Hello there and welcome to chapter 7! Thanks again to all those who have reviewed and read this, it means a lot. I had hoped to get this chapter up sooner, but my internet decided to not work for a few days, which really sucked. I'm really sorry about that.

Disclaimer: I do not own familiar of zero.


Louise's whole body was shaking. She was crying even harder now. The scream she had let out had stopped Fouquet's advance, but Louise didn't notice. To her, the world was falling apart. Her familiar had died, and she had been powerless to save it. It just meant that, even after succeeding at summoning a familiar, she was still a zero, and incapable of doing anything. She lowered her head and wiped away the tears, and then looked at Fouquet, who seemed to be frozen to the spot. Louise didn't care why, because as she looked at Fouquet, her feelings turned from sorrow to anger. It was like she was a volcano on the verge of eruption. She started to shake from the pure rage building up inside her. Fouquet was the one who had killed her familiar, and Louise was determined to exact revenge upon her.

Louise stood up, her body shaking more now. Kirche and Tabitha, who had been rooted to the spot in shock, snapped out of it when Louise stood up. "Louise what are you doing?" Kirche asked. Louise didn't hear her; she didn't need to hear her. All that mattered now was Fouquet. Fouquet also seemed to snap out of it, and her golem started to move. Louise looked at the large earthen construct, and without thinking lifted her arm, pointed it at the golem and yelled "EXPLOSION!"

Everyone was surprised by this, but Fouquet had the least amount of time to be surprised, as the golem which shoulder's she was standing on was suddenly obliterated, and the shockwave sent her flying through the air. Bits of rock went flying everywhere, and Sylphid came over to shield Kirche and Tabitha with her wings. Louise ignored the bits of falling rock, had she not been in a blinding rage, she would have been amazed at what had just happened. Instead, she was scanning for Fouquet, and quickly found her. Pointing her wand, Louise yelled out. "EXPLOSION!" again, but this time Fouquet was hit with a much smaller blast, which just sent her into the ground quicker. Fouquet managed to slow herself down before she landed, It was just enough to ensure that she wouldn't break a bone, but it still hurt.

She quickly ordered her remaining golems to gather around her, and she looked at Louise. The pinkette was breathing heavily, but still had a look of rage on her face. "EXPLOSION!" she yelled out again, but this time, nothing happened, and instead, she staggered backwards before falling over. Kirche dashed forward and managed to grab her before she hit the ground. Fouquet quickly made her way onto the shoulder of the closest golem, and decided to quickly summon another one. That made 3.

Louise was exhausted; she was breathing heavily, and could barely lift her arms. She managed to look up at Fouquet, who had an amused smile on her face. "Shame you didn't use that spell on me first instead of my golem, it would be over if you did." She let out a small laugh. "I really am sorry I had to kill your familiar, he seemed like such a nice boy, but orders are orders, now then, if you agree to surrender, I will not kill your friends." Louise tried to snarl, but was too tired.

"She won't give up! We won't let her!" Kirche shouted. Tabitha nodded, and both the girls got their wands ready. Fouquet just laughed. "Well then, if you want to join the familiar of zero, so be it." The golems started to advance, and Kirche and Tabitha prepared for a fight.

A fight Louise knew they could not win.

She had accepted her fate, she would be captured by Fouquet, and there was nothing she could do. Tabitha and Kirche could hold out for a little bit, but eventually Fouquet would best them, and Louise would be taken hostage. Her life was over in her mind, and she had resigned herself to that fate. She knew whoever Fouquet worked for would never let her go.

She looked over to the place where her familiar had been incinerated. The fires were still burning. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and started to cry again, her head held in her hands. Fouquet smirked. "Don't worry, I really didn't want to do it, but as an act of kindness, I'll let you keep the ashes."

Louise didn't hear Fouquet's insult, instead she was replaying all the time she had spent with her familiar in her mind, and now regretted the way she had treated him. She had summoned him from a world where he had spent nearly half his life just trying to survive, and then tried to turn him into her servant and treat him like dirt, unaware of what he had been through. It didn't matter that he was her familiar, it didn't matter he was bound to obey her, he had been through hell, and even though Louise had been teased since she got to the academy about being a zero, it was nothing compared to what Hiato had been through, and she hadn't cared one bit for the suffering her familiar had gone through and instead made it worse.

The golems were getting closer; Louise could feel each step they took shake the ground. Louise looked at the fire once last time; she just wanted to see him one last time, just to see him, hold him in her arms and say she's sorry, and to treat him like a human being for once, not a servant. But she knew that would never happen.

