Chapter 5 Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.

Kirche woke up before noon. The Day of Void she thought sleepily, a good day to relax. She looked at her window, and found that all the glass was gone, with burn marks surrounding the frame. Still groggy, she stared at the window for a moment before remembering what happened last night.

"Right… a lot of people came, and I blasted them away. Stupid people. Couldn't they take a hint when they saw the other idiots getting blasted?"

She stopped caring about her window entirely after that. She got up and began putting on makeup, while excitedly plotting how she should seduce Zero today. The wounded hero. That was her Zero, and she'd nurse him back to health, with her own body if needed! She giggled at the thought of just how her body could nurse him.

When she was done, she left the room and knocked on Louise's door. She rested her chin on one hand, hiding her smile. Zero will open the door, and I'll immediately embrace and kiss him. Oh… what will Louise do when she sees that… Kirche thought. The girl had been scared the previous night and they'd had a short talk before she ran outside after her familiar. She didn't like having enemies really. Especially if Zero would get caught up between them. I can try to eye him outside the room, and maybe he'll approach me himself. The thought of rejection never entered her mind.

However there was no answer after she had knocked. She opened the buckled door with a loud creak, but the room was empty. The two weren't there.

Kirche looked around the room. "Still the same… a tasteless room."

Louise's backpack wasn't there. Adding that fact with the Day of Void meant they had gone out somewhere. Kirche looked out the window and saw Louise on horse back, with Zero walking beside her, ready to depart.

"What? Going out, huh?" Kirche mumbled in annoyance.

After thinking for a while, she quickly left Louise's room.

Tabitha was in her room, reading a book as usual. She sat up in her bed, enjoying the Day of Void. Tabitha loved the Days of Void. They're when she could sink into her favorite worlds. On these days everything else was an irritant.

Before long, strong knocks rocked her door. Without standing up, Tabitha simply picked up and waved her staff, which seemed to exceed her height. She cast "Spell of Tranquility", effectively blocking out those distracting door knocks. Satisfied, she returned to her reading, her expression remaining unchanged throughout the encounter.

Then somebody forcefully broke the door open. Noticing the intruder, Tabitha moved her eyes from her book. It was Kirche. She began babbling about something, but with the silencing magic, none of her words reached Tabitha.

Kirche took away Tabitha's book, and then grabbed the little reader's shoulders to make her look at her. Tabitha blankly looked at Kirche, her face unreadable. However, one could see that she had an unwelcoming gaze.

But Kirche was Tabitha's friend. She would have blown anyone else away with a cyclone. Seeing no other way, Tabitha canceled her magic. As if a lock was opened, Kirche's voice instantly emerged. "Tabitha! Get ready, we're going out!"

Tabitha only softly explained to her friend, "Day of Void." That explanation was enough for Tabitha, who attempted to take her book back from Kirche's grasp. Kirche stood up and raised the book high in the air, their height difference barring Tabitha from the book.

"Yes, I know how Days of Void are important to you, I really do. But now's not the time for this talk! I'm in love! It's love! Do you get it now?" She didn't, and shook her head. Kirche was propelled by her emotions, but Tabitha was a calm and collected thinker. One can only wonder how such polarized people could be such good friends.

"Right… you won't move until I explain. Geez… I. AM. IN. LOVE! But the object of my passion is going out with that damn annoying Louise today! I want to go after them, and find out where they're going! Do you get it now?" Tabitha still didn't, because she still didn't know why that mattered to her.

"They just left! On horseback! I can't catch up without your familiar, you know? Please help me at least with that!" Kirche started crying. Tabitha finally nodded.

"Oh thank you so much… so… let's hurry up!" Tabitha nodded again. Kirche was her friend, and she couldn't help it if her friends had their problems that they couldn't take care of themselves. It was a bit annoying, but she didn't have a choice. She opened her window, and whistled. The sound of the whistle rang in the azure sky for a moment. She then jumped out of the window.

Those who did not know her would have found it weird, if not alarming. Kirche, however, followed close after Tabitha and jumped out the window without a thought. Just a note – Tabitha's room was on the fifth floor. She tended to fore go the door altogether when she had to go outside since jumping out the window was far quicker for her.

Strong and tough wings spread out to the wind. Then, a wind dragon flew into the air and received its two passengers.

"Your Sylphid is still so awesome no matter how many times I see it!" Kirche grabbed a protruding spine and sighed in admiration.

The dragon, which got the name of the "Fairies of the Air" from Tabitha, swiftly and perfectly caught the upward draft around the tower, and reached 600 feet in the air in the blink of an eye.

