Author's Note: This is the longest chapter so far. It's where things begin to ramp up. I'm not sure if this chapter should bump the rating from T to M though and I would appreciate some opinions on that.

Chapter Six - Shatterpoint

The next morning Matilda accompanied Louise and Calista to their training session. Her right arm was in a sling, but the hole in her shoulder was mended easily enough by the water mages in the infirmary.

"The Staff of Destruction is in the Headmaster's office for the time being. It'll be a long while before the vault is repaired. It works out just fine, I can easily get it back when the time comes." she informed.

"I still don't understand how this is suppose to work out? Won't Osmond report to the palace that the Staff's been returned?" asked a skeptical Louise.

Matilda shook her head, "Normally yes, but he didn't inform the palace about the theft in the first place. His administration of this academy has enough black marks on it without this one being added to it. So he'll keep it under wraps as long as he can. If anyone asks, that's when he'll tell. But in his mind, since the staff was returned, there was no harm done."

Calista chuckled at the explanation, "One universal constant that holds true on this world like any other… incompetence is always swept under the rug as quickly as possible."

Louise scratched her head, "Surely he must know that there's no way to keep word from getting out. I mean, all of the students know about the theft. By end of the week, all their families will have heard about it as well."

Matilda nodded at her, "Very astute. That bothers me as well. He must have something in mind to deal with the palace. Friends in high places at the very least. Or maybe he really is getting senile? Time will tell, but for now, it isn't our problem."

Calista nodded at her, "That's true Louise. Always remember to keep your mind on the things you have the power to affect."

Louise scratched her head, "This whole thing just seems like more trouble than it's worth to me. Were it up to me, I'd have handed Fouquet over along with the staff. I still don't trust her." Louise looked at Matilda and quickly added, "No offense."

Matilda smiled at her kindly, "No offense taken Miss Valliere. You have no reason to trust me."

Calista approved as well, "Very good Louise. A healthy dose of paranoia is a good thing to help keep knives out of your back. Just remember to temper that paranoia with an equal measure of pragmatism."

Louise looked at Calista curiously, "What do you mean?"

Calista seated herself and invited Louise to do the same by patting the ground beside her, "I'll tell you what my Master told me."

Louise interrupted, "After what you mentioned about your former Master, you'll excuse me if I choose not to give his teachings much credibility."

Calista laughed at that, "For all his faults, he was still a fountain of wisdom. Don't dismiss things off hand just because you dislike the source. That's a logical fallacy I strongly encourage you never to repeat. Judge the information you receive based on its own merits, weigh it against your own experience, and take from it what you will."

Louise looked down while she considered that and then nodded at Calista. "Be careful of your friends. They'll almost always be the first to betray you. They take you and your trust for granted. But when you turn an enemy to your side, they always have more to prove, and will often be fiercely loyal."

Louise looked to Matilda who much to Louise's surprise nodded in agreement with Calista. "Should you be saying something like that in front of her?"

Matilda laughed, "Miss Valliere, you honestly think I don't already know and believe what she's saying? The only thing I can do now is agree with that gem from first hand experience."

"Alright, that's enough philosophy for now. Clear your mind of worries and let's get on with the lesson."

Louise nodded, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she really was getting the hang of the meditations and was starting to be able to clear her mind at will. Calista closed her eyes and started guiding the meditation session, "Bring your focus inwards. Just take a deep breath and imagine yourself following that breath as it fills your lungs. Feel your chest expand, and then slowly exhale and follow that breath outwards. Now let your awareness expand. Feel the ground beneath you. Be aware of the various sensations of your posture. The gentle breeze flowing through your hair. Let your awareness expand until you're fully aware of only your own body. Let other distractions flow out of your thoughts. Hear the birds chirping, and let it pass through your mind."

Matilda was fascinated enough that she decided to follow along to see for herself what it was all about and emulated them. "Now slowly let your awareness expand outwards. Feel the Force around you, and let it flow. Feel the Force flowing through you, feel it permeate your very being."

At this point, Matilda was lost, she opened her eyes and observed the two with curiosity.

"Now, the rock beside Matilda. Let your awareness drift to it, just, be aware of it." Matilda glanced to the rock beside her, it was a simple little rock, smooth all over. She watched it curiously wondering what would be so special about it. "Reach out with your feelings, and touch the rock. Yes, that's good, feel it…" said Calista.

"Now pick it up and hold it."

Matilda raised a curious eyebrow as the little rock started shaking. Louise squinted her brows and scrunched up her face.

"I can feel it, but I can't pick it up… it's so frustrating. Like it's at my fingertips, but I can't quite reach it." she said with the irritation and struggle clear in her voice.

"Frustration is an emotion designed to encourage you to cease an activity that you know is beyond your capabilities. You need to let go of that part of yourself, the conscious Louise who knows that picking up a rock with just her mind is impossible. You must harness your frustration and own it. Make it your slave! Make it work for you. Make it useful, don't let it manipulate you into giving up."

Louise cleared her face and tried again, but the look of frustration quickly came back and the rock only shook more violently but didn't otherwise budge.

"Grrr! I can't do it!" yelled Louise.

The rock stopped shaking and she opened her eyes to glare at the offending stone in anger.

Calista heaved a disappointed sigh. "You gave up much too easily. Where's that determination that let you stand up to one of Matilda's golems with a rusty old sword that you could barely lift?"

Louise thought about it, "That was different. When I stabbed Derf into that Golem I just sort of... followed my instincts. I trusted what Derf was telling me, and I just..."

Calista nodded, "You just closed your eyes and let the Force guide you. That was a good step, but we need to take what you do by subconscious instinct and give you proper control of it. But it's possible we might be going about it wrong."

Louise looked at the Sith questioningly, "What do you mean wrong? Isn't this how you were taught?"

Calista chuckled, "I had the constant fear of starvation and death behind each of these exercises. You've got it easy compared to me."

Louise glared at her through narrowed eyes, "You're not going to start depriving me of food and security are you?" Calista laughed, "Tempting, but no. Let's cut this session short today. After lunch I want you to bring Derflinger out, we're going to try this another way."

"That reminds me. I wanted to talk to you about the annual Familiar exhibition coming up after tomorrow."

Calista raised a curious brow at Louise. "Explain."

Louise nodded, "Every year after the second years summon their familiars they get to show them off at a competition. Everyone has to prepare a routine to show off for a prize."

Calista shrugged, "What's this got to do with me?"

Louise looked at her with narrowed eyes, "Participation is mandatory. You're my familiar, so we need to prepare a routine to show off. I was thinking maybe you could show off a little with your staff or something."

Calista chuckled in amusement, "You're funny Louise. Forget about it."

Louise widened her eyes, "But! You have to! You're my familiar! I can't just not participate in this!"

Calista looked at her seriously for a moment, "Oh, you're serious? Allow me to laugh harder!" the petite Sith let out a hearty belly laugh at Louise.

"Calista! Stop it! Please! I'm begging you! You have to do this for me!"

Calista wiped the tears from her eyes after her mirthful laugh. "Louise! Do you hear yourself? You're asking me to get up in front of your entire school and show off some parlour tricks in the hopes of winning some silly prize. Don't you find the idea of it demeaning even in the slightest?"

Louise sighed, "I know how it sounds. But you don't have to do what I suggested. I'm open to any suggestions you can come up with. Just, please. I need this. Summoning you was the only proof that I actually belong in this school. Since you came into my life so much has happened, good and bad. Well, mostly bad, but please, do this one good thing for me? I'll do anything!"

Calista looked at Matilda for her opinion on the matter. The bespectacled woman shrugged her good shoulder. "She's right about you being the only proof. Before you got here they were planning to expel her for magical incompetence. That being said, I agree with Calista, the idea of putting a sentient being up on that stage is demeaning. She might be your familiar Louise, but she's also a person, and you can't ask her to set aside her dignity like this. The academy staff already think of her as a lowly familiar, most of the students probably would too if her presence didn't, pardon my crassness, inspire pants shitting terror."

Louise heaved a heavy sigh, "I suppose you're right Miss Longueville. It's just, I want to show everyone that I'm not a failure. That Calista is way better than anything anyone else summoned."

Matilda chuckled and smiled sincerely at Louise, especially at being addressed so respectfully by her once again, even if it was by her false name. "Miss Valliere, Calista is orders of magnitude better. As long as you know that to be true, you don't need anyone else's confirmation."

Louise stood up and smiled at her, "I suppose that's true. Thank you for that Miss Long… Miss Matilda. I feel better now."

Matilda inclined her head politely to the petite mage. "My pleasure. You better get to class now."

Louise nodded and headed out in a hurry.

Once Louise was gone Matila laughed at Calista, "Not a lot of material instinct in you is there?"

"What do you mean?"

Matilda sighed and scooted over towards Calista where she could sit and face her. "The girl just wants approval and acceptance from her peers. It's a perfectly normal desire for a teenage girl."

Calista shrugged, "I wouldn't know. When I was her age I was commanding soldiers on the battlefield."

Matilda pulled her head back to peer down at the petite Sith curiously, "You're serious?"

Calista nodded. "Sith have high standards. Even as one of the lowest ranked Sith, I was considered far above the highest ranked Force blind in the Empire."

"You're going to have to tell me all about this Empire you come from. But for the moment, just between us, I think you should reconsider Louise's request."

Calista widened an eye and Matilda and tilted her head up at her, "Would you care to repeat that? I thought you agreed with me!"

Matilda laughed at her reaction, "I did, and I do. At least in front of Louise. But just between us, I think you should actually do it."

Calista narrowed her eye and opened her other one to match. "Care to elaborate?"

"Because it would honestly mean the world to her. It would help her be able to look up to you more. Show her that you're willing to go the extra mile for her. It would also be a sorely needed boost to her self confidence if she got the recognition she craves from her peers, even if only for a little while. There's no danger of you being laughed off the stage. Even the most spoiled and ignorant of nobles know death when it stares them in the face."

Calista sighed, "I don't see why she needs me to do something so silly to give her some confidence. That's something she needs to find for herself."

"You really don't know anything about teenagers do you? Even noble ones are very impressionable. Right now that girl's looking up to you as a role model. Something she's lacked all her life. She's at an age where she can be swayed by peer pressure and gossip. She needs a good role model to keep her on the straight and narrow path. Sometimes that means you have to be a stern older sister with her, other times a teacher, or a shoulder to cry on. An adviser and confidant, and sometimes, just a friend. And as her friend, I think you should do this for her. Besides, it might be good for you too to cut loose and live a little. Be a bit silly. It'll help people warm up to you more."

Calista chuckled at her, "I don't want people to warm up to me. I much prefer they void their bowels under the weight of my glare. But I suppose you do make a persuasive argument."

"I'm glad you see it my way. I suggest you make it a surprise for her."

"Don't you mean we?"

"We? You're her familiar, not me!"

"You're the one trying to talk me into this. Don't preach what you're not willing to practice. If I'm doing this, you're helping me."

Matilda let out a mirthful laugh and smiled brightly, "You only live once right? Let's see what we can come up with!"

Louise was wandering the halls of the academy searching for Siesta and ended up in the kitchens while they were rushing to get lunch prepared. Louise spotted the head chef and gently tried to get his attention. He was a big man, easily four times her size in height and width but he wasn't a mean person as his looks might suggest. He didn't much care for the nobility but because he knew she was very close with Siesta he made an exception for her and treated her decently.

"Good afternoon Louise! Got a special lunch request? I've got a few students in here today cooking special meals for special someones."

Louise smiled at the man, "No thank you Marteau. Being surprised by whatever you've cooked is one of the things I most look forward to every day! I'm actually here looking for Siesta. I haven't seen her in a couple days because I've been so busy and I'm feeling really bad about it. I thought I'd spend the lunch break with her."

The Chef widened his eyes a look of terror washed over his face at the mention of Siesta, "You mean she didn't tell you?"

Louise gripped her cloak and wrapped it more tightly around herself like a security blanket. His reaction sent waves of paralyzing fear surging up and down her body. She was suddenly numb to the whole world. She knew he had nothing good to tell her but there was no way to brace herself for what was coming, "I can't believe nobody told you Louise. I'm so sorry. It was decided that Siesta would go become a servant for Count Mott. She was taken away early this morning."

Louise shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes, "No… that can't be. She'd never agree to go work for that mongrel! Who decided this?!" Marteau looked at her with sympathy, he knew only too well just how close she and Siesta were and it brought tears to his own eyes to see the depth of pain in the young noble's. If she were anyone else, he'd be overjoyed at her sorrow, but never for this one, and certainly not over this.

