Into the Woods
Chapter 1
The girl looked down as yet another prank had been pulled on her. 'Father...why did you send me here...' She waved her wand and the magical graffiti disappeared.
"Hey elf, are you gonna be able to summon anything tomorrow?" A boy had a haughty air.
"More than likely she'll summon another elf." Another boy was laughing.
"She would be pretty...if it wasn't for those ears."
As she left she started to cry, but a balding teacher came up to her. "Hey, what the matter?"
"Mr. Colbert...nothing…" The way she said it made him sigh.
"If you don't stand up to them, they'll keep on doing this to you...at least tomorrow you get to summon a companion." He smiled at her.
"...I don't want to be judged anymore...even by the familiar I'll summon." She had a depressed look.
"Don't worry about it till there's a reason to worry." He gave the wisdom freely.
"A-alright…"
xXx
A pink haired girl looked to the rest of her classmates and then to the elf that was in their midst. 'If it wasn't for her, I'd be teased mercilessly...' So when it was down to the two of them, she knew who would be called first.
"Tiffania of Albion, summon your familiar." Mr. Colbert gave her a gentle smile.
"The ruling spirits of the pentacle, hear my plea! Find the one that most compliments me. Let him be wise, and intelligent, but foolhardy enough to not judge, and spontaneous enough to be unpredictable. By your will and my power, bless this boon I seek." An explosion of power pushed back everyone but the half elf. When the portal appeared out dropped a japanese boy dressed in a strange blue tunic and blue breeches, his footwear was also strange and colorful. With his unceremonious landing, everyone stared in awe.
"Did she just summon a commoner?"
"Well it looks like she got something that is deserving of her."
"Quiet! Seal the contract." The balding teacher looked to her meaningfully.
He seemed to be speaking in a different language, but when she got close enough to him he seemed to stare at her...chest. Her kiss with him was short and sweet, but she liked it.
Then he screamed. He couldn't take the pain and passed out, but everyone saw the runes that had been burned onto his hand.
The teacher looked stunned and quickly wrote the runes down.
"Louise la Valliere?" He looked at her.
She stood up and went to the circle as Tiffania did a spell and air lifted her new familiar, the boy still unconscious.
"To the ruling corners of the holy pentacle hear my demand! I want a powerful and noble beast, an alpha of alphas. By my power, give me my demand!" Another explosion of power, but what stood there was what seemed to be a very powerful demon.
The burning crimson eyes bored into the girls stubborn ones. Louise kissed the demon and her mark was burned into its chest.
"Come." She ordered. The demon followed her command.
The balding teacher took down the runes that was on the beast of a demon's chest.
"Class dismissed." He ordered. Everyone dispersed but he looked worried.
xXx
Tiffania was in her room with her familiar. His shirt was off and he was on her bed. She looked over what he had on him. in the pocket that was on his tunic there was something that was small and rectangular, it kept making a sound, she had no idea what it was. There was also another small object, it wasn't making any noise. His boots were made low and to the ground, the leather looked weird, itv also looked like clothe was integrated into it. He started to stir and she looked at him. when he saw where he was at she approached him as you would an animal.
"C-can you understand me?"
"ここはどこ？あなたは誰？"[Where am I? Who are you?] He looked at her, fear in his eyes.
"Oblivion." His eyes fogged over and then cleared.
"ここはどこ？あなたは誰？"[Where am I? Who are you?] He looked at her, then to himself...as if he knew that he had done something like this before.
"Link our minds so that we can see, link our minds so that we can be understood." She got a flood of information from his mind. She saw him with his parents getting scolded, she saw him in front of a box that held his mother with his father standing next to him. She saw him in a room full of others dressed like him with a person in front instructing language. She suddenly knew everything about him, even the dark secret of where he hid his father's chocolate.
He saw her in front of a balding man and a woman with long ears, he saw the hate from the other opulently dressed people. He saw her crying and the woman, her mother, holding her. He saw her getting ostracized for something she had no control of. He also saw her mother teaching her both of her languages.
When the spell was over he looked to her
"amin. . . amin rangwa sii'."[I. . . I understand now.] He looked at her, then his eyes bulged. "amin'm speakien elven. . . AMIN'M SPEAKIEN ELVEN!"[I'm speaking elven...I'M SPEAKING ELVEN!]
