The School Days and Beyond

by Storyjumper

These stories are going to focus largely on Ferdinand during his school days with the last few focusing more on Part 5 content. We all know how Ferdinand feels about Dunkelfelger women and I wanted to expand on that with a slight twist... one of them is much more than they seem.

41. Rescue

Chapter 41: Rescue!

Rozemyne: Invasion of Ahrensbach (Part 5 content)

Justus jogged at my side. Several Dunkelfelger knight; as well as my guard knights flanked us, and scouted ahead with Eckhart. We were finally on our way to Ahrensbach's replenishment hall. It was all I could do not to bolt forward. I needed to save Ferdinand. But even with my impatience I still noticed the halls like the city were weirdly empty. No one had tried to stop us.

"It's quiet."

"Likely, Lady Georgine has taken the bulk of her forces for a takeover while her political rivals are hiding in their hidden rooms where they would be safe." I didn't bother to hide my frown. Justus' remark made me nervous, but that was quickly shoved away by the memory of what Detlinde had done. Please; I begged the Gods, let him be okay.

Justus continued to lead me through the castle halls. He had clearly learned them even in his short time working here. We climbed through the last door and I was directed to the hidden door. Only to see Ferdinand's registration stone was missing. No! I was going pull him out so Justus; someone completely trained could do this. Grr! Now I would have to do this. I quickly dyed a stone and popped it into one of the open slots while Justus drilled me on the order of potions.

"Red, clear, then green." I wrinkled my nose at the green potion knowing it was the ultra-nasty one that Ferdinand had given me the first time I had ever needed a potion. But I dutifully repeated back the order and was about to enter when Justus cried out, "Wait! Cleanse the room first." Oh right. I summoned my schtappe, sticking it into the room, and casting a waschen. Then I pushed through the barrier. Just like the one in Ehrenfest, it was like pushing through a dense cloud. The room on the other side was also no different from what I expected. Ferdinand was laid across the magic circle here. His breathing was coming in short shallow pants that made his pain as clear as his grimace. Sweat soaked his brow. My heart jumped into my throat.

"Ferdinand!" I ran to him and as gently as I could, pulled him off the circle. Even with strength enhancements it was like pulling dead weight. I doubted it was painless, but he didn't respond to my voice or being moved. My fear was starting to spike. Please let him be okay.

"Okay, Justus said red potion first." I popped the cork on the red potion and tried to open his mouth, but he seemed to be instinctively fighting me. His mouth remained firmly shut. "Please Ferdinand! Open your mouth!" He had fought me so hard that I nearly dropped the bottle when his mouth dropped open. Before he could change his mind, I dumped the potion down his throat. I was careful to keep his head and chest elevated so he didn't choke.

The only signs that potion was having an effect is that he was no longer grimacing. His breathing was still shallow and he was still sweating. I gently wiped his brow while I waited a few minutes like Justus had warned me to do. Then I dumped the clear potion same as I had with the red. This time Ferdinand didn't clench his mouth shut at all. The effects were also quicker. His body temperature dropped back to normal pretty quickly. Even his breathing eased to something closer to sleep.

This left the last potion. Popping off the cork the smell of the ultra-nasty potion wafted up my nose making me want to stick my tongue out in disgust. I managed to keep my expression mostly neutral; Ferdinand, you better praise me. Then I dumped that potion down his throat like I had for the other two. This time his whole body tensed as the potion practically burned its way through him. Just like Justus warned, I gave him enough time to swallow before laying him down. Then I summoned my schtappe and cast healing on him. The words for the spell rolled easily off my tongue and bathed the room in soft green light. With that, it should be only moments before Ferdinand woke up. I hoped. A few minutes later, he stirred and groaned. He blinked up at me blankly.

"Ferdinand! How are you? Anything hurting?"

He didn't respond to my questions at all. I'm not really sure what I expected as a greeting, since it had admittedly been a while, but he just stared at me blankly. When he started to pull himself into a sitting position I panicked. No matter how much I trusted Justus I was still worried about him pushing himself too hard. Ferdinand did have a track record for pushing himself too hard and I really doubted that had changed in his time in Ahrensback. Likely, it had only gotten worse.

"Wait! Ferdinand, you need to-." When I went to push him back down the world suddenly and violently shifted. It was so fast that I wasn't really sure what had happened. Pain shot through the back of my head as it hit the stone floor, but there was also a pressure on my neck as well. I was being strangled! I blinked up at Ferdinand's face which was now above me and instantly froze. He was absolutely furious and not even bothering to hide it. But why?

"Who are you and what are you planning?" His gold eyes narrowed at me with deadly seriousness. He didn't even bother to hide the threat behind the pressure of; what I now realized was the chain, pressing down on my neck. I kicked and struggled instinctively needing air. The chain let up a bit, but only enough to allow me to breath. Not enough to escape, but at least I wasn't suffocating anymore either. Then his words clicked.

Had the poison affected his brain, I wondered. Though I was glad I didn't blurt that out. It would have only served to make him angrier. Instead, I glared back at him. What a way to treat the person who had gone to so much trouble to save him.

"I'm Rozemyne!" I wheezed at him even letting my indignation show that he had somehow forgotten about me. How dense could he be? It's not like it had been that long since we had last spoke.

He scoffed at me. "Rozemyne is a small child. You are not." He gestured to barely a few centimeters off the ground. I WAS NOT THAT SMALL! I would have shouted those words if the chain wasn't pressing into my neck again. "Do you think to insult my intelligence in such a brazen manor?" He pressed the chains down harder and I struggled for breath. "You truly are a fool."

At those word, the dam inside me broke. All the worry that I'd be too late, that he would be dead or permanently maimed melted away. Relief crashed through me so hard tears overflowed, and I couldn't even be bothered to stop them. Laughter bubbled making my limbs go limp. He was okay! He was alive! He was the same Ferdinand. It took several moments for me to find my voice.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I'd never hear you call me a fool again." The words came out in hiccups because I was still laughing and crying. His eyes widened as they searched my face. A brief processing error happened as he studied my face. I laughed and pointed it out to him. Then his expressions went through the riot of thoughts, each clearly written on his face. It was this moment that I also remembered I had aged. Oops. That was why he did recognize me. Well, hopefully he would praise me for saving him before scolding me about this.

He sat up and pulled the chain away from my neck. "How did you get here?"

"Through the country gate."

Already he was rubbing his eyes. That didn't bode well for my praise. "Ehrenfest doesn't have the man power. Why would risk that?"

"Well, I actually asked Dunkelfelger for help. Since well, they were the reason you were even here in the first place. They kinda needed to take responsibility." Before I was even done explaining his hands went from rubbing his eyes to full on scrubbing his entire face. Really though, it's not like I had any other options here.

"Why did you risk all-out war?" he demanded with a glare after dropping his hands.

I glared right back at him and snapped, "That's what I promised! I would make the king and even the Gods my enemies to save you!" Now hot angry tears were streaming down my cheeks. His glare faltered and suddenly he had trouble holding eye contact with me. A light red even touched the tips of his ears and colored a bit of his pale cheeks. It made me worried he might have caught a fever in his weakened state. On impulse I reached out to check if he was indeed warmer, but the way he was balanced on top of me prevented me from doing anything.

It was this moment that I also remembered that this was very much one of those compromising positions people found themselves in romance novels from earth. Ferdinand had said my Cinderella was basically porn… did that mean?... Blush rushed up my neck and cheeks. I'm pretty sure my whole head turned bright tomato red.

