Twisted Reflections

by vendetta543

She was a failure of a Mage, unable to cast even the simplest of spells. He was an Undead, a monster used as a pawn in battle he could never understand. They had nothing in common, and yet fate saw it fit to bind the two souls together.

13. Louise falls for Raziel (Not that way)

School's starting in a week or so, so updates are going to slow to a crawl again soon. Oh well, hopefully this chapter satisfies you guys till the next one starts:)

Confession time guys: When I first started this fic, it was pretty much a half-parody and I didn't take this seriously - Hence why after the burning intro Raziel pretty much acts like a baby learning about the first steps with exaggerated reactions, along the blatant game references to stats. It was only at about chapter 6, when everyone told me that the game mechanics were annoying as hell, that I began to take it more seriously. The addition of the bandits was also one of the key decisions, since originally I wasn't going to bother putting a distraction for Fouquet and was going to make it more similar to "Familiar Souls" version.

Raziel's personality also shifted somewhat. In the original plan he always talked in one word sentences or didn't talk at all, regardless if he got his voice back. He was also more naive - Notably, he didn't have his (stupid) prejudice against princesses and believed most humans were evil to the core. This changed as well, as you can see from his dialogue in the previous chapter where he's more verbose and actually talks with Louise and Derflinge and the coming conversations with Siesta.

Well, that's it :) Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. The next one is going to be a breather before the Count Mott arc.

---

They had walked right into an argument.

"Princess, please consider your health for a moment," Cardinal Mazarin exclaimed, clapping his hands together in a begging gesture that seemed unsuited for a man of his position, "Its hasn't been too long since the attack and you haven't stopped helping the healers since then. Any more of this and you'll collapse from exhaustion. Please let the Academy's staff and the other student's take over now."

"Please don't be so selfish, Cardinal," Henrietta argued back, "These people need all the help they can afford. You yourself are the only clergyman around here, so they need your assistance in laying the dead to rest as well. I am a water Mage and that enables me to help in healing the injured. Our positions are similar, and yet I do not see you avoiding your responsibility."

"I am not placing myself at risk in doing so," He answered back patiently, "I was lucky enough that the teacher's of this Academy managed to find me and the remaining Knights early in the attack. But you were nearly killed just now and need to take a rest. Straining yourself will only make things harder for everyone in the long run. Please think clearly and rest."

Raziel looked to his master and found her standing stiff as a Golem, intertwining her hands nervously under her thick cloak. She was nervous, most likely due to the clergyman's presence. Unknown to him, the man in front of him was Cardinal Mazarin, the official 'second' of the royal family and the person who was considered to be the second most powerful person in the country.

Like all of the countries in Halkeginia, religion was considered very important in both politics and tradition. And Cardinal Mazarin had the distinction of being both a cardinal - along with being one of the possible candidates for Pope - and being politically active due to Queen Marian's refusal to take the throne after her husband's death; she was still in mourning despite the time that had elapsed. There were already rumors that he was going to ascend to the throne in place of the royal family.

"I'm fine, Cardinal," Henrietta argued back, a slight anger beginning to drip into her tone, "As we're speaking now, both the students and the visitors are in pain from the smoke and their injuries. Is it not my place to help because I am able? Do Brimir's teachings not say that those who have magic should lead by example?"

The arguing continued back and forth for a while longer. His master was paying attention to the verbal showdown, soaking in every word like it was gospel. Neither the old man and the tyrant in the making had noticed the two of them, something Raziel was happy about. Hopefully his master would tire of being ignored and they could leave this place.

"Ah, Louise!" Abyss take him, she noticed," Cardinal, I must speak with Miss de la Valliere about something personal. I trust you understand?" She smiled sweetly, although everyone in the tent understood the meaning - There was no room for argument and her words were final. Typical Princess, Raziel mused, always putting their opinions above others.

"...As you wish, Your Highness," A look of displeasure passed through the Cardinal's face before he bowed, a barely noticeable sigh escaping his lips, "I shall be outside, helping lay the souls of those who died to rest. Please take heed of my warnings and get some rest soon."

"Of course, Cardinal," She was lying. It was impressive; Raziel could see almost no signs of lies. But there was always a small sign - The smallest twitch of the finger or the smile that lasted too long. In his disjointed memories, Patches often had numerous signs as well - Awkward glances, refusal of eye contact and, most damning of all, a laugh that almost guaranteed bad news. He had to have been a fool back then not to notice his falsehoods.

Both Louise and Raziel stepped to the side in order to avoid the leaving priest. The two of them watched as he all but ran out of the tent, shaking his head and sighing the entire way. He was obviously tired; both from the nonstop sermons - which required a lot of raised arms and complicated gestures - and the argument he'd been having with the princess just now. Raziel felt sorry for him.

"I'm sorry for not taking notice of you and Mr. Familiar earlier, Louise," Henrietta bowed in apology, "I hope my argument with the Cardinal wasn't too distracting."

"N-N-Not at all, Princess!" His master bowed deeply, as was the standard for her when dealing with Princess whatever her name was, "I came here to see how you were doing, so there's no need to apologize. I'm just happy that you're alright," She smiled in relief.

She had wanted to check on Princess Henrietta first, but circumstances kept piling up: First her wounds, then being called by Mister Colbert, and finally that little talk with Raziel. In all honesty, she was still scared of him. She would probably have a hard time sleeping tonight, not to mention some bad dreams she'd no doubt be getting later on. She would have to sleep with one eye open later.

Thank goodness he wasn't some kind of soul devouring monster made of pure darkness.

"Thank you for worrying about me Louise," Henrietta nodded gratefully, "The Cardinal took me to this cabin in the hopes that I get some rest. He's simply looking out for the next in line for the throne, but its a nice sentiment all the same."

Raziel began to look around the cabin, as he took to doing whenever he tried to ignore conversations. Such carelessness would have gotten him killed back in Lordran, but here he had learned that danger was often a rarity other than times of war; of which nobles partook in as if it were a sport. Derflinger had told him stories - of the ones he could remember, at least - about wars that happened every few years either because of a power grab or because one noble felt slighted over something another noble did and declared war. Because they all knew that the best response to an insult was to declare your intent to kill.

But of course they were rarely the ones to fight it: They sat around in their chairs, drinking wine and eating fine foods as the commoner's they ruled over spilled blood for reasons they didn't understand. After all, to nobles, what were the lives of a few hundred commoners? It was like losing paws in a chess board: Easily replaceable and they felt no loss when they disappeared. Like Gods, but without power to back it up.

"Louise...I'm afraid I may have to take advantage of your kindness earlier than I thought," Henrietta frowned, "I had planned to tell you of my problems a few days from now. But the circumstances now force me to ask for your assistance sooner than I had hoped."

"What do you mean, Princess?" Louise asked, "This attack was unexpected, but surely its a separate incident from whatever troubles you?"

There were no people here, that much was obvious. Raziel walked over to one of the makeshift beds and placed a hand on it. Still warm, and he could feel the indents on where a person most likely was. It made sense for the most part: People were transported here for early healing and then either put to the clinic if their condition worsened...or added to the pile of bodies if they couldn't be saved.

"I'm afraid not," Henrietta rummaged into a pack beside her before pulling out a faded letter and offering it to her, "This was found in one of the bandits captured after the attack. He confessed that their leader gave it to him for safekeeping and that it was from their employers. Technically its supposed to be given to an official as proof of criminal activities, but I managed to ask for it temporarily till we go back to the capital."

Louise looked at the letter suspiciously before accepting it from Henrietta. The letter was worn, drenched in rainwater and bits of ash. The words were already fading due to the moistness, but she could still make them out...wait- "...I can't read it," A cipher. Louise narrowed her eyes and glared at the letter. Cipher's were commonplace for keeping secrets and, without the code-sheet, they wouldn't be able to decipher which of the symbols corresponded to which letter.

"Exactly," Henrietta sighed, "He confessed that the letter and the code-sheet were to be burned after reading the instructions. Their leader thought it would make for good blackmail material and kept the letter and code-sheet. The letter was given to him and the code-sheet was entrusted to a man they called 'Micheletto'."

Both Louise and Raziel flinched at the name, the former even coughing awkwardly. Micheletto, whoever he was, had been burned to ashes not too long ago. Even if they went back and searched for his body, there was nothing there except burnt ash and remnants of skin that had most likely been blown away by the wind at this point. And that was assuming they wanted to go back there, which they didn't.

