A Call Beyond

by Amygdala40

When Louise initially fails the Summoning Ritual she tries again, pleading internally for something, anything to answer her call. Her heartfelt plea reaches far out, even to the outer reaches of the Cosmos where the Great Ones reside. And the Great Ones are sympathetic in spirit…

7. Wondrous Rune

A Call Beyond
Chapter Seven: Wondrous Rune

The announcement that she might be a void mage hit Louise hard but after getting over the initial shock she started to entertain the idea. And the more she considered it, the more it made sense. It would explain many things. Why she could cast magic without a wand. Why the traditional theory of magic didn't seem to match her spell casting and why she had yet to have any success with casting elemental spells. Deep in thought, Louise decided to look up from the table where her eyes met Osmond's. Both he and Colbert had remained silent after dropping the revelation on her, giving her some time to digest it.

"Suppose that we accept the idea for now." Louise eventually broke the silence. "Where does this take us?"

Osmond answered immediately, as if expecting that question to come.

"Well, Miss Vallière, that would make you the first void mage in six millennia since the passing of the Founder. Undoubtedly a big deal. And yet, I would strongly advise you to hide this fact at least for the time being. I'm sure you can imagine the political ramifications were it to be known that you are a void mage."

After a little consideration, Louise nodded. "Seems reasonable".

She could indeed imagine how it might upset the global political region, if it came to light that Tristain possessed a void mage. It would certainly invite a lot of attention from Romalia and the perhaps even from the Pope himself. Were he to declare her a fraud, for either the right or wrong reasons it would strike a major blow to Tristain-Romalian relations and Tristain's alliance with Romalia was one of the small country's main deterrents against its larger neighbors of Gallia and Germania. And in case the Pope did believe her claim of being a void mage, that just might make Germania sufficiently frightened to try a preemptive attack. And besides that, the religious craze from Albion might start spreading to Tristain.

In recent times, a new movement had erupted in Albion. They called themselves 'Reconquista' and demanded the retaking of the Holy Land, birthplace of Brimir but lost to the Elves since his passing. Spearheaded by one Oliver Cromwell, the movement had remained rather small until a private letter addressed to Cromwell from the Romalian Pope had surfaced. The Pope had stated that "While it is not within my station to comment on purely worldly matters, when viewed in isolation, I find the cause of retaking the Holy Land a most noble one." This was as much as an endorsement as was possible and soon after the movement had started to spread like wildfire.

Or like the plague as certain members of the nobility had put it. The nobles of Albion had come to the conclusion that the idea of a grand crusade went against their interest and as a whole, and the response to the Reconquista's demands had been one of platitudes and empty promises. From the last rumors Louise had heard, tensions between the Reconquista and the aristocracy were rising, resentment tending towards hostility and she knew that in some circles, the possibility of an Albion civil war was being discussed. If it got out that she was a void mage, those lunatics might turn their sight on Tristain and, by whipping the population into a frenzy, lead the country to either a civil war or a doomed crusade. No, the more she thought about it, the more Louise agreed that keeping quiet about her status as a void mage was the right decision.

Osmond then went on.

"Miss Vallière, I should now turn your earlier question back on you. What do you intend to do next?"

Louise considered it for a moment. In some ways this was actually rather convenient for her.

"Seeing as I am still unable to cast spells in the normal way, I would like to be exempt from classes. I no longer believe they have anything to teach me. However, I would like to stay at the academy."

Osmond nodded. "That is not an unreasonable demand and I will certainly allow you to remain here for as long as you wish. But how will you spend your time? I am sorry to say that I know of no way to teach you void magic."

"I would like to begin my own research into the subject matter, actually. And I would like to request your help in this." Louise directed a look at Colbert. "I have already begun a small foray into the matter of runes but the subject matter is closer related to history than I had expected."

As soon as the topic came up, Colbert's eyes lit up like a fire.

"Runes! Truly a fascinating topic. Most of what we know about the date back to the Founder, but evidence of runes of even earlier make have been discovered. There are also those who claim that runes originate from the Elves. In fact, this claim is still debated among scholars today! With so many applications, runes are a sadly underappreciated art. Did you know that no new runes have been discovered in more than a millennium? Nothing short of a travesty."

Colbert continued his impromptu lecture with such enthusiasm and fervor that Louise was unable to keep up. When he started to speak even faster, descending to the point of rambling, Louise decided to cut him off entirely.

"I take it then, Professor, that you are willing to help me in this endeavor?"

Colbert took a deep breath before answering. He had apparently only stopped speaking because he ran out of air.

"Apologies, Miss Vallière, I occasionally get a little worked up when such matters come up."

Quite an understatement. Still, Louise gave an understanding nod. She actually really liked Colbert, an opinion shared by a large part of the student body. The man was patient and kind, always willing to answer additional questions from students or lend a helping hand where he could. That he was a little eccentric did not blemish her view of him.

"Although I don't believe my interest in runes is quite as strong as yours, I understand what it is like to be passionate about a subject."

Louise really did understand. Only, she would probably need to keep quiet about her particular interest. She remembered how her conversation with Tabitha regarding the sea had went. Then again, what if someone were to come to her and ask? Would she then just launch into a tirade about how great the sea was? Yes, she probably would. She looked at Colbert again, giving the man a smile. Only this time, she was not trying to be understanding as a polite gesture. She looked at the man as one would at a kindred spirit. Colbert must have noticed that particular look, as he returned the smile knowingly.

"Yes, I think you do understand. Knowledge is a cup from which it is difficult to stop partaking once a taste had been had."

Osmond weighed in, nodding. "Such is the path of a scholar. Yet I must stress that all research into the unknown should always be tempered with caution. This world has been home to too many fools who ended up being consumed by their own research, often with disastrous consequences."

Colbert nodded gravely.

"The Headmaster is entirely correct. I would love to help you in your studies, Miss Valliére, on the condition that any discoveries made are discussed with us. This is not meant to limit you, but instead we want to provide you with a safe environment for when you wish to experiment with new spells."

Louise was a little slower to nod this time. On one hand, being able to bounce ideas off two great minds would no doubt help her. On the other hand, she still felt that she had secrets she did not wish to share. Like the existence of a Great One. If she were to let that tidbit slip, she could easily be declared a heretic. She doubted that Colbert and Osmond would be quick to persecute her, but it was better to be on the safe side. But still, the deal was too good to not take.

"I can agree to that." She eventually answered. "Then, will I also be allowed access to the restricted section of the library?"

The academy library was impressive in and of itself, but it also held a certain mystique. There was a section labeled as "Fenrir" that was off-limits to anyone but teachers. Students had long speculated as to what secrets were held there.

"I will inform the librarian that you are to have unlimited access." Osmond agreed easily. "However, I must inform you that the restricted section is not home to artifacts of terrible power or tomes filled with forbidden knowledge, regardless of what some rumors might claim. No, we have a vault for those things. The restricted section is restricted simply because most of the books are very old and some even irreplaceable. You must be careful with them."

"Of course, Headmaster. I shall be as gentle as possible."

"Good, good. I believe that should settle everything for now. You may go, Miss Vallière, but remember that you can always come to either me or Colbert should anything come up."

Colbert was quick to affirm that.

