Summer ends, and they inevitably return to the Academy. She shares one last feast with Elise before they are to leave. They'll head out at night, late enough that it'll be day when they arrive. And when that time comes, Elise is there to share one last hug with them before they take off into the skies.
And already, Louise feels herself aching, desperately craving the warmth that woman has. She shivers slightly, and her coldness is immediately comforted when Tabitha leans back onto her.
They fly in silence, and she can't help but smile as the Academy comes into view, illuminated by the slowly rising sun. With the sun behind it, glowing just behind the towers, the Academy looks beautiful, almost divine. Like something built in a fading dream. Beautiful but ethereal.
They land. They part for a short moment. Louise returns to her room and places all the things she brought back. She then heads to the cafeteria for a meal. It is startling early then, and only the staff are awake. They happily greet her when she comes, and she smiles and thanks them as she sits down and eats.
Privately, she wonders why the staff are suddenly so happy to see her. She supposes saving that maid from Guiche has done wonders for her image in the commoners' eyes, but it can't have that big of an effect, could it?
She later learns that, yes, it does have a big effect. Because she truly is the first to act like she does, and something inside her burns at it.
She doesn't know that yet, and so she returns her empty plate and heads for the courtyard. Tabitha is there to meet her as always. They'll normally be training by now, but they don't do that. Instead, Louise casts a Silence and Illusion over the courtyard. She then sits down, her back against the resting Sylphid, and Tabitha drops her head onto Louise's shoulder. Her eyes then turn to the book Tabitha is holding, and together they begin to read.
It's something fairly recent. She didn't hide the fact that Bidashal had taken a visit. Nor did she hide how she stomped him. Tabitha is grateful. And that should've been it. But then Elise whispers something to her daughter, and Tabitha flushes before cold determination settles in her eyes. Louise shivers then, worried, but nothing happens for the rest of the day.
And then when the next day comes, Tabitha suddenly says that she wants to spend an hour everyday reading with her. Louise is…confused, but she accepts it, especially since Tabitha is so very warm in the mornings.
They soon make it through a chapter, and Tabitha closes the book. They rise from the earth, and Louise gives her arms a stretch. She glances to her right to see that Tabitha has already begun her training, and icebergs are formed all throughout the courtyard with frightening speed.
Bidashal's arrival heralds the incoming dangers, and Tabitha takes to her training with increased vigor. Naturally, the girl immediately asks how Louise managed to bypass his defenses. After all, he can put up a shield that can block any elemental attacks. Louise stared then, confused why she thought that, before she realized that, of course, no one actually knew how Elven Shields work.
So she teaches her. She creates the very same elven shield Tabitha is so afraid of. The girl's eyes had gone wide when she first did it, before it sharpens when she begins explaining.
Elven Shields are…nothing extraordinary, really. But they are genius in their design. It isn't necessarily true to call them a shield. They're more 'disruption fields' than shields. They work by disrupting the structure of any spell they come across, which then causes the spell to unravel and release the willpower fueling it.
The thing is, these 'disruption fields' are, themselves, spells. Spells created using a different entirely, but spells nonetheless. The reason why Louise so easily bypasses them is because most of her own Explosions are deconstruction of worldly matter, and so the Elven Shields are similarly broken down the moment they come in contact.
Of course, Tabitha easily notices her wording and realizes that all she needs to do is learn how to unravel the shield's structure. To break through its mechanism with willpower and willpower alone. It isn't as easy as it sounds, of course. It meant learning an entirely different system of magic, and deepening one's fine control over pure willpower.
But Tabitha is no simple student, and she becomes the queen of Galia for a reason. She takes to the task with admirable energy, and promptly figures out a method of breaking past the shield in just three days. Three days. It is, perhaps, one of the most incredible feats she's ever held witness to.
A feat that apparently was only possible because Tabitha forsook her sleep for the entirety of the three days. So she isn't surprised when Tabitha crashes into unconsciousness the moment she tells the girl to sleep. Which is all good and done. What she doesn't expect is for the girl to cling to her like a pillow, and Louise couldn't find the strength to push the girl away.
