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…

9. Reminiscent of Blood

A Call Beyond
Chapter Nine: Reminiscent of Blood

The trip back to the academy was going smoothly although silently. Montmorency still wasn't speaking to her and Kirche had returned to her post as rear guard with Tabitha keeping watch from the sky. All this left Louise with little other to do than idly gaze at the trees by the side of the road and begin to consider what first to do when they arrived back at the academy. There was still that healing spell, which she believed herself to already know on some instinctive level, that she needed to properly master. She was also interested in testing the limits of her calming spell. Although she would probably need willing participants for that. She wondered if Osmond would allow it. He probably wouldn't, actually. Spells that directly affected the mind of the target were something of a taboo. Something as simply calming the emotions of someone seemed rather innocent, benign even, but he might realize the true potential of the spell. Louise sighed internally. She would probably need to shelve that spell for a while. A bit disappointing, considering she had just recently gained far greater insight into the principle at work behind the spell. Perhaps she could apply the idea of universal acceptance elsewhere. Besides, she had just thought of another spell which seemed more important.

Her new experience of seeing 'flow' at work left her with some ideas regarding a protection spell of sorts. In a fight, concentrating on something unseen while simultaneously moving about and keeping your eyes on the surroundings was an arduous task – and downright impossible if she was wearing her blindfold. In which case she would require some manner of protection. Typically, a mage would have their familiar for such a task, but without a familiar to speak of, she would have to rely on herself for that task as well.

Actually, now that she thought about it, she was supposed to have attempted the Summoning Ritual again already. Her original leniency period of one month had passed some days ago, actually but she had completely forgotten about it. It would seem that Osmond had as well. Or perhaps he didn't consider it important anymore once it came to light that she was a Void mage. Regardless, she ought to have a look at the ritual again, anyway. She was somewhat interested in Brimir's rituals and this one was properly the most well documented and most well understood. And just maybe, with a pair of fresh eyes, she could gleam some new insight from it.

Lost in such deliberations, Louise had unknowingly slowed down. She became aware of this fact only when she felt a slap to the back of her head. She managed to crane her neck enough to look back at the perpetrator.

"Awake?" Asked Kirche.

Louse was about to respond with something sarcastic when the lack of humor in Kirche's tone registered with her. This might be serious.

"I am now."

"Good," came the short reply. "Then follow my lead and don't contradict anything I say."

Louise nodded and watched as Kirche immediately overtook her, leading both horses along before loudly calling out to the party's remaining members both of whom were riding in front.

"Guiche! Montmorency! Stop for a second, will you?"

Both of them slowed to a halt and turned around.

"What is it, Zerbst?"

Montmorency still sounded mad. Louise considered that the blonde might just always be mad at anyone not named Guiche. Kirche didn't seem to mind, however.

"How about we take a break and relax a little? I can feel both my horses getting tired".

Louise pretended to ponder the proposition for a bit before chiming in.

"For once, Kirche has a good idea." She said, matching the volume of the redhead. "I could do with a nap or something."

"You sleep far too much! Are you an old woman or something?"

"Well excuse me, MonMon, but I am just a tad bit exhausted after getting you that water tear for free."

She wasn't, actually. Louise didn't even have a headache. But it might help Montmorency go along with the plan. Whatever the plan was.

"Don't call me that! And it wasn't exactly for free…"

Really, now. Was Montmorency just being obstinate for the sake of it or had she somehow sensed that Louise was conspiring with Kirche with some sort of goal in mind and then decided to hinder them? Regardless, Louise was having none of it.

"Did you trade the water spirit anything for it?" she asked.

"Well, no." came the somewhat reluctant response.

Louise cut her off before Montmorency could continue.

"And did you pay me for it?" she asked?

"Not really, I guess…"

"Then you got if for free." Concluded Louise. "And the least you could do for me is a small favor."

"You know, she has a point, MonMon." Kirche added. "Why, you probably didn't even need to do the summoning. We could have just had Louise laugh at it until it showed up."

The thought seemed to amuse her greatly as Louise noticed a grin momentarily creeping up the redhead's face before Kirche remembered that this was supposed to be serious.

"Fine, fine. Sheesh!" Montmorency eventually relented. "It's not like I was that against the idea in the first place. But must we take a break right here on the road? Why not ride a little further to a more suited place. Also, stop calling me MonMon!"

"You are of course right, MonMon." Kirche agreed easily. "But it just so happens that I recognize this place. The woods in this area are more shallow than they seem. We can just ride off road. There should be a clearing somewhere to the right here." She finished, nodding towards said direction.

Louise followed her gaze but couldn't really see anything different about that particular area of trees and it certainly didn't look like there was going to be a clearing that way, but maybe that was just part of the plan. She shrugged internally.

"Sounds good to me." She spoke out loud. "As long as you actually know the way, Kirche." She followed up, directing a meaningful look at her.

"I would never lead you astray!" Kirche affirmed. "Now let's get going!"

She then suddenly and quite enthusiastically, took off, surprising even Louise. Louise shared a small look with Montmorency before shrugging again, this time outwardly, and began following the redhead. With no choice left to them, Montmorency and Guiche did the same.

Kirche seemed to have slowed down by quite a bit as soon as she got just a little ways into the woodland as Louise easily caught up to her. Louise managed to just barely fit her own horse besides Kirche's two on the rather narrow path as she addressed the redhead in a near whisper.

"So, what's the situation?"

"It's not the best. In fact, we're completely surrounded."

Louise agreed that that was indeed not the 'best' situation. In fact, it was much closer to the worst situation she could imagine.

"What's the plan then?" she asked.

"There really is a clearing this way, or so Tabitha told me anyway." Kirche explained. "And it's outside of their encirclement. We'll face them there."

"Do you think they're just going to allow us to walk away from their ambush like that?" Louise asked, now feeling a little dubious regarding the plan as well as Kirche's apparent optimism towards it.

"They don't have any horses, so they'll most likely wait for us to get to the clearing and dismount, to ensure that we can't escape."

Louise nodded to herself. Seemed like a somewhat reasonable assumption. Whether you could then expect bandits to act in a reasonable manner was a separate issue.

"Why don't we just break the encirclement and then make a run for it? Or a ride for it, as it were."

"Two reasons." Kirche answered holding out to fingers to illustrate her point. That she then begun using said fingers to make a series of weird and possibly profane gestures was totally unwarranted. "First, some of them have firearms and if they hit our horses while we try to flee it could end up badly."

Louise nodded again despite herself. Seemed reasonable.

"Second," a dangerous grin found its way to Kirche's face. "We are not going to flee because we are not prey being hunted. They are the prey and we, the hunters."

Louise was about to mention how she was actually neither hunter nor prey and instead served as the prestigious role of 'bait', but thought better of it once she saw Kirche's enthusiasm. Well, if there was going to be a battle she might as well help. Louise begun mentally readying herself for the inevitable.

"Very well then. I can help fight, too. I can prepare a powerful water spell, but I tend to be a little out of it while casting so you're going to have to direct me to where and when I should unleash it."

"Aha, the signature 'Deep Sea'? Might come in handy to cut off their escape or something. Just don't stand still and get shot or something."

Louise winced slightly. That brought back some bad memories. The feeling quickly subsided. Things would go differently this time, right? Probably.

"Say, is it just me or is it getting colder?"

Their impromptu strategy meeting was interrupted as Guiche's voice rang out. It made Louise stop to consider the question. Was it? She wouldn't know. She had long since decided that feeling the air temperature was pointless and had tuned the sensation out entirely.

"Not really." She answered back. "Or, at least I don't feel it."

"I have never felt cold in my entire life!" Kirche boasted shortly thereafter.

An exasperated sigh was heard coming Montmorency.

"Don't try to argue with them, dear. Kirche's a fire mage and Vallière is, well…Vallière." She said, as if that explained anything.

To Louise's surprise, the statement was med with an understanding nod from Guiche. That earned her a snicker coming from Kirche followed by a few prods to her side.

"You hear that, Louise? MonMon says I'm too hot!"

"Not only is that not what she said at all, it most certainly was not what she meant." Louise answered back

almost automatically, falling into old habits despite the situation.

"It was just a joke." Kirche said dejected. "No reason to be so Valliére about it." She followed up, smirking.

Louise barely suppressed a groan. Was her proud family name really being delegated to be used in place of an adjective now? Under normal circumstances Louise would be more than happy to give Kirche a piece of her mind about this, but current circumstances could hardly be considered 'normal'. Thus, Louise didn't really feel like arguing and settled for silence. The conversation culminated in Kirche promising to start a fire once they got to the clearing in order to placate Guiche who kept complaining, before eventually dying out.

