I've been meaning to move this over to QQ for a while now since it kinda skims SB's rules. So...
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Cradle of the Heart [Znt/HotS]
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Chapter 1
Adyen
Experienced.
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"So, what am I supposed to do with you?" Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere asked her small familiar as it 'chirped' at her questioningly.
To be honest though, her familiar can't really be called 'small'. It was the size of her torso, and yet 'rounder' than it - a sort of flat ugliness that wasn't uncommon in wild animals that she had seen in her sister's collection. Yet the multiple eyes of her familiar unnerved her as it seems to focus on her at all times no matter where she went.
She remember how hard it had been to 'sense' her familiar without touching it on the first day, but the teacher said it was normal. And after being called 'Zero' for so long, she was glad that SOMETHING about her was normal. Now, though, she could still connect with it even if it was on the other side of the academy. Though her teacher did say that her range would lengthen with practice...
She recalled that when she had summoned this creature, it had looked sort of deflated as if it was mindless. But once she had finished the ritual, it came alive and followed her every order.
Louise sighed again as she let the familiar - no, 'drone' - down to the ground. Her classes today regarding straightening familiar bonds had shown her what this creature thought of itself, but then a big jumble of information had confused her enough that she had to stop.
What she did get out of that exercise was that her familiar could do some sort of mining or if it had some large open space it could grow bigger. Thus, she had completed her classes and asked for a day off to explore some of the nearby forest to see what her familiar could do.
To be honest though, she wasn't expecting a whole lot. After all, what can a single 'drone' do?
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 1
History will show that the eventual birth of the Queen of Halkeginia began on the second day of Louise Francoise summoning her familiar. It was a foundation created that still stood hundred of years after the eventual unification of all life on the planet - and it all started with a young girl and her familiar:
"Ok, there should be enough space here." Louise said as she turned to watch the familiar following her. "Now show me what you can do."
They had traveled for nearly an hour away from the academy to find a good spot in the forest nearby in order for her familiar to show what it an do, but she eventually got tired of looking - a few well placed spells that exploded as expected fell a some young trees and cleared enough space that she felt was enough for her familiar.
The drone quickly crawled its way to the middle of the meadow and sat down. Suddenly, a purple-ish liquid started gushing out of the familiar and it started spinning, creating a membrane around it like a worm creating a cocoon around itself.
Louise backed up quickly as she did not want to get her shoes and robe dirty. From what she could see, her familiar had already finished hiding itself under whatever it was that it created, and now a soft glow can be seen coming from it.
"That's it?" She asked, but her familiar bond told her that it was just changing, and it would take some time. The young girl yawned, feeling tired and bored - and started to make her way back to the academy. "Well, come find me when you're done." She muttered as her familiar continued to change behind her.
That night, she dreamed that her familiar had transformed into some sort of building with many rooms and giving birth to some kind of 'worm' the size of an adult's leg. But maybe armored centipede would be a closer description?
When she focused on them, she got another huge rush of information, but couldn't understand most of it. She frustratedly thought that she really need some way to communicate when she gets her familiar back, and felt a surge of willpower rush out of her, leaving her dreams darkening and pulling her to a deeper sleep.
When she woke up in the morning, she found that a drone was resting near her bed. But even though it looked like her familiar, she could tell that it wasn't. Maybe it had created more of itself? But the moment she touched it, she could feel the familiar bond... as if it had reset the range yesterday and yet touching this drone reconnected her. She could also feel something off in the distance where she had left her familiar yesterday, but the distance was too long and she could not tell what it was...
Either way, she spent her morning in class with her substitute familiar and had a quick lunch before borrowing a horse from the academy to head back to where she left her familiar yesterday. To her surprise, the building in her dream dreams stood in front of her, reaching to the heights of the tallest trees around what used to be a meadow.
"What... what is this?" Louise murmured to herself as she stepped forward toward the building. No sooner had she stepped on the purple patch of the ground that the entire area seemed to open up to her as if she was accessing the familiar bond with everything there. She knew that there were 2 other drones in the area, the building, and...
/My Queen! You have returned!/
A large creature limbered from behind the building and quickly stopped in front of her. It had 6 legs and a pair of large... tentacles? seem to stretch from behind it to its side. It didn't have hands, but sharp talons seemed to replace hands... and the fact that it seems to stand three times over her made it a rather intimidating thing to face.
If Louise was honest with herself, the only reason why she wasn't screaming her head off was the fact that she could FEEL it with some sort of sense that she had never had before. Of course, the female tone of voice coming from this creature was vibrating in her head and causing her to become slightly dizzy didn't help.
"What... what manner of creature are you?" Louise asked, doing her best not to stutter. "And where did my familiar go?"
/My Queen? I am a lesser queen, a guardian of this hive/ It answered. /We heard your call last night and I was birthed to help you./
It stared at her for a moment as she tried to get used to 'hearing' the queen's voice in her head. Queen? Hive? Call? She had no idea what was going on.
/As for the one you called your familiar, it is right here./ The queen pointed to the hive. /It has evolved into this hive and will do its best to help you on your goals./
"What?" Louise flatly asked, trying to get her mind around the idea of a creature becoming a building. "You know what? Start in the beginning and explain to me everything you know."
/Of course my Queen./ The queen agreed calmly.
"And stop calling me your queen!" Louise yelled. "There's only one queen on these lands, and it's not me!"
/As you wish, Mistress./ The queen replied with the same tone.
The next couple of hours were spent with the queen explaining the history of the Zerg with both words and pictures directly sent to her head. The queen explained that the entire race is 'psionic', which made no sense of Louise but was explained as something similar but different to her magic, and that she is their leader and focal point of the Zerg here.
"Wait, but you're a queen!" Louise complained, trying to understand why a 'queen' was bowing down to her will. "Why aren't you leading them?"
/Mistress, I am called a queen, but I am only a lowly guardian of this hive./ The queen responded. /We shall always serve you, or any future leaders you decide to create./
Louise had no words to respond to that, not when she could feel exactly what it meant; the queen had asked if they should expand to make sure of her safety, but Louise told it that she was safe within the Academy. However, she did allowed them to keep expanding their home as long as it does not get near any roads or other buildings.
Things were, while not perfect, looking up for Louise when her childhood friend Princess Henrietta de Tristain visited the Academy. Hearing of her childhood friend's strange and unheard of before familiar, she decided to visit the night that she arrived.
They talked about their childhood games. They talked about how long it had been since they've seen each other. They talked about their parents, and how respectable each of them are.
Finally, they talked about Louise's familiar.
"What IS it?" Henrietta asked, looking over the drone and trying to come up with something similar.
Louise touched the drone and told it to let Henrietta do whatever it wanted with it. "It's a drone. Apparently, it's part of a race called the 'Zerg'." She quickly said, feeling excited that she can share this with her closest friend and princess. She managed to explain a bit about how she had summoned a drone just like this one and it had turned into a building able to grow more of them before it started getting late and Henrietta had to return to her room.
"I will see you tomorrow then, Louise Francoise." Henrietta said, replacing her hood. "We still have much to catch up on."
"Of course your highness. And I'll show you where my familiar grew the building tomorrow after the fair. I'll even introduce you to the being that taught me about them!" Louise exclaimed, opening the door for the princess.
It was with such lofty hopes that the two seperated, but fate had other ideas...
To be honest though, her familiar can't really be called 'small'. It was the size of her torso, and yet 'rounder' than it - a sort of flat ugliness that wasn't uncommon in wild animals that she had seen in her sister's collection. Yet the multiple eyes of her familiar unnerved her as it seems to focus on her at all times no matter where she went.
She remember how hard it had been to 'sense' her familiar without touching it on the first day, but the teacher said it was normal. And after being called 'Zero' for so long, she was glad that SOMETHING about her was normal. Now, though, she could still connect with it even if it was on the other side of the academy. Though her teacher did say that her range would lengthen with practice...
She recalled that when she had summoned this creature, it had looked sort of deflated as if it was mindless. But once she had finished the ritual, it came alive and followed her every order.
Louise sighed again as she let the familiar - no, 'drone' - down to the ground. Her classes today regarding straightening familiar bonds had shown her what this creature thought of itself, but then a big jumble of information had confused her enough that she had to stop.
What she did get out of that exercise was that her familiar could do some sort of mining or if it had some large open space it could grow bigger. Thus, she had completed her classes and asked for a day off to explore some of the nearby forest to see what her familiar could do.
To be honest though, she wasn't expecting a whole lot. After all, what can a single 'drone' do?
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 1
History will show that the eventual birth of the Queen of Halkeginia began on the second day of Louise Francoise summoning her familiar. It was a foundation created that still stood hundred of years after the eventual unification of all life on the planet - and it all started with a young girl and her familiar:
"Ok, there should be enough space here." Louise said as she turned to watch the familiar following her. "Now show me what you can do."
They had traveled for nearly an hour away from the academy to find a good spot in the forest nearby in order for her familiar to show what it an do, but she eventually got tired of looking - a few well placed spells that exploded as expected fell a some young trees and cleared enough space that she felt was enough for her familiar.
The drone quickly crawled its way to the middle of the meadow and sat down. Suddenly, a purple-ish liquid started gushing out of the familiar and it started spinning, creating a membrane around it like a worm creating a cocoon around itself.
Louise backed up quickly as she did not want to get her shoes and robe dirty. From what she could see, her familiar had already finished hiding itself under whatever it was that it created, and now a soft glow can be seen coming from it.
"That's it?" She asked, but her familiar bond told her that it was just changing, and it would take some time. The young girl yawned, feeling tired and bored - and started to make her way back to the academy. "Well, come find me when you're done." She muttered as her familiar continued to change behind her.
That night, she dreamed that her familiar had transformed into some sort of building with many rooms and giving birth to some kind of 'worm' the size of an adult's leg. But maybe armored centipede would be a closer description?
When she focused on them, she got another huge rush of information, but couldn't understand most of it. She frustratedly thought that she really need some way to communicate when she gets her familiar back, and felt a surge of willpower rush out of her, leaving her dreams darkening and pulling her to a deeper sleep.
When she woke up in the morning, she found that a drone was resting near her bed. But even though it looked like her familiar, she could tell that it wasn't. Maybe it had created more of itself? But the moment she touched it, she could feel the familiar bond... as if it had reset the range yesterday and yet touching this drone reconnected her. She could also feel something off in the distance where she had left her familiar yesterday, but the distance was too long and she could not tell what it was...
Either way, she spent her morning in class with her substitute familiar and had a quick lunch before borrowing a horse from the academy to head back to where she left her familiar yesterday. To her surprise, the building in her dream dreams stood in front of her, reaching to the heights of the tallest trees around what used to be a meadow.
"What... what is this?" Louise murmured to herself as she stepped forward toward the building. No sooner had she stepped on the purple patch of the ground that the entire area seemed to open up to her as if she was accessing the familiar bond with everything there. She knew that there were 2 other drones in the area, the building, and...
/My Queen! You have returned!/
A large creature limbered from behind the building and quickly stopped in front of her. It had 6 legs and a pair of large... tentacles? seem to stretch from behind it to its side. It didn't have hands, but sharp talons seemed to replace hands... and the fact that it seems to stand three times over her made it a rather intimidating thing to face.
If Louise was honest with herself, the only reason why she wasn't screaming her head off was the fact that she could FEEL it with some sort of sense that she had never had before. Of course, the female tone of voice coming from this creature was vibrating in her head and causing her to become slightly dizzy didn't help.
"What... what manner of creature are you?" Louise asked, doing her best not to stutter. "And where did my familiar go?"
/My Queen? I am a lesser queen, a guardian of this hive/ It answered. /We heard your call last night and I was birthed to help you./
It stared at her for a moment as she tried to get used to 'hearing' the queen's voice in her head. Queen? Hive? Call? She had no idea what was going on.
