Chapter 12: Complications
On the fourth night of the Advent Festival, the Maiden of Mercy fell in battle. She stood alone against an army of 70,000 men, dragons, and beasts. 70,000 determined to kill her. 70,000 she was determined to spare. With the Reconquista slowed by their wounded, Tristain's army had retreated with minimal losses.
Despite their victory over Tristain, the Reconquista army's morale had plummeted in the wake of their battle against the Maiden. Many had been recruited believing they were on the side of justice and righteousness. Yet when they faced the maiden, she had spared all who sought her life. That alone would have shaken them, but when the two shining figures had retrieved her body, rumors had begun to spread. Some said angels had taken her to Brimir himself. Others claimed the figures had been wind spirits coming to usher her to the old gods. As many stories as there were faiths sprung up to explain the happenings of that fateful night.
So when the Gallian fleet arrived and opened fire on the Reconquista leadership, annihilating their command structure in one fell swoop, it came as no surprise to Gallia's king when the army fell apart. In fact, he had been counting on it. "Your intelligence was most helpful." King Joseph Gaul, the ruler of Gallia, spoke to his silver haired spy.
Kneeling in deference, Viscount Wardes returned the flattery. "You do me too much honor my grace. I seek only to serve you."
Neither man believed the other's flattery, yet they played the game of words never the less. "In that case, I have another job for you." Joseph spoke, spinning yet another plan.
Cattleya was not sure where she would end up when she died. She liked to believe she was a good person. Despite her illness, she had devoted what strength she had to nursing animals back to health nearly her entire childhood. Never once had she spoken wrongly to her elders and she showed kindness to all she could. However, that changed when Louise gifted her with health.
Joining the army had certainly been a rash decision; one her parents did not approve of. Yet, she had denied her elders' wishes and enlisted anyway. She was so sure that the Angels of Tarbes were Louise and her friend Montmorency. At the time it had made sense. If Louise planned on helping Tristain's army, then Cattleya's best chance of finding her was joining said army. It wasn't until she was on an airship bound for Albion that she began to think of alternate explanations. What if Louise had been seeking passage on an airship and got caught up in the fight? What if she had been hiding in Tarbes and now had to flee? There was no guarantee that she was heading to Albion. There was no guarantee of ever finding Louise.
Then Cattleya used the power of the Void to win the battle during the landing of Albion and her course had been set. Tristain's generals were quick to take advantage of her power. An elite guard would see her to battles to deliver the tide changing spells. She would arrive, embellished armor shining, and her light would crush all before her; wounding all but killing none. Soon she had become a symbol, "The Maiden of Mercy," the soldiers called her. As that symbol, leaving to search for Louise would have crushed the morale of Tristain's army. So she stayed. So she fought.
Only once did the enemy try in earnest to end her life, yet even as her guard fell around her, Cattleya discovered she was more than the men that protected her. Whether it was the Void within her or a result of Louise's wish, Cattleya did not know. What she did know was that it was painfully easy to swat aside the assassins that found her on the battlefield like so many flies. There was no time to cast, no time to make sure her opponents lived, no time to provide the mercy she was known for. When it was over, Cattleya was standing alone amongst the bodies of her guard and her would-be assassins thinking that she was no longer sure she would go to heaven when she died.
So when Cattleya began to come to her senses she expected to find either the bliss of heaven or the fires of hell. Not to be really, really itchy. Was there a middle ground maybe? The realm of endless rash? A particularly strong itch tickled her nose, drawing her hand unbidden to scratch it. However, as soon as Cattleya moved her hand a lance of pain shot through her body. "Whoa there," A familiar girl's voice sounded and something softly grabbed Cattleya's wrist, restraining her. Cattleya cracked her eyes open and immediately squinted against the light. As her tired eyes slowly adjusted, the form of a fair haired girl slowly filled her vision. She recognized the girl holding her hand; it was Louise's friend, Montmorency. "Try not to move too quickly." Montmorency spoke softly, worry in her voice as she watched Cattleya.
As her eyes slowly acclimatized to the light, Cattleya shifted her body to make sure everything was in its proper place. She was sore, but what really bothered her was the rapidly growing itching all over her body. Montmorency needed to let go of her wrist so she could scratch.
Wait! Montmorency?
Cattleya's mind snapped into focus. If Montmorency was here, then-
Cattleya's darting eyes found what she had been looking for. Clinging to her other arm lay the sleeping form of her dear sister Louise. It took everything to silence her voice even as her mouth opened. Still gaping, Cattleya watched her sister's chest rise and fall beside her. All Cattleya's aches and itches fell mute in her mind before the sight of the sister she had been seeking. "She hasn't left your side, the blockhead." Montmorency chided, releasing Cattleya's hand. "No itching." The free hand found its way to Louise's face and brushed a strand of pink hair behind the girl's ear. Only then did Cattleya notice the bandages covering her arms. With the rampant itching all over her body, Cattleya could not guess how much else was covered.
Placing her hand upon Louise's so as to keep her from fading in the absence of Cattleya's sight; Cattleya turned her head over to Montmorency, ignoring the soreness that came with the action. "HoW bAd?" Her voice scratched with dryness.
"Ah, I forgot that the Hydration spell does not prevent dry throat. Just a moment." Montmorency offered a ladle of water and helped Cattleya drink. The liquid trickled down her dry throat, bringing sweet relief with it. "You were burned up pretty bad when we found you, and I am no master healer, but you should recover just fine." A slight breath of relief escaped Cattleya at the sound of the good news.
A tightness upon Cattleya's arm drew her attention back to Louise. The sleeping girl's brow furrowed for a moment, troubled by a dream. Then, slowly and drearily, Louise's eyes opened. In the darkness of an unknown room, pink eyes met pink and the world held still for each.
"Cattleya!"
"Louise!"
The two wayward sisters embraced each other without hesitation; each clinging to the other, desperately proving to themselves that their precious sister was safe. However, the joyous moment was broken almost immediately by Montmorency as she rushed to support Cattleya. "Don't exert yourself!" Montmorency chided, supporting Cattleya's head and back as she slowly laid her patient back down before shooting Louise an annoyed look.
Caught between being annoyed at Montmorency for breaking her apart from Cattleya and worried about possibly having harmed her injured sister, Louise settled for looking over the elder Valliere, searching for any sign of harm.
While Louise worried over Cattleya, Cattleya's returned the favor. Her bandaged hand gripped Louise's and her eyes looked over her younger sister's body for any wounds or scars. Louise had been in at least one major battle and the idea of her younger sister in danger only quickened her fleeting heart. "You are safe." Cattleya's voice left of its own volition, relief filling it.
The soft, blue glow of water magic lit the room as Montmorency performed a basic diagnostic spell. Illuminated by the magic, Louise's face softened. She had nearly forgotten the warmth of Cattleya's love. Awakening covered in bandages after falling before an army alone and she was worrying about others. "I am safe." Louise confirmed to her elder sister. "You are safe." Louise confirmed to herself.
"Safe, but recovering." Montmorency spoke up, once again not having patience while caring for her patient. "You both need sleep." The impromptu water healer commanded. "All your questions can wait until the morning." While both Vallieres silently protested the fact that they needed rest; they each also silently determined that their sister needed rest. Despite accepting the command to rest, Louise made no move to leave Cattleya's bed. Beyond the fact that the only other place for her to sleep was with Montmorency, Louise would not leave her sister's side. Montmorency, for her part, knew better than to push the issue.
