Hello, devoted readers (If applicable), I Have Returned! (for the time being...)
Now, the story, I've fixed some minor spelling mistakes and changed the classroom to a storage room, not many changes, but it changes the room from an University style to a room which I can use.
Enjoy!
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When the Tristan Academy of Magic first started, many did not believe it would stay open by the end of the year, let alone become renowned and well-respected. The facility was first built as a frontier fortress, used constantly by travelers, settlers, and adventurers. The land became mapped and the once unknown forest divulged most, if not all, of its secrets.
The travelers moved onward, toward their intended destination. The settlers found the land surrounding the castle unfavorable for growing crops, and moved on. The adventurers that explored the forest left, seeking new lands to explore.
The castle then received new inhabitance. Bandits used the fortress to plan raids while thieves prepared hoists. After all the money that could be stolen or the outlaws were caught, wild animals entered, looking for a suitable place for cubs or kits.
Nature seized the castle next. The walls and buildings became overgrown with vegetation and vines. The added weight caused some building's ceilings to fall in, letting plants and grass grow inside. The castle stayed that way for hundreds of years until a group of four travelers stumbled upon the ruins. They were looking for a suitable place to set up a lab. Each traveler was a noble, each devoted to an element.
Chariovalda de Flanci la Eemil was an influential wind mage. She was researching why the wind moved, and followed wherever it went.
Kam la Adalia de Hari was a powerful fire mage. He wondered why fire was hot and changed color depending on the heat. After a few quarrels with some fellow mages, he pledged to find the answer.
Eutimio von Farid de Gervasius was a prominent earth mage. She experimented with building, trying to find the best material for construction.
Hyosan von Hovolos de Vatten was a thoughtful water mage. He wanted to help people that were injured with his magic and tried to find new ways to heal.
The four researchers repaired the inner buildings. They did not need all of the compound and the grass, plants and the occasional tree presented the lab with a lively feeling.
Over the years several other researchers joined the group. Soon, kids became involved. Shortly afterward, the researchers fixed the rest of the newly founded Academy.
Tristain Magical Academy
Half a year until summoning
The Tristain Magical Academy library was the second largest in the Founder Region. Possessing original tomes by the Founders of the academy, the library obtained books ranging from plain story books to extensive magical theorems. Louise quickly descended the stairs leading to the first floor. She walked quickly to the servant on duty, planning to check out the book in her arms.
"Excuse me." Louise said.
"Yes my lady?"
"I request this book for a week." Louise pushed the book across the counter.
"One moment." The servant bowed and entered the room behind the checkout counter. Louise hated waiting. She was actually very patient, but if she stayed in one place for too long, those came back.
The glances.
The sneers.
The Whispering. That Founder. Be. Damned. Whispering! Louise could already hear them starting. Three older students, third year by their blue robs, where all at a table taking in hushed voices and glancing at her.
"It's her, what is she doing here?"
"SHH! She'll hear you!"
"Nah, all the explosions probably damaged the Zero's hearing. Were fine."
"But still, why is she here. If every spell she casts misfires, isn't it better for her to be married off to anybody and not in danger everybody here?"
"Yeah she should just leave. What is her magic affinity anyway?"
"I bet she doesn't have one."
"But…Then she shouldn't be a noble."
"Maybe her parents are from Germania?"
"Yeah she isn't a real noble at all".
Louise clutched her hands and continued to wait. They thought she could not hear them, but she could hear better than most. Louise always had better senses ever since she was little. She overheard the servants talking about all the rumors around the house. She got so confident and arrogant in her eavesdropping; Louise tried to listen in on her mother one time. What she heard was…informative but saddening.
Flashback
Thirteen year old Louise De La Valliere crept to the door of her parents study. They always went inside there and talked about something after her magic lessons. Beside her, Dorin, Louise's only friend besides Cattleya, pushed a cart with tea and two empty cups. Dorin never acted over servanty or ran from the room when they were done with whatever job they had. He always helped anyway he could.
The plan was simple. Dorin would bring tea in for mother and father and Louise would listen in through the open door. When Dorin left, he would leave the door slightly agar. That way Louise could still hear what was being said.
They approached the door as planned. Dorin knocked as planned. A stern female voice said, "Enter." Just as planned.
That's when everything went SO wrong.
"…wing up every spell, it would be better to just marry her off. She is useless as a mage." Her mother's voice was as cold as ice as always.
