Familiar Of Zero: Saving Grace

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Saito gets saved from Louise, but not without a fight. Agnes trains him, but is it more than that? Who takes him on as a familiar, and what is his new power? Tabitha and Henrietta both love Saito, but is it possible to be with 2 queens? Where does this leave Siesta and Tiffania? Follow the Familiar Of Zero story, but with some changes. Saito,Tabitha,Siesta,Henrietta,Agnes,Tiffania

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I do not own Familiar Of Zero

This familiar of zero fan-fiction starts of between episodes 6 and 7 of the 2nd season. This is after Saito helps Henrietta snuff out Richemont but before Agnes goes under the school to find the information she is looking for.

There is one change from the anime. Instead of Richemont telling Agnes that the information she is looking for is under academy, he only tells her that it is in a secret archive somewhere.

This is my first fan-fiction, and hopefully one of many to come. I hope you enjoy

*Action*

"Dialogue"

'Inner thoughts'

{Saito's other Inner Voice}

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Chapter One

Broken

Saito's day starts off normally just like any of his other days.

Saito is asleep on his wonderful stack of hay. He is in his usual blue, long sleeve tunic. And he is also slightly snoring. His was a little disheveled like usual. He also had some minor lacerations on him.

Why was he in this situation? Well the answer to that is quite easy. Louise.

Louise had whipped him that night with the riding crop because of his excursions with Henrietta. He must have been doing typical lewd things around Henrietta because he is such a dog. Of course she whipped him without even knowing the full story.

She didn't know that Henrietta had shoved his hand in her cleavage to avoid some guards

She didn't know that Henrietta had pulled off her own top, pressed herself against Saito and kissed him to avoid the guards looking for her.

She also didn't seem to care about the fact that he had saved the queen from being stabbed.

***************Flashback***************

"You are sleeping on the hay tonight like the dog you are.

Saito tries to refute, "But. . ."

"No butts unless you want to miss a meal tomorrow", Louise interjects before he could finish.

"I am going to bed", she huffs, sticks her nose into the air, and then she heads for bed.

Saito begrudgingly leans Derf against the wall and settles onto his stack of hay like an animal to go to bed.

'Man, what is with her? I help Henrietta snuff out a traitor, stop someone from stabbing her, and this is the treatment I come back to? This isn't right.'

{It's ok. Just sleep on the hay tonight. You know she will get over it. You know you love her.}

He sighs.

'Yeah. Time for sleep.'

***************End Flashback***************

Saito wakes up to a pillow being thrown at his face.

"Huh?", he sits up rubbing his eyes to try to wake up. Wondering why she did that.

He looks up to see Louise standing in front of him with her hands on her hips with a stern glare coming from her face.

"Hurry up and help me get dressed. I don't want to be late." She tells him this as though he should have been up before her and waiting.

Highly annoyed by this treatment again, he still gets up to help her get dressed.

{You shouldn't be so upset. She is your master. Besides, don't you enjoy helping a girl change into her school attire?}

'She could at least be a little nicer about it.'

{But this is just how she is. You just have to accept it. It's ok.}

Saito just feels as though he is debating with himself.

He gets rewarded with an oddly comforting joy and warmth while he helps her get dressed.

Just as he finishes helping her get dressed he tells her "There. Done." You could hear the annoyance in his voice as he said it.

"Humph!"

She turns her head slightly to the side and closes her eyes. She starts to think of the fact that she will be seeing Julio momentarily and starts to get a slight blush on her face. This slight moment of happiness starts to fade as she opens her eyes again and gives Saito another glare out the corner of her eyes.

"Maybe Julio will treat me better than my own dog can."

'Great! Now she is throwing that man's name at me to add insult to injury'

{See what happens if you aren't good to her? Treat her right and you wouldn't have these issues.}

'Maybe so, but this still just irks me.'

{You deserved it. You should do whatever makes your master happy}

'I suppose so.'

Louise puts a smile on her face and quickly exits her room without Saito.

Derflinger pops out from his sheath and talks to Saito.

