Disclaimers, I don't own any series.
Edited in the 5th of January 2015.
Chapter 1 The Summoning
The inadvertently crazy story started off as a slight glitch in the working of the universe. Though the mishap would go unnoticed or be considered as a simple nuisance in the eyes of whoever is governing the balance of the worlds, which is no one, it left an everlasting effect on its wake as a certain half-elf summoned someone she wasn't meant to as a familiar. So instead of summoning herself a kind hearted Japanese companion much to a certain pinkette's annoyance, she ended up summoning someone who's particularly good at hating, whose favorite word is power and who in all honest opinion despises anything sweet.
Tiffania Westwood wanted a familiar for herself. The constant bout of intimacy between Saito and Louise was making her jealous, so she convinced Colbert to help her summon a familiar, just to relieve herself of the pain. So at the courtyard beside the Cathedral, she attempted her summoning. She didn't know why the Pope would let her summon her familiar so near his abode since most would consider the act insulting towards Founder Brimir but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Surrounding her were Colbert, Saito, Louise, Kirche, Guiche and Tabitha. They were all wishing her luck and support in their own weird ways. So without beating around the bush, like most nobility did, she chanted her aria.
A green portal showed itself from the middle of the courtyard. Two people recognized it in an instant, one standing beside Tiffania and the other observing from the shadows. The portal glowed intensively, blinding everyone present in its ominous glow, as if it was having a hard time doing what it usually did. This wasn't a usual summoning, everyone understood that. When the light finally died down and to everyone's utter horror, left a bloody, battered and near dead teenaged boy in its departure, everyone started to panic, well mostly Guiche and Louise.
"Someone get a water mage", Colbert barked out and went ahead to inspect the boy's injury. "Miss Tiffania, complete the ritual, it may as well save his life"
Tiffania wasn't going to question how or what, her mother was killed right before her eyes with her unable to do anything. Right now she had the power to save someone's life, which was all she registered in her mind. With a hasty aria, she crashed her lips against the injured boy's own, fearing that it wouldn't be enough to save him. Somehow she felt lightheaded when their lips met, but she chalked it up to the reaction of her first kiss.
Abruptly the boy's eyes snapped open and in a single graceful move he both pushed her away and got up on his feet. He eyed everyone with a critical blood red eye and cringed as the familiar runes were branded onto his chest. When the boy came to, he looked very annoyed but it wasn't the time or place to get annoyed as Tiffania saw it. His wounds still looked severe and he shouldn't be moving around. It was then that she noticed the extent of his injury. He was bloody everywhere, bruises marred his face along with a bloodstained tightly closed left eye and a stump of a severed left arm. She wondered what could have happened to him.
Colbert on the other hand was contemplating what to do, along with Kirche and Tabitha. Their magic was better equipped to cause harm not heal. Guiche had already fled the scene to fetch Montmorency and the boy seemed to have healed enough from the familiar contract ritual but if he kept moving around Colbert doubted that even the Founder could save him. The resident void mage was panicking as expected and Saito was comforting her. All he could do was give a helping hand to the boy.
"You shouldn't be moving around with those wounds", he voiced out his concern, but his noble words fell into deaf ears as the boy started swaying towards Tiffania. She on her part proceeded to support the boy.
Colbert gasped, and he doubted he was the only one as the situation just escalated from bad to worst. In a simple fluid move, the boy twisted Tiffania's arm behind her back and held a knife from his mouth to her exposed neck. Nobody made a move but everyone were sweating bullets. Colbert had no excuses now, he let his guard down and it came to bite him at the least inappropriate time. The boy was speaking now, however it sounded like gibberish. Saito seemed to understand the language, thus started to negotiate. That didn't last long as Louise, in the heat of the moment pointed her wand at the boy and to everyone's horror Tiffania.
*BOOM*
The explosion wasn't anything grand like usual, so she really was thinking on everyone's best interests. It did its job as the boy and Tiffania got separated, though the latter fainted in the confusion.
"Che, I missed", Louise muttered and ran to tend to Tiffania.
Saito on the other hand unsheathe Derfflinger and lunged towards the boy, releasing a volley of stab, swipes and slashes. To everyone's utter surprise, the boy seemed to effortlessly parry every single attack with his lone knife. He ducked under a diagonal slash and kicked Saito in the torso, sending him flying several feet away. Without a word everyone started targeting the boy. Kirche let out a fireball, which he dodged with ease. However, hitting him wasn't the point. The spot he landed was the target of a shower of Tabitha's ice lances. He sidestepped every single one, almost. The last lance pierced his stump. He removed the lance and didn't even give the wound a second glance. The way it was bleeding, he'd pass out very soon.
