Chapter 1 - Accidents Happen

Chapter 1
Accidents Happen

***

"This is all your fault, Tomo."

Well, that wasn't exactly true. Their current predicament was also Yukari's responsibility.

By all accounts the annual field trip to the museum was a resounding success - they arrived at the museum without incident and Yukari left them at the hands of a capable tour guide instead of potentially mucking things up. It was an afternoon well spent in a school-approved educational activity, and it wasn't until they were going home did the brown unpleasant stuff hit the metaphorical fan. Tomo had spotted an ice cream shop on the way in the museum and wanted to play hookie. Fortunately, the guide's sense of responsibility was much more acute than Yukari's, and Tomo was forced to go through the entire tour of dinosaur bones and shiny rocks before she could do anything.

Tomo had cajoled/tricked/threatened some of their classmates to say "here" when her name and those of her gang were called. Yukari not exactly being the most attentive of teachers, it wasn't until the bus had arrived at the school that it was discovered that they were six students short. The bus driver had already left for the day, and Yukari had no choice but to take the bus back to the museum and look for them. (Yukari was quite fine with leaving 6 students behind, but the principal made a ruckus.)

"I didn't hear you complain while you were eating that strawberry banana split cup," Tomo argued.

"It was Dairy Queen! I thought all the Dairy Queens in japan closed down already!" Yomi flushed guiltily. Another diet was ruined. She was famished and weak willed when Tomo suggested that they go eat ice cream. When Yomi caved in, it was easy for Tomo to convince (bully, really) Chiyo and Osaka into following. With Sakaki's protectiveness of Chiyo, the tall girl felt compelled to go as well. Kagura went along because she thought it would be fun.

And, well, it was. The sweet, sweet taste of churned cow juice and the thrill of doing something naughty (and yet, relatively, completely harmless) blinded them of possible repercussions, the first of which was having to endure a trip back to school in a bus driven by Yukari.

"!#*!" Yukari screamed. "Cut me off will you, you #!$! I'll show you!"

So there they were: Tomo, Yomi, Sakaki, Chiyo, Kagura, and Osaka, alternatively enjoying the company of friends and hanging on to dear life as Yukari put the bus through maneuvers that would have made a NASCAR driver green with envy (or, more likely, just plain green). Minamo Kurosawa was also there; Yukari insisted that "Nyamo" come along because the hell Yukari would be doing unpaid overtime alone.

"Coach, how did you know where to look for us anyway?" Kagura asked.

"It was definitely not because Yukari and I hid in the same ice cream shop when we were in high school." Nyamo deadpanned. Yukari glared at her, which caused yet another near collision.

"I wonder why they do that," Osaka mused dreamily. She was still holding the remnants of her half-eaten blizzard cup.

"Do what?"

"This-"

"Hey, what was that for!" Kagura spluttered as she wrestled Osaka's cup from her hands.

"Oops, sorry," Osaka apologized sincerely. "When the lady there did it the ice cream didn't fall off."

"I think it's supposed to mean the ice cream is pretty firm." Yomi suggested. "Osaka, it stopped being firm fifteen minutes ago."

"Oh, I see. Can I have it back? I haven't finished with it yet." Kagura rolled her eyes. "Thank you."

Tomo turned around to face the seats where Sakaki and Chiyo were sitting. "Hey, smarty-pants, what do you think? Why do they turn the cup upside down?"

Chiyo had no opinion on the matter. Or on anything. Eyes wide open, knuckles white from gripping the armrests, pigtails quivering, she was insensate. She had offered to pay for a cab home rather than ride a bus Yukari drove, but Yukari would have none of it.

She would never, ever listen to Tomo again.

"You did it now," Kagura teased. "You've managed to piss off Sakaki."

"Ummm..." Sakaki started to demur.

"Don't glare at me like that Sakaki."

"... But I'm not-"

"Knock it off, Tomo," Yomi huffed at girl beside her. "And don't move around so much. You're making me nauseous." More nauseous, but that was something she didn't want Yukari to overhear.

"Maybe you should sit in the back."

"Yeah, maybe I should!" Yomi shot back. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Wait, why?"

Tomo grinned. "Well I read in Initial D, when the back of a car is heavy it makes the car more stable. Since this is a bus, you'd stabilize it just fine!"

"Double Yomi chop!"

In retrospect, chasing Tomo inside a bus that Yukari was driving was a more Tomo-worthy idea than any other sane person's.

