The power of the void is a potent thing. The magic of the Founder Brimir, once thought lost to time. One shard for each of the four nations that were created after his passing. One that snaked its way through each nation's royal lineages, and their offshoots. But what would happen if the lineage of the Void ran true? What would happen if instead of a girl with pink hair who called forth a familiar, but rather one with purple?
Royal Zero (Familiar of Zero AU/SI)
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Chapter 1
Thanks to the people over at the Familiar of Zero Recs and Idea thread, I've gotten a decent grasp on what I want to do. Still working my way through the light Novels at the moment, as the anime gets the Ba Sing Sa treatment in Japan. But I shouldn't be running into an overwhelming majority of them for the first chapter.
I mean, I say that, but Henrietta being a void mage changes a lot of things when it comes down to the plot.
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Kirche scowled. Her and her big mouth. Why did she have to make a bet with Louise "the Lightning" Valliere? Sure, a wind dragon was far from the strongest type of dragon, but it was still a dragon.
The small pink hair girl ran her fingers across its scales, a grin that bordered between one of genuine happiness and smug satisfaction.
At first, Kirche had been excited to meet the heir of her rival family. Only until Louise turned out to be a spitting image of her mother, and all that entailed. Extremely talented, with no patience for slacking off, and little willingness to tolerate misbehavior in any of her peers.
Still, Kirche wasn't like some of her peers. She at least acknowledged, reluctantly, that Louise had a strong work ethic. She wasn't lazy, hoping that her family's name would be enough to just get through life. Guiche had been projecting pretty hard when he made those remarks, something Kirchie had no issue calling him out on.
But that didn't make the girl any less infuriating though.
Kirche watched as Louise gave her a smug grin but otherwise kept her mouth shut as the next student began the ritual.
No, it certainly didn't make her any less infuriating. But that was the fun part of the little game they played.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Princess, are you sure this is fine?" Agnes asked again, looking at her purple hair as they slipped through the underbrush.
"Yes. I can't cast the familiar summoning spell in the Capital, just encase something goes wrong," the Princess stammered out. Even from her current angle, Agnes could see the tight grip the princess kept on her staff.
She knew why the Princess was being so cautious with the spell. Agnes knew the secret of the Princess, sworn to secrecy on a matter that very well would shatter the nation if the truth came to light.
Princess Henrietta, crown princess of Tristian, heir to the throne, had no magic. None knew why. The Queen had been loyal to her oath, as was clear with the birth of the current Crown Princess.
Very few knew this secret. The youngest daughter of the Valliere family was one of them but had kept the secret out of friendship with the princess. They still wrote regularly, with Louise still having faith that the princess could use magic.
Part of their letters included ideas to try, cures, almost anything. But today was special. The day when a familiar was summoned. Which was why they were sneaking through the woods, in the middle of the night.
Agnes hated that. While she understood her intentions, it did little to change the fact that Louise simply made her job harder. Every so often, Louise would send a letter with advice, or ideas to try. Remedies and other such secrets gained at the Academy.
And of course, Henrietta, getting her hopes up, would have to try them. But they couldn't do it in the Palace, because they could be discovered. This meant she was forced to head out in the middle of the night, because if Henrietta hurt herself while Agnes was supposed to be watching her, then she'd be out of a job.
Of course, the odds of that happening were slim, but then again, she had been hired for a reason.
At last, they broke into the clearing, filled with holes and other scares from failed casts, as Henrietta began making the circle for the ritual, the letter from Louise clutched in her hand.
Henrietta followed the instructions for the letter. She couldn't fail. Not this time. Looking at her work, compared to the drawing provided to her by her oldest friend, she read the letter again.
Within, were the words she needed to summon her familiar.
"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"
There was a pause, the wind stilling as the circle flared to life. Then there was an all too familiar thunderous boom, the explosion knocking Henrietta off her feet and into the grass.
No. She couldn't have. She couldn't fail again. She couldn't! Henrietta tried to stand, as Agnes stood before her, sword drawn.
Why? Why? Didn't she know she had to try again? It was the only way to know for sure!
"Princess," Agnes's voice was cold, even more so than usual. "There is something in the smoke."
Henrietta felt her breath hitch in her throat. Crushing despair turned to hope in an instant. She, too, narrowed her eyes, desiring to spot her familiar through the smoke.
From the smoke came a cough. A very human cough, rather than one that came from an animal. The smoke only began to clear, allowing Henrietta to get a good look at them.
Her familiar. Sandy blonde hair nearly reached her shoulders, held up by spinning, looping curls. Their eyes were closed due to all the dust, as they tried to blow away the smoke by waving her hand, the other covering her mouth and nose. She looked just a bit shorter than average.
The smoke cleared enough for Henrietta to spot the woman's clothes. They weren't like anything she had ever seen before. The shirt was large going all the way up her arms, and baggy enough to make the exact details of her frame uncertain. It looked as if it had a partial hood attached to it, which was currently bunched up against the back of her neck.
Her trousers were even stranger. The moonlight was strong enough that she could make out the color of her clothes. Both were blue, with the trousers looking to be made of a different material.
Finally, the smoke cleared enough for the woman to open her eyes, and uncover her mouth, revealing sea-green orbs, piercing in the moonlight. Henrietta felt herself shutter, preparing to walk towards her familiar, though Agnes stood between them.
"Where, am I?" The woman's voice was horse, looking around before her eyes fell upon them. It wasn't in Trisitianian, though. It was closer to Albionese, or, at least, an accent she was not familiar with. Would she need to speak Ablionese to communicate with her familiar?
Henrietta hoped not. She was out of practice when it came to speaking the language. She watched as her familiar blinked in surprise.
"I have no idea what I'm interrupting here," her familair's voice seemed cautious, eyes instantly flickering to Agnes's sword, even if it was now held in a much looser stance. "But I'm just going to go."
Henrietta's eyes widened, almost bugging out of her head. "No! Wait!" She shouted, dancing around Agnes's grasp despite her bodyguard's vocal protests. Her familiar turned around from the sudden racket, as Henrietta got closer.
While the moons shone brightly, it was still nighttime, and Henrietta's eyes were firmly locked on her familiar's face. She felt something snag as she tried to keep moving toward her familiar, her familiar eyes being replaced by the rapidly approaching grass and dirt. Henrietta threw up her hands in an attempt to stop her fall and waited for the pain.
Only for two arms to grab hers, preventing her from falling into the dirt entirely. Henrietta knew her knees were scratched up, but she could hide that well enough. She felt a heat build-up in her face, as the fingers let go.
"Easy," her familiar said, taking a step back from Agnes. "I only tried to stop her from getting hurt."
"Agnes, please," Henrietta looked at her bodyguards with the sternest look she could manage.
"Princess, please be reasonable. We have no idea who she is. She could be a treat," Agnes protested, as the woman continued to back away slowly.
"I summoned her as my familiar," Henrietta stood up, shaking off the branch that had caused her to trip and fall. "She is my responsibility." Henrietta watched as her bodyguard mentality began weighing her options.
"Fine. But if she does another to harm you, she will regret it," Agnes lowered her sword, so it was no longer pointing at her familiar.
"Of course. I would hope for nothing less," even though she knew her familiar wouldn't willingly do anything to harm her. Henrietta brushed off her dress. She was going to have to do something about the tear, ideally before tomorrow morning, but that was a problem for later. Henrietta took a moment to collect herself, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, and her excitement.
"Hello," she smiled, steeling her nerves.
"Hi," her familiar sounded cautious, waving her hand slightly. "So you do speak English."
"English?" Henrietta had never of such a tongue in her life. It sounds like Albionese, but her familiar had called it something else. Her outfit didn't look like one of Albionian make, commoner or noble. She hadn't been as familiar with commoner styles, and she doubted the royalty would change their tastes so quickly. "I have never heard of such a language."
Her familiar must have come from a strange place. The spell did call for a familiar from somewhere in the universe. Maybe she had summoned someone from somewhere beyond Halkgina? If she'd never heard of the language that had to be the case.
"That's, interesting," the young woman raised her eyebrow at Henrietta's words, her green eyes flickering around. "Then do you mind telling me where exactly I am? I think I'm a bit, lost, at the moment."
"You're in Tristian," Henrietta said, taking one more deep breath. "I summoned you."
There was a silence in the air, before her familiar pinched herself, hissing through the pain.
"Why did you do that?" She asked, eyes widening.
"Sorry, I'm trying to make sure I'm not actually asleep right now," her familiar painfully twisted her skin. "Because otherwise, I heard you say the words 'summoned me', and I refuse to believe my life has reached that point where that is a thing that would happen."
Henrietta looked at her familiar, completely and utterly baffled by her words. Individually she understood each of them, but what her familiar said made little sense to her.
"Sorry, but this is extremely surreal to me, and I'm operating on too little sleep as it is," she stopped twisting her flesh, at the very least, in favor of pinching her brow. "I don't want to seem rude, Miss?"
"Henrietta. Princess Henrietta de Tristian," Henrietta's first name didn't warrant much of a reaction from her familiar, but her title of Princess did. It wasn't like she was all that well known, but a reaction to her title as Princess was a sign she knew of its importance.
"Alright. Princess. Because why not," the woman rubbed her face. "Is there a way to send me back home, or something? Because I don't have any particular talents at killing demon kings, or whatever it is that's vogue these days."
Henrietta froze, body going stiff. The punch wasn't physical, or intentional, but Henrietta felt it impact her gut all the same. She'd summoned a person. A human being. A familiar was something simple, an animal, occasionally exotic or magical, but often mundane.
A human was not meant to be one of them.
And yet, here one was. One that naturally wanted to return home.
She was Henrietta's only proof that she was a mage. Summoning a familiar was proof, undeniably so, that one was a mage. Proof that she had done it. And that proof was human. Most certainly from another nation, nearly as certainly one she had never heard of. Henrietta had taken a person from their home.
Even in her success, Henrietta still proved to be a failure.
"I do not know if there is such a way," Henrietta looked away from her, no, the woman, beginning to form in her eyes. She missed her familiar's face as it contorted into numerous different expressions.
But she heard a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. Henrietta's head whipped around, returning to her familiar as she stood, eyes closed.
"And I'm guessing you didn't even know what you were summoning, Princess?" The woman said Henrietta's title, but it sounded, almost casual, coming from her mouth. Henrietta shook her head, still blinking out tears, as the woman's mouth became a thin line.
"Cardinal Mazarin may know something that could help," Henrietta offered softly. She summoned this woman. That made her well-being Henrietta's responsibility. She could deal with the consequences later. It was the best idea she could think of to not have the woman wander off. Only being able to speak something akin to Albionese put her at risk.
"That's a start," the woman said, before looking up at the sky, and letting out a whistle. "Two moons? Definitely not in Kansas anymore."
"Kansas?" Henrietta gave her a confused look.
"It's a line from a movie," the woman rubbed her head awkwardly. There was another weird word she didn't understand. Movie. What did her familiar mean by that? "It's about this girl that got caught in a tornado, and it sends her to a magical world where she has to find a Wizard in an Emerald city to get back home."
Those were again, words, the woman had been saying. But as sentences, they rushed past her head.
"Was there a tornado that brought you here?" Henrietta finally asked, uncertain what that was, as well. A wind storm? Would that mean she had mages back where she was from?
"Nothing that extreme," she cracked a slight smile. "Just a bright green disk I was curious enough to poke."
"Can I ask something of you?" Henrietta asked, fidgeting slightly.
"Sure?" The woman looked uncertain as she sounded, but Henrietta pressed on.
"Can I please finish the ritual?" She asked, heart nearly leaping into her throat.
"You haven't finished?" The woman gave Henrietta a confused look. "Do what you need to do, I."
Her words cut off, as Henrietta softly kissed her. In truth, it was a faint brushing of the lips. But it was enough for the magic to do its work. The young woman stepped back in surprise, a faint dusting of red covering her cheeks.
"Was that part of the spell?" another deep breath, this seeming to steady herself, before she winced in pain, clutching her left hand. Henrietta's eye's widened in surprise. Was it supposed to be painful? She'd never heard of anything like that! But in a moment, it passed, the woman waving her hand as if to shake off a fire, even if her face no longer read as if it were in pain, seeming to mutter things softly under her breath.
"I didn't think it was supposed to do that, Miss," Henrietta said, feeling the need to defend her actions. The young woman, whose name she had yet to learn, and even the politeness of asking for it forgotten in Henrietta's excitement.
"It's, fine just warn me next," the woman paused for a moment as if fully realizing what Henrietta had said. "Miss?"
"Sorry, I forgot to ask for your name," Henrietta said softly, shifting her feet. In the heat of the moment, such niceties had slipped away, despite all her training. She hadn't expected a human, but that shouldn't be an excuse for poor manners. The woman began to rub her brow, as if to soothe something building up.
"That, wasn't my point," the woman said, seemingly confused. "But why Miss?"
Henrietta looked at the woman's fingers. There was no sign of a ring, be it metal or made of some other cheaper material. Unless marriage traditions were vastly different, there would be no reason for miss to draw such a reaction. So was she married? Now that she had gotten a closer look, Henrietta realized the woman she summoned looked rather, bland, her odd clothes aside. There was no hint of makeup, and no jewelry, not even simple designs. And she, while looking to be at least a few years old than Henrietta herself, couldn't be old enough to be a Ms.
"Because you're a young woman," Henrietta offered tentatively, still unsure what was bothering the strange woman.
"A?" She looked down, for the first time, staring at herself, as if realizing something for the first time. It was strange, watching her face contort into all sorts of weird expressions, from shock to surprise, to horror, to amazement, all in the span of a handful of seconds. Slowly, cautiously, as if Henrietta was watching someone who was about to do something they had been told repeatedly not to do, poked her chest. There was a pregnant pause before the deep breaths began. In and out. In and out. But this time, it didn't seem like it would be enough to suppress what was bubbling to the surface.
"I do not recall, at any point, in the history of ever," she ground out, teeth grinding against one another. "Asking for a mammary!" The last words came as a near shout, barely contained by a sense of restraint, even if Henrietta had no clue what the woman could have possibly meant by that. She had to be misremembering her words. Because otherwise, she had said something about not asking for breasts.
Which was an abnormal thing to say in any situation. Was she saying she wanted to be, flat? No, that didn't make sense either. The wording made it sound like.
Henrietta's mouth made a silent 'o'. She wasn't the best at magic, or the most researched, not like Louise was. But even she knew enough to know that couldn't possibly be the result of the Summoning Ritual. Couldn't, and yet, it was the only thing that could reasonably explain such a reaction. It seemed like she ended up being a failure on multiple fronts.
"Well, at least after that, things probably can't get much," the woman's voice cut off, giving Henrietta enough warning as her frame began to slump forwards, before teetering over completely. Agnes barely had enough time to arrest the woman's fall, as she fell unconscious.
Henrietta took a deep breath in, before exhaling. Make that four times a failure. She summoned a person, kidnapping them. She did, something, to their body that they never asked for, though Henrietta was unsure of what exactly that thing even was. Then the person she summoned passed out for no reason. And finally, she still hadn't had the good graces to ask for the woman's name! Henrietta wiped the tears that had begun to form in her eyes.
Given how everything magical she had tried had ended in nothing but failure tonight, there was one thing left for her to do. She slung the woman's arm over her shoulder, helping Agnes carry the weight. Her bodyguard send her a look, one she quashed with a glare just as potent.
Henrietta refused to let all of tonight be a failure, even if it meant turning to her less, dignified strengths.
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I'll get chapter 2 out after this one before returning to a modified update schedule.
I mean, I say that, but Henrietta being a void mage changes a lot of things when it comes down to the plot.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kirche scowled. Her and her big mouth. Why did she have to make a bet with Louise "the Lightning" Valliere? Sure, a wind dragon was far from the strongest type of dragon, but it was still a dragon.
The small pink hair girl ran her fingers across its scales, a grin that bordered between one of genuine happiness and smug satisfaction.
At first, Kirche had been excited to meet the heir of her rival family. Only until Louise turned out to be a spitting image of her mother, and all that entailed. Extremely talented, with no patience for slacking off, and little willingness to tolerate misbehavior in any of her peers.
Still, Kirche wasn't like some of her peers. She at least acknowledged, reluctantly, that Louise had a strong work ethic. She wasn't lazy, hoping that her family's name would be enough to just get through life. Guiche had been projecting pretty hard when he made those remarks, something Kirchie had no issue calling him out on.
But that didn't make the girl any less infuriating though.
Kirche watched as Louise gave her a smug grin but otherwise kept her mouth shut as the next student began the ritual.
No, it certainly didn't make her any less infuriating. But that was the fun part of the little game they played.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Princess, are you sure this is fine?" Agnes asked again, looking at her purple hair as they slipped through the underbrush.
"Yes. I can't cast the familiar summoning spell in the Capital, just encase something goes wrong," the Princess stammered out. Even from her current angle, Agnes could see the tight grip the princess kept on her staff.
She knew why the Princess was being so cautious with the spell. Agnes knew the secret of the Princess, sworn to secrecy on a matter that very well would shatter the nation if the truth came to light.
Princess Henrietta, crown princess of Tristian, heir to the throne, had no magic. None knew why. The Queen had been loyal to her oath, as was clear with the birth of the current Crown Princess.
Very few knew this secret. The youngest daughter of the Valliere family was one of them but had kept the secret out of friendship with the princess. They still wrote regularly, with Louise still having faith that the princess could use magic.
Part of their letters included ideas to try, cures, almost anything. But today was special. The day when a familiar was summoned. Which was why they were sneaking through the woods, in the middle of the night.
Agnes hated that. While she understood her intentions, it did little to change the fact that Louise simply made her job harder. Every so often, Louise would send a letter with advice, or ideas to try. Remedies and other such secrets gained at the Academy.
And of course, Henrietta, getting her hopes up, would have to try them. But they couldn't do it in the Palace, because they could be discovered. This meant she was forced to head out in the middle of the night, because if Henrietta hurt herself while Agnes was supposed to be watching her, then she'd be out of a job.
Of course, the odds of that happening were slim, but then again, she had been hired for a reason.
At last, they broke into the clearing, filled with holes and other scares from failed casts, as Henrietta began making the circle for the ritual, the letter from Louise clutched in her hand.
Henrietta followed the instructions for the letter. She couldn't fail. Not this time. Looking at her work, compared to the drawing provided to her by her oldest friend, she read the letter again.
Within, were the words she needed to summon her familiar.
"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"
There was a pause, the wind stilling as the circle flared to life. Then there was an all too familiar thunderous boom, the explosion knocking Henrietta off her feet and into the grass.
No. She couldn't have. She couldn't fail again. She couldn't! Henrietta tried to stand, as Agnes stood before her, sword drawn.
Why? Why? Didn't she know she had to try again? It was the only way to know for sure!
"Princess," Agnes's voice was cold, even more so than usual. "There is something in the smoke."
