Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 2, Episode 2, Chapter 2

[~][~]

The next few hours after the Vallières arrived were perhaps the most tense Professor Colbert ever felt in his entire life. It didn't help that, during his entire explanation over the events surrounding Louise's disappearance, Duchess Karin de la Vallière never once removed her sword wand from his throat nor her icy glare from his eyes. Just one was unnerving enough, but both combined nearly overwhelmed him despite his many years of military service prior to settling down and becoming a teacher. Headmaster Osmond was no help, only offering sympathetic looks from his chair while Duke Pierre de la Vallière gripped the headmaster's shoulder tight enough to make the old man flinch in pain every so often. Still, Professor Colbert refused to back down, and calmly explained everything he knew to Louise's parents. From the initial summoning attempt to what he was about to explain to Osmond when they arrived. Only then did they relax and back down, yet their wrathful gazes never once left the back of his head.

"Professor Colbert, this…reverse summoning, as you called it. Are you certain that what you found can reverse its effects and bring Louise back?" Karin de la Vallière asked, calmly waiting on a cup of tea that was being poured by a young maid named Siesta. Being surrounded by so many powerful and imposing figures made the poor girl from Tarbes incredibly nervous, with her body shaking sporadically every so often, but none of the nobles particularly paid her much attention.

"Thank you," Karin thanked Siesta once the tea was poured, then carefully took a sip. Siesta bowed and stepped back slightly, waiting for her to be summoned again.

With everyone's eyes looking at him, Colbert answered, "I believe so, yes, although I must admit I'm not completely certain. The other teachers and I scoured through the entire academy's records, and never once has a student cast a reverse summon before. What Louise did was unprecedented, much less what we're trying to do. From everything I've gathered, the Founder and his apprentices only ever theorized that this was possible. They never had a need to actually try it."

"That's not good enough," Pierre Vallière growled and furrowed his brow. He looked half ready to explode, but when his wife calmly placed her hand upon his, the Duke managed to calm himself. He took a few deep breaths, then said, "But I suppose, given the…circumstances, we unfortunately can't get around it. Are you at least confident that you can get it to work?"

Colbert nodded, then replied, "Yes. I still need to do some more research and gather my findings, but I believe we should be able to do the ritual tomorrow morning."

He then paused and thought over what he had read so far, then asked, "Duke and Duchess Vallière, am I correct that your daughter Éléonore is on her way here as well?"

"Why?" Duke Vallière immediately asked.

"From what I could gather so far," Colbert quickly explained, "close relations are necessary for the ritual to work in order to form a connection of some kind, with blood relations implied to be the strongest. They aren't the only kind needed, but they are important."

The Vallières looked at each other for a moment then nodded at Colbert in understanding. Duchess Karin de la Vallière then placed her tea up onto the tray hastily being offered by Siesta, and she laid her intertwined hands upon her lap.

"You are correct. Both Éléonore and Cattleya are taking the fast carriages they can to the academy. They should be here by tomorrow morning," Karin calmly admitted, sending both Headmaster Osmond and Colbert slightly aback in shock.

"Even Lady Cattleya? But, with her constitution, is a such a trek wise for her?" Osmond asked, his tone of voice dripping with worry.

Without sparing him a glance, Karin answered, "Upon hearing that her younger sister had disappeared from the academy grounds after a spell gone awry, she refused any efforts to convince her to stay. She insisted upon being here to lend her aid in any way she could, no matter the risks. Like all Vallières, she is…quite stubborn. Honestly, had we tried to leave her at home it was likely that she would've stuck out on her own."

Osmond looked at Karin for a few moments, then rubbed his hand through his long, thick white beard and replied, "I've only had the pleasure of teaching one Vallière, but based off our experiences with Louise I must say that I agree. Louise's stubbornness is…quite infamous among the students and faculty."

"Indeed," Karin replied, then took another sip of her tea. There was a story behind that statement, but neither Colbert nor Osmond felt the need to press forward.

The surprising news that both daughters were coming was extremely welcome to Professor Colbert, if he understood the implications of the ritual right, but at the same time he was worried that such a trip would be too much for Lady Cattleya to take. While the Vallières didn't talk much about the health of their middle daughter, it was well known that Lady Cattleya had battled illness her entire life. Despite all the medicine and magical remedies heaped upon her, nothing worked. It was why she wasn't a marriage prospect, and why she hardly ever left the Vallière lands. Doing so might make her fall ill. It was a tragic situation, on that apparently led Duke Vallière to name her the head and sole member of House Fontaine out of sympathy, if rumors were to be believed. If Lady Cattleya felt the need to come to the academy personally, then it was clear that she considered the risks well worth it. In a way, it was admirable, but one that Colbert wished didn't have to happen in the first place.

"We'll be sure to prep the academy to make sure their and your stay is as comfortable as possible," Colbert declared, then turned his attention towards Headmaster Osmond and asked, "Am I correct to assume that that Princess Henrietta is on her way as well?"

"I believe she would be, yes. Assuming my math is right and that she got the letter this morning, she should be here in a few hours at most," Osmond replied, and Colbert nodded before returning his attention to the Vallières.

