Chapter 32: Backstage Interview 02
"So that's what happened with us, then," Nimble Rabbit said. "Once you all appeared with Longueville and her helpers, it was mainly a matter of stalling and distracting with decoys until I could get myself into a good position, and keeping Miss Tabitha caught up on the situation with the double I left with her so she'd know when she had a clear shot to come in herself."

Louise nodded, taking a sip from her drink as her familiar finished his recounting. The rest of them, even Tabitha, had been called by the Headmaster to give their own detailing of the expedition... although Louise's Familiar had been left out of the inquiry to have his own meeting with a very upset and surprised infirmary physician. So, that evening they had gathered at a secluded table to the side of one of the courtyards to hear out what had happened from his perspective.

It had been rather enlightening, if just in finding out more of her Familiar's abilities as he described using them. She'd have to get a proper description of them all later, but now she at least had a better idea of things. And then there was his skill in more tactical areas, being able to plan the ambush with Tabitha, and his ability to fool and distract Fouquet... Longueville... until it was too late for the woman, and then subsequently disarm her of her hidden weapons before she even had a chance to try for them.

To think that he had originally claimed to just be a doctor in a remote village. Something else to talk to him about later, it seemed.

"Risky, even with Tabitha backing you up, but it wasn't like there was much time," Kirche said chin resting in her good hand. The Germanian had been to the healer, and while she now had her arm in a sling, her recovery would only take a number of applications of healing treatments over the course of the next week to return her to full strength. "Out of curiosity, did you have any other plans, or was that the only one you had the opportunity to come up with?"

Nimble Rabbit shrugged. "Well, there was moment of thinking to try to take them out individually before they actually got out of the woods. There were only the three of them, but..."

"Too close together," Tabitha spoke up, still reading. "Earth magic could affect too large an area."

Rabbit nodded, and picked up the explanation: "Without knowing just what Longueville could do besides her golems, it was too risky. If she could simply uproot all trees around her if she caught on, for instance, or summon that giant again..."

"That last is unlikely," Thibault spoke up. "Even as a Triangle, a golem of that size and construction would take too much time to form in a single spontaneous casting unless she had prepared the area for it earlier... which she might have anyway," The young man tilted his head in thought. "Considering the amount of time and work she put into infiltrating the Academy, and that this was to be the completion of her efforts here... Yes, probably for the best not to have chanced it on that count."

Rabbit nodded. "But that was about it. Miss Tabitha's magic would have been either too strong to use until you all were far enough to be out of danger, or too focused that whoever wasn't the direct target would get a chance to do something before she could cast again."

Kirche glanced over at the blue-haired girl, but then just shrugged after a moment. "And your own are more suited to... misdirection?"

"I suppose you could say that, yeah. Don't have any grand spells like you all. Just a few tricks and some medicinal recipes that wouldn't have been of use in the circumstances... well, maybe for treating the injuries that came about, but I'm sure Miss Montmorency's spells were more than a match for what I could have brought even if I'd had them prepared."

Montmorency quirked an eyebrow. "Thank you for your confidence. Although, fragile or not I'd hardly call being able to create a full band of body doubles a mere 'trick.'"

The leaf-eyed man just shrugged in response.

"Well, tricks or not you certainly were more than adept at taking care of things," Kirche said, leaning forward. She flinched, however, as her wounded arm bumped against the edge of the table. Clicking her tongue, she leaned back again. "You simply must come by some time and tell me how you picked up such a variety of talents."

Louise's hands twitched for a moment before she got herself under control. "Zerbst..."

Kirche laughed, before waving with her free hand. "Oh, relax. I truly am curious, and you've at least had the chance to have your familiar describe his home and life before he was summoned. Can you blame me for wanting to know more about our savior? Well the one I don't know already," she added, reaching over to pinch one of Tabitha's cheeks only to be blocked by an interposed book.

On the one hand, it wasn't like Louise hadn't already promised herself to do the same. She really should have done such at an earlier date since, as Kirche had said, there had been more than enough time for her to have found out those things herself. And it would have been good to know just what exactly his skills and powers were well before the whole mess of a quest.

But on the other hand, this was Kirche.

...

… Oh, Founder damn it.

"Fine," Louise allowed, trying not to sound too begrudging. She glanced at her familiar. "Nimble Rabbit?"

