Disclaimer: I do not own either Zero no Tsukaima, Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu and any other work that might be used as reference in this story, no matter how much I've altered the elements from them to either fit, balance or because of lack of information.
Warning: This work of fiction contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.
Densetsu no Tsukaima no Densetsu
(A Zero no Tsukaima x Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu crossover story.)
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Two Alternate worlds…
A powerless princess summons a young girl bearing likeness of a deceased friend. A broken soul awakens and meets a young lady who she knew she had killed years ago.
Is the continent of Halkeginia ready for these two to meet?
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Chapter Two: Of Henriettas and Louises
Four days have passed since the springtime summoning ritual. While most of those who failed in their first attempt retired, one student was still unconscious after the draining most of his magical will in a second failed attempt. The resident healing mage had said that it was fortunate that he had a very healthy libido which probably refilled his will just enough, after he was completely drained by the staff, to saved his life.
One of those who succeeded was a second year student like Henrietta. She succeeded in summoning dragon that had been thought to be extinct. The other was an alumni who returned for a third attempt and managed to summon a yellow feathered flightless bird that was the size of a horse. Both of them made appearances to the student body to show the extraordinary creatures.
The Henrietta's success, however, wasn't publicly known at the moment. In fact no one has seen her since she prepared for the ritual two nights prior.
The last person, who mattered, to have seen her was Mr. Colbert, after he carried her familiar on his back to her dorm room in secret. The eccentric fire magic professor wasn't exactly the princess' first choice (not that any of the other teachers were more appealing), but he was the only teacher that had any upper body strength and thus made him her only choice. He was shocked to see her familiar at first and immediately understood why he was asked to swore secrecy, which he has so far kept.
Henrietta had kept to her room, going as far as calling for her personal chevalier and ordering her to post several guards, ones that had enough gull to turn away nobles, by her room's door and by the stairwells. She didn't feel it was quite time to meet any of them because she was still at a loss of how to explain her familiar, a familiar that just so happens to be in a shape of a, known to be dead, noble girl. And although she thought of and considered a number of options, most of them still required that her familiar be awake to talk it through with her.
In the mean time, living the life of a recluse royal student wasn't exactly new to the young princess. Before she had met Louise she would be tutored alone by old specialty mages day in and out, spend time playing alone and even ate alone. Such was the unseen everyday life of a very young princess. She didn't complain then (not too much at least) and she wouldn't complain now.
To pass the time, Henrietta would read or write on her memoir and reviewing books that explained the magical theories of all four elements. But after four days she had run out of things to write and books to read. She considered summoning a maid to watch over the girl she had summoned, however, the girl's inexplicable physical power made her worry enough to keep changing her decision.
She looked at the girl's face, now clean and fresh. She had painstakingly cleaned the girl herself without summoning a maid's assistance. She had done so, mostly, because it gave her something to do, but also to check on a inkling she had about the girl. What she had learned as she cleansed the girl's body was that while her body looked exactly like Louise's... she had lesser amount of blemishes on her body... far lesser. In fact, the girl had none. No old or recent scars. Not a single callus on her. Not a hint of freckles. Nor did her lips dried and cracked. Not even a bit of skin discoloration. She was completely unblemished... except for the familiar's runes on the back of her left hand. The princess pondered if it was an ability gained as a familiar or the effect of her rejuvenation… but either way, such a faultless and enviable body shouldn't be possible.
"..prin…cess…" the girl moaned out with a pained expression on her sleeping face. Henrietta had to watch the girl go through a number of bad dreams and nightmares. She watched her cry, toss, turn, groan, moan, scream and clench the sheets till they almost tore unable to wake or comfort her. It wouldn't have been so bad, if only the girl didn't have her best friend's face.
The large fire had already consumed half of the castle. With her voice turning hoarse with each shout, Louise called out for help. But there was no one left inside the castle. The guards were the first to flee. The brave, or foolish, among knights inside of the castle were slain. While the servants ran the as soon as their noble employers weren't looking. After all, the nobility has done nothing for the people.
