The smother of leaves and branches sounded from under their tiny feet as they walked breathlessly to the outer edges of the wood. Marielle looked in wonder at the tall trees surrounding them all having a luminescent glow surrounding it as the moonlight shone from above, making everything seem dreamlike.
As a matter of fact, Marielle was about to enter a literal dream, a dream that would determine her fate. The faction selection has finally come and Marielle was readily excited with the prospect of getting chosen. She badly wanted to be an optimizer for Enteric but she has not shown any signs of being talented whatsoever.
"1st years stop," a middle aged man yelled out as all the students turned to face him. He was a rather ghastly looking man with a beard around him. His face was intimidating but under those hard rock eyes lay a dutiful and compassionate man. His name was Fintley, something Marielle caught on while overhearing two professors talking. He was apparently the director of the Tempest faction and Marielle shuddered at the thought of being under the wings of this man. Enteric was much better, she thought.
They stopped chattering to each other as Fintley spoke loudly, "Students, we have reached a safe area for the spirits to possess you guys and thus begin the selection process."
Chattering began again as students whisper excitedly to each other as Marielle suddenly looked around with uneasy eyes. She never felt more alone in her life. There seemed to be a voice telling her that she would never fit in. She would forever be an outcast or so she thought as Fintley opened a medium sized phial containing something powdery with the color of light pink. The powder diffused in the air as students started falling one by one. The sweet smell hit Marielle as she crumbled also.
A moment passed before she saw light flooding her eyes. She opened her eyes into a world of light as it slowly died down revealing a tombstone. The tombstone was huge as it was around 8ft tall, the colour was a light shade of gray. The words engraved on the tombstone were in weird letters that resembled shapes rather than alphabetical letters. On both sides of the tombstone were objects or more so relics. One of the relics was a trident in gold with two necklaces wrapping around it. The necklaces were also in gold as red jewels hung from it.
As Marielle directed her attention from the unique tombstone she saw that she was in a green lustrous valley with two monstrous mountains surrounding her in the distance. A river flowed beside her as she heard the gentle streams.
She started towards the tombstone before something wrapped around her leg as she felt it pulling her away from the tombstone. She tried to resist but could not as she slipped on the wet grass, scrapping her knees softly.
She pulled herself up slowly when she saw an owl perching on top of the tombstone looking at her, its wide yellow eyes shining with intelligence. She was confused as she stared back, confused on how an owl was awake when it was daylight.
It spoke, "Marielle Winston, how nice it is to finally meet the child of the prophecy."
Marielle did not understand it as she asked, "Pardon?"
"Yes, there is a prophecy about a girl's existence that could potentially alter the world drastically in a very negative way, that's you" it stared at her as though it was pleased with what it said.
"Prophecy child," she muttered to herself.
—---
She woke up, her eyes still groggy as she clung tight to Edmund's waist, the wind whistling in her ears as they flew across the forest, trees all around them. Caleb was trailing closely behind his broom right behind them. They had just left Otter and the others while Eleanor and Takumi went to do their own things.
Flying across the forest was the best way to avoid the Idealists, she thought, trying to calm herself. The dream she just had was her first day in the Royal Academy and it seemed like today might be her last, how tragic. She closed her eyes again, clinging tight to Edmund as her emotions flowed around her. She didn't want to leave, this was the only place where she found acceptance. The only place where she felt that she belonged, a place where people she can call friends exist, something that was completely foreign to her.
She muttered sleepily to Edmund, "Edmund, are they here yet?"
Edmund did not turn back as he replied gently, "Shh be calm, I don't sense any mana signatures right now. We should be safe."
Caleb looked at them with a bittersweet expression, he felt that it was the end. They avoided the Idealists for years and it was finally their end. He was proud that they kept on for so long, protecting the girl as mere students. Yes, he was definitely proud. But as much of that proudness purged him he also felt a sense of uselessness in himself. Throughout his life he vowed to protect the people close to him but every time he tried, he failed. He failed to protect his uncle, he failed to protect his cousins, and he also failed to protect his grandfather. Just how many failures can one take? Now he was on the verge of losing a girl that could potentially destroy the world in the hands of someone untrustworthy. Of all the failures to happen this one cannot be a failure. He can't afford to let that happen.