***

Saito Hiraga thew a pebble at the green thing in front of him. It was a two meter tall floating oval with no apparent depth. No one else in busy street took any notice of it.

The pebble vanished.

A hole in space? Cooool.

He was about to poke it with his house key when from out of nowhere a bus careened towards him, horns blaring. Curiosity vanishing in the face self-preservation, he threw himself to the side to avoid being run over.

The bus slammed into the green thing. Rather than crashing, there was a noise that reminded Saito of water being sucked down the drain as the bus folded into itself to fit into the hole.

There was a blinding flash of light, and then the bus and hole were gone.

"Crazy #$%* drivers!"

"Did anyone get the licence plate of that?"

"Where did that bus go?"

Surreal. Saito picked himself up and hurried on home, ignoring the flustered pedestrians. He couldn't wait to log in and brag about his brush with the Twilight Zone.

***

Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere stood on the shoulders of giants. She was the youngest daughter of the Captain Karin Desiree of the Manticore Corps and Duke Louise Cesar de La Valliere, third in line for the throne in the kingdom of Tristain. Before that, her grand parents, great grand parents, great-great grandparents down 20 generations were all nobles, mages of varying degrees of skill and power. Only the royal family could boast of a better lineage, and they could trace their origins from the founder Brimir Himself.

Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere has yet to cast a single spell successfully.

In a society where nobility was measured by the ability to do magic, she was a failure.

A zero.

Louise bitterly watched the students that went before her (and after; she had already attempted three times with no success) in the Springtime Summoning Ritual. Upon reaching their second year at the Academy, students were supposed to cast a spell that would summon their familiar as proof of their understanding of the basics of magic. The summoned creature also reflected upon the student's elemental affinity - birds would mean that the student's affinity was that for wind, a frog would mean their affinity was for water, and so on. Knowing one's elemental affinity was a requirement for second year classes, which were more element-specific than the basic magical theories that they were taught during their first year. Most students figured out their elemental affinity before the day of the summoning ritual. Louise had not. Without a familiar and with no idea what her elemental affinity was, she'd have to be sent home. Expelled. She would be little better than a commoner, and the only way for her to remain a noble would be to be married to one, breeding stock for the next generation. As it was, her mother had spotted her ineptitude early and arranged her to be married into the Tudor family. While Louise liked Wardes Tudor well enough (she liked the dashing viscount very much, to be honest), she wanted her mother and father to be proud of her. She wanted to show them that she was not a failure. Not being able to summon, being expelled was simply unacceptable. It would be a shame that she could not live with.

If anyone had asked her, she'd say that she wanted to summon a dragon, which were exceedingly rare and powerful familiars. A manticore would do as well, like her mother's. Those familiars would not only fulfill her school requirements, but also put her detractors in their place. With a beautiful, powerful familiar, she would no longer be made fun of.

In truth, she would be satisfied with a cat or a bird, or even a frog or a mouse. Anything, really. Just... anything.

"Who hasn't summoned their familiar yet?" Mr. Colbert asked, then spotted the skulking Louise. "Ah, yes, miss Valliere. Come over here and please try again."

Sighing, she prayed silently for success and ignored the ribbing from her classmates, all of whom started shying away from her. Those with smaller familiars were protectively holding them.

"Don't wreck the courtyard Louise!"

"I wonder how many times Mr. Colbert will let her try."

"She'll probably screw up again."

"Of course she will, she's Louise the Zero!"

"Mr. Colbert! Montmorency the Flood just insulted me!" Louise complained.

"Who are you calling 'the Flood'? I'm Montmorency the Fragrance!"

"I heard that you used to wet the bed like a flood, didn't you? 'The Flood' suits you better!"

"I hadn't expected better manners from Louise the Zero."

"That is quite enough. You are not to call your fellow nobles names." Mr. Colbert's rebuke seemed hollow to Louise as she noticed him taking a step backward himself. "Please continue, miss Valliere."

Squaring her shoulders, Louise closed her eyes and held out her wand.

"I beg of you…" she began. "To my servant who lives somewhere in the universe! Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit! I desire and here I plead from my heart! Answer to my guidance!"

"Hey Guiche!" someone drawled. "She's a bigger ham than you are!"

"Kal Xen Corp," Louise finished, the final syllable drawing willpower from her body to fuel the summoning spell.

This was it! The spell worked! She could feel it. Success! Respect! At her fingertips! Her previous attempts felt nothing like -

The explosion was far larger than any of her other failed spells, knocking her off her feet and she landed ungracefully on her bottom.

