{EPISODE 1: A STORYTELLER'S ARRIVAL}
~Ten Years Later~
We are going to Tristain, boys and gals. Or more specifically, to the one and only Tristain Academy Of Magic. The famous institute that has been built with the main purpose of teaching the younglings of aristocracy the way of magic, and more, but MOSTLY magic. But we are not here for a history lesson, are we now, dear watcher/reader?
At a very specific courtyard, the second year students are gathered to summon their new Familiars each, who are to be the mages' lifelong servants, protectors, and partners, under the care of Professor Jean Colbert. While each student was summoning their Familiar in proper order, with the most special ones being Kirche's Salamander, Tabitha's dragon, and the Bugbear of someone not really important of mention but still a feat to be recognized for, a very particular pink-haired petite student was really depressingly worried about, amongst the rabble of students.
Louise keeps on remembering the words she said just the other day. (Just you watch! I'll conjure up a Familiar so divine, beautiful, and powerful, that it will be better than anything any of you can cook up!) Those words of hers were what was plaguing her thoughts from the moment she decided to utter them. It's a surprise how she was able to get any proper sleep at all with all that pressure she contains thus far.
In truth, she is not confident about today's summoning ceremony in the slightest. All this time, everything she tried from day one, from the most simplest of spells, ended up in nothing but explosive failure, both figuratively AND literally, earning her the greatly hated to her title: Zero. Louise the Zero every student who knew her was calling her, for her zero percentage in casting any spell properly at all.
And now, she will soon have to perform the summoning ritual that will prove to everyone once and for all whether she is a mage in the end or not. Of course she will not feel confident about it!
"Now, was that everyone?" Professor Jean Colbert questions as he looks around for whoever might have not performed the ritual yet.
Kirche smiles cunningly at that. "No, we still have miss Valliere to go." She says as she looks toward Louise who was somewhat hidden amongst some of the students, who takes notice of what her hated rival did there, and looks at her with frustration. In all honesty, Louise knew she wouldn't be able to avoid this anyway, but still hates the fact.
Taking a big breath in, she gathers her courage and goes in the open space in the middle.
"Louise The Zero!" Said a student. "What will she summon?" Another one questions. "There is no way she can summon anything. Just another explosion as usual." And that's just some of the chatterings that go by in the background, against the thought that she will succeed in the ceremony.
The red-haired Kirche at the moment was crouched down and petting her Fire Salamander on the head, while teasingly keeping her eyes on Louise. "After all that boasting, you will surely summon something more amazing than this little guy here. Right, Louise?"
"Of course!" Says Louise attempting to sound sure for herself.
But in reality of course, she couldn't be more scared on the inside. She tries to keep strong... And hopes that this time will be different.
"Please..." She silently says in prayer, before gripping her wand more firmly. She then closes her eyes, and raises her wand till it points toward the sky. "My servant that exists somewhere in this universe!"
That causes the students' confusion.
"What's with that spell?" Says with a raised eyebrow the blonde girl with the curly long hair Montmorency.
"Well, it sure sounds original." Says the blond guy with the short curly hair Guiche who stands beside her.
That moment though, something happens that draws everyone's surprised attention. From above the handle of Louise's wand, the entire shaft was glowing with an unnatural swirling of black and white colored energies. Even the usually uncaring blue-haired Tabitha takes her eyes off her book to look at the surprising phenomenon that currently occurs before everyone.
"It will explode, keep your distance!" A student says alarmed which causes the rest to back away a bit farther to keep a safe distance.
Louise continues, with still closed eyes and unaware of everything else around her. "My divine, beautiful, and powerful Familiar! I wish and assert from the bottom of my heart..."
The glowing on the shaft intensifies, and is now also surrounded by red and golden electricity of powerful levels. Louise feels it now. The intense power coursing through her whole being, before being directed into the wand she holds, that gives her a strange, yet calming reassurance. She knows she can do this- No! She WILL do this.
The pink-haired girl finally opens her eyes, now filled with great determination. "Answer my guidance!"
With a swing of the wand forward, a beam of energy, of the colorations and types listed above, is unleashed forth, and stops just a few meters away, where a round black portal with white spots that resemble the stars in the night sky appears.
"Wait, no explosion this time?!" A student yelled in great surprise. Needless to say, everyone was sharing his shock and surprise for the same reason as they look at the event unraveling before them. Even Louise, who somehow knew this will work in the end, can't help but feel surprised as well while looking at the portal that appeared because of her.
Then from the portal, a black humanoid figure walks slowly out of it. No, calling it black would be an understatement. The pitch-black figure is tall, at least two meters in height, and has a somewhat slim physique with no muscle being apparent on its pitch-black body. Tied around the neck area and expanding from the shoulders till the ankles is some sort of luxurious black cape, but what makes it to truly stand out is how white dots twinkle at times at multiple areas in the outer and inner side of the cloth, as if looking straight at a filled with stars night, like the portal it came through in a way. In its left hand the being holds a black open tome, with papers of white, and with golden artistic linings at the back of the two black coverings unrecognizable to the people present, and the world possibly, with a title written in a language they also can't recognize. But what draws the mages' attention next is the being's face. It has a normal jaw, but no mouth. A normal sized straight-lined nose, but no nostrils. Small ears, but no holes, also known as ear canals. Feet, but no toes, as if they were merged together in such a way, that it gives a pointy look to each foot. And of course, no hair on his head, or anywhere at all, showing its bald scalp clearly. And as for its eyes... They were actually the only normal thing about the pitch-black being, with both having white sclera and black irises like any normal set of human eyes can have. At first glance, the cape behind the being appears to be the only clothing it is wearing, but due to its overall deep dark color and the lack of any obvious genitals, safe for a discreetly appropriate bulge where everyone would expect them, makes it hard to tell whether the being simply wears some sort of special skin fabric, or is actually naked.
As it walks at a slow pace forward, it can be heard murmuring something. "Alright, I have read this many times already and I still don't get it. That hare mask wearing woman was a child herself once, and she couldn't understand that the children she kidnapped needed sustenance to stay alive like she needed too? This makes absolutely no sense-"
When it takes its eyes off the tome for a moment, it stops as it notices with slight surprise the crowd in front and all around it, before setting its eyes down at the short compared to it Louise, who along with the rest of the students was still stunned by its appearance.
"Oh." It simply says. "Oh!" Says with wide open eyes this time as if in realization. "My goodness, have ten years passed already?" It continues as it closes its tome with one hand. "I could have sworn there was more time." It moves its eyes downward to the side. "And I had already planned for a grand introduction for the moment too. Such a shame." It says slightly disappointed.
"It talks!" A student says way more shocked than necessary.
The pitch-black being looks slightly offended toward the student who said that. "Firstly, I identify as a male, thank you very much." His face then relaxes. "But I can understand about the talking bit though, lacking the mouth and all, but I'm fully capable of doing so anyway as you can obviously see." The being says the last part while lifting his nose toward the sky with his eyes closed and the head turned to the side slightly in a self-important sort of way.
Everyone just stands there looking at the pitch-black humanoid, unsure of what to make of him. It causes quite the uncertainty amongst the students the fact that he is neither an animal, nor even a human at first glance, while Professor Colbert is looking at him with interest, being fascinated by what appears to be a kind of existence that was never heard of before.
As she looks at him still in her surprise, Louise can only think of one thing. (Is that really the Familiar I summoned?)
She finally snaps out of the said surprise, and approaches the pitch-black being with the tome, who drops his self-important attitude as he notices her coming closes.
When in front of him, she sees just how much the height difference is and can't help but feel hopelessly small, being around 1.50 meters herself and all. Also the fact he literally looks down at her, with only a set of eyes being apparent on his face no less, is making her feel quite intimidated, but brushes it off as soon as she realizes it to save face.
"Are... Are you really the one I summoned?" Louise asks with slight hesitation, unsure of her choice of words.
