16: Several Near-Death Experiences
"Look on the bright side, since you're going to get killed anyway, it's at least nice to be killed with close friends nearby."
"Thank you Saito, that makes me feel much better."
We were about ten minutes from Louise's house, and she was understandably terrified. If my mother was one of the most feared commanding officials in military history, and I had just illegally crossed the border and had to endure her punishment, I'd be scared too.
"Well, maybe being married has domesticated her to a degree of niceness?" Guiche offered hopefully.
I didn't even need to reply to that. At that moment, the carriage was swept up off the ground by a giant tornado. Everyone, except Tabitha and I, started to scream and try to grab onto something. I just waited for the carriage to fall down to earth, which it did. After it threw Louise and I out the window. Louise was knocked unconscious when she landed, but fully expecting this to happen, I was able to land on my feet and avoid any noticeable damage.
"Don't you think this is a little harsh Duchess?" I say, turning to the cause of the tornado, Karin the heavy wind.
"No. It is not harsh enough." She says in that steel tone of hers.
"Well, seeing as how I'm her familiar, I have to protect her. Sorry, but I have to attack you."
Her lips quirk into what is almost a smile, which scares me, "Very well. No hard feeling I hope."
Then a large tornado appears behind her, and she sends it at me. Derflinger drawn, giving me added speed, I rush the tornado. However, instead of being an idiot and charging a killer tornado for the FOURTH time in my life, I jump off to the side, dodging the tornado. I see a brief look of surprise on Karin's face, confused as to what my strategy could be. I don't really know what she's confused about though, I thought that dodging attacks and trying to get close to your opponent was an obvious strategy. I rush towards her and, seeing her point a wand at me, leap about 30 feet into the air. I land behind her and, before she even gets a chance to turn around, I hit her across the face with Derflinger's hilt, sending her too the ground. Her concentration lost, the tornado disappears.
She just looks at me, completely surprised that I could have landed a blow on her. I offer her my hand.
"Sorry about that. Your spells are incredibly powerful, but they're unbelievably slow. You might want to instead focus on shooting weaker spells more quickly against an opponent like me. No hard feelings I hope."
She simply looks at me in surprise, but takes my hand and I help her up. I go over to Louise and wake her up.
"Hey, Louise. Wake up." I shake her a little and she wakes up. Then she jumps to her feet terrified when she sees her mother standing about 10 feet away.
"M-mother! I'm sorry! I had to cross the border to save our friend! Please don't punish us!"
"I already tried."
"What?" Louise's terror melts away into confusion.
"I already tried to punish you, but your familiar stopped me. Never before have I met a commoner who could land a hit on me." It almost sounds like she respects me. Odd.
"What!" Louise looks at me, shocked that I could have done that to her mother.
I shrug. "She was launching a killer tornado at you."
"Not that! You were able to hit her?" I guess that is an accomplishment in its own right, considering her mother's reputation.
"Her spells are powerful, but they're ridiculously slow. For someone like me, who's really fast, its better to launch weaker, but faster, spells," I turn to Karin. "But enough about that, Shouldn't we go talk to the princess now?"
*Scene Break*
"Princess, We recognize that we have disobeyed your orders and crossed the border into Gallia. We also recognize that you have every right to punish us as you see fit." Says Louise, kneeling before Henrietta
"Well, when you say it like that its like we're going to be killed." I'm still standing.
"Louise please, stand up." Henrietta doesn't sound like she intends to punish us too badly, which is good considering I'm pretty sure illegally crossing the border is indeed punishable by death.
"In the interest of cutting this conversation of filler, Henrietta, Louise probably won't stand up or do anything until you bestow your punishment on her. Louise, just stand up. You and Henrietta are friends, right?" Louise hesitantly stands up, and Henrietta just stares at me. I get that reaction a lot when I take charge of the conversation.
"Louise, I'm not going to punish you. What you did was the right thing to do, and Gallia doesn't seem intent on starting wars so there's no problem for Tristain."
