In honor of my birthday (and the end of my vacation, sadly), I give to you updates!
Honoka had to stop for a few seconds and stare at the dragon in the shared room. It bore a strong resemblance to Fon's dragon form, except the coloration was very different and it was much smaller. It looked young... not even a few decades old at least.
What had her heading for a well used brush and oil bottle was the condition of it's scales. It was painfully obvious to her that the poor thing didn't take good care of itself. While the scales might look clean to an amateur with the shine they had to them, she could tell right away that they were all old growth and that the poor thing hadn't bothered to remove the older scales to allow the ones growing underneath air to breathe. And don't get her started on the horns...they were in desperate need of a cleaning.
And it's talons...she could already see they needed a proper sharpening, though they weren't as bad as the scales or the horns.
She wasn't even going to ask who's dragon this was, because there was no way she would let this sort of condition continue.
The dragon barely looked up, too relaxed from the sunlight and the nap it was taking.
Gently, she eased it onto her lap. After a few moments, it began to stretch out and grow a little until it was roughly the same size as a large dog.
It didn't even open it's eyes until she had already gotten started on the scales, carefully removing the old growth to expose the still growing ones underneath.
When it did, she knew instinctively that this dragon was somehow related to Fon. He was the only dragon she had seen with eyes like that.
It wiggled and squirmed, likely unused to the brush or the oil. The dragon let out a deep, happy sigh as the persistent itch it had to live with before now finally started to go away. And while it lightly hissed at her when she went to take up the file to properly sharpen his (because it was fairly obvious that this was a male dragon) talons, he only started to purr the same way Fon did when content after she cleaned his horns. Once she was finished, it carefully got up and off the bed, before shaking itself like a dog getting rid of excess water. No scales fell off though, because she was a very thorough groomer.
She bundled up the spread on the couch, and shook it out into the trash before making sure to knock off any excess bits like a loose scale or two or the horn and talon trimmings. She would still throw it into the general wash, but that would take care of the worst of it...whoever cleaned the spread would likely assume she had been grooming Fon again.
Before the dragon disappeared into the clouds, he paused and looked at her with a curious expression.
"Thanks," he said, before flying off.
"You're welcome Hibari," she said gently, making it clear she wasn't going to ask.
Fon eyed her curiously during dinner when Hibari came back, fully human and looking quite relaxed.
"You're not going to ask?" he inquired. Surely she had made a general guess.
"When he's ready to tell me, I'll be there to listen. Until then it's his secret to keep," she replied.
Though she could probably guess part of the reason why Hibari looked far too much like Fon to be a coincidence, or why he had summoned the red dragon as his demon partner.
"Today we're going to talk about partners and familiars. Now you've all managed to at least reach a sustained Cambio Form with your assigned demon or contracted familiar. Who can tell me the difference between a partner and a familiar, anyone?" asked Mrs. Holloway.
Honoka raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"A demon familiar is almost fully subservient to their human partners or to a superior demon and will only gain strength through absorbing the excess to whomever they're contracted to, if any. Demon familiars come at a lower power cost to summon and maintain, hence why it's not uncommon for multiple familiars to be contracted to the same master. A demon partner on the other hand can be of either equal or superior strength to a human, depending on which one you summon. While rare, it is possible to have multiple partner demons, but not recommended unless you have a certain power level as the cost to maintain the bond is much higher. A demon partner may break the contract at any time should they feel that the human is not holding up their end of the deal, but a familiar is far more submissive and therefor is unlikely to break their contract unless the situation is completely unacceptable to them."
Which was why someone like Hayato, who had the power levels to be considered a low-ranked demon partner, was summoned as a familiar instead. Due to his upbringing he generally acted more submissive than dominant, which meant he was better off as a well trained familiar.
Perhaps when he was older he might transition to a demon partner, but for now he was a high level familiar instead.
Mrs. Holloway nodded in approval. It was a much more thorough explanation than most gave.
"Very good. Now as you are all first year summoners, you are restricted from summoning a demon partner at this stage. However we can move on to summoning basic familiars to get you used to the drain. Depending on compatibility you may be allowed to keep the familiar, or have it sent back to whichever home plain it belongs to."