"ta must caela been i' tenkela. . . amin'm tiffania en' albion, ar' lle. . . saito hiraga. . ."[It must've been the spell...I'm tiffania of Albion, and your...Saito Hiraga…]
"Ok...I get why I'm here now...that brain thingy was weird, but helpful. Whoa...another language…" He looked at her questioningly.
"ご希望の場合私達はあなたの母国語で話すことができます。" [We can speak in your native tongue if you prefer.]
"それは素晴らしいことです。だから私はあなたのお馴染みだが、代わりに他の人が持っている獣のようであることの、私はまだ私の自由意志を持っています。私はあなたのヘルパーおよび保護することになってんだけど、いくつかにもサーバントを意味しています。私がいることは正しいがありますか？"[That would be great. So I'm your familiar, but instead of being like the beasts the others have, I still have my free will. I'm supposed to be your helper and protector, but to some that would also mean a servant. Do I have that correct?] He looked at her.
"はい...あなたは正しいです。しかし、私はそのようにあなたを治療することは決してないだろう。私が悪く扱われてきました..."[Yes...you are correct. But I'll never treat you like that. I've been treated worse…]
"そして、おかげで脳のブツに、私は私が行動する必要がどのように取得...しかし、あなたの思い出から判断すると、私はあなたに他の人があなたを処理している方法を治療することは決してないだろう。私はあなたがすべての私はこの世界に持っていることを知っています。"[And thanks to the brain thingy, I get how I have to act...but judging from your memories, I'll never treat you the way others have treated you. I know that your all I have in this world.]
"In front of others could we speak this language?" She gave him a gentle look.
"Of course." He nodded and smiled. "I bet other familiars like me had to do this the hard way...now I'll need a weapon."
"We'll take care of that tomorrow. It's just us time tomorrow." She looked to her bed. "It's big enough for two."
"Your the boss." As they settled in they didn't notice a pair of eyes watching.
xXx
The pink haired girl looked to her demonic familiar and smiled. 'I knew I would get something that was worthy of me.'
"So...you think I'm worthy of you...a noble sentiment. Mistress." The demon bowed as low as he could. "Where I'm from, we communicate through our minds...not many are lucky to have voices or mouths to use them."
"So...I've never seen a mark like that. What does it mean?" She looked to...him expectantly.
"Lifdrasir, the Heart of...G-" He bowed in pain. "I can't say the word. But I can boost your spells. Too bad I wasn't the Gandalfr...I was born a weapon." She looked to him confused. "The other voidborn here has that one...he can use any weapon as long as it was designed to be a weapon."
"Whats he? The brain of God?" She noticed her familiar cringe when she said 'God'.
"No...another voidborn has that one, the name is Myozunitonirun. He is the Gandalfr, the Left Hand of...you know..." He nodded.
"I see...how many voidborn are there?" She was very curious.
"Four. And you're one of them. Have you ever wondered why you couldn't do conventional magic? Why everything you do literally explodes?" She nodded slowly.
"It just so...simple." She looked down.
"You are more powerful than you realize young one...but the day for that will come to pass. For now bide your time." His words had honey in them.
"Ok...dress me." She stood there and he grinned. He did as he was told.
xXx
The familiars were sitting outside and the two intelligent ones were by each other. The demon looked to the human and grinned...showing two sets of teeth meant for flesh.
'So...you are a young one...' Saito Looked to him questioningly.
'I...I've seen what my master went through before she summoned me...it was a nightmare-'
'Ha! You have no idea what a nightmare is...but I can tell you this. And this is free. Choose your weapon well. You'll need it.' The demon smirked.
Saito was glad when Tiffania walked up with a plate of food.
"I brought some food for you…" She handed it to him.
"T-thanks…" He blushed as their hands brushed against each other.
The demon noticed this and the smirk went to a toothy grin.
"Ah...I love the smell of pheromones in the morning…." He grinned as the two walked away.
When they got to the stables the stable master looked to Saito and sneered.
"I heard the elf summoned a commoner, I just didn't believe it."
"Can we get a horse to get to town?" Saito looked to the smirking man.
"Can you...that's a good question…"
Saito sighed and pulled his switchblade knife and flicked it out. "I've asked nicely. If I have to ask again, I'll be decorating this stable with your entrails." Saito gave the man a death look.
The stableman laughed till he felt the blade on his neck, barely biting into his flesh.
