NEW VOTING CHALLENGE: The oncoming arc of characters will be nothing but Gandalfr and all shall be appearing but I will leave it to you, my readers, to choose who comes first. Now, I'm going to keep their names a secret but I will reveal this one and only fact. Each and every one of them are fully established characters rather than OCs like Nicolai or pseudo-OCs like the Jabberwocky. Vote quickly for only ONE more tale remain until the next arc begins.

"I beg of you… My slave who lives somewhere in the universe! Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit! I desire and here I plead from my heart! Answer to my guidance!"

For such powerful magic words they are quite vague are they not? The universe has long since been proven to be far more massive than can be measured and the reflections even more infinite. Beautiful and strong can be defined in numerous ways and differ by one's own views of strength and beauty. However, a plea that comes straight from the heart fueled by a desire created from years of emotional torment by one's peers? That is a voice heard by any who are willing to listen.

Familiars of Zero is a series of one-shots featuring a plethora of what-if's consisting of a large cast of characters ranging from the unique to the downright bizarre. However, while the cast of familiars will be diverse a few key little details will remain in effect. All familiars will be sentient and will, at the very least, be chaotic neutral. I may include an "evil" familiar or two but I'm not really into writing horror all that much…

All one-shots shall be followed by an explanatory note regarding the new familiar (the who's, the why's, and the what's), a brief summary of what could continue, and finally explanations towards an "OCness" on the pre-established characters. With that said, I hope you enjoy reading:

The Familiars of Zero

By Corvus no Genmu

"The First of a Kind"

He is of the One and yet he was but a small part of the Many. He is unique unto himself and yet several more could boast of similar if not greater attributes. He is a behemoth, standing tall like a mountain but he is small too, a simple grain of sand in an endless desert. He has lived a thousand lifetimes and yet has never experienced any of what life has to offer, the good times and the bad times but countless memories and experiences not his own and yet an integral part of himself. But he was not to be anything like those that came before him for his fate was to be something grander than they, something that none of his kind had ever seen, had ever considered to be possible.

For though his body lay in wait, his essence, that which contained who he is and what he could be, was flying through space at a speed rivaled only by the light it emulated. It was spearing through entire star systems to reach the faraway that planet, so different to its own and yet no different, to reach a body that was born of the First One and yet separate from the First One at the same time. Where those created from the Cube, that which best be called an artificial heart in comparison to that which is the First One, were cursed with a half-life; an existence born of nothing but violence and rage while those that had been born from the essence of the First One, had been gifted with a true life, a true soul.

A true Spark…

Though he be born not of the hands of the First One, he was of the same as all the First One's Children but unlike those who came before him, he would be the first of a new species, the first step to a plan eons in the making to turn what was once a purely technological planet now no more than a dead husk into something greater than it was before blood became oil and flesh into steel. A world where the two differing forces were no longer different as night and day but one and the same as the dawn was both a mixture of the day and the night but unlike twilight, promised a new beginning for one and all.

But that future was millennia from completion but it is not the time a journey takes that makes its worth but the steps taken and in that moment when living spark ignited itself in a cold metal body, the first step was taken down the long road towards destiny. The first step, but not the last for in that moment of confusion, where empty eyes flashed crimson with sudden sentience as ideas and thoughts formed where nothing but cold, mechanical logic held absolute control, a voice was heard to audio receptors once deaf to all but commands of battle.

"I beg of you…"

A blast of fire erupted from his mouth in his first attempt to speak, a fortunate accident as an enemy tried to take advantage of his disorientation.

"My servant who lives somewhere in the universe!"

So young, so naïve, he thought for a moment that this voice was that of the First One but even his limited, but growing, knowledge informed him that the First One, though all-encompassing, rarely spoke in any voice but that of a male for the First One was as much a Father to all as well as to him..

"Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit!"

Newly born, he was almost surprised by the sheer elation that rose in his chest as he easily swatted another would-be assailant aside with a simple swipe of his tail. Yes! He is strong! The strongest there ever was! But… he knew that beauty was a word for weak things so how could the term be applied to him? He is not pretty, cute, or even adorable. No, he is big, fierce, strong, and bold! Never mind that he had no idea as to what "sacred" meant, though it sounded just as important as "strong".

"I desire and here I plead from my heart!"

