The story takes place after the good ending of Witcher 3 Heart's of stone expansion.
Rated M for dark content, Eeriness, Sexual Nudity (Later on), Violence, Gore and etc.
I do not own the anime or the Game, all rights go towards their official creators. please support the official release.
Warning! this story contains an Anti hero and greyish Louise, evil Gaunter, brief and minor Louise bashing, major Brimir bashing and Nobility bashing.
The Devil went down to Tristain
Geralt of Rivia had not got much time left as he spent most of it wandering around this barren and twisted world that was formed by the master mirror or the devil himself as Geralt had secretly believed him to be. This Gaunter O'Dimm, the man of many names, Or could he even be a man to begin with.
After bringing Olgierd to the Temple of Lilvani, where he delivers the violet rose, fulfilling the third wish. Where suddenly Gaunter O'Dimm appears in the moon light walking in the air and stepping down on like he was on invisible stairs and informs Olgierd that he has fulfilled their contract by granting three wishes and meeting on the moon, which actually appeared to be a trick as the meaning behind it was actually a portrait painted on the ground of the temple was what he meant.
If Geralt had not met professor Shakeslock then O'Dimm would've claimed Olgierd's soul. Geralt chose to step in and stood up for Olgeird, which soon led to the man of mirrors to challenge Geralt to a game. Geralt accepted the challenge on behalf of Olgeird's soul and his own freedom if he were to win the challenge.
O'Dimm teleported Geralt to a miniature world or dimension and he explained the rules of the challenge. O'Dimm then recited the riddle which he wants Geralt to find the solution of in the miniature world to search for the answer of this riddle.
"To all things and men I appertain,
and yet by some am shunned and distained.
Fondle me and ogle me til you're insane,
but no blow can harm me, cause me pain.
Children delight in me, elders take fright.
Fair maids rejoice and spin.
Cry and I weep, yawn and I sleep.
Smile, and I too shall grin.
What am I?"
Most of the points of interest in the world were decoys designed to waste his time time and increase O'Dimm's personal enjoyment of Geralt's predicament. O'Dimm had also deployed spectres in this world resembling blackened versions of monsters Geralt had fought before.
Geralt soon realised that the riddle had something to do with mirrors, but O'Dimm never went easy on Geralt and made him run around in circles chasing mirrors that would shatter once approached. He then got a clue about the riddle that a mirror was not the solution to the riddle as it revolved around the reflection, So the cat that gave him the clue told him to search for a reflection that doesn't break.
The search led him to a fountain to where he used his witcher senses. He discovered that there was a water source behind some rubble, so he blasted the rubble with a telekinetic Aard spell and the water flowed in to fill the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.
Walking up to the edge of the fountain after he filled it up with water, he leaned over the edge of the fountain looked into the reflection to see himself, and someone else.
"Gotcha!" Geralt's hands dived into the water and grabbed the Man of glass by the collar and lifted him out of the water to come face to face with the man… or the devil himself. Geralt was in for a surprise as Gaunter's face and eyes morphed into something demonic.
"Ouw se on coq e coq la se rwa an le pil fimie ay. Shen ggonia monerie, ara scdebi. Man amaran nai, Nir sauyn fala fastama azdahzan" (You are primitive. You think you've defeated me but you are wrong. I can't be killed, I will be back.) Gaunter sneered at Geralt and disappeared from Geralt's grasp and back into the reflection of the water in the fountain. as he walked backwards with his skin disintegrating and spontaneously com-busting towards the light in the fountain applauding sarcastically at Geralts's effort in solving his riddle.
"Be gone. You have lost." Geralt told him before Gaunter disintegrated and the last thing Geralt heard of him and saw of him was a snarling visage as he gave out one last demonic roar before he disintegrated completely.
"Grrraaaaarggggghhhaaaaahhrr!" was Gaunter's last Roar as Geralt had beaten him at his own game. His evil schemes and plots were no more… for now.
"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk... hmmmm… I do admit, I didn't quite expect him to outsmart me at my own game. Interesting specimens them witchers, I should employ their services more often." Gaunter pondered to himself in amusement as he sat down drifting in the void for an unknown amount of time.
"But he must be a fool to believe that I have been beaten. It does not matter how long, but I will eventually return. He probably does not know that there are far more worlds outside of his own little world out there for me to explore and exploit." He chuckled to himself as he reminisced in some of his favourite memories of travelling to worlds and exploiting some of the world's people to grant them their wishes in exchange for something that Gaunter wants in that world.
"Oh the memories I had in some of those worlds, especially Earth. Oh ho ho ho! Were they easy to manipulate. You just show off a little bit of power and then they will fall on their hands and knees praying to me like I'm some sort of god, and then sooner or later they began fighting and killing each other in my name! Hahaha! Fools!." Gaunter chuckled to himself as he remembered the fond memories of exploiting their beliefs for some false ideology and resulting in the start of a corrupted system which resulted in many religious wars and injustice.
"Hmm? Where to go now I wonder?... and I should really change my clothes, their fashion sense is really primitive and are really an eyesore and uncomfortable for me." he fidgeted as the itchy clothes made him move irrationally. "*Sigh!* I should really think up of something to do, this view of utter blackness is all the same." He sighed and decided to straighten out and placed his hands behind his head and hook one leg over the other to relax and think up of his next move.
"Pentagon of the five elemental power, Heed my summoning..."
"A voice from within the void?"
"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe…"
"Hmmm?...no, it came from a world… a calling?"
"Bring forth my familiar…"
"Familiar?... hmm… that does sound rather familiar, he! Get it… oooh I do crack myself up sometimes… But does this voice mean myself?"
"My divine…"
"Divine?...try devilishly handsome, if I must say so myself."
"My beautiful…"
"Depends on what your definition of what beauty is… as there are many examples."
"My wise…"
"Oh darling… you have no idea."
"My powerful familiar"
"Naturally..."
"Heed my call, I wish from very bottom of my heart and answer to my guidance and bring forth my familiar!"
"Hmmm… now this is interesting. I have been called upon by an individual who has called upon something or someone of great power, and I sense great power from this one. she wishes from the bottom of her heart she says. Well… we shall see about that, won't we."
And then a green portal opened up in front of him and Gaunter O'dimm's face lit up in recognition and roared in laughter.
"HAHAH! Now I remember where that summoning incantation was from. It was from that fool Brimir's world… Halkeginia was it? Hn! How long has it been since I last been there… I reckon it has been… about six thousand years have passed since I last visited their world… time does fly by as the saying goes."
The green portal was now floating nearer towards Gaunter O'Dimm.
"Oh well… time to see how his world has fared out since I last visited." Gaunter smirked to himself before walking towards the green light of the portal and walked inside without hesitation.
