"Ah... it seems we have a guest with a terrible burden..."
Louise awoke with a start to an unfamiliar rocking motion. She knew it ought to be the morning of the Springtime Familiar Summoning Ceremony... yet she was seated on a lush blue couch inside what a wood-panelled room. There was a distant sound of wind and water that put her at once in mind of some sort of ship. Opposite her sat two figures; an elderly butler-looking man with an abnormally long nose and bulging eyes as well as a pale-haired, pale-skinned young man wearing a blue uniform of some sort; the former seated in a chair in front of a wide glass window and the latter standing attentively at his side.
"My name is Igor... I am delighted to make your acquaintance, even under these unfortunate circumstances..." Outside the window was an empty blackness, like a midsummer night's sky, but with a shifting web of light in place of the stars that shifted slowly; moving independently of the faint rocking motion of their vessel. Louise was certain that she ought to be distraught but instead she felt more like she was still half-asleep. The old man, Igor, leaned forward and rested his chin upon his steepled hands.
"This place exists between dream and reality... between mind and matter... it is a room that can only be entered by those who have been bound by a 'contract'. Such an arrangement has brought you here tonight. Now then... might I have the pleasure of your name, dear girl?" The words and the smile ought to be kindly, yet it was hard to see them as such due to the unpleasant appearance of the speaker.
"Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière." She answered automatically, full name rolling off the tongue with practised ease. Igor nodded; as if the asking had been no more than a formality. With a flicker of a hand he gestured at a pile of cards stacked up on a small fold-out side table that lay between them. They spread out and flipped themselves over to reveal suits and shapes she didn't recognise.
"Normally I would speak of you about your fortune... but, alas, the destiny that has been laid upon you is not yet yours for the making." His over-long fingers extended towards the cards and they rearranged themselves once more to match his explanation. "Past... Present... Future... Tower... Judgement... Fool." The large 'zero' emblazoned on the latter card almost seemed to mock her, but even so Louise still didn't understand any of this...
"What was and what is are finally coming into conflict. The past is, at last, releasing its stranglehold on the future; upon your present. Yet, if you wish to see this turmoil through, you must seek to expand your horizons. If there is any hope of escaping the shackles of fate it lies within you. Your first chance to fight destiny is fast approaching and there is little we can do to help you." Almost as an afterthought the bizarre little man smiled and waved at the silent boy to his left.
"This is Theodore, my assistant. If you can find your way back to this place then he will do what he can to aid you. For as long as the Seal upon your world lasts my visits will, sadly, be few and far between. Should you survive the coming days then perhaps there will be a chance to for you to thwart the will of your ancestors. Or, perhaps, you will embrace it?" Igor shrugged and grinned at her. "Only time will tell. We shall have to see. Until we meet again, farewell."
Questions rose and died on her lips as the colours began to drain away. Louise tried to reach out and...
Light streamed in through the window. Louise stared at her outstretched hand with dull confusion. There had been... lights. A room? Then... she couldn't remember. Just a dream, and of no consequence. Today was the day of the Summoning Ceremony! A very important rite of passage for any young Tristainian Noble. She immediately pulled herself out of bed and dressed as quickly as she dared; if it was light outside she was already dangerously close to being late.
She wasn't late, as it so happened, but she was one of the last arrivals. It took some time to work their way through all of the students and she couldn't help but look on enviously as all sorts of wondrous creatures came into being. When it was at last her turn she took the stage, metaphorically speaking, to a mixture of amused silence and hateful whispers. Louise ignored all of them in favour of raising her wand with pride.
"I, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, in the name of the Five Elemental Powers, following my fate, summon a familiar." She refused to make a big scene for this uncouth rabble; their behaviour clearly marked them as barely better than the commonfolk. All she needed to do was prove her worth through her magic directly. The power building in her was palpable and it quickly rose to a crescendo that culminated in, rather predictably, an explosion.
When they began to laugh it was quiet at first. One or two spoke to their friends in fake whispers; things like, 'Looks like the Zero has done it again', and worse besides. Louise's knuckles went white as she clenched her wand tightly. The smoke cleared to reveal an empty pentagram and, shortly thereafter, a sympathetic looking Professor Colbert. He shot a look at the tittering students and then returned to her with a kindly gaze.
