"That's why I want to correct your thinking about them. They are warriors to defend their people. Not war starters. With one gone, there was havoc as the rest tried to fight my brother. But none of them succeeded," continued Mavislin.
"With all the Gladiators being able to use the Final Spell, why is it that they couldn't unleash it?" asked Ysabeau.
By this time, Gab was already up but not fully awake as he tried to make some early coffee for himself. The sleepy man sat by the Mages' side and listened quietly to their discussion. He found it soothing and sad at the same time. That these Mages truly went through tough times.
Though he was human, he had a better time understanding the situation than Bryan. After all, the Baron had spent some time with the Arks way before Bryan entered the Five Kings. But these are stories that have happened a long time ago.
What counts now is the present time, but if the Mages have something from the past that can help them with the current opponent, then Gab has his ears wide open. The Campania had barely recovered from the Umbra incident and this mess popped out.
To be fair, he did put this matter off when he was working with Minwoo on the Umbras. And besides, calling the rest would also be annoying for such a small matter. He felt lucky to even call on Mavislin.
"They were all too afraid of losing their lives. No one had used the spell in such a situation before. And the last one to use it in Valokia's land was my ancestor, the first one who invented Heaven's Wheel. The Gladiators wanted to, but the aftereffects might do more harm."
"If the rest of the Heaven's Wheel Stages bore no harm against Benjamin, what made them think that the Final Stage would do the trick?"
"So what finally ended the whole thing? And what has it got to do with the current thing we are fighting now?" asked Gab, finally alert.
"It had ended with me using the Fifth Stage, slightly modified. Unleashing that was no easy task since all the 11 other Gladiators poured everything they had left into me, just for it to work. But even so, we could only delay him for a hundred years. And I lost my planet," explained Mavislin.
"How did they manage to do so? From what I know, child Valkyries can't use these methods," asked Bryan.
"I don't remember how they truly did it, I could only remember their embrace. And the power they gave me. It was like my wings felt the heaviest they had ever been and I've got huge wings. Plus, they used up their lives to do so. When I awoke, I was on Earth."
"That was such a long time ago, back when we didn't have guns. Or much of anything but mother nature. But when I heard the Husks came back, I hid out of fear. Knowing that the spell could do so much destruction, I was scared to use it," explained Mavislin, feeling a wave of guilt.
"It's alright to be scared. Who could blame you? You are just a child. I don't rudely mean this, but you couldn't have done anything to stop them. Don't be so hard on yourself. It isn't your job to protect everyone and no one should expect you to do it either," comforted Gab.
He glanced at Mavislin, who was shocked at the Baron's words. He shook his head as Mavislin looked at him in confusion. Ysabeau clenched her fist with slight anger.
"Expecting a child to bear the cost of saving everyone should be illegal. If Kai ever had to go through that, I will punch the fella who told him that. Mages are born with powers so whoever is the strongest should be expected to win or protect the weaker ones."
"That is commendable but at some point, you guys need to see that not everything is about power. It is also about your mentality, behavior, and personality. Because of power, you are forced into a situation no child should ever be in. And the thinking that you've got, I hate it," spat Gab.
He wasn't angry at Mavislin's guilt, he was disgusted that the adults caused a child to adopt such thoughts. No kid should go through those thoughts. No one should feel guilty about hiding away from danger, especially a child who had lost her family.
"I agree with you. I can't help but wonder if those Gladiators came to help or gave you a burden," said Bryan, eyes darting to his side.
"Both, I guess..." answered Mavislin.
Ysabeau wanted to punch Bryan square in the face but Mavislin's reply shocked her.