As they continued, Louise had to hold herself back from looking and trying to spot any of their supposed pursuers. Kirche had seemingly also stopped being on guard, presumably in a ploy to not tip off the enemy to the fact that their presence had been discovered. Louise did catch the redhead glancing meaningfully at the sky every now and again. Was she communicating with Tabitha somehow? That, at least, would be assuring.

Eventually, they did actually make their way to a somewhat spacious clearing. With flat ground almost entirely clear of any vegetation besides grass, it looked to be an area deliberate cleared of trees. Perhaps it was once a base for a logger's camp or a perhaps a popular rest spot for hunters. Louise didn't particularly care about the possible history of this clearing, only noting that the open area lacked any useful cover. She really hoped Kirche and Tabitha knew what they were doing or this could easily end badly. As they dismounted and Kirche insisted on leading their horses to the very edge of the clearing to graze, Louise briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She dismissed all her feelings of unease and apprehension, returning to a much more calm state of mind. To worry was not a bad thing in itself, but it would do her little good now. There was also no use for hesitation in a battle. Louise realized that she might soon use her magic to either severely hurt or even kill other people. She acknowledged the thought, but did not allow it to draw an emotional response from her. Instead, Louise begun to prepare.

If she was to maintain any sort of awareness of her surroundings, she couldn't use the blindfold. That also meant that she couldn't draw as much water as she wanted to. The sea was still there of course, omnipresent and of boundless depth. But without being able to actually see it, attempting to control any significant amount of water was no easy task. And yet surprisingly, when Louise called out to the sea, a strong response greeted her. Even though it was only a vague feeling, Louise was still able to interpret a certain sense of…familiarity? Camaraderie? No, she could recognize the feeling now. It was eagerness. The waters previously of the Lagdorian Lake had never quite left her side. Well, if they wanted to flow, Louise was certain that the waters would relish the task she had in mind. She smiled despite herself. Everything just might work out after all.

(***)

Louise was spacing out again. Was she already preparing a spell or had she just gone too far into the role of playing oblivious? Kirche supposed that it didn't really matter. She had more important, immediate concerns. She glanced at the sky and was greeted with two quick flashes. The enemy was approaching. Good. She had to hand it to Tabitha: For a spur of the moment location, this clearing was not bad at all. There was no real cover and no clear path of retreat. She grinned. Yes, this would work.

With confrontation imminent, the only thing left to take care of was positioning. She just needed to make sure the non-combatants were grouped up and away from the line of fire. Admittedly, the lack of cover worked against them here, but just having the three grouped together would have to do. Tabitha could handle the rest. She called out to Louise who at first didn't seem to hear her. Eventually the pinkette got her act together enough to at least respond. With a completely blank face, Louise approached her. Was this her battle-mode? Kirche thought the maniacally laughing, nonsense-spouting Louise had more character. Regardless, she told Louise of the plan and got a nod in confirmation as response. Without much fanfare, Louise approached Guiche and Montmorency and made sure they all were a little ways from her. Kirche nodded. Good. The stage was set. The props were in place. Actors were at the ready.

"Good afternoon, noble ladies and gentleman." A voice rang out from the tree line.

Kirche concealed a fierce grin. Showtime.

(***)

Louise watched Kirche take a deliberate moment to act, before she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the visitor.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I would advise you to put that wand down, young lady." Came the unfazed response. "If you know what's good for you, that is."

With that declaration, four men stepped out into the open. The man in front who appeared to be the leader had a somewhat dignified air about him. It reminded Louise of certain noblemen. Despite this, all four men were dressed in well-worn, coarse clothes with leather wests worn on top. With somewhat swarthy complexions and a variety of weapons hanging at their sides, any remaining doubt of their intentions were broken by the cruel smiles present on the face of all four men.

"Brigands?" Kirche wondered aloud, seemingly hesitating for a bit. "Ha! You think you stand a chance against four mages with only a measly four men? You'll need at least ten times that! So why don't you all get out of here while I'm still feeling merciful."

To accentuate her point, she begun waving her wand around in a threatening manner. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the threat did not seem to intimidate the bandit leader. Instead, his smile intensified as he gave a brief whistle.

"Come on out, lads."

At his command, more men came pouring out from the woods. More than a dozen, no, more than two dozen. Perhaps even more than thirty men. Kirche seemed somewhat cowed by their numbers as she briefly lowered her wand before defiantly raising it again, pointing it directly at the leader with a determined expression on her face.

"Allow me to introduce ourselves." He begun, still all smiles. "I am Gryson and we are the free people of Gojau village. Normally, I'd ask for your valuables or you lives, but in this case your lives are valuables to us. You will be coming with us, until your families can pay ransom. Worry not, you will not come to harm while in our company. But first, I'll need you to drop your wands!"

The sudden transition from a calm tone of voice to an order shouted with quite a bit of force behind it made Kirche jump. Louise looked to her.

"Kirche, what do we do?" she asked.

Were things still going according to plan? Louise could only assume so and continue to play her perceived part. Behind her, Montmorency had retreated to behind Guiche's back and stood there trembling, while Guiche had bravely taken a battle-ready stance of his own, despite also trembling slightly.

Kirche seemed to consider Louise's question carefully before doing something which surprised Louise: She threw her wand away.

"Do what he says." She declared in monotone.

"What? Zerbst, didn't you say you would protect us? And what about Ta-"

"I am protecting you!" Kirche quickly cut off Montmorency's shrill voice. "He said they wouldn't hurt us as long as our families pay ransom, so just do as he says!"

With an inward shrug, Louise complied, somewhat nonchalantly letting her wand drop to the ground. It wasn't like she needed it anyways. With much more hesitation, Guiche eventually let go of his wand as well.

"Good." came the voice of Gryson, who appeared to have watched the display with great amusement. "You have made the correct decision." He continued, as he and his men begun walking closer. "Rest assured, I keep my promises. You shall all be returned good as new provided your families pay." He paused for a bit. "You'll want to make sure they pay."

Another cruel smile and a few dirty looks at them, and at Kirche in particular, hinted to what would happen to them if their families didn't pay.

Slowly, the full force of the Gryson bandits made their way into the clearing proper, Gryson himself still in front. He reached to where Kirche had thrown her wand and picked up the instrument before beginning to study it with some interest.

"Now," he begun, before pausing.

Was this a dramatic pause? Was he perhaps just looking for the right words? Louise supposed that the reason for his silence might also be found in the large icicle presently sticking out from his throat.

"Leader!" cried the assembled men before clumsily drawing their weapons. The bandits then turned to face them, rage in their eyes, before their attention as drawn to the true culprit.

"In the sky! Dragon!"

From the sky, Sylphid the dragon swooped down using her speed and sharp claws to strike at the enemy before they could muster a response. And with their attention so thoroughly away from the disarmed nobles, none of them saw Kirche draw a spare wand. That was a mistake.

"From ashes I arise and to ashes you shall return! Incinerate!"

Following the short incantation, a great stream of fire tore in to the pack of unsuspecting bandits, eliciting pained screams and causing an acrid smoke to wave through the area.

"You three, get down! It's starting."

Kirche must have done some something to generate so much smoke as Louise completely lost sight of her. Still, her voice could be heard clearly and Louise was quick to comply. As suddenly as the clearing had been covered in smoke, it was scattered by the appearance of strong winds. The winds soon picked up to a veritable storm. And not just any kind of storm either. It was a snowstorm. While the two besides her begun shivering from the cold, Louise watched the descending snow with utmost fascination. Soon, the snow begun swirling in the storm, and Louise begun doubting her own observational abilities. There was no way that could be snow. Those snowflakes were like tiny blades. With the four of them in the eye of the storm, there were not only shielded from the deadly snow but also granted an excellent view of its horrifying effects.

The storm of blades tore relentlessly into any piece of uncovered flesh. Hands, fingers and especially eyes. Over the howling sound of the storm was heard a cacophony of screams as the bandits descended into panic, what was first shock now overtaken by terror. The sight was almost enough to cause Louise to lose her concentration as she simply stared wide eyed at the spectacle. What on earth is that spell? She watched a couple of bandits blindly try to flee the storm, only to be diced to mincemeat as the winds appeared to be stronger the further they got from the center. This forced them to run right towards the center where, unluckily for them, Kirche stood waiting.

"Burn, you bastards!"

She threw fireball after fireball at the now thoroughly disorganized mob of bandits, creating a number of fiery explosions which temporarily dispersed the snow. A couple of blind shots were fired at her but missed her easily as she began taking evasive maneuvers. Faced with such resistance, the remaining bandits who were not blinded, on fire, cut to pieces or otherwise inconvenienced, ran away from Kirche. But not willing to flee back into the storm, their only path of retreat was right to where Louise was currently standing. She took a deep breath and focused once again. It seemed she would have a part to play after all.

"Louise! Stop them!" Kirche called out.

