Well, here you guys go. I originally planned this to be two chapters, but it did not flow right, so you get a condensed version.
On a random note, I have been unable to figure out if pope and cardinal need to be capitalized when not accompanying a name as a title. I have been thinking no for cardinal and yes for pope, but if someone knows, could you leave it in a comment so I can edit and use proper grammar?
Chapter 7: Fugitives
For the hundredth time that day, Montmorency tugged at her itchy shirt. Louise had insisted they wear commoner clothing so as not draw undue attention to themselves. Not only that, but her friend had also insisted they trade their fine, well-groomed horses for an old Clydesdale and a rickety old wagon. Sure it was a bit easier on her rump to sit on the wagon's bench than ride all day, but not by much. Plus, they covered ground less than half as fast. Though, according to Louise, it didn't matter how fast they moved, only that they weren't detected. The cardinal had a dragon after all, and if he caught wind of their heading, even a purebred stallion wouldn't help against the speed of a dragon.
When they had been searching for a replacement horse, it had turned out that Louise was quite knowledgeable about horses; something she said she learned from her sister Cattleya and gathered over years of riding practice. Not that Montmorency didn't know how to ride; she just usually filled her free time with potions, magic, and social activities. Things that Louise had never been able to partake in, so it made a little sense why the girl had taken to more independent activities.
It was because of this revelation about how Louise spent her time that made the girl's current actions all the more impressive. Louise was currently holding the reigns of the wagon with one hand, and doing the basic fire cantrip, 'kindle', with the other. The spell was meant to teach basic fire control and serve as a way to start fires by producing a brief burst of flame, yet Louise had managed a constant stream for about a minute now. "Not that I'm not happy about your sudden jump in skill Louise." Montmorency warned with a glance to the sky, "But weren't you the one who stressed we travel incognito?"
With a flick of the wand, the fire was extinguished and Louise turned to Montmorency, "We are in the middle of nowhere right now Mon, I'll see anyone long before they see my little fire." Louise gestured to the empty plains around them. "Besides, if we do end up needing to defend ourselves, a little fire magic is a far cry less noticeable than transforming."
Montmorency sighed, giving up keeping Louise from her practice. "Fine, fine. I'm still surprised you can do this without the help of the professors." Nearly everyone had a tough time starting out in their element. For anyone to take the first steps so easily, it was remarkable.
Once again Louise began to cast a cantrip, this time it was 'salamander writing' a mainly useless cantrip that left a trail of quickly dying embers. Twirling her wand, Louise wrote out illegible letters in the air. "Well it's not like I'm starting from scratch, I've memorized nearly every spell backwards and forwards." Embers got to close to the wooden bench of the wagon and Louise extinguished her spell. "All that was left was to actually do the magic. I wonder if I am just good, or am too used to such a handicap this all seems painfully easy?" Montmorency had no words. It was awkward talking about Louise's old magic problems; they inevitably reminded Montmorency of her callous behavior in the past. Picking up on Montmorency's discomfort, Louise changed the subject. "I wonder why my magic fixed itself?" There was a pause as she looked over her shoulder, back at a certain white familiar. "Hey." Louise spoke in a slightly hostile voice with displeasure written across her face. "You think you your lichification had anything to do with this?"
The Kyuubey was intelligent enough to stay out of arms reach from the girls, but it sat up to reply. "More or less it is safe to say that something of the wishing process changed your innate magic. However, it was an unintended side effect." Unwilling to look at the Kyuubey any longer, Louise turned back to the road without a word. "Ah, you are still upset." The Kyuubey commented to both of the girls. Neither denied the observation. "I still do not see the problem you have with me. I merely helped you. I can't be held responsible for third party reactions." Louise clenched her fist, squeezing the leather reigns with all her might. "And even then, your wishes were granted. Knowing what you know now, would you not make your wishes again?"
Both girls eyes' snapped open as the question stuck them to the core. Of course they would not want to become liches... But then Cattleya would still by withering away. But then Louise might be dead...
"Be quiet familiar." Louise commanded, irritated beyond belief. "Don't expect any thanks for your deceptions." The moment of annoyance lasted several seconds longer, before Louise finally let her breath out, giving up once again at being angry at her familiar. It was too exhausting and the little thing just didn't understand, which made it all the more vexing.
The two girls slowly fell back into a more comfortable silence, ignoring the creature behind them. It was a good deal later that Montmorency spoke up. "Louise," she began, worry in her voice, "When I suggested going to Romalia, I meant more like an outlying village or something to lay low. But if we go to the holy city, let alone the headquarters of the paladins, won't we be discovered?"
Louise looked over at her friend and smirked. "While it's true paladins are trained to fight the undead along with being the strong arm of inquisitions, we don't to worry as long as we are careful." Acing mundane classes like history and religion had their upsides. Ticking off her points with the trailing embers of her wand, Louise explained. "Detect undead is a single target spell that checks animated bodies for proper souls and soul manipulation. Sure if someone casts it on us they'd see a big glowing 'I'm a lich' line between us and our soul gem, but it's a rather complex line spell so no one is going to just randomly cast it on us. We'll just have to be sure not to be recognized, which shouldn't be too hard. The cardinal won't launch an inquisition without the pope's authority, and the pope won't give that without contacting Tristain's." All this was speculation, but Louise was pretty sure she had the situation figured out. They'd be in and out long before the pope could contact Tristain.
