With the warm spring afternoon light of day pouring into one of her many studies that she was working in, Henrietta was interrupted from the documents she was poring over by an unwelcome knock upon her study door.
"May I ask who is calling?" Henrietta asked, in the royal demeanor that was expected of her as she hastily stowed the documents away.
"Finance Minister Chelenne, your grace," the familiar, odious voice on the other end answered. Heaving as silent an exasperated sigh as she could, she closed her eyes to gather her countenance into the most cordial one she could give this wretched man.
"Enter," she ordered. The door opened to reveal a squat, balding man with a wide mustache that extended past his face. He wore the most garish of aristocratic garments, with vibrant, clashing yellows and purples that Henrietta, at first, related him to a clown, but she shooed the thought away, feeling it was an insult to the noble profession. The man had a barely hidden smug look about him as he came in, bearing documents of his own.
"May I approach?" he asked, with the slightest hint of a smarmy attitude.
Henrietta, keeping her face neutral, nodded. The former disgraced tax collector, now Finance Minister by order of the royal court (much to Henrietta's displeasure), walked up to her desk and dropped the documents before her, haphazardly. She need only scrutinize them for a second to know what they were. Regardless, the noble before her was about to tell her, anyway.
"The latest finance reports."
"I see," Henrietta said, as cordially as she could while barely making a casual glance at the documents. Which seemed to indicate a dire state for the treasury.
"Between finances for the war and your… newfound philanthropy, I'm afraid the treasury can no longer bear the strain," Chelenne explained with the slightest hint of smugness in his tone.
"Mm," Henrietta hummed in response as she looked away from the documents and at the "politely" smiling Finance Minister before her, looking him over. "I hear you've started construction on a new mansion." Henrietta casually mentioned, feeling an almost overwhelming urge to smirk as she did.
Chelenne raised an eyebrow. "It is not my own finances that are under scrutiny," he replied, a hint of irritation in his tone. Henrietta felt a prick of satisfaction at this.
"Perhaps we should simply raise taxes on the nobles, then? Since they seem to be flourishing so well," Henrietta attempted to say in as neutral, observational, and objective a tone as she could. At this, she could see Chelenne's eye twitch ever so slightly, which almost made her break into the smirk she wished to unleash.
"I'm afraid that's out of the question. Why should the hardworking nobles that take care of and protect the land be forced to pay for luxurious entitlements for the lazy poor?" Chelenne asked, incredulously, keeping that small, polite smile on his face as his eyebrow remained raised. "The royal court would never approve of such an act," Chelenne now seemed to be openly mocking Henrietta, who furrowed her brow at him.
"Perhaps," Henrietta began as she scrutinized him once more, "but who knows? Maybe they'll change their heads." She made sure to choose her words very carefully, and the aristocrat before her seemed to notice, as he paled ever so slightly.
"Regardless," Chelenne continued as he cleared his throat and restored his "polite" countenance, "these projects are unsustainable. The royal court is leaning towards raising taxes on the plebeians once more. After all, were it not for the grace and skill of the nobles, we would have been destroyed many times over by our enemies."
Henrietta did not respond. Opting, instead, to clasp her hands before her face as she kept her furrowed-brow gaze upon Chelenne, who was starting to sweat under her withering gaze.
"W-we will be convening soon to determine the course of action. I am merely here to let you know the circumstances leading to it." Henrietta did not break her gaze or react in any meaningful way. "I shall take my leave then," Chelenne said, nervously, as he bowed and left the room, leaving Henrietta with the documents he had brought.
Henrietta took one more look before crumpling them up and tossing them to the floor. She then leaned back in her chair and heaved a heavy, exasperated sigh. After taking a moment to get back into her previous headspace, she opened up the drawer of her desk once more and began poring over her own documents.
Reports from Agnes and her other agents in the kingdom regarding the revolutionary group known as the Jacobins, who had been stepping up their campaign of terror against nobles and any connected to the royal family. She remembered when she, herself, was a victim of one such attack that left one of her musketeers dead. The documents before her, in her eyes, were a damning indictment, and every instinct within her wished to act on them. To seize and make an example of every last one of the names in them.
But she knew she had to be patient.
She still had no idea how far up the conspiracy went. Which aristocrats and members of the royal court were directly pulling the strings. Which members of the justice system were bought and paid for. Though she strongly suspected she should just purge them all, she did not want to frighten the people into thinking her a vicious tyrant. She needed more information. More opportunities. And they needed to come soon, by the look of those documents Chelenne provided. Once her own financial resources were exhausted… the resources of her enemies would surely be her downfall.
She huffed as she looked at the door. Outside was stationed one Protoss "Adept", as she had been told. A canary in the coal mine, so to speak. Sent by her Hierarch to ensure the UED would not make any direct attempts on Henrietta while they handled them.
If only she would just tell me what they're thinking… She thought to herself. She remembered, of course, what she was told by the Adept the one time she requested this. That private thoughts were sanctuaries not to be so easily violated. She found these Protoss to be insufferably obstinate. Regardless of their mostly valid reasoning.
Siesta, Louise, TIffa, Agnes, Zeratul, and Khaydarin had been traveling nonstop since last night. While Khaydarin and, to a lesser extent, Zeratul did not require rest, the rest of them were positively exhausted. Kept up by pure adrenaline from the panic of what had befallen Louise. She was breathing shallow as the pain from her wound made every breath laborious. Besides that, she was also scarcely aware of their surroundings, let alone lucid enough to talk. All she could do was occasionally open her eyes to see the roof of the carriage and, sometimes, Siesta's own eyes looking down on her with panicked concern.
