Author Notes: Having no internet for a few days is strange. Still, I'd rather had had it on the weekend so I could've uploaded this sooner and catch up on some reading. But still, it gave me some time to write a little extra at the bottom of the chapter.
On another, completely unrelated, stuff. I just saw the DOOM Eternal gameplay trailer and I'm very hyped for it.
Now let's see the reviews.
buterflypuss and doom2099: Thanks!
Firefly: I wish it could be just as easy, I have been cooking up a plan for that though.
Chapter 9. A Night of Learning.
On the start of the evening, a flying figure appeared near the walls of the Academy of Magic. Its visage catching the eyes of the more sheltered students and the newest of workers in the academy. Dragons as they were, were a rare kind of familiar to summon, often attributed to those mages who showed a great deal of potential in their futures. Truly a sight to behold.
For whoever standing near the landing creature, however, said majesty was cut short by the heated discussion of the passengers riding the dragon. Quickly banishing the awe and the inspiration the magical being gave off.
"For the last time, Zerbst. I don't believe in the leech treatment for breast enlargement!" Came the annoyed voice of Louise the Zero. "Those bloodsuckers are used by madmen pretending to be doctors who try to take advantage of poor people who can't get the help from water mages."
"Come on, Louise. Those bugs are said to be the next greatest thing." Said Kirche, "I've heard about the miraculous properties of the leeches from the outskirts of Rub'al Kali." She turned to Tabitha, "Don't you think so, Tabs?"
The wind mage shook her head and then pointed at the ground. "It's dangerous. Can I go read now?"
Louise looked triumphantly at the redhead as she smiled sheepishly, then they both got down from Sylphid. The germanian dusted herself off the crumbs left by the treats Siesta gave them and then she brought the basket for Louise to grab. The girls were about to go inside the building when suddenly one of the caretakers of the stables chasing Louise's familiar.
"Come here, you- you thing!" He exclaimed as they both went in the direction of the students. He didn't notice the shift in the direction of their mad dash as the probe caught sight of the Valliére girl arriving the school grounds. Then the man went to tackle the troublesome familiar to send it back to the stables before he saw the master of the creature looking at him oddly, not angry per se, but with a mix of confusion and annoyance and he stopped in his tracks.
The probe slipped past the trio of girls and with a sharp turn it went behind the pink haired girl, giving a few beeps as a manner of greeting. The caretaker gulped air and he addressed the young noble. "Miss Valliére, thank the Founder I found you. I'm afraid to tell you that there is an issue with your familiar."
"An issue, is there something wrong?" She asked. Her companions stood close to listen in, not showing any signs of discretion.
"Yes, Miss Valliére. As a caretaker it is my duty to see that all familiars are looked after and kept safe while their summoner is absent." He pointed at the unruly familiar. "As such, I have to make it known that your familiar hasn't eaten anything all day and has been scaring away the other familiars." He explained.
"I see…" Murmured Louise, recalling what Zeratul taught her about the power source of the probes and the large majority of the protoss mechanical units. "There is nothing to worry about, caretaker."
Both the caretaker and the other two girls' eyebrows shot up at that, not expecting this kind of answer instead of either a freakout or a berating to the man before her. Then he asked, "But why do you say that, Miss Valliére?"
Recalling her sister's large menagerie of animals and the number of servants that help feeding them and taking care of them, Louise said. "One of my elder sisters has a deep appreciation of the animal kingdom and as such she knows nearly everything there is to know about proper care of exotic species. I sent her a letter after I summoned Zapper and just today I received some advice on how to look after it." The caretaker nodded, waiting for her to continue. "She told me that my familiar feeds off sunlight."
"Sunlight? Are you certain, Miss Valliére?" Asked the confused man. "As far as I know the only things that use sunlight are plants."
"Are you doubting my word, caretaker?" Challenged Louise. Meanwhile, Zapper looked at her with its bright, pink lenses and gave a few chirps of approval, following the thoughts behind her intent. "Yes, Zapper needs only sunlight. And you shouldn't worry of his behavior, he is merely curious of the other familiars."
