Familiar of Zero 1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes:**

Right, so, basic premise: A roleswap story where Saito summons Louise instead of the other way around as is the norm. I'm going to have sooooooo much fun with this story. I feel like I've been saying that a lot, but really, this story is going to be so much fun for me. I have so many ideas with where this is going to go, and I can't wait until we get further in. Anyway, see you then!

**Chapter 01**

The first thing I saw that day was the bright, blue sky. The second thing I saw was his face. He looked young, maybe fifteen or sixteen which would put him at my age. He was wearing what looked like some weird school uniform.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asks as he stands over me.

"What… What am I doing on the ground?" I ask as I sit up.

"Okay, um… my name is Saito, and you're probably not going to be happy with what I'm about to do, but just roll with it, okay?"

"What are you-"

Before I can finish my question, the boy kneels down and kisses me on the lips. I respond by slapping him.

"Y-you pervert!" I yell at him. "How dare you even… ow. Ow ow ow ow!"

My rage was interrupted by a horrible burning feeling. All thoughts I was previously holding onto were replaced by various different variations of "oh god, the pain" and the like.

"It's okay, it's just the familiar runes engraving themselves," Saito assures me. "Don't worry, the feeling will pass super soon!"

"Y-You're a bastard!" I force the words out, trying to ignore the pain. Eventually the burning finally stops. I look at where the burning was most intense, on the inside of my right wrist, and see some weird markings. A tattoo of some kind?

"Phew, the familiar ritual was successful!" Saito says.

"Congratulations, Mr. Saito," some guy I hadn't noticed before says. He looks like a professor type, what with the glasses and overall way her carries himself. Speaking of carrying, what's with that wooden stick of his? It's way too large to be a standard walking cane. "And with that, the second year familiar summoning ritual has concluded. You may all return to your dorms."

Huh? There were tons of people here. Why didn't I notice the super large crowd of students surrounding me? What's with all the animals? Is this a zoo? It can't be, why the heck would I be in a zoo? I'm a human, same as anyone else. Last I check we haven't put any actual people in zoos yet. I mean, technically jails could be considered people zoos, but that's an entirely different thing.

"Alright," Saito says once we were the only two people left. "So, I suppose you have plenty of questions?"

"No, not at all, this kind of thing happens to me every other thursdaOF COURSE I HAVE QUESTIONS!" I yell at him. "Why did you kidnap me? What's with the stupid tattoo? Where the heck are we? Don't make me call the police!"

"C-calm down," Saito says. "Come on, we can't stay out in the courtyard all day. Let's go back to my dorm and I can start explaining things."

"Go with you? To your room? How about no!" I tell him. "You expect me to trust some pervert who kidnapped me and forced himself onto me?"

"I did no such thing!" he insists. "O-okay, I guess I did kiss you, but it didn't mean anything! It was just me completing the familiar ritual!"

Great. I've been kidnapped by some stupid, delusional brat. Damn it, I don't have my phone so I can't call for help. He doesn't seem that tough, I could probably get a few good hits in and buy some time to rush off for help.

My planning process was interrupted when I felt something hit my head. I looked up and saw what had previously been a bright, blue sky had quickly clouded over and brought forth rain. It wasn't raining hard, but it was enough that most people would decide to take shelter indoors. I feel Saito grab my wrist and pull me towards some building. Dorms… The professor mentioned seconds years, and they supposedly live in dorms. I suppose this building might be those dorms? Am I at some kind of school?

"Whew, we got in before it started storming too badly," Saito says once we were safely inside. "I was trying to tell you, a storm was supposed to be coming up soon and we couldn't spend all of our time outside."

"That's impossible, the sky was completely clear just a minute ago," I say.

"Weather changes fast around here," he says. "Give it about twenty minutes, it's be nice and sunny again."

"You're kidding," I say.

"Nope, completely serious," he says. "Well, apparently this was supposed to be a pretty big storm, so it might be a bit longer than that. It shouldn't last that long in any case. Come on, let's head to my dorm so I can explain things to you properly."

"Do I have a choice in the matter?" I ask.

