I don't own Zero no Tsukaima
AN: This update took longer than I thought, however soon Saito will return to the Academy. It will probably be in 2 chapters, maybe 3, possibly 28 but I wouldn't discount 2569. In all seriousness, where were the reviews? It made me sad that I was so close to 100, but still 3 off. I was so sad that a dog died.
Also, I have been playing a lot of Skyrim. I was surprised that I was still eating.
Also, SOMEONE READ MY FIRE EMBLEM STORY! IT ONLY HAS 32 HITS!
Judah, yeah, I didn't like the treasure maps either, I was just trying to find a way to force Saito to go to Tarbes, see the Phantom, meet Sasaki, and future plot points that I won't talk about any more. If I make any revisions, that will be the first thing I change. Also, in the anime/light novels Derf's memory is consistently bad
You will fear my laser face, I do not fear your laser face, just thought you should know.
Madork Gunna, I could send you a picture of Bearry, also, things will cool down, at least I think it's a cool down.
Desjanae, I actually haven't seen the third season of the Familiar of Zero, however I have read past it in the light novels.
Headmaster Osmond just left. Henrietta stared down at the field below, as a few of the servants dismantled the stage. Tabitha's Slyphid took the prize, but it was hard to think about the Evaluation Fair at the moment.
Fouquet had stolen the Staff of Destruction. Sure, none of the guards were hurt, but there were less guards watching the vault because the Academy wanted to keep her safe. Even the most politically blind people would know that the blame would be placed on her, and now was the worst of times for such humiliation. She couldn't afford to look bad before the Marriage Alliance, there was already enough risking the stability of it with the Reconquista in Albion.
Henrietta sighed at her own helplessness. She had inherited Tristain in the most dire of straits, threat of invasion, and the threat of the Reconquista. If her father was still here surely he would know what to do. Still, he was gone now. Henrietta took a deep breath, and composed herself. She had to retain an air of confidence. She was the Princess of Tristain.
Henrietta left the balcony and her guards followed her, she still needed to thank the student who successfully destroyed Fouquet's golem, the first time anyone had done so. Then she absolutely needed to go and see Louise François and make sure her dear friend was alright.
The guards led her along to the mage who stood up to Fouquet. She wanted to thank this noble quickly so she could go and make sure Louise wasn't hurt!
As she entered the courtyard Fouquet had performed her daring act of thievery, she couldn't help but notice the massive mound of dirt that was once a golem. It was at this point that Henrietta noticed that her guards were leading her toward Louise, who at the moment was busy talking to the school's guards.
Henrietta's heart froze. Was Louise hurt during the theft? She looked fine, but maybe Fouquet was escalating and tried to hurt her dear friend. She needed to apprehend this vile thief! "Louise! Are you hurt?"
Louise quickly turned toward Henrietta and bowed, "I am sorry Princess, but I was unable to stop Fouquet from stealing from the Academy. I have failed you."
"Nonsense, Miss Vallière, you destroyed Fouquet's golem. You have accomplished more than anyone else thus far." The guard with whom Louise was speaking with added.
"He is right Louise François, what you've done is incredible!" The Princess said with a gentile smile. This was perfect! With this she could easily stay in close contact with her dearest friend, but for this Louise needed to stay involved in the Fouquet investigation. "Louise, when we find out where Fouquet has fled, I will make sure you are involved with his capture."
Saito was resting Derflinger on his shoulder, keeping an eye on André's slow descent. Not as slow as the big dragon, but slow. He pulled out his Beretta, and chambered a round. He needed to be ready, keep it in hand (with the finger off the trigger, gun safety and all that), and while he wasn't prepared to use lethal force against André, Saito was ready to use it on a dragon. Or Gerald's dog, for that matter.
Saito glanced back at Gerald and gave a sigh. The noble was reaching with an arm bent in a way that should be impossible for one of his wands. His combat wand, to be specific. He calmly walked over, and threw the combat wand as far from the noble as he could. He proceeded to grab the backup wand, and broke it into a few small pieces. "No more magic for you, Gerald."
