Before reading this crossover, open YouTube in your browser. Do it, seriously. I will place the name of many songs that WILL make reading this fanfic much, much better…Between the round brackets, will be the name of the song and then the author or album or series it's from.
Now then, the Disclaimer:
I do not own "The Familiar of Zero/Zero No Tsukaima" or "Soul Nomad and the World Eater/Soul Cradle Sekai o Kurau Mono" or the songs recommended here, nor am I associated with the respective creators.
Also, this fanfic was beta-ed by Tsukuyomu.
Now that that's out of the way, let the curtains rise and the play begin!
Break a leg guys! This is your time to shine!
Prologue: The End
("Moon Cradle" from: Soul Cradle Arrange Track album)
525 TA
The continent of Prodesto...
The grueling war had finally ended, and one man had unified the land.
Lord Median the Conqueror...
Though only one man, his heroism swept across the world.
535 TA
The harmonious empire stood for a decade, before it crumbled once more.
Lord Median and his son passed away. Prodesto returned to a state of bloody war.
550 TA
It was then that a clarion vesper rang throughout the halls of history.
Median's daughter, Layna, had come into her own and become a true leader.
Neighboring countries formed treaties, and for a moment the world knew peace.
600 TA
But then the world was darkened by a single malignant shadow and its cruel heralds. The violent echoes of agony and murder shattered the land. Shaky alliances were pushed to their limits by the merciless creatures.
But humanity as they were fell victim to weakness and temptation. Some cowered and fled, while others pledged allegiance to the beasts.
Layna rallied her few remaining comrades for a final confrontation. The venerable warrior queen sacrificed her life to banish the shadow. They were both consumed, and the three behemoths were silent...
===0===0===0===
(No music)
That night, Louise had a dream… No. Perhaps the best way to call it was a nightmare; one which she felt was strangely not her own, but the world's worst.
She was in a forest, which was actually more of a wasteland…The land was dry and cracked, puddles of blood were scattered everywhere, the corpses of soldiers and beasts littered the broken landscape, a gigantic…thing made of steel that resembled a demonic bipedal cow laid motionless in the same place, armless, but with two gauntlets on its sides.
This is image was nothing short of hell…The trees were a dull red and bore no fruit or leaves; they smelled of rotten wood and…wait…smelled?
"This is all too real to be a dream," Louise thought while shivering; she was frightened of be in a place like this.
("A Fragrant Prayer" A.K.A "Echoing Prayers" from: Soul Cradle OST)
In a far off hill, a figure stood. Something was prodding Louise in the back of her head, telling her that the person stood on that hill was by themselves, but not truly alone at all.
Then a voice gave a light laugh and spoke, she recognized it as a man's, but the figure in front of her did not move its lips, furthermore, as she approached it, she saw it was a woman. She looked like she was around her age, maybe a little younger, maybe a little older, Louise did not know.
"Yup. Not a single one left. That takes care of all the annoying insects. Nobody left to bother us. You satisfied?"
The voice wasn't speaking to her, maybe the woman?
"Hey, I should be more than enough company, right? You and me, together forever, till the end of time!" The voice made a loud, unrestrained guffaw.
As Louise got even closer to the woman she saw her holding a black blade dripping blood and oozing a sensation of evil. She was responsible of this massacre, along with the voice; there was no doubt of it.
Then, the woman made a gesture that scared her far more. She smiled.
"Hey, kid... what're you doing?" The voice was alarmed by the woman, who put her hand in her bust, still smiling.
"Hey! Hey, what do you think you're doing?! No...No! You can't! You can't eat me! Not after all this!"
The woman's smile widened upon hearing this sentence.
"Wh-why? How can yo-"
The voice drowned out in an anguished gargle.
And it was gone.
And she still smiled.
She still smiled.
Such a sick, sadistic smile
"The power..." The woman laughed.
"Everything before this was nothing." The woman laughed and the voice was no more.
"So I can't summon anyone anymore." The woman laughed, her ambition fulfilled and the voice was no more.
"Now I'm all alone..." The woman laughed again, the world was left a broken husk, the peoples dead and the voice was no more.
She was all by herself…
(No music)
But now she wasn't alone at all. Someone arrived.
"Devourlord... Devourlord..." a new voice spoke; it was beautiful, motherly even.
In that very moment, Louise had a headache…she began to lose consciousness, and could no longer see anything, but she heard some scarce fragments of the conversation due to a screeching sound.
.