Cattleya had no complaints. Back when she had been ill; the best sleep she had gotten was when Louise snuck into her bed for comfort. Back then, the idea of being needed rather than needing others had been what comforted her. Now… Now she needed Louise. She needed to know she had succeeded. She had found her sister.
The two Vallieres drifted off to sleep far faster than either expected. Each was more exhausted than they realized, and within minutes they were fast asleep. Only Montmorency remained awake, determined to watch over her patient for a little while longer.
Montmorency was much more lenient with her patient the following day. When Cattleya had woken at near noon, she had been greeted with a warm bowl of soup and the company of her dear sister. With the help of several pillows and one tightly folded blanket, Cattleya was propped up and allowed to feed herself. It was, quite simply, the best meal Cattleya had ever consumed. The fact that she hadn't eaten in the few days she had been unconscious might have affected her judgment a little, she silently conceded between greedy slurps of the soup.
The conversation over the meal turned out to be very sparse as Montmorency seemed intent on making Cattleya concentrate on her food. Louise, for her part, was rather happy to see her best friend so worried about her elder sister. It was a warm, good feeling.
Upon finishing her soup, Cattleya's thoughts turned to the bandages on her body, something she'd been avoiding all day. Her arms, legs, and face were totally covered. Sensing her patient's worry, Montmorency spoke up. "The bandages make it look worse than it actually is. When we found you, you were covered nearly head to toe in mild burns. Alone, they wouldn't have put you out for as long as you were. That was the result of overcasting." Burns explained the itching, Cattleya realized, thinking back to the night before. "Lucky for you, I had plenty of burn salves already made. You can thank Louise for that; I've been brewing them ever since she started playing with fire every day. Though try to be careful for a while, I only have enough left for today's treatment." The blonde girl sighed as she pondered how to acquire more potion ingredients in the winter snow.
Louise, however, was slightly miffed at her friend's statement. "I don't play with fire, I practice." Montmorency rolling her eyes only caused Louise to puff out her cheeks in silent indignation.
Studying her bandaged arm, Cattleya pondered aloud. "That's strange, though, I don't remember getting hit with fire." Tilting her head, Cattleya thought to herself as the eyes of Montmorency and Louise turned to her. "I only got close to getting hit once, and I blocked that dragon fire with my shield."
The two other occupants slowly put their elder's words together. Louise was the first to speak up. "Wait, you blocked a dragon's breath attack with that tower shield?" Cattleya, still trying to remember the battle's events, nodded mutely. Unbidden, Louise's hand rose to pinch the bridge of her nose. Sometimes, she forgot that Cattleya was horribly, horribly sheltered from the real world. "Cattleya, I know in all those picture books the knights block dragonfire with shields… but fire doesn't actually have to touch you to burn you." Cattleya, for her part, was horribly surprised by the information.
Deciding to ignore the insult to common sense, Montmorency went about unwrapping Cattleya's bandages. "We shouldn't need to wrap these again; you are just finishing up peeling." The opportunity to see under her bandages was quick to draw Cattleya's attention. Her worries were eased when healthy, new skin was revealed as the cloth wraps fell away. Sure, there was plenty of dead skin covering it, but it looked otherwise healthy. Instinctively, she reached to scratch the growing itch only to have her hand swatted away by Montmorency. "No scratching; it's surprising enough that you don't have any scarring."
Now that scratching was taboo, Cattleya's itches only increased. Luckily, Montmorency retrieved the last of her burn salve and set about applying the cool magical cream to Cattleya's skin. Enjoying the soothing feeling of the healing cream, Cattleya let her eyes wander around the room. Then, it occurred to her, "Where exactly are we?"
With Montmorency busy applying the last of her cream, Louise was left to answer. "After we rescued you from the battle, we took you to an orphanage in the Saxe-Gotha Woods, Westwood Village. A friend of ours runs it." For a second, Louise pondered her next words. It was probably best to leave out the fact the Matilda was the same Fouquet who had kidnapped her, at least for now. As for the other Westwood sibling… "Her name is Tiffania Westwood. She is a very kind person, you can definitely trust her." Carefully, Louise built up her sister's preconceptions toward Tiffania. Cattleya learned a lot about the world from the stories she had read growing up… So there was no telling how badly she thought of elves. "And she is a half-elf."
Louise's words fell heavy on the room. Montmorency stopped her work for a moment, waiting for Cattleya's response. Fear, stress, worry, even outright anger Louise was prepared for. However, she was not prepared for her sister to perk up in sheer excitement. "I knew it." Cattleya declared. "All the stories had evil elves, dangerous dragons, and malevolent manticores. But dragons are just misunderstood and Mr. Fluffles is a big softy." So taken aback by the burst of energy from her sister, Louise took a second to remember Cattleya's pet name for her mother's manticore. "I knew elves were nice too! Can I meet her!" A spark of the innocent, if slightly spoiled child that was Cattleya surfaced in the light of meeting an elf.
Still taken aback by Cattleya's eagerness, Louise hesitated to respond. "Um… I could go get her." Cattleya's insistent nod ushered a confused Louise from the room. Less than a minute later Louise returned with a shy half-elf in tow.
Equal amounts of trepidation and shyness floated within Tiffania. The idea of meeting new people scared her, yet the possibility of being accepted by others was her dearest hope. When Tiffania spied Louise's sister, she wasn't sure what to think. The woman looked excited to be sure, but half covered in bandages and cream left her looking somewhat like a mummy. Still, this was a first meeting and first impressions were important, mother had taught her as much. Quickly bowing, Tiffania stumbled over her words. "W-welcome to Westwood Village. You are welcome to stay here as long as you want. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"You are nice!" Cattleya responded with a broad smile, causing Tiffania to raise her head, perplexed at the straight away compliment. Even Louise and Montmorency had been afraid at first. Two un-bandaged hands rose and grasped Tiffania's own. "I'm Cattleya Valliere. Let's be the best of friends!" Tiffania, thoroughly touched, responded with a nod; not trusting her choked up voice to function. Not one for formality, Cattleya was quick to embrace her new friend. After a moment, Cattleya broke away and looked her new friend in the eyes. "My dear friend Tiffania, there is something I would ask of you." The faux mummy spoke with cheer and unabashed eagerness borne from a life lacking sufficient social contact. Leaning in to whisper into an overly large ear, she made her request.
Caught up in the moment, Montmorency and Louise leaned in, trying and failing to hear the muffled words. Tiffania leaned back and tilted her head slightly confused by Cattleya's whispered words. "Um…" She let out a noise of trepidation, but was unable to form words in the face of Cattleya's hopeful eyes. "Okay?" With that acceptance, Tiffania lowered herself to the floor and knelt so she was level with Cattleya. Again, Montmorency and Louise leaned in, watching the confusing scene.
Cattleya, intent on her prize, ignored her baffled sister and raised her hands, reaching with twitching fingers toward her new friend. Then, she gently grasped what she had long wished to grasp. A soft squeak sounded from Tiffania upon the intimate touch. Yet Cattleya did not stop. She was in bliss. They were perfectly firm, and far larger than an average human's. Plenty of room to knead her fingers all around. With a light pinch, she grasped the tips, "Ah~" A blissful sigh escaped Cattleya's lips.
"Ahh~" Tiffania let out her own blissful sigh under the gentle, massaging strokes of her newfound friend. When Cattleya had asked, the idea had seemed odd. But now… Now she had no idea what worried her. She only felt soft, soothing bliss.
A new figure entered the room, but stopped after only a step. "What's going on-" Saito spoke, but froze upon seeing the scene before him. "Is she-?" He spoke allowed to the stunned Louise.
