X

Unfamiliar Zero

Chapter 4
=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

Orion Osmond, known to most as simply Old Osmond, was the Headmaster of the renowned Tristain Academy of Magic. He was, as his nickname suggests, quite old, having lived for well over seventy years now. His white mustache was long, his equally white beard was longer, and his definitely very white hair was longer still. Creases and wrinkles lined his face like some ancient cartographer's map and his eyes were always hidden behind an ever-present squint, one that was almost always drawn to the figure of attractive women. His perversion for panties in particular were, unfortunately, well known to most females at this point, though he did actually draw the line with his students, or at least tried to.

Considered one of the most powerful mages residing in the Kingdom of Tristania, Old Osmond was a four square mage - meaning he could use all four primary elements: earth, air, water, and fire - and was perhaps also the most experienced in magic in the kingdom thanks to his long years of practice and study in the magical arts. That being said, nothing he had ever experienced before had prepared him for the situation that he now currently faced.

Long had Old Osmond been in charge of the Academy, and though his students were often rowdy and got into mischief, rare had it been for someone to be as troublesome as a certain pink-haired young girl named Louise Vallière. The brat, for she was certainly a petulant brat, had incredible magical power within her and yet no matter what she did she was unable to properly wield it. All her attempts at spellwork resulted in destruction, and not of the intentional kind. She couldn't even cast a simple levitation spell on an object without leaving a ten foot crater where the object had been before being incinerated by her wild magic.

Had she been a simple noble, Old Osmond would have simply recommended that she give up her pursuit of studying magic at his Academy. However, as the youngest daughter of the very powerful and all too influential Vallière family, Louise was a headache that he simply couldn't get rid of. In fact, sometimes he had caught himself wishing that she simply disappeared. Except now, she actually did and he was mortified.

"Professor Colbert," said the old headmaster, his deep frown hidden behind his thick facial air, "Are you absolutely certain that young Miss Vallière is nowhere to be found within the Academy grounds? Perhaps she is simply hiding from yet another embarrassing spectacle in front of her classmates." The girl probably was at her limit after a full year of continued failure to produce results.

Sitting in his office was one of his most capable professors, Jean Colbert, with his head almost completely bald save for the last clumps of black hair that clung to the base of his skull. He was the young girl's teacher for the second year, and he was the one in charge of her class when as usual all hell broke loose due to a mishap with one of Louise's spells. However, unlike all her previous mishaps, the young girl had simply disappeared after the dust had settled.

Adjusting his small round spectacles on his face, the middle-aged professor nodded solemnly. "I'm certain of it, headmaster. I've spent all day searching every corner of the Academy with the help of Miss Vallière's classmates. None have found any trace of her anywhere."

"Hmm..." the old man stroked his beard, trying hard not to show the mounting panic within him. He honestly had no idea what to do at the moment. He had no prior experience to draw upon for a time like this, for he had never heard of anyone simply disappearing after a botched spell before. Attempting to calm himself, he decided that he needed more information. "You witnessed what happened, yes?"

"Yes, headmaster. I was right there..." said the man, looking downcast as he explained exactly what he saw. Essentially, Louise was the last one to perform the Summoning Ritual, and while her incantation was a little odd, she performed her wand movements correctly while also calling forth, at least for a split second, the right amount of magic energy from what Colbert could see. And yet, right at the very end, there was a sudden surge of magic like there always was, and then an explosion just like any other time the girl had messed up. Except this time, she had vanished into thin air.

Old Osmond wracked his brain as he tried to think of how it was possible for the Summoning Ritual to go so terribly wrong for the summoner. At worst, it should have simply not summoned anything at all, and yet somehow something even worse happened and the summoner ended up disappearing completely. There was certainly a chance that it was only some wild or random teleportation effect, though he hoped the young girl was somewhere hospitable, wherever she was. And, while incredibly low, there was also the chance that she... perished. Though he tried not to dwell on that thought.

At that moment, Colbert leaned forward and placed his hands on his head, muttering to himself. "I... I should've been able to do something. As her teacher, I was... I was responsible for her... perhaps I should have..."

"Stop!" said Old Osmond with a sweeping motion of his hand, his robes rustling at the sudden movement. He gave the professor a stern look as the man glanced up at him. "You are not to blame for this, Professor Colbert. Answer me this: did any of your other students have any problems with their Summoning Rituals?"

Colbert hesitated, but shook his head. There were unshed tears in his eyes and he tried to blink them away. "No, headmaster."

"This was an accident beyond your control, Professor," stated the headmaster firmly. "Everyone, including the young Miss Vallière, knew that she was having... trouble with her magic. She knew the risks whenever she performed it. If there is any blame to be had here, other than on Miss Vallière, it would be mine for allowing her to continue studying here at the Academy even though she was clearly a hopeless case. One that had endangered many lives, including her own, as she continued to study here with the destructive effects of every failed spell she cast."

"But-"

Again the headmaster held up a hand that had the professor's words die in his throat. "That being said, she is still a student at this school, which means her safety is our top priority and right now her life is possibly in danger. From this moment on we are to operate under the assumption that she has simply somehow been teleported somewhere by accident, so while she is lost for now, she will eventually be found. We will continue to search the school grounds, as many times as necessary to fully rule it out that she is not simply hiding somewhere here, and begin the search of the outlying areas as well."

The headmaster wasn't sure if he really believed what he was saying himself, but he had to give them all something to believe in and something to do to occupy their minds and bodies while this whole incident unfolded.

Colbert nodded slowly. He took off his spectacles and wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand before putting them back on and leveling a determined gaze at the headmaster. "I will do whatever I can to make sure she is returned to us, headmaster."

"I'm sure you will," Old Osmond smiled at him sadly, then a thought struck him. "Perhaps you and I should research more into the Summoning Ritual and see if there are any potential clues there. It might also be prudent to look into any information we have on side effects and unintended results of failed spells."

"Yes, headmaster. I'll head to the library immediately and gather all the relevant books that I can find," replied the professor.

