The Long War - Chapter 2 version 1.0
The Long War – Chapter 2 1.1 – a little more detail on stuff and just some streamlining of events.
The Long War – Chapter 2 1.2 – correcting mistake that Rimshooter has pointed out.
The Long War - Chapter 2
It was another day for her, just another day of living her useless and pointless, she thought, as she sit down to breakfast in the great hall. She was late to breakfast, as shown by the fact that very few students were in the main hall, the only one still there were talking their time or simply like her had slept in. Today, was the weekends so their was no classes, and everyone was free for today and tomorrow which was the only reason that she was late to breakfast.
As she site down, she could immediately hear everyone quite down for a bit as they whispered behind her back, most likely about the latest rumors about her. But it didn't matter to her, anymore, her life and dreams were already fading away beside it wasn't like their was anything left for her here anymore. But what little hope remained in her heart yet even that was fading away second by second. She thought, despairingly, as she took the first bit of breakfast, after saying a quick prayer.
When she had woken in the morning, she'd made a decision, she didn't belong here. She was no mage, she nothing more then a fool thinking that she could be one. In the end, her summoning a commoner just proved that she was nothing more then a commoner, she thought.
So in making that decision, in the morning, she made sure to sent a letter, by messenger bird, to her mother, explaining that she will be dropping out of the academy and returning home. The second action, she did after that, was to inform her handmaid Siesta to begin packing her belongings before coming down for breakfast.
Now all that was left was to inform the headmaster that she was leaving the academy then, she had to see Ms. Goon, about her familiar and whether if he can be moved without endangering his health. If not then, she told, herself then she would have no choose but wait until he got better but it would also mean that she had to endure the hush whispered tones of her fellow students once again.
It had only been an hour and already she was getting increasingly vexed and inpatient, of every passing moment, no matter how many time that she tired to remain calm. She couldn't shake the feeling so it left her with no other choice but to endure.
Noticing that her food was finished she reached for more food, while her mind consider what she was going to be doing for today.
First, she had to find Siesta and get her to wash her familiar blood strain cloths and his armor, then she had to see Ms. Goon the school water mage and find out if her familiar could be moved safely, and finally she had to see the headmaster about dropping out of the academy and what was required of her. So...wait, she remembered, she'll have to see that her familiar got some food. That was about it for the day to do list, she thought, as she continue her breakfast.
Colbert was standing next to the familiar watching the familiar and every single movement he'd made without missing a beat. The professor was tense, as he cast every anti-monster, anti-demon, anti-evil spell that he could think, there wasn't many, and none of them had any effect on the men before him.
Yet it wasn't enough to convince nor dissolved his unease at the men before him but he had to admit the failure of each spell only serviced to confirm that the familiar was nothing more then a men and the vile present was no longer with him. However, he noticed, the men was still a danger as they didn't know anything about him.
In fact, thinking about, he realized something that he should have thought of first. They haven't being any demons or anything similar in the records, of course, unless you counted the fairy tails often told to children by their parents. So what that meant that what he saw was impossible! Or at least as far as he knew, he grunted in irritation, at the lack of information, available to him. He'd already checked the school library, including the teachers only section and the headmasters collections, still nothing. The closet he got to were children novels and that didn't help him as their content or what little truth they were based on were lost.
"Good Day, Colbert." a old men voice asked, he know who it belonged to.
"Morning, Headmaster," he answered without turning around.
"So how is he doing?" Osmond said, as he step up to stand next to Colbert looking at Ms. Valliere familiar.
"According to Ms. Goon, he's recovering well now but I'm afraid that healing him has pushed her to the breaking point. So she has informed me that while the infirmary will remain open. She will not be able to heal any major wounds for while." He informed the headmaster.
"That is unfortunate news but do inform her that she has outdone herself and thank her for the hard work." Osmond said, emotionally.
"I will headmaster, sir."
"Good, now did she inform you of the extent of the familiar injuriously?" Osmond asked, interested.
"No, She was too tired to explain the details. All she said was that he was lucky to be alive and with us then dead."
"Oh, not very informing." Osmond said, with an hint of annoyance.
"Agree but..."
"Yes, I know don't worry snake. I know she's tired but I was hoping for more information." Osmond, chuckled softly. Silent remain between the two of them for a few minute, both busy with their own thoughts, until Osmond spoke.
