5 – Student

[Interlude]

Sir Axion stayed silent for a moment. "Do you truly wish to know? Even if it may bring disaster and ill fortune to you and yours?"

"Huh? What do you mean?

"Some things are better left unknown. The truth can set you free, but it can be a terrible burden, one too heavy to bear for those of weak will. Once you discover your element, it will set you down a path of no return."

Then his voice seemed to change ominously, growing deeper and echoing with every word.

"You shall wield a power unlike any other, yet condemned to live a life of solitude. You shall be both hated and revered in turn, but none shall truly understand you, for you will cease to be a normal human. Your awakening shall mark the beginning of the end of an era, bringing misery and terror upon the reckoning. Great destruction and chaos shall follow before the dawn."

"What…what was that?" Goosebumps rose on her skin as she heard the prophetic pronouncement.

But there was no such thing as real prophecy. Not even magic could see the future. Many had claimed to be oracles throughout history, but they were of no consequence. Prophecy belonged firmly in the realm of stories and madmen. But there was something about the way Sir Axion spoke that was deeply unsettling. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it.

"It is the destiny that awaits you. There are greater forces at work than you know. I have thus warned you of the consequences. Do you truly wish to know, even so?"

"I don't understand…but a life of solitude? Misery and terror? Why? It sounds horrible. What could be so bad about my element?"

"Nothing in the future is ever certain, child. You may avert the worst if you are strong of will and heart, but it is in the nature of your element to leave a mark on the world, whether for great good or great evil. By summoning humans, you have already set yourself apart and made history. Therefore I ask you a third and final time. Do you truly wish to know your element and embrace your destiny that awaits?"

Where once she had been excited, doubt and apprehension crept into her every pore.

But was there any other choice? She needed to be a mage, and she needed to find out her element. That was the purpose of the school requiring the familiar summoning ritual. It was needed to determine her course selections appropriate for her element. If she didn't know her element, even if she completed the familiar contract and was allowed to stay at the school, she would still be unable to advance into many higher courses.

She knew what she had to do. Whatever the consequences, she would face them honorably and resolutely. Anything less would bring shame to the name of Vallière.

"I still don't really understand it, but…I won't hide from the truth out of fear of what might be! I need to know my element to be a mage. You said I just need a strong will and heart, right? I'll just have to make sure that nothing bad happens!"

"I see. Very well then. Your element is…"

The foreign knight leaned in close and whispered to her ears.

"…Void."

She must have heard wrong. Void? After all that build up, how could Sir Axion say something so blasphemous? It had to have been a joke.

"Wh-what?! Vo—!" Her shout was cut off.

A hand clamped over her mouth immediately.

"Do not speak it so loudly!" He hissed angrily. "There is no telling what might be listening from the shadows, or in the halls behind the door! Do you want to be branded a heretic and burned at the stake?"

Her eyes were wide open with fear. Of course she didn't want to be part of such heresy! But if Sir Axion knew that it was heretical, then why did he say it? He clearly wasn't an ignorant and uncultured heathen if he understood that much. He couldn't really believe it was true, could he?

Her, having the legendary Void?

"I am going to remove my hands. You will keep your voice down and we can continue this discussion discreetly. Blink twice if you understand."

She did as told.

After gathering her wits, she whispered back. "But that's impossible! I can't have the holy Void. That's the Founder's element."

"Good. It seems you understand. If the wrong people hear of this, disaster awaits. Until you are powerful enough, it is best to act exactly as you just did, as if you know nothing and the idea is simply impossible."

"Wait, that's not what I meant! I mean really, it's impossible! The Void has been lost for thousands of years."

"It was lost because nobody had the affinity, or perhaps any foolish enough to reveal their affinity was quietly killed by the inquisition. Of course, you don't need to believe me. What you do with that knowledge is your own business. You can reject the reality and live in ignorance at your own peril, if you prefer being Louise the Zero."

"I don't prefer to be Louise the Zero! Don't say it like I chose to be a failure!"