What she didn't know was that Fouquet's firestorm was getting smaller.

And then she saw something that made her heart skip a beat.

There was a figure standing in the fire. Louise's eyes went wide, and she stopped crying. She didn't dare to hope, it could be a trick on Fouquet's part, some kind of last insult to Louise.

But that wasn't likely, and at that moment Louise noticed the size of the firestorm.

When it had been cast, it had towered over Fouquet's golems as a giant column of fire, now it was shorter than her golems, and getting smaller each second.

That was when she felt it.

It was a feeling of realization, of power once sealed away being unlocked, and that power was incredible. And there was a feeling of warmth as well, protective, soothing warmth. Louise looked at the figure again, and at that moment there was a break in the storm, revealing the figure, and Louise screamed out in joy.

"HIATO!"

"Last time I checked, that was my name." Hiato responded, with a smirk on his face. "Oh boy, this feels great!" Fouquet spun around, Tabitha and Kirche looked over, and they all got looks of pure shock on their faces. "I-impossible..." Fouquet stammered out, and Tabitha and Kirche were wide eyed. "Y-you should be dead!" Hiato leaned his head back and laughed. "Silly Longueville, or should I say Fouquet, didn't you know..." Hiato stopped laughing, and then looked at Fouquet, still with a smirk on his face. "...it's impossible to kill a dragon with fire?"

At that moment his arms became wreathed in fire up to the elbows, and as the fire cleared, it revealed his arms had changed. They were now slightly bigger, and covered in red scales with golden spikes sticking out the top just behind the wrist and running parallel with his arms up to just before his elbow. Each of his fingers became razor sharp claws, and then 2 wings sprouted out of his back. His clothes were still intact.

Louise couldn't believe her eyes. Her familiar was a Dragon!? What kind, she was unsure, but she knew he wasn't an ordinary dragon, because he had transformed parts of his body to those of a dragon, but was still human.

Fouquet however panicked. She hadn't expected her spell to fail in killing Hiato, so she ordered her golems to stop advancing on Kirche and Tabitha and to deal with Hiato instead. At that moment the firestorm completely disappeared, and Hiato was still smirking. "I don't know how you survived my firestorm, but there's no way you can defeat my golems!" The golems practically sprinted towards Hiato.

"Kirche, Tabitha, take care of Louise and don't get involved, I'll handle this." Louise snapped out of shock and yelled. "You idiot, let us help, you can't take on 3 earth golems at once! It's a really bad idea!" Hiato just flashed her a cheeky grin. "Stick around; I'm full of bad ideas." Louise got really worried, and tried to get up when she just fell over, but was caught by Kirche. "Louise your too tired, don't try to move." Louise shot her a look of venom. "My familiar is going to fight and I'm going to help him!" Tabitha put a hand on Louise shoulder, and in a very rare moment said. "Don't worry, he will be fine." This shocked Louise AND Kirche. It was the first time they had heard the near mute say a full sentence. Louise looked at Hiato, and hoped he would be ok.

The first golem reached Hiato and swung its left fist towards him. Hiato countered by throwing a punch with his left arm. When the 2 fists collided, for a fraction of a second, nothing happened. Then the golem's fist shattered and most of its arm up to its elbow.

(CUE EPIC MUSIC)

As the golem reared back from the force of the punch, Hiato braced himself, and then with a flap of his wings, flung himself towards the golem's head. He held his right hand out and made a fist, and punched straight through, obliterating the golems head. As he slowed down, he made a fireball in his right hand, and swinging around, hurled it at the golem. Upon impact the golem was completely destroyed.

Fouquet, Louise, Kirche and even Tabitha were amazed at what they had just seen, but Fouquet snapped out of it pretty quickly, and ordered her other golem to attack Hiato. It lumbered forwards and swung a punch with its right arm at Hiato, who dodged the blow with little effort, and conjuring another ball of fire in his hand, pressed it into the golem's fist, and then flew back quickly.

The golem's fist exploded, and Hiato landed on the ground. The golem tried to crush him with its left arm by trying to smack down with its palm onto Hiato, but the blow was dodged, and Hiato gathered fire around his right arm. He then spread out his wings, and leaped forwards, dodging past the golems arm, and stopped right below it.

"Dragon..." He pulled his right arm down, preparing to punch straight upwards. Spreading his wings and bracing his legs, he looked up, jumped, flapped his wings and yelled. "..FIST!"

