A/N: Well, this took a while, to say the least. Still, here you have it, folks. An update at last.

Chapter Four: Escalation

Louise stalked onto the field. There was no other way to describe it. Her wand was clutched tightly in her right hand, drawn and ready to be used. Her expression was one of grim determination tinted with fury, and the less said about her unladylike posture, the better.

The field in question was one of several. There were several others like it within the pentagon-like structure of the academy, but this one was distinct in that there was magic flying through the air. Louise's mind detachedly took in the scene. On one end of the field, near the central structure, there were four mages. There was Kirche, there was that quiet girl who had summoned a dragon (Tabitha, was it?), and then two males she didn't recognize. She couldn't spot the dragon, but one of the males had a hawk of some sort squawking worriedly on his shoulder.

Tabitha was busy trying to tend to one of the males, the one with the hawk, one hand grasping her wand whilst the other tried to stem the bloodflow from some sort of wound on the male's stomach-area. The other two, meanwhile, were busy flinging spells over towards the other end of the courtyard. A flash of fire erupted from Kirche's wand, tracked by Louise's eyes as it soared over to splash against the stone wall on the other side.

The reason why quickly becomes apparent. The hit area was fairly close to the academy's main gates, and shortly after the fiery impact, a figure leans out from its cover behind the opening's side. Her stupid, stubborn, infuriating Familiar. With that hunched-over head silhouette, it could be nothing else. Before her eyes, it brings up some form of object. From the object's tip sky-blue flashes erupt, and the mages on the other end of the field abruptly duck as equally blue impact-flashes chip off small bits of stone from their cover.

Completely ignoring the danger of doing so, Louise walks right into it all. Her determined stride slowly takes her closer to her quarry, unconcerned with the firefight around her. Geth launches its distinct magic at the group of mages, achieving little more than suppression. A fairly sizable rock -presumably from the male- strikes it a moment later, the high-velocity impact sending the projectile ricocheting off of some sort of defensive barrier, causing it to flicker dangerously.

The elven construct ducks away, taking cover as it barely avoids another firebolt. A moment later, a bright-orange, semi-transparent ball materializes where it just was. Glowing with eldritch, unnatural shapes, the obviously magical construct sets course for its master's opponents, nimbly dodging both the first and second spell sent at it. The third sees it obliterated in a flash of fire, the glowing shapes flickering away as the entity disintegrates into nothingness.

By that point, however, Louise's quarry has already emerged from its cover, fully prepared to retaliate. It lets out a burst of magic, and then it finally spots her. It freezes, headplates rearranging into an expression of surprise as its singular eye focuses on hers. For a moment, Louise feels her resolve start to crumple as doubt hits her (can she really attack her own Familiar?), but a thought back to the seemingly endless set of problems it has caused her is enough to restore her determination. That elven automaton had caused and was still causing her no end of problems, and she would put a stop to it, permanently if necessary.

Knowing that explosions were sure to follow, Louise raised her wand. Indeed, a moment later, an explosion did follow. Only, it was not an explosion of green. Instead, an explosion of fire blossomed from Louise's right shoulder as a magical spell struck her from behind. The petite mage stumbled, thoughts of revenge immediately replaced by I'm on fire help put it out put it out! even as she was knocked off-balance by the blast.

Already feeling the burns developing, Louise's panicked mind did the only thing she could think of, shedding her very flammable robes fast enough to quite possibly set a new world record in undressing. That very same moment she found herself scrambling into cover in a panicked jumble of movement, all previous concerns forgotten in the face of the much bigger issue known as survival.

It was to the searing ache of a burnt shoulder that the unfortunate void mage returned to her senses. Cold stone pressed against her back, doing little to alleviate the pain. Her gut instinct said to call for help, to find a water mage who could fix the pain and make it go away. The more rational side of her said wait a minute, recalling the series of events that had led her to this situation. More specifically, she distinctly remembered being hit from behind. As in, not by her Familiar, but from the mages, and the only fire mage she knew of over there was...