To her credit, Louise tried to reply, but was too mesmerized by the strange scene before her. Both Tiffania and Cattleya sat in silence save for intermittent blissful sighs as Cattleya stoked Tiffania's large elven ears.
All Saito could think was that he kind of wanted to stroke Tiffania's ears now; and how he felt oddly embarrassed to think about it.
After the ear rubbing session, proper introductions were made between Saito and Cattleya. Matilda herself was out hunting, apparently, so that would have to wait until she returned. The rest of the day progressed smoothly for Montmorency, happily for Tiffania, and boringly for the bedbound Cattleya. Despite feeling fit, Montmorency demanded the elder Valliere to take it easy. The only entertainment she had was the occasional shy child peeking in around the door. Apparently the orphans were making a game of trying to spy on her.
While the four uninjured elders did take breaks and talk with Cattleya, they all were drawn away to various tasks. Louise herself kept finding chores that brought her to check on her sister, only to feel guilty and explain she had to help out as she had freeloaded while Cattleya had recovered, not wanting to leave her ailing sister's side.
After once again excusing herself from Cattleya's room, Louise made her way toward the dining room. The last of the chores had been finished, and now Saito had been pinned by the cabin bound children to tell another story while Tiffania watched the children outside. With Matilda still hunting and Montmorency busy brewing some potion in the kitchen-turned–impromptu-laboratory, only Louise was left to keep Cattleya company.
Yet she avoided her sister. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see Cattleya. It was just… Cattleya would want to talk about what Louise had been doing and Louise still didn't even know how to begin. How do you tell your elder sister that your soul has been separated from your body and you could end up turning into a monster? And because she was avoiding conversation with Cattleya, she couldn't ask about the Founder's Prayer Book. It had been blank when they had retrieved it from her. Derflinger had said it only revealed spells to void users, but didn't know its inner workings. As soon as she brought it up to Cattleya, the woman was sure to ask why Louise needed void spells.
The idea of it sent a spiral of stress throughout Louise's body. Though the negative emotions couldn't threaten her clean soul gem, Louise looked at it anyway. The pink gem upon her ring shone brightly, barely even a hint of dimness. Carefully, she focused and pushed her emotions down, once again calming her quaking heart. Such thoughts were unnecessary.
A white blur leapt from beyond Louise's view and lanced into her arm. With a mighty chomp, her Kyuubey bit into her arm. It was weak, and only just broke the skin, but it still stung sharply. Louise instinctively jerked her arm, but the beast had already released and landed upon the dining table. Though its expression was as plain as always, Louise could see hostility and annoyance in its readied posture. No, wait; it was she who was annoyed and hostile. Regardless of everything, her familiar had attacked her. Yet before she could speak, her Kyuubey's voice filed her head. "Now, correlate that pain response with whatever you were just doing."
As much as she wanted to give the Kyuubey a solid punch, Louise doubted she could catch it without raising quite a ruckus. Beyond that, her hostility was evaporating fast in lieu of curiosity. Rubbing her new wound, Louise checked for bleeding, but found none. It still stung though. "I will probably regret this," Louise thought back at the Kyuubey, "But why did you just bite me?"
Apparently assured that Louise was not about attack, the Kyuubey relaxed its posture and sat. "Humans automatically correlate pain with actions even without causation. Since you seem to be unable to stop broadcasting that interference, I am taking a more direct approach to rectifying your problem. No need to praise me. It's not like I am improving you for your own sake. It is just necessary for me." For a moment, Louise stood there baffled, trying to put together the Kyuubey's odd way of talking. Yet before she could ask it to clarify, it turned and darted off, leaving an even more baffled Louise in its wake.
"And then, the black knight turned to Luke and said, 'No, I am your father.'" A multitude of gasps flitted through the gathered children as Saito revealed the world altering twist in his latest tale. Mutely, Louise wondered if this would have surprised her had she been paying more attention to the story. Instead, she had been stewing on her thoughts of her familiar and her sister. The sister in question had been allowed out of the room to listen to the story, but was forced to take the one cushioned chair for herself. Luckily, the children of Westwood Village were eager enough to meet their new guest that they formed a relatively effective buffer between the two sisters.
Louise didn't get to wonder long, as the front door opened revealing an evening sky accompanied by the returned Matilda. The gathered children were split between welcoming their matron and ushering Saito to continue. However, Saito had fallen silent upon seeing Matilda, a look passing between them. "Mati-Mom! Did you catch anything?" One of the younger children called out over the bustling of the excited kids.
"Not this time." She spoke to the young girl with a soft, restrained voice, "But I found some good tracks and I need Saito's super sight to help me look."
It was the eldest boy's turn to call out over the rabble. "Ha! Come on, even with Saito, you aren't going to catch anything in the winter. I told you hunting in the snow is pointless."
Rather than chastise the boy, Matilda just jerked her head, ushering Saito to come. Realizing that she would be without a conversation buffer, Louise found herself volunteering. "Can I come and help?" As soon as she spoke, Louise felt silly. She didn't know the first thing about hunting.
Yet, rather than immediately answer, the two hunters looked to each other for a moment before Saito shrugged, deferring to Matilda. The ex-thief herself appraised Louise for a moment before deciding. "Sure, you can come along. Suit up."
Bidding a weak apology to a slightly worried Cattleya, Louise supplied the usual excuse of needing to catch up with helping Westwood Village. Cattleya didn't press her sister, not wanting to pry. With a drawn out goodbye from the children and a doting farewell from Tiffania, the three figures left the house. The sun was falling fast as the two Westwood residents strode off with guest in tow. "Are you sure you can track in the dark?" Louise asked as they entered the forest. Wait… Now this was starting to get odd. Why would Matilda need Saito? Heck, why would she be hunting in the snow? They had more than enough supplies for the winter, she had helped store them.
Matilda stopped and turned to face Louise. The lights of Westwood village could still be seen through the trees. "We aren't hunting animals." Not hunting animals? Oh. Louise realized upon meeting Saito's hardened gaze. "A band of Reconquista deserters have set up camp too far into the forest. We are going to chase them out. There is a good chance this will turn bloody." Matilda spoke plainly, not hiding anything behind implied meanings. After a moment, Matilda relented in a softer voice, "You are free to go back and say we changed our minds or you got bored. But we couldn't explain inside, and another mage couldn't hurt if things go bad."
For a moment, Louise considered leaving. In all her fights so far, it had been a matter of reaction, a matter of defending herself or others from immediate harm. Now she would have no justifications. Saito and Matilda planned on an attack with lethal intent to protect Westwood Village from possible harm. Not assured danger. Possible.
Saito had done this before, Louise realized. Woods like these, bandits and deserters must have often got the idea to set up camp within them. And when he had killed the Cardinal, he had not shown any great revelation. That had not been his first kill. Seeing the boy in that new light, Louise was not reviled. She understood. These two protected the innocent lives of Westwood Village while treading a dark path. "I'll help." If anything, she owed them this much.
The three hunters made their way through the darkening forest. It was an old friend to Matilda. Even in the fading light she never lost her way. They walked for over an hour, long past the time when all but the faintest light left. When Matilda slowed her place to a crawl and ushered her companions to be silent, Louise withdrew her wand and strained her senses. The first sound of her quarry she heard was laughter. A great guffaw that carried well across the snow. "They're just ahead. Saito and I will put on a show. If everything goes smoothly, you won't have to do anything. But be ready to support us if things go south." Louise nodded, steeling herself for what was to come.