"Umm, Ferdinand? Could you-?" I trailed off and tried very hard not to look him in the eyes, knowing very well my noble mask was not in place. I didn't want him to see my panic, but the change was instant. The weight that had been blanketing me was gone. Instead, he was laying on the floor a little way away from me, with an arm thrown over his eyes as if he couldn't bear to look at me. Slowly, I sat up.

"Ferdinand, are you alright?"

"You are asking if I'm alright, when you are the fool who was just choked?"

I shrugged carelessly, knowing it could be fixed easily with a potion. Right now, I had much bigger concerns than a bit of bruising. I leaned over him to get a better look at him. "I'll fix that later. You were the one who was poisoned. Did the potions work?"

He peeked out from behind his arm. After a moment of staring back at me he grouched, "You're getting me wet."

My laughter bubbled up again when I realized I was indeed still crying on him. It reminded me of the time he had given me my family hairpin right after we had been separated. But I also recognized this as his way of dealing with kindness that he didn't know how to respond to. I managed to put my mask mostly back in place with a sigh. Then I informed him in no uncertain terms that I would not be distracted.

"What are you hiding, Ferdinand?"

He grimaced and seemed like he was about to answer when something caught his attention. He reached for the pendant that was a symbol of the royal authority. It had slipped out from under my cloak while I was leaning over him.

"So, you really did want to marry a prince."

What? Where did that come from? I snorted. "No. It is my royal permission." I shoved it closer to him so he could see it better. "It only has six elements. A proposal feystone should have seven for me. Now stop dodging my question! What's wrong?"

For a long moment he was staring into my eyes trying to judge something. I stared right back. I was serious and not going to back down. After a moment he grimaced again, but he finally admitted, "I'm cold."

That wasn't good. I reached out and touched his cheeks. He averted his gaze from my own as if he was embarrassed. But I was more concerned by how cold he felt. His skin was almost icy to the touch. My panic from earlier was making a resurgence. What did I do wrong? Justus didn't describe anything like this.

"Calm yourself, we just need to-." He was interrupted by a small light coming from under his shirt. And if I was surprised by this, he was positively stunned. Another processing error occurred.

"Umm, Ferdinand, what is that?"

He pulled a small star shaped charm from under his shirt. The center had an opal like stone which at first, I thought was a feystone. But the more I looked at it, the more I realized there were dozens of constantly shifting magical circles inside it. Even with my limited knowledge I could tell this was a work of art. I wonder what Ferdinand made it for. Hopefully, it wasn't a protection that was about to blast me.

"It's a broken magic tool." Well, it wasn't anymore. "I never got it to work. How?" If Ferdinand didn't get it to work, does that mean it wasn't his creation? If so, why was he carrying it around? I watched him study the tool. Then he sharply glanced at his shirt then me. When his eyes reached mine, he had another processing error. It would have been funny if I wasn't still worried about getting blasted. After far too many seconds he finally scoffed. "Of course she would think of something like this. Help me up."

Who was she, I wondered as I helped pull Ferdinand to his feet. He teetered to one side until I grabbed his arm and he braced his feet apart. Realizing he was going to have trouble I pulled one of his arms over my shoulder and supported him on my side while using enhancement magic. The color came back to his ears again. Hopefully, he wasn't catching a fever. Then it was merely a balancing act from there, but where was he trying to go. He couldn't leave the hall without a registration feystone.

"Take me to the door. Thanks to that insufferable woman, we should have all the materials we need to fix this."

My curiosity got the better of me. "Who are you talking about?"

Ferdinand hissed in discomfort as I took the first step. It took me a couple of steps to get the motion so I didn't hurt him as much in the process. "She and her fiancée were classmates of mine. They died in an ambush in our sixth year."

I swallowed hard. Ferdinand had lost so much. I wonder what kind of people they were that Ferdinand had kept a memento from them. What were the three of them like in the academy? "So, if she's dead, how does this help us?"

"She might have been a nuisance, but her and her people often traded rare materials with me." He made a grimace and shook his head as if trying to shake off a thought. "Her fiancée mentioned that she kept a stash of weapons and ingredients that she could access from anywhere. The charm is a key. As long as it is placed on a door, we can access her materials." Had she perhaps given the key to him so he would have research materials for entertainment and weapons for protection? Seems like they were fond of him too. I wonder what they were like.

He placed star on the mist door. It hung there for moment, nothing happening. Then light gathered in the stone glowing brighter and brighter until we both had to shield our eyes. Then there was a shredding sound as if someone had ripped cloth. When the light faded enough to see what was there, my jaw nearly dropped. An archway now replaced the mist. On the other side was forest landscape. A slight breeze blew through archway. It was way colder than Ahrensbach, and there was no telltale salty smell on the wind.

"Unexpected."

I stepped through taking Ferdinand with me. The air on the other side was noticeably cooler. Where ever this was, it was much further north. I took another step forward, but stopped to make sure the way behind us didn't close. From this side the stone archway was much more decorative. The top had two armored lions that looked exactly like Ferdinand's highbeast. Whoever had made this clearly had seen it. There were other decorations. Some of which I recognized as decorations and weapons that Ferdinand had used, but others I had no clue what they were. The replenishment hall was beyond it. Weirdly though, we were a bit farther from it than I expected. I could have sworn I took only two steps beyond.

"The door won't close behind us, will it?"

"No. It will only close when I remove the key."

"Hopefully nobody comes through the door."

He snorted. "They won't be able to enter. The charm is registered specifically to me."

I didn't bother to point out that I was here, so clearly others could go through. Instead, I looked around at the trees. I didn't recognize where we were at all. So, that was the first problem we needed to solve. Where were these supplies? "Where are we?"

"This is supposed to be a glorified hidden room, but it's much bigger than I anticipated."

"Are you sure this is a hidden room? Cause it seems like we were transported to an entirely different place."

"That wasn't transportation magic. It didn't react like transportation, but where those two are concerned, nothing is certain." He gestured for me to keep going. I noticed he was trying hard not to lean on me.

"What do you mean by that? Who were they?"

"The dead don't matter."

You've been holding on to a promise to a dead man so hard it nearly killed you, so I suspected they did matter quite a bit. But I kept those thoughts to myself knowing Ferdinand likely did that so the loss wouldn't hurt him. And also, I didn't want him to pinch my cheeks more.

The wind picked up taking on an almost rhythmic flow and Ferdinand glanced up at the sky through the treetops. "Rozemyne, you need to go back."

I shrugged. "We can go back." I was still curious, but if Ferdinand sensed something then I would follow him. I turned back and realized we had walked pretty deep into the forest. But I could just barely make out the arch.

"No! Go now. Leave me." He went to pull away, but I tightened my grip on him. I went to all this hard work to save him. I was not abandoning him here. I was so annoyed I could hear the blood pounding in my ear. Whoosh, whoosh.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes when he started to protest further. "No." I told him flatly.

Whoosh, whoosh.

"Rozemyne! Don't be-!" Crashing cut him off. The canopy just in front of the gate burst apart by a massive dark blue shape. It landed directly in our escape path. A giant wedge-shaped head topped a long serpentine neck. It leveled with us enough that I caught a glance of a feystone collar before it spread its massive membrane like wings to completely block the way forward. It was a dragon!

The beast opened its mouth and a magic circle in its mouth lit up. "Finally!" Came a male voice from it. Then it leapt for us. I squeaked and Ferdinand yelled something as I tried to turn and run with him. I was a little focused on running from the dragon that I didn't catch what he had said. Next thing I knew, we were both flying through the air. The beast had wrapped us up in its front claws, by some miracle it hadn't stabbed either of us as far as I could see. But as the ground disappeared underneath me, I was crushed against Ferdinand's chest hard enough to make him grunt.

