Zero War The Long War Chapter 1, a Warhammer + Familiar of Zero Crossover fanfic

The Long War Chapter 1 version 1.1

Chapter 1.2 am sure that I found all the spelling mistakes or at least I think I did.

Chapter 1.3 thanks Rimshooter for pointing these out I thought I got them all. Damn.

Chapter 1.4 Ok, this is the new and better version of the chapter, it has been beta read by the new guy and so hopefully all the mistake or at least most of them have been fixed. Also in regards to the next update for this story, it will be at the end of the month so expect it around the start of march, sorry.

Zero War – The Long War Chapter 1

A little girl with pink hair waited and waited until it was her turn to summon forth her familiar, as today was her day! It was her day to prove that she was a noble! That she was no commoner! That she wasn't Louise the zero! After all, her family belonged to the nobility and so logic said that she too should be able to perform magic. Once she summoned her familiar, then she'll prove to everyone that she isn't Louise the zero and they will have to stop. And thus, when the professor informed her class that they will be summoning familiars today, she froze in excitement.

So since then she had been waiting anxiously for this moment, for her chance to summon her familiar, but it was madding, she thought, waiting in line for her turn while watching everyone else summon their familiar, one by one.

She just couldn't content herself waiting, yet as she did, her mind wandered. She began to think about the possibility of the various familiars that she could possibly summon. It could be anything in the world for all she knew! After all, she'd seen her classmates summon a mole, a frog, a fire salamander, and even a dragon! Of all the familiars possible, a dragon! This did not bear any good news for her mind, as her imagination took hold and grew while the line inched forward bringing her closer to the front.

By the time it was her turn, her mind had long wandered into la-la land, daydreaming about the possibilities. Could it be a dragon like Tabitha's familiar or maybe it could be a salamander like the rival of she-who-must-not-be-named? It didn't matter, she thought, she just wanted it to be her turn, so she could prove once and for all that she wasn't a zero. And so her mind continued on its journey through la-la land while her classmates watched and waited for her to respond.

"Ms. Valliere, if you don't mind it's your turn to summon your familiar." Informed Professor Colbert Jean, unfortunately he had to inform her twice before she was slapped out of la-la land. Shaking her head clear, she took a step forward, and prepared to summon her familiar. Once she was done preparing, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes to focus better, but that was when her ears picked up her classmates mumbled commentary.

"She's going to fail." someone said; another said, "it's going to blow up and kill us all." another said, fear clearly in their voice, "Yep, we should go to the back, the further back we are the better chance we got of surviving." "Yep" another agreed, followed by the sound of movement. "Maybe we should go too, yep." someone else said followed by more movement. "We're going to need a long shower after this, damn." a female voice said with contempt, but the single voice which stood out the most was Kirche who said,"Ahh come on Valliere just get it over with, you're bound to fail or worse kill us all."

This was followed by the sound of her rival loud laugher and it only got worst as the effects of her hush words become evident in her body, with her hands tightening into iron balls and turn white. The little pink haired girl forced her temper down before she lost control and brought her mind back to the task at hand. This was the moment she'd been waiting for since last week. This was her moment to prove herself, to prove that she's a noble. So there was no way she was going to let their words get to her, not now when she was so close to proving herself. So she blocked out their words and focused. She began to chant the words for her summoning.

"My name is Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere. A pentagon of the five elemental powers," a five point star twisted into shape around her while the ground began to shine - "Heed my summoning". The wind increased and the five point star increased in brightness until it reached the point that it blind both teacher and students alike. "And bring forth my familiar!" she said, and with a swish of her wand the final words of the summoning ritual left her mouth, the spell exploded in her face, throwing her flat on her back along with the professor and the rest of her classmates, who hadn't moved back far enough. Those closest to the explosion were thrown the farthest, namely Louise and the professor, while her classmates were less affected. But everyone found themselves covered in falling rubble, and unable to see anything through the thick dust cloud.

"See what a good thing it was we stayed back." Someone said, "She almost killed us again." Another said, "She shouldn't be with us here, she isn't even a noble." "Damn right, she isn't", someone else agreed. "This screw up only proves that she's nothing more than a commoner, just like the rest of them low lives." Someone said. "Let's head back to the castle before she kills us when she tries again." someone else said, "Yep, let's head back before that hairless bastard gives her another chance." The comment was followed by the mumbled agreement of most of the little pink girl's classmates. The professor heard the last comment and considered stopping them but he didn't because they had a point. So in the end, the only students left were Tabitha, Kirche, and the professor. As the dust began to settle, the rest of the classmates headed back to the academy as fast as possible.

