T.R.I.S.
Tristanian Royal Investigative Service
"It all started as simple as can be. Body on a US sub out in the Atlantic. An investigation team led by Special agent Tibbs and company. Their intrepid coworkers accompanying because the sub had to return to depths to keep secrecy while it was under investigation. From there it was difficult but doable. Field forensics kits, and rudimentary autopsies made things take a bit longer, but the real kicker was when the espionage was exposed.
Then everything went to hell. The sub was hijacked by the foreign agents, and forcibly surfaced. The team was captured, and the crew executed. And to cap it off, they were locked in the sub and the sub hit by a torpedo.
Not the best situation to be stuck in for-"
"McGee, if you want to spend your last days alive typing our situation like one of your novels, don't talk while you type." Came Gibbs flatly admonishment.
"Sorry boss, just trying to keep my cool by distancing myself from the fact that this is actually happening." Came McGee's tired reply.
The lot of them had been down there for 4 days, fortunately for them though the sub was sinking and there was no hope of escape the only thing not running was the communications array and the air ballast, both of which had been rigged with explosives before the Russian agents left them to rot.
They could live as long as they wanted, but they were going to die here.
Honestly if it hadn't been for Gibbs and Ducky taking the situation with spectacular aplomb, the others all agree that one of them would have done something stupid by now.
As it stands, Dinozzo and Palmer were talking about their favorite movies, and playing a game where they imagine how those movies would go if their colleagues were in the main characters roles.
"I'm telling you, if it were me and Ziva in in Casablanca, we wouldn't have ended up in the bar in the first place." Says tony as he leans back in his chair.
"I'm not saying you're wrong but isn't the point of the movie that they ended up in the bar in the first place?" came Jimmy's argument.
"yeah, but me and Ziva wouldn't go somewhere that high end to hideout, it's too conspicuous." Was his excuse.
Meanwhile Abby and Ziva were taking turns against Ducky in an improvised game of chess using bullet casings they had collected from the hijacking. Neither were doing very good.
"This reminds me of an incident in Taiwan, the circumstances were a bit different, but we were dealing with the same hurry up and wait dilemma. So, me and a colleague of mine started playing darts with some of the locals. Things went quite well until somebody suggested we have some of a local microbrewery's beer, and after that the whole night was a blur. The next thing I remember was a young woman screaming at my direct supervisor in Swahili how they had been wed the night before and he was trying to tell her he had no idea what she was saying, mind you he was doing so in poorly pronounced Taiwanese. and while I was dealing with a terrible hangover, I had to translate the conversation between the two of them in order to keep things from escalating even further." Said Ducky as he picked apart Ziva's defense. Abby was laughing at the absurdity of Ducky's story while Ziva hid her own amusement and tried desperately to last just a bit longer against him.
Gibbs left them alone as he walked to the room he had claimed as his own.
He was proud of them. All of them.
Here they were, locked tight in their own special coffin, and yet they joked, laughed, and played like they were taking a cruise. The last time they seemed frightened was when they hit the bottom.
If they rationed carefully, they could last a few months.
They weren't.
They knew that.
They had a week or less.
He was lamenting the severe lack of wood to work when he started hearing something. The others must have heard it too because they all ended up converging on the mess hall.
"Please tell me you all hear somebody chanting in French." Came Abby's frightened voice.
"Indeed, and here I had been worrying that madness was setting in." was Ducky's relieved response.
"Do you know what the voice is saying Duck?" was Gibbs immediate question.
"it's a bit faint and from what I can tell, it's not French exactly. What do you think Ziva?"
Ziva closes her eyes and starts thinking. "It sounds like old French, somewhat similar to what the older people would speak, but it is still a bit different. Almost like it has more Latin in it. I think she is saying something about…a beautiful strong friend?"
Tony smirks and says, "oh so our shared hallucination is looking for you then?"
Gibbs gives him an intense look and he puts his hands up in defeat. Gibbs then says, "see if any of you can find out where this voice is coming from. If there's somebody else on this sub, we need to know about it."
As everybody agrees, Tim says, "wait, do you guys feel that?"
At first, they look at him in askance before Abby says, "it's like everything is all static electricity?" and they all notice it. A strange charge in the air.
They feel the hair on their bodies stand on end.
