A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
A low growl emanated from the belly of a large brown hunching beast, four meters tall. Saliva poured between its teeth onto the wet muddy ground of the forest, eager to try a new prey it hadn't seen before. At any moment, it was ready to grab the dark-haired girl in front of it.
"Easy there now," Ruby spoke with her hands raised. She curled her lips at how easy it was to lure this beast. Her large raven wings twitched in anticipation of the beast making its first move.
Levitated in front of her was a glowing book she used as a medium to channel her energy. She didn't expect the beast in front of her to understand nor care about her capabilities. Either way, she prepared a trial of sorts against the beast.
Once it was obvious that the witch wasn't going to try escaping like most do, the beast lunged forward. It knocked a tree to its side as it stretched its bulky arm to grab the woman.
"Nope, not this time."
The raven-winged girl swiped out a strip of metallic paper that had a glowing symbol on it. With a fling of her hand, the talisman shot into the beast's mouth, exploding as if filled with gunpowder.
The beast stumbled back and roared in pain as its mouth seared with heat. Anger soon filled its vision but when it refocused its attention on the girl, she was already gone.
Sniffing around for her scent, it didn't expect to see her flapping ten meters above its head. With its stubby legs and massive body, it wouldn't have any chance of catching her now, but it refused to give up.
"Same thing huh? You guys are pretty stubborn," she hummed, curling her lips to the side.
It growled as her mere presence taunted it. Then, it started smashing the trees around like a child on a tantrum. The raven-winged girl didn't intend on toying with the beast, only setting up a trap for it. After having its tongue burnt as a warning shot, it could have taken the hint to escape, but it didn't. Now, it would pay the price to help benefit her own knowledge to survive on this strange planet.
With a wave of her hand, the book glowed. Flora around the beast grew at an exponential rate. Despite how they look, these were the trap she had planted.
Within seconds, the flora turned perverse from their small elegant forms. Poison dripping teeth developed from each flower's base allowing it to growl like a dog. Their stems bloated as it developed unnatural organs to help fulfill its hunger. Finally, thick vines grew out from its green oval body for trapping its prey.
That prey would be the raging beast which detected the danger below its feet too late. Many vines wrapped around various parts of the beast's limbs. While the beast could pull away from one or two, it couldn't avoid the twenty planted monsters' grasp.
Unable to maintain balance, the beast fell with a resounding thud. Once down, the flora extended their stems to take a bite out of the large beast. Its hide was tough enough to last many attempts, but one bite had found its way to the neck and sunk in. Despite the beast's struggles, it's movements slowed as it was unable to resist the poison traveling through its system.
A low moan erupted from the predator-turned-prey, drawing its last breath. Then, it's entire body went limp and allowed the hungry flora to dig in abated.
At the scene, Ruby sighed and shook her head. To preserve her magical energy, she ended the plant feast early as it was clear the brown monster was dead. She didn't want to stay around any longer than needed.
Her plant creatures withered on her command still attached the dead beast. Eventually, they appeared like dead brown vines on an equally dead corpse.
"I should've guessed its neck would be easier to penetrate, but still…"
Letting the matter drop, she reminded herself to avoid growing plant monsters on a single enemy. Then, she turned her attention to the surroundings, staring into the forest, lakes, and mountains in her view. It was beautiful, but she had other worries clouding her mind that made the whole scene seem bleak.
This place, the beasts that inhabit it, and the strange gravity that was far from normal. She was not on Earth, that's for sure. She thought back to the beginning of it all when she was an aide to a powerful headmaster and had friends by her side. She would give her all to return back to them, whatever it took.
One day ago.
Ruby Toujo, witch and aide to the headmaster Tenmei Mikogami, remained seated at a small table. In the personal library of her employer, tall bookshelves surrounded her. They filled to the brim with ancient and some forbidden knowledge. As if priding their importance, glittering dust of magic hovered over each book.
Ruby paid no attention to anything but the current book she was reading. With the waft of her hand, the page she finished reading turned on its own to allow her to continue. Nothing seemed to distract her as she read every word with care.
"I see…" she whispered after a few minutes of silent reading. With a short smile, she noted where she would pause and slipped a bookmark in.
