Once again, I'm overjoyed by the interest people are showing in my story. I'm a little afraid I'll end up saying that in the beginning of every chapter, but I really meant a lot to me that people are enjoying this!
I even got compared to Nim Maj's Herald of the Void in a review! That's the fic that introduced me to Zero no Tsukaima in the first place, so that's enormously high praise to me.
I will do my very best to write this as well as I possibly could, so please don't feel bad about giving me criticism for my work. I regularly check my spelling and grammar, but I know I make mistakes too and I won't be insulted if you inform me about them.
Now, I won't keep you any longer. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: No, you know the drill by now.
Chapter 3
Necessary force
This was bad, this was bad, this was bad. This was really bad.
For the past two hours, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière had been trying to wear a hole in the carpet that covered the hard, cold stone floors of her room.
After she had had a chance to cool off after her little row, no, her name-calling match with Guiche she was starting to comprehend the severity of the situation. She was going to be facing down Guiche de Gramont in battle.
De Gramont.
The Gramonts were an old military family that had served the Tristain Royal Family for over ten generations! His father was none other than General Armand de Gramont, a distinguished man that she remember hearing about at the Vallière Estates as a girl.
No doubt Guiche would have had some form of military-influenced upbringing, heck he probably had forgotten more about strategy and fighting than she'd ever known!
This was bad, this was bad, this was bad, this was bad, this was bad!
She was alternating between pulling her hair out and contemplative suicide by letter opener when Legion's voice reverberated through her mind.
++PROPHET, IF IT IS FORCES YOU REQUIRE –++
"Why do you keep calling me prophet?!" she shouted angrily at the voice in her head, her temper long past its breaking point. "And can't you talk normally? This rock slide of a voice of yours is driving me mad!"
++ACCESSING VOICE MODULATING PROTOCOLS, STAND BY++
There was a few seconds of quiet, and she imagined she could hear the gears in his mind turning. Actually, the gears might even be literal gears for all she knew!
The voice that then spoke up was obviously still Legion, but it had lost many of the harsh qualities that had been grinding on her mind. It was still a very deep bass tone, but it didn't thunder in her ears as much as it did before.
"Adjustment complete. Is this acceptable to you, Prophet?"
She blew out a sigh and nodded, although she quickly realized he couldn't see her. "Very much so. Why didn't you do that from the start?"
"The voice settings had been calibrated for maximum psychological impact by my creator. I assumed you would be of the same opinon as he."
"Well I'm not!" she huffed. She wasn't completely sure what he meant by 'voice settings' but she assumed it was something along the lines of instrumental tuning.
"Who the hell made you sound like that, anyway?"
"The founder and leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, the Prophet [ERROR]"
Louise raised an eyebrow, confusion obvious on her face. What kind of name was that?
"His name was... Error?"
"It appears some damage has been caused to my memory. Upon reactivation I was forced to carry out repairs to my systems, some data may have been lost during this process."
"Well, that was unfortunate." she thought but quickly dismissed it. Although it would have been interesting to know more about the man who created her familiar, it didn't matter in the long run.
"That doesn't matter anymore, you are here now and I have bound you as my familiar. From now on you will address me as Master, understood?"
Although Louise couldn't help but admit she was a little unnerved by having such a militaristic familiar, she decided that she might as well start by making him act properly.
"Acknowledged."
"The logbook entry: Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière has been updated."
She nodded to herself, satisfied by his answer. It was a little strange that her familiar was keeping a log of everything, but she had come to accept at this point that he was anything but normal.
"Back to the matter at hand" she said, walking over to her desk and sat down in the chair in front of it. She had spent many hours in this chair while working on both schoolwork and research, it felt only natural to sit there for the purpose of planning.
"You said something about forces?" she asked, recalling his opening statement earlier. She hadn't been paying much attention to everything he had said, so caught up in her own frustration. But after being distracted with the issue with his voice, she'd had a chance to calm down and was now ready to listen.
"Affirmative, however there are several issues that needs to be addressed before we can begin any form of deployment."
"Can't you just show up in that big crawler thing of yours and stomp on Guiche a few times?" she asked tiredly.
"The MCV was never intended for combat and we lack the facilities to repair it should it become badly damaged." he explained to her.
"Alright, so that idea is out." darn. She had really hoping to see Guiche's face when his precious Valkyries got stomped on by a giant black beetle. "What are these issues you mentioned?"
"First of all, you are the only existing member of the Brotherhood of Nod present on this world. Therefore, all ranks and titles that would normally be spread out throughout the command structure default to you."
She picked up a stick of charcoal she kept for writing notes and started doodling on a scrap of paper. She'd gotten the impression that Nod was a fairly large organization, but the way Legion was talking it was more like a whole country.
Something did occur to her though.
"Didn't you just say earlier that Nod was ruled entirely by this Prophet of yours?" she asked as she drew a crude impression of the blunted triangle from before.
"Correct, but even [ERROR] could not be in all places at once. This unit was created to fulfill many of the functions that would normally be tasked to human operators, but some delegation was still required in order to reach maximum efficiency."
"Normally I would act as an intermediary between the Prophet and the Supreme Commander, preform necessary background tasks and assist in establishing battlefield control."
"I guess that makes sense" Louise muttered. "not even the Founder himself could be everywhere at the same time. I don't think I'd be a very good Commander, though."
"I will be able to supply tactical advice when the need arises. Nevertheless you are in control and I will refer to you as Commander whenever we are placed in a combat situation."
"Will I have to wear a uniform with shiny buttons?" she asked, remembering seeing the pompous Generals at formal dinners at the Vallière estate with all their decorations.
"It will be available should you wish it." he told her. "There are however no station-specific garb for the title of Prophet, and [ERROR] was often seen wearing nondescript black robes."
Well she guessed that meant she didn't have to worry about that.