With careful precision, the three crept forward. The soft crunch of snow beneath their boots was drowned out by the roaring conversation of the camp they approached. When they stopped, Louise kept low beside Saito as he unslung his musket, setting the weapon against a tree. Wordlessly, Matilda gestured to the large man standing before the fire waving his arms to further accentuate his wild tale. He was no doubt the leader of the camp. Twenty or so men sat around the large fire laughing and cheering along with their leader's tale. From the few tents pitched further back, Louise guessed these twenty were the entire band. At least that was what she hoped. Each of these men was armed and large; definitely soldiers.
Without a word, Saito stood and strode out of the tree line, leaving his musket behind and his sword hidden beneath his cloak. Louise's breath hitched, realizing just what Matilda meant by putting on a show.
As Saito's boots crunched through the snow, he focused everything he had on quelling his fears. The camp fell silent almost immediately, the assembled men spotting the intruder. Saito stopped at the edge of the light, waiting for the men to speak first. Sure enough, it was the leader who spoke up. "Come to give us yer valuables boy? I can't say yer too bright." The deserters laughed at their leader's joke, momentarily blocking out the crackling of the fire. A couple of men rose and drew their weapons and moved to advance on the boy.
With one steadied breath, Saito began the show. "Boy?" He asked, confusion evident in his voice. Then, with a more thoughtful tone, he continued, "While I am young for a forest, I take some offence being called young by a human." The two men that had drawn their weapons stopped, confused by Saito's words. Taking advantage of the moment of attention, Saito pressed his story, "You children bring tools of death into my woods. You make your trade killing without merit. You taint this place with your very presence." With each word, Saito's voice darkened with controlled anger. "I'll give you this one chance. Lay down your arms, leave this place, and never return."
The assembled deserters' expressions ranged from growing fear, to confusion, to complete dismissal in the eyes of their leader. Stepping forward, the large man began, "Listen boy-"
Only to be silenced as one of his men grabbed his arm. "Capn'. Look at his face… It ain't right." On the edge of the firelight, the dancing flickers of flame enhanced Saito's angular, foreign features. Several men felt a pit grow in their stomach, realizing there was something ethereal about the figure before them. "You heard the stories; it's the spirit of the forest."
The Captain wasn't convinced. Deciding to end this little charade before his superstitious rabble turned coward, he dropped his voice and ordered his men. "Boyd, Gendry, gut the little bastard." The steel in their captain's voice snapped the two out of their hesitation and once again the pair from before advanced on the figure.
Saito held firm, silently feeling Derflinger on his back. However, this was not the time to draw steel. Raising his hand, he gestured to the two men dismissively. Roots of earth leapt from the ground at his apparent command as Matilda silently casted from the shadows. In an instant the two men were grappled by what appeared to be the forest itself. Each cried out in surprise, drowning out the gasps of their comrades. Before any of their friends could come to their aid, the roots pulled them down, dragging them bellow the earth and snow leaving only a patch of upturned earth behind.
Without their screams, only the crackling of the fire broke the silence of the night. "Demon." A man whispered. "The spirit of the woods." Another spoke in a hushed fear. "It's an old god." Yet another uttered.
Yet amongst the growing fear, one man knew only annoyed anger. The Captain reached into his cloak and withdrew a wand, something Saito and his unseen allies caught sight of with hitched breath. "You idiots! He's just got a mage hiding out in the woods! Stop being such superstitious farm-boys and think for once!" Casting a suspicious look into the woods, the Captain looked back to Saito and raised his wand. "Let's see how long your ally can keep you safe, kid."
As the Captain chanted his spell, Louise found her wand in her hand, only for her wrist to be grabbed by Matilda. The elder woman met Louise's gaze and shook her head. Biting her lower lip, Louise turned back to the camp in time to see a gout of magically conjured wind dart toward the ever still Saito.
Just as the spell seemed to about to split the young man in two, it fragmented around him, swirling impotently and disappearing into his cloak. Louise's eyes widened as she realized the source. She had known Derflinger could absorb magic, but to such an extent that it negated offensive spells? It was actually rather unnerving to think about artifacts with such power.
For once, the entire camp was stunned, including their Captain. It was up to Saito to break the silence. "You should not have done that, child of man." Gesturing once again, Saito seemingly summoned roots of earth to grasp the camp's leader.
The man cried out in surprised as his limbs were grasped and his wand torn away. His surprise turned to pain as the roots tightened and dragged him down. The man to his right tried to grasp his leader, but the roots were simply too strong. The man to the leader's left had another idea. Withdrawing a pistol, he leveled it at Saito in one motion. Still casting her entangling spell, Matilda's eyes widened with Saito's as they realized she would not be able to help him. "Let him go you dem-"
Fire erupted from the musket as Louise's magic forced a horrendous misfire. Metal and wood tore apart flesh as the pistol exploded in the man's hand. His scream of pain accompanied his Captain's for a moment, then he screamed alone as the Captain disappeared beneath the earth, then his scream was drowned out as the camp routed. Men cried out in fear as they ran; leaving their weapons behind with the apparition that had casually killed their leader. Soon, only one man remained, still cradling the hand Louise had ruined. Then, he too looked back to the waiting Saito. Fear forced his legs to move and he too disappeared into the night. Stumbling as forced himself to move, not looking back at the terror behind.
As the cries of the men faded into the forest, Saito waited. He waited as Matilda once more worked her magic. From the long and unfamiliar incantation, Louise guessed it was triangle level. Under her breath, Matilda spoke the spell's name, "Tremor Sense." Apparently satisfied with the spell, the ex-thief rose and called out to Saito. "All clear!"
For a moment, Louise expected the ever still Saito to remain standing there, immutable and inspiring fear in hardened men. She did not expect him to fall backward and collapse into the snow. Gasping in surprise, she hurried forward to the false apparition. Yet before she could reach him, he called out in a thoroughly more shaky voice. "God… I thought I was going to die!"
"If only I were so lucky." Matilda called back as she entered the light of the abandoned camp. Rather than shaken, she seemed as composed as ever.
Sitting up, now covered in dusty snow, Saito shot Matilda an annoyed glare. For once realizing that he wasn't going to win against Matilda, he instead turned to Louise, "Thanks for the save earlier. I owe you one."
A little embarrassed with the praise, Louise brushed it off, "We're even then." Trying to ignore her embarrassment, Louise moved toward the fire and looked around the camp. Spotting the two spots of upturned earth, Louise found herself wondering what they would do with the three captives. Then, as Matilda knelt by the fire to warm herself, Louise realized they had no captives. Swallowing, she spoke up before thinking, "Was it really necessary to kill them?" She half asked, half accused.
Matilda made no move to respond; instead it was Saito who spoke up, finally rising to his unsteady feet. "Yes." Louise rounded on Saito in the face of such a straight answer. He too moved toward the fire. "Without their leader to rally behind or weapons to fight with, most of those men will make their way back to whatever farm they call home." Then Saito grimaced, "The other two… Matilda and I have been constructing the rumor of the forest spirit for a month now, if people start talking about how it released them, we'll lose too much ground." He spoke as much to convince himself as Louise. "This way we only have to kill a few. If they don't fear the spirit, then we'd have to fight all of them."
Louise almost protested, but she held her tongue. That part of her that still demanded everything be done in the noble, honorable way was reviled by the idea of all this trickery and death. Yet she had seen hardships since she left her home behind. She had learned about the world. This trickery was smarter than direct fighting. It resulted in less death but it still bothered her.
