DISCLAIMER: I own nothing in Familiar of Zero except the OC. The rights to the series belong to the original author.
Chapter 1: The Experiment
Nephthys
Halkeginia is a world of magic, that is for sure. For the past six thousand years, those with magic were deemed as superior to those who were not, at least that's how it goes in the human realms. Indeed they held this view as tradition and resisted all forms of change as best as they could. With that, they formed a feudal society where lords and nobles swore fealty to kings and queens and commoners swore fealty to the local noble. In the east, however, there existed a civilization run by more forward thinking beings who have a natural affinity for magic, all of them in fact.
For in the east lies of the western kingdoms of Halkeginia lies a desert. Deserts are extremely harsh environments, especially for those who are not accustomed to such a vast expanse of heat and sand. And yet, this desert is inhabited by civilized beings for it is rich in resources and the fact that it is known as the holy land by the humans who inhabit this world and thus sought after by them. Currently, only one nation stands in this desert, the great elven country of Nephthys.
In the elven country of Nephthys lies a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert. The oasis is surrounded by a few trees and shrubbery. A small house lies on the edge of the oasis with a small pier connected to it. In front of the pier lies the remains of an aircraft submerged in water with its tail sticking out from the waterline and covered in moss. For military enthusiasts, they would recognize this plane as a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, specifically, a Japanese-bought F-4 Phantom II.
How it got there is a mystery to the place's inhabitants. Speaking of inhabitants, outside of the house are three individuals, Luctiana, Ari and Bidashal. They are elves, known for their technology, skill in wandless magic and bitter hatred for humans. Both races never really got along throughout history over a past conflict but that is a story for another time.
Right now, Luctiana is working on an huge experiment much to the reluctance of both his uncle Bidashal and her fiance Ari. You see, they are researchers, human researchers to be exact and you don't need to guess what that kind of research experiment that they are to undertake is known as the familiar summoning ritual, a primarily human ritual where the summoner draws upon his or her magic and willpower in order to summon a servant from who knows where. The twist in the procedure is that they are going to use elven magic as well as new and untested chants, wards and other methods in order to summon a familiar.
Now, what they're doing should not actually be done for no one knows what will happen should the ritual succeed or fail. Well that and they didn't bother to tell the proper authorities of the experiment due to Luctiana's haste in setting up the ritual. They would just have to inform the council later on and hope that they would not punish them severely over such a brash decision.
Now then, being that it is a human ritual, you can see why the two males in the room are very reluctant and apprehensive, especially Ari. Even more so with the numerous wards and other safeties placed around the summoning circle, indicating the possible danger. Out in the desert sands close to the house, the final preparations are being made for the summoning ritual. As they are being done, Ari decides to calm his nerves by asking Luctiana a question.
"Are you sure this is gonna work Luctiana?" asks Ari.
Though reluctant, he nevertheless complied with Luctiana's wishes lest she cancel their marriage. Oh yes, I forgot. Both elves are engaged to be married. However, while they do love each other, Luctiana is not above threatening Ari if she did not get her way when it comes to her research and she put her research above everything else except meybe her uncle Bidashal. Bidashal, though reluctant himself, was more supportive of her idea due to the fact that she was his niece and also if it meant advancing their research on human beings.
"Don't worry! These wards will make sure that the magical energy will be contained in case anything goes wrong." says Luctiana.
Indeed, she had been preparing everything for this ritual from practicing her chant to studying about the ritual from human texts bought or stolen from the human lands. She even bought some wards and enchantment tools to help control and stabilize the ritual in case something were to happen. She did it discreetly of course, never telling her sources what she was planning to do with her purchases. If they ever found out, they would surely be reported and not only will they be banned from their research but everything they have ever worked for will have been for naught.
She had coerced her uncle and fiance into backing her up too, especially when it came time to explain themselves to the authorities, sure that they would defend her from any action taken against her. She had been doing this for over a month now and she was sure that it was finally time for her to perform the summoning ritual.
Ari himself only sighed. Of all the things that his object of affection could have done in the name of research, it had to be this and there was no way that he was getting out of it unless he wanted to stay single. They were after all going to perform the "devil's" magic as the elves call human magic. For Ari, anything associated with humans is unholy and barbaric, a view shared by many of his fellow elves throughout Nepthys. But being part of a research team means taking risks in order to further advance knowledge, even if it was about savages, or so he calls them. Personally though, he doubts that the experiment will ever succeed, not that he will ever tell that to Luctiana's face.
