Sonic and the Pink Tress

by TokuBinu

Even if they couldn't see each other, even if he couldn't understand where the pain came from, why it was directed for him...and why he was chosen for her, the power of the confession from beyond space and time compelled him and he heeded her call. Within a few feet of reaching the ring, the intense gravity surrounding the unnatural phenomenon pulled the hedgehog into the portal.

6. A Zero's Worth

Disclosure: I do not own anything related to Sonic the Hedgehog or The Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima. All properties belong to their respective owners. This is fan-fiction and should not be treated as part of a canon with any franchise.

Sonic is owned and trademarked by SEGA Corporation.

Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima is made by the works of Noboru Yamaguchi, and its Light Novels are published under Media Factory.

Apart from that, I hope you enjoy it!

-TokuBinu

Psst. There's something I need to tell you in the author's notes.

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Louise and Sonic stood waiting after tugging along the hedgehog outside the office. There was a burning sensation at the back of her throat, yearning with the desire to stand defiantly against the better judgment of her superiors, but with no lead as to how long they had to wait, the pinkette took to sitting on the bench right next to the entrance; her familiar was puzzled by the move but opted to join her, setting aside the plant on the bench.

There was nothing but silence between the two as they waited. The only sound that echoed in the depths of the spire where they sat was the chirps of birds perched on their nests outside the spire and the slight shifts of the girl's clothes as she readjusted herself in her seat every once in a while. Louise sighed; her voice came out exhausted from climbing up the spire. Allowing herself a moment of reprieve, Louise plucked an ornately designed and frivolously decorated folding fan from her breast pocket.

Louise flicked her hand, unfolding the fan with a swift unraveling of its silky linen material; the girl fanned lightly at her hair, breathing in the gusts quietly.

Sonic sat at the bench curiously, glancing about himself as he took in the aura of the lobby with piqued interest. However, this interest faded shortly as the sights settled around the hedgehog comfortably. Sonic inhaled the air and, after a particularly long respite of silence, exhaled as he thumbed the hardwood surface of the bench. The hedgehog's legs swung rhythmically in the air, waiting for something interesting to happen. He grasped his gloves and adjusted his cuffs, the cuffs sagging a pinch. After a moment, the hedgehog laid his hands beside himself, propping his arms up as he hunched back in his seat. He instinctively rapped his fingers against the bench.

For a minute, Sonic pondered on their current situation as he hummed noiselessly; the lack of knowledge of this world's language was hindering him. As it appeared, for the time being, the hedgehog could go nowhere in the world without losing himself to it. This place was his only point of reference to even start his footing. He was banking all his eggs on the emeralds, that he could return home by the miraculous powers of the Chaos Emeralds, but therein lay the problem—where in the world could they be? Even with his speed, finding all the emeralds could take a lifetime!

Sonic scratched his quills, thinking pensively. There was an unavoidable certainty in this world; to collect all of the seven Chaos Emeralds scattered across the land, he would need help—help from allies and friends. Sonic turned to the girl thoughtfully. He was suddenly reminded of the fantastical sights he came across the previous night in his current deliberations. Looking at the worried expression on the girl's face, it was likely that there was some form of trouble ahead, and so far, there might be reprimand awaiting her from the old-bearded man he saw earlier. Well, thinking and worrying about it won't amount to much. He'd have to wait alongside her after all.

Sonic huffed as he crossed his arms; it was seriously getting so boring doing nothing!

Sitting around was one thing, but he's a creature of action! Doing nothing is dull, even if it has a purpose. He liked running; so long as there was ground to stand on and a place to catch, there was always something to do. Maybe he could take a small tour around the academy while his... caretaker?... can sit around waiting for the verdict.

With that idea set in stone, Sonic hopped off the bench, startling Louise from her much-needed reprieve from the world as she faced the hedgehog curiously. The Vallière folded up her fan and pocketed the item, watching astutely the actions of her familiar as the hedgehog patted his fur and slicked aside loose strands of quills. The hedgehog stretched lightly, warming his body up for the planned little detour around the campus. His muscles popped noiselessly as he settled them for the upcoming trip. Sonic walked around the girl with a focused gait and went for the rails, hopping on its ridge with practiced ease. The hedgehog squatted on the guardrails, itching to begin his little trek with some style. However, this little stunt caught the attention of the pink-haired student, who observed her familiar with an alarmed look.

"H-hey, wait!" Louise leaped across the floor in a hurry—reaching for Sonic at a breakneck speed just as the hedgehog stood to his full height on the railing. "Don't move, cease!" Sonic turned to Louise in confusion as he threw himself off the railing and began his descent. Louise's scream of shock and terror choked at her throat when the girl pushed against the railing and caught the hedgehog in her grasp at the last possible opportunity.

"Oh-oh, God! Oh my god!" Louise's voice escaped in a hoarse cry as she secured her grip on the familiar. Noises of pained exasperation escaped her lips, her heart hammering in her chest as she rocked back and forth from the heavy load. All of her weight was held up entirely at her waist as the duo dangled unsteadily on the thin railings. Her breath hitched as she glanced between the hedgehog she held in her hands and the massive drop of the spire, seemingly stretching along the longer she looked down. Louise wiggled and shifted her weight steadily to get herself down on her toes. Her concentration lay squarely on securing the two of them away from the deadly fall.

With a strong swing, Louise rocketed back to her heels and promptly brought the hedgehog up along with her as she regained her footing. Beads of cold sweat dribbled down Louise's cheeks while the girl swept her familiar swiftly off the guardrail and twirled the both of them around, settling the hedgehog to solid ground. Lousie chastised the hedgehog with a stern wag of her finger; the girl's face paled slightly in horror as her blood went cold just thinking of what could have happened to her familiar.

The youngest of the Vallière's glanced about and around the hedgehog, lightly brushing his fur and dusting off some lint. Louise spoke with a worried hush, cautioning the hedgehog against his trip. "What were you thinking doing something as dangerous as that?! You could've fallen! you could've—could've...!" Louise interrupted herself, daring not to finish her words as a frightful howl bellowed from her lips. She kneeled and looked over the hedgehog repeatedly, checking for any signs of injury that weren't there. Her hands trembled visibly when she finally released her grasp on her familiar, completely unnoticed as her arms swung lazily to her sides. The girl shook her head, looking down at the hedgehog with distress.

"You can't go doing something so—so stupid like that! I forbid it!" The girl's voice escaped in a hushed albeit shrill air. Her voice wavered and trembled as they escaped her lips; her face was wrought with worry. "Oh Brimir, oh God! I thought I-I'd..." Louise couldn't bring it in herself to finish her words, but her mind continued wordlessly, and she blanched at the image with horror, almost dry heaving at the thought.

The serious look on her face hit the brakes on Sonic's drive, and the hedgehog paused his struggle to escape from her grasp, settling still within a short moment as he watched her eyes appear with a horrified look before the hedgehog. Louise's sapphire eyes shimmered faintly before Sonic, like a disturbed pool—glossy and somewhat wettened with desperation. The warp on her brows heightened the expression of her fears. Really, the concern was a cause for concern. Sonic relaxed his rigid posture as he adjusted to the girl's hold, now giving his caretaker his undivided attention.

While the freedom to go and explore the building felt tempting to indulge as his body ached to do something, to watch for exciting things, it could wait a bit more if it would help ease his caretaker's worries. The hedgehog figured, wrestling his conflicted thoughts with a resigned acceptance, to hold still. Even if he had no context to understand the actions of the person who brought him here, even if he did not know the people's speech from this world, he had the girl's eyes to see. They were like a window to her soul, expressing herself wholly as she was at that moment, and at that moment, Sonic could see that she was frightened and horrified by his actions. Guilt and shame washed upon him from the sudden audacity of incurring her fearfulness over his safety. Louise's hold on the hedgehog loosened somewhat, no longer feeling the hedgehog trying to squirm away. She peered down at her familiar with bated relief as her eyes met her familiar's, who in tow glanced up, looking sympathetic to her dispiritedness.

Louise's legs buckled underneath her weight; the adrenaline that held the girl up drained as suddenly as it welled. She slid to the floor gradually, her knees rubbing against the waxed ground until she came to a stop. Louise whipped her hands from where they lay beside her, lightly patting her clothes. She reached for Sonic's temple and brushed against his face softly, comfortingly—desperately trying to settle her frightened heart and overimaginative mind with the reassurance that her familiar was safe in her arms. She dug into the hedgehog's quills, straightening any loose ends that were upset by Sonic's jittery motions. The hand that held itself over Sonic's temple slid down and cupped his cheekbone. Louise leaned back as she gazed at her familiar with relief.

Louise leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Sonic's form, pulling the hedgehog in her grasp. She breathed in quiet, shaky gasps; a few sniffles broke out from the girl as she buried her familiar to her bosom, trying to compose herself. "Don't! —Don't! —Don't you dare leave m-me." Louise couldn't find the words to speak. Her mind and mouth contradicted each other while she tried to spit out a word, constantly interrupting herself. All she could do to enunciate her words was to tighten her hold on the hedgehog. There were so many frightful things scurrying around in her mind, all wanting their spotlight in their say, but none of them could be expressed in their entirety despite how Louise wished. It overwhelmed her; Louise took a deep breath and closed her eyes, rocking softly as she patted and brushed against her hedgehog's fur.

"It-It's ok... It's o-ok. You're okay." Every word flashing through her mind disappeared faster than she had the time to elaborate, so she could only utter simple reassurances. Louise blinked rapidly, opening her eyes as she pulled slightly away from her familiar, just enough to catch his face. The light of sincerity stemmed from the girl's bubbling worries, focused solely on Sonic's eyes. Her brows furrowed, concentrated as she considered her words and how best to express them to her familiar.

"I don't—can't understand why you'd go and do something so, so stupid! I..." There was a long pause as the two stared at each other. The girl's reprimanding words and tone withered the longer she held her familiar. "I don't want to lose you. You're my familiar!" Louise's scolding tone of voice and her admonishment of her familiar faltered. She couldn't bring herself to be upset at her greatest accomplishment—even if it failed to heed her call at the moment. Sonic nodded fairly, his eyes appearing slightly unfocused. "You're—you're all that I have! My worthy success! I don't have anything else in this academy but you! So, just... just stop—for me, please?" The girl pleaded, her voice raised slightly, hopeful for some understanding somewhere within the recesses of her familiar's mind. Her brows were raised, and she had a small albeit exasperated smile as she pulled away slightly, glancing upon the hedgehog's eyes, which looked up at her with... consideration, maybe. Still, he didn't seem jumpy as much, preferably so. She shifted her hold on the fur ball and enveloped the hedgehog in her arms, patting it on its back encouragingly.

There was weight to her words, a genuine grasp of wanting to reach out to the one in front of her. Though it was all gibberish from one ear to the other, he understood, if only through the urgency of her voice, that his presence was a matter of great importance to her... even if he couldn't fully comprehend exactly what she said. What were her intentions with him? It seemed that all the girl cared about with the bit of time they'd spent was to... care for him. Sonic's face furrowed deeply at the thought, his eyes glazed over, appearing faint as tender scenes of times past met his mind.

While the duo was enveloped in an emotionally tumultuous clasp in the middle of the lobby outside the Headmaster's office, dull clacks of heels striking against the floor rumbled rhythmically with a muffled echo. The dull steps sounded distant, but each passing thud that thundered quietly became crisper in quality until it was perceptible with observant ears. The sounds paused for a moment until suddenly, the peaceful reverie Louise and her familiar enjoyed was sullied by the arrival of another guest. Two resolute steps were taken on the waxed hardwood floor, striking against the ground before pausing suddenly.

Louise felt a sudden feint, almost imperceptively weak pressure, washing over her back. She peeled from her familiar and glanced beside herself uneasily.

"Ahem."

Louise and Sonic flinched, turning to the source of the sound. Right on the last step of the spiraling staircase was the green-haired secretary, Longueville, standing imposingly tall from the duo. The glint of the sun caught on her glasses and reflected an impassive and cold glare. Beside the young adult were an accumulation of scrolls and prepared parchments for academic usage floating in the air. Louise, faster than she could form a single thought, plucked herself and her familiar off the ground and gingerly laid Sonic out of the way. She took a tentative step back, glancing about herself in a faux interest in the architectural design of the lobby that would hopefully distract the woman.

Miss Longueville crossed her arms, scoffing dismissively as she addressed the girl, her lips parted while giving a quick albeit apathetic glance at the familiar beside Louise. "Can you please move out of the way?"

Louise gasped as she realized how little space was left open for anyone to pass by. "Y-yes, mademoiselle." She nodded. Louise clutched onto her familiar's hand, firmly settling her grip as she pulled him into her arms and sat where the bench lay; the hedgehog's steps skidded across the floor as he was awkwardly strung along with the student.

"I-I'm not that old!" Longueville stuttered, whisking her head back with an indignant and irritated huff. Without a further word of acknowledgment, the secretary went ahead and entered the office. Just before she closed the door, a curious look crossed her face as she glanced at the two, more specifically toward the new quarry the girl had in tow, clutched tenderly in her arms. The scene was a new sight for the secretary, at least under the little time she spent acclimated to the student. The girl was a recluse—and not of her own volition. The secretary thought it was a curious change; she glanced back one last time—her motions appeared more... purposeful, as if confirming something she had forgotten. Ms. Longueville gave the familiar a more pointed look with a quick once over, her eyes remaining on it until the gears of the door clicked.

Silence hung in the air as Sonic and Louise glanced between each other and the double doors curiously, whose material clattered soundly with the lock securing in place. Sonic looked in awe at the floating parchments that followed along with the strange woman. His mind swam with a fascination with the fantastical things he'd seen thus far; Louise appeared tense from leaving another slighting impression on her superiors as her brows furrowed slightly, appearing uncomforted. Nevertheless, that terse silence could only last for so long.

Sonic's patience whittled away as he and Louise rocked in place, the girl bobbing up and down slightly on her toes as she anxiously waited. He needed to move. Needed some space and fresh air! But, as he steamed silently in bored anguish, his bored desperations were halted with a hand pressed softly against his quills, brushing alongside his head gently, reassuringly. Sonic's irritation paused, peeking an eye at the girl. He whined disapprovingly, but he didn't push the girl away. Louise didn't look down to meet her familiar. Instead, her sights were still on the doors before them, separating them behind a thin wall that determined her future. Despite the girl's frightful disposition, she still had the heart to tend to her familiar, whose restlessness continued to build unabated.

Sonic smiled softly, touched by her selflessness—the anxiousness that thundered ever presently with his boredom began to falter and calm as the girl nurtured the hedgehog's weary mood. Her ears perked up slightly every now and then as she heard the muffled voices behind the office doors. The blue hedgehog hummed peacefully as Louise continued to comb through Sonic's prickly fur leisurely. She felt against his cushy ears, flicking them mindlessly as the girl gradually eased the irritable familiar with her presence. Sonic huffed but held still, resolving to let his caretaker(?) take the reins to confront the uneasy quiet in his stead for the time being. After the little heart-to-heart with the pink-haired human, it would be disrespectful to ignore her intentions with a mere wave of the hand, yet having to sit still against his will was such a frustrating thing to do! He furrowed his brows in exasperation, and a small sigh escaped his lips as he accepted the waiting period. Louise glanced down at the hedgehog and continued patting along his fur, grooming its mottled appearance as best she could as her fingers glided down his quills. His brows rested neutrally from where they creased, feeling tranquil in the girl's presence.

