Author's Note: Yo. Here's the next instalment of Familiar of Zero: Saito the Onmyōji. This chapter...urgh, this chapter fought me every step of the way. Seriously, it just did NOT want to end.

Now, those of you who have been following me for at least one year will know that I take December and the first half of January off from posting per my schedule. Despite being way behind in my schedule thanks to unforeseen computer trouble a couple of months back (stupid motherboards) this holds true for this year as well. I will update [Worm: Justice For All] on the 27th of November and that will be my last official post for the year. I will still update my Asylum and perhaps a couple of other stories not on my schedule during that time, but for the rest, please wait until I resume my scheduled updates on January the 15th.

In other news, I have a poll up about what I should do about Wardes. I'm not saying that the choice with the most votes will be carried out, I just want to know your opinion on the matter. If you haven't already, please vote!

Please read, review and check out my other stories! Also, please check my profile for my writing schedule, BEFORE you ask in a review or PM. Seriously people, I do not abandon stories on a whim!

Beta'd by BigCC

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Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero.

"Saito" -Talking

'Louise' -Thinking/ Human-Human Telepathy

"Explosion!" -Spell

:Master: -Master/Familiar Telepathy

Chapter 25: Tragedy in the Skies

Cabin, HMS Grasshopper, Skies of Halkaginia

"This is an unbelievable turn of events." Prince Wales muttered gravely, sounding more like he was talking to himself rather than anyone else in the room. His eyes were vacant and lost even as his stared intently at the cabin's wooden bulkhead. "For the first time since the founding of the Kingdoms, the Royal Family of Albion has been forced to flee our homeland. How will I ever face my father in the afterlife?"

"Your Highness, it is not your fault." Rupert, who was standing guard over the prince, argued with a frown. "Cromwell has access to the Ring of Andvari, an Artefact of Legend that was guarded by the ancient Water Spirit of Lagdorian Lake herself. No one could have imagined him managing to make it past the Great Water Spirit's defences to steal it! Hell's bells, no one should have been mad enough to risk it at all."

"Sir Rupert is correct, Prince Wales." Louise agreed. The pinkette was sat at the table with the Prince. The cabin's only other occupant was Saito, who was busily examining the device he'd given Guiche to examine Londinium's wells. Though what he was looking for Louise had no clue or idea and other matters required her direct attention at the moment. "A magic item of the Ring's scope and power hasn't been seen amongst the Kingdoms in nearly a thousand years. And even then, they've always been gifted or granted by one of the Ancient Elementals as boon in exchange for some favour or task. I don't think anyone has ever had the gall to attempt to steal one, at least no one who has lived long enough to speak of it."

"Yes..." the true ruler of Albion relented with a sigh, before going on, his tone mired in disbelief. "I am still having trouble believing the depths that Lord Cromwell has willingly sunk to in order to achieve his ends. He was always ambitious, I've known that for as long as I've known the man, but the lengths he's gone to of late now dive well into a sense of greed and avarice that is simply inexcusable. He has invited the wrath of one of the Great Elementals upon our homeland, has used poisons upon our own people to use them as pawns, and likely intends to use mind control to force the nobility to bow to his demands." the prince, who'd been building up into a fine rant, seemingly collapsed into himself as he leaned back into his chair. "Just where will his depravities end? When will it be enough?"

"When he is in his grave." Saito said absently, not even looking up from his work. "My world has seen the rise of many such men. Men whose ambition extends beyond what any sane man could desire and who care little for those who are trampled underfoot as they seek to achieve it. Cromwell seems to be cast from the same mould, and that type will never stop, will never be satisfied. They will continue to grasp for more power and more control and will fight tooth and nail to retain every speck of it until their dying breath."

"A succinct analysis." Rupert nodded grimly. "Cromwell is truly not worthy of the title of nobility. My liege, I would petition the Holy See to intervene and threaten excommunication on these dogs should they not relent."

"That would be inadvisable." Wales shook his head tiredly. "The Pontiff may hold more power than the rulers of the kingdoms in theory, but he is also bound by more official limitations than the monarchy or nobility. So long as the Reconquista do not threaten the primacy of Papal Authority, continues to offer due respect to the clergy of Brimir, and cannot be proven without a doubt to be regicides, then the Pope's hands will remain tied. Wardes has already been excommunicated, so at best, we would managed to make his excommunication a permanent fact premature to the usual Limitation of Removal."

Wardes' excommunication had been a fairly simple affair to arrange, as there was an abundance of both circumstantial and solid evidence to his deceit and betrayal. Added into the fact that he had been caught in the act of aiding in the theft of a magical artefact, the Staff of Destruction, and the deliberation on the matter was barely a formality.

The Prince's words actually caused Saito to look up from his tinkering. "I thought the Church of Brimir was heavily biased in favour of the Royal Families who descended from Brimir?" he asked cautiously. The Church of Brimir rubbed Saito wrong in several distinct and disturbing ways. The more he learned about Halkaginia's main and only true religion, the more convoluted and contradictory he found it, and the more warning signals he found that there was something not right at the Church's very heart.

"To a point, Mother Church is." Wales affirmed absently. "But the situation we find ourselves in is rather unique. In most cases of revolution it is simply a case of either a member or even a branch of the Royal Family attempting to take control from another, in which case the Church is officially hands off. This is an outright insurrection by unrelated Noble Families while the Royal House is at its weakest point. There have been peasant rebellions in the past, but not Noble rebellions on this scale. I imagine that Mother Church has decided to take a wait-and-see approach in this instance so long as I am alive."

Saito's brows furrowed. "That seems counter-intuitive to their stated goals." he said, somewhat perplexed.

"The Church of Brimir adheres to its own agenda." Rupert growled irritably. "No one outside of the College of Cardinals and the Pope knows what the Church intends, and they are tight lipped at the best of times. Damned bloody clergy."

"Now Rupert." Wales admonished his General mildly. "We can spill vitriol on the church and its clergy later, for now we have more pressing matters to focus upon."

"Yes, Your Highness." the General sighed. "Forgive my lack of control."

"The last few hours have been nothing if not trying for us all, my friend." the Prince reassured the older man. "Now then...Professor Saito, have you been able to learn anything about the magics ensnaring our citizens from that device of yours? Like how long the effects will last?"

"The potion will remain in effect until they have either sweated it out or urinated it out." Saito replied simply, glancing back down at his device for a moment or two as he finished studying the readings. "The magic of the Ring of Andvari, or at least the part of it that deals with infusing magic into water, is very powerful but also extremely straightforward. The magic is infused directly into the liquid itself, causing anyone who drinks it to be trapped by the effects and allowing it to bypass many normal defences against such potions. Luckily humans lose water at a fairly quick rate as we sweat, urinate, spit, and even bleed, and with the spell tied directly to the water itself, once it's gone, so too is the spell. Exactly how long that will take will vary highly depending on the amount imbibed combined with the amount of physical activity each individual undergoes and the strength of their bladders. If I had to give it a rough estimate though, I'd say it will likely take anywhere from a day and a half at best to up to three days at worst for the spell to be completely cleared from the populace."

Wales sighed in relief. "That is very reassuring to hear, Professor Saito."

