Louise buried herself in the soft embrace around her. Morning was coming, but she wanted nothing to do with it. Sure she was going to be going to that land her familiar was from. Maybe even learning some void magic. But right now she wanted to sleep on this wonderful pillow.

"Miss Louise, could you not hold me so tight?" Siesta asked.

"Funyaa?" Louise sat up and looked around. She was in old hell again. But her bed was missing. And Siesta was next to her blushing bright red.

Painful realizations started dropping on her like an avalanche. She must have sleep walked into Siesta's bed like she used to do to her sister. And Utsuho must have transported them like that. Which meant everyone here in old hell had seen them curled together.

There was only one reasonable thing to do. And she had no idea what that was. Instead she hopped out of bed and pointed at Siesta. "Nothing happened. I totally didn't think you were my big sister Cattleya, and we'll never speak of this again."

Siesta blinked then slowly nodded. "Of course Lady Louise."

"Come on sis." There was a pop and Orin appeared in the room. She must have been here in cat form. "That's teasing material for months! Unless you've got someone you fancy back home of course. Maybe even if you do."

"It would be improper," Siesta said hesitantly.

Louise looked smug. "You won't trick her with your deceptions."

Orin grinned. "Except I'm the one telling the truth. You're the one hiding things." The catgirl floated past her to the doorway. "But we'll leave it there for now sis. Breakfast first, and then our special guest should be showing up."

"My tutor?" Louise asked. Finally someone who actually knew something about magic. "Who is it?" she asked as she followed after.

"Oh she's an interesting human," Orin said. "Well she isn't human anymore, but she's still interesting. It's too bad Koishi couldn't catch her as a pet."

A figure in black and white dropped down from the ceiling. "You're still going on about that?" Louise blinked in surprise as a blonde woman in a witch outfit grinned at them. At least she was dressed like a witch but lacked the cape of nobility.

Orin's tails lashed. "You're early, Marisa. Lemme guess, you're here to steal breakfast."

"It's payment for services rendered!" Marisa said with a grin. "Besides I was really curious to meet your little students. Anyone who could summon Utsuho has gotta be interesting."

Marisa's eyes flickered towards her. "And they look the part. Guessing the girl stealing Sumireko's fashion sense is Louise, and the maid is Siesta." She bowed with a stage flourish. "And I'm Marisa Kirisame, the Tutor. Pleased to meetcha."

Louise looked at the black clad mage. She didn't have a wand, but maybe her broom could double as one. No familiar she could see though. "So what element are you? And are you a square class mage?"

"Element? Square?" Marisa looked confused. "Oh right. You're dabblers. To put it simply," Marisa snapped her fingers. Louise gaped in surprise as orbs of the four elements appeared and began circling Marisa. "I'm a real mage. I can do anything. Given reasonable amounts of time and money."

Louise peered at the orbs, trying to see if it was illusion. But the fire orb was warm, and the water orb was dripping on the floor. It seemed like somehow Marisa had mastered all four of the elements!

A handwave dismissed the spheres. "But part of the reason I agreed to this was figuring out what you guys know about magic. It's gonna be fun! And since Patchy's too responsible to come down here I get to do all the learning. But let's get to the food first."

Marisa whirled and started towards the dining area. Orin chuckled and followed, leaving Louise and Siesta to hurry to keep up.

"Um," Siesta coughed. "If your friend is too responsible, does that mean you shouldn't be down here?"

That was a very good question. Louise looked over, but both Marisa and Orin seemed totally unconcerned. Orin's ears twitched happily. "Technically she's not allowed here. It's breaking a treaty."

"Like I care about that," Marisa said. "Any treaty that doesn't let me go drinking with Yuugi sucks anyway. Patchy just gets all worried because 'An ally of the Scarlets shouldn't break oaths so quickly.' But I didn't promise anyone anything so hah!"

Louise was starting to get the feeling her Tutor wasn't a noble for good reasons. Possibly involving disownment. This could be a problem.

But Marisa had displayed mastery of four elements. That was too good an opportunity to pass up!

They walked into the dining area with the menagerie again. It reminded her of her sister's pets. Utsuho was waiting for them, but there was no sign of Ruukoto or Satori. "Good morning! And hi Marisa." She smiled and waved at the plates. "Omelette rice today."