The humanoid nods. "I am. And I was waiting for a long time for the moment you would do so, miss Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere." He says the last bit with a slight bow, and the free hand placed upon his chest.
Louise's eyes widen. That being knows her full name, and even tells her he was expecting to be summoned by her, as if it was meant to be from the very beginning!
"Who-" Before Louise can complete her question, someone cuts her off.
"Are you for real now?" Montmorency says which catches Louise's attention, seeing her have her arms folded.
Kirche looks at Louise amused. "I know we call you Zero, but to think you would stoop so low as to hire someone to do some high quality parlor trick and play the role of Familiar for you, is just something else." She says as she tries to not snicker at the fact, with some students feeling the same way, while others find it more offensive than funny.
"We did it by ourselves, Zero!" A student says. "Yeah, you think you can just cheat your way out of this?" Another one says. "That's why you will always be a Zero!"
Louise looked troubled. "I-I did everything right!"
"Yeah right, keep telling yourself that!" A student says not wanting to buy that. "Like we don't know how much of a Zero you really are!" Another again says.
That moment the pitch-black man decides to drop his little salute and look at the students around, having as a result to stop their comments as soon as they notice him gazing upon them all with judging eyes, causing them slight discomfort. Then he turns to face Professor Colbert. "Nice class you have here I see, you who is definitely the teacher." He tells him, catching the professor's actual attention. "I would make a comment about how much they sound like a bunch of plebeians, but then again that would be an insult to all existing plebeians, so it would not be appropriate of me." He comments with an air of snark in his voice at the end.
Louise looks surprised at his comment against the students, Colbert flinches at his words as he has no excuse about it, and the rest of the students were something more than offended by the being's words.
But before any of them can say anything about it, the pitch-black humanoid raises his free hand in the air fast, catching once more everyone's attention, and stopping any current attempt to talk back to him.
"But I get how there is a need for proof since I am not one of your usual summons, no?" He says, and then turns to Colbert. "Sir, if you may."
The professor realizes what the humanoid means, and turns to Louise. "Continue on with the ritual, miss Valliere."
Louise looks at the professor, and then nods. "R-Right."
Everyone watches silently as Louise turns to face the pitch-black being, preparing to continue with the rest of the ritual. She lifts her wand below head level to the side in preparation, and appears overwhelmed by the whole case. Here stands a being almost identical to a human, capable of perfect speech despite the lack of mouth, way of speaking befitting a noble, and also someone who defended her despite not being branded as hers yet.
As she tries to put her thoughts together, the humanoid tilts his head slightly to the side with his eyes closed in an easygoing, friendly way. Not long after upon seeing him doing that, Louise couldn't help but smile and utter half a small chuckle. His sudden friendly mannerism puts her at ease, making her understand that there is no need to be so tense about it. She feels more confident now. And more than happy to have such a unique Familiar like him as hers.
"My name is Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere." She says before the pitch-black humanoid bends down enough for her to be able to tap him on the forehead with the end of her wand.
She then get closer to him, with him still bending his upper half forward to be close to her height level, as she blushes lightly. "Pentagon that rules the five powers, bless this individual, and make him my Familiar."
As she says the last bit, she puts a hand behind his neck, and moves her head close to his, with her closing her eyes while at the same time saying in her mind (He doesn't have a mouth, it doesn't count. He doesn't have a mouth, it doesn't count!) before finally kissing him where his mouth would normally be, causing him to become rather confused at her action.
"Umm, excuse me." The pitch-black humanoid asks, making Louise open her eyes to look at him while still kissing.
"You do know that's where my mouth would be if I had one, right?" He tells her, which causes her to become more red than she was before, before breaking the kiss and backing a bit away.
"Th-That's...!" She tries to explain herself, but can't form the words for it due to her sudden embarrassment.
The pitch-black humanoid straightens up and places his free hand on his cheek as he looks at her in a playful way. "My, you're so surprisingly forward. I would blush if I was capable of doing so."
That causes the pink-haired girl to blush even harder from embarrassment. "N-No, that's not what this-" She tries once more to explain herself but stops as soon as she sees, along with everyone else, a small part of his forehead emitting a strong white glow. Soon the glow dissipates, revealing what appears to be the capital letter A in the middle of the said forehead.
Colbert upon seeing that symbol, gets close to take a better look at it. "That's an interesting looking rune."
"Truly now?" The pitch-black humanoid questions in slight wonder, before opening his tome at a seemingly random page. "Mirror mirror on the wall."
As soon as he utters those words, a large round mirror, big enough to see his entire body on it, appears out of nowhere, standing on its own in front of him, and causing everyone's great surprise at the fact.
"Huh?!" Is all Louise can say at this in her sudden surprise.
"What the- Where did that come from?!" A student questions incredibly surprised, with the majority questioning amongst themselves pretty much the same. Even professor Colbert stares at the suddenly appeared mirror in shock.
In the meantime, the pitch-black humanoid is checking out the newly embedded symbol upon his forehead in the said mirror, being quite intrigued by it. "The capital letter Alpha, eh? This is an interesting looking rune indeed."
That snaps the professor out of his shock. "Capital Alpha?"
"The first letter in many languages where I come from." The humanoid answers. "I can make a few guesses about why I got this particular one, but it's better not making assumptions. Anyway, I'll cover it up for now." He says and the rune is soon after covered by a black substance that comes from around the pitch-black humanoid's head, making it look like the rune was never even there to begin with, causing further surprise to everyone around witnessing that.
Then with a move of his free hand, the mirror vanishes from sight, and the pitch-black humanoid closes the tome soon after. "In any case, the earlier appearance of the rune should prove that I have been indeed summoned by miss Valliere here, since only the mage's summon can receive that from them. Happy?" Says the last one with sarcasm.
Everyone around was silent, having a hard time understanding how in the world he did what he did, and how Louise, the Zero as they know her for a reason, was even able to summon anything at all, and such a logic defying being no less! Because they are sure that magic, as they know it of course, can't make stuff appear out of thin air, and even disappear in the same fashion! Even Tabitha herself is surprised by the latter facts.
Louise looks now at her Familiar, and in her own shock can't help but wonder as well how he did that with the mirror. The only thing he did was utter some simple words while looking at his tome, and it just appeared there! Not to mention the simple wave of his hand to make it vanish later! But what is even more surprising... Is the fact he used no wand to do it.
"Who are you?" Is all Louise could think of about asking the pitch-black humanoid in her now near-gobsmacked surprise.
He turns to her with a slight flip of his black cape. "My name, dear summoner, is Aristidis Aristadis O Ellin Tis Ellas. Or if you prefer, you can always call me by my title: The Storyteller." Says before making a deep bow in front of her, with one leg in front of his other and his arms open wide. "A pleasure to make you acquaintance."
Louise's eyes widen in such a way that moment, that some would think they would get out of their eyesockets from the shock she experiences right now. After such an introduction, and having in mind what she witnessed earlier from this one, she can only realize one thing. (I summoned as my Familiar... A Noble of some kind?!)
That moment, a chuckling draws everyone's attention, before they see that it belongs to a random student within the rest of the rabble. "Heard that, everyone? Zero summoned someone to tell her bedtime stories at night." Says before continuing on chuckling at his supposedly funny comment.
A few students chuckle or laugh as well at that, while some others actually decide to remain neutral about it, remembering what that Storyteller being did earlier.
As Louise looks slightly annoyed at some of the laughing students, the Storyteller breaks his bowing and gives a look to professor Colbert for a few seconds, who realizes the fact that he is judging him, making him feel quite troubled about it.
The professor then turns to the laughing students with a serious face. "Quiet, all of you!"
That stops their laughter, as the ex-laughing bunch's attention was now at the professor.
"That's not how proper Nobles are supposed to act toward one another. What would your parents say if they saw you acting like that?" Professor Colbert says in a reprimanding manner, which causes the majority of the students to look down in embarrassed.
