Familiar of Zero 1. Chapter 1

He hung suspended in something that he couldn't see. He felt it though, on his skin, in his skin, in his heart. It was his blood, a sea of it, still, forlorn, but fresh and crimson like a murder. This place was new, its existence, its purpose, had only just been fully realized. Such odd thoughts that ran through his head, that was just like him to be thinking such things. He tried to laugh and it came out _**wrong**_, a strangled croak that made his throat burn. Where was he? He knew, he swore he knew, but the memory wouldn't come.

He tried to stand but he had no legs.

He tried to reach but he had no arms.

He tried to breath but he had no lungs.

He tried to feel but his skin only burned.

But he could hear. There was something pounding inside his ear, tearing and grinding, ripping and shredding. A sound- a voice and another and another- gnashing in his head like grinding glass, shards broke and tumbled and turned in a deadly dance as he was killed from the inside.

This feeling was so familiar, so welcoming, so inviting. It promised release from the inferno that consumed his body, promised all he'd been deprived. And it promised something that he knew not the meaning, only the value. Something he'd sought and lost so many times before.

_My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe!_

The sound...

The wailing of the damned...

It promised him an end...

Offered him the death that had alluded him for so long (Too long why should he live while suffered and died and bleed and...!).

The gnashing grew louder, closer, outstretched arms beckoning him to the rest he deserved!

_My divine, beautiful, wise, and powerful servant, heed my call!_

A little closer.

_I desire and here I plead from my heart!_

The sound, deafening...

Closer, please...

_Answer my guidance..._

Finally...

_And appear!_

* * *

Louise knew she was terrible at magic. She would _never_ tell anyone, not even in the strictest of confidence, not even to her beloved sister. She'd even lie to herself every once in a while.

_I am Louise de la Valliere and though I cannot perform magic as aptly as my peers my mind is rife with a knowledge of magical theory second to none. Perhaps I'll never levitate, perhaps my mother will be disappointed but I do not care. I will shine in my own way, just as Cattleya says._

They were pretty words, doused in platitudes, and they helped on the bad days. The memory of her beloved sister helped on the worse ones. And sometimes, in brief, frantic moments, it all came crashing down upon her shoulders, bringing her to her knees and forcing deep shuddering breaths to escape her lungs.

It was those brief moments of weakness snatched away in the privacy of her room that she had poured into her words. Every bit of her shame and her fear. Every disparaging word that had every been said to her by her unrelentingly cruel peers and every bit of the ugly, pulsating, anger that she had locked away behind her mothers Rule of Steel. She twisted it, shaped all of that negativity into an oath that resonated with her soul.

And with all of her classmates judging eyes upon her, she cast.

* * *

In another place, far removed from the material world of vice and sin, someone -something- had wished for death, be it bloody or calm. He'd found it, finally, a beautiful place to rest his head for eternity. A black tempest tinged with fire and screeching with the souls of the damned. He smiled, the most at peace he'd ever been.

And snatched away from his doom by a green tinged portal.

Hell once again walked the Earth.


	2. Chapter 2

A gust of wind wafted across his face displacing, for a moment, the lock of black hair that hung over his forehead. He raised his arms to push it back into place but found it difficult to move. His muscles were sore and stiff as if they hadn't been in use for a long time. Every movement he tried to make only produced a minute twitch in his limbs and a sharp sting to course across his skin.

He settled down upon his back, gasping heavily into the open air. Every breath was a herculean labor as his heart drummed against his rib cage. What to do now?

Find out where he was? Maybe.

In an unfamiliar, unknown place completely vulnerable to the elements and the animals, he found that he bring himself to care. His eyes refused to open, wildly throbbing behind his lids, but he could still hear clearly.

The low whistle of the wind as it drifted around and over him, uncaring to his prone body.

The chirping birds providing chorus to the music of the rustling trees.

And something else, low and steady, its rhythm intermingling with the gusts of wind jostling his lock of hair.