Louise set her hands down to her sides, balling into fists as her fingernails clawed into her palms. Her gaze, although appearing neutral, expressed an uneasy feeling as the girl tapped her shoes against the floor rhythmically. Her soles echoed softly. Without any sense of time, Louise and Sonic could only wait outside the office listening to the ambiance of the occasional passing conversation far below at the bottom of the staircase, doubled by the slightest sounds of shuffling steps inside the office and muffled voices amid a long-winded discussion. This uneasy silence dragged on until Sonic's agonizing boredom fell to fatigue, and he started nodding off as he gave a heartfelt albeit silent yawn. The hedgehog found his eyes drooping as he felt his mind tugging back in his vision, dragging him to the clasp of rest. It was when he fell into a comfortable sleep resting at the girl's lap that the peaceful silence withered away into the bustling of academic life.

Louise's breaths, which fell to a comfortable rhythm, softened almost imperceptibly. The girl was quiet as her eyes lowered, half-lidded with drowsiness. She adjusted her form as she leaned back on the bench and smothered the hedgehog's quills, hovering next to her familiar with an unfocused gaze, listening to the faint murmurings of the students passing by underneath. The hushed, long-winded conversation shared between the occupants inside the office diminished and gradually came to a resolution.

Finally, faint steps muffled by the velvet carpet lining the flooring of the office parsed the quiet, presenting themselves loud and clear as the footsteps reached the entrance. Louise turned to the double doors, keeping her gaze trained on the handle, noticing the faint change in the usual ambiance of the lobby. Louise yawned lightly, holding a hand to her mouth.

The brief interlude of silence was interrupted by the rumbling of interwoven pistons of the door unlatching, the soft chimes of the knob whining and shifting in place.

Creaking open, a few tentative steps broke from within the doorway. Longueville peeked out the door and gestured for Louise, "Headmaster Osmand requested for you, Miss Vallière. Please come in." Longueville stood aside, showing the Headmaster sitting at his desk, waiting for the student expectantly.

The pinkette nodded with another hearty yawn, stretching lightly as she turned to her familiar, ready to tug him along for the short walk to the office. Stirring the hedgehog awake with repeated effort, Sonic sat up and wiped at his eyes, stumbling from his seat. The hedgehog took a few steps as his hand was wrapped in Louise's palm. Clutching the plant securely in her other arm, Louise and her familiar began walking in tandem to the set of double doors. The secretary sighed with a slight shake of her head while closing the door behind them, silently respecting the peace of the office with no sudden disturbances.

Louise led the walk to the end of the office, footsteps sinking into the floor with quiet thumps. Longueville obliged to her orientation at the corner of the office where her desk lay and settled into her seat, scooting closer to resume her previous unfinished tasks. The secretary plucked her glasses that hung loosely at her collar and affixed them to the bridge of her nose. She slid some scrolls nearby into her grasp and read their contents closely—internally organizing the paperwork and preparing their redistribution to their respective department.

Stopping front and center of Osmand's desk, Louise curtsied; her face was withdrawn of any expression, perhaps steeling her mind for the words that would come next.

Osmand coughed lightly, his tone appearing more accommodating and formal. A small smile was hidden behind his lengthy beard. "Before we continue, I would like to express my apologies for the wait, Ms. Vallière. The discussion between Colbert and I was a little more involved than I initially expected, so forgive my poor judgment of time. So, continuing from that to the matter at hand—" Louise stiffened as she waited with bated breath for the following words to come out of the senior. Osmand clasped his hands and interwove his digits while he laid his elbows on his desk. "You summoned a familiar outside the jurisdiction of your professor and of the traditions established by Brimir."

Louise could only swallow a lump that had built up in her throat in response, and the girl nodded lightly. Longueville raised a brow passively but made no other visible comment.

Osmand continued, authoritative but sympathetic of Louise's standing. "As I understand it, Louise, you came to make an impromptu audience at my office because of this unusual circumstance and decided that I should be made aware of it. Am I correct in this assumption?" Osmand was neither condemning nor condoning the girl before him. Rather, he seemed curious and attentive while waiting for the girl's words.

Louise rolled her thumbs as the silence settled, assuming it was her moment to speak. "...Yes, Headmaster. I-I wasn't sure how... how I should proceed with my familiar. How could I walk back to my classes and face my peers with a familiar I... improperly summoned." She continued her explanations, now finding her voice while her heart beat anxiously as she explained herself. "I didn't know who to confide about my familiar, and I couldn't pretend all's alright in the world now with my familiar. I... had to tell someone... someone who could understand my position and tell me what to do." Louise raised her head from looking at her hands with an apathetic expression and met the Headmaster's gaze. "Headmaster, Professeur Colbert, I summoned a familiar in spite of Brimir... what should I do? What... becomes of me?" Louise's hands balled into fists at her sides; the girl stood rigidly still awaiting their judgment, their verdict.

Osmand raised his brows, surprised at Louise's words. He raised his hands out of concern, "Settle your spirits, Louise! We're disappointed in you, yes—but it's nothing super egregious!"

Louise paused and balked at Osmand's words. "W-what do you? I don't understand..." Louise stammered.

Osmand rubbed his temples, suddenly the one in the room acting flummoxed with uneasiness. "Well, Ms. Vallière, how do I put this... every familiar has a master, but not all masters have familiars. That is to say, once a familiar becomes a familiar, it stays as one with little exception, but this bond could only be done with the master initiating the call, to begin with. If a mage does not start a lifelong partnership for one reason or another, then they won't have a familiar." Osmand continued, "If life were perfect, all mages would have familiars like Brimir instructed. However, sin is bound in our existence. Thus, as sinners, we are selfish and neglect the sacrifices necessary to maintain a good and holy life. We falter in moments where we must stand firmly. A mage may not have a familiar for various reasons, and that's their choice to make as masters of their life. However, in times of great disturbance, the hand is forced upon them."

Osmand stood from his desk and turned to the windowsill, his head hanging slightly with a faint sigh as he watched his familiar sitting on his palm. Motsognir's beady little eyes raised to meet his, "Familiars, Ms. Vallière, are the greatest casualties of military conduct outside of the people. When it comes to the preservation of life in war, the master's life takes precedence over their familiar, so the familiar acts under that which preserve the life of its master, even if such acts put down their own. The loss of a familiar is an expectation in the military, so in a broader conflict, the experienced soldier fights with the knowledge he may lose his familiar. Grief may compel them to remain without one in remembrance. Nevertheless, it is an unspoken expectation that if a familiar is lost in times of great disturbance, the mage is encouraged to replace their fallen familiar for combat readiness as many times as necessary."

Colbert turned away slightly. A slight frown wormed its way up the man's face. Though he appeared ambivalent, his face expressed a sentiment of depth belonging to a long-lived life.

Osmand raised his head as the mouse dithered up to its master's shoulder. The somber tone of the older man softened as he waved his hand dismissively. "Bah, I'm getting ahead of myself! The thing is, Louise, despite deliberately disobeying school conduct with something as significant as the familiar summoning, you won't be suspended from the academy. What's done is done. The familiar had been summoned—so that could only mean our founder Brimir, in all his mercy, blessed you as its charge. What are we, the humble living, to question his judgment? However, if there were a concern for suspension, I'd say those worries have long passed us. The decision for suspension would've come from last semester's destruction of academic property, which I think we're all accustomed to! This place isn't cheap to maintain, you know. The academy has been the crown jewel of Tristain's cultural history since its foundation for thousands of years, with the very first bricks constructed by Brimir's hand no less!" Osmand coughed pointedly.

Louise blinked with a surprised expression. Before that surprise could morph into relief, Osmand held a hand up, suspending Louise in her motions to do or say something. "However, there are still some things to go over." Osmand sat down. "Because of your unexcused absence earlier this morning, Colbert and I felt it imperative to let you know repeated, continuous absences are not tolerated in this academy, and if this unbecoming behavior progresses further, you'll be referred to make-up classes and a potential repeat of the semester."

Standing beside the Headmaster, Colbert continued where Osmand had paused. He coughed lightly, bringing a fist to shield his mouth. "If... it's not a trifling request, Ms. Vallière, Osmand and I would like to prove that your familiar here really is your familiar." Colbert began with an uncertain tone. His face appeared accepting with a soft smile, though his brows were raised with concern.

Louise blinked quickly as Colbert retrieved a feather from his pack of unfurled scrolls, the quill of which was dabbed lightly in a paste of black ink. Osmand spoke in the absence of Colbert. "It would be unethical to proclaim a successful familiar summoning with the guise of a wild animal running around campus and not a proper familiar restrained to the will of their master."

The professor adjusted his glasses as he and Osmand shared a glance. "That is to say, Ms. Vallière, we'd like to see your familiar's runes to confirm his inclusion to the roster of familiars this second semester."

There was one thing that bothered the two men; Louise was trustworthy, but the timing of her announcement was skeptical. It was just the day before that Colbert witnessed first-hand the poor luck the second-year student had with the summoning procession. To hear that she had summoned a familiar successfully without the supervision of official academic correspondence, the circumstances behind Louise's familiar summoning were a little more than coincidental to the older gentlemen. It was notable how she was only able to summon the supposed familiar standing before them only once everyone who could corroborate its summoning could be a witness to it.

It was all so strange. A magically inept noble couldn't summon a familiar after repeatedly failing to yield any, yet the notion that it took more than one try to finally summon this familiar standing before them had the older men doubtful of the information. Generally, under the rules placed by Brimir himself, it was a one-and-done deal. Any more than that was cause for a mage that may or may not end up a traitor to the principles of Founderism.

Louise, albeit worried by Colbert's words, nodded and turned to her familiar, "O-of course."

Sonic quickly took notice of the girl kneeling on the floor, facing her as she reached for his left hand. Holding his arm up, Louise pulled off Sonic's glove, revealing the strange runic text on the back of his hand for the two to observe and document. Osmand and Colbert remained steadfast as they stared at the unusual work of symbols tattooed on the familiar's hand, yet a weird sense of familiarity emanated through Colbert. It was inscribed with a unique runic text; it appeared familiar, yet the runes' presentation seemed structured differently, almost antiquated in a sense. Wordlessly, Colbert sketched down the runic text for reference, his face passive and in deep thought, seemingly wishing to hold his tongue.

Longueville, who idled in the background, parsed through her work diligently, sitting leisurely in her comparatively strewn desktop while tending to her administrative duties. She quietly organized her parchments belonging to various compartments, ranging from staff complaints, repositories for school equipment, academic material, and wardrobes for the academy's personnel, separated into various departments. The workload that burdened the young woman as the personal assistant of the headmaster was done swiftly without complaint. She was an adept model in her field, with an air of excellence to aspire for. The secretary was engrossed in her work without visible hindrance as she conducted her tasks, seemingly tuning out the tense and emotionally charged discourse between the room's other occupants.

However, this was but a veil she adorned. The woman paused her work for but a moment. Her digits faltered where they inclined to continue as her ears could not help but catch the last of the headmaster's words as he regarded the student before him. Longueville's brows furrowed slightly as she resumed her work without another hitch—as if she never paused to eavesdrop on the exchange with mild curiosity. In the midst of the conference between the student and Headmaster, Longueville's ears strained to listen in on the Headmaster's spiel of the nature of familiars and their connection to their masters. The young woman hummed passively while Osmand commented on the nature of Louise's familiar with a startling hypothesis. Longueville snuck a glance to the lookout where Osmand sat before, her pupils scanning the girl and her familiar between the bangs of her hair that streamed down to blanket her purposeful look. She shuffled in her seat and lent an ear to listen more closely as she returned to read another scroll, breaking its wax seal to unfurl its contents.

With proof of the bond now bare for the two to see, Osmand deemed it no need to observe the text any longer. "Thank you, Louise. Colbert, please see to it that the familiar is listed officially among the roster of familiars for the second years this semester."

The professor nodded. "It may take some time with the curriculum still being prepared for the upcoming week. However, as it's an unusual albeit familiar inscription, it could be done sooner rather than later." Colbert bowed to the headmaster, taking his leave from the conversation.

Osmand waved half-heartedly to the professor, turning to Louise as his hands flitted about in the air as he spoke with the student. "If there is nothing else to add that I should be made aware of Louise, then I do declare this appointment adjourned." Osmand yawned quietly, his short pause resuming as Louise responded succinctly.

"There's nothing else I wish to add, Headmaster. All I ask is when—when will I know when my familiar will be accepted." Louise curtsied as she spoke, her voice hitched slightly with concern.

"I'll have Madame Longueville call you over once your professeur is ready to prepare the final verdict and finish the documentation. It may take until tomorrow, so I suggest keeping your familiar hidden in the meantime. We wouldn't want you in more trouble than you already are. With all that said, you may take your leave." Osmand turned away from Louise as he pondered the events before him, staring down the courtyard with a steeled look in his tired eyes.

Louise frowned. Her mind reeled in thought as she carefully mulled over the Headmaster's words.

Louise entered the room expecting to at least gain some form of clarity and closure with her familiar, instead, Osmand's words had left her more mentally cluttered than before; she waited for her ruling, but as soon as she was given an answer, she was told to wait yet again. From that point, there wasn't really much she could do except wallow anxiously amidst the spindling grasp of time. If there was a silver lining, at least she knew she wouldn't be suspended for her repeated summoning; that being said, Louise's face paled slightly with the knowledge that she could have been suspended at any given point in the academy, simply from her wanton explosive magic!

Louise gulped, trying her best to ignore the hot lump of frustration stinging the back of her throat. Seeing as the Headmaster had nothing else to say, Louise put the glove back on Sonic's hand, standing up to face the wise old man.

"Thank you, Headmaster." Louise turned around and tugged the blue blur out of the office without further word. The doors creaked as they parsed open and closed with a click a moment later.

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There was a rather inscrutable stillness outside the Headmaster's office. Once Louise and her familiar stepped into the lobby, the passage of time presented itself on a pleasant school day. The streams of daylight snaked their way inside the spire, their golden illumination lengthened and brightened with the arrival of noon.

Louise huffed, her dour mood awash with a new determined outlook, no longer chained to the whims of uncertainty regarding her familiar. Her brows were still furrowed slightly, but she stood with a rekindled flame. She had some leverage to grasp her destiny and pave a future in which she determined her life, and she would savor every last freedom of this given opportunity. With a haughty scoff, she grasped her blue familiar and hefted the potted plant in her other arm, beginning their descent down the spiraling staircase. It was time—her life was now firmly in her hands, and with her familiar in tow, she had all the reason to spend this new lease on life to cultivate their relationship.

Louise and Sonic worked their way down the spiral staircase, and unlike the arduous trek up the steps of the spire, the descent down the steps was far more easing to the soles. The girl's steps rapped against the floor with a rapid and rhythmic crescendo, echoing softly against the billowed circular halls with each click of her heels.