Henrietta felt her breath hitch in her throat. Crushing despair turned to hope in an instant. She, too, narrowed her eyes, desiring to spot her familiar through the smoke.
From the smoke came a cough. A very human cough, rather than one that came from an animal. The smoke only began to clear, allowing Henrietta to get a good look at them.
Her familiar. Sandy blonde hair nearly reached her shoulders, held up by spinning, looping curls. Their eyes were closed due to all the dust, as they tried to blow away the smoke by waving her hand, the other covering her mouth and nose. She looked just a bit shorter than average.
The smoke cleared enough for Henrietta to spot the woman's clothes. They weren't like anything she had ever seen before. The shirt was large going all the way up her arms, and baggy enough to make the exact details of her frame uncertain. It looked as if it had a partial hood attached to it, which was currently bunched up against the back of her neck.
Her trousers were even stranger. The moonlight was strong enough that she could make out the color of her clothes. Both were blue, with the trousers looking to be made of a different material.
Finally, the smoke cleared enough for the woman to open her eyes, and uncover her mouth, revealing sea-green orbs, piercing in the moonlight. Henrietta felt herself shutter, preparing to walk towards her familiar, though Agnes stood between them.
"Where, am I?" The woman's voice was horse, looking around before her eyes fell upon them. It wasn't in Trisitianian, though. It was closer to Albionese, or, at least, an accent she was not familiar with. Would she need to speak Ablionese to communicate with her familiar?
Henrietta hoped not. She was out of practice when it came to speaking the language. She watched as her familiar blinked in surprise.
"I have no idea what I'm interrupting here," her familair's voice seemed cautious, eyes instantly flickering to Agnes's sword, even if it was now held in a much looser stance. "But I'm just going to go."
Henrietta's eyes widened, almost bugging out of her head. "No! Wait!" She shouted, dancing around Agnes's grasp despite her bodyguard's vocal protests. Her familiar turned around from the sudden racket, as Henrietta got closer.
While the moons shone brightly, it was still nighttime, and Henrietta's eyes were firmly locked on her familiar's face. She felt something snag as she tried to keep moving toward her familiar, her familiar eyes being replaced by the rapidly approaching grass and dirt. Henrietta threw up her hands in an attempt to stop her fall and waited for the pain.
Only for two arms to grab hers, preventing her from falling into the dirt entirely. Henrietta knew her knees were scratched up, but she could hide that well enough. She felt a heat build-up in her face, as the fingers let go.
"Easy," her familiar said, taking a step back from Agnes. "I only tried to stop her from getting hurt."
"Agnes, please," Henrietta looked at her bodyguards with the sternest look she could manage.
"Princess, please be reasonable. We have no idea who she is. She could be a treat," Agnes protested, as the woman continued to back away slowly.
"I summoned her as my familiar," Henrietta stood up, shaking off the branch that had caused her to trip and fall. "She is my responsibility." Henrietta watched as her bodyguard mentality began weighing her options.
"Fine. But if she does another to harm you, she will regret it," Agnes lowered her sword, so it was no longer pointing at her familiar.
"Of course. I would hope for nothing less," even though she knew her familiar wouldn't willingly do anything to harm her. Henrietta brushed off her dress. She was going to have to do something about the tear, ideally before tomorrow morning, but that was a problem for later. Henrietta took a moment to collect herself, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, and her excitement.
"Hello," she smiled, steeling her nerves.
"Hi," her familiar sounded cautious, waving her hand slightly. "So you do speak English."
"English?" Henrietta had never of such a tongue in her life. It sounds like Albionese, but her familiar had called it something else. Her outfit didn't look like one of Albionian make, commoner or noble. She hadn't been as familiar with commoner styles, and she doubted the royalty would change their tastes so quickly. "I have never heard of such a language."
Her familiar must have come from a strange place. The spell did call for a familiar from somewhere in the universe. Maybe she had summoned someone from somewhere beyond Halkgina? If she'd never heard of the language that had to be the case.
"That's, interesting," the young woman raised her eyebrow at Henrietta's words, her green eyes flickering around. "Then do you mind telling me where exactly I am? I think I'm a bit, lost, at the moment."
"You're in Tristian," Henrietta said, taking one more deep breath. "I summoned you."
There was a silence in the air, before her familiar pinched herself, hissing through the pain.
"Why did you do that?" She asked, eyes widening.
"Sorry, I'm trying to make sure I'm not actually asleep right now," her familiar painfully twisted her skin. "Because otherwise, I heard you say the words 'summoned me', and I refuse to believe my life has reached that point where that is a thing that would happen."
Henrietta looked at her familiar, completely and utterly baffled by her words. Individually she understood each of them, but what her familiar said made little sense to her.
"Sorry, but this is extremely surreal to me, and I'm operating on too little sleep as it is," she stopped twisting her flesh, at the very least, in favor of pinching her brow. "I don't want to seem rude, Miss?"
"Henrietta. Princess Henrietta de Tristian," Henrietta's first name didn't warrant much of a reaction from her familiar, but her title of Princess did. It wasn't like she was all that well known, but a reaction to her title as Princess was a sign she knew of its importance.
"Alright. Princess. Because why not," the woman rubbed her face. "Is there a way to send me back home, or something? Because I don't have any particular talents at killing demon kings, or whatever it is that's vogue these days."
Henrietta froze, body going stiff. The punch wasn't physical, or intentional, but Henrietta felt it impact her gut all the same. She'd summoned a person. A human being. A familiar was something simple, an animal, occasionally exotic or magical, but often mundane.
A human was not meant to be one of them.
And yet, here one was. One that naturally wanted to return home.
She was Henrietta's only proof that she was a mage. Summoning a familiar was proof, undeniably so, that one was a mage. Proof that she had done it. And that proof was human. Most certainly from another nation, nearly as certainly one she had never heard of. Henrietta had taken a person from their home.
Even in her success, Henrietta still proved to be a failure.
"I do not know if there is such a way," Henrietta looked away from her, no, the woman, beginning to form in her eyes. She missed her familiar's face as it contorted into numerous different expressions.
But she heard a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. Henrietta's head whipped around, returning to her familiar as she stood, eyes closed.
"And I'm guessing you didn't even know what you were summoning, Princess?" The woman said Henrietta's title, but it sounded, almost casual, coming from her mouth. Henrietta shook her head, still blinking out tears, as the woman's mouth became a thin line.
"Cardinal Mazarin may know something that could help," Henrietta offered softly. She summoned this woman. That made her well-being Henrietta's responsibility. She could deal with the consequences later. It was the best idea she could think of to not have the woman wander off. Only being able to speak something akin to Albionese put her at risk.
"That's a start," the woman said, before looking up at the sky, and letting out a whistle. "Two moons? Definitely not in Kansas anymore."
"Kansas?" Henrietta gave her a confused look.
"It's a line from a movie," the woman rubbed her head awkwardly. There was another weird word she didn't understand. Movie. What did her familiar mean by that? "It's about this girl that got caught in a tornado, and it sends her to a magical world where she has to find a Wizard in an Emerald city to get back home."
Those were again, words, the woman had been saying. But as sentences, they rushed past her head.
"Was there a tornado that brought you here?" Henrietta finally asked, uncertain what that was, as well. A wind storm? Would that mean she had mages back where she was from?
"Nothing that extreme," she cracked a slight smile. "Just a bright green disk I was curious enough to poke."
"Can I ask something of you?" Henrietta asked, fidgeting slightly.
"Sure?" The woman looked uncertain as she sounded, but Henrietta pressed on.
"Can I please finish the ritual?" She asked, heart nearly leaping into her throat.
"You haven't finished?" The woman gave Henrietta a confused look. "Do what you need to do, I."
Her words cut off, as Henrietta softly kissed her. In truth, it was a faint brushing of the lips. But it was enough for the magic to do its work. The young woman stepped back in surprise, a faint dusting of red covering her cheeks.
"Was that part of the spell?" another deep breath, this seeming to steady herself, before she winced in pain, clutching her left hand. Henrietta's eye's widened in surprise. Was it supposed to be painful? She'd never heard of anything like that! But in a moment, it passed, the woman waving her hand as if to shake off a fire, even if her face no longer read as if it were in pain, seeming to mutter things softly under her breath.
"I didn't think it was supposed to do that, Miss," Henrietta said, feeling the need to defend her actions. The young woman, whose name she had yet to learn, and even the politeness of asking for it forgotten in Henrietta's excitement.
"It's, fine just warn me next," the woman paused for a moment as if fully realizing what Henrietta had said. "Miss?"
"Sorry, I forgot to ask for your name," Henrietta said softly, shifting her feet. In the heat of the moment, such niceties had slipped away, despite all her training. She hadn't expected a human, but that shouldn't be an excuse for poor manners. The woman began to rub her brow, as if to soothe something building up.
"That, wasn't my point," the woman said, seemingly confused. "But why Miss?"
Henrietta looked at the woman's fingers. There was no sign of a ring, be it metal or made of some other cheaper material. Unless marriage traditions were vastly different, there would be no reason for miss to draw such a reaction. So was she married? Now that she had gotten a closer look, Henrietta realized the woman she summoned looked rather, bland, her odd clothes aside. There was no hint of makeup, and no jewelry, not even simple designs. And she, while looking to be at least a few years old than Henrietta herself, couldn't be old enough to be a Ms.
"Because you're a young woman," Henrietta offered tentatively, still unsure what was bothering the strange woman.
"A?" She looked down, for the first time, staring at herself, as if realizing something for the first time. It was strange, watching her face contort into all sorts of weird expressions, from shock to surprise, to horror, to amazement, all in the span of a handful of seconds. Slowly, cautiously, as if Henrietta was watching someone who was about to do something they had been told repeatedly not to do, poked her chest. There was a pregnant pause before the deep breaths began. In and out. In and out. But this time, it didn't seem like it would be enough to suppress what was bubbling to the surface.
"I do not recall, at any point, in the history of ever," she ground out, teeth grinding against one another. "Asking for a mammary!" The last words came as a near shout, barely contained by a sense of restraint, even if Henrietta had no clue what the woman could have possibly meant by that. She had to be misremembering her words. Because otherwise, she had said something about not asking for breasts.
Which was an abnormal thing to say in any situation. Was she saying she wanted to be, flat? No, that didn't make sense either. The wording made it sound like.
Henrietta's mouth made a silent 'o'. She wasn't the best at magic, or the most researched, not like Louise was. But even she knew enough to know that couldn't possibly be the result of the Summoning Ritual. Couldn't, and yet, it was the only thing that could reasonably explain such a reaction. It seemed like she ended up being a failure on multiple fronts.
"Well, at least after that, things probably can't get much," the woman's voice cut off, giving Henrietta enough warning as her frame began to slump forwards, before teetering over completely. Agnes barely had enough time to arrest the woman's fall, as she fell unconscious.
Henrietta took a deep breath in, before exhaling. Make that four times a failure. She summoned a person, kidnapping them. She did, something, to their body that they never asked for, though Henrietta was unsure of what exactly that thing even was. Then the person she summoned passed out for no reason. And finally, she still hadn't had the good graces to ask for the woman's name! Henrietta wiped the tears that had begun to form in her eyes.
Given how everything magical she had tried had ended in nothing but failure tonight, there was one thing left for her to do. She slung the woman's arm over her shoulder, helping Agnes carry the weight. Her bodyguard send her a look, one she quashed with a glare just as potent.
Henrietta refused to let all of tonight be a failure, even if it meant turning to her less, dignified strengths.
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I'll get chapter 2 out after this one before returning to a modified update schedule.
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Feng Lengshun
Z-Program Researcher
- Location
- Indonesia
*threat
The changes to canon are interesting, it's a neat and tidy way of putting the characters in a place where they can affect some big changes (and don't think I don't see the resemblance with your Neptunia SI). I think the first scene was telling a bit too much things that's not immediately relevant, though. It would have been pretty fun to start with Void Henrietta and wonder how things went for Louise without the Void's issues.
I'll get that fixed.
Thank you! It's true, it might have, but I wanted to get the whole "what's happening with Louise" question answered, as I feel a few would be asking such a question.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Halkeginia.
Albionese.
Tristain.
FTFY.
This idea finally got its official start. Henrietta being the Void mage is an interesting twist on the story, even before the genderbender SI.
I'll get to correcting that when I get to a computer. And I'm pretty proud of the idea, if aghast to be the first person I'm aware of to publish such an idea.
Astoria
Digital Entity.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
mammaries, a singular mammary upon them would be some sort of uniboob.
"hoarse"
"familiar's"
I think "stance" should be "grip." The former describes how Agnes is standing, the latter how she's holding the sword.
Lowercase "s."
"mentally"
Also, you spelled Kirche's name as "Kirchie" several times in the first scene.
Chapter 2
Sneaking in the same way they snuck out was a challenge. Trying to hoist an unconscious person up a rope was not exactly safe, even at the best of times. Trying to do so without rousing any of the guards even more so. Henrietta hadn't thought that far ahead when it came to her plan. Yes, she never intended to summon a human, but she wanted to return with a familiar. So she should have had a plan to at least sneak, something, back into the Palace with her.
But she did not. And given how dragging an unconscious woman through the halls, especially if they got caught, would raise several pointed questions, including ones from her mother and Cardinal Mazarin? Stealth remained the better of the two choices.
Unfortunately, she was going to have to answer questions one way or another. Dragging a stranger in with her would require answers, given the situation at hand. But that was a problem for the future. She had to deal with where to put the woman. While it appeared she was willing to sleep just about anywhere, doing such simply wouldn't do. She couldn't put them with the maids. While there was no shortage of beds, it was clear on the other side of the Palace, and everyone would quickly find out about the young woman's presence come morning. One way or another.
That left her room, or Agnes's, as the safest place to keep her. And while Agnes had a decently sized bed, it wasn't big enough to fit two people. Not without, well. That.
Thankfully, Henrietta was able to calm down the blush on her face before she pulled herself through the window. There was a spare couch in Agnes's room. As much as she would prefer to keep an eye on the woman personally, Agnes would never let her share a room with a stranger. And she'd have everyone else agreeing with her assessment.
Now they just needed to get her to Agnes's room, turn in for the night, and explain everything in the morning. She helped Anges pick the woman back up for the last leg of the journey. Everything would be just fine.
"I was wondering when you would return, Princess," an all too familiar voice came from around the corner, causing Henrietta's blood to run cold. "You can't keep sneaking out like this. Especially this late at night. Even with your bodyguard."
Cardinal Mazarin came into view, making his way through the door. He appeared to be content to continue to lecture her, only for his eyes to fall on the woman held between the two of them. He paused, words in his mouth forgotten.
"Henrietta, who exactly is that?" His voice seemed softer than before as if the man was surprised. Henrietta shifted her feet. She had not planned on this. She had accounted for everything. Out and back in before anyone noticed, with one familiar as proof.
"My familiar," it was the truth, but she knew it wouldn't be that simple. Nobody had summoned a human before as a familiar. There would be pushback for making such a claim, no matter if it was true. This would be the first hurdle. The first real test.
She looked up into the face of the man she knew most of her life, if not nearly all of it. The face that was often so warm and gentle, was blank. For the first time in her life, Henrietta could not read Cardinal Mazarin's face.
"Your, familiar?" She couldn't make out the tone of his voice. "She has a Rune? Can I see it?"
"It's on her left hand," Henrietta said carefully, measuring her response. Something was wrong here. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end. She had never seen Cardinal Mazarin act like this. She watched as he slowly looked at the woman's left hand, the mark on her skin clear in the flickering candlelight.
A hand he dropped as if touching it burned him.
"Take her to one of your rooms," he said briskly, trying to hide something. He looked shaken, but by what? Henrietta looked at the woman's left hand. What was so important here? What was so important about the Rune that would cause Cardinal Mazarin to act like this? "Do not let anyone see her, as much as you can. I will need to speak with all three of you in the morning. Everyone has had a long day, and needs some rest."
His face softened slightly. "Please, try to make the most of it."
He turned around, vanishing out the door, almost as silently as he arrived.
Henrietta found herself forcing down a shutter. She hadn't expected that to be his reaction. Cautious trust, maybe, but this? It was as if he had discovered a terrible revelation.
But her familiar wasn't bad. Just, weird.
"I can keep her with me, Princess. If nobody is supposed to know she's here, then my room would be safer," it wasn't like Agnes was wrong. Even if it wouldn't be as comfortable for her familiar. If the maids didn't wake her up, her sister certainly would.
And her sister would never keep quiet about something like that.
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Cardinal Marazini did not take his advice. While he did head to his chambers, it was not to rest. Even if he knew he should. Even if he already knew the answer. The runes merely confirmed what he long suspected, nay, knew. But he had to check again, to make sure it wasn't his memory playing a trick on him. Even if he knew deep down, it would only serve to confirm his suspicions And his fears.
The mark was unmistakable. Gandalfr.
The Left Hand of God.
It meant one thing, and one thing alone. That Henrietta was an heir of the Void. And everything that entailed. He could no longer lie to himself. He had always suspected, but never looked deeper, fearing for the girl's safety. The first Void mage to appear since the days of the Founder? She would be in no small amount of danger, if such ever came to light. The Church would know the signs, and to have such confirmed from them, would come at a considerable price. The new Pope was young. Very young. And Cardnal Marazini had little idea of how he managed to reach such a position. But he could not do so without some sort of ace up his sleeve.
While he could have taken the position, if he so desired, he had a place here, in Tristian. Helping lead the nation until Crown Princess Minette was ready to sit on the throne was important, given to him by her late father. Keeping Princess Henrietta safe was also important to him, but now, the situation had changed.
Cardenal Marazini could no longer ignore the truth staring him in the face. Henrietta, if her powers as an heir of the void became known, would be in grave danger, from both threats internal and external. While Princess Henrietta was more than content on letting her younger sister take the throne, many, if her powers became known, would prefer to have her in the position as crown heir, if not replace her mother outright. Externally? The Church was clear and present. While in theory, they should try to protect and recognize a Void Mage when one emerged, Marazin knew that the Church had many faults. Ones that could result in them trying to deal with a threat to their power, on the Pope's orders, or otherwise.
Then there was Albion. While the nation was in the grips of civil conflict, the relationship between the island nation and Tristian had grown chilly in recent years. Even if it was largely behind the scenes, many nobles had sensed the shifting stance of the crown and had already begun to look for new allies. While the rebels could attack anyway, if the royals managed to win the day, he could imagine Prince Wales being rather incensed over what he had thrown away.
Gallia was the nation on Tristian's southern border, and one of it's largest neighbors. He had little clue how the nation would react to such news. King Joseph, while considered by some to be an utter fool, was in reality, a much smoother political operator than most realized. The nation was in the middle of its revolution. But rather than one of conflict, it was one of renewal. Social, economic, and political reforms abound, making great leaps in magical theory and technology.
