I tell you: one must still have chaos within oneself, to give birth to a dancing star.
Friedrich Nietzsche
…
…
"Owowowowow id hurds big sis id hurds!"
"I don't care about that! Get in the carriage! You're going home and are going to get a proper scolding from Father and Mother! Running around and fighting in La Rochelle, what in Brimir's name were you thinking?"
It had not taken long for Eleanor to found her little sister. The sheer audacity of a young noblewoman to crash such a prestigious party was simply beyond the scale of belief for practically everyone there. Consequently, the nobles at the party had seemingly decided to pretend that the blonde demon didn't exist, and so after a bit of stalking around, she had grabbed Louise and headed outside without saying a single word to anyone else. Once she had left the party with Louise in tow, she had boxed her ears before giving her sister a serious talk ranging from the Familiar Summoning ritual to her fighting in the battle to her not having a proper noble husband already. About the only important thing that Louise took away from the ranting was that apparently Eleanor had been told by their mother, the Duchess de la Valliere, about Louise's involvement in the battle. That just made things much worse – if Eleanor was acting like this, then her mother would likely actually kill Louise for her transgressions.
There was a carriage nearby, its door open. Eleanor, continuing to drag Louise along by her now sorely stretched cheeks, tossed her in and then sat down herself. It was only then that Eleanor realized that the two were not alone in the carriage, and soon the pink-haired girl gave a squeak of surprise.
"N-Napoleon! What are you doing here?"
Her partner gave a sigh at hearing those words. He looked out of the carriage and munched on a small loaf of bread, his saber lying on his lap and his hat on his head.
"Your sister did spend five minutes outside of the ballroom tugging at your cheeks. There was no point in interfering, so I just moved past and waited for you two."
"B-but…"
As Louise hesitated on what to say, Eleanor interrupted her.
"Enough, Louise! Who is this man! He's far too old for someone like you to marry!"
Each of Eleanor's sentences was coupled by a further tug of Louise's cheeks, and while Napoleon's partner did blush, she wasn't capable of saying anything a human could understand. As the cycle of incomprehensible gibberish and cheek pulling continued, Napoleon interjected.
"My name is Napoleon Bonaparte. Your sister summoned me, and thus I'm her partner. I am from a differ-"
His attempt to properly explain who he was cut by a wave of Eleanor's hand and she started shrieking to Louise once again.
"You did summon someone? A commoner?"
"Well, he's not quite a commoner…"
Louise looked down as the words slowly dropped out of her mouth. All of the confidence and pride she had possessed had vanished under the pressure from her sister. Regardless, her weak response only served to anger Eleanor even further.
"What are you talking about? There's no way you could have summoned a noble. In fact, there's no way you could have summoned a human! Are you playing some sort of game with the Sacred Ritual, like hiring some commoner to be your familiar? Mother will slice you into a thousand pieces for your insolence!"
The cheek pulling and hair tousling continued and Louise squeaked helplessly in the face of her sister's assault. Eleanor then abruptly turned towards Napoleon, whom aside from sticking his left hand in his shirt, had not moved at all.
"I don't know who you are or what trick you're playing, but even if Louise did summon you, you're just a servant! Go get another carriage. You can wait for an opportunity to wait on your master later, commoner!"
The tone was imperious and brusque. They were the words of a noblewoman who was used to giving commands and having them executed. To Napoleon, someone who regarded himself as of higher rank than a common noble, such a command was the worst possible thing to do.
"Excuse me?"
He made no movement, but Louise could easily tell from his voice how infuriated he was. Were it not for the face that his voice also held a tone of pure disbelief, it sounded just like his mood when he had heard of the threat to that plane in Tarbes. However, her sister was visibly confused by this commoner's reaction and so chose to strike again at Napoleon's pride.
"What do you mean 'Excuse me'? Get another carriage right now, or we'll leave without you!"
"Oh, shut up."
Eleanor's eyes widened at the insult and she made to draw her wand. But she was too slow. Napoleon had been clutching his pistol the entire time and with a quick flip of his wrist, pointed it at Eleanor's head. The eldest Valliere daughter, realizing the situation she was in, glared daggers at him rather than saying anything. Napoleon was the one who spoke.
