The Starlit Void

(Chapter Eight)

"Speaking"

'Thought'

'Written'

Disclaimer: Zero no Tsukaima / Familiar of Zero (Light Novel) was written by Noboru Yamaguchi, illustrated by Eiji Usatsuka, and published by Media Factory (Seven Seas Entertainment in the US and Canada.) The first anime was directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki with Studio J, and licensed by Geneon in the US and Canada... but as bluntly as possible in order to save time going through all other installments in the series – these authors are none of these people and have no legitimate claim to the series. Thus this work is strictly non-profit. Any use otherwise is not these authors' doing. Similarly, Mabinogi and all characters, races, concepts, ideas, and other material taken from it is the work and property of Nexon and BGEntertainment. These authors are likewise not affiliated with either group in any way or form and lay no claim to that property.

.XXX.

Siesta flexed one of her arms as she, Nao, and Kirche walked back to the academy. She wiggled her fingers, skipped a step, even took a few experimental hops but no matter what she did she didn't discover anything different. The world looked and smelled and tasted exactly as it always had. It was slightly disappointing actually. So far as she could tell, there was no difference between now and before she'd... Well it was still a little disappointing.

So far the only thing that stood out as having changed was the new-ness of her body. Specifically, all the tiny scars and calluses she had earned on her hands had vanished.

"Breaking in the new body already Siesta?" Kirche said while draping herself over Siesta's arm.

Siesta blushed and looked down at the road, that had been pretty much exactly what she had been doing but having it pointed out was still a little embarrassing. Then a raindrop bounced off her nose, and she blinked, momentarily going cross-eyed at it. A brief, startled, 'Eh?' was the most she could get out as suddenly it started raining sheets without any warning.

The sun was well beneath the horizon at this point, so they hadn't noticed the cloud cover until now, when they looked up and found that the stars were out of sight.

Nao, who was somehow not drenched, took this moment to realize that a certain owl which had been flying after her was missing, "Oh dear…" She mused, a theory already entering her head as to why the weather suddenly became stormy. The groups' ears were suddenly assaulted by a massive thunderclap and greeted to the sight of an enormous lightning bolt striking one of the academy's towers in the distance.

"Oh dear…" She mused again, theory gaining weight, "We'd best hurry back."

.XXX.

Louise stared at the calamity that was befalling her place of learning as she and her familiar stood under the stone arch cut into the walls to form the main gates of Tristain's magic academy. It was raining sheets, and thunder was rumbling almost continuously overhead. Across the lawn an armored knight stood with a struggling Osmond in hand, surrounded by a large ring of collapsed teachers and fourth year students. The knight held the headmaster in a strangle hold with his head tucked under one of her arms and if it wasn't for the blade also at his neck Louise could have imagined the headmaster taking some perverse pleasure from the woman's breastplate pressing into his back.

"Where is she?" The knight demanded, voice somewhat difficult to hear over the thunder that crashed in their ears. Judging from the quality of the woman's armor, she was - indeed - a sanctioned knight, though of what country Louise couldn't begin to guess. A tabard did hang from beneath the armor, but the heraldry - a pair of wings suspended over what seemed to be a sword or… water droplet? - was entirely unfamiliar. And what she was doing here at the academy, threatening the Headmaster was - wait. It was at that point Louise fully processed that the woman before her, whatever her origin, was assaulting the academy.

Louise raised her wand and started muttering an incantation, prompting the knight to drop Osmond like a sack of potatoes and spin about instantly. For a moment, Louise was taken aback. The woman's gaze was easily visible within the shade of her visor, as her eyes were glowing. A pair of steely, frost-like eyes that penetrated straight into her, measuring her. Then Louise caught herself and, hand shaking, finished her incantation. There was an enormous explosion… on the side of the central tower. The knight tilted her head, and Linde stared at Louise with a complex expression, as if to say 'Really?'

"Louise," The giantess said blandly, "You're an idiot."

