Thanks to the people over at the Familiar of Zero Recs and Idea thread, I've gotten a decent grasp on what I want to do. Still working my way through the light Novels at the moment, as the anime gets the Ba Sing Sa treatment in Japan. But I shouldn't be running into an overwhelming majority of them for the first chapter.
I mean, I say that, but Henrietta being a void mage changes a lot of things when it comes down to the plot.
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Kirche scowled. Her and her big mouth. Why did she have to make a bet with Louise "the Lightning" Valliere? Sure, a wind dragon was far from the strongest type of dragon, but it was still a dragon.
The small pink hair girl ran her fingers across its scales, a grin that bordered between one of genuine happiness and smug satisfaction.
At first, Kirchie had been excited to meet the heir of her rival family. Only until Louise turned out to be a spitting image of her mother, and all that entailed. Extremely talented, with no patience for slacking off, and little willingness to tolerate misbehavior in any of her peers.
Still, Kirchie wasn't like some of her peers. She at least acknowledged, reluctantly, that Louise had a strong work ethic. She wasn't lazy, hoping that her family's name would be enough to just get through life. Guiche had been projecting pretty hard when he made those remarks, something Kirchie had no issue calling him out on.
But that didn't make the girl any less infuriating though.
Kirche watched as Louise gave her a smug grin but otherwise kept her mouth shut as the next student began the ritual.
No, it certainly didn't make her any less infuriating. But that was the fun part of the little game they played.
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"Princess, are you sure this is fine?" Agnes asked again, looking at her purple hair as they slipped through the underbrush.
"Yes. I can't cast the familiar summoning spell in the Capital, just encase something goes wrong," the Princess stammered out. Even from her current angle, Agnes could see the tight grip the princess kept on her staff.
She knew why the Princess was being so cautious with the spell. Agnes knew the secret of the Princess, sworn to secrecy on a matter that very well would shatter the nation if the truth came to light.
Princess Henrietta, crown princess of Tristian, heir to the throne, had no magic. None knew why. The Queen had been loyal to her oath, as was clear with the birth of the current Crown Princess.
Very few knew this secret. The youngest daughter of the Valliere family was one of them but had kept the secret out of friendship with the princess. They still wrote regularly, with Louise still having faith that the princess could use magic.
Part of their letters included ideas to try, cures, almost anything. But today was special. The day when a familiar was summoned. Which was why they were sneaking through the woods, in the middle of the night.
Agnes hated that. While she understood her intentions, it did little to change the fact that Louise simply made her job harder. Every so often, Louise would send a letter with advice, or ideas to try. Remedies and other such secrets gained at the Academy.
And of course, Henrietta, getting her hopes up, would have to try them. But they couldn't do it in the Palace, because they could be discovered. This meant she was forced to head out in the middle of the night, because if Henrietta hurt herself while Agnes was supposed to be watching her, then she'd be out of a job.
Of course, the odds of that happening were slim, but then again, she had been hired for a reason.
At last, they broke into the clearing, filled with holes and other scares from failed casts, as Henrietta began making the circle for the ritual, the letter from Louise clutched in her hand.
Henrietta followed the instructions for the letter. She couldn't fail. Not this time. Looking at her work, compared to the drawing provided to her by her oldest friend, she read the letter again.
Within, were the words she needed to summon her familiar.
"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"
There was a pause, the wind stilling as the circle flared to life. Then there was an all too familiar thunderous boom, the explosion knocking Henrietta off her feet and into the grass.
No. She couldn't have. She couldn't fail again. She couldn't! Henrietta tried to stand, as Agnes stood before her, sword drawn.
Why? Why? Didn't she know she had to try again? It was the only way to know for sure!
"Princess," Agnes's voice was cold, even more so than usual. "There is something in the smoke."
Henrietta felt her breath hitch in her throat. Crushing despair turned to hope in an instant. She, too, narrowed her eyes, desiring to spot her familiar through the smoke.
