A/N: Heeeeeey, sorry for the late chapter. College exams are going on, and I'm just about almost finish. This is a breather chapter for the most case, and trying to show some personal development than anything else. Enjoy!
The sound of scuttling insects all around her was almost deafening. From the walls, to the ceiling, to the ground underneath her, she heard nothing but the endless sound of the hundreds and thousands of little feet crawling around.
She kept walking, her eyes trying desperately to spot anything.
But it was pitch black, and all she could see was her own two feet walking on the ground.
The lack of sight, just made the scuttling louder and even more terrifying.
Despite that, she kept walking. In the absolute darkness, of wherever she was, she just kept moving one foot in front of the other.
As she did, she saw light. A faint glow in the distance.
She walked faster, she could hear the scuttling grow more and more restless. She broke out into a run as she could hear the ground, ceiling and the walls breaking as whatever was crawling inside them burst through. They were chasing her now, the sound of so many feet tapping against the earth just behind her.
But as she grew closer to the light, they slowed down until they finally drew back.
Her heart was pumping, she kept running and running.
Then she reached the source of the light.
A makeshift shelter, with just planks of wood keeping them safe from whatever element she was in. And there, she could see…
A small moth, with blue eyes.
It looked at her, and to her surprise.
It spoke.
[Scene]
Louise opened her eyes, her body jolted awake. Blinking, the young mage stared up at the ceiling of her room for a good couple of seconds, the sun was slowly raising up in the sky, the light shining through her window.
Slowly, the girl sat up on her bed. As she did, she spotted Bug standing at the edge of her bed, staring at her with its usual empty eye sockets.
She turned her head slightly, and saw that Sib was still on their bed, asleep. Turning back to Bug, she continued to look into those eye sockets.
She lifted a hand, and gently poked her Familiar in between their eye sockets, pushing it back slightly.
She smiled "Good morning Bug."
…
Her lips twitched, and the mage scratched her ear as she heard some sort of ringing inside it. It went away, and it left Louise sitting on her bed in silence, once more staring into her Familiar.
Some part of her wanted to just stay there and relax, not do anything for the rest of the day.
But unfortunately, the rest of the day needed to be tackled and she had class afterwards.
Both of her hands clapped her cheeks, shocking herself awake and accidentally waking up Sib as she saw it jump out bed the moment the sound reached them.
Shaking her head, Louise got out of bed and prepared to face the day.
[Scene]
Food for Nobles were of the highest quality, as they should be. Food for Nobles in institutions like the Tristain Academy was even better, as they were the upcoming leaders of their respective families and none of the chefs and maids wanted to make any of them angry.
The bread would always be steaming when it reached their plates, the butter always a perfect mix to make it melt but solid enough to enjoy. And most importantly, the wine had to be the best brand and ripe age to be enjoyed.
Any food that was found on the plates of the students of Tristain Academy was the closest thing to Heaven.
And yet, despite all of that, Louise couldn't even muster up the smallest of appetites as she stared down at the plate in front of her.
She poked at the bread with her fork, and lifted it to her mouth. She took a big bite, and chewed.
The taste was amazing as usual, and the mage swallowed.
And immediately she could feel it disappear without a trace
She didn't know if she was actually getting full, but she knew that she wasn't really gaining or losing anything by eating.
"Still having trouble eating Louise?"
A voice from the opposite side of the table caused her to look up, and she saw the smiling face of a familiar red head.
She was holding a plate filled with food on one hand, while the other hand was covered in bandages that went up all the way towards her elbow.
It seemed that while most of her injuries on her burnt hand was healed, it still needed to be covered.
Louise shook her head "Nah, I can eat fine. I just don't have the appetite for it."
"You sure?" Kirche took a seat at the empty seat "You had trouble eating and drinking back when you first woke up."
"That was then," Louise tried to wave away the concern.
"It was just a couple days ago," Kirche replied in a firm tone "You don't have to hide it."
Louise went silent for a few moments, before she sighed. A hand went to her stomach and pressed it slightly, her uniform sinking into it as she did "I can eat fine, it's just…" she looked at the place and her lips pulled back "I don't really feel like eating does anything for me."
Kirche placed a hand onto hers, shocking her a bit at the touch. She was about to draw away, but saw the genuinely concern look on her face.
"Hey, it's okay," she said "Take it slow, and take care of yourself. Even if you feel like you don't need it, you still need to eat to keep up your strength."
Her hand gripped her stomach tighter, before it relaxed. Louise sighed and nodded "Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks Kirche."
The redhead pulled back her hand, and then the next moment the worried look was replaced with an all too familiar smirk "Oh~ calling me Kirche now, eh Louise? I guess we truly are friends now."
The Valliere blinked, before her face went red. She took her hand off her stomach and crossed her arms "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
She tried to ignore the smug look on her face.
