The Void of the Apocalypse

Author Notes:

School never gives me a break and with the tests coming up I don't think that I will get one, but now that I am still here and I would appreciate more reviews. It is very beneficial to my writing and henceforth very beneficial to your enjoyment. Review, favourite and follow… Thank you for your support… I hope you have a great read… Oh yes, and just so you know, Inori's attire is the white bridal dress that she was wearing for the ritual to resurrect mana, and Shu was wearing his coat along with his shirt and attire when he was going to save Inori in the last few episodes.

Chapter 2

Shu woke up from beneath the tree roots, to find himself being softly but firmly held by Inori. Shu smiled to himself as he laid eyes on Inori's cute, sleeping face. He gently kissed Inori awake before once again melting into her embrace. Even within the darkness of the night he still could see the beauty that was Inori, with her slowly rubbing her eyes cutely.

"I am assuming that my skills as a teddy bear are satisfactory my queen…" Shu said softly. Even though Inori didn't respond, she did snuggle closer and give Shu an intimate kiss…

"I wish every day and every moment was like this" Inori said affectionately, "then my life will be the greatest"

"Who said that it won't? We both know that we are never going to leave each other…" Shu replied while slowly caressing Inori's back.

"Maybe we can sleep like this for a few more minutes, I want to indulge myself with you for as long as I can" said Shu.

"I want keep you all to myself for as long as I can" said Inori

"You don't have to" said Shu as he gently lifted Inori's chin up so that their lips were barely touching, "because I am already all yours" and with that, Shu closed the minimal gap between their two lips ravishing Inori's lips making her moan in pleasure. After Shu broke the kiss, they continued caressing each other before they slowly drifted back to sleep.

After a while, sunlight slowly crept its way into the makeshift room through the hidden entrance illuminating the darkness of the room, slowly enveloping Shu and Inori in a warm glow. Shu and Inori slowly got up and made their way towards the castle that held the key to them getting back home.

*Scene Break* Louise's Room

Louise woke up sleepy as ever, she rolled to the side, trying to delay her inevitable day from starting. Grudgingly after a few minutes of resistance, she finally gives in and gets up from her comfortable bed.

"Familiar, dress me!" Louise called in a commanding tone, still half asleep, "Familiar, I am waiting…" Louise added impatiently, before realising that she had left her familiar at the summoning grounds. Louise blushed in embarrassment as she remembered that she was so busy thinking about her familiar that she forgot to bring him to her room too… 'Bad Louise, you shouldn't be thinking of your familiar in that way, even though he is extremely handsome and… No! Bad Louise…" Louise scolded herself.

'Oh no… I left my familiar outside in the cold, he must be freezing, and I hope he found some shelter or maybe a servant gave him their chambers… or Zerbst!" Louise quickly made her way towards Kirche's room to reclaim her familiar before he falls for the Zerbst's charm and made into one of her boy toys, or worse, defiled. Pounding on Kirche's door, Louise looked ready to kill when Kirche tiredly opened the door in a skimpy nightie.

"What is it Zero? Not all of us want to wake up as early as you do, some of us have nightly activities that we have to attend to, unlike you" said Kirche lazily. Louise spotted an oddly shaped pillow on the bed and instantly assumed the worst.

"How dare you Zerbst! How dare you defile my familiar! I can't believe that you took advantage of it while I was distracted!" Louise screamed angrily.

"Be quiet Zero, you are going to wake up Styx… Wait did you just say that I defiled your familiar?" Kirche said as she raised an eyebrow, with mischief filled eyes "You wouldn't have happened to lose a certain handsome, dashing familiar, would you?" Kirche inquired. Louise paled at the grave mistake that she had made with the little slip of information.

"Umm… O-of course n-not Zerbst, now if you will excuse me, I m-must find a certain i-item that I left behind accidentally" said Louise who ran off, determined to find her familiar before Kirche could get her hands on him, she was not sure that Kirche's prid noble will stop her from taking her familiar, in more ways than one.

'This is interesting, Louise seems to have left her familiar at the summoning grounds yesterday… I must use this chance to my advantage!' Kirche thought as she quickly got dressed and left the poor boy, which had been rudely awoken by Louise's shouting, lying on the bed.

