Author Notes: I've never expected to see such a good respons to this story. I really wanna thank you guys and I promise to wirte the best as I can.

Speaking of which, I want to say I'll upload at least once every two weeks (if nothing goes wrong). Whenever I have somthing important to say, I'll leave it in my bio.

Now, onto reviews:

Dreadnought Spartan889, Jeggetts and lightdreamer1: I'll try my best to make the characters look and feel believable, but I am only human (sadly, I always wanted to be a dolphin) and I can make mistakes from time to time (That doesn't mean I'll fuck up badly and sweep it under the rug). I also plan on taking to turn the story and twist it a little bit withour alienizing people who don't come from one or either fandom.

someone: I noticed that and I felt stupid for not realizing it earlier. I'll edit previous chapters after each upload.

Guest: I don't plan on that. Please, I know first impressions are important but jumping to conclussions is not something I would recommend.

Metal Vile: Yes, while I want to get to that point but at a slower pace. I want Louise to learn to be responsible and to show personal growth under Zeratul's guidance.

With that out of the way, let's begin.

Chapter 1. The Normal World.

The morning sun rose lazily above the land of Halkeginia. Its shine illuminated the farmlands and the peasants working on it. Those who stayed indoors, yet were wide awake at this hour, had the same pleasant view as they had they day prior as it was every spring sunrise. It rarely rained at this hour during this time of the year.

It was the same sunshine that filtered through the curtains and into the room in one of the towers that composed the Tristain Academy of Magic. The light fell on the face of a young, pink haired girl. She blinked a few times and yawned in a way most would have considered cute, shook her head and untangled the mental cobwebs from the remnants of her dreams.

She stood up and walked to the mirror with a brush she grabbed from the dresser. She undid the very few knots of hair produced by tossing and turning last night, all the while she checked her face for those unladylike signs of drool from murmuring things in her sleep. Being part of nobility means she must look her best at all times, her appearance must be above the one of a commoner.

Once groomed to an acceptable point, she opened her wardrobe and pulled out her school uniform. While she was not above letting a servant dress her, she didn't want to go looking for one of the maids working in the academy. Even less so in her nightgown. But she did not have the ability to pull her clothing out of the wardrobe by levitating it either. After dressing herself, she went to admire herself in the mirror.

She looked at her silky pink hair cascading all the way down her back, her bangs barely reached halfway in front of her forehead. Her pink eyes, so full of life and hope of having a good day, were at attention for any imperfection on herself. Her uniform was perfectly fit for a person of her stature, both socially and physically speaking. Her black cape was neatly clasped right in front of the academy's medal, a pentagram engraved in a disc of gold. With a nod, she grabbed her wand and headed to the door.

Only to get her face buried between two soft mounds of flesh.

"Mmmph!" She flailed her hands trying to dislodge her head from the warm, sweet smelling prison. She heard a muffled voice from above her head.

"My, oh my, Louise. I would've never thought you were so bold."

Once the pinkette freed herself from her imprisonment, she looked up to see the most despicable person she had ever met.

"What do you want, Zerbst?" Asked angrily Louise, her hands still on the other girl's large bosom. Once she noticed her hands, however, she quickly released her involuntary hold.

"Well, I was walking out of my room, then I turned to greet my neighbor when I was suddenly assaulted by the ravaging advances of Louise, the Zero." Answered Kirche von Zerbst, rather coyly. One of the most beautiful girls in the whole academy, from her fiery red hair and tanned skin to her voluptuous form that left jaws hanging everywhere she went and almost indecent way she wore her uniform, which was at least two sizes too small for her. She was of Germanian nobility, also one of the von Zerbst who had a family feud with the Valliére family of Tristain over stealing a fiancée from them centuries ago. It was bad luck for Louise de la Valliére that they had their rooms arranged right next to the other.

The shorter student glared at her peer and just turned around and stomped her way downstairs, her face was red with both embarrassment and rage. But before she could reach the stairs, though, she heard Kirche from behind her.

"I can't wait to see what you manage to summon during the summoning ceremony. Oh, right. That is if you don't blow your familiar up!" She exclaimed in a cheery tone.

