Disclaimer
Familiar of Zero is owned by Noboru Yamaguchi
Fallout 4 is owned by Bethesda
Nate was no stranger to rough sleeping conditions. He'd had to sleep in everything from ditches to trenches to cells, so a patch of hay was no big deal.
Sleeping beside his would-be slave driver, however…
"I am not sharing a room with her." He crossed his arms as Professor Colbert sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Once again, Mr. Winters, we really don't have anywhere else to put you. I swear to you we will find you proper room once we talk to Headmaster Osmond in the morning."
"…Fine. Only because I doubt the guards would let me back in if I decided to camp myself outside." He stepped into the room, where an irate Lousie was waiting. He moved to the pile of hay by her bed and sat down, putting his hat over his face, "Wake me when the world starts making sense again."
Louise glared at her familiar as he sat cross-legged on the hay, "I am letting you stay here out of the kindness of my heart! The least you could do is say 'thank you'!"
He did nothing and she growled before stomping over and snatching the hat off his head. His eyes were closed and his head tilted forward.
"Miss Valliere, I think it would be best to let him sleep." Colbert said from the door, and she put the hat back on his head with a sigh.
"Yes, Professor. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Miss Valliere." With that he closed the door, and Louise waited until his footsteps faded away before smiling. She moved to her dresser and pulled out something she got in preparation for her familiar. A collar, with a chain that could be magically connected to surfaces. She carefully slipped it around his neck, and attached the chain to her bed post. Come morning, she was going some ground rules…
Nate spread some butter on the bread slice he had taken from the platter, and savored each bite before starting on the bacon, eggs, and fruit slices he had also taken. It reminded him of better… well, it reminded him of the past. He took another look around the dining hall, and he had to smile at the easy air of the place.
"Mr. Winters? What are you doing here?" Professor Colbert approached, and Nate shrugged.
"Having breakfast. You?"
"I am eating as well, but where is Miss Valliere?"
"Her room. You might want to check on her, by the way."
"Oh? Is she feeling well?"
"She's fine, but I have a feeling she's a bit angry."
"Well, it has been a bit of a stressful day for her. I'll speak with her, then."
"Tell her I said 'turnabout is fair play'."
"O…kay?" With that the bald man walked off, and Nate went back to eating and drinking. He had a few more moments of peace before he found himself a conversation partner.
"Hello there~" A red-head with dark skin was sitting next to him now, and it looked like puberty hit her early and well, "You're the one Valliere summoned yesterday, correct?"
He tipped his hat, "Nate Winters."
"Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst," She purred, "Tell me, how did you get your scars?"
He shrugged and pointed to the long one running down the right side of his face, "Knife," he pointed the to the jagged lines on the left side of his mouth, "Grenade."
She hummed before tracing her fingers across the scars, "You know, in Germania, you'd be quite the catch." She leaned in closer, "Germanian women..." Even closer now, and he started to raise his hand to her stomach, "Love…" He could feel her breath on his lips, "Scars."
"WHERE IS HE!?"
They looked towards the entrance to the dining hall, and you could practically see the anger rolling off of Louise. She took one look around before zeroing in on Nate and stomping towards him.
"You, you, you-!"
"You try anything like that again, and you'll see how quickly I get the guards to bust you again." His tone was ice, and Louise's face grew redder and redder before she stomped off again. Colbert came in just as she was leaving, a deep frown on his face as he approached.
"'Turnabout is fair play'?" He questioned.
"I could have taken the key with me before I left, Colbert. F.Y.I., you might want to go after her before she does something stupid."
He harrumphed before walking away, and Nate looked back to a surprised Kirche, "I'm sorry, where were we?"
"Did something happen between you and Valliere yesterday?"
"…There was just a bit of a misunderstanding yesterday."
"Seems like it was a big misunderstanding if the guards got involved."
"No, no, just a bit of an issue. We cleared it up yesterday."
She seemed annoyed that he wouldn't share anything with her, "Oh, you're no fun."
He snorted, "I haven't been 'fun' since I got drafted. Talk to me in a couple years and maybe I'll be up for your sort of 'fun'."
Nate, Louise, and Colbert stood outside of the Headmaster's office, not looking at each other.
"…So, you were talking with that Germanian whore." Louise spat.
"'Whore' implies she does it for money."
"She's slept with most of the boys, you know."
"She's eighteen, Louise. She's old enough to make her own decisions."
