Almost immediately after I finished up chapter 18, I got started on this one, and then procrastinated on it for over a year. But let me just say, I hope this one makes up for the fact that last battle chapter was only about 4000 words long.

Dynamis: only 4K? You're getting rusty Warrior.

Well in my defense (as I have said several times now) fight scenes are my Achilles heel in writing.

Dynamis: doesn't mean I can't tease you about it.

Fine, but let me say that any damage you suffer in this chapter, you deserve.

Dynamis:...

Anyways, let me just say many thanks to my good friend and beta reader Kat (WildeChild17, formerly Queenskhioneandfenris) for being patient with me in this story, and for being my beta reader in Elemental.

Now let's get right to it! I don't own MFB, and all ocs belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 19: Shadows

"Greetings, dear ladies and Gentlemen. We are the rogues of Chaos, a group of people who want to restore balance to this corrupted world.

Dynamis' blood ran cold as he and the others in the stadium kept their eyes trained on the enemy in front of them. The rest of the world around him had been drowned out by the shock of his father's kingdom possibly being attacked, and even more so that his opponent had known it ahead of time. If anything, he felt more unnerved by the fact that he didn't foresee it ahead of time.

The prince of prism felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned slightly to see Rosalina looking at him with concern. Are you alright? She mouthed silently, and Dynamis nodded in unease as they looked back up at the intruders.

"Everyone make it seem like death is something to fear, especially after what Nocturne did to the kingdoms of Trinity 1000 years ago," the green cloaked figure, a woman by the voice they heard, spoke, her posture like that of a scholar, "You think that if the kingdom of Nocturne would be revived, it would cause a mass of destruction."

"O-Of course it would! Nocturne nearly destroyed all the kingdoms in a millennium!" Dynamis heard Yukina exclaim with unease.

The green cloaked woman chuckled, shaking her head. "What a narrow minded child you are. What no one seems to realize is that by allowing Nocturne to return, we are restoring balance to all of Trinity!"

Confusion settled in Dynamis' mind, and Rosalina looked confused at what the woman was getting at. "A balance?" The lavender haired male questioned.

"Indeed, Prince of Prism! Nocturne was the kingdom of death magic. Since it disappeared, there has been an imbalance between life and death in this world. Without life, there is no death. And without chaos, there is no order. That is why Nocturne must be brought back. We must revive death, to bring balance to life." There was a wave of commotion in the stadiums above the two teams, and there was unease escaping the civilians the more the figure spoke.

Dynamis frowned, and it seemed like the rest of the group had enough of the speech being given. "You may be strong, but we are as well. Whatever it is you're planning, the Paladins of the elements will stop them."

The green cloaked woman giggled. "Oh little prince, my plans are already in motion. The seeds of doubt are sown. Now it's time I reap what I sow."

The chatter in the crowds stopped, and an eerie silence replaced the noise that was there. Next to him, Rosalina finally aimed her bow at the group, only to cry out as an attack hit her from behind. Dynamis turned around to see what hit his comrade, and eyes widened as he saw Whimsy aiming her weapon at the red haired princess.

"Whimsy! What are you doing!? You just attacked Rosalina!" Ruka exclaimed, yelping as a wave of magic was sent her way.

Laughter escaped the cloaked woman, and Dynamis looked back up to see a smirk on their enemy's face. "What have you done!?" The lavender haired prince asked.

"There's a certain fruit in Vivia that I learned to cultivate even after it's so called extinction. The juices of the Lamia fruit cause a person to fall under a hypnotic trance. I just used my magic to put a hypnotic trigger in it." There was a pause as the cloaked woman held a dark green fruit. "However, there are some drawbacks to it's usage. Strong willed magic users are resistant to it's effects."

Rosalina groaned as she got up and dusted her clothes, before sending a glare in the women's direction. "How did you acquire knowledge of that forbidden fruit?!" She growled.

