Chapter 6 - The Fair

Hey guys. Sorry for not posting a chapter last week. I had to go take a placement exam that day. Once again, sorry. Well, on to the story. In this chapter Louise and Mikhail get ready for the Evaluation Fair. We also see a little more of Mikhail's past. Mikhail also explains the Pawns a little. Yes, I know that Pawns do eventually become more human-like after a while, Mikhail purposely left that part out in his explanation. I theorize that when a Pawn-turned-human dies, they are finally free from the cycle, hence his thoughts. The Magick Archer vocation is the star of this chapter. Now on to your comments.

The Harrinator - Thanks a lot for your kind words! I'm doing my best to correct any mistakes before publishing a chapter but somethings just slip through. Thanks again.

TheSilentWarden - I'm glad that you're enjoying this story. DD is also one of my favorite games :D

As always, read, comment, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon's Dogma or Familiar of Zero.

Academy Courtyard - Morning

"Show me what you can do Mikhail," Louise commanded. It was three days before the Evaluation Fair and Louise was desperate. Sure, she had summoned an incredible mage, but she can't just have him do some regular magic. Practically all of the audience, mostly parents of the students here and some other nobles, could do magic. Worse, she had just heard that Princess Henrietta was going to be present for this year's fair. That just rose the stakes even higher for the girl formerly known as the Zero. She needed her familiar to do something special, and what is more special than a mage who could utilize foreign magic? She recalled her familiar's explanations on what he could do, something about vocations. So that is why she was out in the empty courtyard with her familiar.

Of course, every other second year student was also getting ready for the fair as well so nobody was going to bother them, not even Kirche.

"I can do many things, Master. You must be more specific. What exactly do you wish to see me do?" Louise had already explained to the Pawn about the fair when they were walking towards the courtyard.

"I remember you talking about all different kinds of 'vocations' earlier. Show them to me," Louise explained.

'Since this fair is for showing off... Oh! I got it!' Mikhail thought. He then closed his eyes and a bright-purple magick sigil appeared over his head. The sigil descended on him, changing his clothing as it passed down. Instead of his usual white robes, he now wore an elaborate golden armor with a black, gold-rimmed cloak. On his back was dark red recurve bow without the string. The bow had what seemed like thorns curled around the entire weapon and it glowed with a soft purple light. On his sides was a pair of red daggers that had a dragon motif on its handle.

Louise looked at her familiar's new look with puzzlement. She tried to figure out what kind of magic could do that and contemplated asking her familiar to teach her how to do that. It would make dressing up much easier. She was also surprised by her familiar's apparent wealth; he had to be very wealthy to afford a set of golden armor like that.

"So, what vocation are you know?" the pink-haired girl inquired.

"I am now a Magick Archer, Master. Normally, Pawns would not be able to use this vocation, but I am an exception."

"Pawns?"

"Have I never told you?" Louise shook her head. 'Oh man, how could I not remember to tell her that,' Mikhail thought. He mentally gave himself a slap.

"Well, a Pawn is an immortal servant who would gladly offer their lives to do their Master's bidding. While a Pawn may be slain, they can always be called back into this realm through the use of a Rift Stone. Let it be clear that Pawns are not humans, no matter how much they resemble one," Mikhail explained, just barely able to maintain his voice at the end. 'Eclair... At least you are finally free from the endless cycle...'

"So, you're not human?" Louise asked with curiosity audible in her voice.

"Not anymore." After a short pause, Mikhail then began to explain the basics of the Vocation: Magick Archer to Louise once more along with how it could be used for the fair. "Basically, if I lower the output of magic from the bow, then it will be relatively harmless and still produce a spectacular show of magic."

Louise nodded in understanding. Mikhail's explanation of what he can do made Louise quickly forget the part about him being 'not human'. She then pondered a bit on what to actually do for the fair. 'Hmm... The magic arrows from the bow will always hit its target even if it moves... And he can target more than one at a time...'

With a snap of her fingers, Louise visibly brightened up. She then motioned for Mikhail to follow her. "Come help me gather the other props for the fair. I have an idea about what I want you to do for it."

