A/N: Re-publishing and revising this story since we've come back to play DN. Warning, I'm a fan of fluff, just like Cute✰Kara. So there.
Chapter One
First Impressions
In the beginning, a good goddess, whose equally pure and benevolent heart, had crafted a magnificent world from her father's dream, after his son stole away his lustre. The world which the goddess had created was to produce the mortal who will retrieve the stolen lustre, as prophesized by the sage of the gods. The good goddess' name was Althea, and she named her creation as Lagendia– a place where many living creatures such as elves, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. In order to keep the world in peace, she created the Ancients – a race whom the goddess had bestowed great powers to maintain the world in its goodness, and two guardian dragons, Sentinel and Tempest, which kept the world safe.
Unbeknown to the good goddess, her sister, the goddess Vestinel watched her with envy – for she envied her sister's creation. Vestinel had created a world from her father's dream on her own; however, it was distorted, where evil and darkness had existed, and was filled with creatures which were only after the stolen lustre. Her father was clearly not amused.
No longer containing her jealousy, Vestinel devised a plan to destroy her sister. She –
Yaaaaaawn.
.
.
A red haired girl yawned absentmindedly as she flipped the crusty pages of her book, no longer holding back her drowsiness. She rubbed her eyes lazily, apparently forgetting that she was in front of her mentor who was now fuming with rage. Oops.
"KARACULE!" Her teacher bellowed as she slammed her hand on the desk, "How many times am I going to tell you to focus? Focus! This is the tenth reminder for you. Why is it that the brightest student of my class always has to break the rules- Did you just yawn again, you brat!?"
Said brat staggered in her seat, forcing her eyes to open at the sudden outburst before her. Exhaling silently, she smoothened her face to a stoic expression before clasping her hands together.
"Lady Marian," She smacked her lips together then pouted, "You know I did not. I was merely enchanted by your ageless beauty-"
If you define what beauty truly is, then Lady Marian would sure be an accurate example. Karacule was sure of that. Lady Marian had long, platinum blonde tresses that reached her lower back, a stunning figure for her age; clear, blemish-free skin plus a pair of lovely gray eyes that crinkled with mirth when her students perfected the spells she taught them.
However, truth be told, Karacule only jumped to this method to escape the hands of death at the very moment.
"Really?" Lady Marian gave her a thoughtful look as she cupped her chin before directing her steel-gray eyes to her self-proclaimed protégé, "I'll help you wake up from that enchantment then."
"With what?" Karacule's eyes glittered. She knew that Lady Marian was well-versed with almost every kind of spell of the sorceresses, especially because of the obvious fact that it was Lady Marian herself who made them. She might actually learn something out of her attempt to outwit said legendary sorceress.
"With this fireball on your rears!"
Apparently not.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
.
.
Karacule gasped for air as she sprinted with a speed faster than light, knocking down the door with the impact made by her red head in her great escape.
"You better take a hike!" Her teacher hurled fireballs as the girl ran for her life, "Be thankful that you've learned how to teleport just as easily, or you'll be good as dragon fodder!"
"Obviously…that was NOT a teleport," Karacule sighed as she finally ran into a secluded corner far from the raging sorceress, "And that was close. Making Lady Marian mad was supposed to be the mission of death in the magic manual."
She quickly dashed out of the school's halls, greeting the gentle sun's rays as they danced before her protuberant maroon eyes. Her blood red hair was tied up into two horn-like buns, effectively matching her flawless porcelain skin, which was expected, as the climate in Mana Ridge was colder than anywhere else, but was of the right degree to make her skin fair and smooth. Her sorceress staff was in her hand as her spell book was strapped on her back – for a true sorceress never ever forgets her magical weapons, as they were her greatest tools in channeling magic.
Yes, Karacule was a sorceress in training. She was among the first students of the first sorceress, Lady Marian. Only the goddess knows why Lady Marian was so obsessed in training them to become the best magic users in the world.
Che. It was definitely not because she wanted to save the world – Lady Marian was competing with someone in the magic industry! And she knew who it was with. That mysterious man with silver hair, who almost always talked about the goddess' divine powers and all – not that Karacule really cared, but lo, the man was kind of divinely handsome anyway-
"Ow!" She rubbed her forehead as she opened her eyes, "Hey! Watch where you're going, idioooooo-"
Karacule steadied herself as it dawned upon her who she was speaking with.
"You must be Lady Marian's student," The man spoke softly, "My name is Jacob. I was Lady Marian's classmate before."
