Fae is Foul [SAO/ZnT] (Crosspost)
- Thread starter Flere821
- Start date
Like that there is an update
NecroMac
Shiroe vi Akihabara Commands you...
hmm Brimir really seems quite bloodthirsty, but given what he had done... well guy like to make booms. I really wonder what will Kayaba come out with.
Option One -> Heartcliff or himself(I wish to see a shitstorm It would cause)
Option Two -> Kirito. XD
Option Three -> Klein!
Option Four -> Sachi?
?? Another Summon ??
Option One -> Heartcliff or himself(I wish to see a shitstorm It would cause
)Option Two -> Kirito. XD
Option Three -> Klein!
Option Four -> Sachi?
?? Another Summon ??
Spectrum
Tell me a secret~
- Location
- Behind you~
A little bit of a late response but I'm curious what you consider to be the main thrust of the plot. I've viewed the Asuna/Titania dichotomy as a large portion of the plot to date, your assurances that it will be concluded soon enough aside. There's been a lot of focus on Kirito as someone willing to do anything for Asuna's sake, along with complicating factors from the other girls (many of whom also would like to get Asuna back).
I mean, there's only so much trimming of character elements you can go through before you have only a skeleton on rails, if that makes any sense.
*blink* I personally had thought the Asuna/Titania conflict is done once they're out of each other's heads. They'll never like or even agree with each other in general, but it's not like people will always, without fail, come to agreement in life right? There's just some people that'll never get along well.
That aside, what I consider to be the 'main plotline' is the players trying to get back to Earth. That umbrella broadly covers 'Alfheim VS Tristain/Halkeginia politics' and Void vs Cardinal. That's the 'big picture' part of things. Character-wise, I think most of the important stuff will be happening on the ZnT side of things. Kirito & Asuna know what they want in life, and they'll work towards that - part of having already gone through an adventure themselves. Others such as Sakuya, Morgiana, Mortimer and so on would kinda be less 'developing' and more 'how would they cope with new events?'. Their 'growth' isn't going to be a major change to their psyche, partially because they're all at least in their early twenties and have developed themselves a bit in their backstories.
It'll be the less developed SAOverse characters that will get development - such as Yuuki & her twin sister's experiences, going from 'we could die from disease almost any month now' to 'new life, we're practically immortal, now what?'. The rest of the Sleeping Knights will play a support role in their development.
Louise however has to come to grips with what she had caused, and how others might want to use that fact for their own ends. She wants acknowledgement, pride/honour, duty and so on, and a part of this story would be how she might get those. Maybe she'll change her mind that life is not limited to pursuing those, maybe not. Maybe she'll be willing to pay a price for those, maybe not.
Also, not much of a spoiler - maybe 'teaser' describes this next bit better - What is Wardes going to do in light of recent events? I'll freely admit I've taken a hammer to some of his motives and his past in FiF compared to ZnT canon, so apart from his core motive of 'find out what happened to my mother that led to her madness and death' expect changes to many of his actions.
To a lesser extent, character-wise there'll be how Henrietta deals with the FLs and Titania as well. Triggerhappy had done much about her in his plot for uplifting Tristain IIRC however, so I'll probably not focus that much on her, or at least not retread HalkO's steps. Besides, what I have planned for her & Wales is far different to what happened in HalkO anyway, though this probably falls more under 'long-term plot' than 'character development'.
For worldbuilding purposes I am considering a 'side plot' if people like reading about character development instead of just 'big picture politics/conflict' and am willing to take a break from the latter to read the former. Word of warning, it's about minor characters that didn't get much screen-time. Though this isn't going to happen until after the Treaty arc at least. Depending on what my readers think anyway, I'll ask when I get there in Author Notes.
tl;dr - character development isn't a major focus of FiF, but it's there. I'm just removing the 'Romance' tag for this story and sticking with the 'Action' & 'Adventure' tags, maybe a bit of '(political) Drama'.
Well, yeah, that's still planned, it's just that I don't think of those as 'character development' ^.^; Well, unless you count what I had planned with Sigurd later.
- Location
- Postcard from the Root
I'm probably wrong, but I hope Asuna is Louise's chosen familiar. Not because I enjoy seeing them suffer, though for some reason FIF is bringing out that feeling in me, but primarily because I think it'd be interesting to see Kirito's reaction. I remember him mentioning saying, probably internally, that he'd kill Louise if she bound Titania (while she was still in Asuna's body). I don't think it would happen, but it'd be interesting to see the storm it kicks up.
I'm very interested to see the players' reaction to Louise's binding. Looking forward to seeing once everything sinks in, if the faction leaders feel differently about Louise's actions.
Brimir is a douche btw. Is he like that in the novels?
I'm very interested to see the players' reaction to Louise's binding. Looking forward to seeing once everything sinks in, if the faction leaders feel differently about Louise's actions.
Brimir is a douche btw. Is he like that in the novels?
Brimir didn't have much 'screen-time', and when he does it was in his early days before he 'went bad' and started doing things like genocide. Strictly speaking he could have been this bad in the novels, it's not ruled out.
Spectrum
Tell me a secret~
- Location
- Behind you~
If I can speculate then, you intend to have Kirito resign after Asuna is back? Otherwise he's going to still need to constantly associate with an answer to Titania. It's not *quite* as bad but otherwise I could say that's equivalent to Kirito having gone to work for Sugou to get Asuna back and then staying working for him. I can't imagine she would be happy for him to keep doing that. That probably does conflict a little with their sense of responsibility to others to clear the game as in SAO, but...
Regardless, they've basically been such major characters to this point that it would feel weird for them to be written out and have their subplot more or less go away and not advance. I mean, I dunno, I guess I believe there's more to "Happily ever after..." after that, there's still things to do and work at and, as we know in this particular situation, complications from all the other girls, etc...
I think I see what you're saying...well, I dunno. I guess the only romance featured at all so far has been theirs but it's such a large part of their story that it feels weird for it to go away. Or, now that I look at it, that no one else has romantic prospects and they're all workaholics/too focused on the problems/etc.
Yeah, that sense of responsibility is why Kirito is working with Titania, especially when most of his job around her is to tell Tristianians what she thinks without it coming off as too harsh. It helps for Kirito that Titania never made her animosity with him personal, and even technically while working for her Kirito is probably more likely to see Princess Henrietta in his day-job than Titania (though he'd probably be bouncing PMs with Titania a few times a day, depending on what he's doing).
As for Asuna, she's not going to be in the same room as Titania barring exceptional circumstances, and I think I mentioned before most of the SAO players are now tasked with keeping Yui safe, so they're no longer kept in reserve as Titania's elite enforcers. I'll probably write a segment later that those guys are going out to start learning how to kill mobs instead of being held as something like Titania's personal PvP horror machines due to their experiences from the SAO death game.
I understand there's still relationship things to work through, but well I can't seem to write it out without the writing looking like a trainwreck even to me. I want to jump right to the relationship 'happily ever after' because I have other trainwrecks in mind to write up, and piling them up at around the same chapters seems a bit too much (ie, Laughing Coffin plots + Treaty complications + emotion entanglement slows down things too much, so I'm dropping that last one).
zaiaku
The Ignorant Guru
- Location
- Alamo, Texas
A shame, cause while it would make sense that Liz and Silica might just resign to their fate, The struggles that Leafa would have to go through to do the same would've been somewhat entertaining. Of course this could just be my own inadequacies towards such relationships wanting a bit of company.
Chapter 33
Thanks to Fictiondevourer for beta-ing this chapter
Chapter 33
-][-
Louise tried to keep her head up high, showing no timidity or weakness. She wasn't sure she succeeded, even as she was escorted through the halls within the World Tree. By then, only the two Faerie Lords and the Royal Protector was leading them to Titania, the rest of their followers having been barred from entering.
Armoured golems lined the plainly decorated corridors in the middle levels of the World Tree, each of them wielded a sword larger than Louise was. Their heads looked steadfastly ahead, but Louise swore their blazing eyes followed her as she moved. Ahead of her, Lord Kirito conversed with Lady Morgiana and Lady Sasaki in a low voice, most of which Louise did not catch. What she heard next however only made the sinking feeling in her stomach worse.
"The other Faerie Lords have returned already?" Her father asked in surprise. "So soon? I was under the impression flight time between the World Tree and the Academy took longer than a few minutes."
"They were teleported back when all of Alfheim was affected," Lord Kirito informed him. "It's standard safety measures for emergencies like these. Whatever faults Titania may have, she looks after her own."
Duke Valliere nodded tightly. "They will be present in the upcoming meeting, then?"
"Every Faction Leader will be present," Kirito confirmed. "All nine of them. Though some of them will be attending via long distance holograms – illusions – rather than be present in the flesh."
Louise almost froze up at that statement. The faeries had sent half of their effective rulers to negotiate with Tristain, yet they were dropping everything to attend the upcoming meeting. A sign of how serious this issue was to Alfheim, and that didn't bode well for her prospects.
"Calm down, Louise," he father told her. "Don't panic. The Faerie Lords – most of them – are reasonable. They're not going to immediately call for our heads."
Louise nodded even as Duke Valliere gave her a quick rundown on the Faerie Lords that he had met, though because of her worrying she missed bits and pieces of information. Her father's words in trying to get her mind off of things didn't quite succeed.
Finally, they reached a large set of wooden ornate doors, which would not be out of place if it was installed in front of Tristain's throne room.
"Before we go in," Kirito told Louise, "I'm going to have to ask you to hand your wand to your father. We don't normally ask people to give up their weapons, but I'd prefer not to take chances."
"Perfectly understandable, given the circumstances," Duke Valliere nodded slowly. "Louise?"
Hesitantly, Louise pulled out her wand and gave it to her father. In a twisted way, the faeries acknowledged her as a threat, even more than a Square class Mage. Recognition for her only seem to be coming from those Louise didn't want to receive from these days, and even at that point Louise was not so starved for attention she would take it from anywhere.
The doors opened wide without visibly being pushed by anyone, and for the first time Louise set eyes on Alfheim's monarch. Seated on a simple throne, Fairy Queen Titania's bright blue eyes glared towards Louise from across the large hall. All else paled in importance when compared to her displeasure, that Titania's stony visage focused on Louise alone. Louise was too focused on the pressure that exuded from the Fairy Queen.
Once before, Louise saw her mother became truly cross, thankfully directed at another party and not towards her. The room became still, like it was the calm before a storm. The atmosphere heavy, and the sheer force of will was nearly palpable to the point a look might have torn Duchess Valliere's opposition apart. A similar presence weighed down upon Louise – a searing light that threatened to destroy her, completely beyond what even the strongest Fire Mage could accomplish.
Behind the Fairy Queen, her butterfly-esque wings was half-unfolded, and they glowed with ethereal energy. Forget how Titania had marble-like feature and flowing hair, her slender frame wrapped up in a dress so finely wrought it would put human seamstresses to shame… even as inexperienced as Louise was she could tell a spell was primed and ready to be unleashed.
At their rear, the large doors closed with a thud. Louise flinched slightly at the sound, but at her father's silent urging she approached the Fairy Queen. Every step irrationally seemed like it was towards her execution, despite Louise mentally telling herself the faeries' monarch wouldn't take the effort to summon her just so Titania could personally kill her.
More World Tree Guardians lined the walls, and assembled at Titania's sides was what Louise gathered to be the various Faerie Lords. Four seats to each side of the Fairy Queen, six of the eight filled already. Lady Sasaki took one of the remaining seats, although Lady Morgiana preferred to stand off of one side of Louise even as Lord Kirito took the other side, her spear held loosely in one hand. One of the seats was occupied by a ghostly image of a blue-haired faerie.
Once Louise reached a dozen mails away from the Fairy Queen, a new image soundlessly coalesced into place to one side of the room on a tangent with Titania's seats; Princess Henrietta and Cardinal Mazarin appeared, seated in what looked like one of the Academy's meeting rooms minus the walls. Accompanying them was two hooded mages that Louise hadn't met before, and the last of the Faerie Lords sat close to them with his Medallion flaring brightly.
"This is…" Henrietta said, wide-eyed.
"Merely a projection of an image from the World Tree, allowing us to communicate with you visibly and vice versa without delay, Princess," Titania said, her voice cold. "Considering the importance of the situation, I feel an expenditure of energy on this scale to set this meeting up was necessary. What has occurred deserves an explanation directly from your lips, does it not?"
Henrietta nodded tightly, even as she glanced worriedly at Louise. The pink-haired girl herself felt a stab of fear and shame, that all she seemed to do was bring trouble for the Princess. Even the thankfulness that Henrietta was worried about her, and relief that the Princess was alright, didn't alleviate Louise's negative feelings.
"So?" Titania prompted, seeing no explanation was forthcoming. "What does Tristain have to say on this matter?"
"… We apologize profusely, Your Majesty," Cardinal Mazarin inclined his head politely, his words calm. "For whatever my word is worth. Nobody expected the Binding to have such far-reaching consequences."
"In retrospect, it was foolish of us all to not have seen something like this coming," Titania said flatly. "The summoning spell affected all of Alfheim to begin with – and now we have confirmation that is was indeed the summoning spell and not something else – there was no reason to believe it would not affect things on that scale once the Binding was attempted. It was naïve for me to believe my actions alone in the World Tree would be enough to account for all possibilities, a mistake that I do not plan to make again-"
The Fairy Queen paused, her eyes narrowing. Louise felt another stab of fear as Titania looked toward her again, and then relief as her gaze went past her towards the entrance.
-][-
Titania knew who was approaching – she had been slightly concerned when Yui was making her way down the World Tree, but she had more important things to address at that moment. As the other AI approached the doors to their meeting however, Titania decided to ask her directly.
[Why are you here, Yui?] Titania's asked, the communication process at the speed of thought.
[I asked mama- Mother to accompany me here, not the other way around,] Yui replied at the same speed. [I want to help, and distance matters in how I use my powers.]
[This goes against everything we have agreed on,] Titania's mental voice took on a hard edge. [Your role does not involve being on the stage, not at this point; it defeats the purpose of making you my back-up.]
[The Binding's effects earlier affected every Player in Alfheim, and somehow including yourself correct?] Yui replied. [For everyone else, it was because of their connection to the System, through the Respawn mechanism. However, I was unaffected by that intrusion.]
Titania's face remained impassive, as it wasn't possible for her automaton body to become even more statuesque. Yui continued:
[The intrusion didn't reach me, because I did not originate from this System even though I can access it. Thus, if something unexpected happened to everyone again… I want to be present so I can shut it down.]
[That does not mean you need to show your face,] Titania said, displeased. [You could prepare countermeasures from the other side of the door, and act accordingly. If you was not noticed by the Binding, you should take advantage of that blind-spot and keep out of Tristainians' notice.]
[A visual confirmation may be necessary, if the interferences can blind System-based clairvoyance,] Yui argued. [And I'm not risking permanent damage to anyone if I can help it.]
Titania inwardly sighed. [Of course you would think that,] the AI said exasperatedly. [We obviously have very different risk analysis processes within us, despite both being derived from Cardinal. Am I to take it without direct effort on my part to stop you, you will interfere?]
[Yes,] Yui responded. [I exercise my authority as your designated counterpart to be present for this meeting. As for the issue of being a back-up: disregarding their inability to affect me, I'll use the same argument the Faction Leaders have raised at the Treaty. The Tristainians at the Treaty discussions have inferred that Alfheim can affect their territory across vast distances, that they cannot escape from us given your action repairing Gattan; similarly, Louise Valliere have demonstrated she could affect the entirety of Alfheim, so wherever I am would not matter.]
Titania paused for a fraction of a second, which by the AIs' sensing of time passage might as well be a long minute of silence.
[Very well,] Titania reticently replied. [Enter if you wish. I acknowledge your right to be present.].
-][-
The large doors opened, and footsteps was heard as Henrietta saw another faerie approached them.
The new arrival wore armour similar to Lord Kirito's, albeit red trim on white instead of silver on black. Her hair was aqua-blue, not unlike one of the Faerie Lords. Most eye-catchingly, the woman's features was uncannily similar to that of Titania's, slightly younger-looking and different mainly in colour. Henrietta would not be surprised if someone had told her that woman was the Fairy Queen's sister, or even daughter with who knew how faeries age and chose to appear.
