Chapter Text
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Today was supposed to be a good day. Today was supposed to be her moment of triumph. Today was supposed to be the day she finally proved those sneering, scheming, dishonourable curs wrong. Today was supposed to be the day that she summoned her beautiful, powerful, perfect Familiar. Today was supposed to be the day she met the one creature in existence that would always, always, be by her side, ever loyal, and put her first.
Today was not supposed to be the day she failed.
/.../
Failed. He had failed in the one thing that gave his pathetic life meaning. He had failed his family. Failed his Sensei. He had nothing left, no reason to go on living. Each day that passed was a struggle. Each day he fought on in their memory, determined to never fail again. Nothing could hurt more than the void in his soul. It was a scar on his psyche, reflected by the silence around him, which acted as a constant reminder of his failure.
What he would give to have it all fade away to nothing.
/.../
Nothing. She was nothing. First she had slept in, exhausted by her frantic revisions the night before. Tradition demanded the ceremony not begin until all the participants had arrived. So not only was she unforgivably late, she had been humiliated about being the reason for the ritual being delayed by over an hour. The participants went in order of arrival, and that meant she would be the last student called upon to cast the Summoning.
She had been forced to endure the whispers, the sidelong glances, the not-quite-muffled snickers. She had been forced to watch as her rivals and tormentors successfully summoned their companions. She had to watch eternal bond after eternal bond forged and consecrated by fools and braggarts who did not know how lucky they actually were. Blind, witless chaff who watched her struggle and strive and laughed behind their false-pity smirks. Making petty jabs at her name and station to the backs of their hands. Oh, is it not just so sad that the Duke’s daughter is an inexprime. How very, very disappointed her mother must be. Still, at least she will marry well, thanks to her lineage.
Perhaps her children will be more fortunate.
/.../
He had been fortunate, they said. If the blade had struck any deeper he would have died. If the blow had been an inch lower he would have lost his sight. If he had been a second slower to dodge the explosion would have caught him. What sort of meaningless platitude was that? Fortunate? He would only count himself fortunate when he saw his brothers again.
His life was empty without them.
/.../
Empty. The circle was empty. The shadows of the clearing were long and deep in the last dregs of daylight. Evening was fast approaching. The gathered students and their new Familiars muttered rebelliously in hunger and boredom.
Ignoring her teacher’s gentle hints that she stop, she began the ritual again. Ignoring her classmate’s snide sighs of disgust she started the ritual for the fifth time. Ignoring the way the knife sliced into her flesh, she fixed a smudged line. Ignoring the way her burning eyes salted the ground with tears, she looked up into the sky. The pale face of the moon hovered opposite the setting sun, the sky a riot of colour. Ignoring the words and incantations and meditations she had been taught, she screamed her plea into the Void.
Fire or Water, Air or Earth… Void it did not matter! Please, please, someone, anyone, hear her! Hear her call, and come to her side! Come to her side and never, ever, leave it!
... PLEASE.
/.../
He rarely slept well, these days. His dreams were haunted by ghosts of memories, recollections of better times. Happier times. Times from before he had failed them. He ate only as needed, a lifetime of conditioning a steel wall against encroaching depression. His body and his mind were his two greatest weapons. Allowing either to atrophy was anathema. It was against all his Father’s teachings to deprive himself of that wall. He may have failed his family but he refused to betray them that way.
So he slept as he could, and ate as he could, and he trained. Obsessively. Compulsively. He trained. From beginner’s kata to the advanced weaponry forms that his brother’s had died before mastering. He trained. Until his body was numb, and his limbs shook. He trained until it was physically impossible to continue.
It was then that he would meditate, and allow the void of the astral plane swallow his pain.
Today was no different. Until he heard the voice. Young. Female. Broken and so, so desperately lonely under the false bravado.
He stood and gathered his things from around the campsite. If the glowing portal was any indication, he was not going to be remaining in this dimension for much longer. Satisfied with his preparations he turned back to the wavering portal that had followed along behind him. The voice was still calling, only now it screamed.
His body moved before he was aware he had made the choice. She needed him, and he... he could never deny someone who needed him.
She screamed and he leapt through the portal.
/.../
The explosion was huge. The largest she could ever remember creating. Smoke and dust covered the clearing, obscuring completely what little visibility remained as twilight deepened into true night.
No. No, she had failed again. She stumbled forward, numb to the tears as they fell. She had failed again, and now she would never make Mother proud. She felt hollowed out on the inside. Empty. Her willpower was exhausted. She could not do this anymore!
She stumbled forward, blind, and ran headfirst into an armoured body. Leather hands touched her face, wiped away muddy tears with tender care. Those hands were large and firm and calloused and handled her with the utmost delicacy. They only, however, had three fingers.
Heart in her throat she reached out, hands encountering scales and scars. So very many scars, some still tight with newness, others softened by age. Unable to find her voice she mouthed the words of binding and laid a kiss on the palm nearest to her face.
A crack of blue lightning and black smoke blew the dust away. Students and teacher stood up in the aftermath and stared around with shell-shocked eyes.
The center of the clearing was empty. The girl and whatever she might have summoned were long gone.