"Hey Partner"

Saito looks over at his battle partner. His sword. A sword that was once a rust-bucket sitting abandoned in a weapons shop. A sword that regained it's life when Saito wielded it. It's blade became shiny and sharp again, and it became alive with sentience.

"Hey Derf"

"It looks like she is pretty mad at you yet again."

"Yeah Derf, it sure does. I can't stand it though, but yet I feel an odd attraction to keep going back to her."

"Maybe it's because you love her", replies Derf.

{That's right.}

'It seems like that, but. . .'

Saito looks at Derflinger.

"I don't know."

"Hmmmm", Derf replies. Inquisically thinking about Saito's reply, but quickly dismisses it.

Saito quickly gets himself together. Not that there was much to get together considering he always wears the same clothes every day. He straps Derflinger to his back and heads out the door.

When entering the hallway he runs into probably the most tanned student in the whole academy, Kirche the Fever. Her beautiful long red hair enhancing her byname. She was walking down the hall with none other than Tabitha. Tabitha already had her nose stuffed into a book. It's amazing how she gets around without ever tripping. Kirche spots Saito.

"Darling!", she says as her eyes glisten and a huge smile forms on her face.

Saito tries to respond, but it's kind of muffled due to the fact that his whole face was stuffed into Kirche's cleavage embraced in a hug. She starts to sway a little back and forth while doing this.

In the background you start to hear some footsteps coming closer.

While still looking into her book, Tabitha gives Kirche a tap on the shoulder.

Kiche stops mid-sway.

"Huh?"

"Air" Is the only thing Tabitha says.

The fever releases him finally.

*smiles and scratches the back of his head*

"It's good to see you too Kirche"

"Saitoooooooooooo!" came out from beside the trio.

With flames in the background, a fire in her eyes, and her hair floating to some mysterious wind, there was Louise. She had came back to get her wand after leaving so quickly from her room and ran into the group with Saito's face in Kirche's chest.

"You dog! I can't leave you alone for one second, can I?"

"But I didn't . . . ." was all he could sputter before Louise interrupted him.

"I don't care to hear your excuses."

She grabs him by the back of his collar and proceeds to go back into her room with him.

"Wait….Louise" Saito cries out with his hands extended out as he is being dragged away. Louise shuts the door

Tabitha, still looking into her book, gives a sideways glance towards Louise's door and shakes her head slowly back and forth with a slightly sorrowful look to her face that could hardly be noticeable to the average person.

Kirche even has her own side of the issue. 'I shouldn't feel bad about being happy to see Saito. I know he is HER familiar, but he IS a human. I like to tease her but she is getting out of hand with her punishment.'

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{Now you've done it}

Louise proceeds to get out her studded green whip.

"Come on Louise!"

"I cannot let this go unpunished. You can't even be faithful to your master."

'She doesn't give me a reason to even want to be around her' he thinks to himself.

{That's no way to think. You love her. You should always want to be around her no matter what. You should endure anything to be with her. There is no one else for you but her.}

'Some of the others seem to like me and treat me better.'

{Louise is your one and only}

Saito starts to back up into a corner as Louise starts to walk toward him. She has a look in her eyes that can only be compared to a sadist. Then she starts to crack the whip.

With each crack of the whip and his cries of pain (which could be heard by not only Tabitha and Kirche, but also others too), Saito has a struggle going on in his head.

'Ow! This hurts so much. Did I really deserve this punishment?'

{Yes you did.}

'What?'

{You heard me right. You deserved this.}

'But I didn't even do anything?'

{That's the point. You didn't even try to fight away Kirche, so you deserve this.}

'I suppose'

*crack*

"Owwww!"

"This is what you get you perverted dog. First Henrietta, and now Kirche."

'This is becoming unbearable'

{You must bear it because she is your master.}

'But how? This hurts soo much.'

{I can make this go away}

Saito still thinks he is talking amongst himself.

'How is that possible?'

{Surrender yourself and go hide yourself away during times like these. Go to a happy place in your head. Let go.}

'Yeah', as though a light-bulb went off in his head.