"That was a surprise. Not." Montmorency snorted.

"Truly, Louise, you are a Zero," Kirche (the Cow) called out, coughing at the billowing smoke.

The dust cleared, revealing not a dragon, not manticore, not a cat nor a bird nor a frog...

It was a girl.

The girl reminded Louise of her mother when she was entertaining envoys from the throne - haughty, confident, and not a little intimidating. She was over a head taller than Louise, making her taller than all the girls in her class, and taller than most of the boys. Her skin was clear and smooth, her hair glossy veil of exotic black that hung waist-length. There was no fear or apprehension in the dark almond shaped eyes that took the scene before her. Louise felt a twinge of envy at the size of the girl's chest. Thankfully, unlike her equally gifted classmate Kirche (the Harlot), this girl's clothes were an unrevealing pink suit with a pleated skirt of a darker shade. Her right hand was covered in bandages. She carried no wand nor staff nor any other focus that Louise could see.

Was this her familiar? A human? She hadn't heard of anyone summoning a human before. Or had she simply failed again? From the corner of her eye she could see Mr. Colbert. The expression on his face wasn't that of disappointment like on her other failed attempts at summoning. Instead, he was a bit wide-eyed. When he noticed her looking at him, he schooled his face into a genial smile.

Her classmates were not nearly as supportive.

"Whoa, Louise summoned something."

"Yeah... a girl."

"And a wonderful rose at that."

"Give it a rest, Guiche."

Louise turned to the girl and demanded, "Who are you?"

***

Sakaki's last memories were of grasping Chiyo-chan's shaking hand when Yukari lost control of the bus. She instinctively had wanted to cover Chiyo's body with her own, but the seatbelts kept them securely in place. Still, she wished she could have done more to protect Chiyo than simply comfort her.

Where was Chiyo now? Were her other friends all right? She was still wearing the same clothes she had worn that morning, and she certainly wasn't in Tokyo. As far as she knew, Tokyo didn't have a huge european-looking castle she was now standing in the courtyard of.

Around her was a group of foreign children of about her age, all of them staring at her. They were wearing black cloaks. Interspersed among the children were various animals. Cats (ooh, cats!), frogs, birds, a large snake, what looked like a giant mole, a few other animals she couldn't identify, and... was that a _dragon_? No, two! No, wait, the other one wasn't, it was a charmander! It looked like a lizard with its tail on fire, what else could it be? And a flying eyeball?

Was this a pokemon convention? Some of the children had what looked liked foot-long smooth sticks in their hands. Sticks? Ah, wands! They had wands! Not a pokemon convention, then. Maybe a Harry Potter one? She had borrowed Yomi's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone some weeks ago. She knew the book was beginning to be popular in Japan, but she hadn't expected for it to be _that_ popular to be cosplayed so widely just yet.

The girl that asked her name was the one that eventually caught her full attention. She was young, maybe 13, 14 at most. Her hair was a wavy red blonde, framing a face that seemed to be made of fine porcelain. Round hazel eyes marked her a gaijin, like the rest of the children. Her delicate eyebrows were scrunched in annoyance, and she was pouting mightily. Sakaki fought the urge to reach out and pinch the girl's cheek. She was so cute like that!

Composing herself, Sakaki answered quietly, "Sakaki."

"Are you a commoner?"

Commoner? Was that the same as a muggle, a non-magical person in the Harry Potter book? Well, she supposed, since she was in her school uniform while everyone else was in a cloak and holding a wand, that would make her a muggle. "Um... Yes?" she replied tentatively.

"Louise, what were you thinking, calling a commoner with 'Summon Servant'?" someone asked.

"I... I just made a little mistake!"

"What mistake are you talking about? Nothing unusual happened." Montmorency again.

"Of course! After all, she's Louise the Zero!" someone else said, and the crowd burst into laughter. Well, some of them. About half were watching her intently instead.

***

"You felt that?" Kirche whispered to the girl beside her. Her hand idly stroked the head of her newly summoned familiar, a nearly 3 meter long charman... salamander that she had named Flame. Flame had been half-asleep during Louise' summoning ritual, but immediately tensed when the smoke cleared to reveal the tall girl. Through their bond, Kirche got an impression of curiosity and a hint of wariness from Flame.

Tabitha lowered the book she was reading a fraction of an inch. Kirche took that as an affirmative. Tabitha's familiar was a dragon that, like Flame, had not been paying attention to the babbling humans and was hungrily eying some of the smaller familiars. Slyphid had started to fidget at the sight of Sakaki, keeping its head low and trying to look (incongruently, for a creature large enough to swallow a pig whole) as small as possible.

