A/N: So I've had this urge for a while now. Simply put, I really wanted to see a fic where Karin wasn't depicted as a tyrant, a horrible mother, or an overall bitch. Not only that, but I really wanted to see her as one of, if not THE, main character. So this is what happened. Whether or not it is continued is yet to be seen, so the thoughts of readers will be greatly appreciated. This has and will have no effect what so ever on my current stories.
Today was the day she looked forward to, yet dreaded all the same. Louise slowly buttoned the blouse of her uniform as she prepared herself for what she was sure would prove either a glorious day or disastrously humiliating. She smoothed out the pristine white fabric and pulled the accompanying black pleated skirt from her bed a wrapped it around her waist, having slight difficulty with the appropriate button that would prevent it from falling to her ankles. As she fumbled with the uncooperative button, Louise allowed herself to drift into introspective thought.
'I wonder what it'll be...maybe a manticore like mother? No, I doubt it, familiars aren't something that run in families,' Louise clicked her tongue as she turned and sat on the edge of her bed, having finally conquered the rebellious skirt.
Next she picked up the black stockings she preferred to wear. Slowly sliding her right foot into one, she shuddered as it tickled it and the rest of the leg. It was a simple guilty pleasure in her morning routine. She sighed as she let her leg drop and she picked up the second stocking.
'Honestly...I'm starting to regret everything I said yesterday,' Louise huffed at the thought, 'Really, what came over me? Something as powerful as a dragon? Majestic and beautiful? They'll just rub it in even more if I get something mundane...or worse...,'
She gulped in nervousness what her own thoughts implied. That today would just be filled with explosions that marked her failures as usual. It was just that today was the Springtime Summoning Ceremony for the Second Years of the Tristain Academy of Magic. One of the most important, if not THE most important events she was mandated to attend by the school. A young mage was, after all, judged by their familiar.
Lost in thought, Louise didn't realize that she had finally buckled the clasps of her shoes and stood in front of the full body mirror, the fifteenth full body mirror she had purchased and placed in her room. After the third, the Academy stopped replacing the ones they normally provided, since due to her 'magic' they'd inevitably shatter during her independent studies. Now she gently brushed her bright pink hair. It was a point of pride for Louise, the hair she inherited from her mother. Being slightly wavy and reaching just below her buttocks, she was lucky that it was naturally silky smooth and thus surprisingly easy to maintain.
The magical lamps had began to dim as the sun's morning light reached a strength and height that Louise, and any student for that matter, would recognize as the time to make their way to the dining hall. If you didn't show up during the allotted times, you simply did not eat. Despite being a school for nobles, that was one rule that was iron clad. Something about teaching youths the importance of time management and respecting authority.
Louise did not have any intention of going to Alviss Hall for breakfast, however. Her nerves and impatience dwarfing any feelings of hunger and she certainly did not want to face her future tormentors before the ceremony. Instead, she felt it more appropriate that she prepare herself further, at least mentally if not emotionally. So she made her way to the summoning grounds, making sure to avoid as much interaction with her 'peers' as she could.
Karin was by no means a vain noble. She was just as at home in the battlefield, clad in steel, covered in dirt, grime, and blood as she was in the ballroom clad in gown, covered in gold, silver, and jewels. Though if one were to simply ask...she preferred the former...to a far greater degree. Though one could be forgiven for getting the wrong impression if they had seen her at this moment.
She sat silently in front a rather large vanity mirror, one that took up the lion's share of the wall of the master bedroom, clothed rather plainly in an unadorned lilac night-gown. With as much care as one would take in handling a newborn or dismantling some contraption that would spell the doom of countless...whichever one would think is gentler, she brushed her bright pink hair. It was one of the few points of femininity she allowed herself growing up, and the care and pride in it showed. Never once had it been cut (voluntarily anyway)and none save for her husband and daughters had ever been allowed to touch it without a resulting Air Hammer spell flattening them.
Quietly placing her brush on the vanity's hardwood counter, Karin stood and walked over to the neighboring wardrobe. She took care to remain as quiet as possible in her morning routine, as to not wake her husband that often enough slept hours after she herself woke. Perhaps it was simply due to her childhood and growing up as a warrior, but she could never remain asleep for longer than a few hours at a time and certainly not after the sun had risen.
From the wardrobe she removed a plain gray cotton vest and a pair of black trousers that had only begun to start fading. By untying the laces near the neck of her gown, she allowed it to slide down around her feet, exposing her now nude form to the cool morning air. Taking a quick glance at the mirror, Karin unconsciously raised an eyebrow in both amusement and wonder.
'Truly, I wonder just at what point all...that...happened,' she looked herself over, noting the modest and respectable curves of her own breasts and hips as well as the wisps of pink at her crotch that matched her head, 'certainly the wonders of bearing children, I still remember the days I looked not that much different from little Lou.'
A smile crept on her face from a bout of nostalgia as she returned to the task at hand, pulling out some plain yet comfortable delicates and slipping them on.
