Disclaimer: Magic Rush: Heroes and its characters belong to Elex/Moonton
Episode 01: The Dark Saint
Theresa... That was her name, yes... She was slowly remembering everything as she felt the massive pain in all of her body... yet, her name she could hear being spelled by someone... or something outside of her... quite in a sadistic and amused tone...
"Theresa... Wake up, Theresa..."
Theresa opened up her eyes just to discover that she was on the floor, beaten up, stabbed several times by arrows and cold due to blood loss. On top of her, there she was... the girl who looked just like her negative mirror match... Clarence was her name...
"Oh, great; you woke up..."
Clarence was her total opposite: while Theresa's skin was dark, Clarence's was white; while Theresa's hair was white, Clarence's was black; while Theresa's eyes were amber, Clarence's were amethyst; while Theresa's specialty was dark magic, Clarence's was white magic; while Theresa's heart was warm, caring and kind, Clarence's was cold like stone, selfish and ambitious:
"Finally, my last obstacle is about to go away; don't you like that?"
Theresa could feel the cold of a dark blade in her neck's skin, the cutting edge slowly pressing against her throat:
"Yes, Theresa, yes... The prophecy was right about us: one of us had to die in order for the other to inherit the greatest power in the whole universe... Now you die, and I become the ruler of all the universes... The Magic Rush is mine, finally..."
As she felt the edge pressing harder against her skin, Theresa felt in peace with herself. Somehow, being about to die allowed her to clear her thoughts and pour her heart open to the universe, something that she could never achieve in life, with all her concerns, her sacrifices and her constant hiding from her families and her twin sister:
"Yet, I have to thank you, twin sister Therese... If it weren't for you, my family would have never earned the trust of the kingdom's powers, and the highest cliques would have never achieved the total control over the petty peasants you were so fond of... You became the perfect scapegoat that we needed to convince the world's powers to side with us..."
Theresa usually felt anger when anyone insulted the folks of the Griffin Kingdom, who actually had learned to appreciate Theresa beyond her reputation as a dark magic user; yet, as she was gone, she could simply let go of her ties with them and search for the inner peace, a more a than enough reward for her efforts:
"You never wanted to understand that the world needs almighty powers to keep the people in shape; you never wanted to assume the privileges of power and the divine rights granted by the white priesthood... So, you must disappear, as you are obviously not meant to grab and handle power..."
Suddenly, the knife didn't actually cut her throat at all. Clarence, desperate, tried to stab her throat with the point of her knife, but it was useless; Theresa's skin had become as tough as steel, all of a sudden:
"Will you keep tormenting me, Theresa?! Do you think this is a game?!"
Suddenly, the pain was gone, and the arrows that stabbed her body were slowly repelled by it, her wounds closing at a rather fast pace:
"No! That is the power I must have! You can't have it!"
Clarence tried to stab her again, but the knife didn't even bend her skin. The cracked bones slowly merged back in place, and the flesh repaired itself:
"No!! This isn't fair!! I was the one who completed all the tasks required to obtain the power!! I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!!!"
Theresa stood up slowly, and Clarence tried to beat her face, but the white-haired beauty could easily dodge her. Clarence, scared as hell, jumped backwards and began conjuring one of her spells, but she was trapped by a dark chain that came out of nowhere. Finally, Theresa spoke:
"You may have the knowledge, the will, the ambition and the means to grab power, but if you don't have a virtuous soul to use it for fulfilling the true will of the Heavens, then you don't deserve it, sister..."
Clarence yelled at her:
"You are a Dark Priestess, a follower of the path of Darkness!! You cannot possibly know anything about the true will of the Heavens!! I, instead, am a Light Priestess, and the heavens have me, not you, ME, as their herald!!"
Theresa simply said:
"The darkness lurks deep inside the light, and the light burns deep inside the darkness. If you, as a 'light priestess', cannot understand this principle, then your path in the light is doomed to get lost, as it has actually..."
Clarence felt how the chains vanished and growled at her:
"You will learn, bastard! I will end you and grab your power for myself! I will show the Heavens that they were wrong by choosing you instead of me! I'll do whatever it takes to prove it!"
Clarence turned around and ran away, abandoning Theresa in that dark forest. Theresa simply looked at her as she ran away: she detailed her white short and tight dress, made of the purest silk; her white veil, which covered her black hair; her mithril boots and bracelets, which shone as the sunlight... She then looked at her own clothes, all dirty, ripped and made out of potato sack patches over ripped cotton fabric, now with the seven arrows' holes included as "late fashion furniture"... She decided that, if she was about to oppose her sister's schemes, she would have to look serious as well, in order to attract the attention of those who would think of joining her cause and ending the schemes of her family and the world's powers. So, she decided to return to her home...
