Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Familiar Of Zero.
"Kingdom Hearts" = Normal Talking.
"Kingdom Hearts" = Terra/Sentiment Talking
"(Kingdom Hearts)" =Normal Thinking
"(Kingdom Hearts)" =Terra/Sentiment Thinking
The Life as a Familiar
There he is. The old man, Xehanort, the lord of darkness, is now on his last legs, taking deep breaths as his power has nearly been all used up. The young man, Terra, did the same as he walks over to the fallen Keyblade Master. Xehanort, a man he once respected, the man who had brought great pain upon Ven, the man who murdered Master Eraqus, is now at his mercy.
Suddenly, before whatever Terra could decide what to do with him, a bright flash of light and a tremble of the earth below them caught his attention.
"*gasp* There, you see?" Xehanort said as he pointed at something behind Terra.
Terra couldn't believe what he just heard from the old man. After all, who would fall for that old trick? But the flash of light, the trembling, and the look of surprise on Xehanort's face made him curious. So he slowly turns his head, while taking a quick glance at the old man, to gasp in shock to see a pillar of light extending all the way up to the sky.
"The X-Blade has been forged!" Xehanort yelled as he got back up on his feet.
"Ven!" Terra shouted out, desperately wanting to know what has happened to his best friend.
"And now, Terra, it is time for the final union!" The fallen master said as he literally impales himself in the chest with his own Keyblade. As he did this, a purple flash of light had been produced where he had impaled himself.
"What?" Terra asked as he turns back to the black coated man.
"At last, our moment is here." He said as he releases his dark Keyblade, which is now hanging in the air, still impaled in his chest. A flash of golden light flashes from his chest, his Keyblade vanishing into thin air, and golden orb with purple tint bursts itself out of his body. "Out with the old and brittle vessel," he says as his body began to glow gold, and gold specs of dust floated off of him, "and in with a younger, stronger new one!" He exclaimed as his purple tinted heart floats ominously in the air.
Terra couldn't believe his eyes; he couldn't believe what Xehanort just did. He was so shocked, he couldn't think of any words of what to say as takes a step back.
"I swore I would survive…" the bald former master said as he looks up to his heart, "and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War!" He looks back to down to Terra with a look that describes pure evil on his face. "And now it is your darkness" he yells as he raises his right hand into the air, "that shall be the ark that sustains me!" He swung his hand down forward, and his heart responds by launching itself towards Terra.
Terra tries to stop it by summoning his armor by tapping his shoulder piece. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough, for Xehanort's heart had invaded Terra's body. Not a second too soon, in a flash of golden light, and for some strange reason, a green flash of light, shrouded his body in a bright flash of gold and green.
When the light faded, to Xehanort's confusion…Terra's body, along with his heart, had mysteriously vanished. Aw well, no matter. No matter where Terra and his heart disappeared too, he can return here in mere moments. Besides, he'll have a new body very soon now, a younger, stronger one at that. All there's left is for his conciseness to reconnect with his heart in Terra's body, and then the young man's body will become his own.
With nothing to fear, he leans his fading body backwards, closing his eyes, his old body disperses into golden sparkles of light. Soon, very soon, he shall start living in his new body. No matter how many years it will take, he will see what shall transpire after the new Keyblade War….Unfortunately…in the next half hour…he will never get the chance.
[XXX]
Terra, now known as Sentiment, is walking down a spiral stair case with a basket of dirty laundry in his hands, along with some cleaning utensils. He had left Ends of the Earth back in Louise's room, not wanting to scare anyone he may come across. Louise has ordered him to go and wash her cloths, so she can be ready for tomorrow morning.
Funny thing though, when she handed him, or more like threw her white underwear to him, it flew right into his helmet's visor, or in his case, his eyes. If he had a face he would've blushed. Oh boy, if Aqua were to come in and see what he had on his face at the time, she would've beaten the living daylights out of him, armor or not!…Like that one time a few years back…Hey it wasn't his fault that her underwear suddenly landed in his face on laundry day! Uh…anyway, back to the story!
He didn't mind though, it may have been an accident. At least, he hopes it was. As he was about to enter a hall, he stopped when he heard a pair of voices.
