Disclaimer

Familiar of Zero is owned by Noboru Yamaguchi

Fallout 4 is owned by Bethesda

People often mocked him for believing in things like aliens, or 'magic'. He didn't believe little green men were visiting the planet, but who's to say that in the darkness of space there wasn't a race that traveled that darkness? And he didn't believe in magic, per se. Just that there were things in the world you couldn't quite explain.

He didn't how to feel that he was proven right on both after the world ended.

While travelling about with Cait, they had heard a massive boom overhead, and of course they went to investigate. They had found strange wreckage with a green trail leading away from it and into a cave. Inside, they had encountered the pilot, who answered Nate's question of 'do you need help' with a shot. They didn't live long enough to regret it, and they now had both the body and the wreckage stored in Vault 111 for further study.

As for magic, well, he was currently dealing with that issue…

Nate stared at the black metal shards he had in his hand. He had dropped well over a dozen nukes into the pit in the altar room, but a few fragments had still survived. Now what the hell was he supposed to do? He could just toss them back in the hole, but this place was bound to be inhabited again. Couldn't chance someone finding them if he just tossed them somewhere. There was no way he was going to use any more nukes…

He glared at the shards. What on Earth was he going to-

He blinked, and then smiled.

"Uh, General, I know you usually do stuff for the best, but why are we sending a bunch of scraps to the moon?" Sturges asked from the console.

"Sturges, trust me, you do not want to know anything about this."

Nate knew that teleporter into the Institute was going to come in handy again. He just didn't think it would be so soon.

"…Riiight. Can I ask why we're doing this in the middle of nowhere, then?"

"I'm not taking any risks."

Sturges stared at him then shrugged, "Alright. Just put the scraps on the platform and I'll send 'em off."

Nate did so, his hand feeling lighter when he put the five shards down and quickly backed away.

"Alright," Sturges pressed a few buttons, "Here we go…"

Blue arcs of electricity struck the shards, but instead of disappearing they began to float upwards.

"Uh oh. That can't be good." Sturges started lowering himself behind the console

KOOM!

A bolt flew and struck Nate right in the chest, but it appeared to do nothing. He and Sturges looked at each other, but before either could comment Nate felt himself pulled forward…

Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere was a proud daughter of the Valliere family. Like all women in her family, she had a special claim to fame. One sister was known for her brilliant mind, the other for her kind nature. Her claim, however, was very, very different. You see, whereas every other member of her family was magically gifted, as expected of nobles-

"Ugh, the Zero is here."

"What do you think she'll summon?"

"If she can even cast the spell…"

She had zero skill in magic.

Louise shook in impotent anger as she heard her classmates' words. She'd show them, she'd show them all!

…That sounded more menacing than she intended…

Still, it remained true. She knew not what familiar would heed her call, but she knew whatever it was, it would blow all of theirs out of the water!

As Nate fell through the black nothingness that the shards had dragged him into, he reflected on his life choices. On the life and death of his son, on the times he spent with his new friends in the Commonwealth, and-

His hat began lifting off his head, and he grabbed it.

Hell or something worse, he wasn't going anywhere without his hat.

Louise's face never changed from her neutral frown, but she felt her hands start to shake as the other students summoned their familiars. Some of these familiars were fairly amazing-

Oh Brimir, someone summoned a dragon. She couldn't beat that! Nothing could beat that! How was she supposed to-

"Has everyone had a chance to cast the spell?" Professor Colbert's blue eyes scanned over the crowd, and for once Louise was glad her diminutive stature was hiding her from-

"Oh Professor, Louise hasn't gone!"

Louise whipped around to see her red-headed nemesis smirking down at her. She turned back around and saw the other's staring at her, a path cleared to the front of the crowd. She stopped herself from grimacing, and held her head high as she walked forward. When she got to the front she took out her wand and took a deep breath. She had one chance at this…

"My familiar who exists in this vast universe, hear my plea! Be as wise as the greatest sages, as strong as the mightiest knight, as beautiful as a painter's masterwork, and as divine as the God that grants you to me! Hear my heart's desire, and appear!"

The green portal shimmered into life and for a moment Louise smiled.