She collapsed the book and stood up from the table, moving over to fill a gap within the archive. As she slid the book in, her mind shifted gears and a wider smile flashed across her face. She realized it was nearly time to join her friends for the usual Newspaper club hosted every evening.
If there was any benefit to working for the ominous headmaster, it would be that she could spend time with her friends, particularly with her "owner".
Shivering in delight, the "owner" she was thinking about was Tsukune Aono. He was a former human who enrolled by accident into this school for Youkai. From the time he helped save humanity from her former master, Lady Oyakata, to his fight against Fairy Tale, she admired him from the bottom of her heart.
Now, he was a full Shino vampire and continued his daily activity as if the battle against Fairy Tale was just a dream. His gentle and courteous personality remained the same, but there was more resolve in his piercing eyes than ever before. Sometimes, his simple gaze was enough for her to feel electrified and she longed for him to take her away, dealing any punishment he saw fit.
Yet, Ruby wasn't blind to the fact that he only wanted to remain as friends. Her personal declaration to him as his "toy" is only met with the usual dismissal and carefree laugh. This is fine too and she accepted the fact that she may only end up next to his side in the future, supporting him as she has done before.
Her thoughts roamed to a rival who had far more opportunities with the former human than she liked. After the events of Fairy Tale, Moka Akashiya transformed into a strange blend of her Outer and Inner personalities. She now has the livelihood and friendly nature of her deceased mother but retains her usual fighting spirit. Not having to maintain two personalities is a good thing, but it was still strange to Ruby. The only solid good thing is that she's more open to her friends, particularly Tsukune.
Then there is Mizore Shirayuki, who committed herself to remain around Tsukune no matter what. Actually thinking about it, Ruby understood she changed least of everyone. Her determination was admirable, but the witch also worried about her as a friend. Emotionally, she was always hit the hardest despite how she tried to mask herself with a cool and distant expression.
As for the succubus, Kurumu, Ruby felt displeasure to see that she became bolder after coming back from break. Without fear for her own safety, she was able to sneak kisses at Tsukune a few times and in front of Moka, no less. The end result is that the blame typically shifted to Tsukune. She couldn't count how many times the jealous vampire kicked him into the sky. The sad truth of the matter is that Kurumu needed Tsukune more than ever. She could actually die if she didn't acquire the love, affection, and the energy that comes with being with her destined one. Despite appearances, it seemed Moka understood this well. She recognizes Kurumu as a friend, though never her equal and tolerates the occasional acts at Tsukune's expense.
For all Ruby knew, Tsukune wasn't aware of Kurumu's need. The succubus ensured nobody who was aware of her struggle spoke on her behalf. Even she has her pride and wanted to be an important part of Tsukune's life without relying on pity, even if it meant sharing her future with the other girls.
A sad smile played on Ruby's lips around Kurumu's struggles until she then thought more positively about her younger sister, Yukari. Of course, she's not her actual sister, but as the only two witches in the academy, she is the closest to a younger sister she could think of.
Instead of adding to the romantic drama between Tsukune and the other girls, the young witch became more devoted to improving her magic. Ruby became a big part of the witch's training wherever she could find time in her busy schedule. After the events of Fairy Tale, the young prodigy wished to play a more involved role in protecting people. Yes, that's right…not just her friends, but ensuring that monsters and humans alike can live in peace as well. It was quite ironic to see that her maturity seemingly outpaced the rest of her love rivals who only focused their attention on Tsukune. Perhaps in this way, she was also trying to appeal to Tsukune.
As for herself, Ruby gave an exasperated sigh as she contemplated on her current situation. She was busier than ever since the Fairy Tale organization and Alucard were destroyed. Behind the scenes, she was given a task to improve the magical defenses of the academy and stabilize the Great Barrier to prevent higher risk of their academy being exposed.
That's largely why she was reading books in Mikogami's personal library and while she was happy to be entrusted with some admittedly forbidden knowledge, it was downright exhausting. There were times she wished she could instead be filling in for a missing teacher, especially for Tsukune and her friends.
Still, reading these books and listening to words of advice from the headmaster told her that she had a lot to learn. She wasn't naive to think that she was done learning at all, but the amount of knowledge to cover was never something she ever considered.