"Y-Yes, a real shame," Louise laughed awkwardly, "A-Ahem, regardless, I can't really see how this is related to whatever troubles you, Princess."

"Though the Cipher may be unreadable, there is a mark on the origins of the letter," Henrietta took the letter back from Louise and pointed to the bottom half of the letter. There was a mark there, red in color and visually distinct. Louise leaned forward in order to get a closer look. It was a symbol of some kind. Despite the odd design, she couldn't help but think it was familiar somehow-

Wait. Those symbols, she'd seen them somewhere before. 3 years ago, when her Family visited the church of the floating continent. Many of the royal families visited the unveiling of the sacred texts found in Albion's archives. The symbol was the same one used by the high priests when sending out invitation to the royal families. The distinct drawings proved it.

"I see you still remember the symbol," Henrietta commented, "This is the symbol of the church of Albion. The stamp is rare not only because its rarely ever used, but also because only the high priests and those above them have access to the stamp."

"Princess, are you saying that the attack was ordered by the Albion church?" Louise asked nervously. The idea of it was impossible. Those who were privileged enough to wear the positions of clergymen were said to be blessed by Brimir himself. To be picked, one needed to give up their wordly possessions and even family so they could devote themselves to spreading Brimir's holy teachings. It took an individual of great mental and spiritual strength to become even a lowly priest, not to mention a high priest or a cardinal.

Raziel looked around the area one more time. Just like the previous tents, the only things there were makeshift beds, some basic medical supplies, and bags of unrelated items; most likely things that were on the people they were healing which were discarded. He knelt down and looked at one of the bags. Maybe he could find something to distract himself while they were conversing.

"Its only a suspicion," Henrietta replied, "But whether the church is involved or not is another matter entirely. What matters most is that the seal originates from Albion. I trust you have heard of the Reconquista uprising?"

Louise nodded. How could she not? The Reconquista uprising was pretty much the talk of the older nobility now. Her sister mentioned it in her letter: A coup d'etat masquerading as a revolution. A faction of nobles from Albion wanted more power than they deserved and fought against the crowning monarchy. While news of it was scarce, the latest observations were not good. Rumor was it that it was only a matter of time till Reconquista won.

"The news is grave, I'm afraid, and it hasn't gotten any better. And though I dread to ask this of you, I am in need of your help. I do not expect you to accept this, but could you please hear me out?"

"Of course, Princess," Louise nodded earnestly.

What was this thing? Raziel raised the object in his hand up. The object was small and cylindrical in shape. He traced his hand along the handle. Wooden and somewhat rough, but the thing was obviously meant for combat. It looked just like the weapon the dying bandit used on him. But how did this small thing cause him so much pain? He looked down at the bag again and found no other similar weapons. Taken or looted from one of the bandits, most likely.

"You are aware of my marriage to Germania's emperor, are you not?" Louise nodded, "The ceremony is to take place not too long now and the union of Tristain and Germania will be mutually beneficial to both sides. However, this also means many groups, and even countries, are willing to do whatever it takes to stop the union."

Louise hummed in understanding. Politics was a dirty business, as her father would say. Despite the Valliere's high positions, neither her parents or her older sisters had much love for the 'Age old game'. Her father and mother were retired, living on the fortunes and wealth their years of work afforded them and their current investments. They still involved themselves from time to time, but for the most part they were free. Her eldest sister Eleanor took a job as a magical researcher while Big sis Catt was too sickly to try a career. Louise herself didn't fancy a life in politics either.

And as much as Louise hated Germania - Bunch of savage upstarts that they were - she wasn't going to complain about it. Her childhood friend was already sacrificing a lot in order to go through with it. She could already tell by her tone that she didn't want to go through this wedding, and hearing her complaints would've made her feel worse about this.

"Right now, Albion is currently under the leadership of Prince Wales. You know him as my cousin," And more than that, though she left that unsaid, "He is in possession of a letter of great importance, and I have reason to believe that Reconquista seeks it. Two divided nations would be easier to conquer than a single unified one."

Reconquista was power hungry. Once Albion was taken, they would no doubt use their dragon riders and their air fleet to invade Tristain. Despite its place in nobility, Tristain had little in the way of standing armies, and thus they needed to make the treaty with Germania in order to sustain themselves militarily. Without that treaty, they would be forced to take on the might of Albion by themselves.

"What kind of letter is this?" Louise asked.

Henrietta looked to the side sadly, "...That I cannot tell you. But know that, if the contents of that letter were to be found, then the treaty between Germania and Tristain will crumble."

Louise's eyes widened at the news, "Then, the favor you are asking of me is..." She didn't finish her sentence - she didn't need to. The sudden shameful look Henrietta had on her face and refusal to look her in the eye all but confirmed it. She was asking her to go to Albion and get the letter back. While it was in the middle of a coup d'etat.

Even a trained soldier would hesitate.

"Princess," Louise stood closer to Henrietta before going on one knee, "I would be honored to take this task in your name. And should I die, I will make sure my last act before death claims me will be to burn that letter so no one else can use it against our beloved Tristain."

But not her. Her mother taught her that loyalty to the crown and ones family was most important in ones life. If she refused to this now, then she had no right to call herself a noble of Tristain. She suppressed the urge to shiver. She was scared of what lied ahead for her, but her friend and her country needed her. That letter would be the death of them all.

And besides, she thought, what could happen to her while she had an Undead Familiar? Her gaze changed from her friend to him. Wary of him she may have been, there was no denying that he was effective at defending her.

"Louise, I cannot thank you enough!" Henrietta took hold of Louise's hands and smiled brightly, "I know I am asking for a lot, so please know that you have my everlasting gratitude for your actions. And if you should ever need anything of me, then please do not hesitate to ask. I will be forever in your debt."

"No, Princess, I am honored to be able to serve both you and our great country!" Louise replied, just as enthusiastic, "And please do not think you owe me a debt of gratitude. Your sacrifice in marrying the king of that brutish country is more than enough!"

Raziel rolled his eyes at the dramatics. Why did these nobles insist on making a spectacle of everything? It was as if they had no indoor voices when it came to expressing their gratitude. Still, this little cylindrical thing intrigued him. He examined it closely and tapped the barrel against his palm. No sharpness and it wasn't heavy enough to be used as a club or a melee weapon. Beating someone to death with it would be inefficient.

The only other explanation was that it was some kind of crossbow or ranged weapon. But that made little sense since he couldn't see any arrows or ammunition for it. Then again, that bandit had hit him with it from a fair distance away, and the pain was stronger than any crossbow bolt or arrow. It was as if an arrow lodged itself into his body before suddenly exploding.

"Princess, when should we leave for Albion?" Louise asked, standing up from her kneeling position.

"Not for a while," Henrietta answered, "You need your rest after what happened here today and I am still trying to determine the best time to go there. Right now the Albion royal family and the separatist's are fighting a head on war. There would be little point in going there now since there's little chance you can find Prince Wales without wading into the middle of a battlefield."

"Understood-"

"But I am not sending you and Mr. Familiar there alone, Louise," She interrupted quickly, "I will be sending the head of my Griffin Knights with you for protection. You are acquainted with Viscount Wardes, I presume? He has told me a lot about you and he has volunteered to be your guide to Albion for this secret mission."

Viscount Wardes. Louise blushed; it was a name she hadn't heard in a long time. When she was but a child of six, she and the viscount - then sixteen - were engaged to one another by their parents decision. She thought she loved him, or at least she remembered doing so in her childhood memories. He was always so strong, so gentle, the epitome of nobility. She still remembered when she comforted him when she cried, saying she had strength no one else had. She almost believed it at the time, childish naivete clouding her mind.

But she hadn't seen the Viscount in ten years. Tragedy had struck his family and he withdrew from anyone, not even sending a single letter to her or anyone else he knew. At first she was sad, but sadness changed to indifference and soon she found herself thinking less and less of him. After ten long years, he became a memory at the back of her head that she dreamed of on rare nights when she remembered her childhood.

And now he was going to be the one protecting and escorting her? It was...sudden.

"Is there something wrong, Louise?" Henrietta's voice reached her ears.

"No...No, of course not, Princess," She shook her head and took a calming breath, "I was simply...surprised, is all. I hadn't seen the Viscount in ten years, so I'm surprised he remembers me."

"He spoke of you a lot," The princess smiled, "He told me that he was looking forward to seeing you again after such a long time and that he hopes that he's worthy of being your groom now."