Louise had to stifle a gasp. She was going to go married off, like Cattleya? But, she could do magic, all her spell just explode.
"I was a late bloomer, if you remember. I could not perform my first spell until I was 15. Now look at me, a general in Her Majesty's Army. She needs time."
"Your spells did not explode. She is short, undeveloped and has a temper shorter than the height of a baby Salamander. She is a failure." Mother's words were like individual knives in her heart. Dorin, finished serving the tea, bowed and left, as planned. His face was hard, pushing the cart away with more force then was necessary. When he was outside the room, closing the door, he glanced at Louise, wondering if he should let her continue.
"She will perform the Affinity Spell, and if she fails that then we will marry her off."
"You know as well as I do that Louise won't be able to do it. A silencing charm combined with levitating a small boulder is easier and every time she tried either of the two, they've exploded. Let's wait until she casts her first spell and then we can try the Affinity Spell."
The room was silent for a moment before Mother replied, "Louise is a Noble and will prove she is one. The first thing she could do is stop eavesdropping at the door."
Dorin's and Louise's eyes widened in shock. Closing the door all the way, Dorin grabbed Louise and pushed her and the cart away as fast as he could while thinking of a way to keep his Job.
Louise on the other hand was still trying to figure out two things. One, how did Mother know she was listening? She used that method on the servants and even her sister to proven its effectiveness. Two, what was the Affinity Spell and how could she use it to prove herself to Mother?
Flashback end
Now, two years later, she finally knows what the Affinity Spell is. After two years of searching she FINALLY found it. The servant came back.
"My deepest apologies for the wait, here is your book." He handed Louise one of the last few lifelines she had left. Louise took the book and hurried out of the library.
The Affinity Spell was just what it says, a spell that determined a mages magical affinity. A mage has to draw an alchemy circle with the five magical runes, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Void, inscribed in it and over flow it with ones magic. The affinity of the mage will make one glow.
The only problems were the result of the spell and the amount of power needed.
If the Earth rune glows, then the ground around the circle will shift, crack, and change. The stronger the affinity the more destructive the change.
If the Fire rune glows, then heat will expel form the circle. The stronger the affinity the hotter the heat. to Some mages have been known receive burns form the amount.
If the Water rune glows, any liquids near the circle will be affected in some way. That also including blood. Most mages survive it, but are never the same again.
If the Wind rune glows, the air around the circle distorts. It could be a gentle wind or a tornado. Again the stronger the affinity the stronger the change in the element.
Since the element Void was lost, nobody knows what will be affected by it, but since it was lost, Louise didn't have to worry about that. She could not be a Void user. And simply claiming that you were a Void mage were grounds of blasphemy and possible execution.
A mage had to use a significant amount of power to activate the circle leaving them drained and tired. No other spell can be cast afterword. Some mages even pass out from the strain. Louise would need to get someone to help her in case she passed out.
'Professor Cobalt is the only teacher that might be able to help but he busy with all the second year students'. Sighing, she thought, 'It will have to be a student'. But who could she ask. Anybody she asked would either laugh at her and call her Zero again, or run screaming for help, people would come and then laugh at her and call her Zero again. She could pay someone. Bribing them was more likely to work.
'Blackmail?' That defiantly was a possibility. Now who…?
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"…You promise not to tell Montmorency?" Guiche said in a hushed tone, sweating slightly at the idea of getting caught.
Louise looked up from the completed Alchemy circle and glared at Guiche. "Yes. For the last time, I promise not to tell Montmorency about your two-timing. But if you ask again, I will tell her. So, please, for the Founder, shut up before you wake up the entire school."
Guiche, wisely, shut up.
Louise could not use the circle during the day of course. She didn't even want to think what people would assume and say. So, the night was a very close friend right now. The Boarding School was also very old. So old in fact, that there were a number of unused storage rooms on the first floor next to the dorms building.
The room was rectangular with multiple tables, shelves and stacks of chairs. The shelves had dusty books, blank parchment, and several ink wells. A single window, letting in the moonlight, and one candle were the only sources light.
"All you have to do is make sure I'm safe and to see which element lights up." Louise said hastily, not wanting to wait any longer. Guiche, coming down a little, just grunted and leaned against the far wall.
Calming her nerves, Louise closed her eyes and raised her wand slowly until it was pointing straight up to the ceiling. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de la Vallière, mage of the Pentagon of the Five Elements." Snapping her eyes open, Louise thrust her wand down to point at the circle, outlined in the book. "Fill this holy circle with magic and display my element!" She whisper shouted at the end, activating the circle.