"I have no intention to kill you. I don't believe Louise would ever forgive me if I did. Out of my generosity, I'm not asking to be treated with the rank an Emperor deserves.
But treat me like a servant and we will have problems. Understand?"
Having finished his warning, Napoleon looked at Louise. While Eleanor had turned red at the idea of a commoner using a weapon against her, Louise had turned white like she had when her sister first appeared. There was silence for a few seconds, and then Napoleon stood up clutching the weapon.
With no further words, he grabbed the saber and left the carriage, but then he stopped at the door. Did he change his mind?
"By the way, Eleanor, you're nowhere as abusive towards Louise as you think you are. Joseph treated me far worse."
And with those words, he closed the door, leaving the two sisters together. While Louise trembled about facing Eleanor's wrath especially after Napoleon had apparently goaded her on, the blond-haired woman did nothing. With a huff, she sat back on one side of the carriage, while Louise took the other.
"Louise, who in Brimir's name is that madman?"
…
The journey had so far proved entirely uneventful. Napoleon had found a carriage and ordered the coachman to follow the carriage in which both Vallieres were in. When he had sit down, it was only then that he was finally hit by a tidal wave of exhaustion. He had been working nonstop over the past week, planning the campaign, fighting, urging on Louise, and organizing and discussing things with Giono as they distributed the pamphlets. He was honestly surprised that none of the nobility had made a move against them. They, whom had had commoners obeying them their entire lives, likely had no idea of how to truly and properly inspire people. Henrietta was no exception. She was someone who had been loved and respected her whole life, and was now being considered a saint. Such a person would never truly learn what it meant to manipulate the hearts and minds of others.
Still, La Rochelle was a test case for how well the pamphlets would work. He knew that Giono would be distributing them out to the rest of Tristain, as the printer sincerely believed that showcasing the role of his friend was a worthy deed. The fact that Napoleon had given away most of the rewards which had been bestowed on him to his printer friend hadn't hurt, either.
But as he continued to rest, his knees creaked with pain. Napoleon silently endured it, but he couldn't as a result stop thinking about his own mortality. He wasn't young anymore. His life would no doubt be better than the exile that he knew would have been his fate on Earth, but still, he doubted he would have many years left. He should probably take a look into utilizing magic which could extend his own life somehow, or at minimum just reduce his current pain.
He began to doze off, only to be startled by a tapping noise on the carriage windows. There was a gray thing fluttering outside, and Napoleon recognized it as Joan, the parrot familiar which belonged to Martin. But what was it doing here?
He opened the door enough to let the parrot fly in, and it quickly took the opportunity. Settling down, it perched on Napoleon's leg, and it began to make a caw of "Thank you!" repeatedly. There was a pouch tied to the bird's back, and Napoleon removed it. Joan had spotted the half-eaten loaf which Napoleon had brought with him to the carriage, and began to eat while he opened the pouch. It contained a letter from the bird's master.
Hello Captain!
I sent Joan out to deliver this to you, as it's something that she's really good at. If she's seen a she makes a great messenger. Take care to feed her when you get this, will you? She really likes vegetables, particularly tomatoes. Also, try to keep her away from her from your girlfriend.
I'm sure you know already, but her Majesty ordered us to stay back and fix up the mess in La Rochelle, which means that we're working back under Agnes for now! It's been great to see her again. She's a bit confused about the fact that we're working together now, and I think Foucard's more terrified of you than of her! It's amazing how badly this city was wrecked, though the harbor tree looks like it can be salvaged somehow. That thing was too big to burn.
I don't know where you actually are now that I think about it, though I'm sure you got dragged to some party or conference with the rest of the big shot moron generals. All the same, we just wanted to say our thanks. You talked about us fighting for something greater than money, and while we've sure gotten money now thanks to her Majesty and you, it's great to be honored. We got new uniforms, which are the same with everyone else in the guards, and Agnes told us that the men will be getting new weapons. Some of the men are grumbling about losing their pikes, but it'll be fine.
Also since you're meeting a bunch of nobles these days, I do have a favor to ask. If you do ever see the Duke of Walloon, old pappy, slug him in the face for me, will you?
