Somewhere in Ljubljana, Slovenia, hidden from the view of the populace, a figure looked up towards the sky.
[Someone's messing with power they don't understand and should not have. What's even more irritating is just how sloppy it is. It's an embarrassment and an insult to me. Let's put an end to it immediately.]
**************
Kaito was nearing the point of exhaustion. Everything seemed normal that day. He went to class as normal, studied for an upcoming test, and went to a cafe with his friends after school. He was going to finish up the day by dropping off a playful Selene and heading home for a nice meal, at least that was the plan. While he was carrying Selene back to her dorm, the pair were attacked by someone. While they were fighting, a crimson haired girl lost in thought waltzed into the middle of the conflict and was taken captive. Luckily, with Selene's help, Kaito was able to rescue the captive girl, and held her in his arm. Unfortunately, this came at a cost and now Selene was on the ground, leaving Kaito alone to fend off their opponent while protecting two people.
The clash had left both Kaito and Selene with heavy injuries, which needed to be treated soon. It was a good thing that the fight had left their attacker heavily wounded too, but a cornered beast is truly terrifying. Their opponent had pulled out some weird tablet and dug it into his own chest. The result was an army of the undead rising from the ground, as if clawing their way from the pits of the underworld. They seemed to be rotting and sluggish, but that was only initially. They were able to move at speeds which would seem impossible given the state they appeared in. Soon Kaito was surrounded and getting overwhelmed by them. The girl in his arms and the one behind him limited his movements, and the pain and damage from his own wounds prevented him from making any large moves and acting recklessly. To make matters worse, every time he managed to damage one of the creatures, they would simply regenerate. It wouldn't be long until he was completely overwhelmed and they were all killed. Still he never gave in. Kaito continued to fend off the army as long as he could, until suddenly they all stopped moving.
Kaito wasn't sure why they were no longer moving, but he took the chance to catch a breath. Suddenly, as if time were being rewound, the army collapsed back into the pool of blood that covered the ground, then the blood started flowing in reverse, rescinding and eventually returned to the body of the man. Once all the blood had returned to the man, the tablet crumbled into dust and left no traces, as if it never existed. Even the wound on the masked man's body where he had drove the tablet in disappeared. Kaito looked on, unsure of what was going on while his enemy remained motionless.
**************
[What's going on?! What just happened?!]
A hooded figure with a gold mask resembling an ogre was furious and questioning the situation. The figure was observing the clash on various monitors alongside many subordinates. No one was sure of what had transpired. Several hooded figures were panicking and trying to find out what went wrong. All of his subordinates wore identical white masks with red markings which covered their faces but the fearful expression on their faces was still obvious.
[This experiment was going well, how did it just stop all of a sudden?]
The ogre masked figure was screaming in fury and demanding answers to questions his subordinates had no way of answering. One of the masked subordinates answered.
[We....we don't know sir. There was no issue with the calculations and it seems the there were no problems with the experiment at all.]
[Well clearly there is! How did those undead just stop? Not only that, the tablet just crumbled away! Do you know how hard it was to find that thing and draw out its power?]
Another subordinate responded nervously.
[Y...yes sir. We know how difficult it was for you to obtain...ack!]
The ogre masked figure drove a sword into his subordinate and killed him.
[I don't need you answering questions I know the answers to. We need to know what went wrong and how. Badger.]
A hooded figure wearing a mask that resembled a honey badger stood up.
[Yes my lord.]
[Retrieve the subject and dispose of the witnesses.]
[As you command.]
The man known as Badger rushed out of the room where they were observing the conflict. After sending him off, the man in the ogre mask turned his attention back to the screens.
[Just what went wrong?]
**************
The time between when the army of the undead disappeared and a new enemy appearing in front of Kaito, 2 minutes. A hooded figure wearing a honey badger mask appeared out of nowhere and was now staring at him. The figure stood in front of the unmoving masked man he had been fighting and him. Kaito was too heavily injured to move and his eyelids felt heavy, but his will kept his gaze fixated on the new figure that was now before him.
[Sorry kid, but I have my orders. No witnesses means you, the red head in your arms, and that blue haired girl on the ground over there, are all dead. Curse your own luck for being the ones to encounter our experiment.]
Kaito questioned the figure.
[Experiment?]
[You needn't concern yourself. After all, you're all dead anyways. If you have any last words, speak them now. I give you my word I'll make your deaths quick and painless.]
Kaito let out a small, tired chuckle.
[Like I'd believe that.]
Kaito tried to gather strength and will himself to move. He knew he had to do something if any of them were going to make it out of the situation alive. He tried his best, but his body felt heavy and he couldn't even lift a finger anymore. The man in the honey badger mask raised his arm and held out his palm towards Kaito. A magic circle appeared in his palm.
[I pray you have good fortune in your next life.]
The figure fired a mass of concentrated magic towards Kaito. The mass was in the form a blue orb that crackled with electricity. Unable to move, Kaito watched on as the energy flew towards him, watching on without flinching, fully expecting the embrace of death.
