?: Someone opens the office door completely off.
"Uuuuh ... guys? Anyone? I'm back ... I'm back!"
Z: Hi-Dilly-Doh guys! I'm DevilsZack00 and I'm here with the new chapter of KH Hearts of the Familiar! AAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!
How are you? Kept you waiting, huh? Guys, I'm honest. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I've had a lot to do irl ... look for a job, get vaccinated (I've only had one in two doses for now, but the first dose already left my arm sore for days), and so on ... ok, even GUILTY GEAR STRIVE entertained me a lot, I admit. But it's too good-
Also, I started writing a small project and I'm also thinking about a Pa(You complete the sentence). Obviously I will not do the classic "Pay to read before the update on ", of course not. However, since I have decided to reduce the publication of chapters to one, maximum two per month, the Pa(Complete the sentence) will allow you to decide WHICH update you want to see come out first (Ie: FFXV, then Bleach DxD, etc. ).
I am not sure to open it, so I will leave the choice in a poll up to you. Should I open a Pa(You complete the sentence) or not? You choose.
Okay, I think I've entertained you too much. Time to read the new god damn chapter! See ya!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own KH or FoZ. I only own the plot and OCs. Remember that EVERY single chapters are translated from Google Translator, so sorry for possible grammar errors
Weeks later...
In Tristain, there was a mage thief by the name of "The Crumbling Dirt," who had every noble in the country cowering in fear. This one's full name was Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.
When Fouquet heard that a noble in the North had a jeweled crown, he would go all the way there to steal it. When Fouquet heard that a noble in the South had a staff bestowed by the king as a family treasure, she broke through walls to steal it. In the East, none of the best pearl rings by the artisans of the White Islands remained in any mansion. Fouquet also eagerly took possession of a priceless bottle of well-aged wine from a winery in the West. The thief was everywhere.
Fouquet's tactics range from stealthy infiltration to outright breaking in. The national bank had been attacked in broad daylight, and houses were silently frequented in the depth of night. In any case, Fouquet's tactics simply left the royal mage guards in the dust.
Fouquet was identified only by the use of alchemy to enter targeted rooms, turning doors and walls to dirt and sand, then walking through the gaping holes. The nobles were not stupid, of course, they had tried to magically "solidify" everything around their treasure in an attempt to stop the alchemy, but Fouquet's magic was simply too strong, nullifying everything, fortified or not, into dirt.
If Fouquet decided on breaking the way in, a 30-mail tall dirt golem was used. Tossing aside mage guards and shattering castle walls, it let her boldly take prizes in broad daylight.
No one had ever seen Fouquet's appearance up close. Nobody even knew for sure whether Fouquet was a man or a woman. All they knew is that Fouquet was an earth mage of at least Triangle class, that she left insulting notes, such as "I got your treasure. –-Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt" at every robbery scene, and that she preferred treasures and artifacts of great magical power.
Now two huge moons shone down on the walls outside the fifth floor of the Academy of Magic, which encased a treasure room. The light stretched out a shadow, standing straight against the walls. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.
Fouquet's green, long hair moved with the wind, and Fouquet briskly stood, openly showing the figure that strikes fear in all the nobles of the country.
Pressing a foot against the wall, Fouquet felt the wall's power and could not help but admire it.
'The main tower of the Academy is as strong as it looks… is a physical attack really it's only weakness? I can't break through something this thick without attracting attention' Thought the thief.
It was not hard for an expert in earth magic like Fouquet to check a wall's thickness with their feet, but breaking a wall was completely different. It looks like they used only hardening spells on it, but I can't even break this with a golem. It's got a very strong hardening spell… my alchemy won't do much.
"Damn it… and I already got this far." The thief's teeth grit in frustration. "I'm not leaving the Staff of Destruction, no matter what." Fouquet crossed her arms and went into deep concentration. "Looks like I really needs Xigbar's help...tch, where is he?"
In the meantime...
Meanwhile, as Fouquet thought in annoyance about the wall, Zack was walking through the halls of the Academy.
(Play "Kingdom Hearts series OST - Distant from You" )
As he walked through the halls of the Academy to make his way to Louise's room, Zack sighed. 'It has been weeks since my arrival in this world. Heartless' appearances are infrequent, and the few times they do appear, they are all very weak...It's too weird. I thought the darkness was more powerful in this World…And while I stay here to get bored, Lux and Ragii left for a mission'
Arc 1 - Chapter 6: Fouquet, the thief
3 days before - Tristan Academy - Library…
Zack's mind was in chaos. Lux and him glared at each other in anger as the Keyblade wielder studied the chessboard, and he was clearly losing against the Nobody.