"Asuna," Titania said neutrally. "… Allowing yourself to come here defeats the entire purpose of your role. You should have known the dangers of being present. I did not give you that armour so you can enable something like this."
"Yui told me that you have made this argument to her already," Asuna replied with a restrained voice, glancing slightly at the tiny winged girl on her shoulder. "Yes, I know you think this is a bad idea. But I'd rather trust Yui's judgment on this than yours."
The Tristain's Princess saw the two members of fae royalty – for it was highly unlikely that the newcomer would not be given her familial resemblance to the Fairy Queen – stare each other down. Lord Kirito winced as he took in the situation, and the screen of foreign text that appeared in front of him which he quickly dispersed did not seem to help.
"Can we please save this discussion for later?" Kirito implored. "We have others present and waiting already. Titania, you already said you'd allow this, so…"
Titania removed her attention from them and towards Louise and her father, even as Asuna moved next to Kirito.
"Back to the matter at hand, then," Titania said, her tone devoid of previous tinges. "Tell me, Louise Valliere, did you know this would happen at the Binding, before or during the planning?"
"N-no, Your Majesty," Louise said nervously. "Upon the Gods and Founder's names, I solemnly swear I had no idea this was possible, at any time."
Titania's face remained impassive. "And you, Princess Henrietta?"
"Likewise," Henrietta said soberly. "I also had no idea. Additionally, I would also like to apologize-"
"Save the empty words," Titania replied, her face impassive. "Apologies does not resolve anything. Let us get this out of the way: none of you present expected the Binding to have this result?"
Duke Valliere and Cardinal Mazarin shook their head emphatically, as did the girls.
Titania scrutinized the Tristainians, before saying: "Anything you would like to add, everyone?"
"Rather than 'did you know'…" Lord Mortimer spoke up coolly, his face enigmatic as usual. "How about 'did you suspect'? Was this a long shot on Tristain's part, hoping to subjugate us?"
"No!" Duke Valliere said vehemently. "Lord Mortimer, if it was planned by those other than who proposed this, then I might agree with you. As it was I do not think Old Osmond, the Princess, or even Cardinal Mazarin considered this outcome. Too much was at stake to hope for miracles."
"That's ironic, considering we were all hoping for a miracle where we could settle everything without going to war," the obscenely bejewelled Lord snorted, to other Lords' consternation. "What? I'm only joking, it's not like I think His Grace is lying. Unless they really are lying bastards?"
"My social heuristics does not suggest so. Yui?" Titania asked the tiny girl.
"Same here," Yui concurred with the Fairy Queen.
"Well there you go," Lord Rufus shrugged. "Then again… I doubt the Tristainians would lose much sleep if we did end up being bound and shackled to their whims. Tell me, Louise Valliere, would you feel any regret at all if you did end up Binding Alfheim to you accidently? Sixty thousand lives and more, subject to your control… Did you want to bind Alfheim, even if you considered that to be an impossible task? I remember being briefed about something in the local magic tomes, about emotions and willpower affecting the spells…"
"That's irrelevant, Rufus," the Salamander Lord scolded his Leprechaun counterpart. "Stop trying to pick fights with them. This bears to be repeated, for the sake of our guests: we all knew from the start there could be no real partnership between us and Tristain, issues like their hatred for elves was too deep-seated to be solved in mere weeks. Even if we hoped otherwise, it was a long shot to begin with; really, I'm surprised we got this far in the Treaty without things blowing up in our face politically already."
Lady Sakuya turned her face away – even if the more even-tempered Leader wished to object, the circumstances didn't support her views.
"You make it sound like you don't have a bone to pick with them, Mortimer," the Lady of the Undines pointed out. "I'm surprised; after everything that happened I'd have thought you'd finally go on a warpath."
"I'll admit, I do find that particular path tempting," Mortimer acknowledged, his tone unchanged. "Even so, I'd advise holding off on retribution for now."
"Oh? Why?" Rufus frowned.
"All of us are free to act," Mortimer inclined his head. "We are elected to look out for the interests of our own Factions. I can't, and certainly am not going to stop the rest of you from doing something, although…"
"And here it is," Rufus snorted. "Knew you'd pull something out despite your rhetoric. Never believed for a second you'd let this pass."
"No, I am still not going to do anything," Mortimer smiled thinly. "Though do recall I never said anything about how Tristain should get off scot free. If nothing else, I believe Titania already has something in mind."
The red-clad Lord glanced toward the World Tree's Spirit. "Isn't that right? You wouldn't have called for this meeting without having already made a decision. And whatever you have planned, I am sure it would be more effective than what the players can bring to bear. I am willing to forego personal satisfaction of retribution if it means getting the job done."
"That is correct," Titania replied neutrally. "I admit, I am surprised at your reaction – the same to most of the rest of you. Normally most of you are not as eager to see things my way."
"Louise Valliere's actions have used up a lot of goodwill, at least on my part," Mortimer replied, and Louise wilted at those words. "And I can always send troops out later if you don't go far enough."
"Fat chance of that," Rufus smirked grimly. "Titania doesn't kid around when she gets serious. I think I might not do anything after all, it'd be like setting a dog on fire after you've beaten it up."
"If it is vengeance you want, then sadly you will not get it from me," Titania said flatly, much to Henrietta's relief. "The goal here is to prevent a repeat of what happened today, without removing the possibility of returning the players home. Thus, the best solution is to give Louise Valliere a familiar, and lock away the possibility for her to cause a disruption like this again."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lady Alicia asked. "The last time you tried this, well…"
The Cait Sith Leader shrugged. "Look where we are at now."
"Rather than the 'best' solution, it would be more accurate to say this is the only solution that doesn't involve removing Louise Valliere permanently," Titania explained. "Through the attempted Binding earlier I now have a detailed insight to how the Familiar Summoning and Binding Rituals worked – more than all of the combined knowledge we have obtained from Tristain put together. If it was known what price we had to pay when we attempted the Binding earlier, I would not have allowed the attempt. Nonetheless, the price had been paid, and I intend to use the obtained knowledge fully. It would be a wasted effort otherwise.
"As it is right now, due to the nature of the Transition there is the equivalent of errors in the coding of the summoning spell. Those errors was what allowed the exploit of encompassing all of Alfheim instead of settling on a single target. The new familiar would have a patch within it, and it will prevent errors of such from this point forward. Otherwise if we leave Louise Valliere alone, all she had to do is to kiss anything of Alfheim origin – from faeries to even the stones paving a City – and we could suffer this setback once more."
Titania paused, her attention on Louise – as if daring the pink-haired girl to try and drop to the floor and kiss it, if she would risk yet another assault on them all. Louise flinched, in no small part due to the Fairy Queen's wings pulsing visibly once with energy, radiating Titania's hostile intent.
"For reasons I will not go into now, Louise Valliere's familiar requires it to be a capable fighter, more-so than other mages' familiars," Titania said coolly. "Taking into account all of the traits that are required from the Binding, I have the perfect match created for her."
With a flash of light, a black dragon the size of a carriage appeared in mid-air between the gathered people and the large doors. Flapping its wings several time, the dragon landed and began to morph into another form. It adopted a humanoid form, although its face and hands kept its draconic features. Red silted eyes observed everything, and armour appeared over its body. Its armour was an inverse to that of Asuna's – white trim on red metal plates. It carried a tower shield, embossed with a crimson cross, and a sword hilt was visible over the top of the shield.
"Isn't that…?" Asuna frowned.
"A construct, a golem shaped with magic instead of the earth, in the form of a contender for the strongest swordsmanship skill, correct," Titania confirmed. "In light of protection being paramount, the <<Holy Sword>> fits better in this case than a copy of your <<Two Swords Style>>, Kirito."
"So, it's not Heathcliff?" Kirito asked. A moment later the dragon's face changed, black scaly skin overwritten with white human tones. In its place was a man with grey hair, aged perhaps twenty-five if his brass-coloured eyes didn't make him seem older.
"It's 'Heathcliff' insofar as it's the character you met back in Aincrad," Titania noted. "Though not the same guiding intelligence as the person you encountered. Having that same skin used with this construct seemed… appropriate. Especially in light of how conceptual the similarities between the familiar and mage has to be."
"What, that he – or Louise Valliere – would become a leader who is both incredibly strong and will manipulate everyone?" Kirito said cynically. "I can accept the skills being reused, but going this far… people are going to be less happy about today, if that's possible."
"I seem to be missing something," Duke Valliere indicated. "Is there something we should know about this 'Heathcliff'?"
"Your Highness; I have told you something about the 'Aincrad Campaign' before, right?" Kirito asked. Henrietta nodded. "Long story short, Heathcliff was the Guild Leader of the strongest force in that campaign when it ended – and also the disguise the mastermind of it all, Kayaba Akihiko, was using, treating the entire conflict as a game for his own purposes. Heathcliff – or Kayaba – was the hero selected to lead the survivors up to the final battle of the campaign, before revealing himself as the true enemy we have to defeat and break our morale."
Kirito looked at the designated familiar warily. "Kayaba is infamous, even if his… persona, is not as much. By taking Heathcliff as the perfect match as a familiar, you might as well shout out to Alfheim and the rest of the world that by association Tristain can't be trusted, ever. Unless that was the point, Titania?"
"In part," Titania admitted. "It goes deeper than that. However, you missed the more important similarity between Heathcliff and Louise Valliere:
"That a person's ability alone does not make the Villain. Louise Valliere might be the cause of all our problems, but it was because of her magic, and not because of her will. Heathcliff and the Holy Sword are the same – merely the tool of an entity that used it as the face of things, but by themselves they are no more evil than anything else. That, above all, is the key between them. The fact that Heathcliff can single-handedly slaughter Tristain in its entirety while simultaneously protect Louise Valliere is of secondary concern."
At that, Henrietta also looked warily at Heathcliff. His sharp, scholarly features was calm, and he ignored all the words the others said about him. Henrietta had thought Titania had created a Rhyme Dragon for Louise, but it was obvious things was more complicated than that.
"… I still don't like it," Kirito admitted, exchanging a look with Asuna. "There has to be someone else that would be a better fit? A Quest Boss or something? Or at least use a different character but keep the skills, using Heathcliff is just begging for trouble."
Instead of replying, Titania glanced at the Faerie Lords. Several of them had misgivings, and in one of those rare occasions even both Lady Sakuya and Lord Mortimer seemed to agree on the unworkability of the arrangement.
"I would be lying if I say I do not have other, simpler, options planned just in case," Titania finally said. "However, I am not convinced our dislike for this outcome would make other choices any more likely to succeed. Of all the options, Heathcliff has the most in common with Louise Valliere and thus the best choice. I do not think changing him out would make the Binding hold."
"Is there really no other way?" Henrietta asked. On a personal level, the Princess didn't wish for her childhood friend to be saddled with what was effectively a cursed weapon. On a larger, political level taking Heathcliff, as Lord Kirito said, would spell an end to Alfheim ever trusting them, even if the Fairy Queen seemed impartial to either way.
"No," Titania answered. "Not when the current view seems to be reluctant disinterest in Heathcliff from all present, rather than outright hatred. Half-baked convictions is not enough to change anything. The fact that this Heathcliff is not Kayaba only reinforces this – he is not the one you should hate, and you all recognizes that fact."
-][-
Kirito's thoughts churned as he took in Titania's reasoning. So, there were criterions that selects the familiar. Commonalities between the two were a large part of that, and Kirito couldn't really change that – Louise Valliere wasn't going to have a major personality shift conveniently within a few hours. That leaves…
"Your Majesty," Cardinal Mazarin said politely. "If I may… you have stated this 'Heathcliff' can protect the youngest Valliere, but may we please see a demonstration? It will be easier to accept the arrangement if it is proven Louise Valliere will be safe."
"A reasonable request," Titania allowed. "Kirito," the Fairy Queen ordered. "Defeat Heathcliff. If you can do so completely, I am willing to swap out this construct with another."
Kirito raised an eyebrow. Titania was just going to discard using Heathcliff so easily, after all she said? Something felt off to him.
The Black Swordsman gave Heathcliff an once-over. The posture was different, while ready it didn't have that same confidence Kayaba had. Nonetheless, Kirito have a bad feeling about it all.
"I'm guessing his stats are buffed compared to back in Aincrad?" Kirito asked. "Among other things like that dragon transformation?"
"Correct," Titania replied. "As only a mortal swordsman from Aincrad, no matter how powerful, cannot meaningfully change anything when magic is heavily involved. A few thematic appropriate additions have been added to the Holy Sword skill set, such as the ability <<Cover>>: as long as Heathcliff remains active, all damage that would harm Louise Valliere are transferred to him. And as a construct, pain and damage are no more debilitating to him as it might be to a mountain. Regardless, he should be slightly easier to kill than a normal Jotunn."
"Well, that's reassuring," Rufus grunted. "Give the backstabber enough power to match entire raid teams. He'll probably clear out a Capital or two before we can finally kill him, if this 'Heathcliff' goes rogue."
"Heathcliff is physically unable to go against Louise Valliere's wishes," Titania stated. "The mind that controls it is only slightly smarter than one of the World Tree Guardians. In short, Heathcliff cannot go rogue, not unless Louise Valliere commands it to."
"Then that's not really Heathcliff anymore, is it?" Asuna asked with a frown. "Heathcliff was the Commander of the Knights of Blood back in Aincrad; you didn't get to be Guild Leader without some smarts. Even if he delegated most of the day-to-day work to his subordinates, much of the long-term planning was done by him."
Asuna exchanged a look with Kirito. "How much of that was Kayaba himself showing through, and how much of that was acting in-character… we don't know, but removing the confidence, the intelligence, from the character would very much make him not Heathcliff anymore."
"These edits are deliberate," Titania said neutrally. "To make him a better fit for Louise Valliere."
"… How so?" Duke Valliere asked doubtfully.
"'The Familiar reflects the Mage'," Titania recited. "I do not see confidence in Louise Valliere. Similarly, I do not see abnormal intelligence or the ability to lead from the girl brought before me. A tool for the ones in power she is now, and so the familiar I created for her should be. Headstrong and powerful, able to take anything that is thrown at them and keep going… that is who Louise Valliere is, so a juggernaut like Heathcliff fits her best."
"I agree with this analysis," Mortimer said quietly. "I've met Duchess Valliere, and I have to say 'like mother, like daughter'. Barring the timidity, Louise Valliere is the splitting image of the Duchess; that whatever she had caused, she does not feel she was in the wrong. But that, if nothing else, is what makes me anxious about the choice of the familiar."
Kirito winced as he saw the pink-haired girl withdrew into herself more, trembling at Mortimer's words. While he didn't care for the one responsible for the Transition, watching a little girl pushed to the verge of breaking down made him feel like a utter heel.
"Even so, that is not Heathcliff as Kirito and Asuna knew him," Pieter spoke up. "Give him a different face, a different name then – it doesn't change much right? We have the Holy Sword skill on the familiar – shouldn't that be enough?"
"A distorted connection to the persona is better than none at all," Titania replied. "Even as weak as this is. Hence why I require Heathcliff to be defeated before I make any changes. Strength is not a main factor, but it could be levered to tip the balance enough to favour a different option.
"So, Kirito, if you wish strongly enough to change my decision, then let your skills back up your doubts."
"Do you expect me to be able to solo a Jotunn?" Kirito said, feeling eyes from everyone in the room upon him. "I don't have anything that can kill one – been there, tried that. Even if he isn't Kayaba, who I technically lost twice to, I just don't have the raw power to do so."
"To first blood, then," Titania said without hesitation. "One clean hit. Truly damaging him will not be required to show the necessity to change. And if you do need to be dispatched to eliminate this construct, I will prepare the tools that allow you to damage him – but that would require on you being able to hit him first."
To Kirito, that seemed a lot more reasonable, although still fairly difficult. Still, it wasn't any more stacked against him than other things he had to do by that point.
"Alright," the Black Swordsman nodded. "I'll do it."
"Be careful, Kirito-kun," Asuna warned him quietly, with a slight undertone of worry, before stepping back to one wall. From one corner of his eyes Kirito saw Duke Valliere doing the same, herding his daughter back with him. The hologram of Princess Henrietta was adjusted as well, so they could get a better view of things – though the sudden movement disorientated them for a bit.
After a short pause as Kirito and Heathcliff evaluated each other, the duel began.