The next moment found Linde pushing Louise aside and parrying the knight's sword with Derflinger. Or, she tried to. The knight's strength was frightening, as she held the giantess' blade in place with her own - albeit with both hands. Linde had just enough time to process the absurdity of

that fact before the woman - if she was, indeed, even human - had deftly removed her blade from the lock and sent Derflinger flying out of Linde's grip.

"Fuck."

The knight brought the flat of her sword across Linde's side and the Giantess was startled to find the wind knocked out of her. While she was reeling, the knight brought her sword down and then across the back of Linde's knees, causing her to stumble. In the next moment, its edge was across the giantess' neck, "What about you, then? Do you know where Nao is?"

Linde blinked in surprise, "You… know Nao?"

The knight's eyes narrowed, "I ought to." She responded simply, "Now. Where is she?"

"Aeria?" That wasn't Linde, or Louise, "What're you doing here? Wait, no - better question. Why are you holding Linde at sword point?"

.XXX.

Nao's gaze bore into Osmond's own. The woman had dragged him up here after casting a single spell that had everyone that had been injured waking up, confused and soaking wet to a clear evening. He was going to have to lie his socks off later to come up with a proper explanation for those events.

"I suppose introductions would be prudent," said one of the greatest specimens of feminine glory to ever grace his office. Osmond couldn't keep his eyes from inching downward ever so slowly... until the sound of the dame inching her blade from its sheath met his ears.

A quick cough saw Osmond's eyes back where the dame wouldn't take any offense. "Yes that would be to the benefit of everyone I should think... Hmm Miss Longueville could you give us some privacy?"

Nao shook her head as Mathilda stood from her desk. "Actually she should stay, recent events concern her as well." Mathilda blinked in surprise. Osmond nodded in consent and she returned to her seat. Osmond wondered how his own secretary was connected with the others that occupied his office. The young Valliere and her giantess familiar, a maid that had recently left the service of the academy, a foreign dame that was strong and skilled enough to humiliate his entire staff, one of the heirs to the Zerbst family, and the mysterious 'tutor' that could cast healing magic on a level beyond any he'd ever seen... and an owl that was giving his familiar an unsettling look.

"Firstly, I suppose I owe you something," Nao stood and leaned toward him over his desk so it was no surprise that his eyes never caught sight of her angry expression or her hand winding up for a mighty swing as his attention was focused elsewhere.

THWACK!

Osmond blinked the tears out of his eyes, tears prompted by his suddenly very sore cheek. "What was that for?" He moaned pitifully.

"I do believe it is the duty of an employer to respect his employees interests." Nao's face, still smiling, was somehow… ashen… as she gestured to Siesta, "She trusted you, as did I, with her well-being. It was misplaced."

The dame's eyes narrowed dangerously at this bit of information, visible even though her helmet, and Osmond himself was shamefaced. "Ah, y-you see.." He began but Nao merely held up a dismissive hand.

"I don't care for your excuses." Nao said as she returned to her seat. "In any case the situation was resolved and Siesta works for me now." Osmond was surprised but he had little reason to protest, he instead merely nodded while stroking his beard.

"Now to the point I suppose. This," Nao placed a hand on the dame's back, "is Aeria, a very close friend of mine."

In response the intimidating dame who'd taken his entire staff to pieces… shuffled like an embarrassed schoolgirl in front of her parents. It was endearingly cute. Then she recovered and returned to dourly glaring at him, as if she had sensed his thoughts. Ah, alas…

The giantess' wide, awed eyes drew his attention as she grimaced at Aeria's back. So the dame was a person of some fame... or infamy, in the land of Linde's origin. That was something to note, Osmond thought as he leaned back in his seat. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Dame Aeria." Osmond replied with a respectful nod.

"Indeed." She responded curtly, her countenance unchanged, and Osmond couldn't shake the feeling that she was being sarcastic. Call it an old man's intuition.

The young Valliere was looking askance at her familiar and trying and failing to get the much larger woman's attention with surreptitious kicks to her knee. The giantess waved her off and went back to trying to school her features into a disinterested frown.

Osmond coughed politely, gathering everyone's attention, "Hm. Well. Shall I be expecting any more… visitors?"

