A Vista of the Void [Worm/Familiar of Zero Xover]

Because, why not? I can't promise to update this regularly, but it will get a new chapter every now and then.

Without further ado:

A Vista of the Void
Part one​

This was supposed to be a routine supply run through what should have been a secure route. After Leviathan everything was shaken up in Brockton Bay but neither the PRT or the Protectorate expected an ambush. Too far from the ever-expanding merchant territory, with a cargo too small to be of interest to the Fenrir's chosen and according to all sources both the Undersiders and the Pure weren't into assaulting official supply convoys, the former having their own source of supplies and the later going after the other gangs, Merchants mostly, so there shouldn't have been any problems. That's why instead of being escorted by a full squad of PRT soldiers and at least three Protectorate heroes the convoy was manned by a skeleton crew and escorted by two Wards and a member of the Protectorate. Even if the Wards were the actual leader, Weld, a case 53 with a body made of metal; and Vista, a powerful space manipulator and despite her young age the most experienced Ward of the Brockton Bay team. Both lead by Miss Militia, second in command of the city's Protectorate.

And of course what should happen and what actually happened were two very different things. No one expected to suddenly find themselves face to face with one of Squealer's monstrosities that she called vehicles or that said machine to be armed with an EMP cannon that fried the electronics on the PRT vehicles or to find that Skidmark, Mush and a bunch of non-powered members of the Merchants cutting off the convoy's retreat route.

The skirmish resulted in a stalemate when Miss Militia took out the vehicle's cannon and whatever part that let it move with a couple of well-placed anti-material rifle shots but the rest more mundane weapons of the tinker vehicle made her dive for cover. On the other end of the street Skidmark was using his power to pelt the defenders with debris, or he would have if it wasn't for the distorted space maintained by Vista twisting the projectiles away or in some cases sending them right back to the merchants which was also the main reason none of them were using their guns. Mush who managed to slip by the twisted space was being kept in check by Weld.

That's when it happened. One of the less known aspects of Vista's power is her ability to feel the space in her range, so when the strange distortion appeared barely five feet behind her she was the first to notice it. To everyone else it was a green floating oval but to Vista's senses it was something extremely bizarre, something that shouldn't be able to exist, it was like someone took a chunk of the universe and forgot to fill the resulting void. Her head was throbbing from trying to comprehend the phenomenon as she turned around to see the impossibility with her own eyes. The distraction cost her dearly. As she lost control of the space between her and Skidmark something hit her in the small of her back, the armored part of her costume made what could have been a crippling blow into just a bruise but did nothing to prevent physics as the inertia sent her right into the anomaly.

If the outside of the phenomenon was painful to try and decipher being on the inside was pure agony. Vista's power was working overdrive to make sense of the impossible nonspace that she was in. Vista tried to scream from the splitting headache but the lack of air in whatever or wherever she was made it impossible. After a few moments she felt her consciousness slipping away from her.

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Another explosion. Louise François LeBlanc De la Valliere tried not to let her disappointment show. Not here, not in front of them, especially not after boasting about how she'd get the most impressive familiar of this springtime summoning ceremony. She tried, without much success, to keep her wand arm firm and steady but the heckles and barbs from the rest of the second year class of Tristain's academy of magic even if they weren't unexpected still hurt. Louise grip on her wand tightened, making its handle creak audibly.

With a small wave of his staff professor Colbert, the teacher in charge of the ceremony dispersed the cloud of dust made by Louise's latest explosion revealing a small prone figure lying in the middle of the summoning circle. Except for her strange outfit the summoned person looked like a normal girl a few years younger than Louise herself. She was wearing what looked like a strange mix between a dress and an armor, but the armored parts didn't look like any material that Louise knew. Some type of enchanted cloth, or some new alchemic thing, maybe?

Louise could only blink as professor Colbert went immediately to examine the summoned girl. At least she wasn't the only one who froze in surprise at the unexpected success of her summoning spell judging by the sudden silence of the rest of the class. The professor cast what Louise recognized as a basic diagnostic spell and then another to detect magic.

"Miss Valliere, maybe you should complete the binding." He said turning to her. Colbert usually was an easy going and a bit absent-minded teacher but now that demeanor was gone leaving a very serious looking Colbert.

Louise just nodded walking forward to her new strange familiar. For a moment she thought that she might have summoned another noble given the strange but obviously well-crafted clothes but she quickly discarded the idea. There was no way something so... so blasphemous could happen, not with a sacred ritual approved by the church of the founder. And anyway even if she had managed to screw up horribly enough to summon another noble she doubted that professor Colbert would have let her go ahead with the binding if the spell to detect magic had come as positive. So it must be some daughter of a rich merchant or something. She summoned a commoner... If the familiar was supposed to be a sign of the mage's power then what does it mean for her to have summoned a magicless girl?

