"Psst. Hiyorin. Wakey wakey." Hiyori opened her eyes slowly, groaning with exhaustion and waking at the sound of someone's voice. A shadowed figure with glowing eyes knelt on top of her, gently shaking her shoulders to wake her, a red scarf hanging down over her face.
This certainly woke her up. "W-WAHHH!" she wailed, her eyes shooting open in panic at the strange monster that wanted her to be awake before it ate her. She would certainly not give it that chance. She thrust her hands out in front of her towards the monster. "FIRAG-"
"Quiescence," came a bored voice from behind her. Suddenly, Hiyori found herself voiceless; she tried to speak, but nothing came out. She clutched at her throat as if she was suffocating, but to no avail.
"WAIT, wait, Hiyorin it's me!" Ayano rolled off of Hiyori and quickly pulled her helmet off of her, her worried face replacing the cold metal exterior. "I-I, I just wanted to wake you up, cause we should really get going!"
Hiyori shot up to her feet, ready to scold the Dark Knight on the dangers of surprising a very powerful mage in her sleep, but she remained completely mute, her mouth moving angrily, almost comically with nothing coming out of it.
"Don't bother," Shintaro said, leaning against the door to the next floor. "I silenced you. That way you won't do anything stupid. Not so big now, huh punk?" He smirked and shook his head, satisfied that he'd outsmarted the Black Mage, and without another word he descended down the staircase to Toumei.
Hiyori turned on Hibiya, angrily mouthing words at him and pointing at the disappeared Mystic. UNSILENCE ME SO I CAN KICK HIS ASS! she seemed to be saying.
"I… I think it'd be best if you calmed down first," he whimpered slowly, growing more and more concerned about her temper when her face turned red with angry mouthing.
"Come on kiddos, we've got a dungeon to conquer!" Ayano chirped happily, skipping past the two and after her partner, down the dark staircase. Her armor clinked loudly with each step.
"Alright, Hiyori… let's go…" Hibiya muttered nervously, glad that Hiyori couldn't cast any spells at the moment. She continued to fume, no doubt plotting each of their brutal deaths when she got her voice back. Together, the two passed through the stone arch and descended the stairs.
The stairway was pitch dark at first, and the two carefully watched their step, barely illuminated by the further down Ayano's scarf. The floor was tiled with some sort of white ceramic speckled with flecks of different colors of paint. As they continued down, however, Hibiya noticed something strange: there was a window letting in natural sunlight. He opened his mouth to question it, or even protest this attack on logic, but he simply shook his head and looked out the window. Magic. Of course, he thought to himself.
Outside the building they were in, a setting sun painted the dismal ruins of a city in bright orange, even though it was still morning back up in Daze. Scattered around the landscape like jagged anthills were crumbling buildings, drooping under the weight of time and erosion. It was obvious that nobody had inhabited this city in many, many centuries. A sort of beautiful silence hung in the air, a silent harp being played by the millions and millions of memories that must have been made in this city, reaching up with fingers of overgrown buildings to pluck the soundless strings.
Hibiya felt a growing feeling of dread, as if they had overstepped their boundaries by stepping in this city that belonged to the dead. The White Mage turned to Hiyori, who was leaning against the railing of the staircase, arms crossed and staring off into the depths of the stairwell, waiting for her partner. Her blue robes were painted orange as well by the beam of ochre light, specks of dust dancing around her in the musty air. She turned to look at Hibiya, realizing that he was staring at her. Still unable to speak, she widened her pink eyes at him and shrugged slightly, signaling What is it?
He wanted to say many things to her. He wanted to scold her for so casually risking herself in battle. He wanted to profess how happy he was that they were partners despite all the difficulties. He had a strange urge to tell her how hauntingly pretty she looked highlighted in the light of a dead world. Yet there was one word that she had said that overpowered all these thoughts.
Hibiya looked the Black Mage dead in the eye and pointed downwards. "Is… this where Shiro died? That was your old partner's name, yes?"
