David puts away the black box and sighs, returning his glance to the purple fruited tree
"Though really, I wonder if Elliot will believe it's real, after all, I'm not entirely sure this is real myself" He scratches his cheek "I can't even really recall how I got here… or…" raising his wand he causes a small spout of water "Why I have magic…" David sighs "Hmmm, speaking of magic, wasn't I supposed to…" David begins to trot in place "I NEED TO GET LOUSE'S FAMILIAR! I-I-I hope that they're still alive!" David rushes into an open hallway and back into the building
"Something is bugging me slightly, why are you here Mo… Moto…" I begin to ask, the blonde gives me a somewhat nasty glance
"It's Montmorency, and if you must know, that creature stole my potions, and Louise offered her assistance" before I can respond she continues "Now if I may, what is this Helheim place anyways?" Montmorency asks
"Well, Helheim is a world-slash-another dimension thing, though when I refer to it I'm talking about the massive forest that's within it, it's filled with alien fauna and trees that harbor the fruit I mentioned earlier" I pull the Kurumi Lockseed from my jacket's big interior pocket "and as I also mentioned earlier, when someone is wearing a Sengoku Driver and they grasp the fruit, it turns into a Lockseed" I press the trigger on the side of the Lockseed
BATTLE START!
A Crack opens, summoning forth a Red Elementary Inves, the others back away from it, and consequently me
"However those without a driver but with a Lockseed can only summon Inves, yet if they drop it, the Inves will go berserk"
"Speaking of berserk, I'm a tad upset you'd give away my gift to that thief Darling!" Kirche complains out of nowhere, I close the Lockseed, the Inves leaps back into the slowly closing crack
"Thinking back to it" Louise mumbles "That was the sword YOU said that YOU didn't want!" Louise snaps at me
"Oh Darling, why didn't you mention anything?"
"You really didn't give me a chance to talk, Kirche" I retort meekly "In fact, you caught me off guard being in-" when referring to Louise's room, should use her name or master? I really should find a Medieval etiquette handbook somewhere "-My Master's room" Louise stomps over to Kirche
"What were you doing in my room Zerbst?!"
"It's just as Darling says, I simply gave him a present"
"You had no right to do that!" Louise shouts
"Oh but I had to, I couldn't live with myself, seeing him run around with such a homely sword"
"Oi! You're not all that either!" Derf talks back
"Derf, admittedly you don't look that pleasing…" I say
"Are you defending her?!" Louise questions
"No, I just think your bickering is pointless!"
"And, You're talking back again!" Louise raises her wand, on an impulse I grab Guiche by the shoulder and hold him in front of me
*BOOM!*
Guiche falls to the ground, face and uniform blackened by the explosion and the others fallen onto their butts save for Louise, her face flustered, raises her voice
"WE, will take care of this, YOU will go to back to the room and wait for me!" I nod, fearing she still has another one in her; I walk off down the hall
"Louise really didn't need to explode like that, in both senses" I groan "I don't get why she gets like that, especially around Kirche"
"Oi, Didn't Tabitha say something about it?" Derf speaks up
"Oh, you remember that?" I turn a corner into the Girl's Dormitory Tower… Atleast I think it is, mostly girls reside in the tower, I've seen boys on occasion but not much evidence that they live here "I really should ask about it"
"I wouldn't worry too much partner, just don't use me as a shield like that blond kid"
"Who sword blocks with a rusty sword?" I snide jokingly
"Oi-Oi it's your fault for not cleaning me, it's not even that hard!" We reach the hallway of the room, only to see the door opened
"Derf… did you open the door before we left?" I crouch and walk slowly towards the door
"Partner, you're the one who said I don't have hands"
"You talk, how do I know you're not magic in other ways?" I sidle myself against the opened door, gripping Derf's handle I leap into the room, only to see it ransacked, bed sheets on the floor and chairs knocked over "Did a tornado run through here?!"