"That's good to hear," Colbert replied, then added, "I should be able to finish organizing everything by the time she arrives. Would it be acceptable for us to wait until then for an in-depth discussion?"

Both Vallières glared at Colbert for a few moments before shifting their attention towards each other. A silent conversation ensued between them, one that only couples who had been married for decades could have. Colbert couldn't even begin to understand exactly what they were saying, but he had to guess it had to do with his request. After a few moments, they nodded to each other then looked back at him.

"We find that acceptable," Duke Vallière replied, then furrowed his brow and added, "But, as soon as the Princess arrives, I want a thorough explanation on what you found and how it can help my daughter. Is that clear?"

"Of course," Colbert answered with a quick nod, then stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go into my office and organize everything."

Osmond and the Vallières nodded back at him, then Colbert bowed and left the office. Closing the heavy door behind him, he released a heavy sigh he didn't know he was holding and clutched his chest. Despite being out of sight, and the headmaster's office enchanted so that no one could hear what was going on inside or out, he still felt as though all eyes and ears were on him. Knowing the Vallières, they might very well be. Regardless, he had a job to do, and he made his way back down to his office with haste. Colbert passed by Lady Longuevuille, Osmond's secretary who was busy chasing down Osmond's familiar, a mouse named Motsognir. If Colbert had to guess, Longuevuille had caught Motsognir once again looking up her skirt, a childish task that Osmond frequently had the rodent do.

"Dirty old man!" Longuevuille shouted as she tried to stomp on the rodent, who scurried away for its life. Only when it disappeared underneath the door into his office did she relent in its chase, but she remained seething at the door. Her hair frazzled sightly, Longuevuille didn't even notice Colbert at first as she straightened herself and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it out. Then, once she turned around, she caught Colbert staring at her and her eyes widened slightly.

Surprised, she said, "Oh, Professor Colbert! I didn't see you there."

Embarrassed that he was caught staring, Colbert blushed slightly then replied, "No need to apologize! I shouldn't have been staring."

She looked at him for a moment, then chuckled and replied, "No need to apologize."

Longuevuille then smiled flirtatiously at him, then added, "I don't particularly mind you looking at me every now and then."

Colbert's blush returned in force, and he chuckled awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head. Longuevuille's smile broadened at seeing her teasing get under his skin, something she always seemed to relish in during their long talks. Regaining his composure, and knowing he didn't have time to stay and chat, Colbert bid farewell to the secretary and made his way back towards his office.

The halls were mostly empty, outside of a few servants cleaning the floors or mounted items. A few guards were on station as well, and both offered quick exchanges with the professor before returning to their duties. For his part, Colbert didn't get in their way, both because it was proper and because he had more important things to do.

Finally, he returned to his office. Compared to others in the academy, who lavishly decorated their rooms with silks, satins, furs and more, Colbert preferred a much simpler approach. From his bed to his desks, none of it would've looked too out of place from what a well-to-do commoner might have. An extensive personal library filled up one wall, but outside of that and a wall-mounted mirror there wasn't much in the way of decoration. That being said, the rest of the room was lined with dozens of small inventions he had made over the years alongside glass flasks, tubes, and more. Not content with just regurgitating the same lessons from six-thousand years ago over and over again, Colbert constantly spent his downtime working tinkering, trying to find ways to merge machines with magic. His hope was that, one day, he could get the process down to where everyone, regardless of magical affinity, could benefit from magic itself, but unfortunately none of his peers or his students were particularly interested outside of the novelty of it. Even that quickly wore off. His latest invention, which he deemed an engine that used fire magic to move pistons and form a fire snake that would retract in and out of an opening, was carefully laid out on his main desk.

"I will get back to you once I am done with this," Colbert promised himself as he moved the engine to an empty shelf. He then took the ancient tome he had found the ritual in and opened it up to the appropriate page. Laying it out on top of his desk, Colbert began to carefully read through everything, jotting down notes to organize his thoughts and make the eventual presentation easier.

The only sound he could hear in his office was the scratching of his quill pen across the paper. Every so often, he could dab the end into an inkwell, but otherwise the entire routine grew autonomous. So absorbed into his work, he almost didn't even notice when he felt a presence behind him. But, his instincts flared, and so he whipped his head around regardless. Nothing was there, and after a moment he shrugged and dismissed it as just his tired imagination running wild.

A few minutes later, however, the presence returned. Just as last time, Colbert turned around to see nothing. Now feeling suspicious that something was watching him, he slowly returned to jotting down notes, but his eyes were glancing around the room for anything that seemed off. Even when nothing seemed to happen, he refused to let his guard down.

Then, much to his surprise, he heard a clinging sound as though two pieces of glass were tapped together. Whipping his head around to the source, Colbert saw that two of his empty flasks were now moved from where they were placed. Now they were laying on their sides, rolling slightly back and forth across the wooden shelf they were on.

"How did…?" Colbert asked himself, then stood up and walked over to put them back. As he did, however, he heard another noise. This time it was a faint rumbling of a flame, and he turned around to see that his magical burner, which consisted of a thick tube with a nozzle running through it, was alight. He quickly rushed over to turn it off.

