Henrietta felt her time was running out. Chelenne and the other court nobles were putting immense pressure on her in the form of veiled threats if she did not relent on her public works. Words just a plausibly-deniable hair away from treason, but it was enough to keep their heads. It was this pressure that led her to make the decision she was about to make now as she finished penning the letter before her.
Julien
The Jacobins have been getting much more bold with their activities in direct correlation to the pressures I am facing from the royal court to relinquish power to them. I hesitate to ask this of you: but I wish to borrow your affiliation with them once more and be my agent. Should you agree: please meet Agnes at the Charming Fairies to await further instructions. I pray you will.
Henrietta
She had written and rewritten this dozens of times… with dozens more moments of hesitation in committing to this. She knew Siesta and her parents would not approve, but Henrietta felt cornered into this. She sealed the letter and handed it off to Agnes, who gave her a small bow before she left to deliver it with haste. As she left, she was met face-to-face with a familiar, odious visage that caused her to intensify her scowl before moving past the figure.
"I am sorry to interrupt, your majesty," the familiar, masculine voice behind Henrietta spoke, causing her to turn around and meet the gaze of a just-over-middle-aged man with combed-over brown hair with streaks of silver that was neatly slicked down, with ocean blue eyes, and a thin mustache that curled on each end adorning his upper lip, wearing a ruffled collar and a deep crimson petticoat with tails that fell down past the knees of his crisp white pants. He carried with him a cane tipped with a jewel tucked under his arm and an air of superiority that only a noble who had never known adversity would. This man looked down upon Henrietta with a serious, professional countenance that Henrietta could see from turning her head while her body still faced away from him. She gave him a small nod as she stood to greet him. The man stepped in and gave a small bow while Henrietta gave the slightest of disgusted scowls at him.
"I did not expect to see you again, Count Mott," Henrietta said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"It's High Justice Mott now, your majesty," the former Count corrected her with no air of smugness, causing Henrietta to fight tooth and nail not to display the rabid disgust that was just birthed within her.
"I don't recall making such a decision," Henrietta plainly said, her countenance betraying nothing.
"It was decided by the Royal Court just a few hours ago," Mott informed her as he straightened up from his bow, looking down on her in a way that Henrietta could feel was more than just physical.
"Why was I not involved?"
"The court felt that this was… beneath you, as you have clearly made your priorities towards the commoners your most pressing concern," Mott replied.
"I see," Henrietta replied as she continued to look at him with scorn, which Mott seemed completely unfazed by.
"I am merely here to inform you of this… changing of the heads," High Justice Mott said with a knowing tone as she could swear the smallest smirk broke out on his face.
"Very well," Henrietta replied icily, "I pray you serve your country well, then."
"I assure you, your majesty," Mott replied with an equally icy tone as he took a bow, "I will." He straightened up and left the room, at that, with Henrietta feeling her fears confirmed. She was certain, now, that with her enemies' control of the courts there was no more time for her to plan. Whatever resources she had, she must use. She hoped to the Founder that Julien would heed her plea.
Louise, Siesta, and the others awoke the next morning sore from having to sleep rough. The morning chill of Spring still clung to the air and the sun had not yet broken over the horizon, causing everyone but Zeratul to shiver. Luckily, with their newly-acquired jumpsuits, they were not as bad off as they would have been in those skimpy outfits the women present still wore under them. They followed the road through the environmentally-devastated country, seeing no signs of life, wild or otherwise.
I sense a change in you, Akhundelar, Siesta suddenly heard Zeratul observe.
Yes, I have regained the power of the Gandalfr, Siesta answered as she looked down at the dormant runes upon the back of her hand.
I see, Zeratul mused.
Siesta felt he had more to say on the matter. What is it? She implored.
I merely worry about its hold over you. It appears to be a power that hungers, not one that always serves, Zeratul expressed with concern.
I know, Siesta answered as she dropped her hand and gazed at the road. But, please, trust me. I have this under control. Siesta could feel acknowledgement from her mentor, but nothing further.
"Hey, are you okay?" Louise suddenly asked, taking Siesta's hand as she did.
"Huh? Oh. Yes," Siesta answered unconvincingly. "I was just talking to Zeratul. About the Gandalfr powers."
"What did he say?"
"That I should be careful. That it feels more malevolent than we think," Siesta casually explained.
"That doesn't sound good!" Louise exclaimed, clearly not feeling the same level of casualness about it. Siesta felt a heat and prickle of shame as the outburst drew everyone else's attention.
"I know. But," Siesta stammered, "As long as I don't do… that, again, and make sure I use it only in moderation like Derflinger said, I should be fine, yes?"
"Absolutely, partner," Derflinger chimed in. "Problem before was you were basically ALWAYS using it with your gauntlet on," he continued to explain, which Siesta noticed gave Louise a wave of relief.
The sun was beginning to set as Matilda suddenly stopped and pointed to a castle that seemed to be some hybrid of stone and metal with the metal parts looking as though they were some kind of infection that was slowly taking over the brick and stone structure. As the group began to march forward, Tiffa looked to be hanging back, anxious.
"Won't that be a problem? If they see me?" Tiffa asked, her tone shaky with uncertainty.
"I saw an elf abduct Tabitha. It's safe to assume these dumb hicks won't be able to tell one from another. Let alone care," Matilda said with an exasperated sigh as she walked up to the tall elf, looking up at her as she did. "Just carry yourself with some damn confidence. That's all they care about."
At first, Tiffa recoiled, but after taking a moment to contemplate what was said, she took a deep breath and steeled her countenance before nodding to Matilda, who gave her an affirming smirk.
