Familiars Never Cry: Chapter 3 – Lucky Zero, Blastin' Class.
Disclaimer: the Familiar of Zero and Devil May Cry does not belong to me.
Since this is a fanfic, there will be some similarities abound here and there. There will be some excerpts from the original works and some fanfic I just find too cool not to use so kudos to those guys.(Please see Author's P.S. for further details)
I will not take credit for this work since this is a fanfic anyway; I will just write and adapt some of the works abound for the fun of writing and putting together a tale nothing more. So bash me if you wish. Henceforth, whether readers will like this fic or not, I will stand on what I will put together.
But then again, I will always welcome criticisms.
I will see this through. To the end. Wherever it may be.
To those who don't wish to continue any longer, feel free to click away from here.
To those who wish to continue reading this fic, I welcome you and appreciate your patience.
Let's begin….
Dante sighed as he looked at the twin moons hanging over the night sky. He then reminisces the events which transpired earlier...
"Alright, time to see who won." Dante declared as he presented his closed hand holding the coin.
Louise has never been so nervous in her life. After experiencing a whirlwind of events that gave her a range of emotions all at the almost same time, mainly the joy of having done something right with magic for a change, the frustration that the familiar she called doesn't follow her commands, the confusion of what to do, and lastly the fear instilled upon her by the familiar she had summoned.
She never imagined she would be summoning a being in the form of Dante. From what she just witnessed, Dante's demeanor and actions suggested he is not some weak, pathetic commoner, let alone an ordinary man.
Looking once more at the white-haired man's smirking face, she then managed squeak a question at him "Just who are you?"
Dante, who is on a roll with the whole gambling thing for the first time in years, just grinned.
"Those things can wait." he replied as he unclenched his hand holding the coin for her to see.
"Let's see who Lady Luck will smile upon."
Louise of course, the short-tank that she is, had to stand a bit on he toes to see what side won. She sees the coin, facing up is engraved with an image of a woman in a provocative pose, as she wielded what appeared to be a pair of guns. Louise had seen guns before but not the kind that the image is showing. The weapons looked too big for the woman to use...
"Seems like you got lucky, Kid." smiled Dante, clapping his free hand on her shoulder, causing Louise to quit staring at the coin, and gape in amazement at what Dante just said.
"I..I won?"
"You sure did, and as promised…" Dante congratulated the girl,
"But then again..." Dante took a pause, and closes his eyes in a thinking pose.
Louise suddenly turned pale. Is he planning to not honor the bet?
She knew he could literally destroy her with his bare hands, seeing how easily and powerfully Dante threw his gigantic broadsword deeply into the castle wall.
Then again, Dante can just do whatever he wanted whether Louise liked it or not. In a battle of wills the difference in their power is that staggering that there isn't a single sign of competition, even if Louise ever considered her magical ability as a power level, against his presence alone, it was closer to nil if anything.
"Hmm…" Dante hummed, eyes closed and rubbing his chin, deep in his thoughts, then opens his eyes and said "Since you won, I decided to take the job as your...guardian."
"EEEEEEHHHHHHH! G-G-Guardian?"
"Well, why not? Familiars are magical animal partners of witches and wizards. And I refuse to be referred to as an animal." Dante stated as a matter of factly.
'Not unless it's said to me a very hot and sexy babe.' He thought.
"So a guardian is the best term to describe my position."
"That settles it then," Dante rambled on, a he stoops down to Louise' eye level as he stated the clauses of their contract.
"I'll be at your service as your guardian and protector, and will take out anything that can pose as a threat. And as long as you ask nicely I will honor your requests, but its reasonableness is at my discretion if I will take that particular task on. You as my contractor, have the responsibility to provide for me for my services at least at the basic necessities such as food and shelter. This contract will remain as so until such time as it is deemed to be void by both parties. Do you agree?"
Louise can't do anything else but to redo her performance impression of a goldfish…
"Awa wawawawawa.." She nods
"Yeah, you understood." Dante smirked, standing up to his full height.
He then walks toward the door, before turning around to regard his new contractor, who is now collapsed on her knees, staring blankly at the wall.
