[sub]in collaboration with [@Meiyuki][/sub]

[h1][center][i][u]"Questions of Faith"[/u][/i][/center][/h1]

Coraline's training was brutal.  If there was one thing the Von'Strausses knew it was how to instill discipline.  Demonic whispered hardened the Knight's mind,  rigorous training hardened her body,  and frequent possessions hardened her spirit.

It was not cruel however,  Lorelai allowed ample time for recovery after each session,  and seemed pleased with her progress.  Eventually Coraline was afforded the luxury of training on her own,  the witch finally satisfied with Coraline's dedication to containing the blade.  Her familiar,  Sousiel,  still observed the exercises,  but for the most part she was left to her own devices.

Coraline took a deep breath as she drank from a waterskin. She had been stripped down to a linen shirt, her heavier clothing wrapped around her waist. Sweat shone on her skin. Coraline was sore from the training, she hadn't felt that way since she was a squire back in Arcadia. In a way, it gave Coraline a sense of nostalgia, but it didn't please her. Every time Coraline felt nostalgic, she remembered the vision Charon had given her in her sleep, seeing Arcadia burn. She didn't want that vision to become a reality, and used the pain of that vision as a motivator to continue training with the dangerous relic she carried.

Coraline couldn't wield Charon's sword for long, however. The blade was evil and it's power corrupted. She had steeled herself against it's influence, learned how to draw out the power that the blade granted without losing her mind. But the twisting nature of the blade was absolute, and Coraline had slipped dangerously close one too many times during her training. On occasion, the emotion that the blade brought out from Coraline bled through her blood pact with Lorelai, it usually warranted some lecture or additional company.

Coraline had grown more comfortable in the castle, but she still felt like she sacrificed much of her old life to try and achieve her greater goal. Coraline spoke with Lorelai more, she wouldn't admit it, but the knight was beginning to trust the witch, perhaps even showing something of a friendship. Coraline often connected those feelings of kinship with Lorelai to the pact, it was easy to communicate because they were in each other's heads.

[color=92278f]"Well well,  is that a look of contemplation I see?"[/color]  Sousiel spoke up from her post against the wall.  She grinned,  her arms folded beneath her chest.  [color=92278f]"What dances in Coraline's head this afternoon?"[/color]

Coraline glanced over to Sousiel, she forgot the familiar was even there. The grin on the familiar's face and the cheekiness in her voice made Coraline roll her eyes. [color=steelblue][b]"I'm trying to find a way to get out of your sight."[/b][/color] she chided.

Coraline grabbed her sword, named after her homeland, and stood up from the marble bench. She used Arcadia as a sort of practice sword to not suffer the effects of Charon's blade. With simple magic that Coraline could wield, she managed to weight the longsword to mimic that of the artifact. It helped her get comfortable with the shape of the demonic weapon.

[color=92278f]"You wound me!"[/color]  A girlish pout set on Sousiel's lips,  her eyes twinkling mischeiviously.  [color=92278f]"That's alright though,  I'd expect no less."[/color]

Pushing off from the wall she made her way closer to the knight.  [color=92278f]"What?  Are you missing Lorelai?  She's only gone for a day or so."[/color]  The demon smirked.

Coraline swung Arcadia quickly, in a way one normally wouldn't swing a long sword. She sighed and slowed the process when she heard Sousiel teasing her. [color=steelblue][b]"How can I miss her? We're practically side by side day in and day out. I can't even bathe without feeling like I have eyes on me."[/b][/color]

Coraline then stopped and sheathed Arcadia. Looking back to Sousiel, [color=steelblue][b]"And why am I even saying this to you? Maybe I should let a bit of my frustration with you bleed into Lorelai and let [i]her[/i] talk some sense into you."[/b][/color]

Sousiel giggled.  [color=92278f]"I can just imagine it!  You,  sitting in the bath,  turning bright red."[/color]  She winked.  [color=92278f]"You got alot more from that pact than you were expecting didn't you?  I wonder what it will feel like when my mistress returns as a Dragon."[/color]

[color=92278f]"Lorelai's been trying to talk some 'sense' into me for a century."[/color]  She looked over Coraline appraisingly.  [color=92278f]"Coraline... what will you do when my mistress releases you?"[/color]

The knight raised a brow at Sousiel, that wasn't a question she was expecting from the familiar. She mulled over it and sighed, [color=steelblue][b]"I..."[/b][/color] she looked across the courtyard, Charon's sword felt heavier for some odd reason, [color=steelblue][b]"I'm not sure yet. It's clear to me that there is such a divide in the hunters and witches of this land that walking in the middle is a path to ruin..."[/b][/color]

Coraline had stressed herself out because she couldn't give a better answer to Sousiel's question. [color=steelblue][b]"I'm sure I'll know what to do when the time comes."[/b][/color]

[color=92278f]"You may want to figure it out sooner than that."[/color]  Sousiel said grimmly.  [color=92278f]"Coraline... the hunters come,  Matrim escape before we could figure out what to do with him.  Nearly killed Triss too,  but they know where we are now."[/color]

[color=92278f]"What will you do?"[/color]  She surveyed the knight's face.

