Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Mysteries of Magic. Before we jump back in, let's see what we got:
johannvanguard: I greatly appreciate it, man! Just reading that the revenge talk was fantastic made my day. We shall see, won't we?
With that said, let us continue!
Chapter 15: Ongoing Battles
Adagio was currently sitting on the living room couch in silence, lost in her thoughts as the talk from earlier today was fresh in her mind. After letting her doubts out to Sunset, she finds herself to be thinking more clearly now.
After their grand defeat, she was mainly focused on getting back at the Rainbooms when the opportunity arises by any means. Now that she is more calm, this allows her to realize something. Despite wanting their payback, what would be the point now?
She was unable to hear the front door open and close before being locked, the person entering being Aria as she puts her spare key in her pocket that Levin was nice enough to give one to each of them. Seeing her sister on the couch in a rather unexpected mood makes her curious as she casually walks over and sits down next to her.
"What are you thinking about?" Her question made Adagio jump a bit, most likely due to being deep in thought.
"Oh, it's just you." Realizing that it was just Aria, she felt a bit embarrassed at the small display.
"Yup, just me." Shrugging that off, she then repeats her question. "I'll say it again, what's on your mind?"
Adagio didn't see the point of lying to her, so she informs her of what happened earlier today. She kept it brief, as there wasn't much to mention besides the key points. When she finishes, Aria was rather surprised at this.
"This is really weird, I just had a talk with Visor about this whole revenge and morality thing." She mentions outright, which intrigues Adagio a bit.
"How did this come up?"
"When we left the arcade, Trixie showed up soon after. We talked with her for a moment where she mentions CHS. Once she left, Visor didn't really mind it."
"OK, wait. Did she mention the school itself or our takeover of it?" Adagio wants to make sure if that was what she meant.
"The takeover."
"And he didn't ask you outright?"
"No, I asked him why and he said it wasn't his business."
Adagio shouldn't really be surprised, he is one to respect privacy if she recalls correctly from their get-together at the Sweet Shoppe yesterday.
She then continues the conversation, "So from I'm getting right now is, you were the one that insisted on talking about the takeover?"
"I didn't want to, at first. I wanted to try and prove my point of getting even as revenge without telling him the story, but it would just go nowhere." Aria knows that being vague with her argument would just be dumb.
"And now, Visor knows who we are?" Adagio felt uneasy about this decision for obvious reasons.
"He told me he won't tell." That didn't really do much to ease her worries.
"How can you be sure?"
"He doesn't really have a reason to." Aria knew this by his reassurance.
After telling her story, Adagio is starting to see the similarities between the two. "Something is telling me that this may not be coincidental."
Aria was thinking that too, but then realizes something. "You think that Sonata also got a similar talk like this?"
"...If she did, I think they are onto us."
Right after she said that, the two heard the front door open with familiar voices entering the house.
"You lost the bet! You lost the bet!" Sonata's voice was first to be heard.
"I get it already. You seriously love tacos." Levin's voice retorts as the sound of the door closing and being locked was heard soon after.
"Of course! I always have room for them."
"Not gonna lie though, I thought Twilight was gonna throw up for a second when you were on that tenth taco."
During this conversation, Aria was quick enough to turn on the TV at this time as Adagio was too busy waiting for the duo to turn the corner. Once they did, she greeted them her usual way.
"What were you two doing?" A slight variation of her go-to question most of the time.
"We have returned from hanging out with Twilight. The one that goes to Crystal Prep." Levin answers as he then raises a bag up a bit in his right hand to show the two, "Just got back from eating too, leftovers if you two are hungry."
"You would not believe the place we went to!" Sonata hops into the empty seat on the couch as Levin walks to the kitchen, "They had the works! Tacos, nachos, burritos, even this really tasty nacho-taco thing-"
"Sounds messy." Adagio comments on the last thing she mentioned.
"It kinda is, but it's super good!" Sonata knew she would say that.
"Yo! I know you three don't eat much, but tomorrow's leftover night! Some of that food either gets eaten or thrown out for space!" Levin calls out to the three from the opened fridge.
