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Prologue: A Nice Day for Adventure
The sky was nice and blue, only a few clouds dotted the horizon to break up the blue filling the sky, and the only ones able to enjoy it was the students milling about in the courtyard, but their focus was on something else, something that only came once for most. It was a special day, a day where a mage would finally be allowed to summon their very own familiar, using a lauded spell that dated back to Brimir himself. The crowd gathering in the courtyard where bustling to and fro, ready to claim their partner for life that would bond with them and become a companion uniquely suited for each mage.
As the number of familiars grew with each passing second, A girl with pink hair named Louise was in the midst of a building panic, it was only just yesterday that she had boasted about summoning a familiar as legendary as a dragon, a creature so rarely seen that if she managed it, it could change everything about her current school life. The summoning ritual would be her chance to change people's opinions of her, to become more than just a 'Zero', but as the numbers of students who had yet to perform the ritual became whittled down to one, she couldn't help the doubt's in the back of her mind tormenting her on what would happen if this backfired and it only became another of her many failures. 'No', she thought to herself, she would not let it end this way, even if it meant she had to live on as a mage without a familiar.
She was known as Louise 'the Zero' because there was still yet a single spell that had been casted successfully from her own talents. It was a frustration that was starting to encompass everything she knew about magic. Just this morning she had failed to turn pebbles into brass, instead it only produced what her fellow schoolmates where now use to seeing coming from her spell works, an explosion that coated the front of the classroom that she had to clean up once again. Today would be different, she thought today everything would change. While she was fantasizing about what her familiar could be, she just manged to hear Colbert's announcement breaking her out of her thoughts.
"Well, I believe everyone's had a chance to summon their familiar." He cried out, looking around at the various creatures that stood around with their respective masters. Upon hearing this, a busty, red haired girl wearing the same outfit most were given in such a way as to leave little to the imagination, opened her mouth to correct the man.
"I don't think Louise has summoned her familiar!" Yelled, a Red haired mage, who was accompanied by a large salamander with a flame on its tail. Louise sent a glare her way, she was one of her tormentors that had the privilege to stick her with the moniker of 'Zero' in the first place. "Oh don't look so down little Louise, this is your chance to prove us all wrong!"
"Just wait and see, my familiar will be leagues better than that stupid salamander of yours, Kirche!" With that declaration set, Louise trudged up to the runes and prepared herself to begin. Deciding to ignore Kirche's response, and instead focusing on the summoning ritual. Once she was in position and ready, Colbert gave thanks to Kirche before turning to Louise and giving her a few encouraging words.
As the gathered student's realized who's turn it was, a few of them began making excuses to leave, others edged a little further back not wanting to be in the epicentre of what they were sure to be an explosion, while some prepared to laugh and jeer at the 'Zero' as another spell was added to her list of failures.
Louise took a breath and began the chant. Her mind filled with thoughts of glory, of hope, and of change. She chanted filling each word with earnest plea, as if it was a dying man gasping for air. With each word the air seemed to thrum with power and the students around her began edging ever slowly backwards. The air seemed to churn with the amount of magic flowing through it, this only made the crowd more nervous, many having thoughts of the creeping danger of being too close becoming more urgent. The runes themselves seemed to glow brightly, then began to flicker between green and blue before settling on a putrid green that seemed almost sickly.
Elsewhere, in a city that seemed to be tribal in appearance with a multitude of buildings that appeared as if made from animal skin and bones, with crude metal inserted in as if the designer went a little overboard. In a pub that resided in the centre of the town square, there was a multitude of interesting characters inside this pub. Most were armoured and seemed to be in the midst of celebrating something. While the rest of the patrons were drinking and causing a ruckus, on the side of the bar sat a lone figure who let out a feminine sigh.
The barkeep, a fur-coated tauren took notice and slowly made his way over to her while taking care of the orders for the other patrons. When he finally reached the last patron at the counter, he couldn't help but feel pity for her since this wasn't the first time he had her visit in such a state. She was a patron that would always appear whenever news came in that the catastrophe of the month was finally settled.
"What's got you so down, I'd think the great Nightbane herself would be out there celebrating her victory over the legion." He remarked, while gesturing in the direction of the celebration that was taking place outside the pub, where the streets were filled with all sorts of different races, shouting and dancing in merriment. "Don't tell me you've finally gotten bored of all the praise?" He questioned, while collecting the mugs that lay scattered on the counter top by the other patrons.
'Nightbane' only seemed to sigh harder with even more melancholy at that question as her attention focused on the barkeep in front of her. "Of course I don't mind the celebration and all, I just can't help the feeling that's telling me there's nothing else to do I mean its been weeks and there's just seems to be nothing interesting going on that'll hold my attention." She finished with another sip of the refilled mug.