They were now close enough to her that Louise could see the white in their eyes. At Kirche's shout, some manner of look of recognition dawned in the fearful, bloodshot eyes of the frontrunner as he charged Louise with his hatchet. But it was too late.

With the waters of Lagdorian Lake at her disposal, Louise had gathered the unseen waters and let it coil itself like a spring, ready to flow. And now, she would let it loose.

"Flood."

In front of Louise, a torrent of water sprung forth. The massive deluge of highly pressurized water flowed rapidly in a path headed straight for the bandits, bringing with it the certainty of destruction. Skin was pierced through, bones crushed and all as once washed away, taken by the flow. The torrent continued unhindered through the landscape, crushing everything in its way. Not even the trees were safe. Finally, deeming that enough destruction had been caused, Louise dismissed the waters, once more relegating them to obscurity.

No longer needing to keep her focus, Louise allowed herself to look around the once peaceful clearing. It looked like it had been through hell. The grass had been cut off in droves, with tiny incisions marring every piece of exposed ground. Large scorch marks littered the clearing and even some trees, with a still smoking crater also visible. And where the flood had passed through, the dirt was torn from the soil leaving a clear trail of destruction ending in crushed shrubbery and fallen trees. And of course, strewn about the whole area, were blood, body parts and mutilated corpses.

Kirche didn't seem to mind the gore in the slightest as she struck a pose with both hands on her hips and whistled appreciatively.

"Not bad, Louise. You certainly don't take half-measures, do you?" she said, eyeing the carnage. "I think that'll be the last we'll see of the Gryson bandits." She followed up, smiling gleefully.

"Not yet over." A quite voice belonging to none other than Tabitha rang out.

The tiny girl seemed to have popped out of thin air. Perhaps she had been hovering in the air while making use on an invisibility spell. What a scary combination, Louise thought.

"Right you are." Kirche agreed cheerfully. "Let's make sure these bastards are dead."

Kirche and Tabitha then proceeded to aim small fireballs and icicles respectively at anything not already dismembered.

"Impressive shot on Gryson by the way". Kirche commented off-handedly while in the midst of the somewhat gruesome work.

"Seemed appropriate." Tabitha responded, similarly unfazed by the whole scene.

Louise was surprised at their apparent apathy, but perhaps they were just used to this sort of thing. And it wasn't like she cared particularly either.

"Well then, are we done here?" she asked them, mostly just to say something.

"Almost." Kirche answered back. "We just need to check if any of those carried away by your spell survived."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Yes." Came the unanimous response, spoken simultaneously by both girls.

With a shrug, Louise proceeded to follow the two as they made of the cluster of destroyed trees.

"W-wait!"

Louise turned to where the cry came from to find Guiche and Montmorency still huddled together. She had honestly forgotten that they existed for a moment. Despite being unhurt, the two looked to be in a bad state. Montmorency looked like she had been crying and both bore horrified expressions.

"Don't just leave us! What if they come back?"

"Fine, fine. Tabitha, do you mind?"

Tabitha nodded. "Protect." She said in what was probably an attempt at a reassuring voice, only it was still too monotone.

"Louise, you're with me, then." Kirche declared. "Keep an eye out."

Seeing no real reason to disagree, Louise followed Kirche into the tree line. True to what had been asked of her, Louise kept an eye out which unfortunately for her also meant that she wasn't looking at the ground which culminated in Louise almost tripping over someone's entrails. She wasn't squeamish, especially with nearly all emotions still tuned out, but it wasn't exactly fun either. At least Kirche had gotten a quiet giggle from the situation, as the redhead continued to cast small but deadly spells at any near-intact corpse they came across. Unfortunately, the flood had spread the bodies of those carried with it quite a bit, turning the whole endeavor into something of a macabre scavenger hunt. Not a word was spoken between them as they continued to carry out their work. That was probably why they both heard the sound of footsteps sneaking up on them.

"Shit! Sentries!" Kirche cursed and immediately took cover behind a nearby tree.

Louise was a little slower to react but followed the redhead's example. Almost immediately following her exclamation, a man wielding a large dagger charged at them from wherever he had been hiding. Probably Judging Kirche to be the biggest threat, he lunged right at her. This proved to be his undoing as Kirche deftly evaded before quickly casting a spell which set the poor fool on fire. As he fruitlessly ran around screaming, Louise noticed a second man who had the opportunity to get behind them. And what was worse, he had a pistol pointed right at Kirche.

Louise had often read in stories how, when in desperate situations, either time would seem to slow down for the protagonist or they would act without thinking. Louise dearly wished that time would slow down enough for her to cast a spell to ward of the attacker but counted herself lucky with the fact that she at least was very good at thinking quickly. So when Louise threw herself in the way of the soon to be incoming projectile, it was a well thought out decision. Though any remaining thoughts were soon drowned out by a burning feeling in her stomach.

"Louise!"

(***)

She had underestimated how much it would hurt. It was all she could think off. The pain had even managed to drive the sea from her mind. Louise grit her teeth. No. Not this time. Through force of will, Louise tore her mind away from the pain and forcibly focused on something, anything else. She could hear her own labored breathing and she could hear Kirche saying something but she couldn't make out the words.

"I'm…fine…" She managed to stammer out.

Louise had a plan. Of course she did. She wasn't about to nobly sacrifice herself for Kirche of all people. With great difficulty, she removed the hand clutching her wound as blood now flowed out unhindered. Her vision was beginning to get blurry but that was fine. She didn't need her eyes anyway. She needed her other eyes. With unsteady hands and the occasional whimper, Louise once more tied the blindfold over her eyes. And let in the sea.

Immediately, as the world became murkier, her perception became clearer. With only a modicum of effort, she was able to banish the pain entirely, offering it to the sea. With a clear mind, Louise was able to focus properly on the blood flowing from her. Its dark red hue stood in such contrast to the blue world around her that she was almost captivated by the sight. That is, until she remembered that she was most likely in the process of bleeding out. She spoke a mental command. Stop. Blood was water too after all, merely diluted by her own essence. And Louise was of the Sea. It stood to reason that her own blood would obey her. And it did, the bleeding stopped. Good, she should be out of immediate danger then. Now, what to do with all the blood that had already left her body? Louise wondered idly if she could dematerialize it. Would the sea accept an offering of her own blood? Well, she was about to find out.

With some effort, Louise managed to stand up. She looked towards the sky and were greeted with the sight of the massive sea, enveloping all the world. She could handle this sight, now. A smile found a way to Louise's face as she clasped her hands together in prayer.

Kos. Mother. I offer to you, my pain, my grievance, my flesh and blood. Please accept my offering. Let it return to the sea, let it become nothing.

Louise knew that prayer wasn't necessary and that Kos would accept all regardless, but she prayed anyway because she wanted to. Perhaps she just wanted the Great One to witness what she was about to do. Louise wasn't attempting to heal herself. To heal is to mend, to recover. To fix what is broken. It was an implicit acknowledgment of ones incompleteness. But Louise didn't consider herself lacking. Her wound was a part of her, just like her thoughts or feelings or anything else. And now, she would allow that part of her to return home. So Louise wasn't attempting to heal herself, for she had noting that needed to be healed. Louise was attempting restoration. She clasped her hand to her wound once more and spoke out loud, this time without difficulties.

"Restore."

An odd sensation greeted her. It was quite unlike anything she had ever felt before. A sensation akin to lack of feeling anything at all. A sort of profound numbness. Relishing the unfamiliar feeling, Louise just closed her eyes and stood still for a while. Eventually, the feeling subsided. How long had passed? She couldn't tell. But, taking off the blindfold again, what she could tell was that her wound was no more. The hole in her clothes remained, but beneath was only unblemished skin, telling a tale of a wound that never existed. Like it had all just been a bad dream. Or perhaps, the wound was now merely an infinitesimal part of a good dream? The thought made Louise chuckle.

"See? I had it all under control." She said with a smile, to the benefit of a gob smacked Kirche and an equally surprised looking Tabitha.

Wait.

"Tabitha? When did you get here?" Louise asked in confusion.

Don't tell me I lost track of time again. She really needed to do something about that. To make matters worse, the two girls before her did not seem inclined to clue her in to as what happened instead favoring staring at her in silence. Eventually, Kirche approached her cautiously, as if unsure of what do to, before enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Damn you, Louise." She said in an immensely relieved tone. "You lunatic, don't you ever do that again."

"But it was all part of my plan." Louise protested. She didn't managed to say more as she was slowly smothered by Kirche's increasingly intense hug.

"I mean it. Don't scare me like that."

Eventually, Louise was let go and took the opportunity to hungrily breathe in the air. She found Tabitha eyeing her with some intensity, looking her up and down and especially at where her wound had been.

"Healthy."

"Yes."