"Well since I don't have much to do here, I'll be out for a while to get my bearings on this place. Is that cool with you?" Dante asked,
A moment of silence occurred between them.
"Y-yes, please do so." Replied the presently recovering Louise as she shakily tries to stand up and managed to reach her bed.
"Sweet Dreams then, princess." Dante said as he left the room.
And if Louise would have looked around the room, she might have noticed that something discarded earlier can't be seen.
(-.-)
After much wandering around, ending up at dead ends and much, much back tracking, Dante manages to finally get hang of the place.
The castle isn't so bad at all to his taste, considering that it is well kept in good condition, and there is no sign of any dark or demonic energy present anywhere he went. Unlike the castles he "visited" before.
Though he really wished this world actually had working modern conveniences, such as a proper toilet. He haven't seen any sign of electricity or any kind of modern appliance. Not a fridge, a stove, hell, not even a friggin' light bulb. He's starting to feel a craving for some pizza or beer. And he knew eventually he was going to have to use the restroom and the only thing he could pray for there was at least they had running water for toilets, or at least some kind of hygienic stuff available. Not that Dante mind the entire Middle-Age retro feel and all, but still.
"And Lady thought my pad was a pig sty." He said to no one in particular.
Missed his world he might, but he's in no hurry to get back for now, since there isn't anything to go back to, with the devils possibly cleared out of hell and the human world, being taken care of by other competent Devil Hunters he organized before he left for Dumary Island and the some devils who, like his father, took up arms to defend that world, the world that Sparda loved and lived in which he protected during his lifetime.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. Did his father actually met his demise and was killed in some battlefield years before? Or was he thrown in another world similar to this one, and was unable to return?
As suddenly as that thought went through his mind, it also dissipated in a flash.
Making a turn at a corner, he sees two figures conversing further down the dormitory corridor.
One of them, he recognized as one of the school kids picking on Louise, Guiché, a handsome young man and a self styled Don Juan, similar to the point that he wears his frilled shirt with his chest exposed and uses roses as his motif.
Dante couldn't help but stifle a laugh as he watched the stylish boy woo the brown haired girl, named Katie, who actually blushed at the bunch of obviously nonsensical praises Guiche bestowed upon the hapless girl. Though to be fair, the girl is attractive in her own right. He had her eating out by the palm of his hand.
'Just a few more right words and she's ready for the taking. Not bad, for a rookie.' Dante thought as he bemusedly smiled at the scene, reminding him of his past pursuits during his younger days as a mercenary for hire.
Though most of his endeavors on the opposite sex were phenomenally successful, it usually ends up either getting himself into a brawl with the girl's Exes, a father, or even an occasional devil, who wooed the girl for darker purposes. Every venture resulted with the girl either going the other way, away from Dante to live on quietly, or just getting killed in the crossfire. Either way, serious relationships then are far too impossible at that time since the profession he chose is extremely dangerous to normal people.
How about now? With the danger of devils utterly annihilated, will he finally find someone for him just like his old man did?
As if that will worry the happy-go-lucky devil hunter any further.
Erasing the thought off his mind, Dante turned away from the two and left.
The boy apparently recognized Dante when the blond him call out, "You. Aren't you the commoner that Louise summoned?"
"So it seems," Dante replied, not sparing him a glance back. He was one of the students that had been laughing at Louise when she had called Dante forth.
"Hmph," he snorted disdainfully, striking a pose for the onlooking enraptured girl. "How rude. It must be a terrible shame to have something as boorish as a commoner for a familiar."
'Call me out again and you're Swiss cheese.' Dante thought
"Still, I'm a whole lot better than a giant mole," Dante replied back to him, grinning.
Dante turned into a corner while he was still in the midst of sputtering in outrage over the jab. At the moment, the he's only person in this castle he'll somehow care for, and she was currently asleep in her bed. It was another two turns before he found what he was looking for. Quietly running a feather duster over a series of vases was a maid.
"Excuse me," Dante said from behind her, and the girl jumped in surprise. Dante seemed to have snuck up on her, without intention. When she whirled, she came face to chest with him, and her eyes widened as she squeaked slightly while she glanced up to finally see the devil hunter's face. "Excuse me," Dante asked again, giving her a gentle and disarming smile. "Would you happen to know where I can find someone to wash these?" holding up Louise's dirty laundry.
