Work Text
Gyro’s eyes burned. His entire body was fizzling as if it had been in a flame. No matter how Gyro squirmed or shifted he couldn’t get away from it. It wasn’t a nightmare. None of his had been this vivid.Yet he couldn’t see anything. It wasn’t the dark of his familiar bedroom. Instead, it was a blinding light. Like the heavens.And just as suddenly as it came it was gone. His blurry vision adjusted to a sunny day. It made even less sense than the lights he saw before. He was resting for the night. Had a book and was admiring the night sky’s twinkle from the corner of his eye.Not like this cheery blue above him.He moves his arm and quickly regrets it as he feels a singe along his wrist. He’s about to raise it and check for damage when his vision of the sky is blocked by a face.A face that mirrors his own shock and horror.The person’s face was tinted with pink cheeks. A pink that made his sparkling blue eyes stand out even more. His face was framed by waves of strawberry-blonde blocks. His cheeks and face shape were round and soft. Softer looking than the clouds that hung above them.“Lord Joestar?” Comes a gruff and unrecognizable voice. English? Why was he hearing english? Did he leave the TV on?The person snaps up and it's only then that Gyro realizes why there's so much expansive sky around him. He was on his back. Looking up. And the person he saw was kneeling over him.Gyro sits up, continuing to grit his teeth as the pain rears up. He could feel it on his wrist, ankles, and around his neck. Did he take a fall? Where? When?“Ah. The smoke’s cleared.” The voice continues.Gyro’s jaw drops. He must have taken a fall. A giant fall. One right off the edge of the earth. For what was speaking wasn’t a human at all.It was a massive fuzzy creature with tusks of teeth sticking out of its lip. It looked like a beast from a fairy tale. Yet it stood tall and proper in fine clothes. There was a crowd of people around it. But they weren’t quite people either. They seemed like it at first. Had all the trademarks of a human appearance. But then one thing was off. Sharp teeth. Unnaturally slit pupils. Paws on one. A tail on another. Scales.It couldn’t just be a halloween costume. Not when not one of them flinched at the monster nearby.And now that Gyro looked he could see more of those beasts. Not quite the same but monstrous creatures with scales or fur or feathers all stood up and looking right at him.Gyro’s so stunned he can’t even scream. He’s quickly greeted with similar looks of confusion and concern from the group.All except one. A young man with an almost lizard-like appearance by the smattering of scales and the slit pupils. He grins and his face splits in a horrific way making his smile go even wider.“I knew you were pathetic, Joestar, but this is a new low. Summoning a person? You can’t even manage a beginner’s familiar spell. You had to force some poor peasant out of their home?”“Shut up!” Joestar, apparently, shouts. The first face Gyro ever saw. Now that Gyro looks over he can see what those waves of hair were hiding. Large and slender fluffy ears. Almost like that of a horse. Matched by a slender tail almost like a cows. There was fluff at the end of it more similar to a horse’s but they all confirmed the same thing. This ‘person’ next to him was no human either.The lizard person continued to antagonize. He raised a scaled hand. “Why are we even bothering? You should get kicked out right away.”“I said shut it.” Joestar clenches his fist. His eyes start to redden and Gyro’s close enough to see the pricks of tears start to form. He had an accent. Like a western cowboy.The lizard starts to take a step forward but he’s quickly stopped by the massive hand of the first beast. Its lips turned into a scowl. “Do not approach it.”Gyro looks around him wildly. What could a monster like that be afraid of? He shuffles on his feet.A fire hits his sides that force him onto the ground with a scream of pain. This time the light isn’t so blinding. He can see it clearly on the ground under him. Symbols. Sigils. And a circle. The very edge of which he touched before.“Seal your contract.” The beast says.“It was a failure,” Joestar says quietly, his face flush in embarrassment.It seems the beast doesn’t hear him as it only repeats the command. Its features twist in concern. “Seal it.”Joestar nods and closes his eyes, refusing to look at Gyro though he faces him. “I, Lord Jonathan Of The House Joestar, seal this union.” He mutters odd words that echo in Gyro’s head. So loud he could almost see the words around him.Gyro tries to cover his ears but he can still hear it just as loud. He shuts his own eyes. The same places that stung before fire up with a new stabbing pain. So intense Gyro couldn’t even move.He could breathe again. It was all gone. His head so empty. He takes in ragged breaths, nausea filling his gut as he leaned over the grass under him.The markings of light were gone.