Ah shit, here we go again.
Let's get this shit going again.
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Damien is leaning on the wall as the principal of this school goes on about something.
Louise and him were called up here and for whatever reason Kirche and Tabitha were here. Guess they volunteered too.
They were currently talking about the theft that happened yesterday.
Seems a lot of people blame Louise for it and he has only knocked one student out for saying something.
Apparently what was stolen was something called a Staff of Destruction.
The conversation ended up sidetracking from the main issue and the old man said something that annoyed him.
"Why would you allow the thief the opportunity to take such a weapon?" He asked.
Louise didn't know how to answer.
Kirche certainly seemed keen to add to that.
"It's not much of a surprise coming from her. She is the worst mage here. How fitting Louise the Zero would be the-"
"It was my fault." Damien said loud enough for them all to hear.
"Huh?" Louise was confused and looked to him.
He stepped forward and in front of her.
"The golem nearly killed us. I gave Louise a chance to run and get help, but I lost focus and got caught. She tried to save me and.... My Aura deflected her magic to the building." He lied hoping they'd believe it.
"What?! But-"
He gave her a look and nodded. He looked to Kirche.
"Louise was perfectly on target and we would have been fine if I was more focused. I fucked up and it's as simple as that." He finished looking to the principal.
"I see... Then this was nothing more than an accident. For now, let's just focus on retrieving the Staff. Will you be going with them as well?"
"You bet your ass I will. A familiar has to protect his Master right?"
He looked to Louise when he said that. She couldn't fight a smile.
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The small group of four were outside getting ready to leave.
The girls were checking they had what they needed and Damien was making sure his armour was in place.
"I really need to get that hole fixed. It's a target honestly." He said looking down to it and hooking his finger in it.
"We can go and get it fixed if you want after this is done." Louise offered.
"If it ain't too much trouble. Last thing I want is to get stabbed again."
"That's not what anyone wants. Also, why are you bringing that thing?" She asked pointing to the gold sword in his back.
"Found that it works for weight to help me get faster. Like how Goku wears weighted armour." He told her.
"I don't know who that is."
Before he could explain...
"Aww, I knew you'd love my gift. You're welcome handsome." Kirche said in a flirtatious tone.
He leaned to Louise.
"That's literally all its good for. It's a sword that doesn't even work as a sword. Trust me I tried." He said quietly.
"I figured that."
The four of them got on Tabitha's familiar and flew off to where the person with the Staff ran off to. They were just gonna follow a direction until they see something to search.
Least that's what Damien thinks they're doing.
"Hey! Why did you lie for me back there? We both know that was my fault." She asked unsure why he did that.
"I... I don't know. I'm just sick of everyone giving you a hard time. You were under pressure, it wasn't your fault. Louise, we might not get along all the time, but I care about you. And anyway... Maybe they wouldn't have gotten away if I actually was focused on the fight." He said looking away. He felt ashamed of himself for letting that happen.
"Don't get yourself down over this buddy. Everyone has slip ups like that, even the pros." Derflinger reassured him.
Louise and Damien looked at eachother.
"Did I just get words of encouragement from a sword?"
She laughed.
"Yes. I think you did."
They laughed as they made their way to wherever they were going.
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They landed in a clearing. There were a few small log houses that were more like sheds.
They went to search them all individually.
"Well. If I was to hide a weapon of mass destruction, this is where I'd hide it. No one around for miles." Kirche said as they approached the place.
"Ain't that the truth. Let's get looking."
They searched everywhere. In, under, over and all around each little shed.
No sign of the Staff.
Then again, no one really knows what they're looking for.
Well, Damien doesn't. The other three know what a staff looks like, he has no fucking clue.
"Hmm. I assume it's a long stick or something with a stone in it." He guessed stepping out if the shed he searched. "Any luck?"
"Not yet." Kirche answered.
Tabitha just shook her head.
"Louise?"
She stepped out of the shed she was in holding a rectangular box.
"Is this it?" She asked.
Before they could check, they felt the ground shake.
Suddenly that same golem from the school showed up. Great, and the person who was there with it is here too.
"Get ready girls!" Louise said as she put the box down to get her wand out.
"Don't blow us up this time will you." Kirche said sarcastically.