The maid, who he learned to be called Siesta, had been quite cooperative she showed Dante where to take the clothes for cleaning. Though she appeared to originally have been intimidated by his size and the fact that he had been summoned in such a scary manner, she quickly warmed up to Dante as he treated her politely and casually at that. She had even stayed behind to help wash a bit of the pile of clothes, with the helper, Iris.
Still, she couldn't linger long and quickly had to return to her own duties.
But while she was helping him look for the laundry area, she did manage to answer many of the questions that he had about this world. She was also able to explain to Dante the difference between nobles and commoners. The nobles were the equivalent of the aristocracy of medieval Europe, and they were apparently every one of them can use magic in one form or another. They practiced their arts freely and quite often without care to the consequences, and looked down upon and subjugated those who could not freely command the powers of magic like they did. They were for the most part flighty, self-absorbed, and arrogant twits.
Dante, who doesn't give a damn about other things other than demon hunting and vengeance, albeit having great respect to the power which he attained, the very thought of them taking their powers in such manner left a somehow annoyed at the current society of the world he's in.
A kettle calling a pot black…
Still, this was where he ended up. Best make the most of it he decided.
It was past midnight as Dante stood on the highest spire of the highest tower of what he now knew to be a magical academy. The moon was a bright crescent in the sky that was unnaturally clear compared to the skies of his current home world.
Taking a good look of the surrounding scenery under the twin moons, he scanned the surroundings
This place mostly consisted of rolling lush green plains, occasionally dotted with hills and forests, and a glimmer of the small town he spied during the ride earlier.
'Overall, I find the place quite peaceful, rather too peaceful for my taste, but otherwise a welcome change of pace. Until I get bored again that is.' Dante sighed,
Still, being stuck in unfamiliar territories is pretty much part of the job description. During his stay in Hell, he made it to a point to keep his senses sharp, since sometimes hidden horrors lie underneath such a peaceful exterior. He doesn't want to get himself caught with the pants down.
Because he usually attacks the enemies that way during his tenure in his father's world.
Thinking back So far Louise as his current contractor seemed to be more along the lines of a spoiled self absorbed little princess who obviously had views of what was appropriate that conflicted with the harsh light of reality. Of course, after getting to know that there are people like Dante that won't be easily be bossed around, she managed to clam up nicely.
Still she's still lucky. Had it the one summoned been someone like Arkham, he would've used that little priss as a sacrifice to summon hell on earth by now. And if it were Vergil...
The devil hunter cracked his knuckles, trying to feel the magic that surrounds the general area, and to get a feel of the magical energy, and maybe get some answers to why he was here, or if there are any dangers present.
To his surprise and relief, he felt no malevolent energy within or without the castle, and the fact that he could tap to the ambient magic to boost him up when things come to worse. Oh Yeah, with this much magic around, he felt that there are things that he can do even better than he could regularly. He might as well try it out at a later time.
Preparing to go inside, his hearing caught the faintest sound of flapping wings. He was able to track the source of the noise. Some hundred yards above him was the girl and the dragon that he had picked out of the crowd at the summoning before. The girl was exceptionally thin and had the brightest blue hair he'd ever seen. Grasped firmly in her one hand, is a long and crooked staff, vaguely reminiscent of a shepherd's crook. Even in the dark he could feel her curious gaze upon the hunter.
Raising his hand to greet the distant watcher, and she seemed mildly startled that Dante had managed to see her out at such a distance in the dark. His form was lit from below by the lights of the castle which should have even further narrowed his natural night vision. Reluctantly, the girl raised her own staff in response to the gesture.
With a final look at the girl, he turned my attention back to the castle grounds below, and then stepped off the ledge. Dante decided to leave his new roost by diving head-first from the roof.
Why?
Just because he felt like doing it.
She must have calmly been observing the situation at hand, like Dante jumping off the tallest tower of the school for instance. Yeah as if that normally happens.
'Oh crap, it seemed like I'm committing suicide here...' Dante thought as he saw the dragon and its rider turned to give chase to the now freefalling man.
