I do not own Familiar of Zero or Kamen Rider OOO. Those belong to their respective creators and not me.
Familiar of ZerOOO
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 10: Love Potions, Love Sickness and the Water Spirit
I stood outside a small stone hut that was in a corner of the property within the academy stone walls that acted as a barrier between the school proper and the outside world. It was a very humble space which seemed rather cozy. I was told that it was where Professor Colbert liked to experiment and try to advance magic further. It was where he spent most of his time outside of teaching class or researching something. It was also where I had decided to go looking for him.
Since the incident with Alejandro and Lady Zerbst, I was able to finally get some free time once again. I decided to use it by tracking down the schoolteacher and see what he managed to dig up on the runes on my hand. Twice now I've been called Gandalfr, both by Foquet and by that gryphon-riding thief. They obviously knew what the runes meant so I had hoped that Colbert would know as well.
"Professor Colbert?" I called, knocking on the door. "Are you in?"
"Just a moment!" a voice within called. After a heartbeat, I heard what I could only call a compressed explosion sound off. Smoke started coming from a window at the back, indicating that something had happened. Was he experimenting with something?
A moment later, the door opened to reveal Professor Colbert, slightly smoky from some kind of explosion which was a result of his latest experiment. Wiping the soot off his face, he smiled at me, "Ah, Matthew, please come in!"
Nodding, I politely entered the man's laboratory. Inside was a stone room with several parchment posters depicting pentagrams or scientific charts decorating the walls. Tables were under the windows and in the centre of the room, all of them filled with beakers and bottles each filled with different coloured liquids.
"Welcome to my lab," Colbert smiled as he shut the door behind me. "Sorry about the mess. I was just experimenting with those Cell Medals you were so generous enough to give to me."
"You were?" I blinked. Okay, now my curiosity was piqued enough to put the Gandalfr word aside for the moment. "Did you discover anything?"
"Well, not much on the magical ends," Colbert sighed. "That small explosion was from myself trying to add a potion to a mass of melted Cell Medals to see if any enchantments would be revealed," He gestured to a small iron pot on a burner which was filled with bubbling silver liquid. Smoke was coming from the silver and it was drifting out the window. "What should have happened would be ambient light from a reaction telling me what kind of magic was used to help create them. Instead, a small explosion came out."
"Ouch," I winced. That couldn't have been fun. "Have you managed to find anything?"
"Actually, I did make a discovery in their composition," the teacher replied, brightening up. "You mentioned they were made with alchemy so I decided to use what alchemy I know to try and distil what they were made from. I'm no expert at earth magic, but I manage to get by with my tools."
"Oh," I nodded. "So did you find anything?"
"A very interesting conclusion," he smiled. "From what I found, the Cell Medals are an alchemical product by fusing together water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorus, salt, saltpetre, sulphur, fluorine, iron, silicon, and 15 other substances," He seemed giddy at the discovery. "The complexity at the number of substances to fuse together is so much that perhaps even Square Class mages would find it nearly impossible to accomplish this. I myself had to melt down handfuls of Cell Medals to learn this much."
While I was surprised that anyone in the age of development that Halkenginia knew what those substances were, I was more surprised that I knew what those elements together could create. As a reader of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and watcher of the anime, I had seen that list depicting what made up a human body. Suddenly, it made sense why the Cell Medals worked so well in creating the bodies of the Greeed and Yummies, they were made from the same things that made up humans bodies. I had wondered how piles of Cell Medals could form into the image of flesh and blood bodies. One mystery solved I supposed.
And the Greeed had been classed as Homunculi, artificial lifeforms created through the art of alchemy. Normally, creating life was a sin. Only God could create life but those alchemists did and their creations ended up turning on them.
"Well, that's enough about what I've been up to," Colbert nodded, taking a moment to clean his glasses. "What brings you to my lab?"
The question actually helped me remember what I came for. "I was actually hoping to ask you a question Professor. Do you know what 'Galdalfr' is supposed to mean?" The closest thing I'd heard to that word before I came to Tristain was a guy named Gandalf who was a sorcerer in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Call me a geek or nerd or whatever, but the books and films were really good.
"Gandalfr?" Colbert blinked, replacing his glasses. "Well, to answer that question, you have to understand the history of magic in Halkenginia." Walking past me, he gestured to the pentagram on the wall which had each of the points marked with words I couldn't read.
"Now, I'm sure you know by now that all magic users can be classified between the four elements; wind, water, fire, and earth," the teacher explained. "What you probably haven't heard was that long ago there used to be a fifth element that we call 'void'. It's only ever been recorded as being used by Founder Brimir, the man who founded the countries of Halkenginia as we know it and his descendants are the rulers of the five countries."
"Wow," I blinked. He sounded like quite a guy. "So…I'm assuming that 'Gandalfr' has something to do with all of this void stuff?"
"Precisely," Colbert nodded, walking to his lab table in the centre of the room. "Those runes on your hand are the same as those on Founder Brimir's Familiar."
So, I had the same runes as the Founder's Familiar? Wait, wasn't this Brimir guy a void mage? So did that mean…?
"Professor, you must know why Louise can only cause explosions when she casts magic then," I spoke.
"Well…optimistically I'd say yes," Colbert nodded, setting his some of his tools aside. "However, aside from the runes on your hand, there's no real way to prove that you are that legendary Familiar, nor that Louise is a Void Mage. Her record…speaks for itself."
"True…" I grimaced. At least for Louise's sake I had to make sure. She was a complete flop in the four elements so maybe if she was a void mage after all, she could finally hold her head up high, magically speaking, "But, isn't there some way to be sure? I mean, that first Gandalfr must have had something, some kind of power which would make identifying one easier."
"Well…" Colbert pondered. It seemed he wanted to have faith in Louise too. That was a marking of a good teacher if I had to be honest. A teacher who cared about how his students were doing in all aspects was a teacher to admire. Rather than care about just what they taught or were at worst indifferent save for how student performances affect their pay, teachers like Colbert were ones students would go to if they needed help. It was easy to tell that he wanted to help Louise out with her problems.
"Yes?" I asked, seeing him hesitate. Did he know something?
"My research revealed that the Gandalfr was capable of wielding any kind of weapon with such proficiency that he could hold off an army so that Founder Brimir could cast his spells," the bespectacled teacher explained.
I nodded as I examined the information Colbert gave me. Suddenly, some of my questions which popped up suddenly made sense. When I fought those Trash Yummies with Derflinger, I was moving like a master swordsman. When I donned my armour for the first time and figured to just lash out at Guiche's golem, something told me what would be good and not good to use against the thing. In every battle I was able to fight like I had mastered the armour even though I had never fought or studied any form of martial arts. Fighting Yummies came second nature to me while fighting nobles was a moderate effort. Battle came easier to me than even writing fanfiction did.
"Would the runes glow if I had that power and it activated?" I asked slowly, remembering what the runes did when I had gripped Derflinger to fight those Trash Yummies.
"Well, I suppose it's possible," Colbert nodded. "Has this happened to you?"
"Yes. When I drew Derflinger to fight some training dummies," I replied. "I never noticed it before since every time I fought I was wearing my armour." I looked up to the surprised schoolteacher. "I have to be honest. Before that duel with Guiche, I never used the armour to fight before. Until I first drew Derflinger to fight Foquet's golem, I had never drawn a sword before either."
"My word!" Colbert gasped, his eyes widening in shock as he realized the implications of what I was saying. He knew how well I was able to fight as OOO and when I drew Derflinger. He had heard reports or managed to spy my battles against various nobles when I fought. He and I both knew how well I adapted myself on the field of battle. To hear that I had never fought with either of my weapons before those first few times were grave implications. "I…I had suspected, but there was no way to confirm it, until now!"
"Well, there's evidence that strongly suggests it now," I replied. "If this does prove that I'm this Gandalfr that Foquet and that gryphon guy were talking about, that would make Louise a void mage after all." I remembered to the explosions which Louise had made in the past. "Do you think that's why she screws up every spell she tries? Her void magic is just so potent that conventional means of using magic just isn't enough to control it? I mean, there's no one out there who knows how to use it these days."
"T-That's a strong possibility, if your status as Gandalfr is true," Colbert answered, looking quite excited over the possibility of a void mage appearing in the school he worked at. Well, for a Void Mage to appear is likely akin to some legendary figure appearing before you so I guess I could understand why he was getting so worked up. Still, it seemed like he was trying not to get himself too excited in case it turned out I wasn't the legendary Familiar and Louise wasn't a Void Mage. "It seems you are indeed bringing interesting times with you. The sheer research needed to confirm or deny this…"
"Um…is that good or bad?" I wondered.
