Author's Notes:

Hey! How's it going guys? I hope you liked the last chapter. Looks like we're finally going to be getting some action. It wasn't easy to write, but it was completely worth it. Now, to continue the story in chapter 6. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: The Loss of One's Love Part Two

Louise woke up in a dark jail cell. The floor was wet from the water dripping from the ceiling. There was a cold gust of wind coming from the barred window. It was then she realized that she had no clothes. She was extremely cold, so she curled up in a corner, wrapping her long hair around herself. She heard footsteps walking towards the door. The door opened to reveal a man in his 50's. He had long, blonde hair and a somewhat crazed expression on his face.

"Hello, Void Mage."

Louise was confused.

"Void Mage?"

The man smiled and walked closer to her, making her feel more uncomfortable than she already was. "Indeed. I never thought I'd find you. Luckily, Matilda has proven herself competent."

Louise yelled at him, frightened. "Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"

He stroked her hair slowly. "As for who, my name is Oliver Cromwell. You're going to help me with something, little girl."

With that, he left the room, locking the door behind him. Louise began to cry, hoping for someone to come and save her.

The Tristain Academy of Magic

Kirche got up in the middle of the night, only able to become half-asleep. She put on her nightgown and decided to go to the kitchen for some wine. She walked out of her room, closing the door behind her. She walked down the hallway, still half asleep and having no knowledge of what had happened to Louise. As she walked past her room, she tripped over something and fell into a pool of wet liquid. She looked at her hands, which were now soaked in this red liquid. Still half asleep, she smiled.

"Ah, that Zero Louise spilled wine in front of her room. What an idiot."

She licked the liquid, but then immediately spit it out. She knew the taste, but couldn't put her finger on it. After examining the taste for a few more seconds, she realized that it tasted just like blood. She was now fully awake. She looked down at her soaked night gown. There, she saw the source of the pool of blood. The object that she tripped over. Saito was on the ground, unconscious, bleeding profusely from his chest. Kirche began to panic even more as she saw the dagger in his chest. It was moving rhythmically, as it had pierced Saito's heart. Every time his heart beat, the dagger would move.

Kirche let out a deafening shriek. Everyone in her tower woke up. Montmorency was the first one to arrive. Her face turned pale when she saw Saito on the ground. Guiche came next. He was shocked and nearly threw up. They had no idea what they should do. Eventually, after a few seconds, Tabitha arrived. She had apparently been fast asleep, as her hair was matted on one side of her head. She remained calm and looked at Kirche.

"Must be taken to infirmary. Help."

Tabitha went to a window and whistled. Within a few moments, Sylphid arrived from seemingly nowhere. They all helped Tabitha lift Saito onto the dragon. They flew quickly towards the infirmary, where they ran towards the nearest open door. A group of doctors who were in the room turned around, wondering what the commotion was. They turned pale when they saw the kids carrying Saito, who was slowly becoming paler and paler. They immediately put him on an operating table. Tabitha, who was quite knowledgeable about medicinal use of magic, spoke first.

"Need to remove blade. Sew heart shut. Must stop bleeding."

The medicinal mages, who were surprised that she had such knowledge, proceeded carefully. One held the blade while the other prepared to sew his heart. In an instant, they pulled they pulled the blade from his chest and began sewing his heart. The sowing did not take long, perhaps 30 minutes. However, when they were done, his heart still bled a little from the wound. Tabitha looked at kirche.

"Must cauterize the wound."

Kirche was confused.

"What does that mean?"

The doctors looked at her and spoke with urgency. "You have to burn the wound shut. Sewing it wasn't enough."

Kirche became scared. "But, I haven't learned to control my fire magic well enough."

Tabitha slapped her. This was the most shocking thing to Kirche. Tabitha had never been one to be excitable. When she spoke however, she was her usual self.

"No time to think."

Kirche took a deep breath and pulled out her wand. After a short while, a small white flame appeared on the tip of her wand. She slowly burned the wound for a few seconds. When she moved away, it had stopped bleeding. Everyone in the room was relieved. They began to sew shut the cut in his chest. When they were done, they laid him down in a bed and gathered around a table to discuss.

Guiche began to talk first. "Who could have possibly done this and…why?"

Kirche looked at him seriously. "I think it was Louise."

