Chapter 66: Kiten Convergence

Disclaimer:

Canon story from next chapter! We'll see my take on how I integrate it in. With that said, I hope you enjoy!

"Ah, I'm late… I'm late!" Daisy spoke to herself as she started to panic around in her room.

She went from drawer to drawer, looked underneath her bed, brushed her orange hair, put her dark-blue, ankle length boots on as well as her light-yellow sweater over her plain, white t-shirt.

Was she planning for a day out? No, this is just how she sometimes was at the start of the day. Though, the only difference today was…

"It's already the afternoon and Captain Charlotte asked for me like 30 minutes ago…!" She rushed around. After a few more minutes, she stood by her door and looked back towards her room. "Skirt, check! Uhh, boots, check! Bra, check! Green bow on top of my head… check! I think I'm ready to g-!

The teenager who was acting like she was in the army with all her 'checks' was about to leave but as she placed her right hand inside of her grimoire satchel, she felt something and it was all wrapped up carefully in a soft cloth. Daisy took it out and examined it, smiling as she saw the item.

It was the silver-chained bracelet with small, circular links going around the frame. On top, there was a crystal-clear gemstone that you could see through.

"Wow, look at this! I bought this at the Black Market for Lucas-san. I can't believe I still have this when it was supposed to be a gift. I even invited him to Nean…", she pouted and hit herself on the forehead. "Oh, well. I'll definitely give it to him next time! But for now…". Daisy walked over to her drawer and put the bracelet in carefully before finally leaving her room.

"You called, Captain?" Daisy opened the doors that lead into the courtyard. Her short, blue skirt swayed as she walked down the set of stairs which had large hedges of blooming, blue roses on either side.

Charlotte, Roselei, Captain of the Blue Rose Knights, was sat at the flowing water fountain that was in the middle of the courtyard, one of her legs crossed and resting on the other's knee.

"Ah, hello, Daisy. I hope you're not too tired today but I guess that's rhetorical since you slept in and the fact that I called for you about 30 minutes ago…", the Briar mage replied as she took a sip of her piping hot tea.

The day had just turned over to the afternoon and the glowing, yellow sun was high above in the sky. There was plenty of time left in the day so you'd think that the squad's base would be full of Magic Knights. However, that wasn't the case on this particular day due to how busy everyone was.

Daisy reached the fountain and stood in front of Charlotte. She opened her mouth wide and yawned quite loudly.

"Of course, I'm tired, Captain…", she yawned again. "We've been on missions non-stop since Nean! Arrests, dungeons, patrols… you name it and we've probably done it", she faked a tear.

"Oh, please. I gave you a day off after that whole Eye of the Midnight Sun business… and that didn't even include you visiting Lucas in the hospital. I believe I've been pretty generous if I do say so myself". The blue-eyed captain responded, still focusing on her tea. Though, a few seconds after, she looked up at the Ice mage again. "I know I've been asking this a lot but… how is Alice, your sister?"

Daisy's blue and violet-tinted eyes widened ever so slightly in response but she calmed them down soon after. "Alice… is fine. She can't really get used to having no magic anymore but… I'll work with her", she replied as she feigned a smile.

Alice Sitrol, Daisy's sister, had all of her mana extracted by Baro and Neige during the kidnapping that happened a few weeks ago in Neige. Ever since then, she's had to live without being able to use magic ever again.

Charlotte put the cup down next to her and sighed. "Maybe I have been too hard on all of you these past few weeks. Fine, after today you can have a few days off. Make sure you spend it with your sisters".

Daisy raised her hands and cupped them around her mouth. Her eyes turned into stars and her facial expression was of pure happiness. "Thanks, Captain! I guess you can be nice after all, huh?"

"What was that? Don't make me undo my decision", Charlotte deadpanned to which Daisy dropped her shoulders.

"By the way, why is it that you called me out here instead of to your office?" Daisy asked, putting her index finger to the side of her mouth, tapping it, and giving a questioning glance.

Slowly, the Blue Rose Captain stood up and walked towards her squad member and stopped. "It's just a nice day as all… Anyway, I have another reason as to why I called you here".

"You do?" Daisy asked. "It's probably another mission, isn't it?" She sighed internally.

"I have one last mission for you before you can rest", Charlotte replied.

"Bingo…", the girl with the green ribbon said to herself.

"Oh, take Emilia with you. I don't know what's up with her lately but it seems to be affecting her work as a Magic Knight. I asked her about it but she insists it's nothing", Charlotte said as she raised her right hand towards her chin. "Is it a young people thing? I mean, I'm not that old am I? I can be understanding, right?" She questioned internally.

Daisy looked at the squad's building and focused on Emilia's window. She thought about her and what might be wrong. "Emilia hasn't exactly spoken to me for a few days after she went to visit her family. Did something happen there?".

The orange-haired teen lowered her gaze and focused on her captain once more. "Sure, Captain. What's the mission?"

The wind breezed past as the afternoon sun moved ever so slightly towards the west. High up in the sky were two Magic Knights flying on their broomsticks towards their mission. Daisy was on the left, whilst Emilia was on the right.

"You alright, Emilia?" Daisy asked, looking concerned for her friend.

"Yup", Emilia replied.

