She was walking down an old path.

The grass was overgrown, reaching up to her knees. The vines overhead also reached down far enough, that they smacked into her chest every time she passed by one.

Where was she?

She didn't really know. All she knew was that she was following a tug at the end of the path that she was taking. It was guiding her forward.

She stopped.

The tug suddenly became weaker. It was there, but much fainter than it was a second a go.

She followed the weaker source.

Something glinted in front of her.

It approached her.

[Scene]

Louise opened her eyes, and a yawn immediately followed. She smacked her lips as her blurry vision stared up at her ceiling.

She blinked a few times, and let out a low groan at the prospect of getting up from her bed.

Rolling to her side, the girl jerked in place when she saw something on her bed. A pair of empty eye sockets stared at her lifelessly.

It took her a moment to realise that she was staring into Sib's 'eyes' and she relaxed. She sighed and stared into the Vessel's eye socket.

She blinked, and then flipped to the other side. Hoping to continue her sleep.

Only to once again jerk in place at another pair of empty eyes sockets, this time belonging to her Familiar.

Louise stared wide-eyed at her Familiar as she waited for her heart to stop trying to jump out of her chest. After a couple more moments she had calmed down.

With the sleepiness shocked out of her, Louise sighed and sat up. She stared at her closet with an annoyed half glare.

Turning her head she saw that the sun was already up, not high enough that she'd be late for breakfast. But if she took another nap she'd definitely miss it.

She groaned and mentally prepared herself to get up.

At the sound from her mouth, both of the Vessels on her bed awoke. Both of them rising up from their sides, and standing up at attention almost immediately.

They both stood at her sides, and as usual stared at her.

"Morning Vessels huh?" She said with a smile.

Sib jumped from her bed and started to walk around her room. It reached for the Soul Wand on its back when it approached her closet.

"Hey!" She snapped.

It released its grip and turned to her.

"No," she pointed at it "No wrecking my stuff with the Soul Wand." She turned to Bug "I already know what Bug can do on its own," she glared at Sib "So I don't want to see what you can do with a Soul Wand."

It drew the wand and looked at it, before it kept it behind its back. And walked away from the closet.

She sighed, and smiled as it explored her room.

Turning to her Familiar, Bug was still at her side staring at her. She gave it a pat on its head "Did you sleep well?"

It didn't react.

She rolled her eyes and poked its stomach "Had a nice sleep?"

VESSELS DON'T REQUIRE SLEEP

Her smile was pulled down into a frown "Is that a Vessel thing, or is that a 'What should be expected of a Pure Vessel' thing?" She asked.

Bug tilted its head up for a moment, before it looked down.

I AM UNSURE.

She smiled, and then bent her body so that she could see the haystack that had been sitting by her bed for the past week. The sight of the piles of straw twisted her stomach in guilt, and she looked back at her Familiar and looked it in the eye "I'm getting you two a bed."

The sound of a crash caused her to turn to her study, and her mouth fell open when she saw Sib had knocked over the books on top of it.

As if sensing her, Sib turned to face her.

She grounded her teeth "Or a mattress," She jumped out of bed, aiming for the four horned Vessel "Don't knock over my stuff!"

[Scene]

Bug watched the conflicted look on its Master's face. She was looking inside the hall it had been thrice, at most, before looking back it and its Sibling.

"You two can handle staying outside," Her worried gaze was more focused beside it, at its Sibling if it had to guess, before it turned to it with an equal amount of worry "Right?"

Bug tilted its head at the odd question. She had been fine with it staying outside for the past days, why was she worried now?

At her look however, Bug merely nodded. Something that its Sibling mimicked after seeing it.

"Okay…" Louise took a couple steps back, still facing them "Make sure you don't wander too far away, okay?" She warned.

They nodded again.

She turned away from them and entered. Bug turned away from the door way, walked past a few of the other students that were entering as well, heading towards its usual spot while it was waiting for its Master.

Its Sibling quickly followed behind it.

Bug reached its usual spot to wait for its Master while she ate. Some of the beasts that waited with it was already there, miling about.

The Mole, Verdante as it was called, flinched on sight. Quickly it burrowed underground, and from how the earth was displaced, took off running, or digging, as usual.

