See that?
*Points at canon*
*Throws it into the eclipse*
Say goodbye to it. We're going off to the deep end now.
The day of the Familiars Exhibition arrives, and this time, Louise sits together with the audience. Henrietta had attempted to sit beside her, but she'd swiftly put that idea down. Because letting the world know that the esteemed princess is somehow related just won't end well. At least as things stand right now.
The exhibition goes on, and the crowd occasionally claps, but Louise keeps her eyes on Longueville. She sits beside Osmond, her smile placid as she occasionally claps. Then, she leans over and whispers something to the headmaster. He returns a nod, and the woman smiles as she stands and walks away.
Louise stands and walks away too.
Not to follow the woman. No. She walks over to the commoner's armory just west of where the exhibition was being held. She casts a Silence spell over herself, sneaks into the barracks, and grabs a sword for herself. It takes a while to find a slender sword; most swords are bulky for some odd reason, but she finds one in the end.
At just the right time too. The ground trembles as she leaves the barracks, and she sees the towering earth golem slowly walking towards the main tower of the Academy. She hears people screaming. Some terrified. Some trying to gain command over the fleeing crowd.
Louise floods her legs with willpower and runs.
In seconds she makes it back to the exhibition, and she finds Agnes, leader of the Royal Musketeers, commanding her platoon to fight off the thief. She runs towards her, ignoring the surprise look she receives from everyone else. "Sir Agnes!" She calls out, and the woman turns to her, eyes widening in surprise. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yes. No one is injured." She then frowns. "But what are you doing?"
"I was headed for a meal when I spotted Lady Longueville." She begins, spinning a tale. "She was standing in a courtyard just west of here. I was curious and went to ask her what she was doing when suddenly," She stops and makes an explosive gesture. "The earth trembles, and that giant golem appears!"
Agnes' eyes narrow. "Are you saying Lady Longueville is Fouquet?"
She nods. "Yes. I bet my blood and life."
Silence falls around them, and even the earthen golem stops in its movements, Fouquet's surprise followed by her construct. Then the golem begins moving again, slamming its fists against the tower with renewed vigor, as if it knew that the cover its master had has been blown.
And everything spurs from then.
Agnes and her platoon begin trying to shoot down Fouquet. Henrietta casts spell after spell, sending torrents of water at the golem to slow it down. Osmond moves to calm the students, his face still pale from what he's learnt. Everyone's panic begins to die down, and Saito finally notices that Louise hasn't joined him or the rest of the students.
She smiles at him and turns away.
She walks past Henrietta, who calls for her to return. She walks past Agnes, who snarls and asks what she's doing. She doesn't respond to either of them. Instead, she brings up the sword she's picked up, aims its edge at the golem's chest, and grins.
"Explosion!"
A moment passes, before the chest of the giant golem suddenly explodes. Dust violently blows out, and she watches as the towering golem crumbles apart. She watches as the willpower flowing through the dirt fades away, deconstructed by her Void Magic, and she hears Fouquet squawk as she begins to fall.
Louise tenses, and with willpower swirling in her legs, she leaps. She rushes past the falling debris, and she sees Fouquet's eyes growing wide. She brings out her wand, and her willpower rushes out to the falling debris around her. But nothing happens. Her deconstruction is still in play, and fear finally dawns on the woman's eyes. She gives the woman one last smile before she swings.
Her sword strikes true. A massive wound opens across the woman's abdomen. She screams, before her voice is drowned out by the crashing rubble.
The world falls silent then, and as the dust settles, Louise sees Fouquet lying on the earth, blood leaking from her wound. Injured, but not dead.
Finally, she looks up to see all the surprised eyes she's garnered. "Fouquet has been brought down." She says to them. Her voice booms unconsciously, drawing from the many instances she's spoken to armies of soldiers. The students straighten unconsciously. "If there are any injured, head to the infirmary. Those uninjured, go around and see if everything is as normal. There may be a chance that Fouquet came here with allies." She barely manages to stop herself from saying 'dismissed' as she usually does in these situations.
The spell is broken, and everyone begins to move. Some immediately begin to move. Some turn to the headmaster. None are brave enough to ask how the 'Zero' managed to bring down the thief.
None but the princess.
"Louise," She begins, cautious yet undaunted. "What-, what was that?"
"As a mage, I am a failure." She simply begins. She sees the students flinch at that. "I can cast no elemental spells, and so I cannot even classify as a Dot. However," She frowns slightly. "I am no mage, and I don't need to. If explosions are all I can cast, then I shall be the best at it. If I can do nothing but a single trick, then I will sharpen that single trick until it can even bring down the skies."
It is only the partial truth, of course. She is a Void Mage, and she does have a repertoire of spells she can cast. But Henrietta doesn't need to know that just yet.
