The large auditorium was filled with all of the academy students, since the official announcement for the Annual Magical Knights Tournament would be taking place soon. A lot of the students had mixed feelings about the whole thing, with Ellen Marion as their temporary Head Director, with former Head Director William Windblade removed.
Thomas Terrastone was one such individual who had a lot of mixed feelings about recent events. While he was never close with Head Director William, he knew he was very important to a dear friend of his, Allen Fleming.
From what he knew, he had been Allen's mentor for several years, back when they were younger. He was the person who taught him how to use his "mana", since Allen was a horrible spellcaster in general. He also taught him how to use his sword that he wields, something that Thomas finds respectable.
Considering Thomas also has weaknesses in spellcasting, he has also learned to pick up other ways to fight, like how he does with his fists. He found out early on that he could use his magic to harden his fists, and use that as a way to make up for his shamed weaknesses.
With the amount of training that Thomas has gone through, it has really paid off, with him finally able to harden most of his arms, offering both defense and offense in close-range engagements.
"But with Allen not able to talk to us, what point is there now," Thomas had said out loud, without thinking.
"Tom," Cecily turned to look at him, who noticed his concern. "It'll be okay. I'm sure Al is doing what he can and we'll see him soon"
"I hope so…," Thomas answered, but he still had his concerns. He knew Allen wouldn't go down without fighting, but he certainly wasn't in a good position.
Thomas sat with Cecily, with the rest of the D ranks. Unlike Allen, they were able to keep their D ranking. Thomas felt horrible, because this whole time he's partly felt like Allen was the reason that Cecily and him are where they are now. He knew he wasn't useless, but Allen really helped give them the shove they needed to succeed.
Their other friends, Adam, Oliver and Sybil, were also nearby. They were chatting it up with each other just like usual. Truth be told, Thomas and Cecily have rarely spoken with them since Allen was demoted, but he was sure they also had their concerns for him.
"Alright everyone, if I may have your attention!," a voice called out from the front of the stage.
The chatter in the auditorium from the students slowly started to die down with the appearance of two recognizable girls up in front on the stage.
"I'm Misa!"
"I'm Lisa!"
"And we're your official twin tournament announcers!"
The air in the rooms shifted from uneasiness to relaxed but rowdy with the appearance of the twins. From Thomas' understanding, they were both water element second years, and twins at that. They each were one of the "four divas of the academy" alongside Sarah Childe.
"Now of course we appreciate the attention you all give us, but I please ask that you all quiet down from here on," Misa advised the crowd. "Now I am going to hand it off to my sister Lisa here, to inform you how the tournament will go"
This is what I have been waiting for, Thomas thought to himself. I can't wait to face so many strong opponents!
"Thank you Misa!," Lisa gave her a warm smile that instantly captivated the audience. The smile was no doubt staged, and intentional. "The tournament will work similar to the preliminaries that no doubt many of you participated in, with some needed changes! How exactly will it be different? I will gladly explain it for you!"
Misa explained the outline of the tournament, which most of the details Thomas and many of the other students were already aware of. The tournament will be round based, with the pairs at random. Each participant will be notified of who they will face next several days in advance. They will then have those few days to train or prepare, before finally facing their opponent in the arena. If they lose, they are completely out. If they win, they move on and will shortly find out who they will face next.
The tournament will of course go on until the final round, between the last two remaining students. Whoever wins the tournament will be labeled as the winner of the annual magical knights tournament for that year. They will receive an honorary medal, marked down on the list of previous winners, and will receive a special banquet shortly after the tournament's conclusion that the other participants and the winner's friends can attend.
But, what makes the annual tournament a lot different from the preliminaries is not just how you are completely out if you lose, but the fighting restrictions are removed. This means that the duel will progress like normal, unless they determine that the student's life is in danger.
"And with that said, I wish all of you who made it to the tournament good luck!," Misa gave a large, warm smile to the audience, and the auditorium was quickly filled with cheering.
"Alright everyone, I know you're all very excited, but I please ask you again to calm down!," Lisa called out, to which the audience quickly obeyed. "I know some of you who participated in the preliminaries didn't make it, but I urge you to try again next year! And with that, we now hand the stage over to our Head Director, Ellen Marion!"
Thomas could spot Ellen making her way onto the front of the stage, with an arrogant look on her face. Both Misa and Lisa respectfully stepped to the side, to allow her all the space for her speech.
"It's her," Thomas said through his gritted teeth.
Cecily, quickly noticing Thomas' frustration, quickly did her best to calm him down. "Tom, I completely understand, but now is not the time to try anything"
"But-," Thomas started to say, annoyed that Cecily was trying to stop him.