Today was the day for the young second year nobles of the Tristian magic academy, yes it was the day where they get to summon their very own servant beings called familiars. They are creatures ranging from the average household pets to exotic looking and rare creatures and beasts found in the wilds or unreachable places, but only few notable mages have managed to summon anything as grand and spectacular as those because they were of a higher magic level than the rest.
Some nobles were ecstatic for today, some were determined, some were nervous and one of them was feeling all three emotions except if you switch out nervous for dread.
All of the students were now outside in the courtyard and had a teacher to supervise them all. The teacher was in his 40s who was wearing a dark blue/gray robe and glasses and he was also really bald on his scalp with only the back and sides the only places to have hair.
He was currently supervising the students in an orderly fashion by whoever wishes to volunteer first. The student he was supervising was an average looking boy who summoned an odd looking creature known as a bugbear. in the mages society it was considered a good summon and he was quite proud of his achievement. Most of the other summons were normal animals ranging from birds, horses, cats, dogs, and reptiles etc. surprisingly, there was someone who managed to summon a blue dragon out of all creatures and fantastic beasts.
"Alright who is next up?" the teacher called out to the crowd
"Ah that would be me, Guiche de gramont, Mr Colbert." The boy said in a rather flamboyant way and swishing his rose around like a romantic prince. "I will summon the finest looking familiar this academy has ever witnessed, and then my fame will…."
"Would you kindly get on with it please, there are other people still waiting for their turn." Colbert interrupted his theatrical way of speaking in favour of getting on with the summon.
"Ah of course… well then." He laughed sheepishly until he began his own chant for his summoning spell which made the earth rumble from underneath. The ground cracked and split apart as the earth rose. "Answer to my summons" Guiche finished his chant off with a flick of his rose wand, the rumbling stopped all of a sudden and what popped out of the ground was….an oversized mole.
"EH!?" Guiche face faulted at the unexpected outcome.
"Alright moving on, who is next?" Colbert nodded at the result and wrote it down in his notepad.
"I will go next, Mr Colbert." Said a charming tanned red head who many know her as the sultry Germanian girl who has most of the boys in the academy chasing after her.
"Ah, Miss zerbst. Whenever you are ready you can cast the spell." Colbert nodded for her to proceed.
"Of course" she smiled with confidence. "Are you watching me zero, I don't want you to miss my beautiful, divine and powerful familiar." She teased towards a girl in the crowd with pink hair with a tick mark on her forehead and was growling at her, she really didn't want to be reminded of what she said yesterday.
"Just get on with it!" she yelled at her.
"Miss zerbst the incantation please." Said Colbert interrupting the two rather impatiently and quite annoyed at the childish jabbing at each other.
She nodded and proceeded with the summoning incantation. She had every word spot on and the correct foci focused into her wand, gathering up the willpower into the tip of her wand and then a burst of flame erupted fro the ground she was pointing at and then a Flame salamander appeared.
"Oohh a flame salamander, very impressive Miss Zerbst."
Kirche then threw Louise a victorious smirk in her direction which in return she scowled.
Things were not looking well for her at all; she tried to remain hidden within the crowd only for the professor to call her name out thanks to the Zerbst. Life to Louise always seemed to be against her for most of her life. This familiar summoning ritual was not making her fears go away after she witnessed some of the summons the rest of the students acquired. Summons like, small household pets, lizards, birds, country side animals, and exotic creatures like Kirche's fire salamander and Tabitha's blue dragon.
'Oh why in Brimir's name did I have to say that yesterday!' she winced at the reminder of what she had proclaimed yesterday. if she failed this spell then she will be a laughing stock and possibly kicked out of the school, and she dare not imagine what would be waiting for her back at home.
"Miss Valliere? It's your turn!" professor Colbert called out to her.
'Well… here I go' she took a deep breath in and exhaled out to control her nerves. All eyes were on her and shortly the Jeers and taunts were being spat out by her fellow class mates.
"Yeah go on Zero!"
"Blow it away like you always do Zero"
Those were the more outspoken jeers, the whispers were the worst as they weren't even trying to keep it quiet.
"isn't that the one who always blows up every spell?!"
"Yeah, that is Louise the Zero. I don't know why she bothers to be honest, it's not like she has any chance of succeeding because her spell casting chance is always Zero, just like her Rune name.
"I heard she is the daughter of Karin of the heavy wind. I thought she would at least inherit her talent? I guess that makes her the black sheep of the family."
"Who cares if she succeeds? The sooner she fails this spell, the quicker she can leave. I'm sick of her explosions and I want her gone."
Louise gripped onto her wand tightly and clenched her teeth together. No matter how much she disciplines herself on her mother's rule of steel they will always find a way to crack through it.
"Enough! You're all nobles and this behaviour is unbecoming of such a title." Colbert
"But sir we all know it's true" a random noble boy voiced out nearly every student's thoughts.
"I said enough! I won't stand for this kind of behaviour. At least she had the decency to remain respectful for everyone's summons."
Everyone remained silent after that remark. Louise however was grateful for Colbert in silencing the jeers and taunts so she could focus on her summon.
She got into position and prepared her own unique chant.
"Pentagon of the five elemental powers, Heed my summoning. My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe. My divine, my beautiful, my wise, My powerful familiar. Heed my call, I wish from very bottom of my heart and answer to my guidance and bring forth my familiar!" she chanted her own unique summoning incantation and with a swish and a flick of her wand… the courtyard erupted in chaos as the ground in front of her had exploded... like the rest of her spells, but this explosion in particular was more destructive than the rest of her failed attempts.
"As expected" Guiche coughed and spluttered as the dust and smoke was kicked up from the blast. "Are you okay Montmorency" he crouched down to check on his girlfriend/fiance, to which she replied by pointing at at the dust cloud as they could see an apparition within the dust cloud. And then everyone in the courtyard could hear whistling, a whistle that gave them chills in their spines.
(Play Witcher 3 Hearts of stone OST: Gaunter O'Dimm Theme song & Gaunter whistling at the end of the Hearts of stone campaign Evil ending)
And then they heard footsteps that to them it sounded like loud echoes. The whistling grew louder and closer as the wind suddenly parted away to allow a figure of a man to walk through the dust cloud. The strange man himself was still continuing his cheery whistle which to some people like Tabitha, Colbert and the familiars made them clench their staffs warily and freeze on the spot as they felt his aura, And their instincts were screaming in their heads "Get away from him! He is dangerous!"
The man's appearance was of a young man who looked to be in his Mid to late twenties. He had a shaved bald head and brown eyes and a five o clock shadow forming on his face. His leather coat was a dark grey colour with a hood and a crimson red scarf wrapped around his neck and he also had dark grey leather fingerless gloves. His Combat trousers were Dark blue with multiple pockets and his Combat Boots were Dark brown. He had two satchel bags on both sides of his hips and he had a pouch hanging in front of his chest. His facial expression was a chilling grin hidden by his cheery whistling and charming and friendly persona.
