Louise groaned and looked up at the ceiling. The vaulted roof immediately told her it was the palace of the earth spirits, but she wasn't sure why she was there. She must have slept poorly. She started to sit up, but a twinge of pain rippled through her stomach. "Ow!"

"Morning." Marisa's cheery voice added to her discomfort. "Sorry about the pain. I'm afraid healing isn't my thing, so you're gonna have occasional twinges as your nerves shift back together and complain. But you get to skip the whole three month recovery period so there's that."

Memories were starting to come back. She recalled getting on Sylphid and escaping. Some knights had chased them, but Utsuho had incinerated them with extreme prejudice. Something about Guiche's terror helping the raven recover faster. But past that nothing.

She looked around the room. Pretty much all of the people she knew in Gensoukyo were there. Ryuukoto was tending to Siesta, while Marisa was by her bed. Orin was of course pestering Utsuho, and Momiji and Satori were watching everything.

"Where are we in Tristain?" she asked. Probably best to learn that first.

Siesta spoke up. "Tarbes. My hometown. It was close, and I knew my family would give us a room."

"Good thinking." Well she didn't need to worry about that. Now to deal with the rest of this disaster. She looked over at her familiar. "Are you okay, Utsuho?"

The raven drooped. "I'm fine. I just got stunned. But I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Orin poked her friend. "You're fine now, but you got beat up bad! Just because we can recover fast doesn't mean you should be so careless."

"It was just one piece of me," Utsuho protested. "I bet he could have killed that body and I would have been fine."

"Not quite," Momiji interjected. "It can't kill you, but you'd be banished from that realm. In effect you'd be 'dead' there, unable to return. I've been speaking to Sanae about the rules of godhood."

Louise shuddered at the thought. "Be more careful," she snapped.

Utsuho drooped a little. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

The mournful tone made Louise feel a little guilty. It was her own fault that Wardes was there. It was her fault Prince Wales was-

"No it wasn't," Satori said. "Everyone thought it was the best option. We were all wrong, and we're all responsible." She stood up. "In any case, I'll let Orin handle the rest. You don't have classes today. We'll focus on healing and helping you decide what to do."

Momiji grimaced, but stood and bowed before following Satori out. Marisa rolled her eyes and gave Louise a pat on the head. "Sure whatever. I'll still have lessons in blowing stuff up if you want though." The magician headed out.

Louise stood, wincing again as pain flashed through her stomach. That was going to be annoying. Still she made her way over to Utsuho. "Are you sure you're okay?" She didn't see any wound on her familiar, but she knew all too well how strong Wardes' attacks were. And she was willing to bet he was holding back on her.

"I'm fine now." Utsuho said. She showed where the wound hit her in bird form. Louise peered but there wasn't even a mark. "Youkai heal fast. You should be more worried about yourself."

"I'm serious!" It was just, it was just- "Wales is dead, and the princess is going to hate me, and now were going to war, and we both nearly died! He could have cut me in half! And, and, and...!"

Tears welled up and Louise found herself sniffling into Utsuho's embrace. A soft wing enfolded her and she let herself collapse into the raven's arms. As she squeezed her familiar close Orin patted her head. "You had a hard time of it kitten. It's fine to be scared. Let it all out."

Louise was feeling a little better when she walked into Satori's study. That feeling didn't last when she saw the map of her world on Momiji's table, the wolf woman looking over it carefully. When she sat down, Momiji nodded. "Are you ready for the debriefing?"

"I thought we weren't having lessons today," Louise snapped. She was in no mood to be lectured about her failures.

"This isn't a lesson," Momiji stated. "Our mission failed. Despite our best efforts, despite all our planning. We need to conduct a review to learn what we can."

Louise blinked. Momiji was hard to read, but she couldn't help but feel the tengu was angry. And the woman had said 'our mission.' "You're taking this personally."

"A little," Momiji admitted. "This was the first operation I've been able to plan myself and it was cut short. But beyond that it's a rule. After every operation do a debriefing. You must learn from your successes and your failures. Otherwise your position will only get worse."

"I see." Louise sighed and leaned on the table. "I'm not sure what to say though. We were betrayed."

Momiji nodded. "By a trusted advisor. The worst type of betrayal. But there's a lot to learn there. First, did he believe in our strategy? Or did he simply strike because it was a good opportunity?"

That was a good question. Louise searched through her memories, grimacing as she saw all the clues in hindsight. "I think... I think he was afraid it would work. He really wanted me to join his cause, so he was trying to convince me the plan was hopeless. But at the end he gave up."

"Well that soothes some of my pride," Momiji said. "We can assume then that Cromwell really is a weak point of the resistance. It may be that Wardes overestimates the man's importance, but we can live with that assumption for now." Momiji sighed. "Now the painful question, what does Wardes know about us?"

Louise groaned. She hadn't even considered that mess. "Well everyone knows Utsuho's dangerous, since she blew up a boat and vaporized a flight of dragons. He's also got the princesses' letters, so the marriage alliance is doomed. He knows I'm a Void mage. And he knows Siesta's not a normal mage."

"Hm?" Momiji raised an eyebrow. "How'd he guess those last two? Is it that obvious?"

"Siesta was very obvious," Louise muttered. "She cast a spell without a wand. And it was some kind of light attack. I don't know if a square class fire mage could do that."

Momiji nodded. "Oh right, Illusion Laser. One of Marisa's favorites. I've been hit with that a few times. I suppose it's not a standard element. Still he won't be able to do much with that, since most will just believe he's making excuses for his loss."