Louise frowned as the rest of the rest of the class seemed to reach the same conclusion and started murmuring.

"Hah, what did you expect from the zero..." Someone in the crowd started to say but was silenced by a very pointed look from the professor.

"Probably one of the many boys after that germanian cow trying to impress her." Though Louise grinding her teeth as she came to a stop next to her summoned familiar.

Looking at the girl this close made even more obvious how young she was, even with that strange helmet on. Her blonde hair was tied in a pair of pigtails peeking out from the back of her helmet.

"Miss Valliere," Louise was startled out of her thoughts when the professor put a hand on her shoulder. "It is vital that you complete the binding ritual." He said low enough not to be heard by the rest of the class. "I know you can do it."

"Yes, Professor." Said Louise gulping. For a moment she thought of asking him to let her repeat the summoning to try to get something better than a commoner girl barely out of her childhood, but the intense gaze of professor Colbert, so similar to her own mother's expression, made her hold her tongue.

Louise kneeled next to the unconscious girl and fumbled with her helmet until she was able to take it off.

"Pentagon of the five elements, bless this humble being and bind her as my familiar." She said the incantation resting the tip of her wand on the girl's forehead. Red-faced, Louise then proceeded to seal the pact with a kiss. It wasn't so mortifying when the creature to bind was an animal but having to kiss another girl in front of the whole class... she was sure that Kirche would not let her hear the end of it.

All thoughts of humiliation at the hands of her rival left Louise when the mysterious girl started frowning in discomfort and the young mage jumped to her feet when her familiar suddenly arched her back screaming in pain. The girl clutched her left hand with her right before falling unconscious again.

Louise had to take a couple of breaths to calm herself. For a second she had been sure that her dammed explosions were going to claim their first mortal victim in a very gruesome way.

"Congratulations Miss Valliere," Professor Colbert said after kneeling next to the newly contracted familiar and taking her left glove off. "You managed to bind your familiar on your first try." He added loud enough to be heard by everyone in the court and lifted the girl's left hand where the familiar runes had appeared. "That's it, everyone. This year's springtime summoning ritual has officially finished and I'm sure you all are eager to get to know your familiars so, move along." He said getting up and turning to the watching crowd. Then as the rest of the class was leaving he turned to Louise. "Miss Valliere, I must attend to a very urgent matter but I will send you a servant to help you to take your familiar to your room, I will also send one of our water mages to check your familiar."

"A water mage is she..." Said Louise looking at the still unconscious girl.

"The spell I cast only showed some bruises but healing magic is far from my specialization so it would be better to consult a professional." Answered Colbert "But anyway Miss Valliere, I'll need to talk to you and your familiar later so even if your familiar wakes up I'll need you to wait in your room until I call for you." He added pinning Louise with a steely gaze.

"U... understood, professor Colbert." She nodded.

As Louise watched Colbert exit the courtyard she tried to put her thoughts about her new familiar in order. On one hand it was a child and a commoner but on the other hand she was her familiar, the proof that she really was a mage regardless of how useless the girl will be in her duties as a familiar. Maybe she'll just use her as a handmaiden.​

 

I'm still alive, sorry for being away for so long. Here's the second chapter, better late than never. I was going to include another scene with Vista confronting Louise but I couldn't get it right, so after rewriting that part about a dozen times I finally decided to post what I had and let future me deal with that can of worms in the next chapter.

A Vista of the Void
Part Two​

There is one very important thing that a commoner has to learn when they have to serve nobility directly or has to work near them on a regular basis and that is to recognize the different types of nobles and which is safe to approach and which you have to excuse yourself from their presence as soon as you can.

There are nobles who treat the common people under their supposed care as little more than cattle that has the unusual trait of being able to talk, then there are those who abuse their power to get whatever they want from the less fortunate like that count Mott who according to the rumors has the habit of making one of his female servants 'warm his bed' each night until he tires of her and finds another young woman to be his plaything. Then there is the majority of the nobility who treat their servants as little more than part of the background, as long as you do your work and do not mess up because if you do... well, depending on how bad it is the mistake, if said mistake has caused embarrassment to the noble and the mood of the noble at that moment you could end up out of your job in the best of cases or be made an example of at worst. Then there is the rarest kind of nobles, those who honor their title, treating those under their command as people no matter if they have magic or not.

In Tristain's academy of magic luckily there was none of the first and second kind among the faculty, and while the student body was a mixed bag they did not have any official authority to harass the service. Of course, there were always some idiots that try anyway. Maybe because that's what they did back home, maybe because they think that because they are without the supervision of their parents for the first time they can do whatever they want. Whatever the reason those who do find themselves facing harsh punishments from the administration of the academy. Osmond may be a bit of an old leecher but no one can say that he doesn't hold the students to the standards that all nobility was supposed to have.

