The Steep Path Ahead [Familiar of Zero AU]

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty

Marteau laughed loudly as he clapped Saito's back, even as he held a piece of raw meat to his face to cover the swollen eye. "Man, we showed them didn't we?!"

The kitchen was empty, and if not for a candle, it would have also been dark. It was late at night -considerably late- and Louise was sleeping soundly in her bed just like Siesta, both girls out like a light.

"Well, you'd better start packing up," Marteau sighed. "I'll do the same."

Saito blinked, "But-But why?"

Marteau snorted. "Really can't see it, kid? We did attack Count Mott's men. Seems like that Cardinal of yours didn't as much as say a word to the Count, and if he did, then the Count ignored him. You've got...I reckon, two days tops before they make their way back to the Count's mansion. We did leave them naked, and on foot." He swallowed noisily. "Listen boy, I don't know if you know, but your partner's appearance and magic-"

"It was the first time I saw him do that," Saito said awkwardly.

"Well-look, there are stories, lots of stories, but-ahhh how am I ever going to break this argument to you kid? I think you're travelling with pure-blood nobility. Like, your friend might be a long lost heir or something like that-how else can I put it?"

"You mean the Valliére heir?" Saito hazarded, receiving a nod from Marteau.

"Exactly! Well, glad I don't have to go at it in a roundabout way," the chef smiled, "I'm an old man, so I can tell you this. If she is, or if she isn't, going in front of the Duchess with her might be a very good idea, or a very bad one."

Saito looked down at his hands, "Why would you say that?"

"The moment the Duchess' daughter disappeared, countless 'fakes' started to spread. Sad thing was, some of them didn't even know they were fakes. The Duchess has a way to find out her real daughter, something secret, I guess. But-" Marteau grimaced, "Those poor girls-look, if you aren't sure, just drop the thought. I mean, she did a pretty convincing display of power, but for all I know she could be a powerful Square Mage. Or maybe she had a wand hidden in her wrist, or something-" Marteau pulled the steak off his eyes. "What I'm trying to say is...at most, you've got two days to leave. I'd suggest a peaceful place like Gallia, but whatever you do, don't get roped in the rebellion in Albion. War's not a place for kids like you."

"There's...There's a war going on?" Saito hazarded.

Marteau inclined his head to the side and then chuckled. "Can't believe you don't-you don't know about it! Course there's a war going on. It's in Albion, the flying continent. There are dozens of ships that sail from La Rochelle in Gallia to reach it-which is why, even if I suggest going to Gallia for work, I'm also telling you not to go to Albion."

Saito hesitated. "We still have to finish paying back our debt to Lady Charlotte. If we have two days-"

"Lady Charlotte will understand," Marteau said. "If you explain it to her properly, I am sure she will understand," the Chef added thoughtfully. "If you can manage to have her back you up though, perhaps you can avoid having to leave for Gallia."

Saito furrowed his brows as the Chef stood up and stretched, heading towards the larder to put the steak back in place. "What about you and Siesta?"

"I can't decide for the girl. Going in hiding might be the best, but she might just be found out. The Count's going to make this a point of personal pride now. She could leave the country, but how far she can make it depends on her." Marteau sighed. "Go to sleep for now, Saito. You have tomorrow morning to suffer through."

Saito chuckled nervously. "It won't be that bad."

"People have died because they touched the wand of a noble. You just broke the wand of your partner, and I don't think she's going to forgive you just like that."

"She?" Saito croaked out.

"I'm an old man," Marteau said with a chuckle. "Old men have keen eyes."

With a wink, the Chef walked off to his room in the servant quarters, leaving Saito behind at the table with the candle still flickering in front of him.

Really.

This was such a mess, and he had been the one to cause it.

He had wanted to play the Hero, and while he had saved Siesta, he had just made everyone else worse off. How was he going to explain things to Lady Charlotte? And when Louise woke up the next morning, what was she even going to do to him? He doubted she'd do much more than kick him, but-but he really should have thought it better.

He brought both hands to his face and took a deep breath.

In that moment, there was a knock at the door.

Saito breathed in sharply, and then stood up warily from the table, nearing the door. The Count couldn't have reached them this fast, and his men were probably still sleeping Louise's spell off in the middle of the forest.

As he opened the door, he was met with striking blue hair, and had to lower his gaze to meet the eyes of Lady Charlotte, who looked up quizzically at him, her trademark staff in hand. She was a few steps away from the door however, and had probably used her staff to knock on it.

"You went into the forest at night?" Lady Charlotte asked, staying clear of the doorway and with her feet firmly planted on the grass of the courtyard. "Looking for the Pixie dust?"

"Ah-no," Saito replied awkwardly. "Did-Did we wake you up while leaving with the horse? We must have woken up the whole academy-"

"No," Charlotte replied with a small shake of the head. "I was not asleep. I saw you leave from the top of the tower with the chef." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Saw the explosion in the distance. Pretty bright."

Saito chuckled nervously. "Well-Well that's Louis for you, he always makes flashy shows-"

"Training?" Charlotte asked.

"No, not really," Saito said, "Wouldn't you like to come inside, Lady Charlotte? It's a bit cold out-"

"No," the blue haired girl answered flatly, clutching her staff. "You can come outside."

Saito swallowed nervously as he did just that, closing the door behind him. Charlotte's shoulders seemed to slouch a bit, as if whatever tension she had in her body left her the moment the door was closed. Saito neared her and bowed, at least, he hoped he was bowing the right amount. Charlotte began to walk, and Saito started to walk by her side.

"What happened?" Charlotte asked. "You left in a hurry."

Saito hesitated only briefly, and then recounted the entire tale. Charlotte's eyes narrowed only slightly as she looked up at him from the side, and then giggled a little bit, covering her mouth with her hand at the end. "I can sympathize with your friend," she said softly, her fingers touching a lock of her light blue hair. "I would not want my hair dirty."

Saito awkwardly chuckled, "Yeah, Louis really cares about his hair to the point of having a meltdown."

"You do cherish him a lot," Charlotte said. "I think a gift to pacify him would be appropriate. A new wand-but you would not manage to reach the city and return by tomorrow morning, well...this morning," Charlotte added thoughtfully. "Follow me," as she ordered that with a kind voice, Saito did indeed follow the girl, like he was already doing, all the way into the familiar's courtyard where the blue scaled dragon was waiting for her.

"Climb," Charlotte said, and as she did so too, the dragon easily took them both up into the girl's room.

There were bubbling alembics and alchemy ingredients everywhere. Most of the stuff had been procured by Saito and Louise, but a lot more had come through other means. "By helping me procure the ingredients close by, I can concentrate on getting those far away," Charlotte said softly as she landed on a fur rug, which wasn't in fact covered in fur, but in scales. It was a dragon's skin, apparently.

"To prevent spillover in the room below," Charlotte said at Saito's surprised look. There were a couple of cauldrons so similar to those seen in cartoons with 'witches' and frankly, if Charlotte had a pointy black hat, and a black cat, then perhaps it would have made sense.

"You're an alchemist?" Saito asked, "No man-eating plants or large-sized rodents and spiders, I hope."

"No," Charlotte replied properly. She looked warily at Saito for a moment, and then said bluntly, "Antidotes."

"Well, I guess it makes sense with the amount of dangerous creatures out there," Saito said with a nod. Charlotte opened a drawer beneath her dresser, and after pushing aside a few clothes, brought out a large box that she settled nicely on the desk nearby. Opening it up, the box had an inner lining of soft silk pillows, as if whatever rested upon it was very important.

It was a set of wands.

"Here," Charlotte said, picking one. "You can give her this." She held the wand out for Saito to take. "It's a wand meant for a Knight of the North Parterre, my personal guard." She hesitated briefly. "It should also keep her safe from the Count's retribution."

Saito blinked as he looked at the wand, "But-but wouldn't that be a problem for you, Char-I mean, Lady Charlotte?"

"It is fine," Charlotte replied. "You did help me."

"But-but I mean, we're still paying you back for-"

Charlotte shook her head. "I would have helped even if you had been farmers, not expecting anything in return," she smiled softly as she said that. "You will need one too-not a wand, but a cloak."

Saito scratched the side of his face. "I-I mean, are you sure? We're just adventurers, Louis and I-we're not going to stick around for much, I mean-I mean if you need a hand with something of course we'll help, that's what adventurers do, but-but we're trying to head back home-so-"

Charlotte simply giggled. "It is fine," she said, opening the dresser next. There were at least a good dozen of cloaks, all with the same symbol upon their golden clasp of a wand crossed with a shield. "I am the one who decides who wears the cloak and who does not," she added as she looked up at Saito. "Could you kneel, please?"