"That's the spirit," Matilda said as she clapped Tiffa's arm hard enough to make her wince and begin rubbing it. "Now then," Matilda began as she turned and marched herself to the forefront of the group once more, "Let's go save ourselves a princess. And piss off that damn Joseph, shall we?"
"Yay! We're coming, big sis!" Illococoo exclaimed.
As Kirche stared at the castle with conviction tinged with trepidation, she took a shaky breath to steel her own resolve as she thought: I hope you're okay… Tabitha…
Meanwhile, within the castle itself, Tabitha's reading to her still-unconscious mother was interrupted by a knock upon the door. They did not dignify the visitor with any answer, and after a long moment of silence, the lock on the door clicked open and Saito stepped in, much to their disgust. Once they saw his familiar shape, they immediately turned their attention back to their book, pretending to read it silently.
"How are you?" Saito asked with trepidation. Receiving no response, he sighed. "I'm only here as a courtesy to you. For the friendship we once had." Tabitha remained silent, causing Saito to begin to scowl at them. "You're to be given the Potion of the Lost Heart." Finally, this provoked a reaction from the stoic before him as they furrowed their brow.
"You doing it?" Tabitha asked without turning to look at him.
"Yes," Saito's gaze and countenance both fell as he said this, "I'm sorry, I don't have-"
"Tired of hearing that," Tabitha snapped, in their own way, as they shot him a withering glare.
"I just… wanted to let you know. You at least deserve to know…" Saito said as he turned to leave once more.
Once the door had shut, Tabitha closed the book and let their tears that had suddenly manifested fall upon it. They knew he was telling the truth. The whole time. That he had no choice but to do what he did. The tears weren't just for them, but for him as well. The times when he was allowed to be free. To be himself. Those were the times that they yearned for. And mourned.
Meanwhile, again, the group, led by Matilda, had approached the entrance of the base, which was still adorned with an enormous wooden double door embedded in an archway, being stopped by the Marine guards there raising power-armored, massive, hands at them.
"What's your business here at Alhambra?" one of the marines asked in a stern voice that was… lacking in depth and warped. Montmorency, Guiche, and Kirche looked a bit… disturbed by it, with everyone else not even noticing as they'd had plenty of experience with voices filtered through radio frequencies (even if they didn't know exactly what that was).
"Got a visitor here for the Admiral," Matilda cocked her head in the direction of Tiffa, who was once again fruitlessly attempting to conceal herself behind the cart. One of the marines leaned over to look at the elf before looking back down at Matilda.
"Right… Base is on lockdown so we're gonna need some identification," the marine demanded. Matilda was taken aback. Security in this nation had never been this tight before and she was so certain the marines would be too focused or intimidated by the elf to proceed. She twitched for her wand but was interrupted by Tiffa marching forward and facing the marines that matched her height, raising her hand as she did.
Matilda could see Siesta gripping her head, looking like she was suddenly experiencing the worst headache of her life as Louise grabbed onto her, looking concerned. The marines, as well, faltered a bit before seeming to regain their composure at the same time as Siesta seemed to calm down with a few deep breaths.
"Yes, ma'am. We'll let you in right away," the marine suddenly said, much to everyone's surprise. "Let 'em in. Another elf envoy." After the marine said this, the door creaked open and the group carefully stepped inside, nervously eyeing the guards as they did. After they had entered, and the door shut behind them, Tiffa immediately faltered, herself, and needed to be caught by Matilda and Siesta.
"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Siesta asked with concern.
"Yeah…" Tiffa answered, weakly. "I hate doing that. Really takes it out of me." Tiffa took a few deep breaths before shakily rising back up to full height.
"What was that?" Siesta asked as the group walked into the castle grounds, which were filled with more of those steel structures belching smoke.
Mind dominance, Tiffa explained, psionically.
That… sounds terrifying, Siesta replied.
Not just for them. Fighting even a non-psionically trained mind for control is troublesome. I've only ever used it in the most dire situations. It drains me for a while. Leaves me vulnerable.
So why would you-?
We're so close, Siesta. And not only that… Tiffa paused as she looked up to the castle before them. I can feel that other elf's presence. No doubt they feel me as well. I need answers. Just as much as you. Siesta gave her a determined look and nod to acknowledge her feelings.
The group turned their attention to the path before them leading up to the castle proper, which sat on a hill while the rest of the castle grounds surrounded it on the ground. As they were admiring it, they were approached by a man in a darker jumpsuit adorned with some kinds of decorative pins on his chest. Matilda, being the only one with experience among deeper Gallian culture, immediately stood at attention and saluted him, with the others, sans Tiffa, following suit. The man, a more squat individual with short, dark hair wearing a similar hat to the man who accosted Kirche and the others at the other base (though this one adorned with a gold star on it), looked up at Matilda and saluted as well.
"At ease," the man ordered, causing Matilda to lower her hand and clasp it with her other behind her back. "Heard the gate open, was that you?"
"Yes, sir," Matilda responded.
"What's your name, cadet?" the man demanded, calmly, almost disinterested.
"Longueville, sir."
The man hummed as he began to eye the other members of the group, "And what's your business here? Must've pissed off someone to make you hoof it on elf detail." The man's eyes suddenly became locked to Louise as his face turned red and a smirk appeared on it. Louise, after a moment of this, looked disgusted as she constricted herself.
"Her business is with Admiral Joseph, sir!" Matilda announced, trying to draw attention back to her. It seemed successful, as the man looked back up at Matilda and gave a sigh of resignation.