"Oh, and one more thing," the headmaster said, hesitating for only a second, "Since this is a rather delicate matter, let's refrain from informing her family or... her highness, just yet. At least until we can gather more information and spend some more time searching for her."

Colbert looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "But why?" he asked incredulously. "They have every right to know what's happened, headmaster. They deserve to know the truth immediately! They might be able to help. Provide clues even. Ideas for where she might be."

Old Osmond winced and raised his hands to calm the professor. "I agree with you, professor. I absolutely agree with you, but we shouldn't be too hasty. Let's not inform them prematurely if there's a chance that young Miss Vallière can be recovered quickly on our own. We must take the greatest care not to cause undue stress. You and I both know that if we tell her family and the princess now, there will be panic and overreactions-" Colbert's eye seemed to twitch at the word "-and if we can avoid that altogether then everyone wins." The headmaster tried to give the man his best smile.

The professor stood, his determined look now twisting into more of a glare at the old man, and the smile faltered suddenly on the headmaster's face. "If we don't find her by tomorrow evening, I'll tell them all myself," he said resolutely as he swept from the room, slamming the doors to the headmaster's office behind him.

Rubbing his temples because of the massive headache he could feel coming, Old Osmond sighed as a wave of exhaustion seeped into his bones as he slumped heavily into his chair. He truly hoped that they would be able to find the girl soon, for he wasn't sure what would happen to all of them if they didn't. Lamenting the fact that his lovely assistant Longueville was also nowhere to be found, and therefore he was unable to sneak a peek at her undies to distract himself from his troubles, he found himself wishing that he might disappear too.

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

It was dark by the time Kirche returned to her room at the Academy. She had spent almost the entire day searching for her classmate Louise, accompanied at first by the entirety of the second year class plus some of the available staff. A few hours into the search, however, and most of her peers had called off for the day for one reason or another. All of them made her furious.

"If she wanted to run and hide, then maybe we should let her be," said one of the other students before heading back to his room. A few others murmured agreement at that and followed.

Another group of fellow students stopped searching a little while after that, citing either their tiredness or that they had other pressing matters to attend to. Lies, of course. At least for most of them. Classes were cancelled for the day, and the next day as well while this whole situation with Louise's disappearance was dealt with. It was no great secret that they simply didn't care that much about the young noble girl who couldn't even properly wield her magic like the rest of them.

By the time the sun was getting ready to set, there were only a handful of students remaining in the search party. Tabitha, of course, had been one of the few who remained until the search was officially called off for the day by Professor Colbert himself, who gave those few remaining a sad bit of thanks for their efforts without bothering to hide the deeply troubled look on his face even as he said that things would work out and they would find Louise one way or another.

The young blue-haired witch was no less quiet than she normally was that day despite the unexpected turn of events, and her face betrayed none of the emotions she was feeling or thoughts she was thinking. Of course, there wasn't much time to really look upon her impassive young face what with the search going on and the fact that Tabitha was tasked with searching the surrounding area on the back and wings of her wind rhyme dragon, Sylphid, while the rest of them fanned out on foot on the Academy grounds.

Even so, Kirche could feel that what had happened to Louise troubled her friend, and she did consider Tabitha to be a friend despite their barely talking to one another over the past year since they first met. And her instinct was rewarded by a tug on the back of her robes as she was entering her room, to which she turned around to find the slightest of frowns on the blue-haired witch's otherwise stoic young face.

"We didn't find her," Tabitha stated flatly.

Kirche shook her head sadly. "Not today, Tabitha dear, but we'll find her tomorrow."

Tabitha tilted her head to the side, regarding the redhead thoughtfully, "You sure?"

This time it was Kirche who frowned, one deeper than what Tabitha was showing. Gently reaching a hand out to rest upon the shorter girl's shoulder, she said, "No... but we'll try our hardest."

The young girl nodded slowly, the small frown on her face gone as her emotionless mask slipped back on, though her sky blue eyes still hinted at the slightest bit of worry. Most people probably wouldn't have even noticed, but Kirche was not most people. She was Tabitha's closest friend here at the Academy, and so she knew how to read the girl. Sometimes. The young witch was certainly difficult to read most days, harder still to get her to talk, but she was a very good listener at least. A fact that Kirche often took advantage of when she wanted to rant about something or other, or if she got excited about something and wanted to talk about it.

"Do you want to come in?" Kirche motioned towards her half-opened bedroom door.

Tabitha didn't respond immediately, and the redhead thought perhaps she would come in, but then the smaller witch pressed her red-rimmed spectacles up further on her face with a slender finger and then shook her head. "Tired," was all she said.

"Yeah. Me too, dear," replied Kirche as her hand fell away from Tabitha's shoulder. "We should both get some rest before another long day of searching begins. Good job out there, by the way, you and your dragon both. We'll definitely need you two at your best if we're ever to find poor Louise."

With a nod, the girl turned without another word and left Kirche standing in front of her door, watching the blue-haired witch walk off and disappear down the otherwise empty hall.

Once Tabitha was out of sight, Kirche finally stepped into her room, where her familiar was curled up on his own cushioned bed on the floor next to her own. Flame, the fire salamander that was her familiar, was tired, having searched with its master all day, and had trotted into the room as soon as she had opened the door before she was stopped by Tabitha earlier.

"Hey Flame," she said as she shut the door quietly behind her.

Flame made an affectionate sound akin to a purr but did not budge from his bed, the fire at the end of its tail almost as small as the flame of a lit candle. The salamander rested with one eye closed, the other half-open and watched her as she sat down heavily in front of her vanity desk and started staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Kirche studied her own beautiful tanned face closely, a face that she spent a lot of time and effort getting ready in front of this very mirror to face a cruel and unfair world that she was doing her best to make her way through, one day at a time. In that face that stared right back at her she saw guilt and shame. Even a hint of remorse. She knew exactly why she felt that way. There were many times over the past year that the feelings had coursed through her, even as she worked to stamp them down. It was because of Louise. More specifically, it was because of the way she treated the poor girl.

