Chapter Seven: The Trouble Doubles
A few weeks after the attempted robbery at Tristan's magical academy things had gotten back to business as usual. To some extent things were even better than they had been in years. The third daughter of the Vallière family was no longer exploding everything in sight. She would never be a master of multiple fields of magic like several of the students showed promise to be but the maintenance crew was no longer on defcon one either. With the extra attention she had been getting from her "loyal" familiar since the Fouquet incident she was on her way to becoming a real Mage. The reason for the extra attention sprung from her familiar's inability to wander off due to the injuries he sustained while playing the part of a human ping-pong ball. Three weeks of "taking it easy" was all that the restless familiar could stand before he decided to get back to his mischief making. Guiche was starting to walk around corners without looking first again.
"Louise what do you have to do today?"
"I have classes in the morning but other than that I do not have anything planned. Why do you ask?"
"Well I have been cooped up in this blasted castle for weeks now and I thought that we might spend the afternoon practicing with the swords."
"I suppose we can do that if you like. But I am not missing a proper dinner tonight so we will have to keep it fairly short."
"I think I can make that happen," he walked back into his room cracking his knuckles and smiling.
While Louise was in class the increasingly popular familiar had taken to staying in the school library where few students seemed to venture. During these visits he had bumped into Siesta's sponsor and tutor, Professor Colbert many times. That man was another of the relatively small number of nobles that Therum had taken a shine to in a relatively short amount of time. Most of his favor coming from the interest the older man had in technological advancements, something this world was badly lacking. It was refreshing to be able to talk to someone again that had an interest in the sciences again. In his second week of talks with the professor, Colbert had shown the younger man his primitive internal combustion engine. This got Therum talking about how far the same concept had progressed back on earth and drew up some diagrams for ways to help improve Colbert's concept model. In a further show of good faith the professor got to play around with Therum's Harley in exchange for assistance on synthesizing gasoline and motor oil to keep the thing running. Something Therum was more than capable of doing himself but he preferred to have company while doing so.
Today when Colbert came in for their usual discussion, he found the familiar looking at a book about the familiar summoning ritual that brought him here. "Are you trying to find a way back to your world?"
Barely acknowledging the teacher, "No nothing like that, I already have a pretty good grasp on the theory of how to do that. I was more looking at the requirements needed to summon a familiar."
Taking a seat across from Therum, "Are you then wondering why you were called by Louise when the two of you seem to have very little in common?"
"Good question, but still no. That girl is a lot more like me than I care to admit. She has fire and steel in her that just needs a bit of careful forging to produce a fine sword for justice, or if pushed to far a dangerous enemy. I think we match up very well. What I was trying to find out is if I could summon my own familiar or if there was an aspect that I don't qualify for."
"That is an interesting theory. Is there any particular reason why you suddenly wish to summon a familiar of your own?"
"I always wanted a puppy growing up. I figured if I try really hard I can get myself a Cerberus and have three for the price of one now!" "The professor looked as if he had just taken a sip of sour milk.
"Are you serious? The summoning ritual is a lot of work to set up just because you want a dog. You could buy a dozen of the finest breeds in the world for the cost of the reagents alone."
"Don't have a heart attack professor, I was only joking. I don't think I could summon a Cerberus anyway I am terrible with dark magic and that is what they usually tend to go for. The real reason I want to give it a try is to see if I can pull it off."
"What you are talking about is a lot of work just to satisfy a curiosity. There is a reason why we only do the ritual once a year in the spring. Like I said earlier the reagents are very expensive and usually take a while to collect. They also need to be fresh for best results. We tried preserved products before and they failed to produce the same quality results."
"I was reading the list of required items and I can see how they might be a problem for some people, but I have access to all the mineral requirements. The only things that I need to gather are the organic components."
"I think that I might be able to get you all of them except for the essence of an elemental. You don't need much but it is an extremely rare substance and the school can't spare what little we can get our hands on."
"Does the type of elemental essence and how it is acquired affect the results of the summoning?"
"I am not all that sure to tell you the truth. In my time here I have only seen water and fire elemental essence used, and I have not noticed too great a variation."
"How soon can you get these reagents together if I make price a non issue?"
"If we use the leftovers from this year's student summoning and only have to replace a couple of the recourses and you somehow have access to elemental essences I could have everything ready to go in about three days."
A loud banging interrupted the teacher's thoughts when the man in front of him dropped a medium sized gold brick on the table in front of him. "Make it happen!" Very few people can say that have left Jean Colbert completely shocked, but one more has been added to the list.