"Hurry up, I'm getting old waiting" Lux commented crossing his arms, assuming a tone of voice that sounded bored. "And I didn't think I could grow old as a Nobody, a new record"
"S-Shut up! I'm just thinking how to beat you!"
Lux sighed as he rested his chin on the palm of his right hand, looking out the window at the night sky. "Yeah yeah...by the way, did you hear about them?"
"Huh? Heard what?" The Keybearer asked as he took the white bishop and moved it a few squares.
"Strange rumours are circulating. Rumours about strange white creatures acting bizarre, and rumours about Fouquet's next target. Ate." Lux replied as he took the black queen and, moving it, ate Zack's bishop, to the dismay of the latter who groaned. "You...you know about Fouquet, right?"
"U-Uh? M-Me? Of course I know about Fouquet!" Zack chuckled nervously as he shifted a white pawn, ate a black one. "...He is a mage?"
"..." Lux sighed. "You are really incredible. Anyway yes, at least it is very probable. Nobody knows if he is a man or a woman. Fouquet simply enters, steals, and disappears as if he were a ghost"
"Steal? Fouquet is a thief?"
Lux nodded. "Exactly, and probably the next target will be a relic inside this academy" As he spoke, Lux looked at the chessboard, then took the black bishop. "But there is another question: the white creatures. Maybe you know them"
The Keybearer moved a white rook. "Oh, you mentioned them before. Can you describe what they look like?"
The young nodded. "I have some informations about them. The witnesses said that those strange demons have a thin, sinuous body that is capable of dumbfounding feats of flexibility, with a large cylindrical head with a flat top that is emblazoned with a strange symbol. Strangely, they appear to be fairly muscular, though their arms and legs are very thin"
Zack crossed his arms, lowering his head. "Mh…"
"Ring a bell?"
"...No, never heard of them. Probably they can be a new monsters' race?"
"No" Lux shook his head. "Because they're appears from a portal made of darkness or something like that"
"Oh fuc—You will help me to get rid of them?"
"Sorry, but I can't. Father summoned me and Ragii to a village to investigate the disappearance of an artefact. Sorry but you're alone for...5 days, probably 7" Lux closed his eyes and smiled slightly, a smile that seemed to really convey emotion. "Oh, by the way: Checkmate. 7-0" He casually say, moving his black king.
"Screw you, Lux!" He said as he yeet the chessboard away.
"Same for you—"
Back to the present...
Stopping in front of a window, the young man yawned as he stretched his arms. After doing so, the young man saw the two moons high in the sky. "Oh, is it really that late?"
Observing the two moons reminded Zack of happy nights spent in Daybreak Town with his friends. "...You're all fine, aren't you? After all, you're the Dandelions" He muttered as he walked away from the window. "Right...Strelitzia?" A few minutes later, Zack reached the door of Louise's room.
(End "Kingdom Hearts series OST - Distant from You")
Unfortunately, it seems to be a very unfortunate day for him. Opening the door, the poor Keybearer was hit in the face by a book. "OUCH! WHAT THE-" Holding his sore nose, Zack noticed two things: Kirche and Louise, intent on arguing, were throwing every object in the room at each other...and most of all, the completely ruined room. The curtains are torn, the bed is damaged and so on. It also seemed that Zack's presence didn't seem to interrupt the quarrel between the two girls.
"How dare you tell me that, Zerbst?! He's mine! Leave your luxurious hands from him"
"Yet you treat him badly, and you don't have sex-appeal! He surely chose me!"
"You manipulate bitch! / Zero Louise!"
Both girls pulled out their wands and, if it weren't for Zack's Reflect, the room would no longer exist. "Wha-?! Zack?" Both girls exclaimed.
"Please girls, calm down" Zack asked with a pissed tone. "What is going on?"
The two girls looked at each other with murderous intent and, as they lowered their wands, Louise looked down "...Zerbst wanted me to sell you"
"Exscuse-fucking-me?" Zack raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"L-Look, not really "sell". I just tried to release you from that little girl with zero sex-appeal" Kirche raised her hands.