/As for the one you called your familiar, it is right here./ The queen pointed to the hive. /It has evolved into this hive and will do its best to help you on your goals./
"What?" Louise flatly asked, trying to get her mind around the idea of a creature becoming a building. "You know what? Start in the beginning and explain to me everything you know."
/Of course my Queen./ The queen agreed calmly.
"And stop calling me your queen!" Louise yelled. "There's only one queen on these lands, and it's not me!"
/As you wish, Mistress./ The queen replied with the same tone.
The next couple of hours were spent with the queen explaining the history of the Zerg with both words and pictures directly sent to her head. The queen explained that the entire race is 'psionic', which made no sense of Louise but was explained as something similar but different to her magic, and that she is their leader and focal point of the Zerg here.
"Wait, but you're a queen!" Louise complained, trying to understand why a 'queen' was bowing down to her will. "Why aren't you leading them?"
/Mistress, I am called a queen, but I am only a lowly guardian of this hive./ The queen responded. /We shall always serve you, or any future leaders you decide to create./
Louise had no words to respond to that, not when she could feel exactly what it meant; the queen had asked if they should expand to make sure of her safety, but Louise told it that she was safe within the Academy. However, she did allowed them to keep expanding their home as long as it does not get near any roads or other buildings.
Things were, while not perfect, looking up for Louise when her childhood friend Princess Henrietta de Tristain visited the Academy. Hearing of her childhood friend's strange and unheard of before familiar, she decided to visit the night that she arrived.
They talked about their childhood games. They talked about how long it had been since they've seen each other. They talked about their parents, and how respectable each of them are.
Finally, they talked about Louise's familiar.
"What IS it?" Henrietta asked, looking over the drone and trying to come up with something similar.
Louise touched the drone and told it to let Henrietta do whatever it wanted with it. "It's a drone. Apparently, it's part of a race called the 'Zerg'." She quickly said, feeling excited that she can share this with her closest friend and princess. She managed to explain a bit about how she had summoned a drone just like this one and it had turned into a building able to grow more of them before it started getting late and Henrietta had to return to her room.
"I will see you tomorrow then, Louise Francoise." Henrietta said, replacing her hood. "We still have much to catch up on."
"Of course your highness. And I'll show you where my familiar grew the building tomorrow after the fair. I'll even introduce you to the being that taught me about them!" Louise exclaimed, opening the door for the princess.
It was with such lofty hopes that the two seperated, but fate had other ideas...
Chapter 2
Adyen
Experienced.
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Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere had a problem. Said problem had immediately struck her the moment her royal childhood friend left and reminded her that there was to be an event to show off her familiar.
The axis of the problem? A drone wasn't very amazing - and she desperately wanted to impress the princess tomorrow afternoon. Maybe she can get it to do some tricks? Can it even do tricks? She's not confident... but she might as well try.
She glanced down at the drone looking at her. "Uh... Roll over?"
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 2
The day started out well for everyone - everyone who had a full night of sleep, unlike Louise. She had spent much of the night testing out what the drone can and cannot do, and thus suffered from a lack of sleep.
She slapped her face while waiting in line to show her familiar, and wonder how her drone can still just watch her with those eyes of it. Did it not require sleep? Or maybe it slept when she wasn't looking? When her turn finally came, she attempted to pretend she wasn't half asleep and started her tricks with her drone.
In the end, she got third place due to being able to amuse the princess, though she had been hoping for second.
Apparently, being able to tell a drone to do whatever you want when you hold it isn't as impressive as, say, a dragon. Still, she had managed to impress some people when she told the drone to try to stand on its 'tail' and spin around like a top while she held its face. But really, it's hard to beat being able to fly in the air since most of what she did with the drone could be done with most other familiars... just not likely.
She was about to thank the princess for her small award when a huge explosive sound came from behind them. When they turned to the sound, they could see some kind of smoke or dust coming from the central tower of the academy. A few seconds later, another loud sound came from that way while the professors quickly sent students away towards one of the other buildings. The princess' own guards were no exception and they started ushering them away as well.
Henrietta pulled Louise with her and they both retreated to the sight of a few other professors floating around the edges of the tower and throwing spells at something. Neither Louise or Henrietta could tell what it was until they saw something turn around the corner - a large stone golem, trying to swat the mages flying around it, but slowly making its way towards where they were.
"I think, this is where we run." Louise voiced her concerns to the guards and indirectly to the princess as she sped up towards one of the doorways to the academy.
The giant golem took another step towards them and Henrietta nodded. "Indeed." She agreed, and turned to retreat as the headmaster started creating a golem of his own. The drone hissed at the golem, but followed behind the pair as they headed towards one of the academy's entrance.
From Louise's point of view, they had only moved 5 steps before a large shattering noise could be heard from behind her. At first, she had assumed that the headmaster's golem had clashed with the other giant golem - but seconds later she felt a large force smash into her right arm and back, spinning her to the side and causing her to cry out and lose her balance.
In front, she could hear Henrietta and many other people cry out in pain as well, as it seems like the golem had exploded forwards and showering all the retreating people with shrapnel.
Another large flash of pain blinded her as she landed on her right arm with a weight pushing her down. From the contact, she could tell that the drone had jumped onto her back and blocked a piece of shrapnel that had been headed to her back. The headmaster's golem had been nearly finished, but it had not been fast enough to block the rocks flying towards the students and visitors.
As she took a breath to steady herself, she could feel that the hive had suddenly flew into a flurry of activity as her pain had been sent to the Zerg from an overlord that had been paroling the area between the lair and the academy. She could tell that pack of zerglings were rushing to the academy intent on killing everything that dared hurt her, and she immediately paled to realize that it would cause nothing but more chaos.
Mustering what remained of her concentration, she managed to command those zerglings to wait outside of the academy and to not reveal themselves. Her efforts seemed to work as she could tell that the zerglings had slowed down its charge, but the effort drained her and she felt her consciousness start to slip.
Before she completely fell into darkness, she could hear people frantically calling the princess' name, and she wonder if her friend was alright or not.
Louise had a lot of practice of being hurt or knocked out due to her unique spellcasting. However, most of the time when she woke she would feel normal and well rested - not this time.
When she woke, she could tell that it was dark from the amount of torches lit on in the infirmary. Looking around, and wincing as she placed weight on her right arm, she could tell that there's still many students and visitors placed on cots moaning due to pain. Some she could see still had pieces of stone stuck within them in arms or legs, while others were bandaged from around their torso to even parts of their face.
Off in a corner, she could see a section cornered off with drapes and people entering and exiting in a hurry. She could just see a leg on a bed inside the drape, while the rest of the area seems to be filled with mages. She glanced at her arm and found it bandaged, but the reddish color under it and the pain indicated that it was not healed by a water mage.
Something bumped her leg and she found her drone sitting there. Someone had pulled the spike of earth out of it and it seems like it had regenerated the wound by itself. She told the drone to let her place her hand on it comfortably and closed her eyes, trying to find out if anything has changed.
The zerglings were still burrowed outside of the academy, and... when did all those buildings appear and how did they reproduce so fast? From what Louise could sense, there were already three overlords in the area and nearly 20 other hydra and zerglings in that area, not counting the amount of drones digging up minerals and other resources for the large building... a hive?
Opening her eyes, she told the drone to follow her while she went to find Henrietta - there's no way the princess would not be there if she didn't exhaust herself trying to heal those who were faced with life threatening injuries!
And she's likely hurt too, if what she could remember just before she was knocked out was correct.
Wandering about the infirmary, she managed to find out that she had been out for most of the day. However, she could find no signs of the princess or her guards. Louise glanced back towards the curtained off area, guessing that Henrietta might be behind it helping with her water magics - but she had no way to be sure as she had been told not to bother them or enter.
She mulled about the area until a large group of people burst into the infirmary, pushing everyone away from the path between beds. Louise blinked and realized that they were guards, and the one entering the room was a frantic looking Queen Marianne de Tristain!
"Where is she?" Queen Marianne demanded as she looked across the room. Her eyes stopped at the curtained off area and quickly marched over with a group of what Louise assumed were healers from the capital.
She keeled down as the group passed, but impulsively rose up and followed the group into the curtained area after the Queen and the healers had passed. Inside was just one bed with a bunch of mages casting spells of healing at the person on the bed, and the Queen was yelling at the headmaster and another man she didn't recognize, but from the armor it seemed to have been the honor guard of Henrietta's couch.
"Your majesty!" The headmaster exclaimed. "Please, calm yourself. We've done everything we can in regards to the situation with Fouquete and I have my personal secretary watching over the artifacts even at this moment! And while the princess was hurt, she's not dying..."
"What happened to the princess?!" Louise blurted out from where she was eavesdropping, catching the attention of everyone nearby.
The Queen looked at her and seemed to had a double-take while the headmaster glanced at her way and sighed.
"Miss Valliere, what are you doing here?" He asked, seeming too tired to even discipline her.
"I was looking for the princess, since I could not find her anywhere." Louise honestly replied. "When I was knocked out, I heard... someone call her..."
Her voice trailed off at the look that the Queen gave her, as if she was looking at her but seeing someone else. It unnerved her as Louise could easily guess that the Queen had thought of her mother at this time.
"Valliere. You are the youngest of Karin's then?" The Queen asked. "I remember that when you were young, Henrietta would drag you along everywhere."
Louise blushed. "It was my honor to be a childhood friend with the princess." She said, but then tried to return to the subject at hand. "But what happened to the princess?"
Both the headmaster and the Queen looked at her for a moment before the headmaster turned to the Queen. She glanced down at him before turning back towards the bed.
"Henrietta was... hurt when the golem exploded." She said as they walked towards the bed. Louise followed behind them nervously, where the mages there had been exchanged with those from the capital.
There, on the bed slept Henrietta de Tristain with a patch of skin above her forehead that was still pink from the healing. Louise could feel the world spinning from just seeing her best (and if she was honest with herself, only) friend hurt from what could had been a fatal wound.
The headmaster walked up to the side of Henrietta's bed while the Queen sat on a hastily created chair and picked up her daughter's hand.
"The princess got hit by a spike of earth that had managed to spear through the front of her forehead, but quick thinking from a nearby guard managed to keep her alive before she bled out." The headmaster clinically described the wound. "We've managed to heal the wound once we got her out of the open, but Your Majesty knows as well as we do that head wounds... take time."
Even Louise knew what he meant by that. She had studied everything she could get her hands on, and one thing she learned about head wounds is that the patient may never wake up even if they were healed by the greatest of water mages.
The mind is something that is extremely hard to heal, even with magic.
"Miss Valliere." The headmaster's voice came from beside her and she snapped up - not even realizing that she had fallen to her hands and knees in her shock. "Please, do not blame yourself."
"How could you...!" She started, but the headmaster cut her off.
"Miss Valliere! Please, I heard from some of the other people who saw the situation. The Princess had stopped hearing your cries, and from the wound, you could see that if she had even taken one more step forward, she would not be of this world anymore." The headmaster tried to console the distraught pink-let by placing a hand on her shoulder. "You indirectly saved her life - now, we only need time for her to recover."
Even as he said that, she could tell that he's only trying to make her and the Queen feel better. In her seat, the Queen was crying into her daughter's hand as the mages around continue their attempt to awaken the princess. The headmaster was saying something else, but she could barely understand him within her haze of guilt and self-loathing for allowing something like this to happen to Henrietta.
She wasn't sure what she can do. Her magic only makes things explode, and she was not as smart or knowledgeable as the healers from the capital. If only she had shielded the princess. If only she had told them to run earlier. If only she had some magic that could save her...!
*bump*
Louise blinked as the headmaster finished his speech. "Do you understand Miss Valliere? Now, why don't you go rest on a bed outside, and we'll let you know when the princess wakes up." He told her, expecting that she would listen to him and get her wound looked at.
