"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.
The 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
"A Tale of Blood and Souls"
Professor Colbert looked over his students and their familiars in turn, counting them as he went and found himself frowning. Either one student had yet to take part in the ritual or he had spent one too many long nights in the academy library the previous night. "Have we gone through everyone?"
It was Kirche who answered with a sly, sensuous smile as she stroked the head of her salamander. "No, not yet." She looked over her shoulder where a short pink-haired girl stood in the shadow of Tabitha's dragon. "Miss Vallière is left."
Louise gulped but kept a calm, determined face despite the cruel whisperings from her peers. Glaring at the empty ground before her, supplied eagerly by those unwilling to be caught up in another one of her disastrous attempts at magic, and took a deep breath before she started her chant, raising her wand on high. "I beg of you… my servant who lives somewhere in the universe!"
Montmorency, holding her little frog familiar in the palms of her hands, blinked at the girl's words. "What kind of chant is that?"
Beside her with a clear air of distinction that bordered on the excessive, Guiche was at least complimentary with his words, "Well it is unique."
Even Tabitha, who had her nose buried in a book even at the best of times, was giving Louise her full attention as she continued with her strange chant.
"Oh sacred, beautiful, and strong familiar spirit! I desire and here I plead from my heart! Answer to my guidance!" Louise brought her wand down and, like always with every spell she's ever cast, an explosion was the result, one strong enough to send most off their feet rather easily.
"I knew this was going to happen!" coughed a student.
Coughing himself hoarse, Guiche kneeled down beside his girlfriend, "Are you alright, Montmorency?" But she wasn't looking at him, staring instead in open-mouthed astonishment at something else entirely. "What's wrong?" In answer, she pointed wordlessly at what stood towering before Louise. "Wh-What?" He gasped in shock. It was not so much shock that had Louise had managed to summon something, though admittedly he half expected it to be dead-on-arrival thanks to her usual results in mage-craft, but never did he expect anything like this.
A human…
A man in his prime with a body put through many hardships if the various scars that decorated his muscular arms were of any suggestion to the idea. A man made not for battle but for war, black and golden armor stylized in a strange mixture of skeletal and scorpion themes though it was the deadly arachnid that took precedent. From the armor to the hilts of his swords, the scorpion's deadly tail was a prominent sign on the masked man who stood before a frightened Louise who a very good reason to be afraid though this man might be her familiar. His eyes, pools of hellish white, were narrowed with rage and his echoing voice was thick with unbridled fury.
"Who dares to call me here…? Who dares interrupt my REVENGE?" Fire ignited in his hands, bright and vibrant, and far more than even the best of fire mages could ever attain.
"Magic?"
"The Zero summoned a mage?"
The gossiping of the students did not appease the man's ire any, raising it to whole new heights as his eyes sought out those who dared to make such accusations. "I am no sorcerer!" He snarled, looking around the crowd of students until he spotted Professor Colbert and by process of elimination, deduced that it was he who brought him here. "You allowed Sub-Zero to live… Now you will suffer MY WRATH!"
"It was not I who called you here." Professor Colbert answered rather calmly to the vengeful warrior but considering that he had served under the Heavy Wind during less than pleasant times on a monthly basis, the man's rage, while frightening, was a candle to what he had endured under her tutelage and service but then… Colbert thought his opponent naught but a man, a mage of impressive skill and power. If he had even an inkling of just what that man truly was and what he was capable of doing. He'd pray most fervently… and hope that God was listening.
The armored warrior's fury simmered down and the flames extinguished themselves from his hands. He was furious with being summoned here, to a place surrounded entirely with children who knew nothing of bloodshed and hardship, and considering he was moments away from avenging his clan once and for all—
"Spare Sub-Zero's life and I will request that the Elder Gods return the Shirai Ryu to the realm of mortals."
The damnable thunder god and his words, his promise… He had nearly forgotten it. How close had he been to damning them all? The images of the slaughter of his clan, the butchery of his wife and son… had nearly driven him to the brink of madness and he had almost reneged on his bargain, thus condemning his family to an eternity of misery and endless torment in the Netherrealm.
Kana… Jubei… His fists tightened enough that his nails would have pierced his palms and allowed blood to flow if he was in possession of a mortal body. As it was, the skin remained unblemished from recent wounds though the fires of his damned soul threatened to explode from within once more though his fury was outweighed by something he hadn't felt for such a length of time that he damned near forgotten what the emotion was called but he was too strong, or perhaps too stubborn, to try and accept it. He had other priorities to deal with.
