A Lesson For Louise 14: Consequences

[center][font=Impact]Chapter 14:  Consequences

<<<Louise>>>[/font][/center]

Louise tried to be fair with the teaching staff, they couldn’t have help her because they lacked the information and knowledge to provide the help she desperately needed. It wasn’t her fault that anything related to the Void was tied up in religious doctrine. That said, Louise couldn’t help but feel a ember of resentment towards the teaching staff..

To distract herself from her lingering resentments she instead decided to listen to the snide comments, and she found it amusing. Looking back on it, how did she let these… childish insults get to her so much? Of course she also knew the answer, it was her own fault.

In hindsight she was a mess of a human being, never mind a noble. Zero confidence in herself, Zero ‘talent’ for magic, Zero true prospects beyond the academy. Doomed to become a trophy wife to a husband she would grow to eventually tolerate, perhaps even love someday. 

But Louise the Zero and Louise the Steelheart were like night and day, really. Two sides of the same coin, she had her moments of course where she backslid… when the Zero started coming out, making her doubt that she’d ever really amount to anything. That Obsidia saw her as nothing but an interesting plaything, and Rei was just taking pity on her.

Thankfully her lovers applied what Rei called ‘Aggressive Positive Reinforcement’ and while pleasant… for an introverted individual, (something Rei pointed out to her) it was truly a harrowing experience.

Of course, in Tristain the rumors had changed a bit since she’d last been. “I bet she’s possessed!” Louise made a note of her face. “No, mind controlled! I bet her ‘familiar’ is just an elf of some kind and is puppeting her around!” Closer to the truth, that one, but not quite.

Honestly, Louise would’ve been more upset if she wasn’t amused. Though she and Obsidia had followed around with some ‘Mindplay’ as she called it. And the only reason she didn’t blush at the mere thought was through pure stubbornness. 

“Funny how you think you're rather tame, then your lover loosens your inhibitions and you realize just how big a freak you really are,” She thought, to be fair she didn’t think she was all that repressed until that day…

Breakfast was an interesting affair, and something that didn’t help the rumors with how… deferent Kirche was towards her. It was only something that her friends noticed, or at least her sycophants, but the rumor quickly spread that Louise had… done something to her.

Which was true, but Kirche hadn’t exactly complained about that either.

She couldn’t find Rei anywhere either, but that was normal. The fox had an addiction. An addiction to popping out of nowhere and giving her heart attacks. Oh sure, she claimed that it was just ‘situational awareness training’, but Louise knew the truth!

Still ignoring the snide comments Louise helped herself to some breakfast, though she couldn’t deny she really missed some of Obsidia’s food. While she’d built up quite a tolerance, mostly thanks to Obsidia’s ‘upgrades’, she never got to the point of safely eating some of the most toxic delicacies of her lover’s culture.

She was getting there though, slowly and steadily.

Obsidia had decided to treat this as a vacation and was enjoying a sleep-in, which made it especially difficult for her and Kirche to get up as her Dark elf had decided to sleep as a Lamia. And she’s a cuddler, honestly Louise would’ve thought being gently constricted would’ve been panic inducing but it was surprisingly comfortable!

Tabitha had dragged Kirche off somewhere before Louise could sit next to her, but that was fine. She was probably just worried.

So she ate in, relative, silence before getting up and going to her first class of the day. She’d… hopefully avoid any explosions, but she went over her shield drills again. Just in case.

Though part of Louise did faintly worry that once she started ‘rocking the boat’ her peers would attempt to sabotage her to restore order or some such rot. She doubted it’d come to that, as much as she loathed most of her peers for how they treated her it didn’t change the fact that they were nobles, and had a noble’s pride.

And, if anything, that same pride made them rather predictable. And as such they wouldn’t, shouldn’t really, stoop so low as to attempt to sabotage themselves. Now getting others to do the work for them?

Entirely possible.

Servants took her plates when she was finished, something she was far from used to at that point. She’d have to go and thank them personally when she was done, she knew they weren’t paid very well and their quarters were… decent, but not something fitting the work they did.

Louise blinked as she stood and started walking to class. “When did I start thinking like that? It must have been after Rei’s social etiquette and politics classes… or her economic ones…”

Either that or perhaps it came to her during a minor nervous breakdown during her early days in the Other World. Either was possible, really.

The thoughts consumed her while she walked, she hadn’t even realized she’d arrived in an empty classroom until the professor walked in.

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Everyone was situated far from her. Fair was fair, she’d probably do the same thing in their shoes. Funny how such a thought would have been alien to her a year ago. A year and change ago, them being so far away, hiding from the inevitable explosion, would have angered her.

It would have hurt her pride, and damn did she have a lot of that.

But now she didn’t care… that much anyway. It still hurt a little, but she also knew that as far as they were aware she’d only been gone for a few hours the day prior and not for over a year. Not unless she wanted to explain what happened, which… she didn’t. Honestly, Rei’s scolding for her loose tongue had helped her out more than she thought.

Though, calling it a scolding was probably a bit much, more like a disappointed lecture from her sister? Well… somewhat similar anyway.

But now she had a spell to cast and she was simply awaiting the instructions on how to do it.