The barkeep simply hummed in thought before replying, "Oh I'm sure something will come up that'll give you that craving you seek, after all this world can't seem to go a month without some other world ending event popping up, this bar wouldn't have lasted so long without it." He said with a chuckle, gesturing to the various patrons drinking in revelry. Whether it was in loss or victory, you could always count on a bar to help welcome in the next day or drown your sorrows.
"You're probably right, I'm just a little anxious like somethings gonna happen any moment." She told him, before chugging her mug in one pull and slamming it down on the counter with a mighty blam. "I'll go see if there's anything on the quest board that might be interesting. Thanks for the drink old timer!" With that She pulled a few coins from one of her bags, grabbed the helmet sitting beside her, and hopped off the stool before making her way outside where she was met with the sight of a clear blue sky and the hustle of the main square. It was as she was making her way to the quest board in the middle of the square that she heard it.
'Oh Great and Beautiful familiar of mine...' The plea sounding like it came from a child that was on their last legs. It was a pull as if someone was speaking directly into her mind and compelling her to go somewhere. It filled her with uncertainty, being the subject of more than one mind magic attack, but this pull didn't feel like any spell shes ever experienced before. It was as she was pondering this that a portal, green in appearance began to form in front of her. It was powerful magic, even she could tell, and most mysterious of all it was calling to her. Beckoning her towards it, as if it was calling her name like someone would call their mount and it would come bounding loyally.
As the portal fully expanded, and remained sitting there just out of reach, the crowd that was still milling about in the square didn't seem to take notice of it. It was with this realization that she understood, someone was targeting her and only her. By the sounds of the chanting, it was a child no less and the voice reminded her of all too many people calling for salvation in the hopes of being saved. On one hand she thought, this could be interesting adventure that she was craving, on the other it could simply be a trap, she was after all quite use to being ambushed at this point in her life. Though she was confident whatever this was, she could make it through, she wasn't called "The Fearless" for nothing. With that thought in mind, she pulled her helmet atop her head and strode headstrong through the twisting green portal.
"My servant that exists somewhere out there, heed my call!" she finished bringing her wand down and with it a booming explosion that ballooned out with green lightning scorching the very centre of the spell. The smoke obscured everything in the courtyard as the assembled masses were hacking their lungs out. Louise herself coughing up a storm, as she waved at the cloud that was currently stopping her from seeing just what her spell had done. The explosion was what came standard to her magic, so familiar to her that it was what she expected, even if that thought was only kept in the far reaches of her mind. The creeping sense of despair that came welling up, was something she had to squash however.
Grimacing, laughter began to resound around her as the gathered students began to recover from the results of her summoning and came to a conclusion on what the explosion meant. Louise would not let it end this way, familiar or not, she would never give up trying. The students that were to her back didn't care of her thoughts, instead most of them saw her as a source of entertainment. It wasn't long for the jeering to pick up and buffet Louise's ears and flaming her anger.
"An explosion, how fitting!"
"What could you expect out of Louise the Zero!"
"Maybe she blew her familiar up just like the rest of her spells!"
As the jeering continued and the laughter began to infect the other students, Louise herself was beginning to tear up. If not for the shouts and cries of some of the more normal animal familiars didn't bring with it a sense of nervousness to the gathered crowd. It began slowly, as the wind did its work in reducing the cloud of smoke to nothing and vision was restored. There was a figure that was beginning to become evident in the centre of Louise's efforts at summoning.
The smoke cleared with a final whistle of the wind, and with it so to did the jeers and laughter. Instead being replaced with whispers and gasps, as the crowd stood enraptured by the person standing where there was none before. Even Louise, full of excitement, could only stare at what her summoning had placed before them, because standing there in all her glory, an armoured figure stood.
The curve of her figure implied it was a woman in that strange get up. Around her belt seemed to be a variety of pouches of varying shapes and sizes. The ornate dagger that hung on the left side of her belt seemed evil in its design as if it wasn't meant to be used how most daggers would be, with a gem near the hilt that shown with a purple light. Her face was covered by a demonic looking visage with horns that seemed to extend a foot out to each side of her head and three burning holes for eyes. The pauldrons that covered her shoulders were large and seemed to be made of a strange ethereal metal with orbs that radiated a menacing purple light. While the robe she wore seemed to be crafted of the strangest cloth and inscribed with so many runes that Louise got a headache from just trying to decipher a few. The presence of the stranger seemed so saturated in magic that it was as if Louise were standing before one of her mother's spells.
The worst part of all was the floating skull that was circling around the demonic stranger. The top had a ridge between the eyes that seemed to be filled with a burning fire, but what really made it menacing was the two massive horns that curled back from around the skull's face with a mouth filled with small daggers rather than teeth. It looked like it was ripped straight from the head of a massive demon, it didn't help that it seemed to glow an eerie purple and moved as if the soul of the demon was still inhabiting it.