"Yes, well, I'm afraid its not as reassuring as it sounds." the onmyōji grimaced. "If someone makes them drink more enchanted water, the timer resets. Realistically though, Cromwell will have to disenchant the wells in Londinium in order to have a proper citizenry to rule over that aren't a bunch of mindless berserkers."

"He will, even if it then means he puts them under the mind control effects of the Rind of Andvari." Rupert scowled. "Isn't there a limit to what that dratted ring can do? Or how many it can affect?"

"It is an artefact believed to be crafted by an Elder Elemental, that alone makes it dangerous." Saito replied with a frown. "In either case, I honestly couldn't tell you without examining it myself. Logically you are correct, General; there should be a limit to how many people he can mind control at any one time, but a work-around is that he simply mind controls the nobles, who then order their troops to keep the citizens in line."

"And unless the officers know about the ring or anything else, then it will likely work to." the general growled in realisation. "Damn it."

"I should have carried forward Father's plans to modernise the army and navy." Wales sighed. "Scrapping the Feudal Levies of the Nobles would have made this a far simpler problem."

"I thought General Rupert was in charge of the army and navy of Albion?" Louise asked in confusion.

"He is in charge of the Royal Army and the Royal Navy, as well as the Royal Guard." the Prince corrected her. "Albion possesses a small army of professional, highly trained soldiers, but our pride is in our air fleet, so most Nobles above the rank of Knight also have the right to a small private army, the size of which depends on their Noble Rank, which are traditionally known as Feudal Levies. The Levies are supposed to be used to supplement the Royal Army in the event of an invasion by foreign powers that somehow manages to get past our air fleet."

"And the Nobles don't want to lose their standing armies, so they fought your father on the subject." Louise nodded in understanding, the political calculus unfolding in her mind. While she was just the third daughter of a Duke, she had studied extensively in the year that her magic had been sealed, covering subjects ranging from magical spells to politics, to military tactics and architecture. While not a scholar by any means, she was well-read in a lot of subjects. With her knowledge added to the training she'd received as a Duke's daughter, she was a fairly astute politician. For an amateur, anyway.

"Precisely." Wales nodded at her. "And since this civil war began, I haven't dared to alienate those nobles that have remained loyal by suggesting it. At the very least though, I will be able to strip the rebel Nobles of their Noble status after the war is over."

"Good. Anyone who would side with Cromwell before he obtained the Ring of Andvari is not deserving of the Cloak of Nobility." Louise scowled. "I just hope that Joseph of Gallia doesn't try to pull anything soon. We need all our attention on Albion and the Reconquista, not wasting time upping our border security."

"Gallia? What has Joseph been scheming now?" Wales asked with a scowl of his own. Evidently, he didn't trust the King of Gallia either. He was immediately treated to a briefing on the little mission that Tabitha had been ordered to undertake and what would have happened had she succeeded.

"That man...!" Wales growled. "That was a suicide mission! Sending only a mere chevalier, and a young girl at that, no matter how puissant in magic she might be, can only be seen as such given the strength of her target! And that's ignoring the ramifications of what would have happened to the Water Mages of Tristain if that girl had miraculously succeeded!"

"The Princess wasn't any happier about it." Louise said stonily. "She's considering recalling my mother to active service and stationing her on the border to make Joseph think twice about it."

"Ha! No Gallian mage can face Karin of the Heavy Wind and survive!" Rupert laughed boisterously before adding seriously, "Although I do find the timing oddly suspect."

"Yes...the Reconquista launches a powerful attack using the Ring of Andvari at roughly the same time that Gallia starts to subtly rattle its sabre..." Wales said slowly. "I would be willing to bet that Joseph has a spy in the upper echelons of the Reconquista, someone who sends him word of the plans for the rebels so he can make use of the disruption and distraction for his own ends. It's just the kind of scheme that I would expect from the likes of him."

"Most likely." Saito agreed as he stored his device in a small box before sealing it shut. "How long should it take us to get to Tristain?"

"About two days." Wales replied. "Navy Ships are faster than the merchant airship that you both used to arrive in Albion."

"OK. So, there's something I've been wondering...how is Albion kept afloat?" the onmyōji asked, one eye twitching slightly. "And these airships...do they fly on the same principle?"

"Ah, both questions have the same answer...Windstone." Wales answered with a nod. "You don't have such things in your world, Professor?"

"I can safely say not." Saito replied dryly.

The Prince nodded at Rupert, who walked over to a cabinet and took out something that he then set on the table. Saito moved closer and gazed at it in amazement. The object was a pale green stone about the size of a satsuma. Even from a distance away, Saito could feel it radiating magic like a beacon.

"Windstone is a mineral that is packed full of magical energies. We mine it from the ground and use it to provide our airships with flight." Wales explained. "An immense vein of powerful and highly dense Windstone run through the entirety of Albion's base, which keeps the continent itself afloat. Part of the duties of the Royal Navy is patrolling the underside of the continent to stop 'enterprising' individuals from mining away what keeps Albion afloat."

Wordlessly, Saito examined the Windstone and then pulled out a handful of his talismans. Throwing them into the air, he muttered a long and complex chant under his breath that had the talismans swirl around the magical mineral and glow brightly.

"...a Seimei Index Rating of...twenty-thousand?!" he exclaimed in shock. "Just in this one little rock!"

As Louise explained the concept of quantifying magic into a numerical measurement scale to Prince Wales and General Rupert, who were both clearly fascinated by the concept, Saito stared at the stone as if it were an unexploded bomb. He then ran through several more scans, which told him that the magic within, while plentiful for a stone its size, was also exceptionally dense as well, meaning its potency was well in excess of its Seimei Index Rating.

A Seimei Index Rating (SIR) was the basic measurement of the amount of magical power a mage or object contained within it. A Seimei Index Quantification (SIQ) measured the density of the magical power possessed by a mage or object. One of the last spells created by Abe no Seimei was one that combined both into a single spell, although on forms, they were separated into two different sections for clarity.

Saito, before being summoned to Halkaginia, had possessed a SIR of 2067 and a SIQ of 30, which was actually exceptionally good for a boy of his age. Now, his SIR was, by his rough estimate, triple that, with his SIQ probably an additional ten or twenty points higher as well, which made him one of the strongest onmyōji currently alive, in terms of raw power anyway.

Louise, by contrast, had a SIR of well over 30,000 and a SIQ of over a hundred. The spell to measure someone's SIQ only went up to a hundred on the measuring scale, and Louise flawlessly and unknowingly made the spell basically shut down with how dense her magic was.

An object that had been enchanted shouldn't have anywhere close to the amount of magic that Louise possessed, as humans and other living creatures were the best natural containers for magic outside of beings formed by magic itself like Elementals. Yet this one, solitary lump of Windstone contained two thirds of the amount of magic that Louise possessed and was exceeding the ability of the spell to measure it, just like Louise's magic.

And it was considered a perfectly ordinary fact that this mineral existed in this world.

'How...just...how can magic naturally infuse a mineral like this?!' the onmyōji thought, baffled. 'Some minerals conduct magic better, yes, and some minerals accumulate a natural level of magic if left in a Dragon's Nest or if their mines intersect a Dragon Vein, but magic shouldn't naturally gather and condense itself into a mineral like this...it goes against all the laws of magic that I know of!'

