AN: I own neither Harry Potter nor Zero no Tsukaima
Death was bored.
No it wasn't just a little bored, he was really bored.
And he was no longer allowed to destroy civilizations and realities on a whim after Fate spent a year ranting at him.
It had been countless millennia since the system he had taken over from his predecessor required his direct intervention, and in that time he had begun to despise the normalcy that his existence had become.
Collect the Hallowes they said. Become the Master of Death she said. No where did they say that he had to put up with an eternity of boredom.
At times like these he liked to vent by summoning up a specter of Dumbledore and repeatedly punching it. In the face. Hard.
It was all because of Dumbledore's manipulations. Compared to her company for eternity the Dursley's were a gadfly. He had mostly gotten over his hatred for them as he had laughed to himself with a bowl of popcorn as he watched how they ruined their lives throughout the multiverse. Rare was the time when he had seen them actually by productive members of society. Their fate was always bad, and it was because of this that he didn't prank Fate as much as he should.
But no it was all because of Dumbledore that he had gotten HER as a companion.
She never left him alone, trailing after him like a lost puppy! And no matter what he did he couldn't get rid of her.
I mean sure she's absolutely breathtaking (no pun intended) and able to assume whatever form she wishes but still there's a limit! He couldn't actually kill his bizarrely cheerful partner after all it was impossible to kill Death.
Chaining her up was one of the worst (or best) mistakes of his existence. Awakening to her masochistic urges, for over almost a thousand years she had enjoyed wearing a spiked collar with his name engraved on it as well as offering him her leash and asking to be walked. Her face would always get flushed as she hung on his every word, as he ordered her around.
It may have been a hormonal teens wet dream, but it (eventually) got old.
Not to mention the heckling he got from other Aspects. He grumbled to himself, as he viciously swiped the air dispelling several monitors he used to watch everything in the infinite multiverse. With his movements his current bed partner began to stir.
"Go back to bed." She groaned blindly groping for a pillow which she used to hit him.
"I'm bored." He said simply, getting off the bed as he began pacing.
"What time is it?" She groaned, pulling the covers up higher. Weird that she would be cold when she controlled the temperature of the room.
"Shut up you two." His other bed partner stirred.
"Where's Death?" His first bedmate asked, getting up.
"Where do you think Sin?" He asked sarcastically, yanking the covers off to see his partner/slave still chained at the foot of the bed. "Whatever you do don't remove the gag. I don't want to hear her voice at the moment."
"Mumble, mumble, mumble." His ever happy partner said into her gag, as he suppressed the urge to facepalm.
"What the hell happened last night Chaos?" Sin asked her form right now being that of Lust.
"Everything's fuzzy at the moment." Chaos said snuggling her face deeper into her pillow.
"I remember the three of us did something bad."
"Sin everything you do is bad. Teaming up with Chaos just exacerbates the problem." He sighed.
He felt her arms wrapping around his back. "I'm a naughty girl, but you love me because of it." She teased.
Before he could say anything, the walls around the room began to crack and tear, as if a great force were bearing down upon it. "I guess we know what we did last night."
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" "DEATH!" "CHAOS!" Two different females and one male voice called out in rage.
"Gotta go." Chaos said jumping out of bed, donning her clothes with a snap of her fingers and fleeing the room as her angry counterpart began chasing her out the room.
"Jeez those two antics never get old." He gave in to the urge to facepalm. The walls were just about to break down, already there had been enough of an opening for Order to invade and for Chaos to flee.
"Kukuku." Sin giggled. "For once it's not me that they're all after."
"That's because everyone knows you've always got a hand in whatever bad happens." He snorted, quickly putting on his own clothes, and getting ready to run. Life and Fate were closing in and he get to the other side of the Infinite Realm as quickly as possible.
It was a futile attempt as the other two females in his life smashed through the barriers that protected his realm. "YOU BASTARD!" Fate cried, pouncing from the sky, her weight driving him to the floor as she began to choke him Simpsons style. "YOU ATE ALL MY ICE CREAM!" She began shaking him, hitting his head against the marble floor. "MY ENTIRE SUPPLY OF B&J'S CANNOLI, CHERRY GARCIA AND FOSSIL FUEL! LIMITED EDITION FLAVORS THAT I HAVE NO CHANCE OF GETTING AGAIN SINCE WE'RE RESTRICTED FROM INTERFERING WITH THE MORTAL PLANE. IF IT WASN'T IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL YOU I'D PUT YOU THROUGH A THOUSAND DEATHS! MAYBE I'LL DO IT ANYWAY JUST TO SEE IF I CAN GET LUCKY AND YOU'LL FADE FOR A MILLENIA. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF BASTARD?"
