A/N: Hello again, if you are reading this, well, I think by now, you get the picture, but I'ma say it anyway, this is my very own Zero No Tsukaima fanfic, Love Breakdown. Yes, I know, it's been nothing but filler so far, but I am trying to develop the plot and when I get to where I start kicking my own things in, it's around S4, Ep. 2, things will start taking major twists. Anyway, I got to get onto the disclaimer before Season 3 in a Nutshell begins… again! Now, where is my disclaimer today… Hoy, Naruto!
Naruto: Ah, I thought I would come up sooner or later.
Me: Yeah, I know. Hey, you don't think a top ninja like you could give me a hand here, do you?
Naruto: Well, hehe, maybe…
Me: Just do it…
Naruto: I was only joking, gees… This is a disclaimer, if you didn't know that by now, you are a complete idiot…
Me: Hey… I had problems with the first guy, I don't want it from you…
Naruto: Gees, you're such a screwball. You know what I want to do, it's eat some Roman, where is my roman?
Me: Just do the disclaimer and I'll get you some Roman later.
Naruto: Thanks.
Me: Whatever…
Naruto: Moving on… By using this disclaimer, the author is relinquishing himself any copyrights of characters, settings, copied plots and plot holes, magic tricks you find familiar, the word familiar, and whatever else that is not original you may encounter in this story.
Me: Wow… that was actually… impressive! You did better than the last candidate! Nice job. Now let's go get some Roman! Enjoy the story everybody.
Oh, by the way everybody, I actually can write action too. Even though the action scenes I have written in my discontinued DBZ stories are short, they are action none-the-less. Anyway, no more interruptions, I am sure you are tired of my ranting.
Chapter 4: Season Three in a Nutshell Part 2
Saito and his company stared at the ravine. Saito didn't think it to be nothing that much of a challenge; however… the rest of his company didn't have the legendary power of Gandalfr.
Tabitha just sighed. Gees. I wonder if they have forgotten that my familiar is a Wind Dragon. I could just call her over, but maybe I'll see how long it takes for them to realize that they won't just walk past this.
Saito looked at Louise.
"Well, anyone else have any ideas?"
Tabitha began to speak up, but was interrupted by Agnes. "Maybe we could tie a thick wire to a dagger and throw it into a tree and then cross using that."
Everyone sweat dropped, with Saito grinning.
"Um… Agnes?" Saito started.
"Yes?"
"Um, I don't believe everyone here is as skilled an expert as you are… including myself." Saito admitted.
Agnes sighed. "Gosh, you're all hopeless…"
Tabitha just looked away and her eyes caught something. She smacked her head disappointingly. Gees, they are all idiots…
Saito put his finger to his chin, trying to come up with a way to get everyone easily across the ravine.
"Hey!" Louise exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "Why don't we try to climb it!"
Saito shook his head. "No. It's too steep, and from down there, that would be a 10 foot climb."
Louise gulped. "Oh yeah… Well, anyone else?"
Tabitha, once again, began to open her mouth to speak when Siesta jumped in gleefully. "Master, how about we find a ladder that is as tall as the ravine! Then we could easily climb up."
Saito laughed softly. "Sorry, Siesta, but I don't think there is a ladder, let at all, anything around here that is ten feet tall."
"Oh…" Siesta whined, looking down in defeat.
Tabitha sighed loudly. "Alright, you all tried. My turn."
Everybody looked in Tabitha's direction. She pointed to her far right. "Ooh, I got an idea, why don't we try crossing that bridge over there that the dirt path leads to, over the ravine."
Saito just looked at it in disbelief. Everyone else just looked on as if they had just been made fools of.
"Um…" Saito began. "That isn't actually a bad idea…" then an idea popped in Saito's head. "Oh, but what about your familiar, you could've summoned her from the start and got her to lift us over the ravine."
"True." Tabitha commented. "Since she is a Wind Dragon, it wouldn't take long for her to get here, but instead of making her work hard, why don't we try "looking around from the start" for now on."