More than being an abomination against the laws of magic and nature, the stuff was bloody dangerous to boot. Just that single piece of Windstone on the table in front of him could cause an enormous explosion strong enough to blow the entire ship they were on into kindling and turn every human aboard it into cinders and ashes if something managed to destabilize the magic in it.

"Is this stuff magically unstable?" he asked suddenly, causing the Halkaginians look at him curiously.

"No, it's actually fairly hard to make Windstone explode." Rupert answered. "When we harness them to fly our airships, they are expended and naturally erode away as their magic is used up. The larger the size of any chunk of Windstone, the more stable it is and the longer it takes for them to dissipate. That one there was accidentally chipped off of the main rock that lets the Grasshopper fly, so it should only last a couple more days at most."

"At least that makes sense..." Saito grumbled before throwing his hands up. "This shouldn't be possible. Magical minerals are things you see in stories and fairy tales, not real life!"

"Maybe it has to do with the lower density and amount of magic on your world?" Louise suggested, secretly rather amused at the way such a simple thing was sending her usually even-keeled Familiar/Master into a tizzy.

"That...would make sense." Saito said slowly. "I don't think my world had such a high background magical density as Halkaginia even before we lost our Void Magic five hundred years ago. If the amount of background ambient magic here is only what's left over after most of it is condensed as Windstone...dear sweet kami...just how much magic does this world even have?!"

The amount of magic that this hypothesis suggested actually frightened him a bit. Why did this world seem to have such an overflowing font of raw magic while his own had been robbed on one of its most vital aspects. It just seemed cosmically unfair to him.

The sound of shouting and activity made the occupants of the cabin look up in worry. Moments later, a man wearing the uniform of a junior officer entered looking worried. "Begging your pardon, Your Highness. Captain Bracegirdle's compliments and he requests you come on deck...the rebels have dispatched an air fleet to intercept us!"

"This day just keeps getting better." Wales shook his head wearily. "Very well, Lieutenant. My compliments to Captain Bracegirdle and kindly inform him I shall be on deck momentarily."

With a sharp salute, the Lieutenant hastily retreated from the cabin.

"Willing to bet that Wardes is leading that fleet?" Saito scowled.

"No bet." Rupert grumbled as he reached for his armour, lying discarded on the deck. "That varlet needs seeing to."

"I sincerely hope I get my own chance to do so." Louise seethed. The admiration and crush she had once had for the former Viscount had inverted and turned into a grudge, especially after Kaede, who had returned to her parents not long after take-off, had bluntly informed her of Wardes' words to Saito before their duel.

'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' was a thing for a reason.

As soon as Wales and Rupert were once more dressed in their armour, the party made their way on deck, where Captain Bracegirdle awaited them.

"Highness, the former Second Crown Air Fleet is approaching from the stern." the man reported sharply. "The now self-styled 'Second Liberation Fleet' has eighteen airships to our six, and we're running skeleton crews as it is."

"Who do we have?" Wales asked briskly.

"The Grasshopper, Salient, Insult, Injury, Wolf and the Royal Guard's Flagship, the Indefatigable." Bracegirdle listed off immediately. "The Hotspur under Captain Hornblower is en-route to Newcastle and Admiral Pellew."

"When the Second Fleet turned their coats, they had Daring, Dauntless, Hood, Cutlass, King James, Justinian, Myriad, Horizon, Royal Sword, Torch, Knight, Resolute, Defiant, Furious, Intrepid, Audacious, the dragon-carrier Ark Royal, and the flagship was Redoubtable." Rupert added. "Of them, Torch, Justinian, Hood and Myriad are supply ships, while Intrepid and Horizon are scouts with little to no shipboard combat ability, and Ark Royal is unarmed save for the dragons it carries. That leaves twelve of them for us to face, sire."

"Two-to-one odds...not an encouraging prospect, especially considering that our ships are undermanned." the Prince strode to the aftercastle and pulled out a telescope. Placing it over one eye, he peered at the approaching fleet. "Hmm...Captain Bracegirdle, can we avoid them?"

"With the lead we currently have, I can certainly say we will outrun the airships, yes, but the dragon riders from the Ark Royal are another story entirely, sire." the Captain replied with a troubled frown. "They are fast and can fly from Albion to Tristain and back easily. The only reason Ark Royal is necessary is to preserve the stamina of the dragons for combat operations."

"Just so." Rupert agreed, glaring at the looming forms of the pursuing fleet. "Damn those rebel traitors!"

"Are all of the airships built along the same blueprint?" Saito asked curiously.

"Most are Albionian-class Military Airships, like Grasshopper." Wales replied. "Supply ships like Torch are usually civilian ships repurposed for military operations, so something similar to the Dolphin that you arrived on. Scout-class ships like Horizon sacrifice size and durability for speed. The Ark Royal is the only Draconic-class ship in existence, and it is built for durability and its dragon pens, so it's not likely to come near us. The flagships of both our fleets, Indefatigable and Redoubtable, are Pentagram-class ships and are more durable, faster and more heavily armed than the Albionian-class."

'Hmm...I wish I could get in touch with Emereldas; I haven't been able to contact her for a while now.' the onmyōji scowled. 'Well, I'll just have to work with what I have.'

"I'll cast a defensive spell on your ships that should help with dealing with cannon fire and spellfire." Saito informed the others. "If you can, signal to them not to attack anything coming from the Grasshopper."

"Do as he says!" Wales ordered Bracegirdle, who hastily ordered it done.

Sitting on the deck, Saito pulled out two-hundred of his talismans and set them on the deck in front of him.

"Louise, I need your help." he said to his Apprentice, who looked shocked.

"M-Me?" the pinkette asked doubtfully.

"Yes. While I'm casting this, I'm going to be entirely focussed on it and helpless, and I can't summon Kaede again for another hour or so. Protect me from harm." he said seriously. "I'm counting on you."

Looking into his eyes, Louise saw the trust and honesty in them that put steel in her spine and fire in her eyes. Drawing her swordwand, she placed herself at Saito's side.

"Got it." she said brusquely.

Wasting no more time, Saito started chanting, the stack of talismans in front of him gaining a turquoise gleam to them. After about three minutes of chanting, Saito heard the sound of cannons belching, spells flying and the roars of dragons. Evidently the pursuing fleet had sent their air wing out to harry the Royal Guard Flotilla. Refocusing on his task, Saito sped up his chanting as much as he could.

"Keep up the pressure!" Rupert bellowed, sending a lance of ice out to impale one dragon. "Protect His Highness at all costs!"

"GO TO HELL!" Louise snarled as she parried a strike from a boarder and then lashed out with a riposte to his left shoulder, which made him fall back away from her and Saito. Prince Wales quickly dispatched them with his own blade before nodding approvingly at the girl.

"I can see you take after your mother with your skill in battle, Miss Vallière." he complimented her, which made the pinkette blush.

Just then, Saito finished chanting. "Ko Kantai: Teppeki no Jin! (Flotilla: Impenetrable Formation!)"

