Familiar da ~ze?
ACH: Second chapter. Yes its the one with the duel with Guiche, so expect some Marisational action, a lot of explanation and story telling afterwards as well.
Read my disclaimer on the first chapter will you...
...
"Bhhhluuuaarrrghhmmmnnn!" Was the incomprehensible unpleasant groan I found I produced as I crawled out of bed earlier. It was much too early for me to actually be awake. But the dream I had was what caused me to wake up a bit earlier than usual. It was like trying to imprint the fact that I'm a familiar of that brat over and over and over again. I relived the last day around say a few dozen times before I got annoyed and bored with the repetitions enough that I just woke up. Well I said woke up but I was just making those...noises... just a few minutes ago. At least now most of my head was awake enough to actually think about why I had such a repetitive dream.
"Good Morning! Miss Marisa~" Siesta greeted with excessive cheerfulness and subsequently pulled me away from my deep thoughts. I would have been acting like her If I wasn't less than half awake like I was at that time, This is annoying...
"Good Morning! to you as well~ze!" I returned the greeting with the wide smile that I came to be known for. Then I noticed the basket of neatly folded clothes she was lugging around.
"Are those Louise's!?" I asked the obvious question. Well what else was I supposed to do at that point?
"Yes! they just finished drying." She replied with the same cheerful tone as before. I took the basket from her as I nodded in satisfaction to her reply. Hmm, I think that dream may have something to do with this.
"Thank you very much~ze! now I need to wake her up!" I stated as I started walking towards the dormitory tower where my master's room was in. Before I got too far tho I heard Siesta's voice call out a 'Your welcome' from behind me.
"See ya Later~ze!" I said as I turned my head to look back at her.
...
I was at the door to my Master's room. I noticed a few things on the way here. The most obvious was how big the place was, I almost got tired just getting up here. Then there's the bustling maids like Siesta that were roaming around, doing whatever task they needed to before the day officially starts. I think I saw some older people as well, probably the teachers and instructors. I entered my Master's room and sure enough found her curled up under her sheets, still very much asleep... and still cute.
I set the basket of her clothes of to one side of the room before I thought of a way to get her up. I looked around if there was an alarm clock, hoping that I might not need to do it myself. But unfortunately for me there isnt any. I asked myself as to how hard can waking her up before I tried. I found out that it was harder than I thought as I rocked and nudged her repeatedly without her waking up.
"Nyaaahh~" She muttered as she shrugged of the repeated shacking and jiggling. This is like trying to wake Reimu up when she's in a very deep sleep. Difficult
"Hey! Listen... You said to wake you up in the morning so... WAKE UP!" Even shouting at her wasn't working. My master just shifted and turned away from me. I brought my right hand up and rubbed my brows in reaction. It was very annoying that she wasn't waking up with the usual methods of waking someone up. So I maybe unorthodox ways will work. I found myself sporting an evil grin at that point.
"WHOAAA~~AAOWEE!" I heard my master exclaim as she hit the floor with a low 'thud' before sitting up and looking over the bed to my direction with a mixed look of confusion and anger. I returned the look with a much more innocent smile.
"What do you think your doing Familiar!?" She scowled at me, while she still sat on the ground on the other side of the bed.
"I woke you up! You did tell me to wake you up in the morning, didn't you~ze?!" I replied this time my innocent smile twisted into a more devious grin. As expected, she scowled at me as she got up from her position and walked around the bed in front of me, keeping her eyes firmly on me. She was giving me that unnerving stare, like what Alice does when I did something particularly annoying to her. I felt myself gulp as I anticipated what she might possibly do.
"Well! What are you waiting for? Dress me!" She stated. Earning a look of confusion from me. So she is seriously asking me to dress her, what is she? a little kid? a child? She's certainly old enough to do that herself.
"Why do you need me to do that? You are already old enough to do that yourself right?" I asked while folding my arms and closing my eyes to put the point across. She grimaced at what I did, she's probably not used to people disobeying her orders. Like a Spoiled brat, definitely like Remilia.
"You dare talk back Familiar? Servants should do what they are ordered without question" Still talking like this I see. I opened my eyes and smiled devilishly while staring directly at her, I don't think she noticed that she was standing too close to me. My smile seemed to be working as it unnerved her a bit.
"So you're saying that you are helpless enough to be incapable of doing something as simple as dressing yourself?" I asked with a sly smirk, It looked like I got the point across as she started to avoid my own gaze as her eyes shifted focus to her side and a slight blush forming on her cheeks. SHE STILL LOOKS SO CUTE...
"I will wait outside then!" I continued as it seemed like she was unable to think of anything to say back at what I said. SCORE ONE for ME!
