I would like to thank Umashido, Lithium-Flower567, greyrocks, timisnotmyname, StormyMonday, MAGNUM777, and Seigetsu Ren for looking over this story. Yes. This is ANOTHER new story. Fortunately for you, the audience, I've already finished writing the entire series and the above beta editors are looking at the next chapter as we speak. Do not worry about the consistency of this tale, everything from the Gandalfr's abilities to Tiffania's past is consistent with the anime. If you want to see for yourself please watch Season III, episodes 2-10 to confirm it. My apologies to anyone who wanted me to update one of my older fics, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. For some reason there has been an increase of Louise summons (insert familiar) but no one cares for Saito. Granted, Saito is not the best protagonist, but he isn't that bad. He is a regular human being, who is a bit on the pervish side, but he genuinely cares for the heroines of this tale. Plus, Louise wasn't nice in the anime. She did a lot of bad things to him -whipping being just one- and I've always thought he was better off in the forest with Tiffania. I'm not saying Louise a bad person, but her attitude, and Saito's tendency to leap at giant breasts, make it very hard for him to be in a relationship with her. Let me know, as usual, what you think.

So, without further ado, I present you my last project. Happy holidays. Here is my New Year's gift to you, ladies and gentlemen.

Part I: Fairy in the Forest

Louise had never done a successful summoning before. How could she? She was a failure as a mage. She didn't have a preference for any of the elements, nor could she do the simplest of spells. Had she not been a Noble, her status would be one of a commoner. No. Worse. For she knew she didn't have the physical capabilities to live as one.

"Go on, Miss, don't be shy."

And they were expecting her to summon a familiar? What a joke. Well, actually that's exactly what this was to her classmates. Not a single one thought she could do it, and she herself was starting to have doubts. But she couldn't just give up, not when she had told them that she would summon the best, the strongest, the most spectacular familiar they had ever seen.

"Come on now, Miss, we don't have all day."

"Just give me another second."

That's all she would need, just another second to gather herself. Looking around the court yard watching the smiling, sneering, and worried faces of classmates she couldn't help but growl. She would show them. She would show every one of them. No one should be treated like this, and no one should have to endure what she had to endure for the past year or so.

She turned back to the runes on the grassy floor. She wouldn't get any other chance to summon a creature again. This was the Spring Time Summoning, and after today this avenue would be closed to her. If she didn't hurry, then she would get no familiar. Did she really want a familiar? Yes. What would it be? She hadn't thought that far ahead and, worse still, what if she summoned something and IT didn't respect her?

"Mister Colbert, can I have just another second to collect myself?"

Her teacher smiled at her. "Yes. Just one more minute, but you do realize that you aren't the last person here don't you?"

Louise looked behind herself. No. She was far from the last person who would be summoning something today. The only difference was that there was a guarantee that they would actually get a familiar. Still, she knew that giving her teacher, Mr. Colbert, a retort like that would win her no points. Taking a deep breath she gathered as much magic as she could into her spell and began her chant.

"My Slave from Across the…." And she made her spell.

The girl felt a small hint of excitement creep through her spine as the magic pulled at her. No. That was wrong. It wasn't pulling at her, she was pulling at it. She was pulling at something from across the Aether, something across Time and Space, but she didn't know what. All she knew was that it was working and within minutes her summon was going to be answered. She continued to chant though, because she knew if she stopped her spell would be broken. She couldn't have that, not after sensing that she actually got something, something that could be amazing; maybe a dragon, or a griffin, or something else that no one else would be able to summon.

The crowd around her started to whisper and Louise could feel the tension in the air. It was like something was pressing against her so she looked up to see what exactly was going on. Something was happening in front of her. Some kind of hole in Space was opening and whatever was coming from the other side was going to appear within the next few seconds. Or at least she thought it would because the warp in Time and Space just stood there. It was like some kind of powerful suction device, making a noise that Louise had never heard before.

"Miss Valliere, perhaps you should take a step back?" her teacher called.

"No… just a bit longer." She needed to pull out whatever was on the other side of the vacuum. "Please."

"Miss, I don't think that's such a good idea-"

It wasn't, because the next moment Louise realized her mistake too late. She had used to much power in her spell and as a result it detonated, sending her crashing backwards into the crowd. Her head, fortunately, rested on a pair of bosoms from a tall, tanned redhead who looked down at her in delight.

"Well, Miss Zero, what was that about your perfect familiar?"

Louise, for an instant, didn't reply. Her head swam and her body felt numb. She looked ahead, onto the space were her summoning ritual exploded, and shuddered. She knew she had summoned something, she just did, but what happened to the thing she was trying to pull?

"I did Summon something…I sensed it," she mumbled.

"Sure you did, Louise the Zero," the tanned girl said, laughing. "You've summoned yourself another explosion."

The class burst into laughter at that and Louise growled. Turning away, so that they wouldn't see her cry, she walked past the field and toward the castle. Behind her she could hear her teacher yelling at her to slow down. He said something about giving her another chance, another opportunity, but she couldn't do that. Why? Because she was sure she had pulled someone from the Other Side, from somewhere in Time and Space, and he was likely somewhere within this realm.

And a part of her felt miserable. She, Louise, the youngest daughter of the Duke had not only messed up her summon but had sent her summoned creature to some unknown land, possibly miles and miles away from her, where she wouldn't be able to protect it.

"Please, slow down, you can try again after everyone is done."

Louise turned around. Her strawberry blond hair, pink eyes, and pale face looked solemn. "Mister Colbert I don't think I should try again."

The man looked puzzled. "Why?" he asked.

