Louise de La Vallière was not a morning person. She enjoyed her sleep, and was hesitant to leave it. In the waking world, no matter how much effort and time she put into anything, it just came apart like her sister Éléonore's engagement. In her dreams though, she could see, and for that matter be anything.

One night Louise might be like her mother, a gallant knight of the crown striking down all of her dear Henrietta's enemies. The next she might be a wind spirit dancing upon the clouds, a grand and noble queen of yore ruling over a forgotten kingdom, or perhaps a simple stablehand working on the Vallière estate.

Once she'd even dreamed she was a Star, drifting through the Void Without. A cold star, filled with an unending hunger….that was a dream she'd have preferred to forget. If only so she could also forget the tongue lashing she'd received the next morning for eating half of father's breakfast while still half-asleep

Tonight though, Louise is no one. There is no history behind this role she finds herself in, no weight to her presence, she doesn't even have a body. But, despite lacking eyes, she sees more clearly than she ever has in the waking world, looking down from the firmament.

With sight unclouded, she sees a patch of bare land between two rivers. A man arrives, a fine crown upon his head and a scepter in hand. With the Sun's rays at his back, his Sight sees a City erected. A Palace built wide and broad upon the Earth, shaped from the Bones of the Forest and painted with the Blood of the Land, and upon its head a crown of green jade to match the gold upon his own brow.

Such is the nature of the City, cut in two by the Palace's tongue, raised in the manner by which it might channel the power of the World through its veins. Before her eyes, the Sun's Get calls upon the princes of the land, those of rich blood and storied lines, to dwell within his City of Bone and Blood. Health and prosperity, long life and riches untold come to those who dwell here, for the currents of life itself flow through the City under the Sun's eye.

Built upon a foundation of Peace, the great City stands for many seasons unopposed under her sight. Before long the Sun's Get falls to the world of gloom which lies below, but his sons take up his mantle and so the flow of life continues.

The city, the beating heart of the nation, it shines upon the land as the Sun shines upon the Heavens. All the works of Man are brought here, all wealth and splendor, power and elegance, knowledge and skill, salvation and damnation, all can be found within the walls. The Sun sees the work of its children, and she drinks deep of the great well they have set about for her, their honored ancestor. Their love and hate, reverent worship and bitter curses, it matters not what form it takes, for the ideation of Man is naught but a sweet nectar for the Nine in One.

So, all is well in the City of Peace. The gods drink deep upon the fruits of Man's heart, the princes of the nation feast upon the spoils of the land, and common folk sulk in the shadows, unheard and unseen. Such is the Way, such is the ideal upon which the Nation is founded.

But times passes, divine blood thins, and even things without form or substance wither as age sets in. For a time, the rot is merely in the land, faroff from the City. But it spreads as the Palace turns inward, losing sight of its Purpose. The land is filled with discord, the flow of life interrupted as the Heart slows. Curses and beasts long forgotten creep out from the shadows, to feast upon flesh and spirit alike. The Sun and her spawn care little, their cups run over with sorrow and their plates are piled high from the harvest of Man's despair.

Her heart is moved, but the Path has not yet been carved, the Way lies shut. The objects of her pity, they are beyond her, at least for now.

The City burns. The glint of the flame catches her far-cast sight and she tur–a cacophony of sound reaches her ears. The crackling of flames consuming wood, cloth, and flesh. The panicked screams and fervent prayers of humans fleeing the blaze for their lives. The death rattles of the unfortunates who lost their footing and were trampled underfoot by their own kin. The near omnipresent groaning of lumber as it strains to carry its own weight.

She takes no joy in these things, but neither do they cause her heart to ache.

She moves like the wind upon the sea, a blur of motion too swift for the human eye to observe. For her it's not even a light jog as she barrels through the burning remains of a market stall, crushing a downed guardsman's skull under her clawed foot while firmly placing her fist through another's armored chest. A moment later and all that's left of either human is ash in the wind, but two among many to share that fate on this day.

Again she moves forward. Every step she takes chars the earth, every exhale of breath is a blast of heat sufficient to set well-wrought estates alight. The flames dance along her form, reaching out to consume all she touches. Like a wild beast with a bottomless stomach, it leaves nothing but ash and smoke behind as it rushes ever forward. And above her head dance the burning skulls of her kin, given form and live by her hellish fire.