Now alarmed, Colbert gripped his wooden staff tightly and said, "Whoever's there, show yourself now. I know you're there."

He heard a faint rush through the air as something moved behind him, accompanied but what sounded like a child's laughter that was desperately trying to keep themselves down. Yet, strangely, the laughter seemed to be coming from inside his head, which boggled him to no end. Otherwise, he got no response. Carefully, he began to move around the room, looking everywhere he could for the intruder that he was certain was there. But there was no one there. Not in the closet, not under the bed, nor even behind the curtains. The only person in the room was him.

"This is…odd," Colbert muttered, relaxing slightly. Closing his eyes and sighing while rubbing the top of his head, Colbert tried to come up with an explanation for what he witnessed. "Perhaps I…left some of my experiments on longer than I thought? I'm usually so careful, though, so that can't be it."

He released another sigh, then glanced to his left to look at himself in the mirror. A single look was all he needed to see how utterly tired he was, with deep bags under his eyes that made him look half-dead. Two days of no sleep would do that to a person, and he vowed to get some much needed rest once a plan was in place to rescue Louise. He prepared to turn around and return to his desk, but as he did he noticed something pink flicker behind him.

Colbert's eyes widened, and he slowly continued his turn while looking at the mirror. As he did, he saw a small, pink, cat-like creature with a long, thin tail turn as well, floating a foot behind his head while staring straight at him. Keeping his eyes on the mirror, Colbert began to turn back and forth, and he noticed that the floating pink cat was moving in sync with him. Realizing that the intruder was behind him the entire time, Colbert turned as fast as he could to face the creature directly. Surprised, it blinked its bright blue, curious eyes a few times as it floated back a bit, allowing Colbert to get a much more detailed look as he aimed his staff at the creature.

"What…are you?" Colbert asked as he relaxed his stance slightly.

The creature, whatever it was, didn't look dangerous. If anything, it looked downright adorable with its rounded, wide snout, triangular ears, short arms with three fingers and large hand paws with oval marks on the soles. Its body seemed devoid of fur, but the texture suggested that its entire body was covered in hairs so fine that it exposed the pink skin underneath. If the creature was intimidated by his staff being pointed at it, it didn't show it. In fact, it began to laugh.

'I'm Mew, silly!' the creature suddenly replied in perfect Gallian, making Colbert freeze in shock as the feminine-sounding voice came from within his mind. She then began to playfully spin in mid-air while clutching her hind legs, then added, 'You've got a lot of neat stuff in here!'

"…What?" Colbert asked, completely at what was going on and how the creature was speaking to him. He had heard of beasts who were intelligent enough to do that, but never without speaking anything.

'Of course I'm talking! With my mind!' Mew answered his unspoken question while giggling and pointing to her head. Colbert's eyes widened as he realized the implication, which was confirmed as Mew closed her eyes and smiled while nodding her head.

Before he could say anything, or ask any question, Mew suddenly said, 'Bored now. Bye.'

With that, Mew disappeared with a pop, leaving Colbert all by himself. He just stood there for what seemed like an eternity but was only for a few moments, transfixed on the creature calling itself Mew. His jaw idly moved up and down, but was unable to form any articulate words.

Finally, with his voice shaking, he asked, "…What just happened?"


Kirche von Zerbst was bored out of her mind. That wasn't an unknown feeling during her time in the academy. Frankly, half the time Kirche was bored. Hardly any of her classes interested her, most of her teachers were boring, and whatever interest she had in her fellow students usually went away after a few weeks at most. But at the moment, with classes put on hold indefinitely and confined to the academy grounds only, her boredom had reached new heights.

"Ugh, I'm so bored," Kirche muttered as she leaned back against the chair. She felt her familiar, a Fire Mountains salamander she named Flame, wrap himself around her legs, sending a warm sensation through her body that made her sigh contentedly.

"Thanks, boy. That feels great," she said, rubbing the top of Flame's head.

The salamander's throat rumbled in satisfaction, and he even leaned his head further into Kirche's hand so that she could get to those hard to reach places. She chuckled slightly while giving her familiar a soft smile, then she sank further into the chair as her previous boredom returned. She let out a groan and hung her head over the back of the chair, her arms falling to the side.

"Complaining isn't going to help," Kirche's best friend, Tabitha, spoke up. The short, petite, blue-haired girl from Gallia was sitting in her own chair, reading yet another book that Kirche didn't bother trying to identify.

"No, but it makes me feel better," Kirche admitted, then leaned forward while rubbing her hand down her face. Staring at Tabitha, the red-haired Germanian added, "Seriously, though. They're hardly letting us do anything. I'm bored out of my mind here, Tabitha. No classes, no activities. Founder, I can't even get a boy right now, everyone's so freaked out."

"How tragic," Tabitha dryly replied, turning the page of her book.

"Exactly!" Kirche exclaimed, not particularly caring about her best friend's obvious sarcasm in favor of just rolling with it. She then added, "The entire academy feels like it's balancing on a knife's edge right now. It's suffocating."

"You can always try reading a book," Tabitha offered as she continued to read her own, but Kirche waved the suggestion off.

"Eh, I've never been big on that. But, if this keeps going on, I just might have to give in," Kirche said, then let out a groan. "Great, now that Zero is seriously getting me to consider reading."