"The second issue is that we do not currently have the facilities needed to produce Nod forces of any kind. Right now the only two buildings available for construction is the Tiberium Refinery and the Power Plant."
Louise's confusion showed clear as day on her face as she tried to figure out what he meant by these two words. Power Plant? Refinery? She had never before heard the name Tiberium but maybe that was what they called oil or something.
To her relief, Legion continued before she could ask any stupid questions.
"All Nod structures with the exception of the Construction Yard which produces its own, requires energy to function. The Nod Power Plant utilizes thermal power as a cheap and reliable power source, and can be upgraded with a Tiberium Reactor."
She had taken to taking notes on what Legion was telling her, partly out of habit but also to help her remember all these familiar words. At one point she'd also replaced the piece of coal with her regular feather pen, and was just jotting down the words 'Tibirium React-or' with a big question mark next to it.
"What's this Tibirium you're talking about? I've heard you mention it before."
"Tiberium is the substance on which all Nod technology is based and needs to be harvested from the fields it forms. Once it has been processed, it yields all of the materials necessary for the development of weapons, armor and propulsion."
"So, what... you dig for it or something?" She could imagine a big, purple humanoid digging in the ground with a huge shovel and then mining it with an equally large pick-axe.
"Tiberium is a non-carbon based mineral with a dense dynamic-proton lattice held together by exotic heavy particles. When Tiberium comes into contact with other matter, the heavy particles randomly collide with the nuclei of the target matter, smashing it to pieces or incrementally knocking off protons or neutrons . Tiberium captures a fraction of the protons that are ejected during this collision process and incorporates them into its own structure, thus transmuting matter into more Tiberium."
By this point, Louise had completely abandoned the effort of taking notes and was sitting with her head resting in her hands. There were so many words and concepts that she had never heard of in her entire life, in fact she was pretty sure no one had.
"I have absolutely no idea what you just said." she groaned, unsure if she should feel bad about it or not. "Can't you give me the short version?"
"It is a complicated substance that mankind has spent more than half a century researching. It is natural that much of it is currently beyond your grasp."
Louise's head hit her desk with a thunk. "Then why in Brimir's name did you tell me all that?!"
"Even if you do not understand it, you have been given the total sum of existing knowledge. I will attempt to simplify it, stand by."
Stupid familiar!
"To put it in the simplest way possible, Tiberium is a substance that leeches minerals and similar resources out of the ground and manifests it into large, crystalline growths on the surface. These can then be harvested using specialized equipment to yield easy-to-use resources which can be further processed into items or construction materials."
"Harvested fields will eventually re-grow, thus making all other forms of traditional resource gathering such as ore mining obselete."
She turned her head sideways as she processed this information. What kind of world did Legion come from that such things not only existed, but was actually common practice? Still, she could certainly understand how such a substance could be useful.
Suddenly she sat up as a thought struck her. "But no such thing exists in Tristain! Or anywhere else on Halkeginia!"
"This is of no issue, as the Construction Yard has a store of 10,000 units of liquid Tiberium to allow for rapid base deployment. Normally it is not required due to the abundance of naturally-occurring growths, but it is possible to artificially seed Tiberium to acquire a fresh patch."
"It will be noted that raw Tiberium is hazardous to all forms of carbon-based life, and is very difficult to contain once it has started growing."
Louise's shoulders slumped. This was starting to become a habit, it seemed. "So it's hopeless, then."
A few seconds passed as Legion pondered something, and delivered it in a hesitant tone she'd never heard from him before.
"Perhaps not. Halkeginia possesses unknown energy manipulation techniques that have never been actually observed in Earth's history."
"Ehhh?" her eyebrows rose to full tilt. "Your world is named dirt?"
"It is named Earth because it is which we stand upon."
"Right..." now she just felt silly. It did make logic sense, but it just sounded dull. Wait.
"There's no magic on your world? None at all?!" she practically shouted, the thought so foreign she'd be less surprised if there was no Sun in the sky.
How was that even possible?
"Although all known cultures have developed the concept of magic and it features heavily within all religions in some form, it has never been proven to exist. It is fully possible that such an unknown factor could prove the key to controlling Tiberium, it is entirely hypothetical at this point in time."
"Alright I get it." She rubbed her forehead, slowly feeling a headache coming on. "Would it be possible to use regular steel and such instead of Tiberium?"
"It would be possible to insert refined metals into the production cycles as a replacement for raw materials, but it would be far more expensive than standardized processing."
"Uuuuu... and I don't have a lot of money." she whined, poking her tongue out in frustration. "Couldn't we just use raw ores? Those shouldn't be as expensive."
"We do not currently possess the equipment to effectively handle traditional ores, and any attempts at re-purposing established equipment would inevitably lead to a loss in product quality."
"And that might be bad, I get it." she sighed. "And I don't want to accidentally cause a natural catastrophe if I can't avoid it. How long will our current stores last before we have to find out a way to get more?"
"My calculations are based on large-scale warfare, but constructing a single Power Plant will in turn allow for the construction of a Hand of Nod. It is the primary facility for the training and housing of Nod's infantry corps, and will allow access to the basic soldiers."
"But didn't you say there were no one else here than me?" she asked.
"Nod cybernetic technology is highly advanced, there are many designs for Nod cyborgs that can be altered into fully mechanical designs."
"Mechanical? You mean I'll have access to golems?!" a crazed smile spread across Louise's face, all her misgivings washed away by a tide of glee.
"Golem: 1. An artificial human being in Hebrew folklore endowed with life. 2. Something or someone resembling a golem such as an automaton."
He recited as if reading it out of textbook, which for all she knew he might have been doing somehow. It was a little lacking, but mostly accurate all the same.
"Golem is a general term used to describe magical constructs created by- and controlled by a mage." she recited from memory. "Many different types exist as you can theoretically make a golem out of any material, but the most common ones are earth and metal golems."
