For the people of Tristain, or more accurately, for the people of Halkegenia as a whole, magical ability was tantamount to one's place in society. It was understandable in as sense; in a land where magic was a noble art, those that where proficient in it could only be seen as more noble.
However, since this was true, it should stand that its inverse would also hold true: that those with little magical ability would be given a lower pedestal. Still, it was on a pedestal they were placed, because even the lowest noble was higher than the greatest commoners, as was decreed by Founder Brimir.
So what did that say about a noble with no magical talent at all? For Louise Françoise de la Valliere, the answer to that question came easily.
Born into one of the most powerful and influential families in Tristain, Louise was born into a world that expected much from her, and she was eager to meet those expectations, as befitting of a noble raised by the greatest Knight in the kingdom, Karin the Heavy Wind, the Duchess de Valliere who served as captain of the Manticore Knights, and of whom many legends are told. Louise's mother was her idol and everything she aspired to be, and despite the rigorous methods that Karin employed for her family, Louise loved her all the same, and aimed to make her proud with her accomplishments in magic.
It was therefore a blow more painful than any other when it was discovered that she could not even cast the simplest of spells.
*.*.*
Louise stood up and let out a shaky breath. Straightening her back, she looked over the summoning circle that she had painstakingly drawn to perfection. More so than any of her classmates, she could not afford to fail this.
The professor who oversaw the Summoning Ritual, Professor Colbert, spoke. "Very good Louise, now, if you would finish the incantation, we'll finally get to see how your familiar looks like. I'm sure it will be most impressive," he said, smiling encouragingly.
That was one of the reasons Colbert was her one of her favorite professors at the Academy. Unlike the majority of her teachers and students here, he would actually compliment and encourage without being backhanded or sarcastic about it. For some reason though, he always seemed to tread a thin line around her, which was kind of disappointing.
"Oh yes, I'm sure it'll be most impressive indeed," said a sharp looking blonde girl. "If she manages to get one at all, I mean."
"Shut your mouth! At least I don't wet the bed at my age, 'Flood'!" snapped Louise.
A sneering blonde boy next to the indignant girl spoke up, pointing a finger at Louise. "Don't talk to Montmorency like that, 'Zero'! At least she's a proper mage, unlike you!"
"And I don't need to hear lectures of propriety from a womanizer like you Guiche!"
"W-what? How dare you insinuate –!"
"I'm not 'insinuating' anything, you hopeless fop! Everyone knows you shamelessly chase after every skirt you see!"
"Why you-! Don't talk about Guiche like that, you hopeless Zero, why are you even here among us nobles? Go back to the commoners you belong with!" At the comment, Louise flinched, and looked like she'd been slapped across the face. She bit her lip in frustration and was just on the verge of shouting at back when the Professor interrupted.
"Enough!" shouted Colbert, his voice magnified through the use of a wind spell. "Louise has kept silent throughout the entire time you all preformed your summons, and I fully expect you to extend the same courtesy to her!"
That shut them up quickly. Once again, Louise was grateful that Professor Colbert was the one in charge of the summoning. If it was Professor Chevreuse who was in charge, the old lady would have let the insults go on forever.
Nodding gratefully at the Professor, Louise stepped forward and raised her wand. It was time to begin her summoning. Take a deep breath and composing herself, she began the incantation for the spell.
"I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière."
This will work.
"I call forth my servant, you who exist somewhere in this vast world!"
It has to!
"My divine, my powerful, my wise, beautiful servant, in the name of the great Five Pentagonal Powers . . ."
No more. I am no longer going to be a Zero! I'll do whatever it takes!
"And by the calling of my fate, heed my summoning!"
While the girl was chanting, a strong wind kicked up and blew around the circle. A flash of bright light appeared at its center and distorted, its brightness waxing and waning. The air began vibrating from the sheer power contained in the light, and several students began backing away as cracking sounds began echoing from the light.
Louise grit her teeth. She could feel it! This was her familiar! She poured more Willpower into her spell. She didn't care what she got at this point; she just needed to get something! Anything!
Whatever she was summoning, it was resisting her. She knew it instinctively. The summoning process shouldn't be taking this long. To her, that meant whatever she was summoning was powerful enough to resist the summons.
To Louise, all that meant was that it was powerful, and that it would be so much more worth it when she finally dragged its but across space and sealed the contract!
Suddenly, something snapped. The tenuous hold with which she confirmed the existence of the familiar disappeared and the bright light faded into nothing.
"W-what?" stammered Louise, unable to believe what had occurred. "What happened?"
One of the boys in the crowd called out: "Hah! Just like what we expected from you Louise, zero magic and zero success!"
N-no!
Montmorency huffed, as if she expected this to happen. "Well of course. I don't know what you expected to happen, Zero. Well be glad, at the very least it didn't explode this time."
This isn't what was supposed to happen!
"Ah, but wouldn't that mean she wasn't even capable of making even an explosion?" said Guiche. "Perhaps Zero's used up whatever actual 'magic' she thought she had?"
Several of her classmates laughed at this, with one of them saying: "Doesn't that mean she really is a commoner now?"
"What do you mean? Zero was always a commoner! You can't really call those stupid explosions of hers actual magic now can you?"
The chatter and biting laughter of the students around slowly and slowly got louder. Professor Colbert tried to silence them once again, but even with magic, his orders fell on deaf ears. Louise clutched her ears, desperate to make the noise go away.
Why why why whywhywhywhywhywhyWHY!?
This was her last chance to prove that she had magic, and she had failed. She was on the verge of bolting out of the court, when a hand covered in a silk glove appeared out of a dark hole in the air.
What?
That was the only thought Louise could managed before the gloved hand grabbed her and dragged her inside.
Everything afterwards seemed to happen in slow motion.
She could hear the gasps of surprise from her classmates, and some shouting that sounded like it came from Professor Colbert, who was running towards her, staff raised. Tabitha and Kirche seemed to be doing the same.
How strange . . .
Her thoughts muddled by the suddenness of what was going on, Louise final thought was that if this was a dream, she wished that she'd just wake up already.