From the smoke came a cough. A very human cough, rather than one that came from an animal. The smoke only began to clear, allowing Henrietta to get a good look at them.
Her familiar. Sandy blonde hair nearly reached her shoulders, held up by spinning, looping curls. Their eyes were closed due to all the dust, as they tried to blow away the smoke by waving her hand, the other covering her mouth and nose. She looked just a bit shorter than average.
The smoke cleared enough for Henrietta to spot the woman's clothes. They weren't like anything she had ever seen before. The shirt was large going all the way up her arms, and baggy enough to make the exact details of her frame uncertain. It looked as if it had a partial hood attached to it, which was currently bunched up against the back of her neck.
Her trousers were even stranger. The moonlight was strong enough that she could make out the color of her clothes. Both were blue, with the trousers looking to be made of a different material.
Finally, the smoke cleared enough for the woman to open her eyes, and uncover her mouth, revealing sea-green orbs, piercing in the moonlight. Henrietta felt herself shutter, preparing to walk towards her familiar, though Agnes stood between them.
"Where, am I?" The woman's voice was horse, looking around before her eyes fell upon them. It wasn't in Trisitianian, though. It was closer to Albionese, or, at least, an accent she was not familiar with. Would she need to speak Ablionese to communicate with her familiar?
Henrietta hoped not. She was out of practice when it came to speaking the language. She watched as her familiar blinked in surprise.
"I have no idea what I'm interrupting here," her familair's voice seemed cautious, eyes instantly flickering to Agnes's sword, even if it was now held in a much looser stance. "But I'm just going to go."
Henrietta's eyes widened, almost bugging out of her head. "No! Wait!" She shouted, dancing around Agnes's grasp despite her bodyguard's vocal protests. Her familiar turned around from the sudden racket, as Henrietta got closer.
While the moons shone brightly, it was still nighttime, and Henrietta's eyes were firmly locked on her familiar's face. She felt something snag as she tried to keep moving toward her familiar, her familiar eyes being replaced by the rapidly approaching grass and dirt. Henrietta threw up her hands in an attempt to stop her fall and waited for the pain.
Only for two arms to grab hers, preventing her from falling into the dirt entirely. Henrietta knew her knees were scratched up, but she could hide that well enough. She felt a heat build-up in her face, as the fingers let go.
"Easy," her familiar said, taking a step back from Agnes. "I only tried to stop her from getting hurt."
"Agnes, please," Henrietta looked at her bodyguards with the sternest look she could manage.
"Princess, please be reasonable. We have no idea who she is. She could be a treat," Agnes protested, as the woman continued to back away slowly.
"I summoned her as my familiar," Henrietta stood up, shaking off the branch that had caused her to trip and fall. "She is my responsibility." Henrietta watched as her bodyguard mentality began weighing her options.
"Fine. But if she does another to harm you, she will regret it," Agnes lowered her sword, so it was no longer pointing at her familiar.
"Of course. I would hope for nothing less," even though she knew her familiar wouldn't willingly do anything to harm her. Henrietta brushed off her dress. She was going to have to do something about the tear, ideally before tomorrow morning, but that was a problem for later. Henrietta took a moment to collect herself, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, and her excitement.
"Hello," she smiled, steeling her nerves.
"Hi," her familiar sounded cautious, waving her hand slightly. "So you do speak English."
"English?" Henrietta had never of such a tongue in her life. It sounds like Albionese, but her familiar had called it something else. Her outfit didn't look like one of Albionian make, commoner or noble. She hadn't been as familiar with commoner styles, and she doubted the royalty would change their tastes so quickly. "I have never heard of such a language."
Her familiar must have come from a strange place. The spell did call for a familiar from somewhere in the universe. Maybe she had summoned someone from somewhere beyond Halkgina? If she'd never heard of the language that had to be the case.