Saito furrowed his brows, but dutifully obeyed.

Charlotte nodded, and brought her staff in front of her. "This is...the ceremony for knighting someone. I wanted to do this once, so-please stay still."

Saito awkwardly nodded as Charlotte began to speak, and once she was done with the strange words -probably 'Gallian' or whatever tongue it was that was her native tongue, she placed the mantle around Saito's neck, clasping it on for him. "Here," she said softly. "Now you are a knight of North Parterre, by my will as Charlotte Helene D'Orleans of Gallia. If any dare to question your worth, then let them know that the heir of the Crown of Gallia stands behind you."

Saito remained stiffly locked in place as the girl's staff went down first on his right shoulder, and then on his left.

'So Louise, I kind-of got knighted and got you a wand while you were asleep' would certainly work out well for the girl.

Probably. Now, if it weren't for the fact that Charlotte's door was outright melted into the wall, and he had to take the 'dragon-lift' to descend, maybe the nightly knighting would have been the strangest thing happening to him on that night.

As it was though, he hoped Louise liked the new wand.

Truth be told, he just hoped Louise wouldn't kill him when she woke up with her old wand broken.

He really liked being alive.

He really, really, liked that.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-One

Louise woke up with a headache, and a sinking feeling that she had lost something very important to her. Her eyes focused after a short while on the figure sleeping peacefully by the other side of the bed and as the memory returned to her abruptly, she growled angrily. She was going to kick him so hard-but she stopped.

In that situation, she didn't know what she could have done of different. Maybe yes, there was another option. Perhaps if she had continued chanting-no, they would have just killed the hostage to spite them. And even if they didn't, it wasn't like Siesta could keep working at the academy anyway, not with the Count utterly fixed on the girl.

They had some time, of that Louise was sure. She didn't know how much, maybe a day or two at most, but in those days they'd have to quickly pay back their debts and leave. She'd kick Saito in the shins the moment he woke up, but she wasn't so cruel as to deprive him of his sleep.

She quickly stood up from her side of the bed and headed straight for the basin of water by the drawer, where the cold water would finish waking her up.

Louise took a deep breath as the memories of the night before returned. She had managed to throw a spell without a wand. She was sure the headmaster of the academy in Germania wouldn't just eat his hat, but also the hats of all the other professors.

She giggled at that and turned, moving to put on her socks and boots -Saito had actually learned his lesson and removed them before putting her to bed.

By her boots, a new wand rested with a message written on it. She blinked as she grabbed the wand in one hand in disbelief, and the message in the other. It had been written rather poorly, and frankly it showed just how much Saito had to improve in his writing -he could read now, if slowly.

'New wand. Please no beat.'

She stared at the wand for a brief moment, trying to think how he could have acquired one in the middle of the night. There was the symbol of Gallia's royalty on it -the descendants of Brimir's symbols had to be memorized to become a proper nun- so it was possible he had simply gone early in the morning to plead with Lady Charlotte for a new wand.

Seriously, the lengths Saito would go to right a wrong-well, she couldn't fault him that kindness.

"Fine," Louise said, "You're forgiven," she added to the sleeping boy, who simply grumbled a bit and hugged the pillow closer. When he slept, at least, he didn't look nor feel like a mass of perversion.

She finished putting her boots on and clasping her mask around her face, before stepping outside with a skip on her step.

"Ah, good morning lass!" Marteau said from the kitchen, "Woke up early, uh?" he added with a wink from his non-swollen eye. Louise nodded as she sat down at the table, a bowl of gruel in front of her within minutes. "Another day of gathering ingredients for Lady D'Orleans?" as the Chef asked that, Louise nodded awkwardly.

They'd have to leave without repaying the noble lady for everything she had done for them. It wasn't going to be easy to swallow, and Brimir would be displeased -just like the Gods. She'd have to repent a thousand times over for that terrible sin.

Saito stepped out of the room a few minutes later, yawning and stretching. "Hey, good news!" he said with a smile.

Louise blinked. Her eyes widened. She stared for a bit, and then she rushed towards Saito with both hands gripping the hem of his new cloak. "What did you do!?" Louise snapped, her face as white as a sheet. "What did you do!?"

"Louis?" Saito asked.

"You didn't-tell me you didn't," Louise continued angrily. "Tell me you just didn't do what I think you did, because I swear I'll rip you a new one you stupid, moronic, imbecilic-" she stopped beating his chest plate with her closed fists when the skin began to turn red, and instead simply looked away.

"Are congratulations in order?" Marteau asked, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"For what?" Saito asked once more, puzzled. "I mean-I wanted to say that we don't have to run from Count Mott's men because Char-Lady Charlotte said she'd protect us. I think it's because she knighted us or something-"

"Being a knight is no easy thing!" Louise snarled back, grabbing Saito by the scruff of the neck. "And what about going back home!? Are you going to drop that just because you wanted to avoid-" she began to throttle him, "You stupid boy! I leave you alone for a night and you ruin your entire future because-" she kept throttling him.

"Wait! Wait!" Saito pleaded, pushing Louise away. "Calm down! She said it was fine! I told her we weren't going to stick around for much longer and she was fine with it!"

Louise stopped trying to claw out Saito's eyes and took a deep breath. "She...She said that?"

"Yes," Saito nodded emphatically. "She said that."

"She didn't simply trick you by saying that, and then she'll renege on her word and have you arrested and confined as her boy toy, did she?" Louise hazarded.

Saito blinked. Saito frowned. Saito's nose dribbled a bit of blood which made Louise all the more pissed off. Louise's punch took care of the blood and of the smirk on Saito's face with blinding-fast speed. Well, mostly, since Saito dodged it.

"You moron!" Louise growled, fist still raised. "Can't believe you didn't know-normally, when someone takes a knight of the opposite sex in their personal guard it's just a way to keep them close as a lover!"

Louise took a deep breath next, trying to calm down. "Well, fine. The Lady D'Orleans is a nice noble lady. That's good, I guess. Just-Saito, try to keep your brain working, all right? It's not like everyone you meet is going to be a kind and understanding nun or an affable young man. Some people are going to smile at you even as they steal everything you have and leave you in the dirt. How many times will I have to explain this to you?"

Saito simply scratched the back of his head, chuckling lightly.

"So if you're a knight, and I'm a knight, where's my cloak?" Louise asked next.

Saito really didn't want to tell Louise there wasn't a cloak for a pint-sized boy.

On the other hand, he liked to live dangerously.

So he told her as he manly dashed for the forest sword in hand, ensuring that Louise would follow only after having completely boiled over her anger.

They had drake scales to recover and mandrakes to find.

It was going to be another long day, of that he was sure.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Two

When the last ingredient in the list was recovered, four days had passed since the events with Siesta. Marteau had gently told the headmaster he wanted to travel the world, and so he had eagerly bowed and left with his retirement fee.

Ginger, namely put, went with him.

Siesta on the other hand, didn't have to. Lady Charlotte had actually the need of a personal maid, one who wouldn't make a fuss about having to climb the tower and, as it turned out, Siesta was capable of climbing the tower pretty easily. It was even easier with a rope, so that was it.

"We do look the part of proud knights now, do we?" Louise asked as she walked side by side with Saito, both of them wearing cloaks of the same black color, the clasp identical. With the swords' hilts only barely sticking out from the cloaks, they did indeed strike quite the imposing figure. "Try not to do anything foolish while you're wearing that cloak now though," she added. "Or you'll put Lady D'Orleans in trouble."

They hadn't found a professor that knew about how to revert a summoning ritual -of the few that had given them more than a few minutes of their time, and that mostly because they had knightly cloaks on them- and so, after making their goodbyes to Charlotte and to Siesta, they had begun their trek towards Tarbes.

"Three days," Louise said with a chuckle. "Three days then we'll see if the maid told the truth or not, and then after Tarbes we can think about our next move."

Saito nodded. "We have to reach the Valliere's lands again after all-"

"Saito," Louise said with a sigh, but chuckled and shook her head next, "Fine. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"You can't keep thinking it's a coincidence, Louise," Saito said in a hiss. "Come on-it's clear the Cardinal lied."

"Yeah, but did he lie to my face or did he lie in the letter?" Louise retorted hotly. "Or-or you know, did someone hear him and manage to somehow swap the letter to deliver? I don't want to think a minister of god could be such a wretched and vile person, so-so I'll just hang on to my faith and believe there's a proper explanation for everything. We'll see what happens after-after the Duchess decides for herself."

