Black Majik vs. Blood Majik
Chapter IV
"You think they would be fine on their own?" Natsuki asked as the two rode their horses down the worn road. It had been only two weeks since they left for their journey, and Natsuki had been asking Shizuru the same question since the second day. "Ara, ara… Natsuki really is a mother hen. Is she sure that she's not pregnant?" Shizuru teased. "Idiot! Of course I'm not pregnant!" Natsuki yelled as her face turned unbelievably red. "I'm just worry about the kid; no matter how you look at her she's still a child after all." Natsuki finally explained her reason for being so worried about Mikoto.
"Natsuki, Mikoto isn't weak like you think she is." Shizuru paused for a moment. "Of course she's not! That's why I'm worry," Natsuki replied quickly. "Ara, Natsuki is so nurturing towards Mikoto-han," Shizuru said with an amused look on her beautiful face. "Honestly Natsuki, with Mai-han at her side there's nothing to worry about." Shizuru said as she let out a light sigh of relief. "That's what you should be worry about," Natsuki murmured but her words didn't escape Shizuru's keen ears. "Hm? Ara, and why is that my dear Natsuki?" Shizuru asked as their horses continued on trotting.
"Do you remember the true reason as to why Mai was there in the first place?" Natsuki asked looking over at her partner. "Ara, she was looking for the legendary scroll containing the secret of Blood Majik," Shizuru replied blandly. "And who is the only person that knows how to use that spell?" Natsuki smirked because she's close to making Shizuru realized the point that she was trying to make. "Mikoto-han," her partner replied ever so cheerfully. "But that was almost a decade ago Natsuki, Mai-han is powerful enough without that spell so I don't think she care to learn it anymore. If she did, she would've got it from Mikoto-han years ago and left that place already." Shizuru managed to block Natsuki off before the wolf could even point out her point.
"Besides, what is there for us to do if she decided to destroy all that exist in this world?" Shizuru pointed out to her younger partner. The older of the two clearly recalled the day Mai stumbled into the bamboo forest, and she was there with Mikoto after a heated argument with Natsuki over tea. It seemed just like yesterday, but it had been nearly a decade ago since then.
A decade earlier…
"You two are arguing over how much tea you're consuming again?" Mikoto asked as she and Shizuru took a stroll in the bamboo forest. "She is still eating that cream substance and yet she told me that drinking too much tea is bad," Shizuru sighed. "Ara, you're not using 'ara' there," Mikoto teased as she looked over at the older woman. "Honestly, I never thought that Fujino Shizuru, the Great Serpent would be losing to Kuga Natsuki the Mighty Wolf. Besides, I enjoy tea and they are beneficial for your health than her unhealthy obsession over those fattening cream thingy." Mikoto said in a way she's agreeing with Shizuru's tea drinking obsession.
A sudden explosion from the edge of the forest cut their little conversation short, the two bend down slightly to get the momentum and leaped up into the air and above the trees. Standing comfortably on the tip of the bamboo's leaves, they scanned the parameter for the location of the explosion they heard just seconds ago. A puff of smoke managed to escape from the thick forest up onto the sky above, it was a distant away from the two but that isn't a problem for either one of them.
Running on top of the forest like they're gliding above the bamboo leaves, Shizuru was amazingly fast for someone dressing in kimono. Once they made it there, below them was a teen looked to be around sixteen or so was surrounded by monsters. But she managed to keep them at bay by using her magic effectively; she mainly used her flame spells to create powerful explosions so that the monsters won't try to gobble her up. With incredible power comes the downfall, anima magic would be the strongest of the three magic factions, but anima user have no defensive spells like the other two factions.
"Shizuru, if you please…" Mikoto said calmly looking down below. Shizuru nodded as she raised her hands up and opened the palm of her hands and needles shooting out from her palms striking the monsters below. With a snap of her fingers, the monsters that were hit with her needles imploded as if a black hole appeared inside of them and suck them in from within themselves. Mikoto opened her right palm and twisted her wrist slightly, drawing the blood from the imploded monsters up to her hand. The blood slowly covered her fingers making its way all the way up to her shoulder and lingered there.
The eighteen years old Tohkiha Mai looked up from her position in amazement, watching the blood flowing upward onto that kid's hand and soaking her white sleeve. She had spent two years searching for the whereabouts of the ancient scroll about Blood Majik, it was so powerful that all magic users from all over the world were searching for it. Whoever hold it could rule the world or destroy it with that spell alone, Mai set out on her own journey to find it and destroy it so that it will never fall into the wrong hand. She doesn't feel the need to obtain that spell herself, because she was confident with her skills as it is.
Frankly speaking, Tohkiha Mai was an anima user prodigy since she was very young. As soon as she become a full-fledge Sage, she set out on her journey for the ancient scroll without so much as a farewell to her family. She was a strong flame user, though her other anima spells aren't that weak either. To help overcome her weakness, Mai was also great in defensive combat skills.
"Filthy beasts, they just keep coming…" Shizuru murmured as another wave of monsters appeared. "Ara, you forgot your 'ara' again," Mikoto teased as she slowly flowed down onto the ground below with Shizuru right behind her. "Ara, ara… so Mikoto-han wanted to copy my accent now?" Shizuru teased back but it was in vein because Mikoto have very thick skin that she doesn't blush like Natsuki would.
"You must be here for the Blood Majik scroll," Mikoto said without turning around to look at Mai. "You're after it too?" Mai asked without thinking. "Do you think you will survive long enough in here to find it?" Mikoto chuckled as she finally turned around and look at Mai in the eyes. Shizuru took the cue and stepped over next to Mai, just as the onyx blade appeared out of nowhere in front of them while emitting a very dark aura around it.
"Miroku, put up a barrier for them." Mikoto ordered the onyx sword and black wings fluttered from it and a barrier sphere was formed around Shizuru and Mai. "This is the power of Blood Majik," Mikoto continued as she turned around and raised her blood covered arm away from her body. The blood moved down from her arm to just her hand and formed into a blood sword, she quickly raised it above her head as the blood raised into the air high above and away from her hand. With the index and middle fingers, Mikoto pointed at the wave of monsters before her. Without so much as an incantation or a talisman, the blood glided over to the monsters and started raining blood. With each drop of blood, their skin burnt and melted away like acid rain.