Emilia wasn't really being herself these past few days and some people on the squad had realised this. Captain Charlotte was the one that asked Daisy to be with her for this mission so that she could feel better being with her best friend, yet she was acting the same as she had done for a while now.

"Look, Emil-", Daisy started to say but Psychic mage turned her head and interrupted her.

"What was the mission again?" Emilia asked, her long, silver hair flowing in the air.

"Oh… um, sure… yeah", Daisy coughed as she shook her head.

"There's been reports of theft in Kiten. It's a border town that separates the Clover Kingdom and the Diamond Kingdom so a crime like this is quite serious. Some people think that it means an enemy attack is imminent but if you ask me it's probably just a normal theft", Daisy explained.

All Emilia did was nod as she listened. Her purple eyes stayed the same as she stared ahead, not moving at all. She was wearing her beige top with intricate flower patterns embroidered within and was also wearing a blue skirt. Emilia wore dark, black leggings and light-brown boots.

"Emilia…", Daisy frowned.

The silence continued for the rest of the journey until the duo reached their destination. Kiten was a small, yet concentrated town with a lot of tall, lookout towers along its border. This was due to it being so close to the Diamond Kingdom that a lot of Magic Knights and Guard mages are always working in shifts to maintain its defences.

Daisy and Emilia landed and put their broomsticks away to the side and started walking. Daisy was in front whilst Emilia was walking behind.

"It's been a while since I've been in Kiten", Daisy said as she looked around. The Ice mage had her arms behind with her head leaning back against it. Slowly, she looked up and realised something. "Hm, the magic barrier isn't up this time…".

Surprisingly, Emilia called out from behind.

"Magic barrier?" She asked.

"Ooh, she's speaking to me!" Daisy cheered internally but didn't let her excitedness creep out. With a cough, she replied. "Yeah, the last time I came here some of the Guard mages were doing a demonstration of a magic barrier that they can summon to help against potential attacks".

"I see", the Psychic mage replied, returning back to her quiet shell.

Daisy saw this but decided to carry on. "I guess there's no need for it to be up right now. It's not like Kiten will be attacked anytime soon".

As the two walked on, they saw many market stalls and taverns to either side of them. It looked like it was a busy day with how many people were out and about enjoying their day and taking part in all the town had in store for them.

The two of them saw plenty of families together and, since it was a nice day, they looked like they were having fun walking out and about. Emilia focused on one family of two where a young girl was holding her mother's hand tightly and with a smile, but afterwards she decided to turn away and look in front towards where Daisy was.

However, as the Blue Roses continued on, the amount of people started to thin out and reduce in number which was odd considering how many people were around just a few seconds prior.

"I wonder why there's no one here?" Daisy asked, looking around.

Emilia walked past and saw something in front of them. It looked like a market stall but it seemed like it was all broken and torn up.

"Daisy, perhaps we should go there?" The 17-year-old asked, pointing forwards.

"Hm, good idea".

Upon getting closer, the market stall wasn't actually damaged but it had wooden boards stuck all around the booth as well as two boards crossed in an 'X' shape on the sign above it. There was a small woman sat on a brown stool to the side looking down at the floor with a sad frown to her face.

"Hey… are you alright?" Daisy asked, kneeling down and getting on equal level with her. During this, Emilia stayed a bit behind, not really focusing.

"Oh, hello, young miss. I'm… I'm alright. No need to worry about someone like me", she said as she faked a smile.

The old woman was quite frail and it showed with how she was shaking. Though, it could also be because of what might have happened for her to look so sad. She had grey hair that was tied into a large bun at the back of her head. She wore a pink, cotton sweater over her beige-coloured, long-sleeved shirt. Below that, she wore a black skirt that went down to her ankles and she also had brown shoes on above her white socks.

"Emilia and I…", Daisy pointed behind her to show the old woman. "We're Magic Knights and we've been sent here on a mission but we always have time for you. Um, Miss…", Daisy tried to say but she didn't know her name so she couldn't really continue what she was saying.

She looked at both of the mages and smiled. Her silver eyes behind her round, black-framed glasses looked like they shone for the first time in a while. "My name is Anna. There's no need for a 'Miss' before it".

"Okay, Anna", Daisy smiled. "Could you tell my friend and I about what happened?"

At this point Emilia joined the two and focused on her mission. She believed she couldn't keep up her own problems when someone is in need for help.

Then, Anna stood up from her stool and walked towards the Blue Roses and gave a description of what happened.

"Yesterday, it was a day like any other and as I was about to close up to go back to my house, I saw someone swipe some food away from behind my stall. Kiten has a theft problem recently but I thought I'd be fine since I was just leaving but then it happened. But that wasn't a big deal since I could manage without some stock but as I was two hours into working today, my coin pouch got stolen from my own hands…", she explained. "I was thinking of stopping my business here and moving on elsewhere. Besides, since these string of thefts started, there has been less and less people visiting this area of Kiten".

Daisy and Emilia exchanged looks with each other.

"This is what our mission is about then", the silver-haired mage realised.

"Oh?" Anna perked up. "Did the Magic Knights listen to us about our theft problem then?"

"We sure did", Daisy stuck her arm out and gave a thumbs up.