"Where?" Tabitha succinctly asked Kirche.

Kirche immediately cried, "I don't know… I was panicking. Louise was on her horse, and Zero was following behind"

Tabitha commanded her wind dragon, "Two people one on horseback. Don't eat them." Her dragon made a short grunt, showing understanding. Its blue scales glittered, and its wings flapped strongly against the wind. It flew high in the air, scouring the ground for a horse; a simple task for a wind dragon.

Satisfied that her familiar was doing its job, Tabitha snatched her book back from Kirche's hands, leaned back against the dragon, and started reading again.

Meanwhile, Zero and Louise walked briskly on Tristain's city streets, having deposited their campus-loaned horse at the city gate's stables.

White cobblestone roads… feels like a theme park here. Compared to the Academy, there were far more people in common garb here. On the street side were vendors selling fruit and meat.

"A little bit tight here…" Zero noted.

"Tight? This is a really wide street as it is."

"Just this? Seriously?" Not even 5 meters wide. With this many people walking around, every step felt cramped.

"Bourdonné Street, Tristain's widest avenue. The palace is straight ahead." Louise pointed. "You still have my wallet right? There are a lot of pickpockets around here"

Louise said wallets are for servants to carry, and mercilessly gave that duty to Zero. The wallet was heavily filled with gold coins. He only took it because he knew she wouldn't be able to carry it long distances. "I am… I am… very carefully, too. How can anyone steal something that heavy?"

"With magic, that can be done in a second."

But there was nobody around that looked like a mage. Zero learned how to discern between commoners and mages in the Academy. Mages always had capes on, and they looked really arrogant when they walked. According to Louise, that was a noble's walking stance.

"Aren't they all commoners?"

"Of course. Nobles only take up ten percent of the population, and there's no way they will walk in slums like these."

"You're a noble though" Zero said with a bit of mirth in his voice

"I'm here for your benefit. If not for you I would never have come here." was her haughty response.

"Why would nobles steal?" Zero wondered, if they had that supposed pride, why would a noble steal?

"All nobles are mages, but not all mages are nobles. If for whatever reason a noble is disowned from their family, left the family name on his or her own accord, dropped status to be a mercenary or a criminal… Hey! Are you listening?"

Zero had lost interest, he got the gist of it. All squares are rectangles. Not all rectangles are squares. No reason to over explain things.

"Okay, okay, I understand. Where's the blacksmith's shop?"

"Over here. They don't just sell swords though."

Louise walked into an even narrower road. A revolting stench, coming from piles of trash and other dirty things on the ground, soon hit their noses.

"It's really dirty here." Zero stated. Advanced sanitation and waste disposal was one good thing about industrialization he thought. It was bad practices like this that had caused the outbreak of plagues back on earth.

"I told you nobles don't come here that often." Louise grumbled.

At the fourth intersection, Louise stopped and looked around.

"Should be near Peyman's Potion Shop… I remember it's around here somewhere…"

She saw a bronze sign and happily cried, "Ah! Found it!"

A sword-shaped sign dangled under it. It looked like this was the arms dealer's shop. Louise and Zero walked up the stone stops, opened the door, and entered the shop.

Despite the bright daylight outside, the shop was a bit dark inside. A gas lamp flickered. The walls and shelves were filled with unorganized weapons. A detailed suit of armor decorated the room. A man in his fifties smoking a pipe eyed Louise suspiciously. That is, until he saw the pentagram on her golden button. He removed his pipe and said, "My lady! My noble lady! All of my wares here are real and reasonably priced! There's nothing criminal here!"

Zero couldn't help but wonder why the suspicious looking old man had felt that he needed to mention that.

"Oh… that's rather weird… a noble buying a sword! Quite strange."

"Why is that?"

"Well… priests wave sacred staffs, soldiers wave swords, and nobles wave wands. Isn't that the rule?"

"Oh, I'm not the one using it. My familiar is."

"Ahh… a familiar that can use a sword, huh?" The shopkeeper spoke in a lively voice, and looked at Zero. "I believe that would be this gentleman over there?"

Louise nodded. Zero grunted at this but Louise ignored him, and continued, "I'm not very knowledgeable about swords, so please show me anything that is reasonable."

The shopkeeper jubilantly walked into his warehouse, silently rambling, "Oh, this is too great… I can raise the prices so high with this…" shortly afterward, he returned with a longsword of about a three feet in length. It was a very exquisitely decorated sword. It looked like one could swing it with just one hand. There was even a hand guard on the short handle.

The shopkeeper said as though he just thought of something, "Speaking of which, it seems that nobles like to let their servants bear swords lately. The last time any of them came to pick one from me, they picked this type."