"Wait." Instead, Louise got to her feet with a hand holding onto her drone's 'arm'. "I... my familiar is telling me that it could heal her mind."
The room froze as she said that. But even then, she was having a conversation with the queen back at the Zerg's base, trying to understand exactly how it would work. Is 'Queen of Blades' supposed to be a title? It can't be worse than her mother's 'Heavy Wind' title, right?
The axis of the problem? A drone wasn't very amazing - and she desperately wanted to impress the princess tomorrow afternoon. Maybe she can get it to do some tricks? Can it even do tricks? She's not confident... but she might as well try.
She glanced down at the drone looking at her. "Uh... Roll over?"
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 2
The day started out well for everyone - everyone who had a full night of sleep, unlike Louise. She had spent much of the night testing out what the drone can and cannot do, and thus suffered from a lack of sleep.
She slapped her face while waiting in line to show her familiar, and wonder how her drone can still just watch her with those eyes of it. Did it not require sleep? Or maybe it slept when she wasn't looking? When her turn finally came, she attempted to pretend she wasn't half asleep and started her tricks with her drone.
In the end, she got third place due to being able to amuse the princess, though she had been hoping for second.
Apparently, being able to tell a drone to do whatever you want when you hold it isn't as impressive as, say, a dragon. Still, she had managed to impress some people when she told the drone to try to stand on its 'tail' and spin around like a top while she held its face. But really, it's hard to beat being able to fly in the air since most of what she did with the drone could be done with most other familiars... just not likely.
She was about to thank the princess for her small award when a huge explosive sound came from behind them. When they turned to the sound, they could see some kind of smoke or dust coming from the central tower of the academy. A few seconds later, another loud sound came from that way while the professors quickly sent students away towards one of the other buildings. The princess' own guards were no exception and they started ushering them away as well.
Henrietta pulled Louise with her and they both retreated to the sight of a few other professors floating around the edges of the tower and throwing spells at something. Neither Louise or Henrietta could tell what it was until they saw something turn around the corner - a large stone golem, trying to swat the mages flying around it, but slowly making its way towards where they were.
"I think, this is where we run." Louise voiced her concerns to the guards and indirectly to the princess as she sped up towards one of the doorways to the academy.
The giant golem took another step towards them and Henrietta nodded. "Indeed." She agreed, and turned to retreat as the headmaster started creating a golem of his own. The drone hissed at the golem, but followed behind the pair as they headed towards one of the academy's entrance.
From Louise's point of view, they had only moved 5 steps before a large shattering noise could be heard from behind her. At first, she had assumed that the headmaster's golem had clashed with the other giant golem - but seconds later she felt a large force smash into her right arm and back, spinning her to the side and causing her to cry out and lose her balance.
In front, she could hear Henrietta and many other people cry out in pain as well, as it seems like the golem had exploded forwards and showering all the retreating people with shrapnel.
Another large flash of pain blinded her as she landed on her right arm with a weight pushing her down. From the contact, she could tell that the drone had jumped onto her back and blocked a piece of shrapnel that had been headed to her back. The headmaster's golem had been nearly finished, but it had not been fast enough to block the rocks flying towards the students and visitors.
As she took a breath to steady herself, she could feel that the hive had suddenly flew into a flurry of activity as her pain had been sent to the Zerg from an overlord that had been paroling the area between the lair and the academy. She could tell that pack of zerglings were rushing to the academy intent on killing everything that dared hurt her, and she immediately paled to realize that it would cause nothing but more chaos.
Mustering what remained of her concentration, she managed to command those zerglings to wait outside of the academy and to not reveal themselves. Her efforts seemed to work as she could tell that the zerglings had slowed down its charge, but the effort drained her and she felt her consciousness start to slip.
Before she completely fell into darkness, she could hear people frantically calling the princess' name, and she wonder if her friend was alright or not.
Louise had a lot of practice of being hurt or knocked out due to her unique spellcasting. However, most of the time when she woke she would feel normal and well rested - not this time.
When she woke, she could tell that it was dark from the amount of torches lit on in the infirmary. Looking around, and wincing as she placed weight on her right arm, she could tell that there's still many students and visitors placed on cots moaning due to pain. Some she could see still had pieces of stone stuck within them in arms or legs, while others were bandaged from around their torso to even parts of their face.
Off in a corner, she could see a section cornered off with drapes and people entering and exiting in a hurry. She could just see a leg on a bed inside the drape, while the rest of the area seems to be filled with mages. She glanced at her arm and found it bandaged, but the reddish color under it and the pain indicated that it was not healed by a water mage.
Something bumped her leg and she found her drone sitting there. Someone had pulled the spike of earth out of it and it seems like it had regenerated the wound by itself. She told the drone to let her place her hand on it comfortably and closed her eyes, trying to find out if anything has changed.
The zerglings were still burrowed outside of the academy, and... when did all those buildings appear and how did they reproduce so fast? From what Louise could sense, there were already three overlords in the area and nearly 20 other hydra and zerglings in that area, not counting the amount of drones digging up minerals and other resources for the large building... a hive?
Opening her eyes, she told the drone to follow her while she went to find Henrietta - there's no way the princess would not be there if she didn't exhaust herself trying to heal those who were faced with life threatening injuries!
And she's likely hurt too, if what she could remember just before she was knocked out was correct.
Wandering about the infirmary, she managed to find out that she had been out for most of the day. However, she could find no signs of the princess or her guards. Louise glanced back towards the curtained off area, guessing that Henrietta might be behind it helping with her water magics - but she had no way to be sure as she had been told not to bother them or enter.
She mulled about the area until a large group of people burst into the infirmary, pushing everyone away from the path between beds. Louise blinked and realized that they were guards, and the one entering the room was a frantic looking Queen Marianne de Tristain!
"Where is she?" Queen Marianne demanded as she looked across the room. Her eyes stopped at the curtained off area and quickly marched over with a group of what Louise assumed were healers from the capital.
She keeled down as the group passed, but impulsively rose up and followed the group into the curtained area after the Queen and the healers had passed. Inside was just one bed with a bunch of mages casting spells of healing at the person on the bed, and the Queen was yelling at the headmaster and another man she didn't recognize, but from the armor it seemed to have been the honor guard of Henrietta's couch.
"Your majesty!" The headmaster exclaimed. "Please, calm yourself. We've done everything we can in regards to the situation with Fouquete and I have my personal secretary watching over the artifacts even at this moment! And while the princess was hurt, she's not dying..."
"What happened to the princess?!" Louise blurted out from where she was eavesdropping, catching the attention of everyone nearby.
The Queen looked at her and seemed to had a double-take while the headmaster glanced at her way and sighed.
"Miss Valliere, what are you doing here?" He asked, seeming too tired to even discipline her.
"I was looking for the princess, since I could not find her anywhere." Louise honestly replied. "When I was knocked out, I heard... someone call her..."
Her voice trailed off at the look that the Queen gave her, as if she was looking at her but seeing someone else. It unnerved her as Louise could easily guess that the Queen had thought of her mother at this time.
"Valliere. You are the youngest of Karin's then?" The Queen asked. "I remember that when you were young, Henrietta would drag you along everywhere."
Louise blushed. "It was my honor to be a childhood friend with the princess." She said, but then tried to return to the subject at hand. "But what happened to the princess?"
Both the headmaster and the Queen looked at her for a moment before the headmaster turned to the Queen. She glanced down at him before turning back towards the bed.
"Henrietta was... hurt when the golem exploded." She said as they walked towards the bed. Louise followed behind them nervously, where the mages there had been exchanged with those from the capital.
There, on the bed slept Henrietta de Tristain with a patch of skin above her forehead that was still pink from the healing. Louise could feel the world spinning from just seeing her best (and if she was honest with herself, only) friend hurt from what could had been a fatal wound.
The headmaster walked up to the side of Henrietta's bed while the Queen sat on a hastily created chair and picked up her daughter's hand.
"The princess got hit by a spike of earth that had managed to spear through the front of her forehead, but quick thinking from a nearby guard managed to keep her alive before she bled out." The headmaster clinically described the wound. "We've managed to heal the wound once we got her out of the open, but Your Majesty knows as well as we do that head wounds... take time."
Even Louise knew what he meant by that. She had studied everything she could get her hands on, and one thing she learned about head wounds is that the patient may never wake up even if they were healed by the greatest of water mages.
The mind is something that is extremely hard to heal, even with magic.
"Miss Valliere." The headmaster's voice came from beside her and she snapped up - not even realizing that she had fallen to her hands and knees in her shock. "Please, do not blame yourself."
"How could you...!" She started, but the headmaster cut her off.
"Miss Valliere! Please, I heard from some of the other people who saw the situation. The Princess had stopped hearing your cries, and from the wound, you could see that if she had even taken one more step forward, she would not be of this world anymore." The headmaster tried to console the distraught pink-let by placing a hand on her shoulder. "You indirectly saved her life - now, we only need time for her to recover."
Even as he said that, she could tell that he's only trying to make her and the Queen feel better. In her seat, the Queen was crying into her daughter's hand as the mages around continue their attempt to awaken the princess. The headmaster was saying something else, but she could barely understand him within her haze of guilt and self-loathing for allowing something like this to happen to Henrietta.
She wasn't sure what she can do. Her magic only makes things explode, and she was not as smart or knowledgeable as the healers from the capital. If only she had shielded the princess. If only she had told them to run earlier. If only she had some magic that could save her...!
*bump*
Louise blinked as the headmaster finished his speech. "Do you understand Miss Valliere? Now, why don't you go rest on a bed outside, and we'll let you know when the princess wakes up." He told her, expecting that she would listen to him and get her wound looked at.
"Wait." Instead, Louise got to her feet with a hand holding onto her drone's 'arm'. "I... my familiar is telling me that it could heal her mind."
The room froze as she said that. But even then, she was having a conversation with the queen back at the Zerg's base, trying to understand exactly how it would work. Is 'Queen of Blades' supposed to be a title? It can't be worse than her mother's 'Heavy Wind' title, right?
Chapter 3
Adyen
Experienced.
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As the group arrived near the area Louise's familiar had first became a building, they were greeted with the purplish muck on the ground (/creep/) and an escort of huge creatures that bowed down to them when they passed (/hydralisks/ and /zerglings/, with a single /roach/ hidden off to the side).
The humans were slightly apprehensive of the hydralisks due to how menacing they look, but seeing that they seem to bowing to them, continued on till they approached the main hive.
The hive loomed over them and all the trees seem to open up to allow it. All around they could see signs of activity - whether it was a drone moving rocks and minerals towards the hive or one of those living buildings (/a spore crawler/) twitching and even some kind of floating bag in the sky (/an overlord, watching out for everything around the area/). There were many signs of /alien/ life, and once again Louise wonders how she managed to summon something like this.
However, their goal is the large cocoon that stood in the front of the hive - somewhat larger than a human and open on the side facing them, it stood awaiting for one who will enter it.
And behind them, the team carrying the princess slows to a stop as Louise moved her horse over to the Queen's.
"That's it. My familiar is telling me that we should remove anything important from the princess as it might get caught or damaged." Louise said as she thought back to how things lead to this.
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 3
"Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere." The Queen said as she slowly placed her daughter's hand back on the bed. "If your familiar can heal my daughter, then do so immediately."
Louise blinked for a moment and then quickly said, "OH, I'm sorry Your Majasty, but this isn't my familiar." She pointed at the drone at her feet. "This is... um... an offspring? I'm not exactly sure how to describe it."
"Then how do you know that your familiar can heal my daughter?" The Queen asked, standing up and walking to where Louise stood.
Louise bowed down again. "My familiar is capable of speaking to my mind through a creature it gave birth to. It's telling me that they know much about the mind and if we bring her to them, they could heal her mind."
The Queen looked at Louise weighing her words to the well-being of her daughter. But in the end, a chance of recovery is better than seeing her sleep in a coma for an unknown amount of time.