Mikhail dutifully followed her and unsurprisingly became the pack mule for the things his Master wanted.

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The Master and Pawn soon returned to the courtyard and placed the props down. Louise, with an apple in her hand, walked several meters away before turning around to command her familiar.

"Mikhail, when I throw this into the air, you shoot it down." Mikhail retrieved the magick bow from his back and got into a ready position. He then pulled back his right hand, as if plucking a bow string. As he drew back his hand, a magic arrow stretched from the handle into his hand, glowing with a purple light. Louise then threw the apple high into the air.

The Pawn never moved the bow to track the apple. Mikhail watched as the apple floated high into the air; a targeting reticle following it up. When it reached the edge of his magic reticle, he released the magic arrow.

Louise watched as the arrow flew straight for a bit. Then it turned upwards. It flew to the still airborne apple and pierced it. Nay, the magic arrow vaporized the apple. When it hit the fruit, the arrow produced a small explosion of lightning, instantly reducing the apple to ashes.

Louise was amazed. She then ran over to the basket of apples and grabbed another. This time, she threw it horizontally and Mikhail once again released an arrow. The arrow, just like its predecessor, homed in on the apple and vaporized it. Louise grinned giddily.

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The Master/Pawn duo continued for a few hours until lunch. When they entered Alviss Hall, Mikhail noticed that the majority of the second year students were missing. Louise explained that most of them were probably going to skip lunch in favor of more practice for the fair. After lunch, the duo once again went to the courtyard to plan out their performance; Mikhail had to change vocations again due to him reverting back into a Sorcerer. It soon got dark and the Pawn showed his Master just how much better it was to see the magic arrows fly in the dark. She wanted to incorporate that into their performance but couldn't due to the fair taking place in the morning.

Louise, thoroughly satisfied with what she had planned for the fair, skipped through the hallways towards her bedroom.

Tristain Academy of Magic - Front Gates

Two days had flown by for Louise and Mikhail. It was already the day before the fair. Currently, they were standing by the front gates of the academy to welcome the princess along with everybody else. They had been standing there for a while now and some of the students were getting impatient. Louise, however, was getting nervous. Unknown to everyone around her, Louise used to be good friends with the current princess. They had played together when they were young and now that she thought about it, they were practically sisters back then. However, they grew distant as they got older partly due to their expectations within their own families.

"What's wrong Master? You seem nervous," asked Mikhail. Because he was standing behind her, the white-haired man easily noticed her behavior. Mikhail had taken to carrying Derf with him, and right now the sword was strapped to his back. Louise spun around and was about to scold her familiar to mind his own business when she heard a fanfare erupt.

Everyone present immediately stood at attention. The academy gates opened and a convoy of carriages poured in. Before that, though, was a platoon Tristain's Royal Guard, wearing gleaming armor with the Tristainian crest and halberds held high in proud display. Seven carriages flowed through the gates, each decorated nicely but clearly not housing the princess. Another platoon of the the Royal Guard entered through the gates followed by two majestic unicorns pulling a regal looking carriage. This one definitely contained the princess. Besides the Royal Guard pretty much surrounding this carriage, it was also vastly superior in its decoration compared to the others. It was extravagantly designed and gold-trimmed.

Mikhail had never seen a unicorn before. Sure the carriage was a sight to behold, but a UNICORN!? That was the more interesting subject to Mikhail.

The convoy then came to a stop. A man wearing some expensive looking clothes took a step away from the main carriage and then announced, "Presenting Princess Henrietta de Tristain!" The man then hastily walked back to the carriage and pulled open the door. Everyone sucked in their breath in anticipation. The entire area was still; even the birds were oddly quiet. And then a figure stepped out of the carriage.

It was an old man.

The mood noticeably dropped below the ground. Derf broke out into a loud laugh before being slammed shut by Mikhail after a glare from his Master. Mikhail, unlike Derf, had been able to restrain his laughter and so avoided his Master's wrath.

"Who's that?" asked Mikhail.