"That's, interesting," the young woman raised her eyebrow at Henrietta's words, her green eyes flickering around. "Then do you mind telling me where exactly I am? I think I'm a bit, lost, at the moment."
"You're in Tristian," Henrietta said, taking one more deep breath. "I summoned you."
There was a silence in the air, before her familiar pinched herself, hissing through the pain.
"Why did you do that?" She asked, eyes widening.
"Sorry, I'm trying to make sure I'm not actually asleep right now," her familiar painfully twisted her skin. "Because otherwise, I heard you say the words 'summoned me', and I refuse to believe my life has reached that point where that is a thing that would happen."
Henrietta looked at her familiar, completely and utterly baffled by her words. Individually she understood each of them, but what her familiar said made little sense to her.
"Sorry, but this is extremely surreal to me, and I'm operating on too little sleep as it is," she stopped twisting her flesh, at the very least, in favor of pinching her brow. "I don't want to seem rude, Miss?"
"Henrietta. Princess Henrietta de Tristian," Henrietta's first name didn't warrant much of a reaction from her familiar, but her title of Princess did. It wasn't like she was all that well known, but a reaction to her title as Princess was a sign she knew of its importance.
"Alright. Princess. Because why not," the woman rubbed her face. "Is there a way to send me back home, or something? Because I don't have any particular talents at killing demon kings, or whatever it is that's vogue these days."
Henrietta froze, body going stiff. The punch wasn't physical, or intentional, but Henrietta felt it impact her gut all the same. She'd summoned a person. A human being. A familiar was something simple, an animal, occasionally exotic or magical, but often mundane.
A human was not meant to be one of them.
And yet, here one was. One that naturally wanted to return home.
She was Henrietta's only proof that she was a mage. Summoning a familiar was proof, undeniably so, that one was a mage. Proof that she had done it. And that proof was human. Most certainly from another nation, nearly as certainly one she had never heard of. Henrietta had taken a person from their home.
Even in her success, Henrietta still proved to be a failure.
"I do not know if there is such a way," Henrietta looked away from her, no, the woman, beginning to form in her eyes. She missed her familiar's face as it contorted into numerous different expressions.
But she heard a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. Henrietta's head whipped around, returning to her familiar as she stood, eyes closed.
"And I'm guessing you didn't even know what you were summoning, Princess?" The woman said Henrietta's title, but it sounded, almost casual, coming from her mouth. Henrietta shook her head, still blinking out tears, as the woman's mouth became a thin line.
"Cardinal Mazarin may know something that could help," Henrietta offered softly. She summoned this woman. That made her well-being Henrietta's responsibility. She could deal with the consequences later. It was the best idea she could think of to not have the woman wander off. Only being able to speak something akin to Albionese put her at risk.
"That's a start," the woman said, before looking up at the sky, and letting out a whistle. "Two moons? Definitely not in Kansas anymore."
"Kansas?" Henrietta gave her a confused look.
"It's a line from a movie," the woman rubbed her head awkwardly. There was another weird word she didn't understand. Movie. What did her familiar mean by that? "It's about this girl that got caught in a tornado, and it sends her to a magical world where she has to find a Wizard in an Emerald city to get back home."
Those were again, words, the woman had been saying. But as sentences, they rushed past her head.
"Was there a tornado that brought you here?" Henrietta finally asked, uncertain what that was, as well. A wind storm? Would that mean she had mages back where she was from?
"Nothing that extreme," she cracked a slight smile. "Just a bright green disk I was curious enough to poke."
"Can I ask something of you?" Henrietta asked, fidgeting slightly.
"Sure?" The woman looked uncertain as she sounded, but Henrietta pressed on.
"Can I please finish the ritual?" She asked, heart nearly leaping into her throat.
"You haven't finished?" The woman gave Henrietta a confused look. "Do what you need to do, I."
Her words cut off, as Henrietta softly kissed her. In truth, it was a faint brushing of the lips. But it was enough for the magic to do its work. The young woman stepped back in surprise, a faint dusting of red covering her cheeks.