"Ooh, you're quite upbeat, aren't ya?" Anna giggled, raising her hand to cover her mouth.

Daisy paused. "Uh… yeah, that's just how I am, haha", she scratched the back of her head.

"What about your friend, Emilia? She doesn't seem okay", Anna worriedly asked.

Emilia answered quickly with a shake of her head. "No, I'm fine. It's just been… a long few days. By the way, Anna, could you tell us anything else about these thefts?"

As Anna explained more about these thefts, Daisy and Emilia learned that this problem has been going on for a few weeks at most. Anna's stall wasn't the first to be hit as there had been so many more that had been stolen from. The people that ran these other market stalls had either stopped their business or moved on to different towns or villages to set up shop again.

The Blue Roses were now on their own as they left Anna back at her stall. Emilia seemed to have gained a boost of energy after speaking with the old woman and Daisy was happy to see. Though, this begged the question – Was this a permanent change or will Emilia revert to being upset once more?

"I wonder if there's any trail we could follow? The thief must've been in a rush or something so perhaps they were careless?" Daisy asked, looking around.

"Good idea, Daisy. I'll search some of these alleys and you search around those buildings over there", she pointed and the two got searching.

Whilst Daisy headed for the set of buildings that were near the abandoned area where the market stalls used to be, Emilia focused on the alleyways that were in front of them, nearer to the places where business was still active.

"Hm, now… what to look for, what to look for…", Daisy said to herself as she walked around. "How can something like this be going on for weeks, yet this is the first time any Magic Knights have been sent to deal with it…?" She shook her head in disbelief.

A few minutes passed…

Another few minutes passed…

"Yeah, I'm getting nothing. Nada. Zilch…", Daisy sighed. She sat down on some steps near a small park on the other side of the row of buildings she was looking around.

Kicking her legs in the air, she heard a group of small footsteps running towards her on the left. "Oh, what's going on… OW!" She screamed as she held her face. A rogue ball had just flew across the park and hit her square in the face, bouncing off and falling down right next to her boots.

"Ah, s-sorry, Miss…!" One kid shouted out as he ran over to Daisy. He got closer and realised how red the Ice mage's face had gotten from the impact.

"Oh my God, that kills…". Daisy held her face for a while, slowly touching it after every few seconds to feel the stinging pain subsiding. "N-no worries, kiddo. Just… be careful next time, alright?" She waved the kid away. The Magic Knight was angry but seeing that they were just a group of three kids, she knew they were just playing around.

The boy bowed to apologise once again but then grabbed the other two who were with him. "Hey, you two, say sorry to the Miss!"

"Sorry, Miss Magic Knight…", the other, smaller boy said softly.

"We won't do it again…", the little girl put her hands together.

Daisy smiled at the group of three and waved them away.

"Hey, lets play for the prize properly this time!" One of them said, shaking something in his hand.

"For sure. I want that case of sweets you picked up!" The smaller boy waved, trying to grab it from the first boy's hand.

"Um… what about me?" The girl said, clenching her fists.

Daisy's ears picked up on what the three kids were saying, most notably on the fact that they were talking about sweets that they just happened to pick up. She stood up and walked over to the middle of the park and spoke to the three.

"Hey, where did you get those… um, sweets?" She asked.

The first boy backed away a bit, thinking Daisy was going to take them from him. "Um… we saw a little girl chasing another boy and when we walked away from them, we found the sweets by a building and er… they're ours!" He shouted, turning his body away from her.

"Yeah, that's right! We want those sweeties!" The smaller boy said, pumping his fists in the air.

"Can I just see what they look like?" Daisy asked, sincerely. "Besides… you three owe me for that assault on me", she smirked.

"Fine… we're not baddies, Miss", he obliged and showed them to Daisy.

The Ice mage looked the small, cylindrical case up and down and saw that there were around nine tablets in it. "Oh no. These aren't sweets… this is medicine. If the kids have this then they'll get sick, considering this isn't for small children…", she thought.

"On second thought, you need to hand them over to me", Daisy ordered, sticking her hand out.

"No way! I knew you were gonna steal them!" The boy tried running away but all Daisy had to do was make three strides in front and she was right opposite the kids.

"Um… why don't we play for them?" The girl asked, presenting an idea.

"Yeah, yeah! If you can score more goals than us with this ball, then you can have it!" The smaller boy giggled.

"H-Hang on, goals? What is this game?" Daisy sighed, getting slightly confused.

The first boy walked up to Daisy and placed the brown ball made out of leather down on the floor. It was the size of a watermelon and was perfectly round.

"It's called… uh", he turned around to face the other two kids. "Hey, we don't have a name for this yet… all we do is kick it towards a wall and if it goes in, it's a point…", he whispered. Quickly, he turned back to Daisy. "Uh, it's called Kick-and-Score!"

Daisy was now facing off against three kids in the open park. She had to score three goals before the kids could. The Blue Rose had ended up playing with a bunch of kids to try and help them, though they didn't understand that.

"What have I gotten myself into…", Daisy face palmed. "So, all I have to do is kick that ball past their… 'goal' – is that what they call it? So, kick the ball past their goal… to score a… goal?" She shook her head as she was just confusing herself by repeating it. However, as she tried to focus, the ball went past her, through the two, propped-up sticks behind her.