'Is that really ok though'

{Of course it is!}

'But this is wrong. Isn't this abuse?'

{No. This is tough love. Can't you see how much you love her?}

'I guess I do.'

{That's right. Accept it.}

*Crack!*

"Ow."

{Now it's time to let it go and the pain will subside.}

Saito starts to bury his conscience.

{This is the right thing to do.}

'This is the right thing to do'

Just as Saito's eyes start to lose their gleam and life, Louise stops.

"I have wasted too much time here with you. I have to get going." She grabs her wand and exits.

Saito returns to normal.

"I guess we should get going too." Saito says to Derflinger.

He winces a little as he gets up.

"You ok partner?"

"Yeah."

What couldn't be seen, are the marks left by his lashings under his clothes.

Saito heads outside where everyone is training.

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It was a beautiful day outside (as it usually is) with the sun shining and a light breeze to keep the air flowing. The students were lined up in a handful of rows out on the lusciously green school grounds with their training staves.

The first part of the day is being handled by Agnes to train the students in defense without their wands. With the threat of attack at hand, she had to make sure these students were ready. She was her usual stone-cold self.

Sitting off way to the side was Saito. He was leaning against the stone wall surrounding the academy just watching what the students were doing. He was trying to keep his mind off of what happened earlier. Even though they were training with a staff, he was still watching intently. He was studying the form and movements that Agnes was teaching them. He would even occasionally get up and compare his stance and movements to theirs.

As the training kept going he found his attention shifting more towards Agnes than anyone else (even Louise).

At first, he was just watching her battle prowess. Her movements were calculated, precise, and pretty fluid-like. She didn't quite have the aura of a battle hardened warrior, but she was definitely a formidable opponent. He could tell that she has worked hard to get where she is at. She was definitely a good choice to have protecting Henrietta.

He started to drift somewhere in this process though. He started to watch and take in her beauty and her personality.

She was actually very easy on the eyes, and you could even say beautiful. Even though she acts more like a tomboy (Her position kind of forces her to be that way), her movements are very womanly. Her green outfit and white cape went nicely together with her short dirty-blond hair, and her average bust accentuated her nicely.

"I bet outside of her tough exterior that she is really nice."

Saito gets a mild blush on his face while still watching her.

He notices that she had a mild blush on her face too with a bead of sweat, but then she shakes it off.

'Must be from doing all this training'

Derflinger pops out. "Eyeing up another beautiful lady? Eh partner?", he says teasingly to Saito.

Blushing a little more. Saito crosses his arms, closes his eyes and sticks his nose in the air.

"I am not! I am just admiring her for being able to be in her position and not be one of those noble spell casters."

"Sure thing partner", he says teasingly again.

Saito stops his pout and looks at Derf seriously.

"I can see in her eyes though that she is holding something deep inside. Something sad, or something traumatic."

"I don't know what to tell ya, but you could be right. On a side note, I bet she would be a nice match for you."

"Derf!", he says as he snaps his head in Derf's direction.

'I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get to know her better, and I can't argue how pretty she is.'

{You shouldn't be thinking about anybody other that Louise}

Saito shakes his head a little bit.

'Ugh! Damn conflicting thoughts.'

Saito sighs.

Little does he know that Derflinger wasn't the one that noticed his musings. Agnes caught him out of the corner of her eye, and almost lost her poise in front of the students. She had shaken it off before that could happen.

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The students were wrapping up from Agnes's training. So Siesta, whom was waiting on the side with a bucket of cleaning supplies wearing her typical black maid outfit with white apron and orange ribbon, decided that now would be a good chance to get to her next destination without disturbing the students' training. Upon her trek across the greens, she stumbles upon Saito and gets a big grin on her face.

She starts waving as she approaches Saito.

"Hello Saito"

"Hey Siesta! Where are you heading?"

"I have to go do some cleaning. I heard that you were with Henrietta the other night tracking down a traitor."

