Chapter One: A Revelation

There was a harsh knocking at her door that woke her immediately. "Aunty, aunty Seraphina, please you must come and see this. I think I've found them!"

It was urgency in the voice's tone, coupled with the last part of its sentence that swiftly made her arise from her bed and head to the door.

Opening it she found a teenager of around 16 or 17 years with electric blue hair standing there, his hand about to knock on her door again.

There was a fanatic look in his electric blue eyes.

"Virion, are you absolutely sure?" His expression said he was, but the gravity of what her nephew had just said, demanded certainty.

In response, he nodded rapidly. "Yes verily, come see for yourself," he turned around and ran down the hallway. Seraphina followed quickly, her long crimson hair flowing behind her.

As she jogged after him, a stray thought reminded that she was still in her blue nightdress, she quickly pushed it away. What was happening right now was more important.

They soon reached their destination, a room filled with monitor screens and other computer equipment. It was their Surveillance Room, a space they used to keep watch on the various magical worlds of the Magic Dimension.

Virion and Seraphina each took a seat in front of the many monitoring setups. "I was checking on Solaria, looking for information on Uncle Orion, when I got an alert. The surveillance algorithms flagged a major event happening in the event of the planet of Magix." The teen explained as he started typing away at the keyboard.

"This is what it showed me, I almost didn't believe it at first" The screens each showed the City of Magix from various places as it was being terrorized by hideous black creatures of various sizes and shapes.

Seraphina's cerulean eyes widened at the sight of them "That's the Army of Decay." she exclaimed we said with soft shock. "It sure is, and before you ask, I cross-referenced the images of these nasty buggers with our digital records of the Obsidian Library."

"It's 100% a match." Virion replied.

For Seraphina, she knew what the existence of these creatures meant; no mere magic-user in the entire magical dimension could summon the Army of Decay from the forbidden Book of Decay. It was the summoner, or hopefully the summoners, she was more interested in.

"Who summoned them, please tell it's whom I think it is." She almost begged her nephew. "More like who, aunty Seraphina."

The boy pulled up another piece of footage. It showed three girls who looked to be around nineteen, one with silver-white hair dressed in dark blue spandex with a cape, a brunette dressed in a similar attire in dark purple without a cape and finally a girl with hair like a thundercloud dressed in dark red. They sat on thrones on a tower, positioned high above Magic City.

The minute Seraphina saw them she gasped, "It is them, it really is them!"

Virion nodded, "Facial comparison against the aged up pictures from sixteen years brought a near-perfect match, it's them aunty, its Iclynn, Darcene and Tempesta."

As he said the last name, his voice choked up. Seraphina understood, all the girls on the screen were important to them, but Tempesta was special to her nephew.

As a Warlock of Technology, Seraphina knew her Virion's software practically had no fault, but she didn't need it. She knew on a maternal level that the girls on screen were her lost triplets from sixteen years ago.

"So what's the story behind all this" she pointed to footage of the battle.

"Apparently, the three of them summoned the Army of Decay, then they tried to take over the capital and the planet, I guess being conquerors must run in family." Virion explained.

"That doesn't apply to you nephew."

"That's probably because I never got the chance too."

"And your parents would be happy about that." She told him, patting Virion's shoulder with affection. The young warlock smiled back at her.

Seraphina returned to the topic at hand, "I'm guessing they failed?" She asked.

Virion nodded. "The staff and student of the three major magic schools banded together to defeated and capture them."

Seraphina sighed "It's probably for the best." She by no means did she want her triplets to be locked up, but it was better than having their mental state be eroded by their dark magic.

It was something all dark magic users had to be wary of as they grew in magical strength; being consumed by an innate desire for more power.

The fact that the triplets had managed their feat of summoning prowess meant that either permanently or temporarily, they gained a massive amount of dark power, not surprising given their heritage.

But this also meant that their psyches had been at risk in the process.

Had they succeeded in conquering Magix, the deterioration would have progressed further as the accomplishment solidified their conviction. Their failure had been the best outcome for the triplets in the long term.

Unfortunately, that good news was somewhat offset by what her nephew told her next. "The problem is that the three of them were sent to Lightrock Prison for treatment."

Virion saw his words cause his aunt to shudder. He knew why, because Lightrock Prison was a rehabilitation centre owned by the Lightrock Monastery where criminals were taken to be 'cured' of the 'evil thoughts' that had made them a threat in the first place.

In truth, it was mental degradation of a different variety that was just as terrible. Seraphina knew that from personal experience.

"Dig up all you can about Lightrock Prison; their guard shifts, the building schematics, I want everything." She demanded. "We are getting our girls out there, right now!"

"I already have the computers working on it. I'm also gathering all information on the triplets' personal history so were know what kind of lives they've lived in these last sixteen years. The teenager answered, whilst typing.

But Aunty Seraphina, there is something else just as important you need to know about the Battle for Magix."

Seraphina – who had stood up and started to pace around the room formulating rescue plans – turned to her nephew with surprise.

"There more?" She asked, her face showing a mixture of worry and interest forlorn as the prospect of more information.

"Yes, but it has nothing to do with the triplets… at least not directly… possibly." Seraphina raised an eyebrow at Virion's words.

"It's good news, I promise." He tried to reassure her.

"Alright, what is it then?"

"Well in addition to the triplets, I'm sure I've also found Emb…"

But before Virion could say any more, a klaxon sounded, the shrill siren blared filled the surveillance room. Seraphina and Virion both looked down.

The noise was coming from two watch-like devices on their wrists. Seraphina and Virion both stared at it in shock.

ZANDER!" They both yelled.

Aunt and nephew both fled the room as quickly as if the hounds of hell were chasing them.