Breathing? Someone else was here with him? Wherever here was? And what were they doing lying down next to him when he didn't even know who they were?

Hmm, come to think of it...

Who was he?

_ A sound, grinding into her mind, shredding her thoughts and feelings until all she could articulate was pitiful cry for help. She knew before it had even passed her lips that it would be snatched away by the tempest..._

_Futile_

_Delusional_

_Desperate_

_**Burning! Ithurtsithurtsithurts**_

**silence**

_ Louise couldn't feel her eyes, couldn't see._

_ She was deaf to everything but that horrid wail, likes someone, everyone, crying out in unfathomable pain and despair._

_ But that word had pierced her soul. Had gripped it in its hands and wouldn't let go._

_ Who was...?_

**accept your fate**

_ And she plunged down_

_ down_

_ down_

_ down_

The sun was beating down on Louise with a fury she was sure she'd down nothing to deserve as it did every morning when it was time to face her classmates. Ugh, why did she keep leaving the blinds open when she went to sleep? The only thing it did was wake her up and the school had servants for that! All she had to do was ask...

She sighs and rises from her bed, her body fighting her for every inch. She felt sore, like she'd fallen down a flight stairs, and tired. Exhausted, even. She didn't remember doing anything too strenuous the day before, though perhaps that explosion had managed to rattle her worse than she thought. Odd, she walked away from all the other ones just fine.

Wait, no, she wouldn't be having such thoughts this early in the morning. Let's just get this day over with, her mattress was starting to get uncomfortable. Louise moved to push her legs off the bed and-...what? She looked around, her grogginess giving way to confusion as she saw the lush grass and high perimeter walls of the school courtyard.

Confusion gave way to fear when she saw the bodies sprawled on the ground around her. Louise jumps to her feet but collapses on all fours as her legs give out. Her limbs felt like jelly, quaking and burning with effort as she tried to keep herself up.

Her eyes darted from body to body, her classmates and Professor Colbert laid out upon the grass. She turned and peered at the closest prone form, a heavy-set boy with short blond curls that were in disarray, presumably from lying on the ground for who-knows-how-long. He, Jean-Michell Beltran she remembered, was on his back, face contorted into...well she couldn't put it into words. Pure terror seemed appropriate but it was...lacking. His eyes were open and his pupils had dilated; a thin line of drool snaked down the corner of his mouth, opened wide as if he'd been screaming. A cursory glance and she could tell that that look was mirrored on every face in the courtyard. They all seemed to breathing, thankfully but...

What _happened_ here?

She...couldn't remember. Why were they in the courtyard? Professor Colbert had been saying something...

_ Welcome, class! The day has finally come for the-_

Summoning Ritual!

That cow Kirche had summoned her glorified lizard and it had been her turn! She remembered summoning...summoning...ugh! She had done it though! She couldn't remember what but she had summoned _something_, she knew it!

Louise smiled, ignoring the tightness in her muscles. Her legs and arms were consumed with pins and needles but she leapt up anyway. She swayed slightly almost falling as she weaved through the maze of prone limps and bodies, towards the summoning circle. Though she did manage to "accidentally" trip over Kirche's midsection.

The circle was still there surrounded by a perimeter of flattened grass and slowly spiraling dust illuminated by the sun. It was still powered but she could feel that it had faded to almost nil which would mean...that either her and her classmates were unconscious for far longer than was possible (at least a day if she were remembering her magical theory correctly) or, well...she didn't know. The only thing she knew of that could drain a summoning font of its magic was time and there was no way that someone wouldn't come looking for them in the time it took for the circle to get this weak. Perhaps some malfunction with the runes? Maybe some backlash resulting from the most recent summon...

Her summon...

No! No, that didn't matter now, none of this does! She had called forth a familiar, one of divine power and grace, one that would heed only her commands. She wondered at the possibilities, at the praise and respect she'd receive from her peers.

From her mother.

All she had to do was complete the ritual.

