Pelts of tiny rocks were falling around them as they ran to the stairs. The shaking stopped but the rumbling continued as they started going upwards.
What they saw when they came to the courtroom was pure havoc. The chandelier was on the floor in pieces, and the students passing by were screaming in horror. Mages dressed in all black were flying around on broomsticks throwing spells and aiming at the running students.
Kai's dead eyes widened for the first time in forever and said, "Bloody hell, what do we do," his voice rising hysterically.
Marielle's face paled as she stood there motionless. Meanwhile, Bobby replied with an air of swagger, "We fight them of course."
Kai grabbed Bobby's shoulders and faced him with a panicked expression, "Are you serious? We are a bunch of 5th years what the fuck do you expect us to do?"
Edmund pulled Kai back forcefully and looked him in the eyes, "Being scared won't help anyone right now. The only thing you can do right now is shut up."
Edmund's eyes were dead serious as Kai realized this. He took two deep breaths before calming down.
Caleb saw all this without saying anything as a boy behind him started shooting fireballs on the flying mages causing them to swerve in multiple directions. The mages saw them and started flying over.
Eleanor started whimpering in freight, "Oh god Oh god we are so done."
Marielle remained motionless as Edmund's knuckles turned white with tension. Caleb merely looked solemn, Bobby excited, Isaac with a crease on his forehead, and the rest nervous.
"Seth," commanded Caleb to the boy who fired at the spells, "use double edged snakes as Bobby will back you up. We have to split up so they won't know where Marielle is. I kept her mana signature hidden so she will be with me."
Seth nodded and summoned his grimoire where a 3-leaf clover shone as two fire snakes erupted from the ground beside him, both from each side as they slithered towards the oncoming mages.
Bobby stepped in front of Seth and said, "Seth this may be our last ride but I rather go down fighting than be depressed. Let's do this."
"Not without me you won't," said a figure as he stepped right next to Bobby.
Bobby smiled as he said, "As usual Isaac. I can't go without you."
"Alright, we will leave this to you guys," Edmund shouted as they started running in the opposite direction, towards the exit where a hole was present. The green fields appeared behind the hole as Caleb and the others started to head there.
Two mages saw them and decided to swerve their brooms to the left as they started preparing spells from their grimoires. Before they could do anything a gigantic hand made of wax apparated from underneath as they grabbed the mages from their brooms and threw them towards Bobby where a golem was in front preparing to bash their brains out.
Seth stood behind both of them as he willed the snakes to come out underground behind them while they wrapped themselves around the legs of the mages, crushing it.
Both of them screamed in pain as bones were snapped in half. That did not end as the golem grabbed their heads and slammed it together. A huge crack sounded as the sound of a skull being dented was heard.
"Haha, that's what you get for trying to steal Marielle from us," yelled a triumphed Isaac with a grin, facing Bobby.
Bobby grinned too, full well knowing that their communication through mana created immaculate teamwork. Those guys may have stronger spells but their lack of coordination was the cause of their downfall.
Seth looked grim, dirt on his face as he warned, "Guys behind you," as two more mages flew over them dropping a vial.
It was too late as it exploded into flames coating them. Seth's ears were ringing as he closed his eyes. He thought he was dead but the white circular stuff around him was…
"Wax ball," answered Bobby, he could read Seth's thoughts through the linked mana.
Isaac looked fazed as he said quietly, "we almost died. Now what," his face full of concern, the triumph now gone.
Seth felt two figures at the outer right edge of the enclosed ball and said, "they are right there," as he pointed his finger at it as condensed mana in the form of flames blasted towards the right edge of the ball blasting a hole through it as Seth squeezed through it. The mages with their masks on flew right above the ball, hardly giving him a look when one of them sent a vertical lightning arrow towards the top of the ball, blasting it to shreds.
Except the people inside were made of wax. Seth smiled to himself as the 2nd mage flew towards him. They sent a concentrated blast of wind at Seth as he blasted himself in the air with flames under his feet, keeping him afloat.
The 2nd mage thought to herself, to do something, at such a young age, incredible. She did not waste any time as she summoned a mini tornado in front of her as she sent it towards him. She wanted to test him out first before wasting any more mana as he flew straight at the tornado, slicing through it as he zoomed towards her.
She summoned her grimoire and conjured tornado fangs as two horizontal tornadoes condensed with pressure appeared behind him.
Seth sensed the mana coming towards him as he looked away from her. Without warning, she flicked her wrist as a bullet made of wind hit him instantaneously. He was hit in the upper back region where a hole appeared. Blood started dripping down as he screamed in pain. The tornado fangs were coming towards him as he lost his balance.