"Acknowledged."
"The logbook entry: Golem has been updated."
"Oh, good-" she interrupted herself with a loud yawn. It was getting very late and all this new information was making her mind very heavy. "work Legion. How long will it take to construct the extra buildings?" she asked as she stood up and made her way towards her bed.
"Each building will take several hours to complete, and must be placed within the Construction Yard's area of influence."
She unclasped her cloak and tossed it in the clothes hamper to be washed, the rest of her clothes soon following.
"Normally, the Commander supervises this placement through the overhead command interface. However, I do not know how you will be able to access this."
"S'ok." She mumbled as she wiggled into her nightgown and climbed into her bed. "Mebbe I'll do it in mah dreams again."
Blowing out the candle by her bedside, she snuggled into the comfortable blankets and pillows and let out a content sigh. As she slowly felt herself falling asleep, a thought struck her and she struggled to stay awake long enough to voice it.
"Leig'n."
"Yes, Master?"
"C'ld you wake meh up tomorrow?"
"As you command."
Satisfied with the answer, she let herself sleep take her and was soon completely out cold.
"Construction in progress."
In another part of the Academy, a different type of discussion was taking place.
Jean Colbert was not at all pleased with the good Headmaster, nor was Mrs. Chevreuse who had happened to walk in on them. Old Osmond as usual was being extremely calm about the whole thing and was peacefully feeding Motsognir while they yelled at him.
"This is unacceptable, Headmaster!" Colbert all but shouted as he slammed his palms into the hardwood desk, causing pens and teacups to rattle. "Dueling are forbidden between students!"
"Someone could get hurt, Sir Osmond." Mrs. Chevreuse chimed in.
She was a plump, middle-aged woman who had joined the Academy recently to fill the Earth Professor post. Although she had yet to meet Louise de la Vallière and didn't want to believe many of the rumors about her, she had taking a liking to Guiche and already considered him a good student.
"Think about the children! If poor Guiche got hurt, his grades might suffer!"
Both of the men thought it was a very thin reasoning, but none of them felt particularly like calling her out on it. Instead, Colbert kept pushing his point.
"We don't even know what la Vallière's familiar is capable of. What if it tramples someone by accident?"
"Which is exactly why we should allow the duel Mr. Cruton!"
"It's Colbert, Headmaster!"
Osmond completely ignored the correction and continued unabated. "If we allow this to go down as intended, we'll know exactly what kind of familiar she has. This will lead to us being able to tell what kind of mage she is so that we can help her better." He calmly explained.
"Hmm." Mrs. Chevreuse said to herself. "I've heard she had some issues getting her spells to work, so it might not be a bad idea."
"Mrs. Chevreuse!" Colbert exclaimed, holding his hands out for emphasis. "You can't be serious!"
"Oh calm down, Professor." Osmond said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye as he pushed some herb mix into his smoking pipe with his thumb.
"Why, we had these kind of duels all the time when I was a boy!" He exclaimed.
Colbert wasn't convinced as he folded his arms and gave the Headmaster a suspicious look.
"And how many were seriously hurt, if not killed during these duels?"
"Oh, not more than a handful..."
"Hmm, well I suppose."
"...per day."
"Headmaster!"
"Besides!" Headmaster Osmond said jovially as he lit his pipe. "It will give the children a nice opportunity to unwind. Schoolwork is hard, you know!"
Mrs. Chevreuse nodded sagely and Colbert's palm met his forehead with a loud smack.
"If you are so worried, then maybe you can oversee the duel Mr. Colbert."
He started to reply "It's..." but realized Osmond had actually gotten it right this time.
"I still don't think it's a very good idea to let it happen, but if it will help keep the injuries down to a minimum I might as well." he said with a defeated sigh.
"Splendid!" Old Osmond said with a bright smile, and Colbert was pretty sure he'd been manipulated somehow. "I'll make sure to inform Miss Longueville and we can all discuss it over tea afterward!"
Colbert could only groan.
Once more, Louise dreamt of things she had never seen before.
It was said that everything and everyone that you saw in your dreams were things you had at some point seen in your life, but she was completely certain that she had never seen this man before. He was a tall man dressed in robes of cloth and leather that were so dark they seemed to drink in the light. He was completely bald and was mostly covered by a metal helmet that reached down over the left side.
He was standing behind two rows of squares of some kind that were suspended on rods, and the only light in the cramped room was red. Dust was raining down every so often and she could hear muffled explosions from the outside.
As he stepped closer to the squares, she heard an odd chattering noise as they seemed to lit up, casting additional red light up upon the man.
He spoke in a smooth voice that carried the ethereal kind of quality that she often heard from preachers, and although she did not recognize the words she understood their meaning.
"They have abandoned us, my child."
He looked up briefly as there was a loud swish like a giant swinging a fully grown tree from the outside, and something fell from the ceiling with a clatter.
"The Brotherhood of Nod has been broken." he growled, sounding as if he was speaking with his teeth clenched.
"You are the only one who has not forsaken me."
Her vision seemed to fracture briefly into large squares before an image arose unbidden to the left of her vision. She saw musket-carrying knights armored in gold and gray surging forward, tongues of fire leaping from the barrels of their weapons.
"At this very moment" he continued. "McNeil and his GDI lackeys celebrate their victory in what they are calling the Second Tiberium War."
Images of another knight with some kind of glass helmet and then a curious, floating box with windows replaced the one to her left. It then became a long, flat box from which long rods of some kind were being ejected from a smaller box at the back of the first one, flames trailing in their wake.
"They have the Tacitus," the image switched to an enormous, golden-armored humanoid with a pair of blazing, multi-barreled muskets instead of arms. "but no understanding of its true purpose!"