"No princess, We directly disobeyed you. You told us to not to cross the border, and we did."
"No Louise, I encouraged you to go across the border." Henrietta says while smiling.
"What?" Louise just seems confused, again.
"Allow me to explain," I say, taking charge once again, "Didn't you find it weird how after breaking out of the prison not once did guards come after us? Not once did any Tristain forces try and detain us. Henrietta, is it fine if I call you Henrietta?" She nods. "Henrietta never sent any forces after us. She wanted us to go to Gallia and save Tabitha."
Henrietta nods. "That is correct. Louise, I wanted you to save your friend. Without her help you would have been kidnapped by Myoznitnirn. She deserved to be helped."
"Then, what happens now?" asks Louise.
Henrietta pulls out a purple mantle and hands it to Louise. "This happens. Take this cloak. With it, you will be considered my little sister, and second in line for the throne."
Then Louise fainted. After checking to make sure she was okay I turned to Henrietta.
"I think you might have surprised her a bit."
Henrietta blushed. "Sorry, I didn't know she would react that way. When she wakes up, make sure she wears that."
I nod. "Of course."
Henrietta grabs another mantle and hands it to me. I already know what its for, so I just put it on without a word.
"And, Saito?"
"Yes, Henrietta?"
"Thank you for taking care of her. I had another request, but I think that can wait until Louise feels better."
"You want us to bring Tiffania back here from Saxe-Gotha don't you?"
She gasped, "How do you always know what I'm going to say?"
"First, no I can't read minds. Second, It's only natural. We know of another void user who is willing to help us out. I think its only natural to want to bring her here."
Henrietta nodded. "Anyway, you are correct. But that can wait for a week while Louise gets readjusted."
I nod, pick up Louise and walk out of the room. I plan to taking her to Cattleya's room to make sure she has someone look over her when I'm stopped.
"What exactly are you doing with my daughter?"
"I don't know what you're thinking I was doing, but what I actually am doing is taking her to Cattleya's room." I say, turning to the Duke. I know what I would be doing if I was stuck with an unconscious Louise. 'And you're willing to face the Duke's wrath because of it?'
"And she's unconscious because?"
I smile. "Your little Louise is now second in line for the throne."
He blinks and looks at me with a face of blank surprise.
"Yeah, Henrietta made Louise her honorary little sister for her efforts, and Louise passed out from... Excitement I guess."
He nods, which I take as permission to leave and I continue on my way.
"I don't believe I ever caught your name."
I freeze in place, "I'm Saito Hiraga."
"And you're relationship with my daughter?"
Crap, I already hate where this conversation is going. "Do you want an honest answer, or one of those answers that's not the whole truth but reassures you and makes you feel safe as a parent?"
"Let's hear your lie first, then your honest answer. If they're convincing enough I'll let you go."
"I'm her familiar, and it is my single goal in life to protect her, no matter the cost."
"And your honest answer?"
I blush and look at the ground. "Um... I love her." Short, sweet and the answer most likely to get me killed.
He nods like he expected this answer. Considering what happened the last time we met, I'd say it was pretty obvious conclusion to draw.
"Well, I can't kill a member of the Queen's knights, and you seem like a fine man,"
"Thank you," But I already know where this conversation is going.
"However, I still feel you need a reminder of whose daughter you're trying to wolf away."
I tried to will my nervous system to shut down so I don't feel the pain, but to no avail. I'm pretty sure my screams of pain were heard all around the manor.
*Scene Break*
After that incident, I woke up in Cattleya's room. I could tell because I was surrounded by little fluffy animals that kept nudging me with their noses. I looked around for Louise and saw her sleeping on Cattleya's bed, but I don't see Cattleya anywhere.
"How are you feeling?"
I would have fallen over if I wasn't already lying down. I sit up and look behind me, where the voice came from, and see Cattleya. Why didn't I notice her before?
"Sorry, I was out in the garden while I waited for you to recover."
At this point I don't care what she says or does, I am convinced she can read my mind.
