I do not own Familiar of Zero/Zero No Tsukaima or any of the other pieces of work mentioned in the story.
The End of the World Spell
No One Can Hear You Scream
Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière had actually succeeded in her summoning.
She wondered if anyone was more surprised that she was. Her magic had refused to flow while she was chanting, but when she finished… it felt like something had ripped loose deep inside her.
Hence her position, namely on her hands and knees, barely stopping herself from just vomiting. A noble didn't do things like that. They couldn't. It also gave her a close-up look to her summon when the smoke finally cleared.
She had a number of conflicting impressions. It looked like some unholy mix between a spider and a scorpion. It was the hands of some frail giant conjoined at the base. It was some elaborate prank. All these thoughts ran through her head while she watched the spindly thing shuffling around.
But she had done it! She had summoned something. The fact that everyone around her looked puzzled could only be a good thing, right? An unfamiliar familiar. Something never seen before. Even if it was weak, she had done something truly unique for a change. She was smiling so widely that many of the students took a discreet step backwards.
She carefully picked the little creature up. It didn't feel at all like she expected tough. She thought it would feel cold and hard, like an eggshell or a beetle. Instead, it felt like leathery and feverishly warm. But, no matter what it was or how it felt, it was still hers.
So she lent in, even as its spindly legs gripped her arm. She could feel something wet on the inside of her wrist. It felt almost like when one of Pappa's hunting dogs had licked her. So her strange little creature did have a mouth! That was good. She could figure out what it ate later.
She pressed her lips against the back of the little creature and grimaced. It was hers, yes, but it was also really unpleasant.
The little one had gone slack when her lips touched it and so it had fallen off her arm. When the rune began inscribing itself on its back, it started thrashing around.
It made such pitiful noises as it was branded. More than a few girls (and not quite none of the boys) had to blink back tears. The small creature had stopped screeching long before it finished, and had rolled itself into a tight little ball.
When all was said and done, Louise had seemed to have summoned only a small, vaguely warm ball with a glowing rune on top.
Siesta had been one of the assigned maids who had to wake the third corridor's girls.
She didn't like it. No one did. It was the corridor that held so many of the stranger nobles.
Lady Kirche, who also flirted with whoever woke her up, even if her latest bed-warmer was still mumbling his (or her!) displeasure at being woken up.
Lady Louise was just as unpleasant in the mornings, taking a lot of effort to actually get up and then scolding whoever had spent the last ten minutes shaking her awake.
Lady Tabitha was the exception, though. She was quiet and demure, never ordered or scolded, always with a small smile. She was perhaps the only reason why servants still did their duty in this particular corridor.
But Siesta wasn't lucky today. She had to wake up Lady Louise.
Or maybe she was.
There were a lot of rumors about whatever the young Lady had summoned. Siesta was, by nature or nurture, extremely curious. For her to get the first peek meant that she finally was the one who had the juiciest gossip.
Siesta smiled as she went into Lady Louise room. She could instantly see where the familiar was. A small light was shining from where the runes were visible, just between the small peaks of the young one's breasts.
Siesta was very careful to be quiet as she moved closer to the bed. She reached out and lightly touched the small ball that shone so brightly. She froze when the young girl suddenly turned around, whimpering in her sleep. A small corner of drool escaped from the corner of her mouth.
Why couldn't she always be so adorable?
Siesta never noticed that the small ball had twitched or that it was now opening like some demented flower.
Louise had had enough.
Today, her familiar was going to start moving around.
The day after the summoning the small ball had grown even colder and the runes weren't glowing anymore. They were just black stripes on the otherwise green skin of her familiar.
And the damned thing hadn't moved since then!
Really! That was just unacceptable.
So she had spent the following three days attempting to wake it up or make it do something and nothing had happened. So here she was, in the dining room, racking her brain for things she hadn't tried yet.
She had spoken with it.
Pleaded with it.
Sang to it.
Poked it.
Threw it.
Threw it into a wall.
Threw it down some stairs.
Poured cold water on it.
Left food out.
Left an apple out.
Left a slice of uncooked meat out.
Kicked it.
Apologized to it.
Nothing worked!
Out of the corner of her eye she could spot the Stupid Maid who had caused her to be late for class. Really, fainting on the job? What kind of excuse was that?
Sniffing, Louise took the ball out of her pocket again. She was quite sure it was only warm because of her body heat nowadays. Deep in thought, she started twirling her wand in her hand, her meal still untouched.
Louise blinked.
Maybe she had been going about this all wrong! It was a familiar, a magical creature! She should probably use her wand to try and coax it out. Maybe concentrate on the glyphs.
She stared at the ball, imagining the moment her magic had left her and the runes were inscribed on her frustrating familiars back.
Her concentration was broken by screams.
As she whirled around, she saw that the Stupid Maid had fallen down… again. Louise's brow furrowed the smallest bit.
She hadn't fainted. She was still screaming and writhing.
Suddenly, students around her were also screaming and backing away. Some even jumped over chairs or crawled under tables. Louise could fully understand that.
Because that maid's chest was heaving, her frock covered in blood. There was a terrible cracking noise and for a crazy moment it looked like the maid had a third breast.
Then the cloth ripped and something crawled out of her.
The bloodstained lizardbugthing fell on the ground, mewling. It started trying to stand up, failed repeatedly and finally started crawling on all fours.
The horror-struck students rushed out of its way.
Louise sat deathly still as the thing came closer to her. It seemed to look at her with its eyeless head and then promptly sat on the floor. It rolled up into a loose semi-circle around her chair and lay there.
Louise could see the etching's of the runes on its strange ridged head.
They were horribly familiar.
AN: Because everyone who has seen Familiar of Zero has some ideas for horrible/humorous alternate summons.
I'm going with an old classic first, the Xenomorphs. Which I don't own in any shape or form.
I think I'm going to alternate between horrific and humorous, and I'll try to keep it entertaining.
Read, enjoy, review.
~GrinGrin
Written: 14/12/2013
Posted: 14/12/2013