The dragon-rider moved in to rescue this crazy dude falling from an extremely tall building, and realizing that she's not going to make it, but she tried to push on anyway; imagine to her as he flashed a cocky smile and a two-fingered salute at the bewildered young lady as he came within her visual range.
Plummeting nearly eight stories down Dante went on. The wind tugging at his clothing and whipping shoulder length hair around his ears, he waited patiently for that moment to make a move. Shifting his centre of gravity, he changed the position from diving headfirst to the ground, to gracefully landing on his feet in just seconds before his body hit the ground, without much disturbance to the drop-point.
'Damn, I'm so awesome… 'Dante grinned.
As he turned nonchalantly to enter the tower that he had been hanging around on top before from the base, the rush of wind beneath powerful wings buffeted him suddenly. With a curious glance and sees the dragon and its rider who had before been nearly a hundred yards away now no more than a dozen. The cute dragon's powerful wings pumped hard, pulling itself out of what had no doubt been a very fast and hard dive. The rider grasped the dragon's neck tightly, in order to keep herself from being thrown from her mount. Her eyes were locked on his and this time her shock can be seen on them.
'Ah. Those are beautiful eyes.' Dante thought. 'If only you're older..."
"Were you trying to save me?" Dante queried.
In a voice almost too quiet for him to hear, even for someone with overly hyper sensitive ears, she answered,
"Yes."
'No duh, Ya dolt!' Dante chided himself.
'As she had seen me step off the ledge and probably assumed that I was going to kill myself. She had gallantly swooped down in an effort to try and keep me from redecorating the ground below.' He smiled at the thought.
She had not expected for Dante to be able to take the fall so easily and without injury. He could see the question in her eyes as she tried to figure out just how...
"That's quite nice of you. Though it wasn't really necessary, but thanks for the effort anyway," Dante turns to face her completely and bow to her, his smile even wider now without the usual sarcasm.
There aren't much people willing to do that in back on earth. The dragon settled to the ground and let loose a soft trill like purr not different to a cat as the girl dismounted. Dante walks to the two, and nods toward them, as he attempts to touch the dragon that, to his surprise, was quite friendly to him. And something, a magical energy seems to course through his body as he petted the dragon, which is all too happy with the attention.
"Sylphid, usually isn't friendly to strangers" the bluenette stated in a voice he could barely hear, Dante finally manages to look at her closer.
With her blue hair cut in a pageboy style, she was short, almost as short as Louise, but is cute in her own way, wearing a pair of small rectangular glasses.
"How?" she asked. Dante took a second to figure out she was trying to ask and spoke up to confirm before answering.
"How did I survive? It's because I'm too cool to die." Dante joked,
She didn't respond verbally, just gave the briefest lowering of her head in a nod.
"I think you know about it already." Dante stated ominously.
When her eyes widen as she realizes what he's actually implying, Dante gives her a brief wink before turning around, and whistles as he went walking back into the tower.
Morning came to the Academy,
Louise, was suddenly snapped wide awake by the sound of the curtains being flung open, sending a large amount of light streaming throughout the room.
"Mmmm..."
"Hey princess, wake up. Time for school." a voice called out to her
"Mnya..."
Suddenly, Louise felt that the covers are taken from her, sending her sitting upright groggily.
"Mwuh?"
Dante sighed at the pathetic sight that is Louise at the moment. This girl probably never did a menial task in her life. She's so different from the hard working Patty, who tends to be Dante's alarm clock from time to time.
She's now snoozing as she sat.
Dante smirks at an idea that flashed in his head. And summons one of his favourite Devil-Arm, in a quick flash of light.
Louise was currently dreaming of summoning a familiar human, a commoner, so different from the scary man in red. It was a boy bearing a blue long sleeved coat, who looks similar to one of the maids in the castle. His name was Sai...
"JAAAANGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEW ! WEEEEEWEEEEEEEEEEEW !"
She was suddenly snapped from the dream, just as she was about to beat the young man with a riding crop for disobedience.
It was the strangest, loudest sounds that she had ever heard in her entire life. It could only described as an extremely distorted music made from a stringed instrument, only it was played in a quick and powerful cadence.
