Yugioh x Familiar of Zero – Chapter 1 – The King of Games is a familiar?!

My name's Carlton. That's as good a way to start a story as any, right? Anyway, for you to believe what I'm about to tell you, you'll have to believe in the impossible. It's cheesy, but it's so true, in this case. I'm just gonna say it. Magic is real. I didn't know this until I saw a giant green egg in front of me, that no-one else seemed to notice.

Let me give you some context. As I said, my name's Carlton. Carlton Johnson. I'm 17 years old, 6'4", and I live in England, but my family originates from the Caribbean. All of my life, I've loved Yu-Gi-Oh. In fact, I hold the world record for the most Yu-Gi-Oh cards owned: All of them. Thankfully, my older cousins also liked Yu-Gi-Oh, and were completionists, like me, so they collected all of the cards that came out before I was old enough to play the game. The family trait of stubbornness forced me to continue where they left off, and from there, I acquired every single tournament legal Yu-Gi-Oh card, and the vast majority of the illegal, special event ones. They were my pride and joy, and since I had every single card, in at least three copies, I could make literally any deck that I wanted. I also made my own duel disk, since the official toy ones really weren't up to par with what I wanted, and I wanted a very specific look on mine.

The card zones were in bronze, the arm of the disk was in silver, and the trim was in gold. There were two dragon heads at each end of the arm. The deck holder had a dragon claw covering it, to hold it in place, which I would flip up, when duelling. There was a slot for my smartphone, since I wanted to have the life points on a touchscreen. The graveyard was black, which I thought was appropriate, and the core of the disk was circular, with lines of gold and bronze on a silver background, in the style of Tron. I called it the Olympus duel disk.

I was walking home from a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament one day. I had managed to win, and gotten a fairly large sum of prize money for it. Nothing on the scale of the WCS, but definitely appreciated, so I was in a pretty good mood. Suddenly, there was a blinding light in front of me. I covered my eyes with my arm, but when I lowered it, there was this green egg-like shape floating in the air. Completely forgetting the saying 'Curiosity killed the cat', I walked up to it. Throwing all logic out the window at this point, I actually poked it. In hindsight, not one of my smartest moments.

When I poked it, it felt like I was poking something spongey, but then it rippled. Strangely, I heard a voice. It was very faint. I only managed to hear 'powerful famili…', before I jerked my hand back, extremely confused. To try and hear more of what was being said, and against my better judgement, I poked the egg again. This time, a hole opened in the egg, and sucked my hand in. I heard the voice again, but didn't register what it said, as I was being pulled into the egg. "HELP!" I shouted, but it seemed that no-one else was able to hear me, because of this egg. It started shining, and it got brighter and brighter. Eventually I stopped resisting the force pulling me in, in order to not go blind, but that was the chance the egg needed. The force magnified by like 10 times, and I was gone in a second.

Falling.

I felt as though I was falling, but when I looked around, I saw that I was in space. Before I could fully register the situation, the falling sensation continued, and now I saw where I was falling to. It was green, just like the egg. "If I get stuck in an infinite loop, I swear I'm gonna hurt someone." I thought, as I closed my eyes, and waited for the impact.

When it finally came, it hurt much less than I expected it to. Sure, it winded me, but for how long I was falling, I should've died from that impact.

"You… who are you?" I heard a voice say in what sounded like French. I'd studied it at high school, so I knew a bit, but not enough to effectively communicate with, or understand them. As I opened my eyes, I felt grass on my back, and saw a smoke cloud clearing, as though there had been an explosion, with me at the centre of it.

"Hmmm? Where am I?" I asked, confused. Looking around, I saw people in what looked to be a school uniform, with white shirts, black cloaks held on by a pentagram brooch at the chest area, and black trousers for the boys, and black skirts for the girls. At least I assumed that they were boys and girls. They looked to be around my age, if not a little bit younger. They all had shocked looks on their faces. Especially the one closest to me, who was wearing the same school uniform, except that she was shorter, and had pink hair and eyes. After what just happened, the fact that not just her hair, but her eyes were pink, didn't even faze me.

