Disclaimer

Familiar of Zero is owned by Noboru Yamaguchi

Destiny is owned by Bungie

Osmond sighed and stared up at the moons. On his desk was a letter to the crown, the subject being Miss Valliere's 'familiar'. It described his appearance, weapons, and everything else he knew about the man. The question was should he send it? He was dangerous, no doubt about that, but he seemed to be more reactionary than antagonistic. Mr. Gramont had recovered from his 'lesson', and had admitted to being the one to start the conflict. Yet the way Mr. Nes attacked his mind so easily, so… casually worried him.

There was a flash, and he looked towards the forest. He sighed as he saw the smoke and light of a fire. This, sadly, was more common than he cared to admit. Students don't seem to understand that fire classes are held on school grounds for a reason, namely the smaller chance of the fire spreading. He stood and made his way out the door the find a water mage to stop-

He paused. He was fairly stressed out, and has been a long time since he spooked students as 'the all-seeing Osmond' …

He glided just above the ground, the wind spell dead silent around his feet. Soon enough he reached the blaze, and as he hid behind a tree he quietly cast 'blanket of snow'.

WHUMPH

A foot of snow fell from the sky, and the fire was put out instantly. He walked out from behind the tree, "Now I hope you've-" His sentence died as he saw the birdlike helmet, "…ah, Mr. Nes what are you doing here?" He coughed awkwardly as the snow steamed around him.

"…I was relieving my recent stress." His voice was surprisingly calm, "Admittedly, the snow is helping."

"…So, Miss Valliere has returned, then?" Osmond tried to make this less awkward.

"Yes." Lumo walked forward, a path melting in the snow.

"Ah… So, why are you out here, then?" Osmond gestured to the snow covered clearing.

"I had a… well, suffice to say what little good will there was between Miss Valliere and I disappeared."

Osmond raised an eyebrow, "What happened?"

"…Allow me to put it this way: Miss Valliere's problems were to my problem's what a pebble is to the moon."

Osmond hummed, looking up to the moons, "…You know, you remind me of her, in a way."

"…Explain."

Osmond chuckled, "Come now, what sort of fun would that be if I just gave you the answer? I'm sure you'll appreciate the challenge." Osmond turned and made his way back…

"…And with a bird-like helm." Longueville finished, "According to the letter, the figure in question was threatening one of the students with a massive flame."

Osmond nodded, "I see. And, the damage to the surrounding area?"

She looked at the report, "Aside from multiple scorch marks, and singed hair, the damage was minimal."

Osmond nodded again, "Thank you Miss Longueville." She nodded, and as soon as she left the room he cast a silence spell on the room before screaming at the top of his lungs. When he had gone to bed last night, it was with the assumption that everything would work itself out by tomorrow.

Instead, he received a warning to look out for a 'phoenix' mage and a letter from a Palace messenger telling him to prepare for a visit.

He didn't understand it. Overlooking appearance, the two were practically copies of each other. They should have been able to understand one another better than anyone else. Mr. Nes no doubt had the same problems as Ms. Valliere so why…

Osmond's mind stopped, and then recalled the many, many reports from the staff about Ms. Valliere, and he debated whether braining himself with his staff would provide less of a headache…

Derflinger 'smiled' as his wielder rubbed away the last bit of rust covering him while they sat in a courtyard. It was pretty rare that a mage of all people knew how to take care of a sword. His wielder stood, and as he went through some basic exercises Derf was surprised. He'd clearly wielded a sword before, though his grip could use a little work. Eventually, his wielder stopped and held Derf up.

"You are quite the impressive piece."

Derf laughed, "Hey, buy me dinner f-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-!"

Derf was now soaring through the air, and he landed tip first into a wall. His wielder slowly approached him, a ball of flame in their hand.

"What the hell was that for!?" He shouted, and the man raised an eyebrow before putting out his flame.

"Apologies. I knew you were infused with Light, but I did not think it was to the degree of sapience. You took me by surprise." He pulled Derf from the wall, looking at his tip, "Still sharp."

"Of course! I'm the Great Derflinger, after all!" He said proudly.

"Who crafted you? No exotic weapon I've wielded ever possessed a true mind."

"Hrm… Sorry, don't remember. Us old men don't exactly have the most reliable minds. 'Specially when their old as me! " Derf chuckled.