"I'm good at making soufflé." A young girl in a brown cloak said as he watched the two from the edge of the stair case.
"I'd love to have a taste of that." A blond haired boy in a black cloak said to her while holding a rose in his right hand with his other hand around the girl's back.
"Really?" She asked with happiness in her voice.
"Of course, Katie." He answered in a charming matter. "I would never lie to your eyes."
"Sir Guiche…" The young girl, Katie, said, and…Sentiment could've sworn that she had pink hearts floating around her! At least they weren't real hearts thank goodness. Ah, young love…love…a feeling he may never enjoy again due to his condition.
Sighing to himself, he walks out of the spiral staircase and into the hallway. As he walks by the two love birds, the clanking of his boots caught their attention. Guiche tightens his hold on Katie as he holds her closer, the two starring at him as he continues down the hall. The two looked on in silence, whether it was out of respect or fear, the Keyblade warrior couldn't tell.
As he walks outside and enters an open field with the academy, he notices a small fountain flowing water in the wall and walks over to it. He places the basket down and pulls out a bar of soap and a washboard from said basket. He sets the board into the water and grabs one of Louise's button-up shirts. Just as he was about to soak it in the water…he sees something in it. Something that he'll regret for all of time.
He sees…his reflection. Not his reflection as Sentiment…but as Terra. "(…Aqua…Ven…please be all right…)" With the thought of his friends reaching his mind, he suddenly gasps, and starts searching frantically for something on his person.
He then realized something while checking the pockets in his armor…he can't feel! He thought it may have been the gloves but he really can't feel anything! Deciding to put that aside for now, he tries to make a grab for anything in his pockets, and pulls them out. In one hand it is empty, but in the other, is the thing that he was looking for… His Way Finder. An orange star with a chain attached that Aqua gave him before this whole mess started.
He holds the Way Finder close to his chest, the only thing he has left of his friends. Ven…his best friend, more like the younger brother he never had. Aqua…his rival, his dearest friend…a friend he would've liked to get even closer to… But that will never happen now…not with him like this.
Through his unblinkable vision, he looks back down to the water…the reflection however, was not his…it was Xehanort's. An image of Xehanort… laughing at him! Laughing as his misfortune! A misfortune he had a helping hand in! His anger exploded, he pounds against the water with his fist, destroying the fallen mater's image. As he cools himself off, he pulls his hand out of the water…and confirms about his suspicion about his sense of feeling. He can no longer feel the water, even though it's dripping off of his fingers. Damn that Xehanort…damn him for taking his body from him….and damn himself for helping that mad man along the way…
Pushing the thoughts of the dark lord away, he places his Way Finder around his armored neck to keep it close to his heart, and he gets back to work by cleaning the laundry. Louise will get mad if he doesn't do it. Besides, morning could be around the corner and he may not even know it.
[XXX]
"Louise, it's time to wake up." Sentiment said gently as he slightly shook his master while in her sleep.
"Mmm…" She mumbled as she woke up. She turns her body towards him and says, "Oh, Sentiment. It's you."
The sentient armor places a set of neatly folded cloths next to her pillow. "There you go. All clean and dry, just as you instructed."
She pulls herself up and rubs her eyes, trying to get the tiredness out of her. She then looks over her cloths and notices something that's missing. "Where's my underwear?"
"Ha. Yeah about that." He says as he rubs the back of his helmet. "You'd be better off if you got it yourself. I've had…bad experiences when it comes to women's underwear." "(*sigh* The pain Aqua gave me lasted for months! Good thing she wasn't here last night while I was washing them. If she did she would've, literally this time, knocked my head off!)" He concludes his thinking of the matter with a sweat drop hanging from his helmet.
"*sigh*." She sighed. "If you were something else, I wouldn't allow you to eat breakfast. But since you're a sentient suit of armor, you obviously have no stomach. So I'll ignore if for now and do it myself." She gets herself out of bed and walks over to her dresser.
"(Yeah…thanks for the reminder.)" He thought bitterly. He has also noticed earlier that he longer has any need for food or water. His heart is all that he needs now to keep him alive.
