Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Familiar of Zero

...

Louise found herself in a conundrum as she looked over the courtyard to where her familiar was currently doing her best to teach Guiche something reminiscent of combat now that classes had ended for the day. From nearby she could see Montmorency biting at the inside of her lip as she gripped the edge of her uniform with a fist that would crush stone to dust. Likewise beyond her was Tabitha and Kirche, the former seemingly peeking over her book every once in a while to check on any minute developments while Kirche had that creepy smile on her face.

None of them knew that Erza was a mage, and Erza had been quite adamant the prior night that that was to stay that way. At first she couldn't understand why? The mere fact that she was able to access magic was something she had never even contemplated! Not only that, but she utilized magic that didn't follow the four fundamental elements of all known magic!

Erza's magic defied everything she ever knew about magic as a whole, not only that but everything she knew about the stories Erza had told us since they had officially met. She had almost gone into a mental breakdown under the pretense that Erza went one on one with Elves of all things. Now, she still felt that Erza fought against Elves but with the knowledge that Erza could use magic that she had little knowledge on it felt a little more on the even side. It had worried her into the night the possibility that Erza herself was using Elven magic, the minute chance that Erza was potentially part Elf.

That thought had been swiftly tossed to the side, under no ideal would someone with Elf blood, however diluted running through their veins, would willingly be as loyal as Erza had been. Louise found herself using the term loyal loosely, frankly with what she had witnessed with Erza against the golem Matilda had summoned she had little doubt that had the warrior wanted she could have destroyed the entire school! This may have been an over exaggeration but she felt that she had only seen a portion of what Erza was capable of and that terrified her. The fact that she simply hadn't up and left at any given point was astonishing.

It was for that reason she had slowly understood why Erza had been so quiet about her abilities. They were of an otherworldly type, one she would never have even conceived having ever existed and if she had been using them haphazardly people would start to raise questions. It did make her start to question things as well, but more about her own magic than the one Erza wielded.

After the day she had been unceremoniously tossed into a cleaning cupboard she had heard of magic she couldn't even have dreamed of and she had immediately assumed it had been Elvish in nature. Now though, after having seen Erza in action, she couldn't help but wonder if the magic that had been described to her had been the magic of the feared race or if humans had actually been responsible. As improbable as it sounded, even if there was the slightest chance it was true, why hadn't she heard or read about it? Was the world truly so vast that their acknowledgement of what was and was not possible through the use of their own powers so limited?

When she had asked Erza where she was from the warrior had merely stated that she had yet to find her home on any of the maps provided. Had she truly summoned someone from the complete otherside of the globe, a part of the world that had yet to be discovered? A part of the world which had potentially unlocked knowledge about magic she so desperately needed?

Mumbling something incoherent, Louise reminded herself of just why the maps they had were as limited as they were in the grander scheme of things. Nobody had successfully managed to explore past those boundaries and return, either through death or the more possible answer now, had simply found something better than what they had left behind.

Another thing that Louise found difficult to comprehend was the first time when she among the rest of the student faculty had been summoned before Erza. The instance itself was well remembered for two things, firstly for being the most grueling physical activity she or any of her peers had suffered. Secondly, yet now more importantly, was the single moment when Kirche had shot a Fireball spell at Erza who hadn't even attempted to dodge the attack.

It was well recorded and seemingly common knowledge on just what fire did to the human body, yet Erza had no fear of the consequences. Louise hadn't put much thought into it at first, she along with the rest of the student body were likely focusing more on the stress of their bodies afterwards. She had assumed that Erza fought the deadliest of creatures on a standard basis and as such the armour she wore were likely enchanted. But was that truly the case? The fireball that Kirche had sent her way that day had splashed across her armour, it was true, but it was large enough that some manner of skin should have been burned if not lightly scorched by the attack. Was Erza's flesh truly that resistant to the effects of fire? Had Louise been asked some time ago she would have merely stated that nobody was immune to the effects of the elements on the body.

Now?

Now she just didn't know.

