After praying with all her heart in the Summoning Ritual and following the usual explosion that always accompanied her spells, she ended up with a large fancy bracelet as a Familiar? Despite her protests, Professor Colbert refused to allow a retry and firmly told her that she had to accept said bracelet as her Familiar. With her classmates' mocking laughter in her ears, Louise despondently uttered the spell to form the contract and kissed the bracelet. She watched as runes branded themselves on it and was shocked when it suddenly started levitating. She took a step back in surprise and the laughter died down as well. Everyone looked on in curiosity as the bracelet opened and attached itself to her arm.
"W-What..." she stammered as she stared at her new ornament. It was unremarkable at first glance, being silver in colour all around other than a dark blue jewel encrusted on the top.
"Owner acknowledged as Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere," an artificial-sounding female voice sounded from the bracelet. The jewel flickered with light as it spoke, only dimming down when it was done.
"The bracelet spoke!" one of the spectating students exclaimed.
"Is it a golem of some kind? It's not just a silly oversized bracelet?" another questioned.
Louise was unsure if she should be happy or not. If her Familiar was truly a golem, why was it in the shape of a large bracelet? What was it supposed to do and how would it assist her? These were questions she pondered over the whole day as she inspected it when she returned to her room. She got no answers to any of her questions as the golem bracelet refused to speak to her again.
"What even are you?!" she screamed at it in a moment of frustration as she angrily threw it to the small pile of hay in the corner of the room.
"Please designate this unit, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere," the bracelet finally saw it fit to respond to her outburst. Caught off-guard again, Louse scrambled to the hay and picked up the bracelet.
"Designate?" she repeated in confusion.
"This unit will respond to the name 'Designate'. Is this certain?" it spoke again.
"NO!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean that!"
"Please designate this unit, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere," it repeated itself. So it needed a name so it would know when she addressed it for something?
"...Marianne," she decided after some thought. The bracelet requested confirmation once again and she allowed it.
"This unit will now be referred to as 'Marianne'. Data will be saved," the bracelet announced before a series of musical tones began to play from it. "Data has been saved." Louise stared at it suspiciously before cautiously calling out her newly named bracelet.
"Marianne."
"How can I be of help, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere?" her bracelet responded.
"Let's start with just referring to me as Louise. You don't have to keep referring to me fully like that," Louise told it.
"Owner name will be switched to 'Louise'. Is this certain?" it asked.
"Yes."
"Changing Owner name. Data will be saved." After another short musical play, the saving of the data was confirmed.
"Tell me how you can be of assistance to me," Louise gave her first order as Master. After an awkwardly long silence, it was clear Marianne was not responding to her again. "STUPID FAMILIAR!" she exploded in rage at its supposed insolence. After fuming and giving a heated glare at the offending piece of metal in her hands, she tossed it down into the hay with a dejected sigh as she crawled onto her bed. "What was I expecting...? It's just a stupid, oversized, good-for-nothing bracelet."
***Break Line***
The next day was supposed to be for the second-year students to bond with their newly summoned Familiars but Louise was at a loss. She had no idea what to do with her own. For all she knew, it was just a bulky bracelet that could talk with limited capacity if yesterday was anything to go by. She had worn the bracelet out of principle, glancing at it periodically as she sipped her tea. The sound of a loud slap caught her attention as she turned to look at the commotion. It appeared Guiche had been caught two-timing by Montmorency. It was about time he got humbled.
Louise was already dismissing the scene she was watching when Guiche started yelling at the maid that had just served him. She grew angry and indignant when he pushed all blame to the innocent peasant just performing her duties. That was no way for a noble to act! A noble should own up to their mistakes and failures! Even though she was given the disgraceful title of Zero, Louise never once blamed others for her failures.
"That is enough, Guiche! Stop embarrassing yourself and quit harassing the servant!" Louise spoke up in defense of the innocent maid.
"M-My Lady...?" the scared maid looked at her in disbelief.
"This peasant doesn't know how to pay respect to the nobility. She made two maidens upset with her blunder," Guiche retorted.
"You did that all on your own!" Louise exclaimed.
"I instructed her to leave us in privacy after serving my food. Yet she directed Katie to us. How is that not her mistake?" Guiche turned to the frightened maid and pointed his rose wand at her. "As such, I demand punishment for this slight upon my honor."
"Please, Lord Guiche! I beg you, have mercy!" the maid pleaded.
"Your job will do. Resign at once."
"No... Please..."
"You're going too far, Guiche!" Louise stepped forward in front of the crying maid.