Suddenly, the cloths he had just given her had found themselves on his back. He didn't feel it due to his lost sense of touch, but the sound of them hitting against him was enough to get a reaction out of him to grab them. He looks at the cloths, finding nothing wrong with them; he turns to her and asks, "Is there something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong." She answered. "I just need you to dress me now."
"Uhh, are you sure?" He asked as multiple sweat drops formed on his helmet. "I mean, I'm still a guy after all."
Then she says to him while feeling agitated, "When they have a servant, aristocrats never put their cloths on themselves!"
A moment later…hundreds of sweat drops were raining down from Sentiment's helmet. "(Okay, now I'm really glad that Aqua isn't here.)" He thought as he turns his helmet to you, the reader, "(She'd downright kill me!)"
[One moment of dressing one spoiled girl and fixing the Fourth Wall later]
"There we go. You're all dressed. Do you feel comfortable?" He asked.
"Yes. Yes I am." She answered. During the moment when he was dressing her, she noticed the orange star shaped ornament hanging around his neck. So she asks, "Hey, Sentiment, what's that thing you have around your neck?"
He looks down at the ornament and says, "This thing? It's called a Way Finder. You use it to find your way to your friends. It's not magical or anything, it's just that…when you form an unbreakable connection with another, this thing will help you find your way to them. My friend…Aqua…gave it to me. I'll always treasure it…for all of time… Anyway, is there anything you need right now?" He asked as he quickly dropped the subject of his Way Finder.
"No, nothing right now." She said to him. "But we need to go to breakfast now. But before we go, I want you to bring your sword with you." She said as she points to his personal weapon, still standing against the wall like it was from last night. "A familiar, like you, is supposed to look their best in front of their master when they're in the presence of other aristocrats."
As he looks over to his weapon, he cannot believe the things he has done with it. His Keyblade…Ends of the Earth…a weapon made to protect others…to help protect the user's friends and loved ones…has become a weapon who hurts others… Princess Aurora and Master Eraqus are prime examples. He turns to his master, who then says the very word that every master would never dream to hear from their servants. "…No."
"What? No? Why not?" She demanded, wanting to know why.
"I have no right to wield such a weapon. If only you knew what I've done with it… When we get back here later today, I'm going to place that thing on the wall… Starting today, that damn blade will become nothing more than room decoration. I will never wield it EVER again."
[XXX]
After arriving for breakfast, without Sentiment's sword, much to Louise's disapproval, they have temporarily parted ways. She said that familiars have to wait outside while their masters are inside eating. She wanted him to come inside with her however, but he decided to simply stay out with his fellow familiars. He didn't want everyone to stare at him as he would have to walk her over to her seat. Besides, she probably wanted to show him off. She huffed and gave it up; she didn't have time to straighten him out or anything, so she left him outside with the animals.
He is now amongst the animals, his fellow familiars, while sitting on the ground with his back against the wall. He didn't mind if the animals kept him company, it's a lot better than having people making comments about him with his back turned. One of the animals, a dog, walks up to him with its tail wagging from behind.
He gently pats the dog on the head, or at least he hopes so. "So…were you taken away from your friends and loved ones when you were summoned? Probably sucks doesn't it?"
"Ruff!" The dog barked in response.
A few moments later, all the students came out and have come to get their familiars, while giving Sentiment the occasional glance. "Ah, there you are." Louse said as she walks up to him with her arms crossed. "You're lucky you can't eat, otherwise I would've forbidden you food for the rest of the day."
"Hmph. Hate to say it, but I guess I am lucky then." He said as he pushes himself up to stand. "By the way." He looks over to a group of students in black cloaks, along with their familiars, sitting at white round tables while being served by maids. "Is there a special occasion? I mean, if this is an academy shouldn't the students be heading to class now?"
"Normally yes." She answered. "But there's no class for the second years today. They're building relationships with their new familiar spirits."
"I see. So it's like forging friendships then… I hope they'll be friends forever."
"Hello Louise." A woman's voice was heard by the two. They turn their attention to the voice's owner to see the red headed woman, Kirche, kneeling down on both legs and petting the head of what appears to be a large red lizard with a small flame being produced from its tail.
"Uh…well he's…certainly a big guy." The Keyblade warrior said, as he had never seen a creature like this one before.
"Is this your first time seeing a salamander?" She asked him with a smile on her face.