"Tom," Cecily said in a firm, but understanding tone as she directly looked him in the eyes. "Don't"
"Right," Thomas said in a disappointed tone, but he understood Cecily was just trying to help him keep his cool.
"Greetings students of our Magical Knights Academy. As you know, I am Ellen Marion, head of the Marion household, as well as your recently newly appointed Head Director"
Murmurs started to circulate throughout the crowd, as a lot of the students had mixed feelings about her. With the new changes she began to implement, it mostly benefited the higher ranked students at the expense of the lower ranked students like Thomas and Cecily.
"While my position remains temporary, my hope is that it will soon become permanent. I have been directly working with our wonderful Triumvirate in hopes that they can deem your previous Head Director, William Windblade, unworthy to run your academy. From there, my hope is they gladly choose to appoint me as your permanent head director, so that we may turn this academy around to what it was meant to be"
Ellen held a firm, proud look on her face, as though she felt that everything she informed them of was something they should be praising her for. However, only the front row of the students did any sort of cheering, as that's where the A and B ranks were sitting.
"And with that, I wish you all who are participating in our annual tournament good luck, and all eyes will be on those who do well," Ellen said as she finally wrapped up her speech.
Once again, only the front row of the students did any sort of recognition of her speech with either cheers, clapping or both. Thomas did his best to clench his fists to hold in the frustration he was feeling over this whole situation.
"I'm not happy about this either, but we must remain strong, Tom," Cecily leaned over to put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know, and thank you Lily," Thomas did his best to make a smile. "But…"
"You're worried about Al, aren't you?," she asked, almost as if she was reading his thoughts.
"Yeah, you're right Lily," Thomas held a genuine smile for a moment as Cecily once again knew what he was thinking. "Out of everyone this is affecting, it's probably affecting him the most"
"We can only hope that he is doing what he can, and knowing him he is," Cecily sighed. "Allen won't give up easily. I'm sure we'll see him again soon"
"Probably sooner than you think," a voice came from behind.
Both Thomas and Cecily turned around to see none other than Stephen Windblade, the former head director's son. For some reason Thomas couldn't understand, he held what seemed to be a bag of popcorn?
"What are you doing here Stephen?," Thomas loudly whispered, out of the sheer confusion he felt.
"Oh me?," he grinned. "I'm preparing for the spectacle that's about to happen"
"Spectacle?," both Thomas and Cecily asked at the same time.
"Yeah," he nodded, after chewing some of his food. "I've heard word about Allen"
"Wait Al-"
"Shhh," Stephen put a finger to his mouth to quiet Thomas down. "I haven't heard from him directly, but I have enough trusted sources to know he's on the move"
"Allen's on the move?," Thomas asked, but finally in a whisper. "Just where is he? Is he close?"
Thomas started to lean out of his chair, but Cecily stopped him.
"Let him answer, Tom," Cecily held her hand on him to calm him.
"Right," he said, as he quickly sat back down.
"I get a feeling we'll find out if we continue watching," Stephen shrugged, as he took another bite of his food.
"And now, a short word from your Student Council President, as well as my trusted daughter, Rose Marion," Ellen announced, as she made room on the stage.
"Oh no…," Stephen said, as he noticed the dire state Rose looked to be in.
As their Student Council President, but most importantly their friend Rose walked up on the stage, Thomas could immediately tell something was wrong. The once proud and confident Rose they all grew to know seemed to cease to exist as Rose took small and almost weak steps as she approached the front of the stage. But her facial expression was by far the worst to look at, as she maintained eye contact with the floor instead of with the students in front of her. It was hard to tell, but Rose had completely looked void of any sort of emotions or expressions. If there was any sort of emotion she was feeling, it was probably dejection.
Rose seemed to take a few, small breaths as she prepared to make her speech to the students in front of her she refused to look at. Ellen seemed to try to be pushing her to talk, as Thomas could see her mouth moving as her focus remained on Rose.
After a few moments of complete silence within the auditorium, Rose was finally able to open her mouth. "I-"
But her words were cut completely short as steps loud enough to fill the entire silent auditorium came from the student's side.
"Ellen Marion!," a loud voice came from the direction of where the steps originated from. A loud voice, that Thomas easily recognized.
"Allen?," Thomas asked himself, almost in disbelief, as he saw his good friend standing tall and confidently, to the side of all the seats filled with students, and with him directly facing the stage in the front.
"I knew he'd come," Stephen said with a large grin forming.
For the first time since this whole announcement started, Rose slowly raised her head up to face the voice that called out her mother's voice previously. And she was understandably confused and surprised when she saw Allen's face out of anyone she could have seen.
"Allen?," Rose called out, which her voice sounded more like a call for help than a question.