"I am H͞͏͜a̷͞e̷҉̢̕͏p̴͘҉̷̕h̴̨ń̴és̶̨,̸̧̧͢͢ ̕͏̛g̢̢̀́͟o̡̡͠d̴̨̨́ ̨͢͢͟ó̴̴́͝f̕͏̛ ̀͟͠͏̸t̵̨͘͟h̨̨́͡i͏̢̨s͘͞͞ ͝҉̛w͏o̷r̨͜l͏̶̢́͘d̡͘҉̨.̸͘͢͠͞ What do you desire?"
"Nothi̴̕̕n̵̷̡̕g̕͡.͡҉͟"
Another voice spoke then, even if Louise could only hear fragments of their conversation, she knew it was a man. He sounded…imposing. Not in a terrifying or oppressive way. It was more like he was a very important person and he knew it, using a tone that fit him perfectly.
.
"And I am D̶̕̕raz̵̴i̢l̴,̨ gòd̷̛ ̸͡of ̷͘t̨h́e͏ ̷o̴̧̢t̵̢h͠e͝r̢ ̨͝w̷o̷͟r͜l͘d͠.̧ T̕̕hè̛ ̷͢p̵ơ̕w̡͘e̴̡̛r̵̷ ̛͘y̵͞o҉̷̨u͜҉'̢ve̸͡ ͘͠gained rivals even our o͠͞ẃ͘͞͡ǹ͡.̶̡̢͘͞ ̶̵̴̨B̵҉̵͜u̸͜͝͞t̴̛̕͜ ̵̸͘͜w͟i̛̛̕̕t̨͞h̶̡ ̡̧̀s̕͝ư̵̴͜͡ć͢h̴̢́̕ ̶̧́͘͝p̢͘o̢͡w̶̧͘͠ȩ́r͞͠ ͢ć̸͘͏o̵̧m̕͢ȩ̶ś͘ ̸̛͏̸̧a͏̸͞ ̀͢͠͝c̴̢e̶̛͟͝͡r̷̷t͏͞a̴̧̢͞͏i̧̨͘͟͟ǹ̵̡̨͡ ̨̕͢͝o҉̨͡b̧l̷͠͝i͏̷̵̨͘g̶̡̛͢a̧͏̸̶̛t͏́͟i͢͝͡o̡̡͢n̴̨̕͟͜.̨͜҉̕ ̷́You have to stop this senseless destruction."
"No. ͠I ̷don'́t want to."
"Don't you understand? O̷̡u̧͘͏͠r͠͝͝ ̨͟҉̶́t̴͘͏ẁ́̀͟͝o̶̡̕͢͠ ̀́w̷̷̡̢o̴̶͘͜r̷̶̶̨ĺ̨͜͝d̵͜͞ş̵͘͝ ̴̢̨̕͘m̸̢͡i͏̴ǵ̡̢h̷̢̛͟t̡̕ ̴͜d͏̡į̵̕͜s̵̸̶͜a҉p͏̴̧͜͞p̵͢͢͡e͢͡͝à̴̸̛͟r̵̸̨̛ ̴̢͘͠ completely! And you along with them!"
"F̸͏҉i̛n͟e͘ ̴͢by̨ ͡m̶̛e.̛"
"Háep̴hn̸e͏҉s͘͟,̴̵ ̵͞͝I̶͡'̕m͞ ̸͘s̨o͢͡r͡rý͠͞.̡͘͝..͜ ͟͜͞t͝͞hi͜͟s̴ ̵̵́i̴͜s͘͢ ́̕͡a̡ĺ͜l̴͜ m̴̢y̷ f̢a̸̕u̵l̶͝t.͟ Į̨ ̨p̵l͜͡a̢nt̡̢é̶͞d͝͡ the̷̴̛ seeds from which this disaster grew."
"So what?"
"No...It's my fault. My words... Th͢͏͏ęy c̢̡o̷͡u͞͝ld̨͠͏n͏'͝t̨͞ ̛r͡è̶a̶̸c͠h́͝ th̵̀i͡͞s̷ ͞l̷̛͞ǫş̸t͏̸̸ ̴̨͜s͟o҉ul̵͡."
"Y̷͠éà́h̸,̶̸ ́sure."
