บท 2: A Girl Named Zero

Zero was currently very confused by the situation she had found herself in.

The day had started off the same as all the others. She remained in the garden, unable to leave. Never growing, never hungering, never aging. She had been there for as long as she could remember.

Utopia turned into a prison, she recalled.

She had only ever met one other person in her life. His visage was her earliest memory. Her memory was perfect so she very clearly remembered the man, her brother, he called himself. He said some things she didn't understand and took a book with him before never returning.

The book, she couldn't remember any details about it other than that it was hers and she shouldn't have allowed him to take it. She hoped to get it back one day. She felt like she needed it for some reason. Unfortunately, there was no way out of the garden. Her brother had said so himself. She accepted his words easily enough and did not try to refute him. If there was no way out she would have to stay there.

This was the primary reason Zero was confused. Her brother had said there were no ways out of the garden. That she would be there for the rest of her life. And yet, here she was, out of the garden...apparently.

Moments ago she had felt something, no, someone, call out to her. Using a name she felt familiar, her own name maybe? That was right. It wasn't her true name but it was hers nonetheless. Even more surprising was a portal suddenly appearing in front of her, beckoning her to the other side.

The situation had left her intrigued, so she decided to investigate by jumping in headfirst, no questions asked.

She couldn't be blamed really. She had basically spent her whole life, as far as she knew, in a garden. It was beautiful but stagnant. Nothing changed. Nothing was allowed to change. This was the first change in the garden that she had ever seen.

Zero felt something for the first time in her life. Desire. She craved adventure, stimulation, and the perfect opportunity for such just magically appeared right in front of her! Perhaps whatever was on the other side would give her life purpose. Maybe it would even help her find her book?

Her decision having already been made, Zero suddenly found herself in the middle of an explosion or at least the aftermath of one, from the looks of it. Further investigation led her to the conclusion that the portal had indeed taken her out of the garden.

Zero found herself in a small flowerless grassy field surrounded by stone walls on all sides.

More importantly, she was surrounded by people! Most of them being children by the looks of it with only a single adult going around to check on them. Near those children however was quite a shocking sight, as she could make out several demons manifested and hovering around them.

There were so many different kinds too! One was even a floating eyeball that brought her a great sense of familiarity and unease… Her knowledge told her that Charmers typically contracted such creatures to allow them to wield magic. Similar, but different, to another group that contracted with Spirits instead of Demons. Unfortunately further knowledge on the subject had been lost to her. They didn't appear hostile so she wondered if she might be able to study them up close in the near future.

It was honestly a bit overwhelming for her, seeing so many new things all at once like this. Just a few moments ago she had spent her entire life alone in a completely unchanging environment. That said, this all felt strangely familiar to her.

"Who are you?" Zero had her attention turned to the only person that seemed completely unaffected by whatever caused the explosion prior to her arrival. The girl had been standing quite close to her but appeared to be in contemplation until now so Zero had simply ignored her for the moment.

Having been addressed by the young charmer, Zero decided there was no harm in answering the girl or rather, she herself wanted answers to that very same question, so she couldn't fault the girl for asking as well.

"I don't remember. My true name has been lost since long ago, so you may simply call me, Zero" she said monotonously. Her voice instantly entranced the gathering as none of them expected something so toneless but melodic and sweet at the same time.

Zero herself was quite pleased. She had never had anyone to call her by her name before so she was inwardly a little excited to finally have someone address her. Not even her brother gave her a name the last she spoke with him.

What she didn't expect however was for the pink haired charmer's face to suddenly turn an even brighter pink than her hair and for her to collapse onto all fours, releasing some sort of groan of pure agony. Followed by an uproarious laughter from the rest of the gathered charmers.

"Haha! This makes everything worth it. I never would have guessed you would summon another Zero like yourself and a commoner at that. That's the Zero Louise we know." A rather large chested redhead suddenly added, causing the pinkette to begin shouting a string of curses in her direction.

To say that Zero was confused by the situation, would be the understatement of the century. Confusion was soon replaced with fear and sadness, as there was far too much stimulus going on at the moment for her to possibly be comfortable. She didn't understand why what she said would cause such a reaction. She didn't understand why so many people were saying her name yet not actually addressing her.

