Chapter 67: It's Official

A Day Before Meeting in Kiten…

The morning sunlight was shining through the two, large glass windows that overlooked a brown desk towards the back of the room. There were a stack of papers on the right-hand side with some ink on the left, ready to be written with.

The walls were light-brown which contrasted with the desk's darker-brown colour. On the ceiling, there was a small chandelier hanging down which had a magic item in the middle, ready to be activated to light up the room during the night.

William Vangeance, the Captain of the Golden Dawn sat behind the desk and standing opposite him was Langris Vaude, the Vice-Captain.

"Did you need something, Langris?" William asked as he dipped his quill in the ink on the left.

"Yes, Captain", he bowed. "It isn't too important but it's about the rookies, Lucas and Yuno. They're due for a promotion in the ranks and you know what that means".

William stopped righting and lifted his masked gaze to look at Langris. "Not important?" He repeated as he sighed. "I believe it is important but I do know how you feel about them, Yuno in particular. I only ask that you try and treat them well".

Langris's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly but the man in front of him didn't notice. "Yes, of course", he replied.

The first paper on the stack next to him was done with and he put it in front of him. He leaned back in his chair and spoke to Langris again. "You're on about the squad uniforms, right?"

"Yes. Though, I wouldn't mind seeing those two in their… um, own clothing, it's probably best for our squad in the long run to give them what they're owed. That way we can actually look like a proper squad when those two are with the rest of us", Langris replied. He averted his aquamarine eyes towards the ground. "Wouldn't want the rest of the kingdom looking down on us…", he thought.

"Agreed. Actually, I was going to give them their uniform tomorrow anyway but now that you've mentioned it, can you ask Melody to bring them tomorrow? Her room is near where we keep storage, but I'm a bit busy right now. We can also do our afternoon briefing and promote the two there", the captain said.

Langris's face turned into one of surprise at the mention of Melody. "Captain, are you sure we should ask Melody Schubert? She's a bit… weird, no?" The vice-captain said as he composed himself again.

"Oh, nonsense. Melody is one of our key members in the squad. You know how good of a Magic Knight she is, right? A lot of people have only the best things to say about her", William said with a smile to his face.

Langris however did not share the same feeling. "She doesn't really talk to anyone though. The only person that I've seen have a conversation with her is Mimosa but then again… that girl can talk to anyone", he shrugged his shoulders.

"Look, I understand that Melody isn't the best around others but that's why I want her more involved with the squad. Just talk to her and I'm sure it will be fine". Vangeance then took some more paper off the stack on the right and got to work.

Langris bowed once again and left the room. He stood still outside the door and shook his head, sighing as he realised what he was asked to do.

"I guess I'll see how this goes tomorrow…", he thought to himself as he exited the building.

The Next Day…

Lucas was sat at the end of his bed, bent down, as he put his light-brown boots on. Then, he stood up and looked at his own reflection against the window to his left.

He was wearing a dark-blue, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black trousers that stopped just above his ankles. He kicked the front end of his boots into the ground to make sure they were on properly.

"Looks like I'm ready for the day".

The Dual mage had a bit of a lie in today as the Captain's usual morning briefing had moved to the afternoon for some reason. The past few days were a bit of a whirlwind for the teen who housed two magical attributes. After the Forgotten Forest, he had a few days of rest, then went on a few missions, and then had a day to himself where he visited his family back in Hoffvol.

"I wonder if I'll get sent on a mission today? I'm itching for one right now!" He thought as he rolled his hands into fists, showing his eagerness.

As he was about to open the golden-wood door to go to the common room, he stopped as he instinctively reached into his grimoire satchel to check if everything was there.

"Hm, what's this?" He thought as he felt something other than his grimoire. He took his left hand out and saw that it was the silver-chained bracelet that he had bought to give Daisy during their time in Nean. "Ah, there's that little scratch across the crystal gemstone…". He slowly twirled it along his fingers.