After doing that, the professor then notices the pitch-black Aristidis nodding at him, making Colbert understand that he earned his respect for acting like a proper teacher.
The professor then turns once more to his students. "That concludes the end of the Familiar ritual ceremony. Once again congratulations to everyone for getting your very own Familiar. Treat them well. And remember, the next class begins in fifteen minutes. You're free to do whatever till then, but make sure to be on time for the class. You're dismissed."
After saying that, the professor turns toward the academy, but turns his head to take one last look at the Storyteller being, who decides to wave with his hand at Colbert in a casual manner. The professor is definitely going to make a thorough search about that rune and the peculiar being carrying it in the academy's books later.
Colbert soon after rises into the air using his levitation magic to start flying toward the academy, with some students doing so as well, with only a handful deciding to stay where they are, either due to interest about the Aristidis being, or simply because they are still not completely over the shock from before.
Speaking of the Storyteller, he is seeing the ones flying away with slight amazement. "Ah, so the students too are capable of using flight magic here. How interesting."
Louise at the moment just keeps on looking at the pitch-black Aristidis, with tons of thoughts going through her head in the new great shock she experiencing.
"So!" The Storyteller says, breaking Louise out of her train of thought. "You are also capable of flight magic, right? By the way you have some nice-looking field of green here, not going to lie I like it." He says the last part while looking around him at the green grass field of the academy's courtyard.
Louise looks at him with confusion at his last somewhat quiet comment, and then lowers her head in shame knowing very well the answer to his question.
"No." She says quietly in her shame.
"Oh..." Aristidis trails off in realization.
That makes Louise feel even more shameful for herself, considering the one who expected her to answer otherwise is what is apparently a uniquely adept in magic Noble, who also happens to be her Familiar now, which is a fact she STILL has questions about!
"Well, everyone has troubles at the beginning." The pitch-black Storyteller says, which draws Louise's attention, seeing the person having his friendly expression upon his mouthless face. "Don't be so embarrassed about it. Not everyone can get every single spell right just like that. Some are better at some things where others are not. No reason to be so negative about, because one thing is not working like you would like to. You'll get it right eventually, I'm sure." Says the last one with his free hand placed upon her shoulder.
Louise looks at him for a moment, touched by his filled with support words, but then looks down to her side, remembering how it's not just one spell that she is having trouble with, and that her case is SO much worse. (If only it was that simple...) She says in her saddened thoughts.
A sudden sound of snapping fingers breaks her out of her troubled thoughts, making her look at Aristidis who was the one to do it.
"I know!" He says before opening his tome and starts looking through the pages. "Since you can't fly on your own just yet, I'll just call something, or rather someone, to help you experience it at the best possible level!" He says with great enthusiasm, which surprises Louise at how it came out of nowhere. Wait, call someone?
"In fact-" The Storyteller says as he places a hand to his chin for a moment, before returning to his page browsing. "I know a certain Alicorn who would not mind giving you a ride. You will love it, I'm sure!"
"Alicorn?" Louise asks, confused as to what that is.
As she tries to understand what exactly is her Familiar trying to do, he finally reaches the page he was looking for, depicting a white unicorn with wings, multicolored long mane and tail, a mark that depicts the sun on its backside, and wearing golden jewelry.
He looks at the page with obvious glee. "Ahh-" But then his expression falls. "Eh?"
Aristidis looks at the corner of the page, and sees a small box there, with numbers inside being depicted as [95/101]. That seems to cause him confusion. "Ok... I know for sure my pages are not supposed to have that there."
Louise at the moment tries to take a look at what causes his Familiar such a confusion while he contemplates about it, but she is too short to reach properly.
"What is even... Wait a minute." The moment he says that, the pitch-black Storyteller changes page, and casually summons the same mirror from before again in front of him, causing once more the surprise of every student currently present around. Even more to Louise because this time he did it without uttering a word.
After doing that, he notices a change in the boxed numbers, being now [90/102]. He then see another box at the upper corner of the page, showing there a differently boxed number, being [5]. "I see. Normally I'm able to summon without restrictions, but coming here must have affected my power for a number of reasons. He did tell me after all that I will not be as super as I used to be for some time after coming here, but to think it would be at such level... At least I already have the idea on how I will get my full privileges back, eventually."
Louise has a hard time understanding what he is talking about due to how quietly he says it to himself. Other than that, she still can't understand how that magic of his works. It was already a surprise that he could make things to somehow appear, AND without a wand. But wordlessly too?! Just how?!
The pitch-black Storyteller makes the mirror vanish into nothingness once again, and looks at the incredibly confused Louise. "A small change of plans. Instead of an Alicorn, how about a Giant Eagle. Would you like that?" He says with his previous enthusiasm back.
But even though he said that, Louise still can't grasp what he means, and appears exasperated at the fact. "Alicorns, Giant Eagles-"
He cuts her off. "Well, the actual name is Great Eagles, but I believe Giant makes it more understandable."
"What are you even talking about?!" Louise asks still exasperated about.
"That I plan to summon a living Giant Eagle. You know, like the mirror before." Aristidis simply tells her.
That makes her look at him with wide open eyes. He literally just told her, that he plans to summon an animal, of unheard proportions than naturally as they know possible, in the same manner he used to summon the mirror. A living. Being.
Louise seems like she had enough. "No. No! That's impossible! There is no way you can possibly summon a creature as if it was-"
While she was going on about it, Aristidis changes a page in his tome, whispers in a silent way some of the words from the said page, and out of nowhere landing right next to him, and raising a strong bit of wind as it does so, enough to cause Louise and a few more to cover their eyes for the duration, an eagle of five to six meters tall, with feathers of such a rich light-brown that you would mistake them for golden. [The said type of eagle belongs to the LOTR franchise for those who don't know.]
Louise looks at the big, suddenly appeared creature in silent shock, with the current students around yelling in surprise at seeing a big creature like that appearing pretty much out of nowhere, with the majority saying "Where did that come from?!" or "How did we not spot something that big earlier?!" and so on.
Aristidis chuckles a bit at her shock amused. "Miss Valliere, you have not just summoned another mage."
The giant eagle lowers its body to the ground, allowing Aristidis to get on its back with ease, while using an excessive flip of his unique-looking cape to appear more grand to the eyes of the still shocked crowd of students. "You have summoned the Storyteller. The one and only!" He says with a voice full of arrogance, but then shifts into a more neutral tone and face. "In a literal sense by this world's standards, that is."
Louise was still in shock, and didn't seem like she was going to snap out of it on her own any time soon.
"Hop on!" The pitch-black Storyteller says as he pulls Louise suddenly by the arm, with her yelping in surprise by the action, before placing her on the giant eagle's back and right in front of him.
She looks frantically at both Aristidis and the giant eagle she is now on.
"A few rounds around the structure, my friend. Let us make it a memorable flight for her." Aristidis says to the giant eagle, before the creature lifts its body, opens its long wings, and with a powerful flap it takes flight into the sky above, with Louise screaming for the duration at the startling speed of the creature as it goes higher and higher while holding for dear life onto some of the creature's feathers in front of her, with the students present on the ground in the meantime looking at the two of them taking off with the giant eagle with their mouths wide open in both disbelief and awe.
Louise's screaming continues, till they eventually reach a point where they move forward instead of upward, and in a more calm manner. Louise had her eyes closed shut currently because of the scary experience.
"Ah~, I must admit, your academy is quite the view." Aristidis says, which makes Louise open her eyes and see it. The walls of the academy, the five towers, and the main structure in the middle of all that which makes the academy of magic what it is. For her, the view from the sky while circling slowly around the whole thing is... Breathtaking.
"Do you feel this?" The pitch-black Storyteller says, making Louise to turn her head around, seeing him now holding both his arms wide open to the side, with only his legs holding onto the giant eagle's sides, and with eyes closed, before taking a deep breath, as if taking in everything the sky is offering. He opens again his eyes. "THIS, is how it feels to fly. High into the sky, and with nothing to obstruct your way. Not to mention the wind in your hair, not that I have. The tingling feeling the wind gives as every bit of it hits your body... Are you feeling the freedom as much as I am?"