Louise took a deep breath. How was she going to explain that strange void, that pull, and the life force she had reeled so close to the Academy? Would the man even believe her if she told him she had just sent her familiar to a place far, far away?

She sighed. It was worth a shot. "Mr. Colbert, I don't know what I summoned but…." Her lips trembled "I think I just blew my familiar to a place I can't even sense."

It took a moment for that to sink in, but ever so slowly Louise watched as her teacher's face paled.

…

…

Saito felt like someone had bashed his skull open with a frying pan, put boiling hot bacon grease in the cracks, then closed it up and shook it like he was some kind of mix-up. No matter how he looked at it (or couldn't look at due to the pain) something strange just happened. Why would he think that? Well, it could be because he was damn sure he wasn't supposed to be in a forest.

Earlier this morning he had gotten his PC repaired and even registered for some dating sites. He was supposed to have found a girlfriend after today, and finally, after all these years, lose his virginity. He had it all planned out, from start to finish, and got himself new clothes, a new apartment, and put some money away in case he needed it. But, of course, something just had to happen.

A minute ago, while he walked down the streets of Tokyo, he found something floating without any beams to attach itself to. At first he was pretty sure it was some kind of old sideshow attraction, because everyone was ignoring it, but the more he looked at it the more bizarre it got. It wasn't supported by anything, and no one, not anyone he asked at least, could see it. Just him, and that didn't make any sense because he was pretty sure he wasn't wearing anything special that could see such a thing.

So what was it? He didn't know, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he looked through the floating machine-portal-disk thing. And, like usual, something just had to go wrong, because the portal got this bright idea to suck him like he was some kind of dirt waiting to be sucked in by a vacuum cleaner. He tried to scream, as most would, and even slowed down a bit while he was being sucked in through the void.

Wait. He shook his head. There was nothing. He had seen things as his body was hurled through that void of blackness, things he knew could not possibly exist. He had seen glimpses of a castle, glimpses of a girl with strawberry blond hair so deep that it was pink, and he had seen other things too. He was pretty sure he saw a glimpse of a dragon, a blue one if he wasn't mistaken, and people carrying some kind of staff? He couldn't recall it too well because he was hurling towards that image, and the next minute he felt a huge explosion, and he was hurtled to the side, past the image of the castle and toward another void.

He had travelled through that void, kicking and screaming, but to no avail. It was just tossing him around like he was a baseball and flinging him like a slingshot. He wasn't even sure how his body managed to stay in one piece and regretted that he didn't hold onto his laptop computer because that was destroyed in his travels.

He sighed to himself. No use worrying about that now. Now he had to get up, find out what was going on, and find the one responsible for this horrible mess. This mess where he was sent to some kind of forest? Yes. That's right; this was some kind of forest. He looked around, up and down, and realized that nothing about it said otherwise.

Getting off the ground and dusting himself off, Saito sighed. Saito was not the strongest of characters, nor was he the smartest: his grades were below average, his looks were below average, and so was his strength. But, he did have one amazing trait that separated him from other people: he was adaptable. If you put Saito in any given situation, no matter how bad, he would eventually adapt.

His parents said it was because he was a complete and utter moron, but Saito would like to think it was a good survival trait. The world was a harsh and changing place, and with the economy as it was, having someone like him around wasn't so bad. Though given his girlfriendless status over the past decade or so of his life, perhaps he wasn't the best person to give advice like that. No. Certainly not.

"Okay. This is interesting…did Japan even have trees like this?" he mumbled.

The trees he was talking about were as tall as small buildings. Japan, during the Industrial Revolution Phase and the Early Meiji Era had cut down much of its wild life to make way for housing. Not to say the country didn't have large trees, of course it did, but Saito had never seen so many in one place. Maybe it was because his family never visited Honshu or the more isolated Islands of Japan, or maybe because Saito never paid attention but all he could marvel at were the sheer size of the trees, and how they covered the sky.

If he looked up, he would be able to see the sun, that was true, but every time he saw the sun there were green leaves nearby that would block at least a good part of the sunlight. Shaking his head he figured that this was enough inspection because he needed to find his way home. He looked down, to his feet, to his pants, then to his shirt, and confirmed that he at least had all his clothes.

He looked behind himself to confirm that he had his backpack...it was gone. Well, not so much gone as it was completely and utterly obliterated. Whatever had sucked him into that Void had taken a number on his bag and all that was left were a few rags of fiber and what might, or might not, be a few chains.

"Better see if there is anyone here," he grumbled. "Anyone who would help me that is."

Quickly Saito made his way through the clumps of forest and toward any place with smoke. He could tell it was smoke because how clear the sky was in contrast to the rising clouds. He didn't know if the smoke was coming from a forest fire or a man-made fire but at this point he didn't care. Any help he could get, he would take it. It was just that simple. It wasn't like he had many options and the options he did have lay in jumping through that Void back home.

He groaned when he realized that he would have to climb up hill to get to where smoke was coming from and groaned some more when he slipped a few times on some roots. Wait… roots? He looked down. How did he not notice this before? Every inch of the ground was covered in large, gangly roots. Now that he thought about it, it looked kind of scary, and almost alive. Could they be alive? No. That wasn't likely but he couldn't take that chance. He knew of plants that were carnivorous, and he had never been outside of Japan before. For all he knew, this could be one of those things he saw straight out of anime.