In short, the Higashi no Ichi, the beating heart of the Imperial Capital, has become a mirror of hell.

'And just to keep all the wandering eyes upon me. Kanekuma better appreciate me making his job so much easier.' she thought, a rather un-ladylike snort finding its way from her esteemed noose at the possibility.

The plan was simple. As the strongest of the oni, her dear sister excepted, she would throw a fit in the capital and draw in the guards the palace deigned to spare. With them occupied fighting her and the fire, they'd have no time to man the walls and repel her more subtle and agile subordinates lead by Kanekuma. Once they'd passed over the east wall and entered the Shijō ōji, they would be free to loot and capture for a decent while before the warrior in charge of the garrison realized what was happening.

Not that it was even necessary. From what she could tell, the palace hardly cared what she and her subordinates did in the city, as long as they avoided the Daidairi itself. It wasn't as if there was anything they couldn't replace in a week's time, goods from the whole country found their way here on a daily basis.

{Crunch}

Still, it never hurt to be too careful. Her subordinates needed to eat, and their servants were getting old, so the raid would kill two swallows with only a single punch. But more importantly, as long as they were swift footed and punctual, they'd be back at the palace by the time her sister woke from her nap.

{Crunch}

As much as she'd have loved to see Her smile as they rampaged together, they were in a rather delicate position with supplies. But with that taken care of, she could plan a proper outing for the both of them, and then-something is behind her. A voice reaches her pointed ears, smooth like silk, as warm and inviting as a warmed kotatsu on a cold winter night, and more dangerous than any poison or beast.

{Crunch}

"Oh dearie, to think my Ibaraki would go out and have so much fun without me. Don't tell me you've grown bored of your dear sister's company already?"

{Crunch}

The only things she can feel in that moment are panic, embarrassment, and a near mind-shattering sense of adoration.

{"...chocolate really is the best…"}

She spins around, words on the tip of her tongue before her eyes even meet the figure who with but a few words can inspire such feeling.

"Shu–leya!"

The scream practically rips itself from her throat before she's even aware of herself. It takes a moment for her to remember who she is, another for her to note that she's sitting upright in her bed, and must've been having a mildly more immersive dream then normal.

Only then, does she recognize the sight before her.

Sitting right in front of her, looking her straight in the eyes is her familiar. The oni's eyes are wide in shock and her mouth is hanging open...though for a different reason. Namely, the chocolate slathered pastry about a finger's length away from her fanged mouth.

"...Ibaraki?"

The other girl visibly hesitated, but after a moment she, very gingerly, placed the criminally sweet snack down onto her bed. Louise tried and failed to hide her wince at that as Ibaraki replied with all the dignity of a child caught stealing their older sibling's desert "Yes?"

"Why is there a maid sprawled over my desk, drooling on my floor?"

'No, no Louise! You can't throttle your cute, strong, beautiful familiar for being a thieving little gremlin...her neck is too tough for it to be anything but embarrassing.' This line of thought and others like it had become mantras for Louise over the last ten minutes.

Louise had, in line with the responsibility Crown and Church expected of nobles, demanded her familiar explain herself. Ibaraki, it turned out, was more than happy to explain everything in exquisite detail. Or rather, the oni was happy to boast about her 'great feats' as a thief. The fact that she'd managed to steal two dozen bottles of wine and more than both of their weight in sweets left Louise with little room to argue on matters of skill.

Good judgement though? That was a much more open question.

"...so I got the last of the loot through the window, and we started drinking! The maid was actually pretty fun, but not until after she had a few cups in her. Anyway, I really like the–"

"–but no one saw you, right?" Louise asked, a frown on her lips and her brow furrowed.

To the young Vallière's mild surprise though, the oni didn't take visible offense, merely narrowing her eyes slightly as she replied slowly, as if speaking to a dull-headed child "Of course not. We Oni are thieves by nature, and only an amaetur would do something as stupid as be seen. Unless it was part of the plan anyway."

Louise was undeterred by the oni's tone and expression. Even knowing, courtesy of her dreams, that Ibaraki could kill her with her bare, clawed hands, Louise knew she wouldn't. The oni had seemed desperate to be bound, and while she still didn't know why, it meant that being in her current position got the creature something she wanted. It might be a bit risky to bet her life on it...but what kind of mage would Louise be if she wasn't able to command even this much from her own familiar? Though, that didn't mean she couldn't be reasonable.

