(disclamer: I do not own Negima or Zero no Tsukaima, they are owned by their respective authors)
AN: preview for "Zero's Dog" Chapter 10 after the end of the full Authors Notes at the bottom. Please read&review.
Update: I've fixed some of the grammar/spelling errors in the earlier chapters.
Zero's Dog
Chapter #9
Kotaro gaped momentarily at the sudden reversal in situation. "Well, this is bittersweet," he thought to himself, "Good news, we found Wales quickly with little confrontation. Bad news, there wasn't enough combat." He watched as the prince unlocked the cell holding Louise, then the one holding Kirche and Tabitha before moving to his own. "Don't bother," Kotaro growled at the prince, "I'll let myself out." With a deep breath he put both hands on a bar and pushed, ripping the door free of its hinges and the lock. The grand display did provoke looks surprise from the observers including Tabitha, who had had her book confiscated as well when they had been disarmed so was undistracted.
Wales seemed the most surprised, but quickly recovered. "So," he started in a mildly nervous tone, "You weren't bluffing when you declared you'd get out. What exactly are you?" he asked glancing at the triangular ears atop Kotaro's head.
Before Kotaro could answer, Louise broke in, "He's my familiar and he's not an elf."
Wales chuckled at her answer, "He's a familiar? Now I've seen everything. But I believe you on both counts. Even if he was an elf, if Ann sent him he's still trustworthy. However this is a poor place to talk," he said gesturing to the rest of the hold, "Let us continue tonight after the feast."
(scene break)
After they were released, the group had been given back their possessions, and watched as the airborne ship neared the continent. They docked on the underside in a large cavern that looked recent and unnatural.
(scene break)
Kotaro and Louise followed Wales into a private room. The feast had been a wonderful banquet set out for the visitors as well as a celebration for an unknown event the following day.
Wales sat down at the desk that occupied a space opposite the door and looked at the pair. "So, what is it that Ann sent you to find me for?"
"Why do you keep using the name 'Ann'?" Louise asked hotly.
"Sorry, that's something personal. I'll start calling her Henrietta if you like."
"Fine. We were sent to deliver a letter to Prince Wales Tudor," Louise announced, looking at Kotaro. Kotaro notice the glare and retrieved the envelope from inside his clothing and handed it to Wales.
Wales looked at the handwriting for a moment before turning it over to break the seal. The next few minutes were spent in silence as he read the message from Henrietta. After, he walked over to an ornamental box and withdrew from it an aged envelope. Gazing upon it for a moment, he then handed it to Louise.
"Here is the letter that Henrietta wanted. We'll send you back to Tristain tomorrow on the Eagle, our ship, along with the other women, children and those unwilling to fight. We won't be needing it for tomorrow's battle."
"You're going to fight?" Louise asked, "But you've only. . ."
"Three hundred men," Wales finished Louise's thought, "Against Reconqusta's army of fifty thousand." Louse gasped at the difference. "There is no chance of victory, so I say let us die in glory. For every drop of Albion blood spilt, we'll spill twenty from the enemy. They will know that we will not go down easily."
Kotaro smiled at the prince's declaration while Louise was horrified by it. "No, you can't," she cried, "You must come with us to Tristain. Come so that you can live. Henrietta will be able to protect you. That's what the message said isn't it?" She got more frantic as she spoke.
Wales looked down at the petite girl solemnly, "Upon my honor as a noble the message said no such thing." He sighed, "It's a man's duty to protect the ones he cares about. If I returned to Tristain with you Reconquista would use that as an excuse to invade. I couldn't be so selfish as to inconvenience Henrietta."
"So you'll willingly charge to your death," Louise growled, "Don't you want to live? How can you be so okay with dying?"
"Of course I'd like to live…"
"Then come with us!" Louise cut the prince off.
"Of course I'd like to live," Wales repeated, "But there would be much more trouble for Tristain if I did. I can charge into battle and to my death tomorrow because I know that I protect my ideals and those whom I care about. My only regret is that I won't be alive to hear about Albion's glorious last stand."
"But…"
"Enough, Louise," Kotaro cut her off, "The man's mind is made up, any further arguing would be insulting his resolve."
Louise rounded on her familiar, "What do you know?" she snarled.
Not frightened in the least of Louise's reaction, Kotaro answered, "I believe the same things: protect your loved ones, fight to the last breath, the best way to die is to go down with glory. I agree whole-heartedly with his plan, but I have a better idea for tomorrow."
As Kotaro finished, the door to the study opened and two figures stepped in.