Kirito dashed at Heathcliff, swords raised and an incantation on his lips. In response Heathcliff charged as well, meeting Kirito's attacks with his shield before stabbing his sword at Kirito at a far faster speed than what Kirito remembered him to be capable of. Kirito dodged, before Heathcliff drew his arm back and stabbed once more. The Black Swordsman's coat was nicked, leaving a tiny scratch upon the leather – not enough to count as a loss.
Kirito's incantation finished after that exchange, and as the glyphs around him faded several shadow spikes formed around Heathcliff, homing in towards him from multiple directions. It took barely a fraction of a second for Heathcliff to spin around and sever all of the attacks, holding him shorter than what Kirito had hoped it would be; but it delayed Heathcliff long enough for Kirito to get far enough for what he planned next:
"Gravitas!"
The glyphs on Kirito's <<Runebound>> Armour glowed, and a wide column of gravity slammed down at Heathcliff. The floor cracked in a web-like pattern, before crushing the hole into dust, but Heathcliff had lunged out of the AoE attack swiftly and went around the attack to come at Kirito.
Heathcliff's face transformed back to his draconic features, opening his maw, and a dark stream of fire burst out towards Kirito. The Black Swordsman leapt to the side, starting another incantation, and quickly launching throwing spikes into the dragon's eyes – but they did even less damage than Heathcliff did to his coat earlier. The two of them closed in and struck at each other with a flurry of attacks, Kirito attempting to flank his opponent and move out of the line of fire but only barely succeeding. Heathcliff was stronger, faster than him, and in terms of melee skill alone Kirito couldn't get an advantage. The construct was not Kayaba, being unable to predict Kirito's every move, but he executed the Holy Sword attacks flawlessly. More than once Kirito had to move because Heathcliff's shield nearly took his head off, in addition to have to dodge the fiery breaths.
An empowered shield bash drove Kirito back, his crossed swords preventing the blow from pulverizing his torso. Even as Kirito's wings flared and aiding his retreat, Heathcliff rushed straight in, his sword glowing brightly.
Sword Skills? Kirito had the time to think, before his arm broke under the force of the blow, sparks ran up his chestplate and a gash opened up diagonally across his head.
Kirito's vision was claimed by dark flames soon afterwards.
-][-
"Kirito-kun!" Asuna exclaimed, as her partner was reduced to a Remain Light. Seconds later Kirito reformed into his normal form, breathing heavily and his headband flashing once, indicating the spell cooldown. Asuna was never gladder that their headband had a <<Auto-Revive>> spell inscribed, in addition to its passive harmful <<Status>> immunity.
"It is decided, then," Titania said in a concluding tone. "We keep Heathcliff as the familiar. Are there any further objections?"
Kirito shook his head as he made his way back to Asuna. "I've got nothing. Sorry, Asuna."
"Don't worry about it, Kirito," Asuna assured him.
"I have no objections," Mortimer said stoically. "At least, none that I think are worthwhile, without any alternatives to be offered on my part."
"We don't have the same knowledge and understanding you have, Titania, to be able to make an informed argument," Sakuya said wearily. "If we do, then maybe we can come up with something. But I believe I'll be overruled by a majority if I request to delay this judgment."
"If it is any consolation," Titania said tonelessly. "If this decision comes back to haunt us, I will take full responsibility. I will relinquish my administration powers in atonement."
Mutters of surprise filled the room – mostly from the Tristain contingent present.
-][-
To say Henrietta was surprised was an understatement. Monarchs just didn't forfeit power like that, let alone someone that held as much as Titania.
"… That's not gonna help if when it does backfire on us, it screws us all over right then and there," Rufus grumbled. "Without giving us a chance to fix it. Can't we just throw Louise Valliere into the deepest pit Tristain has while we sort this out? At least a week of confinement is fair, after what she did. Anyone has the idea what number of deaths was caused directly by this? From Mob clearing teams, especially in Jotunheim?"
"And you believe Tristain would just consent to that, Rufus?" Mortimer asked with one eyebrow raised. "I will be very surprised if Louise Valliere wasn't spirited away somehow, now that they know she's potentially a weapon to be used against us. No, I don't trust any solution that doesn't solve this now."
"I'm leaning towards Mortimer's side on this," Pieter spoke up. "Either way we risk the wellbeing of all of Alfheim on this decision. I'd trust Titania more in keeping us safe, compared to Tristain."
"I concur," Sasaki said quietly. Simon nodded weakly as well.
"Adding my vote makes five," Atlanta raised her hand. "What about the rest of you?"
Morgiana shrugged. "Not like we got anywhere to keep her safe from every possibility while we sort this out. Yeah, I'm with Titania on this."
"Given the circumstances, I'm forced to agree ending things now is the best choice," Alicia Rue nodded grimly. "Though I wish we did have a way to postpone this, let us think on this a bit more."
"… I agree with Alicia," Sakuya said sourly. "There really isn't a choice. However, I request a full debriefing on this after we're done here."
"Request granted," Titania acquiesced. "We'll begin immediately after Tristain withdraw from this meeting. Is there anything you would like to add, Princess Henrietta?"
"… Is this the entirety of the actions Alfheim- no, Yggdrasil will take on this matter?" Henrietta asked. "Complete the Binding, without other matters like compensation involved?"
"Would it change anything if I asked for more?" Titania asked plainly. "There is nothing Tristain can offer me that will make me forgive this assault – barring the resolution of this entire incident and have the faeries returned to their world nigh immediately. Needless to say, that is something beyond all our powers to achieve at this moment.
"Nevertheless, if you require something that would ease your conscience – settle the Treaty with the Faction Leaders in the near future, heavily slanted towards their favour, so we may be done with this issue. I understand from the documents that there are still several issues to be discussed; you may wish to follow these suggestions to speed things up."
A translucent screen appeared in front of Henrietta, a list of issues headings. Imitating the other Faerie Lords who also began to peruse the list that appeared before them, Henrietta tapped on a heading with one finger and watch several points expanded below. Many of those was a comparison between what Tristain and Alfheim was arguing for, and Titania's offered changes.
Tristain's share of the minerals reduced from 15% to 10%, Henrietta thought as she read. Increase in the area of self-governing territories. Handing over all live specimens of the 'Mobs' for the Cait Sith breeding programs…
The list went on. Many of them pushing a fine line between what Tristain was willing to give up, but none of them outright untenable.
"I will give a reply to the Faerie Lords at our next meeting," Henrietta said politely, glancing at Lord Pieter. "Please give me some time to consider this. Although I believe most of the changes here are acceptable."
"Very well," Titania replied. Without any visible gestures from her, a scroll of parchment flashed into existence in front of the Puca Lord. Wordlessly, Pieter handed the scroll to Cardinal Mazarin for the old clergyman to inspect the list.
"Louise Valliere," the Fairy Queen spoke. "Bind your familiar. Let us be done with this."
Hesitantly, Louise approached Heathcliff, who morphed into his large dragon form. His head towered over Louise's tiny frame, brass-coloured eyes enigmatic. Silently, Heathcliff extended one forearm, with each finger upon it double the size of Louise's own limb. She kissed the offered limb, and green runes flared upon the back of the hand without further issue.
"What happens now, Your Majesty?" Duke Valliere inquired.
"Hopefully then Louise Valliere's magic would stabilize, and we can start experimenting with her magic to look for a way to return home," Titania explained. "Heathcliff's presence prevents future attacks via the Summoning Ritual medium, and should allow safe experimentation. If Heathcliff is somehow erased, or his bond broken, Louise Valliere is to return to the World Tree immediately and re-forge the connection. If she is not on her way back within an hour, I will take it as meaning certain parties either removed Heathcliff to weaponize Louise Valliere against Alfheim, or is endangering our best chances to find a solution to the Transition. Regardless of which, swift and overwhelming action will need to be taken – so keep an eye on your daughter and know where she is at all times, for everyone's sake."
After that, the Fairy Queen rose one hand and gestured. Henrietta blinked as the illusions showing her Titania and her court vanished, and a large portal opening up to replace the view.
"You are excused," Titania said finally. "Pieter, return here so we can start the debriefing. I would like to finish up things today so the Treaty discussions may resume tomorrow. Duke Valliere, you and your daughter may return to the Academy using the portal if you wish. I believe you all have many things to talk about as well."
Heathcliff's bulk shifted once more, still a dragon albeit one only the size of a large cat. He turned and moved towards the portal, calmly waiting for Louise and her father to follow. Lord Pieter made his farewells, and returned through the portal, then the Vallieres took their turn subsequently.
The portal snapped shut afterwards.
-][-
"You all have questions," Titania began, as soon as the chairs was rearranged into a circle and all members seated. "And they will be answered. Although some of them will not be by me."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rufus frowned. In response a ghostly image formed, standing to the side and behind Titania. White shirt with a necktie under a lab coat, the man looked exactly as Kirito remembered him to be the last time they met.
"It means the bulk of the questions will probably fall under my purview," Kayaba Akihiko said. "Hello again, Kirito-kun."
===
During beta-ing it was pointed out Louise was too passive. I can only say at the start of ZnT this was in-character for her, and this will change the next time she shows up or around then. As for too much talking in the story, that will end soon as well. The climax of the Treaty Arc is coming up soon, and talking will become a rare commodity for a bit then.
Chapter 33
-][-
Louise tried to keep her head up high, showing no timidity or weakness. She wasn't sure she succeeded, even as she was escorted through the halls within the World Tree. By then, only the two Faerie Lords and the Royal Protector was leading them to Titania, the rest of their followers having been barred from entering.
Armoured golems lined the plainly decorated corridors in the middle levels of the World Tree, each of them wielded a sword larger than Louise was. Their heads looked steadfastly ahead, but Louise swore their blazing eyes followed her as she moved. Ahead of her, Lord Kirito conversed with Lady Morgiana and Lady Sasaki in a low voice, most of which Louise did not catch. What she heard next however only made the sinking feeling in her stomach worse.
"The other Faerie Lords have returned already?" Her father asked in surprise. "So soon? I was under the impression flight time between the World Tree and the Academy took longer than a few minutes."
"They were teleported back when all of Alfheim was affected," Lord Kirito informed him. "It's standard safety measures for emergencies like these. Whatever faults Titania may have, she looks after her own."
Duke Valliere nodded tightly. "They will be present in the upcoming meeting, then?"
"Every Faction Leader will be present," Kirito confirmed. "All nine of them. Though some of them will be attending via long distance holograms – illusions – rather than be present in the flesh."
Louise almost froze up at that statement. The faeries had sent half of their effective rulers to negotiate with Tristain, yet they were dropping everything to attend the upcoming meeting. A sign of how serious this issue was to Alfheim, and that didn't bode well for her prospects.
"Calm down, Louise," he father told her. "Don't panic. The Faerie Lords – most of them – are reasonable. They're not going to immediately call for our heads."
Louise nodded even as Duke Valliere gave her a quick rundown on the Faerie Lords that he had met, though because of her worrying she missed bits and pieces of information. Her father's words in trying to get her mind off of things didn't quite succeed.
Finally, they reached a large set of wooden ornate doors, which would not be out of place if it was installed in front of Tristain's throne room.
"Before we go in," Kirito told Louise, "I'm going to have to ask you to hand your wand to your father. We don't normally ask people to give up their weapons, but I'd prefer not to take chances."
"Perfectly understandable, given the circumstances," Duke Valliere nodded slowly. "Louise?"
Hesitantly, Louise pulled out her wand and gave it to her father. In a twisted way, the faeries acknowledged her as a threat, even more than a Square class Mage. Recognition for her only seem to be coming from those Louise didn't want to receive from these days, and even at that point Louise was not so starved for attention she would take it from anywhere.
The doors opened wide without visibly being pushed by anyone, and for the first time Louise set eyes on Alfheim's monarch. Seated on a simple throne, Fairy Queen Titania's bright blue eyes glared towards Louise from across the large hall. All else paled in importance when compared to her displeasure, that Titania's stony visage focused on Louise alone. Louise was too focused on the pressure that exuded from the Fairy Queen.
Once before, Louise saw her mother became truly cross, thankfully directed at another party and not towards her. The room became still, like it was the calm before a storm. The atmosphere heavy, and the sheer force of will was nearly palpable to the point a look might have torn Duchess Valliere's opposition apart. A similar presence weighed down upon Louise – a searing light that threatened to destroy her, completely beyond what even the strongest Fire Mage could accomplish.
Behind the Fairy Queen, her butterfly-esque wings was half-unfolded, and they glowed with ethereal energy. Forget how Titania had marble-like feature and flowing hair, her slender frame wrapped up in a dress so finely wrought it would put human seamstresses to shame… even as inexperienced as Louise was she could tell a spell was primed and ready to be unleashed.
At their rear, the large doors closed with a thud. Louise flinched slightly at the sound, but at her father's silent urging she approached the Fairy Queen. Every step irrationally seemed like it was towards her execution, despite Louise mentally telling herself the faeries' monarch wouldn't take the effort to summon her just so Titania could personally kill her.
More World Tree Guardians lined the walls, and assembled at Titania's sides was what Louise gathered to be the various Faerie Lords. Four seats to each side of the Fairy Queen, six of the eight filled already. Lady Sasaki took one of the remaining seats, although Lady Morgiana preferred to stand off of one side of Louise even as Lord Kirito took the other side, her spear held loosely in one hand. One of the seats was occupied by a ghostly image of a blue-haired faerie.
Once Louise reached a dozen mails away from the Fairy Queen, a new image soundlessly coalesced into place to one side of the room on a tangent with Titania's seats; Princess Henrietta and Cardinal Mazarin appeared, seated in what looked like one of the Academy's meeting rooms minus the walls. Accompanying them was two hooded mages that Louise hadn't met before, and the last of the Faerie Lords sat close to them with his Medallion flaring brightly.
"This is…" Henrietta said, wide-eyed.
"Merely a projection of an image from the World Tree, allowing us to communicate with you visibly and vice versa without delay, Princess," Titania said, her voice cold. "Considering the importance of the situation, I feel an expenditure of energy on this scale to set this meeting up was necessary. What has occurred deserves an explanation directly from your lips, does it not?"
Henrietta nodded tightly, even as she glanced worriedly at Louise. The pink-haired girl herself felt a stab of fear and shame, that all she seemed to do was bring trouble for the Princess. Even the thankfulness that Henrietta was worried about her, and relief that the Princess was alright, didn't alleviate Louise's negative feelings.
"So?" Titania prompted, seeing no explanation was forthcoming. "What does Tristain have to say on this matter?"
"… We apologize profusely, Your Majesty," Cardinal Mazarin inclined his head politely, his words calm. "For whatever my word is worth. Nobody expected the Binding to have such far-reaching consequences."
"In retrospect, it was foolish of us all to not have seen something like this coming," Titania said flatly. "The summoning spell affected all of Alfheim to begin with – and now we have confirmation that is was indeed the summoning spell and not something else – there was no reason to believe it would not affect things on that scale once the Binding was attempted. It was naïve for me to believe my actions alone in the World Tree would be enough to account for all possibilities, a mistake that I do not plan to make again-"
The Fairy Queen paused, her eyes narrowing. Louise felt another stab of fear as Titania looked toward her again, and then relief as her gaze went past her towards the entrance.
-][-
Titania knew who was approaching – she had been slightly concerned when Yui was making her way down the World Tree, but she had more important things to address at that moment. As the other AI approached the doors to their meeting however, Titania decided to ask her directly.
[Why are you here, Yui?] Titania's asked, the communication process at the speed of thought.
[I asked mama- Mother to accompany me here, not the other way around,] Yui replied at the same speed. [I want to help, and distance matters in how I use my powers.]
[This goes against everything we have agreed on,] Titania's mental voice took on a hard edge. [Your role does not involve being on the stage, not at this point; it defeats the purpose of making you my back-up.]
[The Binding's effects earlier affected every Player in Alfheim, and somehow including yourself correct?] Yui replied. [For everyone else, it was because of their connection to the System, through the Respawn mechanism. However, I was unaffected by that intrusion.]
Titania's face remained impassive, as it wasn't possible for her automaton body to become even more statuesque. Yui continued:
[The intrusion didn't reach me, because I did not originate from this System even though I can access it. Thus, if something unexpected happened to everyone again… I want to be present so I can shut it down.]
