A/N: Well, this was made on a whim and inspired by a fic a friend of mine is doing. I may or may not continue this, though it'll most likely be a case of alternating between Familiar of the Snowstorm and to keep myself interested in both. Keep in mind this Witch of Izalith will most certainly be different from what most would think of personality wise. I hope to craft her into an imposing but "repentant" motherly figure considering her past. Also, she's very much happy to be alive and not a burnt out husk.
'No...no...NO!'
The Witch struggled to control the flames. Her daughters surrounded her, all echoing their mother's movements while attempting to suppress their own panic.
'This cannot be happening! I've made sure! Everything was perfect!'
The inferno seemed to take a darker, more sinister hue. It twisted and lept to and fro, eluding the control of the group of women. A scream of pain and terror tore through the air.
One daughter fell, writhing in pain. The fire consuming her until only ash remained, the remains being lifted by the turbulent air.
'NO!'
Another fell, clutching her face as the flame consumed her as well, once again leaving only ash. The Witch felt her heart start to tear as guilt and sorrow invaded her mind.
'I've failed...my daughters suffer because of me!'
"RUN! Hurry and leave this place!" The Witch's voice rang clear despite the urge to sob in grief for the fallen.
"B-but Mother!" One of the daughters flinched, the flames licking at her, yet she held firm.
"JUST GO!" It was not a plea, she did not ask, she commanded.
The reluctance was evident, but they obeyed regardless. As they fled, it was only by the will of their mother that any would survive, however crippled and cursed, as the flames of life became twisted...corrupt.
'Please...live...please forgive me my children, for I have failed.'
Without the aid of her daughters the Witch could keep the flames at bay no longer. The fire of life became stained, corrupted into a deep dark red that hungrily swarmed against her. It enveloped the Witch, threatening to consume her yet her very soul resisted. The soul she plucked long ago from the First Flame.
She was trapped by the blackened flame. The Witch's flesh burned, but the pain of the body was regarded only vaguely as her mind struggled to remain coherent. She feared for her children's welfare more than her own. Her greatest hope was that they escaped the flames, escaped the corruption. Closing her eyes as she sank to her knees, she could only wonder how long until the corruption finally claimed her. How long she could remain The Witch of Izalith.
Time and again the summoning circle failed. A pop here, a snap there, and an occasional concussive blast that tested the balance of those present. The laughter and insults directed at her from her peers didn't hurt nearly as much as her own sense of worth, her own self-esteem. Or rather, the lack there-of.
"Louise?" The firm hand of Professor Colbert clasped down on the pink haired child's shoulder. "I'm sorry..."
Professor Colbert shook his head, pity and concern etched on his face. Louise half turned towards the balding man, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Please," she sniffed, "just once more?"
"Fine, but this is the last time, understood?" Louise nods and proceeds to kneel, once again drawing the summoning circle.
There was nothing wrong with the circle or any of it's runic writings. As she stood before the recreated circle, she began the incantation. Here too, there was nothing wrong, her incantation flawless. For days she had prepared for the Springtime Summoning Ritual, ensuring that her drawings and words were well practiced, and the reagents and wand high quality. Yet, as with all her previous attempts this one seemed to fail. Tears once again started to flow as she sunk to her knees.
'Of course,' Louise had to block out her classmates jeers, 'I've failed again, I'll always be a Zero. Just...why? I don't care anymore what I summon! I can't stand this! Just...PLEASE!'
In her self-loathing and despair, she found wrath. Letting out an agonized scream of frustration she slammed her fists down onto the inert circle, her wand piercing one of the many runes inscribed within the circle. A spark of magic fueled light flashed at the impact.
"L-louise! What did you do?" The Professor yelled, panic lacing his words.
"What do you mean? I failed! Isn't that obvi...ous...," Louise screaming fit died as she realized that her own voice was being drowned out by another. A bestial scream of pain and agony. Heat hit her in waves as she looked forward into the summoning circle. The emptiness that once occupied it was replaced by a maliciously black inferno that gradually died, the screams dieing with it.
