A/N: Hey Everybody! I'd like you all to give a big hello and thank you to my new beta reader A Dark Alias! It is only with the help of my new beta reader that I am putting out vastly improved work. Anyways, please enjoy!

Chapter 9: Motivation

"O Founder Brimir. He who watches over us. He who guides us. He who protects us. Guide your humble servant. Grant me the wisdom to know your will, the strength to follow it, and the power to achieve it." Deep, somber words filled the empty cathedral. Cardinal Tomas de Torquemada knelt before the altar of the Founder and prayed.

One calloused hand gripped the gold medallion of his station. Though he would never admit it, silently he missed the painted wooden replica amulet of his rookie paladin days. The heavy gold medallion pulled at the chain a bit too much for his tastes. That, and the gems set in it seemed too gaudy. Holy relic or no, five gems could be sold to a noble for enough money to build an orphanage or to better equip some recruits. Yet, this was a holy relic from the time of Brimir himself, suggesting to pawn it was laughable at best. Finishing his prayer, Tomas bent his head to the amulet and kissed the black gem of void, paying homage to Brimir the Founder.

Standing up, he idly let his thumb rub the sapphire that symbolized his own element. It was a silly superstition from his training days, but a little bit of good luck never hurt anyone. "Cardinal Torquemada." A young paladin announced himself and knelt.

Turning to the man, Tomas looked upon his subordinate. "Rise, Paladin Reeve." Tomas spoke, recalling the man's name. The rookie paladin was the fifth son of a minor noble house. While not exceptionally bright, he was dedicated and studious. In some ways, Reeve reminded Tomas of his younger self. "Report."

Rising to his feet, Paladin Reeve held out a rolled parchment. "Sir, we have a solid lead. Two girls matching the description held off a surprise attack on Tristain by the rebels of Albion four days ago."

Tomas' eyes widened a fraction. This could be the break he had prayed for. Ever since they sent out dragon riders to distribute posters across the lands, things had barely progressed. Gallia and Albion were too dangerous for all but the most veteran paladins; the former being on increasingly tense terms with Romalia, and the latter being torn apart by war. Moreover, they had received reports of sightings from more villages across Helgenkia than not. Tristain itself refused to give any aid to the search. Their Princess remained firm in her resolution to prepare for Albion's possible attack. If nothing else, her fears proved to have warrant. The only country that readily helped was Germania, and the chance of the two liches fleeing to their ancestral enemy was almost as likely as the Pope himself sheltering them!

Any speck of pink hair was reported. One would think such a distinguishing feature would help find his quarry, but evidently pink hair was just common enough to be spread across Helgenkia, yet rare enough to stand out against other features. Beyond misreports, every commoner upset at their lord seemed to get the idea to accuse them of sheltering heretic liches.

However, if this report was accurate, their constant search might not be in vain. Unraveling the missive, Tomas quickly scanned the document. According to the report, a small fleet of Albion ships had sought to create a foothold in Tarbes, but had been repulsed by two "Angels of Brimir" as the locals were calling them. Though accounts varied slightly, the general descriptions held true. That, along with the reports that they flew upon a silver staff, something not released to the public, pointed to a credible lead. "Do we have any forces near Tarbes?" The Cardinal spoke, returning the missive to Paladin Reeve.

"Some. The squad that sent the initial report has moved to investigate." Reeve took the parchment and rerolled it.

Tomas looked back to the altar of the Founder and offered silent thanks. "Good, I'll head out immediately. Inform the Pope of my departure."

Reeve once again bowed, "Sir..." Though he was dismissed, Reeve lingered with some hesitation. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Raising an eyebrow, Tomas studied his subordinate. "Of course." Though Tomas made a point to allow his men to be candid one on one, it wasn't something Reeve had ever exercised before.

Shifting his weight, Reeve searched for the right words. "Well, I was just wondering. How could the girls who stopped this invasion really be the heretic liches we seek? Throwing yourself against an army to save a small village doesn't sound like the actions of an evil lich." Confusion and a slight bit of fear shined through Reeve's eyes.