Louise's eyes drifted across the courtyard, scanning for a glinting scale or misplaced feather.

Listening for the pad of paws or the gentle hum of wings.

A forlorn meow or bark, a ferocious roar, claws shambling upon the castles sheer walls.

Anything.

And then she paused.

There was a boy in the center of the circle spread eagle among the other bodies. There was nothing particularly eye-catching about him, hair colored black with a ting of red, clothed in a thin and tattered cotton shirt, similarly ruined pants, and nothing on his feet. Her eyes might have passed over him, disregarding him as part of the kitchen staff who'd gotten caught in whatever had happened here.

But his eyes, bloodshot, tired, and piercing her own rooted her to the spot.


	3. Chapter 3

_ They couldn't escape. He couldn't let them._

_ They ran and ran and ran...and fell, flames engulfing their forms..._

** You didn't stop you never stopped**

_ A village to the east; a quaint one with no name he could recall. The people were dirtied with sweat and their clothes were worn from the toil of farm work. They lived a life of hardship and struggle, but they talked, loved, and laughed just as anyone would._

_ They had looked so happy._

** did they deserve this enjya**

_ No... _

_ Their homes were wood and thatch, built on land dried by the summer heat. The objective was unclear in his head but his purpose for being there wasn't: what was sanctuary to them was a playground to a serpent of flame._

_ So he played._

** merciless unswayable their screams were knives in your soul**

_ It was a nebulous experience. He saw through his own eyes, felt the motion of his arms as they swung, felt the heat on his skin as his victims cried out in anguish. He felt nothing as they died. His superiors required him to burn._

_ So he burned._

** not numb enjya afraid**

_ He burned the women._

** afraid that battle had made you less than human**

_ He burned the men._

** afraid that you'd been made a weapon to be used**

_ He...burned the children._

** afraid that the flame snake was all you were all you could be**

_ He burned..._

** afraid you'd burn**

_** everything**_

_ Until all that was left was ash and cinders. _

_ Until only he remained untouched by the flames._

**fire burns all enjya**

**whether the wielder or victim**

_ A sound filled his ears, high pitched and unending. It tore into his mind giving no heed to the pain it caused, burrowing into his thoughts, spreading into his body, seeping into his veins like poison. _

**so burn**

_ His skin broke open. His robes were set alight as his blood, glowing with heat, flowed down his body. He raised a hand to his face and watched as it began to decay, pieces of him drifting off in waves of ash until he could see bone and the blackened viscera that was his muscle._

_ The remains of his victims were rising from their rest, sickly green plasma intertwined with their bones, setting their eye sockets alight. They saw him burning and they sang._

_ A last ode to their murderer, an infernal keening by those damned to burn in hell._

_ His voice joined the masses, ringing throughout the field, the final note dying long after he was nothing but ash._

A haggard cough rattled out of professor Jean Colberts throat as he was startled into unconsciousness. It was quickly stifled as he rose, gripping his staff, ready for any conflict that might arise.

He couldn't recognize the area, but he knew the setting well: a castle lit by the evening sun to one side of him and on the other a rolling field of grass. And a scattering of bodies at his feet.

A familiar setting indeed.

Colbert stalked forward, senses open and a spells clear in his mind, towards the nearest of them, a girl with violet hued hair done up in a bun. The face was unfamiliar, but he recognized the uniform, he chanced a look back at the castle and noted the five towers built-in the shape of a pentagram.

The Tristain Academy of Magic. Why was he here?

...Didn't matter. Looking back at the student _Silvette de Helietta Fontain_ he could see she was breathing faintly. He looked back at the other students, splayed on the ground in various positions, and could see minimal movement in their sides. Their were odd...looks frozen upon their faces, twisted expressions of anger, pain, and fear but they were alive. _Thank Brimir _They were all alive. That was one non-problem; now who did _dare do_ this to them?