"It's okay Rozemyne!" Ferdinand yelled over the wind. "It's a high beast."

"That does not make this better- AHHHHH!" I screamed as the dragon tucked into a sudden steep dive only for it to jerk in several short stops, before promptly dumping me and Ferdinand into a patch of soft moss. The dragon flapped its wings in order to push itself back so as to avoid stepping on us. Then it settled and seemed like it wasn't going to eat us, but then again, if it was highbeast like Ferdinand said, would it even be able to eat? That thought was cut off as I looked around.

We had been dumped at the foot of a truly gargantuan tree. It was wider around than some of the apartment buildings in Tokyo. A massive network of roots spread out like a mass of snakes. The tree itself looked like a banyan tree. Though its truck was a pale white and its leaves were every color under the sun. It reminded me of Erwaermen's tree, but on an even grander scale. And impaled in a stump directly between the tree and us was a pole arm with a long blade and ring like accessories that made it look like a khakkhara.

"I've brought guests." The dragon called to the tree.

"About time! Took you long enough, Little Flower. I will hear your excuses now." A female voice snapped back then a blue blur came striding over the roots. She didn't stumble over the rough terrain more like she was dancing and flowing over the root. She came to stop directly in front of the pole arm. The girl in question was a little older than myself in appearance. She had a long braid down her back of silvery blue hair. The blue cloak she wore was trimmed in soft silver fur. Under her hood I could see large glasses that framed molten silver eyes. This girl was dressed in royal academy knight apprentice uniform. Her clothes showed some signs of damage including scorch marks and repair stitching. Almost as if she had walked off a battle field recently. It was then that my brain caught up with the importance of her blue cape.

"You're from Dunkelfelger." I stated bluntly.

She grinned warmly at me. "That I am." Then her gaze went to Ferdinand. "Damn, you got old."

I nearly choked on her bluntness. He was going to kill her! I peeked out of the corner of my eye to see Ferdinand's eyebrow twitching as he struggled to smile.

"And you haven't changed at all, Minerva." He said through gritted teeth.

Her grin got even bigger and got the feeling she really enjoyed teasing him. She turned back to me taking my hand in hers. "Thank you for saving the Little Flower."

But before I could ask the obvious, what was she talking about, Ferdinand growled, "Don't call me that!"

I looked between the two of them as Minerva dropped my hand and her grin got even bigger. "As you aren't in any position to stop me, I most certainly will not stop calling you Little Flower, Little Flower." Then she looked at me and winked. "No worries, I have no intention of stealing him away. I just miss teasing this grump."

Ferdinand struggled to his feet and stepped almost into Minerva's personal space. In an attempt to intimidate her. It was that she was only his height because the stump gave her precious few inches. I was impressed she met his piercing glare head on with a smile of genuine amusement. It reminded me of Rihyarda and Bonifatius.

"So, you were alive after all, Minerva." I was surprised he didn't bother with any euphuisms. It was like it was too much work to bother with for her.

"Yep. Now, what brings you and this lovely lady to meet us…" She trailed off as she turned back to me. Her gaze narrowed making me want to step back. But reached out and tipped my chin up. It took me all of two seconds to remember my neck was bruised. "Now, how did this happen?" All amusement was gone from her tone, even the air seemed frosty. Her eyes went straight to the chains that still bound Ferdinand's wrists. Then she met his cold stare with one of her own. Her hand snaked back to the glaive that was embedded into the stump. In one swift movement she leveled the blade with Ferdinand's neck. And the fool didn't move. I moved on instinct stepping between them.

"Rozemyne!" His arm was around my waist about to pull me out of the way.

"It was a misunderstanding! I'm fine." I refused to move out from in front of Ferdinand and let him take the blame for something that was in truth mostly my fault. Though I was not telling Ferdinand that. Minerva's silver eyes fixed me with a hard look. For several seconds I held my breath until those eyes softened with relief.

"If you say so." She returned her weapon to where it had been impaled in the stump. "So, care to explain why you nearly died, Little Flower?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You were spying."

She snorted in a very un-lady-like manner. "If I had actually been spying, I wouldn't need to ask what happened because I would already know."

"Nothing that concerns you."

It was brief, but I could have sworn Minerva winced at that. Though her smile remained in place. She seemed sad.

"I deserved that." She said with a perfect smile that would have made anyone else think she really didn't care.

"Please, Ferdinand was poisoned. I think the affects are still lingering." Her eyes sharpened.

"Rozemyne!" Ferdinand was about to go into full lecture mode.

"No!" I cut him off. We needed help. "You trusted her enough to keep that charm." Not to mention keep it on himself at all times. "You said they had a lot of materials. Maybe she can help figure out why the antidote didn't work the way it should have." I turned back to see Minerva watching the two of us with a slight sparkle of amusement.

She shrugged, "I haven't clue, that's more Peter's area of expertise." She called over our shoulders to the dragon. "Peter, you're up."

The dragon's massive head lowered to Ferdinand's side. We both blinked at it, but it was Ferdinand who found his voice first.

"How is Peter controlling your highbeast?"

The dragon chuckled "Considering you helped me make the tool, I'm surprised you'd ask that. But idle chatter can wait so my lady does not grow impatient." I saw Minerva make a rude gesture out of the corner of my eye. While Ferdinand definitely looked like he wanted to ask a ton more questions. "I did some tinkering and combined poison detection tool. Pardon me." Then its fork tongue flicked out and licked Ferdinand. I caught site of a couple magic circles, but it was so quick I couldn't even begin to decipher what they were for. The tongue came back into the dragon's mouth and a humming sound came from it reminding me of a printer right before it spat out a page. "It has been cleansed from your skin, so I'll need blood." Ferdinand reached up and pricked a finger on one of the dragon's fangs. It licked the blood then repeated the other sound. Then the dragon leveled Ferdinand with the eye closest to him.

"Lord Ferdinand, you should be dead."

He scoffed. "Rozemyne is quite blessed."

I felt an immediate rush of warmth at the blatant praise. Ferdinand was always so stingy with praise that I was almost unsettled by it. Until I caught Minerva watching me with a wicked glint in her eyes. I schooled my expression and went to cover my cheeks for protection.

"It's not a matter of being a gifted healer. You should have died the moment this poison touched you." It tilted its head at Ferdinand then carefully plucked the charm I had given him. "This would have been a very temporary protection." Then it glanced at me in deep thought. Then it chuckled. "Ah, so that's it."

"What?" Minerva asked impatiently.

Peter dragon tilted his head towards me again. "The little lady gave a blessing. A big one. Only something with the divine protection of all seven major gods would have staved off death."

"I did bless him before he left Ehrenfest."

Minerva cackled. It was so un noble like that it gave me pause. "You know I was joking when I said it would take a saint to be your equal, Little Flower. But you went and found yourself a bonified saint anyway." She chuckled again. "Ah, before I forget, where did you guys come in? You have stretched our protection wards to near breaking point, so you clearly aren't in Ehrenfest or the Sovereignty. And I doubt you are in Dunkelfelger, but you're close to one of them. Otherwise, those wards would have shattered upon your arrival."

I blinked. "Achenbach."

"Huh." She looked at Ferdinand her expression clearly asking why we were there. But she shrugged. "Well, at least that is easy to fix. Peter can do that a little later. Now, onto the important matter, how do we fix the Little Flower?" The question was clearly aimed at Peter.