"If you aren't the one who summoned me here to this realm sorcerer than tell me who did and for what reason." He didn't ask the balding man. He'd have an answer or he'd make the man realize how… consequential… it was to try and delay him from the truth.
Whether it was some form of precognition or an overly developed sense of self-preservation, Professor Colbert answered the second half of the question first. "You were summoned to be bound as a familiar spirit."
"A familiar spirit." The hellish warrior scoffed at the idea. He had thought that there was some reasoning behind his summoning from the Netherrealm besides random chance but apparently chance was holding the cards this time. Though not a mage himself, he knew enough of the magic arts to recognize the term and from past experience knew how difficult it was to kill a sorcerer with interference from their "pets". He glanced out the corner of his eye, realizing why the balding man was not forthcoming as to the identity of the summoner. "I was called here by the likes of a child?"
Professor Colbert eyed the flames that had reappeared in the man's hands, wondering what the best way was to tactfully discuss this without any bloodshed but he beaten by the very child in question whose common sense had taken a backseat upon hearing an all too familiar insult. "I am not a child!"
The warrior's pupil-less snapped to her own and they narrowed into dangerous slits. Louise was a not even a sapling compared to him. Too short to even reach midway past his torso, too weak to even throw a dart into a board of supple wood, and eyes too innocent of the horrors life had waiting in the wing before the true nightmare began in death. He could kill her then and there but he was Shirai Ryu. A hired sword to kill without mercy, to spy and discover the best kept secrets, and, if need be, to torture to the brink of insanity. Paid the right price or offered the right rewards, he'd do anything so long as it followed to his honor and his return to life had come with a tantalizing price.
He had been resurrected for one reason, to kill Sub-Zero and he'd have done it gladly for the chance of revenge but then he had been given a better offer. Defeat the murderer of his clan but spare the bastard's life… and the clan may walk the earth once more. However unknowing it might have been, the child had helped him to keep his share of the bargain. No matter which way he looked at it, he owed her and his honor demand he repay he for it.
Sparing her life for the insolence was adequate enough.
"Find something else." Fire exploded around him as he entered through the vortex, disappearing through the blazing walkways between realms to appear once more… in the same damned courtyard with the same damned girl now standing directly to his right. His eyes narrowed and he disappeared again in a flash of fire only to return once more, this time on her left. "Do not anger me further witch. Let me leave." He teleported a third time, purposefully putting himself in front of her once more, far closer than he had originally been with a hand lifting her up into the air by the collar of her cloak, letting her dangle like a misbehaved dog, a curved blade at her throat. "Or perhaps I have to kill you beforehand?"
"You won't do that." The warrior didn't acknowledge Professor Colbert's words with physical action, only with words.
"Her blood will paint the grass red before you get the first spell off your tongue sorcerer. Yours will join her before the second is even a thought in your head." He made a derogatory scoff. "You've let your skills fade too much sorcerer."
Professor Colbert did not move from his relaxed stance though one could clearly see the tight grip he had on his staff. "If you ever intended to kill Miss Vallière, you would have done so the moment you realized that it was she who halted your chance of vengeance but you didn't which means you've a reason for not killing her. By your words you have no qualms with killing children—"
"I kill anyone who gets in my way sorcerer. Make your point if you have one."
"Fine. Miss Vallière stopped your chance at vengeance and you were ready to kill her for the interruption when you first arrived… but then you took a moment to calm down and you realized something. Whatever it is, I don't know or care, but it was enough for you to makes threats rather than deliver the consequences. You owe her, warrior. If you have any honor, you would repay her for it by allowing her to finish the rites… or you will be trapped here with no means to return from whence you came. Most familiars often outlive their masters and it has been documented that the familiars return from whence they came."
"… You are not as clever as you think, sorcerer." The warrior's blade drew closer to Louise's neck, just enough for a hint of red to flow down its silvery curve. "You say that if I kill her now, I'll be trapped in this realm, the magic half-finished but if she dies after the contract has been made, I am released. You think by telling me this that I'll simply let her mark me as hers, just to kill her afterward? I know enough of magic to know that no familiar is bound without a leash, sorcerer." He drew the sword slowly along her neck before whipping it back and replacing it in its sheathe on his back and he dropped Louise to the ground. "Finish your ritual girl… and pray that the leash is strong enough."