***BREAK***
When Louise got back to her room after class that day and went to see what her familiar was up to, she decided to back away quietly and finish her assignments. In his room Therum was hunched over his desk alternating between laughing maniacally and talking as he wrote. The desk was surrounded by crumpled papers all over the place and most of everything else was also in disarray. Several leather bound tomes lay open on every flat surface many with hand written noted laying next to them.
"Louise I know that was you who just walked in a moment ago; don't forget that we are still doing some training today."
"Are you sure about that?" She asked poking her head into the open doorway. "You look really busy and I would hate to interrupt whatever it is you are working on." Cutting him off, "If it is really complicated and likely to explode I don't want to know about it. That way if you do get in trouble I don't have to lie for you."
Getting up from the desk and collecting their two wooden swords from the weapon rack, "Let's go play a little I am tired of being cooped up inside all day."
On their way down the tower steps to the courtyard the duo ran into Siesta on her way back up the stairs. "Good afternoon to you both," she said with a little bow. "Where are you two off to with those weapons?"
"Therum has been feeling cooped up lately so he is going to go beat me in the courtyard."
There would have been a spit-take has she been drinking anything. "I am not just beating on her Siesta, I am teaching her how to wield a sword so she can better defend herself if I am not around. I can teach you a few things if you would like me to. I would like to have someone more her size and skill level to duel with from time to time."
"I would like that very much Therum. I will go put my books away and meet you both down there in a few minutes." The former maid happily bounced up the stairs.
"Are you going to teach her the same way that you taught me?"
"More or less, though I may be a little nicer to her for the first few sessions. She doesn't have my body to learn in while taking blows."
"I guess that makes sense, I would hate for my familiar to be a criminal for accidently killing one of his friends."
"Careful Louise, you might actually be developing a sense of humor."
"What is that supposed to mean are you inferring that I couldn't take a joke when you first met me? That I was just some stuck up little rich girl that wouldn't last a week in the real world?
"I was implying that, you inferred…" She playfully swung a punch at him only to have it parried by one of the swords, effectively hurting her hand. "By the way I still doubt your ability to make it a decent stretch of time as a normal person."
Her comeback was cut off by him tossing a sword at her once they had reached their destination. No words were spoken as he took a low guard with the wooden replica of his sword. Knowing what he wanted, Louise charged him with her wooden Derflinger. Each sword was filled carefully with lead at the center until it had near the exact same weight as its real counterpart, another byproduct of Therum finding himself with too much time on his hands and an inability to train. Louise had been quickly improving her skill with a sword. Seeing as how he couldn't work with her himself, he showed her a few katas to run through on her own. As such her style was developing into a strange mix of kendo and Western European swordsmanship. Therum usually stayed on the offensive with his larger sword and powerful strokes but every once and a while the smaller girl forced him to switch to defense.
Siesta had little trouble finding the two when she made her way outside. The clacking of the swords made an easy target to follow. Louise was already sweating profusely by the time she showed up while Therum had barely accelerated his breathing. She had no formal training with swords but it was very clear who is in control of their matches. As the spar continued Siesta was able to pick out distinct differences in the two styles despite Louise having been trained by Therum. He preferred to fight one handed favoring thrust attacks while Louise always used two hands and favored slashing attacks. Finally Louise noticed the other girl out of the side of her eye and dropped her guard a little too much. That cost her a less than gentle rap on the head.
"Never drop your guard like that Louise; I will bop you every time." Surprisingly the pinkette just rubbed the knot and stuck her tongue out at its source.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with Louise working through her katas while Therum showed Siesta the ropes. She wasn't picking things up quite as quickly as Louise did but for a single day her progress was plenty admirable. Much too soon for the man's liking they had to end practice in order to make it to dinner on time. He would have practiced through dinner if he had his way but Tabitha and Kirche stopped by on their way to the Avails Hall.
"Hello darlings what are you up to this time?"
"I was teaching these girls how to use a sword incase the situation won't let you use magic."
"Well that's awfully silly when would you not be able to use magic?"
"I can think of several of likely situations. For example how well can you cast wandlessly?"
"She is very bad."
"Hey that's not fair. I can cast without a wand if I want too. I just don't want to."
"Even if you can do some simple spells without a wand how effective would you be in a fight? I have yet to meet a mage here yet who can pass your line level without a focus of some sort. You nobles depend on your wands and staves like an old man with a crutch. That is why I am teaching them how to use swords."