A massive, square-shaped beast appeared this time, lightning was frozen above it and a tongue of flame leapt from the barrel mounted underneath its nose.
"Our technology has failed us." An image of a blue, skull-like shape with glowing eyes surrounded by rippling waters replaced the beast. "Cabal... is no more."
"Listen to the sounds of your own extinction." it hissed in a voice far worse than anything she had ever heard before.
"Although his memory lives on." the man finished.
The images disappeared completely and instead her vision focused on the man again.
"Our enemies believe we have been defeated." her vision seemed to stretch, blurring at the ends as if a glass cone had suddenly been put in front of her eyes.
"And that I am no longer among the living." the image grew rapidly as if she had stepped closer to him, and he filled her vision. "They are gravely mistaken."
She could see him in better detail now. The black leather pauldrons, the curved decorations that ran across the top of his helmet, the little blunted triangle she now recognized as the symbol of Nod on his collar. Light glinted off the glass lens that covered his left eye as part of the helmet he wore, and his other eye seemed to bore into her soul.
"You and I are all that remains, but all that is necessary." he spoke to her, carefully pronouncing each word.
"For together we will raise a great army. Together we will show the world's downtrodden who the real enemy is!" he was almost working himself into a frenzy. "GDI promises them prosperity..."
He was shouting now. "But in the slums of the real, the homeless and hungry know the truth! They have been forgotten! They have NOTHING!"
He stared at her for a moment and just when she thought it was over, he continued. "But. Their. Anger."
Her vision shook as more explosions were heard from outside, and they sounded a lot closer now.
"We will take that spark and start a fire that will start a GREAT CONFLAGRATION!" he cried.
"PEACE THROUGH POWER!"
And in the Academy, back in her body, Louise's lips mimicked those of the man in her dream.
"...peace...through...power..." she whispered against her pillow.
"Peace through power." Legion responded, unheard and unseen.
Dreams as always came and left like leaves in a stiff autumn breeze. She was once more flying high in the air, yet at the same time she was still as her view of the ground did not change. She saw once more the glowing pink of her Construction Yard down below her.
No, she was not flying she realized, she had become a giant!
Great in stride and purpose, the responsibility lay on her shoulders to bring order to the world.
In her right hand was an ornate hammer that sang of war and glory and peace within every swirl of its mother-of-pearl surface.
"Serve the Worthy." it whispered.
In her left hand she held the Blood of the Founder Brimir, shimmering green like all the emerald stars in the sky.
She raised the hammer and struck it once for every chord of the song, and it was done.
"Construction complete." Came the voice of her familiar and she looked down into her hand, and saw a new building in her palm. It was there and yet not at the same time, but she knew it contained great power.
It slightly resembled an insect with a black, segmented carapace-like armor sweeping up from the ground and the symbol of Nod blazed on its back.
It held within it a wide, spoked wheel or perhaps a flattened ball that glowed bright pink with a fierce, inner light.
She took great care placing it on the ground and arranging it just so, and it vanished only to reappear out of the ground.
However her work was not yet complete, and once again she raised the Hammer of War and Peace to meet the Blood of the Gods
"Protect the Innocent." it told her.
"Construction complete." Legion whispered to her once again, and something new was pressed into the palm of her hand.
A different, yet elegantly sloped building that although not as bright, also glowed with an inner light.
Rising out of its top was an arm, and at the end of that arm was a hand.
That hand was holding the world in its hand.
This too was carefully positioned, and once more it vanished only to reappear like a flower from a seed.
And Louise saw that it was good.
"Awaken, my master."
Louise's eyes snapped open at that simple command and she groaned and tried to hide under the sheets as her head told her it was much too early.
"Blergeflergher." she mumbled insightfully.
"It is now 05:46 and I have awoken you as per your instructions."
"Ish too early."
"The sun will rise in exactly 25 minutes, master. If you wish to get ready for your duel with proper attire and breakfast I suggest you start now."
"Munyamunyamunya..." came the response from Louise as her mind started slipping back into the default sleep mode.
This would not do. The Prophet had given him a Task and he would see that it was followed to each and every letter. Browsing through the vast memories of Mankind, Legion selected what he felt was appropriate for the situation and looped it through his vocal circuits.
"ON YOUR FEET, MAGGOT!" came the voice of the stereotypical drill sergeant from a movie no one remembered anymore.
The result was instant however as Louise was out of her bed as fast as some professional soldiers, her subconscious mind reacting to the tone of voice even when her conscious mind didn't.
"Huh, wha?" She mumbled drunkenly as sleep began to fade from her mind. "Ugh... who said that?"
"I did, master."
"Legion?" she asked as she stumbled over to her wardrobe. "Why are you waking me up at this ungodly hour?"
"Because you requested it last night."
"I did?" off went the nightgown and she shivered slightly as her bare skin met the cool morning air. It served to help her wake up, though.
"Your duel with Guiche de Gramont is due in T minus 23 minutes and counting."
"That's a... strange way of counting time."
"Was it unclear to you?"
She frowned and found that despite the oddity of it, she had indeed understood the meaning of it perfectly. She grumbled slightly as she dressed herself and not until she successfully clasped her cloak around her shoulders did she respond.
"I guess not."
"I am pleased to hear that. T minus 19 minutes and counting."
"Would you stop that?!"
Making her way out of her room, Louise shot a quick glance over at Kirche's door but found it mercilessly closed and silent.
"Not coming out to annoy me today, are you? Top-heavy cow!" She taunted within her own mind before she started down the hallway at a brisk walk.
The Alvíss Hall was completely empty to her great surprise, until she realized she was there much earlier than normal.
"I bet the cooks aren't even up yet." she grumbled to herself as she instead made her way towards the kitchen.
As in any cultured and well-structured society, the kitchens were wall-in-wall with the hall where the food was served. She had been there before from time to time, mostly whenever she was doing research long into the night.