"Just you wait, Zerbst! I'll summon the most powerful, intelligent and loyal familiar you and the entire world have seen!" The shout was accompanied with the hurried clomps of shoes on stone stairs and, if one were to pay closer attention, a faint sniffle.

By the time Louise reached the bottom of the stairs, she was thinking about what Kirche said. It was no surprise to anyone that she was not able to cast any spells without it ending in an explosion. She, who was part of one of the most magically powerful and influential families in the nobility of Tristain, was not as adept to magic as anyone in her family. She, daughter of Karin the Heavy Wind, was barely able to make explosions, none of which had harmed anyone thus far in her time here, and dense black clouds of smoke that could be seen from anywhere in the academy much to her chagrin.

"What would mother think if I can't summon anything? This is my last chance to at least do something right." She thought. The pressure of having her fate hanging over a spell that could save her from possibly being good only to be married off to some old goat, or worse, getting cast-off from her family name and live the rest of her days as a commoner. To be the laughing stock of the students, teachers, maids, servants, farmhands, even the princess if she still remembered her.

"Snap out of it!"

She shook her head and looked around her, trying to find the source of the stray thought. She found herself sitting beneath a tree on the schoolyard. She led her gaze upwards and noticed that it was approximately ten in the morning. She had been moping around for more than an hour and she hadn't noticed until now. "Just remember, Louise. Be like steel. You can endure anything. Don't break under their mockery. Just like mother taught you." She murmured.

A soft growl from her belly told her that she missed breakfast.

"Darn it." Cursing over something like this was beneath her, if her sister Cattleya ever heard her cursing she would be upset, or wash her mouth with the soap she used to wash her pets.

A gentle cough caught her attention to a person sitting next to her holding a small plate with a piece of a pastry she didn't recognize and a cup of tea of similarly familiar blend in each hand. She was barely older than her, with bowl cut black hair and a kind expression that reminded her of her middle sister. A small, yet relatively voluminous and modestly bound, book with a strangely written title on the cover lay next to her on the grass, right next to a handbasket with a spare cup and an iron kettle. But there was one glaring detail about this girl that made her do a double take.

The maid uniform she was wearing.

It was odd to see a commoner reading from something like a book like it for leisure. Of course, it was common for them to be taught to read for whenever they had to go on errands and follow instructions left by those nobles who had to travel frequently. But teaching them foreign languages was a luxury left only for those servants who accompanied ambassadors or royalty in an almost daily basis.

"Umm… Miss?"

Louise snapped out of her confused stupor as she refocused on the maid still holding the pastry and the cup of tea forward, undeterred by her lack of response. The young noble shifted her eyes between the offered items and the maid until she finally asked. "What are you doing, maid?"

The maid answered, "Well, Miss Valliére. I saw you didn't go to the mess hall and I thought you hadn't had breakfast yet. So I'm offering you something to eat."

The youngest of the Valliére then asked, suspiciously. "And how did you know that? Were you spying on me so the others could find anything else to mock me about?"

The maid leaned back, shocked. "No, nothing like that. I assure you, Miss Valliére." She picked up her book and showed it to her. "I was merely taking my free hour to take some rest before the students finished their meals."

Now that she had the aforementioned book in close detail, she noticed that indeed it was written in another language she hadn't seen before. And she was quite well versed with some of the languages in the neighboring kingdoms of Halkeginia, it was one of the things she studied with frequency whenever she was tired of having her share of morning explosions when she was a child.

Nodding to herself, she asked the maid. "Well, if that is the case, would you care to tell me your name, maid? If I am to keep talking to you, then I need something to call you other than 'maid.'" She wanted to inquire more about the book, but her hungry stomach took the best of her. She moved to take the offered foodstuff, to which the maid simply nodded as she graciously gave it with a sincere smile.

"Of course, Miss Valliére. My name is Siesta."

The youngest of the Valliére knew more than to turn away such a gesture of generosity. She was taught by nearly everyone in her family that commoners were the backbone of any kingdom, regardless of having no magical power at all, as they were the ones who worked the lands her family owned, they cooked the food she ate, they made the dresses she wore and they even cleaned and, to some extent, repaired the zones she had her magical mishaps.