Speaking of anime the forest was starting to look more and more like the forest in the Legend of Zelda, not that Zelda was an anime, but the themes and animation were still there. He chuckled to himself seeing an Elf pop out of nowhere and tell him to stop. He always hated when those annoying Elves did that in the game, but he wouldn't have to worry about that here. This was the real world, this was reality, and no strange mythical creature lived here. Just some foresters, farmers, trackers, or wild life researchers.

Or that was what he thought until he got a good look at the place where the fire was coming from. The first sight was, not surprising; the material the cabin was made from. It was wood, as most cabins were, but there was something off about how the wood was sliced.

Lumber, especially lumber designed for cottages, tended to be symmetrical, but the logs that made this cottage was off. It was a good attempt, but whoever did the building job didn't do much of a job. Then there was the lack of electrical equipment. Usually a cottage would have some kind of box at the front or at the side where people would be able to check electrical usage.

Some people even had their own generators and Saito didn't see one of those. Or maybe, just maybe, this cottage was an old model and that's why it didn't have that. Probably further proof that he wasn't in Japan, as his country was far too technologically advanced to make such an odd error, even if anime said otherwise.

What gave the cottage its peculiar appearance was not so much that, but the way it just sunk into the forest, like it was trying to meld with the surrounding vegetation and become one with it. It didn't make sense to Saito because that would only attract more bugs, rats, and vermin, but far be it for him to judge the taste of other people. He knew perfectly well how strange he was, always jumping at the first sign of giant mammaries-on the internet.

"Hello!" He called out. "Is anyone out there?"

He didn't get an answer which didn't surprise him, so he stepped out of the forest and headed toward the cottage. As he got closer he noticed how clean it was. Saito had never gone camping before but he did know that people tended to litter on camping grounds, but there wasn't a trace of litter anywhere near here. Whoever owned this place must be one of those nature buffs, or just very clean. He stood outside the door and knocked. No one answered, of course.

"Can someone help me?" He slammed his hand again and again. "I don't know where I am."

He put his ear on the door and listened for anyone. He realized then and there that not a single person was inside, so he stepped off the property and towards the forest again. Looking down, trying to find footprints, he noticed that there just weren't any tracks. So not only were the inhabitants of the cabin nature freaks, but they were also very sneaky? Odd. Why would humans need to be sneaky in a forest?

"Unless there are bears in the forest…" he muttered. He looked around, again, and again, making sure that there were no predators nearby. The trees were tall, the forest was getting dark, and in a few hours it would be night. So what should he do? Should he stay here in this cottage in the middle of nowhere? Maybe. That didn't seem like a bad idea, and he would be safe here, but what if people came here and thought he was some kind of burglar?

Saito knew he didn't look like a dangerous person, but when a person lives in a forest for so long they tend to think differently. There may be a good reason why this cabin was located here, and why it was camouflaged to blend into the forest, as if they were trying to hide from people. But why? Why hide from people? Unless, of course, there was a good reason for hiding from people, because maybe, just maybe they, the people living in the cabin, were fugitives.

A slight chill went up Saito's spine and he walked away from the cabin. As soon as he got a certain distance he looked back, trying to figure out if he had been followed, and sighed in relief when he realized that was not the case. Then, satisfied that he was safe, he walked back to where he had arrived and tried to get his bearings.

"What should I do?" He had never been in a situation like this before. "Should I just keep going north until I meet people?" He remembered watching a documentary that said if you were ever lost, go north. Statistically speaking cities were located in the north, or, at least, statistically speaking, in Japan. But if this was not Japan, that piece of advice wouldn't save him; in fact it might actually kill him.

As he thought about what to do, night began to approach and the pain in Saito's head worsened, as well as his hunger. He looked at his clothes, which had been shredded by the odd explosion that had occurred right before he was sucked into the image of a castle, and he frowned. He liked these clothes. They were durable, flexible, and they made up his style. He liked his jeans, his blue sweatshirt, as well as his sneakers. Luckily his sneakers were still intact and hadn't taken the brunt of the damage. Still, what was he going to do about the rest of his clothing? Nothing. That's what.

His thoughts were once again interrupted by the hunger in his belly. He didn't know just how many hours had passed, or how many hours he had spent leaning against the tree but he didn't care. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him. When daylight started up, he would try to find people and watch them from a distance. Then, when he confirmed they were safe, he would ask them for help.

But, as he closed his eyes, he did something he would regret for the rest of the night. Saito looked up at the moon…then looked at the second moon. "Two moons….what!" Immediately his eyes flashed open, his body jerked, and he stood up. "This can't be possible."

Up in the sky, the vast dark night, were thousands upon thousands of stars, but what caught his attention above that were the two giant moons against one another. His mind raced a thousand miles per hour trying to figure what manner of trickery this was, and his breathing quickened. "I must be going crazy." That's right, he had finally snapped. His mother always said not studying enough would make his brain rot but he never believed her. Now look at him, standing in the middle of nowhere, with two giant moons in the sky? No, this could not possibly be real.

"But…my sleep…feels realllll…" Even as he stood there gazing at the moon his eyes started to tire, and he closed them, even while standing, and slowly fell back onto the tree.

…

…

As Saito lay on the tree, battered, injured and in peril, something was stirring in a bush next to him. Whatever it was, was not particularly tall. It had neither a slim figure, or a large one. It had something in between. It was neither very sturdy, nor overly soft, but it looked sturdy enough to be unapproachable in the dark.

The figure watched the boy and watched him carefully. The figure had been watching the boy ever since morning and had been trying to stay out of sight. It knew how the boy would react if he spotted it. Everyone reacted the same way and the less people that knew about her living in the forest, the better. But that didn't mean the figure was going to leave the boy alone, hungry, and scared. No, the figure would never dream of that.