Louise blushed again. Even after all these years, he apparently lost none of the charm that made her fall for him when she was younger. The fear of her new mission dwindled heavily and she found herself calming. With Viscount Wardes at her side, she didn't need to be afraid. He was already strong back then, there was no need to be afraid now.

Raziel shook the small weapon irritably. How was he supposed to use this thing? He could see vague images in his head - A hand squeezing some kind of trigger. But that wasn't enough to go on. Blankly he stared at his left hand; the one rune he had activated was shining dully, trying to convey the weapon's use to him as best as it could. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see any way to use this thing.

Derf had mentioned this as well. He called it a 'Flintlock', a weapon used by commoners in times of war in order to even the odds against Mages. The specific term he used was that it added 'firepower' to a person. Raziel found the term odd. This 'Flintlock' harnessed the power of fire? He could see no runes or way to conduct Pyromancy within it. Maybe if he activated his Pyromancy...

"Chuu~Chuu~" Louise looked down at her feet and found a small mouse nibbling her shoe: The Headmaster's Familiar. She knelt down and picked up the shivering mouse in her palm, "Chuu~Chuu~" It nibbled on her hand before pointing its whiskered nose at the tent door. It wanted her to go out. The headmaster was summoning her.

"Is something wrong, Louise?" Henrietta asked.

"Huh? Oh no, the Headmaster's Familiar's here," She cupped both palms over the white mouse and presented it to Henrietta, who giggled as the mouse squeaked at her, "The He-"

Louise was interrupted by the sound of a high pitched bang. Both nobles turned to the source of the noise and found Raziel kneeling on the floor, holding his right hand tightly in his left. They could see the remains of wood and the smell of gunpowder around him.

"Mmmph," Raziel scowled and tightened his grip on his right hand. The damn thing had exploded! He had activated his Pyromancy in order to try and activate the 'firepower' and the entire thing blew up in his hands like the 'Emit Force' miracle. What in the abyss kind of weapon blew up when in contact with Pyromancy? Damn thing was useless.

"Raziel!" Louise walked over to him quickly and took hold of his right hand, raising it up eye level. Raziel twitched at the contact, but didn't retract his hand, "What in the void were you doing!? You could've blown your hand off!"

It wasn't that bad. Raziel looked at his right hand - Parts of the bandage covering his palms had been burnt off by the blast, and he could feel some scratches from the wood, but overall it was nothing that couldn't be ignored. It was like being grazed by a Golem's fist, only hotter.

"Is he alright?" Raziel frowned slightly. He didn't need a future despot worrying about him, "It seems as if the gun jammed somehow and it exploded."

Actually, it was more likely he blew up the gun by cooking off the gunpowder, Louise thought to herself. She could see the burnt wood of the handle and how his hands ignited briefly when she touched it. This was the biggest reason she wasn't completely afraid of him: He acted like a complete moron a lot of the time.

"Damn it, The Headmaster just called us again. We don't have time for this!" Louise chewed on her lower lip in irritation. Could she just wrap it in bandages again? No, that would probably infect the wound since his skin was still burnt. Undead or not, his skin burnt just like any of them and she wasn't going to risk him being unable to use his sword arm. She needed an able protector for the trip to Albion.

"I am fine," Raziel wrenched his hand from her grasp and forced it to turn into a fist. Based on the fact that his hand was shaking rather heavily, it was most likely a bad idea.

"Louise, if I may suggest something?" Henrietta interjected, "Why not go to the Headmaster and see what he requires of you? I can use my water magic to...try and heal him," She coughed awkwardly. Louise had told her he was supposedly immune to magic, but it couldn't have hurt to try, "I'm sure Mr. Familiar knows the way to the office and can follow afterwards."

Louise looked between her friend and her Familiar slowly. Henrietta meant no ill-will, but Raziel made it clear he disliked her for a stupid reason, so she wasn't sure if leaving him here alone was such a good idea.

But what other choice did she have? Certainly she could have ignored the wound, but she didn't want to take any chances with it, reanimated corpse made of magic or not. She also couldn't see any tunics she could give him, and she really didn't want to bring him to the questioning again while he was shirtless.

"...Raziel, do you remember where you placed your armor?" Louise turned back to him and asked.

"Yes, I had left it with Derflinger in one of the central tents," Raziel replied stiffly.

"Then make sure to get both of them before meeting with me again," She frowned before kneeling next to him, "And don't you dare attack or insult the princess in any way, am I understood?" He looked away from her, "Raziel, she's trying to help you, and you're acting hostile for no reason whatsoever. Just make sure you aren't going to do anything. I have to see the Headmaster."

Raziel could barely give a nod before Louise walked out of the room. His master was insane; hostile for no reason whatsoever? Garbage. He was perfectly justified in keeping his distance. She'd already given his master a dangerous mission - he was paying some attention to their conversation - and that wasn't even mentioning the fact that she was a monarch. Power corrupted, regardless of how well-meaning someone was.

"Um, Mr. Familiar?" Henrietta called out somewhat hesitantly, "I need to see your hand before I can try and heal it."

Raziel looked down onto the ground before forcing himself to stand up. He needed to calm himself. There was no reason to lose his temper, not after he was still weak. This day had gone from bad to worse: He had gotten shot, smashed through a wall, burned, stabbed in the neck and then, as if fate was mocking him, one of the 'Flintlocks' had exploded in his hand.

Okay, that wasn't really much compared to getting skewered by a spear of lightning or being smashed against the wall by Manus, but it still hurt. The lack of Estus flasks and bonfires contributed to a lot of his pain. He had to rely on his natural hardiness and (weak) regeneration in order to see him through. Sighing, he sat down on one of the empty chairs across from her.

Tentatively, Henrietta reached out her hand and grasped his wrist gently. Raziel's fingers twitched, his entire arm shook. His arm felt cold, she noted absently, "I need to see if any shards of wood got into your palm. I can use water magic to pull them out, then we need to close the wounds and bandage your hand again," Oh great, more bandages, just what he wanted.

Raziel was quiet the entire time. Henrietta inspected his hand carefully, doing her best to try and avoid agitating the wound. It was intriguing. Despite the explosion, she couldn't see any traces of injury other than a few shallow cuts and scratches. She looked closer - No blood either, and it didn't look like a shard had dug in anywhere. In all honesty, it was almost impossible, but here it was in front of her. It was doubly impressive considering his hand still had numerous traces of reddened skin.

"Hmm, there doesn't appear to be any bleeding or serious damage," She pulled out her wand, "I shall try to heal the cuts and the burns if I can. At the very least I may be able to alleviate the pain."

Raziel nodded absently and tried to focus on other things. In the table in front of him, he could see the letter the two were focused on earlier. He looked back at the Princess quickly to make sure she wasn't paying attention before reaching his hand out to grab it. They had called it unreadable, but from what he could see, the letters on the paper looked familiar to him.

"This is..." Raziel blinked and stared at the missive. They had called it a cipher; unreadable without the code-sheet. But he could read them. He recognized the alphabet: It was the same as the books he had managed to pick up on his journey, "...His Eminence?"

Henrietta internally sighed. It was no use. No matter how many times she chanted or how hard she concentrated, she couldn't make even a single inch of difference. His skin remained raw red, the scratches and cuts refused to disappear. Louise was right, something was odd about him- Hold on, what was he doing with the letter?

"We have dropped the money you requested, along with the wind Mages sent to assist you in this endeavor," Raziel read aloud, "When the deed is done, you will be rewarded for your service handsomely by His Eminence. And should you perform the task well, we may have a place for you in our side. A new day is dawning in this wretched land, and..." He sighed. There was no point in reading this.

"Please continue," Henrietta urged. Damn it, he had almost forgotten she was there, "You can read the Cipher? Amazing."

"...Yes, these are letters I have seen before," He answered back vaguely. His master had told him to keep his background a secret, "Though it might be unintelligible to you, this...cipher is readable to me." To him it wasn't a cipher at all. It was their language that he couldn't read; so full of runes and odd shapes that he didn't understand at all. This was easy.

"Can you please read it then, Mr. Familiar?" Raziel backed away as Henrietta seemed to go closer, "Any words we can learn about the attack would be very helpful."

He wanted to say no, to tell her that he didn't take orders from her. But his masters words rang back in his head. Don't do anything hostile to her, she said. And refusing her orders would count as hostile. Sighing, he raised the letter up again before continuing.