(Dante plays - Devils Never Cry, electric guitar cover version)
"What in the Founder's name is that?" Louise shouts, as she clapped her hands to her ears to lessen the ear damage.
Looking towards the source of the disturbance, she sees a white-haired, crimson coated man playing what appeared to be a large, strangely shaped purple lute, with bats as its main motiff, whose strings looked more like strands of crackling lightning. Meet the Devil-Arm, Nevan.
Then a flood of memories came upon the diminutive mage, as she realized who this man was...
"..."
Dante upon finding that his ward-to-be is awakened by the racket he's making, stopped playing with said instrument.
"Yo, Good Morning."Dante greeted her giving a brief wave to her.
"..." Louise wordlessly shrank back to the farthest edge of her bed.
Dante sighed, and said admonishingly, "Don't you have classes to attend to?"
"..."
Then she happened to glance toward the clothes hamper, and found that her dirty clothes are now washed clean and carefully folded. She then turned to the devil hunter.
"Did you..."
"What? Don't I have a right to be nice? But for the record, I didn't do the washing." Dante said with a shrug, as he dispelled Nevan.
"How did you do that?" Louise gaped as this is the first time she had seen Dante do something other than his physical prowess.
"Magic. I'll tell you about it later. Now get dressed, and let's get some grub." Dante said as he left the room to give the kid some privacy, feeling rather good to have managed to pull the prank he's been wishing to do at least once. There might be a repeat performance.
(O.O)
Later,
The Academy of Magic's dining hall was the tallest and centermost building on the premises. Inside, three extremely long tables were arranged parallel to each other. Each one looked like it could easily seat a hundred people. The table at which Louise and all the second years sat was the middle table.
It appeared that students could be identified by the color of their cloaks. Viewed from the entrance, everyone sitting on the left-hand table looked a little older and wore purple cloaks — third years.
The students sitting on the right-hand table wore brown cloaks — first years. So they're like year-level jerseys, Dante thought.
Every single mage on the school grounds, students and teachers alike, gathered here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
On an upper level, he could see teachers enjoying pleasant chatter.
All the tables were magnificently decorated.
Numerous candles, bunches of flowers, baskets full of fruit...
It was far too grand for a breakfast. A huge roasted chicken taunted Dante which he attacked with relish. Other than that, there was also wine and a pie baked in the shape of a trout. Dante wondered if there is beer in this world at all.
The two ate at a regular pace as two garnered stares from the rest of the students, and whispered among themselves.
"What's up with them." Dante asked, looking about the hall.
"They're talking about us, obviously, since it has never been a human being summoned as a familiar before." Louise explained,
"Well, they're basically half-right." agreed the devil hunter, chuckling with a private joke.
"If you're already done, we might as well go to class."
The classrooms in the Academy of Magic were similar to university lecture halls. And like everything else, they were constructed from stone. The lecturing teacher stood at the lowest level, and the seats were arranged upward like stairs. When Dante and Louise entered, every student in the room simultaneously turned their heads towards them.
And then the laughter began. One particular student, a well tanned and busty chick, Kirche was there as well, surrounded by a group of boys.
'I see, so she really does have them wrapped around her little finger. She's being treated like a queen by all of those guys. Well, it's not surprising with her impressive bust. I guess big breasts are big breasts, no matter where you go.' Dante thought, trying hard not to ogle at the fleshy globes...that much.
The familiars that everyone had brought along were a varied bunch.
Kirche's salamander was curled asleep under her chair. There were students with owls resting on their shoulders. From a window, a gigantic snake peered into the class. One boy whistled, and the snake withdrew its head. Other than those, there were also ravens and cats.
But what drew Dante's attention the most were the creatures that he encountered during his tenure in Hell, were milling around him.
He spotted a lizard with six legs. That's gotta be... Dante tried to recall what creature was it. A basilisk. There was also a huge eyeball floating gently in midair. Deciding to ask about it later, Dante just chose to take a seat next to Louise. Louise just stared at him.
"What?"
"N-n-nothing." Louise said as she looked down on the floor.
Dante just shrugs and decided to just continue observing and maybe learn something about the world he got called in.
Louise glanced at him, but didn't say anything this time.
The door opened, and the teacher entered.