As Hiato was yelling, he shot straight upwards through the golem, surrounded in fire, obliterating its entire upper body. As he got into the air he slowed down, opened his hand, gathered all the fire into a ball, and hurled it straight downwards, obliterating the golem. All the while, he had been relaxed, almost not taking the fight seriously, and he still had a smirk on his face. He turned to look at Fouquet, who seemed to be quiet scared of Hiato, and before she could run or order her golem to attack, Hiato generated 2 balls of fire and hurled them at the golem, obliterating it but not harming Fouquet.

She was thrown into the air, and Hiato flew straight towards her. Before she could react he grabbed her wand and snapped it in half. He then grabbed her by the collar and lowered her to the ground. As he landed he threw her forwards, and she landed on her stomach. She looked up at him with a mixture of fear and anger. "W-what are you?" she asked. Hiato chuckled. "Me? I'm just an ordinary familiar, that's all." He then looked at Tabitha. "Tie her up." Tabitha nodded and casted a spell to bind Fouquet's hands together. Hiato then looked at Louise.

Louise was just looking at Hiato, still amazed at the fact he was alive, and the fact of what he was. His appearance had changed, most notable his face had lost the old tired look it always had, and now seemed to be full of life, and looked a lot younger. His eyes had lost their dark tint, and were a much lighter and brighter green now and seemed to have a faint glow. His brown hair was also different; it had gained a slight red tint. But that didn't matter, because that was when Louise got up and ran straight at Hiato. "Hiato!" she yelled, before throwing her arms around him and nearly knocking him over. Hiato looked down at his pink haired master, who was crying into his chest and letting out muffled words.

"I-it's you... it's really you... your alive..." Louise said between sobs. "you... idiot... why didn't you run when I told you too..." Hiato had a surprised look on his face, but then it softened to a smile. He then put his right arm around Louise's back and pulled her closer, surprising Louise, and rubbed the back of her head with his left hand. Normally Louise would have pulled out the hug by now, but for some reason, she actually liked it. She felt safe, secure and warm in her familiar's arms.

"Because I couldn't have run, firstly because i couldn't have abandoned you; I would never be able to live with myself if I had. I could never abandon you. And secondly, my wrist was broken, so I wouldn't have been able to get up in time." Louise gasped, and then looked up at Hiato, who had a warm smile on his face. "Stop crying, it doesn't suite you, and you ruin your pretty little face when you cry." Louise went bright red at this, and then pressed her face into his chest. Hiato let out a laugh and rubbed the back of her head.

"I have to say, this is quite surprising. I honestly never thought I would see you cry, well not in sadness over me." Louise quickly looked up at Hiato. "I heard and saw all of it." Louise's eyes went wide, and she swallowed. Hiato just smiled at her. "I'm sorry. I was worried about telling you the truth of what I am, and because I was selfish and decided not to trust you, I made you cry, and I am truly sorry for that, Louise."

Louise opened her mouth to say something, but then she looked at Hiato's face. He was truly sorry, she could see it in his eyes, and then she felt her heart skip a beat and jump into her throat. She couldn't say anything, and was looking into his eyes. She tried to speak but no words came out her mouth, and she had a strange feeling. Her stomach felt like something was flying around in it, and her heart seemed to be extremely loud all of a sudden. Without thinking she started to lean closer to Hiato.

Suddenly Louise was snapped out of it when Kirche barged into Hiato and grabbed hold of his arm and pressed herself against him. "Oh darling, you're a dragon? Why my, we may be even more of a perfect match than I thought before." Louise got angry again. "Zerbst, what do you think you're doing!?" Kirche just looked at her with the look you would give to someone who you just explained something to and they asked you to explain the same thing again.

"Why, I'm talking to my sweetheart, the man who only has room for me in his life, right?" She turned to try to look longingly into Hiato's eyes, expecting a look of love from him, but instead got a look that implied he would set her on fire if she didn't let go. Louise was about to shout again when suddenly her legs felt extremely weak, and she fell over.

Breaking free of Kirche, Hiato managed to catch Louise before she hit the ground. Kirche got a worried look on her face and rushed to Louise. "Is she ok?" She asked in a panicked voice. Hiato just put his right hand on her forehead, and smiled. "She's passed out from exhaustion, she should be fine with rest, I'll take her back to the academy." Hiato picked her up in bridal position, and then spread his wings. Kirche quickly objected to this.

"No darling, she can go back with Tabitha, and you can fly me back inst-"Before she could finish, Hiato took off, and as he got into the air he shouted back. "Sorry, but I'd rather fly Fouquet back than you." Before Kirche, who had a very shocked look on her face, could respond, Hiato flapped his wings and set off for the academy.


