Okay, first things. You're probably thinking: Ugh, another Louise summons X story? Well, I'd love to say this is something completely different and unique but that would be a lie. To be honest, this is just more writing practice for me. Except I'm enjoying this because the Familiar of Zero has a fun plot to write for. I might end up following the anime but I'd probably make some changes along the way. Well, my advice is for you to drop all expectations and just enjoy reading. I would appreciate some comments but otherwise, have fun.
WARNING: This contains Shoujo-ai. If you don't like this kind of stuff, I suggest you turn back.
One: The man who missed his chance.
Five hours.
Five long fucking hours of endless lecture and Sensei still shows no sign of wrapping up his speech.
This torture is so not worth the purse I stole. Or the car I accidentally damaged. Or the penis I spray-painted on Shimizu's door. Actually, scratch that. The humiliation reflected on his face when he found edited pictures of himself with a cropped image of the penis stuck on his pants pinned on the school notice boards –now that is well worth this pain I am enduring now. Serves him right for blackmailing the class president. Now he can't dare to attempt to threaten anyone else ever again because the pictures will follow him for life. Yeah, karma's a bitch.
However, humiliations aside, that is not to say I am okay with this. Posing as the assistant at the local Dojo for little kids as community service is not my ideal way to spend a precious Sunday. It would have been a little better if I was allowed to demonstrate some moves or something but no, all I got to do was sit in the corner and watch little kids be happy. There were occasional highlights when kids injured themselves and started crying but even that amusement didn't last long when they were dumped on my lap for me to take care of.
Once the kiddies had evacuated the Dojo along with their nauseating happiness, Sensei had taken it upon himself to give a lecture on the proper way to live life. As if I need advice on how to live my life delivered to me by a lonely old guy that pervs on little kids, regardless of their gender.
"…take every chance given to you by God and don't waste it with frivolous and petty pranks…"
God. The urge to just knock the old geezer senseless is becoming overwhelming.
"…how do you think your parents feel up in heaven, to watch their daughter becoming corrupt with sin?"
Newsflash: they never gave a shit about me when they were alive and I doubt they'll start caring after death. They're probably too busy fawning over dear, older sister. Good thing she's up there with them lest they look down to the land of living and see the huge disappointment that is me.
"…what were you thinking when you threw a rock at the poor old lady's car?"
Blah blah blah is all I'm hearing.
"…next time before you commit these atrocious deeds, make sure to delve deep into your soul and ask yourself a question: how is the action I'm about to take going to affect the people around me?"
Why don't you ask yourself: why was I born with a screw missing in my brain?
"…make sure to behave yourself. You're dismissed."
Finally. I don't wait to hear it twice before getting up and sprinting out of the building. I feel distinctly proud of myself for sitting through five-and-a-half-hours of lecture without doing something illegal or extremely offensive.
As I stroll through the busy street enjoying my hard-earned freedom, I see a guy from my school ahead of me. I recall his name being Saito whatever-whatever. He's in the high school department and since our school has an escalator system from elementary school to high school, I sometimes see him passing by. I am in the middle school department, only being 15 years old. Anyhow, he's become rather famous in our class ever since he went out of his way to help this girl when she fell and started bleeding.
I see him mumbling to himself, holding what looks like a leaflet. But since I don't really know him, I decide it's best to ignore him and carry on walking, minding my business. Before I can do so though, a suspicious green portal thingy appears in front of him but he doesn't seem to notice, judging by the way he's still looking at the leaflet intensely. I gape in astonishment as he walks by, apparently missing the big, obvious green portal.
I walk over and stand in front of the portal, looking around me to make sure this isn't just some elaborate prank someone's pulling. To my surprise, nobody else is seeing the portal except for me. I hesitantly reach out and touch the portal. All I can feel is air. I push my arm further in and nothing changes. I sigh and just as I'm starting to pull out, I feel a force stopping me. I struggle and plant my feet to the ground, desperately trying to pull out.
The next thing I know, I'm being sucked into an endless abyss. I drift in nothing but darkness; not knowing what's happening nor aware of anything but the eerie silence. I continue drifting.
Just as I'm reaching the point where the silence is suffocating me, I hear a voice.
I beg you
It's a surprisingly sweet voice. It's giving off this desperate vibe and I'm curious so I lie still and listen.