"Try again, Miss Vallière. Not everyone succeeds the first time." That wasn't untrue, but first or even second time failures weren't usually accompanied by an explosion. So Louise cast the spell again. Then again. And once more besides that. By the fourth attempt the mockery had become an open discussion between her peers; each one trying to find new and interesting ways to call her a nothing again. This was it. She had failed.
"That's right. You are a failure, aren't you?" A sharp, yet familiar, voice cut through the air. As the smoke cleared this time something stood there; the Professor let out a little gasp of shock when he saw not one but two Louises standing opposite each other. One outside the circle, and one within it. Louise could see that the duplicate had a hateful little smile and glowing yellow eyes. Was it a Doppelganger, perhaps? Or maybe something even more sinister? It had spoken to her, but its words were dripping with contempt.
"What's the point of trying any more? You're never going to be as good as our mother. You're never going to be as good as our sister! You're never going to be anything more than a Zero!" Seeing Louise face to face with a near-exact replica of itself that was spewing the same rhetoric as them seemed to amuse her classmates... at first. They grew ever more silent with every new hateful word that spewed from the thing's mouth.
"They'd all be better off if you didn't exist, and you know it. You just want to give up. Give up on magic, give up on this academy, give up on these worthless idiots... give up on life. What reason is there to exist if you can't do magic?" Someone in the crowd had gasped when it said that and Louise had taken a step back. Her face had grown hot with pain, and tears, and shame.
"You... s-stop... you're my familiar, aren't you? Why are you... why would you say those things!" Her pained cry only seemed to excite it. Like a wolf smelling fresh blood. Its nasty smirk widened into a vicious grin as it stepped out of the circle and began to advance on her. Everyone seemed paralysed with indecision; nobody knowing what to do.
"Stupid. You know you can't summon a familiar. Just like you know that you're never going to be a real mage. Just like we know you're never going to be a mage. You know because it's the truth! And I know... because I'm you. I am your Shadow, Louise! I am everything you refuse to admit to yourself! Every harsh truth that you deny because you don't want to accept how worthless you are!" Almost involuntarily Louise swung her wand upwards to point at the thing. It stopped advancing but didn't retreat; staring at her like a cat with a cornered mouse.
"No... you're... you're wrong. I don't... I'm not like that... I'm not like this... you... you can't be me! You're nothing like me!" It recoiled back from her and for a moment Louise thought she had the upper hand. But then its mouth broke into a grin that was suddenly very sharp.
"That's right... I'm not you. I'm me now. And soon, neither of us will be anything!" There was a blast of light and wind that radiated outwards from the creature and knocked Louise, and most of her class, to the ground. Professor Colbert had been moving in behind it and thus had caught the brunt of the blast; being knocked all the way across the courtyard into the far wall where he slumped and lay motionless. Dust kicked up by the surge of air began to fall again as some awful, towering thing rose above them.
It was... her. She stood tall, taller than she ever had before; twice the height and yet still hunched over. Arrayed along her back and shoulders were buildings that seemed to burst out of her Academy robes; their weight caused the monster-Louise to be almost bent double. Extending from its back was another body that looked just like her yet also, at the same time, her mother. That body was leaning over the hunched form and had reached around to hold the first head by the chin. In the other hand there was a wooden cross with chains extending downwards from it that pierced through the hands and feet of the main body with iron hooks.
"I AM A SHADOW... THE TRUE SELF. I SHALL DESTROY ALL MY BURDENS; STARTING WITH YOU!"
When it spoke the smaller torso jerked at the jaw of the larger body in a caricature of puppetry. Its spare hand twisted and the massive arm swung out. Louise screamed and, in spite of herself, managed to roll to one side before the hand crushed her into a bloody pulp. There were other cries from around her; some of fear and still others of magic. Fire and air and earth flung out to strike harmlessly upon the creature; a single jerk of the puppeteer's arm was enough to make a vast hand swing wide; the wind it carried with it swept the student body backwards and off their feet once more.
"WHY RESIST? YOU DESIRE THIS AS MUCH AS I DO."