The three sat in silence as they warmed themselves by the fire. The respite lasted only a few minutes before Matilda called for a march back home. Before leaving, Saito inspected the weapons let behind by the fleeing men, finding a few good swords; he stuffed them into his pack. Noticing Louise's odd look, he shrugged and spoke up. "Good steel sells pretty well." Apparently satisfied with his work, he nodded to Matilda. With a flourish of her wand, the earth mage conjured earthen roots once again to pull the remnants of the camp beneath the earth. Soon enough, the camp was buried down to the last tent, not even a charred block of firewood remained. Before long, even the upturned earth would be hidden by snow. It was… somber, Louise decided.
The sound of two claps drew Louise's attention to a bowing Saito. Though he looked odd, it was obviously some sort of prayer. In turn, Louise offered a prayer of forgiveness to Brimir. Even if these men had been deserters and bandits, they still deserved a prayer.
The walk back was quiet. Not out of necessity like the hike out, but out of sobriety. By the time they arrived at Westwood Village, the children had been put to bed and from the absence of both Cattleya and Montmorency; Louise guessed that the blonde had forced the recovering Valliere to bed as well. Only Tiffania remained waiting for them, yet she had fallen asleep in the large cushioned chair in the sitting room.
With hushed words, Saito and Matilda bid Louise a good night and carried Tiffania off to her bed. Left in the sitting room, Louise lingered. She was in no hurry to meet her sister. Even now she still wasn't sure how to talk to Cattleya. Instead, Louise took up sitting in that coveted cushioned chair and stewed on her thoughts. When she had left with Saito and Matilda, she had thought to clear her mind with some mindless hunting. Instead she had just become more stressed with the unforeseen turn of events.
Two red eyes watched Louise, drawing her gaze to the Kyuubey's resting place upon the window sill. Yet another of her current problems. "Not now." She spoke to it. "I have so much on my mind, it'll be a miracle if I get any sleep. If you want to act odd, wait until tomorrow."
Without a word, the Kyuubey hopped down and trotted over to the chair, stopping only to hop upon the armrest. Whatever, Louise dismissed it. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away and she could go back to not thinking about recent events. A soft paw touched Louise's hand and the ring upon it. Then, before Louise could even question the contact, a wave of sleepiness took her so fast she was unconscious before her eyes finished closing.
Louise woke when the first rays of the morning sun hit her eyes. The silence of the house told her it was still early. Funny, she didn't remember going to sleep last night. Stretching, Louise realized she was still in the sitting room, still in the winter coat from the night before. Lucky she didn't remove it or she might have caught a cold. While she had previously removed her snow pants, the Kyuubey sleeping her lap had kept her lower body warm.
Wait.
Eyes snapping down, Louise spotted the white beast curled up on her lap. The jostle alerted the familiar and it was quick to leap off and spin on her. "You were sleeping on my lap." Louise stated.
The familiar's tailed whished back and forth. "Sharing body heat lowers the amount of necessary calorie burn to maintain optimum body temperature. Every little bit helps stave off entropy." The explanation filled Louise's head. "Lowering your chance of exposure damage was simply a side benefit you gained. It was not my primary directive." With that, the Kyuubey turned and began trotting off.
Nope. Louise was getting to the bottom of this. At least when the white devil was blatantly waiting for her to turn into a witch she knew where she stood. Now… Now she was getting worried. Standing, she kept her footsteps quiet as she followed the familiar toward the kitchen. Glancing over its shoulder, it spotted her, then disregarded her and sped up. In turn, she sped up and followed it. When it arrived in the kitchen, the Kyuubey leapt up onto the table and rounded on its pursuer. "Why are you following me?" Again its tailed started to swish back and forth.
Crossing her arms, Louise looked down at her familiar. It was always easier to just be blunt with the Kyuubey, so that was what she would do. "You have been acting strange, especially since the battle with the Cardinal. I was patient with you, but time's up. Explain." Louise kept her conversation in thoughts, not wanting to disturb the household and draw an interruption.
"I have explained. You are the one causing problems." If anything, the Kyuubey's tail sped up. "If not for your continual interference broadcasting, I would be functioning at optimal performance." Standing, the beast began to pace. "I shut down passive and active telepathy and you still broadcast. No matter the distance I put between us you still broadcast. You sleep, you broadcast. You wake, you broadcast. You exist, you broadcast!" It yelled. Louise was stunned. Never had the Kyuubey's voice wavered. Its volume never changed. Ever. "That alone would have been enough, but then your broadcasts spike at random intervals. Do you know what fifteen terabytes of data a second does to my processing ability? Never mind how long it takes to sort through all that garbage data."
Holding out a placating hand, Louise tried to calm the beast. "Listen, I don't understand half of what you're saying. Honestly, I didn't even know I was broadcasting anything, so please don't get mad."
Instantly the Kyuubey's pacing stopped and it rounded on Louise. "I don't get mad! I don't have emotions!" Wait. That was right. The Kyuubey was supposedly emotionless. It had always acted that way. Coldly logical and oblivious to any emotional reaction Louise and Montmorency had displayed. Now though… now it was acting mad. That was the only word for it. Louise's hand rose to her chin as she pondered, the pieces fitting together in her head. Broadcasting data to the Kyuubey that it didn't understand. Something that didn't have to do with its own telepathic abilities.
"I didn't fail at setting up the empathic link." Louise realized aloud, stilling the Kyuubey. "I figured I had messed up at always when I didn't feel any emotions, but you had no emotions, so of course I would have felt nothing." Slowly, Louise's voice began to pick up as she put the pieces of the puzzle together. "You always complain of spikes when I go am dealing with too much and I push my emotions down. I'm forcing you to experience my emotions!" It made perfect sense! Louise had always known she had experience keeping cool in poor situations; her family and school life had given her that much. However, her will was not superhuman. If the Kyuubey said she was past the human limit at repressing the witch transformation, Louise was not so prideful to think her willpower held some great secret power. She had been dumping the emotions on the Kyuubey. That was when it started showing odd signs as well, pausing oddly, taking longer to reply than usual.
The Kyuubey was not excited with the solution to its problem, however. "Are you telling me that I am experiencing emotions?" Its swishing tail froze and its voice returned to a steady volume. "Emotions are a mental disorder in my race. Less than one in a billion experience them. Are you telling me you made me defective?" The tail went back to swishing madly. "That makes me angry! Wait! I'm angry? That makes me angry! Gah!" The Kyuubey leapt into action, racing around the table in a vain attempt to escape its own emotions.
While Louise held no love for her familiar, her vindictive streak had yet to recover from the previous night's outing. "I'm sure you are not defective…" She offered, trying to calm her odd, odd familiar.
With that, the beast stopped, turning to her slowly in realization. "Of course. I am not defective. I was altered to experience emotions! This! This is a good thing!" Carefully, Louise took a step back, best to put a little distance between her and her familiar. "The whole point of turning humans into magical girls is to convert their emotions into free energy. If we could reproduce that in flash produced incubators, even at a fraction of the efficiency, think of the possibilities!" Louise barely kept up with the increasingly fast rant. "Quick! Louise! Spike your emotions again! I need more data if I am to produce a repeatable program."
Holding up a single finger, Louise stopped her familiar. "First off, I can't just have a panic attack and shunt my emotions over to you. Emotions don't work on command. Second off-"
"Your body weight to height ratio is above the socially acceptable threshold! Your chances of finding a mate have dropped in proportion to your above average storage of calories!" Wait, what? "Social stigma and blocked personal goals depress you! Despair! Now focus on sending that over to me!" The Kyuubey watched the stunned Louise expectantly.