"Yes, it is. And are you sure it's okay to let him walk around without something to hold him with? He could hurt someone after all."
"It's fine." The flame mage assured him. "A familiar spirit with a contract is obedient to its master. It wouldn't run away or hurt anyone." She tilts her head down to her familiar and asks, "Right, Flame?" The salamander, Flame, forms its own smile on its face and wags its flaming tail. She looks back up and smiles at him.
"Mind your own business!" Louise yelled at her, not really wanting to deal with her arch rival this early in the morning.
"Hey, don't be rude, Louise." Sentiment sternly said to his master. "She's done nothing wrong to provoke you."
"What?" Louise yelled from disbelief, not believing her ears from what he said. "You're taking Zerbst's side?"
"Oh ho, it seems that, out of the two of you, he's the smart one!" The red head said as she stands back up to full height. "Usually, it's the master who has to teach the familiar. But in this case, it seems that it's the familiar who has to teach the master. You should listen, Louise, you may learn something."
"Wh-why you!" The pinkett seethed while forming a tight fist.
"Alright you two, enough." The sentient armor said as he walks between the two, mainly to stop Louise from getting physical and from using her explosive magic. "I know you two don't like each other, but you two live at the same academy. If you can't get along then don't talk with each other. Alright?" A moment of silence takes place, as Louise looks angrily at both her rival and her familiar. Kirche looks at the Keyblade warrior with a curious expression.
As the moment passes, Kirche's smile returned. "Hm hm, see what I mean? You should listen to your familiar, Miss Valliere. Anyway, I should be going now. I want to use this day to get to know my own familiar better. Come along, Flame." She turns away from the two and walks away, with Flame following from behind.
"Familiar!" Louise yells as she turns back to Sentiment. "What was that all about? Why did you defend that hussy?"
"I defended her because you looked like you were about to attack her."
"But you're supposed to defend me! Have you already forgotten who you're master is, you stupid familiar!"
"Of course not. But if you think about it, I did defend you. I defended you from YOU attacking HER. You didn't actually wanted to hurt her, did you? And not to be rude or anything, but, I've noticed you have the tendency to quickly get angry. If you learn to control that anger, maybe you wouldn't be-"
"Oh shut up!" She yells at him while, unknowingly, proving his point. "Stop standing around and get me some tea!" She turns away from him and walks away, unable to believe that her familiar would have the nerve to say something like that about her.
"(…Tch…whatever…her anger issues aren't my problem to begin with…)" What he was going to say was 'maybe you wouldn't be picked on anymore.' He knew that, if you are the victim of bullying, and if you give them the reaction that they want, they won't stop. If she were to ignore them, they wouldn't bother her anymore. Maybe they would stop calling her Louise the Zero as well.
But, of course, she defended herself the only way she knew how to. That won't stop the bullying. She needs to understand that, otherwise she'll never be happy. But since she doesn't want to listen to his advice, well then, suit herself. If she wants to be miserable, then let her be miserable. Anyway, he might as well as to get the tea that she ordered him to get for her.
As he searches for the tea, he can hear the whispering of the students as he passes by them.
"Hey, check it out. It's the living armor."
"How could that thing be alive? Is there really a ghost inside?"
"Hey, remember the fight from yesterday? That guy the armor was fighting against, it killed him."
"Screw that! Do you remember the sky turning orange and those golden chains? What was that all about?"
"I can't believe it was Louise the Zero who summoned it in the first place. I guess even she can get lucky sometimes."
"(…So, I'm an 'it' to them huh? I don't care, because deep down I'm still a person, even without my body...right?)" He was so deep in thought that, despite his years of training, he didn't realize he was about to accidently bump into one of the maids.
"Ah!" The maid shrieked as Sentiment's left shoulder bumped into her, forcing a silver tray she had in her hands to fall. Along with the tray was a fork, white plate and a yellow piece of cake. The maid quickly picks up the tray, then the fork and plate and places them back on said tray. As she reaches for the cake an armored left hand beats her to it however.
"Forgive me. I wasn't paying attention. I was lost in thought." A man's voice she heard. She follows the voice by tilting her head back, and when her eyes made contact with the voice's owner, her eyes widened and her face turned into a deep shade of red.