Saito nodded. "Well, at least there's no bandit mage attacking us," he said, before warily looking around. "There isn't, is there?"

"No," Louise said. "There is not," she sighed. "For a bandit, he was pretty strong. I think he also said something, but-well, I just want to forget all about that."

The trip was surprisingly uneventful. If it weren't for the occasional chatting with Louise, or the occasional farmer waving at them from their own fields, they went by largely undisturbed.

"It's a nice change of pace from having to run from eager drakes," Saito remarked as the village of Tarbes stood now in all of its glory in front of them.

Well.

Most of it.

There was a burned down structure to the north of the village, and a couple of houses had apparently been destroyed. When they reached the outskirts, it was a rough looking man that welcomed them. Well, for a matter of welcoming them since he pointed an arrow at both of them.

"State your business, foreigners!" the man barked.

Saito moved slightly in front of Louise, a hand to his sword's handle. "We're knights of the North Parterre!" Louise said in her gruff and manly voice. "We come from the academy of Tristain-we're friends with Siesta and have news of her for her family!"

"Oh-" the man said, frowning for a bit. "I see," he grimaced. "Well-I guess...welcome to Tarbes, or what remains of it."

He placed the arrow back in the quiver on his back, and bowed as they neared him. "I'm sorry, lord knights, to be the bearer of bad news. There was a bandit attack a few days ago. The bandits wanted everything of precious the villagers had and when they heard of the dragon raiment-well, they wanted that too, but that stupid man, he refused them even at sword point." The hunter shook his head as he removed his cap from the head. "They...They made a show of force and killed him, and then-then all of them. Siesta had seven siblings, my lords...now she is an only child."

Saito felt all heat leave his body. He didn't realize his right arm was trembling until Louise gripped on to it with her hand, stopping it from shaking too much.

"Calm down," Louise said softly. "These vile crimes happen all the time in small villages. Did you seek refuge in the church?" she asked next.

"We did," the man said with a shaky nod. "But that stupid man-really, why did he have to be such a hardheaded idiot-" the hunter shook his head and quickly looked away, "I apologize my lords, I should not talk ill of the dead but-but what happened shook all of us. We did experience a few bandit raids in the previous years, but they were never so cruel, and they never ended in more than a few scrapes and bruises."

The man gestured for a rundown hovel, "But please, come in. You must be tired from your long journey, and you'll need rest."

"Where," Saito said softly, "Where have they been buried?"

"Near the Dragon's Raiment," the man answered. "It's where they would have wanted to be buried."

"Saito-" Louise began, but Saito wasn't listening. He was already walking in that direction, his steps firm. It was the burned structure on the northern side of the village, where among the burning wreckage a metallic construct remained unscathed by the flames. It was a Japanese airplane, which seemed to cruelly mock Saito as he realized that indeed, Siesta hadn't lied.

If the plane had been capable of flying, perhaps none would have died. As his hand stopped an inch away from the ruinous wreckage of burnt wood and cheap metal melted on itself, he looked to the side where a set of small stones denoted the deceased. They had been freshly dug, and stabbed on the ground near each of the tombs was a fresh batch of camp flowers.

The wind blew softly as it carried away their fragrance, which mixed with the smell of burnt wood and melted iron.

"She wasn't lying," Saito said in the end. "She really had a Japanese grandparent," he said softly as he looked back once more at the plane. "That's...That's an airplane, from my world."

"We'll have to go back and tell her," Louise said. "That poor girl-going through so much in such a short amount of time." Louise knelt in front of the tombs, her hands joined together as she began to pray. It was a strange prayer, but then again, it wasn't the first time he had heard it. Louise had prayed the same way after they had dug a tomb for that unlucky adventurer eaten by the giant spiders.

The prayer ended with the last words carried away by the wind.

There was no cheer in their expressions for the reminder of the day, even as they accepted hospitality for the night.

"Perhaps..." the hunter said after dinner, "if you could but spare a moment, my lords...we've been having a problem with a few orcs in the forest. They aren't normally a threat, but I wouldn't want them to feel bold enough to attack the village so shortly after the brigands left. If you could deal with them-it would ease the worry of many women in the village...and men too, of course."

Saito gave a simple, wordless nod.

Louise was a bit more articulate in her reply. "Of course," she said gruffly. "We would be poor knights if we did not help those in need!" as she tapped her chest with her right fist, she looked up with a firm gaze -the only thing that emerged from her mask.

The hunter smiled, his spirit definitely uplifted.

The biggest problem would be lifting up Saito's spirit. Perhaps...Well, Louise had really no choice by this point.

She would allow him a brothel visit.

That would cheer him right up, wouldn't it?

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Three

The forest surrounding Tarbes had been cut down for the most part, leaving in its place grassy fields that were filled with crops. There were still some shrubs, and some random sparse trees, but for the most part the hills were dominated by fields of wheat and corn.

There was however a firm reminder that it had all been a forest once. It came from a hill covered in large trees, which was but the outskirt of a larger forest that practically teemed with life as the duo adventured within it.

"You know, Saito," Louise said. "If you want, when we reach Valier, we can stop by the Flaming Stallion." Saito nearly stumbled on the next step, and turned sharply to look at Louise with his eyes wide.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," Louise said. "Don't make me regret this," she added in a whisper as Saito raised a fist in the air with tears in his eyes. At least it didn't do much to uplift his spirit.

"You're the best partner ever," Saito said with a nod. "Are orcs like the ones-well, right, you don't know what a movie is. Are they intelligent?"

"What? No," Louise shook her head. "They're like pigs, large human-like pigs, and with just enough brains to grab hold of crude and makeshift weapons. They tend to eat human children, and are a threat to small villages."

"How big are we talking?" Saito asked, turning to look at Louise and impacting against a massive wall of something soft and smelly.

"That big," Louise said calmly, pointing her swordwand right in front of her, where a large creature, easily twice Saito's size, stood looking down at the duo with a puzzled expression in its pig-like eyes. It had long tusks, a snout in place of a nose, and skulls hung from his neck like beads of a necklace.

The creature emitted a crude swine-like shriek as it lifted its heavy club, but as Louise quickly swished her swordwand while pronouncing just a couple of words, a tiny bead of light shone right against the orc's nose and the next instant, the headless creature fell back down with a fuming neck.

Louise rubbed the back of her fingers against her cloak as she looked at her nails, "Well," Louise said with a smirk. "Guess once you go Triangle, you never go back to Line."

Saito blinked. "What?"

"I've clearly reached Triangle," Louise said. "I mean, at first it was just explosions, and that had to be a single dot of Water, then I reached Sleep, and that had to be a second element of Water, so I was Water-Water, a Line mage. Now though, I must have added Fire to it, or perhaps Wind. I don't know how it works, but my explosions are a lot more deadly now, so-"

The creature's headless body twitched once, and then unleashed a noxious gas attack that forced both Saito and Louise to rush back with their eyes stinging from the filth and their mouths covered with their hands.

"Gah!" Saito coughed for fresh air. "That-That was one."

"Usually orcs live in tribes of ten to fifteen individuals," Louise said with a knowing nod. "Come along Saito, we aren't done yet."

Saito nodded awkwardly, grabbing his sword in one hand and his shield in the other. "How come you're this giddy?"

"You mean, after everything that happened in the last weeks?" Louise replied. "Because-let's face it, if I am a Duchess' long lost daughter then all right, I'm set for life. If I'm not, I'm still a Knight for a good noble lady, and if she has no need for me, I'm still a powerful mage in my own rights! I've never had a really big wish, Founder Brimir doesn't like it when you wish big, but what little I have-isn't it enough? I've gone through so much-this is clearly the Gods rewarding me for my faith," she nodded happily.

"Aren't you even a bit sad about Siesta?" Saito asked.

"Well, but what would that change?" Louise replied calmly. "Saito-these things happen all the time. You must find comfort in the fact they have gone to heaven, and that their souls will forever bask in the light of the Gods, and that they will never go hungry or cold again. Maybe their deaths were painful, but now they can live on eternally in the garden of heaven, and Siesta will one day join them too when she dies of old age, and they'll have countless days of blissful fun," Louise pointed out with a cheerful voice as she stepped over a tree root. "That's why-"

There was a bellowing scream for their side, and a stampeding noise as if massive creatures were rushing for them. Three orcs soon came in sight from behind the trees, their rage clearly visible upon their features.

Louise waved her wand as she began to chant, and in answer Saito hastily pulled out his bow, nocking an arrow as the runes on the back of his hand glittered softly. The first arrow struck the upcoming orc right in the left eye, making the creature scream crudely as it swayed to the left.

