The Familiar of Zero – Trouble In Paradise
Chapter 3 – The Wind Approaches
As Louise cast her Explosion, a bright light filled the room, blinding Saito's parents. The next thing they knew, they were being forced against the wall by the sheer power, and deafened by the sound of her spell. Windows shattered, sending glass and pieces of what used to be furniture into the street. The shockwave from the blast also managed to set off every car and house alarm down the street, and had created a large smoke cloud that could be seen from miles around.
Siesta and Saito had fared far worse than his parents, having been the intended targets after all. The force of the blast had sent them flying back through the portal into Halkeginia, along with a table leg that had been snapped off, as well as several large shards of wood that had splintered from the surrounding furniture. They had narrowly missed collecting both Henrietta and Tabitha as they flew past them, before they hit the wall of the mansion. The table leg embedded itself just slightly to the right, above Saito's head, while a sharp shared scrapped his left cheek. Siesta hadn't had such a close call with the debris, though she had bounced along the ground at least twice before she made contact with the wall. Some of the guards ran over to help them up, while the others went over to make sure that the Queens were safe. Henrietta just sighed. "Louise really needs to learn to control her temper" She thought to herself as she walked over to where Saito and Siesta had slumped to make sure that they were fine. Tabitha watched them for a few moments, and then she turned her attention back to the portal.
Back in Saito's house, Louise was struggling to calm down as the smoke began to life from the room slightly. "Dammit Saito, you'd promised not to do anything like that after we got married!" Her face was still full of rage, when it finally dawned on her just where she was when she cast that spell. Nervously, she glanced around to where Saito's parents had been. She could just see them both buried under part of the ceiling that had come down in the blast. Panic filled her eyes as she made her way through the rubble over to where they were lying. There didn't have any obvious wounds from what she could see, but had been knocked out by the force of the blast, and the ceiling collapsing above them.
In the distance, she could hear strange, loud wailing noises that were quickly getting closer. She could hear that people were also starting to gather in the street outside, though thankfully for Louise, the smoke was too thick for people to see through. As she lifted the piece of ceiling of her in-laws, she noticed someone appear out the corner of her eye. Spinning round, she readied her wand through instinct, and found herself pointing it directly at Tabitha.
"Need help?" she asked, glancing around at the damage Louise had caused.
Louise nodded; her face bright red with embarrassment about what she'd done, and she knew this wasn't the time or place to let her pride get in the way. "We need to get them out of here, quickly, before anyone comes in."
Tabitha waved her staff. Saito's parents levitated gently off the ground, and she moved them towards the portal. Several of the guards were waiting on the other side to pick them up. "Take them inside the mansion" she ordered, as they glided through into Halkeginia. The soldiers nodded, while Louise and Tabitha both jumped through the portal. Louise spun around and sealed it behind her.
"Saito's going to go nuts when he sees the damage…" she muttered to herself as she turned around, and watched the guards carrying Saito's parents inside the mansion. She then noticed the cut on Saito's cheek as she ran over to him, Henrietta, and Siesta. "Are you all alright?" she asked.
Siesta was dusting herself off. "Somehow" she replied. "Though it looks like those people got caught up in the blast… tell me, were they…?" Siesta began, but stopped when she noticed Louise trying not to cry, which told her all she needed to know. Henrietta put her arms around her best and longest friend.
"I'm sure they'll be fine, and I know you didn't mean to do that." She said.
Saito put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "You've really got to stop jumping to conclusions… though I guess your nerves might have put you more on edge slightly today, so don't worry about it." He added. "Though… what state was the house left in?" he asked nervously.
"A very bad one" Tabitha added as she joined the group, with Slyphid hiding her head behind her master, clearly realising that she'd accidently set off the whole chain of events up to that point.
Saito groaned. "The insurance company is never going to believe this…" he thought to himself. "Anyway, for now, let's head inside and make sure they are completely fine… And after what just happened, I know I need a strong drink."
Elsewhere in Halkgenia…
Cattelya was sitting outside in the sun with a book, and was stroking a kitten on her lap. Many other animals were sleeping around her. She closed the book and looked up at the sky. "I wonder how Louise and Saito are coping with married life…" she wondered, only to have her train of thought broken by the sound of footsteps coming from the house.