"Even when she decides to be a bitch?"
"Says the one with the collar." Nate didn't look down, but he could feel the glare Lousie levelled at him.
Poor Colbert wasn't sure who he should be chastising in a situation like this.
Thankfully, the door opened and the three were ushered inside before the argument could escalate. An elderly man with long, gray hair that matched his beard sat at the desk in front of them.
"Ah, yes, Miss Valliere, and… ah…"
"Professor Colbert, sir." He gestured to Nate, "This is the Mr. Winters I told you of."
The elderly man nodded, "I see, I see. Now, what was the issue again?"
Nate slapped his face into his hand as Colbert continued, "Mr. Winters was brought here through the Springtime Familiar Summoning by Miss Valliere."
"Oh, I remember now. Mr. Winters, I thank you for not pressing any charges for this unfortunate accident."
Nate dragged his hand down his face, "You're welcome. Now, where exactly do we go from here? I'd like to sleep on an actual bed, and see about getting cleaned up."
The old man nodded, "I'll be sure to have a room prepared for you. For now, I'm afraid you'll have to put up with the servant's quarters."
He shrugged, "I've slept in worse places." He stood, "I'll just wait outside if you don't mind." Osmond nodded, and Nate left.
"…Headmsater," Colbert began, "Mr. Winters was summoned to be Miss Valliere's familiar. I can't help but feel that-"
Osmond held up a hand, "For now Colbert, I would like you to continue on as normal. However, have Miss Valliere perform the summoning again later today, if only to put a hunch I have to peace…"
Lunch in this place was an interesting experience, if only because this place had maids of all things, complete with black and white outfits.
'Please, please let them have a spare they don't need. Curie needs one of these.'
He was sitting at one of the tables set up outdoors, Louise glaring at him from the other side. A maid came by with a cart of food, and he took a pastry with a strawberry on top for himself.
"Thanks." He nodded to the maid, and he paused to stare at her. Her eyes seemed… familiar.
"…Huh."
"Stupid dog." Louise whispered, and Nate looked towards her.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing," She took a cup of tea for herself, "Just noting something."
The two sat in silence after that, and Nate watched the students play with their 'familiars'. It was such a bizarre thing for him to see. Half of the animals were practically straight out of horror films, yet the kids were playing with them like they were the family dog. He shook his head and set his bag on the table before going through it.
"What in the world are you doing?" Louise questioned.
"Gotta pass the time somehow." He pulled out his Red Menace holotape and slotted it into his Pip-Boy. It started up, and as he started playing Louise came around his side to watch.
"W-what magic is this!? How are those tiny people in your gauntlet!?" She pulled on his arm, and he pulled it back.
"It's not magic, and they're not real. It's just pictures." He tried to go back to playing, but Louise still held on. He stood up with the hope that she would let go, but she still kept her hands locked onto his arm as she tried to climb onto it.
"I demand you tell me what sort of magic you're using!"
He tried to gently jostle her off, "I told you it's not magic, now let go."
She didn't listen, and instead began kicking her legs as she tried to pull herself up. He shook his head and decided to just let her tire herself out.
She couldn't hold on for that long, right?
"…You're a determined little thing, I'll give you that much."
Louise had held on for five full minutes, which was four more than his most generous guess. Though, she was starting to get red in the face and was sweating a little. A small crowd had gathered at this point, and Kirche was giving Louise 'encouragement'.
"Come on, Valliere! Prove you can actually hold on to a man!"
"Shut… up… Zerbst," She ground out, and she gave one last pull before her arms finally gave out and she fell to the ground. The crowd groaned at their entertainment being over, and everyone but Kirche and a blue-haired girl left.
"What a shame, Valliere. That was almost an impressive display."
"Impressive enough," Nate pulled a Nuka-Frutti from his bag and twisted the cap off, "I've met plenty of grown men who couldn't hold on that long."
Louise shakily stood up, but her legs gave out and she fell forward. Nate's arm shot out and he stopped her before she smacked into the table, "Easy. Just focus on breathing."
"Oh? That's certainly different from how you two were acting this morning." Kirche noted.
"Eh, I just don't think anyone is going to believe 'she got the bruise from falling into a table'."