"A jureve would work fine."

"How long would he be in it?" I asked hesitantly. We couldn't really afford to lose Ferdinand for a year. And I didn't want him to have to go through that either.

"Judging from the results of his blood. I'd say just under a month, probably about a day short."

"A month!" I squeaked. "We don't have that kind of time! Ehrenfest will likely be under attack." Minerva's gaze sharpened. Her gaze flicked from Ferdinand to me. She leaned back against her glaive, crossing her arms, and biting the inside of her lip.

After she grimaced, she suggested, "What about the bath? We have the ingredients."

"It will work, she has the mana for it and they are compatible enough. It would also put it out of use for years."

Minerva shrugged. "It is what it is. Better to have the Lord of Evil at full capacity than not. Go ahead and get the stuff. You can fix the wards while you're at it. I get the feeling this will take some time."

The dragon nodded and launched himself into the air with a powerful beat of his wings. Two more whooshes later and Peter had disappeared into the canopy of the massive tree.

Ferdinand narrowed as Minerva started to walk away. "What are you plotting?"

She looked over her shoulder at us. Her amusement was back in place. "So, distrusting." Her tone was saturated with teasing vibes. But she clicked her tongue. "Suppose I should get you out of those."

Ferdinand glared at her.

"Unless you'd rather keep schtappe sealing cuffs on. Would make it harder to defend the little lady should I decide to bite."

He sighed, but noticeably raised his cuffed hands up. Minerva chuckled at him.

"Don't pout." Then she waved me over to watch. "I take it you aren't taking the knight course?"

"No, but I know most of the coursework." No need to tell her that the reason I knew so much was so I could get Angelica to pass her classes.

She whistled. "An overachiever like the Little Flower. Watch carefully, this is only taught to a select few people in each duchy in the knight's course." Then she began drawing a magic circle directly on the cuffs with her schtappe. The first cuff popped open then she sketched out the next circle on the other cuff. Once it clicked open, she snatched the cuff and it disappeared into her cloak.

Ferdinand grimaced and rubbed his wrists. Then he summoned his schtappe. Almost immediately he dismissed it again. I could tell he wasn't pleased. In fact, he looked at Minerva with suspicion. She didn't miss the subtle change in him either. Her hands were up in a gesture to show they were empty.

"I am not your enemy. Never was, never will be. I imagine what you're experiencing is a result of being fatally poisoned, despite your naturally immunity." I moved closer to Ferdinand.

"Ferdinand?"

He refused to look at me. Instead, he clenched and unclenched his fists. His whole body was tensed as if he was preparing to bolt.

Minerva snorted. "Well, while he's dealing with his new found insecurities, you and I can discuss what's going on and our help, Little (*Rabbit*). Shall we head inside?"

"Inside where?" I blurted out.

She nodded over at the massive tree. "Amonet's Resting Place." She practically pranced up the snaking vines to the tree's massive trunk. As Minerva moved, I caught sight of her bare feet and nearly snorted a laugh. Ferdinand had heavily implied showing ankles was porn. I wondered if he noticed. Glancing his way, I noticed he had been watching Minerva then his head snapped away from her and away from me, but I could see he was mortified. I suddenly got the urge to tease him too.

"Ferdinand. Did you see something interesting?"

"Minerva is not a good example for you to follow. Ever." He was scowling and pinched my cheek weakly. It was nostalgic, but worrisome at how weak his grip was. At least he was looking at me again. Though, I also wanted him comfortable. I wouldn't force him to do something when he was feeling vulnerable.

"Ferdinand, if you don't want to ask for her help, we don't have to. We can probably solve this with our own retainers help."

He sighed and looked me straight in the eyes. His golden eyes searched mine for something that I couldn't guess. It felt like he was digging inside my head and I instantly straightened up, but held his gaze. Only after a moment, did he sigh again.

"I'm going to need help getting there." His ears were slightly tinted red. I blinked at his admission of weakness remembering the ditter match where he had asked for healing without asking because he was afraid of being seen as weak. Yet here he was flat out asking for help and relying on me.

I couldn't help the smile that brought to my face. "I'll help, don't worry."

"I'm not." He said the words so quietly that I wondered if he had intended for me to hear them or not. I did my best to school my expression so he wouldn't lecture me later. As it was, I knew he was going to pinch my cheeks when his strength returned. I pulled one of his arms over my shoulder and wrapped my arm around his waist. This way I could do most of the lifting, but he could still help. With enhancement magic I began to make our way to the same place Minerva had disappeared.

About halfway up, Ferdinand murmured, "Strange."

"Hmm?"

"Having you carry me. Had anyone told me the roles would be reversed one day, I'm not certain I would have believed them."

"You can't carry me forever, Ferdinand. Sometimes you have to lean on others." I half expected to scoff and brush me off like he had the last time I had made these arguments. This time though he looked thoughtfully at our destination.

"Perhaps you are correct."

"No! I am certainly right." He chuckled softly, but didn't argue further. Strange, I missed our banter more than I realized.

Once we were right where Minerva disappeared, I noticed a crack in the bark. It was actually a tunnel just a little taller than Ferdinand. I was grateful because that meant he wouldn't have to stoop, but it was only wide enough for one person to pass at a time. I let go of Ferdinand realizing he probably wouldn't want Minerva to see us like this. She was the type to tease him for it. In that way she reminded me of an older sister of one of Urano's old class mates. I went to go first, only to have him catch my wrist and pull me back.

"I'll go first, just in case."

I shrugged and let him go. I followed a few steps behind him so that way he could turn around if needed. The tunnel itself was only about two meters long before it opened into a large circular pocket. The room was about eighty-five square meters with a ceiling about two and a half meters high. Lanterns hung from the ceiling, but instead of fire, electricity, or even feystones, they were lit but glowing grub-like creatures. The center of the room was a small round white table and four stools spaced equally around it. Like the seats in Lessy, the table and chairs looked like they had been formed from the tree. There were other tables along the curved wall. All of them were cluttered with brewing implements and things I had seen in Ferdinand's hidden room at the temple. Cubbies dotted parts of the wall and were filled with all sorts of colorful items that I didn't recognize. Aside from one with a large one that held a makeshift bed and another one that was filled with fabric and thread. There were also stairs sticking out from the right side going to a higher level. Directly across from us though, was the largest, most breath-taking tapestry I had ever seen. It depicted a forest scene at night with people around a campfire.

Minerva was sitting at the table at the center of the room waiting. She gestured to the seats. Ferdinand took the seat that allowed him to see Minerva, the stairs, and the entrance. While I sat opposite of Minerva.

"Now, about the price."

"Bwuh? You're not going to help us for free?"

She chuckled. "Most nobles don't help for free. But the Little Flower already got his one freebie. Peter is still not recovered from it, so I am not inclined to let you two off that easily. Regardless of the circumstances."

Ferdinand narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you talking about?"

Minerva's gaze snapped to his and the hair on the back of my neck rose for a brief moment. She was very unhappy regardless of what her smile said. She looked like she was about say something particularly scathing, but stopped. Her expression became very thoughtful. "Interesting. You don't remember yet. Huh, well that's a mote point since the bath will clear that particular bit of magic away." She blew out an exasperated breath. "Things involving you never go as planned, Little Flower."

My attention drifted back to the tapestry that was directly behind Minerva. There was something off about it, but I couldn't place. Actually, something had felt weird for a while now. I just couldn't place what was out of place. What was it?

