So, I guess I'll give a sort of preface to this, one which I think will be able to help me with...
The Histories of Napoleon Bonaparte and Wandrisse
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So, I guess I'll give a sort of preface to this, one which I think will be able to help me with this story. Those who post on SB in the CrW forums may remember a story I wrote called Emperor of Zero, a pretty huge Zero no Tsukaima fanfic. I left it unfinished, largely due to the restrictions of fanfiction writing. As much as Zero no Tsukaima helped provide a backdrop, it also provided a major restriction on what characters could and could not do, especially if I wanted to stay faithful to the original work.
For better or for worse, this is Emperor of Zero without those chains, for both good and ill. I could say more, but I fundamentally believe that an author should try their best to let their work speak for itself. So here goes, with one simple quote:
"Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship."
"Is everything ready, Professor Auber?"
A bald, middle-aged man, his hands enclosed in the long sleeves of his woolen robes, looked away from the moon and at the door of his office. A woman stood there, her long red hair draped around her shoulders. Her face was serene and beautiful, but there was a small wrinkle on the right side of her forehead.
"You missed a spot, Professor Helrend." The bald man pointed at his own forehead.
Helrend moved her hand to the analogous spot and felt the wrinkle.
"I thought I got that." She said. "Oh well. It gets harder to keep up my appearances every year."
"You do well enough, Professor. Especially for a woman of your years. You will be turning how old again next month?"
"Auber!" Helrend cried. "It is rude to speak of a lady's age. If you spent more time around people and less around these…things, you would know that. Why do you care so much about these contraptions anyways?"
She waved her arm, at the metal devices and flasks of liquids which filled the halls of Auber's office. Some of the devices hissed and bubbled with steam. Some intermittently emitted strange lights or sounds. And on top of Auber's desk, a metal cylinder sat, completely inert.
"I'm the head of Magical Research at the Imperial Polstad Academy." Auber said. "Besides, Helrend, it would be better if you used magic more for the benefit of others as opposed to trying to improve your beauty. You know the words of the Wandering Man. Magic is a gift, one which we do not use frivolously. It is what separates us from the Fallen and grants us our power, that we choose to use it for the benefit of others."
"Oh, but my magic is for the benefit of others." Helrend shrugged. "Do you suppose the students want to see my normal, wrinkly face?"
"The students need to be focused on their lessons, not you, Professor."
"Well, that is true. But come now, come now, Auber." Helrend cooed. "You're so cold to poor Professor Helrend, but I know you are still a softie. If you continue to be this mean, you will make me cry."
Helrend sighed dramatically and batted her eyelashes. Without reacting to her theatrics, Auber looked back to the window.
"You still should listen to my advice." He finally said.
"Oh I know, I know." Helrend pouted. "But there is using magic for the benefit of others, and there is working yourself to the bone like you have for the past seven days. Are you finally finished with all the preparations for tomorrow's Summoning Ceremony?"
"I merely laid the groundwork." Auber answered. "It is the students who need to prepare for the Ceremony, not me. They are the ones who need to rest their hearts and minds in preparation for what comes next. Though the truth is that the Summoning Ceremony is not that important."
"Now, don't go saying that!" Helrend wagged a finger. "The Summoning Ceremony is the most important day in a young mage's life. Not just for what it unveils about a mage's power – but what it reveals about your personality."
"People place too much importance on it." Auber continued to stare out of the window. "The fact is that summoning a great familiar does not determine everything. I have seen students who summon great beasts get lazy because of what they summoned and fall behind those who summoned lesser creatures. Besides, does someone who summoned a sea urchin in her ceremony want to talk about how the Ceremony discovers inner talent?"
"It is a special sea urchin!" Helrend fumed. "My Spiny is far more beautiful than that…thing of yours. But yes, I guess you're right. And sometimes, the most innocent-looking familiars prove to be the most dangerous of all. There was that noble who summoned a mere rat back then, but then it turned out-"
"Hush." Auber suddenly said. He placed a finger on his lips and indicated that Helrend should come to the window. The female teacher complied and looked out.