"...I see." Henrietta says softly. She turns to Osmond, and the headmaster freezes for some reason. Louise doesn't know why. The princess' expression is hidden from her. "You have grown strong."
Her eyes soften. "So have you." And for a moment they stare at one another, the phantoms of two young childhood friends standing between them. They have changed. The girl Henrietta once was is no more. And the teenager Louise had been is no longer there. Henrietta is a princess. Louise is a warrior.
…
In the end, no one is hurt, and Fouquet has no allies. The injured thief is healed before she is taken captive by Agnes and her platoon. Her wand is stripped from her, and her standing in the Academy is taken away. Colbert is found unconscious in the library, having been knocked down by Fouquet just an hour earlier.
Louise stands beside the princess the entire while, their relationship now known. None of her classmates have any courage to ask anything. Tabitha stares at her, surprised yet not, before it changes to…understanding?
Ah. She must think she is Henrietta's hidden weapon. Like how she is Joseph's. She supposes Tabitha isn't wrong.
She gives the girl a nod, and Tabitha nods back.
Only Saito is brave enough, and that's mostly because he doesn't know anything about this world. He asks her if she's alright, and she lifts her arms to show her lack of injuries. She also introduces him to the princess, who immediately recognizes him as the boy she talked about the day prior. They begin to talk about his experience in the Academy.
Louise turns to the skies and sighs.
Things have changed. There are only a few eyes here, but word of what'd happened will no doubt spread out. There is little she can say about what will happen now. Will Wardes still come and attempt to wed her? Will Albion still try to invade? Will Albion invade earlier instead? Will Galia attempt anything? Will Romalia try to visit?
She doesn't know. Nor does she care.
She has lived a life already. She has followed a path. And she will not tread it twice. She has seen the ending of that road. Mourned those that fell and seen what is to pass. She's lived to the end. There is no need to follow that path anymore.
This is the point of divergence.
Wardes did not appear. Albion did not suddenly come to retrieve Fouquet. No.
It is her mother that appeared.
A week goes by in stilted silence. The panic from Fouquet's sudden reveal has faded, replaced by tension. Because if Miss Longueville could be Fouquet, then who else could be hiding? The students did all they could to remain calm. The maids are becoming more distant. The only exception to that is Saito and Siesta, but that's just because of who they are.
And in the middle of it all is Louise. The jeers she used to hear are now gone. No one dares to try and talk to her anymore. Not even Kirche.
Strangely, Tabitha begins appearing in the courtyard she uses to train, and they'll just…talk. About mundane things. About books and food. About lessons and their days. Their talks are slow. Tabitha speaks with single words, and Louise is busy with her own training. But they talk, and before she realizes, Tabitha has become a friend.
A week passes without fanfare, and then suddenly her mother appears.
She doesn't fear her. Not anymore. What indestructible image her mother once had in her mind is gone now. Shattered when she saw her broken and battered body amongst a dozen others, eyes wide with shock as blood drained from the many wounds littering her body. Her mother is human, in the end.
So when Colbert suddenly appears by her door, a worried smile on his lips as he explains that her mother is currently talking with the headmaster, she simply nods, grabs the sword she's taken from the barracks, and heads for the headmaster's room. She hears someone shouting as she approaches, and she lets out a small sigh as she enters.
And there is her mother, a scowl on her face as she shouts at the headmaster. Osmond is sitting there in silence, face shadowed as he bears all the insults her mother is shouting. His eyes turn up when he sees her entering, and a small smile comes to his lips. "Ah. Good morning, Louise. Did you rest well?"
Her mother turns to her, and then to the sword on her hip. "Loui-"
"I did, headmaster." She says as she bows. "I apologize for what's happened to Longuev-, Fouquet. Her betrayal is a blow to the Academy."
Osmond laughs, tired yet amused. "Yes, I suppose I was distracted by…worldly things." His smile turns more genuine then. "Thank you for saving us all."
She nods, and finally turns to her mother. "Hello, mother." Her voice is carefully even. She sees Osmond twitch. "For what reason have you come today?"
Her mother stares at her for a few seconds, before she scowls. "You are leaving this Academy."
And to that Louise says,
"No."
"You-"
"Does a normal person wish to willingly return to a prison they have left?" She says coldly. Her mother flinches back, and Louise takes a step forward. "This life I have here is not a pleasant one, but it is my life."
"You…dare call our home a prison?"
"Is that not what it is?" She tilts her head. "If that is our home, then why have I not felt comfort in it? Why have I dreaded returning to it? Why, whenever I think of that house, I think of screaming and looks of disappointment?" She takes a step forward, and she decides to stop reigning the willpower inside her. It floods the room, and the bookshelves around them begin to tremble. "Why then, when I cried all those days before, did I never call out for your name?"
