AN: This is written for fun, not to be another novel length story spur like Dragon Summoning. I may occasionally come back and kick out another chunk, but it'll all just be played for laughs. Some suffixes will show up, depending on how well I think the translation spell used in here would be able to translate their general meaning. If there isn't a simple English equivalent, the suffix will remain.
Louise coughed, and sat up, waving the smoke away from her face. She did not wait, however, for the smoke to clear before leveling a baleful glare at the center of the summoning circle. This spell, she could not afford to fail. If she never successfully cast another spell in her life, summoning a familiar would still prove her a mage. Conversely, her years of failure at magic meant that a failure to summon a familiar could very easily by taken others as the final proof that she had no magic. Fortunately, when the smoke cleared, there was in fact something there.
Unfortunately, that something was also a someone, more specifically what appeared to be a twelve year old boy with a staff far too large for him, sitting in a posture that nearly mirrored that of Louise. He blinked at her, took a long look at the surrounding courtyard, students, and Professor Colbert, then turned back to Louise, smiles and waved a little.
When he opened his mouth and spoke, however, absolutely nothing he said was even remotely comprehensible. He looked expectantly at her for a moment, looked around again, then nodded, and spoke gibberish at her in what was clearly a different language altogether.
"Ah," Colbert said, "If you would complete the binding ritual, so that I may cast a translation spell?"
"Binding ritual?" Louise said, turning to look at Colbert in shock, "But he's just a-"
Colbert gave her a look. It may have had something to do with this being her sixth summoning attempt, and Colbert was dangerously close to being late for a social lunch with the Headmaster's secretary, but Louise did not know such things. She did know that she had only seen looks like that on one person before; her mother. And you did not argue with Louise's mother.
Louise hastily stood, and strode over to the boy, raising her wand. The boy had switched to a third language during her brief exchange with Colbert, and tried a fourth as she approached. He stopped though, and perked up when he saw her wand, smiling at her in a terrifyingly cute manner. Several of the female students squeed with delight, as he unwittingly triggered maternal instincts in over a dozen sixteen and seventeen year old young noblewomen of Tristain. Louise was no exception, and for a moment, her wand arm faltered.
Then Colbert cleared his throat pointedly, and Louise sprang into action almost involuntarily.
"," Louise blurted out all in one breathe, startling the boy, who made no move to dodge, then bent down and kissed him.
That was where things began to get strange. The moment that Louise's lips came into contact with the boy's, a white ferret-like creature leapt out of the hood of the boy's cloak, gesturing purposefully, and a luminous circle of runes appeared on the flagstones of the summoning court around the two. Louise felt a tingle of magic flow not just from her into him, as should have happened with the Familiar Binding, but also from him into her.
Ittingled.It was warm, and strong, fierce and sharp, and perhaps more than anything else, fiercely protective. Louise felt slightly breathless as it passed through her, and it took her a moment to remember to pull back from the kiss; and when she did, she bolted upright, cheeks flaming with embarrassment at her momentary lack of control, especially at such an awkward moment.
Then a card, not unlike a playing card, but far more elaborate and of such precise artistic quality she had never seen the like before, appeared directly in front of her. It's appearance was startling enough in and of itself, what was on the card would have scared Louise if she wasn't already embarrassed. On the card was an image of Louise, her pink hair, brief stature, and slight build all unmistakable, but she was wearing some sort of pitch-black robe, with pink trim exactly the same shade as her hair, and carried a staff in her hands. What truly startled Louise, was that her image on the card was smiling. Smiling in a way she had not smiled since her first day at the academy. There was also some form of writing on the card, which read DestructorMundi.
Louise looked up from the card to the boy, and found that he held an identical card in his hands, and was examining it curiously, while the weasel-creature on his shoulder spoke excitedly to him in a language Louise did not understand.
"What is this?" Louise demanded, taking hold of the card and waving it at the boy.
The boy looked up at her, startled from his study of the card.
"What is it?" Louise demanded again, and the boy smiled nervously at her, before speaking a few words, and gesturing with his staff, which emitted a brief burst of light.
"Can you understand me now?" He asked, eyes wide with earnest curiosity.
Louise's heart seized up in her chest.
Founder, she thought, Ihaven'tjustsummonedsomecommoner,I'vesummonedanoble,thiscouldhaveallkindsofpoliticalcomplications!Motherwillkillme!
"Um," The boy said, frowning cutely and drawing Louise's attention back to him, "I thought I had that right, maybe I should try again?"
"I understand you," Louise said abruptly, "I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. Who are you?"
"Negi Springfield!" Negi said brightly, "It's nice to meet you Miss Valliere, are we in Mundus Magicus?"
"Mundus Magicus?" Louise asked, "I've never heard of it."