Shock enveloped Louise and the mob of students behind her with Colbert taking a guarded stance at the sight before them. An absurdly tall figure, obscured by charred robes, barely stood in the center of the circle with the support of a staff longer than the figure was tall.
The figure coughed violently, ash and soot falling in a fine powder with each spasm. In between the coughs, a raspy voice speaking unintelligible words would escape causing Professor Colbert to tilt his head in confusion and curiosity. Stepping forward, Colbert cast a translation spell on the figure, causing it to flinch for a moment before calming down.
"Who...brought me here?" The figure's still raspy voice, now unimpeded by the ash and soot in her lungs, was decidedly female.
"Th-that w-would be m-me..." Louise stuttered.
The tall, robed woman stumbled forward towards Louise, stopping within the arm's reach of the teenager. On her knees, hunched over so that her face was level with Louise's, the woman planted the staff into the ground to her right. With both shaking gloved hands, the woman cupped the girl's face.
"A life's debt to you my dear..."
Before Louise could react, the woman pulled her into a deep kiss. The summoning circle flashed once more before seemingly melting into the woman passionately kissing Louise.
"Mmmf...MMFFF!" Louise, having finally regained enough of her wits, had begun batting at the shoulders of the larger woman, prompting her to break off the kiss.
"AH! Haha, forgive me, I was lost in my emotions," the woman apologized in an even raspy tone, releasing Louise's face.
The woman sat back into a squat, balancing on the balls of her feet. She looked skyward, allowing the hood of her robes to fall back. Long ashen gray hair escaped the hood and flowed out towards her shoulder-blades. Louise's confusion and fear was eased when pale blue-gray eyes met her own bright pink eyes, and equally pale blue-gray lips stretched into a gentle, thin smile. The woman promptly let herself fall back, splayed out onto the burnt earth, giggling madly.
"What the fucking hell was that about!?" A red-headed student finally broke the stunned silence.
"Ms. Zerbst! Mind your language!" Mr. Colbert massaged the bridge of his nose, readjusting his glasses as he did. He coughed into a fist. "Ms. Valliere, I believe some congratulations in order. It took many tries, but you've finally summoned something...someone...,and it seems the binding worked, though she somehow triggered it herself. Regardless," he turned to the other students and clapped, "go on now, this concludes the ritual, you all have the rest of the day off. Go go go, away all of you!"
"P-professor?" Louise finally stood, stumbling momentarily before starting to brush herself off.
"I'll have to ask that you and your familiar visit me at my office tomorrow to record her runes, I'd rather not do so here since...well...I'm sure you get why...," Mr. Colbert waved towards the giggling woman.
"U-understood, Sir."
Mr. Colbert left Louise and her familiar on the summoning field. Louise wasn't exactly sure what to make of her summon.
'Is she...alright?'
As if on cue, the woman stopped her giggling abruptly, propping herself up on her elbows.
"I wonder how long it has been since I've enjoyed the warmth of the sun," she said.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Hah, it's quite a story, one I don't want to tell at the moment," She waved off Louise's question as she pulled herself off the ground, once again leaning on the staff. "Your name?"
"A-ah! L-louise! Louise Francoise le Blanc de La Valliere!" Louise snapped to attention in front of the woman.
'W-wow, I swear it's like being stared at by Mother!'
"Long name, young one. Not that it matters. Still, I must thank you again for pulling me from my own personal hell."
'Personal hell? Is she a ghost? She's pale like a wraith. Did I summon a spirit made flesh?' Louise paled at the thoughts running through her mind. The Witch tilted her head, observing the small pinkette.
"I assure you, I'm very much alive, child," the Witch cocked an eyebrow in amusement.
"W-wha-, how?"
"Just a guess," leaning forward, the Witch removed a glove to brush away ash from Louise's face.
"Uh, t-thank you?" Louise gulped, remembering where the ash came from.
"Do not mention it, I suppose I have given you quite a scare. Know that I normally would not act in such an unseemly manner, It is just...well...you pulled me from a very painful experience...to put it lightly."