"Sorry Styx, I will call you at 6 pm or so tomorrow, I have business to attend to" said Kirche as she ran off to find Tabitha, leaving the confused boy to gather up his clothes.

*Scene Break* in the castle grounds

Shu and Inori calmly walked down the empty cobblestone corridors, searching for what may resemble a library, hoping to find that teacher whom they spoke to yesterday, when they spotted a maid who was struggling to carry an oversized pile of laundry and apparently tripped over and allowed the clothes to scatter.

"Umm excuse me, would you like some help?" said Shu as he walked over to her.

"Ah yes thank you I…" said the maid as Shu helped her up, before blushing at the sight of Shu and bowing, "I am-m s-so s-sorry milord, I will return to my duties immediately, although I thank you for your kind…"

"Woah! Slow down, I am just not familiar with this castle and I was hoping that you would assist me in finding my way; I also thought that you would need some help with the laundry. And don't call me milord, I am not some ruler" said Shu hurriedly 'not anymore anyway' he thought, "By the way, my name is Shu, and this is Inori"

"Thank you, my name is Siesta" Siesta replied, 'this is just like one of my books where the noble takes the maid and…kyaa~"

"So, what brings you to the academy Shu?" asked Siesta.

"Inori and I were apparently 'summoned' by magic to this place to be someone called Louise's familiar" replied Shu.

"Ah, so you must be the familiar of Miss Valliere, and this lady must be the other person that was summoned. You are quite the gossip around the castle, almost all of the castle staff had heard about you" said Siesta.

"Indeed, news travels fast" said Shu.

"I was wondering if you would lead us to the library after we help you with transporting these clothes" said Inori, whose instincts were telling her to get Shu away from Siesta…

"Of course, that wouldn't be a problem" replied Siesta.

Shu and Inori picked up a few of the discarded clothes and with Siesta guiding them; they deposited the clothes at the laundry room. Siesta then directed them towards the library before reluctantly bidding them farewell.

Inside the library were hundreds of books, with shelves towering over them.

"Wow, these people really have outdate technology, they still use these hard cover books. Everything is digital nowadays" Shu said as he looked wondrously at the endless shelves of books.

Eventually, after a few minutes of searching, they found the professor that they had talked to the night before.

"Excuse me professor, I think I need some help" said Shu, walking up the man.

"Of course, what is it Mr…"Colbert asked curiously

"Shu, Ouma Shu… I don't believe I caught your name professor" said Shu

"Of course, I am Professor Colbert, one of the many teachers that are employed at this school" Colbert replied

"Well, Mister Colbert, is there a possibility of getting a room for Inori and myself? As you should know, we were, in your terms, 'summoned' here and we have no shelter, and I am sure the girl, Louise, wouldn't have enough space in her dormitory for all three people" explained Shu

"Why of course, it should be no problem since you are technically Louise's familiar, but I am afraid the young lady will not be able to gain a room of her own as she has no relation to anyone at this school… But if you are willing to share with each other, then I am sure that there should be no complications. I'll go explain this to the principal, meanwhile I suggest you meet Louise, but be careful, she has a nasty temper" said Colbert

"Thank you Colbert, and don't worry, we don't mind sharing a room, on contrary we were about to ask for one room anyway" spoke Shu

"If you don't mind me asking, are you two lovers perhaps?" asked Colbert

"Yes, and we are quite happy together" said Inori

"Ah, young love" said Colbert, "I would have loved to talk more on that subject but time is of the essence, breakfast will be starting soon, and third years have their classes will start straight after that, the dining hall should be down the corridor, I have to see the principal about your rooms, I will send a maid to find you when we have prepared it, till we meet again"

"So my queen, will you be the escort of this lowly king?" asked Shu playfully.

"Of course your highness" replied Inori, smiling

*Scene Break*

Louise was frantically dashing around until finally her hunger got the best of her. She gave up for now and hoped that the red haired succubus would be unsuccessful in her searches for one missing familiar.

As she was walking she caught sight of one dejected Kirche, and she promptly felt her spirits lift, 'Yes that means that she still hasn't found him yet. Why is my stupid familiar so hard to find? When I find him he will be punished' thought Louise.