Reforms Cardnel Marazini suspected could be put to use in Tristian as well, even if many nobles considered King Joseph to be an utter madman. But such a move would serve well in addressing the growing tensions in Tristian itself, should it come down to it. Though Marazini knew that such reforms would be heavily resisted. Between the nations of Germania and Gallia, it was Gallia that he would prefer to reach out for a political alliance. However, there was little in the way that Tristian could offer Gallia. There was little doubt in his mind that an agreement could be reached, but without a political marriage to bind things together, there was a risk that Gallia could just not defend Tristian.
It would be a dishonorable move, and King Joseph did not seem like the type, but it would always be something raised as an argument by some against such an alliance. Given how King Joseph only had a single daughter, one before the passing of his wife. While his brother, Charles de Orleans, who was still in the line of succession, had a pair of daughters. Twins, if he remembered correctly. It wouldn't be impossible if such a marriage wasn't between crown heirs, but it would be an extremely controversial one. So that wouldn't be an outcome until he had little other option.
The last of Tristian's immediate neighbors was Germania. The much larger nation had several conflicts along Tristian's northern border, usually with the Valliere family over the years. While many and Tristian considered their northern neighbor little more than barbarians, there was wisdom in not caring where a good idea came from. Merely that it was a good idea worthy of implementing. And yet, despite that, it had always rankled many Germanian Emperors over the years that their nation was never considered one of the Brimiric Kingdoms. And the one who sat on the throne presently was no expectation of that long-running trend.
Though the current Emperor was also married. However, his eldest son and heir were not, and the Germanian Emperor was more than willing to offer his son's hand in marriage to either of Tristian's Princesses. It was an unenviable position for him to be in. Henrietta was a void mage, and while she had largely been prepared for a political marriage most of her life, that simple fact changed things.
Henrietta was much too important to spend in a political marriage at this point, even if she or anyone else didn't know it yet. But it wasn't as if Minette was ready for something like that, either. She may have been the crown Princess, next in line for the throne, but the young girl was all of ten years old. Princess Minette still had several years of growing up to do.
In the end, he could only hope that the conflict would rage for some time to come. If the Royal family won out, in the end, there would be little to fear, at least for a few decades. If the rebels won, then their fleets would likely be crippled for at least a few years, if not longer. Meaning it would take time before they were willing to commit to an invasion. While the Royals were on the back foot, they were hardly out of the war. It was possible they could turn the conflict around.
But in the end, matters of foreign affairs could wait. Now there was a question, several questions, about Henrietta's new familiar. Where did she come from? How willing was she to protect Henrietta? Was she even capable of performing such a function, at least at a quality that compared to Agnes? Was he going to need to hide her? While few knew the runes of the Familiars of Brimir, precious few, in fact, but there was a handful, even outside the Church, who could acquire such knowledge. If they knew were to look. And while Marazini was certain that none resided in the Capital, much less the Palace, how much was he willing to risk Henrietta's safety?
Because if someone did manage to track Gandalfr back to Henrietta, as unlikely as such an event could be, it could prove a disaster.
For the first time in a long time, Cardinal Marazini felt the weight of his years crashing down upon his shoulders. Perhaps he should wait to see the young lady's character before he starts making plans of that nature. A glove would likely be obfuscation enough. It wasn't like most nobles even recognize Gandalfr, even if they saw it. Cardinal Marazini had time, it was time he could use to obfuscate the situation. For Henrietta's protection, she couldn't know the truth.
He was getting worried for nothing.
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This wasn't my apartment. The morning sun was too strong for that. The light poured through the windows, a foul and offensive thing.
It was safe to say, I was never, particularly a morning person. I only got up when the sun decided it was time to offend me, or when the screaming of the alarm clock forced me to deal with its baleful sounds.
Of course, that was largely secondary to a much larger problem. If this wasn't my apartment, then last night had not been a dream. Which was, not great. At all. It wasn't like I had rent, and bills to pay, a credit card payment coming up, and a whole lot of expensive cards ordered.
Then again, I looked down at my chest. Well, forwards, seeing as I was laying down on a couch, a sure sign of just how tired I was. If I had these, then who knew what else had changed about my physical appearance? And, well, that would make reclaiming my old identity considerably more difficult, now wouldn't it? Provided, there was, you know, a way back in the first place.
After all, the Princess had only promised that she'd ask this Cardnal Marazini fellow, not that he would have any answers. Damn specific wording, but what else was I supposed to do? My skills in foreign langue weren't good, if the Princess, who probably had quite a bit of experience in foreign languages, because, surprise, that'd be an important skill for someone of Royal status to have, then I wouldn't be talking with many other people. Hell, she didn't even call it English, so I had rolled impossible odds multiple times last night.
Either that, or there was magic afoot. And who am I kidding, there was magic already afoot. I raised my left hand, bringing it into my line of sight, staring at the mark now present. Runes of some sort, probably spelling, something, even if I had no idea what that something was. I could probably figure it out if I had enough time. Because clearly, something important was in play. Sure, real life didn't have anything to do with narrative tropes and themes, but the Princess did say that summoning a human was not supposed to happen. Or at least, hadn't happened before. Unless.
I groaned, putting my hands on my face. It was too early in the morning to even be considering crazy conspiracies, especially when I hardly had any information to go off of. But I was really not liking the mark. I thought this had been one of those "summon the hero to beat the Demon King" situations. If I knew it was a summon familiar, I would have kept my distance.
Thankfully, I didn't feel all that different, besides the whole, waking up in a strange new place in a magical world, thing. Oh, yeah, and I also can't forget that I also grew boobs. Because it wasn't as if Murphy decided to drop kick me in my now metaphorical balls hard enough already.
Grumbling, I propped myself up on the couch, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The room was, smaller, and considerably less lavish than I would have expected from a Princess. I'd been put up on the couch, so this wasn't a guest room either, as there was a bed over on one of the walls.
"Good, you're awake," the woman's voice was heavily accented, different from the Princess's. I turned my head, resisting the urge to recoil. In hindsight, I should have seen that coming. Rooming me with the Princess would have been a security risk. Sure, I had no intention of hurting anyone, but they didn't know that now did they? And it wasn't like me not having any weapons made it okay, either.
Now, did I like being around the person who was just last night pointing a sword in my face for a little damn reason? No. No, I was most certainly not. But the fact she could mess me up was, well, likely part of the reason. At least until they were certain I could be trusted.
"Good morning to you too," I grumbled, stretching out my back. I'd take the couch over the floor, but the couch wasn't meant for a person to spend an entire night on it. Thank goodness I was able to sleep like a log.
Agnes was already fully dressed, complete with her armor and sword. I eyed the weapon on her belt cautiously.
"I was going to have to get you up myself if you didn't wake up yourself," she said, before throwing a towel at me, one that I barely managed to catch. "Go clean up."
"Thank you for your hospitality," I mumbled, largely to myself, as I went in the direction Agnes was pointing in, leading to a washroom. I understood why. I hadn't taken a shower last night, for self-explaining reasons. And without that shower, I likely stunk. Bad.
Nice to know Agnes had some degree of tact.
As for the washroom itself? It was quaint. Not too big, but respectable all the same.
But one clear thing was that I was going to have to invent the shower. Because this place seemingly didn't have one. Or, at least, nothing I recognized as one.
How do showers work, exactly?
I turned slightly, finding what only could be a tubular metal cage, still somewhat damp. Was this the shower? I looked over the crank attached to another metal cylinder. Was this the water supply? Well, I suppose there is only one way to find out.
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It was, without a doubt, the worst experience with a shower I think I've ever had. But at least it was a shower. That was better than nothing.
Unlike my clothes. A shower was lucky, but for those, I doubt the washing machine would be invented for a few years now. Which meant I was going to have to clean those by hand.
Wearing those again was probably not a smart move. Serviceable, yes, but the shirt likely had sweat on it, as it'd been a long day at work, and it had overnight to ferment.
Which left the other clothes. Agnes had taken some further courtesy, or, I hope it was courtesy, and left some pants and shirts out.
It took a brief moment to assemble an outfit that wouldn't offend anyone's sensibilities. Thankfully, no skirts or dresses, meaning I wasn't going to get a crash course on how to sit with those. At least, not today.
I double-checked to make sure my hair was dry, before stepping out into the room. Agnes was still there, standing dutifully near the door. The Princess was sitting on one of the couches, waving at me slightly as I entered the room. I returned the welcome display, but my eyes turned to the man in the room.
He was old. Not old, old, but old enough. His hair had already begun to go Grey.
This had to be the Cardinal. If it wasn't then I'd eat the man's hat.
"Cardinal Mazarin, I presume?" I offered, placing my old clothes on a windowsill.
"Indeed, child," the old man smiled softly. "Please, do, have a seat. And wouldn't it be an assumption?"
"Well, you're old enough to be of that rank, no offense," I offered, sitting down slowly on the couch across from them. "That and Princess Henrietta mentioned you previously. Logically speaking, you being Cardinal Marazini is the most likely outcome."
"I see," the man nodded thoughtfully. I looked over toward the girl in question. There was a brief flash on her face that I could barely make out. Disappointment? "You are correct. I am indeed Cardinal Marazini."
"It is an honor to meet you then sir," I took a deep nod. Sure, I wasn't going to kneel, but I was going to be respectful, at minimum.
"Thank you," he said. "But before we continue, there is a little problem that needs to be taken care of."
He pulled out a wand, and waved it briefly, to no, real effect. "That should fix our little communication problem for the future."
His voice had gone from a faint accent to being clear as day English.
"A translation spell?" I muttered, mostly to myself. Why hadn't the Princess cast a similar spell? Was it simply a more advanced spell? Or did it have something to do with her summoning me? "Thank you. That is very kind of you."
"Indeed. Henrietta said you wanted to go home, correct?" My ears quickly perked up. This quickly?
"That is correct," I leaned forward, hoping for good news.
"There are reports throughout Halkegenia's history of objects, sometimes even people, being pulled to our world from another," he said, fingers crossed. "However, many of these are allegedly tied to astrological events, and if these go both ways, we have never seen any proof of such."
That was. News.
"So they're tied to things like solar and lunar eclipses," something that yes, did have patterns, but had a significant amount of time between them, and only occurred for a short while. "And you have no way of knowing if the door even opens from this side."
I scowled.
"I mean, a door can be busted down if one has enough strength, or if one simply uses a key they can unlock it," I thought out loud. The door was open when it transported the goods, meaning a two-way trip was hypothetically possible. Risky, but possible. And it wasn't like someone was going to know when a portal on Earth would open either, if it was tied to astrological events on this side.
Plus, Earth was a big place. Halkegenia probably was too. There were a lot of places a portal could appear. Of course, there was the problem of time. Was it desynchronized?
"Blunt, and perhaps inelegant, but that is true fornon-magicall doorways," Cardinal Marazini's words reminded me of the other factor in play. Magic. These portals or transports might have been even on ground level. Easily accessible. But rather, up in the sky. So unless an aircraft came over and someone maintained it, I might be out of luck anyway.
"Plus, it isn't a guarantee that those are linked to where I'm from, either," I said, shaking my head. Out of one frying pan and onto the stovetop. Or possibly the inferno. "I mean, if there are two worlds, why could there not be more?"
"That is, something I did not consider," Cardinal Marazini frowned, scratching his chin. "I will do some research on the matter, then. I'm busy, and don't think I can promise much, however."
"That's fine, Cardinal Marazini. I'm not going to ask for certainties for things completely out of your hands," I did my best to smile, despite everything. "The fact you're willing to help me means a lot."
"And then there was the thing you were talking about, with your, mammary," Henrietta spoke at last, stammering over the last word. Agnes, to her credit, had the poker face of a God, as Marazini gave me a strange look.
"Yes, the fact this isn't the body I had before I got summoned is going to be another complicating factor," I groaned, resting my hands against my face. "But that's only going to be a problem when I get to that bridge."
If I get there.
"Interesting," Cardinal Marazini gave me a hesitant look. "I've never heard of a spell that does something like that. Ones that can change one's appearance, maybe, but usually an illusion, and they aren't this, persistent. They're typically tied to magical artifacts as well."
"It might be the time of day. Usually, the Familiar Summoning Ritual happens during the day, or perhaps there is more to the spell than we know. It was devised by the Founder himself, after all," Cardinal Marazini said. Founder? That had to be a person of fairly important, if not religious significance. "On that note, I do have a request from you."
"Yes?" I asked cautiously.
"When you go out in public, please wear a pair of gloves at all times," his words were serious, but that was. Not a request I saw coming.
"Can I ask why?" It was a small thing to ask, but it had taken me off guard. "I understand it's a minor thing, but I'm curious as to why."
"That is because the rune on your hand is very similar to one of the Rune's found on one the Familiars of Brimir," Henrietta gasped, hands going to her mouth in shock. "Otherwise known as the Founder. While many Bishops would be able to realize, while close, others are less informed, and could attempt to hurt the Princess as a result."
"That's more than understandable, Cardinal Marazini. I'll do everything in my power to remember that," I nodded. Yeah, I wasn't wholly buying that excuse. Oh, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Marazini wasn't lying about how the Princess could be in danger. That made perfect sense, even if he wasn't lying.
But the rune on the back of my hand just so happened to look close enough to an important religious figure that it could be mistaken for the same one? Yeah, I'm internally calling that out. Externally? I had no proof other than vibes and the simple fact that sounded incredibly suspicious and deflective. Since this guy was clearly an important individual regardless of further context, I was going to keep my mouth shut until I had proof. Proof and enough contextual information to make a judgment call or not on whether or not the good Cardnal's caution was warranted.
"In the meanwhile, it would be best to come up with a disguise, or at least an explanation for your presence," Cardinal Marazini said. "A human familiar is not something I've heard of before, and it attracts unwanted attention either way. Unless there is someplace else you'd rather be?"
I paused at the option. The offer was clear. If I didn't want to stay, I didn't need to. However, that was not so straightforward. Sure, a translation spell was worth its weight in gold, especially if it stuck around. That would be helpful in finding a job. But staying? Sure, I certainly could find work, I've worked in the customer service industry. But this was at minimum a roof over my head, even if I didn't stay here in this room, likely food, and working for the royal family had to pay decently, likely better than any job I could find outside the palace.
Sure, the man had to know that simple fact, that logically, this was the safest play I could make. But the option to be illogical was, appreciated.
"Thank you, but I'd rather stay here as is," I said. Facing facts, I wasn't exactly in a position where I wanted to take risks. I could scarcely say I was, pleased with things, but it wasn't like that would change either. I was stuck, and staying put was the safest option. And it had the most concentration of resources in helping me get back home. Henrietta smiled, leaping across from one coach onto me, as Cardinal Marazini shook his head, though he had a slight grin on his face.
"I could try for one of the guards," I said, not bothering to resist Henrietta. "Or failing that, one of the servants around the palace. Both would give me excuses to be close."
"An excellent idea!" Cardinal Marazini smiled, standing up. "I will take my leave. I'm sure you'll be able to sort things out between the three of you."
Agnes opened the door for him, and she grinned, an expression that sent chills down my spine. "I should be able to evaluate if you're up to the task of being a guard."
My body was going to be a bruise by the end of the day, wasn't it?
But she did not. And given how dragging an unconscious woman through the halls, especially if they got caught, would raise several pointed questions, including ones from her mother and Cardinal Mazarin? Stealth remained the better of the two choices.
Unfortunately, she was going to have to answer questions one way or another. Dragging a stranger in with her would require answers, given the situation at hand. But that was a problem for the future. She had to deal with where to put the woman. While it appeared she was willing to sleep just about anywhere, doing such simply wouldn't do. She couldn't put them with the maids. While there was no shortage of beds, it was clear on the other side of the Palace, and everyone would quickly find out about the young woman's presence come morning. One way or another.
That left her room, or Agnes's, as the safest place to keep her. And while Agnes had a decently sized bed, it wasn't big enough to fit two people. Not without, well. That.
Thankfully, Henrietta was able to calm down the blush on her face before she pulled herself through the window. There was a spare couch in Agnes's room. As much as she would prefer to keep an eye on the woman personally, Agnes would never let her share a room with a stranger. And she'd have everyone else agreeing with her assessment.
Now they just needed to get her to Agnes's room, turn in for the night, and explain everything in the morning. She helped Anges pick the woman back up for the last leg of the journey. Everything would be just fine.
"I was wondering when you would return, Princess," an all too familiar voice came from around the corner, causing Henrietta's blood to run cold. "You can't keep sneaking out like this. Especially this late at night. Even with your bodyguard."
Cardinal Mazarin came into view, making his way through the door. He appeared to be content to continue to lecture her, only for his eyes to fall on the woman held between the two of them. He paused, words in his mouth forgotten.
"Henrietta, who exactly is that?" His voice seemed softer than before as if the man was surprised. Henrietta shifted her feet. She had not planned on this. She had accounted for everything. Out and back in before anyone noticed, with one familiar as proof.
"My familiar," it was the truth, but she knew it wouldn't be that simple. Nobody had summoned a human before as a familiar. There would be pushback for making such a claim, no matter if it was true. This would be the first hurdle. The first real test.
She looked up into the face of the man she knew most of her life, if not nearly all of it. The face that was often so warm and gentle, was blank. For the first time in her life, Henrietta could not read Cardinal Mazarin's face.
"Your, familiar?" She couldn't make out the tone of his voice. "She has a Rune? Can I see it?"
"It's on her left hand," Henrietta said carefully, measuring her response. Something was wrong here. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end. She had never seen Cardinal Mazarin act like this. She watched as he slowly looked at the woman's left hand, the mark on her skin clear in the flickering candlelight.
A hand he dropped as if touching it burned him.
"Take her to one of your rooms," he said briskly, trying to hide something. He looked shaken, but by what? Henrietta looked at the woman's left hand. What was so important here? What was so important about the Rune that would cause Cardinal Mazarin to act like this? "Do not let anyone see her, as much as you can. I will need to speak with all three of you in the morning. Everyone has had a long day, and needs some rest."
His face softened slightly. "Please, try to make the most of it."
He turned around, vanishing out the door, almost as silently as he arrived.
Henrietta found herself forcing down a shutter. She hadn't expected that to be his reaction. Cautious trust, maybe, but this? It was as if he had discovered a terrible revelation.
But her familiar wasn't bad. Just, weird.
"I can keep her with me, Princess. If nobody is supposed to know she's here, then my room would be safer," it wasn't like Agnes was wrong. Even if it wouldn't be as comfortable for her familiar. If the maids didn't wake her up, her sister certainly would.
And her sister would never keep quiet about something like that.
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Cardinal Marazini did not take his advice. While he did head to his chambers, it was not to rest. Even if he knew he should. Even if he already knew the answer. The runes merely confirmed what he long suspected, nay, knew. But he had to check again, to make sure it wasn't his memory playing a trick on him. Even if he knew deep down, it would only serve to confirm his suspicions And his fears.