It was just going to wait for the right time, wait for the boy to be in deep sleep, and then help.

…

…

When Saito opened his eyes he saw a fire. It was burning. A closer look and he realized it was burning on a stack of wood, a stack of wood piled into some kind of furnace. His eyes trailed away from the fire, past the carpet before the fire, to the wooden floor, and then back to where he was lying.

"What the…" Lying? What was he doing lying somewhere. Wasn't he in a forest? "Where is this place?"

It seemed as if every time something odd happened he would end up in some strange place. Still, Saito had always been good at adapting. He looked at the place he was in, and smiled. So he was inside a cottage? It looked like he didn't need to find those people after all. Then his mind stopped. Those people who may be criminals on the run.

Immediately he started to huff and his breathing quickened. If they had taken him from the forest to harm him he was in very big trouble. Then again if they hadn't he would seem like a complete and utter moron. And, most importantly, if they were going to harm him why would they make him feel so comfortable? He looked down. He wasn't wearing his clothes. In fact he wasn't wearing any clothes aside from his boxers. Pulling away the bed sheets, he was sleeping on he looked at his body. It seemed like someone had bandaged him while he was asleep.

A closer inspection told him they had done a pretty good job too. There seemed to be healing salves pasted wherever he had met impact with that explosion, and, most importantly, there was something standing next to his bed. He smiled at the soup, bread, and leaves (this part he didn't understand) waiting on a small stool and reached out for it.

He carefully placed the food into his mouth and started to eat. As he ate he looked at other things in the room as well. On the left was a table, and on the right was some kind of small library shelf. There were a few books on them - well not a few, more like several - but the titles were written in a language he did not understand. He frowned at that, but didn't make any other comment. Perhaps he really was in a foreign country?

"Are you here?" Saito called out.

No one answered, though he didn't expect them to considering how empty the cottage was. It was just so small, so tidy, neat and, dare he say it, rather cozy. He wrapped the sheets around his body and noticed something rather peculiar. The sheets smelled like the forest, it had its scent, and it made him feel a bit funny. The sheets were almost like perfume, and there didn't seem to be any stains on it either. Almost as if the user of the sheets constantly washed them.

Well, he didn't need to know minor details. What was important was finding out who helped him, thank him, and then ask him to help himself get back home. He gently pulled the nice smelly sheets away from his body, reluctantly of course, and proceeded to walk toward the kitchen. Once he was there he looked at the pots and pans and picked one up. They looked so old, like they were from Japan's Feudal Era. Nothing here looked particularly modern.

Deciding not to be rude he put the pans back where they belonged and began inspecting other things in the house. He walked toward the book shelf and opened a few books. As he thought, there just weren't any texts he could read. But the strange thing was they weren't even written in English. Like a lot of Japanese Saito had formal English courses in school. He knew how to say "Hello" and "Bye" and he was pretty sure he knew the alphabets.

This was written in something far more obscure than English and the prints were very bold. Why would they need to make the ink so thick? Didn't printers make that useless? "This is getting strange." He put the book down slowly and took a step towards the door. "The more I learn about this place, the more it doesn't make sense."

Once he was outside the room he began inspecting the area for his saviour. As he expected they weren't nearby, and that brought a frown to his face. "Hello!" he shouted. "If you're out there please answer me!"

No one said anything.

He sighed. "Well, if you can hear me I just want to say thanks!" he called out.

He turned back, and was about to go in, when he heard a snap of twigs. Immediately he turned around and saw someone jump behind a tree. He couldn't be sure but whatever jumped behind the tree was wearing something brown. No, not only brown but very stealthy, something someone would wear to blend into the environment.

Saito felt a hint of panic creep into him, but he forced himself to calm down. Carefully he took a step back into the house and looked around for something he could use. His eyes immediately caught sight of an axe and he sighed with relief. He picked up the axe, noting how heavy it was, and proceeded to walk outside.

The person, or at least he assumed it was a person, was still behind the tree and Saito wasn't going to let it go –it was a threat- without a fair warning. Saito, like most boys his age, had zero combat experience and never had to fend for his life, but that didn't mean he was completely hopeless. Like a lot of boys in middle school he had to join sports clubs, and he, surprisingly, studied kendo.

Now, a kendo stick is far different from an axe, but the principle of seeing your opponent and swinging still applied. Taking careful steps, making sure to not panic the potential intruder, he approached it.

"Who are you?" he called out.

The person didn't answer.

"Why are you here?"

The person didn't answer.

Saito slowed down. Every time he asked a question the figure behind the tree would start to shake, as if it was terrified to hear his voice. That didn't make sense to him because as far as he knew he didn't have a scary voice. He was a kind, gentle, and an overall likeable person. So why was this person shaking every time he asked a question?

Then he looked at the axe and felt stupid. He gently lowered it and tried again. "Are you…are you the one who saved me?"

The person behind the tree didn't shake this time but they didn't answer either.

"I'm not getting any answers," Saito said, trying to sound gentle. "Can you at least tell me if you mean any harm?"

The person didn't answer but Saito thought he heard it talk. Wait, calling that person an IT wasn't right. The IT was female, or at least that's what the voice indicated. Now Saito felt extra stupid and dropped the axe with a thud. He took a step closer to the tree, and the figure took a step back.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Saito exclaimed.

The figure went further behind the tree.

"Really, I'm not!" Saito put his hands out. "Do you see a weapon on me?"