"GOAL!" The three kids cheered.

"H-Hey, you said there would be a whistle to start the game!" Daisy complained, dropping her shoulders.

"Um, about that… it turns out that none of us can actually whistle", the girl replied cheekily.

"Oh, come on…!" Daisy said, shaking her head.

She ran to retrieve the ball from behind her, came back, and placed it down in front of her right boot. "Come on, Dais. It's just like playing catch, right? But instead of using your hands, you use your feet, yeah?" She spoke to herself as she started moving.

Daisy ran ahead with the ball by her feet and got a few steps ahead before the second boy was in front of her, trying to steal the ball.

"Um… now what?" Daisy said softly to herself as she looked around. "I can't run into him or he'll take it, so… do I just kick it from here?"

"Hey, good job! Keep her occupied and we'll back you up!" The first boy said as he started running alongside the girl.

The Blue Rose mage took a glance forwards and saw that the other two kids were getting closer. "Hm, I guess I'll just kick it!"

Daisy lifted her right leg behind her and used the forward momentum when she swung it back to kick the ball towards the kids' goal. It actually went past the first boy and just missed the other two behind him to reach its destination.

"Woah, I just scored a goal, right?" Daisy jumped up and down, cheering. Her green ribbon swaying in the air as she moved.

The three kids all turned around to see the ball stop past their goal.

"No way…",

"How did she do that?"

"We gotta win!"

After retrieving the ball, all three of the little kids looked at the Ice mage with a serious look.

"We're getting those sweets!"

On the other side of the buildings, past Anna's stall and towards the busy market square, Emilia was walking around. The Psychic mage was keeping her purple eyes wide open for anything that might be of use considering they really didn't have much to go with in the first place.

"Daisy talked about potential trails but we need to actually find the start of one to go forward with that idea…", Emilia sighed.

She walked past various stalls. Some were selling food and drink, whilst others were selling clothes. Also, to the side, there was a pharmacy right in the middle with a green '' outside of it on a sign.

"Um, excuse me, Sir", Emilia waved as she stopped at a stall that was selling grilled Magic Boar.

"Yes, young Miss?" The 23-year-old man said, looking down towards the Magic Knight. He was quite tall so Emilia looked a bit like a little kid.

The stall had a colour scheme of red and brown squares on the booth as well as the sign of a flame above it. Behind it, there was a metal grill that was on with pieces of meat plastered on it, cooking. In front of it was a Magic Boar on a silver skewer so that anyone walking around would be able to see it.

"Hi, I was wondering if I could ask you about some of the thefts that have been happening around here lately?" Emilia said with a smile.

"Oh, sure. To be honest with you, this business with the thefts is quite scary. Old Anna's stall is a wreck along with many others and a lot of us are just wondering when we'll be targeted…", he said with an awkward smile.

Emilia lean forwards. "So, what does this thief seem to be stealing? I've heard it ranges from food and drink to straight up snatching coin pouches".

"Hm, really? For what I've heard, they've only taken food and drink. I don't know anything about stealing actual money", the man scratched his chin.

The Blue Rose scrunched up her face slightly as she was a bit confused. But, to avoid piling on questions, she thanked the man and moved on.

"What? Food and drink is common but not stealing money? Perhaps Anna's case was just isolated from the others…", she looked up towards the yellow sun and sighed.

"Um, Miss Magic Knight?"

Emilia snapped out of her thoughts and turned around to the sound of a young girl calling for her near an alleyway.

"Yes?" Emilia said, kneeling down.

The girl started tearing up out of nowhere and it seemed completely random. She looked to be not much older than the age of six. Emilia put her hand on the girl's head and gently rubbed it.

"There, there…", she whispered. Luckily, the others around her didn't notice the girl's emotions sp they didn't cause a scene. "What's wrong?"

The girl breathed in and out, heavily. "I-I-I was buying something from one of the pharmacies around here for my b-brother… and… I was running back with some medicine for him and u-uh… someone snatched it out of my hand and r-r-ran off towards one of the alleyways…", she lightly hiccupped from her crying.

"Your brother?" Emilia said. "He must be quite ill then if a little girl like this is going out to get medicine…", she shook her head. Looking back at the little girl in front of her, she patted her little head. "Don't worry. I'll get it back for ya!"

"R-Really…?" The girl replied, her eyes lighting up.

"Sure. What did the person look like?" Emilia asked.

"Um, I think it was a boy… m-maybe 10 or 11?" The girl started to describe.

"What the…? That's quite young. If it's a little kid doing this then what must have happened?" The mage wondered.

The girl continued on. "He was really quick actually and I think h-he was wearing a hood, I th-think? Oh, and when I tried to chase him, it was like he vanished into thin air in one of the alleys behind me", she pointed.

Emilia stood up and looked towards the dark alleyway. Despite it being a bright afternoon, this area was dark and that was because of the tall buildings that overshadowed the dimly lit passage.

"Hm, okay…", she looked at the little girl again. "Stay away from here for now. I'll go get my friend and we'll look through this passageway and get your medicine back, alright?"

"Yup!" The little girl smiled, closing her eyes.