The mark was unmistakable. Gandalfr.
The Left Hand of God.
It meant one thing, and one thing alone. That Henrietta was an heir of the Void. And everything that entailed. He could no longer lie to himself. He had always suspected, but never looked deeper, fearing for the girl's safety. The first Void mage to appear since the days of the Founder? She would be in no small amount of danger, if such ever came to light. The Church would know the signs, and to have such confirmed from them, would come at a considerable price. The new Pope was young. Very young. And Cardnal Marazini had little idea of how he managed to reach such a position. But he could not do so without some sort of ace up his sleeve.
While he could have taken the position, if he so desired, he had a place here, in Tristian. Helping lead the nation until Crown Princess Minette was ready to sit on the throne was important, given to him by her late father. Keeping Princess Henrietta safe was also important to him, but now, the situation had changed.
Cardenal Marazini could no longer ignore the truth staring him in the face. Henrietta, if her powers as an heir of the void became known, would be in grave danger, from both threats internal and external. While Princess Henrietta was more than content on letting her younger sister take the throne, many, if her powers became known, would prefer to have her in the position as crown heir, if not replace her mother outright. Externally? The Church was clear and present. While in theory, they should try to protect and recognize a Void Mage when one emerged, Marazin knew that the Church had many faults. Ones that could result in them trying to deal with a threat to their power, on the Pope's orders, or otherwise.
Then there was Albion. While the nation was in the grips of civil conflict, the relationship between the island nation and Tristian had grown chilly in recent years. Even if it was largely behind the scenes, many nobles had sensed the shifting stance of the crown and had already begun to look for new allies. While the rebels could attack anyway, if the royals managed to win the day, he could imagine Prince Wales being rather incensed over what he had thrown away.
Gallia was the nation on Tristian's southern border, and one of it's largest neighbors. He had little clue how the nation would react to such news. King Joseph, while considered by some to be an utter fool, was in reality, a much smoother political operator than most realized. The nation was in the middle of its revolution. But rather than one of conflict, it was one of renewal. Social, economic, and political reforms abound, making great leaps in magical theory and technology.
Reforms Cardnel Marazini suspected could be put to use in Tristian as well, even if many nobles considered King Joseph to be an utter madman. But such a move would serve well in addressing the growing tensions in Tristian itself, should it come down to it. Though Marazini knew that such reforms would be heavily resisted. Between the nations of Germania and Gallia, it was Gallia that he would prefer to reach out for a political alliance. However, there was little in the way that Tristian could offer Gallia. There was little doubt in his mind that an agreement could be reached, but without a political marriage to bind things together, there was a risk that Gallia could just not defend Tristian.
It would be a dishonorable move, and King Joseph did not seem like the type, but it would always be something raised as an argument by some against such an alliance. Given how King Joseph only had a single daughter, one before the passing of his wife. While his brother, Charles de Orleans, who was still in the line of succession, had a pair of daughters. Twins, if he remembered correctly. It wouldn't be impossible if such a marriage wasn't between crown heirs, but it would be an extremely controversial one. So that wouldn't be an outcome until he had little other option.
The last of Tristian's immediate neighbors was Germania. The much larger nation had several conflicts along Tristian's northern border, usually with the Valliere family over the years. While many and Tristian considered their northern neighbor little more than barbarians, there was wisdom in not caring where a good idea came from. Merely that it was a good idea worthy of implementing. And yet, despite that, it had always rankled many Germanian Emperors over the years that their nation was never considered one of the Brimiric Kingdoms. And the one who sat on the throne presently was no expectation of that long-running trend.
Though the current Emperor was also married. However, his eldest son and heir were not, and the Germanian Emperor was more than willing to offer his son's hand in marriage to either of Tristian's Princesses. It was an unenviable position for him to be in. Henrietta was a void mage, and while she had largely been prepared for a political marriage most of her life, that simple fact changed things.
Henrietta was much too important to spend in a political marriage at this point, even if she or anyone else didn't know it yet. But it wasn't as if Minette was ready for something like that, either. She may have been the crown Princess, next in line for the throne, but the young girl was all of ten years old. Princess Minette still had several years of growing up to do.
In the end, he could only hope that the conflict would rage for some time to come. If the Royal family won out, in the end, there would be little to fear, at least for a few decades. If the rebels won, then their fleets would likely be crippled for at least a few years, if not longer. Meaning it would take time before they were willing to commit to an invasion. While the Royals were on the back foot, they were hardly out of the war. It was possible they could turn the conflict around.
But in the end, matters of foreign affairs could wait. Now there was a question, several questions, about Henrietta's new familiar. Where did she come from? How willing was she to protect Henrietta? Was she even capable of performing such a function, at least at a quality that compared to Agnes? Was he going to need to hide her? While few knew the runes of the Familiars of Brimir, precious few, in fact, but there was a handful, even outside the Church, who could acquire such knowledge. If they knew were to look. And while Marazini was certain that none resided in the Capital, much less the Palace, how much was he willing to risk Henrietta's safety?
Because if someone did manage to track Gandalfr back to Henrietta, as unlikely as such an event could be, it could prove a disaster.
For the first time in a long time, Cardinal Marazini felt the weight of his years crashing down upon his shoulders. Perhaps he should wait to see the young lady's character before he starts making plans of that nature. A glove would likely be obfuscation enough. It wasn't like most nobles even recognize Gandalfr, even if they saw it. Cardinal Marazini had time, it was time he could use to obfuscate the situation. For Henrietta's protection, she couldn't know the truth.
He was getting worried for nothing.
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This wasn't my apartment. The morning sun was too strong for that. The light poured through the windows, a foul and offensive thing.
It was safe to say, I was never, particularly a morning person. I only got up when the sun decided it was time to offend me, or when the screaming of the alarm clock forced me to deal with its baleful sounds.
Of course, that was largely secondary to a much larger problem. If this wasn't my apartment, then last night had not been a dream. Which was, not great. At all. It wasn't like I had rent, and bills to pay, a credit card payment coming up, and a whole lot of expensive cards ordered.
Then again, I looked down at my chest. Well, forwards, seeing as I was laying down on a couch, a sure sign of just how tired I was. If I had these, then who knew what else had changed about my physical appearance? And, well, that would make reclaiming my old identity considerably more difficult, now wouldn't it? Provided, there was, you know, a way back in the first place.
After all, the Princess had only promised that she'd ask this Cardnal Marazini fellow, not that he would have any answers. Damn specific wording, but what else was I supposed to do? My skills in foreign langue weren't good, if the Princess, who probably had quite a bit of experience in foreign languages, because, surprise, that'd be an important skill for someone of Royal status to have, then I wouldn't be talking with many other people. Hell, she didn't even call it English, so I had rolled impossible odds multiple times last night.
Either that, or there was magic afoot. And who am I kidding, there was magic already afoot. I raised my left hand, bringing it into my line of sight, staring at the mark now present. Runes of some sort, probably spelling, something, even if I had no idea what that something was. I could probably figure it out if I had enough time. Because clearly, something important was in play. Sure, real life didn't have anything to do with narrative tropes and themes, but the Princess did say that summoning a human was not supposed to happen. Or at least, hadn't happened before. Unless.
I groaned, putting my hands on my face. It was too early in the morning to even be considering crazy conspiracies, especially when I hardly had any information to go off of. But I was really not liking the mark. I thought this had been one of those "summon the hero to beat the Demon King" situations. If I knew it was a summon familiar, I would have kept my distance.
Thankfully, I didn't feel all that different, besides the whole, waking up in a strange new place in a magical world, thing. Oh, yeah, and I also can't forget that I also grew boobs. Because it wasn't as if Murphy decided to drop kick me in my now metaphorical balls hard enough already.
Grumbling, I propped myself up on the couch, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The room was, smaller, and considerably less lavish than I would have expected from a Princess. I'd been put up on the couch, so this wasn't a guest room either, as there was a bed over on one of the walls.
"Good, you're awake," the woman's voice was heavily accented, different from the Princess's. I turned my head, resisting the urge to recoil. In hindsight, I should have seen that coming. Rooming me with the Princess would have been a security risk. Sure, I had no intention of hurting anyone, but they didn't know that now did they? And it wasn't like me not having any weapons made it okay, either.
Now, did I like being around the person who was just last night pointing a sword in my face for a little damn reason? No. No, I was most certainly not. But the fact she could mess me up was, well, likely part of the reason. At least until they were certain I could be trusted.
"Good morning to you too," I grumbled, stretching out my back. I'd take the couch over the floor, but the couch wasn't meant for a person to spend an entire night on it. Thank goodness I was able to sleep like a log.
Agnes was already fully dressed, complete with her armor and sword. I eyed the weapon on her belt cautiously.
"I was going to have to get you up myself if you didn't wake up yourself," she said, before throwing a towel at me, one that I barely managed to catch. "Go clean up."
"Thank you for your hospitality," I mumbled, largely to myself, as I went in the direction Agnes was pointing in, leading to a washroom. I understood why. I hadn't taken a shower last night, for self-explaining reasons. And without that shower, I likely stunk. Bad.
Nice to know Agnes had some degree of tact.
As for the washroom itself? It was quaint. Not too big, but respectable all the same.
But one clear thing was that I was going to have to invent the shower. Because this place seemingly didn't have one. Or, at least, nothing I recognized as one.
How do showers work, exactly?
I turned slightly, finding what only could be a tubular metal cage, still somewhat damp. Was this the shower? I looked over the crank attached to another metal cylinder. Was this the water supply? Well, I suppose there is only one way to find out.
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It was, without a doubt, the worst experience with a shower I think I've ever had. But at least it was a shower. That was better than nothing.
Unlike my clothes. A shower was lucky, but for those, I doubt the washing machine would be invented for a few years now. Which meant I was going to have to clean those by hand.
Wearing those again was probably not a smart move. Serviceable, yes, but the shirt likely had sweat on it, as it'd been a long day at work, and it had overnight to ferment.
Which left the other clothes. Agnes had taken some further courtesy, or, I hope it was courtesy, and left some pants and shirts out.
It took a brief moment to assemble an outfit that wouldn't offend anyone's sensibilities. Thankfully, no skirts or dresses, meaning I wasn't going to get a crash course on how to sit with those. At least, not today.
I double-checked to make sure my hair was dry, before stepping out into the room. Agnes was still there, standing dutifully near the door. The Princess was sitting on one of the couches, waving at me slightly as I entered the room. I returned the welcome display, but my eyes turned to the man in the room.
He was old. Not old, old, but old enough. His hair had already begun to go Grey.
This had to be the Cardinal. If it wasn't then I'd eat the man's hat.
"Cardinal Mazarin, I presume?" I offered, placing my old clothes on a windowsill.
"Indeed, child," the old man smiled softly. "Please, do, have a seat. And wouldn't it be an assumption?"
"Well, you're old enough to be of that rank, no offense," I offered, sitting down slowly on the couch across from them. "That and Princess Henrietta mentioned you previously. Logically speaking, you being Cardinal Marazini is the most likely outcome."
"I see," the man nodded thoughtfully. I looked over toward the girl in question. There was a brief flash on her face that I could barely make out. Disappointment? "You are correct. I am indeed Cardinal Marazini."
"It is an honor to meet you then sir," I took a deep nod. Sure, I wasn't going to kneel, but I was going to be respectful, at minimum.
"Thank you," he said. "But before we continue, there is a little problem that needs to be taken care of."
He pulled out a wand, and waved it briefly, to no, real effect. "That should fix our little communication problem for the future."
His voice had gone from a faint accent to being clear as day English.
"A translation spell?" I muttered, mostly to myself. Why hadn't the Princess cast a similar spell? Was it simply a more advanced spell? Or did it have something to do with her summoning me? "Thank you. That is very kind of you."
"Indeed. Henrietta said you wanted to go home, correct?" My ears quickly perked up. This quickly?
"That is correct," I leaned forward, hoping for good news.
"There are reports throughout Halkegenia's history of objects, sometimes even people, being pulled to our world from another," he said, fingers crossed. "However, many of these are allegedly tied to astrological events, and if these go both ways, we have never seen any proof of such."
That was. News.
"So they're tied to things like solar and lunar eclipses," something that yes, did have patterns, but had a significant amount of time between them, and only occurred for a short while. "And you have no way of knowing if the door even opens from this side."
I scowled.
"I mean, a door can be busted down if one has enough strength, or if one simply uses a key they can unlock it," I thought out loud. The door was open when it transported the goods, meaning a two-way trip was hypothetically possible. Risky, but possible. And it wasn't like someone was going to know when a portal on Earth would open either, if it was tied to astrological events on this side.
Plus, Earth was a big place. Halkegenia probably was too. There were a lot of places a portal could appear. Of course, there was the problem of time. Was it desynchronized?
"Blunt, and perhaps inelegant, but that is true fornon-magicall doorways," Cardinal Marazini's words reminded me of the other factor in play. Magic. These portals or transports might have been even on ground level. Easily accessible. But rather, up in the sky. So unless an aircraft came over and someone maintained it, I might be out of luck anyway.
"Plus, it isn't a guarantee that those are linked to where I'm from, either," I said, shaking my head. Out of one frying pan and onto the stovetop. Or possibly the inferno. "I mean, if there are two worlds, why could there not be more?"
"That is, something I did not consider," Cardinal Marazini frowned, scratching his chin. "I will do some research on the matter, then. I'm busy, and don't think I can promise much, however."
"That's fine, Cardinal Marazini. I'm not going to ask for certainties for things completely out of your hands," I did my best to smile, despite everything. "The fact you're willing to help me means a lot."
"And then there was the thing you were talking about, with your, mammary," Henrietta spoke at last, stammering over the last word. Agnes, to her credit, had the poker face of a God, as Marazini gave me a strange look.
"Yes, the fact this isn't the body I had before I got summoned is going to be another complicating factor," I groaned, resting my hands against my face. "But that's only going to be a problem when I get to that bridge."
If I get there.
"Interesting," Cardinal Marazini gave me a hesitant look. "I've never heard of a spell that does something like that. Ones that can change one's appearance, maybe, but usually an illusion, and they aren't this, persistent. They're typically tied to magical artifacts as well."
"It might be the time of day. Usually, the Familiar Summoning Ritual happens during the day, or perhaps there is more to the spell than we know. It was devised by the Founder himself, after all," Cardinal Marazini said. Founder? That had to be a person of fairly important, if not religious significance. "On that note, I do have a request from you."
"Yes?" I asked cautiously.
"When you go out in public, please wear a pair of gloves at all times," his words were serious, but that was. Not a request I saw coming.
"Can I ask why?" It was a small thing to ask, but it had taken me off guard. "I understand it's a minor thing, but I'm curious as to why."
"That is because the rune on your hand is very similar to one of the Rune's found on one the Familiars of Brimir," Henrietta gasped, hands going to her mouth in shock. "Otherwise known as the Founder. While many Bishops would be able to realize, while close, others are less informed, and could attempt to hurt the Princess as a result."
"That's more than understandable, Cardinal Marazini. I'll do everything in my power to remember that," I nodded. Yeah, I wasn't wholly buying that excuse. Oh, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Marazini wasn't lying about how the Princess could be in danger. That made perfect sense, even if he wasn't lying.
But the rune on the back of my hand just so happened to look close enough to an important religious figure that it could be mistaken for the same one? Yeah, I'm internally calling that out. Externally? I had no proof other than vibes and the simple fact that sounded incredibly suspicious and deflective. Since this guy was clearly an important individual regardless of further context, I was going to keep my mouth shut until I had proof. Proof and enough contextual information to make a judgment call or not on whether or not the good Cardnal's caution was warranted.
"In the meanwhile, it would be best to come up with a disguise, or at least an explanation for your presence," Cardinal Marazini said. "A human familiar is not something I've heard of before, and it attracts unwanted attention either way. Unless there is someplace else you'd rather be?"
I paused at the option. The offer was clear. If I didn't want to stay, I didn't need to. However, that was not so straightforward. Sure, a translation spell was worth its weight in gold, especially if it stuck around. That would be helpful in finding a job. But staying? Sure, I certainly could find work, I've worked in the customer service industry. But this was at minimum a roof over my head, even if I didn't stay here in this room, likely food, and working for the royal family had to pay decently, likely better than any job I could find outside the palace.
Sure, the man had to know that simple fact, that logically, this was the safest play I could make. But the option to be illogical was, appreciated.
"Thank you, but I'd rather stay here as is," I said. Facing facts, I wasn't exactly in a position where I wanted to take risks. I could scarcely say I was, pleased with things, but it wasn't like that would change either. I was stuck, and staying put was the safest option. And it had the most concentration of resources in helping me get back home. Henrietta smiled, leaping across from one coach onto me, as Cardinal Marazini shook his head, though he had a slight grin on his face.
"I could try for one of the guards," I said, not bothering to resist Henrietta. "Or failing that, one of the servants around the palace. Both would give me excuses to be close."
"An excellent idea!" Cardinal Marazini smiled, standing up. "I will take my leave. I'm sure you'll be able to sort things out between the three of you."
Agnes opened the door for him, and she grinned, an expression that sent chills down my spine. "I should be able to evaluate if you're up to the task of being a guard."
My body was going to be a bruise by the end of the day, wasn't it?
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Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
"Princess, are you having a tryst, or are you trying to hide a body?"
He knows what this means.
Wait, what?
Well, it makes sense. Since Henrietta can't use magic, they'd need another heir.
You could say you woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling.
Does being summoned to another world count as tax evasion?
No Demon King, just a Mad King. And you did get a cheat ability.
Boing boing.
Yeah, be happy you ended in a place that actually has a shower.
"After surviving being isekaid to another world, I was isekaid to another time on my world!"
It's funny cause you're right.
It's not like you'd even know where to go.
You can still run. Or jump out the window.'
Also, it is 'Tristain' and 'Cardinal Mazarin'.
"for non-magical" In the absence of dialogue tags, the punctuation after "doorways," should be a period unless the Cardinal hadn't finished the sentence.
"might not have been" Missing word.
Also, do I detect foreshadowing of the Dragon's Raiment?
In modern French, that would be "d'Orleans." I'm not sure when that particular quirk entered the language though I expect it started with people verbally slurring the "de" and the "Orleans (or other noun starting with a vowel)" together and eventually, people just started writing it the way it sounds.
Also, a) Joseph's brother is alive? and b) people know about Tabitha's twin sister (who presumably wasn't packed off to a convent)? There's a couple of major AU elements right there. I'm guessing that Tabitha's mom didn't have her mind destroyed by taking a potion meant for the daughter. I suppose that would also mean that the girl is using her real name (Charlotte) rather than the name of her doll. Is she even attending the Tristain Academy?
