"H-how?"
Michael shrugs, "That's not all I know either... I know about how you're being blackmailed by him, how he tries to poison you but poisoned your mother instead. I know the missions he sends you on are meant to kill you, wiping out any remaining heirs to the throne. And I know that sending you on this mission was an attempt to kill you as well." he explains, causing Tabitha to go more and more still the more here revealed.
He continues, "I mean, just look at it objectively. I've done nothing to harm Gallia's interests, not even stepped foot into the country! Yet the King of Gallia sends you to kill me? After I've shown that I'm strong enough to evade capture from not just one country, but two? Cutting my way through anyone stupid enough to try and stop me while I'm at it?... He sent you to die, Tabitha." he explain, crossing his arms and locking eyes with her.
...
She looks down and nods, but refocuses and glares back, "I know. There is no way out, for either of us." she announces, while preparing yet another attack. Only for Michael to interrupt her again, "Wait! I can help you!"
...
"Help... Me?" she mutters as if seeing how the words taste on her tongue.
He nods, "Yeah! This world might not have a cure for your mother, but... What about others worlds!?" he asks, causing Ralf and Tiffania behind him to look at each other with questioning looks, both of them shuffling uncomfortably as they too try to comprehend where Michael was going with this.
His words don't seem to provide any relief to Tabitha however, the girl scrunching her brows after a moment, "You lie."
Michael quickly shakes his head, however, "No!... I have the means to travel to other worlds. Well, not me... But Tiffania here does, as a Void Mage!" he proclaims, unsure if this was the right decision, but going ahead with it regardless. Tabitha was a powerful mage, and a fiercely loyal ally if he could sway her.
His words shock not only Tabitha, but Ralf as well, the man glancing at Tiffania's reaction to see if Michael's words held any truth. She just slowly nods, however, lowering her hood to reveal her ears to Tabitha, "I'm a Void Mage... Sorry for hiding it from you, Ralf."
Ralf immediately drops to a knee and lowers his head, a Void Mage was an object of worship in the Brimir faith, as it was like literally having a child of God in front of you. He'd noticed the peculiarities with Tiffania's magic when he'd been training her, but her words just now only cemented it for him... After all, Tiffania had yet to actually lie to him. "Y-your grace..."
Michael gestures behind him at Tiffania, "Once we recovered Brimir's prayer book, we'll be able to leave this world, leave all these shitty Noble behind, leave your uncle behind. We'll take your mother somewhere that he can't find her, and find a world that can heal her! I swear it!" he exclaims as seriously as he can, knowing that he'd have to kill Tabitha if she refused to work with them... Such knowledge couldn't be allowed to get out after all.
...
Tabitha pats her dragon on the back, causing it to lower itself to the ground and allowing her to hop off of it. She lands on the sand and slowly walks towards him, coming face to face... Or at least, face to chest, due to her small height as she looks up at him into his eyes, holding out her pinky. "Promise. Promise you are telling the truth." she quietly says, more demanding than anything else.
Michael smiles, remembering his sister as he locks his pinky around hers, it'd been a long time since he'd made a pinky promise... He didn't even know such a thing existed in this world. "I promise, we will help you and your mother." he says, shaking their entwined fingers up and down as if giving a handshake. "Now, shall we start this again?... I'm Michael, nice to meet you."
...
Tabitha stares at their entwined pinkies for a moment before looking back up at him, blinking some moisture from her eyes. "Ta-... Charlotte de Gallia. Nice to meet you."
*Clap-Clap-Clap-Clap...*
Tiffania starts clapping at the rather emotional scene but slowly stops as everyone turns to look at her. "Erm, sorry...? I'm just so happy everything worked out... Don't worry Miss Charlotte! We'll help your mother no matter what!"
Charlotte nods, walking over and bowing deeply to Tiffania, "Thank you... Name?"
Tiffania gives a bright smile and presents a hand "I'm Tiffania, it's nice to meet you Charlotte!"
Charlotte shakes the hand but finds her gaze drawn towards Tiffania's ears, the girl looking back and forth between the two protruding bodily extensions. "Elf?" she questions, sounding more curious than hostile.
"Ah-..." Tiffania pauses, having expected a negative reaction, but quickly picks herself back up upon not receiving insults or contemptuous looks. "My mother was an elf, my father was a noble of Albion..." she smiles sheepishly, "I'm actually the next heir to Albion after Prine Wales." she admits, "I guess that makes us the same, if what Michael said was true?"
The sides of Charlotte's mouth upturn into a slight smile, "We are..." she starts, but shakes her head when she begins comparing their heights and breast sizes, "Somewhat..."
Ralf gets up after 'paying his respects' and walks over to Michael, "You spoke of retrieving a sword, but do you have any idea as to where this 'Prayer book' might be?" he asks.
Michael crosses his arms, "Why? You planning on sticking around now?" he jokingly remarks but goes quiet when Ralf nods.
"Of course. Tiffania is too important to leave alone, her status as a Void Mage makes her a gift from Brimir himself... If she wasn't half-elf, she may have been able to rally armies to her on her status alone... Still, you and I will need to speak concerning your knowledge of 'otherworlds', if such a thing is possible."
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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.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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