NOW.
THE CRATER.
"Holy-"
Ilise's eyes started to glow. The lightning-bolt cracks in her arm lit up, and splintered further down. The cuffs of her uniform began to fray. Her hair rose up around her in halo, much like Roza's had. It lashed about in the winds of her own making. Toby and Rei looked on in awe. Not many people had seen a Kaiser and lived to tell the tale.
To see one fight on their behalf was even rarer.
"Ilise? Are you holding up?" Rei asked.
"Y-yeah. I think so. It's weird. All this power is-" Ilise winced. "It's like I'm made out of magic right now."
"Time's ticking, Ilise!" Ivan called.
"That's my cue. Toby, keep Bianca off of Rei's back. Why don't you go run in circles?" She winked at them unsteadily, and took off through the dust cloud.
It was evident that none of them had expected Ilise to utilise her Kaiserforce. Dies Irae disappeared, cut off by Bianca's lack of concentration. To their credit, Rei and Toby instantly took off running.
Hundreds of new spells bombarded Ilise. They didn't have names, but she just knew how they would work. She could feel the movements of her fellow students. The ones who weren't supposed to be watching them, but were lying prone on the edge of the dome and peeking through. All of them were naught but untapped energy sources to her. She turned her attention to Ivan.
"Release him."
Two translucent glyphs manifested on Ivan's palms.
"I'll copy whatever you throw at me, sister." He snarled.
"Fine, you creep. Let's see you copy this! Thermal Sunder!"
At that moment, everyone realised that both the Rossweisse sisters had some propensity for Fire magic, whether or not it was the result of the fire that ran through their veins.
Ilise manipulated the kinetic energy around her, creating an area of extreme temperatures. She siphoned off the heat - nothing more than a byproduct of kinetic energy - from Bianca's remaining swords, and stole away the words that Ivan was shouting at her. She couldn't feel it, with the warmth coursing through her, but to the others, the crater's temperature was dropping far below zero.
A pale coat of frost formed. As Ilise upped the intensity of her spell, that frost became full-blown stalagmites, jutting out of the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, Ilise could see Toby cutting a way through for him and Rei with one of his Flamethrower spells.
"Release."
All at once, Ilise released the heat she'd been stocking up as a raw wave of kinetic force. A crack ran across Bianca's protective spells, finding the weaknesses that were once invincible. From a perfect window to something out of a modern art gallery, the spells peeled away from her, smashed into a thousand glittering fragments. Bianca was thrown backwards by the impact. She raised a sword, digging it into the ground to anchor herself.
The blast pounded at the dome, causing it to shimmer again. Cracks spread through it - a spiderweb spun by Ilise's raw power. Caught up in the thrall of her power, Ilise felt Marten forcing his frozen jaws apart to mutter a few Reinforcing spells, but the second wave struck him and knocked him against the dome. He fell to the ground, knocked unconscious.
The dome came down.
"Oh, no."
For the first time in forever, the students of Mistilteinn Academy saw fear in Bianca Rossweisse's eyes.
--
Ilise was rapidly losing control. Without the dome to inhibit her ability to absorb kinetic energy, the entire world was laid bare before her. Everyone in the area was a living battery.
"Motion Lock."
Blue strands of light began seeping out and flowing towards Ilise. The world around her appeared to stand still. She floated high up in the air, regarding her subjects with amusement.
"So pathetic. All of you belong to me now. Ilise Rossweisse has given up her body to me. I am the Kaiserin of Motion. I control each and every last one of your moves. Ivan Alexeyevich. You have caused harm to someone my other half loves. For that, you will be dealt the same pain, fourfold."
The sickening crunch of bones was heard as Ivan's limbs cracked. He didn't feel the pain - rather, he wouldn't. Not yet.
"Does no one have the willpower to challenge my authority?"
"If that's what it takes to get my sister back, then I do."
"What-"
Bianca Rossweisse broke free of her restraints. Casting multiple spells in quick succession, Bianca took to the skies.
"Fire Magic: Dies Irae. Phoenix Feathers. Light Magics: Eos Gloria. Primo Victoria. Illusion Magic: Silent Night, Holy Light."
The golden arm that had appeared so many times in Ilise's dreams showed itself once more. This time, it wasn't just the arm. A full suit of shining, golden armour stepped out of a Summoning glyph, wielding a sword and a shield. It held Dies Irae, the flaming blade, in its left hand, and the shield, Eos Gloria, in its right.
"Meet Primo Victoria, Kaiserin. Its name means 'Foremost, Victory.' That's not necessarily true, but I can't name my giant suit of armour Primo Ilise, can I?"
"Show yourself, you impudent whelp! Kinetic Silhouette! Concussive Force!"
The phoenix's feathers Primo Victoria was shedding formed into a pair of wings. The shining knight took into the skies, its blazing sword a beacon in the darkness of Bianca's Silent Night. The Kaiserin took off after it. The both of them broke through the clouds, flying higher up into the atmosphere.