"You haven't?" Negi said, frowning slightly, "I would have-"
They were both cut off by a sizzling sound, and Louise detected the faint odor of cooking meat. The boy raised his left arm, and Louise saw the familiar runes cooking themselves into his flesh, and now her stomach seized up.
Brimir, she thought, nowI'vebrandedanothernoble!Andjustachild!Thiscouldn'tpossiblygetanyworse!
"Interesting," The boy said distractedly, peering curiously at the runes on his hand curiously, "Were you trying to summon a partner?"
"Familiar," Louise said faintly, disturbed by the boy's lack of reaction to his flesh being branded, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a noble when I summoned you."
"Oh," The ferret-thing said, smiling up at her (how did it do that? Louise was sure Cattleya had told her rodents didn't have the right muscles to smile, much less speak!), "Aniki's not a noble."
Louise breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"He's a prince," The ferret continued
Louise decided now would be an excellent time to sit down. Very quickly. Even if the flagstones were rather hard.
"Ahem," Colbert said, eyeing the small white creature on the boy's shoulder warily, "Prince of which kingdom, would that be?"
"Vespertatia," The ferret said, "Where are we now?"
"The Kingdom of Tristain," Colbert said cautiously, "In Halkeginia. Are you familiar with it?"
"Never heard of it," The ferret said, "Hey Aniki, you ever heard of Halkeginia?"
"No, Chamo," Negi said, looking up from the runes, which had finished infusing themselves into his flesh, to face Colbert, "I've never heard of it, on Earth or Mundus Magicus. Hello sir, I'm Negi Springfield, who would you be?"
"Jean Colbert," The balding professor said, straightening up a bit as he spoke, "I am a Professor here at the Tristain Academy of Magic."
He opened his mouth to say something further, but realized he wasn't quite sure of what to say; the boy was supposed to be a prince, but he certainly didn't act like one, and had, in fact, not confirmed it for himself.
"It's nice to meet you, Professor Colbert," Negi said politely, "But I'm afraid I need to get back to Mahora, it's almost time for dinner, and big sis Asuna will be really mad if I'm late."
"Er," Colbert said, feeling like he was navigating a verbal minefield, "Unfortunately, due to the nature of the summoning ritual, and the fact that no one has ever summoned a human," He glanced at 'Chamo' the talking ferret, "Or other intelligent creature, we've never had need to send a summoned familiar back before."
"Eh?" Negi said, eyes widening in surprise, "The spell is only one way? That's kind of shoddy magecraft for a teleportation/summoning spell, isn't it?"
"The Spring Summoning Ritual is a sacred rite that's been passed down over six thousand years from the Founder Brimir himself!" Colbert said, somewhat indignant and feeling slightly defensive, "There has simply never been cause to reverse the summoning before!"
"Eh?" Negi said thoughtfully, "Six thousand years years ago? A spell with enough range and power to draw me away from Earth altogether, that's pretty good for magecraft that old, but hasn't anyone ever bothered to try and improve on it?"
"Improve on it!" Colbert said, slightly flabbergasted, "As I just said, it's a sacred rite, that would be sacrilege!"
"Sacred?" The boy said curiously, "That summoning didn't feellike purification-"
He cut off as his stomach abruptly, loudly growled. Louise, still sitting on the flagstones in front of the boy, had her ears just about even with his stomach, and thus was in excellent position to hear it very clearly.
"Ah ha," The boy said, smiling nervously, "It really is close to dinner time, and-"
He cut off, and his eyes widened in horror.
"Oh no!" He gasped, "I'm latefordinner! Big sis Asuna's gonna be somad, I gotta explain to her before-"
His free hand dove into a pocket, and retrieved another card, one much like the one Louise now held in her hand, but with a very different girl on the front of it. Louise caught only a glance of the girl, but it was easy to tell that, at the least, the girl's hair was brown rather than pink, and she was much taller than Louise. Deciding that she wanted a better look (and had spent quite enough time with her butt on the flagstones), Louise stood up, just as Negi stuck the card against his forehead. This wouldn't have been a problem, but Negi also bent his head slightly forward to bring his the card into contact with his forehead, which placed his nose in exactly the right place for a strand of Louise's hair, stirred upward and forward by her standing, to tickle his nose, and Negi sneezed.
And when Negi sneezed, there was a sudden blast of wind, and a tall, slender girl in what was unmistakeably a school uniform in front of him. Unfortunately, directly in front of Negi, meant much the same thing as 'right on top of Louise,' and the pinkette found herself displaced, and her butt met the flagstones again. Louise scowled up at the taller girl, but the girl was facing the boy, not herself.
"Negi!" The girl snapped, planting her hands on her hips and staring down at the boy, "You're late for dinner!"