Vallière, not master, not mistress, not anything of worth but a target he could not kill by direct means, was proving to be… interesting. Rare indeed was it for someone without considerable skill and power to make demands of him, to actually shout at him like he was some lowly, disrespectful servant not hours after an attempt on their life. This girl, who possessed no scars, whose muscle tone was just enough to snap a twig, with eyes clear and shining with an innocence he could no longer remember possessing, had fire in her. Had she been born to the clan, she would have made a marvelous kunoichi, at least on the battlefield. She had too much of a temper to risk any attempts at spying, subterfuge, or seduction…
Because she was making it all too clear that she actually gave a damn about whether he lived or died.
"You stupid familiar! You don't understand! It doesn't matter how skilled you are, there is no contest between a mage and a commoner!" At least she had finally accepted that he was not a sorcerer despite the skills he demonstrated upon his summoning. "You'll be lucky if Guiche spares you any serious injury!"
He kept walking, not eager for the lesson of humility he was forced to teach but determined to all the same. "You are right that this is not a contest but you are wrong to worry. He does not have the power to kill me." No one in this pitiable realm did save maybe for Colbert but the fool's skills had faded too much from disuse. Victory would come too easily with little damage to him besides a lost limb, perhaps even a few severe burns but such injuries were almost laughable really.
He had endured far worse in the Netherrealm.
"Idiot familiar! He'll kill you!"
He almost laughed at the idea. Kill him with boredom perhaps but really, the boy barely had the strength to keep two younger women from slapping the pride right out of his scrawny face. "He's welcome to try, I'm sure he'll find the task harder than he thinks."
Louise frowned, wondering why her familiar's tone sounded almost amused to her though his voice was still of that disturbing, echoed quality. "Why do you say that?"
He stopped, just long enough to look at her to see the reaction of his answer before he continued on, leaving her alone and afraid not just of her familiar, but of herself as well. "Because Vallière, I am already dead."
This… was pathetic. The child had summoned toys to fight him. Empty suits of armor with enough striking power in their fists to turn his head and nothing more, and their swords were plenty sharp but they wielded them too mechanically, reacting on an instinct that was not their own and by that line of thought, one that hadn't been honed beyond what common sense of survival dictated. The first golem met its end with his fist impaled in its gut, the second a drop kick that left its helmeted head impaled into the ground, and the third was disarmed and suffered a collapsed torso from the kick to its solar plexus.
The last… would leave no further question to his state of being.
The thing thought, or perhaps its maker it did not matter, thought a reckless charge would be enough to cut him down. He kicked the blade aside easily and his hand captured the construct's throat in a burning vice while the other hand reached up to the mask that appeared to only cover his lower face and ripped it free.
There was not a single student who hadn't turned pale at the sight and while many screamed in terror, a few found their voices locked tight in their throats by the cold clutches of fear that any sound they might make, may draw the attention of the inhuman monstrosity that was thought to be nothing more than a man skilled in martial arts with a small penchant of fire. They thought him human and nothing more.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
His head was naught but a skull awash in the fires of an inferno with merciless red eyes gleaming in the black pits that once housed organic eyes. The bones of the jaw arranged themselves in a grisly smile before opening wide and unleashing a stream of fire that set the golem aflame; an impossibility for mundane flames but not those of the Netherrealm, that which any other being whom was not intimately familiar with that plane of existence would need but a glimpse to realize a name that was as simple as it was descriptive.
Hell.
Fire, natural fire, was a dangerous element to deal with but hellfire is by far the most dangerous of the three known types. Fire burns the skin and can leave grievous injury, perhaps even death. The white flames of heaven burn sin away, leaving behind that which was cursed with the taint be it living or otherwise. Hellfire… burns to the very soul and leaves naught but nightmares of the unbridled agony even in the waking hours. Guiche was lucky. The spell that created the golems to follow his mental commands required only but a small link to his soul and that link was quick to burn just fast enough that the boy had only to endure a few seconds of the touch of the hellish flames.