"Keep your distance and use long ranged attacks", Colbert screamed orders as if he had never quit the military. "He's overconfident and underestimating us. Take the bait and let him pass out from blood loss"
He conjured his trademark flame snake and sent it homing at the boy. The boy in turn faced the flaming reptile as if he was mocking the insignificance of the attack. At the last second, he rolled to the right and as if sensing what Colbert said, plunged his bleeding stump in the flame snake. The smell of burning flesh filled the holy courtyard with the people inside the Cathedral being none the wiser. Colbert didn't have time to think of any witty remark as the boy started closing in on him. He conjured another flame snake to surround his body and started preparing for an area wide spell. His spell died in his mouth as the boy kicked him through his own defense. He concluded that the boy had absolutely no fear against fire, that and his kicks can break ribs.
The boy, relentless in his attack, plunged the strange knife in his chest. Coughing blood, Colbert saw dark spots in his vision and felt completely useless. His skills had gotten rusty and he had no one to blame but himself. He saw blue in his peripheral and concluded it to be Tabitha. She must have closed the distance to avoid friendly fire, smart girl he thought. He wasn't useless just yet, he could buy her time at least.
Whatever Colbert was about to do was ignored by the boy who released the knife, swiped his staff and threw it at Tabitha. The tip of the staff hit her square on the neck and Colbert was suddenly very relieved that his lung was occupying the knife.
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. The boy wasn't overconfident or underestimating them at all. He used the first flame snake to cauterize his wound and calculate the intensity of the flame, he went after the commander first to leave the group in disarray, furthermore he deliberately left his back open to lure someone who actually managed to hit him and used a staff of all things to hit her dead center in the neck. She won't be able to cast spells even if she wanted to. He was giving them a false sense of security from the start and it seems that he's figured out that the cats out of the bag, what with a full condescending smirk and an amused red eye plastered on his previously emotionless face.
His eye….
It seemed to convey a message, regardless of the language barrier. That eerily glowing red eye with three comma like shapes spinning lazily as if it was urging him to confess his deepest, darkest secrets. It was a spine chilling experience that he's gotten several times at the end of someone's blade, or a wand, but never from a gaze. That eye...
Telling him to give up.
"…ake up…"
That eye….
"Wake up!"
Telling him to sleep.
"I said WAKE UP!"
Colbert woke up with the feeling of a very sharp pain on his left cheek and Queen Henrietta and Montmorency tending his wounds. What honor, to be nursed by the Queen for injuries... He suddenly jolted up and fished out a hidden wand from his robes.
"The boy!" he franticly shouted, and met the raging fist of a very pissed off Agnès. She gave him a very disdainful look as if talking to him was a sin and proceeded to ignore the reprimand of the Queen.
Colbert was godsmacked, but he wasn't going to piss her off anymore. From what he could see, the boy was clutching his left shoulder and eyeing Agnès in bewilderment, as if getting shot was something he could not comprehend. He put two and two together and figured that Agnès had probably shot the boy and saved him, though he wasn't gonna ask her if she did lest he lose an arm or a leg. It seemed his lung was healed but he couldn't say the same for his ribs, well beggars can't be choosers, he was lucky to even be alive and it meant he could be useful again.
Approaching Agnès, Colbert started to convey his information, "He's very clever, could beat even Saito in close quarters and has a deathly accurate…."
"FUCK OFF", Agnès sneered.
Now Colbert was convinced that Agnès didn't save him from the good of her heart.
Saito joined in on the one-sided conversation, "I underestimated him, it won't happen again"
"Pathetic, he's one armed and unarmed", she ridiculed, uncomprehending how they'd be defeated by a boy in his condition.
Saito sweat-dropped and Colbert sighed in exasperation.
Right now, the boy was eyeing everyone. In front of him was Colbert, Agnès, Saito, Montmorency and the Queen, and behind him was Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche, Louise and a very unconscious Tiffania. Unblinking red eye contemplating what his next action would be. True that he was out numbered about ten to one and injured to boot, but they weren't about to take any chances. Boy or not, armed or unarmed, injured or not, it didn't really didn't make much of a difference if he could defeat Saito and incapacitate two high level mages at the same time.
Then Saito asked the question everyone was wondering, "Why isn't Louise blowing him sky high?", and in a small and almost dismissed voiced Tabitha answered, "Can predict…..Very dangerous".
"All right", Agnès voiced in monotone, "Saito and I'll distract him. Mages do your things till then"
A far cry from her usually thunderous voice, everyone understood what that meant. Kirche turned to Tabitha, "Guiche summon your golems. I'll set them on fire"
Colbert faced Montmorency and stated, "I'll control the flames. So Kirche, just concentrate on igniting the golems"
Queen Henrietta met Saito's eyes, "Me and Montmorency will heal Tabitha"
Lastly, Louise stroked Tiffania's hair in a motherly way and stated with a pleasant smile, "…and I'll blow him to kingdom come".