"Wait, did you just call me fat?" Louise was greeted with an expectant nod. "This is so weird. I think I preferred it when you were trying to burn my soul for entropy." The Kyuubey remained expectant. Deciding to make use of its attention, Louise continued where she had left off. "Secondly, what is an incubator?"
Its excitement wearing off, the Kyuubey spoke up, "Kyuubey is the shortened name of Incubator." The information was dispensed as a matter of fact, and the revelation that came with the name was already known to Louise. She already knew the Kyuubey's goal was to see her hatch into a witch.
Wait, Incubator units. "Familiar, you are a Kyuubey, an Incubator, right?"
"Yes. I don't see what this has to do with you sending me more complex emotion data." The Kyuubey tilted its head, confused and annoyed at the change of topic.
Louise, on the other hand, was realizing something rather odd. "I never named you. I knew you were a Kyuubey, not named Kyuubey, but then there was the fight with Guiche, then Fouquet, I forgot."
"That is irrelevant; I have an identification data packet already. You should focus on becoming depressed." From the way its tail began to swish, Louise could tell she was beginning to annoy the Kyuubey. Now, her vindictive streak may have been beaten down pretty low. But, well, petty revenge against this thing had been out of her grasp ever since she first learned that her soul gem had a literal name.
So, with twisted glee, Louise ignored her familiar's pleas and focused on her own topic, not even trying to restrain her petty glee. "It is very relevant. What is this identification data package of yours? Is it an embarrassing name? Is that why you never told me?"
The Kyuubey stepped forward, its tail swishing madly. "Embarrassing? Your human names are embarrassingly inefficient. You couldn't even comprehend my identification data packet." Louise raised an eyebrow, obviously doubtful of the Kyuubey's claim. Once again, negative impatience rose within the Kyuubey. Annoyance, it was labeled. "Fine, comprehend."
A sound unlike anything Louise had ever seen before filled her nose with a rough and sweet smell. Wait, what? "ID. 001001110… Then? Is that strawberry?" Louise wondered aloud, thoroughly baffled by what had just transpired.
His tail freezing, the Kyuubey was just as baffled, though for other reasons. "To even comprehend the beginning. That is… odd."
Rather than dwell on the oddity that had transpired, Louise returned to her vengeance. "Your name is Id?" She spoke aloud. She hadn't actually expected the Kyuubey to have a silly name. "Id is a pretty poor name." She spoke with mock sympathy.
"That is incorrect. ID is short for identification."
Louise, however, didn't care if it was the Kyuubey's true name or not. "Regardless, you name is now Id, familiar. What a poor, poor name." Ah, sweet justice.
The Kyuubey's tail was beginning to blur. "Incorrect data! You! You corrupted data!" With that insult, the Kyuubey darted off in a huff, leaving Louise in its wake. Yet this time she was not the stunned one left behind nor was she the one with a heavy heart. She was the one on top this time. Petty revenge… it was therapeutic if nothing else.
As the rest of Westwood Village woke, Louise's brief emotion buoy of revenge slowly subsided and she was forced to once more stew on her problems of late. The Kyuubey, no, Id had disappeared so there was little she could do to bother the imp. That left either trying to make up her mind about last night, or talking to Cattleya.
It wasn't that she was disgusted with the death she had seen. She had seen death before in the battle against Albion's fleet. Rather, she was having trouble coming to terms with the part of her that agreed with Matilda's and Saito's actions. It went against her noble code, yet she still felt that logical part of her agree that their preemptive strike was the correct course of action. She had become very different than the person she used to be. Whether she was better or worse for it, she could not decide. So focused on that problem, she didn't sense Cattleya's presence until she felt a hand rest upon her shoulder. "Louise?" The elder Valliere questioned softly.
Turning to her elder sister, Louise fumbled over her words. "Er, you look better." She got out barely. Indeed, Cattleya was completely bandage free and most of her dead skin had flaked away. Once that finished, the only evidence of her brush with fire would be her thinned haircut. Cattleya's pink mane had needed pruning to remove the many singes.
Cattleya did not remove her hand from Louise's shoulder. Instead, she tightened her grip for a moment, "You can take as long as you want to talk to me. I'll wait." An excuse failed to form in Louise's mind, drawing a gentle smile for Cattleya. "I'm your sister, Louise, I can tell when something is bothering you. Just take some time to figure out how to say whatever you've been stewing on, okay?" All Louise's worries fell away. Now that Cattleya had spoken up, a weight had been lifted. With a silent nod, Louise returned Cattleya's offered embrace. After a moment, the two broke apart. "Just promise me you won't sneak off in the night again, alright?" Holding Louise at arm's length, Cattleya searched her young sister for confirmation.
Snorting at the lighthearted tone with which Cattleya addressed that fateful night, Louise nodded. "Thank you, Cattleya. I won't sneak off."
Happy with Louise's promise, Cattleya clapped the younger girl's shoulders once. "Good then. So stop your moping; it's worrying your little friend." With that, Cattleya offered her sister another embrace and turned to leave, only to have a hand grasp hers.
Turning back to Louise, Cattleya found her younger sister meeting her own gaze. Hidden in Louise's steeled eyes was the worry Cattleya knew well. Be it a failed spell or a broken vase, Louise always had sported that fear of disappointment. "When I made my wish for your health, there was a cost I was not aware of. My soul was separated from my body." Louise's hand slipped from Cattleya's and raised an egg shaped gem up. "This is my soul."
"It's beautiful." Cattleya spoke without hesitation, surprising Louise with her sincerity. This was a conversation Cattleya had long practiced. "I knew there might be some truth to the Cardinal's accusations, Louise, but I never once believed you were anything but good." Grasping Louise's hand and looking intently at her sister's soul, Cattleya continued. "You are my little sister, Louise. I love you. More than that, I know you. Even with everything you have gone through I can still see it in your eyes." The two sisters looked into each other's eyes, one surprised, the other confident. "You are good. If you became a demon, you would be a good demon. If you became a troll, you would be a good troll. If you have become a lich, you are a good lich."
Shaking her head, Louise pressed her sister. "You don't understand. Every time I use my Soul Gem's power I get closer to turning into some kind of monster. A witch." Louise stressed the danger of what that meant. "If that happens, I'll kill people, Cattleya. I won't be good then."
"That won't happen." Cattleya spoke with utter belief in her words. Speechless, Louise continued to listen to her sister's sincere words. "What someone may do doesn't matter, what they do matters. What someone is doesn't matter, who they are does. If the cardinal says you are evil, he is wrong. If the Pope says you are evil, he is wrong. If Brimir himself says you are evil. He. Is. Wrong."
In that moment of silence, Louise's face remained in a state of mute shock. Then, ever so slowly, it shifted. First to a teary smile, then it widened. To hear her sister say these things, it was good. The two Valliere sisters embraced, "Thank you, Cattleya." Louise spoke into her sister's chest. Even Louise didn't realize how much she needed her sister's acceptance.
It was to be yet another calm day at Westwood Village; Montmorency was once again sitting in the kitchen, grinding another herb in her mortar with her worn pestle. Free of the heavy thoughts that plagued Louise, she had spent the past few days thinking of the adventure that had brought her to Westwood Village. Louise had explained their situation with magic and witches in detail some days before leaving for the Founder's Prayer Book. The clarification helped, and had spurred Montmorency to brew her latest potion. Something to boost her fighting ability untransformed.
They had yet to ask Cattleya about the Founder's Prayer Book, or even about her supposed void magic. At first it had been obvious to just let the girl recover. However, now that she had recovered, Louise had yet to bring it up with her sister. It wasn't as though Montmorency didn't understand. Louise practically worshipped her elder sister sometimes and she was having trouble with telling Cattleya. Yet, Montmorency did not like sitting around now that they had two void mages and the Founder's Prayer Book. She wanted an answer.