'Hmm, I do believe today is little Lou's Summoning Ceremony. I wish I could be there for it...,' Karin cinched up the ties of the vest to provide better support for her bust, and then began to pull on the trousers that hugged her form but still breathed well, 'though I doubt she would appreciate it.'
Karin pouted slightly at the though. She was distinctly aware of just what the 'Rule of Steel' she lived by had done to herself and her daughters. It was with her youngest that it seemed to have the greatest negative impact on. Yet in her heart of hearts she firmly believed that the 'Rule' would keep her daughters from experiencing the pain and hardship she had lived with. Sure it had largely been her choice, but it was a path she didn't want others to follow easily. Certainly a little pain and discomfort early on was better than a lifetime of loss and regret...right?
From the corner of the wardrobe, Karin pull out knee high black leather boots. Despite having heels, she was quite well balanced and nimble with them, due to years of stubborn practice with them. She honestly was surprised at how dim she had been at times in her younger years, since heels weren't exactly something a soldier would...should wear into battle. It worked out in the end though. Having finished lacing up her boots, she walked to the wall near the bed, in surprising silence given the hard soles of her boots.
Just above the place on the wall above bed she claimed as her own, she grabbed a long rapier by the scabbard that hung there. It was her Spell-Sword, which in reality had more in common with a Colichemarde smallsword than what most nobles and mage-knights used with a wickedly sharp point and diamond shaped blade shaft rather than the blunt and almost cylindrical sword-wands popular in Halkeginia. Karin was not averse to drawing blood with steel instead of magic after all.
Fastening the sword to her hip and slipping on the leather gloves she kept in her nightstand, she paused at the bedroom's doorway. As if she remembered something important she had forgotten she quickly walked back and around the bed. She nearly forgot to give the Duke her customary morning kiss on the cheek...though he never actually knew about it since he slept so heavily that not even one of little Lou's explosions had ever woken him from his slumber.
Satisfied, Karin once more made for the door. She may be 'retired', but a warrior and soldier will always be such and she could never feel right without starting her day by working up a sweat in training.
Louise stood before the masterfully crafted runic summoning circle, simply staring at it as though it were a sleeping predator that she had to sneak past but for some reason saw fit to wear clothing consisting of bells and chains. This was HER summoning circle, one drawn out on the well kept grass of the summoning grounds with ground up chalk mixed with various reagents prescribed by the lessons she took to heart over the past year. It was a work of art, no one denied it, yet it was also something that scared her to no end. It was the symbol of her potential future, and could be either the start of something wondrous or the end of...well, anything good she held dear anyway. The uncertainty was a maliciously powerful beast.
She was confident she had gotten everything right. Louise was actually one of the top students in the academy...at least as far as academics went. In actual practice, everything resulted in failure, usually in the form of an explosion. It was this fact that she hesitated so much.
"Please, Miss Valliere. No more delays. You're the last one to do the ceremony and you're holding up the class," Professor Colbert wiped his balding head with a handkerchief of sweat from the heat of the ever rising sun.
Louise gulped and shivered in anticipation. She thought she had prepared herself, but as soon as she finished the circle and got a good look at it, the reality of the situation hit her all at once like the concussive blast of one of her failures. Though now she could no longer put it off. It wasn't the time for hesitation. It was all she could do to take a deep breath to calm her nerves. Before her resolution could falter once more, she raised her hands above the circle. Wand in one hand, and the other hovering palm down.
"Here goes...everything...,"Louise whispered to herself, "fortune favors the bold..."
Now she held her head high, her back straight, and legs shoulder width apart. Now of all times, the 'Rule of Steel' would work to her advantage.
The snide remarks and talking behind her back that she ignored so well had all faded as she began the Summoning Ritual. All present were curious...would she fail spectacularly...or would she do something right for once?
A deep breath was taken and her eyes closed.
"My servant that exists somewhere in this universe! My divine, beautiful, and powerful familiar! I wish and assert from the bottom of my heart, answer my guidance!"
At first there was no reaction, and murmurs not far behind her started to emerge. Louise opened a single eye slightly. She seen nothing, she heard nothing...except her 'peers' slowly starting their mocking conversations...nothing was happening. At least nothing HAD happened, until she was assaulted by a blinding flash and a deafening bang. It was the most powerful and destructive explosion she'd created yet, and it sent her reeling. From her new vantage point...on her back, she could only see the giant mass of smoke and debris that ever so slowly drifted back to the ground at the mercy of the gentle breeze.
In the midst of her training, Karin rarely cared to pay attention to her surroundings. As much of a soldier she was, and as much as any soldier would be reprimanded for it, it was only during this time she let down her guard. It was only because no one, no matter how powerful or cunning, would dare approach her as she trained. And she was actually most dangerous when she let her guard down, since it was her instincts that took over.