[That does not mean you need to show your face,] Titania said, displeased. [You could prepare countermeasures from the other side of the door, and act accordingly. If you was not noticed by the Binding, you should take advantage of that blind-spot and keep out of Tristainians' notice.]
[A visual confirmation may be necessary, if the interferences can blind System-based clairvoyance,] Yui argued. [And I'm not risking permanent damage to anyone if I can help it.]
Titania inwardly sighed. [Of course you would think that,] the AI said exasperatedly. [We obviously have very different risk analysis processes within us, despite both being derived from Cardinal. Am I to take it without direct effort on my part to stop you, you will interfere?]
[Yes,] Yui responded. [I exercise my authority as your designated counterpart to be present for this meeting. As for the issue of being a back-up: disregarding their inability to affect me, I'll use the same argument the Faction Leaders have raised at the Treaty. The Tristainians at the Treaty discussions have inferred that Alfheim can affect their territory across vast distances, that they cannot escape from us given your action repairing Gattan; similarly, Louise Valliere have demonstrated she could affect the entirety of Alfheim, so wherever I am would not matter.]
Titania paused for a fraction of a second, which by the AIs' sensing of time passage might as well be a long minute of silence.
[Very well,] Titania reticently replied. [Enter if you wish. I acknowledge your right to be present.].
-][-
The large doors opened, and footsteps was heard as Henrietta saw another faerie approached them.
The new arrival wore armour similar to Lord Kirito's, albeit red trim on white instead of silver on black. Her hair was aqua-blue, not unlike one of the Faerie Lords. Most eye-catchingly, the woman's features was uncannily similar to that of Titania's, slightly younger-looking and different mainly in colour. Henrietta would not be surprised if someone had told her that woman was the Fairy Queen's sister, or even daughter with who knew how faeries age and chose to appear.
"Asuna," Titania said neutrally. "… Allowing yourself to come here defeats the entire purpose of your role. You should have known the dangers of being present. I did not give you that armour so you can enable something like this."
"Yui told me that you have made this argument to her already," Asuna replied with a restrained voice, glancing slightly at the tiny winged girl on her shoulder. "Yes, I know you think this is a bad idea. But I'd rather trust Yui's judgment on this than yours."
The Tristain's Princess saw the two members of fae royalty – for it was highly unlikely that the newcomer would not be given her familial resemblance to the Fairy Queen – stare each other down. Lord Kirito winced as he took in the situation, and the screen of foreign text that appeared in front of him which he quickly dispersed did not seem to help.
"Can we please save this discussion for later?" Kirito implored. "We have others present and waiting already. Titania, you already said you'd allow this, so…"
Titania removed her attention from them and towards Louise and her father, even as Asuna moved next to Kirito.
"Back to the matter at hand, then," Titania said, her tone devoid of previous tinges. "Tell me, Louise Valliere, did you know this would happen at the Binding, before or during the planning?"
"N-no, Your Majesty," Louise said nervously. "Upon the Gods and Founder's names, I solemnly swear I had no idea this was possible, at any time."
Titania's face remained impassive. "And you, Princess Henrietta?"
"Likewise," Henrietta said soberly. "I also had no idea. Additionally, I would also like to apologize-"
"Save the empty words," Titania replied, her face impassive. "Apologies does not resolve anything. Let us get this out of the way: none of you present expected the Binding to have this result?"
Duke Valliere and Cardinal Mazarin shook their head emphatically, as did the girls.
Titania scrutinized the Tristainians, before saying: "Anything you would like to add, everyone?"
"Rather than 'did you know'…" Lord Mortimer spoke up coolly, his face enigmatic as usual. "How about 'did you suspect'? Was this a long shot on Tristain's part, hoping to subjugate us?"
"No!" Duke Valliere said vehemently. "Lord Mortimer, if it was planned by those other than who proposed this, then I might agree with you. As it was I do not think Old Osmond, the Princess, or even Cardinal Mazarin considered this outcome. Too much was at stake to hope for miracles."
"That's ironic, considering we were all hoping for a miracle where we could settle everything without going to war," the obscenely bejewelled Lord snorted, to other Lords' consternation. "What? I'm only joking, it's not like I think His Grace is lying. Unless they really are lying bastards?"
"My social heuristics does not suggest so. Yui?" Titania asked the tiny girl.
"Same here," Yui concurred with the Fairy Queen.
"Well there you go," Lord Rufus shrugged. "Then again… I doubt the Tristainians would lose much sleep if we did end up being bound and shackled to their whims. Tell me, Louise Valliere, would you feel any regret at all if you did end up Binding Alfheim to you accidently? Sixty thousand lives and more, subject to your control… Did you want to bind Alfheim, even if you considered that to be an impossible task? I remember being briefed about something in the local magic tomes, about emotions and willpower affecting the spells…"
"That's irrelevant, Rufus," the Salamander Lord scolded his Leprechaun counterpart. "Stop trying to pick fights with them. This bears to be repeated, for the sake of our guests: we all knew from the start there could be no real partnership between us and Tristain, issues like their hatred for elves was too deep-seated to be solved in mere weeks. Even if we hoped otherwise, it was a long shot to begin with; really, I'm surprised we got this far in the Treaty without things blowing up in our face politically already."
Lady Sakuya turned her face away – even if the more even-tempered Leader wished to object, the circumstances didn't support her views.
"You make it sound like you don't have a bone to pick with them, Mortimer," the Lady of the Undines pointed out. "I'm surprised; after everything that happened I'd have thought you'd finally go on a warpath."
"I'll admit, I do find that particular path tempting," Mortimer acknowledged, his tone unchanged. "Even so, I'd advise holding off on retribution for now."
"Oh? Why?" Rufus frowned.
"All of us are free to act," Mortimer inclined his head. "We are elected to look out for the interests of our own Factions. I can't, and certainly am not going to stop the rest of you from doing something, although…"
"And here it is," Rufus snorted. "Knew you'd pull something out despite your rhetoric. Never believed for a second you'd let this pass."
"No, I am still not going to do anything," Mortimer smiled thinly. "Though do recall I never said anything about how Tristain should get off scot free. If nothing else, I believe Titania already has something in mind."
The red-clad Lord glanced toward the World Tree's Spirit. "Isn't that right? You wouldn't have called for this meeting without having already made a decision. And whatever you have planned, I am sure it would be more effective than what the players can bring to bear. I am willing to forego personal satisfaction of retribution if it means getting the job done."
"That is correct," Titania replied neutrally. "I admit, I am surprised at your reaction – the same to most of the rest of you. Normally most of you are not as eager to see things my way."
"Louise Valliere's actions have used up a lot of goodwill, at least on my part," Mortimer replied, and Louise wilted at those words. "And I can always send troops out later if you don't go far enough."
"Fat chance of that," Rufus smirked grimly. "Titania doesn't kid around when she gets serious. I think I might not do anything after all, it'd be like setting a dog on fire after you've beaten it up."
"If it is vengeance you want, then sadly you will not get it from me," Titania said flatly, much to Henrietta's relief. "The goal here is to prevent a repeat of what happened today, without removing the possibility of returning the players home. Thus, the best solution is to give Louise Valliere a familiar, and lock away the possibility for her to cause a disruption like this again."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lady Alicia asked. "The last time you tried this, well…"
The Cait Sith Leader shrugged. "Look where we are at now."
"Rather than the 'best' solution, it would be more accurate to say this is the only solution that doesn't involve removing Louise Valliere permanently," Titania explained. "Through the attempted Binding earlier I now have a detailed insight to how the Familiar Summoning and Binding Rituals worked – more than all of the combined knowledge we have obtained from Tristain put together. If it was known what price we had to pay when we attempted the Binding earlier, I would not have allowed the attempt. Nonetheless, the price had been paid, and I intend to use the obtained knowledge fully. It would be a wasted effort otherwise.
"As it is right now, due to the nature of the Transition there is the equivalent of errors in the coding of the summoning spell. Those errors was what allowed the exploit of encompassing all of Alfheim instead of settling on a single target. The new familiar would have a patch within it, and it will prevent errors of such from this point forward. Otherwise if we leave Louise Valliere alone, all she had to do is to kiss anything of Alfheim origin – from faeries to even the stones paving a City – and we could suffer this setback once more."
Titania paused, her attention on Louise – as if daring the pink-haired girl to try and drop to the floor and kiss it, if she would risk yet another assault on them all. Louise flinched, in no small part due to the Fairy Queen's wings pulsing visibly once with energy, radiating Titania's hostile intent.
"For reasons I will not go into now, Louise Valliere's familiar requires it to be a capable fighter, more-so than other mages' familiars," Titania said coolly. "Taking into account all of the traits that are required from the Binding, I have the perfect match created for her."
With a flash of light, a black dragon the size of a carriage appeared in mid-air between the gathered people and the large doors. Flapping its wings several time, the dragon landed and began to morph into another form. It adopted a humanoid form, although its face and hands kept its draconic features. Red silted eyes observed everything, and armour appeared over its body. Its armour was an inverse to that of Asuna's – white trim on red metal plates. It carried a tower shield, embossed with a crimson cross, and a sword hilt was visible over the top of the shield.
"Isn't that…?" Asuna frowned.
"A construct, a golem shaped with magic instead of the earth, in the form of a contender for the strongest swordsmanship skill, correct," Titania confirmed. "In light of protection being paramount, the <<Holy Sword>> fits better in this case than a copy of your <<Two Swords Style>>, Kirito."
"So, it's not Heathcliff?" Kirito asked. A moment later the dragon's face changed, black scaly skin overwritten with white human tones. In its place was a man with grey hair, aged perhaps twenty-five if his brass-coloured eyes didn't make him seem older.
"It's 'Heathcliff' insofar as it's the character you met back in Aincrad," Titania noted. "Though not the same guiding intelligence as the person you encountered. Having that same skin used with this construct seemed… appropriate. Especially in light of how conceptual the similarities between the familiar and mage has to be."
"What, that he – or Louise Valliere – would become a leader who is both incredibly strong and will manipulate everyone?" Kirito said cynically. "I can accept the skills being reused, but going this far… people are going to be less happy about today, if that's possible."
"I seem to be missing something," Duke Valliere indicated. "Is there something we should know about this 'Heathcliff'?"
"Your Highness; I have told you something about the 'Aincrad Campaign' before, right?" Kirito asked. Henrietta nodded. "Long story short, Heathcliff was the Guild Leader of the strongest force in that campaign when it ended – and also the disguise the mastermind of it all, Kayaba Akihiko, was using, treating the entire conflict as a game for his own purposes. Heathcliff – or Kayaba – was the hero selected to lead the survivors up to the final battle of the campaign, before revealing himself as the true enemy we have to defeat and break our morale."
Kirito looked at the designated familiar warily. "Kayaba is infamous, even if his… persona, is not as much. By taking Heathcliff as the perfect match as a familiar, you might as well shout out to Alfheim and the rest of the world that by association Tristain can't be trusted, ever. Unless that was the point, Titania?"
"In part," Titania admitted. "It goes deeper than that. However, you missed the more important similarity between Heathcliff and Louise Valliere:
"That a person's ability alone does not make the Villain. Louise Valliere might be the cause of all our problems, but it was because of her magic, and not because of her will. Heathcliff and the Holy Sword are the same – merely the tool of an entity that used it as the face of things, but by themselves they are no more evil than anything else. That, above all, is the key between them. The fact that Heathcliff can single-handedly slaughter Tristain in its entirety while simultaneously protect Louise Valliere is of secondary concern."
At that, Henrietta also looked warily at Heathcliff. His sharp, scholarly features was calm, and he ignored all the words the others said about him. Henrietta had thought Titania had created a Rhyme Dragon for Louise, but it was obvious things was more complicated than that.
"… I still don't like it," Kirito admitted, exchanging a look with Asuna. "There has to be someone else that would be a better fit? A Quest Boss or something? Or at least use a different character but keep the skills, using Heathcliff is just begging for trouble."
Instead of replying, Titania glanced at the Faerie Lords. Several of them had misgivings, and in one of those rare occasions even both Lady Sakuya and Lord Mortimer seemed to agree on the unworkability of the arrangement.
"I would be lying if I say I do not have other, simpler, options planned just in case," Titania finally said. "However, I am not convinced our dislike for this outcome would make other choices any more likely to succeed. Of all the options, Heathcliff has the most in common with Louise Valliere and thus the best choice. I do not think changing him out would make the Binding hold."
"Is there really no other way?" Henrietta asked. On a personal level, the Princess didn't wish for her childhood friend to be saddled with what was effectively a cursed weapon. On a larger, political level taking Heathcliff, as Lord Kirito said, would spell an end to Alfheim ever trusting them, even if the Fairy Queen seemed impartial to either way.
"No," Titania answered. "Not when the current view seems to be reluctant disinterest in Heathcliff from all present, rather than outright hatred. Half-baked convictions is not enough to change anything. The fact that this Heathcliff is not Kayaba only reinforces this – he is not the one you should hate, and you all recognizes that fact."
-][-
Kirito's thoughts churned as he took in Titania's reasoning. So, there were criterions that selects the familiar. Commonalities between the two were a large part of that, and Kirito couldn't really change that – Louise Valliere wasn't going to have a major personality shift conveniently within a few hours. That leaves…
"Your Majesty," Cardinal Mazarin said politely. "If I may… you have stated this 'Heathcliff' can protect the youngest Valliere, but may we please see a demonstration? It will be easier to accept the arrangement if it is proven Louise Valliere will be safe."
"A reasonable request," Titania allowed. "Kirito," the Fairy Queen ordered. "Defeat Heathcliff. If you can do so completely, I am willing to swap out this construct with another."
Kirito raised an eyebrow. Titania was just going to discard using Heathcliff so easily, after all she said? Something felt off to him.
The Black Swordsman gave Heathcliff an once-over. The posture was different, while ready it didn't have that same confidence Kayaba had. Nonetheless, Kirito have a bad feeling about it all.
"I'm guessing his stats are buffed compared to back in Aincrad?" Kirito asked. "Among other things like that dragon transformation?"
"Correct," Titania replied. "As only a mortal swordsman from Aincrad, no matter how powerful, cannot meaningfully change anything when magic is heavily involved. A few thematic appropriate additions have been added to the Holy Sword skill set, such as the ability <<Cover>>: as long as Heathcliff remains active, all damage that would harm Louise Valliere are transferred to him. And as a construct, pain and damage are no more debilitating to him as it might be to a mountain. Regardless, he should be slightly easier to kill than a normal Jotunn."
"Well, that's reassuring," Rufus grunted. "Give the backstabber enough power to match entire raid teams. He'll probably clear out a Capital or two before we can finally kill him, if this 'Heathcliff' goes rogue."
"Heathcliff is physically unable to go against Louise Valliere's wishes," Titania stated. "The mind that controls it is only slightly smarter than one of the World Tree Guardians. In short, Heathcliff cannot go rogue, not unless Louise Valliere commands it to."
"Then that's not really Heathcliff anymore, is it?" Asuna asked with a frown. "Heathcliff was the Commander of the Knights of Blood back in Aincrad; you didn't get to be Guild Leader without some smarts. Even if he delegated most of the day-to-day work to his subordinates, much of the long-term planning was done by him."
Asuna exchanged a look with Kirito. "How much of that was Kayaba himself showing through, and how much of that was acting in-character… we don't know, but removing the confidence, the intelligence, from the character would very much make him not Heathcliff anymore."
"These edits are deliberate," Titania said neutrally. "To make him a better fit for Louise Valliere."
"… How so?" Duke Valliere asked doubtfully.
"'The Familiar reflects the Mage'," Titania recited. "I do not see confidence in Louise Valliere. Similarly, I do not see abnormal intelligence or the ability to lead from the girl brought before me. A tool for the ones in power she is now, and so the familiar I created for her should be. Headstrong and powerful, able to take anything that is thrown at them and keep going… that is who Louise Valliere is, so a juggernaut like Heathcliff fits her best."
"I agree with this analysis," Mortimer said quietly. "I've met Duchess Valliere, and I have to say 'like mother, like daughter'. Barring the timidity, Louise Valliere is the splitting image of the Duchess; that whatever she had caused, she does not feel she was in the wrong. But that, if nothing else, is what makes me anxious about the choice of the familiar."