The sword was stately, and showed a certain amount of refinement to it. Very well-suited for a noble. thought Louise.

"Is that the trend?" Louise asked. The shopkeeper naturally nodded.

"That's right. It seems that there's an increase of thievery on Tristain's city streets lately…"

"Thievery?"

"Yes. Some mage thief that calls himself something like 'Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt,' and I heard he stole a lot of treasures from the nobles. Those nobles are getting really rattled, so they're arming their servants with swords."

Louise had no interest in thieves and focused on the sword instead. It looked like something that would break in an instant. Zero wielded a sword that was a lot longer.

"I'd prefer something bigger and broader."

"My lady, please forgive my bluntness – swords and people have compatibilities, just like men and women. As I look at it, this sword fits my noble lady's familiar very well."

Zero couldn't help but remember the Sigma blade he once wielded. While his own weapon had over time evolved to be even stronger he remembered that he had swung that monster around just fine.

"Didn't I say I want something bigger and broader?" said Louise, impatiently lowering her head. The shopkeeper went inside again, remembering to silently mumble, "She obviously doesn't know anything about weapons... But that could be my fortune!" After a while, he returned, one hand rubbing the new specimen with an oily rag.

"What about this one?" It was a splendid broadsword of around a four and a half feet in length. The handle was made for two-handed wielding and was lavishly decorated with jewels. A mirror-like blade reflected light with an irresistible glow. Anyone could look at it and say it was a very sharp and broad blade. "This is the best thing I have. Rather than say it's for nobles, it's more like something nobles wish they can wear on their waists, but that's something reserved for very strong men. If not, wearing it on the back isn't half bad."

Zero walked closer, his eyes staring at the sword critically. "This thing is worthless. Its balance is terrible. If I'm not mistaken this is gold. Gold is better used as a conductor than a serious weapon. While it might have an edge now, its soft enough more than one swing would probably snap this thing in half. Perhaps you say its for a noble, because you expect them to go for flash over substance. In a real fight this thing would be liability at best." Zero giving it a scathing review.

"Well… it's made by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Shupei. It can cut through metal like butter because of the magic infused in it! See this inscription here? It is magic, so its much stronger than it looks!" The shopkeeper proudly pointed at the words on the handle. "You can't get this cheaper anywhere else."

"Well… I'm a noble." Louise held her head up high. The sword was in fact impressive, and if Zero wore it, would definitely be noticed.

At that, the shopkeeper bluntly gave the price, "This will go for just three thousand new gold coins."

"Not interested" Zero interrupted. "Its useless. Although I do find it amusing that you're trying to use a noble's pride against them."

At that moment, a deep, male voice came from a messy pile of swords, "Wow, someone is direct and to the point, aren't they?."

Louise and Zero looked towards the sound. The shopkeeper held his hands to his head.

"Kid, you feel like a weapon. Something tells me you'll be a good partner for me!"

"What did you say?" Zero asked, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. And how they knew!

"Are your eyes there just for decoration?"

Zero looked behind him. What? It's actually a sword that's saying it. It came from a rusty, damaged sword. "A talking sword!" Zero exclaimed.

The shopkeeper suddenly yelled angrily, "Derf! Do not bother the customers!"

"Derf?" Zero carefully inspected the sword. It was the same length as that huge broadsword, though its blade was slightly less broad. It was a thin longsword, although its surface was coated with rust, he could tell that the rust was only on the surface. The blade itself could be cleaned easily. It also was edged on only one side. It could easily be used for a non lethal strike if it came to it.

"Could it be… that this is a sentient sword?" asked Louise.

"That's right, lady. It's a sentient, magical, intelligent sword. I wonder what kind of mage could make a sword speak… but it's got a rotten tongue, always arguing with my customers. Hey, Derf! Keep up the insolence and I'll ask this noble here to melt you!"

"Sounds good to me! I'd like to see you try it! I'm kinda tired of this world. I'd love to be melted down!"

"Fine! Then I'll melt you down!" The shopkeeper approached. But Zero stopped him.

"That's just so wasteful… isn't a speaking sword rather important? If it speaks its got intelligence. It also seems to have a will." Zero stared at it. "You're called Derf, right?"

"Wrong! It's Lord Derflinger! Remember that!"

"Just like a person, it even has a real name." Zero muttered. "My name is Zero. Nice to meet you."

The sword fell silent, and it seems to closely observe Zero. After a while, it silently spoke. "So you came… are you a user?"

"A user?" Zero questioned the sword.