...
I walked across the hallways and down the stairs of the tower where Louise's room was in. There were some more people walking up and in turn exiting their rooms in the tower. Most of them spared me a glance but otherwise didn't bother with me, still probably thinking that I'm not worth their attention heh. I walked out onto the field next to the tower and took in the sights and sounds of this new world I found myself in while folding both my hands behind myself, feeling my old broom still secured in its place. I then noticed two people walking up to me from the direction of the tower. One was a tall dark-skinned redhead, with a body that looked like it was a younger version of Yuugi's. The other was a short girl with blue hair wearing glasses, carrying a long staff with a twirly end with a jewel of some sort in the middle-looks expensive- and she's also reading a book, I wonder how she knows where she's going while reading, definitely some Patchy vibes here.
"Oh hello there! You're the commoner that Louise the Zero summoned." The redhead exclaimed as she noticed me looking in their direction. The shorter girl took looked up for a moment before returning her attention to the book she was reading. Yep definitely feeling Patchy vibes from her.
"Hi~ze!" I returned the greeting with a smile while relaxing my hands. The redhead returned a natural smile, almost as if that was her usual expression.
"So how much is the Zero really paying you to act like her familiar?" She asked with a curious tone. And Zero? probably a nickname given to my master due to her inability to properly cast spells.
All our attention turned to what was coming thought. We looked back at the direction of the tower to see Louise's very angry face as she stomped through the grass while steadily approaching me. The other two people with me decided it was a good time to leave. Possibly reading the atmosphere like Iku does. I could swore I heard a giggle from the redhead as they went on their way to a different tower. I shifted my focus back at my still angry master as she stops in front of me, now dressed in the same clothes as the other two, that's apparently their school uniforms. She scowled as I notice her eyes shift a glance to the two people earlier. I dont think those are her friends...
"You! What were you doing with Kirche and Tabitha?" Guess not. At least I know who those two are, just not which one is which.
"Nothing!" I quipped at her question with a smile. She stood there in thought for a moment before dragging me along towards the tower that Kirche and Tabitha entered. She turned to me still with a tinge of anger in her expression.
"You wait there with the other familiars as I eat breakfast! Now I wont tolerate anymore insubordination from my Familiar. Do you understand?" She all but yelled at me while pointing towards the field on her left. I was surprised at what I saw in the field. Numerous different kinds of creatures, from a blue drake to bugbears, to a giant mole and even something that looks like an evil eye. So Im guessing those creatures are the familiars of all the other students here, at least all of those present yesterday. I did notice something odd tho, I cant seem to see any other human. That matter had me look at my master's face with an inquisitive look.
"Yes I understand. But on another matter, am I the only human familiar here?" I asked Louise. She didn't seem too happy with it tho but she answered anyways...
"Tsk... Yes, I am the only one unfortunate enough to summon a mere commoner like you. Now be quiet so you don't cause any trouble" She expressed, still visibly annoyed at my query before walking inside the said tower. I waited for her to be out of sight before walking towards the field of creatures. Some look familiar, like a lizard and a drake or dragon or even that evil eye thing. But all of them, including me ARE familiars. What was strange was the fact that they were all very relaxed even when they were all gathered together, either they are just tamed and trained or something else is causing that. Either way, I'm not gonna bother. I already woke up too early today so It doesn't hurt to relax as well.
"Hang on minute~ze!" I woke myself up saying that as a thought transpired in my head. Now If my master is really a failure in magic, then how did she summon the only human familiar here? It could just be a fluke I suppose, or she just doesn't know how good she really is. If what I understand about this world is correct, those who could cast magic in this place are nobles, and are like head and shoulders above those who cant. So If she was able to summon one, then that would make her something better than a 'Zero'.
"Hmm..." I hummed to myself again. Some of the creatures have now joined me in the shade of the wall I leant on. One of them, a blue drake was laying down on my side, looking at me...
"What! you want to eat me?" I shot it a rhetorical question which it just huffed at. Anyways, If my deductions are true, then my master isn't a Zero or a failure like she says she is. Then again, I still don't know if my own experiment back home contributed to her summoning me. It might be just a coincidence that I was experimenting at the same time that she was doing that summoning ritual. I should talk to her about that. Thinking off...
"Familiar!" I looked of back to the tower's direction to see my master approaching. I stood up and dusted myself before facing her. Gone was the annoyed and angry expression she had earlier, well at least most of it. She stopped a few feet from me and took notice of the other familiars around.
"What were you doing?" She asked in a tone reminiscent of that used by Sakuya, whenever she saw me leaving the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"Nothing!" And I answered with the same thing I say to Sakuya whenever she asks me that question, It rarely works on her but at least it didn't hurt to try.
