Another chapter cut in half due to length. Sorry guys, but the chapter was running over 10k, and that's too much too edit. But I think this will work out nicely, since it gives you time to find all the foreshadowing I'm dropping.

The Fouquet/Albion Arc is where this story finally starts making larger divergences from canon.

Fouquet made a tsk of annoyance as a third punch from her golem failed to put a hole in the Void Tower. Colbert had been correct when he said that direct magic would be useless for breaking into the Vault. All of her attempts to use transmutation to melt the walls—like she normally did for her heists—were met with failure.

Unfortunately, the golem wasn't functioning as efficiently as the thief would have liked. There was a large spiderweb crack in the tower wall, but it would take several additional heavy blows before she'd be able to slip inside. Perhaps if she was a square class mage this job would be easier, but alas, everyone had to use the cards life dealt to them.

At least the princess's visit had made things easier. A common thief would assume that the extra guards would make a heist more difficult, but Fouquet was no common thief. In the event that a crime was being committed in the vicinity of the princess, all efforts would be made to secure her royal highness first. Sure, the guards would then hunt down the criminal with zealous determination, but Fouquet had prepared for that.

By timing her attack near the end of the brats' pet pandering, Fouquet had ensured to cause as much panic with as little effort as possible. The teachers had no special duty to protect the school, but they would their reputations would suffer if any of the nobles' brats were harmed. With anyone who was in charge of security focused on the Princess, there would be no one on hand to confront Fouquet immediately. That would give her enough time to steal the Staff of Destruction and get out of this blasted Academy, especially that perverted old man. No salary was worth getting peeped on by him and his mouse on a daily basis. If he hadn't been so compliant about her retaliation, she would have considered poisoning him as a farewell gift.

But all that would soon be in the past. The escape route was cleared, thanks to Colbert inviting her to sit in during the meeting where he set up security with Count Mott. The lecherous looks she had received during that two-hour period was paying off in spades. Once Fouquet was had sold off the Staff, she would have enough money to retire comfortably for several years. Of course, she wouldn't retire completely, but at least she could finally take a break from sticking her neck into dangerous situations.

Everything was going perfectly.

Until it wasn't.

"Stop thief!" a voice called from down below.

The golem halted its punch as Fouquet looked around worriedly. Her vantage point on the golem's shoulder gave her a view of the entire courtyard, but she couldn't find the source of the call. The thief then looked down, finally spying a pair of children only meters away from the golem's feet.

She recognized the pair. The girl was Louise de la Valliere, the Duchess's daughter. The boy was her familiar—Ash, if she remembered correctly—who had beaten Guiche de Gramont in a fight. All in all, they were harmless. The girl couldn't cast a proper spell, except one that apparently summoned human familiars. Every other spell resulted in a small explosion. The boy was only a brute with some noble blood running through his veins, allowing him to cast a limited amount of combat spells before tiring out. The runes on his hand were the only danger to Fouquet, but from what she knew, the boy barely had any practice with them.

A third-rate sword-mage and an incompetent mage were no match to her, a renown triangle class mage. But then again, it shouldn't have surprised her that they would attempt to stop her regardless. After all, noble children tended to have golden fluff between their ears instead of a functioning brain.

"Children shouldn't poke around in adult business," Fouquet declared, clucking her tongue at them. Her pitch was slightly deeper than usual. She masqueraded as a man during her heists to make it easier to conceal her identity. "Run along now before someone gets hurt."

Louise flinched as the golem punched once again, causing the tower's walls to shudder.

Ash held firm, undaunted by the sound. Giant humanoid constructs punching down walls were per the norm for him. "You won't get away with attacking the academy on our watch!" he declared.

"Try me," Fouquet challenged.

Ash held out his hands and summoned a ball of turbulent blue energy from them. Fouquet's hood shrouded her eyes, but her position allowed her to clearly see that the boy was not using a wand, staff, or any focus she could see. While she had heard about his ability to create an orb of blue wind, she had assumed it to be a wind spell that glowed blue for whatever odd reason. But the spell wasn't glowing blue. No. It was made of wavy blue threads that flowed faster than an ordinary eye could track. This wasn't wind magic. Not without a focus. Not with this effect. But if that was the case, that could only mean that the boy was a—

"Aura Sphere!" Ash cried as he sent his attack into the golems head.

Fouquet, who had been near the golem's head as she stood its shoulder, quickly stepped to the side as the blue orb quickly shot forward. Clumps of dirt flew off in a violent explosion, leaving a small crater in the golem's cheek.