Siesta, for her part, was feeling a mix of strong emotions. Shame and guilt for feeling too weak to protect her. Fury at Saito. And some odd mixture of grief and anger directed at Tabitha.
She had had many times at the academy, when she was but a maid there, where she wanted to hit or yell at the noble brats for their abuse of her… but she'd never felt the urge to kill one of them quite as strongly as she felt for Tabitha at that moment.
And yet.
There was not-insignificant part of her that just wanted to know why. Maybe there was a reason. Maybe she was being controlled by the Ring of Andvari. Maybe it was Saito's "mind of god" powers. She was looking for any explanation to quell this burning desire for bloody vengeance as she petted her ailing wife's hair.
Are you certain of this? Siesta psionically asked Tiffa.
I already told you. Yes. Once we make it to my home we can save her. Just as I did Guiche. And just as I did you, Tiffa replied in the affirmative.
That same night, some hours ago, as Siesta's mother did what she could to bandage up Louise's gaping wound, Siesta was positively broken. Overcome with preemptive feelings of grief and shame and anger she'd never felt before, she needed something. Anything. To give her hope. She had to be taken outside as she would not stop staring, frozen in fear, at the wound and just how deeply and badly it had damaged her little pink-haired wife's body.
Outside, she sat, leaning against the wall of the house as she overheard Louise moaning in pain. With each pained sob from Louise coaxing a similar one from Siesta that she tried to stifle.
Before her, Zeratul approached. She did not know why it happened in that moment, but her pain decided to manifest itself as anger as she stood and marched towards him.
"YOU!" Siesta yelled at him, furious, "Where were you?! She's YOUR responsibility! The ONE THING you're supposed to protect! WHERE WERE YOU?!" Zeratul was silent for a moment. Siesta could feel a sense of shame building within him that left her taken aback, even as she was overwhelmed.
Akhundelar… Zeratul responded, gently.
"Not anymore," Siesta raised her left hand to once again show him the lack of Khalani runes upon it. "You KNOW I don't have that power anymore! She needed you!" Siesta paused, biting her bottom lip as she took a deep breath to prevent herself from devolving to a sobbing mess once more.
"I needed you!"
Zeratul did not know how to respond as Siesta collapsed upon him, failing to prevent herself from falling apart.
"I was supposed to protect her… I can't do that now… I failed…"
Zeratul remembered losing many of his comrades in the past. Feeling what Siesta was feeling many times in his life. He embraced her as he had done twice before, with the motions feeling more natural to him, and looked down to her as she was still busy sobbing into him.
I have felt this pain of yours before, Siesta, and it is never an easy burden to bear, Zeratul began, causing Siesta's reddened, tear-filled eyes to meet his glowing green ones. When I made the decision to kill my matriarch, I felt the same grief as you. I felt that I needed to exile myself from my people. When the truth was, in fact, that they needed me more than ever.
Gifted Siesta, he had not used that moniker on her in a long while, but it felt appropriate now as he kneeled before her, massive hand on her shoulder, she still yet draws breath. You have not failed. Now is not yet the time for mourning. But action. We may still yet save her. Have hope. And faith. My cherished Apprentice. Siesta cracked the smallest smile at these words of encouragement, wiping some of her tears away as she did.
"Siesta!" she turned to look at the source of the voice calling out to her. It was her sister, the eldest after her, Ellie.
Siesta rushed back into the house to see her family gathered around the barely breathing form of her wife on the floor, as there was no more table to perform their impromptu operation on. There was a thick layer of clean towels wrapped around her belly, which, thankfully, looked like no blood was currently seeping out of. Siesta immediately fell to her knees by Louise's side, taking her hand as she did.
"Louise, can you hear me?" Siesta's plea was met with Louise's eyes barely opening to look up at her. She felt the smallest squeeze on her hand, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief as she kissed her ailing wife on the forehead and stroked her hair. "Don't worry, we're gonna fix this. You're gonna be okay."
"Siesta… babygirl…" Takeo began with a grim tone, causing Siesta to look up at him and see his face matched it. Siesta's heart immediately sank as she gave him a pleading look.
"We… did what we could. The wound is so big we just can't…" Takeo stopped himself as he choked up and needed to pause before steeling his face. "I've seen this before, Siesta." Takeo said as he shook his head solemnly. Siesta began to feel the panic take her over once more as she processed what this would mean.
"No…" she practically whispered in denial as she looked down at her wife who continued to struggle breathing. "Please, no…"
"There is no need for worry, Siesta," Siesta heard the voice of Tiffa behind her as she felt her leather-gloved hand clasp her shoulder. "But we must hurry to my home. I assure you. I can save her there."
Siesta, desperate, immediately agreed, and she worked with her family to wrap Louise as comfortably as possible before moving her, keeping her as still as possible (Khaydarin was a big help here with their particle beam), to the carriage where they laid her down upon one of the seats. According to Tiffa, if they left that very moment? They could be there by morning.
They now found themselves deep within a forest, the road becoming ever more bumpy as they progressed, causing Siesta concern as Louise's face scrunched with discomfort with groans to match.
"Shh… It's okay." Siesta whispered to Louise as she had taken Agnes' bottle of painkilling liquid medicine, that, compared to the last time she was asked for it in Albion, she more readily handed over, and trickled it down her wife's throat, being exceedingly careful not to induce coughing as she did. Louise seemed to calm as the medicine immediately went to work, causing Siesta to breathe a sigh of relief.
