I'll be honest, this should have gone out at least a week or two earlier. Then life. sigh
Either way, hope you guys at least enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 18: Family, Research, and War.
To say that the next few days were a blur…is an understatement of epic proportions for Tlopfest. After getting back to Siesta's home, the group was able to finally meet Siesta's family face to face. Colbert was able to secure Siesta's family's blessing to take the plane back to the Academy for study rather quickly, as they didn't seem to make much of a fuss about it. While he went ahead to deliver the plane, Tlopfest and Louise stayed behind and experienced what could only be called a tornado of family bonds. Her parents were, rightfully so, frightened at first when seeing Tlopfest, but calmed down after Louise revealed herself. Though by 'calming down' they instead started sweating bullets and treated every step and word towards here like they were handling a primed explosive.
The rest of the family was rather eccentric. Seven kids…way too many for this pigman to remember, all chattering about and asking question upon question to Tlopfest. Doesn't help that he let slip one of his adventurous stories to them and gained their attention. Could've been worse though. At least they didn't try to steal his pan or anything.
By the time Louise, Tlopfest, and Siesta started to head back, the pigman and his summoner both seemed worn out. Riding on the horses they took back, the trio quickly started to head back to the Academy.
"So….many….children…" Louise muttered under her breath.
"You got that right….criminy that was crazy." Tlopfest responded.
Siesta couldn't help but chuckle some at the duo's fatigue. "Well, it is not every day that they get to see a noble and their familiar."
"That was way more than just simple curiosity Siesta!" Tlopfest retorted. "I swear, if we stayed there much longer my poor ears would finally start rotting away."
Louise snorted. "Humph. Try having three of those maniacs constantly following you around."
"Three? Louise, I had to handle the other four, and those three, just because someone let slip that I had interesting stories to tell!" Tlopfest threw a light glare at their guide, who did nothing but smile back at them. Sighing, Tlopfest sat back upright on his horse. "Well, nonetheless, I'd say it was a successful vacation overall. We 'found' a legendary 'dragon,' got to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Academy for a while, and see a friend's family. Plus, said 'dragon' could be a key to understanding inter-dimensional travel." Tlopfest smiled at that. "That, or we/I can at least tear it apart some to both try to gain some spare materials and learn how it works."
Reaching the Academy once again, the trio noticed the plane right outside of Colbert's workshop. Said workshop's owner was already climbing all over the plane, furiously taking notes on a scroll. Putting their horses away, Tlopfest quickly ran over to Colbert while Louise walked back to her room and Siesta to the servant's quarters.
"Hey Colbert! Any luck on this so far?" Tlopfest shouted up to the professor.
"Oh, Tlopfest! I see you've returned," Colbert exclaimed. "I..can't say I have made much progress. The way this dragon is shaped, and having no motion of the wings…I cannot really tell how this is able to fly."
"..Really? I thought you would have been able to at least figure out more than that by this point? What have you been doing, bragging about your discovery to the other teachers or something?"
"Wh-No, I..uh, well…" Colbert stumbled on his words, not quite sure how to say it. He did brag about his discovery some, but afterwards he had been climbing all over it just to figure out how it works.
Sighing, Tlopfest approached the plane. "For Nether's sake, Colbert, aren't you supposed to be a major researcher here?" Shaking his head, Tlopfest put his hand on the plane to see if he could get some more information from it. "Then again, I kinda feel that I'm cheating a bit having this ability…" Tlopfest thought. As information passed through his mind, Tlopfest reached up and, getting to the cockpit, opened the hatch and started to fiddle with the controls some.
"Well, looks like most things are functioning, at least on a first glance. Though its fuel is basically empty." Tlopfest said, gaining Colbert's attention again.
"You don't think it has something to do with the dragon's blood I found before, would you Tlopfest?" Colbert asked.
"It may. You think you can make more of the stuff for us to use? It could very well, no scratch that, it is the fuel source for this vehicle. If we want to get this airborne, we're gonna need a lot more of the 'dragon blood' as you call it."
Nodding, Colbert quickly ran off to his workshop to start the process. Looking back in the information that Tlopfest received from his attachment to the plane, he realized that the fuel source was called 'gasoline.' "Gas…Arugh, son of a Wither! I should have known that's what the stupid thing was! I've been to space for Nether's sake! Then again, I never really went out there much…" Shaking his head, Tlopfest hopped out of the plane and headed back to the library, thinking about reading some more on the world.
After reading some more on the history of the world, namely the war between the Elves and humans, Tlopfest continued to wander about the library deep in thought. "Gotta say, that whole 'war' thing seems kinda pointless. Especially since I haven't seen any signs of elves out here. They can't be that bad, can they?"
By the time Tlopfest pulled himself out of his thoughts, he realized that he was in a darker corner of the library. Looking around, Tlopfest noticed some more books that he hadn't read yet. Although, out of the entire collection, only two stood out to him. The first was a simple black book, yet it almost seemed to reach out to Tlopfest, beckoning him to read it. The second was what appeared to be a thick red book, yet the markings on the spine reminded Tlopfest of something similar to what he had back home. Curiosity overwhelming him, Tlopfest reached up and grabbed both books before returning to his table back in the brighter portion of the library.
"Now what do we have here…?" Tlopfest mumbled to himself. Putting the books down, he was able to take a better look at their covers. The small black book was just that - a book with a black cover on it. No markings, title, or anything of the sort was seen on the cover. The red one however, continued to poke Tlopfest's brain with its familiarity. Picking it up and opening it, Tlopfest was surprised to see multiple books starting to hover over the open pages. Looking through them, Tlopfest finally realized what he had on him.