Louise wasn't if that was a question or a declaration, but answered it anyway. Nodding, Tabitha relented and the three begun to make their way back to the clearing. Louise walked with a little stagger, mindful of a wound that was no longer there. It didn't hurt in anyway either, she just felt like walking in that manner. She rationalized it as paying her respects to the departed injury. But perhaps she was just getting tired. Maybe she could use a nap after all.

(***)

During the remaining part of the trip back to the academy, the mood was perpetually somber. Guiche and Montmorency had overcome the shock of the bandit attack but not quite the shock of witnessing what had happened to said bandits. Kirche had been very pleased that they had defeated the Gryson bandits, but her excitement was a bit subdued in light of what else had happened. She would also send Louise the occasional concerned look, which Louise continued to wave off. Even Tabitha seemed more quiet than usual, but as always, it was difficult to tell what was going on in her head.

Thankfully, they made it back to the academy without further incidents. A collective sigh of relief was breathed as they finally made it into the academy grounds proper. Although the mood lightened a bit, they still proceeded to the stables in silence. After they turned in their horses, Montmorency addressed them in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"W-well, we made it." She said, before pointing at Louise. "Valliére, thank you for helping with Guiche…and the water spirit too, I guess."

Louise gave a smile back. She knew Montmorency would come around eventually. The blonde still wasn't done, though.

"A-and you two." She continued gesturing to Kirche and Tabitha. "Thank you for protecting us from those bandits. And I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Protecting you was the reason we came along in the first place." Kirche said. "And you should thank Louise for that too, by the way."

"That's quite all right. I believe I have been thanked sufficiently. Also, you two, if you need help dealing with unwarranted feelings, feel free to ask me for help."

She did need some willing participants to practice the calming spell on, after all. And she could hardly be blamed if they came to her for help. But also, from a less callous perspective, she did like the feeling of helping others and if doing so could coincide with furthering her own abilities, then more the better. With a weak nod, Montmorency took off, hand in hand with Guiche. Louise watched the two walk for a while before facing the remaining two party members once Montmorency and Guiche were out of earshot.

"Quite an adventure this ended up being". She said.

"Quite." Kirche agreed. She sighed before continuing. "Listen, Louise…"

"Don't." Louise cut her off.

"Fine, be that way then." Kirche said, somewhat exasperated. "But I won't forget what you did. And I will pay you back some day."

Louise smiled despite herself. That sounded more like the Kirche she knew. She wasn't feeling bad that Louise had saved her life as much as worrying about how to get even again.

"Looking forward to it." Louise said, with complete sincerity.

Smiles were exchanged, and the group finally broke up, Louise leaving for her room.

(***)

Unfortunately for Louise, she hadn't been allowed to just return to her room like that. Unbeknownst to her, someone had informed the academy infirmary of what had happened to her and she had been kidnapped in the hallways by none other than Céline Peltier, the head nurse. Without the option to refuse, she had once more been confined to an infirmary bed. Louise couldn't help but liken it to being thrown in a dungeon. She didn't entirely mind, though.

She was curious as to whether her spell really had erased all traces of her wound. From what she knew of water magic, healing spells were usually pretty specific and no convenient 'cure all' spell existed. Louse believed her restorative spell to be a leap closer toward that ideal, but that didn't mean there couldn't be side effects. So getting a proper medical examination might not be so bad, after all. So did Louise try to cheer herself up as she resigned herself to Peltier's meticulous care.

(***)

In the end, it had taken two days before she was allowed to leave. The results were exactly as she had hoped: She was in perfect health. In high spirits, Louise finally returned to her room for the first time in something resembling a week. Everything looked just like she had left it and her furniture seemed to have finally dried completely.

Although she hadn't had a chance to anything productive while in the infirmary, she had spent the time to further plan out her immediate goals. For the first time since awakening to her powers, she was faced with something of a branching path. All she had done up until now had been in the pursuit of trying to understand the nature of her powers. And while that was still very much an ongoing endeavor, due to recent events Louise was starting to become equally interested in the implications of her powers. She had readily accepted that she was a Void mage and while the legendary classification had seemed fitting to her at first, she had since come to realize that it wasn't as much a manner of her being a Void mage but more that she was chosen to be one. Chosen by whom? By Kos, obviously. But why? That was what really puzzled her.

Outside of such, more abstract considerations, Louise also had the more concrete problem of prioritizing her spell research. The fact that she now saw enough paths for herself that she couldn't feasibly go down them all at once (no matter what Colbert said) made her feel just a little proud of her progress. Yet the problem remained and she would need to shelve some projects for the time being. She knew which spell she wanted to focus on. With what basically amounted to a professional approval of the potency of her restoration spell, Louise wanted to pursue it further. Its casting was somewhat complex, mentally draining and possibly time consuming (she still hadn't found out how long she had been standing still while her wound disappeared). And yet, the spell's usefulness could not be denied. She expected that she could become more proficient at casting it with some old fashioned practice. Then there was the more difficult issue of figuring out how to cast the spell on other people than herself. Taking the bullet for Kirche had been the reasonable decision to take at the time, but that didn't mean she wanted to repeat the feat.

The whole battle against the Gryson bandits had also gotten Louise to realize that she was still woefully unprepared for combat. Even if her spells were powerful, they took a lot of time to cast, not to mention how easily she would get distracted. Seeing no real way to remedy this, she wanted to at least try and mitigate the effects thereof. So sparring matches with Kirche were back on the menu. Louise hoped that she could cultivate some manner of subconscious awareness or improve her reflexes so she wouldn't be a sitting duck in an actual battle. To that end, she would probably also need to add some more spells to her repertoire. If she was being completely honest, she only really had a single offensive spell. Even if she had come up with a few variations to it by now. Some more variety to her offense and a couple of spells to help her defense would be ideal. However, the development of new spells would be put on the backburner for now, at least until she had better practice with the spells she currently knew. She only could only cast so many spells before exhaustion set in, after all.

With that in mind, Louis had chosen a more scholarly oriented project as the third and final thing she would pursue in the immediate future. She was still interested in runes, but she was getting just a little sick of the history thereof, or at the very least piecing said history together. So she decided to study the application of runes instead, beginning from the Familiar Summoning Ritual. Truth be told, she had no idea if it was even possible for her to summon a familiar, but if she did – well, then that might just help her combat potential. She didn't expect to summon anything, though. The Summoning Ritual just seemed to her to be a good start of a foray into rituals, being one of the most practiced rituals.

With a schedule consisting of spell research, practical spell practice and ritual studies, Louise had her work cut out for her. But she wouldn't have it any other way. At one point the world had seemed so bleak to her, all but closed off. But now, a much more wonderful and mysterious world had opened before her eyes. And Louise was eager to uncover as many secrets as she could.

(***)

It was while Louise was in the middle of committing her plans for the future to paper, that she heard a knocking on her door. Surprised, she glanced out her window. It was evening. Who would visit her at such a time? Nevertheless, she got out of her chair and went to open the door and greet the visitor.

"Good evening." She said.

That she did not get a greeting back but instead merely a nod, would be considered rude amongst most people. But Louise considered it par for the course, seeing as her visitor was none other than the ever reticent Tabitha.

"Well, would you like to come in?" Louise thought that it would be up to her to keep a conversation going.

With another nod, Tabitha entered her room. As Louise got out a few chairs, so that they could sit together around her table, she began wondering why the bluette had seen fit to visit her. She was likely going to find out soon but she couldn't help but be a little intrigued. Truth be told, she and Tabitha had rarely ever spoken together just the two of them and it was certainly the first time Tabitha had sought her out.

"What can I do for you?" Louise asked amiably as she sat down around the table.

In lieu of answering, Tabitha withdrew a jingling bag of coins for her cloak and place it on the table. Louise eyed the bag dubiously for second before turning to Tabitha for an explanation.

"Bounty." Tabitha supplied helpfully.

"Ah, for the Gryson fellows? Thanks, I suppose."

"Good work." Tabitha insisted.

"Thanks." Louise said, a little fore heartfelt this time. "You and Kirche did most of the work, though."

She only really got off a single spell. And even then, she had little doubt that either Tabitha or Kirche couldn't have finished off the thoroughly disorganized and panicking bandits that had fled right into said spell.

"Saved Kirche." Tabitha remarked, an unusual intensity creeping into her voice.

"Yes." Louise answered seriously, nodding. That was something she had done, even if the act might not have been as entirely grounded in self-sacrifice as it could appear.

"How?" Tabitha then followed up.

"Pardon?" Louise asked a little confused. Has Kirche not told her how the whole thing went down? "Well, it all began when we ran into some sentries what would have seen to have been kept outside the battlefield…"

"No." Tabitha cut her off. She paused as if to carefully what few words she was going to use. "How did you survive?" she eventually asked.

"Ah, that. Well, after I got shot, I cast a spell to heal myself." Louise explained simply.