The cocoon slowly closed around the still sleeping princess as the Queen, headmaster, and Louise watched.
"How long will this take?" The Queen asked once again, having asked the same question before at the academy. She had answered before that they wouldn't know until they looked at the wound itself but no longer than a month. Now...
"They still say a month, though she should be awake sooner than that." Louise said, listening to the Zerg around her. "But the remaining time would be to make sure nothing else is wrong with her body."
The Zerg had also explained that their healing would leave marks of its race on her afterwards, but Louise had made sure that it should be prioritized to make it as hidden as possible. You can't have a head of state looking like she had scars or whatever her familiar was going to do on her!
In the end, the mental picture of Henrietta ended up with her wearing a dark green skin tight corset that extends to her thighs and up to the breasts, some sort of skin-tight black bracer that wraps around her arms, and unfortunately her hair had to be braided as they were likely going to have to regrow her hair afterwards. She figured that the clothing was how the Zerg would have dressed up a person if they were human instead.
At least the princess can wear different clothes to accent the hair. Louise was sure that when Henrietta shows up with her hair braided, it's going to start a new fashion statement.
"I'll be staying here with my familiar to make sure everything is alright, as apparently having me here to help them focus their mental energies is required." Louise said, more to herself than anyone else. "My familiar said that nobody should bother the healing... cocoon thing or else the princess could be in danger."
The headmaster and Queen looked at each other and nodded. "I will stay here as well." The Queen said while the headmaster orders someone to set up a tent nearby. "While your familiar... familiars? Well, while these 'Zerg' look strong, my guards will set up around the area to make sure nobody enters and my daughter's own musketeers will be arriving tomorrow. If Fouquet dares to attack, we will make sure she is to be executed for the attempt!"
The Queen angrily waves her wand and a gush of water smashed down onto the creep like a hammer, spraying the area off to the side with creep. "I've sent a runner back to the captial to place a bounty on Fouquet. She will not escape after doing this to my daughter!"
Louise and the headmaster stayed quiet at the declaration, Louise silently agreeing with the sentiment though she couldn't tell what the headmaster was thinking.
The next few weeks slowly fell into a routine. Louise would spend most of her free time kneeling in front of the cocoon and focusing her thoughts towards what she remembered of the princess.
The queen had explained that she needed to focus her mind towards the cocoon and what she wanted Henrietta to know. Louise wasn't sure she understood at first, but figured it meant that it was to help the princess heal her mind or to converse with her.
So Louise spent her days remembering the times that she had been with Henrietta. That she was her best, and only friend. All the time that they spent together. The trust the princess placed in her close confident, even visiting her in the middle of the night. Even the future that Henrietta would have had if this didn't happen - becoming Queen, with Louise at her side and all the people loving Henrietta. In other words, Henrietta is perfect - she's the one person that Louise will always look up to, and expect to be looked up to simply because she's Henrietta.
The musketeer corps from the capital arrived the day after the princess was placed in the cocoon. The group of people was lead by Agnes Chevalier de Milan, a commoner to Louise's surprise. Apparently, she was hand-picked by Henrietta but had been ordered to stay in the capital to investigate something. Agnes was still in the middle of the investigation when she heard what happened, but she was not going to just wait at the capital while her princess was in danger.
Another thing that changed was that there seemed to be an undertone of excitement and anticipation from the Zerg themselves. When they weren't specifically doing something, they would spend their time resting around Louise and the cocoon.
The entire area had been deemed a no-fly zone, and thus Louise had been rather surprised when her mother and her sister Eleonore arrived one day on the third week. Her mother's familiar was trailing behind on feet, growling slightly at all the Zerg around them. Amusingly enough, it also seemed uncomfortable walking on the creep on the ground, but that's understandable seeing how 'goopy' it was.
Mother and daughter had a long talk about responsibilities and her familiar, but in the end Karin had let her go since she was trying her best to heal the princess (and she certainly agreed to have Cattleya brought here to be looked at if her familiar can heal what previously couldn't be healed).
Eleonore had spent most of her time with the Zerg, poking and prodding this and that. Louise had made sure that the brood understood to not hurt her sister, but also to let her know if Eleonore was hurting them so she could stop it. So far nothing has happened, but she knew her sister...
It was the end of the third week that it happened.
At first, she thought it was the queen talking to her again as it came from within her mind. But as she focused, she could hear a duality coming from the voice entering her mind.
/Mistress?//Louise Francoise?/
Louise jolted to her feet as she realized that it was the sound of the princess mixed with the voice of the queen. Thinking for a moment, she realized that it's probably because Henrietta had no other way of speaking with her.
/You're awake!/ Louise mentally exclaimed, having learned that even if you really are speaking to someone, one-sided conversations are still weird looking and sounding.
/I have awaken.//What happened, Louise Francoise?/ The princess asked.
/You were hurt. When Fouquet's golem exploded, a piece of the rock had damaged your head. My familiar is healing you right now./
/The Zerg is still growing./ /I see. I still feel weak./
/You should be fine in a week or so. The Queen is here, and she is worrying about you. I suggest you concentrate on healing so we can see you soon./
/I will be ready soon./ /I will, Louise Francoise./
/You can just call me Louise like we used to, Princess Henrietta. There is no need to thank me./
//Of course, Louise.//
The humans were slightly apprehensive of the hydralisks due to how menacing they look, but seeing that they seem to bowing to them, continued on till they approached the main hive.
The hive loomed over them and all the trees seem to open up to allow it. All around they could see signs of activity - whether it was a drone moving rocks and minerals towards the hive or one of those living buildings (/a spore crawler/) twitching and even some kind of floating bag in the sky (/an overlord, watching out for everything around the area/). There were many signs of /alien/ life, and once again Louise wonders how she managed to summon something like this.
However, their goal is the large cocoon that stood in the front of the hive - somewhat larger than a human and open on the side facing them, it stood awaiting for one who will enter it.
And behind them, the team carrying the princess slows to a stop as Louise moved her horse over to the Queen's.
"That's it. My familiar is telling me that we should remove anything important from the princess as it might get caught or damaged." Louise said as she thought back to how things lead to this.
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 3
"Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere." The Queen said as she slowly placed her daughter's hand back on the bed. "If your familiar can heal my daughter, then do so immediately."
Louise blinked for a moment and then quickly said, "OH, I'm sorry Your Majasty, but this isn't my familiar." She pointed at the drone at her feet. "This is... um... an offspring? I'm not exactly sure how to describe it."
"Then how do you know that your familiar can heal my daughter?" The Queen asked, standing up and walking to where Louise stood.
Louise bowed down again. "My familiar is capable of speaking to my mind through a creature it gave birth to. It's telling me that they know much about the mind and if we bring her to them, they could heal her mind."
The Queen looked at Louise weighing her words to the well-being of her daughter. But in the end, a chance of recovery is better than seeing her sleep in a coma for an unknown amount of time.
The cocoon slowly closed around the still sleeping princess as the Queen, headmaster, and Louise watched.
"How long will this take?" The Queen asked once again, having asked the same question before at the academy. She had answered before that they wouldn't know until they looked at the wound itself but no longer than a month. Now...
"They still say a month, though she should be awake sooner than that." Louise said, listening to the Zerg around her. "But the remaining time would be to make sure nothing else is wrong with her body."
The Zerg had also explained that their healing would leave marks of its race on her afterwards, but Louise had made sure that it should be prioritized to make it as hidden as possible. You can't have a head of state looking like she had scars or whatever her familiar was going to do on her!
In the end, the mental picture of Henrietta ended up with her wearing a dark green skin tight corset that extends to her thighs and up to the breasts, some sort of skin-tight black bracer that wraps around her arms, and unfortunately her hair had to be braided as they were likely going to have to regrow her hair afterwards. She figured that the clothing was how the Zerg would have dressed up a person if they were human instead.
At least the princess can wear different clothes to accent the hair. Louise was sure that when Henrietta shows up with her hair braided, it's going to start a new fashion statement.
"I'll be staying here with my familiar to make sure everything is alright, as apparently having me here to help them focus their mental energies is required." Louise said, more to herself than anyone else. "My familiar said that nobody should bother the healing... cocoon thing or else the princess could be in danger."
The headmaster and Queen looked at each other and nodded. "I will stay here as well." The Queen said while the headmaster orders someone to set up a tent nearby. "While your familiar... familiars? Well, while these 'Zerg' look strong, my guards will set up around the area to make sure nobody enters and my daughter's own musketeers will be arriving tomorrow. If Fouquet dares to attack, we will make sure she is to be executed for the attempt!"
The Queen angrily waves her wand and a gush of water smashed down onto the creep like a hammer, spraying the area off to the side with creep. "I've sent a runner back to the captial to place a bounty on Fouquet. She will not escape after doing this to my daughter!"
Louise and the headmaster stayed quiet at the declaration, Louise silently agreeing with the sentiment though she couldn't tell what the headmaster was thinking.
The next few weeks slowly fell into a routine. Louise would spend most of her free time kneeling in front of the cocoon and focusing her thoughts towards what she remembered of the princess.
The queen had explained that she needed to focus her mind towards the cocoon and what she wanted Henrietta to know. Louise wasn't sure she understood at first, but figured it meant that it was to help the princess heal her mind or to converse with her.
So Louise spent her days remembering the times that she had been with Henrietta. That she was her best, and only friend. All the time that they spent together. The trust the princess placed in her close confident, even visiting her in the middle of the night. Even the future that Henrietta would have had if this didn't happen - becoming Queen, with Louise at her side and all the people loving Henrietta. In other words, Henrietta is perfect - she's the one person that Louise will always look up to, and expect to be looked up to simply because she's Henrietta.
The musketeer corps from the capital arrived the day after the princess was placed in the cocoon. The group of people was lead by Agnes Chevalier de Milan, a commoner to Louise's surprise. Apparently, she was hand-picked by Henrietta but had been ordered to stay in the capital to investigate something. Agnes was still in the middle of the investigation when she heard what happened, but she was not going to just wait at the capital while her princess was in danger.
Another thing that changed was that there seemed to be an undertone of excitement and anticipation from the Zerg themselves. When they weren't specifically doing something, they would spend their time resting around Louise and the cocoon.
The entire area had been deemed a no-fly zone, and thus Louise had been rather surprised when her mother and her sister Eleonore arrived one day on the third week. Her mother's familiar was trailing behind on feet, growling slightly at all the Zerg around them. Amusingly enough, it also seemed uncomfortable walking on the creep on the ground, but that's understandable seeing how 'goopy' it was.
Mother and daughter had a long talk about responsibilities and her familiar, but in the end Karin had let her go since she was trying her best to heal the princess (and she certainly agreed to have Cattleya brought here to be looked at if her familiar can heal what previously couldn't be healed).
Eleonore had spent most of her time with the Zerg, poking and prodding this and that. Louise had made sure that the brood understood to not hurt her sister, but also to let her know if Eleonore was hurting them so she could stop it. So far nothing has happened, but she knew her sister...
It was the end of the third week that it happened.
At first, she thought it was the queen talking to her again as it came from within her mind. But as she focused, she could hear a duality coming from the voice entering her mind.
/Mistress?//Louise Francoise?/
Louise jolted to her feet as she realized that it was the sound of the princess mixed with the voice of the queen. Thinking for a moment, she realized that it's probably because Henrietta had no other way of speaking with her.
/You're awake!/ Louise mentally exclaimed, having learned that even if you really are speaking to someone, one-sided conversations are still weird looking and sounding.
/I have awaken.//What happened, Louise Francoise?/ The princess asked.
/You were hurt. When Fouquet's golem exploded, a piece of the rock had damaged your head. My familiar is healing you right now./
/The Zerg is still growing./ /I see. I still feel weak./
/You should be fine in a week or so. The Queen is here, and she is worrying about you. I suggest you concentrate on healing so we can see you soon./
/I will be ready soon./ /I will, Louise Francoise./
/You can just call me Louise like we used to, Princess Henrietta. There is no need to thank me./
//Of course, Louise.//
Chapter 4
Adyen
Experienced.