She turned to her only friend, a taller girl (if her legs had still been there), who was lying on the floor now blotched with her own blood.
"Princess! Please hang on!... Please don't give up! Help will be here soon." Louise begged her friend with tears streaming from her eyes.
She watched as the girl's once beautiful face, now marred with a burns and scratches, weakly turned to her and forced a smile.
"Louise... No one is coming…" she said weakly.
Louise forced a smile onto her lips. A smile that she herself knew was clearly unbalanced and twisted by her denial of the reality that was unfolding.
"D-don't be silly! You're the Princess, Henrietta, of course someone is coming."
A bigger lie than this couldn't possibly exist for the two of them. Both of them had relied on it for so long… but that ended when the gravely injured princess softly shook her head and said, "No one is coming."
With those words Louise lost what little composure she had… and wailed. She didn't want her best and only friend to die. And she blamed herself… If only she wasn't so afraid of using her powers… If only she had consumed the magic that started the fire… If only she had eaten one servant… she could have saved Henrietta.
Henrietta gently brushed her hand against her tear stained cheek and called out to her. "Louise…"
"Please don't speak, save your strength."
But the princess ignored her request.
"I need a favor of a life time that probably can't repay."
"I never need repayment! Ask anything! For you I will do anything!"
The princess blessed her with a blissful smile.
"You promise?"
Louise noted that her friend had asked with a hint of mischief. And suddenly realized why... the princess only asked her to promise something when she thought that there was even a remote possibility that Louise might not do it. And every time it happened Louise would bite the lower corner of her lip, hesitate for a few seconds, and…
"Anything… I promise…"
She resisted the urge to cry anew. Deep in Louise's heart she wanted to weep and flee, because she knew what the princess would ask. But she kept still and held her already limited tears, smiled at the girl that made her life livable and waited for her friend to ask what it was she dreaded she'd ask.
"Consume me, escape before the castle falls… and live for my behalf as well."
Of all the people in the world, she was the one person she never wanted to use her powers on. She mattered to her more than her blood family.
But she had promised…
"Al-…al..right..."
"Thank you. Louise Françoise."
Henrietta closed her eyes.
Louise raised her one remaining arm and gently cupped the princess' cheek, having cut the other after it was crushed by the weight of a fallen dresser. Her fingers lingered, wishing that time would just stop forever. But it wasn't meant to be. She closed her eyes and her power to awaken.
When her eyes reopened the truth of all that was had life and magic was revealed to her… and it told her nothing that she didn't already know.
She lowered herself, closing the distance between their bodies.
"Anri…" she whispered the princess' nickname, a name that Louise had given her out of the blue one day, a name that stuck with them… "…forgive me."
The princess' lips almost curled into a disappointed frown, but twisted back into a smile. "You can't do it after all?"
"I can…"
"Then what is there to-hmph"
Louise pushed her lips against hers and kissed her deeply, pouring her heart and soul into one immoral act of intimacy between females. Surprised Henrietta opened her eyes. For a moment life filled the princess' clear blue eyes and reflected from them was the glowing red pattern of the flaming cross inside a magic circle from Louise's rose colored eyes.
She then broke the kiss and just stared for a moment at the princess' surprised face. She bottled her nervousness and showed a façade of shameless contentment.
A moment passed… Henrietta's surprised face turned into one of happiness.
"We'll meet again, Fran."
After hearing her own nickname Louise could only nod in reply.
After gathering her courage and resolve, she used the least painful way of consuming Henrietta.
Alive and whole… living flesh, essence and all…
She watched as her most important person dissolve into a mist of white and black that flowed into her mouth as if it were a vacuum.
Nourishment and power soon filled her allowing her to regenerate her lost arm. She grasped it, like an important treasure before wailing her friend's name.
...everything turned black.