"Very well! look, this day was set aside to allow students who had just went through the Springtime Summoning Ritual to allow them to commune and develop bonds with their respective familiars." My master relayed. It was a logical thing to do. Allowing the students to forge bonds with their familiars would be nice, at least now Louise and I can have some time to talk about this interesting partnership we got ourselves into.
"Oh! that's good news! now we can talk about the circumstances of our partnership. Maybe even with some snacks and tea if available~ze!" I replied at the news with a rather cheeky smile. This could be the perfect opportunity to reveal my magic to her. Maybe this is why Kogasa loves nothing more to successfully surprise people, this feeling of anticipation of the point where you do surprise someone is nice.
"How dare you speak up to me so casually? You are nothing more than just a commoner" She lashed out with that overbearing pride of hers again. My smile faltered as I lowered the forward brim of my hat and gave her a VERY serious look.
She flinched at the gesture as she tried to look away from my serious expression. Now normally Im a cheery person but she's just asking for this. If she wont respect me then I wont do the same to her.
"Look, now I know that your a noble and that I'm a 'commoner'. But you summoned me as a familiar, and a familiar is a partner and that's what I intend to be. Not some sorry slave for you to order and boss around or to take the anger and frustrations you vent out. What I want right now is for us to come to an understanding about our situation. I'm sure you don't really like a commoner being your familiar, so that is why I want to discuss this with you. So we can at least make the most of our partnership." I stated with my serious voice and expression. I didn't solve numerous incidents by just having my headstrong attitude. When it comes to it, I can look serious while being serious. And this is one of those moments where that was the case, I could have said this to her with my usual demeanor but I think she wouldn't have listened.
She seemed both confused and annoyed from what I just stated. She's probably not used to a commoner talking back like that. I'm not surprised with that however.
"Having trouble with your familiar? Louise the Zero." My master and I both turned to the redhead from earlier. Louise sported the same annoyed expression. I guess they're not really close friends now.
"Is she demanding more compensation for pretending to be your familiar?" The redhead continued with her sultry voice. Now thinking about it, she now gives me Yukari vibes, creepy.
"What are you talking about Kirche?!" My master bit out at the redhead. That would make the blue haired girl earlier Tabitha if I recall.
"Yeah! She asked me that earlier as well" I started, which earned a questioning look from my master while Kirche just kept her smile.
"She seems to think that you just hired me to masquerade as your human familiar for the summoning ritual, and that I'm asking for more pay to continue it" I flatly stated to my master, which was now visibly angry instead of annoyed. I actually just did that out of curiosity on how she would react and it seems the answer is...
"How could you even insinuate that I would steep so low to do that? I performed the summoning to the best of my capabilities and she is what came out!" Not very well. As expected, she lashed out in anger while pointing a finger at my face, I needed to step back a bit to avoid her poking my eyes out. My focus shifted to what was approached from behind Kirche. It was the large orange lizard I saw earlier. Looking closer tho, I noticed that it had a flame on its tail, sort of like but opposite to how Cirno's wings are made of ice. I didn't know why I thought of Cirno while looking at a fiery lizard, I decided to not question it.
"Now now Louise! You know I'm joking!" Kirche replied to my masters angry words with a calmer tone, it probably came of as more teasing though as I noticed my master still fuming at the situation. I'm afraid that this would go on for too long if I did not do something about the situation...
"Excuse me! Miss Kirche, Is that your familiar!?" I thought fast and that was the first thing that came on my mind. It does seem that my master wasn't too happy about me cutting into their 'conversation' but before she could make any remarks, Kirche let out an audible chuckle.
"Why yes it is. At least someone here knows what to take notice off" She remarked as she moved of to the right a bit to give us a better look at her familiar. Louise looked at Kirche's familiar with a hint of jealousy and annoyance, something that is all too common from Parsee.
"Whats the matter, have you not seen such a beautiful salamander before?" She continued while gesturing at her familiar with a proud smirk on her face.
"I have not seen salamanders produce flame like this before, so I guess this is my first time seeing one!" I stated the truth. I know about fire salamanders, but not fire PRODUCING salamanders.
"Yes! As you can see, Flame here is a fine and proud specimen from the mountains of fire. He is obedient and quite friendly" She replied with her proud words and gesture. My master however wasn't amused.
"Yes! I'm sure you have a very nice familiar Kirche. I'm sorry to cut this conversation early as you can see..." Louise in turn cut in, probably getting the idea that this isn't the time for her to be talking with one of her 'friends'. That is if you can really call them that.