"Oh research is never a bad thing, especially when it leads to a new discovery!" Colbert beamed. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll have to make an excursion to the library to look up void magic a little more in order to see if there are any other identifying signatures we can use to discern your status."
"Ah," I nodded. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I'll just see myself out," I turned to head for the door again…
…then I froze.
Hanging on a hook on the back of the door, where a person who was entering wouldn't see it was a backpack. It wasn't one of those carrying packs that people in Halkenginia would carry around on long travels either. This one was black and made of synthetic materials with stitching so precise that only a machine could have done them so well. Plastic, actual plastic buckles decorated the strap to help secure the pack to the wearer. The front also held an outdoor backpacking logo, made from stitching again so precise that only a machine could have made it.
It was a backpack from home, my backpack that I had been carrying when Louise summoned me!
"Is something wrong?" asked Colbert, seeing that I had frozen all of a sudden.
"Professor, where did you get that?" I asked, pointing at the bag hanging on the wall. His eyes followed to where I was pointing and landed on the bag.
"That? Oh I picked it up at the day of the summoning for the second years," he answered. "I didn't want it to get lost and was…going…to…" he trailed off before he quite visibly grimaced and looked at to me with the look of a man who just realized that he had screwed up. "Oh Matthew, I'm so sorry. I was going to ask if it was yours, but then I forgot when I started thinking about your runes, and then the Cell Medals, Foquet, and even Viscount Corleone. It completely slipped my mind."
"Did you look in it?" I asked, turning to the teacher. I guess he really was the proverbial absent-minded professor.
"No," Colbert denied, stepping away from his table so he could stand next to me. "I wanted to make sure if it was yours or not before I attempted to see what was inside. So, is it truly yours?"
"I would think so," I nodded. Hell, I had that backpack for close to five years now. Of course I would know what it would look like. "Just to be sure, we'd better take a look inside. I know exactly what was in it when I was summoned so we can use that to prove it."
"By all means," Colbert agreed. "I feel just horrible by forgetting about it though."
"It happens," I shrugged, grabbing the pack so to remove it from the wall. Setting it down on the floor at my feet, I pulled the zipper to open the bag up. Colbert was leaning slightly, trying to get a good view of what was in the bag, likely curious about what he might find.
What first caught out eye was the silver belt which had an orb-like centre that looked like a gachapon ball which was white on the top and green on the bottom. The right side of the buckle had a gold knob which was able to turn like on certain kinds of vending machines. The other side was less decorative as a slab of silver and had a coin slot at one side for the person wearing it to drop coins into while the bottom had an opening to take them out.
The other thing that caught my attention was the large two-handed gun which was black with yellow strips and another green and white gachapon ball decorating the sides. Near the front of the barrel and where the user would hold the gun to keep steady was a clear cylindrical container which the ammo of the device could be put into. The top of the gun was flat with a hole, to allow something to be locked into place. The barrel of the gun had a similar configuration, but rather than a round hole for bullets to come out of, it was a rectangular slot which I knew would be able to shoot energy from Cell Medals.
What was I was looking at was the Birth Driver and Birth Buster. Some props I was bringing with me to the convention for a friend who was dressing up as Date from Kamen Rider OOO and needed the proper items to complete his costume.
I took out the Birth Driver to see if it was real or not. Before I was summoned to Halkenginia, it was a toy modeled after the one on the show but since my own O-Driver had originally been a toy before I was pulled into this place, I wondered if the Birth Driver had been enhanced just as well. I also took out the Birth Buster. Examining the two items, I thought of what might happen if I tried them on. On one hand they might be duds like my Medajalibur had been. On the other hand...Maybe I should test them out just to be sure.
I originally thought I might have lost them when I got summoned here but now I was relieved to see them safe and sound. Sure, Colbert should've told me but maybe he was the absent-minded type. He had been pretty focused on his experiments.
"What are these?" Colbert asked, seemingly entranced by the sight of the two machines.
"The Birth Driver and Birth Buster," I told him. "This belt works like my O-Driver while the Buster is a weapon for the wearer to use."
"Really?" His eyes seemed to sparkle.
"Yes, but it was made by different set of people. They were trying to duplicate how the king was able to use the power of the Core Medals. Unfortunately, they could only get it to run on Cell Medals instead," I told him.
"Amazing!" he exclaimed. The schoolteacher then looked to me in a way that I can only compare to a child who was begging a parent for a new toy. "Do you think you could demonstrate how it works? For science?"
"Um, well, I was planning on testing it out to see if it works," I sweatdropped. Watching a man in his thirties to forties ask with the enthusiasm of a ten-year old was a little creepy. "Do you still have any Cell Medals left?"
"Plenty!" the man grinned. "Let me get them!"
Colbert headed over to one of his desks while I stood up, holding the Driver and Buster. The teacher shuffled around one of his desks for a moment before finding what he was looking for. He then returned with the pot of Cell medals I remembered giving him after the Hawk Yummy went on the rampage, but it was half empty. Colbert likely wasn't afraid to experiment and wasn't thrifty when he did it either.
"Shall we go?" he asked excitedly.
"Sure," I nodded.
The two of us walked outside of the lab and into the courtyard where we could get some open space. When we got to a spot where there were no students around, I set the Birth Buster to the ground and strapped the Birth Driver around my waist.
"Okay, now I'm going to need a Cell Medal," I explained to Colbert. "All of the features of this armour requires me to use a Cell Medal as payment. One Medal to activate the belt and I'll need more to activate any weapons or finishing attacks."
"I see," Colbert nodded, making notes on a scroll I was sure he didn't have when we left his lab. Maybe he had it in his cloak? Completing his scribbling, he grabbed a Cell Medal from his pot and tossed it to me. Catching it, I idly noted that it was marked wit the image of a scorpion. How was that for symbolism?
"Here goes nothing," I sighed, bringing the Medal to the slot on the belt. "Henshin." I dropped the Medal into the Driver. To my rising glee and excitement, a round circle with an image of a Cell Medal on top appeared in front of the Driver as a hologram. Grinning, I began twisting the knob.
*CRANK!*
*CRANK!*
*POP!*
The centre of the Birth Driver popped open in a flash of light, signalling the activation. An orb of green light then surrounded me as several balls flew out from the belt and positioned themselves around me at certain points of my body. My shoulders, back, chest, knees, forearms, and thighs all played host to one of those orbs. Once they were in place, the orbs began unfolding into sections of armour which attached to my body. When the armour was formed, the spaces between were filled with a black bodysuit which was designed to take high amounts of punishment. Lastly, my helmet formed around my head and completed the transformation, dispelling the orb that was around me.
My torso armour was green on the right side while the left side was silver with a green and white gachapon orb over my heart and gold lining the collar. My shoulder armour was somewhat small and round with more gachapon orbs. I wore silver gauntlets decorated with the same orbs with gold bands on the wrists along with brief thigh armour adorned with the same spheres. My leg armour was almost completely silver with orbs at my knees and gold bands around my ankles with black foot protection armour. My helmet sported a silver face plate. My visor was a thin U-shape which had the ends pointing up like horns. Completing the look was a white and green sphere that was more dominated by the white side.
I had become Kamen Rider Birth!
The difference between Kamen Rider OOO and Birth was that OOO was a Rider who was created through the ancient science of alchemy while Birth had been created with modern science and technology. Cell Medals were discovered to be a potentially powerful energy source, which allowed the Birth Driver to materialise the suit. Frankly, the fact that science managed to harness magic as a source of power for modern technology was a pretty big achievement in my book. Generally, mixing science and magic didn't go over too well for those involved in some way, shape, or form.
"Amazing!" exclaimed Colbert as he adjusted his glasses from the shock.
A flexed my fingers, getting into the feel of the armour. Now this was different. I could tell how the Birth armour felt and inside the helmet I could see everything. I could even see the helmet's HUD which was the same as in the series. If Colbert was impressed, I was floored. This was completely different from the OOO armour. Dr. Maki and his associates certainly knew what they were doing when they made this puppy.
At least now I had a backup suit in case I somehow lost my Core Medals. But what were the odds of that happening?
I picked up the Birth Buster and considered filling up the cylindrical chamber under the barrel with Cell Medals to see if the gun actually worked. Of course considering how I had tried to use the toy Medajalibur and failed, it would seem prudent of me to test this baby out.
"Come on, professor," I said to Colbert, "Let's test this bad boy out."
We had to relocate to a different spot since I would need some targets to practice with the Birth Buster.
I had the chamber filled up with Cell Medals before pouring the Cell Medals into a hole on the back of the gun. The chamber, also known as the Cell Bullet Pod, was used to reload the Birth Buster and to catch used Cell Medals. It could also be connected to the barrel for a Cell Burst attack.