"Are you defending her, Louise the Zero?" he mocked. "If you want me to take back my demands, how about dueling for it?"
"Dueling is forbidden! Did you forget that?"
"Only duels among nobles are forbidden. I am challenging a peasant, to give her a fair opportunity to defend herself."
"There is nothing fair about this! You know that a peasant can never defeat a noble!"
"If you truly wish to defend this peasant, then take her place."
"Grr... Fine! I accept your duel!" Louise took her wand in preparation. Their argument had drawn the other students to crowd around them to watch. At the declaration of the accepted duel, the circle of students took several steps back to give the two duelists a wider berth. The maid stayed behind the students as she watched fearfully.
"This is getting amusing," Kirche commented as she giggled to herself. By her side, Tabitha completely ignored what was happening in front of them by reading a book.
"I am Guiche the Bronze, and this Valkyrie will be your opponent!" Guiche flicked his rose wand and a petal detached itself, summoning a brass golem when it landed on the grass.
Just as Louise raised her wand to chant a spell, she was rudely interrupted by a short beeping from her Familiar as its jewel and runes flashed.
"Danger detected. Duel Mode, standby," Marianne announced for everybody to hear. Louise let out a short scream of shock as the jewel on her bracelet shone brighter than it had on any of the previous times. Five semi-transparent pictures appeared one by one, being projected by her Familiar in the shape of gigantic cards. Everyone stared in stunned silence, in similar shock as Louise. Louise was swinging her head left and right as she looked at the pictures of monsters being displayed to her and a short description of them on each card.
"Did your bracelet of a Familiar just conjure up some cards?" Guiche asked in slight disbelief. To him, he could only see the back of the cards which was a plain brown background.
"I-I don't know! It's never done this before!" Louise snapped. "Familiar, what am I supposed to do with this?!" She got no response. "MARIANNE!" she screamed at her bracelet. The crowd laughed at her expense. It was amusing to watch a person screaming at their own jewellery, after all. "What do I do with these cards?!"
"Please indicate which card you wish to put in use by touching it," Marianne said.
"Like this...?" she hesitantly touched the picture of Petit Dragon. The indicated card turned to magical dust and to her shock, the monster in the picture came to life in front of her!
"Normal Summon, success."
"You can summon your own Familiars?!" Louise exclaimed, staring at the summoned creature in awe.
"So your bracelet is actually a Dollmaker. Interesting! But did you forget we are in the middle of a duel?" Guiche reminded her as his Valkyrie dashed forward and delivered a punch to the tiny dragon who seemed to be unaware of its surroundings. It let out a cry of pain as it toppled to the grass and shattered into the same magical dust its card dissolved into. Louise gasped out in slight pain as she was about to yell at Guiche for his cruelty towards the cute creature. "What just happened?" she asked worriedly.
"Willpower is expended whenever a card is put in use. Cost is dependent on the card used. Willpower cost for summoning Monsters is only subtracted if defeated by your opponent," Marianne answered.
"This is truly interesting," Guiche said. "Go on, summon your next creature, Louise. I will show you the difference between us!"
"I'm just getting started, Guiche!" Louise snapped and angrily swiped at another Monster card.
"Miscast. Summoning denied," Marianne denied her summoning.
"WHY!" she screamed at her Familiar.
"A Normal Summon may only be performed once per 20 seconds."
"Tell me that first!" Louise's face burned red as Guiche and the crowd laughed at her mistake as they waited.
"Draw," Marianne announced as a new card appeared before Louise.
"Marianne, explain," Louise demanded.
"A new card will be drawn and placed in your hand once per 20 seconds. If you have six cards in your hand, you will not be able to draw new cards. You cannot discard cards in your hand at your own leisure unless otherwise stated or designated by your opponent as a target."
"I heard that, Louise. Perhaps I should prevent any chance of you performing any summon?" Guiche taunted her. With a flourish of his rose wand, his Valkyrie charged towards Louise. It was a heavily telegraphed move by Guiche meant only to intimidate but Louise did not know that and dived out of the way of its attack in panic. The projected cards followed her movements but the Valkyrie's fist went through the back of one of them and it shattered like glass, denying its use to Louise.
"Then how about this!" Louise snarled as she touched a Monster card, summoning Meda Bat.
"Normal Summon, success," Marianne announced again. There was some sounds of curiosity and awe as the crowd observed the new creature. And just like the Petit Dragon, the Meda Bat did not seem aware of its surroundings, only reacting in pain when attacked and destroyed by the Valkyrie.
