A/N: Finally, I get around to doing this. Way too many times I'd find this collecting 'dust' in its folder, only for me to add a paragraph or two and then put it away. So here it is, my second rebooted story. Hopefully this will be liked as well or more than the original.

She no longer knew how long she knelt, rooted in place by her own despair. Black and violet flames danced violently around her, obscuring her sight and painfully licking every inch of her body. Thick and noxious smelling smoke and fumes choked her with each breath. The intense heat caused her skin to hiss, depriving her of the relief of sweat and drying her eyes, denying her the tears she would have shed.

At first, she had struggled with all her might. Fought as intensely as the flames that assaulted her. The screams of her daughters had once mingled with the sizzling, cracking, and popping of the corrupted flames. She had responded with her own, urging them to escape, yet none could hear over the roar of the fire.

Time and again, she continued a cycle of oblivion and consciousness, her soul resisting the corruption each time she floundered. While it no longer provided protection it once did, it kept her mind intact...mostly. She sobbed gently, since she had not the strength to muster anything else. To her chest she clenched her fists tightly, the contents she held within were a dark reminder of her sin and all that was left of what she held dear.

"Go! Leave this place!" She screamed, hoping her daughters took heed.

Slowly, she crawled using only her forearms to pull herself as the pain that wracked her body only became more intense. Yet she would persevere if it meant they lived. She would not allow her mistakes to be paid by them.

"Mother! I'm here!" A pained voice of a girl, one of her eldest daughters called out just above her.

"YOU FOOL! I told you to go!" She grasped the young woman's leg as she pulled herself to her knees and the girl knelt to meet her mother's face.

"Like I'd leave you to die here! What would we do with- AAUH!" The young woman's grasp of her shoulders tighten in reflexive response to the pain.

She felt something change within the girl. She hadn't the Soul of a Lord that she held, and the bright wisp of a flame for a soul that pulsed instead had begun to darken.

"No...NO! You have to get out of here now!" She tried to push the girl away, only for her daughters grasp to tighten.

"...t-too late, mother...I feel it...don't you?"

Out of reflex, she placed her right hand to her daughter's chest. Indeed, she had remained far to long and the seeds of corruption took root.

"At least...I'll be with you...mother..."

"NO!" She had thrown her arms around her daughter, disregarding the pain that fanned out throughout her body.

She felt the hand of her daughter push between them, placing her palm to her own chest.

"I'm sorry...I love you...," she gasped her final breath before summoning forth a pillar of flame that immolated her.

Unharmed by the vibrant flame, her arms met no resistance as her daughter ceased to be and the flickering wisp of a soul escaped within the relative safety of her own. She knelt there, stunned. She could taste the ashes of her daughter that had started to float away in the air current. She quickly clasped her hands shut, so that she held the remaining ashes safe as she brought them to her chest in manic possessiveness. She conquered the lump in her throat, bellowing a wail of despair as blackness consumed her sight and oblivion taken her for the first time.

Dry and pained eyes shot open. She hadn't realized consciousness had left her. She greatly wished she could cry, but the accursed flames wouldn't allow for it. Sometimes she wished she had an ounce of the will needed to rip the Lord Soul from her chest. Yet, her basest desired would interrupt. No matter the pain and sorrow she felt, her very nature simply refused to let her die. So she fought with the corrupted flames this entire time, a battle she hadn't the strength to win.

She didn't even know if her other daughter's and her son had escaped. The thought sometimes brought hope that they'd have found a way to defeat the corruption and pull her from the flames. Yet time and again she concluded this was a flight of fancy. The ashes she clutched in her hands were testament to life's fragility, her sin and hubris.

Now, she simply wished for rest she felt she didn't deserve...and perhaps some closure.

Louise stood near the rear of the gaggle of students, shifting from one foot to the other, nervous to her wits end. It was the day all second year students looked forward to, or in her case dreaded. It was a relatively simple thing really, the Summon Familiar rite was only a singular spell and upon success it marked the end of your day and your prestige as a mage was solidified for your remaining time at the Academy. Never has there been a case of failure, difficulty perhaps, but never outright failure.

Louise feared she'd be the first. Especially considering her current history in casting spells. In casting a simple Light Ball spell? Explosion! Transmuting a pebble into glass? Explosion! Throw a Fireball spell? An even larger explosion...that caught nothing on fire...

She could only imagine what would happen when she cast the summoning spell. Would she summon an animal only to have it promptly pop, spraying it's insides everywhere? Would the concussion of the inevitable explosion kill whatever she summoned so that just a corpse would be found within the summoning circle? Or worse yet, would nothing happen at all as a few of her spells came out as.

It wouldn't be nearly as bad if she could do the Rite privately, at least then her shame could be limited to herself and the teacher present until they decide to expel her. In fact that was her plan, to wait out the class in hopes of having to make it up at a later date alone.

