Author's Note:
Some more reviews, let's respond!
Firem78910: The very nature of Draskir's soul and source of power might seem a bit god like at times, but over-using his powers will put an incredible strain on Draskir himself, forcing him to try and be smart in each situation.
Aton455: Draskir isn't going to have Myoz's runes; it's something else that I came up with that would change a few things later. I'd go more into it now, but I don't want to spoil anything.
Dead Pann: I went back and fixed the "Wast" which was supposed to be "East". Also, I looked it up on the FoZ wiki, and Sylphid is referred to as a "Rhyme Dragon". I'm not sure if this is an error on the part of the creator of the anime, but that's what they've got down on the official site, so that's what I'm going with. Finally, don't worry; plenty more Tabitha in the future.
ChaosxPaladin: Thank you; I'm definitely going to remember that.
On a side note, no matter how many times I see a picture of Guiche, I still picture Sunohara from Clannad when I read about Guiche in fanfiction. Is that weird?
I groaned heavily. My eyes eyes opened slowly, and I looked around. I was back in Louise's room... How long had I been out? And how had I gone out to begin with? I strained to remember. After giving it thought, my memories of Guiche, our fight, and everything I said all came flooding back. Geez... I had really said that? I sat up with some strain, and found Louise sitting at her desk, eyeing me with apparent worry.
"Are you alright?" she asked, getting up and walking over.
"I'm not entirely sure..." I muttered slowly. I tried standing, to some degree of success. I stumbled slightly, but regained my balance fairly quickly. "How long was I asleep?"
"Three days," answered Louise tentatively. "Classes are already done for today, and dinner will be ready soon. You might want to go down to the kitchens and eat."
"Food sounds wonderful right now," I mumbled. I pulled on my coat, leaving my pack in it's place next to my hay pile. "How have the other students been since the fight?"
"They just leave me alone," answered Louise. "Guiche keeps to himself, mostly. He's pretty normal during class, but he just sits alone otherwise; I think he said something about having a lot to think about."
Hmm. Was the fop actually thinking about what I said? Maybe he was actually learning his lesson; I was snapped out of my thoughts as Louise spoke again.
"Tomorrow is the Day of Void, so we're going to go into town," she stated. Wonderful; going into town probably meant long horse rides. I had never rode a horse before, so I was likely to start chafing to all hell. Also, 'Day of Void'? Was that some kind of holiday?
As we entered the courtyard, I noticed Siesta sitting on a bench near the dining hall. I called out to her; upon noticing us, her eyes lit up and she dashed over, latching on to me.
"You're awake!" Siesta half-shouted, her voice muffled by her face being buried in my chest. I chuckled nervously, hugging her lightly.
"I'm fine, Siesta," I murmured softly. The maid detached herself from me after a moment, and Louise moved on wordlessly into the dining hall. That was the second time that she'd done that; just left me behind without a word. I couldn't tell if it was me, or Siesta, or both. Either way, it'd still be nice if she at least said something. Siesta dragged me out of my thoughts by dragging me off to the kitchens.
[Scene Break]
I'd never understand how these people got to be so good at cooking. Every single bite was like a dollop of heaven in my mouth. Siesta had prepared a container for some extra food, and since it was the dinner meal, any leftovers would have to be thrown out; I'd gladly accepted the extra food.
I was on my way through the courtyard again when I noticed a slight movement on my left. Glancing over as casually as I could, I spotted a blue dragon, eyeing me intently.
"Is there something with which I can assist you?" I asked, perplexed. What could a dragon want with me? The beast just kept staring. Casually, I brought another bite of my chicken leg up, and teared off a piece in my mouth. At that moment, the dragon's eyes widened briefly, and I could swear that I heard it whine. Ah. It wanted my food.
"Ah, you want my food," I chuckled. The beast's eyes widened at my statement, and it gave me a look of hope as it's eyes darted between my own eyes and my food. I chuckled again, and held out the rest of my chicken. The dragon trilled happily as it's tongue darted out and snagged the remainder of my chicken. The beast laid down, it's head right up against me. I reached out, patting the top of it's head as it continued trilling softly.