And another nightmare began…
Just when Henrietta thought the girl would settle down from her nightmare the girl started crying as if she was being tortured. She couldn't bare the sight of her suffering and once again tried to hold her hand while whispering words of comfort, but it did nothing in the end.
A brusque knock rapped her door and jogged the princess out of her thoughts of self-loathing.
It took her a short glace on her timepiece to know just who might be paying her a visit. As it was yet to be midday it couldn't be the new maid that the princess had allowed to bring up her food during her self-imposed isolation. Which meant it could only be the headmaster.
"Just a moment." she answered before she turned to check herself at the mirror. When she found herself presentable, she unlocked and opened the door. As she expected it was the headmaster, although to her surprise he wasn't alone.
"Good Morning, Princess Henrietta. I hope we weren't interrupting you?"
Although old Osmond tried to hide it, Henrietta noticed he had an air of anxiety about him. She found it odd; the old mage had so much experience in life that many often joked that only the founder could possibly scare him. And yet, from the way he grasped his staff and the way he stood said that he brought her serious news.
She then turned to the old magician's company, Mr. Colbert. He seemed just as anxious as the headmaster and he looked like he was ready to fight to protect the book that he held. If she had to be honest, she disliked him. If she had to be painfully honest, her hatred was unbiased. But for now it looked like they both had something very important to tell her.
"Please come in." She opened her door wider to accommodate the elderly professors.
"Thank you. We won't be too long." The old mage entered the room followed by the balding mage who awkwardly bowed multiple times.
Before closing the door, Henrietta turned to check on the guards she had asked to be posted near her door and by the stair well. She gave them a short check. She cast "Magic Detect" discretely to sense if they had been spellbound in anyway. When she found none, she closed the door behind her and relocked it.
She offered them a seat on the lounge chair that she had previously been occupying and her desk chair, while she stood by the corner of the bed.
"So what can I do for you two gentlemen?" Henrietta asked trying to be polite enough, but tried to show enough guard expected of a young woman who allowed men into her bedchamber.
Osmond coughed into his fist in an obvious way and turned to stare at Mr. Colbert. The princess turned to the middle aged teacher with a critical eye that almost made the man jump out of his skin.
He stood from his seat, opened the ancient looking book he had been carrying to a specific page and with the utmost courtesy he offered it to her. "Please forgive my impertinence, you're highness. Four days ago, I saw the mark on your familiar's hand I noticed these rare runes. For some reason they looked familiar, but I couldn't recall where I saw them before until I had found this book."
Henrietta reluctantly received the book and examined it. She first noted that the page illustrated a familiar rune set. Her mind automatically labored to translate the ancient runes written down, while she did a part of her mind allowed her to assess the manuscript. Upon a closer look it was easy to tell that the book was actually an ancient tome, written or possibly transcribed by someone at least four or five centuries ago. It was still in a relatively good condition for an old text, a testament to good book keeping, maintenance and a preservation spell. But when her mind finished translating the text all that thought about the book slipped out of her mind.
"This is… the familiar markings… on this girl…" she muttered out weakly.
"It's the mark of Gandalfr." Osmond declared.
"Gan… dalfr…?" Henrietta echoed in surprise, the shock finally hit on her. The princess sat down on the bed, gracelessly, for her legs had almost given way after such an unforeseen surprise.
How could she not be? Gandalfr was one of the legendary familiars of the founder Brimir. Often referred to as the left hand of god, this powerful familiar was told to have the ability to wipe out an army of one thousand and cannot be defeated by ordinary mages.
Given a moment to collect herself and her thoughts… she had come to realize that it made sense. The girl's amazing strength, her ever healing body, and the power to render magic useless against her. All of these were the qualities of the founder's strongest familiar, Gandalfr.
"Princess? Are you alright?" The old man's voice called the princess back from her thoughts.
