Tsukaima no Chrono

Chapter 2: One needs to prepare for pain…

A world of nothingness, devoid of light and touch, an unfamiliar sight to those used to the methods of travel employed by the mages of Mid-childa, whether it be the seemingly instantaneous effect of an assisted Dimensional Teleport, or the relatively primitive use of flight which is restricted to mages with clearance on TSAB administered planets and restricted by the high magical power requirements on such planets that are not administrated, this completely black, senseless vista that Chrono Harlown was floating in is definitely something he had never experienced before.

Am I dead? I knew the recent Book of Darkness case was solved too easily. I shouldn't have ever believed a young girl like Hayate could have possibly actually subdued a S-Class Lost Logia such as the Tome of the Night Sky. This has got to be its revenge on me, how ironic. As with all such soliloquies these are quickly disproven with Chrono rapidly approaching what appears to be the light at the end of the tunnel.

Chrono an experienced Enforcer, encountering many traps and ambushes as well as dealing with strange beings and occurrences immediately treated such a development with suspicion. "DURANDAL!" he shouts as he prepares to retrieve the storage form of his now famed ice staff from inside his coat, only to miss it as he hits a seemingly solid wall of air. Shaking off the stun caused by the sudden impact he vaguely registers the feeling of wind drag and disregarding it as his mind remembers that he is an aerial mage and that he can fly. Calmly taking in a deep breath he focuses and realises that the magic around him was not arranging itself in the pattern he needs to fly.

I can't believe I'm suffering from teleportation sickness right now. In Chrono's mind a very feline pair of twins were giving a lecture "Chrono, the reason why we don't use dimensional teleport for travelling all the time is the excessive magic requirements causing most mages to temporarily lose their magical ability after such travel and the difficulty of getting where we really want to without a beacon, hence all TSAB dimensional ships are equipped with a teleportation pad." A dejected This is going to hurt were his thoughts as he sped towards the ground.

Impact point T minus 10 minutes…

Grass, green green grass as far as the eye can see upon a flat plain. Smack bang in the centre of this lush visage is what appears to be a spire surrounded by boundary wall, both made of stone. This is the Tristain Kingdoms Magical Academy. We focus a bit to the side of the centre spire and on the expanse between this and the boundary wall. Here we find standing in the shape of a crescent surrounding a tall, slim, balding man who seems to be in a position of authority, a diverse group of young people.

"At last, today is the summoning ceremony. While this is your first test as 2nd years, it is equally a holy day as nobles when you will meet up with your eternal servant." Professor Colbert, the tall, slim, balding man dictates proudly.

Colbert indicates towards one in the group of young people we can now identify as his students, 2nd years. A boy with messy, wind swept brown hair is the first to begin to summon and in a cloudy swirl out pops what appears to be a large eye with a purple lightning shaped body that is identified to be a bug-bear to the amazement of those gathered. We can now identify this as an event for student mages to summon familiars. Following this example the gathered group of students take turns summoning with various amounts of boasting, arrogance and results including a giant mole, a wind dragon and a salamander.

"Just fitting for the last, you brought forth a big catch Ms. Zerbst" Professor Colbert congratulates a buxom, dark skinned young lady with red hair.

Patting the hot pink Salamander on the head, the girl responds, "It's a fitting result for my secondary name, Kirche the Ardent."

Nodding then looking around, Professor Colbert asks out "Well, is this everyone?" to which the girl now identified as Ms Zerbst responds "No there is still Ms. Vallière."

A giggle runs rampant through the crowd.

"It's Louise the Zero."

"What is she going to summon?"

"There's no way she'll summon anything. Another explosion and it'll be done." Such things were muttered by the crowd in a condescending tone as a small girl with light skin, pink hair and eyes and most noticeably a flat chest steps forward.

"Since you put up such a display of vanity, I'm sure you'll summon something more amazing than this one, right Louise?" Ms. Zerbst states in a provocative manner indicating her salamander.

"Of course" Louise Vallière responds out loud in a flippant tone.

In a soft voice under her breath and with her magic wand shaking in her hand she begs "Please!"

She then raises her wand and in a loud voice chants "To my servant that exists somewhere within the ends of the universe!"

The surprise of her peers was evident, earning comments such as:

"What kind of spell is that?"

"Well, well, it has some sense of originality at least…"

Ignoring this, the girl continues to chant "To the holy, beautiful and above most, powerful familiar, I appeal to you from my heart as I chant. Answer my guidance!" She waves her wand around in the air above her then as the magical energies focus she stabs her wand out in front of her. Achieving the expectations of her peers and creating a noteworthy explosion.

It is this explosion that meets and cushions our beloved meteorite known as Chrono Harlown, though many would probably dispute that the ground would have been more comfortable to land on…

-Author's notes-

This ends the second chapter of my story, hope you all enjoyed it. Next chapter will bring the first actual interaction between Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière and Chrono Harlown.