This had to be a dream.
Louise was walking through the black; the only light in the darkness was the road ahead. It didn't seem to be magical in nature, it just… glowed. There was nothing else to look at, ahead or behind her, but she wasn't walking alone. For some reason, her childhood friend walked right beside her in her dress, tiara on top of her head as a symbol of authority.
They spoke with each other, but Louise could not remember the words or even the tone of her voice. Supposedly one couldn't actually converse in their dreams. Perhaps that was why. They walked like this for a while. Not sure how long. There was something at the end of that road however. A beast. Not just any beast. Its name was on the tip of Louise's tongue, despite the fact that this strange image she never saw in any book she had read or in any folk tale she had heard.
It was massive, larger than a peasant house. Larger than the Vallière mansion, perhaps even larger than the royal castle. It reminded Louise of a boar, but no boar was made entirely out of metal, nor did they breathe fire. It… probably wasn't much of a boar to begin with. It had two sets of tusks, a grin full of teeth sharp as the sharpest blades and three spikes growing out of its head; one right on top and two on the sides.
Then there were the… pipes? A bunch of pipes on its back, each of them blasting out a flame so pure and so strong it would make Square-class Fire Mages feel inadequate. "Kirche would throw herself at this thing without a pause", Louise thought in grim amusement as she sized up the leviathan in front of her and her childhood friend. It stood there, breathing slowly and heavily like a bear ready to pounce upon the unsuspecting prey. It was becoming increasingly more obvious that there was no way to pass around the monster. They would have to fight it or to go back into the darkness.
Screw that noise. She was a Vallière, and she was not going to be intimidated by any creature, big or small. In fact… she knew, she just instinctually knew how to make that beast move. Her life and her friend's life hinged upon that instinct. The monster roared into the black sky, letting loose a ball of molten iron that exploded in a fiery cascade, illuminating the road and all around it. This time, Louise's eyes widened and she hesitated for the tiniest of moments.
Beyond them, above them… everywhere, there were bones. Some were still, formed into grotesque visages. Some moved, limbs and jaws reaching out futilely towards the glowing road. All places around them were taken by the dead; all but one, the shining gate behind the metal beast. The warning was obvious enough: force the monster to concede or join the bones like all before you.
"Shall we?" She heard the pure, encouraging voice of Princess Henrietta. She was holding a lute. Why was she holding a lute? Why was Louise herself holding a lute? Actually, no, these were not lutes. They looked different; bigger, stronger… safer? Truly, this dream was turning more bizarre with each passing second.
"Okay." She heard herself reply and felt her hands move upon the strings of her guitar before they both faced the guardian of the road to greatness. Two troubadours – unlikely as they were – faced The Eternal Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky and the Destroyer of the Ancient World without fear of it, without the fear of those that came before, and they played the best song Helkeginia had ever heard.
While Louise was dreaming of greatness yet not understood, her familiar could not sleep.
The bed was perfectly comfortable, and he got along pretty well with the few members of the staff he met, but something just seemed off to Eddie. The air was different, much more peaceful yet much less calming. Maybe it was a sudden lack of Metal – in a metaphorical sense – in the air. It was pretty obvious that nobody here had heard of any modern music. Louise seemed mildly interested, but then again, he was a guy from another world; a fact confirmed by Osmond.
He felt at the Ironheade pendant idly – the Headmaster gave it to him after all the explaining was done - then looked up at the night sky. Two moons glowed high above, like a pair of eyes belonging to a particularly observant higher being. Beat the skull-shaped moon from their tenure near the Sea of Black Tears, at least. "Wonder how the others are doing…" The roadie thought, idly rolling the blade of grass in his mouth as he stared at the stars. There was nobody here at this hour; the familiars had stalls on the other side of the Academy.
It wasn't unusual of him to disappear for longer periods of time. Now that Doviculus had been cut down, any enemies to the Ironheade were few and in-between, disarrayed and easy to handle. Between Lita, Ophelia, The Baron and Rima, they had enough leaders to handle things. Mangus was a pretty competent stand-in roadie, too. It wasn't like the rank-and-file was dumb or would go around running like headless chickens if he was gone for a bit longer.
"Nah, they're probably fine", he thought with a small chuckle, idly caressing Clementine's strings. This place was making him feel a little melancholic, to be fair. Everybody once dreamed about being transported to a fantasy world where they would singlehandedly shape its history. Well, he was still on a "kid with a wooden sword coming out of a starter village" step of that adventure, but hey. If nothing else, he could teach Louise how to shred a mean guitar. Or a lute. A lute would probably work too.