"No luck in finding my familiar Zerbst? I suppose that is because there is no chance that he would want to meet with a slut like you" Louise stated proudly

"Big words for one so small" retorted Kirche "Besides, apparently you didn't find your familiar either, maybe he found out that the amount you are paying him isn't enough for him to pretend to be your familiar"

"I am not paying him! I did the summoning ritual and he was summoned" stated Louise harshly

"Even if he was summoned, then he would just prove that you are a zero, after all he is a commoner" Kirche countered

"Enough talk, argue later… Eat now…" said Tabitha, who startled both the girls as they just realised that she was there.

"You really must stop doing that Tabitha. One day you will give me a heart attack" said Louise

"How do you do that anyway" Kirche wondered

"You are too noisy, I just walk right up to you" stated Tabitha plainly, obviously annoyed on how the two girls are delaying her time from her meal. Both Louise and Kirche quickly sprinted towards the dining hall, not wanting to deal with a hungry Tabitha.

*Scene Break*

Finally upon reaching what appeared to be the dining hall Shu and Inori opened it only to find it… completely empty except for a few maids who were busy clearing up the left over plates and dishes. Shu, who was puzzled by the fact that the professor told them to come here merely minutes ago, after a few seconds the said professor walking in through what appears to be the teacher's access door only to find it almost barren. The professor then looked out the window and blush at his misunderstanding. He hurried towards the stairs to catch his next class.

"What was that about?" asked Inori

"I don't know but I am guessing that the poor professor lost track of time in the library" replied Shu "Well I can sort of understand why, after all most people lose track of time when they do something they enjoy, it is the same as when I am with you." Inori blushed at the innocent remark, becoming irresistibly cute…

Inori and Shu then exited the hall and found themselves in a courtyard packed with students and their familiars. The courtyard had beautiful white picnic tables each decorated with a flower vase in the centre. Shu and Inori walked towards one of the unoccupied tables and began to relax after the long walk around the school.

Inori and Shu's little paradise was shattered by the sudden scream of "THERE YOU ARE FAMILIAR, I WAS LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU, HOW DARE YOU LEAVE YOUR MASTER WONDERING THE SCHOOL ONLY TO FIND YOU HAVING SOME RELAXING CONVERSATION WITH SOME COMMONER!" screamed the small pink hair *cough* banshee *cough* girl named Louise.

"I would ask you to refrain from shouting at Inori as she was 'summoned' by you as well and we were acquainted long before I met you" said Shu, speaking in the formal tone that he reserved for people he disliked. Louise simply huffed and acted as if she didn't care, meanwhile Inori was silently seething at Louise, and after all, she was the one who stole her lover's kiss.

"Hmm… I will forgive you this time commoner since you must be uneducated in proper manners and you will probably not know how the familiar contract works. I will explain the terms simply so you will be able to understand, be grateful that I am so generous" Louise said arrogantly, "You will obey every order that I give and in return I will give you shelter and food, now get off those chairs, it is unfitting for commoners to sit with nobles as if they are equal"

"No, I will not accept the terms, I didn't sign anything so I am not required to do any of the mentioned actions, as for where we will sit, we will sit where ever we wish" said Shu

"Why you stubborn familiar!" said Louise as she raised her hand to hit Shu before *SLAP*…

Inori had reacted quicker and slapped Louise straight across the face, "If you actually hit Shu, I would have hit you so hard that you would have blacked out" Inori said venomously, inside chibi Inori was practically dancing at the fact that she had hit Louise, mainly due to the fact that Louise had kissed Shu.

"How dare you strike a noble?! I will have you…" began Louise before she was cut off by Shu who said "this place is no longer enjoyable let's go Inori"

Shu and Inori left the table leaving an opened mouthed Louise in a rage. After walking for a while Shu spotted a fancy noble boy flirting with a blond haired girl, at first Shu thought nothing of it and just kept walking until the said boy was confronted by another girl, soon after the event began to draw a crowd. Hu never liked people who betrayed others, especially after the whole school practically left him for dead and the only one that stayed with him was Inori. He quickly beckoned Inori to come with him and walked to watch the events unfold.

"Guiche, who is this girl?" demanded a furious Montmorency

"Well-" said Guiche before he was cut off by an equally furious Katie

"Guiche, who is this woman, and why is she here with you?"