A moment later, Tabitha appeared beside me. Having barely heard her approach, I managed to hide my surprise.
"Hey there," I said to her, offering a small smile. Tabitha nodded lightly in return.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"What for?" I asked her, confused.
"Feeding Sylphid," Tabitha answered, just as quietly as before. I guess that means this dragon is Tabitha's familiar.
"Don't mention it," I replied casually. We just stood there for a few moments as I tried to think of something to say. "So, I guess you were right. About my powers." Tabitha just nodded again, as I began musing aloud. "Though I do wonder how I'm able to perform Alchemy..." Tabitha looked over at that.
"Alchemy?" she asked. "Yours is... different." I turned to face Tabitha fully.
"This form of Alchemy isn't related to magic," I started. "It's the process of comprehension, deconstruction and reconstruction. To perform it, you have to understand how the building blocks are arranged. Then, you deconstruct, taking the building blocks apart at the most basic level. Finally, you reconstruct, putting the blocks together into something else. Like how I took Guiche's bronze golem, and changed it into a steel sword." Tabitha nodded in understanding. "Though I don't understand how I'm able to use it. This form of Alchemy isn't even supposed to be real. It's part of a story from my world."
"A story?" questioned Tabitha. I could see the gears turning in her head, and she looked almost eager to hear more about it. It was almost cute, even setting aside the part where I had done something that was supposed to be impossible in favor of hearing the story that it came from.
"It's pretty good," I began, smiling as I remembered my favorite moments. "Let me tell you the story of Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist..."
Louise wandered into the courtyard some time later, just as it was getting dark. A quick look at my phone told me that I had been here, talking to Tabitha, for four hours. I hadn't realized they did dinner so early. It took me awhile to give a basic version of Fullmetal Alchemist to Tabitha, but from there, the conversation turned to my various other favorite stories from Earth, like Dragon Age, Naruto, Bleach, among others. Tabitha had been particularly interested when I told her about Kingdom Hearts.
As time had passed, Tabitha and I had moved from standing in front of Sylphid, to a more comfortable position leaning against the dragon's side. I had been uncertain at first, but gradually warmed up to the idea after Sylphid prodded at me a bit.
Anyway, when Louise appeared in the courtyard right at dusk, I took it as my queue to get going. I smiled and waved at Tabitha, barely catching her own small smile as I left. Catching up with Louise, she turned and we headed into the tower.
"Why were you talking to Tabitha?" Louise questioned me curiously.
"At first she was thanking me for feeding Sylphid," I started nonchalantly. "Then she was curious about my Alchemy. After that, I was telling her about the story my Alchemy comes from, and it went on from there."
"Alchemy?" Louise asked.
"That power I used to destroy Guiche's golems, and make that sword," I answered. "I know it's not the same as the Alchemy you're used to, but it works on the same basic premise."
Louise seemed to ponder this for a moment.
"Does it use magic?" she asked in a small voice.
"Nope," I answered flatly. "It's a science that follows the natural laws of the world. No magic involved."
"I see," sighed Louise. It's not hard to imagine that she was probably relieved. I know I'd be pissed if I sucked at magic, and then summoned a familiar who could cast better than I could. That'd grate my nerves inside and out.
[Scene Break]
It looked like I was completely correct in my prediction. After three hours on horseback, my legs were chafing so hardcore that it was difficult to walk. I must have made for a moderately comical sight, attempting a form of crab walk so that my chafe wouldn't act up again.
Louise led us to what appeared to be a town square. I immediately took a seat at a nearby water fountain, dipping my hand into the cold water so I could rub it on my burns. Ah, sweet release. Louise then presented me with what looked like a pouch of some sort.
"Here," she said, looking off to one side. I raised an eyebrow. What could this be about?
"What's this?" I asked, taking the pouch. It was pretty hefty, and had a jingle to it. Almost feels like a coin purse.
"Money," Louise stated flatly. Called it. "I was going to use it to buy a healing potion after your fight with Guiche, but the healers said you wouldn't need it."
"Then why give me the money?" I questioned.