"I can fight without a staff."
"I would very much like to test you on that sometime Tabitha. How would you like to have a little magical duel after dinner?"
"I accept your challenge."
"Did you hear that Louise? Tabitha is going to fight my darling with nothing but her bare hands. This is going to be the talk of the whole school."
"Not if you don't tell anyone about it Zerbst. Therum just wants to have a friendly face-off with Tabitha I doubt either one of them want to be the center of attention again."
"Thank you Louise that was very insightful of you. If you will all excuse me I am going to head to the kitchens and grab something to eat. Want to come with me Siesta?"
"Yes Mister Therum I would like that very much. The students have been a lot nicer to me these last few weeks but I still prefer the company of the rest of the staff during meals."
"Excellent. See the rest of you here in an hour or so."
***BREAK***
"Are you sure you want to do this Tabitha? We don't know anything about what kind of magic he can use."
"I will be fine."
"She's right Kirche I don't intend to do anything that will cause serious harm to her. I just want to see how she conducts herself against an experienced battle-mage without her staff. The rules will be that the first one to give up or be rendered unconscious loses. Let's begin."
To make things fair Therum gave Tabitha one of the wooden swords his pupils had been wielding earlier. Much to his surprise she seemed to know at least the basics of how to wield the training weapon. The two circled each other waiting for the first move to happen. To make things interesting Therum made the first move and went in with a straight lunge. Tabitha countered his telegraphed attack with a simple parry and returned the favor with an ice spear. The sudden magical attack forced the familiar to halt his lazy advance and switch to a defensive stance. Somehow she seemed to be casting several more low level ice attacks using the sword as a focus. They were either parried with his sword or side stepped depending on the force behind the attacks. The attacks were too slow to be very dangerous but they did keep him on the defensive and away from the quiet blunette. Seeing that he wasn't going to easily win with just the wooden sword he decided to pull out a few tricks of his own. Instead of dodging the next wave of ice knives he opted for a low level fireball. A barely perceptible frown formed on Tabitha's face when she was forced to summon up a heavy gust of wind to disperse the incoming flames.
While working to keep from being burnt Tabitha failed to keep an eye on the man who had sent the attack and nearly fell for the attack from her left side. It was only a very quickly summoned gust that bought her enough time to defend herself properly. From that point on the match was increasingly one sided as Therum relentlessly kept on the offensive. Tabitha proved to be much better than Louise currently was with a sword but still a few orders of magnitude below opponent. Just as he was moving in for the final attack when he slipped on a sizeable patch of ice and fell on his ass. This left him lying on his back staring down the point of Tabitha's sword. It might have been the light but for a second there appeared to be a smirk on the girl's lips.
"You lose."
Brushing himself off, "It would appear that I did indeed lose little miss. I would say that you can indeed hold your own without a wand or staff. One piece of advice I would offer you though is to not stand over a conscious opponent's legs." As he was speaking he performed a quick leg sweep that the girl had not been expecting causing her to lose her balance and fall on the man beneath her. She caught herself just a few inches away from the man's face. "I hope the rest of you learned something from this." If you would be so kind to let me up Tabitha I think that I bruised my pride and need to sleep it off." The shy girl practically leapt off the man so that he could pick himself up. The three other girls couldn't help but laugh at the other's embarrassment. Tabitha let her features soften into a warm smile briefly before returning to her normal stoic face, with the noticeable addition of a mild blush.
***BREAK***
By the end of the week, despite his best efforts, everyone in the school seemed to have learned about the miss fated duel. No two versions of the story seemed to completely match up with another but despite the embellishments the outcome remained the same. The terrifying sword wielding familiar had been beaten by a girl, and a very small one at that. Normally having embarrassing stories about his personal life leaked would have bothered Therum but the outcome from this one made everything better. It got most of the student body to lose interest in him now that he wasn't some sort of atomic super warrior. The loss of infamy and the increase of peace suited him just fine. He could even walk the hallways without being stared at most hours of the day. He even managed to join Louise in a few of her classes now that his mere presence didn't cause hushed panic. When Colbert contacted him one afternoon telling him that the final ingredient had arrived Therum failed to contain the happy spasm he had been holding. He was on his way to meet with the balding professor in the Library when a semi frantic Louise caught up with him.
"Therum there you are I have been looking for you everywhere," she panted.
"Easy there little master, catch your breath first then tell me what's got you in such a panic."
"I just got a letter from the palace today in the mail. Princess Henrietta wants to meet with the two of us tomorrow at the palace."
