Once Michael and Ralf were done talking, Tiffania and Charlotte rejoin with them, the latter looking over at her dragon and saying, "Illococoo."
At first, everyone but Michael is confused by this, until Charlotte's dragon, Sylphid begins shrinking down, her body morphing until she becomes a tall girl with dark blue hair matching the colour of her scales in her dragon form. She has a cute face and a curious childish expression, relatively large breasts... And is completely naked.
"Ouch!" Michael yelps as Tiffania pinches his side with a pout to stop him from staring at the naked girl before them.
"Big sis?" the new girl asks while shamelessly walking over to Charlotte without covering her visible flesh.
Charlotte taps her staff on the sand and gestures at the bag that'd been dropped from Illococoo after her transformation. "Clothes."
All the while, Ralf just watches on with wide eyes, his mouth almost hitting the ground as he murmurs, "Rhyme Dragon...?"
"Rhyme dragon?" Tiffania questions, not having ever heard of such a thing.
Ralf nods, "Rhyme dragons are, or were, rare creatures that are as intelligent as humans, can speak our language, and transform at will. They were said to be extinct after Nobles hunted all of them to acquire potion and magic materials..."
"Well, can't have been all of them if Charlotte summoned one as her familiar. She could've summoned one from another world, but I think that's only limited to Void Mages." Michael wonders aloud as Charlotte returns with a now 'clothed' Illococoo.
"Illococoo." Charlotte quietly says, glancing at her familiar with a meaningful look.
"Okay, big sis... Hiya! I'm Illococoo! Big sis' familiar spirit! It's nice to meet you all!.. Oh! And sorry for attacking you earlier, I was just doing as I was told!" she says, rubbing the back of her head despite not sounding apologetic at all.
Michael shrugs, "It's no big deal. Nice to meet you Illococoo... Er, can I just call you Illu? Your name is kinda, unwieldy for me..."
Tiffania nods, "Ah, me too please!"
Illococoo nods, "If big sis says it's okay." she says, glancing to her summoner who just nods in response. "Yipee!"
--------------------------------------------------------------
The group spends around ten or so minutes getting acquainted under the hot desert sun, and Michael lays out his basic plans for Charlotte and Illu so that they understand his goals. They were a bit wary of going anywhere near Tristania after the coupe, but they didn't really have a choice if they wanted to help Charlotte's mother.
Specifically, Michael would have Charlotte go to the academy to speak with Osmond to see if they possessed Brimir's prayer book. Michael, Tiffania, and Ralf were obviously unable to due to their criminal status, and Charlotte would have a far easier time due to her still technically being a student there.
Everyone else would head to the capital so that Michael could sneak into the palace to search for the Prayer book. From what he remembered of the anime, Henrietta was the one who handed it to Louise, but Osmond handed it to Henrietta... He didn't know what was canon anymore though so he'd have to check both. Indeed, he didn't even know if the Princess was still in the capital after the coupe.
And with everything said and done, Michael, Tiffania, and Ralf fly off towards the capital, with Charlotte and Illococoo flying towards the Tristain magic academy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charlotte glances over at the dragon she and Sylphid were flying next to, a multitude of emotions washing over her as she recalls the earlier events. She'd thought that this mission would just be like all the others, herself against insurmountable odds but barely getting through it alive, coming out all the stronger for it.
But this one had been different. Far different than all the others, while she wasn't stronger for it, she felt stronger. Happier... Hopeful. While she was still wary of these strangers, they were more trustworthy than her uncle was, and if what they said was truthful, she may just get her mother back.
She'd spend years and years looking for a cure, sometimes even doing things most good nobles would never consider. Delving into black markets, stealing potion recipes from under their maker's noses, even using stolen gold to buy master potioneers skills so that they could develop a cure... Only for every attempt to fail.
She didn't know if Tiffania was truly a Void Mage, but she decided to trust the girl's seeming shyness and inability to lie. For their troubles, she'd even revealed one of her greatest secrets, Illococoo's true race. It was a fair trade in her opinion, she knew Tiffania 'might' be a Void Mage, and they knew Sylphid was a Rhyme Dragon.
Michael didn't strike her as a liar, even back in the academy when he killed Guiche it hadn't seemed intentional. And his escape was pretty reasonable considering they were planning on executing him.
Regardless, she was worried that this would all backfire on her. she wasn't all that scared of dying, but she'd be devastated if Illococoo was hurt due to her stupid decisions... Fortunately, unlike her uncles usual missions, Michael had sent her to the magic academy instead of some incredibly dangerous area.
As for whether or not 'other worlds' truly existed? She was still unsure, the belief in Michael's tone when he told her about it made her wonder if such a fanciful thing was real. She supposed that if Tiffania really was a Void Mage, then travelling to other worlds wouldn't be too strange.
All in all, she was hopefully this tentative alliance of theirs would prove fruitful... If Michael was anywhere near as 'strong' as she'd heard, this might even be the chance to get back at her uncle for all the pain he's caused both her and her mother.