Kirito winced as he saw the pink-haired girl withdrew into herself more, trembling at Mortimer's words. While he didn't care for the one responsible for the Transition, watching a little girl pushed to the verge of breaking down made him feel like a utter heel.
"Even so, that is not Heathcliff as Kirito and Asuna knew him," Pieter spoke up. "Give him a different face, a different name then – it doesn't change much right? We have the Holy Sword skill on the familiar – shouldn't that be enough?"
"A distorted connection to the persona is better than none at all," Titania replied. "Even as weak as this is. Hence why I require Heathcliff to be defeated before I make any changes. Strength is not a main factor, but it could be levered to tip the balance enough to favour a different option.
"So, Kirito, if you wish strongly enough to change my decision, then let your skills back up your doubts."
"Do you expect me to be able to solo a Jotunn?" Kirito said, feeling eyes from everyone in the room upon him. "I don't have anything that can kill one – been there, tried that. Even if he isn't Kayaba, who I technically lost twice to, I just don't have the raw power to do so."
"To first blood, then," Titania said without hesitation. "One clean hit. Truly damaging him will not be required to show the necessity to change. And if you do need to be dispatched to eliminate this construct, I will prepare the tools that allow you to damage him – but that would require on you being able to hit him first."
To Kirito, that seemed a lot more reasonable, although still fairly difficult. Still, it wasn't any more stacked against him than other things he had to do by that point.
"Alright," the Black Swordsman nodded. "I'll do it."
"Be careful, Kirito-kun," Asuna warned him quietly, with a slight undertone of worry, before stepping back to one wall. From one corner of his eyes Kirito saw Duke Valliere doing the same, herding his daughter back with him. The hologram of Princess Henrietta was adjusted as well, so they could get a better view of things – though the sudden movement disorientated them for a bit.
After a short pause as Kirito and Heathcliff evaluated each other, the duel began.
Kirito dashed at Heathcliff, swords raised and an incantation on his lips. In response Heathcliff charged as well, meeting Kirito's attacks with his shield before stabbing his sword at Kirito at a far faster speed than what Kirito remembered him to be capable of. Kirito dodged, before Heathcliff drew his arm back and stabbed once more. The Black Swordsman's coat was nicked, leaving a tiny scratch upon the leather – not enough to count as a loss.
Kirito's incantation finished after that exchange, and as the glyphs around him faded several shadow spikes formed around Heathcliff, homing in towards him from multiple directions. It took barely a fraction of a second for Heathcliff to spin around and sever all of the attacks, holding him shorter than what Kirito had hoped it would be; but it delayed Heathcliff long enough for Kirito to get far enough for what he planned next:
"Gravitas!"
The glyphs on Kirito's <<Runebound>> Armour glowed, and a wide column of gravity slammed down at Heathcliff. The floor cracked in a web-like pattern, before crushing the hole into dust, but Heathcliff had lunged out of the AoE attack swiftly and went around the attack to come at Kirito.
Heathcliff's face transformed back to his draconic features, opening his maw, and a dark stream of fire burst out towards Kirito. The Black Swordsman leapt to the side, starting another incantation, and quickly launching throwing spikes into the dragon's eyes – but they did even less damage than Heathcliff did to his coat earlier. The two of them closed in and struck at each other with a flurry of attacks, Kirito attempting to flank his opponent and move out of the line of fire but only barely succeeding. Heathcliff was stronger, faster than him, and in terms of melee skill alone Kirito couldn't get an advantage. The construct was not Kayaba, being unable to predict Kirito's every move, but he executed the Holy Sword attacks flawlessly. More than once Kirito had to move because Heathcliff's shield nearly took his head off, in addition to have to dodge the fiery breaths.
An empowered shield bash drove Kirito back, his crossed swords preventing the blow from pulverizing his torso. Even as Kirito's wings flared and aiding his retreat, Heathcliff rushed straight in, his sword glowing brightly.
Sword Skills? Kirito had the time to think, before his arm broke under the force of the blow, sparks ran up his chestplate and a gash opened up diagonally across his head.
Kirito's vision was claimed by dark flames soon afterwards.
-][-
"Kirito-kun!" Asuna exclaimed, as her partner was reduced to a Remain Light. Seconds later Kirito reformed into his normal form, breathing heavily and his headband flashing once, indicating the spell cooldown. Asuna was never gladder that their headband had a <<Auto-Revive>> spell inscribed, in addition to its passive harmful <<Status>> immunity.
"It is decided, then," Titania said in a concluding tone. "We keep Heathcliff as the familiar. Are there any further objections?"
Kirito shook his head as he made his way back to Asuna. "I've got nothing. Sorry, Asuna."
"Don't worry about it, Kirito," Asuna assured him.
"I have no objections," Mortimer said stoically. "At least, none that I think are worthwhile, without any alternatives to be offered on my part."
"We don't have the same knowledge and understanding you have, Titania, to be able to make an informed argument," Sakuya said wearily. "If we do, then maybe we can come up with something. But I believe I'll be overruled by a majority if I request to delay this judgment."
"If it is any consolation," Titania said tonelessly. "If this decision comes back to haunt us, I will take full responsibility. I will relinquish my administration powers in atonement."
Mutters of surprise filled the room – mostly from the Tristain contingent present.
-][-
To say Henrietta was surprised was an understatement. Monarchs just didn't forfeit power like that, let alone someone that held as much as Titania.
"… That's not gonna help if when it does backfire on us, it screws us all over right then and there," Rufus grumbled. "Without giving us a chance to fix it. Can't we just throw Louise Valliere into the deepest pit Tristain has while we sort this out? At least a week of confinement is fair, after what she did. Anyone has the idea what number of deaths was caused directly by this? From Mob clearing teams, especially in Jotunheim?"
"And you believe Tristain would just consent to that, Rufus?" Mortimer asked with one eyebrow raised. "I will be very surprised if Louise Valliere wasn't spirited away somehow, now that they know she's potentially a weapon to be used against us. No, I don't trust any solution that doesn't solve this now."
"I'm leaning towards Mortimer's side on this," Pieter spoke up. "Either way we risk the wellbeing of all of Alfheim on this decision. I'd trust Titania more in keeping us safe, compared to Tristain."
"I concur," Sasaki said quietly. Simon nodded weakly as well.
"Adding my vote makes five," Atlanta raised her hand. "What about the rest of you?"
Morgiana shrugged. "Not like we got anywhere to keep her safe from every possibility while we sort this out. Yeah, I'm with Titania on this."
"Given the circumstances, I'm forced to agree ending things now is the best choice," Alicia Rue nodded grimly. "Though I wish we did have a way to postpone this, let us think on this a bit more."
"… I agree with Alicia," Sakuya said sourly. "There really isn't a choice. However, I request a full debriefing on this after we're done here."
"Request granted," Titania acquiesced. "We'll begin immediately after Tristain withdraw from this meeting. Is there anything you would like to add, Princess Henrietta?"
"… Is this the entirety of the actions Alfheim- no, Yggdrasil will take on this matter?" Henrietta asked. "Complete the Binding, without other matters like compensation involved?"
"Would it change anything if I asked for more?" Titania asked plainly. "There is nothing Tristain can offer me that will make me forgive this assault – barring the resolution of this entire incident and have the faeries returned to their world nigh immediately. Needless to say, that is something beyond all our powers to achieve at this moment.
"Nevertheless, if you require something that would ease your conscience – settle the Treaty with the Faction Leaders in the near future, heavily slanted towards their favour, so we may be done with this issue. I understand from the documents that there are still several issues to be discussed; you may wish to follow these suggestions to speed things up."
A translucent screen appeared in front of Henrietta, a list of issues headings. Imitating the other Faerie Lords who also began to peruse the list that appeared before them, Henrietta tapped on a heading with one finger and watch several points expanded below. Many of those was a comparison between what Tristain and Alfheim was arguing for, and Titania's offered changes.
Tristain's share of the minerals reduced from 15% to 10%, Henrietta thought as she read. Increase in the area of self-governing territories. Handing over all live specimens of the 'Mobs' for the Cait Sith breeding programs…
The list went on. Many of them pushing a fine line between what Tristain was willing to give up, but none of them outright untenable.
"I will give a reply to the Faerie Lords at our next meeting," Henrietta said politely, glancing at Lord Pieter. "Please give me some time to consider this. Although I believe most of the changes here are acceptable."
"Very well," Titania replied. Without any visible gestures from her, a scroll of parchment flashed into existence in front of the Puca Lord. Wordlessly, Pieter handed the scroll to Cardinal Mazarin for the old clergyman to inspect the list.
"Louise Valliere," the Fairy Queen spoke. "Bind your familiar. Let us be done with this."
Hesitantly, Louise approached Heathcliff, who morphed into his large dragon form. His head towered over Louise's tiny frame, brass-coloured eyes enigmatic. Silently, Heathcliff extended one forearm, with each finger upon it double the size of Louise's own limb. She kissed the offered limb, and green runes flared upon the back of the hand without further issue.
"What happens now, Your Majesty?" Duke Valliere inquired.
"Hopefully then Louise Valliere's magic would stabilize, and we can start experimenting with her magic to look for a way to return home," Titania explained. "Heathcliff's presence prevents future attacks via the Summoning Ritual medium, and should allow safe experimentation. If Heathcliff is somehow erased, or his bond broken, Louise Valliere is to return to the World Tree immediately and re-forge the connection. If she is not on her way back within an hour, I will take it as meaning certain parties either removed Heathcliff to weaponize Louise Valliere against Alfheim, or is endangering our best chances to find a solution to the Transition. Regardless of which, swift and overwhelming action will need to be taken – so keep an eye on your daughter and know where she is at all times, for everyone's sake."
After that, the Fairy Queen rose one hand and gestured. Henrietta blinked as the illusions showing her Titania and her court vanished, and a large portal opening up to replace the view.
"You are excused," Titania said finally. "Pieter, return here so we can start the debriefing. I would like to finish up things today so the Treaty discussions may resume tomorrow. Duke Valliere, you and your daughter may return to the Academy using the portal if you wish. I believe you all have many things to talk about as well."
Heathcliff's bulk shifted once more, still a dragon albeit one only the size of a large cat. He turned and moved towards the portal, calmly waiting for Louise and her father to follow. Lord Pieter made his farewells, and returned through the portal, then the Vallieres took their turn subsequently.
The portal snapped shut afterwards.
-][-
"You all have questions," Titania began, as soon as the chairs was rearranged into a circle and all members seated. "And they will be answered. Although some of them will not be by me."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rufus frowned. In response a ghostly image formed, standing to the side and behind Titania. White shirt with a necktie under a lab coat, the man looked exactly as Kirito remembered him to be the last time they met.
"It means the bulk of the questions will probably fall under my purview," Kayaba Akihiko said. "Hello again, Kirito-kun."
===
During beta-ing it was pointed out Louise was too passive. I can only say at the start of ZnT this was in-character for her, and this will change the next time she shows up or around then. As for too much talking in the story, that will end soon as well. The climax of the Treaty Arc is coming up soon, and talking will become a rare commodity for a bit then.
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lifelink
Highschool Mew
- Location
- The Velvet Room
Was this supposed to be unexpected?
Chapter 34
It's been a year since I last updated, but here's the next chapter ^.^; I have the next two chapters written, and considered posting them as well because the Treaty arc will finally be over after so much words. But then I thought about maybe it's better to post them one at a time for comments/edits and for people not be overwhelmed - there's a total of close to 20k words with the three chapter combined. FFN version will be updated once the Treaty Arc chapters have all been posted and edited.
As usual for this fic, thanks to @Fictiondevourer for beta-ing. On a side note, even I as the author had to go reread a few chapters to remind myself what happened before this chapter, so you all might want to do so before reading these next few chapters.
===
Chapter 34
-][-
Jessica went from table to table to help, even though she didn't have to come out of the kitchen. The business in the Charming Fairy Inn lately hadn't been booming, to put it mildly – what was once thought to be a benign myth had that particular depiction of the name shattered. It had been the better part of a month since the Faeries of Alfheim had descended upon Tristain, and the most common image associated with them for the commoners was not the secluded kind women that helped out lost travellers in the woods. It was instead the Faeries' warbands and patrols, their warriors' beautiful features often set in grim expressions, and their frighteningly powerful magicks. All kinds of talks have passed by in the Inn, and nearly none of them painted the faeries in a good light.
Keyword being 'nearly'. There was still a few occasional comments that lacked the bite.
"-and when he sang, that swarm of giant hornets literally fell out of the sky!" One of the Army mages stationed near Tristainia said exaggeratedly. "That was how bad his voice was-"
One of the Inn's girls, Natasha, stuck around to serve him and his friends. Jessica shook her head good-naturedly; that mage, John, had been a regular customer of theirs for years, and he was very much smitten with Natasha. The feeling was mutual, as far as she could tell, and neither Jessica nor her father was against it if one day Natasha was to leave them – many of their waitresses had been picked up by Scarron off the streets, down on their luck, and Natasha could do far worse than being with John. It wouldn't have been the first time one of the girls had found better prospects than the Inn, either.
"If you thought his voice was bad, wait until you hear him use his instrument," one of John's friends snickered. "It was so Gods-awful that everyone in the patrol hit the monsters that much harder, just so we'd all be done sooner and he'd finally shut up."
"I thought the 'Salamanders' was Fire magic users?" Jessica asked, slipping in to check on things. "Are some of them bards as well? That might explain why his voice was so bad, though."
"Nah, he's a mercenary working with the Salamanders," John explained. "Apparently the faeries have an entire race of Bards up north-west, and this guy was headhunted by General Eugene himself. I'll have him drop by if you want, he'd love it here."
Jessica raised an eyebrow. While she had heard it wasn't exactly forbidden for faeries to enter Tristain's cities, or vice versa, it was highly provocative to do so. For John to be willing to push the point…
"You think he's high enough on the chain to help?" Jessica murmured, not daring to hope.
"That tax collector bastard might have backing, but this guy's connected to the man that took down the Tempest herself," John replied, just as quietly. "General Eugene's the second most influential individual of the Salamanders, only behind their Faerie Lord – and Lord Mortimer is the General's brother. If things come down to it, I'm sure he can at least get you all out of here, the Church be damned. Targeting this place just because of the shop's stupid name…"
"Careful there John," one of his friends said warningly. "Keep it down, before you get yourself in trouble."
"Fuck that," John scowled, grabbing his glass of beer and guzzled mouthfuls down. "I'm not going to just sit by while the fatso takes my girl or the rest of this place. That bastard and the ones in cahoots with him sold out to the Romalians, and I'm sure Brimir will forgive us if we're screwing over those that uses his authority in vain. The faeries are less likely to screw us little people over compared to the higher nobles, and that's saying something about how bad they are."
"How did you meet him, anyway?" Natasha hastily said, much to Jessica's relief. Down that line of thought was only trouble, and even as embarrassed as Natasha was over John's open care for her at least she had enough wits to keep him distracted. "Or for that matter, get close to him?"
"Well, me and Saito-"
"Saito?" Jessica recalled that foreign-sounding name. "Isn't he that guy who you were caught with while ogling a Salamander Captain? He's a faerie?"
"Ah, well…" John said sheepishly, even as Natasha gave him an unflattering look. "In my defence, that Captain just shows why some women are described as 'hot'… Oi Ted, why did you tell them about that?!"
"I didn't need to, you had the burns to show for that!"
"For all they knew that was from one of the rabid dragons!"
Jessica giggled as she left that table, even as the mages tried to pass the buck around to avoid blame. Men. At least John had enough brains to follow the 'look, but not touch' rule. And if he thought 'Saito' was a good shot at getting things sorted out without harm coming to the girls, then things was finally looking up for them.
-][-
Lord Justice Richmond sat in his office, nursing a cup of wine. The finalized Treaty was to be signed in a week, and anyone worth anything on Tristain's political stage would be there. Tristain had bequeathed much toward Alfheim for one reason or another in the discussions; and if Richmond was like many of the others in on the conspiracy, they would be glad that Reconquista finally have just cause to invade Tristain.