So they spent hours sleeping outside only to wake up on a bed. Tabitha was still sleeping beside her then, and it took a second to realize that Elise had most likely found them and brought them in. Her cheeks had gone warm at the realization.
So they now train. Bergs of ice forms, and her explosions will sweep them away. Elven Shields are formed, and they are then torn down. An arm is raised, and the skies are alight with explosions. A staff meets the ground, and the earth turns white with frost and snow.
Thankfully, no one shows up at the courtyard, having known that Louise has all but claimed it as her own. No one gets caught in the mayhem they unleash.
Time passes. Days roll by in gentle idleness. Their days are spent training, reading, and flying atop Sylphid's back. Occasionally she'll meet up with Saito and Siesta to see how they've progressed, and she finds herself impressed every time. Occasionally Tabitha will go to see Kirche, and she always returns with a slight pout on her lips, whispering about how the other girl keeps teasing her about something.
…
And then the news of Prince Wales' death finally reaches the Academy. Of his illicit relations with Princess Henrietta. Disraight, her marriage is canceled, and like the vultures they are, Albion makes use of this excuse to wage war against Tristain.
Louise immediately begins preparing for a trip to the royal castle. Tabitha instead offers to fly her over on Sylphid's back. She agrees, and together they fly across the skies. They reach the castle in a couple hours, and ordering Sylphid to hand around the skies, she and Tabitha make their way through the streets.
They attempt to enter the castle, and are immediately barred from entry. Louise feels her thin patience thinning even further, and with a smile that is hardly comforting, she tells them that she is Louise de La Valliere, that she knows Agnes, and that she will carve a path of blood through them if they dare attempt to stop her from consoling her friend. The guards pale then, their hands reaching for their weapons in fear.
Thankfully, one of the musketeers she met during Fouquet's appearance is there, and she easily tells them that her words are true. Now truly frightened, the knights step away, and the musketeer makes a plea for her to aid the princess. She nods, and with Tabitha behind her she makes her way towards the throne room.
As they approach, she begins to hear shouts. Angry shouts. Some simply angry. Some also mocking. Her patience thins even further.
They then reach the doors to the throne room, and the shouts are ever clearer then. They are mocking the princess. Mocking Henrietta. Mocking her friend.
The doors open, and she sees Henrietta sitting on the throne, tears in her eyes as she smiles in shame.
And.
She.
Burns.
Her patience finally snaps, and her willpower rushes through the room. The windows shatter. The ceiling cracks. And all the shouts go silent as she steps into the room. Some nobles attempt to run, but Tabitha's faster. She slams her staff into the floor, and frost spreads through the room in an instant. All the nobles are frozen stiff.
She glances around, taking a mental note of the nobles that dared mock her friend. As she expects, most are either traitors or nobles so far up their arses that they believe themselves greater than the princess herself. She takes particular pleasure at seeing Wardes, his body frozen solid. His eyes go wide when her eyes turn to her, and she lets a cold smile come onto her lips.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." She begins, her voice loud and clear, bellied with the experience of hundreds of battles. "Miscreants, all of you. You pin your blame on the princess. On the one who has done all she can to support this damned nation. And this is how you repay her." She scoffs. "Nobles. Truly a stain on this continent."
"You-!"
"Silence." She snaps. She turns to the noble who dared speak, and she lets her smile widen. "Ah, I recognize you." She tilts her head. "Don't you run an underground slave ring west from here? I hear you plan on expanding your business with the upcoming war." The man's eyes go comically wide then, and she smiles with teeth. "Don't worry. Your business will be thoroughly handled."
She hears someone else whisper, and she turns to see a woman. Her eyes flinch away, and Louise grins. "And you? My, are you not the one who told Albion of the Ring of Andavari?" The woman is crying now. Louise doesn't stop. "Mm. I hear it has the power to take control of minds. Do you not understand what dangerous thing you've given to our enemies?"
"I-I-I'm sorry…!"
Louise ignores her. Finally, she turns to Wardes. She barely manages to push down her snarl, and smiles not-so-pleasantly instead. "And you." She takes a step towards him, and more of her willpower seeps into the air. "You. You absolute waste of space. To think Henrietta has to share her space with the killer of her love." His eyes are shaking and wide. She gently cups his cheek. "Then again, I suppose I must commend you on your daring attitude. I suppose that is why Lady Valliere so easily sold me off to become your bride."