Or perhaps what? He couldn't find any signs of attack and, despite their sullied appearances, their uniforms were devoid of damage. The courtyard was unblemished, the castle intact, and a...summoning circle had been drawn in the grass. Long dead from the feel of it, but a large amount of residual power still lingered, managing to cling to the edges of...everything? That couldn't be right.

He checked for threats again, could never be too careful, before focusing his mind on the odd-

"_Professor, please allow me to do the summoning ritual over!" _

"_I'm afraid that's not possible Mademoiselle De La Valliere,"_

**What have you done...**

"_What! Why?! The circle's magics are still fresh, I could easily-"_

"_The ritual is a sacred act that entrusts to a mage a constant companion suited to their own personalities. Even if I were to allow such a blasphemous thing as a second attempt, it wouldn't matter. He is your familiar Mademoiselle whether you like it or not."_

_ What have you done._

"_Ha! Figures the Zero would summon a peasant as a familiar. One good thing about her is that she always rises to expectations, hahahahaha."_

"_Aw, and you seemed so confident yesterday, I'm almost disappointed,"_

"_Shut up, cow! Professor please I-"_

"_You have to finish the ritual Mademoiselle Valliere_

**What have you done.**

"_Bu...Fine. Count yourself lucky, those of noble birth rarely lower themselves like this. My name is Louis Francoise Le Blanc de la Valliere."_

_** What have you done!**_

"_Oh, Pentagon that rules the five powers, bless this individual, and make him my familiar!"_

**WHAT HAVE YOU DONE**

Cracks splitting the ground, screams of the panicked filling the air, red filling his vision then an all-encompassing black. He fell; with the shrieks of those he failed in his ears and fire on the tips of his fingers.

A blackened hand, cracked and glowing, reaching towards him.

Colbert backed away, from what he wasn't sure, he felt that...horrid energy on all sides of him. It swirled around his body, around the students bodies, bending with the grass, and swaying in the wind.

He looked up and it was there, devouring the sky.

By the Founder, what happened here?

His stomach had clenched and beads of sweat stained his brow. His senses crashed back into him as his suddenly unnerved mind lost focus, but...wait. Something had brushed against him as he retreated back to his body, a straight line of the same energy that permeated his surroundings. He mumbled the incantation of a sensory spell, a fair bit less powerful than his own senses, but his instincts were screaming at him to not let that power anywhere near his head again.

There was indeed a line of the stuff stemming from the center of the summoning circle. It seemed no different from the other energy except this was far more potent. Looking down its length he could see that the line's other end went towards the courtyard entrance, into the...castle.

Oh _Brimir no_ no. Colbert gripped his staff squarely in his hands, a soldiers gaze leveled at the building. Then it turned downwards to the unconscious students in the courtyard. There was only trail leading into the castle and, as far as he could tell, no others going anywhere else; whatever had done this was alone.

And able to fire off spells that left the terrain intact, but magically lingered on everything in the vicinity. That was...royalty level magic. He knew as long he kept the enemy busy the students outside would be fine, he just couldn't say the same for the students and teachers inside. Or himself for _that didn't_ matter.

He learned a lot as a soldier, many sobering bits of reality with every tragedy he caused. But the most important thing he'd ever learned, the lesson taken to heart that saved his life and ended others in return? Move your feet before your mind has a chance to make you hesitate.

He was already inside the castle and moving deeper before he realized that this was probably suicide.

* * *

This was her familiar. This was her familiar! By Brimir, this was her familiar! A ragged plebian with heroes on the brain! What had she done to deserve this?!

Louise sat fuming at the back of the classroom as her familia-no, stop calling him that- her new servant crouched beside another one of her fallen classmates. He wasn't doing anything in particular, he just stared at them and occasionally pressed a hand to their bodies.

She had been startled by him when their eyes had met in the courtyard and he'd risen from the ground like some ancient wight. He approached her and she stood her ground as a Valliere should, but then there was a horrid tugging in her brain and a sickly reddish-green glow from his right hand and...he was her familiar.