"I have my own ways. Being Vivia-born, I know almost everything about the place. Including you, dear princess. Not to worry though, the effects only last a few hours, and everything will go

back to normal. But in the meantime, I think everyone should have a little contest in seeing how many little paladins we can take out in one go."

As if a switch was flipped, the crowds began making their way toward the group. Dynamis scanned the crowds to see if any other allies were being controlled as well, before seeing Trixx and several others under their foe's power as well.

"Too many innocent magi and civilians are around. We can't hurt or kill them, otherwise we risk destroying all of what my father worked for!" The lavender haired male pointed out before giving a sigh, "What do we do?"

"There doesn't have to be bloodshed on your hands, dear prince. Simply knocking your foes unconscious or paralyzing them is enough to break her hold over these mind zombies."

Dynamis' eyes widened as he heard a voice, and judging by the fact that Rosalina and the others were looking around, they heard it too. "Oh come on! Is telepathy not as common as it used to be for psionic magic? Wow. Talk about a shocker."

"Who's talking to us?" Rosalina asked.

"An ally in the dark. I can't say who I am, but just know, you do have eyes on the inside."

"Why should we trust you?" Dynamis questioned, and the mental voice in their head sighed.

"There are secrets to every kingdom. Secrets that sometimes need to be brought to light to know the truth of the situation. The revelation of one secret is my identity. And as of right now, it's hidden in the dark. I guess you could say I am a ghost of the past that never died."

Dynamis tried to figure out what the words meant, before pushing them away for the time being. It wasn't the time to think on the matter. Prism needed saving from the rogues of chaos.

And if he had to trust a mysterious voice, then so be it.

"You said they need to be knocked out. Got any ideas to make this easier?" Dynamis asked quietly?"

And the lavender haired prince swore he could sense the grin on their mystery person's face.

From the pillar above the commotion, Chrona smirked as she turned to her companions. "Why don't you all go have a bit of fun for a while. I think you all deserve to have a bit of a reward for

your loyalties so far." The green haired woman stated, chuckling as Nozomi rushed past her, her comrades following her lead, "Eager for revenge, I'll say that."

Nozomi ignored her leader as she charged towards her sister, the pale haired girl yelping as she jumped next to Lucas to avoid the wind powered landing impact. The elder princess of Stratos flashed her teeth as she grabbed one of the dark grey swords at her waist, the hilts and guards decorated with shark teeth. "Well well little sister. I didn't expect you to be here today." The dark blue haired woman mocked.

Lucas frowned as both he and Yukina aimed their weapons at Nozomi. "So the rumors were true then. You betrayed your own kingdom."

"The title of crown princess and paladin of wind belonged to me, not my second rate little sister! She pretends to be so damn innocent and naive to the world around her while I know that it's full of hardships and trials. I tried to help her see that, but she was too weak to handle it!"

Wales growled slightly as he held his sword tightly. "You were jealous because she did work hard in her own way. You may be physically stronger, but you were letting that power get to your head. That is why she was chosen to be a paladin, not you."

"What a bunch of lies, Wales. Although I can't be too surprised since your father has been lying to the kingdoms for so long. And once he reveals himself, none of the other kingdoms are going to trust you or your brother."

The two brothers glared as Nozomi laughed, before unsheathing her blade. "If you're so desperate to prove me wrong, go right ahead. But keep in mind attacking an heir of a kingdom is illegal."

"You're forgetting one thing though, big sister."

The trio turned to Yukina, who held her fans tightly. There was a look of determination on her face as she stared her older sister down, Frost growling next to her. "Oh? And what's that dear sister?" Nozomi asked.

"You gave up your rights as a princess the second you chose to join the rogues. Maybe not officially, but you chose the enemy over your family. And if Lucas and Wales still aren't allowed to strike, then I will. As the crown princess of stratos and paladin of wind, it is my sworn duty to bring those who cause harm to stratos and trinity to justice."