"A new day is dawning in this wretched land, and soon we will reach the path our Founder Brimir intended for us. The Royal family of of Albion is weakening, and by this time next month, a new leader shall arise. His Eminence might have a place for you, so long as you prove yourself useful and efficient. The nobles of this land squander their gifts, blindly living their lives, unaware of that must be done. We must earn our place back into Brimir's graces, we must finish what he started..." Raziel stopped and sighed.

"What else?" Henrietta asked, a tinge of panic hitting her voice. The letter had talked about the death of the royal family. That would mean the death of the acting king and his successor, Prince Wales. Her heart ached. Wales was in danger, and she could do nothing but play the role of a puppet in the political machinations of the cardinals and other noble, along with sending her friend to a mission where she had a good likelihood of dying.

"There is nothing else," He threw the letter back onto the table, "There was a last note to burn the letter after reading it. It appears to be a letter of congratulations."

Henrietta said nothing, continuing to look at the letter as if staring at it long enough would change its contents. Raziel was half-tempted to tell her he was lying, if only in order to make her feel better. He didn't like her, but seeing someone so distraught and helpless because of him made him feel like a monster at times. But there was little to do for it now. She doubted he would even believe her if he said it was a lie.

He needed to see his master. Slowly he stood up, moving his fingers carefully. He could already feel his skin beginning to heal from the wounds inflicted on it previously.

"Mr. Familiar, please wait," She grabbed his left hand, "I have sent Louise on a dangerous task, and I'm sure not even Founder Brimir himself will forgive me. But please, protect her. She puts up a brave front, but I could see the fear in her when she accepted my request. Please protect her."

A look of surprise passed Raziel's face before quickly disappearing. He nodded, shaking his hand away from hers. Why was she being so selfless? It was as if power didn't matter to her. Didn't those with power view anyone else as a pawn? And yet she acted like she truly cared for his master, even when she wasn't around to hear of her words and actions.

Shaking his head, he tightened the cloak around his body before leaving the tent in a haste. He needed to stop thinking too hard about this. There were better things to occupy his mind than the actions of a princess.

---

Raziel stood awkwardly, his damaged armor already beginning to cause discomfort. To his left was his master, standing as stiff as a statue, and to his right the figures of Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche stood in order. All around them he could see teachers, some angry, some panicking, and all of them appearing injured. If this was meant to be an interrogation, then it didn't seem to be off to a good start.

"This is your fault, Ms Chevreuse!" Professor Kaita accused, pointing at at the older woman. Unlike many of his peers, the young teacher didn't seem to be injured at all: He would later account it to the fact that he was of the wind element, an element he frequently proclaimed was the strongest, "You were the one assigned to guard the vault this day, were you not?"

"Well what was I supposed to do?" She replied angrily, "I heard explosions and screams from the courtyard and I ran there to try and help. In the first place, I was only supposed to patrol the hallways a few times before heading back."

"What you were expected to do is-"

"Okay, that's enough," Headmaster Osmond interrupted, raising both hands to try and placate the arguing teachers"Miss Chevreuse was doing her job; nothing more nothing less. In either case, Miss. Longueville here already saw what happened."

Miss Loungeville stepped forward, bowing respectfully at the surrounding teachers. Her eyes scanned the individuals around her before she flinched when her gaze landed on Raziel. He was still alive, she noted bitterly. Shame, she had hoped the surrounding bandits would kill him when she ran away. She wasn't a fan of taking life, but what she'd seen him do made her sincerely wish that he would just curl up and die somewhere.

"Ah, but before Miss. Longueville explains what she saw, we must thank our these four for their efforts," The Headmaster clapped his hands and pointed at the four students, "It was due to their efforts that the students and visitors were saved from the smoke. Ms. Valliere was also the one to push back the thief from the sacred vault."

Louise stood in an awkward silence. She didn't do anything, but she couldn't say that out loud right now. All she did was faint and then get captured. Raziel said nothing, not even caring that he wasn't counted as one of the group. The Familiar's actions are attributed to the master, as he would find out later. All he cared about was whether he could go back outside and and get some sleep. He would deal with the headaches in place of this.

"Ms. Kirche, Ms. Tabitha, Mr. Gramont, on behalf of the school, I would like to sincerely thank you for your efforts in keeping everyone safe," The headmaster stood up and bowed respectfully, "And Ms. Valliere, because of you and your Familiar, the thief and his Golem were driven away quickly before much of the treasury's contents had been looted."

The reactions of the three were...mixed. Guiche was the most vocal, laughing haughtily and bowing like he had been presented a medal. Although Raziel could see that his actions were at least partially forced. Kirche was smiling and bowed respectfully, though he didn't miss the force in her smile. She wasn't that happy given everything that had happened. Tabitha was the most reticent, making do with nodding politely. She was still tired, if the slight lean she had on her catalyst was any indication.

"Now, Ms. Longueville, would you tell us exactly what you saw?" Osmond gestured to the green haired teacher. Raziel looked at her warily. She was there? He couldn't recall her presence. Still, it was highly likely that he just missed her. He wasn't exactly focusing on his surroundings and the dust from the stone and Golem made it hard to see around him. She probably saw through the smoke.

"Yes," She bowed and rubbed her bandaged forehead wearily, "The smoke and dust in the area made it hard to see, but I'll do my best to give an accurate view on what I saw."

She told them about everything. How she was coming down from the tower after sending a message, how she could hear screams from the main entrance, and how the earth shook when she tried to make her way there. She told them of the Golem and the thief controlling it, how it broke into the vault, and how it suddenly melted and the thief was forced to flee.

"And what exactly were you doing there in the first place?" Professor Kaita was the first to speak, "Its odd that you chose the Familiar festival as the time to send a letter to anyone."

"Oh, leave her alone!" Ms Chevreuse defended angrily, "We won't get anywhere if you start accusing everyone of being the thief. And if she was the thief, why would she come back to the school? It would make no sense." That wasn't even mentioning the fact that the thief was most likely a male. Professor Kaita's rampant accusations and sour demeanor made him unlikeable to many of them.

None of them had seen the thief's face. Raziel thought it sounded female, but after Gwyndolin he wasn't going to judge gender based on voice and appearance alone. For all he knew they had some kind of magic spell to change genders in this land. It honestly wouldn't surprise him given everything they were capable of doing. Guiche looked like he'd been halfway done with the spell. At the back of his mind, he wondered briefly why they didn't ask him or his master what they had seen before disregarding it. They had their reasons, he was sure.

"Yes, well, that's all I saw," Ms. Longueville bowed apologetically, "But I do have some good news: I managed to follow the thief to the forest and figure out the path he was talking," She sighed, "I got injured in the forest and lost sight of him, but I believe I've found where he made camp; a small abandoned shack in the center of the forest."

'Huh?' Raziel gave her a sideways glance. Something was odd. She wasn't lying, at least not completely - She did indeed know where the thief was. But at parts of her explanation she showed signs of lying; fingers twitching and words shaking. Some things didn't add up either - No dirt on her uniform or her shoes. So how did she go through the forest?

...

He shook his head. He was getting paranoid. He needed to be careful about his paranoia now that he was here. Death was treated heavily here and was, according to the Headmaster, permanent. So he couldn't kill her, at least not until he was sure.

"You need to be careful, Ms. Longueville," Colbert interjected worriedly, "It would have been better if you went back and asked for help. You could have gotten killed if he was aiming to kill you."

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Colbert, but I am fine," She smiled at the balding professor, "That is actually why I came back. The thief spared me because he was in a hurry, but I don't want to see what will happen if I try again."

"Ah, so you know where this elusive thief is?" Osmond asked. At her nod, a smile broke out on his face, "Well then, that makes things simple: Miss. Longueville can lead us to his location. Now then, are there any volunteers? I'm sure many of you are eager to serve the school by taking down this thief and reclaiming what he had stolen."

The reactions of the teachers were...less than enthusiastic. At the Headmaster's announcement, many of them made excuses to leave the room while others stood awkwardly in place. Osmond's eyes widened comically as he saw over half the teachers leave the room in a haste, some not even bothering to give an excuse before rushing out with their tails between their legs.

"Eh? No one wants to catch him?" He lamented loudly, "What about you, Professor Kaita? Weren't you eager to stop the thief earlier? Or you, Ms. Chevreuse don't you want to capture this thief?"