Suddenly the air started to grow bright, and they all fell to the floor unconscious.
TRIS
In the Tristian Royal Magical Academy a certain petite pink haired girl was fervently putting her all into casting the Familiar Summoning spell. Her whole heart and soul put into this prospect, this last chance to prove that she was NOT a zero.
As she chanted the spell she had practiced for weeks, her mind raced to figure out what she needed to do to succeed this. She decided to push everything she had in terms of magic, into this spell.
Either this would leave her with the greatest familiar the Academy has ever seen, or this would cause an explosion big enough to wipe out both her and her classmates.
Considering how awful they all had been to her; she wasn't sure which outcome was better.
However, she felt something. A connection. A real magical connection! She pushed her magic to its limits and flooded this connection in hopes of making it easier to summon her familiar, but soon she started to feel woozy. Was she pushing too hard?
She finished the spell and for a moment nothing happened. She stood there exhausted and broken hearted when suddenly, an enormous explosion followed by a wave of seawater knocked everyone over and swept them all away.
Apparently, that was a good thing as an earth shaking thud followed soon after, and once everyone was off the ground and coughing up seawater of all things, they saw a sight that left them all speechless.
A frankly ENOURMOUS metal tube was partially embedded in the ground. It was unbelievable, and even Professor Colbert was struck dumb by its appearance.
Several people were asking asinine questions, such as if the tube were Louise's familiar, and even she knew that this thing was some kind of huge container.
Probably.
As they all debated what the hell was going on, things inside the submarine were only getting stranger.
TRIS
As everyone woke up, they saw thew sub in disarray, with things strewn about all over the place. The sub must have gone down further and made a mess of things. Was the general consensus.
Then they noticed something unusual.
"My goodness Jethro, you look a decade younger!" came a familiar but much younger voice.
The response was more incredulous. "Check a mirror Duck, I could say the same about you."
The whole of them realized that not only were their most senior members closer to their age now, but their own bodies felt better.
Aches they had long since grew accustomed to had disappeared, though the scars remained.
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Boss." Was Tony's simple but effective statement.
"At the very least, this isn't the afterlife. I don't think we would be in the sub still if this were the great beyond." Was the response from Ducky.
"we're checking the Nav Room. Seeing if we've gone deeper or not. Ziva, Abby, You're with me."
"Coming Gibbs" was their response.
As they reached the Nav room, they were surprised to see the readings saying that they were at surface pressure.
"Is this thing broken, or is it just one more impossible thing to put on today's list?" was Gibbs question as he glanced at his hands again.
"If I was a betting gal, I'd chalk it up to the Harry Potter that we've already noticed." Was Abby's response, as she tapped at the equipment. "But I think Tony was on to something. We have no connections to anything, not satellites, not radio, not even the compass is working right."
As Gibbs looked at the compass, he confirmed the analogue compass was wobbling around like a drunk, not staying me any one direction for more than a moment.
"Some kind of magnetic interference?" he asked.
Abby said, "interference yes, magnetic… kind of" at both his and Ziva's look she explained, "it's like it's just surrounded by valid magnetic sources. Like a room full of magnets. As opposed to an EM field."
"What's this tell us?" was his follow up question.
"We are in unknown territory, after an unknown external force moved us from the bottom of the Atlantic, after what we can only assume to be that same force healed most of us, and de-aged both you and Ducky. We have a small arsenal of navy grade weapons, equipment that is either broken or unable to be used properly by us, and we are lacking any knowledge that may aid us in this situation." Was Ziva's summary of their situation. "And the people here might speak an old dialect of French." She added at the end.
Gibbs walked back to the rest of the group and said, "gear up everybody. If you brought it onboard, you are taking it off. I want everybody carrying a sidearm and a primary if possible. We are on the surface, probably on dry land if the fact that the sub is perfectly still is anything to go off of. And we have no idea where we are. If we encounter people, they are likely to be speaking old French, so either Ziva or Ducky will be doing the translating while the other translates back. Make no overtly hostile actions unless given a good reason to. Any questions?"
Everybody looked between each other before shaking their heads and heading off.
After a few minutes they met at the surface airlock.
"Alright team. Showtime." Was all Gibbs had to say as he opened the airlock door.