"Oi, it could have been a wind mage"
"Yeah" I pick up the chairs, putting them back in place "That or maybe DiEnd never left"
"Who knows?" I move the sheets back onto the bed
"I just wonder what he was looking for" I ask myself with worry
A while after cleaning up the room, I find myself sitting at the wooden table reflecting, whilst looking out the window into the sky purple with dusk, from the passing silence I hear footsteps behind me from the hallway Louise enters into the room
"Welcome back master, did you take care of the tree?" Louise sighs
"Of course we did, why else where we there?" Louise stands in front of her dresser, despite my short time here, I already know what it means, I move behind her "Well, this is new" I roll my eyes, my hands move to below her collar, as I remove her cloak
"Don't get used to this, it's just my way of apologizing" Louise's hand loosens and removes the amulet from the collar of her uniform
"Apologizing?" Louise asks, my hands grab the bottom her uniform's dress shirt I begin to lift it up and over her
"I'll admit I've been rather, unpleasant, today" as I grip her skirt, my hands tremble
"Can't do it, can you?" she asks, after a moment of silence she moves away from me and proceeds to remove her skirt "Well, the fact you're actually acting like a proper familiar now means tomorrow won't be that bad after all" I grab her nightgown from her dresser and hand it her
"What's tomorrow?" Louise puts on her nightgown and moves to sit on her bed
"Tomorrow is the Familiar Exhibition"
"Familiar Exhibition?" I ask
"It's a required event in which all of the second years take part, one could some it up as a Familiar talent show" Louise explains "There's usually a prize denoted, but the princess will be here, so without a doubt it'll be serious this year"
"Princess?" Louise gives me a skeptical look
"Yes, as in Royalty, how primitive is your world that you don't know that?" I roll my eyes at the ironic comment
"Right… well I'm going for a walk, I'll be back" on my way to Vestri Court, I stare into a sky flooded with dusk and sprinkled with barely visible stars that glimmer slowly and steadily
"I'm primitive, huh?" my gaze moves to my hands "I suppose in a way I am" I change my glance to look across the grass "After all, I don't even know what year It is here, or if my year system is the same as this places'" in the corner of my eye I see a bespectacled green-haired woman in a black dress with a purple cloak, she seems startled by my presence, I halt
"I didn't realize there'd still be students roaming the halls this late" the green haired woman says as she walks over to me
"Close, but I'm not a student" The woman stops
"Not a student… Then Kitchen staff?" I shake my head
"Colder"
"A Burglar?"
"The Coldest, possible"
"Then… what are you?"
"I'm actually a Familiar, though, in all fairness, I doubt you'd of guess'd that" I walk over to her, meeting half way in a sense "Elliot, Who're you?"
"I am Miss Longueville, Secretary to the head of the academy" She adjusts her glasses before continuing "You said you are a familiar correct, you wouldn't happen to be the odd Familiar of miss Valliere, would you?" she asks
"Yup, that's me"
"A human Familiar is… interesting to say the least"
"I gathered that by the fact a member of the staff, who's probably worked here for quite a while, just called me Odd" My mind races back to that eventful afternoon, I look at my Left hand, the runes I had all but forgotten…
Wait, she's Staff maybe she knows something about it, or at the least can read it?
"Miss Long… Longevil?"
"Longueville"
"Right, well do you have any idea what these runes mean?" I hold out my hand, she grabs my hand to steady it for a better look…! Her hands are coarse, they don't feel like Louise or Kirche's, they feel more like Siesta's so she's a commoner too… but it's not that… this bad feeling, w-what is it?