Lady Oyakata helped her establish the foundation of magic in the beginning. After that, she learned under Touhou Fuhai out of necessity to help support her friends. He showed her further potential and helped greatly increase her magical prowess. Without explicitly asking for it, Mikogami continued that trend for her, bit by bit as she performed her duties as his aide. With her friends and this academy, she would have never thought her days of magic and witchcraft would grow like this.
But in the end, she too wanted to be able to protect her friends and like Yukari, she also wanted to learn to open up to humanity more and protect it. Tsukune shown her that while humanity isn't perfect, there is still good in people if you pay close attention. It's for this reason, she doesn't plan on relaxing herself completely. The safety of the school and her friends are the top priority for now.
On that note, her friends were probably already headed into the clubroom and awaiting her arrival, so she didn't want to reminisce any longer. With an eager hum, she stopped short of taking another step towards the exit as she felt a familiar presence behind her.
A palm snapped out of the darkness and a white robbed man with gleaming eyes appeared, gripping the witch's shoulder and causing her to flinch.
"Where are you heading, Ruby?" he questioned, his voice deep and perhaps unknowingly nerve-wracking. Somehow, despite knowing what he looked like now, she couldn't make out her facial features.
"M-mikogami sir, I'm about to head to the Newspaper club. I am still their adviser after all," she excused, trying to calm herself over the sudden presence of her employer. Despite staying by his side for a good majority of the time, he could still surprise her with different ways of approach. She didn't know if he secretly got a kick out of her reactions.
"Then, before you go…I assume you've read the book I've advised?"
Ruby honestly didn't want to waste time chatting when she could be with her friends, but since he was a powerful being and more importantly, her boss, she couldn't deny his curiosity over her progress.
"Yes, the 'Book of Gates'? I understand why you suggested that book to me. I did gain some insight that I think could help add to the Great Barrier. There's some interesting use in how we could teleport outsiders if they reach the barrier, but I'll have to experiment more on it later to find any practical usage."
Ruby paused, hoping that would be sufficient answer on her progress. Anything more would be about the details which she really did not want to dwell on.
"Tell me more," Mikogami pressed, an eerie grin shined behind the darkness of his hood.
Internally, Ruby cried out in comic anguish but kept a professional smile on her face. This headmaster didn't care if she had somewhere to be. Understandably for him, protection and secrecy of the school was a top priority compared to the after-school clubs.
Dejected, Ruby tried hard to not let out a sigh and then continued, her gaze lowering for a brief moment as she recalled what she learned and the potential benefits to the academy.
"So…currently we have a closed gate, hidden behind a tunnel which only our special bus can enter and exit. The biggest problem with this is that if the tunnel is destroyed, nobody can enter or exit the academy grounds. We could have an open gate, but that would risk outsiders entering wherever the barrier is weakest. With a closed gate, we only have to worry about one specific entrance but with an open gate, the entire perimeter has to be taken into consideration…"
Mikogami hummed, nodding with approval. "You understand the benefits and consequences with each one. With several pockets of former Fairy Tale members seeking revenge against this academy, the tunnel has become a risk and I have no doubt that it will be used against us in the future."
Ruby nodded, her expression serious as she fully understands the headmaster's concerns. Everything said is what both of them already knew, but it was the best way to start off her explanation to him about her findings.
"Although the book you advised me to read was meant as a way for travel, I believe we can use it as a way to authorize people with the proper rights to enter the grounds. Instead of a barrier-gateway, the grounds could simply use a barrier to prevent access to all and hide our academy. We would have to perform little maintenance this way compared to maintaining the Great Barrier as a gateway and a barrier…"
Mikogami already understood what she was getting at, stepping in to finish for her, "…then using separate gateways outside to enter and exit barriers. Depending on tweaks to the Great Barrier, that may be possible, however…"
Ruby provided a sad smile, knowing well Mikogami had long thought of the same idea but perhaps wanted an extra mind to investigate its feasibility; however, the headmaster never shared his thoughts or ideas outright. She found herself learning according to the instructions of her boss only to find out that he already knew an answer and wanted her expert advice. Was she even needed? Well, it's true that the headmaster is a busy man and for the most part, he needs someone reliable to help maintain the academy. Although Mikogami never told her what he had been doing, she knew that after the collapse of Fairy Tale, her boss had been out occasionally, perhaps eliminating outside threats to the school. Regardless, she continued, completely recognizing the headmaster's unspoken concerns.