It was the end, she thought, she felt somewhat guilty as he was around her age but she pushed down her guilt. She would be nothing if she cannot kill without hesitation but those thoughts still lingered.
Just when the fangs were about to hit him a golem appeared from underground as it blocked the tornado fangs using a nest of water, a ball of water with two whirlpools on top.
What speed, she thought with awe at the golem in front of her as it carried Seth on its shoulders.
"You shouldn't be leaving your little friend like that, lying over there," Isaac said from the left side of her only a few meters away, his face a twisted smile.
Her mouth dropped open as she looked at her colleague, masked in pieces, robes ripped off and face torn off…Skin in shreds as she could not recognize him anymore. His body was burnt badly and he was not moving at all.
She shrieked in rage as she charged up at Bobby who was looking at the body as a hand grabbed her throat and a knife in front ready to slit her throat when possible.
She froze as the voice said coldly, "Move and I will cut that pretty throat of yours."
How is he so fast, she thought with fear as she tried hard to not look back at Isaac.
She tried to gain her composure as she replied, "Okay. What do you want?"
"I want to know who you are and what you are here for," he answered, his hand pressing tighter.
She choked a bit as she replied, "I'm Jamie and I was hired to come here to take some girl away."
"Okay," he said as her hands were immediately bound by invisible strings. "You are our prisoner now and we will be keeping you under heavy surveillance," he finished as he released his hold.
She turned around to face Isaac, his straight blonde hair covering his eyes. She felt a shudder as she contemplated what just happened. Bobby started walking towards her as she clenched her fists in anger. He was the one who killed her mentor, he killed the only person who ever accepted her for who she was, yet this happened.
Bobby's smile widened as he whistled, "Look what we have here, a little girl playing villain."
Isaac smiled back as he released the golem holding Seth and brought him over. Seth's eyes were closed as he was carried by the golem. It laid him down next to Isaac's feet who looked at Seth with concern.
"What are we gonna do with him," he asked Bobby, who just noticed Seth.
"We should wait for Emelia or try to find her," he said while looking at the bloody hole.
"You did this?!!" Bobby suddenly yelled at her, smile all gone.
She grimaced and said spitefully, "You killed my friend, it's only fair I killed yours."
Bobby ignored her and asked Isaac with alarm, "do you think he's dead, he is losing a lot of blood," his frame started trembling terribly as his face turned red with anger.
Isaac looked around analyzing the situation and said nervously, "Bobby, look calm down. I think he is unconscious but we can get him to the healers."
Bobby ignored him and knelt next to the lying Seth. He slowly pressed his ear to Seth's chest to hear for any heartbeat. The heartbeat was faint and it was growing weaker and weaker by the second.
The courtroom started shaking as the columns of stone surrounding them started cracking. Isaac's fears were confirmed. After gaining the memories, it was stated that the only way to break the seal between the spiritual world was to have the magic circle on the back while also experiencing immense rage. If Isaac didn't stop him now, Bobby would be consumed by some spirit and kill everyone here.
Bobby's body kept shaking until eventually his robes exploded into pieces leaving his back open to Isaac. The orange magic circle behind him glowed as Bobby let out a guttural scream in pain, his eyes glowing gold.
Isaac looked in terror as he pulled Jamie behind him, her face frozen with horror. She continued staring at Bobby as Isaac willed the golem next to Seth to grab Bobby by the arm. As the golem's hand grabbed on Bobby, its hand started burning with light as it drew back, smoke filling the air. Part of its hand was gone, burned to ashes.
The golem then surrounded themselves with a nest of water trying to enclose them together. The golem then started shrinking the nest of water forcing it on Bobby. It was pointless as Bobby's body burned through it with a glitter of light.
There was nothing he could do. Isaac slowly watched his best friend slowly getting consumed by a spirit. They were doomed, all doomed to death the moment they woke up from that memory. Maybe this was God telling them first that what they were doing was wrong and that this was Karma.
An explosion occurred from above as the ceiling was blasted open. Chunks of concrete were falling from above as the golem made another nest of water protecting them. By now Bobby's hair has turned from brown to white as he continued charging up energy.
What appeared from above was a bizarre sight. A gigantic lion the size of an elephant staring through the hole of the ceiling and a man around 30 standing on top of it, looking unfazed. The man was wearing a top hat in black, dressed with a white cloak around him, and the insides were all black. His face was pale and his face gaunt. If Kai were to have an uncle, he would be it. The sky behind him was cloudy as he stared at them with an amused expression.