"No, not a clue, you'd have better luck asking Professor Colbert, why? Are you suffering skin irritation? It's often that some more sensitive Familiars suffer redness or rashes where their runes appear" Skin Irritation… hmmm, as I think back, the only things I seem to think of are my past fights, I begin to feel my Left hand tingle…
In my fight with Guiche I was so focused on putting on a show I doubt I would of noticed… wait, what about every time I've henshined? Would that be game? The next time I did I was focused on rescuing the students from the rubble, then I was worried about getting the Inves away from the townspeople, After that I was focusing so much on my surroundings making sure I wasn't seen, and then the following Henshin… well I wasn't in the clearest state of mind, however, I did notice it earlier today, but I figured it was just a side-effect of Henshining, it's not like I've henshined before I came here, so I don't really know all the in-and-outs of it
"Not Really" I say, she nods and turns around
"The Familiar Exhibition is tomorrow, you should probably rest" she walks away, sighing I head back and get some sleep, even if I didn't make it to Vestri Court, she has a point
I'm hurried awake by a panicking Louise, her reason for it was that the princess would be arriving soon and everyone was to stand in ceremony for her at the front of the academy, by the time we arrive, several students had lined-up on either side of the path that led up to the academy, teachers and staff stood at the base of the stairs leading into the main building, The princess herself had arrived in a carriage pulled by brilliant white horses, the moment she exited her carriage, I was astonished…
A cute… no, stunningly beautiful woman, looking no older than me or Louise, She dawned from the carriage in an elegant white dress which only seemed to complement not only her looks, but the large purple cloak which hung from her shoulders. Her hair bore a similar shade of purple to her cloak, but where her cloak is dark purple, her hair is more of a mauve, her face-gentle and soft-Like she was pulled out of a fairy tale or storybook, the ideal princess; after some smiling and waving, a few cat-calls from students and I swear one of the teachers, Louise and I head back to the room, and begin planning for later today during the exhibition
"…That'll work, right?" Louise sighs annoyiedly
"I… Guess, as long as you don't cause any damage, AND YOU WON'T, RIGHT?" I cower a bit
"R-Right master" About at that time a cautious knocking came to the door, Louise gave me an glare that told me all I needed to know, I stand up from my bed, Derf still strapped to my back from earlier, one never knows when DiEnd might strike, I open the door to see a cloaked figure, my hand moves to Derf's handle
"Who are you?!" The figure backs off a bit, I fully draw out Derf "Silent, huh?" as I lunge forward, the figure leaps over me, I swing Derf over my shoulder, snagging the cloak, tearing it off the wearer, I turn to see the culprit-!
"Your Majesty?!" Louise exclaims, sitting up from the table to bow
"Oi-Oi, let me see!" I remove the cloak from Derf "Oi, Oi, OI; Partner you never told me see was such a woman!"
"Derf, Atleast show some restraint" i sigh, looking back over to Louise and the Prin-GEEH, Louise is glaring daggers at me… noticing Louise's expression the princess giggles
"You're as serious as ever Louise, though its fine really, he doesn't have to bow, in fact neither do you, I actually rather you didn't"
"But Princess!" The Princess kneels to the ground
"Louise, If you're so insistent on bowing, I'll just keep going lower until you can't bow" The princess says, giving her a warm smile, Louise sighs
"Princess, truly your too kind too me" The Princess grabs ahold of Louise's hands and leaps up, Louise, suddenly brought to her feet is then embraced by the Princess in a hug
"One can never be too kind to a friend" Admittedly, I really don't want to interrupt them… but I'm completely lost here
"Don't mean to butt in, but you two know each other?" I ask Louise is the first to speak
"Yes, I was given the honor of being selected as one of her majesty's royal playmates" Royal… Playmates? That's sounds… odd
"Childhood friends is such a nicer way of putting it" the Princess adds
"I have to agree with… err"
"Henrietta, I am the Crown Princess of Tristain, of course that's redundant information, huh?" She thinks I'm from this world doesn't she? Henrietta breaks the hug and moves to sit on Louise's bed "Oh, and if it's not too intrusive, may I ask you something?"