Everyone looked at her in shock. Everyone but Tabitha, who was reading a book. Kirche looked at everyone there. The group had grown to include Malicorne and Reynald, who had rushed to the infirmary when they spotted the group fly towards the infirmary. Kirche continued her theory. "Don't you find it strange that she is nowhere to be found? Not to mention how disappointed she was that she got a Pleb as a familiar. And she is, of course, a Vallière. Her pride as an aristocrat was probably hurt beyond belief by summoning a Pleb."

They all nodded, seemingly in agreement. Tabitha however looked at them all. It was the only time any of them had ever seen Tabitha show an emotion even close to anger, let alone outright hatred as she was showing now.

"You're wrong." She said calmly, "Louise innocent."

Kirche looked at her in disbelief. "Are you serious?! All of the signs point to her!"

Tabitha shook her head and held up the dagger. The hilt was soaked with blood, but that is not what Tabitha wanted to draw their attention to. Stuck by blood to the hilt, was a green strand of hair. Tabitha put the dagger on the table. No one at the table understood why that was important. Tabitha pointed her staff at the strand of hair and uttered a spell.

"Ad quem haec pertinent?"

Her staff began to glow. After a few seconds, a circle of light appeared in the air. As everyone looked through it, they saw Ms. Longueville sitting at her desk. The circle soon disappeared. Kirche looked at Tabitha.

"What was that?"

Tabitha sat down and began reading her book. "Longueville guilty." Those were her only words for a few seconds. She then looked back at Kirche.

"Cannot do anything until Osmond comes back. Going back to my room." With that, she left the infirmary and flew back to her room. The rest of them sat around Saito in silence. After a few minutes, they were about to leave. However, Saito's runes suddenly began to glow brightly. The wound on his chest began to hiss as if it burning. Steam began to rise from the cut. The group didn't know what to do, so they just waited to see what would happen. After a while, the runes went back to their normal, dull glowing. The wound on his chest stopped steaming. They noticed that color was slowly coming back to his face.

After about an hour, Saito's eyes slowly cracked open. He wasn't sure what happened. He looked around to see the overjoyed faces of Kirche and Montmorency. Guiche and Malicorne had gone to get drinks for them. They both hugged him, laughing with joy that he was alive. Odd behavior, considering how they looked down on Plebians. However, Saito didn't have time to think about that. Their hugs were causing him quite a large amount of pain. They let go, apologizing. Saito was the first to start talking more seriously.

"What happened? I don't remember anything."

Kirche stopped laughing. "I woke up and found you lying on the ground in a pool of blood. There was a dagger in your chest." She had a hard time saying this. The very thought of what had happened made her sick to her stomach. She continued her story with caution, not knowing how he would react to what she was about to say. "Louise…was no where to be found."

Saito's eyes widened. All of the memories about last night came rushing back to him. He immediately got up and tried to run to Louise's room. He collapsed on the ground in pain, but he got up again, limping towards the infirmary's exit. Guiche and Malicorne saw him on his way out. They put his arms around their shoulders.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Guiche asked.

Saito looked into Guiche's eyes. "I'm going to save Louise."

Guiche wanted to argue, but he could see the determination in Saito's eyes. He summoned one of his flower petal knights to carry Saito to Louise's room. Once there, Saito put on his 'armor' and put Derf on his back. Kirche and Montmorency arrived at Louise's room with Tabitha, who seemed angry that she had been woken up again. Saito looked at all of them. "I need you guys to come with me. I'm going to deal with Longueville."

Tabitha nodded and called Sylphid. Kirche was confused.

"I thought you said we couldn't do anything until old man Osmond came back!" Tabitha blushed very lightly. She glanced at Saito and then back at Kirche.

"Louise in danger. More important to save her." Kirche noticed her glance, but said nothing. Sylphid arrived in a few moments. They flew to Osmond's window and jumped into his room. Longueville was looking through books on her books. She smiled at the group, particularly at Saito.

"Ah, what are you guys doing here so late?"

Saito did not respond to this question. He pulled Derf from his sheathe and pointed him at her.

"Where is Louise?!" It was all he said. His runes had begun to glow as he held Derf. Longueville was quiet for a moment, but then began to laugh.

"You are one strange Plebian. I thought that wound would have killed you. As for the girl, she will be used to bring a revolution to th-" Before she could finish, Saito had appeared directly in front of her in the blink of an eye. He pinned her to the wall and pressed Derf to her throat.