One very well regarded member of the faculty was professor Jean Colbert, he might a bit eccentric and his workshop maybe suffer from the occasional explosion and strange smell sometimes, but he always treated the help with the same respect he treats anyone else. It was no wonder that he was very popular among the commoners employed at the academy. So, when he asked the first maid he crossed to go help Louise François LeBlanc De la Valliere to get her new familiar to the student's room and help her tend to it she did it right away even though she had just finished her shift.

On her way to the courtyard where the second year students had participated in the springtime summoning ceremony Siesta of Tarbes, maid of the Tristain's academy of magic, couldn't help but feel a bit of apprehension. She had accepted professor Colbert's request before hearing who she'd be helping. Not that Miss Valliere had been bad in her dealings with the service, maybe a bit distant at worst, but she was known for having a temper and a short fuse. It was true that normally who lighted that fuse and was on the receiving end of that temper were the other students, especially that scandalous red headed germanian. But being near an incensed noble never boded well for any commoner.

Another thing that Siesta found strange was that Miss Valliere needed help to get whatever she got as a familiar to her room. Maybe she got an especially stubborn animal? Did professor Colbert know that she, Siesta, grew up on a farm? Maybe that's why he asked for her help.

Siesta was still trying to think what kind of animal was she going to have to deal with when she entered the courtyard. There tapping her foot impatiently was Miss Valliere, but what really made her pause was the girl laying next to her.

"Did professor Colbert send you, maid?" Asked Louise when she noticed Siesta's presence.

"Yes, Miss Valliere." Answered Siesta making a curtsy.

"Very well, then pick my familiar and follow me." She said pointing at the prone girl. "Oh, and pick up her things too." She added pointing at a strange helmet and a glove next to the unconscious girl.

"Yes, Miss Valliere."

She didn't want to believe it but couldn't deny it either now that Miss Valliere herself confirmed it. She had bound a person as her familiar. And not just a person, from what Siesta could tell the girl would be around twelve or thirteen years old. Wasn't professor Colbert supervising the ritual? If so, why would he allow something like this to happen? How did she end up unconscious anyway?

Siesta hid all her doubts about this situation under a mask of professionalism as she followed Miss Valliere's instructions, gathering the girl's things on the girl's lap and then picking her up bridal style. She couldn't do anything for this girl but be there for her when she wakes up.

As she followed the pinkette to the female half of the dorms Siesta prayed to anyone who would listen that nothing happened on the way to Miss Valliere's room.

"So, Louise the zero. That certainly doesn't look like a dragon or, what was that you said? Oh yes, 'the most impressive familiar ever summoned', really." Both Louise and Siesta froze at the sound of the most famous or infamous, depending on if you ask a male or a female respectively, germanian student at the academy. Kirche Von Zerbst was leaning against the wall next to Louise's door a big red lizard-like creature at her side.

"Zerbst." Louise almost growled the name as she clenched her fists. Meanwhile, Siesta just tried to stay in the background and not attract any attention to herself.

"I was going to ask you how much did you had to pay that little girl to pose as your familiar, but now I'm having my doubts that that was what happened." Said the red-headed germanian putting a finger on her chin and feigning to be thinking deeply.

"Of course it wasn't like that!"

"Oh, was it not? Because the only other explanation would be that you kidnapped that child and used that explosion to make it seem like you summoned her." Said Kirche airly. "So, which one is it?"

"Neither, you were there! You saw how I did the summoning ritual right and she appeared, you myopic dairy cow." Louise spluttered suddenly pointing at the unconscious girl and making Siesta flinch. "I even managed to bind her at my first try!"

"Okay, I believe you." Said the germanian with a sigh surprising both Louise and Siesta.

"You do?" Asked Louise suspiciously.

"Of course, after all familiars reflect the main traits of their masters. Take my 'Flame' for example." She said proudly, petting the lizard's head. "As a salamander from the fire mountains, he is the perfect embodiment of my fiery passion. So it is perfectly logical that you'd get a commoner child as a familiar, after all she represents zero magic and zero..." She trailed off as she crossed her arms under her considerable chest, pushing it up. "... other attributes. Oh look at the time, I guess I'll see you around, Louise the zero." She finally said walking away with her salamander in tow.

"Zerbst!" Louise almost shouted, red-faced and shaking either from rage or embarrassment. Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself and failing miserably Louise opened her door with more force than necessary making it bang against the wall. "What are you waiting for, get her in." She ordered curtly turning her glare on Siesta.

"Yes, my lady." Said Siesta demurely getting into the room after the noble. On one hand she wanted nothing more than find an excuse to get away from the irate noble but on the other she couldn't leave the poor girl at the mercy of the short mage. "Excuse me, my lady. Where should I put her?" She said looking around knowing enough about nobles to assume that letting the girl use Miss Valliere's bed was out of the question.