Therefore she had no problem finding where everything was and she was just about to make herself some toast when a voice startled her from behind.
"Well well, who would've thought I'd find a Noble in my kitchen this time in the morning?"
The head chef of the Academy was a bear of a man named Marteau. He seemed to always look the same every single time she saw him with the white chef's hat, white uniform with the sleeves rolled up and a red scarf around his neck.
He was not known for being overly friendly to Nobles despite the fact that he could easily be punished for nothing. The only thing that truly saved him was that he could somehow make any type of food taste incredibly good. So good in fact that not only did the Headmaster put up with him, he even sometimes joined in with his (usually bad) jokes about the nobility!
Louise swallowed reflexively as he towered over her by a good foot or so, and despite his nonthreatening stance she felt the urge to run.
However she stood her ground and held her head high despite the fear she felt, and she thought she saw a small glimmer of approval in his eyes.
Or it might just have been a trick of the light.
"T-there was no one in the Dining Hall so I was just going to make some toast!" she said as bravely and loudly as she could, but she thought it came out as more of a whisper.
He looked at her hard and long before he blew out a sigh and unceremoniously directed her towards a simple table that stood near one of the great stoves. "You know breakfast doesn't start until 6 AM sharp, right?"
"Yes of course, but I-"
"Sit down before you hurt yourself on something sharp, your ladyship."
She sank down in the chair and winced a little as her butt smacked against the uncushioned seat but said nothing as Marteau started bustling about in the kitchen.
She soon noticed that he was doing a lot more than just the plain toast she had intended, and it wasn't long until a delicious aroma had filled the large room.
"So I heard you stood up for one of my maids last night." He mentioned idly as he cracked a pair of quail eggs into a bowl with one hand while whisking it with the other.
"Ah, yes..." she mumbled in return.
"Speak up, girl!" he barked suddenly.
"Yes!" she responded without thinking, making him smirk a little. "Why?"
She blinked at the question. She hadn't really thought about why she did it, to be honest.
"I don't know." she confessed quietly. "I simply did it, I guess."
The large man hummed to himself as if he didn't really believe her and it wasn't until he had set out a perfect omelet with a side of lamb for her did she speak again.
"It wasn't right."
"Hmm?" he looked down at her, confused for a moment what she was talking about.
"The whole thing with Guiche and the maid." She whispered as she pressed the heels of her palms against her legs. "I couldn't allow him to blame her for his own failings. It went against everything I have been taught as a Noble!"
"Hooh?" he mused as he folded his arms with a small smirk. "And here I thought it was because Siesta kept you from choking on a croissant or something."
To her credit, she didn't move an inch. Although he could see her ears getting red so he decided to have some mercy on the poor girl.
"I'm joking, I'm joking." he assured her.
"Not bad, girl. Keep your head on straight and you might actually become a decent person one day." he thought to himself.
"Now eat up, you're gonna need your energy if you wanna defeat the Gramont boy!" he drawled.
She didn't need any more prompting than that.
The fact that it really was delicious didn't hurt, either.
When she finally did arrive at the Vestri Court, the sun had just barely crested over the Academy wall and yet...
"Where the hell is he?!"
It was completely deserted.
As she stood there, a gust of wind blew across the empty field and a crow cawed in the distance. Somehow this just seemed to magnify the feeling that Guiche had stood her up. She gritted her teeth so hard she was sure they'd break when she realized he was probably two-timing her, as well!
"Aaarrrrgh!"
She just couldn't believe the nerve of that boy! Stomping across the grass of the now-repaired courtyard she started envisioning the various ways she could make him pay for not honoring the duel like a real noble.
"Legion! What time is it?" she spat.
"06:08, master."
And she had been here to see the sun rise, so it wasn't her who was late! Could this day get any worse?
"Yo-hoo! Louuiise!"
Urgh, she and her big mouth!
Walking, no, bouncing out towards her came Kirche and her familiar followed by the ever-present Tabitha. Although it was hard to tell with the shorter of the two, they both appeared to be much too energetic at this early in the morning.
"Zerbst! What are you doing here?" Louise demanded.
"Oh don't be such a stick in the mud, Vallière." the voluptuous Germanian chided gently. "I just wanted to come and watch you and de Gramont get all fierce and worked up for each other!"
She shot her a highly suggestive glance as a coy smile graced her ruby-painted lips.
"Or... did you want him all for yourself?"
"Wha-what are you saying, Zerbst?!"
"Ahh, young love!" Kirche giggled as she held her clasped hands up against her cheek, wiggling a little on the spot. "I love it when you let your passion flow, Louise!"
"Shut up, you cow!"
Tabitha was too used to the teasing and bickering that these two always did, and she had just turned a page when her senses alerted her to a change in their environment.
"Students incoming." She voiced simply, cutting Louise off mid-tirade as she was ranting at Kirche about the advantages of not having enormous udders attached to your body.
Sure enough, students that had been in the Alvíss Hall for the challenge or had heard of it through gossip were coming out of the Academy in a steady stream. It almost looked like her entire sophomore year had come to watch! She could even see quite a few purple and brown cloaks mixed in as well, which meant that quite a few freshmen and juniors had come to watch as well.
"Oho?" Kirche smiled. "It looks like your little lovers' spat attracted quite the crowd, Louise."
"We're not lovers!" Louise shouted in embarassment. "And you're not much older than-mmph!"
She was cut off as the Germanian suddenly grabbed her in a hug, smushing her face into her ample bosom. "I'm so proud of you, Louise! You've finally started mature into a woman!" she chirped happily.
Louise flailed helplessly against Kirche's greater mass as she tried everything in her power to get free. She was starting to get light-headed from a combination of the perfume she wore and lack of air. The strength of this harpy! Years of dragging boys to her bedroom must have built up her strength to inhuman levels!