Nothing happened.
Louise wasn't feeling anything. Not because she was numb with shock. She literally couldn't feel anything. Louise tried to call to Guiche for help, but found her voice was gone.
Guiche did not have the same limitations, and stared open mouthed at Louise. It was true. Louise really is a zero. Without an affinity, she couldn't cast magic, meaning she wasn't a mage. Guiche felt two emotions at once. One, he felt pity. Louise tried very hard to prove herself. Now, by her own attempts, she proved herself to be a zero. The other was anger. Not at Louise, but at all the people that ever picked one her, including himself. She tries HARDER than anybody else, and now it's all worthless.
Guiche was so wrapped up in his thoughts; he almost missed the black mist forming around the circle.
Key word: almost.
He stepped closer to have a look. 'What is that? Is this wind?' But wind didn't have color so that was out. The mist swirled around the circle and outward. The candle flickered as the mist approached, sputtered, and died, plunging the room into darkness except for the dim light of the moon. That's when Louise and Guiche both saw it.
A dim purple light.
Coming from the in front of Louise.
'The Void Element!' Both Guiche and Louise thought at the same time. Now even if Louise could have moved she wouldn't have. VOID! She must have made another mistake, she couldn't be. Only the founder was a void user and even claiming she was would make everybody call her a blasphemer and executed. She would have screamed if she could.
Guiche was again thinking along similar lines, except he wasn't bound by the circle.
"WHAAAAAAAAAA!"
Loud bangs would be heard above Louise and Guiche as students woke up and probably rolled out of bed.
Foot-steps would be heard running down.
The door would open.
Everybody would see.
That was what was supposed to happen. Fortunately or not, it didn't. No bangs, no footsteps. The door did open though.
Louise, still frozen, could not see who it was.
Guiche, still unfrozen could. "Tabitha!?" He squeaked.
Tabitha just stared at the scene in front of her, first looking at the shocked and slightly scared look on Guiche's face. Next, she looked at the back of Louise noticing that she was not tense at all. Strange. Tabitha thought that she would be surprised that someone knew that this was happening. But no, she was standing tall, almost uncaring or proud.
The mist surrounding the circle shifted. Tendrils of complete blackness drifted toward the light form the open door, right for Tabitha. Tabitha, being who she is, moved out of the way and raised her staff, prepared to defend herself if needs be.
But the mist, if it can be called that, didn't stop in its path. Reaching the door, it lifted itself up and surrounded the thin block of wood. The door seemed to absorb the mist.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the door just dissolved, leaving the black mist behind. The mist then went to the doorframe, formed, matching the frame precisely, and reshaped back into the door.
With the door back in the frame, the room was dark again. With no other light source besides the window, Tabitha finally noticed the dim purple light of the Void rune glowing. Needless to say, she was as shocked as Guiche, fortunately with more control. That being said, the only reaction Guiche notices from Tabitha was the widening of her eyes.
The light from the rune pulsed once and glowed brighter. The mist began to loop around the circle spinning higher and higher, until it formed a wall of mist taller than Louise. Louise, still trapped, could only watch in growing fear as the mist tighten the spinning circle, slowly moving toward her.
Guiche lunged forward, remembering the door disappearing. Tabitha raised her staff and used a wind spell to try and clear the way for Guiche. The mist didn't move. Guiche reached the mist and slammed right into a piece of wood?
'What!' Louise, Tabitha and Guiche thought at the same time.
It's true. Founder. Be. Damned. WOOD!
The wood dissipated into mist still swirling and moving toward Louise, it was half way there already! Guiche, starting to get desperate, raised his wand and summand one of his prized Valkyrie, armed with a club.
The Valkyrie swung at the mist. The wood appeared again, shattering but forcing the club back. The wood, now broken, dissolved back into mist. Guiche thinking he found the answer to save Louise, formed more Valkyrie with axes and stationed them around the mist, all swinging, trying to clear a path. Wood kept appearing to block the axes but Guiche was glad to be making some progress.
Tabitha, watching, formed one icicle. Taking aim she waited for a Valkyrie in front of her to break the wood again. Just as the wood dissolved, Tabitha sent the icicle soaring through the dissolving wood. The icicle was stopped by the mist itself. And, like the door, some mist entered the icicle.