"Can't you see that I had that corner prepared for my familiar? Of course that was before I knew what she was, but for now it will have to suffice." Answered Louise pointing at a corner of the room where there was a small pile of hay, some collars and leashes in various sizes had been prepared for whatever animal she summoned. "Put her there and make sure she is silent, I have an important letter to write to my family and I don't want to be disturbed."

"My apologies, Miss Valliere. I'll do as you say." Answered Siesta managing to hide her dismay. She put the girl where she was told making sure that she was as comfortable as Siesta could make her.

Some time later there was a knock on the door. When Siesta answered it she found one of the water mages that the academy hired as healers who had come to check the unconscious girl at professor Colbert's behest. At this even Miss Valliere stopped what she was doing.

The diagnosis, like Colbert's spell had detected, was that the worst injury that the girl was suffering right now was a bruise on her lower back, but also had some minor bruises on her arms and legs and various scars that if it weren't for her age he'd say that came from some rather serious fighting. But it was the cause of her unconsciousness what really puzzled the healer. She had all the symptoms of having suffered from a high fever recently but he couldn't find a trace of any illness that could have caused it. In the end he treated the bruises easily and instructed to let her rest and she would wake up by herself.

It took most of the day for the girl to wake up after all. Miss Valliere got a message from professor Colbert saying that he had to leave for the capital on some urgent business and that he'd be back tonight to talk to her about her familiar.

---------------------------​

The first thing that Vista noticed was that she had a damp cloth on her forehead. She was laying down on something, it wasn't really comfortable but it wasn't as rough as the floor either. Someone seemed to have rolled a cloth for her to use as a pillow. She tried to remember how could have gotten here, wherever here could be. She could recall the Merchants' ambush and the fight, then the strange green oval floating in mid-air feeling so wrong to her power, distracting her long enough to be hit from behind and launched right into it. Then pain, so much pain that she thought that her head was going to explode before passing out. She wasn't sure if it was real or a pain induced hallucination but she could also remember feeling a different kind of pain, like her whole body was on fire before the pain concentrated on her left hand. And while she was going through that she thought she saw a balding older man and a pink haired girl standing over her.

Physically she felt as good as new but her thoughts felt a bit sluggish. Trying to get as much information about her surroundings as she could she used her power discretely to find that there were only two people in the room with her. One sitting on the floor right next to her and another sitting at a table on the other side of the room.

For a moment she thought that she might have been captured by a new cape working for the Merchants, but she quickly discarded that idea. Kidnapping a Ward would bring the triumvirate down on their heads so fast that their drug-addled brains wouldn't know what hit them. No, Skidmark may be a bit brain damaged from so many overdoses but not even him was that stupid, far from it really, that's why the law has been having problems getting rid of his gang. And she wasn't restrained anyway, that was a sign that the situation might not be as hostile as she initially thought. That is if her supposed captors weren't underestimating her, but if they were she would make them regret that error. Vista stopped that train of thought and chided herself, she was jumping to conclusions. Better wait until she had more intel on the situation.

Knowing that she was only delaying the inevitable Vista opened her eyes to find that the person sitting next to her was a girl maybe in her late teens or early twenties wearing an old-fashioned maid uniform with a white headdress on top of her shoulder-length black hair. Looking around the room Vista noticed that the walls, ceiling, and even floor were made of sturdy looking stone. The furniture while it looked like it was new was made in an old style. The only illumination in the room at the moment came from the dwindling light coming from a window and a couple of old style oil lamps.

"Oh." The maid exclaimed seeing that she was awake, turned to look in the direction of the other person in the room, another girl sitting at a desk with her back to them, and whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been worse," Vista answered in the same tone, sitting up. "Where am I? How did I get here?" When she brought her hand up to take the cloth from her forehead she realized what her instincts were telling her that was wrong, she was unmasked. "Did you take my helmet off?"

"We are at the Tristain's academy of magic, and I believe that it was Miss Valliere who summoned you, I don't know much about it, I'm just a commoner. And about your helmet, you already had it off when I was asked to bring you to her room. She has it on her desk." She said looking at the other girl and from the tone of her voice it looked like she didn't understand the importance of that last question. A breach of the unwritten rules wasn't to be taken lightly.

Magic... The only group that used magic, or more precisely were delusional enough to believe that they did were 'The Adepts' down in New York and teaming up with the Merchants didn't seem their modus operandi.

And summoned, did that mean that this other girl, Valliere, was responsible for the whole incident? But before she could put her thoughts in order the other girl spoke again.

"Anyway, are you hungry? One of my fellow maids brought us something when she served Miss Valliere her dinner." She said pointing at a wooden tray with a bowl of soup and a couple of slices of cheese. "I know it's not much but you can have it, I can go down to the kitchen later to get something else." Vista hadn't noticed until the maid mentioned the food but to be honest she felt like she had skipped a meal or two. For a moment Vista considered the possibility of this being a trap but the girl seemed sincere in her helpful attitude and she had been at the mercy of this 'academy of magic' and Miss Valliere for who knows how long so if they wanted to harm her they would have done it already.