"Hmm… you don't even know your true powers, huh? Oh well! Buy me, my friend!"

"All right. I'll buy you," said Zero. The sword went silent again.

"Louise, I'll take this."

Louise reluctantly said, "Oh… you want this thing? You can't pick anything prettier that doesn't talk?"

"You don't like this one? Trust me. Weapon to a weapon, this is probably the best we'll find." something about the sword called to him, Zero noted.

"See… that's why I don't like it." Louise complained, but seeing Zero not cave, she asked the shopkeeper, "how much for this one?"

"Eh… 100 will do."

"How much would that melted scrap you were going to make be worth?" Zero asked simply

"What?"

"You were just gonna melt it down right? As i see it, we're doing you a favor, taking something that harms your business off your hands." Zero said nonchalantly, but the serious eyes he had were more than the shop keeper could take.

"For that one? I'll let you take it for cheap. 40 gold. Its magic metal after all so I could get it reforged into something worthwhile." He waved his hand dismissively.

"I'll throw in 2 more gold for some oil, and a few other supplies to try and get him back into a serviceable condition" Zero responded.

The Older man looked at Zero, then nodded, "Deal."

Zero took out Louise's wallet from his jacket pocket, and carefully poured its contents onto the counter. One by one, gold coins dropped onto the wooden surface. After careful counting, the shopkeeper finally nodded. "Thank you for your business!" the shopkeeper said as he sheathed the sword and gave it to Zero along with a small bundle. "If it gets noisy, just shove it back in the scabbard, and it'll shut up."

Zero nodded, and received Derflinger.

Two figures watched Louise and Zero leave the weapons shop – Kirche and Tabitha. Kirche watched the two from the shadows of the streets, fiercely biting her lip. "Louise the Zero… trying to warm your relationship with Zero with a sword, huh? Striking out with gifts so quickly after finding out he's my prey? What the heck!" Kirche stamped the ground in anger. Tabitha, her job done, was reading as usual. Sylphid circled around the skies above them. They had followed the two here soon after they'd spotted them.

Kirche waited for them to walk far away, and immediately ran into the weapons shop. The shopkeeper stared at Kirche as if he couldn't believe it. "Whoa… another noble? What the hell is going on today?"

"Hey there, boss…" Kirche played with her hair, a charming smile in her lips. The shopkeeper's face turned deep red under the sudden seduction.

"Do you happen to know what that noble bought not long ago?"

"A s-sword… she bought a sword."

"I see… so she did get him a sword… what kind of sword?"

"A d-dirty and rusty one."

"Rusty? Why?"

"Because the young man wanted it i suppose."

Kirche laughed, coming to her own conclusion. "She went broke! Vallière! Your Duke's house will cry for this!"

"Uh… is my lady here to buy a sword, too?" The shopkeeper perked up, not willing to let go of the chance. This noble looks racked and rich compared to that tiny one.

"Hmm… show me your best."

The man walked inside, brushing his hands in excitement. He returned, of course, with the broadsword he just showed to Zero.

"Ahh… a very well-made sword!"

"You have a good eye, my lady. That noble not so long ago had a servant that really wanted this one, but it's too much for them." he lied smoothly.

"Is that so?" The noble's servant? So Zero wants this!

"Of course… this sword is made by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Shupei after all. It can cut through metal like butter because of the magic infused in it! See this inscription here?" The shopkeeper repeated what he had said before.

Kirche nodded. "How much?"

The shopkeeper asked for more, seeing how Kirche looked a lot richer, "Hmm… for new gold coins, 4500."

"Hmm… that's a bit pricey." Kirche frowned.

"Well… great swords need to be paid for their worth, you know?"

Kirche thought for a while, slowly moving her body towards the shopkeeper. "Boss… isn't this just a bit expensive?" Upon being caressed at the throat, the salesman suddenly lost his breath. Temptations hit his mind.

"Uh… but… great swords are…"

Kirche sat on the counter, raising her left thigh. "Isn't the price a bit too high?" She slowly raised her left foot onto the counter. The salesman's eyes irresistibly stared at her thighs.

"Th-that's right… then… 4000 new gold…"

Kirche raised her thigh further so that he could almost see in between them.

"Ah… no no no, 3000 would do…"

"It's getting hot in here…" Kirche ignored him, only opening her shirt's buttons. "I feel really hot in here. Help me take off my shirt, please…" She threw her most attractive expression at him.

"Ah… I got it wrong, I got it wrong… it's 2500!"

Kirche took off one button, and looked up at the shopkeeper.

"1800! 1800 is fine!"

Another button, exposing her cleavage. She looked at him again.