"Oh well, I think she'll still accept it, right?" He questioned himself as he tilted his head, staring at the present. "I'll definitely give it to her next time I see her but for now… I'll put it away". Lucas walked over to his drawer and put the bracelet in carefully before opening the door to head outside.

The Light mage was walking towards the common room by himself. To the left of him were the rooms of other Golden Dawn members and to the right was the large courtyard with the flowing water fountain right in the middle of it with a set of four benches scattered around it.

A few seconds went past and then Lucas stopped in his tracks as he heard something coming from the right.

"Is that… music? It sound so – so peaceful". He looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. However, as he walked closer towards the water fountain, the harmonious music got slightly louder. He didn't even think to use Ki to find the source as he was so entranced by the sounds in front of him. "I'm getting closer but I can't see where it's coming from exactl-!"

He stopped himself from taking another step as he saw the top of someone's head laying against the grass on the edge of the courtyard. He hid behind a large bush that was covered in red and yellow flowers.

The music continued but at a louder tone this time, yet it was still being played as beautifully as before. The stranger in question was holding a violin and her fingers were gracing its strings with ease, all the while being able to produce wonderful, melodic music with it.

"My music – it's perfect… just as it should be", she said to herself as she smiled.

"Who's that? I've never seen her before", Lucas wondered. "Actually, why am I hiding? I don't exactly have a problem with talking to others anymore…", he face-plamed.

The young lady looked to only be a bit older than Lucas. She was wearing the official uniform of the Golden Dawn so was very clearly in the same squad as him. Yet, this was the first time Lucas had ever seen her in the few months he had been at the Golden Dawn. Though, instead of wearing the squad's usual, white trousers, she opted for a white skirt that went just below her knees with a pair of cream-coloured shoes with fluffy, white brims on the top.

Slowly, the stranger set aside the violin and looked up to the sky, reaching out.

"If I keep playing perfectly, then we can do anything", she smiled as her orange eyes gazed at the clouds. She had long, flowing purple hair that was braided into two pigtails with a musical note-shaped hairpin near the front of her head. She touched the sapphire-jewelled ring she had on her right index finger, spinning it.

Lucas slowly stood up and was about to introduce himself since he felt like hiding and watching someone was slightly odd. However, as he was about to, he heard footsteps coming towards the violinist and subconsciously stayed where he was.

Right before the footsteps reached Melody, she had started playing her instrument once again. It was the same with it sounding like she was a professional, though, when the person that approached her started talking, it went all wrong.

"There you are, Melody. I've been looking everywhere for you".

The person was Langris and he had an annoyed expression to him. He stood still in silence after he spoke but Melody didn't react in the best way.

It looked like her skin turned blue as she froze in fear. Her lip quivered but her fingers were still moving along the violin. The music had quickly turned from something beautiful into complete horror as she plucked the strings apart. Lucas and Langris both held their ears as the deafening scratches of the musical instrument was piercing into their heads.

"Melody! M-Melody, stop it!" Langris shouted. He wasn't even being rude as he usually was. He just didn't want his ears to fall off. Thankfully, the violinist eventually obliged.

"V-V-Vice-Captain… h-h-how did you find m-me?" Melody stuttered as she tried to respond. Her hands had instinctively started to fidget around with her sapphire ring.

"I went by your room but you weren't there. Mimosa was walking by and I asked her and she said you'd probably be here, at the end of the courtyard", the Spatial mage said, still checking if his hearing was still intact.

"O-Oh, Mimosa. Yes, I think I told her that… I like to come here s-sometimes…". She tried to smile but her face kept reverting back into one of fear. She was sweating a lot and even some droplets fell onto the grassy floor.

"Why is she so nervous around others… it's so annoying", Langris thought as he shook his head. "Anyway, the captain wants your help to bring in the squad uniforms to the afternoon briefing which is in about 10 minutes", he said as he started to walk off.

Suddenly, Melody stood up and raised her voice ever so slightly. "A-Afternoon b-b-briefing?! H-Hang on… I d-don't usually attend them!"