She looks at him for a bit, before looking again at the grand view, not by just the academy, but by everything around her and beyond. How small everything looks from up here in the sky. How less... Stressful. The now calm caressing of the wind upon her skin, as if the spirit of the wind itself is telling her to let go and relax. She can't remember the last time she felt so calm. So... Free of everything around her.
Louise removes her hands from the giant eagle's back, letting her legs at its sides hold her now, and like Aristidis she opens both her arms wide open to the side, closes her eyes, and gladly takes in everything the sky is offering to her. At that Aristidis chuckles, happy that he helped her forget, for now, all that was troubling her. Though, he appears to now be looking at her in quite a sly way from behind her back, obviously planning for something more than just fixing her mood.
The flight continues for five more minutes, before the giant eagle eventually lands on the grassy courtyard close to the academy central structure's open large entrance, with a few students taking notice as they keep their awe filled eyes on the giant eagle.
"Excuse me." Aristidis says almost silently as he takes a hold of Louise by placing one hand, and the tome, at her back and the other below her legs, giving her the famous princess carry, which startles and makes her blush a bit at the act, before he jumps off the giant eagle with her, and letting her down on her feet almost as soon as he lands on the grassy ground.
"I truly hope you enjoyed the flight, and that now you will face the rest of the day with a better mood." The pitch-black Storyteller tells her in a friendly tone.
Louise looks at him, and then smiles kindly, happy that her Familiar cares about her having a great day and all. He was so supportive and kind to her from the moment he appeared, that she even dares say he might be just as kindhearted as her sister Cattleya. Louise couldn't ask for a better Familiar. Especially thinking what he can do with his magic...
That thought brings back the fact that she still doesn't know HOW he can do what he can do, along with WHAT he is exactly, and how he KNEW that he will be summoned, and why HER of all people to be summoned by.
Louise begins. "Um, I-"
"I know." The pitch-black Storyteller cuts her off with a raised palm. "You have a lot of questions about me. But class is going to start soon, no?"
Louise that moment looks at the academy's entrance beside them, and remembers the fact that her next class will start soon.
"Don't you worry." Says Aristidis as he draws her attention again. "I will answer your questions once you have the appropriate time."
He turns around, while waving his hand to make the giant eagle vanish into nothingsness and causing once more surprise to Louise, and walks toward the wide open entrance that leads inside. "Till then I will take a look around, visit the library, maybe converse with a person or two, and once done, I will head for your room."
He stops in the middle of the entrance, turns his head to look back at Louise, and winks at her. "It's not like I'll be going anywhere far away from you, after all."
With that, he moves inside the academy, leaving Louise on her own outside as she looks at him go. She has a lot of things to ask of him later, especially after that first meeting of theirs, that's for sure... But, at least she has surely learned one thing, as she smiles at the thought. Her Familiar knows how to lift one's spirits.
With that, Louise walks through the entrance as well, and toward the next class.
After that the scene cuts to the pitch-black Storyteller, who walks through one of the many hallways of the academy, while checking the numbers inside his tome that appeared from nowhere.
"So, in details-" He begins in a silent manner. "The numbers inside the lower box from the right side are the limiter. The more stuff I bring out, the more the numbers on the left side lessen, BUT the limiter also grows by 1 point for every one thing I bring out as shown earlier, with each page also having in its upper part a boxed number that apparently works as an indicator of how many points will be removed if that certain thing or being of the said page is to be called out, but I can't call anything that exceeds those points. I already tried so, after attempting to call a certain random-inducing magic staff from the Elder Scrolls franchise. Anyway, it also seems that I get 1 point back approximately every one minute when the numbers are below their current maximum. So in short, the power is now using rules like a video game would. That's what I can get out of all this. At least I know that I will get my full privileges back if I keep on using my power through the tome, eventually. But whether anything happens if I run out of points, or if the points I get back after usage will increase in frequency, is unknown. And the first one I better not risk just in case, so we can conserve for a more assured future. I will also need to do one more test later just to be sure about one last thing."
Aristidis stops walking, and looks up to the hallway's ceiling in slight frustration. "It's not that I'm worried or impatient about it, but I really wanted to make a far better first impression than this. He couldn't just let me keep at least half my power active, could he?"
While he is like that, a maid with short black hair carrying a broom turns around a corner and stops as soon as she notices him, his back turned and the black luxurious cape with the twinkling white spots being currently the most apparent thing in her eyes. A Noble, is the first impression she gets from the tall man, but obviously one she has never seen around. A messenger from the palace maybe?
He just keeps on standing still where he is. Maybe he is lost? Wouldn't be a surprise if it's his first time here, but where are the personal servants or guards one as such usually brings along?
She decides to approach and see if she can be of assistance like a proper maid. "Excuse me, sir, do you happen to need any pointe-"
The man turns himself around with a "Hm?", making the maid stop herself and yell an "Eeh~?!" in shock upon seeing the entirely pitch-black skin of his, along with the fact that he has no mouth.
"Oh, hello there. Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts for a moment there. But yeah, I DO need a few pointers to be honest." The pitch-black Storyteller says in his usual friendly manner.
The black-haired maid at the moment was still in shock, with the biggest question in her mind being- "Mouth! H-How...?" Which was not an inside thought in the end.
Her reaction amuses Aristidis as a small chuckle escapes the man before he can stop himself with his free hand close to his inexistent mouth. "What can I say, I'm a natural. At least you know for sure that I'm definitely not going to eat you." Says the last one jokingly with a wink.
The maid is still a bit surprised upon seeing what appears to be a humanoid without a mouth talking, but somewhat relaxes at the man's casual nature. If you forget about all the previous things, he is pretty much still a Noble.
That's when she realizes something upon thinking that. She bows her head deeply in front of the man highly troubled. "I-I'm sorry for the way I talked before you, sir! I-I didn't mean to-"
"Relax, miss maid." Aristidis cuts her off. "I'm not one to be offended by the understandably surprised remarks of people. Rise your head."
The maid looks at him, before straightening herself up.
"Isn't that stance so much better?" The pitch-black Storyteller says pleased. "So, with who do I have the pleasure of talking with?"
"I... My name is Siesta, sir." The maid says rather confused by how the said Noble acts so politely toward her.
"Oh come now, Siesta, no need to be so formal with me." He tells her. "Call me Aristidis. No sir, no Mr. Simply Aristidis."
"O-Ok, Aristidis." Siesta says rather hesitantly. (What a strange name, though.) The maid thinks then.
"So, Siesta, tell me, do you know where could I find the academy's library?" The pitch-black Storyteller asks in a polite manner.
"The library? If you continue your way forward and walk up to the next staircase leading to the second floor, you should find it in the fifth door to the left of its hallway." Siesta answers, with Aristidis looking at the staircase she is talking about.
"Excellent!" He says before turning his attention back to the black-haired maid. "Do you also happen to know where miss Valliere's quarters are?"
Siesta looks at him somewhat confused. "Miss Valliere's?"
"Pink hair, quite petite, often called Zero I believe?" Aristidis says to mention the most obvious facts about the girl to help the maid understand about who he is talking about.
"Ah, n-no, I know about miss De La Valliere." The maid tells with a sweat drop. "It's just that..." Siesta trails off as she looks at the pitch-black Noble tilting slightly his head with a questioning "Hm?" at her unfinished dialog.
She smiles awkwardly. "N-Nevermind! You can find it in the second floor as well at the female quarters part. I can lead you there if you want."
Aristidis looks quite pleased at the offer. "That's very nice of you. Please, lead the way."
With that, Siesta leads him all the way, till they reach the door outside of Louise's room.
