Chapter 1: The Eye of the Storm

Louise François le Blanc de la Valliere was nervous, to say the least. Not only did she have to succeed at summoning a familiar, but she needed to do so in front of the whole class too. It was extremely nerve-wracking for the strawberry-haired mage. It's not everyday you get to see someone summon a dragon of all things. The young mage subtly blended in with the crowd of students that stood in line for their turn. She fidgeted in anxiety. One by one the line of eager second years thinned and thinned as Louise's turn drew near.

The pinkette was wistfully hoping that she would summon something grand, thinking that that kind of familiar would scare anyone away from making so much as a snide comment of her again. And with that thought, she gave a jealous glance at Tabitha, her classmate. The blue-haired bookworm was the only one out of all the second years that never taunted Louise. Then again, Tabitha rarely showed emotion at all. The bookworm only spoke in phrases, clearly focused into the book she held by her at all times (which was strange, since that it wasn't really that thick; shouldn't she have finished it by now). Adjusting her specs that had slightly slid down her nose, Tabitha almost never paid attention to the honest-to-god Rhyme Dragon she had summoned. The blue, reptilian beast blinked its green eyes in curiosity at its new master. Louise hoped she would get something like that out of this, but it really didn't help that her rival (who, I should add, is probably the most nymphomaniacal woman Louise has ever had the displeasure to meet) had practically called her out of the crowd, which parted immediately after.

"Well?" Asked Kirche Anhalt von Zerbst rather slyly. A vein popped on the forehead of Louise as she practically strutted into the circle of students (which stepped back a great deal away). Honestly, the nerve of that woman! She and her stupidly huge breasts should go back to Germania where she belongs! Everything about that nympho enraged Louise from her fiery red hair that she has grown accustomed to hate, her tan skin, her sultry voice, heck, the mention of her name just angers the pink mage.

"Shut it, Zerbst!" Louise yelled back. Her fist clenched her wand even tighter as the taller mage snickered.

"Just remember your words last night, Zero." Reminded Kirche as she began to pet her Fire Salamander. Louise faltered a moment; she didn't like the subject being held up in this conversation (if you could call it one). What she said last night was a big mistake, and she knew it.

I'm going to summon the greatest familiar this academy has ever seen!

Those words keep repeating in her mind, over and over. Still, she was a noble; her pride and duty came first. She continued to walk towards the intricate, summoning circle at the middle of the courtyard, head held high. She was a Valliere; there was no need of dealing with petty things such as the mocks of her classmates. She must not break the Rule her mother drilled into her head ever since she was a small child. And speaking of her mother, she wouldn't want her daughter to fail, wouldn't she? If she did...

"Well then, Miss Valliere." The professor overseeing the class interrupted Louise's train of thought. Professor Jean Colbert was a studious man. He was considerate of his students, but was stern when he needed to be. The balding man stood firmly in his place, making his authority known to the second year mages. His bespectacled face wearily gazed upon the mass of students taunting Louise.

As she stood inside the circle of students, the young mage fidgeted. Everyone was now staring at her, silently awaiting another of her infamous explosions. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. It's as expected from her immature classmates. Still, their not-so quiet whispers made the mage want to aim a spell at them.

"What do you think Louise the Zero will summon?"

"Summon? I'll be surprised if she could even conjure up a single speck of dust."

"She'll just make another explosion."

She shook her head. Her classmates were the least of her concern now. The pink-haired mage closed her eyes and began to chant.

"My servant that exists somewhere in the universe! My divine, beautiful, and powerful familiar spirit, I ask from the bottom of my heart. Answer my guidance and appear!"

At first there was silence. The entire second year body was confused. Then the silence was flooded with the laughs and taunts of the second years. Louise just stood there, unsure whether to be angry at her classmates, or devastated by the fact that she failed the spell. She stayed up all night with the sole purpose of studying that spell on which she oh-so spectacularly failed at.

"Well, wel-" Kirche was cut-off. The reason being the tremendous amount of wind coming from the center of the crowd, where Louise performed her spell.

Gale force winds were blowing in all directions, flinging most of the students back a few feet. The sky was darkening; there were rain clouds that formed around the school that produced huge amounts of downpour. Lightning struck anything in its way, from trees to the towers and walls of the school itself. Everyone was terrified of this strange occurrence. And Louise, well, she couldn't have had it worse.