"Un...Unfortunately, I used all my willpower to make an air bubble around us, so I'm afraid I would be a simple liability," He backpedaled hastily. It was a lie. In truth, he still had about half his willpower left. But he certainly wasn't a fan of going into a thief's lair.

"I have lost my willpower as well, unfortunately," Ms. Chevreuse explained sadly. Unlike Professor Kaita, she was mostly speaking the truth: She barely had any castings left in her. And, she suspected, this was most likely the reason the other teachers left hastily as well. It was not too long ago the attack had ended and many of them had used their spells without getting a chance to rest. She doubted they would be able to fight a thief even if they all went.

Osmond sighed. Of course none of the teachers would volunteer to go after the thief. Many of them came from nobility and had no prior experience in combat. Colbert would probably volunteer to go, but he was more exhausted than all of them since he had gone out without the air bubble in order to move faster. And he himself was already slowed down by age.

"Why not go to the Imperial Court?" Colbert suggested, "They could send soldiers to help us reclaim what has been stolen."

"It would be too late," Osmond answered gravely, "Unless we chase after him now, he will get away and whatever he has stolen will be lost to us. No, as the residents of this Academy, it is our duty to reclaim that which has been stolen from us. We cannot call ourselves nobles otherwise," Ms. Longueville seemed to smile at his answer.

He looked to the teachers again. No one raised their hand, either too exhausted or too afraid to try and go after the thief. Just as the aging headmaster was about to give up, he saw a wand reluctantly go up in the air. He smiled. Of course, there were still nobles around here with a sense of duty. Internally sighing in relief, he turned his gaze to the teacher who so bravely volunteered to- Hey, that wasn't a teacher!

"Hey, wait, Valliere!" Kirche started, pointing at Louise's raised hand, "Are you going to try and capture a thief in the forest by yourself? Do you even know what kind of magic he used?"

"Does it matter?" Louise bit back, "No one else is willing to volunteer and he'll get away if we don't do anything. You can stay here if you want, I'm not going to abandon my duty as a noble and let this thief embarrass our school. I'm not a coward."

Kirche scowled. Insulting family was below the belt, "Then I'm coming too," She cut Louise off before she was going to complain, "I'm not doing this for you, Valliere. Like you said, it would be cowardly to do nothing. Besides," She smiled wryly, "Sending the Zero is like sending no one at all. What would you do if you were there on your own? Use no magic and hide behind your Familiar, most likely."

Tabitha stared at the arguing rivals briefly before raising her own staff quietly. Kirche stopped her arguments and turned back to her friend, "Wait, Tabitha, you need to rest! You were holding up that air bubble close to an hour earlier and you barely got any sleep." Kirche didn't miss Tabitha's slight difficulty of breath. She was still tired, no doubt about it.

"Already rested," She replied taciturnly, "Can't sleep. Would be worried," She clarified. Kirche's face softened into a smile and she rolled her eyes. It would be just like Tabitha to say things like that. She ruffled the smaller girls hair affectionately.

The three students gazes turned to Guiche, "What? Are we all expected to volunteer now?" He asked somewhat nervously, "I can't join you, I have...other duties to attend to. One of the knights that was killed was an old servant of the House of Gramont till recently. He has no family left, so unless I vouch for him he's going to be buried in a lonely ditch somewhere. I'd like to have him be buried near my fathers land. "

He wasn't lying, Raziel noted. His three peers - they weren't exactly friends with one another - decided to leave him alone. He wasn't likely to be lying. Guiche may have been a womanizer and a coward, but even he wouldn't use the death of someone as an excuse. The look on his face made it clear that he was being honest about this.

Despite the odd volunteers, the Headmaster smiled and forced himself to laugh, "Haha, so it seems we have our volunteers," He looked at them one by one, "I must say, it prides me as the headmaster of this school that we have such brave students with a strong sense of duty."

"Headmaster, you cannot possibly allow this!" Colbert interjected, "They're students! Furthermore, they are still exhausted after everything that happened just now. Sending them out now would be too dangerous!"

"I trust in the students of this Academy, Professor Colbert, and you should as well," He replied calmly, "Its not as if we're sending someone who's inexperienced. Miss. Tabitha's already a Chevalier despite her young age."

Everyone - with the exception of Kirche (who already knew) and Raziel (who didn't understand why that was so important) - let out voices of surprise. While the title of 'Chevalier' was the lowest in the imperial hierarchy, it was still a title that was granted to those who had done great services for their country. While titles like 'Baron' or 'Marquis' could be earned at a young age, it usually amounted to simply owning land rather than anything else. The title of 'Chevalier' demanded respect.

Osmond turned to Kirche next, "And Miss Zerbst comes from the distinguished Zerbst family of Germania, a family well-known for its line of heroes. She also showed herself to be adept in fire magic and brave of heart when she helped rescue students during the crisis earlier. I feel we can trust her to do her best in this current endeavor."

Kirche smiled and flipped her hair haughtily, throwing a smirk Louise's way. The pinkette gave her a scowl in response.

He finally turned to Louise, "And how could we forget Ms Valliere? She's..." Osmond paused. What was she good at? Excellent pedigree, and... "Well, she's the third daughter of the Valliere family...and she has a bright future ahead of her," He coughed awkwardly, "And she's at the top of her various theory and literature classes. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Louise didn't miss the fact that none of that had anything to do with her magical power. She tightened her grip on her wand - After today, she would prove herself and no one would dare call her Zero again.

Osmond's head drifted to Raziel ever so briefly before he turned back to Ms. Longueville, "Ms. Longueville, could you please prepare a carriage? The students must be tired, so they need all the rest they can get."

At his secretary's nod, Osmond finally allowed himself a sigh of relief. His gaze filtered to Raziel again. He was tempted to call out to him and mention him along with the other students, but he resisted the urge to do so. The man who had saved him years ago claimed that he came from a land of Undead, and that they were persecuted from where he came from. Calling out to him might have led to disaster.

He just hoped nothing bad would happen.

---

The trip to the center of the forest was uneventful. His master, Kirche, and Tabitha changed clothes and had a quick meal before they were all shuffled to the carriage. The carriage was quiet, Miss. Longueville and Tabitha not saying a word. At a closer glance, Raziel saw the small blunette napping in her seat. She must have been trying to conserve her energy.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his master and her rival. Kirche tried to ask Ms. Longueville questions about her past and his master rebuked her for being nosy. From there the arguments escalated to petty insults, jibes at family honor, his master's magic capabilities, and whether large breasts were worthwhile additions to the female body or simple lumps of fat.

Raziel looked around warily. Kirche had told him that Flame had to stay back in the academy due to being too big for the cart, but Tabitha assured them that Sylphid was following them from high above. 'Just in case', she had told them.

This continued for a while until the darkness of the forest seemed to thicken. They were getting closer, most likely.

"We're here," Ms. Longueville turned back to them and gestured to a small clearing through the trees, "I remember the house being through there. The thief is either there or around this area, so we should split up."

"Is separating the wisest course of action right now?" Raziel intoned, stepping down from the carriage with the rest of the makeshift group, "Perhaps it would be better if we stay together? The thief is capable of summoning constructs to do his bidding."

"Darling's right," Darling? What in the abyss did Kirche call him? "A thief brutal enough to use bandits as a distraction sounds too dangerous for us to separate."

"Don't worry about me," She replied, "I can take care of myself, and going all together will just make us a bigger target," She pointed to the surrounding trees, "I'll look around the area. We don't even know if the thief's still here, so I'll see if I can track him using my earth magic. You three check the house while I do this. Either way, he won't get away from us."

With that last word, the three students (and one Familiar) made their way to the abandoned clearing. Kirche held onto his arm and stayed close to him, ostensibly for 'protection'. Louise was tempted to complain before thinking better of it. If she wanted to seduce a corpse, that was fine with her. All those Germanians were savages anyway. Probably made love to their corpses on holidays.

The four of them stalked forward to the abandoned looking house, making sure to keep their heads low in the process. Raziel twisted his left arm and grimaced. His whole body hurt, a dull ache spreading to every inch of his limbs. He had no doubt that, should he have been a normal human, he would've collapsed from the strain of the injuries he had received earlier. Whatever foul magic was keeping him animated must have been trying hard to keep him 'alive'.

"There it is," Kirche pointed her free hand at the house in the middle of the clearing, "Doesn't seem like the place a thief would stay in, especially one that uses magic," She sighed, "So what's the plan? We can either charge in and try to rush him or sneak up and try to catch him off guard."