"That's Cardinal Mazarin, the current regent of Tristain until the Princess comes of age," Louise supplied.

Needing no further clues as to what is currently going on with the royal family, Mikhail inferred that the king has passed and the queen is out of commission.

The old man had white hair and wore a black hat with a long white and red robe. He stretched a hand back into the carriage and a feminine hand took it. Then the owner of the hand stepped out of the carriage. It was the princess. The princess had purple hair and wore an immaculate white dress and silver tiara encrusted with three green gems. She also wore a purple cloak.

At the sight of the princess smiling and waving, the crowd gave out a loud roar of happiness. The princess and the old man were immediately surrounded by the Royal Guard as they stepped forwards.

Headmaster Osmond approached them and then knelt down. Everyone else in attendance did so as well. "As Headmaster of the Tristain Academy of Magic, I, on behalf of everyone present, welcome you, Princess Henrietta." The princess acknowledged his words and after a brief conversation, headed towards the academy. As she waved to the crowds, she spotted Louise. This time, she had a genuine smile on her face as she saw Louise wave back.

'So they know each other,' thought Mikhail. He always figured that his Master was from a high-ranking house, but to actually have connections to the royal family? That was a surprise.

Louise waved back at Princess Henrietta when they made eye contact. She felt elated that the princess still remembered her. She watched as the princess walked by and eventually into the academy. After the princess entered, everyone else began to make their way inside.

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The rest of the day had been a blur, everybody was running around for any last minute details or rehearsing for tomorrow. Louise and Mikhail were the latter. However, Louise wanted their performance to be a surprise so they only got in a little practice before the courtyard became full of other students practicing. Louise went to the side and sat in one of the chairs while being served tea. Mikhail, as always, stood by his Master. Kirche, noticing the duo off to the side, approached them with her familiar in tow.

"Hey there Louise, whatcha doing over here?" she asked. Ever since she had seen Louise perform magic, she had been noticeably nicer to the pink-haired girl. The redhead then looked over to the Pawn and gave him wink and blew kisses at him.

Hallways of the Academy - A Few Nights Earlier

Louise had gone to bed and Mikhail was out exploring again. Even though he had already memorized the entirety of the academy, it was still interesting to see the people who were still up. He had just returned from helping Siesta do the laundry. At first, Siesta had been afraid of Mikhail because she thought that he was a noble as well. Eventually, through a lot of helping out the other staff members, Siesta warmed up to him again.

As he made his way back to his Master's room, the Pawn heard something following him. Before he could turn around to see who it was, he felt something grab his hand and pull him somewhere. Mikhail was about to cast foci-less magic at the attacker, using his own body as the medium, but then realized that it was just Flame, Kirche's familiar.

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During his times alone, he had gotten to know the other familiars. The ones who he knew the most were Kirche's Flame, Guiche's Verdandi, Tabitha's Sylphid, and a bugbear named Louis. Mikhail constantly referred to the bugbear as a vile eye instead. Surprisingly, the bugbear acted just like a puppy craving attention. Mikhail was weirded out by its behavior at first.

When Mikhail first had contact with Sylphid, he didn't feel any connection to the young dragoness as he did with all dragonkin in Gransys.

"Quid tu, adulescentem dracone? (How are you, young dragon?)" Mikhail asked in Wyrmspeak.

The blue dragon immediately lit up. It then opened its mouth, as if to speak, but then closed it quickly. She repeated that several times before doing something else. She leapt at him and gave him a massive hug, but then backed away as she saw her Master approach. Tabitha bonked Sylphid on the snout with her staff and then led her away, all the time keeping a studious gaze at the white-haired man.

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Flame pulled Mikhail through the hallways until they reached a door, Kirche's door. Mikhail sighed, finally understanding the situation. Deciding to humor the redhead, Mikhail knocked on the door, and announced his arrival before opening the door. Inside, the room was dark until with a snap of the fingers, dozens of candles were lit. There, on her bed, was Kirche, dressed very skimpily. She beckoned him with her hand while she slowly leaned back onto her bed.