“Congratulations, Lord Joestar.” The beast continues, lowering his hand.The lizard person laughs and the crowd stifles in smaller giggles and points.Joestar next to him reddens further, he still doesn’t meet Gyro’s eyes as he moves off the ground and onto a wooden wheelchair with various gems encrusted around it.Gyro’s the only one not in on this joke. Or anything really. He cautiously reaches his hand out but there’s no pain.He’s still shocked in a different way. Those sigils and symbols. It was along his wrist now. Like a prisoner’s cuff. But this was embedded into his skin. “Hey, hey, hey. Wait. What the- what’s going on?” Gyro stammers in Italian, waving his hands but the light and carvings don’t vanish. They only singe. If this was just a dream, why did it hurt? Why is he still here? Shouldn’t he have been awakened by the pain or the sheer absurdity?Rough hands catch Gyro’s, covering his wrist. The same hands that belong to Joestar. An even redder Joestar than he saw before. It was even starting to impact those fuzzy ears of his nearly turning them pink. “Join your classmates.” The monster says, breaking both of their attentions.Joestar lets go. “Come.”He must whisper the words but they echo. Loud and louder. Frying every nerve of Gyro’s until he rises and moves, following the path to another group. Similar odd ‘people’ but what was even worse were the monsters beside them. Dragons. Fairies. Unicorns. Jackalopes. Mythical beasts Gyro was all too familiar with. “That concludes our first group.” The monster says, adjusting ridiculously tiny frames on his snout. “Now we will begin the second phase of the summoning ritual. It is a small chance to exercise your new bonds. You won’t be graded but I can promise a reward to the victor.”The people around start to clamor excitedly. All but Joestar who continues to stare blankly at the ground.“Why don’t we start with hm… Ms Darlington and Mr Blusher?”Two of the people step out. Following after them is a large dragon and a white sparking tiger. They both face each other with the creatures besides them. The beast man raises his hand up. “Ready? Go.”“What is happening?” Gyro asks, gripping Joestar’s shoulder.Joestar looks up at him with a still face and simply points at the two on the field.The dragon breathes in deep, its mouth and throat starting to glow with fire. At the same time the tiger lowers to the ground, the stripes on its body lifting and forming sparking lighting that wraps around it like a lighting ball. The people both shout some foreign words and the creatures rush each other.The fire erupts onto the tiger, bursting across the ground. The man hastily shouts more words and the flickering fire on the ground is wiped by a gust. The tiger rears up, biting into the dragon who lets out a demonic screech as its neck thrashes about with flames puffing in every direction.Gyro jumps in front of Joestar, his body starting to burn from the flames nearby.“I didn’t say to move.” Joestar says, grabbing onto Gyro’s arm and yanking him back.Gyro can only catch it out of the corner of his eye. The tiger roars. Its lightning stripes explode out from its body. Hitting the dragon. But sparking off in wild directions. Until one stray bolt aims right for Gyro.He braces as his back burns. A tingle that reaches to his tongue. Words echo in his head.And then everything goes to black.--He was awake. What a weird dream. Worse than any nightmare he’s ever had before. Gyro rubs his hands over his face. No more reading before bed.Wait. This isn’t the same bed he was used to. This material was fuzzier. Smaller. Gyro looks down at what he can only describe as a dog bed. He lifts up his hand in shock. The same hand that was still branded like before.It didn’t end. He was still stuck. And this couldn’t be a dream. Gyro couldn’t deny that any longer. Not when he remembers those flames warming his face. That lightning sparking towards him.He was stuck. Somewhere. Somewhere far beyond the realm of possibility.“It’s not so bad, Johnny!” comes a small feminine voice.Gyro follows it to find a girl standing by the end of the room, her back facing Gyro. but it was a familiar one. One of the many odd people Gyro saw before. She had gill’s carved into her neck. A smattering of scales. Webbing replaced her ears. Like a horror movie’s version of a mermaid. She even had the fish tail. Though it was attached to the small of her back instead. More like a dogs. And she had a set of human legs. Covered by frilly socks.“It wasn’t my fault.” Johnny, apparently, says. It’s the same voice and same face he saw before. Joestar. “Diego kept taunting me. I lost focus for one sec and then…You know what. It ain’t even that big of a deal. Thanks for the snacks, Lucy.”“I made them for our familiars to enjoy! I just didn’t think yours was going to be so…um…”Something flutters up, blocking Gyro’s view of the conversation. It looked like an axolotl. With huge watery eyes. But it had wings that were patterned with red hearts. Like some kind of cupid’s angel. That matched with floppy bunny-like ears and a horn in the middle of its face.
“You’re awake now.”