[color=steelblue][b]"Do you always ask this many questions?[/b][/color] Coraline gritted her teeth and turned to face Sousiel. Her witchmarks and pupils flared a low red, a residual effect of having Charon's blade so close. Her temper had been rather short as of late.

The knight pinched the bridge of her nose, [color=steelblue][b]"I said I'll figure it out. Stop testing me."[/b][/color]

Coraline took a deep breath and unbuckled the strap that harnessed the Charon's sheath to her back. The scabbard and blade both fell to the cobbled floor of the courtyard. Coraline simply sat back down on the marble stone bench and drank more from her waterskin.

Sousiel's eyes followed the blade,  giving it a wide bearth she came to sit near Coraline.  [color=92278f]"Tester and Temptor,  that's a demon's duty Coraline,"[/color]  she spoke softly.  [color=92278f]"But I can see you've had enough for the moment."[/color]

A moment of silence passed between the two.  Sousiel's eyes roamed over the training yard,  looking over the few witches making use of it this afternoon.  [color=92278f]"What do you think the hunters will do with all these young ones?"[/color]  She sighed sadly.  [color=92278f]"What do you think they'll do to little Lotte?  I'm not looking forward to telling Lorelai the news."[/color]

Coraline's eye followed Sousiel's to the other witches. Hearing Sousiel's voice, she sighed, [color=steelblue][b]"You mean to tell me that in a castle, filled to the brim with sorcerers and sorceresses, there are no escape routes or portals or glamours that can make them all disappear? That seems like a critical flaw in the Von'strauss' methodology."[/b][/color]

The chip on Coraline's shoulder that day seemed worse than normal. To the point where it was even bugging [i]her[/i]. She closed her eyes, took some steady breaths, and relaxed her shoulders. [color=steelblue][b]"If we can't get them out of the castle by the time they arrive, I will protect them."[/b][/color]

[color=92278f]"The 'critical flaw' in my mistress' methods is mercy,  why she didn't raze Seren's Folley when she heard that Robert Flint had arrived... [/color]  Sousiel shrugged.  [color=92278f]"Nonetheless,  prophecy tells Lorelai to stay here,  in the hopes of saving... something."[/color]

She sighed in frustration.  [color=92278f]"You'll have a good deal of protecting to do."[/color]  Standing she walked towards the edge of the yard,  pausing to nudge Charon's blade towards the knight with her foot.  [color=92278f]"Or,  maybe you can convince them to turn back.  Lorelai just wants to raise a pair of daughters,  do you really think she needs slain?"[/color]

Coraline eyed Charon's blade was is was nudged back toward her. Reluctantly, she picked it up and strapped it onto her back again. She felt the effects, heard the almost nonexistant whispers of the sword's demon master. Luckily for Coraline, the training regimen she was put through had allowed her to mostly ignore them. [color=steelblue][b]"If I can convince them to turn around, then I'll say I have accomplished my goal here. Do you really believe I can simply turn them around? They hardly know me, I doubt they're even looking for me. They're coming for Elizabeth, my presence here will just [i]too concidental[/i] for their liking. It's bad enough I'm wielding Death's sword."[/b][/color]

Sousiel shrugged,  her eyes boring into Coraline's.  [color=92278f]"Perhaps,  but if you don't... will you like what you see in the mirror if you give up on peace?"[/color]  She tilted her head.  [color=92278f]"My mistress always said it was a painful thing to see a person lose faith.  I don't share her concern,  but I wonder.  Has yours fled?"[/color]

Coraline returned a sharp glare at Sousiel, [color=steelblue][b]"That's none of your business, demon."[/b][/color] she looked away and exhaled long, [color=steelblue][b]"We're done with training for today. I'm going to go and have a bath. In silence."[/b][/color]

[color=92278f]"Maybe from me,  but I don't think your thoughts will be quiet for a long while now."[/color]  Sousiel giggled,  turning away.  [color=92278f]"Good luck Coraline,  Lorelai seems to respect you.  I wonder if you'll prove worthy of that after all."[/color]  She left the yard,  and the knight,  to their own devices.

Coraline rolled her eyes, she actually contemplated letting Lorelei in simply to spite that little demon. She thought against it and rolled her eyes, [color=steelblue][b]"This castle is going to be the end of me."[/b][/color] she mumbled to herself.