Chapter 3-The Archmagi's Failure
Morning had come. Aru was at Julia's front door, about to knock….if only he knew what to say.
"Oh, what about: Hey, sorry for yesterday. That Black Mamba person was really crazy, wasn't she? No, that won't do." He paused for a while thinking of what to say to her, it had to be meaningful. After all, they had their first kiss last night.
"What if I said—" The door swung open. Inside was a confused Julia, who probably thought to herself, "Who is Aru talking to?"
"Aru?"
Aru stopped talking to himself.
"Oh…hi! Julia!"
"Listen, I'm sorry—" They both uttered in unison.
"You go first." Julia suggested.
"No. You." Aru, in turn, replied.
"—about yesterday—" They once again said in unison.
"—Look, I'm really sorry." Aru said, feeling very solemn inside.
"I am too." Julia said as she went over to Aru and gave him a warm hug. Aru couldn't support her weight and they tumbled on the floor. Their position was rather erotic: Julia on top of Aru, whose legs were between Julia's.
Behind, Aru could see what was inside Julia's house. Usually, whenever he came, his brothers would be taunting him. There was no sign of life inside. It was all quiet.
"Say, where are your brothers and parents?"
"Oh….they went on a holiday to Glast Heim." A sweat drop trickled down her face as she stood up and helped Aru get up.
"I know….of all places, why Glast Heim? I knew it was dangerous, so I stayed here."
"Then you're all alone here?"
"Not exactly. I'm leaving the house too. Mom sa—"
"Then where are you going?"
"…"
"Okay, okay, finish your sentence."
"Mom said I should stay with you since she found out Phoenix went to Payon to do something."
"S-Stay at m-my house?" Aru said, his cheeks burning at the moment. He imagined the possibilities if Julia were to stay there even one night.
"(No. Get those thoughts out of my mind!)" Aru thought to himself.
"Aru? Are…you okay with that?" Julia asked.
"Oh, I'm kinda going to Payon. I have to do the 46, 000-word essay, remember?"
"Oh. Good. That beats Glast heim anytime!"
"Y-You're coming?"
"Yes! Already have my stuff packed!"
"This Sephiroth network thing is more complex than it looks! I'm impressed!" Black Mamba chuckled. "Let's see…what if I—"
She stopped. A flora had just emerged from her back, and was about to eat her cloak when she summoned a demon, and the monsters engaged in a battle.
"Well….you're one pretty skilled Alchemist!"
"Pfh! Whatever!" The mysterious alchemist said as he extinguished the flames of his cigarette.
"It's gonna be fun taking you out."
"Well? Shall we go?" Julia asked as Aru closed the small bag he had, which contained his clothes and other essentials.
"Yeah. Sure."
They both went out the door while Aru locked the door. Julia saw a Kafra stand nearby. She signaled Aru and got two tickets to Payon. She went over to the Geffen network, where the different channels stand, leading to different networks.
Aru saw the words, "Exodus Network" above one of the platforms so he grabbed Julia's hand and pulled her to the platform. The Channel's doors opened and they stepped in.
"The Exodus Channel will depart soon. Please board the channel." The Kafra announced.
Channels are vehicles that let you travel through Alchemy's different networks and bring you to the different databases of Alchemy, but in the Exodus Network's case, brings you to different parts of Midgard.
"Have a safe trip!"
"M'lord Zane. Why have you summoned us?"
"Yes. You are the finest magus in Geffen, hence the term, Archmagus. We need all of your magic to cast an enchantment cascade around Midgard, as the Queen has ordered."
The archmagi all gathered around in a circle, knowing exactly what to do. The highest ranking mage of the Aduro Phasmatis, Zane Valentine, drew Geffen's symbol on the floor: a circle with a spider's web and a triangle: symbolizing the Arcane Tower.
"Here we go."
"Hey, have you ever been on a channel before?"
"No. Like I said last night: All I've seen is Geffen and it's surroundings."