"Was that part of the spell?" another deep breath, this seeming to steady herself, before she winced in pain, clutching her left hand. Henrietta's eye's widened in surprise. Was it supposed to be painful? She'd never heard of anything like that! But in a moment, it passed, the woman waving her hand as if to shake off a fire, even if her face no longer read as if it were in pain, seeming to mutter things softly under her breath.
"I didn't think it was supposed to do that, Miss," Henrietta said, feeling the need to defend her actions. The young woman, whose name she had yet to learn, and even the politeness of asking for it forgotten in Henrietta's excitement.
"It's, fine just warn me next," the woman paused for a moment as if fully realizing what Henrietta had said. "Miss?"
"Sorry, I forgot to ask for your name," Henrietta said softly, shifting her feet. In the heat of the moment, such niceties had slipped away, despite all her training. She hadn't expected a human, but that shouldn't be an excuse for poor manners. The woman began to rub her brow, as if to soothe something building up.
"That, wasn't my point," the woman said, seemingly confused. "But why Miss?"
Henrietta looked at the woman's fingers. There was no sign of a ring, be it metal or made of some other cheaper material. Unless marriage traditions were vastly different, there would be no reason for miss to draw such a reaction. So was she married? Now that she had gotten a closer look, Henrietta realized the woman she summoned looked rather, bland, her odd clothes aside. There was no hint of makeup, and no jewelry, not even simple designs. And she, while looking to be at least a few years old than Henrietta herself, couldn't be old enough to be a Ms.
"Because you're a young woman," Henrietta offered tentatively, still unsure what was bothering the strange woman.
"A?" She looked down, for the first time, staring at herself, as if realizing something for the first time. It was strange, watching her face contort into all sorts of weird expressions, from shock to surprise, to horror, to amazement, all in the span of a handful of seconds. Slowly, cautiously, as if Henrietta was watching someone who was about to do something they had been told repeatedly not to do, poked her chest. There was a pregnant pause before the deep breaths began. In and out. In and out. But this time, it didn't seem like it would be enough to suppress what was bubbling to the surface.
"I do not recall, at any point, in the history of ever," she ground out, teeth grinding against one another. "Asking for a mammary!" The last words came as a near shout, barely contained by a sense of restraint, even if Henrietta had no clue what the woman could have possibly meant by that. She had to be misremembering her words. Because otherwise, she had said something about not asking for breasts.
Which was an abnormal thing to say in any situation. Was she saying she wanted to be, flat? No, that didn't make sense either. The wording made it sound like.
Henrietta's mouth made a silent 'o'. She wasn't the best at magic, or the most researched, not like Louise was. But even she knew enough to know that couldn't possibly be the result of the Summoning Ritual. Couldn't, and yet, it was the only thing that could reasonably explain such a reaction. It seemed like she ended up being a failure on multiple fronts.
"Well, at least after that, things probably can't get much," the woman's voice cut off, giving Henrietta enough warning as her frame began to slump forwards, before teetering over completely. Agnes barely had enough time to arrest the woman's fall, as she fell unconscious.
Henrietta took a deep breath in, before exhaling. Make that four times a failure. She summoned a person, kidnapping them. She did, something, to their body that they never asked for, though Henrietta was unsure of what exactly that thing even was. Then the person she summoned passed out for no reason. And finally, she still hadn't had the good graces to ask for the woman's name! Henrietta wiped the tears that had begun to form in her eyes.
Given how everything magical she had tried had ended in nothing but failure tonight, there was one thing left for her to do. She slung the woman's arm over her shoulder, helping Agnes carry the weight. Her bodyguard send her a look, one she quashed with a glare just as potent.
Henrietta refused to let all of tonight be a failure, even if it meant turning to her less, dignified strengths.
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I'll get chapter 2 out after this one before returning to a modified update schedule.