"My Master is a noble and you will respect her. Or do I have to pay you a visit when no one else is around." The look in the boy's eyes said he meant every word.
The stableman pointed to a stall, fear in his eyes.
"Thank you so much for your hospitality...if you breathe a word of this to anyone, they'll never find your body." The stableman nodded very quickly.
"Good boy. Now get a drink, it looks like you could use it." Saito took the horse and a shaken Tiffania to the main gate.
"Why-"
"If you let them, they will walk all over you. But the wierd thing is...I seemed to be better at using my knife. Why is that?" Saito rode with her behind him to town.
"I don't know…"
"As Mom used to say, let's crack some books." She held onto him and smiled.
'He defended my honor...'
xXx
Mr. Colbert was looking through some old tomes and scrolls till he found a book that was jet black and with cracked gold lettering he made out the word The Book of the Void. He opened the ancient pages and started to read what he could.
'So, we have the Lifdrasir and the Gandalfr. But the other two haven't been seen yet.' He paged through till he he came to a page that looked like it had been torn out.
'I have to talk to the headmaster about this.'
He took the book and left to see the headmaster with a troubled look.
'Why would a page be torn out? This book came from Romalia…'
He opened the door and saw a green haired woman sitting at a desk with many books. She looked up through her glasses and saw his troubled expression.
"The headmaster is currently out, anything I can help you with?" She noted his downward look.
"A page has been removed from this book...the one page with the other legendary familiars. We need to find out who took it and the names of the other familiars." He said with seriousness.
"I'll let the headmaster know." She took the book from him and placed it on the desk.
"He needs to know." The balding teacher looked at her hard.
She nodded as he left. 'I know I didn't steal it. And if he is that worried over a book page, my target is too visible…'
xXx
The shopkeeper looked to his customers with a raised eyebrow.
"You expect me to sell an elf a good and proper sword? That is a very funny joke." The shopkeep crossed his arms.
"Gramps, how about this piece?" Saito picked up a rusted sword.
"Three hundred."
"A hundred and fifty? That's what I heard you say." Saito pulled the blade and swung it around. "Lockjaw is a bitch."
"Is that a threat? I'll have you-"
"No, it's a fucking promise." Tiffania stared in wonder as the familiar stared down the shopkeep.
"Two hundred." She timidly held the coin purse to the shopkeep.
"Three-" The shopkeep felt something sharp at his throat.
"Careful, I might twitch...what's a couple of knicks between friends?" Saito held the blade to the shopkeeper's throat.
"T-two hundred. Now get out of here!" The shopkeep threw a new scabbard at him as he took the coin purse.
"Thanks so much for allowing us to shop here. We'll give your shop a good review." Saito's voice was thick with sarcasm.
Tiffania pulled her familiar out of the weapon shop and lead them to where their horse was tethered.
"Don't...don't do that again...I don't want you arrested...or worse." She held onto his arm closely, causing it to go between her F cup breasts.
"W-what do you mean? He was clearly ripping you off and I-"
"I thank you for doing what you did...but you can't solve all of your problems here like that...mother said that you draw more flies with honey than with vinegar."
"But what happens when you order wine but get vinegar instead?" He looked to her.
"I would save it for fish." This threw him as he looked to her smiling face.
She hugged him close as they walked. "Let's get something to eat."
The tavern they entered had a special sign. The Enchanted Faerie Inn.
xXx
Louise looked to the stack of books her familiar assembled for her. The desk had little else room for so much as a drink. 'Command and Control of Base Elements, Forming the Line, The Fifth Element...Where did you get these books?'
'I accessed a...special library.' The demon's grin showed the serrated teeth.
'I hope you got these legally…' She looked to him smouldering.
'You didn't specify it had to be done legally…' The demon sat down and rested its large body.
'Next time when I ask for something, don't steal it.'
'Of course mistress.' The demon bowed its head.
She opened the first book and started taking notes.
'Mistress, you'll also want to ask for any materials concerning the void, Mr. Colbert is a fine teacher to ask.'
'I'll ask him when I'm ready. Now I have to study these.' She have him a cross look.
'As you wish Mistress.' The demon bowed and left the girl to her studies.
He teleported to the roof and looked to the stars.
'My home is so far away...and I don't feel my old master's presence here. That's a good thing. This world will be mine.' He then summoned a green glowing eye.
He looked like he was in a trance as the eyeball went to a certain window and looked in.