"I'm not doubting your skill, but I do expect a more detailed explanation than that. Why exactly do you think you weren't seen? Is it just because no one got in your way or raised an alarm, or did you take some active measures to avoid being seen?"

Ibaraki frowned in clear irritation, though Louise could swear there was an almost appraising gleam in her eyes as she looked Louise square in her own.

"You're awfully bold human, to question me like that." There was no heat to the oni's words as if she was just making an absent observation and not responding to a politely worded demand. "But I suppose that's better than being bound to a coward."

Without preamble Ibaraki stood up and hopped off Louise's bed, ripping the covers off Louise in the process, before calmly walking over to the window. Louise, now bereft of the warm layer of cloth that had until that point bound her to the bed, let out a sigh as she made to follow.

'I suppose it was too much to hope I could solve this all from my bed.'

The oni gave Louise a brief nod when she'd reached the window, before turning around and pointing to a tower on the other side of the Academy grounds. Or rather, to the smouldering rubble where a tower and section of wall used to be.

"That, Louise, is how I know no one saw me."

Louise had no words.

Which was probably for the best, as it would've been difficult to speak while gaping like a fish at the ruins of what a day before had been one of the Academy's elemental towers. For a good minute she tried to conceive of some course of events that didn't involve her familiar...she wanted to say 'burning down the tower', but it didn't even look like the tower had been burned down. More like it'd been smashed, set aflame, partially melted, and then left there. Even now, she could see a few professors and a small army of Academy servants swarming over the sections of wreckage that weren't still glowing.

Louise could almost convince herself that maybe a falling star had collided with the tower. It'd be more improbable than most anything she could think of, but it was possible, and certainly more reasonable than anything else. But…

'That smirk, she's preening.' Louise thought, a light, feeling of horror creeping into her heart as she shifted her gaze to rest on her familiar.

Either not understanding what Louise's expression meant, or simply not caring, Ibaraki threw back her head and laughed long and hard.

Though, a small part of Louise couldn't help but think it sounded a bit forced.

"–kuhahahahaha! I see, I see! You're finally starting to understand little onmyouji! Now you know, if only in part, what it's like to face an oni in battle! The strength of our arms, the heat of our flames! It was a paltry effort, to smash that pile of stones you call a tower and set the remains alight."

Louise had a decent idea of what her familiar was doing here. She'd seen Éléonore do something similar while she was supposed to be practicing for a seminar she was hosting at Academia. Though she was fairly sure her sister would've been cross if she'd known Louise had seen her. Regardless, as much as Louise would've loved to apply the same solution she'd used there to her current situation, she couldn't just sneak out of the room. And not just because she was standing right in front of her familiar and would be seen leaving.

So the mage moved to speak, but she only got as far as opening her mouth before she was interrupted.

"Oh? You have something to say summoner? Or are you just going to cry? Yes, that'd be great! Weep in despair and fright as you tell me what a terrifying o–" It was at that point when a pillow impacted Ibaraki's face and then fell to the ground.

The fluffy projectile didn't actually move the oni. In fact, she might as well have been a stone wall for all she physically reacted. It was clear, at least to Louise, that it was simply the unexpected nature of the 'attack' that'd stopped her childish ranting.

Not that Louise had much room to speak, her eyes were just as wide and incredulous as her familiar's. Then, almost as if the two were in sync, they slowly turned towards the desk sitting at the foot of her bed. Or rather, to the half-asleep figure still sprawled over it, glaring at them even as she cradled her forehead in her hands.

"C-can't you two b-be quiet?" The words came out slowly and softly, and were followed by an even softer moan as the grown woman slowly dragged herself off the desk and onto the bed. Letting out a sigh, Siesta firmly grasped Louise's remaining pillow and held it over her head.

Neither Louise or Ibaraki knew how long they stood there, blankly staring at the hungover maid. It wasn't until her grip on the pillow loosened and the faint sound of snoring filled the air that the two girls seemed to collect themselves. While both mage and familiar turned back to face each other, neither seemed to know what to say.

"Anyway–" Ibaraki wouldn't meet Louise's gaze, a light blush on her cheeks "–after I created the diversion–"

"By burning down the Fire Tower." Louise interrupted, somehow managing to keep her voice even. The only acknowledgement the oni gave Louise's interjection was a slight glare as she continued.