Theresa lived inside the trunk of a dead sequoia, which actually had immense power inside, and Theresa used to meditate inside it, in order to balance herself and protect herself from the excessive dark force that blanketed the forest where she lived. She actually had a couple of amulets that her grandmother, the powerful priestess Ursula, gave her in secret before she died, which consisted in two crosses made of adamantite steel with round amethyst stones crusted in their centers, so she took them. She then grabbed her tome of magic, a rather huge book in which she accumulated all kinds of spells, them being of light, darkness, neutral, corporeal, spiritual, psychic, and many more, and took it with her. She then grabbed a very heavy bag, which seemed to contain metal pieces. At last, she took her pouch, and she grabbed a rather large amount of gold coins she kept hidden, as she actually used to fight against all kinds of knights, bounty hunters and mercenaries hired by their family to kill her, and after sending them back, she could take some of their money, which she actually used for buying food, donating it to the people who needed it the most or building devices that could help the poorest towns to produce their own food and resources to survive in a more and more decadent and aggressive land. Once she was ready, she headed to the closest town.
She knew already the paths that she had to take in the dark woods of the Griffin Kingdom to leave in any direction without being harmed or lost. As she took the right paths to head south, she finally left the woods and reached the smallest town in the Griffin Kingdom, the first town that ever supported her. As she arrived, the whole town approached to her, already sensing her new energy. The town's elder, an old lady dressed in a red blouse and a brown skirt, looked at her and smiled:
"Welcome back, Theresa; I can sense your energy, and it feels really different." Theresa smiled and nodded: "What can we do for you now?"
Theresa saluted her:
"I'm glad to see you're all okay, lady Kay; could I actually ask for your seamstress expertise?"
Kay nodded merrily:
"Sure, sure! Guess you need a new look, right?"
Theresa nodded merrily:
"Yes, please."
Kay left the group and Theresa followed her into a rather modest house. Once they were inside, Kay asked:
"And, have you thought about any ideas for your new wardrobe?"
Theresa nodded:
"Well, I've been thinking about this: remember the dresses that the White Priestess wear?"
Kay nodded:
"Sure, my dear. Those dresses are quite luxurious, made of white silk and silver threads, fit to the priestess' body and loose in the rather short skirt; accompanied with mithril bracers and boots."
Theresa asked, as she took off the heavy bag:
"I would like to ask you for a dark version of that dress. I could find some adamantite that I could give to your son for making adamantite threads and both the bracers and boots. Could you find black silk for making my dress and my veil?"
Kay nodded:
"Sure; but it will take me a month to manufacture it."
Theresa heard her and said:
"And if I stay here and assist both you and your son?"
Kay smiled:
"Perhaps it will take us a lot less time."
Theresa nodded, smiling. She would stay in that town and use her magic skills to protect those people while she learned a bit about sewing and blacksmithing.
After a couple of weeks, in which Theresa learned not only about the works of the blacksmith and the seamstress, but also about the townspeople's culture, customs and beliefs; and she realized then that they needed to be protected, not only to earn their favor, but also to understand how she could work her own way towards the light that shines lightly in the darkness of her powers, just like that sequoia in the middle of the black forest where she lived.
As the outfit she had asked for was finally finished, Theresa wore it. It was not only fit to her body, but also it was light, and it didn't disturb her movement freedom. When she was given her new scepter, also made of adamantite steel, she felt it so light and durable, and actually felt how it allowed her magic energy to flow through it. The old lady Kay smiled at her and said:
"Now you look like an amazing lady, Theresa, one that would make evil put to fear. Now, if you wish, I can grant you with my tome of magic."
Theresa saw how the old lady gave her a huge book, a book that she had seen since she was received by her almost two decades ago:
"Oh, for the Heavens' sake! I cannot do this! This great volume has protected this village for generations! I'm not leaving you guys unprotected!"
Kay's smile turned bitter, as her words were direct:
"We prefer it to be in your hands than in Clarence's; we're already doomed, Theresa. - As these words were said, Theresa's eyes turned glassy: - Run away as fast as you can, we'll hold them off. Reach your sequoia and activate the spell in the last page with the song we sang when you were a child. Now, go!"
Theresa knew somehow that Kay's words were true, so she hugged her and ran away, back to 'her' dark forest. Kay simply smiled as she vanished, and then she began hearing how heavy steps roared in the main streets. She decided to exit her house and saw how Clarence, the White Priestess, arrived with an army of heavily armed and armored soldiers, all dressed in shiny white armors. Kay asked:
"Who enters so abruptly in this town?"