"Still thinking about the wedding?" Eleanor asked as she sat down next to her sister with a glass of wine in her hand.
Cattelya smiled. "Yes, I was just thinking how grown up Louise looked in the dress she wore that day."
Eleanor groaned as she looked out over the land and watched the servants go about their daily business "I tell you, that marriage was a mistake… why mother and father gave into them is beyond me… a familiar marrying a noble, who also happens to be his master… it's just so…"
"Romantic" Cattelya said, interrupting her sister mid conversation, and had a love-dovey look on her face as she thought about it. "Besides, Saito is technically a noble now, since Her Majesty gave him that land as a reward for everything he'd done for the Kingdom." Eleanor just groaned again, and took a sip of wine. She hated to admit it, but her sister was right about Saito becoming a noble. She still didn't like him, nor his attitude towards the way things had always been between Nobles and the common people. "I think you're just worried about her, sister" Cattelya said as she watched the kitten jump off her lap, making her sister catch her breath and start chocking at the statement. "Oh… was I right?" she added with a giggle.
"Of course I am, how can you not be!" she yelled, her frustration with her sisters laid back attitude. She was about to start listing the reasons why she didn't trust Saito, despite all he'd done, when their mother interrupted.
"Are you questioning our decision?" Karin asked Eleanor, who quickly paled. Karin was probably the only woman who could put fear into Eleanor. She had once been known as Karin of the Heavy Wind. A Square class mage who once commanded the Manticore Corps, an elite group of soldiers within the Tristanian army. Indeed, Many of Karin's quests had become popular novels enjoyed by the nobility, and many tales were still frequently told in the various taverns around the land, though this had reduced somewhat, due to more recent events in the world. Even when she hung up her armour, she still kept up the high standards of discipline she demanded from her troops to her daughters
Karin sat down, and kept a hard stare on Eleanor. "I don't blame you for having doubts; I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any still myself. But you saw how those two were when they came to us… They were getting married regardless of what we felt." Eleanor hated being reminded of that fact. It was bad enough that Louise and Saito had openly stated that they were getting married regardless of what her family said or felt, but the fact that a date and many of the guests had already been decided, including two members of royalty, made it all the more unbearable for them. Agreeing outright went against their beliefs, while continuing to deny them the marriage was only going to generate bad rumours about the family amongst the other nobles. In the end, they had to back down and support the marriage.
"Still… I suppose Louise could've done a lot worse than Saito for a husband" Karin thought to herself. She remembered how Saito had stood against her when they were summoned to La Vallière castle, after they had snuck across the border into Gallia, facing down her Cutter Tornado, one of her most powerful spells, and how even Louise who had never gone against her wishes or orders, had gained strength from that, and showed her mother her Void magic, dispelling the tornado like it was nothing. Karin hated to admit it, but she respected Saito for giving Louise that confidence to go up against her…
Karin glanced at her two daughters "Well… I guess we can always make sure everything's going smoothly…" she said aloud, and beckoned one of the servants over with a sheet of paper, and began writing. "I'll let her know we plan to visit soon, and see how things are…" Eleanor was slightly surprised, while Cattelya smiled deeply as she returned to her book. Although she was still of weak health, she wasn't going to miss this chance to see Louise, nor her brother in law.
Back with Saito and co.
Saito's parents were laid out in one of the spare bedrooms. Henrietta had checked them over with her healing magic, and found no injuries besides a few bruises from the explosion. Agnes, who had arrived a few hours ago from the town after picking up some supplies, was sitting in the room keeping guard over them. Normally, she'd have handed this role onto one of the soldiers under her command while she kept guard over Henrietta as usual. However, here were the parents who had given birth to the man who had probably saved Tristan more times than anyone in its history, so she felt that it was the least she could do to say thanks… and she was more than a little curious about the world in which they had come from.