"How can Louise do that if she's not even here?" Tabitha asked, putting down her book slightly to give her friend a slightly raised eyebrow.

"That's the problem," Kirche pointed out, then spread her arms wide in emphasis. "The only reason why any of this – the lockdown, classes getting cancelled, everything – is because Louise disappeared. Or finally ran away, whatever happened."

"I think we both know she didn't do that," Tabitha flatly stated, and Kirche stared at her friend for a moment. Then she released a sigh and hung her head.

"…I know," Kirche admitted, worry dripping into her voice.

It was no secret that Kirche and Louise weren't exactly friends. Rather, they were rivals. A very one-sided rivalry, in Kirche's opinion, seeing as how she could properly cast magic whereas Louise couldn't if her life depended on it. Nevertheless, the two had been at each other's throats ever since they started their first year at the academy. At first, it had just been a continuation of their families' long-standing feud, one that Louise herself had actually started. But eventually Kirche came to genuinely enjoy getting under Louise's skin. She always had the best reactions, so loud and explosive. It made for great entertainment. But, until now, Kirche honestly thought that her teasing had just been harmless fun at Louise's expense, but that was being called into question.

"It's not your fault," Tabitha cut into her thoughts, having clearly read the guilt written across Kirche's face. "We don't know what happened, but I don't think you had anything to do with it."

"Here's the thing," Kirche replied, holding up a finger and pointing it at herself. "I know that. Whatever happened to Louise was because she messed…something up. I don't know what or how, but she did. The thing is, though, is that this only happened because…"

"Because you brought attention to her," Tabitha finished for Kirche, who silently nodded. Quietly, Tabitha placed a bookmark where she was at then closed her book. Setting it on the table beside her, she looked at her friend then said, "None of us had any idea that was going to happen. She was going to cast that spell, one way or another. If it's anyone's fault for what happened to Louise, it's Professor Colbert's for not stopping her when she failed the first time."

Kirche frowned slightly. She knew that Tabitha was correct. Had Colbert done his job and not succumb to obvious favoritism, none of them would be in this mess. Louise would've been sent home, as she honestly should've been months ago. But he didn't, and now here they were. At the same time, though, she liked Professor Colbert. Sure, he liked to show off his interesting but frankly useless inventions from time to time, but he was honestly the best teacher in the entire academy. Everyone else was either too inexperienced or too full of themselves. At least Colbert was straight to the point. Not only that, but thanks to her volunteering to help find information for him, both to alleviate her boredom and her guilt, Kirche saw first hand just how much Louise's disappearance weighed on him. For all the blame everyone was throwing his way, Colbert was adding all of it and more to himself. It broke her heart to see him like that, so she couldn't really find it in himself to truly blame him. She knew Tabitha didn't either.

Releasing another sigh, Kirche then said, "At least it looks like he finally found something. Hopefully, this will all be over soon."

"Mm-hmm," Tabitha hummed, then reopened her book and began to read once more.

Leaning back into the chair, Kirche struggled to find a way to occupy herself. With Colbert no longer needing their services, and the academy apparently preparing for the imminent arrival of Princess Henrietta herself if the rumors were to be believed, there wasn't anything she could do at the moment. Kirche supposed she could prepare for the inevitable conversation she was going to have with Louise's parents. They had arrived that morning, and had already questioned dozens of Louise's classmates, teachers, and anyone else about what had happened before and during the disastrous summoning ritual. She wasn't looking forward to that, but Kirche already vowed to be as straightforward and unapologetic as possible. Just because she was worried about Louise didn't mean they were friends, and she had no reason to treat her family well, either. Wasn't like they were going to when the Vallières finally got around to her, assuming they weren't trying to blame her already.

Sighing again, Kirche began looking around Tabitha's room just to pass the time. Compared to her own, it was much plainer looking with a dark blue color-scheme predominant. The bedsheets, the curtains, even the leather chairs was colored a deep blue that matched Tabitha's hair quite well in Kirche's opinion. She preferred shades of red herself, but blue was a good color for Tabitha. Still, there was only so much Kirche could look at before getting bored again, especially since she had seen it hundreds of times by now, and so she groaned once more.

"I gotta find myself something to do, or else I'm going to go insane," Kirche declared as she got up and began to walk around the room.

"Just don't break anything," Tabitha requested, and Kirche waved her hand behind her back a dismissive affirmation as she continued looking around. As she passed the well-stocked bookshelf, Kirche was tempted to give in and start reading. Then, to her surprise, she noticed that a few of the books were missing.

"Hey, uh, Tabitha? How many books are you reading right now?" Kirche asked.

"Just this one," Tabitha answered, not bothering to look up. "Why?"

"Because, well, I'm seeing…" Kirche paused to count the number of missing books, then continued, "five blank spots."

"What?" Tabitha asked, putting her book aside and walking over. When she got to the bookshelf, she quickly noticed what Kirche was pointing out, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She said, "I check this shelf every day. Those books were there this morning."

"Really? I never noticed," Kirche admitted, then shrugged. "Honestly, my thought was that you were reading five books at once."