Then I heard laughter from all of the students, except the one standing next to me. She quickly said something to a man in a robe, holding a large staff, which got thicker towards the top. I assume that he was the teacher, if this is actually a school. The teacher shook his head, and replied in what I think is French. The girl got a large blush, then turned to me, and said something else, including what I think is her name, but I couldn't really tell. She then leaned towards me, and kissed me. My eyes widened, and I felt all kinds of emotions: confusion, anger, fear, and sorrow, all at once.

She pulled back, and my entire body felt hot. I looked at my hands, and I saw that they were glowing a dim red. My left hand started burning intensely, and I clutched it, trying to ease the pain. Eventually, a collection of symbols, spelling some sort of word appeared on the back of my hand. When the teacher saw it, he gasped. While all this was happening, the students kept laughing. I looked around, and saw… a castle!? At this, my eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I passed out.

When I woke up, I was on a bed of hay, in a fancy looking room. I shot up, wondering what kind of weird dream I'd had, but when I looked around, I registered that it wasn't a dream.

"So you're finally awake." The pink-haired girl from before said. Surprised, I turned towards her, still unable to properly understand what she said.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" I shouted, but it was obvious that she didn't understand me either.

Shrugging her shoulders, she took off her cloak, and placed it on the chair. Then she dropped her skirt, and took of her shirt, revealing her undergarments. This instantly drew a blush to my face, but due to my Caribbean heritage, it was difficult to see. Though it died instantly when she picked up the clothes, and proceeded to throw them at me. "What the hell are you doing?" I shouted.

"Wash those." She said flatly. "Even if you can't understand our language, a familiar should at least understand the message."

I did not at all understand the message. "Why the hell are you trying to seduce me?!" I shouted. "And you're doing a pretty terrible job at it!"

"Ughh… What's with all the noise? All you do is chirp!" She said, covering her ears. "Oh, I know! I'll use the silencing spell that I learnt last year!" She then raised her wand, and spoke some funky words. The tip of her wand glowed for a bit, confusing me, until an explosion sent me tumbling to the floor, burning the clothes that she had thrown at me.

"Darn! I was sure I did it right!" she said.

"Like hell! If you were trying to kill me, then maybe!" I shouted, jumping to my feet, and pointing at her accusatively.

She froze. "Wait. I understood that!"

"What?"

"I understood that! Say something else!"

"Okay. Who are you? What's with that wand? Where are we? Why am I here? Why are you half-naked? And why did you try to blow me up?"

"I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de la Valliére. To answer your question, I summoned you. What's your name?"

"I'm Carlton Johnson. Why did you summon me?"

"As a familiar."

"Eh?"

Elsewhere in the castle, the teacher from before was in a library, reading books relating to familiars. He eventually found a picture of the runes like those on my hand, and said "I knew I didn't recognise that rune from any previous familiar. I must tell Principal Osmond."

"So this is the country of Tristain, on the continent of Halkeginia? And you're a student at the institute of magic?" I asked Louise, who was giving me a briefing on where I was.

"I won't allow a familiar to call me 'you'. My name is Louise. Louise de la Valliére."

"So, Louise, I'm this familiar that you summoned, and I'm just supposed to be your servant for the rest of my life?"

"Pretty much." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. Chance! "Of course I get a peasant boy as a familiar. I wanted something cool, like a dragon or a griffon."

By the time she finished her sentence, I was out of the room, and down at least 2 flights of stairs.

"My familiar ran away?! You have got to be joking!" Louise said.

"She can keep her crazy in her room. I don't know if this is some extreme LARP, or I'm in a coma, or what, but I can't stay here any longer!" I shouted, as I ran down a spiral staircase, which I hoped would take me to the ground floor, and out of this place.

I got to a door, which I sprinted through, but when I realised the hallway wasn't empty, I hid back in the door way. In the hall, I saw one of the students who had been present when I'd woken up. He had blond hair, and his shirt wasn't buttoned all the way up, to expose part of his chest. Every aspect of him, from his hairstyle, to the rose in his hand screamed Casanova. He was talking to a girl who hadn't been there when I'd woken up. She had brown hair, and a brown cloak, so I assumed that they were in different years.

"I'm good at baking soufflés." The girl said.

"I would love to try one." The Casanova replied.

"Really?" The girl asked, clasping her hands together.

"Of course, Katy. I wouldn't lie to your eyes." The Casanova replied.