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The attack came without warning... would have created some narrative excitement, but Louise was warned of a group of people had been approaching for nearly an hour ago.
An overlord had spotted them slowly approaching with cases that it hadn't been able to identify. After confirming with both the Queen and her Mother that they were not expecting anyone approaching, it was assumed that it was an attempt to assassinate the Queen and princess.
Louise worked with her mother to best use the Zerg to defend the location. Defensive platforms called spine crawler that has the ability to dig into the ground and shoot up from under enemies were placed in a way that would maximize their range and create a kill zone if they were rushed.
"It is the height of foolish for them to imagine it would be so easy to assassinate the Queen." Karin said as she brandished her wand-sword. "Louise, make sure your familiars know not to fire at me when I am in the air."
Louise nodded, her mouth dry. She knew her mother's legend. Everyone knows it - some even said that it has spread as far as the Elven lands. As she watched her mother leap onto her manticore and took to the air, she had to wonder whether this was going to become a new legend in her mother's story. And will she one day be more than just 'Zero'?
In the deepest part of her heart, she fervently hoped so. The person known as Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere cannot bare disappointing her mother - she would rather die before that happens.
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 4
In a way, Louise was disappointed in the attack. A hoard of alvis of many different size and shapes charged out of the forest and into a slaughter field. Not only was the musketeers waiting for them, some of the mages were able to cut off their ability to evade by creating walls on the side.
Even if they were able to make it through the initial barrage, many of the Zerg were waiting further back - they were held back to make sure any enemy getting closer would have a nasty surprise, but just the mages and musketeers alone were enough to hold the alvis off without letting any of them close the distance.
The battle ended suddenly when a tornado suddenly sprouted at the location the overlords were telling Louise her mother and the group of people controlling the alvis had clashed - all the alvis remaining suddenly fell to the ground as whoever was controlling them suffered the wraith of Karin the Heavy Wind.
From what the overlord could tell, most of the people were caught by the sudden attack, but it couldn't confirm if anyone escaped due to being pushed away by the explosion of wind. By the time it returned to the area, the fighting had already ended and Karin was standing in a clearing created by her spell in order to find any clues leftover from the attack.
Louise let the others know what the overlord saw, and the Queen sent some people to search for anyone still alive after Karin's spell. Louise didn't know exactly what she felt, but somehow she thought that it really shouldn't be so easy to defeat an assassination attempt on the Queen. What happened to all the honor and valor she had grown up listening or reading about? Where was the endless sea of faceless minions that the hero would have had to defeat before facing the villain in a monologue where the hero would had to prove them wrong in both words and actions? The whole attack had taken less than 10 minutes to clean up, and neither Louise or the Zerg swarm had been required.
But the mental link with the Zerg told her that this was it. That it was this easy to crush her opponents and it would have been even faster if the Zerg had helped. Louise isn't sure what to think, but promised herself to talk with someone about this feeling when the crisis was over.
Karin soon left in order to inform Cardinal Mazarin of the attack. The culprit needed to be found, and they had already gathered all the evidence avalible at the site of the attack.
From what Louise overheard, no humans took part in the attack - only alvis. Whoever lead the group had managed to escape, but no ordinary mage should have been able to control that many alvis at the same time.
Various ideas came to Louise, but with no proof she could speculate all day and still not come to a conclusion. Therefore, she spent her time with Henrietta, talking about what happened and her own thoughts on the situation.
//Isn't it well that they were defeated quickly?// Henrietta asked after Louise told her of what happened.
/I guess, but it just.../ Louise struggled to find the words to describe what she was thinking. /It's just so different from what I thought it would be. Stories tell how the hero would fight the villains with conviction and strength, but.../
/The Zerg is unstoppable./ /The difference in power is just too great./
Louise still find it strange that she's hearing two 'voices' sometimes. It happens less and less as time goes on, but occasionally she would still hear two voices saying similar things, but in different words.
/I know, it's my mother and we knew they were coming./ Louise admitted. /It doesn't mean that I couldn't wish I had something to do, just to show that I can be of use as well./
/We will crush any of your enemies./ /Well, a familiar is an extension of the mage, right?/ Henreitta said, reminding Louise of the fact. //When I exit this cocoon, we will find some use for/ /the Zerg.//your familiar./
/Thank you your highness./ Louise said, close to tearing up. /It will be my honor to help you./
//No Louise.// Henrietta said. //This time, it is I who will help you.//
Exactly 30 days after Henrietta was placed in the cocoon that Louise felt that the princess was ready to be 'released'. Louise alerted the Queen to this fact and they gathered in front of the cocoon, awaiting for Henrietta's arrival back into the world. Louise clenched her fists - she would not regret healing Henrietta, no matter how the princess looked when she came out.
'This was the only thing I could have done.' Louise thought to herself as the cocoon slowly split open. 'My whole life won't just be a Zero.'
But even though she thought that, Louise still gasped in surprise as Henrietta's hands grasped the open slit and forced it open.
Slowly, Henrietta's new form was shown to the world. The hands that pushed the cocoon apart looked like it was armored, but in very minimal way that would allow her to wear gloves.
As it continued to be forced open, her arms looked normal, but up near the shoulder another patch of what seemed to be the armored carapace that all Zerg had could be seen reinforcing the princess' strength.
Her head was the first thing to fully emerge from the cocoon, and at her close range Louise could see that the 'braids' that she originally thought would be hair was made out of some kind of organic tubes just slightly thicker than actual hair, and seemed to be able to move on their own.
'At least the color still looks right...' Louise numbly thought to herself as she noticed that it had the same length as the princess' old hair.
Henrietta slowly pulled herself out and Louise noticed more changes on the body of her princess. What she had originally thought as a corset was also made out of the same armor as the hands and was part of the princess' body. It extended from right under Henrietta's breasts (which Louise noticed with a pang of jealousy had grown larger again from a month ago) down to the thighs; when Henrietta finally stepped out, it was obviously that her feet were also covered by the same armor as her hands, which let her wear clothing and shoes if she chose to do so.
Both the Queen and Louise watched as Henrietta took a deep breath and stretched, her hair bristling as if it was stretching as well. The princess lifted her head as if looking into the sky before coming back down to the two in front of her.
"Louise. Mother." She greeted them with the voice she always had... but Louise couldn't help but feel there was an 'undertone' when Henrietta had spoken. Louise shook her head; it must be because she had been hearing the princess' voice from her mind so often that she would associate the duel tone with Henrietta's actual voice as well.
"Are... You're Henrietta?" The Queen's voice was filled with... surprise? Fear? Louise couldn't tell exactly the mix of emotions in the voice, but she could understand it. If she herself didn't know that the princess changed in order to be healed and saw her like this...
"Of course I am." Henrietta replied in a matter of fact tone of voice. "I can tell that you are surprised at how I look, but it was necessary for me to be healed."
The Queen continued to look slightly skeptical, but Henrietta just sighed and said, "If you like, mother, I can tell you all the little things that only we would know, but do you mind if I washed myself first? I feel like this conversation will go better once I am dressed."
After the princess dressed herself, Louise was not surprised to find that, indeed, most of the 'armor' was actually hidden beneath the fabric - though white would probably not be Henrietta's best color anymore as the darker color of the carapace could be faintly seen under the thinner fabric.
The Queen and princess talked in private for a while, but eventually the Queen was satisfied that the Henrietta that came out of the cocoon was truly her daughter, and the Queen had a touching reunion with her daughter.
It was eventually decided that they would return to the academy for a few days to remove any rumors of the princess' demise before returning to the capital. It seemed that the princess' new body changed some plans, and new ones would had to be made.
As the group moved off the creep, Louise could feel her connection with the Zerg become... muted. It's not as if she couldn't tell what was happening with them if she focused and was within range of an overlord, but it seemed like it was in the back of her mind and no longer at the tip of her thoughts like it was.
In return, she could feel Henrietta even stronger than before when she was in the cocoon.
//Of course, Louise.// Henrietta's mental voice entered her mind. //I am part of your Zerg now. Your 'healing' of me has allowed me to connect closely with the rest of the Swarm, so don't worry. I will always be just a thought away.//
Louise sighed in relief. She didn't want to admit it, but it was daunting to be kept on top of everything the Zerg did. Hopefully, Henrietta would find her familiar useful and help prove that she wasn't just Zero.
//Of course I will Louise.// /I live to serve./ /Of course I will./
An overlord had spotted them slowly approaching with cases that it hadn't been able to identify. After confirming with both the Queen and her Mother that they were not expecting anyone approaching, it was assumed that it was an attempt to assassinate the Queen and princess.
Louise worked with her mother to best use the Zerg to defend the location. Defensive platforms called spine crawler that has the ability to dig into the ground and shoot up from under enemies were placed in a way that would maximize their range and create a kill zone if they were rushed.
"It is the height of foolish for them to imagine it would be so easy to assassinate the Queen." Karin said as she brandished her wand-sword. "Louise, make sure your familiars know not to fire at me when I am in the air."
Louise nodded, her mouth dry. She knew her mother's legend. Everyone knows it - some even said that it has spread as far as the Elven lands. As she watched her mother leap onto her manticore and took to the air, she had to wonder whether this was going to become a new legend in her mother's story. And will she one day be more than just 'Zero'?
In the deepest part of her heart, she fervently hoped so. The person known as Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere cannot bare disappointing her mother - she would rather die before that happens.
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 4
In a way, Louise was disappointed in the attack. A hoard of alvis of many different size and shapes charged out of the forest and into a slaughter field. Not only was the musketeers waiting for them, some of the mages were able to cut off their ability to evade by creating walls on the side.
Even if they were able to make it through the initial barrage, many of the Zerg were waiting further back - they were held back to make sure any enemy getting closer would have a nasty surprise, but just the mages and musketeers alone were enough to hold the alvis off without letting any of them close the distance.
The battle ended suddenly when a tornado suddenly sprouted at the location the overlords were telling Louise her mother and the group of people controlling the alvis had clashed - all the alvis remaining suddenly fell to the ground as whoever was controlling them suffered the wraith of Karin the Heavy Wind.
From what the overlord could tell, most of the people were caught by the sudden attack, but it couldn't confirm if anyone escaped due to being pushed away by the explosion of wind. By the time it returned to the area, the fighting had already ended and Karin was standing in a clearing created by her spell in order to find any clues leftover from the attack.
Louise let the others know what the overlord saw, and the Queen sent some people to search for anyone still alive after Karin's spell. Louise didn't know exactly what she felt, but somehow she thought that it really shouldn't be so easy to defeat an assassination attempt on the Queen. What happened to all the honor and valor she had grown up listening or reading about? Where was the endless sea of faceless minions that the hero would have had to defeat before facing the villain in a monologue where the hero would had to prove them wrong in both words and actions? The whole attack had taken less than 10 minutes to clean up, and neither Louise or the Zerg swarm had been required.
But the mental link with the Zerg told her that this was it. That it was this easy to crush her opponents and it would have been even faster if the Zerg had helped. Louise isn't sure what to think, but promised herself to talk with someone about this feeling when the crisis was over.
Karin soon left in order to inform Cardinal Mazarin of the attack. The culprit needed to be found, and they had already gathered all the evidence avalible at the site of the attack.
From what Louise overheard, no humans took part in the attack - only alvis. Whoever lead the group had managed to escape, but no ordinary mage should have been able to control that many alvis at the same time.
Various ideas came to Louise, but with no proof she could speculate all day and still not come to a conclusion. Therefore, she spent her time with Henrietta, talking about what happened and her own thoughts on the situation.
//Isn't it well that they were defeated quickly?// Henrietta asked after Louise told her of what happened.