The ones who didn't look past the persona namely the rest of the ignorant students and Louise all saw a Mangy commoner vagrant.
"Th-Thi-This i-is my Divine, W-wise, p-powerful and beautiful fa-familiar" " she stuttered out as she could barely contain her boiling rage and the twitchiness of her right eye and arms as the results were not what she wanted at all. And it was made worse when the students all took notice of her result of a summon.
""Look! Louise the zero summoned a peasant!"
"HAHAHA! That's fitting for someone of her status as zero, just like a commoner"
"Nothing less from someone who put up a huge fuss about it, and to think that you would summon a commoner in the end!"
All of the 2nd year nobles took part in the jeering and Louise instantly gritted her teeth in shame. She then looked ahead of the Students all voicing their jeers at her and she expected Kirche of all people to be leading the teasing and harassments, but weirdly she paid no attention to her, but her friend as strangely Tabitha was paying a lot of attention towards her familiar which was unlike her. it was as if she was… spooked. Kirche grew curious as to why her friend was interested In Louise's familiar as she never seemed to pay much attention to anything else but her.
"I just made a mistake" she sputtered out in embarrassment at the whole class.
"Yeah right Zero!"
"Your will always be a zero!"
Louise scowled to herself and she just wanted to go back to her room and scream into her pillow.
As all this was happening, the stranger still had his eerie smile on his face.
Gaunter arrived in what appeared to be a courtyard of some castle/Fort. How bland he thought. The only notable point's about this fort was the many spires or towers running across the walls with several coloured roofs and this giant tower in the centre of the fort.
As soon as he exited that portal and the dust cloud, the first thing he saw were multiple snot nosed teenagers, an experienced bald middle aged man, and multiple animals and creatures both common and exotic. All of the people here appeared to be mages of some sort, and he could sense normal people elsewhere within the fort.
The teenagers or children as he saw them as, all wore what appeared to be school uniform. 'Oh so this is a school or an academy for exclusive people like Oxenfurt academy… but what does it specialise in I wonder? Well it would have to do with something like magic obviously.' Gaunter thought to himself.
He Decided that it would be best to consult the only nearest adult in the courtyard. He walked past the pink haired little girl which was a strange hair colour that was actually natural pink hair believe it or not, and he thought white/silver hair was odd enough.
He walked up to the bald mage.
"Greetings master mage." He approached him with a smile.
"Erm… h-hello" he said uncertainly.
"As you already know, I have been summoned by one of your students here… Who may that young mage be if I may ask?"
"That would be me familiar!" a stern voice raised her voice from behind him clearly annoyed by him ignoring her.
Gaunter turned around to examine this young mage. From first glance he already knew her age which is 16 years of age and her measurements which is 4'9" ft and her three measurement sizes were 76-53-75 cm. he could tell that she is of noble/Aristocratic blood as she had that air and sense of superiority around her, but deep down she is hurt and lonely. She was a victim of torment and bullying and her heart was plagued with fear of failure. She was the desperate type that wants to succeed in order to find acceptance… poor naïve little girl.
"And you are? Miss…" gaunter motioned for hr to introduce herself.
"Hmph!" she sniffed albeit rudely to which Gaunter was displeased by the lack of manners. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. And you familiar have been summoned by me, so you should show that you are honoured to be summoned by a noble."
"Did you now? Well I guess I was not what you hoped to be expecting, I do apologise for that." Gaunter Approached her and did a mock bow to which Louise Seethed to herself at the commoners attitude. The 2nd year students all thought it to be a good joke so they all laughed.
"In all seriousness, I came because I heard your voice." He spoke out in a voice that only she could hear despite the laughing and mocking of the students in the background. Louise froze in unease as she wondered what he had meant by that.
"Louise, would you please continue with the familiar binding ritual." Colbert ordered Louise in a commanding tone. As much as this strange anomaly that this person was, a human appearing out of the summoning ritual no less. It was mostly intriguing, he will have to look this up later… but now he really wanted to get on with it and have Louise seal the summoning contract binding.
"With this commoner!? Please Mr Colbert could I have another go at the summoning ritual." She pleaded."
"I'm afraid that is impossible, it is forbidden to do the same ritual twice. So I'm sorry louise but he is now your familiar."
' I- I have to … k-kiss this scruffy looking peasant." She shuddered to herself. Not in disgust over the appearance… well a bit, but it was mostly unbefitting for a high noble such as her to kiss someone of the lower commoner class. His looks weren't bad for someone who looks to be in his twenties or whatever age he is and the angular and sharp look of his face wasn't too bad in the looks department and he didn't look too rough round the edges. But his clothes reminded her of a wanderer of sorts, like a travelling merchant.
Gaunter chuckled silently to himself 'so I'm to be binded by this girl ay? Well… she is not much to look at first, but the potential is in there. I can see it crystal clear, the power of the void, the same power I granted to Brimir all those years ago before he decided to stab me in the back officially ending the contract we have made. So is this girl is his descendant? Or successor? It matters not, because the power in this girl is simply breath-taking, it just needs a push in the right direction to harness that power and voila… you have a legend in the making… hn! I'll play by her rules for now before I lay out the terms and conditions of the contract.' He plotted mentally before smiling.
"You can do it Zero!"
"Kiss the commoner Zero!"
The Jeers restarted yet again making Louise lowers her head in shame and boiling anger. To Gaunter he just ignores them as most nobles are the same wherever he goes. 'Typical Nobles always praying on the weak, but when the tables are turned they will turn tail and flee, or even better they drop on their knees and beg for mercy.'
Louise swallowed her pride for now and just decided to get on with the ritual. She walked up to Gaunter and ordered him to kneel which he did without complaint which was good, but the look and smile he was giving her unnerved her.
"My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the five elemental powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar." She chanted out her spell and leaned foreward and kissed him on the lips.
Gaunter raised a single eyebrow 'This world's mages are indeed strange, why can't they be as interesting as the mages of the world I was previously at. like Yennefer of Vengerberg , Triss Merigold and Philippa Eilhart for example. These mages seem… stagnated… I can sense a lot of mages in this world, but they're a lot weaker and primitive compared to the sorceresses and mages of that witcher's world. they wouldn't last a week or even a few days in that world. And since when does kissing seal the deal of a contract for familiars? Binding them means giving them a mark.'
As soon as he said that he felt a tingling sensation on his left hand. He recognised the words, it all made sense to him now. 'so she is connected to Brimir… what has that greedy treacherous whoreson done with my gift I gave him? I can smell his taint all over these runes.' Gaunter scowled to himself and at the runes. 'If he wasn't dead then I would've enjoyed the look of him seeing me rip the soul out of his body.'