Nao shook her head slightly, "No. It is not likely you should see any more of mine. Though there, ah… might be some more… native, guests in the near future."

"Ah, and what kind of guests should we be looking for?" Osmond replied, trying not to appear nervous.

"Hm. Perhaps someone from the capitol?" Nao responded, "I am not so familiar with your people, you see. I doubt this matter will go without reprisal, despite how easily it was resolved."

"Ah, the matter regarding the young maid here." Osmond said as he steepled his fingers.

"Related." Nao nodded.

Mathilda stared at Nao, "You didn't do anything rash this afternoon did you?"

"Hm. rash?" The 'tutor' mused, "No. I did nothing unwarranted, I assure you. My business was concluded pleasantly, there."

"Very pleasantly" Kirche piped up from behind the others.

"Ah, well I suppose that is all there is to it." Osmond sighed as he rubbed his temple. "You are dismissed."

.XXX.

Louise looked around her room at the crowd filling pretty much every available space. Siesta, the maid... who now worked for Nao... for some reason, placed a cup of tea on the table in front of her. Louise nodded in acknowledgement and waited while the maid served the other girls in the room. The newest arrival, Aeria, was sitting at the table next to Nao while Linde had taken a spot on the floor next to the bed. Linde was shooting the pair an intense look and a slight frown, it wasn't like her. Louise raised her eyebrow at Linde but the giantess just waved her off, instead paying closer attention to the conversation going on between the newest arrival and the pagan deity.

"I'm not hurt." Aeria answered Nao who was fussing over the new arrival like a parent with a child that had scraped their knees.

"Coming here couldn't have been easy, are you sure?" Nao asked as she ran a hand alight with a healing spell over the armored girl. It was funny, considering that same girl had knocked out most of the staff and a few students.

"You didn't reply. Elrige was upset." Aeria replied simply, sitting patiently while she waited for Nao to be satisfied.

"Oh, I'm sorry... There was something important I had to do." Nao finally finished, sitting back and looking a bit embarrassed. Strangely Siesta mirrored the look from where she stood behind Nao and next to the wall.

"Ok!" Louise said, placing her tea back into the saucer with a loud clink. "What happened while we were gone!?" Louise pointed to Siesta who seemed to know. "I demand to know what happened!" Louise shifted her accusing finger to the Aeria "And why you are here!?" Louise was standing now, perched on her chair and elevating her so she could look down on the others. And suddenly she found herself tucked under the arm of her familiar and quickly carried out into the hallway.

"Linde! Stop, put me down!" Louise shouted and struggled until she found herself back on her feet in the empty hallway. "What's wrong?" Louise asked, she was still angry but Linde wouldn't have done that without a reason.

The giantess at least had the decency to look a little sheepish. "Sorry but I had to get you out of there before you made Aeria angry with you."

Louise's anger quickly evaporated in favor of curiosity. "Who is she?"

Linde shook her head a little. "I don't know much but everyone has heard things about her..." Linde trailed off looking down the hallway to make sure nobody was listening. "She's the oldest milletian, the first one Nao brought back. Nobody knows how powerful she is, but milletians a fraction of her age can do some really scary things."

Louise was suprised, her familiar who stood against Fouquet the crumbling dirt and his golem was intimidated by a girl who looked no older than herself. "You... are afraid of her?"

Linde shook her head. "Well, no... She's a milletian. Milletians are good people. It's just that she can probably level this whole place with one swing if she wants, so don't be disrespectful." Linde finished with a stern look.

Louise swallowed nervously. "How do you know?"

Linde blinked, taken off guard by the question. "Know what?"

"That all milletians are good people?" Louise managed to look both curious and frightened, it was kind of adorable.

Linde smiled, "Because Nao picked us, and you have to have a pure spirit to be brought back."

Louise nodded but still didn't look completely satisfied. Somehow, Louise doubted that was the whole story. If there was one thing she had learned from her bible studies is that the actions of gods were not likely to be so straightforward, assuming of course Nao really was what she claimed to be. Before the two could turn to go back into the room a quiet voice interrupted them.