"OK, let's see how this goes," I said as I gripped the Birth Buster, keeping one hand gripped onto the Cell Bullet Pod under the gun as Colbert watched. I pulled the trigger and was pushed back by the recoil as a yellow energy bullet in the shape of a Cell Medal shot out and hit a tree, piercing right through the bark and embedding itself deep into the trunk. I stared at the smoking barrel. It was a bit of a shock but I was really glad that had worked.
Next, I was going to try something else. I grabbed a Cell Medal and loaded it into the Birth Driver before twisting the knob. There was the audible 'pop' sound and then a mechanical voice calling out,
"SHOVEL ARM!"
The orb on my left forearm suddenly popped open, glowing bright orange as the power activated, unleashing a multitude of glowing orange machine parts which flew to my forearm and hand. They all attached to the metal armour, locking into place and forming my weapon. When all of the pieces assembled together, a wave of energy passed over it, creating a casing over it. The section over my forearm was silver and I could see some hydraulic parts underneath the casing. My hand was covered with what I would call the shovel section of a backhoe. It was bright orange at the wrist joint while my fingers were uncased in the shovel section and my thumb was in the smaller claw section. I had a hydraulic claw as my weapon.
"Incredible!" Colbert gasped out.
"Oh yeah," I nodded, examining the weapon. Inside of the device, my hand felt hot again, likely the runes activating again. The Shovel Arm was a perfect tool for heavy fist attacks, but it was also good to extract people out of feline Yummies. It had some piercing power if I punched in the right manner, which would have been perfect against that Tiger Yummy that possessed Alejandro. "Definitely going to have to test this out."
Setting down my gun, I walked over to Colbert, who was watching rapt fascination and making notes on his observations on the way I used my armour. Reaching his pot of Cell Medals, I took out a pair of them and returned to where I had placed the Birth Buster. In position, I clenched the two Medals tightly in my hand. A cracking noise sounded off and I saw that I had split the pair in two. Satisfied, I tossed the pieces away and waited. Sure enough, the pieces erupted in bandages and dust to form into the bodies of Trash Yummies.
Needless to say, Colbert was in a state of delight.
"Now, let's see what this baby can do!" I laughed, letting the hydraulics in the Shovel Arm hiss in anticipation of battle.
I charged at the four Yummies, moving way faster than I should. Although that was either my runes or the suit was debatable at the moment. I met with the first Trash Yummy as it shambled at me and promptly slugged it in the face with my hydraulic fist. The force of said punch slammed it into the ground. I continued on and swung my arm wide, smashing two of them at once and putting them both down. Finally, the last Trash Yummy lunged at me but my enhanced reflexes allowed me to uppercut the monster, sending it sailing back. On a regular human, there would be broken jaws or cracked skulls. Trash Yummies on the other hand seemed to be slightly dazed, but recovering.
Dismissing my Shovel Arm, I dashed back past the recovering Yummies and to where I had set down the Birth Buster. Picking it up, I positioned myself and aimed at the recovering Trash Yummies. I hit the trigger, and began shooting out semi-automatic bursts of Cell Medal energy. I have to say, thank God, Brimir or whoever gave me the runes otherwise the recoil would have taken me off my feet thanks to my true inexperience with the weapon. Medal-shaped bursts struck the Trash Yummies, knocking back in their shambling steps. Some dust was escaping from their bodies, but I would have to reload several times in order to take them down and Colbert only had so many Cell Medals and I hadn't brought Derflinger with me.
"Hey, Colbert," I called to the rapidly writing teacher. "Want to see one of the finishing techniques this suit has?"
"Yes please!" the man nodded rapidly. Okay, the sparkle in his eyes was really beginning to creep me out.
I fired off my last shot, emptying the Buster. I quickly pulled off the Cell Bullet Pod and poured the spent Medals into the grass. To my surprise, they dissolved into silver dust and vanished in the light breeze. Weapon emptied, I dashed back over to where Colbert and the Medals were situated. I grabbed only two Medals and returned to the battle area where the Trash Yummies were shambling towards me. Getting into position, I dropped another Cell Medal into the Birth Driver. A quick turn of the knob and…
"BREAST CANNON!"
The Receptacle Orb in my chest popped open and turned red as it released a multitude of glowing red machine parts. The items then collected on my chest and formed into a new chest plate with a cannon barrel extended from the centre with a red ring around the end. It was bulky, but I wasn't using it for finesse. I took a position in front of the four Yummies and took my last Cell Medal and popped it in. Another twist of the knob activated it.
"CELL BURST!"
Hands free, I gripped the handles of the Breast Cannon and pointed it at the Trash Yummies as red energy began to collect in the barrel. I could have added more, but I wanted to take down the Yummies, not make a crater in the ground. I had enough energy for that. So, I made sure my aim was correct and… "Fire!"
A red stream of power shot from the barrel of the weapon and collided with the first of the Yummies, knocking it back into the others. All four was taken clean off their feet before they exploded into a cloud of black dust, Cell Medal Shards dropping to the ground.
"Whew," I nodded, dismissing my weapon. The pieces disassembled before entering the Receptacle Orb in my chest armour again. "Well, I'd call that a successful test."
"Wait!" Colbert cried, dashing up to me. "Don't take it off yet! Surely there are more aspects to it we can examine? Think of the research and breakthroughs this suit could bring!"
"Uh…" I grimaced. I had a feeling that this was going to be a long day.
Louise snarled as she stalked the academy grounds. All day she had not seen hide nor hair of her Familiar and it got her agitated. Were it not for the fact that Kirche was in her classes as well, she'd have assumed his was being a perverted dog and following her around like some worshipful slave.
Her mood hadn't been that good since it was revealed that not only had Lady Zerbst intended to make her Familiar into her son-in-law. That and the fact that one of their pots of Cell Medals had been stolen by some thief in the night while those thugs attempted to break into the castle. She felt responsible to an extent, leaving the Medals out in the open like she had was just asking for trouble. Now some villain out there had a potential army at his command.
The fact among other things, but mostly Kirche's intense attraction to her Familiar, caused Louise to harbour a rather sour mood for most of the day. It only got worse when she found Matthew nowhere to be found by the time the sun was setting.
"Ooooh, when I see that dog again I'm going to collar him to my room and make sure he stays there!" she muttered darkly to herself.
Walking through the night-covered courtyard, she idly noted that two of the students had a table set up and were enjoying a candlelit dinner together. It was Guiche and Montmorency if she saw correctly and the curled blonde was mentioning a flying naked woman and Guiche looking around wildly. She also saw that they had glasses of wine with them. At the moment, some wine to take the edge off her temper sounded like a very good idea.
She stomped up to the table, not offering any kind of greeting before grabbing the glass of wine Guiche had, "I'm drinking this!" She then gulped down the glass in one gulp, replaced the glass, and stomped away muttering about her 'stupid dog'.
She did wonder why she was beginning to feel warm so suddenly.
I spent several hours in Prof. Colbert's company as we both tested out the Kamen Rider Birth suit. Afterwards, I entrusted the Birth Driver to him. I don't know why but I had a feeling that it would be in good hands. I just hoped he didn't try to take the thing apart.
Still, I was finally able to return to the dorms after answering what questions about the Driver that Colbert had. I think I had become his best friend by the end of it all, having given him so many new things to research. Still, I was tired from having to use all of the CLAWS weapons and fighting so many Trash Yummies over and over again. Still, I found it to be slightly therapeutic to be honest. It was much more relaxing than fighting true Yummies.
Coming back to the dorm room, I knocked slightly to make sure I didn't catch Louise at a bad time and then entered when I didn't get a reply. Sure enough, I spotted my trusty sword leaning in the straw pile which was my bed.
"Hi Derflinger," I greeted, stepping into the room.
"Uh…Partner?" asked the sword, immediately catching my attention since he seemed to be nervous. "You'd better look behind-!"
*WHUMP!*
"…you."
I was tackled from behind by something which caused me to stumble forward and fall onto Louise's bed. Whatever hit me seemed light, but it was squirming to get a firm hold on me. I struggled to turn over while whatever had hit me scrambled up my back and wrapped their arms around my neck. I finally managed to get my balance and turned over to see that who had jumped me was…
Louise?
"Matthew!" she cried out joyously. She was dressed in her nightgown and looked a little flushed for some reason. Like I said, she seemed pretty happy to see me too. "I missed you so much!"
And then she kissed me!
WTF?-!-?-!-?-!