"T̴h͠e̴̕͞n͞҉ ́t̸͘͜h̀̀̀e̴̡r̷e͘'̕͢s ̢no͏t̨hi̶n̸̢͞g̕̕͘ ́͟͡we can do. We have only o̧n҉e̢͝ ͏̛͟p͟a҉͝t̛ḩ͜͠ ̷̧̛le͝f̡͞t̸̕ ̸͠t̀o ̢̛͝u͜s̢.̴"
"V̶͘e̶̡r̨̢̛y w̸e͜͠l̢͏ļ͜..̨.͢҉i͏́f͟ ̛́̕t̀̕h̕҉a͏t̡ ͘͢͝i̢͏s ̨our only choice. That which rules al̸͞l̀͝.͝͞.̷͝.̵̡A҉s҉̕hu̵͢r҉̕!́͜ ̕͏P̨̀l̶̛͡e͏̷̶à͢s͡ȩ̕͢ ̨̢g̛ra͟҉͘ń̸͞t͝ ͘͠ùs͞͏̵ ̷y̸ou̡ŕ̷ divine grace!"
.
("Gemini" from: Soul Cradle OST)
Louise felt a surge of power flowing through the air, a great battle was about to unfold. But it was more of a one-sided beat down. And unfortunately, the genocidal woman with the black sword was not on the receiving end of it.
"̷We̴̴̵ m̸̶͢u͡s͘͠t̨͏̕ ̵u͝sę ̷̶t҉͢͟h̸͟í̢s҉̵ ͝ṕ͘͟o͠҉we̵̸͏r̶ ̶͡t͟҉͡o̡͏ ̷͏̨s̶to͞͡p ̴̴th͡͝e̕͞ ̛́͜e͏͠v͏͢i͠l̨͘͡!͏̕͞"̸͝
The man and woman who appeared before this monster of a human spoke in tandem.
"Just try it."
The air grew heavy, the presence of absolute death and bloodlust that emanated from her increased. This was definitely a nightmare, even if not a very real one, because if Louise was in that place, she would have died upon being hit by the shockwaves.
"̨̰̜̰̤͇͔D̤͕̱͔̦͇e͈̳̙ͅm̨̭͕o̳̜͙̥͓̝ń͈͉̯͇̜̝ ̙͈B̧̦̬͕̗͖l̷̫̞̱ạ̹̹̞̣͍̤s̼̹͜t̨͖͎̺͉̝̪̺!̺̖̬̪"̰̠̗͠
̜̱͙͕
͇̪̖͖̝"̛H̛̯̩̬̫͖͎͉o̴͖̺͓̲w̬̞̝͖̞̤ͅ…͇͚̣̪̜?̗̗̰̗̬͉̝ ̬̮̜͇̙͓͚E͓͇v҉̦̫̻e͇̰̤̦̖n̹̞̳̱͘ ͔̦̞w̗͙͎̰̰̖i̴̝̩̤͖ͅth̤̩o̘͓̟͖ͅu̱̜̗̟͍t̰̀ͅ ̦͔̱̠̻͉̟G͖̬̮i̩̬͖g̷͚̺!͕̻̱͖̜͞"͙̟̩͔
͖̫
͖"̳͙̳̟̳̬̮Ḏ̝̫e͡m̦̫o̯n̢̹ ̲̥B̡̥̞̘̝̱̙l̬̣͔̪̭̲̥͢a̝̪͝sț̞̠̤̳̬̻͠!̝"͔̳
͏̭̮̖̭̺̥̣
"̷̞A̺͎͍̯͕h͡h̙̗̻̘̲́!҉ ̗͡T̗̟͈͜h̖̘̖͇̠̰ͅe̮̙͙̯ ̢͉̭̺̝̪w̧̩̼̜͇̦o҉̰͕͔r̝̦̪̙̺̥̮l̩͓͙̖̬̺̰d̤̳̹̙!̢"͙͠
̣̜̭̗
͚̙͇̹͍̮͢"̛D̯ẹ̝̞m̱̼̗̲̳̼̱o̭͇͚̩n̦͚̻͙͕͈ ̰̪Bl̴̹a̡̘̰s̟̫̤̤̬̻t̮͟!̳͈͕͓̯"͖̥͉̪̳̼͜
̳͖̝͔̬ͅ
͔̬͈̩̪͕̙"̯͍̻͞I̬͈͇̻͙͈̺n̶̞͇̥t̺̩̥̣̩̦̪o̸ ̻̮̥̥̗̝͔n̤̹̺̕o̟̯͓̺̠̠tḥ̹̮͙͎i͇̗̘̜̭n̸̪̠̙̗̮g͈̹̦͝ne̘̗̘̗͙s̵s̨͇̱̲̯.̙̘̰.͍͙.̟̥͇̜̫͍!̬̙̘̤̘͜"̲̙͉ͅ
̣͙̭͉̺
̭̦̯̩̠̙"͖̬̦̀ͅD̜̤̼e͔̲̙m͕̘̤̪͕͘o̩n̝̻͡ͅ ̯̥͘B̵̘l̠̻̱a̙̮̭̯̭̺̘s̕t!͟"͏̤͇̰̦̣̩͓
.