Nozomi growled as she glared at her sister, before smirking and laughing at the declaration. "Such brave words, Yukina. You shouldn't be so arrogant on your declarations though. You might just regret it!"

And with that said, the older princess lunged forward, posing her blade to strike. Yukina folded her fans, before using the metal frames to counter the sword aiming to harm her. Next to her, Sophie had begun fighting a mind controlled Aria, and Lucas sighed as he and Wales stared down the crowds of possessed civilians and mages coming towards them.

"Well, looks like we're going to be doing the dirty work Luke. Should we use a more effective method to handle this?" The guard of wind asked.

Lucas looked at the enemies growing closer, before smirking. "Sure, why not. It'll make things easier to clean up."

"Man, this is boring. I had hoped to just kick back and watch the birds flying above in the sky."

Ranmaru groaned in annoyance as the cloaked girl, who introduced herself as Sora, dodged another strike from his swords, a look of boredom on her face. Since the battles within prism began, he and Ryutaro had been facing off against the wind specialist rogue who didn't really want to fight. She was more content with staring off into space when she wasn't countering or dodging their attacks.

"Tell us something. If you're that bored with fighting us, why initiate an attack like this in Prism? You're causing death and destruction to the peace that the kingdoms once had." Ryutaro asked.

Sora tilted her head at the question as she dodged another strike from Ranmaru, before crossing her arms behind her head. "My coworkers said that more interesting things would happen if I joined them, and they've been right so far. But fighting gets so boring and tedious after a long time." The youth stated, before giving a yawn, "Maybe because I've chosen a boring opponent to fight."

"Maybe you should just leave then. Makes our jobs as Paladins easier today." Ranmaru scoffed.

"Nah, I can't just leave the mission before it's time. I'd get scolded if I was that lazy. But I guess I could find a more interesting opponent. Besides, it sounds like I'm interrupting someone else's prey by going after you.

"Prey? What the hell are you talking about?'

The sound of a hissing noise was the only warning Ranmaru as Sora disappeared, and Ryutaro cried out as a knife buried itself into his shoulder. The Serenian prince turned to see a snakeskin cloaked male slithering towards him, his visible eye slitted like a snake's. But what made both princes pale was the recognizable daggers in his hands.

Only one assassin used daggers with hilts shaped like coiled snakes.

"Ssso nice to ssssee you again my dear prince! The last time I sssaw you, you were clinging to your life with the most beautiful face of dessspair." The assassin hissed gleefully as Ryutaro took a step back.

"Reiji Mizuchi, the poison serpent. I had a feeling you were gonna want to finish what you started." Ranmaru growled as he gripped his swords tight, "You're going to pay for what you did to my brother."

Reiji flashed his teeth playfully as his familiar appeared, a dark green cobra that was 12 feet long hissing at the two brothers. "Ssso you're little Ryutaro's older brother. How does it feel knowing that you were usselesss to help your brother when I first attempted to take his life all thossse yearsss ago?

Ranmaru growled as Lykos appeared, and they charged straight towards the serpent assassin. "That's it, you're dead!"

"Aw yeah, time to take out the trash! Shrapnel Shockwave for the win baby!"

Koto grinned as she slammed her hammer onto the ground, Koji's yells of excitement howling in the air around her. The duo had been fighting alongside Ninel, Dashan, and Kyoya for a while, and the group were slowly but surely knocking out the possessed civilians that were surrounding them. It was a slow progress, but the fact that most of them had large ranged attacks, it was a visible progress.

"Almost done! I think we have about 100 or so civilians left!" Ninel exclaimed a little distance away, her hands glowing as her familiar distracted them.

"Sweet! Let's wrap this up then and help the others! I have a feeling they're gonna need it!" Koto called out and swung the hammer down again as the ground trembled, the handle straining. She had been using her hammer to knock people off balance, but as the battle drew on, the weapon was becoming closer and closer to breaking apart altogether.