Saito scratched his head innocently. "True, we'll keep that in mind, Tabitha." Then he turned around and looked on at the path. "Well, let's go!"
Agnes sighed. "Well, back to driving. It's better than walking, I guess."
Agnes and Saito sat back on the front while Tabitha, Siesta, and Louise got in the carriage. They continued on the path and diverged into the forest that Saito said he came out from. After nearly half an our, Saito and his friends were deep in the forest. The entire land was shrouded by cool shadows, with tiny streams of light piercing through the canopy above. Saito was looking around expectantly.
Then, something caught his eyes. He looked and then he saw someone walking away. He looked closer, and found he recognized the soft green outfit, the blonde hair, and the hat. He jumped off excitingly and ran after her, yelling "hey!".
Agnes, startled, watched him. "Hey! You can't just do that. Did you find her! Hey, Saito!" Agnes sighed and stopped the horses, then jumped off. "Hey, girls. Come on."
Agnes started after Saito, with Siesta hopping out and running after her master, and with Louise and Tabitha not far behind. Saito ran as fast as he could after the girl in green. "Hey, hey!"
The girl looked back and saw several humans running at her. She became frightened and started running away. She didn't want to be captured by humans, even small ones. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to help that boy after all. He told someone about me!
She continued running fast, with Saito hot on her heels. Saito yelled after her. "Hey, wait! Come back. Tiffa!"
The girl stopped on the spot as she recognized the name he called out.
"Tiffania!"
She also recognized that voice. She lifted her head up and looked his direction. "Saito?"
Before she knew it, Saito slammed through a bush. Once he saw her not running, he tried going to a screeching halt.
"Saito!" Tiffania exclaimed as she did recognize the young boy skidding in front of her. She ran to him, her arms outstretched to grab him and give him a big hug. But when she tried, she hit something and fell over, but she didn't land on the ground like she thought she would. "Huh?" She looked down to see Saito beneath her, his face buried by her impressive bust. She gasped then stood up.
"Oh no, Saito? Are you okay?" the elf asked. "I didn't mean to do that."
Saito sat up, rubbing his head. "Don't worry about it." he told her, smiling. "I'm just glad I found you."
"S-S-Saito…" Louise was heard saying.
Saito then went as pale as a ghost and slowly turned around like a statue. "H, hia (yes in Japanese, but it means other things too)?" he choked out.
"You… baka (means stupid in Japanese. This catchy line doesn't sound right without it!)… DOG!" Louise screams at the top of her lungs.
"You mean to tell me this is the girl that saved your life!"
Saito and Tiffa both nodded, very frightened. But in a snap second, Louise was shaking Tiffania's hand, smiling. "Thank you so much for what you did, really."
Tiffania then smiled, unsurely. "Um, your welco-"
"But if you have been doing things with my familiar… then you are both in deep trouble…" Louise eyed Saito from the back of her head.
Saito turned around, feeling her evil glare. "Of course we would be…" That's the good old Louise, wouldn't have her any other way, well, probably being nicer would do just fine though.
"So… how do you like it? It's not too small, is it?" Tiffania asked the crowd now inside of her cabin.
"This is where I stayed to rest up after she saved my life." Saito explained. "I completely owe her for that."
"There's only one bed…" Louise pointed out. She squinted her eyes at Saito. "You two didn't do anything, did you?"
"Louise, I already told you, I didn't-" Saito was saying but then was completely caught off guard with what happened next.
Louise was suddenly behind Tiffania. "How could you expect me to believe that!" Louise asked rather sarcastically. She then groped both of Tiffania's breasts! Tiffania yelped while the others were taken aback by the action. "I mean look at these things! How could anyone believe you, especially with how you drool over others at the academy?" Louise asked worriedly.
Saito slapped Louise's hand. She, shocked, pulled away quickly and massaged the hurt hand. She then looked at Saito. "What was that for!"