The princess didn't look up from the book. "I… I'm… I'm just… overwhelmed." She reread, and retranslated the text over and over to ingrain it to her memory with the tiniest amount of error.
The old mage nodded with understanding. He too was shocked by Mr. Colbert's findings. Gandalfr in the modern world… did this mark the founder's second coming? Or had Great Founder expected… wished… or planned great things upon the princess to send her such a powerful familiar? It was hard to say. And while he expected great things of a young mage with so much talent, he never thought she'd have such a grand destiny.
"How do you wish to proceed?" asked the old man. Usually things of such interest like this were reported to the king, however, since Henrietta was a princess and seeing as it is her familiar he felt that her interests were more important. And secretly he was probably more loyal to the young princess than to the aging king.
"Who else knows?" The question was addressed to Old Osmond, but the princess' sharp stare was fixed at the fire magic professor.
"Only the three of us." the old mage answered with a grave tone.
Henrietta pondered her next move. On one hand, she has been waiting years for such a trump card. On the other, she knew next to nothing about the girl she had summoned (other than her strengths as a familiar). And she had Louise's face… which made things a little more difficult.
"For now… I would like this secret to be kept between us and only shared when I allow it."
"Of course, you're highness." Osmond said as he placed a hand over his heart. "I swear that this secret shall pass onto another from me."
Pleased by the old mage's vow, the princess nodded then turned to Mr. Colbert. The balding man drew back a bit, surprised by the coldness of the princess' eyes. But he understood her displeasure of his presence. While most of which wasn't deserved, he did believe that Princess Henrietta did hold some grudge against him for failing to defend Miss Valliere from the constant teasing of her peers... it just happened to be stronger since the said girl's passing. That said, a simple vow would probably not be satisfactory… although he didn't expect her to show him whether his vow was satisfactory or not.
"I would rather burn myself than let this secret out without your permission, you're highness." Mr. Colbert said as he bowed as deeply as he could.
Henrietta looked away from the middle aged professor and said, "I shall hold both of you to your vows." She turned to the book one last time, read its contents, translated and closed it.
"Next… I would like this book sealed and kept somewhere no one is bound to stumble upon it."
"A locking spell wouldn't take too much time and it should be no problem to relocate it to the academy's vault afterwards."
Henrietta handed the book to the old mage. "I want it to be your first priority."
The old mage received the book, careful not to drop it with his flail aged hands. "I will have it done before-!"
Before he could finish his sentence he noticed something had moved on the bed. There now standing was the small girl the princess had summoned days ago. Her pearly white skin was lightly wrapped with a long pink satin nightgown that barely accented her form. Her long and flowing strawberry blonde hair slightly draped over her face as she watched them with her head tilted to one side as she sent them a freezing gaze from her rose colored eyes, while her lips was twisted in the most eerie of smiles. The headmaster felt a familiar emotion that he hadn't felt in a very long time… Terror…
Old Osmond's trepidation didn't go unnoticed. The first to turn was Mr. Colbert. When his eyes met the girl's he felt none of familiarity that he did when he first saw her. Instead it was replaced with panic as his instincts and body told him all that he needed to know.
This girl was easily capable of killing…
Princess Henrietta turned last. As she didn't have anything comparable to the life experience of the two older mages, she didn't notice the dangerous aura that the girl projected and smiled with relief now that she was finally awake.
"You're finally..." Her words were caught in her throat when the girl suddenly vanished from her view leaving with a sound of sodden gust passing strongly.
"You're foolish to think you can trick me by taking that appearance." Declared a familiar voice, but said in a tone alien to the young inexperienced princess.
Despite knowing that magic was useless against the girl, Mr. Colbert had instinctively pointed his wand at her. However, before he could even think of a spell to cast or an action that might work the girl vanished again.