However, perhaps unsurprisingly, Richmond was not like the others. One did not reach the near the pinnacle of all nobles in Tristain by being short-sighted. Uniting all of Halkeginia, and then onwards to a Crusade against the accursed elves that had taken the Holy Land… that sounded good on paper. But unlike that situation, where most of the bloodshed as droves died against the Firstborns would be elsewhere, an entrenched war against the Faeries would means much of the damage would be in Tristain. Where, needless to say, lies much of Richmond's interests and assets. What care did Richmond have if the soldiers wanted fame and fortune in the desert-dwellers' lands, where regardless of victory or defeat of the Crusade Richmond would keep his land and riches? That was not his concern, compared to events in Tristain – he was hardly going to volunteer himself up for the Crusade.
Should Reconquista attempt to land in Tristain to create a beachhead for their plans… things would undoubtedly go awry. Morale in the forces that really mattered against Alfheim in Tristain was low. The driving forces against the rush of monsters that accompanied the arrival of the faeries was the Army, and the private troops of various major noble families. Said families include the Vallieres and the Guldenhorfs – and in their partnership with the faeries' own patrols, they had first-hand experience as to what the faeries were capable of, being their foreign spells of frightening power and exotic effects. The majority of nobles would not support Reconquista, not when the script was no longer 'side with the obvious winner of the civil war against the barbaric Germanians', and instead looked to be a slaughter – even before the Fairy Queen deigned to field her personal military, or her Greater Spirits. Open warfare was no longer the way to go.
Alas, their partners over in Albion did not believe that line of thought, and held steadfast to their invasion plans. Then again, if they could believe their own demise so easily, then they would not have believed they could defeat the elves. Not when Halkeginia had over six thousand years' history proving otherwise. Additionally, if they did not challenge an organized group of Firstborns closer to home, it would make a mockery of their goal to chase the elves out of the Holy Land. Richmond frowned – for all the investment he had put in, it would not do for others to ruin it for him. He could only hope that Cromwell, or whoever was behind him, would see reason and follow another path.
Speaking of others, there was one in particular Richmond was careful of – Viscount Wardes. If he hadn't been given the information from one of Albion's trusted agents, he would not have believed someone so close to the Vallieres to be working for their cause. Or rather, Richmond still didn't believe it. More likely, the Vallieres' lapdog would forsake Reconquista and remain with his fiancée's family…
-][-
Captain Wardes of the Griffin Knights was called to meet with Princess Henrietta and Cardinal Mazarin, in a meeting room magically proofed against surveillance. There, he was told he was to be relieved of his responsibility in organizing the security for the treaty signing.
"… May I ask why, Your Highness?" Wardes said slowly. Apart from the three of them, the impromptu twin bodyguards for the Princess was also present, taking up position in corners of the room. The Duke and Duchess Valliere was seated off to the side, the latter had arrived a few days previous – all the important nobles of Tristain have begun to trickle in to the capital to witness the Treaty. There was more than enough Square-class mages in the room to handily subdue him, and the only reason why Wardes believed that was not the goal was because Princess Henrietta was also in the room. Tristain's Heir to the throne was too important to be allowed risking herself apprehending traitors.
"There is… another matter that you will be assigned to," Princess Henrietta said slowly, clearly nervous. "We would ask you to retrieve a certain letter, or, failing that, destroy it…"
Wardes stayed silent even as his liege explained the situation. What the Princess didn't say, the Viscount knew enough about young love to be able to guess. Surprisingly, to him at least given the Duchess' famed Rule of Steel upon nobilities' actions, she showed no signs of disapproval.
"Given my own past, it'd be hypocritical if I condemn Her Highness," Duchess Valliere said shortly – apparently Wardes didn't hide his surprise and curiosity well enough. "And that is all I will say on this matter."
"Very well," Wardes let the matter drop. The only one willing to raise the Duchess' ire was the Duke, and even then only sparingly. The Viscount was nowhere near that reckless. "May I inquire into who is taking my place for the security?"
"The Captain of the Manticore Knights," the Cardinal explained. "Were things different I would have requested Duchess Valliere to take your place, but alas, due to recent events…"
Duchess Valliere's lips thinned ever so slightly, hiding her grimace. Her assault upon the Salamanders' Capital, no matter how justified it was, earned the Fae's enmity. The only nobles in Tristain that approved of the Tempest's attack was those whose anger at their lands being taken, or those whose their religious zeal outweighed their self-preservation. There were still a fair number of those, but not a majority, and putting the legendary Karin of 'The Tempest' in a leadership role in spite of her acts put forward a bad message.
Although any political consequences of bringing such a powerful mage was negated by General Eugene's own presence, given his infamy within Tristain after his victory over the Duchess. That was one reason why Alfheim allowed Tristain free rein to field whatever they wished as security for the Treaty signing – to prevent panic Alfheim went for quality instead of quantity, choosing as few guards as possible, so as not to give the impression they were attending with an invasion force.
Another reason being an Honour Guard contingent of the World Tree Guardians, though they were said to be mostly of a ceremonial role, only numbering nine in total. Though these Guardians would only be waiting outside the hall as the event went on.
The last reason being that Lord Kirito would be in attendance with the Fairy Queen herself. The fact that Titania would be attending came as a shock to Tristain. When the peace Treaty had agreed upon a legal fiction that there would only be one Crown in Tristain's land, the most anyone had thought was it would be Lord Kirito standing in for the Fairy Queen once more. Titania by all accounts were reclusive and never left the World Tree. There would be some ceremony, some symbolism, where Titania relinquishes her crown of Fairy Queen and takes up the name of the 'Realm of Alfheim' – being the authority of the land and skies, not of the people. And fool be the one that would deny that the Greater Spirit's had the power, the ability, to reshape cities and their surroundings at her whim – never mind razing them to the ground. Tristain's royalty kept the name of the Crown and the right to rule in Tristain, even if they have no authority over those called the 'Denizens' of Alfheim. The Faerie Lords remain the ultimate authority of their own people, and should there be crimes conducted by faeries outside of their territories the Lords would be the ones to punish them, not Tristain.
With a Greater Spirit attending, there was little reason to doubt Alfheim was confident they would be safe. The faeries would be safe, even if Titania had to reduce Tristainia to slag to do so. Despite what Titania stated in the message she passed on via Lord Kirito, that Tristain's nobles would not accept the Treaty unless as the equivalent of Alfheim royalty was present, Wardes suspected she only wanted an excuse. So that when someone foolhardy enough to attack her the Greater Spirit could smite them personally, Gods and Founder knew there would be many among Tristain's nobles that would want to attack Alfheim if they felt they could get away with it.
Even when it was obvious that Faerie Lords could take care of themselves as a whole – one only had to look at when Undercurrent attacked, and a single Lord's impatience incapacitated all threats. Wardes did not witness Titania's wrath when Duke Valliee brought the Viscount's fiancée to the Fairy Queen's court, but from what his future father-in-law said the Fairy Queen held no goodwill towards Tristain. A position that Lords Mortimer and Rufus held, and sadly the rest of the Faerie Lords leaned towards after the botched Binding attempt.
"I understand the importance of this task, Your Highness," Wardes noted, shaking his head to remove his dour thoughts. "However, may I ask that is it wise for a Square class mage such as myself to be sent away at this crucial juncture? Of the mages that are publicly allowed on the stage, at least."
Even without being a confidant to the Vallieres, Wardes knew the hooded sisters that guarded Princess Heniretta was not mages that Tristain could openly rely on. Whether that was because of their family background or because of taboo research, not all mages worked overtly for their country. Guessing how much of a reserve of these mages each country had was a constant game being played out, especially during times of turmoil like with Albion's civil war. Being present at private discussions for the Treaty was one thing, but for a state ceremony would be too public for the likes of them.
"We need someone that has at least a certain level of fame outside Tristain, lest Prince Wales refuse to relinquish the letter because he does not believe my envoy for who he is," Princess Henrietta said patiently. "Furthermore, we need someone that has enough skill to be sent alone and not compromise the mission, and that someone being known to be loyal to Tristain. I believe there is no-one else that fits the criteria better than you, Captain Wardes."
"I… am flattered by your assessment, Your Highness, but I must question the necessity for this mission," Wardes responded, and from the corner of his eyes he could see the Cardinal agreed with his line of thought. "Surely Prince Wales would know to destroy the letter, if it is as important as you say? And forgive me of my hubris, but I do not feel it is wise to send one of Tristain's finest mages like myself away at such a crucial time. A state ceremony as large as this Treaty will have foreign observers, like the Germanian and Gallian Ambassadors, and my absence will be noticed. Never mind the reduction in the Guards' capability-"
"You do not have to fear on that account, Captain," the Princess replied. "Many other Square class mages from around the country will be transferred to the Capital for the duration of the Treaty. Duchess Valliere would also be acting in the capability of a mage-knight – whatever her actions have brought her, it would be reassuring to have such power on our side. If anyone wishes to inquire, your absence will be excused by stating you are working behind the scenes to prepare for assassins such as Undercurrent.
"On another note…" Princess Henrietta said, a trace of steel in her voice. "If you can convince Prince Wales to seek sanctuary elsewhere before the rebels overrun him, Captain, then please do so. It would be a blow to Halkeginia as a whole if the main Albionese royal line was to be severed. Tristain will welcome him with open arms, even if nowhere else will; and it is not like doing so would place Tristain in more danger of being invaded, given the Treaty."
The Viscount bit back his concerns – it would be insulting to think the Princess hadn't considered the consequences of her decision. Especially if Cardinal Mazarin was present while Princess Henrietta gave him the mission. Nevertheless…
"And this would not affect the arrangements with Germania, Your Highness?" Wardes asked.
"The marriage with their Emperor is called off," Henrietta said flatly. "While they undoubtedly wish to partake in the advantages Alfheim bring to Tristain… when faced with the possibility of the worst case scenario, standing with us alone against the rest of Halkeginia against charges of heresy, they are hesitant to completely throw their lot in with us. Given the circumstances, it is good that we have yet to formally announce the marriage to the public."
Wardes nodded. In a sense, that development was a relief – that even if he failed, the discovery of the letter would not deal horrific damage to Tristain's politics. It would still smear mud on Tristain for apparently dealing in bad faith for a marriage when their Princess had another partner arranged, but realistically Germania was too avaricious for the various goods entailed to give up on continued relations with Alfheim, and by extension Tristain. It would still be a headache to ensure the Faerie Lords would not turn against Tristain and ally themselves with Germania to Tristain's detriment, but thankfully that was only merely difficult and not impossible. Although exactly how difficult it was might have become harsher over the past week.
"By your leave then, Your Highness," Wardes bowed. "I'll need to prepare for travelling to Albion."
"Give Prince Wales my regards as well," Cardinal Mazarin added quietly as Wardes left the room.
-][-
After the Viscount left, soon another party entered the room.
"Louise-Francoise," Henrietta nodded to her childhood friend. "Have you reconsidered it?"
"I tried, Your Highness," Louise said respectfully, though her face was torn between humiliation and resentment towards her familiar. Looking down at the housecat-sized black dragon in her arms, Louise scowled. "He refuses, and I can't convince him otherwise."
The dragon looked up at Louise and blinked. Struggling a bit, the dragon squirmed out of Louise's hold and in a flash of light Heathcliff reappeared in human form. The mages in the room tensed, but thankfully Heathcliff only appeared in plain maroon clothes, not armoured and armed.
"My answer is the same as before," Heathcliff said in a monotonous voice. "I cannot <<Cover>> more than one person at a time. And there is no reason for me to not protect my partner at all times."
"Aren't familiars supposed to listen to the mage?" Louise glowered. "And the Princess is much more important than me!"
"Not for me," Heathcliff inclined his head slightly. "My duty is only to my mage, and to no one else. And I believe self-preservation is supposed to be a convincing argument – should you die, I die with you."
After Louise was released from the World Tree, Henrietta along with the Duke and Mazarin had grilled Heathcliff for everything he was capable of. Apart from being a swordsman without peer, and having alternatives if his enemies were outside of his sword's range, Heathcliff had several other abilities. The ability to shapeshift into a few forms between human and dragon, purely cosmetic for what would be the best way to fit in with expectations; It did not really matter if the armour was present or not for Heathcliff to be able to shrug off attacks.
Failing that Heathcliff could 'Astralize', become a unseen phantom to all except Louise – though that last option was more than to allow Louise to talk in company without having a visible threat to others. Heathcliff was a 'construct', what Titania called golems made of magic itself instead of earth or stone. In addition to what the familiar bond normally did, Heathcliff's bond with Louise required Louise to channel Willpower to fuel him. Like golems he required Willpower to function, and Astralizing allowed the Willpower cost to Louise to be minimized. If the flow stopped for an extended time, Heathcliff would crumble into the ether, not unlike earth golems into dust. That was one of many safeguards that ensured Heathcliff would not betray his mistress.
Louise tried to leverage her dominant position to have Heathcliff Cover Henrietta during the Treaty – he claimed that his defence was near-absolute, being able to prevent damage even on the level of The Tempest easily. After Heathcliff was bombarded with multiple Square mages' spells at once during testing and coming out unharmed, Henrietta was willing to believe that claim. Louise's reasoning was that with that level of protection for the Princess, even the faeries would not be able to harm her at the treaty, let alone assassins such as Undercurrent. However, Heathcliff was adamant in not protecting anyone other than Louise, stating with simple singlemindedness that others was not his problem.
"It is alright, Louise-Francoise," Henrietta tried to play peacemaker, seeing as Louise wanted to tear into her familiar. "I would expect the same response from you if you were asked to be loyal to royalty other than Tristain's own. Your familiar is forgiven for his position."
"At least allow him to throw himself in front you if there is danger," Louise pleaded. At Heathcliff's look towards her, Louise explained further: "He can Cover me from fifty Mails away, even if he's not in the same room as me. I can be elsewhere in the palace while he stand guard-"
"That might not be the best idea," Duke Valliere contemplated. "It's not that I doubt Heathcliff will follow your instructions to the letter on this. Or worry Heathcliff may attack Her Highness in a crucial moment, being a creation of Alfheim and effectively an unknown. I do not wish to have you in the same building as the Fairy Queen – we do not need to appear as if we are provoking Titania."
"In a way, I find it amusing that my own daughter is seen as a larger threat than even myself," Duchess Valliere said dryly. "Where I am allowed to walk up to the faeries fully armed for this Treaty, they would still place more attention upon you, Louise. You certainly have come far in such a short time."
Louise gaped, unsure how exactly to respond. Even Henrietta was unsure if that was a praise or not.
"I know you want to be of use to Her Highness, Louise," the Duchess said, trying – and failing – to put up a kind smile. "It was the same for myself and Queen Marianne many years ago. From what your father told me, Lord Mortimer has pegged you as my daughter by your actions; I would take that as a compliment, in spite how it was surely not meant that way. Even in spite of everything that has happened so far. As a parent there are few other ways to feel prouder of their child.
"I want you to avoid the same mistakes I made in my youth. I have said this to both Eleanor and Cattleya, and I will say this to you: Magic's sole use is not conflict, despite my own achievements. If you wish to help Her Highness and Tristain, then stay at the Academy and find a way to send the faeries back to where they came from. This is something only you can do for Tristain. Do you understand, daughter?"
Somewhat dazed at the Duchess' words, Louise nodded. "But…" Louise hesitated in speaking. "There's no point even if the faeries are sent away, if the Princess dies-"
"Let me phrase it differently, Miss Valliere," Cardinal Mazarin interrupted. "While your father is confident your familiar will listen to you, others will not be. Even among the mage-knights there are several who would prefer if your familiar is not within stabbing distance of the Princess, let alone within range of his fire. Trusting this 'Heathcliff' will take a long time, as with all other dealings with the Fae."
Louise winced; undoubtedly recalling what the Faerie Lords said about trust and herself.
"What the faeries said on this matter is irrelevant," Henrietta said firmly. "If I cannot trust the Vallieres, who have a long history of loyalty to the Crown, or my friend, then no noble of Tristain can be trusted. Louise-Francoise, you will be judged on what you do, not what you are. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Louise replied immediately, standing as tall as her small frame could be.
"Good," Henrietta nodded. "With that said, return to your research. However, keep in mind while due haste and success is something every side wants, a single mistake from here on could be the end of us all. I will be very disappointed in you, Louise-Francoise, if you made a mistake from not being rested enough to catch it."
Louise gave assurances that it would not happen, and quickly left.
-][-
With a casting of 'Ubiquitous Wind', Wardes sent a masked and cloaked double of himself away. Said double moved to a meeting with Reconquista spies, while his true self packed up his supplies at the Royal Guard headquarters. In the foolishness of his youth, Wardes took the first opportunity that came to him that appeared to have a good chance of reaching the Holy Lands, so he could unravel the mystery that drove his mother to madness.