As for the little girl, she recovered first and, to be honest, she didn't feel good. She had hoped that today was the day that she could prove both to herself and her classmates that she was like them, a noble. But she could see it all, her future and her dreams were all gone. She was truly Louise the zero. She was no noble, despite her noble birth. She was nothing more than a cheap commoner like the rest of them. She had nothing left to prove. She told herself this was the end of the road for her. She was no Karin the heavy wind, she was nothing like her mother—she was a failure. Tears began to form around her eyes, but she forcefully reminded herself that she was a Valliere, and she still had her pride. She couldn't show any signs of weakness in front of others.

The professor was the first one to notice the smell. After all, he'd been in countless battlefields before and he knew that smell all too well. That wasn't good, he thought, and so drawing on his long experiences, he moved quickly enough to find Louise. Finding her, he did a quick check that she was fine. Then he took up a defensive position next to Louise, his stuff held in front of him and then he waited for the dust to settle.

As his nose sensed the smell of blood, a vile presence slowly crept over him and overwhelmed his senses. It was like nothing compared to anything he'd experienced before despite being on countless battlefields. This was something else. The word that came to mind was "evil" and it was unlike anything he'd ever felt. He could feel his body shaking from the goose bumps alone, his heart beat growing louder, and the quiet silence which was only interrupted by the sound of someone struggling followed by the sickening sound of a knife being repeatedly thrust into flesh. There were no screams of pain which only service to unsettle him more.

Tabitha and Kirche were both farther back and while they didn't actually smell the blood, their familiar had smelled it first and warned their masters by hissing in the direction of the summoning location. Their masters followed suit and took up defensive positions where they stood and waited for the dust cloud to clear.

The last one to notice the smell of blood was Louise. The blood brought her depressed mind to an effective end but unlike the professor, this was the first time she'd ever smelled blood. She couldn't take it, so the first thing she did was to hold both her hands over her mouth, as her body told her that she wasn't feeling well at all. It also informed to her that she should be moving away and back to the academy, RIGHT NOW. Rather, she was rooted to the ground and unable to move. But there was no reason she couldn't. She was afraid of the thing that just summoned her. She didn't know what it was but she didn't need to know, she tried to move her body but she couldn't.

Unable to move, her mind mused and drifted inwards. What was it that she'd summoned? Not only was she a zero, she had summoned a monster. What did she do wrong? Did this mean that she was a total failure? She was able to summon a monster. Did she finally successfully use magic only to be killed by a monster? She tried to stop herself from thinking anymore, but it wasn't helping. She could feel her fear creeping into her bones while her mind continued its fearful musing.

The players waited anxiety and uneasily for the dust cloud to clear. But thankfully, as the dust cleared the evil presence decreased, along with it. By the time that it cleared, Professor Colbert could barely feel it anymore, but the dust cloud cleared revealing a man, covered in blood, mud, and wounds that were bleeding while handling a short sword tightly in his hands. But it wasn't the sight of the man which made the hairs at the back of his head stand on ends. No it was the sight of the summoning spell closing which really did it for him more than anything else. That shouldn't be happening.

As the portal finally closed, leaving only the bleeding man, behind, breathing heavily. The Professor remained in his place as he watched the man, making sure that the evil presence he'd felt was gone before he moved to help the man. He waited for a bit more just to be sure but it was too long, as the man fell over face first into the ground, blood leaking into the ground. The man blacked out soon after that but he wasn't the only one as Louise followed her familiar soon.

Louise the zero woke up the next morning in her bed, the sun in her face shining brightly through the window filling her room with light. Slowly she opened her eyes only to belatedly ask herself how she got back into her room and whether she was still at the academy. But the thought only reminded her of her failure yesterday and the fear she felt when she set her eyes on her familiar. It felt cold, huge, and murderous. The thought itself sent her body heat plunging to the ground. At that moment she hoped with all her being that it was nothing more than a dream but she knew better.

Forcefully, she changed topic and focused on the present. She looked around and noted that she was still in her room at school. Sitting up she saw that her belonging weren't packed, so at least it meant she wasn't being kicked out of the academy, yet. She left her bed and got ready to head down to breakfast at the great hall. As she was about to leave her room, she stopped for a moment and considered hiding for the day but she reminded herself that she was a Valliere and she wouldn't let anything stop her. She braced herself, as she got ready for class and breakfast down at the great hall.