As she did, she was unaware of a pair of eyes staring at her with malice.
[Scene]
"I'm so sorry!"
Louise didn't know what to say, she was stunned as she stood in the throne room as the princess hugged her tight. And not only that, but she was sobbing as she apologised over and over.
"I didn't know, I thought that I was…"
Louise's hands were hovering around her, trying to find a place to put that would be appropriate. Because she wasn't sure if putting her hands on the Princess was.
She looked at Bug and Sib, both of them were advancing towards them with a dangerous stance. And very quickly she waved them down.
Louise looked back at the Princess, gently laid a hand on her back. Being careful not to touch anything inappropriate.
"I shouldn't have sent you there," Henrietta mumbled "I'm such a horrible friend."
Louise went quiet for a bit, before she hugged the Princess back.
"It's fine," she told her, truthfully she was fine with the decision. After all she made it, knowing the risk "I wanted to do it, and you don't have to be mad."
Henrietta pulled away, and she looked at her, smiling.
"Louise."
[Scene]
"Louise!"
Louise head jerked as she was knocked out of her memory.
She shook her head, and looked around. She was in class right now, Earth Magic if she recalled, and she saw that the rest of the class was looking at her.
"Louise, the teacher called you." Kirche whispered from her spot.
She looked towards the front of the class to see that the teacher, Mrs Chevreuse who had long recovered from her start of the year explosion, was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
Quickly Louise stood up "Y-Yes professor!" She almost squeaked out.
Both Bug and Sib stood up on their chairs as well, looking directly at the professor.
"Good to see that you're back in class Miss Valliere," Chervreuse chided her, earning more than a few giggles from her classmates. The plump woman looked away from her to address those few, before she returned her focus to Louise "As I said Miss Valliere, I've heard that you've been improving a lot since the start of the year. Is that correct?"
Louise blinked at the question, before she nodded "Yes professor," her hands clenched and unclenched themselves "Although I have some problems, I've managed to properly cast some spells." 'Thanks to the Void inside me apparently,' she finished in her own head, looking over towards the two Void Vessels.
"Excellent then!" The woman reached into the sleeves of her robes, and from there she took out three pebbles "Then I hope that you wouldn't mind showing that improvement of yours with another attempt at Transmutation then?" She placed them onto the table, and gestured towards them with a smile "There's nothing wrong with seeing how far one has grown."
Louise gulped down the saliva in her mouth "I understand." She picked up her wand, and walked down from her table. As they did, both Bug and Sib followed.
"I know that Louise has gotten better with her spells, but can she do this?"
"I dunno, she's gotten good with fire and water but she never did earth before."
"Brimir, I'm terrified."
Familiar words, even if they were less harsh than usual. At least they weren't taking cover under their desks, if that was any consolation.
She reached the teacher's table, at the same time both Bug and Sib jumped from the last couple of steps landed next to her, and looked at the pebbles on top of it.
Chevreuse nodded at her "Now, once again try to transmute these rocks into whatever element that you are capable of doing."
Louise gulped "If I can't?" She asked, just in case.
"Well, hopefully it wouldn't be like last time," the plump woman coughed into a fist, trying to forget the events that had occurred "But if you can't, then the rocks will simply not change into anything. But Transmutation is a very basic spell, and even most novices can transmute a rock or two." She looked at Louise and smiled "Just try it."
Taking a deep breath, Louise raised her wand and pointed it at the rocks. She ignored how both her Familiar and its Sibling mimicked her pose, and focused on the magic inside her.
'Focus' she thought to herself as she attempted to draw it out, at first she defaulted to her memory of Bug's summoning, trying to regain that feeling once more. But to her surprise, she felt that tingle almost immediately, without having to dig that deep into her thoughts.
Her affinity, the Void.
Louise started the spells chant, and thought of what to turn the pebbles into. Maybe just slightly harder rocks? That seemed like it was the easiest thing to do.
"Ren In Yan." Finishing the chant, she casted the spell and watched as the rocks glowed.
They shook a bit, causing some part of her panic somewhat as she feared that it was going to explode despite her digging into her 'affinity'. Some part of her wondered just how powerful her explosions would be if she layered it with the Void. And wondered if she and the rest of the classroom would survive it.
Thankfully, it didn't explode.
After a moment the glow faded away, and she saw that the rocks had been turned…
Into darker rocks.
She blinked in surprise at what she saw, but she was knocked out of it when she heard soft clapping from Chevreuse.
"Good work Louise!" She complimented her "You've managed to turn the pebbles into coal, although very simple and basic, this kind of transmutation is very helpful to commoners especially. Even if coal has started to fall out of fashion." The plump woman looked at the rocks, and poked at them with her wand.