Saito jumped on its back, another arrow nocked and immediately unleashed on the back of the second orc, which stopped running and fell on the floor, its legs both paralyzed.

Pushing his legs away from the orc he had climbed on, and who was swinging its mace right and left, he unleashed the third arrow right against the soft rubbery neck of the third orc, making the creature clutch the open wound as air came less, and blood instead began to pool out.

When Louise finished her spell, three small dots of light marked the final end of the creatures.

"Do you really have to kill them that way?" Saito asked warily, eyeing the headless corpses.

"It's quick and painless," Louise shot back, a hand against her hip and the other waving her pristine swordwand around. "And you aren't even congratulating me on my skills improving. I barely flinched when three orcs came at us!"

"Congratulations?" Saito hazarded.

Louise simply nodded, cheerful. They quickly had to vacate the area. Dead orcs really smelled something fierce, and it was probable they'd have to use fire just to 'purify' the area -at least in Saito's modest opinion.

"I don't understand," Saito said as the night began to fall, and what was probably the last orc of the forest fell down neatly beheaded by Saito's blade. "I'm not seeing any village."

"Orcs don't have villages," Louise said calmly as she wiped her swordwand. "They emerge from the mud just like that. Some say an evil alchemist overlord a long time ago created them, or that they're evil spirits bound to the earth that sometimes find a way out of their prison an come to terrorize the countryside," she shrugged. "But there are already Specters as evil spirits, so it falls kind of flat for them to be the same thing."

"Alchemists," Saito said with a sigh. "Why is it always Alchemists?"

Louise shrugged. "Nobles are terrible when bored."

"Don't become a terrible noble when bored, Louise," Saito said with a small chuckle.

Louise's lips twitched upwards, and she nodded. "I promise I won't. If you promise you won't beat yourself up for something you had no power of changing," as she inclined her head slightly to look at Saito's downcast gaze, she pushed both of her fingers at Saito's corners of his lips, and moved them until he had him smile. "You can't face life with a sad frown, it makes you an undesirable kid," Louise added softly. "Just cheer up, and I'm sure someone will come pick you up in no time!"

She removed her fingers, and then began to whistle as she sped up, Saito hastening his step to follow her.

They had a long road back, and the weight on Saito's shoulder wasn't going to lift that easily.

What good is a hero from a role-playing game, if he can't arrive in time to save the princess?

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Four

Saito had to nearly be dragged through the gate into the academy, and as he sheepishly stared at the dirt, he took a deep breath. "I'll-I'll tell her," he said earnestly. Louise nodded at that firm declaration, and as the classes ended, they saw Siesta easily descend from the tower and make her way towards the Eastern courtyard, where Lady Charlotte apparently stepped out of the window with a simple Levitate spell.

Saito held his tongue about the 'door-hating' thing. It seemed to be a quirk of her, and who was he to ask about it? It was a pointless thing. "Lady Charlotte," Saito said as he bowed, "I-" he hesitated, looking at Siesta. "I need to speak with Siesta for a moment."

"Of course," Charlotte said, "Louis will keep me company then," she added thoughtfully, and as Sylphid made a 'kyuu' sound behind her back, the blue dragon flapped its wings and flew off towards the forest, probably having been 'discharged' for the time being.

As Louise fell neatly in line with Charlotte and left Saito alone with Siesta, the maid looked eagerly on at the boy.

"So? You saw the Dragon's Raiment didn't you? Oh-perhaps I shouldn't be this familiar now that you have become a knight, Lord Hir-"

"Saito is fine," Saito said quickly, clenching his right hand. "Look, Siesta...There is no easy way to tell you," he grabbed a hold of the maid's left hand and held its palm open, "The elder of the village wanted you to have this," and as he spoke, he dropped an iron key in her hand. "He said they'll rebuild the hangar and clean the Dragon's Raiment-you don't have to worry about anything."

"S-Saito," Siesta whispered. "What...What happened?"

It was hard to say it, but Saito said it anyways.

The hardest part was staying there as Siesta's face went through a series of emotions ranging from disbelief, to befuddlement, to shock, anger, sadness, grief all in the span of a few seconds that felt like an eternity. It was the second time a girl ended up against his chest hiccuping and crying, and just like he hadn't liked it the first time, he didn't like it the second.

There was so little he could do, in all honesty. Louise was probably better trained than him on how to console grieving people. The most he could do was hug the maid and tell her it would all be fine, but the words tasted like ash even as they left his tongue.

Siesta was a strong girl however, and a few minutes later, the tears had already dried up. "I-At least it was quick-I hope-mom wasn't-was she? I-I don't know," she took a deep breath, clutching on to the hem of Saito's cloak. "I crumpled the cloak-" she mumbled, half-dazed.

"It's not an issue, Siesta," Saito replied.

"I'm all alone now," Siesta whispered, her eyes glazed over, her fingers still clutching on to the cloak as if letting go would mean the wind could pick her up and carry her away.

Saito grabbed Siesta's shoulders, and shook his head. "No, no you aren't. I promise you, you aren't. I'll-" return home eventually. "Make sure you aren't." He stammered, but Siesta didn't seem to be listening on to it.

"T-Thank you," Siesta whispered. "I know you have no reason to," she added. "If...If only you weren't-no, I'm just being silly now," she shook her head softly. "I am glad to have you as a friend, Saito."

"I am glad too," Saito replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, a fair distance away, Louise was quietly tapping her right foot on the ground while crossing her arms in front of her chest. Charlotte watched on with an eyebrow raised and a hand to her mouth, to cover the small smile on her lips.

"Jealous, Louis?"

"Not really, Lady D'Orleans," Louise replied gruffly with a huff, "I am sure Saito will not take advantage. He is a good man, and he knows what will happen if he dares to try," the girl threatened darkly, a hand raised and clenched in a fist so tightly the knuckles became white within seconds.

Charlotte kept the smile on her face, even as she dropped her hand by her side. "I understand you will be heading to the Valliére lands next," Charlotte said, "am I to assume you have business with the Duchess?"

"It's-It's nothing like that," Louise replied awkwardly. "I am merely rewarding Saito for having done a good job," she added gruffly. "He has a few friends in Valier," she lied smoothly. "So we are taking a detour there."

"Oh? A detour? Are you returning to Germania then?" Charlotte asked.

Louise shook her head. "No, Lady D'Orleans, we are headed South, potentially past the desert to Rub'Al Khali, but-well, the elves won't make it easy."

"I suppose they won't," Charlotte added. "You are quite brave to attempt such a dangerous travel," she added with a nod. "When you return from the Valliére lands, do come by, if you are headed South, you can deliver a few letters for me to my acquaintances in Gallia and Romalia."

"Of course, Lady D'Orleans," Louise said.

"And I will write you a letter of introduction for the Duchess. From what I heard...she is very strict with foreign agents in her lands," Charlotte continued in a soft voice. "You have read about her?"

"The Heavy Wind is notorious in Germania," Louise murmured. "Very notorious."

"Then be careful," Charlotte said, "Because she earned her reputation, and even the wildest of tall tales on her are true."

Louise couldn't help but snort, "I apologize, Lady D'Orleans, but-but surely she hasn't torn a mountain to shreds with only Wind Magic."

"She did," Charlotte said. "The mountain was in the way, so she simply cut it at the base and uprooted it with hurricanes, before slamming it down against another."

Louise suddenly felt very cold and afraid.

"Do not anger her," Charlotte added. "She is not a foe you can defeat, barring a miracle, of course."

Louise nervously laughed. Perhaps it was best if they didn't meet the Duchess at all. Now, if only she could convince Saito-two visits to the brothel? Three? No, perhaps five authorized visits to a brothel would suffice.

Unfortunately, she knew just by looking at Saito consoling the maid in front of her that the boy would rather swear never to set foot in a whorehouse than to bring her in front of the Duchess.

Unless she had a very compelling argument.

Certainly, in the time it took to reach the Duchess, she could come up with something?

Oh Founder Brimir-help a poor girl out, could you?!

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Five

Saito awkwardly glanced at Louise as they walked on the road. "Nervous?"

"No, not really," Louise replied mechanically. "We are just going to meet with the Duchess and hope she doesn't grow angry at seeing me. If she does turn angry, she'll probably chop us to bits. You know it's true that she uprooted a mountain? It was in the way, so she moved it aside. A mountain-a whole mountain."

"Well, I'm sure it won't come to that. We have Lady Charlotte's letter of introduction," Saito said politely. Louise hesitated, and looked away sheepishly.