In an explosion of green and white, the talismans flew away from him and started pasting themselves over the ships of the Royal Guard; not just on their hulls, but on the keel, the masts, the decks and the outer bulkheads as well. Once they were all attached, which only took just over a minute, the glow from the talismans grew to encompass every part of every ship before vanishing, leaving only the talismans visible.

Just then, a spell from one of the dragon riders, a fireball, shot at a ship to the port of Grasshopper, the Salient. Rather than smashing into the ship and making it catch fire, it slammed into an invisible barrier and scattered harmlessly across it. Everyone who saw it, aside from Saito and Louise, had their jaws dropped at the sight.

Louise was practically radiating smugness at what her Familiar had just done.

"Now that I've finished with that...I believe it is time to evict these unwanted boarders." Saito drawled as he menacingly drew Derflinger from his back, making all of the enemy boarders flinch, which gave the loyalists time to rally a counterattack and either slay them or take them prisoner. The dragons and their riders, seeing that their spells are ineffective, turned about and fled back to their carrier.

"That should put them on the wary side!" Rupert snarled in savage satisfaction before turning to look at Saito. "By Brimir and His Sons, lad, that spell is amazing!"

"It's not bad for something I basically made up on the spot." the onmyōji corrected him modestly. "It isn't as good as I might like it, but it should last a good two to three hours, more if the enemy doesn't attack again with any real ferocity. It won't affect humans boarding, but magical attacks and even weaker versions of dragon fire will be shielded completely at best, deflected or mitigated at worst."

"And you created this spell in less than five minutes...?" Wales shook his head in admiration. "Professor Saito, you may have given us the edge we need to affect our escape. What is the status of the rest of the flotilla?"

"All ships report that they have repelled borders, sire." Bracegirdle replied, walking up and sheathing his sword. "The rebels have shown all the spine present in a slug and have fled with their tails between their legs. And thanks to our friend here's spell, most damage to the ships is superficial."

"Well, that's certainly some good news." the Prince said in relief. "What about casualties?"

"Grasshopper has no fatalities and three wounded, none seriously. The reports are still coming in from the other ships at present, sire." the Captain answered smartly.

"Excellent." Wales nodded before espying a frown on Louise's face. "What seems to be the problem, Miss Vallière?"

"Wasn't this...too easy?" Louise asked, waving her hand around to indicate the entire battle they'd just been through. "Rebels and traitors they may be, but that battle was only just about as hard as the one Saito and I went through on the way to Albion, and that was against less than a single Flight of dragon riders. There had to be five full Flights, an entire Wing of dragon riders, out there just now, but...they barely even tried. And correct me if I'm wrong, but can't the Ark Royal carry three Wings of dragon riders at a time?"

There was silence before Rupert facepalmed. "A distraction...damn it...!"

"Lookouts, 'ware to all sides for incoming enemies!" Captain Bracegirdle bellowed. "Marines, prepare to repel boarders!"

"I believe you may be correct, Miss Vallière, as Rupert and Captain Bracegirdle seem to agree with you." Wales chuckled. "Professor Saito, I trust you will be able to actively aid in the defences now that your spell is cast."

"Readily." the onmyōji replied firmly. "You ready to bust some heads, Derf?"

"You betcha, partner!" the Living Sword quipped. "Heh, haven't had this much fun in centuries!"

This drew startled looks from those not in the know about Derflinger, which Saito ignored, instead looking around. "Where's Guiche?"

"He's looking after his familiar in the hold." Captain Bracegirdle replied. "He wanted to help fight, but he was trembling like a leaf as he spoke. I had to give the lad points for guts, but someone so scared shouldn't be involved in combat."

"He actually volunteered? That's a surprise..." Louise said, taken aback by the bravery of the Gramont Scion.

Saito walked to the side of the ship, scanning the sky around the ship for any threats as he leaned on the railing. He was feeling somewhat disquieted by how quickly things were escalating. This had been supposed to be a simple task. Go to a war-torn country, go to the ruler of said country, take a highly-incriminating letter from said ruler and then get out ASAP. Now things had smowballed into him and Louise getting involved in a full-blown military operation. Not to mention that dastard Wardes and his minion Matilda/Fouquet lurking around in the background.

"You seem to be thinking heavy thoughts." Wales observed as he stepped next to him.

"Is it that obvious?" Saito asked wryly.

"One does not get to be a prince without learning how to read people." the prince replied modestly. "You aren't even trying to dissemble or hide it, really, so you're fairly easy for me to read. What's bothering you?"

The onmyōji sighed. "I'm...becoming too attached to this world. As you may or may not know, I belong to an order of mages sworn to protect my home country. I was literally a day into my service when Louise summoned me and...even since, I've gotten invested in this world and the people I know in it."

"That seems to be a natural response to being isolated in a foreign world." Wales observed. "No man is an island, after all."

"True enough, but..." Saito sighed heavily again. "For all of my life, the loyalty and duty to my country has been the one thing that kept me moving forwards, a great part of what I am that has given me meaning and purpose. Not personal purpose I'll grant you, but a grander purpose than myself. Now...for the first time, my duty to return to my country is warring with my desire to help Tristain and its people...and it's not winning by default. That...that worries me more than I'd care to admit."

"You've never had a personal desire strong enough to war with your sense of duty before, so that's natural." the prince noted, leaning against the rail next to Saito. "Let's take this a step at a time. Why is it that your desire to help Henrietta's country is so strong compared to your duty to your country? Is it a logical reason or an emotional one?"

That made Saito pause. "I...think it's both? I can see that the logical thing to do would be to return home to serve my country as per my oaths, but I can also see that my powers and the efficiency of my magical system can and has been far more useful here than it would be in Japan. Emotionally, I KNOW have the ability to make a difference in Halkaginia, whereas in Japan, I'd be a regular, low-level onmyōji doing chores and training right now. I'd make almost no difference to the war against Juxtaposed Black Star, whereas I have been able to be fairly effective force against the Reconquista. I...could say that pride doesn't have anything to do with it, but I'd be lying."

"When one has proven the ability to do something correctly and to the acclaim of those around you, it isn't a bad thing to take pride in it." Wales chided him. "I think another part of this is that you aren't entirely sure that you are going to be able to return home to your world. You want to, both because of your duty and love of your country, but you have no clue if you will be able to go home or not. I will tell you what everyone has most likely told you already and say that no reverse summoning spell exists."

The Japanese boy scowled stubbornly. "If a spell can summon me from my world to this one, then reversing the process should be more than possible." he stated firmly before slumping his shoulders. "Even although the longer that passes, the more I am coming to see this world as home. I can't even be certain that my feelings on the matter are all mine thanks to this damned runic shackle."

"Your Familiar Runes?" Wales raised an eyebrow. "They shouldn't be mind-altering. At best they should only passively make you more open to the idea and loosen your reticence to serving as Miss Vallière's Familiar. Of course, your runes belong to one of the Companions of the Founder, so there are possibly differences to regular runes."

"There are others?" Saito asked curiously.