A few minutes went past as Emilia went back to find Daisy. She went towards the buildings where the Ice mage was supposed to look but didn't see or hear from her. So, the Blue Rose walked to the other side, trying to look for her.

"I… should really tell Daisy about what's going on with me. I've been a bit cold with her and I don't think… she deserves that from me", she sighed. Shaking her head to focus, she reached the other side. "I wonder where she went to? Perhaps she found something important?"

As she thought that, the sound of shouts were coming from a nearby park. Emilia turned her head from left to right and didn't see anything. Though, another shout confirmed it was actually coming from in front.

"That's Daisy's voice!" Emilia ran ahead and reached the brown fence that encircled the grassy park. "Are you alright?" She said without really seeing what was happening.

Daisy was covered in dirt and a bit of mud, her face sweaty and her green ribbon all droopy from sweat. Her skirt had marks of the ball all over it whilst her dark-blue, ankle length boots were kicking the actual ball up in the air.

"Wahoo!" She screamed as she juggled the ball from one foot to another. "This is…", she breathed heavily and wiped some sweat away from her face. "… really fun!"

The three kids in front of her were in disbelief.

"What the…?"

"How can you be so good when you've never played this game before?!"

"The score is 2-2 so the next goal wins it!"

Daisy put the ball down in front of her and ran ahead, skipping past the younger boy and then dribbling past the little girl. She was through two of the three opponents and it was only the first boy left, the one that had the medicine in the pocket of his shirt.

"Sorry but… I'm quite the sporty girl!" Daisy giggled before slotting the ball past the boy's right-hand side.

The score was finally 3-2 to Daisy and she had won the match. As promised, the boy handed the 'sweets' to her and started to walk away with the other two, their heads dropping with sad expressions.

Still panting and her hands on her hips, she turned to the kids and called for them. "Hey, you three… here", she said as she reached into her grimoire satchel, pulling out a coin pouch. "Take this, all three of you".

Daisy handed enough coins to all three of them and their faces immediately turned into bright, beaming smiles.

"Wow, thank you, Miss Daisy!"

"You're the best!"

"Woo, sweeties for us all!"

"Yeah, yeah", she waved. "Just don't pick up sweets or anything weird from the floor again!"

The kids waved and ran away towards the market square, leaving Daisy by herself in the middle of the park.

Slowly, from behind, Emilia approached her squadmate after seeing what was going on. "Hey, Daisy", she said.

Daisy turned around and smiled as she saw who it was. "Hey, Emilia. You'll never guess what went on with me!" She said as she wiped the last amount of dirt from her short, blue skirt.

"I saw what was happening", Emilia responded.

"Oh, really? Then you'll know that I found someth-!" Daisy said right before she was cut off by a shout from her best friend.

"What on earth are you thinking, playing with a bunch of kids?!" Emilia raised her voice, closing her eyes as she was shouting quite loudly.

"Huh, Emilia? Listen, I w-".

"We're on a mission for crying out loud, you can't just be goofing off like that! You have plenty of time to play with a bunch of kids when you're back home but when you're on duty, stop acting like a weird child all the time!" Emilia stopped as she realised she was going off on a tangent.

Looking towards Daisy, Emilia cupped her mouth as she saw the expression she was making.

Daisy's usual bright and bubbly face turned into one of anger. She shook her head at what Emilia was saying, disagreeing with everything.

"What on earth… is your problem today?!" Daisy shouted back. "You didn't even let me finish what I was saying before you mouthed off for no reason!" The Ice mage rummaged around her grimoire satchel again and found the cylindrical case of pills that she got from the kids a few minutes ago. "Here, take it", she said plainly as she threw it into her teammate's hands.

"This is…?" Emilia wondered as she looked closely at it. "Medicine, for stomach pains?"

"Those kids found it near the building you told me to look around and were about to eat them. I found out but the only way they'd give them to me was through a game so I obliged. If they took those, when they weren't ill, then who knows what would've happened?" Daisy finally explained, taking a deep sigh. She raised her right hand and shook her head in her palm.

"This was the reason? I've really gone and done it now, haven't I?" Emilia thought to herself. "Listen Daisy, I'm…", she tried to say but Daisy carried on with what she was saying.

"That's what a weird child like me was doing, by the way. Trying to help those kids and finding something like that…", she said as she walked ahead. "Honestly… I don't know what's up with her these past few days but…".

The wind blew past in the middle of both of them, showing the gap between the Blue Rose duo. After that, there was complete silence and Daisy took another few steps forward to go back to where Anna's stall was.

"Daisy, I'm sorry…", Emilia said. Her voice started to turn into a whimper ever so slightly but the teen in front of her didn't notice it as she took another step ahead.

"Come on, Emilia. We have a mission to focus on, as you said…", she said with a sigh.

Suddenly, as if time had stopped and nothing else mattered apart from the two Blue Rose Knights, four words were spoken from Emilia's mouth which changed everything that Daisy was feeling. It was like the silence that came after was akin to a chilling stab to Daisy's chest, goosebumps covering her arms and neck.

"My mother is dying…".

Daisy turned her head around immediately, her expression turning into one of complete shock and then one of pure sadness. Instead of seeing Emilia through her blue and violet-tinted eyes in front of her, she saw a short memory from seven years ago.