"...Me and my familiar have things to discuss about. If you will excuse us" She continued before grabbing my hand and pulling me away. Kirche waved her hand at me as she in turn went her separate way followed by Flame, her fiery familiar.
...
"So..." My master started while we sat at one of the numerous round tables on the field we found ourselves in. I had placed my hat on the table with my broom laying on the ground. Most of the other tables were occupied with other students. We remained quiet after that encounter with Kirche and her familiar for a few minutes. My master still trying to avoid eye contact with me. Possibly due to my display of my serious side to her back then.
"So..." I know I'm the one who wanted to have this conversation but it seems I'm not too good at actually proceeding with them as I wanted. This put both of us in a moment of awkward silence. I let out a breath and relaxed before continuing.
"Look...uhh... I'm sorry about how I talked to you earlier. Considering that I am just your familiar..." I apologized sincerely as I looked at Louise's eyes. This time she wasn't hesitant to look back.
"Its Fine. Your forgiven, Marisa!" She replied with a much calmer and relieved tone now than before. This was the first time I saw Louise look calm in front of me. All the other instances we're just her being annoyed or angry, It was a welcome change.
"Now what did you want to talk about our ...relationship..." She hesitantly continued, bringing us back to the reason why there's no classes for her today. I smiled at her and assumed my usual cheery self.
"Yes! But before that, let me go get some snacks and tea? Is that okay?" I asked her with a smile. And for the first time since she summoned me I saw her smile as well and noticed... how cute she looked when she smiles. Definitely a welcome change.
"Yes. That would be fine" She approved with a low voice. I replied with a light 'ok' before going off to find some tea and snacks. I knew where to get some now, as I now know where the servant's quarters and the kitchen is. But it seems, I didn't need to go far to get what I needed as once again, the solution to my problems walks up to me.
"Siesta!?" I exclaimed as I noticed the her serving one of the students seated at the nearby table, still carrying a tray of goodies.
"Yes! How may I help you? Miss Marisa?" She asked politely with a slight bow of her head.
"Yes! If you don't mind, please serve some tea, cake and maybe crackers to me and my master's table over there!" I pointed out my little request to which Siesta happily nods and accepts. She was however still serving some other students so It might take a while for her to be able to bring what we requested, and yes of course I offered to help. I'm not good at serving people or being a maid but at least I look close enough to one without my hat.
"May I help you?" I asked one girl who looked like she's looking for something. She looks familiar but I can't remember why. What is striking though is her brown mantle instead of the blue that everyone, including my master wore.
"No, thank you. Im okay!" The girl replied. Well if someone is okay, then they don't need help. She's probably just looking for someone.
I was delivering half of the last round of tea for Siesta so she could get on to my request when I noticed something. The table that I was supposed to deliver one of the tea sets was occupied with a boy and a girl. The boy was the blonde last night, Guiche if I remember correctly. He was with a different girl this time, she had long blonde hair with two curls bordering her face. Hmm... So thats why that girl earlier looked familiar, she was the same girl with Guiche last night. No good two timing blockhead... I got myself to calm down before I did anything stupid or create and incident. I should just serve this tea set to them and I could get to talking with Louise...
"Good morning Sir Guiche!" I strained to put up a friendly smile as I set the tea set on their table. I spared a glance to the girl in brown and wondered how she could have miss this table for so long. I decided not to question it.
"Ah! greetings commoner familiar!" He replied with that all too flamboyant smile I saw him wear last night. I noticed the girl with him glance at me, probably wondering who I am.
"Guiche! Who is this?" She asked her supposed lover the obvious question. If only she could know what Guiche was doing last night and... Oh yes, a good idea indeed.
"Don't mind her my dear Montmorency. She's just the commoner familiar that Louise the zero summoned yesterday. Look she's even serving us tea now" I have to hand it to Guiche, he's good at sounding confident. First rule is to 'not get caught'. Its the first and most important rule I live by, and he's doing fine so far. Well not for long...
"Oh I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you miss as you we're not the same girl I saw sir Guiche with last night" I flatly stated with a smile. And that got the point across to both of them quite solidly.
"You will show respect to your betters commoner, lest you want to face the consequences..." Guiche tried to lashed out but he was too preoccupied with Montmorency being quite angry with him to finish it. Yes I just ruined their day, I'm Marisa Kirisame, that's what I do.
"Well then! I have more things to attend to. Please enjoy your tea ~ze!" I said to both of them with my cheerful smile before going off, ignoring the repeated calls of Guiche for me to come back, something about a lesson of some sort.
