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The Steep Path Ahead [Familiar of Zero AU]

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Wait wouldn't redoing the summoning ritual resummon Saito? I think I remember regular mages being able teleport/call their familiars or some such
 
shadenight123 said:
Yeah, but that would reveal the whole gig that being the Heart of God makes you a living battery. Nobody wants to be a living battery.
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He's the leader of a religion. If he asks for people to volunteer to be martyrs to defeat the elves they will not lack for people offering themselves. Offer some extra rewards for the surviving family of the volunteer and you'll have so many people offering that the trouble will be to to go through all the applications.
 
Yes but the series is apparently continuing as the the author left a outline before he died apparently.
 
....oh yeah. the portal was only appearing because Saito hadn't been bound as a familiar yet...
 
And all the void familiars as well from what I remember. Its a rather involved ritualistic spell.
 
That was a really dumb and contrived way of making them seal the pact? I don't know if it was in the original but "he's just standing there and they're talking then WHOOPS FALL AND ACCIDENTAL KISS" is really, really dumb.
 
TBH these developments in the plot have been done in a way that makes Saito and Louise seem really ineffective. Their actions have little impact on the plot even when by all means they should have.

Louise and Saito knock out Charlotte to stop Julio, but arrive too late to stop Julio from showing Tiff the body. Despite thinking this is horrible and cruel of him, they proceed to stand there like lumps while he convinces Tiff to summon a familiar. Then Saito refuses to go through the portal, but in an incredibly contrived chain of events manages to fall through and kiss Tiff anyway.
 
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Plus, considering the body count Saito's got at this point, you'd think a good stabbing would have solved a lot of problems for all involved. Monologue armor seems a must for keeping Julio, etc. alive so far.
 
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Chapter Ninety-Five
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    • Chapter Ninety-Five

    Charlotte's frame stopped trembling only once she had placed enough space between herself and the doorway, coming to a stop by the bedside, sitting down and calmly settling her staff on her knees. "You'll think I am a cruel person," Charlotte spoke, her voice soft.

    "I know you aren't," Saito replied, "But I'd rather not have these around my wrists," he added, pulling at the chains that were tied to the bedposts.

    "I'm sorry," Charlotte said with a weak smile, "But I cannot help you escape."

    "I understand-It's about your dragon, right?" Saito asked. His voice was resigned, "Even then-Surely you understand how wrong this entire thing is."

    Charlotte shook her head. "I have no right to complain," she said. "I asked for aid in taking down my uncle. Why should I now preach about morals, if I've broken them first?" her smile turned sad. "Even this is just a hypocrisy. Why should I not allow them when I did pretty much the same? This makes me a hypocrite-"

    "Or maybe it makes you someone who understands she did something wrong, and now wishes to make things right," Saito said. "We can still find a peaceful solution to this, Charlotte. Do you know where your dragon is kept?"

    Charlotte clutched her staff. "Even if I did-Even if we managed-they'd still be on us. The Windalfr can control all manners of beasts, with no limits. All birds, all rats, everything that walks the earth can become one of his familiars, even previous familiars can-"

    "There has to be a way," Saito said. "Something we can do."

    Charlotte giggled lightly. "Ever optimistic, Lord Saito."

    Saito sighed. "If only the Elves could be talked with-I understand they tried once before, but trying again wouldn't hurt."

    "I do not share your optimism on the Elves," Charlotte spoke softly, "If not for TIffania, I would not think of them any differently, but she is a good kid, and if I can avoid her further pain, then I will, no matter what might be my reckoning. I'd understand if you were to curse me. I am, after all, merely acting for my own personal interests."

    "You're protecting your familiar, and your sister," Saito whispered. "What more could there be?"

    "If I were to free you," Charlotte said quietly, "Would you help me once more?" her eyes looked at his, and Saito furrowed his brows. "When you fought against my Uncle, you did so because of a spell-the 'contract' spell. I-I made sure you'd see certain things, understood certain words, felt certain feelings...Water Magic, powerful Water Magic, can influence many things of a human body. Emotions, thoughts-you truly wished to kill my Uncle, because he had truly angered you by deeply hurting the one person you loved the most. That was why you killed him. It was Derflinger who spoke-but you were the one who did it. So, if I help you...can you do that? Can you kill the Pope, his familiar-everyone on your way out? Can you bath this city in blood?"

    Saito's face whitened like the sheets he was currently resting beneath. "That-No matter how much you say that-I'd never-" and Charlotte thus sadly shook her head.

    "See? You don't have the resolve to do what must be done, and that's why you can't win. If I help you, you have to do at least this much. It's the only way to make sure. A new Pope might be better, talking might still be tried, but you'll have to kill many to achieve it. If you can't fathom that, then it's useless for you to ask me to free you. You don't even know what you want, and if you do, you don't know how to achieve it."

    "Maybe I don't," Saito said quickly, nodding his head. "But I know that this is wrong, and even if I don't have a better solution, I'll still fight this plan until my last breath."

    "Just like a hero from a fairy tale then? Without thinking about consequences, simply caring about stopping evil because it's evil?" Charlotte asked once more. She pulled out a flask from her cloak. "This here-this is a powerful poison known as the 'Lost Heart' potion. If you were to drink this, you'd lose your abilities as the Gandalfr and go mad. They asked for it, should you prove too resistant to their mind control. With the Gandalfr, one can never be too safe. Certainly, making you drink this would work. At the same time, should you make the Windalfr drink this, he'd lose all ability to fight, and wouldn't be able to harm Sylphid. Then, it would be a matter of keeping him alive to prevent the Pope from summoning another."