"Hey, 1600 will do!"

Kirche stopped with her buttons, and turned her attention to her skirt instead, raising it just so little. The man looked like he could not take any more.

"How does 1000 sound?" she suggested, slowly lifting her skirt more. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

And then she stopped. His rapid breathing turned to a sorrowful moan.

"Oh… ohhhhh…"

Kirche straightened herself out, and asked again, "1000."

"Oh! 1000 will be fine!"

Kirche stepped down from the counter, quickly wrote a check, and slapped it on the counter. "Bought!" She then picked up the sword and left the shop, leaving the salesman to stare at her check.

After a moment, he suddenly regained consciousness, holding his head. "DAMMIT! I SOLD THAT BABY FOR JUST 1000?" He took a bottle of liquor from his cabinet. "Oh… I'm done for today…"

***Break***

Two huge moons shone down on the walls outside the fifth floor of the Academy of Magic, which encased a treasure room. The light stretched out a shadow, standing straight against the walls. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.

Fouquet's long, green hair moved with the wind, and Fouquet briskly stood, openly showing the figure that strikes fear in all the nobles of the country.

Pressing a foot against the wall, Fouquet felt the wall's power and could not help but admire it. The main tower of the Academy is as strong as it looks… is a physical attack really its only weakness? I can't break through something this thick without attracting attention. It was not hard for an expert in earth magic like Fouquet to check a wall's thickness with their feet, but breaking a wall was completely different. It looks like they used only hardening spells on it, but I can't even break this with a golem. It's got a very strong hardening spell… my alchemy won't do much.

"Damn it… and I already got this far." The thief's teeth grit in frustration. "I'm not leaving the Staff of Destruction, no matter what." Fouquet crossed his arms and went into deep concentration.

Meanwhile, as Fouquet thought in annoyance about the wall, Louise's room was in chaos. Louise and Kirche glared at each other in anger, while Zero just sighed as he sat against the wall. Tabitha nonchalantly continued to read on Louise's bed.

Louise had her arms on her waist. "What is the meaning of this, Zerbst?" She glared at her rival.

Kirche waited for Zero's admiration as she gave him the sword, "I told you, I got what Zero wanted, so I came here to give it to him."

"Ah, that's a shame. I already got my familiar a weapon. Right, Zero?"

"This sword is beautiful. A work of art. But in all honesty, that is all it is. I'd never wield this in battle. I'd never be able to protect anyone with this. Sorry, although I do appreciate it. Another selfless act, even if it might be born out of selfishness" he said, studying the weapon. It really was a work of art. If only all weapons could be like this. Something inside him told him this weapon wasn't forged for war. As he looked at it, both Louise and Kirche mistook this as him actually desiring the toy.

"Give that back to her this instant!" Louise yelled at him

"Jealous words are quite unmannerly, Vallière!" Kirche trumpeted triumphantly.

"Jealous? Who's jealous?"

"Aren't you? I, Kirche, easily got Zero's most desired sword as a gift. You can't say you're not jealous, can you? Although he's much more caring of your feelings with his rejection of my gift"

"Jealous! That aside, I will not accept even a tiny little bit of generosity from a Zerbst! That's all there is!"

Kirche looked at Zero. This was getting ugly quickly.

"You see that? Zero loves this sword, but he doesn't want to hurt your feelings, got it? This sword is created by Germania's very own alchemist Lord Shupei!" Kirche threw a seductive glare to Zero. "You listen here… all that is good under the sun, let it be swords or women, can only come from Germania! Tristainian women, like Louise, are all extremely jealous, impatient, miserly, and snobbish, and nothing can change them!"

Louise glared at Kirche.

"What? I'm just telling the truth."

"Oh… how… amusing. Women like you are all romantic-minded idiots! Did you hook up with too many guys back in Germania, making nobody trust you, and ending up dropping out and running all the way over here to Tristain?" retorted Louise with a cold, uncompromising laugh, interspersed with angry shivers.

"You have guts, Vallière…" Kirche's face darkened.

"What? I'm just telling the truth." Added Louise victoriously,

They simultaneously brandished their wands.

Tabitha flicked her staff even faster than the two, blowing their wands away in a gust.

"Indoors," she simply announced.

Louise angrily muttered, "And who is this? She has been sitting on my bed since-"

"She's my friend," countered Kirche.

"And why is your friend in my room?"

Kirche stared. "Is that a problem?"

Louise just responded with a strangled sound.

Zero murmured his thanks to Tabitha, but she never replied, only quietly reading her book, as if conversations were really inconvenient.

Meanwhile, Louise and Kirche still glared at each other.