"Hello again miss Katie, If your looking for Guiche. He's right over there ~ze!" This is just too good, I watched as Katie approached the table with the still bickering blondes and proceeded to make the situation even more complicated. Yes he deserved it, and no don't call me a hypocrite, Im sure Patchy, Reimu and Alice would understand... At least I hope so.
"Is something wrong?" I heard Siesta's voice call to me. I turned around to greet her with a smile.
"Nothing ~ze!. Are those for my master?" I quipped before asking about the particular tray on her hand. It had some cake's and some crackers as well as a pot of fresh tea and cups. I grabbed one of the crackers and bit into it, a nice crunchy texture, not like the rice crackers that Reimu makes but still good enough for me.
I looked back at the table of love troubles as Guiche was struggling with both of the girls. Love is a cruel and delicate thing, and also a very powerful weapon. He was soon left alone on his table as both girls took off, no doubt angered by what he did. I saw him glance at me with anger burning in his eyes. I just gave him a smile and...
"It seems I need to discipline you about the proper behaviour a commoner like you should have in the presence of nobles" Guiche was now in front of me, obviously angry at what just happened. I figured he was just gonna vent it out on me, well no surprise there.
"Hmm. What kind of 'discipline" ~ze?" I asked with a playful tone just to make him angrier. If he was gonna be angry at me then let's have at it full tilt.
"I do not care for you being female. You are a disgrace to all the beautiful roses of this world. I will have to teach you a lesson in the proper respect of nobles that you clearly lack!" He stated with an angrier tone. Good, very good.
"So...?" I asked. By then, the attention of most of the surrounding student's were focused on us, even Siesta was being very quiet. I think I know where this is going...
"I challenge you, commoner Familiar of Zero, to a duel. I will etch into your disgraceful body the lesson of respect so you will never even dare to think of crossing a noble. DO YOU ACCEPT?" And there it was, I expected this. This would be an even better chance for me to reveal my magic.
"Well if you insist then... When and Where ~ze?" I accept of course.
"One hour from now, at the Vestri Court, be sure to be there. I will not tolerate even cowardice from a disgrace such as you!" He huffed away, leaving the stunned students staring at me, with Siesta still awfully quiet behind me.
"I accept" I muttered with a smile before I turned back to Siesta and waved my right hand in front of her face to try and snap her out of her trance.
"Siesta! Hello, anybody home?" I asked. It took a while before she responded with a gasp and started breathing heavily. It looks like she was holding her breath the entire time. That cant be good for your health, can it? I finally got her to follow towards my master's table.
...
"What did you do?!" My master asked as if she was drilling me in an interrogation.
"This here is Siesta, and I had her bring us some Tea, cakes and crackers" I supplied with a neutral tone while introducing Siesta in the process. It seems that my master isn't taking it all though.
"I was challenged by that Guiche person to a duel and I accepted" I sighed as I continued. My master's eyes widened at that bit of information and...
"WHAT!?" Screamed at me, she probably still thinks Im gonna get my ass handed to me.
"He was adamant about teaching some lessons to me, so I thought It was interesting and accepted" I told the truth, I did think this was going to be interesting. Facing against the magic of this world with what I already know from Gensokyo. Who knows I might just learn something here as well.
"And before you speak up of anything ...Louise... don't worry about me, I sure am not gonna lose to someone like him" I assured her of my confidence. But I think that was one point that didn't get through as she grabbed my left hand and started dragging me away. Siesta could only look on and wait for whatever would ensue.
"Okay! now what?" I calmly stated as I composed myself to follow behind Louise.
"We're going to Guiche. If you apologize now, he might just call off the duel" She stated in a hurried voice as she continued on through the academy with me in tow.
"Why would I want to do that? He challenged me, I didn't challenge him. And If you knew me before all this happened, you would know that I never back down from a challenge" I honestly stated. It was true tho, I'm usually the one to solve incidents if Reimu was too lazy to get her butt out of bed. I never back away from a challenge, instead I actually just bash through them.
"You... you dont really get it do you?" She turned around as we stopped in the middle of a hallway. She had tears welling up in her eyes... Was she actually caring for me? this is strange.
"He is not just some commoner like you. He is a noble, a mage. You're just an ordinary girl. You can't expect to beat him." She was actually... concerned for me. Another first that I saw from her and I can't help but smile with mixed joy and realization. My master is a good person deep down in that air of superiority that she almost always have.
"Are you worried? about me?" I asked to clarify. I wiped the tears that were now flowing from her eyes. She reminds me of the three mischievous when any of them cry. SHE's STILL SO CUTE!
"Of course I am, you are my familiar and I am your master. You said it yourself, we're partners and I can't just not worry about my partner" So now she accepts me as her partner, that is good Louise. I will show you that you're not a failure at all. I may be Ordinary, but I'm still a Magician.