When first she saw Louise, Kirche couldn't help but think of her as a spoiled brat, especially given her cold demeanor and her unwillingness to make friends at the Academy. But as she observed the girl from a distance at first, and it became clear that there was something wrong with her magic and her classmates started to tease her for it, that was when Kirche realized that the pink-haired girl was isolating herself on purpose.

Louise had been very self-aware of her failings as a mage when she first stepped onto Academy grounds. She probably had gone through private tutoring, as most children of nobility did, and had discovered her apparent inability to properly control her magic at least a few years before the first day of school. Knowing that she was well-behind her peers, laughably so in fact, and also knowing the expectations of her as a member of one of the most influential families in the Kingdom of Tristain if she went down this path, Louise still chose to enroll at the Academy and become a mage.

Even with the odds so stacked against her and so much pressure on her shoulders, the pink-haired girl pushed through, isolating herself because she knew that she would become a pariah once it was clear how inept - and also dangerous - her ability with magic was.

Kirche respected that. She respected that a great deal. So much so that she actually wanted to be Louise's friend, to help the girl gain control of her magic and become the great mage she claimed she would one day be, but her very first and only attempt at doing so failed miserably when Louise mouthed off to her about their longstanding family feud with the Zerbst family almost as soon as Kirche had introduced herself.

Kirche's eyes had widened at the open hostility, shock registering on her face for the briefest of moments before her own social mask slipped on - Tabitha was not the only one with a mask - and it became clear to her that perhaps a friendship with the girl was unlikely, at least until Louise could gain control of her magic and become confident in herself once more. Because it was that lack of confidence, and the feeling of worthlessness, that caused Louise to lash out at everyone and keep them all at arm's length.

Oh, it was pitifully easy for Kirche to see through the haughty facade of confidence that Louise often put on, yet her pink eyes could not hide the fear nor the slight wetness that oft seemed she would be on the verge of tears. The pink-haired witch was scared and alone. So very alone.

But if Kirche was not going to be able to help Louise as a friend, how then would she go about doing it? There had only really been one other choice, and in the few seconds after that disastrous introduction, she set herself to being Louise's rival. If she could not help the girl as a friend, then she would do her best to do so masquerading as her enemy. By pushing her buttons and making life difficult for the girl, Kirche hoped to make Louise stronger and also make her push herself harder than she ever thought she could so that one day she might reach her goal of becoming a true mage.

And on that day, Kirche hoped she would be able to smile and congratulate her, and then explain away her behavior in another attempt to become friends with the girl she had learned to respect and certainly one she only wished the best for, despite all outward evidence to the contrary. She snorted bitterly as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror. Perhaps she had pushed the girl too far. Perhaps she had broken the girl instead of strengthened her like she thought she had. Perhaps also she had taken to acting a bully so much she had actually really and truly become one without her realizing it.

Now Louise was gone and Kirche feared that she was responsible.

She cradled her head in her hands as she leaned with her elbows on the desk. Frustration and anger burned within her. Frustration at the situation they were in and anger at herself for possibly being the root of it. Guilt and shame came right on the heels of frustration and anger. She only hoped that once they found Louise she might be strong enough to ask the pink-haired girl for forgiveness and explain her motives and reasons for how she had been acting towards her, and hopefully start anew, though she knew deep down that the pink-haired witch probably wouldn't even listen to her for more than a few seconds before angrily storming off.

Feeling bitter and upset, Kirche tried to take a few calming breaths to settle herself. It wouldn't do to go to bed so emotional. And it was working until there was a sudden tapping at her window that made her stiffen. With slowly narrowing eyes she slid her gaze over in the direction of the lone window to her room from which the pale light of the moon leaked in.

There was someone out there. A guy. One of her classmates. She couldn't even remember his name. He waved at her happily and pointed meaningfully to the window.

"Hello, beautiful! My gorgeous and spectacular goddess Kirche, would you please open the window and let me in? I'm not late am I? I did set an appointment for tonight, right? I hope you didn't forget," he said loudly enough to be heard through the window, flashing her what he probably thought was his winningest smile as his eyes traveled hungrily up and down her body.

She sighed. She was very much not in the mood for this. Kirche's fingers found the smooth, polished wood of her wand just as her eye started to twitch. At least she now had an outlet to release all this pent up emotion. The poor fool.

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

Jean Colbert thought he heard the sound of a pained cry echo from somewhere outside his window, but when he strained to listen, there was nothing but the sound of the wind. Or was that the sound of a torrent of flames? No. That couldn't be right. It was probably just the wind. Chalking it up to hearing things because of the lateness of the hour as well as the tiredness of his mind, he leaned and stretched back in his chair and yawned something fierce.

He had gone to the library almost immediately after he left the headmaster's office earlier to set about researching what could have possibly happened to his missing student. The fact that he didn't even know, and nobody else seemed to know either, did not sit well with him. Now he was sitting at his desk in his office with a dozen tomes arrayed across every inch of available space. Each one had something to do with the Summoning Ritual, a ritual most mages took for granted. None so far had provided any leads that might be useful, or perhaps they did and he simply wasn't seeing it.

A stack of books on the ground next to him were all on the topic of magical accidents and also problems and consequences of failed or improperly cast magic. These he had yet to even open, though he was vaguely aware of some of that. Usually, the spell would simply fail to activate, or on rare occasions the spell would backfire into a magical explosion, which was what happened with Louise fairly regularly. However, the fact that she disappeared into thin air shouldn't have been a possible side effect from what he understood.

Of course, explosions caused by miscast or failed magic was dangerous in itself, but mages had a hardier constitution than non-magical people. Something to do with the magic coursing within them giving them more durability and accelerated healing to a noticeable degree when compared to the common folk. All confirmed by experiments, many of which he did not approve the methods of, but nevertheless had been done for the sake of knowledge.

Colbert prided himself in having a closer relationship with his students than most other professors at the Academy. He knew more than simply their names and titles, and those of their families, which every professor was expected to know. Dealing with the nobility was, after all, a delicate affair as the headmaster had pointed out earlier. Colbert knew their strengths and weaknesses, their likes and dislikes, their level of talent and their ambitions, and so much more that he practically considered them all in some ways his own children.

