Heretic of Zero

A Final Fantasy: Tactics/Familiar of Zero Crossover

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Chapter 1: Awakening

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Infirmiry

Louise paced nervously outside of the Infirmiry, waiting for news on her familiar's condition. She was filled with conflicting emotions, as every moment grew longer and longer in her mind. She had summoned a familiar, but he was a commoner. And yet, he was also a warrior of some sort. The armor he had been wearing, as well as the massive dents it carried, were a testament of that.

What sort of person was she, then, if she had summoned a familiar such as that? A (literally) blooded knight, if that was truly what he was. "Am I to become like my mother?" the noble pondered, unsure whether to shiver or squeal with joy. Many things could have been said about the Heavy Wind, but a failure was not one of them. If that truly was her destiny, then she would embrace it.

The infirmiry door opened, and Louise brushed her thoughts aside as the nurse came out, her typical cheery look on her face. The matronly woman gave her a friendly nod. Louise spoke up, the concern in her voice surprising herself. "Will he be okay?"

The nurse gave a hearty chuckle. "Go ask him yourself, deary." Then she walked off, to check on the few other patients she had. What did she mean by that. Even with the reagent used, no one could recover that quickly... right?

Louise stood their dumbly for a second. "I guess I will then..." She hung in the doorway for a second, before sighing and stepping through. Though there were two cots, only one was occupied. Her familiar lay with his back to the door, staring at the second mood slowly moving away from the horizon. He muttered something that she did not understand.

"Excuse me?" she said, slightly nervous. The magus watched as the familiar turned and caught her eyes, turning as he did so. He moved out of the bed with surprising grace, standing in front of her. His tunic was missing, revealing a chest covered in scars (both old and new) and bruises... and muscle. She blushed slightly, before meeting her familiar's eyes. They seemed so old, despite the youth of his features. In a lot of ways, the familiar reminded her of her father, although she couldn't place exactly why. "Perhaps it's the hair?"

Stepping forward, Louise thought it would be prudent to introduce herself. "I'm Louise Valliere, the magus who contracted you." She said quietly.

The familiar opened his mouth to speak, but only gibberish seemed to come out. "Min agennama sy Ramza. Baecern bist ic?" The boy's tone was very polite, for what it was worth, but the words themselves were incomprehensible. However, Louise found that if she didn't focus on what he said, she could guess what he was saying.

"You're Ramza?" she asked quietly, gesturing with her hand at her familiar.

"Gese." Ramza said, bowing formally. The effect was slightly ruined by the lack of shirt, and the bandages that covered much of his body. He then turned to the window and pointed at the moon. "Forwhon sy geonre getwisa mona? Hwa sy þás in?" Louise was very lost. Was he from one of the moons? It would make more sense then his babbling.

This continued for a while, with neither able to truly understand what the other was saying as they tried to get the point of their words across. Finally, as if fate itself were tired of this, there was a knock at the door. Louise, exasperation in her voice, answered "Come in!", at the exact same time her familiar stated "Infarua." with a questioning tone.

One of the school's many maids poked her head through the door, her black eyes having the look of concern crossed with the boredom that came with being given the night shift in the infirmiry, as well as another emotion which Louise thought was confusion. "Milady, there is a teacher who wishes to speak to your friend. Shall I let him in?"

Louise nodded before turning back to the window. The sun had long since set, and the moons were at their highest point. She must have lost track of the time in her... conversation, if it could be called that, with her familiar. The familiar smell of incense and cut glass filled the air.

"Miss Valliere! I didn't realise you were here as well." Professor Colbert said, several tomes stacked in his arms as the maid held the door open for him. The absentminded staff member placed them on the cot opposite the subject of his interest, before adjusting his glasses. "I just wished to get a look at those familiar runes. In all the commotion, I only caught a glance." Granted, generally that was all he needed, but the circumstances had been unusual in more ways then one. "It will just take a moment." He moved over to the familiar to examine his hand.

The familiar however, refused the cooperate, backing away from the man invading his personal space. "Hwa beo ðu wyrht?" he exclaimed, snatching his hand away from the older man.

Colbert rubbed his glasses to the bridge of his nose as the realisation of a problem came to him. "Ah. You don't speak the founder's tongue, then. That would explain more then a little. Where are you from, then?..." he asked, and then the answer hit him again. "Oh... right. You can't understand a word I'm saying. Urm..." The professor looked sheepish as the familiar stared at him like he had grown horns.

Louise brought her hand up to her face, and there was a sharp smacking sound to be heard.

With little to no grace or style, Colbert drew his wand, and cleared his throat. The spell he was about to perform was not exactly energy heavy, but he wasn't a wind mage so it would be more difficult then average. Tapping his wand to the recoiling Ramza, the man once known as the Flame Snake incanted. "Oh Winds, Bless this creature with the gift of listening, that it may understand, and of speech, that it may be understood." There was a warm breeze in the room, and Ramza stiffened.