Gyro yells and slaps the creature away, it easily goes flying, landing pitifully on the bed next to Gyro’s own. A proper human bed. Both Lucy and Johnny snap their attention to the flying creature.“Oh no!” Lucy runs to the bed, picking up the little creature that manages to bounce right back up with no harm. Surely Gyro didn’t hit that softly. The thing was no bigger than his hand. “What happened? Did you fall?”“Where am I?” Gyro asks.She jolts back, holding the creature close to her as she barely hides her tremble of fear. “O-oh. It’s awake.”“It?”“Johnny!”“I’ve got it from here, Lucy.” Johnny says, rolling close by. “Thanks again.”“Uh huh. Anytime. Bye bye now.” She gives one last nervous glance before she scampers out of the room. And now Gyro can see it is indeed a room. Not unlike the one he dormed at during his college years. Except for the decor. It was all very traditional. Like something out of the Victorian era.“To answer your question.” Johnny starts. He’s physically looking up at Gyro but his expression is completely looking down on Gyro. “You’re at the Noble Academy of Mages.”Like that narrows it down. No no. Forget that. Before he woke up he was hit. He should have died. Lightning hit his back. How was he standing and moving just fine?“What were those- those things?”“Huh?”“The dragon and the tiger.”“Familiars.”“Like- like a witch?”Johnny blinks and glances away. “Exacty.”“Huh?”“I’m a witch in training. Like everyone else here.”This guy really believed what he was saying and from what Gyro saw it had to be true. Magic. A man of science like Gyro never would have even considered it. He didn’t even believe in Santa when he was young. Of course his parents telling him about the lie helped. But he figured it out before his fifth birthday anyway.“This is fucking crazy.” Gyro hisses in Italian, covering his face. “I’m going to die.”“We didn’t get a proper introduction since you passed out.”“Passed out?” Gyro lowers his hand. “I was struck.”Johnny squints and then shakes his head. “I shielded you from the stray bolt. You fainted. I guess a peasant never saw magic up close before.”Gyro touches his back. A shield. So that’s why there was no harm?“What’s your name?” Johnny asks.“Gyro. No. Hold on. We are not doing pleasantries. I need to get out of here.”“Where are you from?”“I’m not from here.”“No shit.” Johnny rolls his eyes. “I mean what town. What village?”“No, I'm not from any village. I’m from Naples. Italy.”Johnny squints at him. “I ain’t heard of no Naples. Or Eye-taly.”“You wouldn’t because I’m not from this world. That’s why you need to get me out of here. I can’t handle all this magic and monsters and such. I’ll get killed. Or worse.”“I’m not that bad.” Johnny tsks. “You’re not in any danger. I don’t know why this happened either but we’re both stuck like this until I graduate.”“No, I’m not like you creatures. Look at me. That fire and lightning and everything. It’ll kill me.”Johnny stares at him before he pounces. More like a cat than the horse features he has. Gyro only has the time to yelp before he starts to tug at Gyro’s face. Forcing Gyro’s eye open with one hand and rubbing his bearded jaw with the other. Gyro squirms on the dog bed. Italian comes out even though he’s sure it won’t be understood. “What are you-?”His words are cut off by Johnny shoving his fingers into Gyro’s mouth.Johnny squints at him. Far too close for comfort. It would make Gyro blush if Johnny’s thumb wasn't still pulling down his lower jaw. “You do look…odd.”Gyro scoffs and pushes Johnny's hand out of his mouth. He licks his lips in distaste, shaking his head. “I could say the same about you.”Johnny huffs, his ears flicking as he sits back on his calves. “You look odd but what you’re saying is just horseshit. Another world? You’re reading too many children’s stories.”“Trust me. Yesterday I would have agreed with you but it’s the truth. I’m not from here. Anywhere like here.”“Well, I can’t send you back.”“There’s gotta be a way. You did that spell.” Gyro shows his wrist off as he sits up on the dog bed again. “Reverse it.”“If ain’t simple.” Johnny shakes his head. “It's not something a non-mage can understand.”“So no one ever in the history of your world has ever gotten rid of a familiar?”“Course not. There is a way to reverse it but it’s not magic they teach us. Not until we graduate. If everyone could change their contracts then they would keep trying to cheat the system until they got the best familiar they could. A bond between a familiar and a witch is special is what they say. It’s supposed to grow with you. No one but your familiar is supposed to know and understand you and your magic better.”“That’s cute and all but I don’t even know magic. I can’t help you.”Johnny grinds his teeth. “I know that. I already spoke to my professor. He told me that you are the familiar I summoned for a reason. And that you’ll do just fine.”Now it’s Gyro’s turn to groan as he flops back on the bed. He was stuck. Here. Forever. Or until he died. Both were bad. He just wanted to go back to his regular job. Help people and not help witches.“You’ll have to start attending classes with me. You passing out only got us the day off.”“How are you just accepting this? There’s a man in your- your- why is there even a dog bed here?”“A what?”“A dog bed.”“And what is a…dog?” Johnny’s ears flick down.“The furry little thing that barks like- uh- ruff ruff.” Gyro puts his hands in front of him. Did he use the wrong word? It’s not like he knew English that well.Johnny blinks. “Again?”“Ruff ruff.”“Hm.” Johnny’s lip twitches up for just a moment. Almost a smile.“Are you messing with me?” Gyro raises his hands and stands up, pointing directly at the large dog bed. It really was massive, almost as big as the real bed beside him. “This.”“The familiar’s ceremony was today. I prepared a place for my familiar.”“So you put me in a dog bed?”“Again I don’t know what a ‘dog’ is but this is a good bed. It was praised highly for its comfort and accommodations.”“I’m a person! I can’t sleep in this.”“I wasn’t trying to summon a person. I can’t fix it now. You weren’t complaining when you were sleeping there.”“There’s a normal bed right here.”Johnny turns red and raises a shaking hand over his face. “You cannot sleep in my bed.”“But I can sleep on the ground?”“You’re not. It’s a bed.”Gyro could cry. There was no getting through to this guy.Johnny gets back on his chair and rolls to a counter where he lifts a cloth bag that he unwraps to reveal what Gyro could only describe as dog treats. “I guess you don’t want these either.”“Of course not!”