I don't mean some demure chaste kiss that one would expect a proper-type of girl to give. This was something I would have expected Kirche to give. It was straight on my lips and she was pressing herself against me as much as she could, making me heat up with her body temperature. The soft cooing noises she was making while kissing me sure painted an image.
…and was that her TONGUE?
I reiterate, WTF?-!-?-!-?-!
He was back! He was back! The love of her life was back in her arms where he belonged! Why oh why did he have to go out all the time and leave her alone?
"Fuuu!" Louise gasped as she broke off that wonderful kiss with her knight. Looking down at him, she smiled. That confused look on his face was so cute! As if he didn't know why she gave him such a special kiss!
"L-Louise?" he stammered out. "Wh-wh-wha-what? Huh? Wha…"
"Oh you big silly!" Louise giggled at him.
"Wha…" he continued to gape in that oh so cute manner of his, "Why did you-?"
"Why shouldn't I kiss the man I love?" Louise pouted "It's better than the way Kirche kisses you, right? You'll want to stay with me, right? I can love you a lot better than she can, right?"
OK, now I knew something was definitely wrong with Louise. I mean she was love struck by ME! And she never actually showed signs of affection before so why so suddenly? It just didn't make sense. I mean, she was tsundere sure, but I don't think she'd reveal her softer side so readily as she had just now. So quite understandably the kiss had taken me by surprise and now she was aiming for another one.
I managed to dodge the second kiss by rolling us over, pinning her down by her shoulders and looking her in the eye. Unfortunately, the love struck look in her eyes hadn't changed…and was she blushing? She looked way to happy for someone who was being effectively pinned down on their beds by someone else…
Wait, the position we were in was...
That was when the door opened.
God fucking dammit.
"Matthew, I..."
Siesta had come to speak with Matthew since she had missed him all day. She was hoping to spend some time with him. Maybe even borrow him for a few minutes so they could have at least a little time to themselves so she could try and cement her position in his life further. Well, that had been the plan until she opened the door to surprise him and instead saw the boy she was falling for on top of Louise.
One could have heard a pin drop.
"Um…," Siesta gulped, feeling her fantasies of her knight in shining armour begin to shatter. "ExcusetheinterruptionI'll beleavingnow!"
The heartbroken maid then backed out of the room and began to run away, hoping that she hadn't interrupted the pair of lovers too badly…
"WAIT! THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! HONEST!"
After taking some time to chase down Siesta and explain the situation to her, while dodging Louise and her whining pitiful cries of why I wanted a maid when I had her, I managed to explain myself. So Siesta was in Louise's room with us as I tried to explain just what had occurred, not that I knew what was going on either. Derflinger was still where I left him, snickering at the situation but for politeness' sake didn't say anything. Louise was unfortunately in my lap, snuggling away with delighted sighs. I had tried to remove her, but she would give me these 'kicked puppy dog' eyes that would make me feel like a total ass for making her sad so I reluctantly let her take her position.
"So…you two weren't having a tryst?" Siesta asked hopefully.
"Yes," Louise sighed happily into my chest.
"No!" I insisted, shooting a look at the pinkette in my lap. Sighing, I turned my attention back to Siesta, "Louise has never shown me any affection before and now…Louise!"
The reason for my sudden outburst was because Louise had just pinched my cheeks and began tugging on them. Once against she was looking at me in that adorable pout which should be made illegal. Quite obviously, she wasn't pleased.
"Why won't you look at me, Matthew?" she huffed. She glanced over at Siesta and I saw her eyes narrow angrily. "It's because of the breasts, isn't it?"
"Wait…" I tried to argue, but Louise had already vacated my lap at a pace that I likely could only match with the Cheetah Medal. She then appeared behind Siesta and grabbed her admittedly sizable breasts roughly, pinching and pulling them.
"Stupid breasts! I hate you!" Louise cried as she continued her assault. Siesta didn't stay still as she tried to squirm out of the pinkette's grip and actually fight back. I could only stare flabbergasted…ok, dumfounded at what I was seeing.
Just what the heck was going on?
"H-Hey Partner!" Derflinger chuckled, apparently trying very hard to control himself. "S-Sounds like you and the girl are the victim of a love potion. How does it feel having the girl not trying to attack you every other day?"
Admittedly, my next thought may not have been too smart, "Not bad I guess, but…wait, a love potion?" I blinked, latching on to Derflinger's idea of a cause. "Those things actually exist?"
"A love potion?-!" Siesta gasped, freezing in the middle of her defence of her breasts which Louise was still trying to attack. Thankfully the maid had longer arms than Louise did. "That's impossible! Potions which manipulate emotions are illegal!"
"Illegal?-!" I gaped. Holy crap, then Louise was dosed with something that would for all intents and purposes be a date rape drug? I immediately came to the conclusion that when I found out who had done this, I would kick their asses clear across the school.
"Louise?" I asked, trying to sound pleasant. The pinkette immediately halted her assault on Siesta's breasts so she could pay attention to me. She had nothing but love and adoration in her eyes as she gazed at me in anticipation, leaving Siesta to fix her clothes. "Louise, did anyone give you something to drink recently?"
"Um…no," Louise denied, shaking her head.
"Have you drunk anything lately?" I pressed, knowing she had to have taken something. A love potion didn't just find its way into a person without them knowing. Well, unless they had it on something she touched and let it get absorbed into the skin. I didn't even want to consider that option.
"Well…"Louise pondered, sauntering over to me to try and reclaim her spot on my lap again. "I did drink a glass of wine that Guiche had outside with Montmorency. I was upset that you weren't there to keep me company today so I decided to have some wine to take the edge of my pain off."
Siesta gasped as she heard the explanation, "Miss Montmorency is a Water Mage, so she should have the skill to make a love potion."
"And she does have her own chemistry set," I frowned, recalling the time Kirche had dragged me up to the blonde's room to get a healing balm from her. She certainly wasn't lacking in equipment and I was sure that she had more than enough ingredients for any kind of potion. "Knowing her, she probably made it to get Guiche to be more loyal to her and Louise took it instead."
"This is bad," Siesta whimpered. "Using love potions is a serious crime. It's hard to prove and we can't face Miss Montmorency without proof. If we go to the faculty to get an antidote, it'll make the situation worse since at least one person's reputation will be tarnished. Miss Montmorency's family may try to enact restitution on Louise's for the shame."
"Like about half the parents out there with kids would do," I sighed, reluctantly allowing Louise to snuggle back into my lap. It seemed that a lot of parents would deny that their kids were anything less than perfect angels, which was likely one of the reasons why kids in such families ended up spoiled because no one would discipline them or weren't allowed to discipline them. You know, that would likely explain why there were so many spoiled kids hanging around.
"Fuuu," Louise happily sighed, snuggling against my chest. To me, it was another reminder of what had happened to Louise and what almost happened to Guiche.
"You know what," I frowned. "Forget the proof. We just make Montmorency make an antidote and that's that."
"How?" asked Siesta.
"I have a few ideas," I replied, frowning darkly.
Montmorency was in her lab/room, pacing back and forth. "This is bad…this is bad…" she murmured to herself. Louise had drunk the potion she had made to make Guiche to be more faithful to her. Now, it wouldn't be so bad but Louise was a member of the Vallieres and while she may not think much of 'the Zero' she was worried about what would happen if this got out. The Vallieres were one of the most powerful families in all of Tristain! Louise was going to exhibit very obvious signs and fixate immediately on the first person she saw. Maybe nobody would notice? That was a very thin hope but she needed to grasp onto something and she did not want to tug at her perfect blonde hair.
Suddenly, she heard loud knocking on her door and nearly screamed as she jumped. She tried to calm down, a hand on her thumping heart, and went to the door to shoo away whoever had come.
Luckily, I remembered where to find her room so it didn't take us too long to get there. Siesta was with me too, but I wasn't sure if she was here to help me with talking to the blonde mage or to keep Louise from trying to steal more kisses from me. Louise was hanging onto my arm tightly, nearly cutting off the circulation. Well, it was better than her trying to jump me.
I had knocked loudly on the door, hopefully to wake Montmorency out and get this problem solved as soon as I could. We managed to spot Guiche walking through the halls, likely heading back to his own dorms after a romantic night with his girlfriend. He was a little unnerved with how Louise was acting, but after I explained what his girlfriend tried to do, he decided to see if there was anything to the accusation. Frankly, even if he didn't want to I would have dragged him along. Montmorency made the potion, but she did it likely to try and ensure Guiche's loyalty so it was partially the playboy's fault in my opinion.
If he had spawned a Yummy, I knew it would just try to kidnap all the girls in the school.
"Montmorency!" I called, slamming on the door again.