Everyone sweat-dropped. If the boy was confused, he didn't show it. Colbert really hoped that he was.
The initiation of their plan started with Kirche shooting a fireball at the boy. He dodged as expected and was immediately occupied with preventing anymore amputation by Agnès and Saito. Amidst the fighting, Montmorency silently levitated Tabitha towards Queen Henrietta, and Guiche, Kirche, Colbert and Louise were all chanting arias in rapid succession, each one strengthening their own part.
However, things don't always go as planned. The boy noticed all this and grabbed Agnès's wrist mid-stab, disarmed her and threw the sword at…
"Montmorency", Guiche shouted mid-chant. Having to see his fiancé skewered wasn't a pleasant sight. Queen Henrietta quickly made a beeline towards the speared girl, Saito covered for an unarmed Agnès and Kirche canceled her spell to catch Tabitha in a levitation spell of her own.
"She's okay, nothing vital was hit", the newly made Queen shouted out, but the damage was dealt. Their plan was screwed. Saito was barely keeping up with the unbelievably sturdy boy and once he was incapacitated…
*Kyuuuuuu*
It seemed as though there was still hope. Everyone started where they left off whereas Henrietta started to heal both Montmorency and Tabitha. But the boy was unperturbed. In a similar fashion to what he did to Agnès, he twisted Saito's wrist, disarmed him and jumped to get ahold of Derfflinger. In a desperate or foolish move to regain his weapon, Saito jumped. His hands however, met empty air as the boy grabbed the sword, rotated in midair, stabbed the sword on the ground and used his momentum to deliver a devastating kick to what would have most definitely been Saito's neck if he hadn't jumped. Saito went flying but was caught midflight by Agnès. He coughed blood, and figured that his ribs had punctured his lungs, on the bright side, it was better than a broken neck.
The boy brandished the stolen weapon in a reverse grip whereas Henrietta was having a very, very bad day, what with healing three very incapacitated people that she imagine herself to call friends on a good day. To add insult to injury, the boy was making a mad dash towards her and in proxy, Agnès. She saw that the title 'Queen of Tristain' meant nothing to him, and in his eye, she was nothing but a mere healer. For the first time in her life, she felt the fear that her strong and confident guard, Agnès was going to be defeated, very, very badly.
"Kyuuuuuu"
A blue shape crashed before Agnès, startling everyone including the boy. Sylphid stretched her wings and looked affectionately at the crumbled form of her master. Tabitha uttered only one word.
"Eat"
Sylphid actually roared out loud, a far cry from the usual affectionate and playful 'Kyu'. It was as if she had shed her pretense of being Sylphid and transformed into a menacing, frightful and very, very dangerous dragon. She started circling the boy as if sizing up her prey, in turn the boy reciprocated the act. This, in all honest opinion looked like a hero trying to slay a terrorizing dragon, which was too far from the truth to be given any attention.
She sprang, he charged, and dodged, and leapt, and twisted, and sidestepped, and did everything inhumanly possible to give the mages in the vicinity another reason to think twice about cancelling their spells. Sylphid gave up on eating him alive and proceeded to try and kill him.
Agnès however, noticed something different about this battle. The boy had had multiple openings to attack the dragon, which were left untouched. There had to be an explanation to this, but she opted it to be a lost cause and started to reload her gun. The boy was caught off guard with her gun once, there was a chance it would happen again and she'd be damned if she didn't make the shot count.
"Now!", Colbert, Kirche and Guiche shouted out at once.
Guiche flicked his rose wand several times, eliciting all the petals to fall off. Among them several combined to form four groups which conjured a green armored golem each as they made contact with the ground. The four golems were enveloped in flames with a flick of Kirche's wand turning them crimson. Finally, Colbert stabilized the flames to turn the golems into seven foot pitch black flaming murder machines. Unlike usual, these armors were not hollow, and they were not made of bronze and they most definitely were not harmless. It was as if they were the materialization of Saito, Tabitha and Montmorency's pain, as well as Colbert, Kirche and Guiche's rage.
Sylphid obeyed the order of the second authoritative figure of her life, which is her instincts and flew away. The massive armors charged as if their hulking mass didn't do much to burden their speed and attacked. The boy was dodging none the less. He didn't looked perturbed at all. Side-stepping the flaming constructs, he dashed towards the one who initiated the spell.
"Guiche, look out!", the newly awake Montmorency cried out, a look of utter horror present in her face.
The boy however, was ruthless. The golems were fast but the boy was faster. Agnès flashed a devilish smirk, a bullet was even faster.