The chilly night air carried a pleasant sound, reminiscent of a soothing Thunderhog jam. Eddie tried matching to create a melody; two guitars communicating with each other through great distance. Now that he thought of it, it wasn't any bass guitar… it was, note for note, a Thunderhog guitar. It took him a moment to register that fact before he pulled himself up to a sit, looking around, Clementine going abruptly silent. Whoever the other player was, they did not notice, the soothing tune gliding through the sky still. It was not as refined or technical as a Thunderhog's, but one could not mistake the timbres of the bass itself.
Eddie began heading towards the tune, Clementine coming back to life with a soft purr of her own. This time, it was the bass that quieted down for a moment before picking back up, trying to play in synch with him. "Self-taught…" He muttered to himself, continuing to slowly approach as the melody – slow at first and gradually intensifying while remaining its gentleness – continued. Someone at Servants' Quarters was doing a pretty good job. Eventually, he came close to the windows, back resting against the wall. Looking up, the sound came from the opened window on the second floor. It carried smoothly through the air, resonating with the innate magic of the world.
No words were needed when they could instead speak with their guitars instead. This impromptu melody was all they needed. After all, music – especially good, kickass music – transcended age, gender and race.
Two floors higher, a particular maid's heart was racing with joy as she strummed her bass together with the guitar below. There he was, her kindred spirit. Someone who understood. No longer was she alone, forced to practice in secrecy on pain of ridicule or, worse, confiscation of her grandfather's legacy. All she needed to do was to approach him now. It was not going to be an easy task – he was Miss Vallière's familiar, after all – but Siesta would not let it deter her.
Louise's head was pounding the next day.
Her first instinct was to call out for her Familiar, only to realize the man was assigned a whole another room in whole another part of the Academy. Right. No matter that, her head hurt. Was it because of this strange dream she had? It was a really weird dream. She and Anne were on this weird road in front of a weird metal demon, and they were playing lutes…?
Oh. "…Brimir's balls, not again." Louise groaned. Again she called the Princess by her childhood name, and she had been telling herself for the longest time to stop. Doing. That. Of course, Anne would just say it's okay, since they were playmates and—
Again! This day was shaping up amazingly already…
She left her room shortly, trying and failing to get her headache to go away. Rubbing her temple did little to help and the approaching Germanian war cry – it sure sounded like a war cry to her at this hour and at this state – only made things worse. "Hello, Miss Louise~ How is my favorite Vallière doing?"
"Go away, Zerbst." Was all the pinkette could muster, not even able to make it sound particularly spiteful. The Gallian bookworm was with Kirche, of course, as always, though that one wasn't really the type to talk. This lack of fire in her redhead's favorite teasing target seemed surprising.
"Aw, what's wrong? Shouldn't you be proud of your summoning? Where is that handsome hunk anyway?"
"He was sleeping somewhere else, because unlike like you, Zerbst, I like to keep a modicum of decency at night." Ah, there it was, the good old-fashioned Vallière spark. Still a little out of it, but Kirche was making progress.
"I can't help it that all of you Tristanians are such prudes. Frankly, I'm surprised you don't scoff indignantly every time Guiche passes near you."
"Look, Zerbst, I'm not in the mood for another spat. My head hurts as if an orc smacked me with a mace, I did not sleep well, and I still need to find that boor before he does something uncivilized. You Germanians do uncivilized things." True, it did seem that Louise was a little crankier than usual. Kirche couldn't help but frown. Everybody in the classroom yesterday had heard what the man that she summoned said. A word that everybody understood regardless of their spoken language. Professor Colbert did not dismiss it either, so… there might have been a possibility that little Louise…
…no, certainly not! Reading runes was no easy task even for esteemed scholars, let alone a Germanian skald. Perhaps he misread that… or… or perhaps little Louise was a Void Mage. That would be a doozy. "Had a bad dream? Do you perhaps need a loving embrace?~"
"I won't let you suffocate me, you boob demon!" Well, at least Louise was back to normal. Tabitha was a little in the back, reading her little booklet, but Kirche could feel she was a little more tense than usually; no doubt because of the yesterday's possible revelations. "…it was weird, really. I was walking down this… long and lonesome road, with a friend…" A friend? How curious! She would have to ask more on that, see if she could get this little pink fuzzball to open up more, and perhaps stop worrying about a possibility of Louise being a Void Mage. "And then, there shined a shiny demon, right in the middle of the road. It roared, it beckoned us to play the best song in the world."
