Hey everyone! If you've read my other stories before, then this story might come as a bit of a surprise. I've decided to expand from my usual batch of IS fics for something else:) I've been playing Dark Souls recently and the whole "Prepare to die" tagline is stuck in my head. Recently, watching the lore and the "Prepare to cry" video's has let me gain an even better understanding of the story and endings.

Zero no Tsukaima's also interested me as well, not the least of which is due to the fact that the whole Magocracy/Nobility system is very similar to the ruling body of Vinheim and the focus on religion/Theocracy of Thorolund. Meshing these two worlds together makes for a very interesting contrast and comparison.

If I focus on the romance, it probably won't be with Louise. I dunno, I guess I'm just one of those people who find getting whipped and treated like shite to be a complete and total turn off.

I will warn you that this will probably be pretty bad. I'm a bit rusty on writing right now and so this might look choppy or undetailed. I'm sorry if that is the case.

By the way, there'll be spoilers for the main game here along with the 'Artorias of the Abyss' DLC. Well, I've gabbed on long enough. I hope anyone who reads the story enjoys and leaves reviews.

As the legends stated: 'At first there was nothing but dark and everlasting dragons. Unchanging beings who dominated the world with both their power and immortality. Then came light and fire. The age of the Gods and Saviors of all.'

Nito, the first of the dead. He who regulated and observed death and destruction throughout Lordran and the world at large. His loyal followers obeyed his every whim, spreading death and misery as a show of appeasement to the Gravelord. Many would consider both him and his followers evil, spreading misery and death as they did, but they would justify themselves as movers and forces of nature.

The witch of Izalith, and her daughter's of chaos. They were tied to the creation of Pyromancy and chaos magic, along with the (unintentional) creation of all known demons that plagued the known world. Their magical power when it came to flame was unmatched, and they prospered with the power given to them by the first flame. Lost Izalith itself was a Mecca of advancement of culture and technology.

Lord Gwyn, who was followed by his faithful Black knights. Whether it was to protect a city against overwhelming odds, or to kill hundreds of innocents to save a thousand, the knights were utterly loyal to him and him alone. Gwyn himself was known for his leadership skills and vast strength. It was he who led the combined assault against the dragons and was extremely crucial to their victory.

And the Furtive Pygmy, so easily forgotten. His role, if he even had any, against the war with the dragons was lost to time. Some would call him humanity's champion, the one who stood up for humanity during their darkest hour. Others would call him a coward, a useless parasite who hid behind the power of the others and only claimed reward by association. Whatever he was, his discoveries and plans were set in motion long after he was gone.

And finally, Seath. The scaleless dragon and pariah of dragonkind. Unlike his other kin, he wasn't born with the scales of immortality he so fanatically coveted. It was his betrayal that was pivotal to the destruction of dragonkind, though what exactly he did remains unknown to this day. For his service, Lord Gwyn made him a Duke and granted him various resources for his research into the dragon's immortality.

And afterwards came a time of peace and prosperity, where the God's ruled all the humans benevolently and the humans were quite happy to serve them for the eternal peace and understanding that rewarded them when they did. All was well, there was no more violence, and everyone lived happily ever after.

Or at least that's what Gwyn's legends and official history claimed. Seath's rampant abductions and experiments, the false flame that the witch of Izalith tried to create, the flooding of New Londo that was done in order to contain the darkwraiths (Which didn't help, seeing as they still roamed to this very day), and other such nonsense were obviously propaganda made by those who were against the God's. Everything was fine and it would always be so.

Even when the first flame started to go out.

Gwyn didn't die. Of course he didn't, he just went away for a while and left his kids to take care of the realm as a secret test of character. No, the two eldest siblings did NOT leave Anor Londo for various reasons, and the youngest child quite obviously didn't spend all his time in his father's tomb like a baby entranced with a rattle. Anybody who thought that must've been a darkwraith in disguise or absolutely deluded. Either way it was justification for them to be turned undead and dumped into the undead asylum.

The Asylum? Of course it was only for those who were either conspirators against the everlasting age of fire or those who were irredeemably insane. Any rumors or talk about the Way of the White covenant corralling 'innocent' undead to turn them hollow and sacrificing them to prolong the age of fire was obviously hogwash. The age of fire was in no danger at all and it would always stay safe.

No matter what the cost.

Pain.