"No." Tabitha said again, turning her head down and grimacing a bit.

Louise was surprised by her annoyed tone, but it would seem that Tabitha was annoyed mainly at herself as she once more paused to consider her words.

"You know," Louise began. "I don't know you as well as Kirche does, and I'm not as good at reading body language as she is. I think it would be more beneficial for the sake of the conversation if you spoke up a little."

"Don't like it." Tabitha responded, still grimacing slightly. "Speaking."

"I see." Louise was curious as to why, but considered that straight up asking might be in bad taste. "Take your time, then."

She would just have to be patient, then. Tabitha nodded with a small smile on her face before she began considering her words, again. As silence reigned, Louise regretted never getting that tea set in case of unannounced guests. Now would be the perfect time to be sipping on a cup of tea to pass the time and not make the whole conversation more awkward than it already was. Eventually, Tabitha spoke up.

"Your wound. I saw it. Hit in liver. Fatal." She began.

Louise grimaced herself. Had it really been that bad? She really needed to stop getting fatally injured every time she fought.

"Yet, wound healed completely. Like it was never there. No such spell." As she got going, her usually quiet voice increased in intensity. "And with water spirit, you killed. I saw how powerful it was. And with Guiche, you did something, couldn't tell. Saw you float in air, not a wind spell. Even against bandits, never seen such a spell before. Should not be possible."

As she continued, she began leaning forward and frowning more and more. As she finished, her face was only a few centimeters from Louise's own and she had a look in her eyes that Louise had never seen before.

"Not. Water magic." She concluded.

Well, now. Louise had no idea what to say. Should she admit to being a Void mage? Surely, Tabitha of all people could keep a secret, but why did the bluette seem so invested in this?

"And what, do you mean by that?" Louise answered, carefully keeping her voice slow and even, all while matching Tabitha's stare.

"The Moon. Have you seen it?" she asked, equally intensely.

Louise blinked in surprise at the non sequitur and then broke eye contact, trying to formulate a coherent response.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She admitted. "Also, there are two moons."

Was the question perhaps meant in a more poetic context with a deeper meaning that was just lost on her? She had no idea, but she didn't think that Tabitha would be one for poetry anyway. After attempting to stare some sort of confession out of her, Tabitha eventually relented and sat back in her chair with a quiet sigh. And once more, silence reigned. Louise was content not to say anything, unsure of what had just happened.

"Know someone." Tabitha broke the silence. "Has magic to do impossible things. Talks about the Moon. Says we are blind."

Well, that certainly got Louise's interest.

"And who is this, may I ask?" she inquired. "And what does it have to do with me?" she hurriedly added to not appear too interested.

However, Tabitha only shook her head. It seemed she was reluctant to share her secrets any further. "Your healing spell." She said instead, returning to what Louise now realized was her original question. "Can it heal any injury?" The intense look was back.

"I'm not so sure. "Louise answered honestly, finger on her chin. "It's not so much a healing spell as it is a restoration spell, actually. It doesn't fix what is broken. It undoes the injury entirely." At least, that was the purpose of the spell. "In theory, it should work on anything short of death, but I haven't really had much practice with it yet." If Tabitha was going to be so serious about it, she would at least give a proper answer.

Tabitha was quiet for another while, seemingly lost in thought.

"What of illness?" she asked.

"Hmm." Louise grunted back.

She hadn't thought about illnesses. Conceptually, an illness was basically the same as injury, right? It could also certainly be continued as part of someone. But what if it too integral a part? At what point would a person with a disease be defined by said disease? Louise didn't know but it certainly got her thinking. Maybe I can even…

"The short answer is that I don't know." She cut her own wishful thinking short. "The longer answer is that I think it's possible. And further development of my restoration spell happens to be my first priority going forward." She continued, eyeing Tabitha's reaction.

For a short while, a light lit up in her blue eyes.

"Teach me."

That got Louise to stop again.

"I'm not sure that's possible." She said, brows furrowed in thought.

"Because I am blind?" Tabitha asked. There was a certain bitterness to her tone.

"We are all born blind." Louise tried diplomatically.

"Then how do I see?" Tabitha persisted.

"That's a dangerous idea." Louie cautioned. "Madness lurks in the unseen."

At least, that was her experience of using 'Eye' before she learned to tune it all out. Tabitha didn't seem to appreciate this response either, if the grimace on her face was anything to go by. Louise had never before seen the girl as verbose or as expressive she was being now.

"Then what about you?" she tried instead.

"I'm not mad." Louise denied. The occasional fit of laughter aside, she was as sound as could be. After all, she had a certain bulwark to guard her mind.

"How?" Tabitha begun leaning in over the table again.

"We're getting away from the point." Louise said. "I can't teach you because I don't know how and that's the truth. Any further reaches into details I do not currently wish to share. I believe it is fair to say that we both have our secrets and leave it at that, for now."

If Tabitha wasn't about to be forthcoming with what she knew, then neither was Louise. She wasn't entirely happy with that solution and she doubted that Tabitha was either, but in truth, she wasn't actually that close to the diminutive ice mage. But that was something that could change.

"Look, Tabitha. " Louise began, trying to voice her thoughts. "We're friends, right? At least sort of. I mean, I would like to consider you as a friend."

Louise noticed that she had begun rambling and paused for a while to gather her thoughts properly and say something more coherent.

"The point is, I don't know from where your interest in the restoration spells stems, but I suppose it doesn't matter. I do want to help you. As a friend, you know? I'll keep you updated on my progress and in the meantime we can both take some time to think about how to talk to each other regarding this whole thing." She said gesturing about with her hand. "How about it?"

Tabitha took a while and visibly calmed down. She eventually nodded.

"Friend". She said, falling back into her usual speech pattern, but smiling slightly. "Need help?"

"Not at the moment, no." Louise answered. "Eventually I will need some willing participants to test the spell on, but unless you can get sick on command, that's a no-go." She followed up jokingly.

"Potions." Tabitha responded, with complete sincerity.

"It was just a joke." Louise waved her off. "Besides, testing is still way off. I first need to figure out how to cast the spell on someone other than myself. So there's no need for you to help just yet."

"Although…" a thought suddenly came to her.

Tabitha responded with a raised eyebrow, causing Louise to continue.

"A friendly chat with your acquaintance might yield some insight into my own work. If what you said about our similarities in magic holds true, that is. Do you think I could meet them?"

Tabitha paused to consider this for a while. "Maybe."

Well, that was probably as good as it was going to get. With the conversation over, Louise led Tabitha to the door. She bid her new friend a good night which was returned verbally this time. Small steps.

(***)

The following day, Louise decided that she would fully engross herself in the development of her restoration spell. She would return to her other 'primary' projects once she had achieved some results with this. She had decided to the sensible thing and had once more gone to Osmond, telling him that she wanted to try out a new void spell. As she had expected, she had once more been let to the warded room of the academy where potentially dangerous spells could be tested somewhat safely. A bit overkill considering the nature of the spell she wanted to practice, but precautions never hurt anyone. Reluctantly, once Louise had explained that she was currently unable to cast the spell on anyone other than herself, she had been allowed a scalpel form the infirmary with which to cut herself. Just enough to draw blood she was warned. Louise thought it amusing that the two grown men in the room with her seemed more squeamish about the whole affair than she did. Really, what was the big deal? It didn't even hurt.

"Well then, I shall begin now." She said out loud for the benefit of Osmond and Colbert.

"Yes. You may proceed, Miss Valliére." Osmond said. "Know that we have alerted our head nurse in the case that anything goes wrong."

Oh no, not again. Louise gulped. She couldn't afford to mess this up. "Here we go".

With the scalpel, she drew a shallow cut across her arms, just about enough to draw blood. Satisfied that she had a 'proper' wound, she put away the scalpel, withdrew her wand and put on the blindfold.

As the world was replaced by water, Louise began to focus. Her arm was part of herself. Obviously. Her arm now bore a cut. Was it then not still her arm and thus the cut now a part of her? Clearly. Then, like she had done so many times before, Louise wished for a part of her to return to the sea, to become nothing.

"Restore."

Once again, a strange feeling washed over her arm. Louise let the feeling run its course before she took off the blindfold and inspected her arm.

The cut had disappeared without a trace.

Smiling at her own success, Louise showed off her arm to the two men.

"Remarkable." Said Colbert as he traced a finger through where the cut had been.

"Quite." Agreed Osmond. "Even with only a minor cut, for it to close that fast reminds me of the triangle class water spell 'Regeneration'. Impressive, certainly."

"Oh? How long did it take?" Louise asked curiously. "And can you tell me more about that regeneration spell?"