It disappeared when a hat fell through. Her classmates started laughing or whispering in confusion as she stepped towards the-

Louise practically leapt back as someone was tossed from the portal. They landed on their feet, skidding right up to Louise. When they stopped they loomed over Louise, and she could see into their grey eyes. They stared at each other before the stranger took several steps back. Louise took in the man's appearance, and she became worried. His clothes were filthy, he wore a chestpiecce with a star on it beneath his blue coat, and he had a long green bag slung over his shoulder. He had a thin sword on his left hip, and what looked like a pistol on the other.

…Did she summon a mercenary!? It was the only thing she could imagine the man in front of her being. The scars on his face didn't help, and she looked back towards Colbert.

"Professor, please let me try summoning something else!"

The man just shook his bald head, "I'm sorry Miss Valliere, but this is a sacred tradition. You'll have to make do with, um…" He scratched the back of his head, "I suppose they would already have a name…"

Louise sighed, and looked back to her familiar, "Very well. What is your name, commoner?"

The man let out a string of gibberish.

"What?" The man walked past her, "Hey! Get back here!"

The man stopped before Colbert and let out more gibberish.

"I-I'm sorry?" Colbert asked, and the man put hand to his chin, mumbling. Louise growled, and stomped towards the man. She pulled hard on his coat, and the man turned his head to look down at her.

"Stupid commoner, don't ignore me!" More gibberish, "And stop speaking nonsense!"

"Ms. Valliere, I don't think-" Colbert tried to interrupt, but was interrupted by the man speaking.

Louise growled again and took out our wand, "Fine, if you won't speak plainly, then you won't speak at all!"

Nate frowned as the little pink-haired girl took out a wand and began chanting. There was no way she could actually cast magic, was there?

…Nate thought about it for all of a second before he turned and shielded himself with his coat.

A moment later there was an explosion that knocked him to the ground. His head was ringing, and he could feel his throat and eyes starting to burn from smoke. He quickly went through his duffel bag and strapped his gas mask on. The smoke still made it difficult to see anything, but at least he could breathe. He stood up and quickly made his way through the smoke. If he remembered right there was doorway… there!

He went through the doorway and found himself in another courtyard. This one, however, had a path leading outside. He quickly crept along the wall and when his HUD showed two friendlies at the gate he went through his bag again. He hated wasting Stealth-Boys, but until he had a way to replenish his ammo it was the better option. He strapped the bulky device to his side and quickly crept forward again. Seeing the guards on either side of the entryway weren't really alert, he quickly made his way to the nearby forest.

He would follow the road from the forest until the Stealth-Boy wore off and then follow it on foot. Last thing he needed was someone thinking he was a bandit…

Nate stared at the medieval town, torn between laughing like a madman or crying like one. On the one hand, the chances he had of getting ammo or even building a new teleporter plummeted. On the other hand, he had a huge advantage over most of the people here considering he had the most advanced arsenal on the planet. He passed the gates, the guards only giving him a passing glance, and he wandered around for a while. He couldn't read the signs, but plenty of them had symbols that made their wares clear enough. He wandered for a few more minutes until he decided to head back to the fountain area he'd come across.

He sat on the edge of the fountain, watching the water ripple in the waning light. Green, lush land, pure drinking water…

Wherever he landed, they won the damn lottery for the war to have spared them.

He took off his right glove and cupped his hand into the water before splashing his face. He smiled, washing the dirt of his face made him feel ten years younger…

…Which still left him over two-hundred years old, technically.

He shook the water off his hand and put his glove back on. He watched the sun finally dip below the horizon, and debated with himself. He could see if one of the inns was willing to let him work for his bed. Sleeping under the stars wouldn't be too bad, but he'd rather not risk someone getting grabby with his supplies. He looked at his Pip-Boy, would the people here even take caps? He sighed and looked up, happy that he would at least have the moonlight-

Nate blinked, and blinked again.

"…Alright, yeah, I've had about enough of this world now."

Nate yawned through his nose as he made his way through the city. He hadn't gone to sleep last night due to no place taking caps and because there were two moons in the sky. Maybe he should just head out into the forest. There was bound to be game, and it wasn't like he couldn't build up a shelter. He thought it over, and made his way to the city's entrance. It would be interesting to see what normal deer tasted li-

Red eyes met his grey and he headed through an alley.

"Hey, wait, get back here!"

He kept walking forward, hoping that he could either out speed the kid or lose her in the crowd. Something tugged on his coat, and he had a feeling he didn't succeed at either.

"I said stop!"

He sighed and looked behind himself, "Let go of my coat."