"Umm… ladies, ladies, let me explain… I am a rose, born to be admired by all I have enough petals to be shared by both of you so…" started Guiche before…

"So what he is trying to say is that he is so handsome and dashing that he deserves to have women at his beck and call, Inori, this is what people call a womaniser, a flirt who changes his lover more often than the direction of the wind. He is classified as a betrayer and a very disgusting one indeed, in order to betray at lover and be so shameless you must either have a terribly high opinion of yourself or a very low opinion of others" interrupted Shu, while Inori nodded cutely and played along with a reply of "Yes, Shu sensei"

"Now wait a min-" started Guiche before he was cut off yet again with…

"Guiche how could you! You said that I was the only one in your life" cried Katie

"How dare you, I can't believe that I fell for your trap you lying bastard" cried Montmorency

"But-" argued Guiche before… *SLAP*

"I hate you Guiche, don't ever speak to me again" said both Montmorency and Katie, leaving a ridiculed and embarrassed Guiche with two throbbing cheeks.

"Oh yes, here is my soufflé that you wanted to taste, enjoy it" said Katie before she slammed the delicious, and not to mention fresh-out-of-the-oven soufflé straight into Guiche's groin leaving him dishevelled and groaning on the floor.

"Serves you right Guiche, you got dumped" said a random guy from the crowd

"Finally Montmorency is free, maybe I can grab a date with her" said another

"Those girls just don't know how to appreciate a beautiful rose such as I" said a weak Guiche who only just got back on his feet…barely and painfully…

"Maybe you will understand how to treat me right, how about a little dinner? It should be a privilege for a commoner girl like you to be with a beautiful rose such as I" Guiche said to a laughing Inori, whose laugh was soft and pure.

Inori's eyes suddenly grew ice cold and her melodic laughter stopped.

"Never would I love someone such as you" she said expressionlessly

"You will not lay a single one of your dirty fingers on her, if you do, I will kill you" said an equally expressionless Shu

"How about I take you up on that offer commoner? Meet me at Vestri Court in 5 minutes, if you have the guts to of course" said Guiche

"Of course playboy, but why wait? I can take you on, right here right now" said Shu

"Nonsense, I would never want to stain such a beautiful dining area with the filthy blood of a commoner, Vestri Court is a much more open space that will suit our needs perfectly" explained Guiche

"We will see whose blood will stain the ground" said Shu calmly

With no other exchanges of words Guiche had left for the Court, while Shu was stopped by Siesta.

"You can't duel a noble, you will die! Please apologise to him, I am sure that he will forgive you" said Siesta fearfully, "If you truly anger him, you will die"

"Don't worry about me Siesta, I will be perfectly fine" replied Shu as he stroke her tears away, "I promise I will be fine, if you see my summoner please tell her where I will be"

'That is it! I will go tell Miss Valliere I am sure that she will stop him' thought Siesta as she ran off to find Louise.

Inori looked a little annoyed at the kindness that Shu was showing to the maid but she already knew that Shu was a kind person and that it would go against his nature to allow her to cry, but it still annoyed her regardless. Shu saw the hint of jealousy in Inori's eye and gently caressed Inori's cheek before planting a kiss on Inori's soft lips.

"No need to be jealous, you know I am yours" Shu said lovingly "Plus, I know that you would go all yandere if I wasn't, not that I mind of course" Shu added teasingly

"Meanie" Inori pouted cutely

"Sorry, sorry, you are just too cute not to tease" said Shu affectionately, "But for now, I have a duel to win" said Shu, with all playfulness in his eyes replaced by a cold serious look as they headed in the direction of where the students were gathered.

*Scene Break*

"So, I presume that you have accepted my challenge? I commend you for your courage peasant but here is where it ends, since I am merciful I will allow you a chance to correct your mistake, apologise on your hands and knees, and I will forgive you, the girl will come with me to receive her… punishment" he said lustfully, as Shu growled and all the other boys envious

"Never!" said Shu

"Then your life is forfeit" said Guiche as he pulled out his wand, before he was able to cast a single spell he was halted by a scream of "STOP!"

Both combatants turned to face a breathless Louise, panting from the run here.

