A guy with white hair was laying in his bed. His gaze was fixated on something visible from the window of his room. To most people it would have looked like a normal forest, but to Ibuki the only thing his mind could see was a dark gigantic castle that had a frightening aura around it. At last, he stood up from his bed with a sigh and decided to get ready for school.
Meanwhile, a boy with long teal hair was looking through a large book that had a golden silhouette of a tree on its red cover. But suddenly, he stopped. The next pages wouldn't open up to him, and the last page he was left with was blank.
"Interesting…" – Nome Tatsunagi, the Observer and keeper of the Akashic book, said.
While standing on the roof of the school building, Ibuki still couldn't take his gaze off the strange castle. But alas, the school day was ending and it was time to head back home. Or so he thought.
When he exited the school territory, he was met with a limousine waiting for him. The door swung open, revealing a young woman with light blue hair.
"Get in" – she told him, gesturing to sit in the seat next to her.
"Huh? Wait, aren't you that girl from UltraRare?" – he questioned in confusion.
"It doesn't matter right now"- she said, as he entered the car and sat in the seat.
"You could've just said I didn't have an option, you know?"- he mumbled. The car started to move in a direction unknown to him.
After a few minutes of silence, they stopped in front of a big mansion, known as the Tatsunagi mansion. Ibuki and the woman, Suiko, were greeted by the owner, Nome. The entered the living room and sat on the sofas, while Ibuki wondered why he was taken here.
"Finally we get to meet in person, Ibuki Kouji" – the teal haired teen said. "I waited for you for a while."
"You could've just called me sooner, y'know?" – Ibuki raised a brow.
Nome sighed. He, unlike his "brother" was nowhere near as good with starting conversations.
"Well, let's just get straight to the point then. You made two big mistakes." – he took a sip of his tea.
"Two?" – Ibuki thought about it for a moment. He knew that he wasn't all pure and nice, considering he was the one to let the Deletors into his world, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what would be the second mistake. But he wasn't about to argue about his mistakes with the man whose brother Ibuki got practically killed.
"Yes, two. You already made one mistake, that is a past one." – he paused for a second to think about how to phrase it correctly. Before he could continue, his thought was caught by Suiko, who was silent all this time. – "The other one… is a mistake you will make, that will be your future mistake."
Ibuki looked at him in confusion. – "And what is my role in the equation?"
"…" – the teal-haired teen stayed silent, taking another sip of his drink. The room was starting to get filled by silence. Suddenly, Nome gestured towards an open window. – "I'm guessing you see it too, don't you?"
Ibuki looked surprised and distraught at the same time. He would've never thought that there was someone else that could see the cursed castle, but knowing the reputation of the Tatsunagi brothers… he wondered what that thing was that even they took notice of it.
"Yeah… Ever since I laid my eyes on that castle the first time, I had nightmares every day. I haven't had a good sleep in a while…" – he said as he gazed off again while looking at the cursed building.
"Well, you know very well the person to whom it belongs…"
Emi Sendou was looking in a window, and completely ignoring what the teacher was saying. Her gaze fell upon a red-haired girl waving to her outside of the school gates. It seemed as if she was trying to say something to Emi. The girl in class took another look at the clock, waiting for the moment the school day finally ends. At last, the bell rang and Emi sprinted out of the classroom.
"Shuuukaaaa!" – Emi called out her friend.
"Emi! Finally, we can't miss this opportunity! You know that the Gates rarely open!" – Shuka, the red-haired girl, told Emi while they started running towards the menacing castle.
"I know! But as a difference from you, I have to go to school!"
When the two girls reached the entrance and stopped. They gave each other a reassuring look, the eyes of both filled with determination. They entered the castle hand in hand. The first obstacle they meet is a little sage, Marron. He blocked their way towards the throne room.
"I won't let you go any farther!" – he told the girls. "I will stop you, quicquid capit!"