Cardinal Tomas smiled and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder, easing any fears of reprimand for the slightly sacrilegious question. "Very few in this world believe themselves to be evil, Reeve. Even fewer still are actually purely evil. A cold blooded murderer may sacrifice his life for his son. A thief may starve to feed his family. And a lich may stand alone against an army to protect her homeland." Strengthening his grip, the Cardinal tried to reassure his subordinate. "However, an act of good does not make up for an act of evil. The murderer must be executed, the thief jailed, and the lich burned. Only Brimir can cleanse their sins in the next life. Understand?"

While Reeve had no great epiphany, he did seem to understand. "I think I get it sir. I will think on your words."

"That is all I ask, Reeve. Now, is there anything else?" Reeve shook his head and excused himself. Despite his misgivings, he had a job to do. Not sparing a moment, Tomas left for the stables. His wind dragon could make the flight in two days, maybe one if he flew through the night. The two liches had nearly a week head start on him, but Tomas was beginning to understand their plan. The only reason to be in the vicinity of Tarbes was the Port La Rochelle.

Run as they might, he would find them. It was only a matter of time.

Blood. There was so much blood. Unrecognized faces and unintelligible voices filled Louise's every thought. Something wrong had happened. Something that she had to fix. Had to correct.

"Montmorency!" Louise screamed, bolting upright and sending her blankets flying. She immediately regretted the reflex as pain lanced up her side. Panting, Louise gently held her bandaged wound. Slowly, the pain subsided and Louise let her hand drop. Looking to her right, Louise spied the unmoving form of the sleeping Montmorency. Despite Louise's cry, she showed no signs of waking. Even her familiar Robin showed no signs of startling. The frog sat as motionless as ever atop its master. Louise wondered if her own familiar would be so depressed if she were in such a state. Not likely.

Louise chided herself. It had been four days since they had repelled Albion's invasion, and she woke the same way each morning. She was going to have to sleep elsewhere unless she wanted to disturb Montmorency. Then again, would that be such a bad thing? The girl had not woken even once in the past four days despite not having a wound on her. She'll probably die soon anyways, the thought came unbidden to Louise's mind. Her entire body seized with grief at the thought, pain lancing through her core and causing her wounds to ache once again. Focusing, she shut it out. Despair, sorrow, grief; she had no time for these emotions. Two deep breaths later, and Louise's mind was as calm as still water and her aches slowly faded.

With careful precision, Louise extracted herself from the makeshift bed, stopping only to grab her Soul Gem. Barely a flicker of pink was left in the darkened orb. Even in four days of not using her magic, it had not regenerated at all. Montmorency's was marginally better, showing at least a small but distinguishable glow of gold in the darkness. Worry seeped into Louise's heart, as if mirroring the pulsing blackness that threatened to consume the last bit of pink. Once again, Louise silenced her growing panic. Just like in battle, just like her mother had taught her; shut out the useless emotions, focus on the task.

Once dressed, Louise moved to the curtain that separated the newly constructed infirmary from the rest of the large building. Although she could not recall much of the time between Montmorency being wounded and waking up with a worried Colbert leaning over her, she was thankful she had ended up back in the hidden valley. There were far worse places to wake, certainly.

The Dragon's Raiment itself sat unattended. According to Colbert, he was trying to replicate its blood, and thus was busy with his alchemical supplies outside. Though Louise guessed he was refraining from making noise while Montmorency rested. Without the man's constant tinkering with the artifact, the building was surprisingly silent. Outside the open door, Louise could make out Siesta sitting by the fire talking to someone just outside Louise's vision. From the brewing pot over the fire, Louise guessed stew was for dinner.

Slow steps took Louise to the building door. Caution was needed. If another villager had come, she couldn't let herself be seen. According to Siesta, someone had seen Louise descend into the forest after the battle. Luckily, Colbert and Siesta had found her first. The man was smart enough to hide them from the people they had saved. Traveling with Montmorency in such a state was impossible; keeping an entire village quiet about their saviors equally so. Instead, they had let the village believe they were still somewhere in the forest. The village had searched both the forest and the hidden valley for them for two days, but had since assumed they moved on. Hopefully, it would throw the church off their trail long enough for Montmorency to recover.

