"Boring!" Hilla whined in the small lab. "You honestly expect me to just 'up and leave'?"
Eleanor looked at the red haired shamaness and sneered. "It would be preferable in any situation. You generals are nothing but trouble…"
"Correct me if I am wrong, but you were working with Orchid, right?" Hilla gave a slight grin of victory.
Rolling her eyes, Eleanor looked up from her book and at Hilla. "Reluctantly. Ever since the Black mage was sealed, we have not had much place to go. We found her and her… 'organization' and figured we'd at least use it as a hide out of our own. We didn't tend to get along though…"
"Ha!" Hilla laughed a bit, "Well, no worries now? Since that scientist fellow took over, all he cares about it his little toys." Hilla started to toss a small orb around. "I can certainly understand the sentiment."
"Then can you understand the need to be left alone? I'm trying to do research." Eleanor huffed.
Hilla gave a sly smile, "Oh? Over what? Any certain topics?"
"None of your business. Unlike you generals, we mages are completely loyal to the Black Mage and his ideals. I want nothing to do with you."
Hilla chuckled. "Fine. Have it your way." She stood up from her chair and started to make her way to the door.
"What are you scheming?" Eleanor grumbled. She wasn't that dumb. She knew Hilla wouldn't leave that easily without some kind of a back up plan.
"Ohhh…" Hilla started innocently, "I figure there was another mage in on this plan. I'm sure he could talk a small bit."
"Francis?" Eleanor laughed, "The child was only told to hold Cygnus down until we had Luminous in our grasp. Nothing more."
"So we do have a guest here." Hilla sat down. Now she was starting to get to where she wanted.
Eleanor rolled her eyes and closed her book. "I swear… The things I do to keep that child out of trouble…" She stood up and walked over in front of Hilla, leaning on the table. "What all do you want to know?"
"Well, as much as possible would be nice." Hilla teased. "So Lumi boy is our guest huh? I would have preferred Phantom, but I guess he's not too bad."
"You have preference?" Eleanor laughed.
"When it comes to who I want to torture most, yes." Hilla laughed. "If I learned just the right spell, I could give him a 'sweet' reunion with his Aria."
Eleanor rolled her eyes, "You mean by sticking her in one of those hideous skeletons?"
"Well… They aren't exactly meant to function on appearance." Hilla smirked. "So… Why Luminous?"
Eleanor shrugged. "That… I don't know… His majesty seemed focused on Luminous to begin with." She rubbed her chin, "It may have something to do with his 'corruption' but…"
"But?" Hilla's eyes grew confused.
"Why not just corrupt and easier target? Not saying Luminous was difficult… The Black Mage knew that Luminous would have a hard time keeping his darkness in check and fighting on Ereve. His hatred for the empress runs down to the very pore."
Sitting for a while, Hilla tried to think of a conclusion. She didn't find any that would make sense… Why did he choose Luminous?
"Regardless…" Eleanor started up, "We were ordered to aid in capturing Luminous for his own needs. I have no idea what he wants with him. I just follow orders."
Hilla huffed and pouted a bit. It opened up more questions than answers. "Fine… I suppose I'll just have to wait." She leaned back in the chair. "Honestly, what goes through his head sometimes? I'm a clear sign that the years can let you keep a clear mind, but still…"
Eleanor rolled her eyes and began to walk back to her seat. "Yeah… Clear mind." She sat back down, "If you will pardon me, I have much to do."
"So stingy." Hilla remarked with her calm face. "You should really try to get out a bit more."
"You should take your job seriously." Eleanor barked.
"I'm not the one being defeated by low ranking knights." Hilla smirked.
Eleanor took a deep breath and gave a dark glare towards Hilla. She exhaled and looked back down, deciding to ignore the red head. "Spoiled brat…." Eleanor though to herself.
In a different room though, Luminous's eyes slammed open. He stared at the ceiling for a small amount of time, trying to come to grasp with what was going on.
The first thing he recalled was being captured by the Black Mage... Then he recalled being tossed in here and trapped… Finally…
He felt an indescribable amount of rage wash over him. He sat up quickly and looked around. There had to be something he could vent some of this anger out on. That's all he cared for right now. Getting this anger out of his system.
He stood up and made his way to the door. "Tch… This door is a nuisance." He placed his hand on the door and allowed black magic to flow into it at a quick pace, causing it to fly off the hinges into the wall across. Luminous stepped out and looked around with a fierce glare. There was some random lackey dressed in formal Black Wing attire on the ground. He approached them quickly and kneeled down to his eye level.