She takes notice of how he begins to scream the moment she says so, and she turns down to see that the frost keeping him in place suddenly turned sharp. They're stabbing into him now, and there is no doubt the man is suffering. She gives a grateful nod at Tabitha, and the girl nods back.
The doors suddenly open then, and Agnes comes in to see what they've done. Her eyes are wide, but she relaxes when she sees that Henrietta is unharmed. "Sir Agnes." Louise calls out, and she tries to soften her smile. It doesn't work. "What is the greatest punishment a noble can receive?"
Understanding comes into the woman's eyes, and she smiles darkly. "Public execution."
Someone begins to cry. The room, already cold, impossibly turns colder.
Louise takes a breath. "Then every noble here is slated to be executed. Both for slandering our princess, and for the many, many illicit things they have done." She stops then before she says, "Ah, but do leave Wardes to be the last. The killer of Prince Wales of Albion shall be the last to have his head cut off."
Agnes salutes. "We shall prepare everything."
And so the execution is slated to happen in a couple hours. All the nobles are detained, all still partially frozen and shaking with fear. The moment they all leave, she rushes to Henrietta, and she grimaces. She doesn't look well. She looks pale, she is shivering, and she has no doubt slept too little.
"...why?" The princess eventually manages. "Why must this all happen to me?"
"Because nobles are pieces of-" She coughs. "Because nobles are a waste of space."
Henrietta glances at her and Tabitha, and she shuts her eyes. "Does that mean you are too?"
Her grins sharpens then. "Well, I don't think I'm a noble by this point, but," She shrugs. "Who's keeping count, eh? And it's not like being a noble will stop them from having their heads cut off."
Tabitha nods. "Nobles, still human." She tilts her head. "Freeze, the same."
Henrietta laughs then. It's a soft thing, and it sounds more like a sob than anything, but it is a laugh, and she considers it a victory on her front. The hours slowly pass then, with her trying all she can to gently lift the princess' spirits back up.
"You don't need to appear." She says. "Your people will understand."
"I will." Henrietta says, and she frowns in determination. "Because they will understand."
Then, like a chime of death, the doors open. Agnes steps through and informs them that the public execution has been prepared. Henrietta nods then, and with carefully kept grace she rises from her throne and follows the woman out. Louise glances at Tabitha then, and her lips thin out. "You can stay here if you want."
Tabitha shakes her head. "You go, I go." She gently holds her hands in hers, and Louise feels that gentle warmth coil beneath her as Tabitha says, "We go, together."
So they do.
…
The streets are packed that day, and there is no small amount of horror lingering in the air as they see the state their princess is in. Their horror grows when Louise lists out each and every crime the offending nobles have done. Slave rings. Treachery. Kidnappings. Exploitation. Outright assassinations.
When the first noble is beheaded, the crowd cheers. The cheer grows with every head fallen, and then everything goes silent when they finally each Wardes. No one knows of him. Louise hasn't said anything about him. But her silence has only made the air colder. They know that his crime is the largest, so large that she leaves him as the last.
"Once, there was a great man." She begins softly, as if reciting a tale from long ago. "Under the light of the twin moons, he met a girl. And under the blessings of the spirits he promises to unite with her, and with that, unite the two disparaging nations. To bring them together and stand stronger than ever."
She harshly grips onto Wardes' hair, and she pulls him up. "But this world is cruel. That story is pure. It is kind. A tale of hope. And it has been dashed." With a single hand she lifts Wardes into the air. "So look upon him. Upon the one who has slain the love our princess has kept so dear to her soul. Look upon him. Look."
The people stare, and the rage in their eyes is clear. She feels Wardes shake. She doesn't know if it's indignation or fear or rage. Maybe all of them. Maybe none. She doesn't care. She slams the man down, and Agnes brings him over to the guillotine. Agnes glares at the man, before she finally slams the lever down.
The guillotine falls. Wardes' head falls onto the wooden platform. The people cheer.