Hot burning pain seared through his body, mind and soul. There was no end, no break, and no relief for even a second to his torment. It was always the same.

He couldn't see anything beyond the orange flames. All he could see were the intense flames lapping at his skin like a starving dog and the smoke that filled his nostrils and eyes with its strong odor.

Moving around was hard, but bearable. Then again, why would he? He was trapped in here to burn for all eternity. He had long ago abandoned standing up all together and made do with crawling on all fours. Even then that took a massive effort, as if the weight of the world was bearing down on him along with his skin being melted off and put back together like the wax in a candle.

He honestly didn't know how he hadn't turned insane at this point. There was certainly nothing to encourage him not to, and insanity might have at least stopped him from feeling the pain that plagued him for so long.

How long? He didn't know the answer to that question. At first he made an effort to keep track of how long he'd spent here, but he gave up after the 3rd week of constant immolation. Maybe it had been months since he'd stopped counting, maybe it was years, or maybe it was only a couple of hours. He honestly didn't care at this point.

There was always a voice at the back of his head telling him to give up and give in to despair and insanity. But, stupid as he was, he refused. Maybe it was due to a deluded sense of pride, or maybe it had to do with him being afraid of losing himself. It was probably a bit of both.

So here he was, burning and dying again and again. The only thing he was sure of was that he'd done this willingly and not due to trickery. He'd done it knowing exactly what would happen if he chose to link the flame. He'd forgotten a lot of things: His motivations, his skills, and even his identity. He was a husk, teetering on the edge of insanity, but he did it willingly.

Knowing that made his torment all the more bearable.

Louise tightened her grip on the wooden wand. Today was the Familiar summoning ritual, the one day that would fully make or break her status as a mage.

Her classmates cheered politely as Guiche bowed and brandished another rose from his back, 'Annoying Fop', Louise thought angrily. He had just finished his summoning and came out of it with a mole familiar, a perfect symbol for his affinity with earth. She could already see some of her female classmates making goo-goo eyes at it.

No one paid attention to her, which she found a relief at the moment. Her hands felt clammy and her eyes constantly shifted left and right like a paranoid thief about to make a snatch. She was always insulted by her peers as the "Zero", and so she found the rare moments of solitude to be very comforting. Today was the day she would finally be able to get rid of that stupid moniker. If she could summon a familiar, then it would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was a mage.

Her thought process was cut short by the feeling of two pillows being mashed onto the back of her head. Of course since they were standing in a field of grass, pillows coming out of nowhere were impossible. She already knew the cause of it.

"What do you want, Zerbst?" Louise stepped forward and whipped around quickly, giving the tall (and not to mention busty) redhead a fierce glare, "I'm trying to focus on the ritual."

Kirche gave the small pinkette a smile, "Are you sure about that? You look more like you're worried whether you'll be able to summon anything at all," She giggled slightly at the twitch Louise gave, "Maybe you should quit while you're ahead and you embarrass yourself any further. I'll even distract the teacher the teacher if you like."

Louise seethed. Kirche was always like this; mocking her for every little flaw she had. Ever since the first few days of school the two of them had been at odds. The difference being that Louise took their rivalry very seriously while Kirche seemed to treat it like an afternoon game.

Behind Kirche, the giant salamander stared at Louise with a listless glance. It was as if that thing was mocking her just like its master did.

"Shut up!" Louise stamped her foot against the grassy soil, "I'll prove to you that I'm a great mage! I'll summon the best familiar here that'll beat everyone elses!"

"Oh really?" Kirche arched an eyebrow up slightly, "Then by all means, prove it. After all, you've already gotten everyone's attention."

Louise gave the fiery redhead a questioning look before she realized what she meant: Everyone in the field was staring at the two of them. Her yelling had evidently gotten everyone's attention over Guiche's recent summoning.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Louise whispered harshly to the Germanian student.

"Whatever do you mean, Valliere?" Kirche gave her a slight push, "Now that you're all fired up, I think you should go ahead and do the summoning ritual. No point in wasting all the energy, right?

Most of her classmates her whispering among themselves. They didn't say it out, they were probably saving it for later, but Louise could make out their snickers and name calling again. They didn't believe she could do it. They thought she'd fail again like she always did and that it would just end up in another explosion.

She would prove them wrong.