"Mr Colbert, it seems we almost forgot Louise!" The voice of her bitter rival jolted her from her thoughts, causing Louise to send a baleful glare the redhead's way.

"Ah, of course. Ms Valliere, if you would please come to the summoning circle...," the kindly professor motioned Louise to the Circle, ignorant of her fear.

She grumbled to herself as her peers elbowed each other in jest, leaned in with cruel whispers to their friends, while some actually yelled out to her.

"Oh, watch out! The Zero might blow us up," a boy near the front backed away while holding his hands in front of him mockingly.

"Nah, she'd likely just blow herself up," a girl giggled.

"Or just her familiar," the girl's partner responded

"Would it be possible to actually summon an explosion?"

"I bet nothing will happen at all."

"Ha, then she'd really live up to her name!"

With each taunt and jeer, her shoulders slumped a little lower and her confidence flagged even further.

"SILENCE! This is no way for young nobles to act! Show some respect!" The Professor slammed the butt of his staff into the wet morning grass, the resounding thump much larger than it had any right to be. Most likely amplified by magic Louise reasoned.

"Thank you, Professor...," Louise whispered sheepishly as she stepped lightly past the man towards the Circle.

"Chin up Louise, I've confidence in you," Colbert nodded as he adjusted his glasses.

Louise smiled briefly at the encouragement. He had always been the only one to show any faith in her ability even after her first failure which had actually sent him into a wall and knocked him unconscious. When he came to, he simply laughed it off and gave her remedial homework. She regretted the fact that she may have to say goodbye to him as an expelled student rather than a graduating one.

She fished out her wand, as battered and worn as it was from her failures, and took a deep breath as she began the summoning rite.

"I, Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers..."

She simply lain still in the fetal position. Her eyes screwed shut, pained by the heat and unable to form tears. All she could hear was the incessant roar of the black flames. She couldn't tell just how long she spent in that inferno, having long given up on trying to keep time. It could have been merely days, perhaps weeks, months, years, centuries, or more. Over whatever span of time, she had grown accustomed to the pain, having lost her will and energy to care it simply was a numb sting on her skin.

Suddenly, a scent she recognized yet by the passage of time seemed so foreign graced her nose. So unlike the ashen burning the black flames, it was cool, wet, and fresh. With it came a gentle and fleeting breeze that was quickly snuffed out by the fire.

"W-wha-...," she turned her face towards what she believed to be the source, pushing through ash and debris as she did.

Once more she smelled it, and soon felt it as it came in periodic puffs.

"H-hah...hah," she gasped, trying to take in as much of the wondrous substance as she could before it was taken away.

With each puff of air and resulting gasp, she dragged herself along the rough glassed earth, disregarding the numerous cuts and scrapes it caused. With her right hand she clawed at the ground to find purchase to pull herself towards this mystery, while in her left she grasped tightly the remains of her precious daughter.

Opening her left eye as much she could despite the pain it caused, she seen the source she sought. A much a blur as it was, she discerned an odd green oval, edged with runes that she likened to that of the summoning signs. Yet the center of the oval rippled and churned like water and seemed to be reflective as a mirror even as it was obvious that it expelled the clean substance that her lungs hungered.

'Escape...escape...ESCAPE!'

Seeing her goal just out of reach, she fervently thrashed her right arm forward, gripping the earth with what remained of her might. Gritting her teeth and bracing herself from the flames that pressed against her, she stumbled to her bare feet as desperation fueled a final push to dive through the portal to the unknown.

The massive bang and concussive force was no surprise for Louise. She was expecting at least half as much, and she only awaited the laughter and complaining of her peers at this latest failure. Picking herself up from the wet morning grass and brushing herself down, she sighed as she waited. Only what she expected never came. There was a high pitched sound resembling the tearing of fabric followed by a dull thump...and then silence.

The students seemed frozen in place, color draining from many of their faces and their eyes unblinking with unbridled fear and confusion. When Louise turned to follow her peers' gazes, what greeted her sent her stumbling back onto her buttocks and letting out a surprised yelp.

It was a dirty gray body. At first it laid still on its stomach with its face in the grass. Its right arm was outstretch while its left had been curled beneath its chest. Then it suddenly hitched a shallow breath followed by a weak cough. Louise blinked at the body, unsure what to make of it as it continued to 'try' to breath until it finally managed a hacking cough that made all those present cringe at the perceived pain that would've been involved.

Its right hand slowly grasped at the wet grass, pulling a small handful from the ground and then letting the blades slowly slip from between its fingers. Then it gently patted the ground as it reveling in the cool dew before drawing the arm over its head as if it were cradling it.

Louise looked to Professor Colbert with a panicked expression, seeking guidance. The kindly teacher simply gulped audibly and nodded towards the body. The message was clear.