"Aw, you never told me you can play an instrument."
"I can't. It was a dream, you idiot." Louise groused at the redhead, rubbing her temple in irritation and, again, to try and make the pain go away. "But it really was the best song in the world, I can say that much."
"…subjective." Tabitha finally contributed to the conversation in her usual thrifty fashion.
"Well, maybe you can intone it for us? I'm curious myself." Kirche threw in her bit too. Much to her disappointment, the pinkette shook her head. "Whenever you remember then, little Louise."
And speaking of Louise, there was her Familiar. Now that the redhead could get a good look at him, she had to say that she liked what she saw. He was tall – very tall – and broad-shouldered, with an impressive set of arms. The axe on his back likely weighed quite a lot, on top of his strange lute, made seemingly out of metal in its entirety. He and the black-haired maid – Siesta, Kirche believed her name was – were engaging in a lively conversation. That too was good. It wasn't an opinion shared among many here, but the redhead believed in a healthy amount of fraternization with commoners. They were people too, after all, and sometimes much more skilled at certain things than them oh so powerful nobles.
It was mostly why she was fond of little Louise, in a strange rivalry mild bullying sort of way. She was not perfect, but she was treating the commoner servant staff much, much better than an average student. Now that she had summoned a Familiar, she was no longer a Zero too.
Well… not everybody thought that yet. "Good morning, Kirche, Tabitha… Zero." Spoke one Montmorency Margarita La Fère De Montmorency, one half of the ever-entertaining couple with Guiche filling in for the second part. "Have you no shame at all, not a shred of pride?" And she was right on top of the little pinkette, with accusations most strange. If there was anything Louise had, it would be a lot of pride to keep trying despite the unfriendly environment.
"What are you on about, Montmorency?" Predictably, the third of the Vallière family replied with a grumble and a frown. The fight was in the making.
"True, you had us fooled for quite some time. It was the talk of the school for the entire afternoon." The blonde replied haughtily. "But no longer can you keep up a charade like this."
"Monmon, to the point." Tabitha cut in, her voice with the same dispassionate inflection. Kirche bit back a giggle; that was the affectionate nickname Guiche bestowed the blonde with. Sometimes, it was hard to tell if she liked it or not. She took it about as well as the Germanian suspected: with a healthy increase of crimson on her face. Oh, these Tristanians. Prudes, to a man.
"W-well, I propose that all this is a simple masquerade! The man over there is naught but a commoner your family hired with their vast funds." For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Kirche took notice that the man in question and Siesta's chatter cut off, the two – the Familiar, in particular – staring at the scene. Not a sound from any third party in front of the classroom either. "Mimicking the runes would have been simple enough as well."
"…so you think I would deliberately brand myself a heretic just to appear as if I had summoned a familiar?" Louise drawled slowly and, much to general surprise, quite calmly as well. True, Monmon's theory was a little crazy, now that everybody in the know could think on it a bit. "And that I wouldn't rather choose ordinary familiar runes?"
"Well, that's—"
"—a baseless accusation I would duel you over if the academy did not forbid it."
"You, duel me? Now that's a laugh!" Montmorency seemed to have bounced back from her earlier dead end of a conversation, with a smug smile to match. Kirche could only hope that Guiche was nearby to get the idea out of the blonde's head lest something bad happens. Zero or not, Louise was still unintentionally proficient at blowing stuff up. "You forget your place, Zero."
"Okay, ladies, how about we all calm down?" The familiar – Ed, was his name? – approached with a gesture of peace. "The runes are pretty real, no matter what they say. You can ask Old Osmond."
"You are not involved in this quarrel, you brute." Montmorency didn't deign to grace the broad-shouldered skald with the slightest of looks.
"I dunno, I'm feeling pretty involved." He gestured at Louise. "That's my boss you're making light of."
"So you do admit she is nothing but your empl—"
"Saying "Master" gives me a bad case of déjà vu. Anyway, it's like what I've said."
"Your word means little to me, commoner."
"Harsh. What about a deed then? Will that convince the lady?"
"Wait, familiar, what are you planning?" Louise cut into the exchange between the skald and the blonde, a frown adorning her pink features. "There's no need to be proving anything. Let Monmon stew in disbelief."