"It's not my fault big sis Asuna!" Negi burst out worriedly, cowering slightly before the girl's aggressive attitude, "I got summoned to this place!"
"What?" Asuna snapped, whirling to glare around the courtyard, first at Colbert, then at all the other students standing around gawking, then finally at Louise herself, scowling when she saw the card in Louise's hand.
"Chamo!" She shouted, and reached out behind her, snagging the rodent without even looking at him, "Have you been hatching plots to make more partners for Negi again!"
Louise was glad the girl was glaring at 'Chamo' rather than her; she found the girl's different colored eyes, one green, one blue, to be disconcerting. And that was a truly fierce scowl. Not even close to the level of her mother, but comparable to her older sister Eleanor.
"No, miss Asuna!" The ferret said, squirming in her grip, "The girl here just happened to kiss Negi, and I could hardly let the opportunity go to waste!"
Asuna glared at the weasel-thing for a moment longer, pulling him closer for a more intent inspection, then nodded reluctantly, and reached back over her shoulder to place the creature on Negi's shoulder again, who visibly relaxed.
"So," Asuna said, and now she wasglaring at Louise, "Why are you kissing my Negi? You've got to be four or five years older than him, and if you're looking to be his partner just because he's famous..."
The growl in her voice had very clear implications, and her tone and word choice revealed an almost shocking amount of proprietary feeling about the boy.
"Ahem," Colbert cut in, and Louise was soveryglad that the girl's baleful gaze was redirected to him, "Today is a special day at the Tristain Academy of Magic," Colbert explained, "On which second-year students summon their familiars. It's a summoning spell that has never been known to select humans before, and it is the spell, not the caster that chooses what is to be summoned, the summonee being the creature most suited to the mage. I can assure you that miss Louise's summoning of 'your Negi' was quite unintentional."
Asuna glared at Colbert for a moment longer, then opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Negi's stomach growling again. She scowled at Colbert, before whirling to face Negi, and picking him up by his collar with no apparent effort. The boy was hardly very large, but Asuna wasn't very muscular either; and Louise, not to mention the other onlookers, were more than a little startled by how easily, and readily, the fiery girl did so, using one hand to do so, the other still planted imperiously on her hip.
"Right brat!" She declared, "Konoka should be finished cooking by now, so take us back home right now!"
"But I don't know how to get us back yet!" Negi declared, arms waving wildly as he protested.
"Then bring her here!" Asuna declared, shaking the boy forcefully, "And make sure you summon dinner as well! Big sis Arika told me to take care of you, and I'm not going to let her only son go and starve himself because he's too absent-minded to eat!"
"O-ok-kay B-big-S-sis A-asu-na!" Negi declared as the girl shook him, then reached into his pocket, and pulled out another card.
Asuna spun the boy around, pointing him away from her, and a moment later, a low wooden table laden with dishes Louise, Colbert, and all of the onlookers were not familiar with appeared. It had four place-settings at it, along with an elegant young woman with a surprised, but welcoming smile, who was seated with her legs beneath her at the far side of it. The girl had very long black hair falling loosely down her back to her waist, and wore a comfortable-looking robe that Louise realized was very similar to the one on her card.
"Asuna!" The girl called with delight, "You found Negi-kun!"
"Yes, Konoka-chan," Asuna declared forcefully, sparing a smile for the newly-summoned girl before glaring meaningfully at the boy, striding around the small table "He got himself summoned off to some strange kingdom again, probably some big magical adventure. Would you make sure he feeds himself? You know he always forgets to take care of himself when we're saving the world."
"Of course, Asuna-chan!" Konoka said, smiling brightly, "I'll take care of Negi-kun."
Asuna planted Negi in the empty seat beside Konoka, who began serving foods onto his plate, then turned to face Colbert and Louise, who decided it would be a good time to try standing up again.
"Right," She said, glaring at the pair of Halkeginians, "Now one of you is going to start explaining to me exactly what is going on here."
There was an awkward silence between the three, as Asuna waited impatiently, and the other two weren't quite sure of what to say.
"Konoka," Negi quietly asked the other girl, "Who was the fourth place for?"
"Set-chan," The girl said quietly, "She had just joined us for dinner when Asuna went looking for you."
"Uwah!" Negi said startled, "I'd better summon her too, before she gets too worried!"
A third card came out of the boy's pocket, and a moment later, another girl appeared, clad in a skirt and blouse much like the academy uniform for girls, and carrying a very long wooden case, from which she drew an equally long straight-edged sword so fast Louise wasn't sure she'd actually seen the girl move.
"Lady Konoka!" The girl burst out, worry clear in her voice, "What happened! You just disappeared!"
"Oh," Konoka said smiling warmly up at the girl, "Don't worry Set-chan, it's just the start of another adventure."
"Oh," The new girl said, "I guess that's why Negi was late for dinner."