Saito didn't know what to do about this one. Clearly the person had problems meeting people, even people she saved, and he didn't want to frighten her off. He wanted to thank her, find a way to repay her if possible, and certainly want her back in her own cottage. Deciding that the best course of action was to make himself look as weak as possible he sat on the floor, cross legged, and looked at her again.

She, the girl standing behind the tree, slowly ducked her head out. Saito couldn't get a good look at her face, or her hair, or any part of her behind that hood. It was completely and totally dark, like some kind of void. He snorted a little at the void, that thing that he had been pulled through, and that odd feeling he had when he almost reached the image of the castle.

"There, I'm on the floor, with no weapons, and you're behind the tree, and I can't do anything to you." The girl nodded slightly.

"Are you still afraid of me?"

The girl nodded again.

Saito rubbed the back of his head and shook it a few times. What could he do to make her come to him? Then again, with the way she was keeping her distance, perhaps coming to him might not be a good idea. After all, if she reacted this badly he couldn't see her face, how would she react when he got a…

Better look? Then something else hit him. He looked down, to his chest, and started to redden.

"I am not wearing a shirt am I?"

The girl took a moment to answer, but she shook her head.

"I think I should probably put one on."

The girl gently nodded and dove back behind the tree.

Getting up Saito made his way back to the cottage, looked around for his shirt, and found it hanging on some kind of wire. He took a closer look at the shirt, and noticed something very flattering. The girl had taken her time to sew and mend the tears on it. A closer look at the work made him whistle. This forest girl was good, real good, and maybe she was some kind of professional. Then again, looking at where she lived, perhaps not. He put his shirt back on, made sure to check himself on a nearby mirror and walked out again.

The girl was still there, hiding behind the tree, trying not to meet his gaze. He rolled his eyes at trying to avoid his face. It wasn't like he could see what she looked like, and, judging by the way the brown cloak clung to her body, she wasn't that bad looking. So what if she had a few scars, or mosquito bites on her face, Saito wasn't very picky when it came to girls. Most girls would do, as long as they had a nice pair of melons.

"So um…thanks for the meal" he said lamely.

The girl stared at him from her cloak. At least she was not hiding behind the tree. Truthfully it was kind of creepy just seeing her standing out there, near the bushes, with her cloak on, and forest around her. It was like she was a part of nature, a force of nature, and he was some kind of outsider. Then again, when he thought about it, he really was an outsider.

"Would you like some soup?" He pointed to the house. "I…I didn't finish all of it."

The girl tugged at her cloak, making herself look a bit smaller. Saito wasn't sure what that meant. He didn't know how to read body language, but he guessed she looked somewhat embarrassed? Why? The soup was good, the bread was fine, and even if there wasn't much of it, it certainly filled his belly.

Then something else struck him. "By any chance…" He didn't want to say it. "…by any chance was that the last of your bread?"

The girl nodded and clung further to her cloak. She was trying to make herself look as meek and feeble as possible, as if curling herself into a ball would make herself a smaller target. Saito knew that worked for some animals, but that wasn't going to work for the girl. He was here, near her cottage, standing outside, staring at her intently, and he wasn't even doing anything!

"If that was all that was left, I'll buy you another loaf." He wasn't sure where he was going to get the money, but he didn't want to owe anyone any debt. "I promise."

The girl looked up and shook her head. Saito guessed that meant no. She was fine with losing her loaf of bread, fine with sharing her food, and all she wanted in return was…nothing? This was going to be a problem. Hiraga Saito was not necessarily an honorable person, but he didn't want to be in debt to anyone. He especially didn't want to owe this person anything, and the more he took from her, the more he owed her.

"There has to be something I can do to repay you." He pleaded to the girl with his eyes. "Something?"

The girl stopped curling into herself and paused. Slowly, carefully, and with many small steps she let her cloak go a bit and looked at him carefully. Her head bowed down, making something pointy, no two pointy things, touch the tip of her hood, and Saito looked away. He was starting to see why the girl hid her face like that.

She must have had some kind of facial deformity. Right away he felt sorry for her, and he knew that he had already gone too far being just this close. He took a few steps back, and bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry."

The girl continued to look at the floor.

"But I really want to pay you back, if you'd let me…and I know I can do something."

He looked around. There was something here he could do, surely? There was a block of wood nearby, an axe as well, as well as a bag for storing seeds and the like. "I can chop fire wood? Yes?" He wasn't sure. "I can do that."

The girl looked up, her face still hidden by the darkness in the hood. Saito couldn't tell but he guessed she looked somewhat surprised.

"I know I don't look very strong." He pointed to his muscles. Or his lack of muscles. "But I'm stronger than I look."

The girl slowly tilted her head. It made her look somewhat comical, but still very, very creepy.

"Just tell me how much you need and I'll chop it for you."

The girl didn't do anything, and Saito took that as her expression of "Go ahead." So he did and he found out just how hard it was to cut down lumber. He swung down once, then twice, then three times, and nothing happened. He looked back to the girl, who was still standing there on the outskirts of her cottage and sighed.

"I'm not good at this."

The girl didn't say anything. As usual.

"But I've never done this before."

The girl looked surprise somewhat, judging by the way her head shook slightly.

"What? I lived in the city."

The girl nodded.

"So I never needed to cut any wood." Saito rubbed his hair. "But there has to be an easier way than what I'm doing."

The girl didn't do anything for another minute. Saito stared at her, and she stared back at him. Then, very slowly, she took a step over the bush and walked toward him. Her cloak didn't touch the ground once and Saito could see a magnificent pair of boots on her. He couldn't tell the exact color of those boots but they were either pasty or white. They actually looked new and the quality didn't look half bad either.

