just a mixture of hot oil and water. Its their own fire that set most of those oils ablaze.
"Yes, its that easy.", Louise confirms.
Kirche's shrill scream startles them all, all except for one strawberry blonde girl that bursts out laughing.
"I knew it! She's going to kill us!", Kirche yells at them while trying to fight the unwanted appendage off her leg.
Yuuka throws a sharp glare at Louise and yanks the flower off her hand.
"Are you nuts? What if they hear us?", she scolds Louise slapping her on the head.
Kirche narrows her eyes at her. As soon as her leg is free she lunges at the smaller one, but Yuuka pulls her right off.
"Save it. No more shenanigans.", Yuuka insists.
"Why don't we just run away?", Guiche brings to question.
"Because they'll figure us out and send someone after us soon.", the demon replies. "I'm not fit to take them all on. Are you?", she turns it back on him.
He takes a closer look at her. She doesn't show it but there is still a limp in her walk and she moves slowly and carefully. She speaks truth too as none of them could take on that many people, not even Louise.
"Our best bet is to create a distraction.", she concludes for him.
A bright light shines down into the tunnel up ahead. They are nearing the exit.
"Now you two are up.", Yuuka addresses the fire and wind mage with two temporary wands made on the spot.
…
Yuuka takes one last breath of fresh air while she still can. Hell is waiting for her up ahead. She sits patiently on Sylpheeds back waiting for the duo to heat up the passageway with their relentless fire. The hot waves reach them all the way to the dragons back even though they are a few feet away from it, hidden in the thick forest.
She takes a good look at Louise. The young girl leans against the dragon apparently bored out of her mind. It doesn't seem to register that they are committing mass murder. Even worse than that in fact.
Tabitha and Kirche finish heating up the tunnel and close up the hole with dirt and rocks to trap the emanating heat inside. They seem to take this rather well too.
Guiche pulls on the last remaining scraps of cloth barely still covering enough of Yuuka's body not to walk around embarassed. Barely.
"Say, is it really the only choice we have?", he asks uneasily.
She shrugs it off. Maybe there is another way but none of them are in their right mind. The only one still able to think clearly are him and Louise and that's the plan the former up with. She pities him. He seems immune to her substances and will see the hell for what it is. It will likely haunt him for years to come and whats worse is the hell that awaits afterward.
"If you can't take it, close your eyes and ears.", she suggests. "Remember, this is war."
His face betrays the emotions and his line of thinking. Even though he should be aware of it, to know that he will take part in it certainly changed his attitude.
The remaining mages climb atop of the dragon now. It takes off in the direction of their enemies.
The ground is cracking, letting out hot air that startles the soldiers.
Tabitha puts two fingers in her mouth, cutting through the sound of their relentless attack on the empty shell they left behind.
Everyone's attention is now on the dragon flying above them. Louise aims her parasol at one of the slowly forming cracks in the ground. She unleashes her trademark explosion, adding the necessary blast to turn this island into a scorching hell of flames.
What is just hot gasses escaping the ground one second is now a fountain of flames engulfing a great portion of their forces. Many men burn to a crisp and drop dead. Those are the lucky ones.
Many more balls of liquid fire come flying down after the initial eruption, showering the poor fools that are unable to deflect the onslaught. The meadow is now on fire, heating all metals on those standing close by to the point of bodies being molten into the armor. All around men are running around in a panic, screaming in pain and generally being burned alive.
Louise tucks a few stray hairs behind her ear to get a better view of her work. It puts a genuine smile on her face.
Yuuka turns her face away to avoid looking at the girl in front of her. Her emotions are in disarray. Once they are back to their normal selves they will have a lot of traumas to work through.
"We should have done this from the start.", Louise voice cuts through the wind as they descend into the mainland. "We could have easily ended Reconquista here."
The young boy sitting behind Yuuka starts tearing up.
Yuuka feels for him knowing how much more he will have to endure still. She takes his hand in hers, comforting him however little.
Louise looks down on her hands realizing how evil she must look right now.