"What do you think?"

"Don't know." Tabitha turned a page. "Odd."

"Huh. Louise might be good for something after all."

***

"Mr. Colbert!" Louise called.

A middle-aged bald man in black robes presented himself. Rather than a wand, he carried a staff.

"What is it that you want from me, Miss Valliere?" Mr. Colbert's tone was that one of long-suffering. Sakaki could have sworn he sighed under his breath.

"Please! Let me try the summoning one more time!" There was a note of desperation in her voice.

"Miss, Valliere, you know very well that nothing short of the familiar's death will allow you to cast the summoning spell again. You can try, but you will surely fail." Colbert gave a small nod toward the snickering crowd.

Louise's frown deepened, if that were possible.

Colbert continued. "And the Springtime Summoning Ritual is sacred, not something that can be retried because you don't like what you summoned. She may be a commoner, but if indeed you did summon her, then she is your familiar. Please, finish the ceremony."

"With her?" Louise asked, incredulous.

"Yes, with her. And that is another reason to finish the ceremony. If the familiar runes fail to take hold, then that would mean that she isn't your summoned familiar. Maybe some other magic has placed her here. You can try the summoning again if that were the case."

Colbert's words filled Louise with a mix of trepidation and hope. If she completed the ceremony, and the runes took hold, then that would mean she had successfully cast her first two spells. But that would also mean her familiar would be a... commoner. If she completed the ceremony, and the runes didn't appear, then that would mean she failed yet again. And wasted her first kiss.

Not that that was important right now. Besides, it was another girl. That didn't count, did it?

"Hurry. The next class will begin any minute. After mistake upon mistake, you have finally managed to summon her. Hurry and form a contract."

Louise sighed in resignation. She looked around, then spying a reasonably large flat rock, she grabbed Sakaki's hand and dragged her next to it. Louise then stood on the rock. With the boost in height, her eyes were on the same level as Sakaki's.

Sakaki wondered idly what was going to happen. She suspected that she had managed to land in a live action role play session, and that they were working her into their story. Her classmates often invited her to play some sort of questing knight or samurai, but she always declined. It would have been too embarrassing. Besides, she wanted to be the princess that needed rescuing, not the hero (she was never asked to be a damsel in distress, ever; that saddened her more than she would admit even to herself). She'd play along this time, since it seemed harmless enough and they weren't really asking her to say any lines (or do anything, for that matter). If she was here, safe and sound, then maybe her friends were also fine. She'd have to look for them when this was over, though, or at least call them on her cell.

"Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make her my familiar. An Xen Ex."

She chanted those words over and over, like a magic spell, and touched Sakaki's forehead with her wand.

Sakaki tried to recall if that was how Harry Potter got his familiar. Didn't he just buy it off a store? She was lost in thought when Louise took her face in her hands, bent over, and kissed her.

Shocked, Sakaki lost her balance fell forward. Louise fell with her with a small cry.

She'll get crushed! Sakaki thought frantically, and hung on to her, turning both of them around in mid-air. Sakaki landed on her back, but was otherwise unhurt. The strawberry blonde crashed on top of her.

"Are you all right?" she asked. The girl was astoundingly light. Through her cloak Sakaki could feel the girl was thin and fragile, like a bird or a kitten.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." No hint of gratitude, Sakaki noted, but that was fine - Sakaki was the one the fell and snagged her along, after all.

As the girl brushed herself off, Sakaki's body started to heat up. And not out of embarrassment. It felt like she was on fire. She fought back a whimper as she frantically tore at the bandages on her right hand. On the back her hand were symbols that were being tattooed - no, burned - into her flesh. A whiff of charred skin almost made her gag.

"You have failed 'Summon Servant' many times, but you have managed to succeed with 'Contract Servant' in one try," she heard Colbert say happily.

What was going on here? Did she just get branded? Nearly in tears, she struggled to get up. "What did you do to me?" she asked hoarsely.

"Don't worry," Colbert reassured her. "Its the contract runes being written. It will be over soon."

And Colbert was right. Just like that, the pain disappeared. Sakaki gingerly rubbed the back of her hand, but the marks remained.

This was so not Harry Potter.

"May I?" Colbert asked.

Wordlessly, Sakaki held out her right hand.

"Hmm... It looks... familiar." The crowd groaned collectively.