Lumo tilted his head, and then shrugged, "I am Lumo Nes. I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise. Now, I got some pointers for ya'…"

"He's a lot like you, really."

Louise only stared at Ghost in confusion as she sat on her bed, "How am I possibly like him?"

"Well, you see-" Ghost started, but Louise interrupted him as her frustrations boiled to the surface.

"He's, he's a stubborn, a-arrogant, selfish, violent jerk!"

"Exactly." Louise stared in open-mouthed shock at Ghost, "Louise, those are all traits you have too."

"W-what!? I'm nothing like him!"

"Alright. Then prove it. What's the difference between you and him?"

"I'm, he's, I don't…" Louise began to run out of steam.

"Louise, you're… you're practically a clone of him. The only difference is his problems are a few magnitudes bigger. Even then, you could say they're pretty similar."

Louise sat down heavily on her bed, thinking, "…No."

"Louise?"

"No! I am nothing like him! He, he put all those people in danger while we were in the city!"

"You burnt his face off, Louise, and did you care?" Ghost pointed out, and Louise went silent, "Louise, it's… it's been a long day. It might be best for us to start talking again tomorrow."

"…Okay…" Louise said quietly.

"Goodnight Louise." Ghost disappeared in a flash.

"…Goodnight."

Louise stared up at her ceiling. She hadn't gone to sleep, her mind working overtime. Was… Was she really like him?

…She didn't apologize for burning Lumo's face. She, she did try to keep forcing him to be her familiar, even when Ghost told her about his duties. But she wasn't arrogant! She was a noble! She had the right to be proud of her power!

'…What power?' She questioned herself, 'If, if I could cast spells properly, would I be like him?'

Louise was pulled from her thoughts when she heard shouting from outside. She got out of bed and looked out her window, where the Headmaster was gesturing angrily at a helmet-less Lumo. She threw open the window to hear them better.

"…could have been seriously injured!"

Lumo raised an eyebrow, "Headmaster, even if what you said was true-"

"There are witnesses!" The old man shouted.

"…Headmaster, understand that what I'm about say, I say without exaggeration: Miss Valliere is the single most dangerous student in your academy."

Osmond's eyes went wide, and Lousie could hear whispers. She looked around, and saw other students leaning out of their windows as well.

"Headmaster, when I finished translating your language to my own, I decided to determine what spell Miss Valliere used to incinerate my face when we first met. At first, I had assumed some sort of fire spell. Do you know what spell that was?" Osmond didn't reply, "Silence. A spell that could be cast by anyone with a hint of magical prowess, and if I was anyone else, I would most likely be dead from the explosion. I can't imagine the destruction that would result if she used an offensive spell."

Osmond stared at him for a moment before shaking his head, "You still left her side-"

"Incorrect. Ghost is an extension of my will, and though you may not believe it he also is capable of defending Miss Valliere. He could disarm, both figuratively and literally, any opponent he comes across."

"What of the people you could have injured in your little tantrum, hmm?" Osmond asked harshly, but Lumo simply raised an eyebrow.

"…Did anyone die? Was anyone grievously injured?"

"…no." Osmond ground out.

"…Then I have another question, Headmaster: would anyone have cared?"

"What!?"

"Headmaster, when Miss Valliere incinerated my face, did anyone rush to my aid, or even punish her? No, Professor Colbert merely stood aside as I writhed in pain, and you forced me into her service. When news of the duel spread through the school, did anyone besides you try to stop it? No, the teachers did nothing to defend one of their students. The fact of the matter is, if anyone had been injured or worse, their pockets would have been emptied and their bodies hauled into an alley. Tell me I'm wrong, Headmaster, I dare you."

Osmond stared Lumo right in the eyes, but said nothing. The two stared at each for a long while until the Headmaster silently turned around and began walking away.

"…I am terrible person Headmaster, I will admit that," He called out, and the old man stopped, "and that is the difference between you and me."

The old man stood still for a moment before continuing his walk…

Throughout the rest of the day, the teacher's struggled to do their jobs as all the students would talk about is the confrontation between their Headmaster and the foreigner. This would continue until lunch, where most of the students wisely stopped talking so as not to incur his wrath.