"Idiot." Life whispered low enough for only her and Sin to hear, then loudly said. "Fate he can't hear you or talk considering you knocked him out after the second hit."
A lightbulb went off in her head, as she dropped her quarry to the ground, before stepping away from his still moving body. Fixing her black dress with galaxies sewn into the fabric, she conjured a bath filled with ice water. "This'll teach the bastard." Pulling a comical rope the entire tub turned and dumped it's frigid contents on Death.
He snapped back to life quickly, sputter and cursing as he glared at his foe. "What the hell was that for?"
"You invaded my domain last night, tied me up, then proceeded to eat all of my ice cream in front of me while taunting me with it. Dozens of discontinued flavors impossible for me to get again, devoured. Now what am I supposed to eat when the entire multiverse goes screwy and I have to fix the mess."
"Maybe you should take better care in managing your domain." Sin snarked, earning herself a glare from Fate.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" She asked.
"Do you know what makes the ice cream, or better yet anything you eat, taste better?" Pause for dramatic effect, smile like a bastard. "When it's not yours and when it's free."
Fate roared in anger, moving to strangle him once more, only to be stopped by Life grabbing her ponytail, shaking her head. "This is why you brought me here, to keep you calm and focused. Choking him was bad enough before no need to continue." Fate stopped, though she still looked like she wanted to murder Death. "And you." She glared, her gaze boring into his. "These sort of actions cannot be tolerated."
At the same time she made a note to check her own dwindling sweets supply, and make sure that no one had taken anything. Even though she may be the Aspect of Life if someone touched her Mars Bars, there'd be a reckoning like no other. Taking the opportunity to sneak away, Sin did so, ready to cause some more havoc.
Quicker than any of them could react, Fate had already brought her hands up and with a snarl, tore the realm asunder. "Are you crazy?" He spat, grabbing onto something to anchor himself from being dragged into the howling portal. He could hear a voice coming from the other side.
"My servant that existed somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!" Over and over the words repeated themselves, a siren's call to him.
"HAHAHAHA!" Fate cackled, "Know my pain! Feel the Burn!" Wiggling out of Life's grip she began to be drawn towards the portal at high speeds. With graceful movements that would cause envy in even the most talented of dancers and gymnasts, she maneuvered herself to where he was gripping a cabinet, and kicked him right under the chin.
His jaw clacked shut, as he barely withdrew his tongue from being chopped off. Pain shot through his body, as he lost strength in his arms, long enough to let go of the cabinet and be sucked into the portal.
Waving her hand once more, she sealed the abyssal maw behind him. letting loose another mad laugh. "That'll teach him a lesson."
"Seriously what's with you two? I know it's not hatred, so tell me what's with all the sexual tension between you two?" Life's normally stoic expression broke when she saw her fellow Aspect trip over the flat ground, a small smile gracing her features that only her Sister Death saw.
Waving her hand towards her still chained counterpart, the first words to come out of her mouth were not thanks, nor asking where her partner was sent off to, but her screaming out "SHE'S A TSUNDERE!" The gag was quickly put back in, rubbing her temples as she felt a headache forming. A Millenia with her and she still hadn't gotten used to her antics.
"By the way Fate, where did you send him?" Life asked.
The color suddenly drained from Fate's face, as she suddenly remembered. "I forgot to set a destination."
"So we have an omnipotent Aspect floating around the multiverse?" Life, raised an eyebrow as her fellow Aspect began sweating bullets. "I'm taking all your sweets and cutting you off from getting any for the next ten thousand years."
The Council's just going to love this. Life swore, as she walked away from her wailing friend. Neither Life nor Fate bothered to remember that Death was still chained and gagged.
Meanwhile Sin had stealthily broken into Life's realm and was making quick work of stealing all of her fellow Aspect's candy.
"Huh what do you know. Death was right, they do taste better." She grinned biting off another chunk of a Mars Bar. "Now to hide these in Time's realm."
Death may not be here right now but she'd continue to mess with everyone in his place. Chaos would be so proud.
As the three aspects separated, Harry was freefalling through the infinite multiverse. He had barely any control over his movements, though he did his best to avoid the voice that kept trying to summon him. Every now and then he would feel their power try to hook into him, but he swatted it away every time. Falling and falling, that's all he did, where his exit was he had no idea since it had been Fate that threw him into the portal. Time passed, how long he had no idea, but the monotony of falling was beginning to wear on his nerves once more. He sound found himself bored again, his only consolation being the fact that his partner wasn't here to bother him with pointless questions. No doubt if she were here, all he'd here was a constant stream of "are we there yet."