She sat back for a moment, attempting to stretch her legs that she'd been sitting on for who knows how long, and thought of Tiffa's promise.
And wondering how she even saved her to begin with.
Tiffa, Siesta reached out, psionically, to the elf walking beside the carriage, how, exactly, did you save me? I was on Albion. Were you there?
I was before. When I was gathering humans to test my revival methods, it was fertile ground for test subjects. I was there to revive Guiche. But you? You were brought to me, Tiffa explained. Siesta felt a certain discomfort at hearing her refer to "human test subjects", but decided to put it from her mind and let her continue. You appeared in this very forest, as I was out gathering supplies.
Siesta could have asked her to stop right there as she began to recall some details of that night.
One moment, she was facing down a swarm of oncoming Zerg, having surrendered herself to the power of the Gandalfr in a last-ditch effort to save her wife and mentor. Her broken and nearly flayed body was lying crumpled in the bloodied mud of the road. The next moment, she was on a forest floor, looking up at a shadowy figure she could only assume was Tif'narak.
"Oh my! Are you alright?" she could remember TIffa's concerned tone as she knelt over her immobile body. She was slowly losing her vision, her body was beginning to let go from the strain and injuries that had been inflicted upon her.
"Don't worry," the last thing she felt was being picked up as she heard that, "death is not your fate tonight, little raven."
That was where her memory ended. At least the vivid parts. There were blurry flashes here and there that put a great strain upon her to try and recall, but nothing she could grasp. It all seemed to slip away. Like sand in her fingers.
She did not have any more time to dwell on it, regardless, as Louise's breaths seemed to be becoming more labored, causing Siesta to scramble up and take her hand once more.
"Louise? What's wrong? Hold on just a little more!" Siesta pleaded fruitlessly as Louise strained to breathe. Tiffa? How much further?
We are nearly there, Siesta. Please do not worry, Tiffa reassured. It was hard not to panic. Watching her wife seem to die before her very eyes.
Do you hear me, Louise? We're gonna make it. You're gonna be okay, SIesta tried to send her, psionically.
So tired… Louise faintly replied, as though she were far away. This only increased Siesta's worry.
I know, my love, but don't leave, please, we're almost there, I promise, Siesta did her best to reassure her.
Tabitha… why…? Louise weakly wondered.
I don't know… but I promise we'll both get the chance to find out.
True to Tiffa's word, not but a few moments later the carriage had stopped. Siesta's head whipped to the carriage door being opened by Tiffa.
"See? Just like I said," Tiffa proudly announced. She moved aside to let Agnes through as the two of them, along with Khaydarin's particle beam to help stabilize her, lifted her from the carriage and began to take her inside. Tiffa opened the door and, immediately as she did, light seemed to glow from light blue crystals within it.
Khaydarin crystals… Zeratul observed as he stepped into this old house that could be more reasonably described as an overlarge cabin, finding it rare that he did not have to duck his head as he entered.
"Yo! Partner!" A familiar voice greeted them from within.
"Derflinger!" Siesta cried out, wanting to rush to that mouthy, soul-infused sword but needing to make sure that Louise made it to the single bed in this one-room building safely.
"What's up?" Derflinger asked in his usual, casual tone.
"Louise is hurt. Bad," Siesta answered plainly as her momentary elation from Derflinger faded.
"That's rough, maid," Derflinger said in as empathetic a tone as Siesta could expect from him.
Once Louise was laid down, Tiffa began rummaging through her things while Siesta went and picked up Derflinger, holding him close. "Woah! Didn't think I'd get such a warm reception!" Derflinger chuckled. "It's good to see you, too, partner." Siesta, after finishing her embrace, held him in front of her, giving him a look of shame.
It took a moment for Derflinger to notice. But notice he did. "Something's wrong. I don't feel it anymore." Siesta held up her hand to what could be called Derflinger's face, forgetting he didn't have eyes.
"It's gone, Derflinger, the power of the Gandalfr," Siesta admitted.
"Ah. I thought that might happen."
"What?" Siesta urgently exclaimed as she grabbed Derflinger with both hands, giving him an imploring, shocked look.
"Not so tight, girly!" Derflinger seemed to strain to say as though he were being actually choked, despite just being a sword. Siesta, though, immediately loosened her grip, causing the sword to "breathe" a sigh of relief.
"That night… your heart stopped." Siesta's eyes widened at this reveal. "At that point… I think that's when your contract with pinky there was revoked." Siesta looked defeated as she sat down on a nearby makeshift "bench" made of a sturdy half log. She contemplated her situation for a moment.
"So," Siesta began again as she looked at Derflinger, "can it be brought back? Is there anything we can do?"
"Hmm…" Derflinger hummed as he seemed to be considering what to do as well, "maybe try the summoning ritual again? Couldn't hurt."
At that piece of advice, Louise began convulsing, causing Siesta to run to her wife's side.
"What's going on?!" Siesta asked in a panic as she squeezed Louise's hand.
"Don't worry, it's fine. Now where did I put… Ah-ha!" Tiffa exclaimed as she turned around and held up what looked to be a ring with a small Khaydarin crystal inlaid within. "Now we just need to wait for the convulsions to stop before we proceed." Siesta was not sure how to argue with this. It felt so wrong, watching her wife thrash and scream in pain and just… doing nothing.
