The next morning found Louise, bright and early, awaiting by the Academy gate. The excitement she had felt at night had waned to a dull, throbbing nervousness as she waited for her "assistant" to arrive. She rubbed her hands and looked next to her. "Do you see anyone yet, Ramiel?"

S C A N N I N G

Ramiel spun around once, seemingly not doing anything at all, though its core pulsed slightly with a bit of light for a few moments.

A F F I R M A T I V E

In an instant, Ramiel shifted configurations again, sliding through impossible geometries before emitting three beams of light at no more power than the light of a candle, painting a trio of dots- two behind, towards the castle, and one forward, upon the griffon that was swiftly coming in for a landing.

Louise narrowed her eyes at the former two. "We have a tail," she stated. She glanced up at the oncoming griffon, and her eyes widened. "I recognize her - that's Viscount Wardes' familiar!" She glanced at her familiars. "He's my fiancé, you know. He's safe. Go check out our tail, will you? No killing!"

Ramiel spun and floated off, the others trailing behind, weapons at the ready just in case. Ramiel hummed quietly at first, then louder and louder in warning as they approached the castle once more, its beam casting a hellish crimson glow on the castle walls as it prepared to set someone's hair on fire and/or give them a very nasty surface level radiation burn.

Louise chuckled despite herself. "Hello, Viscount Wardes," she greeted cordially. "How have you been?"

"I have been well," said the man who was climbing down his griffon. "Is it just you and your familiar, my darling Louise?"

Louise hummed in agreement. "Mm. Yes. I expect we'll be able to go on griffinback, as soon as my familiars return from ousting my tail."

"Wait, familiars as in more than one?!" Wardes said.

"Yep, pretty much." Louise said.

As if on cue, two figures came racing off from the shadows of the castle, as if the scorn of God was chasing after them. Which Louise supposed her familiars kind of were. The pair resolved into...

Louise rolled her eyes. "Zerbst and Tabitha. How utterly unsurprising. What are you two doing here?"

The Zerbst, looking oddly sunburned, glared mutely at her. Louise just grinned.

Ramiel, despite not being able to grin or even express smugness in body language, oozed satisfaction, shifting geometries slightly and letting out a haunting giggle as Kirche flinched away from the shining gem-like surfaces.

Ignoring the antics of Zerbst and Ramiel, Louise turned to the more reasonable half of the pair. "So what's the mad scheme of the Boob Demon this time?"

Was that - Louise looked closer. Yes, that was an eyeroll. "Adventure. Follow?"

She pursed her lips. "Only if you manage to ditch Kirche, and can keep up with the griffon." She gestured at Viscount Wardes, who was leaning against his steed, an amused expression on his face hiding the fact that he's scared of her familiar army.

Tabitha nodded minutely and snuck off. Kuro rubbed his chin. "Wait. Ramiel? How fast can you fly?"

N E G A T I V E

Ramiel shifted in a manner that was decidedly put out, expressing some manner of inability to fly higher than about three meters off the ground, nor any faster than a trotting horse- at least, in its small form. In its larger form, it could outpace just about anything, probably, though it would completely negate the ability to have a stealthy mission due to the fact that they would have a mountain sized crystal following them.

Louise frowned. "Damnation. I knew there was a catch somewhere."

Wardes, who had been quiet for the past few minutes, spoke up then. "Perhaps we could, ah, tow your familiars behind us as we fly? One appears to be quite capable of hovering. If that was all it had to do...?"

H U M I L I A T I O N

Ramiel's response was as indignant as it was sudden, a violent shifting of crystal as it let out an ungodly screech to signify its absolute disdain at the idea of being dragged around like some kind of cargo.

Louise crossed her arms. "Oh, and you have a better idea, Oh Great And Powerful Hunk of Crystal?"

Ramiel paused. It spun around a bit, then some more… then some more. After a solid twenty seconds of spinning, it let out a quite pleased hum and began shifting forms once more- withdrawing the bulk of its crystal form and shifting its core slightly, entire sections of it slipping out of reality until all that was left was its shiny red gemstone of a core, covered in a nearly transparent octahedral layer of crystal. The entire sequence left Ramiel no larger than Louise's fist, and also had the angel oozing smugness despite its now tiny size.

Louise blinked. "That works," she remarked, slipping her now-tiny Familiar into her breast pocket. She clapped her hands together in satisfaction. "I'm ready to go!"

Wardes smiled. "Then let's go, my Louise. Come. Climb on."

Louise and her familiars mounted the griffon with ease (though it was crowded), playfully glaring at her fiancé. "I've ridden Mother's manticore, you know," she reminded him. "I know how to mount a beast."

Wardes chuckled. "Of course, my Louise. But we must hurry now. Time is growing short." His Familiar - damnation, Louise had forgotten her name - spread her wings, before flapping them downwards in a single powerful stroke that lifted them all over the castle walls. Louise held onto her fiance and whooped with glee. She still loved flying, after all, having gotten used to rides from her Mother's familiar.

She wondered if Mother would be happy with her. After all, she had a familiar army now. A ridiculously powerful one. Her spells were still hideously destructive, but they worked now, didn't they? But even the slightest spell was simply too powerful. Just like...

Just like Mother's. Was she finally coming into her own, or was she becoming like Mother? Louise found that the second option suddenly felt a lot less appealing than it had been before she'd summoned her Familiar.

In her pocket, Ramiel let out a quiet hum, plucking the strings of their bond just a bit. Somehow, it managed to project something of a reassuring presence without outwardly doing anything.

Louise buried her face in Wardes' back and stayed there.

~~~~~~~~

Tabitha urged Sylphid to fly faster. She had never seen a griffon attempting to outfly a dragon before. Then again, first time for everything.

Silent as the wind, she and her familiar glided after the Griffon Knight - and Louise. The smaller girl intrigued her, as did her familiars. A very unusual familiar army. Very unusual familiars for a very unusual girl.

Before the Summoning Ritual, Tabitha had entertained the possibility of Louise perhaps being a Void Mage. After all, Joseph couldn't cast a spell worth a damn either - and like Louise, all his spells failed impressively. But after the Scion of House Valliere had completed her Summoning Ritual...

Tabitha was baffled, really. Louise's first Familiars were not human. Not even close to it. And after she had gained her Familiars, Louise's spells mysteriously started working.

How interesting.

Yes, Louise de la Valliere was certainly someone to keep an eye on. Hell, in the privacy of her mind, very, very deep privacy, she admitted to herself that the other girl was... kind of adorable really?

She'd keep an eye on the knight too. He didn't look that trustworthy. Really.

"They won't escape our sight," she whispered to Sylphid.

They flew on.