AN: Apologies for the late update, not to mention the short chapter. In any case, after this, all other updates will be at least 5k words each, and I'll be updating every two weeks or so. As always, reviews and critiques are welcome!

Louise faced her mother with a bright smile on her face. She was sure that once she heard the good news, she'd praise her just like she did Big Sis Eleanor when she graduated from the Academy!

"Mother, mother, the results from the Academy just came back!" The diminutive girl was practically bouncing around with excitement. Waving her wand in the air, a small spark of flame lit up before quickly growing into a long cord of fire. It slithered around Louise like a serpent of flame, before dissipating into a shower of red embers.

"I've successfully become a Line-class mage!"

Beaming from ear-to-ear, Louise looked on has her mother approached, her body trembling with giddy anticipation. This was the moment she'd waited for, the moment when her mother would recognize her as something other than an abject failure!

As her mother neared her, however, Louise was gripped with a sudden, chilling fear. The look in her eyes was not the one she expected at all; rather than the pride and joy she was expecting, instead, she found herself staring at eyes filled with nothing but deep loathing, cold and dark as a dungeons walls. It was a look that had plagued her thoughts for years, and seeing it now was more than just frightening – it was terrifying to the point of paralysis. Louise was rooted on the spot, feeling like a deer cornered by a lioness; her legs wanted her to run, yet her fear overrode all other forms of thought or action, and all she could do was watch as the demon her mother had become approach her.

"M-mother?"

"What made think that you could lie to me so easily, Louise?"

At her words, Louise's head recoiled, shock and hurt evident on her face, and she felt her legs begin shaking as Karin stood before her, unfamiliar and cold.

"Well?"

"Mother, what are you talking about!? I'm using magic, I'm a true noble now, I –!"

Rather than listen to her, Karin turned around in apparent dismissal, and the words in Louise's mouth died in her mouth, before a new, physical pain shot through her limbs. Heartbreak was replaced by horror as Louise looked down at her limbs. Hair coiled around them like a mass of thin, dry snakes, and squeezed with enough force to leave bruises. Louise's pointed her wand in desperation, but found that it was gone from her hand, and in its place was the branch of a dead tree.

"No Lies Now, Louise," an ear grating hiss of a voice came from the large, monstrous mouth, and as it opened wider to devour her, Louise could see clearly, glowing with a faint purple light, staring at her through the vast darkness of the creatures gaping maw –

"NO!"

Louise bolted upwards wide awake and hyperventilating. Slowly, Louise curled up and shivered as the aftereffects of her nightmare ran through her.

"It was just a nightmare, nothing more! Get yourself together, Louise!"

Tried as she might have, Louise still could not calm down, and continued to shake for moments afterwards. Eventually, she calmed down, but the fear still did not leave her. Shaking her head, she got down from the bed she was on and took in her surroundings with the concern of someone who was in an unfamiliar home.

The room she was simple enough at first glance. It was almost empty save a spare amount of wooden furniture and the bed she was on, but as she looked closer, it dawned on her that there was no way it could belong to a peasant; the soft, expensive-looking cotton sheet that covered her and the bed, as well as the wooden furniture with exquisite and detailed carvings of knights and demons adorning them them was testament to that. The carvings in particular are what caught Louise's attention - the cost of hiring an artist capable of crafting such high quality carvings would be astronomical.

Wondering if whoever had brought her here was a noble, Louise was struck with a sudden thought: If she was recognized, it was highly likely that her mother would be informed of where she was, and subsequently how she had gotten here. Following that train of thought, Louise' heart rate sped-up; her mother would inevitably find out about her failure, but staying here guaranteed that she would be forced to face her sooner rather than later, which something she far from prepared for.

Kicking the bed sheets off herself in a panic, Louise bolted towards the single door inside the room. Her hand grasping its handle, Louise flung it open only for her to run straight into something, accompanied by a flash of bright light. Louise landed on her rear, her head spinning from the impact and she could have sworn she had broken her nose from the pain coming from her face; she felt like she had run into a wall.

"Well, it seems you're doing fine."

A dry voice reached Louise as she recovered from her disorientation. Looking up, she saw an unfamiliar face staring back at her. A woman in her late teens, with short blonde hair and a pair of leaf green eyes that stared at her with a mixture of interest, and mild annoyance. She was tall, at least as tall as Kirche was, though nowhere near as shapely. Her outfit consisted of a white shawl over a blue dress, both of which were tied by frilled red ribbons, all of which were cut from high quality fabrics; simple, yet not inexpensive, much like the room she was staying in.

Realizing she had just run into the owner of the house, Louise quickly shot to her feet, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

"I - I apologize for running into you!"

Rather than respond to her apologies, the woman simply nodded and walked passed Louise, and placed a book down on one of the ornate desks. Louise's attention was on her, so when the door behind her suddenly shut, the small pinkette jumped a foot into the air, turned around, and felt her mouth open in wonder; floating in the air in front of her, a small, blonde fairy in dressed in the fashion of a village girl stared back at her, unconcerned with Louise's gaze. The small creature floated passed her and landed on the woman's lap, looking pleased with itself as the woman stroked its hair.

