Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
When the Sun-Lord Hikaru and the Water Witch Urara join their hearts as one, their love shall birth a miracle: a Messiah of magic whose advent shall usher in a new golden age of sorcery in heaven and on Earth, as ordained by the stars above, and this star-child shall be known as Stargel.
However, she shall not be the only Messiah of her age, for on the surface a mortal shall be born in the Land of Dragons, a once in a century genius whose advent will usher in a new golden age of science, and this Scarlet Lady, a champion chosen by those from beyond the stars, shall be known as Nushi.
Apart, they will achieve wonders.
Together, they will achieve miracles.
However, should they join their hearts as one, their love will not birth a miracle, but a disaster, and lead to the breaking of the world.
"So you see, that's why you and your human paramour must separate immediately," Floragel explained as a frowning Ariel and Nushi carefully read the prophecy inscribed in the tome. "Your parents have known about this since the day of your birth. The Arch Saint told them herself. I do not know why they never told you the truth, or allowed things to get this far, but now that you know what fate lies in store, you must break up with each other. It is the only way to save the world."
It was strange, Nushi reflected as Ariel slammed the Book of Prophecy shut and glared at the fallen Saint. She never thought she had hated anyone as much as she despised Floragel, not even Shang or Parasitica.
It wasn't because of what she had done to Ariel, how she had taken advantage of her in the worst possible way, or at least not completely. Nor was it Ariel's soul deep revulsion polluting the Buzzing, filling it with so much anger it made her stomach churn. Nor was it how she was so brazenly trying to drive a wedge between her and Ariel.
There was something Wrong with her, with a capital W. An ugliness that her physically attractive exterior did nothing to hide, a festering rot that ran deep in her heartwood.
Magitopia adored Ariel and her kin. Everything in this magical realm, from the birds and beasts and bugs, to the trees and flowers, to the earth and air and sea, loved her with an astonishing intensity, cherishing her like the precious angel she was. And, since Ariel loved her, Magitopia loved her just as fiercely.
Floragel, on the other hand, Magitopia despised with a truly appalling vehemence. All the plants not generated by her power recoiled from her, and her flowers shriveled and died almost as quickly as they bloomed. The magical beasts lurked in the trees, glaring hatefully at her, just waiting for an excuse to rend her limb from limb. Even the ground seemed to reject her, the sand around her feet pushing itself away from her with great haste.
Reality itself wanted nothing to do with her, not after what she had done to a being as singularly beloved and special as Ariel. It was a marvel she didn't cease to exist on the spot.
Ariel laughed bitterly. "Right. Save the world. And this has nothing to do with the fact that if I'm single, you think you'll get a chance to win me back."
"That's not what I'm-"
"Don't you fucking lie to me, Floragel. You don't get to do that. Not after what you did," Ariel snarled. "And besides, even if I were to break up with Nushi – which, to be clear, will never happen – I'm currently also dating a gorgeous alien spider Princess and her also gorgeous harem, have dozens if not hundreds of willing partners back in Hive City and around the world, and even if that were the case, even if we were the last two people on Earth, I still wouldn't touch you with a hundred foot pole."
Floragel sighed in frustration. "Look, can you just put your animosity aside for a minute-"
"Absolutely fucking not."
"This is bigger than the two of us!" Floragel snapped, getting exasperated. "The Book of Prophecy says that if the two of you stay together, it will cause the end of the world! Now that you know this, surely you must understand what needs to be done!"
Ariel snorted and shook her head. "That's the thing, though, Floragel. You're assuming this is the first time I'm hearing the prophecy."
Floragel blinked. "What?"
Ariel burst into laughter. "Newsflash, discount Poison Ivy: my parents told me about the prophecy months ago, back when lovebug and I first started dating! They said that it was time I knew the truth, so I could make an informed decision going forward, seeing as how they trust me to make the right choices, unlike somebody I know."
Floragel's jaw dropped. "What?!"
Ariel sneered. "Guess the Book of Prophecy didn't mention anything about that, now did it?"
"They… They told you…" Floragel stammered.
Ariel nodded. "That's right, they did! Granted, I was a bit miffed they hadn't told me about it sooner, but I kind of understand why they waited so long. It would probably have messed me up big time if I'd known this was looming over me my entire life."
"But you… You still stayed with her anyway?!" Floragel demanded.