She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a voluminous purple robe and wearing a hat. She had a plump, round face with a friendly expression on it.
"Is that lady a magician too?" Dante whispered to Louise.
"Isn't it obvious?" Louise answered rather blandly.
The woman gazed around the classroom and spoke with a satisfied smile.
"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring."
Louise cast her eyes elsewhere.
"My, my. You've summoned quite a handsome familiar, Miss Vallière," she remarked as she looked at Dante. The comment was fairly innocent, no one dared to laugh as Dante gave deadly glares to student who planned to dare, much to Louise's relief.
Then someone grew enough balls to say,
"Louise the Zero! Don't go around grabbing random commoners off the street just because you can't summon anything!"
Then the class burst to laughter.
Louise's long blonde hair billowed as she stood up. She raised her cute voice in anger.
"No! I did everything properly! And he appeared!"
"Don't lie! I bet you couldn't even cast 'Summon Servant' properly, right?"
The other students chuckled.
"Madam Chevreuse! I've been insulted! Malicorne the 'Common Cold' just insulted me!"
Louise banged her fist against the tabletop in protest.
"Common cold? I'm Malicorne the Windward! I haven't caught any cold!"
"Well, your hoarse voice sounds exactly like you've caught one!"
The boy called Malicorne stood up and glared at Louise. Chevreuse pointed at them with the wand in her hand. The two suddenly jerked about like puppets on a string and rigidly sat back down.
"M'selle Vallière, M'sieu Malicorne. Please stop this unnecessary argument."
Louise looked visibly dejected. All the vivacity that she'd shown just earlier seemed to have evaporated.
"Calling friends 'Zero' or 'Common Cold' is not acceptable. Do you understand?"
"Madam Chevreuse, I'm only called that as a joke, but for Louise, it's the truth."
A few giggles broke out from somewhere. Dante remained attentive to the remainder of the scene.
'I'll probably let the teacher do her job from here on in.' He thought
Chevreuse looked around the classroom with a severe expression. She pointed her wand again, and, as if from nowhere, the mouths of the students who'd giggled were suddenly filled with lumps of red clay.
'Yeah, I'm right' Dante grinned.
"You people shall continue the lesson in that state."
This put a firm stopper on any further outbursts.
"Now then, let's begin the lesson."
Chevreuse coughed heavily and waved her wand. A few pebbles materialized on her desktop.
"My Runic name is 'Red Clay.' Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, M'sieu Malicorne?"
"Y-Yes, Madam Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."
Chevreuse nodded.
"And combined with the now-lost element of 'Void,' there are five elements in total - as everyone should already know. Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth, nor is it simply a personal preference."
Once again, Chevreuse coughed heavily.
"The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."
'Aha,' thought Dante. ' So in this world, magic is the equivalent of science and technology in my world. I think I understand now the reason Louise seems to be studying hard for, remembering a large number of books in her study desk in her room.'
"Now, everyone, please recall that the basic magic of the Earth element is 'transmutation'. While there will be people here who have already learned this in their first year, basics build foundations, so let's review it once more."
Chevreuse turned her attention to the pebbles and twirled her wand over them.
She then whispered a spell, and they began to glow brightly.
When the light dimmed away, the pebbles had been changed into sparkling lumps of metal.
"Is that g-g-gold, M'dam Chevreuse!"
Kirche leaned forward over her desk.
"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just..." Chevreuse gave a self-important cough. "A Triangle mage..."
"Louise." Dante poked her.
"What? We're in the middle of a lesson here!" an agitated Louise replied, forgetting who is she speaking with, then went silent.
"So, what's all this about squares and triangles supposed to mean?"
"It's the number of elements that they can add to a spell, which also determines the level of a mage."
"Hmm?"
"See, for example, you can use an Earth spell on itvs own. But if you add Fire magic to it, the overall power of the spell increases greatly," Louise explained to Dante quietly.
"Oh, I see."
"Those who can stack two elements like Fire and Earth together are called Line mages. Mrs. Chevreuse, being able to combine three elements, Earth-Earth-Fire, is a Triangle mage."
"What happens when you add an element to itself?"
"It reinforces that element and makes it stronger."
"I see. So in other words, you could say that the teacher over there is a fairly powerful mage, because she's a Triangle?"