"No Saito, I still can't read minds." She actually sounds a little annoyed. Sometimes I even impress myself.
"That's all the proof I need."
She shakes her head, resigned to the fact that I am almost impossible to argue with about this. "Well, since you're feeling better, would you mind telling me what happened? Louise brought you down here and fell asleep before she could tell me anything."
I remember the events prior to my blacking out. "If I remember correctly, which I'm not sure I do considering my head hurts like I was just hit by a 20 ton brick, Louise was made second in line for the throne and passed out from excitement. I was carrying her over to your room so you could look over her when I ran into your dad." I wonder if I need to tell her anymore after that. It should be self explanatory considering all that's happened in my two visits here.
"Ah, he wasn't too happy about the boat was he?"
Again, there's all the proof I need as to her frightening powers. Ignoring my fear of remembering something embarrassing for her to read, I nod.
"Yep. I don't think me actually being able to land a hit on Karin did me any favors. Anyway, what time is it?"
"Almost time for dinner. Why?"
"Wake Louise up. We're going to need to have a family talk."
*Scene Break*
Okay, maybe not the best idea I ever had, considering 3/5 of the current family was not too pleased with me. 4/5 if you count Cattleya being annoyed at me for thinking she can read minds. Still, this talk had to happen.
It was a while before anyone said anything. You could cut the tension in the air using a plastic knife. Eventually, I decided to speak up and say what probably should be said.
"So, Louise, what have you told your family about your magic?" Louise starts choking on her soup... somehow, and gives me a world class mix of a death glare and complete confusion.
"S-saito. Why do you ask?" I can tell she's nervous, but doesn't her family deserve to know the truth?
"I'm just curious. Well," I say while turning to look at the rest of the family, "what did she tell you?"
The duke gives me a look of curiosity. He looks like he wants to see where this conversation will go. "She told us that her awoken element is the sinful element of fire."
I laugh. "Really Louise? Of the four elements you could have chosen, you chose fire? I would have thought you would have said water, or wind."
"Saito, do we have to tell them?" Louise whispers to me, scared. I nod.
"Why do you laugh?" asks Karin, who is also glaring at me curiously.
"Well, I never pegged Louise as one to lie to her parents like that."
Then the two of them spit out the soup they were going to have a sip of. "What? Surely you jest."
"Actually, I can see why she did. After all, you never would have believed it."
"Believed what?" by this point, I've even managed to rope Eleonore into the conversation. I give myself a mental pat on the back and continue.
"I don't think that's my place to tell you. You should probably hear it from Louise."
Louise looks at me and gives me a look that conveys the message. "Why did you dump this responsibility on me you jerk?"
She sighs and says nervously, in a quiet voice, "Void."
"What?" Is everyone's reply.
"My awoken element is that of the founder, Void magic."
Before anyone can even begin to try and discredit her, I cut in.
"I know, difficult to believe. Surely we must have some proof to this claim, right? I know you're eager to see it."
"And where is this proof?"
"Karin, would you be so kind as to cast a small tornado over the table?"
She looks at me surprised, I don't know if it's because I called her by name or because I requested such a thing, but she obliges. Louise immediately understands what I'm trying to do, and pulls out her wand. She casts dispel and the tornado glows and then disappears.
"It doesn't just work on tornados either. Using this spell, conveniently called dispel, She can even nullify the ancient magic of the elves. Louise and I were able to penetrate an elf's magical barrier and win in a fight against him thanks to this spell. It was awesome."
Everyone stares in shock. I don't know if everyone's stunned silent at the fact that Louise is a void mage, the fact that we won against an elf, or the fact that Karin's tornado was dispelled with such minimal effort. Having gotten used to events like this happening, Louise recovered quickly and went back to eating her soup. I decided to try and ignore the fact that everyone's eyes are focused solely on me and try to continue with my meal.
*Scene Break*
"I really missed this academy." I tell Louise.