Satisfied with the answer, she took a bite. Louise noticed the strange pastry was a bit oily and spongy, yet a bit crispy and very sweet. It was covered in a fine sheet of sugar and it was still warm, which meant it was fresh out of whatever it was cooked in. Feeling curious about this, she asked Siesta. "What is this? I've never tasted a thing such as this."

"Oh, it's something that my grandfather called 'funnel cake.' Is it not your liking?" Siesta asked nervously. She had never been this open with one of the students, but she felt something when she saw her sitting here all alone like a kicked puppy. A sense of self-loathing she very much knew when her grandfather passed away. She couldn't just leave her here without someone to talk to. But it was by the faint grin on the young noble, she could tell that her mood had improved.

"No, no. It's quite good. I like it." Louise took another dainty bite and let the sweetness linger in her mouth a bit longer. She took a small sip from the teacup to cut the oily sensation of the pastry and continued, "It's just different."

"I'm glad it was your liking." Siesta grabbed a spare teacup and poured some tea in it. "My grandfather loved to make some for me and my brothers despite my mother telling him he was spoiling us a bit too much." She let out a soft sigh, "He taught me the recipe, actually. If you'd like it, I can share some more tomorrow."

The maid looked at the sky and let out a gasp. "Oh no! My break is almost over, I must go." Then she started gathering her things into her handbasket and turned to leave.

Before she could do so, however, a small hand grabbed the hem of the skirt of her uniform grabbing her attention. The maid turned to see Louise holding out her book with a sincere smile, she almost forgot it.

"I'm looking forward to speaking to you again as well, Siesta."

TWO HOURS AGO.

"Just you wait, Zerbst! I'll summon the most powerful, intelligent and loyal familiar you and the entire world have seen!" The faint sound of shoes clomping angrily on the stone bricks of the stairs signaled the leave of the Zero.

"Overdone it." Kirche almost jumped out of her boots at the soft voice of another small girl with blue hair and glasses. A gnarled staff larger than herself was held in one hand and an open book in another.

"Tabitha, dear. I think you should really say hi from time to time. You almost gave me a heart attack." Said the redhead holding a hand over her left breast. Her friend merely rolled her eyes at her. "Do you really think I was too harsh?"

"Maybe. Breakfast." Responded Tabitha while walking alongside her extroverted friend. One would think that two people with such different personalities they would either clash constantly or ignore each other, but that difference was one of the reasons that they were rather good friends. After all, opposites attract.

The way downstairs wasn't very eventful, other than hearing other students going on about today's summoning ceremony. It was something akin to a rite of passage so to speak. It marked the step of becoming a full-fledged mage and it supposedly helped build responsibility over a companion, and for some unusal cases, an underling.

When they reached the mess hall, they had the same meal they usually had started some small chat over this morning's events.

"Seriously, Tabs. Do you really think I've overdone it?" Asked Kirche, after swallowing a mouthful of food. "I mean, I don't really hate the girl but it's just too easy to tease her. She could really learn to loosen up."

Tabitha simply shook her head and pointed at one of the windows. "Look."

And look she did. Through the window and below the shade of a lone tree, sat the diminutive girl with her chin resting on her knees. She was blankly staring at nothing and the small bobbing of the top of her head made it seem like she was mumbling something.

Seeing this, Kirche looked back at her friend who was, surprisingly despite her petite form, already finishing her meal and quietly asked, "Did I really do that?" Tabitha didn't respond immediately, as she dabbed her mouth clean with a napkin and got up.

The smaller girl gestured the other one to the half-eaten breakfast on Kirche's plate and suggested in the same way she usually spoke. "Finish, important. Then classes." Not responding at her friend's doubt.

Kirche stood up, took one last look at the girl beneath the shade of the tree and was surprised to see her being approached by one of the maids of the academy, one with a small handbasket hooked on her forearm. Feeling a bit more tranquil with herself, she followed Tabitha to the schoolyard, leaving her food behind. After all, it was the smaller girl who wanted to have breakfast this early.

They weren't the only ones heading there. Following their footsteps, some of the male students were following Kirche like lovesick puppies chanting praises and the like to her. Normally she would just smile, say a few pleasantries or compliments back, and then be on her way. But right now, she didn't even paid them attention. That was until she found a bouquet of flowers shoved in her face, stopping her in her tracks.

