Chapter the Twenty-First
Iori tapped her fingers against her leg, observing her group. The diversion group was made up of the two wizards who'd come up with it in the lead (Yumeko and Hibiki), Iori herself, and a handful of other wizards. These other wizards included Ryo and Yukiho, Ami and Mami, and Ai. Yayoi was also there, and Makoto was supposed to be there, but she had left at the last second, claiming she had somewhere else to be. Secretly, Iori hoped she would return—the added speed would keep things on their side—but she had a sneaking suspicion Makoto would not be coming back.
For now, Iori's group was clustered by her room, waiting for Karasu and Dark Makoto to appear. Ritsuko and Chihaya's elite group was either in Chihaya's room or Takane's. Iori couldn't remember which, but she didn't think it mattered. What mattered was her group's safety.
"Alright, you all," the Grand Mage began, turning to address her group, "I want you on your best behavior. If you don't think you can get him angry, keep quiet. We don't need him getting distracted from the...distraction." She shook her head. "...Dark Makoto will attack you. We need her to. But she will not kill you. And if she does, it's an accident. I'll still kill her back, but I'll know it's an accident."
"I think she'll just freeze people," Yayoi admitted. "Not to death, but against the wall or something. Maybe if that happens and you can't get out, you should just pretend to freeze to death."
"Good plan," Iori praised. "Did you all hear that?"
"Yes," the wizards responded.
"Good." Iori paused. "Anything else? Oh, right! Don't die. No matter what, don't die."
Yukiho whimpered and moved a few paces closer to Ryo. Ai and the twins exchanged worried glances. Yumeko tried not to look scared and found herself also scooting closer to Ryo. Hibiki shuffled her feet.
Iori took a deep breath. "We'll be fine. We're Namuko Academy. We'll be fine."
Yayoi looked like she would add to the pep talk, but the ice along the walls stopped her. She looked over at Iori, who had suddenly snapped to attention.
"Get ready!" she hissed. The wizards spread out and prepared themselves.
Dark Makoto emerged through the wall of the academy, Karasu right behind her. Iori opened her mouth to ask how the Ice Witch was able to go through walls, but then she realized it was probably because Dark Makoto could turn her whole body into water.
Anyways, it doesn't matter, Iori reminded herself. It's time to finish this. This is...the true final battle!
"Aw, how cute," Karasu purred, examining the team of wizards and mages. "You set up a welcome party."
"Hardly," Iori scoffed. "We're sick of living in fear of you."
"You're afraid of me? I'm honored." Karasu smirked. "So, let's see. There's two of us and..."
"Nine of them," Dark Makoto put in.
"We're out-numbered by seven," Karasu continued. "No matter. You're out-skilled by hundreds."
"Right." Iori rolled her eyes. "I'm not a weakling like some people. I rely on raw talent rather then games of hide-and-seek."
Karasu seemed to get that she was talking about him, and his eye twitched just slightly. Iori noticed and had a celebration inside.
"I don't think you get it," Karasu said. "It's not hiding. It's being clever. Strategizing."
"It's running away," Yumeko muttered.
"What was that? I didn't quite hear you."
Yumeko smirked and placed a hand on her hip. "I don't think we've ever met," she announced. "I'm Sakurai Yumeko, the new darkness wizard. I've heard lots of things about you, like that you've always fought with mind games, you hide in the shadows and dodge your way through most of your fights, and—oh yeah!—you're too weak to destroy a helpless village on your own, so you sent someone stronger than you to take care of it."
That girl is worth the trouble, Iori decided. This is why we needed her. She's a real jerk, and she really know how to grate on someone. Her, combined with Hibiki's taunting, and my cleverness, and we're unbeatable!
"It's all strategy," Karasu countered. "Weaken the enemy first—"
"Because you're too weak to take them on at full strength," Yumeko cut in.
"—and then go in for the kill," Karasu finished. He gritted his teeth, scowling. "I don't think the Ice Witch ever told me about you."
"I never really met her," Dark Makoto said.
Yumeko shrugged. "I'm pretty new."
"And you're already getting on my nerves. I suppose that's some sort of accomplishment."
"Speakin' o' nerves," Hibiki suddenly shouted.
Karasu looked at her.
"...long time no see, Hotshot."
Karasu nearly growled. "Do you intend to enrage me?"
Yukiho raised her hand.
Karasu looked at her Yukiho lowered her hand.
"...I-I have to go to the bathroom," she said quietly.
Iori facepalmed. "Really?!"
"I'm sorry!" Yukiho whined.
"Can't it wait?! We're in the middle of a witty word battle!"
"B-but I'm not witty! You won't miss me!"
"Fine!" Iori groaned. "Just...make it fast!"
Yukiho nodded, bowed slightly, then shuffled into Iori's room to find her bathroom. Iori sighed heavily.
"Sorry about her," she muttered. "She's...awkward."
Dark Makoto suppressed a chuckle. Karasu raised an eyebrow.