Wales looked up at them, "I'm in the middle of a private matter, I'll get to you shortly." In response, one of the figures brandished a spellsword at Wales, casting a spell at the distracted and unguarded prince.
Kotaro was in front of the prince, Derflinger drawn, even as the spell was cast. He stepped back as the invisible magic connected with the ancient sword with the sound of steel clashing against steel. But instead of blowing past Derf as Kotaro expected, the wind blade was held in place by the sword, which started to glow. In the span of a second the force of the spell dissipated, followed by the glow fading, revealing Derflinger's blade to be free of the rust that had encrusted it.
"I just remembered something, Partner," the sword happily cried, "I can absorb magic."
"That's cool, Derf, but explanations can come later," Kotaro said. He looked back at the figures, "So I was right, you DO have an accomplice Fouquet, my guess is one of the griffin knights," he declared at the second one. The outlines of the figure wavered before disappearing to reveal the thief and the masked man.
"Mathilda of Saxe-Gotha?" Wales proclaimed. Fouquet scowled at the name.
"You know, Fouquet the Crumbling Earth?" Kotaro asked over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of Fouquet or the masked man.
"Kind of but it's a long story. Suffice that her family had everything they owned taken away by my father when it was found that her father had an elven mistress. It was sad really because the elf hadn't done anything. But how do you know her, Kotaro? And how did you know they weren't my men?"
"I captured her two days ago, back in Tristain. Her capture couldn't have been well known and she couldn't escape by herself, so I figure the person who broke her out of jail was there when I caught her," Kotaro explained. "And seeing how her partner is a wind mage, I'm guessing Griffin Knight. That fancy illusion spell may work on my eyes but my nose cannot be deceived," he declared, faintly recognizing the man's scent.
"How very clever of you Gandalfr," the masked man spoke, his voice garbled, "But even if you are capable of defeating square-class, you will not win. Ubiquitous wind." Several copies of the man appeared.
"That looks kind of like my shadow clone technique," Kotaro mused. "Your illusions don't scare me!"
"They're not illusions, Kotaro," Wales cried, wand drawn, "The wind is unevenly distributed, creating physical copies of the caster. It's square-class wind magic."
"Thanks Wales but don't worry I can handle this," Kotaro assured, "I just remembered who the scent of the masked man belongs to." Fouquet, Louise, and Wales each spasmed once in shock at the revelation. Directing his gaze back towards the assailant, Kotaro declared, "Pretty ballsy of you to return to fight me after that pathetic excuse for a fight you put up last time, eh, Wardes?"
The man pulled off his mask to reveal that he was indeed Wardes.
"Wardes, how could you betray the princess," Louise cried from her position next to Wales. She had moved from where she had stood opposite the prince to a place next to him after the arrival of the assailants. "You're my fiancé, I trusted you. But you attacked my familiar and have betrayed Tristain, I'm breaking off with you."
"Not the time Louise," Kotaro chided.
Wardes broke out laughing, "You foolish girl," he called, "Did you think I actually loved you? I wanted your power. Reconquista is uniting all of Halkeginia to take back the holy land and there's nothing that can be done to stop us."
"I beg to differ," Kotaro growled. Numbers of shadow clones to rival Wardes' appeared around him. "I'll make you a deal Wardes, if you defect from Reconquista and swear loyalty to Albion right now, I won't kill you. What you've done is probably treason in Tristain so you probably can't return. The same offer applies to you, Mathilda was it? Just so you know, Reconquista won't be 'the picture of unity' you imagine."
"They're a means to an end so I don't really care what it's like as long as I get what I want," Wardes declared, "So I'm denying yo—" He saw Kotaro quickly draw something from his jacket the same moment there was a sharp 'tug' on his chest and the wind was knocked out of him mid-sentence. There was a shriek. Wardes reached to touch where his chest suddenly hurt. His hand bumped something solid. He looked down. Three sword hilts protruded from his chest. "You bast-" he tried to say but coughed up blood and collapsed. The wind clones disappeared too.
The room was silent, the pool of blood around Wardes' body continuing to expand. Then suddenly.
"You killed him!"
It was Louise who had spoken, her face red. "He was talking and you killed him." Her voice was shaking.
"He was saying 'NO' to my offer, Louise. If I didn't strike him then, we would be fighting now and he wouldn't be offering me, or Wales, or even you mercy. I could beat him, that's a given but I'd wear myself out too much for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? We're going back to Tristain tomorrow. How could you get too worn for travel?"
"WE are not returning tomorrow, YOU are, with Tabitha and Kirche."