"Pardon me Miss Valliere? You have several guests awaiting you at the gate, the headmaster wishes to speak with you there as well." Louise blinked in surprise but nodded at the plain looking maid. Who could possibly be here to visit her? Surely not her father or mother? Perhaps her elder sister Eleanor? Louise shivered, she really hoped it wasn't Eleanor.

.XXX.

Louise's eye twitched.

Osmond stood at the head of a sea of people, each one crowding closer the moment they caught sight of her 'tutor.'

"Lady Nao we have come seeking your mercy!" Three young girls dressed in maid outfits cried from outside the gates.

The twitch intensified.

"Oh my." Nao sighed. She quickly strode over to the dense throng of people. "Where have you all come from?"

"From the lands of the count Mott!" A dirty man holding a shivering woman called out. All of them were clutching scant articles of cloth, food, or other supplies. It looked like they had grabbed everything they could and left their homes at a moment's notice. "You helped us and we ask for your aid again."

"It seems you have quite a lot of guests, Miss Valliere." Osmond said, the amusement obviously bleeding into his tone.

Louise closed her eyes and slowly inhaled as if she was trying to keep herself calm.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

.XXX.

"-so you see, we didn't feel we had any choice. Please, we need a place to stay." A short, red haired maid, said from where she sat in between her taller companions. The three maids from before, Louise and her entourage, and Osmond had all crowded in the bedroom turned conference room.

"We also have this for you!" The blonde member of the trio said, her bubbly cheer that didn't quite reach her eyes slightly creepy to the people sitting around the small tea table. She handed a rolled up piece of parchment to Nao who unrolled it to find Siesta's contract.

"Now your child doesn't have to worry." Said the brown haired maid as she pushed up her glasses and grinned.

Osmond's eyes bulged out as he gasped in surprise and coughed as a large part of that breath had been tea he was about to drink.

Nao smiled and bowed her head gratefully. "Thank you it is a great service you have done for me." She handed off the parchment to Linde who unrolled it and looked it over, a sour look on her face.

After getting control over himself Osmond stared between her and a blushing Siesta who stood off to the side.

"Anything for you Lady Nao, we are your most faithful servants!" The three all shouted at once.

Louise just groaned and massaged her temples, glaring at the three girls for upsetting her migraine.

"Ah, is such a thing as Siesta being your daughter true Miss Pryderi?" Osmond asked as he calmed himself and stroked his tea stained beard thoughtfully.

"In a manner of speaking." Nao replied with her same, impenetrable smile.

"I see," Osmond said as he massaged his cheek. No wonder she had been so upset, still... she was quite the shrewd spymaster if she was willing to use her own daughter as an agent, posing in a foreign land as a maid. It was a highly risky strategy. He would have to watch her more closely... Her parents could have been surrogates? Paid to house the sleeper agent? Could there be an entire network branching out from Tarbes, infecting the entire nation through the serving staff?

"You might say I adopted her earlier today," Nao said serenely.

Or he could just be over complicating the entire thing like an idiot... That was also a possibility. Osmond exhaled, he was getting too old for this…

"In any case, we can certainly reinstate our former employees," Osmond said as he sighed. "But I'm afraid we cannot provide housing or income for so many people. There is simply no room, in space or resource for the majority of your group." Osmond drooped, looking tired.

"I see, that is unfortunate but I still don't think the others will want to leave. Many of the families have brought tents and we overheard several men already planning to hunt and forage in the forest." The red haired maid said as she looked at Osmond with concerned eyes.

"Why are they so adamant about remaining?" Osmond said, attitude uncharacteristically serious.

"The Lady Nao has given them an opportunity they can't ignore." Answered the brown haired maid. "The taxes on the Mott's land were very high, so high he sometimes took sons and daughters from their families."

"We couldn't leave, he kept us all in great debt. He made sure to take very detailed records of how much his serfs owed him... We burned those records when Lady Nao gave us the chance." Continued the red haired maid.