The journey to the main hall was short and quick for her. She entered the main hall and took the first available seat.

"Oh great founder Brimir, and our Lady the queen. We thank you for this humble meal that you have graciously provided us this morning," she said before she started to eat her breakfast. The food was good, she thought, as the taste helped her forget about yesterday. Yum! She thought with a smile on her face, that didn't last long as she remembered her familiar and his bloody face. She didn't know how long she was like that but the next thing, she knew, she heard Kirche's voice.

"Good morning, Louise."

"Good morning, Kirche." She replied over her shoulder.

"How is your familiar doing?"

"He's doing well right now but he's with Ms. Goon." she answered using the school head's name. Unseen by her, Kirche's facial features relaxed momentarily before mischief crept into it.

"So how much did it cost?" Kirche asked. She was aware of the fact that the professor had been unable to find any truth to it, so there was no danger of it endangering her or any of her fellow students.

Instantly, she remembered the events of the day before of her failure and all the ghastly details. She tried to ignore it but she failed—as her face slowly turned green. Soft laughter escaped Kirche as she enjoyed the show and waited, for Louise to start running to the rest room but she didn't. She was able to force her breakfast down while her temper had risen. Placing her eating utensils down, she stood, and turned around to face her bully. Before she could reply, Kirche beat her again.

"A commoner, so sad, to think that the Valliere his sunk so low as too summon a poor commoner, just so that you can stay here." She gave off another soft laugh before returning to rubbing the salt into the wound. She moved over to show her Salamander off by patting it on the head followed by feeding it some food from the table while cheerfully smiling at Louise.

"I still got a familiar and he's better than yours will ever be." She said.

"Half dead you mean?" Kriche replied with an innocent giggle.

"He's still alive." she almost shouted back at the top of her lungs but she stopped himself in time. She was about to reply when the bell for class rang. Making a show of it, she turned and left Kriche and her familiar behind.

Kirche watched Louise leave, anger clearly shown by the way her hands rolled into small balls. A sad smile crossed her face at the sight. At least that will stop her from thinking about it for a while.

The headmaster of the academy, or better known to students as Old Osmond, was worried despite what his outside expression showed to the outside world. He and his familiar Chuchu, were infamous for questionable and lecherous actions to his countless assistants over the years but it never went too far, just some spying between the two of them on his assistant's nature assets.

Chuchu was more than aware of his master feelings and tried to cheer him up by doing some spying on his own on their newest assistant, a Ms. Longueville, but it wasn't helping his master's mood at all.

He was an old man; he thought he'd seen a great many things during his long life. He'd seen people over the years summon a great many different familiars from something as harmless as a bird to something as dangerous as a dragon but this was the first time that he'd ever seen anyone summon a human familiar. But it wasn't that which worried him. It was the evil presence that he'd sensed yesterday. It was unlike anything he'd known before, nothing in his sizable experience could compare to the concentration of evil he'd felt at that moment. It frightened him that such concentration of evil could exist, and the fact that it was here—summoned here no less by a student. It worried him.

This incident meant he'd to change the way the familiar summoning rituals were done in the future and he'll have to watch Ms. Valliere's familiar closely just in case that he was the source of the vile presence. Maybe he'll send Chuchu to keep an eye on him? No, better it be Colbert that he'd sent to keep a watch on the familiar 24/7.

He wasn't sure if the evil presence was from the familiar or from something else but there was nothing he could do until the man awoke from his slumber. Only then could some of his concerns be answered. He'll have to wait, he concluded, before returning to work.

Louise was in her first class of the day, her mind barely acknowledging the teachers as she droned on about magic, the four elements, wind, water, fire, earth, void, etc. But she was only half listening, her body recording the teacher's words into her book while her mind raged at Kirche's word.

How dare she say that to her face! As if the mutterings of her fellow students wasn't bad enough. They may not have the guts to say it to her face but to hear it from her rival was bad enough. But to think that...that...Germanian cow would say something like that to her face! Just thinking about it, was enough to make her blood boil! But what made her madder were the realizations that she was right! Every single one of her classmates had summoned a familiar, and here she was with nothing more than a commoner for one.