"Thank you." She said accepting the bowl. "How long was I unconscious?"

"The summoning ritual was this morning and it's sundown now, so almost than half a day." The maid answered with a thoughtful look. "Oh, my name is Siesta, nice to meet you."

"Vista, of the Brockton Bay Wards." She said paying attention to the other girl's expression looking for any kind of sign of recognition.

"Brockton. Is that in Albion?" Asked Siesta a bit confused. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about geography."

"No, it's north of New York." Vista tried to clarify.

"I heard of a York in Albion but not a new one anywhere else." Siesta shook her head before giving a worried glance to the third girl in the room and dropping the tone even more. "Listen, I can only imagine how frightening all this has to be for you, being brought here suddenly by magic. I know Miss Valliere is far from the worst kind of noble there is but she also has... issues. Just keep your head down and try not to antagonize her. If you need anything ask any of the other servants for me or Marteu the chef. I don't know how much we can do for you, but we'll try at least. Us magic-less commoners have to stick together, right?" She said winking at her.

"Thank you." Said Vista trying to assimilate all this new information. Albion? Never having heard of New York? Maybe she was farther away from home than she thought.

"Looks like Miss Valliere is almost finished with her meal. I'll have to take the trays back to the kitchen but I'll be back as soon as I can. Will you be okay?" Asked Siesta obviously concerned.

"I can take care of myself, don't worry." Vista answered squashing her growing irritation. Always the same, people only saw the barely thirteen years old little girl, not the experienced hero. True that if Siesta had never heard of Brockton Bay or New York logically she couldn't have heard about her. For that reason and that she seemed to be really trying to help her, Vista kept her temper in check.

Siesta went to wait next to where the other girl was seated. Now that she had time to get a better look Vista was pretty sure that the girl she saw standing over her when she regained consciousness for a few seconds. After a couple of minutes Siesta picked up the trays and with a curtsy to the other girl and a nod to Vista she left the room.

 

Hmm, wonder if Armsmaster or someone will analyse the energy left by the portal to make a portal to come find her eventually? It's not completely outside the realm of possibility.


--------
Omake: [Purpose], an alternate summoning.

Louise coughed, while waving her hand in front of her face to clear the smoke away created by her summoning. She had tried so hard and come to far to fail. She was sick of being called The Zero.

As Professor Colbert raised his staff to clear the smoke away a flash of golden light erupted from the cloud blinding Lousie and all the other students. Blinking away the spots she noticed the smoke was gone, replaced with pure clean air and floating in the centre of courtyard was her familiar.

Despite herself Lousie blushed, before her was a large man so perfect and pristine she was sure he couldn't be real, nothing like that existed in realty, right? Oh, and he was gold, glowing and wearing a white leotard. He was hers. Suck it Kirche. Suck. It.

The Golden Man simply floated there, unmoving, head tilted slightly eyes locked onto Louise.

"Uh, miss Valliere, if you would complete the ritual. Now, please." Louise blinked at her teachers voice, he sounded worried for some reason

Still she took a deep breath and moved towards her new familiar. Looking up into his eyes she thought she saw sadness there, in fact he kind of reminded her of her uncle after her aunt died. Maybe he had lost someone recently? Well no matter he was her familar now, or would be.

[Query][Purpose]

It slammed into her head with the force of a marauding dragon. Images, intent, concepts designed to communicate. She grabbed the side of her head, wincing with the pain. "Oh, founder that hurt."

"Miss Valliere? Are you alright?" Asked the professor, his staff in front of him, eyes moving back and forth between his student and the man floating before them.

"Yes, Professor Colbert, he, um. He was just speaking to me, I think. It was weird, like images straight into brain" she said answering her teacher, before focusing back on her familiar. "I summoned you to be my familiar."

[Clarification][Purpose]

She winced again at the series of mental images and concepts projected into her brain. "Um, a familiars purpose is to help their master. They, help gather things like ingredients and information," at that last word a perfectly sculpted brow rose in what she guessed was curiosity "they also help in combat, by fighting with and protecting their master." At this the Golden Mans head tilted the other way, while maintaining the same expression.

[Companion][Guardian][Collation][Analysis]

"Y-yes, something like that." She was a bit dazed, translating what she saw in the message. She felt like she was missing something important. What were those thing in the sky supposed to be?

[Acceptance]

Louise smiled, and closed the distance between them before completing the ritual.

Her familiar was the best.

...

 

Is it really have been two years since I posted the last chapter? I'm so sorry. *goes hide in a corner*

This is where ZnT canon dies an ignoble death and the chapter I've been wanting to write since I began this story, both because it's where I derail canon and because it's where I present my headcanon as to why Colbert, being an apparently nice guy went along with branding a human as a familiar. I'm still not fully satisfied with the scene where he explains it but I've made you guys wait too long for an update and I can revise that scene later if necessary.