"Did she say what she wanted to talk about?"
"No she didn't. The entire letter said was that she had something important to ask us and she would rather it be in person."
"That works for me. My new watch should be ready by now anyway. Now if you will excuse me Louise I have a meeting to get to with Professor Colbert."
Louise looked a little confused. "What kind of meeting could you have with the professor that would be more important than setting up a meeting with the princess of the country?"
"If my guess is correct this will prove to be a lot more interesting than anything else you can tell me about that letter. Feel free to come check it out."
***BREAK***
"Hello professor how are you this afternoon."
"I am doing very well Mister Magnus. I would be lying if I told you that I was not a little bit excited about the outcome of today's experiment. Since a human familiar is such a rare thing, having a familiar summon a familiar is completely unprecedented."
"That is what you have been up to all week? You want to summon a familiar of your own? What would you even need a familiar for anyway?"
"What did you need a familiar for when you summoned me? I figured that if everyone around me has a familiar of their own then I want one too."
"Won't that give away your secret of being able to use magic if you have a familiar?"
"It might be a little hard to explain depending on what I get if anything, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I am not too worried though, most people in this world that I would care about finding out seem too dense to connect the dots anyway. Professor we can get started whenever you are ready."
"Let's head down to the courtyard where I have most everything set up and we can begin from there.
***BREAK***
"As you can see I have already drawn the summoning array for you to use and mixed all the reagents together except for the essence of elemental and diamond dust. Do you have those with you?" Therum handed the professor a small pouch and then removed a small box on a chain from around his neck.
"The pouch has the diamond powder in it feel free to use as much as you need, and the locket has the essence in it."
Colbert took both items from the familiar. He poured a small amount of the sparkling powder into a bowl with a mixture of other reagents and then turned his attention to the locket. Opening it revealed a sight of true beauty. I looked a lot like a diamond at first but further investigation lead one to see a small blue fire in the interior that occasionally sparked with electricity. "What have you given me here Therum? This is far too beautiful to throw away in some random experiment."
"That is a piece of the heart from a prime elemental. Fire, ice, and lightning in perfect harmony. It's the same substance that makes up the core of my wand. I had to help kill one to complete my training. It had taken possession of another young mage and couldn't be allowed to live."
"I can't imagine that to be an easy task if it was like any of the elementals that I have ever come across."
"It was an absolute bitch to take down, but that is a story for another time. Let's get on with this little experiment."
"If that is what you want to do then so be it." With a little remorse Colbert added the contents of the locket to his mixture and spoke a lengthy incantation over the bowl. At the end of the spell the bowl flared light briefly and then quieted down to reveal a silvery liquid. Filling a cup with the liquid he went over to where Therum was standing next to Louise. "Drink this then move to the center of summoning circle. You have already read standard summoning call but the actual words are not all that important. What is important is that you trust your magic, and that your call is true and sincere. By the way you may be happy to know that I found this in the bowl after the incantation." Colbert handed Therum the cup and a small stone. The stone was the remains of the one from the necklace only now about half its original size.
"Thank you Professor." He returned the stone to the locket and replaced it carefully around his neck. Next he stepped into the circle and drank the contents of the cup. After a moment when he felt the magic of the drink take effect he made his call. "Spirits of the cosmos listen to my humble request. Bring to me the one who is my perfect companion. I ask fourth a being that will be not only a helping hand but also a loyal friend. Bring to me my stunning and majestic familiar."
Louise and Colbert found themselves holding their breath as the familiar finished his call for his familiar. For a few seconds nothing happened but when they were about to write off the experiment as a failure, a series of electric sparks started erupting in front of the caster. It started with one or two but soon there were so many that you couldn't look directly at them due to the light. With one final flash and a concussion like thunder the reaction ended leaving behind a beautiful young woman. Or she would have been a beautiful woman if she weren't a foot tall with white feathery wings on her back.
Knowing what happens next from his own summoning the mage gently scooped up the small creature and sealed their contract with a kiss after declaring himself to the five elements. No sooner had he finished the contract than the little angel regained her bearings as well. "Who the hell are you and where the hell am I?"
Therum was moderately surprised to find a small sword pointing at him. "You are at the Tristain Academy of Magic small warrior and I have just summoned you to be my lifelong familiar. If you don't mind my asking what species are you noble lady?"
"You summon me untold distances to serve you and you can't even tell I'm an Avorian? I am a soldier so I'm used to taking orders from people so that part isn't so bad but I can't believe that I have to serve an idiot of a magician."
