Chapter 10
Moonlight Ice
"It means...we know where our first guardian is."
Hiro's Point of View
"Then shall we start?" Sir Magnus grinned while he slammed his two hands on top of the table to hype us up.
"Then that settles it," Lady Raven proclaimed while she closed her fan that made a clicking sound which made all the food on the table disappear in an instant.
"D-doodles? You're gonna aimlessly scribble on my forehead?" Xael asked.
"Well, that's what I said right? Geez, I thought Celestials don't go deaf until they're 80," Lady Raven said as she scratched her cheek which made Xael sweatdrop.
"Now then, won't you be a darling and lay on the table, Xael?" She continued as she waved her fan to summon a clean white cloth on the dining table.
"Wait!" I shouted, "What's that have to do with with the search for the Guardians?"
The two past guardians paused for a moment and side-glanced each other, communicating with their eyes.
"Because we want to?" Lady Raven innocently answered while making an O-shape with her lips.
"Besides, I thought you wanted our help? If you don't want it, you can always say so," she furrowed her eyebrows and pouted.
"N-no! It's not like that!" I waved my hands frantically in the air out of panic. Geez. I gotta be careful with my mouth here.
"Don't worry, kiddos. Xael's gonna be alright," Sir Magnus assured.
"We're just gonna do this to make your hunt a li'l bit easy," Lady Raven said and levitated Xael to the dining table.
"A magic user?" I heard Kichi mumble as he stared at the black mist that was coming out of the fan and around Xael.
"Well then, let's get started," she said and smirked evilly. She snapped her fingers and we were transported to a dark space.
"Welcome to the Black Dimension," she announced. The place was just a blank black space with little to no light.
"Aahh! It's dark, it's dark, it's dark..." I heard Kichi mumbling over and over as he clung on my arm.
"Will you get off of me?" I complained to him as his grip tightened around my arm.
"H-hiro," I heard Bree mumble behind me as she tugged on my shirt.
"I-m scared of the dark," she whispered as I turned around to pull her beside me with her tugging my shirt more.
"Just hold on to my shirt if it makes you comfortable."
"Wait, hold on," I heard Lady Raven said as she snapped her fingers again which created light in the room.
"Dark and Light Magic? H-how?" I heard Kichi asked with wide eyes as she stared at Lady Raven.
"Magic? This isn't magic," she said as something black was coming out of her hands.
"My ability is called Swallowed By Darkness. I am able to control the black dimension. In here, the magic will only be absorbed so it won't cause any catastrophic situations. It is safer here since we might destroy our house if we doodle on Xael's forehead in the shop. Don't worry, I can bring us back to our dimension even if I may be unconscious. I was able to summon some light here by reflecting the same light over and over again to these walls," she explained.
"T-then how did you teleport awhile ago when we were eating?" I pointed out.
"Teleport? I didn't teleport. I simply manipulated the distance between us by cutting it down and placed in the black dimension for a millisecond and bringing it back," she explained while looking up the ceiling.
"T-then how about when you made the food on the table disappear?" Kichi asked.
"Oh that? I summoned this dimension which made it suck out the food towards here. It only swallowed the food since I controlled the space the dimension was taking up. I did the same for us. That's why the shop is still intact," she said and rested her chin unto her left hand.
"W-what about that piece of cloth you summoned?" Bree asked.
"Easy. I can summon back anything that my black dimension devoured back to our dimension by carving up a manipulated hole between the two dimensions," she clarified and placed her hands to her waist.
"Then h-how did you levitate me?" Xael asked.
"I didn't. I just sucked out the gravity below you which made you float. I was able to control you by alternatively increasing and decreasing the gravity that was bound to you and to the ground you were standing on which explains why you horizontally moved," she said and smiled sweetly.
"Any more questions?" She asked as our mouth gaped from her explanation a while ago.
"If that's your ability. What about Sir Magnus?" Kichi asked while raising his right hand like a student.
"Find out and see," Sir Magnus replied with a dark aura surrounding him.
