Was originally going to release this before Grim got his one-shot, but this order works out too.

"Unlock."

The servant's door to the Academy's Central Tower eerily swung open. The well-oiled hinges hardly gave so much as a squeak. A cloaked figure carefully crept inside, slowly sliding the door closed before stalking through the servant hallways. Very few people would be out and about at night, but that didn't mean caution should be abandoned.

The figure came upon the spiraling staircase and gazed upward. "Flight," the person chanted in a soft, female voice, holding a wind aloft.

Up the floors and down the halls the person went, stopping outside of a door on the floor of the second-year female students. The woman returned to the ground gently before once again chanting, "Unlock."

There was a click as the door unlocked. Slowly, the woman stepped inside, taking sight of the sleeping figure on the bed. A messy curtain of pink hair framed a cute, porcelain face. From under the shadow of her hood, the woman smiled and shut the door, unaware of the glowing green eyes looming overhead.

The intruder stepped forward in small, purposeful strides. Then froze, hearing a skittering from above her head. Glancing upwards, she was unable to make out anything in the moonlight from the window. "Rats?" she wondered aloud. Deciding to play it safe, she cast, "Silence." A cloud of sparkles flew from her wand and covered the interior of the room, making it soundproof. If she had been more aware, she would have noticed that she was being watched from a corner of the ceiling by thin green slits originating from a small blue figure briefly illuminated by her spell.

The woman walked closer to Louise, smiling widely now. She reached out her hand toward the sleeping girl's face, only to freeze as a wet drop hit the back of her neck, heavy enough that she could feel hit through the cloth of her hood. She slowly looked up.

A thin strand of a viscous substance hung over her head, trailing up past the bedposts all the way to the ceiling. There, standing on the ceiling in defiance of gravity, was some kind of giant blue tarantula. It had multiple limbs dangling in her direction, and the fluid was leaking from its teethy maw. Spikes fell from its back and head, and it looked at her with cold, glowing green eyes.

She screamed.

Louise jolted awake and screamed.

Stitch screeched and dropped down from the ceiling, which made the intruder scream even louder before the impact of Stitch's body knocked the wind out of her.

That, in turn, prompted Louise to redouble her screaming.

"Chi meetoh!" Stitch declared, standing over his captive.

"What in the five elements is going on!" Louise screeched.

"Louise?"

"Princess?"

"Gaba?"

"Stitch, get off the princess right now!"

Stitch's heightened vision allowed him to see that the woman, or rather—based on her youthful, heart-shaped face—teenaged girl that had snuck into Louise's room did have tiara nestled on her violet hair, like a princess from a story would. It didn't explain why a princess would be sneaking around a school like a burglar.

"Okie-taka," Stitch said reluctantly. Despite his suspicions, he obeyed Louise and moved off his captive, sitting on the bed with narrowed eyes. "Meega Shiralli," he hissed in warning.

"Are you hurt, Princess Henrietta?" Louise asked, helping the royal to sit up.

"A bit short of breath, but I'm fine, Louise," Henrietta replied. "This adventure was a bit more exciting than I thought. Your familiar…" her voice trailed off as she looked at Stitch in the moonlight. Long ears, big black eyes, large round nose, a cuddly body. Even while his expression was guarded, he barely resembled what she thought she had seen.

"I must have been more startled than I thought. I thought your familiar was a large spider with glowing eyes," Henrietta admitted with embarrassment. "Luckily, I soundproofed the room, otherwise I would've woken up the entire tower."

Louise quickly glanced at Stitch, who stuck his tongue up his nose to pick a booger before lapping it up. Her nose scrunched in disgust. "Stitch climbs on ceilings and has disgusting drool, but that's about it," Louise said. "I apologize on his behalf. He didn't mean to scare you."

"Eh?" Stitch voiced. Louise shot him a glare. "Ah, Ih, sokka. Meega naga akare," he said with a small bow of his head, which Henrietta found adorable.

A vein in Louise's throbbed. "Stitch, this is Princess Henrietta, the Crown Princess of Tristan. You are not going to be doing your usual nonsense with her. Understood?"

"Ih," Stitch said with a nod. Henrietta's entrance was strange, but he understood that there were some people that shouldn't be pranked. Presidents, mayors, social workers, police officers, and now princesses.

"You aren't going to mention that we are childhood friends?" Henrietta said despondently.

"I, well, I must treat you properly princess," Louise flustered.

"Does our friendship mean that little to you?"

"I—no! Of course not, but you have your station, and so do I."

"It's just the two of us, isn't it?" Henrietta prodded. "If you can't relax when it's just us, when can you?"

"He's here too," Louise tilting her head to Stitch, who was sitting innocently on the bed.