"Only the Headmaster can approve staff transfers." he said. Louise wrapped herself even tighter in her cloak.

"In the end, all we peasants can do is serve the whims of the nobility. You know this Louise." concluded Marteau.

"It's just not right… all she ever wanted was to do an honest day's work, for an honest day's pay to help feed her family… It's not fair!"

The big chef knew he was overstepping his bounds, but if there was ever anyone who needed a hug, it was this girl in front of him, and so he pulled her into one. Much to his relief she accepted the hug instead of getting angry and scolding him.

"Life isn't fair Louise. Especially for those of us who don't have any real control over our lives, or the power to do anything about these injustices on our own." he said to her while fighting back his own tears.

"I'm going to get her back Marteau, no matter what it takes. There's nothing she wouldn't do for me, and there's nothing I won't do for her. Even if I have to kill that pig of a man, I'll bring her back!"

"This was delicious Katie. You are truly a master of the culinary arts!"

Katie gave Guiche her widest smile. "Thank you so much! Someday, I hope to open my own restaurant in the capital. Somewhere even the Queen herself would come to eat out."

Guiche gave her his sincerest smile in response, "If anything served at that establishment tastes just half as good as this souffle, you'll have all the royals in Halkeginia calling upon you to cater their most important functions!"

Katie sighed to herself, "It must seem like such a silly dream. So many students here dream of being big heros, raiding ancient dungeons and slaying monsters. I just want to cook. My family hate the idea, they say I should aspire to much greater things."

Guiche placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, "My dearest Katie. There's no greater aspiration to pursue than that which would bring the most joy to your heart! To do anything less would be a tragedy my heart couldn't bear!"

"Speaking of tragedies. When I was in the kitchen making this meal. I heard Louise's friend got taken from the Academy to go work for Count Mott. Louise heard the news from Marteau. It was so heart breaking. Louise looked so completely crushed."

Guiche blinked at the girl's story. "Truely? To Count Mott?"

Katie nodded, "The mere mention of that man's name in my family household drives my father to utterly unstoppable rage…"

Katie widened her eyes slightly at Guiche as his features fell into the deepest contemplative form she'd ever seen on him. "What are you thinking Guiche? I've never seen you look so serious before."

Guiche placed a hand on his chin, "Indeed. Perhaps if I think aloud, you could advise me. You're not the only one I've done terrible things to. I've caused immeasurable pain for Louise as well. Perhaps if I could offer my assistance to her in rescuing her friend from that… unspeakable man, and his unspeakable ways, it could help alleviate some of the suffering I've visited upon her, causing humiliation to Count Mott would also be a great boon to my family. Two birds with one stone as it were."

"Guiche. I don't mean to sound cruel. But since we're thinking out loud. I think by way of her familiar, she might be the one who needs to make amends with you now. But I don't know the whole story. Perhaps you could tell me?"

Guiche shook his head, "I fear that to do so would irreparably tarnish my image in your eyes Katie. And I say that in the context of how much I've already tarnished it."

Katie reached out with both her hands and cupped Guiche's face in them, she turned his head to where he could see her. "No Guiche. I can't, I won't, judge you on what you've done in the past. I've already resolved to only judge you based on the actions you take from now on."

Guiche smiled kindly at her, "My lady, you are the truest definition of nobility. Very well, I shall tell this most ghastly tale of something for which I will forever hold the deepest shame in my heart."

One year ago

Louise hid herself in an isolated corner of the academy where only the staff would move about. Other students would stop and make fun of her if they saw her struggling and failing like she was, but ever since she and Siesta became friends, the staff had taken a liking to Louise and they were always eager to accommodate her anyway they could, including clearing some practice space for her explosive magic when Siesta mentioned her dilemma with the other students. Louise in turn found a taste of the acceptance that'd been missing from her life, even if she didn't get it from her peers, she had it with the commoners.

She pointed her wand at an old bottle and chanted the spell of levitation, but the bottle would only start to glow and then explode. Louise had become proficient at using her brown cloak to shield herself from the glass shards that flew towards her as a result of her spell's backfiring. She didn't give up though, she repeated the process until there weren't anymore bottles, and then she would go to the kitchen to retrieve more if they were available.

This time however, Marteau preempted her request and brought out another case of empty bottles for her before she could return to the kitchen for more.

"Still no luck?" he asked her in a kind tone while setting down the box near the many broken bottles.

"Actually I've had a lot of luck, it's just that all of it has been bad."

Marteau offered her an encouraging smile before he started lining up the bottles for her. She went over and tried to help him but he held out a hand to let her know he didn't mind doing it on his own.

"When I first started learning how to cook, I was terrible. My steaks came out either raw, or ash. I didn't know a tomato from a mushroom, and don't get me started on all the infinite varieties of cheese…"

Louise widened her eyes incredulously at him, "I can't even imagine a Marteau who can't cook. I remember when I first arrived I felt so sad to be away home. I mean, home wasn't all that great, between my parents and my eldest sister Eleanor, but my big sister Cattleya, I miss her so much. But every time I sit down to one of your meals, It's easy to forget about whatever's making me feel sad because it's just so good."

Mareau smiled proudly as he heard her words, "That's one of the nicest compliments I've ever had, and it's exactly why I love to cook so much. But the point I want to make, is that I had to work hard to get to my level. I had to fight tooth and nail for the opportunity to work in a place like this. I don't like nobles because they'll never understand that feeling, everything's handed to them on a silver platter. But not you, that's why I respect you. I see you out here, working hard, hitting the books, practicing, fighting tooth and nail. Even with a deck stacked against you, you're fighting with everything you've got. Keep it up, and you'll get to where you need to be."

Marteau finished stacking the empty bottles for Louise and faced her with an encouraging smile. Louise felt humbled under the big man's praise and lost for words.

"I don't know what to say. Nobody's ever given me encouragement like that."

Marteau shook his head as he started walking back to the kitchen, "You don't have to say anything. Just keeping making us proud of you."

Louise held her hands to her heart, she was elated. "Proud of me. They're... proud…. of me?" She wiped a tear from her eye and turned back her bottles with new resolve in her heart and started again.

Meanwhile, around the corner, Guiche, Kirche, and Tabitha eavesdropped on everything. Then the blonde and redhead quietly snickered when they heard the bottles exploding one after the other. Guiche snuck away from the corner and gestured for everyone to follow him. They gathered where they were confidently out of earshot from Louise to gossip.

"Making friends with all the commoners? How deliciously scandalous! Now if I can figure out how to use this in an embarrassing prank..." said Kirche.

"What kind of prank did you have in mind Kirche?" asked Guiche.

"I'm still figuring that out. Any ideas Tabitha?"

The petite girl with the staff looked up from her book and shook her head. "Don't involve me." she said before she turned to walk away.

"Ahh poo. There goes the life of the party."

"What do you mean life of the party? That girl's so cold she makes ice seem warm."

Kirche shrugged her shoulders, "She's the life of my party."

"I suppose opposites attract. Fire and Ice."

Kirche nodded at Tabitha's back, "Something like that. I just don't understand how everything can be so boring to her. I can't ever figure out what goes on in her mind… Anyway, about the Zero!"

"Yes indeed. Thanks to ear bleeds, I've already had to throw out all my academy shirts. My ears demand satisfaction for all the times they've burst!"

"Are you sure you just didn't want an excuse to wear that frilly shirt of your's?"

Guiche held up his rose wand and posed dramatically for her, "Beauty doesn't need an excuse to shine my dearest!"

"I'm not your dearest! Stupid trollop."

"Is the pot calling the kettle black?"

"Careful Guiche! If you play with fire, you get burned."

"And that, my dearest, most beautiful maiden of flames, is why I shan't ever be placing my wood in your fireplace."

"I'll try to contain my disappointment. But you just gave me an excellent idea."

"Oh? Do tell!"

"You're a reasonably competent manslut. Tell me, do you think you could get Louise if you tried?"

"Could I? Most certainly. Would I? Most certainly not!"

"Why the hell not? She's reasonably attractive. For a Valliere."

"That's exactly why not! She's a Valliere! Her mother is Karin the Heavy Wind! If I were to deflower her daughter, she'd huff, and puff, and blow me straight to the moons!"

"Oh shush! I don't expect you to deflower her. I may be a pyro, but I'm certainly not a sadist."

"Ahhh… you say that, but it's quite frightening how often those two things tend to coincide in you Kirche..."

"Just get her out on one date Guiche. I'll arrange the rest."

"Very well, but this had better be worth it!"

"Trust me. It will be. It, will, be."

Guiche left Kirche and walked over to the servant's quarters where Louise was still trying desperately to get a bottle to levitate. Guiche cleared his throat to get her attention, when she turned to him he wore a bright smile.

"Good day to you Lady Valliere. How do you do?"

Louise narrowed her eyes at glared at him suspiciously, "If you're here to hurl insults at me, I might be tempted to try this spell on you."

Guiche held up his hands submissively to her, "No, no, nothing of the sort at all. I'm actually here to extend a dinner invitation to you. Should you be willing to accept my company, I would be honored if you would dine with me this evening."

Louise widened her eyes, "You're asking me to have dinner with you? Like a date?"

Guiche gave her a shallow bow with a hand over his heart like a proper gentleman, "Indeed I am my lady."

Louise couldn't believe this. Boys didn't ask her out, it just never happened. Especially someone like Guiche de Gramont, son of Tristain's famous General Gramont who was her mother's classmate and comrade in the military. Guiche had almost every girl in the class fawning over him, why would he ask her out?

"Why me? You could have any girl in the class you want. Why me? It doesn't make sense."

Guiche picked up his head just enough to be able to see her but kept himself bowed to her, "You're beautiful, determined, hard working, you come from a highly respected house with close ties to the Royal Family, and you're the daughter of Karin the Heavy Wind whom my father holds in the highest esteem. Should we find compatibility between us, it could make for a good match later in life, if your family would permit it."

He had her. By the look on her face, he knew he had her. She was blushing the same color as her hair and wore a sincerely happy smile.

"You really mean all of that, don't you?"

He didn't lie, he did believe what he was saying was the truth. He was only insincere about his intentions. For that part, his eyes wandered from hers, but she didn't notice it, or care. It should have been a warning sign to her, but she was too inexperienced to pick up on the subtle clues of his true intentions. All she heard was his articulate smooth talking voice. All she saw were his dashing good looks, from his blonde hair to his piercing blue eyes, and his perfectly chiseled chest muscles showing through his open shirt. Guiche was the kind of man who embraced his feminine side and used it in all his mannerisms and body language. Confidence wafted through the air around him with an aroma that overpowered his cologne.

Kirche was right, the young boy thought, she wasn't unattractive. She didn't have any sex appeal but she had other qualities that men could find desirable. Even though her magic was a catastrophe, she was intelligent. Everyone knew her academic grades were always neck and neck with Tabitha's. Together they were leaps and bounds ahead of the class when it came to brain power, but she lacked the confidence to utilize her intelligence in her daily life, probably because she was lacking in life experience. Being a sheltered girl she wasn't exposed to much before coming to the academy. Cute, was the word Guiche finally settled on to describe her. Her body language, her eyes, her long voluminous hair, her small stature. It all combined to form a cute girl, like a small kitten, you couldn't help but find it adorable.

It was also that image of her that did him in. Peer pressure was a double edged sword. If he backed out now, Kirche would bathe him in perdition's flames. If he actually decided to pursue a relationship with this girl, he'd end up committed, something he avoided like plague because he knew he was incapable of it. Not to mention the dire consequences. If he were to two time Louise Valliere, and word of it reached either of their families, his head would be on a chopping block before he'd know it. Now he realized he shouldn't have gotten into this to begin with, since now he was committed to the path he started on. If whatever Kirche had planned got back to either of their families, it'd be the chopping block. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. He kicked himself for not giving this more thought before he asked her out, and he mentally kicked Kirche for getting him into this.

Those constant doubts lingered in his mind all the way up to the appointed time. He met her in a clearing by the river near the academy. The moons were full that night and bathed the area in a romantic light. There was a table set up with two chairs, soft candlelight, and plates of the very finest dishes that Head Chef Marteau could muster up at Guiche's request. He'd doubled his efforts for the young noble when he heard that it was for his date with Louise. He was so happy for her he slaved over the meal for the rest of the day to get it just right.