"Of course. I would say it took about two minutes for the cut to heal. Quite fast. As for the 'Regeneration' spell, it is considered the cornerstone of many advanced healing spells. In essence, it speeds up the body's natural recovery, making healing of small wounds exceptionally fast and without any fear of side effects. It cannot, however, be used to treat wounds which would not normally heal on their own. However, owing to its nature, the spell can be safely cast in almost all cases and is often used to briefly stabilize a more serious injury until more powerful and specialized spells can be applied. Of course, to treat any such injury requires days or even weeks."

Louise took a little while to digest the impromptu lecture. It really highlighted the differences between her own spell and the water type healing spells. No wonder Tabitha had asked how she survived that bullet wound. And if her spell was already in the realm of the impossible, who was to say that it had limits? She smiled.

"All very interesting. Let us continue."

(***)

In the end, Louise had practiced to the point of near exhaustion. She was, truth been told, also becoming a little weary of cutting herself any further and, as she left the room, she was nursing her arm. There were no cuts on it, of course, but she almost imagined there to be. Too much conceptualization of wounds as part of herself, perhaps. But she had certainly made progress, improving the rate at which the injuries disappeared significantly. Louise had originally planned to practice the spell further in secret, against more grievous injuries, but not only was that an incredibly bad idea when she thought about it now, she also currently wasn't feeling up to it. So she would need a little time to recover.

As she sat in the dining hall to have lunch, she noticed Guiche out of the corner of her eye. He seemed about what he remembered him as, gesturing dramatically about something she couldn't quite make out. Not surprisingly, with him was Montmorency and the two would occasionally exchange tender glances when they thought others weren't looking. They were, of course, incredibly unsubtle about it but Louise smiled despite herself. They appeared to be close and it was nice to see they got something other than trauma out of the whole trip. Lost in such idle thoughts, Louise didn't notice someone sat down next to her.

"An ecu for your thoughts?"

"Two." Answered Louise after a moment's consideration, attempting to bargain.

"No deal. Sheesh, Louise, didn't Tabby give you your part of the bounty already, what's with the fleecing?" responded Kirche, arms crossed.

"It's a seller's market." Louise said absentmindedly, not even sure herself what that was supposed to mean.

"Yes, I'm sure. Anyway, I heard you wanted me to beat you some more in sparring matches?"

Louise had brought up the possibility when Kirche had popped while she was still in the infirmary.

"I did promise to annihilate you, didn't I? Well, a noble always keep their promises."

"Then, shall we got get Colbert right now?" Kirche asked excitedly.

"Actually, I've spent all morning casting spells, so I'm a bit exhausted. We'll have to schedule for tomorrow." Louse said, well aware of how lame that sounded.

"Well, that's fine too I suppose. But I was thinking, you want to gain some experience with actual battle, yeah? Then maybe it's time to turn it up a notch."

"Meaning?" Louise asked, dubious. That last part sounded dangerous.

"A simple change of the rules." Kirche said, before looking at Louise with a seriousness to her. "No referee. Fight until forfeit."

Louise was right, that was dangerous. But the benefits of having a more 'real' fight were numerous. And no pain, no gain as they say. She would just trust that Kirche knew what she was doing.

"I accept."

(***)

The following day, during the afternoon and after Louie had gotten in a little extra practice of her restoration spell, the two girls left the academy and entered the surrounding woodlands. Apparently, Kirche knew of a clearing far enough out of the way as to be suitable for their purposes. With flat, even ground free of even grass, the clearing did indeed seem ideal.

"You seem to have a fondness for clearings." Louise remarked.

"Not really. They just so happen to be useful from time to time. Tabitha and I have used this placed for practice a couple of times before."

"That explains the lack of flora."

"Yes, we cleared out the place to lessen the risk of a forest fire. Though, if I do end up causing one, putting it out will be your responsibility." Kirche said cheerfully.

"An excellent division of labor." Louise agreed sarcastically. "Are you sure we shouldn't have persuaded Tabitha to go with us?"

"It'll be fine." Kirche responded, with a wave of her hand. "Don't underestimate my control. Besides, we have Flame here to keep an eye on things. If anything gets out of hand, he'll interrupt the match or go get help."

While that made some degree of sense, Louise was also sure that that was not the only reason why Kirche had brought along her familiar. The lizard had been alternating between giving her smug and sorrowful looks then entire time they were walking. Like it was watching a funeral procession but had never really liked the deceased that much, anyway. Was it trying to demoralize her or just upset her? It was working. Leave it to Kirche to summon the most insufferable lizard Louise had ever heard of. Then again, familiars were said to take after their masters.

She broke of the staring contest with Flame she had engaged in without realizing, before clearing her throat.

"Ahem. I shall trust you to know what you're doing." She magnanimously told Kirche. "Then, shall we begin?"

"Yes, let us." Kirche answered with an amused smile on her face. "Though just to make sure we're on the same page here: This may be a more 'real' match and if one of us gets hit by a spell it should hurt, but we both still hold back, yeah?"

"Right." Louise nodded understandingly. She had had a firsthand view of what their spells could do to someone when they didn't hold back.

"Good." Kirche said, taking a stance Louise recognized as her battle ready posture.

"Then, begin!"

(***)

Louise jumped away from the fireball in time, but had underestimated the blast radius as the resulting explosion sent her tumbling. She hit the ground but recovered with a clumsy roll which made another tear in her by now tattered uniform. As soon as she got up, she jumped back from the follow-up attack she knew was coming and aimed her own spell a Kirche. A thin jet of water flowing at impressive speed shot out from her wand but Kirche dodged it before retaliating with yet another exploding fireball. In the empty clearing, there was no way to take cover so all she could try was to get as far out of the blast radius as possible. Not an easy feat as evidence by the state of her uniform. What was worse, she hadn't been able to hit Kirche once, the redhead was just too nimble. But that was about to change.

Louise had been running around the clearing in what might seem like a random pattern but she had a plan, and both her and Kirche's current positions were near ideal for the fruition of said plan. Louise looked at the incoming fireball and, with a battle cry, jumped directly into it.

It wasn't a suicidal maneuver. Just before she was hit, she was suddenly accelerated upwards and forward, in a path headed straight for the baffled Kirche. Before the battle began, Louse had briefly scoped out the presence of any unseen currents. As luck would have, there was one flowing unobstructed from exactly where she had previously been standing and into the air. Without Sight, she couldn't control the currents, but she could still make use of them if she knew where they were. And now, with her sudden burst of speed, she had the first clear shot at Kirche since the battle began.

"Take this!"

As she didn't have to bother dodging the exploding fireball, she had had the much needed time to concentrate on a proper spell. Multiple jets of water spewed forth from her wand in a shower which Kirche couldn't possibly dodge entirely. Apparently, the redhead wasn't even going to try.

"Wall of Flame!"

From the ground, tall flames suddenly shot up, forming something resembling a wall. The water jets didn't all evaporate, but it certainly weakened the attack and at the same time created an obscuring mist of steam. But that was fine. Louise just needed more time.

Soon…

Unfortunately, time wasn't on her side. Louise had neglected to plan for the fact that she couldn't evade at all while she was still sailing through the air. And Kirche had that detestable homing fireball spell. She used the precious seconds while the redhead was chanting said spell to prepare her next move. She couldn't avoid taking the hit, so we at least get something out it. While further solidifying her focus, Louie was hit point blank.

The impact had her sailing through the air, but this time in a completely uncontrolled fashion. She hit the ground, hard. The air was knocked out of her lungs, but it wasn't enough to break her concentration. Louse was getting better at dealing with pain.

"Just give up Louise! Before you get hurt more!"

Kirche shouted through the steam that was still preventing them from seeing each other.

Give up? But we're just getting started.

Louise released the spell she had been building, aiming it at the ground.

And put on her blindfold.

(***)

Kirche had seen Louise get thrown through the air, but apparently that hadn't been enough to dissuade the pinkette. Perhaps she had been right, the girl really was a masochist. But that didn't matter now. She wasn't about to go easy on Louise, even if she was hurt. Kirche began chanting another homing fireball. The lack in visibility had seemed a boon to her at first, but now she was getting a bad feeling. She couldn't see Louise, but surely the girl was planning something. No matter. She might be a specialist, but she hadn't been hanging around Tabitha for so long without picking up a few tricks.

She let the homing fireball fly in the direction she thought Louise had retreated to, before she began chanting another spell. A wind spell.

"Disperse!"

A stiff wind blew through the clearing, taking the cloud of steam with it. When Kirche finally got a good look at the surroundings, her fears were proven correct. Louise had been up to something. From where the pinkette stood, a ripple spread through the ground, turning the hard dirt into a swampy mush.

Shit. When did she…?

This wasn't good. She couldn't move properly in such terrain. She would need to finish the fight, and soon. Taking advantage of Louise's apparent distracted state, she fired another fireball at the pinkette, this one more powerful.