"Very well, Miss Valliére." Said the caretaker. "I shall forward this information to the stable master so everyone knows to not give your familiar any conventional food." With a bow, he dismissed himself and made his way to the stables.
A gentle, if little loud, whine made the three girls and probe to turn to Sylphid. The blue dragon lowered her head to stare at the mechanical being, sniffing it before rearing her head back and giving a grumble of approval. Zapper, for his part, turned from the dragon to its master and beeped rapidly, shuffling closer to the pink haired girl.
"Sylphid wants to play." Said Tabitha. Louise blinked and looked at her frantic familiar before allowing the scaly creature to draw closer to Zapper.
"Alright, just promise me Sylphid will be careful with him." She said. As the galian nodded, the dragon started chasing the probe around the grassy field of the academy's yard. "I hope he's having fun…" She said, forgetting that artificial begins couldn't feel anything like fear or joy.
[WARNING: Large bio-signature pursuing probe for unknown reason. Second time this event occurs in the last 20 hours.]
[Assessing circumstances:
-Immediate Executor refused call for aid.
-Area of persecution enables evasive maneuvers (Nulled by pursuer's physiology).
-Cognitive motivation of the pursuer: Unknown.
*Scan for possible surface thoughts based on conversations depicting the species of the pursuer's apparent intelligence. Yes/No (Yes).
*Initiating frontal lobe scan.
…
…
…
"Come here Tickle friend! I just want to play tickles!"
*Scan results finished.]
[Formulating response to current scenario: Flee and wait for the creature to lose interest.]
[WARNING: Creature has taken hold of the probe.]
[Activating self-defense mechanism]
"Of course they're having fun, Valliére." Said Kirche, slapping Louise on the back and making her stumble a few steps forward. "Just look at how Sylphid is cuddling your familiar."
To some extent, she was right. The figure of the dragon clutching the probe between her claws and rubbing her head against it was almost as adorable as Zapper tickling the winged lizard with small sparks of lightning at the same time he beeped rapidly.
"Oh, I know!" Kirche snapped her fingers and started walking away. "I'll go and get Flame to join in on the fun."
"Then I guess I'll be on my way to meet Mr. Colbert." Sighed Louise. "See you later Ta- Tabitha?" She turned to her side to find out the other girl had slipped away somehow. Sighing once again, she went inside the building, leaving behind a distressed probe and a joyous dragon.
Break
In one of the empty classrooms, Jean Colbert was attempting for the fifth time to adjust the combustion to motion ratio of the prototype engine to make it not explode the moment he turned it on. Reinforcing the metal casing of the fuel chamber, for the sixth time, and separating and reattaching the components of the contraption to ensure nothing was out of place, he prepared the fuel for his experiment: a shard of fire stone.
Being careful with the volatile component, he slid it in its place within the archaic piece of machinery. Then, as he prepared himself to ignite the fuel for his engine, the door of the classroom creaked open as Louise's head poked in.
"Did you want to see me, Mr. Colbert?" She asked.
"Ah, Miss Valliére. It is good to see you." He greeted, "Please, do come in. There are a few thing I'd like to discuss with you."
The girl approached the bench in which the professor was working on, only sparing a quick glance at the strange mesh of wood and metal sitting on it. "What is that?" She inquired.
"It's a project of my own I'm planning on demonstrating to the class later this week. But this is not the reason why I wanted to talk with you." Colbert said. "The subject I want to talk about right now is the nature of the familiar you summoned."
"If this is about the caretakers not knowing how to take care of Zapper's needs, then there is nothing to worry about. I already talked with them." Louise reassured him.
Colbert nodded and then continued. "That is good to hear, Miss Valliére. However that is not the point I wanted to talk about."
"Huh?"
"Do you recall the reason of having the students of magic summon their familiars at young age?" He asked her like the way he did whenever he imparted his classes.
"It is to teach them how to be responsible of another under their charge as a noble and to reinforce their alignment to their magical element." Louise answered with the same words she read time and time again during her time studying for the summoning. Those days when she hoped to finally achieve recognition from her peers as a mage.