The trees continued flashing by when Caleb finally spoke, "Marielle are you scared?" It wasn't the most sensible question to ask but Caleb genuinely wanted to know.
"Of course she is who wouldn't," Edmund snapped as Marielle looked at them with concern.
"It's okay Edmund but honestly Caleb all I feel is melancholy. I don't want to leave you guys but I have to. For me to stay would only bring more trouble for you guys and you guys don't deserve that. The both of you should have a normal life as strong magic knights protecting the country. I don't belong here. Our paths were never meant to intersect each other but I was glad it did," she finished with a forced smile at them, her eyes clearly sad.
"What are you talking about you are from Clover too aren't you not?" Edmund asked with confusion.
"Yeah aren't you?" This time with more uncertainty as Caleb asked too.
Marielle hesitated as she was about to answer when a voice did it for her.
"Hahaha she belongs to us," the voice said as they saw a vague outline of something huge coming towards them with a figure standing on top of it.
The figures emerged as they saw a black gooey gel of mass with two golden eyes shining at them. It was a gel monster as Edmund thought with bizarre. The person on top was more impressive.
It was a young man around 19 with his hair styled into a middle part. The left side of his hair was black while the right was white. He was handsome as his green eyes and golden eyes looked at them with amusement. He was dressed in a white cloak draped over his purple robes as the purple sword on his side was surrounded by black veins of electricity crackling in the air.
Edmund glared up at him, "Just who are you," he asked with gritted teeth as the man smiled.
"I'm the top Alistar in the Idealists, the right hand man as you call it of our organization," he said as it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"And you are planning on taking Marielle away?" Caleb asked with malice in his tone while Marielle started trembling, her face frozen.
"Yup," he said cheerfully as Edmund snapped. With a grumble two Mercury hands erupted from the ground as it tried to grab the man.
The gel monster took care of it as it made itself more gooey trapping the hands from further motion. The Mercury started dissolving as the gooey trapped it.
Edmund looked with wonder at the event as Caleb yelled out, "Edmund run and take Marielle with you. I will try to hold this man out to give you guys time!"
Edmund tried to protest when the gooey monster spat out a black ball of gel at him. Cursing loudly Edmund reared the broom back and blasted forward towards the distant mountains.
The man looked lazily as Caleb appeared in front of him holding a spear as he tried to stab it in the man's gut region.
In a flash of purple the man parried the spear, his purple sword vibrating with dark electricity. Caleb grunted as he felt the force of the man push him back as they stood still on the gooey mass.
"You can try to slow me down but you will die eventually," he said calmly as Caleb panted.
"No way in hell that I'm letting Marielle fall into your hands," he replied with fierce determination in his eyes.
The man looked at him weirdly, " why do you care about that girl, save yourself. Your efforts will be wasted."
"As long as I get them enough time to get to the flat circle in the mountains."
The man looked at him with grudging respect, "wow cheeky brat pulling some moves that even I didn't expect to occur."
Caleb made a grimace and said, "Yes that's how we do things here by outsmarting the opponents rather than overcoming them by brute strength," with that Caleb summoned a mini tornado under him carrying him up into the sky as he looked down at the man, the gooey mass not giving him any attention.
Without warning, Caleb opened his grimoire and summoned two horizontal tornadoes compacted with mana as he sent it flying towards the man. The man looked up, not wary at all as he disappeared in a flash of purple, slicing through the tornado on the left side as the winds scattered apart. The other tornado was sucked into the black gooey mass as it ate it up.
The man soared into Caleb's chest as he swung in a 180 degree angle at Caleb's upper body. Caleb who sensed his mana did a vertical block with his spear pointing downwards, his face contorted with effort from the force. The man was much stronger than Caleb in physical strength and as it was looking right now, this fight will be close ranged.