Louise didn't appear to make an attempt at evasion, instead just bracing herself for the impact. Did she misjudge the power of the spell? Big mistake. The fireball hit Louise straight on, knocking her back, but not off her feet. It did cause large sear across her chest though, blowing off smoldering pieces of her abused uniform. This was surely the end. But then, Louise began doing what she did best.

Kirche cursed under her breath. She hadn't noticed it. Her attention had been too drawn to Louise's damaged and almost indecent state that she hadn't noticed an important detail. Louise was wearing her stupid blindfold. And she was laughing. That was never a good sign.

She needed to interrupt whatever Louise was doing. She cast the fastest spell she could manage, the dot class fireball. Once more, Louise didn't even try to dodge, but took the fireball head on, this time without flinching. The further destruction of the pinkette's uniform didn't seem to be a bother as she turned to face her with a world class shit-eating grin on her face.

"Restore."

Before her very eyes, Kirche watched astonished as any and all traces of being hurt just…disappeared from Louise. Burns, scratches, soot marks, it was all gone. What manner of cheating was this!

Wait. Was that the same spell she used when…?

Kirche shook her head to quickly get the sudden thought out of her head. It wasn't too late yet.

She changed that opinion when she cast another glance at Louise. Or specifically, above Louise, where it seemed an entire lake's worth of water was gathered in a massive ball.

"Oh, no. Not that spell."

(***)

Oh, yes. Exactly that spell!

Louise had been gathering unseen water ever since the fight began and now, with her blindfold on, she

could control it, commanding it to materialize. And materialize, it did. Her earlier spell had done its work too. The ground had been turned completely to mud by now. It was impossible to run. And this spell couldn't be dodged. This was the end. With the prospect of victory in her grasp, Louise shouted out:

"Flood!"

(***)

It was a very wet and generally very miserable Kirche that Louise managed to fish out of the new pond

which had formed in the clearing. As soon as she got out of the water, she began coughing uncontrollably before taking deep breaths. She was soaked to the bone, and looked somewhat akin to a drowned rat but ultimately no worse for wear.

"You…were…cheating." She managed to get out. "That…healing spell…is unfair."

"Ah, but healing spells are a proud part of the school of water magic. Don't be such a sore loser." Louise said, as she began patting Kirche on the shoulder in a consoling manner.

"Bah, you're right." The redhead eventually admitted once she had regained control of her breathing. "I admit defeat."

As if the admission physically hurt her, she begun shivering from the cold.

"I think I can make the water disappear from your clothes." Louise said expressing some manner of concern. She didn't want Kirche to get sick, after all. "Do you want to me to?"

"No thanks, I got it." Kirche answered. "Just give me a moment."

Louise nodded and took a step back. It was then that she noticed Flame observing his master. As soon as the lizard saw her looking, he gave her an evil look, which was quickly thereafter replaced by what would seem to be concern for his master. Louise realized that with all the water in the area, the salamander was reluctant to approach Kirche. She almost felt bad for it. As a sort of consolation, she reached her dry hand down and gave it a pat on the head. It gave her a weird look but didn't seem to mind. Thusly encouraged, Louse knelt down beside it. Now appearing to have its full attention, she gently lowered her head and whispered into its ear.

"You're next."

Giggling as the salamander quickly retreated with a horrified look on its face, Louise stood back up only to come face to face with a somewhat dryer but still unamused looking Kirche.

"Louise. Stop being mean to my familiar."

Louise was about to protest that the salamander was the one who started it, but the realized how that would come across. Instead, she just hurriedly changed the topic.

"Well, that was fun. Shall we head back?"

Kirche looked at her with narrowed eyes for just a bit before responding.

"It was." She agreed. "And yes, let's head back."

Kirche's signature amused smile was back on her face. What was that about?

Halfway back, Louise found out as she finally noticed the state of her clothing. Or rather, lack thereof. Large parts of her uniform were either burned, tattered or missing entirely. And of course, Kirche had neglected to mention this fact to her. Louise groaned, an act met only with amused giggles.

They actually made quite the pair as they returned to the academy. In a show of solidarity, Kirche had stopped drying herself and still looked like she had been the victim of a tragic accident involving a lake. In contrast, Louise was completely dry, but her burnt and tattered clothing told the story of someone who had picked a fight with some sort of fire drake. At this point, she had just decided to own up to that and not be embarrassed about it. So Louise carried herself like someone who had picked a fight with a fire drake and won.

Besides, someone had to give the academy rumor mongers something to talk about.

(***)

After the, by now customary, post-battle bath and a nice dinner, Louise retreated to her room. She felt exhausted, but satisfied. She had actually beaten Kirche. On their way back, they had discussed the match, and Kirche had weighed in that while her healing spell was undoubtedly potent, relying on being able to take hits and heal off the damage was a dangerous strategy. Louise had agreed, too. She shouldn't shirk her training just because she was getting better at casting her restorative spell. On the other hand, the fact that she had managed to cast it quickly enough to actually turn the tide in something resembling an actual battle made her feel almost giddy. It was nice to see that subjecting her arm to being cut up so much, was paying off.

With her general good mood and thoughts far away as usual, Louise almost didn't notice that someone had left a note on her desk. She had actually been planning to call it a day, but when she went to retrieve some of her notes from her desk to reread before going to sleep, she was alerted to its presence. The note was definitely not something she had written and then forgot about, it was written on a different kind of parchment than what she used. The handwriting was also much more elaborate than the scrawls she produced. Curious, Louise read the note's contents.

Have you ever gone stargazing? The night sky is beautiful, especially during the full Moon.

Well, now. Was this a message from Tabitha's mysterious acquaintance? Based on the timing, she couldn't really think of any other possibility. Certainly no one she knew would leave her such a cryptic note. Perhaps it was meant as a test of sorts? She found the thought somewhat distasteful, but if the sender of the note indeed was in a similar situation to herself as she expected, then it would make sense for them to be secretive. She would have to decipher this message, then.

That is, assuming it was actually something to be deciphered and not meant literally. Based on the script and prose though, Louise would think it to be poetry and with that came ambiguity. Clearly, the notion of a 'full Moon' was given emphasis. But which moon? Either of the two moons could be full at any given time. Or both of them, actually, now that she thought about it. But if she remembered correctly, such an occurrence was relatively rare, happening only every few years. Perhaps 'Moon' referred not to a celestial body, but to something else entirely. It was capitalized after all, suggesting the existence of only one 'Moon'. But then why mention the night sky and stargazing? Was that too, meant as a metaphor?

Louise sighed to herself. This was going nowhere. She would have to change tracks. Assuming that this wasn't a welcome letter from the Secret Association of Poetically Inclined Astronomers (the existence of which she denied), then this was meant as a message specifically for her. From someone who might be in a similar situation to her, but who was clearly unwilling to tip their hand. Putting herself in their shoes, if she was to contact someone who she believed to be 'in the know', in a manner vague enough for them to understand, but not explicit enough to possibly be used against her, how would she phrase it? She sighed again, this time in an amused manner. It was obvious, wasn't it? She would ask if they had laid eyes on the sea. She would probably even capitalize 'Sea' just to emphasize its importance. Another amused sigh escaped her. Perhaps the message was meant literally after all.

(***)

As a matter of fact, Louise had previously gone stargazing. Back when she was younger and still lived in the La Vallière estate, she would sometimes (a bit more often than she would have liked, actually) run away into the night to cry or brood or just think. Back then, she had yet to fully realize her potential for self-reflection and so she would eventually run out of things to think about. So, needing something else to occupy her mind, she had turned to stargazing. It made her feel small, which she liked, but it ultimately failed to hold her attention for too long. Beautiful as it might be, the night sky was also very static in nature, and looking at it would eventually get boring.

At least, that was what her younger, and much less patient self, had thought of stargazing. The current her was actually looking forward to it, perhaps due to nostalgia. Regardless, once nighttime rolled around, Louise had gone the extra mile and had climbed the observation tower to get the best view possible. As for why the academy had an observation tower, she didn't know. After all, there were no astronomy classes currently being taught. Then again, the academy was quite old, astrology might have been part of the curriculum at some point. It really didn't matter, the point was that she had a clear and unobstructed view of the sky. In the dim starlight, she looked at the mysterious note again.

The night sky is beautiful. Especially during the full Moon.

Well, she would at least agree with the first part. Louise had a smile on her face as she looked at the sky. She couldn't help but be reminded of her younger self, sitting in a similar position, only teary-eyed, or angry, or dejected, looking for a meaning to her life and finding none. To think she would now recall such a situation with a certain fondness - nostalgia was a powerful thing indeed. She wanted to go back to her younger self, and give her a pat on the shoulder and tell her: Don't give up. One day, you shall find a meaning to your life more profound than you can possibly imagine. With such thoughts on her mind, she looked at the sky. The cold didn't bother her. The rough stone floor she was sitting on wasn't uncomfortable. Her neck wasn't being strained. For a while, Louise cast it all away and just admired the stars.