Outside the window, they could see they were in the only database the Exodus network had. From the perception of the human eyes, it looked oddly like a trench underwater.
"ARU! I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!" Julia said. She was now crying and lying down on Aru's chest.
Aru comforted her by just letting her lie down on her chest.
"It's alright. I'm here."
"Era-sum E-rasum Erasum Erasum Er-asum" The archmagi chanted. The symbol started to glow a fluorescent green. It was working.
The chanting stopped. The glowing faded. They would now know if their spell was successful. A strong gust of wind blew inside the sealed room.
"Who cast that spell?"
No one replied.
"Who cast the wind spell?"
"M'lord. No one cast it." One of the members said.
"Then I am afraid we have failed, although the side-effects of our action, even I do not know."
The channel stopped in the middle of the trench.
"W-What happened?" Julia asked as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.
"The channel just stopped. No big deal." Aru said. This made Julia feel even worse.
Aru could now see the fear Julia had inside. She really was scared of heights.
Aru just hugged her very hard, as she did for him. He then kissed her lightly on the cheek and said, "It's alright. Your boyfriend is here."
Aru could sense that that made Julia's fear lighter. The P.A. system rang and the same Kafra's voice went through.
"Announcement—"
The whole channel stopped talking.
"The archmagi were able to cast an enchantment cascade around Midgard, but the side-effect of this is that demons now roam the land. As you may know, Midgard's magic is going haywire, so the Aduro Phasmatis had to step in."
"Hey, aren't you a part of that?" Julia asked.
"Yes."
"Their solution was an enchantment cascade to prevent anyone from casting, but they failed miserably. Although the cascade was formed, demons roam the land, as I have said earlier, and messed with the Exodus Network. Other Networks have not been discovered by the demons. It will only be a matter of time before we can get out. Please stay calm. Thank you."
Panic ensued in the channel.
"We're going to die? I cannot die at the hands of a demon!" One of the men said.
"Listen, Julia. I know a way out."
"You want us to jump down, don't you?"
"Y-Yes."
Julia was very, VERY hesitant. As if being on a channel in the middle of a trench with demons all over wasn't enough!
"It's the only way. Unless you wanna be devoured by—"
"D-DEVOURED? Heck, I'd rather jump down."
"(That's a lot better now)" Aru thought to himself. "Let's go!"
Aru and Julia went over to one of the doors and opened it. They both jumped down.
"Those two are crazy!" One of the women bellowed.
Julia felt very uneasy. She never really liked the feeling one gets when one is falling, not that she ever did from that height. Aru's expression showed a scared look.
"That was just a theory, wasn't it?" Julia said, now clinging even harder to Aru.
"Yes. Hopefully, my instincts were right."
"Umm……Aru? If we die, I just wanted to say I love you." Julia said as she quickly kissed him on the lips. The second kiss.
"We'll get through this…..we will."
"You're a pretty good fighter yourself! What's your name?" Black Mamba said as she wiped off the dust from her clothes.
"The most basic rule in fighting: never let your guard down!" The alchemist said. His skin peeled and revealed a snake.
"Black Mamba, the snake." The alchemist, who was now behind her, whispered to her ear.
"Hmph!" She said as she dodged the snake with ease. She then conjured negative energy, and summoned a gravitational distort in the snake, leaving only the bones and eyes. With a snap of her finger, the snake's eyes glowed red.
"Yes. Black Mamba the snake." She chuckled a while, then pointed at the alchemist. "…….and the bane chick!"
The skeletal snake bit the alchemist. He drew out a bottle, possibly anti-venom, but as he did, Black Mamba turned into black mist.
"Awww……wittle alchemist gawt poisoned?" She said as the mist turned into her form again and touched his cheeks.
He tried to slap her, but she turned into mist once more, only this time, the mist disappeared for good.
"I'll leave you and snake-y here to bond! Catch you later, sugar!"
"Damn that bitch!"