He inspected these runes and instantly translated them. Gandlafr the runes were called, the meaning of it meant The left hand of god. What was Brimir trying to play here? He cannot possibly be thinking himself as a god could he? How arrogant. He looked into the runes further and discovered it to be rune that gives the user the power to use, operate and wield certain weapons with expert like efficiency. Great for anyone else, but worthless to the man of glass. Why? Because Gaunter O'Dimm is the jack of all trades and he specialises in runes and anything supernatural and magic, so he could just make copy of his own or simply remove it without a fuss.
Not even that annoying voice in his head that came from the runes that tried to fight for control over his will could break his will into blind obedience towards his "Master". Granted this spell was primarily aimed towards animals and creatures that don't originally have sentient intelligence.
"Okay everyone class is over! Everyone should take the moment ot familiarise with their familiars." Colbert told everyone, to which everyone in the courtyard scattered to return to their own dorm rooms with their familiars following them.
The classmates of Louise turned and sneered at her, throwing more jabs in her direction as soon as they left by either walking or using the flying spell. Gaunter paid no attention to them as he saw better and could do better than that childish hocus pocus.
Although everyone had left, Tabitha remained still for a while and stared at Gaunter cautiously before leaving with her dragon Sylphid. Kirche followed after Tabitha before looking at Louise's Familiar in wonder. She would normally tease Louise about it but seeing Tabitha's expression made her think otherwise. The commoner man did look indeed mysterious she would admit, and a bit attractive she found herself admitting.
Louise silently seethed to herself as she steeled her resolve to shrug off the taunts, but her resolve and confidence was now at her lowest than it was ever before. She was at least thankful to the founder that Kirche didn't rub it in her face about her successfully summoned familiar. She heaved a heavy sigh as she just wants to go to bed and sleep the stress away.
"Come Familiar! We shall we going to my-…" she turned around to face her familiar only to see an outline blinking that was surrounding air to where Gaunter O'Dimm was previously standing.
"A-A-A-A-A!" she couldn't form up any words as her mouth twitched as her fury and outrage began to boil and her face twitched uncontrollably. "FAMILIAAARR!" She screeched like an enraged manticore that echoed around the whole courtyard and the academy.
(Elsewhere)
(Play Devil may cry OST: castle theme)
"Temper Temper little louise" Gaunter chuckled to himself as he was sitting crossed legged on a table in a library with a candle illuminating the book. He had in his left hand that he bit into was a shiny red apple and continued reading a book in his right hand about the history of the world of Halkeginia and other subjects such as, geography, social, political, financial, military, the lot and everything to do with Halkeginia just to catch up on what he missed out on for the last six thousand years he was absent from history due to a certain Treacherous man who abandoned the deal and double crossed him all for the sake of power.
It says in the books that he was casted out of the so called holy lands for reasons he did not know and they were now occupied by the elves. And it is also said that Brimir's wish is to completely eradicate all of the elves for reasons still unknown to him. Naturally Elves are superior to humans, but they mostly isolate themselves and avoid contact from humans. Gaunter himself has met some rather irritating and obnoxious elves from time to time who were so arrogant and bigoted towards humans, but there were some that meant well. So Gaunter just drew it up as natural Human instinct to simply hate/fear something they don't understand or is different or something beyond their reach.
It was also said that Brimir is the founder of magic in the world and he spread his knowledge to the humans, and then soon after that the noble caste system was put into place to rule the lands of Halkeginia and its people. Gaunter clicked his tongue in distaste at that, as it said that every person that has the capabilities to perform magic is considered instantly as a noble…. That is just plain ridiculous he thought. That was just utter nonsensical buggery of the meaning of the word "Noble". What it actually is, is a way to oppress the commoners and show their superiority over them while the common people are left with nothing to gain from the so called blessings from their founder. What's even worse that made Gaunter feel a little bit of bile forming in his mouth was that the bastard himself is the figure of the lands main religion and only accepted religion. The thought of it made him want to gauge someone's eyes out. If he thought about it, it could be as bad as the cult of the eternal fire… or dare he say worse.
It appears that human stupidity knew no bounds where ever he went. Like for example, that the geography of the world only contained the map of Halkegina. Why is that? Six thousand years is enough to travel and explore, yet they believe there is nothing beyond their own lands except the holy lands in the desert region to the south. To the east held the largest country in the continent, Germania. They are an empire of sorts that has the largest military in the land with Gallia in the south west following behind closely; it is considered to be barbaric to many of the Brimiric nations as they weren't strong believers of Brimir… rightfully so. They also hadn't travelled beyond their lands as there was a large mountainoues region barring their way, so they never bothered or they simply didn't dare or survive the treacherous weather and terrain in the mountain regions.
The country he was in was called Tristain and the building he was in was indeed a magic academy, one of the best in the lands so they say, that attracts students from all over the continent. Tristain itself was not a powerful country as they only had a small permanent force compared to the military might of Germania and Gallia and the air advantage that Albion has over Tristain which he will cover later, and the religious hierarchical country of Romalia having a political dominance over Tristain, Albion and Galllia when it comes to religion like some sort of puppet master from Romalia's church of Brimir which in some places would call it the Vatican.
He heard that the late king had passed away some time ago leaving his spouse and queen widowed, and his unfortunate daughter who is the princess of the country to take up the throne where her mother was incapable due to grief for her husband. He will have to look into that as he learnt that the princess who has decided to take up the reign for her country was only 17. Too young to be a ruler as to what many people would believe. He firmly believed that the foolish nobles would no doubt cause a power struggle to obtain dominance over the throne just to gain more power.
Albion strangely enough was said to be an island nation in the sky. How that happened was due to a large deposit buried deep within the island that caused the island to float. He wondered what would happen if the wind stones were to deplete overtime. Rumours were also circulating around Albion that it was going through a lot of strife right now as they were currently going through a coup d'état as the nobles rebelled against the royal monarchs. Apparently one man had rallied all of the nobles to jump on the band wagon to unite against the corrupt monarchs so they say. Oh really, and what of the commoners? Didn't they get a say in this?
Gallia, a kingdom that was south of Tristain was the second largest country in the continent. Not much is known about them as information on them was scarce at best only the fact that sometime ago there had been assassinations on the royal family members that has been the first clue as to why the monarchy in that country was deemed unstable as they say the country was ruled by a so called mad king.