Another attack from the side thwarted with a powerful kick. He voiced his anger at being interrupted in his musings of the Voice's words with a primordial roar and charged forward with fangs flashing through the air, chomping whole limbs asunder. Those who he was born to combat cowered before his fury and those he stood beside watched in awe as he single-handedly dealt more damage in a single mad assault than the best of them with plan and fortitude on their side. The same flyer from before stood a crumpled heap beneath his feet as he stood tall and proud, roaring his victory to those fools that beat a hasty retreat made all the quicker as he blasted flames at their heels.

He surveyed the area as the tiny soldiers drew near guns aimed and ready to shoot not at the retreating enemies but at him. He who was once a spark-less weapon that now stood a warrior proud of his victory with true intelligence born of free will in his eyes and a smirk of pride playing in a mouth once emotionless as stone. Where once he was a weapon under their beck and call, he was now his own self, a person in every sense of the word. If he wasn't in their control, he was no better than those he was created to fight against.

Yes, he could hear their words well even whispered as they were. They proclaimed him wild, a savage broken free from chains thought unbreakable, and they assumed it better that he be struck down now while he appeared tranquil and unaware of the danger. Pfft, foolish little things. He didn't care for their opinions for what was the value of theirs when another's was much greater? Crimson optics shrunk, zooming on the horizon… there! That sphere of green! That was where the voice was coming from!

"Answer to my guidance!"

His roar shattered the air and his pounding footsteps shook the earth as he charged forward in answer to the Voice, towards the next step towards his destiny.

Would it not be possible to cast just one spell without an explosion big or small; was it truly too much to ask for? Then again, considering the long list of things Louise had asked for it wasn't too farfetched really. From the simple, proving her worth as a mage by casting one successful spell, to the unlikely, lightning striking that rotten Kirche back to the pit she crawled out of, and perhaps even the improbable, getting that growth spurt sometime this turn-of-the-century. Eyeing the large cloud of smoke with concern, Louise took a hesitant step forward, worried that her familiar had not survived the experience without injury.

She dared not even think that perhaps it had not survived at all.

There was a strange sound from the depths of the black smoke, something rather like metal parts moving together like those joyous little automatons she enjoyed as a child that required the simple turning of a key to get them in motion. What had emerged from the fading smoke was certainly no small toy despite its initial appearance of cold iron and molten steel.

Towering a good five meters tall at the hips alone with a length nearly three times though its tail measured equal with its torso and head, which in itself consisted almost entirely of a pair of jaws lined with knife-like teeth easily over a foot in length. Its arms were small, almost useless with two stubby fingers though the golden claws looked sharp enough to tear through steel were they capable of reaching it. In almost exact opposite, the mechanical beast's legs were large and thick with artificial muscle and tipped in golden talons large enough to pierce the earth just from standing. Small though they might be compared to the rest of its body, the iron beast's eyes were big enough to outweigh a melon and, much to Louise's chagrin, those same molten eyes were focused entirely on her.

Kirche's laughter rang out alongside those who stood at the creature's back and thus did not see the intensity of its eyes, the intelligence in them. "This makes what you said last night worth it! Only you would summon an earth mage's golem for a familiar, Louise!"

Blazing eyes narrowed and the beast turned to the shocked gasps of the students. Its jaw slowly opened, fire dancing in its throat as it glared molten death upon a rapidly paling Kirche at the impossibility before her. No golem could move without its master's commands and certainly there was no master within range of this hulking beast. A creature of this size and magnitude would require a small group of triangle-class let alone a lone square-class to control let alone construct.

"Now, now, none of that." Professor Colbert stepped forward, drawing the metallic beast's eyes upon him and away from his students just as he hoped. He continued chiding the relieved Kirche, "I've said time and again that familiars are to be shown proper respect Miss Zerbst, especially ones unique as this." Professor Colbert glanced up at the… beast… he supposed it was a beast of some sort but of what it was made to replicate he was unsure. A passing glance, he would have thought it some form of wingless dragon, perhaps a drake even, but what magic was there that could keep the thing moving without the aid of its creator? As far as he knew, there was none save for…

Professor Colbert's eyes narrowed the slightest bit but that was the only sign he gave as he kept his jovial smile. "You may continue with the ritual, Miss Vallière."

"B-But I've never heard of taking a golem as a familiar!" Louise snapped her mouth shut as the "golem" in question turned to face her once more, glaring down upon her from its towering height.