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Jojin and his master Darmerse walkthrough Tristania, the former looking around with rapt attention that the strange city he'd found himself. It was strange, tense. People were ready to fight or run at any indication of trouble, and many looked like they wanted to flee the city the first chance they got. The only reason he could see that was stopping them was their belief that things would get better, that they wouldn't have to leave their homes, friends, and maybe even their families behind to escape.
Jojin couldn't really understand these people, as he himself had already fled his home, the now destroyed Antomiers where he'd been homeless until his master had taken him in after that hero, Batuman had saved him.
He'd been training under the man this whole time to become a 'ninja', but Jojin felt more like a spy than anything else. The limited combat training was nothing compared to the extensive information collection, networking, and infiltration skills Damerse was hammering into his head.
Still, he persisted, wishing to get strong enough to finally prove useful to Batuman, his saviour and idol, even if he never saw the man again in his lifetime. Even if that proved true, he'd make Batuman hear his name, Jojin, master Ninja and Spymaster.
For now though, he needed to stick close with his master, and concentrate on gaining contact with their spies in the city that'd gone missing after the Gramont coupe.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rest of the journey is uneventful, aside from Charlotte splitting off from them as they approach the capital, one might actually call it peaceful... This doesn't last for long however, as the group soon notices the state that the Tristania was actually in.
Hundreds of guards and small artillery machines are placed around the walls of the city, with many Griffin and Dragon knights flying around as if performing an air show for those below.
Ralf makes the wise decision to land his dragon far from the capital so that they aren't immediately noticed by the hundreds of alert eyes waiting for an invasion of some sort. They land in a nearby forest that was covered in a light coating of frost from the cold weather, though, it was nowhere near as cold as Albion had been.
The trio hops off of the dragon and Ralf sends it away as they start making their way towards the capital. Tiffania keeps her hood up, but Michael turns invisible as he walks beside them, as Tristain would no doubt still be looking for him.
Tiffania and Ralf may be fugitives in Albion, but he doubted that such information had reached Tristain yet... Or even if Prince Wales wanted Tristain to know, the more people aware of Tiffania made the likelihood of them discovering her relation to the Prince far greater... Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, so the group was prepared to flee at the first sign of trouble.
If things got really bad, Michael could just sneak into the capital and do the search all by himself. Even if it would take far longer.
The duo + invsi-bro walk towards the city gate, the group immediately notices the lack of any line to get in or out of the city. They approach the platoon of guards who immediately become alert and ready to defend themselves should the situation call on it. "Halt, you approach Tristania, capital of Tristain under the rule of King Gramont. What do you want?"
Ralf bows slightly as he goes to address them, "We are traders seeking refuge in the city... Our carriage was attacked by bandits, and we have nowhere else to go... Please, my daughter and I will not survive another night on the road."
The guard crooks a brow and looks at Tiffania's hooded face, noticing her shimmering golden hair, a marked difference between Ralf's own brown colour. "Daughter, you say? You don't look alike." he remarks, sounding suspicious.
Ralf smiles and nods, "Yes, she takes after her mother in that regard. We... We lost her in the attack." he solemnly says, Tiffania also lowering her head to 'grieve'.
The guards frowns, "Bandits, huh? Are you sure they were what you say? Not foreign troops cutting off supplies?" he asks, beginning to believe their story apparently.
Ralf shakes his head, "I wouldn't know if they were, this is the first time I've ever run into bandits... And I hope the last."
The guard nods, "Alright, just let your daughter here lower her hood and you can enter. I can't be seen letting hooded figures enter for obvious reasons." he says, causing Ralf to pause slightly.
"I-is that so?" Ralf says, glancing at Tiffania and gesturing for her to continue.
She lifts her hands to her hood and... Lowers it. Revealing... Bloodied bandages were tightly wrapped around her head, covering her ears and a good portion of her hair. She raises her head and gives the man a sheepish look, "I'm sorry for the unpleasant sight... I was wounded by a bandit..."
The guard's features soften as he nods, "No, I'm sorry for forcing you to show me. Please, enter and go seek medical attention, that amount of blood cannot be a good sign." he says, calling for his colleagues to open the gates.
With that, the duo + invisi-Michael enters the city completely unmolested. They walk off and enter a nearby alleyway, Michael reappearing with a grin on his face, "See? Worked like a charm."
Ralf lets out a long sigh and wipes off some of the cold sweat that'd been gathering on his forehead, "Honestly, I thought I'd slip up and get us all killed... When did you think of bandaging up Miss Tiffania's head? It worked like a charm."
Michael shrugs, "I asked a friend for some ideas. Turns out he's well versed in disguises. Still, we should probably get this off and have your hair washed, I doubt rabbit blood is good for it." he says, turning to Tiffania who's already taken off all of the bloodied bandages, grimaces as she tried to strain some of the leaked fluid from her golden locks. "Can we never do this again? This smell makes me want to be sick..." she mutters.
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