She turned her head and let out a sickly sweet smile at the one holding the flowers, one of the third grade students, Francis? Reginald? She didn't care at the moment. The guy almost fell to his trembling knees at being the center of her attention and blushed when Kirche brought her lovely features closer to him.

"H-h-hi, Kirche. Um… I-I-I was wonder-*gulp*-wondering if you, you…"

He was cut short when she spoke in a charming voice. "Darling~ I was wondering if you could go and tell me what time is it back at the Capital." She left out a profound sigh and put the back of her hand over her forehead, "I don't want to be dreadfully late at an errand I have."

By the time she directed her gaze at the boy, only a trail of dust was there to meet her. A very big trail of dust belonging to half of the swooning boys.

Up to this day, people are still talking about the massive dust cloud, brought by a horde of lovesick young mages, which swiftly reached the Capital that fateful day of spring.

Glad that she didn't have to deal with them anymore, she turned to speak once again with her friend. The bluette was quietly reading a book she pulled from somewhere. One of these days she was going to ask her where she kept taking these things from.

"Sometimes, being as beautiful as I am is such a chore. Don't you think so, Tabs?"

"Irrelevant." She turned another page.

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport!"

Silence.

"Fine. I'll apologize to Louise later. Would you like to talk then?" Kirche conceded. A nod was her answer.

By the time they arrived the exit to the schoolyard, the second year students gathered in a wide circle around one of the teachers: Mr. Colbert, who was in charge of overseeing the performance of each summoning ritual.

Mr. Colbert was a man well into his late forties, or mid-fifties, as it was evidenced by his balding head and the faint wrinkles of his face. He had an air of authority around him, one that demanded respect out of merit rather than words. Yet he was known as one of the teachers who was understanding of his students and had a good reception among most of them. But he also was known as rather excitable when it came down to discoveries and possibilities of new knowledge to be learned.

The teacher cleared his throat and addressed the crowd of excited students, giving them a lecture about the importance of this assignment. "Today is the day when you will accomplish one of the most important tests of magical talent in your lives. I am talking of course about the Springtime Summoning Ritual, a tradition which has been practiced since the times of our founder Brimir six thousand years ago.

"As some of you know, the summoning spell must result in the arrival and binding of a familiar. A bond between a mage and their familiar is a sacred thing. It allows them to communicate without issue and, depending on the magical power of the caster, they can see and hear whatever the other is sensing. Now, without further ado, let the first student start their summoning."

One after another, the students began their rituals. The familiars summoned were, for the most part, normal animals such as snakes, dogs, frogs, cats, mice, even a giant mole; and other part of the summons was an assortment of various magical creatures that were rarely seen in the wild such as a bugbear, a dragon and in Kirche's case, a fire salamander.

"Whoa… a fire salamander." One student gawked.

"I've never seen one this close before." Another continued.

"It's so gorgeous." They kept singing praises.

"It's only fitting for my runic name. After all, I'm Kirche the Ardent."

From the mass of people, the pink-haired girl was quietly mulling if she could quietly slip away before they noticed that she hadn't participated yet. Slowly, she put a foot behind another as she tried to tiptoe backwards, away from the crowd.

"Now, is there anyone left?" Asked Mr. Colbert, looking over his students. A hand shot up, belonging to the most recent summoner.

"Actually, Mr. Colbert. Valliére is the only left." Said Kirche, with a confident smile on her.

The group of students separated, leaving Louise alone. Caught mid-step, she slumped her stance and slowly walked forward. As soon as she reached the center of the circle, the heckling began.

"Hey, try to not blow us up!"

"I bet she'll get a bug. Fitting for her!"

"Nah, I think she'll summon nothing"

"What if she summons just smoke?!"

"Then she'll get expelled like the Zero she is, Louise the-"

"SHUT UP!"

The mocking stopped at the shout of the fed up girl trying to concentrate to perform her spell. Her face was red from both anger and embarrassment. Her wand was almost at breaking point from the force she was gripping it with. Her entire body was trembling from the fear of failing, but also fueled with the desire of proving them wrong, to prove them that she was also a mage able to cast spells, to perform magic. At the disapproving stare from the teacher, the hecklers fell silent.

"You can go ahead, Miss Valliére."