"…Yes, the only question is if we can truly teleport inside and out of a hard barrier. If that's possible, then we will have more flexibility in how we transport students in and out. We wouldn't have to have a single gateway like the tunnels for a bus and we can deactivate any potential gateways that have been compromised. We would also be able to control where the student transports. I've heard complaints that students had to walk all the way to our academy from the tunnels."
Mikogami hummed again and then turned away from his aide. He didn't show it, but he was impressed as usual with Ruby's insight. He had learned of the witch's progress from Touhou and he knew that it would be a waste for her to keep maintaining the existing barrier without having a hand in improvements.
"See to it that you figure it out. I will be busy for a while outside of the academy, so if you must, you may enlist the help of your friends. I believe strongly that this isn't impossible, especially for you, Ruby."
The unexpected praise and high expectation made the witch widen her eyes. Not allowing her excitement to show except a small smile, she bowed.
"Thank you, I will try my best to figure it out," she answered humbly.
The headmaster didn't say anything more except flash a grin, then stepped away into the darkness of his library. His presence equally vanished at that moment, even amongst the dimly lit lanterns that were spread around the library.
Finally taking a breather, she grimaced at the amount of time wasted when she could have been with her friends, but she no longer felt regret after seeing her progress match with Mikogami's expectation. She knew that she would have to experiment on a smaller scale and at the risk of potentially locking herself into a barrier, she knew she needed at least one of her friends there for support.
Not wanting to waste any more time, she left the library in haste, closing and opening the large metal doors leading to the halls of the academy. As expected of a secret library, the moment she entered the brightly lit halls, the door behind her disappeared.
"Are you sure we're good enough to help you?"
Yukari was the first to question, cocking her head as she couldn't help but worry whether she could prove useful. Even understanding the risks, the young witch felt she still had a lot to learn before she could even aid the older witch.
Ruby smiled reassuringly towards Yukari and the rest of her friends in the classroom who listened, equally worried. She decided to inform and request assistance in her experiments before the newspaper club was dismissed.
"You're the only people I can trust around here. Plus, I don't expect to cause myself to be trapped or sent far away. Everything we would try would be on a smaller and weakened scale than what would involve the Great Barrier that surrounds us."
"So…" Moka narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, somewhat intrigued, but tried to hide it, "…you want us to help you in case you fail?"
The way the vampire said that made her twitch, but she decided against growing angry with the vampire. Friend or not, she wouldn't dare get into a fight with her right now.
"Basically," she admitted.
"Well, there's no harm in helping out," Tsukune spoke with a smile, "Yukari may be able to do more, but we'll be there to help you out. I also think improving the barrier is a good idea."
Everyone nodded in agreement. There wasn't a question of remaining beside her and at least observing the experiment. After all, Ruby was an important friend to everyone.
The witch smiled gratefully. "I really do appreciate it. Then, let's get underway shall we?"
Everyone seemed to flinch, not expecting to help her out immediately with the day coming to a close. Yet, when they saw the older witch brighten with anticipation, none of them could say a word of protest.
Packing and cleaning up the room shortly after, they travel to an empty barren ground behind the academy to prevent unwanted attention. Ruby came prepared with her spell book called "The Talking Book" and about a hundred talismans in a pouch attached to her hip.
The talismans she had were strips of embellished paper which were imbued with magic. Her talismans didn't need to be in the form of paper, but it was the easiest to make. A more reusable and sturdy talisman would be in the form of engraved rocks except it was only as reusable as far as what it would be used for. Her plan was to use the talisman as a basic gateway and barrier, and considering the experiment was in and out of a barrier, the talismans could possibly be destroyed as a result if things went wrong.
So, it was safer to use a simpler talisman to prevent wasted resources and time. More than likely, the paper talismans would be destroyed anyway after dispelling the formation.