"I'm not," Tabitha declared, narrowing her eyes further.

"Well," Kirche began, searching for answers to this conundrum, "did you…take them out and misplace them?"

"No," Tabitha answered, flashing a small frown.

Kirche looked at her friend for a moment, unsure of what was going on. Then an idea popped into her head, and suddenly the solution to her problem presented itself. She pounded her fist into her palm and smiled, causing Tabitha to glance at her from the corner of her eye.

"Well, looks like we have a mystery on our hands, Tabitha," Kirche declared as she wrapped her arms around Tabitha's shoulders. She then dramatically said, "It appears that somehow, four of your books have been…stolen!"

Unamused, Tabitha stared flatly at her friend who continued, "I don't know who, how, or for that matter why. What I do know is that this travesty will not stand. Don't worry, Tabitha. We're going to find your books and bring the thief to justice!"

"…Do not use this in an attempt to alleviate your boredom. This is a serious situation. Someone broke into my dorm," Tabitha requested with a resigned sigh, only for a joyous Kirche to shake her head.

"Too late!" Kirche replied, then forced the Gallian bluenette to turn around towards the door. "Onward! We have a mystery to solve!"

Tabitha released a sigh and pinched the bridge between her eyes. She then reluctantly complied. If there was anything she had learned about Kirche over the past year and a half, it was that once she set her mind on something there was no way to get her to back down. Walking together, with Flame happily beside his master, the two mages and the familiar exited the room, locking the door behind them before beginning to scour the academy for their prize.

The room itself, now devoid of any of its previous occupants, was silent. That silence was broken with a loud pop as Mew reappeared, the four books hovering around her body like moons. She looked around the room for a few moments, then focused on the bookshelf. Mew had taken the books after seeing a few of the people in the academy read them, trying to see what the fuss was about. She got through them quickly, but honestly found them quite boring and dry. For a moment, Mew wondered if she should put the books back, especially since the owner was clearly concerned about them. Then she decided it'd be funnier not to.

'This will be fun!' Mew happily proclaimed as it teleported back out of the room, eager to join in on whatever game those human girls were playing.


With a newfound skip in her step, Kirche led Tabitha across the academy. No stone was left unturned as they searched for the missing books. They looked through every nook and cranny, trying to find anything that was out of place. Unfortunately, whoever their book thief was hid their tracks well. There was no signs of a break-in around Tabitha's dorm, either magical or physical. None of their fellow students nearby saw anyone come in or out of her room, not that any of them were particularly paying attention. By all accounts, it was as though the thief just popped in and out of Tabitha's dorm without a trace.

It confounded Kirche to no end, which made their sleuthing all the more exciting to her. From the blank look on Tabitha's face, she was far less amused than Kirche was. If the Germanian knew her quiet friend, and she liked to think that she did, Tabitha was probably focusing on the fact that someone broke into her dorm rather than the fact that they just made out with some books. Certainly a cause for concern, but it wasn't like they took anything actually important.

What was concerning to Kirche, however, was that they had found over the course of their investigation. As it turned out, they weren't the only ones who were missing things.

"So, your alchemy set was stolen, Montmorency?" Tabitha asked, and a furious Montmorency Margarita la Fère de Montmorency nodded vigorously.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, startling her frog familiar, Robin, who was resting on her shoulder. "I was getting some ingredients ready to brew a few potions for practice, since classes are canceled and I can't do anything else, and I turned my back for a second! One moment it was there, the next it was gone! Poof!"

She threw her arms wide in emphasis, and Tabitha's eyes narrowed. Kirche, meanwhile, pinched her chin and hummed before asking, "This alchemy set…it wasn't valuable, was it?"

Montmorency growled for a moment before admitting, "No… It was fairly cheap, and it wouldn't be hard for me to get a new one the next time I go into town. But still, it was mine!"

She then raised her clenched hands and grumbled, "When I get my hands on that thief…!"

Nodding to herself, Kirche interjected, "Don't worry, Montmorency. Tabitha and I are on the case. We'll find your alchemy set!"

Montmorency stared at the two girls flatly for a moment in silence, then pointed out, "Shouldn't you just tell a teacher about this and let them handle it?"

"Don't bother. I already tried telling her that," a resigned Tabitha revealed while Kirche waved Montmorency's suggestion off.

"Nah, they got other things to worry about right now," Kirche dismissed with a nonchalant shrug, to which Montmorency groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Montmorency muttered while pinching the top of her nose.

She then turned her head to the side where she noticed her fiancé, Guiche de Gramont, playing a game with his giant mole familiar in Vestri Courtyard. The mole, which he had named Verdandi, was absolutely massive. Easily the size of a large dog, yet it was able to dig through the earth as though it was nothing more than water. Seeing Guiche lovingly heap praise upon his familiar brought a warm smile to Montmorency's face, but it fell as soon as she noticed a few first year girls looking upon him with stars in their eyes. When Guiche noticed, he flashed a playful smile at them before whipping his blond hair back, causing a few of them to squeal.

"Grr!" Montmorency growled, grinding her teeth as she glared at Guiche, who quickly went back to playing with his familiar.