"Plenty," he says. "You could stay here and wander aimlessly, you could go back out into the storm-"

"I get it," I say. "Lead the way."

And so, Saito lead me back to his room. Hmm. If this is a school, like I previously thought, would I actually be allowed in his dorm? Most schools with dorms that I've been to usually have rules about letting a girl in the boys dorm or vice versa. Considering I don't know where I am, maybe the rules here are different.

Once we had reached Saito's room and entered, he sat on what I suppose is his bed and started thinking about how to begin.

"Okay… Hmm… I guess the basics?" Saito offers. "Right so, I'm a second year student at the Tristain academy of magic, and the second years were supposed to summon a familiar today, and I summoned you."

"… That was nothing but jargon that means nothing to me," I tell him. "What are you saying?"

"Well um… Okay, you know how wizards and witches always have those little animals that help them out?" Saito tries instead. "Stuff like mice or ravens or stuff?"

"I suppose so."

"Well, I was supposed to summon one today, but instead of an animal I got you," he says.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, what?"

"So, as a familiar your job is too get reagents for spells and things like that, protect me from dangers," Saito ignores me and continues talking.

"Wait wait, back up," I say. "You lost me at wizards. Magic isn't real, you idiot."

Saito pull a stick out of his pocket, his wand I suppose, and gives it a flick. A small flame ignites itself and rests on the end of his wand.

"… Well that's just a really fancy novelty lighter," I say.

He gives his wand a wave and puts the small flame out. He point it at a desk lamp and starts making the desk lamp levitate. He moves it left, then right, then he puts it down.

"Fancy rig," I say. "Did it take you a while to set up the strings?"

He points his wand at me and lifts me up off of the ground.

"H-hey! Put me down! Put me down you pervert! I'll report you for sexual harassment!" I yell at him as he levitates me about a foot or two off of the ground.

"I'll let you down when you admit magic exists," he says.

"Fine, magic's real, put me down!" I yell at him.

He gently lets me down and a I stumble a bit when I land on my feet. Being levitated is an odd feeling and I feel kind of queazy now.

"So, to recap," Saito begins. "I'm a wizard, you're my familiar, we're stuck together for the foreseeable future."

"But… That's…"

"I can't imagine it's an easy thing to just accept right off of the bat," Saito says. "It's not _super_ late, but the sun's down so why don't you take a bit of a nap and sleep on things a bit?"

"Sleep? Where? There's only the one bed, and I'm not going anywhere near a pervert like you," I tell him.

"… Shit, I hadn't thought of that," Saito concedes. "Um… Well, it'll be a temporary thing so it should be fine. I'll take the floor tonight and you can have the bed."

"Excuse me?"

"Well you're a familiar, but you're also technically my guest and more importantly you're a girl, and I was raised to take proper care of girls," he says.

"So you're a natural womanizer," I tell him.

"W-well when you put it like that, I sound kind of awful, don't I?" he says sheepishly.

"Regardless, it is a generous offer," I tell him. "Thank you very much."

"Wow," he says.

"What?"

"For a minute I wasn't sure you were actually capable of being nice," he says. That remark earns him another slap.

"Remarks like that are major reasons why I decide against being nice to people," I tell him. "Well, good night Saito."

"Good night… Um… You never gave me your name," he says.

"Louise," I say.

"Well, good night Louise," he says with a smile. "I look forward to working with you."

I kick my shoes off and crawl under the covers of the bed. Saito, true to his word, lies down on the floor. Considering there are two pillows on the bed as well as what appears to be some kind of spare blanket, I toss both to him. He thanks me and prepares his makeshift bed.

… What have I gotten myself into? Magic, familiar, Tristain? Where the heck is Tristain? Why is magic a thing? What's with the weird markings on my wrist? What's going on? Despite all the questions that wouldn't stop jumping around my head, eventually I was able to fall asleep.

***Scene Break***

The first thing I saw that night was the cloudy, black sky. The second was her face. She looks a lot younger when she's sleeping. She may be sixteen, but she looks a bit younger. I mean, Louise looks young as is, but her sleeping face makes her look even younger. She looks so young, so innocent. Hard to believe someone like her could ever kill someone.