Though Siesta's conversation partner was most likely Colbert, it never hurt to be careful. Reaching the door, Louise listened in for Colbert's voice, but heard nothing. Yet despite that, Siesta replied as if spoken to. "Oh, is that so? I wonder what I would wish for."

Louise's mind kicked into overdrive as she lurched around the corner. Opposite Siesta, the little white Kyuubey sat perched upon a log staring intently at the maid. "Siesta!" Louise hissed out in warning. "Do not agree to anything he offers you." Striding forward, Louise made for her familiar. "And you!" The Kyuubey turned to her and unflinchingly gazed into Louise's eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" Rage flared to life within Louise. Again, pain lanced throughout her body. This thing knew it shredded Louise's life with its contract, and now it was seeking a new target?

Though she knew it would be painful, Louise never got the chance to enact her undecided punishment upon her familiar. Siesta jumped in front of Louise and blocked her path. "Miss Louise, calm down." Worry, fear, and confusion were splashed across the maid's face.

Once again Louise focused herself and pushed her emotions down. As soon as she was calm, she explained the situation, "Siesta, the reason I am on the run from the church-"

"Is because of a wish you made with Mister Kyuubey here, right?" Siesta finished for her. Louise could only take a step back in shock. "Mister Kyuubey was just answering my questions. I'm sorry; it is my fault for going behind your back."

Eyes darting between Siesta and the Kyuubey, Louise looked for any sign of trickery. "I don't blame you for your curiosity. If anyone deserves to know the story, it would be you and Professor Colbert." Locking eyes with her familiar, Louise cautioned it. "You and I will have a chat later." She ordered.

Still defending the Kyuubey, Siesta spoke up. "Please forgive him. He was the one who brought Mr. Colbert and I to you." That certainly piqued Louise's interest. She knew Siesta and Colbert found her unconscious with Montmorency, but that the Kyuubey had a hand in it was new.

Yet, before Louise could inquire further, she was interrupted by a flustered Colbert exiting the tree line. "Louise, Siesta, in the warehouse now." His tone left no room for argument. Never before had Louise heard her bumbling professor sound so dangerous. Both girls were up and through the door in seconds. Colbert approached and gripped the massive sliding door. "I can sense people approaching. Do not make a sound." Then, leaving them no time to respond, Colbert threw his weight into the door. With a low clang, the door closed, leaving only a sliver of an opening. Louise could not help but peek through. Men from the church, most likely. This was it. This was the end of the road. Her heart ached once again. Maybe it would be better to just turn herself in now and spare Colbert the pain. No. Louise stopped herself, thinking of the resting Montmorency. With a force of effort, Louise pushed down her sorrowful thoughts and focused on the scene before her.

Checking the latch once, Louise could see the stern, worried face of her Professor transform into a startlingly believable fake smile. He sat down before the fire and began tending to the stew. Less than a minute passed before four men exited the tree line. Louise recognized the armor they wore all too well. Paladins of the church. Looking up as if startled, Colbert rose and spoke. "Gentlemen, can I help you?" His voice was measured and restrained with a hint of cheerfulness.

One stepped forward. His greying hair and metal amulet marked him as their leader. With a flourish, he unraveled a parchment. Upon it was writing and a seal Louise could not make out, though she did not need to. "By order of the Pope. An inquisition has been called to search for and detain Montmorency Margarita la Fere de Montmorency and Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. Both are convicted of partaking in unholy magic and transforming themselves into liches." The man's voice was confident and stern. Louise gripped her wand instinctively.

"Oh my, I had no idea." Colbert spoke with feigned surprise. If Louise didn't know any better, she would assume he really was aghast. His apparent confusion threw the paladin off. Surely everyone had heard of the two liches. Everyone was talking about it. Answering the unasked question, Colbert continued. "Well, I have been up here in this valley studying the Dragon's Raiment for quite some time. Plus, I rarely listen to gossip anyway."

The paladin finally found his words. "Be that as it may, there were reports of the two being in the area. We will be searching the premises." With that the Paladin took a step forward only to stop again.

"No." The response was so casual that it caused the greying paladin to double take.