"Indeed, Miss Valliére. But there is another reason." Noting the confusion on the girl, he explained. "Familiars also work as an extension of the mage themselves. Showing to the world their potential and the closest thing their attitudes attune to."
Louise absorbed this knowledge like a sponge. During the last few days, the amount of information she had been given was more than enough to make one's head hurt, but here she was, still willing to learn whatever she could. "Then what does it mean for me, Mr. Colbert?" She asked.
"Before I get to that part, there is another thing I'd like to make known to you, Miss Valliére: The familiar runes. It binds the familiar for life with its master and makes it so the creature gets more developed thought process for the time when their summoner gives them orders and they can follow the instructions without fail, unlike a simple domesticated animal."
"I still don't understand what the problem is, Mr. Colbert."
"Everything in your familiar is the problem, Miss Valliére." Seeing the shock on Louise, he justified his words, "Your familiar is of an unknown species. Your familiar doesn't give away any element attunement. Lastly, and more important of all, your familiar runes are something there's only records from the time of the Founder himself."
She didn't know what to say. She already knew about this from Zeratul, yes, but she kept that information in the back of her mind, not dwelling too much on it. Sure, she was still excited of having a familiar like no other, but the reason behind the existence of a being of such nature was something she didn't want to face right after a childhood of feeling like a stain to her family name and two years of mocking and ridicule. From Zero to the possible next coming of the Founder in less than a few days. She wasn't ready for it and she knew it.
"These divergences in your summoning are quite troubling, Miss Valliére. If there is something you think is of importance to solve this predicament, then I implore you to let me know." Said the professor.
Clearing her dry throat, she said. "I am as lost as you are, professor." It wasn't entirely a lie. "But I'll be sure to tell you anything you should know." Again, she wasn't planning on telling him about an entirely new dimension with space-faring warriors with technology capable of obliterating entire planets, but she wasn't lying when she said she wouldn't say anything he shouldn't know.
Colbert gestured to his prototype, "Very well. Now, let's move onto something to clear the air a little. Do you know what this is?"
"No, what is it?" She asked distractedly.
"This," He began with an air of pride, "is the invention that can possibly change the way we see non-magical artifacts from now on. I was inspired by some of the ancient relics we have found during expeditions near the elven lands." Placing a hand on the device, he announced. "This is the fire stone-powered engine!"
He waited for some kind of gasp of surprise, an exclamation of awe, a slack jaw. Instead, the only sign that Louise was seeing the new revolutionary invention of the century was nothing. Not even a raised eyebrow. Too lost in thought to process what she had in front of her. Of course it had to be it, surely there was nothing else that could render such advancement in the history of Halkeginia useless at the moment, besides magic, that is.
Sighing, the professor apparated a white sheet and veiled the contraption on the desk under it. "I see there are some things bothering you at the moment. If you want to talk about it, I can lend an ear for your troubles, not only about your familiar."
Nodding slowly, the girl said, "Thank you, professor Colbert. I will go to the dining hall to have something before I go to sleep. I need time to think this over." She made her way to the exit of the classroom and just as she was about to cross the door, the professor called out to her.
"Miss Valliére, I would be glad if you kept my little project as a surprise for the class. I believe it should be ready in a few days."
Right after she closed the door, his eyes widened and he threw the sheet aside and fumbled with the apparatus beneath. For he had forgotten to take the fire stone out of the fuel chamber.
Zeratul arrived to the building where the servant quarters were and wasn't at all surprise at what he saw. He was immediately reminded of the terran barracks, but not as bare, cold or impersonal. It was mostly bare of any unnecessary flair that was boasted in any of the rooms assigned to the students or some of the teachers, but it still had a sense of warmth and comfort that provided a home away from home. The few workers in the place chatted amicably with one another, sharing their day and whatever rumors they had learned through their shift. The female ones being more… enthusiastic with the details than the male ones.