Louise was near the center of the storm (and was still in her original place, which was a miracle in itself). The area was clear of clouds, almost as if an unknown force was blocking it from swallowing what was left of the clear sky. The young mage was hurled back by an earth-shattering explosion, and was followed by a violent roar that shook the school. Louise was frightened; the roar was unlike anything she heard of. It wasn't that of a dragon, a gryphon, or even a manticore. It almost sounded like the violent winds that had appeared before her. The chorus of thunder that accompanied the wind-like screech deafened everyone in the vicinity, making them cover their ears in an attempt to ease their pain. Some students, Louise included, have already fainted, not able to endure it. The familiars were also alarmed. Some fled to safer grounds; Some of them were able to burrow underground, waiting for the storm to pass. The smaller ones hid under their master's cloaks, seeking protection against the gale.

The winds then stopped abruptly, making what's left of the conscious bewildered. The clouds soon parted as a serpentine form elegantly soared away from the academy. The students stood there, astonished by the event that transpired a few moments ago. Professor Colbert quickly ran towards one of the unconscious bodies, checking if the boy were unharmed. The quite menacing figure that flew away were the least of the professor's worries. He ordered one student to call some servants and a water mage to tend to the unconscious second years. He was speechless. In all his years teaching in the academy, the professor had never seen a summon like that.

"P-professor..." called someone in the small crowd of conscious students. The student pointed to the sky, where a misshapen airship lay. The damaged ship slowly descended towards the ground, landing inside the academy grounds.

The students gave a questioning look at the ship. Its design was certainly outlandish. Instead of windstones that held the ship aloft, a balloon was tied above the craft. There wasn't a sail for it to move nor a rudder to steer. One student was brave enough to approach the ship. He, unfortunately, ran off when a figure appeared from the deck. The said figure threw down a ladder and began to descend.

Saito Hiraga was confused. He remembered being in an Amatsu's storm a while ago. Yet the hunter was still unharmed, not that he wasn't relieved, no; in fact he was quite thankful that he wan't injured. When the winds stopped, everyone in the ship agreed to investigate the surrounding area, and Saito was voted to be the unlucky scout. What he didn't expect was a crowd of people dressed in peculiar clothing. He noticed that there were a few creatures he didn't recognize in the crowd (wait... is that a... floating eyeball?). He tensed up as a man approached him. This man was older than most of the crowd, which obviously meant that he was the leader. The balding man wore a blue cloak that had white trimmings in some parts. In his hand was a simple staff. His bespectacled eyes were observing Saito, making the hunter uncomfortable. The man then began to speak. He spoke in a tongue the hunter never heard before.

"S-sir. I don't know what you're saying." Saito explained. The man's face contorted in attempt to understand what the hunter said. Saito mentally scolded himself for his stupidity. If he couldn't understand them, then they obviously don't speak his language. This was a major setback; if the hunter can't understand these people, then that means the Amatsu typhoon hurled their ship to a ridiculously far off place. And that he couldn't ask for directions as to where his village is. The hunter was lost in thought. What about the village? What if they needed him?

In front of the hunter, Professor Jean Colbert carefully took note of Saito. It was strange. The Valliere managed to summon a human. Peasant or not, this was never heard of before. The professor assumed that the winds that occurred a short while ago was a storm that this man's airship happened to be in. Sure, that might sound a bit farfetched but there really wasn't any other reason aside from that unknown figure. Though, he never heard of the language spoken by the man, and his ship was definitely not of Halkeginia. Could he have been from the fabled Rub Al'khali? So much questions, and so little time. Professor Colbert waved his staff and used a translation spell on the man. The man gave a confused look at the professor, to which the professor gave no mind.

"Can you now understand me?" Questioned the professor. The man fell back in surprise.

"W-wha... you speak my tongue!?" The man stumbled back in disbelief. He quickly shot the professor a barrage of questions like:

"Where in Jinouga's horns am I!?"

Or

"Do you know where my village is!?"

Professor Colbert tried to calm him down (tried). But alas, the man was in such a state of panic that he couldn't quite listen well enough. Though, fortunately, it did manage to wake up Louise. The pink-haired mage groggily stood up, rubbing her head. And after clearing her foggy head...

"P-PROFESSOR! THE STORM!" the pinkette shouted at the top of her lungs. And with that, the bald professor was now trying to calm two people at once. During this predicament, however, he now knew that the young man was not from the fabled Rub, but from a far off land he called Yukumo. Yukumo, according to this young man's desperate attempt to find answers to his questions, was a village located near a mountain range called Misty Peaks. And while the professor had never heard of such mountain range, he now had a clear idea of how to calm the boy down.

"Excuse me, sir." Professor Colbert called loudly enough for the young man to notice. "I, sadly, do not know of a place called Yukumo. However, the school's library is quite extensive in the form of topography. We might be able to pinpoint wherever Yukumo may be if you would kindly stay here until we find it's location." The hunter, now a bit tired from his frantic behavior, calmed down enough to reply.

