Mind

Louise ducked just at the right time, avoiding the backhand that was meant for her. She distanced herself from her opponent by using her mechanised leg to jump back a good twenty meters. The monster in front of her shifted it's circular like body and shot out a black strand that was beelining towards her.

"Fuck!"

Just when the strand was about to catch her, another cyborg zoomed passed her and cut the strand. Getting the distance, she wanted she used the chip in her brain and told her body to pull out her ion blaster. Her left wrist split and turned into a barrel. Her jetpack flared to life and she launched herself at the monster, firing balls of plasma along the way.

The red core in its body started to glow which alerted all the other Hunters in the area.

"Adaptation happening!" one of the cyborgs screamed through the radio.

Everyone started backing away, some who were too close to the Ravager panicked and tried to back up as fast as they could. The ball like Ravager's surface suddenly had holes and what came out forced the assembled Hunters to back up.

"Missiles! Evasive actions!"

After that, chaos ensued. Trails of both missiles and jetpack scattered the sky. Louise was of no exception as she dodged and weaved around just to make sure that the missiles following her weren't gaining ground. Just when everything was going fine every single Hunter fighting the Ravager heard a deep droning sound that brought fear in their mechanical hearts.

"Adaptation!"

Louise looked down to her lower right and to her horror the Ravager was humming loudly. Then, a large shockwave.

Louise blacked out

Around her, Hunters screamed in panic as the missiles gained distance and started detonating. Louise blinked her eyes open, she looked down to see the ground closing in at a fast rate. She told the chip in her mind to activate her thrusters but it didn't. She cursed before yelping when a shockwave to her left threw her off course.

She tried to regain her balance, as she does this, the missiles that were chasing after her were closing in at a fast rate. She regained control only to panic when she noticed that the ground was merely meters away from her. She started smacking her own body yelling at its faults for now working when she needed it.

"COME ON YOU PIECE OF SHIT! WORK!"

300m

A ping resounded in her mind, after that her vision was filled with the start-up menu below the start-up menu was a bar that was filling up as fast as it could.

150m

The bar was filled, all of the programmes starting from her weapons system to her thrusters and finally her other services. She could already hear the missiles from behind her.

50m

A message a shown thanking her for using their services.

10m

She didn't care.

Her thrusters were put to max. Dried concrete kicked up at the sudden air pressure. Louise quickly zoomed forward, scarping the ground. The missiles were of a different case though as they all collided and exploded on the ground creating a massive shockwave that caught up with Louise. She lost control of her flight and barrelled towards a ruined building. It was in this building where she lost consciousness. As the world slowly faded to black, she heard her radio pick up a new transmission.

"Hunters, retreat. Red Tails have arrived…"

They had seen her.

They had seen her and that broken smile that she always had ever since that fateful day.

She couldn't help herself. The sight of the struggling boy in her hand, the power that coursed through her being at the thought of controlling the boy's life. She had the choice of whether he lived or died. She chose death.

The fact that taking a life had merely became a chore for her still terrified her to this day but she had to learn, they didn't know what she went through. What she had to do to keep herself alive. Snapping that boy's neck wasn't something new to her.

That's where she crossed the line though.

She was too focused on the fact that killing the boy was well deserved that she forgot to realise that she wasn't on Earth anymore. She was in Halkeginia. Rules existed in this world, taking a life has consequences. Back on Earth if you're not within the range of Bans' security, no one will care for what happens to your life except those who actually care about you. She had seen the lawless wasteland first hand. She had seen horrors that can make even the strong willed insane. She had seen the depths that people would have to go to just to have another minute to live.

When living on Earth, one has to consider what is more important, the riches you have or your own life. Man has been and will always be greedy, Man will do whatever it takes to get to their destination. So, it is no surprise that she had seen plenty of people fall in to the dilemma of choosing between what they cherish versus their own lives.

The people here are still not exposed to such cruelty. They have not experienced the feeling of losing something just to save themselves and that is where Louise draws the line. Her and Bench's mentality are just too different.

The smile on her face had finally disappeared, what replaced was a massive frown.

"How am I going to show myself to them?" she thought.

The wide plains of Tristain surrounded her and the school was just within sight. She leaned her back on the large rock that she had been resting on for a couple of minutes already, still contemplating on what to do once she returns back to the academy. Running away couldn't solve this problem, not when there is still an intruder running amok inside the school grounds.