"We just want to start over somewhere new!" The bubbly blonde finished.

"I see..." Osmond shot a look at Nao, who remained implacable. "I am willing to overlook the occupation of the land around the Academy, provided that there are no disturbances to or disruptions of the operation of my school."

"Thank you so much headmaster!" The trio of maids shouted as they all bowed deeply at the waist.

"By the way, I don't think you told us your names." Linde said from where she had been waiting next to the foot of Louise's bed. The back of Siesta's contract that she was scribbling on certainly not containing ideas on how to make the entire situation profitable.

"Oh please forgive us we were very rude!" The maids said in unison.

"I am Lily, pleased to meet you." Said the brown haired maid as she pushed her glasses back up again.

"You can call me Melia." Said the short red haired maid.

"I'm Caroline, I will be in your care." Said the bubbly blonde.

"Well met." Aeria intoned quietly from where she was leaning in the corner, face still hidden by her armor. Louise to nearly jump as she'd forgotten the woman was there. The fact that her eyes were no longer dimly glowing added to that; one could easily mistake her for a decorative piece.

"Yes, welcome and I hope your fortunes change for the better." Nao said as she nodded her head at them. "For now, Aeria, Linde, Siesta could you help them get settled in? I'm sure they will need your help to make sure they are out of the way."

"Yes, I will take care of them." Aeria said before quickly striding out of the room. Linde nodded and followed at a much more sedate pace and Siesta paused for a quick bow before hurrying off to catch up to the others.

"Great, now please get out of my room." Louise moaned from where she sat, face down at the table. "You're all too loud."

.XXX.

Louise looked down from her tower window at the torch and campfire lit sprawl of tents that expanded out from the Academy walls towards Tristania. Her hands were still rubbing her temples and the pain they were trying to banish was keeping her awake. The moons were already high in the sky and that already meant that the following day was going to be difficult. Linde had even already stomped in and passed out on the floor, exhausted from arranging the camps of the sudden surge of visitors so that they didn't block the road or spoil the view for the majority of students.

She wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of Linde, would it really have been to much to ask for her to take a bath before coming to bed? Louise perked up as she suddenly had an idea. 'Of course, a bath will let me relax and get rid of this pain!' She thought as she quickly gathered her bathing supplies.

It only took a few minutes to make it down to the baths, a large marble room with intricate carvings and a huge depression filled with steaming water. It was meant to be a publicly shared bath but Louise had never used it preferring instead to ask for a tub to be brought to her room. The reason for her shyness obvious as she glared down at her towel wrapped chest.

Tonight the bath wasn't empty Louise noticed with a groan. A figure leaned against a statue on the other side of the room, almost hidden in the fog. Louise thought it was Tabitha at first due to the blue tinted hair but as she drew nearer it was plain that this could in no way be Tabitha. The woman was older than many of the students at the academy, only those who returned for refresher courses or remedial training were ever seen at the academy at such an age. She looked to be in her early twenties, much too young to be a teacher and Louise could not remember ever having seen her before. Had one of the commoners from the camp snuck in?

Louise stomped over to the woman, ready to give her a piece of her mind, only to stop short. The woman was fast asleep, with all the signs of someone who had passed out because of the hot water. "Hello Miss? Wake up you've fallen asleep in the bath!" Louise roughly patted the woman on her cheek only for her to sink a little. Louise sighed, of course she would have to be the one to pull her out of the water. Why couldn't she just learn levitate at least? Was it too much to ask that she could have one spell to make her life a little easier? Louise grumbled bitterly as she hooked her hands under the woman's arms and pulled her out of the water. Louise was slightly baffled, the girl was so light despite being soaking wet. And cold! If Louise hadn't seen her breathing she would think the girl was a corpse! Even so, the girl looked quite ill, under her eyes there were two dark bags denoting exhaustion and she had begun to shiver slightly from the moment she was out of the water.