Clarence, her face revealing madness and ambition, simply said:
"Give me the tome of magic and hand me my sister now!"
Kay simply said, serious:
"We don't have any of them."
Clarence nodded and simply waved a hand. All of the soldiers she had brought with her drew swords, spears and axes:
"You're making time for her, aren't you? Then you all die for her as well!"
Kay simply said loudly, in order for everyone to hear her in the village:
"We sacrifice ourselves to pave the path to glory for the very first Legendary Champion! May the Heavens bless Theresa!"
As these words were finished, an axe blew and split Kay's head in half, while the rest of the soldiers began the massacre. Clarence, smiling as she saw all the death, said:
"May the impure souls of these darkness lovers be sent to the greatest darkness of the Universe, so they learn not to mess with my power again."
As she waited for her personal army to finish, she checked out the skies, detailing something in the clouds. Her inspiration was cut off by a soldier, who reported:
"High Priestess, we're done with the people of this nameless village. What's our next move?"
An upset Clarence replied:
"I want Theresa's body in a stick!! Find her!! Chase her into her dark grove!! What are you waiting for?!?!"
The soldier nodded, scared, and prepared the commands for the rest of the group.
Theresa ran as if there was no tomorrow (she knew that if she didn't, there wouldn't be a tomorrow at all for her), and finally crossed the frontier into the dark forest. No one would dare to get in, but Clarence's influence would play against the dark priestess, protecting her rabid army.
She needed to reach her sequioa quickly, but then she realized that she was growing tired and slow, and that the steps of the armies moved faster and hot on her heels. She realized that the influence of the dark forest itself was playing against her fears, feeding from them and vampirizing her, so she stopped and took a deep breath, then a second one, and then a third one, and finally, the dark energy that choked on her dissipated, allowing her to see the sequoia right in front of her. She stepped in, and as she did, the sequoia locked itself, revealing no entries.
When Clarence arrived, along with her army, she quickly commanded to take down the sequoia, and the soldiers began to nail their axes into the old tree trunk. Inside it, Theresa was checking the tome of magic that Kay had given her. She could find the last page, and she saw that it had nothing in it. Nervous, she tried to remember what Kay told her, but the knocks of the axes and the yells of Clarence made her tremble and cry:
"YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE POWER THAT WAS BESTOWED UPON ME, THERESA!!!!"
Theresa didn't know what to do, and she could see the very first axe crossing beyond the sequoia trunk, but then the voice of Kay was heard in her head:
"The song I taught you when you arrived to me, Theresa! The Song of the Sun!"
Theresa remembered then and began to sing:
"The Sun will rest in the darkest night..." A second axe broke through: "The skies will fall as the voices cry..." Hands broke a significant piece of the trunk: "When the men ask the Heavens to do what's right..." Three bows loaded with arrows aimed directly at her head: "The shadows will die and the sun will rise!"
The three arrows penetrated the trunk, flew over and stabbed Theresa's head with uncanny precision. As she fell over the huge tome of magic, her blood bathing that last page, Clarence ran into the sequoia, pushing the heavily armored soldiers aside:
"Now, the power of the Magic Rush is mine!!" She saw what was written in the last page and recited it just like it was written, in the very ancient language it was written, and replied: "And may the Heavens grant me with the power I truly deserve, over the corpse of the evil demon, masqueraded as my twin sister, which tried to rob me, and which I offer now as a sacrifice!"
Suddenly, a heavenly creature appeared, a female angel dressed in a female mithril armor, her blond hair as gold as the sun, six swords and an axe floating around her. She looked at Clarence, she then looked at Theresa's corpse, and got close to the dead body, removing the arrows off her head with delicacy. Clarence was kind of becoming impatient:
"She's not what matters here! Pay attention to me!"
The angel spoke with a sad voice:
"Lords of Heaven, I, Ariel, commend you to return the soul of Theresa, your chosen Legendary Champion, back to this body, as a Legendary Champion myself."
All of a sudden, the Heavens opened, bringing a massive light into that dark, rotten forest, and Clarence noticed how all of the sun rays focused on Theresa. Clarence jumped over the corpse, trying to reach the heavenly light for herself, but Ariel's swords moved on their own, pointy edges aiming dangerously towards her body:
"What the hell is going on?! Why are you defending and bringing that evil soul back to life?! I am the one!! I am the Light Priestess!!" Drawing her mithril scepter, she aimed at Theresa and yelled: "In the name of the Lords of Heavens, I, Clarence, the Priestess commended to their service, summon the fires of Heaven to burn that sinner's corpse to ashes!!"
Nothing happened, and the mithril swords got closer to Clarence. Meanwhile, Ariel closed her eyes and said:
"May the Heavens cleanse her thoughts, heal her body and enlighten her spirit."