*Bang*
To her utter jaw-dropping horror, it missed. She quickly composed herself. She didn't miss. No.
"He fucking dodged it" she exclaimed, her face contorting in disbelief.
As if to accentuate her thoughts, the boy turned around and smirked, and then his eyes widened. That smirk soon turned to utter disbelieving horror as a sword protruded out his chest. He turned around to meet blonde hair and blue eyes.
Guiche had done it. It was the most fearful experience of his life but he persevered. He felt pride at paying back the very, very scary boy for what he put his fiancé through, but when a pair of mismatched eyes searched for its assailant, he had a frightful feeling that those eyes could kill. He released his sword and hightailed it out of there. When he thought he was far enough, he turned back to see the boy hadn't moved an inch. He looked around to see that everyone was shocked, as if they expected him to be the last person they thought to actually land a decisive hit on the boy. He suddenly felt very, very insecure at the wake of their gazes.
"Guiche, now's our chance! Move the golems", Kirche shouted, breaking everyone out of their reverie, including the boy unfortunately.
He pulled the sword out like it was nothing and threw it back at Guiche, as if returning the weapon. It was however blocked by Sylphid.
"I'm ready", Louise screamed, which by this pointed was music to everyone's ears.
"Ok, surround him", Colbert shouted.
"Right", everyone chorused.
The boy really did seem confused now. But that didn't last long as he moved around the golems in his usual speed. The stab wound inflicted by Guiche being little more than an annoyance.
A hail of ice lances went homing on him. He dodged every single one. However, hitting him wasn't the point. The place where he landed was the target of all four golems and a very, very big explosion. The boy, as if sensing the discomfort in the air prepared to leap away and make all the mage's efforts go to waste again when a very annoying voice, which everyone had come to know and hate graced the battlefield.
"Huh? You're not partner"
The boy, startled by the voice, instinctually slashed through empty air.
"Are you my new wielder? Did Saito die?"
He soon realized that the voice was coming from the sword, but that few seconds was all the golems needed. They surrounded him and locked arms to make a fire barrier.
"Now! Louise", everyone shouted in sync.
"EXPLOSION!"
*BOOOM*
The resounding explosion shook the very walls of the Cathedral. Sylphid quickly shielded the injured by extending her wings. Guiche summoned bronze walls to shield everyone else from the debris.
Agnès fell on her back as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"To think a single boy could do this", she chuckled, suddenly looking several years younger. "To think a talking sword saved us all. Never thought that I'd actually welcome that annoying voice for once"
Saito chuckled as well, "So much about one armed and unarmed"
The glare from Agnès killed the good mood.
Tabitha used a wind spell to clear the field of all the dust. There was a huge crater at the place where the boy was. At the middle of the crater was a very, very angry, pissed off, irritated, annoyed, fuming and shouting sword. Everyone tuned out the cussing of the sword and started to celebrate in joy. Their nightmare was finally over.
"You were so brave, Guiche", Kirche purred and proceeded to stuff said boy's face against her breasts much to another blonde's annoyance.
Louise went to help Saito up and Agnès was supporting a clearly spent Queen.
Tabitha was awfully quite as usual until she spoke, "Up"
Everyone looked up. There was something in the air, something black and falling at a rapid pace.
"What is it?", Kirche questioned.
No one had an answer.
The black unknown object landed near the crater and Colbert, exasperated by the intense glare of Agnès volunteered to check it out.
"Hey guys", Saito called, "Where is Tiffa?"
"Huh? I left her right there", Louise pointed under a tree.
Everyone started to look for Tiffania with no luck. It was as if she had disappeared without a trace. Tabitha even looked for her on Sylphid but she was nowhere in sight. Abruptly another dragon graced the utterly destroyed courtyard.
"What the hell happened here?", Julio exclaimed from his dragon, his eyes widening at the sight of the clearly destroyed courtyard.
The pristine courtyard was nothing like it was before. Burnt grass marred the previously vibrant green lawn with a gigantic crater in the middle, coupled with giant charcoaled footprints and several crystalline weapons sprawled around everywhere, the place looked like a war-zone.
Saito gave a sheepish smile while rubbing the back of his head, "Well, It's a long story".
"Saito, what are you doing here?", Julio questioned in bewilderment.
"I saw you running off with Tiffania right after I came to see what all the ruckus was about"
All eyes landed on Julio.
"I tried to call out for you but you didn't stop", He said with a raised eyebrow, confused to why everyone was looking at him. "You dropped this by the way"
Julio presented a shirt. A half burnt, tattered, bloody shirt with a red and white fan emblazoned on the back. Everyone went still. The shirt no doubt belonged to...
"Hey guys", Colbert broke the tension. "That black thing back there..."
"...it's a log"
