ZnT belongs to Noboru Yamaguchi and J.C. Staff. I own Cronoz.

Chapter 7: On the Road

The fight a few days ago seriously drained Cronoz of his power, to which came no surprise when he did not wish to wake up the next morning, or the next two days for that matter. He just wanted some time to rest and recharge. Of course, this did not suit well with his pink-haired mistress.

"Hey. Hey. Hey." Louise relentlessly poked at her sleeping familiar with a riding crop that she kept when she wanted to… well, ride a horse. Her efforts seemed to be in vain, as each poke seemed to do nothing but make a small TING on the metal frame of the mech's body. He was in his self-proclaimed 'sleep mode,' with his shape in that of a mushroom, just like the other times he went to sleep. This did not deter Louise from poking and prodding him, though.

"Hey, Cronoz. You need to get up. It's been three days, and your master needs you to be up! It's noon already, again! She waited for a few minutes, assuming he would cooperate eventually. After ten minutes, that was not the case. "Oh come on already! Wake! Up!"

Louise lifted her foot up and kicked the metal contraption, and immediately regretted it. The force of her kick combined with the durability of the mech's armor resulted in… pain. Holding her foot up with her hands, Louise began to bounce around her room on one leg, shouting "ow" multiple times. This action, although unorthodox and un-ladylike, did succeed in getting a reaction out of her familiar. The metal mushroom began to click and unfold, sprouting two arms and two legs, and finally the crowned pointed head poked out, finishing the transformation.

Cronoz's four circular eyes opened and shut a few times before finally letting them stay open. "Good morning, Miss Valliere." He spoke in his usual monotone voice.

"Finally! You sure took you're time!" Louise still bounced up and down, her foot still hurting.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes, look at this!"

Louise stopped hopping and moved over to her dresser, finding what she was looking for: A sheet of paper. She delicately picked it up and handed it to Cronoz. He looked at it for sometime, his eyes zooming in and out, studying the scribbles written on it. It was obviously a letter, except…

"Query."

"Huh? What, haven't you read a letter before?" Louise folded her arms, presumably overestimating her familiar's knowledge.

"Correction: I have read letters. In multiple languages. However…" He took great care in not crumpling the paper as he handed it back Louise. "I am still unable to read your land's handwriting."

"So, what? You want me to read it to you?"

"That is the logical thing to do, unless you want to teach me the language in less than five minutes, which I would-"

"Ugh! Fine! I'll read it to you, will you just shut up! You're making my head hurt…"

"I do not believe that is a very ladylike thing to say."

"Oh, what do you know anyway?"

"…How to read letters in hundreds of languages. Except yours, of course. Among other things."

"Grrr…" Louise started to tap her foot furiously, and her face had never been more red with anger from her familiar's insults. Surprisingly, she kept from lashing out or yelling at him. She just held the letter up and began to read it.

"Dear Louise de La Valliere, you have been cordially invited, along with other students from the Tristain Academy of Magic, to attend a gala at the Tristain Palace, hosted by Princess Henrietta herself. It is to be a glorious evening, with food, drink, music and dance. We are preparing for the occasion as this letter is being is being written, and we hope you will be able to make it. The gala will be taking place in one weeks time. We will be glad to see you there."

Louise paused to take a breath. Cronoz decided to take this opportunity to speak.

"Gala. A social occasion with special entertainment and/or performances. Sounds like fun. I hope you enjoy-"

"Shh! I'm not done yet!" Louise wagged her finger at the rusty mech. She began again.

"Ms. Louise. It has come to our attention that you and your familiar were able defeat and capture the criminal Fouquet. Her majesty has personally requested an audience with him/her/it, for congratulations and thanks. She hopes that your familiar will oblige and join you when you arrive at the palace in one weeks time. Thank you. From the office of her majesty's committee."

Louise took another breath, then turned to Cronoz. "Now, how does that sound?"

"…I don't want to go."

"W-w-what?!" The pink haired mage almost lost her footing. "What do you mean 'you don't want to go?'"

Cronoz shook his head. "I do not wish to accompany you to this meeting with… who again? This… princess?"

Louise's mouth was so agape that Cronoz thought she had broken it. He assumed that humans should not have jaws that can almost touch the ground and still function properly. Once again, Louise recomposed herself. "You have been asked by the Princess of Tristain to meet with her. Do you not realize that this is a once in a life time opportunity? To think! Meeting the princess after such a long time…"

"Yes… If I recall, you once spoke to me about a time when you and this Henrietta had been childhood friends. Correct?"