"Wooohoooo, I heard you guys needed help," he said with a jolly expression.
They just stared at him.
"I sensed some dark spirit at work here," he continued, "I can seal that spirit inside him with blood magic so don't worry," he finished with a light tone as he jumped down from the lion into the hole, landing in front of them.
He walked down happily towards them, clicking his heels while whistling some ridiculous tune. When he reached Bobby, he took out a stopwatch and pressed the top of it. In a second, runes appeared next to the glowing magic circle coated in blood red. The runes converged over the magic circle as the glowing stopped. Bobby's intense breathing stopped as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He slumped forward into the man's arms, his face still white.
In a second it was all over when Jamie broke free from her senses and asked quietly, "C-can you heal the boy over there," she pointed at Seth who was lying down next to Bobby.
The man looked at her peculiarly and said, "Sure," as he gridded over. He put his hand on the bloody hole and stopped the flowing of the blood and reversed it back giving his heart more energy. Seth's heart started beating normally as his breathing became more regular.
After he finished, he walked towards them still grinning smugly as he said, "Well, I did what I can and now it's your turn to entertain me."
"What do you want," Isaac stated with no humour, his eyes looking carefully at the man in front.
"I want to know how a bunch of 15 year olds got into a mess as big as this," he said as he surveyed the scene. Dead bodies around him, most of them adults with some students and the 4 teenagers that were still alive.
The once majestic courtroom was completely devastated. The ceiling has a huge hole in the middle, chunks of concrete everywhere, the smell of burnt bodies and electricity. Worst of all, the dead bodies lying around while blood smeared the ground. It was truly a gruesome sight yet the survivors were 4 15 year olds where one was on the verge of being eaten by an illegal spirit.
"So," he asked as they did not respond to him.
Jamie and Isaac looked at each other awkwardly and decided to tell a more "pleasing" truth as they described themselves as students being attacked by random messages. The man listened without interrupting, his face deep in thought until they finished.
"What I'm going to do is this, I'm going to take you guys to the healers office where we can discuss further, sounds good?" He said with eyebrows raised.
They didn't say anything. Jamie looked fearful while Isaac looked glum. The man laughed and said gently, "look you guys are acting like you are about to enter your deathbed. Cheer up, your friends are fine."
Isaac sighed and said, "sure take us," he grabbed Jamie by the shoulders and pushed her forcefully in front of him whispering in her ear, "if you try anything fishy I will personally get my golem to cut your head off," she flinched at his closeness and nodded.
The man took it out of context and remarked, "If you lovebirds can just hurry up we might make it on time."
Jamie's face flushed while Isaac glared at him. The man merely smiled and urged them with his hand, "come on my lion is getting impatient."
They followed him as Jamie produced a mini tornado under them to carry them upwards.
"Woah a wind mage," he whistled in approval as they started floating.
She muttered something insensible to herself without looking at him as they floated higher.
Tough crowd, he thought to himself as his smile faded.
The lion grunted as all 3 of them sat on his back, the man in the front, Jamie in the middle, and Isaac at the back. Bobby and Seth were draped in front of the man as he watched over them.
The lion made a noise and said, "Garth get it over with, that boy with white hair stinks, my nose hurts."
The man looked at him funny and replied, "Well, run to the healer's office then."
It made a disgruntled noise as it started running at high speeds toward the East side of the castle. The man looked back at Jamie and Isaac both staring distantly in the distance with empty eyes. He wondered what the hell happened in the courtroom because he believed it as much as he believed that the wizard king was dead. He had all sorts of questions that he forced himself to not start yelling at them. The trees zoomed by as the lion picked up speed.
In no time flat, the white dome near the edge of the clearing appeared. On both sides of the small building were huge cauldrons with smoke coming out from them. A toxic smell washed over them as the lion skidded to a sudden stop.
"Arr, I can't go further anymore because of the smell," the lion growled as Garth nodded.
Jamie's eyes darted around as she looked at the foreign place. Her instinct told her to run but she felt that if she tried, her head would end up on a plate soon enough. She shifted her hands a bit and found that the strings were gone. She stole a quick glance at Isaac who caught her looking at him.
"I did it because it linked your mana to mine. I would know where you are at all times," he said as he gestured for her to jump down.
She hopped down, the grass giving away a soft thump as she landed. She brushed off some dirt from her robes while looking up at him. She stared at him emotionless and replied, "you really are a snarky brat huh."
Isaac shrugged as he jumped down, "It's called being smart, something you obviously don't have."