My slave who lives somewhere in the universe
That…took an unexpected turn. Still, I'm inclined to listen. From the tone of the voice, I can tell that whoever this is, they're determined.
Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit
For a reason I can't comprehend, my heart rate speeds up. I can feel that something's about to change. I just know it.
I desire and plead from my heart
I sense something happening. I don't know what but it's making me feel as if my body is on fire. The passion, determination and the strength in that voice; it's overwhelming.
Answer my guidance!
All of a sudden, there's a single spark of light in the distance, too far away for me to reach. It gets bigger and bigger until all the darkness is washed away. I see a misty form of a girl hovering over my body. She smiles at me warmly and I somehow get the feeling that I should be remembering something. Something very important to me.
Before I can think about it though, there's another blinding flash of light and I'm rolling on grass. Everything is spinning in a mixture of black and green and blue until it gradually comes to a stop.
I sit up and scrutinize my surrounding. There is a group of teens around my age wearing capes and an uniform. I notice that all their attention is on me and I don't blame them. I would stare too if a random girl appears out of nowhere and rolls on the grass like it's her job. Though I have to admit, I'm not exactly the one who's standing next to a freaking dragon. Is this like a Harry Potter costume party except with a little twist? A crossover with Jurassic Park maybe? Let's not forget the dash of Merlin thrown in for good measure because damn, whoever that owns this castle thing is filthy rich. I can't help but chuckle at my own thoughts.
My amusement is short-lived however, as the crowd bursts into laughter, some pointing at me and others saying a bunch of gibberish that I can't understand. I scowl and get to my feet, ready to walk over to the pointing bitch and snap her finger off when I hear the voice.
It carries the same sweet quality that I remember and I swivel around to find the source the voice.
The first thing I notice is that the owner of the voice is a girl. I can practically hear my sarcastic inner self rolling her eyes. Okay, so maybe that was a bit obvious. The next thing I notice is not her Harry-Potter-with-a-twist-uniform or how short she is or her strawberry blond hair. No, I notice her eyes-the eyes that hold such fire and intensity. It momentarily causes me to forget my name as I stare into it, already so absorbed. The moment is ruined when she points a finger at me and yells some stuff at an old man holding a staff thingy. (I knew there are some Merlin elements)
He shakes his head and says more stuff I don't understand. I'm getting tired of not understanding but I stay silent and try to get a hold of the situation by reading body language and facial expressions. I gather that the strawberry blonde is annoyed or angry for some reason and is demanding something. I also get that the old guy is refusing. I am probably the issue. The crowd starts laughing again. Not sure why but hey, I guess I have to get used to it because apparently, this is now the story of my life- not understanding.
The girl is now sighing in resignation so I guess there has been a compromise. She walks over to me and doesn't stop until she is completely invading my personal space. Not that I'm complaining.
She raises her stick (which I'm still convinced is part of the Harry Potter get-up) and starts chanting. She then sort of taps my forehead with the stick and pulls me down for a kiss. Ohhhkay. I've known for a long time that I'm bi-sexual so I'm perfectly fine with kissing girls but let's not forget the fact that we've just met. Oh well, it's too late to voice my opinions so I might as well savor my first kiss.
I hear some hooting and cat-calls in the background and if it's not for the fact that I'm already occupied, I would have stapled their lips to shut them up. The girl pulls away with a red face and I can't help but melt at the sight despite my hatred for cutesy stuff. Before I can become a puddle of goo, a light coming from the back of my left hand distracts me. I feel as if someone is carving letters on my hand and as it turns out, that's exactly what's happening. The light fades and sure enough, there are some letters engraved on the back of my hand that strangely reminds me of Egyptian hieroglyph. I have no idea what it says. (No surprise there.)
Soon enough, the crowd disperses, some flying back to the main building. Okay, that's a sentence you don't use every day. The girl grabs me by my sleeve and stomps off, pulling me with her. I take this time to really look at my surrounding. The main building is a magnificent piece of architecture that looks like it popped straight out of a medieval story, except with a few changes on the design. Its tall brick walls and well-polished window only added to the picture. I notice that surrounding the main building, there are five towers, each with a different colored roof. They are positioned in a pentagon shape, kind of like the crest that the girl has on her cape. I stand by my earlier statement. Whoever that owns this building must be filthy rich. Hmm…they probably wouldn't notice if some of their cash goes missing. Now there's a thought worth thinking over.