Then, the golem's body slid together to fix the hole. Fouquet laughed at the crestfallen expression on the children's' faces. She had been worried for a moment, but it looked like the boy didn't know how to harness the full extent of his power. "A little spell like that isn't going to stop me!" she taunted them.

Again, the golem struck the tower. The cracks spread even further, now almost entirely covering a side of the tower's wall. It was only a matter of time before Fouquet would be able to break in. She kept an eye on the children, but there was no point in trying stop them. The boy would easily dispatch any low-grade golems she could throw at them, so it was much more efficient to save her willpower for maintaining the single unstoppable golem she had.

Down on the ground, Ash and Louise were frustrated. Not only had Ash's attack left no permanent mark, but the thief only watched them passively as the large golem continued to strike the tower. Ash recognized that the thief didn't consider them a threat, or even a nuisance. Louise took the snub it was an insult of the highest caliber.

"Do something!" Louise ordered Ash.

"I'm on it," said Ash. He shifted Derflinger's sheathe so he could draw the sentient blade. While the sword's length made it inconvenient to carry it anywhere except on Ash's back, that also left it in a poor position to draw quickly. Once Ash had Derflinger in hand, he charged the massive golem, yelling a war cry.

The sword ripped through the golem's leg with surprising ease. Ash and Louise smiled triumphantly, but before their eyes the cut sealed itself. The golem continued to slowly and forcefully punch the tower, unperturbed by the injury. Ash made several more powerful swings, sending as much Aura into his body as possible, but to no avail. No matter how big the gashes were, they didn't hamper the golem's movement and were repaired almost instantly.

"You might want to try a different tactic, partner," Derflinger chipped in. "This thing isn't going down with death by a thousand cuts."

Ash grunted in acknowledgement as he retreated back to Louise. "I can't hit this thing hard enough to stop it from regenerating," he informed her. "It's up to you now."

"Me?" Louise asked incredulously. "What are you talking about? I can't use magic, remember? Everything I try just explodes!"

Another punch echoed with the sound of a cannon. The stone wall at this point was buckled inwards, barely holding together.

"An explosion could be useful right now!" Ash stressed.

"I can't make an explosion that big!" Louise insisted. "All of my explosions have been harmless flukes. They're useless failures, just like me!"

Ash dropped Derflinger to grab Louise's arms, causing the sword to vocalize a cry of surprise. "You're not a failure, Louise," he assured her. "You summoned me, right? You can do this! Focus your magic, aim at the golem, and give it all you've got. Remember, you're not a failure. You're Louise Francoise…" Ash blanked as he tried to remember the rest of her extensive name. "Something the Valliere," he finished lamely. "You're a mage with the brightest Aura of all your classmates. You can do anything you put your mind to."

"Cute," Fouquet couldn't help but snicker as she watched the Ash give a pep talk to his master. Such was the nativity of nobles. Did they expect her to wait patiently for them to finish? Lose stones were already falling from the Void Tower's wall. The resulting hole was too small for anything but a small animal to fit through, but with the strongest of the wall's enchantments shattered, it was only a matter of time before she was in.

"Just close your eyes and picture making the biggest explosion the world's ever seen," Ash told Louise encouragingly.

Louise nodded. She pointed her wand at the golem and closed her eyes. After taking a deep breath to focus herself, she channeled as much willpower as she could into her wand. Every vestige of magic in her body, she drew it up. There was no finesse, no technique to her method, just sheer determination.

Then, she felt it. Deep down inside her was a well of power. Every time she had tried to use her magic, she had only scratched the surface of this reservoir. Every time she had drawn from the power, she had limited the flow that came out. For casting ordinary spells, this was the way to ensure the spell stayed in control. However, this time was different. Louise undid all of her mental and magical restraints, solely focusing on pure power.

Ash's eyes widened in wonder as the grass around Louise's feet began to bend away from her. He could feel the power radiating from Louise's body. "You're doing it! Keep it up!" he cheered her on.

Derflinger felt oddly nostalgic by the magical aura Louise was emanating. "This reminds me of something…" the old sword mused. "It feels important, but I can't seem to recall why."

Louise's eyes snapped open, magenta irises brimming with determination and the faintest hint of a luminescence. "Thief who dares commit sacrilege on the Founder's Void Day," Louise intoned in an oddly detached voice. "I, Louise Francoise de Blanc de la Valliere will hereby deliver your judgement for your crimes against this school and the Founder."

Louise took narrowed her eyes and spoke one word, unleashing the full force of her bottled willpower.