With Yukari's help, Ruby had her lay down the talisman into a simple circle on the dry land. While Yukari prepared each talisman carefully, the older witch explained to the young girl how to link each talisman together to form a barrier. Beside the witches, everyone stood side by side and watched, curiosity piqued over their efforts.
The end result was a circle enough to fit one person surrounded by talismans. As for the gateways for teleporting in and out of the barrier, Ruby would handle the magical aspect of linking two talismans to become endpoints for traveling.
The gateway talismans were placed into flower formation. One outside the barrier circle and the other inside separated by three meters. Based on how the talismans were laid out, each of them of the bystanders could understand how the experiment would work.
Inside, Tsukune could only start to worry despite his small excitement. His mind began recalling all of the science fiction material he read in his early days. Personally, he enjoyed fantasy more than science fiction, but teleporting was a common theme in a lot of books he read.
"Um…is this going to be okay? What will happen if you teleport and aren't able to slip into the barrier?" he asked.
Ruby felt happy that the vampire showed concern for her. It's not like she wasn't worried for her own safety, but she created more complex barriers for personal use. If something went wrong, a simple circular barrier would simply break.
Answering the boy's question though, she gave an amused hum and then lightly laughed. "I'll probably die, I guess."
Tsukune widened his eyes, but pulled back, giving a tense smile as he could sense the witch's playful tone.
"D-don't joke like that, Ruby."
Mizore stood with her arms crossed and her usual lollipop in her mouth, twirling from the left side to the right side of her mouth. She couldn't help but smirk in slight anticipation of the idea.
"It would mean there would be one less rival though…" she commented.
Ruby once again twitched but didn't say anything. Of course, compared to the other girls, she didn't have the same opportunity to remain with Tsukune due to her job. Could she even be considered a rival?
But wait, wasn't that an acknowledgment that she was just an equal threat to Tsukune's attention as the others? Wasn't it a good thing to be recognized as an equal?
Internally, Ruby wasn't sure whether to be angry or happy anymore. In the moment of distraction by the snow girl, Yukari finished preparation of the barrier around the flower talismans she set.
"It's done!"
Ruby snapped back to her experiment and smiled gratefully at the younger witch. She examined all the talismans she and Yukari set down on the ground which were glowing white.
Nodding with approval, she patted the young witch's head, pushing her pointy hat down before it bounced back up. By any other person beside Tsukune and Ruby, she would've hated it, but she accepted the feeling with a giggle.
While others watched with mixed feelings, Kurumu was one who watched with intrigue as she touched shoulders with Tsukune.
Of course, her biggest wish was to have some decent alone time with her destined one, yet the vampire was too powerful of a presence and everyone else was too stubborn to leave the reborn vampire's side.
If there was any promise with this experiment, she would happily use it to take her and Tsukune far away, where they could finally be alone. Yet, she worried whether he'd take her seriously in the end. Her advances on him are simply left forgotten in the end, even the ones where she outright kissed him. She was literally risking her life in some of those moments where Moka was nearby.
As she contemplated the possibilities, she was pulled to her senses as she felt a rising energy from the experiment. A yellow glow spread farther up along the circumference of the placed talismans. Although it was faint, everyone including Tsukune could feel that there was a magical barrier there. As additional proof, Ruby knocked the barrier lightly where white circular pulses showed.
Taking a small breath, she looked at the flower talisman that lied inside the barrier and out. The fact that they were glowing in harmony was a good thing. It meant that the activation of the barrier didn't disrupt the transporting element.
A growing wave of excitement filled Ruby as she began to believe that this setup may actually work. Quickly, she shoved her feelings down knowing it's not good to be so optimistic. Experiments almost never end up in success for the first time. She knew she should set up precautions for her own safety as the first test subject.
With the Talking Book glowing purple and floating above her hand, she used it as a medium and flowed energy around her. Without more effort into protecting herself, this was the best she could do in the case the whole experiment blew up.
"Alright, here I go," she breathed.
Stepping on the flower talisman, she forced youki into her Talking Book and then down to her feet, activating the talisman. When setting it up, she thought of the principle of transportation according to the book she read and chose light as a medium since it was easiest. Closing her eyes, she felt the ground below her radiating with heat and warming her from the bottom to the top. In a flash of light to the spectators, she disappeared instantly with sparkling bubbles floating from where she stood.