Crack.
The hard pestle had pierced though her mortar. Buried in her thoughts, she had not restrained her strength. A sour look splayed across her face as she cleaned. She would need to ask Matilda to transmute another for her. Just another thing to be anxious about, she figured. Placing the last of the stone shards in the garbage, Montmorency turned her thoughts back toward the problem of the void mages.
However, from the cheery face that Louise sported as she entered the kitchen, Montmorency suspected she needn't worry. "Cattleya and Tiffania are going over the Founder's Prayer Book." Louise spoke, knowing her friend's thoughts.
With a breath of relief, Montmorency set her tool down. "That's good news. Still though, is that even the right one? The pages were blank."
A rough voice spoke, startling both the girls, "A void mage can read the spells when they're ready." Derflinger interjected from his place on the counter.
Flustered, Montmorency shot the sword an annoyed glance. While the info was nice to have, the sword could have announced itself long ago. "What are you doing out here? Doesn't Saito usually keep you with him?" Indeed, it was odd to see the sword far from Saito's side.
The sword chortled, obviously caught up in its own humor. "The little dud got a bit mad when I told a joke. I'm on 'Time out' apparently." Laughing once again, the sword rattled in humor. "Hey, tell me what is wrong with this. A nun and a tribesman are having an argument-"
"That kind of humor is not fit for children." Matilda interjected, entering the kitchen. "Let me guess, you thought your joke was best heard by the kids?" From the sword's renewed laughter, Matilda knew she was spot on. Rolling her eyes, Matilda turned to the two respectable occupants of the room. "Tiffania told me she and your sister are going to be working on their magic today, that means we are going to take care of the kids. Sound good?"
As the whole point of Tiffania's and Cattleya's practice was for their benefit, Montmorency and Louise saw no reason to refuse. The rest of the day was spent working with Saito and Matilda to run the orphanage. The simple labors helped keep their anxious minds off the efforts of the two void mages.
Time marched on and soon enough it was time to put the children to bed, something only possible with the promise of another outlandish tale from Saito. With their task done, Saito and Louise made their way down the hall back toward the sitting room. "Really, that young girl in your story is entirely too violent to be making so many friends. Where do you get all these stories? Were you a bard back in Japan?"
Louise frowned a little at Saito's chuckle. "Nah, I just spent too much time on the internet." Knowing enough to not bother asking what an internet was, Louise allowed Saito his own inside joke and opened the door to the sitting room. The rest of the adults had assembled and a heavy air hung over the room. Tiffania fidgeted nervously. Montmorency sat with anticipation. Even the normally cool Matilda was quite bothered, sitting off from the group with a sour expression. From Cattleya's somber look, Louise prepared herself for harsh news.
Sitting down next to an anxious Montmorency, Louise waited expectantly. After a moment, Cattleya took the initiative, "I spent the day teaching Tiffania everything I know about the book, limited as that is. However, we ran into a few problems." Taking a breath, she continued, "Firstly, I seem to be unable to cast any spells, probably due to overcasting." Louise bit her lip to keep from interrupting. Magic loss due to overcasting was a rare thing. Logically, Louise remembered that almost every case was resolved as soon as the mage had enough time to recover their willpower, but she still felt for how her sister must be feeling. "More importantly, the book has only ever responded to a desperate need, when I was in danger. We couldn't get it to reveal any new spells."
"You are kidding me!" Montmorency exclaimed, rising in her frustration. "After all this? A dead end? There must be something!" Louise's hand found Montmorency's arm. Though not as animated, Louise was panicking as well. Still, she held her emotions down. At the very least, her damn familiar would be happy. "Sorry," Montmorency spoke, calming down, "But you aren't telling us that there's no hope right?"
A restrained voice left Cattleya. "When I had full access to my magic, I tried everything to get the book to reveal its secrets to me and Tiffania is an amateur at magic. Frankly, we could spend months fiddling with this book and find nothing; neither of us knows where to start." Louise's breath hitched. "But, I have an idea." Suddenly, Louise's and Montmorency's focus doubled. "I happen to know a professor who is an expert in old magical histories. Her studies have made her an expert on magical books out of necessity. Even better, she has spent the past weeks studying liches and the old tales of Brimir in great detail."
Wait a second. This was sounding too good to be true. Louise furrowed her brow, how many professors did Cattleya even know? Then, it clicked, "You don't mean-"
"Big sis Eleanor, of course." Cattleya smiled innocently, apparently oblivious to what she was suggesting.
Louise restrained her breath as she digested the idea. Then, after putting her thoughts in order, she began, "Cattleya, Montmorency and I are wanted people. Travelling is dangerous enough, but if we sneak into Eleanor's Academy we could put her in great danger." Beyond the danger, Louise did not like the idea of travelling once again toward, at best, a possible solution.
Still, Cattleya remained optimistic. "Well, we won't be going into the Academy. Eleanor acquired a cabin and some land recently so she could study in peace."
"Hold on." Louise interjected, catching what Cattleya had said. "We? You don't mean-"
"I am coming with you of course." Cattleya spoke up, interjecting in return. "I chased you across the continent, Louise. If you try to lose me again, I'll just keep chasing you." The smugness in Cattleya's voice was foreign to Louise. She was used to a softer Cattleya. "So I'll be joining you, Louise."
Scoffing, Louise looked at her sister incredulously. Cattleya showed no sign of backing down, and Louise quickly realized her sister was serious. Even if she left Cattleya behind, the elder Valliere would simply follow her. "It doesn't matter anyway." Louise changed tactics, "By your own admission you can't cast magic right now, so we might as well wait."
"That would be a bad idea." A high pitched voice filled the heads of the room's occupants. It was then Louise noticed her familiar sitting atop the window sill. "You may be fine right now, but just powering your bodies takes magic, however small. Eventually you will darken to the point of transformation."
Before Louise could respond, Cattleya picked up where the Kyuubey had left off. "I talked to Mister Kyuubey about this, and that is why we should go to Big sis Eleanor as soon as possible. As for void magic, we'll have Tiffania along so it should be fine."
Louise was still getting used to the idea of Cattleya accompanying her, but Tiffania as well? "You can't possibly ask that of Tiffania!" Whirling to Tiffania, Louise looked at her with apologetic eyes. "We are very thankful for everything you have done for us, we would never presume to take you from your children." What was Cattleya thinking?
Tiffania showed no surprise however, only mustered determination. "Actually, it is I who am asking you to take me." For a second, Louise nearly let her jaw drop in surprise. Anyone could see how much the gentle Tiffania cared for her children. Beyond that, there was no way the protective Matilda would let Tiffania leave. Looking toward the ex-thief, Louise found only a sour look of resignation. "From your own words, the Church is looking for me. We have already had a few run-ins with them over the past few months. I can't keep mind wiping them forever, I need to find out what the church wants with the void mages."
"Tiffania," Saito spoke up in surprise. Apparently this was all news to him as well. "Are you sure about this?" Turning to the boy, Louise looked at him in surprise. She knew how much he cared for Tiffania, so she had assumed he would be against the idea.
With a nod, Tiffania continued, "You need me for my void magic, and I need someone who knows how to travel out of the public eye. Being an elf is just as punishable as being a heretic." That much, Louise could accept. Still, travelling with two extra people would be difficult. Three, if she knew Saito well enough.
"I'm coming too." Saito spoke up with conviction. Well, at least she still could read simpletons like Saito well enough.