Still, even with Louise's confidence Montmorency was not convinced. "Didn't you say the Cardinal Tomas detected us with touch?"
With a wave of her wand, Louise dismissed her cantrip, "The cardinal is the exception, not the rule. Only high class mages have magic senses, and even among them it's very rare. Like some fire mages can sense body temperatures. I bet he can sense water flow within the blood or something. Water magic is the magic of the body." Louise's hand found its way to her chin while she thought about the cardinal's ability. With a nod, she assured herself of her deduction. "We'll be safe anyways and limit bodily contact with people, which shouldn't really be hard."
While not completely convinced, Montmorency decided to trust Louise. If nothing else, the girl was pretty smart. Still in her thinking pose, Louise's brow furrowed. "That reminds me." A sour look crossed her face as she turned back to Kyuubey. "I'm pretty knowledgeable about liches, but we definitely aren't the textbook definition, what with the still beating hearts and not-a-decomposing-monstrosity bodies. I'm going to need you to confirm some things for me." Internally, Louise smirked. This would be a good way to get a read on her familiar. According to the summoning spell, Familiars were supposed to be extensions of the mage, so she naturally trusted the Kyuubey from the get go. However, that had not turned out too well, so she needed to figure out if his naiveté was an act, or he really didn't understand that lichdom was a bad thing.
The little creature sat back up, giving no response. It only looked at Louise expectantly. Fine. "Liches are said to have a maximum range they can be from their phylacteries. Do we have the same limitations?" The first one was theoretically testable.
For a moment, Louise didn't think the creature would respond. But after a moment's thought, it responded, "If you move to far away from your bodies, you won't be able to manipulate them. That is true. The range is about one hundred meters."
Louise suppressed a shiver. She wished she hadn't noticed Kyuubey's distinct phrasing of his answer. Trying to shake the nervousness off, Louise continued, "What about our bodies, I've checked and I still seem alive. I'm not going to decompose, am I?" Thoughts of the drawings of liches she had seen filled Louise's mind; skeletons bleached white with barely any flesh on them.
There was a pause again, but the creature replied after a moment. "Your body still functions properly. Given enough time you will age and die." Again, it answered with nothing more than was asked, but Louise could detect no lie. Though, she truly hoped it was the truth, so her bias was arguably clouding her judgment.
"There was something else to. When I transformed, it was like I instinctively knew how to use my powers, and even though I haven't tried, I think I'd be able to fly on my staff. Why is that and is there anything I can do that I don't instinctively know?" Louise smirked, this was both something she needed information on, and a question that didn't lend itself to a small answer.
After the same small pause, the Kyuubey replied. "Your abilities come from the Soul Gem, so it is natural that you have knowledge of your own limits. However, you are right in assuming you are capable of more. Senior magical girls often expand their abilities with practice and experimentation with their magic."
That was probably the most verbose answer the small creature had given Louise ever. Slightly taken off guard Louise put a point in naive rather than deceitful. It almost seemed like the small creature was just too fixated on magic to understand anything else. Still, there was a question she hadn't asked yet, one she had been afraid to ask. "And you no know way of changing us back?"
The Kyuubey tilted its head to the side. "There is no way to return to being a regular human after becoming a magical girl."
Louise looked away from her familiar to hide the fearful expression. "You say that, but you can't be sure. You only know that you don't have a solution." She told herself as much as the Kyuubey.
A small hand rested on Louise's, causing her to look up at a smiling Montmorency. "You can fly on your staff? Take me for a ride sometime okay?"
Blushing in embarrassment, Louise looked away. Here she was talking about all this stuff about being liches, and Montmorency was just worrying about her. "If we fix ourselves I won't be able to give you a ride, blockhead." Montmorency only giggled at her insult.
Karin Valliere thought herself an unshakeable person. Yet when she had found her youngest daughter missing, she had very nearly attacked Cardinal Tomas. The assumption that he would attack her daughter in the middle of the night was foolish to be sure. If he had planned that, he would not have informed her of his suspicions. It had taken a great deal of resolve to appear calm before the Cardinal as he flew off to look for the runaways. Despite knowing that the cardinal randomly spotting the two girls would be incredibly unlikely, the possibility still bothered her.
Once the cardinal had left, Karin had sent her familiar out to look for her daughter. Her manticore would have a far better chance finding Louise than the cardinal's dragon, it knew Louise's scent. Something she thanked Brimir that the cardinal's dragon lacked. Her husband seemed to think that they should do more than send out one familiar. "We could spread the word, every town in Tristain could have their descriptions by tomorrow."
Taking a moment to sip her wine, Karin let the alcohol calm her nerves before she looked back at her husband. "I told you this yesterday dear. Either Louise really is throwing a fit and will be back once her stomach has been empty long enough, or she caught wind of the cardinal's intentions and ran."
Mouth gaping, the Duke Valliere restrained his voice, "Surely you can't be serious! Louise would never turn from Brimir, even under pain of death."
Karin placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, trying to calm the man. "I agree, I was only pointing out the absurdity of it. That girl's zeal is so strong I worry she'll become a nun someday. Louise will be back soon. Either that, or she'll seek refuge within our lands and whatever inn she hides out in will inform us."