"Y-yes," Louise blushed a little, remembering both the times from her childhood, and the time she told her familiar that tale. "Now I'll be able to see her again! We'll be able to catch up and…" Louise stopped and closed her eyes. No, I most act normally around her. She's royalty now, and I can't just blurt out times of the past in front of an audience. That would be embarrassing… for the both of us…

"Well, in any case, you're coming with me." Louise opened her eyes again, and when she did, she was taken a little aback by what she saw. Cronoz had moved up right next to her, his eyes seemingly peering right into her soul.

"No, I am not. I will be staying here," Then he turned around and headed towards the door. "You enjoy yourself."

Louise shook her head. "Come on, Cronoz! Didn't you say you wanted to gain knowledge and… whatever? What are you going to gain from staying in this cramped room all day?"

Cronoz stopped, then sighed. He didn't want to go outside to meet other people. He was programmed to learn, yet… it was as if he was actually scared to meet new people. Back in his world, he wasn't much of a people person. He had very few friends, but even that seemed too much of a compliment. There was just his creator, and two others. Other than that, he was alone. Yet… coming to this world and meeting Louise… it changed him a little, but…

"Very well," He slowly turned around, meeting Louise's determined gaze. "I shall join you in this little escapade of yours."

Louise smiled. "Really? Fantastic. I knew I could get you to come with me. It just took a little… persuasion."

"Uh-huh…"

"Now!" Louise clapped her hands. "Let's get packing!" She began to open her dresser and shifted through pairs of clothes, trying to find the best ones like a child at a sweets store. Cronoz just stood around watching her.

"I'll, uh, take a little rest while you prepare then. I could use the recharge and-"

"What are you talking about? You're going to help me. Now, tell me which one of these looks better."

It's going to be one of THOSE days, huh? Cronoz thought to himself.

After one whole tedious day of helping Louise find some more regal clothing for the event, Cronoz's mind kept switching back in forth from wanting to go and not wanting to go at all. He felt so indecisive, much like his pink haired master when choosing her attire for the gala.

What is coming over me? Cronoz thought to himself as he followed Louise, who had said earlier she had a surprise for him. I'm not becoming… soft, am I? The mech would have chilled at the thought, but his armor was created to resist many elements, including the cold.

Lost in thought, he almost walked into Louise as she stopped to turn around. Well… trampled would be the more appropriate word.

"Hey! What are you doing? Walking with your eyes closed?" Louise shouted.

"Oops. My bad," Cronoz rubbed the back of his head. "I was… thinking about something."

"Well, whatever. Look! Here's the surprise I was talking about!" She turned around confidently and waved a hand. The 'surprise' she mentioned was a large wooden carriage with two horses hitched to it, waiting patiently. Cronoz would have batted an eyebrow. If he had any.

"Uh… Louise? Don't tell me this is our ride to the palace." Cronoz moaned in monotone.

"Of course it is! You're too big to ride a horse, and your appearance would start a commotion if we walked there."

Heaven forbid, we actually get some exercise on this little trip. Cronoz shook his head. "Louise, you do realize I could have flown us to and fro without so much as a hassle, right?"

"Well…" Louise blushed and looked away a little, making Cronoz cock his head. "You worked kinda hard when you fought that golem back then… so I thought I could give you a break for once…"

Cronoz stared at her for a second, then to the carriage, then back at her. She was actually… repaying him for something, right? Of course she was. The mech chuckled and placed a metallic hand carefully on his master. "Thank you, Louise. I accept this gracious gift."

Louise looked up and smiled a bit at her familiar, then reverted back to her usual self. "Well, it is the master's job to repay their familiars every once in a while."

"Logical, I presume."

"Yes. Now!" Louise pressed her finger up against Cronoz's metal torso. "I'm going to check out something before we depart. I need you to go grab my luggage back up in the room."

Cronoz was confused. "If I recall, the gala isn't due for six more days."

"I wanted to get some things at the market before we meet the princess, and the trip there should take a bit, and then I thought I could do some sightseeing. I haven't been to the city for some time now." Louise started to walk away, not really wanting to hear her familiar's pleas.

"And if you wanted me to get your luggage, why didn't you just tell me when we were… back in the… room." She was already out of ear shot by the time he finished. The rusty mech snorted before turning around and started walking toward Louise's room.

I guess old habits die hard… Cronoz rounded a corner, finding two first year students standing around in the hall. Their backs were turned toward him, but it looked as if they were talking to something in front of them. Cronoz enhanced his vision, looking right through their brown capes at whatever was at their feet. It was a person, female, with small shattered plates and cups on the ground. Then the mech realized who it was.