"My old Akastic Tome! Ciminy, I completely forgot about this!" Excited to go through his catalog of books, Tlopfest soon saw that some of them were missing. Namely his spell books. "Guess I won't be using my made-to-order spells anytime soon then…" Although those were missing, many of his notes, manuals, and guides were still in there for anyone (including himself in case he forgot) to look though. He also noticed that his Thaumonomicon was still in the collection. "At least I can re-reference some of my notes in there. Still doesn't help my predicament of not having any way to make anything." Putting his tome aside, Tlopfest picked up the black book and started to look through it, only to find nothing there.
"It's…blank? Who keeps a blank book in a library?" Tlopfest shook his head in disbelief. Any other thoughts were interrupted however when he heard a small commotion outside. Curious, Tlopfest put the book down and wandered outside to see what all the fuss was about. Said fuss nearly ran him over with their horse as he stepped out onto the grass. Tlopfest got out of the way just in time to see a flustered Guiche holding the reins.
"Oi, Guiche! Watch where you're going! You nearly-"
"Nevermind that pigman! War has been declared on Tristan by the Reconquista!" Guiche exclaimed.
"What?!"
A little while later, Osmond had gathered the students and faculty in the large hall of the school. While many were wondering what was going on, Tlopfest, Louise, and their friends knew exactly what this was about.
Osmond cleared his throat, gaining the attention of all the students there. "Many of you may have heard about the recent rebellion of Albion. Unfortunately, as of now, a war has been officially declared against Tristan by Albion, nay, Reconquista." Gasps and murmurings could be heard amongst the group. "The army is being reorganized as we speak, and will be led by Princess Henrietta herself."
"The princess?!" Louise couldn't help but exclaim when she heard that. Pulling herself back together quickly though, only Tlopfest ended up noticing her exclamation.
"Well, she is her childhood friend. Of course she'd be worried." Tlopfest thought.
"As of now," Osmond continued, "the Academy of Magic will be closed until further notice. If you have any questions or need assistance, please come to one of us at once. That is all."
Once Osmond finished his speech, Louise quickly turned and headed for the doors. Although this didn't stop her friends/classmates from reaching out to her.
"Louise? Where are you going?" Kirche asked.
"Do you really need to ask that?" Louise responded tersely. Continuing on her trek, Tlopfest quickly ran to catch up to her.
"You're going to join the legion, aren't you?" Tlopfest asked.
"Of course. It is what any noble should do."
"Any noble, or friend of the princess?"
Louise caught herself before she started to rant. Sighing, Louise continued towards the stables. "I mean what I said, familiar. However, as this is not your fight, I am leaving you behind."
"Oi, now hold on a second Louise." Tlopfest stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Just because I'm not a native Tristan doesn't mean I don't want to help." Turning towards the pigman, Louise showed true surprise in her eyes upon hearing that. "Oh don't give me that Louise!" Tlopfest continued. "We've been together for at least a few months now, you should know how I work at this point. Besides," Tlopfest turned towards the plane on the other side of the field. "We've got not only a plane from a different world," Tlopfest pulled out the 'Staff of Destruction,' "but we have my staff as well. Plus, I feel like we still have some unfinished business with the Reconquista, don't you think so?" Tlopfest said while towards Louise, a small, but menacing, smile on his face.
The next morning, Tlopfest woke up in Louise's room. However, looking towards her bed, Tlopfest saw a distinct lack of the pink-haired girl. "Guess she really wanted to get going ASAP, huh?" Tlopfest thought. Picking up Derflinger from the wall, Tlopfest headed out to Colbert's workshop to start gathering tools. Last time he touched the plane, Tlopfest noticed that a few parts were in need of some repairs. While the information didn't give him the exact instructions for how to fix those, Tlopfest was sure he could figure them out.
Reaching the workshop, Tlopfest saw Professor Colbert leaning over a large barrel, chanting and creating more of the gas. Clearing his throat as to try and not startle the professor this time, Tlopfest waved to Colbert as he got his attention.
"Oh, good morning Tlopfest." Colbert said, somewhat tiredly. "I was finally able to get the formula right for the gasoline, as you call it, although it seems to really take a toll on my willpower."
"I can see that. You look beat." Tlopfest replied, walking over to the toolshelf. "I'm going to borrow a few of these tools. The plan apparently needs some repairs before it's airworthy."
"I..I see." Colbert put down his staff and stopped creating the gasoline as it finished filling the barrel. "I wish you the best of luck with that. In the meantime, I will take some rest before trying to create some more gasoline." Colbert slumped forward somewhat from exhaustion. Before he could fall into the barrel though, Tlopfest quickly caught him by the robes and pulled him back up.
"Yeah…you definitely need to get some shut-eye man." Tlopfest patted Colbert's back and headed out of the shop, tools in hand. Reaching the plane, Tlopfest touched it once again to re-verify the problem areas. "Alright, let's get started, shall we?"
Meanwhile, back in the palace, Louise was finally able to speak to Henrietta. Kneeling before her, Louise went on to tell her that she and Tlopfest were both on board to help Tristan in this trying time. Although noticing the lack of a certain pigman, Henrietta asked about him. Louise only had one thing to say about that.
"My familiar is currently staying behind to work on a specific item that should help us in the upcoming battles. He will meet us on the battlefield once we know where the enemy is going to strike."
"I see. We will have to send a messenger to him then as well." Henrietta replied, a small smile showing on her face. "Thank you both, truely," Henrietta thought.
The war is upon us now. How will things turn out? Well, you'll have to see once the next chapter is out.
If you enjoyed this chapter (and/or the story all-together), be sure to follow/favorite, since it's obvious at this point that I can't seem keep my own schedule down. See you next chapter!