Author's Note: The fic follows the HOME verse and rest in piece, FelixtheJudge. Also, I posted this on the wrong category from earlier. Big mistake on my part, so my humblest apologies
Disclaimer: I don't own HOME, OFF, or Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima, if I did, the Batter would have a rival called the Pitcher and Siesta wouldn't be flanderized.
Prologue: Into another end
Business went as usual, another customer satisfied, and another roll of credits went down to the counter. Zacharie seemed to have gotten used the silence surrounding him at his shop at this point and he was basically content. Then again, it was the same experience with Pablo and his puppeteer, even though they would come by every few minutes to purchase something, it was still bare and quiet to wherever he set his shop up. Even prior to Zacharie's misadventure with the Judge and the puppeteer, the quietness was prominent.
Even with his job as a merchant getting more demanding due to the progress the people have been making as of late and his array of rivals rising on the horizon, the masked merchant still found more reasons to laugh and smile rather than to frown.
It's been a few months ever since the linguistic Judge, otherwise known as Pablo, and his three feline companions, the stray alley cat Alain, his librarian brother Valerie, and the ditzy dancer Jozlyn, defeated the Batter. After the revelation of his dark plot to purify, meaning to cleanse and destroy, the world, the agent of the nothingness met his end at the claws of his slayers which were the previously mentioned cats.
From what Zacharie heard from the verbose feline's story, the battle against the Batter was similar to that of four warriors battling against a titan in a last stand to save the world. Seeing as how he isn't erased from existence yet and the world had retained its color since the incident, the masked merchant believed the Judge's tale.
Of course, the Judge's story, not to mention his entire quest, wouldn't have happened without the help of that mysterious puppeteer, who had vanished from the scenes since then.
Currently, Zacharie was just passing the time by observing the zone's citizens, otherwise known as Elsens, as he sat behind the counter in his shop that was located at the entrance of Zone 2's mall. This was his prime location, namely because of how popular and central he is at the mall. Prior to the rise of his recent competitors, the masked merchant had a very good grip of people's general purchases, namely the demands over the Luck Tickets and the Jokers, the former was vital for recovery and the latter had the ability of raising corpses back from the dead with their health in sufficient condition.
Over the last couple of months, Zacharie had relatively been improving his products through various experimentations. Such as when his attempt to fuse a bottle of smoke, a piece of Abaddon's meat, and a piece of Belial's meat that resulted in a strangely convenient kind of remedy that helps the breather recover while healing them of their madness. The experimentation resulted in a boost in his sale, mostly from purchases made by Elsens who was at the brink of stress and trying to find a less addictive alternative to sugar.
As of late however, Zacharie's experimentations have led to a few duds with no potential breakthrough coming in. Then again, he could only have so much time in the world to dedicate for his experiments because other than being a merchant, he was also responsible for overseeing his theme park in Zone 2, which was another large responsibility altogether.
It's been a few minutes since his last costumer left and the silence rolled in once again. The masked merchant could only give himself a quiet sigh before he closed his eyes.
"This is going to be a long day." Zacharie thought as he found himself slowly in the midst of dozing off on his stand.
"Why couldn't a day just end without anyone spitting insults at me?" A certain pinkette student thought as she sat in the middle of her professor's class. Honestly, she could've done the whole day without the additional sting of her peer's harsh words.
"Mister Gramont, please quiet down," The balding and spectacled professor up front near the chalk board said as he stopped the lecture and looked to faced another student, a redhead that sat by another female student with light blue hair. "You too, Miss Zerbst. I expect you both to listen to this lecture without making another jest towards Miss Valliere, understood?"
With the stern words from the professor, the two students quieted down. The silence followed through the class' laughter and insults towards the pinkette. She could still hear murmurs and whispers surrounding her though she could ignore that and just continue writing down the professor's lecture.
Often in days like this, the pinkette would just find herself back at her room, staring up the ceiling and wondering if her fate is bound to change towards another day. However, she couldn't be more excited in anticipation for what was to come tomorrow in class. Other than being a chance to prove and redeem herself to her peers, it was also a chance to finally have something to rub against the face of her rival Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst, otherwise known as "The Cow" in the pinkette's eyes.
As if the day was going with her anticipation, the lecture was ended and the balding professor, otherwise known as Jean Colbert, adjourned and dismissed the class. The students seemed to give themselves a sigh of relief as some of them exited the room. The pinkette's excitement was heightened as she stood in front of her seat, gathered her notes in her robes, and headed towards the classroom's exit. However, before she was able to step outside the room, Professor Colbert's voice called her.
"Miss Vallière," Professor Colbert's voice made the pinkette turn to the table he sat in front of. "Have those insults been getting to you as of late?" The balding professor took note of the pinkette's behavior for the past couple of days but he felt better knowing it from her very own words.
"No," The pinkette answered his question with a quick and firm retort. The tense body language would've said otherwise to Professor Colbert but it seemed like the answer stemmed from something other than her anxieties. He couldn't directly tell but he felt like she was in anticipation for something.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Professor Colbert, I'm fine," A small fib wouldn't hurt then again, it probably wasn't a secret to the balding professor either way. For her, in some days, the assault of insults was bearable, but in other days, she just wanted to cry herself to sleep in her room once the day is over because of the teasing.
"I see. Well, alright then, Miss Vallière, I was just concerned for your well-being since for the past few days, I've observed that you seemed to be more forlorn than usual."
"Don't worry, sir, I assure you, I'm fine." She turned around and was about to step out of the room before she heard the professor's voice again.
"Oh, and make sure to attend class tomorrow, Miss Vallière, as it will be a special day for you and the other second years." Profess Colbert reminded before he started gathering his things from atop the desk.
She nodded to him before she completely stepped out of the room and continued walking back towards the student dormitories. The pinkette would have scolded angrily at herself for nearly forgetting about what was going to take place tomorrow. It was going to be the moment where she, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, was going to show her peers at the academy that she was more than Louise the Zero and that she was going live up to her family's name and expectations.
Once she made it back to her room, she quickly stared in front of the mirror, focusing her eyes towards herself before she stood straight. Louise then made sure that she locked the door before she stared herself straight in the eyes.
"Tomorrow, I'll show them! I'll show them my true power as a mage," She huffed at herself from within. "Straighten yourself up, because the hour where your true honor will come!" She angrily scolded herself before she puffed and stared straight onto her pink eyes.
She was determined to prove her strength as mage, and to her, the moment of truth will come in the dawn's thereafter. She gave the mirror one last glance before she slowly opened the door and exited her room, heading off towards the academy's main dining hall.