Author's Notes
Hi to everyone!
Some of you probably know it already, but I had started publishing this fanfiction a couple of years ago. However, I found out almost immediately that the first script was quite poor and lacking of details, so I made the decision of deleting it and start over again.
I hope you'll appreaciate this new version (the chapters already released will be quite similar, while the others will be considerably different from the previous version)
See you soon!^_^
Cj Spencer
Leaden clouds crossed the red blood sky, while on the opposite sides of the desolate plain once called Camlann, two huge armies were appearing.
The air was filled with the smell of blood, sinister calling from some other battlefield thanks to a dry and arid wind.
The blonde-haired young man pointed his eyes toward the center of the enemy ranks, finally meeting the ones of the enemy commander, a boy apparently of his same age with silver hair and gentle, almost feminine traits.
Then, he turned to his right and left, watching the bunch of warriors in armor at the head of his army, men and women, young and aged, each wielding a different and yet marvelous weapon.
The boy pointed his right arm to the heavens, and a huge and beautiful sword with a bejeweled handle and mirrored blade appeared in his hand the moment he opened.
The moment he pointed his new weapon against the enemy, his whole army immediately moved to attack; even the opponents charged, and as the two armies clashed into each other, a tremendous roar echoed through the valley.
The battle was terrible, with hundreds of casualties on both sides. Soldiers in armor were fighting face to face, maiming and mutilating their bodies with powerful swings of their blades, while behind them the archers threw clouds of arrows and sorcerers tore the skies apart with such powerful spells that each time whole battalions vanished in the blink of an eye.
Bodies fell upon bodies, and the land turned red.
In the end, as if no one else had remained alive, the two commanders found themselves one in front of the other, and after a brief moment, they started a thrilling, yet horribly bloody duel.
Each of the two always seemed about to overwhelm the opponent, but without a real and complete winner, and in the end, almost proclaiming an inevitable draw, their swords collided with devastating force.
The impact produced a spark that produced initially a flare, and then a blinding, all-consuming explosion that inevitably and inexorably engulfed everything and everyone completely unstoppable in a moment, leaving behind nothing but ash.
Carim closed the book that she had taken from the library to enjoy that brief moment of peace, trying to call in her mind the images she had just read about.
It was from the most ancient of times that Camelot's history had taken the form of a myth, and even after thousands of years no one knew for sure what had caused the collapse and subsequent disappearance of one of the most powerful and ancient of Belka's kingdoms.
The only certain thing was that, after having miraculously been able to repel an invasion attempt by the entire alliance of the Saint King, expelling their forces from its island, the kingdom had ultimately fallen under the blows of a civil war between the legitimate ruler, the legendary King Arthur, and one of his most trusted knights, Sir Mordred, at the end of an exhausting conflict that had brought Camelot to ruin.
The sounds of a struggle wiped such thoughts away, and approaching one of the opened windows of her study, the young woman turned her amused gaze to the courtyard below, where Vivio and Einhard were trying to overwhelm Sister Chantez.
The beginning of the new Intermiddle was barely two weeks far, and all the girls were working hard to be prepared for that important event, eager to repeat, and if possible exceed, the previous year's performances.
"Your majesty is not doing too bad," said an amused Chantez. "You have improved a lot in these recent months."
"And this is just the beginning. Einhard-chan? "
"I'm ready!"
The two girls ran together toward Chantez, separating at the last moment and climbing on the cloister's columns before jumping towards the nun from opposite directions.
"Not bad. But as they say ... the one who plays with fire is going to get burned!"
After loading a cartridge, the nun began to wildly rotate her two tonfa, generating a couple of flaming whirlwinds that rose up in both directions forming spirals.
"Burning Tornado!"
The two girls, although surprised, managed to barely avoid the flare-ups, but when they got to the ground they found out that their opponent, taking advantage of the situation, had split into three bodies.
"The odds of the game have changed," the three said together. "Now the nuns went ahead."
One of the three then disappeared, reappearing one moment later behind Einhard ready to strike.
"Einhard-chan, watch out!"