'I'm beginning to think it's as much a golem as Miss Tabitha's familiar is a normal dragon.' Professor Colbert weighed the idea of casting a detection spell upon the thing but thought better of it. There was no telling what kind of backlash that might result from the spell let alone if the creature would be aware of its casting. "No matter how unorthodox it might be, you cannot simply change the familiar once you have summoned it. Whether you like it or not, you have no choice but to accept it as yours, so please just continue with the ritual."

Louise glanced up at the metal-scaled reptilian and sighed, silently lamenting her limited skills with magic, before she gestured for the thing to lower its head down so she could reach it. Molten eyes blinked, iron lips pulling back in a fanged smile of amusement, but the thing obeyed readily enough, lowering itself down until it was almost lying upon the ground.

The petite mage-in-training waved her wand. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; grant your blessings upon this humble being, and make him my familiar." Finished with the chant, and more than a bit relieved to find no explosions forthcoming, she reached forward and tapped the beast's snout with her wand and, quick as a blink, kissed the same spot.

She leaned back in surprise. 'So warm…' Her surprise only grew at the sight of her familiar's reaction. The thing had literally jumped back from her, blazing eyes wide and standing almost completely upright with its tail slapping the ground in obvious agitation. If she didn't know better, she'd swear that the thing was actually embarrassed to have been kissed.

But something was wrong.

Were he a creature of soft flesh and red blood, he would think his body was aflame from the agony coursing through him. Nerve receptors were almost screaming inside his skull as energy surged at such speed that sparks literally shot forth from his joints. This pain was nothing like he had ever felt before though somewhere in the forgotten corners of his memory banks there was a likeness to this pain.

The agony of birth.

The strange, foreign power coursing through him was changing him somehow though not precisely in his physical form. Instead it was unlocking memory banks of information he knew he possessed but could not access, knowledge gained from the mergence of his spark and body. His designation was all that he knew of himself, his purpose all that defined him, but now he knew that he was more than a series of numbers, more than a machine without a heart—No! Without a spark.

In that instant, he knew everything he needed… but there was no enemy here to crush, no foe worth beating… He would have to make due with introductions and settle for revealing his true potential when the time was right. His memory banks reviewed the shiny-head's words and those of the pinky-one… he cross-examined them and found them amusing for his definition of 'humble' consisted of loud boasting. And so he spoke for the first time, giving voice to his name and his allegiance with pride.

"Grimlock… MAXIMIZE!" A tyrannosaur's roar shattered the air before he flipped back as steel and iron moved to form a new construction, a new form. His hind legs slid and bent to form a pair of humanoid arms as back and tail moved together and split into a pair of stocky legs ending in a pair of boxy feet. The head of the tyrannosaur split in two with the lower jaw disappearing into the chest cavity while the upper half fell along the back. A head emerged at the top of the torso, looking quite small in comparison to the overall largeness of the body, and in itself appeared more like some form of helmet with a thick mouth guard and a thin, V-shaped visor beneath which a pair of optics gleamed like rubies.

A weapon ejected from the transformer's back and was caught in hand with a skill born of natural grace. It was a sword unlike any other for no sword was made to be like this. This sword held no sharpened edge but several in the form of serrated teeth that roared as they flew along the length of the blade and down into its face-like hilt. The eyes of the sword gleamed red and the fangs burned the air with a roar of hellfire. Looking more than pleased with his weapon, it being the first time to bear it in hand, he grinned and raised it up before giving his first opinion.

"Me Grimlock, liiiike…"

He wasn't so much an expert on humans as others of his kind, his knowledge being only what his body's crafters thought he needed to know, but even a simple-minded transformer such as he knew that the frequency of the pink-one's pausing to start a tirade and finding herself with no words, resumed her pacing was not a sign of a healthy mind. It was still early in the evening and the courtyards of the castle-grounds were all but deserted save for those who thought they skills at sneaking were greater than their common sense. A solitary glare from a single, shining optic dissuaded them of this and sent them scurrying away. Such a thing from an animal of metal was one thing but one now shaped like a man with a blade of fire piercing the earth beside his seated form, both of which towered regardless?

Common sense might not prevail often but when it did, it did so with relish.

"Why you Louise walk in circles?" Grimlock asked. He was getting dizzy from watching her and was growing bored with her poor attempts at communication. At least she wasn't fainting again though how she could faint not once but three times was somewhat puzzling. He wasn't that scary was he? Well, to his enemies, he certainly hoped he was, but to a friend?