"Oh, come on," Saito muttered. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine," he added with a small smile. "You'll meet, she'll look at you, recognize you, and then you'll embrace and she'll be all teary-eyed and-"

"Saito," Louise whispered, "Please-I understand you just want to lift my spirit, but what if the opposite happens? What if the Cardinal didn't lie in the letter but-no, no," she shook her head and took a deep breath. "What will happen will happen. Let's just hope we can leave with our lives."

The small whispered prayers that Louise began to recite the day before their arrival in Valier was enough of a telltale sign that Saito had no choice but to sigh, shake his head, and renounce the proffered brothel visit in order to stay close to Louise.

There could be other times for the brothel, but this-well, this was more important.

They were huddled together against a tree, between its root and with Saito's back thankfully against a warm and soft surface. Louise was between his arms, covered by the cloak just like he was. It was a way to sleep without lighting a fire, and it was quite needed considering there might be bandits on the road.

Yet Louise was trembling, but not from the cold. "I-" she muttered suddenly, breaking the silence of the night. "I don't know now."

Saito remained quiet. "What if-I mean-I-should I be happy, or sad? Nervous? Maybe not? We're just checking-we still-she might not even be in the city! She might be in the countryside-or-or at her home, mansion, palace, whatever she has-I mean-I-Maybe this is all just one big mistake, Saito."

Saito remained silent, even as he could feel Louise shift between his arms to snuggle closer, gripping onto both of his arms with her shaking hands. "And-And maybe she's not really kind. What if she's a witch? Or-Or she's evil-or she hurts people for fun-I-Maybe my older sister is wicked-or my father is abusive-I-Maybe I'm better off without a family, like always-I mean, I was without a family until now so having one might be too much for me. Who knows, maybe I like being an orphan, maybe this is better, maybe-"

"Louise," Saito said softly. "Everyone should have a home to return to."

Louise remained quiet for a few seconds, the hooting of the nocturnal birds the only sound in the air. "But...But maybe I don't deserve a home," Louise said. "With what I've done-maybe I don't deserve to be happy."

"It's all right," Saito said. "I forgive you. And if you wronged someone else, I'm sure they'd forgive you too."

"You can't be sure," Louise whispered. "You can't be sure."

"Hey," Saito muttered, "I'm still here, right?"

Louise grew quiet once more. "Yeah," she said in the end. "You are."

'For the moment' went unspoken.

Then again, their arrival in Valier the next day was so uneventful to barely warrant description. For all of Louise's nervousness, the Duchess wasn't an entity that could be summoned at will, and while it was true the city was in her lands, it was also true that her mansion wasn't in the city itself, but in the countryside.

Plus, when they said she was patrolling the borders, they were being serious. The Duchess personally marched back and forth across her borders, dealing with troubles with extreme prejudice.

"She usually starts by going west and then goes all the way back east," a helpful guard said, pointing at a map hanging by the wall in an inn near the gates. "That's why she moved a mountain-it was in the way of her patrolling, so-well, she always passes through there with her manticore, so she's hard to miss."

He scrunched his face up in thought. "If you hurry up, you can reach it just shy of her passing by. There's a small outpost that was built there just to deliver messages to her from the Duke," the guard sighed. "Poor man, after his eldest married, he's been left alone in his mansion." He propped a hand beneath his chin. "Though once a week he holds a party for the common folk. I think it's his way to feel less lonely. He's a good guy, our Duke. Isn't he?!"

"Aye! A toast to the Duke!" another man by the counter said with his mug raised, which was soon echoed around the inn.

"Maybe we could start by talking with him," Saito said, "What do you think, Louis?"

"Might be for the best," Louise said gruffly.

"Just so you know, I don't think he's going to answer yes," the guard said, making both Saito and Louise blink. "You're knights from Gallia aren't you? There's always a messenger from there with a message from your king to him or his wife. They always pass by, and they always leave downcast in the end. But, hey, your king's quite insistent I reckon."

"Well, this time I'm sure this time will be different," Saito said with a nod.

"Well, it's the first time there are two messengers, maybe you'll be double as effective," the guard chuckled. "Good luck anyway!"

"Thank you," Saito replied, turning to Louise, who in turn had already begun to walk out.

"We could wait the end of the week and-" as Louise began to speak, Saito simply stared at her with a raised eyebrow. The girl shrunk slightly on herself, and then took a deep breath. "And we'll go right now."

Saito nodded, a fist raised. "This Duke feels like a good guy anyway," he said cheerfully. "He'll probably be happy to have some company."

Louise wasn't that sure about Saito's optimism, but since the boy's smile was contagious, she couldn't help but smile in turn.

One step at the time, she was sure she could keep walking on the path ahead.

The steep path ahead.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Six

The Valliere mansion was a palace. It had to be a palace, because it was pretty big. As Louise looked up at the many windows, she saw a figure by a window and shyly waved at it, receiving a wave in return.

A servant by the mansion's gate had taken one good look at them and then sighed in disbelief. "Again," he had mumbled, "Please, come this way Sirs," he had added, guiding them through the garden and past a lake where a boat drifted aimlessly in the middle of it. "The Duke will receive you shortly."

They passed through many hallways, all filled with paintings, vases and suits of armor, the wealth practically oozing out from every single object on their path. Louise couldn't help but stare numbly at the displays of swords and ceremonial weapons hanging from the walls. They were left inside a rather large room with a long table, where they were to wait.

"What might I bring you while you wait, Sirs?" the maid asked gently.

"Nothing, thank you," Louise said gruffly. The maid bowed, and then left the two of them alone in the large room.

"Louise," Saito said.

"Not yet," Louise replied, fidgeting with the border of the her mask.

"Louise," Saito insisted, and Louise grasped at her mask and removed it, letting her hair free from her cloak's cowl. She glared at Saito, and held the mask with her right hand.

"There," she said flatly. "Satisfied?"

"A lot," Saito nodded.

Time passed, and as Louise kept fidgeting for the mask, Saito extended a hand. "Give it here," he said. "Come on, Louise."

"I'm not going to be so rude as to put it back on!" Louise snapped hotly, still clutching on to the mask.

"Louise, hand over the mask," Saito said firmly.

With a tiny groan, Louise did as much. It was strange, but for once it was Saito the one in command and Louise the one following orders. The girl was apparently too nervous to complain too loudly, and as she began to look out of the window, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath.

When the door opened to admit the maid once more, Louise blinked, and then paled. There he was, the Duke.

"Allow me to present the Duke Pierre de la Valliére," the maid said with a bow as the man stepped inside. He was clutching on to a walking cane that ended with a rather large diamond on top, and his blond hair fell in curls around his face, which held a goatee that -coupled with the monocle- made him look like the stereotypical evil villain in Saito's eyes.

Thankfully, he also had a smile on his face as he stepped inside.

Unfortunately, the smile lasted barely a few seconds.

"We apologize for disturbing you," Saito said. "We have a letter addressed for your wife-the Duchess of La Valliére, but we know not where-"

"Ah, of course," the Duke said, taking a breath and turning his sight away from Louise and towards Saito. "You aren't the usual royal messengers," he added.

"We are knights of the North Parterre," Saito said. "I'm Saito, and this is Louis," Saito added, gesturing at Louise who simply remained quiet, her gaze fixed on that of the Duke. "We have a letter from The Lady D'Orleans, concerning her future visit through these lands-and she wished to exchange correspondence with your Lady Wife, the Duchess," Saito had done his work, ensuring everything would be said properly. Charlotte had been nice enough to help without asking why -really, that girl was too kind for her own good- and so there he was, bluffing with the Duke, only, not really.

"I-I see," the Duke said, his expression having returned to gaze at Louise. "Well, my Lady wife rarely stops by. You would have better luck seeking her out by the mountain pass of the Heavy Wind. It's what they called it after she-well, after she made it," the Duke made a nervous chuckle, "if you are going to meet with her anyway, might I ask you for a favor? I find myself with a few letters I need to deliver her-"

"Of course," Saito said with a bow. "We would be glad to help."

"Give me just an hour, meanwhile, I'll have the servants escort you to the gardens," the Duke added in a slightly hurried tone, before stepping out and leaving the maid to do just that.

Louise had tried to go for the mask the moment the Duke had left, but Saito simply held on to it, shaking his head. "Nope," he muttered, "Not a chance, Louis."

Louise growled, but then exhaled loudly as they ended up in the gardens, large and filled with the most varied of plants. "I think I lost years of my life," Louise mumbled. "No, I'm sure I'm going to die young now. Is my hair turning white, Saito?" she grabbed a lock of stray hair and pushed it up for Saito to examine, before clutching on to it and pulling it a bit. "What do you think is going to happen now?"