"–I thought the humans would be too busy to keep an eye on the kitchen. As should be expected, I was right! There wasn't a single human on that floor. From there it was a simple task to carry the sweets and drink over and lift them through the window."

For a brief moment, Louise wondered how her familiar managed to get all of her ill-gotten plunder into her room. It was on the third floor of the women's dormitory tower, so it wasn't like she could just walk up without being seen. A quick glance at the ruins of the Fire Tower dissuaded her from that course of inquiry.

If there was one thing Louise'd had enough of today, it was surprises. She probably wouldn't be able to avoid them much when she left her room, so she'd do herself the favor of letting the sleeping ettin lie.

In the space it took her to contemplate that though, her familiar had returned to Louise' bed, sitting down with a platter stacked high with pastries, candies, and a few slices of cake, on her lap.

'Well, breakfast is probably canceled anyway.'

Letting out a tired sigh, Louise plopped herself down next to her familiar, pouring herself a small cup of wine and grabbing one of the pastries off Ibaraki's plate. The oni gave her a dirty look for a few moments before scooting out of the blonde's reach and went back to practically inhaling everything else on the platter.

Things went on like that for a while. Two blondes brought together by fate and bound by strange magics eating a silent but delicious breakfast together, with a hungover maid sleeping a hand's length behind them.

But eventually, all such silences are broken.

"Ibaraki–" Louise began, being very careful to keep any and all hesitation out of her voice "–we can put the wine in my dresser. But we can't just leave the food lying around, and there's no good place to put it in here, and since there's no way you can just eat it all..."

The mage trailed off, as her smirking familiar slowly but surely grew taller until her horns touched the room's ceiling. Not as big as she'd heard Albion's ettins could grow, but still comparable to a minotaur of mild size. Then, with an almost disgusting ease, Ibaraki ate the collected sweets as if it was merely a pile of breadcrumbs.

With her bounty consumed, Ibaraki turned back around, smirked and puffed out her chest as she shrunk back down to her normal size.

No words were needed. It was clear to both of the young women who'd won this round.

"... nevermind then." Louise let out a sigh as she rose to her feet. "Well, let's get the wine stored away, then we'll be heading out."

Louise had been tempted to just order her familiar to do it herself, and before her most recent stunt she'd fully intended to do so. Now though, Louise was more worried that if she told her familiar to do it on her own, she'd do a repeat and drink them all at once. If her familiar caused all this sober, she didn't want to know what havoc she'd cause drunk...also, Louise wasn't so uncivilized to risk a bottle of Romalian wine from the holy city itself. Much too holy, much too delicious to allow her familiar to guzzle down on her lonesome.

Ibaraki, surprisingly enough, only replied with a shrug and stood up to help put the remaining wine bottles at the bottom of her dresser, neatly concealed beneath her clothes. The empty bottles were put under her bed to avoid exposure from a cursory inspection by any Academy servants. From there it only took Louise a few minutes to get dressed and presentable.

"Come on, it's time to go." Louise stated, voice calm and unwavering as she opened and walked through the doorway. The oni rolled her eyes and made to follow.

The hallway outside Louise's room was empty of students and Academy staff. This wasn't unexpected for either of the pair. From the position of the Sun, Louise had surmised that most of the students would've already left for the Alviss Dining Hall to try and get breakfast, and then tried to find out if they still had classes today. Ibaraki on the other hand, simply didn't smell or hear any other humans on the floor aside from her summoner.

Which was why both were surprised when, mere moments before they reached the stairs, a painfully tall, buxom redhead emerged from the stairway.

Louise came to a stop the moment she saw the other human, frowning even as the other woman noticed the pair and began smiling. Ibaraki remained an arm's length behind Louise, glancing between the two humans as visible confusion leaked into her expression.

"Oh! Good morning Louise, I'm happy to see you're finally awake."

To Ibaraki, the woman's words merely came off as poorly concealed mockery. Her tone, diction, it all pointed to the words being insincere barbs meant to harm. For a brief moment, Ibaraki even considered taking the matter into her own hands. An insult to her summoner was, in a sense, an insult to her, and looking down upon an oni like that wasn't something Ibaraki could let stand.

Two steps forward and a glance at her summoner's face stayed her hand.

Louise's frown was still there, her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and her eyes were narrowed. But her posture had lost a good deal of its tenseness, and her gaze was hesitant, confused.