"Indeed. I will have classes to teach, of course. But outside of class, you can typically find me in the library or in my room."

"Thank you, both of you. Both for sharing this with me and in offering your assistance. I am most grateful." Louise stood up and did a small curtsey, as befitting of a noblewoman.

"We are both teachers. We have a duty to our students. Especially those with special circumstances."

Louise gave a final smile before turning to leave the office. She had found out something amazing, something that would explain the irregularity of her magic and know she had been given free rein to study it in depth in addition to her own projects. This was going to be great.

(***)

It had since been a few weeks and things were going great. Louise had thought that her absence from classes would raise suspicions, but it seemed that nobody had really cared all that much. She was approached once by a curious Kirche and asked what she had been up to. When she responded that she was helping Professor Colbert with a project on history the redhead had just straight up turned around and walked away. Louise had been surprised by the admittedly rather extreme reaction, but she supposed that some people simply didn't have an appreciation for history.

Her studies into runes had progressed by leaps and bounds ever since Colbert has started helping her out. Like she had feared, there was no one book that provided an overview of the art. Instead, it was something that needed to be pierced together from hundreds of different books, sometimes providing contradictory claims depending on the time during which they were written. But it seemed that Colbert had already done all the legwork previously as he had quickly prepared a lecture when she had asked. Only this time, it had been delivered in a way much more easily understood. Colbert had started from the beginning, referencing a dozen books to paint a complete picture. He would frequently take a break in order to provide the historical context necessary to interpret some claims and when contradicting claims were encountered, he was quick to point to an obscure passage in a book completely unrelated to runes that nevertheless shed light on the matter. He was an excellent teacher when he wanted to be, but it seemed that he was an even better researcher.

Louise was impressed by how much she had learnt, but mostly how interesting it had been. She had taken up the studies of runes in the hope that she would be able to generalize the knowledge and apply it to figuring out the intricacies of the two special symbols she had envisioned herself, namely the sea and the name of the Great One who resided in it. But what had surprised Louise was that the symbols she was thinking of might indeed be runes, at least in the older interpretation. Apparently, back in Brimir's time they were called 'arcane symbols'. In fact, in the oldest books, she had frequently come across references to the 'arcane'. When asked, Colbert had answered that it was an archaic term used to refer all magic dating back to even before Brimir's time. Its usage had died out as magic had been organized into fields and spells. Soon thereafter, 'arcane symbols' or 'arcane runes' had just become 'runes'. Still, Louise found the term to be quite remarkable and thought that it more astutely described the symbols she had envisioned. This had gotten her to seek out more references to the arcane and attempt to form an understanding of the view of magic in pre-Brimiric times.

This, of course, necessitated that she read through the oldest books, all of which were placed in the restricted section. Getting access hadn't been difficult albeit Louise cold feel the librarian watching her with eyes like a hawk every time she entered and left. No, what was a nuisance was that the restricted section was always rather dark, curtesy of there not being any windows. And since lighting as much as a candle was absolutely forbidden, as was bringing the books outside, Louise could only squint her eyes and try her best to read anyway. It also didn't help that the texts themselves were often sloppily handwritten in a small script. It was no wonder that most scholars wore glasses.

A few days had gone by with Louise not really making much progress in the matter apart from being able to exclude a growing number of books as being not useful to her immediate goal. Chasing a word had proven to be just as elusive as it had appeared from the onset. Eventually she had caved in and asked Colbert if he had any information to share on the topic.

He had pointed Louise to a number of books of varying ages, some from as far back as somewhat reliable records could be found and some as 'recent' as a few centuries since the passing of the Founder. Colbert had warned her that the topic matter was such that it would inevitably be framed in whatever general worldview was prominent at the time of a particular work's creation. And that proved true: The oldest records were frustratingly vague in their allusions to whatever 'Arcane arts' were at work in their communities although she did note a certain sense of devotion to the concept. In contrast, works written after Brimir's death either were clerical in origin or else borrowed heavily from scripture as any notion of magic prior to Brimir was either disregarded entirely or else regarded it as 'primitive superstition' with only a scarce few works referencing other, older, records. Louise thought that if she came across the saying "Brimir grated us the gift of magic, an act for which he shall always be revered as our Savior" one more time, she was just going to throw away whatever book it was written in.

In the end, balancing the different accounts in order to get a mostly unbiased view proved to be a delicate act and after a while, Louise noticed that she spent less time reading and more time comparing what she had read against her growing amount of notes. Said comparisons were held in the actual library since the facilities there were actually much better suited to reading and writing. During this time, she had also began a small game of trying to predict when the librarian would stare at her and then stare at him first. Whenever she succeeded, she would be awarded with a quiet grumble and quickly averted eyes which all just proved to be amusing enough to rejuvenate her spirits whenever she felt like she was stuck on something.

Unfortunately, the latter was none too uncommon seeing as a lot of books proved to be dead ends, or worse, contradicting an earlier work she had used as a baseline for comparisons, forcing Louise to review a lot of the same books again just in case they made similar references to this new fact or viewpoint. And then there was the very real danger of getting sidetracked. A couple of times, Louise had come across an actual reference to a manual of 'Arcane lore' only to discover that it had either been lost to time, was not held in the library or in the one instance were Colbert had managed to find a copy from his own collection, it proved to be just a collection of a madman's ramblings. Even Colbert had scratched his head and been unable to make sense of it. While such dead ends were altogether not particularly time consuming, they always left Louise with a certain sense of disappointment.

But what proved to be the true distraction from her original goal had come when Louise read a record of Brimir's life written in contemporary times. Interestingly, while Brimir was always referred to as 'The Founder' in texts after his passing, in this one he was referred as a 'Scholar of the Arcane'. This had prompted Louise to look into the life of the Founder. At first she seemed to have no end to the books on the subject available to her, but Louise noticed that most books were derived from the same original scripture, only adding a bit of the author's own bias to otherwise identical accounts of the same stories Louise already knew. Not once had she been able to find another reference to the Arcane and its possible connection to Brimir. Eventually, when she had gone to Colbert, he had told her that any such accounts would necessarily be old and most likely placed in the archives of Romalia, well out of reach of any aspiring historian.

Dejected, Louse had decided that enough was enough and had returned to her primary objective of studying the history of runes, regardless of what they were being called. Such was spent the remaining time of the second week of her independent studies until Louise noticed that the notes she had amassed were beginning to get just as messy as the books she were reading. It was time for a break.

(***)

Louise lay on her bed, her head filled with runes. Or rather, the history of runes. Louise had gotten so engrossed in her studies that she had failed to notice that she had yet to learn to learn any actual runes. When she had brought this up to Colbert, he had laughed in a good-natured manner and told her that it had taken her long enough to realize. He then went on to say that, now that she had a better understanding of the history, they would be able to move on to more practical matters. Louise had answered that she would need a few days first to get her notes in order which Colbert had readily agreed to.

So, now she had some time to kill. It was about noon, but Louise just lay on the bed in her room. She wanted to distance herself from her studies for a while to hopefully get an overview. Diving headfirst into a new field had proven to be a great way to get distracted after all, if the side project launched by her pursuit of the word "arcane" was any indication. She would need to take a step or two back, think about what she really wanted out of her studies and review her notes with that in mind. Bur first, she needed to rewind.