Honoka perked up at that. She had been waiting all week for this.
Despite having two familiars already, both of them had come pre-summoned or delivered by someone else.
"Now for those of you who are jewel summoners, please choose the gem that matches the demon you summon carefully, as ill-fitted gems can blow up on the summoner using them. And remember, you have until midnight to pick a gem before the familiar is sent back by the school wards."
Honoka happily waited her turn. Since this was her first official summon, she wanted to do it right. Being over-eager caused almost as many accidents as misspoken spells.
She nipped her thumb to cause a few drops of blood to touch the disposable circle. They had spent an entire month learning how to make them before the teacher would even consider allowing them to move onto merging with their practice demons, and Mrs. Holloway was just as strict as Fon when it came to doing things correctly rather than "good enough".
I give this sacrifice of blood as a pathway for your arrival.
I freely share my magic in return for your time.
I would make a contract with one who answers my call.
The blood began to glow, and the circle turned a vibrant orange often found during the twilight hours. With a loud "poof!" a familiar demon appeared from the circle.
It was a monkey. A small, white monkey with an adorable face.
Honoka bent down to pet the creature, which chittered happily to her. It eagerly allowed her to pick it up, since she didn't stop petting it.
Mrs. Holloway marked her score as complete, before moving on to the next student having trouble. Whether she kept the small animal (because with that circle a small animal was all she could have summoned) was entirely up to Honoka. Most of the familiars would return to their home set before morning, as few summoners wanted to keep their first summon unless they were sentimental.
The little monkey stayed on her shoulder all the way to the practice rooms she favored while training with Hayato and Natsu.
It took one look at Fon, before it bounded off her shoulder and went straight to the dragon.
"Lichi, what are you doing here you little scamp?" asked Fon with genuine surprise.
"You know him?"
"He's my familiar, though Kyouya refused to let me summon him," said Fon, nuzzling with his monkey. "He keeps me company in the Tempesta plains, though the most he can do is use large amounts of strength that few would expect from a monkey his size."
Honoka could tell Fon had missed his familiar, and Lichi must have been very lonely without him. A thought occurred to her as she pulled out her box of gems.
Focusing on the monkey, she allowed her hand to wander down the rows until it hit a suitable match. It was a piece of high quality quartz...hardly the rarest piece she had but still fairly hard to find one of this purity.
"Ask him if he would like to stay," said Honoka, smiling. She wasn't going to keep Lichi from staying close to his actual master, and since she shared a room with Fon anyway this meant they could stay together.
Fon spoke in demontongue, which was almost universal but often came with accents depending on which plain you resided in.
Lichi chittered back, before bounding over to her and giving her a light hug. She could tell what Fon meant about the monkey being very strong...it felt more like a bear hug from a grown man than a small monkey.
Fortunately she already knew how to make a basic contract...while she would be supplying the power for Lichi to stay past midnight, he would still be Fon's familiar first and foremost. She was just keeping him here.
Hibari made a slight face at the sight of Fon's monkey, but kept his silence. In all honesty he had forgotten the dragon had his own familiar. However rather than force Honoka to support the animal he did it himself. Lichi barely took anything at all, and was almost the same as his familiar Roll.
"Just out of curiosity did you leave anyone else behind?"
"Outside of my apprentice in the Helios plains that Reborn has been keeping an eye on for me, no," said Fon.
Honoka blinked.
"You have an apprentice?"
"Her name is I-Pin, and she's a dragon as well. However her special talent involves blowing herself up without harm, so I had to leave her behind...she has a shared hobby of martial arts and a minor crush on me," said Fon.
"...Do you think she'd enjoy coming here?"
"If you're talking about the little dragon, she's already here," said Hibari.
Honoka looked at him, as did Fon.
"I-Pin was left at the care center for very young demons without a master after she was accidentally summoned two years ago. Since her parents are contracted to two different summoners and they didn't want to deal with raising an infant, they didn't come to claim her. If you wish to add her to your list of contracts you'll have to undergo the standard compatibility test and have it approved by the people in charge," said Hibari.
"Where's the care center?" asked Honoka.
Fon felt ashamed that he hadn't known his apprentice was here. He would have claimed her if he had.