Bug sat against the wall like it usually did. On cue, one of the beasts, the winged one that had taken one of the quills on its second day here, perched itself on its head. It tilted its body forward and stared into its eye sockets with their own pair of large eyes.

"Hoo." It sounded as its stared at it.

Bug gave no response and simply sat against the wall.

Its Sibling stopped in front of it, and it looked at the beast upon its head.

The beast looked away from Bug, and saw its Sibling. Its wings flapped as it moved to change its perch.

Only to flinch away with a squawk when its Sibling quickly drew its Nail and swung as it when it got close. It stayed out of its immediate range, its wings keeping it afloat as it stared at its Sibling.

It squawked again when its Sibling leaped from its spot and tried to strike it out of the sky. The beast quickly flew away.

Bug's gaze followed it as it took a new perch on the second floor lantern.

Its Sibling approached the wall and stared up at the beast.

It jumped, striking the glass lantern with its Nail but couldn't reach the beast itself. The Lumafly, now freed from its confinement, quickly flew away.

The beast squawked and made to fly away, but refrained when the nail couldn't reach it.

Landing on the ground, Sib looked upwards for a few more moments before it turned away.

Bug followed its Sibling as it walked among the other beasts. The ones that weren't asleep all shied away from the Vessel, while the larger ones merely watched as it passed them by.

It stopped by one of the beast. A four legged one with a grey looking shell that covered their body. Slowly it turned its head to face the Vessel.

When it raised it nail, almost instantly it retracted into their shell. The Nail bounced against the shell, the sound of Nail striking metal reaching Bug.

The Vessel watched as its Sibling continued to strike the shell a few more times. The Nail not dealing any lasting marks on the shell.

After the tenth strike the Vessel stopped and turned away, prompting the beast to come out of its shell to glare at its retreating form.

Almost in response, the Vessel suddenly spun on the spot and struck with its nail. Only to fail as the beast retracted just as quickly.

The Vessel stared for a moment longer, before walking away. The beast again exited its shell to glare at the Vessel.

With that little display, the other beasts were proactive in getting out of the Vessel's path. Only the really big ones stood their ground, especially when it approached one and drew its Nail with the tell-tale sign of a challenge.

The beast simply slid away.

It returned the Nail to its back, and kept walking.

Until the Sibling finally stopped in front of Bug.

The two Vessels stared at each other for a few moments.

Sib drew its Nail and pointed it to the side.

Bug stood up.

Immediately every other beast around them stopped what they were doing. They turned towards them, and immediately moved away from them.

Its Sibling dashed from its spot, its cloak extending far behind it. Its black eyes stared into Bug's own as it pulled its Nail back.

Bug's body shifted and dashed through its Sibling. It heard the Nail bounce against the stone wall it had been leaning against. Bug turned on its feet, its arm extending as it did, and struck.

Sib jumped into the air, avoiding the the arm that had extended forward like a needle, before coming to a stop when it hit the wall. The tip puncturing the stone. It brought its Nail over its head, and descended in a quarter circle arc.

Bug took a step back, the tip of the Nail barely missing its' skull before it struck the ground. The Vessel pulled back the arm, and its arm retracted, snapping back towards it.

Sib barely had time to recover from its landing before it jerked forward. It looked down at the black object piercing its body. It raised its head to stare at it, before falling to its hands and knees when the rest of the arm passed through its body.

Bug's arm returned to its normal length, the black appendage snapping back to its stump size. It looked down as its Sibling pushed itself back to a standing position.

The two stared at each other for a few moments.

Sib returned its Nail to its back.

At that action the other beasts relaxed. They looked around, before they focused on the two.

Both of the Vessels walked back to the wall. Bug took its spot against the wall.

Sib walked back to the beast with the hard shell. It retracted its head, faster and with a fearful look in its eyes this time. The sound of Nail against its shell echoed out in the courtyard.

A fair distance away from the group the mole's head popped up from the ground, and its brown eyes stared into Bug.

The rest of the beasts around them very carefully edged away from it. The only exception was an odd looking snail, the size of a Lumafly Lantern, slowly making its way towards the Vessel.

It didn't have arms or legs, its eyes were at the end of the stalks that grew from its 'head'. The only thing that let it resemble a snail was the spiral shell that it had.

Reaching its side, the snail looked up at Bug and stared at it.