What should I do? Louise had honestly considered just sleeping for a day or two. It had actually been a while since she slept, since she had recently taken to practicing her simulated sleep state every night. She planned to, at some point, develop it into a spell to cure wounds, but after taking to heart Osmond's lecture on the virtue of caution, she had decided that she would instead practice this more innocent version first before she started cutting herself up. She was actually getting quite good at it. She still needed to close her eyes to block out visual noise, but she had succeeded in "sleeping" for a few hours while standing up. And she had "awoken" to find that she was not sore anywhere. She had also found that she needed only a scant amount of "sleeping" in order to wake up feeling refreshed. It was the same within the dream, if not even more pronounced there, but Louise had tried to wake after taking just the slightest dip in the waters only to find that most of the night had passed. Time just didn't seem to run in the same manner when within the dream. But now, she had a couple days' worth of free time and sleeping it all away honestly sounded rather attractive.

But still, silly as it might seem, Louse had held back on sleep for another reason too. When she was still confined to the infirmary, she had made a declaration. A declaration that she would prove herself worthy to once more gaze at the sea she now knew encircled the world. And she had meant every word. If she could simply return to the dream and gaze at the sea there, she felt it would cheapen the effect once she had accomplished her goal properly. So she would not go to sleep now or for the foreseeable future. This meant that she would have to find something else to do. But what? When thinking about what she used to do for fun, nothing really sounded all that fun anymore. Read a book? She had had too much to read lately. Order an exquisite meal and allow herself to be pampered by maids for a while? Thinking of the sea was more relaxing. Visit the baths? She still found the waters uncomfortable so going there for the pleasure of it was out. Perhaps visit the capitol? It wasn't that long of a ride from the academy but it would only really change the scenery and not the problem. She could go shopping for clothes, she supposed. Maybe find a nice new dress. Yet it seemed rather pointless since she wore the academy uniform every day and generally avoided the social events were one would have a chance to show off. In the end, maybe I should just go bother Kirche? It was a somewhat extreme option, but Louise thought that she had been falling a bit behind on social contact ever since she stopped going to class. The closest thing she had was history discussions with Colbert or occasionally exchanging nods with Tabitha when she met her in the library. Making her mind up, she went to find the redhead.

Doing so proved significantly more difficult than she expected. Louise didn't know where Kirche spent her time but assumed it would be somewhere where the girl would be easily visible. Such was not the case, apparently, as Louise had searched through most of the academy without any luck. It was only when she had gone outside that she had eventually noticed a speck of red at odds with the otherwise green scenery. Louise curiously found Kirche hunched down and hiding behind a tree, albeit sloppily. When the redhead noticed her approach, she quickly put a finger on her lips and motioned for Louise to get down as well. Now intrigued, Louise complied. After doing her best to hide her presence and huddling closer to Kirche, she spoke up in what was barely more than a whisper.

"What's happening?"

"Shh, she's coming." Kirche accentuated this point by pointing in the direction of the academy.

Before Louise had a chance to ask who was coming, the person in question soon showed themselves.

"Montmorency." Kirche helpfully pointed out.

Indeed, it was their classmate Montmorency de Montmorency. Louise had never spoken much with the girl and she doubted that Kirche had either seeing at Montmorency prided herself upon being a noblewoman in the most classical sense, which ran counter to Kirche's more lax way of being.

"Why are we looking at Montmorency from the shadows?" Louise eventually asked.

Kirche's expression turned into a malicious grin. "Just watch."

Upon closer inspection, Montmorency looked a little under the weather. Her blonde hair wasn't styled in her usual drills but instead hang straight down. She looked somewhat haggard as if she had slept poorly for a while and she walked around nervously, constantly turning her head, wary of nearby threat. Suddenly, a shrill voice rang out. Montmorency visibly flinched and began frantically looking for an escape route, but it was too late. He was already upon her.

"Mon Mon! The star of my eyes, captor of my heart! Why have you been hiding from me? I desire only to gaze upon your radiance!"

The one who just spat that out with seemingly complete sincerity was another one of Louise's classmates, Guiche de Gramont. Somewhat good looking, but rather vain and foppish in Louise's opinion, the young blond nevertheless had quite the reputation as a ladies' man. If Louise remembered correctly, he was actually engaged to none other than Montmorency. Though she couldn't ever remember anything like the display she was currently witnessing. She turned to Kirche only to find the redhead beside herself with laughter. At Louise's raised eyebrow she managed to stifle it to a giggling.

"I admit, I haven't been keeping up with the gossip for a while now, but how did that happen?" Louise inquired, curious.

"That's the best part, no one knows for sure! Although I do have certain…ideas about what happened." If Kirche's tone didn't give away exactly what kind of 'ideas' she was thinking of, her eyebrow waggling certainly got the point across.

"I see." Louise said, not really sure what else to say. "How long have they been like that?" She asked instead.

"Only for a few days now. Whatever she did, Guiche fell head over heels in love with her. Poor little Mon Mon has been attempting to flee from his attentions ever since."

Louise doubted the sincerity of the sympathy Kirche held for "poor little Mon Mon" seeing as the redhead was still snickering to herself. Nevertheless, that did explain most of the situation, but there was a detail Louise still felt was out of place.

"So that's why you're making an attempt of hiding out here in the woods. You've been stalking Montmorency?"

"Yes, yes I have".

Kirche sounded surprisingly nonchalant in her admission, almost like stalking was a respectable past time. Then again, maybe it was a common and accepted pastime back in Germania. Louise wouldn't put it past those barbarians.

"Anyways, were you looking for me?" Kirche asked as the two began walking back to the courtyard. Montmorency was running in circles while still being chased by Guiche. It reminded Louise of something she would see during a street performance in the capitol.

"Actually, I was. I didn't really have anything in mind, momentary bout of insanity, I suppose. Just wanted to get away from the books for a while."

"Ah, and so you came to see little old me. I'm flattered. Or is it because there is nobody else?"

"Yes." Louise answered simply. "Also, I'm not sure you can be little and old at the same time."

That got her a raised eyebrow. "Of course you can. Have you never seen one of the old crones mucking about in the cities, hunched back and all?"

It was as if a light went up in Louise's head. "I see, so that was who you were comparing yourself to. Yes, I can certainly see the resemblance." Louise looked Kirche over with a critical eye, finger son her chin in a thoughtful pose. "And the hunched back…it's begun already hasn't it. The back pains from carrying around so much useless fat? My condolences." Louise ended by looking at Kirche as one would at a widow at her husband's funeral.

Kirche huffed haughtily in response. "You try to be nice and all that you are met with is vitriol. I don't know why I even bother."

She did her best to sound very offended, but Louise could still detect a hint of amusement in her voice. It was then, that Montmorency ran over to them, Guiche still trailing behind her.

"Vallière!" Her tone sounded somewhat desperate. Almost pleading.

"Yes?"

"Vallière, you're like a super water mage or something now, right? Then can you fix my Guiche? He's been acting…strange lately".

Louise thought that 'strange' wasn't quite how she would describe the young man who was still passionately declaring his love for the girl, spewing lines that should make anybody blush from embarrassment. Luckily for him, it seemed Montmorency had taken up this task instead as the blonde girl was flushed completely red. She gave Louise a pleading look. Louise briefly reflected on what an odd thing it was for her to be wanted to solve a problem for once. It was actually quite a nice feeling. A shame that she would have to decline.