Allen gave her a small smile as he looked over at their Student Council President, but before either of them could say anything, the person in question finally came out, standing right in front of the uneasy Rose.
"What is the meaning of this interruption?," Ellen asked, very noticeably irritated. "Who gave you permission to interrupt my daughter's speech?"
"I, Allen Fleming, regarded as the Weakest Mage, am calling out your unjust position as Head Director, Ellen Marion!"
It was finally now that the rest of the students in the auditorium finally started to murmur and look around as the situation started to unfold in front of them.
"It's him! It's Allen Fleming!"
"The Weakest Mage?"
"Wasn't he demoted back to F rank?"
"What's he doing here?"
As the student's voices circulated around the room, Ellen turned her attention to the students for a moment.
"Silence!," she ordered, to which the students hesitantly obeyed. She turned her attention back to who had interrupted them. "Now Fleming, I am only going to advise you of this once: get back to your seat immediately, or there's going to be-"
"Ellen, I am here to call out your unjust position and the actions you are actively taking to disrupt the academy and its students!," Allen called out. "Our head director is not you, but William Windblade, and with Martha Clark alongside him!"
Allen's bold statement only further sends the auditorium into further disarray, with the mixed feelings the students have about Ellen Marion and her ways.
"Just who do you think you are to say such incoherent and meaningless words?," Ellen crossed her arms as she glared directly at Allen. "I will have you immediately-"
But before Ellen could finish her sentence, two more people entered the scene next to Allen. One Thomas very easily recognized, and the other he has seen in person maybe once.
Both Ms. Florence, Thomas' former teacher, and Mr. Garet, their only current Vice Director, took their stand on either side of Allen. Thomas could only guess that Allen must be working with them in some way.
"So, that's what he has been up to," Stephen broke the silence where Thomas and Cecily were sitting. "I swear Allen, you continue to amaze me"
"You two…," Ellen started to say as her eyes widened even further with the sudden entrance of Ms. Florence and Mr. Garet. "I should've known you two were going behind my backs!"
"Ellen Marion," Mr. Garet called out, in a rather raspy voice. He quickly cleared his throat before speaking again. "With my position as a Vice Director of this academy, alongside Danet Florence as a teacher of this academy, stand with Fleming in the stance that you relinquish your unjust position as our head director of this academy!"
Ellen started to grit her teeth more and more with each word that came out of Mr. Garet's mouth. Her body seemed to begin to shake, out of pure anger and frustration.
"Well, she certainly isn't a fan of being interrupted," Stephen commented as he let out a laugh, and then took another bite of his food.
Does Stephen really think this is some form of entertainment to him?, Thomas thought to himself, bewildered.
"To think that both you, Walter Garet, and you, Danet Florence, have been the ones going behind my back this whole time!," Ellen raised her voice, as she stood her ground. "I'm utterly disappointed and infuriated you would try to disrupt the peace of this academy!"
"Peace?," Mr. Garet stifled a laugh. "You call your actions against our students peace? Yeah, and I'm young and youthful. What else do you wish to lie about?"
Ellen shook her head. "Quite honestly, I was suspecting something like this would happen. I was really hoping that you would fall in line, Walter, but it seems you can't keep your trap shut, can you?"
"I'd like to think of it more like my mouth can't help but call out cheaters and liars," Mr. Garet responded to her, a satisfied grin on his face.
Ellen clearly did not take too kindly to Mr. Garet's comment, as she seemed to struggle around in her mind to say something back to him. But instead, she turned her attention to Ms. Florence.
"And you, Danet, I did not see this happening. So it seems you really can talk, can you?," she said, as a smirk formed at the corner of her mouth.
"I will admit, I am very quiet about a lot of matters that don't really concern me," Ms. Florence admitted, as she gave a small shrug. "But for you, I'll make a generous exception"
"You….," Ellen started to say, as it was obvious she was starting to lose her cool. "I shall have all of you removed from this auditorium immediately, and-"
"You will do no such thing!," a new voice came from the side of the auditorium, but on the other side opposite Allen, Ms. Florence and Mr. Garet.
"You… no…," Ellen started to say, as she seemed to be slowly backing away.
The students, including Thomas, all turned to see the source of the voice. And once Thomas' eyes landed on the source, to say he wasn't surprised would be a lie.
"I am the First Prince of England, August Lionheart," he called out, as he put a hand on his chest. "And I am also here to call out Ellen Marion's position an unjust one!"
Murmurs throughout the crowd grew even louder, with the sudden appearance of Prince August. But he wasn't alone, because none other than Sarah Childe was behind him. She did friendly waves all around to the students that had their attention on them.