With a push of his sword, Caleb flew back into the trees hitting one softly as he fell towards the ground. The trees were tall and from Caleb's position if he were to land like this, he would break his ribs so with a sense of alertness Caleb summoned winds under his feet to carry him up.
He faced the man again as he reached eye level with him. The man was not surprised as he said, "Your mana control exceeds that of a 15 year old, but you are the ace for a reason."
Caleb did not respond to him as he pointed both palms at the man. Two blasts of swirling winds were sent towards him as the dark electricity from his sword flowed into the winds dissipating them. Caleb looked in frustration as the man appeared on his right side with his right hand out as tendrils of black electricity flowed on the ground and into Caleb's feet.
The electricity flowed from his body and into his body as Caleb felt himself gagging. Gagging with….blood as he coughed out blood.
"Dark electricity is a special element, the power lies in interior damage not exterior," the man said as he walked gently towards Caleb who was having difficulty in standing up.
The man readied his hand on his sword when Caleb's grimoire flapped open as he generated a large white bow with 5 arrows made of condensed wind pointing at the man. No hesitation was needed as the 5 arrows flew at the man point blank.
The man looked at it in surprise as he tried to dodge it but one of the arrows stuck into his upper shoulder as blood flowed from it, a hole appearing. He cursed in pain as he opened his right hand to dissipate the winds with veins of dark electricity.
The man looked at him with a grin, "Nice job kid, you got me there but it isn't enough." Black electricity surrounded the hole as it disappeared inside the hole. The tissues of the hole were mending as the hole became nonexistent, the blood stopping.
A healing spell, Caleb thought with horror as the man swiped with his right hand as a black Bull appeared in front of the man, vibrating with electricity.
"Go!" he ordered as the bull charged towards Caleb with the speed of a lightning user.
Caleb, obviously not a lightning user, felt the horns dig deep into his abdomen as the bull flung him up in the air as the man appeared in front of him in purple. His cloak flapped behind him as he swung at a 45 degree angle at Caleb's face.
SLASH
—-----
Young Caleb around the age of 5 looked up at his mother who smiled gently at him. His mother had blonde hair the same color as him. They were in the drawing room as Caleb walked up to her chair and said with pleading eyes, "Mommy, could I perhaps see dad?"
His mother's face darkened at the mention of Caleb's father as she replied with mock friendliness, "Ahh, Caleb it's best if we don't right now, he is very busy."
Caleb did not take this the right way as he whined, "Why, why can't I see daddy? He said he was going to meet me but he never came!"
Caleb's mother looked at him sadly, her eyes wistful as she looked out at the windows. The sunset brought a dark orange light in the house. She didn't want to tell Caleb the truth but her time was running short too. The whole of the Extor clan was on the verge of being extinct and she did not want Caleb to meet their fate. He was an innocent child who deserved more, an innocent child who deserved freedom, freedom from the chains of society.
She decided to do it as she answered Caleb with firm eyes that Caleb would never forget.
"Caleb, daddy is dead and you will never see him again."
The slash sounded as a line of red crossed diagonally at Caleb's pale face, blood pouring out as the pain numbed him. The memories poured through Caleb as he felt an ache in his chest. The ache of not being able to achieve what he wanted in the end. Most of all, he couldn't say anything to his friends. Wilmerpool, Adam, Kai, Emelia, Seth, Isaac, Bobby, Eleanor, Takumi, Edmund and Marielle. The promise they made and the things they said, were all fruitless as he felt that he would never be able to achieve them.
He was a failure and he knows it. He didn't want to die but it seems like he was about to. The winds carrying him stopped as he fell on the ground. Before he even hit the ground, his eyes closed, his consciousness fading.
—-----
Edmund soared in the air at the maximum speed the broom could carry him, roughly around 150 miles per hour as the trees flew by them. They did not say a word this entire time as Marielle continued clinging tight to him.
He finally found the courage to speak, "Marielle, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise you that."