"We almost didn't," Nushi admitted, glancing at Ariel, sending her a pulse of love and assurance. "Once I heard about the prophecy, I insisted the two of us break up. I didn't want to be the cause of the end of the world."
"Then… Then why didn't you?" A bewildered Floragel asked.
Ariel clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "Here's a little thing from Prophecies 101, Floragel: the absolute best way to guarantee a prophecy happens is to try and stop it. The legends and prophecies of Magitopia are absolute, and history is filled with examples and cautionary tales of tragic heroes who tried to defy their fate, only to bring all that they feared to pass. When the Arch Saint first told my parents about the prophecy, my mom – who, not having grown up here, didn't fully grasp that just yet – tried to come up with all sorts of ways to try and change my fate, and argued a lot with my dad over whether or not they would work.
"Keep me here in Magitopia and forbid me from ever visiting the surface world? I'd grow to resent them, run away from home, meet Nushi, fall for her, and boom, prophecy fulfilled.
"Warn me to stay away from anyone named Nushi? Even if my natural curiosity didn't get the best of me, I'd inevitably run into someone, fall for them, and only later learn that Nushi was like a nickname or middle name or online handle or something like that, and boom, prophecy fulfilled.
"Cast a geass to keep me from ever going anywhere near the Land of Dragons? Do you have any idea how many places on Earth could be labeled that?! Not to mention that it still wouldn't keep me from bumping into anyone who might be from there, and it would take way, WAY too much effort to cast a spell like that, and boom, prophecy fulfilled.
"Make it so that it's impossible for me to ever fall in love with someone named Nushi? Well, now we're starting to delve into the kind of magic that gets you stripped of your status and banished from every reputable place of magic in the world, which I'm sure you know all about, Floragel. Not to mention I would hate them forever if I ever found out they'd messed with my head, and I would find out, people in that certain situation always find out, and then they go and hook up with whoever they aren't supposed to just to spite their folks, and boom, prophecy fulfilled.
"So, in the end, they realized the only thing they could do… Was nothing at all."
"Nothing?!" Floragel exclaimed in disbelief.
Ariel shrugged and tapped the cover of the Book of Prophecy. "Every single prophecy written in this book has come to pass, whether people try to prevent them or not. And according to our history, things always go worse for the people who try to stop the prophecy than those who just let things play out. So, ultimately, that's exactly what my parents did. They figured that if the prophecy couldn't be stopped, then maybe whatever disaster it warned about could be mitigated. They, and the rest of my family, showered me with love and kindness. They taught me to use my magic responsibly, to love freely and passionately, and above all else, to be a good person. The sort of person who would never willingly cause a disaster, but, if such a thing were truly inevitable, do their best to help pick up the pieces afterwards. So, like any good parent, they raised me as well as they could, sent me out into the world, and hoped for the best."
"But that's… That's completely irresponsible!" The fallen Saint spluttered. She turned to Nushi in disbelief. "And you… You're just going along with this?"
"We talked it over," Nushi admitted. "A lot. The minute I heard that our love might mean the end of the world, I wanted to break up with Ariel. But then she pointed out that we were already in love with each other, so whatever chain of events is going to trigger this 'breaking of the world' might already be in motion, and us breaking up might not stop it. Or breaking up may actually cause it. Or maybe it's warning us that we shouldn't get married or have children, since the prophecy used the same words to describe our causing the disaster as it did to describe Ariel's birth. Ultimately, we have no idea.
"And so, since we don't know… If there's going to be some sort of a disaster no matter what we do, then why not stay together? Why not celebrate our love? Is it a gamble? Perhaps. But to separate is just as big a gamble, and, as unscientific as it might sound…" She smiled happily at Ariel. "Love… Love is something I will bet on every single time."
"I don't believe this… You would doom the world just because you can't stay out of her pants?!" Floragel demanded, furious.
"You do not get to talk to her like that!" Ariel shouted, stamping her foot, eyes flashing, the entire world seeming to quake in tune with her fury. "What the two of us have is real. More real than whatever you think we had!"
"I loved you!" Floragel insisted.
"That wasn't love!" Ariel screamed.
"And here's something you may not have considered, Floragel. What if this disaster you're so worried about is a good thing?" Nushi prompted. "What if the world needs to be broken, so it can be put back together, like kintsugi? After all, after a forest fire or volcanic eruption, doesn't the land grow back better than before?"