Edit: I've been having problems with the formatting, sorry if the chapter seems a bit wonky, I'm working on it.

A Vista of the Void
Part three​

Finally, Louise's familiar was awake. After thinking it through Louise decided that she was lucky that her familiar arrived unconscious. Every piece of literature that she studied said the same thing, while the familiar runes make most summoned creatures compliant a good first impression with the summoned creature showing it that the mage was in charge was the best way of avoiding problems later. If her familiar had been awake during the ceremony or when she faced Kirche... She shook her head letting that thought trail off. It didn't happen so it was pointless to dwell on that. Instead she steeled herself and tried to think about how her mother would handle this.

"Familiar." She said getting up and turning to face the summoned girl only to falter at her intense gaze like she was assessing her potential as a threat.

"I have a name, you know?" The girl answered, getting up from where she was sitting on the pile of straw. "It's Vista, from the Brockton Bay Wards team. I understand that it was you who brought me here, why?"

"How... how dare she to talk to me like that!?" Thought Louise dumbfounded. Never a commoner had shown her such disrespect. Her peers sure, but not a commoner.

Regaining most of her composure Louise said. "I am Louise François LeBlanc De la Valliere, third daughter of the Duke de la Valliere and yes, I summoned you here to have the honor of being my familiar." Louise congratulated herself for taking back the reigns of the conversation.

"And what is a familiar exactly?" The girl, Vista, asked. Keeping her tone of voice neutral.

"A familiar is a creature bonded to a noble. They serve their master loyally protecting them or perform different tasks such as gathering reagents and the like. In exchange, the familiar gets enhancements to carry out these tasks such as making them more intelligent." Louise paused looking at Vista. "But don't worry, I understand that you are not adequate for protecting me, obviously, so you will serve me as my handmaiden."

"And what if I refuse?" Vista said gritting her teeth.

"What!?" Said Louise, taken aback. "You can't, you are my familiar, I have already bound you!" Louise pointed at the other girl's left hand where the familiar runes had.

"So, you are telling me that you kidnapped me and put this thing on me that marks me as your slave and gives you some kind of Master power over me." Vista said lifting her left hand.

"Do not take that tone with me, familiar or I'll have to discipline you!" Louise said instinctively drawing her wand. It was bad enough that that germanian cow insinuated something like that, but to have her own familiar sprouting the same nonsense was intolerable. "And yes, I am your master and I ord... mpfff"

Louise wasn't able to complete the sentence because the space between the two compressed allowing the other girl to cross the distance between them in an instant and cover her mouth with her right hand. Panicking, Louise tried to bring her wand to bear on her assailant only for her hand to be knocked aside making the spell explode against the corner she had prepared for her familiar. Pain blossomed on her stomach as her familiar dug her knee on Louise's gut leaving her breathless. The hand over her mouth left for a moment before coming back as a fist crashing against her jaw and sending her to the floor. Still conscious but unable to do anything but curl on herself and whimper while trying to regain her breath, Louise watched as her familiar run to the window, retrieving her helmet without even getting close to Louise's desk, climbed onto the windowsill and jumped out just as she heard the door of the room open.

-------------------

Flexing her power Missy stepped out of the window directly to the treeline outside the outer wall of the academy turning the seven-story drop into one of a couple of meters at most. If she had had more time she could have made the step almost seamless, but the priority now was getting away from the pink haired Master before she could recover and give her an order.

Without looking back she used her power again and again in quick bursts to put as much distance as possible between her and her kidnapper. She kept running until it was too dark to keep the pace safely.

Vista finally stopped at the edge of a clearing. Leaning against a tree she concentrated on her power, expanding it as far as far as she could. No one following her yet.

"Okay, Missy." She said taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "No sudden urges of going back to that bitch, that's a good sign." She let herself slid down until she was seated against the tree with her knees up against her chest and finally allowed herself to relax a bit.

She spent the next few minutes running through all the anti-master protocols in her head. And trying find some sense to everything that happened until now.

She had been kidnapped by unknown means, supposedly by that girl who, according to her, was the daughter of a Duke. So, was this somewhere in Europe? She couldn't think of any other place where they still had noble titles. The accent of the girl and the maid was almost non-existent, in fact...

'Wait, were we even speaking in English?' She opened her eyes in shock. Thinking back to both conversations she realized that no, in fact, they weren't. Now that she realized the anomaly she recognized enough of the language to be almost sure that it was French. Thanks to her classes she knew enough French to keep a simple conversation but certainly not enough to speak it fluently. Not to mention without noticing that she was doing so.

Biting her lip Missy tried to keep calm. She took her left glove off and glared at the strange mark on her hand. She already knew that she had been exposed to a Master, this was just a confirmation, it didn't even seem harmful. Just something to take note of and move on.