The letter should have ended there. However, it went on for another five pages as Martin apparently had decided to talk about all of the various women he had unsuccessfully attempted to romance even while rebuilding the city. Napoleon sighed as he went through the rest of the letter, before setting it down. He was confused about why everyone seemed to think that there was something between him and his partner, he admitted. Then again, most people had no idea that he had already fallen in love once, and he wasn't interested in doing so again given how that had turned out.
Martin had left the backside of each page unwritten, but Napoleon had no writing materials with him to craft a response. Even if he did, writing on a moving and bumping carriage would have been difficult.
In the meantime, Joan had consumed all of the bread, and then after spouting "Thank you" one last time, he flew off. Napoleon watched the bird fly off into the distance, wondering how it had known where he was and how it would find Martin. Then he sank back into the carriage seat and drifted off to sleep.
…
"So that's your entire story?"
Two days had passed. It had hardly been a refreshing trip for Louise. She spent most of her time being grilled by Eleanor about everything, from life at the Academy to what she had been doing at La Rochelle, interspersed with the cheek-pulling that the elder sister was so skilled at. The nights when they rested were hardly better, as Napoleon and Eleanor barely interacted with each other, and none of the occupants had the slightest idea about actually cooking out in an open field. The fact that Louise had had no time to pack and thus was stuck in the same evening gown for those two days hadn't helped either.
They had entered Valliere territory about six hours ago, and would reach their castle and home later in the evening. The amount of territory held by one of the most prestigious families in Tristain if not Helgekinia was enormous, as to travel from one end of the Valliere lands to the other would take over an entire day. They were one of the five great families of Tristan, and had also been strengthened by their connections to the royal throne.
Eleanor sat in the carriage, having finished listening to Louise. She had finally explained everything she knew about Napoleon, what he was like, how he had helped her, and everything that the pair had been doing ever since he had been summoned.
Well, almost everything. Henrietta had told her to keep quiet about the Void, and so Louise didn't mention that. When Eleanor had asked her if she had any idea about what that ball of light was, she shrugged. All the same, it was odd. Her mother seemed to know a lot about what had occurred, way more than Louise had expected.
Eleanor gave a huff. It was clear that she dearly wanted to do some more cheek pulling for all the stupid things that her younger sister had done, but she decided to wait.
"Fine. I don't care about what you did in La Rochelle, as Mother and Father will deal with you properly for that. But what about him? What is he after?"
"What are you talking about? Napoleon has been my partner. I wouldn't have gotten so far nor done so much without him."
"That's not what I'm talking about, Louise. Because from everything you've said, it's clear you know nothing about him."
"He's told me his story!"
"No, he hasn't. Louise, he's told you nothing beyond the fact that he ruled the world, and that he started out from nothing. He didn't even tell you about his wife directly. The process of how he came to rule the world? He's mentioned nothing about it and nothing about what his world was like before and while he ruled it. That's the problem."
Louise began a retort and then hesitated. Just then as she was thinking of a great response, the carriage came to a halt. The two looked around in confusion before the coachmen appeared in the window.
"The horses are tired. We're going to taking a short break."
Eleanor grumbled slightly but Louise nodded. After a bit, the two left the carriage. They saw that Napoleon, who had continually remained them, was already out of his carriage and was leisurely stretching.
The two carriages had stopped outside what appeared to be a small town. They walked around for a bit, but then out of the building the commoners streamed out. Despite their high rank and prestige, the family did take care to make sure that those under their dominion were reasonably well off. The fact that many of the residents could afford cotton clothing and were not rail thin from hunger was evidence of the benevolence of their rule. With cries of "Miss Eleanor" and "Miss Louise", they bowed, some of them prostrating themselves on the dirt while others inquired about what they could do to help the weary travelers.
Eleanor strode forwards to an inn to rest for a moment, while Louise waved her hands. It was always nice to see the peasants, and the fact that her family took good care of their people gave her no small measure of pride. As she saw a few more of the commoners stream in, she waved towards them and then decided to follow her sister.
"Napoleon! Come on!"