/I guess, but it just.../ Louise struggled to find the words to describe what she was thinking. /It's just so different from what I thought it would be. Stories tell how the hero would fight the villains with conviction and strength, but.../
/The Zerg is unstoppable./ /The difference in power is just too great./
Louise still find it strange that she's hearing two 'voices' sometimes. It happens less and less as time goes on, but occasionally she would still hear two voices saying similar things, but in different words.
/I know, it's my mother and we knew they were coming./ Louise admitted. /It doesn't mean that I couldn't wish I had something to do, just to show that I can be of use as well./
/We will crush any of your enemies./ /Well, a familiar is an extension of the mage, right?/ Henreitta said, reminding Louise of the fact. //When I exit this cocoon, we will find some use for/ /the Zerg.//your familiar./
/Thank you your highness./ Louise said, close to tearing up. /It will be my honor to help you./
//No Louise.// Henrietta said. //This time, it is I who will help you.//
Exactly 30 days after Henrietta was placed in the cocoon that Louise felt that the princess was ready to be 'released'. Louise alerted the Queen to this fact and they gathered in front of the cocoon, awaiting for Henrietta's arrival back into the world. Louise clenched her fists - she would not regret healing Henrietta, no matter how the princess looked when she came out.
'This was the only thing I could have done.' Louise thought to herself as the cocoon slowly split open. 'My whole life won't just be a Zero.'
But even though she thought that, Louise still gasped in surprise as Henrietta's hands grasped the open slit and forced it open.
Slowly, Henrietta's new form was shown to the world. The hands that pushed the cocoon apart looked like it was armored, but in very minimal way that would allow her to wear gloves.
As it continued to be forced open, her arms looked normal, but up near the shoulder another patch of what seemed to be the armored carapace that all Zerg had could be seen reinforcing the princess' strength.
Her head was the first thing to fully emerge from the cocoon, and at her close range Louise could see that the 'braids' that she originally thought would be hair was made out of some kind of organic tubes just slightly thicker than actual hair, and seemed to be able to move on their own.
'At least the color still looks right...' Louise numbly thought to herself as she noticed that it had the same length as the princess' old hair.
Henrietta slowly pulled herself out and Louise noticed more changes on the body of her princess. What she had originally thought as a corset was also made out of the same armor as the hands and was part of the princess' body. It extended from right under Henrietta's breasts (which Louise noticed with a pang of jealousy had grown larger again from a month ago) down to the thighs; when Henrietta finally stepped out, it was obviously that her feet were also covered by the same armor as her hands, which let her wear clothing and shoes if she chose to do so.
Both the Queen and Louise watched as Henrietta took a deep breath and stretched, her hair bristling as if it was stretching as well. The princess lifted her head as if looking into the sky before coming back down to the two in front of her.
"Louise. Mother." She greeted them with the voice she always had... but Louise couldn't help but feel there was an 'undertone' when Henrietta had spoken. Louise shook her head; it must be because she had been hearing the princess' voice from her mind so often that she would associate the duel tone with Henrietta's actual voice as well.
"Are... You're Henrietta?" The Queen's voice was filled with... surprise? Fear? Louise couldn't tell exactly the mix of emotions in the voice, but she could understand it. If she herself didn't know that the princess changed in order to be healed and saw her like this...
"Of course I am." Henrietta replied in a matter of fact tone of voice. "I can tell that you are surprised at how I look, but it was necessary for me to be healed."
The Queen continued to look slightly skeptical, but Henrietta just sighed and said, "If you like, mother, I can tell you all the little things that only we would know, but do you mind if I washed myself first? I feel like this conversation will go better once I am dressed."
After the princess dressed herself, Louise was not surprised to find that, indeed, most of the 'armor' was actually hidden beneath the fabric - though white would probably not be Henrietta's best color anymore as the darker color of the carapace could be faintly seen under the thinner fabric.
The Queen and princess talked in private for a while, but eventually the Queen was satisfied that the Henrietta that came out of the cocoon was truly her daughter, and the Queen had a touching reunion with her daughter.
It was eventually decided that they would return to the academy for a few days to remove any rumors of the princess' demise before returning to the capital. It seemed that the princess' new body changed some plans, and new ones would had to be made.
As the group moved off the creep, Louise could feel her connection with the Zerg become... muted. It's not as if she couldn't tell what was happening with them if she focused and was within range of an overlord, but it seemed like it was in the back of her mind and no longer at the tip of her thoughts like it was.
In return, she could feel Henrietta even stronger than before when she was in the cocoon.
//Of course, Louise.// Henrietta's mental voice entered her mind. //I am part of your Zerg now. Your 'healing' of me has allowed me to connect closely with the rest of the Swarm, so don't worry. I will always be just a thought away.//
Louise sighed in relief. She didn't want to admit it, but it was daunting to be kept on top of everything the Zerg did. Hopefully, Henrietta would find her familiar useful and help prove that she wasn't just Zero.
//Of course I will Louise.// /I live to serve./ /Of course I will./
Last edited:
Chapter 5
Adyen
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Their return to the academy was received with loud cheers and excited welcomes from both the staff and students. The headmaster personally greeted them, though he glanced curiously at the hat that Henrietta was wearing to prevent people from seeing her new 'hair'.
The headmaster's secretary, a woman named Longueville lead the group to a guest room in the main building where Henrietta and her guards made themselves comfortable. Louise accompanied them to make sure the princess was alright before returning back to her own room at the East tower.
Louise thought about request by the princess to join her at the capital. On one hand, she would be of more use to her there, but on the other... she can't even cast a single spell correctly. Exactly what use could she be that Henrietta can't do herself with the Zerg?
She was so engrossed with her internal debate that she nearly bumped into the giant dragon that sat in the middle of the path between her and her dorm tower.
Glancing up, she found a blue-haired mage standing beside the dragon and looking at her intensely. Louise searched her memory for who this woman was, and came up with a half remembered memory of being amazed at the girl who had summoned a dragon for her familiar.
"Tabitha, right?" Louise asked, seeing that the girl didn't start the conversation. "Can I help you?"
She was quiet for a few more seconds, but then she asked, "You healed the princess' mind, correct?"
Still suffering a slight bout of self-doubt, Louise answered, "My familiar did, yes." She then narrowed her eye, "Wait, nobody should know that. How did you find out?"
Off in a corner of her mind, she could feel Henrietta respond to her suspicions. But before Louise could figure out what her princess was going to do, Tabitha answered by bowing down to the ground with her head touching the floor.
"Please heal my mother."
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 5
Henrietta arrived in the middle of Tabitha explaining her situation to Louise.
Apparently, Tabitha was actually Charlotte Helene Orleans de Gallia, heir apparent to the throne of Gallia after her uncle King Joseph.
During the previous reign, there apparently had been some tensions with the succession, and her father had been murdered while her mother poisoned with a potion that damages the mind. Tabitha was forced to take on dangerous missions in return for the protection of her mother.
"Or in other words, a hostage." Henrietta ended, a frown on her face. Louise had a similar frown as she tried to understand how could someone be so evil to murder their own brother and then poison their family.
Tabitha - no, Charlotte - didn't say anything, but it was obvious why she would look for a way to cure her mother. If her mother was cured, then they could escape the clutches of the evil king - and who knows what kind of mission she would be sent to? What if her next mission was too much and Charlotte didn't make it back?
Probably exactly what he's planning too.
But then she remembered that to heal the mind, it requires the thought of someone who can help it heal. They didn't have anyone that knew Charlotte's mother, and it's obvious that Charlotte herself can't do it...
//Do not worry.// Came Henrietta's voice in her mind. //You could always have Charlotte go through the process so that she's like me first, and then use that link to heal her mother.//
Louise brightened at that thought. "Then we should try to help her, Princess. I can't imagine someone who would do such evil things to their own family!"
Henrietta smiled and nodded. "Of course. This would also be a perfect mission to send your familiar as they are unknown and perfectly capable of defending you against any foe. I will send an overseer to scout the location for you, but I am required back in the capital. So you should go help my royal cousin in her plight."
After getting the location of where Charlotte's mother was held, Henrietta bid them good night and returned to her room. Charlotte, however, looked at Louise with eyes filled with questions - questions that Louise knew would have to be answered before they departed.
The next day, Louise was surprised by the fact that Kirche von Zerbst had found out about their plans to head to Gallia in secret.
Charlotte gave Louise a shrug as if saying 'it's less of a hassle than to hide it from her' to which the pink-let could only sigh. She had to deal with Kirche before, but a month without the Germanian had dulled her memory of how annoying the red-head could be.
However, even she became serious when they explained what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. To Louise's relief (and that's something she is going to take to the GRAVE!), Kirche stopped making fun of her as the topic became serious.
Before they left, however, they stopped to see the princess Henrietta privately. There they explained how the healing would work and the sort of physical sacrifice Charlotte will be required to heal her mother, as well as the changes to her mother's body, by showing the changes to the princess' own body.
To Louise's surprise, Charlotte took it in stride and said that if physical changes was all it took, she would be willing to become unrecognizable if it meant her mother would be healed.
Kirche was initially surprised, but at Charlotte's declaration, she too said that she would support her friend all the way, even if she shared the same changes.
In a way, it made Louise jealous that the two were such good friends that they could support each other like that, but a reassuring feeling came from Henrietta reminded Louise that she had a close friend in the princess as well.
The trio left in the afternoon after Henrietta told them that she had send some overlords to carry some of the Zerg closer to their destination and set up somewhere they could rest.
They traveled mostly by land, though some parts they had Charlotte's familiar carry them (who, they learned, was a rhyme dragon by the name of Irukuku and able to transform into a girl-like form) in order to avoid patrols and other hazards.
Eventually they reach Charlotte's unofficial territory - unofficial because officially it still belonged to her mother's - where Louise was able to sense that a small Zerg base had been built deep in the forests and hills. Once there, they explained Henrietta's plan to the pair:
The overseer was sent earlier to observe the supply routes to the castle. After observing them, the next time they arrive the overseer will create doppelgangers of them and replace them. Once inside, they will proceed to disable the guards and alert her butler that they are coming to rescue them as well as open the front gates for the Zerg force to enter.
Louise could admit that it's a simple plan. She is somewhat surprised that her princess thought of it, but assumed that it was part of court education - part of being a leader is being able to make plans and lead, of course. Neither Charlotte or Kirche had any problems with it, and thus the princes of Gallia wrote a letter to her loyal butler and waited.
The base that was set up had a good defensive position set up that allowed the Zerg to ambush anything that came from the main roads. A lair was built to serve as a staging area, and already there were over 50 Zerg in the base area.
While Louise was sure that they were more than a match for anyone who could still fight after they enter the castle, Charlotte had said that there is likely an elf watching over her mother.
Louise worriedly looked towards the castle. Elves were a legend that was just as scary a her mother, but had been around for thousands of years. When they were planning and this concern came out, Henrietta shook her head and said something about not being worse than a 'protoss', but didn't explain. All she said was that the Zerg would be able to take down a single elf, and if not they could sneak Charlotte's mother out while the Zerg keeps the elf occupied.
Either way, she hoped that it would be enough. Louise didn't have the amount of faith Henrietta seemed to have in the Zerg, but she would try to believe if it means believing in what her princess believes.
Up on top of the castle, a pair of eyes glanced out to the distance. Something was coming - something the elf will need to confirm with his own eyes.
The headmaster's secretary, a woman named Longueville lead the group to a guest room in the main building where Henrietta and her guards made themselves comfortable. Louise accompanied them to make sure the princess was alright before returning back to her own room at the East tower.
Louise thought about request by the princess to join her at the capital. On one hand, she would be of more use to her there, but on the other... she can't even cast a single spell correctly. Exactly what use could she be that Henrietta can't do herself with the Zerg?