"I'm afraid that I'm still a novice when it comes to the healing arts. Besides…" she trailed off, giving Guiche another glance. "There's no cure for love."

"Oh, just laugh it up why don't you. Just like the rest." Montmorency sounded decidedly annoyed, especially when she nodded towards Kirche, presumably a representative of 'the rest'.

You think having to deal with the scorn of your peers for a few days is tough? Try a year. Louise found it difficult to hold sympathy for the girl. She didn't hold animosity either and certainly nothing like a grudge, but the truth was that she had never really liked Montmorency all that much, something she believed to be mutual. And something neither had made an attempt to fix. Still, when the blonde turned to leave, Louise called out to her.

"Wait! I think I have a spell that could help, after all."

A bit of an exaggeration considering she had just thought of said spell on the spot and had never practiced anything like it before. But it did manage to get Montmorency's attention.

"Truly? It's not something dangerous is it?" Her tone sounded a little dubious.

Louise thought that, considering her own reputation, it was perhaps justified to be apprehensive but she still considered it to be rather rude to blatantly mistrust someone you had just asked help from. Still, she answered, all smiles.

"No no, not dangerous in the slightest. It's a spell to calm emotions. I'm not sure it will be enough, but it might help."

Montmorency's look of dubiousness turned to one of slight hope instead.

"How long will it take you to cast the spell? Do you need any reagents?" She seemed eager.

Louise shook her head. "It shouldn't take long and I don't need any special reagents. I do, however, require Guiche to be still for the duration."

"Leave that to me!" Kirche broke into the conversation excitedly, having retrieved a length of rope from…somewhere. Louise had to ask.

"What's with the rope?"

"I always carry it with me in case of emergencies."

"What kinds of emergencies?"

"All kinds."

Louise shrugged and gestured towards a tree that would be suitable for their purposes.

"Let's get started then."

As Kirche tied Guiche to the tree with surprising skill, she kept extolling the virtues of rope, referencing example after example of famous adventurers having needed it to escape a variety of dangers. Louise thought it was rather convincing and was tempted to get some rope for herself after this. Just in case.

"There." Kirche eventually finished. After a moment's thought, she retrieved a piece of lace from somewhere else before tying it around Guiche's mouth as a gag. Louise gave her an appreciative nod. She needed to focus after all.

The idea was simple. She knew that the sea could drown out emotions so she would use that principle to rid Guiche of his excessive feelings of love. The difference was, of course, that Louise would offer her feelings to the sea whereas Guiche could do no such thing seeing as he wasn't aware of it. And she couldn't very well just introduce him to the sea and then teach him. No, she would need to do it without his knowledge and without his consent. Louise thought that if she could beforehand imbue some of the surrounding waters with the idea of 'accepting' whatever was in Guiche's mind and then guide them there but without materializing them, she could achieve the wanted effect. It was not going to be easy though. Louise took a deep breath and got out her wand. She didn't need it but she had to keep up appearances.

Her first attempt didn't end well. She was so used to materializing the waters around her, and they so used to be called upon to materialize, that she accidently ended up just splashing the side of Guiche's head with water. Kirche broke out in snickers again. Montmorency gave her an angry glare.

"Sometimes that's all it takes." Louise answered the unspoken question in a sagely manner. "But I'll cast the spell now, so don't be upset."

Louise then gently reached out to the surrounding waters. It was less difficult when she just took it slowly. She gently coaxed them to gather around her, awaiting her next command. And now, for the dangerous part. Louise thought of love. She had never experienced romantic love similar to Guiche's and love for the Princess or for Tristain would probably be too abstract. So instead, Louise thought of how she loved her elder sister Cattleya with all her heart. Then she imagined throwing that love away, letting it sink into the sea, but without actually going through with it. It was a delicate operation rather abstract, but Louise had enough mastery over her emotions at this point that she could picture it clearly. Ideally, this would cause the waters to 'hunger' for love when she would sent them into Guiche's mind. Hopefully they wouldn't take away memories of his sister or something instead. All in all, trying something completely new like this on another human was moving beyond reckless and moving into the territory of negligence. But, too late for those thoughts, now. Louise pointed her wand at the tied up Guiche.

"Calm."

The waters started flowing through his head like a tiny, unseen river. When Louise focused on the waters coming out from his head, she thought they looked somewhat heavier, but that could just be her imagination playing tricks on her. Once she sensed that the outflowing waters were still 'light', she cancelled the effect.

"That should do it." She declared.

Certainly, something seemed to have changed as Guiche began violently trying to struggle free from his bindings. Louise gave Kirche a nod who then went and took of the gag. Guiche took a few hungry gasps of air before he began shouting.

"What in the Founder's name did you do to me, Vallière? I won't stand for this!" Guiche's tone was angry and accusatory and he started thrashing to get free from his bindings. Luckily to no avail. It seemed Kirche knew how to tie someone up.

"He doesn't seem much calmer." The redhead remarked.

Louise could only give a thoughtful nod in agreement. Had she messed it up somehow? Montmorency hurriedly rushed over to the man and began untying him.

"Oh, my dear Guiche. What did that witch do to you?" Her voice held great concern.

'Witch' is a little excessive I think, but it's true that I may have made a mistake here. In that case, I should take responsibility. Before Louise could entirely finish that train of thought, her attention was drawn back to Guiche. As soon as his eyes met Montmorency's they sort of…glazed over, slightly. His features relaxed and he stopped moving, all his being was drawn to her eyes.

"Ah, my sweet Montmorency. How could I have forgotten my love for you? Seeing you here, it's like I'm falling in love for the first time all over again!"

Montmorency seemed momentarily taken aback, before she began breaking into small sobs. Louise wisely chose this moment to retreat and give the two some privacy, dragging Kirche with her. She also tactfully clasped her hand over the redheads mouth seeing as Kirche was on the verge of breaking into laughter again.

"Quite the happy ending, wouldn't you say? Almost like a fairy tale."

Louise had gotten sufficiently far away from Guiche and Montmorency that she had let Kirche go. Predictably, the Germanian immediately began giggling.

"Quite. Although I think even storytellers would find it a bit too sappy". Louise responded. She had thought it a little odd how Guiche had changed so suddenly from just a glance at Montmorency. She had never experienced falling in love, but she doubted it was quite that debilitating. The again, it was Guiche. The boy might just be naturally drawn to theatrics. Louise didn't really care all that much, truth be told, she was just happy that her spell had worked.

"Impressive spell, by the way." Kirche seemed to agree with the sentiment. "Didn't know healing spells could be quite that subtle. Guess you've been doing more than just reading boring history books since you dropped out of class, eh?"

Louise had no immediate rebuttal as she debated whether to answer that no, she actually had done little besides reading or explain that she hadn't dropped out of classes per se, or instead try to defend the history books from the unjust accusation levied at them. In the end, she did neither, as her thoughts was interrupted by Montmorency calling out to her.

"Vallière! Thank you for your help." She was walking hand in hand with Guiche who also gave a tiny nod of appreciation.