"Uh…Sir Matthew?" Guiche commented. "Montmorency may be-,"
"I don't care if she's awake, asleep, or changing," I interrupted him. "She's the only one who can quietly set it right and she is going to do that or else there's going to be a shit storm with her family's name in the middle of it."
Guiche gulped and shut his mouth. He likely didn't know what the term 'shit storm' meant, but he could certainly draw a likely conclusion from it. After a moment, the lath on the door sounded off before it opened. On the other side was Montmorency, looking a little upset.
"Now see here commoner, I don't appreciate being interrupted this late!" she frowned, making herself look pompous and imperial. Too bad I was too angry to care.
"Too bad," I replied. I gestured to Louise who was still snuggling against my arm happily. "Now fix this."
"Um," the blonde girl blinked, her face losing a shade of colour before she turned away. "I don't know what you are talking about."
So she wanted to play stupid then? Well, that wasn't going to work for very long, "The love potion you were trying to slip Guiche tonight. The one Louise accidentally took when she stole Guiche's wine. I know you made it, now fix it."
"How dare you accuse me of making a love potion!-?" Montmorency growled, putting up a big show of being insulted that she was being fingered for making the potion in question.
"I have the proof clinging to my arm and squeezing all of the feeling out of it," I retorted, gesturing to the love-struck Louise, "She drank the wine you laced with love potion that was meant for Guiche. "
"Is this true, Montmorency?" asked Guiche, rather stunned by all of the insinuations being thrown around.
"Well, I was just worried that some girl was going to snatch you away again!" the curly blonde replied, but then she paled and clamped her hands over her mouth, "Uh…I mean…that is…"
Guiche looked like he wanted to embrace the girl and reassure her that she didn't need such things. He already had a rose in hand and a charming smile on his face. However, I cut him off and stepped into the room, presenting Louise to her while pointing at the chemistry set sitting on a nearby table, "Now that you admit you made it, start on the antidote."
"Look, it'll wear off eventually!" Montmorency cried, looking affronted but more afraid that she would get into trouble now that she had been found out.
"When?"
"A few weeks…months…a year at most. Maybe?"
Guiche flinched, looking less charmed at what his girlfriend was trying to do and a whole lot more alarmed. For his best interest, he had better avoid anything his girlfriend made him for the rest of their relationship. I mean, this was mind rape! Montmorency was actually planning on feeding Guiche that potion to turn him into her slave! Now I could see just why love potions had been outlawed by the monarchy.
"Not good enough," I frowned. My temperament was not helped by the fact that the tips of my fingers were beginning to go numb from Louise's cuddling. "Cure. Now. Chop-chop."
"I can't!" the blonde girl retorted, looking less afraid and angrier at how I was pressing her to do what I wanted. "I don't have the ingredients to make one!"
"Then get them!" I growled.
"It's not that easy!" she shouted back, closer to losing her temper.
I frowned and decided to screw the diplomatic approach. It was time for the good old mafia approach! Slipping my arm out of Louise's grip with a disappointed whine, I slapped the O-Driver to my waist and inserted three pre-selected Medals into place. I grabbed the O-Scanner and swiped it across the buckle. "Henshin!"
"KUWAGATA!"
"KUJAKU!"
"WANI!"
The green, red, and orange images fused together and impacted against me, forming my armour. I was donned in the most intimidating version of OOO that I could think of and slowly advanced on the spoiled girl. Electricity crackled from my horns, flames flicked on my arms, and growling came from my footsteps as I walked. Montmorency paled and instantly began backing away, looking for anything she could hide herself with, not once considering using her magic to try and defend herself. Maybe she figured that since Guiche couldn't win against me, she stood no chance.
"Oh, I think you can pull it off," I growled, giving off a pulse of the elements my armour controlled.
The curly-haired girl squeaked in fear and dove behind Guiche, looking for some kind of protection from her boyfriend. Of course, the boy didn't seem to be much better as he gulped audibly with fear at the sight of my newest configuration.
"Ah…Sir Matthew?" he sputtered out. "Let's not be hasty…"
"Oh, I'm all for being hasty," I growled. "Love potions are forbidden by law. Do you realise how much trouble your girlfriend could be in if she doesn't take responsibility by making the antidote?"
"Uh…" Guiche gulped. Well, it seemed he did know after all. A squeak from the Water Mage told me that she knew as well. A bead of sweat trailed down Guiche's face as he laughed nervously, "Well, then I suppose we can go and get what she needs."
"Some boyfriend you are," Montmorency growled as she stepped out from behind the playboy, having no choice but to face her fate.
After some negotiating, with Louise showing jealousy towards Montmorency for talking to me, the blonde finally agreed to help out. We were going to have to leave in the morning. We would be heading to a place called the Lagdorian Lake. It was apparently an important place where Water Mages would enter a pact with something called The Spirit of Water. The ingredient we would need was called the Water Spirit's Tear which would have to negotiate to get from the Spirit of Water. I could deal with that. However, the departure time meant that I would need to keep my guard up around Louise. If I slept there was no way I could defend myself and she looked like a lioness ready to pounce. I thought about camping out but she would find me, somehow. I could already picture her ordering me to sleep with her or take advantage of her.
That love potion was strong stuff.
Louise was snuggling up against me after pulling me into bed with her. OK, maybe under normal circumstances I would've enjoyed having a girl all over me but this was starting to really freak me out.
At least she wasn't ordering me to make out with her or something. That's just twelve different kinds of awkward.
It didn't stop her from getting grabby though.
I didn't get much sleep
We travelled by horse to the Lagdorian Lake which was on the border between Gallia and Tristain. It took us half a day to get there and Montmorency said she could do it alone, but Guiche didn't want to leave her alone and I frankly didn't want to deal with Louise trying to seduce me some more or leave her alone to spread rumours about our 'relationship' when I wasn't there to defend myself. She had already tried to knit me a sweater for the trip but it was only a collar and she would have made me wear it if I didn't convince her that it would make a better present for after we finished our mission. So in the end, it was a group of four on three horses that travelled out to the lake to get the Water Spirit's Tear that we needed to make the antidote to the love potion.
The area around the Lagdorian Lake wasn't what I expected though. Upon arriving in the area, we found that the lake was much larger than Montmorency remembered and the nearby town had been flooded, the tops of the tallest buildings being the only things visible along with a few trees. All in all, the image didn't inspire a lot of confidence in me and caused some concern in the girl.
"Something's wrong," Montmorency frowned, taking in the sight. "The Water Spirit must be angry to be doing something like this."
"When it rains, it pours," I sighed. It just figured. Why couldn't anything be easy? The one time we need to go and meet the being which could give us the material needed to help Louise, something has been pissing it off and making it that much harder for us to get what we needed. Was I just cursed or something to have to live through risky adventures over and over again?
"We'll stay at the edge of the lake until sunset," Montmorency reported, pushing her horse forward. "The Watar Spirit only comes out then."
"Right," I sighed, smacking Louise's hand away from where she was trying to sneak it under my shirt. She had been getting pretty frisky when she thought she could get away with it. It was like dealing with Kirche all over again, only this one broke out into tears when I tried to let her down gently.
As we waited, boredom set in and Louise had fallen asleep with her head in my lap. Idly, I was looking through my collection of Core Medals. Guiche and Montmorency were off nearby no doubt the male trying to flirt with the girl. Derflinger was propped against the tree I was sitting under as he spoke, "You know, Partner, normally guys would love a girl to be all over them."
"Yeah, normally," I retorted, emphasizing my statement at the end. I have to admit that if someone as cute as Louise had come up to me, confessing her love, I would be thrilled. But this Louise, the way she was always trying to steal a kiss, cuddle, or get into my pants was just plain scary. I think I preferred the old Louise. That at least would be natural. "Derf, if I played along then I would just be hurting her. She's not acting on her own free will. It's all the love potion's fault. If we went too far, then it would be…" Rape. Yes, even if Louise would be initiating it under the influence of the love potion, it would not be her consent and I didn't want to do that to someone I considered a friend.
Scarily enough, Louise was actually acting worse than Kirche. At least Kirche knew boundaries, as blurry as they were to her. Louise on the other hand didn't seem to have any restraint. Either the potion was putting her up to it or she thought that was how relationships between men and women went behind closed doors. If it was the latter, I feared for any future lover she had.
Looking up, I spotted the blonde pair in the throes of yet another argument with the girl giving the boy a severe tongue lashing. I watched as Guiche and Montmorency talked/argued with each other over the recent events and shook my head. The blame was split between the two of them in my opinion. If Guiche had been a little bit more faithful then Montmorency wouldn't have made a love potion. Of course, Montmorency shouldn't have made one in the first place considering that it was an illegal substance. I didn't know what the punishment for it was here but in my world it was severe since I know considered love potions as something like date rape drugs.