'He looks too comfortable... sleeping with his master like that. Stirring up trouble should be easy.' The eye dispersed and he came out of the trance.
xXx
The maid looked at the laundry she was doing and stopped. She had to do the laundry from the Albion Princesses room. If it was from another noble she wouldn't mind as much. Then she saw the elf's familiar, but didn't see what he was looking at till she felt a strong arm.
"This one will do, she wasn't doing anything important anyway." A nobles voice was in her ear as she saw another walk around to in front of her.
"With tits like that…" He was about to touch her chest when the boy stopped.
"I suggest you two leave...before things get messy." The familiar had his knife to the boy's throat.
"An empty-" The knife easily sliced into the young nobles throat, quickly silencing any crys.
"You will-" In a quick motion the knife ended up in the other boys throat.
"Are you ok?" He looked to her in the eyes. "Don't worry, they'll never find the bodies...and this never happened." He just smiled to her.
She just nodded, numbed. She was now going to have to wash her uniform now, there was blood on it.
"Does that happen on a usual basis?" When he didn't get a response he hung his head.
"I couldn't help it. It pisses me off how much the nobles can get away with...by the way...have they forced themselves on you in the past?" He looked at her.
"Wh-What would you do i-if it happened?" Her voice was small, but she found it.
"Let's just say these two here got it easy."
"But I'm just a commoner-"
"Wrong. You have every right to be treated as a human being and not as a plaything. I'll teach you on how to handle a knife."
"I could go and tell on what you did-"
"That's a bad idea. Next time I may not be around. And I'll be teaching you on how to defend yourself. Now, I have to dispose of some bodies." He pulled the bodies away as she left.
She then broke down. 'He killed them for me! But why?' She was in a daze as she made her way back to the servants quarters. As she entered her room she broke down again. When she stopped crying she put her new uniform on and left, a feeling of ice in her throat. 'If I don't do as he says...he might kill me…'
xXx
Tiffania looked to her familiar with a worried expression. "Why do I not want to know what you've been up to?"
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." He took off his shirt.
"Why do I also get the feeling that somebody went missing?" She looked at him.
"Where I come from, if someone disrespects a woman, you handle it. It's what dad taught me."
She looked away. "Not all things can be handled by force."
"And when they learn that, the better off they'll be." He smiled as he started to eat.
She shook her head and smiled.
"You have many strange customs."
"Same here, though if I would've grown up in the middle ages, or the feudal era, things would be different."
"How so?"
"My family comes from samurai, warriors. My dad drilled the bushido code into me, but I also see the grey area. Not everything is black and white."
"So you do what you think is right?"
"Yes, if someone has an edge over you, you take that edge away."
"But why do you...hurt people with knives?"
"My country outlawed swords. And on the street you learn to use what you have. In my case, knives."
"But why didn't your father care for you?"
"He just...buried himself in his work…" Saito looked down.
"And he left you alone." Tiffania finished for him, already knowing the answer.
"Now I'm here, with someone that was treated worse than I was. People will respect you. Now I have to give a maid some self defense pointers." He finished eating.
"How long were you...abandoned?"
"Three years."
xXx
Osmond looked to the guard with concern.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, the maids uniform was stained with blood, but she wasn't wounded."
"I'll talk to her then." 'That's two disappearances. I can only guess at what happened.'
The guard bowed and left.
As the guard went looking for the black haired maid, Saito was coming from the woods. He had cleaned up the dirt that was on him. A very tanned girl with a large bust and red hair spotted him. She smiled as her imagination did very naughty to him. 'He is so cute…'
He seemed to know he was being looked at. "That's a look of trouble."
"Only if you want it." She smiled sweetly.
"I'm currently full of trouble, so I'll pass for right now." He smiled at her. "Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
"Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst."
"Germanic….nice."
"I'm also known as the Fever." She looked at him sultry.
"Now that's a look of trouble." He winked at her. "I now have to teach someone on how to defend themselves." He bowed to her and left.
He found the maid and saw her tense up. "You have nothing to fear from me."
"Are you sure?" He saw the fear in her eyes.
"Yes. Here is your practice blade." He gave her a wooden knife.
She took it with a nervous hand. He pulled his switchblade and popped the blade, his runes activated. "Come at me."
She backed away slowly. 'Ok...hard knocks style.'