He starts talking about the play and the fight that broke out when Richemont was figured out. He also described how he was able to stop one of Richemont's men from stabbing Henrietta. He was making all kinds of heroic movements with his hands while telling his story.

Siesta was gleaming from ear to ear while watching Saito. She stated to laugh about the dog costume he had to wear and his exaggerated movements while telling his story. She started to blush, and Saito was rubbing the back of his head.

The students had broken up from the training to take a break before Louise's sister Eleonore took over.

Louise decided to look for Saito.

Well, it didn't take long for her to find him. She found him and Siesta making a 'spectacle' of themselves. She found Saito scratching the back of his head and Siesta blushing and laughing at him.

"Saitooooooooooo!" Was all that could be heard at that point.

Louise stomps up towards Saito with the glare of the devil on her face. She stomps past Tabitha and Kirche (who take note of her anger towards Saito again). Of course, she assumed the worst out of what Saito and Siesta were doing.

"You dog!" Her hair flaring in the wind like fire as she approached.

'Great! Here we go again', thinks Saito.

"Again! With another woman. First Henrietta, Then Kirche, and now Siesta."

{Now you've done it. Here comes your punishment. You deserve this.}

Before Saito could even upper another word to refute Louise's accusations, she pulls him by the ear behind one of the buildings. Four other sets of eyes watch her do this.

"I can't believe you would do this to me again for the second time in one day."

Louise pulls her green whip out again from seemingly out of nowhere. She gets that look in her eyes again.

{You should only have eyes for Louise.}

'This is going to hurt.'

Louise starts to whip him furiously again for the second time today.

*Crack*Crack*Crack*

'Damnit! This hurts'

{Remember, you can make this go away}

'But this is wrong'

*Crack*

{You deserve this. You should only have eyes for Louise. You love Louise. If you give in, then you won't feel the pain anymore so you can endure anything from Louise.}

Saito tries to defend himself with his but is failing miserably.

'Maybe I should just give in.'

*Crack*

"Owww!"

That last crack of the whip got his face leaving a nice gash across his right cheek that starts to bleed. This was the final straw.

'I'm done. I can't take any more of this.'

{That's right. Everything will be ok now. You won't have to stress over this anymore.}

Saito starts not to resist anymore and starts to let go. His arms start to not even bother trying to resist, and the life starts to flow out of his eyes.

He starts imagining himself somewhere else. He imagines himself in a plain somewhere where there is a tree giving him some shade. He is leaning back with his eyes shut and a light breeze flowing over him. It's as if he didn't have a care in the world. Meanwhile, his body goes into a subconscious autopilot.

Looking from the sidelines was Siesta. A tear started to stream down her face. Her heart couldn't take watching this anymore.

"Saito", she says in a whisper.

Just as she was about to rush to his side, she felt a set of arms wrap around her waist and mouth. She stops dead in her tracks.

A female voice whispers in her ear.

"Now is not the time"

Siesta recognizes the voice as Agnes's and starts to relax.

"I know you care for him, but you are a peasant and he is a familiar. You will put yourself in jeopardy if you interfere. I don't like this either, but we must tread carefully. Help him tonight. I will do what I can too."

Siesta nods disappointingly in agreement.

A couple students noticed their interaction and walked away whispering to each other.

Tabitha grips her staff tightly shaking her head ever so slightly back and forth. If you looked into her eyes you could swear that you could see something burning inside.

Kirche gets a sad look in her eyes and tries to look to Tabitha for reassurance.

"Tabitha, can we talk later?"

She nods

Louise eventually stops her assault.

"I don't have time to deal with you anymore. I have to get back to training. Don't bother staying in my room tonight you dog!"

Saito slinks back against the wall as Louise walks away. His eyes still show no signs of life.

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Wow! Thanks for reading. I can't believe that my first chapter was that long. I can't wait to read your reviews (Hopefully good).

Don't worry! I am not planning on having Saito go through this through the whole story (maybe 2 or 3 chapters), but I wanted to add something that just wasn't really shown in the anime that I perceived could have happened.

Thanks again.

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