His first choice was a mistake – ultimately, Cromwell was merely a puppet, and Reconquista was but a mad King's game Wardes saddled himself with, one destined for their failure. Romalia would rally the remainder of Halkeginia together and strangle Reconquista before they become a credible threat to their theocracy on the mainland, even if Gallia would not forsake them once King Joseph becomes bored of that game. After all, the so-called 'Incompetent King' was known for his whimsical nature.
As the copy of Wardes communicated with the spies, his real body plucked a quill, dipped it in an inkpot, and began to put to paper all he knew about Reconquista's operations within Tristain. One way or another, Wardes did not believe he would be able to return to Tristain once the mission was complete.
A disturbance in the air behind alerted him to an intruder, and Wardes spun around swiftly with his swordwand in hand.
"Peace, Viscount," a young man with mismatched eyes – what Halkeginians called 'moon eyes' – stepped through a portal which then shut behind him. "I'm not here to fight."
"… Julio," Wardes said slowly. On the other end, his copy bade the spies goodbye and exited – he needed his undivided attention for the conversation. "Why are you the one here? And that portal-"
"As a result of your fiancée's actions, His Holiness' magic improved," Julio said smoothly. "Sadly, the same could be said for Gallia's Void Mage as well. I'll brief you when we're en route to Albion."
"You're coming with me?" Wardes said with a raised eyebrow.
"Not all the way," Julio replied. "But I'll be acting in the capacity of an agent of the Pope, so I need someone to vouch for me so Prince Wales would be inclined to see me."
Wardes didn't bother to ask how they managed to find out about his mission – aside from whatever serving staff in the Academy they have bought as part of their intelligence network, Pope Vittorio had the spell to 'Scry' things far away in Halkeginia, which the Pope had since back when he first met Romalia's ruler. They would have kept an eye on their 'investment', so to speak, ever since they recruited him – Square Mages were a valuable resource, after all.
"Also, I'll be along to make sure your exit from the stage is believable," Julio continued. "Faking your death may not be so easy if the Myoznitnirn herself decided to investigate."
"No avoiding it, then?" Wardes sighed. A pity, but he had consigned himself to pay for his mistake in contacting Reconquista long ago. Stepping a fine line to play both sides, a Reconquista spy for Albion and a reverse one for Tristain as he handed pieces of information back to Duke Valliere, not that the Duke knew the circumstances; Wardes passed it off as spies captured in the line of duty as Knight-Captain. If Romalia – specifically Pope Vittorio – hadn't stepped in, provided their knowledge and espionage training, he would have had to harm Tristain more in pursuit of his goals.
"Very well, but my conditions from the beginning still stand," Wardes told Julio. "Don't expect me to turn against Tristain's royal family. As foolish as this is, I will not betray my liege even if I turn my back on my country."
"I'm more surprised that you're not asking for us to aid your fiancée, really," Julio frowned. "You know His Holiness can accomplish that much."
"I'm sure little Louise is a good girl, but I've seen her only rarely over the last ten years," Wardes replied nonchalantly. "Regardless of that, our marriage is an arranged one, forged by our respective fathers – I have no real attachment to her. I wish her the best of luck, but that is the extent of my love for her."
"A shame," Julio sighed theatrically. "We considered using you to leverage her, if necessary."
"I will be 'dead' soon enough," Wardes said sardonically. "She will never see me again. I find it hard to envision how I can still be leveraged against Louise once that happens."
"The Gods and Brimir works in mysterious ways," Julio smiled cryptically, and a portal opened up once more. "But enough of that; I will meet you at the port in La Rochelle. There will be suspicions if nobody in our line of work see you leave Tristain, and His Holiness does not wish for this advantage of his to be revealed just yet."
Wardes grunted a response, and Julio left the same way he entered.
-][-
After various complications while negotiating with the Treaty, Tristain's palace had its security upped. Mage-knights travelled in pairs in their patrols, and barracks were guarded so no-one that knew about the security would be caught alone and hit by mind-control magic.
Despite all such precautions however, Undercurrent still snuck her way into Tristain's palace. The new measures didn't go as far as carrying out regular strip-searches looking for the dagger, and Halkeginian mages normally did not look for items that possessed the wielder. Undercurrent didn't leave those that knew about her true form alive to pass on her weakness. Going from one hand to the next, Undercurrent travelled through the various serving staff of the palace to get a picture of the measures taken for the treaty.
Not that Undercurrent was serious about hitting the Treaty signing. She did not wish to taunt those that could detect her, and if anyone could it would be those of Firstborn ancestry. She also avoided contacting Gallia's Northern Parterre Knights, just in case they handed such a mission down to her. One benefit of being a mercenary was that she didn't have to take contracts that she disliked.
After all, from what she had seen, it would take the truly insane or desperate to go after the faeries…
===
I'm changing Wardes' circumstances slightly in this story – given Romania's proficiency in manipulation established in later ZnT volumes, I think the only reason why Romalia didn't have a hand in earlier volume events was because the author hadn't planned to have Romalia play that large a part in the overall story at that point. So, given what we know about Romalia later in ZnT LN canon past Reconquista arc, I tweaked events for what I think would have happened if Romalia did intervene with Wardes at first opportunity instead of saving it until Vol19-20 when they needed someone to kill/rescue Saito.
The comment about Eleanor being a researcher because of Karin's words are pulled out of nowhere. There's no LN support for it.
As usual for this fic, thanks to @Fictiondevourer for beta-ing. On a side note, even I as the author had to go reread a few chapters to remind myself what happened before this chapter, so you all might want to do so before reading these next few chapters.
===
Chapter 34
-][-
Jessica went from table to table to help, even though she didn't have to come out of the kitchen. The business in the Charming Fairy Inn lately hadn't been booming, to put it mildly – what was once thought to be a benign myth had that particular depiction of the name shattered. It had been the better part of a month since the Faeries of Alfheim had descended upon Tristain, and the most common image associated with them for the commoners was not the secluded kind women that helped out lost travellers in the woods. It was instead the Faeries' warbands and patrols, their warriors' beautiful features often set in grim expressions, and their frighteningly powerful magicks. All kinds of talks have passed by in the Inn, and nearly none of them painted the faeries in a good light.
Keyword being 'nearly'. There was still a few occasional comments that lacked the bite.
"-and when he sang, that swarm of giant hornets literally fell out of the sky!" One of the Army mages stationed near Tristainia said exaggeratedly. "That was how bad his voice was-"
One of the Inn's girls, Natasha, stuck around to serve him and his friends. Jessica shook her head good-naturedly; that mage, John, had been a regular customer of theirs for years, and he was very much smitten with Natasha. The feeling was mutual, as far as she could tell, and neither Jessica nor her father was against it if one day Natasha was to leave them – many of their waitresses had been picked up by Scarron off the streets, down on their luck, and Natasha could do far worse than being with John. It wouldn't have been the first time one of the girls had found better prospects than the Inn, either.
"If you thought his voice was bad, wait until you hear him use his instrument," one of John's friends snickered. "It was so Gods-awful that everyone in the patrol hit the monsters that much harder, just so we'd all be done sooner and he'd finally shut up."
"I thought the 'Salamanders' was Fire magic users?" Jessica asked, slipping in to check on things. "Are some of them bards as well? That might explain why his voice was so bad, though."
"Nah, he's a mercenary working with the Salamanders," John explained. "Apparently the faeries have an entire race of Bards up north-west, and this guy was headhunted by General Eugene himself. I'll have him drop by if you want, he'd love it here."
Jessica raised an eyebrow. While she had heard it wasn't exactly forbidden for faeries to enter Tristain's cities, or vice versa, it was highly provocative to do so. For John to be willing to push the point…
"You think he's high enough on the chain to help?" Jessica murmured, not daring to hope.
"That tax collector bastard might have backing, but this guy's connected to the man that took down the Tempest herself," John replied, just as quietly. "General Eugene's the second most influential individual of the Salamanders, only behind their Faerie Lord – and Lord Mortimer is the General's brother. If things come down to it, I'm sure he can at least get you all out of here, the Church be damned. Targeting this place just because of the shop's stupid name…"
"Careful there John," one of his friends said warningly. "Keep it down, before you get yourself in trouble."
"Fuck that," John scowled, grabbing his glass of beer and guzzled mouthfuls down. "I'm not going to just sit by while the fatso takes my girl or the rest of this place. That bastard and the ones in cahoots with him sold out to the Romalians, and I'm sure Brimir will forgive us if we're screwing over those that uses his authority in vain. The faeries are less likely to screw us little people over compared to the higher nobles, and that's saying something about how bad they are."
"How did you meet him, anyway?" Natasha hastily said, much to Jessica's relief. Down that line of thought was only trouble, and even as embarrassed as Natasha was over John's open care for her at least she had enough wits to keep him distracted. "Or for that matter, get close to him?"
"Well, me and Saito-"
"Saito?" Jessica recalled that foreign-sounding name. "Isn't he that guy who you were caught with while ogling a Salamander Captain? He's a faerie?"
"Ah, well…" John said sheepishly, even as Natasha gave him an unflattering look. "In my defence, that Captain just shows why some women are described as 'hot'… Oi Ted, why did you tell them about that?!"
"I didn't need to, you had the burns to show for that!"
"For all they knew that was from one of the rabid dragons!"
Jessica giggled as she left that table, even as the mages tried to pass the buck around to avoid blame. Men. At least John had enough brains to follow the 'look, but not touch' rule. And if he thought 'Saito' was a good shot at getting things sorted out without harm coming to the girls, then things was finally looking up for them.
-][-
Lord Justice Richmond sat in his office, nursing a cup of wine. The finalized Treaty was to be signed in a week, and anyone worth anything on Tristain's political stage would be there. Tristain had bequeathed much toward Alfheim for one reason or another in the discussions; and if Richmond was like many of the others in on the conspiracy, they would be glad that Reconquista finally have just cause to invade Tristain.
However, perhaps unsurprisingly, Richmond was not like the others. One did not reach the near the pinnacle of all nobles in Tristain by being short-sighted. Uniting all of Halkeginia, and then onwards to a Crusade against the accursed elves that had taken the Holy Land… that sounded good on paper. But unlike that situation, where most of the bloodshed as droves died against the Firstborns would be elsewhere, an entrenched war against the Faeries would means much of the damage would be in Tristain. Where, needless to say, lies much of Richmond's interests and assets. What care did Richmond have if the soldiers wanted fame and fortune in the desert-dwellers' lands, where regardless of victory or defeat of the Crusade Richmond would keep his land and riches? That was not his concern, compared to events in Tristain – he was hardly going to volunteer himself up for the Crusade.
Should Reconquista attempt to land in Tristain to create a beachhead for their plans… things would undoubtedly go awry. Morale in the forces that really mattered against Alfheim in Tristain was low. The driving forces against the rush of monsters that accompanied the arrival of the faeries was the Army, and the private troops of various major noble families. Said families include the Vallieres and the Guldenhorfs – and in their partnership with the faeries' own patrols, they had first-hand experience as to what the faeries were capable of, being their foreign spells of frightening power and exotic effects. The majority of nobles would not support Reconquista, not when the script was no longer 'side with the obvious winner of the civil war against the barbaric Germanians', and instead looked to be a slaughter – even before the Fairy Queen deigned to field her personal military, or her Greater Spirits. Open warfare was no longer the way to go.
Alas, their partners over in Albion did not believe that line of thought, and held steadfast to their invasion plans. Then again, if they could believe their own demise so easily, then they would not have believed they could defeat the elves. Not when Halkeginia had over six thousand years' history proving otherwise. Additionally, if they did not challenge an organized group of Firstborns closer to home, it would make a mockery of their goal to chase the elves out of the Holy Land. Richmond frowned – for all the investment he had put in, it would not do for others to ruin it for him. He could only hope that Cromwell, or whoever was behind him, would see reason and follow another path.
Speaking of others, there was one in particular Richmond was careful of – Viscount Wardes. If he hadn't been given the information from one of Albion's trusted agents, he would not have believed someone so close to the Vallieres to be working for their cause. Or rather, Richmond still didn't believe it. More likely, the Vallieres' lapdog would forsake Reconquista and remain with his fiancée's family…
-][-
Captain Wardes of the Griffin Knights was called to meet with Princess Henrietta and Cardinal Mazarin, in a meeting room magically proofed against surveillance. There, he was told he was to be relieved of his responsibility in organizing the security for the treaty signing.
"… May I ask why, Your Highness?" Wardes said slowly. Apart from the three of them, the impromptu twin bodyguards for the Princess was also present, taking up position in corners of the room. The Duke and Duchess Valliere was seated off to the side, the latter had arrived a few days previous – all the important nobles of Tristain have begun to trickle in to the capital to witness the Treaty. There was more than enough Square-class mages in the room to handily subdue him, and the only reason why Wardes believed that was not the goal was because Princess Henrietta was also in the room. Tristain's Heir to the throne was too important to be allowed risking herself apprehending traitors.
"There is… another matter that you will be assigned to," Princess Henrietta said slowly, clearly nervous. "We would ask you to retrieve a certain letter, or, failing that, destroy it…"
Wardes stayed silent even as his liege explained the situation. What the Princess didn't say, the Viscount knew enough about young love to be able to guess. Surprisingly, to him at least given the Duchess' famed Rule of Steel upon nobilities' actions, she showed no signs of disapproval.
"Given my own past, it'd be hypocritical if I condemn Her Highness," Duchess Valliere said shortly – apparently Wardes didn't hide his surprise and curiosity well enough. "And that is all I will say on this matter."
"Very well," Wardes let the matter drop. The only one willing to raise the Duchess' ire was the Duke, and even then only sparingly. The Viscount was nowhere near that reckless. "May I inquire into who is taking my place for the security?"
"The Captain of the Manticore Knights," the Cardinal explained. "Were things different I would have requested Duchess Valliere to take your place, but alas, due to recent events…"
Duchess Valliere's lips thinned ever so slightly, hiding her grimace. Her assault upon the Salamanders' Capital, no matter how justified it was, earned the Fae's enmity. The only nobles in Tristain that approved of the Tempest's attack was those whose anger at their lands being taken, or those whose their religious zeal outweighed their self-preservation. There were still a fair number of those, but not a majority, and putting the legendary Karin of 'The Tempest' in a leadership role in spite of her acts put forward a bad message.
Although any political consequences of bringing such a powerful mage was negated by General Eugene's own presence, given his infamy within Tristain after his victory over the Duchess. That was one reason why Alfheim allowed Tristain free rein to field whatever they wished as security for the Treaty signing – to prevent panic Alfheim went for quality instead of quantity, choosing as few guards as possible, so as not to give the impression they were attending with an invasion force.
Another reason being an Honour Guard contingent of the World Tree Guardians, though they were said to be mostly of a ceremonial role, only numbering nine in total. Though these Guardians would only be waiting outside the hall as the event went on.
The last reason being that Lord Kirito would be in attendance with the Fairy Queen herself. The fact that Titania would be attending came as a shock to Tristain. When the peace Treaty had agreed upon a legal fiction that there would only be one Crown in Tristain's land, the most anyone had thought was it would be Lord Kirito standing in for the Fairy Queen once more. Titania by all accounts were reclusive and never left the World Tree. There would be some ceremony, some symbolism, where Titania relinquishes her crown of Fairy Queen and takes up the name of the 'Realm of Alfheim' – being the authority of the land and skies, not of the people. And fool be the one that would deny that the Greater Spirit's had the power, the ability, to reshape cities and their surroundings at her whim – never mind razing them to the ground. Tristain's royalty kept the name of the Crown and the right to rule in Tristain, even if they have no authority over those called the 'Denizens' of Alfheim. The Faerie Lords remain the ultimate authority of their own people, and should there be crimes conducted by faeries outside of their territories the Lords would be the ones to punish them, not Tristain.
With a Greater Spirit attending, there was little reason to doubt Alfheim was confident they would be safe. The faeries would be safe, even if Titania had to reduce Tristainia to slag to do so. Despite what Titania stated in the message she passed on via Lord Kirito, that Tristain's nobles would not accept the Treaty unless as the equivalent of Alfheim royalty was present, Wardes suspected she only wanted an excuse. So that when someone foolhardy enough to attack her the Greater Spirit could smite them personally, Gods and Founder knew there would be many among Tristain's nobles that would want to attack Alfheim if they felt they could get away with it.