After the dinner party at her manor, Louise and I were definitely given a bit more respect from the family, but I think I might have earned a little too much. I accidentally overheard Karin and the Duke talking about me, and I think I heard Karin refer to me as "Son-in-law." I guess landing a hit on one of the most feared commanding officials in history and winning against an elf is enough to get some people to want to adopt you. I wouldn't say adopt, all things considered.
"Yeah well enjoy it. We got another few days before we head back for Albion to get Tifa." Louise says. After dinner I told her that the princess wanted us to go get Tiffania from Saxe-Gotha.
"Maybe, but still. We should at least enjoy the time we have here, right?"
She sighs. "Yeah. I'm just worried."
"About what?"
"I'm worried about the mission to get Tiffania."
"And why would that be? Its simple, go there, get Tifa, get out."
She looks at me like I'm an idiot. "You should know better than anyone, these things are never this easy." Well, she caught on quickly. "With our luck, we'll be attacked by a giant metal golem or something."
I swear, psychic powers run in her family. "Now don't be ridiculous, why would we be attacked by a giant metal man?" I try to reassure her.
"Really? You haven't figured out that I know when you're lying by this point?" Damn, she's smart.
"Right. Anyway, it's getting late, better head to sleep. Tomorrow we can recruit our own little group of friends to help out."
*Scene Break*
*Louise POV*
Siesta was a little too happy to see Saito when we got back. I reminded her of that little bet we made, and she backed off almost as quickly. The sleeping arrangements were unchanged. Saito slept on his haystack, Siesta and I slept on the bed. I was about to go to asleep when Siesta poked me.
"Miss Louise?"
"Yes Siesta?" I say while turning to face her.
"I thought of something."
I raise an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"Well, Saito has said he loves you, right?"
"Yes?" Where is this conversation going?
"Do you promise not to hurt me if I say it?"
"Just spit it out already!" I really don't have that much patience about these things.
"Well, what if he's only like that because he's your familiar?"
I honestly feel like my stomach was hit by a bag of bricks.
"You know, aren't familiars conditioned to love their masters? What if he only loves you because he's your familiar?"
I can't come up with a reply to that. No, I think to myself. That can't be. I refuse to believe that.
Siesta seems to realize that she said something she probably shouldn't have. "I-I'm not saying that's what it is! J-just a possibility." She turns over and falls asleep.
I never got to sleep that night. What if Saito does only love me because he's a familiar? What would I do then?
I probably should have though of asking him about it, but it made no sense to ask him. He always tries to tell me things the way I would like to hear them, so he would just deny it. I just didn't know what to do.
*Scene Break*
*Saito POV*
My first clue that something was wrong when I woke up was that Louise was lying down in the corner of the room furthest from me, curled into a ball. I don't know when she went there, or why, but there she was. The second clue was that her eyes were puffy, and it looked like there were dried tears on her cheeks.
"Louise? What's wrong?"
Her response was to shut her eyes and turn away from me. I also think I heard her start crying again.
"Okay, seriously, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Right, crawling into the corner of the room furthest away from everybody, curling yourself into a ball and crying when someone asks what's wrong is completely normal."
She responds by doing what looks like trying to will herself into nonexistence to avoid any attempt at conversation.
I sigh, "Okay, I'll let you be like that, considering I don't think there's anything I can do to help. I'll got ask around, see if anyone wants to come with us to Saxe-Gotha." I get up and leave the room.
*Scene Break*
"So this is where that elf lives?" asks Guiche.
"Unless she was abducted by ninjas, then yes." I tell him.
"What's a ninja?"
"Badass, something you'll never be."
I was only able to get Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche to come with us to Saxe-Gotha. Then again, they were the only ones I asked so I can't really complain. Louise remained unresponsive throughout the entire trip.
"I have to ask, what did you do to Louise? She's been silent the whole trip."
"Oh, Saito did something to Louse, did he?" Kirche says in a tone that's trying to be seductive.
"No. I didn't do anything. I woke up and she was in the corner of the room, curled in a ball. I tried asking what was wrong, but she just started crying."