...
"Oh good, you showed up" The tone of Guiche's voice and his smirk showed his overconfidence in this. It was time for the duel, I had managed to calm Louise down enough to even let go of me and now I'm here me with my hat and broom. Louise was at the side, in front of the ring of gathered student's probably here to see how bad Guiche's gonna defeat me. I wonder how many of them will lose their day's allowance because of betting on the wrong person. Behind Guiche was Montmorency, It appears that she has cooled down enough since earlier to even come to watch. Beside Louise was Tabitha and Kirche, the former was still as quiet as Patchouli while Kirche was intently looking at what would happen.
"Of course I did. Now would you just shut the hell up and start the duel already ~ze!" I exclaimed with a smile. This visibly shook Guiche and most of those gathered around, even Louise was agape at what I just said, possibly worrying again that I just made him angrier.
"You will not be talking to nobles like that after this is over, I can assure you of that. Remember this day commoner, the day where you learn respect from Guiche the Bronze" He stated with anger. He swung his rose, letting two petals drop to the ground. I blinked as I notice them glow and eventually form into metallic constructs, golems I think.
"These are my Bronze Valkyries. They will be your oponent, as I wont be caught dirting my own hands with your kind" He arrogantly stated. So bronze eh? Aren't those weaker forms of metal? why not Iron or steel? Nevertheless, his display earned some impressed or surprised gasps from the crowd.
"Ooh... are you afraid? scared? or your just being a little sissy ~ze?" I taunted with a teasing voice while keeping my smile.
"Very well then!" He smirked at my remark before stretching out his right arm with the rose. In turn both of his Bronze Valkyries chargeed. One to either side of me, they were acting like the numerous random fairies in the Forest of Magic, no plan at all and very predictable movements, it was worse than easy.
The one on my left slowed down, that meant that the one on the right was the one who would strike first. I parried the Valkyrie's bronze gauntlet with my right forearm before jamming the handle of my broom up its visor covered head, swinging the broom end around towards the other Valkyrie. The twisting motion ripped the first Valkyrie's head off while the second blocked the broom with both its hands. Tho with the positioning, its vision was blocked by my broom, allowing me a free kick to its midsection, caving the bronze plate in as it seems they were hollow, the next hit was able to knock it down completely, freeing my broom in the process. I may not look like it from the outside, but I can hit quite hard he! he!
"Is that all?" I stated, making Guiche's left eyebrow twitch. The look on his face confirmed the surprise. He got the idea now, the idea that Im not just some pushover.
He let loose three more petals and thus three more of them Bronze Valkyries. Their patterns were still ridiculusly predictable. The two on the sides on a flanking arced path with the central one charging in a straight line. It was pretty obvious that the one in the middle would strike first, so I did what they didn't expect. I myself charged at the mid positioned valkyrie, it instinctively reeled and thrusts its right hand forward to punch me but I met it with the tip of my broom's handle, crushing its fist and penetrating through and taking off the entire arm of the metallic construct. It responded by grabbing on to my broom, keeping me in place as the two flanking Valkyrie's prepared to strike. Thinking quickly I ran around to my left, using the center Valkyrie as a pivot. The action allowed me to avoid the strike of the one on the right while blocking that of the left with my broom, before running over the offender.
That action made me remember what Alice was saying about those who wield dolls and puppets similar to her. The minions might be powerful and hard to get through but the wielder itself would be open to attack if they did not control their minions properly. And there was I, positioned between Guiche and his Valkyries, leaving him completely open to an attack... which I did.
I ignored the three Valkyries behind me as they tried to catch up to my charge at their master. Guiche was visibly nervous and alarmed at what just happened, his Bronze Valkyries were having trouble with taking down just an Ordinary girl. He gulped and swung his rose again, this time releasing five more petals and creating five more Valkyries in front of him all of which now were holding swords
"Guiche! you know that duels aren't supposed to be lethal!" Louise screamed her concern but Guiche remained quiet.
The armed Valkyries all began their single minded rush at me. I turned around to meet the first three with an upward sweeping motion of my broom, throwing them up in the air before dashing under their clanking bodies back to my original position...
This is it.
"That was fun Sir Guiche, but I'm afraid I still need to have a talk with Louise, so I will have to defeat you now ~ze!" I mused with a wide smile on my face.
"Hah! come back here you coward, I won't let you run awa..." I stopped his rebuttal by throwing a pot that started glowing as it bounced around towards the mass of his Valkyrie force.
"I am not running away from you silly! I'm running away from that..." I pointed at the pot. At that point a yellow glowing card materialized between my fingers...