"Why then does my own magic call out for your blood?"
Her mother had nothing to say to that. Her eyes are wide, and the sheen of sweat is clear to see on her head. Louise glares, coldly, and she takes a breath as she reins in her willpower. The trembling stops. "I will not return, but you are free to explore this Academy as you desire." She bows. "Good day, Mrs. Valliere."
And saying that, she leaves, the door loudly banging as it closes behind her. She doesn't bother staying to listen to what happens next. It doesn't matter.
That woman is not her family. And she will never be.
She goes to the cafeteria for a meal. What chatter there is dies down when she enters. She asks for her meal, and the maids are more than happy to give her the most decadent meal they have. Another byproduct of her little heroic act. She eats, returns the empty plates, and heads out to the courtyard she's now claimed as her own.
And there, sitting with Sylphid, her wind dragon, on her side is Tabitha. She looks up from her book when she approaches, and she gives her a little wave. Louise waves back.
She takes a breath. Her willpower rages through her body, and her Void Magic works to bring it back together. Tabitha doesn't see this; the simple Illusion spell she casts over herself makes sure of that, and she brings forth her sword. Then, she begins to swing.
They begin to talk. Slowly. Softly. But they talk, and Louise happily lets time pass her by.
…
Then, as day turns to dusk, Tabitha finally asks, "Are you, alright?" Louise blinks at her, confused. "Your mother." Tabitha elaborates. "She came."
"Ah." A grimace came onto her lips then. "I'm fine. She wants me to return home. I disagreed. We had a…falling out." Or maybe they did. Honestly she isn't sure. Maybe she'll be outcast from the Vallieres. Maybe not. She doesn't really know. Nor care. "That woman has never been my mother. I don't care what she wants."
Tabitha nods, satisfied, and turns back to her book. Louise turns away and begins to swing again, when she stops. Isn't this the perfect chance? There are…many things that can go wrong here. Many, many things. If things go out of hand, if her actions are heard? Things will go out of control.
But for a friend?
She can do this.
"How about you?" She asks casually. "How's your mother?" As she expected, Tabitha freezes at that. "Tabitha? Are you alright?"
"...yes."
She frowns. "Is it…your mother?" Tabitha flinches, having been called out. Louise lets her frown deepen. "Is something wrong with her?" She patiently waits. Tabitha can simply ignore her question. She won't be surprised. This is something she's held close for a long time.
But to her surprise, Tabitha does speak.
"She's…sick."
"Sick?" Tabitha nods. "From an incurable disease of some kind?"
She shakes her head. "...poison."
Her eyes go wide. She…actually mentions it. She mentions that her mother has been poisoned. Why? Why divulge something like that? Is it because she's assuming she won't find out that she's the princess of Galia? Or, is it because she's a…friend?
She has a feeling it's the latter, and something warm settles in her chest.
"Do you want me to help?" She offers. Tabitha turns to her, mouth opening slightly, before she shuts it.
"How?"
She grins. "Watch this." She swings her sword at the ground. It digs a small wound through the earth. She presses her palm down onto the dirt, and pulling at her willpower, she uses her Void Magic to reconstruct the earth. Then, like a wound healing, the earth molds back, and suddenly the hole she dug is no more.
Tabitha's eyes are wide, but she still seems unconvinced. So she aims her sword at her arm, and Tabitha screams as she brings her sword down. Blood splashes onto the dirt, and her arm drops onto the earth. Tabitha shakes, eyes wide, but Louise simply smiles. She reaches down, presses her severed arm back onto her shoulder, and pulls at her willpower.
And Tabitha's jaw fully drops as her flesh reknits, weaving around each other and coiling. Then, in just seconds, her arm is reattached, and she waves it around. "It's my specialty."
"W-What is…?"
"I didn't know what to do when all my spells failed." She begins spinning another tale. One both true and false. "But then I discovered this. I can…reconstruct things. It isn't healing. I can bring things back to how they were before. It's like…winding back time." That's completely false. Reconstruction isn't rewinding time. She just pulls back the lingering essence of what it is before and forms it back using her willpower.
"I can also do this." She holds out her sword. She floods it with her willpower, and with her Void Magic, the blade begins to fall apart. Shards of steel fall away like drops of rain, and soon a small pile of shredded steel lays beneath her. "I can also deconstruct things. Anything. Break them down to their most primary element."
She kneels down and presses the empty hilt onto the pile. Then, impossibly, the steel follows the hilt up as she rises, and soon her steel sword is reformed.
"It's why all my spells fail. I keep…breaking them down before they can be cast." She shrugs. "It doesn't matter in the end."
"Can-" Tabitha whispers. Her eyes are wide, and her skin is pale. "Can you…heal minds?"