"You didn't have a choice before, but now you do. I thought you said you wouldn't hide from the truth out of fear of what might be?"

"That was…! I wouldn't…but it can't be true!"

"How disappointing." Sir Axion shook his head. "If this is the extent of your resolve, then you are sure to meet with misery and terror in your future. Perhaps it would have been better for you to have given up being a mage. Getting disowned for being worthless would be better than suffering through what lies ahead."

"D-disowned? No…no…I won't!" She could see it happening. Her mother always had high expectations for her, but she had failed them all. Without magic, she wasn't even a proper noble. That was why she was so desperate to get a familiar, to prove that she had magic. If she couldn't bind a familiar and got expelled from the school, her family might actually disown her! Even if she did get a familiar…if she never learned another spell, she might still be disowned eventually!

"Believe whatever you want. I have nothing to gain from lying to you."

She was Louise the Zero, even though she didn't want to admit it. She had never been able to cast a spell. If she really did have the Void, maybe everything would make sense, but it was just too good to be true. Only one who had the blessing of the Founder could possibly have the Void. To think otherwise would be heresy of the highest order.

How could she possibly believe that she was worthy of having such a holy blessing?

"I…I don't believe you, you have to be lying…this is a trick, isn't it? I was a failure for so long, and now suddenly there's an answer to all my problems, and I even have a legendary power? How could I fall for such a…a scam? What do you want exactly? Money? I already said I'd compensate you. You didn't have to do this. Or maybe you just want to go home? You want me to help you find a way back, so you want me to look into lost magic?"

Suddenly Sir Axion began to chuckle, which shortly turned into full blown laughter. There was a sinking feeling in her gut. Had it been a prank all along? How could he be so cruel?

Then, as abruptly as it began, his laughter stopped.

"Fool. I don't need your money or your help to leave this world. Why do you think I so quickly recognized the difference in the two moons? Do you think a normal mage, instead of being in confusion and shock at being summoned, would look at the sky to scour for differences in something as constant as the moons in the sky, especially in daylight when they're barely visible?"

"…!" Her face turned to shock. Why didn't she notice that before? He was right! Why would someone suddenly in a strange place immediately look at the moons? A normal person would never even think about it! The celestial bodies in the sky were fixtures that hadn't changed for thousands of years.

"No…you…you've been summoned before?!" That was the only conclusion she could come to. He must have been in a similar situation, and knew what to look for.

"Not summoned. I can travel the void between worlds through my own power, I hardly need the assistance of a summoner," he scoffed.

"That's…Void Traveler…" Her eyes widened as she remembered the title he claimed. She hadn't thought anything of it before, but now she was starting to understood. "But then, why did you act that way before? As if you were stuck here and wanted compensation because you couldn't leave?"

"Did you already forget what I taught you mere minutes ago? All spells have a cost. The greater the spell, the greater the cost. The cost for traveling the Void is immense, do you understand? The only reason a whelp like you could summon me is because you didn't need to power the full spell, merely activate Brimir's spell through a ritual as Osmond kindly explained. Of course I require compensation, if I am to use my own power to leave! But such knowledge of such powers is not meant for unworthy ears!"

"O-oh…"

"As for money, I assure you no amount of money is enough to pay the cost, and from what I've already learned about you, there is nothing you can give me that one of my power cannot easily acquire elsewhere or take by force. I gifted you the knowledge of your element on a whim, because I thought you had potential and the resolve to achieve greatness. But if you would rather live in denial until your uncontrolled explosions destroy you one day, then begone! I have better things to do than to entertain a foolish child, such as finding something of worth on this world so that my presence here will not be a complete waste of time and energy."

Sir Axion made a shooing motion and gestured to the door.

Louise sat in stunned silence. She could hear the disdain as he said those last words to her, and felt humiliated. He was obviously implying that she was worthless, and she couldn't help but agree. Hadn't Sir Axion helped her already without actually asking anything in return?

And here she was, doubting and insulting the one person who knew anything about her problems with magic, completely misunderstanding his intentions.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I was stupid, please forgive me for accusing you of lying!"