"WHAT? You're staying to be in the last stand? Stupid Dog! No, YOU ARE COMING WITH US!"
"If I stay, there won't be a last stand. Reconquista will fall."
"That's impossible," Louise argued, "Wales even said that Reconquista has 50,000 soldiers."
"That's right," Wales agreed, "You're not from here that much I can tell. And though you're strong, a lone man cannot defeat an army regardless of his strength. It warms my heart to see you devoted to my cause, but I can't have you cast aside your life with the rest of us."
"Just who the Hell do you think I am? I'm Kotaro Inugami, second strongest (male) of Ala Alba, a band of teens and kids who saved 1.2 BILLION lives five years ago when we beat an enemy who planned and nearly succeeded in massacring a planet 'in the name of their creator' they said. I've only gotten stronger since. And fighting 50,000 soldiers isn't the only option. To defeat an enemy, you attack until they don't fight back. Why they don't fight back is unimportant. Either they can't meaning they're dead, as Wardes is kindly demonstrating for us, or they won't meaning they've given up, like Miss Fouquet." Fouquet was frozen like a cornered animal.
Wales shook his head. "So what? Do you plan on making 50,000 soldiers to surrender? That's a harder task than just killing them."
"No, 50,000 soldiers will not be surrendering, nor will they be killed. Well, most of them will live. No, a few hundred may die, including one…" Kotaro paused, turning slightly red. "Um…excuse me but who is the head of Reconquista?"
"Cromwell," Wales answered, "Wait, you're planning on assassinating him?" He started laughing. Through the guffaws he managed, "Planning on bringing a rebellion to its knees and you don't even know who the leader is? Oh that's rich."
It was then that Fouquet spoke up, "You're crazy," she stated with a flat voice as if it were fact.
Kotaro turned to her, "I have no doubts about my sanity," he said, "Also the offer from earlier still stands, not that you'd need to stay for the battle if you did swear loyalty. If you do swear, however, I'll have a job for you after the royal family is returned."
"As if I have a choice," Fouquet muttered.
"If you do I'll return your noble status and lands," Wales chimed.
A slight change came over Fouquet's features, her expression softened. "Everything?"
"Everything."
Fouquet turned back to Kotaro, "Sure, I'll leave Reconquista," she said with a slight smirk.
(Scene break)
It was dawn.
Kotaro was looking out from the roof of the church at the other end of the cavern. His sharpened eyes let him see the dark blot on the horizon that was the Reconquista army. He sighed, thinking about everything he'd experienced since arriving at Albion. "Good news: Louise has the letter and is taking it back to Tristain. Also I have a full five weeks to return, but I'm curious what a Ball of Sleipnir is. That's a month from now. Bad news: I have no idea how willing this army is to fight. Oh well, that's what makes it fun."
He looked down at his newest pactio card: WALES TUDOR, Tonus: Album (White); Virtus: Fides (Faith/Loyalty); Directio: Occidens (West); Astralitas: Jupiter; Number: IX; Title: MAGNUS SINCERUS (The Honest Noble). The image of the prince was dressed royally but his eyes were aglow with compassion and he held his arms out, as if beckoning the world.
The hanyo thought about how he had sealed the contract with the prince. "Well that was kinda painful," he voiced internally, remembering how they stood in the pactio circle, each bearing a knife in their left hand. Almost as one they drew their blades across their respective right palms, carving deep furrows and bringing forth their lifeblood. Then they joined their bleeding palms in a handshake, forming the magical pact. "Still, I prefer that to kissing him. Now THAT would've been awkward."
Stowing the card he started in the direction of the approaching army. "If this works, Wales said that I could expect a grand reward. Wonder what it could be."
(Scene break)
Kotaro walked the streets of Saxe-Gotha, flinching with nearly every step as the din of a cheering crowd grew and grew. The army hadn't been as difficult to deal with as Kotaro had expected. Only 3,000 soldiers had been sent to exterminate the final pocket of resistance. Firing the staff of destruction into their ranks shook their resolve easily and dropping blades on them further demoralized them. Kotaro was disappointed though when he couldn't copy the 'Warship Breaker'. The biggest sword he could manage was as wide as a car with twice the length. Impressive, yes, but nowhere near as impressive as Jack Rakan's blade that could dwarf buildings.
Up ahead Kotaro saw hundreds of people gathered in what appeared to be the center of town. As he approached he heard someone speaking.
"Rejoice, for the Founder is with us," the voice declared, "As I say to you now, my army is crushing the last pocket of resistance. Albion is ours." With each declaration the crowd went frantic with cheering.