There was a long silence as Hibiya maintained eye contact with Hiyori, trying his best not to fidget uncomfortably. Any emotion in the Black Mage's eyes emptied out upon hearing that name. Her face seemed to become more sunken in, much older than such a small girl should ever appear. Hibiya noticed that the light of the city no longer gave her beauty, and instead gave her the appearance of a corpse at a funeral. Finally, she closed her eyes and let out a small sigh. Without answering the question, she turned around and continued down the stairs.
Hibiya was at a loss. Staring at his partner's retreating back as she left the light of the window, he could only wonder who Shiro was, and how she had met her end. She must have been important for even the sound of her name to bring Hiyori sorrow. However, he didn't give himself much time for reflection, as he didn't want to put too much distance between him and his partner. And so as always, Hibiya followed her.
The bottom of the stairwell led to a door identical to the one on the buried roof in Daze. The four mages stepped out into some sort of lobby, filled with small lockers. To their left was a set of glass double doors that led outside. Silence reigned here as well.
It was Shintaro's voice that broke the stillness. "This building is called a 'High School'", he stated, running a finger down one of the shoe lockers to inspect the layer of dust. "Children ages 15-18 would come here every day for mandatory learning. All children would come, not just mages." He wiped the dust off of his hands onto his orange robes, squinting and looking back at the group. "I'd hazard a guess that mages did not even exist yet back then. As you can tell by the state of this city, such things took place long, long ago. Tread carefully, we're in a world that we cannot possible hope to understand."
Ayano breathed out in awe, walking forth and taking in the sight of such an ancient structure. "So… in another time, we would go to a building like this every day? I wonder what they learned if there were no mages… Hey Shintaro, what about Hibiya and Hiyori, what would they do?"
The pair wandered through the shoe lockers as the Mystic started to explain. "Well, since they're so young, they'd most likely attend a 'Middle School' instead, and…" Their voices trailed off as they walked away. Meanwhile, Hibiya was left with a still silenced Hiyori, who was lost deep in thought.
"Well…" he started, earning no response from the pensive Black Mage. "Let's go look for the stone arch to Floor Three, then, right?" Shaking herself out of reverie, Hiyori looked up with newfound determination, and nodded sharply, setting off ahead of him. The two climbed the short set of steps into the high school proper.
Ahead of them stretched a seemingly infinite hallway. On either side of the hall was door after door, each one leading into a medium sized square room. Most of them were filled with small tables and chairs; some of them contained art supplies, or withered musical instruments, or sometimes nothing at all. The two peered into each door's window, searching for anything of interest. For the most part, all they could find was empty space and relics of a world passed away.
Suddenly, Hiyori stopped short while Hibiya wandered a short distance away. A blueish glow had caught her eye from within one of the classrooms. Standing at the window, looking out upon the desiccated city, was a short haired girl, wearing a White Mage's uniform similar to Hibiya's. Her staff was made of sleek black wood from a tree struck by thunder, the top curving into the rough shape of a heart. A soft blue light seemed to float around her.
Hiyori felt her breath stop. This can't be. It can't, you've got to be kidding me- She stepped forward in desperation, stepping on a loose tile which made a creaking sound.
At the sound, the girl in the room suddenly jumped, and turned around, frightened. Her face quickly melted into a sweet smile upon seeing who was at the window, and she waved happily at the Black Mage. "Onee-chan!" she called out to Hiyori in a bright voice.
Hiyori clasped her hands to her mouth upon hearing that name. It's her, it's her, it's- Eyes tearing up quickly, she reached forward and slammed the door open.
The blue light emanating from within the room stopped abruptly. She would have screamed in terror if she wasn't still silenced.
Further ahead, Hibiya suddenly heard the sharp footfalls of someone running. He turned to see Hiyori sprinting towards him, mouthing something that looked suspiciously like RUN!
Before he had time to ask questions, she took his hand and dragged him along with her, and the world seemed to explode with a crumbling sound. Hibiya looked over his shoulder to see what had just crashed through the wall further down the hall, and the sight of the creature chilled his blood.