"T-this feeling. I-it's like back in the carriage," Xael whispered with horror. Bree tugged on my shirt harder that I could feel her nails almost digging on my skin. Kichi trembled a little bit while I could feel my lips shaking for an unknown reason.
"Raven. Begin," I heard him mumble while keeping a grim face.
"Aye, aye, honey," Lady Raven winked and saluted. She snapped her fingers for the third time and summoned chains that held Xael to the table.
"W-wait! What are you gonna do to her?!" I shouted.
"Doodle on her forehead? Why do you Celestials keep forgeting what I say?" She pouted.
"I-is this gonna hurt?" Xael stuttered.
"A li'l bit," she chuckled. She went closer towards Xael's forehead and summoned her fan. She converted it into a long beam of light that resembled like a pen or a pencil.
"Was that transformation of your fan Black Dimension related?" Kichi curiously asked.
"No, of course not. Don't be silly. This is my sacred weapon, Vannus. I can convert it into any object at will as long as it is the same height of my fan," she said as her weapon in a form of a long beam of light floated on her open hand.
T-this is what a guardian is capable of? I think Kichi was astounded with her that I could see his eyes twinkling in amazement as his mouth gaped open.
She placed the tip of that beam just above Xael's forehead and began drawing a symbol as she chanted words that I couldn't clearly hear. I heard Xael scream in agony as the symbol glowed and carved its way to her skin.
"Stop! You're hurting her!" I screamed but I was only sent flying with Kichi and Bree by a large gush of wind coming in between the beam and the symbol on her forehead. It felt familiar somehow. Like Lady Solaris' light ray at Xael's birthday party.
"H-hime!!"
I tried standing up but the wind was too powerful. Lady Raven's eyes glowed white as she began chanting louder along with Xael's scream. I saw Sir Magnus behind her, as if the wind was not penetrating him.
"What's happening?" I heard Kichi shouted with his arms blocking out the wind.
Soon after, the gush of wind weakened as Lady Raven began to switch into her normal self. She collapsed and fell into Sir Magnus' arms.
"Is it over yet?" Kichi asked while trembling. He was hugging me tightly like a koala so I dropped him on purpose.
"Oww!" he screamed while rubbing his butt to ease the pain he was experiencing.
I turned around and offered a hand to Bree. Her knees was trembling while standing up so I grabbed her waist to support her. We were immediately transported back to the antique shop as the chains on Xael poofed back to the black dimension.
"I-is Lady Raven okay?" Bree asked while staring at her in Sir Magnus' arms, breathing heavily while eyes closed.
"I-im fine. I just need to take a nap for 20 minutes. No biggie," she said as she dismissed the question.
"I-I thought you weren't a magic user?" Kichi asked out of nowhere, still rubbing his butt.
"She isn't. That wasn't her magic. That was from Solaris," Sir Magnus responded while caressing Lady Raven's cheek while she was sound asleep on his chest.
"From Lady Solaris?" I asked which made Sir Magnus nod.
"Solaris entrusted her that spell back from the last Great War. She told us to use it when the three of you come for us 20 years later. She gave it to Rae because she was raised by a Magus with Kichi's father so she knows some basic things about controlling magic. She isn't capable of creating magic itself though, so Solaris temporarily gave a portion of her power to that spell which is only activated when it is used," he said as he carried Lady Raven.
"So she foresaw this happening 20 years ago?" I asked.
"Apparently so," Sir Magnus shrugged.
"With my dad?" Kichi asked with raised eyebrows. Sir Magnus nodded and carried Lady Raven to their room.
"Unghh..What happened?" Xael groaned as she raised her upper body from the table and touched her forehead out of curiosity.
Huh? The symbol disappeared?
"Hime!! Are you alright?" Bree asked while rushing towards Xael. She almost fell down but managed to reach her. She quickly grabbed Xael and checked for some changes in her body.
"I-i don't know. I feel a bit lightheaded. And I think my left eye hurts. Argh!" she said while clutching her left temple.