No worries. If Earthbreaker does break, it'll give me a chance to use my new weapons. The blacksmith thought with a grin, quickly glancing at the pouches around her waist as she sent another controlled civilian flying. I haven't been able to test my little jewels out yet, and I could use a good test subject.

"My oh my, you all have been quite busy. I'm actually rather impressed that you're able to last long in this."

Koto watched Ninel's eyes narrow as one of the cloaked figures from before appeared in front of them, before tossing their cloak off. Next to her, Dashan moved to guard her, his hands tight around the sword he used as they looked at their new opponent. "I should have known that your appearance at the party last night was a clue that you were part of the enemy's group, Lord Hiram."

Hiram smirked as aimed some flames at the group, forcing them to move back some. The noble's attire was much different from last night, consisting of a white colored long sleeve shirt with a bright crimson sturdy fireproof long jacket over it, black leather fireproof gloves and pants, bright red fire resistant shoes in his feet. Attached to the waist of pants was a claymore sword, protected by a black colored fireproof sheath.

"My employers were offering a way to get what I want in a much easier way. I would be foolish to not accept their deals." The pyromancer admitted as he drew his sword, his familiar appearing on his shoulder.

Victor appeared on Ninel's own shoulder, the black and gold colored eagle giving Hiram a harsh glare as he made himself comfortable. "If it is Lady Ninel's hand, I'm afraid you lost that right long ago. You can't always get what you want in life, Hiram. Lady Tamara made the decision to call off the engagement. I can see that she made the right choice.

Vexa gave a low hiss. "A foolish decision Victor. Don't you see that his love for your master is true? Surely that gives him a chance."

Victor snorted. "I can see your matchmaking ways have not changed. You should be careful, those ways could turn people against you when they fail."

The lizard aimed to strike at the eagle, only for Hiram to hold her back. "At ease, Vexa. I can handle this. Besides, you mentioned once before that a show of strength helps show one's resolve for love. I'm sure that defeating Dashan in battle will prove that she is making a mistake in choosing him."

Ninel pulled one of her sais out, Victor vanishing from her shoulder. "Not if you don't get the chance to."

"Come on, you annoying Skywalker! Fight me like the person you claim to be!"

Shiro groaned as Shunjou aimed his whip at him again, continuously knocking his battle yo yo down. The ice user seemed more determined to take him down as their battle drew on.

"This former performer is really starting to piss me off! He just won't quit!" Shiro exclaimed as the whip wrapped his weapons together before tugging him forward as he was dragged, "Hey Shadow chick, I could use some freaking help here!"

Amethysia turned to him, her face covered in icy patches of frostbite as Sora attacked her. The wind user had decided that the scythe master would make for a more interesting opponent after leaving Reiji to face the Fukami princes, and kept the other busy. "Having trouble of my own here featherhead! Sorry but you're gonna have to hold it out on your own till I can finish up here!"

"Fine, but hurry up will ya! This guy is giving me a brain freeze and headache!"

"Can't make any promises! Good grief you wind users are such a pain in the neck half the time!"

"Hey!"

"Are you two quite done flirting yet?" Shunjou asked, retracting his whip. The air had become much colder, and as the battle drew on, more of the possessed civilians and mages had grown closer.

Shiro rolled his eyes as he finally untangled his weapons. "For the record, shadow chick here has a crush on someone else. This is how me and her tolerate each other." The performing wind user retorted as he spun several of the yo yos in an arc, "Good grief, what do you have against me and other performers?"

"You really wanna ask that airhead? You take performing like the tricks you do too lightly. Over time you're gonna be asked to step up your game, eventually to where you can't meet a person's standards. I've seen that happen before, and those who are true performers take their talents seriously!"

"Really, that's what this is about? Good grief, you sound like that one person who failed as a performer a few years back. He was an ice user who performed amazing routines with his-"

Shiro cut off as he realized why the ice male was acting like this. And all he could think of was how screwed he was in this situation alone. Now he knew why Amethysia said to watch his actions around Shunjou.