"Albion has declared war on us." She says amongst the cheers. "Albion has dared to make a move against Tristain. Against our princess." She takes a breath. "They dare! They dare point their blades upon us! They dare proclaim themselves conquerors!"
The crowd roars. She briefly notes the surprised look she receives from both Henrietta and Agnes. Surprise at how experienced she is at all this.
"So let them come." She says, and the crowd goes silent as her willpower floods the air. "Let them come. Let them see what we can do." She notes the awe in their eyes, at the way the world itself seems to twist around her. "They have angered Tristain. They have angered our nation."
"So I proclaim: My name is Louise de-," She stops herself. "My name is Louise. I have known Henrietta for most of my life. I remember our first meeting, of that day upon that lake. I remember our days spent gathering flowers, talking, and living. I remember it all." She closes her eyes, in respect. "She is my friend."
"I don't do many things." She admits, and silently winces at how ironic that sounds. "But for a friend? For someone I have known for all my life?" She lets her lips curve to a feral smile. "For a friend? I will do anything."
And the crowd explodes with cheer.
…
When night comes, after hours upon hours of talking with Agnes and going over plans on what to do in the case of an invasion from Albion, Louise finally manages to slink away. She stumbles into the room she and Tabitha have been provided, and the moment the door closes behind her, she practically falls.
Tabitha is there to catch her, and she has no shame in leaning into the girl. "It's, okay." Tabitha softly whispers. "I'm here. You, can rest."
And then, after everything, after all the stress and passion and hatred and love and excitement, Louise feels something inside her break. She manages a breath, then another, and then everything else falls apart and she begins to cry. Tabitha is there to hold her for the rest of the night, and Louise hangs onto the girl and sobs out any and everything. She screams out her terrors and fears and exhaustion. Everything. She screams and sobs into the night, and Tabitha is there to hold her as the stars glimmer beyond the skies.
And when all is over, when Louise finally spends all her emotions, she does little to stop Tabitha from tucking her into the bed. And she snuggles into the girl as her eyes close.
Her dreams are silent that night.
Louise doesn't realize it then, but her actions sparked something she never would have imagined.
Her little slip wasn't as hidden as she expected it to be. The crowd had heard it, and immediately questions were raised. She is clearly a noble, and yet she introduces herself not as one. It didn't take long for someone to find out her full name. That she is Louise de La Valliere. She is a student of Tristain Academy.
A small group of commoners take a visit there, and it's there that they found out just what Louise had done for the staff. "She is the best noble I've ever met." A maid said with undisguised respect and awe. "She saved one of us when a noble tried to hurt us. And now no one dares to raise an arm against us."
They then also learnt of when Karin de La Valliere visited the Academy. A maid who'd heard the entire exchange then appeared and told them of what she heard. "Louise has been neglected by her." The maid began sadly. "And-, it's just too sad! I heard her denounce her own name, and denounce her mother." She shook her head. "How terribly must she have suffered?"
Then the people remembered the amazing sight they bore witness to. Of seeing the world itself twist and bend before her. As if reality itself was bowing to her. Some people, those that had some passing knowledge of magic, noted that it's a phenomena caused when a particularly large amount of willpower fills the air. This did little to quell their enchantment. If anything, people began to realize that she holds even more strength behind her.
There was fear when Albion proclaimed that they would soon invade Tristain, but it was soon swept away as knights began patrolling Tristain in doves. They carry with them tales of Louise, of how she spent nights after nights working to create plan after plan. Of how she focused on keeping the people safe instead of focusing on the nobles.
"The nobles can defend themselves once they pull their wands out their arse." A knight had paraphrased when he was asked about it in a tavern. The crowd laughed then, but then the knight turned somber. "It really is a blessing to meet her. She is kind in ways I never thought possible. Inspiring in ways I never thought I would ever see." He took a breath. "It's as if I have witnessed the rise of another legend."
He placed his mug of ale down, and he turned to the silent crowd. "Fight. Fight not because you want to, but because you need to. Fight for your family. For your friends. For your love. Fight so that our nation still stands, so that we still have a future to look forward to." He said softly. "That's what she told us."
"Fight not with honor, but with hope. Not with pride, but with the desperation to see another day." He grinned. "And what else can I do but fight?'