"You're welcome. Seems even witches have their use, after all." Louise responded with good humor. Okay, maybe she was being a little petty. But she would allow herself that, every now and again.

Montmorency grimaced slightly. "Apologies about that. It was just…"

Louise cut of her weak excuse with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, it's fine, really. Heat of the moment and all that. Don't worry about it." Louise had long since reached the point where words could only hurt her if she allowed them to.

Montmorency gave a nod before breaking out a smile. It even almost seemed genuine. "Again, you have my gratitude, Vallière. You truly have become a skilled water mage."

Louise let out a short laugh at that before breaking out a smile of her own and giving a short wave to the now departing couple.

"And so, the heroes thanked the wise witch for her help before departing into the sunset, to live happily ever after. Truly a fairy tale ending." Kirche had her hands clasped together and a starry look in her eyes. "Yet, little did they know that the witch had placed a claim on their as of yet unborn child…"

"That got dark all of a sudden. Wasn't it supposed to be a fairy tale?"

Kirche gave a shrug. "A lot of modern fairy tales are darker re-imaginings of the classics. It provides a better contrast or so I'm told."

"Please don't ever become a writer."

"I wasn't planning on it! And it's all true, just go ask Tabitha about it. That girl loves fairy tales. By now, she must have read more than I can count."

"So four? Or maybe five? Doesn't seem that impressive."

As the redhead gave another offended huff, Louise let slip a smile. Picking on Kirche was somewhat cathartic for her. She was about to say something that might have been an apology when Kirche suddenly turned to face her, a dangerous look in her eyes.

"Say, Louise? You came to me in order to get away from the books for a while, yes? Then I have just the idea."

Louise gave a nod to the smiling Kirche, indicating her to continue. Her smile grew wider.

"You rose to fame from defeating that thief, The Bumbling Serf or something, supposedly a triangle class mage. Well, I just so happens to be a triangle class mage as well. What say you we settle this on the battlefield?"

Louise frowned. "You mean like a duel? Those are against the rules."

Kirche seemed to have anticipated that response and had her answer ready.

"Not a duel, a sparring match. Completely different and well within regulations."

"So different and so within regulations that we should hold it in a secluded area and tell no one, I imagine?"

"You catch on quick." Kirche said, a grin still plastered on her face.

Louise pondered the proposition. On one hand, it was against the rules and they would get into a good bit of trouble when they got caught. And it was a matter of 'when' and not 'if', Kirche was never subtle about anything. On the other hand, it actually sounded rather fun and might provide her with some needed experience. Still, she had been reckless enough for today. She had taken a risk on trying a completely new spell and she was lucky that it had ended up fine. She would try to avoid such risks in the future, starting right now.

"I would like to, honestly, but I think we should seek permission and ask that a teacher supervise us in case anything happens."

Kirche let out a disappointed sigh. "Bah, you're no fun. They'll never let us fight. Can't you just use water magic to heal us if anything goes wrong?"

"That attitude is exactly the reason why we need supervision." Louise answered matter-of-factly. "I'll bring it up to Professor Colbert about it later, he's probably our best bet."

Kirche gave a nod and a small smile at that. "Yes, he just might be willing to let it slide. Good, see you later then."

(***)

"A sparring match, you say? I thought you were taking a break to get your notes in order."

Louise saw no reason to wait and had, immediately after Kirche left, dropped by Colbert's room and told him about being challenged to a friendly sparring match. He had been unexpectedly accepting of the idea but had inquired about the state of her studies.

"I've decided to put my studies on hold for a short while, just a few days. I wanted to clear my mind of it all and then take a fresh look at what I've learned from afar in order to get a better picture of what I want to focus on."

Colbert nodded thoughtfully.

"Not a bad approach. It is easy to get sidetracked after all, when one sits surrounded by temptations to down different avenues of research. Personally, I would recommend doing several projects in parallel, that way when you get stuck in one project you can continue working on another until you figure out a way to progress."

Louise smiled. That did sound very much like something Colbert would do, at least if the state of his room was any indication. It was littered with small machines, most in a state of half-assembly but a few were up and running although Louise could only guess as to their purpose. On the large table was spread thick tomes in between beakers and other glassware filled with strange substances, everything covered in a layer of handwritten notes.

"I believe I still have a ways to go before I can work in such a disorganized manner." Louise gestured to all around her.

Colbert answered her a glint in his eye. "It comes with practice, Miss Vallière. The sooner you start, the better."

"Actually, I am already working on another project besides my studies of runes."

"Oh? Do tell."

"I am aiming to create a void healing spell, since I can't cast the ones associated with the water element."

"Create your own spell, you say? An ambitious project to be sure." Colbert nodded approvingly. "And how goes this project?"

Louise answered proudly. "I believe I have the fundamentals of the spell down and have practiced them regularly. I am almost ready to move on to the testing stage."

Colbert raised an eyebrow. "Truly? Creating a spell from scratch is no easy feat. Remarkable. Though I must inform you that you will need either I or the Headmaster to be present when you do move on to testing. Even something as innocuous as a healing spell has the potential to go horribly wrong."

He shuddered slightly, as if remembering something particularly unpleasant. Louse was curious but decided not to ask. Instead she moved the conversation back to the original topic. Talks with Colbert were often like that. Louise would need to remind herself of what she was supposed to be talking about often lest she risked the conversation diverging to something completely different.

"Of course. However, regarding the matter of the sparing match…"

"Ah, yes, that is why you came here. In truth, it is not against the rules, yet I shall insist that I act as referee during the match as a precaution. In addition, I have another condition."

"What is this other condition?"

"I will require that you hold back, Miss Vallière."

"Pardon?"

Louise hadn't expected that at all. Colbert went on to elaborate.

"I heard about the power of the spell you cast at Miss Lounge- Fouquet, and I have witnessed the destruction it caused to the academy with my own eyes." He leaned forward in his chair and fixed Louise in a hard stare. "You will unleash no such spell on a fellow student."

"Of course. Such a thought never crossed my mind." Louise answered honestly. Not in the least because she currently couldn't cast such a spell again, but also because she didn't want to hurt Kirche.

Colbert's expression softened immediately. "That is good to hear. Then I have no further objections. Just remember: The aim of a sparring match is to improve you skills and learn from you partner, not to hurt each other."

Louise nodded in response, before turning to leave. She would go and tell Kirche the news at once.

(***)

The match had been scheduled for the following day, the second day of Louise's break from her studies. It was to be held at the Vestri court since the place was pretty spacious and the hard ground wouldn't be significantly damaged by water or stray fireballs. Louise had picked a time when class was still in session in order to limit the amount of spectators. Not that she was nervous about being in front of a crowd, there was just no need to have them present. Kirche had agreed to skip class without hesitation. Currently, only she, Louise and Colbert were present. Louise would have expected at least Tabitha to be present, but maybe the small girl had better things to do, like actually being in class.

"No spectators?" Kirche looked around the empty court. "Ah, I see. You don't want anyone to witness your embarrassing defeat. I understand."

To back up his Master's point, the salamander Flame let out a great gout of fire which formed to a palm, that afterwards balled up into a fist to give Louise a 'thumbs down' gesture. Louse could only shake her head, an amused smile on her lips. That salamander…

From the middle of the court, Colbert cleared his throat. "Ahem. Are the both of you ready?" He received two nods. "This will be a match of mage against mage with no familiars allowed. Miss von Zerbst, please escort your salamander off the premises."