Before I know it, I'm dragged inside a side building and along a corridor with evenly spaced doors placed next to each other. The girl finally stops in front of a door and enters. To my surprise, it's a bedroom. A dorm room I suppose but that hardly matters. Inside, there's a four-poster bed neatly tucked into a far corner, a round table with some chairs, a wardrobe, a bookshelf and a dressing table with a round mirror perched above. It's a fairly simple layout but it's by far better than my room back in the orphanage so I'm not in any place where I can critic.
The girl releases her hold on my sleeve and promptly starts frantically pacing around the room. I stand awkwardly next to the bed and attempt to get her attention.
"Umm…hello? Can you hear me? Cakes?"
I am ignored by the girl.
"LOOK, IT'S JUSTIN BIEBER!"
Once again, I resume my life of invisible girl. I guess she's not a Blieber. And I was sure this one would work. Darn it.
"Okay, I can sing you a song. Twinkle twinkle little star. How I wonder WHAT YOU ARE."
The girl abruptly halts. I mentally fist pump. YESSS! Finally got her attention. Wait, uh oh. She looks pissed off. Oh no. She's taking out her wand thingy. She chanting something.
There's an explosion.
I cough and try to clear the smoke away.
"Ugh! Not another explosion."
I freeze. This time the girl had spoken. And I understood. I excitedly grab her shoulders, making her blush. Geez, does she blush at anything? She'll be fun to tease, that's for sure.
"You talked! And I finally understood. Say something," I rushed out, not giving her a chance to recover. She took a moment to brush off my hands from her shoulders and gives me a glare.
"How dare you just grab your master in that manner? Not to mention I'm a noble. Commoners should know their place," she remarks in a rather haughty way. But I'm too busy celebrating the fact that I understood to actually care. After recollecting my composure, I sit on the ground while the girl proceeds over to her four-poster bed. I'm the first one to break the silence.
"Okay. First things first. Where the hell am I and who are you?" I ask. The girl once again shoots me a glare.
"My name is Louise de la Valliere, the third daughter of the Valliere family. We are in the Tristain Kingdom on the mainland of Halkegania and this is the Tristain Academy of Magic," says Louise.
I nod and absorb this information. I like to think that I'm pretty open-minded so despite my earlier suspicions of a costume party, I accept this new information. Obviously I've never heard of this Halkegania or Tristain business but for now, I'm taking what I can get. Besides, how else can I explain people flying? It was outside and there seemed to be no wires or machines to levitate them off the ground. Magic is the most likely answer, no matter how hard it is to believe.
"What's your name?" Louise asks, no, demands.
"Eris Kannzaki"
"Eris KAUNZ-AKII?" I grimace as she butchers my last name.
"It's fine. You can just call me Eris."
Louise nods. A moment later, she snaps her fingers.
"That."
Okay. Now I'm confused.
"What?"
"You called me 'You'" she states as if that's against the law or something. Not that I would care. I've broken the law plenty of times before.
"So?"
She sighs, shaking her head before fixing me with a stern look.
"I don't know what backwoods place you've come from but even commoners should know that you don't go around calling nobles 'You'. As my familiar spirit, I demand that you refer me as 'master' from now on."
Seriously? She's going down this route? What's this about familiar spirit or whatever anyway? I'm about to roll my eyes before dismissing her speech entirely when I see that fire in her eyes. Something about it just affects me like nothing else and I find myself agreeing.
"As you wish master," I say, not without a little sarcasm. Louise nods in satisfaction, probably feeling proud of herself. I suddenly remember the question I should have asked ages ago.
"What's a familiar spirit? And what distinguishes a noble from a commoner?"
Louise looks at me as if I have another head growing on my shoulders.
"You don't know? I knew you're from a backwoods place but I didn't know it was this bad. Fine. I shall teach you. A noble can use magic, a commoner can't. It's that simple yet it makes worlds of difference." She pauses, building tension. I resist my urge to chuckle at her cuteness. "As for a familiar spirit, it is a being that is bound to a mage forever. A familiar's job is to help collect catalyst for their master but obviously you wouldn't be able to do that, what with your lack of knowledge. A mage is able to see and hear what their familiar sees and hears but I'm not sure if that applies to humans. Last, but most importantly, a familiar's job is to protect its master, even if it means sacrificing its own life for him. A mage cannot acquire another familiar until his current one dies. Any questions?"