Hibari sent the directions to her control gem, which doubled as a map.
Fon wrapped himself around her neck while Lichi got to know the other familiars in the room.
I-Pin was adorable, though it was hard to tell that she was a girl.
"So you wish to adopt one of our charges?" asked Mr. Roch.
"If not, then Fon would like to claim his apprentice as he was unaware she was here," said Honoka politely.
"Which one would you like to claim?"
"A Helios dragon by the name of I-Pin."
Mr. Roch winced at that.
"I'm afraid I-Pin is considered impossible to adopt out."
Fon narrowed his eyes at that.
"May I ask why?"
"Well..."
"Gwahahaha! You can't catch me!" shouted a little bull demon. I-Pin chased after him with cries of 'broccoli monster!', and it was clear the two were playing some form of game.
"She refuses to be separated from Lambo, who is a complete handful. There are any number of summoners who could adopt her out, but they never want him as well. And he's such a brat at times that she's his only friend here," said Mr. Roch apologetically.
"May I at least meet with them both?" asked Honoka.
He moved aside, and she went to where they were playing.
I-Pin looked at her suspiciously...right up until she recognized the familiar feeling of her master.
"Master come for I-Pin?" she asked.
"Yes little one. If I had known you were here I would have retrieved you much sooner," said Fon, curling around her.
I-Pin shot a glance to her friend. While she had missed her master terribly she didn't want to leave Lambo behind.
Lambo looked at the exchange curiously.
"Hello Lambo. My name is Honoka...would you like to be friends?" she asked smiling.
"Gwahahaha... the great Lambo-sama needs no friends. Lambo does like grapes," said the little cow.
Honoka recognized the ploy for what it was...he was clearly scared and trying to hide his nervousness. The poor thing must be so lonely.
"Well then how about we get you some seedless grapes to snack on while Fon and I-Pin catch up?"
Lambo's eyes widened. He clutched her shirt when she picked him up, unused to someone talking to him instead of his friend.
The friendly lady smelled nice, he decided, and he curled into her arms and listened to her heartbeat.
As promised, Honoka bought him some seedless grapes which he happily ate while sitting in her lap.
Mr. Roch smiled, as it was clear this summoner had a way with small children if she was able to get the boy to calm down and behave for a while.
It was as the two were settled in for their nap that she broached the subject of adopting them out.
"I'm afraid we can't adopt both of them out to you at this time. You simply have too many contracts. I can permit one, but as I said before they will not leave without the other with them."
Honoka frowned, before she looked at Fon.
"What if Fon were to claim I-Pin and get his summoner to support her presence in the school, while I took Lambo?"
"Who is his summoner?"
"Hibari Kyouya."
Mr. Roch almost choked on his tea.
"If his summoner agrees to support her as a familiar, then I can adopt Lambo out to you. You'll still have to keep them together most of the time, as they refuse to be separated."
"That shouldn't be an issue. Hibari is my roommate," said Honoka easily.
Roch choked again. Everyone knew of Hibari's long string of partners for the missions. Ever since his original one graduated every single person assigned to him fled the first chance they got. Every. Single. One.
No wonder she could handle Lambo so easily...she must have the patience of a saint!
Honoka made a quick call to Hibari about the situation. Apparently he must have been feeling some iota of guilt keeping Fon from his familiar, because he agreed to it so long as he wasn't the one who had to take care of her.
He only cared about Roll and Hibird, which meant I-Pin, Lichi and Lambo would be Honoka's problem.
Honoka used a piece of chrome diopside which was tied into a necklace of sorts to anchor Lambo's contract. I-Pin could get her contract added to Hibari's list once they returned to the room.
I-Pin eyed Honoka suspiciously for a few days, before deciding to treat the older girl as a big sister of sorts. Not only was she nice to Lambo, but she kept her other familiars from even trying to bully the little cow regardless of how irritating he got.
It was more than most who tried to adopt the two of them would do. They just wanted a potential dragon familiar that was young enough to be trained and happened to be Fon's apprentice...they almost never wanted to put up with Lambo's bratty behavior and none of them ever allowed the two of them to sleep on an actual bed.
Honoka though...she could care less if they curled up against her at night. There was a reason she had such a large bed.