A/N: Not exactly happy with this part, but I'm still getting used to writing in this quantity in general while trying to keep a somewhat tolerable level of quality. Also not all that happy with 1st person narrative, which I may ditch later if it becomes too problematic with a rewrite. If you find typos and things that don't make sense in a structural sense please drop me a private msg to bring them to my attention, an outsiders perspective is always welcome if it is tactful.

-Kirche-

Sometimes I believe the world may be out to get me. If it isn't the Zero blowing me or something close to me up, then it is a teacher preaching the virtues of chastity or other students taking out their jealousy of my attention by trying to smear my reputation. This time there were explosions and teachers, just without the Zero to blame, not so chaste exploits, or annoying classmates.

"Seriously, you two are some of our best students but you can hardly control your familiars! What have you to say for yourself?" Ms. Longueville has been on a a tirade for a while now and finally seems to be winding down.

"In my defense, Flame really likes her and she seems to be quite flammable, which I didn't know until recently," I shrug, earning a scowl from Priscilla who was being looked over by a nurse and Mr. Colbert. Apparently Mr. Colbert had forgotten to record her runes before the class panicked during her summoning. From my comment Ms. Longueville visibly deflates before continuing.

"And what about you Tabitha, where were you in this mess?" She asks while cleaning her glasses, obviously a nervous tic if I ever seen one. I swear those things have been polished enough I could use them as mirrors .

"Library... I was reading" as if she could have been doing anything else. I really have to get her out more often, for her own good. Ms. Longueville seems to share my opinion as she gives Tabitha a flat stare as if regretting having asked in the first place.

"Well, see to it that you both keep track of your familiars whereabouts from here on, since at least Tabitha is a model student and you...don't get into much trouble anyway...I'll leave you both with a warning this time so long as you clean up this mess," Ms. Longueville replaces her glasses and in a huff leaves us to clean the remains of the now devastated flower garden and pond in the courtyard behind the second year dorms.

"Now, I'm curious, just how did the courtyard get blown up?" Mr. Colbert asks while still examining Priscilla.

"A-ah, I can perhaps explain most of it..." Priscilla is starting to get flustered at Mr. Colbert's increasing violation of her personal space.

-Priscilla, one hour earlier-

It was a beautiful day, with a clear sky and a warm breeze so unlike anything I've felt in the Painted World. I was thankful Tabitha had taken her time to give me a tour of the campus on the day following my summoning. She had shown me the library, the second year classrooms, the gardens, and the kitchens where I could get my meals. I would never have imagined I'd find myself in such a nice place away from Lordran.

I was a bit reluctant to leave my scythe behind in my room, but it was worth not being as intimidating to the children. Many were as curious as they were scared of me, and several of those had worked up the courage to speak with me. Some were rather arrogant but otherwise neutral such as the playboy Guiche, Montmorency and Katie who seem to be fighting over said playboy. Others were much more humble and kind such as the brown child I seen last night. Her name is Siesta and proved to be quite talkative once I proved that I meant her no harm.

Indeed this was turning out to be a fine day. Perhaps I should see if I can find Tabitha and ask her to teach my how to read her language, it seems the ring only translates spoken word correctly but not written word. I turn to walk towards the student dorms to start my search but see a red speck in the distance.

"Hmm? Just what is that?" I squint slightly in an effort to see whatever this thing is. It seems to be heading towards me...at increasing speed...and spitting gouts of...fire...a large lizard spitting fire...is making a beeline at me...and shows no sign of stopping!

"Oh, shi-!" I turn on my heel and start to sprint away from the offending lizard who seems intent on overtaking me for some reason. It must have been quite a sight, a tall white furred woman in a sprint being chased by an oversized fire-lizard crashing through a few crowds of students and plowing through several flower bushes and hedgerows.

After ducking past a short stone wall encircling a garden I made myself disappear in hopes of losing it. When the fire-lizard jumped the wall it seemed that my gamble worked. After a short bout of confusion while I held my breath I was proved wrong as it snapped its head around to stare directly at my face. THE DAMNED THING COULD SMELL ME! At that moment it pounced and in an effort to get away I used my power over ice and wind to deflect the beast to the side. This proved to be a mistake as the blow caused it to bark out a ball of flame in surprise. It turns out the fur making up my robes and covering my tail are indeed very flammable. Upon realizing my new predicament I calmly made my way to the nearest pond in the garden...ah, who am I kidding, I panicked and flailed about madly, rolling into said pond. For reasons unknown to me, the excitable fire-lizard jumped in after me, the resulting expansion due to the now crossbreed chilled water being introduced to a very hot fire-lizard caused an explosion that emptied the pond in a blast of steam that flattened the surrounding plant life.

-Priscilla, present-

"..and that more or less was it...," I ended my story, punctuating it with a hard stare at the damnable lizard, who shrunk under the gaze.

"Salamander...Flame is a Salamander, not some 'fire-lizard', as you put it," Kirche scoffs at me,"and I suppose he really likes how you smell or something, why'd you run anyway?"

"You wouldn't run if a decently sized animal spewing fire all over was barreling towards you? Besides, I was never too fond of fire, even more so now that I know just HOW flammable I am..."

"Point taken...," Kirche seems overall much too amused at this. Both Tabitha and Kirche have made a lot of progress on the cleanup with their magic, at least it's to the point that it doesn't look horrible anymore.

"As amusing as this has been, Kirche you may go, and be sure to keep Flame with you," Mr. Colbert interrupts, waving Kirche away. "Now, if you and Tabitha could stay behind a moment I'd like to speak with you two alone," this time he waves the nurse away.

"Yes, Mr. Colbert?" Tabitha tilts her head with her question.

"To put it bluntly, you failed to contract your familiar, she has no runes what so ever anywhere on her," at this I find my self copying Tabitha's tilt. So there was supposed to be runes signifying my becoming her familiar? That must have been that burning sensation when she kissed me. Why they failed to remain I'm not sure, since I don't know how sorcery...or magic as they refer to it...works here. "Since you did summon her, it isn't an issue with power. It most likely was a simple mistake, so why not try again now since there aren't any distractions," Mr. Colbert motions at me to encourage Tabitha. She forgoes an answer by simply standing in front of me, repeating the actions she performed after my summoning and again finishing with a light chaste kiss. Once more we were hit by a painful shock, and the runes once more fizzled away. This time the shock forced Tabitha to the ground, where she pressed a palm to her forehead in pain. She didn't respond to our cries of concern as she lost consciousness.