"Afraid you just missed him. Should be back in soon," the man said as his eyes began to drift from Matilda, whose brow furrowed in frustration at the news, and onto Louise, who was starting to turn red with indignation. "But why don't y'all stick around? We're having ourselves a little shindig and… I'd love to see y'all there." The man's voice dripped with a sultry tone that Matilda found even more creepy than Osmond. But, as they were in no position to do anything about it, Matilda resolved to keep distracting.
"Of course, sir!" Matilda practically yelled to get the man's attention. "Wouldn't miss it!" The man looked a bit confused and taken aback by Matilda's demeanor but, nevertheless, it seemed to pacify him as he nodded at her.
"Dismissed," the man announced, with Matilda giving a sharp salute in response. Before he left, however, he did take one more opportunity to tip his hat and wink to Louise, which only made her more enraged. Her hand was deftly seized, however, by Siesta before she could reach for her wand.
"Later, darling," Siesta said to her, which seemed to pacify the little pinkette enough as she huffed.
"I gather from context a 'shindig' is going to be some kind of party?" Kirche said as she walked up to Matilda, a calculating smile on her face.
"I see we both agree on what this means," Matilda said as she noticed Kirche's look, matching it. The two nodded to each other in understanding.
"I'm so lost…" Guiche said with a hopeless tone.
"You're not the only one," Montmorency agreed.
Meanwhile, in the room Tabitha was held captive in within the castle, they could start to overhear sounds of merriment from the base down below. They put down the book and stood up to look out the window, placing their hand upon it as they did. There was once again another knock upon the door, which Tabitha still felt no need to acknowledge.
"I'm coming in," Saito announced as the lock clicked open and he stepped in. "There's going to be a little concert down there. It's funny. They're playing music from my world." Tabitha, as usual, did not respond. "Did you want to join them? I might be able to convince-"
"Don't bother," Tabitha responded in their usual icy demeanor towards him.
"Tabitha…" Saito said with mild desperation as he stepped closer to them.
"Why do you keep coming back?" Tabitha asked, plainly. There was a brief pause where Tabitha assumed Saito was taken aback by their words. Unsure of how to respond.
"I just…" Saito finally began again, "I wish it didn't have to be this way." It was now Tabitha's turn to pause as they considered their response. They wanted to scream and hit him, but they also wanted to fall into him like they used to.
"I know," Tabitha said, finally deciding on their course of action as they made their hand upon the window into a fist, "me too." There was a deep desperation in their voice, as well.
They refused to turn and face Saito to see if his face matched his tone. Without another word, Saito left once more. Tabitha banged their fist on the window as they glared down at the gathering in the base below, hearing opening notes from the old, vaguely familiar songs from their brief interactions with UED personnel during their training.
Below, meanwhile, the group gathered at the edge of the crowd as what looked like a quartet took the stage, adorned with instruments that looked akin to lutes but shinier and thinner, with one of them taking a seat behind what looked like a carefully-arranged pile of percussion instruments. As they did, the crowd's enthusiasm grew to a fever pitch. One of the quartet, carrying one of those stringed instruments, approached what looked like a metal staff with a wide base and some implement on top of it that no one could see at this distance.
"Howdy, Alhambra! How y'all doin' tonight?" the frontman announced with an amplified voice that resonated throughout the base at a volume and in a manner none of the group, except for Matilda, was used to. The crowd, in response, erupted in cheers. Everyone except Matilda had been to concerts and musical performances before… but nothing quite with this kind of energy. It was both terrifying and infectious.
"Play Free Bird!" one member of the crowd screamed at the stage, to which the frontman, a thin man with long, kinky, auburn hair that fell past his shoulders, pointed to the source of the voice and raised his eyebrows.
"That's the next band, we're just the warmup, sorry y'all," there was a smattering of disappointed noises in response, to which the frontman shrugged his shoulders in a playful manner, "but that don't mean we can't rock! ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR!" At the announcement of the four, the quartet broke into a similar kind of music from the bar the group was in last night. The power of the percussion resonated in each of them, causing them to unconsciously keep along with the rhythm in various ways.
For a moment, they forgot about their mission as the groove took over their minds and they were enraptured by this new style of music that only Matilda seemed to be enjoying consciously. As they were, the officer that accosted the group earlier approached Matilda, causing Louise and Siesta to give him a look of suspicion. Matilda leaned down to him, with the officer seeming to whisper something in her ear. As Matilda's back was to them, none of them could see her reaction to these words, instead only seeing Matilda look down to him with a nod before approaching Louise.
"The magistrate's requesting you meet him up in the castle in his personal quarters," Matilda had to almost shout into Louise's ear over the din of the concert. Louise, in response, looked to her, and the officer, with a horrified and disgusted look, which Matilda immediately noticed and moved herself in front of Louise to block the look from the officer before he could see. "I know, he's a creep, but right now he's our ticket in."
What do you think, Siesta? Louise asked Siesta with her thoughts.
It sounds dangerous… I won't be able to protect you… Siesta answered, concerned.
Zeratul, can you watch over me? Louise thought, hoping Zeratul was still around to answer.
I cannot. The detection and security within this base is much more dense than the other. I agree with the Akhundelar, it sounds dangerous, Zeratul answered.
"What are you guys talking about?" Montmorency shouted over the din to the three as she joined in the huddle, with Guiche joining in as well.
"That creep is trying to get me to go to his room with him," Louise answered, causing Montmorency to peer over to the short magistrate, who was not paying attention to them. She then looked over Louise and then herself.