Upon entering the town square, Kotaro saw the source of the voice. It was a man of middling age, with blonde hair that curled back upon itself at the ends. He also had a funny hat reminiscent of a beanie. He spoke from a balcony.
"But do not worry, brothers and sisters, we will also get Tristain, Germania, Gallia, and Romalia to join under our flag. Then we will march into the Holy Land and drive out the filth of the elves. But first will come Tristain. My loyal servants should be returning with an item that will destroy the impending alliance with Germania."
"This guy must be Cromwell. He is so full of crap," Kotaro thought before making his move, summoning two rapier-like blades and an enormous blade half as wide as his body. Grabbing the two smaller blades, the runes on his hand began glowing radiantly. He smirked as the title of Gandalfr provided him with the knowledge of launching blades.
The guard to Cromwell's left was thrown back as the first sword pierced his throat with enough force to embed itself in the stone wall behind them. A second later, the guard to Cromwell's right received the same fate. Then the large blade embedded itself horizontally in the stone to the right and above the balcony. Kotaro stood on the ledge provided by the blade glaring down at Cromwell through that mask Wardes had worn.
The cheers of jubilation were quickly silenced with shrieks of fear replacing them.
"Cromwell," Kotaro said, "I'd say 'It's an honor to meet you', but I'd be lying."
"W-who are you?" the blonde man stuttered.
"I'm here on behalf of Prince Wales Tudor with a message for the leader of Reconquista. 'Disband at once or die'."
"Y-you d-don't scare me," Cromwell replied feebly, "I have the Founder on my side."
"Well then this 'Founder' of yours must have a twisted sense of humor to have let me foil your assassin, rout your army and threaten you. All without even a minor injury. Yeah, that Wardes guy didn't take me seriously either, now he's too dead to do anything."
Cromwell eyes shifted in all directions from panic before settling on Kotaro, again. A smirk formed on the man's face. "The Founder does have a way of doing things," he said as he raised his right arm to Kotaro. On his hand there was a ring with a square shaped amethyst. "Submit, vile monster," Cromwell declared.
Kotaro immediately felt an alien presence in his mind, slowly smothering his will. "I take it this means 'no'," he thought.
"Very well," the hanyo said to Cromwell, hopping down from the sword, onto the balcony. The look of triumph on the leader's face was short-lived as Kotaro put a hand through his chest, "I gave you a chance to surrender but you tried a third option and therefore wasted my mercy," Kotaro said coldly. He took the man's beanie, staining it with blood, and the magic ring, "Don't want this to fall into the hands of some asshole with something to prove," Kotaro thought. He looked out over the railing the the speechless crowd below. "Oh, right, those people… saw me…didn't they? Better say something, quick."
"Um…Reconquista is ended?" he asked in a confused, unconfident manner.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
And thus ends (kind of) the Albion arc. It was a short, with only eight pages with a little over 3000 words instead of my other chapters with usually 4000-6000 words, but I wanted to get through Albion quickly. The next chapter will be set a month from the end of this chapter.
About the chapter itself. First of all, some readers may dislike how I had Kotaro deal with both Wardes and Cromwell. I'll admit Wardes death may have been anti-climactic but Wardes had to go. I figured Kotaro would follow through on any threat if the first offer was denied, not go through some elaborate speech or persuasion to convince them. As for Cromwell, his whole plan centered around meaningless war, clashing with Kotaro's dislike for such conflict. I say Kotaro was generous for offering the man a choice.
Also there's the battle that took place offscreen. I know I probably should have written it out but I'm not confident in my writing ability to write such a complex scene without the quality of writing taking a dive. I'll let you imagine what happened.
(Negima spoiler alert)- the following has information that could be considered spoilers for Negima to those who haven't reached that point (chapter 340) yet. You have been warned
The pactio between Kotaro and Wales was not in my original plan, but I figured it'd be fine. I also wanted a chance to write about pactios not completed with a kiss. Unless I'm mistaken, which is a very distinct possibility, kissing was once seen as a kind of contract but has recently become almost synonymous with romantic feelings. Kotaro, being Kotaro, has it hard enough (though it's getting easier) to kiss girls. Kissing another guy would be out of the question, but a blood-oath would be acceptable. The artifact itself, I have no name for it as of yet. The artifact I named in my notes back in Chapter seven, Fabulae Hero or Fabulae Vir Fortis (still undecided), is an artifact for a different person, not Wales' artifact. Wales artifact I'm thinking would be a mantel and be a little similar the artifact Ayaka Yukihiro got in a recent chapter of "Negima! Magister Negi Magi" (chapter 340). We haven't seen the artifact itself yet but, apparently it is something that allows the bearer to speak with high government officials without any prior appointment, so I guess it's a little like the 'Jedi-mind-trick'. Wales' artifact is similar but what it does is grant the bearer greater persuasive abilities based on how they feel about what they're speaking of and how honest they are being, both with themselves and with their audience.