She started her chant. She spent countless nights reading and studying books about the theory of the inner workings of the summoning spell, courtesy of her elder sister Eleanor. Even if the two of them were at odds most of the time, one thing her elder sister loved to do was to try to ingrain every piece of information possible to her littlest sister, after all if she wasn't useful practicing magic, then she could leave behind her peers in her grades.

"Sacred servant who lives beyond our known world." She inwardly smiled at the confused looks of the others, "My powerful, intelligent and wise familiar. Heed my call and appear!"

A gust of wind blew from outside the circle of students as they scrambled to the ground, looking for cover as they awaited the inevitable. A blinding light shone from the tip of her wand, making her close her eyes shut. A high-pitched whine rang across the school ground, deafening a few students. And finally, an explosion rocked the very ground as the spell ended.

*BOOM*

VOID

The Void had no sense of time. Zeratul knew this and didn't care in wondering if he had spent a few minutes or years in this empty space. He sat cross-legged, floating amidst the dark fog and meditating. Waiting to start his new task.

Clutched in his arms, was the probe Tassadar gave him. It was smaller and way lighter than the ones he would see on the battlefield, yet he could tell that the components were the same, the materials were the same, but there was something different in it. He didn't know what it was, but it was there.

Interrupting his mental musings, he heard the voice of a young female echo from everywhere around him.

"Sacred servant who lives beyond the known world."

"The time has come…."

The protoss nodded silently and let the fog around him to envelop his form, ready to fold light around him on the new world. Being mindful of letting the mechanical unit out of his illusion. He made to look as if he got up, but without any ground to stand on, floating upright.

"Remember, Zeratul. You must guide your charge and teach her as you did for me. I will not be able to help you, I am needed somewhere else."

"I understand, my friend. I will not disappoint you."

"Before you go. Here, take this as a farewell gift." A cumulus of black clouds condensed and shifted, changing into an item Zeratul knew very well. Reaching out a hand to grab the staff and activating the warp blade in the end.

"A Zer'atai scythe…" He whispered, mesmerized. It was one of the most used weapons by the Dark Templars of the Zer'atai, who hunted the zerg in Shakuras and donned armors fashioned out of their bones as trophies. Before he could thank Tassadar, the female voice continued its chant.

"My powerful, intelligent and wise familiar." Zeratul turned off the scythe and braced himself for the transition.

"Heed my call and appear!"

Swiftly, a green portal opened up in front of him and, in an unusual example of how vacuum shouldn't work, swallowed him and some of the fog around him. He had enough experience regarding warping from one point to another to avoid getting disoriented by the sudden change of scenario.

But he wasn't prepared for the concussive blast that sent him flying above a mass of terrans, making him drop the probe on the epicenter of the explosion. Luckily, he had a firmer grip on the shaft of his newly acquired weapon and his cloaking hadn't been compromised. Ignoring his new surroundings for the moment, he decided to check up on the mechanical being.

He rose up from the ground and blinked over the crowd of onlookers, who were intrigued at the dense cloud of black smoke and the young terran with pink hair who provoked it. Said pink haired girl was coughing the smoke out of her lungs and was wearing a uniform with a few missing spots and was gripping a wooden stick in her hand.

Once she stopped coughing, she blinked her eyes a few times and said something resembling a question in a language he hadn't heard before. Another terran, an adult one, responded in kind, a question of gibberish, but in a more controlled manner. The young one walked closer to the crater in front of her and slid slowly to the center. She knelt down and touched the probe, only to recoil and stick her finger in her mouth. She asked another thing to the adult and he nodded, pointing a stick similar to hers to the probe.

Tentatively, she touched the probe again. This time she didn't flinch and almost immediately broke into a grin. She nodded to the old one and pulled out her stick and tapped the golden chassis measuredly as she recited something. Then she did another thing that Zeratul didn't understand completely.

The young terran bent down and kissed the top of the lens of the probe.

The probe instantly turned on. Activating its propulsion engines and lightening up the lens in a brilliant pink light.

A bolt of cold lightning shot down his spine and he shuddered as engravings marked themselves on the golden unit.

Then he understood her next words, filled with happiness and a hint of confusion. She still didn't noticed his presence.

"You sure are an odd familiar… But what are you supposed to be?"