"Are you so sure mother? I could see Louise delving into dark magics to fulfill her greatest desire." A dry, objective voice sounded from the study entrance. Eleanor entered with a sourer than usual expression.
Karin looked her eldest over, trying to read just what Eleanor meant. Both Eleanor and Cattleya had been informed of the cardinal's suspicions yesterday, as soon as the cardinal had left. Cattleya had taken it as expected, slinking away to the gardens and forest to spend time with her animals and worrying endlessly. Eleanor had unexpectedly shut herself in her room and refused to talk with anyone. "While I am glad you have finally shown yourself Eleanor, don't tell me you believe Louise would seek to become a lich. The girl may struggle with her magic, but she would not commit heresy to overcome her handicap."
Eleanor nodded her head in agreement, but her expression did not change. "That much is true, but Louise's greatest desire is not something she would grant herself, but rather someone else." The blonde academic paused, letting realization dawn on her parents. "That's right, if Louise found a way of curing Cattleya during her many hours of studying to improve her own magic. Do you not think she would take it, no matter the cost?"
Karin set her wine down, no longer being able to stand the taste. "Even accepting the Louise would do anything for Cattleya, it is too absurd..."
"I wouldn't bring this up without suspicions of my own." Eleanor pushed her glasses up to her forehead, more out of habit than need. "I found both Louise and her friend with their familiars next to a binding circle the night we met on our way here. Louise claimed it was for studying, but what if the two of them had become liches recently? Familiar runes would fail and need to be re-branded if a mage were to become undead." Eleanor continued, not letting her father interrupt, "Then there is Cattleya, mysteriously healed, and off practicing magic in the forest. Did you know her magic is acting much like Louise's used to? She hides the sound of her explosions within the trees."
Karin did not know about Cattleya's magic... "These things support the cardinal's suspicion, yet are not proof. Besides, would you turn against Louise if she were a lich?" She began, meeting her daughter's gaze.
With a sigh, Eleanor conceded, "Of course I would not turn on my sister, but all signs point to Louise being in over her head. I wanted you to tell you everything I knew before I left."
"Daughter," the Duke spoke up, "You are returning to the academy while your sister is missing?" There was no pain in his voice, only concern.
Once again, Eleanor nodded, "Yes, if my hypothesis is correct, and I believe it is. Then I can do the most good for Louise back with my research supplies and books. I'll see if I can't find something to help her if she has become a lich. If I'm wrong, then I'll just be wasting some time studying."
With that, Eleanor excused herself and left the study, stopping only when her mother called after her. "Take care, daughter."
"I will." Eleanor replied. The research might prove fruitless, but she had to try. That Louise, always worrying her elders.
"This is absurd." The duke muttered, not fully believing his own words.
"Indeed," Karin agreed, "but our daughter is right. Even if it's a small chance, we should act as if Louise has become a lich. We'll delay sending out word as long as we can. Buy the girl some time to get a head start on the church. Hopefully, we'll be wrong and she'll come home soon."
Days on the road passed slower than Louise and Montmorency were used to, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. With little to no excitement to speak of, it was easier to relax and try to forget about their current situation and get lost in idle chatter. Louise was thankful her familiar spoke so little for the first time. It may be hard getting anything useful from it, but at least it left them alone. About halfway through Gallia Montmorency finally stopped checking the skies every five minutes and she had been much more talkative since then. A little too talkative in certain cases. "So we will be traveling to Romalia to seek Brimir's aid for a rampant illness that is claiming our village!" She spoke dramatically, bringing up her arms in emphasis.
Sighing, Louise extinguished her latest cantrip. "Blockhead... Listen, if we use that cover story, they might summon a water mage to check us for a plague."
With a pout, Montmorency turned away. "Fine fine, we'll go with your plan. Our grandmother died and we are bringing her ashes to Romalia's capital, her place of birth. It's just so boring."
Shaking her head and smiling, Louise excused her friend's active imagination. Five days on the road had a way of making imaginations overactive. "Yes, well boring tends to be forgettable; which is our goal mind you. We'll be reaching the capital soon, so stick to the story." Montmorency just rolled her eyes, knowing another lecture when she saw one. Puffing out her cheeks, Louise huffed in at the indignity. Only to let her jaw drop as they crested a hill.
Romalia's holy city came into view and it was dazzling. The holy city's unofficial title, the floating city, really was spot on. The city itself sat on the ocean using the water as main streets, with stone walkways and side streets holding the blocks of buildings together. Louise wondered what mages managed to create such a masterpiece. Surely powerful earth and water mages working together. It was really all she dreamed it would be.
With a shake of her head, Louise dismissed the frivolous thoughts from her mind. It was time to get serious. Five days of traveling and four nights of preparation had led up to this moment. Glancing at Montmorency, she found comprehension in the girl's eyes. With only one nod to each other, they looked ahead toward the holy city. This is where they would find their answers.
Louise counted herself lucky to arrive just as the sun was setting. Hopefully, they could slip into the Paladin's library unnoticed. With the cart left outside of town at an inn, the two liches had entered the city on foot. Dress as they were, no one gave the two a second glance as they made their way toward the center of the city. According to a merchant closing his shop, the paladin main building was just north of the Pope's estate, though commoners were not allowed entrance except during specific visiting dates.
