Author's Notes:

Hello everyone! I can't believe I managed to get another chapter out this week! Sorry if it seems rushed, but I hope you like it. The ancient dragon "arc" will most likely not be very long unless I spontaneously think of something that somehow lengthens it. Anyway, enjoy chapter 46!

Chapter 46: Another Threat

Louise leaned on Hayai inside Henrietta's palace. The other leaders were gathering forces to surround the city. She had informed them that all four of the void mages must be in a single location to attract the ancient dragon. As she sat thinking about the best way to defeat it, she was approached by the other leaders.

"Louise, is Saito well enough to help us fight?" Wales asked.

"No. The last time I was told of his well being, he was still unconscious." Louise said. "We're going to have to do this ourselves."

"Then our odds aren't very high." Henrietta said. "From what I've heard from Saito, it sounds like the most dangerous threat we'll come across."

"We'll be fine. I'm much stronger now than when Saito fought it alone." Louise said. "Tell me, what military blueprints have we acquired from Germania since the war."

"We have received several plans for smaller caliber weapons, as well as a few large ones." Shion said. "However, it appears that the vast majority of Germania's military blueprints have been destroyed or hidden by Albrecht's orders."

"We'll need every powerful weapon we have to destroy it." Louise said. "It should be enough combined with my own power. If I take more time to cast my spell, I could probably destroy it, but I'd need a lot of time to make my most powerful explosion."

"We can buy you time." Alex said. "We'll keep the dragons back until you're ready."

"I see. Thank you." Louise said. "I'll start casting the spell now. As soon as it's ready, run as far away as possible. Make sure to take cover."

"Wait, you're starting now?" Vittorio asked.

"Like I said, I'm much stronger now than before." Louise replied, raising her hand in the air to begin casting the spell. "I have a lot more magic than I used to, so I have to start casting the spell now in order to use at least a quarter of it."

"Aren't the explosions you make without reciting your spell strong enough?" Charlotte asked.

"Maybe." Louise said. "But maybe they're not."

"Wait...a quarter?!" Alex asked. "Just how much magic do you have?!"

"I don't know for sure, so I'm doing this as overkill." Louise said. "I'm going to the roof. The dragon will be here in about six days, so you should prepare until then too."

They all nodded, then departed to organize the weapons their armies would be using. Louise went to the palace's roof and began charging her explosion. A small ball of light appeared at the tip of her finger as she chanted her incantation. The wind in the area began to become turbulent and was sucked towards her direction.

The military in the city had to do their best to calm down the citizens, who began to panic about the strange weather. The other leaders sent word to Germania requesting weaponry, which the Germanian Empress quickly provided over the next several days.

Citizens of Tristain were evacuated further north in preparation for the dragon's arrival, while the allied military forces surrounded the capital, placing large caliber weapons towards the direction the dragon would be coming from. All of the army's preparation took about five days.

During this entire time, throughout the night and through the rain, Louise remained on the palace's roof charging her explosion. On the sixth day, the ball of light disappeared from above her finger and she opened her eyes. Hayai, who stayed with her on the roof the whole time, looked up at her with slight confusion.

She patted his head then jumped down from the roof onto the ground. She casually walked inside, where she found Henrietta and the other leaders organizing when to fire which weapons. They were very surprised to see her there.

"What are you doing here?" Shion asked quietly. "I thought you'd be charging your explosion."

"The ancient dragon is about 100 kilometers away." Louise said. "We're going to attack it now. If I charged any more, this city would be destroyed."

"100 kilometers. You're saying that little of your power is enough to destroy the city from there?" Wales said, slightly in disbelief.

"I believe so. I'll open a large world door in front of our militaries so that they can fire at the dragon from here." Louise explained.

"Wait, if you stopped charging your magic, you won't be able to use it will you?" Henrietta asked her with a worried expression on her face.

"Well, as long as I have the magic set aside specifically for that kind of usage, I can release it all whenever I want." Louise replied. "I'll open the world door in about an hour. Tell the soldiers to get ready."

"You know, Louise, you are a Queen as well." Henrietta said. "You also have the authority to command the military."

"I don't like addressing crowds." Louise replied. "I'm not used to it yet, so it makes me nervous."

"It's never too late to start practicing is it?" Alex asked.

"Maybe another time." She replied, very obviously scared of the prospect. "Tell me when the armies are prepared."

She quickly walked away to a quiet part of the palace. She used this hour to rest her weary head. She had several things on her mind, from the economics and stability of her own country, to the well being of her family.

She didn't want to think of these things at such an important time, so she did her best to remove the thoughts from her head. After about 45 minutes, one of her soldiers came to inform her that the army was prepared to fire on command.