Louise could only see darkness and heard a strange sound. It was like a piece of cloth being ripped as glass shattered…that was her way of putting it, since words could not describe the horrid sound she was hearing.
"͡Ashúr҉…i̧s ҉th̢i̶s̶…̷i͘s t̷h̡is what̡ yo̶u ̶wa̴nted̕?͡"̨
͝
"I̴t͢ ̵do̶esn͠'̀t͢ ҉m͡aţtȩr.̢"̧
Just before she lost consciousness completely and awakened from this nightmare. Louise heard the woman utter a sentence that brought true terror to her…It was because in the end, those three words embodied the woman's motives. It told Louise why this person burnt, ravaged and killed everyone and everything.
"It was fun."
===0===0===0===
(No music)
Gig found himself in a dark place. Well not a "place" per se, it looked like the mindscape in which he met the kid for the first time.
She was her soulmate. And she betrayed him.
At first he thought about giving her the usual "deal with the devil" and then take over her body the first chance he got. But then she got pissed at the old hag and killed her along with the rest of her village (how the bitch and the stupid cow survived he will never know). Then she was like, "Yeah, take over or whatever I don't give two fucks about it, just let me kill some shit," and got on his good side, he never saw that one coming to be honest. He actually had fun with her. Rape. Genocides. All sorts of happy fun times.
And she let him have dibs on the empire's name.
"It sucks. It sucks hard."
Yeah, right midget.
BFF empire…pfft hahaha. Totally worth it.
But then she ate him…She just…
("BAD BOYS" from: Soul Cradle Arrange Track album)
"Okay, okay stop wasting your time going all emo and try to figure where the hell you are."
Truth be told, Gig was very confused. No, it was not because Revya honored her title and devoured him. That is obvious, she just wanted even more power than the one she had.
He was confused because he was still conscious. When you die and your soul leaves your body, you go into a sort of state of hibernation. And once it gets used by the Master of Life of Haephnes or Drazil, you completely forget everything. Getting…eh…eaten by a World Eater…is pretty much the same…unless you DO get digested like Gig was. That pretty much was supposed send him into eternal oblivion and nonexistence.
So why was he aware of being in…wherever this was?
And then he heard that voice.
"Hellooo Gigy! How are you doing?" It was a woman, a slightly powerful and immature one…
"God…Fucking…Damn it…" Gig knew that person and he sure as hell did NOT want to deal with her right now.
Lujei Piche.
Gig knew next to nothing about her, well other than her complete insanity and bipolar tendencies, at least. Her hair was a hue of brown and silver, she wore a very revealing (by Prodesto's standards, and the Nerids are borderline naked, but no one points that out, due to their fear of getting stabbed with a trident) white dress and several blue roses in full bloom.
Despite being the embodiment of several fetishes, she was completely unappealing to Gig. As a matter of fact, she was in his special "Dude, what the hell?" list, right next to the stupid cow and Vitali.
"Ohh you look a bit mad Gigy, did you stub your toe?" she asked with the most honest tone of voice.
"Just shut up you bitch! I had enough of you after you tossed us against that Median bastard! I even got my soul used by Drazil to make…!"
Gig was not an idiot. Sure, he was somewhat…expressive when voicing his love for the hotpods, which was natural given the fact that it was one of the best things ever…and he tried really hard to not make a rant about Joules being a heartless monster for calling them an "inferior piece of rubbish"…all hail the divine beauty of the hotpod.
But even though he was definitely not one and had an ego bigger than the size of all the World Eaters and the fused form of the Overseers and Drazil (and maybe their other two clones. Just…maybe) he felt "more retarded than the bovine squad" when he realized that he knew about things that didn't happen, such as the kid actually apologizing and NOT going off the deep end like she did, this time. Or when they met Lujei. Or when…well, he just felt like shit…not that he'd say that out loud, mind you.
Then Gig proceeded to swear and yell at the All-Ruler Ashur so intensely that he was unable to make any coherent sentences but, needless to say, there were plenty of "motherfucker"s.
Lujei's lover (who seemed to be a soul trapped in her staff) suggested that they should get the heck out of there, and for once, she agreed.
After about 15 minutes of the maddened babbling of the Master of Death, he realized that she was gone from that place. Seeing that the sort-of-transdimensional witch left, Gig was so angered that he could have made a crater on the floor if he so much as glared at it…well, if there was a floor to begin with.