"Maybe I can go instead," Montmorency offered, stammering as she did.
"What? How could I let you do that?!" Guiche shouted, concerned.
"First of all you don't get to let me do anything! I'm my own woman!" Montmorency rebuked him.
"I'm just… I don't want anything to happen to you," Guiche said, his voice and face heavy with concern, which caused Montmorency to blush.
"Don't go acting all romantic like that! All of the sudden!" Montmorency exclaimed and sputtered as she refused to look at any of them.
"When will you believe it's not an act?" Guiche chastised her, furrowing his brow with conviction.
"You've cheated on me so many times! What else can I think about you?!" Montmorency spat back.
"I… I know, I can't express how sorry I am… But, please, don't be reckless like this for no reason!" Guiche pleaded.
"It's not for no reason!" Montmorency snapped as she matched Guiche's look of conviction, but with a blushing face. "Everyone has had something to contribute to this… and I've done nothing but be useless…" Montmorency self-consciously lamented. "It shames me. Not just as a noble, but as a person." Guiche looked to her with concern and, for a moment, said nothing as he looked at her while her face became increasingly red, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" She hated how she was unable to stop stuttering.
"I understand, my darling Montmorency," Guiche said as he gave her a reassuring smile. "But know we won't be far behind." Montmorency, for a moment, dropped her guard as she returned his warm gaze and smile before her self-consciousness caught up with her once more and she turned away from him. Guiche looked to Matilda with a serious look. "Tell him."
Matilda nodded as she walked back to the magistrate. After Louise surmised that he had been told, he appeared to shrug uncaringly before Matilda came back to them.
"He agrees," Matilda said, "I'll spare you the details as to why… but let's just hope you're quick with your wand, Montmorency." Matilda warned, causing a look of anxiety to appear on Montmorency's face for a moment before she steeled her countenance and nodded, walking past the group and to the magistrate, who took her arm and started leading her to the main castle structure above.
Louise could see Guiche look after her, longingly and with concern. The lyrics of the song being sung broke through to the group as they were no longer distracted by the magistrate situation.
"We can't go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds"
"Come on," Matilda said as she beckoned the remaining group, "we're gonna take an alternate way in."
"Oh, you know one? So why didn't we just do that in the first place?" Louise asked, incredulously.
"Because," Matilda said as she began walking forward, forcing everyone to follow her, "we needed a scout to get a layout of things. I assume you're tracking her, elf?"
"I'm still drained from earlier," Tiffa replied, raising an eyebrow at her. Matilda stopped as she was pushing her way through the edge of the crowd to look back at her, taken aback.
"Uh… well then we better get in there as soon as possible," Matilda said sheepishly as she turned around and started moving forward with more urgency. As they did, they were getting closer to the side of the stage, and the sound was absolutely deafening.
"Thank y'all very much! Good night!" they heard the frontman announce.
"Ah dammit, Dale!" the group heard someone else exclaim to their right, behind the stage. The group looked over to see three men gathered around one splayed out on the ground with a leaking bottle of what the group assumed to be liquor in one of his hands. The one who they heard was hunched over him and, as they looked over, had just given up on trying to haul the man to his feet.
"Well, shit. What are we gonna do now?" another man with an ample gut standing nearby with one fist upon his waist and another scratching his stubble-filled chin asked himself as he looked down to the passed-out man.
"Guess we gotta cancel. Damn… they're gonna be pissed. Good luck, Billy-Ray," the third man said nonchalantly to the one with the gut.
"Don't you put that on me, Tommy! You know how they get!" Billy-Ray exclaimed as he scowled at the other man. The group saw Matilda sigh as she approached them.
"What seems to be the problem, boys?" Matilda asked as she approached. The three men raised eyebrows at her and each gave their own sighs of resignation.
"Damn, drunken idjit done drunk himself to sleep again," the previously hunched over man said, shaking his head and causing his long, straight locks to wave around him.
"Sounds like a right pickle," Matilda responded in a matched accent. "What'd he play?"
"Singer, but ain't no one got a voice like his or knows all the words that we know right now," Billy-Ray responded.
"Hmm…" Matilda hummed as she took a moment to think about the situation, "Where y'all stayin'?" She suddenly asked.
"We got invited to stay in the big house," Tommy began as he raised an eyebrow at her and cocked his head towards the castle overlooking the base, "Got special passes 'n everything. Why?"
"Y'all get me and my friends in there and I can save yer hides," Matilda said with a confident smirk, causing the three men to give hearty chuckles, with Billy-Ray slapping his knee as he did.
"And what's so special 'bout you, darlin'?" the previously hunched-over man asked, incredulously.
"I know y'all 'bout to do some Skynyrd. Just so happens to be a specialty of mine. Plus," Matilda began as she lowered the zipper on her jumpsuit, revealing the tiny dancer's outfit underneath and causing the men to grow red with shock and excitement, "Y'all know they can't be too mad at a body like this." It took a moment for the men to regain their senses long enough to finally respond to her.
"You got yourself a deal, miss…"
"Longueville," Matilda replied as she held out a hand, which the previously hunched-over man shook fervently.
"Pleasure doin' business with you, Miss Longueville, I pray to God yer voice is as rockin' as that body," he said as he gathered the castle passes from the other three men and handed them to Matilda, who turned them over to Kirche with a wink.
"SKYN-YRD! SKYN-YRD!" The crowd was chanting on the other side of the stage.
"Guess that's our cue," Matilda said as she shot the group a knowing look and smirk before going with the rest of the band on stage. Kirche, Louise, Siesta, and Illococoo each took one, respectively. "Guiche, make sure the cart's ready to go. Tiffa, make sure he stays out of trouble."