Were they mocking her? Was it something she said? She didn't know, and that hurt for reasons she also didn't know.

"Shut up!" The pinkette suddenly had enough and turned to the balding adult holding a staff nearby. "Mr. Colbert. Something must have gone wrong with the spell. I've never heard of taking a commoner as a familiar spirit." The girl tried to reason, only for the other children to begin laughing again.

"Whether it's a commoner or not, there will be no expectations. Please continue with the ceremony, otherwise, you'll really be expelled." The balding man with the staff said with finality. Leaving the pinkette, a befuddled but resigned mess.

"Okay." The girl muttered and turned to face her would be familiar, receiving a plethora of mocking and perhaps a few genuine words of encouragement from her peers. Only to be frozen on the spot along with the rest of the clearing observing a scene that would surely haunt their memories for the rest of their lives.

"What's wrong with my name? It's the only thing I have left. Please don't make fun of it." Zero gave a heartfelt plea, shaking as tears poured out of her pale lavender eyes.

Instantly they all felt their hearts twist into knots. Even if she was a commoner, no one wanted to see such an expression on such a beautiful face. It was a sin like no other. The amount of shame they felt at that moment would surely stay with them forever.

Upon hearing her name they had overlooked the first words the girl had said when questioned. If she didn't even know her real name, then what else had she forgotten? The girl might not even remember where she came from or who she was and they inadvertently made fun of her for that. Sure many of them weren't the kindest to commoners, but that was a low most would never willing stoop down to.

They all remained frozen as the pale girl shed tears filled with loneliness and sorrow. It was the first time in her life she had truly understood the gravity of what was missing in her life. In truth, she knew many things. Things she would not understand until much later exactly how much others coveted. She knew things that could bring entire counties, no, entire worlds to their metaphorical knees.

But ultimately, when it came to herself, she couldn't remember anything at all. It was fine when she was alone in the garden. It didn't matter who she was since nothing would change even if she knew. No, maybe it would be worse if she did know. But now…when faced with the reality of her ignorance? She didn't know what to do.

As Zero shed tears at her loss, she was suddenly enveloped in a comforting warmth. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She searched her knowledge for an answer and came up with a simple conclusion. She had been given a hug.

"My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. And I promise on that name that I will do whatever I can to help you recover your true name and everything that comes with it. As my witness, Pentagon of the five elemental powers; bless this humble being, and make her my familiar." The girl chanted off, making the summoning circle around them glow a subtle blue light.

While Zero was still basking in the strange new sensation, the girl, Louise she called herself, proceeded to press their lips together to finalize the ritual. Zero could feel the slight hesitancy in the act but it too was filled with care and comfort as the previous act.

Zero was so lost in the feelings that she didn't notice when quite a few things happened all at once. The first was the runes that inscribed themselves on her left hand. Normally having that much mana poured into a person would have been quite painful but Zero was quite used to handling large amounts of mana and managed to mitigate the pain almost as a side thought.

The next was the sound of two chains breaking somewhere in her mind. It was two of many that would need to be dealt with eventually. What they held behind them would remain unknown for now. Accompanied by the shattering of the chains was the appearance of a pentagram in both of her eyes. The same shape as the one slowly etching itself onto the right hand of Louise herself.

It was unheard of for all the people watching. No master had ever been marked during the summoning ceremony, then again no one had ever summoned a human before either, so no one knew what was supposed to happen anyway.

Well, all but one person but she was far too preoccupied with the tingling sensation on her lips to care at the moment. All that she knew at that moment was that she really wanted to do that again.

As the circle's glow began to diminish, Zero was suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion she was completely unfamiliar with. After all, she had never slept a day in her life. Her final moments of consciousness were spent observing the lightly blushed cheeks of her summoner and the clear worry displayed on her face.

Zero decided she quite liked the former but could do without the latter. She then fell unconscious, leaving not only Louise but everyone else gathered in the clearing completely speechless at the beautiful smile that briefly painted her face.

-_-_-

Room of Louise de la Valliere, Tristan Academy for Magic

Louise buried her head in her hands as she leaned forward into her chair.