"Did you find anything in your search?"
"No, nothing, nothing at all." Colbert answered, annoyed.
"Then we can do no more then wait until he's awaken." Osmond said.
"Can't we..."
"No, no mind reading spell, Colbert. That's is too dangers beside my gut is telling me that it's not a good idea." Osmond said, looking him in the face, making sure that he got the message, before turning back to leave.
He didn't agree with the headmaster on using a mind reading spell on the familiar to get some information and to find out where, he'd been summon from. But he was once a soldier and like a soldier, he followed the old men orders. So then, there was nothing more that he could do but wait until the familiar woke up. Now, he thought, on to more do-able problems, he thought, as he left.
Longueville stood in front of the door which led into the school treasury, she cast a spell attempting to open it only to watch as nothing happened. She tired one more time only to see the same results, she cursed. It must've been a very powerful reinforcement spell that they used on the lock, well looks like she wasn't going to be getting in the easy way, she thought with a sigh.
She was a earth mage, a powerfully one, but to run into a spell like this on her last job was a pain, she'd gone undercover just so that she didn't have to result to force but once again, it wasn't to be so, she thought. Why must fate be so? This job was meant to be simple break into the treasury take what was on her shopping list, and get out. There done, no would find out ever that she'd taken anything, because from the looks of things, rarely anyone want to the treasury.
She sigh, maybe it time that she head back upstairs to the old men and go along with her cover. She was about to turn around and walk off, when she heard someone say.
"What are you doing over there?"
Crap, she thought, who could it be? She thought turning around only to see Colbert surprised face starring at her, his glasses resting on her noise.
"Miss Longueville?" he asked.
"Ah, Mister Colbert it's nice to see you. I was down here trying to get into the treasury so I could catalog everything inside. I heard from Osmond that it's a mass but it seem that I've forget to ask Osmond for the keys, silly me." She said, with a smile and a soft giggle, hoping that it was enough to fool him and surprise, surprise, she thought, it did.
"Oh, that's a bother." Colbert said.
"Yes it's, now I have to walk back upstairs to get them. I guess, it was just careless of me to forget." she said, turning around to leave, when she heard him say, almost shouting asking her to stop and wait a moment. This wasn't good, could he know that she wasn't who she was? Was her cover blown? Was she finished? He thought, as her hands slowly tighten around her ward, ready for the worst.
"How...ah..would you like...lunch together?" Colbert ask, surprising her.
That wasn't what she expected, she thought, that really wasn't what she expected. For a moment there, she'd thought that everything was over but it wasn't . Thank the founder, she thought, with relief. Wait, she thought suddenly, this might be a good time to get some information out of Colbert for now.
"Sure. It be my pleasure." she answered, weary.
"Really." Colbert answered, happily. She returned the expression with a smile of her own, she 'd seen many a men with that look in their eyes. In her experience, they never had any good intention for her, and so she'd gotten use to reading their intention by looking them in the eye. The most common sight in her experience was these of lust and malices so it was a surprise to her, when she saw no malaise within Colbert eyes. It was something that she'd never seen before, from any men, she'd ever known in her life. It brought a trustfully cheerful smile from her heart and reminded her of more innocently days.
"So do you mind putting the getting the keys from the headmaster until we have lunch." said Colbert hastily.
"Yes, I will." she answered, playfully, while waiting for Colbert as he moved to, stand next to her before they started to walk together leaving the treasury behind. Lunch shouldn't have taken that long but it had yet it did, as the two of them soon become lost in their own little world. They didn't notice the fact, that a number of stuff members and commoners were running around double-quick.
Nor did anyone notices Chuchu, the headmaster familiar, as he seat on one of the tables out in the court yard, meant for nobles. On the table, he was at, the student had left their food untouched on the table expect for the tea but he could care less about it. So without any delay, he'd literally jumped into the food, his soft fuzzy body obscurely by the food.
Chuchu was aware that he wasn't following his master bidding but he his hungry was too strong, so he decide to take a break for the moment. He took his time eating, making sure to enjoy each moment bit, as the cheese cake slowly disappeared inch by inch.
As he ate, he could hear his master almost shouting at him to find his assistant before he drowned in the amount of work he was doing, getting the school ready for the unexpected announcement that the princess will be visiting the school. But he didn't care, everyone need a break once in while, beside it wasn't like that he would die from a little work. He could feel that his master disagreement with his statement rather violently but even the show of wrath by his master didn't force him to rush at all.