There's a lot she still needs to learn about this world. He'll start teaching her, and I'll be there to fill in the gaps that he can't. After all, the only things he knows about this world are what this school teaches him, and they only teach the things that benefit them. Not their fault, that's just how that particular system works. I can't change that.

I sigh and look out the window. It's still raining. In this world rain storms rarely last past twenty minutes. This one's been going for over an hour. What a freak occurrence. Well, weather sucks no matter where you go, the location just determines in what way it sucks. I can't change that.

I close my eyes and lean back against the window frame. I'm tired. I'll sleep for now. I'll introduce myself tomorrow, when she's alone. Of course I can wait if that doesn't end up happening. I've got all the time in the world, so why rush things? Eventually my thoughts fade and I fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Notes:**

So, this chapter we learn a bit more about everything that's going on. Saito's not a void mage this story. I mean, I know I said it was a role swap story with Saito summoning Louise, but that doesn't mean Saito needs to be a void mage, or that Louise needs to be Gandalfar. As such, neither of those are a part of this story. See if you can spot some other changes from canon as the story continues.

Most importantly, Alice. Alice is basically the second main character as you can probably guess from the fact that some parts of the story will be from her perspective. What exactly is Alice? What does she know about the world? That's for another time. Anyway, that's it for this chapter, see you all next time.

**Chapter 02**

I woke up the next day, feeling like a wreck. I didn't have a very good sleep, some awful nightmares. I've never been good at remembering dreams, so whatever the nightmare was about it's all just hazy floating about in my brain now.

As unlikely as it was, I was hoping that when I woke up I'd be back in my room and I could dismiss all of yesterday as a bad dream. I can't say I'm surprised, but I am worried. I really have been kidnapped. … I shouldn't think like that. It may not necessarily be a kidnapping. Well, that is literarily what happened, but using the word "kidnapping: has a certain connotation, and expectations. This is more… a freak accident. It's not like Saito specifically asked for me when he did the summoning, right? So it's still kidnapping, but it's an accidental kidnapping. Not that that's any better, I suppose. I'm still stuck in some weird place with no idea how to get home. Everyone's probably already noticed I'm gone. I wonder how they're reacting. I'm sure they don't care, I'm a pretty worthless daughter when compared to Eleonore, or Cattleya. At least I don't need to be a burden on them anymore.

"Hey, Louise," Saito said as he stood near the bed. "You awake yet?"

"If I wasn't I am now," I say as I sit up. "What's the matter?"

"Just figured I should wake you up considering it's time for me to head to class," Saito tells me. "I mean, you didn't seem to know a lot about this world. Wouldn't it be a good idea to head to classes and learn a bit?"

"I mean it seems like a good idea, but you're the one suggesting it so I'm a bit worried," I say.

"C-come on, can't you give me a little more credit then that?" Saito asks. "You haven't even known me long enough to make a call like that."

"In the time I've known you I've been stolen from my home, forcibly kissed, and tossed around with a stupid magic spell," I tell him. "Forgive me if I'm not too happy with you at the moment."

"All fair points," Saito concedes. "But you're my familiar, and we're stuck together for a _long_ time, so it would be nice if you could trust me just a little, okay?"

"Whatever," I say as I get out of the bed. "Classes, huh? What are they going to teach, magic?"

"It is a magic academy," Saito points out.

"Then, like you said, I suppose it would be a good idea to go to classes if I want to actually learn anything about where I am," I say.

"That's the spirit!" Saito says. "Don't worry, since you're just a familiar you won't be tested on anything, you just sit there and learn."

"How riveting," I reply.

I put my shoes back on and Saito grabbed his book bag and we headed for his classes. I don't know what I'm hoping to gain out of this. If this is a magical academy I'm certainly not going to learn anything of value, I can't use magic. Maybe they'll be a geography class or something and I can get a good idea of where I actually am and how I would get back home.