He lunged at her and she screamed, dropping the wooden blade. His blade was at her throat in a second. "Lesson one. The strong will always trample the weak. There are no guards here, there is no one else here that can help you. You need to do something to defend yourself. Now, come at me."
He pulled his blade from her throat and picked up the practice blade. He gave it to her with a serious look.
She backed up against the wall. "B-But-"
"Come at me or I'll cut you." He rushed her and she squeaked, she felt his blade at her throat, again. "Lesson two. If you become a victim, you'll always be one. I'll find you tomorrow."
True to his word, he left a small tiny cut, she touched it before slumping down in shock.
A guard came around the corner and saw her. He recognized her from what the watch captain, but he also saw the small practice blade close to her.
"Are you alright?" He came close to her and saw the light cut, he offered her his hand. The look in her eyes had the man take her by the arm and help her stand up.
xXx
Tiffania looked up from her lunch when Saito sat across from her looking annoyed.
"W-What's wrong?"
"It's a maid...she doesn't want to defend herself…"
"Is that...bad?" She looked confused.
"Yes."
"Well...I want you in class with me." She took his hand.
"...sure. Why?"
"It's to keep you out of trouble."
"And anything I do will reflect on you. Got it." He looked more annoyed, but nodded. "At least you're a true noble."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know this thing called hardship. Most here don't."
"It's admirable that you want to help this maid. But she is apart of the staff here-"
"The same staff that let her be almost raped."
"You mean…"
"Yes. I dropped two guys to protect her."
"Then I'll hire her."
"What's that going to do?" He looked confused.
"If anyone does anything to her they'll answer to me...and you."
"And you can get the schools administration involved."
She squeezed his hand.
xXx
Louise summoned her familiar and he appeared.
"I need more books on the void."
"There is a...special library that I can get to. But my mistress forbade me from stealing." He saw her internal struggle.
"What do you know of void magic?" She looked to him.
"I know many things, the question is, what are you willing to do for it?" The honey in his two toned voice was really sweet.
"What of the magic where you're from?"
"There's always a price to be paid for that powerful a magic." He smiled, showing his teeth.
"Teach me." She looked at him as he rejoiced.
"This way child, I will show you the way. But you must do it." He summoned up a ball of sickly green energy. "Void magic requires that it be stored up, so when it's finally used, it is potent. Afterward it's as weak as a first year with no idea on how to caste a spell."
"What's the first spell?"
He nodded at her and noticed a bird swoop down low. He then used the green ball of energy and the bird fell from the sky, dead. The ball of energy glowed brighter.
"The life force of others can be very powerful."
"But...it's dead."
"Yes, but it's life will be used in a better way."
"How?" She looked confused.
"The power of life is different than that of the void." He created a massive green glowing eye. "With it you can move mountains, or in this case, see anywhere you want."
"So…"
"In short, you'll have access to the other elements. But remember, there's always a price."
"And the price must be paid."
"Now. You try."
She saw another bird and reached out with her power. The bird glowed black and then fell off the branch. The energy coalesced in the palm of her hand. She then created a black eye, it was the size of a ping pong ball.
"Now, send it out." She then visualized the workshop of Mr. Colbert.
It then zipped out of her room like a will-o-wisp, bobbing and weaving. It danced around people and buildings. The small black eye then came to a small building away from the other buildings and peered inside. She saw him working on a substance that was amber in color, she also saw him with books open that had strange writing and she saw him pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He then saw the eye and that's when she dropped the spell.
"I saw what you saw. You can see how powerful this ability can be. You can use your own life force to power your spells, if you use too much, you will die." The demon gave the warning.
"I understand."
Back to Colbert's workshop, he went outside and looked hard. 'Was that what I thought it was?' He had an eidetic memory, so he forgot nothing. It also helped in his research and teaching duties. 'The eye was black instead of green, but was it demonic?' He then turned the corner and saw the student that had summoned the monoeye. 'I know I saw what I saw.'
He then went back into his workshop. 'The dragon blood is very strange.'
Back to Louise, she stood there in amazement. Nothing had exploded.
'See, not everything blows up around you.'
'But it usually does.' She looked down.
'Your father would be very proud of what you accomplished.' He sent a reassuring feeling. 'But for now you need to keep it a secret. If anyone found out now, they would force you to stop.'
'If you think we should do this, then I agree to it.' She nodded to him.
"Wise choice Mistress." He grinned, showing his double rows of carnivorous teeth.