TRIS
Professor Colbert was discussing the situation with headmaster Osmond when everyone heard a hissing clunk from the tube.
Everyone looked to it and saw a door on the top of it opening. To their confusion 7 people walked out, looked around and when they saw the school, they showed an expression of shock.
"Commoners? Ha look at that, Louise the Zero summoned Commoners!" came the voice of one Malicorn.
The other students, finding something familiar to do in the situation laughed at poor Louise who was mixed between confusion, shame, and pride. After all, she summoned commoners, but there was also this enormous metal tube as well.
As her fellow students returned to the school, Louise stayed and watched them climb down the side on a ladder. As they grouped up at the bottom of it, headmaster Osmond and Professor Colbert ushered her towards them and the three of them walked towards the strange group of commoners.
TRIS
The unbelievable situation they had found themselves in was only made stranger by the three individuals who approached them after the crowd of children left for the castle they were beside.
"Did either of you catch what the kids were saying?" asked Tony.
"Something about commoners. So, I assume this place is some sort of school for high profile children." Was Ducky's whispered response.
Abby was all but vibrating as she said, "did you guys see what they were all holding!? Sticks! Fancy sticks! Like Harry Potter fancy sticks!"
McGee looked at her and said, "come on Abby, Magic wands? That's- "
"More likely than this being the afterlife, Tim." Interjected Gibbs. "Let's not ignore the magical menagerie they had with them. You're up Duck."
"Quite." Was his only response before stepping forward to converse with the strangers.
TRIS
As Louise and company approached the strange commoners, she heard them conversing in something that resembled Albionian, though was too different to be it. Soon one of them stepped forward and in broken and mispronounced Tristinian, spoke with them.
"Hello, good meetings, my name is Professor Donald Mallard. My friends call me Ducky. We are confused about what happened, and most of us do not talk French (?)." was the strange man's greeting.
Professor Colbert was intrigued and said, "you are a professor? My name is Professor Colbert, what do you teach?"
The man, Ducky? Was momentarily confused but realized the error. "Apologies, I used the wrong word. I am a doctor. I am a doctor of…" he seemed to struggle with the word for a moment. "After death study? Yes, that is the correct word, I think. I look at dead person, find out how they died, help find the person responsible."
The trio from the Academy seemed surprised and disturbed though headmaster Osmond said, "I have never heard of such a thing, though if it is possible, it would be an excellent tool for law enforcement."
Ducky lit up hearing that, the group behind him did shortly after, when the tanned woman apparently translated the conversation. "We are a part of our country's Law enforcement. We were solving…murder, when big problem happened, the…underwater ship was stolen by enemy forces. Crew was killed, enemy was upset with us and forced us back inside. Made ship unable to surface or move. Left us to die at the bottom of the ocean."
The whole story was strange and made little sense. However, the… ship, was unlike any they had ever seen, and the accompanying ocean water certainly supported the story.
"Perhaps I may use a spell to help you all understand Tristinian better?" was the suggestion from Professor Colbert.
Ducky's face showed surprise, but he nodded.
The whole group showed a mix of surprise and excitement, and as Colbert cast the spell, they each coughed a bit.
"Well, that was most unusual. Oh, isn't that a bit of cognitive dissidence, to hear this tristinian as English, yet feel my mouth moving in the correct way to speak it." After a moment of moving his mouth in wonder, Ducky focused on the trio again. "Thank you for that, your language is similar to a rather old dialect of a language I am quite familiar with, so I was chosen to speak on our behalf. If you don't mind, I'm going to let my good friend, and fearless leader take over from here."
As he headed back to the group, he patted Gibbs on the shoulder. Gibbs took the lead and walked up to them.
"Hello, my name is Special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS, I'm the leader of this team. Ducky gave you the barebones of our story, and we can discuss it further later, but right now I would like to know how we got here. Don't misunderstand, I'm grateful for the rescue, but the intense lack of intel here makes me unable to believe that this was intentional."
His intense look made Louise pale. It was like looking at her mother.
"I-I see," stuttered Professor Colbert. "It is quite understandable. I suppose I should first admit that your rescue was entirely unintentional. Though not to say that it is a bad thing! Merely that today is the annual spring summoning ceremony. Your summoner, is Miss Louise here."
At that the whole NCIS group stared at her in disbelief.