"couch"
Also, you've been inconsistent with the spelling of the cardinal's last name. It seems to switch randomly between "Mazarin" and "Mazarini." Now, his historical counterpart was born Giulio Mazarini but used the French version of his name, Jules Mazarin, after he started working for Cardinal Richelieu. You need to either pick a spelling and stick to it or you could have him thinking of himself by the Italian, excuse me, Romalian, version of his name, but everyone around him thinks of him by the French, ah, Gallian, version. Yes, I know they're in Tristain, but given all the Tristainian nobles with French names, it would make sense if Gallian was the court language regardless of what language the Tristainian commoners speak.
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Sadly, my Grammarly has been a bit, off recently. I'm trying to get a fix it fixed, and take extra care in the meantime, while trying to find a Beta reader in the process.
Yes, he's still around. Tabitha, while she did have a twin sister in canon, she was mostly a minor side character. In canon, I'm pretty sure the girl that you're thinking about is Joseph's daughter. The anime may have tweaked some things as Isabella ended up inheriting her Father's void magic after his death in the Light Novel. Tabitha's lack of presence is a bit more apparent if you read the initial snippet I had for this story, which directly references her presence, while in the final draft, no such indication from Kirche's dialogue exists.
As far as I've been able to tell, Marazin is the most common translation used, even in the translated light novel that I found. But I've heard Marazini is the more accurate translation of his name. I'll probably commit to Marazini, even if Marazin is what I'm used too.
That's MaZarRin(i), "z" before the "r." As noted, whether it's Mazarin or Mazarini depends on if you're using the Italian (Romalian) or French (Gallian) version of the name. The historical version used both at different times.
Also, Josette, Tabitha's twin, is the one who inherited the Void when Joseph died even in the light novels. Joseph's daughter is mostly notable for being in charge of the Knights of the Northern Parterre.
Also, Josette, Tabitha's twin, is the one who inherited the Void when Joseph died even in the light novels. Joseph's daughter is mostly notable for being in charge of the Knights of the Northern Parterre.
Chapter 3
"Catch," was all the warning I got. I managed to grab the wooden sword by the hilt before it collided with my face. We were somewhere on the castle grounds. It was fairly small, in comparison to what I'd seen so far. That wasn't saying much, though, as there were several large trees around us, almost a wooded sanctuary built into the Palace itself.
Several weapon racks lined an inner perimeter, somewhat hidden. Most of the weapons were constructed of wood, but a few had metal ends. Surrounded by the tallest trees, was a dirt circle, standing out against the grass.
For the moment, it was just Agnes and myself. Henrietta, Princess Henrietta, I mentally corrected, had broken off to do something.
I took a few practice swings with the sword, keeping it in a firm, two-handed grip. A few basic sets of swings. Oh, I was years out of practice. And that implied I was particularly practiced to start with.
"Your feet are too close together," Agnes spoke, keeping her respective training sword in a loose, one-handed grip. I shifted my feet, spreading them out more as I took another swing at the air.
"Thank you," I simply said, as Agnes continued to observe me. One might criticize me for showing off in front of the person I was about to fight, but wasn't the skill gap obvious? The amount of time I've spent holding a wooden sword, much less a real one, could probably count in a single day, into a second if I was feeling generous. And what little practice I had was coated in nearly a half-decade of rust and grime.
When I had thrown the offers out, I was spitballing. Throwing out suggestions and finding what stuck. And it wasn't like I was anymore or less qualified to be a maid, or butler either. What was my closest equivalent to that line of work? Working as a grocery store sacker? Outside of faking basic niceties, there weren't much of a lot of transferable skills on that front.
But I might as well try. I wasn't counting on much, but the Runes on the back of my hand might do something. They had to be there for a reason. Yeah, yeah, it's real life, but it didn't need to be about narrative tropes. This was a sign of something. A human being the result of a summoning ritual sounded rare. Not as rare as the good Cardinal wanted us to think it was, but rare enough that he was able to get everyone to believe that this was a first-time-in-history sort of deal.
That was something to look into. Later.
Did this translation spell allow me to read, by any chance? I was going to have to test that one out for myself. Reading was pretty fun for me, and there was only so much you could learn about a place and why it was the way it was just by talking to people. Sometimes people just didn't know the answer through no fault of their own.
"Sorry, I'm late. I wanted to slip into something a little more appropriate," I turned to look at the source of the voice, before blinking. It was practically a suit of armor missing all but the helmet.
"Isn't that uncomfortable? I asked, taken by surprise. And shouldn't it have made a whole lot more noise as well? How was she able to keep quiet until she was right on top of us?
"Not really," Henrietta blushed slightly. "I'm used to it is all."
Used to it. Right. Add Henrietta to the list of people I'm never going to arm wrestle. Suddenly, a gleam appeared in the young woman's eye.
"I'm so sorry, but we haven't asked you what your name is yet!" Henrietta said. "We should correct this at once!"
That was a fair point. An oversight to be sure, but given the chaos, it wasn't like there had been a whole lot of time to devote to basic pleasantries. I went to open my mouth but paused.
My name was very much a guy's name. It wasn't one of those unisex names, and I was regretting my parent's choice of conventions, no matter how proud of it I was. Going by that name would draw attention, especially if I wasn't disguising myself as a guy.
"What? You don't have names where you're from?" I sent Agnes a glare. I already knew I was in for a physical beating when it came from her. I didn't need any further help in developing a grudge against someone who was one way or another, a possible coworker.
"No, it's just that calling me by my name going to draw a lot of unwanted attention. It's not a name that can be applied to either," I scowled. I mean, a female version of my name, was that even possible? I mean, Isabella was close, but Issac was closer to being the male version of that name than mine was.
"Well, we can't just call you nothing at all," Henrietta pouted. "It's disrespectful."
"Besides it can't be that bad," Agnes shrugged, my glare passing over her like water on a rock.
I rolled my eyes, telling them. They both stared back, giving me a confused look.
"That'd be a strange name, even if you were a guy," Agnes responded first, somewhat amused.
"Agnes!" Henrietta sounded aghast at the comment, even though I could tell she was judging.
"It's traditional Irish," I crossed my arms, doing my best not to huff in frustration. Of course, they didn't have Ireland here in this world, even if Henrietta was a name that faintly tickled at the back of my mind, like a scratch that I couldn't quite itch. "Can we just, put a pin in it for the time being? I'll try and come up with something in the meantime."
I didn't like having to toss my name aside, but at the moment, it was best that this whole from another-world business be kept to as few people as possible. For pragmatism's sake.
"Fine. Let's just get this over with" Agnes said, taking a few steps into the dirt circle. I mimicked her, keeping an even spacing. Henrietta let out a small little sigh of, was it envy, before stepping near the edge of the circle.
"The first to three hits wins," she paused for a moment. "And don't try to hurt each other too badly."
I had a feeling Agnes was the target for that remark.
"Begin!"
Agnes didn't waste a single second, closing the distance and thrusting forward. I parried, barely, deflecting the blow away before it could connect, before swiping with my sword, hitting nothing but air.
I barely managed to dodge the follow-up, the blade cutting through the air, missing by mere centimeters. Agnes gave me no tip to recover, forcing me on the defensive with a brutal series of thrusts, each clack of wood on wood sending tremors up my arms as I was already struggling to keep my guard up.
I pushed forward, trying to interrupt the attacks with a horizontal slash, one Agnes easily blocked. Despite me being able to leverage both my arms with my grip, Agnes was able to keep my weapon locked in place with only one of hers.
"You haven't dropped your sword yet," Agnes spoke as if she wasn't in a sword fight at all. Was she even sweating? "That's a better showing than I thought I'd get."
I felt anger begin to boil up inside me. Agnes was playing with me. This wasn't a fight, not for her. This was a joke, not even a warm-up for her. I wasn't being taken with any degree of seriousness at all.
Which is why I forced down that anger, smothering it. Agnes was trying to get a rise out of me. I was already out-skilled, understrength, and outsmarted when it came to the blade. Getting mad would just make me reckless, causing me to make more mistakes than I already was.
"Thanks! I'm doing better than I thought I would, too," I tried to smile back, before letting out a gasp of pain as Agnes's fist drove into my gut. Her sword came down on my shoulder, a light tap in comparison.
"Don't talk unless you have a plan," Agnes criticized, going back into a casual fighting stance. I scowled, moving my hand away from where she punched me. The pain was starting to dull already, but there was no doubt in my mind it was going to bruise.
I just needed to stay calm. That's the only way I had even a ghost of a chance. Quite frankly, I'd consider it a win if I managed to score a single hit by the time she got to three. And she already had one point.
I took a fighting stance, sword held tightly in my hands. Just one point. That's all I'd be happy with. Just a single one.
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Everywhere hurt. Sweat ran down my face, getting into my eyes, the salt causing pain. I just wanted to land a single hit. But I hadn't even managed to touch the slightest bit of her clothes.
I shouldn't be surprised by the poor performance, but it still stung anyway. I knew Agnes beat me out in experience, but the gulf between us was a chasm.
"Not the worst performance I've ever seen," Agnes said critically. "But also far from even a low standard."
"You have some form of training, but it's clearly both something you never practiced much, and you practiced too long ago for anything beyond the barest basics to stick. Your stance is inconsistent, you telegram your swings too much, and you overextend your reach the majority of the time, leaving yourself open. Your entire style, and calling it such is me being generous, can be described as leaving yourself open," Agnes scowled, the message being sent loud and clear.
"And still not the worst display you've ever seen?" I did my best to take Agnes's words in stride. It wasn't like she was wrong. I had little idea how to fight with a sword, and she had been toying with me the whole time. If I were to join any guard group, I'd need to know how to fight. Guarding the Princess, or the royal family in general, was a position that demanded skill and competence in equal measure.
Not to mention loyalty. How many Roman Emperors had lost their thrones to backstabbing ambitious guards?
"That is not saying much," Agnes replied tersely. Not exactly. All it meant is she ran into people who were somehow less capable than I was. Which, given that humans could be humans, wasn't saying a whole lot.
"I was more expecting stories, actually," I shrugged, stretching out my body as it groaned in protest.
"No," she said simply, placing her wooden weapon back on the training rack. "Now ten laps around the path. The entire path."
My muscles let their protest to such an order be known, but I could barely stop the grin from growing on my face. A run? I did those just about every day. Sure two miles wasn't a whole lot, but it helped keep me active. Meaning this was something I could succeed at.
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Sweat poured down my face as the sun continued to bombard me with its oppressive rays of heat. I was still making good time, at least I thought I was. Not much worse than how fast I usually ran, at least.
But I was going to need water sooner or later. Anything to keep me hydrated would be greatly appreciated right now. Something besides my sweat. I didn't need any more salt in my system.
I kept a good, constant pace as I came around the bend, feet aching. It felt good to run the stress out, even if I didn't have any good running shoes on. Sure, I'd managed to trade my shoes for something that would take the hits better, but I was used to running shoes.
But alas packing my bags hadn't exactly been an option. Nor was how far I could run comfortably the real point. Rather, it was a matter of how long I could run, and possibly how far, if they knew how long this makeshift track was. Sure, I wasn't trained to run a marathon, but I ran on a nearly daily basis, so it wasn't like I would be out of shape.
Agnes was testing my endurance. Thanks to my daily runs, I wasn't going to be bad at it. But there was a difference between regular exercise, and having a soldier's fitness. That would be true pretty much regardless of Era.
I haven't exactly been counting the number of times I've gone around, either. Probably about ten or so, by this point. It wasn't like the general area was big, either. More of an indoor garden, just without a glass ceiling, or anything else above. But no, just an outdoor training area, built into the castle. I wanted to ask why. It was unlikely to be a well-hidden secret, either.
"That should be enough," I heard Agnes say over the sound of my own feet. I wanted to continue, if simply out of spite. I could go for a few more laps, but everything was a test. Agnes wasn't just testing me on how well I could do physically, but also on how well I could listen to orders.
Was I sure where Agnes fell in the chain of command, or even if she technically was a part in the first place? No. But unless she asked me to do something criminal, there wouldn't be a whole lot of resisting for me. Asking questions would simply invite more work. Actual complaints, even more so.
I came to a stop, breathing deeply as I slowly walked in a circle, helping my body cool off. If only I could get a towel to eliminate all this sweat. I'd use my shirt, but parts of it were also drenched. Already. Usually, I'd just throw it in a washing machine, but that was not an option anymore.
Ignoring the fact I didn't like to go shirtless even before. Now, it just went from an I don't want to, to probably some type of public decency violation. I wasn't going to risk that.
"Hungry?" Henrietta asked, smiling. My stomach rumbled against my wishes, bringing a blush to my face. But it wasn't like I'd skipped past breakfast already, and everything that entailed.
"Yes, I am," I said, lowering myself to sit on the grass. "And thirsty." Something was needed to replace all the water I was expending. Despite the heat radiating off my body from the physical workout making me not want to eat, did I have a choice? I needed calories and water, badly.
"Do you think you can tell us about where you're from?" Henrietta asked innocently. I gave a brief moment of pause.
"Sure," I said and simply began to talk.
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"It contextualizes a few things," Agnes admitted, watching the person Henrietta had summoned as she ran her way through the exercises, barely passing on stubbornness alone. She had seen far worse displays of physical activity, yes, but at the same time, they were far from the minimal standard. But with what they'd told Henrietta and herself, it started to make sense.
The world they had been summoned from was vastly different. There was no magic, meaning nobles and monarchs, at least, in a form easily recognizable, did not hold much in the way of power. Technology ruled the day, at least, in the part of the world this particular person was used to. It seemed outlandish, and yet, she hadn't sensed a single lie.
"But she's trying her best," Henrietta protested, as Agnes felt the need to rub her forehead.
"Henrietta, you are more qualified and capable than she is," Agnes said, trying to put things as bluntly as possible. Though that wasn't exactly fair, as Agnes knew that Henrietta, so long as magic wasn't involved, could beat more than a fair share of younger members of the guard in a fight as well, but she needed to beat into Henrietta's head just how underqualified her familiar was for such a task.
It was clear to Agnes the summoned person had at least, a faint degree of training, and wasn't a lost cause. But it would take a considerable amount of time to bring them up to even a minimal standard. Placing them immediately in a position they were very clearly underprepared for was simply asking for trouble. Trouble that wouldn't be worth it by any stretch of the imagination. Keeping a low profile was the best option for now. And appointing someone to a position they weren't qualified for was the exact opposite of that.
"Can you at least try with one of the muskets? She might know how to use those," Henrietta begged as Agnes suppressed the urge to scowl. It had to be this one out of all the jobs she could have taken. Sure, their guest had admitted their grandfather had taught them how to shoot, but given how their world was supposedly more technologically advanced, that might not be the lifeline Henrietta was hoping it was.
"I'll consider it," Agnes said simply, with Henrietta hugging her. The things she had to do for this job. Agnes didn't think it would work, but it was better than the alternative of Henrietta sneaking off and getting herself hurt. Or worse.
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I looked at the gun Agnes held in her hands. I'd spend the entire day running, doing pushups, situps, everything. My body was sore and tired, and my muscles were already planning an overthrow of the rest of my body.
By this point, I was completely and utterly exhausted.
As for the firearm itself? It was old. Very old. Well, by my standards, anyway. It either dated to around the American Revolution or the Civil War. I wasn't exactly a gun expert. Point was, it was some type of musket, and I had no idea how to fire one. And that was certainly what Agnes wanted me to do, based on how she had dragged me to what could pass off as an old gun range.
"You know this gun is old enough to be considered a family heirloom where I'm from, right?" I said, looking at the weapon incredulously. Outside of the basic rules of gun safety, and that pulling the trigger made it fire, I had no idea how to use the thing.
"Just, try, alright?" Agnes unamused by this either, rubbed her hand against her forehead. Something was frustrating the woman, and I doubt it was a lack of effort. Sure, I'd embarrassed myself plenty today, but I at least tried.
"Fine," I mumbled, picking up the pouch of bullets and gunpowder. I wasn't going to point the weapon at anything I didn't intend to hit anyway, plus or minus the broadside of a barn. I strapped both onto my person, before my fingers wrapped around the gun barrel, lifting it up. Was this thing even loaded? Unlikely, as that simply was poor firearm safety. But you always treat a gun as if it's been loaded. Even if you knew for certain it hadn't.
It wasn't, however. I could feel that it wasn't. The barrel was empty, with no powder, nor bullet, to be found within.
How did I know that? I didn't have any idea. I just simply did.
Three targets were in front of me, and I needed to hit all three. How do I even load this weapon in the first place? I didn't know. But my body did.
My body was on autopilot. As if it knew every step of the process. Powder. Bullet. Target.
The smell of gunpowder filled my nose, and yet I stopped myself from choking. Straw exploded off the target. A hit, though not the center of mass. Reload, next target. Correct. Another blast of straw, this one closer to the center. Correct. Reload. Center of mass.
Three shots. Three hits.
Then the autopilot came to a screeching halt, and I nearly gasped, precise knowledge filtering out of my mind. I felt, winded, even more so than I had during all of today. My knees quaked as if they were struggling to keep me standing.
What just happened? How did I? I placed the firearm down carefully, before turning to Agnes, who wore a face of utter shock. Not that I could blame her. I was just as surprised as she was.
"How?" Agnes said, slackjawed, as I shrugged. That was new. I'd never done anything like that before. Even with a more modern weapon, with a scope, I still had issues hitting the broad side of a barn from the inside.
"I don't know. It's just as much of a surprise to me," my voice sounded hoarse. I'd already felt as if I'd run a marathon, and this was nearly adding a second lap on top of that.
"I guess the question is if you can recreate that with other weapons," Agnes gave me a look, one that crossed curiosity with something much more predatory. "We need to spare again using real swords."
"That sounds like a terrible idea," I muttered, even if she did raise a good point. Could it be recreated? Was it just guns? What were the conditions? The limits? Without a doubt, whatever that was, was useful. No doubt. But how far did it go?
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"We stop when you want to stop, or first blood," Agnes said, holding her sword. Henrietta stood off to the side, looking somewhat nervous. The sword in my hands felt heavier, this time one made of metal, rather than wood. Both my hands firmly gripped the leather-wrapped hilt. Normally, this would make me nervious. I'd never handled a real word in my life. But Agnes?
She had been onto something. The sword was heavier, and it felt heavier. But at the same time, it felt lighter, as if I had the strength to use such a weapon.
"Ready when you are," I said, firmly keeping my ground, Agnes taking the opportunity to begin. She opened with a thrust, exactly like our first match, but this time, I prayed the strike with ease, my body flowing like water as I retaliated. Agnes skillfully blocked, dodged, and weaved her way through my strikes, before launching her counterattack. I was forced on the defensive, blocking and dodging several strikes, before slashing. Agnes backstepped out of harm's way, and get I advanced, trying to back her into a corner.