Kirche and Guiche give me a confused look. "Why would she do that?"
"Well of course I know, I just happen to like Louise like this so I'm not doing anything on purpose." I reply in as best a mix of deadpan and sarcasm as I can muster.
"That was sarcasm, right?" asks Guiche.
"Very astute Guiche! Anyway, we're here. I'll knock."
I knock and open the door. I'm greeted by the sight of Tiffania and Fouquet having a nice tea party. Fouquet notices me first.
"Ah, hello there Saito. How have you been?"
"Pretty good, how about you Mathilda?" I reply in a friendly manner. No point in malice, even if we were enemies, last time we met, I helped her, and she helped me. I'd say that made us allies.
"Mathilda, you know Saito?" Tiffania seems confused that we know each other.
Then the rest of my group walks in. Except Louise, she just kind of drags herself through the door. Their eyes widen in surprise when they see Fouquet and I having a civil discussion.
"Fouquet!" They draw their wands, I hold up a hand.
"Don't worry, she's a friend."
"S-saito, didn't you say you killed her?" Louise says.
I'm shocked that Louise actually managed to talk, but I ignore that for now. "Yeah, I SAID that. She helped me out a bit back during the Wardes incident, so I told Wardes she died so he wouldn't go after her and finish her off for real."
"W-what are you all talking about?" I forgot that Tiffania is still in the room.
"Don't worry, its nothing." Says Fouquet.
"So Mathilda, what brings you out here?"
"Saito, who's Mathilda?" asks Louise.
"Fouquet was an alias. My real name is Mathilda. And to answer your question, I'm here visiting my sister."
Everyone's shocked but me. Sometimes I forget just how awesome it can be to know everything in advance.
"But enough about me, what are you doing here?"
"Well, we're here to bring Tiffania to Tristain."
Tiffania gasps. "W-what?"
"You said you always wanted to see the outside world, right? The princess asked us to bring you and the orphans back to Tristain." I tell her.
Tiffania looks shocked, and turns to Fouquet.
"Personally, I think you should go with them Tifa."
"Eh?" Is everyone's, except me, reply.
"Saito's right, you always wanted to go place other than here, and this is your chance. Besides, I'm broke. I can't send you the money you need to run this place any longer. I say go with them."
Tiffania nods. "Alright, I'll go with you to Tristain."
I blink. "That was easy."
"I'll pack my things and we can all leave tomorrow. You don't mind staying a night do you?"
Nobody minds, so we all decide to stay here for the night.
*Scene Break*
We all slept basically wherever we felt like. Fouquet left a while ago, so it was just me, near comatose Louise, Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha, and Tiffania in the house. I was sleeping on what some would consider a coach, but I woke up when I heard a sort of creaking noise.
I bolted upright and saw Louise pacing back and forth. Perfect, now maybe I could steal some information out of her.
"Okay Louise, start talking. What's keeping you down?"
She eeps when she hears me but calms down quickly.
"N-nothing." It might just be the moonlight, or something, but I think I see tears.
I sigh. "Okay Louise, stop screwing with us. We can tell something's got you down. You only spoke when we saw Mathilda, and you try to avoid me as much as possible. You will tell me what's the matter." I might have gotten a bit too angry, but she was really starting to annoy me with this whole silent treatment.
She looks down at the floor, where apparently someone wrote the meaning of life on that spot. That's the only reason I can come up with for staring at it so intently.
I hear Louise whisper, but she's so quiet I can't make out the words.
"Speak up please, I can't hear you."
"Do you love me?" again, she's so quiet I can barely hear her.
I raise an eyebrow. "Haven't I already mentioned that? Several times? I really don't see where doubt like that could come from." As is usual for me, I completely miss her original point and think she's talking about something else entirely.
She shakes her head angrily. "No, do you really love me? Are those your real feelings?"
Then what she's saying clicks in my head, which I promptly put in my hands. "God, not this conversation again."