The restrictions on access were not news to Louise, and had she briefly toyed with the idea of presenting herself as a noble. However, drawing attention to themselves was too risky.
As they came upon the main gate, Louise steeled herself. Gripping her fist to stop her shaking hand, Louise convinced herself that the plan would work. The plan was solid enough, but Louise found herself wishing they could spend a night in the city and scope out the place. However, she reminded herself that they were only a day and half away from Tristain by flight, so if the cardinal had immediately sought to start an inquisition, it could very well be active by tomorrow. Louise could only hope that her childhood friend, Princess Henrietta, would stall any demand for an inquisition. Besides, Louise reminded herself, that logic assumed no time for paperwork and the pope agreeing to launch an inquisition without a second thought. With that reassurance, Louise turned to the task at hand.
There was no doubt they had found the paladin headquarters. The shield symbol was etched both in the main gate, and on the massive building within. Even without the obvious markings, the courtyard was spartan save for a single statue of Brimir and some well-trimmed shrubs. It was obviously more military designed then the other, more traditional sectors of the church. An iron barred fence surrounded the building, topped with points to deter anyone from climbing over. The building itself was stone, but the windows were low enough that if they could get past the gate, getting inside the main building wouldn't be an issue.
Two guards stood watch at the main gate, and Louise could see another making a patrol around the side of the building. "You're up familiar." Despite her reservations, Louise had no reason to believe her familiar was out to see her killed, and if they were going to infiltrate a place as secure as the paladin headquarters, they would need every advantage.
With a nod, the Kyuubey darted off toward the main gate while Louise and Montmorency kept their pace and made to pass by, moving toward the pope's estate. No one would think it odd for two travelers to go and catch sight of his eminence.
Out of the corner of her eye, Louise noted one of the guards lazily looking toward her. She didn't spare him a glance, and he returned to lazily zoning out. On schedule, Louise and Montmorency moved around the edge of the fence and made for a side street. "Done." Her Kyuubey's voice filled her head. "Two guards at the gate, one patrolling each wall. I'll distract your side's guard when you are ready."
The next part was the real crux of the plan. If their alternative magic could be detected like normal magic, it would mean beating a hasty retreat. However, everything Louise knew about how magic worked said that would be impossible; detectors worked by sensing from a library of disturbances, something as esoteric as their own magic would be an unknown. At least, that was how it should work.
Quelling her fears, Louise nodded to Montmorency. "Now familiar."
As soon as Louise gave the go ahead, one of the shrubs lining the fence rustled, drawing the nearby guard's attention. With a light trot, the halberd wielding guard made his way away from his post to investigate. In that moment, Louise and Montmorency leapt from the side street. Cloaks trailing behind them in the night air. It was almost a shame they had to cover up their clothes, Louise briefly thought. In spite of the sinister connotations of being a magical girl, she still admired the costume was exquisite.
Not even bothering with the first floor, Louise willed her staff into life and held onto it. Focusing on the metal rod, she repeated the feat she had only done for the first time the night prior, when she and Montmorency had practiced everything they would need. Instead of falling to the grass below like Montmorency, Louise hung in the air, one hand gripping her floating staff. For a moment, Louise's breath hitched. Yet, no alarm sounded to accompany her use of magic. Success!
Careful not to revel in her victory, Louise reached out and drifted closer to the third story window. With a quick push, the pane glass window swung inward. After all, who bothered locking the third story? Any sniff of levitation and the magic detectors would be going off like crazy. Louise looked down to a waiting Montmorency, who was glancing at a still retreating guard and up at Louise. One wave later and Montmorency propelled herself upward with a mighty leap. In one movement, she was in the window with Louise right on her tail. Louise only spared one look back out the window as she closed it, seeing the guard moving back toward his post, looking around confused. Had he heard Montmorency's leap? Louise could not be sure, but the guard didn't look intent on anything rash, so she left it. "Alright, stage two." Montmorency shared the serious look, and nodded.
With a faded flash of light, the two girl's transformed out of their magical girl forms revealing common, but respectable dresses. With even strides, the girls made their way down the empty hallway, making no effort to hide their presence. It wasn't long before they came across a maid. "Excuse me." Montmorency said, alerting the maid. "We are scribes sent here to copy books, could you direct us to the library?"
Fleeting suspicion passed through the maid's eyes. "I didn't know we were having scribes in the library. I suppose you'll need me to clean up after you?" The question was kept polite, but Louise knew the hidden meaning. That maid would be following up on them to make sure their mess didn't get her in trouble."
Clasping her hands together, Louise pleaded in a hushed tone. "Please, we got lost on our way to the city, we were supposed to be here yesterday. We figure if we work through the night and catch up, we won't be fired. I promise we'll clean up after ourselves."
The maid's face softened. "The library is on the other end of the building, the main entrance is on the first floor, but you can get in through the auxiliary door on the second, I'll take you. We commoners gotta look out for each other right?" Louise nearly lost her cover from the feeling of guilt she got. However, she would be doing no harm to this maid, so it was just a white lie really.