Louise, it's going to be okay, we're going to help you, Siesta tried to reassure her pained wife.
It hurts… it hurts… please make it stop… I just want- Louise's mind seemed to disappear mid-thought, with an odd feeling of a thread being stretched past its breaking point filling Siesta's mind.
It took her a moment to realize what had happened as Louise's hand had also gone limp in her own, her eyes had become dull, and her body was still. Siesta could feel a rising urge to scream, but before she could, Tiffa approached, holding the ring over Louise's mouth.
"She's not stiff yet. Open her mouth." Tiffa ordered. Siesta, her mind full of static, complied without thinking. Once she did she took a moment to feel for Louise's heart… and found it horrifyingly still.
"Her heart… it's-"
"Good, that works best, I've found," Tiffa informed, much to the horror of everyone in the cabin with her.
Khaydarin was giving off all sorts of alarmed beeps and whines and chirps, causing Tiffa to scrunch her face in annoyance. "Can someone shut that thing up for a second? I need to focus!" Zeratul went to the Probe, placing a hand upon it, and causing Khaydarin to seem calmed. "Thank you," Tiffa acknowledged, gratefully, as she took a deep breath and scrunched her face once again. This time for concentration.
Siesta was silently praying and constantly sending psionic thoughts to Louise while trying to feel her mind, hoping that any second now there would be some reply.
Tiffa closed her eyes, and began chanting in what Siesta and Zeratul recognized as Khalani. As she did, the gem within the ring she held over Louise began to glow. Siesta looked on, with hope and fear gripping her heart with equal strength.
"-N'yaddo. Y's!" Tiffa's chanting finished as she opened her eyes, now glowing red. The gem seemed to liquify into a glowing red light and fall into Louise's mouth. The effects, thankfully, seemed immediate, as life returned to Louise's eyes and her hand gripped Siesta's once more while she took in a deep, loud breath.
"Where… what…" Louise asked, bleary and confused.
"Louise!" Siesta cried out in relief as she threw herself on her now-revived wife, who returned her embrace willingly.
While Siesta silently cried tears of relief into her, Louise decided to take stock of what was going on. The last thing she remembered was Tabitha. Then, a rush of panic and adrenaline as she looked down to what looked to be a mortal wound inflicted on her by one she thought was her friend. Her heart plummeted as the memory brought back the feelings of overwhelming fear she had felt in that moment. She shuddered, attempting to put it from her mind and focus her attention on her quietly crying wife, reaching out to pet her head and giving a warm smile. She turned her attention, then, to the warmly smiling and teary-eyed elf above her.
"Thank you," Siesta said, gratefully, to the elf that was warmly smiling at them.
"I'm so relieved it worked," Tiffa said with a sigh to match her spoken feelings of relief. At that, Siesta snapped up to look at her with scowling disbelief.
"You weren't sure?!" Siesta practically shouted, causing Tiffa to grow red with embarrassment and look away from them.
"Well… it only worked twice so I wasn't totally sure, but it all worked out, right?" Tiffa tried to anxiously laugh it off. Siesta, though Tiffa was trying not to look at her, continued to give her a withering, unamused look.
Zeratul, for his part, was more interested in what Tif'narak had just done. Healing and revival were not known traits of any Protoss he had known. Much less Tal'darim. He would need to consult with her about this later. For now, it was time to let themselves feel the relief of the moment. And rest.
Agnes went to make use of the small fireplace within this cabin.
Tiffa struggled to keep her eyes open as she sat on one of the benches before it.
Zeratul meditated.
And Siesta had finally succumbed to her exhaustion and laid herself upon her wife, with the two sleeping peacefully. Though they examined her former wound thoroughly, it appeared there was not a trace of any damage to Louise. Not even a scar.
Agnes sat next to Tiffa, also looking like she could pass out at any given moment. Zeratul broke from his meditation to notice this.
Rest, comrades, Zeratul told them. They both gave him a bleary look, to which he made sure to give them both a reassuring nod. At that, Tiffa began removing her leather armor and upper most layer of her robe, revealing a small, tight, black band stretchd across her chest that left her muscled midriff exposed.
Agnes, noticing this, also removed her own armor and cape to be as comfortable as possible. Tiffa's eyes wandered over to her. And lingered. Agnes, once she had removed her armor down to her loose tunic underneath, noticed her and frowned.
"What?" Agnes flatly asked.
Tiffa, without thinking, reached towards Agnes' scars, causing the musketeer to recoil and scowl at her.
"S-Sorry," Tiffa stuttered, blushing as she did. "I-I figured since you carry that substance with you you must be in p-pain, but…" her voice trailed off as her gaze was trained on Agnes' extensive scarring, making Agnes constrict herself as her scowl intensified. "Y-You misunderstand!" Tiffa exclaimed, raising her hands in surrender. "M-Maybe I can help you!"
Agnes' scowl dropped and her eyes widened in disbelief, loosening her grip on herself as she did.
"H-How?" Agnes was now afflicted by Tiffa's anxiety, averting her gaze from the elf.
Tiffa held out a hand to her, palm-up, which coaxed Agnes to meet her warm, red-eyed gaze.
"Let me try," Tiffa offered with a tone as warm as her expression.
Once more Agnes constricted herself. Then, after a moment, relaxed further than she did before. And nodded.