"Ahem, well then..." Mr. Colbert coughed and gave an awkward clap to bring the attention back to him, "Miss Valliere, it's your turn for the summoning ritual. Please recite the ritual and receive your holy familiar."

Louise nodded slightly and stepped onto the designated space. All of her nervousness was gone and was replaced with the overpowering desire to prove her peers wrong. To the side, she saw all of her classmates looking at her with disdain or amusement. She wanted so badly to prove them wrong right now.

All except Kirche, who was giving her an enigmatic smile. Did she mock her on purpose to get her fired up? Louise shook her head. That was a stupid idea. Why would the Germanian noble deign to help her? They hated each other since day one.

With a deep breath, she began reciting the ritual.

As he prepared himself for yet another day of burning and pain, something happened. A voice echoed into his head.

"My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière."

He didn't recognize the name. It didn't sound like anything resembling something from the various countries. Vinheim was probably the closest when it came to the surname, but the fact remained that it was different. Thorolund fit the overtly long and archaic sounding naming sense, but again it sounded off. The voice reminded him of Rhea.

Rhea? Wait, who was that again? Memories had an odd habit of coming and going extremely quickly, especially now. He needed to remember her...right, now he remembered. The noble from Thorolund who he saved from the catacombs after that bastard Petrus abandoned her and that son of a bitch Patches kicked them in. Petrus nearly killed her again in the parish and he would've succeeded if he didn't pass by through sheer chance and wanting to buy a miracle. Eventually he found her gone one day and-

Wait, what was he talking about again? Oh right, the name. Well, the name didn't sound familiar to him, no matter how much he thought of it.

"My Chosen familiar that exists somewhere in this vast universe."

'Chosen? Hah, what a load of garbage,' He grimaced at the memory. He was always called the Chosen undead, for it was his name and moniker. He'd gotten it after he'd rung both of those god-forsaken bells in the undead church/blight town and that deceiving snake Frampt told him he was Lord Gwyn's successor. He was told that he was to inherit Gwyn's power, but that he would have to save the Princess of Sunlight in order to do so.

He was more naive back then, willing to believe that he was unique and that he had the special destiny of saving the world. Even then he didn't remember anything of who he was. His first memory was waking up in that rotten asylum and spending days trapped there before Oscar, the man who started everything, threw the body with the key down into his cell.

From there it was just one thing after another. He never knew what kept him going or why he continued to try and ring those two bells. Oscar told him that it would cure the darksign if he did it, but wouldn't that mean he would die if he succeeded? Maybe even back then he was seeking death.

But then Frampt had to come along. When he realized that his journey to the bells was all pointless, he had all but given up. He was prepared to spend the rest of his undeath rotting away in firelink shrine and waiting till he went Hollow. Frampt was the one who gave him hope that it wasn't all pointless and that he could still make something of himself.

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful familiar."

Well, he certainly felt like that way (Except for the beautiful part. He was in Hollow form a lot of the time). He felt empowered. It was as if he was a hero straight out of legend that was on a quest to save the world. He would be the one to bring light and hope to the world and give everyone a future worth living for.

And that was when Kaathe told him the truth.

Kaathe was an enigma, even more so than Frampt. The Primodial serpent appeared before him after he defeated the 4 kings in the abyss and told him Frampt was wrong: He wasn't meant to bring light back into the world, he was meant to plunge it into true darkness so that the 'Age of man'. He was never meant to succeed Gwyn. It was a lie, all to prolong the age of the God's.

He didn't really know how he felt at that moment. Betrayed wouldn't be the right word since he never fully trusted Frampt to begin with. But still he trekked on, motivated to succeed in his goal and continue his quest. Whether he trusted Frampt or Kaathe on his so called destiny was irrelevant; he had nothing else to live for, and so he went on.

He'd traveled far and wide across the lands of Lordran in order to complete his goal. From the beautiful halls of Anor Londo to the destroyed ruins of Lost Izalith, he continued to fight. Monster after monster, God after God fell to his blade. He'd died many times in the process, but he oddly never Hollowed. Even if he died in the process, he would keep going at it till he succeeded in what he set out to do.

In his journeys he'd thought a lot about what he would do once he reached the end. Both serpents were tricking him, that much was obvious. He knew that both of them had their agenda's and that he was simply the final piece of the puzzle that had to be placed. And so, when he stared down onto Gwyn's lifeless corpse, he made the choice.