"You're a hindrance." The girl's cold voice whispered sharply from behind the fire mage. He then felt a viselike grip from a small hand dig into his left bicep. A piercing pain followed by a warm sensation flowed onto his skin, but before he could even consider the damage he was pulled off his feet and flung effortlessly towards Old Osmond. Neither the fire specialist nor the old professor could react to the swift efficiency of the attack and collided with each other and one of the princess' dressers.
The crash did, however, make such a loud noise that the guards posted outside the door rushed in with swords drawn.
"Princess!" Three female guards called out in unison.
What greeted them was as an unexpected scene. The two mages that their captain had considered the most skilled were on the floor, unconscious, one over the other, with clothes scattered on top of them and pieces of what used to be a dresser. And to their surprise what defeated them was only a little girl with a little blood on her hand.
One of the guards made the mistake of making eye contact with the girl and instantly felt the girl's menacing aura. Fear gushed into her being, like a broken dam. Panic ensued. Her body wanted her to flee… her mind and training told her to fight. What little sanity that remained told her to do either now.
So… she attacked.
With a loud battle cry the common born soldier rushed at the tiny girl and swung her blade. But the blade never reached the girl as she was no longer at the spot she had slashed at… or to be more accurate she didn't slash where she had planned to nor was she even standing anymore.
The other two guards didn't have time to stop their comrade from charging, but they barely even saw that same comrade of theirs being pulled from the collar of her armor and hurled at them like a nothing more than a feather filled pillow. Unfortunately for them their companion had been thrown at them with more than enough force to knock the wind out of their lungs and caused them both to fall unconscious.
Henrietta had held in a gasp of horror as she could only watch the scene unfold. Two of the most highly regarded magicians in this school defeated in the blink of an eye, battered embarrassingly under a pile of women's clothes as they bleed lightly from splinters and some stray broken wood. Then two of her royal guards easily taken out after the first one had hurled at them like a rag doll. Such was the power of the familiar, Gandalfr…such strength… blinking speed… and unique efficiency… her destined familiar.
But what did she mean by 'trick her'? She tried to steel her heart. It was because she didn't know anything about this girl that she had kept to herself.
"Ugh…" the thrown guard groaned as she tried to remain conscious. She grit her teeth upon realizing that one of her thighs had been pierced by the sword of her friend and blinding pain followed suit when she tried to move one of her hand that just happened to have been broken when she fell.
The young princess watched as the girl slowly walked towards the fallen guard. She could hear her heart pound with each barefooted step the strawberry blonde took. She looked on as the guard struggled to look up at her attacker. Henrietta hoped and prayed that the girl she had summoned would show some mercy seeing as the soldier was already in such a bad shape. But that hoped was dashed when the guard was silenced by a brutal kick to her gut that the guard cough out blood before finally falling unconscious.
Now rid of all the nuisances, Louise turned to her real target. She grew annoyed with each second that she had to stare at the girl's façade… a Henrietta that wasn't. How could she be? Princess Henrietta de Tristain was dead. She had been consumed by the power of her cursed eyes. And at least in her mind and heart she had become part of her… body and soul.
So if this girl wasn't Henrietta… all she could be is a fake. And this had been done before… except none have been so well as this one. There were few other times that the others had tried dressing up a girl to look like Henrietta to convince her to join them, but they weren't well made at all so it had been really easy to tell that they were fake. Some resulted casting an enchantment on the girl to make her look like the princess, but the little things that people take for granted such as scents, color, voice pitch, and most importantly personal knowledge about the princess and herself easily gave them away.
However, this Henrietta before her… Looks just like her, she smells just like her, her eyes and hair was very much alike, her voice was completely identical and even the way she moved, down to the way her muscles twitched was absolutely the same. If she was to be honest, she was intrigued when she first saw her… if she had not passed out she might have fallen for it out of delusion and weakness. But after a long nightmare filled sleep that reminded her of everything… she wasn't about to fall for even such a well done ploy.
She walked towards the young lady who had assumed her princess' form. To her surprise this young lady stood her ground, although she could tell that this young lady was frightened inside, just like how Henrietta faced a man five times her size to protect her.