In the middle of a small huddle of maids was the target of his trip to the servant quarters. Siesta was being asked from three other servants at the same time, each one of them wanting details about the reason behind her sudden amity with the Valliére girl. Some even speculating with very far off fantasies of a forbidden romance with some lewd kinks in between, much to a reddening Siesta's mortification.
She jumped to her feet, as she was sitting on her bed, when she felt a small pressure on the back of her head. Catching her interrogators by surprise. "Um… I need to go to the bathroom, I'll be back shortly." She shuffled her way out the room, earning a few shrugs from the others while one slapped another up the back of her head when she made some 'interesting' motions with her fingers, which caused a round of laughter to be heard.
The protoss followed her as she walked out in the direction of the eastern gardens, quickly catching her intention of having some privacy for whatever she had to say to him. Only to stop when she got under the, barely visible at this hour, shade of a tree and sat with her back to the trunk.
"Was there something you wanted to talk about?" She asked.
Making himself visible to her, Zeratul showed her a sheathed sword he carried in his right hand. A sword too small for someone his size. "I found something of interest. Or rather someone."
Siesta tilted her head as she stared at the blade before her. "What is so special about it?"
Let it be known that a maid with some bare knowledge of life on different planets and an apparent ethnic background of the same roots was not prepared for what she suspected was a mundane piece of steel did next.
"Yo, the name's Derflinger and the business end is my business!" Rattled the metallic thing.
"Kyaaaa!"
From somewhere in the congregation of the maids waiting for Siesta to return to them, the same one who was slapped earlier said. "See? I told you."
Being grateful for the fact he didn't have any proper ears, Zeratul tapped Derflinger against the ground, earning a pained yelp from him. "It seems subtlety is not one of your strengths." He observed.
"Nah, If I were any blunter, I'd be a mace instead of a sword." Came the quip from the animated object. "So, is this the Valliére kid you mentioned? I thought she would be pinkier than this."
"No, Derflinger. This one is Siesta, a maid and one of the few persons who know of my presence." He clarified, "She is to accompany us to find Louise and begin our first lesson."
"Oh, right. She's the other girl you talked about." Said Derflinger. Siesta for her part was trying to take steady breaths as she calmed herself down, coming to grips with the fact that a living, talking sword was having a conversation with an interdimensional alien in front of her.
She made herself part of the conversation by saying, "Are… Are we leaving now? I have to go back with the others and hopefully explain that I'm not part of a forbidden lesbian servant/noble relationship with Miss Valliére." She finished with a grumble.
"Um… kinky, I guess?" Came the oh, so eloquent response from the talking blade.
"I am beginning to understand why that merchant kept you in the barrel of rusty swords." Zeratul mentally sighed. As Siesta stood up and started walking away. Before she could get too far, the protoss remembered something important. "Do not forget to bring your journal. It might have important information for tonight's lesson."
Siesta slumped her posture even further.
The trek to the personal quarters of Louise de la Valliére was short and without anything of interest to mention. Other than the curious glances from some of the servants on Siesta as she made her way to her destination, no one seemed to notice the slight crease of the light that followed her.
After a brief knock on the door with no answer, the maid let herself in only to see Louise laying on her belly on the soft mattress of her bed. Head buried in a pillow and a new nightgown she got earlier today on her person.
"Miss Valliére, are you alright?" To which the girl's head bobbed up and down as she mumbled into her pillow. "Miss Valliére?" She rested a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.
"Mphaway." She mumbled.
"What's wrong?" Siesta pressed, more worried this time. "Did the trip to the city went badly?"
"Mphno" Came the muffled voice of the girl.
"Then is this about the rumors?"
"Mph?"
Derflinger spoke for the first time, unknowingly uncloaking Zeratul into view. "Oh, the ones about your secret romance?!"
Louise's head shot up so fast she almost hit Siesta in the face, "What?!" Her own face red with embarrassment. "Those scandalmongers with overactive imagination full of smutty novels!" She exclaimed.
Then, she noticed it was a voice she hadn't heard before. "Who said that? Is there someone else in here?"
"Nope. 'Tis I, the mighty Derflinger!" Shouted the sword held in Zeratul's hand. The protoss not bothering with responding to his boisterous attitude.