"Don't worry Flame, mommy's going to win for sure." Kirche reassured the lizard as she led it away from the court. Flame, however, appeared to need no such reassurance as he instead turned around and gave Louise a look she could only describes as 'smug' before letting out another gout of flame which contorted into a crude drawing of a stick-like woman being scorched by a raging inferno. Louise swore then and there that someday she would wipe the smile off that stupid salamander's face once and for all. She gently shook her head to rid herself of any distracting feelings. She had a match to win.

"Ready, Kirche?"

"Ready to crush you? Yes."

How dramatic. But we'll see who's going to be crushing who!

Louise and Kirche both grinned at each other. From the middle of the court, Colbert cleared his throat again to get their attention.

"Both contestants are ready. No spells above line class are allowed. The match will end once I declare a winner or either side forfeits. Then, begin!"

(***)

Louise hadn't stood a chance. At the onset, she thought they were very evenly matched. Neither fire magic nor Louise's brand of "water magic" had any shield spells and so they two were just casting projectile spells at each other, focusing solely on offense. However, Louise had quickly realized that Kirche had her outmatched in two key areas: Casting speed and mobility. Louise would need to stand still in order to cast her spells, but Kirche had no such restriction and would cast her fireballs while ducking and weaving through Louise's own spells. Furthermore, she could cast them at impressive speeds. It seemed to Louise that every time she had managed to conjure a jet of water, she would need to dodge two fireballs. This made finding an opening difficult and capitalizing on it even harder. It was when Louise had decided to risk it, and stood still to make a jet of water, that had just narrowly been dodged by Kirche, curve around and hit her from the back, that she had been struck head on by a fireball. The impact had caused her to lose balance and her robe had been tinged slightly, but the spell was otherwise harmless, being only dot class. Still, it was a clear defeat and Colbert had quickly made it official, declaring Kirche the winner.

"That was a nice warm up! When's the match starting?"

Kirche had since been joined by her familiar and the two stood together radiating an aura of smugness. Especially Flame. If salamanders had proper vocal chords, Louise was sure that it would be laughing at her. Instead it just gave her a look as if to say 'I told you so'. Louise laughed softly to herself. She would let Kirche have it, just this time.

"Very impressive. How'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, one part is just natural talent." Kirche began, throwing out her hair. "But the rest's due to experience. I've been in many a battle, after all!"

"Since when?"

"My father's a famous adventurer in Germania. I have followed in his footsteps since I was yet of a tender age." She explained proudly.

Louise could certainly understand her pride. For most her life, her greatest desire had been to follow in her mother's footsteps, after all.

"So, how did you train? I mean, I assume you did train and weren't just dropped in the wilderness or something."

Kirche responded with laughter that was just a pitch higher than usual.

"Of course not, that would be dangerous and irresponsible. No, we did a lot of sparring matches like this one. It's the only way to train, really. In fact, let's do one more right now!"

Louise gave Kirche a pitying look.

"I'm sorry I asked. But sure, let's have another match."

Not only was this a good chance to learn some skills Louise thought were necessary for any self-respecting mage, but it was actually rather fun. Plus, she had just thought of a tactic that would ensure her victory. Louise concealed a predatory grin.

(***)

In the end, they had had an additional two matches. For the second match, Louise had focused mainly on dodging. She figured that in order to cast spells while moving, she would first need to get comfortable with moving around in combat. So she just continued to dodge, keeping her eyes out for an opening. This passive way of fighting had been her undoing as Kirche had quickly caught on to it. Without needing to evade any spells herself, Kirche got the opportunity to cast more sophisticated spells. Louise was caught off guard by a fireball that changed course and began homing in on her after she initially dodged it. Louise needed to evade at the very last second to throw it off, but just before that, it suddenly split into two, cutting off both her venues of evasion. And then, while she had helplessly stood still, a third fireball had hit her square in the chest. Kirche had lambasted her for 'fighting like a coward' and even Colbert had chimed in with some advice, stating that a 'reactive fighting style' was best used in conjunction with shield spells. Little did they know, that it was all part of her plan.

Louise had quickly realized that, as she was now, winning a battle against Kirche was hopeless. But she could win a war. A war of attrition. The weak spells they used didn't consume much willpower, but Kirche had been casting spell after spell since their very first match, at a rate much faster than Louise. In the second match, Louise had nary let loose a spell of her own but instead successfully forced Kirche to use some of her more advanced spells. And that was paying off now. Louise had opened the third fight much like the first, conjuring jets of water as fast as she could. Kirche had responded to the relentless assault in kind, but Louise noticed that they now nearly matched spell for spell. Kirche had gotten slower. It was working. Louise switched to focusing on dodging again. She would bait out one of Kirche's stronger spells and then hit her while the redhead was still chanting. Victory seemed within range, as Kirche apparently got fed up and started chanting the homing fireball spell. Louise quickly launched another jet of water. But Kirche had been ready. She suddenly shifted to cast another fireball while still chanting. It hit the incoming jet of water head on, creating a hissing cloud of steam. It had been a trap. This is bad, Louise thought. In fact, it was terrible. The steam obscured her vision, and she could hear Kirche finishing her chant. But with the visibility gone, Louise had no way of dodging the homing fireball Kirche threw at her.

"Ha! I win again!" Kirche was panting slightly, but seemed enormously pleased with herself.

Louise picked herself up from the ground with a sigh. She almost had it. But it seemed a decade's worth of experience was not to be overcome in one morning. Only almost. Thinking on it that way, Louise was actually also rather pleased with herself. So she matched Kirche's smile with one of her own, albeit not quite as brilliant.

"That you did. Well fought."

"Oh, what is this? Did I crush you so overwhelmingly that you have forever lost your fighting spirit? If only you had told me you were so fragile, I would have held back more!"

She paused to gauge Louise's reaction, but was met only with a hand sign telling her to continue.

"Go on, please. I bet you weren't even close to running out of willpower either, were you? Go ahead, rub it in all you want."

"Suddenly awakened to masochistic tendencies, have you?" Kirche asked, wary of some sort of plot. "I didn't have you pegged as the type."

"Your crude insinuations are not even worthy of response. No, I simply want you to enjoy the moment." Louise paused. "While you can."

Kirche's features turned from a confused look into a fierce grin.

"Meaning?" she asked, the expected implication clear from her tone.

Louise answered with a grin of her own. "Meaning that the next time we fight, I'm going to annihilate you."

Kirche seemed more than ready for the challenge.

"You're on!"

(***)

In the afternoon, after a shared bath and lunch where she had continued to exchange banter with Kirche, Louise returned to her room. It had been an exciting day so far, and had certainly provided an ample distraction from her studies. Perhaps too good of a distraction. Even now, Louise found herself enthusiastically thinking mostly of possible tactics to beat Kirche in their next match. She had handled her defeat with grace, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to win. She would need to practice some more beforehand and possibly come up with a few new variations to her basic water spells. But all that could wait. For now, she had notes to get in order.