They were almost to space now. Bianca could feel the chill on her skin, even with her Fire magic-based wards. Ilise's body couldn't tolerate much more. It was all well and good for the Kaiserin, seeing as it didn't share pain with its host. Bianca couldn't let that happen.
Now high above Alpheim, Bianca's knight extended an arm for its queen to walk upon. The Kaiserin regarded Bianca with curiosity.
"You would challenge me? A Kaiserin?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
"Ha! You presume too much of yourself, foolish girl. No human could ever stand against me."
"Look closer. Am I really human to you? If I am human, then you are pond scum."
"N-no. Impossible." The Kaiserin stuttered. Something had lit itself in Bianca's eyes.
"On the contrary, it is very much possible. You see that now, don't you? Release my sister, Kaiserin. Before I regret any of my future decisions."
"I-it is as you wish, my queen. Ilise Rossweisse shall be returned to you. Forgive my transgressions against you."
"You will be forgiven, on the condition that should my sister seek your power again, you will not lend it to her. She is to grow by herself. She must learn to rely on her own magic, and not that of others."
"Your wish is my command. My host - your sister is yours." The Kaiserin faded. Ilise's body went slack. Ilise felt her senses slowly returning to her. First - the cold air on her naked skin.
Then, the burning heat of the Sun.
Ilise woke up on the arm of Bianca's Primo Victoria. They were high up in the sky, and for some reason, she was completely naked. Bianca's normally unflappable exterior had been broken - her hair was frazzled and her eyes were fraught with worry. Even as Primo Victoria began to descend from the skies, Bianca cradled Ilise in her arms.
"Ilise! Are you okay?"
"...ugh. I need to puke. W-where am I?"
"Mistilteinn. Or you will be, soon enough."
--
Primo Victoria returned to a crowd of very confused students and a horde of medics. Ivan and Marten were nowhere to be seen. Siegfried was on the sidelines, cradling his broken and burnt arm. Ilise thought she could make out the nurse yelling at Siegfried for participating in the third exam, despite all her warnings. She let out a hysterical laugh. Toby was with him - but he was looking at her with something different. Ah, no matter. Why think about stupid boys when Ilise could think about flying unicorns?
"Is that..." Rei began.
"Ilise!" Siegfried shook off the nurse, ran up to the girls and tried to find purchase in the chinks of Primo Victoria's armour. Primo Victoria curled its fingers around Ilise and Bianca.
"Hold it there, casanova. Ilise had a wardrobe malfunction up there. Be a gent and offer your blazer." Came Bianca's muffled voice.
"R-right. Of course. Here you go." Siegfried stripped off his blazer and wedged it in between the knight's fingers.
"What time is it?" Ilise asked. "Do...I have to get up early for the entrance exams? Are we already at Mistilteinn?"
"Shh. Shh. The exams are over, Ilise. You passed. You took out Ivan and Marten. More violently than you should've, but that's besides the point." Bianca kissed Ilise's forehead. "Now you can sleep. When you wake up, we'll all go out for parfaits. You can bring anyone you want with you. Yes, even that low-tier boy. Kallen."
"K-Kallen?"
"Siegfried, or whatever it is you call him."
"Dunno him," was all Ilise could say, and she promptly went back to sleep. Bianca bundled her up in Siegfried's oversized blazer. Primo Victoria knelt in front of the crowd, unfurling its fingers to present its queen and her sister.
"Remarkable work, Bianca. You stopped a rampaging Kaiserin." Headmaster Vaughn greeted her.
"I stopped my sister, headmaster. I don't think any of us are fit to carry on with the examinations today. I'd appreciate it if you-"
"Let you take a break? Yes, of course. It'd be criminal if I disallowed that. Very well. The examinations shall have to be postponed till the day after tomorrow. Everybody needs time to rest up, I should think. And I, well, this old man will be spending his two days fielding phone calls from worried parents. Off with you now, Bianca. Take good care of your sister."
"Thank you for understanding, Headmaster Vaughn."
--
Unbeknownst to any of Mistilteinn's students and faculty, two cloaked figures stood on the roof of the main building. They were dressed in all black, with a patch of red on their sleeves. A snake, wrapped around a tree that was undoubtedly Yggdrasil's logo.
"It begins, Raven." The bigger of the two said. His face was obscured by his hood, and two long, branching antlers protruded from his mask.
"Indeed, Oryx. It's a pity. Never have I seen a timeline in which the cycle began this early." The one named Raven sighed. She bent down to pluck one of the stray weeds growing in between the cracks of the roof. "And in such a young world, too."
"Do not lose hope yet, Raven. The Torchbearer's blade still burns. And our hope will continue to burn with it."
"Say what you will, Oryx. But the time has come for Jormungandr to put the gears of Ragnarok into motion."
--