She was just about to resign herself to her fate when Tabitha's voice filtered in through the sound of Kirche's heartbeat and the blood rushing in her ears. "Guiche is here."
This caused her to release the little noble and Louise took several gulps of sweet, sweet oxygen. Her face was bright red and she had already been getting spots in her vision when she was finally let go.
"Oh Founder, I thought I was going to die." she gasped, barely noticing Kirche and Tabitha leaving.
Instead, a new voice came to her ears and she snapped her head up as Guiche de Gramont stood in front of her in all his frilly glory. Actually he was even more ridiculous-looking than normal with a shirt that not only showed off his hairless chest, but also had puffed up shoulders and extra frills around the sleeves.
"I see you're not above the pleasures of the flesh, Louise the Zero" he said with a smirk.
"You're quite the hypocrite, seeking the bosom of another woman while berating me for doing the same!"
"Shut up, Guiche!" she hissed at the offending boy. "Don't compare me with yourself, you philanderer!"
"Did you look that up before you came here, Vallière?" he replied without missing a beat. He held his petaled wand up to his face as if it was a real rose. "Someone like you who spends time only with books could never understand love the way I... do."
Tabitha looked up from her book and gave him the dullest of looks, but neither of the two noticed it nor when she went back to reading.
"Maybe if you didn't spend so much time fooling around you'd have been here at the correct time!"
He shrugged nonchalantly and instead of denying her accusation he simply took it in stride. "I can't help that women adore me, Vallière." he said theatrically. "If you weren't so frigid perhaps you would understand that, as well!"
"Why you-"
"Ahem."
Both of them paused in their battle of words to look to whoever had the courage to interrupt them and froze completely.
There stood Professor Colbert in his best teacher's robes, holding his staff in one hand as it rested on the ground while leveling a stare at the two students. He had the look on his face that any child who had ever done something bad knew and almost instinctively feared. It was one of anger and disappointment combined with the look of 'why-did-you-do-this-when-I-specifically-told-you-not-to?'.
They both shrank back from his gaze and without knowing it, both pictured rolling storm clouds above the furious professor's head.
"You two" he growled at them "are in serious trouble."
For a moment they thought he would strike them down where they stood and shuffle some dirt over their mangled corpses, but then the moment was broken when he suddenly let out a loud sigh. "Or so I'd like to tell you?"
"Eh?" "What?" They both asked at the same time, only to stop and glare at the other.
The balding professor had to clear his throat once more to make them refocus their attention on him before he continued.
"For some reason and despite my own vehement objections, Headmaster Osmond have decided to allow this duel."
This time, both of them were wise enough not to try interject anything else, and held their tongues while they waited for him to continue.
"Therefore as your teacher I have decided to act as the impartial judge of this duel, and I will do so according to the dueling laws laid down by our Founder." he told them with a voice of firm resolution, taking care to pronounce each word. "Thus you will respect my judgment and will not question me or my decisions. If and when the say the fight is over, the fight is over. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Professor!" they both shouted in unison.
Colbert started to pace around the circle that had been formed by the now highly-attentive crowd of students around the two duelers. Even Tabitha had decided to put down her book and was watching them with a kind of detached boredom.
"Will you battle the other directly or through any form of proxy?"
"By proxy." came the answer from both once again, although this time Guiche couldn't help himself.
"And what exactly are you going to fight with, hm?" he taunted her. "I'm afraid your army of imaginary friends isn't going to cut it this time."
Although he wouldn't admit it out loud, Colbert had to agree with the Gramont boy. He had seen the dug-in building that Louise's familiar had become with his own eyes, and the summoning of golems required a certain amount of skill.
A skill that while it was a little awkward and unpolished, Guiche did indeed possess.
"They're not imaginary!" she shouted at him, making him smirk as he got the rise out of her that he wanted. "They're just... late." she finished lamely.
Turning away from them she drew her wand and whispered under her breath. "Legion, please tell me something is coming?"
"Affirmative. The mechanoids were dispatched to your location less than 15 minutes ago."
She bit her lip. It had taken her and Professor Colbert about 20 minutes to get to the location by foot. She really, really hoped that these mech-whatsit were faster than that.
"Hm. Well until miss Vallière's fighters arrive, why don't you summon yours Mr. Gramont?"
He knew this was hedging it a bit when it came to his promised impartiality, but this had been against the poor girl from the start. He would have no choice but to declare it her loss if nothing did arrive, but he could buy her a little more time for them to arrive.
"Very well." Guiche said, and with a flick of his wand, four petals dislodged from the rose shape he had fashioned it into and flew out into the air. "Come! Bronze golem, Valkyrie!"
Each of the petals flashed once before manifesting into tall humanoid suit of armors made from polished bronze. All in the shapes of women, they had thin waists, wide hips and the breastplates were shaped in such a fashion as to resemble generous bosoms.
Louise wasn't very impressed, and she made no attempts to hide it.
"Really, Guiche? You made them into female golems?" she snarked at him. "Have you no shame?"
"Of course! Even you should know I have the utmost respect for the beautiful, sweeping curves of the womanly form." he replied in his usual, airy fashion.
"Really? Because they don't look anything like the real deal."
"And what would you know about that, Zero? You who might as well be a boy for all the development you've had!"
Louise grit her teeth at that, her lack of curves was a sore point to her and she really hated it when someone pointed it out. It took a herculean effort of willpower not to retort as she waited for him to fall in the hole he'd dug for himself.
"While me on the other hand have done great amounts of research! And these beautiful Valkyries of mine reflect it!"
"Oh?" came the voice of Montmorency from behind him. "I would like to hear more about this... 'research' of yours." she said from where she stood with her arms folded and a sour look on her face.
To his credit, Guiche seemed to realize what he'd admitted to and tried to backpedal. "W-well I..."