"Exactly."
"How many can you add, Louise?"
She didn't answer.
The teacher noticed them talking.
"M'selle Vallière!"
"Y-Yes?"
"Please refrain from private chatter during lessons."
"I'm sorry..."
"Since you have the time to chatter, perhaps I should have you demonstrate for me?"
"Eh? Me?"
"Yes. Try changing these pebbles here into a metal of your choice."
Louise didn't stand up. She simply sat there looking troubled and fidgety.
"Hey, come on! She's pointing at you!" Dante nudged her.
"Miss Vallière! Is something the matter?"
Madam Chevreuse called for her again, but Kirche raised her voice in concern.
"Umm..."
"Yes?"
"I think it would be better if you didn't let her..."
"And why is that?"
"It's dangerous," Kirche answered plainly. The majority of the class nodded in agreement.
"Dangerous? How so?"
"This is your first time teaching Louise, right?"
"It is, but I hear she's a hard worker. Now, M'selle Vallière. Don't you worry, just try it. You won't be able to do anything if you dread making mistakes."
"Don't, Louise!" Kirche cried, her face pale.
But Louise stood up.
"I'll do it."
With a nervous expression, she walked briskly up to the front of the room.
Chevreuse stood next to Louise and smiled.
"M'selle Vallière, you have to visualize vividly the metal that you wish to transmute them into."
Giving a cute little nod, Louise waved her wand. She had never looked as adorable as in that instant when she pursed her lips to begin chanting the incantation - it was almost otherworldly.
Dante observed quietly as he felt the magic emanate from her, which seemed strange from the rest of the magical signatures he felt around the place.
In the morning sunshine streaming in from the window, Louise's strawberry-blonde hair sparkled enchantingly. Her hazel eyes shown like jewels, and her skin was a flawless white. Her sculpted nose was befitting of nobility.
If only her breasts were more filled out, she'd be perfect - almost too good. Dante smirked, that boy would be the most luckiest bastard if someone actually captured her heart.
But as he sat there thinking, the students sitting in front of him had for some reason hidden under their chairs. Something's up.
Looks like he's going to know why she gets called 'the Zero' and made fun of.
Closing her eyes, Louise uttered a short rune and flourished her wand.
Dante widened his eyes in surprise as he felt a major change in the coalescing of magical energy.
"Fuck." He muttered.
The pebbles on the desk promptly exploded.
Louise and Chevreuse caught the blast full-on and were thrown against the blackboard, as people screamed. Frightened familiars added to the chaos. Kirche's salamander suddenly woke from its sleep and stood up on its hind legs and began wildly blasted a jet of flame. A manticore burst into flight and smashed through a window to escape. Through the hole, the giant snake that had been peeking in earlier slithered in and swallowed someone's owl.
The classroom was in pandemonium.
"What the fuck was that?" Dante muttered again. Flicking off dust off his clothes.
Kirche stood up and pointed a finger at Louise.
"That's why I told you not to let her do it!"
" Vallière! For Brimir's sake, save us some grief and just quit school already!"
"My Snake's got eaten by a serpent! Snake! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKEE!"
'Why is an owl named Snake?' Dante posed like the Thinker.
Madam Chevreuse lay on the floor; judging by her occasional twitching, at least she wasn't dead.
A soot-blackened Louise rose slowly, a miserable sight to behold. Her torn blouse revealed a slender shoulder, and her panties could be seen beneath her ripped skirt.
Still, what an amazing girl.
'One tough cookie.' Dante couldn't help but comment at how the girl is taking this in stride.
She didn't seem at all fazed by the discord in the room. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the soot off her face.
"Looks like I messed up a little..." she said, in a weak voice.
'That's an understatement.' Dante thought, still keeping a straight face and surveying the damage.
Of course, that elicited a vehement response from the other students.
"That wasn't 'a little'! Louise the Zero!"
"Your success rate is always ZERO!"
Dante finally understood why Louise was called "the Zero."
(-.-)
Author's P.S.
Mashing Up shit...is fun... : )
So don't take shit seriously
And just so you guys know: I don't like taking credits, I WILL ALWAYS prefer cash. : )