"You don't?" Langris said snidely as he kept walking, not turning his head around to look at her. "Well, things are changing so you'd do well to listen", he chuckled.

As he was further away, he finally stopped and turned around, earning a scared jump from Melody as it seemed like he was staring at her.

"Oh, and you can stop hiding back there, Lucas. I could see your ginger hair from a mile away", he shouted before finally disappearing into the main building.

This caused both Lucas and Melody to jump. The former left his hiding spot and greeted the lady with the damaged violin in her hands.

"H-Hi, Melody", he waved awkwardly. "I'm Lucas but I guess you already heard that from the vice-captain. I didn't mean to hide from you but I heard someone playing music and wanted to see who it was. It was really nice… Oh, nice to meet you, by the way", he said as he extended his hand to shake.

Although Lucas didn't mean anything bad, it seemed like Melody took it in the worst way possible as she just ran away in the direction that Langris had gone a few seconds ago.

"Oh… I didn't mean to scare her", Lucas said to himself as he saw her silhouette disappear. "Was I like that when I was scared around others?"

After that whole awkward interaction, Lucas made his way to the common room where everyone had already gathered. Most of the Golden Dawn were at the bottom of the large staircase, kneeling on one knee as they waited to be briefed for the rest of the day ahead.

With a whisper, "hey, Lucas… where have you been? You're never late to these briefings!" Mimosa said on the left of the teen.

"Hi, Mimosa. I was in the courtyard actually. Um, you know Melody, right?" Lucas whispered back. He looked around but didn't see the peculiar member and wondered where she was.

"Oh yeah, Melody! Have you met h-!" Mimosa tried to reply but was interrupted by Yuno who was on Lucas's right-hand side.

"You two, be quiet. I'm sure you don't want to annoy the Vice-Captain. Look up there…", Yuno eyed and the other two followed, stopping their conversation.

There was silence as the sound of two pairs of footsteps rung throughout the place. Everyone set their eyes above and ahead and saw that the Captain and the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn were standing at the top of the staircase, with the large, glass, mosaic of the squad's logo – the Golden Dawn – right behind them with the shining, afternoon sun illuminating it.

"Good afternoon, everyone", William addressed with an authoritative voice. "It's a bit of an odd one today with a briefing at this time. I must apologise since I've been so busy since coming back from the Forgotten Forest", he smiled. "Though, to lighten up the mood and to do something that's been long since coming…", William finished.

"Lucas and Yuno". Langris called for the two mages that were next to each other, earning an intrigued look from the latter, whilst getting a surprised one from the former. "Stand up and come to the end of the staircase".

The two mages stood up and walked up just as the brown-haired vice-captain instructed. Lucas gulped as he didn't know what to expect but the words that came out of Langris's mouth made both mages smile.

"The two show offs. I've heard that your exploits in the Forgotten Forest were not to be taken lightly so… the both of you have been promoted to the rank of 5th Class Intermediate Magic Knight".

Lucas's face turned into that of complete joy. His smile looked like it was as bright as the sun that was shining from behind the World Tree mage that was above them. Even Yuno smiled which was rare but this was a feat that earned such a thing.

Both mages looked at each other and nodded.

"We're getting closer!" The two of them said in unison.

"Yeah, yeah…", Langris said nonchalantly. "Closer to what?"

"Anyway, on top of that, the squad is receiving quite the large amount of stars from the Wizard King", the Vice-Captain added.

The rest of the Golden Dawn that were still kneeling began to clap quite loudly. David, Hamon, and Klaus were probably the loudest out of everyone, whilst Mimosa, Letoile, Shiren, and everyone else still made enough noise, albeit a little more controlled than the first three. Alecdora was at the front and his clapping barely made any noise but it was covered by everyone else's so no one noticed.

"Congratulations, you two!" Mimosa said with a cheery look. "You're the same rank as me now!"

"You two have been ranking up quite quickly. I knew you could do it", Letoile said with more of a composed tone.