"Of course… What else could it be? Just what I needed: A talking piece of rust! Because nothing else could be normal for once." She said aloud to no one in particular.
"I'm not that rusty, am I?" Whispered the sword to Zeratul, who once again didn't respond.
"Well, it seems you're talking again. Care to tell me what has been bothering you?" Asked once again a relieved Siesta.
"Siesta, in case you haven't noticed. There is a talking sword in my room. Why is there a talking sword in my room? Why am I the only one freaking out about the talking sword in my room? Am I the only one here who is questioning the existence of a talking sword in my room?" She rambled in hysterics.
Zeratul approached her and placed a hand on her forehead. "Calm down." He commanded. Louise did so.
"Now… I am going to explain the events leading to getting hold of Derflinger, but I wish for you to listen intently. I do not appreciate repeating myself." Said calmly the Templar.
As he explained his part on how he met the sentient sword, Louise fidgeted in place as she wanted to ask something but didn't as she waited for him to finish. During his explanation, the pesky blade butted in to add some of the worst weaponry-related puns she had ever heard in her life. Siesta listened with a bit more of attention as she was the only one who stayed in the academy during the day.
When he finally finished, Zeratul said. "Is there something you would like to say before we start our lesson?"
"A few things, yes." Answered Louise, "I am curious as to why nobody had ever mentioned something about a magical sword made by the Founder. If I were a historian that would be a topic of discussion that had to be known for millennia."
"Aww… You're making me blush." Said Derflinger.
"Right, I was wondering about that too." Agreed Siesta.
"The reason behind it evades me, but I find it something of interest too. Further investigation on the lack of mentions of a forgotten instrument as ancient as it proclaims to be is a course of action I should look into later." Zeratul proposed.
"Well," Said Derflinger, "I think there must be a reason. I mean, nobody forgets someone as awesome as me just that easy."
"Yes… I wonder why." Mumbled Louise. "But there is something else I'd like to tell you. I think professor Colbert suspects something's up with the whole familiar summoning business."
"Really?" Wondered Siesta, "What did he tell you?" And then, the Valliére started telling them about how Colbert wanted to talk with her. In retrospective, she could have said her issues with other students bullying her was the sole reason for her recent attitude. Probably her silence towards her teacher could lead to wrong conclusions.
"And he offered me to see this invention of his. I think you would like to see it, Zeratul."
"It sounds like a good time to determine what the current limit for the scientific development of this world is. I'll be sure to presence his reveal." While he was sure whatever the humans in this world was leagues behind protoss' technologic standards, it was always interesting to see how well sentient creatures expanded their horizons and broadened their fields of understanding.
"I believe it sounds wonderful to see what he made." Mentioned the maid, pulling the old journal from a pocket in her uniform. "If this book is to be believed, it could be like seeing the baby steps of humanity's scientific method of learning."
"Siesta, where do you keep learning those words?" Wondered Louise, earning a pout from the maid. "I don't mean it like that! It's good to learn new terms, after all. But that vocabulary seems out of place coming from a commoner, even less so from a maid."
"I don't know. The words just… come to me? I guess I've always talked like this since I was little." She continued, "My siblings tell me I talk too much like a noble whenever I used some overcomplicated terms."
"Intriguing." Said Zeratul, "I say it as a speculation, but it seems as if you psionics were working in a subtler way than I imagined."
"How so?" Asked Louise.
"Psionic-sensitive individuals are known to have an increased learning capabilities and adaptive thinking processes than non-psionic ones." Seeing the confused expressions on the humans, he simplified. "Those who have psionic potential can learn faster and solve problems faster than those who do not."
Once the doubt was cleared, the protoss then asked. "Now that we have that subject out of the way, Siesta, may I see the journal?"
"Yes, yes. Of course." She gave him the old, leather-bound book. "I skimmed a few pages earlier today. Now that I have some frame of reference, there are a few things that make more sense." She scratched the back of her head.
