Author's Notes:

Hey there, guys! It took me a while to get around to writing this chapter. Not because I didn't want to, of course, I just had to work on another story I'm trying to create. The first chapter of it should be coming out some time this week on . I would have put it on , but it's not a fanfiction so it wouldn't be appropriate. With that out of the way, enjoy chapter 32!

Chapter 32: Louise's Awakening

Louise's eyes slowly cracked open. She could hardly remember what happened before falling unconscious. She was in a soft fluffy bed that sat at the end of a cozy and warm room. She tried to move her head a little to look around, but as soon as she did, a strong sharp pain shot through her body.

Realizing that she was in too bad of a condition to move, she remained completely still. However, she noticed that someone was holding her hand. She managed to move her head just enough so that her eyes could see who it was.

Sitting next to her, fast asleep, was Sasha. Even in her sleep, she gently but firmly held Louise's hand. It made Louise feel more comfortable to see that someone was still there for her, even when Saito wasn't around.

After a few minutes, Mariel came into the room holding a basket full of different elixirs and herbs. She set them down on a small table next to Louise's bed, then began sorting them. She hadn't noticed at all that Louise was awake.

Finally, she turned around to check on Louise, which is when she saw that her eyes were open. The sudden sight of seeing her with her eyes open made Mariel jump. When she calmed down, she pulled a chair next to Louise's bed and rubbed her forehead with a cloth.

"You should have told me that you were awake." Mariel said. "How can you scare an old woman like that?"

"I wasn't sure if talking would hurt." Louise replied, weakly. "Besides, you don't look old to me."

"How sweet of you." Mariel said, smiling. "So how do you feel?"

"It hurts when I move, but I'm otherwise okay." Louise replied. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember? We said we'd use magic to make you strong." Mariel said.

"Oh yeah…" Louise said to herself. "What exactly did those procedures do?"

Mariel smiled and pointed at Louise's chest. When Louise looked down, she saw not the familiar sight of a flat chest, but instead saw two massive orbs resting on her ribs. She began to hyperventilate. The shock from seeing such a thing made her wake up from what, it turned out, was a dream.

She shot straight up in bed, breathing heavily. She looked down at her chest, where everything was as it was supposed to be. She breathed a sigh of relief and laid back down in bed. She was not in any pain. If anything, her body felt a little stiff. She looked to her left, where she saw Sasha, who was woken up from her deep sleep by Louise's sudden movements.

"What's wrong?" Sasha said, groggily.

"N-Nothing." Louise replied. "Just a nightmare."

"It's good to see that you're awake." Sasha replied, yawning.

"How long have I been asleep?" Louise asked.

"About four days since Mariel finished her operation. So nine days in total." Sasha replied.

"Where's your older sister?" Louise asked.

"She's been asleep since she finished working on you." Sasha replied. There was a definite sound of resentment and jealousy as she spoke, making Louise realize that Sasha was very self-conscious about Mariel's greater age.

"The changes will show themselves with a bit of conditioning." Sasha replied. "I'll have you lift progressively heavier things and try to run faster and longer. You'll notice the difference within a few days."

"Did you stay here the whole time?" Louise asked.

Sasha nodded. "I told you I'd be there for you, didn't I?"

Louise smiled and gave Sasha a hug. Sasha was rather surprised at first, but soon accepted it and hugged Louise back. When they pulled apart, Louise got out of bed and stood on the ground. She hopped around the room a little to make sure everything was okay.

"How do you feel?" Sasha asked.

"I feel lighter." Louise replied. "A lot lighter."

"Good. That's good." Sasha said. She stood up and walked towards the door. "Come with me. I'm sure Mariel will be happy to know that you're awake."

Louise nodded and got dressed. She followed Sasha out of the room and through a large door at the end of it. Inside, Mariel was sleeping on a couch rather than the soft bed in the corner of the room. She snored loudly, which made Sasha visibly irritated.

After waiting for a few minutes to see if she'd wake up, Sasha became impatient and pushed her off of the couch. With a sharp breath of air, Mariel woke up. She rubbed her head and looked up at her little sister.

"What the hell was that for?" She asked.

"It's rude to sleep when you have a guest." Sasha said, calmly.

"Oh, you're awake!" Mariel said, when she finally noticed Louise, standing behind her little sister.

Louise nodded. "Good morning, Ms. Mariel."

"No need for formalities." Mariel said, giving Louise a tight hug. "After going through that, you're like family now!"

