"...Is it just me, or are there two Louise there?" The mage of the Gramont family rubs his eyes and blinks several times in case the view in front of him is correct.
To make sure that the citizens could be safely evacuated, many soldiers took the last ships while fighting back the rebellions, including the Earth Mage. He has heard that Zero's familiar has stayed behind and is almost guaranteed to die back in Albion, so he felt a bit sorry for the boy. Only when his ship reached the safe zone, he sees that Saito has already boarded a ship before him unscratched, and he also notices two identical people staying around him with his group.
"Did I accidentally drink that water and get some weird effects from it…"
"What's wrong, mister Gramont?"
"Sir Cardinal, Your Highness." Turning back, he quickly bows down and greets the two people heading to him. "I was just talking to myself…"
Henrietta slightly nods at his answer, then she gets a glance behind his back and gasps in surprise. "Louise! She managed to… wait, are there two of her?"
"...So I'm not the only one seeing that, Your Highness?" Guiche stands straight up and turns back to watch the group.
"If you think that you're being delusional, rest assured that you are not." Mazarin can also see that too.
Once their ship is secured and the walking board is laid down so everyone can get out, the Princess quickly walks out and heads to the group of the Void mage. When it's close enough for the hearing range, she calls out the name of her best friend… and the two pink-haired girls turn to her and quickly kneel down to greet her. To her bewilderment, they look exactly the same aside from their clothes (the other-worlder has borrowed Siesta's spare clothes in the replacement of her nightwear). However, she notices that one of them seems to carry Saito's sword for some reason… until she turns to the familiar himself to see another one on his back.
The one with the sword looks up and sees the Princess' confused expression, and she understands why. "Your Highness, we can talk later after we're in a safer place."
Snapping back to reality, Henrietta nods. Though she has ordered Cardinal Mazarin and Guiche to address other soldiers to take care of the civilians before she joins Saito's group.
…
"Another Halkeginia? Is it possible?"
"Since I'm here and I'm seeing another me, we have to accept it's true." The Void mage who was sent away from her home responds to the Princess, who wears a surprised face when she listens to her story.
While the soldiers are securing the area and a safe route to escort the Princess back, everyone gathers in one of the local inns and Louise summarizes a bit about her current situation (minus the identity of the mysterious assassin). Needless to say the newcomers (the Princess, the Cardinal, Guiche and Agnes) are surprised.
"So you're stuck here until you find a way back." After regaining his composure, the Earth Mage leans back on his chair while chuckling. "You and Saito are on the same boat this time, huh?"
"Maybe." Louise slouches in her chair with an irritated look. "Now I know how it feels to be at the receiving end of the summoning."
"You tell me." Saito replies. "Where are you going now? Maybe back to the Academy?"
"That's the most obvious option." The Void mage answers. "Or to Romalia, but the war here seems to be more troublesome than mine."
"Why didn't my other self take the chance? I mean, you succeeded in thwarting their advances at Tarbes Village…"
"Because the risk is not worth it, sir Cardinal. Unlike Cromwell, the new leader doesn't need a ring to annihilate anyone on her way. I saw it firsthand." She shivers.
"But Wales is still alive, so maybe he still can return to the nation and rebuild it, right?"
"That's… wishful thinking, Your Highness. Until we can figure out what that assassin is thinking, Wales has no nations and only a couple of spies."
"And the assassin is fully aware of those spies? Yet she still lets them go around the nation?" That earns Agnes a nod. "That's really weird."
"Well, we have one more lead to think of." The enhanced Derf joins in. "The Elf in the Westwood Forest…"
"EH!?" Everyone except Saito and the stranded Void Mage shouts in shock. Her other self quickly follows: "Elves are our enemy! Why do you want to find them?"
The Void Mage plans to reply back, but holds herself back. She remembers that Brimir's teaching has marked the elves as enemies, and unlike Wisdom, she's one of his followers. Any of her words now could be used against her if she says anything good about the elves…
"We can use her as a hostage."