The young noble was, like in the last meetings, the one with the slowest uptake when it came down to this things. Being the newest to exposure to the strange facts of the Koprulu Sector. This time, however, she wasn't the only one as Derflinger was the one utterly lost in tonight.
And so, the lesson began: A refresher of the story from yesterday. With the intent of helping reinforce his words, he opened the journal to show the girls some of the images he found in the first chapters, skimming the text around them. However, as soon as he read one of the dates of the earliest entries he noticed something that chilled him to the core.
"It's not possible."
"What? What happened?" Asked Louise, Siesta nodding at her side with Derflinger on her lap.
"I started reading the entries in the middle of the journal, before it starts mentioning his life in Halkeginia. It seems the author was from the year 2510, Terran modern era."
"Wow… What does it mean?" Said the talking sword.
"I left the Koprulu Sector four years before that. It says the war was over two years after it."
"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? If my grandfather wrote that, then it means your people probably succeeded." Wondered Siesta.
"I should be the case… Where it not mention protoss of the Daelaam, the unified tribes, my allies and friends, disappeared months before those entries."
OMAKE (I guess)
The stables were a place where fantastic creatures could interact with each other without any fear from their owners for their well-being. Kept fed and rested by the caretakers under the watchful eye of the stable master, one would expect the magical and non-magical creatures would be content with their existence. A higher level of understanding granted by their familiar runes helping them socialize with one another as they put instinctual behavior aside.
At least, that's how it should work in theory where it not a troublesome mechanical being harassing other familiars with a beam of blue and pink light right on their faces. All the while beeping and chirping in that strange way it communicates.
It could have been fine if this thing weren't doing it in the middle of feeding time, or leisure time, or sleep time. Anytime, really.
At this point Mark, one of the caretakers, was about to start ripping the hair off his scalp with the behavior of this Zapper that was summoned by no other than Louise De la Valliére. A troublesome familiar for a troublesome student.
Currently, Zapper was harassing Guiche's familiar, Verdandi. A giant star-nosed mole that enjoyed jewels and attention, but even it was already fed up with the colored spotlight which had been following it for the last two hours. Thankfully, it was time for the students to have breakfast and soon enough they would be left with their familiars to get to know them.
A soft whine brought his attention back to the blue dragon he was feeding, the only dragon that was summoned this year by a wind mage from Gallia. It was surprisingly docile for its species, maybe because it was a younger dragon, judging it by its size, or the runes on it were powerful enough to keep it tame with strangers.
The dragon, Syplhid, kept its eyes trained on the golden globe that was Louise's familiar as it lost interest in the mole it was bathing light on. He didn't know how it began, or why it happened, but in one moment the scaly beast was beside him and in the next it was charging at the ball of gold like a cat did with a ball of yarn.
A long series of high pitched, biphonic chirps signaled the beginning of what he could say was the strangest chase he had ever seen, rapidly concluding with Zapper trying to pry itself free from Sylphid's claws. Apparently the golden familiar could bother the others with ease but it didn't like being the one being picked on.
Luckily for Zapper, and unfortunately for Mark, the owner of the dragon had to take it to a trip to the capital. Leaving the strange familiar with free reign to do as it pleased, which turned out to be hover from one place to another under the sun, not stopping for a second to rest under the shade of any of the trees nearby as did the other familiars. It was completely unbothered by the heat, despite not having had anything to eat or drink since Mark started to look after it.
It kept that strange behavior for some more hours. Of course, the caretaker didn't stand there and stared its mad pacing during that time, as he handled the needs of the other familiars he was assigned to. This strange thing was starting to worry him, if the Valliére kid got here to find her familiar unfed and tired he would be in trouble, if her quick to anger tendencies were to be believed. Just in what was thinking that creature, he would never know.
[Current orders: Blend in, act naturally.]
[Unknown animal behavior- Analysis of local creatures completed: Results inconclusive.]
[Current course of action: Move on patrol mode in an equidistant perimeter.]
[Status: Non-aggressive response from 'caretakers'- Resuming patrol as to maintain the 'Blend in'.]
The world would never know…