The group looked to her in confusion as she took the stage but put it aside as the four with the passes cut through the crowd to get to the castle entrance where they were stopped by yet two more marines.
"Authorized personnel only beyond this point," one of the marines sternly informed as the group could hear the confused murmurs of the crowd behind them begin to grow, causing everyone to look to the stage.
"Sorry, y'all, Dale's takin' a bit of a breather right now but, lucky for us, we got us a nice ringer. Give it up for Longueville!" Tommy announced to a smattering of applause while Matilda waved at the crowd before unzipping her jumpsuit to the point that her top half was almost completely exposed, with her last bits of modesty covered by the tiny dancer's top she was wearing underneath. The women of the group trying to get into the castle noticed the bared scars upon her belly with shock. The crowd, however, seemed to not notice as they erupted in various catcalls and whoops that indicated they were sufficiently distracted from the changeup.
"Y'all ready to ROCK?!" Matilda shouted after tying the arms of the jumpsuit around her waist and aggressively taking center stage. The crowd's uncertainty was completely replaced by horny at this point, and she was met with raucous cheers. Matilda, giving a confident, almost smug, smile tilted her head to the rest of the band, "Let's give 'em a taste of home. Sweet Home Alabama, that is." At that, the man holding the stringed instrument began to pluck away at it with a melody that instantly wormed their way into the group's minds. Then, the quartet of women before the marines presented their passes, with the marines seeming to barely take notice of them.
"Uh, yeah, go ahead," the marine who stopped them said, distracted, as he waved them through. The group smirked at each other as they walked up to the castle unmolested while Matilda's voice, which they had never heard sing before, began to resonate and echo throughout the base.
"~Big wheels keep on turnin'
Carry me home to see my kin~"
These were the only words the four women picked up on as they ascended the stairs into the castle proper. Upon entering, Louise turned to Siesta.
"Can you sense Montmorency? Or Tabitha?" Louise asked as they walked into the castle's entrance hall that was lit by buzzing artificial lights that seemed haphazardly strewn across the edges of the walls. Siesta took a moment to concentrate.
"There's… so many minds here. I can't… Wait. I think I do. It's… sad. It's Tabitha!" Siesta cried out, trying to keep her voice as low as possible as there were UED personnel both in and out of armor surrounding them. "This way," Siesta began as she followed her feeling to go up the stairs in the entry way.
"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" an obnoxious voice asked them, causing the four to turn and see a gangly looking man with a flat top haircut and clean shaven face. "This area is restricted to-"
"Authorized personnel? We understand, but we have passes," Kirche answered before the man could finish, producing the pass she had stored in her ample chest. This man, unlike many others, had no reaction to this as he scowled at and scrutinized each of them. Once he had laid eyes on Louise, however, a look of understanding dawned on him,
"Oh, you must be here for the magistrate," the man said.
"Yes! We don't exactly know where he is though. The directions weren't very clear," Kirche said with a helpless tone as she attempted to flirtatiously sidle up to the man, who once again had no reaction.
"I'll take you to him, that man is insatiable…" the man said, mumbling the second part to himself, as he rolled his eyes and beckoned the four to follow him. They soon found themselves outside a room that the man before them raised his hand to knock upon the steel door that looked to have no handle or knob. A few moments passed with no response, causing the man to look confused.
"Sir? The rest of your party just arrived." The man informed. Still, there was silence on the other end. This caused worry to grow within the group as they each began catastrophizing on what was going on in there. "Sir? Oh!" The man gave a low exclamation as he pressed something on a device next to the door causing it to disappear into the frame on each side.
When he looked inside, his eyes immediately widened with shock. Suddenly, Louise saw Siesta grab the man and turn him around, shoving him into the room as she did so he landed on his back. The group swiftly entered the room as Siesta put her hand on the man's head, closing her eyes as she did. The man's body went limp as his eyes closed.
Louise, copying what the man had done to open the door, turned to the open doorway that they were now on the opposite side of and looked for a similar device beside it. Finding one, she frantically pressed what she hoped was the same kind of button that opened the door. She breathed a sigh of relief as her guess seemed to be correct and the door immediately shut.
"Well it's about time!" Montmorency's indignant exclamation drew everyone's attention. Louise turned, with the rest of the group, to the curt-looking blonde, who was sitting, cross-legged, on a lone couch in this room. Beside her, the motionless form of the magistrate lay, snoring.
"What happened here?" Kirche asked, eyebrow raised. Montmorency produced a tiny, empty bottle from one of the jumpsuit's pockets and tossed it to Kirche, who deftly caught it.
"Good thing I had a sleeping potion on me, he'll be out for longer than we should need, I think," Montmorency said with a smug look on her face. Kirche returned her smug gaze. Louise was, too, impressed with her for how she handled herself as she always looked at her as just a whiny, immature girl who did not know how to communicate her feelings.
Wow. She's just like how I was… Louise thought with a small sense of shame. Siesta took her hand as she thought this, obviously feeling her wife's shame and wishing to reassure her.
"Where are the others? Where's Guiche?" Montmorency asked as she stood up.
"Tiffa and Guiche are making sure the cart is ready for us. As for Matilda, well…" Kirche's voice trailed off as she pointed to one of the many large, ornate windows in this room. Montmorency followed her finger and looked out the window to see the performance below, squinting as she did.
"Is that-" Montmorency cut herself off as she tried to scrutinize the tiny figure she could see on the stage with half her body being flaunted.