Perhaps she could just return and act like nothing happened? That will only work for a time, until she starts killing someone else. No, this is something that she has to confront. A soft chuckle escaped her nose. How laughably pathetic, Louise, The Devil, God-killer, Kreutin's demise and other titles that she had received from tribes around the globe, afraid of a little confrontation with her friends and family.

"Well… it was bound to happen sooner or later…" She stood up and rounded the rock only to stand stiff

"Hi… Louise,"

Henrietta stood just in front of her. A couple of meters behind her was a small party of bodyguards, watching ever so vigilantly at any subtle movements that Louise made, flanking both of her sides were four musketeers ready to riddle her with bullets should the princess' life come under threat. Finally, right next to her was the captain Agnès de Milan, right arm removing her cape and showing a sword while her left hand hovered over to her flintlock that was holstered on her left hip.

"Quite an audience you brought with you," Louise quipped.

That did nothing to ease any of her bodyguards, in fact, they were more on edge after that jab. Agnès grabbed her flintlock's handle only for it to be stopped by Henrietta's hand. She gave the princess an incredulous look before receding.

"They're just…" her voice weakened as she tried to explain her reason.

"Cautious?" Louise finished. Henrietta flinched at that. "They have every right to be,"

"Louise… what you did back there was very brave. You saved a student,"

Why was she looking at her like that? It was the kind of look that would give you comfort but at the same time, they feel uncomfortable just being around you. It annoyed her; she'd prefer a sour truth than a bitter sweet lie.

"By killing another – cut the nonsense, Henrietta. I killed someone. Someone who has a father and mother waiting for him back at home, waiting for a letter telling them that he's been doing alright, that his grades aren't going down. Someone who probably hasn't even told his parents of his recent accomplishment! SO, DON'T LOOK AT ME WITH THOSE EYES OF YOURS AND TELL ME THAT WHAT I DID IN THAT ROOM WAS RIGHT!"

Rage flooded her mind and as a result, she unconsciously flared up her core. Lines started to glow a bright pink around her body this action increased the ever-thickening atmosphere until suddenly the sound of a sword being removed by its scabbard was heard. Captain Agnès was glaring down at Louise, sword drawn. This was a prompt as the rest of the knights behind her also drew their swords, horses, ready to charge at a moment's notice.

Louise calmed herself, she took a couple of deep breaths, this helped as the lines on her body started dying down until it only the core in her chest that remained to glow but this time it only glowed a dull pink. Louise looked at Henrietta with a serious face.

"Let's get one thing straight here, princess. I am not denying the fact that I am broken – hell, my mentality has been a clusterfuck for five years already," she chuckled. "If you want to talk to me, please give it to me straight, you do that and I'll do the same,"

No words were exchanged after that as Louise left the area by walking past both her and her bodyguards.

Night had long fallen; students were fast asleep refilling their energy for tomorrow's festival. It was also on this same night that a loud knocking could be heard in the warehouse. A small groan could be heard as Louise stood up from her makeshift bed of haystack. Bench sat on the corner no lights emitting from him as a sign that he's currently off and not about to answer the door. The knocking continued making Louise sigh in irritation. Walking up to the door she opened it and who greeted her brought a surprise.

"Kirche?"

Kirche stood in front of her, left hand on her right arm. It felt weird looking at it now. The flirtatious and boastful Kirche, looking timid right in front of her bully victim. While it unnerved her, she her face remained as stoic as a person waking up in the middle of the night. Louise didn't hide the tired look in her eyes and Kirche caught sight of this.

"A-am I bothering you?"

Louise stared at her for a while longer before giving out a tired sigh and shook her head. She opened the door, allowing the Zerbst in. They made their way in the warehouse, at the same time Louise commanded a considerable amount of nanomachines and told them to construct a small round table with two chairs. Kirche watched with tired wonder as the table and chairs slowly formed from the ground up.

"Anything you want to drink?"

Kirche snapped her neck to the left to see Louise holding what looks to be a black kettle. She gave her answer by just saying 'tea'. Louise headed off to the back and took the preferred drink. Afterwards, she went out from the back and pumped water out of the water pump until the kettle was full. Controlling the nanomachines that make up the kettle, they started to vibrate violently to the point that they started producing heat.

It didn't take long for the water to boil and along the way, she took two small jars that contained both sugar and tea powder. Reaching the table she put her hand out and willed more of her nanomachines to form a teacup. It formed just in front of the designated seat for Kirche. She made her usual blend, two teaspoons, she left the jar of sugar open in case Kirche didn't like her blend.