"Oh yeah, we still have those desserts." Aria recalls what was left in there.
"I can't eat all those! I work hard to keep this figure!" Adagio has a reason as to why.
"I honestly forgot." Sonata admits as she sheepishly smiles to that.
Levin chuckles a bit at their responses as he closes the fridge, "Anyways, I'll be upstairs."
As he walks out of the kitchen to cross the living room, the three were watching him up until he reaches the top of the stairs into the hallway. Once he was, Adagio and Aria were focused on Sonata.
"OK, spill it." The former didn't waste time as she was direct.
"Spill what?" Sonata was understandably confused by what she was getting at.
"What you two talked about." Aria clarifies, but it didn't help her much.
"Like what? All we did was either playing around or getting to know Twilight more." The two weren't really sure that she was lying or not.
"Nothing about our past or having revenge?" Aria still persists with the questions.
"OK, why are we talking about this?" At this point, Sonata just wants an explanation.
As the three were talking, Levin exits his room as he remembers something he wanted to get downstairs. As he approaches the staircase, he stops in his tracks as he heard one of the girls speaking a bit louder than usual.
"You two are sounding ridiculous right now." To his surprise, that was Sonata who said that.
He moves back a bit and hid behind the wall, peeking around the corner as he sees the girls still on the couch talking.
"We're not. Even if this was coincidental, who's to say that you will get that talk too?" Adagio was trying to reason with her, which proves to be rather ineffective.
"Because this WAS a coincidence and you two are being paranoid?" Sonata was getting rather annoyed, something else that felt strange to see.
"Sonata, can you listen-" Aria was immediately cut off as Sonata got right up to her feet.
"NO, you listen!" The two were flabbergasted at this sudden outburst, "I'm DONE with this whole revenge thing you guys keep bringing up!"
Levin was now just as shocked as the other two, his ears directly focused on Sonata as she continues on.
"Ever since our defeat, you two are ALWAYS thinking about how to get back at the Rainbooms! How they ruined our lives, took away our magic and made us just a bunch of normal girls! Even now, when we finally have someone to take care of us, that's all you think about in those thick heads of yours!"
"Took away?" Levin couldn't believe what he heard, those times he heard her mention magic before were from that?
"And you wanna know the truth? I DON'T CARE!" She practically shouted out her answer to the two, her voice letting a small echo linger through the house for a moment before she continues. "I-I just want to forget it ever happened. If you want to go ahead and do it, then fine. Throw all this away! I don't want to go back on the streets..."
They could hear her voice start to shake near the end before she runs off towards the stairs. Levin quickly headed backwards into the darkness of the hallway to hide as Sonata came up the steps, going into her room and slamming the door close before locking it.
The entire house was silent, not even a sound from the evening air outside dared to break it as he stood there in the dark trying to process what has just transpired. Adagio and Aria were doing the same downstairs, staring up to where she had gone until slowly sliding back into their seats.
"...Wow. Didn't think she was capable of that." The latter mutters, still stunned from the outburst.
Adagio wasn't really sure what to really think right now. Turning off the rather quiet TV, she just decides to just head on up to bed and sleep for the night with Aria deciding to follow suit. Hearing them come up the steps, Levin retreats into his father's room at the end of the hall to stay out of sight as the two went to their rooms.
His heart sank a bit as he sees them slow down a bit when they went by Sonata's door before continuing on. Once the two went into their respective rooms, he exits out of the room with a look of sad confusion on his face.
"What was all that about?" His question won't be answered anytime soon. Not in the mood to get what he wanted downstairs anymore, he heads into his room and closes the door.
After a shower and a change into his night attire, Levin simply stares at the ceiling as he lays in his bed. The cold air didn't really bother him right now as his mind was still on what happened earlier, just barely hearing his phone buzzing on the nearby desk. Sitting up to see who it was, it turns out to be Visor trying to call him. Looking over at his clock, it was already midnight.
"A late night call? For what?" He was perplexed, but decides not to keep his friend waiting any longer as he answers his phone.