Just as he was about to close his eyes and attempt to fall asleep, a hand darted out into the endless chasm and snagged the back of his shirt. "Oooof." He exclaimed feeling the air whoosh out of him. Casting an annoyed eye back towards his rescue, he sighed. "What is it with the women I know and choking me?"
"Not woman." The 'person' who caught him said, her apathetic mask never breaking. "Anthropomorphic personification of an Aspect of Existence."
"Of course." He deadpanned, suppressing a sigh. It seemed like that was something that was becoming a habit. Jotting a mental note down he swore to work on that in the future. "Hello Magic."
"Need favor." Magic said, her eyes boring into his back, as he squirmed in discomfort.
"What?" He asked in surprise. No one came to him asking favors, as deal with the Devil was putting it mildly. He'd been accused of being a complete and total asshole before when it came to making contracts as he constantly maneuvered to get the better end of the deal. He liked Magic though, still grateful for giving him powers while still mortal, therefore he'd be as fair as possible.
"Favor." She repeated, reaching into her robe and withdrawing an old fashioned picture. "Protect." Taking the picture from her he saw a young girl no older than 14 with pink hair and brown eyes. "Louise de La Valliere."
"For how long?" He asked.
"Till death." Magic said, he nodded. Mortal lifespans went by in the blink of an eye.
"Easy enough favor." He responded. "But where is she?"
Instead of responding, Magic simply pointed with her finger a shimmering portal appearing. The voice grew louder.
"I'm not going to be her familiar." He said bluntly.
"Contract." Magic said cocking her arm back.
"You can't be serious?!" He yelled, struggling to escape her grasp. It wasn't because he was going to make a contract with a mortal, but the fact that she was about to throw him shot put style.
"Don't squirm. Might miss." She said, though nothing touched her face he swore he could hear the amusement in her voice. With that she threw him, he soared like a missile, spinning, as he swore like a sailor.
"DAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNNNN" He screamed entering the portal, only to find himself free falling, the ground rapidly approaching. Twisting himself so that he was parallel to the ground and opening his arms and legs to help slow himself down. "Arastel!" He called summoning his other companion. Hoping that he would get here in time for me not to splatter across the dimensional walls.
Thankfully the portal was still open, and a massive black dragon dove down towards him. Opening its wings to level off, he landed on its head. "Bring us down." He said, casting a sticking charm to the bottom of his boots so that he wouldn't fall off. If he was being summoned he'd sure as hell make an entrance.
Today was the Springtime Summoning Ritual, and Louise was getting more and more nervous as her turn approached. Today was her last chance to prove to everyone that she wasn't a Zero. If she failed never mind being expelled from the Academy, her mother would probably disown her.
"Congratulations Miss Zerbst, a fire salamander from the Fire mountains of Germania." Professor Colbert said praising the dark skinned young woman on a successful summoning.
"He matches perfectly with my runic name." Kirche gushed, placing a kiss on her familiar to complete the ritual. "Oh my beautiful Flame."
"Tch." Louise spat, her dislike for the Zerbst overriding her nervousness. Even she would admit that the salamander was a powerful and useful familiar capable of giving its master rare reagents from its body.
Guiche followed after Kirche summoning an Earth Mole...understandable.
Montmorency summoned a Frog...typical.
Typical familiars followed, dogs, cats, owls, snakes, one person even summoned a bugbear, an uncommon at best familiar.
Then she went. Tabitha. She had never heard the quiet girl utter so many words at one time.
"A DRAGON!" Most of the class exclaimed, seeing the blue and white familiar appear from the portal. Looking up for just a moment as her familiar appeared she completed the contract and immediately buried her nose back into the novel. They walked to the side, and Louise couldn't help but gulp, she was next.
"Is that everyone?" Professor Colbert asked.
"No Professor," a certain Germanian announced. "The Zero still has to go."
"Please as if Louis could summon something." Montmorency said.
"Shut up." Louise cried, stamping her foot. "Mind your own business! I'm going to summon the most powerful familiar, then I'll show you how wrong it was to mock me all these years."
"Yeah right." One person in the back said.
"I'm absolutely quivering in my boots." Another replied sarcastically. The entire class laughed, as Louise shook in both rage and humiliation. Just as she was about to draw her wand and lash out, Professor Colbert decided to intervene.
"Now, now class, the Summoning Ritual is a sacred rite, and should be conducted with a solemn air." He said. "Now please if you would Miss Valliere, I would like to finish this as soon as possible."