"You!" Karacule's eyes widened in disbelief, "You're that cleric! Lady Marian's number one enemy in the magic industry!"
The man smiled, humor was evident in his icy-blue eyes. "I hear that a lot."
"So," Karacule arched an eyebrow, "What do you want with Lady Marian? Go on, spit it out and maybe I'll give a second thought on how you should beg me to spare your life."
The cleric shook his head gently and gave another smile.
"I hear you are her best student."
Karacule immediately took many steps away from the man. If there was someone to describe as suspicious, it has to be this man. Despite the fact that his handsome face was too much for her young and innocent heart to manage. Swoon. Wait, what?
"Who paid you? It's Karahan, isn't it?" Karacule crossed her arms across her chest. She was gonna give her brother a taste of the wheeling staff skill she learned on the first day of her training.
"You've misunderstood me, "The man looked serious, "I need you on a special mission."
"Against monsters of the abyss?" Her eyes shone with interest, "But that should earn me a nice reward. And by reward, that should be in the plural term-"
"No, "He shook his head, "I want you to send Lady Marian a message."
"Could that be a message of love?" She deadpanned but let out a squeal when something dawned upon her, "I knew it! You two –"
She saw him clench his jaw. "It is a message to warn her of the Ancients' uprising."
"Tell her that she needs to prepare her students, for an inevitable battle with the corrupted Ancients. The Sage, the only uncorrupted Ancient who taught us magic, had died in protecting us from the Black Dragon Karas. Now, it is our time to do this job in his stead – to continue the mission that the goddess Althea had entrusted us with."
Silence.
"Right," Karacule began to chant her teleport spell, "I'll say hi to her for you."
"Don't!" Jacob ran after her, "Just…just go and give her the message.
Karacule could have sworn that she saw Jacob's eyes as if he longed to see Lady Marian – one last time.
It was the last time that Karacule had ever seen Jacob or Lady Marian ever again. They died in the magical war against the Ancients.
All that was left was her.
.
.
"I hear that the Black Dragon Karas had been resurrected once again," A young sorceress with ash-colored hair whispered to another, "This is the end of Lagendia! Oh! I'm too young to die!"
The announcement read:
Proclamation (From King Cassius of Saint Haven)
All adventurers
Those who seek neither wealth nor health
But seek a prophecy of their destiny
For the Black Dragon Raid
For Lagendia, demolish her foes!
Gather! Fearless Heroes!
"Snap out of it, Stella," Her classmate, Kayleen, smacked her on the shoulder. "Have you forgotten what we are? We are sorceresses of the Astral Coven. We have our pride. Lady Karacule will surely smack our rears!"
"I heard that," A familiar voice spoke from behind them. The young ones gulped.
Appearing out of nowhere, Karacule teleported to where the young girls were standing. Their mouths were agape as they saw their teacher closing in the space between them.
For despite her current age, Karacule retained the beauty of her youth. But her power grew stronger through the years. She was known far and wide for her perfect control of the elements, gravity, and even time itself to do her bidding.
"I don't think there is the need for me to repeat the words that were already said," Karacule clicked her tongue, "But it's not only for our pride. Lady Marian died to protect this place, and so we all must. It's our duty as users of arcane magic."
"How about divine magic?" Stella cleared her throat nervously before Kayleen managed to clamp her mouth shut.
"Che. That's nothing compared to arcane magic!" The redhead huffed, "Once you master our magic, you'll know the difference. Like this!"
A gravity field came out of nowhere, pulling the girls into its powerful core.
Then snap. It disappeared just as it came.
"See?" Karacule laughed as she wiggled her eyebrows playfully, "There's so much for you two to learn. Now go!"
The young sorceresses scurried down the corridors for their next magic lesson.
"Lady Karacule! Lady Vivace's looking for you!" A sorceress with disheveled clothing came to her, "She wanted to talk to you about the teaching assignments for the week."
"Oh no," Karacule winced, "I never wanted teaching assignments…"
"Karacule!" Lady Vivace called from ahead of them, "Forget the teaching assignments! There's an urgent task. You must go!"
"To where?"
.
.
"To Saint Haven, no less," Karacule rolled her eyes heavenwards, "I should have seen through this!"
She had just crossed the borders of Cristal Stream, passed the crowded town of Calderock and was now flying to Saint Haven on her trusty enchanted broom.
What she did not fully see through the thick clouds of the Black Mountain was a watch tower with sentry goblins on the watch – which she directly crashed into.
"Invasion! Invasion!" They leaped and began sounding their drums.