"Familiar, apologise to Guiche at once" said Louise

"Never, if I do, then I will be forced to abandon Inori to the likes of him" said Shu with a tone that provided no room for reason

"There is nothing you can do about it, even though I dislike it, you can do nothing against a noble" said Louise frantically, not wanting her only success in magic to be destroyed

"NO! Inori has stood by my side through thick and thin, I will never abandon her, even after everyone had betrayed my, she stood by me and never left me, I will not become what I hate and I will never betray her, if I am to die then so be it" Shu announce forcefully, making Inori blush at his devotion and Louise absolutely speechless.

"Guiche" said Louise switching her approach "Duels are strictly forbidden, it is against the rules"

"Zero, you fail to see that duels are forbidden against nobles, the have nothing against a noble duelling a commoner" said Guiche smugly

"Enough talk, it is time" said Shu as he shifted his cloak a little making everyone gasp at what they saw… his entire arm, up to his elbow was missing.

"How…" gasped Guiche

"This was the result of the betrayal of those that I used to call comrades, who I used to call friends" said Shu darkly

*Scene Break*

Up in the tower with the teachers, most gasped at the new information shown from the scrying pool excluding Professor Colbert who had found out about the injury previously.

"The boy plans to fight, even with such an injury?" said Osmond

"We should stop them!" voiced out a concerned Chevreuse "The boy is just a child, fighting with such an injury will allow him no chance of winning"

"In all due respect, Miss Chevreuse for once I will have to disagree with you, the boy is determined, but more importantly this is about something more than just a duel, as you saw the Guiche boy was planning to do something… lustrous to the girl Inori. I do not believe anyone would take kindly to having their lover talked to in such an indecent manner, the event ceased to be classified as a petty squabble the moment Guiche had threatened the boy's lover. They will need to battle it out in order to prevent further, more dangerous conflicts to occur between the two parties" reasoned Colbert

"I suppose we will wait for now" said Osmond, but just before Miss Chevreuse could cut in "However, we will step in if the conflict becomes too drastic, is that alright with you Miss Chevreuse?" asked Osmond, in which Chevreuse relaxed and nodded to show her approval

"Now, let's see as this even unfolds" said Osmond mysteriously

"With all due respect, will you stop using that voice, it is creepy" said Miss Longueville who had a sudden urge to scream 'pervert'

"Sorry" chuckled the old man, before discreetly lifting a white mouse to his ear

*Scene Break*

Tabitha had grabbed Shu's coat right before the battle and said, "Don't do it, it not in your condition… suicide"

Shu smiled at her simple gesture of care, and kneeled down to her level, placed his left hand on her head and spoke gently "Don't worry about me, I will be fine" making the said girl blush before turning to his opponent, allowing the kindness in his eyes to fade away and replaced with a cold ruthless look.

"Let us begin" Shu spoke emotionlessly

"Since you are so handicapped I will go easy on you" said Guiche as raised his rose like wand and summoned a golem to attack.

Shu swiftly dodged the swing of the golems arm and jumped to the left narrowly avoiding the second strike, observing every single one of the golem's moves. The golem went for a tackle which Shu jumped over before the golem crashed into a pillar. 'Lucky my training with the Funeral Parlour pays off, this thing is nowhere near as fast as the endlaves that I am used to' he thought before he dodged another poorly made attack.

"Hold still commoner and I promise that it will be painless" said Guiche who was struggling to keep up with the commoner's dexterity.

Shu noticed that his body felt lighter than what he had remembered and noticed that the ground isn't pulling him down as much anymore. He wanted to give it a try as he crouched down to duck under a blow at his head and pounced over the golem's kick. Shu literally jumped 7 metres in a single jump. 'I guess gravity is lighter over here' he thought. All of the other spectators looked at him in awe, all were amaze at the height of a single jump, even Inori was shocked.

"What! How… How are you doing this?" exclaimed Guiche

"I guess that gravity is lighter here then where I come from" said Shu, 'no wonder I am not out of breath yet'

'I guess I underestimated his abilities, no more fooling around, I am going to end this' Guiche thought

"I guess I have been going too easy on you commoner, I commend you for lasting this long, but this is where it ends" said Guiche as he summoned four more golems, each having their own different weapons formed the original golem.