She was about to berate him when Garth hollered from the distance at them to follow him. Jamie crossed her arms and gave Isaac a quick glare as she headed towards the white dome. Isaac followed suit and thought of the memories he experienced in the white dome. Back then life was more simple, how he wished he could turn back time.
—---------
"Isaac, welcome back," an old lady shrieked in delight as she rushed to hug him. Isaac patted her awkwardly on the head as he looked puzzled.
"Uhm, Mrs. Winnie, long time no see, I guess," he said quickly unsure on what to express.
Winnie only stared up at him in wonder, her wrinkled face sparkling. "Quick, sit down, the Arnalves will be here soon," she said as if it was the best thing ever.
Isaac tried to fake a smile but his spirit faltered as he made a lopsided smile that looked as if he was constipated. Garth looked at him with suspicious eyes as he turned to look at Jamie who was keeping a distance from everyone, alone in her thoughts.
"Oh yeah, who is that young lady over there," Winnie asked Isaac as she spied a glance at her.
Isaac's face darkened as he answered coldy, "Someone I know, we met in an accident during the courtroom bombings."
Winnie looked like she wanted to ask more when a knock sounded on the door. The 4 of them were seated in a small white room that consisted of two long benches on opposite sides of the room. A small counter stood at the end of the room, adjacent to the door. The counter was currently empty as Winnie was seated right next to Isaac and Garth on one of the benches. Jamie sat alone on the other side, looking down on her feet.
The door opened slowly as a man's head peeked in. Jamie jumped a little, looking startled as she looked fearfully at the man. Isaac looked at him with nervous energy, his finger tapping the bench repeatedly. Garth looked rather pleased at the man's arrival. Winnie squealed in surprise as she jumped out of her seat to guide the man in.
The man looked impressive with medals decorated all over his golden coat as his pleasant features made him look rather amiable. He smiled towards them as he spoke softly, "I was summoned by Garth here to do some questioning on an incident that happened in the courtroom, if you don't mind," he finished the last part by looking at Isaac and Jamie.
"You forgot to mention yourself," Garth pointed out as the man chuckled sheepishly.
"Oh, well I am the captain of Golden Dawn and it would be a pleasure to meet you all," he announced confidently as he spread his arms wide with a grin.
They all stared while Winnie fawned over his brilliance in portraying himself. He looked flattered as he placed himself behind the counter and cleared his throat.
"So, anyways, I wanted to ask what really happened in there," he finished awkwardly as his confidence faded suddenly.
Isaac looked at Jamie who didn't say anything then decided to take things into his own hands.
"Sir, my friend and I just came out of the dungeons after a party and when we came upstairs we saw that the courtroom was being bombed by a bunch of terrorists so we decided to help the students in distress. The girl here, Jamie, was one of them as we decided to fight off the terrorists together. My friends were one of the unfortunate ones as they almost died from the attacks," here Isaac paused and took a deep breath as the man looked at him with a firm face.
"That sounds plausible but when taken into account of the fact that your friend here dealt with an illegal spirit, just makes it hard to believe," he concluded his thoughts with a neutral tone as he awaited their response.
Isaac began again and said, "My friend was rather ignorant about the spiritual world and wanted to find out more about it by contacting them. Hence, the magic circle on his back. Who knew that immense stress could cause the activation of the spirit. I just want to say that he is innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever."
The man put his hand on his chin thinking as he leaned back a bit more. He knew the kid was hiding something, that itself was obvious but he has no evidence to prosecute him and he does not feel obliged to. Now the girl was something else. He could sense the cornered rat in her and her paranoia. Paired up with the fact of her unnatural characteristics of what a Clover human should be, he knew immediately that she was from a distant country.
He spoke his mind as he asked, "So where are you from?"
"Lars. I'm from Lars, a small kingdom above the Joker Empire."
The man caught in a huge breath as his brain circulated quickly. He knew that Lars had a history of intense civil wars and that Joker soldiers would harass the citizens and brutalize them. Another rumour also stated that the Joker Empire was hosting a systematic genocide whre killing games were a thing. Either way, the people of Lars experienced immense manipulation from Joker and the country was split multiple times because of them. As the years passed, the people of Lars grew a hatred so strong at Joker that they staged a revolt which ended in the death of 200 Joker soldiers patrolling the border. The revolt was quickly crushed when the Joker general sent thousands of troops. Many were killed and tortured. Tens of thousands sent into slavery. In the end, the Kingdom was left to nothing but ruins. But to see a Lars in Clover was definitely not expected…
"So how did you come here," he finally asked after collecting his thoughts.