Saito looked back toward André and frowned, it would take a while for him to reach the ground. Maybe he was deliberately moving slowly, making a plan of attack or something. Saito made his way to one of the buildings, and climbed to the roof. If he fought from rooftop, it would at the very least prevent Gerald's dog from attacking him.
Saito watched as André came down, and kept an eye on Gerald. For all he knew Gerald might have another backup that he doesn't know about. Saito then noticed a big ball of fire. He ran back and jumped to the roof of a different house as it was engulfed in flames. He looked up only to see another ball of fire coming towards him. Saito leapt off the roof top, avoiding the raining fire on the ground instead to people's homes.
As Saito evaded the flames, he gave a quick glance toward Gerald. His eyes widened as the noble grabbed a combat wand. 'Does he have another backup wand?' The thought rushed through Saito's head as he heard growls approaching. He turned and was greeted by the biggest German Sheppard he had ever seen leaping at him, fangs bared and ready. The dog was too close, and it latched onto Saito's left arm, sinking it's fangs in a bone crushing bite. Saito bashed the dog twice with Derflinger's pommel before the stubborn mutt released its grip.
That was when Saito realized that he no longer was holding his Beretta. He looked to the ground and saw his pistol lying there, the next instant the dog took hold of the barrel and ran off.
BANG!
... the dog collapsed as a hole appeared in the back of its head, and it fell to the ground as blood pooled around it.
"FUS RÀ DELL!" Saito's eyes widened as he heard the chant, and he quickly turned toward the mage. "LA WINDÉ!" Saito dived as Gerald unleashed a blast of wind. He heard as the powerful wind shredded the house behind him, wind blades ripping through half of the hut. Saito glanced at the damage, seeing chunks of meat and bone disappear as the unsupported roof collapsed, he grit his teeth at the sight. Saito brought up Derflinger, knowing that it was a futile effort to stop the flames, and he sealed his eyes waiting for his fate. He felt the heat engulf him, and the air grow thick, difficult to breath. It was also oddly moist.
Saito opened his eyes and saw that he was surrounded by steam. He looked around, and saw a few figures running out of the ruined hut, a relatively small figure stopping at the dead dog then running to join the others.
Saito tried to push himself up, but his left arm exploded in pain. Pain. He was able to feel horrible pain through the effects of the runes. Saito saw that his arm seemed to have gained an extra joint. He could NOT lose his grip on Derflinger or the fight would be over. He pulled himself up and charged out of the mist.
He saw that Gerald was aiming at a new target, beginning a chant. It seemed that some mage using water had saved him, and was distracting the fire flinging Inferno. Saito ran as fast as he could toward the wind mage, ready to get retribution for the people who just lost a home.
"Fus-" Saito punted the noble mid chant, sending him tumbling away without his wand.
Saito kicked the wand further from the mage, and looked back toward the dead dog. His pistol wasn't there, so he really didn't have any way to fight against the floating mage. He looked toward the mage using water to block André's fire, and noticed something very important. It was the same mage who was tied to a tree, and he had somehow gotten a wand.
The water mage was controlling a relatively large amount of water, using it to lash out at André and to block the fire. Then André unleashed a massive pillar of fire, and the area was engulfed in a thick blanket of steam.
"By the Founder this better hold." Mical muttered as he kept his water wall up. He couldn't hold this much longer. He was just a dot mage, and the fire user had to at least be a line. The steam grew thick and Mical could feel his spell quickly failing.
"Thanks for the help Waterboy. Any ideas on stopping the Inferno?" It was the Hiraga! Sure he was speaking in a much colder tone than was expected, but this was good.
"Pick me up and run." Mical groaned out. To the commoner's credit he picked the mage up with losing grim on his weapon in an instant, and charged off with the utmost haste. Mical was barely able to sustain the spell long enough for him and the target leave the fog. Mical looked up at the 'Inferno' as the distance between them grew. "Get underneath the mage." Mical felt his entire world jerk, as the commoner stopped on an écu and instantly turned around and charged ahead. Mical held onto the commoner with all his might, having never gone this fast before, even when riding a horse.