'Oh Founder!' Tabitha and Guiche thought at the same time. If the door, which was made of wood, was used as a shield of sorts, and an ice spike was decently not used for defensive purposes, then only one thing could happen right now. Guiche jumped back and made a wall of dirt. Tabitha jumped behind it as well reinforcing the wall with ice as she went. Just in time to as very sharp icicles were shot at the Valkyrie destroying them all instantly.
While all this was happening, the mist reached the still frozen Louise. Instead of completely smothering her, the mist pooled at her feet and ascended at an incredible rate. Louise, well passed panicking, was furiously trying to move.
When the wood first appeared, the mist was well past her stomach. When the Valkyries were summoned, Louise's head was still visible. When the ice spicks were shot out, destroying all the Valkyrie, the mist swallowed Louise whole. Inside the tomb of mist, symbols began to form in a flash of white and form different images: fire, a door, an icicle, a table, an ink well, paper, a set of books, a shelf, glass, wall of stone then one of dirt and ice. The images just kept coming. When one appeared, knowledge of the item was shoved into Louise's head, everything about the item, suddenly forcing itself inside, forcing Louise to learn every aspect and capability.
On the outside, the mist began to glow purple growing brighter and brighter. Tables pushed to the back of the classroom began to dissolve, ink wells and paper completely disappearing. Books and shelves dissolved as well. The window in the back of the room exploded and dissolved and the wall also began to crack and shatter in small sections.
The wall blocking the light from Tabitha and Guiche also began to dissolve. Guiche panicking made another wall. Tabitha reinforced it with ice. They continued that until seven walls were formed between them and the light.
Inside, Louise's head wanted to explode, but all the knowledge she was learning sorted itself out and great clarity about the world, mysteries that would have stumped Louise became clear. Understanding of the elements and the amount of power needed to use each spell and why all of Louise's spells exploded had such a simple answer, she would have hit herself if she could.
Answer: too much Founder. Be. Damned. Power. was being used in her spells.
On the outside, the fifth wall was dissolving when the light finally began to dim. The broken window/wall let in moonlight. Tabitha and Guiche peeked out from behind the seventh wall, finally able to see what was left of the room. Everything that was in the light was dissolved leaving half of a chair, a table leg, the wall erected to protect Guiche and Tabitha, and a few pages on the ground. In the middle of it all, Louise became visible as the mist went inside her!
On the verge on passing out because of how fast his heart was beating, Guiche ran over to Louise, catching her as she fell. Tabitha followed a little more cautiously examining the circle to make sure it didn't have any residual magic left. Then she cast a spell to detect any foreign magic inside Louise. If it could be detected then Louise might be saved from whatever that mist was. When the scan was complete, the foreign magic inside her body would glow. Not very surprisingly, when the scan finished, nothing happened. Nothing seemed to be going as planned tonight.
Guiche let out a sigh. "She's still breathing." Guiche lifted Louise off the floor and carried her bridal style to the door. Tabitha again followed after getting rid of the circle and fixing the wall and window. The door creaked open slowly, Tabitha and Guiche looked left and right. Nobody was there.
"Founder, were lucky nobody heard that." Guiche said, surprised that nobody heard or felt anything. They were not actually trying to be quiet.
"Silence spell." Tabitha simply stated.
"Not much for words are you?" Guiche adjusted Louise in his arms, trying not to wake her.
"…" Tabitha and Guiche started down the hallway to the dorms. Guiche tried to be as silent as possible so he wasn't moving very fast. Tabitha glanced back at him for a second, and cast another silence spell on their feet.
"Thanks." Guiche nodded, catching up. "So…" Guiche started. If he didn't talk about this, he might just go mad. "Louise's a Void user and everybody called her a Zero. If this was a story, I would have complimented the foreshadowing."
"…"
"…This also explains her explosions. But all the Void spells were lost along with the element. I plan to go to the library and try to look for spells, what are you going to do?"
"…be discreet." Tabitha simply stated.
"Why? Louise's affinity is Void, we have proof. Shouldn't we tell peo…Oh, never mind." If Guiche told people, the followers of the Founder, which was everybody, would accuse them of Heresy. At best, they would all be denounced as nobles and forced to live out on the street. At worst, burned alive. Besides, who would believe them anyway?
They walked quietly for a while. When the stairs to the dorms came into view Guiche said, "Still, are you going to do anything?"
"…research tomorrow, after dinner." Tabitha looked at Guiche.
"I'll meet you at the library, anything we find let's bring to that room. Agreed?" Guiche whispered, turning to meet Tabitha.
"Agreed."