Sonic skipped easily behind the girl. Her faster pace going down the staircase allowed the hedgehog to leisurely meander and take in the numbing sight of the seemingly endless spire staircase. He hummed silently, a tune heard only in his mind as he enjoyed the peaceful reverie of the walk compared to the stuffy room they were in. He felt liberated, refreshed with all the air that pulsed along with the chirps of birds cruising by between the windows that lined the walls of the spire.

Louise, meanwhile, was too engrossed with her eager mind to pay her familiar any attention, completely missing the blue blur waltzing naturally on the walls of the spire. She thundered down the steps with the desire to indulge the remainder of the day in getting to know her familiar—and this want was reflected in her hops between the steps below, skipping alongside the familiar who was still held firmly in her grasp. Louise laughed exasperatedly; her heart thrummed in her chest madly with the snaking journey, yet the burning of her calves and the thin streams of sweat that flung from her skin was not what had Louise unraveled in its grasp. Rather, the excitement of the day ahead and days to come began to drive the girl with a yearning anticipation.

The pair winced slightly as they passed each floor. The streams of light pouring from the canvasses of open apertures alongside the spire's walls partially blinded their eyes with the brilliance of white luminescence; nevertheless, they never faltered in their purposeful steps to escape the spire's hold. Their steps sounded mountainous with the reverberations of the spire's walls as they scampered further down, like crashing thunder rumbling low and roaring further away. As they continued nimbly trekking down the trail before them, they could see the spire begin to unravel its reach, expanding noticeably with each step taken.

Louise glanced down the gaping hole at the center of the staircase, finding that a few more flights of stairs remained as light from the torches that aligned the academy's walls streamed into the hallway, leading away from the sprawling spire. The duo hurried along the steps, and within their rush down the staircase, the hollow ground that echoed their footsteps began to dampen, the floor becoming more heft and solid from the traditional cobblestone flooring to the interspersed wooden tiles, completing the high gothic architecture of the building's interior hall. Louise finally finished the journey with a choked thud of her soles stomping the end of the staircase, observing the sights of the academy's halls with a disquieted interest. Her familiar trailed right behind her as he hopped over the last few steps and slid up to Louise's side.

By the time Louise and Sonic had reached the first floor, midday arrived before the duo with the dazzling performance of a luminescent dance within the stained-glass panes adorning the expansive halls, the light from the sun shaping bright bejeweled squares through the tall windows lining the base of the central tower. Faint wisps of dust dithered and thickened the air with its foggy presence under the glare of light. The specks plumed, scattering wildly about as the duo disturbed their flight with their sudden appearance.

Compared to the expeditious lunch rush the two experienced earlier, the hallways were mostly cleared of students and teachers save for the occasional passersby. The hallways were instead inhabited mostly by maids, butlers, and staff members too preoccupied with their toils to bother paying the striking duo more than a placid glance.

Louise swatted at the air as she began walking down the hall, focused squarely on arriving promptly at her dorm, away from peering eyes.

A bout of hunger caught Louise by surprise, stopping her in her tracks. The girl winced as she clutched her belly, feeling it rumbling softly underneath her fingers. The prior stress of her circumstances had drained the girl of her strength throughout the morning, and she hadn't joined her peers for breakfast or lunch when they were available. She hadn't eaten all day, sans the bowl of soup she ate in the nursery.

Louise grimaced at her earlier choice, skipping breakfast in favor of spending her precious time with her familiar. At any other conventional time in the academy, she would have enjoyed a meal at the dining hall, but the sensitivity of her current situation had outweighed the need for her worldly desires. Despite her grumbling stomach, all she wanted to do was sit in her room alone, tending to her familiar, away from reality.

With her party in tow, Louise guided the hedgehog down a few turns, unimpeded in their journey save for the bustling academy staff streaming between the duo. The staff conducted their duties as commoners, maintaining the quality of the academy for the recreational use of the student body along with an esteemed presentation for guests visiting. The blue blur and the pinkette reached a set of double doors, the exit leading into the bridge that connected the tower of fire to the main building. Louise grasped the handle of one of the doors and pulled back with a grunt. She stepped back and grabbed Sonic's free hand, guiding them out the hall's steps.

Louise's eyes winced as the bright light of midday pierced her vision. Her skin pricked at the feeling of the air; the dry and stilled air of the academy's halls was engulfed by the cool winds of the courtyard, the heat of the sun beating down on her skin. She held a hand over her eyes as she studied the courtyard with a bubbling apprehension—they were finally outside, the bridge above providing shade from the sun. Louise dusted off her plaid midi-skirt and readjusted her cloak, trotting the smoothed cobblestone stairs that dispersed into the academy's courtyard with the taps of her heels striking against its rocky skin.

Walking the trail, the route they had taken was a mindless trip for Louise; it was a necessity yet a detour to the pinkette, the path taken solely for her familiar to memorize. The girl scanned the scenery before, pondering what to entertain her familiar with. Between the pass of every open arch supporting the bridge—of the flickering light and shade from the columns adorning the earth—Louise caught flower petals wafting along the soft breeze, the populated gardens lining the exterior walls coalescing about in the green pastures. A remarkably peaceful reverie blew through within the calm miasma of the billowing winds, parting individual streams of Louise's hair.

Said hair flapped right in front of Sonic's face.

The hedgehog whipped his head around, wiping his nose as bundles of pink hair tickled his black button nose. He sighed, content with the momentary reprieve at the natural abundance of nature watching. The green plains were silent except for the soft trills of the grass swishing along by the guide of the wind, blessing Sonic to the Concierto of the world. He was tempted to lay down and pat the earth, to feel the blades of grass waving in his hands or cup a handful of soft dirt and watch it spill between his fingers, yet he could only laugh in silence—more of Louise's hair whisked at his face.

The bright glow of the two diminished, a great shade suddenly blanketing them in the comforts of the cool wind passing by. Sonic turned from his peaceful existence to Louise and eyed his caretaker seriously, wondering where she was leading them. The girl took a deep breath, one of comfort as the two of them continued approaching the end of their trip. It was surprising how few students she came across, bringing Louise a vaguely curious disposition to the whereabouts of the student body within the hour.

Sonic's ears suddenly perked at a distinctly unique clamor of sounds, too distantly removed from the courtyard's calm, windy disposition. He turned to face the unusual consonance, and at the same time, Louise had noticed the rather uneventful journey to their dorm suddenly caught the surveillance of another distant quarry. The girl faltered in her comforted stroll, paused, and gazed in attention.

The pair could see a crowd of students before them—spread somewhat apart laughing and... playing in the field. The pure zeal and delight within their voices were infectious, enviable to Louise as they sauntered about each other, tossing reins of grass into the air and watching it glide away or using their magic to play simple games in the field, utilizing a cloak rolled up tightly into an improvised ball.

However, what caught the girl's rapt attention in the middle of the students' recreational activities, she saw her peers amongst the splintered audience playing with their familiars.

Louise blinked rapidly as if in denial of the scene before her. Her breath was caught in her throat as she felt her eyes burn with envy and her heart swell with yearning. It was an undeniably beautiful scene of the simple enjoyment of life, kids playing in the field of grassy and floral pastures without much care in the world, their partners tagging alongside to complete the heartening sight; her classmates and the rest of the second years were enraptured in happiness, making everlasting friendships from the smallest moments of time and unionizing themselves with perfect harmony alongside their begotten familiars. Creatures big and small filled the fields as their masters interacted with them playfully, wanting nothing more than to exist in their playful jubilation as they were in this present time.

Some of the second years were testing out their bond's capabilities with made-up games. Some watched in awe their familiars' beauty, might, and power at full display following their masters' whims. One duo within the masse even began pulling out a few magic tricks to woo their audience, and their efforts were reciprocated with cheers and wonder. It was beautiful as it was simple, a scene of bright merriness of the youth forming fond memories with their games and tricks. The bonding session shifted like water with each passing moment as a collage of students circled together with their familiars in tow, playing little games—like the friendly showcase of practice between tag teams. The excitement even garnered the attention of a few first and third-year students idling about in the courtyard.

All of it was enjoyed... without Louise.

Louise clutched her arm, rubbing it softly as she glanced at the golden bracelet fitted snugly on her wrist. She turned away from the scene, her face forlorn with a yearning and pained resolution. She leaned onto a column, covering her from the elements and shadowing her presence from her peers—cloaked in a darkness so suffocating it was imperceptible to the eye.

No one noticed her, wallowing in the shade with her familiar.

The dissociation of her existence was all too well known for Louise. It was a humbling reminder of who she was in the academy; a zero, a value without value. Life seemed better and brighter without her, and everyone wouldn't act any different, but she couldn't help but yearn—to be amongst her classmates in their fun, sharing the youthful bliss of their auspicious veneer in frozen memories.

As Louise tore herself from the lanky wall, she leaned over to watch the peaceful scenery with one last meaningful look—hoping to burn the image into her mind. Someday, she could be there among the crowd, as their equal, as another face in a friendly group. A few loose strands of hair streamed down the girl's face though she made no attempt to parse them aside; however, a haughty laughter thundered from the audience.

Standing clear as day was that red-headed wench, proudly surrounded by a crowd of admirers looking to captivate her... or being captivated by her and her marvelously massive melon—I mean, flaming salamander, whose burning flaming tail casted whisks of ash from burnt flower petals and blades of grass. The mere sight of Kirche loitering around with her familiar and her cult of "personality" reminded Louise of her social standing.

The girl cursed under her breath with a pained snarl.

Sonic turned worryingly to Louise, squeezing his clasp on the girl's palm reassuringly. The small gesture shook Louise from her pained reverie, the girl turning to her familiar with a thankful albeit weak smile.

Swallowing down her emotions, Louise nodded to herself, readjusting her gait. Her traipse reinvigorated with a yearning fire as the girl sped down the remaining trail of the bridge. The world before Louise's eyes bounced up and down rhythmically with each step as she and her familiar clambered the rest of the dissipating cobbled trail, the distance closing with each given step. Louise huffed as sweat dribbled down her face, dropping below her chin, before she ground her soles against the floor, dragging herself to a gradual stop in the course of her run. Her pace dwindled from a thunderous sprint to a slowed crawl, and then a pause.

Louise peered down at her feet, rubbing them anxiously on the floor, before gathering the courage to glance up from the ground and glare at the entrance to the fire tower and its architectural craftsmanship that adorned the interior of the cobblestone forest. The pathway gathered about in conjunction with the design of the bridge, as if it were an extension of the engineering feat—a limb to a host body.

Louise approached the double doors, listlessly glancing about herself at the entrance to the tower's spindling dorm halls. She held a hand onto the walls of the fire tower, admiring in solemnity the crafts of the artisans that enveloped the academy in its ancient brilliance. The foundational parts that completed and furthered the structural integrity of the building appeared to the girl like the unfurled petals of flowers, reaching out to be complimented in the finality of its frozen piece, waiting for the grasp to be reciprocated in kind with any passerby. With a fleeting touch, the girl beheld the building with a furrowed look. She began to whisper to herself, vowing quietly her greatest accomplishments that were yet to come.

Gone with the hold of the building, the pinkette returned to the grasp of her familiar's hand, maintaining a muted yet meaningful gaze at the cobblestone walls. She reached for the doorknob and parted the door open, leading the familiar inside. The door creaked behind them, clicking softly as it closed. Just ahead were a few students ambling about in the lobby with their meaningless diatribes and hotheaded egotisms, but Louise paid them no further attention as she gently tugged Sonic, the hedgehog taking in the scenery with mild curiosity. He marveled at the rustic feel of the lobby.

The room basked in a warmth from the small flickers of torches lined along the walls. Sonic couldn't help but coat himself in the cozy feeling, soothing rather than irritating, but he felt a tug at his arm. He was rapt at attention when he glanced up to Louise, looking at her curiously and expectantly; it seemed they still had a bit more to trek before they reached their final destination... wherever that may be.

Louise gestured to the familiar, to keep moving. Sonic obliged, nodding patiently at the girl's insistence, and was met with a warm smile.

The two strolled past much of the recreational halls for student use, their hike arriving at yet another staircase leading to the girls' dorm rooms. Sticking around for too long would've only meant trouble for her with curious and expectant eyes, whether she did nothing or not. The somewhat stuffy staircase was alit with the rumbling echoes of the pair's steps, the sounds approaching like a bustling crowd encroaching upon the calm stillness of the dormitories. Their walk to journey the winding, elevating path partitioned a few times as the pathway opened into other halls along the sides, leading to other expectant dormitories waiting to be occupied with its inhabitants, though Louise was not listed among them.

Their uneven steps echoed all along the walls of the hallway the higher they went, just until they could see the faint glimmer of sunlight piercing through a window, shining directly onto the floor of Louise's dorm. Louise shifted her pace and turned for the hallway, catching Sonic swinging along in an arc as he caught up with the girl. He strafed from Louise's dress, the flaps of the girl's plaid midi-skirt waving wildly from her gait.

Louise slowed down, glancing between the doors lining the walls around her, looking for the address adorning the enclosures of the passageway. Each number inched ever so closely to her room, at last stopping at a plaque inscribed neatly on a wall beside the door. Sonic stretched, flat-lining the knots on his back as Louise released her grasp on him. She grabbed the doorknob and began fiddling with her pockets, her key ring clinking as a rod of pins rocked once she unlocked the door. A thud followed as the door parted slightly, the hinges squeaking quietly as if acknowledging the arrival of its occupants from an extended absence.

Louise lazily swung the door open, leaving the wall to catch it from the whims of physics.

While the student attempted to heed the Headmaster's err of caution, treading back to her dorm without assuming too much noise along the way, Louise could no longer attempt the uneasy peace. Her strength dwindled, drained from the effort of remaining undetected throughout the journey to the Fire Tower. The energy of the girl lapsed as she entered her room's suffocating albeit familiarly relieving presence and headed for its space of reprieve. It welcomed her with open arms, cool air enveloping Louise and easing a growing headache, but the debilitating walk vanished, vacillating right until the lock clicked behind her. Louise held her shoulder, stumbling till she hit laid back against the door, the cool surface bringing her a shivering rise.

Louise gasped for air as she slowly heaved a sigh of relief.

With exhaustion catching up to her at last, her body gradually fell as she grinded softly against the surface of the door, but instead of meeting the tiled floor, Louise plopped her rear directly on Sonic's head, the action flattening the hedgehog to the floor. The pressing weight on the hedgehog suddenly juxtaposed his unsuspecting person, causing him to squeak as he was blindsided by the girl's choice decision. Louise's eyes widened in shock as she felt the fur of her familiar dig into her. A yelp escaped her lips. The spiky blue appendages had pierced into her skirt, causing the once-tired girl to all but leap onto her feet as she clutched her behind tenderly.

Louise slumped over as she stood on the balls of her feet, taking a few steps to reach for the pole jutting up at the corner of her bed and steady herself. She gingerly grasped her thighs and carefully swept through her skirt with tender, uneasy motions, trying to single out the quills that embedded themselves onto her clothing; Louise shrieked in pain as she plucked the most egregious stingers from her buttocks. Luckily, most of the quills were caught by her cloak, giving the girl respite from the pain.