"Don't let her get to you…" Sasha whispered into Louise's ear.

When Mariel finally let go, she examined Louise's body. As far as she could tell, there was nothing different about her body. She felt pretty much the same, albeit somehow 'lighter'. Mariel silently poked and prodded Louise's body until finally, she seemed satisfied.

"Alright! Let's go get some food to eat, then we can give you a test run!" She said, enthusiastically.

Louise hadn't even thought about eating until that moment. Her stomach growled like a hungry animal, causing Mariel to erupt in laughter.

"Well, we might as well go to one of the towns on the lake." Mariel said. "I'm sure you'd prefer that food, wouldn't you?"

"But that's more than two days away." Louise replied.

"Little sis and I can make it by lunch time. We'll see how well you can keep up with us." Mariel replied. "We'll call that our first test."

"There's no way I'll be able to keep up…" Louise said with a gloomy expression.

"We won't know until we try, right?" Mariel said.

Without giving Louise a chance to respond, Mariel started to drag both Louise and Sasha outside. Eventually, they arrived at the base of the mountain. It was very early morning, as the sun had not yet risen. When Mariel finally let them go, she took a deep breath of the cold air.

"A fantastic day for a run!" She exclaimed. "We won't go too fast for you. Just build up to it, okay Louise?"

Louise nodded, not entirely sure that Mariel was entirely sane. Mariel stretched her limbs and then, after a few minutes, looked back at Sasha and Louise.

"On go. 3, 2, 1, go!" She said.

They started out running at what could be called 'normal' running speed for a human. After a short while, they began to move faster and faster. Louise was surprised to see that she could, indeed, keep up. Before long, they were moving faster than any land animal.

When they were moving at what Saito would have estimated as 200 km/h, Louise couldn't go any faster. She wasn't tired, but she simply couldn't make her strides any more powerful. Realizing that she had reached her limit, Mariel and Sasha slowed down to her pace. It took them a few hours to reach the town they were going to, mostly because Mariel had them take a longer route than normal.

"How do you feel, Louise?" Sasha asked.

"I feel great!" Louise replied. "I'm just hungry."

"You did pretty well for your first go." Mariel said. "We'll talk about it later though."

As they walked through the town, which seemed to be primarily occupied by Elves, Louise noticed that the people seemed to greatly admire Mariel, perhaps even more than Sasha. Of course, as she was a human, people glared at her with distaste, making her feel uncomfortable to the point of walking very close to Mariel and Sasha. However, that seemed to make the random people of the town even angrier.

Before long, they reached a large, German-style cottage. Inside, Louise could smell all kinds of different foods. Her mouth began to water as she saw different meats and desserts being brought to different tables.

A waiter soon came to greet them. He wore a long, black, sleeveless cloak, inside of which he wore a white long sleeved shirt. He hurriedly came to greet them when he realized who they were.

"Madame Mariel and Madame Sasha! Welcome! How wonderful it is to have you as our guests today!" He said.

"Hello." Mariel said. "We would like private seating for three, please."

"Three?" The man said. As he looked down at Louise, his face turned into one of disgust. "I'm sorry, but we do not serve her kind here."

Louise looked downcast and began to walk away. Mariel and Sasha looked at her with pity. However, their faces of pity soon turned to faces of rage when they looked back at the waiter. An aura came off of their bodies. Although Louise, Mariel, and Sasha were the only ones capable of seeing it, everyone in the room seemed to feel it.

"She is my family." Mariel said, with an intimidation Louise had not thought possible for someone like her. "We want seating for three."

"Y-Yes Ms. Mariel!" The waiter said, shrinking in fear. "P-Please follow me."

They were taken to a room on the fifth and highest floor of the building. It was lavish, featuring round table surrounded by several red, soft couches. Candles dimly lit the room and there was a sweet fragrance in the air.

"P-Please call when you are ready." The waiter said.

"Do make sure that nothing goes awry with my little sister's food." Sasha said. She was calm, but exuded a feeling of coldness when she spoke.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" The waiter said, leaving the room in a hurry.

When he was gone, Sasha and Mariel let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry to cause so much trouble." Louise said, looking down at the ground.

"It's no trouble. Family protect each other." Mariel said, rubbing Louise's head.

"I guess I just don't belong here." Louise replied.

"Nonsense." Sasha said. "Don't let them get to you."