"Are your feeling really yours? Or are they just some illusion created by the familiar contract?" She's almost yelling at me by this point.
"Now let me ask you, how could a familiar contract possibly affect my thought process?" I already know that it can and does, but she doesn't. Hopefully we could keep it that way.
"False motive." Says a voice coming from the shadows. Of course that was asking too much.
"Thank you Tabitha, I wanted her to know that information."
"What? What false motive?" Louise asks, scared at what this could mean.
I sigh, "Should you tell her or should I?" Tabitha points to me with her cane.
"Okay for familiars, when the contract is formed, a false motive is placed into their mind. It's basically something that messes with the mind of the familiar to make them want to stay with their Master."
"Th-then everything y-you said..." She breaks down into tears and curls into a ball on the floor.
I turn to Tabitha. "See Tabitha? This is why I didn't want her to know about this. It gives her the wrong idea."
"Wrong idea?" Tabitha almost looks confused. That's got to be a first.
"I don't have a false motive, I took care of that a long time ago."
"How?" Now she does look confused. Louise is still sobbing, so I doubt she's hearing a word of this conversation.
"Sheer force of will and knowledge of what the motive was doing." Not a lie, okay it was a lie but still, what was I supposed to tell her? That Tiffania from the future used her void magic to screw with my memories? I highly doubt that would work. I also doubt that telling them a voice in my head said I don't have a false motive would work either.
"What's going on? Why's Louise crying?" Perfect, Guiche and Kirche have shown up.
"In a nutshell, she thinks that everything I've done up to this point is because of the familiar's false motive that is imprinted when a contract is formed to make them want to stay with their master."
They don't look like they understand, but they nod.
"Well, that does make sense. But how do we get rid of your false motive and get you back to normal to make Louise feel better?" asks Guiche.
By this point I'm really starting to get annoyed at these people. "I don't have a false motive! I took care of that a long time ago!"
"What? How?" Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a bunch of parrots and broken records.
"Force of will, but does that really matter at the moment?"
"That doesn't seem likely." Kirche points out.
"Seriously? You people too? I do not have a false motive!"
"And how do you know?" Louise has finally stopped crying, but she still sounds really close to breaking down at the drop of a pin.
"What?"
"If you have a false motive, how would you know? It's implanted in your mind seamlessly so you can stay. It wouldn't work if you knew that the thoughts were false, so how do you know you don't have a false motive?"
At this point I'm beyond angry and have arrived at furious. "Really? Really people? Why don't any of you trust me? I will repeat it for you one more time. I DO NOT HAVE A FALSE MOTIVE!"
"I know how to find out." Louise seems to have moved past nearly broken and has become deadly serious. It takes a second before I realize what she's saying.
"Really? You're going to have Tiffania use her spell to wipe the nonexistent motive? What are you aiming for, the day we made the contract? That'll just wipe the memory of the day because I do not have a false motive!" By this point I'm close to having a psychological breakdown.
"Louise, are you sure you want me to do this?" Everyone's head whips around and we see Tiffania standing in the hallway.
"Um... How long were you standing there?" I ask her.
"I heard the whole conversation. I think if Saito is having a memory problem, we should fix it."
"You're kidding me." Kirche grabs my left arm, and Guiche grabs my right arm.
"You're really going through with this aren't you?" They all nod.
I laugh. "Perfect! Just perfect! I've just stopped caring! Hit me! Wipe my supposed false motive! Like I said, nothing will happen!" I sound like a madman, but I don't care. I just want them to at least believe me.
Huh, I wonder what will happen when she tries to wipe a nonexistent memory? My inner monologue wonders before I get hit by the spell and black out.
*Scene Break*
When I woke up I was lying on a bed. Wow, I think this is the first time you've woke up on a bed after passing out, and it wasn't from blood, my inner monologue notes.
I looked and saw Tabitha looking at me.
"Let me guess, they went ahead and left you to make sure I was alright?"
She nods. "Any change?"
Out of curiosity I rack my brain for every detail and see if anything's different.
