A long, long time (a few months ago) a certain Froggie was browsing the vastness of the internet. In this internet, the Froggie found a story by a certain author and it was called The Hill of Swords by Gabriel Blessing. Despite it's faults, the Froggie very much liked the story so the Froggie sought out other people that had also liked the story. The Froggie found a certain forum where certain other people had also liked the story and there they discussed various ideas about different stories where a certain petite tsundere mage summoned different familiars. The Froggie liked the concept and so the Froggie wrote various snippets and chose to follow through on one and turn it into the story.

But what happened to the snippets that didn't become stories?


SPOILER WARNING: The following snippet contains MASSIVE spoilers for episode 12 of Ga-Rei Zero


Louise had known to expect failure from her summoning spell. She had never succeeded even at the simplest levitation spell before so she knew, deep in her heart, that her familiar summoning spell would also fail and result in her own humiliation. Louise half expected her spell to result in an explosion, only to find a commoner or something equally preposterous standing in the middle of the blast. Louise had not been prepared for the blinding flash of white light that had forced her to shut her eyes. She certainly had not been prepared for finding herself in an unfamiliar forest, bathed by moonlight once she reopened her eyes, either.

"W-what happened?" she asked out loud, a hint of nervousness creeping into her voice, "Am... I dead? Did I finally kill myself with an explosion?" The eery forest did not answer her questions and Louise was forced to gulp nervously as she realized she was alone. Whatever had happened once her spell failed it had separated her from the rest of her class and tossed her into a strange place with only one moon hanging in the heavens. Her eyes widened in horror as she gazed up at the silver orb that hung large and full in the middle of the dark night sky.

"One moon?" she whispered breathlessly as her brain processed what she had just seen, "There is only one moon!" Panic began to creep into her consciousness and she felt tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes. If her spell had not killed her, it had tossed her into an alien world with only one moon. "W-what is going on?" she yelled at no one in particular, trying to fight her growing terror with anger, "W-whoever did this, it's not f-funny! I am Louise Francoise La Blanc de La Valliere! I wont s-stand for your tricks!"

Again, silence was her only answer and Louise fought hard to choke back a sob. Alone in and alien world, and with no magical talent to protect her. Her thoughts turned dark and morose as she contemplated the hopelessness of her situation, until they were rudely interrupted by a voice that seemed to float in from somewhere further ahead.

"Are you prepared?"

The voice belonged to a woman and it both was light and heavy, both sultry and familiar, and both amused and saddened.

She grabbed at it like a life-line and began to run towards it as fast as she could. The forest blurred around her as she ran and stumbled her way towards the voice. Branches and roots attempted to topple her, but she payed them only passing attention. There was someone else here! Someone else who spoke the same language in this alien world with a single moon! As she ran a new voice also floated towards her. She was near, she could tell. The new voice sounded a lot closer than the other one had.

"I will kill you," the new female voice stated simply. It was a cold voice. It would have reminded her of Tabitha's emotionless monotone if not for the fact that this new voice betrayed a deep and terrible sadness. "It is our job as exorcists to exterminate those who spread the taint of death into the human world."

With a final grunt of exertion, Louise broke into a clearing in the forest. It was enveloped completely in the light of the single moon, bathing the branches of the trees, the grass, and the rocks with a melancholy silver glow. Two women stood there, no, a woman and a girl, and they were both armed with strange blades of a type Louise did not recognize. They also acted as if a strange person had not suddenly walked into what was obviously a duel to the death.

"Hey!" she shouted at them in between ragged gasps for air, "Who are you? Where are we? What's going on?" She was practically shrieking at them at the top of her lungs in between exhausted gasps for breath, but neither of them payed her any heed. It was, Louise realized, almost as if she were invisible to them.

"Yes, that's right," the first voice she had heard said in satisfied tone. It belonged to the woman, she realized. She was tall and elegant, dressed in a strange black shirt and pleated skirt much like her own uniform. Her long black hair framed her pale face exquisitely and it was tied in a long pony tail at the back of her head. Her sword had a long red hilt and a black tinted blade. She continued speaking, completely ignoring Louise, "Come, Kagura."

"I'm coming, Yomi," the girl identified as Kagura said again in her cold, not quite monotone voice. She was also dressed in a black pleated skirt but her strange shirt was white, in comparison to the newly identified Yomi's black. Her dark hair was cropped short and it made her look almost as young as Louise and very cute. Her sword had a black hilt and the blade was uncolored.

And with no further words spent between them, they rushed at each other, strange blades whistling in the wind, seeking blood.

"STOOOOP!" Louise shrieked at them as loudly as she could, but again they acted as if she simply wasn't there. She had found two other people, humans like her even, in this strange world and they were more interested in killing each other rather than helping her! "Stop, please," she begged between sobs in a low voice as her exhausted knees finally made her fall to the ground, "Don't kill each other... help me..."

They neither stopped nor did they turn to help Louise. The continued to fight, ignoring the uninvited guest to their duel. They moved around each other like a violent storm, their swords rending the air with the shriek of steel. There was not a single moment of rest in that beautiful whirlwind of death as black and white raced around each other like lightning. They were evenly matched, Louise realized. She was watching two sword masters go at each other with no reservations, only a single-minded intent to kill, to spill the others blood. Yomi and Kagura crossed each other, deflecting the others strike with an almost deafening clash of blades, and quickly turned around, their swords clashing a new. Their blades locked together as the woman in black and the girl in white both sought to overpower their opponent and force an opening.