"This is the room, si- Erm, I mean Aristidis!" The maid corrects herself awkwardly.
"Great!" Aristidis says. "Thank you for your much appreciated assistance, Siesta. I better not hold you from your duties more, though. You must have a lot of work left in your hands, and I don't want to be a bother."
The maid smiles somewhat awkwardly. "You were no bother at all, si- Aristidis!" Corrects herself once more, now being really troubled but keeping her smile on. "A-Anyway, I better move on. May you have a great day."
With that, she walks fast away, with Aristidis chuckling silently at her awkwardness.
When walking downstairs, she stops for a moment once away enough to catch her filled with stress breath. "I thought he was gonna get offended and mad at me for all those mistakes, and get in trouble!" She says silently in stress. "And it would have been a shame after being so nice to me and all."
She finally catches her breath, before starting to feel like questioning something. He was actually quite polite and casual for your usual Noble. It was kinda strange to her. Also what could he want the room of miss Valliere for. A personal teacher sent from the family maybe?
She thinks about it for a bit, before coming to the conclusion that that's more likely the case, especially when thinking about how she...
Her thoughts then trail off as she remembers the most obvious thing about the Noble she just met, being rather confused about it. Even though he was speaking, his jaw was not moving an inch while doing so, so there really was no mouth under a very well made piece of fabric or something like what she thought about at one point.
"... Then how can he even speak without one?!" Questions the maid almost out loud, now incredibly confused about the fact.
The scene then moves back to Aristidis, who has just stopped silently chuckling about amused. "What a nice and interesting maid. If we happen to converse some more in the future, I might give her a chance."
Then, a sly expression appears on his face as he looks back at the closed door of Louise's room. "Not that she is the only who got my interest."
He stay like that for some more, and then turns to walk away. "I didn't think much about it at first, because I was young. But like the age itself changes, eventually so does the perspective as well. And my, oh my, she is a cutie pie." He says the last one while raising and lowering fast his eyebrows a few times. "And only four years younger than me. Couldn't be more acceptable."
That moment he stops walking for a few seconds, before moving his head from side to side as he rolls his eyes. "Well ok, it COULD be more acceptable, but anyway, who am I to waste an opportunity like that, that it is within arm's reach no less." (Also in the end it seems that I really pass as a Noble with this cape for the simple folk, and the name appeared good enough for Nobles like those around me at the first meeting to get an appropriate respect from day one. A good thing I had that nice little head-start of an information to make up that aristocratic-like name.) Says in his mind the last part.
He continues walking, now wearing a more neutral expression. "In any case, it is not the time to lose focus with that now."
He reaches for a door, and when he opens it, he finds himself in the academy's library. "It is time for research. Learn a few things more about their world that may or may not prove useful."
His expression then turns into that of enjoyment. "How absolutely intriguing!"
With that, he moves himself fast in the nearest table, sits on the chair and opens his tome, before whispering while reading something in a certain page, and then two small chipmunks of both brown and light brown fur, with one of them having a red nose and two adjacent front teeth, jump out of the page and onto the table. More commonly known those two as: Chip and Dale.
"Chip, Dale." The pitch-black Storyteller begins, drawing the chipmunks' attention. "I will need you to bring some books for me to read, friends. Most preferably about ancient history, engagements, and rules. We will see later what else might be of needed attention. Oh, also if you happen to find a restricted part of the library, take nothing from there. It's best to respect their rules on that, so we do not cause trouble for my pink-haired cutie of a summoner. Now, bring the first one."
The two chipmunks salute with a straightened forepaw on their head. "Right away, boss!" Both of them say in unison with their high-pitched voices, and jump off the table, before running toward the many bookshelves to do as they were asked. Dale climbs fast at the middle point of a bookshelf, pushes a book out with his legs while holding himself onto the wooden shelf, with Chip bringing fast a small seat pillow he found nearby, cushioning the book's fall, with the first chipmunk jumping down at the pillow itself as the second one was moving the book away, before the other helping to move the current book faster, as Aristidis reaches his hand down for the said book.
"Great teamwork as always." He says to them as he opens the book he was brought. "Keep it up like that and I see lots of nuts in your future by the end of this."
The two chipmunks smile at one another upon hearing that, and high-five each other's forepaws in enthusiasm. "Alright!" Dale says before both of them go to do the same with the next book.
Aristidis lets out a small chuckle at their simplicity, and then turns his attention in the current book at hand. It's gonna take a while, but patience is something the pitch-black Storyteller has. Not to mention more love for knowledge than an average person could have.
As time passes, random students from all classes were entering and leaving the library at times, looking at the pitch-black Storyteller reading books that pile up by the time, while his two small rodent helpers carry more and more at his table.
Some of the female students get quickly attracted to the unique-looking chipmunks and decide to pet them, much to their delight.
As for Aristidis, no one seemed willing to approach him, because they were scared of the unknown that he is. And the fact they were highly curious about him, was not enough to convince them to do so. At one point, he is seen having a cup with a liquid of some sort close to him on the table, with the cup and the liquid itself changing when no one was looking, but because no one happened to notice him drinking from it once, they are unsure if he actually drinks from it to begin with since he possesses no mouth. He was just too much of an alien for them to meddle with.
At one point, professor Colbert enters the library, and is surprised when he notices Louise's Familiar in here. He then looks at the pile of books, with one book just being brought to Aristidis by his two rodents, and can't help but be amazed by how much he appears to have read in his little time here. He would go there to ask him about what he is researching about, out of curiosity as a fellow scholar, but remembers his own research about the unique rune and the pitch-black person with the Noble-Like name, and goes to the restricted part of the library, meant for teachers only, to see what he can find.
Not long after, Tabitha comes in the library as well, takes notice of Aristidis reading one of the many books, along with the little rodents who are currently resting upon the table, and after a few seconds of looking at him she simply decides to walk toward a bookshelf, take a book, before taking a seat at a table close to a wall to the side, a fair distance away from him. At times though, she would take her eyes off the book to look at him, and at his seemingly special tome. Whether it is due to interest, or simple curiosity about the tome, the unique-looking man, or both, it is unknown.
While looking some more at Aristidis, as if to understand something, he takes notice of her looking at him, with both looking at one another for a few seconds like that, till he decides to wink at her in a somewhat playful way. That causes the blue-haired petite mage to sweat drop, before deciding to get up, and move at a somewhat fast pace out of the library while focusing at her open book.
As soon as she is out, Aristidis chuckles amused for a bit. "Aww, she feels self-conscious. Poor girl. She was cute, though." Says the last bit silently, before going back to his current book.
~Some More Hours Later~Late Afternoon~
The scene shows Louise walking through one of the many hallways of the academy. Her day after the Familiar Ritual Summoning, was more tolerant than normal. Her peers were not as annoying as usual, most even avoiding her troubled. After such a success, it's not a surprise. They were probably afraid she will rub it in their faces. And she would, if she was not so surprised herself about it, just to get back at them!
Anyway, after finishing with all her school duties, and a light dinner, she went to the library to see if she would find her Familiar there, as he mentioned before, but he was no longer there. Louise would have visited the library sooner in the free time between classes, if she was not worried about the possibility that she would rudely interrupt him that way. That Aristidis is obviously not just a simple Familiar, after all. He is a Noble, expert in magic enough to have a unique form of it which she has never seen before! She would even dare say that he might be a Void user if the thought itself was not blasphemy against Brimir himself. But if not that, then what? What element, or combination could he be using to seemingly summon out of nowhere stuff like that mirror, and living beings like that giant eagle?
That causes Louise to almost get a headache at how mind-boggling all that is. She decides to stop trying and simply let her Familiar Aristidis explain himself. In the literal sense.
She gets out of the library, and looks at the door that leads to her room only a few meters away. He said he would be waiting for her inside if not found in the library.
Louise walks toward it and once outside, she stops there, just looking at the said door. She gulps. Troubled about if she will find him inside at all, but also in case he is in, how she will approach the situation that is HE without making a fool out of herself.