Tiffa leaned forward, placing a hand on Agnes' scarred right shoulder, gingerly moving aside her loose tunic to have their flesh meet. Agnes' eyes widened once more when she beheld the elf's eyes glow completely white, and her hair billow in a gentle unseen gale.
"I can feel it," Tiffa said as she winced ever so slightly. "The damage. It's… so much." Despite the lack of sclera or irises at the moment, Agnes could tell she was looking at her with a deep sympathy, "You've been in so much pain." Tiffa's other hand reached out and gently cupped Agnes' face.
After a moment, Agnes nodded, making Tiffa give her a slight smile.
"I can feel it, too," Tiffa said, her voice having a slight echo, as though it reverberated in Agnes' head at the same time. "Close your eyes," Agnes compiled, "take a deep breath," Agnes did so, "relax."
Agnes had no idea how. She couldn't remember the last time she wasn't on some kind of edge. But the aura this elf-no-this woman exuded? It gave her a sense of peace she'd not felt since she was a child. Despite the searing, tearing pain in her arm, and the din of anguish that had burned her soul for almost as long as she could remember, she did, indeed, relax.
The pleasant warmth from where Tiffa's hand was upon her clavicle spread, enveloping her arm, her side, and her back. And, just as she sunk comfortably into it, it faded, with the only remaining warmth being from Tiffa's body that had now collapsed upon her, breathing raggedly.
"Tiffa! Are you alright?" Agnes cried out, snapping her arms up to stabilize her. That was when she noticed something. It didn't hurt. Usually motions like that came at the cost of feeling like she was ripping herself apart. Now there was nothing. She drew in a deep breath as her eyes became saucers. And that didn't hurt either. She… she could breathe. She was able to enjoy full breaths again.
"W-What was that?" Agnes whispered in disbelief that was tempered with a growing, overwhelming joy that had her jaw trembling and her vision going blurry.
"Can't…" Tiffa managed between breaths, "explain… right… now…" It seemed as though every word from her mouth took immense effort, and her body was growing heavier in Agnes' arms. "But… better?" Tiffa looked like she was trying to raise her head, only to fail and fall back into Agnes' stabilizing embrace.
Though she wished she could have prevented it, two fat tears fell from Agnes' eyes and into Tiffa's hair.
"Yes," was all Agnes managed to get out, feeling any more would have her fall apart.
She felt Tiffa nod weakly against her.
"Good," Tiffa breathed, going further limp.
Agnes could no longer hold her up, such was Tiffa's incredible density, and allowed herself to fall back on the bench, with Tiffa's breathing becoming lower and more stable… before devolving into loud snores that made Agnes a bit taken aback before she cracked an amused smile. Agnes was thankful the bench was large enough that she could lay her head down upon it, and did so, sparing a moment to tuck some of Tiffa's locks that had fallen over her face behind one of her ears before also falling asleep.
Zeratul, who had watched this, only felt his intrigue towards this mysterious "Tiffa" grow.
The rest of the day and night passed, thankfully, without incident.
The same could not be said of the morning, however, as an interloper approached.
At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to anyone but Zeratul and Khaydarin, who were the only ones not sleeping, the cabin had been surrounded. The perpetrators looked to be men clad in thick, heavy, gray armor, bearing thick battlewands that resembled longswords. Upon their chests was a crest that looked like a kind of star.
Among them, escorted by two of these armored individuals, was a woman. This woman bore a transparently haughty demeanor, with a face that wore a smirk that looked as though it required no effort to maintain. Her high, twin-tail styled, waist-length, sandy, golden hair was made, at the front, to loosely frame her face upon which she had eyes of such a pale blue one may call them gray. The confident, smug look on her face grew once she laid eyes on the cabin and carriage before it.
Found you… this figure thought to herself as a look of obsession began to take over her face, with her eyes going wide with excitement.
Inside the cabin, Zeratul psionically roused his traveling companions, all waking up in various states of bleary confusion.
Agnes was the first to recover, due to her training. She jerked up, forgetting Tiffa was on top of her. The elf rolled to the ground with a thump and an exclamation of mild pain. Agnes went for her sword and pistol and went to one of the windows. She took one quick look at the surroundings from one of the cabin windows once she was inside. Seeing nothing in the morning mist.
Tiffa, having been awoken in such a rude manner, sat up and frowned. Eventually, groaning with annoyance and exasperation as she did, she grabbed her scythe, gauntlets, and threw on her chest plate without her robe.
Siesta, after registering Zeratul's alarm, snapped awake with adrenaline flooding her body. She found herself up and with Zeratul and Agnes, trying to see anything in the obscuring mist outside.
Louise looked at everything in confusion and tried to rouse herself up, only to be stopped by Siesta rushing over to her.
"You still need rest, dear," Siesta admonished, causing Louise to frown up at her wife.
"I'm perfectly healed, now, thank you," Louise snapped as she threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. The speed in which she did, however, caused her to falter for a moment. Which, in turn, caused Siesta to stabilize her.
Siesta gave her a raised-brow look that said "I told you so", causing Louise to frown.
"I'm not a baby, Siesta, I can do this," Louise shook her concerned wife off of her as she drew her wand and joined everyone else.
Khaydarin began frantically chirping at the group, and, with Derfligner to translate, they could understand.
"They said we're surrounded on all sides by magic Terrans. Nobles," Derflinger translated. The humans of the group furrowed their brows and braced for attack from any angle. These attacks did not come. Instead, they were greeted by a voice.