Marielle listened with empty eyes as she did not respond, her thoughts still flooding her mind. She was finally going to head back after so many years, she felt fear at what they planned to do with her but she knew she had her fun. It was time to go back.
She remembered a man's voice telling her, "you were born into this world as an object to our success. You are the key to the unification of this segregated world, you are the final key. Be proud of the fact that you were born the way you are."
She did not understand what he said at the moment as she merely listened with wonder at the thought of her being needed. But years passed and whatever they tried on her was not working and she couldn't take it anymore. One day, she ran away into the vast wilderness without bringing anything.
Looking back it was like suicide until Enrique found her and took her under his care. The Wizard King was young but like a caring big brother to her as she lived the final days of her childhood with him. Then she came to school and met everyone. She felt so grateful for what everyone has done for her but she also took it for granted, enjoying every moment of it. Karma has appeared and it was time for her to deal with it.
Edmund looked back at her with concern as they continued soaring forward as the mountains grew larger in front of them. Edmund thought with eagerness, almost there almost there we might actually make it. He whispered thanks to Caleb who he thought was dealing with the enemy.
As the mountains grew bigger, Edmund's hope was killed as a purple flash appeared in front of him. The young man with a smirk as he whipped out his sword, electricity still around it. Edmund tried to swerve downwards with his broom when the man swung a kick sideways at Edmund's ribs as he was sent flying out of his broom as Marielle clung to him.
Edmund quickly summoned a layer of soft Mercury under them to cushion their fall as he grunted with pain. Thank the lord his ribs weren't broken but the pain was still great.
"Are you okay," Marielle asked quietly behind him as Edmund tried his best to face her with a I'm well face .
"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry. Let me deal with this bugger," he said reassuringly.
"But what about Caleb," she suddenly asked, her eyes wary.
He didn't know how to respond as he clutched his knees tightly as he finally said, "we will find him after we deal with him, Caleb won't die that easily."
Marielle didn't seem convinced as she nodded. The trees were covering their view as a tree was blown in half as smoke rose up. Webs of electricity rose up as the man revealed himself, his face grim now.
"Hand the girl over now," he ordered his tone deadly as Edmund made a grimace.
"No way," Edmund growled as he sent the cushion of Mercury under him, forming it into hard Mercury in the shape of a large sword. The sword went speeding by, boosted by Edmund's concentration as it went soaring at the man who disappeared in a flash of purple slicing the sword in half as he charged up at Edmund his soles glowing purple as dark electricity surrounded him. He launched himself towards Edmund who conjured 5 Mercury shields around him as the man stabbed his sword into the middle shield directly in front of Edmund who furrowed his brows in concentration.
The sword pierced deeper as Edmund saw the tip of the sword aimed at his chest. "Discharge" the man muttered as a bolt of dark electricity buried into Edmund's chest causing him to cry out in pain.
Small amounts of blood poured out from the wound as Edmund felt his inner tissues being ripped apart. What kind of electricity is this, he thought with astonishment as his knees buckled.
The man's voice came from behind the shield as he said, "your body is slower now and your reaction time is diminished too. Just give up, the girl is coming here."
Edmund tried to pull himself up when the shield in front of him was ripped to shreds. The man stepped through the clearing and pointed his sword at Edmund who was kneeling down.
Edmund looked up at him with blood around his mouth as he said, "I-I won't let Marielle go this easily."
Marielle gasped loudly as the man noticed her and said, "Is that so, but you guys said those useless things and have not done anything to prevent me from taking here. You guys have no use for me so I can dispose of you guys at any moment. As a matter of fact, I already killed your friend Caleb, his face is sliced with my sword and my electricity is already imbued in his body. The chances of him surviving that is very slim. Let's start by killing you too."
The swing flashed forward in front of Edmund's eyes as he felt desperation rushing through him as he forced himself to stand up. Instead of getting sliced in the head, the sword was grabbed tightly by Edmund, his hands bloodied from it, while the electricity surrounded his arms as he felt the tingling surge through his arms. The electricity stunned his arm as he could not move it anymore but Edmund felt a sense of pride at himself for doing something like this.