"Sneaking sounds good," Louise answered, "We're all still tired from what happened last time, so a head on attack isn't the best idea," She suddenly scowled, "But what do we do if he catches the person trying to sneak up on him? He must be a triangle or square Mage if he was able to break into the vault. It might not be safe for whoever goes in there."

"How about as bait, then?" Kirche asked, "We can send someone in there to lure him out while the rest of us set a trap. He won't see it coming and we'll be able to catch him no problem. The only problem now is which of us is going to be the bait."

"Best reflexes," Tabitha intoned.

Raziel didn't even wait for his master's order before he began to sneak over to the decrepit building, unsheathing the serrated dagger from his side in the process. It made the most sense, after all: The others were capable of doing their magic and he was the only one here - apart from that girl Tabitha - who had experience with things like this. He idly noticed that one of the runes on his left hand had started to glow already. He still had no idea how important this was supposed to be.

Also, he doubted whether any of them could take a life so easily.

He peeked into the window and was met with the inky blackness of the interior. Sighing, he looked up at the sky. Through the thick trees, he could see the sky darkening and the sun's light fading. It was almost evening now, meaning they had to do this fast unless they wanted to fight in the darkness. None of them could exactly see in the dark.

He took one last glance at the window before making his way to the door. Ever so slowly he opened it, checking the sides carefully to ensure there were no Golem's waiting to ambush him. Seeing none, he opened the door even more and charged inside quickly.

Nothing. He looked around the area suspiciously: The entire area was barren, devoid of anything except a single table and a chair next to it standing in the middle of the house. He went back outside cautiously and waved to the group. They got the message - 'No one was here.'

Tabitha was the first to speak, "No traps," She waved her wand and pointed it at the house, "Thief?"

"Not here," Raziel gestured to the house and sighed, "There are things inside."

All of them went back into the house. Just as Raziel had said, the entire place looked abandoned, save for the table and its contents. Louise stepped forward slowly to the center. There was a wooden case there; not ornate, majestic, or even spectacular - Just an average wooden case.

"Is that what was stolen?" Kirche asked, "I remember seeing that case before when we were given a tour of the vault. Something about it being a powerful staff that's been in the school for generations?"

Raziel ignored their conversation and took the item on the other side of the table: A mask, white in color and bearing the mark of a simple frown. None of the others saw it or cared enough for it. He picked it up and observed it slowly. The mask was of a familiar texture, and the sad grin on its porcelain face made him think oddly of an acquaintance in the past...

Visibly trembling in anxiety, Louise gripped the sides of the case and raised it up slowly. The three Mages looked down at the staff and were...underwhelmed, to say the least. They had expected a magical stave worthy of the Pope, with elegant and graceful designs. The staff looked like the bastard son of an axe and a stave. It looked more like something a Demon would use.

"We should get out of here," Kirche suggested. The other two nodded and made their way out of the house, leaving Raziel inside by himself.

He continued to observe the mask. He couldn't ever recall the thief wearing a mask of any kind; all he could recall was a thick cloak that obscured their features, gender, and appearance. Did that mean somebody else was here with them? He sighed. Maybe they just picked it up when trying to escape into the forest.

A loud boom resounded outside the house. Raziel once again found himself tumbling onto the floor, the mask cracking as it impacted with the ground. Trying to gain his bearings, he unsheathed Derflinger from his hilt and ran outside.

He froze up. A Golem, just like the one in the school. But this one was different: It was hunched over, its two arms being used to support itself upright. The that made up its body was smoother than the previous one, and its face was like that of a demons - He could see its wide mouth open, rows of stony teeth that could crush a human being in its bite. Its eyes, if it could even be called that, glinted an abnormal color and he could have sworn the thing smiled when it saw him.

"Raziel, get out of there!" Raziel barely had time to move forward before the Golem's fist smashed into the house, sending the wooden structure down in a large heap. Scowling, he stood up slowly, holding Derflinger in his left hand as he forced himself to stay balanced. His head was ringing, his vision swam as another fist smashed something close to him again.

"Move!" His master grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him forward, using her free hand to try and cast a spell on the Golem. Raziel watched as a chunk of the Golem exploded outward, as if it was hit by a black firebomb. It was useless, however, as the stone structure took little time to regenerate and replace its lost 'skin'.

The Golem raised its fist to try and smash them again. Tabitha chanted quickly, summoning a tornado underneath it to try and distract it. Following up, Kirche chanted and summoned a spell of fire. The tornado smashed against the construct with enough force to topple even the strongest knight...and it still wasn't enough. They watched with baited breath as the wounds on its monstrous body healed almost in an instant.

The golem ignored their spell, throwing an agitated growl before raising both hands to try and smash them all at one. Raziel grabbed Louise by the shoulders and pushed her away quickly. Its fist smashed into the ground quickly, colliding at where the two of them were just standing.

"Raziel!" Louise tried to chant another spell before she was swept away carelessly by the Golem's left hand. She crashed into the ground painfully, her chest aching at where the Golem had pushed her. She could barely move, the only sounds she heard the ones of her own heartbeat. This thing was too strong.

"We have to go!" She heard Kirche's panicked voice, followed by the feeling of her arm being slung around someone's shoulder, "Tabitha, get Sylphid to land! We need to get out of here now!"

Tabitha complied, chanting a wind spell to direct her Familiar on where to land. Not long after that, the blue dragon landed on a barren plot of the land, making panicked noises when it saw the Golem continuing to try and smash them into paste.

"Lets go!" Kirche ran, dragging along the nearly unconscious Louise as the Golem continued to pounding her Familiar, "Raziel, get out of there now! We can't kill that thing!"

Raziel rolled to the side, slashing at the Golem's fist as it tried to kill him. Something wasn't right: This thing was aiming for him, and ignoring the rest of them. "Turn away, I will keep it distracted," He parried a strike and turned back quickly to them, urging them to run, "It is trying to kill me, not you. Run." He dodged backwards quickly as its hand descended once again.

Kirche didn't have time to argue before Tabitha pulled her along. He was right: The Construct was perfectly fine with ignoring them and trying to smash him into little chunky bits. They couldn't even help anymore - Their willpower was too low and their strongest spell was almost entirely ineffective. Whoever was using that Golem was incredibly adept at magic.

As soon as they reached Sylphid, the dragon gave a panicked roar and took to the air as fast as its wings could take it. Kirche sighed in relief, glad to be away from the danger. But it wasn't over yet. Raziel was still down there, and she didn't know how long he could last without any help.

Raziel wasn't doing well. His Flame was too weak to fight and every strike with Derflinger was either parried effortlessly or too shallow to actually hurt the creature, "Hey, partner," Derf called out, "I know you wanted to play hero and all, but this things even stronger than the last thing we fought against. There's some kind of magic I've never seen before on it."

"What do you mean?" Raziel placed Derflinger back on his sheath and did his best to put as much distance between him and the Golem as possible. Pyromancy was out; he wouldn't be able to even dent the thing now that he had lost his chaos Flame. And attacking it head on with a sword might as well have been as effective as chucking Prism stones at it.

"I can't explain it: Its like a magic no one else uses, you get me?" Raziel nearly fell as the Golem tried to grab him, "Its kind of like something that's more than those 4 elements everyone uses. Hey, are you even listening to me?"

"Not really," The Golem seemed to tire of using its hands and made do with trying to chomp his body in half. Raziel grabbed both of its jaws mid-bite and tried to push its mouth apart. If that thing clamped down, it might have taken his arm off, and that would have been disastrous. He still hadn't mastered using Pyromancy with both hands and he needed all the practice he could get.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you here, partner," Derf complained, completely ignoring Raziel's attempts to keep his body in one piece, "Anyway, this thing probably can't be hurt by anything we throw at it, so the best thing to do right now is to either run away or try and summon that red flame you had earlier. You can do that, right?"

"It is not something that can be summoned so easily," The Undead kicked the monster in the jaw before slashing Derflinger across its 'eyes'. The beast roared, as if it actually felt the impact of the blade. If he could summon the chaos flames, would he have not done it by now? "Blood and Damnation," He cursed as the beast grabbed him in its stony grasp.

He barely suppressed a yell as it threw him through the air, his body smashing painfully against a sturdy oak tree. This thing was too strong to fight in his current state. He needed to try and find a vulnerable point. Forcing himself to stand up again, he gripped Derflinger with both hands and ran forward. He couldn't afford to run.