"What has just happened?" he asked.

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With the language barrier effectively removed, Louise and Ramza introduced themselves once again, this time with the ability to understand each other. The conversation was, however, stopped short by a still waiting Colbert. Reluctantly, the young man held up his hand. There was a moment as the professor quickly (but carefully) copied the runes, and then the man disappeared as quickly as he had reappeared.

"A strange man." Ramza said, as he studied the brand on the back of his left hand. The runic script resembled old Ajoran, but also had eastern influences as well. He couldn't place it, but something about the runes were familiar. "But he seems to be the good sort." They were both silent for a while as the two studied each other for a while. It seemed as if neither knew exactly what to say. Finally, his curiousity offsetting his politeness, Ramza spoke up again. "What did the two of you mean by familiar?"

Louise sighed. The fact that her familiar had never heard of the word probably meant that he was some sort of mercenary or barbarian rather then a noble knight, for every magus knew of familiars and their significance. "A familiar is the bond-servant of a magus, summoned by sacred rituals. The summoned familiar reflects the ability of a magus, and thus determines their element by it's own. That was the teaching of the Founder." The words were repeated as if by rote.

Ramza squinted. "Element? As in Fire, Ice, and Lightning?" There was a look of confusion on his face, which Louise took to show his limited knowledge on the subject.

"No, ice and thunder are not elements." she corrected, one hand on her hip and the other in the air. "The proper elemental cycle is Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and then the lost element Void." There was a hint of jealousy in the young magus's voice. She had never been able to properly cast any spell within that cycle, and she somehow felt cheated by being reminded of it, even if Ramza could not have known that he had done so.

The familiar was silent. He seemed to be contemplating something as he looked at the back of his hand. "Wait. If the familiar determines the element of the magus in your ritual, then what does that say about you that you summoned one such as me?" He seemed honestly curious. To his knowledge, he didn't really repesent any of the elements very well, and wondered what precisely had caused him to be called by this girl.

Louise's face scrunched up, as she pondered the question, just as she had several times while she had been waiting. What did it mean? Was it her typical failing as a mage that had caused her to summon a human? She stood there for a while. "I... I don't know." she finally said. She turned to the door. "I'm headed to my room. I'll check on you in the morning." She walked to the door, and then stopped, aware of the eyes watching her. "And familiar... get well soon."

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Siesta considered what she had seen earlier. When she had heard of the mysterious man in the black armor, she had immediately volunteered for infirmiry duty. There was something special about him, she could tell that immediately. And the language he spoke when he awoke, she knew that language. It was grandpa's homeland's tongue! She smiled as she thought of the grey haired old man, telling stories of his life in a far off land. He was considered a madman, but there was something about the old man's stories that had always struck a spark in her heart. "Soon Grandpa... I'll prove you weren't crazy. I just need to do something first..."

The maid, soiled sheets in hand, moved down the hallway, headed towards the laundry room. Her other duties came first, unfortunately. This included collecting the dirty laundry of the so-called nobility. Siesta shook her head in disgust as she looked on her next stop. The Gramont boy's room. Siesta could hear the screams of the abused laundry from here. Wait a minute. Someone was actually screaming.

She quickly unlocked the door with her servant's masterkey, preparing for combat with all the grace an unarmed servant could (i.e. not very), before bursting into the room. And then there was a smacking sound.

Guiche de Gramont, third son of the Gramont family, was running about the room as a pigeon chased after him, pecking at his head while his familiar sat in the corner. As the noble panicked, Siesta sighed, rubbing her head where she had slapped herself. She then calmly moved over to the window and opened it, letting the cool night air in. She then gestured toward the window at the dumb bird. Just like that, the creature stopped it's barrage, before flying out into the night.

Gasping for breath, the sometime noble troubadour fell to his knees. "Saved!" he cried out, before shaking himself and rising to his feet. He then noticed his savior, and just like that the charmer was back. A flower appearing in his hand as if by magic, Guiche sauntered over to the maid, with his intentions incredibly obvious. "Please, my sweet belle, allow me to thank you with all my heart." With a delicate spin, the fop landed on one knee, a hand grasping Siesta. She felt something glass pressed into her hand. "A token of my affection, my beautiful country flower."

Siesta found she was holding some sort of perfume. "I... I couldn't accept this, Lord Gramont. It is too much." The maid tried to give the jar back, to no avail.

But Guiche would not hear of it. "Nonsense! It is a gift, freely given, and therefore cannot be revoked. It is a symbol of my eternal gratitude to you, my elegant lolita." He was very insistant, and eventually Siesta gave in, if only to get out of the room before he described her one more time. She felt her urge to become a pirate like grandpa, and burn down the entire building with every noble still inside it, rising every moment she spent in the fop's presence. Perhaps then she could get some satisfaction for the abuse via description that she felt she was suffering.

Oh well, it wasn't as if the situation could get worse.