"Gandálfr, the Left Hand of God, a mighty warrior said to be unbeatable with weapons." the prince recited. "Vindálfr, the Right Hand of God, a mage who is as one with the animals. Miodaitnir, the Mind of God, a wise mage who can make use of any and all magical artefacts and use any magic. Lífþrasir, the Heart of God, a mage who gives their all for their master. Finally, there is Sleipnir, the Legs of God, a warrior whose speed exceeds sight. All of these are the Companions of Brimir, or Companions of the Founder depending on your preference. Your skill with that pistol-crossbow of yours indicates to me that the legend of the Gandálfr is no mere tall tale."

"If that's the case, then the others...they could be true as well." Saito wondered aloud.

"Possibly, but my point is that I don't know if your runes are altering your mind and emotions." Wales said with a sigh. "I highly doubt it though. If anything, they'll simply make you highly protective of Miss Vallière, as most runes do. Anything beyond that should be just you yourself growing attached. While magic is powerful, the simpler explanation is often the correct one."

The Japanese Mystic frowned at this, but mentally conceded somewhat. He was very mistrusting of the Familiar Summoning System in Halkaginia, and it was possible that he was assigning blame to it when it might not actually be at fault. Something that he had subconsciously and assiduously ignored all this time regarding the runes was that Halkaginian magic was, for the most part, not subtle enough to accomplish the kind of insidious mental manipulations he feared, and he would have felt anything stronger battering on his mental shields.

Granted, the so-called 'Founder Brimir' had seemed to have a somewhat higher skill level with magic in general, and runic magic and enchanting in particular, but nothing he'd seen had indicated that the Familiar Runes were making him act any differently. He was just not used to people managing to get close to him like Louise, Siesta, Henrietta, Osmond, Jean Colbert, Guiche, and even Tabitha and Kirche had managed to do.

He had focussed entirely on his training and hadn't really bonded with his year-mates, making them acquaintances at best. The closest he'd had to a friend in his own world had been Tsubaki-sensei, but the student-teacher relationship they had precluded any great deal of friendship between the two of them. In truth, Saito had been almost as alone and isolated as Louise had been; he'd just buried himself in his training to let him ignore his own loneliness.

"ALL HANDS, 'WARE FROWARD! DRAGONS ON THE HORIZON!" the lookout on the crow's nest bellowed, jarring them from their conversation. Wales and Saito ran to the fo'c'sle, where the prince placed his spyglass to one eye. A moment later, he hissed out, "Wardes! And the missing two Wings of dragons."

"Louise, I hate it when you're right." Saito casually informed his Master/Apprentice as she came up to stand next to him.

"In this instance, I agree with you." the pinkette replied dryly. "What's the plan? We can't fight them and outrun the fleet behind us."

"Yeah, and aside from spells and rifles, there aren't any really good options for attacking the dragon riders." Saito nodded. Unsaid was the need to be careful with the spells, else they might hit their allied ships, which was also the reason why the cannons were out of the question. "I'd suggest we move all ahead full and smash through them. Fighting is exactly what Wardes wants us to do...so the airships should focus on moving as fast as they can, while the marines and nobles focus on holding the dragons back. Our goal isn't to defeat the dragon riders; it is to escape to Tristainian airspace. Even the Reconquista won't want to start another war before they've consolidated their grip on Albion."

"That sounds like a capital plan." Rupert agreed as he walked up to the three younger people. "Sire, your opinion?"

"I dislike leaving an enemy force practically intact, but Professor Saito has proven himself to be insightful in matters of duty versus honour before now and I daresay he is also correct here." Wales replied. "Have the orders issued to all ships...we are breaking through at top speed! All ahead full!"

"Aye-aye, sire!" Captain Bracegirdle shouted. The crew and marines, who had been listening in, started to redouble their preparations.

"We won't be able to move at that level of speed for longer than perhaps fifteen minutes at best though, sire." Rupert cautioned Wales, who shook his head and smirked.

"We won't need more than that." he reassured Rupert confidently. "If Professor Saito's plan works, we will further increase our lead on the serious threat, the fleet chasing us, which will allow us the luxury of being able to deal with, or at least drive off, the dragon riders without interference from the rebel fleet."

"I doubt Wardes will be so accommodating to let us just breeze on through, especially as he's leading that force of dragons..." Saito frowned as the attacking dragons and the Royal Guard flotilla drew closer together. "Is it me, or is he on a very different dragon compared to the rest?"

"That's a Wind Dragon. They're much faster than fire dragons." Louise scowled. "They have no breath attack, but regardless are a favoured mount of high-ranking Tristainian Knights due to their great speed and agility. Wardes must have taken it from the Tristainian Royal Stables when he set the rest loose."

"Well then, let's see if we can reclaim Princess Henrietta's stolen property at some point, shall we Master?" Saito smiled grimly at her, something which she echoed right back at him.

With Wardes

The disgraced Tristainian Nobleman raised an eyebrow as, in almost perfect synchronisation, the airships of the Albionian Royal Guard surged forward at the speed even a novice at airships knew to be all ahead full.

It only took him a moment to parse the reason why and he had to give credit to whoever had come up with the idea; it was a good one. The dragons were still faster than the airships even at this speed, and the amount of power drawn by the speed of all ahead full couldn't be maintained for too long, but the manoeuvre would put a solid gap between the Second Fleet and the Royal Guard flotilla, which would allow Prince Wales' loyal defenders the breathing room needed to see off his attacking dragon riders.

'Why couldn't the competent captains and admirals have defected to the Reconquista instead of the mundane and the incompetent?' he bemoaned.

The man in charge of the Second Fleet was a newly promoted jackass called Sir Henry Simmerson and was what the Albionians scornfully called an Admiral-General, a general who had been placed in charge of an air-fleet without any prior training in naval warfare. Simmerson was an infantryman by training, and a venal coward at that, so he wouldn't be charging in bravely like he should be doing right now. Worse was the fact that he was related, by marriage, to Cromwell, so killing or taking the arrogant popinjay bastard down a peg or three weren't options.

And Brimir preserve him, did he ever want to. The man was insufferable to deal with and utterly convinced that he could do no wrong, insulated from the repercussions of his actions and ineptitude by his powerful friends and family as he was. Well, Wardes was almost eager to see how his 'friends' would protect him when it was the man's own cowardice and utter pigheadedness that allowed the Royal Guard to make it this far.

'Had the man moved as soon as I told him to move, we would be seeing the smashed hulls of those Royal Guard fall to the ground already!' Wardes cursed bitterly. He swore that if something cocked up here thanks to the length of time it took to cajole, threaten and outright intimidate Simmerson into doing more than float around Albion in a blockade, he'd have the man's guts for garters, friends in high places be damned.

Drawing his swordwand, Wardes raised it above his head before slashing it down to point at the flotilla approaching them. With the sound of wingbeats and roars, the two Wings of dragon riders launched themselves forward at the flotilla.

"Which ship has the prince and that otherworlder?" Matilda shouted as the Wind Dragon they were on sped onwards. She clutched a satchel to her chest and possessed a gleam of eagerness in her eyes. She had been desperate to get revenge on the boy Saito, and had been provided with something that might be useful to do so by Cromwell himself.

"The Grasshopper!" he called back. "I'll take care of the prince, you hold off the crew and that dratted boy!"