I raise my hand, yelling: Hai Sensei! just to entertain Louise.
"When I looked earlier, it seemed that I was the only human. Why is that?"
At this, Louise frowns. As if my reminding her that I am a human leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.
"That's because you're not supposed to summon humans. I've never heard of any mage summoning a commoner. I wanted a cool familiar like a dragon or a griffin. But instead, I get you!" she huffs, puffing out her cheeks.
"Try to contain your excitement please," I mutter drily.
All of a sudden, there's a knock at the door. It opens without waiting for a reply and a walking pair of boobs enters the room. I distinctively remember the girl from the crowd. She was crouching next to this alligator thing. I remember thinking red, fire and boobs when I looked at the girl. I hear a growl coming from the bed and turn to see a not-so-happy Louise.
"What do you want, Kirche?" Louise grits out. Now I know her name. Kirche seems unfazed by the hostility in Louise's tone and saunters in with a girl reading a book trailing silently behind. I can't help but notice the stark contrast between the two girls and wonder how their friendship works, if they are actually friends.
Kirche looks at me with something akin to curiosity in her eyes.
"How's your familiar doing, Louise the zero? I'm surprised you haven't blown her up yet with your disastrous spells," Kirche taunts, probably just to get a reaction out of Louise-which she succeeds. Louise narrows her eyes; I can practically see the gears turning in her head. I decide it's best to intervene before things get messy.
"I'm doing fine, thanks for your concern. Now if you could just walk out that door, we will be eternally grateful," I say, making a gesture towards the door. Both Louise and Kirche look at me in surprise. What is this? Gawk at Eris day? I roll my eyes and make another gesture. Giving me a final look of interest, Kirche begrudgingly walks out of the room along with her bookworm friend. Was there any point to their visit? Obviously the answer is no. The silence is broken by Louise's laughter. I wait for it to die down, not sure why she's laughing in the first place.
"Did you see her face? It's the first time I've seen her so dumbstruck. Good job, familiar. Perhaps you're not as completely useless as I initially thought of you."
"Glad you thought so highly of me. And my name is Eris, not familiar."
Louise just continues laughing. I can't help but crack a small smile. After her laughter dies down, we spend more time just talking, mostly her explaining more stuff. I make sure to avoid talking about myself because I don't feel like I want to yet. After conversing for a while, I look out of the window and notice that it's getting dark. Louise seems like she noticed too as she walks to her drawer and pulls out a nightgown before stripping to her underwear. She tosses her worn clothes at my face and I catch it with my hands before it comes into contact with my face. I look at her curiously, even though I already get an idea of what she wants. Still, she verbalizes it for me, making it crystal clear.
"Wash my clothes. Place them in a neat pile on the table for tomorrow. I'm going to go to sleep."
With that, she slides into her bed, closing her eyes. If it was anyone else ordering me about, I would have punched their face in but since it's the adorable Louise, I let it slide. Instead, I ask a more pressing question.
"Um… where do I sleep?"
Louise shifts and wordlessly points to the pile of hay on the floor next to her bed and goes back to sleep. I sigh, not bothering to argue. I'm used to sleeping on concrete floor anyway. Accepting my fate, I make my way out of the room and down the flight of stairs. On the first floor, I see a blonde guy flirting with some girl with a brown cape. I wonder why hers is brown while Louise's is black. I ignore the two as I walk past, nearly puking at some of the things the guy is spouting. I finally escape the indoor and find myself standing on a field of grass, where I was rolling on only few hours ago.
I take a deep breath and look up at the sky to see the stars. And even though the stars are beautiful, that's not what catches my eyes. It's the two moons. Two moons. Is this possible? Well, magic wasn't exactly general knowledge before being sucked into the portal so I guess it's not that shocking. Still, this just confirms my suspicions. I'm in a different world. A different universe maybe. It could even be a different reality.
Wait. A thought just occurred to me. If I'm in a different world, doesn't that mean I no longer have a criminal record? I am no longer bound for community service at the local Dojo. In my mind, I am leaping for joy. Until I realize I'm still holding Louise's dirty clothes. Damn. So much for celebration. Where the heck do I wash these clothes anyway?
I sigh. This is going to be a long night.
A/N: Before you go, I would like to know whether this should be continued or not. You can either PM me or preferably, leave it as a review. Anyway, Thanks for reading.