"Kirche. Please shut up and just shoot the damn thing." Damien said before he ran at the thing with his hand on the handle of the sword in his right.
He got closer avoiding magic blasts from whoever was up on top of the thing. He drew his sword to swing and hit the arm.
"Wrong sword buddy!"
"Huh?"
The sword hit the arm and it snapped like a twig.
"... Watching that thing break was like a mix of all my favourite things bunched up together and just made into one beautiful thing." He said looking at the handle of the gold sword that was now in pieces.
He threw it away and this time got Derflinger out like he planned.
"This time."
While he was establishing his mistake, Kirche, Tabitha and Louise were attacking it with magic. Kirche hit it with fire, but that didn't do a lot since it's rock. She just put fire into a rock. Tabitha seemed to be very capable with wind magic and it didn't do much, but it did stagger it.
"Perfect. Gimme more of that Tabitha!"
Damien ran in while it was trying to regain its footing and managed to cut its arm off. He landed and heard an explosion. Turning around he sees smoke clearing. The person on top of the thing clearly took some damage from that last one, but the golem was unharmed.
It regenerated its arm and was back in the fight.
"Shit. Ideas?"
"We should be able to get rid of the golem if we destroy the centre where the head is." Kirche told him.
"Won't be easy with those magic blasts. Any way past that?"
He noticed Louise had opened the box for the Staff she was holding it like it was some tube? Like a pipe of something.
"Wait a second..."
It was hard for him to focus with her waving it around trying to do something with it, but he was able to see what it actually was.
"That ain't a damn Staff."
He put his sword away and ran over to her.
"Louise! Fuckin genius girl! Hand it to me I know what that is." He said.
She pulled away.
"No! I've got this! I can get us out of this!"
"No Louise you don't get it that's not-" He tried to explain what it was.
"I said I know what I'm doing! Just let me handle this!" She argued backing away.
"Louise! Please! You don't know how to use it. You don't know what it is!"
He tried to take it, but she pulled it away and looked up at him with anger in her eyes and a mix of desperation. For what?
"Damnit! Just let me be useful for once in my life! Or else I'm just some worthless girl- Ah!"
Louise was caught by surprise when she felt a hand slap her across the face. She looked up to see Damien giving her a glare.
"Louise! Don't you dare say that! You are NOT worthless! You saved my damn life! I'd be dead if it weren't for you!" He pulled her into a hug. "You're strong. You might not know how to use magic yet YET, but you will figure it out! Everyone struggles. Kirche might talk a big game, but my bets are that she could barely light a candle when she was half her age. Tabitha probably could only make a light breeze. I could barely make a fucking spark when I started!"
He looked down at her.
"You see what I'm getting at? You just need to get there and when you do. The payoff will be so fuckin worth it." He stepped back. "You're not worthless. You're worth everything to me."
He took the staff from her.
"So let me do my job as a familiar and a Huntsman."
He turned around and knelt down. He looked down at the Staff. Louise shook herself awake and was next to him.
"I don't get it. How does it work?"
"Well." He popped the front cover off and extended the back of it. "Thing is about this thing. It's not a staff." He flipped something on the top that was used to aim.
He put the back of it on his shoulder and aimed it at the golem that the other two were keeping busy. "This is a rocket launcher."
He pressed down on the trigger on the top of it and it made a loud noise as it shot something forward. It hit the golem in the face and with a huge and loud explosion the entire head was gone.
It fell to the ground.
"Heh. Never thought I'd see one of these in my life. Only ever see them in history books." He said before dropping it to the ground. "How did I know how to unfold it? I've never used one before.... Meh, not important."
He dropped it and he helped a shocked Louise back to the others.
"The Staff of Destruction was that powerful?"
Kirche was surprised by the power, but Damien shook his head.
"Well. There was no "Staff of Destruction." It was just a very old weapon from my home world." He explained.
"And thank you so much for showing me how to use it."
They turned to see that person who stole it in the first place. She helped it up, looking over the weapon.
"I had no idea how to use it, so thank you for giving me a demonstration. Goodbye students."
She aimed at them and pressed the button on top.
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It didn't do anything.
"Huh? What?! What did you do?!"
He laughed.