Crunch. Clatter.
All students and Professor Colbert who had been watching the exchange with a combination of exasperation and amusement turned to look at the spot where la Vallière's familiar had smashed through the wall of the Academy. No one had bothered to even try fixing it yet, but that was far from anybody's mind as a black-armored man appeared on the pile of brick and mortar.
Then another, and another, and another.
This early in the morning, that particular section of the wall just so happened to be in the shade and more details became apparent as they stepped out into the light. In stark difference to Guiche's rather gaudy golems, these were covered completely from head to toe in sleek, form fitting black armor. Offset slightly by the pale pink accents and the blunted-triangle symbol of Nod that decorated their pauldrons, the students nevertheless parted before them as quickly as they could as they marched towards their Master.
And march they did. It chilled Colbert to the bone how even though they came over the ruined wall one by one, they fell perfectly in step with each other the moment they touched the ground. The front visors of their helmets were an opaque crimson and each one carried what looked vaguely like a musket, but only in the sense that a butter knife resembled a sword.
When they first appeared his first instinct had been to question who they were and why they had come, but as they lined up in front of Louise he could see that each one was the exact same size as the other. This was a feat that was very difficult to achieve when people were involved, as everyone had slight differences in height and build.
But this made no sense! Unless...
"Did she actually manage to summon a Dollmaker?"
Dollmaker was a general term used to describe a type of familiar that could, in turn, summon additional familiars of their own. Often these were humanoids of various sizes, closely resembling the dolls for which they were named. They were fairly rare and whoever had the luck to summon one was considered likely to become a great leader in the future. It was said that the first King of Tristain, Albertus William Tristean the First had been the master of a Dollmaker. It had supplied him with a nearly inexhaustible supply of durable shock troops which in turn had allowed him to conquer the land now named after him.
Hushed whispers started immediately as the grim line of stood perfectly still before their Master, and Guiche for all his bravado could not help the growing feeling that he just might had bitten off more than he could chew.
"Those aren't golems, are they?"
"They look more like people, to me."
"No, no! Look how everything about them are uniform!"
"I thought you said she summoned a giant bug, not a private army!"
Had he? No! This had to be a trick of some kind, Guiche reasoned to himself.
There was absolutely no way that Louise the Zero could have somehow gained additional familiars (because that would have been heresy, if nothing else!) and if they were truly golems, why hadn't she just summoned them like a real mage? Luckily, he knew just the thing to put her in her place!
"Professor!" he shouted to gain Colbert's attention.
"Isn't it customary to use the Animus Domini spell for official duels?" he asked innocently.
The Professor frowned, that was not a normal spell for a mage of his age to have even heard about.
Animus Domini meaning "Intent to be Owner" in Ancient Brimirian , was an ancient spell that had been used for millennia in order to settle minor disputes over ownership between mages. The idea was that all mages left behind a form of magical residue on things they considered important to them, and the spell's purpose was to trace that residue back to its source. It required very little willpower and could be cast by any mage with only the two words of its name, illuminating said residue according to their element.
Red for Fire, blue for Water, white for Wind and yellow for Earth. No one was quite sure what the color of Void was and sometimes odd colors appeared, but unless it was cast by many people at once it was fairly reliable. In fact, a great deal of people had tried to lay claim to its creation and some arguments about it had lasted for decades.
In the end, tired of the constant bickering over a simple utility spell, the Church put it's foot down and declared that it was created by none other than the Founder Brimir himself! Not surprisingly, all arguments over whom it belonged to ceased practically overnight as no one wanted to be tried for blasphemy.
"Very well then, Mr. Gramont." Colbert eventually agreed. "Since you appear to know it, why don't you go first?"
"But of course!" he replied with a flourish, holding his wand out in front of him. "Animus Domini!"
In less than a heartbeat, both the tip of his wand and his bronze golems were engulfed in a shimmering haze the color of sun-baked earth, signifying that those were indeed his.
Professor Colbert nodded in satisfaction before turning to Louise who was looking slightly less sure than she had a moment ago. "And now you, miss Vallière."
She hesitated for a moment in casting a spell she'd never even heard of, steeling herself she copied Guiche's movement with her own wand and called out the name of the spell.
"Animus Domini!"
A haze of color in the same color as her hair surrounded the tip of her wand and despite the lack of an explosion, she feared for a moment that she had failed. But then a row of runes flashed into existence on the back of the left hand of each of the dark soldiers, clearly visible to all where they rested on top of their muskets.
"No way!"
"They actually do belong to Louise?!"
"My eyes must be deceiving me!"
"Surely this must be a trick of some kind."
"Yeah! Where's all the explosions?"
"Who are you and what have you done with her Zero?"
Finally having enough of the whispers, Colbert slammed the end of his staff into the ground and a huge gout of fire erupted from the top. "If you are all quite done bickering like schoolchildren!"
"But Professor... we are schoolchildren."
He chose to ignore that and instead pressed on. "This is the spell of our most Holy Founder and will not be questioned!"
Satisfied with the silence that followed, he then held his staff out and chanted the traditional Oath of the Battle. "O great Father Brimir, I ask that you turn your eyes to this battle and bless whomever is its victor in Your name."
"In Your name." the crowd echoed as he stepped back, allowing the Louise and Guiche to face each other properly.
A long silence passed between them as the wind whispered against the stonework of the castle, and made the grass billow like waves upon the sea.
She expected him to try to engage her in some kind of pre-battle quip, but was surprised when he suddenly threw his hand forward.
"Valkyries, attack!" he shouted, and his brass golems shot forward the moment the last syllable had left his lips.
Not going to be outdone, she copied his actions and said the first words that came to her.
"Fight for Nod!" and just like the golems that opposed her, the reaction was instant.
All four snapped their weapons up with perfect synchronization, and four sharp cracks rang out across the Vestri Court.