"H-hime! Y-your eye...it's glowing along with your left hand!" Bree screamed. She took a step back out of shock which almost made her tumble back but Kichi immediately caught her.
"Woah. That's so cool, sis," Kichi complimented.
"It's glowing? So soon?" I heard Sir Magnus asked beside me. Wait how come I didn't feel his presence a while ago?
"S-sir Magnus! W-what's happening to me?! W-what does this mean!?" Xael asked while a figure was glowing on her hand. It was a drawing of a bag of gold coins. Sir Magnus came closer to her as he examined her left hand and eye.
"It means...we know where our first guardian is."
-•-
Third Person's Point of View
"Onee-chan! You're here!" a little girl screamed in excitement as she ran towards a maiden who was carrying a bag of full of food and bottled water.
"Wahhh! Onee-chan. Is that for us?" a little boy asked while rummaging through the bag. The maiden laughed at his gesture that made her show her dimple on her right cheek and patted the little boy's head.
"Of course it is, Gus. How's your mother doing?" she asked. The little boy's smile disappear which made him pause from looking inside the bag.
"I-im sorry for as-"
"Onee-chan, can you stay with us for a while?" the little girl asked as she grabbed her hand.
"I-I can't, Dana. I'm sorry. Onee-chan still has to go to work," the maiden sadly smiled and messed with the little girl's hair.
"T-that's alright," the little girl forced a smile, "I know you'll come here again tomorrow"
(At A Bar)
"Miss! One more glass of ale here in Table 16, please."
"Coming right up!" the girl cheerfully said. She pulled up a glass and poured the ale and went to Table 16. The guy here seems to be severely drunk and was alone which made the girl smirk at the opportunity she saw.
"A glass of ale, my good sir," she said and placed the glass on the table. The customer was elated with the fast service but little did he know that his bag of gold coins were now in the hands of the girl.
"Enjoy your drink, sir!" she said as she hid the bag behind her back.
"Miss, a glass of beer here in Table 5," another called.
"Coming!"
She's been living in this kingdom for about 10 years now. Right after she was abandoned by her so-called parents and left her to die, she began living on her own. She barely survived. Envy flows inside of her as she sees those children that were showered with love by their parents...until came the faithful day that she was adopted by the kind rich barren aristocrat couple that took pity on her.
Everything was perfect. Everything was like a dream. That couple that adopted her loved her like their own daughter. They gave her anything that she could've asked for, from the expensive dolls from different kingdoms to tailored dresses made by famous designers.
Just before she could indulge in the luxury of living the dream, everything slowly shattered into pieces. The dream slowly turned into a nightmare she could never wake up to.
Something awakened within her-a monster. Something that wasn't supposed to be there. Before she knew it, everything she held dear slipped away from her. Friends, Maids, Gifts-the things that she loved are all gone. Parents. Love...
They kicked her out from the house and told her not to come back ever again. She survived by picking up the bread crumbs that fell to the ground by the people but that didn't really satisfied the void that was left inside of her. Not until she learned the art of stealing. She was just supposed steal one apple. Until it became things...money...jewels.
Stealing was in reality, just a way of her to let the monster inside her be controlled. She has been surviving for years just by stealing from people. She has no one to help her. She was alone. No. She was always alone. She was alone with the monster growing inside of her.
She wasn't actually doing this just for herself. It's also for the children in need that lives in the streets. How ironic that this was the richest kingdom in the land but had people who doesn't even possess a penny. She decided to take the job as the bartender and waitress in a local bar in Cerulean to make extra income.
"A glass of beer for Table 5," she said and walked towards the table. Even from afar she could see the golden earring that looked authentic enough be sold from the guy occupying the table. He looked rich, not to mind the fact that he is well-dressed.
"Here you are, sir," she said as she leaned behind him with her right hand placing the beer and her left reaching for the earring.
"What do you think you're doing?" the guy asked as he was holding her wrist who was near his ear.