"With pleasure!" Matilda's smirk grew. "The little brat will rue the day he crossed me!"

Wardes didn't know why it was that Matilda had become so obsessed with eliminating Saito; he suspected that Cromwell had used that dratted ring on her. If that was the case, the smug man would feel his blade. Later though.

For now...there was a prince to hunt.

He had always favoured Wind Dragons over all other mounts, even although he had been the Captain of the Gryphon Knights. Gryphons were overly prideful and hellishly hard to tame. Not to mention that it was very difficult, almost impossible in fact, to lie around them. Stupid magical affinity for the truth. He hadn't ridden one of them since he'd started acting as a Crown Agent though, so it wasn't a hassle. Wardes expertly directed his Wind Dragon through the fusillade of bullets and spells from the airships and towards the one that had fled before him carrying the prince and that irritating boy.

Angling his mount towards the Grasshopper, Wardes and Matilda leapt from the back of the dragon, the man using his wind magic to surround them with a tornado that carried them the distance to the deck of the ship and deflecting the bullets that flew towards them as Wardes and his companion touched down.

"BOARDERS!" someone shouted. A handful of marines charged at the two with cutlasses and belaying pins drawn.

"Really...know your place!" Wardes snarled, casting [Lightning Dome] with a flick of his swordwand that electrocuted the half-a-dozen or so marines and knocked them down for the count. He wasn't interested in killing them; he had more regal prey on this day.

"WARDES!" a shriek came from the fo'c'sle and Wardes smirked sardonically as he turned to see a glaring Louise de Vallière marching towards him, swordwand out and ready. He shuddered slightly as the glare of the girl jabbed into him, reminding him all to well of her mother's glare. Evidently the apple didn't fall far from the tree in this case. He could almost see a spectre of Karin of the Heavy Wind looming over his former fiancée and adding her own glare into the mix.

"Ah, Miss de Vallière. Pleasant greetings to you." he said with a genteel sneer. "Kindly step aside; I have business with the prince."

Not even bothering to reply, the pinkette charged at him with a shout of fury, swordwand stabbing out to try and impale him. She had been taught the absolute basics of swordplay as a child, and he'd even given her a pointer or two himself, but really, she was about as much of a threat to him as an ant was to an elephant.

He carelessly parried her wild stab and disarmed her with a second flick of his swordwand. What he wasn't expecting was for her to shout, "To me, my blade!'" and then grab her weapon again as it sailed hilt-first towards her! He was so taken aback by the unexpected display of magic that he was slow to react when the little she-devil stabbed him through the left shoulder with her swordwand quickly before leaping back as Prince Wales, General Rupert and the boy Saito came to Louise's aid.

"Louise, kindly don't run off like that!" Saito scolded his master firmly.

"Agreed. I have my own grievances to air with him." Prince Wales added as he glared icily at Wardes.

"I shall assist you, your highness!" Rupert declared.

"Captain Bracegirdle, fight your ship." the Prince ordered as he and his general advanced on Wardes.

"Aye, sire." the Captain looked reluctant, but started shouting orders to his crew and marines.

"Huzzah, huzzah, the gang's all here." Wardes murmured as he eyed Saito, who was about to move on him as well. "Matilda, if you would be so good as to do your thing?"

With a slightly unhinged laugh, Matilda reached into the satchel and withdrew an item from it. It was an orb about the size of a grapefruit. It was covered in intricate designs etched into its surface and then filled in with gold. What was most odd about it was that the designs seemed to change as you looked at them.

"That's...!" Wales gasped.

"A treasure of the Tudor Royal Family of Albion, given in trust to the Archduke of Albion as a weapon to use against those who would attack them, the Orb of Elements." the green-haired Fallen Noble crowed triumphantly. "And now it is mine! Awaken, Elemental Golem! Arise and slay my foes!"

With that, she tossed it into the air before her and earth surrounded it immediately until it formed an entire golem of packed dirt resembling a knight, albeit an unarmed one. It was about seven feet tall and moved towards Saito with purposeful steps.

"What is that?!" Louise shouted as her eyes widened.

"The Orb of Elements. It reads the magical affinity and magical specialisation of the user and aids them in battle." Wales answered in a clipped voice as Rupert engaged Wardes in an impressive display of swordplay. "In this case, it is taking the form of that woman's earth golem speciality!"

Saito quickly lashed out with his weapon as the golem reached out to grasp him, slicing the arm off easily. Even although the sword looked rusted beyond belief, it still had a keen edge, apparently.

Seconds later though, the arm regrew...as fire. Literal fire sprouted out from the stump of an appendage, forming into a fiery version of the arm that had been lopped off.

"...that's new." Saito blinked. "I take it that it adapts all of the user's elements into itself?"

"Apparently so." Wales said, taken aback. "The Orb of Elements hasn't been used in over five generations, so I freely admit to not studying it as much as I could have, what with all the other things I needed to study as Crown Prince."

"That is more than enough chat!" Wardes snapped, more than slightly irked that he was being ignored by the two subjects of his ire. He jabbed his swordwand at Wales, unleashing a blast of wind from the tip that Wales blocked with a wind barrier of his own. "Matilda my dear, please try to fight seriously."

"With pleasure!" the former thief drew her wand and sent a cone of fire towards Saito, who gripped his sword tightly as his runes blazed with light. He slashed with Derflinger and split the the fire down the centre, then absorbing the magical flames into the blade, which was glowing white.

"WHAT?!" Matilda gaped.

With Saito

"Derf, what the...?" the onmyōji asked.

"It's one of the abilities of Gandálfr, the Absorption Blade." the Living Sword replied. "You can only use it while wielding me, but it lets you negate spells that are attacking you or your master. Looks like you're loyal enough to your master to have unlocked it, partner."

Saito put it to one side for the moment. It seemed that granting universal competency with weapons was just the most basic ability of a Gandálfr; there was a lot he didn't know about the runes that bound him to Louise, but it did actually make sense that someone (likely Brimir) had designed them to unlock powers as the bearer became more loyal to their masters...a reward system of sorts.

Reaching into his onmyōji uniform's pocket, Saito drew out a talisman and threw it towards the golem. "Talisman of Earth, come to my aid! Change my foe! Rensei!"

When the glowing talisman struck the Elemental Golem, the surface started to transmute, changing from packed earth into a white, plain material.

"What is that?! What are you doing to my golem?!" Matilda demanded.

"I'm transmuting the earth of your golem into a non-elemental substance that's from my world called plastic." Saito informed her with a smirk. "With over eighty percent of your golem being earth, it'll be paralysed and helpless."

Over with Wales, he and Rupert were engaging Wardes in a two-to-one duel of spells and swords, and managing to push him back.

"I detect a degree of hostility from you, Prince Wales." Wardes noted with a sneer. "Whatever could I have done to earn this ire from a personage as elevated as you?"

"You're an oath-breaking traitor!" Rupert snarled. "You work for an organisation trying to overthrow the Royal Families! Either of those are reason enough for His Highness to wish you dead!"

"True, I will admit it." the former noble acknowledged calmly, even as he hit the general with a powerful lightning spell that sent him flying back, singed and smoking. "But Prince Wales, your ire seems a great deal more personal than that. Would you care to elucidate me, or should I guess?"