***

Pun aside, Colbert didn't recognize the runes on the girl's right hand. It look like gibberish. He might have been able to read it, but the scars on her hand obscured much of it. So that was why the girl had her hand covered in bandages. He wondered what kind of work she did in order for her hand to be injured often like that.

First a human summoning, then unique contract runes? My, Miss Valliere was turning out to be an... unusual... mage.

***

Mr. Colbert patted Sakaki's hand comfortingly and smiled. "There, that wasn't so bad."

She didn't know what to say to that. True, it didn't hurt anymore, but she didn't like the idea of having a permanent mark on her. What would people say if they saw it? Only the worst of the delinquents had a visible tattoo. She wasn't some sukeban-wanabee thug. Would she even be allowed back to school with this?

"I'd like you to meet me and headmaster tomorrow after breakfast. Could you do that, Sakaki? The headmaster's office is on the 3rd floor in the central tower, right about over there" Colbert used his staff to point at the general direction of the castle's main building. "You can't miss it."

Sakaki nodded numbly. Mr. Colbert raised an eyebrow to Louise and she also nodded.

"Good." Mr. Colbert turned to the rest of the children and clapped once. "Well, your next class is about to start. Everyone, please head back inside."

The children and their animals filed into the building that Colbert pointed out. Dazed and not a little bit confused, Sakaki just stood there until Louise grabbed her hand and dragged her along in the direction of the main building. Some students snickered at the sight, which Louise promptly ignored.

Enough! Sakaki wriggled out of Louise' grasp, causing Louise to nearly stumble.

"Let go of me!" Sakaki was nearly hysterical. "What did you do to me? Where is this place?"

Louise' eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"This is Tristain! And this is the renowned Tristain Academy of Magic!"

"Academy of Magic? Like Hogwarts?"

"I don't know where this Hogwarts is," Louise snorted. "Come with me."

"I'm not going with you."

"I summoned you! I am your master from now on. Obey me!"

This game, cosplay, whatever was going to far, Sakaki thought.

Her phone! She still had her phone! Sakaki fumbled with her pockets until she found her cell. It lit up, but the signal bar was inert.

"What is that?" Louise watched as her familiar brought out a pink gaudy box from her skirt and started fiddling with it. It made tiny chirping sounds, but unlike a music box there seemed to be no tune to it, just random notes. It might have been a ritual of some sort, as for a full ten minutes she was frantically walking in a large circle over the courtyard holding the box up, then down, then sideways, squinting and muttering under her breath.

Sakaki flipped the phone off, her eyes shut tight. Nononononono. This can't be happening. Why wasn't there any reception? Had Yukari's driving damaged her phone? Was she in some far-off boondocks that didn't even have a cell tower? Looking around, she saw that the courtyard she was in was vaguely triangular in shape, three walls with three towers, the biggest one which that Mr. Colbert pointed out.. The wall between the two smaller towers was sheer, with no exits. The wall between the smaller and the main building had entrances, but it looked like they led to other courtyards exactly like the one she was on. If the castle had a cell tower, it would be in the main building, so she doubted that moving to another courtyard would improve the reception.

Where could she go?

Louise briefly considered using magic to levitate her hardheaded familiar inside, but thought better of it. She recognized the signs: eyes shimmering, cheeks flushed a bright red, shoulder shaking. Her familiar was fighting the urge to cry, and given the rather... volatile... results her magic had, it might push her familiar over the brink. In addition to being the Zero, she didn't want to be known as the mage that broke her familiar, on the first day at that. There were still a few stragglers watching her and Sakaki, enough for a new rumor to fester. Besides, it bothered Louise that someone who reminded her of her mother be reduced to tears. It was... it was not the order of things.

"Look," Louise said, in a tone a touch more gentle than she would have used on a servant, "I'm almost late. I don't have time to explain your duties right now. We can talk later after classes. Just come with me inside for now."

Sakaki just stood there for long moments, clutching the pink box. It was as if she hadn't heard Louise. Louise's patience was at its end when Sakaki whispered, "... all right."

Sakaki didn't want to go with this girl. She had hurt her! But she could look for a landline inside. And if she couldn't find one, she was supposed to meet headmaster (that meant principal, didn't it? Like Dumble-no, she had to stop comparing her current predicament with a fantasy novel whose details she couldn't even remember) and likely he would be able to make sense of all of this. That is, if he wasn't as insane as these kids. Maybe they had a nurse's station. She'd have to have her hand looked at.

Louise "hmphed" and strode into the main tower without looking back.

Head hung, Sakaki followed her.

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