"I don't know what kind of forbidden magic or rule fragment you're using to assume the princess' form. But know that it's pointless to pretend that you are some else… especially if you're pretending to be Princess Henrietta." She declared with a certain potency in her tone.
"Just what do you mean by that?" The pretender asked with the voice, the tone and carried with the same emotions that Louise had expected to come with it… if it were truly Princess Henrietta.
"Do I have to spell it out?" Louise smiled maliciously. "You're a fake… although I must admit that out of all the people that tried you've done the best job… It's really hard to see any difference. But in the end there is easy evidence to know that you're a fake."
The eyes of the Henrietta in front of her narrowed into a hostile gaze, as if she was barely able to stand the indignation to the slight of her honor and identity. "And what would that evidence be?" she asked as if to play along with her… just as Henrietta would.
"Princess Henrietta is dead."
Henrietta gasped aloud surprised by the revelation and the coincidence. The story was slowly coming together in her mind. This girl was Louise… not the Louise she had lost, but a Louise from another world (if the stories that Old Osmond had told her were to be taken into account). And this Louise had mistaken her for a false Henrietta, but considering what she had just declared it was an inevitable conclusion.
She wanted to know more. The existence of a parallel world, according to magic theory, was possible… summoned familiars are a testament to that. But for her to have a sentient person as evidence of it was astonishing. However, this was not the time for it as she needed to calm this Louise down.
But how could she? This girl clearly believed that she was a copy of sorts made in an attempt to trick her into joining them... and it probably didn't help her conscience knowing that in way it was true.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she was pushed down, albeit a bit gently, onto her own bed. "Louise… please calm down for a moment."
"I am calm." this Louise graced her with a calm smile. "Don't worry… I'll spare you. I'm just curious as to what kind of magic they performed to make you look so realistic."
"I have an idea as to what you're talking about, however, I feel that I should at least tell you this, I am Princess Henrietta de Tristain!"
"Pft-" the girl tried to hold something down her throat for a moment. "…he-hi…ha…ha…"
It was then that she was treated to a surprise. A sound so incredibly familiar, something she's heard hundreds of times… the sound of Louise's wholehearted laughter.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Her voice rang in the air like a wonderful melody that Henrietta had missed for so long. A sad tear threatened to come out… she tried her best not to blink or show weakness.
She said nothing… despite feeling a little humiliated, she held it in. She knew the girl was trying to intimidate her. But oddly hearing Louise's voice laugh so happily was welcomed… even though she was laughing at her.
When the girl's laughter finally died down, she looked at Henrietta with an expression that she's seen on Louise all too often. It was then that she accepted it… this was truly Louise, not her Louise… but it was Louise.
"Ah- I haven't laughed so hard in years." said Louise as she wiped a tear from her eye.
She got onto the bed, straddled the young lady and held her down by her shoulder for good measure. "Now then… reveal your true form to me or I will make you."
Not at all surprising that the fake Henrietta just stared up at her, in exactly the same indignant way she expected Henrietta would should she be in such a position. "Very well then…"
She closed her eyes and delved into her power reserve, which wasn't at all hard as it was full to the brim, she let it loose into her veins to flood into her eyes. When she opened them again the world would be seen differently in her eyes. And a different girl laid on the bed…
Or at least that's how it should have been.
A gasp escaped her lips. Surprise, confusion, question, impossibility… flashed into her mind. What she was seeing… it just couldn't be.
"Anri?" the nickname she called the princess slipped out of her mouth.
Henrietta was a shocked to see her eyes glow again. It was something she had shrugged off as part of the familiar marking. But it seemed like she was mistaken. She didn't know why they glowed as they did or why this Louise had to make them glow. However, she had an eerie feeling as those eyes marked with a flaming cross looked at her in a way that pierced through her very soul.