All all, he had a plan to duel with it, so he didn't stop eating until he was sure that he was full and felt that he couldn't take anymore. Yet by this time, his master wrath had grown to the point that it threaten to explode at any moment, soon. He could feel that, he'd pushed his master temper to far, yet still he didn't worry. What worried him more was the realization that this short journey was going to be slow and possible dangers.
He'd planed this very carefully, so he begun the journey by jumping to the nearest person to pass by him, and roped to the ground from there he'd ran as fast as his body could take him on a full tank. Lucky for him, everyone was in class, the only moving barricade that he encountered were a few commoners.
There he was, he'd arrived at where he needed to be, he moved under the chair which Colbert set at and the individual who opposite him. He could feel his master surprise as he realized who it belong to, his master was left wordless, as he looked at the image before him. He could feel his master wrath melt away as minute pasted by, the longer he stood watching the scene before him.
He'd been planing this for a while now, when he saw spotted the two seating chatting together while his master wasn't monitoring his actions. It's been a while since he'd eaten any food that good, so he'd jumped at the chances to do so and so here he was, looking up into a scene that sent his master mind into heaven. Unfortunately it didn't last long as his eyes begun to feel sleepy. It wasn't long before sleep took him away to dream land, where all the cheese cake and sweets that he could ever eat waited for him. Thus he wasn't aware of his master long shout of despair.
"" Osmond scram echoed through his own office, followed by tears that rain down his cheeks. "Why? Oh Why? Must you be so crude fate?" he said, followed by more tears and thus his motivation to work for the rest of the day was gone.
It'd taken her a while to finish packing Ms. Valliere cloths and other belongs this morning. She didn't know why? But that wasn't her concern, after all, she was nothing more then her handmaid. Anyways, everything was packed and waiting in her room, ready to go.
But until then, she want back to helping the academy with anything that they wanted, since, they were formal co-workers, she though. Of course, there were a few new faces but there were a lot more face that she knew. For example, there was her good friend Chief Marteau, the head chief of the academy, a men with a massive dislike of everything nobles, who'd been working here far longer then she.
Ms. Valliere had asked her to clean her her familiar cloth and the armor, shortly after breakfast and like a good handmaid, she'd agreed. She'd thought, about doing it then, so that way she got it out of the way, but she didn't. She heard from Chief Marteau that the princess was coming in two days and will be staying for dinner with the student and stuff. Chief Marteau, didn't look good because he looked as if he was having a midlife crises. It was then that she decide that she'll hold off cleaning Ms. Valliere familiar cloth and armor until later tonight, when everything should be calmer.
So she spent the rest of the day helping Chief Marteau by going with him to the capital to buy what he cooking ingredients that he'd need. They headed to the city market place managing to find most of the ingredients which they needed but there were a few that they couldn't find. In the end, they spent most of the time trying to find them or harking with someone who had them but at a price that they couldn't afford. By the time they got back to the academy, they only had a few hours until dinner but the Chief pulled by and was able to cook something for the students to eat.
She decide to stay and help him with cooking, it wasn't hard, as she drew on her past experience. She only made a few mistakes but lucky for her, it wasn't anything major or anything that couldn't be fixed quickly. Once the cooking was done, she'd help with serving the food to the students, and then finally she help with the clean of up of the kitchen by the time that she was done, it was late at night and most of the students were already at sleep.
It much to late, she thought, to be washing Ms. Valliere familiar cloths and to be honest, she did feel tired from the days work but as she existed the kitchen, she looked up at the night sky and remembered what her grandfather had told her about their great-great-great grandfather.
That he'd come from to this world through a portal that had opened up suddenly in front of him, as he fell through the sky when his airship had been hit by orks attacks. It hadn't been his first war but would have been his last, if not for the portal. He was found by her great-great-great grandmother in the one of the many caves just outside the town, which they founded and where she grow up at. The cave have since been closed off and watched over by her family through the years, the location kept as a family secret. She thought, as she got ready to wash Ms. Valliere familiar cloths and seat down with a sigh, her body crying tears of relief at the chance to finally seat down.