As she got closer Saito realized just how broad she was.

She wasn't broad like a man, not even close, but as far as women went she was out there. He could already tell she carried a fair amount of weight on herself, even if he couldn't tell whether she was obese -judging by the sound the ground made when she got near. Wait. Was that sound from the ground, or something from within her cloak? It sounded like something was bouncing.

When she finally got to his side all thoughts of what that bouncy noise was disappeared, it would have to if he wanted to chop wood for her. Still, with hands shaking, the girl lifted the axe into the air with tremendous strength and brought it down like a hammer. The wood sliced cleanly in half and flew two ways from the opposite side of where the axe met wood. Saito just stared at her with astonishment as this happened, and he wasn't sure what to say.

Clearly he should be the one who should be afraid of her. "Can you show me that again?"

The girl nodded and did as she was instructed. Saito watched her carefully lift the axe, holding it at the base, watched her stance, and watched as she arched her back forward while she hit the wood down with one swift motion. The wood, once again, cut cleanly and flew through the air. Saito whistled in appreciation and the girl, once again, looked nervous. It was like she had done something wrong, and Saito knew how that felt.

He wasn't all he could be, and many thought he was some kind of slacker. Saito knew he wasn't, but proving that was another matter. "Thanks." He put his hand out, and the girl handed him the axe. "Tell me if I'm doing this right."

The girl took a few steps back and watched him bring the axe down. It came down a lot faster, with more strength, but still didn't cut the wood in half. Saito frowned and looked at her again. "Well?"

The girl shook her head.

"Is that a good or a bad?"

The girl nodded.

Saito sighed. "So I'm doing this wrong?"

The girl shook her head.

"Then…I'm just not strong enough?"

The girl said nothing. Saito laughed. She was actually pretty funny, even if she wasn't meaning to be. Most girls weren't that blunt and usually used more subtle, tricky, and casual methods to divert an awkward situation such as this, but Saito figured he would have to be the one to do this from now on.

The girl seemed to have less social grace than himself.

He handed the girl the axe and she took it. "I guess I'm not much good here." He looked at the sun, and then looked back at her. "Maybe I'll help clean up the cottage?"

The girl didn't make a move to stop him, or help him, so he walked past her, past the piles of wood, and through the door. He went to the sink and realized there was no hydraulic system. It was just a sink, but there was nothing there but a drainage basin. Saito didn't understand why that would be the case. Surely she wasn't that poor. Most cottages at least had a water system, but this one…wait a minute.

Saito looked around for something very important. He looked to the left, looked to the right, and looked everywhere in the shelter. This couldn't be right; this just didn't make any sense. Then deciding that it was outside he went outside and searched for it there, and no such luck occurred.

'How in the world could the builders forget that?' he thought.

Eventually he stopped searching and just asked the girl in the cloak. To his utter amazement the piles of wood were neatly cut. What kind of strength did this girl have? And how come he didn't hear anything? Was this girl both incredibly strong and incredibly fast? He shivered a bit at the thought and promised himself never to cross her in his life. She might be meek, shy, and a bit isolated but she could kill him, no doubt about that.

"I want to ask you something."

The girl listened.

"Is there a washroom here?"

The girl didn't understand.

"I mean is there a place where you..you know…take a **?"

The girl turned her face away and Saito could tell she was embarrassed. Realizing the stupid blunder he made he palmed his face and looked at her again.

"Sorry, that's probably too personal."

The girl shook her head. Then, very slowly, she pointed to a spot in the woods. Saito trailed her finger, which was very long and pale, and looked at the spot she was pointing to. It seemed to be a mound of some kind. He looked even further and noticed that there was also a shovel there. He stopped himself from commenting because that would be rude, but he knew what that was.

It was an honest-to-kami-hole-in-the-ground latrine.

"Thanks." He wasn't sure what else to say. He turned back to the girl, who was crouching down to pick up the blocks of wood, and he decided that at least he could help out in this part. "Let me carry some of that."

He reached out to take a few, but the girl pulled away. Saito gaped at the sheer strength it took for the girl to take a step back from him AND carry all that wood with just her hands, while wearing that heavy looking cloak. What was she? Underneath that cloak was she some kind of body building beast? That thought did not sit well, but he wouldn't be dissuaded. "Listen, I have to earn my keep. You're actually doing ME a favor if you let me help."

The girl shook her head.

"Please."

She shook it again.

He frowned. "Fine. Then I'm going to go back inside the house and scrub your floors, mop them, wipe your walls, windows, pots and pans, until every last one of them shines like pearls." He smiled at her. "How does that sound?"

The girl looked embarrassed, again, because she slowly started to curl into her cloak. Saito watched in astonishment as she did this without dropping a single piece of that stack. This girl, this monster of a girl, could not be human –metaphorically speaking- and where did she get such balance?

"Okay. Right. I'll just be on my way." Saito took a few careful steps back, eyed the axe that was on the ground, and turned back to the house.

After the girl put the wood where it belonged Saito got around to cleaning every inch of the cottage.

He cleaned the walls, he cleaned the floor, and he cleaned the pans. He noticed that the books she carried needed dusting, but when he went to look at them the girl stepped in front of him –in a second no less- and shook her head.

It seemed to take a lot out of her to do this, so Saito gave her a gentle smile and backed away. He didn't want to be a bother, nor cause her discomfort and if he had to clean less, then that was better for him he figured. So that's what he did: he cleaned everything he could get his hands on and made sure to do it carefully.