We traded blows, attacking in blocking in turn, as each of us tried to reach an advantage. Though I already knew what Agnes's was. Time. And I think she knew so, too. I was tired. I'd been physically active the entire day, something Agnes knew. Sure, this new power of mine was putting gas in the tank. But I was burning through fuel faster than it could be added. I could already feel my muscles scream at me, even though whatever it was giving me the boost. I wasn't going to be able to hold out for long at this rate.
If I was going to win, I was going to need to win fast.
Which meant attacking.
I threw a series of blows toward Agnes, hoping to break my way through her guard. Unfortunately, Agnes was still my superior, deflecting and dodging her way through my attacks as I burned through more and more energy, despite my muscles screaming in protest. We looked blades, Agnes giving me a toothy grin, before punching me in the gut.
At the same time, my foot connected with her stomach. While Agnes's punch hurt, my kick created space, and it knocked the wind out of her lungs. I tried to close the range to take advantage of the opening, as I could tell I was just about on my last legs, but Agnes recovered quickly. One thrust was all I needed. Just one, small cut. I brought my sword back.
Only to feel a sting of pain on my cheek.
By seconds, Agnes beat me to it, landing first blood. I stopped my attack, as that would be poor sportsmanship, and let myself fall backward as the power receded. And once it was gone, every part of my body felt as if it was on fire. Everything hurt, all the way down to my toes, and my heart was pounding against my ribcage like a chest burster.
"Are, you okay?" Henrietta looked down at me, concerned.
"Just, give me a minute. Give my body enough time to figure out if it wants to combust or not," I muttered, trying to take my mind off the pain.
"You might want to find a better place to lie down. It may be a scratch, but you don't want that to get infected," Agnes offered me a hand up, with I reluctantly took. Not because she was wrong, but because the cool dirt felt nice. I needed a shower. Or a bath. Or both.
"Does that mean she passes?" Henrietta clapped her hands together excitedly.
Agnes and I had the same response.
"Absolutely not!"
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"It's going to draw too much attention," I explained, as Henrietta pouted. I'm not sure why she thought that would help her get her way, but I wasn't budging on the matter. And neither was Agnes. "The disparity is simply too great and draws way too much attention."
"But then just keep a weapon on you," Henrietta said, still not happy.
"It seems to only work if I'm holding it. And something easy to hide, like a knife, if dangerous to run with," I didn't say for myself or anyone around me, but having a weapon during physical exercise training would draw a different type of attention. Not to mention having a real weapon during a fake weapon spare would also be suspicious.
"Henrietta, we both agree it would be best to wait until they're skilled enough to join legitimately, to avoid suspicion. And I think the Cardinal would back us on such a decision as well," Agnes said, wrapping a special healing bandage around her stomach. I had one to match, as the punches Agnes left there had already started to bruise, but I'd returned the favor. The cut on my face was also bandaged. Frankly, I could probably play it up.
Henrietta looked like she wanted to protest, but finally seemed to give up.
"So your second plan is to join in the servants at the castle, right? I could train you up in the meantime," Agnes offered.
"Yes, and thank you for your offer. I'm more than willing to accept," I had no intention of turning aside additional help. If I could bring myself without this ability to something of partiality, there was no telling what I could do with it. "Plus, the wounds might help me sell a sob story as cover."
Agnes seemed to smirk at the comment, as if getting thanked for beating someone up was a funny concept to her.
"Well, at least I get to see you in a maid uniform now," Henrietta said.
Oh.
I did not think that through as well as I thought I had.
Several weapon racks lined an inner perimeter, somewhat hidden. Most of the weapons were constructed of wood, but a few had metal ends. Surrounded by the tallest trees, was a dirt circle, standing out against the grass.
For the moment, it was just Agnes and myself. Henrietta, Princess Henrietta, I mentally corrected, had broken off to do something.
I took a few practice swings with the sword, keeping it in a firm, two-handed grip. A few basic sets of swings. Oh, I was years out of practice. And that implied I was particularly practiced to start with.
"Your feet are too close together," Agnes spoke, keeping her respective training sword in a loose, one-handed grip. I shifted my feet, spreading them out more as I took another swing at the air.
"Thank you," I simply said, as Agnes continued to observe me. One might criticize me for showing off in front of the person I was about to fight, but wasn't the skill gap obvious? The amount of time I've spent holding a wooden sword, much less a real one, could probably count in a single day, into a second if I was feeling generous. And what little practice I had was coated in nearly a half-decade of rust and grime.
When I had thrown the offers out, I was spitballing. Throwing out suggestions and finding what stuck. And it wasn't like I was anymore or less qualified to be a maid, or butler either. What was my closest equivalent to that line of work? Working as a grocery store sacker? Outside of faking basic niceties, there weren't much of a lot of transferable skills on that front.
But I might as well try. I wasn't counting on much, but the Runes on the back of my hand might do something. They had to be there for a reason. Yeah, yeah, it's real life, but it didn't need to be about narrative tropes. This was a sign of something. A human being the result of a summoning ritual sounded rare. Not as rare as the good Cardinal wanted us to think it was, but rare enough that he was able to get everyone to believe that this was a first-time-in-history sort of deal.
That was something to look into. Later.
Did this translation spell allow me to read, by any chance? I was going to have to test that one out for myself. Reading was pretty fun for me, and there was only so much you could learn about a place and why it was the way it was just by talking to people. Sometimes people just didn't know the answer through no fault of their own.
"Sorry, I'm late. I wanted to slip into something a little more appropriate," I turned to look at the source of the voice, before blinking. It was practically a suit of armor missing all but the helmet.
"Isn't that uncomfortable? I asked, taken by surprise. And shouldn't it have made a whole lot more noise as well? How was she able to keep quiet until she was right on top of us?
"Not really," Henrietta blushed slightly. "I'm used to it is all."
Used to it. Right. Add Henrietta to the list of people I'm never going to arm wrestle. Suddenly, a gleam appeared in the young woman's eye.
"I'm so sorry, but we haven't asked you what your name is yet!" Henrietta said. "We should correct this at once!"
That was a fair point. An oversight to be sure, but given the chaos, it wasn't like there had been a whole lot of time to devote to basic pleasantries. I went to open my mouth but paused.
My name was very much a guy's name. It wasn't one of those unisex names, and I was regretting my parent's choice of conventions, no matter how proud of it I was. Going by that name would draw attention, especially if I wasn't disguising myself as a guy.
"What? You don't have names where you're from?" I sent Agnes a glare. I already knew I was in for a physical beating when it came from her. I didn't need any further help in developing a grudge against someone who was one way or another, a possible coworker.
"No, it's just that calling me by my name going to draw a lot of unwanted attention. It's not a name that can be applied to either," I scowled. I mean, a female version of my name, was that even possible? I mean, Isabella was close, but Issac was closer to being the male version of that name than mine was.
"Well, we can't just call you nothing at all," Henrietta pouted. "It's disrespectful."
"Besides it can't be that bad," Agnes shrugged, my glare passing over her like water on a rock.
I rolled my eyes, telling them. They both stared back, giving me a confused look.
"That'd be a strange name, even if you were a guy," Agnes responded first, somewhat amused.
"Agnes!" Henrietta sounded aghast at the comment, even though I could tell she was judging.
"It's traditional Irish," I crossed my arms, doing my best not to huff in frustration. Of course, they didn't have Ireland here in this world, even if Henrietta was a name that faintly tickled at the back of my mind, like a scratch that I couldn't quite itch. "Can we just, put a pin in it for the time being? I'll try and come up with something in the meantime."
I didn't like having to toss my name aside, but at the moment, it was best that this whole from another-world business be kept to as few people as possible. For pragmatism's sake.
"Fine. Let's just get this over with" Agnes said, taking a few steps into the dirt circle. I mimicked her, keeping an even spacing. Henrietta let out a small little sigh of, was it envy, before stepping near the edge of the circle.
"The first to three hits wins," she paused for a moment. "And don't try to hurt each other too badly."
I had a feeling Agnes was the target for that remark.
"Begin!"
Agnes didn't waste a single second, closing the distance and thrusting forward. I parried, barely, deflecting the blow away before it could connect, before swiping with my sword, hitting nothing but air.
I barely managed to dodge the follow-up, the blade cutting through the air, missing by mere centimeters. Agnes gave me no tip to recover, forcing me on the defensive with a brutal series of thrusts, each clack of wood on wood sending tremors up my arms as I was already struggling to keep my guard up.
I pushed forward, trying to interrupt the attacks with a horizontal slash, one Agnes easily blocked. Despite me being able to leverage both my arms with my grip, Agnes was able to keep my weapon locked in place with only one of hers.
"You haven't dropped your sword yet," Agnes spoke as if she wasn't in a sword fight at all. Was she even sweating? "That's a better showing than I thought I'd get."
I felt anger begin to boil up inside me. Agnes was playing with me. This wasn't a fight, not for her. This was a joke, not even a warm-up for her. I wasn't being taken with any degree of seriousness at all.
Which is why I forced down that anger, smothering it. Agnes was trying to get a rise out of me. I was already out-skilled, understrength, and outsmarted when it came to the blade. Getting mad would just make me reckless, causing me to make more mistakes than I already was.
"Thanks! I'm doing better than I thought I would, too," I tried to smile back, before letting out a gasp of pain as Agnes's fist drove into my gut. Her sword came down on my shoulder, a light tap in comparison.
"Don't talk unless you have a plan," Agnes criticized, going back into a casual fighting stance. I scowled, moving my hand away from where she punched me. The pain was starting to dull already, but there was no doubt in my mind it was going to bruise.
I just needed to stay calm. That's the only way I had even a ghost of a chance. Quite frankly, I'd consider it a win if I managed to score a single hit by the time she got to three. And she already had one point.
I took a fighting stance, sword held tightly in my hands. Just one point. That's all I'd be happy with. Just a single one.
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Everywhere hurt. Sweat ran down my face, getting into my eyes, the salt causing pain. I just wanted to land a single hit. But I hadn't even managed to touch the slightest bit of her clothes.
I shouldn't be surprised by the poor performance, but it still stung anyway. I knew Agnes beat me out in experience, but the gulf between us was a chasm.
"Not the worst performance I've ever seen," Agnes said critically. "But also far from even a low standard."
"You have some form of training, but it's clearly both something you never practiced much, and you practiced too long ago for anything beyond the barest basics to stick. Your stance is inconsistent, you telegram your swings too much, and you overextend your reach the majority of the time, leaving yourself open. Your entire style, and calling it such is me being generous, can be described as leaving yourself open," Agnes scowled, the message being sent loud and clear.
"And still not the worst display you've ever seen?" I did my best to take Agnes's words in stride. It wasn't like she was wrong. I had little idea how to fight with a sword, and she had been toying with me the whole time. If I were to join any guard group, I'd need to know how to fight. Guarding the Princess, or the royal family in general, was a position that demanded skill and competence in equal measure.
Not to mention loyalty. How many Roman Emperors had lost their thrones to backstabbing ambitious guards?
"That is not saying much," Agnes replied tersely. Not exactly. All it meant is she ran into people who were somehow less capable than I was. Which, given that humans could be humans, wasn't saying a whole lot.
"I was more expecting stories, actually," I shrugged, stretching out my body as it groaned in protest.
"No," she said simply, placing her wooden weapon back on the training rack. "Now ten laps around the path. The entire path."
My muscles let their protest to such an order be known, but I could barely stop the grin from growing on my face. A run? I did those just about every day. Sure two miles wasn't a whole lot, but it helped keep me active. Meaning this was something I could succeed at.
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Sweat poured down my face as the sun continued to bombard me with its oppressive rays of heat. I was still making good time, at least I thought I was. Not much worse than how fast I usually ran, at least.
But I was going to need water sooner or later. Anything to keep me hydrated would be greatly appreciated right now. Something besides my sweat. I didn't need any more salt in my system.
I kept a good, constant pace as I came around the bend, feet aching. It felt good to run the stress out, even if I didn't have any good running shoes on. Sure, I'd managed to trade my shoes for something that would take the hits better, but I was used to running shoes.
But alas packing my bags hadn't exactly been an option. Nor was how far I could run comfortably the real point. Rather, it was a matter of how long I could run, and possibly how far, if they knew how long this makeshift track was. Sure, I wasn't trained to run a marathon, but I ran on a nearly daily basis, so it wasn't like I would be out of shape.
Agnes was testing my endurance. Thanks to my daily runs, I wasn't going to be bad at it. But there was a difference between regular exercise, and having a soldier's fitness. That would be true pretty much regardless of Era.
I haven't exactly been counting the number of times I've gone around, either. Probably about ten or so, by this point. It wasn't like the general area was big, either. More of an indoor garden, just without a glass ceiling, or anything else above. But no, just an outdoor training area, built into the castle. I wanted to ask why. It was unlikely to be a well-hidden secret, either.
"That should be enough," I heard Agnes say over the sound of my own feet. I wanted to continue, if simply out of spite. I could go for a few more laps, but everything was a test. Agnes wasn't just testing me on how well I could do physically, but also on how well I could listen to orders.
Was I sure where Agnes fell in the chain of command, or even if she technically was a part in the first place? No. But unless she asked me to do something criminal, there wouldn't be a whole lot of resisting for me. Asking questions would simply invite more work. Actual complaints, even more so.
I came to a stop, breathing deeply as I slowly walked in a circle, helping my body cool off. If only I could get a towel to eliminate all this sweat. I'd use my shirt, but parts of it were also drenched. Already. Usually, I'd just throw it in a washing machine, but that was not an option anymore.
Ignoring the fact I didn't like to go shirtless even before. Now, it just went from an I don't want to, to probably some type of public decency violation. I wasn't going to risk that.
"Hungry?" Henrietta asked, smiling. My stomach rumbled against my wishes, bringing a blush to my face. But it wasn't like I'd skipped past breakfast already, and everything that entailed.
"Yes, I am," I said, lowering myself to sit on the grass. "And thirsty." Something was needed to replace all the water I was expending. Despite the heat radiating off my body from the physical workout making me not want to eat, did I have a choice? I needed calories and water, badly.
"Do you think you can tell us about where you're from?" Henrietta asked innocently. I gave a brief moment of pause.
"Sure," I said and simply began to talk.
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"It contextualizes a few things," Agnes admitted, watching the person Henrietta had summoned as she ran her way through the exercises, barely passing on stubbornness alone. She had seen far worse displays of physical activity, yes, but at the same time, they were far from the minimal standard. But with what they'd told Henrietta and herself, it started to make sense.
The world they had been summoned from was vastly different. There was no magic, meaning nobles and monarchs, at least, in a form easily recognizable, did not hold much in the way of power. Technology ruled the day, at least, in the part of the world this particular person was used to. It seemed outlandish, and yet, she hadn't sensed a single lie.
"But she's trying her best," Henrietta protested, as Agnes felt the need to rub her forehead.
"Henrietta, you are more qualified and capable than she is," Agnes said, trying to put things as bluntly as possible. Though that wasn't exactly fair, as Agnes knew that Henrietta, so long as magic wasn't involved, could beat more than a fair share of younger members of the guard in a fight as well, but she needed to beat into Henrietta's head just how underqualified her familiar was for such a task.
It was clear to Agnes the summoned person had at least, a faint degree of training, and wasn't a lost cause. But it would take a considerable amount of time to bring them up to even a minimal standard. Placing them immediately in a position they were very clearly underprepared for was simply asking for trouble. Trouble that wouldn't be worth it by any stretch of the imagination. Keeping a low profile was the best option for now. And appointing someone to a position they weren't qualified for was the exact opposite of that.
"Can you at least try with one of the muskets? She might know how to use those," Henrietta begged as Agnes suppressed the urge to scowl. It had to be this one out of all the jobs she could have taken. Sure, their guest had admitted their grandfather had taught them how to shoot, but given how their world was supposedly more technologically advanced, that might not be the lifeline Henrietta was hoping it was.
"I'll consider it," Agnes said simply, with Henrietta hugging her. The things she had to do for this job. Agnes didn't think it would work, but it was better than the alternative of Henrietta sneaking off and getting herself hurt. Or worse.
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I looked at the gun Agnes held in her hands. I'd spend the entire day running, doing pushups, situps, everything. My body was sore and tired, and my muscles were already planning an overthrow of the rest of my body.
By this point, I was completely and utterly exhausted.
As for the firearm itself? It was old. Very old. Well, by my standards, anyway. It either dated to around the American Revolution or the Civil War. I wasn't exactly a gun expert. Point was, it was some type of musket, and I had no idea how to fire one. And that was certainly what Agnes wanted me to do, based on how she had dragged me to what could pass off as an old gun range.
"You know this gun is old enough to be considered a family heirloom where I'm from, right?" I said, looking at the weapon incredulously. Outside of the basic rules of gun safety, and that pulling the trigger made it fire, I had no idea how to use the thing.
"Just, try, alright?" Agnes unamused by this either, rubbed her hand against her forehead. Something was frustrating the woman, and I doubt it was a lack of effort. Sure, I'd embarrassed myself plenty today, but I at least tried.
"Fine," I mumbled, picking up the pouch of bullets and gunpowder. I wasn't going to point the weapon at anything I didn't intend to hit anyway, plus or minus the broadside of a barn. I strapped both onto my person, before my fingers wrapped around the gun barrel, lifting it up. Was this thing even loaded? Unlikely, as that simply was poor firearm safety. But you always treat a gun as if it's been loaded. Even if you knew for certain it hadn't.
It wasn't, however. I could feel that it wasn't. The barrel was empty, with no powder, nor bullet, to be found within.
How did I know that? I didn't have any idea. I just simply did.
Three targets were in front of me, and I needed to hit all three. How do I even load this weapon in the first place? I didn't know. But my body did.
My body was on autopilot. As if it knew every step of the process. Powder. Bullet. Target.
The smell of gunpowder filled my nose, and yet I stopped myself from choking. Straw exploded off the target. A hit, though not the center of mass. Reload, next target. Correct. Another blast of straw, this one closer to the center. Correct. Reload. Center of mass.
Three shots. Three hits.
Then the autopilot came to a screeching halt, and I nearly gasped, precise knowledge filtering out of my mind. I felt, winded, even more so than I had during all of today. My knees quaked as if they were struggling to keep me standing.
What just happened? How did I? I placed the firearm down carefully, before turning to Agnes, who wore a face of utter shock. Not that I could blame her. I was just as surprised as she was.
"How?" Agnes said, slackjawed, as I shrugged. That was new. I'd never done anything like that before. Even with a more modern weapon, with a scope, I still had issues hitting the broad side of a barn from the inside.
"I don't know. It's just as much of a surprise to me," my voice sounded hoarse. I'd already felt as if I'd run a marathon, and this was nearly adding a second lap on top of that.
"I guess the question is if you can recreate that with other weapons," Agnes gave me a look, one that crossed curiosity with something much more predatory. "We need to spare again using real swords."