She was prepared, at least subconsciously, for any assault on her person. Be it magical or physical. It was because of this that she stood stunned, not able to understand what was happening. The earth was trembling beneath her, yet it wasn't like any such natural quake nor did it bear the signs that always accompanied the magic of an earth mage. The air that whipped around her violently denied her commands. The air was uncharacteristically humid and dense for the season. The magical torches of the courtyard flickered to life and then extinguished themselves repeatedly.
And then all was still.
What followed was a feeling in her gut that she found familiar. A feeling that caused every fiber of her being to tense in preparation. She felt it coming but didn't know from where or why. Her eyes widened as the feeling reached it's apex.
BANG
The students on the summoning grounds erupted I laughter at the Valliere scion's latest 'failure'. Louise simply sat and stare at the slowly settling smoke and dust. Something felt wrong. Oh so very wrong. It was only after a gentle breeze stirred the air that she caught glimpse of something that made her heart soar. A brilliant flash of pink was all it was, but none the less it was a sign that she succeeded in summoning SOMETHING. Quickly shifted to her knees, she focused intently, waiting for the dust to settle so that she may see her summoning clearly.
And then a sharp point of steel poked her nose, causing her to fall back again to her butt and yelp in surprise and pain. The breeze whipped up violently to a powerful gust that dispersed the dust and smoke and revealed in all it's glory, Louise's summon.
"M-Mother!?" Louise nearly screamed in surprise.
"Louise?" Karin responded in an even and slightly cold tone, still holding her spell-word to her daughter's face.
Karin was beside herself in confusion. One moment she was in the courtyard of the Valliere estate, conducting her morning exercises, and then after some freakish events found herself at the Tristain Academy of Magic. Not only that but she stood on the summoning grounds where so many years ago she had summoned her dear manticore, but she didn't stand as she thought she would as an observer to her daughter's summoning, but rather she stood before her daughter. Slowly she turned her gaze from her frightened daughter, to her own feet. What she found had astounded her. A perfectly crafted, and still glowing, runic summoning circle. She returned her gaze to Louise...then turned to see her former subordinate and currently one of the top professors of the Academy, Jean Colbert...then to the massive crowd of students and their familiars...and after a couple seconds a quite profound revelation occurred.
'Little Lou...summoned...ME!?' Her mouth went slightly agape as she looked once again to her daughter who now began to shake on the ground in fear.
It was unprecedented. Unrealistic. Simply absurd. But it was true. All the evidence pointed towards that one conclusion. For whatever reason, fate deemed fit to answer the calling of the sacred summoning ritual this way. Karin was what many would consider the model devout Founderist. She knew the scriptures as well and in many cases better than sanctioned priests of the church. And it was because of this she felt the significance of this event.
She couldn't deny it, SHE was summoned by her daughter...as a familiar. The only case known to the church of such a thing happening was Brimir himself having summoned several human and humanoid familiars. The implications weren't lost on karin. She was torn between feeling honored at being chosen for this calling as one of Brimir's faithful, but also insulted at the implications of being subservient as a noble.
So she looked into the eyes of her daughter. In them she seen what would cause her to make her decision. In Louise she seen fear, shame, borderline betrayal as if her hopes were crushed before her very eyes.
'Does she believe she has failed? How utterly absurd that is! She summoned ME, one of the most powerful, if not THE most powerful mages to be born for several generations at least. A familiar is said to reflect it's summoner in the most intimate ways, so just what does that say about you little Lou!?' Karin blinked, 'What...does that say about you?'
If it were true, that a mage and familiar were reflections of each other's desires, needs, strengths, and weaknesses...just what did that say of her daughter? What does it say, that she summon her mother? Was Louise destined to live a similar life as herself?
'Maybe...she doesn't need the rule of steel...maybe imposing that upon her would be a futility in the face of fate. Maybe, just maybe...,' Karin let her sword arm drop to her side as she ran her free hand through her hair. It had come loose from the ponytail it was in during the explosion.
She began to laugh. At first it was barely a giggle, and then it gradually evolved into a full hardy bout of laughter full of mirth she hadn't felt in years. Louise stared at her mother in sheer, utter confusion. The laughter ceased as Karin pressed her free hand to her eyes, a wide and uncharacteristic smile spread across her face.
She decided.
If she were indeed summoned, that it was the will of the Founder. That, indeed, fate itself had intervened and brought her to her struggling and suffering child.
She'd embrace her child, and the path fate decreed.
Planting the spell-sword into the earth at her side, she went down on one knee and held her arms out toward her child.
"Come here little Lou. Come give your mother a hug and kiss," her motherly smile and shimmering eyes stunned all present.
Louise, her body acting on it's own accord, rose to her knees and in an act of intimacy one would only see between a close parent and child threw herself into her mother's arms, planting a quick and chaste kiss on Karin's cheek. Given the out of character scene before them, none would be blamed for missing the very brief flash of light upon Karin's gloved left hand, where the sacred runes inscribed themselves.