She nodded and walked outside, her dragon following close behind her. She stationed herself in front of the army, while the other leaders stood on airships that hovered above her. After a few moments of mental preparation and making sure all of the army's weapons were ready, a white light shot from her finger and into the air.

It expanded into a large circle and through it, everyone could see a massive, black dragon walking towards them.

In Sasha's House

Saito woke up from a quite unrestful slumber. His sleep was haunted with images of the countless battles he had witnessed or taken part in. He remembered the faces of every soldier he had killed, especially those he fought against most recently.

When his eyes shot open, he had a cold sweat. It was pitch black, with the only light in the room eminating from his glowing orange eyes and tail, as well as the glowing tails of the small children that slept on his belly.

He felt comfort in seeing them with him, but was quite sad that he still was incapable of moving on his own to lift them up or pinch their cheeks like he dreamed. With these thoughts in mind, he, with great effort, started to try and move his arm. For hours, he kept working to move, with varying degrees of success.

When the sun was about to rise, he manages to lift his arms into the air for about a minute. Although such a simple task was extremely difficult, it made him happy to know that his body was recovering.

"If I keep trying this every day, I'll be able to stand in no time." He thought to himself, looking at his kids. "Then I'll finally be able to hold you two like a father should."

"How sweet of you." Sasha said, scaring Saito enough to make his body jolt a little.

"Don't scare me like that!" He exclaimed. "Besides, what are you talking about?"

"How you wish to hold them like a proper father. It's very sweet." She replied, yawning as she leaned back in her chair.

"Are you reading my thoughts?" Saito asked.

"I am, or was, the right hand of god, not the mind of god." She replied. "Telepathy is not one of my abilities."

"Then how do you know what I'm thinking all the time?" Saito asked, not believing her for a minute.

"Call it an old woman's intuition. How nice it is for strong children like them to have a sibling to care for them." She said, quickly changing the subject.

Her statement made Saito's curiosity grow. He remembered how she reacted the last time he mentioned siblings to her and decided that this could be an opportunity to learn more about her past, even if it meant making her slightly agitated.

"Sasha, do you have...other siblings?" He asked her.

Just as before, she looked extremely sad and angry at the mention of the subject. The air in the room seemed to shift with her emotions, and her hair began to float as an aura of magic began to surround her.

The room began to shake quite heavily. However, when the children who rested in the room began to fuss in their sleep, she immediately seemed to snap out of it. Their soft cooing seemed to strike a chord in her heart, making her calm down.

"I'm sorry." She said, looking down into her lap.

"Did something bad happen?" Saito asked.

"Forgive me, but I do not wish to speak of my family." She replied, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I apologize." Saito said, realizing just how much it hurt her to think about it. "It was indecent of me to ask you."

"It's okay." She replied, returning to her normally stoic demeanor.

He smiled, happy that she was feeling happier, at least on the outside. As soon as she was back to her normal self, the air in the room returned to normal and his kids stopped fussing. However, almost immediately, Saito sensed magic which was undoubtedly Louise's.

"She's about to fight." Saito said, feeling his heart sink.

"Worry not. She will win." Sasha replied.

However, as she said this, she felt another magic at the same time. It didn't belong to Louise or the ancient dragon, but it was sinister in its nature. It was particularly powerful, but it somehow felt extremely manipulative.

"Do you sense that?" She asked him.

"The dragon? Yes." Saito said, unaware of what Sasha meant.

"Not the dragon. There's something else." She said.

Saito closed his eyes, trying to see if he could feel anything, but he felt nothing out of the ordinary. All he felt was the dragon, Louise's massive reserves of power, as well as much weaker mages who would be helping her fight.

"I don't sense anything else." He said.

Just as he said this, Mariel, who had gone fishing when it was still dark, ran into the room and held Sasha by her shoulders. She didn't say anything for several seconds, as she had to catch her breath from how fast she came to see Sasha.

"Do you feel that?" She asked. "That magic."

"I do, older sister." Sasha replied.

"It's so...distorted and wicked." Mariel said. "But it doesn't feel like any magic I have ever felt before."

"Yes." Sasha replied. "But do you not find it strangely...familiar?"

Mariel was quiet, indicating that she agreed. They all sat in silence as they thought about what it could possibly be.

"As twisted and bent as this 'magic' is, it's personality rings a bell." Mariel said. "Little sister, I believe we should go and investigate."

"We are forbidden from interfering with human affairs." Sasha replied.

"This may not just affect the humans, but us as well!" Mariel objected.

Sasha thought for a few moments. "If we must go, we must take the other representatives with us. However, we will only observe. We will not interfere."