It was a nearly seven foot tall, emanciated creature, covered in rotting flesh and fur, except for the places where its yellowed bones were visible. Its head was that of a stag, complete with vicious antlers. However, when it roared in anger, Hibiya could see that its teeth were definitely those of a predator, not prey. It dashed after them on two legs, intestines flaking out of its abdominal cavity every few steps, drooling in a beastly way. Hibiya screamed in panic, and ran quicker to stay in step with Hiyori.
Turning the corner, they reached the opposite hallway, where Ayano and Shintaro were still talking. Looking up, the two saw their allies being chased by the hellish creature.
"WHOA, what is thaaaaat?" Ayano asked, half in awe, as she unsheathed her sword, waiting for Hibiya and Hiyori to pass them before she engaged it.
"It's a Wendigo, shapeshifter, always really hungry, super dangerous, fall back, FALL BACK!" Shintaro didn't give her the chance to try her luck against the creature, and pulled her by the collar of her armor, rushing to the end of the hallway to give the group more space. Meanwhile, the Wendigo keened in a high pitched bellow, excited to see that even more prey had stumbled into its domain.
Sure enough, the White and Black Mages caught up to the older mages at the back of the hallway. Shintaro pointed his rod at the beast, unwavering under its horrifying appearance. "Hesitation!" he commanded, and a red circle wrapped itself around the Wendigo, paralyzing it in its steps. Or, at least, it should have, as with a powerful sweep of its arm the monster swept the circle away, not slowing down in the slightest.
Shintaro blanched at the sight. His spell was ineffective. "U-uh…" he stammered, unsure of what to do. Meanwhile, Hiyori grabbed Hibiya by the collar and shook him back and forth, screaming at him urgently and just as silently. Between violent shakes, Hibiya tried to make out what she was trying to tell him. "Ah, ah, wait Hiyori, wait I don't get it, I- OH, THAT'S RIGHT!" he exclaimed as he finally came to his senses. At their side, Ayano raised her sword at the monster, nervous yet determined. The Wendigo was now dangerously close to the group.
"H-here goes. Darkne-!" the Dark Knight started.
"AYANO, DO NOT!" Shintaro suddenly turned on his partner, interrupting her. His eyes were wide in desperation. There was no way he could allow her to use that self-destructive magic again.
"E-ESUNA!" Hibiya stammered loudly, and a circle of blue light suddenly shot up around Hiyori, who was doing her best to bellow at the top of her lungs.
"-UNDAGA!" Her voice finally rang out mid-spell, as Hibiya's status effect cleansing spell cured her of silence. Just in time, a wall of lightning shot up in front of the monster, forming bars along the length of the hallway. The Wendigo gripped the bars of lightning with its bare hands and shook brutally, bellowing in a bloodcurdling voice at the group. Meanwhile, Hiyori held out both hands in front of her, planting her feet solidly in the ground as she leaned forward and put all her energy into withstanding the monster's assault. The creature was imprisoned on the other side of the hallway, but so were they, at the end of the hallway with nowhere to go.
As Hiyori groaned loudly with effort, her small body rippling with magic, Shintaro looked around for a solution, and Ayano gritted her teeth, disappointed in her own inaction. To their right was another staircase, this one leading upwards.
"There! We go up!" he commanded, looking at the Black Mage for confirmation. Hiyori looked over her shoulder and nodded, a drop of sweat rolling down her cheek.
"Three! Two! One! NOW!" Hiyori called out, and the group dashed up the staircase as she took the rear, abandoning the spell. Now that the caster was no longer supporting it, all it took was one last powerful charge from the Wendigo into the bars of lightning, and Thundaga disappeared.
Shintaro knew that the monster was only a few steps away from them, and that they needed to act quickly. They couldn't hide; the Wendigo's sense of smell was way too powerful for them to go anywhere. The monster had chosen its lair well; fighting such a powerful hunter in close, tight quarters like school hallways would be nearly impossible. Suddenly, he found his answer.
"TO THE ROOF! NOW!" he ordered, and they kept climbing, trying to reach the one place in the building that would give them the advantage of open space. Pure adrenaline pumped through the bodies of the young adults and the children; the raspy wheezing of the emaciated creature ripping through the stairway only a few steps away from them would be enough to make a Magus cry for their mother.