Kaathe wasn't lying. He might have omitted the truth in some aspects, but he never actually told a falsification. Humanity would rule and the age of Dark truly was the age of man.

He just never specified what man would become.

Neither serpent accounted him being dragged into the past and meeting Manus. Manus was the Primeval Human, the progenitor of both him and mankind in general. His humanity had gone out of control and he turned into that bloated monstrosity, seeking only to find his pendant and spreading the abyss and darkness wherever his corrupted touch made contact. He'd fought the Knight Artorias and killed him. Artorias was corrupted by the abyss and sacrificed his life in order to try and halt its eventual advance.

Humans would rule during the age of dark, but at what cost? To turn into monstrous figures that spread only darkness? While Frampt was indeed deceiving him, he did so for a purpose. Gwyn feared the darkness and with good reason.

He made the choice to link the fire. He knew it was temporary, and that at some point he would die and turn into an empty shell like Gwyn, but he didn't care. if he could stave off the darkness even for a while, then he was satisfied.

"Heed my call! I wish from very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"

And through the flames he saw it. A green circle, no larger than his body. Even through all his pain and suffering, he still felt the urge to go towards it.

Slowly, he stood up. His legs taking one pained step after another . Every nerve of his body yelled at him not to go, but he resisted and kept going. There was nothing but flames and torment waiting for him here if he stayed.

"I...refuse to stay!"

It was the first time he'd heard his voice since he'd made his choice. With newfound confidence, he reached a hand through the portal.

The first thing that greeted Louise was extreme heat. This was different from her usual explosions since this one seemed sustained and even hotter than normal. For a moment she felt elation. Heat usually related to fire, which meant that she'd summoned a flame familiar. While she certainly didn't relish the idea of sharing an element with that idiot Kirche, having an element at all certainly made her forget all about that.

She could see her classmates pointing forward and giving various stares past her. The smoke still blocked her vision, so she could only assume they were pointing in wonder at her amazing familiar. With the amount of heat she was feeling, it was probably something amazing like a dragon or something. Gleefully, she turned around and looked back at her classmates amazed faces.

They were amazed alright, but not in the way she was expecting. Rather than open wonderment or surprises, she saw hesitation and fear adorning their faces. Louise quickly turned back to the summoning space and looked at her familiar.

What stood there was not a majestic Dragon or even a small lizard, but a corpse. A burning corpse. She could see it on its hands and knees as flames burnt all around it. The portal behind it closed with a quick pop, but the flames remained. Oddly enough the grass around the area never caught fire. It was as if the flame was attached to it. Its entire body was a dark red in color and bits of melted metal could be seen all over its body.

Louise felt her insides grow ice cold. She'd killed someone. Somehow her actions led her to immolating a person. There was simply no other explanation for the current events. Someone had to have passed by while she was in the middle of chanting and got caught in one of her spells. She was a murder now.

And then the corpse moved towards her.

"K-KYAAAAAHHHHH!" Louise let out a bloodcurdling scream. She tried to run, but her fear made her lose footing and she landed right on her backside. The corpse seemed to ignore her fear and continued to shamble forward, reaching a hand out to the scared pink haired girl.

The effect was instantaneous.

"M-MONSTER!"

"UNHOLY BEAST!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Most of the students scatted back and retreated, leaving Louise to fend for herself. Others like Kirche and Tabitha stayed behind, wands at the ready in case the undead zombie attacked. In truth, they too were paralyzed by fear. Things like the walking dead were impossible, even in the land of Tristain. Not even Void magic could make the dead come back to life.

"Miss Valliere!" Colbert stepped in front of the girl and held his wand up protectively, "Please step back! We don't know what kind of monster this is!"

Louise nodded meekly, though her attention remained rooted at the shambling abomination. It didn't have a weapon or anything else that looked threatening and its body proportions made her extremely doubt it would be able to carry anything tougher than a pebble lest it hurt itself. The only thing that could be considered threatening at all were the constant flames lapping at its body.

"Stay back!" Colbert yelled at it. It seemed to understand as it paused for a second before it continued shambling towards them, "I won't hesitate to hurt you if you harm any of my students!"

The zombie's mouth was moving up and down, but no words came out. Colbert tightened his grip on his staff and started chanting a flame spell, "Fire, lend thy kiss..." A small fireball came out of the staff and attacked the corpse.