"...Elaborate, Derf."
"The girl's close to Fouquet, and since she's working with Reconquista, we can try to… eh, 'negotiate' to get information." The enhanced sword explains what his 'fake' plan is, knowing that the girl couldn't say a few things in the conversation.
Everyone in the group can tell that the sword is just bluffing out to cover the Void Mage, but he does have a point. And Saito decides to add to that: "And since she saved me, I should also give her a thanks too. It would be rude to not return the favor after something so severe."
"...Very well." Henrietta nods in agreement. "We will establish a plan about it later…"
"Your Highness, the way is clear." One of the guards walks in and reports after the others have secured the extraction.
"Thank you." The Princess shows gratitude and turns back to the group. "Let us return back to the Academy and rest. It's been an exhausting day for us."
Everyone agrees and starts leaving the inn. Louise, however, decides to stay behind a bit, and once her group is out, she turns her attention to another table and cold eyes greet her. "You might hide your presence, but your killing intention is not unnoticed."
"On purpose." The same voice from before speaks up under the hood as the assassin sits on the table next to her.
"...Why?"
"You will see." And in the blink of an eye, the assassin disappears.
"No wonder they're on the same team." The sword whispers.
"Louise? What's holding you?"
"Nothing, Julio. Let's go."
"It… is unexpected." Cattleya expresses her surprise after I explain who I am and why I am here. "I know that Saito comes from a different world, but hearing that there's another Halkeginia…"
"Hey Cattleya, we still have to discipline our Chibi Louise here!" Big Sis Eleonore, however, doesn't share the same sentiment as she's scolding at my other-self who's glaring back at her. "Going into the battlefield and ignoring Father's words against doing it. You are lucky that you are alive to return back!"
'Saito did die though.' That's my immediate thought, but I don't voice it out. Seeing my other-self being irritated by my eldest sister, however, annoys me a bit. "Big Sis Eleonore. I know that Father didn't want us to get hurt because of the war, but it's our choice to serve Her Highness with what we have. Even if something happens to us, you can at least be proud that we do our best to try to get what we want."
The blond-haired mage is taken aback by my response, but then snaps and starts pulling my cheek much to my displeasure. "Since when did you grow such a mouth, Chibi Louise!?"
My other-self is a bit thankful that I defended her, and that I took the hit from her sister. Cattleya suddenly coughs once, and she turns to me and asks: "My other self, did you manage to find a way to cure Big Sis Cattleya?"
After Eleonore retracts her hand, I rub my cheek to soothe the pain while replying: "Not yet, we're still checking her health. If Wisdom's theory is correct and your sickness is because of heredity, then there's nothing we can…"
"Actually, Partner seems to have a way." Derf interrupts. "However, like how your mother suspected of his obedience to you, he suspected himself to not have the full knowledge to pull that off. And if that's what he believes…"
"Then we definitely can't do it either."
"Hm! You really think that whatever that person is…"
"He's my Familiar, Big Sis."
"Oh? You didn't summon Mister Saito?" Big Sis Cattleya asks in surprise.
"I didn't."
"And you really think your Familiar is better than even the Headmaster?" Eleonore questions with many doubts in her words.
"Hey, you are underestimating him Missy." Derf defends his partner. "Unless you can fight against your own mommy in a one-on-one fight, don't try to talk smack about my Partner."
The elder sisters blink several times. Knowing that look, I answer: "They had a duel, because Mother suspected that he might have malice motives when he served me and… taught me how to use the Void element."
"...If Saito could do the same thing…" I can hear my other-self mumbling quietly. Saito isn't that bad, is he?
"Hm… you seem to have a much more competent Familiar than my idiot sister's one."
'...He has a reason to.' That response will earn me a lot more questions from my sisters, so I decide not to say a word.
"By the way, how should we address each other?" My other self changes the subject. "I mean, if one calls for our name…"
"...Maybe I will go with our nickname." I respond much to her surprise. "After all, 'Zero' and 'Void' hold almost the same value."