Mariel nodded and left to prepare to leave. Sasha turned back to Saito who, although confused by the situation, understood that it was most likely something extremely serious.

"Saito, I will leave you here to heal." She said. "I will have a doctor come to care for you in my absence."

She handed him a spherical, translucent green stone with some kind of ancient writing carved into it.

"If anything happens, feed your magic into this stone, and I will arrive as quickly as possible." She said. "The people of this Kingdom despise humans. There is no guarantee that the doctor I send will be any different. If that so happens to be the case, do not hesitate to kill them if need be. Louise's children are my priority."

"Thank you." Saito said, genuinely moved by Sasha's actions. "For everything."

"You are my in-law, after all." She said, kissing his forehead. "Stay safe."

"You too." Saito said as she put on armor that he had never seen before. It consisted of several bronze looking plates of metal that surrounded her arms, legs, and chest. Underneath it, she wore what seemed like a shiny, black, one piece suit made of silk. However, it was actually made of several small threads of metal which were woven together to create an incredibly strong piece of cloth-like armor.

As she walked out of the door, she turned back and gave him a smile before closing the door behind her and running into the forest to find her sister. Saito sighed and spent the next several hours training his body to move, with his two babies still fast asleep on his bed.

"They sure do sleep a lot." He thought to himself when it was already afternoon.

Just as he thought this, he heard a knock on the door. He sensed an average amount of magic, but still pulled his kids closer to him as an instinct. Through the door came a tall and very beautiful woman with four, dark blue wings on her back. Unlike Helen's, however, they looked like a dragon's, featuring a leathery surface rather than the plush feathers that Helen had.

She had shoulder length black hair and rather pale skin, although her very luscious lips were quite colorful. Her eyes shimmered dark blue and were surrounded by a dark blue eye liner, and she had a rather flat chest for her massive height. She wore baggy, white pants and a long sleeved, dark blue shirt. When she closed the door behind her, she stared directly at Saito. After very obviously observing him for a few seconds, she bowed and introduced herself.

"Hello." She said. "My name is Laura. I am to be your caretaker until Lady Sasha or Madame Helen return."

"Hello. My name is Saito." He replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Lady Sasha has already informed me of your current condition." She said, sitting down on a chair. "I hope my services are adequate."

"Don't worry about that." Saito replied. "I do have one question for you though."

"I will answer you to the best of my ability." Laura said.

"Do you hate me?" Saito asked, looking extremely serious all of a sudden.

Laura was taken aback by the sudden and blunt nature of the question. She remained silent for a few seconds, contemplating what Saito could possibly mean.

"I'm not sure I understand." She replied.

"Do you hate me for being a human being? You see, these two are my children." Saito said, managing to point at the sleeping babies next to him. "As their father, I love them with all my heart. If you are a threat to them, tell me now and leave. If you pose a threat to them and you don't tell me, you may be killed."

"I understand." Laura replied. "I do not hate you."

Saito scanned her face and her voice for signs of lying, but he deduced that she was telling the truth, causing him to relax and become his normally jovial self.

"Sorry about that! I didn't mean to threaten you!" He said, laughing with embarrassment.

"Please, don't apologize." She said, smiling back at him. "I expected you to be rather harsh from what Lady Sasha said."

"And what exactly did she say?" Saito asked, squinting with suspicion.

"She said that there was a strong monster in this place that I had to take care of." She replied, quite childishly.

"Monster...that's harsh in itself." He said to himself. "So what are you going to do to me?"

"Well, Lady Sasha said that I'm the only other person in this Kingdom who knows that you're here right now, and that I was not to tell anyone else of your presence." She replied. "I am a doctor, so she wanted me to help speed up your recovery."

"Speed it up?" Saito asked. "How so?"

"I am quite adept at using human, elf, anioły, dwarf, and elf magic." She replied. "I simply have to figure out which would be best for this process, then we can begin."

"Wow! You must be a genius!" Saito said, in awe of Laura's accomplishment in learning all of those kinds of magic.

"Well, perhaps a little." She said, clearly flattered by being called a genius. "Now, let's begin."

Saito nodded and laid back on his bed, making his back as straight as possible, although this was extremely difficult and rather painful. Laura closed her eyes, seemingly meditating. When they opened, they looked like swirling masses of color.

She put her hands on Saito's belly, where he could feel a strange feeling moving through him. Although slightly scared, he was prepared to do whatever he had to as long as it meant giving Louise a hug again.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the rather late chapter guys! I had to review for semester finals during this week, so I wasn't able to write as much as I wanted to. That may show in the quality of my work, but I hope you understand. Thanks for reading guys! Send me a review or a private message with your thoughts. I look forward to seeing what you have to say. Thanks again and see you next time!