Ibaraki couldn't say what any of that meant, but she could at least guess that the situation would be more complicated than she'd assumed. Well, that and she wasn't sure her summoner would react well to her killing another human right in front of her just quite yet.

"Good morning, Kirche." Louise's response was terse, but it didn't take a genius to notice the hesitation in her voice "If you're back, then I take it that..."

The other woman nodded as Louise trailed off, her smile just as bright.

"You'd be right Louise. With the Fire Tower gone and the earth professors busy cleaning things up, the old man decided to cancel classes today." Kirche, paused before stating in a lower, less cheery tone Ibaraki couldn't quite identify "You know, you'd have heard that too if you came to breakfast. Even with what happened, it really isn't like you to be so late getting up. Why, you made poor Tabitha so worried. But anyway, the kitchen staff should still have some leftovers if you're hungry."

In the corner of Ibaraki's vision, she could see her summoner grimace in response to the other woman's statement, as if she'd just heard her mother order her to eat something unpleasant. Then her eyes narrowed.

"What are you getting at Kirche? Don't pretend either of you c–"

Something flashed in the redhead's eyes there. Ibaraki couldn't say what, and she wasn't given time to think about it either as the human practically spun to face her.

"Oh dear, I'm afraid I've been quite rude haven't I?"

Ibaraki didn't have a response for the woman, who was now crouching down to look her in the eyes and smiling in such a saccharine manner that it was almost painful.

"Hello there, my name's Kirche von Zerbst, but if you'd like you can just call me Kirche. You must be Louise's familiar, right?"

"Don't speak nonsense, human. This one–" Ibaraki placed her hand on Louise's head, while stepping on the tips of her clawed toes as if it'd make her taller than the other blonde. "–is my summoner. Mine. If anyone's the subordinate here, it's clearly her."

Kirche glanced towards Louise, a strange expression Ibaraki had occasionally seen on the face of the golden idiot appearing on her face for a few moments before the human was looking at her again with a smile.

"Ah, you say it with such feeling! I suppose I don't have any choice but to believe you."

That was apparently too much for her summoner. In an instant she swatted Ibaraki's hand off her head and spun around, her cheeks burning red and her eyes set in a fiery glare.

"By Fjölnir's true name, what nonsense are you babbling now familiar! I summoned you, I bound you, and those runes on your hand–" Ibaraki glanced down, absently noting that yes, there were some strange markings on her left hand "–are proof that you're my familiar! If anything, you should be addressing me as master!"

She couldn't say she knew who this 'Fjölnir' person was. But the name had meaning, even to an oni like her. She mouthed the word a few times, as if to roll it around her tongue. It didn't taste like a human name. There was a certain presence to it, a significance beyond the verbal intonation.

'It'd be best not to speak it aloud. Mother always said to be careful with this sort of thing.'

But she could think about that later, her summoner was just getting more upset waiting for her response.

"But what have you done, little girl, that would make you worthy of being called my Master?"

It was plain to the eye that her summoner wanted to respond, to shout indignantly of her right and power, of the respect that she was owed. It would not be an entirely unfamiliar sentiment to Ibaraki, so she could admit to being a bit impressed by how her summoner kept her mouth shut.

It was good in her eyes, for a human to know their place.

The cheery and teasing voice of Kirche dragged both girls out from the insides of their heads. "Well, as much fun as watching a couple's first quarrel can be–"

"Kirche! Y-you can't just say that!" Despite looking like she wanted to scream at the other human, Louise managed to keep her voice down to a mere yell. Ibaraki on the other hand, remained silent even as she felt her cheeks heat up.

The taller human paid no heed to either of them as she continued "–I do have responsibilities of my own to take care of. So, have fun you two, just don't burn down the school!" And so with an overly theatrical curtsy the red haired Germanian slipped past the two and raced over to her room.

In a fit of childishness even Ibaraki could recognize, Louise shook her closed fist menacingly in the departing student's direction, but remained tellingly silent.

They remained like that for a good minute, the fuming Vallière slowly cooling down and the oni giving the spot Kirche had once stood a considering look as her own blush faded away. Then, with all the sagacity of a Maou, Ibaraki stated calmly "I think she might like you, summoner."

The look Louise gave her at that moment, the overwhelming mix of exasperation, despair, and sheer loathing sufficient to curse a whole bloodline was worthy of only one response.

The oni laughed.