Did she really just...?

Well, suffice to say that she was going to strangle Kirche the next time she got her hands on the busty harlot, etiquette be damned.

A more reasonable person might have assumed that the hit had been a case of bad aim. A mistake not to be repeated. However, given the circumstances Louise was fully prepared to assume the worst. Grasping her wand tightly, the lightly dressed mage winced at the feeling of her injured shoulder. She focused her thoughts; her mother had taught her to be strong. It hurt, but she wouldn't give in that easily.

She was in so much trouble.

Louise would deal with her wayward Familiar in due time. Until then, she had a life to defend, and for once, her magic's tendency to explode everything it touched would work to her advantage. It wasn't as though things could get much worse, and some small part of her relished the opportunity to finally let free her frustrations.

She didn't want this, she wasn't supposed to do this, why was she doing this?

She raised her wand, and prepared her incantations.

-{IV}-

Legion. Academy gates. A few seconds later.

A bang echoes through the air as, in a flash of viridian-green energy, a part of the cover behind which the platform's foes were taking cover is obliterated. The incoming fire pauses for a moment, almost as if in shock, only to intensify a second later, barraging their position with fire and stone.

This time, however, the Geth had an organic on their side. It appeared that their earlier efforts had borne fruit. Even so, that only added another statistical minute or two to their holdout time. They were, admittedly, rather lacking in the organic interaction department, which was what they believed had led them to this situation to begin with. As such, a peaceful resolution seemed statistically improbable, and seeing as they could spot a few more organics making their way onto the field, their position could not be held indefinitely.

They swap their pulse rifle for their sniper weapon, leaning out of cover. In a smooth, efficient motion, the targeting reticule aligns towards one of the approaching humans. The rifle recoils slightly as the comparatively heavy round shoots out of the weapon's barrel, perfecftly aimed and on target. Their assumed foe keels over. Dead or incapacitated; Legion doesn't care.

One of the others gesture with their wand, calling forth a barrier of solid rock to obstruct the platform's line of fire. This was, in a word, alarming. Until now, it had been a stalemate; neither side could leave cover for fear of being mowed down by the opposition. If their foes could summon their own cover, however, that altered the whole scenario.

Consensus achieved.

They turn to their sole ally. For a moment, they wish Shepard-Commander were here. To a trained eye, Louise's terror would have been evident. She didn't want to be involved in this; she just wanted things to go back to normal; for things to go right for once. The Commander would have found a way to use this; a way to safely escape the situation. It was statistically probable. Legion, unlike Shepard, did not have a trained eye for these kinds of things.

"Louise-Vallerie. Situation untenable. We suggest immediate withdrawal", they call out. The mention of her name seems to draw Louise's attention, and for a moment it seems as though she is about to do something incredibly stupid. She leans out of cover...

Another fiery blast from the other mages wooshes past her, barely missing her head and promptly chasing any wayward bravery out of her system. She pulls back, ducking back into cover with a wide-eyed look on her face.

"We will require cover fire", the platform speaks, summoning another combat drone. For a good few seconds, the still wide-eyed Louise-Vallerie only manages to stare dumbly at them in response. Then she looks conflicted, seeming to doubt her actions, before finally a facade of determination settles upon her face. She raises her wand...

A flash of green from above precludes the sudden collapse of the academy entrance's archway. Bits of stone tumble down as, with one side of its support shattered, the entire archway crashes to the ground in pieces. The rubble blocks the entranceway, and though it may not be perfecft cover, it is the best chance of escape they will get.

"Falling back", they state, and then take off running, leaving Louise scrambling to catch up.

-{IV}-

Louise Francoise le Blank de la Vallerie. Forest shack. Thirty minutes later.

Louise stared emptily at the dilapidated wall. In the span of just a few days, her entire life had been turned upside down. She had been cursed in the worst possible way. For once in her life, her magic had accomplished something. She had summoned a Familiar. Only, if she had known what the consequences of her success would be, she would much rather just have gotten expelled.