When he was finally done night had fallen and Saito realized something he had been holding off for a while. Truthfully the thought never crossed his mind because he was so busy working, something he was surprised he was happy to do, but now it was going to be a big issue. Well, it would be if the girl had anything to say about it.

"This might be an awkward question but…" He didn't look at her as he said this. He just kept wiping the window. "Do you know where I'm going to sleep tonight?"

The girl took a moment to think, or at least that's what it looked like from Saito's point of view. Truthfully she was nervous, looking around, then she pointed to…her bed? She couldn't possibly mean sleep in her bed, could she? He was better now, and he didn't need someone to look after him. So why would she offer him her bed?

"I don't think that's such a good idea…" He didn't want to explain to her why. Saito knew he was a pervert, it wasn't a secret. The moment he had smelled the scent on those sheets he wrapped himself up further, worse still he wasn't even sure if that scent was female, but, hmm, now he knew.

Saito tried to find something he could use as a bed in the cottage and found nothing. There were no extra sheets, or pillows, or anything of that nature. There was, however, cold hard wood and…that girl was going to sleep on the cold wood and let him sleep on the comfy bed. Good Kami, he felt awful. Who in the world was this kind?

"Hey, don't look so down." The girl seemed to be looking at the floor. "I..I actually like sleeping on the floor."

The girl looked up at him, he still couldn't see her face of course, and tilted her head underneath the brown cloak. "Huh?"

Saito opened his mouth. Not to talk, not to speak, or even to reply, but simply to gape. The girl had actually said something to him? Astounding! And here he thought she was mute. Not just mute, but possibly even dumb, kind of, but that voice was anything but. No, wait, that's not true. The voice didn't sound very intelligent, in fact he wasn't sure if what she said was a word, but he took it as such.

"You see back home I wasn't rich." That was an understatement. Like most Japanese students he lived in a one room apartment complex. This cottage was far larger than where he used to live, but at least his place had electricity. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain this to the girl without making fun of her home, so he decided to play it safe. "Since I didn't have a lot of money, I usually lived in run down places." He gave her a reassuring smile. "So don't worry about me. Just make sure you get a good night's sleep."

The girl made a small noise, which sounded embarrassed, and turned away from him. Saito smiled further when she did this. Something about her mood seemed to have lightened when he said this, and he could tell that she even looked a bit relieved. Saito didn't blame her. He looked at the floor and realized that it did not look inviting.

How the world did the girl sleep here last night? He looked around and found nothing. Then his eyes locked onto her cloak and he figured it out. "She must have used that as a pillow and blanket." It was kind of sad, but sometimes people have to make do with what they had. Saito felt even more respect for this girl, even if she couldn't get near him without twitching.

"Alright, so I'll just sleep over there." He pointed to a place far from his bed. That place, unfortunately, was far from the fire as well.

The girl seemed to have picked up on this because she shook her head.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to go further?" Saito didn't want that, but he would do as he was instructed.

The girl pointed to a place right by her bed and Saito stopped himself from gasping in time. Was this girl crazy? Let a teenage boy near her bed in the middle of nowhere? Was she really that naïve? No. His mind stopped to think about what he knew about her. She was incredibly strong and she was fast as well. She also knew the woods like the back of her hand, and this was her own home. Maybe she knew what she was doing, and he was misunderstanding the whole situation.

Besides, it wasn't like she was some smoking hot babe underneath that dirty old cloak. Or at least he didn't think so. Girls who had looks tended to flaunt it, and the girl was trying as hard as she could to keep her face hidden from him. He felt pretty bad for her, because she must have had something really bad happen to her if she covered herself like that. And did she think that he, Saito, would judge her based on looks?

Well, the girl certainly didn't know anything about him, so that was understandable, but it still hurt a bit that she didn't trust him. Of course, he hadn't earned her trust yet, and bringing out an axe earlier today must have spooked her some. "Do you have any sheets?" He knew she didn't have any but he had to ask.

The girl looked down. Saito followed where she was looking and noticed she was looking at the carpet.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

She trembled as he said this, and Saito changed his tone right away. "I mean great! Fantastic! I love using carpets as blankets! I'm used to it!"

It all sounded pretty disgusting in his opinion, but he knew he didn't want to make the girl feel any worse. "Anyway, I'll step out so you can go change and get to bed."

The girl looked relieved, because her whole body language screamed it, and Saito left the shelter just after that. He waited a few minutes and looked at the two moons in the night sky. There used to be a video game he played where the sky had two moons, he just didn't remember what game that was. Or was that the Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask where the Demon Moon was falling from the night sky?

He shook his head. This wasn't a video game. He had to remind himself that everything was too real and there were no dragons, Hylean Elves, or knights in shining armor prowling this area. Tomorrow he would get directions from the girl inside, visit the marketplace, and find out what was going on. Surely they would have a telephone and he would easily make a phone call to his parents.

After knocking twice and getting no response Saito slowly pushed the door open and entered the house. The fire light was burning and he could see the girl sleeping in her bed. No. That's not entirely true. He could see the shape of the girl sleeping in the bed, but she had her entire body wrapped in sheets from head to toe.

Saito's face saddened at that. She didn't want him to get a single glimpse of any part of her. Not her hair, not her face, or even her feet. Was she really that deformed? Or was she just that insecure? If so, what circumstances forced her to be this way?

"I've gotta find some way to help her," he muttered. He put his hands on the back of his shirt and started to pull it up. Slowly his shirt came off and dropped to the floor. He then turned away from the girl and started pulling down his pants. Once they were off he carefully folded them and got onto the carpet on the floor and wrapped himself with it. He couldn't be sure but while he was taking off his clothes he thought he heard the girl make a noise, almost as if she had caught him, but that couldn't be right.