As Montmorency and Louise followed the maid down a flight of stairs and down a hallway, they approached a pair of older paladins chatting. The wooden shield emblem around their necks struck fear into Louise's heart. Despite everything Louise had convinced herself of, she still half-expected the two men before her to turn and shout the alarm. It took everything she had for Louise to suppress the urge to run past the paladins, and even more not to sigh in relief when neither paladin reacted their presence as they passed.
A hand grabbed Louise's and squeezed. Once glance to her right revealed a smiling Montmorency. Louise forced a smile of her own, and some of her tension was eased. The maid stopped before a door and turned. "You'll find the library through here, make sure you don't make a mess okay?"
"We promise." Montmorency filled in. Louise thanked her friend silently. After the scare with the paladins, she didn't trust her own voice.
Once the maid was on her way back to her duties, Louise and Montmorency opened the door to the library. While no marvel, the two story Library was quite impressive. Rows of shelves lined the bottom floor, and the upper floor was only a walkway and a wall of shelves that ringed along with the circular wall. Magical lanterns hung suspended, illuminating the room. "Can I help you?" A voice sounded from below.
Breath hitching once again, Louise looked down to meet the questioning stare of what could only be the librarian. Middle aged and permanently scowling, she fit the bill exactly. Still, they had planned for this, even at night it was unlikely that the books would be unattended. "Yes actually." Louise spoke with forced cheer as she made her way down the narrow stairs to the lower floor. "My coworker and I were summoned to help with scribing." Louise gestured to Montmorency. Taking her cue, Montmorency dug her hand into her cloak pocket and removed a quill and ink vial. Without speaking, she sat down at one of the tables and unstopped the ink.
The librarian could only furrow her brow in confusion, "We have no need of scribes, did that fool Lawrence send for you? Regardless, you'll have to leave." Montmorency only continued to set up her workstation, dipping her quill in ink.
"Are you sure, we came all the way here. Is there nothing you need done? Maybe just some organizing. We are both youthful and you must have some troubles." Louise spoke, keeping the librarians attention on her.
The wrinkled librarian glared at the insinuation that she was too old for her job. "Listen here." She advanced on the smaller pink haired girl. "I do not need your assistance. Leave before I call a guard." A minor, but sharp pain lanced down the Librarian's arm. With a jerk, she looked down to find a quill sticking out of it. "Wha-" was all she said before collapsing.
Louise made sure to catch the Librarian, lest her collapse be heard. "Ugh. Help me out Mon." Montmorency lifted the librarian's legs and they quickly shuffled over to another table. It was awkward, but they managed to place the older woman on a bench. Once again, Montmorency withdrew a vial from her pocket and removed the stopper. While Louise held the librarian steady, Montmorency held the vial beneath their unconscious friend's nose. Not a second later, Louise felt the librarian's muscles tense up.
Carefully releasing the librarian; Louise took a step back slowly, still expecting the lad to topple. Montmorency had no such worries. She immediately began forcing the paralyzed librarian into a better pose. One book off the nearest shelf later, and it looked like the grumpy old librarian was calmly reading, if a bit still. "Really Mon, I'm impressed."
Montmorency smiled triumphantly. "You are not the only one with strengths Louise. I don't just make perfumes." Louise picked up the vial from where Montmorency had set it and gave the concoction a curious look. "Careful with that," Montmorency warned, "We'll need to reapply it every half hour."
Shaking the vial, Louise watched the concoction swirl within. "Why not just inject a little like the sleeping draft?"
With a snort, Montmorency replied, "You can do that if you want to kill her. That stuff is deadly, but it's safe as long as you only smell it. It was actually invented to be a remedy for a skin disease, believe it or not." Louise nodded, still impressed with her friend.
Yet, there was no time to doddle, they had managed to gain access to the paladin's library without incident, but there was studying to be done, and only this night to do it.
The actual studying part of their plan was far less exciting than the infiltration. Only once had someone entered the library, but the man retreated seeing only the librarian and two girls reading. Besides that minor fright, the night dragged on slowly. They would flip through the massive index, find books with references to liches, and then pull them off the shelves. Annoying as it was, they had to return the books as well. Even though Louise wished to have a pile of books she might need to reference, such a mess might draw an inquiry from a visitor. So instead they each limited themselves to only a few books at a time to fervently skim through. Basic textbooks, historical references to past raids, even a couple diary's; they skimmed through anything that might have to do with liches. "Ugh," Montmorency complained resting her head on her latest open book. "Same thing again. How many stories telling of Brimir's adventures against the ancient liches do we need? I get that Brimir was a hero like, twelve times over, but do every single one of his exploits need a library dedicated to him?"
Hiding a giggle, Louise ignored her friend's sacrilegious comment and kept reading her latest find. It was the research diary of a long dead paladin. The man had apparently been studying phylacteries. Louise's attention snapped to full alert as she came across a passage, "Phylacteries are notoriously hard to destroy. Yet if I could undo the process of soul removal rather than seek to destroy the container, might that not bypass enchantments? Surely a soul rejoined with a long dead body would lead to death." Louise read the words aloud, causing Montmorency to lean over and see for herself. "Lich magic was created as a perverse copy of void magic, maybe a perverse copy of their own magic could lead to their undoing?" That was something Louise had not known about lich and void magic, yet it made a little sense. Void magic was sometimes called the magic of the soul. The problem was, the old paladin had never completed his work. "Montmorency go find that history tome on Brimir and the ancient liches. The one translated from the old tongue."