(***)

At some point, she emerged from her reverie. Stargazing was rather nice actually, she wondered if she should take it up as a hobby. She did often find herself with the need to relax for a while, after all. However, relaxation was not her purpose for coming out tonight. Louise tore her eyes from the stars and finally began observing the moons. The larger of the two, Janera, was nearly full and its surface, illuminated by white light, stood out brilliantly against the dark night sky. The smaller moon, Epimeris, was only visible near the edge of the sky, giving off light of a faintly blue hue.

Louise took a deep breath and prepared herself. She was about to do something she had never done before. If her hunch was right, then the note was telling her to get a 'proper' look at the night sky. But frankly, the sky was mostly just in the way of a much grander spectacle. For beyond it lay a sea, enveloping all of the world. Louise knew herself well enough to know what her eyes would be drawn towards, should she look at the sky. So she had to resort to extreme measures: She would attempt to block out the presence of water from her perception. The idea didn't sit well with her, but she had little other choice if she was to follow the note's instructions.

With a small prayer, she kindly asked the waters not to show themselves to her. There was no greater proof of the sea's benevolence than the fact that even such ungrateful feelings were accepted. With a final determined sigh, Louise rose to her full height and put on her blindfold, condemning herself to whatever madness lay beyond her mundane vision.

(***)

The first thing she noticed was contrast. The sky seemed much darker, and yet the stars were now much brighter. They appeared closer too, seeming to loom just over her head. The deep blackness of the sky spoke to her of a solitary existence far removed from everything. It made her feel lonely and she didn't like it. The stars, which should provide a reprieve from this just served to exacerbate a feeling of being unwelcome, their visage appearing menacing. Just what was she looking at? Louise noticed that she had begun to shiver from the cold. It was more than just a matter of temperature. The cold reached from her skin and into her bones and even further. As Louise stood there shaking, she finally understood. The sky she was looking at was just a projection of something else. A dark, cold, and lonely place. The Cosmos. And she had come to gaze at one of its denizens.

Just like the stars, Janera looked much bigger and closer to her than before, giving off a nearly blinding white light that was nevertheless sucked into the depth of the surrounding void. Louise looked around to find Epimeris only see it still teetering on the edge of the sky. Yet that seemed about to change.

Before her eyes, the small moon began to rapidly wax. It progressed through phases which should take weeks in what seemed to Louise a matter of minutes. As more and more of it became visible, Louise noticed that it no longer gave off the faintly blue light from before. Instead, it began emanating a sinister hue of red. Eventually, it reached the end of its cycle and Louise now looked intensely at the twin full moons. A certain sense of foreboding ran through her. Epimeris didn't stop. Breaking from its usual orbit, it kept moving closer to Janera. Were they about to collide? No, it was something else, but equally as unprecedented. Epimeris seemed about to eclipse Janera. Astounded, Louise just watched as the two moons inched ever closer to one another. And then, Louise had to shield herself from the light.

The light was so bright it hurt her eyes. Like staring directly at the sun, a small black dot had formed in her vision. Yet she retained her gaze, the black dot then becoming superimposed upon the sight of Epimeris eclipsing Janera. Finally, she understood what was meant in the note. Why it said 'full'. Merged with the white backdrop of Janera was the smaller Epimeris, still radiating a much too bright shade of red light. Clearly, they were two parts of the same entity. Of the same Moon. A Moon which now hang in the sky, taking the shape of a giant eyeball, aimed straight at her.

Louise looked at the Moon.

It looked back.

Immediately, her arms went to her head as a pain ran through it, emanating from her eyes. She covered them with both her hands which eased it slightly. But then, she felt a rumbling run through her whole body. She fell to her knees and begun breathing heavily, but held on to her consciousness. She recognized this sensation. It was a voice.

But not a gentle voice. From it, she got a feeling of dread or perhaps desperation. It was not a voice uttered with care but a declaration made to anything that could hear it. And Louise would listen. As was only natural. With grit teeth and hands curled up so tightly into fists that they were shaking, Louise paid attention. It would not do, to not listen to the mutterings of a Great One.

Moon.

Blood.

Each word she made out, hit her with the force of a physical blow and she could feel her blood boiling. Her grip on her consciousness started to grow fainter. But she held on, still. The rumbling was subsiding, the declaration over. Yet, a new noise took its place. She still felt it with all of her body, but it was more subdued, more subtle. Not a pronouncement shouted from the heavens, but instead a message, meant just for her.

Descendant.

Having barely made out the meaning, Louise finally succumbed, tearing off the blindfold and laying down.

(***)

Surprising even herself, Louise didn't lose her consciousness. But then again, she had help. After removing the blindfold, Louise let the sea back into her mind. Its familiar presence served to greatly calm her frayed nerves. And yet Louise was still left shaken by the ordeal. With an effort of will, she slowly got up, noticing a few drops of blood falling from her face. She restrained herself from panicking, but began to more quickly drag herself towards the stairs leading down from the observatory tower. She felt exposed beneath the open night sky.

With some difficulty, Louise made it back to her room. The mysterious bleeding had thankfully stopped on the way and she had managed to regain her calm. Mostly, anyway. Fortunately, Louise had a place to further retreat to. A sanctuary where she was sure to be safe. Not even bothering with taking off her clothes, Louise lay down in her bed and made for the land of dreams.

(***)

Relief. That was the feeling which met Louise as she once again found herself floating on top of the bottomless sea. Finally, she could relax. It was something she had needed, too. Even while dreaming, she had apparently held on to her tension, but now it was leaving her body, just another of the maladies the sea was willing to cure her off. Finally, she could relax. She could think.

There was no doubt about it. What she had seen, what she had heard, it was another Great One. She supposed that it made sense. Human religion made a big deal of the existence of only one God, one being to tower over humanity. But why would Great Ones care for such drivel? Surely, there could be many of them. But to think one had placed itself in plain sight. The twin moons, observed by all people of Halkeginia across millennia. And yet so few had ever truly seen them, the two parts forming a whole. But now, Louise could count herself among the people who had seen the full Moon. And indeed, there were more, or at the very least, there was one more person to have seen it. If so, then Louise supposed that would make them a Void mage.

Tabitha had spoken of her acquaintance wielding magic to do the impossible. Had they derived such spells from the Moon? She wondered how. Whereas calling on the sea seemed intuitive to her, she had only uncertainty regarding how to utilize the Moon – should she even wish to do so. It had mentioned 'blood', something which made her a bit uneasy. She remembered her own blood reacting to its words, even going so far as to begin to leak from her body. She didn't like it. Furthermore, it had called her 'descendant'. Descendant how? With a certain sense of disquiet, she began contemplating what power lay hidden in her blood.

As Louise lay on her back, floating along the sea, she noticed a change in her surroundings. Normally, when she was lost in thought, the outside world might as well not exist. But in her dream, with its sparse and very much static scenery, a small change was enough to bring her out of her thoughts. The sky was different. It had always been a featureless grey, hidden behind a multitude of clouds. Yet now, she could see a spherical body outlined against the clouds, light barely streaming from it through the cloud cover. Her surroundings in the dream were always well lit. Was this then a rare glance of the sun which she had just missed from previous times?

As Louise looked with interest, the body became clearer and clearer, the light growing in intensity from barely visible to a brighter shine. And it was not the sun. It was the Moon. Louise began frowning, but did not take her eyes off it or otherwise move. She would not allow herself to be unnerved. Not here. So she instead watched somewhat intently but still with a sense of detachment as the Moon further lowered itself. It eventually settled in the sky, giving off light, faintly tinted red.

"Why have you come here?" Louise asked aloud but otherwise made no movement.

Almost like an unvoiced answer to her question, a black ichor began dripping from the edge of the Moon. Frowning further, Louise stood up to better observe. The strange substance made a hissing sound as it hit the water surface but did not sink. It instead began to coalesce, forming a pile of black goo. The spill continued, until a human sized pile lay on the water surface. As the ichor stopped dripping from the Moon, the black mass instead began twisting and contorting into a shape. Louise saw hands and feet emerge, and eventually she was met with the sight of a human figure near completely covered by a deep black cloak. The cloak cast a shadow over their eyes, but Louise could make out the mouth. They were smiling. A distinctly female voice rang out.

"Greetings, fellow Seeker of Truth".

.

.

.

(***)

A few of you asked regarding the existing of other Great Ones in this take on the FoZ universe. I didn't answer, due to it being somewhat of a spoiler, but hopefully this chapter establishes that there is more going on in Halkeginia than meets the eye. Perhaps even more than what meets the Eye. Believe me, this story is just getting started.