She was so engrossed with her internal debate that she nearly bumped into the giant dragon that sat in the middle of the path between her and her dorm tower.
Glancing up, she found a blue-haired mage standing beside the dragon and looking at her intensely. Louise searched her memory for who this woman was, and came up with a half remembered memory of being amazed at the girl who had summoned a dragon for her familiar.
"Tabitha, right?" Louise asked, seeing that the girl didn't start the conversation. "Can I help you?"
She was quiet for a few more seconds, but then she asked, "You healed the princess' mind, correct?"
Still suffering a slight bout of self-doubt, Louise answered, "My familiar did, yes." She then narrowed her eye, "Wait, nobody should know that. How did you find out?"
Off in a corner of her mind, she could feel Henrietta respond to her suspicions. But before Louise could figure out what her princess was going to do, Tabitha answered by bowing down to the ground with her head touching the floor.
"Please heal my mother."
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 5
Henrietta arrived in the middle of Tabitha explaining her situation to Louise.
Apparently, Tabitha was actually Charlotte Helene Orleans de Gallia, heir apparent to the throne of Gallia after her uncle King Joseph.
During the previous reign, there apparently had been some tensions with the succession, and her father had been murdered while her mother poisoned with a potion that damages the mind. Tabitha was forced to take on dangerous missions in return for the protection of her mother.
"Or in other words, a hostage." Henrietta ended, a frown on her face. Louise had a similar frown as she tried to understand how could someone be so evil to murder their own brother and then poison their family.
Tabitha - no, Charlotte - didn't say anything, but it was obvious why she would look for a way to cure her mother. If her mother was cured, then they could escape the clutches of the evil king - and who knows what kind of mission she would be sent to? What if her next mission was too much and Charlotte didn't make it back?
Probably exactly what he's planning too.
But then she remembered that to heal the mind, it requires the thought of someone who can help it heal. They didn't have anyone that knew Charlotte's mother, and it's obvious that Charlotte herself can't do it...
//Do not worry.// Came Henrietta's voice in her mind. //You could always have Charlotte go through the process so that she's like me first, and then use that link to heal her mother.//
Louise brightened at that thought. "Then we should try to help her, Princess. I can't imagine someone who would do such evil things to their own family!"
Henrietta smiled and nodded. "Of course. This would also be a perfect mission to send your familiar as they are unknown and perfectly capable of defending you against any foe. I will send an overseer to scout the location for you, but I am required back in the capital. So you should go help my royal cousin in her plight."
After getting the location of where Charlotte's mother was held, Henrietta bid them good night and returned to her room. Charlotte, however, looked at Louise with eyes filled with questions - questions that Louise knew would have to be answered before they departed.
The next day, Louise was surprised by the fact that Kirche von Zerbst had found out about their plans to head to Gallia in secret.
Charlotte gave Louise a shrug as if saying 'it's less of a hassle than to hide it from her' to which the pink-let could only sigh. She had to deal with Kirche before, but a month without the Germanian had dulled her memory of how annoying the red-head could be.
However, even she became serious when they explained what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. To Louise's relief (and that's something she is going to take to the GRAVE!), Kirche stopped making fun of her as the topic became serious.
Before they left, however, they stopped to see the princess Henrietta privately. There they explained how the healing would work and the sort of physical sacrifice Charlotte will be required to heal her mother, as well as the changes to her mother's body, by showing the changes to the princess' own body.
To Louise's surprise, Charlotte took it in stride and said that if physical changes was all it took, she would be willing to become unrecognizable if it meant her mother would be healed.
Kirche was initially surprised, but at Charlotte's declaration, she too said that she would support her friend all the way, even if she shared the same changes.
In a way, it made Louise jealous that the two were such good friends that they could support each other like that, but a reassuring feeling came from Henrietta reminded Louise that she had a close friend in the princess as well.
The trio left in the afternoon after Henrietta told them that she had send some overlords to carry some of the Zerg closer to their destination and set up somewhere they could rest.
They traveled mostly by land, though some parts they had Charlotte's familiar carry them (who, they learned, was a rhyme dragon by the name of Irukuku and able to transform into a girl-like form) in order to avoid patrols and other hazards.
Eventually they reach Charlotte's unofficial territory - unofficial because officially it still belonged to her mother's - where Louise was able to sense that a small Zerg base had been built deep in the forests and hills. Once there, they explained Henrietta's plan to the pair:
The overseer was sent earlier to observe the supply routes to the castle. After observing them, the next time they arrive the overseer will create doppelgangers of them and replace them. Once inside, they will proceed to disable the guards and alert her butler that they are coming to rescue them as well as open the front gates for the Zerg force to enter.
Louise could admit that it's a simple plan. She is somewhat surprised that her princess thought of it, but assumed that it was part of court education - part of being a leader is being able to make plans and lead, of course. Neither Charlotte or Kirche had any problems with it, and thus the princes of Gallia wrote a letter to her loyal butler and waited.
The base that was set up had a good defensive position set up that allowed the Zerg to ambush anything that came from the main roads. A lair was built to serve as a staging area, and already there were over 50 Zerg in the base area.
While Louise was sure that they were more than a match for anyone who could still fight after they enter the castle, Charlotte had said that there is likely an elf watching over her mother.
Louise worriedly looked towards the castle. Elves were a legend that was just as scary a her mother, but had been around for thousands of years. When they were planning and this concern came out, Henrietta shook her head and said something about not being worse than a 'protoss', but didn't explain. All she said was that the Zerg would be able to take down a single elf, and if not they could sneak Charlotte's mother out while the Zerg keeps the elf occupied.
Either way, she hoped that it would be enough. Louise didn't have the amount of faith Henrietta seemed to have in the Zerg, but she would try to believe if it means believing in what her princess believes.
Up on top of the castle, a pair of eyes glanced out to the distance. Something was coming - something the elf will need to confirm with his own eyes.
Last edited:
Chapter 6
Adyen
Experienced.
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Louise steeled herself to what was to happen tonight. Charlotte's letter was given with the changelings that replaced the people leading the supply wagon, and with the overseer in the sky, she could follow them as they worked.
So therefore she could follow the changelings as they went into the castle, giving all the proper codes and hand signs as the overseer had seen before. She could watch as they greeted the kitchen staff, and handed over a letter for the butler that Charlotte had mentioned. She could watch as some helped the kitchen staff, only to feed them a drug and then take their place. She should make sure that the contaminated food was given to all the guards who had the night shift, and that anyone else that was going to eat dinner would also take part in that food.
But she trusts that the Zerg will follow the plan, and thus she doesn't. Instead, she looks at those who will be assaulting the castle, and mentally prepares herself to fight for real. While she had always mentally imagined herself fighting under Henrietta, she never really imagined what she would actually be fighting.
She also knew that of the three (Charlotte, Kirche, and herself), she was the one with the least capability in fighting. She can't even cast a single spell; how would she fight? Besides her connection with the Zerg, there's nothing special or useful about her. She was just another student at the academy, and one who can't even cast a spell! What can she do in this situation?
And thus her worries seemed to circle around like a never-ending spiral. She focused on herself and her worries, not willing to see the work that others did on her behalf.
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 6
Nightfall arrived too soon for Louise.
Having confirmed that the letter was sent and the overseer was able to see the butler with Charlotte's mother, Louise gave the order to advance to the castle.
Louise could feel through the Zerg that things had went just as planned - all the guards had some of the drugged food, and now were unconscious for them to move through. The problem however, was that the butler had told them the elf did not eat with the soldiers, nor did he eat anything from the kitchen.
Without any alternatives, Louise figured that they'll continue growing Zerg creatures and keep having the Zerg fight him while they steal Charlotte's mother. But Charlotte said that they don't need too many because there isn't enough space within the castle for that many Zerg anyways.
Traveling from the hive to the castle was extremely quick when riding on top of the Zerg. It also allowed Louise to keep in contact with the rest of the brood as she finds that the 'connection' is weaker without direct contact or via creep.
The Zergling she was on top of quickly reach the castle, and as planned the changelings opened up the doors for them. She quickly got off and met up with Charlotte who had landed quietly outside the castle once they confirmed that the guards were taken down.
"The brood will find the elf and keep it distracted." Louise said. "Go find your mother and bring her out. We'll keep her with us and then retreat."
Charlotte nodded silently as Louise mentally checked the zergling she left with Kirche. She wasn't there as she was to be backup if anything did not go according to plan, but...
A sudden explosion of air blew out a wall near the top of the wing Charlotte's mother was at, and Louise suddenly KNEW that some part of her brood had died.
Later on when she tries to describe how losing part of her brood felt, she would describe it as having a part of her body bitten off. But at that time, all she could feel was rage - anger at something that would dare go against the Zerg; hatred of having lost some of her brood; and some self-loathing that she had allowed this to happen.
The zergling that had been waiting for her obediently placed its head under Louise's hand, and she immediately focused her attention upon where her zerg had met the elf guarding the castle.
To her surprise, the elf didn't look anything like stories depicted them. Its eyes wasn't blazing in weird powers, nor was there anything like an aura of fear surrounding it. It honestly looked like a person, but with weird fashion tastes and pointy ears.
However, the moment that she focused on the Zerg there, it seemed like the elf noticed as well. "So I have finally caught your attention." He intoned as he waved his arms out towards another pair of zerglings that had reached that floor.
Louise could feel... something /psionic/ towards her and she ordered those zerglings to just jump out from the hole. Her actions saved the zerglings as a ripple of air blasted through the spot they were at, and cut straight through the remaining walls behind them.
A trio of hydralisk shot spines up through the hole, but the elf held out his hand and they were blocked by some kind of barrier. A pair of banelings jumped from the floor beneath and exploded under him in an attempt to melt the floor, but it was like he could see them through the stone itself as he dodged to a side. Roches climbed the stairs and tried to shot its acidic spit at him, but with a gesture the floor turned into a stone hand and covered up the stairway, preventing reinforcements via the stairs.
He jumped out of the castle and to Louise's surprise, floated in mid-air. "Know this, oh Great Enemy. We defeated you thousands of years ago, we will do so again." With those parting words, he flew off into the sky while keeping that defensive shield up to prevent the hydralisks from hitting him.
Louise watched him leave from an overseer, but could not follow. What did he mean with those words? How strong are elves to be able to fight against all the Zerg here and escape without any wounds?
Reorienting herself, Louise noted that Charlotte had headed towards where her mother was held and Kirche had approached her from behind, looking at the hole that was made from the elf.
"So, that's an elf?" She asked. Louise can only mutely nod.
A day later they were all returning to Tristain. Charlotte's mother was being kept asleep with a spell, while the butler made sure she stayed on top of the Roach that was carrying her. Louise was keeping a thought out in case the elf was following them when she felt a mental scream of pure rage resound through her mind.
All the Zerg that was with them stopped at the same time and screeched in response to the feelings being channeled through them. Louise held her head in pain as she could feel the sheer anger resounding through all of the Zerg, but she herself did not have any way to contact Henrietta to ask what happened.
She then felt an order from the princess to move the Zerg to the West coast of Tristian, and felt the brood with her instinctively move to follow that order. Shaking her head to clear it, she quickly regained control of the brood and told it to continue its course back to Tristian
Charlotte, having noticed that the Zerg had calmed down, flew down with her familiar with a questioning look. Louise shook her head at her and told her that she'll explain later that night, but told the dragon riding princess that they need to hurry up.
It took a bit more than a week for them to return to Tristain, and the moment Louise got close to the capital she heard what happened from Henrietta via the overlord network.
Apparently Albion had fallen under the control of the rebels, who call themselves the Reconquista and had somehow had managed to revive prince Wales' corpse in an attempt to abduct Henrietta. The princess saw through the ploy, and managed to capture the group there to abduct her as well as find out who was behind the plan before whoever did the deed cut the magic off, returning Wales to a corpse.