Louise looked at Kirche who was still stunned at what she's looking at. Kirche finally realises that she'd been staring at the table for a few seconds now made her blush slightly. She gingerly reached for her seat, gently touching it, worried that it just might collapse at a single touch. Fortunately for her, it didn't. She sat on the chair and took a small sip of the tea Louise made. Silence reigned in the warehouse as Kirche reached over for the jar of sugar.

Once she was sure that the amount of sugar was enough, she brought it up to her lip and took a long sip. Relief washed over her as her tired body revitalizes even for a small amount. Now comfortable with her surroundings, Louise spoke.

"What are you doing here, Kirche?"

There was a moment of silence as Kirche stirred the tea in a with a blank expression. This moment of silence continued on and slowly her face becomes contorted, she wanted to say something to her but she's afraid that what she would say might offend her. Louise on the other hand was slowly getting irritated by continuous stirring along with the fact that it was already so late in the night. She looked at the top right corner of her vision to see what time it was.

1:32 A.M.

"It's getting late, Kirche might stay like this for a while, I'll just quickly close my eyes," She thought.

"Why did you do it?"

Louise eyes snapped back open as she heard her question. She met her curious and scared eyes. She knew what Kirche was talking about but that didn't stop the frown that she showed. Shuffled in her seat, she felt like she was being evaluated under Louise's gaze. Another wave of silence came over the two as Louise tried to ease up on her words and how to answer her question.

"Kirche… you need to understand, snapping that boy's neck was something that I didn't want to happen,"

Kirche then furrowed her brows at that answer. If you didn't want to kill him then why did you still do it? She wanted to tell that to Louise but at the same time, it looks like she wasn't done speaking, so she held her tongue.

"But at the same time… it was something that I wanted- no craved to do,"

Kirche was now uncomfortable from where she's sitting, is she insane? Louise wanted to kill him but at the same time she doesn't? This sounds like one of those broken serial killers she'd read in some books. The thought of a potential serial killer just within arms-reach of her was unsettling. Louise could see Kirche's face shift into an uncomfortable one, she can already tell that the misunderstanding will begin so she immediately spoke up.

"Kirche, look at me," The red-haired Germanian snapped her head up to meet Louise's pink eyes. "You need to understand something… I am broken, I know this and Bench knows this. He told me that it was something about my psyche being affected after being exposed to aerial radiation. I've managed to control it to some degree but in the end, it's become a part of me now… I've had this problem for five years already,"

There was a pause. "I can understand if you want to stay away from me after this conversation. I won't fault you,"

Nothing else was said as Louise stood up from her chair and led Kirche outside. Kirche walked up to her dorm a thoughtful expression on her face while at the same time she was concerned. Louise was broken, she said it herself. Kirche found herself now in her room, she dressed up in her nightwear and laid on her bed. While on bed she continued to sort her thoughts.

Louise was broken

She killed a student to save her

She almost got raped by said student

And to top is all off, the Familiar Festival coming up

This was too much for her in one day. Perhaps tomorrow, she might have a clearer mind than tonight, if so then she can sort all of these thoughts tomorrow.

Kirche's eyes closed and it wasn't long before she was taken to the world of dreams

A/N: Here's the latest chapter, not a lot happened this chapter, only some building up. Kirche's finally working through the aftermath, Louise is confronting people. I'm already assuming that some of you are going to ask where Louise's sisters are during this entire chapter. There is a reason for them not being here because they will get their voice in the next chapter! Aside from that expect some world building of Earth in the next chapter since Louise will be explaining some details regarding Earth. (Well… my version of Earth that is)

Anyways without further ado time to read your reviews!

Lucian Naruto: Eleonore and Cattleya will be having a serious talk about what transpired in Kirche's room. I didn't show that in this chapter because I wanted the ones who are involved with Louise as friends to go first before family comes into play.

Also, even if Princess Henrietta witness Louise kill someone out of self-defence, that won't stop Vestro's family from doing everything in their power to make sure that Louise will get the 'justice' that she deserves. Two things can come from this, either the family will understand and will disown their dead son for committing a crime that can tarnish their reputation. The second option will be that they will hire mercenaries and assassins to kill Louise.

Touhoufanatic: It's not the fact that Louise killed a noble that scared them. If Louise gets into trouble with the family of Vestro, Henrietta has the power to stop that since she had witnessed what happened.