"Good evening Guiche." she said while giving him a polite curtsey. "I apologize if I kept you waiting."

Guiche looked at her and his heart melted. To put it mildly, Louise cleaned up well. He gave serious consideration to calling the whole thing off right then and taking his chances with actually pursuing her. She wasn't sexy by any stretch, she wasn't even cute anymore, she was stunningly beautiful. She wore the brown school cloak for the sake of being discreet about their romantic rendezvous, but once he approached to politely help her out of it, her flowery perfume instantly ignited his passions in a way he'd never experienced before. She wore a black dress that knew how to redirect attention from areas she lacked to areas she excelled in. Her hair was done up so as to bring out the subtleties of her face. Her make-up placed the emphasis on her eyes. This wasn't a girl he'd want to simply bring to bed, this was a girl he'd want to love. If this had been a real date for him, it would have been woefully insufficient to court such a beauty. Guiche felt a catch in his throat as he complimented her, "My Lady, t..th.. this clear night sky itself weeps with envy of your beauty." He said it, and he meant it. He was nervous, his unbreakable confidence was crumbling at the sight of Louise the Zero of all people. Was god himself punishing him for the poor choices that lead him to this moment?

He had to tell her everything. That was his decision. He'd tell her, and then prostrate himself at her feet to beg her forgiveness and a second chance to do things right. Guiche pulled out her chair and tucked it back in under her as she sat down. He then poured from a bottle of wine Kirche supplied. She didn't want anything out of place, she wanted Louise to be comfortable and secure. Now he was going to use that wine to try and soften the blow he was about to deliver. He poured himself a glass, he was a nervous wreck at this point and he'd need the drink. Louise was blushing furiously and was unable to meet his gaze, "I can't believe this is real. It's like a dream. The most popular boy in the class asked me to dinner tonight. This kind of thing only happens in books I read, not in my real life."

Guiche was beating himself to within an inch of his life inside his head. She was so innocent, so sincere, it was churning his stomach. This false date meant the world to this girl, and he was setting her up for Kirche to do something he knew would be terrible to the poor girl. There was one more thing he could do to let her enjoy the moment before he had to ruin it. "A toast. To you, my lady, I pray that someday, I may become only the smallest fraction of the man you truly deserve." he said with a tear forming in his eye. Louise was gushing at the sight of it, and his words melted her heart. This wasn't the image of him she had in her mind at all. This was Guiche as if he were naked in front of her, stripped of the confidence he wore around himself like armor. Stripped of the theatrical flare he spread around himself with practiced ease. She felt like she was meeting the real Guiche for the first time. They knocked their glasses together. As Guiche was about to sip he was frozen like a statue at the sight of her as she tilted her head into the moonlight to drink from the wine. The light illuminated all her features and his jaw dropped at the hidden beauty she possessed.

Guiche had heard stories about her mother, Karin the Heavy Wind from his father and their time at the school and how stunning she could be on the rare occasion that she dolled herself up. But it was the rarity of those times that made her special. Something you see everyday loses its appeal and becomes mundane and commonplace. In this respect, Louise was truly her mother's daughter.

Finally, Guiche sipped his wine. Then his sip turned into a bigger gulp, and a bigger one until the glass was empty. When he looked at her she was smiling so radiantly at him that he couldn't help but smile back.

"I hope you don't find it rude of me to ask, but how did you manage to get such a meal for us? This looks spectacular even for the academy."

Guiche looked at the plates and smiled, "Ahh, that was the work of the Chef. When I told him what I was planning here, he spared no effort. He thinks very highly of you."

Louise looked down at the meal and a tear of joy escaped her eye, "Thank you Marteau." she said to the plate. She quickly wiped that tear with a napkin from the table before it threatened to run her mascara and took a very deep breath to reign in the emotion as much as she could.

"This is the first time I've ever been on a date. I'm sorry. I'm, not exactly sure of myself here." she said honestly.

"I find that difficult to believe. How can that be?" Guiche asked desperate to keep the incredulousness out of his voice.

"I'm not exactly the most beautiful, or the most respected girl in our class. As I'm sure you know."

Guiche chuckled while looking back on it, "If only I'd known then what I know now. I might not have said half of what I've said to you. Just know what I've said was said in anger. I was covered in soot, and my ears were ringing and bleeding." he said with a smile.

Louise looked away from him, "I'm sorry. It's not like I ever meant to blow up the classroom, or hurt anyone."

Guiche sighed, "I realize that now."

The two had started eating and Kirche still hadn't sprung whatever trap she was planning and as Guiche looked around he honestly started to doubt that there even was one. Perhaps this was Kirche's way of having fun with him too. If he was also intended as the victim of this scheme, he could accept that. Then there was a thud on the table. Guiche quickly turned his head and saw Louise passed out with her face on the table and her hair in the food. He quickly stood up and rushed over to check on her. "Louise? Louise! Are you alright?! Say something! Oh no, I'm a dead man if she's unwell!"

There was laughter in the woods behind him, from several people. One was Kirche he knew, but he couldn't identify the rest. "Oh don't worry Guiche. It's just a small sleeping potion. It was in her food." she said as she stepped out of her hiding place and started walking towards the table she'd help set up. On the end of her wand she kept a fireball to illuminate her way. Kirche shoved Guiche aside and sat Louise up in her chair and tilted her head back.

"This is revenge for the all the pain your incompetence has caused us… Louise. Le. Zéro." Kirche said while using a quill to ink it on Louise's face. She was then followed by several other students who'd been to the infirmary as a result of the explosions she'd caused, each leaving a rude message for her on her face, neck, shoulders, arms, ... Anywhere there was bare skin to mark on, they would do so.

"Anything you want to say to her Guiche?"

Guiche walked away and sat on the grass nearby and shook his head. "No" he said in a low and sad tone.

"You did great by the way! That flare you have for theatrics, I even believed everything you said to her. You'd have a bright future on the stage!"

Guiche nodded and wiped away his tears, "Aww, look everyone, he's such a good actor that he's stuck in character! Shall we give him a round of applause?" Kirche started clapping and was joined in chorus by the others. Guich then did the only thing he could do, he pulled out his best fake smile, and took a deep bow to his audience. He then straightened up and delivered his signature line for them as an encore...

"A flower blooms for all." he said while striking a pose with his Rose wand.

"After that, I stayed behind to wait for her to wake up so I could tell her what happened and beg her forgiveness. But as I waited, I thought about it and realized that I had no right to ask her for forgiveness. I had no right to even be in her presence. But more than that, I was afraid to death that she might actually choose not to blame me, that her feelings for me might have continued to grow, and that, the idea of being with her after what I'd just done to her. The idea of her feeling anything for me other than hatred, fury, and revulsion, I couldn't stand it. I deserved to be punished for what I did. And then I did it again with that stupid fight… I didn't think, I just got so angry and things happened so fast… I finally got what I deserved."

Katie stared long and hard at Guiche. She didn't know what to think, and she realized that what she said about not judging him on his past, but only on his present and future was suddenly going to be a lot harder than she realized. She put herself in Louise's place, imagined how that kind of humiliation must have felt.

"How.." she started.

"How could I?" asked Guiche.

Katie shook her head, "How could Louise, live with that? If it'd been me, I'd probably have killed myself."

"I know Louise didn't tell her family about it. If she had, her mother would have fed me to her Manticore by now. But the Academy staff all know. For the longest time my laundry kept coming back in an atrocious state, my room was never cleaned properly and things were never where I left them, or just went missing. I'm sure Louise's friend had something to do with all of that. The last time I was in the kitchen Marteau had to be held back by the rest of the staff because he was going to skin me alive."

Katie nodded at Guiche solemnly. "Anyone who gets in his good graces knows he loves Louise very much and thinks of her as if she were his own daughter. I heard she used to take all her meals with the staff in the kitchen instead of the dining hall in her first year. Now I know why."

Guiche sniffled hard and covered his face with his hands. "Indeed, now you know why. What you don't know is how much we all made fun of her because of that incident. How we told her that her only friends were the plebeians who felt sorry for her. How they were grooming her to be one of them when she got kicked out of the school. We joked that she'd end up sweeping our rooms and washing our chamber pots. Washing our dirty underwear with her maid friend, and that instead of blowing up classrooms she should be learning how to do those kinds of chores..."

Guiche started crying shamelessly as he confessed his sins to Katie. "I'm a monster. I went along with all of it because I'm such a coward. If I'd stood up for her like I knew was the right thing to do in the first place, things could have been different. If I'd never gone along with Kirche to begin with..."

Katie pulled Guiche into a tight hug. "Just let it out Guiche. You've been holding all of this guilt in for who knows how long. You need to let it out into open and face it. Then you'll know what the right thing to do is."

"Thank you Katie. I've never spoken of this before, thank you."

"Kirche was right about only one thing Guiche. You are a good actor. You fell in love with Louise that night, and you buried those feelings with this character who's the social alpha and playboy."

"That's exactly what I did…"

"Let it go Guiche. Let it go and then follow your heart. It was leading you right until you let your head take over and you confused yourself."

"You're right. I'm going to help her get her friend back. Then, if she'll listen, I'll tell her the truth and let her do with it as she sees fit."

"If that's what you're heart is telling you, then that is what you need to do."

"What do you think I should do?" he tilted his head up to look at her.

"I think you have to follow your heart Guiche. What I or anyone else thinks doesn't matter. You have to start being true to yourself before you can be true to anyone else."

Louise brought Derflinger over to Calista as instructed earlier that day but her heart wasn't in it to train. Calista didn't need the Force to recognize her apprentice's inner turmoil but decided to let her discuss it should she choose to rather than pry. Louise didn't keep her waiting.

"Calista..."

The Sith nodded to her apprentice and seated herself on the ground to hear her out. "Tell me what troubles you."

Louise sat herself down before Calista and started explaining the situation to her. She told her about Count Mott and the many rumors circulating about him and the young women he brings to work in his mansion. Calista listened with her eyes closed only nodding every now and then to let Louise know she was paying attention.

"I understand your problem Louise and I feel for you, and for Siesta. But, did she not go willingly?"

"She didn't have a choice. Peasants have to obey the nobility."

"The only power anyone has over you is the power you give them."

"What do you mean?"

"She didn't tell you that she was going. Why do you think that might be?"

"I don't know."

"Then what do you know? Facts, not supposition."

"Siesta was taken from the academy to work for Count Mott who is the royal palace's messenger."

"It's also a fact that he's a disgusting pig who treats women like meat. He's especially into younger ones." added Matilda as she sat down beside Louise.

"Where did you come from? I didn't hear you arrive!" said a startled Louise.

"I was here the whole time. My magic allows me to blend in with the Earth." was all she said in response.

"Truly an exceptional feat of stealth Matilda. I couldn't even sense your approach. Color me impressed." said Calista with a small smile.

"Anyway. The rumors about him are all true. You shouldn't leave your friend with him if you can help it." said Matilda in all seriousness.

"Then I'm going to his manor and I'm getting her back, right now!" said Louise with determination.

"And should the Count decide to resist?" asked a stoic Calista.

"That's easy. Derf and I will fight." said Louise. "Hell yeah!" added Derflinger from her back.

"And are you really prepared for what that would entail?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's asking if you're prepared to kill, or be killed." Matilda interjected.

"If it were anyone but Siesta. I don't know. But for her, yes. I'll do whatever I have to do!" answered Louise with her voice full of resolve.

"I don't think it has to go that far Louise. If you give me until tonight, I can, pardon the expression, dig up some dirt to use. I'm Osmond's secretary as you know. If Osmond's been in on the staff transfers like you said, I can get the proof."

"I can't wait until tonight, I have to go now!"

"Patience Louise. The direct approach is a good option, but sometimes, taking the path less traveled is the smarter thing to do. When you're dealing with someone who has power you want to do everything you can to stack the deck in your favor before you play the game. You need to learn to foresee the potential consequences of your actions."

"I know what you're saying. Count Mott is sure to have plenty of guards, and political protection. Alright, Miss Matilda. I'll follow your suggestion on this."

Matilda nodded at Louise and stood up with a smile. "I'll go get started then. Meet me at the stables tonight just before dinner."

"While she's doing that. Let's start with your sword training, it'll keep you occupied… and help prepare you for what you might face." stated Calista firmly. She wouldn't give Louise any room to let her mind drift from the present.