"That sounds like a terrible idea," I muttered, even if she did raise a good point. Could it be recreated? Was it just guns? What were the conditions? The limits? Without a doubt, whatever that was, was useful. No doubt. But how far did it go?
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"We stop when you want to stop, or first blood," Agnes said, holding her sword. Henrietta stood off to the side, looking somewhat nervous. The sword in my hands felt heavier, this time one made of metal, rather than wood. Both my hands firmly gripped the leather-wrapped hilt. Normally, this would make me nervious. I'd never handled a real word in my life. But Agnes?
She had been onto something. The sword was heavier, and it felt heavier. But at the same time, it felt lighter, as if I had the strength to use such a weapon.
"Ready when you are," I said, firmly keeping my ground, Agnes taking the opportunity to begin. She opened with a thrust, exactly like our first match, but this time, I prayed the strike with ease, my body flowing like water as I retaliated. Agnes skillfully blocked, dodged, and weaved her way through my strikes, before launching her counterattack. I was forced on the defensive, blocking and dodging several strikes, before slashing. Agnes backstepped out of harm's way, and get I advanced, trying to back her into a corner.
We traded blows, attacking in blocking in turn, as each of us tried to reach an advantage. Though I already knew what Agnes's was. Time. And I think she knew so, too. I was tired. I'd been physically active the entire day, something Agnes knew. Sure, this new power of mine was putting gas in the tank. But I was burning through fuel faster than it could be added. I could already feel my muscles scream at me, even though whatever it was giving me the boost. I wasn't going to be able to hold out for long at this rate.
If I was going to win, I was going to need to win fast.
Which meant attacking.
I threw a series of blows toward Agnes, hoping to break my way through her guard. Unfortunately, Agnes was still my superior, deflecting and dodging her way through my attacks as I burned through more and more energy, despite my muscles screaming in protest. We looked blades, Agnes giving me a toothy grin, before punching me in the gut.
At the same time, my foot connected with her stomach. While Agnes's punch hurt, my kick created space, and it knocked the wind out of her lungs. I tried to close the range to take advantage of the opening, as I could tell I was just about on my last legs, but Agnes recovered quickly. One thrust was all I needed. Just one, small cut. I brought my sword back.
Only to feel a sting of pain on my cheek.
By seconds, Agnes beat me to it, landing first blood. I stopped my attack, as that would be poor sportsmanship, and let myself fall backward as the power receded. And once it was gone, every part of my body felt as if it was on fire. Everything hurt, all the way down to my toes, and my heart was pounding against my ribcage like a chest burster.
"Are, you okay?" Henrietta looked down at me, concerned.
"Just, give me a minute. Give my body enough time to figure out if it wants to combust or not," I muttered, trying to take my mind off the pain.
"You might want to find a better place to lie down. It may be a scratch, but you don't want that to get infected," Agnes offered me a hand up, with I reluctantly took. Not because she was wrong, but because the cool dirt felt nice. I needed a shower. Or a bath. Or both.
"Does that mean she passes?" Henrietta clapped her hands together excitedly.
Agnes and I had the same response.
"Absolutely not!"
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"It's going to draw too much attention," I explained, as Henrietta pouted. I'm not sure why she thought that would help her get her way, but I wasn't budging on the matter. And neither was Agnes. "The disparity is simply too great and draws way too much attention."
"But then just keep a weapon on you," Henrietta said, still not happy.
"It seems to only work if I'm holding it. And something easy to hide, like a knife, if dangerous to run with," I didn't say for myself or anyone around me, but having a weapon during physical exercise training would draw a different type of attention. Not to mention having a real weapon during a fake weapon spare would also be suspicious.
"Henrietta, we both agree it would be best to wait until they're skilled enough to join legitimately, to avoid suspicion. And I think the Cardinal would back us on such a decision as well," Agnes said, wrapping a special healing bandage around her stomach. I had one to match, as the punches Agnes left there had already started to bruise, but I'd returned the favor. The cut on my face was also bandaged. Frankly, I could probably play it up.
Henrietta looked like she wanted to protest, but finally seemed to give up.
"So your second plan is to join in the servants at the castle, right? I could train you up in the meantime," Agnes offered.
"Yes, and thank you for your offer. I'm more than willing to accept," I had no intention of turning aside additional help. If I could bring myself without this ability to something of partiality, there was no telling what I could do with it. "Plus, the wounds might help me sell a sob story as cover."
Agnes seemed to smirk at the comment, as if getting thanked for beating someone up was a funny concept to her.
"Well, at least I get to see you in a maid uniform now," Henrietta said.
Oh.
I did not think that through as well as I thought I had.
- Location
- france
"What do you mean...? The new maid is a bodyguard?"
"She just slaughtered my entire unit! With a MOP! SHE'S A MONSTER!"
- Location
- The Land of Many Bregrets
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I think the phrase is 'telegraph', but more importantly unless the ZnT world has telegraph machines to send telegrams with (iirc it does not), Agnes shouldn't really be using this metaphor. Something like 'overacting' or 'delaying' would probably be a better fit.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Yeah, you're in a world of hurt.
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
FTFY
Agnes stronk.
Thirteen.
What you need are electrolytes.
Very true.
Exactly, guns are not toys.
MAGIC!!!
Spar.
Sword.
Parried.
Was what?
Is.
Spar.
You have failed to success.
You are not the first person to make the killer maid bodyguard joke. But they're still funny all the same.
Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.
The badass normal of the setting.
Of course its that accursed number.
It wouldn't be a Drakefire SI without me getting beat up early in the story.
At least I have all my limbs this time.
- Location
- Usa
You just do not see many zero stories in the past few years compared to worm or potter or even kantai collection. Nice and different though with the princess as the void mage.
You mc seems to have been late 20s or 30s American from your tidbits that you used. Any way to get an idea of what the mc looks like besides being a female with boobs. Is she tall, short, heavy set, skinny, hair color, is she small bust line, modest, hug tracks of land, is she hispanic, black, asian, white?
If she more like franknfrom the Rocky horror show?
You mc seems to have been late 20s or 30s American from your tidbits that you used. Any way to get an idea of what the mc looks like besides being a female with boobs. Is she tall, short, heavy set, skinny, hair color, is she small bust line, modest, hug tracks of land, is she hispanic, black, asian, white?
If she more like franknfrom the Rocky horror show?
Chapter 4
To Louise de la Vallieire,
I hope this letter reaches you in good health and cheer. I know you completed the summoning ritual recently and must be very busy with schoolwork. However, I feel it is prudent to inform you that I succeeded in summoning a familiar. As such, I cannot thank you enough for your aid in this endeavor. Truly.
As for my familiar? They are, strange. I'm unsure of how much detail I can go into with this letter sadly. Cardinal Marazini wants this kept on the quiet side of things. But how could I keep such a secret from you? For all the help you gave me, I feel like I must tell you the truth. I owe you that much, at the very least.
However, I would like for you to meet them someday soon. At your convenience, of course. I do think you'll get along with them just fine. I even think Agnes is taking a shine to them (but don't tell her I said that).
I won't try to keep you from your studies for long. I just wanted to let you know that your help was a great success!
Thank you once again from the bottom of my heart,
Henrietta de Tristian
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Louise looked down at the letter. She was surprised and quite pleased. Louise had always known Henrietta was a mage. Nobody had listened to her, and now she had proved them wrong. A familiar was the ultimate sign of a mage. Nobility didn't tend to summon them, but Louise figured her plan would work all the same.
But the Princess's letter raised several questions. Why was Cardinal Marazini keeping things hidden? And why was Henrietta being so vague?
Could it be some rare or exotic familiar? One they didn't want having attention drawn to it? Like a Rhyme Dragon? Yes, that had to be it. It had to be something strange and exotic, something that if the average person would know, it would be dangerous to the Princess. That had to be the reason.
She would have to come to see this familiar. It wasn't as if Henrietta was giving her an open invitation to do so. At her convenience, of course. Louise would love to do nothing more than clear her schedule and fly up to the palace this very minute, but at the moment, she had classes for a few more days. And the show for newly summoned familiars was approaching as well. She had to come up with some type of plan for that.
It wasn't like she was going to get second place or anything. Nobody had summoned a familiar as majestic as her wind dragon, after all. But why leave a competition to chance? She'd go up to the capital once she had a routine down for it.
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I sniffled, resisting the urge to rub my nose. Damn dust. Given the size of this palace, there was always going to be some form of dust, mess, or just things in need of cleaning. Nor was I far from the only maid. From cooking to cleaning, there were probably more than a hundred servants in the castle. Some of us carried out our duty in the open, while the others had different, subtler, but no less important tasks.
Which, as a new maid, I was not trusted to do yet. Perfectly fair, in my mind, even if Henrietta wanted me closer. But working up to that position is something I'd rather earn, if only for the sake of my own stubbornness and pride.
Still, the deal was decent, for medieval standards. A day off a week, decent pay, doubly so given a roof, and food was provided as part of the package. And a decent amount of work to help keep my mind off things.
Work that felt like it was both too much and insufficient, all at the same time. Of course, there were other downsides. Henrietta, as it turned out, was a bit of an oddity. She treated people without magic, or commoners, with plenty of respect. That was not a common treat, as it turned out. Most just ignored us, but more than a few had no problem trying to find their way into various servant girls and their pants.
I hadn't seen a case personally, especially of someone willing to use far less, charming, measures to get what they want. But I wouldn't be surprised if there had been even worse acts than what I'd heard. Power was a drug, and not a pleasant one, either.
Thankfully, I'd avoided attracting anyone's attention so far. Which was a bit odd. Yeah, I wasn't some statuesque stunner or anything like that, but I wouldn't consider how I looked right now unattractive. A bit shorter than Agnes and Henrietta, though not by much. My chest, now that I had to look at the clothes that weren't baggy, was probably modest.
Though given how most people in this world had a chest size that was yes or no, with very little middle ground? With the overall answer leaning toward yes?
But that was mostly a hypothetical problem. As more or less a new hire, I was stuck with several of the younger maids, those still in their teenage years. And the youth of the hypothetical yesteryear was weird. Not so much that they wanted to talk about guys a whole lot, that was something I don't think ever changed.
It was just, I don't know. Gossipy? Chatty? Maybe it was just me and my social skills not being up to snuff, but I didn't understand it. And why did it let two girls continue to whisper like I wasn't just a few feet away? If you're going to ask me a question, then ask it, please.
I largely ignored it, as it was just them going 'You ask her, no, you ask her', over and over again. If they were too busy fighting each other over who was the one to ask the question, then odds are, it was a question they knew I wouldn't like. And if they weren't going to ask, then I had no reason to try and make them. No matter how curious I was.
There was a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye, reminding me of my second, problem? No, problem was far too harsh of a word. More like, recurrence. Henrietta's very own mini-me.
Not that I'd call either of them that to their respective faces. Crown Princess Minette was a spitting image of her older sister but certainly didn't have the personality to match. While I'd heard a few of the older maids talk about the things Henrietta got up to with her only playmate, those stories were spoken in a considerably different tone than when they were talking about Minette.
By every account I'd heard, the young Princess could, if she wanted to be, especially in front of polite company. Other times, she could be a complete and utter hellion. Pranks, messes, all sorts of chaos.
Yet I hadn't seen a single case of such mayhem. Though that was because a decent part of her day was spent, seemingly observing me. If it wasn't for training, I'd see more of Minette than I did Henrietta. Which made me nervous. Sure, I hadn't seen her do anything, but reputations did exist for a reason.
Still, until something did happen, there wasn't a whole lot I could do. Approaching her might work, or it could cause her to do something, nor was I entirely sure about the proper protocol in situations like this. I was, by definition, a commoner, after all, as much as I would love nothing more to pitch the concept of nobility into a fire. But that wasn't exactly a practical solution.
All I could do was wait this out and hope that things didn't end up with me getting pranked, and try to avoid any fallout if I did.
"Aimee, I was wondering," I almost didn't respond to the girl's voice, nearly forgetting the name I'd picked out for myself. I turned my head to face her. Laura, I think she was. She was close to a decade my junior, and it showed in most ways. "Who in the Griffin Corps do you think is the most Handsome?"
I gave her a look, raising my eyebrow slightly. Still, her eyes are begging for an answer.
"No," I said simply, returning to my work. This was already a dumb conversation I had no interest in having. No matter how much Laura wanted me to.
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That hadn't worked either. Many of the younger maids had no problem revealing who they wanted to sweep them off their feet, whisk them away from a life of toll. Especially amongst themselves, when they thought they were amongst themselves, or that nobody could hear them.
So why was Aimee so tight-lipped? Minette pouted, despite it not being a proper expression. There had to be someone she was interested in. But she refused to talk about such matters, much like many of the older maids would.
And the arrival of the young woman was weird. They missed her in the confusion, barely, but it was her sister and Agnes that dragged her in. She was too far away to hear anything, even with her magic, but she did see it, in the faint moonlight. Aimee couldn't be interested in her sister, right?
She couldn't let that happen! The last time Henrietta was interested in someone, she got hurt really, really bad!
She could do something to drive Aimee away. It wouldn't take a whole lot to mess with her. But what would Henrietta say if she found out? Her sister was smart. Smarter than she gave herself credit for some days. But other days she could be really, really stupid. Like with Prince Wales, their cousin.
But Aimee wasn't a cousin. She didn't seem weird or creepy like the prince had. What if she was better than the prince?
What if Henrietta had found another rare someone who cared about her, and all she did was drive them away? Henrietta would be devastated by such an event. But at the same time, she needed to know if Aimee was a good person, or was simply good at hiding things.
She didn't talk about where she was from, for starters. Her hair was almost blonde, and her eyes were almost blue. An offshoot of the Tudor line, maybe a child born out of a relationship with a commoner? No, that couldn't be it. Besides, cousins were mean. No more of those.
Aimee didn't talk about who she liked either. Getting her to fess up to any feelings about any guy or girl felt impossible. She may have been at the same starting level as some of the younger maids, but she was a lot more mature.
Maybe she was going about this the wrong way? Maybe Aimee would be more comfortable talking about such things with someone her age or older? Minette frowned, recalling the duplicate she had delicately crafted. It was not quite as good as the one she had seen Viscount Wardes use, but the fact it had come this far was a matter of pride.
Still, she'd need to keep an eye on Aimee. Not until she knew for sure what her intentions and relationship with big sis were. And that Aimee wouldn't hurt Henrietta in the slightest.
Minette didn't want anything like that to happen ever again.
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"I think I've figured out what your problem is," Agnes said, as we traded swings with the practice swords, wood cracking against wood.
"And that is?" I gritted my teeth, blocking a swing.
"You think too much," her answer was straightforward, blunt, and as if to prove a point, she landed a blow on my arm. I hissed slightly from the pain. It wouldn't bruise, I didn't think. Not this time, but that might start becoming a problem sooner rather than later. Looking like I'd been beaten was not a good thing, and would lead to questions. Given how I wanted to avoid questions already, that was, not great.
"I, can see that," I said softly. With whatever power it was that I had, swords frankly ended up being the worst weapon for me. Strangely did best with weapons I had no idea how to use. Spears, axes, all the way up to firearms. This power was like an autopilot, but instead of a plane, it was weapons. I wasn't sure why though. If it was about improving skill, then a sword should be my best weapon. But instead, it was among my worst.
"And it's not just limited to that power of yours. You think too much with practice weapons as well," Agnes continued. Again, she wasn't wrong. I did have a tendency to mull things over far longer than necessary.
"And how exactly do I fix that?" I asked, taking a loose fighting stance as we began to circle one another once again.
"Focus. Discipline. Fighting isn't about instinct, but you must learn to read your opponent, from how they hold their stance, to how they're placing their shoulders, and from there, know what exactly to expect. It is a learned skill of prediction, one you must make at quick speeds or, you will lose your life," Agnes's swing came in fast and powerful, with me managing to block the blow. "Take note of how I swung. Where were my feet? Where were my shoulders? These are the signs you must learn to pick up on if you wish to be successful in combat."
"As for how you learn such skills? Practice," Agnes continued. "The only way you will improve is by practicing. Yes, you have bad habits, bad habits that will need to be broken, but the latest way to learn is through experience."
I blocked a thrust, throwing out a slash of my own. Agnes avoided the blow, launching another series of thrusts. I dodged and blocked my way through the assault.
"Another thing is that you can be forced on the defensive far too easily, while also being much too aggressive," Agnes continued her critique. "You have very little middle ground between your offense and defense. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense, while other times, the best defense is a good offense."
I advanced, trying to disrupt Agnes's offense with one of my own, only to be pushed back. Agnes was more than capable of being able to beat me back with trivial ease. As much knowledge could be gleaned from defeat, it was still frustrating. Like beating your head against a Dark Souls boss, or any game made by Fromsoft, really.
Expect this time, there was no health bar to measure progress. Just a solid brick wall that I wasn't going to be overcoming anytime soon. Thinking of Agnes as some type of Fromsoft boss was weird, but whatever, I guess. It's already been established that she could beat me until I was nothing more than a screaming bruise. Sorry, whatever magic I was on helped me bridge the gap by no small margin, but that was when and only when I was able to take advantage of it.
"We'll run through some basic drills next," Agnes said, still not breaking a single ounce of sweat, as if the effort bored her. "Afterwards, metal weapons."
"Which one?" I ask, already taking a stance.
"Your choice," Agnes said, a slight grin on her face. Great. That meant she already figured out what I would be picking, and prepared accordingly.
"You can do it!" I heard Henrietta cheer. It was nice that one person had some degree of faith in my abilities.
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Viscount Wardes watched from his vantage point. Nobody had seen him, and he intended to keep it that way. While he wasn't doing anything wrong per say, he did wish to know more about this strange new girl. The turnaround in Henrietta's mood was notable, and the fact it seemed to be tied to what appeared to be a new maid. That hadn't been a coincidence, even if most didn't care to put everything together.
Henrietta hadn't been this happy, or appeared in such good cheer for a while now. Not since her relationship with Prince Wales Tudor ended in disaster. He'd only had a little information about what happened. But if what he had heard was true, then the boy deserved far worse than the stringing up the Albionese Rebels would give him. It was a bit harsh of him to think in such a manner, but that boy had done a considerable amount of damage. Henrietta may not have been able to use magic, like most royals, but she was a kind person who deserved much better. But fairy tale romances were sadly, just that.
Louise, the daughter of his former mentor, had at least tried to help pick up the pieces in the aftermath, but she didn't have a complete picture of what went wrong. The Royal Family had been tight-lipped on exactly what happened, so it was unlikely that Louise even had part of the picture. Still, bless her heart, she did try. Even Minette tried, in her own special way, to help her sister.
But nothing had worked. Not entirely. Not until now.
Hence his immense interest in this stranger. He hoped it hadn't been some ill-conceived romantic trist. The last one ended in disaster, so why would Henrietta ever go for another? With a commoner girl as well? At least one could see the relationship with the Tudor boy as trying to make an alliance during trying times. With a commoner, many nobles would be far less willing to look the other way.