[Scene]

"So you're really keeping both of them?" Kirche asked as she saw the two creatures stood on the chair next to Louise.

"Yeah," Louise smiled "You saw what Bug and Sib did back when the guards tried to separate them."

Kirche shuddered, her eyes landing on the Soul Wand "Such a precious artefact, used like a common blade." She let out a depressed sigh. One that she cut short as her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes turned from the Soul Wand, and asked "Did you call it Sib?"

"Yeah," Louise turned towards the one with four horns with a surprisingly sweet smile "Since it would be staying with me and Bug, I figured to give it a name."

"Sib," Kirche said the name as she tapped the bottom of her lip "Sib, Sib, Sib." Then she blinked, her eyes widening "Sib, as in Sibling?" She asked with an amused smile?

Louise tilted her head "Yeah, I guess?"

Kirche turned to the two creatures sitting next to her "You decided to call the, what looks like, sibling to your Familiar Sib," her focus then turned to the one that was staring blankly outside the window at the sun "While you call your actual Familiar that looks like a bug, Bug?" She started to giggle "You're very lazy at picking names Louise."

The small mage eye twitched "Oh yeah?!" She pointed at the Salamander at the Germanian's feet "Like you one to talk, calling your fire breathing Salamander Flame!"

The Salamander in question raised its head at its name being called, before it resting its head back on the ground.

"Hah!" Kirche threw her head back and laughed "At least my name has something to do with the element of my Familiar." She looked her in the eye "What does Bug and Sib have anything to do with Water Spirits?"

At the words, to her surprise, Louise's face fell and she averted her eyes "Yeah," her voice dropped "I guess their names don't have anything to do with them, I guess."

A scoff was heard from both Tabitha and Montmorency. The blue haired student not looking up from her book.

Montmorency however had turned towards Louise, her face pulled in a snarl. "You're right Louise," she bit out "Your name has nothing to do with Water Spirits, especially since they aren't ones."

'Oh boy,' Kirche got ready for an explosion, a metaphorical one this time instead of a literal one, from the Valliere. Only to blink in surprise when she heard a sigh instead.

She rested her face in her palm and looked away from them "You wouldn't be the first to doubt that." She turned to them, and despite her somber tone "Though I might agree with you a bit, these don't look like Water Spirits. But even if they aren't."

Bug turned to face her and tilted its head.

"They're mine notheless."

"Oh…" The Blonde Water Mage looked more than a little surprised at the subdued response. She scratched the back of her head "Well." She paused and looked away sheepishly "I'll be honest Louise, I expected stronger response from you."

For a moment a conflicted look appeared on Louise's face, one that vanished as the mage simply shrugged and looked towards the front of the classroom "I guess yesterday was kind of an eye opener for me."

"No kidding," Kirche muttered.

Their conversation however came to an end when Professor Levi entered, and started the class.

[Scene]

She looked at herself in the mirror, she spun in place. The pink dress fluttered as she twirled and she came to a stop as she faced the mirror.

It was one of her nicer dresses, fit for a ball she'd be attending. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail with a golden circlet keeping it place. A golden necklace glinted in the light of her room.

She smiled.

"So," She turned to face her Familiar and its Sibling "How do I look?"

Both of them stared silently, causing Louise to turn away with a blush on her face "Right, stupid question."

She shook her head and admired herself in the mirror one more time. From where she was standing she could see herself from head to toe.

For a moment she imagined that another person was with her. Standing by her side with a wide brimmed hat and long grey hair.

She giggled a bit, and her imagination dispelled the phantom figure. Leaving only herself in the mirror.

"Right." She took a deep breath "I'm going to try to enjoy the ball." She pointed at the two "You guys however…" She trailed off.

"Actually, I'm not sure if I want to bring you guys to the Ball." She said out loud.

Neither of them really reacted, simply following her as she took a seat

Louise let out a sigh "I mean; it's not like you guys eat anything solid so you can't enjoy the food. And I doubt that they'd let me put you two in the punch bowl." She turned to Sib and frowned "You're still rowdy, though I can't blame you since you've probably been locked in the Vault for 30 years."

She recalled earlier when a another student caught Sib striking the shell of a tortoise that was their Familiar.

Stuck between horrified, as well as insulted at her Familiar using the Soul Wand like a common blade again, she had to apologise profusely to them.