A brief silence fell over the campfire, broken only when Colbert leaned down to lift the lid on the pot and give a sniff. Thinking for a moment, he then nodded and replaced the lid. "What do you mean no? We have an order from the Pope!" The paladin nearly lost his cool. How dare this man dismiss an order from the Pope so casually!

Colbert simply crooked his staff in his elbow while he withdrew a cloth from his pocket and retrieved his glasses from his face. With careful precision, the man began to clean the lenses. "I mean no. Do not take me for a fool, dog of the church." Gone was the casual tone of voice. Instead, a different man than Louise's professor stood there. "Three years ago, I found a magic-less artifact, Angel's Horn. I leave it in the care of the local clergy to retrieve the proper supplies to study it, and when I return, it has up and vanished." Bringing his glasses to his mouth, Colbert let out a breath, clouding them momentarily. "Two years ago, I find another magic-less artifact, Siren's Shell. A detachment from Romalia comes and asks to help study it. 'Why not?' I said. Surely more like-minded individuals would only help. Then I wake up one morning and they've taken it after finding out it was 'cursed.' Despite the fact that I had already determined no magic affected it." Finally content with his glasses, Colbert replaced them on his face and pocketed his cloth. With one hand, he reclaimed his staff. "Do you see what I am getting at here?" Though Louise could not see her professor's face with his back to her, it must have been something fierce because the paladin took a half step back.

Trying to calm the man before him, the paladin spoke. "I assure you, I have no idea what you mean. We are only here to follow an inquisition order."

"Indeed you are." Colbert cut the man off. "Amazing how that order has led a squad of Romalian muscle to an isolated valley that just happens to contain the Dragon's Raiment." Colbert gestured back to the building where Louise hid. "I will not let my research just disappear into whatever hole you Romalians keep dumping all this knowledge."

Once again, the paladin tried to calm Colbert as the professor grew seemingly more and more hostile. "Sir, I promise you. We are just here to search for the liches."

The comment did not have the intended effect, however. Colbert's voice turned so venomous that Louise was not sure he was faking anymore. "Oh yes, the "liches". Strange how anyone that the church doesn't like ends up a heretic of some kind... What, was Louise's sister uncontrollable? Or did Karin refuse to let you torch a village on her land? Was D'Angleterre not enough?"

Though Louise did not recognize the name, one of the paladins did. In a moment of realization, his face paled. Leaning forward, the man whispered to his leader. After a brief pause, the head paladin turned in surprise to his subordinate. Whatever was said must have been important, because the man was sufficiently cowed. "We'll leave for now. But expect the lord of this land to hear of this."

Colbert only watched impassively as the paladins turned and left. He stood there, motionless for a minute. Then, without a word, he turned back and motioned for Louise to stay put. Satisfied that Louise got his message, the professor made his way into the woods.

The minutes that followed were some of the longest Louise had ever lived through. She was only vaguely aware that Siesta was also looking through the crack in the door anxiously. Yet, no sounds of battle were heard. Nothing seemed out of place. Soon enough, Professor Colbert exited the tree line. "They're gone, you can come out now."

Siesta let out a breath of relief, something Louise was surprised she didn't need to do. Was all this fighting and running becoming commonplace to her? Ignoring the oddity, Louise exited the building along with Siesta. Despite the paladins' retreat, Colbert had a rather foul look upon his face. Curious as she was, Louise knew better than to ask. "I'll be working on the dragon blood, call me when dinner is ready."

With that curt order, Colbert left for his makeshift distillery. Siesta and Louise could only watch and wonder as the man left. Something was bothering him, but neither of them could guess what. When Siesta sat down to tend to the stew, Louise took the chance to leave. The mood wasn't one for pleasant conversation. Spying her familiar watching from within the building, Louise gave him a sharp look. Now was as good a time as any to have that conversation.

After retreating to the makeshift infirmary, Louise checked the curtain one more time to make sure Siesta hadn't followed. This was as private a place as she could get. Plus, she could continue to keep an eye on Montmorency. Once more, worry crept into Louise's heart and once more she silenced it. "I have some questions for you, familiar, and you are going to answer them." With a critical eye, she studied her familiar.

The white Kyuubey sat idly upon Louise's bed. "You wish to know why your soul gem is darkening." Its cute voice spoke for her.