"Yoo-hoo! Tif'narak!" A high-pitched, feminine voice called out to them in a bright, sickly sweet, sing-song-like tone. Tiffa looked mortified as everyone turned to her and raised an eyebrow, except Zeratul, who could do no such thing. Tiffa, feeling hot with embarrassment, took a shaky breath as she closed her eyes.
"I'll handle this," Tiffa declared with transparently false bravery as she stepped forward and opened the door just enough to let herself out and not reveal her companions within. As she shut the door behind her, she turned to face this interloper, and, even though this was who she completely expected, her heart still sank.
"Ooooh! Tif'narak! You look as beautiful as ever!" the haughty noble leading the surrounding, armored people gleefully exclaimed with genuine passion and excitement.
Tiffa made no reaction other than furrowing her brow at the young woman before her. Seeing the lack of excitement from Tiffa, the woman raised an eyebrow, scoffed, and resumed her smug look that she always bore.
"What? No 'I'm happy to see you'? No 'I missed you'? No 'I'm sorry I ran off on you'?"
"What do you want, Beatrice?" Tiffa asked, curtly, as she now began scowling at the woman before her. Beatrice looked taken aback for a moment before her smug demeanor returned.
"I am here because, as a noble, it is my duty to be as gracious and forgiving as I can to others. Even to lowly half-breeds such as you," Beatrice proudly declared, beaming as she did.
Tiffa's grip tightened on her as-of-yet unignited scythe as she cast her gaze downward, clenching her teeth. Beatrice, seeing this reaction, widened her grin.
"I am nothing if not a paragon of grace, and, as such, I have decided to forgive you for your cruelty of leaving me," she paused for dramatic effect as she stepped closer to Tiffa, who was trembling, "on one condition, of course." Beatrice pointed a finger at the elf. "Renounce your heathen ties and sinful bonds to anyone but the Founder and myself, and all will be forgiven!"
Beatrice announced this with a tone that could be mistaken for cheerful and genuine, but it carried with it a scent of threat and malice that only someone who was used to how this woman communicated would pick up on. Tiffa, before she could respond, heard the door open behind her, and, joining her at her side, she saw Louise, wrapped in her school-given cloak. Following shortly after was an irritated and concerned-looking Siesta.
The appearance of these two caused Beatrice to raise an eyebrow once more.
"Oh? So… is this why you left? To pursue your degenerate lifestyle with them? You think they're prettier than me?" Beatrice's countenance was losing the smug demeanor and being replaced with haughty, jealous rage.
"I am Louise Fracois Le Blanc de la Valliere. Consort to her royal highness Queen Henrietta. May I ask who is disturbing us at this time?" Louise asked with all the summoned noble countenance that she could muster. Beatrice, still raising her eyebrow, gave her a look that revealed familiarity.
"Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf," Beatrice declared as she gave a small curtsy, "perhaps you've heard of me?" Louise let out a small gasp.
"Guldendorf? Then-" Louise began.
"Yes," Beatrice replied with a smirk, "I am the crown princess of Guldendorf."
"Then that must mean…"
"Yes, the men surrounding you now are my nation's legendary Dragon Knights," Beatrice proudly declared. The three girls whipped their heads around and could see the heavily armored men all around them, now. They were both in the distance among the trees and above atop mighty-looking dragons. "So, do you understand your predicament now?"
Tiffa heaved a shaky, defeated sigh as she stepped before the two, putting herself between them and the smug princess before them
"Leave them alone," Tiffa declared, mustering as fierce a look as she could, "this is between you and me, Beatrice."
"Aw, how sweet of you…" Beatrice replied as her eyebrows stitched together in what could be mistaken for worry while she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, "but that's not really true anymore, is it? Having these affairs behind my back!" Beatrice's face was beginning to become etched with genuine anger as her mask slipped. Both Louise and Siesta looked taken aback at this statement and shift in attitude from her.
"That's not what's going on. I promise."
"Oh? You promise? Just like you promised me you'd never leave? You're such a LIAR!" Beatrice was now shouting as she once again thrust an accusatory finger at TIffa, "I've been ordained with divine authority by the Pope himself to reform heretics, and punish those who won't submit! Now… submit yourselves to this condoned inquisition! Or be destroyed!"
At that, Siesta immediately drew Derflinger, noticing, for the first time, that his appearance had changed since she had last seen him as he now shined with a brilliance and sharpness of a newly-forged blade. She did not have time to process this, however, as she leveled Derflinger at Beatrice, who looked more amused than fearful.
"How about this? You leave us alone, or YOU will be destroyed," Siesta threatened her with a fierce look.
At this, Beatrice stared at them for a second, before erupting in mocking, raucous laughter. Once her laughing fit had died down, she wiped tears from her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Just WHO in the Hel do you think YOU are?" Beatrice asked with an insincere, rhetorical tone as she raised one of her arms.
Siesta already knew what this would mean as she immediately sensed the intent to attack her from her right side, and turned to swipe Derflinger at the incoming fireball from one of the surrounding knights, causing it to be absorbed into Derfligner on impact. Beatrice's face, upon seeing this, turned from a smirk to a frown as she raised her arm and chopped it down once more, causing more projectiles to be fired off by more knights, including the ones on the dragons who were now diving on the trio.
Look out! Zeratul's voice rang in their heads as he burst through the cabin's front door and grabbed the two, blinking them to a new location while a series of wind blade spells that threatened to eviscerate them impacted where they were.
Beatrice, who had seen the Protoss, looked surprisingly unfazed and merely turned her frown to a scowl, gritting her teeth as she did.