Kirche looked away, "Well… let's have Zero decide."

"Me? Decide?" Zero immediately felt distressed for being singled out. Why couldn't things just be simple.

"Right. This is about your choice of swords." Louise also looked at him.

Suddenly Zero felt worse. Kirche had obviously paid a lot for the sword, because she thought he wanted it. But he wasn't lying when he called it useless. Okay, that just made this impossibly hard. Now it just feels like I'm picking between the two of them and not the swords. He wondered if there was any way of getting out of this easily.

"Well? Which is it?" Kirche and Louise both stared at him.

"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go with Derflinger" Zero said with a hint of regret as he pointed to the semi-polished blade on the table "As I said, the sword you gave me is not a weapon. It is better suited to a noble who would use it as a decoration, or perhaps as a form of wand, if that's even possible. But if magic is like electricity it might conduct it better..." Zero trailed off. He didn't understand magic that well, but energy was energy, right?

"Hey." Kirche turned to Louise, not accepting Zero's response as honest.

"What?"

"Guess it's time to get this over with."

"Hmm… you're right."

"I really hate you, you know?"

"Same to you."

"We think quite a like." Kirche smiled and raised a brow.

Louise, too, defiantly stuck her chin up.

"Let's duel!" They shouted in unison.

"Geez… you don't have to…" Zero was shocked. The two glared at each other as if they did not hear him.

"But of course, we have to do this with magic!" Kirche triumphantly declared.

Louise bit her lower lip, and nodded. "Fine. Location?"

"Really? Are you sure, Louise the Zero? Are you really sure you want to fight me in a magical duel?" Kirche goaded.

Louise lowered her head. Am I sure? Of course… not. But it was a challenge from a Zerbst, so she had to take it. "Of course! I will not lose to you!"

"Are you guys even listening to me?" Zero asked aloud.

"No" was the muted response he got from Tabitha as she looked up from her book.

Meanwhile, standing on the walls of the central academy tower, Fouquet felt footsteps. He jumped off towards the ground, and just as Fouquet reached it, he whispered "Spell of Levitation", landing like a feather, absorbing his momentum. Fouquet then disappeared into the courtyard bushes.

Entering the courtyard were Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Zero.

"All right, let's begin." Kirche announced.

"Are you guys really going to duel?" Zero anxiously asked."I'm really no reason to start a duel."

"Yes, we are." Louise confidently answered.

"Yes, you are!" Kirche said passionately at roughly the same time, earning a glare from Louise.

"Isn't it a bit… dangerous? Let's just stop here and let it go, shall we? Isn't it kind of idiotic to fight over the swords like this?" Zero asked

"That's true, so whoever gets injured is the idiot," said Kirche.

"Uh-huh." Louise nodded.

Tabitha approached Kirche, and whispered something in her ear. Then she pointed at Zero.

"Hmm… now that's a good idea!" Kirche grinned.

Then, Kirche whispered something to Louise.

"Ah… not bad." Louise nodded.

And they both looked at Zero. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this whole thing. He was wishing he'd stayed in the room. As a matter of fact... He dashed off in the opposite direction immediately.

***Break***

"Hey… are you guys serious!" demanded Zero, but nobody cared.

He was hung in midair by a rope from the main tower. On the ground he could see the silhouettes of Kirche and Louise. Despite it being the middle of the night, the two moons made for clear vision. He could even see Tabitha on her wind dragon. It held two swords in its mouth.

Kirche and Louise looked upon him, dangling and flopping around in midair.

Kirche rolled up her fists. "Here's how we do it… the first to cut off the rope and let Zero down wins. Then the winner's sword goes to Zero. Sounds good?"

"Got it." Louise nodded, her face blank.

"No limits on type of spells used. You can go first… my treat."

"All right."

"Okay… good luck."

Louise brandished her wand. In the air, Tabitha began to shake the rope, wobbling Zero left and right. Spells like "fireball" have high accuracy rates, and as long as the target doesn't move i can hit it. However, Louise had more than that to worry about – she had to make the spell work in the first place.

Louise thought hard. What would work? Wind? Fire? Water and earth are both out… they don't have many spells that can cut ropes. Fire spells work the best here…and here Louise remembered that that is exactly what Kirche is good at.

Kirche's fireballs will cut that rope easily. I can't fail this one.

She picked fireballs anyway. Aiming a small one at the target, she recited the short spell. If she fails, Zero gets Kirche's sword, and to someone with an ego like Louise, this is completely unacceptable. She finished reciting, and with her utmost concentration, flicked her wand. If it works, a fireball should come out of the tip.