"It is, it's how we got these passes," Kirche once again showed her pass, this time to Montmorency.
"I don't quite understand how it's all connected but I guess we can't worry about that right now," Montmorency said with an exasperated sigh, "You know where Tabitha is? I tried to ask him before he passed out but all he did was get suspicious. I was lucky he fell asleep when he did." Montmorency indicated to the snoring magistrate on the couch.
"Yes, I can feel where she is," Siesta confirmed.
"Oh, well, thanks for coming for me first, then," Montmorency said with a shy chuckle.
"Oh, sorry, that was… more of an accident," Kirche said sheepishly, causing Montmorency to immediately scowl at her and make Kirche's next words be stammered. "What matters is it worked out, yes?"
"I guess so," Montmorency growled through gritted teeth as she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"C'mon! We gotta find sis!" Illococoo reminded them with a pouty, frustrated urgency that made everyone turn to leave the room, with Montmorency making sure to grab the magistrate's pass key as they did. Siesta was the first one out, looking at each end of the hall before she beckoned everyone forward.
Meanwhile, Tiffa and Guiche were left with the cart, inside which were Khaydarin and Derflinger. Tiffa could still feel herself drained from having used her powers to dominate the two marines to let them into the base. She looked to her hands, scowling at them as they shook.
This won't do… she thought to herself as she clenched her hands into fists and looked around. She saw a stumbling man wander away from the crowd and through the base, which was almost completely devoid of people as they were all enthralled with the concert. Tiffa watched with anticipation, hoping that he would do what she wanted him to. As she watched, she felt a small prick of elation as he wandered in between the buildings.
"Wait here," Tiffa told Guiche as she walked towards where the man went.
"Wait, where are you going?" Guiche asked, both curious and concerned.
"Just stretching my legs, I'll be right back," Tiffa replied unconvincingly. Guiche frowned but did not make further inquiries as Tiffa went to follow the man.
She found him, heavily leaning against the wall of one of the steel buildings and looking like he was heaving. Tiffa looked around and, seeing no witnesses, sprung herself upon him, placing her gloved hand over his mouth, closing her eyes, and holding his arms back with the other. The man immediately began struggling, making as loud of protest noises as he could.
Tiffa shakily yet gently shushed him as red energy manifested itself on her hand that was covering his mouth, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just… go to sleep. Don't struggle." Tiffa whispered into the man's ear as red energy appeared to flow from the man into her hand. As it did, the man seemed to wither, as if he were aging decades in a few seconds. Soon, his flesh rotted away, then his sinew, then his bones crumbled to dust as Tiffa stood up, flexing the hand that was silencing her victim as she took a deep breath, feeling rejuvenated.
When she opened her eyes, they were glowing, practically crackling, with energy. She took all that remained of the man, his clothes, and looked around for where she could get rid of it. Not seeing anything, she chose to dig a small hole into the dirt between these buildings and bury them. Once they were covered, she wiped her forehead and rolled her head, stretching and feeling much better than earlier as she went back to Guiche.
As she did, she felt a presence begin pushing at the boundaries of her mind. She summoned all her will to resist it, and, after a moment, she seemed successful as the probing failed. However, she looked to the direction of the feeling with a scowl, with her gaze landing upon the castle.
"Stay here," Tiffa said as she drew her unignited warp scythe and went to Khaydarin, opening him up to retrieve one of the beacons and rings that Louise had used earlier before closing him up and grabbing Derflinger.
"You're leaving me again?!" Guiche cried out.
"I need to do something. The mission will be in danger if I don't," Tiffa replied as she turned from the cart and took one step towards the castle, with a confused and concerned Guiche watching her leave him behind.
"Don't think I don't feel that, elf," Derflinger spat at her.
"I don't care," Tiffa replied with equal venom as she forced him back into his sheath and headed directly for the castle. She made sure her next thought was not broadcasted: What are you doing here, Vish'dnir?
Tabitha, meanwhile, had long since been in the chair by their mother's bed, not even having the energy to read as they laid themselves upon their mother's unconscious form. Suddenly, from outside the door, they could hear what sounded like a scuffle, which caused them to sit up and look at it. Their mind raced with possibilities, and both hope and dread filled them as they waited for something to happen.
They saw the area around the lock be cut away by a blue light before the door was thrown open, and their eyes immediately lit up as they beheld the five beings in front of them.
"Big sis!" Illococoo, who they knew was Sylphid, exclaimed as she ran up to Tabitha and practically tackled them in excitement.
"Everyone…" Tabitha said in a low, wavering voice as they could start to feel themself become overwhelmed with tears. Kirche was the next to approach them, taking them from Illococoo and holding them in a tight, warm embrace that Tabitha had longed for since the time they parted. Tabitha allowed themself to fall into her, and begin sobbing while Kirche stroked their hair.
"It's okay, Tabitha," Kirche cooed to her friend, "Let this charming feverette warm your heart once more."
"I don't mean to rush this, but we should get out of here before we all get discovered," Siesta declared with urgency. Tabitha pulled themself away from Kirche to look at her, being met with a scowl as they did. They could understand why, but as much as it hurt and they wanted to apologize and explain, they also knew she was right. They looked to Louise standing next to her, looking completely okay, and breathed a sigh of relief. At least there's that…
"No thanks to you!" Siesta snapped at Tabitha's thought, now glaring and causing them to recoil in shame. Tabitha felt themself be embraced by Kirche once more as they could see her give Siesta a scowl of her own.