Watching this with amusement in her eyes, Kirche couldn't help but smile and shake her head. Guiche's reputation as somewhat of a playboy was well-known around the academy, despite the fact that he was engaged with Montmorency. One of these days, that was going to blow up in his face, but Kirche wasn't going to butt in as it wasn't her concern. She and Tabitha bid Montmorency farewell, then got up from the table and walked away.

"Alright, so far we're missing your books, Malicorne's hand-mirror, a bunch of plates, bowls, and silverware, a map of Halkegenia belonging to Reynald, some jewels that were left out in the open," Kirche began to count up with her fingers, then gave up. "I can't see a pattern here. Can you, Tabitha?"

"They're all small, easily held by hand," Tabitha immediately answered.

"So, our thief is going after the small stuff?" Kirche asked, and Tabitha nodded.

"It appears so," she replied, then Kirche hummed and folded her arms behind her head.

"I get the jewels and the silverware," Kirche said. "Even the plates, kinda. You can sell that stuff. But everything else? It doesn't make sense to me."

"Hmm," Tabitha hummed, not really offering an answer. She didn't have one to give, for she was as stumped as her friend.

Tabitha had half a mind to go to one of the teachers and inform them of the situation, but it was as Kirche said. With Louise's disappearance, and the imminent arrival of the Princess, the school's faculty had their hands full. If the situation kept escalating, then Tabitha might consider getting a teacher involved, but until then she was content with investigating herself. Besides, compared to the tasks she normally had to do for her uncle and the Gallian crown, this was child's play.

Then, to her surprise, she noticed that Professor Colbert had wandered out of the academy. He was looking around with a dazed, confused gleam in his eyes, as though he didn't know what exactly was going on. Kirche quickly noticed him as well, then stopped as they watched the professor walk aimlessly around the courtyard. His eyes were going everywhere, from the ground and even the sky, which confused both girls greatly.

"Uh, Professor?" Kirche called out. "Are you okay?"

"Hm, huh?" Colbert muttered, knocked out of his stupor. Noticing that two of his students were looking at him with concern, he regained his composure then smiled while saying, "Oh, hello students. Are you enjoying yourselves?"

"…Yes," Kirche answered, narrowing her eyes slightly. "A few of Tabitha's books were missing, so we're trying to find them."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you find them," Colbert said sympathetically before looking around once more.

Her interest piqued, Kirche then asked, "Professor, are you…trying to find something?"

Colbert looked at his student for a moment, then replied, "I…don't know. I think so, but its…it's hard for me to explain, really."

Now Tabitha was concerned as well. She asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's just…" Colbert paused, then looked directly into the students' eyes and asked, "Have either of you seen a floating pink cat?"

"Pardon?" Kirche asked.

"A floating pink cat," Colbert reiterated, then spread his hands apart. "About this big, with a large head, slender body, and a long, thin tail about twice its body length?"

"…No," Tabitha answered, then narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Well, I was getting ready to finish organizing my findings about Louise," Colbert explained, "when that…cat got in. Started playing with my equipment and inventions when I wasn't looking. When I finally caught it, the creature called herself Mew then teleported away."

"…It called itself Mew?" Kirche asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion. She then registered the second part of his sentence, then hastily asked, "Wait, did you say it teleported?"

"After playing around with your equipment?" Tabitha added, finding the connection as well.

"Yes, it was the strangest thing," Colbert confirmed. "Once I finished organizing everything, I came out here to try and find it. Whatever this Mew is…I've never seen anything like it before."

Kirche and Tabitha looked at each other, then Tabitha turned back to her professor and asked, "You said this cat called herself Mew. How?"

"With her mind, apparently," Colbert all-too-calmly revealed, shocking the two students. "It was like she was speaking to me as you and I do, but the sound was coming from inside my head. Could hear my thoughts apparently, too. It was…the strangest feeling I ever felt."

Both girls' eyes widened, then Kirche and Tabitha looked at each other. A moment later, Kirche turned her attention back to Professor Colbert, then revealed, "This Mew…do you know why it was messing with your stuff?"

"I think Mew found them interesting. At least, that's what she told me," Colbert replied while turning his head around to scan the area once more. "Mew's mental voice…it sounded like that of a young child. Sounded like a girl, too, but I couldn't exactly tell."

Kirche's eyes widened in realization, then she looked back at Tabitha. The pieces were now falling into place. While part of her wanted to dismiss what Colbert was saying as such the overactive imagination of a tired old man, the rest of her couldn't when considering all the missing items. If what Colbert was saying about this Mew was true, then there was both their motivation and method of their thief.

"Professor, about Tabitha's missing books," Kirche began to explain. "She wasn't the only person who was missing stuff. In fact, a lot of people were missing things from their dorms."

"Oh?" Colbert's eyebrows were raised in surprise. A moment later, they were lowered as he caught on to what they were saying. He was about to ask for clarification, then they heard a commotion coming from the rest of the students at the courtyard.

"What is that?!" they heard Guiche call out in alarm.