But nothing came out of the wand. The next moment, the wall behind Zero exploded. The shock wave shook Zero even harder. "What the hell? Are you trying to kill me?" Zero's angry yell drifted down towards them. Once this stupid levitation crap wore off he'd give them a piece of his mind! Zero looked up at the rope. It had remained intact. If she thought she could use the shock wave to break the rope, she wasn't thinking. Zero noticed a large crack appeared on the wall.

Kirche collapsed in laughter. "ZERO! ZERO LOUISE! You broke the wall instead of the rope! Now that's talent!"

Louise looked down.

"Really, I've got to ask you… what the heck did you do to make it blow up like that? Oh god… my sides hurt…"

Louise frustratingly held her fists and knelt to the ground.

"Next is my turn." Kirche aimed at the rope like a hunter would her prey. Tabitha was shaking the rope, so it was tough aiming. Despite that, Kirche kept a brisk, easy smile. Chanting a short spell, Kirche waved her wand out of habit, fire spells are her specialty after all, so she could afford a little flare.

From her wand appeared a melon-sized fireball, which flew towards Zero striking the rope, and burned it loose in an instant. Zero sighed, moving to the ground slowly from the levitation spell they'd used to subdue him.

"I win, Vallière!" Kirche announced in earnest.

Louise sat down, pulling on the grass with her hands in despair.

Meanwhile, Fouquet watched them from the bushes. The thief saw the crack on the walls from Louise's blast. What kind of magic is that? She asked for a fireball spell, but nothing came out of her wand, and the wall blew up. More importantly, they couldn't let go of this chance. Fouquet started chanting a long spell, waving his wand at the ground. When finished, a mild smile formed on his face. Following Fouquet's voice, a bulge formed on the ground.

"What a shame, Vallière!" Kirche laughed.

Her battle lost, Louise reluctantly and gloomily slacked her shoulders. Zero watched her, a complicated emotion on her face. "Why don't you untie me?" He managed a low tone. He really didn't want to break the ropes but he would if nobody let him out.

Kirche smiled, "Oh, why of course, I'll be glad to!" Right then, Kirche felt something behind her. She turned around. She couldn't believe her eyes. "What… what the heck is this?" Her jaw dropped. What she saw was a huge earth golem moving towards them. Kirche ran away screaming.

Zero had enough. He broke the ropes that were binding him with little strain, the girls not realizing that they had left him behind.

Louise recovered her senses and ran towards him. Above them, the golem raised its foot.

Zero grabbed her, and dashed out of the way. It was big, but slow. Minimal threat at best. Placing Louise down, Zero, for the first time, grabbed his buster. Louise hadn't asked him what it was. She figured it was some sort of oddly shaped memento, but as he held it in front of him, a small blast ripped from it. The aim was true, and the golem was hit dead center by the small bolt of plasma, and a three foot hole was blown threw it.

Louise watched the golem start to regenerate, and asked, "Wh-wh-what…the hell is that? Was that magic!"

"One of my weapons. Nothing special" Firing off three more shots three more large holes opened up in the golem, but regenerated, if slowly.

"…whoever summoned this must be at least a triangle level mage." Louise murmured.

Zero bit his lip, and thought of Louise, who tried to assist him despite her danger. "That aside… why didn't you run?"

"No respectable master would desert her familiar like that." She answered frankly.

Zero watched her quietly. So she did have some sense of responsibility.

Fouquet, standing on the golem's shoulder, smiled and paid no attention to the wind dragon or Kirche escaping. Or the blasts that had rocked his golem. A dark cape covered him from head to toe so they could not make out his face. Fouquet transformed the golem fist to a metallic composition, and ordered it to punch the wall. A dull thump sounded as the metallic fist hit the wall, collapsing it. Under the dark cape, Fouquet smirked.

The golem transported Fouquet in with its hand, and the thief entered through the hole and into the treasure vault. It stored valuables of every kind, but Fouquet had only one target.

The Staff of Destruction.

A row of staffs of many sorts hung on the wall, but one came to Fouquet as completely unlike a staff. It was about five feet long, and made with a sort of metal that he had never seen before. He looked at the metal plate right under it, reading, "Staff of Destruction, do not remove." His smile grew to a grin.

Fouquet picked up the Staff of Destruction, and was shocked by its lightness. Just what is this thing made of? He had no time to ponder and ran back on to the golem's shoulder.

Fouquet burned a message onto the wall before leaving: "I have the Staff of Destruction. – Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt."

"I finally did it, I've managed to obtain the Staff of Destruction. Now to get out of here, and not a day too soon!"