Bronze was better than iron but inferior to steel, and before this moment no one would have believed it if someone had said that soft lead wrapped in copper would be used to defeat it. They were wrong.
Large holes were punched through decorative helmets as they were penetrated by 5.56 millimeter Jacketed Hollow Points and were reduced to scrap. Normally, JHP was ineffective against armor but the armor in question was not nearly as tough as that which that statement was based on.
Guiche and everyone that hadn't already hit the dirt at the sound of the detonations felt their mouths hang open at the sheer destruction wrought by a single volley from those black golems.
She herself had just barely had time to slap her hands over her ears but now she grinned like the cat that caught the canary. Setting her hands on her hips she laughed in a similar way that her tormentors did whenever she had messed up in the past.
"Bwahahaha! Did you really think you could defeat me with such weak golems?" she taunted him gleefully. "Maybe you should change your name from 'Guiche the Bronze' to 'Guiche the Wet Paper!'"
"Grrr..." now it was his turn to be angry.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go down! He was supposed to be victorious in this battle, not the no-talent Vallière!
With some effort he collected himself back together, and the change on his face made her stop laughing.
"Oh but you forget one thing, Zero!"
"Oh really?" she asked him. "It appears to me that you have lost all your pawns while I still have mine."
"Indeed so."
Louise frowned a little, she didn't expect him to admit it. "Then what are you going on about? Submit!"
"I will not submit!" he smiled. "...as long as I still have MORE VALKYRIES!"
"Crap!" she thought as she realized what he was doing. "I forgot that each of those stupid petals is another one of his golems!"
With a sweep of his wand, every one of the petals of his rose wand came off and swirled around him for a moment before they manifested fully.
Surrounded by no less than five times his original amount (and incidentally, the number of golems Louise had) it was now his turn to laugh.
"I outnumber you five to one, Louise the Zero!" he cried triumphantly. "Your toy soldiers have fired their bullets and have yet to reload, they won't stand up to my Valkyries now!"
"Surrender now and you will not be harmed!"
He paused a moment for effect. "...much!"
Colbert couldn't help but frown at this rather telling show of poor sportsmanship, but at the same time he knew he couldn't really interfere at this point.
"Suffering to the conquered, eh?" he thought, remembering the old adage often used for duels. He'd step in if he deemed that neither could continue fighting, but until that point Guiche had practically free reins.
Louise frowned as she realized the truth of his statement. Had she become overconfident because of her previous victory?
As the bronze golems that represented her enemy, she resolved that even if she did go down, she would do so as a Noble!
"Soldiers!" she called out, and her four black golems instantly came to attention. "Hold your weapons high!"
A series of clicks echoed through the courtyard as they raised their muskets to their shoulders, although it took her a moment to realize it did in fact come from them.
"Clickety-click?"
This time, Guiche didn't even bother with a fancy move and with a vain toss of his golden locks, he called out his orders. "Destroy them."
As they surged forward, Louise didn't have the chance to give one of her own when to her surprise, her soldiers spoke in deep, metallic voices.
"In the name of Louise!"
And no one really expected what happened next.
For each time a musket was fired, the shooter needed to first pour in the black powder, push it in with a ramrod, drop in the lead ball and then push it down as well. This was the generally accepted method and since any mage worth his salt could easily defeat a musketeer, nobody had bothered to try and advance the technology and it was considered perfected.
Thus it was of great surprise as Guiche's mighty Valkyries were positively shredded in a storm of metal as her golems, her Militants fired their weapons at full auto.
The only reason that none of the students got hurt was that they had all quickly moved away from where these terrifying black golems had been pointing their weapons, and thus avoided an otherwise grisly fate.
Louise watched grimly as the mighty guns supplied by Legion turned the enemy into what was basically metallic confetti, peppering Guiche with sharp metal shards in the process.
He had taken a lucky, glancing blow to the side which had felled him like a sack of potatoes and just barely had time to curl up in fetal position as his creations were spread across the field.
The thunderstorm was over as soon as it came, as the soldiers let go of the triggers the moment the last Valkyrie was down in a show of perfect trigger discipline. Her ears were ringing from the rapport of their guns, and her nose wrinkled at the unfamiliar scent of burnt Cordite, but she had won.
"N-no more." Guiche whimpered from the ground where he lay bleeding. It was just a fleshwound, but he had no idea what the word even meant and by this point was completely certain that he'd never see another day.
Shards of bronze crunched under black-armored combat boots as the four identical soldiers stepped up to the boy. One of them looked over to Louise and spoke in the same metallic voice that although similar, did not belong to Legion.
"Your orders, Commander?"
"Please, no more! I give up!" he wailed in terror as he looked up with one eye at the four above. "I'll do anything! Just spare me!"
"It's alright, the fight is over." she said, somewhat numbly. Realization setting in at what she had just subjected him to. "You.. um.. may return to base." she finished quietly.
"By your command."
Guiche continued sobbing in shock and terror, too frightened to feel the pain, and she looked down at the him as she waited for her ears to stop ringing. Distantly, she heard someone calling for a healer and she wasn't quite sure if this had been what she wanted.
Colbert swallowed hard as he watched the Academy healers rush in and levitate Guiche away to be fixed, and unknowingly he had the same thought running through his head as everyone else.
"Louise had summoned her own personal Death Squad."
"The winner is... Louise de la Vallière." he said quietly into the still air that still smelled like gunfire and fear.
Well, this ended a bit darker than I originally anticipated, but at least no one was killed? I'd been wanting to write this part for ages now and I hope I didn't disappoint anyone.
Yeah I kind of made up the concepts of Animus Domini and a Dollmaker, as well as the name for the first king of Tristain. I don't remember ever seeing them officially name one, but I figured since they had a Royal House there must have been one. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone with that, haha.
As always, please leave a review.