Tearing the cloak from her shoulders, Louise turned to face Sonic with a furious yet playful indignation, a crimson puff in her cheeks. Tears had pooled at the corners of her eyes, but before she could raise her voice of frustration, her familiar presented Louise the beautiful rosy potted plant she threw away in her agonized impromptu massage. The student could only stare blankly as Sonic held the plant up, her bewilderment run dry after so many heart-stopping scenes shared between her and her familiar. There were only so many reactions she could make on her face from such a peculiar familiar.

Every time her eyes landed on the oddly anthropomorphic being, she could feel a simmering broil of chaos and life betwixt his deep onyx eyes. Somehow in the midst of her pained contemplations, gazing down at the hedgehog, she was reminded of what the world saw in her. Perhaps for the first time, she comprehended the unassuming rosy girl staring back in her familiar's glossy eyes.

Louise's puffed cheeks trembled where they built up, threatening to explode in a mad tangent. Instead, the girl shut her eyes tight with a deeply furrowed expression and gulped down her words, resolving to give a tired albeit condescending sigh. She patted her familiar's cheek heartily, quietly thanking his thoughtfulness as she set the potted plant aside on the room's only desk and draped her cloak on the tea table.

Huffing, Louise went over to her bed, pilfering the soft pillows on the mattress, and finally sat down. She shuffled mindlessly in place as she comfortably adjusted her cushioned seat, sagging within the comfort of her billowed bed. The girl balled a handful of her bedsheets and thumbed the silky linen texture passively, kicking her black leather heels away. Her legs ambled in the air, subtly swinging them back and forth as she allowed herself to be consumed with the quiet and faintly sweet perfume that enveloped the room. Louise turned to the sound of her familiar shuffling next to her, swooping her feet from the ground and hugging her knees as she watched Sonic with a pointed curiosity—wondering how he'd adjust to her living quarters.

Sonic gave the room a casual once over, whistling silently to himself as he took in the rather spartan room. Outside of the basic necessities, the room wasn't much for an eye of fashion, but it served its purpose of housing the occupants. The hedgehog turned to the pinkette, the girl gazing back at him with as much interest as he had for the room. Sonic laid his hands on his hips as he turned his attention back to the room, touring himself the room. He knocked his knuckles on the little furniture that decorated the floor, testing the structural support of the material and eyed the craftsmanship of the design. Sonic stood on his toes as he peeked at Louise's desk, giving the mirror adorned on the desk a once over, pausing his tour momentarily to peer at his own reflection with a disquieted interest.

Sonic stared at his head, more importantly, his face.

The hedgehog rubbed his chin curiously, scooting over the lone chair sitting in front of the desk and hopped onto the seat. He furrowed at the reflection in the mirror as he studied his face, suddenly sighing in relief as an unnoticed anxiety faded from his person. Here he stood in another world, the same true-blue hedgehog still standing before him in the mirror. Though, what caught his eye were his quills, which normally spruced back from his head, sporting a new diva look. A pigtail sprouted off the side in a Dutch braid.

Sonic laughed quietly at the sight, firing a few poses with sass. He looked... well, unique to say the least. He suddenly had a thoughtful expression as he cupped his chin and tapped his sole against the seat, wondering if the getup was what a certain mouse was referring to. In his musing, Sonic nearly fell over onto the floor, saving himself as he whipped his arms around in the air. Recovering from his tripping animation, the hedgehog found the hairdo completely undone, his quills settling back to the way they originally were. Sonic drooped at the ruin of the girl's work as he held his head, but was interrupted by a bout of giggling coming from behind him. He caught the pinkette watching him inquisitively in the mirror, studying his actions, but her serious stupor was quickly broken by his antics.

She calmed down, dotting a small smile on her lips.

Sonic considered the wonderous eyes of the girl, appearing as an observer finding something truly one of a kind. He settled his hands down to his sides, wiping away the worry that donned his face. He turned to Louise with a lopsided grin, shrugging from the awkwardness.

Sonic returned his sights to the desk, the platform used where schoolwork was normally done, in fascination. Seeing such old-timey methods of work still in use like the famed quill and bottle of ink astonished the hedgehog, the pair of utensils set at the corner of the desktop's surface. The hedgehog plucked the quill of the feather from its stand and felt the texture. It felt surprisingly heavy in his grasp, at least for something he never used. He bobbed his hand around in mimicry of writing, letting the silky strands tickle his fingers lightly. Sonic wondered whether the feather itself was fake or real, but even wielding it in his hands, he still had no certainty of the answer.

Setting the feather back on its stand, Sonic turned to the only other noticeably intriguing aspect of the girl's dorm, the window pane that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The transparent manila drapes that hung from the ceiling coiled and unfurled on the ground as the hedgehog approached the window, disturbing the still air. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the windowpane was—in fact—a glass door, shielding the occupants from the elements outside. Open it and you were invited to enjoy the scenery brought about by the roomy balcony outside. Sonic parted the thicket of the drapes aside and reached for the glass door, prompting Louise to take a step from her bed in outreach; her expression faltered its relieved contentions as it appeared with sudden apprehension.

The girl was enraptured with a frightful worry, that her familiar might escape her or repeat its previous stunt. Sonic stilled his motions just in time to notice his caretaker place a firm, though nevertheless gentle hand on his shoulder, looking down to his eyes with a shake of her head and a wag of her finger. Sonic sagged with derision, shaking his head at the girl's apprehension but relented to her uncertainty. Another time perhaps the hedgehog figured. Still, Sonic made do with his observations of the girl's dorm and peered just outside the window, looking at the plain scene across the balcony. A small round table with a single chair sitting next to it. Sonic could only wonder how the sights and sounds could elevate such a peaceful scene on a particularly warm summer's day; just him lazing about with a glass of cold lemonade to go around.

He'd like that, very much.

Sonic turned from the glass door and walked to the most spacious part of the room having now acquainted himself, lost in thought as he watched Louise return to her bed.

What to do... what to do.

Sonic scratched his quills in deep thought, his mind occupied with charting the various courses for the future, primarily for the recovery of the emeralds. Without warning, he kicked his feet from the floor and slunk into the Windmill. He flipped in the air and landed on his hands, curling onto the floor as he continued the swing of his legs. Louise jumped lightly into the air, giving the blue blur space from her startled reaction. She squeaked in surprise as the familiar coursed through his motions with the grace of a breakdancing sequence, his body spinning around on the ground—working up dust as it made its way into the air.

With his final act, Sonic gracefully stopped all his momentum, sliding to a stop in a circular motion. Landing on his side, Sonic and Louise stared at each other in awe. Focused on the sight of the other, the emotional highs surrounding their first-ever meeting had died down. Instead, a sense of wonder and mindfulness settled in its stead; questions arose in each of them, the mystery of figuring out the character of the other looming within them.

Who is this creature/girl?

Where is he/she from?

Why did she summon him/Why was he summoned by her?

What was he/she meant to do here?

How was he supposed to understand her/How was she supposed to understand him?

When will he finally get home/When will she be reckoned as a mage?

Such thoughts crossed their minds as they glanced at each other; the two beings eyed the other with suspenseful interest, wanting to know more.

"I completely forgot. You still don't have a name." Louise whispered, her head perking slightly with a sudden start. A dawn of realization flashed through her eyes as she recalled her appointment with the Headmaster earlier that day. Louise laid back into the bed, her sheets puffing with life as she shifted to her side and cupped her head with a palm gazing at her familiar absentmindedly. Louise sniffled as her hair tickled her nose.

Late as it may be, the pinkette realized that she had time to come up with a name for her familiar. Her heart thrummed excitedly as her mind diligently shuffled about the names she's read within the fantastical history of the continent, spanning across the records of several millennia dating back to the ancient continental civilization of imperial Romania, or of the stories that Cattleya would share—stories of worlds that dawned with heroes, Gods, and villains in a cosmic play—of which captivated her mind with vivid imagery since her childhood.

Louise thought back to the laborious days of her social life at school. The student for so long was preoccupied with finding ways to correct and fix her magical disabilities, but now that she performed a miracle, she had the chance to redeem herself in the face of her reality. Yet, with her adrenaline sapped, the mysticism behind coming up with a name for her familiar was gone. It was underwhelming, whittling away at the corners of the most pressing concerns as Louise dawdled on the thought.

She was very tired, aching for a simple meal to enjoy with her familiar.

The innocuous staring contest ended as Louise jolted slightly in place and blinked suddenly—briefly, as she shook her head slightly. The girl sat up from where she laid comfortably on the seat of the bed, parsing the strands of hair from her face and letting them splay out messily at her sides. She stood up from the bed, yawning while stretching her core and raising her hands to the ceiling, interweaving her fingers together as she loosened the knots building up around her body since the morning. Louise patted her familiar warmly from where he lay on the floor as she strolled leisurely on her way over to her desk.

Sonic blinked as Louise opened one of the drawers, pulled out a slip of paper, grabbed her bottle of ink and white feather, and brought everything over to the small tea table beside her nightstand. She sat down on the lonesome chair, setting her desk tools carefully.

The girl's legs shifted under the table as she crossed one leg over the other, the hanging leg bouncing up subtly in the air as the girl began to get lost in thought. For a moment, she gazed at the blank sheet with a neutral, unfocused expression; no matter how hard she prodded the excellent and powerful names that flew by from the winding history of Halkeginia, nothing molded itself perfectly like a buttered paste of bread, waiting to be conjoined in a perfect union with another slice. She had no foothold of her familiar, and without knowing what it could do, what it was like, what it enjoyed, she could not give it a fitting name—a name worthy of the Vallière's own flair of excellence.

One step forward, two steps back.

Louise faltered, and her face lowered with an exasperated look. Her lips hung low with a thin frown, and her writing hand holding the wettened quill of her feather that had yet to touch the parchment, trembled slightly; suddenly the weight of the feather was too much for her hand to bear, and it felt crushing in her hand. All the names she considered withered away in a smog of uncertainty, and Louise could no longer hold the feather, still wet with ink. A droplet formed at the tip of the quill, ready to fall to her desk until she slid the threaded needle of the feather back into the ink bottle. Louise sagged, a disappointing sigh escaping her lips in a huff as she leaned into her creaking chair, the furthest away she could be as her arms hung limply by her side. Her motivation to begin writing down her familiar's name all but sapped away; she wasn't yet ready to give it a name without properly getting to know her familiar.

Louise set her hands on her face, groaning softly as she rubbed her eyes slowly. She paused, noticing a textured and cold metal touching her cheek. She pulled her hands away from her face, hovering them in place as she was caught off guard by the appearance of the gold ring jiggling around her wrist. It was the same golden ring she had been given as her familiar's gift earlier in the morning, the one which she happily obliged to adorn on her person. Louise gave it a more thoughtful look as she gingerly took it off her wrist and studied it with a closer inspection. Louise eyed the rim of its scattered golden surface, and she could see faintly along the ring that it was inscribed with a runic description she couldn't yet recognize.

How hadn't she noticed it before? It was there the whole time, and yet she had mindlessly fitted about herself like some vain jewelry to display. Louise returned the ring where it rested on her wrist. Her brows creased, puzzled by her imagination. Why would she get another mystery if the ring was given to her as a gift from her familiar? Maybe the symbols on the face of the ring were a name, revealing its origin? Louise set her hands down on her lap, sitting up on her chair. Perhaps deciphering its contents would grant her wisdom or a gift... judging by its mysterious nature? She shook her head dismissively at the listless curiosities, does it really matter? Verily? Deciphering the name of the ring wasn't necessary, she figured. Louise scoffed, glancing away as she returned to ponder various names to choose from. It would make no difference in whether or not she'd study the esoteric nature of this intriguing gift by her familiar; she was appreciative of the thoughtfulness behind its owner, nevertheless.

Speaking of her familiar, Louise turned to Sonic, her brows creased and furrowing in thought where an idea shimmered and progressively grabbed at her attention. Oh, how she wondered.

The hedgehog hadn't really presented himself much, apart from his participation in joining her unwittingly with the Headmaster. Maybe a few gifts here and there, but that was out of sight and out of mind for a currently restless girl. The passive side of a person can only provide so much to their beholder before digging further into their personality. At this point, Louise figured with a slight uneasy grimace that it was time to experiment; maybe something might come up from this.

Louise stood up from where she sat, scooted the small chair back, and walked right over to the hedgehog. Sonic paused his current fixation to glance up at the girl, all while he was in the middle of wiping away mindlessly against his glossy soles, cleaning them of any debris that were caught about their edges. She cleared her throat to catch his full attention, to which she was given as the hedgehog rolled to face her and the girl froze, uncertain with her actions. While Louise paused for a moment, she wondered—what could she say?

Louise suddenly recalled—as she absentmindedly stared at her familiar about some of her upperclassmen's discussions on treating their familiars, more broadly how they tended to their masters' most immediate and pressing concerns each day. Louise gasped, remembering a common beginner assessment for familiars; present their partners with chores!

Lousie stood straighter, satisfied with something to try with her familiar.

The girl walked around her familiar and reached for her wardrobe cabinet, squatting to the floor as she parted and closed several drawers looking anxiously for something within. Now, where were they...

Louise skimmed through several drawers, clearly dismayed for missing the items she was looking for. However, as the pink-haired girl closed a drawer and thumbed another drawer beside it, she felt a faint yet present weight on it compared to the rest and pulled its contents out, a pile of wands rolling and gathering at the end of her drawer. Louise sighed with relief, thankful to have packed spare wands in case of emergencies such as her own. The most quality wands that comfortably channeled willpower from the user were not cheap, especially with the secondhand market that plagued the country's capital.

Louise smiled with a determined glint in her eye as she carefully thumbed through the sticks until she caught a wand that met her fancy. She laughed with euphoric relief as she gingerly yanked the wand and closed the drawer. She walked over to where Sonic sat and set the wand on the floor, leaning down slightly to meet his face.

"My familiar, as my first order of the day, I beseech upon you and command your will. Fetch me my wand." Louise said encouragingly.

The whole time, Sonic had waited expectantly for Louise, wondering if the girl had some kind of plan in mind. And it looked like it did for a moment. The girl stood expectantly, hands on her hips as she had her eyes closed waiting for her familiar.

She waited with bated breath, yet despite her insistence on waiting... nothing of note happened.

Louise opened one eye, peeking curiously at the hedgehog as she found him exactly where he lay, no wand in hand. That was... not what she hoped for. The student huffed and repeated herself, her eyes closing as her words came out with a bit more force with this effort, "My familiar, I command you as your master to fetch me my wand!" Louise shouted with eager and hopeful anticipation, perhaps her familiar needed her to be more clear. She waited, her eyes still closed, holding her hand in the air waiting for her wand to be returned to her... yet as before, all that met the girl's palms was the weight of gravity. Louise peeked an eye out to sneak a glance at her familiar, only to find him sitting and bouncing on the bed with mild enthusiasm.

Louise opened her eyes fully and gaped at the scene. The girl faltered from her pose as her arms slumped down to her sides in confusion. Perhaps she just needed to show him what her wand looked like first? The youngest of the Vallière's thought uncertainly, though with a hopeful insistence. She lightly pushed the hedgehog onward with gentle appraisal, hoping that this insistence would encourage it to move for her wand. Yet despite Louise's efforts, the hedgehog glanced back at her curiously. It seemed lost, and that understanding had Louise second-guess herself.