She looked at Saito, who was holding Tiffania rather protectively. "Don't you have any kind of respect?"
"Yeah, but-"
"I'm not finished." Saito interrupted. "You never consider my part or anyone else's part in story, all that matters is what you think, not anybody else. You never let anyone explain and you always act melodramatic." Saito sighed. "I am sorry, Louise, but I can't just stand by and let you harass her like that, especially when she hasn't done anything wrong."
Louise just looked down at the floor, her hair hiding her eyes.
"Louise…" Saito pressed softly. He reached his hand out toward her. "Louise? Please, don't make me feel like the bad guy."
Louise slapped it away.
"Louise?"
"Baka…" she muttered, before turning her back and running out the door.
"Louise!" Saito yelled.
"Miss Valliere!" Siesta yelled before running out after her.
Saito could only stand there, his head staring at the floor.
Louise was sprinting through the forest as fast as she could, tears in her eyes. How could he do that to me… How could he do that!
"Miss Valliere!" Siesta shouted as she ran after her. "Please, come back. It's dangerous to be out here all by yourself!"
Louise heard her, but she didn't pay any mind to it. She kept running. Why Saito? Why! Why is it you treat everyone else better than me! I am your master.
Louise suddenly stopped, still looking down. She started to shake slowly. "I AM YOUR MASTER, YOU STUPID DOG!" Louise shouted into the dark heavens above. Louise stood looking into the black sky above. She wanted to think about how this could have happened. "Damn." She hammered her fist onto the trunk of a tree. "No wonder he likes that stupid, mindless girl. She dresses like a total slut."
Louise hissed at the insult. "I don't get it, how could he like her. She seems like an idiot. I bet it is just those big honkers she has, isn't it." Louise looked down at her own chest. "I may not have boobs, but I got dignity, that's for sure. I am a noble, I am his master, and I already told him he couldn't look at anyone else but me. The maid, humph, she was in the war by the start, but this is just ridiculous. At least Siesta isn't a total idiot, from what I gather. Why did she save Saito anyway…"
"Louise." Siesta said as she finally caught up to Louise.
Louise could only look at her. "What? What did you follow me out here for?.."
"I can't just let you run off like that. What if you get lost, or even worse, get hurt and no one can help you?" Siesta asked, clearly worried.
Louise just turned around. "I can take care of myself."
"I know, but Louise…" Siesta attempted to talk to her by going around to her front, but Louise just turned away.
"Louise…" Siesta said again, repeating the same routine.
"Louise… Louise… Louise. Louise."
Louise started shaking with annoyance. "Okay, what?"
Siesta stood straight up. "But why were you running away. So Saito gave you a tap on the hand, it's no big deal-"
"It may not be a big deal to you because someone higher than you does it, but Saito is lower than me, even than you, and he hits me? No…" Louise stretched out the "no", shaking her head slowly to add emphasis. "If you ask me, he needs to be taught some real manners…"
Siesta got a dull expression on her face. "Isn't that the master's job?" she asked sarcastically.
Louise fumed. "Forget it!" Louise yelled.
As Louise started to relax, a dagger flew past her face, cutting her cheek. Siesta and Louise both came back to the outside world. Louise slowly put her hand up to her cheek. She could feel it stinging. She touched her new found cut and pulled back to see a stain of blood on her middle finger. She looked around. "Hey, who did that?"
"Hello, Void Mage." an all too recognizable feminine voice called out. Louise shockingly turned around to see Sheffield standing behind her, dressed in a dark cloak, her forehead shining from the runes resting on it.
"Sheffield… Just who do you think you are dropping in on an important conversation?" Louise bolstered.
Sheffield snickered. "Important? I thought it sounded like just two witless children babbling about something stupid like they always do."
Louise shook with anger. She took out her wand.