"I used it, that's what. M-72 LAW. An old yet powerful rocket launcher. It was used in the war a lot, but it's a single use weapon. Once you fire it it's basically a useless pipe." He explained. "So in other words. There was no Staff of Destruction."
Before the thief could run away, Tabitha's familiar bonked her on the head and she were unconscious.
"Welp. Job done then." He said looking to the others.
"Seems so. We should bring it back to the school so you can explain what this actually is." Louise told him holding up the launcher that was now empty and basically worthless.
"Yeah. Good idea."
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The small team returned to the school with the weapon and the thief.
They were now talking to the principal.
"Hmm. Fascinating. And who was it that used the Staff?" The old man asked.
"It was me. And it's not a Staff. This is an M-72 LAW. Old Atlas military gear... What's it doing here?" Damien asked seemingly talking to himself. "Don't know how, but I just grabbed it and immediately knew how to use it."
That's when the principal noticed the markings on Damien's hand.
"Show me your hand boy." He said.
Damien was confused, but complied. He held his hand up and they all saw the markings. No one knew what they were.
"These popped up on my hand when Louise summoned me. After she... Uh... K-Kissed me." He said that part very quietly.
He stepped back as the principal told a story about something. He looked to Louise.
"To clarify. That kiss was to make the familiar pact. Sorry if it... made you uncomfortable." She said looking away to hide her blush.
"I-It's fine. Just it caught me off guard."
They tuned into the story and Damien was confused. He told them about how a man in a weird white and navy uniform saved his life one time with one of these Staffs. He was carrying three others with him and after he passed away they kept the weapons safe.
"Hmm."
Louise looked up to him.
"Something wrong?" She asked him.
"No. Just... That sounds like an Atlesian Soldier from the war back home... The model for the weapon is the same too. Now I'm confused."
"You knew the man? Or at least where he came from? He spoke of a land called Remnant." The principal told him.
Damien's eyes shot open.
"That's it! That's where I came from! Yeah, that guy was from the war between the kingdoms!"
Everyone was surprised to hear that.
"A war between the kingdoms?" Kirche asked unsure if she heard him right.
He looked to her.
"Yeah. A war that was almost a clean Atlas sweep. If it wasn't for Aura and semblances, they would have steamrolled the other kingdoms. They were that far ahead in technology." He explained.
"I see." He looked to some Professor guy, he thinks it was Louise's uncle or something. "Would you mind seeing what you can find about these markings?"
The guy nodded and went to Damien so he could draw them down and look for them.
After a minute of that they were allowed to go back to their regular student lives. Damien followed Louise to the room and they sat down to relax.
They stared at eachother.
Louise snickered.
"Ha ha ha." Damien let out a small laugh.
Soon they were laughing like they were crazy. It was all just kind of hilarious. After all that they just go home and sit down.
Damien however grew worried when Louise's laughing soon turned to tears. She lowered her head, trying to stop the tears and hide herself from him. She couldn't stop the few sobs escaping.
He moved closer and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.
"It's ok. It's alright. I got you now."
She didn't want to be seen like this, but she was more desperate for comfort and clung to him.
"You can let yourself fall apart. I'll hold you together. That's what I'm here to do aren't I?"
She just cried softly into him.
After a few minutes. She sort of calmed down and was just sort of silently crying.
"I-I... I'm... sorry.... For being a useless mage... I almost let you die. I let them get the staff. I didn't do anything back there to help." She hugged him tight. "I am worthless."
"Shhh. No you aren't. You did your best. You tried and that's all we can really ever do. I fucked up too. We all have slip ups and faults. We all struggle like you did... You were to one who found it. And hey." He looked down to her. "If you didn't give them the chance to take it, they might not have been in jail right now. Could have been out there ruining family businesses."
She looked up to him.
"So... I did ok?"
"Of course you did. You're a hero Louise. Be proud of that." He stood up and drew his sword. He held it by the blade and was knighting her with the handle? "And because of your heroic acts. I hereby promote you."
He put the sword away and held his hand out to her. She took it and he pulled her to stand.
"Now you can live your life as a Huntress. I know one when I see one." He said giving her a smile.
She found herself smiling too.