She turned around to give a call to her partner, but then stopped. The farmers and commoners were bowing to him just as they did to Louise. From their perspective, the man in the uniform was an attendant to their lords and thus deserved respect. Louise had assumed that as he had been an Emperor, he would have been completely comfortable with having those people bow to him in such a manner.
But she was completely wrong. The initial expression on Napoleon's face had first been that of shock, and now it was switching into distaste. He opened his mouth quite a few times as if he wanted to say something, but every time no sound came out. After repeating that pattern for a bit, he just strode forward to the inn, leaving Louise behind.
As he entered the inn, he looked for Eleanor. She was sitting on a chair in the corner, and Napoleon abruptly sat down across from her, causing her to start up.
"What are you doing here? Commoners cannot sit at the same tables as nobles!"
"What the hell is the matter with you people?"
"Huh?"
Eleanor was taken aback by Napoleon's complete ignorance of her complaint. He pointed out at the crowds of people who were now surrounding Louise. It was clear that the youngest daughter was truly beloved by the commoners, though the fancy dress surely didn't hurt.
"You can look at people just crawling on the dirt, fawning about, and not want to throw up?"
Eleanor simply stared at Napoleon for a while before answering with a confused tone.
"Louise told me you were an Emperor. If you were any good at it, you should have had people who're doing what they're doing to Louise now. It's just something that comes with being a good ruler."
"No. The people cheered me, courtiers bowed to me. But the people, commoners, did not bow and scrape in the earth or fawn over me like dogs."
Eleanor raised her eyebrows, only to pause as an innkeeper stopped by and deposited a cup of black tea for both of them. She took a sip, and then responded.
"Commoners, dogs, what's the difference? As long as lower orders show deference to us nobles, it doesn't matter whether they cheer or bow from my perspective. Perhaps you can tell them that it's better to cheer if it means so much to you."
Napoleon's gaze turned stony upon hearing her quip, but Eleanor continued.
"Well, I answered your question, so you answer mine. Who are you?"
"I'm sure Louise has told you plenty about me already."
His response was quick, but Eleanor smiled in response.
"Nice deflection. But fine, I'll be more specific. Louise told me that you didn't start off ruling the world, you obtained it. How?"
She was a smart woman, Napoleon noted. Still he had been prepared for that question for a long time.
"The country fell into strife when I was a young man, and there was a civil war. I unified the country, and then set out to conquer the world and succeeded."
"What were the two sides in the civil war?"
"You only answered one question of mine, so I'm only answering one question of yours."
Eleanor stared at that response, but then both them saw that Louise had managed to escape the crowd. As she ran towards them, both of them noticed that she was shining brightly for some reason. She leapt and hugged her sister while giggling with delight.
"Big sis! Why didn't you tell me that you were engaged! Congratulations!"
…
Napoleon clambered out of the carriage and looked at the setting sun. He then moved towards the violently rocking carriage in front of him and opened the door.
"Eleanor, would you please let go of my partner now that you've arrived at your home?"
It had been about eight hours since they had left the village, and Louise had suffered more physical violence at the hands of her sister during that time span than compared to the previous two days. Eleanor had been engaged to a prominent Earl, only for it to be broken off for a reason she couldn't comprehend. It was a reason which everyone else was fully capable of comprehending, especially Louise. Even if Eleanor was a beautiful lady, no beauty was worth putting up with someone that crazy.
Then again, it might be worth it if one could get access to the entire Valliere estate. Napoleon really was surprised by their power and influence. In addition to the massive territory they owned, their palace really was from the outside an example of elegant taste and wealth. The entrance was of yellow stone, with pillars at the front. The entire appearance managed to show their wealth while at the same avoiding the appearance of being ostentatious. When Napoleon thought about it, he really had underestimated Louise from the beginning. The fact that his partner possessed that much wealth and prestige could no doubt eventually prove to be useful.
Due to the circumstances, there was a general lack of luggage for both Louise and Napoleon, and even Eleanor had brought only a small travelling bag. Nevertheless, a coachman carried the bag, and the group moved forward.
"Eleanor, I'm glad to see you're back."