"Woohoo!" David and Hamon shouted as they clapped even loudly.

"Wait how many stars do we actually have in total?" David asked.

"Who knows? We get plenty of them so its hard to keep count", Hamon answered.

"Well done", Klaus said as he corrected his glasses. Though, it was mainly to hide the single, happy tear that fell from the Steel mage's magenta-coloured eyes.

Langris clapped the loudest but it wasn't really to praise them. It was to make enough noise so that everyone else would quieten down and it worked since the others stopped.

"Now that that's over…", Langris said under his breath. He turned his head to the back of the room and saw the large, double doors open slowly, revealing the silhouette of a person that he sighed at. "You're late, Melody", Langris sighed.

"Sorry!" The voice of a young lady rang out and everyone turned their gaze to see who it was.

The only Magic Knights that didn't really know the person were the promoted mages that were standing up. Everyone else recognised her but that didn't stop a few comments being made about the person that was quickly walking up.

"Hey, that's Melody, right?"

"Who knows? We might as well not know who she is since she doesn't talk to any of us".

"But you've heard what everyone says about her right? She's an ace when it comes to being a Magic Knight".

"Ha! I'll believe it when I see it".

Melody reached the bottom of the staircase and stood facing both Lucas and Yuno. She was smaller in height compared to both of them and was only a bit taller than Mimosa. In her hands, she had two see-through bags that showed two squad uniforms. However, the Dual mage and the Wind mage couldn't see them as she was using them to cover her face.

"Lucas, do you know her?" Yuno asked, slightly turning his head to face the mage next to him.

"Not really but her name's Melody. I saw her earlier today", Lucas replied.

To stop all the commotion, Captain Vangeance started to speak once again. He looked towards Melody and waved.

"Let's thank Melody Schubert for bringing in the squad uniforms", he said. William lowered his gaze and thought to himself. "Perhaps I should've thought a bit more on how Melody would act when everyone's staring at her…". Quickly, he shook his head and returned to talking.

"Lucas and Yuno. Due to your promotion, you can now wear the official squad uniform of the Golden Dawn. I hope you two wear it with the pride of what this squad means!" He raised his voice and both of his arms, his cloak behind him rustling as he moved.

Melody quickly handed the packages to the two mages and went to leave the room. However, as she made a step towards the double doors, Langris stopped her.

"Not now, Melody. The captain has another announcement to end things off with", the Spatial mage said.

"O-Okay…", the purple-haired mage nodded.

Lucas had stars in his eyes as he looked at up and down at the uniform. It felt like it was smooth as silk, yet the material was strong.

"The squad uniform… just, wow!"

"To commemorate this promotion…", William added from above the stairs. As he was talking, he revealed a letter that he had in his hands, showing it to the rest of the squad that was there.

"We have a mission in Kiten. Why don't we break in those new clothes with a trip over there?" William proposed to which both Lucas and Yuno replied with;

"Yes, Sir!"

An hour or two had passed since the afternoon briefing and now the Golden Dawn were enroute towards Kiten, the town that had a history of problems with the Diamond Kingdom.

There were ten mages picked for this mission and the formation of the Magic Knights in the sky was somewhat that of a triangle. At the front was Captain Vangeance who was leading the mission with Vice-Captain Langris right behind him. Behind him was Alecdora and Shiren with Lucas, Yuno, and Mimosa behind them. At the back was the trio of Hamon, Klaus, and none other than Melody.

"There's a lot of us for this mission, huh?" Lucas said as he flew on his broomstick.

"There's only one more person compared to when we went to the Forgotten Forest", Yuno replied.

"Oh… uh, I guess you're right. I guess it's just been a while since I've had a mission with any of you lot", Lucas replied.

"The reason there's a lot of us is because the Diamond Kingdom really is no joke when it comes to their invasions. I'd assume there's plenty of them coming to Kiten", Klaus added from behind.