Holy Romalian Empire

Vittorio Serevare, the Pope of the Church of Brimir entered a modest room in the grand cathedral that was the seat of power for the Church. It was a dark room lit only by a handful of candles. In the middle of the room in deep meditation was a young blonde man dressed in a white cloak.

"I was wondering where you were. You missed today's service."

The young man opened his eyes and bowed his head respectfully. "My apologies your holiness. I should have informed you that I needed some time to myself. Please forgive me."

Vittorio shrugged it off and went to sit next to the man. "There's no need to apologize. I know you don't subscribe to our faith and so you aren't obligated to attend. I'm just so used to you being at my side that your absence made me feel somehow incomplete, seeing your interest in our ceremonies helps me perform them with greater confidence. But alas, I can tell you're troubled."

"Indeed I am your Holiness. For the last few days I've felt a disturbance. I'm not exactly sure what it could be. Something... far away... Elusive... But the feeling it gives me... Fear. Palpable… Dread."

Vittorio listened carefully and noted the seriousness his friend's face carried upon it. "I've never known you to experience fear my friend. Tell me what it is that could possibly give you pause."

The blonde man looked to the pope, "I can't see it. My vision is being clouded by its power. No matter how hard I try, I'm unable to pierce this dark veil that's been cast over my eyes. But I know where to find it." the Pope looked at him curiously while he closed his eyes and pointed to a map in front of him. "What can you tell me about this land?"

Vittorio peered at the map and gave a gentle smile. "That's the Kingdom of Tristain. It's most noted for it's many fine artisans and is home to the single most prestigious Magic Academy in Halkeginia. It used to be a strong nation thanks to its close ties with Albion, but due to the civil war they're no longer able to bolster Tristain's political position. I expect they'll be swallowed up by either Gallia or Germania shortly after Albion's royal family falls."

The young man carefully considered the information and reached a decision, "I must go there. If what I fear has come to this world then a place with so much conflict could give rise to an evil that this world is not ready for."

Vittorio carefully considered the man's choice of words. He knew better than most what kind of horrors this world had to offer and has stood beside Romalia's greatest Knights to face and defeat them without fear or hesitation. He knew whatever it was this man was speaking of was not something to be taken lightly.

"I'll make the arrangements. Will you be going as a Knight of Romalia, or will you need to be on your own recognizance?"

The young man carefully considered the question, "I'll need to be able to move about freely. So I believe going as your Knight would be best."

Calista was leading Louise through the first of the Shii-cho velocities, Louise stood beside her matching her blade work and footsteps. "You're a natural at this Louise. I'm pleased with the progress you're making."

Louise smiled at the praise. It was very seldom that she got any for something she was doing.

"Say, lemmie ask ya somethin' Cali. Lightsabers and swords are as different from each other as say, oh, a rock and an apple. So why're ya teaching Louise a martial art designed for a Lightsaber?"

Calista stopped moving and glared at the sword, "Because it will help her wield you effectively."

Louise stopped moving and looked curiously between her sword and her master. "What's with you all of a sudden Derf?" asked Louise.

"I just don't wanna get replaced with a Lightsaber, that's all."

Louise carefully gripped him by the blade and nuzzled her cheek against the pommel. "Don't worry Derf, I'd never replace you. Ever."

Calista rolled her eyes at the display before her, "You two worry me sometimes… and I'm not being sarcastic."

Louise giggled at Calista's reaction, "What can I say? He's exactly the right kind of man for me."

Derf chuckled at Louise and spoke his piece, "And she's exactly my kinda woman!"

Calista held up a finger to them, "First of all. He's not a man, he's a sword. Second, she's not a woman, she's an impressionable young girl. Don't play with her feelings Derflinger, and Louise, you need to mind your feelings."

Louise looked at Derflinger and the two started laughing hysterically. "She actually believes we're in love with each other Derf!"

Louise fell back onto the grass to roll around with Derflinger in their mirth. "She's too easy! We need someone more challenging to mind fuck!" said Derflinger with enormous glee.

Calista sighed and covered her face with her palm, "It's like a... little children's nursery I find myself in." she said with indignation.

"Oh lighten up Cali! You can't be serious all the time." said Derflinger.

Calista shook her head, if Louise could still make jokes, even at a time like this, then perhaps Derflinger wasn't as bad of an influence on her as she was beginning to suspect.

It took a lot of asking around a lot of false leads before Guiche ran into Malicorne sitting by the entrance to the academy. The obese boy was drenched in sweat and sipping from a skin of water.

"Malicorne? What have you been doing?"

Malicorne looked up at Guiche with tired eyes, "I've been running."

Guiche blinked at him. "Why were you running? The most exercise I've seen you get in your life is the meal time rush." he asked with skeptical curiosity.

The blonde boy was beginning to question reality. "I think I'm in love. But she won't even look at me in the state I'm in. So, I started running, and eating healthy."

Guiche knelt down before Malicorne and waved a hand in front of his face before poking him.

"What's with you all of a sudden Guiche? You feeling alright?"

Guiche was surprised to find his friend seemed to be real and not a hallucination as he was beginning to suspect, "I was simply making sure you're the real Malicorne. Listen, if she can't love you back the way you are, she'll never love you any other way. If you want to change yourself, you have to do it for you, and not for anyone else."

Malicorne widened his eyes at Guiche. "Whoa… Guiche, are you sure you're alright? Because now I'm not so sure if you're the real Guiche."

Guiche sighed, "I'm not sure I even know who the real Guiche is anymore. But as stimulating as this existential dialogue is, I need to find Louise and her Familiar. Have you seen them anywhere?"

Malicorne stood up and looked at Guiche incredulously, "After what they did to you?! Guiche, don't be stupid! You don't wanna pick a fight with Calista again! And I really suggest you stay away from Louise today, because she's really especially pissed off! And you know that if she sees you she'll really fly off the handle!"

Guiche nodded, "I know, that's why I need to find her. Please Malicorne, it's important."

Malicorne sighed, "Alright, but I want dibs on your stuff if you don't make it back."

Guiche chuckled and nodded to his friend, "Consider it a deal."

Malicorne pointed towards the forest. "There's a clearing through the tree line there, you know it?"

Guiche nodded, "I know it. Thank you."

"Derflinger's design is rather unique so I'm not sure how best to utilize him, that's why I'm giving you training in this basic form of combat, with this you have a foundation to develop your own style suited to your weapon."

Louise glanced at Calista quizzically while the two stepped in sync and maneuvered their weapons, thanks to Calista's weapon being a saber staff she could use one end of the weapon and maneuver it like she would if she held Derflinger. "What do you mean exactly? Aren't all swords the same?"

Calista chuckled at Louise, "Not true at all. Every sword is designed for a purpose, some are designed to slash, others are designed to be light and fast, others are big and strong."

Derflinger interjected himself, "You could have just asked me you know! I'm sort of a jack of all trades. I can do everything."

Calista shook her head, "The jack of all trades is a master of none. But you do make a valid point Derflinger. Once Louise is comfortable with Form One, I'll try to educate her in Form Six and see how she handles that."

Louise looked ahead again as the pair both spun their blades around themselves. "What's Form Six?" she asked.

"Form Six is better known as Niman, like Derflinger, it does a little bit of everything. Naturally it doesn't excel at everything, unless you take it to the umpth degree. It's also known as the Diplomat's Form because the main practitioners are people who choose to focus on other things besides physical combat. Sith who use it do so because they wish to focus their power and training on their Force abilities, or other pursuits that don't necessarily involve combat but need to maintain a reasonable competence with their Lightsabers. Jedi use it because they don't like to fight but sometimes have no choice. Like I said, with a basic well rounded education you'll have the tools you need to figure out what you're lacking and how to compensate."

"She's lacking in breasts. How can she compensate for that?" asked Derflinger in a nonchalant tone.

Louise widened her eyes at the sword and started slamming him into the ground repeatedly. "What did you just say about me?! I dare you! I dare you to say that again!"

Calista laughed, "There is much anger in that one, wouldn't you agree Derflinger?" the sword yelped and started begging for forgiveness.

"Louise?" the petite mage stopped mid swing and turned to face the last person she wanted to see.

"Guiche…" she said his name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"I beg you to forgive me for this intrusion but…" he started as he approached to a respectful distance from her and then fell to one knee before her and bowed deeply with a fist over his heart as he would do if it were the queen herself before him. The gesture's significance wasn't lost on Louise, hence she didn't strike at him right away.

"Guiche… what in the Founder's name are you doing?" asked Louise incredulously.

Guiche didn't look up at her as he addressed her question, he gave every effort to maintaining his submissive body posture.

"I have it on good authority that you are faced with difficulties surrounding a certain Count Mott. If my lady will have me, I would lend her my aid in the rescue of her friend, as I am certain she is already planning to do."

Calista folded her arms under her breasts with her forearms tucked into the sleeves in her signature sagely posture while she observed with growing interest the scene unfolding before her. Louise was shell shocked by his actions, time was literally frozen to her, she hadn't even realized she was frozen in the opening stance she'd just learned from Calista, the petite Sith found that particularly pleasing. Louise was very fast learner, she was already applying what little she had learned on instinct. The pinkette meanwhile was haunted by the memories of her experiences with the boy kneeling before her, the hate was swelling in her and Calista could feel it permeating the air around them.

"Why? After everything that's happened between us… why?" asked Louise through clenched teeth.

"Because of... circumstances. I don't intend for this to sound callous so please do not take it as such. But I believe fate has offered me this chance to make recompense for all the sins I've committed against you. You see my father has a long standing feud with Count Mott. This is an opportunity to apologize to you through action and not words, for there are no words which can truly encompass the depth of the shame that lives in my heart."

Louise glared at him with all of hell's fury in her pink eyes, her blood felt like it was on fire as the adrenaline surged through her veins. "You want to apologize to me? You expect me to forgive you and pretend like nothing happened? The arrogance!"

Guiche shook his head, "I have not asked for your forgiveness, nor would I ever. I could pay with my life for what I've done and it still wouldn't be enough. If you feel that taking my life will quench the anger you so justly feel for me, then I would beg you to do so. If my aid can help you reunite with your best friend, then I would give my life to see that happen. Either way, from this day forward, I am placing my life in your hands."

Louise bellowed an angry scream and swung Derflinger into the ground beside Guiche, he flinched and fell over on his side at the narrow miss. "Guiche, if this is a trick of some sort, I sw-"

Guiche raised his voice to interrupt her, "It's not a trick! I'm serious Louise!"

Calista went up to Louise and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Remember what I said before, about enemies?" asked the Sith.

"They make better allies than friends because they have more to prove..." answered Louise in an angry growl.

Calista gave a slow nod, "Yes. Trust your feelings Louise. If they tell you to take his life, do so. If they tell you to recruit him to your cause, then do so. But don't be hesitant and don't over think it."

Louise glared down at the blonde boy through narrowed eyes, "Tonight, just before dinner, meet in the stables. Now go before I change my mind." she commanded.

Guiche quickly nodded and stood up to make himself scarce as quickly as he could. Guiche's heart was racing, even though he accepted and fully believed she had the right to take his life, he was still afraid to die, he felt like a coward for flinching as she brought down her sword but the ultimate outcome was what he'd hoped for and so he used that feeling to regain his confidence.

Meanwhile, Calista turned Louise to face her open eyes and smiled sincerely at her. "I feel very strongly that you made the right decision. I'm proud of you, Apprentice."

Louise looked down at the ground to her left side, praise, something she craved and seldom received. But being praised over this left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I don't want to think about this right now. Teach me more."

Calista's smile widened, "Now you're starting to crave my teachings, that pleases me. You're almost ready for the next level of training. For now, let us resume sword practice, once you've mastered these velocities, I'll begin teaching you something you'll enjoy very much."

When Guiche arrived at the stables he was surprised at who was among their party.

"Miss Longueville? What are you doing here?"

She turned from saddling her horse to look at the new comer, "Mr. Gramont, Louise just told me you might be coming along. Saddle up quickly, we need to hurry."

Guiche walked briskly over to his horse's stable and started preparing it, he noted that Louise didn't greet him, or make any indication that she knew he even existed, but he supposed it was to be expected.

Louise adjusted the sling for Derflinger's scabbard to make sure he wouldn't bounce around uncomfortably on her back and then mounted the horse.

"Louise? Where's Calista?" asked the bespectacled woman.

Louise shook her head, "She's not coming. She said something about making this into a test for me, to see how I do on my own with only what she's taught me so far to help me."