"Just get in, Louise. You need answers, you will take answers." She says to herself quietly to gain some courage.
She opens her door finally, and she sees him. The pitch-black figure that calls himself Storyteller, sitting at her table and looking at his open tome, while the room is filled with a calm and beautiful music she doesn't recognize, before she notices that the music was actually coming from a small strange box placed on the said table beside him.
[For the curious ones, he is listening from a small radio box the music of "Tchaikovsky Song Without Words, Op.2 No.3: Peter I. Tchaikovsky"]
She also notices two small strange squirrels of some kind, eating from a big bowl filled with what appears to be different kinds of nuts on her table as well.
(So he can indeed summon more things and creatures in the end it seems.) Says Louise in her thoughts.
Aristidis takes notice of her after a few seconds, and looks at her happily. "Ah, you have finally arrived, miss Valliere. A joy to see you after all these hours." After saying that, he closes his tome and places it on the table. "What are you just standing there for? Come sit with me."
As he says that, a woman in appropriate maid outfit of red and white, with long light orange hair, blue eyes, and one of the most beautiful and kind faces Louise has ever seen, is seen standing behind of another chair close to the table across Aristidis, before she pulls the said chair back, with a kind smile showing toward the pink-haired mage.
Louise is surprised by how she didn't notice the said maid earlier. Also the outfit she is wearing is not the one the maids of the academy wear. Could she be her Familiar's personal maid? Does he even have the power to summon people too?! The pink-haired mage shakes her surprise away, approaches and sits on the pulled for her chair, before moving herself closer to the table as the maid moves to the side. She takes a look at the two rodents who are still eating from the big bowl.
"Cute little fellas, aren't they." Aristidis says, earning Louise's attention. "Helped me a lot in the library all this time, and they have more than earned their little payment. You can pet one if you want."
Louise was somewhat caught off guard at the sudden offer. "N-No, thank you."
Aristidis shrugs lightly. "If that's what you want."
Louise then looks at the strange small box to the side. "Is that box playing music on its own?"
"This is called a Radio Box." Tells her the pitch-black Storyteller. "I would normally explain how it works exactly, but that would take all night with the details needed for better understanding. For now you can simply know that it can play more than one music with the press of a button, while also stopping it." When he says that, he presses a button on the small Radio Box, stopping the music immediately by that way, which causes amazement to Louise.
"That's incredible!" She says. "What kind of magic can create something like that?"
Aristidis chuckles at that. "As I said, I would need to explain a lot of details for you to understand completely." He then places an elbow at the table, while also placing his hand on his cheek and jaw with the hand of that same arm. "After all, don't you have other things to ask me about?"
Upon hearing that, Louise remembers the fact that she has more serious questions to ask of him about indeed. She settles her mind, puts her thoughts in order, and appears ready to begin. "For starters, from where in Halkeginia do you come from?"
"I was never anywhere in Halkeginia till today." He simply states, which surprises Louise. He continues. "Think about it. If I was from your world, wouldn't everyone know me by now? I mean, not even that teacher of yours, one of the most knowledgeable people in your academy, showed to know anything about me when first met."
That is true. At least someone like professor Colbert would know about a non-human Noble like this one. The question still remains, though.
"Then from where?" Louise asks, now really confused about, since the idea of someone claiming to not be from your world is beyond crazy.
"I come from a separate dimension. A place separate from not only your world, but even beyond the very stars you see above at the night sky." He says.
That causes shock to Louise. "What...?" She trails off.
"That should sound more than crazy to you, but it is the truth." The pitch-black Storyteller says. "The place I used to reside in was not big. Frankly, it was simply a library with seemingly endless amounts of bookshelves that were filled with books and nothing more."
"What?!" Is all Louise could yell after hearing that. It was already crazy enough to hear of a place not of this world, but for it to be nothing more than a library is just...
"Yes. And what better way to kill time for a being like I, than to read every single one of them. Even if I was a human I wouldn't have a problem with it." He says the last part in a pompous way.
As much of a madness as the previous facts sounded, that last bit seems to raise a certain question in Louise. "Speaking of that, what are you exactly?" Says as she raises an eyebrow. "You might look like one, in a way, but it is obvious you're not human."
A small chuckle escapes from Aristidis for a second at that. "Obviously. But if you ask that to put a label on me about what I am, the only classification I ever used is my title. Storyteller. Why you will ask? Because I am one of a kind." Says pompously.
Louise looks at him and goes "Huh?" as she tilts her head slightly confused.
The pitch-black Storyteller continues, his pompous manner gone now. "No, seriously. I am literally the only one of my kind."
Louise's eyes open up widely, surprised to hear such thing.
"But let's not start getting wild with our fantasy." Aristidis says. "It's most likely only because it was meant to be, for me to be the only. After all, when I first opened my eyes in that place, there was no one else that looked like me there. The title I chose only because I thought of it appropriate."
"So you just... Appeared there?" Louise questions, having a hard time understanding how can someone be born without any means, which he implies pretty much.
"Not really." He says simply. "There was a person dressed in a black cloak that brought me into that world to begin with, but I don't count him as a being like me. He was different, even if a bit similar. But please do not ask me stuff about him, though. I have years to see him, and the person was a total enigma to begin with since he never really said a thing about himself to me."
"Ok..." Louise trails off, unsure of what to make of this, but she can't ask him about something he states he doesn't really know himself. Though, it would be a lie to say that she was not curious who that person with the black cloak that apparently created Aristidis is, and how he did it if not in the... Normal way.
Then another question appears in her mind. "Why Storyteller?" She asks, wanting to understand why he chose that title instead of something more... Inspiring.
"Ah~" Aristidis begins, sounding rather pleased. "It is finally that time. You see, miss Valliere-"
Louise cuts him off. "Just Louise is fine." She feels weird having her Familiar calling her in such a formal way all the time.
"Louise then, no problem by me." He says in understanding. "You see, Louise, Storyteller is not something I chose just because I read a lot of books. You could say the title is actually tied to my... Magic."
"Your magic?" Louise asks, confused once more.
"My kind of magic doesn't work like yours do." Aristidis says, and then picks up with one hand his tome. "See this? This tome you're looking at is called TALES AND FABLES: MULTIVERSAL EDITION, and has every story that exists in... Let's say every world through the stars, and even beyond those which you could imagine. Stories you wouldn't even believe that they are real, yet they are. My magic is connected with this tome." His expression then turns into that of great glee. "And I can summon parts of it, or outright everything from within the story I choose, as if it was nothing."
It was at this moment that Louise knew... She couldn't get more shocked.
Aristidis decides to continue as he places his tome down upon the table. "I'm sure you think of it as impossible right now. But you have seen firsthand what I can do. You know you can't just brush it off as the rumblings of a madman. I am what I am... And I am right in front of your very eyes."
Louise is still in shock, trying to make sense out of what she just heard. She indeed wants to dismiss this as nothing but an outrageous joke, due to how impossible for anyone to be able to do such thing is. But... She can't. She knows he is right. She saw his magic with her very own eyes. Even went flying with one of them, and a creature she is sure that normally doesn't exist at such size! At the end of her little crisis, she ends up simply accepting the fact that her literal Noble of a Familiar has a gifted form of magic like no other. Even if she can't make any actual sense out of it.
She looks around, eyeing the radio music box, the chipmunks, and the maid Aristidis most likely also summoned that way. "So... Everything you summoned is from stories?"
"Precisely." Aristidis says. "Mind though, that everything and everyone I summon are not the original ones. My power simply manifests them as such. Take the maid over there as an example." Says while looking at the said kind-faced maid to the side. "She is called Cinderella, coming from a story with her name on it as title. She used to be pretty much an inappropriately treated slave to her stepmother and two stepsisters, till she got a little help from a certain fairy, having as a result in the end to marry the kingdom's prince." He puts a hand fast upward to stop Louise who was just about to speak her mind at that. "Have in mind that there are worlds out there, like the one she is coming from, where magic is almost if not entirely nonexistent, so the system there doesn't work the same way it works here. When there are no Nobles wielding magic, it is logical that people will have to make do without it in some way, no?"