He wanted them all to succeed, to achieve their goals and one day become who they were meant to be to the fullest extent possible. And as their teacher and mentor, he wanted to help them get there. Perhaps this was why he had a particular soft spot for the young and stubborn Louise Vallière, who so desperately wanted to become a full-fledged mage. The girl's case was unique. Born into a family of considerable political and magical power, she should have been destined for greatness. Instead, she appeared doomed to failure because of her puzzling ineptitude with magic.

Colbert could sense great power deep within her, but the girl was mysteriously unable to cast the most basic of spells without causing some sort of explosion. This was certainly evidence at least that she did have access to magic, but there appeared to be some unknown problem with how she was able to wield it. A full year of teaching and observing her had led to no fruitful conclusions as to why she was experiencing such catastrophic failure with her magic. Despite that, Colbert had not and would not give up on her, even if she ever decided to give up on herself - which she thankfully hadn't from what he could tell.

Now though, he couldn't help but wonder if her disappearance was by chance or by choice. In the dust, smoke, and confusion of her latest explosive debacle, perhaps the young girl had decided enough was enough and fled. That was why he needed to talk to her family, to find if maybe she had gone running home because where else could she have gone? Not that he actually believed that she voluntarily ran away.

That was not the Louise Vallière that he knew. Her running away was highly unlikely, even more so than the theory that she was somehow involuntarily transported or teleported somewhere due to the very nature of the Summoning Ritual, but there was one surefire way to find out and that was to simply go over and talk to the girl's family. Much as it chafed him though, he also could see the reason why the headmaster was so hesitant to reach out to the girl's family about the news.

The Duke and Duchess Vallière were two very powerful mages, and the Duchess Karin in particular was arguably as powerful as the headmaster, who many considered to be the preeminent mage in the kingdom. Her wind magic was rumored to be the strongest and most refined in all Halkeginia, and her command of the other three elements made her a formidable foe indeed. Not only that, but the Vallières were not kind to those who upset them, and they had very close relations with the royal family, with the young Louise being good friends with the current and only Princess of Tristain.

They would all undoubtedly be furious and concerned, and rightfully so, about the recent turn of events, and there was a very strong chance that there would be unwelcome consequences for himself, the headmaster, and even the Academy itself. Regardless of the potential risks to his person or his career, he resolved to speak to the girl's family like he told the headmaster he would tomorrow evening if they still couldn't find the girl by then. Hopefully all their worries would be unfounded and he would find Louise safe and sound at home.

Of course there was a third possibility, one that he flat out refused to accept. Louise was not dead. She couldn't be. Students weren't supposed to die before their teachers and this was not going to be the first for him. He did not want to even dwell on it for more than the few seconds it crossed his mind so he shook his head, rubbed his weary eyes, and started to focus on the tome currently right in front of him. There would be no sleeping tonight for Professor Jean Colbert.

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

When day broke the next morning, tendrils of dawn light trickled into the wide spaces of Henrietta's bedroom. Her arguably far too large of a four poster bed had thin purple curtains drawn all around, protecting her from the steadily intruding brightness of the new day. Underneath warm and incredibly comfortable bed sheets, the young princess slept soundly, oblivious to the world. That is, until there was a solid, but not too loud, knocking at her door.

Broken out of her sleep by the noise, with her head half engulfed by one of the several cushy pillows on her bed, Henrietta turned and slowly opened her bleary crystal blue eyes. Adjusting to the dim morning light, dimmed thanks to the curtains around her bed, she heard the knocking again. It was respectful and patient, but she knew it would not stop until she responded.

"Come in," she said loud enough to be heard all the way to the door. She already had an idea of who it could be.

Peering through a gap in the curtains around her bed, Henrietta watched half-awake as the door opened to reveal a young woman, not too much older than the princess, dressed in the black and white uniform of a maid. She had her dark brown hair tied into a tight ponytail that trailed behind her as she walked into the room with quiet footsteps.

"Good morning, princess," greeted the maid with a respectful bow.

"Good morning, Alice," replied the princess, followed by a yawn as she stretched. The sound of rustling bed sheets was loud in the otherwise silent room.

"Did you sleep well, princess?" asked the maid.

"Mhmm..."

"I'm glad to hear it. Your mother is expecting you at breakfast, your highness," said the maid as she then closed the distance between her and the bed and worked to open up the curtains.

The world around Henrietta suddenly got a lot brighter, much to her brief dismay, and she squinted and blinked rapidly for a short while as her eyes adjusted. She groaned inwardly. She wanted to say that she just wanted to stay under the covers for a while longer, perhaps even all morning, but she didn't actually say that out loud. She couldn't. She was the Princess of Tristain, Queen-to-be, and there were things she needed to do. Staying in bed and sleeping in today was not one of them. Plus, her mother would not be happy if she even tried to get out of having breakfast with her.

"Five minutes?" she finally asked, sounding tentative and hopeful.

Alice smiled. "I've been allowed to give you two."

Of course. Well, two extra minutes in bed was better than none, so Henrietta shut her eyes as Alice set about getting ready the princess's clothes and other things necessary for her that day. When the two minutes were up, and she could have sworn it was even less than that, the young princess was gently coaxed out of bed and given a few choices of outfits to wear. After she had settled on her outfit for the day, Alice left her alone to get changed and ready, but not before mentioning that breakfast would be served in the Queen's Sitting Room instead of the Royal Dining Room.

A fully dressed Henrietta, complete with her signature silver tiara with its few but very precious gems atop her head, twirled around in front of the mirror as she eyed herself. Her mother would likely be pleased with the way she looked, and no doubt so too would the nobility who were to attend Royal Court that day.

With a sigh, the young princess adjusted her soft purple hair once more before smiling at herself. Right. She was ready. For breakfast at least.

A relatively short walk later through the Royal Palace, Henrietta bowed quickly to the Queen, or just her mother really, as she was ushered into the sitting room by several royal servants and took a seat perpendicular to her mother at the small round table that had been set for them.