Montmorency raised an eyebrow, but followed her friends order and quickly retrieved the volume. "I don't see why you need this, you've read as much on Brimir and the ancient liches as I have."
Louise took the tome and quickly flipped to the page she remembered. "Yes I know, but this had a reference to the creation of lich magic, maybe we can complete this man's work?" Finally finding what she was looking for, Louise read aloud slowly, "Then did Brimir cast down the liches of old. Their magic a jealous imitation of all that he was, and said, 'You who would seek eternal life find only death. Did your bodies not rot away as soon as you left them? Did your hearts not cease to beat? It is in my power to return you to what you once were, if you will only ask.' Yet, in spite of Brimir's unending compassion, the liches raged against him even in defeat. Summoning all their power, they set loose a great demon upon Brimir. While Brimir fought the demon, the remaining liches scattered to the four winds. After defeating their demon, Brimir condemned the liches, never again offering salvation to those that had turned away." A big smile formed across Louise's face. "This is it."
Confusion leaking into her voice, Montmorency asked, "What do you mean this is it? There was nothing we could use to complete the paladin's work in there."
Raising a finger, Louise poked her friend's forehead, "I know, but I doubt we can complete in one night what the paladin failed to complete in years." Louise pointed at the old passage before her. "But here is a direct quote from Brimir referencing decay of the body being central to being a lich. If we brought this before the pope, we could argue that we are something different from liches, and seek his aid. Brimir even is mentioned offering salvation to liches, shouldn't the pope offer the same to us 'not-liches'?"
Clasping her hands together, Montmorency got what her friend was saying. "So we would be able to research a cure for ourselves under the protection of the pope himself!"
Louise nodded along. "Exactly, it would be a far cry easier than sneaking into the paladin library in the dead of night. I'm sure once the mess is worked out, the paladin's would welcome free research in to what could be a valuable weapon against actual liches." Closing the tome, Louise retrieved an empty sack from her cloak and stuffed the large book inside. "We'll go to the pope now, we can't remain here much longer anyways, and informing the pope of our findings before an inquisition is launched will make things go much easier anyways. Besides we planned for this, only we'll be in a bit better position than throwing ourselves before the Pope's mercy."
Montmorency nodded, smiling at the prospect of putting this whole mess behind them. "Let's get going then." It took only a minute to replace the books they had retrieved and lay the librarians head down. No need for her to get a bump when the paralyzing draft wore off. Soon enough, the girls were transformed and looking out the upper library's window.
"Familiar, can you hear me? I need you to distract the guard on the other side of the building." Louise nearly worried they were out of range when nothing happened at first. But sure enough a bush began rustling and the guard left to investigate. That Kyuubey really needed to learn to either move faster, or to reply properly.
One jump later left Louise and Montmorency away and clear from the paladin headquarters. Safely within a side street, the two girls waited. Soon enough a small white shape appeared around the corner. "How did it go?" The Kyuubey asked. "On to plan B?"
"Not exactly," Louise replied, "We are going to the pope, but we have a slightly better plan than to beg sanctuary." The three made their way down the alleyways toward where the pope's estate was sure to be.
The next infiltration could only be harder. While the paladins were mainly tasked with fighting undead, they didn't have to worry about intruders. The pope on the other hand was sure to have tighter security. Luckily, it seemed magic sensors didn't detect them, so they would be able to exploit their powers. The Pope's mansion itself turned out to be far more beautiful than the paladin's building. A fine iron gate surrounded the estate, enclosing intricate gardens and masterwork statues. The pope's balcony could be seen in the center, overlooking the grounds and the city at large.
"You know what to do familiar." Louise commanded once again. The small Kyuubey dashed off and jumped between the iron bars. Its invisibility was quite impressive really, not a guard noticed the creature run right through the garden and up to the main door. One head-butt later left the Kyuubey shaking its head to relieve the pain. Sure enough, the head-butt proved useful as the door swung wide, a curious guard looking out. Louise saw her familiar disappear into the mansion and settled down to wait. Minutes slowly passed the two girls as they waited in the alley.
Yet, sure enough, a white form appeared before them. "The man you seek is in some sort of office on the third floor. It's the second window from the right."
Louise clicked her tongue, she had hopped the Pope would not be on the front side of the building. That meant they would have to go in on the side and go through a hallway, the front was just too exposed. Still, they had managed with the simple plan at the paladin headquarters, it should work fine here as well.
Soon enough, the girls waited near the fence on the east side of the estate as the Kyuubey went about shaking a bush. Even though there were multiple guards on the grounds, they all fell prey to the distraction. As soon as the bush shook, all eyes were drawn downward, no one noticing the two girls soaring over them and entering the third story window. Louise left the window open and waited. While it was risky to allow her familiar to climb up to them, she would need it when she presented her case to the pope. Trying to convince the man that she had an invisible familiar that removed her soul would sound a tiny bit crazy if she couldn't present it. When her familiar jumped through the window, Louise closed it as quickly and silently as possible. "You weren't heard?" She knew her familiar was silent, but climbing up the stonework of the mansion was bound to be a little noisy.
