Louise's Room (Morning)
That day, Louise woke up earlier than normal. The sky outside was barely orange. With a yawn, she walked to her mirror and saw the bed behind her.
More specifically, the blonde teenager sleeping in it.
'Right. I summoned a King.' she reminded herself. A King was a ruler of a country, and was revered by both nobles and commoners. The source of this respect depended on the monarch. Some were beloved, others were hated. 'I wonder which category Dominic falls into?' she asked herself. He seemed pleasant enough, if a bit odd. She still had doubts about his kindness, though. She'd never been treated well at school, so a King being the first person to actively help her was befuddling. After all, she was just a Zero.
After getting dressed (she wasn't going to make a King dress her), she made her way to the Headmaster's Office to get a spare bed for her new 'tenant'. Since it was still early, no students were up yet. However, that didn't mean there was nobody awake. The maids and servants were working hard to keep everything in order. Louise never really noticed how much they did until now. She was reminded of something Dominic said. He told her that he mingled with those beneath him despite the position he held. The very thought of it seemed impossible to her.
She shook those thoughts away as she approached the door to the Headmaster's Office. "Sir Osmond?" she called, entering the room. The elderly mage was at his desk, working on something.
"Ah. Miss Valliere. What brings you to me so early?" he asked.
"Well, I came to request a bed for my familiar." Louise explained.
"Surely, your familiar wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor." Osmond said.
"No, he definitely would." Louise said, dreading what may happen to her if this failed. "My familiar is... a human."
That got the man's attention. "A human, eh?" he said, closing his eyes to think. After a few moments, he opened them to address the pinkette. "A second bed will be provided to your familiar as soon as possible."
"Thank you, headmaster." Louise said, turning to leave.
"Wait, Miss Valliere." Osmond said, raising a hand. Once she turned to face him, he spoke again. "What did your familiar say their name was?"
"Uh, Dominic Xiao-Long. Why do you ask?" Louise said. She didn't notice his eyes widening at that name.
"No reason. You may leave." Osmond said, prompting the young mage to exit his office. Once she was gone, he looked out the window at the twin moons and sighed. "Looks like he was right." he said to himself, recalling an old story he heard when he was younger. He opened a drawer in his desk and took a piece of paper from it, reading the parchment carefully.
TEN SYMBOLS PLACED AROUND A WHEEL
HAND IN HAND THEY'LL BOND THE SEAL
BUT BREAK THE CHAIN AND PAY THE COST
OBEY THE RULES OR ALL IS LOST
Osmond had retrieved this strange message from his great-great-grandfather, who said that a man by the name of Xiao-Long would arrive one day and overturn everything humanity knew about the world. At the time, he assumed it was just the inane ramblings of an old man. But now...
He needed to figure out what this meant.
Louise's Room (Midday)
Dominic woke up the same way he did every day. He yawned loudly, got out of bed, and did a few stretches to fully awaken himself. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around. "Oh, right. I was summoned." Unlike many others who could've found themselves in this position, Dominic had experience being summoned before. Although it was usually done by those that knew him, there were instances where he was brought somewhere new when someone tried summoning a being of immense magical power. This situation was clearly the latter.
The one thing he was uncomfortable with was the way magic was used here. While not dissimilar from what he was taught, it was still moronic.
'Five Elements, my shiny ash.' he griped to himself. Back in Frammentato, as well as countless other Kingdoms, there were 10 Elements. While Brimir's teachings did include all of the ones he knew of, Fire, Water, Air (under the name of Wind), Earth, and Dark (under the name of Void), it was missing 5 other crucial parts of the craft. Life, Magic, Tech, Undead, and Light. 'Once I get the chance, I'm going to have to educate Master about this.'
As he motioned to open the door, he accidentally bumped into a maid with black hair and black eyes. She fell backwards, but somehow remained in midair just before she hit the floor. To the maid, it felt like two invisible arms were holding her. She quickly stood back up.
"Sorry about that. I didn't know there was someone there." Dominic apologized.
"No! It was my fault, I should've been looking where I was going!" the maid frantically said, bowing her head. "Please have mercy on me!"
"Okay." Dominic said, unsure of how else to respond. He then looked down. When the maid fell, she dropped a few pieces of laundry. Without a second thought, Dominic knelt down to pick them up.
"W-wait!" the maid said, putting her hands over her mouth as soon as she did. "I'm sorry for raising my voice, but surely a Noble like you wouldn't want to do laundry, right?"
"Why should that matter?" the monarch responded. "Where do I wash these?" he asked.
"Oh, well, if you insist. It's just outside." the maid said, pointing out the window.
"Thanks. What's your name, by the way?" Dominic asked, walking out of his Master's room.
"Oh, I'm Siesta." the maid said, walking beside the royal.
AN: pls review.