"Heck, it didn't even specifically say it was our world," Ariel pointed out. "There's lots of other worlds out there, and I'm sure a few of them could deserve a good breaking or two."
"They really could," Lepidoptera agreed.
"The disaster may not even happen for the foreseeable future," Nushi added. "Maybe it'll happen a very, very long time from now, maybe when the Earth is old and worn and ready for breaking."
"Or it might be some sort of metaphorical break," Ariel suggested. "Like, we do something super amazing and revolutionary that flips society on its head."
"Or it might be as mundane as us breaking a model globe," Nushi speculated.
"Or destroying a leftover Tojitendo stooge," Ariel offered.
"Or inadvertently giving Misao Mondo a really bad day," Nushi agreed. "Wait, do you think that would work?"
Ariel made a face. "What, giving him a really bad day? I dunno, I would feel kind of bad about it, the guy has so many issues already-"
"No, I mean, if we were to deliberately break a model of the world, do you think that would satisfy the terms of the prophecy?" Nushi queried.
"It might, actually!" Ariel said in excitement. "Given how vague lots of prophecies are, some of the cleverest heroes in our legends have come up with cunning ways to game the prophecy to fulfill it on their own terms." She frowned and scratched her chin. "It doesn't always work, though, there are plenty of other stories where they think they outsmarted the prophecy only to find themselves hit by a surprise twist later down the road. Still, it probably can't hurt to try!"
Floragel stared at them, flabbergasted. "You… You can't be serious! Now you're just making up excuses to stay together to try and avoid responsibility for the well-being of the planet!"
"Maybe, maybe not," Ariel retorted. "Look, even if you're right and the disaster is going to be some big, planet destroying event… Just because the prophecy said the world's going to break doesn't mean it'll stay that way. Back when my parents were fighting the forces of Infershia, my dad warned them that if humans defied the will of the gods of the underworld, it would lead to the destruction of both the surface and Magitopia. And that's exactly what happened."
She spread her hands to indicate the beautiful magical realm around them, which didn't particularly look destroyed. "And then they fixed it, because nowhere did the prophecy say the world was going to stay destroyed. Who's to say that's not the case this time, either?"
She opened the book again and started flipping through the pages. "Also, I think there are a few prophecies still in here that haven't come true yet, so unless they happen before this alleged Apocalypse, it's probably safe to assume there will still be a world left for this stuff to be fulfilled in after the fact."
Floragel clenched her fists, her vines twitching in agitation. "Unbelievable… Even knowing that your actions may cause a catastrophe… You still will not change your ways? You will simply trust to the whims of fate?!"
"I will," Ariel said, clutching Nushi's hand. "Because I trust in fate… And in love. Love is a magic all its own. Love is what kept my family together, even after they lost my grandma and grandpa. Love is what brought my parents together on the eve of destruction. Love is what brought them back to each other in their darkest hour, and gave them the courage to destroy the master of darkness and prove that his will was not absolute. Love saved the world… And it will do so again.
"You say our love will destroy the world, but I know for a fact that any world without Nushi in it isn't one worth living in."
"I love you so much," Nushi whispered, tearing up.
"How are you two this adorable?" Practically the entire Buzzing, watching this with all the intensity of a soap opera, wondered.
"You guys are totally one of my favorite OTP's," Philia gushed. "Also, your family's there."
And indeed, in a flash of light, all eight Magirangers, Mandora Man, Vancuria, Sphinx, and Lunagel appeared between Ariel, Nushi, and the alarmed Floragel. The lagoon's water rippled and exploded outwards as Splagel manifested, glaring angrily at the much smaller Saint on the beach below.
"Dammit…!" Floragel hissed, recoiling. "How… How did you know I was here?! You shouldn't have been able to detect me thanks to my benefactor!"
Nushi and Ariel exchanged startled looks. "She doesn't know we've got a psychic connection through the Buzzing?" Nushi asked.
"She might not, nor even know that Philia is here," Ariel replied. "I mean, the Hive were around for years but I never really paid much attention to them until I got recruited by Lepidoptera. A lot of people on the more magical side of things tend not to focus on non-magical affairs. Not in their lane. Lots of people are like that."
"That makes sense, although I wish it didn't," Nushi grumbled. "Still, this might work to our advantage…"
Hikaru, seeming to be of the same mind, didn't mention Philia, and instead angrily pointed his MagiLamp Buster at Floragel. "Did you really think we would not be aware of your intrusion into our domain, when the land itself rejects your presence? I do not know how you found a way to undo your banishment, Floragel, but you will not get the opportunity to do it a second time!"