"EXPLOSION!"

It some universes, it was said that a Big Bang brought about the creation of all things.

In this instance, a Big Bang was doing the exact opposite.

A sound louder than anything anyone had ever heard before tolled across the sky. Louder than thunder and sharper than lightning, Louise's explosion sent a crack through the air that could be heard all the way from the capital. The golem's head was no more, and neither was one of its arms and half of its massive torso. The part of the tower it had been punching was gone as well, leaving an open hole with no trace of the stones that had once made up the missing section of the wall.

"Nice job, Louise!" Ash cheered. It wasn't a clean hit, since they got the tower in the explosion too, but he doubted the golem could regenerate from that much damage. Hearing no response, Ash turned to his companion and gasped in alarm.

The girl's eyes were glazed over as she started to fall forward. Ash caught her in his arms, and immediately put his ear to her face. Her breathing was soft, but steady. "Louise can you hear me?" Ash asked.

She was silent, out cold. With his grip on her body, Ash could feel her Aura was flailing wildly, as if fighting the confines of the mortal vessel that housed it. Also, despite it the Aura's ferocity, it was noticeably smaller in size. Ash was no medical expert, but despite her fluctuating Aura, Louise did not appear to be in immediate danger.

Until the ruined golem started falling towards them.

Ash hastily stored Derflinger in his scabbard, scooped up Louise, and ran as fast as he could. The thought of pursuing the thief never even crossed his mind. All he was focused on was getting Louise to safety—and a proper medic—as quickly as possible.

Lying on the hard, unforgiving ground, Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth groaned. While she had managed to jump off her golem in time to avoid the worst of the impact, the force of the explosion had sent her crashing to the ground a lot harder than she had expected. She winced as she pulled herself to her feet. Her golem was now useless; the enchantments that had animated it were centered around its chest, where they would be hardest to break. When the explosion had managed to carve away half of the golem's torso, the magic that powered it had been destroyed as well.

One of Fouquet's arm hung limp. It was probably broken—she managed to note through the pain. Thankfully, her wand arm was still functional. Drawing her wand, she transmuted the ground below her into a pillar to bring her up to the Vault. "This staff better be worth it," she grumbled, biting back a hiss of pain.

The Vault looked like it had seen better days. Various displays were scattered around wildly, their contents sometimes absent from their damaged cases. Thankfully, most of the damage was limited to one side of the room, and the vast majority of the Vault's contests were at worst knocked over. It seemed that the massive Explosion had only nicked the wall, leaving most of the Vault's contents intact.

Upon closer inspection, Fouquet realized that the state of the Vault was largely due to a lack of organization. Even on the side of the room opposite of the explosion, items of various shapes and sizes were in displayed cases with no rhyme or reason to their placements. A small plaque on the display case of every item served as the only way to indicate what was in the Vault.

"They could have at least sorted the equipment from the jewelry," the thief grumbled angrily, noting that a shiny blue crystal sitting next to an oddly designed set of leather armor.

Running her eyes on the various displays along the row, she spotted an odd black metal cylinder lying among a sea of glass. A pedestal, probably the item's original resting place, was lying on its side, a plaque imbedded in it. Bending down, Fouquet checked what was written on it.

"Staff of Destruction," she read aloud. "That was faster than I expected, but still problematic."

Fouquet picked the staff up and examined it from all sides. The grooves and notches in it were smooth, which indicated it was well crafted. However, a casting of Detect Magic indicated that there was nothing magical about the so-called staff.

"How is this even supposed to be used?" she wondered. It wouldn't do to sell it as the Staff of Destruction when she couldn't even tell her clients how to use it.

She looked around to see if she could find a label, instructions, anything, but instead she found a much smaller display that looked like it had been placed directly behind the Staff of Destruction. Curious placement, given that the Staff of Destruction was literally eclipsing the smaller item, but Fouquet chalked it up to generally terrible organization.

"Vanishing Eye," she read the display title. "That's an interesting name."

The spherical item vaguely resembled an eye. A small white circle sat in the orb's the center, surrounded by a black band that made a ring around the entire sphere. The bottom half was white, while the top half was black like the middle ring. On the black half was a yellow squarish arc that was centered over the pupil of the "eye". The sphere was scratched up and dented, but it must have been of some importance if it was sitting in the Vault.