"I'm sorry, Marron!" – Emi said. – "But we can't let you stop us! Not today!"
She then turned her gaze towards Shuka – "Shuka! Let's transform!"
"Right!" – her friend said.
-transformation-
"Blaster pair!" – the two girls said in sync. Immediately after, Marron sent an attacking spell in their direction, but the Blaster Pair managed to dodge it. They tried charging a counter attacking spell, but the mage protected himself with a shield.
"You won't be able to defeat me this easily!" – he told the girls, getting ready for a new attack. But when he launched it, the magical girls used a mirroring spell, and the attack flew right into the ceiling above Marron, which caused the ceiling to fall down.
"AGHHHHH!" – the little sage screamed in pain.
"Marron…" – Emi whispered, hoping that the mage will be all right.
"Emi, we can't lose much time!" – Shuka took her friend out of her thoughts by grabbing her hand and dragging her off.
"Yes, coming!" – the girl said, and looked back at the hurt boy.
When the two reached the throne room, they were greeted by a masked young man in king-like attire.
"I didn't think you'd actually get this far." – he said with a careless look on his face.
"Well, you didn't but guess what? We're here! And this time, we will defeat you!" – Shuka answered him with a look of determination.
The young man was left unimpressed, and changed his position into one that seemed to completely dismiss any care for his supposed enemies.
"Hmpf, it doesn't matter now…Come forth, my minions. Get rid of these nuisances for me." – he made a small gesture with his hand in the general direction where the two girls stood. Suddenly, multiple circles appeared across the perimeter of the room, and from those tall figures arose. Those figures were no other than the knights, and the king himself, of the Royal Paladins.
[The Royal Paladins always followed and obeyed their king. They did all they had to protect him. But is it truly him that they are fighting for now?]
"Tch…" – Shuka directs her gaze to Emi. – "Emi-chan! Ready?"
"Hai!" – Emi answers her friend's question and recomposes herself into an attacking position with the staff forward.
Shuka opens her binder and chooses the card without even having to look at it. Then, she throws it in the direction of the younger Sendou. The card flies right into the gem on the top of the staff, and as it gets close, it shines brightly, so brightly in fact, that most people would have to shield their eyes from the light.
"Realize!" – she shouts, and the card starts transforming into a figure with a human-like silhouette. But soon enough, it takes the form of the wielder of the holy sword, Blaster Blade. As soon as he set his feet on the floor, the other knights, summoned by the mysterious young man, came charging right at him. Dodging them with incredible abilities, Blaster Blade manages to hit a few of them, without getting harmed in any way. The numbers of the enemies decreased, but they still greatly outnumbered the now-solitary knight.
[Ironic, isn't it, Blaster Blade? A knight without his comrades, like an artist without his pens. Now, didn't the Solitary title belong to someone else? Isn't that right, Gancelot?]
After a while, the knight shot a glance to the only summoned enemy that hadn't moved from his starting position yet. The King of the Royal Paladins. His trusted mate. His dearest friend. Alfred stood in the corner of the large room, looking at Blaster Blade with an emotionless expression. One could think that it was really it, Alfred betraying his loyal knight. But Blaster Blade knew what really the cause of this was. He looked in the eyes of his king, empty and lifeless.
[The king should always protect his people. But what if, to do so, he has to betray his friends and family? A sad reality, isn't it, Alfred?]
"Alfred…" – he whispered. His thoughts distracted him, and a well-aimed arrow hit his back. It was painful. It was agonizing. But he stood still, not letting the enemy notice his pain. He took a quick glance at the Blaster Pair, who now were standing at a high spot on the stairs, looking at him with worry. His gaze was hopeful and determined, but scared and insecure at the same time. Immediately after, he looked at the one who shot the arrow, Blaster Arrow.
[Your loyalty shall not be shaken? I guess you did stay loyal to your king, but is this really what a true knight should be?]