"Kiten is quite the area in itself, too", Shiren added from in front. "It serves as the front line of defence against any invasion from the Diamond Kingdom so we have Magic Knights constantly patrolling the place".

"Why is it that the Diamond Kingdom always want to attack?" Yuno asked.

"It's because of the town's natural resources. It was built on huge pockets of valuable minerals deep within the ground, as well as having the space for a lot of other things like farming and agriculture. It's all stuff that the Diamond Kingdom constantly need so you can see why we need to protect it", the Stone mage finished explaining.

"It's a shame that not everyone could come", Mimosa said, pouting.

David and Letoile were left behind at the squad's base for this mission. They had gone on a lot of missions coming up to this day so William thought it was best if they stayed back for this mission. Of course, this also meant that there was space for another mage to fill in.

All eyes fell on Melody who was straggling behind everyone but she didn't notice their gazes fall on her. She was in her own world but it was far from being surrounded in peace.

"Wh-what is the captain thinking? He knows I work better on my own… does he want me to get acquainted with the other members of the squad? Hm, I guess that could be the case but maybe he should've given me a patrol mission or something – not fighting against the Diamond Kingdom with everyone else! Hm, but then again, the captain always knows what's best for me. I just hope I can finish this quickly…", she thought to herself.

Without Melody noticing, Lucas slowed down a bit and flew right next to her. He waited for a few minutes before speaking since the last time he spoke to her was fresh in his mind and it wasn't really the best introduction to say the least.

"Hey, Melody", he said with a soft tone as he looked to the left of him.

Melody perked up and her orange eyes darted from Lucas to her broomstick underneath her. She took a deep breath and replied. This time, she didn't really have a place to run away to.

"H-Hi… um, Lucas, right?" Melody replied, smiling for the first time around someone today.

"Sorry about hiding from you earlier. I was just wondering about your music and when I wanted to introduce myself, the vice-captain showed up, haha". Lucas scratched the back of his neck as he smiled awkwardly with his eyes closed.

"No, it's fine", Melody replied, calmer than usual. "I shouldn't have ran away from you back then, it was rude. I'm just… it takes a while for me to g-get used to others", she smiled.

"I was like that too!" Lucas leaned forwards, getting excited. "Um… I hope we can be friends".

Melody leaned back and slightly away from the eager mage. "Friends?" She repeated as she thought about it. Her eyes darkened as she dropped her head to stare right down at the floor from above. It looked like she was muttering something to herself but, after a few seconds of pondering, and messing around with her ring, she nodded. "Okay… I think we can be friends".

After this, the two got speaking more with each other and it looked like Melody opened up easily once she got used to Lucas. They were smiling and the girl with orange eyes even laughed a little bit.

"Mimosa, what's the deal with her?" Yuno said as he looked back at the two mages talking.

"Oh, Melody? She's just extremely shy around others… but it looks like Lucas is just different. From the time I've known her, she's really only spoken to the captain and me so this is quite the surprise", Mimosa lightly tapped the side of her cheek as she was thinking back.

Yuno didn't really say anything, but just turned his head back around towards the front. That was when Bell materialised right out of his grimoire and sat on top of Mimosa's vermillion hair.

"What Yuno really wanted to know was how she is as a Magic Knight!" Bell stated with her hands on her hips. "Honestly, Yuno, learn to speak your mind!"

The Wind mage didn't respond but he turned his head even further away from the two so that they couldn't see his facial expression. Mimosa just laughed as she put her right hand to her mouth.

"You could've just said! Well, actually… hm…", the royal tilted her head in thought. "I don't actually know what she's like apart from what the rumours say".

"Rumours?" Bell repeated.

"Yeah, whenever she's sent on a mission she completes it with complete ease. I heard she arrested a group of 10 criminals all by herself once!" Mimosa answered. "And that's not the only thing about her, a lot of people say that she's a Magic Knight ace with complete mastery over her offence and defence!"

Yuno decided to get involved once again and he got closer to the royal. "An ace?" He looked back at the girl next to Lucas. "I'd like to see how strong she actually is with my own eyes", he thought as his golden-yellow eyes flared up.