"No! Not until you come back to the Academy with me!"

He frowned and started walking again.

"No, stop! Stupid familiar, I order you to stop!"

Nate ignored her and kept walking. The people around them were watching the scene with smiles and headshakes. He could pick up whispers suggesting they looked like a spoiled child bothering her grandfa-

"Grandfather!? He looked at the two women who had suggested as such, "I'm only twenty-three!"

They merely giggled and walked off. He dragged his hand down his face, before tugging on his coat. The girl came tumbling forward, but he caught her by the back of her collar and held her up like a fussy kitten.

"Listen, I don't know why you attacked me or why you think I should do what you say, but I don't care. Go find your parents, or a guard, or whoever else brought you here and go home."

"Miss Valliere, where did you- oh."

Nate looked back to the see a familiar bald man approaching. He held out the girl, "I believe this is yours?"

"Put me down!"

Nate shrugged before dropping her. She landed on her rear with a small 'oof', and he started walking away.

"W-wait, you can't just-" The bald man stopped talking when Nate whipped around and pointed at him.

"Listen and listen well, pal. I had to deal with some dark magic nonsense (he noted that the crowd gasped at that, and started whispering fearfully) which sent me to wherever we are in the first place. Within seconds of being here I was attacked by her," He pointed at the girl, who was currently glaring at him, "so give me one good god-damn reason to stay."

"D-dark magic!? The Summoning Ritual is a sacred act!"

"I got dragged into a portal by a sword I found at the bottom of the cave being used by cultists to sacrifice people! If that's what you people consider sacred, then-"

"Move! Out of the way!" A group of men in armor shoved their way through the crowd, "What's all this commotion about!?"

"Those two nobles used dark magic!" Someone shouted from the crowd, and the guards' faces hardened.

"Alright you three, wands and weapons on the ground!"

Nate raised his hands above his head as the others tried to protest.

"Wait, this is all a misunderstanding! We didn't-"

"I am a noble of-"

The guards put their hands on their own wands, and that two wisely did as they were told. Nate slowly put his weapons on the ground with his duffel bag, and all three of them were placed in shackles.

'Well, isn't the first time I spent the night in a foreign jail…'

Louise fumed in her cell, pacing its short length.

'That damn familiar! It's not bad enough he embarrasses me at school, he gets me arrested too!?'

She paused in her pacing to look towards the door leading into the cell room. The guards had taken Professor Colbert for questioning some time ago. She hoped he would be able to explain this situation…

The door swung open, revealing Colbert and two guards. They quickly made their way to her cell, and the guard unlocked it.

"Come along, Miss Valliere." Colbert said, and Louise frowned.

"What about-"

"Miss Valliere, please. I'll explain once we return to the Academy." Seeing the look on Colbert's face, Louise didn't protest further. The guards lead them to the main area of the guardhouse where their wands were returned. The moment they were out of the guardhouse Louise turned to Colbert.

"Professor, please, what is going on!?"

Colbert sighed, "We… We very narrowly avoided jail time, Miss Valliere. Were it not for your fam- Mister Winters, then we could very well have faced a heavy sentence."

"Mister Winters?"

"The, er, man you summoned."

"…My familiar gets me arrested and then he decides to act properly!?"

He winced, "I am afraid as you never finished the summoning contract, he technically isn't your familiar," Louise's jaw dropped open, "and the guards made it very clear what would happen should we attempt anything-"

The door opened, and Nate stared at them before sighing.

"As much as I hate saying it, it looks like I'm heading back with you."

"What? The officers said-"

"Listen, Colbert, was it? I don't want to go back with you, but the fact of the matter is, if my people manage to send me supplies or something while I'm here, they're probably gonna end up where I did."

"So, you're willing to allow finish the contract?" He asked hopefully.

"What the- no! I'm not anyone's pet, or slave, or whatever!" He shook his head, "Whatever, I'm going back."

"Wait, how can you know where you're going?" Colbert asked as he began following Nate.

"I'm on an unknown planet in an unknown city. Why wouldn't I be paying attention to where I was going?"

"Planet?"

"My planet doesn't have two moons, so I'm pretty sure I'm on a different planet. What the hell are your tides like?"

Louise tried to burn a hole through Nate's back as he and Colbert began talking about things way over her head. He may not have been the familiar she wanted, but she would be damned if he thought he could get out of his duty…