"Now what?"
Mical looked around, then glanced up. They were directly beneath the floating fire mage. The mage was hundreds of feet in the air searching for them. Thankfully he didn't think of looking beneath his feet. "We wait for Blackwing.(1)"
"Is that some kind of codename?"
"Blackwing is my Familiar, she's a crow. Could you put me down?"
Saito quickly set the mage down, and kept his attention on the floating man. "What's your name?"
"Mical de Cowie..."
"I'm Saito Hiraga..."
"...I know..." Where was Blackwing? This shouldn't be taking so long! It was really awkward for Mical to be talking with his target. That, and if she took too long then they might have to deal with the dragon too.
"Is that your bird?" Saito asked as he pointed to a black bird quickly approaching the mage. The bird slammed into the mage's face and began ruthlessly pecking and clawing at it.
"YES! THAT'S MY BLACKWING!" Mical exclaimed as he jumped for joy as the floating mage lost control of his levitation and began to free fall. Mical prepared a levitation spell to catch the falling man and prevent his messy death. Saito grabbed him and they both took a few big steps back.
"That dragon is coming down really fast now." Saito said.
Mical looked for the red dragon, and saw it awkwardly pushing itself toward its master faster and faster. The dragon got beneath its master and began furiously flapping its wings trying to slow its descent. It seemed that the levitation spell may be unnecessary. Mical and Saito took a few more steps back. Mical began focusing on Blackwing and gave her the mental command to disengage. Blackwing took off right before the dragon roughly hit the ground and slid a few feet forward, tearing up the ground.
The dragon was hurt badly. Mical could see that it had a few broken bones, maybe even a broken wing. Then he saw the noble roll off of the dragon, wand pointed at the pair as a fireball was unleashed.
Mical froze. He didn't have enough strength left in him to use any spells that could stop it, and he had thought that after such a horrible fall that the fire mage would give up. Mical trembled as the commoner slammed into him, pushing them both out of the fire's path. Mical and Saito fell to the ground, and Mical couldn't help but to follow the fireball, seeing it continue on its path and make one of the common people's homes light up. The people inside fleeing in terror.
Mical looked back toward the fire mage, and saw that Saito was charging at him. The dragon turned toward the commoner and tried to sink its fangs into him, but Saito jumped onto the dragon's head. The dragon quickly reached with its tail and whipped Saito off.
At that point, Mical decided to turn and run. He had exhausted all of his magical strength earlier, the best he could do now was make something levitate! The best he could do is watch and hope for the best.
When Mical looked back at the battle, he saw Saito pushing himself up as the commoners fled their homes behind the swordsman. The fire mage launched a massive fireball that made Mical's blood run cold. If Saito dodged it, it would hit the people fleeing, and if he didn't dodge it the proceeding blast from the fireball would still incinerate the innocent bystanders. It seemed that even Saito realized what was going to happen. Mical was waiting for him to move, to do what was natural and survive, but he stood his ground and swung his rustic and damaged blade at the flames.
The fireball lost its shape as it disappeared into the sword. The commoner gave a cold stare as he marched forward batting away each fireball sent his way, a fire in his eyes growing as each fireball got smaller and smaller.
Then the dragon took a deep breath as it prepared to spit fire on the approaching swordsman, and Mical realized there was one last move he could make in this fight. He could create an opening. He ran out, pointing his wand at the dragon's head and unleashed the levitation spell. The dragon's head turned skyward as it breathed fire, and Saito gave a slash to the belly of the beast, leaving a long and deep gash.
The dragon tried to claw at the commoner, but with a single deft movement the dragon lost one of its legs. It recoiled, pulling away from the fight and hastily spit flames not at Saito, but at its own wounds, cauterizing the stump and deep gash. It stumbled forward a bit before collapsing, its injuries finally stopping the beast.