The girl would have no reason to watch him change.

"I mean, it's not like she's never seen a boy before."

…

…

As soon as Saito went to sleep the figure in the bed started moving. She made sure not to make any noise as she moved the sheets away from her body. Once that was done she checked if there was a hat nearby and placed it on her head. If by some chance the boy woke up, he might attack her. As naïve as she was, she still had some memories of what happened in her childhood when the villagers found her and her mother.

Once that was taken care of, she put her foot on the ground and gently walked to the book shelf. Her small fingers trailed up and down the shelves trying to look for the book her mother left her. Her mother left her many books, of course, but this one was particularly important. This was the book about ancient magic and another type of magic. That type of magic was supposed to be out of a legend, but her mother told her if there was any need for it, if there was any time that her magic reacted to anything, she should always look in THAT book.

That's exactly what she was doing right now.

It was a suspicion she had, just a fable, and it could be a delusion, but she didn't think what she was feeling was fantasy. Finally, after looking for it in the dark, she managed to find it. It was a good thing her race was good at finding things in the dark, her especially. She had helped many travellers during the night, since the morning time was far too dangerous for her.

However she needed more light to read her book, so she went outside and walked. She walked until she was out of his range, and made sure to look behind herself to make sure she wasn't followed. Then, under the cover of moonlight, she put the book to the air and started reading the contents. Her eyes looked for key words on what she was looking for, words that could make sense of what the boy was.

The girl had lived in the forest for most of her life and she knew how things worked around here. The boy just simply popped out of existence and made a large bang when he entered. She had been watching him the moment he appeared and, to her amazement, when he arrived he was summoned not more than a meter from where she was standing. Had he looked to the side, instead of looking up,when he opened his eyes, he would have spotted her when he first arrived.

The girl knew this well, and that's what worried her. Finally, after looking at everything else, she found it. She found the page on human summoning, a lost art that only one person had ever achieved in the history of their world.

However, there was a problem; now that she found the page on human summoning she was going to need to sort out what type of human summoning he was. He could be one of two things, but that didn't really make any sense. He couldn't be the Left Hand of God, that wasn't right. He didn't have any type of weapon, and the Left Hand of God usually carried a weapon. Her eyes went down the page to look for any more information on him. There she found the battle capability of the human summon, how it can destroy a thousand different men, master any type of weapon, and even have telepathic abilities with the master.

Master. Now that's what she was looking for. She put her finger on anything about masters, but the people who wrote this book only labeled one other master of the Left Hand of God. That was the founder of the current human civilization of the world, and that didn't make any sense because clearly the boy was a human summon.

She sighed and put the book down on the forest floor. If only her mother was here, she would know what to do. If only she didn't have to die, if only those villagers didn't have to find them, if only…there were just too many 'ifs' there. She shook her head and looked back at her cabin. There was just one thing that the book didn't explain. Or maybe it did. The boy hadn't spoken a word that she understood, yet she understood the intent behind it. She understood what he was asking for even if his words didn't make any sense to her.

That must have been the telepathic ability with the master that the book-wait! She paused. The Left Hand of God had mild telepathic links with the Master, however she, herself, was not his master. So why did she understand him so well? She didn't recall making a contract with him, and when she bandaged him she didn't see any runes, the runes that were supposed to be located on his hand there.

The girl breathed harder and harder at this odd news. This did not sit well with her. If this human summon was what she thought she was, what her mother's book said it was, that also meant something she had been avoiding her whole life.

A brief memory came to the surface of her mind, a memory of a day when she used her power, the power she swore not to use again, and she closed her thought process right away. Slowly her mind went back to how it usually worked, closing off the world around her, and getting by on sheer instinct. The girl smelled the night air and smiled up at the moons, it was beautiful out tonight, both of them were. She took a look back at the cabin one last time and decided to take a risk. Slowly she put her hood back and let moon caress her.

She left the moon fall onto her pale blond hair that ran down her back, let it touch her pink healthy flesh, and look into her light blue eyes. Taking another look to see if he was there she reached onto her head and pulled off her cap. As it fell it revealed a set of long delicate ears that ended in points on either side of her face. The girl had been becoming increasingly uncomfortable having to hide this, but knew it was absolutely necessary.

She was absolutely terrified of what might happen if he decided to follow what the others in this land did.

"Mother help me." She looked up at the twin moons. "I don't know what to do."

The moon didn't give her an answer.

"Mother, when I'm near him something happens to me…"

Her mind became sharper, more focused, and she started saying things that didn't make any sense.

"Mother, he can't be what I think he is…"

She didn't recall summoning him, and why would she summon something like him? He was a creature of destruction, a violation of everything she stood for, he was something used for war, used to destroy castles, to destroy clans, and butcher thousands of people. Why would she summon something like him…and yet he was summoned, and he came to her.

"Mother…I don't want to use my powers…"

Because she knew one important thing about what he was, she knew where the creature-the boy- got his power from, and if she started using her powers, the temptation to make a contract would come, and once that contract was signed…then what? Would she be able to live in this forest? Would this forest even want her to live here? She would become like the rest of the humans, she would be separating herself form a life of peace and tranquility, she would become like her mother.

"No! No! My mother was not that…" She tried to deny it, but she knew. Deep down she knew what she was. Her ears, her eyes, her speed, her strength, they were all indicators of what she was and what she would become if given enough time. If her looks weren't proof enough her elemental affinity was like a death sentence.

"No…"

Because the Left Hand of God only answered to a Void user.