The argument winded down and I watched the two blondes part ways with Guiche coming over to my tree before planting himself next to me.
"Trouble in paradise?" I asked, not looking up from my Core Medals.
"Indeed," Guiche sighed. He glanced at my Medal Book while I was polishing the Kamakiri Medal to get off any dust that was on it. "So, these coins are what remained of an ancient kingdom?" I glanced up at his curious face. He had heard about where my Medals came from? Well, I hadn't been working hard to keep it a secret and I suppose rumours spread quickly in a school.
"Yes, they are," I confirmed, looking back down. "They may not look much but they can be dangerous in the wrong hands." I mean I saw what they could do in the TV series. That thing Uva turned into when all of the Core Medals were in his body would've caused the end of the world.
"So I've heard," Guiche nodded. "Ah…desire."
"You know, speaking of desire if you just had more self-control we wouldn't be in this mess," I said, referring to Louise who purred and giggled in her sleep. OK, what was she dreaming about?
"But I can't help it!" whined Guiche. "It's not in my nature to ignore beautiful girls!"
"Noticing them is one thing," I argued, "But going behind your girlfriend's back to set up dates with them isn't exactly the smartest thing." Needless to say, I didn't think Guiche was actually very intelligent to begin with. He was like the bad nobles I had met who had their heads up their asses, thinking they could do whatever they want. To be blunt, Guiche was like a toned-down version of Mott but at the very least Guiche was young and still had some time to learn about right and wrong. I may not have been in any relationships, but even I knew how to use my head and not let my hormones take over.
"You are…probably right," Guiche sighed. Egad, the boy could be taught and it only took his near mental enslavement to do it.
"Just make sure next time you try to do something stupid, nobody else gets dragged in," I told him, setting down the Kamakiri Medal for the Kame Medal.
I watched as the sun was starting to set. It was almost time for us to begin. I didn't know much about this Water Spirit but by the way Montmorency was acting I bet this Water Spirit might be one pretty tough customer. She looked pretty nervous too. Obviously this was something that one didn't want to mess with unless they were brave, stupid, or just suicidal. Of course, someone probably was if the Water Spirit had gotten so pissed off that it started flooding the surrounding landscape.
I looked down at my collection of Core Medals. Would I need them in case things got a little out of hand? Would they be able to compare to an elemental spirit?
Thankfully, sunset eventually came and Montmorency got to work on summoning the Water Spirit. Retrieving her orange frog Robin from a pack, she pricked her finger and placed a drop of blood on its back. She whispered some orders to it which I didn't hear since I was setting Louise on the ground by a tree while she slept. By the time I reached Montmorency and Guiche, Robin had already leaped into the water in search of the Water Spirit.
"If Robin can find the Water Spirit, she'll bring it here," Montmorency explained as I drew close. "Once the Water Spirit appears we can claim a Tear."
"You do know how to negotiate with this thing, right?" I asked. "I mean, you've met it before."
"I only met it once as a child," the curly blonde replied. "However, from what I know the Water Spirit is usually benign and reasonable so it shouldn't be too hard to ask for the Tear," she shot me a baleful look. "And I don't want you to try your commoner brutality here! If we anger the Water Spirit, it could mean our lives!"
"I'm not stupid you know," I frowned. "Just because I can fight without magic doesn't mean I'm an idiot."
Montmorency continued to frown at me, but I just glared back at her. Honestly, she really couldn't take the high ground on me as a noble since she was breaking the law by making that love potion. If I wanted to, I could turn her into the authorities and completely destroy her good name depending on the severity of crimes involving love potions. Of course, this apparently hasn't dawned on her completely since being confronted with it she seemed to be treating it like being caught in a schoolyard mischief case.
It just made me dislike her more.
Any retort either of us would have made was immediately cut off when the sound of crashing water erupted from the lake. Looking out into the water, we saw that a pillar of clear and crystal water had erupted from the depths as if it were a geyser. It certainly caught our attention and kept us from arguing anyway.
"I take it your frog found the Water Spirit," I blinked as I watched.
On my back, Derflinger wriggled himself out of his sheathe to see what was going on, "Well well, it's been a while."
Ignoring Derflinger's comment, I watched as Montmorency stepped to the shoreline and spread her arms wide in front of the gushing geyser of water, "I am Montmorency Margarita le Fere de Montmorency. I am a Water Mage of a family which you have contracted with. If you recognize my blood, answer to me in a manner we can understand!"
I was slightly afraid that rather than a request her words sounding like an order would offend the Water Spirit, but by fears seemed unfounded. The geyser of water promptly shifted shape, taking the form of a naked Montmorency, granted one that was made of water and stood several feet taller than any of us. The Water Mage seemed to take the image in stride while I myself tried not to get distracted. Guiche just seemed to go into a daze, which was actually helpful in this case since I doubted the Water Spirit wanted him trying to woo it for its female appearance.
Towering above us, the Water Spirit spoke, "I remember you, little thing." A light flared in its chest as it spoke. Its facial features didn't move an inch, obviously there for decorating purposes. "I remember the water that runs in your veins."
As much as this event reached a whole new level of weird for me, I managed to keep my mouth shut while Montmorency did her thing.
"Oh great Water Spirit," she spoke. "I have a favour to ask of your."
"Favour?"
"I ask of you, please share a portion of your body with me," he curly blonde asked, sounding almost polite to my ears.
"I refuse, you little thing," the Spirit bluntly denied.
Oh the negotiations were not going well. I hope Montmorency would be able to convince the Water Spirit that we really needed the Tear, because as far as I was concerned, it was a matter of life or death at this point. Hopefully her noble upbringing as well as her family's knowledge of the Water Spirit would help her make a good negotiation.
"Really? Well, I guess we tried. No shame in that."
You've got to be kidding me.
"Jeez," I sighed, pushing past Montmorency just as she tried to turn around and walk away. "Can't you nobles do anything that requires a little bit of effort?"
Ignoring her squawk of outrage, I approached the shoreline and stared up at the Water Spirit who seemed to have noticed my approach. Now, I would be the first to admit that I had absolutely no clue as to how to deal with supernatural entities, but I had seen enough anime, movies, and whatnot to at least be able to give it a try. So, I kneeled down on one knee with my right fist planted on the dirt and the other across my leg while my head was bowed down reverently.
"Great Water Spirit," I spoke loudly and hopefully without the nervousness which I was feeling in my voice. "Is there no task we can accomplish or gift we can give to earn your Tear? If there is, I Matthew MacGregor, heir of the Multi-King shall strive to accomplish it!"
Well, if there was ever a time to cash in on that rumour about be being a descendant of the first OOO, might as well use it now. I figured flattering the Water Spirit by making it think even royalty would bow to it would increase our chances of getting the Tear.
"Multi-King?" Montmorency blinked. "Who's that?"
"Multi-King," the Water Spirit echoed. "I have heard of that man."
Wait…what?
"You have?" I blinked, looking up at the Water Spirit. This was surprising. How could the Water Spirit have heard of the original OOO?
"Show me proof," the Spirit demanded of me.
Proof? Well, the only thing I had was my O-Driver and Core Medals but if that king was as greedy as I thought, having them would be proof enough. Since she was a water elemental, maybe she would respond better if I used the blue Combo? Nah, that was too risky. I'd change back to hear her task only to pass out. It wouldn't exactly be the most positive of images. I should just stick to the basic. So I stood up before strapping on the O-Driver in preparation to use. I then slotted the proper Medals in before I swiped them with the O-Scanner.
"Henshin!"
"TAKA!"
"TORA"
"BATTA!"
"TA-TO-BA TATOBA TA-TO-BA!"
I appeared as OOO TaToBa Combo before the Water Spirit. The sight of me in the armour seemed to have moved it into silence, but I could feel it examining me from head to toe. I was impatient though, the burning question of just how the Water Spirit knew about the original OOO just begging to be asked. How could she have found out about him? He was just a made up character for a television series! Still, I had to wait for the Water Spirit to finish examining me.
"You are indeed connected to the one called the Multi-King," the Water Spirit finally spoke. "Very well. As I had increased my waters, I have been assaulted by members of your kind." I heard Montmorency gasp and even heard Guiche begin whispering to her, obviously having been snapped out of his stupor at the image of a giant naked Montmorency.
"If we stop them, will you share a portion of your body with us?" I asked, wanting to hear the Spirit's agreement.
"I will," the being of water agreed.
"Then it will be done," I nodded.