"Alright, I surrender." The mage said as he dropped his wand. "I know when I'm beaten."
Saito stood there trembling, a cold look in his eye, while Mical couldn't be happier at the peaceful resolution. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Wha-" The mage began when Saito swung the blunt end of his sword and hit him in the chest, lifting the noble off his feet.
"Did you think saying that you surrender would absolve you of all of this shit?" Saito asked as he brought his weapon down on the man's knees. Mical flinched as he heard them break, and he backed away as the mage fell to the ground. As the poor man crawled for his wand Saito kicked it away. "Your friend ripped a man to shreds with wind magic!" The blunt edge came down again, slamming into the man's arm, causing Mical to look away as his own body ached from just watching. "You burned down people's homes while they hid inside, just trying to escape the fight that YOU STARTED!"
He knew that he should stop this, but he didn't have the strength to cast a single spell. He knew he wasn't strong enough to stop this. "Please... Stop...I'll do anything..."
"André, I'm going to explain what's going to happen. You see I'm going to take Gerald's wand, and I'm going to take yours, and I will sell them in the capitol. The people I sell them to, will sell them to some other Nobles, who will use them to humiliate your families, and make themselves look good. Don't worry, this will happen to Count Mott too. Now if you come after me, and this is very important, if you come after me, we'll reenact this little massage I gave you, but with the sharp side instead. If you get angry like Gerald's brother and send a family member, friend, or just some mercenary, I'll kill them, sneak into your home, and then the reenactment. I hope you understand." Saito said in the most terrifyingly gentle tone Mical had ever heard.
"I... understand..."
"Good." He said as he walked away and gathered the two wands. Mical looked over at Saito and wondered how he was going to get him to go to the Academy.
"Partner, I think you went a little too far..." The commoner's sword said.
"Derflinger, you are probably right, but we're overlooking something very important. Why didn't you tell me you could absorb magic?"Mical thought over that statement, and realized that the commoner didn't die because by chance his sword was able to absorb magic.
"...I was surprised too partner."
"But then how did you know about Gandàlfr and all of that stuff?" Mical was in disbelief when the commoner familiar mentioned the legendary familiar. He was never told about this.
"Everyone knows what the Gandàlfr is, partner."
The commoner let out a sigh, then turned toward Mical. The mage felt his blood turn to ice. "You, Mical. You want to take me back to the Academy, right?"
"...Yes?" He said, without any sense of conviction.
"Alright, we'll leave in a few hours. I'm going to go find my gun."
Mical stood for a few moments, stunned. He had no idea what just happened.
It has been 2 days since Fouquet had stolen the Staff of Destruction when Miss Longueville claimed to have escaped the horrid clutches of the thief and was leading them to the thief's hiding spot. It had been 2 days since the Evaluation Fair, and it had been 2 days since Louise had destroyed Fouquet's golem. So today, Louise was leading the way. She felt like the faith Princess Henrietta has placed in her may be misplaced. Still, she had to try, and she had to succeed for the Princess.
"Tabitha, can your Sylphid see anything?" Louise just wished that streetwalker Kirche did force herself into the journey.
The small blue haired girl motioned for her dragon to come down. "Shed ahead."
"That should be where Fouquet is hiding. You three go on ahead, I'll scout the surroundings." Miss Longueville said.
The three girls nodded and kept moving ahead. When they reached the shed they paused for a moment. "So, how do we check for traps?" Kirche asked as Tabitha walked toward the door.
Tabitha waved her staff, and a whirlwind formed around the shed. It quickly settled, and she followed up with a blast of wind that blew the front door open.
Louise jumped at the sound of the slamming door. "What if that was trapped!"
"Checked." Tabitha then calmly walked inside, not even taking a glance around the shed. Her dragon landed behind her, and waited for her master to complete their mission.