The stairwell up to the roof was identical to the one that led down from Daze, but when the quartet finally burst out into the open air, it was clear to them that the roof was no longer buried. Dead buildings stretched out for as far as the eye could see, the crescent moon allowing only a little light to shine down on the forgotten world. Beyond the railings surrounding the roof was nothing but a sheer, fatal drop to the dusty ground below.
The group quickly spread out across the wide roof, but Shintaro was too slow. A clawed hand came from the stairwell and obliterated it, and the Wendigo exploded out of the doorway, bellowing in anger and batting the Mystic aside like a ragdoll. With a boyish cry of pain, he sailed through the air and brutally smashed against the railing, crumpling on the ground and lying still.
Hiyori seethed in rage at this monster that didn't feel any pain from her spells. She jumped out in front of it and planted her feet in the ground once more. "BLIZZAG-!" she began.
Suddenly, the Wendigo stopped in mid sprint, and distorted for a split second. It disappeared, and in its place was the short haired girl once again, smiling sweetly at the older girl. The blue glow that floated around her cast a sickly pallor on Hiyori's entranced face.
The Black Mage fell silent almost instantly, unable to finish her spell, or even think clearly. Her arms fell uselessly to her side, and she stepped forward drunkenly towards the girl.
"It's you, isn't it? Hey Shiro, come on, you recognize me, right?" she rasped in desperation, tears falling from her empty eyes almost instantly. The girl nodded in response, opening her arms in an embrace to Hiyori. Losing all sense of rationality, the Black Mage ran towards the mysterious girl dressed as a White Mage, still desperate. Three steps before reaching her, the girl distorted once more, and morphed with a sickening crunch into the Wendigo, which bellowed and raised its claws above the still spellbound girl, thrusting them downwards to impale her through the head.
"PROTECT!" The creature's claws struck a wall of solidified light before they could reach the girl, and sparks glinted off the wall from the impact. Hibiya stood between the Wendigo and Hiyori, almost touching the creature if it wasn't for Protect. Hiyori watched her partner, his arms spread protectively in front of him, shivering in effort as the creature that was Shiro only ten seconds ago slashed wildly at the barrier separating them from it. She slumped to the ground, staring at it blankly. Shiro wasn't here after all.
The Wendigo continued to slice at Protect over and over again, causing Hibiya to balk under the pressure. The wall of light groaned and shredded slightly at the continued assault, and the White Mage's knees trembled. There's… too… much… I can't-
"D-Darkness!" Suddenly a shaky voice called out from next to the monster, and it stumbled backwards as a huge slash of purple light sliced at its abdomen. For the first time, the monster roared in pain.
A helmeted Ayano stood there in front of the pair, breathing heavily from the exertion of using her signature Dark Knight magic. Her sword still glowed with the purple light that was her sacrificial offense. Her glowing eyes squinted in exhaustion, and she looked from Hibiya and Hiyori to the Wendigo, and dashed forward before it could regain its composure.
"DARKNESS!" she repeated, this time more forcefully, and another slash of purple light flew out from her swung sword, sending a geyser of blood spraying from where it struck the beast. It stumbled backwards once more, roaring, dangerously close to the railing. Meanwhile, she quickly pulled off her helmet and bent over at the waist, her voice cracking as she screamed with pain, coughing out significant amounts of blood onto the roof.
"A-Ayano! Ayano! DON'T!" A weakened Shintaro slowly pulled himself to his feet at the sight of his battered partner, shambling forward quickly towards her, even though he had no strength to do anything. He winced and grabbed at his side, but kept from falling back down.
And yet, the Wendigo regained its balance, and dashed forward towards the Dark Knight, its wounds by no means incapacitating it. Such small sacrifices were clearly not enough to defeat this horrid beast.
And so Ayano gave a larger sacrifice.
She sprinted forward and met the Wendigo mid sprint, surprising it with her bold offensive. Brown hair and red scarf flowing behind her, she kicked the monster brutally in the abdomen, sending it back onto the railing, half of its body laying over the edge. Ayano then ran up onto its body, and cleanly planted her sword through its gaping chest. The beast roared in agony, and although it shook in pain, no blood came out of the wound; clearly such a weak attack would not kill it.