"Don't you think Zerbst will use that to mock us both?"
"Let her. I'm used to it at this point."
"You could learn something from her, Chibi Louise." Big Sis Eleonore comments with a bit of disappointment in her tone. "So you're going to stay with Chibi Louise then?"
"I guess so. Saito stays in the same room with you, right Louise?"
"Yeah, but he sleeps on the ground."
"...Why?"
"He's my dog."
I look at her questionably. "Louise, he's human."
"But he's my Familiar also."
"...Do you have the same thought when you summoned Partner?"
"...For the first day, maybe." That brings back the memories when I believed that he's just an 'unusual' commoner, and that might be the biggest mistake I made. "Louise, you should treat him better especially after you confessed to each other."
That causes my other self to blush up and turn away. Seeing that makes me wonder if I made the same face when I was on the board with Wisdom that day…
"...If there's no more serious problems to talk about, then excuse me." Deciding that the conversation should stop for now, I stand up and give my brief goodbye before heading out, getting some fresh air. I can hear my other self trying to call for me but it seems Big Sis Eleonore stops her.
Walking out of the tower, I can feel many other students mumbling to their own group while giving side stares. Not caring about it much, I look around to try to find if either Julio or Agnes is nearby. Instead…
"Hey, you there!"
'Of course…' I sigh in my mind, and turn to see a certain Fire Mage walking to me with a smirking face. "What do you want this time?"
"From where did Zero find you? You look identical to that Valliere."
'...Right, she only saw us.' When we returned back to the Academy, Louise and I immediately headed back to our sisters' room with the others doing their own things. My guess is that the students already saw us. "That's because I am her."
"Oh please. That girl doesn't have a twin. And she definitely won't carry a sword around…"
"A talking sword, for your information."
Kirche blinks a couple of times before looking at Derf on my back. And she obviously knows the voice. "...Wait, aren't you Darling's sword? Why were you with her?"
"Partner's gone, so I'm with her."
"...Saito just returned with you all. What do you mean?"
I audibly sigh this time. "I don't like repeating this story for the…" I unconsciously look behind her to see blue eyes staring at me with curiosity, and I immediately reach my hand towards Derf's handle, causing her to back away in surprise. A second later, I recognize her as I retract my hand back. "I'm sorry for startling you, Tabitha."
"How didn't you react to her when we were still at the inn?"
"I did shiver, Derf. If I acted, what would she do?"
"...Right. Best to not risk everyone's life." The sword agrees, remembering how capable the assassin is.
"You can't be that jumpy, can you Louise?" Kirche sends her a questionable look. "Especially towards Tabitha. She's just a little doll…"
"That mur…"
I instantly slam him down, stopping him from going further. My face definitely shows irritation that both Kirche and Tabitha step back with surprise and fear on their respective faces. "Derf… I'm done for today."
"...Sorry, Pinkie."
Rubbing my face to get rid of the current expression, I sigh and ask: "Have you seen Professor Colbert around? I may be able to ask… Did something happen again?" The irritation returns when I see Kirche's startled reaction when I mention the Fire Mage Professor.
"He… the other Louise hasn't told you yet, has she?"
"...Where's Guiche?"
"You called?" Somehow, the lovebird duo walks by as the male one answers.
"Can you call out some of your golems? If possible, make them out of steel. I need to… vent out, for a moment."
The Earth mage sends me a confused look, though he does comply and calls out one of them with a flick of his wand. "You can just ask Saito for that. I mean, your other self does that all the time."
"Other self?" Montmorency asks in confusion.
"Oh, I was just getting there. You see…"
"More, Guiche."
"...Louise, you can't punch…" He shuts up when I send him an angry glare. He gulps and calls out ten more. "Happy?"
"Thank you. Now, step back."
…
"That's… a story I didn't expect." Old Osmond expresses his surprise after Princess Henrietta summarizes what happened on the front line. "Now we have two Miss Valliere, and one of them is trying to find her own way back to Halkeginia… I was expecting someone just similar to her when I was looking through the window, not this."