"Something wrong?" Ferdinand asked. He expression blank. While Minerva's lips were quirked in an almost smile that she was just barely managing to contain.

"Sorry. I was distracted, by that tapestry."

Her smile started to take form. "I made it. Did it catch your eye, Little (*Rabbit*)?" She put a bit of emphasis on the last word. Then it clicked what had been bothering me.

"That was English." Then I got up and went to tapestry. The people standing around the fire. It had been staring me in the face. Such a small detail. Blue pants with pockets on the butt was style for jeans in our old world, but not one I had seen in this one. I turned back to her. "You're a (reincarnation) too!"

"Ah, Japanese. We're originally American. Try not to hold it against us."

"We?"

"Peter." Ferdinand hissed answering my question, which in hind sight, probably should have been obvious.

Minerva nodded. "Give the man credit. What gave it away?" She seemed positively delighted to share this information. While Ferdinand tapped two fingers to his head before rubbing the bridge of his nose like he had a headache.

"It's obvious. The number of times you two spoke that language around me, I can't even count."

Minerva made an ah face clearly remembering what he was talking about. Then she shrugged as if this wasn't an amazing thing that there were three reincarnations in one room. "Well, now you know." She cleared her throat. "But you two aren't here to learn about us. So, let's start from the beginning. Assume I know nothing past graduation."

Ferdinand shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "What did happen to you two?"

Minerva's nose scrunched up at his question and she waved it off. "If you decide to use the bath, you'll see for yourself. No point in explaining it."

"What is the bath?"

She pointed to a curtain under stairs. "It's there." When neither of us moved, she sighed in resignation and grumbled, "So distrusting." Then she got up and pulled the curtain back. It revealed a cubby that was a little taller than Ferdinand and about two and half meters wide and about that deep. Inside was an oval basin that was a about two meters long and about half a meter wide. It was a little over knee deep on me. Spaced out around it at equal intervals were seven fist sized depressions. With exception for an eighth depression at the head, which was big enough that someone could place two hands inside. There were even faint outlines of hand impressions. All seven of the smaller holes connected to the bigger basin with thin channels. The entire room was covered in faint gold magic circles. They were so complex I couldn't guess at their function.

Ferdinand's eyes darted over every detail, probably trying to memorize everything he was seeing. "How did Peter make this?"

"He didn't."

"There's no way you made this."

She gave him a rude gesture before answering his unasked question. "I didn't either. This was one of the few things that was already here. Peter deciphered enough of the circles that we know what it does and how to use it, but he can't recreate it. I suspect it can't be recreated without the tree itself."

"What makes you say that?"

She shrugged. "A feeling."

He scoffed, but continued to stare at all of the magic circles with his mad scientist expression. After several long moments he asked, "How does it work?"

Minerva went to another cubby and pulled out a milky white potion and held it up. "You drink this, get into the bath, the appropriate feystones go in the smaller holes, and your lady friend adds her mana, then bang you're better." She handed Ferdinand the potion, but he only stared at. I didn't blame him at all. He had just been poisoned after all. It seemed that Minerva at least understood that much.

She sighed. "Some insurance then." She turned to look at me. "Little (*Rabbit*), could pull aside that tapestry and show this grump what is on the other side?"

I glanced at Ferdinand for confirmation. He nodded subtly letting me know it was safe to do so. So, I pushed back the cloth to reveal what at first, I thought was a short room. Instead, I realized it was a massive waist high basin. It was filled with opalescent and viscus substance. At center, set into a pillar was what I thought was a humongous rainbow feystone at first glance. The opalescent substance dripped down the gem and ran into the pool below. But then I noticed the strange shadowing of the gem. I sharpened my vision with enhancement magic and realized there was something… No. Someone inside it.

A boy. He looked about Minerva's age. Like her, he also wore an academy uniform. Though unlike her, his clothes were torn to pieces and hadn't been mended. The whole left side sleeve was gone and much of that side was shredded. Judging by the edges of the fabric he had been hit with something that shredded and burned. As my eye traveled down, I realized he was missing much of the left side of his pants as well. Thankfully, nothing too scandalous was showing. What had happened to this boy?

"What is that?" Ferdinand's voice dragged me back from where my morbid thoughts traveled to.

"Tree sap and resin. Has pretty impressive healing properties in this state. According to Peter. Though it is not the sturdiest stuff in its currently, it's surprising how something so fragile can be made strong."

It was then that I truly understood who this was and why she was showing this to us. Peter was vulnerable in this state and with her so far away, I could kill him before she could stop me. By showing him to us, she placed herself and Peter at our mercy. She would have no way of knowing that I wouldn't have the stomach to kill him. I swallowed and made eye contact with Ferdinand. He could easily read my hesitation on my face, and he understood where it came from. He tapped two fingers to his temple again considering everything.

Then he said, "I want a better explanation for how this thing works."

Minerva smirked and proceeded to give the exact same description only in more flowing and verbose wording. Even I knew her explanation was overly vague and didn't tell us at all how the bath did its job. But it was clear Minerva didn't really know the answer to Ferdinand's question. On top of that she had no real interest in other than it could do what she said it did. Not sure why I assumed anyone who was friends with Ferdinand would be as much of a mad scientist as him or a weirdo like Justus and Eckhart. Once again Ferdinand was tapping his temples, with an expression that I knew from experience dumping headache inducing problems on him. This was usually the part where I'd get yelled at for being a fool.

"That does not explain anything. I would like actual details. I'm sure Peter has some notes." We don't have time for you to go mad scientist, I wanted to shout at him.

Minerva shrugged with a sweet smile. "And I would like my husband to be completely healed. We don't always get what we want." I don't know if I should cheer for her or fear for her.

"Why must you be so difficult?" Ferdinand groused.

She chuckled darkly in response. "I'm difficult? I'm not the one asking advanced scholar questions of the person who only studied knighthood and archducal training." She had a point there. Ferdinand usually did ask more from people than was strictly speaking normal. But wait, did she say archducal training? Minerva was an archduke candidate from Dunkelfelger? Huh, maybe that's why she seemed so familiar.

"You're engaged to scholar." If I didn't know better, I would say Ferdinand was trying to defend himself there.

A scrabbling sound had everyone glancing toward the entrance. Dragon Peter had come back and now he was the size of a large dog. Though his wings still scrapped the ceiling of the tunnel. Somehow, this size made him way cuter. Even more so when I noticed a bundle in his teeth that he brought straight to Minerva. When she absent-mindedly patted him on the head I nearly chuckled. Ferdinand was frowning hard.

"Thank you, love."

"What's the hold up?" Peter asked when Minerva took his burden from him.

She shrugged carelessly. "You know, we are a little suspicious."

Peter snorted. "As I understand it, you two have don't have the luxury of time on your side. You'll find you have even less grace with my patience, as I am the one who will be directing the ritual. So, either do the ritual or get out and figure it out yourselves." Ferdinand and Minerva both seemed surprised by the dragon's forcefulness. And I was pretty sure the sharp tone particularly bothered Ferdinand.

"Peter, (*don't say things you don't mean*). He has every right to be-."

The wedge-shaped head snapped back to face her and he interrupted. "No! He's a smart boy." I nearly chuckled at referring to Ferdinand as a boy. "He knows very well you have a soft spot for him. You are being too gentle on him. No matter how often I tell you he is not Theo."