Matilda nodded, "Makes sense for her I suppose. I still wish she'd be with us, but whatever. I'll take the lead and explain what I've dug up along the way. By the way, will you be alright with him here? I'm not clear on the details, but I heard you two have... issues."

Louise nodded, "Siesta is more important than him, if he helps get her back, I'll use him. If he fails, I'll leave him to the fate he deserves." she said coldly as she got the horse walking out of the stables.

"Miss Valliere, there's hope for you. That's an impressively ruthless attitude. Cling to it, it's the only way to get by in the world."

Louise sighed, she didn't like being this angry, she didn't like being praised for such negativity, but Guiche just boiled her blood.

Ever since Calista came into her life it was one thing after another, her first line of thought was to blame the Sith for getting her into all the trouble she's been in, but then she thought about what it might have been like if she got a normal familiar like everyone else, how would she have handled any of the trouble she got into? Guiche could have killed her in their fight, she very much doubted anyone else would have rescued her. Miss Longueville would have taken the Staff of Destruction to Albion and potentially have tipped the balance of power against the royal family. And Siesta, would be condemned to servitude and molestation at the hands of Count Mott and there wouldn't have been anything she could have done about it. Now Louise understood what Calista was saying when she decided to stay behind and just why this quest was so important for her personal growth. For the first time in her life, Louise wasn't powerless. She had the power to take her life into her own hands and affect the world around her, this was a test of what she'd learned, and how she would use her power.

As the three rode off towards Count Mott's estate, Matilda explained her discoveries about the Count's dealings with the academy. She outlined that the headmaster had been secretly sending young girls in his employ to Count Mott for a few years now, "The Count would pay the legal fees to transfer the work contracts, then under the table, Osmond would receive hefty sums for his service. The deal was that Osmond would hire the young attractive commoners under the guise of having staff the young students could get along with better, and as far as anyone in the Government was concerned, because of the quality of their work, they ended up being hired to better paying jobs with wealthy nobles like Count Mott. That's as far as my investigation could go, but I imagine the paper trail continues from Mott to many others."

Guiche was appalled at what he was hearing, "So the headmaster has been using our academy as some kind of slave trading post?"

Matilda growled menacingly, "Yes, that's exactly what he's been doing. That dirty old bastard makes me sick. I can't believe I didn't pick up on this before now, especially with how Mott was always leering at me, and how Osmond would have his familiar peek up my skirt every chance he gets!" Matilda screamed in fury at the world itself, "When I'm finished with Mott I'm going to summon the biggest golem I can, and I'm going to have it smack that lecher's face, off his face! Nobody makes a fool out of Matilda the Adamant!"

Guiche widened his eyes, "Miss Longueville?! You're… you're actually..!?"

Matilda kicked herself for letting her anger betray her true identity to the boy. "Yes I am, and you'd better keep that fact quiet unless you want to end up sharing a grave with Osmond!"

Guiche widened his eyes and beckoned his horse to ride up beside her. "My lady! You have no idea how honored I am to meet you! Like you I am an Earth Mage and I follow other Earth Mages with great interest, especially you! You've been my biggest hero ever since word reached Tristain about how Matilda de Saxe-Gotha razed an enemy fortress with a golem that loomed over the battlements and sent the defenders fleeing in terror!"

Matilda growled lowly in irritation at the boy. "I don't know what you think you know about me Mr. Gramont, but pay close attention because I'll only say this to you once. Then we shall never speak of my past again."

Guiche nodded and gave her his undivided attention, his eyes were shining like stars as he gazed upon his idol, meanwhile Louise turned her head slightly to watch Matilda's back as she she spoke to Guiche.

"My family fought the Reconquista forces with everything we had. After that incident you brought up, they turned their attention on Saxe-Gotha and invaded our land in full force. The King, in his infinite wisdom, used us as a distraction to regroup and retake lost lands while their main force was busy with us. We begged the King to send reinforcements to help in our defense but our pleas fell on deaf ears because we weren't strategically significant. By the time it was over, the people of the town were made to watch as my parents were burned alive for crimes against the people, and then they started making more examples, anyone who spoke out against them were attacked. One of those victims was the town baker. He was forced to watch as his wife and daughter were raped, and then they had to watch him be disemboweled. That was the price I had to pay for the power and heroism you revere Mr. Gramont. In the end, the Reconquista forces took over my family home, and now hold my sister as a hostage to ensure I work for them. At least until I find a way to save her..."

Guiche suddenly saw the bespectacled woman in a whole new light, even as she shared the tragic tale, her eyes didn't flinch, they didn't water even though his were, he looked over at Louise and saw her looking away but he could see the moonlight reflecting off a tear on her cheek. But Matilda was unmoved by her own tale, she'd lived it, and her emotions must have been long spent, only her steely tone of voice offered insights into her emotions on the matter, she was biding her time until she could find the power to have revenge. But he felt she didn't just want it against Reconquista, she probably wanted to see all of Albion burn for what was done to her.

Guiche didn't blame her, she was left to die by the side she fought for, and brutalized by the side she fought against. Now circumstances compelled her to serve as the secretary of a dirty old man who was neck deep in the trading of sex slaves. It was fortunate for Guiche that circumstances now allowed him to ride alongside his hero, but he quickly shook that thought aside, it was the greatest injustice of all that someone as brave and powerful as her should have to fall so low. The fact that she hadn't given up on her fight, that inspired him to work though his own problems because they seemed so small in comparison.

"I don't know what to say my lady, except that after hearing your tale I admire you even more than I did before."

Matilda turned her head back to Guiche and glared at him incredulously, "Didn't you hear a word I just said?!"

Guiche nodded, "I did, every last word of it, and I even made careful note of your inflections as you spoke."

Matilda shook her head, "Then how can you say something like that?"

Guiche smiled brightly with stars in his eyes again, Matilda scoffed at his expression finding utterly pathetic, but his words did give her pause. "What I admire is your strength, were I in your place I've no doubt I would have fallen into the deepest pits of despair and hopelessness, I know I've sunk into that pit with magnitudes less to weigh upon me than you have. But I see in you the will to keep fighting, even if your enemies are more than you can take on, even if they have power that eclipses your own, you haven't surrendered. You're still fighting with everything at your disposal. It is most inspiring."

Guiche spoke with every bit of the hero worship he had when he first found out who she was and Matilda was visibly confused by it for a long moment before she looked forward again, "You don't know what you're saying. And honestly Mr. Gramont, I dearly wish for your continued ignorance. Nobody should have to endure any of what I've seen. But if someday, if you should ever experience such misfortune, maybe then you'll understand."

Louise's first instinct was to hit Guiche with a snarky comment. But Matilda's experience kept going through her mind and she ultimately held her tongue and thought that Guiche was right to revere this woman. She was strong. Strong enough to twice stand up to Calista in a fair fight and come out even.

Louise cursed herself again for treating her so badly the day after they returned to the academy. She had corrected herself and started showing her respect. Even if she didn't trust her yet, this woman deserved respect. She was everything Louise wished to someday become. "Miss Matilda…" started Louise grabbing the woman's attention. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you before. I still can't trust you because as long as those people have your sister I know you could betray us at any moment, and I wouldn't blame you if you did. But I still want to thank you. Not just for this, but for the story you just told. I understand you now."

Matilda smiled genuinely at Louise's words, "You're right not to trust me, you have good instincts. For what it's worth, you and Calista have given me the hope I lost back then. I won't betray you, no matter what. My sister is the kindest, most caring person in the world, if I were to betray you for her sake, I'd be betraying everything she believes in, and that is something I simply will not do. Not anymore at least. I don't expect you to start trusting me yet, but I'd like it if you'd at least give me a chance to earn your trust."

Louise nodded at her, "I can do that."

"How do you find your work here Siesta?" asked Count Mott while standing behind the young raven haired maid.

"It's not all that different from my work at the Academy sir." she answered dejectedly.

Mott walked up behind her and started gently rubbing his shoulders. "What's the matter my dear? You're far too beautiful to look so depressed."

Siesta closed her eyes and started trembling nervously under his hands. "I miss my friend…" she answered low and hesitantly.

"I can be your friend. You must know I didn't bring you here just to clean, my Siesta." he said while leaning his head in to plant a few kisses on her neck.

"Count Mott… please, don't."

The Count didn't stop, he only became more aggressive with her by sliding his hands down to her waist where he wrapped them around her and slid them back up to her generous bosoms and began kneading them softly enough not to hurt her, but hard enough to suggest that resisting him wasn't an option for her.

"As long as you take care of me, I'll take care of you. It's a far better arrangement than cleaning up after school children, wouldn't you say?"

Tears started running down the young maid's face as her eyes flooded. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, she reviewed her entire life at the academy wondering what she might have done wrong to make them send her away like they did. She assumed it was the incident between her, Louise, and Guiche, there was nothing else. This would be her punishment for trying to stand up for her friend.

As her clothes started coming off her tears only intensified, she focused her mind on Louise and how much she longed to be back at the academy with her. As the Count lay her down on the couch her mind drifted back to when she and Louise first became friends...

One year ago

"You there in the back, the one taking notes, would you care to give this a try?" Louise nodded to the professor and all eyes were upon her. Louise wore a brown cloak, it was her first year at the Magical Academy, and the first time she'd ever been called upon to attempt magic before the class, expectations were low for everyone in their first year, so Louise took comfort in that knowledge, even the daugher of her family's mortal enemies had blundered an attempt at magic the previous day.

So she confidently walked down to the professor's podium without fear, "Now, just clear your mind, and levitate this book." the professor said to her.

Louise nodded, she smiled, "Maybe this time?" she thought to herself as the positive feelings welled up inside her.

She recited the incantation and pointed her wand at the weighty tome which was no doubt full of timeless and priceless magical lore painstakingly copied over countless hours by a master scribe for the professor's use in his function as an instructor of magic.

The next thing she knew, the book started to glow brightly and exploded with sufficient force to knock her into a desk behind her, throw the professor into the wall behind him, and blow out all the windows.

It was a long while before everyone's ears stopped ringing enough to asses the damage. The classroom was a mess, the podium was nothing but splinters, the big book of magic was vaporized and everyone and everything was covered in a very fine layer of soot. "What is the matter with you?!" yelled one of her classmates, "Are you trying to kill us all?!" yelled another as the classroom erupted into torrents of accusations and outright slander against the small girl who was laying against what remained of a desk, her clothes torn and tattered, her face blackened, and her ears bleeding.

After the incident, Louise retreated to her room to clean up and change, when she arrived she found one of the institution's maids cleaning her room. The servant was shocked and appalled at the condition she was in, "Oh no! My lady what's happened to you?" she asked with concern.

"It's none of your business! Leave me!" yelled Louise.

"But my lady, at least allow me to help you, your bleeding, and your clothes are ruined." she said with humble kindness.

"No! I don't want your help, I want to be left alone! Now be gone!" she yelled even louder, the maid picked up the front of her dress so she could run without tripping on it.

As the days turned into weeks, explosions had become a common occurrence, the medical staff had come to be on a first name basis with Louise, and many of her victims. Eventually it just went without saying that when you needed a student to try a spell, Louise Valliere was not the one you called upon. And so the legend of Louise the Zero came to be, a student so magically inept that every spell she cast backfired and blew up in her face, taking the unwary along with her.

Academically speaking the girl was brilliant, no professor had any doubt about that. Her grades were perfect, and were it not for her continued failure with the application of the knowledge she possessed, she could easily have rivaled Tabitha at the top of her class.

Louise had been tutored by almost all the professors of the academy until they gave up on her, she researched every possible reason for her magical failures and come up with nothing. One day, Louise had finally snapped, between the bullies and her own failures, she broke down completely. It was the first time, and would not be the last.

One night after a brutal session of teasing during dinner, Louise stood up and ran away, she had no idea where she was going but she just had to find somewhere to hide. She found her way into the ballroom, it was dark and spooky but nobody would think to look for her there. She sat herself in a corner, and let the tears of built up anguish flow freely as the memories of months of failure, teasing, and disappointment couldn't be held back any longer.

She didn't know when it had happened, but someone had pulled her into a gentle embrace and she was vividly reminded of her older sister who would comfort her the same way. Instinctively she grabbed onto this person and hugged them back tightly.

"Whatever it is my lady, just let it out, you'll feel better after." said a soothing voice.

Louise finally looked up and saw Siesta there, "Why are you being so nice to me? I've treated you so badly." asked Louise.