"Geez, you were taking quite a bit. Fell asleep already?" Visor's voice was heard saying on the other line.
"No, couldn't sleep. And no, it's for a different reason." Levin was quick to denounce his friend's accusation of his usual late night sessions.
"Let me guess, got your partner on the mind?" He did not expect that one, though it was more likely just to tease him.
"W-What? No, nothing like that." Visor chuckles a bit, knowing he got Levin a bit flustered with that one.
"Just kidding with ya. Anyways, what's wrong?"
Hearing that, he was a bit hesitant on whether or not he should even tell anyone about the girls' argument. It wasn't his business, but he can't just sit on the sidelines while they are down. Making his decision, he answers the question honestly.
"It's just that, I kind of eavesdropped on the girls having an argument. I'm not entirely sure on the details, but the main thing I heard was that they were actually planning some sort of revenge scheme against the Rainbooms and Sonata wasn't having any of it whatsoever."
The other line was quiet for a second before Visor spoke, "Really? That's a surprise."
"You're telling me. Though, by the sound of it, this may not be the only time she felt like this." Levin could only go off of the emotions Sonata was conveying.
"Kinda like a 'built-up burst'?" That was a term he hasn't heard yet, but got the general idea of what it meant.
"Seems that way. Look, I know it isn't my business, but-" Levin gets cut off as Visor interrupts him.
"You don't like seeing sad faces."
Levin then realized what he just did, "Am I-"
"Predictable, yes." He can just imagine a knowing smile on his friend's face right now.
Levin blinks once in response before Visor continues, "Oh, I actually called to remind you about our little magic hunt."
"O-Oh yeah, I totally remember..."
Visor can hear him lie through his teeth, not really surprising him due to the obvious reasons.
"I figured as much. Any plans on what to do? Especially since we found witnesses this time?"
Levin thought about that for a moment. The general idea when witnesses are involved is an interview, asking questions to better understand their perspective on what they saw. However, talking to all of them at once will be confusing, so the better idea is one-on-one. It was by now that he realizes something...
"Shoot..."
"Something wrong?" Visor wasn't sure on what was happening.
"Did we get their numbers?"
Levin's question left them both silent, which was an answer in itself. Guess they were too distracted by their excitement to ask.
"Wait, maybe Shade did."
Levin perk up at Visor's suggestion, "You think he's still awake?"
"Probably. Let me check."
Levin waits in silence as his mind was starting to wander back to the recent events. Thankfully, it wasn't too long before he heard Visor's voice again.
"OK, he texted saying that he does have Sunset's number, but he'll wait until tomorrow morning to ask about the interview."
"It is pretty late." Levin comments, looking back at his clock to see it's been about five minutes after midnight now.
"All right, can't wait to see the results of our investigation. See ya in the morning." Visor was pretty excited about that.
Levin liked the enthusiasm, showing that their work isn't going to waste. "Same here, see ya."
The call ends, leaving Levin alone in his quiet room as he places his phone on the nearby desk and lays down on his bed, hoping to get some decent sleep.
Sitting in her history class, Sci-Twi sees the empty seat next to her as Levin has strangely not shown up yet. As the clock came closer to starting the class, the teacher moves to close the door when she faintly heard footsteps down the hallway.
"Wait!" A familiar voice calls out before a brief slam was heard.
Turns out, the door was stopped from closing all the way due to someone's leg being in the way. The teacher pushes it open a bit to reveal that it was indeed Levin, rubbing his leg where the door slammed against it.
"Levin, you're not usually late." The teacher casually mentions as Levin stood up, making her realize that he actually slid to stop it.
"Sorry, sir. Woke up late." He admits, which was true.
"Since you're usually not, I'll let it slide. However, there will be consequences if this happens again." The teacher warns him, which he immediately understood.
"Yes, sir." With that said, Levin gets to his seat as class properly started.
Once he sat down, Sci-Twi was quite concerned as she saw his posture and facial expression was giving away his lack of sleep. His blazer was unbuttoned and even his hair wasn't as spiky as it usually is, implying that he may have rushed out the door.