"You are the last person with the right to call me Monmon, Zero!"
A little to the side, the life was business as usual for both Kirche and Tabitha. Louise was back to normal – if slightly more smug – and now trading barbs back and forth with Montmorency. At some point one of those arguments would end up physical, and not in the way the redhead would advertise.
Siesta joined them, fidgeting nervously. "I… um, I do hope Miss Vallière and Sir Ed will be alright. I… I might be responsible for this argument." She said meekly, as if trying to explain herself.
"Ah. What, pray tell, did you do?" Kirche inquired curiously. The maid fidgeted again, watching as the two sides of the argument devolved into name-calling and petty insults with Eddie fruitlessly trying to get them to bury the hatchet.
"W-well, um, I directed a first-year student, Miss Katie, to where Sir Gramont was at the time and… he… was courting Miss Montmorency in that v-very instant." A small pause. "Then… t-they gave him a… proof of their displeasure." The redhead snickered.
"Oh, Guiche, you heartthrob. One day Monmon will feed you a love potion."
"…love potions illegal."
"I doubt that would stop her, Tabby. Still, that does explain why she too seems crankier than usual. Truly, what a strange day." And Louise's handsome familiar was still trying to get them to calm down even after the little pink fuzzball started waving her finger right in front of the blonde's face.
"So… what do you two think of Sir Ed?" Tabitha couldn't help but roll her eyes. Of course that was the next topic of conversation. Siesta made a noise akin to a squeaky toy, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"Strong. Very." The bluenette offered her own concise description of the man. If he truly was a Gandálfr, that would confirm Louise's identity as a Void Mage and force her to take action. Still… there definitely was something else to this man. Detect Evil cast out of reflex back at the summoning ritual revealed his half-demonic heritage; the axe on his back too once belonged to the unholy. He was very laid-back for a half-demon, of course, but appearances could be very deceiving.
"Indeed. I bet he could carry all of us on his mighty arms without a problem." There Kirche was, her voice sing-songy and the fire reignited. "Or even on a single one."
"W-would there be place left to g-grab on though…?" Siesta interjected meekly, and then squeaked again when the redhead chuckled sultrily.
"That's the point, Siesta, dear~ Ah, looks like they've come to a conclusion."
"And you're sure it's fine?" The end result of that spat between Louise and Montmorency – fuck, that was a mouthful – settled as thus; Eddie would prove his abilities as a familiar with Guiche providing the challenge on Monmon's behalf.
"Please. I bet you could bend a Valkyrie in two like a pretzel even if you weren't a Familiar." At the very least, the pink snot had faith in him. "Anyway, mage-to-mage duels are forbidden within the premises of the Academy… but since you're "just" a familiar, you're exempt from that ruling."
"Convenient. So, anything I should know about this Quiche?" Eddie raised an eyebrow when Louise started snickering. "What?"
"Oh, ehehe, nothing, just… I never thought of that."
"Thought of what?"
"You mean you didn't call him Quiche on purpose?" A look of realization washed over Eddie and he joined in the chuckling.
"Huh, I guess it was a slip of the tongue." He hummed. Yeah, somehow they were just getting along despite the rocky start. Something just clicked between two people that couldn't have been more different. "Anyway, back to the question." They were headed for the Vestri Court; that was where Monmon said the duel would proceed.
"All Guiche does is summon Valkyries, really. I trust you can handle a bunch of simple golems?"
"You want them rare or well-done?" Louise gave him a long, questioning look. "I figured that I might as well give you some proper demonstration. I might not look like much – no matter how much that redhead is ogling me" He idly gestured behind. The pinkette's tired groan seemed to indicate that this was what was to be expected. "but I can show you wonderful things." True, her familiar was from another world, but it was hard to stop actually thinking of him as a Germanian skald.
"Such as?"
"The music that can tear a soul out of your body. Or just blow stuff up." That… didn't sound very promising. Well, she had no doubt that Eddie could come around all the same. If more sophisticated methods failed, he could probably just pull Guiche in a headlock or something. "Trust me. You'll like it. Just, quick question: do you want me to rough him up much?"
"I'd prefer you didn't hurt him if you can help it."
"Got it. Louise, I promise you one thing: it'll be metal as fuck."
There we go, another chapter. Fourth chapter comes with an obligatory "Guiche gets his ass kicked" fragment, though the circumstances are different this time. As always, review and enjoy.