"Guiche-sama!" The girl, Katy, said, with adoration in her voice. Hold up, since when did French people use honorifics?!

"There is nothing hidden behind my feelings for you." The Casanova, whose name I now knew as Guiche, said.

I took this chance to try and sneakily crawl past them, but I heard Guiche say, "Hmmm? Isn't that the peasant that Louise summoned?"

"Crap!" I hissed, crawling a little faster.

"In today's ritual?" Katy said. "It caused quite a ruckus among the first-years as well."

"He fainted suddenly and stopped moving. It was a real bother." Guiche said. Whilst he was talking, I tried to walk away, but he said "Hold on, you."

I turned around. "Yes?"

"A peasant giving a noble trouble, and not a semblance of gratitude?" he said, quite condescendingly, may I add.

"Is that so? Thanks. Then, I'll be seeing you!" I said, and turned around to walk off. "Irritating jerk." I mumbled.

Then I heard footsteps rushing down the stairs. I tensed up. "Crap!" I said, and I ran off.

"A restless fellow." Guiche said, putting his hand up in exasperation. Louise then entered the hallway, clearly annoyed. "Louise, your familiar just passed by." Guiche said.

"Catch him!" Louise said.

"Eh?"

"He ran away."

"The familiar with whom you sealed a contract? Nothing less from your familiar, Louise. Common sense doesn't apply to it."

"Don't be impressed by it, help me!" Louise said, her irritation growing.

"I've no choice." Guiche said.

I approached what must be the ground floor hallway, and I saw another one of the students who was there when I woke up, this time, it was a girl, who I recalled said whatever it was that made everyone laugh.

I panted, with my hands on my knees, after that bout of sprinting. I looked to my right, and saw a doorway which led to… the outside! "Yes, an exit!" I shouted.

The girl, and the guy she was snuggling up to, both looked at me as I ran towards the exit. The guy said, "That guy… isn't he the one that Louise the Zero…"

"Yes, the peasant familiar." The girl finished.

Just then I heard Louise shout "Ah! There he is!", causing me to run even faster, and out the door.

"Right." Guiche said.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" The girl asked.

"Oh, just listen to this!" Guiche started.

"Knock it off! He's getting away!" Louise said, storming towards the exit.

I jumped down the staircase, landing on the ground, and kept running. "What crap are they spouting about magic? I have to get out of this crazy place…" As I ran, I noticed I wasn't gaining any forward distance, and looked down to see that my feet weren't on the ground. I was levitating! But not of my own free will. Thus, I freaked out.

"H-h-help me! I'm gonna fall!" I shouted.

"Give yourself up." I heard the arrogant voice of Guiche say. "This is the second time I've kept you afloat." He waved his rose around, causing me to move around in the air. That was not fun, I'll tell you now. "Is this for real?" I said.

I then heard laughter from below me, and saw the girl and boy from the ground floor hallway walking out, the girl in fits of laughter. "A familiar that runs from his master? It's just too funny!" she said, clutching her stomach.

"Then, this is…" I began. Guiche then stopped waving me about, and I looked up, and froze. There was not one, but two moons in the sky! One was larger, and blue-green, while the other was smaller, about the size of Earth's moon, and red-pink. "You're kidding me!" I shouted.

We were back in Louise's room, and she had me chained up, to ensure that I didn't run away again.

"Earth?" Louise asked.

"Yeah! Up until this afternoon, I was in London, England, on Earth." I replied

"I don't believe it. For such a different world to exist…"

"I don't want to believe it either! Anyway, take me home!"

"Impossible."

"Don't just say that so simply!" I shouted, but I stopped when Louise threw her cloak over my face.

"No matter who it is or where they're from, the contract is absolute." Louise said as she was… undressing?!

She threw the rest of her clothes at me. "What are you doing?" I questioned.

"I'm changing for bed." She said, seemingly confused at the question. She clicked her fingers, and the candles in the room went out.

I looked at the candles, and back at her, and saw that she was taking off… her undergarments?! My eyes bulged out, before I quickly covered them. "Don't do that when I'm here!" I said.

"Why?"

"You're fine with a guy watching you do that stuff?" I asked, and she threw her blouse at me.

"A guy? You're nothing more than a familiar."

"What?!" I said, but she threw her panties at me. I looked at them, and panicked for a second, dropping them to the floor.