"Why he was latefordinner?" Louise burst out incredulously, "I suppose that getting teleported to another world is a common occurrence for you people?"
"Oh yes," Konoka said brightly, smiling at Louise, "Negi is quite experienced with adventures, why he's saved at least two worlds so far, and probably will be saving this one in a few months now that we're here."
Louise gibbered at the girl, her jaw working silently as she tried to find words for what was going on in front of her.
"Ahem," Asuna growled, "Get with the explaining!"
"Ah," Colbert said, "Quite. I am, as I have said, Jean Colbert, the Flame Snake. You would be?"
"Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia," Asuna said, "Second Princess of Vespertatia, Null Mage. Start with the explaining."
"As I said earlier," Colbert said, "The summoning of, er, Prince Springfield-"
"Just call me Negi," Negi cut in smiling and waving up at the balding professor.
"Er," Colbert said, slightly disoriented but deciding to consent to the Prince's wishes, "Negi then, was quite unintentional. Not only do we have no recorded instances of a human being summoned in the last six thousand years, we've certainly never summoned a noble before, much less royalty."
"Not just any royalty," Asuna said sharply, glaring at the man, "My big sister is the Queen. Negi is the crownprince."
Colbert's face took on a sickly cast at the girl's words. This could easily be taken as an act of war, and if they could summon people across dimensional boundaries as easily as Negi had the three girls that had arrived so far...
Colbert blinked, and stared. There were two more girls present now. When had they arrived?
"Come and eat with us Louise-chan," Konoka said, smiling at the pinkette and gesturing for her to join Negi and the quartet of girls already seated around the small table, "Now that you've joined the White Wings, we should all get to know each other."
"The White Wings?" Louise asked hesitantly, edging closer to the table and eyeing the girls warily.
To her considerable surprise, one of them appeared to actually be shorter than her. Somehow, that helped her feel just a little bit more comfortable.
"Yes," The short one said, far more subdued than her companions, "It's the name Negi and all his Ministra Magi have taken on. I am Yue Ayase the Clarifying Philosopher, and this is my friend Nodoka Miyazaki, the Modest Librarian. You are?"
"I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere," Louise said reflexively, "Third daughter of Duke Valliere..." She trailed off sadly for a moment before finishing, "I have no runic name yet."
"Yes you do!" One of the students still standing in the background snapped off, "Everyone knows you're the Zero!"
Louise's head snapped around, glaring balefully at her detractor, Montmorency of the Montmorencies, but before she could even open her mouth to retort, someone else was already there. Louise blinked, her glare interrupted by confusion; hadn't Negi been sitting beside Konoka while she hand fed him just a moment ago?
"It's not nice to make fun of other people," He said firmly with a frown, causing Montmorency to look down, and then startle rather badly when she saw him, suddenly in front of her.
"Louise is one of my Ministra now," Negi said sternly, "And the White Wings take care of each other. No being mean!"
Montmorency gaped at the serious young man standing in front of her, searching for a response.
"Negi!" Konoka said, "You still haven't finished your dinner!"
And just like that, Negi was no longer standing in front of Montmorency, but was again seated beside Konoka.
"Aaaaa!" Konoka said, holding up a morsel of food clasped between slender carved sticks, and Negi opened his mouth dutifully, allowing the older girl to place the morsel within.
She smiled sunnily at Negi, before turning to face Louise again.
"Do sit down, Louise-chan," She said, "Have dinner with us!"
"Ah," Louise said, eyeing the girls seated around the table warily.
Konoka, she was certain, was harmless enough, the girl practically glowed with warmth and friendliness, reminding Louise a bit of her elder sister, Cattleya. Yue was hard to get a read on, but did not seem overtly threatening, and Louise felt a kinship with the girl for their shared shortness; her friend Nodoka was plainly a very shy girl, shy to the point where she hid her eyes behind her bangs. The last girl though, with the odd out-from-the-side-of-head hairdo and the insanely long sword, something about her made Louise nervous.
"Are you rejecting Lady Konoka's food?" Setsuna said, just a hint of edge in her voice.
"No!" Louise said immediately, seating herself quickly at the table, feeling that her fears regarding the last girl being dangerous were entirelyjustified.
"Hm," Yue said, pulling a book out of thin air, before opening it and paging around a bit, "According to my Orbis Sensualum Pictus, you are Louise Valliere, DestructorMundi. Did the translation spell translate that?"
"Ah," Colbert said while Louise struggled with the pair of sticks the others were using to eat, "No, it didn't."
"I'm not surprised," Yue said, "Essentially it translates to Louise, Destroyer of Worlds."
Louise's brain decided it had had quite enough for the day, and decided to clock out for the night, even if it was only mid-afternoon. She fainted, landing face-first in the Onigiri.