"Thank you. You're the best familiar ever." She said hugging him. 'Shame it can't be more... Why not though? It's not like it's wrong to have a Master Familiar love relationship.... I don't know.'
They eventually decided that it was time for bed. They had enough excitement for one day.
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The next day, sometime at night.
Damien stood in his normal armour and clothes. He looked down to his chest plate that was in good condition.
He was currently standing to the side in a party hall in the school. They were celebrating.... Something. Maybe it was someone's birthday?
He isn't sure and he doesn't care.
Louise had told him to go ahead and she'd join them later. He stood watching as Kirche was getting a lot of attention.
Looking to the side he noticed Tabitha with a plate of a lot of meat.
"Meat lover?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Neat.... So.... Any idea what this whole thing is for?" He asked.
She didn't say anything.
"Cause you know. I'm not exactly accustomed to anything here. This magic thing is still a surprise to me."
She just stayed quiet and ate.
"You're pretty good at it. Didn't know you could use wind magic that strong to stagger a giant rock monster. How long have you been at it?"
Surprisingly she didn't answer.
"Ah. I suppose a wizard never reveals their secrets. I mean you know that's fair. You're not obligated to tell anyone anything."
Not a word from her.
"You don't like to talk much do you."
She shook her head.
"That's fair. I won't disturb you anymore then." He was about to walk off when she suddenly put her staff in front of him and shook her head. Guess she wanted some company. Where did her staff come from? "Oh. Uh, alright.... You uh, wanna hear a story from where I came from?"
From there he had her attention.
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"So then she goes "Blake's a guy?!" I fuckin lost it at that point."
He finished a story he was telling to Tabitha who was just listening. She gave no reaction.
'This girl kinda scares me.'
Before he was jumpscared by her, he heard someone call his name.
He turned to see Louise approaching and...
"Wow."
She was wearing a dress that was very pink, but she pulled it off well. It went perfectly with her hair.
'Don't make it weird.'
He watched as she walked over to him and stood by his side. Unknown to him, she was waiting for something to come from him. A compliment at least.
"Uhhh..." He wasn't sure what to say. "You uh.... Look nice. Louise."
She didn't seem to acknowledge it, but really she was just disappoint.
That was it? Just nice? She tried her best to impress him and she just gets a "nice" that's great. Perfect.
She turned away.
"Hmph. Well, I never asked for your opinion on how I looked. Stupid mutt. Stupid hot bastard." She said that part under her breath.
"Huh? What did I do?"
She then got pissy and pointed a finger in his face.
"I said I don't care what you think!"
She stormed off and Damien was left confused.
"Did I... Miss something?"
Tabitha nodded.
"I did?...... Huh.... Oh." The realisation came to him suddenly. He knew what she was after now. "I need to go."
She nodded as if to say "Yes. Yes you do."
He managed to catch up to her. She was heading to leave. Did he really fuck up that bad?
"Wait. Louise." He called out trying not to gain much attention.
"Leave me alone!"
"Louise wait I'm sorry. I didn't want to be weird." He said getting in front of her. "Sorry about that, I'm not the best at this stuff. What I meant to say was..."
He looked her in the eyes and smiled.
"You look.... amazing. You really know how to make the colour pink work well." He said holding her hands.
She was surprised and blushed. She looked away.
"..."
"Sorry?"
"... You..."
"Louise I can't-"
"I said thank you alright!"
"Ok! Damn, still feisty. Good to know you haven't changed." He said with a laugh.
She looked up at him expectantly, he wasn't sure what she wanted, but one quick look to where a number of others were dancing and he got it.
"You uh... Want to dance? I'll warn you, I skipped the dance in my first year at Beacon. Didn't have a date." He asked warning her that she wasn't to expect a whole lot.
She smiled.
"I find that very surprising."
Damien brought her to where others were dancing and they both joined them.
Surprisingly, he didn't fuck up.
"Huh... Didn't think I'd be able to do this. Or that I ever would do it." He said silently praying he didn't jinx himself.
"You're a natural at it. Though your fighting definitely helps. It helped you get your footing just fine. That's really all it is." She told him.
"Yeah.... I guess you're right."
They stayed like that and spent the rest of the night having fun and joking around.
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That's part 6 down.
I'm going to fuck off. Peace.