Clarence couldn't believe that the Heavens were now paying attention to Theresa. After all the promises of glory and power, and after all the deeds she had done in order to grab power for herself and from her family, as it was written and predicted, the Heavens decided that she wasn't worthy, all of a sudden, and now she was being stripped of all her status, her power and her abilities. Ariel said:
"Rise again, Theresa. You have died twice, and now you rise as an Immortal Legend." As Theresa rose, Ariel said: "My name is Ariel, and I am an Immortal Legend as well. We shall work together from now on, in the name of the Heavens."
Theresa stood up and saw the beautiful lady that stepped in front of her: her skin was creamy, her hair was gold blond, her slim body was shaped like the body of a goddess, her torso was covered by a strong yet delicately built mithril armor, and her blue eyes looked compassionate and happy for her.
Theresa turned around and saw the whole army that hunted her a while ago, and then saw the bitterly mad Clarence, her twin sister, the one who planned her murder and attempted on her life so many times now, threatened by the six floating swords. Still stunned, she asked:
"Nngh, wha... W-What is going on?"
Clarence yelled:
"NOOO!!!! WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME, HEAVENS??!! I'VE DONE ALL THOSE DEEDS YOU DEMANDED IN ORDER TO PLEASE YOU, AND NOW YOU GIVE ALL WHAT I DESERVE TO THAT WITCH??!!"
Ariel turned at Theresa, who simply saw her and recognized her desperation. She simply said:
"Remember, Clarence, my sister: there is darkness inside the light and there is light inside the darkness. You have never pleased the Heavens, as your attitude was always directed towards the power, not the service."
Ariel replied:
"The Heavens are more displeased with you than ever, Clarence, as power blinded you to the point of breaking the sacred bond between twins, the sacred bond that was meant to make both you and Theresa grow." Clarence began to feel fear as Ariel got close to her: "There is nothing else to say than this: Clarence, you and your parents have corrupted your whole lineage, a lineage that was meant to protect this land from the powers you sided with. All of your magic abilities and your connection with the Heavens have been removed, so as your family's, and only Theresa will remain as your lineage's true heiress."
Clarence couldn't believe that, out of Ariel's words, the Heavens complied to her, and then she felt how every single trace of magic power disappeared, and how her soul got closed to the Heavens' presence. She then fell on her knees, crying and yelling in a depressive madness trance, and Theresa got close to her, the mithril swords moving to keep aiming at Clarence:
"Sister, please, stop this feud. Do you really have to do this? Don't you remember how life was for us before our parents began with all this nonsense?"
Theresa kneeled in front of Clarence, trying to console her, but Clarence, in a last try, raised her eyes and drew a dagger from her sleeve, aiming for a quick strike at her guts... But the dagger never reached its destination, as the six floating swords pierced Clarence's body in the blink of an eye. Therese was surprised, and the soldiers didn't know what to do, as their commander was dying. Theresa, sad, said:
"Why, Clarence? Why?"
Clarence smiled, her mouth dripping blood, her expression changing completely into a more innocent one:
"Th-Theresa... Wha... W-What... did I do?"
Here, both Ariel and Theresa learned that Clarence was under mind control, and now she was awakened. Clarence raised her hand and gave Theresa a couple of rings:
"H-Here... These... B-Burn them, melt them... D-Don't ever let... our... p-parents... use them... against... the w-world..."
And then, with those last words, Clarence passed away. Theresa looked at the rings that Clarence gave her and realized her last words:
"These rings... The magic they have is just too strong... It's more of a psychic impression than magic in itself..." She turned to Ariel: "We must burn these rings now!"
Ariel nodded, recognizing the rings:
"Those are the rings of Malachi, and can only be destroyed by using a mixture of fires from the Heavens, the Earth and the Hells. Let's make a fire and then we shall summon both flames. Your friend Kay's tome of magic has a hellish fire spell."
Both women began to prepare and start a fire. Then, as Ariel prayed to the Heavens, Theresa prepared the dark flame spell. Once they were ready, Theresa threw the rings into the red fire, and then a bright white flame joined a dark violet one in the red fire. Immediately, the desperate yells that came out of the rings are easily recognized by Theresa, and after a few seconds, the mithril rings were completely molten. After a few more seconds, the metal evaporated, and finally, after a minute, even the heavy presence of the psychic remnants of the ring disappeared. Finally, Ariel said:
"With this, you have made justice to Clarence's soul, and she can go to the Heavens. Now, we must keep moving; our mission barely begins, Theresa."
Theresa nodded, and both ladies left the dark forest, heading north to the capital of the Griffin Kingdom.
End of Episode 01