"You really love eggs," Louise said as she took a seat. It did look good, if a little plebeian.

"The only bird youkai who does," Marisa said as she sat down. "So, why don't you tell me what you know about magic, and we'll work from there."

Breakfast was finished by the time Louise had finished her explanation. Siesta had nodded along with most of it, but Orin had looked at her like she'd grown another head. Utsuho of course had just smiled all the way through. Worse Marisa had just sat there smirking all the time.

"So," the witch said. "Let me repeat it back to you to make sure I understood it."

"Okay." Louise didn't see how this would help judge her understanding but it was simple enough.

Marisa stretched. "You cast spells based off the elements of air, earth, fire, and water. You use 'willpower' to cast those spells, which is kinda your internal mana reserves. Spells are broken up into dot, line, triangle, and square, with each being more powerful, but twice as costly as the one previous. The royal family has some tricks to bust out higher rank spells, but four's where you cap out."

"That's correct," Louise said.

"So, I've got one question," Marisa said. "What's a square class magic look like?"

Louise blinked. "Well the most obvious is turning stones into gold. But that will drain at least a week's worth of willpower from the caster. You should know that."

That drew a chuckle from Marisa. "Nope. I don't. Because as far as I can tell you and all your nobility barely qualify as mages at all."

"What!" Louise's wand was in her hand. How dare she insult her like that. Her whole country like that!

"Uh, she summoned me," Utsuho pointed out.

Marisa nodded. "Louise is a poor mage, but has the second most powerful magical talent I've seen." She leaned back in her chair. "It's kinda impressive. An entire world built around natural elementalists. It's based a lot on bloodlines right? Which is why magicians are nobility there."

Louise relaxed as the anger receded slightly. "Of course. But what do you mean magical talent? How is that different then being a mage?"

"Magic is rewriting reality to do what you want it to," Marisa said, grabbing a fork and turning it into a stream of bubbles. Siesta gasped while Louise stared in shock.

"Hey, don't disintegrate our silverware," Utsuho protested.

Marisa tossed another fork onto the table. "Magicians use magic to do what we want, and while we have specialties, we aren't limited to a single element. Talents are different. It's a natural mastery of a single ability."

"I've never heard that," Louise said.

Orin nodded as well. "Don't know anything about that either sis."

"Sakuya's the best example. And the only talent I know stronger then Louise here," Marisa said.

"Aha," Utsuho said. "That's the maid who can stop time," she told Louise and Siesta.

That was ridiculous. She looked at the two more sane Gensoukyo residents.

Orin nodded. "It's true sis."

"Drives Patchy mad still," Marisa said with a grin. "But yeah, you're almost as strong as her." The grin disappeared. "However that's a problem. I can't teach you much because of that."

"What?" Louise's stomach sank. "Why not?! Don't tell me you don't have mastery of the void."

Marisa shook her head. "I can cast some void spells, but I'm using real magic. And your void power is so strong you can't use that." She looked at Utsuho. "You said she was dispelling her own rituals, right?"

"Yeah." Utsuho nodded. "That's how I knew she was a void caster."

"Figured." Marisa folded her arms. "Void is inimical to most spellcasting. Your talent is too strong. You shatter normal magic any time you cast. You're one of the most dangerous people in Gensoukyo because of that, but it's kinda useless in your realm. I'd have an easier time teaching Siesta." Louise sank down in her chair. Another defeat.

Siesta however leaned forwards. "Wait. You said I could learn magic?"

Louise blinked. "But she's a commoner."

"I could teach you some tricks," Marisa said. "From what I heard you're descended from someone who got sucked into another world. And everyone who suffers that has a high base magic potential. Probably comparable with the villagers." She tapped her chin. "I doubt you'll get much stronger than a fairy, but it'd be interesting to see how much you learn. If you're interested."

"Yes!" the maid immediately said. She blushed. "If that's alright."

Utsuho grinned. "I told you that you had a secret maid power."

"That's not a secret power," Orin growled. Her eyes flashed to Marisa before the mage could speak. "And stop encouraging her!"

Well Louise wasn't going to prevent someone from trying to learn magic. It didn't seem likely to her though. Still... "Siesta gets a tutor and I get nothing," she muttered quietly.