With her brow furrowing, Louise pondered her familiar's forthrightness. This was not something she expected; the Kyuubey usually only gave exactly what was asked. "Yes..." She replied cautiously.

Beady red eyes watched pink. Studied them. After a small pause, the Kyuubey continued. "As a magical girl uses her power, their soul gem will become more and more corrupted with despair. At a certain point, the corruption overtakes the soul gem and the magical girl transforms into a witch."

It was said with the exact same tone that Kyuubey always spoke with. No big reveal, no hint of remorse. Just information. Panic raced through Louise's mind. "Those things you told me about. The invisible monsters that kill humans. You're saying I'm becoming one of them? You're lying!" Louise's breathing quickened and her chest ached. Being hunted wasn't enough, now she was turning into a monster?

"I do not understand the concept of deception." It replied, still speaking in that same level tone.

No... No no no no! This could not be happening. Louise's hand found her soul gem. The darkness within pulsed and a pain lanced through her core. The pain! It was almost unbearable. Then, with a surge of willpower, Louise pushed her despair, her fear, and all her anger into the recesses of her mind. She had to stay in control. She had too many questions, and all of them required a critical mind. "Can the corruption be removed?"

The Kyuubey did not respond at first. It sat stock still for nearly ten seconds, Louise could not tell whether it was studying her, or thinking. She was about to speak up when it replied. "Witches leave grief seeds when killed, which can be used to cleanse a soul gem. That is the only way. However, there are no witches that are within your ability to reach." Louise almost laughed at the tragedy of it all. What she was afraid to become held the key to her salvation.

That left becoming human again before she transformed. "How far away are Montmorency and I from becoming these witches?"

Again the Kyuubey lagged in its response, though it was noticeably shorter. "Montmorency is close, but not in immediate danger." Again the familiar paused, and Louise could see its eyes lower to her soul gem. "You are beyond the limit. For some reason, you have repeatedly repressed the transformation."

The beginnings of fear were crushed down before Louise could begin to panic. Instead she focused on the facts. The unbidden sorrow and despair, the lances of pain. Each time she pushed them down, was she delaying the transformation? Still, it raised more questions than it answered. "Why do this? Why doom us like this?" Louise ignored the fact that her own tone was as unwavering as her familiar. Rather than give in to any emotions, she needed to learn what she could. For Montmorency.

"That is complex question. From what I have learned, your civilization does not yet understand the concept of entropy." Louise raised an eyebrow, Entropy? "Simply put, burning a log of wood gives less energy than it takes to grow a tree. Energy is lost every moment all across the universe. Eventually, there will be none left, and the universe will die." Louise could barely keep up, but the Kyuubey did not wait for her. "My race discovered a way of converting emotions into vast amounts of free energy. The only problem is that my race lacks emotions." It should have surprised her, but it didn't. Her familiar never showed any fear, compassion, anger or fear; only caution and confusion. It lacking emotions... fit.

Louise was starting to connect the dots. "That is what a magical girl is then: a log that you burn to fuel the universe." Though she hated it; Louise understood the reasoning. She did not agree with the method, but the logic was not lost on her. However, it did point to one terrible conclusion. Why burn just two logs? "How many others have you made magical girls? Is that what you were doing with Siesta? Trying to gain another magical girl to burn?"

There was no pause this time. "Only you and Montmorency have become magical girls in this world. Even if it was possible to contract with Siesta, I did not contract with you two to gain free energy, but to combat energy loss." Louise was not sure if she should take the Kyuubey at its word, but it had yet to lie outright to her, so she accepted it for the time being and counted her blessings that there would not be a sudden outbreak of witches across Tristain. "The reason I contracted with you Louise, was because of your old magic."

That piqued Louise's interest, what did her magic have to do with anything. "When you summoned me, I originally planned to simply observe this world. Your people's inborn magic provides free energy, but on a much smaller scale. If copied, it could be a more sustainable way to combat entropy, rather than magical girl incubation." Louise began to understand. A mage who created a fireball created more energy than what it took for him to cast the spell. "Then I observed your magic and had to adjust." The idea that despite being a thing of her past, her magic had somehow continued to be a thorn in her side was not a thought Louise enjoyed. "You performed direct mass to energy conversion, yet managed only a fraction of the actual contained energy. Simply put, your magic created enough entropy to make up for your entire race's free energy production."

