*Clunk*

Louise opened a wary eye Louise saw that she had bumped into a steel grate that blocked her from continuing down the river. To her left was a dock barely illuminated by the boat's lantern. A bottle of wine lay at the edge of the dock, just within reach.

She didn't know how long she had been on the river she didn't even know when she had fallen asleep; time had lost all meaning to her in the dark. All that was really different between when she had set off was that now she was hungry, thirsty and had a stabbing pain in her side.

Pushing herself up onto her knees, she found relief and the cause of the pain. A single ring that she had slept on. Grabbing it and raising it to the light revealed that it was the same ring that Wales had used to change his appearance.

She didn't think about how it got there. She didn't really much care. Tears formed that were quickly wiped away.

Gazing back to the floor of the boat, she grabbed her pistol and put it back into her holster before Lying back down.

She had failed Henrietta. She had failed Wardes. Her classmates were right. She was destined for failure, destined always to be a zero.

So, she continued to lay motionless in the boat as tears flowed once again, occasionally eyeing the wine. It would be an easy way to deal with these feelings of worthlessness.

Shooting up, she grabbed the wine. She leaned back against the boat's bench and popped the cork off, downing a good portion of it in one go.

Her throat burned hotter than any wine she had drunk before; it was more bitter than wine, ale perhaps? It didn't matter; within a few minutes, a warmth began to grow in her core, but the feelings of worthlessness only grew worse.

Louise continued to drink between sobs, hoping that the cure for these feelings may be found at the bottom of this bottle.

However, there was the only blurred vision and more grief at the end of the flowing ale.

*Tch* "Look at you." Louise knew that voice. Shifting her blurred gaze to the other end of the boat. There sat her older sister Eléonore, dressed in the white and purple dress that she wore when she had left for the academy.

"Eléonore?" she mumbled, confusing eyeing the now empty bottle.

"Drinking while on a mission, what a fucking disgrace." Her words carried a venom that struck close to her heart.

"I Failed."

Eléonore's face twisted into a furious scowl. "You didn't fail, Louise. You hit a small obstacle and gave up. Just like all those times back at home, anytime you were disciplined, you ran off to that small island to cry."

"Wardes is dead, I'm... I'm alone."

"Wardes was a traitor. Didn't you pride yourself on your intelligence?"

Louise's breathing quickened in pace until she exploded standing up, she yelled. "Obviously, I'm not! All my life, I've tried to be something I wasn't. I was smart. I would've never gone to the academy; I would have accepted that my magic didn't work, I wouldn't be here!" At the of her rant, she collapsed back onto the bench.

The cave was silent for a time. "Yet here you are." It was another voice, this time belonging to her mother, who stood over the water. "And now you have a choice. You can either push forward or die in the dark."

"Just what do you think will happen to Henrietta if you don't carry on this mission? What would happen to us?" Cattleya said, appearing behind her.

Louise's gaze shifted to the floor. "But I only have a first name. How am I supposed to find... anything relating to this person."

"Process of elimination," Eléonore said, shifting her gaze to the dock. "What do we know?"

"Matilda was most likely working with Wardes. As such, she would have also been a spy or at least a collaborator with Albion." Louise's eyes widened, that was her voice, yet it didn't come from her mouth.

Following her sister's gaze, she found herself staring at another version of herself, dressed in the clean version of the uniform she wore. Only this version of her carried herself proudly, standing up straight with her arms crossed. It was as if everything else was beneath her.

"Which would mean?" Her doppelganger asked, staring directly at her.

Louise thought for a moment before answering. "That she must have some officer, giving her orders or something."

"That's not always the case." It was a voice belonging to the only missing member of her family. Her father sat at a chair at the edge of the dock while smoking his pipe. "She may have been contracted in Tristian. Which would force you to do what."

Louise, once again, thought for a brief moment. "I would have to go down the chain of command, find whoever is heading their spy network and work my way down."

"Precisely." Her father replied. "Find out where the headquarters for the spy network is located and from there, find Matilda."

"But what about supplies? I don't have any food or water."

The other Louise answered. "The king of Albion and his guard were supposed to pass through here. It's safe to assume that there would be a cache of supplies to support their movement."

Louise ran through everything in her head. "So, find out where their headquarters are and from there, find whoever is orchestrating the network in Tristian."

"And preferably kill whoever is heading it." Her other self said.

Louise paled. "Kill?"

"At best, Tristian can expect an uneasy peace between the new leadership of Albion and Henrietta. At worst, he is already preparing for an invasion. It's best to create as much chaos in his new government as possible to push whatever plans he has down the road." Her father surmised.

"They've already caused you and Henrietta so much grief," Cattleya said.

"But-"

"You're not killing for yourself." The other Louise said. "You're killing to protect Tristian."

"But-"

"Do you think they would just let you go back to Tristian?" Eléonore remarked.

"But-

"Your choice is what led you here. Now you must deal with the consequences," Her mother ordered.

Louise pursed her lips. It was obvious that they were right. No matter what she did, she wasn't going to get off Albion without spilling blood.

They all smiled at her. "You accept it." They all said in unison. "It's time to wake up."

.

Louise's eyes shot open. Revealing the dark cave ceiling above her. Her eyes shifted around to the various spots where her family was, but they were all gone. An unnatural weight pointed her to a bottle of wine in her hand. "Ugh." Lifting it just over the side of the boat and poured it out, dropping the bottle after it emptied.