Louise's eyes widened a bit as she saw the rocks poked back.
"Well, congratulation Miss Valliere, you have indeed improved significantly from the start of the year," Chevreuse took her wand away, unaware of what she had saw "You can keep those if you wish, simple as it may be, it would make a nice memory for the future."
"S-Sure," Louise reached out for the rocks, hesitating slightly before she scooped them up. She held back a shudder as she could feel it wriggling in her hands. They felt wet for whatever reason.
[Scene]
She found herself looking at the rocks again, as she stood in the changing room with just a towel wrapped around her body. She looked around, and gave them towards her Familiar.
Bug held out a hand.
"Keep them anywhere," she told it as she dropped them into its hands. They almost vanished as she dropped them into its pitch black hands "I just don't really feel like holding onto them."
Bug nodded and stored them into its cloak where it kept everything. She wondered what else was in there, other than maps.
"C'mon, let's go" she pushed through the doors of the changing room, and stepped into the baths. More than a few heads turned towards her, before they went back to their conversations.
The sight of her with her Familiar and its Sibling had lost its appeal long ago, other than a few First Years that still liked to see them play around in the bath.
Both Void Vessels wasted no time and headed straight towards the water, making a small splash as they both just jumped into it as they did.
Louise walked towards the edge of the water, and stopped. She looked down at herself, she was still wearing the towel, it was wrapped around her body tightly. She then looked at the water, and took a deep breath.
Slowly she dipped her foot into the hot water, the heat already feeling relaxing to the touch. She slowly got it, the water going from her foot, to her knees. She exhaled, before she took another deep breath, and slowly sat down.
Her body sunk deeper and deeper into the water, going from her thighs, to her hips, until finally.
The water seeped through the towel and was on level with her stomach.
She let out an involuntary breath as it did. Her eyes squinted shut as she felt her body reinvigorate itself, all of her fatigue vanished, as she could feel her Willpower return to her. Even if she hadn't use that much today, she could feel her reserves fill back to the brink.
Then after a few moments, the feeling died down and Louise felt comfortable enough to open her eyes.
Once she did, she saw that a couple of the students there were looking at her, to her slight embarrassment, and that both Bug and Sib were also looking her way.
She smiled "I'm fine," she told, before they could start worrying "Just a little…" she didn't really know what it was, so she shook her head "I'm fine." And just repeated herself.
Louise leaned back against the edge, and just tried to enjoy the bath.
It was hard, since she couldn't really relax without feeling a jolt of energy every couple of seconds.
[Scene]
The mattress on Bug and Sib's bed creaked as they climbed onto it. The two Void Vessels watched their Master walk around her room as she disrobed.
Louise paid no mind towards the two behind her, and instead reached into her closet to take out her nightgown.
Just as she was about to put it on, she found herself standing in front of a full length mirror.
She looked at herself, from head to toe.
From her long pink hair that reached her back, to her eyes that were of similar color. She had pale skin, beautiful pale skin that was expected of a Noble. Her body was smaller than her peers, but that didn't bother her too much, unless Kirche was teasing her.
Indeed, there was nothing about her natural body that she would be ashamed of.
The only exception, was the gaping black hole that was placed where her stomach was.
There were two of them actually, one of them at her stomach where the tendril from the Void Vessel had came out of her body, and another at her side where it had entered. No matter where they were, they were the same. An empty black abyss that looked like the world had forgotten something and she was staring at nothing.
One of her hands went towards her stomach, her hands shaking as she lightly pressed onto it.
Just like when she would touch Bug, she felt whatever heat that was in her room vanish and a cool pleasant sensation covered her palm.
I look like this now.
She flinched as her own thoughts echoed back towards herself, the feeling just as jarring as she first heard Bug's own thoughts.
She pulled her hand away, and just stared at herself.
The world around her fell away the longer she looked at her own reflection, she could almost see the dark spot on her stomach growing, growing, and growing. Until eventually, she was engulfed by the pitch black abyss.
And all that was left was a vaguely human looking figure with two pairs of white dots for eyes.
ARE YOU OKAY MASTER?
She was knocked out of her vision to hear to Bug's voice break through. In the reflection she saw that it was standing right next to her, the Void Vessel looking up towards her, both of its hands by its side.
Louise turned towards her Familiar, before smiling and patted it on the head in between its horns "Yeah," she replied with a strained smile "I'm okay. Thanks for asking."
DO YOU DISLIKE HOW YOU LOOK?
Louise shook her head, "You saved my life when you did this, so I don't mind."
She didn't know if the lie was for Bug, or it was for her.
Her Familiar looked at her for a few moments longer, before it nodded its head and walked back to its bed.
Louise put on her night gown and headed to her own bed, the young mage stared up at the ceiling for a few moments before she closed her eyes.
And fell asleep.