"I think we just need to wait," Saito said softly. "Enjoy the flowers, the lake, and-"

"Why do you think the boat's adrift in the middle of the lake?" Louise asked, puzzled. "Wouldn't it make sense if it were ashore?"

Saito blinked. "Or we can be adventurers and query about pointless things, yes, we can do that too, Louis."

Louise did not waste time snatching the mask from Saito's hands and nearing the lake's pier while putting it back on. She hummed and thought about it, "Perhaps there's a monster in the lake," she said.

"Or perhaps the rope simply failed due to use and nobody thought about repairing it," Saito pointed out, gesturing at a piece of frayed rope. "The Duke didn't strike me as the type to enjoy sitting on a boat in the middle of the lake."

Louise's shoulder slumped. "I'm being silly, right?"

"Yes," Saito said with a knowing nod. "You are being very, very silly."

Louise bristled, stomping her right foot on the ground. "Pardon me for being worried!"

"You are forgiven," Saito replied with a teasing smirk, which soon became a half-shocked visage of fear as Louise turned her back on the lake to look at him. Louise froze.

"T-There's a monster in the lake," she said.

Saito nodded fearfully, and as Louise turned...

There was nothing.

"Saito," Louise said sweetly. "Run."

Meanwhile, from the mansion's last floor, the Duke looked down at the two knights of the North Parterre that seemed to act like kids around his lake. He clutched his staff and turned to the shadows of his office.

"They seem too stupid to be spies, or to want something," one of the voice in the dark said.

"I have to agree with my sister-they didn't even say they had found your daughter-we can check, but if you just let them reach Karin she'll do it herself," the second voice in the dark said.

"I'd rather she didn't," the Duke said. "Those poor girls-and these are knights of the North Parterre, I'd really like to avoid a diplomatic incident with the kingdom of Gallia. It's hard enough keeping the Tristain and Germanian crowns pacified-I can't add another to the list," he sighed. "Please do me this favor, Daphne, Amethyst?"

"Fine," the two voices in the dark said at the same time.

The Duke clutched his staff even tighter, if such a thing was possible.

He didn't dare to hope.

But hope was too hard a thing to uproot.

He wasn't like his wife, after all.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Seven

The Duke handed the letters over to Saito, who placed them within a leather pouch tied to the inside of his cloak. With the proper goodbyes said, the duo returned to the road with ease.

The sun was starting to set by the time they decided to break for camp. "You know what would be useful right now?" Saito said as Louise huffed, a small bundle of dry wood in her hands. "Something warm to drink."

"I can make things explode," Louise retorted. "I can light a fire. You're the one in charge of finding something warm to drink if that's what you want."

"And where am I supposed to look?" Saito grumbled. "There's nothing around here. I mean-unless we end up with one more mythological monster near us that somehow tastes good in a soup-"

"Oh, hush," Louise said. "Just get some water and we'll throw some dried jerky in it. We have a couple of leeks and that cabbage pilfered from the farm."

"Rice?" Saito hazarded, hopefully.

"Where am I supposed to find rice?" Louise said, rummaging through her backpack, and then Saito's. "Oh? Oh! Look what we have here!" she pulled out a black and thin looking cracker. "Black bread! We have rye bread!"

Saito's face fell. "Stone bread, you mean."

Louise narrowed her eyes. "If you eat it like this, of course. Now let the great chef Louise teach you how to properly cook it -after we start the fire."

From the bushes nearby, a couple of young girls looked on with varied degrees of surprise.

"Sister-tell me they aren't real," Daphne whispered.

"Daphne-it appears they are," Amethyst muttered in reply, "They feel nothing like spies, or opportunists."

They were covered thanks to the illusions that only firstborn magic could weave and create. Even if one of the two ended up walking up to them, they'd remain invisible and unheard. The illusion was so strong they could even end up walked on -although that would be quite an annoying thing- and appear as nothing more than uneven ground.

As the duo ate, the twin sisters remained quiet, waiting until the fire was put out and both knights went to sleep in-

"Oh my," Daphne said. "If-If she's the real deal Pierre will have a fit."

"Sleeping in each other's arms-how romantic," Amethyst muttered, a hand against her chin. They began to walk silently, their footsteps utterly muffled by the wind. For added benefit, a sleep spell was cast by them both, the two knights now definitely knocked out cold.

"Do you want the boy or the girl?" Amethyst asked.

"I'll take the girl," Daphne replied, "my taste's sharper than yours, and I already tasted Karin's blood-it was a long time ago, but I should remember it quite well," she giggled. "Hiding behind a mask-well, she has that in common with her."

"If she's the real deal," Amethyst added in a quick whisper.

"Course," Daphne said. "And if she isn't, we'll let Icarus deal with it."

"That poor fellow," Amethyst muttered. "He really could use some rest."

With their breaths held, the duo gingerly pulled Louise away from Saito's arms, and then laid her on the ground right next to the boy. Daphne's fangs gleamed in the moonlight as she neared the girl's neck, and in that precise moment where they were about to nick the skin, a flash of something slammed through her throat.

"Sister-" Amethyst coughed, and Daphne turned just in time to push her body away from Louise as the boy stood right up, his eyes still closed but his left hand glowing fiercely with a light of its own.

There was a dagger in the boy's hand, and as it shone together with the hand itself, it had apparently struck at Amethyst's heart.

Thankfully, Amethyst hadn't lived a long non-life without taking some preparations, and Vampires were tough because they didn't really need their hearts to beat in order for them to keep working. They had to be burned alive and incinerated for them to die completely.

It still didn't mean that the attack hadn't hurt.

What had hit Daphne's neck had been the boy's hand, which while not strong enough to give her pause, had managed to bruise her -again, an impossibility. She was a vampire. She could easily break the bones of the hand of whatever human just tried to punch her.

Amethyst pulled back, letting the knife slid out of her chest as she rushed to Daphne's side, the other twin locking eyes with the still sleeping boy. He was doing this while asleep, but the runes on his hand-they weren't familiar to her, but it was clear they'd have to get rough.

"Daphne," Amethyst coughed. "I'll pull him away," she said as the wound closed up, "I'm sure I can lure him-"

"I think he's asleep," Daphne whispered back. "His eyes are still closed."

"What? No way!" Amethyst said. She raised both hands, "Oh Spirits-" the air spun like sizzling blades, but Saito nimbly avoided them as if he could see them perfectly, pushing his body straight at Amethyst with the dagger in hand. Daphne's hand gripped on to the dagger, stopping it an inch away from her sister's right eye. The boy had somehow managed to dodge all of the blades of wind, and made his way straight at Amethyst.

"I apologize," Daphne said. "But I will have to get rough," she clenched on the dagger, and as she did, the blade cracked asunder.

In that moment, Saito's body slumped down on the ground.

Daphne blinked at the same time as Amethyst. "Is-Are-Just what-" Daphne stammered out in disbelief.

"Wh-What." Amethyst parroted Daphne, scratching the side of her head just like her twin did the same -if with the other side.

Touching the boy with the tip of her right foot, Daphne gave a hesitant look at Amethyst. "He's...He's asleep, I guess."

"Let me repair the dagger," Amethyst mumbled, "And-well, you drink up sister, I'll put everything back as it was. Still, what a surprise, I never thought there would be a man capable of avoiding a firstborn's magic like this-" she licked her lips, "I'll take just a drop or two. Seems fair since I'm going to repair his dagger anyway."

When the deed was done, it was Daphne who spoke first, a glow on her skin and a hand against her cheek. "Woah," she said with a soft hiccup. "The taste's-well, the taste's quite something."

"You should try him, sister," Amethyst replied with a light blush to her cheeks. "Foreign, exotic-uhm...I'd have another sip, but then I'd never stop. Wouldn't mind bringing a bottle back home of the stuff-"

Daphne giggled. "Now, now, that would beeee-too much," Daphne hiccuped again. She clutched on to Amethyst's shoulders, and grinned broadly. "What...What do you say-We go back to Pierre...and tell him the good news? And-A-And maybe we can get-we can get lucky tonight!" she lifted a hand in the air.

"Th-That new se-servant boy was pr-pretty cute!" Amethyst nodded eagerly, both vampire twins starting to wobble away from the camp with cheerful, half-drunk songs on their lips.

The next morning, Louise and Saito both woke up with deep rings around their eyes.