"I don't blame them though." Louise said. "I mean…after what happened so many years ago."

"What happened back then has nothing to do with you." Mariel said. "Come on. Cheer up."

Louise took a deep breath, then smiled and began to look over the menu. For several minutes, they looked over the menus, teasing each other and marveling at the pictures of various dishes in the menus. Eventually, they placed their massive orders, then waited at the table. Soon, different question began to pop into Louise's head.

"Hey Mariel," Louise said. "What exactly did you do to me?"

"Oh, I suppose I should tell you." Mariel said. "You see, every living thing is made of smaller units of life. Within those little pieces of yourself are even smaller strands of information that make you who you are. Using magic, as well as the magic of science, I replaced some of those little pieces of information with either magic, or information from other creatures."

"I'm not sure I follow." Louise said.

"Let me ask you something." Mariel said. "Where is your fiancé from?"

"He's from…another world." Louise replied.

"This world of his is more advanced than the human world here, correct?" Mariel continued.

"Yes. They have amazing architecture and machines." Louise replied, remembering when she opened the world door for Saito.

"I'm sure your fiancé has at least a basic understanding of what I did." Mariel said. "When he comes back, I'll have him explain it. However, what you need to know right now is that you are now partly made of magic, just as Sasha and I are."

"What does that mean?" Louise asked.

"It means that you will have an easier time using Void magic, but you will also be capable of using nature magic. Earth, Water, Wind, and fire." Sasha explained. "You'll also progressively become much stronger and, as long as you are not killed, you should be able to live for quite some time."

"Of course," Mariel said. "I couldn't just do all of that to you without some other modifications. The human body wouldn't normally be able to undergo such a process, so I may or may not have had to change your body's…composition."

"How?" Louise asked her.

"Well, since Sasha and I survived the devil's experiments, I kind of figured that having a bit of our blood in you might help your body survive." Mariel said. "So I put some of my own being into you. Not the important parts that make me an Elf, but just enough to guarantee that you'd survive."

"You must be really smart to be able to do all of that!" Louise exclaimed, in complete awe of Mariel.

"To be honest, I guessed about whether having some Elf blood in you would work, but it all worked out, right?" Mariel said, rubbing the back of her head.

Louise did her best to ignore the fact that she could have died, so she quickly shifted the conversation elsewhere.

"Come to think of it, the people here seem to hold you on a higher pedestal than Sasha." Louise said.

"Well, I did do quite a bit of work back in the day." Mariel said. "But I think that it's just because I'm her older sister."

She laughed and leaned on Sasha's head, making sure to rub in the fact that Sasha was younger. Louise watched the two quarreling for a few minutes, thinking about how different their relationship was compared to her and Éléonore, which soon made her start laughing. Sasha and Mariel stopped fighting and smiled as they saw Louie laughing at the situation.

"Hey," Louise said to Sasha, when she was able to control her laughter. "How come your hair is white while Mariel's is black?"

"Oh." Sasha said, looking at her own hair. "Well, my hair used to be black like Mariel's, but when I came to help the Elves fight off the humans, it turned white. Probably from the stress of the war."

"It's beautiful!" Louise said, looking at Sasha's perfectly white, shining hair.

"Actually," Mariel said. "Why are your hair and eyes pink?"

"Huh? I guess it's because my mother has pink hair and pink eyes." Louise said.

At this moment, several waiters came into the room holding an array of dishes in their arms. One by one, they set them down and then left the room. The smell of meats, pastas, vegetables, and sauces filled the room.

As soon as the last waiter left, Louise picked up a large piece of meat and was about to bite into it. Suddenly, however, she stopped, looking suspiciously at the meat.

"I smell something." Louise said.

Sasha took the piece of meat and smelled it. After a few moments, she sighed, looking both tired and irritated.

"It has no poison, but it does have an ingredient that would make a normal person uncomfortable." She said. "It's a type of plant that grows in the woods around here. It shouldn't matter for you though. Go ahead and eat."

Louise smiled and took a big bite out of the food. By now, she felt more comfortable around Sasha and Mariel, and began to accept them more as family than friends. Happily, she ate with them, sharing stories about each other's adventures.

In Tristain's Magic Academy

There was an air of depression surrounding the school. Rain fell on the academy from dark clouds in the sky. Germanian soldiers stood on every corner. Watchtowers with snipers were placed at each corner of the school's walls. All students were forced to use whatever magic they knew to mine materials for the Germanians or grow food.