Louise forced herself to stand and, without hesitation, turned and ran. There was a thunderous noise as the monster charged after her; the immense weight on its back causing it to stumble with every step. It caught itself with its hands and managed a sort of running crawl in pursuit of her. Every muscle screamed, her lungs rebelled, her stomach felt like it was about to empty itself and still she ran for the main door out of the courtyard.
She hit it at a run and tumbled through; crashing hard against the mercifully soft far wall. There was no more thunderous crashing, no more chasing monster. Instead... blissful silence, and cool air. Confused and in pain, Louise pulled herself up and looked around to find... Blue. Everywhere blue. The dream from last night... all the memories flooded back at once. That old man with the long nose and freakish eyes wasn't here; but the beautiful young man with the white hair was watching her quietly. Her whole body was trembling as she rose to her feet.
"What... what is going on? Who are you people? What is that... that thing?" The young man regarded her dispassionately for an uncomfortable amount of time before responding.
"If it would be easier for you to remember then you may, of course, call me Theo." His statement was so at odds with what she had just asked that she had no response for him other than a blank, confused stare. Then her eye began to twitch. It had been a fairly rough morning for her, all told.
"I don't care what your name is! I want to know what that thi-" The hurt expression on his angelic face drew her up short as she realised she was screaming at what might be the only person capable of helping her at all. Louise closed her eyes, took a deep breath, or five, and started from the beginning. "Theo. I just barely escaped from a thing that looked like me, that taunted me in front of all my classmates, then turned into a giant monster and tried to murder me. So I would very much like some answers." His saintly expression didn't change much even in light of her explanation, save that he broke into a beatific smile.
"Ah. Well, you haven't actually escaped from it. When you leave the Velvet Room no time will have passed." The eye twitch was back. That was not what she had wanted to hear. "That thing is you. A shadow is everything about yourself that you refuse to acknowledge made manifest. Rejecting it made it go berserk; whereupon it tried to kill you. That's normal." There was another awkward silence followed by quiet, hysterical giggling.
"Oh. Of course. What else? Well, I'm so glad that it's normal for giant monsters that think they're me to want to kill me! How wonderful it is to know that! Hahaha! What a very useful bit of information!" Her maddened laughter grew increasingly erratic until she collapsed back on to the seat behind her in a fit of hyperventilation.
"It's not a thing of this world. Not entirely. The magic of your people won't have a great effect on it. In fact, the only one that can hurt it is you. Unfortunately, you can't hurt it." She had to resist the urge to launch herself across the tiny room and throttle him. It wouldn't help. It certainly wouldn't help. It probably wouldn't help. But she would feel so much better...
"Fortunately, you managed to return here. I can give you this." Theo reached into a side compartment of the carriage-room and pulled out... a flintlock pistol. Which he then handed to her. Louise almost took it by reflex but, at the last moment, her hand jerked back and she looked at it like it was a dead rat.
"If magic can't hurt it, then how is a pistol going to help me?" The pale boy shook his head and seemed amused by something in her query. She didn't think it was funny; she thought it was legitimate.
"It's not for her; it's for you. This isn't a pistol. The inventors called it an Evoker; I remade this especially for this world. It can force out your inner power and help you fight her. However, you must remember that it's merely a tool. Relying on it too much won't be good for her." He held it out again and after much internal deliberation Louise took it. The weapon felt heavy in her hands.
"How do I... use it?" And that question made Theo look at her with clear incredulity. He sighed deeply and she felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"You'll figure it out, I'm sure. Now; off you go! Time's wasting, after all!" Louise stood with what resolve she could muster and stepped for the door. Then something he said popped into her head and she paused with a frown.
"Wait, but you sai-" A hand on her back shoving her out the door cut off any further thought; a situation accentuated by needing to dive forward in order to avoid a gigantic palm coming straight for her. Louise scrambled forward as best she could; rising to her feet as she went and running for her life once again as she rushed between the monster's legs. It turned with disturbing swiftness and screamed an inhuman scream as skidded to a halt.
Louise turned to face it. The pistol was clasped in her left hand and her wand in her right. Theo had said it was for her, and not the monster... and it was a gun... so was she meant to...? Her hand trembled as she lifted it up and the mere act caused the creature to halt its approach in order to watch her.
"YES... WHY NOT GIVE IN? SURRENDER TO THE INEVITABLE... YOU ALWAYS KNEW IT WOULD COME TO THIS, DIDN'T YOU?"