If her familiar couldn't fetch her wand, then perhaps this necessitated a change of plans.

Louise picked up her wand and went to her dresser, putting the wand away in her breast pocket. Having settled that little thought experiment with her familiar, the girl then decided the next best course of action was to have her familiar be her attendant; more specifically, clean up after the girl. Louise walked back to her wardrobe cabinet, grasped the handle of its door, and parted it aside as the girl glanced between the items available in her cabinet for use. Louise hummed softly as she nimbly picked and prodded at her school-appropriate ware, mindlessly going about how she'd begin settling her familiar with the knowledge to clean after herself. The pink-haired girl thumbed through her clothes hangers as an idea caught her in the midst of her search. Louise's eyes lit up with excitement as the girl took out an equally identical white dress shirt and a black plaid midi-skirt she currently wore, holding the articles of her clothing over her chest to see if they matched her present look. Satisfied with the objects, Louise hummed sing-song, turning around to face her familiar while holding them up in the air for him to notice. Louise walked up casually as she addressed her familiar.

"My familiar, this is my school uniform." Louise wagged and wiggled the clothes she held in her hands to demonstrate and enunciate her words. "Every morning when I wake up, I need you to bring me my uniform and help me change out of my nightgown and into these." Louise threw her shirt on the bed and the skirt on the tea table. She went back to her wardrobe cabinet squatting down slightly as she rummaged within and after a moment the girl removed herself from the cabinet, pulling out a black pair of shoes held firmly in one hand and an unfurled roll of thigh-high stockings in the other. Louise turned around with a childish gait in her steps and gestured the familiar to her, Louise leaned down as her familiar approached the girl curiously whilst presenting them to the hedgehog.

"These are also part of my uniform, my familiar. They're how I get around the academy!" Tossing the shoes off to a corner of the room and setting the socks on her desk, Louise stood at the center of her dorm placing her hands on her hips. She nodded, confident in her familiar's conscious understanding of her words. Louise recalled in her first semester of the academic year, that as a first-year student of the Tristainian Academy of Magic familiars chosen by their masters gain an increased intelligence than they would otherwise have as uncivilized wild beats roaming the earth, in order for their master to be able to communicate with them. With that knowledge in mind, Louise threw an arm proudly into the air as she spoke.

"Familiar, fetch me my clothes!" With gusto, again she tried her hand.

With a reignited effort, the familiar went to work, scattering around the room as quickly as it could to obtain such items having finally understood its given assignment from its master with patiently and reciprocating eyes... or so Louise initially hoped would be the case. Just as before, she peeked an eye onto her familiar and saw him standing innocently in the same spot, his hands empty of the acquired attire as he glanced between himself awkwardly and her person.

Louise faltered, struck with confusion. Questions arose, and sentiments of pure bafflement passed in waves.

Why didn't her familiar follow her command?

What exactly was it staring at her for?

Was she missing something?

In all of her classes related to magic, there were no teachers mentioning a guideline for fostering a relationship between a mage and her familiar. The most commonly accepted part of the process was to give it simple instructions like picking up your clothes or your missing wand—at least so the word of mouth was from the older third years. Nevertheless, it was a subject that was yet to be addressed until the second-year students would obtain their familiars, or so Louise had assumed. The Headmaster did mention that learning and growing with your familiar was part of the journey.

But how were you even supposed to start?

"Familiar, fetch me my clothes!" Louise repeated. She stared at the blue hedgehog for a moment, hoping to see him move with haste to fulfill his master's order, yet the hedgehog remained still. Louise groaned her confusion bubbling with annoyance. "My familiar, please fetch me my clothes!" She said again, this time her voice hitched with an intensity not previously shown with her familiar. Although he tilted his head, Sonic remained still, wondering what exactly the girl was saying. Louise's eyes twitched as she stared dumbfounded at her familiar's repeated disobedience. "Why aren't you—ugh! Familiar! Fetch me my clothes!" Her voice grew ever louder, the enunciations of her tone escalating and becoming further hoarse as she made her demands. "Grab my clothes you s-stupid... Familiar!" She pointed in a random direction behind her, heaving slightly with every word. Sonic took a step back cautiously. Louise's frustration and indignation continued to boil over.

What was going on? Why wasn't her familiar obeying her? It just... just doesn't make sense for the girl!

"I don't...I-I don't..." Louise murmured as she clutched her head, taking a step back from her familiar. Louise snarled as a hiss snaked out of her lips, her brows were scrunched up in bitter disappointment. What was the meaning of this?!

Setting her eyes on the blue hedgehog irritated her, so she set off to grab a shirt. "This is a shirt! It's a part of my clothes, so when I say to get my clothes, my familiar, you get my clothes?!" She held the shirt in front of Sonic, one of the sleeves falling off its folded home within its shape. Sonic glanced at the cloth, his face morphed into one of concern and trepidation as he gazed between the billowing dress and the girl. The hedgehog's head tilted in confusion.

Louise made no visible comment, beyond a throbbing vein and a twitching eye.

"...WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING MY CLOTHES?!"

Before she even knew it, Louise drooped to the floor, hugging her knees with a look of listless anxiety and panic. Her arms felt irritating, probing her to scratch the back of her hands as she tried to narrow down the list of possibilities. The back of her throat became hot as she continued thinking, coming up with ideas and hitting walls where there were no leading paths. The girl gripped at her head and sunk her face down her chin, her messily strewn about hair uncurled and glided to the floor quickly covering the girl's face with her pink bangs. Her hands dug at her scalp as her fingers intertwined with thickets of her hair in thin clumps.

Louise grit her teeth as her breaths escaped in shallow choked gasps, unraveling into a fit of hiccups. The girl felt overwhelmed—this day kept dragging on and on! She had hoped her familiar would be her great respite from the obstacles littering her educational career, but it wasn't. From the very beginning, the cards she was dealt were ludicrous. Louise broke into a fit of mad giggles interspersed with intermittent cackling of her hiccups, jolting the girl noticeably where she kneeled on the floor. Louise couldn't imagine entertaining the thought that summoning her familiar would serve to her advantage, yet for it just to set her back like this.

"It's so unfair..." Louise whined, silently cursing her luck for being gifted her circumstances.

Sonic blinked haphazardly, his ears listening in onto the muttering Louise.

Louise shook for a moment, groaning as she lifted the shirt into the air, throwing it onto the floor. Louise cursed loudly her anger returning in full force, "It's so unfair!" There were just... so many expectations some many broiling turbulent pent-up disappointment of herself; oh, how the girl wished she could be enlightened like the saints of old, as to how she could demonstrate herself in that purview of excellence. Looking at her dreams now, it was all... fantastical as it was daunting. Perhaps... perhaps it was time for her to reel in her hopes...

While the outburst came out of the left field, Sonic could feel the bitter shortcomings revolving around the girl. While Sonic leaned down to a knee sympathetically, his eyes widened as a passing memory suddenly surfaced. He was reminded of his friend, Tails. Sonic's eyes appeared glossy as the memory played itself out. The pitiful scene that developed before the hedgehog concurrently brought back a particular memory, of a time when his friend still idolized the hedgehog as something more than himself, when their friendship was still fairly recent. She acted just like Tails when another one of his inventions he'd invested in for weeks at a time would break on him. The yellow kitsune would sink his face onto his knees and openly weep until Sonic would chip in and bring him back up again with a nice cup of hot cocoa, to brighten the kitsune with the simple things in life.

Although he wouldn't always be there every step of the way, Sonic pitched in whenever he could, curious of the kitsune's machinations and his creativity. And maybe now... it was time for him to step in.

Sonic haggard to his feet and stepped resolutely, whisking up the shirt the girl dropped in her distress, glancing at it momentarily with a curious once over. It seemed she wanted this from him. He looked up to the languished girl murmuring mouthfuls and approached her resolutely, tapping her hand. The girl didn't move for a second, finishing a stuttering breath before slowly bringing her head up. Sonic held up the shirt with both hands innocuously, waiting for Louise to take it. The girl sniffled where she sat more openly now, her hiccups lessening—though its intensity appeared more noticeable as she slowly brushed away the dry tears that pooled in the corners of her eyes. Louise blinked a few times as she wiped at her eyes, the blur of her sights fading away with each blink as she turned to look at the blue hedgehog. Her vision cleared as she met the encouraging hand of her familiar outstretched to meet her own, holding the white school shirt she wanted him to pick up earlier.

"O-oh, I'm... I'm sorry you have to see me like this." Louise sniffled as she wiped her nose, to which Sonic could only offer a simple cheeky tilt of his head, his smile never wavering as he closed his eyes cheerfully, redoubling his efforts to ease her current despair. Cleaning the boogers that threatened to spill from the open pores of her nostrils, the student hurriedly tried to maintain a semblance of a girl holding it together, even if her efforts were ultimately in vain from the sole audience that remained in the room watching the whole scene unfold before him. Sonic nodded as if hearing her inner turmoil, once more offering the girl a patient smile.

The cherubic scene before the girl gradually melted her panic-induced distress, blockading the torrential waves of emotions that threatened to pierce through her embroiled mind as her anxiety still lingered around. Louise glanced between her familiar and his warm smile, his hand still outstretched waiting patiently in understanding for his actions to be considered. She brushed aside a few loose strands of hair that slinked over her eyes whilst she considered his kind gesture.

Louise chaffed a broken giggle as a thought rummaged through her bubbling emotions.

It was like watching a little kid trying their best to calm someone down, albeit the person before her was much furrier and bluer.

Louise glanced down at the shirt, immediately realizing that the blue blur was handing it to her. "I-I..." She took ahold of the wrinkly mass of white, stretching her knees out to the floor as she gingerly took the cloth from his hand and balled it up to her chest. "Thank you... my familiar." Louise whispered quietly as she wiped the last of her dried tears, the streaming pool having stained her cheeks with a faint darkened smudge. Louise stared at the shirt for a moment nodding subtly, letting the weight of the sleeves fall down to her lap. She turned to Sonic, gazing at him as a bright smile landed on his face. A faintly embarrassed rosiness doted her cheeks as the girl regarded her earlier fit. The girl rose to her feet with a slight hunch and huddled closer to the hedgehog whilst she interchanged between rubbing at her arm and thumbing the golden ring on her wrist mindlessly.

She looked up from her wrist at Sonic again and found an overwhelming feeling of maternity. She wanted to hug him, to pet him, to snuggle him. Louise blinked, shaking her head for a moment, her face whipped with confusion and embarrassment.

Before she even knew it, her hand landed right between his ears.

pat*

The two blinked in surprise, Sonic from the sudden warmth, Louise from the cushiness of the hedgehog's soft fur. They remained still for a moment until Louise moved her hand side-to-side, lovingly tender with how she brushed at his fur.

swish swish*

"...so... soft!" Louise half whispered and half squealed below her breath. Louise leaned in and brought her other hand on the hedgehog's furred temples, one hand kneading at his quills as her fingers rubbed at the tip of Sonic's ears caressing them delicately where the other hand cupped and pinched his cheeks with doting affection, startling the blue familiar slightly. Sonic's fur fluffed up as his quills—which had previously slacked as they hung to the floor, jolted up. He squirmed and tried to run free from the unusual sensations, but Louise kept nuzzling her hands onto his quills brushing them without respite.

Louise giggled mischievously whilst her brows furrowed with a rascal impression, and her smile appeared diabolically wide and thin as a foreboding glint was captured in her irises. Sonic stepped back uneasily as the girl's grasp loosened for a moment. When Sonic stumbled back a few steps he caught the eyes of his caretaker and saw her peering down at him with a playful and teasing gaze. Sonic's eyes widened as a sudden realization was thrust upon him, but somehow faster than he could react Louise pounced and launched herself at the hedgehog, enveloping him in a loving hug as she threw herself to her feet and jumped straight for her bed bouncing the two of them heavily against its springy surface as sheets were thrown up to the air and sprawled messily about gathering in wrinkled bunches around them. Louise rolled on the bed with her familiar, squealing softly without a shred of care for the world as the hedgehog lay snugly in her arms with a dumbfounded look on his face. Louise sat up as she like the morning earlier hummed the notes of nameless songs whilst she tended to her familiar as her most important self-induced task.

Sonic shuffled on Louise's lap as she caressed his head with a dismal look at his own current predicament, whilst Louise paid the hedgehog's grumpy mood no mind as the girl scratched the back of his ears routinely where she also adjusted his quills. The hedgehog grumbled silently with folded arms, too stubborn to admit that he was starting to enjoy being pampered like this even in spite of his muzzle's now slightly rosy tinted coloring.

If nothing else... at least the girl wasn't so sad anymore.

While Louise was enraptured with the texture beneath her hands, she paused as Sonic shoved his head to the side. She leaned her head to look over the hedgehog and found him with a sassy expression. She gasped as a thought came to her. "Ah! S-sorry. I should've asked for your permission earlier." Louise looked off to the side as she scratched her cheek.

Sonic glanced at her with the edge of his eyes, his eyes half-lidded as he gave the girl an unamused furtive look before he shuffled in his seat and looked away sassily, his eyes closed.

...You done yet?

Louise peeked at Sonic for a moment before sighing. "I'm sorry... for bursting out at you like that." Sonic's head rose slightly as he peeked an eye, glancing from where he sat to give the girl a requited look, whilst the hedgehog remained impassive. "I'll... do better to stay patient." Louise mumbled, now suddenly feeling remorseful and bitter from yelling at her familiar earlier.

Now that the girl settled from her earlier outburst and eased her worries, Louise found it in herself to think about her familiar, and more importantly how she should proceed with bonding with her familiar. Although, in thinking these things she didn't dismiss that sitting around and hugging him felt nice. Louise gave her familiar an encouraging squeeze whilst she nestled her chin upon his head feeling tranquil and at ease with her familiar's presence.

Very good indeed.

Sonic huffed childishly and leaned away from Louise's hold on him, throwing himself flat against the cushiony bed as he rolled up into a ball, freeing himself from her lap. "Ah! Sorry!" Louise waved her hands in the air apologetically as the hedgehog's roll slowed to a crawl and stopped at the seat of her bed, with which Sonic unfurled and sat upon with thankful relief in his eyes. Louise interlocked her hands in an apologetic gesture as Sonic leaned back on the bed and held himself up with his arms. Whilst his legs dangled in the air swingingly subtly off the ground, he glanced back at Louise with an embarrassed look, if his rather doleful blush was anything to go by.

The two recuperated as Louise lined her attire along the edge of her bed and lifted herself away from its grasp where she walked off beside it. Her footsteps creaked across the tiled wooden floor as the girl made her way to her tea table. Louise paused and in the same motion leaned down to grasp and scoot back one of the chairs of her tea table. When it was within reach for a seat, the girl instead stepped aside and held the chair by its base before she grunted quietly and lifted it from the floor. Louise turned around meticulously ensuring that the legs of the chair wouldn't bump the walls of her room or her bed and brought it over to where her familiar sat. Sonic kept his eyes trained inquisitively at Louise whilst the girl stopped and sat down the chair, shuffling it a bit on the floor after she took a step back. Louise hummed softly, a small smile doting her pursed lips, satisfied with the seat's placement before the girl looked over to Sonic, gesturing for him. "Come here," she said, patting the seat of the chair encouragingly.