At first she thought, while she listened to the rumors, that things were on the up and up, as it seemed that her fellow student acknowledged that she could perform magic. But that wasn't the case as it quickly become clear. According to the rumors about her, she paid a commoner to be her familiar and like a commoner she had no magical ability.

As she listened, to each word, she couldn't help as her temper raised and emotions of anger, pride, and hate stirred in the depth of her heart. But she was able to stop herself from blowing them all to kingdom come with another of her failed spells. Why does everyone think that she doesn't hear them as they talk, about her, behind her? Why? It always backfired.

Anyways, her impressive display of self-control only forced her to face what little truth the rumor contained. She may have been able to perform the summoning spell successfully, but that didn't change the fact that it was only one above zero. One successful spell out of dozens she'd cast wasn't a good success rate. Not to include the fact that the familiar is a reflection of the mage. So did it mean that she was just as worthless as the rest of the commoners? Wasn't she of noble blood? Wasn't she a Valliere? Wait, she thought, was she some commoner child that her mother had felt pity for, could the blood in her veins be of some commoner and not Valliere's? She never finished musing as she was interrupted by her teacher.

"Ms. Valliere, are you finding my class boring?" She asked in a threating tone, as she noted that she was just staring at her book, her hands frozen.

"No." She answered, looking at the teacher.

"Then, please explain the basic magic of the earth element?"

"Umm...the basic magic of the element is the transmutation creation of metals, raising of buildings, cutting of stones, and harvesting crops...all magic related to life on earth." she said, standing up.

"Very good, Ms. Valliere. Oh...I don't see your familiar, where is it?" the teacher asked but she answered before someone else did.

"It's not feeling well, miss." She said softly and quickly sitting down, before someone added something colorful to her comment.

"That's too bad." said the teacher with a hint of distaste evident in her voice before she went on with her class. The teacher's comment was soon followed by the hushed whispers of her classmates, trading rumors, stories, and options about her. There was nothing that she could do about it but take it.

"Cut the chatter people or you'll be eating clay." She said, in a threating tone. The chatter quieted down within seconds and she continued on with her class.

"Now a demonstration, I will cast a transmutation spell on this rock on my desk, so please observe closely," she said, before giving her ward a little wave and pop the piece of rock turn into three smaller rocks which looked like gold.

"The rock turned into gold! Amazing!" someone said, the statement was followed by a number of students saying something simpler or taking a deep breath or shook with surprise at the demonstration.

"Is...is that real gold?" Kirche asked.

"Fake" Said Tabitha.

"Correct, Ms. Tabitha, what you see here isn't gold but brass, an alloy of iron and zinc."

The teacher went on to explain the variance classes of mage, pointing out that a mage is only able to use one element are known as dots mage, while these that are able to use two were called line mage, those able to use three triangles mage, and finally those able to use four square mages.

"And while I don't mean to sound boastful, I myself am a 'triangle' mage. Hence, I am able to transmute brass." she said, as an ending statement to her explanation.

"That's just showing off," Kirche mumbled.

"Now, even dual-element 'Line' mages can transmute rock to glass but even for students that shouldn't be hard. So does anyone want to try their hand at it?" She asked the class but all she got was silence in return.

"Then Ms. Zer...Sorry Ms Valliere. Please transmute this rock I have in front of me." She asked.

"Wait, professor, please don't make her do it," someone said, only moments after the teacher finished her statement.

"Yep, she's going to kill us all." a classmate said, in agreement.

"Yep, it's only the morning, why let her ruin the day now." another said.

"Now, now, please don't interrupt. Ms. Valliere you may go ahead whenever you're ready." she said, with a grin that none but Tabitha saw as the rest of their fellow classmates ducked under their tables for cover. This was a chance, she told herself hopefully. If she could successfully cast the summoning spell yesterday, then she should be able to perform a simple spell like this, right?

So she focused on the task at hand, turning the rock into glass and put everything into the spell. She focused on the spell, making sure she did everything right from the words to the movements of her wand and thus she cast the spell. The three rocks began to shine brightly, and for microseconds, she thought that the spell had been successfully, but she was wrong. As it ended just like every other spell, she cast. It exploded in her face and was thrown on her back along with the teacher, smoke covered the classroom, and students soon begin to flee.

By the time the smoke cleared, the teacher was standing in front of her calmly explaining to her, as if she was child, that she was to clean up the room without using any magic. As the teacher left her to the task, she never saw the grin widen on her face, nor did she see Tabitha watching her as if she wanted to help before she was pulled away by Kirche.