The girls, disoriented, took a moment to get their bearings before realizing more knights were upon them. Luckily, Zeratul had moved them into the trees, so the mounted dragon knights no longer had a clear line of sight to them. As the ground-based knights were now concerning themselves with Zeratul, Louise, and Siesta, Tif'narak was taking this opportunity to summon and fire off red bolts of psionic energy at the dragon knights, hitting some of them before they could touch her and doing enough to make the others back off to give the group breathing room. A short while later, Agnes joined the fray as she took her pistol out and began firing at the dragon knights as well.
Beatrice was transparently livid at this turn of events. Like a spoiled child not getting her way, she stomped her foot.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Go get her!" Beatrice ordered her two personal knights, adorned with bright white and red plumage on their helmets and golden trim on their armor to indicate their special rank.
At first, they looked at each other hesitantly. Their orders were to protect the Princess at all costs, after all. Beatrice, seeing their hesitation, grew red with rage.
"I SAID GO GET HER!" Beatrice screamed, causing the knights to jump a little before turning themselves to the elf, that dwarfed even their bulky frames, that was firing off destructive bolts of energy that caused devastating, gory damage to whatever living thing they seemed to impact.
Siesta was hardly refreshed from her short rest, but refreshed enough for these opponents that, as she bore no conflicted feelings about them, she had no problem fighting. She leapt to her first victim, with a psionically enhanced swing of Derflinger directed at the knight's battlewand immediately knocking it out of his hand. Then, she summoned the smallest amount of psionic energy into her hand. Just enough to dent the armor. And fired it at his head, causing the knight to grunt in pain and fall over, incapacitated. As she did this, she was set upon by two knights who fired wind and fire spells at her, each one enhancing the other into a deadly, blazing cone of flame that she narrowly avoided as she flipped over them and swung out Derfligner to disarm one.
"Duck! Partner!" she heard Derflinger cry out. She heeded his words as an arrow flew past where her head would have been. She didn't have time to locate the assailant as the other knight was upon her, shooting a cutting force of wind at her. She raised Derflinger defensively, but before the impact came, she heard Louise cry out for her and felt herself grabbed.
The impact of the attack never came, as Siesta found herself looking at the knight's back. She broke free of the grip around her and pommel struck the knight on the back of his neck, causing him to fall limp before her. Breathing heavily, as she could feel her well of power already draining, she turned to see who had grabbed her. It came as little surprise to see the petite frame of her wife on her knees looking at her hands, wide-eyed.
"Louise! Are you alright?" Siesta asked, concerned.
"Y-yeah…" Louise answered, more confused and curious than anything else. "I think I just blinked." Siesta's eyes widened with surprise, but before she could respond, there was yet another emergency.
"Partner! Look out!" Derflinger shouted, this time, just a second too late as the arrow from the previous assailant she could not see was barreling down upon her. She closed her eyes and braced for the pain as she tried to turn away, hoping that her shield would at least stop the projectile. She found the impact never came as she looked to see the arrow stuck in mid-air, encased in a kind of green, glowing energy. She turned to see Louise, wand pointed at the arrow, giving her a reassuring smile, which Siesta returned, as she and Louise moved out of the path of the arrow and Siesta psionically sprinted at the source of it.
She found this knight quickly, and immediately sliced his bow in twain before putting Derflinger to his neck, looking down on him with a threatening aura. The knight seemed to squeak in fear, causing Siesta to give a satisfied smirk as she gave a pommel strike to his helmet, causing him to stop moving. She wondered, for a second, if she was going too hard, and reached out to the knight to see if he was still alive.
This stupid bratty princess drags us all out here for this… she heard the knight thinking. Breathing a sigh of relief that the knight was not dead, she turned when she heard one of Louise's trademark explosions. She looked over to see two knights laid out on the ground, disarmed, and covered in soot. Louise turned around to meet Siesta's gaze, winking and giving her a thumbs up as she did, which Siesta returned.
Zeratul, who also pitied how unbalanced this fight was between him and these humans, was making the effort to keep his attacks non-lethal. Striking the armored Terrans down with hand-to-hand martial techniques. It also helped that the Terrans seemed absolutely terrified of him, and thus their attacks were wild and inaccurate. As he stood before the last knight, he merely walked up to him, no weapon drawn, and looked down at him from his seven foot tall position.
"Eeby deeby…" the man seemed to whimper as he dropped his weapons and crumpled. Unconscious from sheer fear. Zeratul was grateful for not needing to inflict unnecessary violence as he went to join Louise and Siesta, who looked to have handled themselves quite well judging from the sheer number of knights strewn on the forest floor.
Well done, my apprentices, Zeratul praised them as she walked up. Both of them gave him wide, enthusiastic grins.
"NO! NONONO! NONONONONONONONONO!" the three could hear a frustrated screaming from back at the road leading to the cabin and made haste over there to see what was happening. Stepping out into the clearing as they arrived, they looked up to see what few dragon knights that remained were flying away, with her two personal guards lying dead at Tiffa's feet, chests split and each missing their sword arm.
"I'LL HAVE YOU ALL EXECUTED FOR THIS!" Beatrice screamed, sweeping her finger at them as she did and brandishing her own wand.
"THAT'S ENOUGH, BEATRICE!" Tiffa bellowed as she marched up to the Princess whose face was red and eyes were awash with wet rage, stepping over her dead personal guards as she did.