Vivio tried to help her, but anoter Chantez stopped her, although her friend still managed to dodge the attack by going low and respond adequately once turned.
"Hao Danku Ken!"
A single, well-placed shot was more than enough to make dust of Chantez's clone, and also for her accomplice facing Vivio things quickly worsened. The little girl dodged the first two blows by moving, then, found an opening, she dealt a single powerful blow.
"Accel smash!"
The clone tried to defend itself with weapons, but the punch was powerful enough to destroy the tonfa, and at that point, for the second doublet there was no escape.
"Jet Step!"
Vivio reached the real Chantez as fast as a spark, and the young nun was barely able to see her approaching before finding herself with Vivio's fist leaning on her nose.
"I… I give up…" she stunningly said before falling on her knees. "You've both improved incredibly in those last months. I can barely recognize you".
"We trained a lot," smiled Vivio. "Right, Einhard-chan?"
"Y ... yes ..." she answered, as shy as always
"In the next Intermiddle we want to do our best."
"By the way, have you already received the information about the groups?"
"Not yet." said Einhard "They should arrive by the end of the week."
"I suppose that Corona-chan and the others too will be in the game."
"Certainly," said Vivio. "And they cannot wait to start. Even Miura, Viktoria-san and all the others have signed up. "
"Good to know!" Chantez growled, her eyes burning. "I hope to face that haughty Viktoria again. I have some unfinished business with her."
"Meanwhile, tomorrow we leave for a retreat," added Einhard. "We'll meet up with Lutecia-san again to prepare ourselves for the tournament."
"A good thing. But be careful. I have every intention to win this time!"
"Same for us!" Said Vivio.
Carim smiled, once again seeing in those girls the best side of magic.
If only the world had always been in the hands of people like them, perhaps Belka would never have fallen, nor would so many people have had to suffer.
She was about to close the window, when an unusual gust of wind made the tents flutter, scattering into the room all the oracles that Carim had recently written down thanks to the annual lunar alignment.
One of them slid to the floor right at her feet, and believing it could be a harbinger she picked it up to read it.
But what she saw didn't seem to indicate a particularly benevolent future.
Red clouds shake the cobalt skies
High in the horizon, the dragon cries
The one holding all and nothing to the heart will listen
And hate he will gather, strong and pristine
Endless pains shall be spread
When the dark vessel its curse will shed
Only dispersing anger and hate
The victorious Dragons will show the new fate
Not exactly a good prediction.
Carim felt a strange chill in her back, a familiar and unpleasant sensation.
It was not the first time it happened, and it had always been a harbinger of doom. She didn't know why, as at other times after all, but she felt that it would not take much to understand the meaning of that premonition.
An only apparently absent Arthur stared at his sister Jamie's motionless face, gently surrounded by her long and blacks hair falling on the pillow of the hospital bed where she was laying, connected to an endless number of medical devices.
At his side, with a folder in his hand and a holographic window opened at his side, there was a young but respectable brown-haired doctor, whose eyes, grey and sharp, were partially hidden behind a pair of rounded glasses.
"I'm sorry, my friend. We have done everything possible.
But the last treatment too has been useless."
"It cannot be over, Meinz" the boy hissed through clenched teeth. "I refuse to accept it. There must be something else we can do."
"Arthur, you cannot deny the truth anymore. The illness of your sister is not physical or magical. It's in her mind."
The young man clenched his fists even more.
"Why? Why did it happen to her and not to me? "
"It was just a coincidence. You are twins, it could have happened to one or the other. But it went this way. You have for the most part inherited your ancestors' powers, and Jamie their memories instead. But now those memories are killing her, because her body is rejecting them.
The more those memories push against her conscience, the more it fades, until the mind of Jamie will die, leaving only an empty body. "
Arthur hit the wall of the room, managing to make a small crack, and making the doctor jump in fear.
"I promised to my dying father that I would've protected Jamie at all cost. May a curse strike me down if I won't keep that promise.
She's my sister, and I will do everything I can to save her, even at the cost of my own life."
A completely stunned Dr. Meinz looked at him, remaining silent for a long time and listening to that young man's sobs, and then he took off his glasses, putting them in a pocket.