"How do you like my presentation?" The woman's voice was a half-soprano, with a quality that commanded attention. Added with her steady and sure tone, the woman's image was suddenly superimposed with that of her mothers, and Louise flinched back for a fraction of a second.

The woman frowned, looking disappointed with her reaction. "What's the matter?"

Shaking her head, Louise quickly responded, unwilling to let herself look bad in front of her host, despite her inner turmoil. Shattered though her pride may be, she still had her upbringing. The thought of acting rude towards her host kicked in a natural instinct that temporarily overrode her panic. "N-nothing, I . . . was just a bit surprised. What do you mean by presentation? Do you mean that, uh, fairy?"

"Fairy? Ah, you mean Shanghai here? Yes, I did design her with a fairy in mind, unfortunately, she doesn't nearly have as much sentience. Here, look."

Responding to an unseen command, the small creature lifted into the air once more, and floated towards Louise, spreading its arms and legs as it did so, looking as though it was about to jump Louise. The woman stretched out her hand, drawing her attention, and her fingers twitched slightly; at the same time, the fairy brought down its right hand to pet Louise's head. Despite not being so shocked this time, Louise was still astonished. Craning her head backwards to get a full view of the 'fairy', Louise put two-and-two together.

"A doll?"

The woman's satisfied smile confirmed it for her. Stepping backwards, Louise looked at the construct in amazement. No matter how close she looked, there were absolutely no signs of artifice on the doll. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a creature of flesh-and-blood. It was even capable of making expressions!

"How were you able to do this?" Louise asked, walking around the doll with an excited spark in her eyes. The woman smiled and twitched her fingers; in response, Shanghai gave a graceful spin and a curtsy.

"It's quite simple really. Just a bit of magic and skill with my fingers - well, I suppose the explanation is simple, not so much the application," said Alice conversationally, all the while making her doll dance for Louise's entertainment.

Suddenly, Louise stiffened and her expression froze.

"Magic?" she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

The woman raised a brow, and Shanghai stopped moving. "Is something the matter?"

"Are . . . are you noble?"

Staring at her strangely, the woman shook her head. "I might have been before, but I've left that behind now. I've better things to focus on than that. I'll admit, thought, that is a strange question for me; why do you ask?"

Louise's shoulders sagged in relief, and she sighed deeply, feeling her anxiety leave her. If her host was someone no longer concerned with nobility, then in all likelihood, she wouldn't know about her situation. "Nothing important, but thank you anyway. May I ask how you came to help me?"

"I was collecting material for my doll crafting when I felt a large explosion magic nearby. I am acquainted with a certain someone who's fond of producing things like that, and wherever she goes, it's almost certain that trouble follows. Naturally, with the explosion being so close to home, I decided to investigate. Imagine my surprise when I found you, practically bathed in blood, and the corpse of a monster nearby." Despite her accounting of such strange events, the woman hardly seemed to be surprised. In fact, she seemed to be rather jaded; it was a bit jarring for Louise to hear the epilogue of her near death situation to be recounted in such a manner. Louise shuddered as she remembered the creature that nearly devoured her. She'd never hear nor read about such a creature before.

"What . . . was that thing?"

"From what remained of the corpse, I believe it was a 'Two-Mouthed Woman', a kind of monster that is created from depraved feelings of gluttony," the woman explained, "around here, they rarely show their true forms, but I suppose it made an exception because you're an Outsider."

Louise could hear the capital in the word, which interested her somewhat. "Outsider?"

"Our term for those that come from 'outside the border'; I wasn't sure, but as you're unfamiliar with the term, I guess you really are one. I have to say, however, you're probably the first Outsider that could use magic that hasn't started an Incident the moment you got here." The woman was looking at Louise appreciatively, as though she had done her a great favor, though Louise had no idea what she could have done to earn such a look. "It's refreshing, really. In any case, we've been talking so long and yet I hardly know your name."

"Ah! I'm sorry about that, it slipped my mind. I apologize if it seems rude"

"There's no problem. Forgetting to introduce yourself is far from the worse thing I've experience in regards to introductions," she said lightheartedly, before her face turned dark and she stared off to the side. "Marisa ran me into the ground before I even knew hers, after all."

"Eh . . . ?"

"Ignore that last statement; it was just some bad memories. So, your name?"

Straightening herself, Louise was about to curtsy before she realized she wasn't wearing a skirt; all she had on were thin silk pajamas and bloomers. Deciding to bow instead, Louise introduced herself. "Louise Françoise de . . . la . . ."

Her voice trailed off and grew cold as she was about to announce her family name. Her former family name. It was no longer hers, not after what had happened, not after it was apparent what she was. Biting on her lip, Louise continued.

"Louise Françoise."

The woman looked at Louise with some interest and a hint of concern, but otherwise did nothing. Standing up, she gave an elegant curtsy, an action, which, much to Louise's amusement, was mirrored by her doll.

"Greetings, Louise Françoise. I am Alice Margatroid, it's a pleasure to meet you."