There. She said it. Her Familiar was an irredeemable pile of heretical elven junk that had torn down her life at a pace that was quite frankly staggering. She was a fugitive now. A noble on the run, and one without her robes at that. She didn't want to be a criminal. She didn't want any of this, not a single bit.

What would Mother say? She couldn't even bear to think about it.

If only she could go back in time and stop her Familiar before it caused all this. No matter how much that harlot deserved it, things would have turned out so much better if she had thrown her spell at Geth instead of at Kirche. Founder knows it deserved it. Nevertheless, the spur of the moment had led her down this path, and once the spell was thrown... well it wasn't as though she could just back out after that. In for a copper, in for a gold.

Still, it could at least pretend to be apologetic. It hadn't apologised, hadn't tried to compensate her or fix things. It hadn't done a thing to solve the steadily-growing catastrophe. Louise liked to think that she made her own displeasure with the situation quite clear. Maybe she was foolish for expecting an elven construct to actually respect her feelings, but they could at least try to get along.

The moment she got here, she'd sat down, shell-shocked. The events finally caught up with her, and she didn't know how to deal with that. She still didn't know.

It, on the other hand, just stood there. Silent. Implacable. Unyielding. Staring unflinchingly into the forest without so much as moving a muscle. Did- did it even understand what it had done? Did she have to spell things out for it?

No matter what she did, its motivations remained a mystery to her. It clearly wasn't like a normal Familiar. If it were, they wouldn't be in this situation. She just wanted to understand.

"Why?" she asked. It was barely a whisper, yet Geth caught it nonetheless. That unsettling, slightly glowing eye turned to face her. Louise felt as though it was silently prompting her to elaborate, and elaborate she did.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, louder than before. The construct just stared at her, the air pregnant with a moment's pause, and then;

"Do what?" it asked, oblivious. There was some brief annoyance as she replied.

"All of it."

It stared at her, headplates moving minutely.

"We do not understand," it replied, and annoyance flared into anger. Louise rose to her feet with the fury of a woman driven past her limits. Refusing to acknowledge the sting of her still-injured shoulder, the mage's hand clenched around her wand tightly enough for her to worry that it might snap in two. This was it. This was the last straw. She'd had it with that stupid golem.

Her arm seemed to move of its own volition as she raised her wand to point at the sole creature (and she used the term loosely) in the shack with her.

Geth replied in kind. Its motion was much faster than Louise's own as it reached behind its back, pulling out a strange object. Even as it unfolded into a larger form, Louise already recognized it. The item was its... well, she hesitated to call it a wand, but whatever it was she had seen it in action and she didn't want to get hit by those blue blasts if she could help it.

Part of her felt fear, and she was pretty sure she had gone somewhat pale, but no. She refused to back down now; she would stand firm no matter what, the rule of steel firm in her mind. Curse it all, but she would get her answers or d-d-die trying.

She didn't back down.

"You're going to tell me everything right now or I swear, by the Founder I'm going to use this thing. Why did you start that fight?"

Geth, despite not having the ability to do so, seemed to blink at her. Then;

"We did not initiate hostilities."

So now it was pinning the blame on the other party. Oh no it was not getting away that easily.

"Why were you in that fight!" she shouted more than asked, the sound seeming to echo away into the forest beyond their little ruin of a shack. Geth's answer was immediate and, once again, evading the hidden depths of her question.

"They attacked. We returned fire."

But why? She wanted to scream the question at its face, but the thick-headed golem was too stupid to elaborate with the entire answer. She wanted to know why it had done what it did; why it had created this disaster. Why it had ruined her life. She needed to know.

Maybe another angle?

"Why did you take the... thing?" She was quite sure that it had, in fact, taken the item that had then been announced stolen by the faculty. After a moment's thought, she added the words;
"...Where and what is it, anyway?"

"What thing?" it played dumb, failing to give any reasonable answer. Louise growled something unintelligible under her breath.