Louise could barely comprehend the events that had transpired. For the first time, even if a mistake or fluke, she succeeded in casting a spell. She managed to summon a person, though she couldn't tell just what kind. The tall woman showed no outward signs of magic, yet that gaze was not that of a commoner. It commanded respect on a subconscious level.
'Just what IS she?' Louise frowned, 'and that was my first kiss too...'
Louise broke away from her introspection to observe the woman in question giving her an appraising look. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Louise looked over herself to realize that ash and soot had managed to cover not just her face but inside as well as outside her clothes.
"Perhaps we should clean ourselves up. I seem to have shared my filth pretty generously," the Witch chuckled.
"Eh, heh, yes you did. Um, lets go to the Academy, we can bathe before dinner," Louise pointed towards the Academy gates.
'Oh? Would this be one of that bastard dragon's schools then?'
As the duo crossed the threshold into the school, a rather large lizard darted in front of the Witch, acting much like a puppy waiting for a ball. In this case, a fireball, which wizzed past Louise's face and was caught and redirected by the lizard's tail.
"Good job Flame!" A flash of red hair grated at Louise's nerves as the red-head caught the fireball before dismissing it.
"Zerbst!" Louise growled.
"Ah, I didn't think you were still out there. I hope the fireball didn't fry your eyebrows," a predatory grin spread across the red-head's face.
"KIRCHE! YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" Louise screamed as her hands darted to her forehead, feeling for eyebrows that to her relief were still there.
'Okay...so it isn't one of the Dragon Schools. Fire is my domain, not his. Yet, this flame...'
"Girl! Do that again, but aim at me," the Witch commanded.
Louise and Kirche froze in place, their spat put on indefinite hold as the commanding presence forced them still. Kirche gave Louise a confused look that Louise responded to with an equally confused shrug.
"O-okay, here?" Kirche tossed a small fireball from her wand at the woman, it dissipating just before hitting the robes.
"Damned girl, actually try!" Kirche flinched before forming another fireball and throwing it with as much willpower as she dared.
This time the fireball didn't dissipate, but rather was simply caught in the Witch's hand as though it were a simple child's toy ball.
"Why...HOW?" Kirche shrieked at the display. Louise stood in shock, mouth imitating a fish out of water.
"This flame...is dead..." the Witch's eyes narrowed. Gripping her staff, power surged forth from her hand into the ball. The fire warped, changing shades of red, the intensity and wild flickering threatened to burst free before being molded into a perfect sphere comprised of white and red covering the entire spectrum of color.
"How..."Kirche all but whispered.
"Child, I do not know who taught you to play with flames, but their instruction is sorely lacking," the Witch turned her gaze to Kirche, once again triggering a flinch from the red-head.
'Is she a fire mage? Does that mean I summoned a mage? Does that mean...I'M a fire mage?' Louise was conflicted. Fear at the implications of summoning a noble, and the prospect of learning that she indeed had magic potential.
"You've got to be at least a triangle...maybe even square fire mage to do that!" Kirche's curiosity overcame the rooting effect of the Witch's commanding aura. The statement caused the Witch to quench the flame.
"What nonsense are you speaking girl? Triangle? Square? What by the Flame is a mage?"
Louise and Kirche weren't sure what to make of these questions. Surely someone that commands fire like this woman does would be a mage, a rather powerful one at that. Yet she denies knowledge of Brimir's legacy. Louise finally realized that something was off, and has been off since she first laid eyes on the woman.
The summoning itself was odd, that the woman appeared within an inferno but showed little damage when it extinguished was absurd on its own. Now she displayed a strong affinity for fire magic but denied being a mage. Louise remembered something important, a question she hadn't asked yet.
"Who...or what...are you?" Louise asked, Kirche sharing an inquisitive gaze towards the Witch.
"Oh? Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself have I?" A smile crept upon the Witch's face. "I am a being that commands the very flames of life. One that many would consider a goddess," the two girls before her began to pale,"but the name I am best known by...or perhaps it would be a title...The Witch of Izalith..."