Sonic raised a dubious brow but nevertheless, he hopped from the bed and paced along to the chair, curious of the girl's intentions.

'Okay. It can understand my gestures...' Louise thought. 'I wonder... what else can I teach?' Louise cleared her throat and picked up the clothes and wares she dropped beside her bed in her fit of frustration earlier, before returning swiftly to the hedgehog. Louise stood straight as she began to organize the articles in a row neatly arranged together with spaces in between the objects. When Louise wrapped up and finished her little showcase, she suddenly pointed at the hedgehog whilst she stood rigidly at attention, which caught his attention as his gaze traveled to her finger. "My familiar!" Louise began, her voice sounding outspoken and firm albeit acquiescent in its delivery, "I see now where I failed you! I didn't make myself clear your duties and responsibilities as my familiar, so!" Louise's stiff posture loosened slightly as her shoulders which were held rigidly up and squeezed against her torso eased down, and the girl donned a more pleasant look as her finger suddenly pointed to herself.

A smug smile graced Louise's lips as she haughtily expressed herself to her familiar. "Henceforth, you will suffer not the absence of my guidance! Such is my vow that I, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, as your most loving and benevolent master shall teach and correct you!" Louise nodded in reaffirmation as she crossed her arms, her eyes closed with her face expressing itself with a determined look. Louise's eyes opened and within the depths of her irises, an impassioned fire burned deeply within the girl as she gazed down to her familiar. With that speech concluded the pink-haired mistress gestured to the article on the far left of the row with a glance, the finger still pointing at Sonic snaked to the side and pointed instead to the article, to make her intentions obvious. "Let's begin! My familiar, these articles are called 'shoes'..."

The girl was making extensive work out of the short list of clothes she had. It wasn't much and Louise perhaps considered that her familiar didn't need its hand held for every little thing, but the girl was determined to tend to her familiar as much as she could, as her only success and the greatest accomplishment the girl has performed in the academy; she felt it her responsibility as her familiar's master to be the beacon and light for which the familiar is guided. Louise's sessions would begin with the girl pointing at her clothes and repeating their names. Once Louise was sure her familiar was thoroughly introduced to her clothes Louise would then go on a lengthy tangent about the necessities of her clothes what it was meant for, etc. Each time she started with the left and made her way all the way to the right, making sure that her familiar was keeping an eye on her directions. After making her last round, Louise puffed her chest. "Alright... socks!"

Louise kept her hands to her sides this time, pulling a fast one on her familiar and not clarifying the word she spoke. The girl eyed her familiar with an inquisitive and attentive look as she did so. Sonic awaited her hand to point at something, but upon seeing that Louise hadn't made any directions, he looked at her in confusion. Noticing the pair of eyes on her, Louise again said "Socks!" Sonic furrowed his brow as he looked between Louise and the articles of clothing, internally debating the meaning of the gibberish she spoke before an epiphany arose within him.

Sonic raised his hand and pointed at the pair of socks, a little too cockily as he did a certain pose.

Louise leaned back slightly in surprise as her brows raised in disbelief.

Her familiar... did it! It pointed at the socks!

Louise swooped Sonic up into her arms and hugged him as tight as she could, uttering a small squeak out of the blue blur. "Yes! You got it! You pointed at the right thing!" She twirled and jumped repeatedly on her toes as she danced in place, rubbing her cheek on Sonic's ear affectionately. The poor hedgehog could only swing his legs around like a ragdoll following the momentum of Louise's spin.

Louise eventually settled to a still and the girl gently set down her familiar on the chair, careful to save him from falling off. Sonic wheezed for a moment thumping a hand against his chest, gasping for air as he craned his neck and stretched his arms. He glanced at the cheery Louise and gave the girl a small albeit bashful smirk, his unease shown on his brows. Thanks?

Louise stood straight and another name came out of her mouth. "Skirt!"

Nevertheless, the pair continued to train his understanding of materials, objects, and furniture as they were described with this new tongue. Sonic was gradually becoming more receptive to the names the girl gave to each item, taking less than a moment to connect the names given for the object highlighted by the girl. Louise was relentless with being as thorough as she could be as the youngest of the Vallière's extended her scope of the lesson from her clothing to the materials within the dorm room; for every given name Louise gave Sonic, the hedgehog would point to the closest corresponding object she could be referring to. Sometimes he was successful with his game of guess what, but other times he wasn't. And with every success, Sonic would be showered with love; dying by the hands of a hug. Sonic felt lightheaded from the sheer load of information the girl listlessly described to her familiar with the few items she picked from her room. Of course, the first session of learning was easy; the difficulty curve comes from the repetition of the words associated with their images—remembering such words was the hard part.

Well, it wasn't too much to worry about Sonic figured that he'd get used to the names as time drove along all's needed was to pay attention. The hedgehog started to doze off from a combined effort of boredom and exhaustion. He had nearly fallen asleep for a moment until Louise in her watchful eyes caught the hedgehog nearly falling off his chair as he leaned over in the midst of a deep sleep and gently shook the hedgehog from his developing slumber. Louise began to go over yet another part of her room when she saw her familiar raise his hands to rub at his tired eyes, and the girl could faintly see tired dark rings below the hedgehog's eyelids. Louise faltered and held her words biting her tongue back as she considered her familiar's boredom. The girl took a step back as she glanced around the room with a more mindful observance. The girl brought a hand and cupped her chin humming thoughtfully the materials to go over in her room, as the materials that remained began to dwindle significantly. Louise sighed unsurely, rubbing at her head indecisively, mottling her hair messily as the girl considered her options in the face of her familiar's ignorance and inattentiveness stemming from his boredom.

Lost in the track of time, Louise finally realized something. After pointing at so many things, listing them as she goes, she pointed at herself.

There was a distilled silence as the pinkette turned to her familiar, a humbling hope hiding beneath the girl. She was anxious with the dawning of the reality that tasked the masters to tend to their familiars, that of the mutuality of their bond beget with an equal understanding of each other. This was a vexing topic to the girl who could speak several languages, yet despite this accomplishment, the girl couldn't fathom how a familiar's mind worked and how they communicated. Louise understood that the bounds of the unity of the two would make it so that the familiars would understand and execute the will of their master despite the independence of itself separate from their partner, but how was this to come? Was this mutual understanding part of the unison of master and familiar upon the officialization of the bond with a kiss, or did it develop separately from there afterward?

Louise pondered the listless possibilities but without an answer, Louise remained in the dark about these prospects. Nevertheless, if this were so—after introducing her familiar to so many things, things that she found mundane and usually given no more than a second thought, she had a greater appreciation for language beyond the cultural origins of their births, understanding that she took the power of language for granted. There are expectations with knowledge and comprehension, but there is also an order of things that necessitates how one goes about gaining knowledge and comprehending. Although he did not know the letters combining such names, possibly not even knowing what they truly were, he at least recognized the sound of the words. But what do those words mean to him? Louise furrowed her brows and chewed her lip deep in thought. Louise turned to her familiar and considered its presence uncertainly.

What does her familiar see her as? Does she have any meaning within him as her master? If not... if not, what would this entail for her? Was respect given willingly by the familiar upon the bounds of their unity, or must it be nurtured carefully to be received?

Many uncertain and troubling prospects arose from the poised questions that bubbled unconsciously in the girl's mind as she regarded her familiar's unusuality in the time shared. Louise continued to deliberate further unconsciously about her situation as a mage where she paced around the room in place. There was only one certainty by the bounds of the summoning that the girl understood; Just as there is a responsibility for a familiar to take care of its master, the master has a responsibility to take care of their familiar. This prospect presupposed then, a lifelong commitment to recognize one another, no matter the difference between in life, and no matter the relationship. Louise's brows clenched uneasily as her lips trembled exasperatedly; however, the girl opened her eyes with a dismissive shake of her head and a tired huff regarding the bounds of her familiar. Louise decided to put away the thoughts for the time being, believing that her classes would discuss the subject of familiars and their role in a mage's life given her position as a second-year student.

Louise kneeled in front of the hedgehog with a graceful and swift motion as her cloak and skirt glided down besides, following alongside the girl's form. Nevertheless, Louise must settle the bounds of their unity as the sole master and initiator of the summoning and the girl began with a parting of her lips, her familiar will eventually need to know her name properly to acknowledge her. "I... I'm—Oh!" She tried to speak but the growls of her stomach interrupted her. A small blush grew below her cheeks as she turned to the side her expression flushed with embarrassment. Her stomach was incessant with its demands to be satiated, growing ever more present throughout the day, and at this moment the girl could seldom ignore the agonizing sensation of hunger and an empty bowel.

However, whilst the girl internally debated how she might tend with her hunger Louise's ears flicked in surprise as she heard another faintly noticeable growl. Louise turned to her familiar with surprise and an apologetic look; she didn't expect another growl coming from her familiar as well! It seemed their stomachs were both in agreement. Louise internally belittled her own forgetfulness when it came to the health of her familiar, despite the mystical backgrounds of all familiars they still lived, and to live requires nourishment from food. Louise admonished herself with shame, she had forgotten to feed her familiar!

Sonic and Louise looked at each other with slightly widened eyes, before another growl came from the two of them. "... I suppose we should get something to eat shouldn't we, my familiar." Louise muttered as she rubbed her stomach with a slight wince. Louise noticed that the room seemed a bit darker than earlier as her hands seemed to fade with her white shirt only a short distance away, Louise glanced pointedly at the window to confirm her suspicious, only to recoil in surprise having seen that the streaming glares of sunlight from where it peeked inside the glass door was dimming in its golden brilliance as the sky turned a rosy pink hue with the sun about an hour or two away from the horizon. She sat up in surprise, noticing how fast time had passed while she and her familiar were pointing and naming things. What an odd feeling of presence, forgetting everything and enjoying the moment with her familiar. Her familiar traced her gaze and looked to the horizon as well his eyes widened subtly as well, having been engrossed in the girl's tutoring to notice the passing of the time whisked by the pair quickly. Sonic stepped away from his chair and stretched lightly. His body felt rigidly stiff having been cooped up sitting down in one place all noon.

Louise brought a hand to her chin as she began thinking, recalling the times when the students and staff would eat in the dining hall for dinner. She could wait for one of the staff members to arrive at her room for the weekly laundry cleaning and ask them to bring her a dish, but... Louise gave a glance to her familiar who rubbed at his stomach with some mild discomfort—today was not that day. Louise pondered how she was to go and grab dinner for the two of them as she sat on her bed with a slight bounce, the bed underneath creaked with the added weight. Louise had some ideas floating around, she entertained a thought that had the girl go ahead and leave her familiar in her room, as to avoid unwarranted curiosity and attention with her tow, and in the process get herself a proper full course dinner at the Alviss dining hall, and returning swiftly for her blue familiar with a meal to enjoy, but... no that wouldn't do. Louise shook her head—there was the small but nevertheless, existent possibility that someone would come knocking on her dorm before she would come back. Adding onto that, being stuck in the fire tower dormitory for the foreseeable semester the girl was bound to find herself in trouble. No, leaving her familiar alone in her bedroom to tend to their food singlehandedly, would not bode well for the two of them, something would bound to come up with their separation, Louise felt. However, the two of them could just skip eating altogether and wait for the verdict of the Headmaster, but that wasn't until the next day and even then, the girl felt that having no food for the two of them would only exacerbate their drowsy mood.

Narrowing down her ideas, Louise turned to Sonic with a purposeful look. The hedgehog in question tilted his head in wonder at the sight of Louise's gaze. Louise's lips quivered slightly as the girl swooned over her familiar's look. Louise held a hand over her chest as she settled the loving butterflies bubbling up in her chest, as she choked out a hitched giggle. Upon witnessing such a cute action, the girl gritted her jaw underneath a quivering breath as she made her final decision.

They were going to sneak into the dining hall. Now, as to how would they get food? She didn't know, but there would be something edible there prepared for them... certainly, she hoped anyway.

"Wait here, I'll be a moment." Louise stood up from her spot walking to the entrance of the room as she ruffled the hedgehog's quills and held a hand over her door quietly twisting open the knob on her door. The door gave way, parsing open slightly as warmer air from the hallways seeped into the room whilst Louise held onto the doorknob and gingerly pressed against the surface pushing the door further out, peeking out into the hall with a scrutinous gaze. It was dead silent, and the halls began to light up with the lights of the torches aligned by the walls, it was empty without any students roaming the halls at this hour. Not a soul remained in this floor, the only signs of life that made itself present were the muffled voices beyond the dorm outside.

The muffled voices of students enjoying the nightlife of the academy could be heard from across the fields. After clearing the floor, Louise turned to Sonic while she still held on to the doorknob and turned to Sonic who, while Louise was surveying the hallways, was standing on his toes as he looked over the paperwork lying around on her desk. Louise heaved a sigh as she walked to the hedgehog wrapping her cloak over her shoulders neatly as the girl did so, making her way to Sonic and scooping him as she did earlier in the day under her cloak to hide his presence. However, unlike before the hedgehog would not be so accommodating as prior, so when Sonic realized what was happening, the hedgehog immediately zipped over the tea set, standing atop a chair with arms crossed and a brazen frown on his face. Louise was confused as she was surprised by her familiar's brash albeit petty disobedience, distress lining her face as she nearly tumbled over from the sheer speed of the familiar leaving his tent of hiding and her legs tucked under to hold herself steady.

"Familiar!" Louise blanched as the girl took a few steps to balance herself, exasperated. Her hands waved in the air questioningly, "What are you doing?" She looked up to Sonic, the familiar in question pointing at her cloak and shaking his head. He made a few motions, exaggerating his complaints with superb acting. Louise huffed with an indignant look "Oh, come on, my familiar. It's just a small walk to the dining hall." Sonic whisked his head away with a scoff. The disobedient streak of the hedgehog faltered almost immediately off his high horse, as his stomach growled incessantly kneeling weakly to his hunger. Sonic sagged his eyes widened apprehensive as he rubbed at his belly with a slight whimper; his stomach protested the efforts of the hedgehog with a 'gut feeling', the feeling being that the girl would somehow lead the two of them to food.

Louise furrowed her brows knowingly before releasing a tired sigh. The girl donned a pleading look, "We're going to get food so that we can fill our bellies. Come on, I just know you're starving!" Louise patted her stomach to drive her words across to the hedgehog, motioning the essence of hunger shared between the two of them. Sonic's ears drooped for a moment as he considered the girl, he groaned at the absurd system the girl had in place for him to simply walk around the academy, people had already seen him out in the open—what was the point in hiding himself? Sonic wondered with annoyed frustration as to the reason why he had to stay hidden within the girl's cloak. Context clues can only go so far until you understand the nuance that comes along with an explanation.

A resigned look washed over the hedgehog as he begrudgingly made his way over to his tent of invisibility, hopping down from the chair and closing the cloak over his head like a set of drapes.

Another small step for woman, another bigger leap for hedgehog kind.

---

With another quick glance around the halls, looking for anyone who walked the hallways within the hour, the girl stepped outside a bit more confidently, seeing the hallways empty of students. Louise turned to her dorm and locked the door before she quickly shuffled away, not wanting anyone to spot her. Louise's steps were light as she nimbly paced down the halls, balancing on the tips of her toes with a heavy lean.