Louise herself was shocked and looked to Colbert for guidance. The professor himself seemed to be just as surprised as she was to the events now taking place. The gathered crowd were awestruck while drinking in the sight of the imposing image that was presented before them. The air was tense, riddled with questioning glances from Colbert to the armoured stranger. No one wanted to provoke her, fearful of what she might do, as if she really could take their soul away as her menacing figure implied. The quiet that descended was suffocating, no one spoke a word, not a whisper, the only sound the hushed breaths each person let out and in. It was to this strained mood that the stranger simply took a long look around the courtyard her head briefly passing over the crowd and finally settled on Louise who stood nearest. The silence was broken by the figure suddenly yelling out, in a language none could understand.
Although no one could understand what she had said, her voice rang out excited and clear. The excitement that was contained in her shouts was easily conveyed, even through the language barrier. It instilled a dawning sense of wonder and curiosity in the crowd, these feelings slowly taken root over the initial impression. Louise only just now regaining her senses before she was interrupted by a rush of movement. The woman who was currently the centre of attention was walking straight towards her, and since she was so much taller than herself, she couldn't help, but feel slightly intimidated by the imposing visage looming over her. Once she was close enough, her voice came out soft and clear, but wholly incomprehensible, though the wild gestures she added while speaking really helped convey her excitement at least.
Louise couldn't help, but feel disappointed that they did not speak the same language. Though the woman herself had yet to notice this it seemed and continued to speak with abandon. Louise, realizing this, decided to try and at least silence her with a spell, emboldened by the so called success of her familiar summoning. With a flick of her wand and a quick chant, an explosion once again returned to the courtyard, this time far smaller in scale and clouding the top of the familiar's head. It did its job on getting her to be quiet, though she could have done without the explosion. The reaction to what looked like to most was Louise blowing her familiars head off was that familiar silence.
The cloud that covered the woman's head was ominous with those glowing eyes of hers seeming to have such intensity to them that they made it look like she was a headless demon here to take her away. Louise felt as if she was within the eye of the storm, as if her mother was glaring at her in that disappointed way of hers. She was about to try and apologize when the woman spoke, to the surprise of everyone present in their tongue as well.
"I hope that was an accident and you didn't just try to attack me." Came the voice, that before was speaking a completely different language and was now miraculously speaking theirs, to the relief of Louise and company. "Because if it wasn't then I might just have to do something about that." The tone was chilling as if she was use to giving out promises of retribution. Louise couldn't help but pick up on the slight fatigue that accompanied it. Mustering up her courage she attempted to respond before her familiar went through with her threat.
"It w-w-wasn't suppose to explode, I-I-I thought that m-m-maybe my magic was working now that I've managed to summon a familiar." She stuttered out, looking on fearfully for the reaction from the intimidating figure only a half dozen paces from her. Her mouth was dry as she waited for the woman to respond, the helmet she wore not helping her nerves in any way.
"Well no harm than, barely even felt it," came the jovial reply, to her relief. Thoughts of what might have happened allowing a trace of haughtiness back in. "On to more important stuff, as I was saying, happen to know where I am?"
Colbert who had been watching quietly to the side decided then to speak up. "Well you happen to be in the Tristain Royal Academy of Magic, summoned here by Louise for the summoning ceremony," he said gesturing towards the pink haired girl in question who nodded in reply when the stranger's gaze briefly checked her over. "Although I can't say I've ever seen someone summon a familiar that can talk before." He answered before chuckling to himself, thoughts of research on what this meant filling his mind. The stranger herself seemed content.
"That's new." She replied with a nod of her head, a sense of excitement seemed to radiate from her from those two words alone. With that said, she pulled out a journal and a writing implement from one of her bags that seemed far smaller than the journal itself. She then seemed to flip through the well-worn book before apparently finding what she wanted and writing something inside. While she was busy writing, a cough came from in front of her, alerting her to the presence of the pink haired child in question, who was looking at her skeptically. Louise was confused, but didn't question the good fortune that had come about, after all she had managed to summon a familiar even if she was a person and not some animal like most would expect, it did not change the fact that the woman standing before her was proof that Louise was no longer just a 'Zero'.
"What do I do now, Professor" Asked Louise, who looked between Colbert and her familiar. "Do I continue with the ceremony?"
"Well it is according to tradition, even if this is a first." He replied while coming up beside them. His staff by his side, on the off chance the stranger decided to become violent, though her demeanour thus far allowed him to feel confident that she would not do such a thing. His past however, couldn't allow him to drop his guard all the way. With his agreement given, Louise focused her gaze back to her familiar, took a calming breathe and began to speak.