From the shadows of the trees, Fouquet watched the one-sided fight carefully. It had taken nearly all of her remaining willpower to summon that last Golem, and she could already tell something was off. The way it looked, the way it acted, it wasn't something that she could create. It was stronger than all the other creations she had made in the past.

'The staff...' She thought, looking down at her wand. Somehow touching it had altered her magic, at least temporarily. When she made that Golem, all that popped into her mind was the shape of a demonic ape, its ferocity unmatched by anything else. This Golem wasn't under her control, at least not completely. It was the only explanation why it chose to go after that damned Familiar over everyone else.

Oh well, at least she could get rid of one threat.

---

"We need to get down there!" Louise insisted, looking down and flinching as her Familiar smashed against the tree with a dull thud. Her head hurt, and everything was swimming, but she was still alive. She couldn't abandon her Familiar, regardless of how much of a monster he may have been or he claimed to be. Her pride as a Mage wouldn't allow it.

"Don't you think we already tried?" Kirche rebuked, irritated, "That things fine with ignoring us, but the minute Sylphid gets near it, it tries to grab us. We're not going to be able to land."

Louise looked around them frantically. There had to be something she could do! There was nothing here except the staff- That's it! "Tabitha, cast levitation on me!" Without even waiting for the dragon rider's answer, Louise grabbed the container holding the staff and jumped off the wind dragon's back.

She fell, at a speed that would have killed her or broken both of her legs on impact with the ground. But just as she was about to hit the ground, she felt the calming wind of the levitation spell slow down her descent and she landed calmly on the ground.

She needed to hurry. Swallowing her nervousness, she opened the container quickly and grabbed the staff with both hands.

But what she received wasn't power. Her skin felt a chill, as if she had been doused in an icy wind. She could hear screams, unintelligible voices yelling a thousand different things at once to her. She could feel something crawling inside her, just wanting to get out and be free. She fell to her knees, unable to focus. She couldn't even hear the Golem's attacks anymore.

She was so tempted to sleep, to just lie down and forget about all her problems. She could feel energy leaving her body, only to be replaced by the feeling of exhaustion. She wanted to forget everything and let herself be lulled to sleep by the voices.

"...ter..."

It was a shame she couldn't say goodbye to her family. But they would understand one day. The voices were calling to her, telling her to sleep and forget about everything. Her eyes began to droop down and she felt her head hit the ground softly. She could feel hands, thousands of them at once, grabbing her arms, her shoulders, her legs. They wanted her to join them.

"Mast..."

But her Familiar and everyone else was counting on her, a voice at the back of her head said. That's right, Raziel needed her help, and it would've only been proper since he saved her earlier. But then why should she have cared? It was expected for a Familiar to fight and defend their master, so the Mage shouldn't need to feel a debt of gratitude.

"Master!"

Another pair of hands, different from the rest, took hold of her shoulders and pulled her away from them. She could hear the voices gasp in unison, some growling that their prey had been taken from them. Blinking her eyes slowly, she saw the face of her Familiar, eyes narrowed in concentration and determination permeating his face. His grip on her tightened and she felt the hands release her.

"Let...go..." Raziel wrenched the staff from her grasp and held it away from her. His master's convulsing stopped immediately, only to be replaced by the sounds of frantic coughing. He breathed a sigh of relief and tightened his grip on the staff. What in the abyss was this thing doing here? He could feel the corruption present in the staff trying to overtake him already.

The Golem stopped, backing away slowly. Raziel smiled wryly - Event the stone construct was capable of fear for something like this. He laid his master gently down onto the ground before raising the staff up. This thing granted power to anyone it ever came across, but it always had a price. For humans it took their life, and if a person was frail enough it could do without even granting it power in return.

Raziel cast the spell, words that he didn't understand filtering through his mouth. As he finished chanting, a ball of dark flame was released from the staff and collided with the Golem's arm. The reaction was instant: The stony limb exploded, its head and chest beginning to corrode from the abyss magic eating away at it. He cast another spell, this time a row of dark beads smashed against its other hands, reducing it to rubble.

The Golem growled as it tried in vain to heal itself again. Raziel could see the stone turning black and rotting away. It was being consumed. Realizing that its 'life' was coming to an end, it raised up its head and tried to bite down on the two of them.

It didn't even get close. Raziel raised the staff a last time and chanted another spell. Multiple figures, vaguely humanoid in shape, surrounded the Golem and consumed it before it could react. Pursuers, Raziel noted tiredly. Capable of killing anything and nearly impossible to kill or fight back against. The denizens of the abyss were strong enough to kill anything with but a simple touch.

Raziel hurriedly let go of the staff and and collapsed onto the ground, barely able to hold himself up using both hands. He felt dizzy, the urge to vomit steadily increasing with every second that passed. Undead could handle the strain of the staff better, but they were still capable of being taken in by its lull. He vomited onto the ground, a dull gray liquid dribbling down his mouth and into the dirt. The Estus drink, the only thing they actually 'ate' in their eternal unlike. To them it was the equivalent of blood.

And he was vomiting it all to the ground.

Through blurry eyes he could see the blue dragon landing, Tabitha and Kirche moving to aid them. He could barely stand, he needed focus. He couldn't afford to drop dead here.

"What cursed form is this? This pitiful state must surely be madness consuming me. Death would be a release from this torment!"

"I know you, better even than you know yourself. Do you even remember your name? Beyond the cursed form you take?"

"Who is there?"

"Why are you so quick to assume that you had survived? Does your appearance give the image of life?"

"Cease your riddles and tell me who you are!"

Hey, Valliere, are you all right?" Kirche knelt down and shook her rival's shoulder, "Hey, wake up already!" She raised her hand and slapped the smaller girls cheek

Louise awoke with a startled gasp, her left cheek stinging for some reason. What had happened? All she remembered were voices and hands lulling her to sleep, and then...nothing. Shaking her head, she stood up and examined her surroundings. The Golem was gone, and her Familiar was fine; albeit vomiting heavily. What happened? Did Kirche and Tabitha save them?

"Hey, did he just use magic?" Kirche asked incredulously to Louise, who ignored her, "He used the staff to destroy that Golem! What in the void's going on, Valliere!?"

She needed to sit down. Sighing, the pinkette walked a small distance away from Kirche and plopped down on the ground. They were safe now, that was all that mattered. She'd think about that staff later.

Raziel could see images, memories he never recalled before. He growled, drawing ragged breaths through his lungs. Yes, to a human, the price of using the staff was their life. But to an Undead, what they lost was their Humanity: The thing that kept them going and stopped them from Hollowing. He tried to form words, but all that came out were the growls of a mad animal. He was finding it hard to move.

He stood up weakly, Tabitha offering him a hand up which he ignored. He was beginning to lose rationality. Where was the staff? That thing needed to be destroyed. Unconsciously, his left hand tightened and a the skin darkened. A piece of the corruption branded into him, no doubt. But it wasn't too much: He could control it, and it was exactly what he needed to destroy that staff.

They heard footsteps coming from the forest. Miss. Longueville walked towards them slowly, wrapping a thick glove on her right hand. Louise and Kirche breathed a sigh of relief at her presence. The secretary knelt down and scooped up the staff slowly, putting it back into its container with a small shiver.

"My, my, what happened here?" She asked, not even bothering to hide how nonchalant she was feeling. Tabitha visibly stiffened, her hands tightening her grip on her staff, "It seems like you four had a lot of trouble."

"Where in the void were you!?" Kirche started angrily, "We nearly got ourselves killed trying to kill that Golem and the thief isn't even here. Did you at least find out where he's-"

Kirche's tirade was interrupted by Tabitha sending a gust of wind at Ms. Longueville. She smirked, throwing up a crude stone barrier to block the wind from reaching her. The girls willpower was so weak that even a crude barrier was enough to stop it.

"Hey- Tabitha, what are you doing!?" Kirche turned to her friend.

"Thief," She pointed at the woman across them, "Saw her. Standing near Golem." She chanted another gust of wind, this time even weaker than the last. She gave a miniscule frown. She'd expended too much willpower without resting, and calling Sylphid to attack would be too dangerous. She didn't know how much willpower the thief had left, but it was obviously enough to summon a Golem that was strong enough to beat them back.