The lid of the lamp popped open to reveal the tiny, enraged face of Smoky. "I didn't get a chance at you before, Floragel… But I've been holding a grudge against you for what you did to my little sister a loooong time. Somebody make a wish so I can erase this bitch from existence!"
"I may have spared humanity my Divine Punishment… But you shall receive no such mercy," Sphinx said coldly.
"You know, I don't think I've ever been happier to have power over fire," Kai said with uncharacteristic fury, said, igniting his MagiStick sword.
"Indeed," Isamu growled, his own sword bursting into flames. "It's a good thing plants are so flammable." He paused, then glanced at Mandora Man. "No offense meant, of course, grandson."
"I AM MANDORA MAN!" Mandora Man roared, getting bigger, taller, spikier, his voice deepening and reverberating with ominous power, no longer looking like a goofy, harmless giant plant man. That's right, didn't fully matured mandrakes have the power to kill people with their cries?
"I think he's okay with it," Lunagel interpreted.
"You… You should be helping me!" Floragel snapped, furious. "I'm trying to save Ariel from inadvertently doing something terrible! You love her! You're her family! How can you just let this happen?!"
"It's because we love her that we are letting this happen," Tsubasa said firmly.
"We love her, but we don't try to control her," Makito agreed. "Something you never understood."
"Ariel has chosen whom she wants to love, despite knowing the risk, and it's not our place to stop her," Houka added.
"Instead, it is to support her, aid her, and guide her to making the choices we hope will lead to a better tomorrow," Vancuria declared. "Choices which, quite frankly, you've proven yourself incapable of making."
Ariel sniffed, eyes misting up. "You guys…"
Floragel snarled. "I'm trying to save the world! If you're really going to let your bias towards me keep you from doing what's necessary-"
"Even if you hadn't done what you did, we still wouldn't help you," Miyuki said angrily. "Because unlike you, we have faith in Ariel. We have faith in Nushi. We have faith that, somehow, we will find a way to achieve a satisfactory outcome in spite of the prophecy, as we have in the past, and will do so in the future."
"I won't lie, though," Urara growled. "This message coming from you of all people makes me a bit less inclined to listen, and a lot more inclined to break something. A shame to see that the punishment we gave you last time didn't stick…"
"Who is it that put these ideas in your head, Floragel?"
And suddenly, Magiel was there. Or had she been there all along? "Who told you about the prophecy?" She pressed. "Who allowed you to circumvent your banishment and return to Magitopia, to once again harass the one whom you so grievously wronged?"
Floragel grit her teeth… And then smirked. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
The skies darkened, thunder rumbling. Everyone glanced up in surprise.
"That's not supposed to happen…" Magiel murmured, brow furrowed in concern.
A colossal pitch black magical magic circle materialized high above the island, and with a demonic howl, a massive black iron chariot covered in spikes and skulls burst out from it, pulled by demonic horses resembling Isamu's faithful steed Barikion, only with fangs and horns and fiery manes. Standing in the back of the chariot, clutching the reins of the frenzied horses, was a colossal dark giant, a heavily muscled figure with digitigrade legs ending in hooves, a spiny black-scaled tail with a hissing serpent head at the end, and incredibly thick arms with multiple studded bracers wrapped around his limbs ending in massive spiked gauntlets with a ring with a screaming skull on it adorning each finger. His torso was covered in black steel armor shaped to resemble a demonic visage similar to N Ma, with a medallion bearing the emblem of Infershia dangling from its neck. Spikes grew from all over its body, and it had not one, not two, but three heads, resembling a monstrous Doberman, Husky, and bulldog with slavering jaws, pitch black fur, and three glowing red eyes apiece.
Magiel's jaw dropped as everyone stared up at the monster in alarm. "No… It can't be…"
"You?!" Sphinx cried, stunned.
"PEOPLE OF MAGITOPIA!" The monster roared, its tripartite voice overlapping itself again and again discordantly. "I HAVE NO QUARREL WITH YOU, NOR DO I SEEK TO RESTART THE WAR BETWEEN OUR TWO WORLDS. ALL THAT I ASK IS THAT YOU GIVE ME ARIEL OZU, THE HEAVENLY SAINT KNOWN AS STARGEL, SO THAT I MAY KEEP HER FROM FULFILLING HER DESTINY AND DOOMING US ALL."