Because he just pushed the wrong buttons.

"Perhaps someone should show you when to keep your mouth shut Mizukami. Shimo!"

A ring of large ice crystals sprouted up around Shiro, trapping him in. "Shit. Not good." The guard pointed out as he aimed to throw his yo-yos at Shunjou, only to be hit in the hand with a knife made completely out of ice"

"I don't think you'll be getting out of this easily. But just to make sure you learn your lesson, I should just put you out of your misery right now. Facio." The performer stated as he formed several dozen blades of ice in the air around him. "The rogues don't need any loose ends to their plans. No offense, but you pissed me off enough to where you need to be dealt with."

The knives flew towards Shiro, and the male closed his eyes as he braced himself for the damage he was about to take. But instead of feeling sharp ice on his skin, warm water hitting his face caught his attention, and he looked to see a barrier made of dark flames around him, melting the ice away. Above him, Shunjou growled. "Seriously? You paladins are becoming a total pain in the neck."

The blade of ice in his hand melted away, and Shiro watched as Emily landed next to him. "You gotta be more careful Shiro. Sometimes it's not a smart idea to piss off the enemy." The paladin of darkness pointed out as she healed his hand. "Go help Amethysia. She's going to need a hand taking down that wind girl."

"Got it. Be careful, he's strong."

"So are we. We just need to get the advantage. Now go. I'll handle this rogue."

Shiro did as he was told, and Shunjou growled as he turned to Emily. "You're going to regret that. You don't know who you're helping when it comes to that cloud headed idiot."

"I doubt that." Emily stated as several balls of darkness were conjured up. "Now then, shall we begin?"

"I think that's the last of them over here. Good grief, knocking them out takes it out of a person."

Dynamis felt his chest heaved as the last of the civilians attacking his group fell unconscious, Rosalina's plant-like life magic restraining the ones more resistant to his attacks. They had sent Gingka and Ruka to help other groups in knocking out the possessed fighters, leaving the two to take down any of the harder opponents. It had taken a while, but the duo finally made it through the ones that didn't go down easily.

"How much magic do you have left Rosalina?" Dynamis asked, the red haired teen breathing heavily.

"Maybe a third of it left, give or take a bit. Not that it's gonna help much once it's drained." Rosalina admitted, her face beaded with sweat.

"The death magic is still affecting you too, I see. It's gonna take a while to purify the air around us. Your mother has the ability to purify life magic, right?"

"Yes, but…" both of them looked up to see the Queen of Vivia fighting a possessed group of guards, the red haired woman living up to her reputation as the thorn-bound ruler of the life-elemented kingdom, "Mother is quite busy as is, so asking for help is out of the question right now."

"In other words, we kinda have our hands tied on this situation."

"I didn't say that Dynamis. How busy are the others?"

Dynamis looked around, narrowing his eyes at several images. Wales and Lucas seemed to be in much better shape compared to the others, despite their magic slowly running low. Not too far from them, Aurora and Atlantia were fighting alongside Nile and Chao Xin, the group using water to reflect light and blind Chaos and nearby controlled civilians. A glimpse further away revealed Felipe creating walls of fire to keep the possessed away while Titania struck down more.

Blue eyes widened as he glimpsed at Yuko, before nodding. "The closest ones to us that aren't busy are Wales, Lucas, Felipe, Aurora, and Atlantia. If we can get their help, we can probably turn the tide on this battle." Dynamis explained, narrowing down the choices. "I can see two possible plans that can work with those five."

"Two choices to use. What can you think of?" Rosalina asked

"First one is having Lucas and Felipe hold off anyone else fighting Queen Yuko while she, Aurora, Atlantia, and Wales create a purifying storm. Unfortunately a storm like that takes time."

"Time we don't have."