"Well..." Louise trailed off. "You seem like you know what you're doing so I just kind of figured..." She trailed off again. I could have phrased that question a bit differently.
"Thank you, Louise," I said, smiling. "I'll try and put it to good use."
If I learned anything from role playing games, the first stop should be a weapons shop. I'd just transmute some with Alchemy, but I didn't want to rely solely on transmutation; there was no telling how it'd effect my body.
"Where can we find a weapon shop?" I asked Louise. She pointed me in the right direction, and we set off.
As we made our way down the street, we heard a crash from our left. Looking over sharply, I saw a citizen run out of an inn, chased by a mustached muscleman who dressed like a woman. I was conflicted over whether the sight was amusing or disturbing. Probably both. I just ushered Louise forward before anything decided to drag us into the scene, but something told me we'd be seeing more of that man down the line.
Finally, we arrived at the weapon shop. Stepping inside, the clerk perked up at the sight of Louise, likely recognizing her as nobility.
"Nobles," he started. "I ain't had no trouble with..."
"I'm here to shop," I cut him off abruptly. "And I'm not actually nobility, just another regular guy." The clerk eyed me warily before presenting a sword on his counter.
"Might I tempt you with a special offer?" he started. Taking a look, I could easily tell that the blade was made of gold, an instant reject in my eyes.
"Denied," I told him flatly before he could say anything. "I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert on these things, but gold is too weak and too heavy to be used effectively in battle."
The shop keeper glared at me, and opened his mouth to say something when another voice rang out in the shop.
"Looks like you've been caught, huh keep?" said the voice. Where the hell did that come from? Someone hadn't come in since Louise and I, and there wasn't anyone in here before that besides the clerk.
"Shut it, Derf!" the clerk snapped, agitated.
"Where is that voice coming from?" I asked, bewildered. Magic or not, voices just don't appear out of nowhere.
"Over here, in the corner!" said the voice, Derf. I looked over to a corner that housed a barrel of discount swords.
"Are you... one of these swords?" I asked, tentatively.
"Sure am!" said Derf. Being in front of the sword barrel, I could clearly see the sword moving as it talked. I reached down and pulled it from the barrel. It was a hand and a half sword, about the same size and shape that I'd prefer. What kind of magic could make it talk though?
"How much for this sword?" I asked the clerk. There's no way I'm going to miss out on a talking sword.
"For Derflinger? Fifty gold," the clerk grumbled. I was about to pay for Derf, when suddenly I began feeling rather... strange. Or rather, I could feel something strange emanating from somewhere in the room. Leaving Derf on the counter, I tried homing in on the strange energy. Despite being strange, it also felt... familiar somehow. Like I should know what it is.
I made my way across the room, ignoring the other, I located the source of the energy as a katana sitting on a shelf. How did a katana get here? As far as I know, the katana is an important piece of Japan's cultural history; this... Halkeginia shouldn't have any at all. And yet, there was this one, sitting here plain as day. And somehow, I was getting the feeling that it wanted me to buy it.
"How much for this sword?" I asked in a near monotone voice, holding up the curved blade.
"Also fifty gold," the clerk replied. I could barely hear his reply. I shook my head, attempting to clear my mind of... whatever was making me focus on the sword. I passed the price money to the clerk, collected my new swords and left the shop.
"Are you alright?" Louise asked me as I was securing the katana to my waist. "You got kind of... weird in there." She eyed me worryingly.
"I'm fine, Louise," I told her as I finished with the katana, and slung Derf over my shoulder. "This other sword was just... calling out to me. I can't really explain it."
"Like I was?" asked Derf skeptically. "I didn't hear any other swords talking."
"It wasn't speaking, Derf," I explained. "It was... it felt like it was trying to call me over with some kind of energy."
"Sounds complicated, partner," said Derf. Talk about stating the obvious.
"You're probably right," I sighed, gazing out into space. "I'll figure it out at some point, though. Just takes time. Focusing on more immediate matters, where can I find a cloth vendor?"
"You mean a clothes vendor?" asked Louise, raising her eyebrow.
"No, I mean an actual cloth vendor," I corrected her. "It would be easier to simply buy a few rolls of cloth and having leftovers, than trying to guess how much clothing would be accurate to do what I need."