With another surge of willpower, Louise ignored her magic dooming her once again, and focused on trying to understand. "So you gave me another form of magic to use so you could what? Study me? And what about Montmorency?"

"A control group." The Kyuubey replied. "I am surprised, however. Even as corrupted as you have become, you are the most logical human being that I have spoken with."

Louise ignored the compliment. It felt dirty coming from the Kyuubey. "So why tell me this now? You say you don't understand deception, but you have definitely withheld information that you know we would want to know."

It was the Kyuubey's turn to once again study her. "It is the most probable way for me to remain close to you without you killing me. You were considering it, yes?" Louise didn't deny that fact. Even through this conversation, she had been weighing the pros and cons of killing her familiar. "Even if you kill me now, the data I have gained from the conversation thus far would be worth it."

If Louise still had any doubts that her familiar lacked emotions, its casual dismissal of its own life's worth erased them. "Assuming I don't kill you. You plan to come along and be of use? If we find a way to become human again, would you try and stop us?"

The small animal shook its head. "Of course not. Something like that would provide valuable data. I will continue to assist you to the best of my abilities, as I always have."

While it pained her to admit it, Louise knew she still needed her familiar. Beyond his usefulness as a familiar, there was a fair chance his knowledge on their soul gems would be needed. "Very well familiar, I promise not to harm you as long as you don't hinder me, and don't attempt to create any more magical girls."

Louise wondered if an emotionless being felt relief. After a moment, the Kyuubey replied, "This is acceptable."

Turning to her bed, Louise felt the urge to take a nap. "One more thing familiar, Montmorency is not to hear a word of this. She is not as good with her emotions as I am, and she is liable to do something stupid if she learns about grief seeds." Not bothering to wait for his reply, Louise flopped onto the bed. She was just too tired from all of this.

The nap turned out to be shorter than Louise hoped. Though, the reason for its brevity was definitely worth it. The hearty smell of stew was the first thing she noticed when she awoke. The next was a voice she had been longing to hear. "Siesta, your stew is just as good as I remember it. Is there a reason you only let me eat it when I am starving?" Light and joking, yet retaining all its elegance; only one person spoke like that. Snapping upright, Louise looked across the room to Montmorency. No longer was the girl sleeping amongst the dead. Propped up on several pillows, the girl was ravenously digging into a bowl of stew along with a much slower eating Siesta sitting in a chair at the end of the bed. Noting Louise's awakening, Montmorency raised her free hand and waved. "Good morning!" She said with a bright smile.

Nearly halfway through getting out of bed, Louise stumbled at the casual greeting. "You spend four days in bed and the first thing you say is 'Good Morning?' That's it?"

"Well, I guess good evening would be more appropriate." Montmorency's teasing smile never left her face.

Untangling herself from her blanket, Louise strode slowly over to where Montmorency sat. Without a word, Louise immediately embraced her friend, nearly sending the now empty bowl of stew flying. "Blockhead, I thought you were going to die." Returning the embrace, Montmorency clutched her friend tightly.

Montmorency was up and about the next day. Though she had been down for over half a week, it seemed a hearty breakfast and dinner was all she needed to get back into shape. She spent the entire morning rebuffing the worries of the other three residents of the hidden valley. "Are you sure you're feeling fine?" Once again Louise questioned Montmorency.

Not stopping her work with the mortar and pestle that she borrowed from the professor, Montmorency shrugged off Louise's worry. "I'm feeling fine. I mean, my wounds are all healed up, unlike a certain someone." Louise's hand moved unbidden to her side. Though the wound was mostly healed, it still had a bit to go. "On that note, how did I end up getting healed? I remember being stabbed, then waking up."

Louise's hand briefly traced the black gem on her ring. "It's still a bit hazy, but when I flew you away from the fleet, you were hurt really bad." Montmorency stopped and watched her friend fidget. "I remember trying to put pressure on your wound, but you were bleeding pretty badly. Then, I just sort of knew. I healed you." Montmorency's brow furrowed. Louise wasn't even a water mage, let alone a trained healer. "Not with my normal magic." Again Montmorency was surprised; healing was not exactly related to tossing around exploding orbs of darkness. "My familiar says it has something to do with my wish; because I wished to heal my sister, I am able to heal others with magic. Remember what it said about expanding our abilities?"