"I feel sick," Saito groaned, wincing. "Ouch-my hand hurts too-" he flexed the fingers, phantoms of pain rushing through it. "All of my muscles are sore-"

"Don't yell," Louise grumbled, clutching her head. "I feel like someone hit me with a hammer or used me as an anvil. Must have been the soup-I told you-"

"Louise, I'm not in the mood," Saito retorted while rubbing his eyes. "I swear-if it weren't for that dream-"

"A dream? What dream?" Louise asked, now curious even as she began to pack up, "Something lecherous no doubt."

"It did involve twins," Saito said with a lecherous grin, "And they were quite beautiful-coming on to me and you and-"

Louise's roundhouse kick hit Saito squarely in the back of his left leg, sending him down to one knee. "You pervert! Have all the perverted dreams of perversion you want, but don't put me in them!" she yelled, before clutching her head again. "And don't make yell like this," she grumbled, "My head hurts."

Saito winced from the pain of the sudden yell, but inwardly, he was kind of satisfied.

It had been a long time since he had last had such a pleasant dream.

Usually, he just dreamed of his house.

Or of the grief his disappearance had caused to his family.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Eight

There was something eerie in the outpost. The acute lack of guards seemed to be the first important thing of notice, but past it, there was just something strange with the way people seemed to step away from them as if they were carrying the plague or something.

"What is going on around here?" Louise grumbled roughly, her mask back on her face and firmly clasped there. "Hey, you!" she tried to speak with a passerby, whom, at being singled out, yelped and dashed for the nearest alley without even looking back.

Louise looked at the retreating back of the man, and then at Saito. "What is it?"

"I have no idea," Saito replied. "Excuse me-"

And yet, the same reaction happened when it was Saito who tried.

"Oh boy-weren't you folks warned the last time you tried talking with the Duchess directly?" an armed man said with a rough voice, standing near a wooden pillar that seemed a sort of beacon. "Well, credit for your guts in trying again."

"What is going on?" Louise asked with her manly voice. "Why is everyone so afraid of us?"

"It's not you they fear," the man said waving a hand in dismissal and pushing his back off the pillar. "It's the Duchess' reaction. She can be very strict if she's bothered for no reason during her patrols, and having to read unneeded correspondence is just the way to make her angry. And an angry Duchess is something nobody wants to see."

"Unneeded correspondence?" Louise croaked. "That's enough to make her angry?"

"Yes," the man said. "Last guy had all of his body flung against the side of the mountain for wasting her time. He got better, but last I heard he still has to eat through a straw."

"That's-That's madness," Louise muttered in disbelief.

"In the Duchess' defense, it had been a tiring day," the man acquiesced. "You know, how about we go with presentations first? I'm the Chevalier Girard de la Frontiere-and I swear if you're about to make a joke about my surname, know that I will end you." He narrowed his eyes briefly.

"We're knights of the North Parterre," Saito said. "I'm Saito Hiraga, and he's Louis, both de la North Parterre."

"Oh? Then you're not the members of the Gallia Knights corps," Girard said. "I'm surprised. Usually your king sends them with the letters."

"We're not sent by the king of Gallia," Saito said. "We're here because the princess, Lady Charlotte Helene D'Orleans, wished to exchange correspondence with the Duchess."

"Then good luck getting her to read it," Girard said with a snort. "No offense, but between fellow knights," he neared his face to Saito's and Louise, looking around carefully before holding a hand to the side of his lips, so that they couldn't be read, "You'd do best to heed my counsel and just rip that letter apart. That's what the Duchess will do anyway, and you can spare yourself the pain of being flung against a mountain."

"We also have some letters from her husband," Louise said roughly, growling her way into the conversation. "Those she will read, I hope."

"Oh, the Duke actually gave you letters for her?" Girard blinked. "The man's a saint, that's what he is. Still, my counsel is valid. Just know she might feint politely reading it for one second before ripping it to pieces," he turned his head up the beacon, "How's the fire up there, Auberge!?"

A man from up the tower looked down, and yelled, "Still calm! The Duchess hasn't yet arrived!"

With a nod to himself, mostly, Girard returned his attention to the duo. "When the Duchess' about to arrive, we usually light up a beacon so she knows she has letters waiting for her, and stuff like that. And-look, by all that is holy, if you value your lives, never -ever- mention anything remotely tied to her daughters. She will kill you, and then we'll have to hide the bodies or blame the wolves. We've got some of the fattest wolves around here-but they will take the blame eagerly, it's why we feed them the corpses of the morons who think they can open up old wounds."

Saito stared at Louise and Louise stared at Saito. "You're...joking, right?"

"Ah! Of course I am!" Girard laughed, which made both knights of North Parterre laugh in turn, if with thin and stretched smiles. "That said, neither of you has seen her long lost daughter, right? It's really for the best if you haven't, and if you think you have, you'd better have her right here and now," Girard's voice was a simple whisper. "And then you'd best be sure. I saw-let's be clear, I've been here since the start of this place. As one of the Manticore knights, I-look, we all cherish the Duchess. If she told us to wage war on Germania we'd be on our manticores before the end of the day, but-" here he grimaced. "If someone claims to be her child, she has her manticore sniff them, and if turns out they aren't...she has them eaten."

"What."

Louise's 'what' was a soft, and very edging on fury, question. It wasn't as much of a question as a statement.

"It wasn't like that at first!" Girard raised both hands. "But she grew tired after the one hundredth, or maybe the one thousandth, so-so she just decided to make sure they'd stop throwing at her every orphan born without a known mother and with a light shade of hair. It did work-it's been two years since the last fake, but-but well, you know how it is," the man looked away. "Bad stuff. Hearing a child scream as she's eaten alive-really-"

"You're joking," Saito said flatly.

Girard blinked, and then laughed. "Got you both didn't I?!" he smiled brightly after that, even as Louise's form began to tremble from sheer fury. "As if the Duchess would do something like that! Ah! Come on! She's not that bad! She just slashes their left hand a bit so they know not to try again," the man shrugged. "She's kind like that, the Duchess. But we made sure to let the story circle that she has them eaten by her manticore alive," Girard nodded. "That way the common folk don't come here with hundreds of kids."

"When is the Duchess supposed to arrive?" Saito asked. "And is there an inn of sorts?"

"There's plenty of hay in the stables, and the manticore are all trained so they don't bite," Girard replied with a shrug. "About the Duchess-well, she was supposed to be here yesterday, so we are waiting for her to fly in at any moment now."

A sudden gust of wind billowed through Saito and Louise's cloaks, which soon was accompanied by a scream from up the beacon tower. "Here she comes!" Auberge yelled. "The Duchess is coming! Quick with the water and the provisions!"

Louise's legs refused to move.

It took Saito's arm grabbing her wrist to get her to follow him. "Come on, Louis," Saito said. "We have letters to deliver."

"Don't be scared, the Duchess doesn't bite," Girard said, waving them goodbye as they proceeded in the same direction as half the people in the outpost were, "Her manticore does!"

"What a funny guy," Louise hissed. "If I ever meet him again, remind me to slap him, Saito."

"The mask," Saito said offhandedly, a hand towards Louise. "Hand over the mask, Louise."

"If she kills me, I'll come back to haunt you," Louise retorted.

"If she kills you, she'll have already killed me. I'm the meat shield, remember?" Saito quipped, grabbing the mask from Louise and then, just for added assurance, holding his shield with his left hand.

Louise didn't miss the gesture.

This did not boost her confidence.

It did not boost her confidence at all.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Forty-Nine

The Duchess was not the first thing that Louise and Saito saw when they reached the square where she was supposed to land. The first they saw was the hurricane of wind in which the Duchess apparently traveled, or more precisely, the result of the Manticore's powerful wings flapping through the air with enough strength and speed to make it ripple.

When the beast landed with its powerful paws, it roared once, stretching its wing before folding them by its sides. The tail, like that of a scorpion, swished around lazily. It also lowered its face immediately upon seeing a large bowl of water placed right under its nose. There were a few people of the outpost who were quite quick in the execution of certain movements, be it the cleaning of the beast, the polishing of the armor -the Duchess didn't even remove it, and the mask of metal that she wore on her face was certainly not something that inspired trust.

A man in armor neared and bowed, before handing over a selected few letters that appeared to be of some interest -and which were aptly slashed apart in tiny dazzling pieces of paper the next moment, without as much as a read.

Saito swallowed thickly, and then began to walk forward, past the crowd that had gathered around the square.