And finally Romalia, or the Holy Romalian Empire which is an empire located to the south of Gallia. The first emperor was the Gravekeeper of Founder Brimir, and was also Brimir's apprentice. Due to its small size the emperors played up the religious fact and also adding to the fact that the emperor is also the Pope of the Brimiric faith religion to use the Church's power to overrule other countries' will if needed as the leaders of the Brimric nations were all descendants to Brimir, so they say. It is also pointed out in the older text books and tomes that there is a supposedly secret cache of weapons hidden within Romalia that contained weapons of some sort that it never explained. It is only said that it is Part of Brimir's will that they are to be collected and used against the Elves as he will bring more over time. Now that is intriguing, where would he get these weapons from he wonders, and why was this information lying around? shouldn't they have this censored?... He just might take a visit to Romalia to find out about this In the future.
"Hm… very interesting, but I think I've had enough time to gander trough these ancient books. I think I am up to date enough." He snaps the book shut and jumped off the table he was sitting on. he gave his legs a little stretch before he made his way towards the pink haired banshee's room, but not before walking past a quivering third year student.
"That'll be the last time you disturb my reading time. Don't you think so Raphael? "Gaunter leaned down to pat the poor boy on the head. The boy himself was the son of a rich nobleman of trisitainian blood who unwittingly just disturbed and insulted Gaunter by demanding him to leave as he is tainting this room of his filthy commoner presence. Gaunter responded by looking him in the eye and what he saw was anyone's guess as it was best to never know what he showed him. The boy however didn't respond as he had lost his mind to madness. Gaunter shrugged and walked off towards Louise's room, He has a contract to make.
Louise searched high and low, left and right, anywhere for any sign of her familiar. His disappearing act had made her go on a wild man hunt around Tristain academy all on her own as she refused to ask for anyone's help, not that most would as they would just laugh in her face like always. The search had taken all afternoon and into the evening. Louise even feared that he may have escaped the academy, but some of the helpful teachers and servants that were watching the gate replied that they have not seen any bald/shaved headed scruffy travelling peasant pass by.
Louise decided to call it a night as she exhausted herself out by the hunt for her blasted Familiar. As soon as she reached her dorm room and opened it, she was in for a great shock as sitting on the side of her bed facing her with one leg arched over the other and propping his arm up to support his head was the man responsible for her unnecessary chase around the academy.
"Ah! There you are Miss Vallière. I was beginning to wonder if you will even return. Tell me, did you enjoy your little goose chase?" Gaunter said in a wryly way.
Louise groaned in frustration and fell to her knees in defeat. "Familiar… where have you been?" she spoke in quiet but chilling voice but Gaunter was unaffected.
"Just a gander through the library of course. needed to learn what place I am dealing with. After all, knowledge and information are both tandem allies that is both sought after by many." He explained.
Louise was about to scold and discipline her familiar but she was too exhausted to go through all of that so she decided she will deal with it tomorrow. "Just for that act you pulled you will have no breakfast tomorrow… in fact, your lunch will be taken off too." She proclaimed.
"Hn!…what's a little hunger going to do ay." Gaunter chuckled to himself. Not that he really needed food, but the taste was always appreciated.
"N-… you know what never mind, I'm going bed and I'll deal with you tomorrow." Louise sighed in frustration and just wanted to drop face first on her comfortable bed.
"Before you do that, I need to discuss with you about our contract." He spoke in business mode.
"What are you talking about? The contract between mage and familiar is already done so the contract has already been sealed."
"Perhaps, but you didn't agree to my terms and conditions for my contract."
"What could a peasant possibly offer to a noble who has what she wants."
"Depends what you ask for? For a warrior it could be weapons supreme to all others, for mages it could be knowledge to surpass human limitations, for kings and queens it could be peace or power, and for nobles such as yourself it could be for power aswell but also wealth and success beyond their wildest dreams. But for you, you want neither of most of those things."
Louise was now sweating nervously by her brow.
"What you want is acceptance and success. To be finally accepted for just one chance at success so the whispers behind your back and the taunts and the jeers to cease. That is what you wish for, but your wish will not come true the way you want it to go. Your peers will not be convinced that you are indeed a mage and worthy of consideration. They will always see you as the Zero, the sad little girl they love to prey upon to appease their own sense of superiority over you." Gaunter explained while Louise dipped her head down in shame and misery, but her stubborn pride refused to accept it.
'This commoner dares to tell me that I have no chance of proving to everyone that I am worthy of being a mage!' she seethed at this commoner's cheek of daring to talk down to her like she was a hopeless cause. she stood away from the door and pointed out "Out! Get out! You will be sleeping outside tonight you disrespectful dog!" she raged at her familiar.
Gaunter's smile dropped and he responded by raising his hand and flicking his pointer and middle finger together. In response to the fingers flicking in the air, as if a sudden wind was blown the door slammed shut and locked itself.
*Slam!*
Louise Jumped up in fright as the sudden door slamming had caught her off guard and went into a state of brief shock at the act that her familiar had done.
"Do not interrupt me, I haven't explained the however part yet." He spoke to her chillingly before he put up the smiling merchant persona.
Louise couldn't believe it, just who did she summon? "y-y-you're a m-mage" she quivered.
"Oh please. No, I cannot stand spells… Childish hocus-pocus, it's just not interesting. What I do find interesting and fascinating are the true tales of true human lives, like the one you and your people appear to worship as if he is some sort of god." Gaunter scoffed.
"Founder Brimir you mean?"
"Yes him"
"Why do you sound like as if the name disgusts you?"
"Because I know of him personally, and I have met him."
"Impossible! That was over 6000 years ago."
"And yet here I am, but I never said I lived through it all."
"What do you mean?"
"I was not in your world by the time he rose to power due to someone double crossing me."
Louise then decided to ask the 1 million gold question. "who was he?"
"Who are you?" she asked him
The man in question smirked. "A mangy vagrant. Gaunter O'Dimm, at your service."
"A vagrant? Is that your profession?" Louise quirked her eyebrow as that is not really a profession to be proud of.
"Ah, I was once a merchant of mirrors. Hence the madding crowd dubbed me Master Mirror, or the man of glass."
"What is it you really do?"
"Ah… so you'd rather know what Is it that I really do?"
Louise nodded.
"in brief, I am someone who give folk what they ask for. you might say I simply grant them their wishes."
"Wishes?...You?"
"Indeed little louise, and I promise you this… I always give them what they want."
Suddenly the temptation began to swell in Louise's head and chest. There was certainly doubt as she thought that he could just be using her for a sick joke. But to hell with it, she will humour him a little while longer.
"Alright then, let's test this wish thing you were mentioning."
"Are you sure? I could ask for something in return as these things are not free you know?"
"Then I will pay them back. as a noble I must pay back all my debts owed to people and I never go against my word." she said proudly.
"Then by all means tell me what you want and I shall offer it to you in return." he grinned.
"I want the power to prove everyone wrong." she proclaimed.
Gaunter smiled as it was exactly what he predicted she will say, but she never specified her wish clearly enough, blame her own self blinding pride for that.