Then, just a week after Louise came, a fleet of ships came. A scouting party from Albion, and that small force alone was larger than some of their armies. The people trembled with fear, but they were ready to fight.
Except they didn't need to. Like a knight from old, Louise took to the skies atop an elegant blue dragon. She flew towards the approaching fleet, just her alone, and the people feared that she planned to sacrifice herself. But when some knights expressed their concern to Musketeer Captain Agnes, she had apparently laughed loud enough to be heard through the entire castle.
"That girl-, she's special." Agnes shook her head. "I'm no hopeful. I've lost too much for it. But with her at the helm? With her commanding us?" She smirked. "I pity Albion. That girl is special. She has brought so much good in so little time. Our army grows in hundreds every day, and it continues to speed up. Our supplies are more plentiful than ever. Our distribution is more efficient than I've ever seen."
Agnes stared at the knight, and for the first time in his life, he saw the normally cold captain gently smile. "With that girl at the helm? I feel hope."
What remaining fear there was disappeared when they witnessed a miracle. The fleet of ships, daunting in their size and stature, disappeared in a flash. An explosion ripped through them all in an instant, and for a moment it was as if a second sun had risen upon the skies. The world went silent then, and then cheers exploded across Tristain when they witnessed Louise flying back, victorious and completely unharmed.
It didn't take long for the people to create titles for the girl. She Who Protects. Tristain's Blade. The Great Commander. The Savior of Tristain. Great Archmage. Title after title were created. Each both more true and more outlandish than the last.
Then another army from Albion came. This one magnitudes larger. This one filled with more than a dozen flying ships and thousands of infantry. Tristain wasn't ready for that just yet. It'd take some time until they'd be ready. Once more, fear propagated throughout Tristain. Once more the future was in peril.
And once more Louise stepped up. Together with a powerful mage and her friend, Tabitha, she flew upon that regal blue dragon. The people lied in wait, hoping for their return, hoping for victory.
But there was a brave boy who chased after them. He was a young knight, recently joined due to the tales of hope he'd heard of The Savior. So when he saw Louise leave, he ran to his horse and chased after them to see just what would happen.
A day after their leave, the two mages returned. Their clothes were ruffled and torn in some places, but they were unharmed, and victorious. Once again, Tristain cheered.
Later on, the boy would regale his tale to the knights, who then spread the tale he'd witnessed to the people, and the tale swiftly spread all across Tristain. For it was a tale of hope. Of battles and victory. Of the unleashing of two powers so great it tore the world in half.
"They were incredible!" The boy shouted. "Lady Tabitha carries with her the great cold. Any and all who dared approach her would be frozen." He took a breath, drank the rest of his ale, and grinned. "My heart stopped beating when I saw Lady Tabitha leap off her regal dragon. I thought she had finally lost it." He laughed. "Hah! I should've thought better!"
"She survived a fall like that?" A knight in return, eyes wide.
"Yes!" The boy's smile was particularly bright. "Great winds slowed her fall! It was-, it was like something out of a fairy tale! She was so graceful, and her every move was gentle."
His smile turned sharp. "Lady Tabitha offered them peace. She offered them life. She told them to turn back and leave the army. To return to the people they care for." He leaned forward. "And they laughed. They laughed at her. As if their lives didn't matter. As if the peace she offered meant nothing."
The crowd was silent, waiting, eager, and the boy let the silence stretch for a few more seconds before he grinned. "The battlefield froze. It was a massive wave. Frost spread all across the fields in minutes, and the green grass turned white with ice and snow. Many died from it. And those that didn't were frozen solid."
"You mean…the entire army was frozen, with a single spell?" A knight asked. The boy nodded, and the knight's jaw fell. "That-, I remember Lady Louise mentioning that there were some 6000 soldiers! All of them were frozen!?"
It was utter insanity, but then they realized that Lady Tabitha was a friend of The Savior, and the one she would turn to if she needed something. Is it so strange then that Lady Tabitha was just as amazing?
"But what about Lady Louise? What did she do?"
The boy blinked, before his grin turned outright feral. "It wasn't even close. The moment she saw the fields freeze, she…raised her hand, I think?" He shook his head. "She raised her hand, and over her formed a second sun."