(end of spoilers)
I kind of liked Kotaro and Wales are of similar personalities. Not given too much screen time in Zero no Tsukaima, we only learn a little about Wales Tudor. He has his pride as a noble but is not outright arrogant. He believes in fighting and dying honorably for his ideals. He believes in protecting the people he cares about, even from themselves and will hurt them (emotionally) to save them. Kotaro is similar or, if not at age 10, I expect he'd mature into a similar person.
Cromwell's ring: The Ring of Andvari. This is one of the few, if only, times I'll take something from the Zero no Tsukaima anime. I prefer the light novels, which can be found, fan translated, on along with other light novel projects. Google it if you need help navigating. Anyway, the Ring of Andvari as stated in the novels has the ability to reanimate corpses, giving them a pseudo-life with full awareness of their lives before they died and unquestioning loyalty/enforced servitude to the bearer of the ring. In the anime, it also allowed the bearer limited control over live people, varying from total physical, mental and emotional dominance over one person, to only physical control of two people.
I have chapter 10 mostly done, but still have a ways to go. My update schedule may suffer because of my studies as the semester is getting closer to the end. Calculus is hard. I'll try to update at least monthly but that may not be possible. If I ever let "Zero's Dog" sit for more than 2 months without an update or note at the end of the most recent chapter, send me a PM and I'll work on remedying the situation.
Now as a treat to you readers, Chapter 9 of "Zero's Dog" is being posted with a preview of Chapter 10. All I will say further about Chapter 10 is that I expect it to be just as controversial, for lack of a better term, as when Louise received Code of the Lifemaker. With nothing else to say, thank you for reading, enjoy the preview below, and please review.
PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 10 OF "ZERO'S DOG"
Kotaro stepped through the gate of Tristain Academy of Magic, where he gazed at the central tower and the light it cast from the windows into the evening. Over a month had passed since he'd left with Louise on the trip to Albion. After retrieving the letter from Prince Wales, the hanyo sent Louise back to Tristain with Tabitha and Kirche, while he alone stayed behind. She hadn't been too keen on leaving him but his stubbornness won out in the end. He returned not only as a familiar but a full-blown noble of Albion. Chevalier may not have been a high ranking title but it still carried weight.
His month spent on the floating continent had improved his stamina and techniques slightly but the biggest improvement was in Kotaro's sense of smell. Hunting in the thinner air of Albion had forced him to hone his already sharp nose to the point it that it was always active. As he started towards the tower, an overpowering scent washed over him.
"What the Hell is this?" Kotaro asked nobody as he covered his nose. The scent was strong but was more of a sensation in his nose than a smell, like a smelling salt. The sensation was also was pleasant and drawing for the boy. "It's like every girl here just went into heat," he remembered how the girls of Ala Alba had almost synchronized biological clocks, and how scary some of them could get.
"You gonna be okay, Partner?" Derflinger asked from his scabbard.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, so long as the girls don't try anything with the handsome, hybrid, promoted-to-nobility boy."
He started walking towards the tower.
(Scene break)
When Kotaro reached the central tower, he heard what sounded like a party. Spotting Siesta, he quickly pulled her aside to ask what was happening.
"Kotaro, you're back! Thank goodness. You've been . . ." the maid trailed off as she noticed the mantle of nobility Kotaro was wearing. Her gaze shifted rapidly between the cape and Kotaro's face for several seconds.
Kotaro sighed, "Yes, Siesta I'm a noble now. Don't worry, I won't suddenly become a stuck-up snob because of my new rank, so tell the guys in the kitchen too. It's great to be back among friends. I've been training alone for a few weeks with minimal human contact. What exactly is going on here? It sounds like a party."
"Oh," Siesta said as she was roused back to reality, "It's the Ball of Sleipnir. When you go in, you first look into the Mirror of Truth, which shows you the person you most want to be. For the rest of the night you have the exact appearance of that person."
"Thank you," Kotaro told the young woman, vaguely remembering Louise mention it to him when he last saw her, "Is there anything else I should know?"
"Well," Siesta glanced aside, blushing, "There was a handsome young man who suddenly showed up last week. And so polite, too."