The Golden Dawn saw Kiten in the horizon but there was something wrong as both William and Langris pointed out.

In the distance, outside the tall, stone towers and walls that surrounded the town, was a large army of Diamond Kingdom soldiers, all travelling through the air. A lot of them were using broomsticks or using their magic to fly through the air but the ones of importance were right at the front.

The one on the left was wearing all black and had a tall, top hat on and looked to be travelling on a slimy cloud of sorts. The other two were wearing Diamond Kingdom clothing and were travelling on a boar made of clay and a huge bird made of lightning.

"There's three of them, Captain", Langris said as his expression turned sour.

"Three of who?" Lucas asked.

"We've had run-ins with them before. Look closely and I'll point them out to you. There's Yagos, Brocks, and Lagus, three of the Eight Shining Generals". William's eyes strained as he looked at them.

"Eight Shining Generals?" Yuno repeated, asking for an explanation.

Klaus explained from behind them. "They're the equivalent of our Magic Knight Captains. Sometimes they have the same amount of power, though it can vary".

"In the name of the Magic Knights, do not allow them to invade our kingdom!"

A large group of Guard mages surrounded Kiten's outer walls and were floating high in the sky. They were wearing the robes of the Purple Orcas and the Green Praying Mantis and were ready to use their magic to defend the town.

That was when a large barrier suddenly formed around the entirety of Kiten, completely cutting off access to those who were outside it.

"This barrier is powered by 50 of us Magic Knights and it stops attacks from coming in, but also allows spells to leave from the inside!" One Guard mage shouted towards Lagus who was flying in place with a group of Diamond Kingdom soldiers surrounding him.

The Shining General replied but his tone sounded like he was unimpressed with what was going on. "Hmph. You think such a pathetic and ugly shield can stop the likes of me from entering? Look here, this is how you use magic…", he threatened as he raised his hand and his grimoire flickered through.

"Lightning Creation Magic: Thunderbird Warrior: Air-Splitting Magic Bow!" The man shouted as a large bow made out of blue lighting formed in front of him. He motioned his arm towards the barrier and six separate arrows fired out from the bow, breaking the barrier with ease.

In addition to the barrier being destroyed, the arrows destroyed some of the buildings underneath, screams coming from all around.

"They've already destroyed the barrier; we need to be quick!" Klaus shouted.

"Okay. Mimosa, get down there and see if anyone is injured. Due to Lagus's attack, we'll need you and your Recovery Magic to help".

"Yes, Sir!" Mimosa shouted, doing the Magic Knight salute.

"Klaus, Hamon, Shiren. You three work together to defeat the soldiers that were surrounding the Shining Generals. I assume it won't be a problem with your abilities".

"You got it!" The three of them replied together.

"Lucas and Yuno. Do the same as the other three but you can extend your range. Your magic has improved a lot so take out any enemy you see, restraining them in the process".

"We'll do it!" The two promoted rookies agreed.

"Melody. I want you on safety. There are sure to people down there that need a way to escape the area. You can do that, right?"

"I sure can!" Melody nodded.

"As for you, Langris. I don't need to tell you what to do… just don't go too crazy with your magic".

"Of course, Captain", Langris smirked.

William started flying all the way down at a high speed. "Everyone, lets get started!"

All of the mages went to do their assigned duties immediately and it looked like if they didn't hurry, a lot of Kiten would be destroyed.

"Now then… I guess I should get started as well then". Melody quickly descended and reached the ground, putting her broom away to the side.

Immediately, she saw people in trouble with a lot of them on the floor, wounds on their bodies and clothes all ruined from the Diamond Kingdom's attacks.

She ran towards a building that was cracking through the middle due to a stray magical spell that was coming from above. It looked like it was Water Magic with how droplets of water were falling from above despite there being no rain.

"Hey, are you alright?" Melody said as she kneeled down.