Siesta shrugged, "You treated me just like everyone else does, I'm not bothered. I just can't stand to see anyone in pain. When you're ready, if you want to talk about it, I'll listen."

Louise shook her head, "No, I shouldn't, I don't have the right. My problems would seem so stupid next to your's I won't trouble-"

Siesta silenced her with a finger against her lips. "My father once told me that you can't put people's problems on a scale to see who's weigh more. Because even though our problems are all different, they weigh on us equally."

Louise was amazed as she and Siesta got into conversation. The maid wasn't at all what she expected a commoner to be. She was intellectually deep, well read, sincere and compassionate. It seemed an affront to the world that someone like this kind hearted girl was doomed to a meager existence of mopping floors, doing laundry, and washing chamber pots. Siesta in turn found Louise to be a brilliant and very sweet girl who wanted nothing more than to be accepted and to fit in just like anyone else their age would desire.

Louise brought Siesta up to her room where the two sat down to talk more. "Romance novels are my guilty pleasure. It takes a while to save up enough to buy books though." said Siesta.

Louise laughed at the idea, "I've read a couple, but I found them annoying. The characters you root for either don't end up together, or only end up together at the very last page. It was so frustrating!"

Siesta laughed in response, "That's true, but that's what's fun about it! You sit back and yell at the male leads 'it's not like she likes you or anything you idiot!' the ending of a story shouldn't ever be more important than the journey."

Louise contemplated that, "You may have a point. I might give them another try with that in mind."

"So are you feeling better yet my lady?" the maid asked with a kind smile.

Louise shook her head, "I won't be happy until you start calling me Louise."

Siesta bowed her head in deference, "You're too kind, but it's too improper to be so familiar with nobility my lady."

Louise stood up and went over to Siesta where she grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently, "You're more noble than I could ever be Siesta! I'm the one who should be showing deference to you!"

Siesta was shocked, her eyes widened at the implications of such a thing, "You're the daughter of a Duke! I come from a poor family of farmers! You mustn't say such things!"

Louise fell to a knee in front of Siesta, "I don't care about that! From now on, as far as I'm concerned, you're my equal! Even in terms of magic you're my equal! From now on, you're my friend! My best friend! Forever and always!"

Siesta gasped, "You want me to be your friend?! But my lady, I'm just a maid, you're a noble! What would people say?"

Louise shook her head, "I don't give a damn because they already say whatever they want! You're a better person than anyone else here! You're the only one who's ever cared about how I feel or bothered to listen to my stupid problems. Please be my friend!"

Siesta took one look into Louise's eyes and knew she was sincere, Louise also managed, in Siesta's humble opinion, the world's most potent puppy eyes.

"I will. I promise. We'll be best friends. Louise." answered Siesta with finality in her voice.

"Forever and always?" asked Louise while holding out her hand for her new friend.

Siesta smiled and took her hand, "Forever and always!"

Siesta was the first to admit that she started her friendship with Louise out of pity for her. She was so lonely and the maid felt it was wrong for anyone to have nobody to talk to. But as time went on, she felt her friendship with Louise turned into something genuine on her part. Louise had gone through so many tribulations in that first year but through it all, Siesta was always there to hold her and tell her things would be alright. In turn, Louise was always there to cheer Siesta up after a particularly hard day of work with her honest and bubbly personality, it was a side of Louise that only Siesta ever got to see. In front of the world she maintained her noble dignity, but when it was just the two of them, all pretenses were gone.

They'd sit down to tea, and Louise would attentively listen as Siesta vented her frustrations. The two would visit the town and shop together even though Siesta could barely afford to buy from the most basic vendors and Louise had the means to visit the highest of the high end she never seemed even remotely interested in doing so when she was with Siesta. Not only did Louise buy clothes from the simple street vendors, she'd actually wear them out with her friend. She never flaunted her money to the maid. Though she was always eager to buy her little gifts, she never over did it. Louise was always considerate of the maid's ability to reciprocate when selecting gifts, she knew Siesta was someone who could never take without giving.

Over time, Siesta introduced her friend to the rest of the staff, and though they were wary of her noble status they eventually relaxed enough around her that they could be themselves and Louise started to find a measure of the acceptance she craved so much in her life, especially from the head chef Marteau. He hated the nobility with a burning passion for how they would repress the commoners. It took him a long time to warm up to Louise. It wasn't until he got to know her, and actually see what she was like with his own eyes that he gave her a chance. He'd see her beside Siesta, helping her put laundry out to dry so she could finish faster and give them more time to sit and read together. Whenever Marteau saw Louise on her own, she always had her nose in a book while making notes, he saw that she studied hard and didn't take her education for granted like most of the nobles who'd get by on only their magical prowess.

When Louise needed a place to practice out of sight of her classmates, Siesta ran it by the staff and they all agreed to pitch in and make a little bit of space behind the staff quarters for her, it was out of sight from the students and would suit her needs perfectly. Marteau was especially eager to help Louise and Siesta was shocked by the sudden total reversal in his attitude towards her. Due to the explosive nature of her spells, she'd run through objects to practice on like there was no tomorrow. So Marteau started setting aside empty bottles from each meal for her to use, some days when he could, he'd even sit and watch, and then stack up new ones for her. Marteau was a married man, he had children of his own who were younger than Louise, but he started treating her like he would if she were one of his own.

Louise used to be a picky eater, spoiled from her home life. Marteau was always experimenting with new meals and he'd always seek Louise's opinion on his preparations, from him she learned all about food, expanded her palette and refined her tastes. After the tragedy that was Louise's first date she took all her meals with the staff to avoid her classmates as much as possible. Nobody there judged her, nobody there even commented on it, they simply accepted it and treated her as they would anyone else.

But Marteau… he was the exception, he was livid to the point where he was plotting out a revolution to avenge what the snotty nobles did to his Louise. Siesta remembered it well, the big man threw the heaviest pot he had across the kitchen at the wall shared with the dining hall, the sound it made caused everyone's ears to ring and the students at dinner all turned their heads to wall wondering what happened. Fortunately for them the stone walls kept their young ears from experiencing the profanity he was hurling towards them.

"First I'm going to take that Guiche boy outside and string him up by his balls! Then I'm going take my set of butchers knives and visit one room each night! I'm going to carve them up and serve them to their classmates! And watch with pride as they eat it all up! Nobody will ever be able to sleep in this place ever again! I'll line all the outer walls with their bones! Before I'm done, the entire world will speak of this place with terror! Parents will threaten to send their children here if they misbehave! And the children will wet themselves at the thought of being sent to Marteau's Towers of Horror! I'll sell my soul to the Devil! And he'll supply me a few demons to replace the Professors! How dare that son of a bitch hurt my little girl!"

It took the entire staff, and Louise herself to calm his fury. Louise grabbed onto him and hugged him tightly, she pleaded with him, "Marteau, please, don't do anything against them. Please. If I were to lose you, or anyone here, what would I do then? I need you…" she said to him, her words combined with her tearful puppy eyes was enough to bring him back to reality, he held her close in response as the adrenaline left his system. "I'm sorry Louise. I didn't mean to frighten you. I just feel so helpless. All we peasants can do is serve the whims of the nobility, and when they do things like this to us, we just have to take it. I'm sick of just taking it. There has to be a line, and I draw that line at someone hurting someone I care about. You, Siesta, and all of you..." he said while looking around at the staff, mostly all very young people, "You're all like my family, my kids, and I'll be damned if i'm going to let anything like this go unpunished. But I won't do anything that could make me leave you."

Louise and Siesta got closer than ever because of those days. The students took to calling her a commoner, Louise should have found it more insulting than she did, but because of her magic she was accepting that it could potentially be her fate. Siesta was shocked and scolded her for that line of thinking.

"Your father is a Duke! It's unthinkable that you could lose your noble status for anything! You shouldn't think like that Louise, what would you do?"

Louise smiled sweetly at her, "I don't know Siesta. But as long as I'm with you, then I can do anything."

Siesta narrowed her eyes, "Louise, do you honestly believe you could ever be content as a maid? I'm not even content, I just do it because I have to."

Louise shook her head, "It doesn't matter what I do. As long as I have your friendship, I could be content at anything."

There was a loud knock at the door, Count Mott picked his head up and glared at it angrily, "What is it?! I told you all I was not to be disturbed for anything!"

The man at the other side of the door yelled through it, "My apologies Count. But there are some people at the gate whom we can't turn away without your word."

Mott stood up furiously and started to dress himself, he looked at Siesta and pointed between her legs, "Clean that up, you've stained my couch." Siesta didn't move, she just lay where she was and sobbed, she didn't care about anything anymore, but her thoughts of Louise inspired her. She wondered what her friend would do in her place now. She couldn't muster up the petulant anger her friend could, but she still gave it a good try; "You broke it, you clean up after it!" she yelled as she grabbed her clothes and ran for the other door.

Mott sighed, "I'll have to deal with that later it seems…"

Fully dressed, Mott opened the door to see one of his guard shaking nervously.

"Count Mott, please forgive me. But, at the gate, there's three people…"

Mott glared at him with irritation. "Spit it out man! Who's there at this hour?!"

The guard stood at attention and forced himself calm. "The lady introduced herself as Miss Longueville, with her are two students, Louise Valliere, third daughter of Duke Valliere, and Guiche de Gramont, son of General Gramont."

Mott grinned, "I see. Show them in. This could be very interesting."

Louise, Matilda, and Guiche were brought into a living room where the Count awaited them with a stern expression. He was wearing his very finest red suit with gold embroidery, a matching ruff around his neck completed the image of high class nobility in contrast to the two teenager's school uniforms and cloaks, though Guiche stood out with his frilly white shirt showing off his upper chest with some of his recent and still fresh burn scars. A custom cloak to finish the look.

Mott especially noted the sword on Louise's back, it was as long as she was tall, how she could wield it and why a mage would need such a thing, he had no idea. The three politely introduced themselves before Mott invited them to be seated on a couch across from him. Louise prefered to remain standing and stated that her sword would be too tedious to pull off to allow her to sit.

"What need would a mage have for such a ghastly thing?" asked Mott about the sword.

Just as Louise was about to respond Derflinger popped himself slightly out of the scabbard to address the question, "Hey buddy, we didn't comment on your clown suit yet, so it's way too early to go calling me ghastly!"

The Count widened his eyes, "Your sword just insulted me Miss Valliere…" Louise gave a gentle shrug of her shoulders to him, "I find the fact that I have to breath the same air as you insulting. So all in all, we're now on even ground."

Mott was fuming in his seat, though he tried his hardest to maintain his dignified body language his face said it all, it was turning the same color as his suit. Matilda swore to herself that at any moment smoke would be billowing forth from his ears.

"I don't care who's daughter you are. You don't come into my home and start throwing insults Miss Valliere. I demand an apology. Or I shall have to seek satisfaction for the insults."

Guich started standing up but Matilda put a hand on his shoulder to keep him seated, he nodded to the bespectacled woman who then turned her attention back to the Count.

"Count Mott, it's interesting that you mention a need for satisfaction because that's exactly what's brought us before you this evening." the Count turned his attention to Matilda and gave her a questioning look.

"I'm not sure I take your meaning Miss Longueville." he stated.

"Then I shall have to clarify. As the Headmaster's secretary, I'm sure you can imagine I have access to all the paperwork in the academy. That would include transfer of employment forms waiting to be sent to the Ministry of Labor. It would also include financial statements and tax receipts."

Mott shrugged, "So what of it?" he asked.

Matilda grunted in irritation, "I'm not sure if you're playing innocent, or if you're really that dense, so I'll spell it out for you. I have the entire paper trail for all the girls you've been smuggling around."

Mott widened his eyes at her, "Are you people serious? You come into my home and start throwing insults at me, and now you're trying to accuse me of a crime? I demand you leave my house at once and do not return!" he said as he stood up.

Louise took a step forward to interject but Matilda stood up and put her hand on Louise's shoulder to stop her.

"Very well Count. I'll just have to send my findings to the palace then and see what they make of it."

Mott went for his wand and held it at the ready, Guiche in turn drew his and Louise put a hand on Derflinger's handle. Matilda held up her hands with a sly grin on her face.

"Now you think you can go over my head with these accusations? The arrogance!"

Matilda chuckled lightly. "Count Mott, surely we're both reasonable adults. Let's try and reason together. I didn't bring this to you with the intention of selling you out, but rather, to negotiate for our silence."