Fate had other plans for Kaito however. The attack the man in the badger mask had fired was swatted away and neutralised. Standing in front of Kaito was a woman that appeared to be in her early 20s. Her long, lavender hair was let down instead of being tied in the usual pony tail she wore. She was wearing a white silk dress adorned with pink hibiscus flowers. On her shoulders was a light green cape with popped collars and gold tassels, imprinted with the image of a phoenix spreading its wings, surrounded by wisps of flames that seemed to fall like petals. Her crescent moon shaped emerald earrings reflected the moonlight. Kaito recognized this woman as it wasn't his first time dealing with her. He had a brief interaction with her during his entrance exam then thought she was the teacher for his class when school began. Whatever he thought of her in the past wasn't important. Right now Kaito was just glad that she was in front of him.
The man in the honey badger mask broke into a cold sweat upon laying eyes on the woman.
[Witch Of The Eternal Night.]
A small smile formed on the woman's face.
[My, that's a name I haven't heard in a while. Now where did you find that name?]
The man in the honey badger mask instinctively took a step back.
[How'd you find out? We sealed this place off in a barrier so no one would notice.]
The masked man was instantly strung up and immobilised by purple spikes.
[You're not in the position to ask questions here.]
The man let out a nervous laugh.
[Do you really have time to deal with me? Weren't you here to save those 3?]
Another purple spike rose from the ground, stopping a few millimetres from the man's neck. The woman asked in a playful tone..
[Care to push your luck?]
The man was silent.
[Good. Now you answer a few simple questions for me, right?]
The purple spikes shattered and the man with the honey badger mask was freed. Standing next to him was the one that had released him. They were wearing a similar hood to the man but their mask resembled a sable instead. Her stature was shorter than the man.
[Sable? What are you doing here?]
[You were taking too long. Master is upset.]
The woman in the hood turned her attention towards the lavender haired woman.
[Looks like it's impossible to get rid of those 3 with you here Witch, and now you've seen us too. This is upsetting. Badger, we're leaving.]
A pink mist started to spread and covered the area in seconds. However it faded away instantly and with it, the enemy Kaito and Selene was facing, as well as the 2 masked figures that appeared after, were gone.
[My, looks like they got away.]
With the enemy no longer present, the tension in the air let up and Kaito fell to the ground with a thud.
**************
Location unknown. The sound of laughter echoed before the man stood up. He was asked a single question.
[Are you going?]
[Yeah. You felt it too right? Someone tried to draw out power they shouldn't have, but a certain someone shut it down.]
[...Undead.]
[Guess he got mad since it was under his domain. Wonder what poor sucker he chose as his host this time. Well we can just ask him when we see him. What I'm more interested in right now is over at that academy.]
[Just don't destroy too much.]
[Yeah yeah, I'll try to hold back.]
**************
Somewhere near Machu Picchu, Peru. A girl was sitting on top of a mountain of dead monsters. The girl looked like she was in her late teens and stood at 168cm tall. She had short black hair and golden eyes. She was wearing brown short shorts with a black harness, allowing for daggers to be strapped at either side of her waist. She was also wearing a black jacket over her white crop top. She wore fingerless gloves that covered most of her arms, leaving only the shoulders exposed, and had silver armour strapped on her forearms. On her feet were tall boots that stopped right before her knees. As for her distinct features, they would have to be the cat ears on top of her head and her tail. The girl flicking pebbles at the feet of bandits that were tied up at the nearby trees from on top of her little mountain.
[Shasti! Shasti, where are you?]
[Nya?]
The girl perked up and turned her head towards the direction her name was being called from. In a few moments a girl emerged from the trees. She had a slender build and stood at 178cm tall, with a slightly larger than average bust size. Her beautiful hair reached down her back and had an ombré look with the roots being black and the ends being silver. Her black kimono, decorated with spider web and flower patterns, was worn off her shoulders. In her hair was a beautiful white flower. Her eyes were a light purple which seemed to reflect a galaxy and captivated those that looked into them. Her beauty made the tied up bandits swoon the moment they laid eyes on her. The katana she wielded was resting on top of her shoulder as she carried it. The girl looked up and noticed the cat girl still looking off into the distance.
[There you are! Honestly you're troublesome to find sometimes.]
The cat girl looked down and a wide smile grew on her face. She leaped down from her mountain and wrapped the swordswoman in a big hug.
[Yorha!!! Look! Look! I caught them all! I didn't let a single one escape! I even found some bandits while I was beating up these monsters!]
The swordswoman pet the cat girl, putting an even bigger smile on her face.
[You performed splendidly Shasti, but how many times do I have to tell you not to play around when we're on a mission. You never know what might happen. I know you're strong and you can protect yourself but I worry about you.]
[Aww, you're the best Yorha! I love you!]
The swordswoman continued petting the cat girl.
[You can leave these guys to the local authorities. Now come along, we received a new assignment.]
[Nya nya? Where are we going?]
[Our destination is quite famous. I'm sure you'll like it Shasti.]
[Nya? Now I'm really excited! Where are we going?]
[Prism Academy.]