Satisfied, the Water Spirit collapsed into the flooded lake waters again, waiting for us to complete the task given to us. I didn't dare try to catch its attention again until we did what we were told. After I undid my transformation, Montmorency decided to confront me.
"How could you just agree to something so suddenly?-!" Montmorency cried, stomping over to me. "I hate fighting! "
"Unless you'd rather I turn you into the school authorities, you will help us with this!" I snapped, really losing my patience with the spoiled noble. "I'm sure spending some time in prison is so much more preferable than spending one night taking out a bunch of thugs."
"ERK!" Montmorency gulped, freezing on the spot. Either the thoughts of prison or what her family would do to her if they found out what she did causing her to freeze. She knew I had her and she had absolutely no leverage. Even though she could brew the antidote, so could plenty of the other students and teachers at the school. This was her only chance to get out of trouble.
The small group of would-be spiritual defenders set up a small camp in the woods, suitably covered by the tree line while still able to watch the shores of the flooded lake to see if or when any attackers would appear. Louise was still sleeping while Matthew, Guiche, and Montmorency were waiting nearby in the darkness. Matthew was out of his armour which allowed them to be somewhat more subtle while they kept hidden.
"So, what is the Multi-King?" Montmorency asked. "The Water Spirit seemed interested in the name."
"Montmorency, haven't you heard about it at all?" Guiche questioned. He was sure that his love interest would have heard the rumours. Heck, he had heard it after that duel between Matthew and that Germanian fellow a while ago. Kirche's mother had been quite happy to brag to anyone who would listen about the ancestry of her 'future son-in-law', and Guiche had been willing to pay very close attention to what the woman did that day.
"And you have?" Montmorency looked at him. "So why haven't you told me?"
"Well…I didn't think you'd be interested," he tried to save himself. He looked to Matthew, begging for help.
"OK, I'll sum it up for you," the other boy sighed. "800 years ago a greedy king desired power, but not just any old power, but the power of a god to take over the world. So, he had alchemists create these." He reached to his side and pulled out a small black book which he opened to reveal a collection of coloured coins. "The Core Medals. These Core Medals possessed great power and he had tried to use them all at once. However, as a result, he suffered the consequences of his own greedy desires and was turned to stone while the Core Medals were sealed within his coffin-like body. After a while the Core Medals were scattered and I came across them. The belt to invoke their power is also an artefact that belonged to the king and only those with his bloodline can use it."
"Wait…" Montmorency gasped. Her face began to go pale as the implications of Matthew's confession began to hit her. "So that means…you're really of noble blood?-! Not just noble, but royal blood!"
Guiche nodded, remembering his own reaction to the news. Of course he was pretty shocked, but Lady Zerbst's… 'charismatic' presence kept him suitably distracted until he was able to deal with it. Still, Guiche had felt that so bad after he lost to Matthew in their duel when they had first met.
"But…but…but if you're a noble, why do you kowtow to Louise the Zero?" Montmorency gasped, staring at Matthew with wide eyes.
"I don't consider myself a noble and I wasn't raised as one," Matthew replied, setting his Medals away. "Besides, I still have doubts as to how much of a relation there is between us. Let's be honest, would you want to admit being related to a man who tried to usurp the power of God and try to take over the world for his own malicious goals?"
"Well, if you put it that way…" Guiche pondered. If he had a relative who did such a blasphemous and evil thing, he wouldn't be so quick to claim the man as a blood relation either. "So you likely didn't know you were related until you used the Medals for the first time?"
"Bingo," Matthew nodded. "Still, I don't consider myself royalty. Not after generations of living like a normal person. Still don't want to considering just how much of a lunatic the guy was."
"Makes sense I guess," Montmorency sighed.
"But it wasn't completely his fault. His mind was warped by his desires. The Core Medals just made them stronger until he could think of nothing else but his desires. Was he right to try to become a living god? No, of course not. But that does not deny the fact that desire does influence progress," Matthew continued.
"It does?" asked Guiche, finding himself fascinated. After al, desire was one of the staples of his life.
"Sure it does," the former commoner nodded. "I mean, all of the inventions discovered up until this point were made by people who desired to make things easier, right? All magical discoveries were made by people who desired to advance magic wasn't it?"
"Hm, that's right," Montmorency pondered. "I guess desire did play a role in that."
"Munyaaaa…." Louise's soft yawn cut into the conversation, making the three protectors turn to look at her. She had her eyes open drowsily as she made her way towards the group. Like a homing beacon, she went right for Matthew before crawling into his lap, much to his discomfort. The pinkette mumbled before she snuggled closer before sighing in satisfaction.
"On the other hand, desire left rampant can cause problems," Matthew sighed, looking at the two blondes with emotionless eyes. "Situations like this if I must be so honest."
Both Montmorency and Guiche sweatdropped, knowing it was a jab at the both of them.
The two moons of this world were hanging high in the sky as we waited for whoever was attacking the Water Spirit to appear. We waited in the woods, hoping to use the cover as a means of hiding ourselves from whoever was responsible.
"So, how would one attack the Water Spirit anyway?" I asked. "I mean, is there a spell we can recognize being used so we can know if the attackers are nearby?"
"Likely a wind spell," Guiche replied in a hushed tone. "One that would create a pocket of air around the user and whoever is with them so they can walk along the bottom of the lake. It could be noticeable from the sudden shift in the breeze. It's not subtle."
"That's right," Montmorency nodded. "It's not an easy spell to use, so the user would have to be a high level mage. Whoever their accomplices are would likely have to be strong too if they think they have a chance of harming the Water Spirit."
"So they won't be common thugs then," I frowned. "Great."
"Matthew!" Louise whined, tugging on my arm from where she and I were hiding behind a thick tree. "Why are you talking to Montmorency more than you are me?-!"
"It's because we're strategizing," I sighed, trying not to lose my temper. She's been doped up, she's not herself, she's been doped up. She's not herself… "We have to be ready for these people attacking the Water Spirit."
"But I don't need some silly antidote!" Louise cried. "I really do love you Matthew!" she then inhaled deeply to make her next words, "I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU I LOVE-MPH!"
"Shhhh!" I hissed clapping my hand over Louise's mouth. "We don't want to get busted by these guys! Do you want to…stop kissing my palm!" My hissing became more frantic as I felt Louise's lips against my hand.
"Well well," Montmorency giggled. "Do I know how to make a love potion or what?"
"It's nothing to be proud of!" I snapped.
"Quiet!" Guiche hissed. "I see someone!"
Our magical school hijinks stopped and we turned to see what had captured Guiche's attention. Sure enough, there were two cloaked figures standing at the edge of the water. One was considerably taller than the other with the shorter holding a crooked cane. The shorter one was waving her staff, obviously preparing to use a magic spell, likely the one Guiche mentioned.
"She's beginning her spell," Montmorency observed before looking to her boyfriend. "Well don't just stand there! Go get them!"
"R-right," the blonde gulped. Steeling himself and drawing his rose-tipped wand, he shuffled off to find a good position to fight in.
I wasn't idle either as I began to travel through the bushes, trying not to make too much noise. Taking my Medal Book, I began to look for the Taka, Tora, and Batta Medals. I could switch out later once I knew what the two were capable of, but a balanced form was all that I would need at the moment. All I needed now was an opening to transform and I could take the battle to them.
"Earth, the Great Mother! Answer my words and become a living wall!"
I glanced to where I heard Guiche's voice and noticed a pillar of earth lunging towards the pair. The shorter of the two stopped her chanting and waved their wand, creating a blast of wind which shattered the pillar. Guiche didn't let the failure stop him though as he created more pillars to try and outnumber the two. However, it seemed both were prepared as the Wind Mage continued using the wind spells while the taller mage began shooting blasts of fire which destroyed the pillars.
"Okay, wind and fire. I can deal with that," I nodded to myself. Abandoning my search for the TaToBa Combo, I instead grabbed a different set of Medals. Taking them out, I popped them into my Driver and locked it in placed. Standing up, I grabbed the O-Scanner and swiped it across with the familiar chiming echoing the approaching change.
"Henshin!"
"SHACHI!"
"KUJAKU!"
"ZOU!"
Transformation complete with my blue/red/grey form, I charged out of the woods and towards the fighting mages, hoping that I would be able to catch them by surprise. Unfortunately, the rustling bushes announced my presence and the taller mage shot a fireball at me in order to stop me. A whale's cry echoed in my ears before I felt the urge to spit, which I did. Rather than mess up the inside of the helmet though, a stream of highly pressurized water surged out of my mouth and through the mouth plate and straight into the fireball, dousing it. The shorter mage took notice of me when the taller failed to take me down and to my surprise, shot ice instead of wind at me. Still, I could deal with it as I raised the Taja Spinner and unleashed several fireballs to strike the ice crystals out of the air, rendering them puddles on the grass.