"Alright you lot," shouted Erza, snapping Louise out of her thoughts to find that Guiche was once more unmoving, his body laying across the grass and the only motion that he was still alive was an involuntary twitch from time to time. The end of the training session had seemed to come quite abruptly and Louise couldn't help but fear what was to come next. "Come here and line up, I'm going to teach you something."

While it wasn't so much an offer as much as a command, those in attendance couldn't help but feel they had no real choice in the matter and all moved towards where Erza had indicated. A glance to her side showed Louise that Montmorency was looking far from confident and Tabitha had even put her book aside, a sign that she too was being cautious with the current situation. Whatever final blow that had struck Guiche had clearly left its mark on those who had seen it. Kirche seemed the only one who hadn't been affected...at least in the same way as those around her. Louise never could tell just what was going through the woman's mind.

"I'm going to teach the four of you something today that no other teacher in this school likely could," declared Erza as she sunk the tip of her blade into the ground by her feet. "They might not even know this themselves but it is more than possible they have done it in the past without knowing they did so. It is even possible for those who didn't learn magic in an academy to perform this."

Louise couldn't help but pay attention to the wording Erza had used there, a little piece more of the puzzle that was Erza Scarlet taking place. She hadn't lied to those in front of her by telling them that she couldn't use magic but rather she hadn't learnt in a school of sorts. Did that mean she had been taught my a specific person who had taken her on as an apprentice of sorts, or perhaps she had been self taught? Life with everything Louise discovered about Erza it only ever seemed to leak into more questions.

"This technique channels your inner strength, both a combination of your magical, physical and spiritual energy and expresses it in an outward form. For the most part is a sign of your strength and if used correctly can be enough to force an opponent to submit before a single strike has been thrown," explained Erza.

"So how can someone do this without knowing they did it?" asked Kirche.

"It is a display of power without casting a spell. Channeling that power though does leak through your body however. You have been taught in class that you need a wand or staff in order to cast spells, an instrument in which to focus your power through. It is indeed more than possible to cast magic without the aid of a wand however, yet it is far more dangerous. That is not what I am teaching you however. What you are going to try and do is focus on your strengths allow the power within you to grow and feel your own strengths and abilities. As I said before, this will leak throughout your body and consequently have an effect on the world around us. It might be something as simple as making your coat billow when there is not a single breeze and were it powerful enough even others can feel your strength from a distance. At the end of the day, this is also a great indicator of your own ability and can be used to measure your growth in skill over time. Do you understand?"

Even if they hadn't understood, nobody said anything.

"Kirche, you're up first," declared Erza making the red haired student step forward. "Now close your eyes and reach out to your magic."

Kirche listened to the words spoken to her, Erza continuing to give instruction as she delved deep inside herself. Trusting in Erza's teachings, she searched for the strength of her power, unable to find anything until a touch of heat called out to her. The warmth reached out to her, beckoning her closer and closer until she could feel it embrace herself, body and soul.

"Wow," Montmorency couldn't help but let out her astonishment as the she felt the power of her fellow student radiate out from her body. Not only had it felt like the temperature had risen a couple of degrees but she could see what Erza had meant, the looser parts of Kirche's uniform billowing as if a small breeze was trying to emit from her body.

"Well done," acknowledged Erza with a small smile on her lips as Kirche loosened her concentration. "How did that feel?"

"...Incredible," admitted Kirche, allowing a satisfying exhale to escape her body, having momentarily felt more intune with herself than she ever had before.

"Alright then, Montmorency, you're up next."

Nodding, the water user clutched her eyes tightly shut and did as she was instructed. Minutes passed by however before the student opened her eyes in defeat, unable to having been able to express her power like Kirche previously had. When tears started to form in the corner of her eyes, a comforting hand from Erza was placed on her shoulder.

"Don't fret, it's nothing to worry about," the otherworlder said in her most peaceful voice. "Strength isn't everything in this world and it never should be. If you can't tap into it now that doesn't mean that you won't be able to in time but that shouldn't prevent you from focusing on your strengths and the things that make you special."