Unfazed, Mikhail simply watched the Germanian's familiar move into a corner. Then, Mikhail looked Kirche in the eye and simply said, "No thanks," and left.

Courtyard - Back to Present

Mikhail withheld a sigh at Kirche's antics and rolled his eyes. Louise, however, gave a long, drawn-out sigh and responded, "Hello Kirche, is there something you need? Or are you just here to bother Mikhail?"

"Aww, you found me out," Kirche whined sarcastically. "Anyways, what are you doing for the fair tomorrow? Show everyone that you can finally do elementary magic?"

Although she was nicer now, she was still Louise's self-proclaimed rival, and so shots were fired sometimes.

"Shut up Kirche! I'll teach you whose better by winning first place tomorrow! Come on Mikhail, let's go."

"That's the spirit!" Kirche shouted as the Louise and Mikhail walked away.

Louise's Room - Night

After walking away from Kirche, the duo went to scout out the competition. Safe to say, most of the other students did not really have anything awe-inspiring to show. Louise and Mikhail then wandered around for a bit more, helping out here and there until it was dark.

"... Ok so I when I give you the signal, you release it, got that?" asked Louise. Despite putting on a confident face, she was just as nervous as the next in regards to the fair. To settle down her anxiety, she decided to discuss their performance tomorrow one last time. Then, Mikhail heard a knocking on the door. He raised a hand to signal his Master to be quiet. She looked at him angrily but then heard the knocking as well.

Mikhail walked over to the door and opened it right as the visitor was about to knock again. With the door suddenly gone, the person had instead hit Mikhail on the chest. The person, now identified as a woman, yelped and then jumped back a little.

"How can I help you miss?" Mikhail asked, ignoring the fact that the woman had just used him as a door earlier. The woman's identity was shrouded with a heavy cloak hood.

"Uh..*ahem* I was led to believe that this was Miss Louise's room. Is she in?" replied the mysterious woman.

"She is sleeping. On what business do you wish to seek her attention so late in the night Miss..." Mikhail began before the woman ran past him into the room when she spotted some light approaching.

Acting on instinct, Mikhail grabbed the woman's arm and then pulled her into a hold with a dagger at her throat. "Who are you?" he threatened, his voice immediately steeling itself. He pulled down the woman's hood to reveal a woman with deep-purple hair wearing a tiara.

"Y-Y-Your Highness! Mikhail! Stop that at once!" Louise shrieked when she realized who the mysterious woman was. Mikhail immediately let Princess Henrietta go and sheathed his dagger. He was then pulled away by Louise. "I am terribly sorry Princess. If I had known it was you, I would have intervened sooner! I will accept any punishment you deem," Louise continued while quickly kneeling before the princess. Mikhail just kept an eye on the princess while maintaining a stoic silence. "You kneel too!" Louise commanded Mikhail.

With the order issued, Mikhail knelt down on one knee and lowered his head with his hands on his knee, like a knight bowing to his queen. Princess Henrietta, only just now breaking out of her shock at feeling death so close, looked behind her and then closed the still-open door. She then turned her attention to her subjects before her.

"Please raise your head Louise. The man did nothing wrong," said the princess. Louise did as told and looked up at the princess. The princess was smiling benevolently at her and motioned for her to stand up. However, she deliberately ignored the man who was still kneeling before her.

When Louise stood up, she found it hard to look at her princess in the eyes after what had just occurred. Then, she found herself in a tight hug as the princess launched herself at Louise.

"P-Princess, wha-"

"Oh Louise, it has been far too long. Why not just call me Henrietta like you used to," the princess said.

"I'm honored that you still remember me Prin-" the princess shot Louise a look, "H-Henrietta. What are you doing here so late?"

"Can I not just visit an old friend?" Louise felt happy that Henrietta considered her a friend. "Anyway, who is this man, a secret lover?" Henrietta asked sweetly.

"L-L-Lover!?" Louise stuttered, "Founder no! This is just my familiar Mikhail!"

"A human familiar? How odd. Anyway, how are you Louise?" wondered Henrietta. It had been at least six years since she had contact with her friend.