"Of course not. Now come on, it's this way." Louise silently thanked Brimir her familiar's cooperation. More and more she was beginning to realize that the Kyuubey was always trying to be helpful, it just didn't understand humans. It was more her fault for assuming it understood simply because it could talk.
Louise and Montmorency followed the Kyuubey down the hallway. It was luckily sparse of anyone, as it was well past midnight. After a short and silent hustle, they came before an open door. "Tell me Tomas, with Gallia's void mage uncooperative and our information on Tristain's completely wrong, you think now is a good time to start a lich hunt?" The mention of Cardinal Tomas' name stopped Louise dead in her tracks. The two girls nearly toppled trying to stop silently. Fear racing through them, the two girls pressed themselves to the wall.
Montmorency began inching away, only for Louise to grab her sleeve. "We need to hear this." She sent across the mental channel set up by Kyuubey. A pained look splayed across Montmorency's face, but she conceded, allowing Louise to drag her toward the door, inch my inch.
The cardinal's deep voice sounded from the room. "Your eminence, with respect, we have narrowed our search for Albion's Void mage to the Saxe-Gotha region. It would take little resources to launch an inquisition, and it is our duty as followers of Brimir to do so." Void mages? Louise nearly squeaked in surprise. They were talking about the long lost element of void as if it had returned.
A sigh sounded from within, Louise could only assume it was the Pope. "Tomas, I have always admired your piety, but launching an inquisition based on a hunch? We both know your blood sense isn't perfect. Beyond that, we have an actual crisis to deal with. The Void mages must be gathered. Otherwise, need I remind you, Helgenkia will be in dire straits. The elves-"
"Who's that!"
Louise's adrenalin spiked. Whipping around, she locked eyes with a guard at the end of the hallway. How had she been so stupid? To wait out in the open. Heavy footfalls sounded form the office. On instinct, Louise grabbed her familiar and jumped backward with Montmorency. The reflex put some space between them and the Cardinal, but it trapped them between the beast of an ex-paladin and the new guard. "You!" The cardinal accused.
Thinking fast, Louise brought forward her sack. With no free hand, Louise was forced to stuff her familiar inside the sack to retrieve the book. "Listen, I have proof we are not liches!" Louise held the large tome before her. The cardinal only held his staff before him, yet made no move to leave the hallway. Louise glanced behind her, seeing the guard holding a sword before him, yet not moving.
"Tomas, what is going on?" Louise turned back toward the cardinal to see a smaller, elegant man exit the office. Those elegant white robes, that tall, jeweled hat. The fine apparel paled in comparison to the warm man before her. This was the pope, surely he would understand. "These are the liches you spoke of?"
It was when the Cardinal didn't reply that Louise realized the man was mumbling an incantation. "Detect undead!" Those two words struck Louise to her core. Immediately her soul gem began to shine from where it hung, clasping her mantle beneath the cloak she wore.
They had proof though! It wasn't supposed to work this way! Louise met the eyes of the pope, seeing realization flood into them, replacing the previous confusion. He opened his mouth and spoke three words. Three words that shattered her world.
"Tomas, kill them."
The tome slipped from Louise's fingers; she no longer had the strength to grip them. As if it were a signal, the Cardinal rocketed forward as soon as the book hit the floor. He was far faster than a man of his age should be capable of, yet Louise saw him move like molasses as time slowed to a crawl. He raised his staff, water forming around it to create an axe head. Even with the axe arcing toward her, Louise could only stand there, frozen in her stupor. CLANG! The sound of metal on metal filled the hallway. Before Louise, Montmorency stood holding the rod of her hammer against the water axe of the cardinal. Yet, even with Montmorency's prodigious magically enhanced strength, she was faltering. Slowly, the Cardinal was pressing forward, causing Montmorency to give more and more ground.
NO! Louise flew into action, calling her staff into life. Dark energy forming at its tip, Louise swung the spear before her. Not taken of guard, the Cardinal leaned backward, dodging the energy blade by inches. With the cardinal's weight off his axe, Montmorency pushed forward causing the man to step back. Again Louise lashed out, only to have her stab parried to the side. Yet before the cardinal could counter, Montmorency launched a strike at his side. The man could only jump backward to avoid it, giving the girls precious space.
"Intruders!" The guard behind sounded the alarm and almost immediately Louise heard the call repeated throughout the mansion.
They needed to leave. Right now. "Mon, the wall!" Not needing to be told twice, Montmorency swung with all her might. The massive hammer impacted the mansion's outer wall, sending mortar and brick flying. "Come on!" Louise called, leaping out the window and straddling her staff. It was time to fly or fall. Montmorency was right behind her, barely out pacing another swing from the cardinal. The girl landed on the back section of Louise's staff and looped her free arm around Louise's waist.
With knowledge born from her own soul, Louise willed her staff forward, willed herself forward. Wafts of pink and black drifted from her orb as they rocketed upward and away. "Louise! Dodge!" Louise only trusted her friend and banked to the left. A gout of fire raced through where they had just been. Looking behind her, Louise spotted a pair of griffon knights below her in pursuit. They must be the aerial guard on duty, Louise realized. There was no time to wish she had planned out a proper escape however. Louise banked left and right, dodging gouts of flame, yet not shaking her pursuers. Louise continued to climb, unable to level out lest she be hit by the flames. "Louise, catch me." Montmorency whispered. All of a sudden, Louise felt much lighter and the pit in her stomach felt much heavier.