There was an old man that had sprained his ankle running away from the attacks. He was holding his foot which obviously didn't help when it came to escaping.

Melody helped him up and gave him her shoulder to use as support. "Listen, I'll take you to a safe place but I want you to stay there until everything is over, okay?"

The old man was shaking from fear but he nodded, agreeing with the purple-haired Magic Knight.

Melody took the man to a small alleyway and told him to stay put. Before leaving, she placed her hand on his shoulder and her orange eyes lit up as she summoned a spell.

"Sound Binding Magic: Vibrative Barrier", she said as a clear, spherical barrier appeared around the old man. It looked like it was beating, like a live heart, but it was just vibrating every few seconds.

Melody continued this sequence until she had cleared an entire street of injured people. They were all bunched up together at the alleyway and all of them had the barrier around them.

Suddenly, a lone Diamond Kingdom soldier descended from his broomstick and stood opposite Melody. He had a light-blue hood on with black robes covering the rest of his body.

"Oh, look at what I found – a lone Magic Knight protecting the people!" He laughed. The man formed a ball of hot water in his palms and shot it at the people that Melody was protecting. "Lets see if your magic can withstand mine!"

Melody didn't react at all as she kept staring at the enemy. The hot water created steam upon hitting the barrier but it couldn't get through. The Sound mage's barrier just vibrated as it stood strong in the face of the piping hot water.

"So, you're at least competent. Let me see how your body does against it!" He cackled as he shot another ball of hot water at Melody.

The Golden Dawn mage just closed her eyes and twisted her sapphire ring around.

"Let's go", she said softly.

Upon one full spin, the air around her seemed to shift. Melody's two pigtails were now both on one side and it looked like her hairstyle had changed for some reason. Though, the biggest difference was when she opened her eyes. They were no longer orange, but a bright, green colour.

"What the-?!" The enemy mage said as he was in disbelief with the sudden shift in the air.

Melody stepped forwards. "Haha, so you thought you could beat me with that inferior magic of yours?" She laughed as she put her hands on her hips. A large smile stretched across her face and her green eyes pierced into the enemy's eyes.

"Why don't I do the experimenting this time and see how long it takes to defeat you? My guess is one, maybe two seconds?" She chuckled.

Her shy and introverted personality seemed to be no more as she was now ready to fight. It looked like she was aggressive now and her taunting worked as the enemy charged forwards.

"Don't make fun of me! Hot Water Magic: Scalding Whip of the Seas!" The enemy formed a red-hot whip around both of his hands and flicked it at Melody. The whip snapped back and then forwards, creating a violent lash that was about hit Melody.

The Sound mage effortlessly jumped up to avoid the first hit of the whip, then bent down to avoid the second. She was effortlessly moving her body to dodge everything that came at her. After that, she took a step backwards and looked at the enemy mage.

"Huh, how did you do that?" He shouted.

"No time to explain. But can I see how my experiment fares?" Melody asked rhetorically as she was already on the move.

"Sound Magic: Destructive Round Beats!" Melody extended her arms forward and musical strings, that looked like they came from an instrument, surrounded the enemy. With a click of her fingers, they started producing devastating sounds which made the enemy drop on the floor and pass out as quickly as she thought it would.

"Hm, looks like it was only two seconds. Perfect… just as it should be", Melody said to herself.

A few seconds went by and Melody messed around with her ring again. The air around her shifted and her hair returned to how it was before with the two pigtails on either side, resting on her shoulders. Her eyes were now orange again and when she opened them, she took a deep breath.

"Phew…", she sighed.

The Sound mage bent down and restrained the enemy with the same spell she used to protect the people that were next to her. After that, she walked up to those same people and helped them escape the town.

Unfortunately, Kiten's magic barrier had been destroyed by Lagus but this also meant that Melody could enter and save these people. After a few minutes, she helped around 20 people leave the town and they stayed near a lake that was outside the town, towards the rest of the Clover Kingdom.

"Now that you guys are safe for now, let me heal those injuries of yours", Melody smiled as her grimoire opened to a page.

