Chapter 2: Pursuing A Lead! The Endless Pursuit of the Heart's Desires

Falconreach City, a large, prosperous place that was always getting blown up by one party or another. One day, due to my magic, many people thought I would blow it up. Yet I am the hero of this story, so there was no way I would ever do something like this. Today, I decided not to use my name, due to the reactions of the Battleon people from yesterday.

I had hoped to catch Xan plotting something, or maybe Seppy, but it looked like they were on holiday, and so Falconreach was not being invaded by anyone who could lead me to my beau. I asked the weapon's shop owner, a guy named Lim and he said that I should look for a knight or something instead of a bad boy.

Damn that answer, damn it damn it damn it!

After I finished damning the answer, I left his shop. I found my way past a weird looking guy with brown hair and a wacky look to him. He seemed like the type who would know such stuff, and I asked the guy, "Hey, have you seen a blond pyro around here? Because he set my heart on fire with the flames of love!"

He stared for a while and then laughed, "You must be the girl that Lim told me about, fan girl for Drakonnan, right?"

"I like darker boys, they have an appeal, like, I could cure him with love!"

"Yeah...if you want, my science could help. I have created the Bad Boy Seeking Bird Mecha! Now, with this little machine, you simply say his name with all the affection you can muster and the bird will find him wherever he is, and let you talk to him through this little speaker!"

I hugged the brown haired Sasquatch and he said, "...You are crushing lungs and ribs, release is necessary..."

I released him and gave some Dragon Coins from my purse for the machine and speaker. I spoke very softly into the machine, "Drakonnan..."

The machine flew off, and I could no longer see it. I hoped it reached him, and I walked off to get some lunch. On the way out, I saw something. A group of people were gathered, searching for something. I approached them and asked, "Is something the matter?"

One person said, "A lot of the kids have been disappearing lately."

A mage who I recognized as Warlic the Blue seemed to look at me and said, "We are looking for them, I am personally worried one of the enemies of Falconreach has sunk even lower, and has kidnapped the children."

I decided to take it up, after all, there might be a reward in cash for the person who rescued the kids, "I will do it, you can count on me to return the kids, increase my rep, and then attain my reward...which is the knowledge I am doing a good thing, of course."

Warlic walked over once everyone had left, and said with a small smile, "Then you wouldn't mind if I came along, right...Malistra?"

I was shocked, "How did you know?"

He said, "I could sense your magic, which seems to be predominantly destructive in nature. And only Malistra the Destroyer could have so much."

"Will everyone just stop calling me all those nicknames!!"

He replied, "When you stop blowing up cities while taking out gangs of bandits all for profit."

"Profit is a good motive."

"You used Dragon Rave on a single bandit to make sure you got him."

"Ok, I will admit I was cutting it close, he could have lived!"

Warlic just sighed, and I started looking around the city for any hint of the kidnapped kiddies. I hoped, in my heart, that the culprit was not Konny. I eventually came to the inn and saw something strange. A window near the back was opened and there were a lot of small foot prints leading up to the window.

I said, "Inspector Malistra has found the culprit's hideout, the inn." I rushed around to the front, ignoring the blue wizard's attempts at reason, and blasted the door down.

Serenity looked rather shocked as I entered and I said, "Give it up, Serenity! We know your heart is not serene at all and harbors unspeakable evil, for the kids are inside your inn!!" I said it all while pointing at her.

She sighed, "...no, Malistra, I did nothing. Are you just angry that Konnan, while he was here, showed interest in me?"

That was the final straw.

I shouted, "Flare Blast!!" Warlic ran in and blocked the spell with a blue aura, but the resulting explosion created a crater in the middle of the inn, and revealed an underground tunnel.

"Ah hah! The Boyfriend Stealer is guilty! She has a tunnel under her home, which only villains, like dad and Sepps, have!"

Once again, I was shot down by Warlic, who said, "No, Malistra, these are ancient tunnels, most likely the real culprit is down there. And your dad, Master Malice, has catacombs under his castle, there is a big difference."

I was unwilling to waste any more time, the mayor might spend my reward at this rate! I jumped into the tunnel and gave two charging ghosts a taste of Lightning Spears. Each fell down, and I raced through, using Flare Force to blast away more ghosts.