"Is he going to say anything?" Henrietta asked teasingly. "Are you going to tell anyone about our conversation?" she asked Stitch, using the baby-talk people normally reserved for animals and infants.

"Naga," Stitch denied with a shake of his head.

Henrietta looked understandably confused. "You can… understand me?"

"Hm… Bark. Bark!"[RS1]

"Stitch," Louise said warningly. "No nonsense."

"Okie taka," Stitch said. He stood up and waddled over to Henrietta. "Aloha, Princess! My name is Stitch. Hi~!"

There were several moments Henrietta spent frozen as her mind slowly rebooted. She, almost mechanically, stretched out a hand to shake Stitch's paws, which she now realized had very sharp claws. "Nice to meet you… Stitch…" she said.

"Ih! Nice to meet you."

Now that Henrietta had a moment to process, she realized that Stitch's mannerisms were less like an animal that had recently learned how to speak—which was known to happen with some familiars—and more like an odd child. "I've never seen a creature like you before," Henrietta observed, her blue eyes wide with wonder. "What are you?"

"Stitch is an illegal alien genetic experiment," Stitch replied.

"… a what?"

"He tends to babble things that sound like words but aren't," Louise said dismissively.

"I'm pretty sure those were words," Henrietta said inquisitively. "At least, some of them. Illegal… experiment?"

"Ih. Made by Jumba Jookiba. Evil genius."

Henrietta's face blanched.

"Evil what?" Louise asked in alarm.

"Ah, Jumba good now," Stitch quickly assured them. "And Stitch good. And cousins good. All good."

"O-okay?" Henrietta squeaked. "That's… good?" Certainty was very much lacking in her tone.

Louise gave Stitch a lingering suspicious look, but then turned her attention to the princess. "Your Highness—" Lousie began, only to pause as she saw Henrietta pout. "Henrietta," Louise corrected herself, earning a smile from the princess. "What are you doing at the academy so early? I thought you weren't supposed to arrive until tomorrow."

The smile slid from Henrietta's face into a more solemn expression. "Louise, you know that I trust you more than anyone else in Tristan, right?"

Louise's voice caught in her throat. "I-I'm honored," she said. "If there's anything I can do for you, name it!"

"There's a letter I need you to retrieve for me…"

The next morning, Stitch still didn't understand why Henrietta had bothered to sneak into the academy to ask them to retrieve a letter later. Louise clearly would do what Henrietta asked without any explanation. It could have waited until after the festivities. And then they had gone well into the night talking about… well, anything that came to their minds that had happened in the past couple of years.

Humans did silly things sometimes.

What was more important was it was finally time to shine!

"Welcome, everyone, to the Familiar Exhibition," Professor Colbert announced. Stitch noticed that his voice carried across the courtyard despite the lack of a sound system, indicating that he had cast some kind of sound amplification on himself.

Stitch's stubby tail wiggled as he watched the other familiars perform. Some were lame familiars that couldn't do much, like the ring-haired girl's frog who could only hop on command. Some were decent, like Kirche's familiar that could breathe fire. Tabitha and Sylphid did some aerial tricks that even Stitch had to admit looked cool.

He would totally outdo them if he had his big red battleship.

Finally, it was his and Louise's turn.

"Our final contestant is Miss Louise de la Valliere!"

Louise walked on stage, with Stitch scuttling behind her on all fours. "My name is Louise de la Valliere, and this is my familiar Stitch!" she announced.

Stitch rose on his hind legs and waved to the crowd of students, faculty, and visitors. "Aloha!" he called out enthusiastically, earning a chuckle from some members of the audience.

"Stitch, up!" Louise commanded, stretching out her arm.

Stitch obeyed by walking over to Louise, and then walking over her. Still on his hindlegs, in clear defiance of gravity. He walked onto her arm and then walked until he was standing perfectly upside down, gaining applause from the audience. Then he walked back upright and curled into a ball, allowing Louise to catch him in her hand.

And promptly throw him offstage.

With a little more force than necessary.

That got a startle out of her audience, while some of her peers started snickering. Those snickers were quickly drowned out by gasps when Stitch walked back onstage juggling three rocks, each the same size as he was. The experiment's face was smug as he looked straight at the audience, not even paying attention to the boulders he was tossing over his head. Louise had originally suggested juggling balls like an ordinary clown, but he'd convinced her that he could do more than that.

So much more.

Stitch threw each of the rocks with a spin, making them all land one atop each other on the ground next to the stage, almost like a snowman.