Queen Marianne de Tristain was a beautiful woman with dark blue eyes that shone with wisdom and an ever-present sorrow at the loss of her husband, the late King Henri IV. She moved with a grace that Henrietta envied, and spoke with a measured voice that commanded attention and respect, something that the young princess tried to emulate - it wasn't easy. Around her neck was a choker of pure teal crystals. She had a lighter shade of purple to her hair compared to Henrietta due to age and several decades of exposure to the sun, and upon it sat a gold crown full of jewels.

It was a crown that Henrietta was going to wear some day, though she tried not to think on that future too much.

They exchanged good mornings and breakfast was summarily served shortly after her arrival along with some tea. They ate with few words spoken between them, and it became clear to Henrietta that there was something on her mother's mind, but she waited until the queen was ready to talk about it. The queen did not speak unless she meant to.

When they were finished with their meals and were left with only their tea, the queen dismissed the servants who were standing at attention nearby, leaving the two royals alone. Whatever she was about to talk about was apparently incredibly important and private, and Henrietta found herself suddenly feeling anxious.

"How go your studies, dear?" asked the queen as she took a sip of tea, the cup still steaming as she brought it up to her face with a delicate touch.

"The tutoring? It's... a lot," she replied truthfully. She was receiving private tutoring a few times a week from several Court Advisers on everything from law to governance and magic to military tactics. Sometimes her brain felt like it was struggling to keep up with all the information being thrown at her, but so far it hadn't been too bad. Although she was worried that she might not remember something important when it came time to put what she had learned to the test. She was pleased the most with her progress in magic though, something that she mentioned to her mother.

"Good," the queen nodded approvingly. "Be sure that you continue to focus on your studies, dear, and not only on the magical aspect. For both our sakes. Ruling a kingdom is not easy, ruling with all this sorrow in my heart... I was never very good at all this to begin with," the queen made a vague gesture with her right hand. When she stopped talking she had a faraway look in her eye and Henrietta wanted to reach out and grasp her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, so she did and received a warm smile and gentle squeeze of her own hand in return.

"I'll continue to do the best I can, mother," she assured the queen as they shared a moment, then the queen retracted her hand and the princess found herself reaching for the first time for her tea and drinking from it. It warmed her belly and tasted quite good.

"As we all should, I suppose," said the monarch faintly as she took another sip of her own tea. Then when she placed her tea back onto its saucer on the table with a clink, she spoke again in a grave tone, "I'm not sure if you're aware of how precarious our situation is at the moment, my dear. To the south, Gallia is still in chaos following the violent ascension of King Joseph. Further south, Romalia is mustering for another Holy Crusade. Across the sea to the northwest, there is talk of insurrection and unrest in Albion. And Germania bristles for a new war to the northeast. Already we are being looked at with hungry eyes among some of their nobility, and Gallia too now that the newly crowned king is in control."

Henrietta audibly gasped at the mention of possible insurrection in Albion. She had heard murmurs among the nobility about it these past few weeks and she had dismissed them as simply that, rumors. Now that her mother was actually mentioning it in a serious conversation meant that these rumors were closer to reality than she was comfortable with. They had family over there, and one blonde boy in particular who she cared about very deeply.

The queen paused for a moment, then continued, "We cannot face any enemies alone and hope to emerge victorious, and both our allies in Albion and Romalia seem unlikely to provide support in the near future given the situations present in those countries. To that end, I made the difficult decision to reach out to Emperor Albert III of Germania himself and he was... surprisingly cordial. I had never known the man, for he had never deigned to visit our little kingdom, and I think your father only ever met him once or twice too. He is well-spoken, if a little eccentric."

"Did you... come to an understanding?" asked Henrietta, suddenly curious. Her anxiety seemed to double too, for she knew not for what purpose her mother was telling her all this.

Queen Marianne nodded slowly. "Yes, dear," her mother hesitated and that in itself tripled the young princess's anxiety, "After a long discussion, we decided... that it would be mutually beneficial to join our royal houses and bloodlines and unite the strength and wealth of our two countries. To that end, you shall be marrying him sometime next year after I step down and your subsequent coronation as the newest Queen of Tristain."

Silence.

Henrietta didn't move, not even to blink, as the color drained from her pretty face and her blue eyes remained fixated on a point just past her mother's head. She had always known that it was a strong possibility that she would be married off – that was standard practice among the nobility – but there was always this hope, perhaps a foolish one, that lived within her that maybe as princess she'd be able to choose who she got married to instead. That hope was now crushed as the reality of her situation was revealed to her, and her thoughts immediately went to her first and currently only true love that she had ever known. How would he react to this news? Should she even tell him? It wasn't like either of them could even do anything about it.

"What of... What of Wales, mother?" she asked, and almost immediately regretted her words because of the look of surprise that turned into confusion that crossed the queen's face. She hoped that her slip up wouldn't bring about suspicion between herself and the boy in a kingdom across the sea.

"I just told you that I'm finally stepping down and handing the kingdom to you and that you're about to be married off to the Emperor of Germania for political purposes... and you're worried about your cousin Wales, the Prince of Albion?" Queen Marianne arched an eyebrow at the still-shocked princess.

Before Henrietta could even muster some semblance of a response, the queen spoke again. "I suppose they are family and we should worry about them in a time of crisis, but there's not much we can do from here about their situation even besides the fact that there have been no overt moves at rebellion just yet. Your uncle King James is no slouch so we shall see what becomes of it, though I suspect that in the end Wales and the rest of his family will be perfectly fine. They are strong. They will weather this storm like many others they have before."

Henrietta nodded numbly, taking some comfort in her mother's words.

"Wales will grow up to be a fine king in Albion some day, of that I am certain, and you will undoubtedly be a much better queen than I... or I suppose you'll become an Empress? We haven't ironed out all the details just yet. Which reminds me, the Emperor did insist that you go visit the Imperial Palace soon so that you may get acquainted. That will certainly be arranged in the coming weeks, and I imagine that at some point within the year he'll also come visit Tristania to learn more about the place you call home."

Henrietta smiled weakly, but stayed silent. She didn't know what to say, or if there was even anything she could say other than some iteration of 'yes I understand and accept.'