Everybody listened intently to her as she spoke, "Through the flat circle. I was forced into this group of people some years ago who freed me from slavery when I was still in the Joker Empire. These people called themselves the idealists and I felt obliged to help them because of what they've done. Their idea was to avenge Lars and other oppressed kingdoms by building an empire that unify all kingdoms. The group was huge and I was assigned the role of the cleaning girl where I did menial tasks in exchange for a place to sleep and eat. I was grateful for the position they gave me until I met my mentor," here she stopped as tears formed in her eyes, "he told me that I can be much better than some cabin girl. He said I could be a great magician and that I could contribute more to the group as a whole. I decided to accept his offer and soon enough I was training under his wing. Years flew by and we were assigned a mission to take a girl hostage under the orders of the higher ups. We first tracked the girl in Spade but she was surrounded by a bunch of people. They ended up noticing us and we barely escaped with half of our squadron destroyed. That was a few years ago, and apparently the higher ups think we have a chance this time in capturing her so we ended up coming through a flat circle and ended up in a courtroom where we ambushed many students killing some and letting the others go," she stopped suddenly as black liquid came out of her mouth. She gurgled as she grasped her throat in alarm.
Isaac and the others rushed forward but Garth pulled them back, "that's some devil magic ya fools," he snarled at them as he moved towards her.
He inspected carefully before cursing silently, "Damm, Episidion magic those guys sure are tricky," as he put her hand into her throat and removed a tiny scroll.
He opened it and inside was a messy handwriting written in black liquid:
Garth of the Red Ocean, I see you and all your plans but it won't be enough. Resistance is futile.
Garth's face reddened in anger as he ripped up the scroll and said, "Shuck. They got us good. Bring the girl to the healers, she will live."
Winnie looked fearfully at him but obeyed his order as she willed mana around her to control an unconscious Jamie as she floated towards the exit. Isaac watched anxiously as she was lifted out of the room by Winnie as she trailed behind her. Garth silently excused himself as he followed after Winnie hoping to take a look at Bobby.
Isaac worried about Seth and Bobby but he also worried about the others. He hadn't heard from them since they first departed from each other. Sure, he would know if they are in danger due to the mana link but not knowing anything only made him more anxious. He started biting his fingernails without realizing it until the man looked at him.
"Worried, huh, I would be too if I were you," he said calmly as he sat down on the bench and signaled for Isaac to sit next to him.
Isaac thought for a bit before sitting next to him. Unable to control himself he started ranting, "Look, I really don't know how I got into all this mess but I just wanted to say that those people she was talking about were my friends and I. I do remember getting spied on or something during a trip to Spade, the girl's hometown. She had no parents, no family, nothing and I felt extremely bad. She said her family just suddenly disappeared one day when she came back and never heard anything from them again. She-," he stopped as he saw the man smile.
"No need to be scared, no one's going to hurt you or your friends," he reassured him gently and warmly as he continued, "I don't know you personally but it seems like you have been shouldering your emotions for a long time already. Don't you sometimes hate the world?"
Isaac was confused by the question but he thought, hating the world hmm, he thought of his strict but caring parents, his older brother, and then Bobby. He thought of Caleb and the others. He thought of the child he saved with his golem, he thought about his classmates, his pet lizard, and his old crush. He thought about his chess…
He came to a conclusion and answered confidently, "I don't hate the world, the world loves me."
The man chuckled and patted Isaac on the back and said, "That's what I want to hear, now get going."
"Go where?" his eyes confused.
"To Bobby of course, don't you want to see him," he said with a note of surprise.
"Oh, hell of course I am," he shot up to his feet as he followed the man and exited out of the door until pain shot up his neck as he buckled from the pressure.
The man stopped, heard his groan and looked with a panicked expression, "Isaac!"
Isaac groaned louder as he felt something burning on his neck. It felt like something was etched into his skin, like a tattoo but hotter. He felt as if the mana inside him were being ripped to shreds, the link inside him being pulled apart.
"Isaac?", the man asked again, this time with alarm.
Isaac realizing the situation tried to warn the man but all he could say was, "Maberal goodo daken tower done oh," he shrieked again as the link was pulled once again inside of him. The link grew weaker now as it was being pulled again and this time it finally broke free. The pain ceased to exist as Isaac felt empty with the link gone now, disconnecting all of their lives at once. The pact of friendship they made on that day was torn apart just like that. A tinge of sadness pierced through Isaac as he crumbled to the ground, the darkness engulfing him as the last thing he saw was the man's panicked face.