Montmorency took the words in stride before wiping at the tears that had gathered in her eyes before they threatened to leak down her cheeks. She couldn't help but really wish that Guiche had regained consciousness in order to comfort her at this time. She did get some manner of comfort however, just not from the person she had wished it to come from as Kirche embraced her, pulling Montmorency into her embrace. While she had wanted to fight it at first she couldn't argue that while somewhat unwelcoming, she had no urge to break the contact.

Especially as the world around them seemed to grow ever so colder all of a sudden.

"Tabitha," Kirche said in shock as her constant companion showed off her power. Unlike when her power had radiated off of her, Tabitha's seemed to be more controlled and almost effortless. Although considering Tabitha's usual range of emotions it was difficult to tell if it was straining on the smaller girl or not.

"Impressive," said Erza as she looked at the display in front of her, Tabitha allowing her power to subside before Erza turned her attention to Louise. The girl already had her eyes closed and Erza silently hoped that the girl could find something, anything to help improve her confidence levels.

Louise had heard all of what Erza had told the other students and as soon as Kirche had displayed that it was possible, she had sought to replicate the effect. She had been searching but she had no idea what she was looking for. She could only imagine that Kirche had been searching for her element and of course fire would have been the easiest to find.

But Louise didn't know her element, she didn't even know if she had an elemental preference. She had hoped, hoped ever so dearly, that this would have taught her something about herself, why she had yet to successfully cast a single spell. But there was nothing, NOTHING! She felt nothing, heard nothing and was surrounded by nothing!

And in that single moment of defeat, she embraced nothing.

The explosive power which burst from Louise was unlike anything the other students had ever felt and nearly knocked them off their feet. "Louise..." said Kirche in utter disbelief as her grip on Montmorency wavered ever so slightly. The water mage was fairing no better, unable to make anything that sounded like speech escape her mouth.

Tabitha remained as normal.

Erza meanwhile couldn't help the confident smirk which spread across her face knowing full well that this was something she could work with.

...

"What...what was that?" asked Louise once she and Erza had returned to their room. Once in their private sanctum, Erza had used her ability to change out of her all too familiar armour and into something much more casual before she sat on the bed.

"That was your pure potential," said Erza as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That is our starting point."

"But, I mean, what was that?" repeated Louise. "The power I felt was nothing like the four elements that we're taught."

"Then that means we have more work to be done," declared Erza. "The first magicians when they first started learning had nobody to teach them yet they still learned regardless. It will take time and a lot of trial and error but undoubtedly you will learn too."

Louise brought her hand up and stared at it as if still trying to come to terms with just what it was she had felt. It was powerful and so very, very enticing. The idea however of playing with an unknown magic however was terrifying. There would be nobody to help guide her, nobody to push her in the right direction and nobody to keep encouraging her.

No.

There was one.

Louise looked over at Erza, someone who wielded a magic she had never seen, likely had nobody helping teach her and had likely stumbled and fallen along the way before trying again. Perhaps there had been a reason why she had summoned Erza specifically as her familiar and not something else. A dragon, a salamander, a griffin, all of them would have been incredible familiars to have, but none of them could teach her like Erza could.

Not only had she summoned someone both beautiful and strong, but perhaps exactly what she needed.

That was Erza Scarlet.

...

Montmorency felt her hands shake uncontrollably. She had been shown up, plain and simple. Kirche hadn't been much of a surprise, Tabitha either but Louise, LOUISE, had been able to tap into some huge magical reserve when she couldn't even cast anything properly!

It wasn't fair!

She found her hands grabbing a nearby vase, the flower in it one that Guiche had given her two days prior. The ceramic object shattered as it collided with the nearby wall, Montmorency tossing it as hard as she could before leaping onto her bed and burying her head into her pillow. This way, nobody could hear the shout of rage she let out, nor could they see the tears as they streamed down her face only to be soaked up by the fabric.

It just wasn't fair.

...