"You betrayed Henrietta." the blond Royal's eyes were blazing with anger, although he kept his voice level. His words were clipped and terse, as if they were all he needed to get his point across. Which, to be fair, they were.

"It always stirs more anger in people if it is someone we care about who is hurt as opposed to ourselves." Wardes conceded. "As I shall demonstrate..."

Raising his swordwand again, Wardes thrust it out and unleashed a powerful lightning attack...right at an off-guard Louise de Vallière. Even as he did so though, Wales read his intent and acted accordingly.

"Miss Vallière!" Wales shouted and hurled himself between the spell and Louise, weapon raised and glowing with wind to ward it off. The spell struck Wales' blade and sent him flying backwards into Louise, both of them lying sprawled out and stunned on the deck.

"Louise!" Saito shouted. He impatiently blocked another fire spell from Matilda/Fouquet with Derflinger and made to confront Wardes, but the Elemental Golem's transmutated body chose that particular moment to explode, large shards of plastic flying all over the ship. The Golem swiftly regenerated its body from the core, the majority of the body earthen, with an arm of fire and an arm of wind moving to attack Saito, who cursed and fell back.

"Derf, can Absorption Blade negate this damned golem?" he asked tersely.

"Nope. It has to be magic cast and aimed at you by a mage." Derflinger replied apologetically. "Golems are self-sustained magical constructs once they've been called forth, so no dice with them."

"I'll just have to get serious then!" Saito said grimly. He drew out four more of his talismans and threw them up into the air. "Talismans of Wind and Fire, come to my aid! Blow as fiercely as a storm! Burn mightily! Cleanse the world of my foes! Gurenjigoku! (Pyroclasm!)"

As soon as he finished the incantation, the four talismans, two fire and two wind, immediately moved into a cross formation and started to spin before a vast amount of fire in the form of a tornado erupted out of them and soar towards the Elemental Golem.

Slamming into it like a truck, the massive earth/wind/fire construct was actually thrown back by the surprising force of the dual-element spell. As it struggled to not be thrown overboard, Saito got another talisman ready.

"Talisman of Light and Dark, come to my aid!" he chanted quickly, watching as Louise and Wales staggered to their feet and defended themselves against Wardes' onslaught. "Smash my foe with the force of a thousand fists at once! Senju Totsugeki! (Thousand Hand Assault!)"

As opposed to his elemental spells, this one was a spell of pure force, invisible to the naked eye of all but the caster. From the talisman, visible to only Saito, was a giant fist. It rocketed towards the Elemental Golem and slammed into it like the fist of an angry god, shattering the earth, dispersing the wind and extinguishing the fire all in the same moment, sending the Orb of Elements rocketing into the bulkhead behind the golem, just barely missing Matilda de Sachsen-Gotha's head by a couple of inches.

"...eh?" the greenette was dumbfounded by this. "Wait, what...? No, there's just no way...!"

"Shikigami no Mai: Shibari!" Saito waved one hand carelessly as he turned his attention to Wardes. Talismans fluttered out of his sleeves and soared towards the Fallen Noble, who ground her teeth at the sight. She'd been hit with this attack twice before, and she had no intention of suffering under it again. She blasted the nearest group of talismans with fire, but missed more that had spread around her.

"Not again!" she yelped as she was trussed up like a mummy for the third time.

Wardes heard his companion's yelp and scowled. It was time to do what he had come to do and then leave. No more drawing things out.

With that in mind, he disarmed Louise (yet again) and then kicked her solidly in the gut, sending her flying back with a cry of pain. Wardes then turned his attention to Wales.

"I think you know what I'm here to acquire, Prince Wales. Hand the letter over. Now." he said threateningly.

"I no longer possess it." the prince said with a flinty expression on his face. "And you shall not have it!"

"Ah, so my former fiancée has it. Good to know." Wardes said with a smirk. "It leaves me free to do this!"

As careful as Wales was, he wasn't prepared for Wardes to sweep his cloak off and throw it at him. Blindly stabbing out through the cloak, the prince jerked as Wardes grabbed onto his sword and pulled him off balance. Then he gasped and looked down, seeing a blade, glowing yellow with lightning, pierced through Wardes' own cloak and through Wales' armour, right through the gut.

"...ah..." the Prince said as his blade slipped from his nerveless fingers and clattered to the ground. Wardes jerked the sword back and Prince Wales collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

"NOOOOO!" Rupert shouted as he staggered to his feet.

Louise stared, dumbstruck, at Prince Wales as a pool of red started to seep out and stain his clothes and armour. She was stuck in a numb loop at it all happening so quickly, so much so that she was only jolted out of it by Wardes grabbing her by the throat and picking her up.

Roughly, the former Viscount searched her and found the letter. Each touch made Louise feel as if she were being violated and made her kick and struggle fiercely, albeit to no avail.

"Sadly, your part in this is now over, Miss Vallière!" her former fiancé hissed after tucking the letter away on his person. "Now, I shall end you as revenge against your accursed mother marking me with this bedamned scar!"

"To...me...my...blade!" Louise choked out. The former noble easily batted the weapon away, but in that split-second of distraction, Saito charged over, a look of absolute fury on his face, and hacked down at the man's arm with Derflinger, forcing him to release his hold on Louise's throat and leap away to avoid the blade.

Collapsing to the deck, Louise hacked and coughed as blessedly fresh air entered her lungs again. She blinked as Saito waved some talisman in front of her face.

"Use these on the Prince, they're healing talismans." he said tersely. "If nothing else, they'll keep him stable until I can have a proper look at him."

"R-Right!" Louise croaked out and scrambled across the deck to the Prince.

Saito didn't pay her any mind. His entire focus was on Wardes. A very primal side of him had snarled possessively and protectively when Wardes had hoisted Louise by her neck and had practically gone berserk as the traitor had tightened his grip to throttle her. Before that, the sight of Prince Wales being stabbed through the stomach because of a cheap trick, had enraged him.

"Wardes!" Saito shouted, charging at the man.

"I have what I came for, boy, so I shall bid you farewell!" Wardes said scornfully. He hastily blocked a swing of Derflinger by Saito before the onmyōji disengaged and launched several more strikes that Wardes blocked and parried as well.

"Your Rune may give you competency with weaponry, but mere competency is no match for one who has mastered the sword!" the former viscount snarled as he fended Saito off. While he was telling the truth, Saito was extremely competent with the sword, as well as fast, strong and relentless. Wardes wasn't actually certain how long he could keep holding the bothersome boy off before General Rupert was recovered enough to rejoin the fray.

"Raging Storm of Lightning!" the Tristainian traitor shouted, and unleashed a powerful dual-element spell of his own, combining wind and lightning into a spiralling drill that slammed into Saito and threw him back before he could block with Derflinger. It was only due to him wearing his onmyōji uniform that he wasn't seriously harmed, and the inbuilt healing spells started working as soon as Wardes' spell dissipated.

In the time it took for Saito to stagger to his feet, however, Wardes had run over to his bound companion, inelegantly thrown her across his shoulder and leapt from the deck into the sky, landing snugly on his Wind Dragon as it flew beneath the Grasshopper.