"Go right ahead Princess, you're sort of already in the room, I doubt you can get any more intrusive"
"You wouldn't happen to be Louise's lover would you?" Louise's jaw hit the floor, while Derf begins snickering uncontrollably
"No I'm not, though it's a bizarre question I can see where'd you think that, but I'm actually her Familiar" Louise looks at me with some form of astonishment "What? It's just a misunderstanding"
"Ah, I see, so you'll be participating in the exhibition tomorrow then?" Henrietta asks, Louise composes herself
"Y-Yes, we will" The Princess nods and stands
"Well then I'll look forward to it" she walks over to the door "I must get going, the guard must be looking for me by now" she giggles "See you at the exhibition tomorrow, Louise, Ah… what's your name, I don't think I caught it"
"Elliot Glith" I say, with a respectful nod the princess leaves, I walk over to my bed and lay down "Nice Girl, isn't she?"
"What's that supposed to mean" Louise says looming over me
"You know what I mean"
"And what are you doing?"
"Sleeping, the Exhibition isn't until this afternoon" with a yawn I go to sleep
The moment had arrived, it was showtime!
"Are you sure?" Louise asks me, I attach my belt
"Y-Yeah, I have a minor issue concerning social anxiety, but I'll try my best to contain it" Looking out on to the stage and to the crowd from behind the curtain, What looks like the entire student body, Staff, and the Princess with some of the royal guard detail; I gulp
"Oi, partner I'll talk for you" I look to Derf "I bet they've never seen a talking sword before!" I smirk
"Thanks Derf" We rush out to the stage
"GOOD AFTERNOON!" Derf announces
"A talking sword?!"
"If that's her familiar, who's the commoner?"
"When'd Louise get another Familiar?!"
"Oi~, this heat though, I could go for something refreshing, maybe… some grapes?" Pulling the Lockseed from the Lock holder on my side I press the trigger
BUDOU~
The Budou arms appear in the sky from a crack
"Seen that before" a student says
"H-How did that commoner?!" one of the Guard detail astonishes
"Hmm, No-No, to small, maybe something bigger…" Derf pauses for moment, I close the Lockseed and return it to the holder "Maybe an Orange?" I repeat the process with Orange
ORANGE~
The Orange arms appear overhead
"Oooh, that's a new one!"
"Is that really a commoner?"
"No-No! Oi, partner got anything bigger?" I close orange pull off the third and final Lockseed, I press its button
SUIKA~(WATERMELON~)
A gigantic watermelon appears over me, casting a giant shadow, even obstructing the sun for some of the front rows
"HOLY!"
"THAT'S ONE BIG MELON!"
"Oi-Oi! I think this is the one!" Sheathing Derf, I throw my arm up and slam the Lockseed down onto the belt
LOCK ON!
…And here it comes… my line…
"HENSHIN!" pulling up from the blade I throw my arm in the air, the Suika crashes down with a thunderous clap, then silence
"Wow, her familiar is even a zero!" one lone voice says… and now
SUIKA ARMS! ODAMA, BIG BANG!
Yoroi Mode~
The giant watermelon transforms into a colossal mecha-like watermelon-based armored Japanese Samurai
"I-It… IT TURNED INTO GOLEM!"
"THAT'S ONE MENACING MELON!" Moving over to an open area next to the Stage and lay down on the grass, legs stretched, resting on an elbow
"Get up! Theres an exhibition happening!" Louise scolds, I move my free hand pretend to clean my ear with a pinky, ignoring her "LISTEN TO ME" Louise draws her wand a large ball of white energy appears at the tip of her wand, several students make a mad dash as the energy flies toward me, taking off the lock I press the button on the back and reattach it to my driver
*BOOM!*
The explosion knocks down all of the people, causing a large cloud of smoke however…
Gyro Mode~
The Watermelon Mecha takes flight into the air
"WOAH, the golem can fly!"
"THAT'S ONE ACROBATIC MELON!" I begin to fly above the crowd, doing rolls and flips, by all means putting on an air show, as I turn around the central tower of the Academy I see a large golem made of dirt, I unload gunfire from the fingertips of the mech, only to do minimal, its turns towards me and launches a fist of compacted dirt
"CRAP!" I exclaim
*CRASH, KABOOM!*
*ZIP*
A Zipper drags across the screen, a Fourze Kaban appears, it pops open showing all the new lockseeds displayed in this Chapter
{Suika}