"Let's shake things up a bit!" I shouted, stomping my foot onto the ground. The Zou Medal activated and caused a tremor, making both mages lose their balance and fall backwards. I didn't hesitate as I charged at the pair. Grabbing both by the front of their cloaks, I lifted them up roughly while using the force to make them drop their wands. However, the force of the lifting also dislodged their hoods, revealing heads of blue or red hair which were definitely familiar.
"Kirche? Tabitha?" I blinked.
"Darling?" Kirche gasped.
Tabitha blinked.
"Tabitha? Kirche?' Guiche gasped.
"Guiche?"
"Matthew!" cried Louise, running out from the forest.
"Louise!" Montmorency cried, chasing the pinkette.
"Montmorency…" I sighed.
"Kirche? Tabitha?" the blonde blinked, spotting my two captives.
"Louise?" asked Kirche, seeing the pinkette.
"Derflinger!" cried out the sword. He didn't want to be left out.
"My beloved Matthew!" Louise sighed, hugging my side.
"Wait, hands off Valliere! He mine!" Kirche cried, beginning to struggle. "Darling, let me down so I can save you!"
"Uhh…" I blinked. "Only if you explain just what the heck you're doing here."
"Deal! Now let me protect you!"
"So she's under the influence of a love potion," Kirche concluded from the story. Louise was once again in my lap and I was out of my armor. She was snuggled up against me, sighing happily. We had convened in a circle at the edge of the lake so we could get some answers as to just what the heck was going on. "That makes sense. No wonder Montmorency is here too. She doesn't want to get into trouble."
"That's how it is," I sighed. "So, what's your story? Why have you been attacking the Water Spirit?"
"I came to help Tabitha," said Kirche. "Her…family wanted her to deal with the Water Spirit. It's been flooding the land and doing a lot of damage."
"Well, that makes sense I suppose," I nodded. "I figured someone would be upset with all of the houses being flooded. Not sure if attacking a massive elemental spirit is the way to go though."
"It was what Tabitha was told to do," Kirche shrugged. "That aside…move over Louise! I want a spot on Darling's lap!"
"No!" Louise cried, clutching me tightly. "I saw him first!"
"But I was after him first!" Kirche huffed, drawing closer. She promptly invaded my lap, pushing Louise onto my right leg while she took my left. Both girls slapped at each other childishly while pressing themselves against my torso at the same time. It was a…unique experience to say the least and one I'll certainly remember.
"Truly an inspirational sight," Guiche nodded at us solemnly, but Montmorency elbowed him in the gut, making him cringe.
"Now…come on girls," I cringed, desperately hoping this would end up in a catfight with me caught in the middle. "Now, the Water Spirit is flooding the land because it's angry about something, right? Why don't we see if we can appease it? That way Tabitha's done her job and we can get the Tear that we need."
"Can't they do that while I stay here?" asked Louise with a pout.
"Yes, I'm quite comfortable where I am," Kirche purred, pressing her cheek against mine.
I rubbed my temples. The god that had put me into this situation must be laughing their ass off right now. Under different circumstances I may have liked the attention but we had a crisis on our hands. We needed that Water Spirit's Tear to make the antidote for Louise. "Montmorency, please summon the Water Spirit so we can get out of here."
Montmorency quickly sent Robin out to find the Water Spirit, which appeared quickly, once again in the form of a giant naked Montmorency. Once it was fully summoned, I stepped forward to speak to it since it had made its initial request of me.
"Great Water Spirit," I called out. "We have stopped the attackers. However, I fear there will be more. The flooding of your waters have made the humans believe there is no other course of action to save their homes. If you would return your waters to normal, the attacks will stop."
"I will not," the Water Spirit replied. "A precious treasure was stolen from me some time ago. I raise the waters so to engulf the world and that one day my treasure will be returned to me."
The people around me gasped, obviously getting a grasp of the situation like I did. No wonder the Water Spirit was pissed enough to flood its lake. You don't just go and steal something from a supernatural entity and expect to get away with it. The always find you and exact swift vengeance. Unfortunately, a lot of innocent people can get caught up in the middle along the way. Whoever stole the Water Spirit's treasure had to be a right first-class asshole. I mean, did he honestly think that he could get away with it?
"So… if your treasure is returned then you'll let the water return to normal?" I asked.
"Yes."
Okay, a course of action came into my head. It was stupid, likely risky, and a whole lot of trouble asking to come at me, but this was for the people who lived around the area who had been forced from their homes thanks to the lake flooding. Besides, Tabitha would be in a lot of trouble if she didn't do anything about the Water Spirit's rage. I really didn't have much of an alternate source of action to stopping the destruction so what came next was born out of sheer desperation to help my friends.
"Water Spirit, if you allow the waters to return to normal, I promise as the heir of the Multi-King that I will find your treasure and return it to you one day!"
"What?-!"
"Darling!"
"…!"
"Are you nuts!-?"
"So heroic!"
If my offer of assistance was shocking enough for the group, the Spirit's answer was even more so, "I accept."
"WHAT?-!"
"The tales I have heard of the Multi-King speak of a man who can control the elements, wield the power to fight armies, and defy gods," the Spirit spoke. "Given the fact that you are a Gandalfr, ones who have kept promises to me in the past and I feel confident that you will keep your word." I sighed in a measure of relief, but also felt like a shackle had been added to my leg at the same time. "You have already proven yourself trustworthy by stopping the attacks. I shall now reward you."
At the lakefront in front of us, a small blue potion jar rose up, held shut by a blue crystal stopped. It hovered above the surface of the water before moving towards us and landing in Montmorency's hands. I wondered where it had gotten the vial, but then remembered it probably had dozens of them under the water from all of the flooded houses.
"Thank you Water Spirit," I nodded to the elemental being. "Now what is this treasure which has been stolen and who took it from you?"
"It is called the Ring of Andvari," the Water spirit explained. An orb of water detached from its body and hovered towards us before taking the shape of a simple round ring with a square gemstone embedded in the centre. A unique design, but knowing what colour it was would have been nice. "It holds the ability to give a semblance of life to those who have died."
…okay, now I figured out why the Water Spirit wanted to hold onto it. That was a pretty rare ability right there.
"I do not know the man who stole it, only the fact that he was called Cromwell," the Spirit continued, letting the image of the ring collapse into the water.
"Cromwell," I muttered, committing the name to memory. "Very well. Then if you let the waters return to normal Water Spirit, I will go and find the ring and return it to you."
"I will be waiting, new Multi-King," With that, the Water Spirit's form dissolved and vanished into the lake waters once again.
I had pretty much contracted myself into the service of the Water Spirit and there was a chance I may not be able to get the ring back. However, with the name 'Cromwell' I had a lead and I would get the ring back. I wasn't about to break my promise to a Water Spirit who had pretty much paid me in advance. That would be bad and if she got mad enough to flood this entire village then if I did break my promise—which I didn't plan on doing—then she would probably do something way worse. I didn't want to think about it. What I did want to think about now was getting Louise back to normal.
I was just happy that Louise would be back to normal soon.
"YOU DOG!"
"WAGH!"
You know, a doped up Louise didn't seem so bad anymore…
We returned to the academy where Montmorency brewed the antidote in return for us not telling anyone what she did. It didn't take too long and I managed to convince Louise to take it back in her room. It worked immediately since she lost that lovesick look in her eyes, but the bad news was that she remembered everything she did while under the potion's influence.
"I didn't even do anything to you!" I cried, dodging another strike of the riding crop. "I was able to tell right away that something was wrong!"
"I debased myself! I humiliated myself!" Louise screeched, well beyond any reasoning. "My reputation! My status! I'll never be able to show my face outside of this room again!"
"Oh come on! Everyone knew it was a love potion! No one thinks it was really you!"
"They still saw me! They saw my shameless actions! The embarrassment! The humiliation! ARGH!"
The enraged pinkette continued to chase me fore several more minutes before a suitable distraction managed to save my hide. It came in the form of the window opening, incidentally blowing out the candles in the room. After that, a female figure in white concealed by a dark clock hovered up to the window frame before stepping daintily inside.
"W-who are you?" Louise gasped.
"As rowdy as ever, Louise Francoise," the lady smiled. Reaching up, she removed the hood to reveal a familiar face and head of lavender hair.
"Princess Henrietta?" I blinked. Boy, talk about a surprise.
A/N: Okay, so you guys saw the confirmation of the Birth Rider System in this world. It's not going to play much of a role immediately, but once the time comes someone's going to get a level in badass.