"I've no problem myself," the man said. "Would any of you would be interested as well?" he added, looking at the remaining noble students. "Could make another day of things like this if so, then."

That... actually sounded good to Louise. She'd want to have her own talk with him first, of course, but having everyone together like they were again sounded... nice.

"I wouldn't be opposed," Montmorency said, "but I would be more interested in a personal meeting myself. We have yet to actually have that in-depth a talk about the medicines and formulas you know of, and while I wouldn't mind, I don't expect the others to be as vested in that topic as I am or have as much knowledge of the processes involved and terminology."

Oh. Well, Louise could hardly fault Montmorency for that... She had been considering looking into such things herself, but had yet to get around to it...

"I'll have to decline, at least if it were to be anytime soon," Thibault spoke up. "I... was effectively useless in the quest, taken out before anything even happened." He slumped in his seat. "I need to practice, or at least to work on my knowledge for if I ever need to do something like that again. Professor Tellier was nearby when I was browsing the library earlier, however, and when he saw the books I had been browsing and my reasons, assigned..." The young man cleared his throat for a moment. "'A small number of relevant texts on the matter' and to write an accompanying report on what I learn from them."

That received a combined wince from the other students. Being ambushed with additional studies was a fear... or reality... that many of them shared.

Thibault accepted the sympathy from his peers with a small nod. "Fortunately, there was no set time for me to have it completed given, and with the celebration ball being delayed it likely won't be for some time until after that is held at least."

Ah, yes. The Headmaster had originally planned to hold a ball in honor of the group's capture of Fouquet the day they had returned, but between the injuries of Kirche and Nimble Rabbit, and a need to report and investigate the unexpected presence of Chalice agents, it had been pushed back a few days to match the Familiar Exhibition.

"Probably best to hold off any gatherings until after that anyway," Montmorency said. "With the fact that the Princess and her entourage will be arriving, the staff and servants will be far busier than normal preparing things."

Ah, yes; the having the Princess be present for the ball would definitely be a reason for things to get... The Princess being present...

The Princess...

Erk!

The pinkette shot to her feet, startling the others.

"Louise?" Montmorency began to ask.

"Sorry, have to go! Just remembered. Do this again someday, yes!" Louise half-shouted. "Nimble Rabbit, need to go!"

"Wha-"

"No time! Need to plan!" She attempted to pull him out of his chair, only to be stymied by the man's much more solid build and reflexive move to brace himself. At least until she changed tactics.

"Ow-ouch-ah-ow-my-ear-ow!" Rabbit hissed as she took hold of said body part and tugged him away. "What's-ow!"

The rest of the students just watched the master and familiar pair hurry off with a range of bemused expressions.

"Well," Kirche said. "That seemed... Well, not 'ominous' quite, but..."

"'Worrisome'?" Thibault supplied.

"That works, I suppose."

#

"Need to head to town... if we take the school's fastest... no, getting two horses ready so suddenly would take longer, and both of us on one horse would slow it down too much, and it's late as it is. The shops would be closed by the time we arrived. We would need to stay at an inn, and that and stabling would take up more money that I need for..." Louise mumbled to herself as she sped along the halls, her familiar unwillingly trailing behind.

"Why do... please-ow!-let go... why do we need to head to town, Miss?" Rabbit asked, prying at her the fingers around his ear gently but insistently.

"Clothing," she said matter-of-factly. After the damage to his original outfit, he was now wearing a simple tunic borrowed from one of the servants, but that wouldn't do at all for... "Cattleya should have gotten my letter by now, but unless the clothes I asked for her to send arrive tomorrow it will be too late and... But what kind would be best? Tailored? That would take too long unless I paid even more, and-"

"What's this all about, Miss Louise?" Nimble Rabbit asked, bewildered, rubbing his ear after finally having managed to extract it from her grip.

"The Princess! She's coming here!"

He paused for a moment, feeling around the pointed tip of his ear one last time before simply nodding. "So Miss Montmorency said. Wasn't she already going to come anyway? For the fair or contest or somesuch?"

"The Exhibition for the second years, yes! I knew about it, but I didn't think what it would mean I was just thinking about having a familiar to begin with and now it's almost too-"

Rabbit put a hand on Louise's shoulder stopping her from the pacing she only then realized she had been doing. "All right, all right... Is there something wrong, specifically, with the princess being here, then?" he asked.