With its caped summoner sitting on its shoulder, the golem was about to leap over the academy walls, when an odd sound, and a large amount of earth being displaced alerted the mage to the new arrival on the shoulder of the golem, and the loss of the upper portion of its head. Zero stood there, saber out lighting the night with its power. "Staff of Destruction huh, sounds dangerous"

"Y-you?" Fouquet backed up in surprise. How had that familiar gotten up here, and what was that dreadful weapon he held.

"I think you should give that back. It was probably sealed up there for a reason" Zero said in a light voice.

"Sorry, but not going to happen" Fouquet replied. He had to be careful, and he knew the best way out. He'd distract him and then sink into his golem, and transfer themself into the ground. It was a little risky, but that sword set off every alarm Fouquet had.

Zero saw the figure move their wand, and a large portion of the golem broke off launching itself at him. Dodging the unexpected attack, he lost sight of Fouquet, and then they were gone. After a few moments of looking around, the golem started to crumble under him. Preparing to jump off the golem, he found himself lifted into the air, courtesy of Tabitha.

Zero landed lightly, beside the crumbling earth golem.

"Zero, Are you ok!" Louise demanded, looking him over. One moment he had been beside her, the next he had literally scaled the golem and was on Fouquet!

"I'm fine. They got away. I didn't know that you could sink into soil like that" Zero stated calmly. After a moment he turned and asked Louise, "That mage… They said something about a staff of destruction?"

"Dangerous." Tabitha answered from behind him.

"It was a thief. But… that was quite bold." Kirche said in disbelief.

"Zero you idiot! You could have been hurt!" Louise yelled at Zero. "I know you're strong, but you don't have to do those dangerous things! As a familiar, you're the only thing I've ever done right!" tears in her eyes, she hit him in the chest a few times in her anger.

"I'm sorry Louise. I just saw a chance to move and took it. I'm okay, so don't worry," Zero said to her, calming her down as he put a hand on her head. Once she had calmed down, Zero continued,"Now... I'd like us to have a little talk about using me for target practice..."

***Author's Notes***

Between reviews and PM's the current Score : Bass: 4 Megaman: 3 Roll: 3 Skullman: 1

Bass will likely be a very pissed off Robot because well, he was kinda cast off by wily once the new masterpiece made him obsolete. Bass does have an ego if nobody noticed.

At this point Megaman will likely be at least a semi antagonist for the main point? Zero is made by Wily.

Roll would probably be relieved to find an artificial life form period. She Would also be a pushing point for Zero to develop tech to keep her working correctly, since she isn't quite as self sufficient or advanced as her other Megaman counter parts. As I'm sure you noticed Zero has a soft spot for people who can't take care of themselves being disposed of for no reason. X and Zero are similar in capabilities if not temperament. If given a reason to do the whole scientist role, Zero probably would. Although he'd probably be annoyed the whole damned time.

Skullman: Not sure what to do with this. He's a robot master, and has no real story aside from "Stand in room. Fight megaman. Give megaman power", even if he wasn't a wily made robot.

Also, going to put this point in now. X and Zero are referred to as reploids. In all reality they are not. Reploids are the artificial lifeforms created from the 10% of X's information that and himself could actually understand. Zero is not the same as X, but is close. Both of them have the true capability to evolve. No other reploid has that capability, not even Axl's generation with A-trans which is pretty much just reploid DNA stealing. So in essence, while the heart is the same, the actual beings known as X and Zero are in my mind not even close. It is how they always bring themselves to higher than their peak performance, and put down the "new" generations which have more power than them on paper. This would have to be part body, part programing. It also explains how Zero can beat the hell outta Omega in his body. Omega had the original body, but not the programing to utilized it to its fullest, while Zero was in a body that was probably getting closer to his original body with every battle. His programing spent all those MMZ games altering his body as it self repaired, getting it closer to the power that he had before, if that makes sense. I'll continue to refer to them as reploids just because its easier that way though, i am just giving my thoughts on it.

While her blasts aren't massively powerful, she did so much damage to the wall. The reason i think it happened like that? The wall was so full of magic, basically held together by a massive concentration of magic, that when void became present and broke the bonds, the magic itself was part of the backlash that created the explosion. Kinda like a cut bow string. A small amount of force for a knife would release all that tension in the string, but you'd have no real control over how the tension disappeared after it got cut. That's what i think all the blasts that she creates are. And while the Soil golem is big and powerful, its not something that has been fortified by multiple Square level mages. And with multiplicative properties of magic a single square mage is far beyond a triangle mage. So multiple Square mages = fun explosions.