Chapter 72

Louise, Saito, and Alex walked through the countryside of Tristain on their way to Tristania. They had been traveling for a few hours since arriving in the human world. Nothing seemed out of order, which was somewhat disconcerting.

"Everything's normal..." Alex said.

"We haven't reached a big city yet." Saito replied. "Once we do, we can ask around and see if anything strange has happened."

"Still, everything seems pretty calm." Louise said, looking at the wildlife around them.

"The academy is nearby." Saito said. "We should stop there and see how everything is."

"We shouldn't stay for too long." Alex said in an unusually impatient tone.

"Shion will be fine, Alex." Louise said. "I know you must be worried."

"Aigle and your father will protect her." Saito said. "If worst comes to worst, she is more than capable of protecting herself. So don't worry."

"Alright. Thanks guys." Alex replied, feeling a little better.

Before long, the Tristain Academy of Magic stood on the horizon. The trio rushed to its gates, which were quickly opened once the guards recognized the crowns that rested on their heads. When they walked onto the academy's grounds, the students who had been on their lunch break immediately gravitated towards them.

All of the girls surrounded Saito and especially Alex, who they considered extremely good looking. All the guys surrounded Louise. She had grown taller in the time between summoning Saito as her familiar and the present day, although she was still shorter than Saito. Her chest had also grown rather significantly in that time. Her breasts weren't large, but were at least noticable. All of these things combined with her slightly more muscular body added to her sex appeal, meaning several guys were now interested in her.

The trio were flooded with a variety of questions.

"Are you human?" One of the girls asked Saito. "You have a tail and fangs. You can't be human, right?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Several others asked Alex with a sense of hope.

"If you ever get tired of Saito, I'm free!" Several guys told Louise.

It was all very overwhelming for them. Feeling increasingly claustrophobic, they all quickly disappeared, leaving the crowd bewildered. They three found a quiet place to sit on the other side of the academy.

As they relaxed after having escaped the barrage of questions, they were discovered by Tabitha, Malicorne, Kirche, Guiche, and Montmorency, who had heard the commotion caused by the trio's arrival.

"Hello, Louise." Montmorency said.

"Hello, Montmorency." Louise replied. "We're only stopping by for a little while."

"Who is this?" Kirche asked, staring at Alex, who she found very attractive.

"I'm King Alexandre." Alex replied, bowing towards her.

"King?" She said to herself, not remembering that she saw him being crowned.

"Yes. Of Alexandria." He replied.

Realizing that his title of King was legitimate, she quickly bowed.

"I apologize. I'm Kirche." She replied.

"Kirche. So you're the one who..." He said, but stopped before finishing his sentence. "Nice to meet you."

"What are you guys doing here?" Guiche asked.

"We're on our way to Tristania." Louise said. "We need to speak to Henrietta urgently."

"Did something happen?" Malicorne asked.

"It doesn't look like something has happened yet." Alex replied. "We need to leave."

"Alright." Saito replied. "Let's hurry to the palace. I'll see you guys later."

With that, they departed for Henrietta's palace, leaving their friends baffled by their circumstances. Because they were in a hurry, they arrived in less than an hour to the city of Tristania, which was still undergoing reconstruction following the Germanian War.

They were immediately allowed into the palace, where they rushed to her room. She was sitting at her desk working on a large stack of documents.

"It's good to see you." She said without looking up.

"Likewise." Saito replied. "Listen, has anything out of the ordinary happened while we've been gone?"

"Not at all." She replied. "What makes you ask?"

"Just ask the other leaders if they've noticed anything." Louise said.

"If you insist." Henrietta replied, looking very fatigued.

"Don't work yourself too hard." Saito said. "Take care of yourself."

As they walked through the hallways of her palace, they were rather upset that they hadn't found anything wrong. It confused them, increasing the amount of anxiety they already had inside of them.

"What the hell is going on?" Alex asked as they drank tea at a nearby cafe.

"I don't know." Saito replied. "What did he mean when he said we should be concerned about the human world?"

"He said the Elves' world already belongs to him." Louise said, trying to come up with an idea. "If we can figure out what he meant by that, perhaps we could figure out his next plan."

"There's no one left in the Kingdom, so what's there for him to own?" Alex said to himself.

"The...people?" Louise said, her eyes widening upon her realization. "Do you think he meant that he's going to gain control of everyone here? He doesn't seem to be interested in taking land."

"But there haven't been any reports of disappearances or deaths here." Alex said. "He must not have come here yet."

"Still, we can't be too sure." Saito said. "Let's stay for a few days and make sure nothing is wrong."

"I want to go back to Shion." Alex said.

"She'll be fine. It'll only be a short time." Louise said.

"If you insist..." Alex said, obviously worried for Shion's well being.

Twelve Days Later

Shion sat in a room deep within the mountain, anxiously waiting for Alex to return to her. Her eyes were no longer in searing pain, but they were still very irritable.

"Would you like to get some sunlight?" Aigle asked.

"No thank you, Ms. Aigle." Shion replied.

"You can't worry about him forever." Aigle said.

"How is Father?" She asked, choosing not to pursue the subject.

"Father?" Aigle asked. "Oh, Maximilien. I suppose he is your father-in-law. He's fine. I released him from his physical restraints, but the restraints on his power reserves remain active."

"I see. That's good to know." She replied.

"How do your eyes feel?" Aigle asked, unwrapping the stained bandages that covered them.