A small, nine-year-old Daisy was barefoot in the middle of her house. Behind her, a group of three bandits were running away with bags of jewellery in their hands. As she turned around, she saw the dead body of her mother, lying on the floor with blood all over the ground.

Daisy shook her head very quickly to stop seeing that past memory. Quickly, she ran to the crying Emilia and hugged her, trying to console her.

"E-Emilia, wh-what do you mean, what happened?" Daisy held on to Emilia's shoulders.

Emilia's purple eyes were dark and gloomy with tears pouring down from them, staining the stone floor beneath her. She started breathing heavily and lost her balance so she sat down the steps that Daisy was sat at previously.

Shaking her head and simultaneously wiping her tears, though it was useless as they kept coming, Emilia tried to reply to her friend.

"M-M-My mother…", she took a deep breath before continuing. "I was visiting home when…",

FLASHBACK – TWO WEEKS AGO:

"I'm hooome!" Emilia flung the brown, double doors wide open. The 17-year-old Magic Knight had just ran up the stone and marble stairs, ready to see her parents again for the first time in what seemed like ages.

Her house was located in the Noble Realm and, though her family wasn't of major importance when it came to the general makeup of nobles, their house was still really big suggesting they were completely fine with how they were.

The doors were located in the middle and they were attached to clean, grey stone that stretched quite far across horizontally. After every few layers, there were glass panes that allowed sunlight to pass through, giving the inside of the building some natural light. The house was three storeys so the general pattern repeated itself going upwards and there was also a wooden roof reinforced with more stone to give it strength.

Emilia walked through and looked around the living room but noticed a few things that were quite odd. The fireplace was on but, considering it was a warm afternoon, it didn't seem like it was needed. Other than that, food was out on the dinner table in the next room and it had gotten cold.

"Hm? That's odd", Emilia thought as she looked around each room. "Did Mom get ill again? But… even if that was the case, she'd never leave things like this".

After looking around everywhere on the ground floor she ran upstairs and straight towards her parents' bedroom.

Emilia, flinging the door open and not really focusing, started moaning. "Mooom, what are you doing leaving everything like that in the living room and dining room? How many times do I have to tell you to…", she stopped as she saw a large, brown bag with a metal handle by the side of the door, next to the wall with flower-patterned wallpaper going across.

Her purple eyes saw that the bag was open and it had all sorts of medical equipment inside. Slowly, she raised her eyes and her head and saw that her mother was laying in her large, king-sized bed, completely still.

"Mom!" Emilia shouted as she jumped across from where the door was.

Her mother had tubes going in and out of her body, most notably her stomach. She felt cold to the touch and the only warmth she could feel was through her staggered breaths. As Emilia raised her head, she felt someone's gentle hand over her left shoulder.

The mage turned and saw a tall, middle-aged man with short, spiky-grey hair. He was wearing glasses which covered his green eyes. He was wearing a white, doctor's coat over his light-grey tunic and also had dark-blue trousers on with light-brown and white boots.

"Doctor Owen, wh-what happened…?" She gulped, her face pale with worry.

"Emilia… you know Faith, your mother… her health has been getting worse and worse these past few months. Your father rushed to get me since Faith completely collapsed in the morning. After some tests, I've found that her illness of the stomach… it's fatal", Owen explained.

"F-F-Fatal…?" Emilia stuttered as she couldn't believe it. Her own mother was in this state right in front of her. "So, you can't do anything…?"

"Unfortunately, this is out of my control. All I can do is soothe the pain which is why she's asleep. Just being awake was hard enough on her", Owen said with a soft voice.

Emilia turned her head back to look at her sleeping mother. "What about Father? And where are the maids?"

"They've all been visiting different markets and pharmacies to get food, drink, and medicine that I asked them to. They're all trying their best but…", Owen said but was cut off.

"… It's only a matter of time…?" Emilia finished the sentence, tears starting to fall and stain her Magic Knight's robe.

FLASHBACK – END

More silence filled the area around the two teenagers. Emilia had barely stopped crying whilst Daisy was sat next to her, shocked.

"I… never knew. Did the Captain know about all this?" Daisy said, wrapping her right arm around Emilia's shoulder, pulling her in for a hug.

The Psychic Magic user shook her head. "No, she didn't know. I thought about telling her but I thought it'd only get in the way… I didn't want to be a burden".

"Get in the way? A burden? No way that would ever be the case! We would all understand, especially me! Things like this…". Daisy put her right hand over her heart, giving a little smile.

Slowly, the Ice mage stood up and walked a few steps in front of her friend and turned around. "I'll always be here for you. I'm sure… we can find something to help!" She said passionately, raising both of her hands and forming them into fists. Then, she took out the cylindrical case of medicine and shook it in front of her. "Hey, why don't we get to the bottom of this and then we go and talk to the Captain, together?"

Emilia raised her head and wiped the last of her tears away with the sleeves of her beige top. "Together? I c-can't burden you with-", she tried to say but when she looked at the pouting Daisy, she stopped.

Reaching out her hand, Daisy smiled toothily at her. However, when she did extend her hand, it was the one with the medicine and with a quick, black flash, it was taken from her hand.