"Sound Recovery Magic: Instrumental Ripple...". Melody blew air from her lips and it surrounded each person who was injured. The air turned into a white glow of wind and started to vibrate and pulsate. After every few seconds, the wounds were starting to heal.

"Wow. You can attack and support with ease... Your magic is amazing, Miss". The old man commented, now able to walk and move well.

"Thanks...", Melody replied with a little blush. "Stay here for now until we clean up everything in there, okay?" The Sound mage instructed. "If anything happens, just shout. No matter how far I am, my magic around you will let me know of any changes".

That was the last thing Melody said before heading back into Kiten.

"Now, is there anyone else to help?"

Towards the edge of Kiten, things were a bit quieter compared to the inner streets. Thankfully, the Diamond Kingdom didn't attack this area so there wasn't much need to look for people to help around here.

Lucas looked around as he flew on his broomstick. "There's market stalls, parks, large buildings, but not much else when it comes to people in need. Maybe I'll join up with Yuno and help him since he stayed around the centre".

In the distance, near a market stall that looked like it was boarded up, Lucas saw someone floating in the air. They had a light-blue hood on with black robes which Lucas knew the meaning of. He had opened his grimoire and started generating magic.

Seeing this, the Light mage rushed over and tried his best to get there before the enemy could act. However, he was a fraction of a second late as they summoned a group of five, flaming fireballs in the sky, sending them down all at once.

Lucas looked down at the ground and saw the amount of people that just didn't notice what was going on. He saw kids playing with a ball to the right but they were far enough to not be hit which was a relief. Though, right below him, he saw someone that looked extremely familiar and she was panicking as she stared into the sky.

The Light mage's grimoire opened to a page and started glowing.

"Light Binding Magic: Coils of Trapped Light!" Thick strings of light surrounded each fireball and compressed them together. After a few seconds of doing so, the mage broke the fireballs with a squeeze of his hand, which his magic followed. Black ash and dust fell on the ground but it was fine as Lucas managed to save the street. He looked at the enemy that above and saw that her mouth was wide open, gasping. Lucas used this opportunity to restrain her with his Light Magic. It seemed a bit too easy for him but nevertheless, he stopped the enemy from attacking anymore. The Golden Dawn mage looked down and saw the person that he saved.

As Lucas descended, he waved at Daisy who was already smiling back at him.

"Hello there, Daisy! We've got to stop meeting like this!" He returned the gesture and waved.

Daisy saw Lucas land on the floor and ran up to him. The first thing she noticed was how different he looked and it was down to the new attire he was donning.

The Dual mage was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt with a high, blue collar that had gold-coloured trimmings around the edges. The shirt itself extended below the waist and also had another colour to it with white on the sides and red in the middle, with gold buttons along the sides and a singular trim all the way from top to bottom, which went all the way to his neck. The shirt's sleeves also had a red and blue pattern around the wrists with the gold trimmings in the middle of the two colours. His trousers were fully white and he also wore black boots that had golden-yellow trims along the edges. Around his neck, he wore the squad's signature robe which is also a hood when the time calls for it. It also covered the top part of his long, flowing, teal cloak which was open from the front but complete from the back. Finally, he wore a black belt around his wait with a gold-coloured belt buckle. This also connected to his grimoire satchel to the side.

"Wow, look at you, Lucas-san! I'm guessing a lot has happened!" Daisy smiled toothily.

NOTES:

Melody Schubert is an OC that was given to me by 'T.V. 2000'! I am quite excited for to write and characterise this OC as she's part of the Golden Dawn as well. I hope the introduction was good and we'll only see more of her going forwards.

We're finally back to the canon Black Clover events. It really has been a while so I'm happy to show you what I've got planned with Lucas and the others.

The official squad uniform is here! I don't think the series ever told us what rank the Magic Knights in the Golden Dawn had to be to receive the uniform since Yuno just appeared with it when we saw him in Kiten in the main story.