Umm, who was Theo? As much as I wanted to ask that question, I got the impression that the two of them had forgotten Ferdinand and I were even here. And I didn't particularly want to remind them with how cold the dragon's eyes were as he gazed upon Minerva. While Minerva looked like she had just sucked on a lemon.

"Who is Theo?" Not sure if it was a good thing or not that Ferdinand voiced the question that was on my mind. But both of them stilled, confirming that they had forgotten that we were here and Peter had let something slip in his annoyance. They really must not be used to having company if this how they react to the situation. Finally, the tense silence was broken by Minerva. She made a contemplative noise.

She shrugged, "Well, since you already know we are from another world I suppose it won't hurt anything to tell you about him." She sighed. "Theo is, or well, was my, our little brother. To be more specific, he was Ash's only sibling." Peter gave her a reproachful look.

If he was her only sibling then… "Our?" This time I looked to Peter because Minerva had her noble smile in place, while the dragon looked somewhat conflicted. But he bobbed his scaled head.

"Yeah, I was once Jack, Ash's husband. So, Theo would have been my brother by marriage."

"No wonder you two worked so well together. You already had a working relationship."

I wanted to facepalm so hard. Only Ferdinand would consider a marriage a 'working relationship'. But then again, I guess most marriages here were for gain. That left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth when I thought of my own future. Thankfully, neither Peter nor Minerva took offense by his misunderstanding, if anything they both seemed amused by it.

"We did have to find each other first, though." Minerva chuckled her gaze going far off as if she was not looking at us anymore.

Wait, does that mean, "Did you two die together?" I blurted out my question and I could have kicked myself for it. That would surely bring up bad memories for them.

Minerva's responding smile was gentle. "Yes, a car accident. The details of which can wait until you two aren't strapped for time. It sounded like you might be in a rush earlier, correct?"

I had actually completely forgotten about the conflict going on outside in favor of all the earth-shattering revelations we were getting. Suddenly, I straightened as I felt an intense gaze on me. Really, I didn't even need to look to know Ferdinand was glaring at me knowingly. There was no way he didn't realize I had forgotten. But when I looked at him, he seemed more resigned than anything.

"Fine." He took the bottle that Minerva had offered, popped the cork, and drank the potion down. Nothing happened.

Minerva clicked her tongue. "I thought you made this one stronger?"

Ferdinand didn't react to her question. He only blinked owlishly.

Peter responded, "I did. He's fighting it. Give it three, two, on-." Ferdinand dropped like a marionette with his threads cut. Before I could cry out and run to him, Minerva caught Ferdinand and Peter's tail wrapped around my waist. She propped him up against the wall after checking his pulse.

"He's sleeping. It will take a few moments for him to reach Rem, but that will give us time to talk price without him interfering."

Peter looked between his wife and me. "You mean you didn't give them the price?"

She shrugged. "Nope. I think he just assumed that her mana would be the price."

"He is going to kill you when he wakes up."

She nodded the smile completely at odds with her next words. "I betting on it. But it shows how weak he is that he didn't confirm the price." Then she turned to me and gestured back to the seats. "Let's talk price, Little (*Rabbit*). This way I can see how much trouble I'm actually in." She took the seat facing me. Peter let go of me and I reluctantly took the seat in front of her. Ferdinand, you big dummy! You left me alone with these two. I looked at dragon Peter who was placing feystones into the slots along the bath and checking on Ferdinand.

"Ferdinand won't be happy if you hurt me."

Minerva cocked her head to the side, her smile spread wide. "Oh? Do tell, why is that? What is your connection to the Little Flower?"

"Why do you call him a little flower?" I countered. "Surely, anyone who was a friend wouldn't call him that." I'm sure Ferdinand didn't like it especially because of its reminder the Adalgisa villa.

Minerva wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I don't mean it like that." I believed her. The vehemence in which she said it was confirmation enough. "It is actually a refence from our old world. Among other things." She cleared her throat. "Now that I've answered your question. It's your turn." A wicked grin curled up her lips. "And I would not advise telling lies. You aren't good enough at it."

Ouch. Ferdinand had said as much years ago, but coming from a woman who had known me less than an hour it still stung. "He's like family."

"Like family." She repeated. Unlike everyone else who jumped at the romantic angle she nodded. "Yes, that rings true. He certainly trusts to an extreme. And he was incredibly protective of you. While he is kind, he's not kind in such a blatant way." Wow. She had Ferdinand down to a science. She chuckled softly. "I learned the hard way your grump is a handful watching over him in the academy."

"Why would you do that?"

She shrugged. "Because I wanted to." She made it sound like it was just something that had caught her mood, but I doubted it. They created this place which was essentially a giant hidden room and gave the key to Ferdinand. That wasn't something someone did on a whim. And if her earlier words were held even a little bit of truth then she likely went head-to-head with the Veronica faction at the height of its power. Bottom duchy or not, that woman had been determined to hurt Ferdinand. The longer I thought about it, the stranger Minerva seemed. This had the feeling of one of Ferdinand or Benno's test.

"What do you want from me?" Cause she didn't want anything from Ferdinand. I'd actually bet that had I not been here she would have just gone straight to helping him.

She tilted her head and put a finger on her cheek. It made her look a little like Angelica. A positively wicked grin shattered that image. "How about your first-born child?"

Say what? "No." I replied flatly.

Peter snorted while he worked.

What was this, a fairy bargain? I am not a princess yet. But the hell would I give up one of my kids. I'll save Ferdinand another. Getting out of here will be a problem, but I could probably blessing bomb them then grab Ferdinand-. My train of thought was interrupted by Minerva's laughter. She was laughing so hard she was wheezing.

"I'm sorry." She could barely get the words between laughter. Eventually she put her head down on the table her whole body shaking. "I couldn't resist. Peter knows all my jokes so I can't pull them on him. Ah." She waved off her previous request straightening up. But the laughter still occasionally bubbled up. "You took that a little too seriously. I am sorry. That was mean."

Praise the Gods! Getting out of here with Ferdinand as dead weight would have been a chore and I have no idea where the exit even is.

"So, what do you want?"

Minerva clicked her tongue. "It would have to be something valuable. The bath will be out of commission for a while and it can instantly fix things like missing limbs. So, whatever you give will have to have significant value."

Good thing I'm rich. "I can pay you."

Minerva wrinkled her nose. "Problem with money is it isn't really useful here."

"But you have to leave eventually?"

"I can't. The tree doesn't have enough mana to sustain Peter's healing, life, and the wards that protect this place from feybeasts and intruders. I am basically supplementing its power." She gestured to her feet.

I blinked at her. "You've been trapped here? For how long?"

"Since just before the Little Flower's graduation."

"But that's…" about a decade. How has she done things like eat, bath? Looking around I realized there was brewing implements on some of the tables, but no cookware. No cups, plates, bowls, forks, or spoons. How had she survived?

Minerva shrugged. "Like I said, it's very valuable."

"Alright, if money is no good, then what?" She must have been bored out of her mind.

"How about something entertaining?" The glint in her eye was enough to know she already knew what she wanted. Peter huffed and scrambled off up the stairs only to come back down with a rectangular box a little smaller than my chest. He placed it on the table by Minerva's elbow before going back to check on Ferdinand.

I crossed my arms. "What do you want?" I couldn't read her! Dang it!

"How about memories of seven people you cherish."

I blinked. Of all the things to ask for.

"She's serious." Peter informed me. "And Lord Ferdinand has entered rem sleep. We can begin at any time."

I looked back to Minerva. "Why?"