Unfortunately, none of the classes for the first half of the day did anything for me. Just magic theory, magic practice and modern history. What use is a modern history class?! We can figure out what's going on in the world by turning our heads out the window and looking! And if we can't, we can just use the internet and listen to people who don't know anything about the events arguing about it. Utterly baffling. I did pick one thing interesting out of it, apparently the princess was going to be in the town for a bit on some royal business. So this place is a monarchy, huh? You don't see those around a lot anymore. At least not a true monarchy where it's the king who has absolute authority. Does that tell me anything about where I actually am? No, but it's still something.

After those first few classes we were given an extended recess. Apparently one block of class had been set aside for masters to learn more about their familiar. Smart move, I would say.

"So… Feel like sharing anything about yourself?" Saito asks as we sat at a table in the courtyard.

The only problem with it is that usually the familiar is willing to share information about themselves.

"Nothing in particular," I say.

"Well, should I tell you a bit about myself first?" Saito asks.

"Better than us simply sitting here in silence," I say.

"Okay then. My name is Saito de Orienes," he tells me. "I'm sixteen years old, a second year student, and a line class fire mage."

"How interesting," I say. "So you're pretty proficient at blowing things up?"

"Well, sort of," he says. "Setting things on fire is pretty easy, but I'm not that powerful a mage. Like I said, only line class. That's roughly average. If I cared enough to actually try for it I could probably hit triangle class."

"Then why don't you?" I ask.

"Like I said, I don't care enough," Saito replies with a shrug. "I don't see any point in it. There isn't a single thing I can do as a triangle mage that I can't do as a line mage. Why bother putting in extra effort when I'm not getting any more reward out of it?"

"I'd call you a lazy ass, but I think pretty much the same way," I tell him.

"Oh, so there is something we can agree on," Saito says with a smile. "Hard work really sucks, doesn't it?"

"It certainly does," I agree. "Mom keeps trying to push me to work harder to reach some arbitrary goals she set up for me, but I just don't really care. I do fine as I am."

"Really now?" Saito asks. "What's she want you to do?"

"Mom's a really successful, awesome businesswoman and she wants me to take over when she retires," I tell him. "Eleonore can't do it because she's already studying to become a scholar and Cattleya can't do it because she's got a weak immune system so she wouldn't be able to handle all the stress."

"Sisters?" Saito asks.

"Yep," I say.

"What about your dad?" Saito asks.

"Oh, he's into politics and stuff so I don't see him that often," I say.

"Last question," Saito says. "What's your name, really? I mean, you told me it last night, but that was just a first name and…"

"What's with that?" I ask, glaring at him. "Are you suggesting that I was lying to you? I can assure you, my name is Louise. Go ahead, dig up my birth certificate, stalker."

"I-I'm not saying you're a liar!" Saito tries to defend himself. "I just mean that you don't really seem like a Louise. You look more like a… Like an Aria, or something."

"Aria? How do you get that?" I ask.

"You know, a name more fancy and pretty," Saito says. "Something like that seems like it would suit you more than something as plain as Louise."

That statement earns him a slap.

"How dare you!" I yell at him. "My name is very dignified and I'm very fond of it!"

"I-I didn't mean to insult your name!" he tries to defend himself.

"Seems like you're having fun," a new voice says.

It was some big-breasted, red haired woman walking towards us. … I don't like her. Something about her just screams "enemy."

"Kirche, what are you doing here?" Saito asks.

"Well I heard an interesting rumor a little bit ago," Kirche begins. "I heard that my dearest friend Saito had a rather interesting familiar summoning experience. A human girl, huh? You don't see too many of those being summoned as familiars. This is her, I suppose?"

"Right, I should introduce you two," Saito says. "Kirche, this is my familiar, Louise. Louise, this is an old friend of mine, Kirche."

"A pleasure to meet you," Kirche says.

"Same," I say.

…

"Wow, real talkative one, isn't she?" Kirche asks. "She and Tabitha would get along great."

"What was that old saying?" Saito asks. "'Friendship is being able to be in each other's company and not need to say anything,' right?"

"Something like that," Kirche says.

"Well does that apply to two people who never say anything anyway?" Saito asks.

"Who knows," Kirche says. "We'll have to test it out later. Until then, see you around darling!"