Outside the window, the two teachers could see the Imperial Polstad Academy's courtyard. They could see the moon shimmering on the long grass as well as the nearby statue of the great warrior-mage Lord Junartus. A gigantic circle, its diameter longer than Auber and Helrend's heights combined, was inscribed on the grass, and a hexagon was drawn inside.
"Did you see something?" Helrend asked.
Auber gave no answer, but craned his neck to peer to the left of the window. Helrend could see nothing, and shrugged her shoulders.
"That circle is quite a sight." Helrend mused. "It is almost as beautiful as I am. We should keep it out there after the Ceremony is finished tomorrow. It would pose a great monument to-"
"Look!" Auber hissed.
Helrend finally spotted what had caught Auber's attention. A small figure, face covered by a hood, furtively scampered towards the circle. She hopped from bush to bush, and constantly swiveled her neck every direction but up towards the teachers. After constantly looking every which way for the seventh time, the hood finally fell off and revealed a length of shoulder brown hair. The girl quickly put her hood on, but the two teachers recognized her face instantly.
"Oh. Her." Professor Helrend sighed. "I guess she's coming out here to practice, huh?"
Auber slowly nodded.
"How do you think she will do tomorrow?" He asked.
"Mathilde?" Professor Helrend said. "It will certainly be interesting."
"I hope she will be fine. If her summoning turns out to be a disaster, it will be a scandal in the capital.
"I think talking about a complete failure is a bit harsh." Helrend said. "There have been only twenty cases in the last 800 years where someone has failed to summon any familiar, and none in the last sixty. And all of those cases were from lesser noble families. I know she has some issues with her spell-casting, but this is all about confidence and she still appears to have it."
"She certainly has been in a better mood than a week ago." Auber said. "But I think she just wants to get out of Her Majesty's shadow. You talked about the uproar if Mathilde screws up, Helrend, but what about Her Majesty?"
"Her?" Helrend scoffed. "There's nothing to worry about. Princess Sophie will be fine. She is no genius, but she's above-average for a member of the Royal House. And she works hard, perhaps even harder than Nikia because of the pressure on her. I'm sure those two girls will be just fine tomorrow."
The two professors continued to watch Mathilde from the window. She stopped in front of the circle, and knelt in front of one of the hexagon's six corners. The professors could not see what Mathilde was doing from their height, but she appeared to be praying. When she was finished, she reached into her skirt and pulled out a long stick, as long as her forearm. A wand.
The girl waved her wand a few times, and then went to the next corner before repeating the process. After doing the same thing for each of the six corners, she stowed her wand back into her skirt pocket and left.
"She was probably practicing the chant for tomorrow." Auber turned towards Helrend.
"Maybe." Helrend said. "But there will be a lot of pressure on her. Yes, Princess Sophie is her friend, but I know there are those who hope she fails. Still, she will probably be a fire mage like her mother and sister. Hopefully she will summon a salamander or djinn, and we could put all of this nonsense to rest."
"What about Her Majesty? We know that she'll certainly be water, just like everyone in the Royal House. But could she get triple, or maybe even square?"
"You might as well ask if she gets a pentagram if you are thinking that well of her." Helrend laughed. "A double is certainly possible. Maybe a triple, but certainly not a square. But I cannot help but wonder. If those two girls succeed, what will they do with that success? If Mathilde succeeds, what will she do with that success? What will she become? I hope I live to see it, Auber. I really do."
"Live to see it?" Auber chuckled. "You may plaster more water magic on yourself than a mermaid to look like that, but you're not that old. If they succeed, I'm sure it will be for the best. Now, the hour is late. We had best get a good night's sleep if we are to be ready for tomorrow."