"Like you said, now's not the time," Kirche admonished, causing Siesta to give a resigned sigh before dropping her scowl and putting on a neutral face.
"So… what's our exit strategy?" Siesta asked. Everyone thought for a moment. Tabitha was listening to the current song come to a conclusion and the next song start to begin as they suddenly had a solution.
"Roof," Tabitha suggested, causing everyone to look to them in confusion.
"Ah! Real smart, big sis! I can fly us outta here lickety-split like that!" Illococoo praised her exuberantly.
"Won't they see us really easily? And shoot us down? And what about Guiche and Tiffa? And Matilda?" Montmorency asked.
"I can let them know, but I don't know how no one's gonna notice a dragon flying from the castle, I agree," Siesta mused.
"Trust me," Tabitha said as they looked to everyone with conviction. "Ten minutes. It'll be fine." While Kirche and Illococoo nodded in affirmation, Montmorency looked confused, with Siesta and Louise still holding on to their trepidation at them. Tabitha was confident, however, as, even as muffled as it sounded, they could hear the distinct lyrics of the song they knew they could time their escape to that always ended with a bang.
"~If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?~"
As the group exited the room, fronted by Siesta, she suddenly felt a hostile presence and immediately turned to psionically push everyone behind her back into the room while barely jumping backwards to avoid a red psionic bolt that had come her way. She faltered as she landed, taking a moment to regain her balance as she looked in the direction of the psionic bolt. This hall, not being completely retrofitted yet, was lit only by the pale light of the moon. In the darkness, she could see two glowing red eyes staring at her. She drew her staff, willing it to expand, and, for the first time since Albion, ignited it, choosing to have the psionic energy she channeled into it manifest into a sharp tip of psionic energy, making it a spear that she leveled at the eyes.
"Siesta!" Louise cried out.
"Stay back!" Siesta barked, holding out her palm to the group as she did. She did not look for any of their reactions as she kept her eyes trained on the red eyes before her, which were drawing closer.
Had she looked, she would have noticed a transparent look of hurt on Louise's face.
"Ah," the figure said with a smooth, deep, masculine tone as blades that crackled and snarled with red energy, like how Siesta remembered her gauntlet had, manifested from each wrist of the figure before her, illuminating his menacing, towering form. "I recognize that word on your hand, Terran," the figure, that Siesta could now see was an elf, said as he continued to draw closer to her causing Siesta to hunch down and grip the staff even tighter as she sharpened her gaze on the approaching elf.
The being seemed to notice this and stopped just out of range of the staff's psionically-bladed tip. "Akhundelar. Gandalfr. So you must be here with the other void mage," the elf surmised, causing Siesta to furrow her brow at him.
Other void mage? Siesta thought to herself in confusion.
"Did you think there was only one?" the elf chided her thought.
"Who are you? What do you want from us?" Siesta asked, scowling at him.
"Funny you should ask that, you see… I have a proposition-"
"VISH'DNIR!" the voice of Tiffa shouting behind the elf before Siesta shouted, causing him to turn around and Siesta to look beyond him to see Tiffa illuminated by the blood red energies of her double-ended scythe.
"Huh-ho! I thought I felt you… Tif'narak," Vish'dnir said with amusement in his tone as he summoned more energies into his hand and fired a bolt at her, which she dodged as she leapt at him, spinning her scythe at him, which he deflected with his red warp blades. Tiffa, undeterred, kept striking at him, finding only deflections. Siesta, meanwhile, was looking for an opening that would not cause harm to Tiffa.
"Siesta! What's going on?" Louise demanded as she ran out of the room.
"Louise! Don't-!"
"Ah! There's the other Void Mage!" Vish'dnir exclaimed as he manifested a great wave of psionic energy to shove Tiffa back and have her land on her back before he turned his attention to Louise.
"Louise!" Siesta cried out as she psionically dashed to put herself between Vish'dnir and her and attempted to impale him on the staff she held. What happened, instead, was the staff's psionic tip glancing off a solid invisible barrier that, due to the force of the collision, caused the staff to be knocked out of her hands.
"Amusing," Vish'dnir mocked her as he went to strike with one of his warp blades, causing Siesta to immediately ignite her psi blade and stop it. "Too bad you only have one," Vish'dnir mocked once more as he made to strike with his other blade, which Siesta saw no way to block. She felt panic flood her body in that moment, which seemed to last for an eternity.
"Feedback!" Louise cried out as she pointed her wand at Vish'dnir. His movement immediately ceased and his blades deactivated as he cried out in pain while a flash of red energy left his body before turning around and striking him. He fell to his knees, smoke coming off of his burnt armor and flesh as he did, and began taking heavy, labored breaths.
"What… did you do to me?" Vish'dnir croaked out as he looked down at his scorched gauntlets whose glow from the heat of his energies turned against him was now fading. "My power… where did it go?" He weakly raised his head, giving Louise and Siesta a desperate, pleading look. Suddenly, the curved red warp blade of Tiffa's scythe was positioned before his neck. Causing him to look up at a scowling Tiffa. At first his look was one of panic, before he gave a sigh of resignation that turned to a smile of the same kind before casting his gaze downward. "I never could beat you, Tif'narak."
"It's Tiffa, now," Tiffa corrected him with an icy tone. Vish'dnir replied with a wry chuckle as he closed his eyes.
"So… is this it then?" he asked. Time passed. Enough for the group in the room to come out and see this scene of Tiffa's scythe poised to decapitate this elf while Louise and Siesta were on the ground, the former holding on to the latter from behind as they looked up at the two elves. Siesta saw Tiffa look to everyone before breathing her own sigh of resignation as she deactivated her scythe.