Everyone else was sitting inside the lounge catching up since they'd all last seen each other. Slyphid, under orders from Tabitha, had taken on her human form as Illococoo, partly so she could be with her friends, and partly so she didn't scare Saito's parents when they came around... Everyone had agreed that they'd probably had enough surprises for one day. Louise had been feeling down for a while after things had settled down. She was afraid of just what her in-laws would think of her now, having just destroyed their home, knocking them out with her explosion spell because she couldn't control her temper, and had now pulled them into Halkgenia – a world they had only learnt about minutes before she flipped. Saito and everyone had done their best to cheer her up, and it seemed to have worked mostly, but she was still far from being fine. While everyone was deep in conversation, she made to leave the room.
"Is everything alright?" Saito called over to her as she went to open the door.
Louise didn't turn around. "I'm fine; I just need some fresh air." She answered opening the door and shutting it behind her, not even turning to face her friends or husband once. She walked back outside into the mansion grounds, and sat down under a tree, where she began to cry. "I'm such an idiot!" she felt like screaming. Her mind was filled the fear that she'd just ruined the chance to get along with her in-laws, and that Saito was probably furious with her deep down.
A hand on her shoulder snapped her back to reality, and she saw Saito sitting next to her, holding out a handkerchief. "Dry your eyes." He said calmly.
Louise took the handkerchief. "I bet they hate me… or at least they will when the see the mess I caused" she muttered, her voice close to breaking.
Saito sighed. "I doubt it, my parents were never ones to hold a grudge. Where do you think I got my laid-back attitude from?" he grinned, making Louise chuckle a little.
"Still… 3 weeks without being on the receiving end of your Explosion spell… I think that's a new record for me." He added with a laugh
"It would've been longer if you hadn't gotten yourself into such a position" Louise quipped back. Saito sighed. Louise had him on that one, but he gave her a gentle flick on the head.
"Look, how many times do I need to say this Louise? In situations like that, take a few moments before re-acting. I married you, not Siesta, not Tabitha, not Tiffa, not Henrietta, but you. I wouldn't ever do anything that would upset you, so please just have some faith in me." Saito knew that if he did every truly get on Louise's bad side, he'd probably end up being 6 foot under within seconds.
Louise nodded, drying her eyes a bit more. "I know… I just… I just…" She was interrupted as Saito planted a kiss on her lips. "You're just being you" he said finishing her sentence for her as he pulled his head back.
Inside, Henrietta, Tabitha and Siesta were watching from a window. All three had expressed their feelings for Saito in their own way, but he had turned them all down and chosen Louise. A decision that respected, no matter how hard it was to accept, they had to respect. All three did still love him, and probably would for many years to come.
A knock on the door drew their attention away from the couple. "Enter" Henrietta called out. The door opened, revealing Agnes. "Saito's parents have just woken up. They said they'd come down once they got their bearings." Henrietta nodded. "Very well Agnes, please stay outside their room until they're ready. When they are, please escort them here. I imagine they've got a lot of questions… and I personally would very much like to meet them now that they're here." Agnes saluted, and returned back up stairs. "I better go inform Saito that they've woken up." Siesta said, heading off to go get her master and mistress and inform them of the good news.
Illococoo, who had still been sitting down until this point, ran over to her master's side. "Master, should I go back to my normal form?"
Tabitha shook her head. "No", as always, devoid of emotion in her response, which made Henrietta chuckle. "Staying as you are now might be easier for them Illococoo" Henrietta said calmly, taking a seat once again. "After everything that's happened, seeing a blue dragon up close again might be a bit much for them."
Illococoo groaned slightly, but agreed with Henrietta's view. She'd already caused enough trouble, so staying as a human for a while was probably the safest course of action.
Tabitha turned and sat back down, and Illococoo sat next to her. They could all sense that things were about to become interesting… and possibly slightly difficult to explain.
Author's note:
I based the bit about Louise's mother Karin from the Light Novel version of The Familiar of Zero (Volume 11, chapter 3 – Karin of the Heavy Wind.) This wasn't included in the anime, but I felt it was an important scene that needed including, and referencing.
Also, thank god for Google and Wikipedia – trying to remember how to spell Illococoo was a nightmare!
Chapter 4 is currently giving me a few issues (namely a case of writers block stopping me from making it flow), so it might be a little while before I can it uploaded.