Louise was indeed going to protest about how could a prince accept an obvious commoner as his princess just like that, but then thinking about it, it makes indeed sense to her that if a world has almost no actual Nobles to wield magic, that it would rely mostly on commoners to act as ones. The thought of it is still crazy to her, though!
Aristidis continues. "Now the reason why she is one of my personal maids, is because I thought it would suit her more to be one than a princess, and she is actually pretty good at that, so I showed her how much of a responsibility being a ruler is, and how little time she would have with the prince due to that, which made her decide to leave the position, with me afterward promising her that unlike her stepfamily, I would treat her with the respect she always deserved."
"And I am very thankful for that, Storyteller, sir." Maid Cinderella says with a bow.
Louise looks at the maid, and then at Aristidis. "Don't you have, like, full control over them?"
"If I choose to." He simply says. "But there are times I prefer the more cultured way to get them to my side via talking. Over time, I was able to actually make most of them my friends. It just makes it feel so much more fulfilling. And before you ask, yes, the radio box, the chipmunks, the giant eagle, even that mirror at the beginning you saw back then, are from stories within this very tome I possess." Says while rubbing the top of his tome.
Louise still can't believe that such magic exists. Just what else his Familiar could possibly summon from within?
Aristidis looks at her. "Any other questions you might have, Louise?"
As she was trying to think of more to ask, she remembered something from this morning with that mirror calling of his. "Now that I think about it, why did you summon the mirror a second time that time?"
"Well..." He trails off. "I was trying to verify something. Apparently after you branded me, I lost most of my power as a result."
Louise at the sound of that pales troubled. "I-I am so sorry! I didn't-"
Aristidis cuts her off while chuckling a bit. "Don't worry about it. It will take time, but I'll have it back." Then his expression turns somewhat frustrated. "After all, I knew that will happen. I just didn't know at what degree. Frankly, the only thing that bothers me about it, is the fact I couldn't show you a more spectacular view of my power." His expression then turns to that of wonder as he looks at the ceiling, imagining. "The things I could show you... It would have been such an experience for you, that your world would seem bland in comparison afterward." He then sighs. "You have no idea how much I wanted to show you all that."
Louise remembers about this morning. How from the first moment of their meeting he was so supportive to her, the breathtaking ride in the sky he gave her, and how nice he was in general toward her. She can't help but feel... Strange about it. "But why?" She begins. "Why would you want to give so much to someone like me?"
The pitch-black Storyteller looks at her with an expression filled with compassion. "From the moment I was told that I will be your Familiar by that man in the black cloak, I wondered for the past years what kind of person you are, what life you have, and why would you need to summon someone like me. Now I don't know exactly why your fellow students call you Zero, the reasons could vary, but I know when someone is treated far more unfairly than they should. Louise..."
Aristidis that moment places his hand on top of one of hers on the table, catching her by surprise. "You're so much more than just a Zero the others want to make you believe you are."
"Eh?" Louise says as she is caught off guard once more.
Aristidis continues. "I know you might not think much of yourself because of how they mock you, but you shouldn't think that way. Even if you make mistakes, eventually you will find a way to correct them, just like any good student. No one is perfect, so the only thing you can be expected to do, is nothing more than your best."
Louise feels touched by Aristidis's words. From the moment she went in this academy, no one has ever believed in her to succeed at anything, and gave up on thinking otherwise. But here now in front of her is a person, her only success and proof that she is a Noble with magic, who understands her, believes in her, and even now gives her only his best emotional support. She would shed tears from emotion if she didn't remember herself.
Aristidis appears to be in a mood filled with slight disapproval. "I mean seriously, how can people come to be so mean to a girl as cute and charming like you? So uncivilized." Says the last bit while shaking his head.
It takes a few seconds for Louise to realize what he said close to the end there, before going "Huh?"
Aristidis holds her hand a bit more firmly now as he moves his torso slightly forward on the table, with his eyes looking at her seductively. "Forgive me if I'm being a bit too forward, but you are one of the most charming ladies I have ever laid eyes upon." Says in a seductive tone.
Louise blushes at his words as she looks at him troubled, and understandably so. The Noble she summoned as her Familiar is pretty much telling her that he has a thing for her!
Aristidis continues in the same manner. "The image I was shown of you pales in comparison to the real you. And I look forward to get to know you better."
"I..." Louise trails off before looking away and still blushing about. "I'm already e-engaged with someone else." She says while stuttering from awkwardness. As much as she is flattered that a Noble, even if not human, finds her attractive despite her still... Lacking, she is still engaged to Wardes to just allow to be courted by someone else.
"Oh." The pitch-black Storyteller says, his normal expression back, before letting Louise's hand free and straightening to his seat normally again. "Hm, I guess that's to be expected at such age. The least I can do is show understanding."
Louise lets out a sigh of relief that he understands her situation.
"So, who is the lucky guy?" Aristidis says with interest, catching her attention. "A boy from this academy most likely, maybe a year older than you? I believe that's the more likely case."
"Ah- N-No, he is not from the academy." Louise says a bit awkwardly. "He is the captain of Tristain's Griffin Knights, and one of the most powerful wind mages, who is also very skilled with the sword. Always on the ready to defend his country and the crown with the rest of the Griffin Knights under him." She says that with a bit of pride.
After saying that, Aristidis just looks at her for a few seconds silently, making her wonder why is he just looking at her like that.
"... You're lying." He says simply.
"Eh?" Louise says confused.
Aristidis continues. "You're lying to me about the whole engagement fact. You feel pressured by my sudden courting, and make up stories because you don't feel ready. I have seen this behavior in many stories before." He chuckles a bit amused at that. "How funny of a coincidence."
Louise feels insulted at being called a liar. "I'm not lyi-"
Aristidis cuts her off. "Whatever is the case, know this." He gets up and leans toward Louise as he places his hands on the table, while looking at her with the same seductive stare like before. "Till I see with my own eyes the one you say is engaged to you, I will do everything in my power to win your beautiful heart." He then winks at her. "And trust me, that's a goal I am not giving up from, you will be mine."
That makes Louise blush even more, as she is taken aback by how determined he appears to be at making her his.
The pitch-black Storyteller sits down again on his chair, as his face goes back to his normal expression. "But enough of that. It is rather late, and I believe that after a long day of learning, you have more than earned a goodnight's rest."
Louise looks at her window and sees how dark it is outside, remembering about the fact that it is indeed late in the night.
The maid Cinderella approaches her. "The Storyteller is right, miss. All girls need their beauty-sleep. You should get ready for the bed."
Chip the chipmunk turns to her, while Dale the second chipmunk pokes his head out of the big bowl through the remaining nuts to do the same, after apparently having entered inside it offscreen.
"Yeah!" Dale says with his high-pitched voice.
"Don't overdo it if tired." Chip says with his own high-pitched voice.
Louise rubs one of her eyes out of sleepiness that moment. "I suppose that's- Wait, did those squirrels just talked?" Says after realizing the fact, somewhat in surprise.
"Yes." Aristidis simply answers. "Though, they can be quite hard to understand for those not used around them."
Louise looks at the two talking chipmunks in shock, while they both wave one of their small forepaws at her with a smile.
"... Ok. Now I'm sure I will need that sleep." Louise says still somewhat in shock at discovering that Aristidis squirrels can talk somehow.
She gets up, and goes to stand close to her bed, where she then begins undressing. But as she is about to remove her buttoned shirt, Louise notices that Aristidis is looking at her.
"U-Um..." She says in an awkward manner while turning her back on him and blushing about. "I need to undress so..."