"Who… Who is that?!" A stunned Nushi demanded.
"I… I don't know!" A shocked Ariel cried. "He looks like a Hades God, but… I thought Aunt Sphinx was the last one!"
"So did I," the horrified Sphinx whispered.
"You aren't laying a finger on my daughter!" Urara cried.
"I HAVE NO INTENTION OF HARMING HER," the giant promised. "IF ANYTHING, I SEEK TO KEEP HER SAFE, UNTIL THE WINDOW FOR THE CULMINATION OF THE PROPHECY PASSES."
"But we don't know when the prophecy will be fulfilled!" Lunagel pointed out. "Nobody does!"
The monster narrowed all nine of its eyes. "THEN SHE WILL REMAIN WITH ME FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES."
Magiel shook her head and stepped forwards, seeming to somehow get bigger and bigger… And yet her size hadn't changed a single inch. "You may not have her, Forgotten One. She stays with us!"
The Titan sneered. "OH? AND DO YOU SPEAK FOR HER?"
"She does!" Ariel shouted. "I'm not going with you, not if it means I never get to see Nushi again!"
The beast scoffed. "YOU WOULD CHOOSE LOVE OVER THE SAFETY OF THE WORLD? HOW SELFISH OF YOU."
"I choose both!" Ariel proclaimed. "Whatever disaster is coming our way, we'll handle it, together!"
The giant chuckled. "UNFORTUNATELY… YOU DON'T GET A CHOICE IN THE MATTER."
Abruptly, a vine burst out of the sand beneath Ariel's feet and wrapped around her ankle. Startled, she looked down. "What-"
Floragel, one hand on the ground with the corresponding vine burrowing into the sand, grinned triumphantly as she held up a black MagiPhone NX. "Uuza Ujira!"
A pitch black magic circle appeared beneath her feet… And beneath Ariel's.
Eyes widening in horror, the sorceress desperately reached out towards Nushi. "Nushi! Nushi, help-"
In a burst of darkness, Ariel and Floragel disappeared.
"NUSHI!" Ariel screamed as the rest of the Ozu family stared in horror.
"That was a teleportation spell!" Isamu recognized, having used that same spell many times in the past, during his darker days. "She's been taken to Infershia!"
"TO MY PERSONAL DOMAIN, OUTSIDE OF YOUR REACH," the dark giant addressed the dismayed magicians. "AND THERE SHE WILL REMAIN. I SAID I DID NOT WANT WAR, AND I MEANT IT… BUT IF YOU COME AFTER ME, WAR IS WHAT YOU SHALL HAVE!"
"You fool!" Magiel bellowed, face twisted in rage which, for a heart stopping moment, made her rather resemble Nushi's grandmother after all. "Do you know what you have just done?! You may have just set in motion the very cataclysm you're trying to prevent! The Ozu family will stop at nothing to get their child back! They will tear Infershia apart if that's what it takes!"
"That's right, we will," Isamu agreed.
"I am Mandora Man!" Mandora Man roared.
"THEN YOU WILL PERISH," the beast replied, although there was a hint of regret in his voice. "COME TO ME IF YOU DARE. SPHINX KNOWS THE WAY. BUT BE WARNED: I WILL NOT RELINQUISH HER WITHOUT A FIGHT!"
He cracked his reins, causing his steeds to whinny and shriek and kick their hooves in the air before reeling about and pulling his chariot back into the portal he'd come through, which closed behind him.
The darkness faded. The clouds parted. The oppressive atmosphere dissipated.
But none of that mattered, because Ariel was gone.
Nushi collapsed to her knees, staring at the spot where Ariel had vanished in disbelief. She'd been only inches away. If she'd been just a little closer, a little faster…
"Ariel…" She whispered.
"Lepidoptera!" Coccinella wailed.
"TEACHER!" Philia wept, and the Buzzing wept with her.
Trembling with fury, Hikaru whirled on Sphinx. "Who was he? You seem to know each other."
"Who took her?" Urara whispered, barely holding back her rage. "Who took my baby girl?!"
Sphinx clenched her fists and looked away. "Someone I thought long gone," she murmured with remorse. "The last member of the Infershia Pantheon. Forgotten God Cerberus…
"My brother."