"So, even the airheaded Sarah takes her stand against Ellen?," Stephen seemed to be asking himself. "This just keeps getting better and better"
Thomas could only roll his eyes with each new comment Stephen would make, but deep down he knew that he cared about Allen, Rose and the rest of them. But, he also knew that Stephen could be an idiot at times.
"You also dare interrupt the auditorium?," Ellen asked August, almost offended by it. "You should know better, being the prince and all"
"I am aware of my position as prince and needing to maintain neutral stances when it comes to elemental magic," August acknowledged. "However, as a fellow student of this academy, I cannot overlook how you treat my classmates, or any of the students in general"
Sarah behind him began to nod her head really fast, as if to add to August's statement. She almost seemed to have a forced grin on her face, as she tried to get students who liked her on their side.
With now the entrance of August and Sarah from the other side of the auditorium, the students all started to go into a short frenzy with everything unfolding. Thomas noticed some of the student council members who help with the assemblies attempting to quiet everyone down, but to no avail. The magical knights that now remained at the academy from Ellen's doing remained on the sidelines, awaiting any sort of orders Ellen may finally give out.
"Well Ellen?," Allen called out, when things finally started to settle down. "Will you make this easy and step down, or will we need to take things further?"
The students attention was immediately drawn to Ellen, as everyone awaited her answer. She only stood in silence, glaring down at Allen in frustration and annoyance. Rose, who was still behind her, seemed to be shifting in place, but it was hard to tell for Thomas.
"Well Ellen?," Mr. Garet called out. "Have anything to say?"
Ellen only closed her eyes for a moment while her arms remained crossed. But before anyone else could say anything as they awaited her response, she finally let out a long laugh that no one was expecting. It didn't sound genuine, and it finally just seemed like she had lost it.
"I didn't think she could laugh," Stephen commented from behind Thomas, to which Thomas once again forgot he was behind him.
"Do I have anything to say you ask?," Ellen said as her laugh started to die down. "Do I… have anything to say? Funny you should ask…"
Allen, Mr. Garet, Ms. Florence and even everyone else in the auditorium all seemed to be confused at what Ellen was getting at.
"All of you dare to challenge my authority and you think you can get away with it?," she glared down at them. "All of you will not get away with this, especially you, Allen Fleming"
"Then try something," Allen challenged her, as he held his hand on top of his sword, which remained sheathed away. "We'll follow your rules for now, but you won't be keeping your position forever"
Ellen just let out a disappointed sigh before continuing. "All of you magical knights, I order you to remove these five from the auditorium immediately"
"Figures she'd pull something like this," Mr. Garet sighed as the magical knights started to move.
"Well, this isn't good," Stephen said, as he finished the rest of his snack. "Should we do anything?"
"Not for right now," Cecily recommended. "I think… something tells me we'll be able to meet up with them soon"
They looked down at Allen, who seemed to be looking back at them. Allen gave a small nod, and the rest of them nodded back at him. They knew they would see him soon.
"Rose!," Allen called out, as he turned his attention back at the front of the stage.
Rose made no inclination to show she acknowledged him or heard him, but her body seemed to shake for a moment.
"I- no we, will do everything we can to get you back!," he called out, as the magical knights were already removing August and Sarah from the room first.
"She's already made her decision to be with me, Fleming," Ellen answered for her. "You'll do no such thing to corrupt my precious daughter. Isn't that right, Rose?"
"Yes," Rose answered, which was the first thing she had said during this whole encounter.
"Rose! You don't have to listen to her!," Allen called out.
"Magical knights! Remove him immediately!," Ellen called out. "I don't care about the rest of them, I want him out first!"
As the magical knights directed their attention over to Allen, he seemed to make one final statement before they could get them out of the room.
"I, Allen Fleming, regarded as the 'Weakest Mage', will win my first four duels in the tournament and will get William Windblade his rightful position as Head Director, with you stepping down Ellen Marion!," Allen called out, as almost a final proclamation to her, as well as the rest of the students in the room.
"Hmph, I'd like to see you try, Fleming," Ellen crossed her arms, with an unimpressed look on her face. "You'll never accomplish anything worth noting. Those at the bottom should just stay at the bottom"
Allen gave her one last glare before he let the magical knights escort him out of the auditorium.
"All of you, are dismissed!," Ellen called out to all of the students, before finally leading Rose off of the stage with her.
With the students all now feeling uneasy and holding even more mixed feelings about everything going on so far, all they do is wait for the tournament to officially start to find out what happens next, and what Allen will do. As for Thomas, Cecily, and Stephen, they know they should see him later, as the three of them silently agreed they will do what they can to support their friend in need.
Volume 8 End