She smiled happily. "I'm bored, I like to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, and I get the feeling you've lived an interesting life since coming here." That was way more information than necessary, but if she has been trapped here and she just wants to see some of my memories, that seems like a pretty cheap price to pay to have Ferdinand instantly fixed.

"I accept."

"Good." Minerva opened the box to reveal two crowns. Both had seven feystones and were a bit bulky. She did the poison checks to show they weren't tampered with then gestured to the crowns. "Pick one." I chose the left one and placed it on my head and expected her to do the same. Instead, she smiled and said, "Picture each person in your mind and say their name. Then release your mana. The tool will do the rest."

"You aren't going to observe?"

"Oh, I will later. It will be faster this way."

"So, these store memories."

She nodded. "It can store memories, but it doesn't make them clearer like the tool it is based off of."

"Oh." I didn't need to think about who the seven people would be. "Effa, Gunther, Tulli, Kamil, Lutz, Benno, and Ferdinand." I pictured each one in turn and at the very end I felt my mana trickle out. The stones flashed letting me know the process was done. "That should do it." I took the crown off and placed it back in the box. Suddenly I was a little worried Ferdinand would be unhappy about this trade. Minerva would learn about my origins.

"I get the feeling Ferdinand is not going to be pleased."

Minerva cackled. "You are probably right. But you can blame it on me. He'll believe that." She seemed extremely pleased with this arrangement, more so than she should have. There was also a smugness to her expression that I didn't like. The box was packed up and she pulled it into her lap, as if she was worried I'd try and snatch it back.

"I understand that you probably haven't had much to do here, but I doubt seven memories will go that far." I wonder what ones she got?

Her smile brightened with amusement. "I'm afraid you're mistake. The crowns are capable of holding all the memories you have of each person. Since you never specified which memories it does contain all of them."

WHAAAAT?! I gripped my head. I was tricked! Ferdinand is going to kill me! All the times he let me hug him! I paled. The illustrations! Eep! She'll know about mother's continued use of Ferdinand's likeness. I am so dead. Forget healing my cheeks. Ferdinand is going to rip them off! Tears welled up in my eyes.

Chuckling, Minerva walked over and tussled my hair. "Don't fret Little (*Rabbit*), when the time comes, I'll distract the Lord of Evil for you. It's the least I can do." Aw, she's so nice. My heart was healed a little. "But let's finish putting the Little Flower back together first, huh?"

I nodded enthusiastically.

"The last part requires blood."

That brought me to a screeching halt as I instinctively flinched.

"I don't like it either. He's going to be angry enough with me when he realizes I tricked him, but there's no helping it. I can make it painless if you want." She makes it sound like I need to die. I took a step back and her eyes widened in surprise. "Not like that." She quickly reassured me. "It won't be a lot. I give my word."

"First you need to put, Lord Ferdinand into the bath. We cannot touch the water or we risk contaminating it with our mana. Only one person's can be used for this."

I nodded and went to Ferdinand. It was a pain to move his dead weight, but I managed to drag him over to the pool. Once we were in, I refused to let go so her wouldn't drown in the knee deep milky blue water.

"He will breathe easy, I assure you. You can let go."

After a brief moment of hesitation, I lowered Ferdinand into the water. As his head dipped under no air bubbles came from his mouth or nose so the potion must have worked. Then I stepped out of the water. Minerva came over to me, pulling her hood down. She reached for a metal hairpin from the back of her braid. The flower and a thin finger length blade slid from the pin itself. And I forced myself to swallow my fear. Minerva hid the blade in her grasp and should me the beautiful red flower.

"This flower symbolizes mercy. This pin was destined as a way to be that same mercy. Keep your eyes on me and out your hands. Keep them cupped together."

Both of them, I nearly squeaked, but I held that back even as I offered them up. Minerva smiled gently and put her glasses up on her head then held my gaze with her molten silver-colored eyes. She was a woman of her word; I did not feel the blade glide across my palms. I only saw the vague motion from her shoulders. There was a faint tingling feeling over both my hands and warmth. Like my palms were holding warm bath water. I was about to look when Minerva grabbed my wrist. Not enough to hurt, but enough that I knew I wouldn't be able to pull away. She was just staring into my hands. Before I could ask what was going on or what to do, there was a slight surge of mana in the air. Then the silver of Minerva's irises started to wash into the whites of her eyes.

My own eyes widened in shock, that couldn't be normal. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Her voice was distant. Whatever she was seeing it was here and now. Then she winced and blood startled to trickle from her tear ducts. She kept staring for a moment longer before wincing and closing her eyes. After she let go, she dropped her glasses back in place. "I look forward to the world you two create." She cleared her throat. "Peter?"

Dragon Peter came to stand beside me and carefully gestured to the head of the pool that had the hand prints. "Place your hands palms down in there. Try not to spill outside the basin."

I followed his instructions and, in the process, glanced at my hands. Immediately, I looked away. That was way too much blood. I hissed from the phantom pain and quickly bent down to slap my hands in place. Warmth radiated from the basin. I felt reassured as if my mom had suddenly taken my hands. The red splashes around my hand glowed with a muted light and almost seemed to pulse with a heartbeat that wasn't mine. Then it started to move.

"Umm, is it supposed to do that?"

Peter looked over my shoulder careful not to touch me while my hands were in place. "Yes, your blood will follow the channels and be what breaks down the feystones. Then they will overflow into the bath. From there, each element will work to rebuild, purify, and cleanse Ferdinand's body. It might even give him back some of what stress stole from him." I could only hope. But now I had a new worry.

"How much blood will it take? Cause I kinda need it."

"No need to fear. What was in your hand was more than enough for this process. Your wounds have already been sealed so you will not bleed more."

We watched as the blood raced down two cracks that I hadn't noticed. They wrapped all the way around the pool meeting at the opposite side and connected all the small slots with feystones in them. As my blood mixed with the feystones and the liquid, the feystones began to melt like butter on a hot pan. Then once they were melted the liquid in each expanded for no apparent reason until they overflowed into the channel to the bath. The moment the seven different colored liquids touched the milky blue bath water, it cleared and became sparkly. Red lines started to appear under Ferdinand's skin.

"Wow! Are those mana lines?"

"Yes, very good. I'm surprised you know that. That's usually only taught in later attendant and doctor courses." There was a gleam of exactment in the dragon's eye that reminded me of when Ferdinand heard I had 'composed' 'new' songs.

"Ferdinand is my doctor. He had to look at them to figure out what was wrong with me."

The dragon looked at me blinking in surprise. He was temporarily stunned for words." It wasn't until Minerva cleared her throat that I remembered how what I said could have been taken.

"Nothing happened! It was just a medical exam."

Minerva chuckled. "Oh, I can't wait for him to wake up." I didn't need to see her face to know there was a smug smile on her face.

"NOTHING HAPPENED!" I shouted only to receive more laughter. I mentally apologized to Ferdinand for my blunder.

"Ignore her. She will take any excuse to give Ferdinand a hard time and she been too bored lately. But you shouldn't worry about him, he can hold his own against her."

It wasn't Ferdinand I was worried about, I pouted. It was me.

"Looks like things are just about done." Peter moved away to give me and Ferdinand room. The water seemed to be draining out of the bath, but I couldn't tell where it was going. Until there was nothing left but Ferdinand. One moment he was laying there peacefully, and the next, he jolted up and began violently hacking up water that had been in his throat.

I stood up. "Ferdinand!" I was about to run to him, but two strong hands gripped me by my shoulders holding me in place. Ferdinand turned at my voice and his coughing instantly stopped. There was a dark look in his eyes. Thankfully he wasn't looking at me. He was looking behind me.