"I love you," Kagura said. Her voice was no longer cold or monotone at all, and it now only reflected a sadness which made Louise's heart catch in her throat. The girl in white, Kagura, sounded like she was on the verge of tears and, true enough, as Louise looked at her face she saw that her blue eyes were shining with tears that she dared not let loose. "I love you," Kagura said again and her voiced brimmed with affection, "Big sister... Yomi."

Yomi's eyes widened slightly at Kagura's words, but the declaration had no further effect that Louise could see on the black-clad woman. With a final push, they separated from each other and shifted their grips on their swords slightly. Louise could tell... these two had fought each other many times before. They knew each others style perfectly, as each strike was masterfully deflected at a speed that was difficult for her eyes to follow. Yomi and Kagura met again and again, the steel of their blades ringing in the terrified noble girl's ears. They were evenly matched, they knew how each other fought. The one to die would be the first one to make a mistake.

Kagura made that mistake.

A high, slashing two-handed strike from Yomi was artfully deflected by Kagura with a simultaneous slash that came in low to meet the blade that would've carved her from shoulder to hip, forcing Yomi shift her grip slightly again. However, Kagura had not been expecting such a powerful slash and her own sword was forced back further than she had expected, forcing her slightly off balance so as not to topple backwards with her sword. Yomi did not hesitate and her black blade came in, lightning fast, like a flash of shadow across the moonlight, towards Kagura's neck. Kagura barely ducked under it, saving her life in the process, but now the tide of battle had shifted. Kagura, off balance and stumbling, tried to slash at Yomi but her frantic and desperate attack was almost contemptuously deflected.

"I saw through that!" Yomi yelled, genuine anger lacing her voice and making Louise flinch in between her hoarse sobs, "I already taught you! A simultaneous strike is a loss!" With unbelievable force, Yomi struck again and this time her slash shattered Kagura's own sword, forcing her to once again duck low, these time to avoid the steel shards of her own blade. Louise did not even have enough strength left to scream out anymore so she merely watched with wide fearful eyes as the black clad woman prepared to execute her own sister. And then something even more terrifying happened.

In the middle of Yomi's forehead, something started to emerge, almost as if called forth by her anger laced voice. A red gem that glowed with an almost palpable evil. The red gem made Louise feel a wave of nausea and she struggled not to vomit. With the gems appearance, strange shadows danced on Yomi's face and her purple eyes hardened further. "This is the end!" Yomi shouted raising her blade high to kill the prone girl in white, and Louise could almost feel the hate in her voice strangling her. The black haired woman's voice had been teasing, and sad, and angry, and happy, but there had been no hint of hate. Not until the red gem, Louise realized. The red gem was to blame for the hate. It was probably to blame for the duel between the sisters too, she thought.

Yomi's sword came down.

And it was over in an instant.

As the black blade shrieked through the air, the prone Kagura pulled a golden ceremonial dagger from a small sheath under her skirt and quickly dived in low towards her taller opponent. Louise watched with horror as Yomi's shoulders slumped, her eyes softened, and a happy smile crossed her face. And Kagura's dagger struck true, impaling Yomi in the middle of her chest with a sickening sound that Louise was certain would haunt her nightmares for years. The red gem shattered then and Yomi's black blade clattered to the ground. The two sisters stood together like that for the briefest of moments, before the taller woman's legs gave out, dragging the smaller girl with her into a kneeling position.

"You've become strong, Kagura," Yomi said in a hoarse voice barely above a whisper, "You've become really... strong..." Her soft voice was proud and pained. Each new word was a struggle. "I'm truly proud... to call you... my little sister..." Yomi was stroking the smaller girls head affectionately while Kagura's wide and horrified eyes started to overrun with tears as small sobs shook her frame. "I'm... sorry, Kagura," Yomi apologized, her voice laced with regret. Louise, however, could see a smile tug at the black haired womans lips from her position and see her eyes filled with so many emotions that it was overwhelming.

"I love you," Yomi said.

And as the black haired girl toppled backwards, Kagura started to weep in earnest, while Louise screamed at the top of her lungs in impotent anger and sadness.

And the world was swallowed in a blinding flash of white light once again.

Louise had known to expect failure from her summoning spell. She had never succeeded even at the simplest levitation spell before so she knew, deep in her heart, that her familiar summoning spell would also fail and result in her own humiliation. Louise half expected her spell to result in an explosion, only to find a commoner or something equally preposterous standing in the middle of the blast. Louise had not been prepared for the blinding flash of white light that had forced her to shut her eyes. She had not been prepared to find herself in an alien world with a single moon. She certainly had not been prepared for finding herself an invisible and unheard spectator to a duel to the death between two sisters.

But all these things had happened and now she found herself back in the Academy, the sun warming her shaking body instead of the moon, amidst a gaping crowd of students that had seen her flicker in and out existence like a phantom for several breathless minutes as she ran and screamed and cried at things they could not see. She was back, her eyes puffy and red from tears, her throat strained and raw from crying and yelling, and she was not alone.

Because in the ground in front of her, with a golden dagger in her chest, was a black clad woman with a widening pool of blood beneath her, a strange black tinted blade only inches from her hands.

"Save her," she said in a small voice without looking up at the increasingly fearful muttering crowd of students that surrounded her. Her hands were clenched into fists of rage and anger. Could they not see that Yomi needed help?

"SAVE HER!" Louise roared at them, whirling around in a rage, her long pink hair billowing behind, "SAVE HER!"

Then exhaustion took her and she knew no more. And in her restless dreams and nightmares, Louise wondered if she would ever have the courage to kill someone she loved, because of love.


Zero no Tsukaima is the property of Noboru Yamaguchi and Media Factory.

Ga-Rei Zero is the property of Hajime Segawa and AIC Spirits.

I claim no ownership of the characters featured in this story. This is a work of fan-fiction.