"Now now," Marisa said. "I'll teach you some theory, and help where I can. But you'll have to learn your spells the old fashioned way. Well the old old fashioned way. I can't help you steal them like the best mages do." She grinned.

Louise grimaced. That was probably better then she should have expected for free magic lessons. But she still felt unsatisfied. "Don't you know any void magicians?"

"Not a common field," Marisa said. "Most people that play with void are trying to create something from it. That's what Patchy and Alice focus on. I know exactly one void mage and she's got some weird foeyay thing with Yuki going on.

"What I can tell you is this," Marisa said. "Practice that dispel magic trick. It might not have much utility for you but it's a natural use of the void. If you figure out that one you'll begin mastering your talent."

Utsuho hummed appreciatively. "So like building up her wing muscles to fly?"

Trust her familiar to make it a flying metaphor. Still it did seem like a good idea. If she mastered a dot spell she'd start getting a better connection to the void!

"One more thing," Marisa said. "I'm sure Utsuho here's given her view of the void as nothingness. That's a big part of the void. But there's another truth about the void." She snapped her fingers again and there was a lump of coal in her hand. "Void is change. The space between the elements."

Louise peered at the rock, then started as it burst into flame. Marisa continued, "That moment when earth becomes fire. That is void as well. When you're playing with spells you'll need to remember this."

The flames danced on the magician's palm, and Louise stared hard at them, trying to glimpse the ephemeral void between the black coal and the orange fire. Utsuho's idea of void was hard to understand, but she was starting to feel that maybe her familiar had shown her the simplest truths of her element.

"It's nice to know that even when you're moping you can spare the mental power to hate my lessons," Satori said. "But I'd like you to at least look at me."

Louise shifted to glare at the woman's third eye. It was petty but Louise was feeling petty.

"Well at least you admit it," Satori said.

She ground her teeth and sat up straight. How could people stand being around someone who just spat out responses to whatever they were thinking?

"They can't," Satori said. "It's the point really." She tossed a book down on the table in front of Louise. "Anyway with Marisa's translation charm allowing you to read Japanese we'll start here. 'The Prince.' Widely quoted, frequently misunderstood. Occasionally useful in modern times."

"Why are we starting with a book that's only occasionally useful?" Louise poked the thin tome. "Shouldn't we use a book that's always useful?"

Satori shrugged. "That would be nice, but books are always creations of their time. Especially books on politics. Your nation is not our Italy, much less the Italy of Machiavelli's day. Only someone from your world could write a book that would be perfectly true of politics in your realm. And the existence of such a book would immediately make it outdated."

Louise shook her head. That was confusing. Satori always got super philosophical when talking about writing.

"Sorry," Satori gave the first genuine smile Louise had seen. "As a writer I find myself enthralled with those details." She steadied herself. "Let's start with the most famous quote from the book. 'Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? One should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved.'"

Not this nonsense again. Louise rolled her eyes. "Are you done trying to scare me with horror stories? Because I got the message last time. Bad rulers do bad things. Sure, fine. That doesn't mean I'm going to become evil to stop them."

"As I said, frequently misunderstood." Satori folded her hands. "Let's use an example close to your heart. How do you feel about your Princess?"

"What a stupid question. I respect her of course," Louise said. "She's a great person!"

Satori nodded. "You're her friend," she said, reading what was unsaid. "You love her. But the difference in your station worries you. You're afraid of overstepping your bounds. Similarly I imagine you love your parents, but you're terrified of disappointing them."

That was hardly a huge revelation. "Who wouldn't be afraid of disappointing their parents though?"

"It's a common fear," Satori agreed. "Reasonable in many cases, though not always. This isn't a judgement on your parents. I know that my pets love and fear me as well." She sighed. "Ask Utsuho what happened when she gained the power of the Yatagarasu, and how Orin handled it as well."

Louise snorted. "She did something incredibly stupid didn't she?"

"Started making plans to blow up the surface," Satori said. "She got a stern talking to."

That was a little worrying, Louise thought. But Satori kept talking. "The important thing is that love and fear can exist in the same person. And for a leader often must. Because if the people love your princess but don't fear her or someone near her, they will not respect her laws."

That made a certain amount of sense, especially the nation seeing the princess as a parent. She looked up at Satori. But why bring that up here? She wasn't even going to inherit the duchy.