"It's not something that can happen everyday." Agnes then turns her head to the window and looks down… "...Are they picking a fight right now?"
"Hm?" Julio leaves the door and heads to where the Musketeer is and looks down as well. "...No, I don't think so. It seems that Guiche just called the golems out for something. They don't seem to be on a bad term…" He sees other mages starting to step away from the Void Mage herself, and he notices that this one carries a sword. "It's the other Louise. What is she…"
One second. The knight duo sees the girl raising her right hand up in the air, with her palm facing the sky.
The next two seconds. They see obvious energy gathering in her hand and forming into a big orb.
The last second. She throws it into the golems…
The Princess and the Headmaster are sitting at the tea table, so they have no idea what transpires except through Agnes and Julio's words. Only when a familiar explosion occurs that they know, and they head to the window to see if there are any casualties. Luckily, it seems that Louise just only blew up the ground…
"...Those are steel golems, right?"
"Given the reflection of the light, yes, they are." There are, respectively, Agnes and Julio's, who are surprised by the event performing before their eyes.
"Steel golems?" Henrietta asks as she watches Saito running to the group and starting to ask what just occurred.
"Right at that scorched ground, Your Highness."
"There's… no pieces of steel there." Old Osmond questions.
"That's the problem, Headmaster." Julio replies, fully implying what tragedy happened to those golems. "And she didn't even use a wand…"
…
"Louise?" Saito asks the Void Mage with a worried tone. He was just talking to Siesta when he heard the familiar explosion from afar. He rushed towards the direction and saw the Louise of the otherworld with the others, who were surprised and terrified at the spell she just did without an incarnation and any warnings. Right now he can't see her whole expression, but he can see her biting her lips…
"...I will be in the nearby forest, if you need me." And with that, the girl just disappears right there, leaving nothing behind.
Everyone stays motionless for a moment before Kirche snaps out of the daze. "Darling, what just happened to Louise?"
"That's what I want to know. What insults did you throw at her?"
"Nothing!" The Fire Mage shouts back… then rethinks of their conversation. "...Maybe, but I just called her jumpy, that's all!"
"And somehow that gave her enough reason to blow up my steel golems into nothingness!?" Guiche asks, definitely suspicious of that. "What did you tell her just before she asked for me?"
"It's…"
"What happened here?!" To all but Saito and Guiche's surprise, the original Louise runs to them with a concerned look. "I didn't blow up anything alright! Don't…"
"It's the other you, Louise." Saito responds.
"...Anyway." Kirche continues. "She just asked where she could find Professor Colbert. I… hesitated to tell her what happened."
"...Meaning that you haven't told her anything yet?"
"I haven't, Montmorency."
"...Special connection?" Tabitha guesses, her eyes have stopped fully opening wide though there is still 'surprised' written there.
"...Maybe. It's probably too much for her to hold back." Saito recalls her story, and might have picked up on what caused her to do so.
"Too much?" Kirche sends him a frown. "This Louise here didn't react that bad when…"
"She lost her Familiar, and she witnessed it first-hand." All who don't know turns to the Void Mage with surprised expressions. "Saito did die in Albion too so I can understand how she felt. At least she brought him back with us."
"It's the story of another time. Louise, we should find her." Saito stops the conversation and points his thumb to the forest. "I'm guessing she's somewhere in that direction."
The Void Mage agrees with her familiar's plan, and they quickly run out of the Academy and start looking around the forest, trying to find the missing other-worlder, leaving behind the stunned students and staff until the Headmaster arrives and questions what just occurred..
After about a long amount of time, they finally find the other Louise sitting in the middle of a clear ground Seiza style, her eyes closing with her arms resting on her legs. Her Derflinger is laid down to her left, unmoving. Her pink hair is covering the above half of her face, so the duo can't tell how she's feeling…
"Hey, Pinkie. You cooled down yet?"