"They aren't painful." Shion replied. "They feel like they have sand in them."

When the bandages were off, Aigle examined the area surrounding them. She no longer looked like she was crying tears of blood, although her silver eyelashes were stained with blood.

"I'll need you to open your eyes." Aigle said. "I'll give you an eye drop which will stop the irritation. After that, I'll bandage them up again."

Shion nodded and slowly opened her eyelids. Before Aigle could apply the liquid to Shion's eyes, she let out a slight gasp when she saw them.

"What's wrong?" Shion asked.

Aigle quickly cleared her throat and applied the solution to Shion's eyes.

"Nothing." She said, beginning to wrap up her eyes again. "When your eyes were open, could you see?"

"It was very blurry, but yes." Shion said.

"Then the operation was a success after all." Aigle sighed.

"Why did you gasp when you saw them?" Shion asked.

"It's nothing. I simply suspect that they've undergone a cosmetic change because of the magic that has been used on them." Aigle replied. "How do they feel now?"

"They feel soothed." Shion replied. "Also..."

"Also what?" Aigle asked.

"In all my life, I always used my physical power to complete my missions." She said. "I wasn't very good at using magic, but I can still feel it within myself."

"Oh? How fascinating." Aigle said.

"I can feel it flowing into my eyes more than it did before. Is that normal?" She asked.

"It's most likely your body trying to accustom itself to your eyes." Aigle said. "Just relax. It'll come to pass."

As Aigle said this, Shion became very obviously agitated. She stood straight up from her wheel chair and doused all of the lights in the room. She dragged Aigle to one of the corners of the room, then remained silent.

"What's wrong?" Aigle asked.

"Quiet." Shion said stiffly.

Aigle looked through the door of the room. Although there was hardly any light, her eyes were able to somewhat see the room and the hallways outside. As she was about to ask Shion what was wrong again, someone seemed to float by the doorway

She couldn't quite tell what kind of person it was. She felt no magic coming from them, so she didn't know if they were friend or foe. However, Shion was acting very nervous and irritated, so she assumed it was an enemy.

"We need to get out of here." Aigle said, leading Shion out of the room when the person was gone.

She quickly walked through the hallways of the mountain, dragging Shion by her hand behind her. On their way out, they encountered Max, who had also felt that someone foreign was in the mountain, but due to having his magic restrained, he couldn't make out his identity.

They quickly made their way towards the mountain's exit. Before long, the light from outside became visible. As they were about to go outside, they heard a strange sound behind them. It sounded like a very high pitched whine.

Knowing that it was probably the unknown person, Shion began to beat her massive silver wings. It gave them enough speed for them to make it outside just before a white beam of magic shot through the mountain's entrance.

The trio tumbled down the slope of the mountain before it evened out. When Aigle and Max looked back at the entrance they just fell out of, it was surrounded by thick smoke. Out of the smoke walked a blonde haired man with piercing blue eyes.

"Is that..?" Max began.

"Brimir." Aigle confirmed. "This is bad..."

"Why is he here?" Shion asked.

"Does he want Mariel's secrets within the mountain?" Max said to himself. "Aigle, I need my magic right now."

"It would take too long to unrestrain." Aigle said.

As they spoke, another attack landed close by, causing a large explosion. The explosion lightly burned Max's arm, but he was otherwise okay. However, as soon as the dust settled, a beam of light shot towards them, grazing Shion's head.

The attack cut her hair on the right side of her head as well as the bandage that wrapped around her eyes. Not giving them a chance to regroup, Brimir shot a ball of light at the ground. Instinctively, Shion opened her eyes.

They opened just in time to see the ball of light flying towards her. As it was about to land, threatening to kill them, she shut her eyes, prepared for death. She heard the sound of the explosion, but death did not come.

When she opened her eyes, a magenta colored semi-transparent barrier separated her, Aigle, and Max from the attack sent by Brimir. She wasn't sure what it was, but it had protected her and her allies from death, so for the time being, she was grateful.

"What is that?" Aigle asked.

"I don't know..." Shion replied after a few seconds.

Her eyes were burning and felt strained as the barrier remained active, but as soon as it disappeared, the discomfort also vanished. Brimir stopped his attacks, seemingly not wanting to make a rash decision, giving them a chance to create a strategy.

"We can't fight him." Shion said. "We will have to stall and wait for help."

"I am not a fighter." Aigle said. "I am not capable of holding him off."

"I can fight, but my magic is restrained." Max said. "How long will it take for the restraints to be removed?"

"About a minute." Aigle said. "That is too long when fighting Brimir."

"I can buy you that much time." Shion said, looking up at the blonde man floating in the air.

"That's too dangerous!" Aigle said. "You should not be using your eyes anyway!"

"I'm fine." Shion said. "Just do it."

Realizing that this was no time to argue, she began the process of releasing the binds that restricted Max's use of magic. As Aigle muttered a series of spells under her breath, Shion focused her magic towards her eyes, although it was extremely difficult.

The same magenta colored barrier manifested itself, albeit slightly larger. She withstood the pain in her eyes, waiting for the blonde man who many considered a god to attack.

Author's Notes:

Hey everyone! It has been a while, I know. Yes, Shion is getting powers related to her eyes. And before anyone says it, yes, I'll take inspiration from power like the Sharingan. But no, I will not outright rip off those powers...probably. Also, I am rather uncomfortable with how I'm writing recently, so I may take some time to reorganize or rewrite story elements. Anyway, see you next time!