What horrified them is the fact that Louise can easily take a life, plus the fact that her psyche gets unstable when taking one.

ponyheart07: Nice poem and I agree with your last statement.

Guest: I don't really know if she'd pursued individual of the same sex. I've only watched the anime and apparently in the light novel, Kirche has a nickname for Louise. I forget what it was but someone told me that Kirche uses this nickname in an affectionate way. Though, Louise mistakes her affection as teasing hence why they never clicked.

Guest: I don't take all of the credit; I'd never have thought of this chapter if it weren't for Lucian Naruto giving me a more realistic point of view.

In my opinion, Karin never did torment Louise, it was Eleonore who did. Lucian Naruto's friend gave me a theory. Please read it as to why I agree with this.

[Question: Why is Eleonore a bad sister to Louise?
Answer: The most pure and simple kind of envy.

As we all know, it has never been revealed why Eleonore treats Louise badly, but in the fanfic, he is writing, my friend has come up with an idea that in my opinion is interesting. Eleonore is jealous of Louise.

Why would she feel that way? Well, according to my friend, as we all know, Eleonore is Karin's firstborn. Since her childhood, Karin has always been VERY harsh with Eleonore. Due to her nature in the army, Karin even treated Eleonore almost as if she had been a soldier since childhood, and since Karin's husband is a useless man, he did nothing for his daughter.

Karin treated Eleonore that way because she wanted her daughter to be strong and independent, but doing so from childhood only made Eleonore resent Karin and one day in the past, Eleonore's resentment against Karin reached such a high point that Eleonore in a 'training' tried to kill Karin... that's right, she attacked Karin with intent to kill, but obviously failed. This incident with Eleonore made Karin open her eyes, and she stopped this treatment. It took years for both of them to have a stable relationship again, but in the end, things went back to normal.

Now you ask: Where does Louise enter this story? Well, after realizing the mistake she made with Eleonore, Karin in her own way tried to improve – which wasn't much but from her mess, Karin struggled to be a good mother. Due to Cattleya's illness, Karin always gave her gifts as several pets, and although she didn't seem to, she loved Louise so much that she always did what her daughter asked.

She hired private teachers to teach Louise magic despite failing, she sent Louise to magic school at her daughter's request, and she even arranged an engagement for Louise with someone she believed could make Louise happy, (which failed miserably) Karin's big problem is that she's not very good at showing her emotions. And seeing the 'privileges' that Cattleya and Louise had, things Eleonore herself didn't have in the past, let's say she didn't have a good reaction.

Cattleya escaped her sister's wrath due to her illness, but Louise was not so lucky. Private tutors, the kingdom princess's friendship due to Karin, going to her school of choice, and a handsome groom. Seeing all these things, Eleonore came to believe that Louise was a spoiled brat who never had to struggle to get things, she was jealous of Louise. For that reason, she was not a good sister to Louise.

This irrational thought that Louise had all kept Eleonore from seeing that Louise just wanted the approval of the family, that she wanted to make her mother and sisters proud of her. Sincerely, we don't know the real reason for Eleonore in the series, but this idea of my friend is interesting and logical. Originally, Karin intended to make Eleonore go to the army just like her, but after the incident between them, Karin realized what she did and allowed Eleonore to follow her own steps, which eventually allowed Eleonore to become a teacher.

Unfortunately, the damage was already done. Eleonore had control of her life, but seeing that Cattleya and Louise had more freedom than she had in the past left a bitter taste in Eleonore's mouth. Due to her illness, Cattleya did not have to suffer attacks from her sister, but Louise suffered the most from the envy that Eleonore felt. To tell the truth I may feel sympathy for her on this theory of my friend, but I can't forgive her releasing her frustrations on Louise.]

Like Lucian Naruto, I agree with this theory. I believe that Karin had nothing to do with Louise's torment. What Karin did however was instigate Louise's torment by spoiling her the wrong way. At the same time, I cannot fault Karin for this, the only knowledge she knew before Cattleya and Louise came around were during her time in the army. Some people adapt to certain things differently. Perhaps a different war veteran will be able to cope and support the family and become a loving parent. In Karin's case, she's slow to adapt to the life of a mother.

Welp that's all I got for today. I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. A notification before I go.

I'm going to college!

While not immediate, it's an early message to you my fellow readers. My schedule will change when that time comes but at the moment, I'm still posting chapters weekly.

With that said and done I bid you all adieu!

Peace~