"The white and blue... whatever it was." Hey, it was harder than it looked to explain something you had only seen once and didn't know the name of.

Geth was quiet for a moment.

"It was a missile launcher;" a what?
"We required element zero." Alright now she was just confused.

"Element zero...?" Louise enquired, half-afraid of hearing the answer. It wasn't referring to her, was it? The last thing she wanted was to be used as a sacrifice in some strange elven blood ritual.

Her Familiar reached for- Louise blanched as its hand went into the hole in its torso. At some point, that aspect of its physique had simply stopped registering to her. Just another reminder of its unnatural nature, yet one that put its seeming life into stark contrast.

The limb re-emerged holding a pile of strange-looking... what was that? It looked like just a bunch of metal pieces to her, if very strangely-shaped, colorful ones.

It was a question swiftly answered by her unmanageable golem;

"These components contain element zero."

The petite girl exhaled in relief. It wasn't talking about her. She really had to calm herself down before she managed to make things worse somehow. Her exasperation was rapidly outgrowing her anger.

"What is element zero?", she half-sighed in annoyance, tired of the amount of work necessary to get any straight answers out of her Familiar. It wasn't that her questions weren't being answered. They were, in the worst possible way. Geth took everything literally. She had to spell every single little thing out for it before she got anything more than idiocy and nonsense in return.

Indeed, it was doing that very thing right now. Instead of telling her what she wanted to know, it was saying something about metals, a mass of... something and a thing called the 'citadel races' which she assumed to be some sort of strange competition inside a citadel. Complete and utter Founder-cursed nonsense.

Feeling her temper flaring up again, the young mage pressed for something more tangible.

"What does it do?", she emphasized, interrupting her would-be Familiar mid-speech. It froze for a moment, seeming to blink at her. Then it moved, its free hand coming up to fiddle with the pile for a second as it plugged in a small wire. It did something more, and then space was rippling in a clearly magical but unfamiliar phenomenon around the item.

"This", Geth responded. Louise could only gape, her brain putting two and two together in all the wrong ways. Her obviously elven-made Familiar had stolen something. Then, for reasons unknown but easily derivable, it had gotten into a fight, proceeding to if not kill then at least seriously injure multiple people. She herself had stupidly helped it instead of putting a stop to it then and there, letting a spur of the moment dictate her entire future.

A fact which led her here, staring at what could be nothing other than pieces of an elven wand. It all made so much sense. An elven construct steals something which channels its magical power, which means that the item in question has to be a wand. Everyone else, naturally, tries to put a stop to this heretical affair, but not her. Oh no, not her. Instead she takes a shovel and digs herself deeper for all she's worth.

She couldn't go back now. The realisation was like a bucket of cold water dumped down her back. If she went back now, having consciously aided the Enemy, she would be expelled at best. Worst case, she wouldn't live to see the dawn. Louise knew what they did to heretics.

Her gaze turned, meeting Geth's puzzled look in her direction. That stupid golem. It had ruined everything! If it wasn't for her Familiar, she would be back at the academy, safe and sound and markedly not in any risk of execution. It was the most hopeless creature ever! It was-

It was quite possibly the only thing that wouldn't arrest her on the spot.

Well, except for Cattleya, but that was rather beside the point; the realisation only added insult to injury. In a way, it almost felt liberating. The situation was hopeless. There was nothing she could do to stop people from seeing her as a criminal heretic... so why even try fixing the situation? Her best hope was to roll with the punches and hope things worked out. Maybe she could just... move to Germania.

A laugh bubbled out of her. Just yesterday, the idea would have seemed ridiculous, but now... why shouldn't she? Nothing held her back anymore. They couldn't very well execute her more than once.

Some small part of her wondered if she was going insane. The rest of her just plain didn't care. So what if she was losing her sanity? She was going to die anyway, so why not enjoy things whilst she could?