It was enough for him to remember even to his dying day…
It was when the night sky was empty of the moons that the message came to him, when the thirteenth hour caught him almost unawares and he had nearly missed the call. It had been nearly a week since his arrival to this realm and his was steadily growing more impatient and his temper all the more shorter as the hours ticked by. The conversation did little to help it any when it had first begun…
"Well you've gone a week without killing anyone so the temperature in the Netherrealm must be absolutely horrid now."
"So the thunder god finally comes to call on his end of the bargain. I expect to hear news of my clan's revival Raiden."
"As you recall, I said that I would beseech the Elder Gods to return the Shirai Ryu to the mortal realm. I never guaranteed that they'd accept—"
"DAMN YOU! WE HAD A DEAL, RAIDEN! I spared that bastard's life and my clan lives! The murderer of my clan! My wife! My son! I defeated him and even when Quan Chi tried and succeeded in goading me to kill him I still didn't! You bastard, I'll kill you! I'll rip out your eyes and use them for dice! I'll rip out your liver and roast it on a spit! I'll—"
"They agreed."
"—take out your spine and… What?"
"They agreed… The Shirai Ryu who were slain in the attack brought on by Quan Chi—"
"WHAT?" Fury flashed through him but lightning crashing through a cloudless night sky halted his tirade before it began.
"Let. Me. Finish. As I was saying, the Shirai Ryu who died in the attack will be brought back to life. From the oldest man to the youngest child, any who died that night will live again."
He was angrier than he had ever been. He had been played for a fool, following the orders of the man who had butchered his people like a dog trying to please its master so that he could kill the man he thought responsible for the crime. Only then did the thunder god's words fully sink in. "Except for me. That's it isn't it? My clan may live so long as I do not."
"No. The Elder Gods know of you well enough to see your worth both as you are and as you once were. They have agreed on the amendment that if you give Louise de La Vallière your full support in the events that are to come, you will live again when your time as her familiar ends, brought back in the same moment as your clan."
"The girl? What worth does she have in the eyes of the Elder Gods?"
"More than you could begin to realize…"
Louise looked askance at her familiar, wondering what his strategy would be in dealing with the dreaded thief Fouquet who had, in the most literal sense of the phrase, "brought a mountain golem to a magical duel". Well, not necessarily a mountain per-say but the golem was easily as tall as the academy's largest tower and far larger than anything her familiar had claimed to fight before. Not that she had any doubts after his stunning demonstration as to why he was the best there is at what he does and how he, over all his clansmen, had earned the name of their icon, their symbol of power.
Though she still worried that he was trying to lull her into a false sense of security with his cooperation, as one could loosely refer it as he did only what he determined as something worth doing, she had faith that he was starting to give a damn about her wellbeing at the very least.
A fact he made known to her the moment the golem's massive hand made a grab for her. A flash of hellfire and he was beside her, another and they were behind the construct that was already starting to turn, the other fist coming down to plow them both into mush. A backwards leap and an unceremonious drop to the grass nearly had her cursing out her familiar for his disrespect towards her when she saw his eyes.
Fury… The same and yet different than before when she had first summoned him as hers, and there lies a part of the answer to her doubts. He was acting like he actually cared about her because, however he would deny it until his undying breath was no more, he did if only so much as he was supposed to. Familiar or not, servant or not, he had taken the task of being her left hand with the same cold-hearted severity as he had in his mission to destroy a life. Now he was devoted to the opposite ideal; to protect a life with everything he had. Not necessarily his by any means, a threat against her was a threat against him and if he'd teach the stupid wrench of a secretary trying her hand at burglary one thing it would be this:
Anger the Scorpion and you get the sting.
"GET OVER HERE!" A kunai shot through the air with unnatural speed and pierced straight through Fouquet's torso, newly sharpened tips digging into the small of her back as she was pulled through the air by the organic cord that connected the weapon to its wielder. Her landing was anything but gentle, the bones of her arm fracturing from her stupid attempt at halting her encounter with the unforgiving ground. Her legs fared no better and without her full control, the massive golem crumbled to dust. She whimpered pitifully as the tip of Scorpion's sword touched her throat and lifted her head to face him.
"Be thankful that the price of your capture outweighs that of your head witch." He turned and regarded Louise who was doing her best to not look at Fouquet's broken body despite that such injuries would not be fatal should they be properly treated. He was impressed that she had enough backbone to match his glare with her own, answering to her unspoken question. "Think your little princess will be impressed with this?"
On the next Calling...