She closes her eyes. "I can." She says. She forces down the memories of Tiffania. Of the days they spent bonding over the intricacies of their Void Magic. Of days in the forest, looking over the orphans she'd taken under her. Of sleeping together when the nights got too cold. Of seeing her smile as a wall of flames engulfed her whole.
"Did it to an elderly man I met months before. His age had broken his mind down, and I managed to bring it whole using my magic." Once again, both true and false. She did heal an elderly man's mind. Just not in this life.
Suddenly, Tabitha is before her, her smaller hands clasped around hers, and her eyes are alight with hopeful desperation. "P-Please! Save, m-mother!" She begs with tears in her eyes. "Do, anything! P-Please, save!"
For a moment, Louise lets her eyes close. She thinks of Tabitha, of Charlotte, of the princess of Galia, and later, the queen. She thinks of days huddled in bunkers, of days hovering over maps illuminated by nothing but a fading torchlight. She thinks of saving the world, and of that small smile she had when they celebrated the lives that had passed.
She opens her eyes and smiles. "For a friend? I'll do as much as I can."
…
And so, under the cover of night, she and Tabitha fly atop Sylphid, heading towards Tabitha's home. They'll arrive by morning.
Tabitha sits in front of her, her hands clenched tight over her chest. Tabitha shivers slightly. Louise doesn't know if it's from the fear or the cold. Whatever it is, she unclasps the cloak she is wearing and wraps it around Tabitha instead. The girl turns to her, confused, and she smiles. "It's cold. You wear it."
"You?"
Her smile turns a little sad. "I'm used to the cold." She doesn't elaborate. Thankfully, she doesn't ask further. She softly thanks her, and soon silence falls between them once more.
…
They arrive at dawn. The rising sun illuminates the forests as they land, and Tabitha softly tells Sylphid to guard the house as they enter. Her sole butler greets her as they come in, and Louise lets her mind wander as she glances around. For a house being kept by a single man, it's incredibly clean. A far-off space befitting a princess-in-hiding.
Soon though, fate comes calling, and the butler's eyes go wide when she tells him that she wants to meet her mother. He tells her that she's sleeping at the moment, but Tabitha insists. He then asks what Louise is here for, and Tabitha says that she's going to see her mother as well. The butler blinks at that, before he simply leads them over to a room at the far right of the house.
They enter, and there, resting on the bed is a woman. A sickly woman, with pale skin and shrunken cheeks. With pale light blue hair that almost looks white. She's thin, dangerously so.
She sighs. "Her mind has been terribly broken." She begins as she cautiously approaches the bedside. The sickly woman looks even smaller then. "The poison has broken her. It-, even if you were to bring the best healers there are, it won't work." She narrows her eyes. "Because, by now, there is nothing to heal. Her body has adapted to the insanity."
Tabitha's eyes fall, and she grits her teeth. "I-Impossible…?"
"For normal mages, yes." She puts her palm on the woman's forehead. She takes a breath, and calls upon her willpower. "But I've done this before. And I can do it again."
Her willpower rises with anticipation, and her Void Magic activates.
Her magic reaches deep into her. It reaches into the woman's organs, her brain. Her willpower floods every and all part of the sickly woman. Then, Louise feels the flame of power rise beneath her chest, and she grits her teeth as her magic begins tearing apart everything this woman once was.
Purple cracks begin appearing all across the woman's body, and she hears Tabitha gasp in surprise. "Don't be afraid." She says, her breaths warm. "She'll be fine."
Then, she pulls it all around, and her magic begins pulling back what it's broken apart. It pulls upon the history of who this woman once was, of how her body used to be, of how she used to be before she ingested that poison. It reaches deep into the archives of history, and it finds the woman once known as Elise Helene d'Orleans.
It soon finds it, and at her beckoning, her Void Magic begins to construct.
Like pieces to a puzzle, the broken pieces begin fitting back into the image her Void Magic has reached for. Organs are rebuilt, reverted to the state they once had been. Her body begins to fill out. Her gaunt cheeks become smoother. Her skin deepens. Her hair regains its color. And her brain is rebuilt, free from the damage the insanity had wrought.
The cracks recede as Louise pulls her hand away, and she finally lets her knees buckle. Tabitha quickly reaches over and catches her before she can fall, and she gives the quiet girl a slow smile as she sighs.
She's done it, but she's exerted herself far more than she expected. She supposes she shouldn't have been surprised. This body of hers, as much as it's grown, is still young. She still needs to regain her strength if she is to perform something like that without completely running herself dry.
Then, she hears Tabitha choke, and she looks up to see her crying. She frowns for a moment, and then turns to see that the woman has awoken, and her eyes are wide as she sees Tabitha. "Charlotte…?"
"M-Mama!" Tabitha finally cries, and Louise lets out one final breath as she lets her consciousness slip away.