Magical Ruin "Deep Ecological Bomb"
The card dissipated at the same moment as the pot stopped bouncing, creating a Massive blue tinged explosion. Blowing away or to pieces, all of his Bronze Valkyries but this isn't the end, this was just a distraction and an opener. I ran through the still glowing smoke cloud, I popped out the other end to see a still confused Guiche. I did not let him react as I swept the rose of his hand with my broom, before bringing it down on his head.
"GAH!" He let out as he tumbled backwards, his face with a look of confusion, fear and surprise. Probably a good reaction since the blue glow of the previous explosion was still eerily illuminating us from behind me.
"I Win!" I stated with a smile. to which he just nodded repeatedly and silently.
...
"What was that back there?" We are now back at the field earlier, half an hour after my Guiche and I dueled. All the other student's were now weary of us, after that little show I just pulled, feels good honestly. We were seated back at our table, where Siesta had prepared more tea and cakes for us, because now we had more people seated around the table. Guiche and Montmorency were taken agape by my invitation, but they otherwise complied, while Tabitha and Kirche just invited themselves. I planned to only discuss this with Louise but what can you do?
"It was a Spellcard, specifically one I intended to use on the ground, perfect for that situation Guiche put me in... or himself in" I explained with a smile while I took a bite into my slice of strawberry cake.
"And before you ask, yes it is a physical magic bomb." I added, this earned a stare from everyone there, including one from Siesta.
"You said you were just an Ordinary commoner. Not that you were a mage capable of such magic" Louise responded making her displeasure apparent.
"Hey I said I was an Ordinary Human, not a commoner. It was you and everyone else that automatically assumed I was a commoner" I retorted. Everyone went quiet at that. eve Louise just stopped to recall what we had been through and probably was thinking what I just said now.
"And besides, would any of you have believed me when I said I was a Magician?" I asked them flatly. to which most of them just shook their head in response, except for Tabitha, who was still content on reading her book and...
"I would! I would believe you if you said you were a magician" It was Siesta who said that, to the surprise of everyone else around the table apart from the blue haired girl of course.
"You see!, that just means you all need to loosen up. Stop assuming that something is impossible or not true... because from where I came from, all sorts of crazy things are possible" I continued in remark to Siesta's comment.
"About that, where did you come from anyways?" Montmorency decided to enter the conversation with a good question. She was seated beside Guiche and me, with Tabitha and Kirche on the other side, beside Kirche was Louise and then me, completing the circle around the table.
"I came from a world that's has magic as well obviously. The place where I come from is called Gensokyo the Eastern Wonderland, a place surrounded with a magical barrier maintained by my close friend" I explained with a smirk, referencing the Hakurei barrier.
"The main difference probably would be the fact that we are a bit more advanced than this place... Come to think of it, I know that this is the Tristain Academy of Magic but I still don't know what this world is called" I never actually wondered about that before. Why? I have no idea.
"Yes, Welcome to the Tristain Academy of Magic in the proud nation of Tristain in the world called Halkeginia. Forgive me for asking but, what is this magical barrier for? Is it something on the other side?" Guiche supplied, apparently over our duel already. Strange he was hesitant to join the impromptu meeting at first, I think he's curiousity got the better of him.
"Well that came late as ever. And yes, there is something on the other side, we call it the outside world. It is a place where magic is very rare or something, but the people living there are very advanced..."
"Wait, how can they be advanced when they dont have magic?" Louise was curious about such thing. I think she's just worried about her own apparent lack of success in magic.
"Well I'm not sure myself but from the things that find their way across the barrier into Gensokyo, It appears that they have advanced technology instead of powerful magic. Think about it like this, Gensokyo is three or four hundred years more advanced than Halkeginia, but the Outside world is one or two hundred years more advanced than us. It seems they are advanced enough that they don't need to rely on magic anymore." I gave them all the information I knew about the outside world. Aside from the things that fall through the barrier or Yukari's stories, there really isn't much to go on about it. It also appears that everyone went silent again after that bit...
"In any case, were not here to talk about the outside world are we? We're here to talk about Gensokyo and this situation we are in now Louise" I reminded her with a smirk before taking a sip of my tea. I noticed her flinch at the last part, maybe still thinking about her actions towards me or something.
"So! What other things are different in Gensokyo compared to here~?" It was Kirche who asked this time.
"While there are both magical and non magical beings, we don't have all this aristocratic and nobility thing going on. We are pretty much all very easy going about life. Since I haven't seen any here, I think that the presence of Youkai in Gensokyo is another thing thats different." I replied, unless the Youkai here are just much better at hiding or are very shy, I think my words hold true.