"The purpose of this ceremony is to summon one's Familiar, a traditional action performed by nobles in Tristian. Miss Valliere here actually has performed a truly impressive feat, however unless she binds one of you as her familiar, she has technically failed this assignment, and will be forced to leave the academy due to failing grades."
That had them confused and upset.
Gibbs looked at her and saw a sort of despondent terror in her.
He asked. "What does this familiar thing mean. For the familiar?"
Louise whipped her eyes to Gibbs in a way that probably should have given her whiplash.
Colbert started and said, "well, all familiars I have ever seen have been animals. So, the general connection ais the master sharing a bit of magic with the familiar, as well as the general care of the familiar. Though I suppose the wording in the texts are more appropriate to this situation when looked at in this light." At this even Louise and Osmond looked at him in askance.
"erm," he leafed through the instructors spell book "ah, 'through the sacred binding of the familiar, the summoner enters unto a contract of mutuality and respect. For the familiar is more than a mere ally in this world, it is a reflection, the other half of your whole. To be bonded as familiar and summoner means to have an equal that will last you for eternity.' That is how it is explained in here, though since all familiars are animals, and students tend to treat them well enough without this bit of the lecture, I usually skip over it."
"Equals with a commoner?!" shrieked Louise, "that can't be right! Please let me try again!"
"Wait one moment." Came Gibbs voice, brokering no resistance.
He looked at her and stared her in the eyes as he said, "you saved my team. Whether you meant to or not. These people aren't just coworkers. They are the only family I have left." At this the entirety of the team felt a warmth run through them. "a few days ago, we lost the fight for our lives. We were shoved on that sub and left to rot. I had to stare my family in the eye and act like nothing was wrong as we realized that we were living on borrowed time."
The Tristain natives started to understand what had happened now, and the dawning horror on their faces was clear.
"If we limited ourselves to two meals a day, we could have lasted another month. I told everyone to eat their fill. We had no way out. After we ran out of food, I was ready to let them choose." He took a deep breath, "they had the choice to waste away, or let me put a bullet through their head."
The effect of that statement was clear in all of them.
"Where we are from the dominant religion says that those who kill themselves are doomed to hell for all eternity. I wasn't taking any chances." Was his only justification.
"I owe you everything I have left in life. If that means entering into this familiar business to keep you in school, then you had better bet your ass that I'm willing to help you." Was his final words.
After a moment of stunned silence, Ducky laughed. "Goodness gracious Jethro, you hardly need to shoulder such a thing on your own. I'll be joining that little agreement."
"Wait, you aren't leaving me behind boss, I'm in." came tony as he walked up to them.
"not fair, I was going to say that!" came Abby as she followed.
"I'm staying with Doctor Mallard. Of course, I'm sticking with the rest of you too, it's just, Doctor Mallard is my mentor. So…" was Palmer's rambling response.
"Ignoring the fact that we are in an entirely different world like that of a storybook, you couldn't lose me if you tried." Was Ziva's response as she followed behind.
McGee just shrugged and walked with them. "They said everything insightful and interesting so I'm just gonna say let's do this."
Suddenly surrounded by these commoners she saw the sort of bond they shared. It was like her and Cattleya, but they weren't related. She was jealous.
"Well, there is a precedent for multiple Familiars, occasionally a young Noble will summon twin beasts, so we can use that." Was all Professor Colbert had to say, as he began magically creating a ritual circle.
They all stood in the ring of the circle, while Louise stood in an interconnected circle in front of Gibbs. "Alright, with this spell I accept thee as my bonded Familiar…s." and she motioned for Gibbs to kneel, so he did.
When she kissed him, it surprised the NCIS team, and when their hands started burning they were suddenly more concerned with that.
"Please relax, it is merely your familiar runes coming in." said professor Colbert. "They are your magical connection with Miss Louise."
After the burning stopped, they all saw a marking on their hands. Colbert wrote down each of them as he checked on them.
"Very well, I do believe we shall be needing somewhere for all of you to sleep. There is room in the servant's quarters, or perhaps the basement. There is a large open space in the former dungeons, I can have the staff bring some bedding down for you if you prefer the privacy." Was headmaster Osmond's decision.
"Is there an opening on the outside of the building?" asked Ziva.