The silence from Sir Axion from suffocating. Had she irrevocably lost her chance already? How could she have been so stupid? Even if she didn't believe him at first, she didn't have to insult him by calling it a scam and saying all those stupid things.

"Is that so? Why do you care if I forgive you or not? Once I leave, we will have nothing more to do with each other."

"Wait, wait, please! I don't know what to do! You're the only one knows anything about Void magic. If you leave, I'll never be able to learn any magic! Everyone here thinks I'm just a failure. I need your help, please! That's why, please forgive me!"

"You sounded quite sure of yourself when you assured me of your resolve not to hide from the truth. Yet your words meant little once you heard the truth. Were you merely pretending in order to satisfy me, and are you again pretending to be apologetic because you've realized that you need more help from me?"

"No! Please…it was just too much of a shock! I didn't mean to insult you like that. How can I prove that I'm being sincere? I really am sorry!"

"Hm. I can tell when someone is lying or not. It seems that you speak the truth. You are forgiven, though you have disappointed me with your foolishness."

She let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. But she couldn't shake the feeling of shame and regret. Sir Axion had been the only person who ever acknowledged her potential, and she had disappointed him. She had to watch herself and do better. Think before saying anything stupid.

"So, at least you can learn from your mistakes. But what do you think I can do to help you?"

There was a brief pause as she collected her thoughts and calmed down.

"Sir Axion, you're a Void mage, aren't you? That's how you know so much about it, and recognized my affinity so easily, right? Can you teach me?"

She waited with trepidation as the silence stretched on, wondering if she had somehow insulted him again. To her relief, when he eventually answered it was without hostility.

"Close, but not quite. I do not have the Void for an affinity like you and Brimir, nor can I use it the same way you do on the material planes. I have a different kind of relationship with the Void, one that is less about using its influence to perform magic, and more about higher order interactions. Teaching you is certainly within the realm of my abilities, but you should know that you cannot learn new Void spells directly from me. While on the surface we may bear some similarities to each other, being able to do some of the same things, the reality is that there are different underlying mechanisms at work, ones that are not mutually compatible."

"I don't really understand what you mean, but, but! Void is a lost magic and there's nobody else I can learn it from. Even if you're not a Void mage, you can still do more with it than anybody else! Even if it's only a little, if you can teach me anything at all, I'd be grateful! Please, I don't need a legendary power…all I want is just to be a mage!"

"Hm…I suppose I could spare the time to give you some pointers before I go."

"Yes!" She cheered, then caught herself and looked abashed. "I mean, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me yet. I won't be doing this for free. I will require payment."

"Of course! Ah…but I also have to compensate you for the summoning, right? All I've got is a thousand écu right now…I won't get any more money from home until next term."

"What is the value of an écu?"

"Well, the écu is a gold coin, and it's worth about twenty silver sous. A sou is worth twelve copper denier."

"I mean what can one écu buy on the actual market, then? I need a frame of reference. For example, what's your tuition at the school?"

"Um…my tuition at the Academy is ten thousand écu per term. A decent meal at a proper establishment would cost at least two écu per head, and about six écu for one night's stay. I'm not sure what one écu can buy…oh! Some of the commoner servants at home are paid ten sous a day."

"And all you've got is 1000 écu for the whole term? That's enough to cover all your discretionary expenses?"

"I know the other kids have a lot more, but mother is really strict. I could probably get by on two hundred until my next allowance if I'm careful not to cause more damage from spell failures…"

Last year she had to pay over six thousand écu in damages and medical costs, and her mother was furious with her. The thought of having to ask home for more money again because of her failures terrified her.

"I see. Consider yourself lucky that I have no real need for money, nor do I want to leave you destitute. Just give me 500 and I'll teach you for a week. As for the summoning, you can owe me three favours instead. I will tell you what they are when I think of them."

"Thank you, Sir Axion, you are truly generous!"

"Now then, let's not waste time. First, you will give me your textbooks so I can review your curriculum and what you've learned previously."

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