"I did not ask why you took her. I already know that. I asked where she is." His left eye seemingly began to glow. The runes on his arm glowed brightly, shining through the sleeve of his shirt. Longueville was began to laugh.

"You think a boy like yourself is enough to threaten me? Don't make me la-" She let out a scream as Saito broke her hand with his left arm. It was extremely easy for him, like crushing plastic bottle. He looked at her in the eyes again.

"You're going to tell me where she is, or I kill you." She knew he was serious. As much as she was a member of Reconquista, she valued her life more than her ideals. Kirche, Montmorency, Guiche, Malicorne, and even Tabitha watched on with fear written on their faces. They had never thought Saito was capable of anything close to that. He dragged Longueville onto Sylphid and then looked at the rest of them, who were staring at him in shock.

"Let's go." As he said this, they all ran onto Sylphid. Saito, why holding her hands behind her back, looked at Longueville. "Lead the way." He said, coldly. When she told them which way to go, the dragon began to fly.

In Louise's jail cell

Louise was cold, tired, hungry, thirsty, and above all, scared. She had never been in such a vile and humiliating environment. The only form of clothing she had was a dirty bedsheet that one of the guards was kind enough to give her. She had already been in there for several hours. As she stared out of the window, she heard the door behind her open. Two guards grabbed her, blindfolded her, and dragged her down a long corridor. After a few minutes, she was forced into a wooden chair. Her arms and legs were held in place by leather straps and her blindfold was removed.

When her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that she was in a small room. In front of her was a table with a variety of tools she had never seen before. Cromwell walked into the room in a lab coat.

"Impressed? These are tools we found in a small village somewhere in Tristain. Matilda was very helpful in retrieving them."

He pulled a chair behind the table and sat on it, looking directly at Louise.

"You see, we need not be enemies. Within you, lies the power we need to bring order to Albion, and then the world. All we need you to do is comply with us, and no harm will come to you." Louise said nothing, simply staring at him with anger in her eyes. He continued his speech, smiling at her.

"Forgive me. I suppose I have not explained who we are have I? We call ourselves Reconquista. As you may be able to tell from the name, our mission is quite simple. We want to rid the world of its corrupt nobles and rebuild it…from the ground up. We need your power to do so. One of our spies, Matilda, tells us that you are actually a Void Mage. That would explain your inability to use other forms of magic. Matilda also told us of the nature of your magic. Unfortunately, it seems that you require some sort of emotional stimulus for it to activate. Now, we don't have anything of that sort, but…" He looked at the table of tools, knives, and other objects pulled from Siesta's village "…we have other forms of stimuli that may suffice."

Two other men wearing masks entered the room, shutting the door behind them. Louise's eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen to her. Her eyes began overflowing with tears as she begged someone to save her.

Elsewhere in Halkeginia

Saito was wide awake on Sylphid's back. His heart was aching. Not from the stab wound he received earlier, which seemed to have nearly healed completely, but from his sheer amount of worry about Louise. Everyone else had decided at various points in time to get some rest during the long trip to Albion. Kirche woke up, noticing that Saito was awake, staring at the night sky. She poked his back lightly to get his attention.

"You should get some rest. You don't want to be tired if we end up having to fight." Saito was quiet, but after a few minutes, sighed and looked at her.

"You're right." He said. She patted her legs, telling Saito to use them as a pillow. Not a single perverted thought crossed his mind, as he could only think of Louise. Just as he was about to set his head down, his left eye began to burn, making him yell in pain. Everyone woke up when they heard him.

"What's wrong?!" Guiche asked.

When Saito managed to open his eyes for a few brief seconds, he saw horrifying images. He saw Louise being tortured in ways he had only read about in fiction books or watched in anime. He heard her call for someone to help her. He reached his hand out to her, but couldn't touch her. He shook his head frantically, trying to make the images go away. When they finally did, he was in tears. No one else was able to see his visions. They all simply looked on in confusion, even Longueville. He looked at Tabitha.

"Tell Sylphid to go faster!" Tabitha hesitated, but then complied.

Saito looked up at the pink and blue moons, reaching his hand into the sky as if he was trying to hold them.

"I'm coming Louise, just hold on for a little longer."

Author's notes:

Okay, that became really dark, really fast. I hope you guys liked it. As I always say (it's probably getting annoying now huh?), please leave a review and tell me what you guys think and what you'd like to see in the future. Also, sorry this came out a bit late. Life got in the way. You know how it is. Anyway, thanks for reading!