Fouquet decided to take it. It was about the size of her fist, which made it easy enough to easily slip into her robe. If she could make a few hundred—or thousand—ecu off of it, then all the better. The case it was in was difficult to transmute, but like most enchantments on the academy, couldn't withstand brute physical force. It was easy to lift up the Staff of Destruction's pedestal and drop it one the side of the Vanishing Eye's case. Fouquet picked up the eye and stashed it into a pocket of her robe.

Now, all she had to do was figure out how to use her pilfered items.

After recovering Louise, Ash had made a beeline straight to the nearest teacher and explained the situation. After briefly admonishing Ash for their recklessness, the teacher pointed them to the Cafeteria. Everyone else in the academy was being relocated there as well as the faculty ensured that all the students, staff, and guests were accounted for. The teachers went out to investigate the situation as soon as they were able, but by the time they arrived, the thief was long gone.

Up in the Headmaster's office, a meeting was called to discuss the situation.

"Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth," Osmond muttered, spitting the words as if they were a curse. "He's struck again, and right under our noses as well!"

"The Academy is going to be a laughingstock," one teacher lamented.

"You're worried about that?" another scoffed. "An attack happened while the princess was under our watch!"

"Thankfully, no one was seriously harmed in the attack," said Professor Colbert. "As per his usual modus operandi, Fouquet left only property damage and a calling card. The most serious injury was from Miss Longueville, who had a hard fall in the panic." He gave the secretary a concerned look. "Are you sure you don't want to rest?" he inquired.

Miss Longueville shook her head as she idly rubbed the thick bandage around her left arm. "I am well enough to stand here. Thank you for your concern," she said with a kind, albeit pained, smile. The break was small, so the healers had an easy time repairing the worst of the damage, but it would be a while before she would have full use of her left arm. "More importantly, do we know what was stolen?" she asked.

"The Staff of Destruction," said Osmond gravely.

His audience gasped.

"The one that was used to slay a dragon?"

"It left not even a corpse in its wake!"

"An international thief is running around with that?"

"We're doomed. We're all going to die!"

"Stop your yammering and act like you have some decency!" Osmond huffed, slamming his hands against his desk. "We have students present who are behaving better than you lot!"

The staff turned their heads to the three students and one human familiar who were standing in the back of the room. Ash gave them an awkward wave and Kirche gave a flirtatious wink. Louise and Tabitha remained stoic, though Louise did jab her elbow into Ash's side.

Heads turned back to Headmaster Osmond. "And what are these children doing here?" one professor asked aggressively.

"Miss Valliere and her familiar were the ones who confronted the thief," Colbert explained. "Miss Orleans found the direction of Fouquet's escape. And Miss Zerbst…" The man blinked from behind his glasses. "Actually, I'm not sure why Miss Zerbst is here," he confessed.

"My dear Tabitha isn't going anywhere without me," said Kirche proudly. "And I can't let a Valliere upstage me either."

The entire faculty sighed as one. Kirche von Zerbst was impossible to deal with, so she tended to get away with more than the average student.

"Ahem," Osmond cleared his throat. "Miss Valliere, would you like to elaborate on what happened when you confront Fouquet?"

Louise nodded. "When we arrived, Fouquet was using his golem to attack the Void Tower," she narrated as accurately as she could remember. "I gave him a warning to surrender, but he rudely declined. My familiar attacked the golem, but it was regenerating too quickly for him to leave permanent damage. I used a spell to destroy the golem, but I fell unconscious in the process. My familiar was forced to rush me from the battlefield and in the process, the thief was able to escape."

"You used a spell to stop a triangle class golem?" one professor asked skeptically.

Ash recognized this professor as the most obnoxious person in the entire staff—and he won that award by a large margin. He was a triangle class wind mage who insisted that wind magic was superior to everything. He also was unreasonably hard on Louise, who couldn't properly use any type of magic.

"That is correct, Professor Kaita," Louise replied with a proud timbre in her voice.

"Impossible," the professor declared. "Your shoddy attempts at spellcasting can barely destroy a table, let alone a golem of that caliber."

"You weren't even there!" Ash shouted accusingly. "Of course Louise destroyed the golem, who else was around to do it?"

"And how did you even know that Fouquet was at the Void Tower in the first place?" the professor asked suspiciously.

"I sensed the golem."

"How?"

"Aura."

"That doesn't make sense!"

"Mister Kaita, if you're quite done," Osmond said in a tone that displayed how little he cared for the professor's outbursts. "The abilities of Miss Valliere's familiar are unusual, but I can confirm that he speaks the truth."

"But he speaks of nonsense!"