Louise closed her eyes and let the sea enter her mind. She asked it to take away her excitement and associated feelings. She had no need for them, currently. After what felt like couple of minutes, Louise opened her eyes again. She felt relaxed, a certain air of serenity about her. Louise enjoyed the sensation for all that it was worth. To let her emotions run freely could be exhilarating from time to time, but she found that she enjoyed this state more. With the sea on the forefront of her mind in either a metaphorical or slightly more literal way, Louise felt…at home for lack of a better term to describe it. That it would also help her focus on the task ahead was merely a bonus. Louise considered how easy it was for her to completely switch tracks like this. Maybe she really should follow Colbert's advice and have more projects running in parallel. An interesting thought, but Louise dismissed it for now. After her final match with Kirche, Louise had told the still present Colbert that she would be ready for the more practical introduction to runes the following day. So she would cut the self-reflection short for now and instead, well, reflect about something else. Namely the history of runes she had learned so far.

She thought that the most interesting things she had learned was that runes were older than 'magic' as practiced by modern mages. To Louise, this would clearly imply that the 'source' of these two arts were different. If magic spells were powered by the mage's willpower then what was the driving force behind runes? This also had some interesting implications regarding rituals. As far Louise had been able to find out, these type of spells were the very first ones to arise, shortly after the discovery of runes or arcane symbols as they were called at the time. While their origins remained somewhat unclear, their use was fairly well documented. She was curious as to what, if any differences there were between these ancient rituals and the ritual spells still used today. They both were centered on the use of runes so was it merely a difference in outlook, between channeling the mystical force of the Arcane and practicing Founder-given magic?

How the Founder himself factored into all of this was another thing that had piqued her interest. Were she to believe the one contemporary record of his life she had found, it seemed likely that he himself was steeped in the Arcane yet it was also he who was responsible from the change from mysticism and rituals to magic and spells. The existence of 'ritual spells' would then lend credence to the notion of a sort of 'transient regime' between the two views. And Brimir, as the father of many of the ritual spells still practiced today would thus be a key figure in this. A shame she hadn't been able to find out more about him. Nevertheless, Louise made a reminder to herself to study some of his rituals more in depth at some point.

In the end though, Louise thought that, what would be most beneficial to her in regards to her immediate goal, was to study some actual runes, preferably older, and see if she could gleam any new insight from them.

(***)

The next evening, she met with Colbert in the restricted section of the library. The professor greeted her before directing her to a table well-lit by candles. Louise supposed that if anyone should have the right to light candles here then it should be a fire mage. On the table lay one of the largest and thickest books Louise had ever seen. She had been through the restricted section a few times by now trying to scope out a book relevant to what she was studying yet she had never seen this particular book. It might have been hidden away. Or it could just have been placed too high for her to reach. That was still a problem. The silence was broken by Colbert.

"This," Colbert began gesturing to the book, "is the magnum opus of one Andar von Solstavia, a Germanian scholar. It is a compendium of all known runes and their properties at the time of its writing, nearly two millennia ago. This particular version is the Tristain translation written after his death."

That was quite something to take in. Louise had expected Colbert to teach her a few runes, perhaps even some of the old ones, but all of them? What an amazing tome. Still, Louise was curious about something.

"But sir, if the compendium is as old as you say, is it not outdated?"

Surely, progress would have been made in the field during the past two thousand years. Yet Colbert shook his head sadly a wistful look in his eyes.

"There is no better proof of the sad state of affairs that is Halkeginian runecraft than the fact that Andar's Runic Lexicon to this day still contains all known runes."

That surprised Louise. She had picked up that runes were a stagnant art just from the fact all the books she read on the subject were millennia old. She didn't realize it was quite that bad. No wonder Colbert was so enthusiastic in teaching her. He had to be one of the few remaining scholars on the subject.

"Ah, that may have been too hard a judgement. It is not as if nothing has changed since Andar's time. Here, have a look."

As he said that, Colbert cracked open the lexicon, revealing its contents. Each page was filled with runes, of varying, dizzying shapes. But in an organized manner. To each rune was assigned a number, a name and a description of its effect. Louise noted that most entries except for index numbers were left blank.

"Andar collaborated with the top scholars of runic lore at the time to record the effects of all the runes. Yet even they were only aware of the effects of a mere fraction of runes." Colbert explained. "Even fewer runes have been given names. Only those most well-known or most significant."

As he said that, he turned the pages, seemingly from memory, before arriving at a specific page.

"As you can see here."

He helpfully pointed to a runic symbol that Louise did indeed recognize. The rune, simply labelled as 'Summon' was the centerpiece of the Familiar Summoning Ritual. Its effect was listed simply. A sacred rune left by the Founder. Aids a mage in summoning a familiar. Louise thought that was a little vague. Colbert started thumbing through the lexicon again before arriving at another page and pointing to a rune Louise didn't recognize. Both its name and description were left blank.

"While no new runes have been discovered or made since, there have been made progress in figuring out the effects of some runes. This one, for instance, was proven to be related to wind stones and can aid in levitation. Today, it is used as a vital part in the construction of airships. There are other, similar cases."

"If that is the case, then why has there not been made an updated lexicon?"

"You're assuming that there hasn't." Colbert answered with good humor. "There have indeed been made modern renditions of Andar's Lexicon with updated descriptions corresponding to the discoveries made since. While not readily available, one can presumably find a copy in every major Halkeginian library. However, there is a major difference between the modern version and an authentic copy like this." Colbert gestured to the book once more. "Can you guess what that is?"

Louise shook her head, having no clue. Colbert went on, apparently not really having expected her to.

"The decision was made to cut out all runes with currently unknown effects from the original. You see, blindly experimenting with runes of unknown effect can be extremely dangerous. The only reason I am showing you an original version of Andar's Lexicon is that I believe you now possess the necessary knowledge of the history to understand how delicate our understanding of this subject truly is."

Louise nodded eagerly. That had been her own conclusion too, after all. Colbert smiled.

"Good. Then I will allow you to browse through the lexicon at your leisure. I will remain here should you have any questions. Just tell me when you are finished. The lexicon is normally housed in the vault, you see. Only very few original copies remain and the Headmaster had enough sense to lock up this one as soon as he got hold of it. It took quite a bit of pleading to be granted the privilege to read it myself. A privilege I am now sharing with you, Miss Vallière."

"Thank you, Professor."

It was the only thing Louise thought to say. She was really grateful for all the help Colbert had provided her with. She also felt somewhat proud that the man trusted her enough to let her read this valuable lexicon, albeit under supervision. Louise turned back the page to the beginning and got started.

(***)

It was rather disorienting, just thumbing through the lexicon. Each turn of a page, her eyes were assaulted by numerous strange and unfamiliar symbols that she nevertheless tried to digest all at once. Results hadn't been spectacular. Louise was just trying to get an overview of sorts in this manner, when she began noticing something.

Some runes seemed different from the others in a subtle manner. She only realized this when she found her eye unconsciously drawn to a rune in the middle of a page rather than the first rune on said page. Going through the lexicon carefully, she noticed several other runes that stood out to her in this manner. All were unnamed with only a few having an, at best, vague description. When she asked Colbert about it, he surprisingly recognized a few of them from what must be some obscure ritual. He had little to say about them other than to confirm Louise suspicion that they were all very old, most likely dating back to before the Founder. They reminded Louise of the two runes she knew. Reminded her of hiding complicated concepts within just a single symbol. Intrigued, she continued to leaf through the lexicon only to suddenly stop and nearly drop the book from shock.