"Look at that Therum she has you pegged after less than a minute."
"Shut it Louise you aren't helping things."
"Who do you think you are to speak to your master like that you stupid dog? Don't forget that you are still my familiar even if you have summoned one of your own."
"Wait a minute," the small winged girl raised her hands. "Are you telling me that not only have I been abducted by giant sorcerers but the one I am stuck with isn't even a free man? You have to be shitting me."
"Sorry to disappoint you little miss but that kinda explains things in a nutshell."
"Stop calling me little I have a name you know its Kistna. I am, or was, a Lieutenant in the Imperial Air Assault Corps."
"Well now you are Kistna familiar and companion to the Arcane Warrior Therum Magnus; who in turn is the familiar to Louise Francois le Blanch de la Vallière daughter of a powerful duke."
"Are you making fun of me, because if you are I will take you down big man. I don't care how much bigger you are than me I will gut you if I find out you are insulting me."
"I would never do such a thing to a lady as beautiful as you are my dear Kistna."
"Now he's having you on. I have known him long enough by now to tell the difference. He really was just introducing himself the first time." Louise walked over to properly greet her familiar's familiar. "As he said I am Louise de la Vallière and I am the unfortunate master of such a troublesome familiar."
"So if you are his boss and he is my boss does that mean that I have to listen to you too?"
"I don't think that it works like that a familiar only has to listen to their master's commands. If I wanted to order you to do something I would have to order him to order you but I doubt he would listen. As a familiar he is remarkably useless."
"It's times like this when I wish I had listened to what my mother said…"
"What did she say?"
"I don't know. That's why I wish I had listened. She was a truly great magister herself, just like the rest of my family. I am the only one who can't use magic. My mother used to try and tell me how to deal with my repeated failures but I just ignored her. Look where that got me."
"If it makes you feel any better, my little master used to be seen as a failure not too long ago. It wasn't until I arrived that her luck turned around. We even have an audience with the Crown Princess tomorrow morning."
"Oh great politics, just what I always wanted to do with my life."
"Yeah tell me about it. Still the princess is a fine young woman who has earned my respect. I will at least listen to what she has to say before I decide whether or not to reject the idea."
"Spoken like a true fighter. Maybe I miss judged you giganto. I will pledge my fealty to you and your lady for the time being. It's not like I have a whole lot of options at this point."
"Excellent. Let's return to our rooms and work out the details of our contract." Noticing Colbert still standing off to one side, "Before we go I would like to introduce you to someone Kistna. This is Professor Jean Colbert; he helped me set up the summoning."
From her new spot on Therum's shoulder, the winged familiar examined the balding man. Aster about ten seconds she stuck out her tiny hand towards the older man. "Always glad to meet another soldier who's not trying to kill me."
"I think you might have me mistaken with someone else miss I am no soldier."
"Don't insult my intelligence buddy. I might not have turned out to be what my family hoped for but I am not stupid either. I can tell you are at least ex-military by the way you stand and move. Nobody but a trained killer can be ready to strike at any moment while looking so casual. If I were five times my size I would totally have to challenge you to a match."
"She's got you there pal. I have noticed how you act around me when I do something unexpected. You don't visibly react much, but there are small tells when you know what to look for. Don't worry your past is none of my business and I won't ask. I just want to thank you for all your help today. Keep any of the gold that may have been left over as a tip or something I have plenty more."
***BREAK***
Back in Louise's chambers the newly formed trio was trying to work out the details of their newest member's lodgings. Therum wanted Kistna to share space with Louise but neither of the girls seemed to think that much of a good idea.
"I am stuck with you as my lord for the foreseeable future it only makes sense that I would share your chambers where I will be more readily able to assist you."
"That is a good argument but you two are both female and I am a male. It would be much more proper to keep us separated by gender don't you think?"
"Don't worry about me. Life as a soldier ruined what little modesty I ever had. Besides, it's not like you could do anything improper to me if you wanted to. There is a sizeable issue of proportions that would make anything between us extremely difficult. If that isn't enough for you, remember you asked for this not me. I was minding my own business waiting for someone to find a trap I had "misplaced" when a big ass portal popped out of nowhere and sucked me in. Whether you like it or not, you have to take care of me."
"Fine, I'll set you up a place to stay in my room. Just give me a moment to think of something. Louise please keep her out of trouble for a little while would you?"
"You're one to talk aren't you?" His reply came in the form of the door closing in her face.
"Is he always in this good of a mood?"