The two professors left Auber's office and headed out, chatting to each other all the way. Shortly afterwards, the Summoning Circle in the courtyard glimmered blue for a brief second before the light faded away.
For better or for worse, this is Emperor of Zero without those chains, for both good and ill. I could say more, but I fundamentally believe that an author should try their best to let their work speak for itself. So here goes, with one simple quote:
"Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship."
- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
"Is everything ready, Professor Auber?"
A bald, middle-aged man, his hands enclosed in the long sleeves of his woolen robes, looked away from the moon and at the door of his office. A woman stood there, her long red hair draped around her shoulders. Her face was serene and beautiful, but there was a small wrinkle on the right side of her forehead.
"You missed a spot, Professor Helrend." The bald man pointed at his own forehead.
Helrend moved her hand to the analogous spot and felt the wrinkle.
"I thought I got that." She said. "Oh well. It gets harder to keep up my appearances every year."
"You do well enough, Professor. Especially for a woman of your years. You will be turning how old again next month?"
"Auber!" Helrend cried. "It is rude to speak of a lady's age. If you spent more time around people and less around these…things, you would know that. Why do you care so much about these contraptions anyways?"
She waved her arm, at the metal devices and flasks of liquids which filled the halls of Auber's office. Some of the devices hissed and bubbled with steam. Some intermittently emitted strange lights or sounds. And on top of Auber's desk, a metal cylinder sat, completely inert.
"I'm the head of Magical Research at the Imperial Polstad Academy." Auber said. "Besides, Helrend, it would be better if you used magic more for the benefit of others as opposed to trying to improve your beauty. You know the words of the Wandering Man. Magic is a gift, one which we do not use frivolously. It is what separates us from the Fallen and grants us our power, that we choose to use it for the benefit of others."
"Oh, but my magic is for the benefit of others." Helrend shrugged. "Do you suppose the students want to see my normal, wrinkly face?"
"The students need to be focused on their lessons, not you, Professor."
"Well, that is true. But come now, come now, Auber." Helrend cooed. "You're so cold to poor Professor Helrend, but I know you are still a softie. If you continue to be this mean, you will make me cry."
Helrend sighed dramatically and batted her eyelashes. Without reacting to her theatrics, Auber looked back to the window.
"You still should listen to my advice." He finally said.
"Oh I know, I know." Helrend pouted. "But there is using magic for the benefit of others, and there is working yourself to the bone like you have for the past seven days. Are you finally finished with all the preparations for tomorrow's Summoning Ceremony?"
"I merely laid the groundwork." Auber answered. "It is the students who need to prepare for the Ceremony, not me. They are the ones who need to rest their hearts and minds in preparation for what comes next. Though the truth is that the Summoning Ceremony is not that important."
"Now, don't go saying that!" Helrend wagged a finger. "The Summoning Ceremony is the most important day in a young mage's life. Not just for what it unveils about a mage's power – but what it reveals about your personality."
"People place too much importance on it." Auber continued to stare out of the window. "The fact is that summoning a great familiar does not determine everything. I have seen students who summon great beasts get lazy because of what they summoned and fall behind those who summoned lesser creatures. Besides, does someone who summoned a sea urchin in her ceremony want to talk about how the Ceremony discovers inner talent?"
"It is a special sea urchin!" Helrend fumed. "My Spiny is far more beautiful than that…thing of yours. But yes, I guess you're right. And sometimes, the most innocent-looking familiars prove to be the most dangerous of all. There was that noble who summoned a mere rat back then, but then it turned out-"
"Hush." Auber suddenly said. He placed a finger on his lips and indicated that Helrend should come to the window. The female teacher complied and looked out.
Outside the window, the two teachers could see the Imperial Polstad Academy's courtyard. They could see the moon shimmering on the long grass as well as the nearby statue of the great warrior-mage Lord Junartus. A gigantic circle, its diameter longer than Auber and Helrend's heights combined, was inscribed on the grass, and a hexagon was drawn inside.