She'd decide to start with the armor first, as it looked to be easy, then the cloths which from look of it will take much longer to clean. The armor was almost unlike anything that she'd has ever seen, it was made up of what looked like arm guards, that some commoner swords men where to help block swords attacks, there were similar once found on the leg armor but the largest piece was the chest piece. Each piece were light and made of some kind of metal that she'd never seen before. It felt light as she held it up to her eyes but she felt that it was uneven, mostly likely it seen combat, she reasoned, before going back to washing it.
It didn't take long for the water to become bloody, she saw, and that was why she had five buckets of water next to her so that she didn't have to keep gong back and forth to get water each time that she'd needed some.
She'd never like the smell of blood and always made a affect to avoid it until she had no choose, which was never true. This wasn't the first time that she'd been asked to do to do something that she'd like by her employer, so to avoid looking at her bloody hands and the red water, she looked up at the night sky.
The sight brought back memories of her childhood, when she and her family want camping just outside the village and would pass the time just before bed time, watching the night sky while her grandfather would tell stories past down the family from her great-great-great grandfather.
The stories themselves were always interesting but it always involved death, war, and heroes of the Imperial Of Men fighting against their enemies, whether it was orks, elders, demons, or something else. While she still loved them now, she'd like it as much compared to when she was younger, and over the years she learnt a lot from them but the most important single lesson that she'd learnt was the possibility of living in a world without magic.
If men can create ship that travel between stars, then there was no need for magic or for the nobles to be, she thought. But this didn't really matter to her, as she remembered her great-great-great grandfather last words "I have wandered from battlefield to battlefield never knowing what it is I fight to protect but now as I die. It's nice to finally see, what it is I fight to protect up close with my own eyes. Thank you for the peace."
These were his last words and they echoed throughout her alongside her faith in the God-Emperor.
This was one of the main impact that his great-great-great father left on the village. Of course, they made sure that outsiders didn't find..
She yawned.
...out about their faith in a foreign God otherwise the...
She yawned again.
...church would...
The water felt warm, she thought, right before sleep took her and her body fell forward spilling the bloody water all over her and staining the stone with blood.
Louise had been in her bed the whole day trying to avoid her fellow students and the teachers, she'd didn't have any wishes to listen to them calling her a zero. It would only make her depression worst then what it already is at the moment. She learnt from maid the headmaster, that the princess was coming to visit the academy, her only reaction had been to run back to her room without telling him that she planed to leave the academy. She and the princess were childhood friends, she was a successfully magic user and she was nothing more then a zero with a commoner for a familiar, she cried in despair.
Why? Why now? She thought, Why did she choose to visit the school now? She'd tried to force move but her body refused to move an inch, it didn't help that she could hear her fellow student just outside the hallway making fun of her, thinking she couldn't hear them.
The pink girl stayed that way until she fell asleep and the moons replaced the sun in the sky outside her window and its rays washered over her. It was than she awoke returning to the world.
She'd tired to force herself to sleep again, each time that she did it only remind her how lonely she felt at night. She had no friends here at the academy and she'd may put up a strong front when she was with her fellow students but in the end, when she returned to her room it was difference.
She'd tired to sleep again, but it wouldn't come, no matter how many time she tried. In the end, she made the decide to leave her room and head to the infirmary where her familiar was still recovering from his injuriously. once their, Ms. Goon, allowed her inside and without another words. She locked the doors and want to sleep next to the empty bed next to her familiar.
It wasn't long before sleep finally come to her, as she listen to the sound of his soft breathing.
Tabitha watched her fell asleep from outside high in the sky while riding her familiar, Sylphid. She had new orders from her bas...uncle, she corrected herself. She was to out discover the disturbs at the academy and the source of it then finally report back to him, what it was. She'd know, already what it was, the source of the vile present wasn't from the familiar. What ever the source was, it had been left behind when in whatever place the familiar come from. Which she was thankfully for, she was fully aware of the one reason that he could have wanted it for, to use it as a weapon.
She'd already reported to him, the very same night, of the lively event yesterday during the summoning but it wasn't enough. The man demand more information but there was none available right now. The familiar was still unconscious and recovering from his wounds. Which left her, watching the familiar during the night hoping that the man would awaken but she didn't think it would be happening any time soon.
The familiar was clearly injuriously and was clearly fighting when he was summon by Louise. Which didn't
She doubled that anything will happen tonight so planned to call it a night soon, she thought, sensing her mood. Her own familiar took her back to her room for the night.