It was blinding only for a few seconds before the rest of her friends looked to the yellow barrier in hope that their friend would be there.
Sure enough, when Ruby opened her eyes, she widened them in surprise to sense a difference in her position. Finding a yellow tint to her surroundings, it took another second for her mind to click that the teleportation was a success…at least one way.
"Well…that was anticlimactic," Mizore hummed though with a smile, it was clear she was happy to see her witch friend safe.
Before the witch could get excited like her friends, she shook away her approaching feelings. She only got one way done so she performed the same steps, channeling her energy to the flower talisman again in hopes to escape. Luckily, if it failed here, she could dismiss the barrier and it wouldn't be a complete failure. One-way teleportation was a success in itself.
The same thing occurred as before when entering the barrier. She now stood outside in the same spot she was before starting the experiment.
Nodding with a light smile, she felt proud that her studies so far within the headmaster's library paid off. Perhaps Mikogami knew that this was likely to be a success and only wanted her to confirm since he didn't have the time. Either way, Ruby was glad and she knew she had to prepare to increase the scope of the experiment the next time.
"Yukari, you can dispell the barrier now. I think next time, I'll be able to start the next trial on my own," she instructed.
Yukari was equally excited over the results and brimmed with admiration for her older sister.
"Right!" she exclaimed, moving in closer to dispel the barrier with her wand.
"What a waste of time," Moka whispered under her breath, her lips curling in disappointment. Tsukune could easily hear her dismay at the outcome and glanced at the vampire incredulously. Perhaps she only meant for Tsukune to hear her complaint but he couldn't help but defend Ruby and the results more positively.
"Come on, we should be glad that everything worked out fine-"
"Ah!"
Ruby flinched and everyone turned their heads to Yukari who remained frozen, her eyes widening as her wand and the barrier in front of her was being surrounded by crackles of electricity as if it were shorting out.
Ruby's mind worked quickly, wondering what was going on. Why wasn't Yukari able to dispell the barrier she helped set up?
Her eyes lowered to the flower talisman which was also fizzing with small pops of electricity. Then, she immediately understood a problem with the setup of the experiment and less with the results.
Damn.
There was no time to think about it further though. Anyone could see that the talismans were under pressure and would inevitably explode.
"Move, Yukari!" Ruby shouted, pushing herself towards the younger witch who was a few seconds too slow to recognize that she needed to drop her wand and simply run.
Only a couple meters apart from Yukari, Ruby instinctively let herself partially transform, sprouting large raven wings from her back to help shield herself and Yukari from the impending blow.
Yukari dropped her wand as she approached and started running towards her friends, but neither she nor Ruby would make it at their pace as the barrier started to fill with light and crackle more intensely. If Ruby hadn't moved towards the smaller witch, she could have saved herself, but Yukari may not have escaped at the rate she started to run.
It could be that if it does explode, they would only get harmed with a scratch or two, except somehow the experiment was growing with energy!
Only thinking about protecting her little sister and fellow witch, Ruby did the only thing she could think of to ensure Yukari was safe. Lowering herself and twisting her hips, she let one of her wings pull back and then snap forward. Her wings extended past her, pushing a gust of wind at Yukari to blast her little body off the ground, closer to her friends.
Stumbling, Yukari felt surprised at the unexpected push but refused to let herself fall. Her panic rose at the thought of Ruby. She turned around to see her older sister was showing a relieved smile for a split second.
Mizore moved in fast, her hands encasing itself in ice and into icy claws. She extended them to freeze the talismans with icicles that blasted out of her arms.
The older witch didn't wait to see if the Yuki-Onna would have any effect. She started running, but then the yellow barrier broke, a bright white light filled the area and enveloping the witch.
Despite the worry for their friend, nobody could help but shield their eyes from the white light until it slowly diminished.
Ruby's footsteps never entered anyone's hearing range and opening their eyes, they only saw talismans burning away under fire. It was then, a dreadful hammer hit everyone in the stomach as they stared in silence.