Louise and Kirche followed the small wind mage. Louise frowned, she couldn't help but feel inferior to Tabitha, considering what she had recently learned. The small blue haired girl was a Chevalier, and more than that she was an incredibly skilled triangle class mage. Kirche may have been a triangle class mage, but Louise knew that there was no way Kirche could defeat Fouquet's golem. Tabitha had instead earned the title years ago, there was no telling what she could do.
Louise knew that all she could do was make an explosion.
"Found it." The small Chevalier said as she pointed toward an open box.
Louise looked inside, and was confused. It was a metal cylinder with a strap. It didn't even look like a staff. It also had what were probably words on it, thought she wasn't familiar with them. What did W/ROCK even mean? And where was Fouquet?
Kirche quickly closed and picked up the box. "That was simple."
Suddenly, the ground rose up around each of them and clamped around them. They were then lowered, until only their heads were above ground. Louise felt the earth shift as her wand was pulled out of her hand, and from the look and Kirche's face she was sure the same was happening to the girls with her. Louise turned her head as far as she could, and saw that Tabitha's familiar was also bound to the ground.
Louise tried to wiggle out, but she was so tightly packed that she was having trouble breathing. She saw that both Tabitha and Kirche were also having trouble. The only hope they had was for Miss Longueville to come and help them. Kirche and Louise shouted for Miss Longueville, and when their elder arrived their hopes soared.
"Miss Longueville is helping Fouquet." Kirche said in disbelief.
"She is Fouquet." Tabitha stated. "Saw her trap us."
Louise looked around the room, there had to be something she could do!
"HELP!" Kirche shouted. Louise glanced at the Germanian, and realized that was all she could do, and began screaming for help.
For what felt like hours, they called for help, when the door was pushed off of its hinges and Tabitha's dragon stuck its head through the door.
"Dig." Tabitha calmly ordered. Her dragon pulled out, and reached in and slowly began digging the three girls out. "Listen. Plan."
"Finally we can rest!" Mical groaned as he fell into his bed.
Saito grinned as he set his things down. The two were staying at the Charming Fairy's Inn, and Saito had since gained a new weapon. He had a rifle that Saseki had made. It seemed that the old Asian carried two with him when he went out hunting, so that he could have more than one shot. He even gave Saito a mold to make new bullets for the rifle.
Saito stretched for a bit before he armed himself with all of his weapons, and grabbed the three wands. "I'll be back before nightfall."
"Wait! Don't sell the wands." Mical said.
"What are you gonna do? Stop me?" Saito asked with a grin.
"I couldn't no matter how hard I tried. Just... You will make the mages you took them from very angry. They will send people after you, you need to return them."
"I'll stop whoever they send."
"You almost died."
"Relax, no one will try to get to me in the Academy. I'll just sell the wands to a fence I know."
"You are involving yourself in a political game that you don't understand."
"Don't need to understand it to make a profit." Saito said as he left the room.
He left the inn, waving to the girls as he left. He then stared at the wands with a frown, the two combat wands activated his runes, but they didn't impart any understanding of magic. This was... annoying. He could understand every aspect of a weapon, unless it involved magic. (2)
Saito expected to get at least 200 ècu for André and Gerald's wand, but for Count Mott he expected more. Count Mott was many times more important than André and Gerald, his wand had to be worth more.
(1) I have been reading Order of the Stick, and that inspired the name.
(2) this is something I noticed in the light novels and anime, Saito never knew that Derflinger could absorb magic until the sword absorbed magic. And he failed to absorb magic a few times.
AN: I told you I was so sad a dog died, and we could all learn a lesson by that dog's death. Don't carry a loaded gun in your mouth. Anyway, here is your update. Next chapter Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha follow Tabitha's plan, Saito gets money, violence!, and Mical being upset. Exciting! Also, I will be working on my second story, a fire emblem story. It is like this one, it's in English!
Anyway, I have a question for all my readers, who do you think Saito will get violent with next? The options are
A) Louise
B) André and Gerald again
C) Mical
D) Fouquet
E) The Author
F) Sasaki
G) Other
Here's a hint, the answer is one of the above! Put your answer in a review
Anyway, This is Lee, and I'm out!