"I-I-you're hurting me," she cried as she shook her arm to loosen his grip. The guy looked shaken from her plea so he tried to loosen his hand a little bit from holding her wrist. She used the opportunity to bite his hand and ran outside of the bar.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" she heard him shout.
She ran as far as she could but she could still feel him following her.
"Found you," he heard the guy whispered behind her which made her smirk.
"Did you?" she cunningly asmed and blended with the crowd in front of them. She went to her nearest escape route and went inside the narrowest alley so he couldn't find her. She sighed in relief when she looked behind her and saw no one. She turned around to run again but bumped into someone.
"You thought you could get away from me, didn't you?" he retorted. It was weirdly gentle in a terrifying way.
"H-how?" she trembled while taking a few steps backward. The guy smirked and summoned a whip. A-n ability user? She tried to run away but she was captured by the guy's whip. She could feel the whip tightening around her that she could feel her heart throbbing rapidly from her chest. She tried to remain her composure as she noticed the moon landing it's light on theirs. She looked at the guy straight in the eyes refraining from trembling.
"Who are you? Do you know who I am?"
"No. But I'm the one who's going to teach you a lesson," he replied. Before he could even lay his move, he felt something cold beneath him.
"What the? Ice?" He asked while the ice was slowly rising to his upper body. When the ice completely consumed him up to his neck, the girl was able to escape from the whip.
"I don't know you either. But between you and me? I'm the one who's getting out here alive," she said and jumped on the roof on the apartment building beside her.
Before she could even walk she heard the ice shattering from below. He broke through?
"Are you sure?" the guy asked from behind her.
"W-who are you?"
"My name is Zeus. God of lighting and thunder," he said
"God of lighting and thunder my ass. What are you gonna do? Wave me away with-" she was cut off when he summoned a sword that was surrounded by lighting and hit her in the stomach. It sent her tumbling away coughing blood in the process.
"Since you're cute and all, I'll give you an opportunity to run 30 seconds ahead from me," he said as he stepped on her chest. It was bad enough that she was coughing blood and it was worse when he stepped on her. She stared at the moon behind him as she waited for the clouds to disappear so it can shine through her.
"Run away? I asked you awhile ago if you know me so I'll ask you again. Do you know me?" She asked as she tried to get his foot away from her chest which failed that made her choke from the blood gushing from her throat.
"Is it important? Because of your rudeness, I'll cut it down to 10 seconds. Run, bunny," He said as he raised his foot from her. She stood up and clutched her chest that was sore from the pressure.
"10 seconds? I only need 3," she said and smirked as the light of the moon struck her. She bathed in the light as she summoned her ability.
"My name is Mizuki and I am the goddess who's gonna kick your ass. Moonlight Ice: Frost Mage!" she screamed. At that instant, the wind blew hard as the surroundings got even colder. She was coated with ice around her body that was carved out like an armor. She didn't have any choice. If she went for offense first, he may struck the wound again on her abdomen.
"Pfft. An armor? Is that all you got?" Zeus snickered.
"Arrows of Hoarfrost" she uttered and piercing arrows made of ice was quickly summoned behind her and and immediately attacked the man in front of her.
"Did you really think that would work?" He smirked.
"Roar of the Thunder God: Lighting Pierce," he muttered and raised his sword towards the sky. A struck of lighting landed on the sword which was absorbed instantly. It made flickering sounds and electricity visibly coating his weapon, charging it up. He pointed the charged sword on the girl and the absorbed electricity quickly went towards her and pierced the armor made of ice. The electricity pierced the same wound she got from the sword which damaged her more completely than usual.
Mizuki's knees trembled as she could feel herself collapsing any moment now. Zeus strode towards her as he landed one last strike to her abdomen and blood instantly gushed from her mouth and nose.
I guess this is the end, huh? Dana. Gus. I'm sorry.
Her knees gave up on her as she thought of the children as her last remorse. Before she could even touch the ground, she felt strong arms catching her. She couldn't see the face but she smiled at whoever it was and blacked out.