/.../
Panic lent wings to his feet while he held the one who had called for him close and safe. His arm burned, and a foreign will scratched against his mental shields like cat claws. He ignored the mild discomforts of flesh and spirit in order to run, ducking through shadows until he felt certain any pursuit was lost.
There had been so many people ringing her in, watching as she cried. The pain in his arm had been the last straw. Explanations could wait until they had time and space.
At last he paused, crouched in the high branches of a tree. From the look of the foliage, it was early spring. From the quality of the air and the stitching of the girl’s clothing, this world was pre-industrial. Interesting. It may well have been a dimensional jump rather than planetary. Could he still reach the Nexus from here? He would have to check on that later.
He continued through the treetops until he found a small grotto. The water ran pure and clear, and the risen stone formed walls that blocked the wind. They would be safe enough to make a comfortable camp here.
The girl was placed on a clear patch of stone, and he set about making camp. The glowing marks on his arm stung, but that could be ignored for a bit longer.
/.../
She stared as the green creature built a fire. The strange contraption on its back unfolded into a green dome, which she was quick to realize was a tent. It was not until the creature filled a kettle with water from the stream that she snapped out of her fugue state.
The runes of the Servant Contract were still aglow on its arm. She had managed to summon the creature, but so far she had failed to bind it. Now she was alone, lost, with a creature intelligent enough to pitch a camp and... and make her a cup of tea?
She stared at the small mug being offered to her in aggravated surprise. Tea was not quite the dramatic level of dire threat she was expecting. Unless it was poisoned tea. Wryly acknowledging that she should perhaps rein in her imagination, she accepted the warm cup with a small murmur of thanks. She was still not quite sure what to make of the creature’s smile, but it seemed... kind.
They sat and drank their tea in oddly companionable silence. Oh, to be sure, they were busy examining each other, but the simple process of indulging in a warm beverage was comforting. Despite their wild surroundings, the civilized nature of the whole silent exchange of courtesy soothed her frazzled nerves.
Eventually though, their mugs were empty. Reality intruded once more. The runes on the creature’s skin glowed more brightly than their campfire in the darkness under the canopy of the night-time forest. She bit her lip, feeling the drain on her meagre remains of willpower even as the green flesh around the runes began to look discoloured and bruised raw. Was the binding hurting it? The other Familiars had screamed or roared or hissed, but they had not seemed unduly distressed or harmed. She was the Zero though... it would be just her luck to miscast the binding and maim her Familiar. With the professors nowhere to be seen, as well! Honestly, and they claimed to be experts!
Fighting back a fresh wave of shameful tears, she reached out and lay her small hand over the pulsing glow.
Light and Shadow filled the Void.
/.../
Sensei was disappointed again. They could tell. It never mattered how hard they tried. Their efforts were never good enough. It did not matter how hard they worked or how long they trained. It was never enough. Only perfection was acceptable.
(The Void was dark.)
Mother’s expression was steel and her words as blunt as her blade was sharp. It was not enough that their theory was more advanced than a student twice their age. Not if they failed so utterly at the practical. The explosions were powerful, but proof only of their lack of skill. Until they could produce a recognizable spell they were worthless as a mage. They needed to be perfect.
(The Void was silent.)
Father died, and they became the Head of the Clan. They tried to keep their family together but their brothers refused to listen. It seemed the harder they worked to protect their family the more reckless their brothers became. When their brothers were killed one after another they could only wait for Death to come for them. They did not expect to survive their vengeance, but they did and it hurt to wake alone each day with only the memory of their family for company.
(The Void was still.)
Mother and Father were ashamed of them. Eldest sister mocked them, and their other sister was too frail to defend them. The servants whispered behind their hands, and the other noble families circled like beasts sensing weak prey. They could not fail their family. They refused. Despair and desperation choked them.
(The Void was the cradle of creation.)
“I will not be a slave.” No rage. No hysteria. Just simple fact spoken in a calm, deep voice.
“I do not wish a slave. I…” A moment of hesitation before being able to admit aloud what had previously been decried as a weakness. “I want a… a companion. A partner. Someone who will always be by my side.”
“An equal.” The glowing runes that chained them to one another flashed as the terms of the contract began to change, rewritten for the first time since the Founding under the onslaught of their combined will. “A confidante to keep your secrets.”
“A champion to defend my honour.” Sullen red broke apart, threads of azure blue glittering in replacement of rusted links. “A guide to help me find my way.”
“I am an elder brother without a clan.” Runes glowed blue on green skin, forming stylized slashes like pointed mandala. “A teacher without a student.”
“I am a younger sister without the protection of my kin.” Rose light glowed on palm and breast, starlight writing out a promise and a heartfelt wish in the image of a delicately notched, five-petal flower. “A student denied the knowledge that should have been freely granted.”
“Then let us tie our Fates together.” The shadows swirled around them, the only light the contract writ in luminous script upon their skins. “I shall call you mine.”
“Let us walk the same path into eternity.” There was no fear to be had of the dark. It did not hurt. Even though the swirls of blue energy washed over their skins in brilliant forks of lightning, there was no pain. “Let us seal the contract, and I shall call you mine!”
Light flared impossibly brighter, azure and rose separate-yet-together, and a newborn binary star shone in the Void.
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