"What are these Youkai? Are they some form of monster?" Louise asked with curiousity while in turn taking a sip of her own tea.
"Well, technically they are monsters, but the more powerful and more intelligent one's are friendly. Youkai are fantastic and powerful magical creatures, they have power beyond what you would think is possible. Many of my friends are youkai, including a very close one" I answered her question, Well... Flandre might not be as friendly as I say even though she's very powerful, but lets not get into that.
"Is this friend of your's the same one who maintains the barrier which seperates your world from the outside?" Asked Montmorency. Well If I hadn't known that Reimu was a Human from the start, I would have guessed her to be a Youkai as well.
"That person is a normal human like I am. The youkai I'm talking about is a doll maker and master, she is very good at controlling dolls with her magic. She used to be human, but her magic became so powerful that she gradually turned into a Youkai. That's usually what happens to Magician's who have powerful enough magic, In fact Its possible that I'm already in the early stages of turning into one" I heard everyone gulp at the mention of that, Maybe the idea of me turning into a 'Fantastic and Powerful magical Creature' was a bit too much for them.
"Don't worry, when human's turn into youkai, they generally keep their personalities." Im not entirely sure how true that is, but It was good enough to get everyone to relax again.
"Now onto the other reason why I wanted to have this discussion..." I finished my tea before turning to Louise. She looked back at me with a questioning look on her face.
"Its about me being your familiar. I want to know how is it that I got summoned as a familiar just out of the blue, what criteria was there for the summoning ritual to pick me as a familiar" It was one of the things that was puzzling me from the start of all this mess.
"Well usually, The familiar summoned reflects the characteristics and elemental specialty of the mage who summoned them. For example, I am an Earth mage, as such I summoned a my magnificent Verdandi" Guiche now had his usual flamboyant air back onto him, tho it did make sense. Kirche, had a fire salamander, so that would make her a fire mage. Montmorency had a frog, so a water mage. Tabitha...
"That reminds me, what is your Familiar Tabitha?" I asked the blue haired Patchy like girl. She merely pointed up into the sky. Everyone else aside from her looked up and there I saw that blue drake earlier flying circles around the table we were seated at, so that makes her an Air mage then.
"Hmm... Is there an elemental classification for Heat and Light?" I asked to no one in particular. I saw Louise give me a glance.
"Nope, there isn't a classification for that. Unfortunately..." She answered while looking down.
"Strange, because my own magical specialty are spellcards designed around heat and light." So if the magic system in Halkeginia were did not have a classification for heat and light, then what else could have caused me to be summoned?
"That reminds me, what are spellcards anyway?" Kirche asked. On that thought, fire may be close enough to heat and light that she might be interested in my magic eh?
"Spellcards are exactly what they are called. They are magical cards laced with the spell of choice. For example that spellcard I used on the duel earlier was called [Magical Ruin 'Deep Ecological Bomb'] and like its name suggests its a large magical explosive." I explained as everyone around the table became very curious again all of a sudden.
"Are there any other spellcards?" Louise was the first to ask.
"Yes, there's a large number of spellcards. Spellcards basically contain the information of how to form a spell. Instead of long incantations, those of us at Gensokyo just use spell cards. The spellcard system allows us to cast very large and often very complex spells with little or no casting time. In fact there's a book called the 'Grimoire of Marisa' that list a lot of the spellcards that have been witnessed by the author through Gensokyo"...
"Wait, the Grimoire of Marisa?... Your Grimoire?" Montmorency seemed shocked at what she heard. Its too bad I didn't bring it, as It could have proved to be handy in teaching them about spell cards.
"Well yes it is, Though unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring it with me. That does gets me to another point that I just thought up of. The closest thing to Heat and Light in the magic system of this world is fire, right? But does anybody here think that Louise is a Fire mage?" I finished my question by looking curiously at Louise, who returned it with a look of confusion.
"I-I-I-I haven't been able to cast any fire spells before" Louise hesitantly replied.
"Oh dont worry Louise, I would gladly be your tutor in the art of fire magic~" Kirche suggested with her usual playfully seductive tone.
"Who would ever want to be tutored by you!?" And as expected, Louise just bit back with her usual 'Normally Angry' attitude.
"Baah!" I stood up and did some stretches getting everyone's attention.
"Well, Now that the fact where Louise summoned another Magician is out, please refrain from calling her a 'Zero' again. Are we good ~ze?" I asked everyone around, to which they all nodded in agreement.
"Well! Since I still don't actually know where things are around here, would anyone want to guide me around ~ze?" I asked with a smile as I picked up my broom and put on my hat. To my surprise tho, everyone was willing to do so...
Yes, everything just got a little more interesting...
...