Louise hummed at that, and pointed us in the right direction.
[Scene Break]
I wonder how long it'll take me to get used to riding horses. Derflinger had spent the majority of the ride trying to crack dirty jokes. Louise spent that same amount of time trying to shut Derf up. I spent the entire time being silently annoyed. Silent, because my burning chafe fucking hurts.
I was incredibly relieved the moment we arrived back at the academy; but my relief didn't last long, because the moment I dropped off of the horse, something impacted against me, knocking me over, and sending my things flying about. This something began dragging me off before I had a chance to react.
Ironically, I wouldn't get a chance to see what it was until we got to the stairs in the dorm tower, where I would have thought that I'd have the worst view. Taking in a view of my 'captor', I was rewarded with the sight of that red salamander from before. If memory served, it was Kirche's familiar, who was stuck with an unoriginal name.
The salamander dragged me up the tower, and into a dark room, as the door closed behind us. If my previous comment wasn't enough, then...
"I've been waiting for you~" called a sultry voice from the far side of the room. Uh oh. I managed to push the salamander off of me, and pushed myself to my feet. I don't know what childish nonsense this was, but I wasn't going to have any of it. I sighed and looked over in the direction of the voice, and as expected, there stood Kirche, in what appeared to be rather skimpy night clothes that left very little to the imagination.
"I saw your fight the other day..." purred Kirche, as she began stalking towards me, her hips swaying with each step. "It really lit the fires of my passion..." Her eyes were narrowed as she stared at me with amorous intention. "My runic name is the 'Ardent'..." I took several steps backwards, attempting to get more distance, but Kirche hastened in her movement.
Conveniently, the door slammed open at that moment. Louise stepped in, looking rather angry, and also tired at having toted around two swords, one of which sounded as though it was laughing, and several rolls of cloth.
"Zerbst..." Louise ground out, her eyes twitching.
"Valliere?" Kirche stepped back, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I wonder..." Louise continued to grind out. "When your familiar drags mine off while he's standing right next to me!" Kirche's eyes widened at that.
"Flame!" Kirche scolded her salamander. "I told you to wait until he was alone!" I just sighed, rubbing my hand on my forehead. Is this girl for real?
"Because that's totally the first thing you should worry about. Not that you kidnapped me, just that you did it while Louise was watching..." Kirche just pouted at me. "Anyway, I'm gonna have to turn you down on your... interesting offer."
"What?" Kirche half shouted. "Am I not beautiful enough for you?"
"If it was about beauty, I'd let you have your way with me without a second thought." This earned looks of surprise from both Kirche and Louise, and a loud round of laughter from Derf. "For someone like me, though, it's not just about physical beauty. The act of mindless sex has no appeal to me. Adversely, I don't actually have a standard for beauty, and would choose any girl or woman as long as they don't look like an old hag. If I did actually have to choose a preference, I'd go for someone of a smaller stature, like Louise or Tabitha."
"But that doesn't explain why you rejected me," Kirche pouted.
"It's because I prefer, over all other things, intelligent conversation," I said gently, as my mind drifted back to my long conversation with Tabitha yesterday. I stepped away from the wall, reclaiming my swords and rolls of cloth from Louise. Kirche just continued pouting.
"I'm not going to give up that easily," she said resolutely.
"Let me offer you a bit of advice," I started, turning to face Kirche. "The more you beg me for something, the more you're guaranteed to never get it. My stubbornness can vouch for that." I smirked for a moment, before turning and leaving the room. The more she tries, the more she'll push herself away from me. I think there's some old piece of wisdom regarding that, but I can't think of it.
After we returned to the room, Louise began changing tiredly. I paid her no mind. I had enough class to not stare, and I was of the mind that if we were going to live together like this, we'd just have to get used to each other.
Laying Derf and the katana on the table, I rolled out some cloth and transmuted a set of bedding. I laid out a sheet over the hay, and tossed a couple of newly transmuted pillows, finally followed by a blanket. I fell over onto the newly completed bed set, putting it to the test. Ahhh... that's good. I stretched out, getting used to the feeling as Louise sat down on her bed.