"Maybe ... maybe there's still a solution, after all."
Hearing these words Arthur seemed to come back to life.
"What are you talking about?"
"It's an unorthodox method, but at this point it could be the only chance to save her and find a solution to the problem of these sleeping memories."
"Even if there's only one chance in a million, you must do it."
"You're misunderstanding, Arthur. You'll have to do it. Not me."
"I'm ready."
Put his glasses again, the doctor became serious, almost menacing, glaring at Arthur with a cold glare.
"There are people who might not appreciate what you are being called upon to do. So, before I talk, tell me this.
How far are you ready to go for her? How much mud and hate are you ready to take upon yourself to give your sister a very small, perhaps insignificant hope of salvation? "
Arthur shuffled, apparently undecided.
But in the end, a flaming, and somewhat menacing fire appeared in his eyes.
"What must I do?"
For Caro and Erio it was a special day.
The day's schedule only included a quick inspection of the farms and civilian facilities near the headquarters of Carnaaji where they had been assigned only recently, so at lunchtime their work duties had been already carried out.
So, taking advantage of the situation, the two had saddled up again on Friederich's back and had reached Lutecia and Megane in their cabin for a leisurely lunch.
"I received a message from Vivio" said Megane to Erio, while Caro after having finished her lunch was flying again with Friederich around the mansion to let him blow off some steam, observed not without envy by Lutecia. "They're impatient to start with the tournament."
"I know. As I know that this time she and Einhard have good possibilities to reach a quite high position this time."
"Their good performance in the last Winter Tournament surely is a good thing, don't you think?"
"Of course. Both me and Caro have been their sparring in some friendly matches, and it's almost incredible how far they've improved in these last months."
"It will be an interesting tournament, no doubt. Lutecia too incredibly impatient to begin."
Meanwhile Caro was about to order to Friederich to get back to the ground, when suddenly, for no apparent reason, the dragon began to move furiously, launching louds of pain and fear in the process.
"Friederich, what's wrong with you?" asked a shocked Caro while trying to control it
As if it was trying to unsaddle her, Friederich first climbed quickly, then he dove to several hundred meters, over and over again, all of this without stopping to scream.
"Stay, Friederich! Stay!"
From the terrace of the chalet Megane and Erio quickly noticed what was happening, remaining equally appalled.
"Caro!" Said Erio
"If this goes on she'll fall for sure!"
And indeed, in the end, Caro lost her grip, and she was so shocked that she didn't instinctively cast a levitation spell.
Fortunately, Lutecia's reflexes were better than hers.
"Wind Net!" she exclaimed, and a series of windy carpets formed in succession under the girl, gradually cushioning her fall till the ground.
"Caro, are you all right?" asked Erio running towards her
"I ... I think so." she replied, rubbing her head.
Shortly after Friederich too returned to the ground, or rather he slammed against it flying without control, but he was still so nervous and disturbed that Lutecia had no choice but to cast a spell that covered him in magic chains, pinning him to the soil.
"But what's the problem with him?" asked Lutecia herself
"I don't know, he never acted like this before."
Only then everyone noticed the strange red light in the dragon's eyes, and only when that light started fading Friederich finally seemed return to himself, regaining self-control and meekly allowing Caro to approach him.
"Friederich, what happened to you?" asked a worried Caro, receiving a yelp of pain and sadness in response.
But it wasn't just Friederich.
At the same time, the dragons began to show the same signs of madness in countless other words including Alzus, the trainers' home world, in some cases to the point of forcing their riders to take them down for their sudden and unexplainable aggressiveness.
No one was able to understand the reason of this.
The wave of madness also reached a pleasant wooded plain of a distant world, where a young, blue-eyed woman with long blonde hair, was occupied in chopping wood in front of a humble hut. A strange sensation pursued her to violently stop her work, and the moment she got up and turned, a massive beam of light appeared from nowhere behind the mountains on the other side of the lake, violently piercing skies and reaching the outer space.
"Arthur ..." she whispered while trembling. "What have you done?"