"Derf, that's rude!" Saito turns to his sword and scolds.
"...Not really." 'Pinkie' replies. "Hearing another one in the Academy gone… I don't feel like I have grown at all."
"That's a total lie, Zero." The other Derf speaks up, going with the nickname the two Louise have agreed on. "If not, all your spells just blow up like before Partner taught you to control magic."
"...What happened that day, Louise?" Zero changes the conversation. "Professor Colbert couldn't be that weak to be killed on the battlefield. And if I remember right, he hated wars, so there's no way he joined."
"...It was an ambush in an attempt to capture me in the Academy." Louise replies. "Many Musketeers also died that day. One of the ambushers was also Professor's old comrades, before Professor found out what happened to Agnes' village."
"Sounds similar to the ones my Partner stopped." Zero's Derf speaks up. "Continue."
"We were in a different location, so we're lucky to not be captured." Saito follows the sword's suggestion. "We managed to ambush them back, and Professor Colbert confronted his old comrade. But in the middle of the fight, that comrade revealed Colbert's previous title, and Agnes was mad about it."
"...Please don't tell me Agnes killed him." Zero's voice is low, only enough for the other duo to hear.
"No. He died protecting Agnes." Saito throws away Zero's theory. "Agnes wanted to kill him, but after what he confessed before he died, she stopped."
…
I'm glad. At least the Professor didn't die due to stupid vengeance. Unlike my idiot Familiar.
My other self starts kneeling down and lifts my hair, and our eyes contact. "...I'm sorry for startling you all. I shouldn't blow up the golems like that."
"They didn't know what we have gone through. Don't put yourself down." Louise then gives me a warm hug, which reminds me of how Big Sis Cattleya usually does. "I was the same when I saw my Eclair D'amour withered. I really thought I would never see Saito again. If that Elf didn't save him and you didn't bring him to me… I might feel the same as you now."
"...Thank you."
We stay like that for a few minutes, with me feeling some of my frustrations fly away. After feeling that it's enough, I gently push Louise's arms away and stand up. "Thank you again. We should head back now." My other self nods and both of us stand up and I grab Derf with my left hand…
"Good."
And I immediately draw him out and point it directly at the assassin who has her hood off to reveal her cold eyes and expression, which causes both Louise and Saito to be surprised before turning their attention to what I'm looking at. "You… What do you want this time?"
To my horror, instead of being empty-handed, the woman slowly raises her hands up to show that she has two daggers. To increase my fear, the right one bursts into flame while the other starts emitting cold air before freezing into ice around the blade. I raise Derf up to my neck and even cast Shield instantly, attempting to block a lethal strike. And it's a good call: Before I could even blink, the woman teleports in front of me and swings both of her daggers, bypassing Shield and hitting Derf. The force is so strong that I get thrown away and hit my back on a tree behind.
While I'm recovering, Saito draws his sword out and attempts to hit the assassin. Right in front of my eyes, the woman doesn't even make an attempt to look at Saito while perfectly blocking his attacks with her daggers. Knowing that defense won't work for long, I get up and apply some of Void Element into my arms and legs.
While it's not perfect yet, at least I can 'hopefully' keep up with the Musketeer. Not sure how much it will help when it comes to the assassin.
I run to the assassin, and this time she delivers a kick at Saito's side while he attempts an overhead strike, sending him away. She quickly deflects my first hit away, though for some reason she doesn't go for the counter. Not thinking about it much, I go for another hit, and another, and another…
"Go for a spell!"
During one of my swings, Derf roars up. Seeing that the fire dagger is blocking my strike, I quickly release my left hand out of him and aim my palm at her, firing off a Void Blast. And she just deflects it with her other dagger, causing the spell to hit a tree instead. Not giving up, I keep changing my slashes while trying to change which hand to cast spells. Saito has also recovered and goes for her blind spots, hoping that at least the assassin will turn a bit of attention to him.