Louise put her sleeping dress on, and started getting into bed. "Okay, wash those for me."

"Wait. Why do I have to wash your lingerie?" I asked, holding up her panties. "I don't know whether to be happy or upset about this…" I said, with a slight blush on my face. I shook it off, reminding myself, "This is where I'm supposed to be upset!" She dragged me from my homeworld, and made me into her personal servant. That was kidnapping! "Hey, I'm never doing you laundr-"

"And who do you think will be taking care of you?" That was a good point. "You're my familiar, right? Cleaning, laundry, errands… those are to be expected. Make sure to have my clothes ready by morning. Don't worry. If you do your work right, you'll get fed."

"Fed? Are you treating me like a dog or something?!" Okay, now she was really starting to annoy me. But, she was sleeping, so I would lay into her in the morning, with more than a few choice words, and maybe a bit of force. "Well, for now, I guess what happens, happens." I crawled over to my hay bed, and prepared to turn in for the night, when I remembered my Yu-Gi-Oh cards. If only their effects were real. I drew the Trap card "Raptor's Gust". I probably could've used it to propel me away from the school, but now that I was chained that was a no-go. I put in one of the spell and trap zones of my duel disk, and to my shock and amazement, a small ball of wind appeared in my hand. No. Freaking. Way. They work.

But I only had my Raidraptor cards with me. They could only help me try to make an escape on bird back, but not actually fight back when they tried to capture me. I drew another card, and it was "Swords of Concealing Light". Placing it in the spell and trap zone, I turned invisible, but could somehow still see. I guessed that magic really doesn't have to follow the laws of science, or is so advanced that it creates its own laws. One problem. I didn't know how to become visible again. I removed the card from the spell and trap zone, but I stayed invisible. Then I had an idea. "Swords of Revealing Light" should be the opposite, so it should negate the invisibility! But I didn't run it in Raidraptors. "Draw the card." I felt something say. It was like an inner voice, but it wasn't mine. Taking a leap of faith, I drew the next card, willing it to be "Swords of Revealing Light". I flipped it over to look, and… it was! I activated it, and after a very short burst of light, I was properly visible again. Anyway, I decided to pick a card that I knew for a fact would not be in Raidraptors, "Super Quantum Blue Layer". I willed myself to draw it, and when I drew the card, it was! I tried summoning her, but she was only about 5 inches tall. Luckily she could speak. I asked her, "Why are you so small? I thought you were the size of a regular human?"

"Look at the situation you're in, sir. If a full grown human were to appear here, there would be a huge ruckus. You unconsciously held back on my size, to ensure that I would be able to talk to you, but not disturb her." She said, pointing to Louise.

"Good point. Anyway, can I summon all duel monsters like this?"

"I think the best person to answer that is Alphan."

"Good point." I drew "Super Quantal Fairy Alphan", and summoned her, and just like Blue Layer, she appeared in the real world, although she was a little shorter, about 4 inches tall. "Pleasure to meet you, Alphan."

"The pleasure is mine, sir." Alphan replied. "I hear you have some questions."

"Yes, well one mainly. How am I able to summon actual duel monsters?"

"Simple." Alphan replied. "Magic."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. You have magic."

"Amazing."

"Well, you did collect every single duel monster to ever exist officially. You think just anyone can do that?"

"Fair point. Anyway, I'll save the rest of my questions for tomorrow. I need to get some sleep."

"Smart. Sleep is especially important for you, so you can recharge your mana."

"Huh?"

"In order to summon duel monsters, you need mana, just like you need it for any other magic. You also need mana to use spell and trap effects."

"That makes sense."

"Of course. If you summon higher level monsters, it will cost more mana to maintain them in the real world."

"Also makes sense. Any important information about spells and traps?"

"They have a higher cost, since they take mana in one burst. You don't have to maintain it, but you have to have more to give."

"Seems fair."

"And that's the basic rundown. Summon me again tomorrow, and I'll walk you through some more of the important information."

"Sure thing. Thanks a lot Alphan."

"It's my pleasure, sir."

I removed their cards from my duel disk, and I noticed that I was feeling a little more tired than before. "Huh. Maybe this is my body telling me to restore my mana." And with that, I went to sleep.