"Tell me…" He started, "Where are my weapons?"
The man shook his head, "I … I don't…"
Luminous grabbed his arm and twisted it, letting a small crack and a loud scream fill the room. He went in closer, "Do not make me repeat myself. Where are they?"
"In the chest! In the chest!" The man cried. He lifted his free arm and pointed over to a chest with a sob. "I…I have the keys! Please let go!" he cried.
Luminous let go and held his hand out, "Give them to me."
The man frantically moved his hands to his side and held his hand out, laying the keys in his hands.
Luminous rose and began to walk over to the chest when the man tried to run off. "Where are you going?" Luminous's eye began to glow. "Do you think I am going to be as pitiful to allow the ones that captured me off easily?" An empty magic filled the room and surrounded the man. A loud scream was heard before the man vanished entirely.
Luminous turned back to the chest and opened it up. He picked his weapons up, noting how his orb shined with a strong darkness. His eyes slammed open. He clutched his head and began to grasp what was actually happening.
The darkness had grasp on him once again. It was stronger this time though… He could feel it. He leaned back against a wall, trying to calm himself down. He looked down at his hands, which were shaking too much to even hold his rod. Then he noticed his clothes…
"Did I change clothes?" He thought to himself. "No… No they're the same… but… different…"
And somehow, this made him even angrier. He couldn't shake it off. He was supposed to be the master of light and dark, but right now, the darkness was pulling him around like a puppet. It really pissed him off.
"That bastard." Luminous stood up; rage filling his eyes again, "He's the one that did this! He is responsible for this!" He stormed out of the room. He didn't care how much he had to destroy; he would make sure he could encounter the Black Mage once again.
He started with the hallway. All he did was wave his rod slightly and a huge explosion destroyed the room behind him. Luminous turned around. "I… I have that much power?" He told himself. He looked at his rod and slowly began to laugh madly.
"What an idiot. He must have some kind of death threat to make my dark powers even stronger!" He continued to walk forward, destroying everything behind him.
"Come on out, Black Mage! I know you're here!" He yelled out loud. "Or did you flee like a coward?"
Eventually he felt sick. He stuck his rod into the ground and leaned on it for support. "No… No… Just… leave…" He tried to tell himself. "I…" He huffed out, "I am the master… You listen to me!" Luminous yelled out bluntly, as if he were trying to order someone around.
But there was no one… The noise and explosions had scared everyone off. Luminous was by himself, with nothing more than his darkness to keep him company.
He looked up and stood up straight, letting a laugh escape him. His eyes were wide and bewildered as he looked off to the side. "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to tear his guts out."
Luminous slammed his hand on the ground and watched the room collapse around him. "I'm getting TIRED of SEARCHING."
As if he was heard, a chilling air covered the area. Luminous covered his face for a quick moment, only to uncover it with the Black Mage standing before him.
It was odd… uncanny even… His face was a bit longer, his eyes were smaller, but there were certain similar traits shared between the two. "I see you're doing better…" The Black Mage remarked calmly, noting the destruction.
"Never better." Luminous held his shining rod out, "Face me!"
The Black mage waved his hand and summoned a chair. "I summoned you here so that we may talk. Not to fight."
"I'm not one for idle chat." Luminous sneered.
"Then I shall continue on my own…" The Black Mage chuckled.
Luminous growled before lashing a strong attack towards the Black Mage. The Black mage lifted his hand up and waved it, scattering the magic completely. "Do not be foolish, child." He scorned.
Luminous stood in shock. Even after the boost he received, was the difference that great? …No… No it couldn't be… He just didn't have control over his new power yet!
"I take it you're enjoying your new powers?" The Black Mage laughed.
Luminous could only manage a stare. The feelings of anger and hatred washed over him, clouding his mind away from any sort of peace. Being in "his" presence like this only brought out the worst of him. And right now, he didn't care.
"I brought you here for a very simple reason. I am going to assume you remember ?"
"You want me to join you, but I'd much rather cut your head off."
The Black mage chuckled. Seeing Luminous, a man regarded as a hero and a powerful mage of light, act out of sheer anger amused him. He wanted to see him get mad… He wanted his anger to flow throughout his body, not allowing anything else to take its place. Especially not any pesky light. He could not do away with Luminous's heart, but he could surely corrupt it beyond repair. "Do you honestly think you can defeat me right now?"
He had him there. Luminous had already seen him tear through an attack like paper. He was sure he could do it again.