"YOU! Why couldn't you just come with me?! Why did you leave me?!" Beatrice was practically pleading, enraged, at Tiffa, who stopped right in front of her, looking down on the petulant Princess.
"It's because you do… THIS!" Tiffa gestured to the myriad of dragon and knight corpses left behind by Tiffa and Agnes, who did not get the memo about being non-lethal.
"I do it because I LOVE YOU!" Beatrice screamed as she attempted to fall into Tiffa's arms, which Tiffa backed off to dodge, causing Beatrice to contort her face further into wrath.
"This isn't love! I don't feel safe with you!" Tiffa shouted at her, scowling as she did.
"But I feel safe with YOU! Please, please just take me back, Tif'narak, I'll do better, I promise," Beatrice's demeanor had now shifted to one of pleading and desperation. And her tone had once again become sweet with her body language snapping to one that was demure and innocent.
Tiffa, who saw right through this act she'd endured too many times, merely continued to scowl at her.
Beatrice, taking a moment to become aware that the elf before her was unfazed by her routine, contorted her face in fury once more, her body language once more snapping to one of unbridled aggression. "No one else will love you," Beatrice snarled at her, to which Tiffa, surprisingly, winced at.
"And not just because you're a half-breed tree of a freak, but for that… other thing," Beatrice had a truly deranged, sadistic, grinning, wide-eyed look on her face.
"Wait, please, don't-," before Tiffa's plea could finish, Beatrice thrust her wand.
"If you wanna know just how much of a freak 'she' really is!" Beatrice lowered her wand to point at Tiffa's lower body, "Why don't you ask what's going on down there sometime?!"
Beatrice shrieked with laughter as she made this declaration, and the smug look upon her face cemented itself as she saw Tiffa back away, hands clasped together below her waist, constricting herself, and frozen in shame.
Her laughing was stopped, however, when a fist upon a scarred, muscled arm impacted her face, throwing her into the dirt. Beatrice, rubbing her face, looked up to see her attacker, staring down at her with cold, dead eyes upon her ever surly, but now blank, face.
Beatrice readied her wand. "How DARE you strike me, peasant! I'll-!"
Before Beatrice could finish her threat, Agnes was upon her once more, picking her up by the chest of her dress, ripping the wand from her hand as easily as Louise had witnessed her do to Montmorency, and landing blow after blow on the princess's face, with her normal, calm, surly face not betraying any feelings. As she did this, Louise and Siesta were unsure of how to feel as they were torn between rage on behalf of their friend, and pity for the now-defenseless princess who had been abandoned by her knights and was now just a lone young woman in the forest being brutalized by a much stronger opponent.
As Agnes was prepared to deliver more blows, a leather-gloved hand fell upon her striking arm's shoulder, giving her pause. Agnes turned to see Tiffa, looking down on Beatrice with pity in her tear-filled eyes. Agnes, acquiescing, dropped the beaten, bloody princess and stood up, looking down on her. Tiffa, still looking mostly frozen and shaking from shame, was crying silently as she looked down at her ex.
"Why would you cry for… that?" Agnes asked, looking up at Tiffa as she did.
"She wasn't always like that…" Tiffa began as she looked down on her groaning, barely-conscious former lover. "When we first met, she was the first human who was nice to me. Everything I hated about myself she seemed to love. Once she found out about… that, though, she seemed to change. She got more… aggressive. Physically. Constantly trying to touch me there. Getting mad at me because I said I didn't feel comfortable with that. She'd yell, insult me, hit me, then turn around and beg my forgiveness and say all those sweet things again…" Tiffa explained as she continued crying. Agnes looked up at her with sympathy in her eyes as her own began to tear up. "And I can't help but think… maybe she's right. Maybe no one will love me like… this." Tiffa gestured to her massive, towering frame and ears.
"Tiffa," Siesta gently began as she approached, placing a hand on one of Tiffa's arms as she did. Tiffa looked down to her expectantly, "I can't say if you're gonna find love. Not like you mean. But that doesn't mean you won't. And if you want it, and you're patient, it may come to you in the ways you least expect." Siesta was unsure if her words were comforting or not, but Louise had now sidled up to her and she took her wife's hand as they both looked up to Tiffa, whose face was now breaking into a crooked smile.
Tiffa could feel a rough hand begin to wrap around one of her own. She looked down to see that it was Agnes', who was giving a warm smile, which Tiffa returned.
Beatrice interrupted the moment by groaning and stirring, causing everyone to look down at her.
"So… what are we going to do with her?" Louise asked.
"We could just leave her here," Agnes coldly suggested with a shrug.
"No," Tiffa began as she once again looked at Beatrice with pity, "let's… at least take her to the nearest town. So she can go home." Everyone looked at her in surprise but, as this was up to her, they decided not to argue.
As they were getting ready to leave, having packed the barely-conscious Beatrice into the carriage, Tiffa asked them to wait for a moment while she went back inside. She hurried through the broken front door and began rummaging through her belongings. Where is it… where is it… I should have kept this place more organized… She was thinking to herself as she was going through her things. Ah ha! She finally thought to herself as she saw it, and took out, from the drawer she was looking through, a locket on a chain.
She gave a warm smile to it, held it close to her, and quickly fastened it around her neck. Don't worry, I'm not gonna leave you behind, mom, Tiffa thought to herself as she took one last look at her old cabin, making sure not to forget to grab Siesta's collapsed psi staff, before stepping out with her new friends.