Then it was time for the finale. This was something Louise had hesitated to do, but Stitch had convinced her that it was the best way to win. Stitch did a handstand, facing Louise, who looked like she was about to back out. He gave her an encouraging smile. She hesitantly stepped onto one of his elephant-like feet. Even though he was small, her foot didn't slip off or shift him, a courtesy of sticky pads, super strength, and incredible balance. She quickly stepped up and aimed her other foot to meet his.

She missed. She saw her foot land just an inch too far to the left, but then Stitch quickly shuffled to the side, making her foot meet right in the middle of his. Louise felt her balance shift, but Stitch readjusted his position to cancel out her swaying, all while having his head facing the audience.

The routine certainly got points for uniqueness as the crowd cheered.

In a display of flexibility and strength Stitch curled on himself enough so that Louise could safely step down. While she had only been less than two feet up, it had still been nerve wracking.

"And now the judges will deliberate!" Colbert announced.

"You were certainly more than I expected, Little Louise," Kirche acknowledged once Louise came off the stage.

Louise looked surprised by the praise. "Thank you, Zerbst. I suppose your familiar was adequate as well."

Kirche smirked. "The judges not only look at the familiar, but the mage. And it's clear that my Flame and I were a much better pair than you two."

"You'll eat your words, Zerbst!" Louise spat.

"Yuuga japdelup!" Stitch barked in agreement.

The two girls' stare off didn't last long before Colbert was once again on the stage, this time with Henrietta at his side. "And the winner of this year's Familiar Exhibition is… Miss Tabitha d'Orleans and her familiar, Sylphid!"

Kirche and Louise hmphed in unison. Kirche then moved to gush over Tabitha, almost preventing the tiny girl from reaching the stage, while Louise gave a respectful nod. Stitch caught a small smile on Tabitha's otherwise stoic face.

Just as Tabitha was about to step on stage, a loud boom echoed across the courtyard.

Immediately, Henrietta's Royal Musketeers jumped on stage and surrounded her on all stages. Familiars and mages alike began to panic. If it had been the sound alone, there would have been some confusion, but seeing the guards move brought the idea of danger to the forefront of even the most unaware students' minds.

Stitch's ears shot upright and he swiveled his head around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from.

"Get everyone to the Central Tower!" Osmond called out, his voice also amplified to sound above the rising din.

A second boom, louder than the first, punctuated his order. The teachers immediately began herding the students and guests toward the tower. The Musketeer Knights were far ahead of them, pushing Henrietta through until they were safely in the middle of the crowd.

"Get moving," one of the teachers said to Kirche and Lousie before dashing to the fleeing horde, not even looking back to make sure they were following.

"What is going on?" Louise asked. "Are we under attack?"

"Could be," Kirche said. Her eyes caught Tabitha, who was bringing up the rear, her eyes narrowed as she looked around for trouble.

"Aka tiki baba!" Stitch called out, pointing in the direction of the Void Tower.

"What is it, Stitch?"

"Big thing, hitting tower. One person on top," Stitch told her. As he turned to face her, she noticed that his normally black eyes were illuminated in pale green, before quickly losing their glow.

"Ah, Louise," Kirche said cautiously. "Your familiar—"

Louise decided to ignore everything aside from her biggest priority. "Someone is trying to break into the Void Tower?"

"Ih!"

"That's where the Vault is!" Louise exclaimed. "Who knows what they could find in there!"

"Kata baka dooka?"

"We need to stop them!"

"Akootah ikata!" Stitch skittered away with surprising speed.

"Louise—" Kirche began, but Louise cut her off.

"Tell the teachers what's going on, Zerbst!" Louise called out as she ran off after her familiar.

"You can't—wait!" Kirche started to follow after them, but she realized that if the teacher didn't know what was happening, then things could get a whole lot worse. Especially, since they didn't know if that person was working alone. "Founder's burning flames. You better leave a piece for me, Louise," she grumbled under her breath before sprinting to the Central Tower.

Tantalog Translations:

Chi Meetoh – I've got you now

Gaba – What

Meega Shiralli – I'm watching you

Ih – Yes

Ih, sokka. Meega naga akare – Yes, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you

Yuutah japdelup – You're going down

Aka tiki baba – It's over there

Kata baka dooka – Can I destroy?

Akootah ikata – Let's go attack!

Stitch has met Henrietta! And like always, it goes swimmingly! And now we got the school under attack. Nothing that Stitch can't handle! (I looked up the cubic weight of clay and wow... it's heavier than I thought).

According to my outline we've only got 2 more chapters to go. This story has been fun to write. Easy short chapters, light tone, and the Tantalog has been fun to play with. But once the foundational character development is done I don't see the story being as interesting. So instead of a gradual death I plan to wrap it up neatly.

Hope you enjoyed! And remember, reviews are food for a writer's soul!