It's…it's…a knight! A knight in shining gold and crimson armor! Or is that bronze and plain red? Oh who cares? Has her knight finally come for her? Has he come to take her away from this horrible place? Is this the man who will become her husband? Is he the one who will….oh….
Sentiment places the cake back on the plate, and she notices the familiar runes on the back of his glove. Once she noticed the runes, her heart is suddenly filled with depression, and her face reflects her depression from within.
"Are you alright? You look…sad. Really sad." The Keyblade warrior asked in concern as he immediately picked up on her depression.
"Ye-yeah…I'm alright." She answers while replacing her sad frown with a gentle smile "Thank you for asking."
"Don't worry about it." He said to her with a wave with his hand. "I don't like seeing people sad or suffering."
"O-oh, w-w-well, th-thank you." She stumbled with her words with a smile as the blush returned to her face, only slighter this time. "Um, mind me asking, but, would you be the familiar spirit of Miss Valliere?"
"Let me guess. You've heard of me because of the fight from yesterday. Am I right?"
"Hm hm. In fact, the whole academy knows about you. The living suit of armor that saved the students from that evil aristocrat, and afterwards became Miss Valliere's familiar."
"Evil aristocrat? Ah, you mean Xehanort. Yeah, he would've definitely passed for an aristocrat if he ever got the chance to. Anyway, my name is Sentiment. Yours is?"
"Sentiment…that's a unique name." She said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Sentiment. My name is Siesta. I'm a maid here on campus." She introduces herself with a bow.
"Siesta…that's a nice name." The blush on Siesta's face grew slightly a bit darker. "Oh, and you don't have to say my name with a mister. Sentiment is just fine."
"Oh, uh…okay, Sentiment." The maid said as her face grows a cheerful smile.
"Ladies, please! It's not what you think!" A yell of a young man caught their attention. They turn to the voice's owner to find Guiche being the living target of two women. One of the women is Katie, who Guiche was with last night, and a blond haired woman that Sentiment doesn't recognize.
"What's starting over here?" A student asked with an owl perched on his shoulder.
"Looks like Guiche has gotten himself in trouble with the ladies again." Another student commented.
"Hey Guiche, don't mean to be a jerk and all, but this is what happens when you're double dating! Ha ha ha!"
"Double dating?" Katie asked as she looks at him with sadness filling her eyes.
"So you did lay your fingers on this first year!" The blond haired girl brought her fists up to her chin, closes her eyes tightly, and grinds her teeth together while muttering, "Eeeerrrrrr!" through her said teeth.
"Please, The Perfume Montmorency." Guiche said as he desperately tries to calm her down. "Please do not distort your rose-like face with anger. This is some kind of mistake, and-"
"You're horrible! You said I'm the only one!" Katie yelled at him, her heart broken.
"Anyway, both of you calm down-" Whatever else he was going to say he never got the chance to.
"LIAR!" The two girls yelled simultaneously. Montmorency takes a step closer and slaps him in the face. That one slap had enough force into it to push Guiche down to the ground. Both Montmorency and Katie walk away from him in opposite directions, while the rest of the second years start to laugh at the Earth Mage.
"Ha ha ha! You got dumped, Guiche!" Malicorne, the master of the owl familiar laughed at him. "Well, you deserved it."
"What was that all about?" Sentiment asked himself as he witnessed the affair. "Because of him, the hearts of those two girls are now broken. In fact," He turns his helmet to Siesta and continues, "I saw him with the brown haired girl last night while I was passing by them in the hall. He even had his arm around her if I recall correctly. So who was the girl who slapped him?"
Siesta starts off with a sigh and answers, "That was Montmorency, Guiche's girlfriend. Even though he as her, he still goes after women who are attracting to him. He's also a well known play-boy, so that pretty much explains it."
"Hmph. A play-boy, huh? Serves him right for getting dumped then. Heh, if Ven was here, he would've gotten mad and punch the guy instead."
"Ven?"
"Ventus, my…my best friend. I remember him telling me something about a year ago. He told me that, 'If a guy has a girlfriend, then he should stay loyal to her. If he cheats on her, then he doesn't deserve to be with any woman.'