Growing up Edmund was always known as a coward that would never sacrifice anything of himself. He was known as selfish which was true but the notion of that label has prompted Edmund to change himself since coming to the Royal Academy. He awakened his magic the same time as Antione but Antione was always known as the more talented brother in the family and Edmund secretly envied him. Even his little sister Anthea would look at him pity with those eyes saying, "Why is Antione so much better than you? His grades surpass yours by a mile."
True Edmund was never a good student, he was considered dumb by always having marks that was not on par with Antione but even then one could say he surpassed Antione in physical skills but that isn't the case. Edmund was just the definition of mediocre in terms of all aspects when it comes to skill in the magics.
The man looked at Edmund surprisingly as Edmund wobbled around trying to hold on to his sword, "Wow that was heroic. I would applaud you if you weren't in my path but sadly that isn't enough to save the girl."
"When there's a will there's a way," Edmund muttered under his breath as he tried to keep his body afloat.
"Really then where will the will be when I cut off your head?" he asked as he blasted more tendrils of lightning at Edmund who did not move.
The tendrils surrounded Edmund as he flinched from it, his mind almost blacking out as the electricity surged into his body. The man who expected Edmund to fall looked at him in anticipation but it did not happen as Edmund kept on standing, grabbing his sword even tighter.
Edmund who did not look up at him chuckled lightly, "When there's a will there's a way and my will is to break that fucking sword of yours," his eyes lit up with flare as he gripped the sword with all the strength he could muster. Cracks sounded as lines started appearing on the sword. Within seconds the sword was shattered into pieces, Edmund's hand grabbing onto nothingness as blood covered his hand.
The man looked with wide eyes at his shattered sword and looked back up at Edmund who was still standing, blood covering his mouth and his chest. No way this boy did just that, a boy with no talent whatsoever. No one in all his fights have scratched that sword except for one person and that person was his superior.
That person and perhaps this boy are similar? He thought incredulously as he stared at the figure of Edmund who was close to slumping on the ground but Edmund screamed all his emotions out to keep himself awake and standing.
"What incredible endurance you have," he remarked, "I haven't seen this since my fight against my superior, the leader of the Idealists. You deserve my respect for sure."
"Boy what is your name?" he asked, ignoring the fact that he was an enemy.
"Why do you care?" his hair covering his face as he remained looking down.
"Because a person deserves to be killed respectfully and I have given you my respect, something I don't give to anyone. So what is your name?" He asked again.
Edmund glared up at him and answered, "The name is Edmund Vermillion but I won't die here because if I do I will disappoint everyone and I don't want to die yet. I have so much to achieve."
"If we were allies instead of enemies we would've gotten along but sadly that is not the case today," the man said as he approached Edmund as he raised his hand in the air, dark electricity converged into the air as Edmund's ears popped.
"I will kill you with the most powerful condensed mana I have as a form of respect. Goodbye Edmund it was nice meeting you," he said as he prepared to swing the sword down on Edmund.
Edmund who felt this was the end started forming tears around his eyes as his tears dropped loudly on the floor. Marielle who was staring the entire time with pure horror screamed, "EDMUND NO!!"
Edmund remembered the first day of them meeting as the dark electricity prepared to collapse on him.
He was 12 when he first entered the mess hall and wandered for a place to sit. He was alone as Antione already found a group of students to sit with. He tried to find them as he started walking around the tables scouting for any sign of Antione.
The students did not pay him attention as he kept searching. Alas, he did not find Antione as he drifted slowly to the corner of the mess hall and saw a small table near the exit with one boy and one girl around his age. They were talking to each other, expressions even as Edmund approached them with a nervous smile.
"Hey, uh my name is Edmund and all the seats are taken so can I sit here?" He asked politely at them while the pretty boy with blonde hair looked up at Edmund with interest as he smiled.
"Sure, you can. My name's Caleb and the girl here is Marielle," he gestured at the girl with dark blue hair as she gently smiled back at Edmund.