"I... see." He said with a bit of disappointment. "Very well then, I shall set my ship down." The young man then let out an extremely loud wistle that made the ship drop altitude. The professor sighed in relief; there was only one problem left to fix.

"Miss Valliere." The bespectacled professor called. "I believe you have a ritual to complete."

"B-but professor I haven't summoned a familiar yet." The pinkette reasoned out.

"I am afraid you are incorrect, Miss Valliere." Said Professor Colbert, shaking his head in emphasis. "He is the one you summoned." The professor pointed out none other than the strange, young man in front of him. The said boy was too busy with his ship to notice the two mages' conversation.

"A c-commoner!? B-but that is unheard of!" Louise told her more aged teacher in quite a futile attempt to delay the inevitable.

"I am sorry, Miss Valliere." The professor apologized. "But, like it or not, he is your familiar now. We cannot repeat the ritual for it is a sacred ceremony. It would be blasphemy against the teachings of the Founder himself."

"B-but..." The older mage shook his head before Louise could even come up with an acceptable reason. The pinkette stood there for a while, not sure what to do. She had no other choice.

Louise stomped towards the boy, frustrated by this whole situation. She was made fun of, thrown away by heavy winds, knocked unconscious by an earth-shattering roar, and now forced to...

"Agh!" She shouted in aggravation. "Listen, you!" The young man took a step back.

"Whoa there..." the boy raised his hands in defense. "I'm a bit busy here, can't you see?"

"T-that doesn't matter! You should consider yourself lucky." Louise stated as she tried to hide her embarrassed face. "Normally a noble wouldn't do this to a peasant, but..."

"Eh? I don't understand."

"Sh-shut up, you!" Louise pulled the young man's head down and proceeded to kiss him. The boy, a bit flustered, pulled away from Louise. He tried to comprehend what had just happed.

"D-did you just... kiss me?!" The boy questioned in shock.

"You don't have to remind me, idiot!" Yelled Louise as her face turned redder and redder.

"B-but you just kissed me an- AGH!" The boy writhed in excruciating pain. It was as if he was dipped in hot, molten lava. He grabbed his left arm, the area where it hurt the most, and clenched his left hand in futile attempt to try and ease the burning pain he felt, but nonetheless, the pain was too strong for him. He was losing consciousness.

He fell with a loud thud, face first on the dirt. The students that were, miraculously, still conscious had made it an emphasis to point out how their untalented classmate's familar was 'absurdly comical' and 'stupidly hilarious'. Everyone laughed; everyone except Professor Colbert and Louise.

The professor looked at the small crowd with clear disapproval. He shook his head another time.

"Miss Valliere." Professor Colbert called. "Would you please tend to your familiar."

The pinkette nodded and slowly approached the unconscious, young man. As she took each step closer, however, she was being observed by the rest of the passengers on the ship. Their eyes darted towards their fellow passenger on the ground. And as the pink-haired mage drew closer, and closer to the unconscious boy, they sounded their horns to ward her away. The mage, frightened, quickly bolted away from their fallen comrade.

Now was their time to pounce.

Miguel was an observant, little melynx, knew how to read a situation well enough. And they were in a horrible situation by the looks of it. He and his fellow comrade, Ryoku, were protecting their master from a foe with unkown abilities. Not to mention the fact that they were outnumbered. Miguel cautiously reached for a boomerang. There was only one who was clothed differently, so that meant he was their leader. Miguel threw his boomerang at the supposed leader, trying to make a distraction for Ryoku to aim his barrel-bomb right. The distraction worked, and soon the sound of an explosion was heard. The man went hurdling backwards, into the small crowd, and very well away from the felynes' range of attack.

"Curtis-san!" Ryoku yelled at the damaged ship. Soon two more figures went down from the airship, hoisting their fallen comrade to the deck.

Once they were on the deck of their airship, the four felynes loaded the cannons. They stood their, waiting for the small crowd a fair distance away to make the wrong move. They fired a warning shot, just in case someone was getting ideas. The explosion, a few yards away from the crowd, caused quite a mess. Dirt and rocks were flying everywhere, making the crowd retreat back to what seemed to be their castle's main tower.

They were safe... for now.

A/N: Hey! Long time, no publish... hehehe... eh sorry. I tried to make this chapter as long as I could get it. I didn't quite exactly prepare for that much favs, follows, and reviews... Anyway, to everyone who's asking, I'd love suggestions! Honestly, guys, I thought this story wasn't gonna get this much attention! XD Thank you! Oh, and there will be a bonus chapter coming up, so stay tuned!