He stormed up behind the two, hearing part of their 'conversation.' "Ha! You clumsy plebian, dropping food and dishes everywhere. You're lucky there isn't a teacher here to- hey hey hey!"

The first year student felt something powerful lift him up from behind, and watched his friend get picked up as well. They turned their heads and squealed like little girls. An immense creature was holding them by the collars of their school uniforms, staring at them menacingly with four glowing eyes.

"Is there a problem, boys?" It hissed at them in monotone.

"Let us go! Don't you realize we are nobles? We'll-"

The monstrous being shook them up and down, frightening them. "Don't YOU realize who I am?"

"No… wait! You're… you're that familiar who defeated the upperclassman!" One of the students whimpered.

"That is correct," He turned around and dropped them onto the stone floor. "Now, this is what you're going to do. You're going to apologize to this person, get out of here, and learn some manners. Do you comply?"

The two boys stared at the creature, exchanged glances, then gulped and nodded. They quickly spat out their apologies incoherently, then ran down the hall, almost tripping on one another. When they were out of sight, Cronoz turned to the fallen girl and held out his hand.

"Here, Siesta. Let me help you up."

The black haired maid smiled, wiping away the last of the tears in her eyes. "T-thanks Cronoz."

15 minutes later.

After confirming with her teacher Colbert, Louise returned to the carriage outside, where Cronoz was waiting patiently.

"Alright, I got the all clear from Mr. Colbert. We can head off now."

"Affirmative. I'll just hop in the back and-"

"Wait, you brought my bags down from the room, right?"

Cronoz nodded. "Affirmative. All seven of them. Speaking of which, might I be as so bold as to ask why you need seven cases of luggage for a two or three day trip?"

Louise flung her hair back. "A woman's got to prepared for any situation. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get my comb from one of the-"

For once in his life, Cronoz tensed up, even though his face didn't show it. "Uh… negative. I'll fetch it for you."

"But… you don't know which case it's in."

"Nonsense. I did help you sort everything. I'm eighty-seven percent certain I remember which bag it is in… if I carry the one."

"But-"

Cronoz flicked a finger up, much like Louise would have done, and turned around. He poked his head through the silk curtains that covered the entrance to the back of the carriage, so Louise could only see his backside. She waited a few minutes before speaking up again.

"I'd feel more comfortable if you just brought the luggage out and let me-"

"No no no! I got this! Just… uh… double check and lock your room up! Yeah, I didn't have a key, so you're going to have to lock it yourself." The rusty familiar waved his hand in a 'shoo, shoo' fashion.

Louise looked skeptical, as if he was hiding something from her. But she played along nonetheless. She turned around on her heel, actually thinking about heading to her room to lock it up while she's out. But before she made any progress, she heard a hushed conversation out of the corner of her ears. From inside the carriage.

"What do you mean, you can't find it?"

"Exactly as I said: I can't locate Louise's hair brush… comb… thing."

"Not to offend you, but aren't you super smart, or something?"

"True, I was created to be significantly smarter and stronger than a normal human being. However, when it comes to women's products of making their image… 'better,' I wasn't exactly trained for that."

"Gosh, you're hopeless."

"A-HA!"

Louise threw back the silk curtain hiding Cronoz's face, finding the mechanized familiar and his cohort, who smiled a sheepish smile and waved.

"Wait a minute… you're that maid from the other day!"

"Correction," Cronoz butted in. "Her name is Siesta, and she is… ah…. assisting me in finding your… brush. Ah! Found it!" Without even thinking, he dived his hand into an open bag and pulled out the first thing his iron fingers could grip. He closed his eyes, half hoping it was actually what he was looking for. How stupid he felt when he opened his optics to find…

"M-m-m-m-m-my…"

"Miss Valliere's…"

Panties… Scrap.

Two hours later.

It had taken almost fifteen minutes to get Louise to calm down, and another fifteen to explain why Siesta was in the carriage with Cronoz. The mech tried his hardest to get Louise to understand his position on the matter, that he had asked the maid to come along with him to the city, just for him to have some company while Louise was out. Of course, she did not approve at first, but then Cronoz decided to barter with his pink haired master. He offered that if Siesta could tag along, he would act as proper and regal as he could while in the presence of the princess. This got her attention, so the mech knew he struck home.