Mott laughed at her, "Blackmail? You're trying to blackmail me?"

Matilda shrugged, "That's such an ugly term. But accurate."

The Count put away his wand and seated himself once again, he then invited his guests to do the same. "I underestimated you Miss Longueville. Your cunning is impressive. Very well then. What do you want?"

Matilda nodded at him, "You give me too much credit Count Mott. It was actually your most recent acquisition that did you in. You see, she's the best friend of Miss Valliere here. Naturally she's beside herself at the loss of her dearest friend and would like her returned. That's the price of her silence. The price of mine would be ten thousand. And for Mr. Gramont?" she said as she looked to Guiche and gestured for him to speak up.

"The Count took something that rightfully belongs to the Gramont Family. A wand said to have belonged to one of the Founder's disciples. It has been in our family for ten generations, and I'd like to return it my house."

Mott looked at each of the three gathered before him. "And if I refuse?"

Matilda smiled at him, "I honestly hope you do, because then we would simply take the things we asked for. Regardless of of anything, we aren't leaving here without Siesta."

Mott stood up politely and nodded to the group. "Very well. I'll make arrangements. Please make yourselves comfortable and enjoy our hospitality."

Mott walked to the door and instructed the butler the serve refreshments for their guests while he attended to business.

Louise clenched her fists whispered to her companions discreetly, "I have a bad feeling about this." she said nervously.

Guiche nodded to her, "You believe he's being dishonest?"

Louise nodded.

"I agree. Both of you be on your guard." added Matilda.

Louise started drawing Derflinger, "What's up Louise?" asked the sword.

"That bad feeling I have. It's getting a lot stronger."

Matilda looked at Louise and then got off the couch and kneeled down to touch the floor, with her eyes closed she felt the slightest vibrations of dozens of people entering the home. "He's summoned his guard. Get behind me both of you!" she said as she pulled her wand out of her sleeve and touched the ground with it to conjure her Rapier.

Guiche stood up and waved a petal off his rose and transmuted it into his brass claymore while Louise eventually managed to get the long sword out of his scabbard.

"I told you you need to practice drawing me Pinkie! You never listen when I tell you important things!"

Louise shook her head and yelled petulantly at the sword, "Shut up Derf! This isn't the time! And stop calling me pinkie!"

Matilda sighed, "You two can get a room later! Focus!"

Guiche chuckled and then saw her Rapier, did a double take on it in shock. "Is that… is that… adamantium?!"

Matilda nodded, "Yes. Now I hope you can actually swing that useless brass thing."

Guiche nodded while he held his wand between three fingers and closed his eyes to start drawing his power inward while performing a dancing twirl, "I, Guiche de Gramont, humbly ask of the most beautiful, most bountiful Mother Earth, lend me your strength in my hour of need."

Matilda and Louise sweat dropped at Guiche, "Really Guiche?" said Louise.

"Must you be so theatrical?" added Matilda.

A dozen of Mott's guards came pouring into the room from all three doors and quickly surrounded the three with their pikes at the ready. Louise assumed the ready stance she was taught automatically while Matilda powered her wand. Count Mott came into the room behind his guards with a fearful Siesta and threw her to Louise.

"All this over a little maid. Now you can all die together. Kill them and then leave them on the road, make it look like they were attacked by bandits."

Louise tightened her grip on Derflinger when she saw the state of undress Siesta was still in, the look on her face and the blood stains on her legs.

One of the guard rushed towards Louise once the order was give, his pike aimed to impale her in the heart, Louise flourished her sword and used the momentum it generated to deflect the pike, then redirected that moment to spin herself and the blade to the guard's head and decapitated him, Siesta's eye's widened as Louise continued the vicious attack sequence knocking all the pikes that came at her away from her and then followed through in another attack that could have killed three more men had they not started backing away in fear at the sight of her. Louise finished the move in such a way that she ended up looking at Siesta again and the maid understood what made them so fearful of a girl half their size, her eyes were completely vacant, her pupils had vanished leaving nothing but her pink irises.

The rest of the guards were stunned at how quickly and easily this tiny little girl had killed one of their comrades and looked to each other wondering what to do. The momentary distraction was all Matilda needed to go to work, she thrusted her Rapier into the throat of the first guard she could reach and then slashed off the fingers of another guard gripping his pike defensively who then dropped his weapon and fell to the ground in horror. A third guard charged Matilda with his pike aimed at her stomach, in the tight space without much room to maneuver a polearm or to evade the attack Matilda sidestepped the attack and then she stepped into the guard and used her adamantium wand to gouge his eye out. The room was in a panic, the guards were falling over each other to either attack or back away and it was complete chaos.

Guiche used the opening to begin summoning his golems, with a wave of his wand six petals were deployed and transmuted to form his brass valkyries.

Matilda glared at him incredulously, "Don't you think this tiny room is crowded enough already?!" she scolded.

The guards started shoving Count Mott out of the room as they hurried to get out into the larger hall where they had room to fight properly since this was no longer a simple execution but a life or death struggle.

"Well it's working!" he shouted back and then pointed his wand to the door where the guards were retreating, ordering his golems to attack.

"You have a point…" she answered back and then touched her wand to the ground under her where she conjured two of her Adamantium Golems and sent them out into the fray.

"Hold them here!" demanded Mott while he started fleeing up the stairs. The golems attacked and though the brass valkyries were no match for the trained guards and were easily being picked off, the Adamantium Knights were a force to be reckoned with. The steel pikes couldn't even scratch their armor.

Matilda looked around at her two charges and saw Louise's eyes fell upon the man she'd decapitated, Louise was useless now in her state of shock.

The woman then pointed her wand at Guiche. "You stay with them!" she demanded in a clear tone that implied harsh consequences should he disobey.

Guiche nodded and went over to Louise and Siesta while Matilda ran out into the hall to finish off the guards. Guiche knelt down by Siesta and tried to take the clothes she had in her hands but Siesta immediately slapped him, Guiche inhaled sharply as the stinging pain washed over his face, "Thank you my Lady. Indeed I deserved that very much. But for now we need to get you dressed and relocate our collective asses before the guards manage to summon reinforcements."

Guiche forcefully snatched her dress from her hands and went around her and started putting it on her. "If you feel the need to take further vengeance upon me, you're welcome to do so once we've moved to safety."

Siesta looked at Louise who was staring into the eyes of the severed head, it looked so terrified at her. Louise started to tear up. "I killed him… god forgive me, I killed him."

Deflinger spoke up from Louise's hand. "Louise.I know it feels pretty rotten to take a life. Believe me, I know. When I was created, my partner was the nicest lady in the world. She didn't want to hurt anyone, and neither did I. But that's what I was made for. After that first kill, I felt so rotten, and so did Sasha."

Louise turned her attention to Derflinger and tearfully listened to his story. "But then I realized, how would I have felt if it'd been Sasha who died? I'd have been devastated. Then she also realized, that if she didn't take that life, that life would have taken her's, and everyone she was protecting. My point is Louise, you did what had to be done, there was no other way. I'm not just your sword, I'm also your shield. A sword kills, but a shield protects. I can't be either of those things without you."

Louise sat up and turned to look at Siesta and Guiche. Siesta mustered a smile and nodded at Louise. "He's right Louise. You saved me."

Louise's frown turned into a small smile as she turned her gaze to Siesta. "I also broke my promise to you and did something stupid again, didn't I?"

Siesta chuckled very softly at her friend, "I know. But I forgive you. This time."

Louise used Derflinger to help herself stand. "I'm going to help Matilda. Get Siesta out of here Guiche."

Guiche was about to protest but Louise picked up her sword and started running out of the room to the hall. "Don't bother. Once she's made up her mind, it's really hard to get her to change it." said Siesta as Guiche helped her up.

"Indeed I've noticed that mi'lady." the two of them exited through the other door to find another way out of the mansion.

"Louise! I told Guiche to get you out here!"

Louise shook her head as she rushed to engage one of the guards with the only Shii-cho attack sequence she knew, "No, you told him to stay with me. I told him to get Siesta out of here."

Louise's attack was simple and elementary, but it was highly effective as the pikemen had no answer to this style of combat except to try and block her and get away from her, only to turn around and find himself face to face with the mighty adamantium knight who proceeded to cleave him in half.

"You barely know how to fight Louise! You're useless here, go with them!" yelled Matilda in anger as she ran her Rapier through the throat of another guard.

"I'm not useless! I don't know why, but I feel like I have to be here beside you in this fight. We have to find the proof of what he's been doing here!" the last of Guiche's Valkyries crumbled as it was impaled by one of the guards who then went after Louise. "Behind you Louise!" yelled Derflinger.

Louise reacted on instinct and turned around with her hand open, she imagined all her fear flowing into the palm of her hand and pushed it away at the guard, reality around her hand seemed to distort as a wave of something moved towards the young man at high speed and upon impact he was sent flying, the sound of every bone in his body being broken by the Force echoed about for all to hear even over the sound of metal clashing. After Matilda saw what she did, Louise looked at her and the woman gave her slight shrug, "Alright, you can stay."

"Now you understand. Use your feelings. Let the Force flow through you."

Louise grinned. "Calista? I do understand now... It makes perfect sense!"

Louise held out her hand to the last three guards engaged with Matilda and the two Adamantium Knights.

"Hey Matilda, you might wanna get back now!" yelled Derflinger.

"Wha- oh shit!" she yelped as she turned away from the guard and started running to get behind Louise.

The Guard stopped his pike mid swing with a bewildered expression on his face, "What the f-"

Louise let her mind take her back to when she first saw Siesta and realised what had been done to her, she imagined all the others who met the same fate but had no rescue. The injustice fueled her hatred for these men who were complicit in these crimes and indeed probably even partook in them. She felt the Force flowing through her, she let her hatred flow with it and roared loudly as she channeled that power, the men shrank away from her in fear as the little girl's presence suddenly seemed to tower over them even Matilda felt fear as the aura of the Dark Side permeated the space around them. And then it happened, there was a spark between her fingers, and then another, and another as she struggled to eject the power from her body, her intention was to hold back and not kill these men, but she quickly learned that this power fizzled out if she gave any half measures. The power screamed back at her to use it with all its might and her roar turned into a scream as the Lightning flowed from her hand at the men sending them limply to the ground where the were writing and convulsion in agony.

Louise felt their pain, she felt their fear, and to her own horror, she liked it. They deserved to feel fear, they were only here to impose that same fear and helplessness on the slaves Count Mott was using. It was right that they should experience it as well.

"Louise! Stop it! They're dead!" Matilda shook her shoulder violently to snap Louise out of her trance.

Louise looked at the men and then at her hand. "What am I becoming?" asked Louise in a small voice.

Matilda sighed at her. "No one your age should ever have to experience anything like this Louise. Once you've had a taste of it, there's no going back."

Louise closed her fist and squeezed it tightly. "Hey Louise, remember what I told you be-"

Matilda yelled to cut off the sword, "Shut up sword! I'm talking now!"

Derf made a gulping noise, "Yes ma'am!" he said.

"Look at me Louise." Matilda cupped her chin in her fingers and turned her head to face her.

"You've lived your whole life being powerless. I get that. Now you have power. The question is what are you going to do with it?"

Louise blinked at Matilda, "I don't know. I don't know anything anymore."

Matilda smiled at her, "It's going to be alright. The answers will come to you in time. Right now, just keep your mind on the here and now. Do what you think is the right thing at this exact moment. The bigger questions can wait until the proper time."

Louise nodded. "You're right. For now, the best thing we can do is make sure nobody else ever has to go through what Siesta went through."

Matilda nodded back at her, "That's right. Now let's get it done."

"Why are you helping me? After everything that's happened, after everything you did to Louise and I, why would you-"

Guiche cut her off, "I can't answer your question my lady. My word has no weight with either you or Louise. So no matter what I say, you will not believe me. And quite rightly so I might add. For now, I only ask that you accept my aid and humbly request you ask me again if such a time should arise when my word may carry some value to you."

Siesta was being pulled along by the hand behind Guiche as the two roamed the mansion looking for another exit. Suddenly two guards appeared behind them and yelled for them to halt. "Let us make haste!" declared Guiche as he started running and pulling the maid behind him.

They came to a door which seemed to lead to to a room in the rear of the mansion, but when they entered they only found another corridor, Guiche decided to take his chances and entered shutting the door behind him he slipped his claymore between the door's handles to jam them shut and pulled the maid with him down the hall to another set of doors, he kicked them open to reveal a very large room filled with magical treasures.