Finally calming down enough to respond, "I-I've been fine Henrietta. As you can see, I will be participating in the fair tomorrow. How about ..."

Mikhail, still kneeling, zoned out of the conversation that the two old friends began to have. While it was nice to see his Master happy like this, he found no enjoyment listening to two young women catching up with each other. Instead, he began to recall his time in the court of Duke Edmun Dragonsbane as a Knight of the Hunt. The Duke had been crazy about people paying him the proper respect. One time, Mikhail and some of the other Knights had to kneel before him for hours and listen to him ramble on about how he needed new curtains because some idiot had torn them down. He was pulled from his thoughts when a soft hand patted him on the shoulder, trying to get his attention. He looked up to see Princess Henrietta smiling at him and urging him to stand. He stayed kneeling until Louise had told him to stand.

Henrietta was pleased to see that the man known as Mikhail was, if nothing else, loyal to Louise. "I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot," Henrietta started as she extended a hand forward, "I am Henrietta de Tristain."

Mikhail looked at the woman and then her hand and then back at her. "Pleased to meet you, I am Mikhail Ecto Serolius. I apologize for my earlier behavior but please understand that I was only doing my duty as a Pawn: protecting the Master at all costs," Mikhail said as he took the woman's hand and shook it.

Henrietta smiled a little more, "I appreciate your loyalty to Louise. Please continue to diligently look after her."

Mikhail nodded at the princess's words, "Of course."

With that, Henrietta bid the duo a good night and left. Louise sighed and then collapsed on her bed.

Evaluation Fair Grounds

Kirche bowed to the audience and then left the stage. She had Flame perform several intricately designed fire breaths and the perform some stunts as well. All in all, it was the most impressive performance yet.

Louise and Mikhail were next. As Kirche walked by the two, she winked at Mikhail. The Sorcerer rolled his eyes and followed his Master onto the stage, bringing a basket full of apples along. He set the basket on the left side of the stage and then walked to his Master at center stage. Louise introduced the two of them and then went to the left side of the stage and picked up the bassket. Mikhail closed his eyes and then the purple magick sigil appeared over his head.

"Vocation: Magick Archer," Mikhail switched vocations and then equipped his bow. Louise looked at him and then nodded. She threw an apple high into there air, one after another. Mikhail fired off arrow after arrow, each hitting its mark after traveling in a number of directions, yet never hitting anything except for its intended target and exploding in an array of purple light. He then casted and fired off a Magickal Gleam above the stage. The orb of light was like a mini sun and lit up the area even more. Louise dumped the rest of the basket onto the stage. Mikhail fired the Hunter's Bolt, one bright yellow arrow flew into the sky, but then rained down as many arrows on the apples. The fruits were incinerated in a beautiful display of light. Finally, Louise tossed a flask of water into the air. Mikhail tracked it as he casted a Ninefold Bolt. He released the arrow, the leading arrow hitting the flask, freezing it in midair and the nine other arrows circled around it before hitting it and causing it to explode and look like it was snowing. The orb of light gave out after disappearing with a wave of light, making the snowflakes sparkle even more.

Needless to say, Louise received a standing ovation.

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"How could I not get first place!?" Louise grumbled. In the end, Tabitha and Sylphid had gotten first place with the pair doing an elaborate set of stunts in the air. Right now, Louise was stomping off to her room after she had received second place. Mikhail was trailing behind her, contemplating whether to inform his Master that they were going the wrong way or not. Then, his Master lost her footing when the ground shook. The Pawn quickly scanned the surroundings for the source while helping his Master back onto her feet. Once again the ground shook.

"Over there!" Louise pointed. She then ran off in that direction with Mikhail close behind. When they turned the corner, they saw a huge golem standing there punching the academy wall.

'That thing is huge! Twice the size of a Prisoned Gorecyclops easily!' thought Mikhail.

"Looks like you're out of luck!" shouted the person controlling the giant golem. The golem then turned towards the duo and threw a punch at them.

"Look out, Master!" Mikhail pushed Louise out of harm's way.