She agreed to the terms, which led them to their location now: On the road to the palace. Louise rode up front, while Cronoz and Siesta sat in the back. They had been in silence for some time now, with Louise still slightly annoyed by the fact a commoner was coming with them, and Cronoz had shut down for some recharge. Louise stared out the one of the two windows the wooden carriage had, taking in the nature of the trip, and how much fun it would be to be out of the Academy for some down time.

Then a noise caught her attention. It was faint, like a low humming sound. She looked around, trying to find the bug she assumed it was coming from. When she could find no such thing, she looked at Cronoz, who's optics were closed, unaware of the noise. Siesta listened carefully, pinpointing the exact location of the hum.

"Miss Valliere! Miss Valliere!" She called out to the front of the carriage.

"Huh? What is it?" Louise asked, seemingly bored.

"Cronoz is making a weird noise! It's coming from inside him!"

"What?"

The young mage stopped the horses and jumped off the front seat, scrambling to the back of the carriage and jumping inside. She placed her head against the rusty mech's chest plate. At first, she heard nothing, about to go off on Siesta. However, after a second, she did hear the soft hum. It was comforting, in a strange way. Like a beating heart, or something.

"Now, now. How are we going to get to the city in time if you're not at the reigns?"

Louise and Siesta each made a small jump. Cronoz opened up two of his circular eyes, chuckling as he did so. Siesta took a breath and made a small giggle, Louise's face reddened slightly.

"I thought you were asleep." Siesta looked Cronoz directly in the face.

"I was. Until you started to call out to Louise up front."

"But how-"

"You were right next to my hearing sensors."

"Whatever!" Louise held up her hands. "What was that low humming noise?"

"Ah. You mean this." Cronoz opened his other two optics and lifted his right hand up to his right arm. He pressed some buttons that seemed completely foreign to the two girls. With a final button push, his chest place slowly opened up with a 'ssss' noise. A faint blue glow caught his onlooker's eyes. After three more plates slid out of the way, they saw the source of the light. It was an azure sphere, glowing brighter than any star or gem. Small rings overlapped it, rotating over and over. It brought the strange comfort with it, making Louise smile a little.

"W-what is it?" Siesta asked first.

"A logical question. Although it would take a few days to explain it in it's entirety-"

"We don't have that kind of time right now!" Louise shouted.

"You didn't let me finish. It would take me a few days to explain it all, but I will summarize it for you. This blue orb is basically the equivalent of a human heart. It sustains my life and lets me continue to collect knowledge. As long as it keeps rotating and sending me energy, I will be able to function properly."

"That's too cool!" Siesta said with a smile. "It's like your some kind of superhero or something!"

"A superhero? I don't know about that…" Cronoz shook his head.

Louise nodded. "Y-yeah. You've been reading too many fictitious stories, maid."

Siesta scratched her head. "Yeah… maybe you're right. But that's still very cool Cronoz!"

Cronoz would have blushed if he could. He never got this much praise back in his world. He pressed some more buttons on his arm, and his chest reverted back to it's usual, rusty self. "At any rate, I believe we should began our trek again, right Louise?"

Although caught off guard by mentioning her name, Louise stood up and nodded. "That's right. I'll start us up again." She walked out of the carriage, and with one slight glance back at Cronoz, she made her way back to the front of the carriage and started the horses up again.

"I'm so excited to be going to the city with you, Cronoz! Maybe I'll be able to show you my uncle's bar while we're there!" Siesta snuggled up close to the mech.

"Maybe, if Louise doesn't have me doing some task for her."

"You really care about her, don't you?"

Cronoz cocked his head a little, taken aback by the sudden question by his maid-friend. "Y-yes. I would assume a familiar would care about their master. I calculate that comes with the territory."

She knocked on his armored body with her soft knuckle. "You know what I mean, Cronoz."

"Uh… So about your uncle's bar of yours…"

"Don't try to change the subject!"

I guess one of THAT kind of day turned into THAT kind of week…

Unbeknownst to either back seat rider, Louise had been listening to every word they had been saying. She echoed her familiar's answer in her head.

Yes…

A/N: Pwease like this! Pwease? I know it sounds like filler, and it kinda is. Sorry about that. This is a comedy / friendship oriented fic, with some action kinda sorta I guess. It's supposed to be about Cronoz and Louise's relationship, albeit as rocky and strange it is. But hell, there's a bunch of you following this fic, which I'm grateful for, especially those who've helped with my flaws. You know who you are, and I thank you.

Next update, we'll be having Cronoz's confrontation with the (in)famous Princess Henrietta! Until then, thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated, and have an awesome day, you great people you!

P.S: If you actually read these things, tell me so. It's not really necessary, I'd write them either way. Haha.