When she seemed a bit surer in her steps he guided her towards her seat, and put the Nuka in front of her. She took it without question and as she took a long pull she coughed a little, causing some of the drink to spill onto her cheek and blouse. Almost on reflex Nate grabbed the cloth napkin he'd been given with his lunch and dabbed at her cheek. He set the dirty napkin aside just as she finished the drink.
"Better?" He asked, and Louise nodded.
"What was that it was amazing! Now show me your magic you're my familiar you're supposed to obey me how did those little people-" Louise was quickly speaking now, and she appeared to be shaking.
"Huh. Guess I know what a sugar rush looks like now."
"A what?" Kirche chimed in, looking completely lost while the blue-haired girl watched in interest.
"Basically, her system is overloaded with too much energy. She'll calm down… eventually." He watched as she kept speaking in rapid-fire, "Maaaybe I should've just given her some water."
Louise clutched the empty bottle close, "No!"
Kirche gave a small laugh, "Well, now she's acting like a child to match her physique."
"Shut up Zerbst shut up Zerbst shut up shut up shut up up up up-"
"Louise, you need to burn off the extra energy. Go practice your magic, or something."
"Wait, no-" Kirche tried to interrupt, but Louise practically sprinted away towards an empty area of the yard.
"Bad idea." The blue-haired girl said quietly and Nate frowned.
"Why?"
"FIREBALL!"
Osmond hummed to himself as he wrote a letter to the Crown. The princess would be visiting relatively soon, and he wanted to prepare something special for the occasion.
BOOM!
Without turning he grabbed his staff and cast a reinforcement spell on the window behind him. A moment later it violently shook, but remained whole.
"Not today, Brimir. Not today."
All Nate could remember seeing was a mushroom cloud before the world turned to smoke. He coughed as he tried to open his bag and grab his mask, but a gust of wind swept over him and the smoke cleared away. He saw the blue-haired girl raising her staff high, and a huge gust of wind blew the rest of the smoke away. When the courtyard was completely clear he ran over to where Louise had gone, passing knocked over students and furniture. He found her on the ground by the massive hole she blew in the wall and he tore off his glove to check her pulse. He gave a sigh of relief when he felt her pulse, and he took off his Pip-Boy and slapped it over her arm.
"Come on," he whispered, and when it finished calibrating to her he switched over to the medical screen, "No broken bones, and no concussion. Alright," He slipped it back onto his own arm before picking her up bridal style and heading up to one of the maids…
Guiche laid in one of the simple beds that were in the healer's office. He wasn't hurt too badly, but it was better to be safe than sorry, right? Speaking of which, the reason for his injury was sitting in the other bed: Louise the Zero and the bizarre commoner she had summoned sitting by her side. Damn it all, why was she even still here, she's never cast a single-
"Guiche!"
He looked towards the doorway and saw his love, Montmorency, breathing heavily. Her blonde ringlets bounced as she ran up to him and immediately grabbed his hand, "I came as soon as I heard you were hurt!"
He gave a pained smile, "Clear your sapphire eyes, my love. I will survive, despite my injuries. Nothing, not even death, could take me away from you, my dearest Montmorency."
Tears pooled in her eyes, "Oh, Guiche…"
"Lord Guiche!"
"K-Katie!?" He saw a familiar brown-haired girl in the doorway, and he began to sweat furiously.
"I came as soon as I heard you… were… hurt?" She looked confusedly at Montmorency, "Who are you?"
"I am his beloved. Who are you?" Montmorency looked back to Guiche, all traces of caring gone, "Guiche, is there something you would like to tell me?"
"A-ah, you see, I-I-I offered to try some of Katie's soufflé, yes!"
"B-but, you said I was your true love last night!"
"Last night!? What in the world were you two doing last night!?"
"Wait, please Montmorency, i-it's not what you think!"
"YOU CHEATING BASTARD!"
SLAP!
He almost fell off the bed from the force of the slap, and Montmorency fled from the room, crying. Before Guiche could fully react, Katie crossed the distance and slapped him as well.
"LIAR!"
She ran off, and he sat there gaping like a fish. After a moment he clenched his fists and growled as he looked over to the Zero and her servant, "This is all your faults, you and that damn Zero!"
The servant looked over his shoulder at him, and if Guiche wasn't so angry he would have remarked at how the servant looked so much like his father's veteran friends, "Kid, I'm not in the mood for your bullshit right now."
"You're the reason all of this happened! Because of you, the hearts of two innocent girls have been broken! No, I will not be satisfied until I have restored their honor as two pure maidens, and my own honor as the son of General Gramont! I challenge you to a duel!"
