Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere bit her lips in trepidation, drawing a drop of blood. It stung, but the girl was hardly likely to care at this point.

With strawberry coloured wavy hair that cascaded down to her middle back luxuriously, and expressive, pale red eyes that reflected the golden light of the sun, she could be considered cute, if not beautiful. Her build was delicate, or putting it harshly, she was short and flat, with a body like one of a little girl.

And currently, with her eyes narrowed seemingly in anger, she chanted something out loud in fluent French, her voice commanding yet slightly strained. She appeared the image of a tiny warrior, despite standing amongst a crowd of jeering, taunting students; despite her school uniform being charred and slightly tattered, and herself barely holding back tears. She stood strong, but the glint in her eyes had in the end, betrayed her facade.

She was pushed to the brink, her straw's end, and she was desperate. There was a part of her that screamed that she would likely kill someone if it would help her achieve a miracle.

If she failed the summoning again, she would be expelled, and forced into an early marriage to reduce the shame to her family. She didn't want that, desperately so. Her family and her pride as a noble was the most important to her, no matter what the others say, as magic was only a part of it all.

Her hands trembled a little as she clutched her wand a little tighter. Opening her mouth, she let the familiar words flow out in an elegant manner. She had studied over countless of hours, of late nights and early mornings for this summoning, thus no matter what, she will not fail!

Pointing her wand at the magic circle, she began chanting out loud, and as she did so, a foreign yet familiar energy began thrumming in her veins, filling her with potent magic. The magic influenced her mind; an engulfing feeling of being invincible. As if she was the unrelenting ice shard that would pierce through even the most radiant of suns, she continued the chant to bring forth her rightful servant.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe," some in the crowd were dubious about this phrasing, but Louise persisted as if unaffected, having faith that she would not be wrong, could not be wrong, must not be wrong. She continued, her face sharp with fierce determination, and punctuated each word as if emphasizing them, "my sacred, beautiful, wise and powerful servant."

There was a hot glowing ember in her pink eyes that had not been smothered by the crowd's cruel, mocking laughter, that had grown into an inferno trapped within her captivating twin orbs. Her voice grew more passionate as she continued, her mind emptying itself as she abandoned all expectations of what her familiar would be like, merely desiring from her very soul for a compatible familiar. Deep in herself, she knew that despite her failures, she was greater than all of her peers. She knew, and so she threw all the magic in her body into the spell to look through the endless universe for the one familiar meant for her, for she knew that whatever it'd be, it would be hers, and thus, magnificent.

"Heed my call, my wish from the very bottom of my heart—" she commanded, her eyes glazed like pieces of stained glass.

At that moment, her thoughts were Void; her ambitions were Void; her magic was Void; she was the Void. Shutting her eyes made no difference, for the rest of the world was dead to her at that moment.

On a solemn, silent moment, when all noises ceased in trepidation, she continued, "—and answer my guidance!"

Then, for a horrendous second, nothing happened, before a powerful gush of wind struck everyone, and from where her wand was pointed to, a huge explosion occurred. The air was saturated with magic, strong, potent and oppressive. Magical beings suffocated, forced to the ground by the pressure in the air.

Thus, as she opened her eyes, she knew. She knew that despite Summoning Servant ending up in an explosion like every single one of her spells had in failure, she had indeed summoned forth a familiar.

She knew that she had not failed.

The thought brought forth an indescribable emotion, but clearly that brought forth by her very first success in the one thing that mattered. Elation? Excitement? Perhaps, but surely, something great had been summoned forth, she thought.

But as the dust cloud cleared, she saw nothing of dragons or griffins, but that of a human. Her high hopes were at that moment, utterly shattered. It would be quite accurate to say that her expectations were obliterated, crushed by a blazing meteor, and its broken body thrown into the deepest levels of hell to be scorched in ashes by hellfire. Even so, she found something within herself as she channeled her magic, insidious, persuasive and addicting it was that it convinced her that she was the most powerful, something that told her that this mere human that had answered her summons had had to be great. It made her know of and possess faith in her summon, that if it was not the strongest, it had to be the wisest or the most alluring, for only the best would be compatible with her magic.

Therefore, without faltering in surprise, it was in magic-induced confidence that she walked towards the person with apparent nonchalance, radiating an aura of stability and power.

Stopping before the human, and before the stunned, befuddled human had the chance to resist her, she took the chance and hastened to complete the ritual. She would not let him go, now that he was summoned as her familiar. He would be hers, whether he agreed to it or not. A deep surge of violent magic agreed with her, bringing her darker emotions to an all new high. A possessive glint appeared in her eyes as she narrowed them, rivaling that of a dragon greedily hoarding its most precious of treasures.

"My name is Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere." She declared, "Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; grant your blessings upon this humble being, and make him my familiar!"

With that quickly muttered under her breath, she grabbed his collar to pull him down to her height, landing her lips on his clumsily. The wound on her lip clashed onto his teeth, and she almost winced, but the kiss did its job and as soon as she let go, a pained grimace flashed across his face before it was subdued.

Good, she smirked, satisfied with her summoned familiar for knowing to hide his weakness. Anyone under her guidance should abide by the honourable Rule of Steel.

And as unfamiliar runes were painfully inscribed onto his left hand, he let his face show nothing. None save for his voice let out the slightest strain of danger and paranoia. "Who are you? I sense your magic establishing a servant contract between us."

Then, his eyes darkened with animosity.

"A formidable, forbidden magic. This one can already feel the runes working its filthy magic to rid me of my loyalty to my Radiant Queen." He uttered softly, and with a low and malicious voice, he echoed, "Unforgivable magic indeed, then."

All of a sudden, the man disappeared from her vision, and in the next second, her eyes widened in horror.

Crimson bloomed like a blood flower on her uniform, his arm tearing a hole through her body like it was made of paper. Pain shot through her midsection a second late and violently lashed out at its surroundings like a wildfire, but she did not scream, for she had lost her voice out of fear.

Despite how tears had brimmed in her eyes, she forced out what seemed to be a grimace, her head muddled with pain. At the very least, this had proven that her familiar was indeed powerful, at the very least.

"Guh... What... insolence... Attacking your master is..."

As the last threads of whatever powerful magic that had provided her such composure and strength of will dissipated, her tears fell, for her eyes had shut; she was losing consciousness.

Distantly, but distinctly, she heard a faint whisper.

"No, the runes were not a delibrate addition by her then? Then by my Radiant Queen's code of honour, I would have to acknowledge her as my summoner. I sense... A lost magic?"

"What an interesting little lady I have here... She might be capable of returning me to my Queen's side..."

"I guess I'll let you live..."

Then, everything went to an abyss of blackness.

Everything else, went into pandemonium.

"Miss Valliere!"


A/N: Zero no Tsukaima was my childhood of sorts... And though I do disagree with the excessive domestic violence and Saito's general idiocy, I wanted to try writing something about it. I'm currently working on The Sign of the Fox, a plot bunny I adopted from Mistress Tyche, and thus this will merely be an occasional distraction that I won't write about as often.

Read, enjoy, and comment to help me improve. Thanks for reading.