Zack groaned as he rubbed his neck. "Think more about Flame instead of me. I'm okay"
Kirche sighed and then turned to Louise. "Hey."
"What do you want, Zerbst?"
"Guess it's time to get this over with."
"Hmm… you're right."
"I really hate you, you know?"
"Same to you."
"We think quite alike." Kirche smiled and raised a brow. Louise, too, defiantly stuck her chin up.
"Let's duel!" They shouted in unison.
"But of course, we have to do this with magic!" Kirche triumphantly declared.
Louise bit her lower lip, and nodded. "Fine. Location?"
"Really? Are you sure, Louise the Zero? Are you really sure you want to fight me in a magical duel?" Kirche goaded.
Louise lowered her head. Am I sure? Of course… not. But it was a challenge from a Zerbst, so she had to take it. "Of course! I will not lose to you!"
"H-Hoi, you two" Zack sighed as he slammed his right hand to his face, he couldn't believe these two were really going to. On the other hand, the two glared at each other as if they did not hear him and then exit from the room.
"This is a baaaad idea" He commented as he followed the two girls.
Meanwhile..
Meanwhile, standing on the walls of the central academy tower, Fouquet felt footsteps. She jumped off towards the ground, and just as Fouquet reached it, she whispered "Spell of Levitation", then she landed like a feather, absorbing her momentum.
At the end of the action, the thief jumped when she heard someone clap from behind her. Turning slowly, Fouquet saw the identity of the person.
"Nice job there, don't ya?" Xigbar, the hooded man, was clapping slowly. Even though Xigbar had his hood up, Fouquet could see that he was grinning.
"You have finally arrived. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?" The thief approached Xigbar.
"What? Did you miss me? It's okay, I'm single if ya want a piece of me~"
"What if the plan fails thanks to your attitude?"
"As if. Don't worry, the Nobodies will help you-" Xigbar stopped speaking as he looked up. "...Quick, hide. Someone's coming here" After pushing the woman away, Xigbar turned away from her, disappearing
"Xigbar- Tch…" With a sigh, Fouquet disappeared into the courtyard bushes.
Courtyard...
Entering the courtyard were Louise, Kirche and Zack. For Zack, now used to almost always seeing the courtyard full of students, almost always noisy, it seemed a miracle to see this place without anyone. He could feel even the crickets.
"All right, let's begin." Kirche announced.
"Are you guys really going to duel?" The Keybearer asked. "I mean, it's late and maybe-"
"Yes, we are." Louise confidently answered.
"Louise. Again. Isn't it a bit dangerous, and late? Let's just stop here and let it go for once, please?" Zack asked again, hoping his master could really change her mind
"He is actually right...so whoever gets injured is the idiot" Said Kirche.
"Uh-huh." Louise nodded.
"Are you kidding me?" It was Zack's reaction to that. Tabitha's arrival only made the situation worse as the latter approached Kirche, and whispered something in her ear. Then she pointed at Zack.
"Hmm… now that's a good idea!" Kirche grinned. Then, Kirche whispered something to Louise.
"Ah… not bad." Louise nodded. And they both looked at the Keyblade Wielder. He suddenly had a bad feeling about it. "...Oh no, are you-"
5 minutes later...
"-guys serious?" Begged Zack, but nobody cared. "...I hate you all" He was hung in mid-air by a rope from the main tower. On the ground which looked so far, far away, he could see the silhouettes of Kirche and Louise. Despite it being the middle of the night, the two moons made for clear vision. He could even Tabitha on Sylphid. The two moons shone warmly on the Keybearer.
Kirche and Louise looked upon him, dangling and flopping around in mid-air. Kirche rolled up her fists. "Here's how we do it… the first to cut off the rope and let Zack down wins. Then the cute Keybearer goes to the winner. Sounds good?"
"Got it." Louise nodded, her face blank.
"No limits on the type of spells used. You can go first…my treat." Tabitha stated the rules.
"All right." Both the girls nodded their heads
"Okay…good luck."
"At this point…you need to win, Louise!" After some hesitation, Zack finally decided to cheer Louise.
Louise rolled her eyes as she brandished her wand. In the air, Tabitha began to shake the rope, wobbling Zack left and right. 'Spells like "fireball" have high accuracy rates, and as long as the target doesn't move I can hit it' However, Louise had more than that to worry about – she had to make the spell work in the first place.