"Easily done. First you must sign this." He fished out a rolled up paper note that had terms and conditions written on it and a feather and ink was brought out along with it.
"Just sign your name and date of birth here and you are good to go."He smiled.
'Hm? Whatever is this for? Hmph! whatever let's just get this over with so I can go to bed.' Louise sniffed indignantly to herself and just signed her name and DOB on the lines under the large text labelled terms and conditions.
"And the deal has been sealed. Here you go." He smiled and brought out a vial of a glowing red potion.
"What is that?"
"A potion that will give you power that you so desperately crave and will fix your every problem with magic and it will give you the strength and courage to prove everyone that looked down on you wronged."
'Oh… well… that was easy, but still like that thing could possibly work just like that.' she scoffed inwardly and snatched the vial out of his hands and downed it in one and coughed and hacked at the bitterness causing her to drop the vial on the floor and it shattered. "What is that!?"
"Blood, but not just any blood, but the blood of an ancient one mixed with another set of blood from a special eace i managed to gather up and brew up a potion. now that you ingested the blood will your body go through changes to that of a mighty warrior… no... you will be a queen."
"I never asked to be a queen, nor a warrior." she wheezed and gasped.
"No you didn't, but that Is what I am asking you to be as per the terms of the contact."
"What?"
"People never read the terms and conditions do they? It just shows how blind and ignorant they can be. Always salivating at the possibilities of a juicy deal or product that they are always unaware of the requests that they must follow in return once given by the person who is handing out said deal.
"You never told me…"
"No, but the paper of the terms and conditions were there for you to read. you just never bothered to read em. Blame your own ignorance and stubborn pride for that."
Louise snarled but then she collapsed as she felt a sharp sense of pain in her muscles, bones and the willpower in her body began to fluctuate uncontrollably.
"GAGH! What did you do! Eyargh!" she screamed in unbearable pain as if the muscles were reforming and tearing and the bones were being stretched and hardened.
"That would be the potion of blood doing its work for you. For a sixteen year old you are severely underdeveloped. If you want power you will need the body and the knowledge to go with it in order to achieve it."
Louise barely heard him after he said that and passed out from the pain while the blood potion went to work on her body."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like you need more than conditioning in order for you to fulfil your end of the contract." Gaunter shook his head until he clapped his hands twice that seemed to echo everywhere.
*Clap! Clap!*
(Song end)
Louise stirred awake as she felt a chilling breeze against her soft skin. She woke up and all she could feel was her muscles that were aching painfully and her bones groaning in agony. Her magic willpower felt… odd. It was as if she felt lighter and her senses heightened. She stood up on her unsteady feet and stretched herself to loosen herself from the aches and pains. But she noticed something that threw her off. Her arms were longer, even her legs. Not only were they longer but they had honest to Brimir muscle. They were muscular, but not those freakish muscles she would see on a brutish mercenary from Germania or something like that. These muscles were suited for athletic purposes even acrobatics/gymnastics and soldiers/warriors. She was taller which was another shock as she saw that she was about as tall as her sister Cattleya and Kirche at 5'7 with her oldest sister at 5'11. There were more muscles on her abdomen as she noticed that she had a six pack that didn't look too bulkish but still retained its softness on the skin, but the muscles can tense up into a solid defence for her abdomen. Another thing that was another added feature on her torso was…' I-i-i-i h-ha-have Breasts.' She stammered in her head. the breasts were a socking but not an unwelcomed feature as she was waiting desperately for these to form all her life as she was a late bloomer and Kirche had all of her attractive womanly features from an early age. Her breasts while not as big as Kirche's with it just below 94cm E cup breasts were just above her own 87cm D cup breasts. Her hair remained the same length before her sudden transformation as it now reached her mid back instead of her butt. Speaking of her bottom, that was now bigger and toned to perfection as it had both the softness yet packed muscle that held a lot of power within it as well as her thighs an lower legs that looked charming and pleasing to the eyes, yet deadly like a weapon ready to be used against any enemy.
Her clothes were switched with form fitting Leather trousers and a white button up shirt that was also form fitting as her the top part of her buttons were undone and her chest was constrained inside of the shirt.
While she was checking herself out and poking her body of all the added features and conditioning of her body especially her muscles and her chest. She was bought out of her curios touchy habit when the voice of the man responsible echoed around the area she was in.
"I see you like your gift I see." Gaunter spoke in amusement.
"Gyah!" she shrieked in fright and instinctualy covered her chest which strangely felt satisfying of being able to do that. "Fa-Familiar!? W-what just happened?"
"You ingested the potion I have made for you and now you have the body and the power to conquer."
"You mean I have the power to obtain respect from my peers?"
"In a sense, but there will be those that will not accept who you are. Whether your appearance has changed or not, to them you are still Louise the Zero."
Louise Clenched her fist as it did make sense for them to do that.
"As the saying goes, old habits die hard."
"So what was the point in all of that then? Why give me this body if my peers won't accept me for who I am?"
"To gain acceptance is to fight for it Louise, and as for why I have given you this body? well let's just I have a job for you as per the terms for you to keep your body and powers."
"Powers? I have magic?"
"You always had Louise, it's just that those fools couldn't see it. it seems you have awakened your powers but with an added boost from the blood potion that you have gained something more powerful."
"So what element do I have then?"
"The lost element,void."
"What! T-t-t-t that's impossible!"
"Entirely possible Louise, how else do you think that you create explosions out of nothing. Void is both the creation from nothingness and the destruction into nothingness. But void has tandem allies that are closely related…time and space."
"Time and space?"
"You will learn soon enough, but for now I will explain the terms and conditions of what you must do as you just simply ignored it and no you cannot revert the contract as I hate people who don't pay back their debts and go against their words. As to what you said "As a noble, I must pay back all my debts owed to people and I never go against my word." End quote." His voice echoed wryly.
Louise flinched at the irony of using her own words against her and she did not know what he could possibly want in return, for her sake, pride and honour she hoped it wasn't anything perverted or lecherous…. 'Wait a minute? Then who changed my clothes?' she thought until her thoughts were interrupted.
"Now for the Terms I want you to do. But first I shall go back to the topic of my fascination of true human tales. Like the one I shall tell you now. It's about a man worse than any man you could ever meet. He is an absent-minded genius, but had a heart of stone. A despicable man who refuses to pay his debts and is a power-hungry thief." He told his tale.
"Why would this interest me, what's this man got to do with everything?"
"It has everything to do with you and every human in this world, but he has wronged me and several other races that are either driven out from these lands or have been driven to extinction all in the name of that man. His name is Brimir Ru Rumiru Yuru Viri Vee Varutori."