Never mind that several nobles he knew had little issue bedding commoner women, seducing then throwing them aside when they've had their fun. The hypocrisy for such judgments would be lost on many of his peers.
Thankfully, based on his observations, this is unlikely to be the case. An odd friendship, yes, but that appeared to be as far as things went.
And Henrietta truly could use more of those. Louise was doing her best, but distance would forever remain a problem until she graduated. Agnes, while closer physically, was trying to do her job first and foremost. And while Minette was trying her best, the crown Princess was only six. This was outside of her experience.
Having someone who wasn't torn up after her husband's death to talk to could prove help for Henrietta.
However, that was far from the only reason he had made such a journey. The young woman was interesting in her way, and rumors, at least this time, had proven correct.
Wardes watched as the wooden sword tumbled through the air, almost wincing slightly. Agnes outpaced the girl by an almost insurmountable advantage of skill. There was no shame in that, even if he had heard that the strange woman was able to keep pace.
A tall tale, given how skilled Agnes was, and he shouldn't be surprised it was false, but at the same time, he was a bit, for lack of a better word, disappointed. It would give him someone new to spar, and that was always exciting. He turned to leave before he noticed something. Agnes was heading towards the steel swords. Why? The balance was better, yes, but Agnes had shown she was capable of winning. What purpose did using steel serve?
This was not like the last duel between the two. Agnes pulled her punches then, and now, it was a much more even fight. Agnes and the maid danced in a flurry of blades.
Wardes felt his eyes widen. He could scarcely believe what he was seeing, but see it he was. How had this new maid from losing to Agnes handily, to making Agnes break a sweat? How was that even possible?
It shouldn't be. It defies all reason. Better with a real sword over a practice one? That, he can believe, but this was far too much to be that.
It was then he made it out. Frankly, at this distance, he shouldn't have been able to spot it, but in the evening light, he just managed to make out a faint, glowing mark on the back of the young woman's left hand.
He left then and there. He couldn't make out the marking that lay beneath the glove, but it didn't matter. The woman was a familiar. Of that, Wardes was fairly certain. The question remained. Whose familiar was she? Was she summoned by Tristian's void mage?
Or was Albion's void mage making their opening move?
I hope this letter reaches you in good health and cheer. I know you completed the summoning ritual recently and must be very busy with schoolwork. However, I feel it is prudent to inform you that I succeeded in summoning a familiar. As such, I cannot thank you enough for your aid in this endeavor. Truly.
As for my familiar? They are, strange. I'm unsure of how much detail I can go into with this letter sadly. Cardinal Marazini wants this kept on the quiet side of things. But how could I keep such a secret from you? For all the help you gave me, I feel like I must tell you the truth. I owe you that much, at the very least.
However, I would like for you to meet them someday soon. At your convenience, of course. I do think you'll get along with them just fine. I even think Agnes is taking a shine to them (but don't tell her I said that).
I won't try to keep you from your studies for long. I just wanted to let you know that your help was a great success!
Thank you once again from the bottom of my heart,
Henrietta de Tristian
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Louise looked down at the letter. She was surprised and quite pleased. Louise had always known Henrietta was a mage. Nobody had listened to her, and now she had proved them wrong. A familiar was the ultimate sign of a mage. Nobility didn't tend to summon them, but Louise figured her plan would work all the same.
But the Princess's letter raised several questions. Why was Cardinal Marazini keeping things hidden? And why was Henrietta being so vague?
Could it be some rare or exotic familiar? One they didn't want having attention drawn to it? Like a Rhyme Dragon? Yes, that had to be it. It had to be something strange and exotic, something that if the average person would know, it would be dangerous to the Princess. That had to be the reason.
She would have to come to see this familiar. It wasn't as if Henrietta was giving her an open invitation to do so. At her convenience, of course. Louise would love to do nothing more than clear her schedule and fly up to the palace this very minute, but at the moment, she had classes for a few more days. And the show for newly summoned familiars was approaching as well. She had to come up with some type of plan for that.
It wasn't like she was going to get second place or anything. Nobody had summoned a familiar as majestic as her wind dragon, after all. But why leave a competition to chance? She'd go up to the capital once she had a routine down for it.
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I sniffled, resisting the urge to rub my nose. Damn dust. Given the size of this palace, there was always going to be some form of dust, mess, or just things in need of cleaning. Nor was I far from the only maid. From cooking to cleaning, there were probably more than a hundred servants in the castle. Some of us carried out our duty in the open, while the others had different, subtler, but no less important tasks.
Which, as a new maid, I was not trusted to do yet. Perfectly fair, in my mind, even if Henrietta wanted me closer. But working up to that position is something I'd rather earn, if only for the sake of my own stubbornness and pride.
Still, the deal was decent, for medieval standards. A day off a week, decent pay, doubly so given a roof, and food was provided as part of the package. And a decent amount of work to help keep my mind off things.
Work that felt like it was both too much and insufficient, all at the same time. Of course, there were other downsides. Henrietta, as it turned out, was a bit of an oddity. She treated people without magic, or commoners, with plenty of respect. That was not a common treat, as it turned out. Most just ignored us, but more than a few had no problem trying to find their way into various servant girls and their pants.
I hadn't seen a case personally, especially of someone willing to use far less, charming, measures to get what they want. But I wouldn't be surprised if there had been even worse acts than what I'd heard. Power was a drug, and not a pleasant one, either.
Thankfully, I'd avoided attracting anyone's attention so far. Which was a bit odd. Yeah, I wasn't some statuesque stunner or anything like that, but I wouldn't consider how I looked right now unattractive. A bit shorter than Agnes and Henrietta, though not by much. My chest, now that I had to look at the clothes that weren't baggy, was probably modest.
Though given how most people in this world had a chest size that was yes or no, with very little middle ground? With the overall answer leaning toward yes?
But that was mostly a hypothetical problem. As more or less a new hire, I was stuck with several of the younger maids, those still in their teenage years. And the youth of the hypothetical yesteryear was weird. Not so much that they wanted to talk about guys a whole lot, that was something I don't think ever changed.
It was just, I don't know. Gossipy? Chatty? Maybe it was just me and my social skills not being up to snuff, but I didn't understand it. And why did it let two girls continue to whisper like I wasn't just a few feet away? If you're going to ask me a question, then ask it, please.
I largely ignored it, as it was just them going 'You ask her, no, you ask her', over and over again. If they were too busy fighting each other over who was the one to ask the question, then odds are, it was a question they knew I wouldn't like. And if they weren't going to ask, then I had no reason to try and make them. No matter how curious I was.
There was a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye, reminding me of my second, problem? No, problem was far too harsh of a word. More like, recurrence. Henrietta's very own mini-me.
Not that I'd call either of them that to their respective faces. Crown Princess Minette was a spitting image of her older sister but certainly didn't have the personality to match. While I'd heard a few of the older maids talk about the things Henrietta got up to with her only playmate, those stories were spoken in a considerably different tone than when they were talking about Minette.
By every account I'd heard, the young Princess could, if she wanted to be, especially in front of polite company. Other times, she could be a complete and utter hellion. Pranks, messes, all sorts of chaos.
Yet I hadn't seen a single case of such mayhem. Though that was because a decent part of her day was spent, seemingly observing me. If it wasn't for training, I'd see more of Minette than I did Henrietta. Which made me nervous. Sure, I hadn't seen her do anything, but reputations did exist for a reason.
Still, until something did happen, there wasn't a whole lot I could do. Approaching her might work, or it could cause her to do something, nor was I entirely sure about the proper protocol in situations like this. I was, by definition, a commoner, after all, as much as I would love nothing more to pitch the concept of nobility into a fire. But that wasn't exactly a practical solution.
All I could do was wait this out and hope that things didn't end up with me getting pranked, and try to avoid any fallout if I did.
"Aimee, I was wondering," I almost didn't respond to the girl's voice, nearly forgetting the name I'd picked out for myself. I turned my head to face her. Laura, I think she was. She was close to a decade my junior, and it showed in most ways. "Who in the Griffin Corps do you think is the most Handsome?"
I gave her a look, raising my eyebrow slightly. Still, her eyes are begging for an answer.
"No," I said simply, returning to my work. This was already a dumb conversation I had no interest in having. No matter how much Laura wanted me to.
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That hadn't worked either. Many of the younger maids had no problem revealing who they wanted to sweep them off their feet, whisk them away from a life of toll. Especially amongst themselves, when they thought they were amongst themselves, or that nobody could hear them.
So why was Aimee so tight-lipped? Minette pouted, despite it not being a proper expression. There had to be someone she was interested in. But she refused to talk about such matters, much like many of the older maids would.
And the arrival of the young woman was weird. They missed her in the confusion, barely, but it was her sister and Agnes that dragged her in. She was too far away to hear anything, even with her magic, but she did see it, in the faint moonlight. Aimee couldn't be interested in her sister, right?
She couldn't let that happen! The last time Henrietta was interested in someone, she got hurt really, really bad!
She could do something to drive Aimee away. It wouldn't take a whole lot to mess with her. But what would Henrietta say if she found out? Her sister was smart. Smarter than she gave herself credit for some days. But other days she could be really, really stupid. Like with Prince Wales, their cousin.
But Aimee wasn't a cousin. She didn't seem weird or creepy like the prince had. What if she was better than the prince?
What if Henrietta had found another rare someone who cared about her, and all she did was drive them away? Henrietta would be devastated by such an event. But at the same time, she needed to know if Aimee was a good person, or was simply good at hiding things.
She didn't talk about where she was from, for starters. Her hair was almost blonde, and her eyes were almost blue. An offshoot of the Tudor line, maybe a child born out of a relationship with a commoner? No, that couldn't be it. Besides, cousins were mean. No more of those.
Aimee didn't talk about who she liked either. Getting her to fess up to any feelings about any guy or girl felt impossible. She may have been at the same starting level as some of the younger maids, but she was a lot more mature.
Maybe she was going about this the wrong way? Maybe Aimee would be more comfortable talking about such things with someone her age or older? Minette frowned, recalling the duplicate she had delicately crafted. It was not quite as good as the one she had seen Viscount Wardes use, but the fact it had come this far was a matter of pride.
Still, she'd need to keep an eye on Aimee. Not until she knew for sure what her intentions and relationship with big sis were. And that Aimee wouldn't hurt Henrietta in the slightest.
Minette didn't want anything like that to happen ever again.
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"I think I've figured out what your problem is," Agnes said, as we traded swings with the practice swords, wood cracking against wood.
"And that is?" I gritted my teeth, blocking a swing.
"You think too much," her answer was straightforward, blunt, and as if to prove a point, she landed a blow on my arm. I hissed slightly from the pain. It wouldn't bruise, I didn't think. Not this time, but that might start becoming a problem sooner rather than later. Looking like I'd been beaten was not a good thing, and would lead to questions. Given how I wanted to avoid questions already, that was, not great.
"I, can see that," I said softly. With whatever power it was that I had, swords frankly ended up being the worst weapon for me. Strangely did best with weapons I had no idea how to use. Spears, axes, all the way up to firearms. This power was like an autopilot, but instead of a plane, it was weapons. I wasn't sure why though. If it was about improving skill, then a sword should be my best weapon. But instead, it was among my worst.
"And it's not just limited to that power of yours. You think too much with practice weapons as well," Agnes continued. Again, she wasn't wrong. I did have a tendency to mull things over far longer than necessary.
"And how exactly do I fix that?" I asked, taking a loose fighting stance as we began to circle one another once again.
"Focus. Discipline. Fighting isn't about instinct, but you must learn to read your opponent, from how they hold their stance, to how they're placing their shoulders, and from there, know what exactly to expect. It is a learned skill of prediction, one you must make at quick speeds or, you will lose your life," Agnes's swing came in fast and powerful, with me managing to block the blow. "Take note of how I swung. Where were my feet? Where were my shoulders? These are the signs you must learn to pick up on if you wish to be successful in combat."
"As for how you learn such skills? Practice," Agnes continued. "The only way you will improve is by practicing. Yes, you have bad habits, bad habits that will need to be broken, but the latest way to learn is through experience."
I blocked a thrust, throwing out a slash of my own. Agnes avoided the blow, launching another series of thrusts. I dodged and blocked my way through the assault.
"Another thing is that you can be forced on the defensive far too easily, while also being much too aggressive," Agnes continued her critique. "You have very little middle ground between your offense and defense. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense, while other times, the best defense is a good offense."
I advanced, trying to disrupt Agnes's offense with one of my own, only to be pushed back. Agnes was more than capable of being able to beat me back with trivial ease. As much knowledge could be gleaned from defeat, it was still frustrating. Like beating your head against a Dark Souls boss, or any game made by Fromsoft, really.
Expect this time, there was no health bar to measure progress. Just a solid brick wall that I wasn't going to be overcoming anytime soon. Thinking of Agnes as some type of Fromsoft boss was weird, but whatever, I guess. It's already been established that she could beat me until I was nothing more than a screaming bruise. Sorry, whatever magic I was on helped me bridge the gap by no small margin, but that was when and only when I was able to take advantage of it.
"We'll run through some basic drills next," Agnes said, still not breaking a single ounce of sweat, as if the effort bored her. "Afterwards, metal weapons."
"Which one?" I ask, already taking a stance.
"Your choice," Agnes said, a slight grin on her face. Great. That meant she already figured out what I would be picking, and prepared accordingly.
"You can do it!" I heard Henrietta cheer. It was nice that one person had some degree of faith in my abilities.
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Viscount Wardes watched from his vantage point. Nobody had seen him, and he intended to keep it that way. While he wasn't doing anything wrong per say, he did wish to know more about this strange new girl. The turnaround in Henrietta's mood was notable, and the fact it seemed to be tied to what appeared to be a new maid. That hadn't been a coincidence, even if most didn't care to put everything together.
Henrietta hadn't been this happy, or appeared in such good cheer for a while now. Not since her relationship with Prince Wales Tudor ended in disaster. He'd only had a little information about what happened. But if what he had heard was true, then the boy deserved far worse than the stringing up the Albionese Rebels would give him. It was a bit harsh of him to think in such a manner, but that boy had done a considerable amount of damage. Henrietta may not have been able to use magic, like most royals, but she was a kind person who deserved much better. But fairy tale romances were sadly, just that.
Louise, the daughter of his former mentor, had at least tried to help pick up the pieces in the aftermath, but she didn't have a complete picture of what went wrong. The Royal Family had been tight-lipped on exactly what happened, so it was unlikely that Louise even had part of the picture. Still, bless her heart, she did try. Even Minette tried, in her own special way, to help her sister.
But nothing had worked. Not entirely. Not until now.
Hence his immense interest in this stranger. He hoped it hadn't been some ill-conceived romantic trist. The last one ended in disaster, so why would Henrietta ever go for another? With a commoner girl as well? At least one could see the relationship with the Tudor boy as trying to make an alliance during trying times. With a commoner, many nobles would be far less willing to look the other way.
Never mind that several nobles he knew had little issue bedding commoner women, seducing then throwing them aside when they've had their fun. The hypocrisy for such judgments would be lost on many of his peers.
Thankfully, based on his observations, this is unlikely to be the case. An odd friendship, yes, but that appeared to be as far as things went.
And Henrietta truly could use more of those. Louise was doing her best, but distance would forever remain a problem until she graduated. Agnes, while closer physically, was trying to do her job first and foremost. And while Minette was trying her best, the crown Princess was only six. This was outside of her experience.
Having someone who wasn't torn up after her husband's death to talk to could prove help for Henrietta.
However, that was far from the only reason he had made such a journey. The young woman was interesting in her way, and rumors, at least this time, had proven correct.
Wardes watched as the wooden sword tumbled through the air, almost wincing slightly. Agnes outpaced the girl by an almost insurmountable advantage of skill. There was no shame in that, even if he had heard that the strange woman was able to keep pace.
A tall tale, given how skilled Agnes was, and he shouldn't be surprised it was false, but at the same time, he was a bit, for lack of a better word, disappointed. It would give him someone new to spar, and that was always exciting. He turned to leave before he noticed something. Agnes was heading towards the steel swords. Why? The balance was better, yes, but Agnes had shown she was capable of winning. What purpose did using steel serve?
This was not like the last duel between the two. Agnes pulled her punches then, and now, it was a much more even fight. Agnes and the maid danced in a flurry of blades.
Wardes felt his eyes widen. He could scarcely believe what he was seeing, but see it he was. How had this new maid from losing to Agnes handily, to making Agnes break a sweat? How was that even possible?
It shouldn't be. It defies all reason. Better with a real sword over a practice one? That, he can believe, but this was far too much to be that.
It was then he made it out. Frankly, at this distance, he shouldn't have been able to spot it, but in the evening light, he just managed to make out a faint, glowing mark on the back of the young woman's left hand.
He left then and there. He couldn't make out the marking that lay beneath the glove, but it didn't matter. The woman was a familiar. Of that, Wardes was fairly certain. The question remained. Whose familiar was she? Was she summoned by Tristian's void mage?
Or was Albion's void mage making their opening move?
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Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Liker a koala!
Indeed.
Ganbare, Aimee!
Aimee experiencing the beginnings of breast envy.
Hah!
Very true.
If only your combat skills were like your bust size.
Tudor.
You're being way too nice, Wardes. What's your game? And FTFY.
Albion's.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
Well, looks like Prince Wales reacted very badly to finding out Henrietta was 'magicless'. Yet on the other hand, the butterflies that resulted from Henrietta and Louise's swap means Wardes appears to be loyal here.
Also very curious what the duplicate that Minette thought about is. Both Wardes and hers, though I have this hilarious feeling that Minette's duplicate might end up finding out who Aimee likes very closely. XD
Well, provided the story can dance around the interaction between Minette's mental age and the physical age the Duplicate appears to be. Not that we'd actually see anything happen. On this site at least, even if the Author cared to go there. Which basically means 'probably not going to happen like that but makes for a hilarious story line that could have been'.
Also very curious what the duplicate that Minette thought about is. Both Wardes and hers, though I have this hilarious feeling that Minette's duplicate might end up finding out who Aimee likes very closely. XD
Well, provided the story can dance around the interaction between Minette's mental age and the physical age the Duplicate appears to be. Not that we'd actually see anything happen. On this site at least, even if the Author cared to go there. Which basically means 'probably not going to happen like that but makes for a hilarious story line that could have been'.
"Ubiquitous Wind" is a canonical spell that Wardes uses to create duplicates of himself. IIRC, he could create up to four at a time, so Saito ends up fighting five versions of him at once. These duplicates are known in ZNT fandom as "wind clones." I would expect Minette, as a member of the ruling house of the Kingdom of Water, to be a water mage, so either she's a wind mage or she's figured out how to replicate the effect, with modifications, using water magic.