'I'll worry about that after I find a way to get back home.' She thought, taking another deep breath and lifting her gaze from her hand to the clearing.

In the time she had been lost in her musings the sun had set and the reddish tint of the sundown was replaced by an eerie mix of blue and red. Intrigued she got up and walked towards the clearing until she got out from beneath the tree's branches.

"Oh, fuck. I don't think I'm in Europe." She said looking up at the two moons, one red and one blue, in the sky.

-------ooooooo-------

Louise sat on one of the infirmary beds, sulking. This day wasn't supposed to go like this. She thought that either she would summon something showing that she wasn't the failure that the rumors depicted her as. Or she would fail and would be shipped off by her family to be married off, if Viscount Wardes still wanted a defective noble like her.

Instead Louise did summon something even if it wasn't something impressive like a dragon or a manticore, it was just a commoner girl but still was better than nothing. And she even cast the binding spell at her first try. It should have been the day that she finally showed everyone that she really was a noble in her own right.

Instead, not even five minutes after her familiar woke up it attacked her and jumped out of her window. And even worse, she was sure that by tomorrow morning all the academy will know that she was unable of defending herself against an unarmed commoner girl and that said girl would rather kill itself than accept her fate as her familiar. And all because the service blamed her not only for the fate of her familiar but also for the traumatized maid that was unfortunate enough to witness her familiar dive out of her window. Of course, they weren't too obvious about it but she could tell and nothing traveled faster than a rumor carried by the servants.

It had been a couple of hours since the incident and so far the search for the body hadn't yielded any results. After hearing that the remains weren't in the courtyard under her window Louise's hope that her familiar had somehow survived but even if by some miracle that had happened it should have been too wounded from the fall to have gone far enough to avoid the groups of both commoners and some of the teachers searching for it.

"Miss Valliere." One of the servants, a maid, called from the door of the infirmary. "Professor Colbert just came back from the capital and is requesting your presence in his office."

"Yes, of course." Was Louise's disheartened response as she got to her feet. "Tell him that I will be right there." She added without looking at the girl.

"As you wish milady" The servant recognized the dismissal and retreated after curtsying.

Louise took her time in getting her shoes on. She knew she was trying to stall, trying to avoid facing something worse than the derision of her peers. Professor Colbert was one of the few people in the Academy that always had been supportive of her no matter how many times she blundered her spells catastrophically. So disappointing him by failing to do something as simple as wait a few hours in her room with her familiar was something that she would rather not face. But it would be even worse if she also kept him waiting so she steeled herself and marched decisively out of the infirmary.

As she traversed both the Tower of Water, where the infirmary was and the courtyard that led to the Tower of Fire, where Colbert had his office, Louise purposefully ignored anyone she came across. Especially Guiche, who was trying to woo one of the first year girls who was obviously oblivious to his reputation as a Cassanova, and one of the upper year boys who was levitating up to a window of the female half of the dormitories. She ignored all that until she reached the small annex that served as both office and laboratory for the absentminded professor.

Louise took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Louise pushed open the door as soon as Colbert answered. The room was cluttered with the professor's various projects on several benches and shelves, "Ah, Miss Valliere, please have a seat." Colbert said from behind his desk pointing at the unoccupied chair of the pair in front of the desk. Louise almost tripped when she realized that on the other chair was the same maid that aided her in taking care of her familiar, the same maid unfortunate enough to witness how her familiar jumped out of her window just to avoid serving her.

"M... My lady." The maid hurried to stand up and curtsy.

"Miss Valliere you arrive just in time, I was asking Miss Siesta about this evening incident and we just reached a point where only you can fill the missing part. So, if you would be so kind as to explain what happened from the moment that you were left alone with..." The professor paused to look at Siesta. "I believe you said that her name was Vista?" When Siesta nodded he continued. "Yes, please Miss Valliere could you explain what happened between you and young Miss Vista?" Colbert asked tiredly.

"I..." Louise gulped "I just did as most books on the subject of summoning familiars recommend and tried to assert my dominance over my familiar." Louise wilted at the steely gaze so unusual for the normally laidback professor.

"Details, Miss Valliere." Colbert's firm tone sent chills down Louise's spine being similar but not quite the same as her own mother's when Louise was caught doing something she shouldn't.

Resigned, Louise related the conversation as close to the facts as she could remember.

"Why, Miss Valliere..." After Louise finished retelling her disastrous first and what would appear to be her last conversation with her familiar Colbert took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Why did you take that kind of approach?"

"But... But the books." Louise protested weakly.

"Miss Valliere, there hasn't been any documented summon of a human or humanoid familiar since the times of Brimir himself. Why did you think that that advice would be applicable to your situation? I know you're smarter than that."