"This must be the Count's celebrated collection of magical artifacts…" observed Guiche.

"Quite correct young Mr. Gramont. I'll be happy to add that rose of your's to my collection, self-regenerating transmutation wands are rare." declared Count Mott from the second story of the room as he stepped down the stairs.

"If I must die, so be it. But you're coming with me! For I shall not permit this young lady to suffer you to live!" yelled Guiche as he waved his wand and dropped three rose petals, two became Valkyries and one became another sword for him to use.

"Pfft, you're not as soft and flowery as your persona suggests. I've never known a Gramont to be so courageous. I expected you to be a coward like your father." said the Count with a chuckle.

"I can assure you Count, this rose has thorns! For insulting my father, you will now experience them!" declared Guiche in a loud angry voice.

Count Mott drew his wand and directed it at two large vases at the base of the steps, the vessels tipped over and water pooled around them and began to coalesce into two humanoid water elementals. "My code name is Mott the Surge. I'm a Water Mage, and you are a novice Earth Mage. But even at your level, you must know that the Earth only gives way to water."

Guiche smiled happily as his statement made him think of his beloved Montmorency. "That statement is more true than you could ever hope to realize Count. But I'm still going to defeat you."

Guiche commanded his Golems to charge the Elementals, Mott commanded his Elementals forward. As the four clashed, the Elementals came apart and wrapped around the Golems, the water started spinning around them, rusting and eroding the brass Golems into nothingness. Guiche had to think fast, he directed his wand at the ground under the elementals and softened the stone, crumbling it into sand, the sand absorbed the elementals while the Count struggled to give them back their form Guiche hardened the surface trapping the water beneath them.

"That was, very creative. I'm honestly impressed!"

Guiche smiled and then lifted his claymore and charged at Mott, "Try having an angry water mage for a girlfriend, there's no better way to learn how to stay alive than that!"

Guiche came close and then the Count pulled out another wand, a metallic wand with a black tip. Guiche stopped when he recognized it.

"The wand of Andvari? What do you honestly hope to achieve without any water around to manipulate?"

Mott smiled at him and moved his thumb up the wand, from the end a yellow beam of light extended.

"Unlike the Gramont Family, I tried to use this, and I discovered, it isn't a wand at all!"

Guiche widened his eyes, as did Siesta. "Guiche run! That's just like Calista's!" yelled Siesta.

Mott raised the weapon and rushed Guiche, the young man could only fall backwards and roll down the stairs, thanks to his power enhancing his body it was only painful and uncomfortable but not life threatening. Guiche's problems started to multiply as the water elementals started to erode their way through the stone floor where he trapped them.

Siesta yelled in terror, "Guiche! We have to escape! Run away!"

Guiche turned to Siesta and smiled at her, "There's nowhere to go my Lady. The guards are behind us, and Count Mott, much to his misfortune, is in front of us. Our way is clear." he said to her in the sweetest voice he could muster.

Guiche brandished his wand and started pelting him with Rose petals, Mott started laughing at him. "What are you trying to do boy? Make me pretty?"

Guiche shook his head with a grin. "You underestimate me Count… you correctly identified the function of my wand but forgot what that says about me. One of my strengths happens to be transmutation. And that sword you're using, it's like fire. And what can Fire and Earth combine to accomplish?"

Guiche flourished his wand with all his practiced theatrics and pointed it at Mott, the rose petals started flowing around him and then he started chanting his spell, "Transmutate: Oil."

Mott widened his eyes as he was drenched in oil which ignited as it came in contact with the Lightsaber setting him ablaze, he dropped the weapon and fell to the ground where he started rolling around, but the flames persisted as he only spread the fuel around, and so too did the flames spread. The elementals burst out of the floor but quickly fell apart as their summoner's wand burned away.

Guiche then used his wand to levitate the Lightsaber out of Mott's hand and brought it close to him, he wasn't surprised to find the flames had no effect on the device as it was still active. With one finger he quickly pressed the button on it and deactivated the blade as he'd seen the Count do.

The flames spread to the carpets and quickly started growing, the room was filling with smoke as Guiche took off his cloak and wrapped the Lightsaber in it, when he reached Sieta he offered her his hand and smiled sincerely.

"I have avenged your honor my lady. Shall we make our escape now?"

Siesta blinked and accepted his hand. Guiche lead her around the flames to the back wall, "If there's no exit, I shall simply have to make one." he pointed his wand to the wall before him and chanted a spell to dissolve the wall into sand and the two stepped outside the mansion as the flames continued to spread.

It was an hour's ride back to the Academy. An hour of silent contemplation of the things that had been done, the lives ended, and the work that had yet to be done. For Louise, the ride was spent with Siesta in front of her, the two silently held each other the entire way, each grateful to be with the other again. Back at the Academy after they'd returned the horses, Matilda told the youngsters that the rest would be up to her.

She needed to go through everything they'd recovered and figure out how best to use it. For if she handed the evidence to the wrong people, they could simply sweep it under the rug and that would have been the end of it. If Mott was willing to kill the three of them to keep his secret, she didn't want to even think about what the more powerful clients of his would do to protect themselves.

"Miss Matilda, were you really just going to blackmail him and then leave it at that if he'd agreed?" asked Louise.

Matilda laughed at her, "No way. I just hoped he would accept so we wouldn't have had to have the big fight we did. It would have been so much easier if he'd just brought us Siesta and think he was safe while I stabbed him in the heart."

Louise nodded, "I see. Then I'll trust you to do what you think is best with the evidence we gathered."

That evening, Guiche lay awake in his bed staring at the Lightsaber in his hand, "The wand of Andvari…" he repeated. In his mind, he was contemplating the implications of that. Was one of the Founder's disciples like Calista? If not, how did he get the weapon? He set it aside and clapped his hands to turn out the lights, these questions would have to wait.

As he tried to sleep, his mind only fell into further turmoil as he started recalling the day's events. The conversation with Katie that lead to him offering Louise his help, meeting Matilda de Saxe-Gotha, all the possible explanations for why someone like her might be working as a secretary, even if she'd lost her status as a noble with the fall of Saxe-Gotha. Then inevitably to his duel with Count Mott. It was the first life he'd taken but it didn't bother him as much as he felt it should have. He remembered what a wreck Louise was after killing that guard and couldn't help but wonder if she'd have regretted killing him the same way if she had. But she shook that thought out of his head, he still had no right to allow himself to even think about her. He decided that he did what had to be done, just like the sword said.

He'd wronged Siesta in many ways, helped bully her and Louise, but avenging her honor, that made him feel proud of himself. He couldn't think of a better reason to kill than to protect another person, no matter who they were, from such a violation. Finally, Louise came back into his mind just before he'd fallen asleep, and against his the small pink haired girl dominated his dreams.

Louise brought Siesta up to her room for the night. Calista decided to go spend the night with Matilda since she felt the two would appreciate privacy for the discussion they would have to have.

Though Calista had many close calls in her life, she'd never been violated the way the maid had been. But her experience gave her empathy for what she must have been feeling. Louise got Siesta out of the spoiled uniform and helped her clean herself up they best they could with the limited washing facilities Louise's room had.

"A shatterpoint." said Calista as she sat on her knees upon stone floor in meditation. Matilda was meanwhile seated at the table sorting through all the paperwork and looked over at her guest with curiosity.

"A what now?"

Calista smiled and gave a small laugh through her nose as she exhaled. "A shatterpoint." she repeated.

"I got that, but, what's a shatterpoint?" asked the bespectacled woman.

"To understand that, first you must understand the Force. An energy field created by all living things... and thus it also binds all things together. The smallest push, the slightest touch, sends ripples through everything."

Matilda nodded, "Like throwing a pebble into a pond?"

Calista gave a short nod, "Exactly."

Earlier, Louise had to swallow her pride to ask Kirche for some spare clothes for Siesta. The fiery buxom girl's first instinct was to gloat over the fact that Louise had come to her for help, but she quickly wiped the smile off her face. She'd heard the rumors that Siesta had been sent to Count Mott and Kirche knew what must have happened and the reason why Louise would ask her for help now. Only her clothes would probably fit the more fully figured maid, she decided this wasn't the time to make fun and gave Louise a small nod, she picked out a set of her least revealing nightwear and casuals to give to Louise's best friend.

"When you understand that, you understand that any action, no matter how small, has consequences that reach farther than you can ever know, or ever see."

Kirche was confused, a year ago she would have jumped at the chance to rub Louise's face in the misery she was in, but instead, and not for the first time, Kirche decided to take the second option and help the Valliere girl out. Kirche sat at her dresser and opened a bottle of some of the elixir Montmorency made for her, she took a very small sip since she didn't know how much longer she could make the supply hold out. She turned to her mirror and pulled up the hair covering half her face and gazed deeply at herself in the mirror amused at how the candle light only lit the half of her face she normally kept visible. There was then a knock at her window, she quickly adjusted her hair back to its normal appearance and rushed over, picking up her wand along the way, she opened the window and started scolding her latest lover for disturbing her at this hour.

"Every action has a reaction. Everything in the world, is just a fractured, broken, chaotic mass of people, places, things, and feelings. It is complete and total chaos. You mentioned throwing a pebble into a pond. Imagine if it were raining? Imagine the raindrops represented everyone's free will. That's the kind of chaos I'm talking about. Every rain drop sets more ripples off, and those ripples clash with other ripples."

The boy was confused, she told him to come to her at this time, but instead she started casting fire spells at him to chase him away. Kirche sighed as she took in a deep breath of the night air, it was soothing to her troubled mind. She looked down to see her friend Tabitha looking out her window up at Kirche. They two said nothing to each other, they simply gazed into each other's eyes, Kirche shook her head, and then Tabitha nodded. To anyone else, nothing much passed between them, but for the two impossible friends, volumes were spoken. Tabitha knew Kirche wasn't in a good space and wanted to know if she would be alright, Kirche let her know that she could use a friend right now. It was a moment of weakness that Kirche would only ever show to Tabitha.

"But with the right actions, the universe and its masses may be moved. If you know what you're doing, you can cause ripples to affect anything you want, even set off a chain reaction which could bring order to the chaos."

When the small blue haired girl came up to Kirche's room, the two sat at the table, and Kirche started talking, she gave a long winded speech about everything and about nothing. To anyone but Tabitha, it was a indecipherable jumble of random rants about completely unrelated topics. But to the petite girl, it was a reflection of Kirche's mind and the confusion it needed to sort through. She knew that if she listened carefully, she could catch enough to put the truth together.

Tabitha was the calm at the center of an unrelenting storm that was Kirche's life, a rock she could lean on when she needed to, though Kirche never understood why she would want to spend so much time with her. Tabitha seemed to value peace and solitude to read her books. Kirche could offer neither, and she decided, that after more than a year of their silent friendship, she'd finally ask that question.

"Tabitha. Why do you spend so much time with me?"

Tabitha responded with only single stoic word, "Friendship."

Kirche shook her head, "But why are you my friend? I feel like all I do is take from you. What do I offer you that keeps you around?"

Tabitha was unmoving except for her mouth as she replied, "You make me feel happy." she answered as stoic as ever.

To anyone but Kirche, it could have seemed like a deadpan dismissal, but Kirche knew better.

"Thank you Tabitha." she replied with a bright smile.

"About your problem." started Tabitha which got Kiche's undivided attention, the small girl very, very, seldom ever said so many words at once.

"You're more mature now." she stated with finality.

It would be her last word on the subject and let Kirche knew she had to accept it as the truth written in stone.

"You may be right." was all Kirche could answer in a contemplative tone as she gazed into the flame of the lamp as if it held the answers to all of life's greatest mysteries while Tabitha did the same with her book. The two sat in companionable silence for the rest of that night. If Louise hadn't have come to her that night, she might just be having meaningless sex instead of spending this quality time with her dear friend. Somehow, this felt better than the alternative.

"And if you persist, a critical mass may be reached. And a single being, no bigger or more significant than a single drop of water in the ocean... can change the entire universe. For better... or for worse."

Louise and Siesta meanwhile were laying together in bed, cuddled up with one another, Louise was holding up a book for them while they read, and Siesta would flip the pages in a simple display of teamwork. They didn't need to discuss anything that had happened, each was content to be with the other and needed nothing else for the time being.

"Calista… sometimes, you really scare me."

"Good."