As I ran through the tunnels, I smelled something like fire. No, lots of fire. I ran into a large room, and saw a huge altar and the kids looked rather...spooky. Like they were possessed or something. Each was armored in red, and wore a skull-like mask. I managed to hide myself behind a large rock, which was actually the rather dim minion Bassault.

No question who was in charge now.

Xan walked up to the altar from the other side, and laughed, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! These children, possessed by my fire zombiegoasts, will be a perfect legion of apprentices, and will never betray me. Not like that revenge obsessed moron Konnan! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Hearing him speak of my Konny like that was just one of my buttons that turned me into a spellcasting death machine. I climbed on top of Bassault, who complained, "Why is it that people use me as a pedestal?"

I shouted, "Give back the kids, and stop insulting Kon-kun!!"

Xan turned to me and said, "Malistra? HAHAHAHAHA! What a perfect chance to test my new apprentices! Now go, attack her, with fire! No, thats too boring, use lots of fire!"

The children ran at me, moaning and started throwing blasts of fire at me. I dodged the blasts by hiding behind Bassault, whom I then blasted to oblivion before he could do anything. Sorry, Bassault, but you are simply too slow.

One blast caught me and sent me against a wall, and I prepared a Lightning Spear and threw it. One of them was too slow for avoiding the spell, and was blasted back, and his zombiegoast was begoned.

I kicked the pyro out of another of them, ignoring how technically impossible it is.

The fight continued for a while, me avoiding attacks and taking care not to too badly bruise the little munchkins. At what time did Xan think brainwashing kids was a good idea?

When Warlic finally got it in high gear and arrived, I was facing down the last ten of them. One of the evil children said something in a language I knew he didn't really know before Warlic used a spell to exorcise them.

And hoo boy was that exercise. As Xan moved to escape, I rushed after him and tackled the fire guy, and demanded, "Where. Is. Konny!!"

His response was simple, "Who or what is a Konny?"

"Your old apprentice! Where is he?"

"Do you have any idea how little "your old apprentice" narrows it down?"

"Drakonnan, there, now where is he?"

Xan managed to blast me away and shouted, "Hahahahahaha! I will never tell you, and you will never know his location!"

I was now beyond pissed off and was in a whole 'nother world of angry. "Destruction rise and darkness calls, ancient force renewed and thus I call the name, DRAGON RAVE!"

A ball of black and red energy formed in my hands and I threw it after Xan, and Warlic shouted, "NOOOOO!"

He was too late to stop the spell. It flew after Xan, but caused an explosion, and I looked at Warlic, "I know you guys had Foe Yay, but he said he'd never tell me where Kon-Kon is!!"

Warlic looked irate and said, "Malistra, there will be..." He moved out of the way of a huge rock. "A cave in."

"How about I destroy the cave so there can be no cave to fall in, so thus with no cave to cave in, there will be no cave in?"

"...Note to self, never let The Enemy of All Living Things talk to Cysero."

I concentrated and first allowed Warlic to get the kids out, and said the incantation for Dragon Rave again, but not before adding more power to it. I would need more if I wanted to blow up the cave in. Once I was done, there would be a lack of cave to cave in, thus, danger would be averted.

The black and red orb formed again and I prayed to my patron, whom I could sometimes connect to when I wanted to blow even bigger things up, "The'Galin, Devourer, creator of creation and destruction, good and evil, grant me your power and thus, I call on you!"

An aura formed around me and concentrated around my Dragon Rave.

"Kame..."

A huge rock started to fall down.

"Hame."

It fell, eclipsing my hole body in its shadow.

"Dragon Rave-Ha!"

I pushed the aura and Dragon Rave forward, and a huge black and red blast went up, and disintegrated the boulder, and all the other boulders which could have caved in. However, after that was done, I passed out.

I woke up later, and found myself in the Guardian Tower. A bunch of knights were staring at me. Rolith, their leader, said, "I do not know whether to thank you or curse your name. You helped save the kids, Malistra, but you are also responsible for making a huge hole in Falconreach and giving the mayor a heart attack, however, in the process you exposed the mayor as Sepulchure's agent."

A hero, named Vonh, said, "As it stands, though, you are under arrest."

"Under arrest? For what!? Doing a good deed?"

Vonh said, "For a whole new crime King Alteon just decided to create. Being Malistra."

My cry of "WHAT!!!?" Was probably heard throughout the city.