"Hey, what the?!" Daisy shouted as she turned around.

Emilia got up and stood beside her. The two saw a little boy wearing a black hood running as quickly as he could towards the buildings.

"Looks like we found our thief!" Daisy exclaimed. "Emi, you ready?" Daisy turned with a determined look.

"Huh, Emi? That's new…", she said as she smiled for the first time today. Though, she didn't have any more time to ponder the new name as the Ice mage had already took off in pursuit.

"Emi, huh?" Emilia thought for a second before following closely behind.

The thief had ran past the building with ease and reached the area where Anna's boarded up stall was.

"H-Hey, Magic Knights… it's him! The thief, he's here!" Anna shouted, standing up from her stool.

The two Blue Roses came into view a few seconds after with Daisy in front of Emilia. The two raised their arms as a signal to tell Anna that they were going to catch him.

"Yeah, we got this, Anna!" The two said in unison.

The thief was now near the dark alleyways opposite the tow of buildings that he had just ran through. He clutched the medicine in his hand and ran as fast as he could. First, he jumped over some barrels that were in the way and finally entered one of the passages, exiting both Daisy's and Emilia's view.

"Where… did he go?" Daisy said, almost out of breath. "Damn, I'm never usually tired like this. I guess I really got serious playing that game with those three kids…", she thought as she stopped running.

Emilia looked around as she recognised the area from when she was gathering information. She turned her head from left to right and saw the little girl she was speaking to earlier.

"Hey! Did you see that boy… did you see which alleyway he went in?" The Psychic mage asked quickly.

"Y-Yeah, he went… there!" The girl pointed and the two teens followed immediately.

"Oh, I see him… at the end, there!" Daisy pointed and ran ahead. "Ice Magic: Skater's Heaven!"

She jumped and span in the air, slamming down on the ground with her two feet, causing a sheet of ice to fill the narrow alleyway. Everything on the floor froze and the spell also caught the thief at the end. His feet were frozen in place and he had nowhere else to go.

The boy was panicking and then his hands started to glow a bright red colour. He bent down and touched the ice around his feet, melting it.

"Oh no, he has Flame Magic!" Daisy said, ready to use another spell.

"Careful, he's just a little kid!" Emilia shouted from behind.

"Gah! I know but he's gonna get away!" Daisy shook her head.

"I have an idea, just wait for my spell and then use Skater's Heaven again but on his feet…", she whispered.

The boy eventually broke free and started running further. However, Emilia was ready with her own magic.

Emilia's arms turned purple as they became enveloped in an aura. She pointed her arms towards the boy in front and then turned them so they were open-palmed. The mage made her fingers motion as if to say, 'come here'.

"Psychic Magic: Telekinetic Warp!"

The target also turned purple and he teleported right in front of Emilia. He was so disorientated that he tumbled down onto the ground.

"H-Huh, wh-wh-what was that…?" He stuttered.

"Ice Magic: Skater's Heaven", Daisy said calmly as she lightly tapped the floor. More ice formed around the boy's feet and now he was definitely trapped.

"M-Magic Knights? No, you d-don't understand!" The boy waved his arms above his head with his eyes closed.

Daisy and Emilia looked at each other and sighed. The two mages stood in front of the little boy and looked down at him.

"Then help us understand". Daisy said, lightly tapping the boy's black hair with the side of her hand.

"What's with all the thefts?" Emilia asked, arms crossed.

The boy was hesitant to reply. He just had his head in his hands whilst sat on the floor.

With a little sigh, Daisy bent down and put her right hand on his left shoulder. "First of all, what's your name?"

No response.

"Oh, come on…", Daisy slowly leaned in closer and closer. Her eyes were staring into the boy's.

"Stop it, Daisy. You're scaring him", Emilia said as she shook her head.

"Hm, am I? Come on, kid… you look like a Connor?" Daisy asked.

No response.

"What about… a Patrick?" Daisy leaned in ever closer.

No response.

"Oh, I know… you're an Ethan!" She backed away, her hands on her hips as if she'd done something amazing.

"You can't be serious right now…", Emilia rolled her eyes.

However, in the second that they focused back on the boy, he reacted ever so slightly to Daisy.

"Aha, yes! You're Ethan, right? I knew it!" Daisy jumped up and down, her eyes becoming black and white sparkles.

The boy sighed. "… Took you three tries, though…". Quickly after he spoke, he covered his mouth but it was too late.

A long pause occurred after this and when the two Blue Rose Knights exchanged looks, they realised that he said something.

"He finally spoke!"

"So, Ethan, can you tell us why you're doing all this?" Emilia asked.

A few seconds went past but he answered in the end.

"My mother… she's quite ill and I… just wanted to help her however I could", Ethan said with a frown.

Emilia's purple eyes widened and her mouth opened as she gasped. She and Daisy turned to look at each other. The two situations were really quite similar it seemed like and this put their role as a Magic Knight on some sticky territory.

"If there was any other Magic Knight, bar a few, then the boy would be punished but with us two here…", Daisy thought as she crossed her arms.

With a heavy sigh, Emilia started speaking. "Daisy, undo your magic, please".