Better than Tiffania apparently, as the girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Saito, I have already done enough by summoning you from your home. I would never force you on such a dangerous journey."
Scoffing, Saito blew off the half-elf's worries. "You don't get a choice, master. I am your familiar, after all." Tiffania puffed out her cheeks, not liking being addressed as master. "Besides, your sister wouldn't be letting you go if she didn't expect me to come along." Saito shot a knowing glance over to where Matilda glowered.
The thief rolled her eyes at Saito's smug look. "One of us needs to stay and look after the kids, and Saito can barely cook, let alone watch after these rascals. Otherwise I'd be coming and he'd be staying. Look after him, okay Tiff?" Looking between her sister and familiar, Tiffania could only give up in the face of their joint insistence.
Finally speaking up, Montmorency kept her exasperation well hidden, "So, now we get to go on another journey? This time with a proper band of misfits? Louise, do you really think this is a good idea?"
Turning to meet her friend, Louise stewed on the plan. The idea was not pleasing. They had already reached one goal and received only a vague hope rather than an actual solution. To rush off again on a similar vague hope… it was tiring. But it was also their only hope. "It's the best and only idea we have."
For a moment, Louise expected Montmorency to scoff. As restrained as she was, Louise could tell her friend was frustrated. Instead, Montmorency nodded. "Right then, Cattleya is obviously capable and we owe Saito and Tiffania, I'll follow your lead Louise."
Despite the heavy air, Cattleya never lost her cheer. "All right then, it's settled. When shall we leave?"
Louise spoke out of hand, "In a few days, the snow should be mostly melted by then." With the idea of travelling in mind, Louise's hand cupped her chin. "We'll need to find transport down. Matilda, would you happen to know of any airships we could trust to be quiet?"
The thief grinned in a way that put Louise slightly on guard. "I think I can help you with transport. We'll talk later; I'll need to prepare a few things."
Nodding with a defensive look, Louise shook off her worry as she caught sight of Cattleya's starry eyed look. "Little Louise, you have grown up so well. Already taking charge and making a clever plan." Cattleya's voice had such pride; Louise had no time to prepare when the excited Cattleya captured her in an embrace. As Louise was slowly crushed, she noticed Montmorency slink off now that the conversation was over, a stressed look in her eyes.
After freeing herself from her overly proud sister, Louise sought out her wayward friend. It didn't take long to find her. Montmorency had stepped out the back door and was standing in the night air. Puffs of air left her mouth and condensed in the cold. Louise grabbed a spare coat from the rack and put it on as she stepped out, closing the door behind her. "You'll catch your death out here." Louise spoke the words lightly, trying to ease her friend's worries.
Montmorency ignored the small talk. "Louise, how much longer can we keep doing this?" Louise had no answer for her friend. Her eyes fell to the ground at the harsh words. Not looking back, Montmorency continued, "First we tried the Pope, then we tried finding a void mage, then we went after the Founder's Prayer Book, now we are going to your sister in hopes that she might be able to help. Our ideas are getting more and more desperate. How long can we keep trying?"
Fist clenched, Montmorency pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her own heartbeat. "We keep trying, for as long as it takes." Conviction filled Louise's voice. "If this doesn't work, we find a new hope. We'll keep on hoping and trying. We'll keep on going as long as it takes, Montmorency. We'll become human again. We can do it."
"Can we?" Montmorency spoke as she turned to her friend. Weakness filled her eyes as she met Louise's own. Reaching into her pocket, Montmorency retrieved her pestle. The small stone club was cold to the touch. Grabbing it with both hands, Montmorency grunted with effort.
Crack.
The stone pestle split in two under the strength of Montmorency. Louise stood silent as Montmorency let the stone fall into the snow. "I'm getting stronger, Louise. Slowly, I'm getting closer to my transformed strength." Montmorency looked to her empty hands. "I'm becoming less human, Louise. How long before I reach the point of no return?"
Louise had no answer for her friend. However, another did, "You are already past that point." The Kyuubey's voice once again filled the two magical girls' heads. It joined them in the snow, not meeting their eyes as they whirled on it. "I told you once when you asked on our way to Romalia and I will repeat it. There is no way to return to being a regular human after becoming a magical girl." Louise remembered the conversation, just as she remembered her answer. Yet before she could once again deny the Kyuubey, it continued. "However, that doesn't mean you cannot return to your previous standing in society. Find out what your society knows of liches from your sister and then figure out how to subvert that. If you can pass that test, you will be cleared of charges, correct?" Once again Louise failed to respond, though this one out of surprise at the sincere helpfulness of the Kyuubey. "As for your darkening soul gems, that Pope of yours had enough grief seeds to last you a lifetime just on his hat; assuming you refrain from transforming, that is. Simply acquire those."
Still stunned, Louise could only listen to Montmorency's response. Measured and obviously hiding her earlier weakness from the newcomer, she questioned the Kyuubey. "Why help us?" She spoke curtly.
At her words, the Kyuubey's tail shifted and it looked toward the girls. Then, meeting Louise's eyes, it looked away and swished its tail again. "Continued data streaming is my current primary objective. Just be grateful that necessitates your continued survival."
Its piece said, the Kyuubey returned to the house, leaving the two magical girls behind. "What happened to him?" Montmorency spoke up, intrigued and calming down.
"It's a bit of a story, why don't I tell you inside?" Louise responded, leading her friend back inside Westwood Village.
Silent as the wind, a beast part eagle and part lion glided through the night. Dark as it was, its rider found his destination with ease. Easing up on his mount's reigns, the rider guided his stead downward until it landed with barely a noise on the forest floor. Looking up, studied his contact. The woman was and in shadow, but he had seen her face before. He remembered the strange markings and stern gaze. He did not remember her steed, a flat, floating golem not unlike the sting rays he had seen in southern Romalia once. When he made to introduce himself, the woman merely held her off hand up, silencing him while she continued to look through a spyglass with the other. After a moment, she relented and collapsed her spyglass. "Wardes." She tersely greeted the rider.
Not to be deterred, Wardes kept his politeness about him. "My lady. Would it not be easier to observe them from a closer location?" Truly, that spyglass must have been one of her artifacts because there was no way she had a direct line of sight through a mile of forest to Westwood Village.
The woman shook her head, "By all accounts your fiancé has an invisible familiar, I won't fail my master due to overconfidence. Besides, I have other eyes and ears scouting the surrounding area." Behind her, Wardes rolled his eyes at the woman's blind devotion to Joseph. "Why are you here? Didn't Master give you a mission?"
Realizing that he would get no pleasantries, Wardes cut to the chase. "King Joseph just wanted me to make sure you didn't need my assistance."
Cloaked as she was, Wardes could tell the woman had tensed at the implication that she was insufficient. Calming herself, she replied evenly. "If they are as dangerous as you say, we will need to wait until they leave. You will have time to carry out your… menial task Master has given you."
As if he had tasted something bitter, Wardes' face contorted for a brief moment, then he let it go. "Very well, try not to fail in my absence." With that, Wardes once again flew into the night sky. He had his own task to do.
Watching the man go, the woman felt at ease. She did not trust Wardes. The man was twice again a traitor and would surely betray her master the second he got the chance. She much preferred that which she could control, like the many golems combing the forest or the thralls she raised to turn on their former country during the Advent Festival.
Settling down, the woman once again prepared to watch her quarry when one of her golems found something that snapped her attention away. Eyes wide, a smile crept across her face as she focused on what her golem had found. The prize was damaged to be sure, but not beyond the power of her ring. Most definitely not.