(Pause music)
He remembered EVERYTHING. Everything that Ashur willed was something that was meant to happen. That included, of course, the "cycles" as Gig called them.
The All-Ruler wanted to stop Drazil and his "utopia", but the lazy bastard didn't intervene himself. Seeing Virtuous' plan, he decided to give her a hand in some subtle ways. But before he could do anything, the kid just got killed! By the idiots that Gig told her to kick the shit out of to get the hang of his powers before fighting Galahad and Feinne!
So Ashur got the "bright idea" of looping the timeline to the point of when he was first sealed in the Onyx Blade by Virtuous.". So far, there had been about 57 repetitions.
Even if the Overseer were still in his "Vigilance" persona, he would have transformed into "Gig" eventually. All of this watching the same thing over and over again (even if there were major differences most of the time) would drive anyone insane. Worst of all, he couldn't do shit about it, because the second Revya entered the mindscape and when they met face to face…poof, his memories were gone and he wouldn't get them back until he was dead again.
He could only wait 'till the next cycle…
(Replay BAD BOYS)
"Okay…at least I got this new trick down…"
Out of Gig's dark energies, three shapes made of a black liquid that slowly boiled and evaporated were formed.
"Yeah, I'll be damned if I can't get ANY kind of entertainment," said one of the shapes proudly.
"It's kinda sad in hindsight, though," another one replied, "I mean, seriously dude. This could get you thrown into the looney bin if it weren't real."
"Quit your bitchin', it's annoying," scolded the last one, "anyways…so, the dice? The cards? Darts? We gonna try getting out? Or maybe talk about where we messed up on this cycle?
"Nah, I've got an interesting idea this time," Gig answered with a cocky grin in his face.
After he was done talking, two enormous posts rose to immense heights, each one of them had a small circle on top of them. As well as a replica of Drazil's head with the word "asshole" written on his forehead.
The shadowy shapes grinned back as they gained color. And so, Gig and his shadow constructs began playing a bastardized version of a game known to us as Sepak Takraw.
End Chapter
Okay, that felt good.
To start off things, look for Sepak Takraw on YouTube. LOOK AT IT I SAY!
No seriously, do it! I mean, how on earth is that not an Olympic event yet!? That has got to be the most badass sport ever!
…Now that I've got that out of my system…
("Mawoo! Map" from: What did I do to deserve this, my lord!? 2 OST)
I'd like to point out a few things here.
First: Louise WILL summon the Onix Blade AND a primed Crimson Tear, and they will get fused, but due to the fact that the target was Revya and not her, the grip of seal is flimsy at best, but the power is there. I'd liken it to an unlaced shoelace. The string is there, but it won't help much to keep the shoe on your foot. Also, due to being in a foreign world, Ashur cannot reach our favorite killer of kings and destroyer of worlds (yet), so he will retain the memories of the 57 cycles.
Second: No, the story will NOT be even close to the way it originally was. There's no Gandalfr runes. No Derflinger, and no love triangles-slash-love dodecahedrons.
Gig will walk Louise through the unpleasant sides of humanity and she will NOT like it, not only because of her noble upbringing but because she begins to realize that it's there and it's happening. Will he break her? That you'll see latter, but she will never be the same.
Third: Gig will be the same guy, other than the fact that I'll have him act in a somewhat more sly way, trying to get Louise to use his power, not at the first chance he gets, but doing it in subtle ways.
Yes, he is an asshole. Yes, he brags a lot. Yes, he has enough power to back up his claims and yes, he will say whatever the hell he wants, but he is going to try and make his soulmate feel admiration towards him, make her appreciate him…Gig does not like sucking up to her to get her there, but he can compromise and use a different brand of awesome…You'll see.
Fourth: Things will get real nasty, not Demon Path nasty but still pretty damn ugly. I have no idea as to why on Earth, the ESRB rated Soul Nomad with a T when it is worthy of an M. There's rape, manslaughter, jihads, genocide and a lot of nasty things ON A NORMAL PLAYTHROUGH. The Demon Path takes things up to eleven with YOU doing those things and much, much more. And you are actually enjoying it.
This fic is not going to have Louise go Devourlord on the world, but we will see lots and lots of unpleasantness. Those faint of heart should leave before getting broken a la George Orwell.
Now then…
Gig quote of the day!
Gamma: Looking at you now, I see you don't even understand what happiness means. You see? Nothing can be felt unless someone exists to tell them what to feel. That is why we exist.
Gig: But then... how would anyone know the divine beauty of the hotpod?!