Lumo took a sip of his tea, raising an eyebrow at the maid, "Where is Siesta? She would normally be the one to serve us." He gestured to the silent Louise.

The brown-haired girl bowed her head, "I'm sorry, my lord, but she was called to the Headmaster's office a short while ago."

Lumo stared at her for a moment before silently getting up and heading towards the Headmaster's office. A few minutes later he was there, and he could hear raised voices inside.

"Once again, Count Mott, I cannot give you her contract at this time!" Osmond glared at the noble as the maid he 'requested' shuffled nervously.

"Well, then I'm sure the Crown will be interested to know you're disobeying-"

HISS

They looked towards the door, and the smell of burning wood invaded their noses. A black spot appeared on the door's center, and as it grew they saw that the wood was slowly burning away. On the other side was Lumo, helmet on, and when the door was completely gone he stepped inside.

"Explain."

Before Osmond could do so, Count Mott interrupted him, "Wait, you, you were the one that caused that commotion in the city yesterday!"

Lumo ignored him, focused solely on Osmond, "Well, Count Mott had come here to request the services of Miss Siesta-"

"-And you explained to him why that was currently impossible, correct?"

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Count Mott shouted, and he recoiled slightly when Lumo's head whipped to look at him, "I am a-"

"Unless you intend to finish that sentence with 'leaving', be. Quiet."

Count Mott's face turned red, "How dare you! You think you can speak to me like I'm some commoner!?"

They all recoiled when the flames on his arms grew into blazes, but they slowly died to a more manageable level. Lumo pointed his right hand at Osmond while he kept his sights on Mott, "Write up an agreement. I win the duel, I get everything he owns. His estate and everything in it."

"H-hold it right there!" Count Mott was sweating, though whether it was from nervousness or the heat pouring off Lumo was unclear, "What do I get if I win?"

"To live, and that is me being generous." Lumo about-faced and stomped down the hall.

Count Mott smiled as he stood in the courtyard, the school staff and students gathered to watch his duel. He, of course, had the Headmaster make some changes to the agreement so that it was to the death.

Not that his opponent knew that, of course.

The crowd ceased their murmurs and parted to let the fool through.

"I know not who you are, upstart, but in a few moments, it won't matter."

His opponent said nothing, merely drawing the sword from their back.

"Too frightened to say anything? Then let us begin!"

FWOOSH

Everyone screamed in horror as fire flew from Lumo's sword at Count Mott, incinerating his hands and leaving a burn mark across his chest. His left hand, the one holding his (now ash) wand, was reduced to burnt stubs for fingers. His right, however, was no more than a stump. Two water mages immediately rushed to him, and Lumo walked up to where Colbert and Osmond were standing.

"You are coming with me."

It was a strange group that arrived at the gates of Count Mott's estate. Two elderly noblemen, a young noble girl, a maid, and someone in strange armor all on horseback. Still, the two guards had job to do and pointed their spears at them.

"Halt! Who are you, and what business do you have at Count Mott's estate?" The guard on the right asked.

"I believe you mean my estate." The strangest of them produced a paper with both the seal of the Academy of Magic and Count Mott's personal seal. The two guards looked at each other in shock before the strange man dismounted his horse and practically shoved the paper in the right guards face. He read it over, his jaw dropping as he looked over to his companion, "He's telling the truth."

The stranger walked past him after that, his entourage following closely behind. When they entered the main foyer, the man in strange armor looked around before turning to the guards.

"Summon whoever else worked for Count Mott."

Lumo looked over the collected group of guards and servants, "You are all wondering what I have called you here for. I am giving you exactly thirty minutes to gather as much of your lord's wealth as you can for yourselves. At which point you are to evacuate, leaving the doors open. Begin."

They frantically scrambled as Lumo turned and waited outside, the others from the Academy nervously watching.

"…What are you going to do?" Osmond asked from behind, but Lumo kept silent and watched the doors, "What you've done already is tantamount to declaring war on Tristain…"

There was silence between them for five minutes, and two of the servants reappeared before running past them all.

"…Insult to injury." Lumo said, and it was another twenty-three minutes before the last servant left, and Lumo began channeling the Void. Normally, his Nova Bomb would merely damage anything its radius. For this he would have to adjust it. When he made his alteration, the purple ball lanced into the foyer, and when it struck the stairs it began sucking its surroundings in. The house fell apart piece by piece, swallowed into the dark purple orb at the center of the vortex. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see the others holding on to loose clothing.