I'd admit that he was pretty smart for his age when it comes to girls, and he was only fourteen at the time. By the way, not to sound like I'm flirting or anything, but you seem like a nice girl. I think Ven would really like you if he ever gets the chance to come here and visit. At least, that's my personal opinion."
"Oohh! That's so sweet of you to say that." She says while her blush has returned to its original deep shade of red. "In that case, I hope that he does come to visit sometime."
"Yeah…me too…"
"Familiar!" A certain pink haired master yelled out. "What are you doing talking with the maid? Where's my tea?"
"Err, coming!" He turns back to Siesta and asks, "Sorry, but, can you please point the direction of the tea for me?"
"Sure, the tea's over there." She points over to a table standing near the wall.
"Thank you. Well then, see you around, Siesta. Hope to see you again soon."
[XXX]
The moment he learned of it, Professor Colbert knew that he had to take this recent finding to the principle right away. After looking at the runes on the hand of Miss Valliere's familiar, he searched the library all night last night to find out what it means. After many hours of searching, he had finally found it. He had found what the runes mean in a book, and has taken it with him to show it to the principle.
Colbert is now standing in the office of Principle Osmond, who is a well known pervert, who is also sometimes called 'That god damn dirty old man!" and he's occasionally called that by the ladies only. Anyway, he has just explained to the principle of what Louise summoned as her familiar.
"Hmm…we don't have any previous cases of living armor becoming familiars." Principle Osmond contemplated as he has hands together and placed under chin.
"The bigger problem is…" Colbert opens the book and turns the pages to find the right one. "I wasn't familiar with the rune that appeared, and upon researching it…it looked exactly like this." He places the book down and shows the picture of the familiar rune on Sentiment's hand and shows it to Osmond.
"Ah!" The white bearded man gasped, a clear sign which would tell others that he knows what it is. "Miss Longbill," He says to his assistant. "I'm sorry, but…"
"Yes, sir." She takes a bow, and prepares to leave, knowing full well that this is a private matter. But it did make her curious though. Just what was so special about the familiar rune on the back of Sentiment's hand?
[XXX]
"I hope you have a good reason for keeping me waiting!" Louise yelled at Sentiment as he places a cup of tea on the table she's sitting at. "I've waited ten minutes before I had to call out your name!"
The Keyblade warrior answers, "I was having a friendly conversation with Siesta, one of the maids. And then that argument between those three students happened, and then I went back to talking to Siesta. That's all."
"That's all? A servant should never keep their master waiting! If it wasn't for your metal body, I'd give you ten whip lashes to your back!"
"Ha. That's right." He mocks her as takes a seat at the table. "I much as I hate to admit it, I'm the one with the body that you can't do anything against. I can't feel pain anymore, have no need to eat, drink or sleep, and you can't do anything to hurt me. In other words, you practically have no power over me, ha ha ha."
"Eeerrrr! Stupid familiar!" She lets out a 'humph' as she crosses her arms and looks away from him.
"Everyone! Everyone!" The cries of a female student had been heard, and everyone turns towards her. "Everyone! Listen to me! There's these black creatures that suddenly appeared in the Vestry Field and started to attack everyone they see! Will someone please help?"
The description of the creatures had definitely caught Sentiment's attention. Black creatures...? Suddenly appearing…? Attacking everyone they see…? No… It couldn't be, could it…? Could it be…the Unversed? Here? Here of all places? He quickly bolts out his chair and runs towards the young woman.
"Wh-what the? Sentiment?" Louise gets up from her own seat as she watches her familiar runs to her fellow student.
He comes to a stop once he was close to her and asks, "Where? Where is the Vestry Field?"
"I-it's over there!" She told him as she points in the direction behind her.
Thanks to her directions, Sentiment quickly runs towards the Vestry Field, desperately hoping that the creatures aren't the Unversed.
"God!" Louise yelled as she runs after her familiar. "He's a familiar yet he does whatever he wants!"
Author: Sorry, no fight scene today, but I promise that you won't be disappointed next chapter. I figured since you have been waiting patiently for me to update, I thought this would be a good place to stop for now. I hope you enjoyed it! Oh, and, if you could, please tell me if anything looked wrong with the characters' personalities. That would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, see you till next time!