Once the girl was completely out of the water and safely resting on the Towel Louise had brought Louise seethed in envy as she got a closer look at certain 'aspects'. To think that this girl too was much bigger in the chest Though it was the strange jewel, embedded just above the objects of her envy that really drew Louise's attention. It was a bright blue sapphire and while the gem was beautiful it was heavily flawed, filled with cracks and even had pieces missing from where they had been chipped off. Louise reached down and poked the gem with her finger, trying to determine how it was attached to the woman's almost ghostly pale skin. The gem didn't move no matter how much she messed with it though.

As the steam cleared a little more something in the corner loomed out of the haze and finally gave a name to the girl. "Aeria!?" Louise jumped away from the mysterious girl in surprise. In the corner sat a meticulously cleaned suit of plate and a very familiar helm that sat atop the pieces. It almost felt like it was looking at her.

Louise looked back at the girl and then back to the suit. There was no way this could be the knight that struck fear into the academy staff! Could it? Louise bit her lip for a moment before running off to dress and find someone to take Aeria to the infirmary, not having managed to take a bath but headache forgotten all the same.

.XXX.

A slender, hooded, figure approached the outer wall of the city of Tristainia. The sun had long since set and only a pair of torches lit the area around the gate.

"Halt there!" Called one of the guards. The armored man quickly walked out to the figure and roughly flipped the hood down, the guards not particularly interested in manners after it got dark. A dirty face looked up at the man as strings of sweat laden hair hung limply around her face. "Name and business?" The man asked voice slightly softer now that the mystery was revealed to just be a peasant girl.

"Clarissa, I seek an inn." The girl replied, lifting a hand to point towards one of the lively establishments that could be seen just on the other side.

"Very well, look in the inner city, the outer city is not safe for girls traveling alone." The man said as he waved her by.

Clarissa nodded her thanks and completely ignored the man's advice. It only took her a few minutes after she was past the gates to find one of the places the was looking for. A simple, windowless building sat in front of her, light glowing from small gaps where the walls were not entirely sound and open to the night outside. The building was a tavern, a cheap one, where the poor and malcontent would go to drown their sorrows. As she stepped inside the raucous chatter quickly died down only to be replaced with whistles and cat calls as she shed her cloak and revealed her battered maid outfit. The outfit showed a bit too much leg to be really safe in a place like this but Clarissa didn't care. She walked up to the bar as many of the filthy men inside moved closer and obviously undressed her with their eyes. She wasn't concerned, it wasn't like they could do anything that hadn't already been done a hundred times.

Clarissa turned and looked at the assembly and took a breath. "Please would you listen? I have a tale I would tell..." She began. The men laughed and a few of them called out that they would listen to anything so long as it was her pretty lips that did the telling. "Of an angel who came down from heaven to correct a grave injustice. The story is a true one for I have just lived it." The men continued to mock her and shout various vulgarities at her. "The proof will come tomorrow if you listen. Now let me tell you of the angel with the white hair and how she set me free. And how I believe that she has come to set us all, every one free of our suffering..."

Most of the men turned back to their drinks after one last round of ribbing. Most of them calling her crazy or a cultist and ignoring her even as she talked over the normal din that filled the tavern. But Clarissa could see one or two of them paying closer attention than the rest, keeping her in the corner of their eyes. So she kept talking, telling her story to the few who were only pretending not to listen.

.XXX.

Author's Notes (Number III): When the gaps between one''s updates are long enough they forget how their author's notes are formatted, when the chapter takes upwards of three weeks to complete, followed by another of similar period, when the average amount of words per chapter… remains fairly consistent, actually… and a woman starts evangelizing to plebs; THEN you may call us inconsistent. Wait… … in all seriousness, though, sorry for the schedule slippage. We're starting to get to the part of the story where Things start happening. Which also makes it significantly harder to write. Oh, and thank Radon. He wrote most of this chapter - I was lacking ideas for it.

Co-Author's Notes (Radon18): That took ages, sorry. Didn't mean to get stuck like that. Also sorry if the quality slipped any. We got a few new characters, some good ones with deep background and planned character development, and others not so much. Anyway hope you continue to like this story and we will try to get the next installment out before we both turn 80.