"Wait, like, an actual sun?"
"Yes! It was amazing! It was a ball of pure, burning white, so bright I had to shield my eyes! She tossed the sun at the fleet, and they lasted not even a second before they were burnt away!" He shakily took a breath. "When I first saw her explode that small fleet of ships, I was awed. But when I saw her wield the sun itself? I nearly fell to my knees in prayer. It was-" He laughed. "It was like I had somehow bore my eyes upon the work of God."
And there it was. The Work of God. Not of Brimir. Not of the ancient archmage. Nay. Of the God the people still believed. Of the God whose name was long gone. Of the God they still worshiped, who they still prayed to in times of peril. It didn't take long for some people to believe that she was sent by God themself.
Surprisingly, Musketeer Captain Agnes had been one of the staunchest believers in it.
"No, you don't understand." The woman said to one of her musketeers. "You say that as simple praise. But her? Louise?" She closed her eyes and took a breath. "I admit that I thought at first that she was just a powerful mage. A close friend of Henrietta who now fights for Tristain. Our Savior."
"But I saw it."
"It?"
Agnes looked truly shaken. "I-, It was meant to be a normal skirmish. A small army of Albionese had appeared by the West. The platoon of knights were winning when they unleashed…something." She shook her head. "I wasn't sure what it was, but something dark rose from the Albionese we slayed. And suddenly, those we put down were rising once more, their eyes burning red and their strength greater than humanly possible."
"Y-You mean…?"
She grimly nodded. "Albion has gone too far. Not only have they dared claim this was our princess' fault, but they dare to tamper with the forces of death itself."
The musketeer snarled. "Those barbarians."
"Ay. It was a dark time." She took another shaky breath. "But more strangely, they didn't kill us. They injured us and knocked us out." She shut her eyes. "I had been the last one to remain standing. And they had to sever my legs until I finally lost my strength."
The musketeer gasped when she heard that. "But-, your leg is fine?"
"Yes, it is." Her voice was revenant then. "Suddenly, Lady Louise appears. She lays her eyes upon me, and I see rage in her eyes. She turns to the reanimated corpses, and with a snap of her fingers my eyes are filled with explosions." She laughed lightly. "In a single snap, each and every Albionese had been blown to shreds."
"But then, she stopped before me, and she apologized." She grit her teeth. "She apologized for being too late. For letting me get injured. Just who does that?"
The musketeer smiled sadly. "Someone kind."
Agnes sighed. "Ay. She really is kind. But then," She presses a finger onto a thigh, tracing the line her leg had been severed at. "She brought upon a miracle. She pressed my severed legs back onto me, and I could only gasp as she attached them back." The musketeer gasped in shock. Agnes smiles. "Before I knew it, I could stand once more. As if my legs hadn't just been cut off. It was-"
"A miracle."
"Ay." Agnes gently cupped her hands in prayer. "A true miracle."
So Louise's name continued to spread. Her fame continued to rise. Her tales regaled more and more. She became a symbol of strength. Of hope. Of the chance to reach the future. She became the banner Tristain fought under.
So The Savior rose upon Halkegenia once more.
It's been three months since she executed Wardes. She hasn't returned to the Academy. Nor has Tabitha. They've stayed to fight. And fight they did.
But she's only human. And so is Tabitha. So every night they'll stumble together onto their beds, tired from their training and all the work they now had to do. They'll tuck themselves under a blanket, and with the gentle lighting of a fading candlelight, they would read stories after stories, resting under the blinking stars above.
And if Tabitha sometimes holds her too tightly, if she sometimes shakes and trembles over how familiar this all was, Louise doesn't say anything. She just holds the girl in comfort and whispers gentle nothings into her ear.
And if Louise cries on some nights, her emotions finally breaking past her facade, if she despairs over the reports on deaths of the knights she leads, Tabitha doesn't say anything. She just holds her as Louise cries.
And maybe it isn't right for them to act like this. They're warriors now. Generals upon a battlefield. But in that room they were alone. In that room their facades fall. In that room they are just Louise and Tabitha, girls far too young thrusted into a war. And there they can be themselves.