Louise thought hard. 'What would work? Wind? Fire? Water and Earth are both out… They don't have many spells that can cut ropes. Fire spells work the best here…' And here Louise remembered that that is exactly what Kirche is good at. 'Kirche's fireballs will cut that rope easily. I can't fail this one.'
She picked fireballs anyway. Aiming a small one at the target, she recited the short spell. If she failed, Kirche would get Zack, and to someone esteemed like Louise, this would be completely unacceptable. She finished reciting, and with her utmost concentration, flicked her wand. If it worked, a fireball would come out of the tip.
But nothing came out of the wand. The next moment, the wall behind her familiar exploded. The shock wave shook Zack even harder. "What the hell?! Are you trying to kill me?!" The Keyblade Wielder's angry yell drifted down towards them.
The rope remained intact. If she thought she could use the shock wave to break the rope, she wasn't thinking. A large crack appeared on the wall.
Kirche collapsed in laughter. "ZERO! ZERO LOUISE! You broke the wall instead of the rope! Now that's talent! Really, I've got to ask you… what the heck did you do to make it blow up like that?! Oh god… my sides hurt…"
Louise frustratingly held her fists and knelt to the ground. "Grrr…"
"Next is my turn." Kirche aimed at the rope like a hunter would his prey. Tabitha was shaking the rope, so it was tough aiming. Despite that, Kirche kept a brisk, easy smile. Chanting a short spell, Kirche waved her wand born out from habit, fire spells were her specialty after all.
From her wand appeared a melon-sized fireball, which flew towards Zack, trying to strike the rope, but suddenly the Keybearer began to rock at first for no apparent reason as the rope seemed to burn loose in an instant. The Keyblade Wielder started to fall to the ground, but Tabitha waved her staff from the rooftop, casting a Spell of Levitation on him, causing him to slowly land on the ground.
"Hey! You didn't have to move! It's against the rules— / You don't have to defend my pride!" Kirche and Louise said at the same time as they walked up to Zack with quick steps, but immediately had to stop when the Keybearer invoked Fenrir into his right hand and pointed the weapon towards the walls, casting a Fira towards them, shocking everyone.
"Z-Zack?" Louise muttered
"Show yourself!" Zack shouted as the Fira exploded against the walls, causing a cloud of smoke from which a hooded man emerged. He appeared to be completely intact as he clapped his hands.
"Well well well, I must say: You're pretty good, kiddos" The man applauded and then jumped to dodge another Fira from Zack. "Hey, I was talking!"
"I don't care about it!" The Keybearer said. "After all, you tried to kill me" He said, shocking the girls.
"Eeeeh?!"
The man was silent, then seemed to giggle. "Alright, ya got me" Placing his hands on his hood, the man revealed his face.
Louise looked at the man, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you?"
"And why did you attack him before?" Lux asked his question.
"One question at a time, please. Name's Xigbar, kiddos" The presumptuous smile Xigbar gave to them only made the situation worse. "For the second question: I just freed him from that rope"
"How?" Asked Louise.
"Like this" With inhuman speed, Xigbar summoned his signature weapons: the pair of Arrowguns into his hands. Just before one of the girls could react, Xigbar aimed the weapon at the group of students and fired a storm of red laser arrows aimed at Louise.
"... Eh?" She muttered as the laser was parried by a slash of Fenrir. Her familiar stood in front of her, with the Keyblade in his right hand and with his head bowed. For a second, a strange black smoke seemed to come out of his left hand, which, just as it appeared, vanished.
"...Are you alright, Louise?" Zack asked with a cold voice, hiding his rage. The pink haired girl collapsed to the ground trembling, as she nodded.
"I-I'm okay…" She said. "Z-Zack...are you—"
The Keybearer leaned slightly and put a hand on her head. Then, with a faint smile, he chanted the spell "Sleep". Louise immediately collapsed to the ground, slowly reclining from her familiar.
"...Kirche, Tabitha, protect her" Without waiting for an answer, Zack began to approach the wall until he revealed his feelings at that moment.
(Play "Kingdom Hearts series OST - The 13th Dilemma Xigbar version")
Hatred. Pure hatred. This was Zack's main feeling at that moment. "YOU BASTARD!" Zack ran into the wall where Xigbar was at the top and then leapt towards him, swinging Fenrir in a downward slash, aiming at the face of the man with the patch over his eye. Xigbar however, using the lower barrel of the weapons, clashed with the Keyblade.