Even when it was obvious that Faerie Lords could take care of themselves as a whole – one only had to look at when Undercurrent attacked, and a single Lord's impatience incapacitated all threats. Wardes did not witness Titania's wrath when Duke Valliee brought the Viscount's fiancée to the Fairy Queen's court, but from what his future father-in-law said the Fairy Queen held no goodwill towards Tristain. A position that Lords Mortimer and Rufus held, and sadly the rest of the Faerie Lords leaned towards after the botched Binding attempt.
"I understand the importance of this task, Your Highness," Wardes noted, shaking his head to remove his dour thoughts. "However, may I ask that is it wise for a Square class mage such as myself to be sent away at this crucial juncture? Of the mages that are publicly allowed on the stage, at least."
Even without being a confidant to the Vallieres, Wardes knew the hooded sisters that guarded Princess Heniretta was not mages that Tristain could openly rely on. Whether that was because of their family background or because of taboo research, not all mages worked overtly for their country. Guessing how much of a reserve of these mages each country had was a constant game being played out, especially during times of turmoil like with Albion's civil war. Being present at private discussions for the Treaty was one thing, but for a state ceremony would be too public for the likes of them.
"We need someone that has at least a certain level of fame outside Tristain, lest Prince Wales refuse to relinquish the letter because he does not believe my envoy for who he is," Princess Henrietta said patiently. "Furthermore, we need someone that has enough skill to be sent alone and not compromise the mission, and that someone being known to be loyal to Tristain. I believe there is no-one else that fits the criteria better than you, Captain Wardes."
"I… am flattered by your assessment, Your Highness, but I must question the necessity for this mission," Wardes responded, and from the corner of his eyes he could see the Cardinal agreed with his line of thought. "Surely Prince Wales would know to destroy the letter, if it is as important as you say? And forgive me of my hubris, but I do not feel it is wise to send one of Tristain's finest mages like myself away at such a crucial time. A state ceremony as large as this Treaty will have foreign observers, like the Germanian and Gallian Ambassadors, and my absence will be noticed. Never mind the reduction in the Guards' capability-"
"You do not have to fear on that account, Captain," the Princess replied. "Many other Square class mages from around the country will be transferred to the Capital for the duration of the Treaty. Duchess Valliere would also be acting in the capability of a mage-knight – whatever her actions have brought her, it would be reassuring to have such power on our side. If anyone wishes to inquire, your absence will be excused by stating you are working behind the scenes to prepare for assassins such as Undercurrent.
"On another note…" Princess Henrietta said, a trace of steel in her voice. "If you can convince Prince Wales to seek sanctuary elsewhere before the rebels overrun him, Captain, then please do so. It would be a blow to Halkeginia as a whole if the main Albionese royal line was to be severed. Tristain will welcome him with open arms, even if nowhere else will; and it is not like doing so would place Tristain in more danger of being invaded, given the Treaty."
The Viscount bit back his concerns – it would be insulting to think the Princess hadn't considered the consequences of her decision. Especially if Cardinal Mazarin was present while Princess Henrietta gave him the mission. Nevertheless…
"And this would not affect the arrangements with Germania, Your Highness?" Wardes asked.
"The marriage with their Emperor is called off," Henrietta said flatly. "While they undoubtedly wish to partake in the advantages Alfheim bring to Tristain… when faced with the possibility of the worst case scenario, standing with us alone against the rest of Halkeginia against charges of heresy, they are hesitant to completely throw their lot in with us. Given the circumstances, it is good that we have yet to formally announce the marriage to the public."
Wardes nodded. In a sense, that development was a relief – that even if he failed, the discovery of the letter would not deal horrific damage to Tristain's politics. It would still smear mud on Tristain for apparently dealing in bad faith for a marriage when their Princess had another partner arranged, but realistically Germania was too avaricious for the various goods entailed to give up on continued relations with Alfheim, and by extension Tristain. It would still be a headache to ensure the Faerie Lords would not turn against Tristain and ally themselves with Germania to Tristain's detriment, but thankfully that was only merely difficult and not impossible. Although exactly how difficult it was might have become harsher over the past week.
"By your leave then, Your Highness," Wardes bowed. "I'll need to prepare for travelling to Albion."
"Give Prince Wales my regards as well," Cardinal Mazarin added quietly as Wardes left the room.
-][-
After the Viscount left, soon another party entered the room.
"Louise-Francoise," Henrietta nodded to her childhood friend. "Have you reconsidered it?"
"I tried, Your Highness," Louise said respectfully, though her face was torn between humiliation and resentment towards her familiar. Looking down at the housecat-sized black dragon in her arms, Louise scowled. "He refuses, and I can't convince him otherwise."
The dragon looked up at Louise and blinked. Struggling a bit, the dragon squirmed out of Louise's hold and in a flash of light Heathcliff reappeared in human form. The mages in the room tensed, but thankfully Heathcliff only appeared in plain maroon clothes, not armoured and armed.
"My answer is the same as before," Heathcliff said in a monotonous voice. "I cannot <<Cover>> more than one person at a time. And there is no reason for me to not protect my partner at all times."
"Aren't familiars supposed to listen to the mage?" Louise glowered. "And the Princess is much more important than me!"
"Not for me," Heathcliff inclined his head slightly. "My duty is only to my mage, and to no one else. And I believe self-preservation is supposed to be a convincing argument – should you die, I die with you."
After Louise was released from the World Tree, Henrietta along with the Duke and Mazarin had grilled Heathcliff for everything he was capable of. Apart from being a swordsman without peer, and having alternatives if his enemies were outside of his sword's range, Heathcliff had several other abilities. The ability to shapeshift into a few forms between human and dragon, purely cosmetic for what would be the best way to fit in with expectations; It did not really matter if the armour was present or not for Heathcliff to be able to shrug off attacks.
Failing that Heathcliff could 'Astralize', become a unseen phantom to all except Louise – though that last option was more than to allow Louise to talk in company without having a visible threat to others. Heathcliff was a 'construct', what Titania called golems made of magic itself instead of earth or stone. In addition to what the familiar bond normally did, Heathcliff's bond with Louise required Louise to channel Willpower to fuel him. Like golems he required Willpower to function, and Astralizing allowed the Willpower cost to Louise to be minimized. If the flow stopped for an extended time, Heathcliff would crumble into the ether, not unlike earth golems into dust. That was one of many safeguards that ensured Heathcliff would not betray his mistress.
Louise tried to leverage her dominant position to have Heathcliff Cover Henrietta during the Treaty – he claimed that his defence was near-absolute, being able to prevent damage even on the level of The Tempest easily. After Heathcliff was bombarded with multiple Square mages' spells at once during testing and coming out unharmed, Henrietta was willing to believe that claim. Louise's reasoning was that with that level of protection for the Princess, even the faeries would not be able to harm her at the treaty, let alone assassins such as Undercurrent. However, Heathcliff was adamant in not protecting anyone other than Louise, stating with simple singlemindedness that others was not his problem.
"It is alright, Louise-Francoise," Henrietta tried to play peacemaker, seeing as Louise wanted to tear into her familiar. "I would expect the same response from you if you were asked to be loyal to royalty other than Tristain's own. Your familiar is forgiven for his position."
"At least allow him to throw himself in front you if there is danger," Louise pleaded. At Heathcliff's look towards her, Louise explained further: "He can Cover me from fifty Mails away, even if he's not in the same room as me. I can be elsewhere in the palace while he stand guard-"
"That might not be the best idea," Duke Valliere contemplated. "It's not that I doubt Heathcliff will follow your instructions to the letter on this. Or worry Heathcliff may attack Her Highness in a crucial moment, being a creation of Alfheim and effectively an unknown. I do not wish to have you in the same building as the Fairy Queen – we do not need to appear as if we are provoking Titania."
"In a way, I find it amusing that my own daughter is seen as a larger threat than even myself," Duchess Valliere said dryly. "Where I am allowed to walk up to the faeries fully armed for this Treaty, they would still place more attention upon you, Louise. You certainly have come far in such a short time."
Louise gaped, unsure how exactly to respond. Even Henrietta was unsure if that was a praise or not.
"I know you want to be of use to Her Highness, Louise," the Duchess said, trying – and failing – to put up a kind smile. "It was the same for myself and Queen Marianne many years ago. From what your father told me, Lord Mortimer has pegged you as my daughter by your actions; I would take that as a compliment, in spite how it was surely not meant that way. Even in spite of everything that has happened so far. As a parent there are few other ways to feel prouder of their child.
"I want you to avoid the same mistakes I made in my youth. I have said this to both Eleanor and Cattleya, and I will say this to you: Magic's sole use is not conflict, despite my own achievements. If you wish to help Her Highness and Tristain, then stay at the Academy and find a way to send the faeries back to where they came from. This is something only you can do for Tristain. Do you understand, daughter?"
Somewhat dazed at the Duchess' words, Louise nodded. "But…" Louise hesitated in speaking. "There's no point even if the faeries are sent away, if the Princess dies-"
"Let me phrase it differently, Miss Valliere," Cardinal Mazarin interrupted. "While your father is confident your familiar will listen to you, others will not be. Even among the mage-knights there are several who would prefer if your familiar is not within stabbing distance of the Princess, let alone within range of his fire. Trusting this 'Heathcliff' will take a long time, as with all other dealings with the Fae."
Louise winced; undoubtedly recalling what the Faerie Lords said about trust and herself.
"What the faeries said on this matter is irrelevant," Henrietta said firmly. "If I cannot trust the Vallieres, who have a long history of loyalty to the Crown, or my friend, then no noble of Tristain can be trusted. Louise-Francoise, you will be judged on what you do, not what you are. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Louise replied immediately, standing as tall as her small frame could be.
"Good," Henrietta nodded. "With that said, return to your research. However, keep in mind while due haste and success is something every side wants, a single mistake from here on could be the end of us all. I will be very disappointed in you, Louise-Francoise, if you made a mistake from not being rested enough to catch it."
Louise gave assurances that it would not happen, and quickly left.
-][-
With a casting of 'Ubiquitous Wind', Wardes sent a masked and cloaked double of himself away. Said double moved to a meeting with Reconquista spies, while his true self packed up his supplies at the Royal Guard headquarters. In the foolishness of his youth, Wardes took the first opportunity that came to him that appeared to have a good chance of reaching the Holy Lands, so he could unravel the mystery that drove his mother to madness.
His first choice was a mistake – ultimately, Cromwell was merely a puppet, and Reconquista was but a mad King's game Wardes saddled himself with, one destined for their failure. Romalia would rally the remainder of Halkeginia together and strangle Reconquista before they become a credible threat to their theocracy on the mainland, even if Gallia would not forsake them once King Joseph becomes bored of that game. After all, the so-called 'Incompetent King' was known for his whimsical nature.
As the copy of Wardes communicated with the spies, his real body plucked a quill, dipped it in an inkpot, and began to put to paper all he knew about Reconquista's operations within Tristain. One way or another, Wardes did not believe he would be able to return to Tristain once the mission was complete.
A disturbance in the air behind alerted him to an intruder, and Wardes spun around swiftly with his swordwand in hand.
"Peace, Viscount," a young man with mismatched eyes – what Halkeginians called 'moon eyes' – stepped through a portal which then shut behind him. "I'm not here to fight."
"… Julio," Wardes said slowly. On the other end, his copy bade the spies goodbye and exited – he needed his undivided attention for the conversation. "Why are you the one here? And that portal-"
"As a result of your fiancée's actions, His Holiness' magic improved," Julio said smoothly. "Sadly, the same could be said for Gallia's Void Mage as well. I'll brief you when we're en route to Albion."
"You're coming with me?" Wardes said with a raised eyebrow.
"Not all the way," Julio replied. "But I'll be acting in the capacity of an agent of the Pope, so I need someone to vouch for me so Prince Wales would be inclined to see me."
Wardes didn't bother to ask how they managed to find out about his mission – aside from whatever serving staff in the Academy they have bought as part of their intelligence network, Pope Vittorio had the spell to 'Scry' things far away in Halkeginia, which the Pope had since back when he first met Romalia's ruler. They would have kept an eye on their 'investment', so to speak, ever since they recruited him – Square Mages were a valuable resource, after all.
"Also, I'll be along to make sure your exit from the stage is believable," Julio continued. "Faking your death may not be so easy if the Myoznitnirn herself decided to investigate."
"No avoiding it, then?" Wardes sighed. A pity, but he had consigned himself to pay for his mistake in contacting Reconquista long ago. Stepping a fine line to play both sides, a Reconquista spy for Albion and a reverse one for Tristain as he handed pieces of information back to Duke Valliere, not that the Duke knew the circumstances; Wardes passed it off as spies captured in the line of duty as Knight-Captain. If Romalia – specifically Pope Vittorio – hadn't stepped in, provided their knowledge and espionage training, he would have had to harm Tristain more in pursuit of his goals.
"Very well, but my conditions from the beginning still stand," Wardes told Julio. "Don't expect me to turn against Tristain's royal family. As foolish as this is, I will not betray my liege even if I turn my back on my country."
"I'm more surprised that you're not asking for us to aid your fiancée, really," Julio frowned. "You know His Holiness can accomplish that much."
"I'm sure little Louise is a good girl, but I've seen her only rarely over the last ten years," Wardes replied nonchalantly. "Regardless of that, our marriage is an arranged one, forged by our respective fathers – I have no real attachment to her. I wish her the best of luck, but that is the extent of my love for her."
"A shame," Julio sighed theatrically. "We considered using you to leverage her, if necessary."
"I will be 'dead' soon enough," Wardes said sardonically. "She will never see me again. I find it hard to envision how I can still be leveraged against Louise once that happens."
"The Gods and Brimir works in mysterious ways," Julio smiled cryptically, and a portal opened up once more. "But enough of that; I will meet you at the port in La Rochelle. There will be suspicions if nobody in our line of work see you leave Tristain, and His Holiness does not wish for this advantage of his to be revealed just yet."
Wardes grunted a response, and Julio left the same way he entered.
-][-
After various complications while negotiating with the Treaty, Tristain's palace had its security upped. Mage-knights travelled in pairs in their patrols, and barracks were guarded so no-one that knew about the security would be caught alone and hit by mind-control magic.
Despite all such precautions however, Undercurrent still snuck her way into Tristain's palace. The new measures didn't go as far as carrying out regular strip-searches looking for the dagger, and Halkeginian mages normally did not look for items that possessed the wielder. Undercurrent didn't leave those that knew about her true form alive to pass on her weakness. Going from one hand to the next, Undercurrent travelled through the various serving staff of the palace to get a picture of the measures taken for the treaty.
Not that Undercurrent was serious about hitting the Treaty signing. She did not wish to taunt those that could detect her, and if anyone could it would be those of Firstborn ancestry. She also avoided contacting Gallia's Northern Parterre Knights, just in case they handed such a mission down to her. One benefit of being a mercenary was that she didn't have to take contracts that she disliked.
After all, from what she had seen, it would take the truly insane or desperate to go after the faeries…
===
I'm changing Wardes' circumstances slightly in this story – given Romania's proficiency in manipulation established in later ZnT volumes, I think the only reason why Romalia didn't have a hand in earlier volume events was because the author hadn't planned to have Romalia play that large a part in the overall story at that point. So, given what we know about Romalia later in ZnT LN canon past Reconquista arc, I tweaked events for what I think would have happened if Romalia did intervene with Wardes at first opportunity instead of saving it until Vol19-20 when they needed someone to kill/rescue Saito.
The comment about Eleanor being a researcher because of Karin's words are pulled out of nowhere. There's no LN support for it.
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That was one reason why I considered posting all three chapters at once. Still, after people had a chance to comment I'll post the next chapter, which probably will be within the next few days.
Evillevi
A Pikachu for everything - Shadow Pikachu,2015
Because I feel like I mispoke, to clarify I feel that the chapter is too big for me to ease myself back into the story. That said it is a great chapter.
Thanks ^.^; For some bizarre reason I thought you meant 'nothing much is happening' and wanted to get to the arc's climax end ASAP. That's probably my own impatience colouring my views.