He even had the cheek to mockingly wave goodbye to the ship as he flew off!

"Saito! I need help!" Louise shouted just as he took a step forward...to do what, he didn't know. Growling angrily, Saito sheathed Derflinger and turned to attend to Prince Wales.

"Stand clear!" he ordered brusquely to the sailors surrounding the fallen prince and Louise. The pinkette had placed the talismans Saito had given her on Wales' body and he was surrounded by a green aura. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the prince getting healed.

"Professor, is there anything you can do?" Rupert asked bluntly. He loomed over Louise's shoulder keeping the sailors at a distance.

"I'll do my best." Saito said grimly. "Get these men back on their duties and make best speed straight for Tristainia though."

"I shall see to it." the general nodded before barking out orders that had the sailors scrambling to their duty stations. Even as that happened though, Saito was kneeling next to Louise and pulling out more talismans. Tossing a dozen into the air, Saito empowered them with his magic and had them assume the caricature of a human shape in the air above Wales. A minute or two of chanting had images of the prince's internal organs displayed and Saito grimaced at what he saw.

"That's not good." the onmyōji said worriedly.

"What's wrong?" the pinkette next to him asked in concern.

"See those organs that are glowing red? The ones that look like a long, compressed hose?" Saito pointed at the ones he was talking about. "Those are the large and small intestines. Wardes punctured them with his swordwand and fried them with the lightning magic he had infused in his weapon. It doesn't help that by the looks of it, he widened the cut when he withdrew his swordwand. I...can't heal these wounds."

Louise stared at Saito in astonishment at this. "Wh-what?!"

"The talismans I gave you, and that are currently working on His Highness, are the strongest healing spells that I know." the Japanese Mystic said sadly in a quiet voice. "Healing spells are immensely complex, and so many things can go wrong if you miscast one, so there is a set limit to the sorts that an academy student or a mere junior adept such as myself has access to. It would take a B-Rank Onmyōji specialising in healing to save Prince Wales right now; the intestines are a death sentence if cut open without sterilised tools and proper preparation, as all of the germs and other foulness within infect the rest of the body. As it is, taking into account the bleeding and the internal injuries...I'd say he has a matter of hours left, a day at the very most."

"N-No...what will I tell the Princess...?!" Louise looked down, distraught at the thought of .

Saito hesitated. There was something he could do to extend Wales' lifespan, but it would exhaust him in the process...and make his familiars angry with him. Again.

His Runes lit up for a second and then the onmyōji sighed. He just knew he was going to regret this...

"I can't save him, but I can buy enough time for us to arrive in Tristainia." Saito said reluctantly. Louise looked around at him with wide eyes, a bit of hope in them.

"I will have to actively concentrate on maintaining this spell, I cannot be moved or distracted and once I stop using it, I will be knocked out by the magic expenditure and mental strain." Saito warned her. "Do not let anyone interfere with me or the Prince or the results could be deadly to both of us. Understood?"

"G-Got it." the pinkette nodded eagerly. "What is it you're going to do?"

"I'm...going to drastically slow down his body's time." Saito said as he started placing talismans around Wales' body. "Ordinarily, it wouldn't be hard to do, but because we're in motion, I'll have to adjust the field manually so it doesn't deactivate, reverse the flow of time or who knows what else. It's supposed to be a last-ditch spell to buy time for a critically wounded onmyōji while reinforcements and a healer is sent to help."

As he spoke, the onmyōji finished placing the talismans around Wales. He then looked at Rupert. "Remember: DO NOT disturb me while I'm concentrating and especially don't let anyone touch the talismans on the deck. I'll be awake the entire time, so have Louise tell me that I can safely drop the stasis bubble."

"Very well, Professor." the general nodded. "Are you certain that you cannot save His Highness?"

"My Familiar Emereldas could, but I haven't been able to contact her." Saito admitted. "She's undergoing a...rite of promotion over the next day or so that means she's completely incommunicado, at least in regards to me. I am sorry."

"It's something out of your control." Rupert sighed. "How could you predict that this would happen? Or how that traitorous wench Matilda would use a missing artefact to hold you off?"

"'First, plan for what you expect. Then, plan for what you do not expect.'" Saito quoted somewhat bitterly. "I made a mistake in not keeping Kaede around, deal with her parents be damned."

Something that he'd been forced to agree to when he had contracted Kaede as his Prime Superior Demon was agree to only summon her for the duration of no more than a handful of hours at a time. This was a stipulation that Kaede's father, Kurotama, had told her to give him. He had (and still did) dislike the fact that the onmyōji summoning his daughter was a male. That was a section of the compact which needed revision, something he should have done as soon as he had been stranded in Halkaginia.

Something to work on later.

Sinking into the seiza position, Saito bowed his head and started to chant in Japanese, making the talismans set around Wales glow white. A dome of magic appeared around the Prince's body and seemed to blur the interior.

Louise slumped as she allowed herself to feel the despair that she had been holding back for so long. She had been beaten like a child and almost killed. Oh, she had gotten one good hit in, but the rest had been more Prince Wales and General Rupert than her.

More importantly, she had been a burden; Prince Wales wouldn't have had to risk himself if she'd just stayed out of sight. On top of everything, the letter that she had been sent to retrieve had been stolen and Prince Wales was on death's door.

'How am I going to explain all of this to Anne?!' the pinkette thought morosely. 'I failed her completely. No, worse...I may of well have signed Tristain's death warrant by my ineptitude. If she no longer wishes to associate with me after this, I don't know what I'll do!'

Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of being hated by her liege lord and best friend. It was such a painful thought that she must have been displaying it on her face, as General Rupert came to kneel in front of her.

"Miss Vallière, this was not your fault." he said firmly.

"I should have put that letter in a strongbox. And I should have hidden once Wardes engaged you and His Highness." Louise said, just barely holding tears of frustration and anger in. "If I had...!"

"Wardes was here to retrieve the letter and kill His Highness." Rupert patted her on the shoulder gently. "With or without dragging you into it, I think he would have done his best to slay Prince Wales regardless. Should His Highness awaken before he passes, I am certain he will absolve you of any wrongdoing or blame in this matter. Look, you're exhausted. Captain Bracegirdle, can you have one of your officers escort Miss Vallière to a cabin? She's exhausted and injured."

"I shall escort her myself." the plump man nodded. "I doubt you received sufficient sleep last night, Miss Vallière. Come and I'll show you to a cabin so you might rest."

"I have t-to guard Saito and the talismans." Louise protested feebly.

"I shall detail the marines to ensure that one one comes near either." Rupert reassured her. "I shall also be standing guard until you have had sufficient rest and time to heal. I give you my word; none shall interfere with your Familiar or his talismans."

"If they try, they'll have a belaying pin across their heads." Bracegirdle said darkly.

Surrendering to the inevitable, Louise allowed the Captain to lead her away, throwing one last look back at the dome enclosing Prince Wales and the silent sentinel of Saito kneeling and chanting next to it.

'Saito...' she thought, the mark of the Apprentice shining briefly on her forehead.

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Next Chapter: Mourning Period

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