"These summoned creatures are useless! They're not doing anything!" Louise shouted angrily after the sensation of getting her Willpower sapped had passed. "Marianne!"
"Please announce your intentions for your Monsters. They will attack or defend if ordered to," Marianne explained. Louise resisted the urge to yell at her Familiar again for not telling her yet another vital piece of information, instead enduring more laughter as Guiche graciously allowed her Familiar to conjure up a new card and allow another summoning. Louise looked through her cards and chose her target.
"Go, Silver Fang! Attack!" she declared as she swiped her hand through the card. Upon summoning, the wolf howled aggressively and pounced towards the Valkyrie who met its charge. Silver Fang won the charge, tackling it to the ground. After some tussling, the wolf bit down on the golem's neck, causing it to fall apart. "Yes!" she cheered loudly.
"A good effort for Louise the Zero," Guiche gave reluctant praise as his eyebrow twitched in irritation at seeing his Valkyrie destroyed by a rabid wolf. "But how about this!" he flicked his rose wand to detach more petals for summoning more Valkyries.
"Don't let the rose petals touch the ground!" she warned, Silver Fang obeying her orders as best as it could. Out of the six, it managed to swat three petals away. Marianne announced a draw, which Louise had deduced was also an indication she was allowed another summon. She quickly flitted her eyes through the cards in her hand and picked out the most fearsome-looking one. "I choose you, Uraby! Attack!" she declared as she put her hand through the card. The dinosaur roared to announce its presence and charged the three new Valkyries as they pinned down Silver Fang and killed it by spearing it. Fortunately for everybody watching, it did not bleed out and was simply turned to magical dust. By then, it was too late for the brass golems as Uraby barrelled through them and dismantling them into parts in the process.
"I yield! I yield!" Guiche screamed in terror when Uraby turned its attention to him and charged.
"Stop!" Louise commanded and Uraby slowed its charge, only coming to a stop in front of the terrified boy. It snorted at him as if in disgust before turning to face the approaching Louise. She hesitantly reached out her hand to touch it, which it allowed her to do by lowering its head to her. A bright smile graced her lips as she petted it with a sense of pride.
"The opponent has declared surrender. Duel over," Marianne annouced as the jewel and runes lost their light, taking away the projected images in front of Louise and Uraby as it too dissolved into magical dust.
"I won the duel, Guiche. You will take back your demands for the termination of the maid," Louise told him.
"O-Of course," he stammered as he shakily stood back up and left with his pride in tatters.
With the crowd in complete silence at witnessing her unexpected win, Louise basked in her own glory as she looked at her bracelet, her Familiar, in a new-found light. If what Guiche claimed was true, her Familiar was no mere oversized bracelet. It was a Dollmaker, a type of Familiar capable of calling its own Familiars to aid it.
"You're not a stupid Familiar. You're not divine, beautiful and powerful by any means, but I am proud to have you as my Familiar, Marianne," she said fondly.
"How can I be of help, Louise?" Marianne responded to her given name and completely ruined the atmosphere, making Louise's eyebrow twitch heavily in barely repressed anger.
***End of Chapter***
Author's Notes: I have no idea what I'm doing with this. I just happened to take a peek at FoZ's crossover section hoping to find a good read. And then, I couldn't shake this idea out of my head. Louise summoning things from another world makes a great platform for crossovers and with Yugioh, what few of them there are, have her summon a fixed Monster or a Duelist, be it an OC or an established character. My thoughts went completely the other way and told me, how about she be the Duelist by summoning an automated Duel Disk of all things which was modified by the Familiar runes to fit the world of FoZ?
LP is converted to Willpower, ATK and DEF are irrelevant in terms of numbers, Player Turns are changed to fixed time intervals because there is no taking turns in a real magical duel, and I haven't figured out a satisfactory way to convert Magic and Trap cards. Not to mention Effect Monsters are going to be a pain. I also plan not to include any human-type Monsters or any of them that look too close to humans and elves. Humans under the Warrior-Type might be an exception to this because they are 'plebians' like Saito, but definitely no human/humanoid Spellcaster-Type. Because a student of magic summoning a vastly superior master magician makes complete sense, right? *Sarcasm*
Not to mention the in-universe politics of summoning a supposed Noble and branding them as Louise's Familiar. On another note, what about the Gandalfr? Yeah, I brushed it aside. It honestly doesn't matter. It's a Duel Disk. Anything she does with it is a 'weapon'. A duel is her using the Gandalfr's power through the Duel Disk. The biggest problem, is finding enough duels for Louise to take part in and how to improve her skills.