She did not know what to expect to come next. Would she become violent? – Possibly. However, the familiar binding will prevent her from doing too much physical harm… or at least that's how it should work. But she wasn't at all feeling very confident that even the familiar binding will save her from Gandalfr. After all this girl has proven that she could toss an armored knight guard without intent to kill, who was to say such a throw wouldn't kill a student princess, who has only lifted two books at a time, dressed only in summer uniform.
But then something moist touched her face. She blinked twice confused for a moment then noticed tears forming in the eyes of the girl on top of her. Her calm smile was gone, replaced by bewilderment, puzzlement, shock and something else… joy?
Then the girl whispered a name, "Anri?" her tone, Henrietta recognized, was that of someone who wished only the truth… something she was willing to give.
So she shook her head, which garnered the girl's surprised dismay, and said, "I am Henrietta de Tristain, my runic name is Henrietta the Adept. I the only princess of the kingdom of Tristain, at times called the Flower of Tristain. To my Louise I am known as Ann."
"Ann?" the girl echoed as if testing the name.
The princess nodded. "And I used to call my Louise, Lizy."
"Used… to?"
She gave the girl a sad acceptant smile. "She's gone too… the Louise of this world."
"…of this world…" as she weakly echoed those three key words, Louise finally noticed it. From the moment she activated the power of her cursed eyes she was sure she had seen it... this world's truth, the shape of its magic, the flow of its leylines. It was all very different… almost alien.
She cut off the flow of magic from her eyes, jumped off the bed, sharply turning away from the princess and looked around the room for something she could use.
In her mind, everything was a mess. Where was she? Who is this young woman really? What was the truth. A side of her told her to just ignore it and taunted her to eat this young lay while she was still brimming with an innocently flavored power and magic, but she resisted. And while she had accepted that she was a monster that ate people, she wasn't about to eat indiscriminately… especially when she's not hungry. Although, if she had to be honest, had someone else told her all this… she wouldn't even consider it until after she had beheaded them and eaten their brains. If she had not used her cursed eyes to see the truth of this young lady, she might not even be considering what the world she saw strange (at least not immediately).
She shrugged the thoughts of consuming a human being of her mind. Nothing made someone think they were hungry when they're not faster like thinking of eating.
Besides she had more important things to do than food right now. She had to- no… needed to- no… she wanted to know for sure. 'Is she telling the truth?' Her first priority was to find out.
She found a robe lying on the floor near where the mages she had thrown had fallen. She picked it up and placed it over the thin nightgown that she already had on. But as she turned to the door to leave, the supposedly Henrietta of this world called out to her.
"Louise, where are you going?"
Louise stopped and stood still to hide a secret smile. She was touched that this Henrietta had no illusions that she was her Louise and proved it without being told to by calling her by her first name.
She bit her lip a little to rid herself of her smile and turned her head slightly so an eye met the young lady who had now sat up on the bed. "It's none of your business."
Henrietta opened her mouth to say something… but nothing that sounded right came to mind.
Noticing her silence Louise turned away and decided to go. But before she could take the step out the door 'this world's' Henrietta called her attention again. "Louise!"
She stopped, but didn't turn or reply this time.
"If you need anything, please come to me anytime… and know that I will always help you."
Louise turned her head one more time, only this time far enough that both their eyes met once again. She looked at the young woman seriously. In her heart she was happy… yet annoyed, so she tried hard to keep a smile off her face. She did, however, gave her an affirming blink along with a minute nod before she turned away and left the room.
Henrietta could only watch as the Louise from another world vanished into a mist of red light. She let out a heavy disappointed breath. She had hoped things had gone better. But she was happy that the subjugation effect of the contract familiar wasn't very strong, that made her conscience feel a bit lighter. And while her familiar had left her, it was alright with her. Her objective wasn't to have a familiar, it was to fulfill Louise's dream.
But it wouldn't be so bad… to be friends with this new Louise. She just knew that the two of them could have what she and Louise had.
To be continued…