He wasn't surprised by the attack or the attacker, but the hit that came right after took him by surprise more than it should have. He turned to face the offender and blocked the next attack.
While Blaster Blade was trying [and now failing] to hold back the summoned units, Emi and Shuka were trying to figure out how they could help the troubled knight.
"Isn't there any other card that we can call to help him?!" – Emi worriedly looked at her friend, who was looking through the card binder.
"Well, there technically is one but…" – Shuka stops and bites down her lip. Emi knowingly nods and looks away. The only other card they had at their disposal was another Royal Paladin, who, much like Blaster Blade, didn't side with the dangerous summoner. They both knew the strength the unit possesses, but for some reason it keeps fighting back when Emi tries to summon it. It always flies right back into the empty slot in the binder it occupied before Shuka took it out. Emi quickly glanced at her friend. She was still looking at that cursed card, obviously preoccupied by the reasons the mysterious knight in grey armor keeps rejecting their calls.
What distracts them both is a sudden scream that came from the battlefield. There was no mistaking the source of that wordless cry for help. Emi jumps up from the half-sitting-half-standing position she was in, seemingly about to sprint towards the knight, but her arm is grabbed by Shuka.
"What are you doing?! Going there right now would be too dangerous!" – the red-head tries to move her friend back to the wall.
"That's exactly the problem! If it's dangerous for us, isn't it dangerous for Blaster Blade as well? I can't let him get hurt!" – Emi manages to free herself from the hold of her friend. – "I must help him!"
They expected that the enemy would not go easy on them. What they didn't expect was a powerful beam hitting them. For a reason they didn't know, or, rather, didn't have time to think about, the attack didn't even scratch them, as if something created a shield around them. But the force from the hit was strong enough to break the ceiling and send them flying to somewhere in the forest, surrounding the Sanctuary.
When they landed unharmed but definitely too scared to think about how they made it out alive, a card appeared in front of Shuka and flew back into the only empty spot in the binder.
"Blaster Blade…" – whispered Emi, knowing that she wasn't able to help him again. Shuka lightly hugged her to reassure that everything would be okay, and after that they decided to go back to the city.
Back in the now-practically-destroyed throne room, the masked young man stood up from his seat and walked towards the [ex-]king, clapping as to honor the final attack, delivered by the leader of the Paladins.
"Alfred, Alfred. You did an amazing job! And you said you would never even think about doing such a thing. Well, technically, you didn't think about it, but that's not the point." – said the young man, with a tone of amusement in his voice. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the only thing that he got as an answer was a blank stare of the empty red eyes of the one he talked to.
[My, my. What did I just see? The king nearly killing his best friend? Oh my, what shocking news.]
"Now." – the expression on the young man's face turned into a disappointed one. – "Marron." – he said the name slowly, as if to spite the one who bears it. The sage, bruised with dried blood on his clothes, lowered his gaze, wishing he would fall through the floor only to not see nor hear the young man. – "You disappointed me today. And I thought that you were a strong unit. Too bad, looks like I was wrong." – the man in the mask says coldly, not even looking in the direction of the little giant, as if he wasn't even there.
"But-"– Marron wanted to add something but was interrupted by the disappointed young man turning his back on him and gesturing with his hand to go. The mage sighed, unable to finish his sentence, and walks out of the room with the rest of the units, except he, unlike them, is looking down in shame.
[Oh, poor, poor Marron. Even your Vanguard knows you are useless.]
When the knights and the king leave the room, the young man lifts up his helmet, revealing his short blue hair. He sighs, worried about the little strategist.
"Maybe I shouldn't be so harsh with him… After all, he is trying his best…" – he mutters to himself, allowing a faint smile to appear on his face. But suddenly, the smile is replaced by a pained grimace, as a pulsating headache causes the young man to grab his head. The pain goes away as fast as it came, leaving a dull ache which the man manages to move to the back of his mind.
[Your clock is ticking. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Don't waste your precious time.]