Louise slouched down slightly as she went about the route to her destination. When the girl arrived at the stairs, Louise paused her steps momentarily as she reached for the safety rail, the tails of her outfit treading and settling neatly at her ankles. Leaning on the railing for support, Louise ambled down the stairs quickly. The dark corridor recessed into a nightly abyss the further she went until the only light that could be seen in the spiraling steps were the lights of torches from Louise's dorm floor. However, just as it was becoming suffocatingly dark, the staircase suddenly illuminated with a warm glow all around the halls as dormant torches lining the walls sparked to life, courteously making way for the girl to see clearly down the rest of the walk to the lobby of the tower.

The nightlife of the tower made itself ever more present and evident as once-bustling halls, filled with student bodies and staff alike roaming around and tending to their business, sparsely populated the spaces of the tower now. Life remained but now it was more reclusive without the glimmer of the day, and the nightlife that stayed present secluded themselves to more embedded circles of acquaintances and friends. The emptiness of the school would've been eerie if not for the warm and captivating lights that illuminated the school building in their iridescent golden flames, enveloping the occupants with a cozy and comforted respite from the assignments that ruminated without end during regular school hours. After some time of the pair walking down the stairs, gradually whittling away the steps that remained, the stairs began to open the maw of its stuffy corridors, giving more room for the girl and her familiar to stretch their legs as the pair finally made it back to the lobby. Louise suddenly paused with a surprised and frightened look as she was suddenly thrust upon a much livelier lobby at the bottom of the tower, seemingly where most of the students belonging to the element took their recourse from the busywork of the day to enjoy themselves and socialize with their peers.

The muffled disquieted talks that rumbled throughout the tower and echoed in the corridor of the stairs suddenly became crisp with the listless tongues of students that lazed about in the lobby, drinking tea and feasting on late-night snacks. The faces of her fellow students appeared jovial and relaxed in their talks. The vast sea of students that lingered in the lobby seemed as well invested and preoccupied with their trivialities to bother giving Louise more than a disinterested glance before continuing on without a missed beat. Louise felt hot with embarrassment with all the peering eyes she couldn't spot from the crowd of students. She made an unsettled shaky breath as she suddenly adjusted her cloak with a jittery and quick motion of her hands, further enveloping her in its shade.

Opting to remain ignored and make herself hidden in the crowd, the girl took advantage of the students loitering around, the likes of whom were too deeply absorbed in their pleasantries, slinking past their unfocused eyes without much fanfare as if she were never there. Louise trudged onwards as she swam through open spaces that formed in between the scattered groups and ambled further without so much as raising or batting an eye. She didn't bother to look back in fear that her acting out of place would have caught the attention of nosy students, or worst of all, Kirche. The redhead could've hidden herself amongst the crowd in the advent of the faint light of the torches provided, hidden from any unsuspecting passerby.

Louise grasped for the door that led to the courtyard and parted it open. The action met the noiseless groans and scoffs of students that lingered nearby, but they paid the girl no mind and swiftly returned to their luxuries. Louise was suddenly met with the cool nightly air of the courtyard. She stumbled uneasily and gripped her cloak with an uncomfortable grimace as the girl idled for a moment to adjust to the change in temperature. When her skin, which was embroiled with chilling goosebumps, finally settled, the girl relaxed her stiff form and brushed her hair aside as strands caught in her eyes from the infrequent albeit strong gusts of winds.

The brilliance of the blue and red moon glimmered in the night and cast the academy in a twilight. Louise breathed as the winds passed her by gently for the moment. The girl glanced around herself and the courtyard curiously as she resumed her walk, her frantic pace slowed to be more leisurely. Compared to the lobby within the tower, there was a distinctly smaller crowd of students that meandered in the grassy plains of the academy outside. Nevertheless, in spite of the smaller mass of students that lingered in the courtyard, these students were more boisterous and unhinged compared to the students in the lobby as they were much more open to speaking loudly into the peaceful night, letting the winds carry their words on by without much mind for the collected peace of the terrain. Louise gave them a sideways glance and a small frown; however, she relented her displeasure and continued her walk plugging her mind away for the time being, not wanting to eavesdrop unintentionally on conversations that the girl happened to hear as she passed them by.

When Louise was halfway across the cobblestone trail to the main building housing the central spire, the girl suddenly paused her steps and reached for her chest. The girl thumbed the knot of her cloak and unhooked its laces. The cloak parted aside allowing her familiar to breathe more freely and tag alongside the girl. Sonic rolled from Louise's cloak and unfurled himself. The hedgehog stretched lightly but paused his motions when he saw where they were. The hedgehog looked about himself curiously as he took in the nightlife of the academy, and a small smile graced his lips at the unassuming peaceful air the twilight night offered. He enjoyed this leisurely peace, and the chilly winds of the night helped to freshen his mind for a relaxing night run on listless and restless days.

That being said, however, Sonic turned to Louise with a curious and inquisitive look, his head tilted aside to convey his dubieties, to which he was met with a cheeky ruffling of his fur from the girl. Louise took a few steps in front of the hedgehog as she crossed her arms and gazed down the courtyard with a casual look, her sights aiming far beyond the walls of the academy. Louise spoke, "It's nighttime y'know? No one's going to see you because it's dark out." The girl stated simply, and she turned from the hedgehog with a gesture resuming her walk. "Come on! The Alviss dining hall is this way!" Louise reached a hand in the air and cupped the hedgehog's own, pulling him along with her as they strolled down the remaining steps with a bit more speed.

Louise and Sonic streamed across the trail and made their way to the secondary entrances that aligned the main building of the academy with the towers interspersed on each corner of the building's outer walls. These entrances were shaded and guarded by the bridges that connected them to their respective towers, making travel more streamlined for ease and comfort of the students to be shielded from the glare of the sun on particularly hot days. Finally concluding their trek Louise and her familiar stood before the entrance to the main building with distilled trepidation, before Louise swallowed her fears and journeyed up the short walk up the steps to the doors of the academy and turned the door, parting it aside and allowing its innards to be visited by the pair.

Once the pair were within the bowels of the academy, Louise turned and closed the door behind her, setting off with her familiar who journeyed a short distance ahead, enjoying the rustic architecture of the building as it were. There was an air of quality and care and aesthetic presentation put into the building that was simply remarkable to the hedgehog, but his lithe interest was interrupted by the girl who returned her hold on him with a firm and comforting grip. Louise took a few steps forward before she turned to her familiar with a more cautious expression, "Stay close to me, alright? We're almost there." She spoke with a half whisper, not expecting her familiar to understand her words; if nothing else, it'd at least be mindful of where it walked with her. Sonic gave the girl a questioning look, but he was given no reprieve as the girl continued their journey and led them further into the corridors, deeper into the crevices of the building with prepared motions, walking closely to the walls to hide their presence from any onlookers.

Louise led Sonic down the corridors of the building with practiced movements. The girl trod the innards of the impressively large building without much-given thought as if the trek had been rehearsed dozens of times prior, a development that came from spending time accommodating and memorizing the halls of the building after spending so long inside its rooms for a quarter of the year. The torches that lined the walls of the academy at this nightly hour helped guide the path along the building as Louise ambled the two of them closer to their destination in the dining hall of the academy. The corridors the pair found themselves in began to expand and part more distantly until the expanse surrounding the duo expanded impressively after passing through another corridor of the building.

"We're here," Louise exclaimed quietly, gesturing to the expansive and wide-open space of the dining hall with a proud look. Sonic whistled silently at the sight, impressed and amazed at the rows of tables that stretched across the entire room!

So, this must be where the people come to eat? The hedgehog wondered in amazement.

Louise felt slightly uneasy as she approached the open space of the dining hall. There were still a few students lingering by in the dining hall, either enjoying their meal quietly or in the middle of their conversations with one another. The air felt more relaxing than the lobby to her dorm at least, warming Louise up to the collected peace of the dining hall. It took a lot less time than she anticipated to get there, so she led the two of them to a corner as Louise hurried onward to her seat. While the girl made her way Louise couldn't help but eye a somewhat short and skinny, tall and fat blonde duo leave their seats with empty plates. Louise ducked her head and shielded her familiar within the drapes of her cloak as the latter of the two whispered to the former in a passing conversation.

"...You're already romancing with a first year? But... why? You've got Montmorency with you Guiche, so what's the deal?" The stubbier and shorter blonde student asked his acquaintance with a hint of jealousy and bewilderment whilst he stuffed the last morsel of his meal down his throat all the while. His voice though sounding muffled as he spoke, never paused or choked on his food displaying his history with nourishment. His face seemed permanently marred with a faint rosy blush.

The skinny blonde glanced between his companion with an irked look of disgust at his slobby table manners and the twilight of the moon as he considered his words. When they were within reach of the corridors that led outside the dining hall the student paused and flaunted before his companion with a theatrical pose, whilst he spoke to mind an array of dramatic thoughts coursing through his heart as he recalled the romantic efforts of a first-year student earlier the previous days. "Because Malicorne my friend, I cannot find it within my soul to reject a girl's offering of love who could be so... sincere, with her heart." There was a lapse of worry in his eyes, but he quickly hid his fears, bringing out a somber performance with his worries as he spoke to mind his heart albeit obfuscated behind a flirtatious ego. "Moreover, it is clear to me that the women of this academy struggle to keep their hearts hidden in the dark where I observed. My presence brings about a light that they turn to, looking for an escape from their reality and yearning for the taste of the true essence of romance! How could I possibly deny their wishes with this insight, Grandpré?"

Louise clicked her tongue at the last sentence, turning her head to look away from the duo with disbelief. Only a love-struck romanticist such as the frat boy Guiche would utter those kinds of words, and thanks to the success of that haughty attitude of his, the playboy made a loyal follower out of Malicorne, a boy who stood the complete opposite of him with his soft and squishy looks. Louise ignored the surprise coming from the fat blonde, inching herself closer to a now mostly empty dining hall.

Louise huffed silently as she finally led the pair of them to her designated seat in the dining hall, whisking her head aside and about herself to see to her bemusement that the hall appeared empty of any butlers or maids. She looked down the large entrances and exits of the dining hall, noticing the last vestiges of hope walking away with other chores in hand. Louise slumped as the dawn of her hunger finally reached her. A growl came from her stomach in turn causing another growl to come from her familiar. There was a bit of back and forth between the pair's bellies, seemingly growing into a competition between whose stomach had the justification for groaning so hungrily.

Louise slammed her foot down in frustration at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Why won't you just shut up!" She yelled at her belly as she clutched it with pained acceptance of their hungry dilemma. Whilst the girl pondered listlessly, on how she could get a meal served for the two of them there was a sudden and quiet shuffling of steps, slowly approaching the student and her familiar.

"Hm? I'm sorry dear, could you repeat that? I'm hard of hearing you see." An old voice said as the sound of a spindly brush stomped on the floor. "I said, why won't you—" Louise stopped herself mid-sentence while she turned to face her nosy companion only to pause as the girl looked to face the owner of the voice and she saw her newest acquaintance standing nearest to one of the close by tables.

An old maid stood with a pair of dirty plates on one hand and a broom on the other having wiped the somewhat dusted floor of the dining hall this time of hour, left behind by the students that lunched there earlier such as the two boys who left the dining hall earlier. With a soft smile on her face, the maid chuckled in humor at her own derisive joke. "My apologies young mistress. How can I help you?" Louise stood still, lopsided with confusion by the appearance of the maid. Reeling back from the lapse of rage, Louise stuttered to get her words together. "Do... you have any food available?"

A slight grimace came over the old maid as she gave a slow shake of her head, her gaze sympathetic. "M'afraid not mistress. The chefs left to take stock of the ingredients that we have available in the fifth tower." The older maid swallowed as she cleared her voice from becoming hoarser. "Our kitchen has closed for the night, 'm sorry to say."

Louise faltered at the words of such news. In hindsight, the girl surmised frustratingly that taking on the journey to the dining hall at such an hour, blind of the serving hours would end up with the pair coming short of what they searched for to alleviate their hunger. Certainly, there was a gamble at the task of arriving late just as everyone had their share of work and food, but the girl figured that as the night was still young, she still had time to come by the dining hall and enjoy a prepared dinner. However, it would seem that she had misjudged the kitchen staff—by the time she made her way, the staff members would have left along with the students, full and exhausted with their meals as they readied to tuck in for the night.

With a look of defeat on her face, Louise turned to her familiar and grasped its hand as she begrudgingly went to go and return to their dorm on an empty stomach. However, before the girl could take a few more steps to distance herself from the older maid, the maid observed the familiar in tow and a glint of recognition blossomed in her eyes. The old maid took a few steps forward uneasily, not used to moving faster than her age could handle.

"H-hold on, there..." The old maid spoke with a stutter as she pondered a sudden thought that passed her by whilst Louise's steps paused as the woman's words reached her ears, so the girl glanced back at the maid with a tired and somewhat miserable look. "Now that I think about it mistress, there might be some leftovers sitting on the shelves... but! You'd have to wait a while before the food is ready. It's cold you see." The maid glanced at Louise, surprised at the shining hope that lay behind her pink eyes.

"Really?" The pinkette asked in turn as she took a hopeful step forward, waiting upon the next words of the maid carefully.

The old maid blinked owlishly as she regarded the student, her earlier words had died down her throat. There were many times when there were more than a couple of frustrated students who'd arrived in a haughty state before the maid and the kitchen staff—full of demands to satiate their hunger without consideration for the poor and tired state of the staff at the inconvenient hours they found them in as they ambled to close up for the night. Even upon the option to try leftovers, more often than not the students would huff and all but spit at the mere prospect, thinking themselves superior to commoners for even stooping so low to consume food past their prime taste.

Yet, this distaste was abated even if slightly by the appearance of the familiar the girl held in her hands, the look of the familiar reminded the older woman of a story told by one of her junior maids recently.

The old maid shook her head and cleared her throat as she hobbled over to the kitchen doors. "Come, come! There's a table inside the kitchen pantry. I'll give you a seat. My treat, mistress...?"

The student nodded, a more satisfied look donned her face as she led her familiar with the older woman, "Louise, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière." The girl nodded as the older woman smiled tiredly at the answer.

"Of course, mistress Vallière."

---

Colbert slammed the book shut, heaving a heavy sigh as he rubbed his temples. "Not even in this one...?" He muttered quietly, his words escaping underneath a tired breath.

The professeur was sitting in his office as he set the book aside and leaned away from his seat, regarding his office with a finger thumping pointedly at his chin. The professeur was deep in thought as he hypothesized what other ancient texts he could possibly research this time of the hour, solely for the express purpose of documenting one of his students' familiar; his desk, as it appeared then, was filled with towers of scrolls. The towering encyclopedia of information expressed a long detailed and documented history of parchments going over the many runic names of familiars, such as official manuscripts documented by the church.