"How much sleep did you get?" She wonders as he simply sat there, most likely zoning out.
He slowly turns his head to her before answering, "Not enough..."
"Why didn't you sleep?" Sci-Twi was understandably curious about it.
Levin was a bit conflicted on letting others know about the Dazzlings' argument, but only told Visor since he already knows them. Sci-Twi only knew Sonata right now and probably doesn't know much about resolving situations like this.
"Just had... one of my usual late-nighters." He wasn't really lying about that, letting out a yawn in between his sentence as he spoke.
"Really? Was it because of your magic investigation?" She guesses, which wouldn't really be wrong.
"Something like that..." He lets out for an answer as he is starting to close his eyes.
He then jerks right back up, rubbing his eyes out a bit to at least stay awake. He wants to at least do some work, only for Sci-Twi to speak.
"Do you want to rest for a bit? I can work by myself for today." Her offer caught him off guard.
He blinks once in surprise before responding, "A-Are you sure? I mean-"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Besides, you look like you might fall asleep anyways." She reassures him.
He was a bit reluctant, but decides it would be best if he did since he can't concentrate properly right now. Plus, the teacher is mainly focused on his papers and the two are in the back of the class. These factors helped in convincing him to accept her offer, putting his arms on his desk before laying his head down upon them and closing his eyes.
Sci-Twi couldn't help but see how different he is when sleeping, looking rather content with himself. She then remembers the project and got back to work, time ticking on by as she does.
Once the clock was counting down the last seconds of the class, she gently shook him on the shoulder to wake him. Fortunately for her, he was a rather light sleeper as he opens his eyes.
"I miss anything?" Levin mumbles as he sits up.
"No, class is almost over." Sci-Twi clarifies for him, which he gently nods to as he stretches a bit.
"Gotcha." Once he finishes stretching, the bell rings to signal the end of class.
After gathering their stuff and left the classroom, she asks him a question. "So, what do you want to do after school today?"
"Let's see... I think we could find all the info for our history project." Levin deduces before answering, "How about-"
"Yo, Levin!" His answer was cut off as the two sees his friend Shade walk over to them, "Thought you didn't show up for school today."
Levin was rather confused at this, "What do you mean?"
"You didn't text me back." Shade holds his phone up to show his point before putting it back in his pocket.
Levin pulls out his phone, seeing that he has two unread messages from Shade. "Oh, sorry about that. Was in a bit of a rush."
He then remembers that Sci-Twi was standing next to him and introduces the two. "Twilight, Shade. Shade, Twilight."
Shade hid his surprise well as he sees how similar she and Pri-Twi are. Despite that, he casually greets her with a small smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." She greets him back with an equally small smile.
The warning bell then went off, signaling to the students to head onto class.
"Better get going. Be sure to check your messages later!" Shade told Levin before heading off to his second period.
Levin puts away his phone in his pocket as Sci-Twi spoke, "I guess you already have plans?"
"Most likely. I'll tell you more about it later, we got class to deal with." He admits before heading on ahead to his next period.
Despite his words, she couldn't help but feel a hint of sadness. Then again, she shouldn't expect to always spend time with him after school. Not dwelling on it for too long, she hurries on to her next class.
Time continues on as the first lunch period starts with Visor walking through the hallway towards the cafeteria behind a small crowd in a casual pace. The call from last night still on his mind, he quickly pushes it out to see the crowd going through the doors as a familiar face stuck out from it near the end.
"Wait, wasn't that her twin?" He mutters to himself before following suit.
Entering through the double doors, he looks around to try and find who he saw to no avail. He was able to see Levin and Shade in the lunch line, which he then sees his intended target in the vicinity of the two. However, it looks like she is stopped by two other students talking to her while being led further away to one of the pillars nearby. He heads on over rather quickly while avoiding bumping into others, slowing down as he enters the range of an obnoxiously sweet voice.
"Come on, Twilight! If you compete this year, we can win the academics no problem!"
"Um, I-I rather not join if that's all right." As he can see with the three, Sci-Twi was a bit uncomfortable talking to them.