"Yeah, yeah", Daisy waved her instruction away as she knew what was coming. Quickly, her Ice Magic went away and the boy was free from its grasp.

"You're… letting me go? Ethan said, his head raised and looking surprised.

Emilia put her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Letting you go? No, you committed a few crimes around here but…", she sighed deeply. "… I'll talk to my Captain about this situation of yours and see if your punishment can be reduced".

The black-haired boy's face was still one that was scared but he nodded as if he accepted what the consequence was.

"Yeah, you'll only be imprisoned for five years instead of six", Daisy added, giggling as she covered her mouth.

"HUH?!" The boy shouted.

"Daisy!" She face-palmed. "Don't listen to her, she's just teasing. It's true that petty theft isn't that big of a crime but considering Kiten is a border town and the implications a crime like this can have – potential Diamond Kingdom invasion and whatnot – it's usually much more serious. But, then I believe context matters which brings me to my next point".

"Yeah, sure Emilia... the kid will be fine considering you're on the case", Daisy smiled, crossing her arms.

"Next point?" The boy replied to Emilia, easing up.

"Where's your mother? Emilia asked, taking a step forwards. "We'd like to see what's up with our own eyes, please".

"Um… she doesn't really like visitors and our place is kinda messy right now", the boy hesitated. Thinking about it for a few seconds and twirling his fingers, he reached a compromise. "I'll take one of you if that's okay…".

"That's fine", she turned to face the Ice mage who was leaning against a stone wall by the side. "I can go, considering this is… important to me as well".

"Yeah, sure. I'll be out here waiting for you, Emi", she winked.

"There's that name again", Emilia smiled. She started to walk alongside the boy who was directing her but then stopped. "Actually, Ethan. That medicine you stole from that girl… and then from us… we need it back since someone else is suffering as well".

"But…", the boy fiddled around with the case of pills.

"Do you know your mother's illness?" Emilia asked.

"N-No…", Ethan shied away.

"Then any old medicine might not be the best thing. It could actually make her feel worse". Emilia then brought out her hand and Ethan, taking a few seconds to think about it, gave it to her.

The duo then started to walk off but not before Emilia turned her body to throw the medicine at Daisy who caught it. "The girl should be around the entrance of the alleyway!"

"Hmph, look at you acting all cool. But I guess it's much better when you look happy like that, Emi", Daisy smiled as she thought back to Emilia throwing the medicine at her. Eventually, she reached the end of the dark alleyway.

She looked around and immediately, to the left of her, was the girl sat on a little bench, kicking her feet up in the air.

"Hey there. I got your medicine!" Daisy handed it over to which the girl jumped up and smiled.

"Thank you, Miss. Oh, and thanks to the other Magic Knight as well!" The girl said as she ran away into the house next to her.

After this, Daisy walked around for the next few minutes. Her head was looking up at the sky but not really focusing on much.

"What an interesting day that was and it's far from over yet. Working something out with that boy and his punishment… Oh, who am I kidding? There'll be nothing like that for him. Emi just wanted to look serious in front of him, besides, Captain Charlotte will understand as long as the people who've been effected are compensated which means…", her eyes widened as she realised something.

"Our Magic Knights pay will go to helping people like Anna", she sighed but smiled in tandem. "Oh, well, at least the people will be happy", she said to herself.

"What should I do for the time being? Oh, maybe I'll find those kids and play Kick-and-Score again… the name needs a bit of work but… Though, I should probbaly speak to Anna first and tell her everything is sorted". However, as she closed her eyes again, she felt a sudden shift in the air which made her stop her train of thought. Opening her eyes again, slowly, she saw the sky darken and then light up a bright red colour.

Out of the blue, a barrage of large fireballs covered the area where Daisy was walking and it looked like a burning meteor shower was raining down from the heavens.

"HUH? WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?!" Daisy shouted, realising she was going to be hit. "Why was I so distracted?!"

In the distance, she saw a large group of Guard mages up near the walls of the lookout tower. It looked like they were shouting and panicking but Daisy couldn't make out the reasoning for it. Though, actually she could, in her own mind, considering she was moments from being engulfed by the falling flames.

Daisy prepared her body for impact from the flaming fireballs and closed her eyes. All she could do in the seconds between was to reinforce her body with her Ice Magic to offer some sort of protective coat. However, as she awaited the hit from them, they never came down.

"Light Binding Magic: Coils of Trapped Light!"

The Blue Rose Knight opened their eyes but quickly closed them again as she saw the sky shine a bright, yellow light. Slowly, she opened them and turned to see who casted the spell, though hearing the voice that saved her gave her a good enough clue. It was like a mirrored situation from when she saved a certain someone during the zombie invasion. The light subsided as the bound, flaming fireballs were thrown back to whoever casted them in the first place.

"Of course, it was you!" Daisy smiled as she saw the Magic Knight above her, flying on a broomstick.

"Hello there, Daisy! We've got to stop meeting like this!"

Lucas smiled as he waved at her.

NOTES:

The chapter became a lot longer than I had originally planned for it but it's fine. I liked including everything that I did and don't worry, more will be explained next chapter like the deal with Emilia and how Lucas got here. Though, you guys can guess since in the canon, the Golden Dawn also arrive in Kiten :).