Snapping into attention immediately, Colbert rushed over to see what was going on. Tabitha and Kirche followed, and they cut through the wall of students that had gathered around. There, to their surprise, they saw Guiche and Verdandi staring at the strangest collection of creatures they had ever seen. It was a trio of three mole-like animals, with long, round bodies, a large pink nose, and a pair of beady black eyes staring at both Guiche and his familiar. Nearly the entire body was devoid of fur, bearing the dark-brown skin for all to see, but atop their heads were thick mops of blond hair. Each of the creatures had a different hairstyle. The left had its styled in a bob cut, with the right having curly shoulder-length-equivalent hair. The last one's hair was long and luxurious, easily stretching along its back to touch the ground. Only, as Kirche got a closer look, the hair didn't look like hair at all. It glistened in the sunlight more like steel than any hair she had seen, even those heavily drenched in product.

The moles silently stared at Guiche, who didn't move a muscle. They then began to move up and down in sequential order, making low grumbling noises and causing the earth around it to shake slightly. Then, much to their surprise, the creatures stopped then sharply turned their heads to the side, causing their blond hair to whip up and to the side.

"Huh?" Guiche muttered in disbelief, then the creatures disappeared under the ground. A line of dirt was raised as it dug its way towards the same group of girls who were watching Guiche before, then they popped up right in front of them. The girls squeaked in fright at first, only for the moles to repeat the hair-whipping action that it did to Guiche.

As it started going around to all the other girls who were watching, including Kirche and Tabitha, slowly realization started to bubble up. Especially after it kept pointedly looking at Guiche with what appeared to be a smile on its face, no easy feat without an easily discernable mouth.

"Founder, no," Kirche gasped out, covering her mouth to conceal her amusement.

Around her, the other students began to pick up what the moles were doing as well, and faint chuckles began to build up. It took a few moments for Guiche to understand, then his eyes widened as he turned to face the moles.

"What the-? Are…are you mocking me?!" Guiche incredulously asked.

The moles stopped, then popped up from the ground right in front of Guiche. They stared their beady black eyes into his, then performed one final hair whip before beginning to laugh. At least, Kirche assumed they were laughing, judging by how all three were moving up and down at once. The blond boy blushed in embarrassment at this confirmation, especially once the rest of the onlookers started laughing as well.

Growling, Guiche stood up and pointed his rose wand at the moles, who didn't even care as they continued to laugh. In fact, they whipped their hair back once again in emphasize, causing the students' laughter to increase.

"Grrgh! Verdandi, defend your master and put this…thing in its place!" Guiche ordered. Verdandi let out a grunt of confirmation, then made her way over to the smaller trio of moles. Once she got close, she began to scrape her large front paws against the dirt in an intimidation display, trying to scare the moles off. But the trio of dug-in moles didn't care. In fact, they turned to face Verdandi and stared into her eyes silently, without moving a single muscle.

The laughter died down as everyone watched the exchange, wondering how it would go. Much to their surprise, however, after a few moments Verdandi blinked, then scampered off with a few squeals of fright to hide behind her master's legs. Shocked, everyone stared at first, then the laughter picked back up again.

"Guiche, seriously?" one student called out through bouts of laughter.

"Oh, some brave familiar you have! Hah!" another added.

Guiche, meanwhile, shot down to his familiar and began to comfort her by petting along its back while soothingly saying, "Verdandi! It's okay, girl. I'm here, don't worry."

He shot his attention back towards the trio of moles, who once again flipped their hair at him in a mocking fashion. By this point, even Colbert started to find the amusement in the situation, but Guiche did not. Equally infuriated and humiliated, Guiche stood up and aimed his rose wand at the moles.

"You may mock me," Guiche said as dramatically as possible, clearly trying to regain control of the situation, "but you shall not strike fear into the heart of my beloved familiar. For the sake of House Gramont, I will put you in your place myself."

The trio of moles looked up at Guiche, clearly understanding every word coming out of his mouth. They narrowed their eyes at first, then mockingly whipped their hair back. Guiche's nostrils flared, then he constructed a bronze golem out of the dirt, armed with a small shield and spear.

"That's it!" Guiche yelled, then moved his wand to have his golem thrust the spear at the moles which quickly disappeared back under the ground. They popped back up a few feet away to whip their hair once again, Guiche's golem rushed back towards it. As it thrust the spear into the center of the bodies, the moles dug back in.

"Seriously, Guiche? Picking a fight with a couple moles?" Kirche asked with a smile on her face as she watched the proceedings. "Isn't this, I don't know, beneath you?"

"I don't know what those things are, but they knew what they were doing!" Guiche proclaimed, growling in frustration as the moles kept dodging and mocking him.

"…Look, just because they have better hair than you doesn't mean you get the right to attack them," Kirche mocked, causing another bout of laughter.

"No, they do not!" Guiche protested, a red blush erupting across his face. When he noticed Montmorency joining in the laughter as well, his face fell as he muttered, "Mon-Mon?"

His fiancé looked at him for a few moments. At first, she tried to keep her composure, but when the three moles once again mocked Guiche with a hair whip, this time right in front of her, she broke down into another fit of laughter. Guiche's jaw hung down slightly in sadness, which was then replaced with anger as he returned his attention back towards the moles.

"I'm not doing this because of their hair!" Guiche declared as he refocused himself on the task at hand. "It's the principle of the matter. Besides, I'm not actually trying to hurt them. Just scare them off."