Well that at least was nice. Louise snorted. "I hope she made him lose an eye."

"Agreed," Momiji growled. "However I'm still curious how he knew you were a Void mage. Aren't Void mages nearly unheard of? Why would he assume that?"

"That's-" Louise frowned. Why would Wardes even consider Void as a possibility? That didn't make sense. There were only two options. "Either he knows another Void mage, or there's something in that prophecy Cromwell's yammering about."

Momiji folded her hands. "So he's a true believer. Not sure if that's good or bad. It means there might be more traitors in government, or he could be working alone." She looked Louise in the eyes. "You'll need to stand by your princess."

"How?" Louise looked down at her hands. "How can I stand next to her? I failed. I watched her lover die because of my stupid plan."

"As opposed to dying in the war," Momiji said. "But in the end it doesn't matter. You are her retainer. And one of the two people you know she can trust right now. It is your duty to stand by her side."

Louise flinched and looked up at the wolf tengu. "Even if she doesn't want anything to do with me?"

"Especially if." Momiji's expression softened. "She will likely be making some bad decisions. She'll need someone she can trust. No matter how much she hates to hear reason."

The thought of facing Henrietta after this debacle made Louise feel ill. But if she could maybe help soften the blow, she'd listen to Momiji's advice.

On that note, she looked back at the map. "So what should we do next?"

"I thought you didn't want to have lessons," Momiji said, sitting down.

"I don't want lessons. I want a way to get revenge," Louise replied. She was going to kill that traitor Wardes personally if she had anything to say about it.

Momiji's youkai grin returned. "Very well. Let's go ask Marisa about the best ways to kill people with magic."

"Better healing magic?" Marisa laughed, leaving Siesta blinking. "Man you really are something."

"Is that strange?" Siesta forced herself not to touch the scar she'd gained. "We nearly died. I want something to make sure I can heal wounds like that."

Marisa chuckled. "It's more that's the exact opposite of every other witch in Gensoukyo. When we get our asses kicked we look for a new way to blow something up. Well okay Byakuren might say otherwise, but she'd really just look for a way to punch the guy to death.

"Anyway sure I'll teach you." The black clad witch stretched. "You'll need to start doing research yourself though. Healing is not my specialty. After I give you a few more tricks you'll be as good as me."

"But you healed my wounds so easily," Siesta protested.

The witch nodded. "Yeah but that's pure power. You're gonna need to learn how to be more efficient, in order to use your magic more effectively." Marisa grinned. "Or just make some killer potions. You really have a knack for them. Heard your bomb knocked that asshole silly."

"I just caught him by surprise," Siesta replied. "I cut him a little. That's all."

"That spell doesn't work as well if the container's damaged," Marisa said as she picked out some mushrooms. "The fact that you hurt him at all with it means you did a bang up job." She grabbed a bottle of water. "Anyway, the best way to boost your healing potions is balance. So we'll work on purifying elements and creating a perfect blend."

Siesta nodded. That made sense. The goal was to restore the body's balance. She started gathering items that would be good for that. "It's too bad we have to keep it a liquid so unconscious people can use it."

"Yeah big problem there. Even Eirin complains about that," Marisa said.

Their preparations were interrupted by a bang as Louise barged in, followed by Momiji. "Ms Kirisame! I need your help in magical combat!"

Marisa laughed. "See that's the kind of reaction I'm used to." She sat down and leaned back. "So, what's the problem? You already know how to make things go boom."

"It takes too long," Louise admitted. "By the time I'm halfway through my spell someone could stab me a hundred times."

"Hrm." Marisa frowned. "Well you've got three options and none of them are easy."

Momiji folded her arms. "I imagine the first is get a yojimbo."

"Yeah, except with the kind of killers running around a simple swordsman wouldn't cut it. She'd need something like Yoshika," Marisa replied. "And I'm guessing you aren't up for necromancy, Louise."

Siesta shivered. Necromancy was something of a legend. Few had ever seen spells to reanimate the dead. But the stories of the horrors created by the dark arts were popular around a campfire to spook people.

"Yeah, I'll pass," Louise said.

"Figured." Marisa sighed. "Option two is a shield spell. Which is kinda hard for a void specialist, and means you'd be casting two spells instead of one. Not a winner. Which leaves only one more option. A mobile casting platform."

Louise furrowed her brow. "A what?"

Momiji seemed to pick up on the matter though. "Ah right. She's artillery, so give her a vessel or mount to cast from and she can dodge and attack at the same time."

"So a dragon?" Siesta offered.

"That'd be nice," Louise muttered. "But I don't think I can borrow Tabitha whenever I need to fight. For that matter, I need to be faster or more nimble then the people trying to kill me. If I'm on a dragon they'll just catch up and stab me."

That was a problem Siesta considered it for a moment before an idea hit her. "It's too bad my grandfather's flying machine doesn't work anymore. He said it was quite fast."

"Flying machine?" Louise looked at her curiously. "Is it an artifact like the Staff of Destruction?"

"Perhaps? It was never working when I was alive. He stored it in a nearby cave." She shook her head. "It's still broken though. I doubt it's useful."

The two Gensoukyo residents perked up. "Flying machine?" Marisa asked. "You got a UFO or something? I know Sanae keeps talking about them."

Siesta had no clue what a UFO was. But she thought she remembered what her grandfather called the mystic item. "I think he called it... a Zero fighter."

Momiji's jaw dropped. "You have a what?!"