"Watch out kiddo. You can hurt someone with the Keyblade" Xigbar said with a small arrogant smile "Don't shake it like it's a stick"
"Wha-?!" Zack's eyes widened in shock as Xigbar pushed him away. Landing not far from him, Zack held the Keyblade with two hands. "Do you know what the Keyblade is?"
"Of course, duh" Shrugging as if what Zack held in his hands was something common every day. "The legendary Key capable of opening everything and erasing the creature of darkness-"
Raising the left Arrowgun towards the girls, Xigbar smiled as he saw the Keybearer dash towards him, trying to stop him. "-Or the creatures born in the twilight" Changing target, Xigbar fired a red laser arrow into the sky. With a flash, that arrow became a stream of blue laser arrows that fell all over the courtyard.
"!" Seeing the stream of blue laser arrows, Tabitha and Kirche pointed their wands towards the courtyard. Chanting, the two girls summoned a small storm of fire and wind in front of them to use as a shield. Fortunately, the combination of the spells seemed to protect them and a KO Louise from the stream of lasers.
In the meantime, Xigbar whistled quite intrigued. "Well done-" he tried to tell if he just didn't have to jump backwards to dodge a fire from Zack that ran towards him. "I WAS TALKING!"
"And I. Don't. Care!" Zack gritted his teeth as he began a slash assault on Xigbar, but the latter used his teleport ability to appear a few meters away from the Wielder Keyblade. "What?!" Zack exclaimed.
"Don't care huh? Alright!" Grinding, Xigbar snapped the fingers of his right hand. White beings began to appear throughout the courtyard, and they are like the descriptions. They are Nobodies. To be precise, they are all Dusks. Their appearance had clearly shocked everyone present, especially when they began to swirl around the girls with their irregular movements.
Clenching his left fist, Zackary moved his eyes to Xigbar. "What the heck are those things?!" He asked, ready to attack Xigbar. "And who the hell are you?!"
With a grin, Xigbar walked towards Zack. "They're just a bunch of friends. They won't hurt your friends for now"
"What?" Shifting his attention slightly towards the Dusks, the Keybearer actually saw that the only thing they were doing was obstructing Louise's and the others' view. "So, it's just me and you for now? Fine, bring it"
"..." Xigbar warped before Zack, aiming at his head with a grin. "As you wish"
"!" With a bottom-up swipe to the right, Zack managed to deflect the laser enough so that the aforementioned bullet grazed his left cheek. Regardless of the unpleasant sensation of the small wound, the Keybearer stepped closer and lowered his Keyblade to the lower left and then he swung the Keyblade sideways to the left.
"Hey hey, not bad. Not bad at all" Using his Arrowguns, Xigbar parried the various slashes and then he warped into the sky, keeping himself anchored upside down with a gravity spell. "Time to get serious then" He said as he started to open the fire against the Keyblade Wielder.
The Keybearer quickly raised his left hand and, at the cry of "Reflex!", Activated the defensive spell. The magical defensive dome formed around him and then dissipated and reflected around the lasers.
Clapping, the Freeshooter grinned. "What a beautiful display of skill. You are a truly capable and worthy Wielder"
"Yeah yeah, keep mocking me. It will be fun to kick you!" Zack pointed his Keyblade toward Xigbar. "Get ready for that!"
"As if! Sorry kiddo" Xigbar shook his head. "Got a plan to follow, y'know. Maybe next time" He then aimed at Zack with his right Arrowgun and then pulled the trigger— click….
…
Click click click...
"...Uh oh" Xigbar's face went pale as he pulled the trigger once more to hear only the sound of the unloaded weapon. "Shit!"
Holding back a laugh, the Keybearer sprinted at Xigbar and then jumped, ready to smash his weapon against the Freeshoter's head. Wait...why was Xigbar grinning?
"You're naive!" Xigbar commented as he aimed his left Arrowgun at the Wielder Keyblade, which blinked in surprise. "A little advice: Never trust such a situation!"
"!" Zack's vision was blurred as a pure light filled his vision as he heard the BLAST!, not letting him to heard a huge "WHAT?!" from Xigbar.
…
After the light dissipated, the next sound was that of someone falling from the walls, followed by a clearly female scream.
(End "Kingdom Hearts series OST - The 13th Dilemma Xigbar version")
?