Lady Karacule was not amused, not at all, especially that her hair was now as sticky as the goo which the goblins were attacking her with.
"Blizzard!" She gripped her staff tightly as hail dropped from the sky like missiles, "How dare you mess with my hair! Firey Vortex!"
She cleared the mobs of monsters with ease as angry vortexes of fire engulfed the corrupted goblins and kobolds. From the corner of her eye, she spotted more of them raging to her direction, now with brethren shamans and dark elves. Licking her lips, she put a foot forward as she called forth "Gravity!" which took the appearance of a dark ball of energy that pulled the mob into its core. Satisfied, she let out three consecutive gravity balls unto the harassed monsters, effectively crushing them into dust.
She took on all of the monsters by herself effortlessly until she felt a shot of pain right through her. Biting her lower lip, she turned around, annoyance marring her features. This son of a goblin will surely get what's coming for him.
But before she swished her staff to thrash said monster to oblivion, a dark circle was casted– Karacule could not move. But she saw that it was not a monster she had the opportunity to fight before. She was yet to encounter this kind of creature. She tried to teleport, but the hologram restrained her mana flow – and it was absorbing her power. Her mana reserve was starting to hit critical levels-
Something or someone grabbed her arm as she realized that her body was thrown outside the circle.
She caught a blur of gold as she plunged into the ground with her savior. As she opened her eyes, she caught herself staring into the face of a stranger – a face that was so beautiful to behold - that time had stopped its course without her bidding it. The face that Karacule thought could only be sculpted by the gods-
And she had apparently forgotten that she was lying on top of that particular person's body, her hands clutched on his chest, their faces only an inch apart. She could even feel his breath on her face.
"…"
Flushing to her hair, Karacule pushed herself away from said stranger who had the face sculpted by the gods. She rolled on the ground, distancing herself as far as her battered yet beautiful body can manage. When she was about ten meters away, she sat up and covered her face in pure embarrassment.
Oh she was embarrassed. She was acting like a schmuck for heaven's sake!
Right there and then, she decided to leave Saint Haven for good - but not without another glance at said stranger. Which she just did, by the way.
An eyebrow was raised at her as the epitome of perfection shot an apologetic smile to her direction. She felt that her lungs were going to explode any moment now. And don't even mention her face. Her face which probably had undergone a gazillion shades of red by now. Mentally slapping herself, she gripped the hem of her robe tightly before giving him a glare.
"W-what are you looking at?!" She lashed at him, nervously hoping that her anger would overpower whatever was inappropriate she was inappropriately feeling that moment.
Said stranger just shrugged before jumping on his feet as he dashed to eliminate countless mobs of monsters with ease.
"Show off," A pale young man who was dressed in black armor came to her side," Within minutes, all of them will be taken cared off, by him without needing us anyway."
"Excuse me, who are you?" The redhead arched an elegant eyebrow, "And what are the two of you doing here?"
"That was a question for you to answer," Was the cold reply to her dumb question as the man eyed her suspiciously, "Are you even from this area? Since you sure are not familiar with the rules."
"What rules are you talking about?" Karacule mouthed as she regained her composure whilst removing the dust off her clothes, "I was here on a mission!"
"And you crash-landed on the tower…with this?" He was holding her enchanted broom, which was by the way, split into half. Karacule could only open and close her mouth like a goldfish when she realized that her favorite traveling equipment was nothing but a broken twig. The young man smirked as he sensed her sigh of defeat.
"Enough bullying, Velskud, "The stranger with the golden hair spoke as he sheathed his sword, "We must now return to Saint Haven. The ceremony starts in a few minutes."
Karacule could not speak. He was close. Yes, a meter away from her. Still close. Her heart was beating too fast that she lost count. Anymore proximity from their one-meter distance-
"Are you okay? It must have been from that fall," Said stranger was closing in the distance between them.
"D-don't come any closer…" She trailed off but he took her arm and pulled her closer.
"Are you sick?" He placed his hand on her cheek as he worriedly stared into her eyes, oblivious to what his actions were doing to the sorceress.
Karacule fainted from extreme levels of indescribable emotions. Fortunately, the man caught her before she managed to make an Olympic dive to the ground.
"What a bothersome woman," Velskud let out a sigh of annoyance, "You'll have to drag her from here to town. Hurry, Geraint."
A/N: My first attempt to write fan fiction for the Six Heroes, but mainly focused on Karacule, since she's (obviously) my favorite, lol. Please give me constructive reviews, particularly with the writing (my writing skills have regressed Dx) or the facts since I'm not thoroughly familiar with them. Thanks guys!