She clenched her teeth and tightened her grip until her knuckles went white. Yet the rising chill in her wasn't fear this time; it was fury. This thing... this abomination dared to tell her what she wanted? How she felt? What she ought to do? No. She was Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière! Nobody told her what to do!
"This isn't giving up, monster. This is fighting!" It didn't hurt when she pulled the trigger. There was a sound like shattering glass and a feeling like something tearing out of her. Light and wind rushed from the back of her head and she felt something there.
"I am thou..."
A voice rang out; quiet yet firm, and resonating in the hearts of all who heard it.
"Thou art I..."
She could feel its arms and legs as if they were her own. See through its eyes. Hear through its ears. Felt her own mouth forming the very same words it did.
"From the sea of thy soul, I have come..."
Something about this caused the monster to scream. In fear, or pain, or rage; or some mixture of the three. It launched itself at her only for the being behind her to shoot out many times faster than the creature had ever been able to move. They slammed into each other with a titanic impact that, surprisingly, came out in favour of the smaller of the two. Whatever she had brought forth was barely bigger than her, an unimpressive hooded figure, and yet its charge had knocked the monstrous facsimile of herself backwards into the wall of the Academy.
"I am the one who protects..."
In utter defiance of all reason the smaller torso shoved at the ground and managed to haul the whole creature up on to its knees by pulling at the lower body alone. It then released the chin of the creature in order to reach one hand to the sky. Blackness began to gather there as it jerked the wooden cross about to guide the horror's arms in wild strikes at her creation.
"And who punishes."
There was a flash of white light as the hooded being unsheathed a sword that burned like the sun. One of the arms of the giant was cleaved right off and immediately dissolved away into nothingness. Seemingly panicked, the puppeteer flung the black sphere at its enemy. To no avail, as it turned out, because the sword of light swatted it aside. The orb of darkness struck one of the exterior walls and exploded; sending stone and mortar flying outwards, away from the Academy.
"I am Gandálfr, the LEFT HAND OF GOD!"
It swung its shining blade upwards and a pillar of light emerged from the ground. The flesh of the monster burned away as the radiance rose to the heavens and parted the clouds above. Louise collapsed to her knees as she felt a sudden wave of exhaustion rolling over her. Moments later the... the thing she had called forth lowered its blade and the beam of destructive light ceased. Then, rather unceremoniously, it disappeared with the sound of breaking glass and a flicker of light.
Louise could feel it, however. Inside her. Quiescent in the manner of a great beast; wound tight and ready to spring forth the moment she called. It was an unnerving sensation. The devastation that surrounded them was equally so. Her reverie of confusion was interrupted by a groan of pain from the crater left by the final attack. With quickly growing trepidation Louise forced herself to her feet and stumbled over.
The original form of the thing was laid there in tattered robes, groaning in pain. When it caught sight of her it fell silent and stared at her with a look of sullen resentment. After all that... it was still here? But why? Louise looked at the not-gun in her hands, the 'evoker', and thought back to what Theo had said. Then she thought about the thing... the form it had taken... what it looked like. She sighed. Of course. If that was how it started, then of course this must be how it finished.
"... you are me." The sullen look instantly became one of shock and confusion. It looked at her with suspicion and immense distrust as she stepped to the edge of the crater and leaned down to offer it her hand. "Sometimes, I can't stand all the pressure. Sometimes I do wish I could just end all of it. The teasing, the expectations, the responsibilities. I wish I could give it all up. Maybe, sometimes, that even makes me consider doing things that... that are rather drastic." As she spoke the thing, the Shadow, hesitantly reached out until their hands touched and she pulled it up and out of the crater.
"But those thoughts... those feelings... they're a part of me. You're a part of me. Just because I feel overwhelmed sometimes doesn't mean I'm weak. Just because I want to give up sometimes doesn't mean I will. Just because I fail... it doesn't mean I can't succeed. You need to remember that when I feel that way... I just think of all the reasons I have to carry on. That we have to carry on. You are me... but I'm you, too."
Louise enfolded herself in a hug. When she stepped back nothing had really changed; in the end, there was only her. There was always only her.
And right now, she just hoped that this still counted as a successful summoning.