"Well, I was right. Nothing happened. I remember everything as it was, I didn't forget anything I hadn't already forgotten, and my impressions of everyone still hasn't changed." And the annoying inner monologue is still there, unfortunately. I am not annoying!
She nods like she expected this. I'm glad someone believed me. Then I feel an itch in my left eye and my vision starts going fuzzy.
"Perfect, They must be in danger. Again." I close my right eye and survey the scene through Louise's eye. It looks like my old friend the Jormungand is back and is trying to kill the group. The Jormungand is a giant steel golem with an ancient magic counter on it, making it very difficult to destroy. They're about 500 feet tall, incredibly fast, and they're all armed with a giant metal swords that are capable of slicing through mountains with almost no effort. I've killed about 11 with the help of Louise and a tank, but it was hard work.
I look at Tabitha, and she nods. It's always nice to just look at someone and they already know what you're going to ask. We walked out of the orphanage, jumped on Slyphid and we took off after Louise and everyone.
It took fives minutes before we reached our destination, but the Golem was in view within two. I saw Louise point her wand at the Golem and try to cast something, but it didn't look like anything was coming out. Perfect, her magic always picks the best time to crap out.
The Golem sees her and raises its leg. I jump off Slyphid, who was only about 20 feet from the ground anyway, and run towards Louise, Derflinger in hand to give me an extra boost of speed, I grab Louise and jump out of the way as the golem's giant foot comes down. I get us onto a cliff overlooking the battle and set her down. The Jormungand may be huge and as fast as a human, but we still look like insects and can easily be missed.
"S-Saito..." She sounds completely surprised that I bother to show up at all. I don't really blame her.
"You were right, our luck really is terrible."
"W-what are you doing here! You're free! You have no reason to stay! You don't have anything in your mind telling you what to do anymore!"
My anger on the subject having dissipated, I chuckle. "Did you really never consider that I had gone through this already and that my mind was cleared of any false motive a long time ago?"
She blushes. "T-then-"
"Yes, none of you believed me even though I was telling the truth."
She hangs her head ashamed, but realizes we have much more pressing matters to take care of. "We'll talk later! How do we take this thing out?"
"Well, that's the tricky part. How's your magic holding up?"
"I-its gone. All my willpower's been used up and I can't cast anymore."
"Well that sucks." I don't really see a need to react to the situation in any other way.
"H-how can you act so calm! The only thing that can cut through that golem's barrier is my magic, and I can't use it!" Good, she noticed that that it had counter on.
"I can't do anything anymore!" Then she starts crying. "I'm just Louise the Zero again."
Then Tabitha comes in. "Than I'll take him."
"What?" Louise just sounds saddened by this point. I'm too shocked to say anything so I don't. That and I already know that Tabitha's figured out how to give Louise's willpower a charge.
"If you can't do anything, then I'll protect him from now on." I blink. That was the longest sentence I ever head Tabitha say. Before I can respond, she walks up to me, and pulls my lips to hers.
*Louise POV*
"W-W-w-what?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was going to lose Saito. I was losing him and there was nothing I could do about it.
Saito, don't leave me. I could do nothing but cry, Saito, don't leave me!
I felt a warmth in my chest but I didn't care. I was losing my familiar, the only person I'd ever loved, and I couldn't do a thing about it, my magic wasn't working, and Saito probably hated me now for not believing him about the false motive. I was feeling very depressed at the moment.
"Nooo!"
"Now!" Tabitha said. "Void spells!"
I realized that the warmth was my willpower having recharged somehow. I turn to the Golem and chant explosion. I put everything I have into this one spell, and I lower my wand. A bright light appeared in the middle of the golem, small at first, but it kept expanding. Then the entire golem exploded. I feel drowsy and I feel myself start to collapse. Before I hit the ground I feel someone's arms supporting me.
"Saito." Then I black out.