Nevertheless, the information relayed in these texts was from a wide variety of resources, ranging from detailed personal accounts of famed historians of Halkeginia's several thousand-year histories to the kingdom's court, and even the academy's own pool of resources dedicated to this field. Yet not a single one possessed within their texts the same arrangement of symbols he saw on the Vallière's familiar. The more he researched, the more he came to the only conclusion that presented itself with the dwindling facet of reliable documentation to prove her familiar's existence—that Louise had faked her familiar summoning and branded a wild animal with a hot iron, kidnapping wildlife and bringing it into the academy without a second thought. Yet that thought was as preposterous as it was the only seemingly conceivable answer to the professor's dilemma.

Colbert sat back on his chair, huffing as he crossed his arms at the mere thought of an unhinged beast running amok and possibly attacking the students within the academy. That would leave a bad impression not only on them but on their parents as well. The public image of the school would take a dent.

"Even if she did successfully capture an animal, how would she keep it still enough to imprint the symbols? Without mistake at that, never mind where she would even get a hot iron branding in the first place." The professor shook his head at the incredulity of it. "Presumptuous as it may be, Louise could have made up the runes or copied it from some mythical tale." His shoulders drooped at the prospect; the desperation of Louise's actions was pitiful. Yet... "Gandalfr... That curious text, why is it so familiar? I feel like I've seen it before, but... where?" Colbert glanced at his office; his eyes appearing glossy and wet as the middle-aged professor sifted through his memories in search of where that name repeated itself so incessantly in his mind.

The middle-aged professor dawdled around in his head, longer than he intended as he considered the text. The last six words kept ringing back at him, knocking persistently at a single plausibility.

The chiming of the bells rumbled throughout the academy for the last time, beckoning the students to sleep in for the night as the thicket of the dark space encroached upon the face of the academy.

The professor raised his head, his gaze affixed on the tower where the chiming bells tolled in a surprised glance before yawning loudly as he stood up from his seat. The middle-aged man stepped away from his seat and scooted his chair underneath his desk, scanning the towers of cluttered books sitting on his desk. Colbert furrowed his brows, blinking an idea popped up in his head, catching him off guard. He whipped his head around to gaze at a singled-out empty row of a shelf above his head, yet its empty contents weren't what captured the professor's attention, but rather, a particular room that sat distantly away at that very space. If none of the books could give him an answer here, "Then perhaps... the true library!" Colbert half whispered as a slew of information regarding Louise's familiar strangled his mind. Colbert grimaced as he grabbed a hold of his head, his face appearing uneasy at the possibility of his developing hypothesis.

Colbert shook his head and quickly gathered his materials for the upcoming coursework beginning with tomorrow's classes. Vials and papers spilled from his arms as he quickly gathered them into his arms, and with them held in his hands, the middle-aged man left his office, grabbing the staff that rested beside the door, faster than he initially anticipated. He made a small mess of parchments that flitted about wildly in the office, stretching further as he passed them by on his way out, but the urgency to confirm his worries at the moment was a much higher priority. Staff in hand, the professeur incanted a simple but crucial spell that distilled the materials in hand to hover beside him as the professeur scuttled through the halls of the central tower, his staff striking against the floor lightly with every other pulsating second—pushing his way to the open doorway leading into the library.

Just as the professeur turned from the corridor and made his way to the central spire to reach the higher floors within the high-rise in his mad dash for the library, Colbert crashed roughly against another person, throwing the both of them back with a hobble in their steps as they recoiled from the impact. Colbert gripped his temples and massaged his head as the other person fell to their back with a slight grunt.

Faster than his eyes could adjust, what with his spectacles thrown wildly about and strewn down and across his collar, the professeur reached out in concern to the reciprocated party of his dismal observation skills, "F-forgive me, I didn't see you there! Here, let me help you up." Colbert blinked wildly as his vision blurred, but he could see just enough that he saw the silhouette of an outstretched hand and reached for it, pulling the other person to their feet quickly. A small thank you was whispered by the other party, and Colbert nodded apologetically as the pair stood to their full height.

Colbert brushed his clothes and dusted his coat from the lint that coalesced his dress before gingerly picking up his glasses and adjusting them to the bridge of his nose. His eyes rolled about slightly as he adjusted to the clear vision they provided. Colbert turned to the other person he collided with and closed his eyes bowing dramatically as he apologized profusely for his heedless walk down the academy hallways, that was until he heard the faint bubbling laughter of his companion, freezing him as he swiftly opened his eyes to see...

Mademoiselle Longueville cupped her lips and her face scrunched up with a faint amusement at the professeur's antics, whose hands were full of books and scrolls that tumbled from where they hovered beside the man.

"...M-Ms. Longueville! Are you alright?" Colbert took a step back and asked with concern for the party involved.

The green-haired secretary also took a step back as her laughter died down her lips, and she looked up at the tall fire mage with a pleasant wave of her hand. "It's nothing to worry about, Colbert, I'm fine." She gave a small and understanding smile as she addressed the older man. "How are you, Colbert? I was just dropping off a few envelopes for our academy's courier Count Mott to deliver to the capital, although, you seem to be in quite the rush." The young adult gave the man a knowing look, to which Colbert blushed bashfully as he scratched against his balding head. Longueville adjusted her posture to appear more casual. "So, what brings you here this fine hour?"

The professor's eyes widened, as a cold sweat trailed down his scalp as he gulped at her words—now suddenly feeling put on the spot. "Oh uh..." Colbert stammered and choked on his words as he thought hastily to think of a believable excuse. If what he believes to be true, then such information shouldn't be tossed around so merrily, but he lacked the quick-witted nature to come up with something on the spot. He scratched at his cheek with a finger as he spluttered his words, "I just... came by... to confirm something." He massaged the back of his head, his expression appearing apologetically as he answered the woman with an apprehensive and deflecting tone.

"Really~?" The secretary leaned forward, fluttering her eyes in a pleading manner.

Colbert nearly jumped at the sight, his heart lopping from the gesture alone. "I-It's! Um, nothing important really... just clarification on some... works of literature! Can't really keep up with the double meanings and word play that an author would use in their works. I've made some theories based upon recovered archives, but nothing conclusive." The professor scratched his cheek as he stared at the floor; the guilt of lying to a co-worker was beginning to eat at him.

Longueville remained silent, the silence worrying Colbert as he looked up at her uneasily. He could've sworn that the secretary was leering at him, but her face quickly changed into a playful curiosity. Longueville leaned to one side, setting her hand on her hip in an interrogative manner. "Don't tell me... you've taken a liking to romance novels?"

Colbert felt a jab at his heart, and he reflexively took a step back as he clutched his chest in shock. The wounded impression he made of himself toward Longueville wasn't one he wanted to show off, even if it wasn't true. The feeling stung for a moment, but he had to press on... after a bit of course correction. "N-not exactly. While many such reads are commonly romantic, the writing itself uses a lot of romanticized elements, a trope that many writers use to add drama. Although, while the writing technique does skew the scene in an impractical fashion, it makes for a gripping experience." Colbert desperately tried to steer the direction of the conversation to be more palatable and academic but, he wasn't exactly a socialite, and he could tell this direction was only making him look pathetic.

At some point, Colbert felt his rant was adding fire to the misunderstanding. It didn't help that the secretary was still inquisitive about the topic, her continuous blank stare made him squirm from how incessantly she peered down his eyes. Colbert wished at that moment to disappear into a mound of ash. However, as his words died in his mouth, the woman gave him a small cheeky smile, slowly giggling before laughing silently at the conversation. Longueville did her best to cover her smile with her hand, but her shoulders had already revealed it all. "Sorry-sorry~, I didn't mean to tease you about it, haha! You had a really funny look on your face, and I couldn't help myself."

Colbert was stiff for a moment until his shoulders fell in relief, realizing that her demeanor was mere play. At least his words weren't taken the wrong way. "I'm sure we all have our own things we keep silent about." Longueville giggled as she waved a dismissive hand gesturing to others outside their circle.

Colbert felt a wound opening in his heart again.

"Say, do you want to have lunch with me again? I've been meaning to catch up with you on... what was it?" Longueville continued, her words dying in her throat as she hummed quietly and thoughtfully about a previous conversation the pair shared. Colbert's eyes lit up in recognition and he rose a finger to the air as he answered the woman's question.

"Oh! You mean the manner of the elements? It is quite a thought-provoking subject, the way in which each element of the 5 pillars of life harmonizes with each other in more ways than one. It's like a... compounding effect upon each other in minuscule increments." Colbert explained, getting right back into the thicket of their previous conversation before Longueville held a hand and paused Colbert from continuing his tangent further.

"...If only I had so much spare time. The scope of the Headmaster's responsibilities never end." Longueville sighed, her head shaking as she glanced back to her colleague. "Well, I ought to get going. You can never guess what awaits you at the top of the tower."

"Tomorrow then?" There was a little too much hope in the professor's voice as he regarded the secretary.

"If all goes swimmingly? Of course! See you at lunch tomorrow." The secretary smiled.

Colbert stood aside as the green-haired secretary made her way down the hall, leaving quite the 'hate to say goodbye, love to see you leave' sight for him to witness down the line. The man shook his head with an embarrassed flush on his cheeks as he continued for the spire. The professor paused as he stood in the center of the spire and flew up the flight of stairs, his eyes carefully glued to the spire's walls, where the staircase ended for the higher floors of the building for students and staff to use. Finally, after passing a few more flights of stairs, he saw the space for which the library sat in the academy. Colbert readjusted his flight and made his way to the railings of the staircase, hovering down to the steps with ease, and heading straight for the corridor in which the library rounded around. After another trek down the halls of the academy, the middle-aged man slowed his steps as he regarded the library, having closed its doors with the advent of the chiming bells. The professeur pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the doors of the library, putting away the keys in his breast pocket and ventured inside the spacious den of knowledge.

There wasn't a single soul wandering around as the professor passed aisles and shelves full of books, pamphlets, and scrolls all organized by their runic alphabet, the sheer length of the shelves reaching heights far beyond what his arms could reach as he strolled within the library. The room was shaped like a pentagon, five walls with rows of books climbing three floors tall. The only light the room had was the massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the many columns of candles lining every shelf around the room now reignited and illuminating the library with the advent and arrival of his presence. The scale of such a room was daunting to the onlookers and visitors that toured the academy, but for the established Colbert, the marvel of the spacious and grandiose room had long since lost its luster; to him, it was just another room no different than what the academy had to offer throughout its innards.

Colbert's gait slowed as he walked along the wall of a shelf in one of the corners of the room, seldom visited by the students and staff alike for being perpetually under a promised remodeling. He stopped as he spotted the familiar cover he had been looking for and with that, the professor turned to face the booklet as he stopped rigidly to inspect its appearance. Nodding to himself, he reached for the book and pulled it out, only for the book to freeze halfway through and gradually pull back into the pile. A set of clicks rang quietly along the wall, and after a moment the shelf swung back like a door—revealing an opening that led down to a steep and distinctly dark staircase the light of the library was snuffed out after only a few steps below.

Colbert sighed as he looked around the neighboring walls of books, eyeing the corners of every shelf with a sterner look. While he hadn't spotted anything when he first came in, it wouldn't hurt to double-check. Colbert's eyes narrowed as he cast a spell that illuminated the room, allowing the professor to see where particles gathered heavily from the occupants that moved about in the room. Everything was frozen still, not a mouse stirred in the library at this time, the professeur was alone in the library. After clearing the floor and ensuring there wouldn't be any snooping passersby, Colbert walked down the stairs, the shelf humming quietly as it closed behind him.

He snapped his fingers, lighting up a line of candles along the wall, and nearly walked down the staircase for two minutes without a single clue as to when his journey would end. The only other noise that accompanied the middle-aged man was the footfalls of his steps echoing softly down the stairs, until he suddenly arrived before a door, or rather a door seemingly appeared from the darkness to him. A sign hung from it.

"No Students Allowed" it read.

Colbert pulled out a key, unlocking the door and opening it to reveal 'the true library'. It was slightly bigger than Colbert's office, but the space could only accommodate one person per aisle, the only lights in the room belonged to the dim glow of the candles that hung along the ends of every shelf. The professor scanned the shelves as he ran a finger across the texts, glancing at every label pointedly. looking for a particular section until his search had led him to reach a somewhat controversial category of books neatly hidden and tucked away in the corner of the somewhat spacious library. Such works would be labeled too radical or insane in some eyes, but the Headmaster saved such works solely for the pursuit of knowledge. Colbert felt detached and uneasy as he walked towards the shelf that contained such texts, never really considering that the archives would ever be used; alas, here he stood to confront a suspicion.

The professor made his way to his destination his steps were methodical and practiced, his piercing gaze glowering at the edge of the aisle to isolate his sights on the single book he was looking for. He stopped, spotting the cover left with dust just like its brethren, but it was too high to even reach. The man cast a levitation spell, though this effort rewarded him with a sudden cough. The older man wiped at his brows as he leaned a bit heavier on his staff, he used too much willpower in one day he reckoned.

Shaking away his discomfort the professeur levitated up to be at eye level with the book, and in the same motion as he arrived before the book, the man whisked it out from where it sat and blew at its cover, wiping away a layer of dust that congealed on its surface with a swipe of his hand. It was a book that supposedly documented the existence of legendary and exotic familiars mentioned briefly in the founder's texts and given no more clarification on their identity.

The professeur levitated back down to the floor and walked towards the few tables that adorned the library scooting back a chair as he sat on it. Colbert adjusted his glasses and leaned back as candles that were extinguished in the dark suddenly reignited. He opened the book cautiously, the pages worn and torn from the ages it had survived. It was quite lucky to have a preservation spell applied to it when Osmand recovered the texts because otherwise, the book would have long since faded to the annals of history, forgotten to both man and time. Meticulously the professeur skimmed through every page, looking specifically within the sections of the book's table of contents. With every slip of the paper escaping his thumb, his heart raced faster and faster, hoping the hypothesis he came up with would never come true, but...

The professor froze. His hands shook nervously as beads of sweat began rolling down his forehead. The drawing before him was the same as he remembered it, and right below it was its name.

"Gandalfr..." He whispered. Colbert's eyes widened as he read the description of the rune and the familiar it belonged to. He palmed his head in frightful agitation, his lips trembled as he spoke to mind the thesis that had been bothering him all day. He looked down with a shake of his head, his eyes blinking blearily.

"It-It cannot be! Louise... you are... a Void Mage!?"

---

End Chapter 5

Well, congratulations! You finished the chapter, and now we're here!

Augh, my back...

Boy, did I keep you guys waiting... like, waiting a real lot, like extremely a lot.

What was supposed to be a short month break from the story to celebrate the holidays and to get a much-needed breather ended up with this story having a hiatus for almost two years (as of now, anyways). That's about the equivalent of this project's production... pre-production.

This story has already gone through two whole anniversaries since the last update. So many things have changed since then, between then, and now (as of now).

Anyways, to settle any concerns with a serious response, why did these chapters take so long to develop? Basically, real life. Life is about change and we have had our own changes, which means dealing with life first and foremost. That was the cost for us to make these updates.

The good news is that we're still invested in this story. Nothing will take us away from the fact that we simply enjoy the story as much as you guys. Besides, my editor and I keep going back and forth about so many ideas that were never tapped in the anime or the light novel.

One last thing. In spite of the near 3-year hiatus, our wishes to continue the story are just as strong as when we first started working on it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the sixth chapter!

-TokuBinu