"No actually, he is usually annoyingly cheerful all the time. I think he just hates losing debates. Especially when he loses the same kind of argument he had with me one time. Whatever is bugging him, I'm sure he'll be fine by morning."
Kistna looked pensive for a short time. "How long has he been your familiar? You two talk like you have known each other for years."
"Actually I only summoned him about two months ago when the rest of the students had the annual summoning ritual. Since then he has been doing his very best to disrupt my way of life and generally complicate things. I would complain more but he really has turned me around from being a complete failure as a mage." She then proceeded to give the tiny winged girl a basic rundown of how things are supposed to run in Halkeginia and what her new master had been doing to change the millennia old status quo.
"He sounds like an interesting man. Maybe being his partner won't be so bad after all. I haven't had a good prank war in years."
"I personally wouldn't advise that Kist, I don't play fair in war."A familiar tenor from the direction of Therum's room startled the pair out of their conversation. "Your new rooms are about finished except for personal touches."
Not waiting for Louise to get up from her chair, Kistna took off from the table and flew into her master's room for the first time. Therum had to duck slightly to avoid being nailed in the head by his new companion. Once she made it into the other room it didn't take Louise long to notice the changes. About a third of the original high ceilings had been extended downwards around two feet with a door on the side facing her room and a few windows spread across the rest of the wall spaces. Kistna was nowhere to be seen so the small familiar was assumed to already be inside the structure.
"That is a rather clever use of space."
"Everything I do is clever Louise. Some things are just more obvious than others. I do appreciate the compliment though; I hope she is of the same opinion. It takes a lot of effort to magically craft a dozen tiny pieces of furniture and a working bathroom with no plumbing."
"Holy shit I have my own crapper!" Came a muffled voice from somewhere in the confines of the new "bird house".
"Somehow I think she is going to like it just fine," Louise deadpanned.
"What do you think Kistna? Did I get the dimensions right?"
No immediate response came until a small head popped out one of the side windows. "The place is great. I would have been content with a curtain and a cot but I could definitely get used to this. I could use some decorations for the walls though. All the white is going to get a little old after a while."
"We can worry about that tomorrow along with the amount of profanity you use."
"That reminds me, how can she speak my language so perfectly if you talk with an accent?"
"You know, that's a good question. Maybe she has the exact native dialect that you do through some sort of cosmic coincidence. Or I could have routed a translation spell through you at the same time she appeared in the circle. We may never know."
"Does he always speak in circles like that?"
"I am afraid so. Don't worry you get used to it after a while. Eventually he even starts to make a little sense."
It's hard to tell with the distance but Kistna may have accidentally mastered one of her master's predatory grins. "I'll make a deal with you master." This got the other familiar's attention. "You keep from talking in riddles around me and I will do my best not to use the bad words that offend your little ears. Otherwise, I will damn well speak however I want to."
He seemed deep in thought for a moment. "I am sorry dear your terms are too steep for me to accept I am afraid that we will have to come to some sort of other arrangement."
"It's that or nothing buster. If you don't want me to sound like a common grunt you are going to have to sound less like a politician. I fucking hate those uptight assholes." There was a sound of a window shutting.
"Was I this cheerful l when I was first summoned Louise?"
"Are you kidding me? You still aren't that easy to get along with. At least she comes right out with what she wants or is thinking. There are mules with easier dispositions than you at times."
"I take offense to that. I am only disagreeable when you want me to do something against my values, or when being so is more fun for me."
"I think she is the perfect familiar for you. She uses your own tactics against you."
"Oh well, I get to introduce her to the motorcycle tomorrow. That should be a lot of fun."
"You do realize that she would probably wind up killing you is she were a normal sized person."
"You do realize that I could make that happen with a little bit of effort don't you, and that she is still listening to this conversation. You can come out from behind the door now Kistna."
"Holy crap do you have eyes in the back of your head or something too? Who the hell are you and what have I been dragged into?"
"I assure you that I only have the two eyes, but they aren't the only way I can see." His master and familiar both face palmed themselves.
"Forget this I'm going to sleep," they said in unison followed by a pair of slamming doors.
"Goodnight girls, we have an exciting day ahead of us tomorrow." Not knowing why, several people across the country suddenly felt a chill go down their backs.
A/N I bet very few of you saw this chapter coming. I hope it doesn't come off as too outlandish, but the idea would not leave me alone until I did something with it. Next time we find out what exactly the princess wants with our newly expanded trio. Anyway good or bad, let me know what y'all think.