No effect. It screamed in agitation when the flame made contact, but it gave no other sign of stopping at all. Colbert glared at it prepared a stronger spell.

It continued walking towards them for another few seconds before stopping. Louise held her breath when she saw the blackened eyelids staring at her. It continued to move its mouth up and down, but again no sound reached her ears. She forced herself to keep looking at its eyes before she saw it.

Through the blackened eyelids, she could make out small droplets of liquid. The flames extinguished them when they went past the sides of his face, but they were there. She realized what it was doing.

"Wait, professor!" Louise grabbed his sleeve suddenly, "I think...I think it's in pain. Th-There's flames all over its body and it screamed when you attacked it. I think all it wants it to put out the flame."

It was crying. It screamed in pain when Cobert attacked it and it reached a hand out earlier when it saw her. It never meant to attack her. Just as she realized this, the corpse fell to the ground in a heap and stopped moving.

"Ms. Vallere, are you sure?" He refused to take his eyes off the burning monstrosity. It may have been down now, but it could get up at any second, "We've never dealt with anything like this before."

"Yes, I'm sure!"

Colbert stared at her for a few seconds before calling out, "Ms. Tabitha, could you please lend us a hand then?" He implored the bluenette. Fire magic couldn't help it, but maybe wind could.

Tabitha nodded an affirmative and held out her staff, "Wind..." The word was followed by a wave of ice cold wind surrounding the area and making its way to its downed form.

Louise watched in amazement as the flames all over its body disappeared. She still flinched when she saw the raw red color of its skin, but at least the smell of burning flesh had disappeared. Without the burning flames coating its body, she managed to get a better look at it: Other than the reddish skin, patches of silver hair freckled its head. The various bits of melted metal were attached to its arms, legs and torso, most likely the remains or armour. There were no weapons to match, but she had a feeling it probably melted as well.

"Valliere, what are you doing!?"

"Ms Valliere, please stay back!"

Hesitantly, she stood up and made her way towards it. She could hear Colbert and Kirche yelling at her to stay back, along with her returning classmates, but she ignored them. She need to find out something.

"...Are you my familiar?" The question came out as more of a whisper than anything. Miraculously, it seemed to understand her as it raised its head up after she asked, "You are, aren't you?"

She couldn't see its expression. Even after the flames were gone, she could barely look at it in the face without feeling sick. The leathery exposed skin looked unnatural to her, like something out of a horror novel, and the residual smell of decay caused bile to rise to her throat.

Once again it moved its lips, and once again no sound came out. Louise looked down and grimaced. She knew what she had to do.

She needed to complete the ritual. She needed to prove that she was a mage.

Nervously, she grabbed the sides of its face. The skin felt odd and warm to the touch, as if the owner was still completely alive," My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière." She closed her eyes and leaned her head down, " Pentagon of the five elemental powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar."

Her lips made contact for only a second before she pulled back quickly. She expected the taste of rotten or burning flesh, but oddly enough she couldn't taste anything from the brief contact.

Louise had resigned herself to having a corpse for a familiar, but it seemed faith had something else in store for her. After the contract sealing, a blue light started to emanate from its left hand in the shape of various runes. It gave no indication that it noticed or cared about the writing, but then something else happened.

A white light engulfed her familiar before disappearing quickly. No longer was she holding onto a corpse, but a male possibly no older than she was. His skin was as pale as snow and his breathing was ragged, but he was undoubtedly alive.

It was only for a second, and Louise could swear she missed most of it, but it happened.

"What just happened?"

"No idea."

"Think she hired an actor to play all that?"

"Must've been. Louise the Zero wanted to put on a show since she couldn't summon a familiar."

Her classmates were whispering behind her back again. Amazing that even after all they'd seen, they would so easily dismiss everything as smoke and mirrors. Truthfully she wanted to join them. She didn't want to believe what she'd seen either.

"Ms. Valliere?"

Mr. Colbert went to her side and pulled her up gently. He looked down at the pale young man, or more specifically his left hand, and gave a curious stare. It...No, he was undoubtedly dead and burning not a few minutes ago, and now he looked to be as alive as the rest of them.

He had a feeling things weren't going to stop here.

That's it for now. Sorry if anyone acted OOC or anything. Next chapter should be out soon since I'm pretty sure of what to do for the first few segments.