"Not today," Tiffa said, causing Vish'dnir to breathe a small sigh of relief.
"I need to know," Tiffa began as she walked in front of him, looking down on him as she did. "Why? Why are you doing this?"
Vish'dnir gave a wry chuckle, "Anything to free our people from that monster, right?"
"He would have turned on us in a heartbeat," Tiffa rebuked.
"Maybe," Vish'dnir replied, "but I was desperate. You understand. Don't you?" Vish'dnir gave Tiffa a pleading look, with which she replied with one of pity.
"Cousin," Tiffa began with a gentle tone, "we won't find our freedom by selling ourselves out to monsters."
"Lucky you that you found a better void mage," Vish'dnir gave another wry chuckle, causing him to begin coughing, which caused Tiffa to kneel down and steady him.
"Easy, cousin," Tiffa said in a comforting tone.
"You always were soft," Vish'dnir weakly smirked at her, "that's what made you better than us." Vish'dnir closed his eyes as he said this and seemed to begin to collapse to the ground, with Tiffa making sure to break his fall.
It wasn't near to a hint of an inkling of what made her better. He had no idea.
"Is he…" Louise's voice trailed off.
"He's alive," Tiffa reassured her as she stood up and looked to them, "and we need to get out of here if we're going to stay that way."
Meanwhile, down on stage, Matilda was letting the spirit of the music flow through her with each word she uttered. It was positively exhilarating, feeling this praise and adoration directed at her. In the moment before she was going to sing again, she heard the voice of Siesta within her head.
Matilda, we're headed to the roof. Meet up with Guiche when you can and get to our last campground, Siesta informed her.
Got it, Matilda simply thought back as she went back to belt the last words she'd need to sing for the song. Then she'd have about 5 to 8 minutes while those hicks lost their minds over the guitar work.
"~Lord, I can't change
Won't you fly high, free bird, yeah~"
Once that was delivered to them, she knew she could carefully make her exit from the stage and did so. Though, as she attempted to make her way back to Guiche and the cart, she was stopped by two crowdmembers, each holding a large metal mug that reeked of cheap alcohol.
"Nice job up there, darlin'" one of them said with a threateningly flirtatious tone.
"How's about you come enjoy some quality time with us?" the other asked with the same tone. Matilda, not having time for this, reached for her wand as she made sure their eyes were trained on her own to not notice, and flicked it at the ground, causing the earth beneath their feet to shift and push them over.
"Oh my! Looks like you two might need to walk it off a bit! Take care," Matilda said as she walked away from the stunned men. As her body finally was out of the lights and heat of the stage, she became aware of the chill of the night affecting her, causing her to put the jumpsuit back on. It was as she was zipping it up that she spotted Guiche, who waved to her.
"Thank goodness! I've been left alone and in the dark the whole time!" Guiche whined. Matilda raised an eyebrow as she looked around.
"Where'd the elf go?" she asked.
"She took Derflinger and went to the castle," Guiche shook his head, "so, did you hear Siesta's message?"
Matilda nodded.
"Now's the best time to leave," she informed Guiche as she hopped into the cart and laid down, exhausted.
Guiche nodded as he got onto the cart and began driving it back to the gate, which was mysteriously left open. Guiche raised an eyebrow at this but chose not to question this stroke of good luck as the two, with Khaydarin, exited the castle grounds and entered back into the wider countryside.
Meanwhile, Louise, Siesta, and the others had made it to the roof, with Tiffa carrying Tabitha's mother on her back. As they stood atop this wide castle turret, the wind whipping all around them, they grew anxious as to what Tabitha had planned. Kirche saw her raise a hand. The sounds from below seemed to be reaching some sort of crescendo as she did, and Kirche wondered what exactly Tabitha was timing out. After what felt like an eternity of the music going on and on, it finally seemed to hit a kind of coda, to which Tabitha swiped her hand down.
"Now, Sylphid!" Tabitha ordered, causing Illococoo to nod with excitement as she clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
"Winds that cloak me, reveal my true form," Illococoo chanted as she began to glow bright, causing everyone to cover their eyes. Once the light had faded, the group, except for Tabitha, looked aghast to see the familiar form of Sylphid now sitting before them.
"See? What'd I tell ya?" Derflinger piped up, smug, from Tiffa's back. Kirche smirked at the sword's remark as she went to board the dragon with the others. As the coda of the song itself seemed to reach a crescendo, flashes of sparks and light began to light up the night sky and deafen the group.
"Let's go! Sylphid!" Tabitha cried out, causing the dragon to immediately beat its wings and fly up and into the night sky, where its form was effectively shrouded by the flashing explosions of fireworks below. As they managed to finally make their escape, Kirche breathed a deep sigh of relief as she embraced her rescued friend tightly.
"I missed you, Tabitha," Kirche whispered into her ear. Kirche could feel Tabitha place one of her hands upon her own.
"Missed you, too," Tabitha replied with a small smile. Kirche could not see it, but Tabitha's face was turning red as they gripped Kirche's hand tighter than she had ever felt.
Meanwhile, back down at the castle grounds, Saito was walking away from the open castle gate when he heard the familiar voice of his master, filling his heart with dread.
Saito, my obedient dog of a familiar, I am returning to the castle with the potion. Are you ready to break my darling niece's mind? The voice was as smug as ever, and Saito knew he would have to work hard to feign his ignorance in his response.
I am always ready to serve, my master, Saito replied, hoping that his feelings of excitement at what he had just been party to would not come through.