Seeing the pair of girls talking to her up close, he was able to see more of their appearances aside from the school uniforms.
The one talking to Sci-Twi had moderate rose-colored hair with a grayish aquamarine streak running down the middle, tied in a ponytail that went with her moderate indigo eyes and pale grayish gold skin accompanied by her grayish aquamarine eyeshadow.
The other girl had grayish mulberry short hair with light raspberry streaks, going with her moderate cerise eyes and light turquoise gray skin accompanied by her dark indigo eyeshadow.
It was at this point that he recognizes the two from his math and history class respectively, Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare. The latter then enters the conversation with a rather arrogant tone in her voice.
"Really? I heard your brother entered when he was a student. I think he would be disappointed if he heard about this."
"Wait, where does my brother fit into this?" Sci-Twi was understandably confused by this sudden inclusion.
Deducing what he's hearing, the two are pressuring her to enter the games. Whether this is their idea or not, he does not like where this is going.
As quick as flipping a coin, Sour Sweet shows her the first part of her name as she spoke. "Look, as far as we know, you ain't got much of a choice. Just say yes and we'll be on our way."
Sci-Twi was very hesitant as the two sternly stared at her for the answer, which Visor decides now is the best time.
"You heard her earlier, ladies. She doesn't want to." He spoke up, casually walking towards them before stopping a few feet away.
The three turns towards who was talking to them, which two of them were put off a bit by this.
"Well, talk about a knight in shining armor!..." Sour Sweet was very sarcastic in her sweet tone before ending on a sour note, "For little kids."
"Funny, considering who's talking." He simply retorts right back, actually making her a bit mad.
"Look, this isn't your business, so why don't you just leave?" Sunny was rather direct with her words, matching with her rather rude voice.
"Since you're asking oh so nicely, how could I refuse?" He shoots back with obvious sarcasm before dropping it entirely, "Except I can, since that's my choice. Much like it's her choice to not compete in the games."
He steps a bit closer to show his seriousness before stopping, "Now, how about you two leave my friend here alone before I show you how rude I can really be?"
The two didn't know how to respond and simply glared at him before walking away, leaving the two alone as Sci-Twi was processing what just happened.
"Sheesh, at least that didn't get ugly." Visor said to himself before looking at Sci-Twi, "You all right?"
"Y-Yes, thank you." She simply replies back.
He then holds his hand out for a handshake, "Name's Visor, by the way."
"Twilight." She was still getting used to physical contact, so she just gently shook his hand in response.
"So you're Twilight, Levin told me about you." Hearing him say that made her perk up a bit.
He then felt his phone vibrate, pulling it out of his pocket to see a message that made him chuckle. "Speak of the devil..."
L: Yo, not eating lunch today?
V: Not exactly. Had to help your girl friend out from a situation.
L: Wait, what?
V: Give me a sec.
Looking around, he then sees the two at their usual table before turning to Sci-Twi. "Let's join the others."
"Sure." She agrees with him, wanting to sit down after that.
The two thankfully didn't have to deal with any crowds as they walk on over, the two seeing them when they took their seats.
"I didn't think you went to this lunch, Twilight. Thought you had a different one." Levin was the first to start a conversation.
"No, I'm usually in my lab at this time since we're allowed to move freely during lunch." She clarifies.
"Oh, that makes sense. Now, what was this situation you mentioned?" He asks, which Visor answers for the two.
"These two girls were trying to 'convince' her to enter the games. Specifically academics, but that's the general idea."
Shade stops sipping his milk to make a comment, "Why would they care about that?"
"That's a good question." Visor has yet to pinpoint that reason.
The boys then heard a growling sound from nearby before hearing Sci-Twi, "Sorry, didn't get anything to eat." She admits with a sheepish smile.
"Do you usually bring lunch?" Shade wonders, due to what she just said earlier.
"Yes, but I may have left it in the lab." She honestly just realizes that, much to her .
She then sees someone hand her an apple, which turns out to be Levin with his signature smile. "Here."