The wizened headmaster rested his elbows on his desk and pressed his fingers together as his voice grew a darker tone. "Are you saying you don't trust my judgement?" he asked plainly. "Or do you not respect my authority as the Headmaster of this Academy?"

"Neither, Old Osmond."

The professor respectful pulled back from his allegations, but gave Ash the stink eye. The boy didn't even notice; his focus was on Louise. The girl was steady on her feet once again, and her Aura was almost back to normal. It was still wilder and a bit smaller than normal, but it didn't appear to be flailing like a mad tentacle beast. He had tried to explain Louise's condition to the water mage healers, but they had brushed off his concerns and said she was simply suffering a case of willpower exhaustion. Given the size of the explosion relative her usual ones, it was understandable that her body had been taxed far more than expected, but Ash suspected that there was more to it.

"Miss Orleans," said Osmond, getting the attention of the other petite girl in the room. "Where did you see Fouquet escape to?"

"Traveled along eastern road by golem, then headed north through the forest," Tabitha reported. "Lost track of him in the trees."

"That means he could be anywhere by now," a teacher grumbled.

"Not necessarily," said Miss Longueville. "If I recall correctly, there's an abandoned house in that direction. It'd take a long time to reach on foot but should take only a few hours by horse. If Fouquet is heading there—"

"Then that might be his temporary base!" Colbert interjected. "Brilliant observation, Miss Longueville!"

"I am only doing my job," the secretary said bashfully.

"Ahem." The two adults turned to Osmond, who was turning pink from both intrigue and jealousy. "If Fouquet is traveling to that house, we need to set out quickly to apprehend him before he recuperates and flees the country entirely."

"Shouldn't we request assistance for this?" one professor asked worriedly. "Fouquet is a dangerous thief, after all.

"From who? The princess's personal guard? Or perhaps the soldiers scattered around the local roads?" Osmond suggested dryly. "If we wait for reinforcements from the capital or Count Mott, Fouquet will be long gone. Besides, we need to retrieve the Staff of Destruction on our own power, otherwise our reputation will be tarnished further. It was bad enough that an attack happened while the princess was in our walls; we can't let the thief get away unscathed as well."

A few of the teachers gave nods of approval.

Osmond rose from his seat and gave a rousing cry, "So, who among you is willing to take the glory of capturing the infamous Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth?"

Some of the professors shifted their feet.

Others exchanges worried looks.

Not one raised their hand.

"Seriously, not a single one of you wants the glory of catching a renowned thief?" Osmond asked in surprise.

The faculty members looked away in shame. Their reasons for not volunteering varied, but the underlying reason was fear. Fouquet was an esteemed triangle class mage, easily surpassing the average teacher at the academy. In an attempt to apprehend the thief, there were so many things that could go wrong. And factoring in the weapon capable of vaporizing a dragon resting in the thief's hands, the risks were all too high.

The Headmaster sighed and fell heavily into his seat. "As much as I would like to go myself, these old bones are too frail to go chasing a thief across the countryside," he said in disappointment. "I suppose we shall have to contact the capital and—" He paused, seeing Louise raise her wand up. "Do you have something to add, Miss Valliere?" he asked.

"If none of the teachers will face Fouquet, then I will go in their place," Louise said proudly.

"I'm coming too," said Ash immediately, a competitive smile growing on his face. "I want a rematch."

"B-but you're just children," one teacher sputtered.

"I'll be going as well," said Kirche, pulling her wand out of her cleavage and raising it up as well. "I can't let Little Louise take all the credit for catching an international criminal."

Tabitha also raised her staff up.

Kirche looked surprised. "Are you sure, Tabitha?" she asked. "You don't need to come along."

"I'm worried," said Tabitha. Her face was as stoic as usual, but her voice held an unusual treble to it.

Kirche and Lousie's faces softened at the change in Tabitha's demeaner. Ash's smile grew even wider. "The more the merrier, that's what I always say," he said.

Old Osmond looked at the four youths, mulling over the idea in his mind. "Very well," he finally said.

Colbert turned to his superior in surprise. "Please reconsider, Osmond!" the professor exclaimed. "We can't let students fight a dangerous criminal!"

"I see none of you volunteering to go," said Osmond, raising an eyebrow. Colbert looked embarrassed as he retreated a step back. "Besides," the headmaster continued. "Miss Zerbst is a reputable triangle class mage. And Miss Orleans is not only a triangle class mage, but also a Chevalier."

"You've been knighted?" Louise exclaimed in shock, looking at the smaller girl.

"You never told me that!" Kirche said in surprise.

Tabitha gave a small nod.