Minerva's voice came from right behind me. "I haven't hurt your charge, Little Flower."

"There is blood all over her hands." His voice boomed like thunder.

"She is fine, it was part of the ritual. I shall have her back to normal in just a moment." Minerva turned me toward the tapestry that hid Peter and pushed me towards it. "Why don't you go stick your hands in the sap. It should get those cuts healed up in a second, Myne."

It was actually the look on Ferdinand's face that made me realize she had said something surprising. While I knew she would find out eventually about my old name and life thanks to the tool, she shouldn't know them just yet. Ferdinand had his schtappe out and pointed at Minerva.

"Rozemyne, step away from them."

I snorted and waved him off. "It's fine, I gave her my memories as payment." Both Ferdinand and Minerva looked at me like I was an idiot. "I doubt someone from our world do something bad with it." Ferdinand was rubbing his temples with one hand while Minerva looked very conflicted.

"Little (*Rabbit*), bad people exist in both worlds. We have prisons and wars for that very reason."

I shrugged. "You helped Ferdinand." It was all the proof I needed. Ferdinand's ears went red. "Though I am curious how you knew about that name without looking at the memories."

Minerva smiled and tapped her glasses. "I confirmed it when I took these off." A magic circle briefly flashed on the glass then vanished.

"When your eyes changed. What was that?"

Her smile took on a sharp edge. "It is my punishment for threatening the Gods."

"Bwuh?"

Minerva looked at me quizzically. "Didn't you speak to them when they brought you over?"

"No! You did?"

"Huh, weird." She scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Wonder if they were trying to prevent another me." Ferdinand snorted letting us know exactly what he thought of that. "Probably for the best. They are a little intense."

"Wait, you actually met the Gods? Thee Gods."

She shrugged. "Well, most of them. Not really a fun experience since they are so far removed from us. But anyway, go heal yourself before your grump decides he's no longer curious and just wants to murder me. Please."

"Right." I quickly walked back to the tapestry, moving it aside with my shoulder before sticking my hands into the opalescent liquid. It was a lot less sticky than I thought it would be. While it had the consistency of honey, I could feel that it did not cling to my skin at all. Not something you'd want to swim in I thought as I looked up at Peter suspended in a cocoon of the stuff. How long would he be stuck in there, I wondered. Would his body atrophy like mine did? I wish that there was something I could do to help. No sooner had that thought left my mind that my ring glowed, and the sap warmed as mana left my body. The whole tree seemed to sparkle for a moment.

"Rozemyne!"

I yanked my hands back. "I didn't do it on purpose." I snapped back.

Minerva snorted. "You are fine. Looks like you gave the tree a boost. Peter's healing should be sped up. A saint indeed."

A sharp cracking sound made me jump. Ferdinand rushed to me and pulled me behind his back while drawing his schtappe. Minerva on the other hand stared dumbly at the tapestry that had fallen back into place. There was a faint sound of a feystone clattering against the ground. Then she lurched forward so fast my mind couldn't keep up with her only the after math. The tapestry was torn from its hanging and discarded on the ground. While Minerva herself had jumped into the pool of sap. I almost protested, but then I saw the gem that Peter was incased in.

The rainbow surface had a massive crack down the center of it that was oozing liquid. I bit back my urge to gasp. Had I accidently hurt Peter? Did I do this? More cracks spider webbed out from the initial fissure. Minerva stood there waiting her cloak in her arms already. The stones surface was soon completely distorted with cracks. Then everything stilled. For a moment I thought whatever was happening had stopped and that this was the end. But then there was a final mighty crash.

All the shattered pieces of the stone rained down around Minerva, revealing Peter. He hovered in place for a moment before falling forward straight into his wife's waiting arms. Swiftly she bundled him up into her cloak before turning to carry him out bridal style. Ferdinand covered my eyes and turned me away from the couple. I reached up to pull his hand away and he whispered in my ear.

"Peter is not decent. Neither is the wild woman. Give them a moment to compose themselves." Oh. I felt my face flush. But there was nothing I could do about the sound of someone pulling on clothes. Likely Minerva was helping Peter dress into something that wasn't shredded beyond use; even by earth's standards. There was several moments before Minerva cleared her throat. I felt Ferdinand turn, hesitate, but then drop his hand away.

When I turned, I saw both Minerva and Peter kneeling before us, with their arms crossed and their heads bowed low.

"What is this?" I asked hesitantly.

"My lady I thank you. You have saved more than you realize. I was afraid I would remain here for another year at the least, but you have brought my family back to me in one piece. This is a debt I cannot repay in my life." Her voice was tinged with relief and joy. So much so that I wondered if she might be about to cry and that was why she kept her head down.

To give her a moment I looked at Peter. The young man beside her had very long hair vivid dark green hair held back by a crown wrapped around his head. Like this was Rapunzel levels of hair. And one hand had extra-long finger nails. I wonder if that was difference between a jureve and the sap. The clothes he was wearing were apprentice scholar robes and a blue cloak that was heavily embroidered. The embroidery reminded me Ferdinand's cloak that he won.

"My lady please accept my namestone." My train of thought froze.

"Lady Minerva. You are a Dunkelfelger archduke candidate. You cannot give a namestone to someone outside your duchy."

"I can and I will." She lifted her head. "Besides, I am not the only one giving a name." She reached up to her neck and pulled out as large locket looking pendant. She did something to open it and a small white cocoon fell out into her hand. She undid the name swearing before handing it back to Peter. Peter likewise took, but reached for a similar locket and did the same. He handed that stone to Minerva.

"Lord Ferdinand, I know I am a little late, but I would like to keep my promise to you. If you will accept?" Even Ferdinand froze at the stone.

"Fine." He grumbled. Before turning to me. "I will not tell you whether or not you should take Minerva's, just know even that she is even more stubborn than me." Minerva laughed causing him to add, "And much too wild for her own good. It would be best for someone to finally hold her leash. She would also be useful in the fight ahead." That last part probably killed him to admit where Minerva could hear. Though her smug expression was nowhere to be seen.

"Alright, I'll accept your name Minerva." I reached out for the name and confirmed it was indeed hers. Ferdinand did the same for Peter's. Then we bound them. Peter hissed for the briefest of moments while Minerva smiled gently at me without so much as a flicker of pain. Once that was done their names were tucked away and both of them stood.

"Peter, are you capable of entering battle?" Ferdinand asked

The boy grimaced. "No, my lord. I am much too slow. I can do rear support with my connection to Minerva though."

"Fine. Minerva what weapons do you have?"

She smirked and pointed to a cubby beside the bath. It was full of swords. "Oh, your graduation gift is there too." Ferdinand's brows furrowed at that. But Peter was already walking over and retrieved a long fancy lacquered box. He opened it to reveal a sword with a lion's head on the pommel and the scabbard was decorated in fine gold and white designs. There was even a beautiful leather belt that would allow Ferdinand to wear it.

"My lady." Minerva held a small matching dagger with a feystone at the hilt. "You have to register your mana with the stone. No one but you can draw it then." I took it and immediately the stone glowed and the hilt clicked.

"Umm, I'm not sure about this."

"I insist. If you are going into battle having a backup is important." I let her strap the weapon to my waist. "What can I expect, my lady?" I listed out what I knew and Minerva's nose twitched in disgust. "I had hoped that would not come to pass." She had known? She winked at me. "I'll explain when we have more time."

"Alright."