All of the students, that is, except Kirche. Rather against her will, she was put in charge of the mining operations, most likely to keep her in check in case her father did something wrong. All of the students looked at her with resentment whenever they came face to face, including her former friends. Guiche, Montmorency, and Malicorne all clearly despised her.

Even when she tried to give them any kind of special treatment, they rejected it and went to work with their classmates. She fell into a deep depression, which wasn't helped by the fact that she had to conduct disciplinary action on students who disobeyed orders.

In her quarters that night, she cried for hours upon hours. She wished she could explain herself to her classmates. She wished that the war had never began. But perhaps most of all, she wished that she hadn't given Saito and Louise that bottle of wine. The guilt of causing their deaths weighed heavily on her.

Their lives as royalty was about to begin. They were to become newlyweds. They had even personally invited Kirche to their wedding, and yet this is how she repaid them. She was very nearly suicidal. In fact, just as the thought of ending her own life came into her head, her father stormed into her quarters.

"Pack what you need! We leave in 5 minutes!" He said.

"What? Leaving for what?" She asked.

"Albrecht is livid! I'll explain later! Hurry up and pack only your necessities!" He said.

Without grasping the situation, she began packing. She left behind everything that had ever attached her to her friends. She left her Pentagram medallion that fastened her second-year cloak. She left all of the gifts that her friends had ever given her.

Taking with her only a few clothes and her wand, she left the castle with her father. He rushed her into a dragon drawn carriage, which soon departed at a very high speed. While in the carriage, Kirche thought about everything that happened. Her innate desire to be loyal to her country had ended all of the relationships with the people she held dear.

"Father, what is this all about?" She asked.

"Albrecht is extremely furious. Several armies in Gallia have been destroyed." He replied.

"How? It should be impossible for them to withstand the blitzkrieg." She said. "With our more advanced weapons, victory should be assured."

"It's all because of that boy King." He replied.

"Boy King?" She asked, confused.

"The ones that Albrecht had you assassinate!" Her father said, in anger. "They're alive! Or at least, the boy is! He's been wiping out armies down there left and right!"

"Saito is…alive?" She said.

"Yes!" Her father replied. "That's why I have to hide you away! No doubt he remembers that you tried to poison not only him, but his fiancé! Not only will he be after you, but Albrecht as well!"

"I see." Kirche said, both happy and sad at the same time. "I wonder how Louise is doing…"

After a few hours, they arrived at the place that Zerbst had chosen to hide Kirche. It was a small wooden cottage in the conquered region that used to belong to the Guldenhorf family, who had fled to Gallia before the war had begun.

"Remain here!" Zerbst said, when they finally arrived.

He left her at the cottage and quickly departed. Kirche walked inside the small building. Although not what she was used to, it was quite cozy. It was well furnished and had its own full bedroom and kitchen. It didn't take long for her to grow used to it.

When she settled in, she thought about the fate of Saito and Louise. She was overjoyed to learn that at least Saito was still alive. She hated herself for letting her nationalism and jealousy of Louise's relationship with Saito cloud her judgement.

With guilt weighing heavily on her shoulders, she sought for a way to atone for her sins. As she combed her mind for a possible solution, it finally came to her. She got up and fetched a dagger from her bag. Holding it up to her head, she took a deep breath. In one swift motion, her once long, flowing, crimson hair was now only shoulder length.

She then went into her kitchen, where a large jar of nuts sat on the counter. She mixed them with water, then let them boil, turning the concoction into a dark brown dye. For several hours, she let her hair soak in the dye until, when she finally pulled it out, hardly any trace of red could be seen. She removed all of her make up and took several warm clothes from the closet, putting them on while carrying others as spares.

Lastly, she picked up her wand from the table and walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind her. As she held her wand, she thought about all of her friends that she betrayed. Guiche, Montmorency, Malicorne, and especially Tabitha, whose country was fighting off wave after wave of Germanian attacks. To top it off, she thought of Saito and Louise, who she had nearly killed.

With these thoughts in mind, she boldly stepped out into the cold, rainy night. With steely determination in her eyes, she marched forward to go and find Saito.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! This is coming out pretty late in the day again. I'm pretty sure you guys are used to it by now. I'm really happy with all of the positive support I've been getting. It really motivates me to move forward. Feel free to send in PM's, reviews, emails, etc. Just let me know what you'd like to see! Thanks for reading guys! See ya!