Another silence passed between them and the elder royal looked at her daughter with a sadness in her eyes despite giving her an encouraging smile. "You'll learn to make the most of it and be happy, my dearest Henrietta, and I will of course be with you every step of the way. Your father and I were betrothed when I was younger than you, you know. It isn't as bad as you might think. Emperor Albert III is at least younger than I, though certainly older than you, and he is still quite... energetic. You two should get along, though it will be hard at first because you simply don't know each other well enough and are from different cultures. At the very least, you should take comfort in the fact that your marriage will secure lasting peace for the kingdom throughout your reign, for no one will dare to attack us with Germania beside us. Not even that bloodthirsty fool of a king in Gallia..."

"I know, mother," she finally said in a quiet voice, though most of her mother's words didn't really register. Henrietta looked out one of the tall windows that overlooked the city of Tristania below. Above, a thin mist of clouds streaked across huge swaths of the bright blue sky. A part of her wanted nothing else but to be able leave all of this behind and simply be free to live her own life. How she wished she could sprout wings and fly off into the open sky right then and never look back.

As images of flying and freedom flitted through her still reeling mind, Henrietta's thoughts somehow turned to Louise Vallière, her best friend in the whole world. Perhaps it was to escape her situation that she thought of her now and she wondered if the girl was enjoying the beginning of her second year of study at the Academy. With everything that her mother had just told her, Henrietta had to catch up with Louise very soon to let the pinkette know all that was happening and all that would happen.

In fact, she decided that she was going to sneak over to the Academy as soon as she could get away from the watchful eyes of the palace. She only hoped that Agnes, her personal bodyguard, wouldn't be too mad at her for doing so.

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

She couldn't believe her luck.

Even though a small part of her did feel bad about Louise's disappearance, a part that she readily ignored, the woman known to everyone in the Academy as simply Longueville, the headmaster's secretary, was positively ecstatic about the massive distraction this whole incident was turning out to be. And she didn't even have to do anything! Surely this was a sign that fate was smiling on her, and that it was supportive of her cause.

After the rather haphazard searching by the Academy for the missing girl yesterday, Professor Colbert got everyone organized into more cohesive search parties that were now being sent out into the surrounding countryside after it was finally decided that Louise was certainly nowhere to be found on Academy grounds.

Longueville could tell that most of the students, the brats of nobility that they were, did not look forward to spending hours of their day searching for their missing classmate. Whether that was because their upbringing made them averse to strenuous labor – and they did consider this rather strenuous – or because they didn't care enough for the girl to be expending this much effort looking for her, she didn't know.

Even the old pervert of a headmaster – she visibly shivered at the thought of his lechery the past year – was out searching as well, though somewhat begrudgingly, and she managed to convince them all that someone had to remain in the Academy. When the headmaster quickly offered to be the one to stay, the looks both she and Colbert gave him, and the quick talk about how it would look if word got out that the headmaster refused to go searching for a missing student himself, were more than enough to convince him otherwise.

Now, with the Academy practically empty save for a few of the peasant servants who couldn't wield magic, Longueville had the run of the place and she was going to take full advantage of that. She had envisioned having to use her golems to protect her while she went after the fabled Staff of Destruction kept safely hidden somewhere in a vault deep in the bowels of the Academy, but now that there wasn't anyone around to threaten her she could opt for a stealthier plan of action instead.

She had been practicing over the past year, rusty as her magic had been at first when she was assigned this important mission, with stealthily stealing things from the homes of nobility all across Tristain. She had encountered all manner of security and she managed to circumvent them all without much trouble. She even started writing rather dramatic letters as she built a separate identity for herself as the master thief Foquet the Crumbling Dirt. So successful was she that at one point she even considered stealing from the Royal Palace itself, but then she decided not to do something so brazen.

Despite the now easy path that lay before her to claim the Staff of Destruction, she did feel disappointed that she wouldn't be able to test her magic against capable mages. Still, with what lay on the horizon, there would be time enough for that when the time came.

She wondered how far the search parties were now. Even if there was some kind of alarm she wasn't aware of that might alert the headmaster that someone was going after the staff, by the time he returned from the countryside she would surely be long gone. For all his power, it wasn't like the old pervert could fly or even teleport.

Unable to help but smile, the green-haired young lady went to work. After more than a year of observing, researching, and planning, she knew the layout of the entire Academy better than anyone except possibly the old geezer himself, so she knew the shortest and fastest routes to the hidden vault that kept the Staff of Destruction. It had taken her longer than she cared to admit to finally find the exact location of the vault, but thankfully she did and everything else fell into place.

She moved swiftly and efficiently through the strangely empty hallways, despite now having more time than she knew what to do with, until she was navigating a small labyrinth underneath the Academy. Sure enough, within several minutes of entering the underground passages, she had busted through all the vault's defenses – which honestly was surprisingly very light, but perhaps the fact that most people didn't know it existed and also the fact that there were usually dozens of powerful mages nearby on any given day meant they didn't put too much effort into securing the weapon – and found herself in front of the last door, a huge, ugly metal thing that was fortified with magic.

With a smirk, she quickly reached into her magic and then seconds later turned the door into a pile of dirt and sand that stood momentarily upright before immediately falling and spreading out unceremoniously all over the floor. There was a sound akin to rushing water as the dirt and sand moved, and a cloud of dirt filled the air. She held her breath so as not to inhale any of it and a second later she cleared it away with a simple wind spell that blew air through the underground hallways. Looking into the vault, her eyes finally beheld the prize that she was ordered to retrieve over a year ago.

Its destructive power was legendary, at least to those few who knew of it, and it would be incredibly helpful to the cause of the Reconquista in Albion. If things were going as planned, the time was coming for them to go into open rebellion and they would need all the firepower they could muster to achieve their goals. Toppling an ancient monarchy was no easy task, even with the support of some ambitious and treacherous nobles. This weapon would certainly help tip the scales though.

Unfortunately, Longueville didn't know how it worked. Her research into the weapon had turned up very little other than the fact that it existed and that it felled a full-grown dragon in one strike. That in itself spoke to the unimaginable power that the staff contained. Still, with it safely in their hands she figured it would only be a matter of time before they unlocked its secrets and wielded its destructive power for their own ends.