Sand. An almost infinite expanse of sand. This was what Louise saw. An expanse of sand and, in the middle of it, six Keyblade Wielders intent on fighting a huge influx of Heartless that looked like a huge Wave of Darkness.
(Play "Kingdom Hearts series OST - Wave of Darkness II")
In the last few weeks in Zack's memories, Louise was able to somehow learn to levitate to move faster thanks to her observer nature. Hurriedly levitating towards the Keyblade Wielders, Louise was able to recognize Zack, Ephemer and Skuld. The other three Wielders were a boy in black with a black fedora, a smartly dressed boy with pink hair and finally a girl dressed in white with long strawberry blonde hair.
She doesn't know why, but she knows their names: Blaine, Lauriam and his little sister Strelitzia. And as Louise approached, the memory seemed to begin to collapse in on itself, as if it were erasing itself.
"Nononononono…" Louise muttered as she began to feel heavy lids. Before she could close them, Louise was able to hear the voice of her familiar in his younger version and her friends and finally see their final assault.
"Never give up guys! Even in the deepest darkness...we can't give up! Trust me Ephemer! Skuld! Blaine! Lauriam! Strelitzia! With our Hearts as one...let's end this!"
"Always ready partner!" Ephemer said.
"I can't leave you two alone, count me in" Skuld smiled.
"Do you really trust strangers you meet for the first time huh...what a pain. Alright, time to do this" The guy known as Blaine replied.
"You saved us. Time to repay the debt" Lauriam nodded.
"I'm with my brother Lauriam and all of you!" Strelitzia answered
"Eheh, thanks guys!" Wielding his Starlight, Zack grinned. "Let's erase this wave of darkness for good!" Then, together with the others, he sprinted at the wave of Heartless. Then, for Louise everything became dark.
(End "Kingdom Hearts series OST - Wave of Darkness II")
In the meantime, just a few seconds before, Tabitha, Kirche and a sleeping Louise were surrounded by the whirlwind of Dusks. Holding Louise in her arms, Kirche looked around in concern. "T-They are not Heartless, right Tabitha? Zack never talked about these creatures!"
Kirche was clearly worried, and this was compounded when she saw her blue haired friend approach the Dusks with her detached demeanour. "T-Tabitha, wait!"
Tabitha seemed to reach the tip of her staff towards Dusks' wall, and when she saw the mouth of one of the creatures open, she quickly withdrew the staff. "...They are keeping us here"
"K-Keeping us? Then they'll not harm us, right?"
"...Only if we try to approach them"
As the two friends talked, Louise slowly began to reopen her eyes to find that a pair of blue eyes and a pair of red eyes watched her. "W-What are you doing?"
"Oh, you're finally awake!" Kirche said as she let go Louise who fell onto her butt with a fairly loud thud.
"Ouch! Damn you, Zerbst!" Louise massaged the painful area and then stood up and noticed the Dusks. "W-What are these things ?!"
"We don't know." Tabitha took a slight step forward just to alert the creatures. "But they won't let us pass"
"B-But Zack is on the other side"
"He'll be fine" Kirche declared.
….
"I'm going to help him," Louise said as she headed towards the swarm of Dusks. Kirche and Tabitha, to stop her, took her by the arm.
"You are crazy?! They will kill you!" Kirche shouted. "You have a death wish?!"
"...If you don't do something, then I'll do it!" Louise freed herself from Kirche and Tabitha's grip and then advanced towards the Dusks. The latters, as Louise approached, reacted by heading towards the pink-haired girl, ready to attack her.
At first Louise was still in shock, but then…'Even in the deepest darkness...we can't give up!'. Shaking her head, Louise advanced with renewed vigour and then pointed her wand towards the Dusks.
She was Zero Louise? She didn't care about it. She cannot use magic? She didn't care. At that moment, when the Dusks were about to collide with her, she closed her eyes, thinking of the one person who had filled her thoughts for now a few weeks ago. Her familiar.
'Zack!'
A pure light flooded the courtyard, so blinding that Tabitha and Kirche had to cover their eyes, not knowing that the aforementioned light had dissipated all the Dusks. Opening her eyes, Louise saw that there was no Dusk left. "It was me…?" She muttered as she heard someone fall in front of her. When she saw the clothes her person was wearing, she cried out in fear as she recognized her familiar lying on the ground and passed out in a pool of blood coming from a hole in her left side.