She could feel cool wind blowing against her face, and two arms holding her, and the sound of flapping of wings. She stirred, slowly opening her eyes. She was looking up at a clear blue sky. She lowered her head to look at who was carrying her, and as she saw who it was she smiled.

Hiato was also smiling, but for a different reason.

He was enjoying the feeling of flying, something he had only ever experienced when his parents had flown him around or when he had ridden Sylphid the one time, but flying with his own 2 wings was a feeling he could not describe.

He was unaware of Louise looking at him. To Louise, Hiato now looked like a completely different person. He seemed younger, more playful, more carefree and happier. It was like the fire had somehow changed his personality and his appearance. His face was one of joy, and while he did look more boyish rather than like an adult, he also seemed to be more handsome.

Louise blushed when she thought this and quickly covered her face. Hiato finally noticed she was awake and smiled. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Louise blushed even more at this, looked way and said. "Shut up." Hiato laughed. Louise looked at him out the corner of her eye. He had been teasing when he had said that, but it was different from before. He wasn't mocking her; he was just being playful now.

"Hey come on, don't be mad." Hiato said. Louise turned to look at him, and she was about to say something when she realised how exhausted she felt. She yawned and relaxed in Hiato's arms. "Hiato, how much longer until we get back?" Hiato looked at her with a sideways look. "About 10 minutes at our current pace, but we can get there faster." Louise turned to look out in front of them. The academy was on the other side of the field they were flying over.

"How long have you been flying for?" She asked.

"About 20 minutes." Hiato responded. Louise nodded and started to drift off. "Wake me up when we get there..." She said, just before falling asleep. Hiato smiled, he was impressed with what his master had done. He looked at the pink girl he was holding in his arms. She's not a zero, if she was, then she would never have been able to destroy that golem, let alone summon me. Hiato then looked at the academy that was drawing closer, and smiled. He was happy, something he hadn't been in a long time, and he was feeling that way for many reasons.

Firstly his dragon powers were no unlocked, meaning he was now a true dragonoid. Secondly, he had realised how Louise really felt about him after seeing all that she did, and thirdly... that was something he couldn't describe. It was a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time, and it was hard for him to remember when he had last had this feeling. He shook his head; he would sort it out later.

He landed in the courtyard outside the tower, and as he landed he heard gasps and whispers from the other students in the courtyard, and felt many eyes upon him. He looked up to see old Osmond looking at him from out his office window. Hiato smiled at him, which seemed to surprise the headmaster. Ignoring the whispers around him, Hiato walked into the tower, folded his wings into his back, and changed his arms back to normal. He climbed the stairs, thinking over what the third thing was.

He eventually reached Louise's- no their room and opened the door. He walked inside and closed the door gently. He then walked across the room and laid Louise on her bed, and then pulled the covers up over her. Looking down at her, he brushed her hair out of her face and smiled. He then looked at the window, the sun was only beginning to set, but Hiato decided he would call in early for the day. He turned around and walked to his hay bed, lying down on it as he reached it.

As he lay down and closed his eyes, he finally realised what it was he was feeling. It was something he had last felt over 7 years ago, just before his parents had died. It was something he had never imagined he would have felt about this academy, but now he knew better.

He had finally found a place that he would never have to run from, people who accepted him for what he was, friends who cared about him, people to take care of him and a place where he can actually fit in. It was something he had been searching for ever since that day; the day he had gone on the run, but that was over now. No more running, no more hiding, no more worrying and no more fear. He knew that some people in this world wanted him dead, but he also knew that there were people who would protect him and keep him safe.

Hiato then thought about Louise, despite all her arrogance and pride, she truly cares for him, and he owes her his life, for she saved him from death or imprisonment, and he would work hard to repay that debt. The old him, the one that was cynical and distrusting, was gone now. Hiato knew that Louise cared for him, and he cared for her. He would risk his life to defend her, without hesitation. He would protect her from whoever wanted to take her captive.

He smiled, he had found it. After all this time, all the running and hiding, after everything he had been through, he finally had one, he had found one, and as he drifted off to sleep, the word which he thought he would never be able to call any place ever again, echoed in his mind.

Home.


And that's the chapter! Sorry it's shorter than the last one, but I feel like where I've ended it is a good place. I Hope you all enjoyed learning what Hiato really is, but wait, there's more! (which I'll explain in later chapters te hehe) Anyway, thanks for reading, sorry again for the late upload, my internet was being an arse, and I will see you again in the next chapter! (which will be a lot longer, I promise)