Ash gave Tabitha a thumbs up, which made her tilt her head on confusion. "I'm not sure what the distinction is," he said. "But it sounds like you're awesome!"

"A Chevalier is a title that can only be granted by a royal family," Louise informed him. "To be knighted at such a young age is incredible."

"Finally, said Osmond. "Miss Valliere has proven capable of destroying Fouquet's golem in a single blow. I witnessed the damage myself; most impressive. And her familiar is not without value as well."

"I see," said Colbert, slamming the heel of his fist into his palm. "With his runes, he might be able to learn how the Staff—" He coughed, abruptly cutting himself off. "I mean, his talent will be very helpful in combat."

The deflection was a poor one, but only a few people had the context to guess what he was trying to conceal.

"In that case, all we need is to ready a carriage and a driver," said Osmond.

"I will do that," Longueville volunteered. "I had already planned to go along anyway."

"But what about your arm?" Colbert asked in concern.

"I'll be fine," Longueville said with an easy smile. "The healers have already fixed me up. I can still drive a carriage with my good arm."

"That doesn't sound very safe," said Colbert with a frown.

"I'll be perfectly fine," Longueville assured him. "After all, the students will be the ones confronting Fouquet. You don't need to worry."

Colbert still did not look convinced. "In that case maybe I should—"

In a rare show of unprofessionalism, Longueville stepped forward and held one finger to Colbert's lips. "Trust in the children, and trust in me, Jean," she said.

"I-I-I…" Colbert fumbled his words, more flustered than a man his age had any right to be.

"What is going with them?" Ash whispered to Louise.

"Nothing," was this girl's stoic reply as she had an embarrassed flush.

"I didn't know those two had flirtatious sides to them," said Kirche juicily.

Tabitha sighed and tapped her staff against the ground, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "We should leave," she pointed out.

Osmond cleared his throat with a loud harrumph. "Indeed, Miss Orleans. Miss Longueville, find one of the servants to help ready a carriage. Students, grab anything you might need and meet promptly at the gate. Everyone else, focus on getting our academy in order and fixing the damages Fouquet left behind. Make haste! Remember, the princess and her retainers are watching!"

As the students and teachers filtered out, only Colbert was left standing beside Osmond. "Are you sure this is wise, Headmaster?" Colbert had to ask one final time.

"Do not worry, Mr. Colbert," Osmond said with a twinkle in his eye. "According to my spy network, the girls should be fine as long as the Gandalfr is with them."

"…We're an academic institution. We don't have a spy network," Colbert pointed out.

"That's what you think," Osmond said with a crafty smile. "I had Miss Longueville choose a group of highly competent staff members to watch Ash's every move. They've been reporting back to me almost daily."

"You involved Miss Longueville in this?" Colbert asked incredulously. "And the staff? I thought we were supposed to keep the runes a secret!"

"I didn't tell anyone about the Gandalfr runes," Osmond assured the professor. "The staff are under orders to watch the boy's activity and report back any abilities and personality traits he has. Mrs. Longueville knows the boy is special, but she is also unaware of the runes and has done her duty without asking any questions. I believe her volunteering was to keep an eye on the boy in this incident as well. She's very professional about her job, that's why I hired her."

Colbert let himself relax. "That is true," he admitted. "Mrs. Longueville is one of the most trustworthy people we have on staff at the moment. If the children can be trusted with anyone, it would be her."

You poor, naive fools... can you believe that I actually wrote them smarter than their canon counterparts?

It's the start of August, which means it's the time for school to begin. Chapter uploads should still be on schedule since I wrote as much as I could in advance. The other stories for this month are: Half-Andalite, Dragon of the West, and Master of Explosions (new). If I upload anything else it'll be because I had a burst of inspiration/time.

Oh, and if anyone wants to support me, I've got a Ko-Fi under the name RainEStar. Page ain't fancy, but it's up there. I know it's Corona time. I write fanfiction. I'm not expecting to live off of this. But... anyone who donates gets "bonus" votes in the next poll that I'll post at the end of the month. Sorry, I don't have any other incentives. With school starting up I don't want to make any commitments I know I can't keep. If my classes go well and I can do bigger prizes, then I'll upgrade.

Anyways, how'd you like this half-chapter? What plot hints did you find? I've noticed some people have been catching on fast to foreshadowing, so I'll be giving "bonus" votes to those reviewers as well. Guest reviews, unfortunately, can't be counted since I can't verify them.

Oh, good. I kept the A/N short for once. Now remember, reviews are food for a writer's soul!