"All right and done!" exclaims Luctiana. "We're ready to begin!" Ari and Bidashal nodded and took a couple of steps back, their role being to support Luctiana and clean up any upcoming messes. Luctiana rereads her notes as a last minute memorization of her chant before setting them down. "With this, we can understand the savages a bit better! I'm so excited!" she says. "We're with you on this one." says Bidashal with a smile. Ari does the same, but deep inside, he doesn't have as much hope as BidashalNodding, Luctiana steps just outside of the summoning circle, anxious but excited at the same time to experience something that the humans do. And with that she begins chanting.
"My servant who lives in the universe," she starts "I, Luctiana, hereby implore you to heed my call, to respond to my call and to answer to my call." The summoning circle begins to glow as the magical energies concentrate and circle around it. "My noble creature, who art to be bound to me, may you be forever willing to serve me as I take care of you and your needs. Please accept my hand as I call you forth. Please, answer my call!" At first, the energy flowing in the circle is just a trickle, hardly worth the effort that she took to set everything up. But slowly, the trickle became a stream and the stream became a river until eventually, it turned into a flood. And with that, the magical energies violently began to congregate towards the circle. The earth started to shake and the still air suddenly became a violent wind, whipping up sand which forms a barrier around her and the circle, obscuring her from the sight of the other two elves.
Seeing this, Ari and Bidashal become very worried. They start to shout, calling for her amidst the chaos and if their fears were not already justified enough, the wards placed around the summoning circle start to crack. One by one, each ward cracks and then explodes, releasing the massive energy from the circle and shaking the very foundation of the earth.
"Luctiana stop! It's too dangerous!" shouts Bidashal, now extremely worried for Luctiana. Luctiana responds. "I can't! It's too much!" The summoning circle becomes more and more unstable with each passing second. Ari attempts to step forward and reach towards Luctiana, but the power coming from the ritual and the barrier keeps him at bay. The same goes for Bidashal"s attempt at rescuing her. Suddenly, light shines from the circle as the final stretches of the ritual start to end and with one final flash, the ritual ends in an explosion, not unlike that of a certain pink haired mage.
A cloud of smoke and sand shot through the sky, going as high as a person can crane his or her neck in order to look up. Both Bidashal and Ari have been blasted away, luckily only a few feet away. Covered in nothing but scuff marks and scratches, the two proceed to stand up and regain their bearings. Once they have regained them, confusion turns into shock and worry for the safety of Luctiana. "Luctiana!" they shout, running towards the source of the explosion.
As the cloud slowly starts to dissipate, they see Luctiana's form lying on the ground unconscious, her body itself blown a few feet away from the summoning circle and her clothes covered in scuff marks but thankfully nothing serious. They rush towards her and attempt to wake her up, shaking her and lightly patting her face. "Ugghh, uncle? Ari?" she murmurs. "It's okay, you're safe." says Bidashal. Luctiana slowly stands up as she assesses the situation. The area is still cloudy and all the wards have been destroyed. With that, she could only conclude that the experiment was a total failure.
"I'm sorry uncle, Ari. I guess the experiment didn't work out after all." Luctiana said, a look of sadness framing her face.
Bidashal looks at her and smiles. "It's okay, there are other ways we can learn more about humans." Ari looks at her and smiles, simply glad that she wasn't hurt. Luctiana herself smiles warmly at the two, glad that they too aren't seriously hurt. They could always try again, although this time, she wondered if she could even afford to do so given the massive amount of expenditure that she made just for this.
Suddenly, they hear a sound coming from where the summoning circle was. "Wait, do you hear that?" asks Ari. Bidashal traces the sound where it points to the circle. "There, in the circle!" Luctiana was shocked. Maybe the experiment had worked. Slowly but steadily, they walk towards the circle, anxious to see what she had summoned. It was still a bit cloudy, so they could not see the figure very well.
Eventually, the cloud of smoke has nearly dissipated and they were able to see the figure clearly. If they were expecting some sort of four or two-legged animal, they were sorely mistaken. For what was summoned was none other than the other two-legged intelligent species in Halkeginia. The species which, as I have told you, have been at conflict with the elves over a past conflict, a conflict which ensured their bitter hatred of each other for six thousand years. All three elves shout two words.
"A HUMAN?!"
Notes: This is my first fanfic so forgive me if it's a little dull in your POV. I've decided to concentrate on the elves instead of the humans because they have too little screen time for my tastes. With that, I hope you like it and please no flames, only constructive criticisms.