"Two reasons. One the princess must delegate. She can't be everywhere." Satori nodded. "She trusts you apparently, so she may delegate things to you as you grow in power. Which means you to must learn how to be loved and feared. And sadly fear will be more common."

"So I'm going to have to be the Princess's messenger?" she asked thinking about how despised Count Mott was. Even ignoring the despicable parts about him.

"Possible," Satori said. "I think it's more likely she'll have you in another role. You see, it's not just important that your subjects fear you."

Louise immediately caught where Satori was going. "The other nations."

"Very good." Satori smirked. "A nation must appear strong. And Utsuho is perhaps uniquely suited for destroying enemy armies. Which means she might want them to fear you when you come into your power."

It was a little disturbing but Louise kind of liked that idea. It would teach everyone to call her a Zero!

Siesta flinched as Marisa sighed. "Come on kid. I know you can cast this spell. An outsider could do it. Especially with a wand. You should be able to do it without."

"I'm sorry." She looked at the slender wood piece in her hand. It felt wrong. It seemed magic was beyond someone like her.

The witch peered at her. "There's something off. You don't believe you can cast the spell do you?"

Was that it? She looked at the wand, and put it down. "It's just... I'm a farmer's daughter. Magic is something for the nobility. Rulers with fine clothes and status."

"Huh. Magic determines nobility eh?" Marisa leaned back. "I suppose I can see how that would work. I like our system better though. Everyone just does their own thing and danmaku duels to settle nonsense."

Siesta blinked. That sounded much worse. Having powerful mages dueling her every time she spilled tea would be painful.

Marisa rubbed her face. "Okay. Let's take a break. I can teach you some basic alchemy. That doesn't require any magic at all." The witch scribbled out a set of ingredients and what looked a lot like cooking instructions. "This is a simple concoction that will cure many common injuries. No spellcasting required."

She peered at the notes. The ingredients were expensive and magical. Dragonscale and rare herbs. But then, if the ingredients were magical then she wouldn't need to use magic herself!

Siesta carefully followed the instructions listed, stirring the mixture when told and trickling in the ingredients. She felt a little light headed as the fumes rose, but she stuck to the recipe. Improvements could come later.

Finally the potion was complete. A light blue, with a faint glow. It was prettier then the potions water mages made she thought.

"Well done." She jumped in surprise as Marisa walked to her side. "Though I hope Byakuren never hears about this. Can't believe she was right."

"About what?" Siesta asked. She'd just followed the recipe.

"About getting people into the right mindset for their first spell," Marisa said taking the potion. "This little thing here is over a hundred times harder than the light spell you were failing at."

Siesta gaped. "But you said there wasn't any magic involved in it!"

"I lied." Marisa grinned. "Congrats on your first spell. Better than mine, though I was just using a book." She tossed Siesta the potion. "Should work on cuts or scrapes. Even deep ones. But don't use it on broken bones."

The blue vial glowed happily in Siesta's hands and she stared at it in pride and wonder. She'd cast a spell! Gathered power that only nobles could touch!

Marisa picked up the wand and put it back in a pouch. "Anyway let's go back to the light spell. No wand this time, they mess with your head. Think of our magic as a totally different thing then the magic Louise and the other nobles use. It kinda is after all."

A magic all of her own. Siesta nodded. "Okay. How did the spell go again?"

Now that me and my editor are both done being sick I can post. Sadly the next one will probably also be delayed a bit since I'll be wandering off on vacation for a bit. Such is life.

And yep. It's Marisa. Don't worry about her being the only magician to appear though. I've got a bunch more special guests, including one rather uncommon one.

Since this is the last chapter before plots start happening (and explosions) thought I'd address two things. First is the familiar bond : Utsuho is, in the end, a (totally awesome) raven. Thus I feel justified in having her connection be a little more like the animal bonds. It also makes the entire story happen because she'd be very unlike to answer a summon otherwise.

As for Satori's motivations... she really is enjoying playing schoolmaster here. She commented after fighting Reimu/Marisa in SA that playing with humans was fun, and she should do more of it. While she enjoys hell, she's still a youkai who loves reading minds. This is her big chance to mess with (living) humans without breaking any rules, and she's gonna take it.