There. The rune was depicted on the bottom of the page but it might as well have taken up the whole book by itself, it shone so brightly. A star scribed from curved lines with an eye at the center. It spoke to her, whispered to her of mysteries to be unraveled, of secrets to be uncovered.

Eye. Insight. Truth.

Louise tore herself away from the page, her breathing a little labored. She quickly regained her calm but a crack in her voice betrayed the tension in her mind, still held just beneath the surface of the sea.

"D-do you know this rune, sir?"

"Hm? Let me have a look." Colbert walked over and looked her over the shoulder. "Ah yes, 'Eye'. One of the Founder's most mysterious runes."

Louise had been so drawn in by the rune itself that she had failed to notice that the rune was unusually labelled with both a name and description. The name given was 'Eye' as Colbert had said with the description simply stating that it was a sacred rune left by the Founder with no other indication of its use.

"I have never seen this rune used directly in any of Brimir's rituals. But if you look closely at the shape, you can see that it is reminiscent of a pentagram. Many believe it is simply a precursor to the runic pentagram used in most post-Brimiric rituals and yet this specific rune was referenced by name in one of the oldest accounts of the Founder's life. Most mysterious. Did it catch your eye?" He winked at her.

"Yes, something like that." Louise answered absentmindedly.

Her mind was far away. To a memory that had seemed so distant yet now appeared much closer, almost within reach. A memory of a sea beyond the sky. Louise excused herself and hurried back to her room.

(***)

Her mind was racing. Feelings of excitement, tension and trepidation all surged within her. She allowed them to. As she paced back and forth in her room, Louise made up her mind. She would ignore Colbert's warning of experimenting with unknown runes. She would throw caution to the wind. This was too important. Yet she was not so far gone as to brazenly engrave the rune on her own flesh. She had a better idea. She had long since noticed that she tended to close her eyes whenever she needed to truly focus on the sea. She had at first believed that she was simply getting rid of visual distractions this way, but she had since learned. Her vision was a distraction. Because it was wrong. How could Louise hope to comprehend something so far away if she could not grasp what was just before her eyes? And so, Louise had fashioned a blindfold. A simple piece of white silk cloth that when tied around her eyes, would block out her vision completely. She used it mainly when she was simulating sleep, yet now it would serve a much grander purpose.

Louise retrieved the blindfold as well as pen and ink and then painstakingly wrote down the rune of 'Eye' on it. She easily remembered every stroke, every curve, such was the impression it had left on her. When she was done and only when she was done, did she allow her hands to shake just a little bit. Taking a final deep breath, Louise threw the last bits of caution to the wind, or rather, to the sea, and tied the blindfold around her head, the rune of 'Eye' proudly looking in front her, to guide her where her own eyes could not. As her sight disappeared, Louise finally relaxed again. As the tension left her body, she almost collapsed. She hadn't realized she had gotten quite so worked up. And it would seem it was all for naught. She did not see anything new, she was still blind. Slowly, Louise took off the blindfold. She looked at the 'Eye' again. She hadn't imagined it, she was sure. The rune had talked to her. Even now, when she looked at it she could imagine it whispering.

Insight…

Louise laughed. How could she have been so foolish? She had simply been too hasty. For that which is perceived stems not from what is, but from who is perceiving it. Louise flipped the blindfold over and tied it again, this time, the 'Eye' peering inwards at her forehead and right through to her mind.

And for the third time in her life, Louise was granted sight.

.

.

.

(***)

Wouldn't quite be a Bloodborne story without someone wearing a blindfold, now would it? Just be glad I didn't make her wear a cage on her head.

This chapter turned out to be much longer that I had anticipated and so got a little delayed. Still, I try to maintain a weekly updating schedule.

With regards to the chapter, there are certain things I'm not entirely happy with. Perhaps too much exposition. If any of you have any ideas for how to improve it, please let me know.

EDIT: I have made some changes from the original, improving the sections of Louise's studying craze and later note revision. Further critique is of course always welcome.

And in that vein, I would like to address some great criticism I got from The Joining. They had two points, a minor and major one. Allow me to address the minor one first.

The point was that calling yourself "Great Deep Sea" is pretty presumptuous when you only have a single feat to your name, surely "Deep Sea" would suffice. Well, we all know why I gave Louise the runic name of Great Deep Sea, but allow me to give an in-character reasoning. In my understanding, runic names are not given (or taken) based upon accomplishments but rather on ability. Thus, the fact that Louise defeated a triangle class mage matters little, it's all about the spell she used. And as remarked by both Osmond and Henrietta, Louise's spell was in a class of its own. Water mages generally aren't known for being offensive power houses, but if they happened to be near a river or in heavy rain or something, then maybe they pull off something destructive like a cyclone or tidal wave. That's not what Louise did. She just summoned a sea to crush her opponent and everything in the vicinity. No sophistication, just power through sheer volume of water. It made a rather big impression on the two of them and so when discussing what runic name to give Louise, Great Deep Sea seemed appropriate. And if the Princess calls you by that name in a public and formal setting, then no one is going to dispute it.

Another thing regarding runic names was my use of the word "of". It was a deliberate choice but I realize now that it was made in error. Runic names are first and foremost names and so should be able to be used in place of another name so "The Great Deep Sea" is the only thing that makes sense and has been corrected in the previous chapter. However, it seems to me that runic names are not actually used as names all that often and instead just used as an extra title by the person themselves whenever they are feeling particularly dramatic. And in those situations, Louise will refer to herself not as "the Great Deep Sea" but "of The Great Deep Sea" since she considers the latter to be a significantly more powerful statement.

That was The Joining's minor point. Their more major point was that "too many things happened" per chapter. This sort of pacing issue probably springs from my inexperience as an author but I have no idea how to fix it. When I set out to write a scene, I always keep in mind what said scene is supposed to accomplish. Whether that be moving the plot forward, letting Louise learn something new or just establish/expand characterization. I don't like "filler" content for the sake of it. However, this practice of mine usually means that a lot of important things happen each chapter, which I don't consider to be a bad thing. However, what I've tried in this chapter and is definitely something I will continue with going forward is to better convey to the reader the time frame in which things happen. Currently, Louise has all the time in the world but that may not always be the case. And if so, then she can't just read books for two weeks. I also decided to insert an interlude of sorts between Louise's studying to give more weight to the conclusion and not just have an entire chapter about runes. As a result, the planned duel with Kirche was moved forward but what i hadn't planned was the whole scene with Montmorency which just sort of happened. Beyond just stealing another plotline from the light novels for the hell of it, it provided an unexpectedly good tie in to some later scenes that I actually had planned, so I'm quite happy with it. In the end, making me think about how to space developments out a little no doubt made this a better chapter than it would have been otherwise, so thanks again to The Joining, may the collective continue to prosper.

This author's note really became way too long. Let that be a lesson to those who would criticize me - I might just respond! An apology to those who thought there would be more content waiting for them, only to be met with a wall of text filled with my ramblings. But in a way, this entire story is just a collection of my ramblings, so what'd you expect. See you next week!