Glaring at her classmates, she stepped towards the circle, ready to call her destined partner. "My servant that existed somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"
"Please work." She prayed. A portal appeared, and she could feel as the entire class as one took a breath. They waited with drawn breath wondering what the Zero could summon. And waited. Waited some more. Until finally someone called out.
"You're a failure!" The class took that as a sign, and began chanting, "Failure."
She could feel tears begin to form, but refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "I must say that this is certainly the longest summoning I've ever heard of." Colbert said, rubbing his chin. "The fact that there is a portal, means that there is something it's connected to."
His words quieted the class, as Kirche asked. "So what does this mean?"
"If I had to take a guess, Louise is so bad that even her familiar doesn't want to associate with her. Smart move, it'd probably be the laughingstock of its kind if it did." Guiche said setting off another round of laughter.
"Grrrrr." Louise growled, her jaw clenched in anger. She felt her magic slip loose of her control, the portal burning white as it drew more and more of her power.
"Look out!" Montmorency shouted, running for cover. She didn't get very far, as the portal let loose a violent wave of magic that sent everyone flying back.
"Is everyone alright?" Professor Colbert asked, pulling himself up.
"Louise the Zero." Kirche screamed. "We should've known things were going too good when it didn't explode." Pointing out the deep crater where the summoning circle had been centered. "You can't even use magic properly, why don't you just drop out already."
"As expected of the Zero, the only thing she can do is fail so horribly her spells explode." Montmorency laughed, dusting herself off.
"SHUT UP!" Louise screamed, not even bothering to hide the tears in her eyes. "MY SERVANT THAT EXISTS SOMEWHERE IN THIS VAST UNIVERSE, MY DIVINE, BEAUTIFUL, WISE, POWERFUL SERVANT, HEED MY CALL, I WISH FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY HEART AND ADD TO MY GUIDANCE AND APPEAR!"
"MY SERVANT THAT EXISTS SOMEWHERE IN THIS VAST UNIVERSE, MY DIVINE, BEAUTIFUL, WISE, POWERFUL SERVANT, HEED MY CALL, I WISH FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY HEART AND ADD TO MY GUIDANCE AND APPEAR!"
"MY SERVANT THAT EXISTS SOMEWHERE IN THIS VAST UNIVERSE, MY DIVINE, BEAUTIFUL, WISE, POWERFUL SERVANT, HEED MY CALL, I WISH FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY HEART AND ADD TO MY GUIDANCE AND APPEAR!"
Over and over she called, until she finally felt Professor Colbert's hand on her shoulder, turning she saw him shaking his head. "That's enough Miss Valliere. I'm sorry to say that you have failed to summon a familiar and thus your fate now lies in the hands of the headmaster."
"Just expel her already." Someone jeered.
"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!" She cried.
A crack of thunder, drew everyone's attention towards the sky. The skies began to darken, as a gaping emerald portal appeared in the Heavens. The winds began to swirl, the portal, the eye of a fierce hurricane. Temperatures began to plummet as a dread chill sent shivers through everyone. Every familiar and every animal began screaming in terror, trying to drag their master's away. They could feel what was coming, and knew that they needed to flee. At the same time they knew that there was no point in running. Death takes all, as the idea of immortality was nothing more than a fallacy.
From the portal a jet black dragon appeared. Larger than even the largest airship, it's glowing red eyes glared at them as it rapidly approached the ground, massive wings sending gale force winds towards them. No one could remain on their feet, some were even blown back into the walls, as the nightmare made flesh landed, sending shockwaves through the courtyard. It was so large that it wasn't even able to fit in the spacious courtyard, square-mage reinforced walls crumbled under the slightest touch, as its tail swept them aside.
By this time, every member of the faculty and student body had flooded the courtyard, wondering what was going on. All could feel the sheer power that radiated from the beast, caused some to wet themselves in fear. The more powerful and battle hardened gave in to their instinct as they launched powerful magics towards this abomination. There was no way that this thing was natural, it couldn't exist! It's very existence was Death!
For Louise the appearance of the dragon sent shivers down her spine. This was her familiar? This ancient force made flesh? It's very size allowed it to crush castles underfoot, to sweep mountains away with a single gesture.
Dozens of spells, launched from triangle and square class mages shot towards the beast. Those who were watching knew that the amount of power fired could've destroyed armies, knew that there was no way the beast would be unscathed, but in their heart of hearts they also felt their own mortality. The dragon merely glanced at the spells, its eyes flaring crimson as it analyzed the attack, and created a counter. In the following moment a dozens of spells were fired by the dragon, the exact opposite of each of the spells the teachers launched.