"I can't look bad in front of her!" Louise nearly cried. "I actually have a familiar to show, but you've been hurt, and your only clothes got ruined, and I haven't seen her in so long that I can't..." She took a deep breath. "I... I can't disappoint her. Not after all this time, not with all that's happened now."

Rabbit made a slight inquisitive hum.

The nonverbal response caused her to shake her head. "It's... the Vallieres are a noble house, one of the foremost in Tristain. As such, and as I was of similar age, I was allowed to be the princess's companion when we were younger."

"Ah," he said simply. He looked back and forth down the corridor they had stopped in, before gently putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her to continue in the direction of the dormitories.

"It was years ago, before my tutoring began in earnest. Before it turned out that my magic was... as it is. It was good."

Louise turned to the side, glancing away.

"I'm not being foolish... am I? I want to... to show that I'm still..."

"Wouldn't really know," Rabbit said, causing her to look up at him. To hear him so flatly refute it; he wasn't a noble himself, no, or personally knew royalty, but still-

"Closest thing I'd know to this would be Flower back home," he continued, "and that was a whole different thing than this. She favored me, but she's a goddess a couple hundred times older than, so she's not exactly the best to compare to with a situation like this, then. So long as I was in proper behavior when it was important to do so, during official meetings and rituals when I'm acting as the local shaman and such, she didn't much care about the rest of the time I was with her. So, never really needed to... I don't know, impress her?" He tilted his head for a moment. "Well, outside of a few times, at least."

Louise could only shake her head. She had no idea what kind of spirit/goddess would have such a lax position on propriety, but it didn't help her here. It was the Princess! She'd need to impress not only a royal, but also the various nobles and associated entourages that would be with them. This was one of the 'important times'!

But... he was at least right in that he didn't have much to offer in the circumstances, and she could hardly fault him for that. She'd just have to do it herself, as a proper Master of her Familiar. As a Valliere.

"All right... all right." She took a deep breath. "We are going to the town tomorrow. I'll ask for permission, but we do need to get you clothing. A proper outfit of some sort. And... and a weapon."

At this Nimble Rabbit raised an eyebrow. "Miss Louise?"

"We're going to be putting you forward as a bodyguard," she replied. "You don't have enough time to make any potions... and I mean real potions, not what you were going to give to Thibault."

He nodded slowly. "Fair. I've had a bit of a further look at the ingredient gardens, but I'd want to be more sure about them if it's something this important then."

"So a bodyguard is a more visible way of showing your abilities, and part of a Familiar's potential roles. Do you know how to use a sword?"

"Not so much, beyond which end to hold and all." Rabbit rubbed his chin in thought. "Swung an axe a bit more often, and not just for firewood or the like. Still, most of what fighting I've had to do were with my smashfists."

"'Smashfist,'" Louise echoed. "You mentioned that before, back in the vault. Some sort of glove?"

"Set of gauntlets made of jade. Fingered so I could do things while wearing them. Also covered a fair bit down the arm, so I could bat aside blades a bit, or keep a thing's teeth from biting in."

"Did that happen often?" she asked, curiosity distracting her momentarily.

"Not too much, but... things happen," said Nimble Rabbit. "Wild animals after livestock. Bandits. Rowdy folk at the tavern." He snorted in amusement after the last example. "Mind, the last was more me only threatening to bring out the 'fists. For locals at least."

She nodded slowly, thinking. "Well, we'll work out what to get for you once we get to the weapon shop. Hopefully the proprietor will have some good suggestions for our needs."

"Well enough I suppose. So what for the rest of the night, then, if things aren't quite as urgent as you were acting before?"

With a sigh, Louise began heading towards the faculty residences. "We'll need to head out early to have time for the various stores we have to visit, so getting the permission now would be best. Then to bed early." She paused. "Wait. No."

Rabbit stopped alongside her. "Eh? What then?" he asked.

She glanced around them for a moment, and then motioned for him to lean in closer. When he did, she grabbed his ear again, making him stumble.

"You're telling me everything... everything... that you can do by being a 'god-blood.'"

"Ah-ta-ta-ow! Let g- yes, alright! Now just-! Ow!"

Let the bells ring out and the banners fly, a chapter has been posted!

Yeah... took way too long, but here it is. Hope you all enjoy. And I've said it before, but I will try to do the next one more quickly. But then again, I have said that before and look where we are now. Oh well.

R&R, C&C, and so forth. Thank you.