    She placed the flak on the bed desk. "If not a bath of blood, then this too can be done. Would you accept such a deal instead? Eternal madness for a lone person, in exchange for freedom?"

    Saito swallowed heavily. "You came prepared."

    "Yes," Charlotte answered. "But as you are, even if you were to give it your best, it wouldn't be enough. You need more."

    Saito stared at the flask, and then at Charlotte. "You want to use that-that spell, right? That 'Contract' thing, once more."

    Charlotte nodded. "It's not like I can stop you," Saito said. "Why are you asking me?"

    "Because I don't want to," Charlotte murmured, "I can save you, if only you'd let me do this. However, I'll respect your decision, whatever it may be. Think of it as my offer of redemption for having kidnapped you. If you truly wish to be saved, if you truly want to believe your way is correct and that of the Pope isn't, then you'll have to do something unspeakable either way. I'll just make sure you cannot falter, because otherwise-I'd be the one who'd end up suffering from it."

    "And if I say no?" Saito said.

    "There is one last option," Charlotte answered plainly, moving from the edge of the bed to the shackle that bound one of his arms. "You can choke me with your bare hands," she added, quite calmly too. "If I were to die, the powers of the Mind of God would fail. Without them, they would not be able to control you. You do not trust me? Then kill me, I won't scream. With me dead, they won't have a reason to harm Sylphid, and Josette can take the throne in my place." She grabbed at the chain, and pulled it around her neck. "Here-you just have to move your arm and squeeze. I'll-"

    "What! No!" Saito's yell did nothing to change Charlotte's face. "There's-There's no way-"

    "Then what? What are you going to do, Saito? Kill me, madden Julio, or kill them all," Charlotte said as coldly as she could. "Or do you see another way? Any other way?" her hands did not tremble, even though she clutched her knees as she stood kneeling atop the bed by Saito's side.

    "I-I don't know," Saito whispered in the end. "I just don't know."

    Charlotte smiled sadly. "I know," she bent down, just enough to grab a lock of his hair with her right hand, "That's why I'll pick for you, wayward Ivaldi." Then she bent down, and roughly kissed him.

    From afar, Julio watched through the eyes of a spider the proceedings. Even with all the effort she had put into it, the Queen of Gallia hadn't managed to convince the boy of his foolishness in resisting. She had done a great job making him understand his lack of choices. If he wished to keep acting like a moralistic white knight of fairy tales, then he was bound to come face to face with the reality of the situation.

    Wishing for a future where nobody had to kill was nothing short than childish. Being nice would not convince the Elves to give the land that rightfully belonged to the humans back. Being kind would not work in harnessing the power of the Void. Founder Brimir had tied the power of the familiars to 'strong emotions' for a singular purpose: that of war. Why else would his familiars be the strongest the moment they found their resolve in battle?

    "She really is doing her best," Julio remarked from his spot at the far end of the hallway. "She's resorting to everything she can," a lazy smirk appeared on his face, as Vittorio simply scoffed, his eyes closed in concentration to see the same things that his familiar did, clutching his papal staff and standing in wait.

    "Even if he were to accept, stand ready with the ring of Andvari, Julio."

    "You don't need to worry about me, your Holiness," Julio answered in turn.

    Charlotte stepped outside with a light blush on her face, but quickly shook her head as she neared the two. "He refused," Charlotte whispered, appearing contrite. "Please give him the rest of the day to think."

    "I did say he had one whole day," Vittorio remarked, nodding and extending a hand. "The poison of Lost Heart, if you'd be so kind."

    Charlotte narrowed her eyes, and then quickly handed it over. Uncorking it, Vittorio poured it on the floor where it harmlessly dispersed. "Even I am not so vile as to use this type of poison on my foes," shaking his head, the Pope turned to leave.

    "But you killed those children," Charlotte accused, her eyes narrow.

    "What? No! Who do you take us for?" Vittorio looked aghast, and then turned towards Julio.

    "The children are all safe within an orphanage. Perhaps it is not the orphanage they were expected into, but they will be cared for. The blood was just that of a pig-" Julio said, smiling his lazy smile.

    "The man with them," Charlotte said, her eyes narrow.

    "I ordered him to join the Crusades," Julio replied, waving his ring in front of her. "He should have arrived in Romalia by now, just one more recruit among the many faithful."

    "Still inexcusable," Charlotte said firmly.

    "A bit of a hypocrite, are we not?" Julio remarked, even as Vittorio began to climb upstairs from the dank hallway they stood in. The dank and dark and windowless hallway that would have been perhaps something more akin to a prison than the infirmary of a Pope, but when it came to safety, this tiny prison-like space was second to none.

    The perfect place to keep the Gandalfr hidden.

    The perfect place to break a man's will.

    Deep within the room, Saito's breathing evened out as he kept his mouth shut, a tiny but sharp razor-like blade hitting the back of his throat. He turned his neck to the side, away from where the spider supposedly was -believing Charlotte- and as he coughed the blade out and gripped it within his teeth, he felt the rush of power of the Gandalfr activate.

    Still, if they discovered this was done thanks to Charlotte -while she'd be willing to face the consequences of it, Saito wouldn't be able to.

    So, he'd pick an option that would work.

    He'd wring it.

    It had worked out so well with the haunted mansion, so...

    What could possibly go wrong?
     
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    • tarrangar said:
    They only have access to Earth which is already over populated.
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    People have been claiming that about Earth for over a century, stating that population numbers we have exceeded were impossible to support.

    However the total human biomass on Earth is insignificant compared to most other species. So why are their numbers not overpopulating the Earth?
     
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