"Duchess De La VallIére-" Saito said as he drew near, "We have letters-"

The gust of wind that impacted upon Saito's body came out of nowhere. No, it was more apt to say that the time it took between the Duchess seeing him, recognizing the emblem on his cloak and then sending him flying was so small of an amount that the boy couldn't even bring up his shield to counter the invisible hammer of air. His back hit the ground harshly, making him gasp for air.

Louise remained kind of frozen between Saito and the Duchess, whose gaze was now set on her.

"Y-Your husband," Louise said with a rasp. "The letters are from your husband."

"Say so first," the Duchess' voice was icy, and cold. Louise nodded, rushing towards Saito and pulling him up, before grabbing the letters from within the satchel and handing them over quickly.

The letter of introduction that Charlotte had written wasn't even read, simply thrown aside and ripped to shreds without even bothering to glance at its contents.

"You could have read that!" Saito said in surprise.

Louise's face paled when the next blow of air came with enough strength to shatter the boy's breastplate and send him past the crowd, to impact against the nearby wooden wall.

"S-Saito?!" Louise turned, her eyes wide, to stare at the boy-sized wall in the building.

"I do not have to do anything," the Duchess hissed out with enough venom and cold steel to make Louise shudder. She didn't even lift her eyes however. The motion of her swordwand coming up, aiming at Saito and being sheathed once more had been fluid and nearly instantaneous.

Louise rushed towards the boy-sized hole, the crowd making way to let her pass and some shaking their heads as if such a show was simply the norm. Like a raging hurricane, it could simply be tolerated, but not stopped. Louise opened the door of the barracks -it was apparently the building Saito had crashed in, and as the boy had his back against the wall on the opposite side of the thing, she rushed near him and grabbed his face with both hands.

"Saito! Saito-Saito answer me!"

"Alive," Saito gurgled, "Still...alive." He coughed. The shield was in front of his chest. "Can't...feel arm, but alive."

"She's a monster," Louise snapped. "I don't care-she's a monster-a brute-why would she even do this-she can be the Duchess, the Queen or even an Empress or the Pope for all it matters, nobody should do this! Come on-I-Should I move you or not? You did hit your head-" Louise mumbled, looking at the blood that dribbled down from Saito's head, matting his hair. "Isn't there a Water mage around here? This is Tristain-they should have plenty of Water mages!"

"Girl," Girard said, carefully creeping inside the barracks. "The Duchess wants to see you."

"I don't give a damn what that woman wants!" Louise snapped back hotly. "Saito's bleeding badly-don't you have a healer or a barber or someone!?"

"Yeah, how about you go talk to the Duchess, and I get someone here for your friend, all right?" Girard said, kneeling down in order to have Louise at the same eye-level. "You don't want to make the Duchess rip the roof off the barracks. We would like to sleep somewhere warm tonight, so think about us, all right?" Girard smiled thinly.

"Fine," Louise whispered, "But I'll have words with her!" she hissed next, standing right up and marching out with a firm gait to her step. She had the mask in her right hand, and she wasted no time in putting it on, allowing only her hair to flow freely out in the air.

"It's your funeral, not mine," Girard answered, watching her resolute back moving towards the door and outside, in a straight line back to face the Duchess.

"You-" the Duchess began, only to be interrupted by Louise, who had her swordwand out.

"You hurt my partner, and that's something I won't forgive! I'm challenging you, you damn bitch!"

The silence in the square was absolute.

"You...are doing...what?" the Duchess actually had to ask to be sure that she had heard correctly.

"I'm challenging you! This cannot stand! I'm a Knight of the North Parterre, a mage with a wand, and I'm challenging you! This is enough! You can't just throw people through walls like that! Who the hell do you think you are!? A Duchess!? I don't give a damn if you're a Duchess! I'm making you eat the dirt if it's the last thing I do!"

The papers in the Duchess' right hand crumpled when she clenched her right fist, and then were blown away by the sharp blades of wind that emanated from her bare palm.

"A mage and a familiar fight as one," she said flatly, gesturing to her Manticore who snorted, but stood up in all of its glory and reached for its master. "Are you still sure you wish to challenge me?"

In answer, Louise held her swordwand right in front of her. "Even if it were my last breath on earth, the answer would remain yes!"

The manticore snorted at that, and then calmly sniffed the air. The sniffing became slightly more intense even as the Duchess and Louise stared at each other with their gaze firmly set on murdering each other, at least, in Louise's case.

The manticore then swished its scorpion like tail back and forth, and pounced. It wasn't a pounce as much as a sudden disappearance from one point and an appearance in another. The manticore outright disappeared from Louise's eyes, and reappeared behind the girl, the scorpion like tail surrounding the youth and shaking her up and down, even as Louise screamed and flailed her legs.

"Let."

"Karin-" the manticore began to speak throatily, "This-"

"Me." A blinding white light began to spread from a tiny sphere right in front of the manticore's face.

"Is-"

"GO."

The sphere exploded with enough thundering force to send the manticore reeling backwards, dropping Louise as the creature groaned from pain, the face bloody -or what remained of it. Most of the nose was gone, and if not for the creature's quick reflexes, it would have been missing a head too.

Louise landed on her feet, her eyes narrow. "Now it's one on one," Louise hissed, her anger clearly palpable.

"Using magic without a wand does not make you stronger," Karin said after giving a small glance to the manticore, who was still alive, if hurting pretty badly. "It just makes you arrogant." As a wave of the swordwand followed, a massive hurricane of deadly, sizzling winds spewed forth from and rushed with blinding speed towards Louise.

"Karin-Karin stop!" the manticore roared, a flap of its wings rushing at the deadly hurricane with enough force to make it waver, but otherwise not halt it on its tracks. "It's your daughter! It's Louise!"

The hurricane did not care for the revelation. The hurricane simply rushed for Louise, and it didn't care about a mother, a long lost daughter, or a manticore being old enough to talk.

It had a single job to do.

To rip the flesh, to rend the steel, to murder and tear, gut and ravage, and that it would do as long as nothing of equal strength opposed it. Thus it came on Louise with the deadly grace it had been created for, and just as it did, a singular sizzling blade of wind sliced through the ground itself as Saito appeared with his sword and dagger in both hands, slamming them straight against the square wind magic.

The blades both shattered in mere seconds, but it was enough to dull a definitely deadly blow into a simply deadly spell.

It was enough for Louise, who didn't care about incantations, spells, or anything but ensuring Saito wouldn't end up ripped to shreds.

The tiny sphere of light that exploded in the center of the hurricane snuffed out all forms of wind, all types of magic, and made what was considered one of the deadliest spells of the Heavy Wind disperse into nothing more than a light breeze, as Louise's arms were tightly clutching on to Saito's neck, her eyes firmly closed and her breathing hitched in a silent cry of fear.

Saito, for his part, was holding on to Louise with his back against the spell, being the last wall of meat before certain doom.

They held each other like that for a long, drawn-out minute of absolute silence.

The sound of metal hitting the ground followed by a shaky hitching that was remarkably similar to Louise's 'I am about to start sobbing' reached Saito's ears, and as he opened one eye, and then the next, he realized he was still pretty much alive, and so was Louise.

Louise wasn't the one sobbing though, so he turned, and just as he turned and Louise opened her eyes, there she was, the Duchess, with the swordwand on the floor by her side and her eyes teary -considering the amount of 'impossible' being muttered by the crowd, it seemed fair to say nobody had ever seen the Duchess quite like that.

"Louise-"

Louise looked at her mother, and even as she squeezed Saito's left arm a brief instant for assurance, she took a step forward. "M-Mother?"

"Louise."

The Duchess said nothing else, but rushed -just as Louise rushed in turn- to hug her daughter. The two met with a resounding 'smack', the result of their masks colliding with one another as Louise had jumped while the Duchess had knelt. Although they both winced -pretty much in unison, and pretty much in the same way- and then they looked at one another and laughed while crying, even as they both removed their masks before retrying the hug, if with a bit more of calm.

It was to that touching scene of both mother and daughter hiccuping and crying and laughing and smiling all in the same ways -definitely things transmitted from mother to daughter, apparently- that Saito's legs decided they had run fast enough from the barrack's hole to the square to deserve some rest, and his arms agreed with the legs' opinion, and so Saito's brain did the only thing it could do to make everyone happy.

It blacked out.

The healer had tried to tell Saito not to strain himself or make any harsh movements.

It wasn't his fault -and he'd fight anyone who'd dare pin the blame on him- that the boy hadn't heeded his wise advice.

On the other hand, he had saved the Duchess daughter from being murdered by the Duchess.

Perhaps...he'd just silently slink back in the shadows, like all unnamed healers of history that were never worth mentioning in history books.

He'd do just that.