Shu widened his eyes as three golems started charging at him, armed with a broad sword, a spear and a pike, while the fourth stayed behind to fire arrows at Shu. Shu knew that jumping at incredible heights was out of the question as they now had a ranged fighter, so he jumped backwards to allow himself some distance from the incoming targets.

"Running away now commoner?" Guiche taunted, but Shu ignored him as he closed his eyes peacefully.

"Given up already? Well that is a disappointment, but if that is your wish then so be it, kneel on the floor and beg for forgiveness" Guiche said arrogantly

When Shu didn't respond, Guiche grew angry and sent the golems to charge at him, while the archer resumed shooting arrows at Shu. Everyone's eyes were on Shu as the arrows got closer… closer… closer… Yet Shu still didn't respond, his left hand slowly rising to his chest.

(Okay that is it, tune in next time *audience starts throwing random junk at me* …Alright, alright on with the show, can't you guys take a joke? Wow tough crowd…)

As the arrow was about to pierce his chest, a white light erupted from where Shu was standing, forcing anyone who was looking to cover their eyes. When the light had disappeared, everyone was shocked to see Shu standing there unharmed and unscathed.

"By the founder, look at his right arm!" exclaimed a voice from the crowd

Everyone, excluding Inori was shocked to see an arm that had been formed entirely from crystals. Shu moved his arm as if it was his own, smiling at the feeling of having his arm again. He then turned his gaze towards a bewildered Guiche and said three words in that chilled all who heard it to the bone… "Let us continue"

Those three words were spoken with no malice, no expression and no rage, but yet those three words were able to make Guiche feel colder than ice. In a blink of an eye Shu disappeared from where he was standing only to reappear millimetres behind the three charging golems holding a pair of shears, a second after that, the golems had burst into a shower of bronze dust, showing the landscape in a veil of gold.

Guiche desperately ordered the archer to fire, but before a single arrow was shot it to burst into dust. Guiche was now desperate, he summoned golem after golem only for each and every one of them to shatter the moment they were created. Guiche raised his rose in a final attempt to defend himself only for it to burst in a shower of red and green in his hand. Guiche couldn't help but scream as he felt the cold touch of Yahiro's shears right in front of his groin.

Everyone looked on, stunned at what happened in the last few seconds. A commoner against all odds had forced a noble into submission in a few mere seconds. A commoner had played Guiche like a harp, giving him false hope before crushing it before his very eyes.

"I yield" whimpered Guiche

"I decline, but I might change my mind if the two ladies that you have wronged decide for me to accept your surrender, afterwards you will apologise to Inori or so help me I will take away what makes you a man regardless" said Shu, as Guiche sighed in relief "You have 2 minutes" Shu added, as Guiche frantically ran up to the two ladies

Guiche sank to his knees and begged, "Please forgive this man for what he has done, I beg of you"

The two girls just looked away from him, pretending to not even notice him, which made him even more desperate.

"45 seconds" said Shu

"Montmorency I am extremely sorry for the way I have acted I promise to forever remain faithful to you from now on, I know I don't deserve it but give me one last chance! I will do anything!" he begged, allowing Montmorency's gaze to soften

"Katie, I am very sorry on how I have acted, I sincerely regret my actions and I will accept whatever punishment that you see fit, please forgive my act of poor judgement" said Guiche which caused her to take pity on him

"Fine, we forgive you, but this will be the last time that we do" said both Katie and Montmorency in unison

Guiche then ran straight up to Inori and said, "I regret my actions of lust and I hope that you will forgive me"

*SLAP!* Inori had once again slapped him but then she said "And with that, I forgive you"

"With 10 seconds to spare, Guiche I now accept your yield, but if I ever catch word of you being unfaithful to your spouse, I will not be so lenient" said Shu

*Scene Break*

The teachers were all stunned at the events that had occurred, none of them thought that a commoner had so much power.

"Well that is certainly interesting, to say the least" said Osmond, as the other members of the staff could only nod in shock.

Author Notes:

Well that is it for this chapter, tell me what you think of my battle scene, I think that this is the first good battle scene that I have ever done, so please review, favourite and follow. I remind you that update dates are random and so is the length of each chapter. Hope you enjoy…