Thankfully the tortoise wasn't harmed, only a little bit shaken at having its shell struck so many times.

She eyed the Vessel warily, wondering if she should take the Soul Wand away. Partially to stop it from hurting anyone as well as property damage, the rest was that she wondered how her spells would work with it as a catalyst.

"And I'd feel bad if you guys stay locked in my room for the night," She hummed and tried to think of a solution. She looked between the two, before landing on Bug. A smile stretched over her face "I know. How about you show it around the school Bug?"

Her Familiar looked her in the eye, and nodded.

Louise smiled.

Later in the night, Louise was having a… enjoyable time at the ball. Here nobody seemed to think of her as Louise the Zero, even if the jeers had been reduced after her and Bug's performance yesterday.

She was asked to dance more than a couple of times, enough to give her a happy buzz for the rest of the night.

Eventually she found herself sitting at a table with Kirche and Tabitha. The former was nursing a drink, while the latter was eating a piece of mutton that seemed larger than she was.

"Having fun?" Kirche asked, sipping her drink.

Louise laughed "Yeah." She rolled her shoulders "It feels nice to relax after everything that happened."

"Uh huh," Kirche nodded. She tilted her head and pointed at her with her free hand "Where's your Familiar and its sibling? Did you leave them in your room?"

"No," She shook her head "I let them roam around the school for tonight."

Tabitha looked up from her food, and raised an eyebrow "Is that wise?"

"Bug's map of the school is basically complete, so I doubt it'll get lost" she waved her hand dismissively "And Sib seems to follow Bug around, who I gave orders not to break anything. Bug can follow orders pretty well, so I'm not worried."

Tabitha stared at her for quite a while. She took a large bite from the mutton on her plate and looked away, mumbling something that she couldn't make out.

[Scene]

Longueville woke up to the sound of the infirmary door opening. The, former, secretary of the academy turned her head to face the door "Here to check up on me do-"

Her words died in her throat as she saw two childlike figures enter.

When they stopped by the foot of her bed, she raised an eyebrow "Isn't there supposed to be a guard at the door?"

On cue a loud snore told her of the state of the security of the academy.

She sighed and looked at the ceiling, wondering how she had managed to get caught.

The bed beside her creaked, and she saw the Familiar bounce on the mattress, each jump was more than thrice its height. After a couple of moments its body shifted and dashed to another bed and repeated the process.

"Right," she closed her eyes and tried to sleep "That's why."

[Scene]

"Marion, are you still up?"

The maid looked up from the mug that she had been drinking up, bleary eyes staring at the large figure of the head chef. Her eyes narrowed "Marteau," She slurred out sleepily "Is that you?"

The chef had a worried look on her face. He stepped into the kitchen, and looked around. He found no one else but the maid, drinking away on her own.

"Marion, are you still having trouble sleeping?" He asked.

Marion blinked and almost nodded off, but jolted awake at the question. She squinted her eyes "Yeah," she drawled out "It's been getting worse every day." She rubbed her eyes "I almost passed out today."

Marion opened her eyes and stared at where the chef was, after which he seemed to disappear and she was staring at the empty wall instead. It took her a couple of moments to notice the hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head and followed the arm to see the even more worried look on the chef's face.

"Marion, this is getting out of hand." He stated "Maybe you should take a few days off.' He advised her.

Despite her current grogginess, Marion pouted at the prospect of having to take vacation days.

"Right," Marteau sighed and cocked an eyebrow "Let me rephrase. Maybe you take a few days off, before you accidentally pass out and splash a Noble in the face with hot tea."

That made her wince. The maid sighed "Fiiiiiine," she rested her chin on the table and stuck out her tongue "I'll try to get some vacation days." She eyed the chef out of the corner of her eye "What're you doing here?"

"I'm just checking on th…"

Whatever was the chef's answer was drowned out as the maid's eyes become heavier and heavier, and for a moment she closed her eyes.

Sleep overtook her for just a moment.

"Gah!"

Marion eyes snapped opened, and the she let out a miserable groan. So close, she was so close. She glared at the Lumafly lantern in front of her.

"Maybe I should've snuffed out this lantern," she mumbled to herself "It's so bright it's almost like I can see it in my dreams."