Napoleon heard a voice at the entrance to the Valliere palace. There was another woman there, one who looked astonishingly similar to her own partner, from her flowing long pink hair to her unblemished face. Perhaps the biggest difference was that in contrast to Louise who always possessed a restless personality, this person carried a placid demeanor. Still, the two were probably related.
The similarities between the two was made all the more apparent when with a giant happy squeal, Louise dashed forward with a loud cry of "Cattleya!" and threw herself into the woman's arms.
"It's been so long, big sister!"
"Louise, Louise, is it really you? You've really grown up!"
Louise blushed with happiness as the other three people moved up the stairs. The coachmen went inside with Eleanor's bag while Napoleon and Eleanor waited for those two. Eventually, the two broke off and Cattleya, whom appeared to be another elder sister to Louise, went to the two of them.
"Big sis, it's good to see you back. Did you have a pleasant journey?"
Eleanor mumbled something which no one could hear, but Cattleya smiled nonetheless. It appeared to Napoleon that while Eleanor was the eldest, she treated Cattleya differently compared to her other younger sibling.
While he wondered why, the middle sister moved to Napoleon, tilting her head as if she was wondering who he was.
"So, may I ask who you are?"
Napoleon's response was to give a gracious, proper bow, in contrast to the pathetic groveling of those peasants beforehand.
"A pleasure to meet you, Cattleya. I am Napoleon Bonaparte, the partner of your younger sister."
"Partner? Does that mean that – "
"It means she summoned me in the Springtime Summoning Ritual to be her familiar. However, to be a familiar implies being a servant to someone, and I am no one's servant. So I have consented to be her partner."
Cattleya gave a giggle to that response.
"Well, that's not what I was going to ask, but it'll do. I am Cattleya Yvette La Baume Le Blanc de La Valliere. It is a pleasure to meet you, uh…"
"Bonaparte will do."
"Very well, Bonaparte. I am so happy to have all of you here and you all got here just in time for the evening meal. Unfortunately, Father is out tonight on some business, but we should get going now that you've come back home."
Cattleya skipped ahead of the group and opened the main doors, and the rest of the group followed her. As they moved on through the main hall and towards the dining hall, Napoleon couldn't help but observe the luxury which the Valliere family possessed. Fine sculptures and works of art adorned the hall, while servants were cleaning the area, ranging in age from Louise's age to old women. Not one of them however seemed to be discontent in their work. Upon noticing the group, they turned and gave a proper bow to them while wishing them well for their return.
As Napoleon watched, Cattleya continued to chat to Louise about some of the new animals she had collected while they were gone. Apparently she kept a massive collection of all sorts of beasts, and she vividly imitated how some new bird she got flapped its wings while Louise laughed at her antics. Eleanor simply watched them all in silence, though she kept glancing at Napoleon as he looked and sometimes stopped at particularly good works of art.
"Well, here we are at the dining room. Let's greet Mother!"
There was an imposing set of double doors at the end of the main hall. The sisters stopped and took some time to brush themselves up before entering the dining hall. However, before any of them made a move, the doors slowly opened outward to their surprise, and the three girls gasped in surprise.
The Duchess de la Valliere, she whom was known to a select few as the terrifying Karin of the Heavy Wind, was standing behind the doorway with her hands clasped behind her. She was wearing fashionable evening clothes, and her pink hair was tied behind her in a bun. Her eyes were closed as she stood in front of her daughters.
One eye opened, and Louise couldn't help but take a step back, though all three were visibly frightened. And then her mother spoke to them with a voice of irritation.
"Eléonore Albertine Le Blanc De La Blois De La Vallière.
Cattleya Yvette La Baume Le Blanc de La Valliere.
Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere.
Tell me, my daughters. Why have you allowed a monster to enter our home?"
The three sisters stared at each other, then behind them at the last person in the hallway. But Napoleon stood there looking at the Duchess, ignoring the stares from them. Not even Louise was acknowledged. Karin did likewise, and so the two stared at each other upon meeting for the first time. Even as they both wore blank expressions as they looked at each other, anyone around the two could tell the sparks which were being emitted.
And so this was how two legendary fighters from different worlds met for the first time.