"ZAACK!" She screamed as she ran towards him, followed soon after by Tabitha and Kirche who too worried as soon as they saw the blood. "Nonono!" She repeated Louise over and over as she shook her familiar trying to wake him up. "Zack! Wake up!"
Tabitha looked at Kirche and nodded her head. The fiery red haired girl understood what Tabitha wanted to do, and so she knew her role. Leaning next to a shocked Louise, Kirche grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to drag her away as Tabitha tried to cast a weak healing spell on Zack. "Let's go—"
"Oh no, you're not going anywhere" Not far from them, Xigbar warped. Rotating his Arrowguns, he aimed at them. "Sorry kids, but playtime's over" The girls couldn't move as Xigbar was aiming at them. If Zack lost against him, what can they do to him then?
Meanwhile, Fouquet watched from the bushes. The thief especially saw Louise's actions 'What kind of magic is that?' She thought. 'I've never heard of a spell that can erase Dusks like this' Fouquet shook her head. 'More importantly, I can't let go of this chance. Thank you Xigbar' Fouquet started chanting a long spell, waving her wand at the ground. When finished, a mild smile formed on her face. Following her voice, a bulge formed on the ground. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt was showing her talent.
Right then, Kirche felt something behind her. She turned around. She couldn't believe her eyes. "What…what the heck is this?!" Her jaw dropped. What she saw was a huge earth golem moving towards the Tower.
Louise was shocked. "Hey! Hey! This golem is too huge!" After all, she had never seen such an enormous golem. The golem's foot descended and Louise closed her eyes.
In that instant, Tabitha's wind dragon veered from the skies grabbing the four with its talons and pulled them out from under the foot with only inches to spare, before it came down crushing everything under it in a heartbeat.
Hanging under the wind dragon, Louise watched the golem as she held a sleeping Zack in her arms. She shakily asked, "Wh-wh-what…the hell is that?"
"I'm not sure, but this is a gigantic earth golem! Somebody must have summoned that!" Kirche said.
"Something that big?!"
"…whoever summoned this must be at least a triangle level mage." Tabitha murmured.
Fouquet, standing on the golem's shoulder, smiled and paid no attention to the wind dragon or Kirche escaping. A dark cape covered her from head to toe so they could not make out her face. Next to her, Xigbar quietly watched the fly dragon, ready to lower him if there was a need. "Do it, sweetheart" He said with a grin.
"Tch" Fouquet transformed the golem fist to a metallic composition, and ordered it to punch the wall. A dull thump sounded as the metallic fist hit in the wall, collapsing it. Under the dark cape, Fouquet smirked. The golem transported Fouquet in with its hand, and the thief entered through the hole and into the treasure vault. It stored valuables of every kind, but Fouquet had only one target.
The Staff of Destruction.
A row of staffs of many sorts hung on the wall, but one came to Fouquet as completely unlike a staff. It was a kind of broken "pipe" made with a sort of material that she had never seen before. She looked at the metal plate right under it, reading, "Staff of Destruction, do not remove." Her smile grew to a grin.
Fouquet picked up the Staff of Destruction, and was shocked by its lightness. Just what is this thing made of? She had no time to ponder and ran back onto the golem's shoulder. She burned a message onto the wall before leaving: "I have the Staff of Destruction. – Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt."
With its caped summoner sitting on its right shoulder and the Nobody on its left shoulder, the golem leaped over the Academy walls, landed with a huge thud, and moved toward the grasslands and beyond.
Above the golem, the wind dragon circled around. Tabitha, sitting on the wind dragon, waved her staff for a Spell of Levitation, moving Zack, Louise and Kirche onto the dragon's back. "That mage broke the wall. But what for?" Louise was clearly shocked.
"The treasure vault." Tabitha answered. "They were holding something when it came out of that hole."
"It was a thief. But…that was quite bold. And that man..." Kirche murmured, then she watched Zack. "How is he?"
Louise squeezed her familiar's face in her hands, holding back the tears. "He-He's still alive and warm...but he needs help. Just...who is that thief, and who is Xigbar?"
"…" A silence shared by all as they watched the giant golem suddenly crumble in mid-run, into a large mound of dirt. They descended to the ground. Brightly illuminated by the moons, there was nothing else besides the mountain of dirt. Just like that, the summoning mage and the mysterious Xigbar had disappeared into the night.
To be continued...