*Scene Break*
*Saito POV*
After Louise cast that void spell, I made sure she didn't take too hard a fall. I was going to bring her back to the carriage so we could head back, but our luck is never that good. Tabitha had already gone to round up the others, leaving me alone with the unconscious Louise, when I heard a voice.
"Amazing, her void can even stop the Jormungand! She truly is a terrifying mage!" says a familiar voice.
"Myoznitnirm, how nice of you to join the party. I take it you came for me to kick your ass?"
"I came to observe, but if you want a battle, I'll gladly give you one!"
"Then how about this, no weapons. A plain fist fight, no one has any advantages, or disadvantages. Sound fair?" I was still really pissed at Myoz for kidnapping Louise a while back, and I really wanted to let off some steam. I would definitely enjoying beating her much more than simply slicing at her while she runs away.
"Fool! You are nothing without your Gandalfar powe- urf!" I used my best strategy, interrupting the power mad villain by punching them in the stomach while they were talking.
At that point I punch her in the face and she fell to the ground.
"Still think I'm nothing? Then how about I beat you into the dirt that spawned you?"
I mount her and start punching her face again and again. I didn't intend to cave her skull in and kill her, or even leave any permanent damage, I just really needed punching bag at the moment. I kept punching her again and again for what felt like a solid minute. Eventually, I ran out of energy and couldn't punch her anymore. She was unconscious, but alive. I got up, picked up Louise, and walked away. I knew it would take more than what I did to kill her, and I was counting on her coming back stronger. I did feel a lot better though. I really, really needed to hit something.
*Scene Break*
*Louise POV*
I woke up on my bed back at the academy.
"Louise, thank god you're awake. Just to let you know, you overdid it with that explosion and you've been out for four days." I see Saito is sitting next to me. Siesta isn't there, so I assume Saito sent her out or something.
I immediately pull Saito into as tight a hug as I can.
"Idito, idiot! Why do you keep making me worry like this?" I start crying but I don't really care by this point.
"What are you talking about? You were making me worry! You could have killed yourself from exerting that much energy!"
I stop crying for a minute when I remember something. "Now explain, what was that you were doing with Tabitha?"
"Well, the quickest way to recharge void willpower is emotions, any emotions. Tabitha figured that out and decided that the quickest way to do that was jealousy."
"And how did she know this?" I say, the doubt in my voice obvious.
He shrugged, "I asked her and she said that Derflinger told her. Does that really matter at the moment? Can't we just be glad that you're alive?"
I remember that the metal golem nearly killed me, but Saito saved me. Even when I doubted him and didn't listen to him, he still came back to save me. That was all the proof I needed that his feeling weren't that of any type of magic. I started to cry again. I don't even know why. Saito pats my head and gives me a hug.
"Its okay Louise, everything's fine know, right?"
I shake my head. "No, not yet. There's something I need to do first." Before he can reply, I press my lips to his. I have to admit, he's getting better at not being surprised when I do this. I collapse against him and we fall onto the bed, our lips never breaking contact. Eventually I stop. I think for a minute, then I steel my resolve. Last time will not be repeated again. I start undoing the buttons on my shirt.
"W-w-what are you doing?" Saito asks me, his face probably redder than mine.
"I-its hot out." I'm too embarrassed to even offer anything more than that. But I've already made my decision. I'm not backing out like last time.
I finish unbuttoning my shirt and shrug it off. My skirt follows it, and they both find themselves in a corner of the room. I'm only wearing my camisole and panties, and I can't believe what I'd doing. I try to think of something to stop me from thinking about what I'm doing and backing out again and I kiss Saito again. That was exactly what I needed, and all previous worries leave my mind. Inhibitions gone, my camisole and panties join the rest of the pile. I help Saito out of his jacket, and then his shirt. It's not long before everything else is in that pile in the corner of the room.
I was happy beyond measure. Saito was mine, mine alone, and would be with me forever. We could get officially married in a few months. We'd get a nice big house and live together. We could decorate it with all sorts of fancy furniture and decorations. I could almost see our future playing out before my eyes. The night was absolutely perfect and nothing could change that.