"Clarity of Madness"
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I'll be honest, I originally intended for this chapter to be the one with Aeon Calcos but the ideas I had for the Lizardman refused to keep to themselves and there you go, an earlier appearance then planned. The choice of Mortal Kombat for this story was easy but as for the choice of Scorpion, I will say that it was a coin-toss between him and Smoke, both from the recent "reboot" of the franchise where we get a "human" Smoke and a "sympathetic" Scorpion. Now if anyone is unaware of the Mortal Kombat franchise it is your regular one-on-one fighting game taken to the –nth level with blood, gore, and a whole lot of unnecessary brutatlity that borders on the obscene.
Sounds awesome doesn't it?
Scorpion, or by his real name Hanzo Hasashi, was a ninja of the Shirai Ryu clan, a clan born as a splinter faction of the Lin Keui, a clan of assassins that took a liking to the idea of turning their own people into cybernetic monstrosities, and was brutally murdered by Sub-Zero (the elder) shortly before the rest of his clan was slaughtered by Quan Chi, an evil sorcerer who brought Hanzo back from the Netherrealm (think Hell on steroids) as a hellspawned spectre and tricked him into believing that it was Sub-Zero that killed his clan, including his wife and young child. Scorpion's overall character is best described as chaotic neautral; he honestly doesn't give a damn about anyone or anything and does whatever he wants so long as it benefits him and his.
Writing Scorpion was a bit of a challenge only because most media depictions of him have him as a monster with severe anger-management issues and a complete lack of self-control. In the games, he's still like that but he's more… calm… it doesn't take much to anger him but he doesn't kill anyone needlessly. Case in point with Nightwolf, whom tried to talk him out of vengeance for his clan and, though ticked off, Scorpion did not kill him. In point of fact, after making the deal with Raiden, it took Quan Chi showing Scorpion the murder of his wife and child by Sub-Zero's hands to get him in a big enough rage to kill him.
Being a ninja, I would think that Scorpion would be used to taking orders from those he considers "beneath" him as far as power and ability goes and, if given a mission as he was by Raiden and the Elder Gods, he would see it through to the bitter end, but if there's only one thing that Scorpion cares about more than the success of the mission it is the well-being of his family so with that kind of incentive, I imagine it wouldn't be too hard for Louise to… not really control but work with him.
Admittedly, I do like Scorpion as a character but one of the things that made this difficult was limiting his violent tendencies. Scorpion has one of the most brutal fighting styles in Mortal Kombat and his finishers are always bloody and leave little behind but charred bones or skinless corpses behind. While I admit to liking the Mortal Kombat franchise, I do not like it enough to write what would likely be one of the bloodiest crossover stories for Familiar of Zero so, like many others, Scorpion is here merely as a possibility but not one I intend to follow though, to be fair, we may just have Smoke making an appearance later on, who knows?
On another note…
Congratulations to Gold Scarab, who managed to get eight of the ten and to Farmer Kyle and Stavaros the Arcane who not only guessed all ten correctly but followed the RULES. And as I agreed, here are the ten guest characters in order of appearance:
Seras Victoria (Hellsing) I always liked her as the "reluctant vampire" type who could really go far if she accepted it.
Alucard (Hellsing) The best depiction I've seen of Dracula to date.
The Missing Link (Monsters vs Aliens) Cooler than the Creature from the Black Lagoon and hey, he knows karate.
B.O.B. (Monsters vs Aliens) Plain, simple, and at times too humorous for words.
Sadako (Ringu) Samara is sympathetic, Sadako is freaking scary on way too many different levels
Edward (Edward Scissorhands) One of the saddest characters I've ever seen, and one whose story deserves a better ending I think.
Poison Ivy (Batman) One of the hottest villainesses ever and one of the most dangerous if she really puts her mind and power into it. Also, one of the few that could "tame" her partner below.
The Spider-Doppelganger (Spider-Man) OR The Spider-Within AKA Spider-Morphosis (Spider-Man: The Other) Both are so alike that I was willing to accept either as both are reflections of Spider-Man with the "man" being out of the equation.
Maleficent (Disney's Sleeping Beauty) Staff based on deviantArt that apparently no longer exists but otherwise, the Wicked Fairy of Darkness and Evil.
Jafar (Disney's Aladdin) C'mon, he turns into a giant king cobra, how is that not freaking scary? Plus, a lot of authors pair him up with Maleficent so, why not I?