Yet the woman never falters. Not even when Louise tries to fire her spells from outside of the field whenever Saito and I distance ourselves from the assassin. With her daggers alone, all things coming to her will be neutralized…
'She doesn't even need to look with her eyes!' A horrifying realization hits me. 'Is this why Wisdom lost? No, he has Time Stop! Even if…'
In the middle of the fight, the assassin suddenly gives a side look before pushing Saito and me away, just in time when a Fire Blast hits her, covering her body in fire. Turning to the direction where it comes from, I see Kirche pointing her wand towards the assassin, with the rest of the group behind her. Old Osmond quickly stands before her and calls out: "Saito, Louise! Are you alright!?"
"We are still alive!" Saito recovers and stands next to me with his Derf ready. "Hey, Louise! You okay?"
"I can still fight…"
"She looks like you, Tabitha!" Kirche squints her eyes to look through the fire, and exclaims in surprise when she compares the assassin's face to her friend.
"...Never knew her." The Wind Mage is having a focused look as she points her staff towards the figure, ready for any attempts to…
"Weak." The cold voice echoes in the air, sending shivers on everyone's back. She then grabs her robe and flips it around, somehow depleting the fire completely…
And reveals a similar-looking armor she's wearing. This one is normal, compared to the extra tendrils from Wisdom's armor, and it's blue of ice instead of the color of darkness.
Before everyone can react, the area's temperature drags down drastically, and then everyone including me is encased in ice, only our heads are free. I try to move or even crack the ice but there's no process made. The others also try and end up being the same as me.
Putting the fire dagger away, the assassin slowly walks to the previously arrived group and raises the ice dagger up. Sensing the dreadful outcome, I look down and put even more Void Element into my limbs to try to break free, but it's not enough…
Thankfully, an Earth pillar erupts, hitting the assassin right at the stomach and throwing her away. A second later, a huge golem appears and slams its punch down and grinds the assassin to the ground, locking the assassin in the earth prison.
Thanks to the interruption, the ice spell stops and starts melting away. Everyone slowly gets out of their frozen status and starts gathering around with Kirche performing a small Fire spell to heat up. The ones saving them turn out to be Big Sis Cattleya with Big Sis Eleonore accompanying her. Louise then runs up to the former and gives her a hug while thanking her constantly. Big Sis Cattleya smiles and gives her a head pat, while Big Sis Eleonore starts rambling about…
"Weak." The same echo voice returns, and this time it's accompanied with the earth golem instantly getting cut into million pieces. All immediately turn to where the assassin is to see her punching away the remaining rocks, unscratched. Everyone points their weapons towards her with a fearful expression, seeing that the golem couldn't even hold her back. She then teleports right in front of me, causing me to swing Derf up only for her to block it. She stares into my eyes and repeats: "Still too weak."
"What… What do you want!?" I shout back, tears start to flow again. "Why don't you just kill me already!? We are enemies, right!?"
"...We are enemies. But we are also allies." The assassin replies back, her grip on my hands doesn't weaken.
"Don't throw those words out that easily! We are never allies! You killed Wisdom!"
"You will see." She then pushes me slightly back while releasing me. As I fall to the ground, I take a look around to see that everyone does not move, and the remains of the golem are still in the air. My eyes widen as I know what this is… "Time Stop. Useful spell. Either master it, or learn to counter it."
I snap my head to where the assassin is, only to see her disappear… and the rock starts continuing their drops…
"Where is she!?" Eleonore, noticing that the assassin has gone somewhere, shouts up, and everyone looks around to try to find…
"It's no use." All turns back to me, and I start shaking, feeling myself powerless against this foe. "We cannot catch up to her… we're no match… no one is…"
"Louise…"
"What is she, Big Sis Cattleya… What is Wisdom and his group? What are they?"
"Even to your standard, she has gone too far."
"Not even close, Chris. She has calculated the time Cattleya could catch up, so the scare tactics…"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what… ah. Well, nothing changes much, really."
"Nothing… your definition of 'nothing' is stupid."
"Time is stupid."