"Not directly, but due to the proximity to the kitchens, there is an entrance close by."
"We could easily salvage some stuff from the sub, like beds, and desks. Man, never thought I'd miss my desk." Came Dinozzo's input.
"Ah, the… sub. We do need to get rid of it somehow. Perhaps we can bury it?" came Osmond's thoughts.
"I assume you would use magic for such a thing?" asked Ducky.
"of course." Was the simple response.
"Then if I may suggest, would it be possible to bury it somewhere secret? Judging from what I've seen so far, your technological levels are less than ours. Because of that it is entirely possible that items we consider completely normal, might seem entirely foreign or even dangerous to you."
The headmaster looked pensive until he seemed to have an epiphany. "I know just where to put it." And he walked back to his office.
TRIS
Upon entering the former dungeons, the team saw that it was mostly empty, save for some storage in the far corner. There were rooms with doors that looked fit for the place, and the whole place was lit by magical torches.
"Well, its cozier than the sub." Was McGee's summary if things.
"it's no hotel, but it doesn't need to be. Everybody choose a room, get set up and meet in the warden's office in an hour. We need to talk." Ordered Gibbs as he walked to said warden's office.
Upon entering it he saw an old wooden desk covered in dust, and a bookshelf devoid of contents. Behind the desk was a barred window that let the sun in. he used his coat to wipe off the desk and sat in the wooden chair.
"it'll have to do for now." He muttered, and he opened the drawers.
Inside were some old bits of stationary with a pot of ink and a matching pen.
After looking around a bit more, he went looking for Louise.
TRIS
After a bit of asking around, he found her room.
He knocked twice on the door.
"Come in." was the subdued response.
He walked in the room and saw the fine furnishings and fancy ornaments, but what really caught his attention was how puffy Louise's eyes were.
"Want to talk about it? Was all he said.
She was surprised, and even looked mystified for a moment.
"It doesn't matter." Was her halfhearted response.
Gibbs stared at her for a moment before saying "in about a half an hour, my team will be debriefing. Part to get the situation set in our heads, and part to officially end our last mission. I would like if you were there."
She gave him a bewildered glance. "Why would I need to be there?"
"You are our summoner, right?" she nods "then that makes you our only connection to this world. You need to know what we know, and we need to learn what we can from you. Tonight, is just the beginning of that."
She looks at him for a minute, before nodding.
"let's get going."
TRIS
Upon reconvening at the warden's office Gibbs stood by the desk and motioned for Louise to sit in the chair.
When the rest of the team arrived Gibbs said, "Alright team. Debrief to our new boss, Ziva, you start."
The next hour was spent by Louise, listening to seven people describe a scenario that was as alien to her as it was frightening. From learning the details of a dead body, to the thoughts of seven people who had known they would die. All of it was overwhelming.
But she learned so very much.
Though commoners they may be by blood, they were each more noble than the vast majority of her classmates in action and heart.
They were smart, and wise, and beautiful, each in their own way.
And the strength they lacked in terms of physical and magical power, they made up for in teamwork and capability.
For a moment she thought she must be losing her mind, because she thinks they might be better than a dragon.
As the team leaves, Gibbs asks her "well then Boss, what do you think of your new team?"
Louise starts at that sentence.
Her team.
No.
"it's your team Gibbs. I'm just pointing you were to bring them."
Gibbs looks at her quietly for a moment, before snorting out a quick laugh. "All these years, and the first new boss to actually figure that out without it being spelled out for them is a teenager."
Louise takes it as the compliment it is. "You accepted being my familiars, in the eyes of the world you are all my property, and represent me even when you are all on your own. Can you all accept that?"
Gibbs shrugs, "sounds pretty much the same as any other government job."
This time Louise snorts. "Good. You all have skill, I have some knowledge, and I can get some funds from my family."
Louise walked up to Gibbs and said, "I'm going to try get you all set up to do for the Tristain royal family what you did for your 'United states'."
Gibbs thought about it for a moment before saying, "there's a lot we don't know about this world. Plenty you don't know either. We are going to need people who do."
Louise thinks for a moment. "Professor Colbert seems intrigued by you, so he might volunteer. And once we prove your capabilities to the crown, they should give us the funding necessary to get more people collaborating with us."
Gibbs smiles. "Alright, when do we get started?"