Montmorency fell and readying her hammer as the Griffons raced to meet her. Behind her, she heard Louise call out, yet there was no changing her course of action now. The lead Griffon knight leveled his wand toward Montmorency, yet the spell never left the man's lips. With a mighty swing, her massive hammer impacted his griffon's wing, sending him spiraling away and quickly switching to a spell of levitation. The second knight saw Montmorency impact the griffon and bounce from it toward him. Not to be struck down, he lashed out with fire to burn the girl before him. Montmorency's hammer expanded and steam met fire. The clash only lasted a second, and though Montmorency managed to deflect the fire, the rider used the cover to dodge her swing.
So Montmorency fell with a rider in hot pursuit. Gout after gout of flame raced toward her and each time steam met fire. Yet she remained unable to revert to normal and levitate herself as long as this man perused her. Grimacing Montmorency could only hope for rescue.
Her prayers were answered when a blur of pink and white raced by him. One second he was diving, the next his griffon's right wing was spiraling away and his beast was panicking. Louise paid no mind to free falling rider, instead she raced toward Montmorency. Hand grasped hand and Montmorency pulled herself back on. With a wrench, Louise tried to level out, curving closer and closer to the streets below. Dust flew into the air when Louise leveled out just above the stone streets, skimming along them for a brief moment before once again gaining altitude.
With one final burst of speed, Louise cleared the city limits and made for the mountains, leaving the holy city behind them.
The two girls collapsed in a cave that night, barely keeping their piece of mind long enough to build a fire. "He just- He just said 'kill them'! He didn't even listen!" Louise cried. This was the Pope! He was supposed to be infinitely wise! Why didn't he see that they weren't evil! They were not liches!
Montmorency sat across the fire, cradling her knees to her chest. Silent tears drifted down her face. "What do we do now Louise?" Montmorency whispered. Louise had no answer, no plan for this. An inquisition would be launched by the morning, their description spread across the land, labeled as heretics. If they so much as showed their faces in the holy city, they would be captured and burned at the stake. There was no way they could manage to get into the paladin library again, let alone long enough to research a cure. Gripping her knees tight to her chest, Montmorency filled in for Louise's silence. "We have no chance do we?" No response. "We would need a divine miracle from Brimir huh?"
Though it was meant as sarcasm, Louise perked up at the mention of Brimir. "Montmorency! You are a genius! We might not be out of luck yet!" Montmorency rubbed her tears, giving her friend a concerned look. Had Louise snapped? "Brimir offered to heal the ancient liches! Void magic is the magic of the soul! We just need to find a void mage to heal us!"
Montmorency still wasn't buying it, "Louise, the void has been lost for eons."
"No, don't you remember? The Pope was talking about a reemergence of Void mages, we just have to find one and convince them to help us!" Louise was practically ecstatic, not even bothering to wipe away her tears. "They even talked about one being near Saxe-Gotha! So we make our way to Albion..."
"And find the void mage." Montmorency finished, picking up on Louise's thoughts. "We... we can still do this."
Louise grasped her friend's hands. "We can still do this."
************************************************************
In the following days, word was spread across Helgenkia. Louise Valliere and Montmorency Montmorency were found guilty of heresy and order captured. This news spread like fire. Two prestigious nobles condemned to the stake? It wasn't long before every village tavern spoke of it. Even back at Tristain's academy of magic, the news was discussed in hushed whispers.
Kirche Zerbst clicked her tongue in distaste as she passed a pair of gossiping first years, catching only Louise's name, but it was enough. It was preposterous. Kirche could see Louise failing so hard she ended up a lich by pure accident, but that did not make her a heretic. The girl has to pious for her own good.
It was vexing to be sure, not knowing what was going on with Louise. Before, Kirche might have blown it off as something the Valliere had gotten herself into; not her problem. However, Louise had impressed her in that duel with Guiche. Now Kirche had a bit of respect for the explosive mage, something that made the whole situation all the more annoying.
Guiche himself had started to shape up after the duel, letting girls down easy and making small steps. However, news of Montmorency's heretic status had done the unthinkable. The lady killer Guiche was permanently in a sour mood; started snapping any girl who approached him.
With her company limited to a sour Guiche, a horde of students with only the latest news to speak of, and the silent Tabitha, Kirche found herself spending more time than was usual with her best friend. Sure, Tabitha wasn't much conversation, but if you listened and persevered the girl had good insight.
That afternoon Kirche found herself in front of Tabitha's door. Without a knock, she turned the knob and entered. Tabitha sat reading a letter, her window open and a bird disappearing into the distance. Only because of her extensive experience with Tabitha was Kirche able to read the distaste on Tabitha's barely changed expression. Kirche knew that look, it was that damned King of Gallia again. Sending Tabitha on another fool's errand in hopes that she'd end up dead. "What is it this time. They planning on sending you against the spirits themselves?" The redhead joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Lich hunt."
The words were spoken softly, but Kirche heard them all the same. So it had come to this... Kirche knew she could offer no condolences, no sympathy, nor any kind of advice to her friend. She could only choose to stand by the silent girl. "I'll come with."