Today was beyond exhausting for her. Mentally and emotionally more than physically. In fact she almost wishes it was only physical exhaustion she was dealing with. At least that wouldn't be as complicated to deal with.

Speaking of complicated, that was perhaps the best way to describe the current situation with her Familiar. The poor girl had fallen unconscious after the contracting ceremony. After Professor Colbert recorded her runes and the pentagram on her own hand, she needed to be carried to her room by Kirche of all people since she wouldn't allow a womanizer like Guiche to do it. No matter how much of a gentleman he pretended to be.

But Louise had never expected to summon a human as a familiar when she began the morning. She hoped to summon something like a griffon, a manticore or even a dragon! She expected to summon something like a bug or a rat.

At this point, she isn't sure which one would be preferable. She couldn't even say her familiar's name without it dragging up awful memories of the past year of her life. If it was before her heartfelt request of her classmates, she might have just given the girl a new name or simply referred to her only as Familiar. But after watching the tears pour out of the girl's eyes from such a simple request…

Louise didn't have the heart to make things difficult for the girl. Now she'll have to deal with…Zero's apparent memory loss and all the problems she was sure it would bring her. She had no idea where the girl came from, what she might be capable of, who might be looking for her, or even if her memory loss was a recent thing or not.

Once she woke up, Louise would have to try to get as much information out of the girl as she could to help piece things together. She could even be a noble for all she knew, something she should probably test as well.

She would also need to get the girl a new wardrobe as well. Her own clothes should fit just fine for now. They had similar body types after all, with Zero maybe being slightly shorter than her from what she could tell. Though in the breast department she might be ever so slightly larger…it shouldn't be enough to make a difference in sizes.

It would have to do for tomorrow, but she'll probably have to end up requesting a set of maid uniforms until the next Void day where she could take her to the nearest town to go shopping for her own clothes.

Although that also meant she had to spend her allowance to do so, and while she wasn't against spending her own money to provide for her own familiar, she wasn't entirely sure she would have enough to do so. It was better to request a bit more from her parents until things settled down a bit. She would have to inform them of the unusual situation she found herself in anyway if she wanted to make use of her family's resources to possibly help recover Zero's memories or track down her origins.

She would simply request the typical salary of a servant employed by their family. That seemed more than fair to her for now. Should Zero prove to be more useful than a mere servant then she would look into increasing that amount. Who knows, perhaps the girl was the perfect bodyguard or a five star chef only employed by royals or something.

With that thought, Louise figured the first order of business was to contact her parents, specifically her father who would be the easiest to reach with her mother being out of the country for now. She had received a letter a few days ago informing her that she would be escorting the princess on their trip to Germania.

Louise and the rest of her family had been surprised when her Mother returned to active duty as a Knight for the crown. Then again, it made sense when she considered the passing of the King not too long ago, may he rest in peace. The royal family was particularly vulnerable at the moment and having Karin, the [heavy wind], return to active duty on the side of the crown likely quelled many potential noble houses getting greedy ideas for the throne.

Personally, Louise was just glad that her childhood friend would have the best protection the country had to offer.

Figuring she wasted enough time, Louise began composing a few letters to her family and even considered one to the princess to explain the situation she found herself in. She wanted to know what assets she could use from their family, if any, to aid Zero. If she had to rely entirely on herself, she wasn't sure she could manage, but even if that were the case she wouldn't give up without at least trying first.

There were no classes tomorrow as it was supposed to be a day used by students to bond with their familiars. Although Zero wasn't the Familiar she expected her to be, Louise intended to use the day to do exactly that.

Glancing over to the corner of her room filled with a pile of hay, Louise couldn't hide a grimace as she also reminded herself to request for someone to remove it and see if she couldn't get another bed installed. Her room wasn't the largest though, so she'd probably have to settle for one large bed instead.

It should be fine, they were both girls after all and Louise was confident in her self control to not suddenly attack the beautiful girl in her sleep.

Louise continued to make various plans and letters for the rest of the night, right up until the point where she'd fallen asleep at her desk having been too mentally exhausted to properly prepare for bed for the evening...again.