Louise growled as low and as menancingly as she could manage (Which didn't amount too much in either case) and slumped lower in her seat before sighing. She summoned _something_ at least, not a dragon, or great serpent as she wanted, but she had managed some magic without anything exploding. Something to be proud of she supposed...

Still...she would have preferred if it if he were a bit more impressive at least. For Brimir's sake, he was barefoot and his tattered rags hung loosely on his wiry frame. His black hair hung loosely over his head like an oily curtain and his exposed skin had patches of dirt and grime on it so thick that she wasn't sure what its color was! Ugh, it was one thing to summon a human by why did she have to summon one so unkempt!

"Louise," She looked up at her servant, now standing and walking towards her carefully avoiding the bodies on the floor. "It would seem this room is no different from others. Is there anywhere else to look?"

She stared at him for a moment eyes wide in disbelief "Of course there is, idiot! We're in a castle, there are dozens of rooms in here!"

He didn't flinch at her tone "We have to check them."

Louise abruptly rose from her seat glaring into his eyes "No we don't! We've checked nearly every room on this floor! If you weren't able to do anything about this," She flick her hand at one of the bodies "Then what makes you think you'll be able to fix any of the others?!"

"I have to try,"

"You're a _peasant_! What could _you_ possibly do that your betters couldn't?!"

His eyebrows arched slightly and Louise took far more enjoyment out that simple motion than she should have. It had been a few hours since she'd found him in the summoning circle and she'd barely gotten any emotion out of him but indifference.

The boy opened his mouth after a moment "Probably nothing."

He shrugged and strode past her, weaving around her fallen peers, and exited into the hallway with hardly a backwards glance.

She wanted to scream.

Instead, she quickly stomped out after intent on putting her servant in his place. She looked around the corridor, relatively free of bodies beside the odd straggler or castle servant. Their he was walking at a steady pace away from her.

"Commoner, come back here!" He glanced at her over his shoulder and kept walking.

_ No_.

"Commoner, I am talking to you!" No reaction, no regard.

_ NO! She would not be ignored by filth like him!_

Her face twisted with rage and suddenly her wand was in her hand pointed at his back. Magic gathered at its tip, surging over her body and whipping through her hair like a storm.

The commoner turned back to her, no hint of panic or apology in his eyes. Louise hesitated, for a moment their was a women in place of the boy, taller and with pink hair much like her own. Her eyes, a muted green, faded to vivid red and a scream tore out of her throat as tears flooded her eyes.

And the boy's back exploded in a golden halo of light. Louise reeled, her spell shooting wide and turning a part of the adjacent wall to rubble. She was thrown to the ground by the force and she quickly covered her face as dust obscured the hall.

She could hear something, past the sound of the commoner grunting in pain, a light, gentle bell-like noise that stuck fast in her ears. She lowered her arms, the commoner was already rising to his feet but beyond him, slightly shadowed by the clouds of dust, was one of the castle maids. Fair skinned, dark-haired, and eyes that would have been kind if they were not narrowed in utter contempt.

And perhaps if she were not covered in golden sigils.

"Foul demon ripped from the Infernal Winds," Her voice was powerful and Louise found herself hanging off every word, "For what you have done here, for the lives you dare take and the lives that yet balance on this existence, I command you, by my right as protectorate,"

Demon? Louise looked towards the commoner who had risen somewhere in the maid/warrior girls speech. His back was turned to her and she could see the-what! The back of his clothes were burned off by the maids attack and the skin underneath was hideously burned. But the burns weren't nearly as bad as they should have been and even as she watched they were rapidly healing.

What had she summoned?

"Be gone from this world and return to your hell!" The ringing in Louise's ears began to sound like the chiming of a church bell as the maid raised her right hand into the air and moved her left to her side. The sigils on her arms elongated and changed becoming a glowing sword and shield attached to her forearms. She pulsed a brilliant gold and made depressions in the ground beneath her feet as she pounced.


End file.

Familiar of Zero, Adventure, Horror