"Would you accept becoming my familiar?" She asked, assuming the stranger knew what this entailed since she was sure her familiar was a mage, an oddly dressed mage with an odd catalyst for spells, but a mage none the less. The butterflies in her stomach did flip flops, while she awaited her answer, watching her familiar's posture in the hopes some hint of her reaction come up, but her posture didn't give anything away and that bowl loosening mask hid her face completely. So she held her breathe in anticipation, hand gripping her wand anxiously, the butterflies seeming to multiply twice over as the woman took her time digesting the question.
"Hmm, well I can't say I've ever done anything like this before." She replied as if this didn't mean the world to Louise. Her familiar started scrutinizing Louise's appearance and seemingly finding something that warranted interest chuckled to herself. "But I always did have a penchant for adventure. So, lay it on me!" She cheered, as if binding one's souls together wasn't a big deal to her. Louise could only look on in befuddlement, but quickly closed her mouth to regain her decorum, since she could only be glad some good fortune was being thrown her way for once. She sighed in relief, the tension draining from her slight frame. The realization that this was truly happening overtaking her mind.
Clearing his throat to get their attention, Colbert looked to them both before saying, "I suppose you should finish the binding ritual if you are both in agreement." Everyone else watched on with interest. A few of the students in the audience even seemed happy for Louise.
Louise looked to the professor, then focused back on her supposed familiar, vibrating with excitement, before clearing her mind and beginning to chant, "My name is Louise Le Blanc de La Valliere. Pentagon of the five elements; Bless this humble being and make her my familiar," with that she leaned forward with her eyes closed to kiss her familiar, until it became apparent that she was far too short to reach her target. Her familiar picking up on what the ritual seemed to entail, chuckled before leaning downwards. Before Louise could tell her to take the helmet off, she slowly reached upwards and unlatched her helmet. As the mask fell away and the helmet was pulled off, there was a resounding gasp as the crowd noticed what was hidden underneath the helmet.
The first thing that everyone zeroed in on were the ears, long and pointed. Second, it was the golden hair that curled around a pointed, but undeniably beautiful face that seemed otherworldly. Then finally it was the pale skin, as if it had rarely seen the light of day. The silence was interrupted by the woman simply leaning forward and stealing a kiss from Louise's very own lips before a grin spread across her face, even the runes that began to etch themselves across her forehead did little to even make a dent on her cheerful expression. Once Louise opened her eyes and took in the sight before her, she was shocked at the sight. It was something she had only ever heard of from stories and books.
"There's no way my familiar is an Elf!" And as if that was holding the floodgates back, a multitude of comments began to flood through the air.
"No way an elf, its an elf!"
"Are we in danger?"
"What if she really does take our souls!"
"Is an elf as great as a dragon?" Came another question from Kirche, who looked to the blue-haired girl at her side who only responded with a shrug. While the rest of the gathered spectators held various expressions. For most it was their first time seeing an elf, and the image this one carried truly did embody the stories they were told growing up. "Well I guess Louise lived up to her word after all." She figured. Her friend only nodded at that, her face a mask as always. They were both sure, that the coming days ahead would be interesting indeed.
Colbert, meanwhile, was enraptured by the runes that shone on the elf's forehead, runes of which he had never seen before, when she realized he was staring so intently, she chuckled before coyly grinning to herself and giving him a wink. Colbert realizing what it looked like to others only scratched his cheek before looking away and trying to save face. While all that was going on Louise herself could only wonder who she had bound herself to. As things seemed to cool down, Colbert grabbed everyone's attention so he could announce they were done for the day as he had a library to go through to hopefully answer the mystery of Louise's familiar.
"Settle yourselves, I suppose with that the summoning ritual is over and you can all get to know your familiars." And with a quick chant to levitate himself he began to head off, most of the class following suit with a few throwing one last glance at the elf standing in the middle of their academy. The elf herself just pulled out that journal of hers once again humming a tune unknown to anyone but her, and jotted something down before putting it back in one of those far too small bags of hers.
Louise could only bask in the afterglow of her first success, while sneaking glances at her familiar to confirm she wasn't dreaming. She had finally done it, she had struck back at the world that seemed so determined to see her fail. Her determination won out in the end, and no matter what anyone else said they could never deny that she had gotten at least one spell right.
"Well come on, I'll show you to my room." She said. "I never did get your name and I can't just call you 'familiar' all the time."
The elf in question only nodded, a grin snaking across her graceful features. "the name's Aelara Nightbane, The Fearless, Netherlord, and other assortments of titles, if you want to get all formal, but you can just call me Aelara." She finished with a wink. Louise couldn't help but blush at her action, seeing as that reminded her of a certain red haired flirt known for her many conquests over the male populace. With a cough to clear her thoughts. "Follow me," she declared and began to make her way back to her room.
With that, the two headed off to Louise's room. Aelara thinking about the new adventures, discoveries, and fights that she would get to experience. Louise thinking that this was just the first step to showing the world that Louise Le Blanc de La Valliere was more than just a 'Zero'.