Louise didn't flinch but there was a slight twitch to her shoulders before she answered. "I'm trying to understand."

Grimlock tilted his head. "Understand what?"

"Everything!" She shouted in frustration, pulling at her hair. "How you can be 'alive' but be made of iron and steel! How there can be an entire race of you out there, that is even an out there in the first place!" She waved futilely at the starry sky, as though expecting more answers to come falling from the heavens.

"What more be said?" asked Grimlock. He shrugged, having explained as best he could and was satisfied with his words even if she wasn't. "Me here with Louise, so all is good."

Damn it, there was no keeping the smile off her face at that reminder. While she could not even begin to comprehend him for what he was, there was no mistaking who he was… and he was definitely better than a dragon and griffon combined. "There is that, I suppose." She eyed his massive humanoid form with a concerned frown. "I'm sorry but I don't think there's enough bedding in the academy for someone of your stature…"

Grimlock's optics flashed. "What?"

Louise repressed another sigh. However brilliant her familiar might be, he was no genius. "There isn't a bed big enough for you here."

"Oh! That okay, me Grimlock like sleeping under stars anyway." He rose and shifted once more in a whirring of gears and metal plates to stand as a tyrannosaur before falling to the ground with quaking force. Red optics flickered in semblance to human eyes blinking tiredly before going out altogether with no further activity from the massive transformer save for the sound of snores from an artificial snout. It was almost… cute.

Louise looked quite bemused with the sight of the sleeping behemoth of cold iron and hardened steel appearing cute, still it begged the question. "… If he has no lungs, how can he snore?"

On the next Calling...

"All That Is Dark"

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Another kind-of pseudo-OC like Jabberwocky, Grimlock is a popular cybertronian of the Transformers universe, and I use the term 'cybertronian' only because depending on what universe/storyline you follow, Grimlock was quite different though as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The one thing that remains constant with Grimlock is that he is an 'artificially' created transformer, his alt-mode has been, for the most part, a tyrannosaurus rex, and, not to harp on the big guy, was not all-too bright when it came to proper grammar.

This Grimlock is no different and yet entirely so for I designed this Grimlock entirely off the fabulous artwork and storyline of the artist Matt Frank, otherwise known as KaijuSamurai, for a "Design a Transformer" contest for another movie-verse transformer which, to my great surprise, did not make to the top ten. I fell in the love with the design though my sole experience with Transformers has been primarily around the "Beast Wars" and "Beast Machines", which leads to the minor alterations I made to Grimlock. Those familiar with said series of Transformers universes, or Transformers in general, should be able to see what those alterations are but here's a hint: There's a reason Grimlock roared, "Maximize!" and why I kept his body in a… transmetal state of being.

I made Grimlock Windalfr because, as he says, "Me Grimlock, King of Beasts!" Besides, what would the point be for him to be Gandalfr since most weapons would be too small for him and, again not to insult the big guy, but Grimlock being the "Mind of God" was a bit of a stretch, even for me.

Truth be told, I had a bit of difficulty with this one-shot primarily because I was torn between doing Grimlock in his many incarnations and another transformer by name of Dino-Bot from the Beast Wars. I chose Grimlock because… well, honestly, he's a t-rex and he's awesome. That and he won the coin-toss three-times running so yeah… Besides, with his… not so much naivety as it is simple-mindedness, I'm sure he could get under Louise's skin as often as Saito but not receive any of the punishment lest she be punished herself.

While I do like Grimlock as a character, I don't think I could ever write such a story myself without making Grimlock too OOC. Being a stickler for proper grammar, I had a heck of a time trying to keep Grimlock's method of speech true-to-form without making him sound too dumb but also not too smart. Overall, that would be more of a headache than I'd like so, unfortunately, Grimlock will be amongst those that have appeared solely for the sake of appearances and not true possibility.

PS

I am well aware of there being a Transformers/Familiar of Zero story which features Grimlock being summoned as Louise's familiar but seeing as that Grimlock is of the Transformers: Animated franchise, AKA the WTF-is-this-complete-and-utter-crap, I've never bothered reading it. For all I know, it may well be an excellent story such as the Prototype/Familiar of Zero story "Unfamiliar" is but… truth be told, I hate the Animated franchise too much to risk reading it. You just don't turn Optimus into a wussy robot. You just don't.

And don't even get me started on the girl…