Aristidis looks at her confused for a moment. "Hm?" But then seems to realize. "Oh, you're feeling self-conscious. My apologies, spending so many years reading and watching the different stories of the tome made me forget my manners." He turns around on his chair to look away as he takes and opens his tome. "No one tries to stop me in there from looking at them when completely naked for any number of reasons, so getting confused with reality is understandable."
"Ok..." Is all Louise can say as she looks at him, before going back to undressing herself, ignoring the fact that he literally just said that he is used at seeing people naked. After removing her everything, the maid Cinderella brings her pink nightgown, before helping her wear it. Louise then moves aside part of her bed's blanket, and lies herself in before placing the cover till her chest.
"Goodnight to you, miss Louise." Says the maid Cinderella politely with a slight bow, before moving to stand next to the still sitting pitch-black Storyteller.
"Before that-" Aristidis says as he takes his eyes off his tome and turning to look at Louise. "Where do I sleep?"
"Oh." Louise says, before lifting her torso up a bit to point to the side. "You can sleep ther-" That's when she realizes that what she is pointing at is nothing but a bit of hay on the floor next to her bed, which she had prepared the previous day. And she just told to a Noble to go lie there. Her face pales at the realization, and lifts herself from the middle and up as she moves her hands in front of her toward Aristidis while incredibly troubled about. "I-I'm sorry! It's just that I had this prepared for my Familiar- ERM- I mean, I thought what I will call is a small beast as my Familiar, and-"
At that Aristidis laughs seeing her troubled expression as she clumsily tries to explain herself. "Do-ho-n't worry!" He says between his laughter before stopping but still looking amused. "I understand that you didn't expect ME of all to appear." He then turns his attention back to his tome. "In any case worry not. I have it covered."
The pitch-black Storyteller snaps his fingers, and from out of screen from the side two people in working clothes with caps and who are carrying a rich-looking bed appear, as they bring it fast but carefully beside Louise's bed, before placing it there, as she watches at the whole scene with wide open eyes and mouth.
One of them swipes a sweat off his forehead as both look at Aristidis. "Here is your new bed, sir."
"Thank you for your hard work, friends. You may go now." He tells to his workers.
With that, they both walk toward the door, with the first opening it as the second nods at Aristidis while both walking out. "Enjoy your stay." He says politely with another nod, before closing the door behind them.
Louise is looking at the door the two men just left from, at the new bed beside her own, and then at Aristidis, having a hard time comprehending all of this.
"See?" He says to her while still reading his tome.
Louise keeps on looking at him like that for some more, and then lets her head and torso fall flat on her bed while looking at the ceiling. "This is going to be so hard getting used to. Goodnight." Says the last bit while covering herself completely with the blanket.
"I wish you a good night as well, Louise. And dreams sweet like you." Aristidis tells her as he turns a page on his tome, while she groans frustrated at the overly sweet comment under the cover.
As he keeps on reading, Louise takes one careful look at Aristidis from below her blanket. She then sighs weary. (Seriously what a Familiar have I summoned? Like it was not crazy enough that he is a Noble, or the fact that his magic is breaking every basic rule that is magic itself, but he is apparently also keen on making me his as well! It's not that I don't appreciate having someone so unique as a Familiar, on the contrary he is the best summon I could ask for. But having him court me is so...)
Louise groans silently in frustration under her blanket at the thought.
After calming down a bit, a thought crosses her mind. (They say that a Familiar is like an extension of the mage who summoned them. But now that I think about it, he is an adept of his magic, while I'm... Could he be here because... M-Maybe I'm overthinking this. I'm tired and can't think clearly. Yes! And after going through all the madness he threw at me all at once, I'm really going to need that sleep.)
And with that, Louise fell asleep.
After it was obvious that she was asleep, the maid Cinderella approaches the pitch-black Storyteller, bending forward and bringing her mouth close to his ear. "Storyteller, sir."
Aristidis responds with a silent "Hm?" as he turns to look at her.
"Can I speak with you outside for a moment?" She asks him while still whispering to not wake up Louise.
He nods, lets his tome on the table which the chipmunks Chip and Dale use to go to and vanish within, by jumping in, before getting himself up as he closes the tome to follow his maid just outside of the room. When the maid Cinderella closes the door behind them, she turns to him. "Excuse me if I'm being out of bounds, which I doubt, knowing you, but why didn't you tell her the full truth about how you have come to be?"
"Oh, Cinderella-" He begins as he puts a hand on her shoulder. "Be honest with me. What is more interesting? A being that was once human, or an alien who appears in some aspects like one?"
The maid Cinderella looks confused at first, but then thinks about it. "Well..."
Aristidis cuts her off as he lets her shoulder and turns around toward the door fast. "In this case it's the latter, trust me. After all..." He trails off as his expression turns somewhat sad, before placing a hand upon the door. "My time as a human was over the moment I died at a young age. I didn't even get the chance to be truly raised properly as one. Learning everything I now know from the different stories of my dimensional library's books, and literal live actions of my favorite and hated heroes and villains of those said stories."
He turns around again, facing the maid Cinderella like before, his normal expression back. "That doesn't mean I will not tell her one day if I deem it necessary. But in any case, I don't really consider myself a human anymore anyway. And I want everyone here to think of me that way. Not as the human I was. But simply as me. The Storyteller. And let me tell you-"
Aristidis eyes open wide that moment, with an expression filled with glee on his mouthless face showing as he looks at the now taken aback Cinderella. "I have a lot of stories to read about out loud to so many, many people we might get to meet." His face then immediately gets back its normal expression again as he raises a finger. "Reasons may vary for each."
~At A Random Hallway Not Long After~
The scene cuts to the maid Siesta, who is currently seen carrying some clothes in a big basket through one of the many hallways.
"Hey, Siesta!" A voice says which makes Siesta to turn around and see a fellow maid, who is carrying some clothes in a big basket as well, not far away approaching her, with both now walking together.
"Oh, hey there. All is good?" Siesta asks politely.
"Eh, the usual pretty much when it comes to the Nobles and their laundry." The fellow maid says with a roll of her eyes in frustration. "Wouldn't hurt some of them to be a bit more polite."
Siesta sweat drops at that with a smile. "I-I see." She can understand her pain, but prefers not to speak her mind just to be safe.
"Anyway, have you heard about the second years?" The fellow maid says with a smile. "They say some of them summoned quite the Familiars this time."
Siesta appears somewhat interested. "You don't say."
The other maid continues with enthusiasm. "Yeah! One of them summoned a floating eyeball, another a big fire lizard, and then there was that one with the dragon!"
"Those sound indeed great." Siesta responds politely with a smile.
"But the most unique of them all was miss Valliere's." The fellow maid says.
"Miss Valliere?" Siesta asks confused.
"The one with the explosions, yeah." The other maid simply responds, before going back on topic. "People thought she will summon nothing, yet she summoned something simply unexpected. Another Noble! But quite a strange one. As I've heard, they says the man is so black, that it's as if he took a dive inside a pool of ink. He also wears the most beautiful and rich black cape ever to be seen. Almost as if made by the night sky and the stars above. But the most crazy thing about him, is that they say he has no mouth, yet he can speak perfectly and clearly! Quite unbelievable isn't it?"
Upon hearing that, Siesta stops with eyes wide open in realization.
The other maid stops as well and turns to look at her seemingly shocked coworker. "Siesta?"
Siesta just realized that the nice pitch-black Noble was not a personal teacher like she assumed. But actually miss Valliere's Familiar. The basket with the clothes falls from her hands, before she brings the said hands on the sides of her head while yelling a big continuous "Eeh~" in extreme surprise, startling and worrying the fellow maid as a result.
{TO BE CONTINUED}
[For those wondering, the idea for Aristidis's design is based on the Martians from the Duck Dodgers cartoon. The tall ones. The reason being that I found interesting the whole concept of the: No mouth yet able to speak, and also their pitch-black coloration. Admit it, it is.]