"The Founder! But why? He was the man who-"
"Founded the magic system yes I know. But he was not the founder of the caste system of the royal monarchies and the nobility caste. No, it was the human mages who followed him who did that after his death. Brimir did not really plan ahead of what happened next after his death but it was primarily his fault on why the place is so corrupted. And who do you think it was who gave him that power hmm?" Gaunter explained to Louise who was about to be hyperventilating.
Louise's yes widened as she realised his meaning, but she couldn't accept it but logic was starting to overpower her stubborn beliefs in the founder.
"Indeed you are right Louise. I was the one who granted Brimir when he was nothing but a small orphaned child living amongst barbaric tribes. When I first laid eyes on him he was nought but a small naïve idealistic boy who wanted things to change, so I offered him a long term deal. He would unite the tribes and lead them in an age of prosperity of furthering civilisation. Well… the mood I was in at the time was really generous even for me. I was actually so fascinated that I wanted to witness something great that only the humans could achieve in such short time. But in a few years' time when Brimir had achieved the first steps of the deal of uniting the lands… well he only united the humans for some reason. it turns out that Brimir only intended to unite the human tribes to rise against the other tribes that consisted of non-human races like the elves, the Dwarves and the Beastmen."
"I-i-I know of the elves, but I thought that the dwarves and the beastmen were myths?"
"They are now to the people of Halkeginia, but they prefer to isolate themselves far away from the humans now. Brimir himself went against the agreement we made to unify ALL tribes, but what did he do next? He declared war on the other races especially the elves."
"But the elves are a vile malicious race that were driving humans to extinction six millennia ago."
"That's what Brimir and the church wants you to believe Louise. The elves as I remembered them were technologically more advanced than the humans that made some of them arrogant and little bit bigoted towards the humans yes, but some were sympathetic towards humans and that they helped some of the tribes that were suffering from sickness, drought and even poverty and famine. Even the other races had been neutral to sometimes friendly terms with some of the other human tribes. When Brimir was just a man his heart grew colder and formed to stone as his love for anything else faded except his avarice, lust for power and envy of the technology and magic the elves had that he and the rest of the humans did not have. I warned him not to start any conflicts with the elves as I was on friendly terms with a few of them, But Brimir turned away from the deal and declared war on the other non-human tribes, committing genocide after genocide of many innocents. He even lied that he regretted slaughtering many innocents that were of other races, even his own race that rebelled against him for slaughtering their non-human friends and even lovers, and he dared to call it necessary deaths all for the sake of humanity. By the time i heard of the atrocities this man had done, he wronged me even further by using my gift against me as he figured a way to banish me from this realm and prevent me from re-entering for six thousand years. So I have you to thank for that, and now I have need for your help."
"Bu-but… he gave us a gift to learn magic." She whispered in shock.
"Come now Louise... Brimir did teach the humans his magic, but the only lessons he intended for his blind loyal sheep was to follow and obey him and enforce his idealisms into many humans to start an era of forced peace through power and oppression. All this happened after his familiar who was actually a lovely Elven lass named Sasha ran him through with the sword he had made for her. Well that is all I know but the reason as to why she did it is only half true in the books.
After Brimir's death, his followers and the rest of the human mages gathered or separated to form up their own countries elsewhere. Each leader or noble were just as fanatic to Brimir when he was still alive and they constructed kingdoms and a holy empire all in his name…except one country, Germania. They weren't as loyal to the Brimiric faith but they weren't considered to be part of the four Brimiric nations. The kings, queens and noble mages had made great nations for themselves, but what did the common people get?… nothing. They never got any of the benefits that the mages had, and instead they were left ignored and unappreciated while they were forced to make a living and provide food, resources and materials for their noble masters only to be left ignored and unappreciated with minimal wages that was barely enough to buy food that will last a week. What's worse was that Nobles these days are so arrogant that they believe that they are above the justice system of the law that was supposed to account for everyone, but no it too was corrupted and abused by the nobility to benefit the nobles in getting away with petty crimes and even the worst crimes such as murder and rape of the innocent of the lower class."
"Tha-That's not true!" Louise pressed her hands on her ears as she did not want to listen any further, but Gaunter's voice echoed inside her head.
"Don't delude yourself Louise. This is the truth of your world. Granted that not every noble or mage is as bad as I make them out to be, but their pride and ignorance still doesn't spare them from this. The royalty that are tasked to help the country and its people and that accounts to the lower class are also not spared from this. Some are evil, and some are ignorant, or some could have good intentions but are mostly being kept in the dark or being manipulated for the role of a puppet/ figurehead for the greedy nobility."
'No!...Henrietta's not like that. she is strong and kind.' She told herself as she refused to believe that her childhood friends was that sort of person.
"I think we should wrap things up for now. Your stubbornness in accepting the truth I will admit is commendable but rather annoying, but not impossible to convince you otherwise. But that is not the main reason as to why I brought you here. In case if you haven't noticed your surroundings." Said Gaunter as he indicated her surroundings.
(Play Boards of Canada: Gemini)
Louise lifted her head and too k a look at her surroundings. She was at her home, her family's mansion. And she was sitting in her boat that she always used to go to when she was sad. But the scenery was darker and also looked quite dead. The mansion looked abandoned and the garden was overgrown. The trees were barren of any leaves and water in the lake had dulled into a grey colour of murkiness. The wood of the boat had dulled and decayed. The sky was dark but the moon was shimmering blood red. The stars were absent in the night sky and so were the clouds. The wind howled like a wailing siren.
"Wh-What is this place? this can't be my home."
"Technically it is, but you are in a different dimension parallel to this one. You see… a pandemic happened in this world and it consumed every living person to be cursed and transformed every living thing into these eternal malicious beasts that hunger for the flesh of the living. These cursed beings ravaged the world and annihilated every living person into extinction. They still live to this day searching for living humman prey, their hunger making them more violent and desperate for a meal despite that they have hunted down every last one."
"But why have you brought me here?"
"Simple… to train."
"Wha…."
"If you are going to fulfil my end of the deal, you are going to need this training in order to complete every term I have made for you. As to what your training regimen is … I will give you a few lessons that I have left for you somewhere in these lands that you will need to find."
"But what if I get killed?"
"Then you will start again from the beginning, oh and all your items, weapons and armour you have collected will be returned to the same spot but it will be marked on your map."
"Why are you doing this to me?" she shivered in fear and tears were pooling out of her eyes.
"To make you learn the harder and more effective way into making you a legend in the making. Halkeginia has long since waited for a wake up call into the real world, and you shall be the one who will lead on the revolution of change."
"Who are you really?"
"Gaunter O'Dimm. Master mi-"
"That's not what I am asking. What are you really? A demon?" she demanded answers.
"Do you really wish to know?"
"…Yes"
"No, louise. You don't. All who have learnt my true name are now either dead or have met an even worse fate. Yet I shall spare you as I still need you."
"You are… pure evil." she shivered in fear.