“Now, this is a simple cleaning spell…” The professor, ready to dive behind his desk at any moment, started, “It is water aligned. Tap the object, or person, you want to clean and say the incantation on the board…”

Louise nodded as she looked at the incantation, it seemed fairly straight forward. Unfortunately her Void affinity made using magic of this style more irritating than she liked, not to say she resented her Void affinity (though a very small part of her did) but entirely doable. It would take her a bit longer to cast than someone with a Water affinity, but needs must and all.

Cycling her mana through her wand, with magic she’d come to realize visualization was very a key component to everything; from the smallest enchantment to the grandest rituals. Fundamentalism especially demanded clear, precise, and vivid visualizations, so to say Louise had learned how to visualize things would be an understatement.

Especially considering if you slipped up in your visualizations with Fundamentalism you’d be lucky to walk away only missing a few fingers. She’d seen some of her classmates get maimed far worse during her studies.

Poor Samuel, hopefully the medical staff were able to repair the damage or else his love life was going to be nonexistent.

Getting the visualization down she finally muttered the incantation before tapping the mud caked cloak. She raised a brow when the students started muttering about the lack of explosion, though she was more curious about the mud itself.

Traditional cleaning spells simply resulted in the filth disappearing completely, and most observing would say that’s what it was doing. But Louise could tell it wasn’t disappearing, but was consumed, leaving a pristine cloak behind.

“So, that’s what the Void does to Water spells…” It went without saying that the thought of using that on another person and considering them filth left her feeling a bit queasy.

… That said Obsidia would love it of course.

“Well, I could probably alter the cast to not do that…” She thought with a frown, “Use Void to create the Water mana itself rather than using Void as the casting element itself? It would be less efficient…”

She hardly noticed the other students starting their casts as she experimented.

Her next class was Fire. The Professor was trying to teach a cure spell, removing poisons from a food, drink, or person. It sounded dangerous, and it was, but if they pulled off the spell properly they could eat the pie they were casting it on. The poison was… not something that would actually hurt her, it was just a laxative that she’d long become immune to.

Though her vengeance on Obsidia was truly terrible for that little ‘prank’ that she never had to worry about something similar happening again.

That being said, she was amused at the reaction of her peers, seeing her ‘not being a Zero’ spooked them more than she had honestly expected. If anything she felt rather insulted, and rather reasonably so in her opinion! Was the thought of the ‘Zero’ actually improving so inconceivable that the elves waging war was a more reasonable thing?

When she cast the spell this time, using the technique she hypothesized, it went perfectly and didn’t send the poison to the void between worlds. Instead, consuming it in a bright white flame.

“Wonderful, Miss Valere!” The professor said, pleased as punch, “But my word, I’ve never seen white flame before! Are you sure you don’t have a powerful Fire affinity?” Though his words were in jest, Louise could hear the genuine curiosity and pride in his words.

“I am quite certain I don’t,” She replied with a bow of her head, “Even if it would have explained why most things ended explosively before, it is sadly not the case.”

“Well, whatever the case maybe I hope to see more excellent spellwork from you,” The professor said with a smile, “Please, return to your seat… and help yourself to some pie. It’s fresh from the kitchens,” He added with a chuckle.

Louise nodded with a smile as she returned to her seat, though not after helping herself to a slice of blueberry pie.

Just one slice, of course, otherwise lunch would be ruined and that would be a tragedy!

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Rei had said she would try to eat with her, but when she’d stepped into the room… “Only nobles can eat here! You need to eat with either the peasants or the familiars!” One of the more… aristocratic nobles complained.

And once she did, everyone else started to as well.

“Mm, very well,” Rei said, hand running through her hair to flip it behind her, “I shan’t resist this imposition this once. Besides, I’ve yet to visit and catalogue the familiars summoned here, their physiology should be interesting to study after I’ve had my meal. Come along Obsidia, it is clear they are not as Noble as they claim to be.”

Louise just rolled her eyes as everyone in earshot of her parting words bristled at her arrogance, which she honestly agreed with but didn’t voice. Mostly because she didn’t want to hear them whining about it while she tried to enjoy her lunch.

Ignoring the whining of the offended nobles telling her to ‘Keep her Familiar on a tighter leash’ which is a laugh in itself. Rei was simply too willful to ‘know her place’ and the fact that she was a… fragment of a goddess, if she understood it correctly, the only one that could really tell her off would be Inari or Brimir and there was a good chance she’d still ignore them!

Helping herself to a wide array of sandwiches, cheese, fruit, and even some wine Louise found herself a seat and started eating. An interesting thing she noticed is that the amount of food she ate steadily increased, why she hadn’t a clue.

Though she’s pretty sure that compared to the nobles, she was a glutton! The fact that she stayed so slim and trim (she worked hard for ‘gains’ as Rei called them and she’d be damned before she lost them) no doubt would eventually have many girls stewing in jealousy when they realize that the ‘Gluttonous Zero’ wasn’t turning into a pig despite how much food she ate!

Still at least she didn’t glut herself like a crass pig, she ate with dignity and manners. Though she was going to help herself to seconds… or thirds if time permitted.