Walking over to the strange-looking metal staff, she hefted it and discovered that it was surprisingly heavy. Almost unwieldy even. She found it difficult to imagine a mage carrying this around all the time, though perhaps they simply had to get used to it. Carefully, she turned it over in her hands and inspected it, though not too closely or thoroughly lest she accidentally set it off here and bury herself beneath the rubble of the Academy. Wouldn't that be something.

With growing excitement and more than a little nervousness, she carefully placed it into a cloth bag that she had brought and slung it over her shoulder. Then, with a smile of self-satisfaction, she left a note and a little something else on the stone pedestal that the staff had been resting on in the center of the circular vault.

She only wished she could be there to see the look on his face when the old pervert found it.

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

Duchess Karin de la Vallière was very much used to the blissful days of peace and quiet out in the countryside at the Vallière Estate, where she was free to pursue whatever struck her fancy. After an eventful decade as a knight of the kingdom in her youth followed by almost three hectic decades spent raising her family, Karin now had so much more time to herself these days, time that she spent either on her duties and responsibilities as a duchess or relaxing and enjoying a much slower-paced life.

These days, she was simply content to read books and relax while waiting for the next social event on her calendar, which wasn't too far off – just a simple get-together planned at a neighboring estate among the noble ladies of the region. Husbands were not invited, much to the duke's disappointment, though this get-together was actually in response to the big hunt that all the noble men were going to that week.

Today appeared to be no different than any other. The duchess spent most of it with a book in hand while out on the back terrace of the mansion that overlooked the main gardens. She hardly spent any time indoors because the weather was simply perfect outside, not too hot with a gentle breeze blowing and just enough cloud cover to prevent or at least minimize damage to her fair skin from prolonged exposure to the sun. There were potent creams nowadays to deal with that, but it was still unpleasant between the time you got burned and the time you applied the creams.

The duchess was currently reading a relatively new book that was published about the rumored exploits of an order of knights in Albion called the Knights of the Round Table. Their name was simple but odd, though she'd of course heard worse, and apparently they did in fact have a round table that they often gathered around before and after they went out on missions. She thought it was kind of cute in a way, not that she'd ever admit such a thing aloud. Anyone who knew her would know that she never said the word cute.

She couldn't decide how much of what was described in the book was real and how much of it was embellishment, but she found it an entertaining read nonetheless, and it was certainly something that reminded her of her glory days as the leader of the vaunted Manticore Knights. Her wild and reckless days. It certainly felt like a whole lifetime ago.

She was in the middle of reading about the Round Table Knights and their encounter with a young wild dragon off of the frigid northern coast of Albion, a story that certainly piqued her interest, when she was interrupted by the gentle voice of her second-eldest daughter, Cattleya.

"Good afternoon, mother," greeted the young woman genially as she seemed to almost glide over to where the duchess was sitting in one of the verandas around the mansion.

Looking up from her book, Karin allowed herself a hint of a smile at the sight of her. She was beautiful, and it wasn't too prideful of her to say that they looked very much alike, though Karin was certainly the more slender of the two, and while Cattleya's lush pink hair was as long as hers, the younger girl had so much more of it. It was a wonder that she was able to keep it all under control with the help of a few well-placed gold ribbons and what was probably a lot of combing.

"I hope you haven't been pushing yourself too hard today, Cattleya. You must remember not to strain yourself," she said as she fixed the girl with one of her stern motherly gazes.

Cattleya smiled, her delicate features twisting slightly from the effort, as she carefully lowered herself into a seat next to the duchess. "I actually feel quite good today, mother." And indeed she looked well too, better than Karin remembered seeing her in recent days.

"I'm glad to hear it, child, but don't push yourself too hard all the same. You might feel fine now, but if you overexert yourself you know you'll be paying for it later," she warned in a motherly tone to match her gaze.

"Thank you for the warning, mother. I'm being careful. You needn't worry so much about me."

"Being a mother means I'm always worried about you," she reminded her pointedly.

The young woman giggled softly, reaching up a hand to cover her mouth. "What about Eleanor?"

"I'm also her mother, am I not? A mother worries about her children all the time."

"I guess it can't be helped then," said Cattleya, followed by another soft giggle.

Karin's hint of a smile turned into an actual one. "No it cannot," she said, and her smile quickly faded as she was reminded of the fact that Cattleya was still unmarried even though she was almost a quarter century old, and likely wouldn't be able to find anyone to marry for that matter due to her condition, and would therefore be unable to become a mother of her own some day. The girl was never going to feel the way Karin felt now. Though the way she dotes on her younger sister Louise might be as close to being a mother as she could get in this life.

Cattleya had a strange illness that unfortunately was incurable, at least according to the healers. All the healers, and they did bring pretty much all the most renowned ones to their estate to check on her. In fact, they said she might be the only one they know of with this sickness. A cruel fate for one so young and fair.

It limited her ability to perform magic, because every spell she cast risked her life, not that it stopped the girl from studying and improving her magic anyway. The Vallières were a stubborn lot. At least simpler spells were not too much of a burden on her, but if she ever tried to cast advanced spells she would be risking serious injury or even death.

They chatted for a little while longer, and it was only at a longer lull in their chatting that the duchess noted the sun was already beginning to set as the sky changed into hues of burning orange and red. So engrossed was she in her book as well as in conversation with her daughter that the time had simply flown by. Not that she minded, for time passing swiftly meant time spent well from her experience.

"Have you heard from your sister Éléonore? Will she be joining us this evening for dinner?" asked the duchess as she marked where she was in her book and stood up.

Cattleya also got to her feet. "No, mother. She's still visiting with her fiancé, Count de Burgundy."

Ah. The Count de Burgundy. Karin found the man to be rather... soft. But he was reasonably intelligent and polite, plus his family was wealthier than most and certainly well-connected, so the betrothal was arranged between their families and both children agreed happily enough at first. Lately though, there seemed to be some trouble brewing between the two, though Éléonore was loathe to talk about it. Karin only hoped it wasn't anything too serious.