"I have been called worse names, but I like to think of myself as necessary evil. After all I believe Brimir and all of his followers deserve punishment for double-crossing me and for their evil acts don't you think?"
Louise shivered in fear as the chilling voice echoed all around and still no sign of Gaunter.
"And before I forget, Here is a little gift to remember me by for your stay here." Gaunter said before Louise could feel a searing pain on the left side of her face just under her left eyes as if something had been burnt on her face by using a hot iron. After the burning sensation passed, she raised her hand and touched her beautiful soft face that has now scarred been by the markings that made her wince. (Same markings that on Geralt's face throughout the Hearts of stone expansion pack)
"Aaaggh! What is that!" she screamed in pain."
"A mark to show that we're… associates or partners if you would like." Gaunter smirked. "Oh… and you can have this back."
Louise screamed again as another mark had been seared into her flesh. This time it was a familiar rune… for familiars.
"Wha!...No! No you cannot do this to me!" Louise pleaded with Gaunter. as branding her with her own familiar runes was incredibly shameful.
"I can and already have done little louise. You should thank me for that actually, because that rune is the Gandalfr rune the one that one of Brimir's familiar Sasha used to have. This rune gives the user the ability to use any object that has the sole intention to be used as a weapon or have the capabilities to be used as a weapon to expert levels. Once the runes activate your physical abilities and senses are significantly heightened."
"What about my magic?"
"You still have that but you no longer need your wand, too primitive. I have made you into something so much better than that."
"Are you saying that I no longer need my Wand to cast spells?"
"Precisely… Your body is now the main primary component for cast spells. Wands are now unnecessary, but it can still be an optional use if you want to do things discreetly, but without the wand your magic is so much more powerful."
"But how do I use it without blowing things up?"
"Your explosive magic nature is a part of you, learn how to control that first before you move onto the other elements, but when you do learn how to control your power, there are more spell scrolls scattered throughout these barren wasted lands for you to learn and harness. But you must also learn how to use your own body as a weapon as willpower is limited while you stamina is what keeps your body going. So learn to balance between the two.
Oh and I believe I haven't told you what to do yet haven't i? Well… all you need to do is find a mirror."
"A mirror?... What kind?"
"Your mirror…Find it and you shall be released from this world" Gaunter answered.
Louise nodded and stood up with a somewhat brave face being put up.
"Atta girl Louise, but you may want to get out of there. I hear them coming." Gaunter warned her.
Louise jumped in fright as she heard an inhuman screech. She turned around she saw apparition and silhouettes of a horde running through the dead and misty forest.
"Next time don't be so loud, or else you will attract unwanted attention upon yourself. Good luck Louise and you shall see me soon…. Oh and don't worry about the academy as no matter the time you spend searching and training in this world, it will be tomorrow morning at 7:00Am by the time you return. Bye for now little Louise." Gaunter told the last pieces of information before he gave out a small chuckle before the connection cut off.
And it all went silent except the noise of the oncoming horde rushing towards her position.
"Wa-Wait! Gaunter! Please! Don't leave me here!" she screamed, she cried and she pleaded for him to release her from this nightmare. She looked behinf her and noticed the horde coming ever closer. She noticed that by her feet was a sword, a Saber of some kind (Oferi Saber). She picked it up ignoring her pride trying to prevent her from using the sword as it was barbaric for a mage and a noble to be using commoner weapons. And she ran off the boat and onto dry land and ran for her home.
She rushed inside and barricaded the door with whatever she could find and rushed upstairs. "Mother! Father! Cattleya! Sister Éléonore! Where are you!?" she rushed into every room but every room was left abandoned like every room in the mansion estate. Every room was a mess like it had been ransacked and there had been signs of a struggle and dried blood had been spilt everywhere. Time had also enough evidence that that the mansion was decaying overtime as the dust and the cobwebs had built up over time that showed that it had been years since it was last touched.
"No" she whispered "I'm all alone."
And then she heard the creatures break into the mansion by forcing the doors open or even diving straight through the windows and ran through every room to search for their prey.
Just then the words of Gaunter O'Dimm echoed inside her head. "Your mirror. Find it and you shall be released from this world" Louise's grip had been tightened on the grip and she turned to face down the corridor that led to the main lobby and the stair case As she awaited for these intruders.
"I will find it… I will not give in… I will get stronger… I will return home!" she gritted her teeth and steeled her resolve and got into a sword stance as the runes glowed and fed her head and body information of a sword style used by some people unknown to her.
As soon as the first cursed monster appeared from the stair case and charged down the corridor she took off like charging cavalry fully intent to fight her way out.
"AAAAARGHHH!" she roared out a war cry similar to how her mother used to back in her days in the military and she sliced through the hordes of the undead cursed humans. She kept going and going as the hordes kept on coming.
And then the mansion erupted in explosions.
(Song end)
Gaunter smiled to himself 'Good… she is finally learning. She's a Quick learner too…. Oooh the anticipation is making me a bit impatient. I think I should take a walk. I think maybe I should give her a gift, let's see what Romalia has that can compensate for it. he lifted himself up from louise's bed and left Louise's room by the door. he remembered to lock and he went on his way. He walked down the corridor with his hands in his pockets and whistle tuning his lips.
(Gaunter O'Dimm's Whistle.)
When Gaunter left the corridor, Tabitha watched from her door with cautious eyes. She then closed the door to go to sleep. She will look into him another day.
(Chapter 1 End)
(Omake: What Raphael saw)
He blinked, as he could've sworn he was in the libary demanding that filthy peasent to leave the esteemed library.
"Where am i?" He wondered and felt a nervous chill as he found himself in a bedroom. only that it wasn't his own, but a rather gothic and dark bedroom that the archetecture on the walls and the bed frame were metallic and cold stone. the bed sheets were pitch black as night. and the sky outside was like it was on fire.
and then he heard heavy metallic foot steps booming towards the bedroom door and it slammed open.
what greeted him was a terrifying visage of a appears as a tall, monstrous Man wearing black, priest-like robes and a helm that bears the words "Lammen Gorthaur" or Abhored Dead. his helmet covered most of his face with only his horribly disfigured and diseased mouth visible. his teeth looked as if it could tear flesh off easily.
For some reason music out of nowhere started to play that was unheard of to the third year, but it was made worse when the tall monstrous being started to sing it in a low demonic and beastly growl.
(Play the Mouth of Suron sings the Ding Ding song)
"Oh...you touch my tra la la
Mmm...my ding ding dong"
The boy shrieked and ran across to the corner of the room shaking in his boot as the monsterous man walked ever closer.
"Deep in the night
I'm looking for some fun
Deep in the night
I'm looking for some love"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" and he was never heard from again.
The end!
Gaunter O'Dimm: "you've got to love the internet sometimes"