The goose

Madeline and Guy were back on the bridge when the observation deck officer came racing on to the bridge, "Mage Montfort..."

Guy pinched the bridge of his nose, "Another goat?"

"No sir, it's... A goose." He stammered out.

Guy looked at Madeline who just shrugged at him not knowing why the crewman had come to the bridge. Guy sighed and then said, "Alright, lead the way." Guy could tell the young officer was worried about the situation so he assumed the danger must be near the level of the danger of the great jumping dragon goats from before. When they got up to the observation deck, they saw a goose just sitting on one of the deck chairs. Guy asked the deck officer, "What's the situation?"

"The goose, it hissed. We are pretty certain it has a bad attitude." The man explained.

Guy nodded and then asked, "What's the danger level for the ship, and what's your name?"

"Ah, my name is Sam, sir. I guess you haven't seen many geese, Mage Montfort, when they hiss, they are certainly going to attack." The man explained.

Guy started to get a little annoyed, "Right Sam, but how dangerous are they?"

*****

Sam ran back on to the bridge and blurted out, "Mage Montfort requested that you stop the ship, Mage d'Aumont, he said he needs to send it to Wolter's house."

Madeline shook her head and sighed, "He really doesn't like Emperor Wolter, does he?"

*****

Gorou and Yuuki were walking back from school which had become their normal routine lately when Yuuki asked, "I remember you mention before that you had regrets about leaving your old life behind, what was your biggest regret?"

Gorou thought about it and said, "I wasn't completely honest with my feelings." He looked up into the sky and said, "When I realized that the woman I was in love with, didn't love me, I stopped trying to find love and just sort of accepted another person's feelings for me. It wasn't right of me to go into a relationship with her halfway."

Yuuki nodded and said, "I can understand that, it's hard to match the feelings of someone else. You can only feel what you feel. I guess love really only happens when two people just happen to have fallen for each other."

Gorou nodded, "Most marriages where I am from were for political reasons. The idea of having love in a marriage is not really very normal. I suppose, most of us were used to the idea of having two relationships, our marriage, and our passion, our love. I think after I lost out on the girl I was in love with, I just drifted back to that mentality. A very pretty girl suddenly told me that she loved me and I, just, sort of went along with it. It felt like she was someone my family approved of and someone that I wouldn't be embarrassed to bring to political functions so I just sort of faked things. Looking back though, I feel like I made a horrible mistake and I shouldn't have let things happen like that. It wasn't right for her and it wasn't right for me."

Yuuki smiled and then said, "My brother, what kind of relationship did he have?"

Gorou thought for a while and said, "I have never seen another couple that was so right for each other. She needed a man like him and he needed a woman like her and both of them were so in love with each other that you couldn't separate them even if you put a goose in the room between them."

Yuuki looked a little curious, "Wait, did you say a goose?"

Gorou nodded, "Yes, a goose. Do you not have geese here?"

*****

Guy returned to the bridge, his normally perfect hair was a mess and his once perfectly tailored uniform was also a torn mess. He stood next to Madeline as if nothing had happened. Madeline wanted to ask, but something told her that it was too early. Guy didn't seem to want to talk about it either. After a few minutes, she couldn't help it anymore and had to ask, "Is everything alright now?"

Guy nodded and refused to say anything more about it. Madeline kept looking at him every so often wanting to hear the details, but something inside her told her that he must still not want to talk about the goose.

*****

Emperor Wolter von Plettenberg felt as if the walls were closing in on him. Somehow every leader he had invited to his estate had been killed and the blame rested squarely on his own shoulders. Even now, he knew that nearby armies were marching against his country. He still couldn't quite explain things, somehow three great jumping dragon goats appeared in his meeting hall and slaughtered everyone. It didn't make any sense at all. No one could prepare for a calamity like a great jumping dragon goat, that's why no one would travel through their areas. Only a complete idiot would even go within miles of their known territories.

For some reason, he thought about that smug bastard, Guy de Montfort. What if that madman had sent the great jumping dragon goats to him? Wolter rubbed his chin, yes, that madman might just hate him enough to do that. It was probably just dumb luck that he would be having a meeting with those other world leaders about him at just that moment. Wolter didn't even notice the goose until he was just about to step on her. He yelled out, "Why is there a bird loose in my house?"

The goose looked at him and said, "Honk."

*****

The Montfort which had departed for a three-hour shakedown cruise finally returned to the hangar two days later. Guy was tired and looked haggard as he stepped off the ship. Madeline, who enjoyed flying normally, felt a little tired after this particular flight since many things had gone wrong. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the time they spent flying, it was just that she felt that Guy was a little too stubborn at times. Normally she adored that side of him, but when it came to flying, for whatever reason, it put a mental burden on her that made the trip uncomfortable.

Madeline decided that in the future, she would have to adjust her normal way of thinking when Guy was on the bridge of her ship. As for Guy, he just wanted to hide in his lab and think of ways to keep flying animals from ever touching one of his airships again. Even just to temporarily land on it for a breather.