"How observant of you," She clapped sarcastically, "Yes, I summoned that Golem, and I'm the thief that stole from your school," She gave a melodramatic sigh, "You know, I was going to let you four go now that I know how the staff works, but you've left me no choice now. If you want to blame someone, blame your friend there," She pointed at Tabitha.

Actually, that was a lie: She would've had to kill them in order to avoid witnesses. But at least then she could've done it quickly and cleanly.

Kneeling down, she removed the staff from its case and, ignoring the chills and voices that entered her at its touch, she began to chant. She'd heard of the words Raziel chanted, and even if she didn't know what they meant, she couldn't deny the power they were capable of summoning. She repeated the first spell she'd heard him utter.

"Get down!" Kirche yelled.

Sylphid moved to block Tabitha, Kirche and Raziel shielding them from the blast. Raziel looked around frantically for his master before he saw her: She wasn't near them, but rather a fair distance away on the edge of the clearing. The thief seemed to notice this too and changed targets, pointing to the lone girl. She was trapped. She was going to get killed.

Muttering a curse under his breath, Raziel ran from the dragon's shadow to his master. Fouquet finished chanting, unleashing a a dark orb of fire that would have killed her. There wasn't enough time to push her out of the way. He looked down at his left hand, the corrupted skin beginning to pulsate. He recognized this feeling. And it might just be what saved them.

Making his choice, Raziel stood in front of his master and raised both hands to shield the both of them.

Fouquet sighed under her hood. The explosion had hit, and no doubt that meant that those two were dead now. Already feeling herself weakening, she started to cast her second and final spell. This would be the last time she used this-

Her casting was interrupted by a punch connecting to her cheek. Shaking her head quickly, she tried to focus before another punch sent her to the ground. Blinking in disbelief, she found Valliere's Familiar standing above her. She didn't have a chance to yell before he had picked her up by the neck and threw her into one of the trees.

She smashed into the wooden base painfully, her grip on the staff loosening. Through blurry eyes she saw him, walking towards her like an animal stalking its prey. How did he survive?

He looked down at his left hand again. The Dark Hand, a 'gift' from Kaathe to all his Darkstalkers. When he had lost faith and began to believe Kaathe's lies, he willingly allowed himself to become a Darkwraith. This was one of their rewards: Capable of taking humanity from others, or defending against the magic of the abyss. This thing was like a parasite: It hungered for humanity.

He had thought his time in the Kiln would have destroyed it, but that was a foolish notion. Using that staff had imprinted the magic of the abyss on him, and it took only a little bit of the darkness to re-awaken the hunger. Like all Undead, he needed humanity to keep himself alive, although he liked to think he had greater control of his urges than most.

Fouquet finished chanting the spell, sending beads of dark magic at him. He raised up his left hand. A translucent shield had appeared in front of him, blocking the attack from hurting him.

Raziel grabbed the staff from her hands and threw it away casually. He was going to kill her, but for now he need to satisfy his hunger. Instinct had taken over, and all that concerned him now was feeding himself. He needed it if he didn't want to go Hollow.

He clenched his left hand into a fist before stabbing it to her chest. She nearly screamed; it wasn't painful, not in the way she was used. But she felt violated, like her very being was being ripped apart and something precious was being taken from her. His head lowered nearer to her and she felt herself weakening. Raziel smiled, feeling the Humanity leave her body and enter his. He didn't take it all; that would have just turned her into an Undead. But he made sure to do it as painfully as possible. This wasn't even a fraction of what she had put him through today.

She collapsed onto the dirt, drifting in and out of consciousness. He shivered; his hunger was sated for now, and it would be for quite a while, but he hated himself at the moment, indulging in the Humanity like a starving beast. He felt the familiar euphoria of Humanity coursing through him. He could feel his wounds lessen in severity, though they were still there. Humanity was truly the greatest pleasure for an Undead.

"Raziel?" He heard his master cough, "What happened?"

He turned back and saw his master walking shakily towards them. She had no idea what had just happened. He turned to Tabitha and Kirche, and still found the dragon shielding them. They had no idea either. He sighed; at least he wouldn't have to explain what he just did.

"You did it," Louise motioned to the thief's unconscious body, "I don't know how, but you did it."

"It is not yet finished," He grabbed the dagger from his side and stood up, "We must kill her."

"What? No!" Louise grabbed his hand and pulled him back, "We were sent here to capture her, not kill her! We need to report this to Headmaster Osmond! He'll decide what to do with her. She needs to pay for her crimes, but not like this!"

"Why complicate things?" He asked back, "If we kill her here now then we save ourselves the trouble. Take her back alive and she could escape."

"That's not our place to decide!" She insisted, "We're Aristocrats, and you're an Aristocrat's Familiar. We're not murderers."

Not murderers? He had killed before, he had killed again to save her, so why did she insist that he not kill again? He had killed those bandits, and she was the reason they had attacked, so why then would he spare her? It made no sense at all. Spearing a life in order to appear better than someone was foolish. They called it 'Mercy', but sparing a threat was the act of a fool.

"...You are not a murder...," He shook her off and picked up the fallen thief, holding her against the tree, "But I am..." He pulled his hand back and turned the knife's edge to her neck. One strike and she would be dead, hopefully for good. Scowling slightly, he pushed the knife against her neck.

"Raziel! I order you to stop!"

His hand stopped, the blade just an inch away from her neck. He tried to push forward again, but his hand refused to budge from its precarious position. His left hand shook, its grip on her neck loosening. He could feel a hot pain spreading across the hand: The second rune was lighting up, and more images began to filter into his head like a flood.

"Drop her! Now!"

His hand removed itself from her neck, despite his intentions. His right hand dropped the dagger with a dull thud and he found himself backing away.

"We are NOT murderer's," Louise took the dagger and threw it away from them, "She'll be judged by the courts of Tristain, and if she's found to be deserving of death then she will be tried and executed. We're not going to kill her here like she's a wild animal. We're better than that."

Raziel ignored her, too busy trying to stop the flood of unknown memories. Whatever his master had done, it had activated one of the runes binding him to her, and undid another one of the 'seals' keeping his memory in check. Looking down at the thief one last time, he clenched his fist and began a forced walk back to the carriage. If it was his master's will that she be spared, then so be it. He would not hold himself accountable for anything that happened as a result.

He only managed a few more steps before he collapsed.

---

Alright, another question: In the original LN, Louise and Derflinger frequently say "What the hell". So does this mean they have a concept of Heaven and Hell? The Brimiric religion is remarkably similar to Catholicism and Christianity. So is this a concept of afterlife or just a translation thing? Because right now I'm using 'void' and 'abyss' as euphemisms for hell. The only one who said 'hell' in a curse so far is Derflinger.

Bakapervert - Their reaction to his bombshell essentially boiled down to "That's interesting...now tell me more about that magic you used earlier". From his point of view, they disregarded his status as an Undead and focused on Pyromancy. He pretty much gave up on explaining because he thought they wouldn't care. He's wrong, but he's not omniscient anyway.

Demons Anarchy - ...Where did you get the idea that Henrietta was the pairing? The last time I talked about romance for this fic was...three months ago? Meanwhile, Raziel acts HOSTILE to Henrietta every time they interact, and the only reason they're not fighting is because Henrietta's not a person to pick fights. Besides, last I checked, Kirche and Tiffania were also talked about a lot. As I said before, I wanted to focus more on plot and relationship building over romance right now. Hence why most of his talking chapters are with Louise and Derflinger, who are strictly platonic. Any ship tease moment is meant to look awkward or stiff because of the dynamic between his view of love and their view of love.

Necrofantasia - Yes, he'll use them. Also, Raziel being alien isn't solely due to his magic, but also his entire being. He doesn't sweat, doesn't need to breath, has no emotion in his syntax etc etc. He's robotic, which people find odd. The white hair also clashes with his young appearance, showing that he's supposed to be both old and young.

Kraut - Theatre masks aren't analogous to asshole aristocrats, you know :) Also, I already watched all of Vaati's and ENB's vids. I like to keep in the up and up ;) Although mugging a peasant for a scythe would be OOC given his general passive nature. More likely he'll just keep pestering Louise to buy it for him. And that's assuming the scythe is good, since a crappy weapon is a crappy weapon no matter how it looks.

Naraku9108 - That's fine :) I'm actually taking it as a compliment: The fact that you disagree with me, but are willing to read the story anyway because of how I write it, reflects good on me as a writer since I can keep people reading due to my writing skills. And the fact that you don't whine about it is a plus :D