"You could be stronger… You could be much stronger…" The Black mage began to walk a small circle around Luminous, eyeing him up and down. The darkness had corrupted him nicely. It was rather apparently he was under its influences much more this time, but he had noticed Luminous's behavior before his appearance… He was far from fully corrupted. "After all, you come from me. I think I should help give you a good name. It would reflect poorly on me if you were this weak."
"I don't need help from you." Luminous barked out.
"Can you say that?" The Black Mage walked up to Luminous and looked him straight in the eyes, "You can only learn how to balance your power so much on your own. You need to focus on making yourself stronger. As one whom has embraced the dark, I can help this power of yours. I can teach you to be much more than you are."
Luminous looked at him. He blinked calmly and smirked, "What? You want to make me stronger so I can actually kill you?"
"Perhaps…" The Black Mage took a step back. "I would prefer to win your favor at some point. Having you as any value of a rival is… undesirable."
"Undesirable, eh?" Luminous laughed, "What? Do I scare you or something?"
"Scare? No… Bother? Yes." The Black Mage started to walk around the room, hand raised in a lecture like manner. "Years ago, if the prophecy was fulfilled, this world would have been long gone." He sighed, "I stalled Aran, distracted Phantom, defeated Mercedes, and weakened Freud… They should have fallen at this point, but there was one more…"
"Me?" Luminous interrupted.
"Yes…" The Black Mage spoke in a displeased manner. "You… You, the one that should not even exist. The one that was born through weak pity."
"Are you calling me weak?" Luminous growled.
The Black Mage stopped and thought for a moment. "No… My former self was weak at that time." He looked at Luminous, "I tried so hard to crush the crystal you were in… I had embraced the darkness… The last thing I had to do was defeat my light once and for all, and I would have been invincible!" His voice rose into frustration. He then calmed himself back to his usual tone, "There would have been no way to defeat me years ago, but I made it happen…"
Luminous finally took a seat in the chair the Black Mage summoned and gave a satisfied grin, "It isn't my fault you shot yourself in the foot. You should have thought about that before you killed everyone in Aurora."
The Black Mage felt odd looking at Luminous. He hated that smug look on his face, but at the same time, savored it nicely. "Perhaps. But I saw them as people that would become a burden." He walked over to Luminous and held his hand out. "I know it sounds a bit odd to you, but I ask only for a chance to prove myself to you. I would much rather have us argue on the same side of the battle than on different ends."
Luminous looked at his hand and laughed, "What? You think THAT little speech is going to convince me any?"
The Black mage thought for a moment. "No… You are right… I come with a weak offer. Usually my 'generals' come to me in search of power… " He gave a cold smile, "So I shall rework my offer: I help you become stronger. I will not say how much stronger, that will be up for you to discover… but I will make you strong enough to be a great general on my side. It will certainly be more than you have ever been in possession of."
The Black Mage looked at Luminous's face. His eyes showed defiance, but the lust for power was stronger than before. He was not sure if this was because of his presence on the matter, but it mattered not… All the mattered was that he would agree on his little…
"Deal." Luminous slapped his hand on the Black Mage's. "I'll play your little lackey for a while… at least until I'm strong enough to tear you apart."
"I do hope you don't plan on being considered a hero for that." The Black Mage chuckled.
"Who cares about being a hero?" Luminous's eye began to glow again, "I only want one thing and that's to be the strongest man standing. This includes you."
The Black Mage lowered his hand. "Good… Then we should start with a simple test."
"A test? What kind of test are we talking about here?" Luminous sneered.
"A simple test to see if you are currently strong enough to work outside of supervision." The Black Mage started up, "It's not much. I simply do not want you to get any weaker…"
Luminous stared at the Black Mage. "You mean switching sides?"
"Hmph." He was caught. Not that it mattered. "I want you to go to Leafre and destroy one of the dragon eggs they keep there."
"Huh?" Luminous raised his eyebrow a bit, "You want me to get rid of a dragon egg?"
"It sounds easy, but their shells are hard to crack…" He explained, "Any dragon with humans will be a tiresome threat. They are too advanced in magic. It is best to strike them young."
"Seems boring." Luminous remarked.
"You'll find Leafre's defenses to be …amusing…" The Black Mage stated.
"Fair enough." Luminous got up from the chair. "If this ends up being too boring, I am not to be pleased."
"I would hardly send a good general out on a lowly task." The Black Mage replied. "Come… I will send you off on your way." The Black Mage walked slowly into a small black portal he created.
Luminous watched the chair he crafted from magic vanish into smoke, shrugged, and followed him in.
Maybe the lure of true power was too tempting for him after all…