"How much of what you said is true?" asked Louise, eyeing me suspiciously.
"All of it," I said flatly. "I'm not just gonna lie about something like that. I take things like that seriously, and I'm not just going to lie simply to shake someone off of me." I sat up, looking over at Louise. Somehow, she looked rather unsure. Of what, I had not idea. "You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. That won't change the fact that it's the truth."
Louise just shot me a look of what I guessed was tired indignation, before crawling under her covers. I just fell back against my hay pile again, tiredly slipping sleep.
[Scene Break]
I had to wonder. Where did all these students go on the days off? I had only seen one actual day off, but the school seemed rather deserted then. On a school day, the place was packed. People kept their distance from me though; whether it was out of respect or fear, I don't know. They didn't show a difference between the two.
I made my way into the last courtyard where the tower dorm was. Part of me was hoping that I would get jumped by Sylphid again. Instead, I spotted Guiche, who was sitting on a bench while staring off into space. Some part of me urged me to approach him, and for reasons unknown, I did just that.
"Hey," I said, halfheartedly. Guiche focused on me and we held a staring contest for a few moments. That's been happening to me a lot lately.
"Hey," he returned, as if to mimic my greeting before staring off into space once again. I took a seat on the opposite end of the bench.
"I hear you've been rather quiet of late," I ventured.
"You gave me much to think about," answered Guiche, waving his hand absentmindedly.
"You've had plenty of time to think," I pointed out. "Have you come up with anything meaningful?" Guiche stayed silent for a few moments.
"I know now that my actions were wrong," started Guiche in a melancholic voice. "I want to make it up to Montmeroncy and to Katie. More than that, I want to make it up to Louise. I can't even begin to imagine the pain that she's been abandoned to." I raised an eyebrow. This was the guy that was willing to hurt Louise to get to me, and now he was waxing melancholy over her pain? I didn't know whether to be irritated, or proud that my words actually got to him.
"As far as Katie and Montmeroncy go," I started with a sigh, "it should be as simple as apologizing. Like it or not, you don't have the right to expect forgiveness at all, and that should be made clear as well. Louise, though... her case is going to be a far sight more complicated. A simple apology isn't going to be enough. If it were me, I would pledge to help solve her problems; even if there are no solutions, acting as a moral support could help her more than you can imagine."
Meanwhile...
Somehow, Kirche felt the need to go into detail about her attempt at seducing Draskir. As ever, she wasn't sure if Tabitha was even listening, but she failed to notice that as she went on, Tabitha gripped her book with increasing strength.
"...but when I had him right where I wanted him, he just rejects me!" half shouted Kirche. Tabitha let out a breath that she hadn't been aware she was holding. Kirche barely noticed, but noticed she did. She narrowed her eyes at Tabitha, who appeared to be somewhat relieved.
"I think he said something about liking intelligent conversation," said Kirche, deciding on a small gamble. Said gamble payed off when a small smile played its way onto Tabitha's features, and Kirche took a moment to deliberate on this.
"Why are you smiling?" Kirche asked playfully. Tabitha's eyes shot up in shock, and she began an attempt at hiding behind her book to try and hide her blush.
"You want him, don't you?" she teased. Tabitha just shrank back into her spot, fully covering herself with her book. Chuckling, Kirche switched to a more serious attitude.
"It's fine if you do," said Kirche softly. "If you're serious about wanting to be with him, then I can back off. He did say that he wouldn't let me have him anyway." Tabitha peeked her eyes out from her book, before lowering the book completely, with a small smile.
Post note:
So that's a bit shorter than usual, but it also does mark the end of Act 1. The next chapter will start the foray into the Foquet sequence, and I've got a general idea as to how I can make it a bit different than usual. Also, Draskir is going to get a new power in the next chapter, and we'll go a bit into his true nature as well.
Finally, I do apologize if characters are OOC! I've never really actually tried capturing the personality of a character before, so you can imagine that I'm not good at it yet.
Don't forget to review! I've had a bunch so far, and the ones they all have been helpful and thought provoking.