"O-Oh, thank you." She felt a bit of heat surface on her cheeks as she accepted his apple.
Shade and Visor couldn't help but have a smirk on their faces as they look at Levin, who notices this and knew what they were thinking. "It's my food, I can share it."
"We know." The two simply said in response, strangely in unison.
Levin rolls his eyes in annoyance before realizing something, "Any reason why you decided to come to lunch this time, Twilight?"
Sci-Twi then remembers why she is here, finishing her first bite of the apple before speaking. "You said that you would tell me more about your plans after school."
"Oh. Well, I already told you about our little 'magic hunt' and the witnesses we found yesterday. Shade was smart enough to get one of their numbers and helped get an interview with her for me." Levin casually answers, much to the other two's shock since they weren't aware that he told her about this.
"Really?" This rather intrigued her a bit, but then thought of something. "Do the girls go to Crystal Prep or some other school?"
"They actually go to CHS." Levin clarifies for her, "But yeah, I'll be a bit busy."
"That's all right..." Sci-Twi shrugs off before taking another bite of her apple.
It was very faint, but Visor was able to hear disappointment in her voice when she answered. Not wanting to leave this on a sour note, he spoke up to lighten the mood a bit.
"I don't have plans for today. Wanna hang out?" He offers, surprising her a bit as he gestures to Shade. "He can join in if that'll make you feel better."
"She barely knows me, but whatever. I'm free today." Shade adds with a small shrug.
She looks at him with her mouth still chewing, stopping momentarily to think about it. This would help build her social skills more as well as get to know his friends better since he isn't available at the moment. Plus, she owed him one for earlier. Finishing her bite, she then accepts his offer.
"T-That would be nice."
"Great!" Visor cheers a bit at her answer as Shade simply smiled in response.
Levin was glad that she's breaking through her shell a bit more now, showing progress.
As the four continue conversing, the two girls from earlier stared at them from behind the rectangular windows that the cafeteria doors had before talking to each other.
"Well, that went up in smoke." Sunny was rather irritated about this turn of events.
"Really? I thought it would be easy..." 'Sweet' was rather sarcastic before turning serious in her 'Sour' mood, "Until he stepped in and ruined it."
"Wait, aren't those the transfer students?" Sunny took a longer look at the boys as she wonders about this.
Sour Sweet rolls her eyes before she answers, "Doesn't matter now. Let's just go tell Principal Cinch."
Sunny didn't really like that they were selected for recruiting the students she picks, but knew complaining won't change anything as she lets out a small sigh.
"Fine. Though, I doubt we'll not getting some sort of punishment for this." She simply said.
The two then headed off towards the principal's office, bracing themselves for the worst just in case.
And done! Wow, this is probably the shortest gap I had in between chapters so far for this story. As long as quality doesn't drop, I can try to keep this up. No promises, though.
Starting off is back with the Dazzlings still in the process of choice. Kinda similar to last chapter, this feels like I'm taking a chance with a character. But again, I can imagine Sonata feeling like this since I think she wouldn't be someone to hold a grudge. Levin eavesdropping was added later since it was going to get loud.
The late night call was mainly to remind me of their main objective while giving Levin and Visor a bit more screen time. I also realized that despite the time they spent with the Rainbooms, Sunset and Shade were the only ones that shared numbers.
The morning part was something that just came to me. Despite Levin's usual routine, even I know that he'll eventually be late for school. It also was a nice little interaction between him and Sci-Twi along with introducing her to Shade briefly.
Speaking of the boys, I figured it's time she met the other two. Plus, I wanted to introduce the last two of the Shadowbolts main team for some time, so this came together rather nicely. I also wanted to add Principal Cinch in at least as a cameo just to give you an idea of how I would write her, but I'll wait until later to discuss that further.
Also throwing this out there, I am planning a EG Christmas Special since this does take place during the winter. HOWEVER, I won't do it until I finish this story in its entirety. That way, it won't feel disjointed from the story's canon. I'll probably add it either as the epilogue or the chapter after it.
Anyways, thank you so much for reading and I'll see you all next chapter!