Her saner side re-asserted itself. She could already think of several good reasons. For one, her mother would be the complete opposite of pleased, and Louise had no interest in being hunted down by someone as... capable as Karin was. She didn't want to let down princess Henrietta, either. They had known each other as kids and she just... didn't want to betray that trust like that. It really was that simple.

Something clicked in her mind. Of course. It was that simple.

"We're going to the capital", she stated, her tone brokering no argument. With the princess, she could maybe get a chance to explain herself and clear up this entire misunderstanding. Louise braced herself for the inevitable argument-

"Acknowledged."

-only to be caught off guard by an immediate agreement. She blinked, dumbfounded. Her Familiar was never going to make sense, was it? Part of her wanted to find out why it so readily agreed this time, but she didn't want to look the gift horse in the mouth for fear of changing its mind. She watched it put the wand-bits back into its hole, and then moved to open the building's sole door, knowing that the bigger their head start, the better their chances of not getting caught and executed. Geth may have managed to suppress the pursuing mages fairly well in the open, but now that they were in the forest, people were no doubt going to be looking for the both of them.

The two of them set off, Louise taking the lead in a direction she very much hoped was correct. Geth followed without complaint, occasionally tapping out something on its magical arm-projection as they went or stopping to wave it around.

"So," Louise began about twenty minutes later, having had some time to calm down. Despite her fairly fervent desire to ignore the fact she was walking with an elven-made creature, her idle brain was conjuring up questions she couldn't ignore.

Despite the elf-wand's heretical nature, she did admit to being a tiny teensy bit curious. With the way her explosive magic had reacted to Geth's own, strange spell back before the whole calamity with the wand, and with the seeming similarity between said magic and the odd field the wand-bits had made, she couldn't help but wonder. Would her own magic, in the hands of the elven wand, succeed where a normal wand's aid had failed? If her magic could be shaped to pierce instead of blast apart, who knew what else it could do with it?

The thought was heretical. The implications if it actually worked, problematic at best. Any true church of Brimir would see the offending item burnt along with its wielder. Still, given her situation...

"Could I... use that wand?"

Geth's response was fairly predictable and, admittedly, made Louise feel somewhat foolish for trying to get a sensible answer out of the golem given their track record.

"We do not understand. This unit possesses no 'wand'."

Rephrasing her question, Louise tried again. It usually took a few tries to get a good answer.

"You have wand-bits", she began. Geth looked like it was about to object, but the pink-haired noble would have none of it.

"Yes you do, don't deny it. I saw them back in that... ruin."

"Those were element zero compo-" the golem tried to protest nonetheless. It did not get far.

"I know they're wand bits. I saw you cast magic with them. Would they... work for me too?"

Louise couldn't help it; her assertive tone dwindled into hesitance near the end. A lot hinged on the coming words, and the fact that Geth gave no immediate answer didn't help her anxiousness in the slightest.

Finally;
"They require assembly."

"So that's a yes?!" Louise all but shouted. After all this time, would she finally be able to be a proper mage? Geth looked momentarily taken aback at her... notable reaction, but Louise didn't care. She'd get that wand, and then she'd show everyone that she was a true mage whether they liked it or not. Some would say that she had bigger concerns right now, but this was an opportunity that she would not miss.

"Additional materials are required", it objected. The aspiring mage was not deterred.

"If you got those, could you put it together?"

"Yes"

The statement was simple, yet did wonders for cheering up the petite void mage. Had she known what Legion was actually planning to build, she probably would have been considerably less excited, but assumptions are what they are. She would get it what it needed, she decided. She would acquire an elven wand and, heretic or not, she would finally prove to the world that she was, would be and always had been a true mage.

Although... there was one more thing she wondered; one more question gnawing on her. With an elven golem more or less amneable to her questions, she had to know...

"Where are your creators, anyway?"

Thus it was that Louise asked... and the Geth explained.

End of File

A/N: Canon divergence is a-go. I know it's been half a year since the last update, but the story ended up on the backburner due to real life business (plus the fact that the first half of it fought me quite a bit). Brimir be willing, the next chaper should be out more swiftly than this one.