There was nothing in this world she wanted more than for her children's futures to be secured and for them to be happy. Finding them suitable husbands was a task she took very seriously, but the pickings were rather slim in Tristain, at least among Éléonore's and Cattleya's age. Louise, on the other hand, might have a few promising prospects. Age was not necessarily that much of a barrier to marriage among the nobility, but she would at least like to set up her daughters with someone close to their age if she could help it.

"And what of your younger sister? Have you heard from Louise of late?" asked the duchess as she began to walk back inside, followed closely by her daughter.

"The last letter she sent me was at the start of her second year of studies at the Academy. She says she's well but that her magic is still..." Cattleya's voice fell as a sad look played out on her pretty face.

A waiting servant dutifully opened the glass french doors that led into one of several parlor rooms, and it was the closest entry into the mansion from the terrace they were just at. The servant bowed as they passed him by and then left to clean up the terrace area, where the duchess had earlier had some light food and refreshments.

Karin was most concerned about her little girl. The youngest and third daughter of the Vallière family, Louise looked so very much like Karin did when she was her age. The resemblance was so striking that if anyone were to look at pictures of Karin as a child and put them side-by-side with pictures of Louise, they would think them to be one and the same person. Even her temperament was similar. Louise had a stubborn and sometimes defiant personality, one that served her well given her situation.

The poor girl wasn't able to perform a proper spell, and it baffled Karin. Louise's magic was incredibly volatile, resulting in explosions of varying intensity depending on the power and complexity of the spell she was attempting to cast. Any attempts to fix her problem with private tutors and even healers had so far led to failure and further accidental explosions, until Louise was actually banned from practicing any magic inside the mansion.

It was not easy on their family, and certainly not easy on Louise, but Karin was at least proud of her youngest daughter's willingness to push through and enroll in the Academy anyway despite her obvious... problems. She wanted to try and master her magic so that she could become a real mage like the rest of them, and Karin didn't really know what else to do with her so she allowed it. All of them were hopeful that studying there might provide some results, but as far as Karin knew there has been little to no progress.

Karin was starting to think that it was a fruitless endeavor for the girl to become a mage. At least she wasn't ill like Cattleya, so Louise could potentially find a willing husband. That might be the only course of action left to her, considering her failures with magic. The duchess made a mental note to begin searching for suitable candidates. Perhaps after Louise's second year of studies, if there has still been no progress made, she would have the girl return to the estate and await betrothal.

Another servant was standing by an interior door that led into a hallway that spanned the length of the mansion, and she bowed to them respectfully, informing them that dinner would be ready in an hour as scheduled. They passed by several more servants on their way to their respective bedchambers on the third floor, where they got ready for dinner.

When the duchess finally made her way downstairs to the main dining room, a large rectangular space with high ceilings and a table long enough to accommodate up to sixteen people, she was stopped by Edward, the head butler. The wrinkled butler had served her family since Karin was Louise's age, and his age was starting to show.

"Forgive me, madam," he began with a sweeping bow, "There is a man waiting outside requesting an audience with you. He says that it's a matter most urgent regarding the young Lady Louise. I was not aware you were expecting anyone so I told him to wait while I informed you."

Karin arched an eyebrow at him. "I was not expecting anyone. He said he's here about Louise...? Did he give his name?"

"Jean Colbert, madam. He claims to be a professor at the Academy that Lady Louise currently attends."

What's happened now? Has she blown up half the Academy? Worried thoughts scrambled through her mind and Karin did her best to stamp down the feeling of dread that filled her. Calmly, she told Edward to bring this so-called professor to her immediately. Her initial thought was that something bad had happened, but perhaps he was here to relay some good news about the girl. Maybe she finally had a breakthrough and was able to wield her magic properly. She could only hope that were the case.

Shortly thereafter, a man slightly taller than Karin, and who looked vaguely familiar, arrived and bowed rather stiffly. Karin noted he seemed about as nervous as a mouse in a house of cats, and she suddenly wished she had her wand with her. Not that she was totally defenseless, especially with her servants nearby, and not that she was expecting to be attacked, but it was not totally out of the realm of possibility that he was here to somehow harm her.

"Good evening, Duchess Vallière. I'm Professor Jean Colbert from the Academy of Magic. I apologize for arriving at your home unannounced, which is quite lovely by the way... your home... but... ahem, well... there's really no other way for me to say this... so I'll just... well I'll just get right to it, I suppose..." the man rambled as he fumbled a bit while adjusting his eyeglasses. His hands were shaking slightly like he was afraid.

Karin looked at him expectantly because he actually went quiet for a few seconds and did not, as he had said, get right to it. Her stare was imposing and her face a blank mask. "Well, Professor Colbert? You said you had urgent news about my daughter, Louise?"

"Yes... well, you see... we're not really sure how it happened and... it was so sudden... but we're doing everything we can to-"

"What. Has. Happened?" the duchess said, her voice taking on an edge. Her eyes narrowed at him.

Professor Colbert, like so many lesser men who had stood before her, withered under the intensity of her attention as he stammered a reply that sent a shock through the duchess and left her speechless.

"S-Sorry... L-Louise has... she's d-disappeared... and we c-can't find her."

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed so far. I appreciate you all :) Hope you're still enjoying my little project.

A few of you requested getting a glimpse of the goings on back in Halkeginia. Events are afoot there as well, some things are similar but ultimately different now that Louise is out of the picture, though I didn't plan on covering it in much detail until we get to... well, I shan't spoil anything. To be honest, I haven't watched the anime in a long time, and I haven't touched the manga at all, so this chapter was a bit tough to write and a lot of this might not be quite... canon, though I suppose it's not necessarily a bad thing considering this whole thing is an AU work to begin with.

Hmm... not sure if I want to post a chapter every now and then about the current state of things in Halkeginia or not. That'll certainly add to the number of chapters and words (read: it'll be more work for me) but it might make it even more interesting for when things get... crazy later, in both worlds :p As usual, let me know your thoughts and I'll see ya next chapter as we focus back on Louise and her new... friends.