Eventually the Nova Bomb died out in a quiet flash that belied the destruction it caused. The center of the mansion was a crater, only parts of the left and right wings still standing. Lumo turned around and started walking towards the stables-

"…Are you insane?"

Lumo looked back to Osmond, who was staring at him.

"Yes."

Osmond's jaw dropped, "You, I," he sighed, "No, I shouldn't be surprised."

"It comes with studying the secrets of the universe."

"You may as well of declared war on Tristain!" Osmond continued, "You attacked a palace messenger!"

"…A messenger received an estate such as this?"

"That's not the point!"

"Count Mott signed the agreement, did he not?"

"That's not going to matter!"

"Why is that?"

"You mangled and dishonored someone who works for the palace!"

"Your people value their appearances more than anything. They will do nothing."

"Well, you just know everything don't you?"

""I am a Warlock, so yes."

"You. Cannot. Fight off. The country! To believe so would be too arrogant, even for you!"

"I have fought worse and survived, Headmaster. Should they decide to go after Siesta, I can protect her."

"That's another thing! Why do you care so much about one maid!? If she didn't have anything related to your home would you even of helped her!?"

"Hard to say. I'm not very invested in you people, but she is one of the few who has not drawn my ire."

"…What is wrong with you!?"

"Many things. Namely that I'm forever bound to be a near immortal warrior in a war that could very well last till the sun burns out and beyond."

"W… What?"

"The phrase 'I have the weight of the world on my shoulders' seems appropriate here. Of course, all this pales to your problems, doesn't it?"

"…I think we need to have a talk…"

They all looked toward Louise, who flinched.

"I think… I think if we talked about everything, we might be able to… do something…"

They all looked at each other…

Osmond, Colbert, Louise, and Lumo all looked between each other as Siesta served them tea.

"…I'm sorry." Louise looked to Lumo, whose face remained neutral, "I shouldn't have attacked you, or tried to make you my familiar."

"…And I should have stopped Miss Valliere from trying to form a contract with you." Colbert grimaced. They looked to Osmond, who was silent for a long time.

"…" He sighed, "I… should not have forced you to remain here. I did not understand your situation," he muttered something like 'and I still don't', "…I… have been treating you more like a student, rather, a child, than a true person."

They looked towards him and he rolled his eyes, "I am sorry for losing my temper yesterday, Miss Valliere. I will endeavor not to do so again in the future," he paused, then looked towards Siesta, "I feel I must apologize to you, Siesta. If you did possess information about my home, I am uncertain what I would have done."

"O-oh… well, it's…"

Silence took over, and Ghost decided to make itself known.

"Well, I think things are better between you all… Not good, mind you, but, well, baby steps."

Louise looked around, "So… where are we now?"

"Back at square one, though that's a lot better than where you previously were."

"…I will never understand why you are so cheery." Lumo sipped his tea as Ghost turned to him.

"One of us has to be something close to 'normal'."

"Mmph."

"Heh, I get the feeling you ain't too normal yourself."

Ghost blinked, "Did the sword just talk?"

"Oi, I've got a name! I'm the great Derflinger! Remember it!"

"…Perhaps, we should introduce ourselves again as well?" Colbert offered, "We don't know much about each other than our names."

"…This is turning much too heartfelt-" Lumo saw the look Ghost was giving him, "…Very well."

Henrietta, the Princess of Tristain, lay in her bed wide awake. Count Mott, a palace messenger, had come into court wounded, ranting and raving about a fire mage that stole his home from him. What caught Henrietta's attention, however, was his description of a pink-haired girl accompanying him.

"Louise."

She would be visiting the Academy in a few days, but she prayed that she wasn't too late to save her friend from the stranger…

AN: Finally have free time to update. We'll see how long that lasts. Any-who, I'd like to clear up something brought up by the reviewer 'GaryStu'. Lumo was never intended to be the 'tragic hero'. He is that asshole that you only keep around because he can back up what he says and is, in all essence, an insane five year old. More on that in the future. For now, all the current characters of importance get a Mulligan. Whether they actually learn from it is another thing.