Kirche gives a small wave and struts off, leaving me and Saito alone.

"Girlfriend of yours?" I ask him.

"Not even," Saito says. "I'm just on good terms with her. I've talked with her a bit, but I really don't have much interest in her."

"Really?" I ask. "If you say so. How long is this break thing supposed to even last, don't you have classes to go to or something?"

"I do," Saito says. "And the break is almost over. Come on, let's head back in to the school."

"Yay, more learning," I say dryly.

***Scene Break***

Louise and Saito kept busy the rest of that day. Classes until the afternoon and after that Saito took Louise around the academy to show her around. Big freaking whoop, it's a school I don't see why you would ever want to actually know anything about it. After all, you're stuck there for freaking years, you're going to know everything about the place whether you want to or not.

Eventually, around nighttime, those two idiots finally went back to their room. Saito still needed to go ask the faculty if they could provide him with a bed or something so he wouldn't have to sleep on the floor. As such, he gets floor, Louise gets bed. Joy for everyone.

And so, they both went to sleep and everything was nice. … Except that in the middle of the night Louise woke up. Probably a nightmare or something, she tends to have a lot of those. Louise sat up in the bed and looked around. It must have been a particularly bad nightmare or something, because she actually got out of the bed and paced back and forth a bit. Trying to clear your mind there, sweetie?

Louise walks over to the window and opens it up to get a little air in. She leans out the window and looks around a bit, observing the academy at night. It's a different place at night, it feels like a completely different world. Louise seemed to think so as well, because she was completely enamored by the the scenery. She was enamored, that is, until she noticed the one big problem with the picture.

"Huh?" she said. "The moon's-"

"A little fucked, I'll say that much," I finally introduce myself.

"W-who's there?" Louise asks, quickly turning around and scanning the room for any intruders. That's not going to work very well for you.

"Behind you sweetie," I tell her. She turns around and finally sees me. I suppose I didn't need to have her turn around, but I figured that using the view from the window as a backdrop would be neat. Plus the moon's in the background as well, so double style points. Louise didn't seem that impressed. Actually, she seemed more horrified.

"Wh-who are you and why do you look exactly like me?" Louise asks.

… Oh yeah, that's a thing. I forgot, I look exactly like my host. Should probably explain that before she freaks out and wakes up the neighborhood.

"I look like you because I'm currently inside you," I say.

"… Want to work on that phrasing?" Louise asks.

"Why?" I ask. "It's accurate, to a degree. Okay, see, you are a familiar, right?"

"I am, apparently," Louise says.

"And you got those fancy runes, right?" I ask.

Louise looks at the runes on her left wrist. She traces them with her index finger before looking back at me.

"And what about them?" Louise asks.

"Those are me," I say. "I'm a little magical spell inscribed in the runes that exists to give you guidance and knowledge about the situation you've found yourself in."

"Excuse me?" Louise asks.

"I'm the one you ask when you want to know anything about this world," I tell her.

"Oh. That's it?" Louise asks.

"That's it," I say. "You're stuck with me as long as you're stuck in this situation."

"Okay then… So, why do you look like me again?" Louise asks.

"Because you look like you," I say. "I look like whoever I'm a part of. What you need to realize is that I don't have an actual body and I don't physically exist. You're the only one that can see me, and that's only because of your familiar situation. So, since I'm in your head, you only need to think something and I'll hear it, and you don't need to worry about anyone else hearing me."

"… Really now," Louise says. "So you're saying the familiar contract or whatever it is just made me insane?"

"I never said that," I say. "I'm just here to help you out."

"If you say so," Louise says. "Do you have a name, or do I just call you 'the voice in my head.'"

"… Alice," I eventually say. "You can call me Alice."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Alice," Louise says.

"Yeah, yeah, same," I say dismissively. "Hurry up and shut the window. It's cold and I want to sleep."

"Sure. Good night, Alice."

Louise closes the window and crawls back under the covers. I simply lean up against the wall and close my eyes. Well, introductions are over, now I simply need to do my job and I'll be good. If only it were that easy.


End file.

Familiar of Zero