Still as she ate, she started feeling like something was wrong.

This was confirmed moments later, though instead of the panic her ‘familiar’ was feeling it just brought a sigh. “Mistress Louise help!” Rei begged, “I have been chased into the rafters by vicious beasts!”

The vision she sent revealed that… she’d been chased by dogs. Which looked less viscous and more like they wanted to play. They were large dogs to be sure, but still.

“Hold on Rei, I’m coming…” She sent back as she stood up, head shaking as she started walking. “Would the people with the large dog familiars come with me so I can get Rei off her perch?” She asked the room, “She has a phobia of dogs…”

Most of those that heard her laughed and mocked her, but she honestly ignored them, which probably irritated them more than anything else she could’ve done.

Still, two boys did stand up to help her out, even if they seemed painfully amused. Which was fair, had it been someone else’s familiar she’d probably be laughing too.

She was still going to laugh once they got there, because Rei hiding in the rafters of a barn was just funny.

Louise couldn’t help but reply to Rei, “Those are puppies you realize, and they’re wanting to play…” She knew it would be lost on Rei as fears don’t make sense, but she felt compelled to try at the very least.

“Shut up, you!” Rei retorted, making Louise giggle more than a bit.

“I had a cousin that was scared of dogs,” One of the boys said, shamefully she didn’t know his name, “We found that out on a hunting expedition, scared him half to death when our dad’s hunting dog started dragging the fox’s body back.”

“Did he ever get over his fear?” Louise asked more out of curiosity than anything else, “Also, forgive me, but… what’s your name? I can’t recall…” She added awkwardly as she scratched her cheek, rather embarrassed at her admittance.

“Oh, I’m Hadrian Alucard,” He replied, hand going out to her, “My twin brother there is named Lucas. We’re pretty minor nobles, all told, especially compared to you. Not surprised you don’t know us. And no, I don’t think he ever did. Granted, it’s been a few years since we last saw him, so that might have changed.”

Louise nodded, if she remembered correctly that was the name of a minor fort on the eastern border…

They were almost at the barn's entrance when they heard cackling. Obsidia, naturally, was laughing at poor Rei.

Louise just sighed, “Please ignore my girlfriend’s… eccentricities…” She said, “She’s really a lovely person, she’s just a mite odd for most people.”

“Sadist!” Rei shouted, “She’s a sadist! I asked her to help me and she just laughed!”

“What were you expecting!?” An exasperated Louise retorted as they entered the barn, and the boys called the overly eager and playful familiars drawing a smile from her as they distracted the rambunctious canines.

Rei dropped down, though her illusion (and that’s what she’d been assured it was) had dropped to reveal many, many fluffy tails and fox ears atop her head. The boys noticed, but didn’t really say anything more.

“Ah,~ and who are these two strapping fellows? And twins too!~” Obsidia purred seeing as her entertainment was over, only for Louise to bring some fresh meat to her.

Or at least in her eyes, Louise assumed as she rolled her eyes.

“These are Hadrian and Lucas Alucard, and those ‘monsters’ that were terrorizing Rei are their  familiars,” Louise said, before she bapped her lamia-shaped girlfriend, “And no… I’m not exposing these two to your wiles, woman,” She scolding with a faint amused smile on her lips.

Obsidia pouted, “But they look delectable!”

“... Your girlfriend is worrying,” Lucas said before shaking his head, “Come ere boy, stop bothering the fox girl,” he said to his familiar, who he was heaping love onto. It was adorable.

“You have no idea,” Louise deadpanned, “But I think I’ll keep her regardless.”

“We shall see about that,” a man said as he stepped into the area. His clothing was dark, almost the color of blood, and there was a blade and wand on his belt, a holy symbol hung from his neck.

He was an inquisitor, she remembered they liked that type of look…

Louise honestly wasn’t entirely surprised or really worried, not that she was eager to deal with an inquisitor. Yes, she was well aware of what she said to the Headmaster… and it was foolish in hindsight to tempt fate like that.

So she just withheld a sigh, “How can I help you, Inquisitor?”

He smiled and said, with very little emotion, “Oh good, I was worried you’d start to run. I’ve been ordered to bring you back to the capital. If you comply and don’t resist, there will be no violence. If you resist, there will be.”

She didn’t roll her eyes… barely, “Very well. Will I be able to tell the Headmaster I’ll be unavailable for some time?” She asked.

“You may,” He replied, stepping back from the entrance, “I shall be waiting near the front entrance, you may of course pack your things.”

“Of course, I’ll be with you shortly.” Best get this over with after all, “Come on Rei, Obsidia,” She said simply, “Apologies boys but well… no rest for the wicked it seems. Excuse me.”

“If it makes you feel better, it wasn’t your headmaster that called us, nor your teachers,” He noted, hands going behind his back before he started walking to the entrance, “And boys, if you say anything about this you will not enjoy the consequences.”

The two just nodded quickly, no doubt shaken by the sudden appearance of the Inquisitor. Their reputation probably didn’t help either. Still as Louise made her way back to the academy to inform the Headmaster and make arrangements she couldn’t help but wonder how they learned so quickly, assuming the Inquisitor was telling the truth.

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