"Why you… EXPLOSION!" Louise yelled, pointing her wand at Sheffield. In a moment, the vicinity Sheffield stood at was set ablaze by an explosion; however, Sheffield jumped out at the last moment. Louise and Siesta watched as she flipped high above them only to land on the other side of the area. Louise scowled at her.
"EXPLOSION!" She again, pointed her wand, and Sheffield jumped away to the side. Louise yelled, explosion after explosion, Sheffield just jumped and jumped. Louise was panting, while Sheffield just stood proudly.
"Done yet?" Sheffield taunted. Louise just panted. "Hmph." Sheffield said, waving her head to the side to cast her hair out of her eyes. "Fine then, guess it's my turn."
She bent forward and dashed at Louise. In a second, she was in front of Louise and grabbed her by her collar. Louise grabbed her wrist and screamed as Sheffield lifted her up with her right arm. Siesta fell backwards in fear.
"Well well, I thought you would be a bit more fun." Sheffield exclaimed.
Louise hissed and threw a punch at Sheffield's face, which she effortlessly caught. Sheffield eyed it, smiling, and then looked back at her. "You have absolutely no experience in fighting… All you can do is wave your little wand- oof!" Sheffield grabbed her stomach and let go of Louise, who upon landing, jumped away from Sheffield. Sheffield gritted her teeth. "You're going to pay for that one, you little brat." she hissed.
Sheffield then dashed at her, slashing at her with her hands. Louise sloppily dodged them as best as she could, but she did not see the kick Sheffield aimed. Louise gasped as she saw her leg collide into her face.
"Louise!" Siesta yelled from the ground. Louise flew a short distance in the air before landing. Sheffield slowly advanced upon her.
Louise struggled to stand up, but she cast her wand forward. "Explosi- Ah!" Louise grabbed her hand as she felt the pain from Sheffield's next kick to her wrist. They both watched as the wand flew far away from them, spinning away as it landed in the grass. Louise looked up at Sheffield in fear, who was towering over her with an evil grin on her face.
"Without your stupid wand, mage, you are nothing, unlike my master." Sheffield grabbed her by the neck and held Louise up. She staggered and struggled in Sheffield's grasp.
"Si… Es… Ta… Help… me…" Louise managed to choke out.
"Ha!" Sheffield laughed. "That pathetic maid can't do anything to me. She's worthless. It's you I am interested in. Now, where is the other void mage?"
"Wha- what?" Louise stammered.
"Beh…" Sheffield hissed. "You're no use to me like this. Maybe you'll feel better with your maid friend over there." Sheffield proceeded in expertly tossing Louise over to Siesta. Louise landed hard on Siesta. Sheffield just smiled as she held up her hand and snapped her fingers.
"Just to let you know, fighting isn't one of my powers though."
Some rustling could be heard. Louise looked all around. "Siesta… look!"
"I know…" Siesta replied, trembling.
All around Louise and Siesta, gargoyles with a glowing purple rune on their chest were all over the clearing, surrounding the two girls. Sheffield smiled with amusement. Louise and Siesta could only sit in fear, wondering about what was going to happen to them.
"Now…" Sheffield started. "Why don't we get this underway, hmm?"
Saito was pacing around the room, wondering when Louise and Siesta would return. He looked at the door again for probably the 20th time and then growled in disappointment. "Darn, I should have chased after her…"
Agnes could only sit where she was, she really didn't know what to say to the boy. She then looked at the girl, Tiffania. She was just sitting there as well, watching Saito.
"Don't worry, Saito. I'm sure that pink haired girl will return."
"She's not just some 'pink haired girl', she's Louise." Saito told her harshly.
Tiffania looked down, her ears lowering in sadness. "I'm… sorry, I just didn't know her name…"
Saito slumped his shoulders down. "Gosh, I'm sorry, Tiffa. It's just… I'm worried about her. I don't want her to get hurt."
Tiffania walked over to Saito and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He only looked back at her. She smiled and he relaxed a little bit, but that relaxation was not to last long.