"But no matter if it was a person or a dog before the ritual once bonded a familiar is a familiar it should just..." Louise's protest died a premature death faced with Colbert's expression of disappointment.

"So you are telling me that you didn't even saw her as a person?"

"I didn't even want IT in the first place." Louise said, her composure finally cracking and putting special emphasis on 'it' as an answer to Colbert's question. She gritted her teeth, the frustration she'd been feeling finally reaching a boiling point. "If you just had let me try again this... This wouldn't have happened." She stopped to wipe her tears.

"You know as well as I do that I couldn't, not during a public ritual." Colbert said looking at his pupil with pity.

"But, why?" The third, almost forgotten occupant of the room interrupted. Siesta was as surprised by her own outburst as the other two. She hurried to apologize for her faux pass but was interrupted by the professor.

"It's okay, Miss. To answer your question, not finishing the ritual would have had consequences for those involved, consequences especially dire the young girl summoned I might add." Seeing that he had his audience's full attention he continued falling into what his students called his lecture mode. "I don't know if you are aware of it but the familiar summoning ritual is one of the few spells left by Brimir himself and as everything else related to The Founder is strictly regulated by the church. In fact, when someone wants to use it they are expected to inform the church so they can send a representative to supervise and make sure that they follow the proper procedure. The academy has an special permission for the teachers to act as representatives of the church during the ritual and we are expected to uphold its rules without exception. Now the relevant rule, in this case, is specified in the sixth point of paragraph five of the official instructions ... Miss Valliere, I'm sure you can tell us what it says."

"If any creature that, after being summoned, can't or won't, for any reason, be bound to their summoner must be put down immediately." Louise recited from memory after having calmed down a bit.

"Exactly, as I said before if this had been a private ceremony we could have, as they say, 'swept it under the rug' and find an acceptable solution for everyone involved. But as it wasn't so... Well with a Valliere involved it would have been a matter of time for the church would have had caught wind of it from one of the Duke's political rivals. And while both Miss Valliere and I would get away with a slap on the wrist, so to say, the church would have insisted on executing the poor girl, I'm afraid." He finished, turning his attention back to the young maid. "I believe this answers your question."

"Yes, thank you very much, Professor." She answered with a deep bow.

"Think nothing of it, I'm glad to share any kind of knowledge, it comes with the position." He added with a kind smile. "Now, I believe I've kept you later than I intended, thank you for your help, Miss Siesta."

"I'm just happy I could be of help." The maid said getting to her feet at the polite dismissal. "Good night, professor, Miss Valliere." She added with a curtsy before leaving.

"So..." Louise broke the silence half a minute after maid's departure. "I'm not in trouble anymore now that my familiar is not here anymore?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Miss Valliere." Colbert answered shaking his head "She still is officially your familiar so whatever she does out there is considered your responsibility."

"But, what can she even do? She's just a commoner girl, barely out of her childhood." Asked a confused Louise.

"You really didn't notice, did you?" Her only response was a puzzled look. "First, those clothes she was wearing, it was subtle but they were armored in a way I've never seen before." He said lifting one finger. "Second, from what Miss Siesta said, the water mage's report coincided with my preliminary examination in the fact that she had scars consistent with her having been involved in serious combat situations." He added as he lifted a second finger. "Third, from what you have described she knew where to hit you both to prevent you from casting and to incapacitate you long enough for her to flee." A third finger joined the other two as he talked. "And fourth and most important, even though my spell came negative she might be able to use magic after all."

"WHAT?" Louise's loud exclamation left Colbert's ears ringing.

"As I was saying, I can't think of any other explanation to how she could jump out a window that was high enough to kill or maim a person if they were not able to mitigate the fall with magic."

"S... So I really did commit the blasphemy of binding another noble as my familiar?" Asked a deadly pale Louise.

"Not necessarily, she could have used a magical object or some other kind of magic different from our own, like firstborn magic..."

"Oh, Brimir, that's even worse! I summoned some kind of heretic, didn't I?" Louise jumped up even more panicked.

"Miss Valliere, please calm down."

"I'll be burned at the stake for consorting with heretics." She continued, completely ignoring her professor "Even worse, I'll be burned as a heretic myself because my familiar is considered part of me." She continued, walking back and forth in front of Colbert's desk.

"Miss Valliere!" Colbert's raised voice finally cut through Louise's panic. "Please get a grip of yourself. Those were only conjectures, we don't know what kind of magic she uses or if she uses any magic at all. Now please sit down and let us finish our conversation." She meekly complied. "As I was saying, again, we don't know her true capabilities, but we, and yes, I include myself because I feel I am partially responsible for this mess. I can't help thinking that if instead of rushing to register the results of the summoning ceremony at the capital I had been here when she awoke all this could have been avoided. We should find her and clear up the misunderstanding that she is supposed to be some kind of slave to you before something happens to her or she does something that we all would regret."