"Exactly. The only other opportunity is having Wales, Lucas, Felipe, Atlantia and Aurora creating even quicker storm conditions and having me, father, and Kana send an electrical pulse through the city. But it's risky because once that happens, it hits anyone soaked. Enemy and ally alike."

"How strong is the combined electrical pulse?"

"Enough to knock everyone out in the city. Non-lethal, but like I said, it will knock everyone out. Including our allies."

Rosalina thought for a second, before nodding. "Alright, we'll go with that plan. We don't have much time though, so we need to-" the red haired princess was cut off as she yelped, dodging a blast of pitch black magic.

Dynamis looked over as Rosalina landed next to him in her attempt to miss an attack, before looking to see who attacked them. Standing in front of them was King Caspian, his hands covered in dark magic and he stared at them with bright green eyes. Above them, the green cloaked woman smirked, and she spoke through the king of Obscure.

"Not bad, little heirs of Vivia and Prism. And I must admit, your plan is smart. But one should not speak of their ideas around the enemy. I just can't let you undo all my hard work now, now can I?"

The cloaked woman snapped her fingers, and Caspian moved. Dynamis was caught off guard by the speed of the attack coming at him, and barely yanked Rosalina out of the way of an oncoming attack. "Avoid his attacks! One hit could-" Pain wracked the lavender haired prince's body as another attack hit, leaving him stunned momentarily.

"Dynamis!" Rosalina exclaimed, just as Caspian appeared in front of her. The red haired Princess shuddered at the oppressive energy she was feeling, the magic alone making her feel weak.

"You should worry about yourself, dear little rosebud, Morrigan's wrath." the cloaked woman stated as a flock of ravens appeared behind Caspian, before diving straight at Rosalina.

Dynamis was snapped out of his stupor as a scream echoed into the air, and the lavender haired prince turned his head just as his partner landed next to him, remnants of what hit her. Caspian's face was forced into a smirk as the cloaked woman laughed. "One down. Life mages are quite weak to those who use death as a weapon.

Blue eyes widened as Dynamis looked at Rosalina, Caspian vanishing to face another opponent. The red haired Princess was extremely pale, and her azure eyes lacked life in them. Fear filled the male as he leaned down to check for a pulse….

… and fear turned to horror at the lack of a heartbeat.

Continued a cliffhanger by ending it off on an even eviler cliffhanger! Man, I am close to being flamed by you guys for how evil this is.

Dynamis: What the heck is your problem with that Warrior!? You don't update in over a year, and then everyone comes back to this evil chapter!?

Deal with it Dynamis! Yes I just did that to the views, and I am not sorry for it. Besides, you'll see how it all goes down next chapter when it comes out!

Dynamis: (pulls out purple lightsaber)

Oh come on! Let's be reasonable here! (Gulps nervously) Well then, I should explain some of the situations in this chapter before Dynamis decides to go into sith mode.

Koto's weapon breaking: i originally had her with a hammer as a main weapon, but as i developed her character, both in this AU and in the modern version, i didn't like where it was going. Koto is just as creative as her brother, if not more. So i decided to break the hammer in this chapter, to set up her new main weapon in the next chapters. As to what these weapons are? Well, you'll have to see.

Shiro's development: as some of you all might know, this is not the first version of Shiro's character. He was originally a royal pain in the butt that followed Chrona's will to no end in TSAT. But I didn't like how that turned his character into. So I worked with his character a lot in this story, and I loved where it is going. He is kinder, a more conflicted about his loyalties, and is still a bit off a cocky little sh*t when it comes to facing people. That last part comes in hand when making him realize that he messed up. Especially during his small fight with Shunjou. Shiro Mizukami: Pisses off the wrong people at the worst possible time.

For my question of the day, I wanna hear you guess why I had Caspian "controlled" by Chrona's attack. Because I will explain this in the future.

Well, that's all for now! I am hoping the next chapter doesn't take as long, but life is busy on my end. I will try my best though to get another chapter out soon! Until then, this is Warrior signing out! Catch you all on the other side of the nexus!