In the end, it didn't matter to her at all because at this point, she was feeling like this was the lowest point of her short life. Ever since she was here at the academy she'd been unable to successfully cast any spells. It was only made worse when she remembered the ridicule and bullying she'd endured here at the academy. Even now, she heard them just outside in the hallway talking about her as if she couldn't hear them. She felt like rolling into a ball and just hiding, weeping tears of sorrow at her misfortune but her pride, told her that she couldn't. She was a Valliere, even if not by blood, she was still a Valliere. No matter the facts, she told herself in an attempt to cheer herself up. She was particularly successful. So with that thought in mind, she did her best not to think about anything, as she got to work cleaning and fixing the class room.

Colbert couldn't feel any peace at all. The depth of the vile presence that he'd felt was unlike anything in his long experience. It was nothing compared to the presence of the worst human scum bag that he'd ever hunted down as a soldier. He wasn't sure what it was but surely the familiar knows what it was but he had to wait until the man was awake for his questions to be answered. Until then, all he could do was wait.

He tried to get back to work but something about the summoning incident still irked him. In fact, it had been bothering him for the last day and a half. What could it be, but so far, he'd been unable to identify it? He thought, placing the quill down and thinking about it, what could it possibly be?

It was then, that it finally hit him, as he remembered that the portal was still closing when the smoke cleared and something else. Flak! He remembered that he wasn't too sure what it was then but now he was definitely sure what else he saw. It was a claw, a black metal-like claw which had been pulled back into the portal. That thing or whatever owned it was trying to come through the portal with the familiar. That shouldn't have been possible. Whatever it was, it meant bad news for the academy, he thought, as he picked up his quill and got back to work.

Here she was at the infirmary next to her familiar, sitting on a seat and just staring at him. She didn't know how she'd arrived there but she didn't really care after the day's event. It was only a day since the summoning ritual had been completed and here she was a powerless, worthless, and utterly despicable example for a noble. Who has ever heard of a noble who was unable to perform magic?

The hours spent cleaning the classroom meant hours of enduring the mocking laughter, intermixed with hushed whispers of rumors about her. It wasn't only her peers but also a few teachers who stop by or simply do a quick pass-by. It seemed no one wanted to help or were willing to help her and most were there simply to mock her in hushed whispers as if she couldn't hear them.

In the end, she didn't mind the cleaning, the hushed whispers, rumors, and mocking laughter. What she couldn't take was the fact that they seemed to come in waves. She just couldn't handle it for long as they seemed to come in endless waves and the fact that they did it deliberately, considering the room was rarely used as it was out of the way compared to the rest of the rooms which were used for regular classes.

It annoyed, irritated, angered, and pushed her temper to the breaking point but she'd fought the temptation to cast one unsuccessful spell after another into her tormentors all day long, not caring for the fact that it would explode in her face. Yet, it wasn't until night that her tormentors melted away into the night, to rest. There was also another reason to it and that was her pride as a Valliere to consider, even if she wasn't one by blood or at least as far as she knew.

She'd long admitted the possibility that there was no answer to that question until she saw her mother again. Putting that thought aside, she considered the idea of heading to her room for the night but she remembered that her familiar was still in the infirmary. Once there, she couldn't find the energy to move again.

Ms. Goon, the school water mage was kind enough to let her stay and inform her of the condition of her familiar. She didn't look well. In fact, she looked just like her, as if she just had a bad day, tired and eager for the day to end. It must have taken a lot out of her to heal her familiar, she thought, before thanking her and then heading over to a seat by her familiar.

Her mind returned to the present, as she watched the man who was her familiar. He wasn't bad looking for a commoner that is if it wasn't for a single scar that ran across his left cheek. From the outline of him, she could see that he was at least of reasonable build. So he can fight. His eyes were closed yet she wanted to see what color they were, but looking at his face, she couldn't help but feel at peace.

Her thoughts wandered for a moment. What could possibly have led to her summoning him, only to remember, bitterly, the reason. The familiar summoned was nothing more than a reflection of the mage magic. A soft bitter mocking laugh escaped her, did this mean that she was as powerless as this commoner, that her magical ability was little better than a commoner? The question only reinforced her bitter belief that she wasn't of Valliere blood. She wasn't anything to anyone. She was no noble, she was nothing more than a commoner; a useless fool thinking that she could do magic, she thought, before sleep finally calmed her for the night.