Louise found herself speechless at the audacity of those people. Not only did they kill off the royal family of Albion, but they had the gall to raise the corpse of the prince in an attempt to abduct the princess of a neighboring one. Her anger only rose when she heard that the rebels had used some childhood letters between Wales and Henrietta to break the alliance between Tristan and Germania.
When she asked Henrietta what did she do in response, the princess mentally 'showed' Louise that she had moved a large Zerg force to the Western boarders and set up a Lair there to prepare for an invasion of Albion.
Henrietta had found out who did this to Wales, and quickly ordered the Zerg within Tristian to prepare for an invasion in anticipation for how she knew Louise would react. Louise could barely restrain her anger, but agreed that the Reconquista had to pay for doing all the things they did.
But first, they had to help Charlotte and her mother.
Princess Henrietta met them at Lair where she was healed. She had the sneaky smile on her face that she always wore when she got Louise into trouble and explained that she left a body double in the capital to make sure nobody knew she was gone, and she was able to know exactly what was happening at all time anyways due to the overlords in the area.
"Now, we can't exactly do what Louise did to help me because it requires thoughts from people who know the person and you're not able to connect with the Zerg, but that's why I've been searching through the Zerg's genetic memories to see if I can find anything that could help." Henrietta explained as she lead them back to the cocoon.
As they got near, a large creature burrowed out. From what Louise knew of the Zerg, it looked somewhat like what was called an 'infestor' came out, but she didn't really understand what it did.
"This, is what is called an 'infestor'. And yes, I know how that sounds, but that's what the Zerg calls it." Henrietta explained with a shrug. "What it is going to do, is connect with your mind by placing that tail onto the back of your neck, and from there your mind will be drawn into the Zerg and thus allowing you to heal your mother like Louise did with me."
As a pair of Zerglings carefully placed Charlotte's mother into the cocoon, Louise noticed a small cupped bed filled with some green substance near it. Henrietta explained that since Charlotte needed to be connected with the Zerg for a majority of the process, they had prepared her a place to rest her body while the mind was busy.
Louise, Irukuku, and Kirche watched as Charlotte took off her clothes as directed and stepped up to the large form of the infestor. The infestor offered a small tentacle to Henrietta, who held it and pulled it behind the blue-haired girl.
"Are you ready? It's going to feel weird, but don't worry. We'll be there."
Charlotte took a breath and nodded. Henrietta lifted the tenticle to Charlotte's neck and carefully placed it on her spine. "Now remember, focus on your mother." She reminded Charlotte.
The girl seemed to shoot up taller as the tentacle did something that caused her to jump, but both Henrietta and Charlotte was facing away from them and the princess had blocked the sight of Charlotte's back to them.
Henrietta held the blue-haired girl up by the arms, but soon let go as both of them turned towards the watchers. They couldn't see anything different about Charlotte other than having the tentacle stuck to her back, but Louise knew that they were connected when she spoke.
For when Charlotte spoke, Louise could hear her voice both from the body in front of her, and the mind within the Zerg.
"/Assimilation successful. Your commands?/"
So therefore she could follow the changelings as they went into the castle, giving all the proper codes and hand signs as the overseer had seen before. She could watch as they greeted the kitchen staff, and handed over a letter for the butler that Charlotte had mentioned. She could watch as some helped the kitchen staff, only to feed them a drug and then take their place. She should make sure that the contaminated food was given to all the guards who had the night shift, and that anyone else that was going to eat dinner would also take part in that food.
But she trusts that the Zerg will follow the plan, and thus she doesn't. Instead, she looks at those who will be assaulting the castle, and mentally prepares herself to fight for real. While she had always mentally imagined herself fighting under Henrietta, she never really imagined what she would actually be fighting.
She also knew that of the three (Charlotte, Kirche, and herself), she was the one with the least capability in fighting. She can't even cast a single spell; how would she fight? Besides her connection with the Zerg, there's nothing special or useful about her. She was just another student at the academy, and one who can't even cast a spell! What can she do in this situation?
And thus her worries seemed to circle around like a never-ending spiral. She focused on herself and her worries, not willing to see the work that others did on her behalf.
ZnT/HotS
The Cradle of the Heart
Chapter 6
Nightfall arrived too soon for Louise.
Having confirmed that the letter was sent and the overseer was able to see the butler with Charlotte's mother, Louise gave the order to advance to the castle.
Louise could feel through the Zerg that things had went just as planned - all the guards had some of the drugged food, and now were unconscious for them to move through. The problem however, was that the butler had told them the elf did not eat with the soldiers, nor did he eat anything from the kitchen.
Without any alternatives, Louise figured that they'll continue growing Zerg creatures and keep having the Zerg fight him while they steal Charlotte's mother. But Charlotte said that they don't need too many because there isn't enough space within the castle for that many Zerg anyways.
Traveling from the hive to the castle was extremely quick when riding on top of the Zerg. It also allowed Louise to keep in contact with the rest of the brood as she finds that the 'connection' is weaker without direct contact or via creep.
The Zergling she was on top of quickly reach the castle, and as planned the changelings opened up the doors for them. She quickly got off and met up with Charlotte who had landed quietly outside the castle once they confirmed that the guards were taken down.
"The brood will find the elf and keep it distracted." Louise said. "Go find your mother and bring her out. We'll keep her with us and then retreat."
Charlotte nodded silently as Louise mentally checked the zergling she left with Kirche. She wasn't there as she was to be backup if anything did not go according to plan, but...
A sudden explosion of air blew out a wall near the top of the wing Charlotte's mother was at, and Louise suddenly KNEW that some part of her brood had died.
Later on when she tries to describe how losing part of her brood felt, she would describe it as having a part of her body bitten off. But at that time, all she could feel was rage - anger at something that would dare go against the Zerg; hatred of having lost some of her brood; and some self-loathing that she had allowed this to happen.
The zergling that had been waiting for her obediently placed its head under Louise's hand, and she immediately focused her attention upon where her zerg had met the elf guarding the castle.
To her surprise, the elf didn't look anything like stories depicted them. Its eyes wasn't blazing in weird powers, nor was there anything like an aura of fear surrounding it. It honestly looked like a person, but with weird fashion tastes and pointy ears.
However, the moment that she focused on the Zerg there, it seemed like the elf noticed as well. "So I have finally caught your attention." He intoned as he waved his arms out towards another pair of zerglings that had reached that floor.
Louise could feel... something /psionic/ towards her and she ordered those zerglings to just jump out from the hole. Her actions saved the zerglings as a ripple of air blasted through the spot they were at, and cut straight through the remaining walls behind them.
A trio of hydralisk shot spines up through the hole, but the elf held out his hand and they were blocked by some kind of barrier. A pair of banelings jumped from the floor beneath and exploded under him in an attempt to melt the floor, but it was like he could see them through the stone itself as he dodged to a side. Roches climbed the stairs and tried to shot its acidic spit at him, but with a gesture the floor turned into a stone hand and covered up the stairway, preventing reinforcements via the stairs.
He jumped out of the castle and to Louise's surprise, floated in mid-air. "Know this, oh Great Enemy. We defeated you thousands of years ago, we will do so again." With those parting words, he flew off into the sky while keeping that defensive shield up to prevent the hydralisks from hitting him.
Louise watched him leave from an overseer, but could not follow. What did he mean with those words? How strong are elves to be able to fight against all the Zerg here and escape without any wounds?
Reorienting herself, Louise noted that Charlotte had headed towards where her mother was held and Kirche had approached her from behind, looking at the hole that was made from the elf.
"So, that's an elf?" She asked. Louise can only mutely nod.
A day later they were all returning to Tristain. Charlotte's mother was being kept asleep with a spell, while the butler made sure she stayed on top of the Roach that was carrying her. Louise was keeping a thought out in case the elf was following them when she felt a mental scream of pure rage resound through her mind.
All the Zerg that was with them stopped at the same time and screeched in response to the feelings being channeled through them. Louise held her head in pain as she could feel the sheer anger resounding through all of the Zerg, but she herself did not have any way to contact Henrietta to ask what happened.
She then felt an order from the princess to move the Zerg to the West coast of Tristian, and felt the brood with her instinctively move to follow that order. Shaking her head to clear it, she quickly regained control of the brood and told it to continue its course back to Tristian
Charlotte, having noticed that the Zerg had calmed down, flew down with her familiar with a questioning look. Louise shook her head at her and told her that she'll explain later that night, but told the dragon riding princess that they need to hurry up.
It took a bit more than a week for them to return to Tristain, and the moment Louise got close to the capital she heard what happened from Henrietta via the overlord network.
Apparently Albion had fallen under the control of the rebels, who call themselves the Reconquista and had somehow had managed to revive prince Wales' corpse in an attempt to abduct Henrietta. The princess saw through the ploy, and managed to capture the group there to abduct her as well as find out who was behind the plan before whoever did the deed cut the magic off, returning Wales to a corpse.
Louise found herself speechless at the audacity of those people. Not only did they kill off the royal family of Albion, but they had the gall to raise the corpse of the prince in an attempt to abduct the princess of a neighboring one. Her anger only rose when she heard that the rebels had used some childhood letters between Wales and Henrietta to break the alliance between Tristan and Germania.
When she asked Henrietta what did she do in response, the princess mentally 'showed' Louise that she had moved a large Zerg force to the Western boarders and set up a Lair there to prepare for an invasion of Albion.
Henrietta had found out who did this to Wales, and quickly ordered the Zerg within Tristian to prepare for an invasion in anticipation for how she knew Louise would react. Louise could barely restrain her anger, but agreed that the Reconquista had to pay for doing all the things they did.
But first, they had to help Charlotte and her mother.
Princess Henrietta met them at Lair where she was healed. She had the sneaky smile on her face that she always wore when she got Louise into trouble and explained that she left a body double in the capital to make sure nobody knew she was gone, and she was able to know exactly what was happening at all time anyways due to the overlords in the area.
"Now, we can't exactly do what Louise did to help me because it requires thoughts from people who know the person and you're not able to connect with the Zerg, but that's why I've been searching through the Zerg's genetic memories to see if I can find anything that could help." Henrietta explained as she lead them back to the cocoon.
As they got near, a large creature burrowed out. From what Louise knew of the Zerg, it looked somewhat like what was called an 'infestor' came out, but she didn't really understand what it did.
"This, is what is called an 'infestor'. And yes, I know how that sounds, but that's what the Zerg calls it." Henrietta explained with a shrug. "What it is going to do, is connect with your mind by placing that tail onto the back of your neck, and from there your mind will be drawn into the Zerg and thus allowing you to heal your mother like Louise did with me."
As a pair of Zerglings carefully placed Charlotte's mother into the cocoon, Louise noticed a small cupped bed filled with some green substance near it. Henrietta explained that since Charlotte needed to be connected with the Zerg for a majority of the process, they had prepared her a place to rest her body while the mind was busy.
Louise, Irukuku, and Kirche watched as Charlotte took off her clothes as directed and stepped up to the large form of the infestor. The infestor offered a small tentacle to Henrietta, who held it and pulled it behind the blue-haired girl.
"Are you ready? It's going to feel weird, but don't worry. We'll be there."
Charlotte took a breath and nodded. Henrietta lifted the tenticle to Charlotte's neck and carefully placed it on her spine. "Now remember, focus on your mother." She reminded Charlotte.
The girl seemed to shoot up taller as the tentacle did something that caused her to jump, but both Henrietta and Charlotte was facing away from them and the princess had blocked the sight of Charlotte's back to them.
Henrietta held the blue-haired girl up by the arms, but soon let go as both of them turned towards the watchers. They couldn't see anything different about Charlotte other than having the tentacle stuck to her back, but Louise knew that they were connected when she spoke.
For when Charlotte spoke, Louise could hear her voice both from the body in front of her, and the mind within the Zerg.
"/Assimilation successful. Your commands?/"