Complete the contract...

She meekly crawled to her feet and with all the caution she could manage given her nervousness, carefully made her way to the body. It was clear that it was alive, but its form was obscure and its posture certainly didn't help. The closer Louise got, the more she was able to observe her summon.

Her sense of smell was at once assaulted by the pungent smell of burnt hair and flesh, which made her cringe and gag. As she edged closer and lowered herself to her knees, she only confirmed the source. The body was caked in a thick powder of ash, with the dew from the grass causing some of it to darken into a paste. The head was covered in short hair that seemed white, but was most likely simply colored that way from the ash. The torso gently heaved as it breathed deeply, sounding quite gravely and shuddering with each exhale.

Giving Colbert one final pleading look, at which he simply raised an eyebrow, Louise gently sighed and brushed aside some hair to reveal the body's forehead that was above its forearm. Fighting her hesitation, Louise completed the contract.

"My name is Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere. Pentagon of the five elemental powers; bless this humble being, and make it my familiar."

With the chant concluded she gently kissed the forehead.

"Urk, pffpt...,"she recoiled as she tasted the ash, hastily wiping her mouth of the foul substance.

A low and muffled giggle halted her reaction, turning her disgust into annoyed frustration.

"Wh-who laughed!? It's not funny!" Louise glare darted around, finally falling on Colbert surprised and slightly amused face. With a wry smile, he simply pointed at her familiar.

When her gaze returned, she was startled by the sudden movement of the right arm. A long and tired moan rumbled from the creature as it struggled to push itself from the ground. Ash fell from its form as a fine powder and in wet chunks and flakes as it drew itself to its knees and then finally fell back onto its rear with its knees apart and feet drawn back. Its head lulled to the right side, following the now limp right arm. It seemed that the only strength it could muster went towards holding its left hand to its chest.

It was as Louise looked at the left hand that still glimmered with the freshly inscribed runes that she noticed some key features of the creature. It was decidedly feminine, if rather emaciated, and quite...large. She blushed as the bulk of the ash that looked like it was at one time cloth fell away. She could only count the dew from the grass and what looked to be dried blood as a blessing as it caused dark obscuring ash to cling to the rather sensitive and private bits of the woman.

The woman attempted to open her eyes, only to flinch with a pained expression that hinted at how excruciating the act felt. Giving up on trying to open them fully, she heaved a massive sigh and opened her left eyes only a crack, just enough to allow Louise to see the piercing pale blue-gray stare.

Professor Colbert had begun to shoo the other students away, reassuring the distraught girls and scolding the leering boys. When the field was cleared of all but Louise, the summoned, and Colbert, he returned to help Louise to her feet. The entire time, the woman simply watched intently, swapping between the panicked professor and the stunned pinkette. Her head remained tilted to the side as Colbert looked with great concentration on her left hand, having pulled out a small book and stick of graphite, jotting down heavens knows what at a feverish pace.

"I must say, Louise, you've managed to certainly impress me. Such a summoning is unique! I can definitely say that during my tenure here I've yet to have seen one such as this," he turned to Louise with a wide smile, "I believe you should be proud."

The professor nearly jump out of his skin as a hand that could encircle his neck completely with some length to spare, patted the side of his arm, leaving a smear of ash on his cloak.

"AH! Oh, sorry?" The confused professor jerked towards the hand, which pointed as a small drawstring bag he kept reagents used for first aid when a water mage was unavailable.

"Please...," the hoarse voice of the woman sent shivers down his spine as she beckoned at the bag.

Mutely, he unstrapped the bag from his waist and handed to the woman, belt-strap and all. Without any hesitation, she opened the bag and scattered the contents on the ground, gently replacing it with the contents of her left hand and tightly sealing it shut. She then hung it from her neck using the belt-strap.

"Thanks...,"she nodded to Colbert, who rubbed the back of his head nervously.

The woman closed her left eye and proceeded to roll her neck in a circle, causing Louise to cringe as the resulting cracks. With a satisfied huff, she slowly brought herself to her feet with some effort, groaning painfully as joints popped loudly, muscles twitched violently, and ash fell in puffs and flakes to the ground. She briefly toy with her short hair with an expression of distaste distorting her face as she grunted and grumbled to herself.

Louise and Colbert could only stare in awe at the nude, but ash covered, woman whose height now easily reached twice that of Colbert's. The woman turned her attention to Louise, giving a faint smile with her eyes still closed.

"Would...you happen...to be Louise?" She gasped for breath every couple words, her voice becoming less pained each time.

Louise nodded sheepishly before realizing the woman couldn't see her.

"Ah, y-yes...," she gulped.

"Ah...be at ease then...I assume you...played a role in my...liberation. I thank you," she once again tilted her head to the side with a slight frown, "though...you may wish to rethink my being a humble being...and just what is...a familiar?"