There was a moment of silence before the commoner rose from his seat and faced him. He pulled the glove off of his right hand and held it in his left hand.
"Alright. You want a duel?" The man pulled his arm back, "Then let's duel…"
Siesta tucked a stray lock of black hair back as she made her way to the nurse's office. The healer was tending to several other students and their 'injuries', so she had asked Siesta to check in on the two patients in her office. She did not volunteer because she wanted to see the rugged looking man who had eyes like two storms that pierced into her soul-
"No, no, no, bad Siesta!" She rapidly shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts that were causing her face to go bright red, "This is not a romance novel! You don't know anything about him! You can't fall in love with someone you just met!"
Eventually she reached her destination and took a deep breath before opening the door. On one bed she could see someone she recognized as Lord Guiche de Gramont. He was famous for being something of a womanizer, and it looked like it had finally caught up to him. He had a red handprint on the left side of his face, and one large red mark on the right.
"Oh hey, it's you again," The man was smiling at her, and she could feel her heart melting, "You alright? I know you were there when Louise had her 'accident', but I didn't really see you afterwards."
"O-oh, I-I-I'm fine. T-the healer asked me to check on you. On her patients, I mean!" Siesta hoped her blush didn't show.
"They're fine. Louise is still sleeping, and blondie over there did that to himself."
"I did no-"
"You brought it on yourself when you tried to two-time those girls. By the way, could you tell me where Vestri Courtyard is Miss…?"
She did a little bow, "Siesta, my Lord."
He shook his head, "I'm no lord. Just Nate, if you don't mind," he pressed something on that strange glowing gauntlet of his and beckoned her forward. She did so, and she saw a partial map of the school on it, "so, whereabouts is it?"
She pointed to a partially darkened part if the map, "Here, sir."
He pressed something, and a little symbol appeared where she pointed, "Thank you kindly. Hey kid, you said around noon, right? You've got ten minutes 'til show time." He laughed at the blonde noble's glare.
"Just wait, commoner. We'll see-" he winced, and then glared at the man before standing and leaving.
"…I am going to absolutely stomp him in that duel." Nate said, and Siesta gasped.
"A duel? B-but, Lord Guiche is a noble!"
"It's fine. His hands are as smooth as a baby's. Ten to one that 'son of a general' bit is just something to impress the girls."
"He is the son of a General!" Siesta shouted, and Nate held up a hand.
"Easy, it's not like I'm going to seriously injure him. A few taps here and there, and he'll probably forfeit."
Siesta shook her head, a cold pit forming in her stomach. He didn't understand the danger he was in! She had to-
Pat
She blinked, and then looked up the gloved hand rubbing her head. Nate was smiling warmly at her.
"Calm down, Siesta I'll be fine." He took his hand off her head, "Also, if Louise wakes up, please don't tell her where I am."
He walked past her, and she watched him disappear into hallway before clasping her hands together over her chest.
'Oh Brimir, please let him live.'
When Nate entered the courtyard, the last thing he expected was for the other children to be there.
"Well, well, well, mercenary. I'd thought you'd be too scared to face a true warrior." The blonde kid from before was pointing a rose at him, and Nate laughed.
"Ha! Oh yeah, you were a real brave warrior when your girlfriends found out about each other a few minutes ago."
The crowd laughed, and the boy's face went red as he chanted something. A petal fell from his rose, and when it hit the ground what looked like a robot with a sword appeared in a flash.
"Attack, my Valkyrie!"
The robot charged forward faster than Nate expected, and he drew his own sword as he stepped back. The 'Valkyrie' thrusted, and he turned to the side to let it pass. He thrusted his own sword into its head, and after a tense moment it collapsed into stone.
'Okay, nothing outside of an Assaultron should move that fast. Plus sides: that thing was hollow and has the same weak point as a human, meaning I have a chance.'
"Well done, mercenary. I didn't think you'd actually have some skill to take on one of my Valkyries. Still, it-" Guiche pointed the rose at Nate, and he dashed forward.
'If I can just get close enough…'
He got within steps of the boy, but a petal was already falling to the ground.
'I just need to take his wand!'
His fingers brushed against the rose-
SHUNK!
From the ground rose the upper half of a Valkyrie, and everyone watched in silence as blood dripped down its spear…