Edmund never felt more grateful as he sat down next to them as he started talking, "So how old are you guys?"
"We are both 12," Caleb answered as Marielle nodded.
"Oh same!" Edmund exclaimed as he asked, "So any of you guys nobles?"
The both of them looked at each other as Caleb spoke again, "No, but I wouldn't say we are commoners either."
Edmund was heavily confused by it and the words of his mother were ringing in his mind.
"Never befriend a commoner, they will bring no good to you," she would say to him as Edmund would listen intently trying to please her.
Edmund thought these people aren't commoners nor nobles so befriending them would be fine as he said cheerfully, "That's fine! I am a noble if that is okay with you guys."
Marielle responded reassuringly, "Noble or not, I don't care about that. Statuses are a mere symbol of power which is not necessarily in terms of friendship."
Edmund who tried to agree blurted out to her, "Wow thanks but I am a noble with no skill in magic especially since I just awakened my magic," he said, casting a look downwards as though ashamed of himself.
Antione who awakened his magic at the same time as Edmund was already doing a lot of incredible things with mana while Edmund still could only manage to produce a cupful of mercury.
Marielle reached out to him and patted him lightly on the shoulders, "Noble or not like I said, I won't care about your status so cheer up. Plus we are young and we got time to grow as mages. I promise you one day, you will make us proud with your growth as a mage."
The memories flashed before Edmund's eyes as he saw the sword swinging down about to slice him in half when he yelled out to Marielle with his eyes closed, "MARIELLE, did I make you proud like that one day when you promised I would?"
A slurry of movements and sounds sounded as Edmund finally opened his eyes to a figure in front of him, her dark blue hair in front of him. Her hand was hoisted upwards pierced by the sword as electricity surged inside of her as she lurched forward coughing out blood.
Edmund suddenly felt his neck burn with pain as he yelled in pain as he felt the mana link in him rip into pieces. The man looked in dismay at Marielle's condition as the mana link was pulled again as he tried to tug his sword out with no success, the electricity continuing to flow inside of Marielle.
"W-what Marielle," Edmund stammered out with all the strength he could as she turned back to look at him.
Her face was streaked with tears as she looked at him with a somber face, "I-I'm so sorry Edmund but since I couldn't do anything the most I could do is try to protect you. I don't want you to die, you deserve so much yet you are here trying to protect me."
"Marielle what are you saying?!! I am protecting you because I want to," he yelled out in anger as she looked away at him, hiding her pained face.
His neck was burning hotter now but due to the reinforced mana Adam put on him, the link stayed put for him as the pain slowly died down as he looked back at Marielle who whispered softly her back still facing Edmund.
"Edmund, I want to say something. The past 5 years with all 11 of you guys were one of the best of my short life. If I were to compare this phase of my life, I would compare myself as a boat floating on the vast dark ocean with nothing but an endless sea in front of it. The boat triumphed over many events such as sea storms and hurricanes to no avail. The boat was still alone, with no company in its life. I am like that boat, I was alone for the most of my life until I met you guys. You guys made me learn how to feel human emotions such as love, compassion, and empathy. Without you guys, I don't know what would happen to me, if I'm being honest,`` she shuddered as she turned back at him one last time.
Here Edmund knew this was the last time he was going to see her until many years from then on. The next time he sees her, Marielle would only be the shell of herself. This was goodbye he knew but he wanted to deny his mind from thinking like that.
Marielle forced a teary smile at Edmund as she whispered gently so only he could hear, "Edmund the promise I made you on that day, I just want to say you did it…"
Edmund, whose tears could not stop flowing, said lifelessly, "Then say it….."
With one last gasp of breath she said, "Edmund Vermillion I love you"
His eyelids were about to close when he heard that. He wasn't sure of what she said as the man finally tugged the sword from her hand as she slumped into the man's arms. He wanted to stop him, yell at him but he couldn't move his lips as the man looked at Edmund with pity.
In a purple flash they were gone as Edmund's eyes finally closed.