"...well, now that that's out of the way, where were we?" Iori asked.
"You were attempting to insist that I can't fight properly," Karasu reminded her. "Which is most certainly not true. Isn't that right, Hibiki?"
Hibiki opened her mouth to argue, then she paused and bit her lip, remembering the shadow arrow that had gouged out Takane's eye.
Karasu nodded. "That's what I thought. In case you've forgotten, I nearly killed your Shadow Mage."
"And Ritsuko-neechan nearly killed you," Ryo added. He hadn't meant it in a teasing or cruel way; he was merely stating a fact. But the mention of the first attack to ever actually hurt Karasu made the man flinch, and Ryo realized that he'd done something right. He glanced over at Iori briefly, who shot him a quick wink. He smiled.
"Let's see. If I remember correctly, due to my abilities, your Shadow Mage is half-blind, the Sun Warock is dead, the Stone Mage has an injured jaw, not to mention I made at least a third of you go completely insane at some point."
"But it took her abilities for you to destroy the villages," Iori countered, pointing at Dark Makoto, who blinked.
"Do you have any idea how much skill it takes to keep her ridiculously strong will under control?" Karasu questioned smoothly. "Ask anyone who's ever worked with her. She's crazily stubborn."
"That's true," Dark Makoto agreed, smiling slightly. "He's got to have at least a bit of skill to keep my mind under his control. And from far away, too."
"That's right. And besides—" Karasu suddenly broke off, his eyes widening as if coming to a sudden realization. "Wait just a minute. How did you know it was me?!"
Iori winced. ...oops.
She had forgotten that the whole point of this plan was to keep Karasu from figuring out that they knew it was his fault the villages were destroyed. Now that he knew they knew, the whole plan could be thrown off. Iori was suddenly desperate for someone to speak up for her. And thank goodness someone did.
"You left too many hints," Yumeko stated. "From what I can gather of the meetings I eavesdropped on—"
"You eavesdropped on our meetings?!" Iori gasped.
"—you were careless in covering it up. Anyone who can see through a facade could tell you were lying."
"Exactly. So I can easily see that you're lying," Karasu said. Yumeko flinched. "Grand Mage, I expect an explanation."
"It's nothing," Dark Makoto insisted quickly. "They're here now, so we can just—"
"And YOU, dear Ice Queen," Karasu interrupted, sounding almost hurt, "are a very talented actress."
No way. No freakin' way. We did not sit in a meeting hall for half an hour thinking of the ultimate plan for this to happen. Come on, Dark Makoto. You owe us this. Iori gritted her teeth.
Dark Makoto turned to face Karasu, looking near hurt as well. "I wasn't acting," she insisted. "I'm serious. I wasn't—"
"That's enough." Karasu clenched his fists by his sides. "I'm going to destroy this academy with or without your help. Why don't you just go back to your real side?"
Dark Makoto reached after him, then stopped and lowered her hand. She turned away and began to walk towards the academy residents, but stopped halfway there.
"...with or without my help is right," she muttered. "Unfortunately for you, you're stuck with my help. Whether you choose to believe I was lying or not." That said, Dark Makoto turned and returned to Karasu's side. Iori let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Dark Makoto really was a talented actress.
Karasu glanced across at her. "You must have learned from me. I guess I'll just have to be on the guard against betrayal."
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Hm, let's see. You kept from me that the academy was on to me. You probably helped them plan some sort of strategy, didn't you? And all this has been part of a plan to keep me enraged and not fighting my best. And you expect me to trust you."
Dark Makoto moved closer to him. "I wouldn't betray you," she swore. "Not now. Not after those nights."
Iori began to wonder if Dark Makoto really was just an extremely talented actress. Her emotions were so genuine, her words sounding so innocent, that Iori was beginning to wonder if she really meant it.
"I don't want to hear it," Karasu sighed, holding up a hand as a sign that the conversation was over. "Grand Mage. I told you I want an explanation."
Iori scrambled to think of something to say. It was obvious Karasu wasn't going to let things go until he got an answer. If she told him about Takane's powers and Dark Azusa's confession, he'd know Takane was on to him and would get suspicious. It was the same with Makoto's visions. So, she did the last thing she could think of: rat out the witness from the attacks.
"Dark Makoto told us about your mind control. A witness who had seen the attacks said he saw a creature that looked like Dark Makoto with her ice wings attacking the villages. We learned from him that the fairy we had thought was behind it was killed during the attack on Namuko. That left one option: you had controlled Dark Makoto."
"So that's it. You ratted me out," Karasu murmured calmly, glancing at Dark Makoto.
"I'm sorry!" she said sincerely.
"I guess there's only one thing left to do, then," Karasu muttered. "Did you want to see me fighting with power instead of tricks? That's fine. You've gotten your wish."
It was when Karasu's first attack—a shadow arrow—struck straight through Yumeko's stomach without warning, that Iori realized fighting the Shadow Warlock using actual powers was going to be harder than she had hoped.