"Yeah, well so far they're beating you," Malicorne pointed out with a smile on his face, causing Guiche to growl. In his hands was a small plate, from which he was eating a small piece of white cake.

The students watched for several more minutes, the crowd growing larger and larger as the spectacle not only continued but escalated. By now, Guiche's first golem was joined by two others, working in unison to drive the moles back. Yet it didn't matter as the moles kept dodging, using its mastery of the earth to dodge no matter what was thrown its way. It was clear that whatever ease Verdandi had at traversing the ground, these moles far exceeded that. They acted as though there was nothing there at all.

"Just hold still!" Guiche shouted, his face completely red as the rest of the students continued to laugh.

To his surprise, the moles actually complied, allowing one of the golems, this one wielding a blunted axe, to chop down. The bronze impacted against the hair, and at first Guiche smiled in what he thought was a victory. That smile quickly disappeared, though, as the metal shattered against the steel-like hair, the entire golem crumbling soon after.

"Huh?" Guiche said in surprise as the laughter died down.

The moles then looked at the other two remaining golems, then squinted it eyes. A moment later, the ground around them began to shake and tremor, causing the students to shout in alarm. Then, much to everyone's shock and surprise, a massive fissure appeared in the earth, swallowing up both golems before just as quickly converging on them. Vestri Courtyard fell into complete silence as everyone stared at the moles, unable to believe what they just saw.

Guiche let out a whimper as he noticed the moles continue to stare at him, realizing quickly that the moles created that fissure. The rest of the students realized as well, alongside Professor Colbert who rushed over to stand in front of his student. Rather than be intimidated, however, the mole merely smiled happily and tilted its head. Then, to everyone's surprise, the moles glowed white as they converted into a floating white ball of light. The ball rose into the air, then reformed into a small, pink, cat-like creature that Colbert instantly recognized as Mew.

"Wh…you can…what?" the professor struggled for words while everyone else stared silently at the unknown creature.

Stupefied beyond belief, Guiche asked, "What…are you?"

'I'm Mew!' Mew announced, her young, childlike voice echoing across everyone's heads and making them flinch. Even Kirche and Tabitha, who already knew of Mew's existence from their talk with Colbert, were stunned into silence.

Mew laughed at everyone's reactions and clutched her tail while spinning in place. She then looked at Guiche and said, 'That was a fun battle! Let's do it again!'

"…What?" Guiche asked, not sure of what to do. Before he could say anything else, though, Mew disappeared out of thin air with a pop, teleporting away.

Everyone stared at where Mew previously floated, unsure of what to do or say. Then the silence was broken as Malicorne call out, "My cake! It took my cake!"

The dams broken, everyone began to talk among themselves nervously while Professor Colbert desperately tried to regain order.

"Students, calm down!" he called out, but it wasn't working.

"What was that thing?!" a student fearfully asked.

"I heard its voice inside my head! How did it do that?"

"Did it make that fissure?! How powerful is it?!"

"It took my cake!"

As the cacophony increased, it was clear that the pandemonium wasn't dissipating anytime soon. Realizing this, Kirche and Tabitha silently removed themselves from the area. Kirche shot Colbert a sympathetic look, but it was obvious that there wasn't anything they could do.

"Tabitha," Kirche finally said as they got a fair distance away, "I think we found the thief."

Tabitha didn't reply, instead continuing to walk away from the chaos behind them. Kirche quickly kept up with her, neither of them noticing that Mew was hovering overhead, looking down on them playfully and barely holding in its laughter. At the same time, the remnants of Malicorne's cake was floating around her head, and she idly tore a piece off and bit into it.

So far, Mew had found that her little trip to this other world was well worth it. She even managed to get a battle in, something she hadn't been able to do in quite some time. Sure, the Familiars were kinda weird, nothing like the Pokémon she knew back home, but beggars can't be choosers. Mew didn't know how long she had until Arceus said enough was enough and pulled her back, but she was going to make the most of it. With that in mind, she soared above the ancient castle looking around for something to do. Then she noticed a groundskeeper trimming the grass, and a smile broke out across her face.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate and Yuri Vampire for their help in bringing this chapter to life.

Mew has descended onto the academy. They are not ready. But, at the very least, they are closer to determining what they need to do in order to try and pull Louise back. What, exactly, the ritual is and what the end result will be, obviously, is to come.

I'm glad so many of you liked our first foray into Halkegenia for this story. One of the things I felt that this story was lacking was more elements from the FoZ side of the crossover, and this was a great chance to not only add more but also give you all a taste of what to expect when we return to Halkegenia proper. Be forewarned, this is just a brief interlude. Once this is over, it's back to Kalos and we won't be back again until the beginning of Season 3.

Also, Sakura Lisel, no. Louise has only been in Kalos four about three, coming onto four months. She still has well over half a year to prove herself. To Halkegenia, though, it's only been a few days.

That's it for this time. Let us know what you all think, and I hope you enjoy. If any of you have a TV Tropes page, any assistance you can offer in updating that page for the contents of this chapter would be greatly appreciated. Drop a review, and we'll see you all next time!