Montmorency did remember. So this is what the Kyuubey had meant. "So then, am I going to develop a power to know where you are all the time? If so, hide and seek will be ruined forever."

One hand rushed to Louise's mouth to repress a snort. "Blockhead, we are too old for hide and seek."

"Ah, I saw the smile! You keep walking around with that blank expression of yours, I was beginning to think you had lost it." Louise rolled her eyes at Montmorency's triumphant smile.

"Girls." The stern voice of Professor Colbert called out to them. The man approached from around the side of the building. "We need to talk." The man gestured to the seats around the dying fire. Montmorency hurried to scoop the last of her mashed herb into a vial before sitting down next to Louise. Once he had their attention, Colbert handed them a piece of parchment. "I understand your hurry, but running off to Albion in the middle of the night? Am I that scary?"

His attempt at a joke fell flat however. Both girls were preoccupied with guilt. Louise spoke first, "Listen, Professor, we couldn't get you caught up in this."

Colbert stopped Louise with a single hand. "I understand your reasoning, not that I agree with it." With a level gaze, Colbert asked plainly, "I can help you quite a bit, girls. I may not look it, but I used to be quite the soldier."

Though his desire to help them was touching, Louise was also beginning to see to the heart of the man. "And you would leave Siesta here? Or would you take her with us? Am I wrong in assuming that your presence is what deters Mott from trying anything?"

He may have expected a strong refusal of his services, but Colbert had not anticipated that route of attack."Mott isn't about to try anything in another lord's territory. I can pay the rest of Siesta's contract."

Louise dug deeper, not buying his excuses. "And what of yourself, professor? You spend half a lifetime searching for something like the Dragon's Raiment and you are willing to drop everything for a couple of students in trouble?" Colbert could only gape at Louise's directness.

Montmorency chimed in, supporting Louise. "We are really grateful for your help, professor, but we decided that we would see this through without dragging others down with us." The two girls held hands, supporting one another and standing firm in their resolution.

Slowly, Colbert began to realize he wasn't going to convince them. Smiling weakly, he spoke, "I suppose you girls really don't need my help." Looking into the girls' eyes, Colbert found no room for argument. Sighing, he withdrew a satchel from his robe. "I figured it might end up this way, so at least allow me to give you this." He lightly tossed the small satchel to Louise. The jingling of coins greeted Louise's ears. "That should be enough to get by for a while." From the weight of the bag, Louise knew the purse contained a great deal more than the price of two airship tickets. Just as she was about to protest, the man held up a hand to stop her. "This is the least I can do, girls."

Rather than try to dissuade the man, Louise bowed humbly. "Thank you, professor." Montmorency was quick to follow with her own thanks.

Waving off their gratitude in embarrassment, Colbert changed the subject, "You are most welcome. Now, onto more pressing matters: you two need to leave tonight." Though Louise had no intention of overstaying her welcome, she did not expect the professor to volunteer the option. Noticing her surprise, Colbert continued, "I may have dissuaded those men from the church for now, but they'll be back with more soon. Remaining here would be a very bad idea. Now, travel between Albion and Tristain is locked down after the invasion. But there is a way to get there." Louise perked up at the idea. "Whenever trade is stopped between two countries, men of a particular trade are sure to show themselves." Colbert leaned in and smiled knowingly, "Smugglers."

Louise nearly gaped. The thought of associating with criminals wasn't something she was accustomed to. Smugglers made their living trafficking illicit goods and wanted criminals. Then again, Louise realized she was a wanted criminal. Exactly the kind of person who would hire a smuggler. Glancing to Montmorency, she found agreement. This was their best plan. "Go to La Rochelle and find a bar with no military anywhere near it. That's where you'll find what you are looking for." Colbert looked off toward La Rochelle. Though the port was not visible beyond the cliff wall, Louise followed his eyes. Tonight, then. Tonight they would once again head for Albion.
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