Time seemed to move at a crawl for the four. Hibiya held Hiyori by the shoulders, both of them staring at the Dark Knight's silhouette framed by the bright moon behind her, her scarf glowing faintly. Hiyori regained her senses, and her eyes widened in panic at what was about to happen. Shintaro limped as fast as he could towards his partner, screaming her name in repetition, arm outstretched although he would never reach her.
Ayano chuckled sadly, and pulled her red scarf from her neck, letting it drop to the roof. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm about to die. I really am sorry," she said quietly. She looked over her shoulder at Shintaro using all his energy to reach her even one last time, and quickly looked back at the Wendigo, trying not to cry. "Goodbye, Shintaro," she said shakily, wavering although she wanted to appear strong. She planted an armored foot on the struggling Wendigo's neck, causing it to start sliding over the railing, as it tried to reach up towards her and get her off. Soon enough, its tall body fell from the roof, and she fell with it.
"NO! NO! NO NO NO NO, AYANO COME BACK, N-"
"DARKNESS."
Suddenly Ayano's calm voice rang out loudly throughout the landscape, as if amplified by a megaphone. A giant boom echoed out behind her, and a gigantic tumor of purple light expanded from where Ayano fell in space. The Wendigo's pained, high pitched wailing followed right behind, drowned out in the explosion. It only took seconds for the purple explosion to wash over the rooftop.
"AYANO!" Shintaro screamed in agony, his voice breaking, as he stumbled through the purple light, trying to reach the place he saw her last. He was suddenly pulled back sharply by the back of his robe, and he fell down sharply onto his rear between Hiyori and Hibiya.
"Fucking idiot, do you want to die too?" Hiyori barked at him over the loud roaring of Ayano's last sacrifice, shielding her eyes with her hand against the light. She then turned to the source of the magic and raised her hands above her head. "Earth minded soul, protect us! GOLEM!" As she summoned, the trademark green orbs spiraled out of her body and up towards the sky.
Just as the most powerful wave was about to obliterate the trio, a giant made of rock appeared behind the Black Mage, shimmering in the force of the magic. A huge wall of stone erected itself before them, and Darkness slammed against it. The wall creaked and moaned, but it stood true. Around them on all sides, the three watched metric kilotonnes of magical energy pour over the roof and into the sky. Nothing that it touched would survive.
And then, it was gone. Ayano's final spell disappeared without a trace. Over the side of the roof, there was no Wendigo, and no Dark Knight. The only proof that she was ever here was her faintly glowing red scarf, dumped onto a pile on the roof. Hiyori's summon timed out as well, and the wall of stone sunk back into the ground.
Shintaro suddenly turned on Hibiya and lifted him up by the neck, wild eyed and breathing heavily. "You. You're a White Mage. BRING AYANO BACK. BRING HER BACK!" he ordered shakily, his voice intimidating yet pleading at the same time. Hibiya wheezed in response, barely able to breathe.
Hiyori bashed him in the stomach, punching him harshly two, then three times before he fell to his knees and let go of Hibiya, who fell onto his feet, panting in pain. "You stupid moron. Your beloved partner sacrifices herself to save us and this is the first thing you think to do?" she spat out in disgust.
"There's nothing to bring back, anyway. Don't you get it?" she continued. "Ayano used her soul to power that last Darkness. Didn't you see how huge it was? It consumed her very existence." She squatted down in front of the Mystic and stared coldly into his wide, shocked eyes.
"Ayano's soul has been destroyed. She might as well have never existed. She. Is. Gone." With that, she pulled herself up to her feet, and stepped down the staircase and back into the school.
Hibiya nervously looked between the two. Shintaro remained on his hands and knees, staring down at the ground, silent tears starting to fall from his eyes and wetting the roof. The occasional spasm wracked his otherwise immobile body. Meanwhile, Hiyori was already gone.
For a moment, the White Mage hesitated. And yet, after a while, as always, he followed Hiyori down into the dark, quiet building, leaving the Mystic alone in the night air.