It was then that she noticed her glowing runes.

'Was all of it a dream?'

Ignoring that, she stood up and climbed out of the boat. Even if that was just a dream, they were right. She had to find Matilda, and the only way of doing that was working their way down through Reconquista's spy network.

Louise found a table at the end of the dock, atop which sat a letter, a map, compass, and a candle. The letter was from the commander of this post, apologizing to his king about abandoning it. Much of it didn't concern her, but there were a few things that grabbed her attention. One it spoke about supplies being left behind enough for a dozen or so people. Of an iron flotilla positioned beneath the island from which they grabbed several dozen weapons and ammunition to feed said weapons.

It also mentioned a ship bound for Tristian docked at a nearby port. Marked on a nearby map. The Royal James.

It gave her an idea.

The Iron flotilla also caught her attention; was this where they were getting their weapons? Perhaps this was something else to look into.

Folding the letter, the compass and map, and placing them into her pocket, she took the taper holder candle rested in. she reached the door to the cave, which opened to a flight of stairs that lead up into pitch black.

This unnerved the girl to the point of drawing her gun. Slowly she climbed. Each step took her further away from the damp smelling cave.

Slowly the walls turned from stone to brick. And mounts for taper holders became more and more common, yet they were all bare. It was as if they had all been taken. It made her uneasy about what she was going to find.

Thankfully, however, those fears were quickly dashed as she came to a larger room, with a small clap the came to life illuminating the long room. It was clear, however, that this was done in a rush.

Equipment was scattered around the room, rifles were positioned in the corner. Bags and clothing were piled on top of each other, metal pieces were in much a similar state beside them, metal boxes were all over the place, the only thing that seemed to have any sense of organization was the boxes and cans that read rations, they were stacked neatly next to a series of canteens.

Starting with the rifles, She grabbed one, and the knowledge flowed into her mind. It was a Lee Enfield. The long internal magazine would give her ten shots before she would need to reload. Something that she would need to do with those metal pieces that littered the ground.

Raising it, she tested the bolt; which was smooth and easy to work.

Moving over to the metal boxes, she found the words 303 ammunition written on the side, just what she needed.

The metal boxes were far too heavy to carry. However, Opening it presented her with a preferable option. The ammo was further separated into small paper boxes. Shifting over to the pile of clips, she opened up the ammo raising an eyebrow at the strange design that reminded her of her tank's ammunition.

Loading it, she sat down and rested the rifle in her lap. With a flick of her wrist, she opened the bolt and slotted in the clip, and with a press, all five rounds were pushed into the magazine. Doing it once more gave her a full magazine.

Closing the bolt, she made sure the safety was on before setting it aside. Next came the tedious process of the rest of the clips. In the end, she loaded six, stuffing two in each pouch on her belt.

With that done, Louise grabbed a rugged-looking bag and stuffed five boxes of ammunition into its main compartment. Followed by the rations. She grabbed and stuffed as many boxes and cans into whatever space she could find.

In the end, she admired her work. It was almost complete. The strange shape of this rifle would bring unneeded attention to her, and right now, she needed to keep a low profile.

Taking scraps of clothing, she wrapped them around the rifle until it was completely encased in cloth. But that lead her to the other problem. Her panzerfaust. It could have been a useful tool. But having submerged it in water has all but guaranteed that it would fail when she needed it.

With a sigh, she tossed it aside.

With everything now set, she on her backpack and slung her rifle around her shoulder.

She adjusted it to be more comfortable, and soon she left the room, ascending a flight of stairs and pushing open a door that led to a brick wall.

Inching forward, she pressed a hand flat against the cold brick wall. It was obviously a false wall due to the light that crept through the cracks.

But this didn't deter her, Louise had a mission, and she was going to complete it.

Walking away and down a few steps, she withdrew her wand. She may have been a terrible mage, unable to cast even the most basic of spells, but her explosions came with utility all of their own.

"Ignus!" An explosion rocked, covering her in dust and soot. It left her in a fit of coughing. Swatting away the smoke, she pressed forward and through the hole in the wall.

As the smoke cleared, the sunlight blinded her, but the sounds of birds and the rustle of leaves in the wind was as comforting as ever.

Her eyes slowly adjusted, and with it brought the realization she was standing in an old abandoned church. The murals were broken in several places, vines and plants clung to the interior walls. The roof had several holes from decades of neglect.

Louise returning to the task at hand, pulled out the map and compass. Aligning it with the north to get a better lay of the land.

She didn't have much experience with navigation. What little she did was from a long time ago, when she and Henrietta would steal compasses and maps and go on "adventures," but it was simple enough.

After a minute she Folded up the map and put her compass away. Louise stepped out of the church and into the forest. She paused for a moment taking a deep breath and looked back at where she came from. She was alone now, but she had to push forward.

In less than a minute, she had already plotted her course to a road to her south. Which then lead to the port of Felixstowe where the Royal James awaited. Those soldiers were probably going to be the only friendly people she could speak with on this island and we're probably the best place to start her search.

xXXXx

A/N

So this took far longer then It really should have, i want to apologize for any false promises since i know at this point i can't keep them

I also want to take this time to say that after some thought, i might be changing the direction that this fic will be going, with how Louise is heading I think I'm going to shift away from tanks and more on Louise dealing with the problems Tristian is facing. expect some tank but it won't be the main thing anymore.

If you have any concerns or questions feel free to dm me. i really hope you all have a great day.