Opposite forces collided, neutralizing one another in sparks, launching concussive waves that sent mortals airborne.
"Keep firing!" Professor Colbert screamed, every instinct telling him that the beast in from of them couldn't escape.
Students ran from the Academy, only to crash into a barrier. They banged on the invisible shield, cries of terror filling the sky. "The dragon can use magic?" One person said, whether it was a question or a statement Louise didn't know.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" The dragon blasted, slamming one clawed limb on the ground. The earth shook, as massive pressure slammed into everyone driving them into the ground. They looked on up to see a figure standing atop the Dragon's head. The figure jumped off the Serpent's head, and landed deftly on his feet.
Louise could hear several of her female classmates and teachers gasping, and not from the force that pinned them to the ground. Not that she could blame them, the man that stood before them, certainly was handsome enough to take their breath away.
He had long black hair that just touched his shoulders, a circlet woven out of silver adorned his head. He wore a chainmail underlayer with a steel cuirass and pauldrons; cuisses, poleyns, greaves, and sabaton protected his lower body all made from the same black metal and trimmed in silver. Over the armor he wore a hooded and sleeveless open black robe that showed off powerful arms protected by vambraces. He was armed with a sword on his hip, and a spear in his left hand. It wasn't his arms, armor, or muscles that drew their breath but his eye, dark emeralds that seemed alight with an inner fire. While alight they also held a coldness to them, hinting at barely constrained power. His entire being screamed power authority, his orders absolute and to be carried out unquestioningly.
He took a single step and the air rippled in response, his gaze sweeping over them, causing them to squirm. They could feel their body's once more, the overwhelming pressure easing up and allowing them to stand albeit on shaky legs. Through it all no one even thought about reaching for their wands, not even to retrieve them as the Ancient Dragon stared at them menacingly. Thick smoke and sparks poured forth from its mouth as it readied itself to unleash its devastating breath.
"I who have ascended the mortal plane, descend once more in response to a summons. Summoner stand before me so that I may render judgment." He spoke softly, his voice easily carrying over the distance allowing all to hear him.
She felt hands on her as she was roughly shoved forward, tripping so that she was kneeling in front of him. She stared upwards into his eyes, terror gripping her heart preventing from speaking.
He merely lifted a brow, but that single action carried with it more weight than any royal command. The commanding nature of the act overrode some of the fear she felt, allowing her to stammer out an answer. "I summoned you here to be my familiar."
Though his facial expression didn't change, Louise could feel the full intensity of his gaze being leveled on her, and it took all of her will not to turn and flee. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a piece of parchment, staring at it intensely before switching his gaze back to her. He did this a few times, his brow furrowing, his lips drawn tight in what she could only think of as displeasure. "So you summoned me as a babysitter?" He drawled, the air crackling around him.
Her cheeks burned red, as she struggled to bite back a retort. Her only chance of being at continuing her training stood right in front of her. "I find myself sorely disappointed." He said copying his most hated rivals sneer, something that he perfected in the millennia since he last met the man. "Where is your spirit child? Why do you not fight back when I insult you?"
He sighed to himself, there were other way of protecting the girl and fulfilling Magic's favor without becoming this girl's familiar. "I refuse."
With those two words, history was made. A familiar refusing the contract with the one who summoned it! Everything about that went against everything they were taught, against everything that Brimir had stood for. It had always been a mage summoning their partner, the partner answering the summons and together forging a bond. Now this being spat on the tradition and refused to acknowledge her.
Anger seized her, not just for his refusal, but also for him spitting on her faith. She didn't know how, but her wand appeared in her hand and a spell empowered by her anger was already leaving the tip before she realized what she had done. A massive explosion, larger than any she had ever done before rocked the courtyard wrecking what little remained of its once pristine beauty.
When the smoke cleared no one was surprised to see the figure still standing there looking bored. "Is that it?" He asked, wiping some imaginary dust from his shoulders. She fell to her knees, completely exhausted. Moving back to Arastel he mounted his faithful familiar. "In one week I shall return. If you haven't sorted out your convictions and gained a backbone it shall be the last time you ever see me." With that Arastel took to the skies, but not before a beam of energy left the tip of the spear impacting the middle of the courtyard and repairing everything back to its pristine condition from the mighty walls, to people's clothing, to the last blade of grass.
When the dragon was finally a mere dot in the sky, the pressure that paralyzed them ceased, and everyone was finally able to breath a sigh of relief. They all had the same thought in their mind. What in Brimir's name did Louise summon?