"Did you see something?" Helrend asked.
Auber gave no answer, but craned his neck to peer to the left of the window. Helrend could see nothing, and shrugged her shoulders.
"That circle is quite a sight." Helrend mused. "It is almost as beautiful as I am. We should keep it out there after the Ceremony is finished tomorrow. It would pose a great monument to-"
"Look!" Auber hissed.
Helrend finally spotted what had caught Auber's attention. A small figure, face covered by a hood, furtively scampered towards the circle. She hopped from bush to bush, and constantly swiveled her neck every direction but up towards the teachers. After constantly looking every which way for the seventh time, the hood finally fell off and revealed a length of shoulder brown hair. The girl quickly put her hood on, but the two teachers recognized her face instantly.
"Oh. Her." Professor Helrend sighed. "I guess she's coming out here to practice, huh?"
Auber slowly nodded.
"How do you think she will do tomorrow?" He asked.
"Mathilde?" Professor Helrend said. "It will certainly be interesting."
"I hope she will be fine. If her summoning turns out to be a disaster, it will be a scandal in the capital.
"I think talking about a complete failure is a bit harsh." Helrend said. "There have been only twenty cases in the last 800 years where someone has failed to summon any familiar, and none in the last sixty. And all of those cases were from lesser noble families. I know she has some issues with her spell-casting, but this is all about confidence and she still appears to have it."
"She certainly has been in a better mood than a week ago." Auber said. "But I think she just wants to get out of Her Majesty's shadow. You talked about the uproar if Mathilde screws up, Helrend, but what about Her Majesty?"
"Her?" Helrend scoffed. "There's nothing to worry about. Princess Sophie will be fine. She is no genius, but she's above-average for a member of the Royal House. And she works hard, perhaps even harder than Nikia because of the pressure on her. I'm sure those two girls will be just fine tomorrow."
The two professors continued to watch Mathilde from the window. She stopped in front of the circle, and knelt in front of one of the hexagon's six corners. The professors could not see what Mathilde was doing from their height, but she appeared to be praying. When she was finished, she reached into her skirt and pulled out a long stick, as long as her forearm. A wand.
The girl waved her wand a few times, and then went to the next corner before repeating the process. After doing the same thing for each of the six corners, she stowed her wand back into her skirt pocket and left.
"She was probably practicing the chant for tomorrow." Auber turned towards Helrend.
"Maybe." Helrend said. "But there will be a lot of pressure on her. Yes, Princess Sophie is her friend, but I know there are those who hope she fails. Still, she will probably be a fire mage like her mother and sister. Hopefully she will summon a salamander or djinn, and we could put all of this nonsense to rest."
"What about Her Majesty? We know that she'll certainly be water, just like everyone in the Royal House. But could she get triple, or maybe even square?"
"You might as well ask if she gets a pentagram if you are thinking that well of her." Helrend laughed. "A double is certainly possible. Maybe a triple, but certainly not a square. But I cannot help but wonder. If those two girls succeed, what will they do with that success? If Mathilde succeeds, what will she do with that success? What will she become? I hope I live to see it, Auber. I really do."
"Live to see it?" Auber chuckled. "You may plaster more water magic on yourself than a mermaid to look like that, but you're not that old. If they succeed, I'm sure it will be for the best. Now, the hour is late. We had best get a good night's sleep if we are to be ready for tomorrow."
The two professors left Auber's office and headed out, chatting to each other all the way. Shortly afterwards, the Summoning Circle in the courtyard glimmered blue for a brief second before the light faded away.
- Location
- United States
Your FoZ fic is probably my favorite since I'm a big history nerd. Right now you can clearly see how this has been derived from FoZ, but I'll be interested to see how it changes!
The first chapter is kinda exposition-y, but you do a good job of not making it boring.
The first chapter is kinda exposition-y, but you do a good job of not making it boring.