Yay, the start of a new arc! I just really perks me up inside. Although, there's not really much fighting starting until next chapter. This is more of a filler and pre-tournament chapter. Although we do get to see more of the rogues of chaos in this chapter.
I don't own MFB, and all OCs belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 9 The call of action
"So... Why did Chrona send us here to Prism again?"
"To observe the teams fighting in the tournament that's starts tomorrow. She gave us clear details not to pick fights with any of them till she gives the command."
"Gotcha."
Sora pinched the bridge of her nose as she and the other members of their group walked down the streets of the electric based kingdom, the sound of arguing in her ears. Two days earlier, Chrona had called for another meeting after receiving word on the progress of both Shiro and Noir under Caspian's eye, and after hearing of what was to come from the king of Obscure, the green haired woman had placed her in charge of a team that consisted of Hiram, Chaos, Shunjou, and herself as the leader.
Needless to say, she was not happy with having her sleeping time cut back because of the mission.
"Why did she have to put me in charge? This just completely gets in the way of everything I like to do," Sora complained as she twirled a lollipop in her mouth before continuing forward, the rest of her group following behind.
"If you're that against being in charge of this mission Sora, then give the position to someone who actually can lead," Shunjou spat as he brushed the hair out of his face, earning the attention of several women around them in the process, "For a person Chrona put in charge, you don't act like a leader."
"Yeah... No. If I did that, Chrona would not be happy. Besides, If you were in charge, you'd spend more time insulting us then actually allowing this mission to succeed." Shunjou glared at Sora, not happy with the fact that the young woman was right as she continued, "And no offense to you Chaos, but this is one mission that Chrona wants us to keep a level head on."
Chaos gave the younger woman a glare as Hiram stepped forward. "Well if that's the case, why don't you allow me to take the reins of this mission in your stead. I won't allow Chrona to blame you if you do. Besides, I'm sure that you'd like to relax a bit and watch for some of the birds in Prism, am I right?" The fire mage asked.
Sora thought for a bit as she swirled the lollipop in her mouth, before nodding. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. And I really do want to keep an eye out for some of the thunderbirds that are said to fly here during the spring," The younger girl smiled, allowing Hiram to take the lead.
"Hey, no fair! How come mister Politician's son gets to take the lead in this mission!?" Shunjou exclaimed, and his anger rose slightly as Sora gave him a lazy smirk.
"Because he's more mannered then you are on the subject of leadership. Besides, who am I to refuse an offer to allow me more time to watch for birds?"
"Alright, I'm all finished up with changing. Thank goodness it's warmer out, it's more restricting in winter gear than spring gear."
Lucas watched as Yukina ran over to their training area, his teammate dressed in a light green dress with a light blue vest and a lavender colored belt holding the ensemble of clothes together. The two paladins and their guards made up one of the eight teams that were competing tomorrow, and the four of them had made themselves welcome with training in a field outside of the castle walls. "No offense, but you look more like a healer in those clothes of yours than a fighter," the paladin of Ice pointed out.
"Oh, that's cause they are. While most people prefer heavy suits of armor in battle, Stratos warriors and mages prefer lighter clothing to prevent their movements from being restricted. You gotta be light on your feet if you need to take to the air." Yukina explained, and Lucas understood what she meant.
"So, any idea who we're facing against first tomorrow?" Wales asked.
"According to the databoards, Our opponent's team consists of Kyoya, Koji, Kana, and Ryuga. It's gonna be a tough first round, I'll say that."
Lucas nodded in agreement, looking a little uncomfortable. "Ryuga's gonna be more difficult for both me and Sophie. With his fire element, it's not exactly good for us in terms of advantages and disadvantages." the paladin of ice admitted.
A nod escaped Yukina. "I get that notion. Having Cryos blood is a double edged blade. That's partially where my skills come in for training today. Temperance style is the wind magic subcatagory of both manipulating and synchronizing with both the hot and cold air currents and the atmospheric pressure," The blue haired woman pointed out, "But It's not just Ryuga who's gonna be hard to face. After seeing that weapon of Koji's at the meeting a few days ago, he's the underdog of the team. The wild card."
"Right. With a new weapon in his arsenal, he might be able to do some damage even with ice and wind defenses," Lucas paused as he noticed the bag tied to Yukina's belt, "What's that bag for?"
"Oh this? It's where I keep a few of my back up supplies in case I'm low on magic for healing. Between Humid Upburst and Arctic Downcast, using them to change the temperature in the atmosphere around me in rapid succession can wear me down. That's why I trained myself to build on my magic reservoir. After all, It takes hard work to become a strong mage."
"Wait, so your wind magic is pressure based?" Sophie asked, earning a nod in return.
"Most people forget that air is pretty much an extention to wind, even though it's a different style. Hot and cold air pressure create storms."
Lucas paused as he ran over what Yukina just said, and from out of sight from his teammates, his eyes widened as a plan started to form in his head. Atmospheric pressure...
"Really. We're set to face my older sister in the first round? Awesome!"
Shiro felt his chest heave back and forth as he exchanged blows with his teammates, the young Princess of Amour moving back and forth dodging their attacks and and deflecting them with a magic attacks of her own. For a preteen princess just a few months shy of 13, she's got a lot of stamina and speed. And she uses that to her advantage! If a princess is good at fighting at the age of 12, what's her sister, the princess of Eterna's fighting skills like? The Stratos native thought as they trained in the forest in another area of the kingdom of Prism, before looking over at Amethysia, the reaper dodging her Paladin's attacks and countering with a few of her own.
A frown escaped the male as he recalled the conversation with the slightly older woman just a week ago...
"Noir Reaper is just an alias that I go by, Shiro Mizukami. Name's Amethysia Kagami Cosmina. And what I'm about to tell you is something very few people know of."
Shiro paused as he got comfortable in his chair, before the woman continued. "Many years ago, before the reign of King Caspian, there was a king known as the prince of misfortune, his life full of death and dispair as everyone close to him as affected by his bad luck."
"You're talking about the former king, Mitarai Cos-" Shiro cut himself as he realized the connection, "Wait a second! Are you saying that you are the daughter and true Crown Princess of Obscure!?"
"Shhh!" Amethysia/Noir place a hand over the other's mouth. "I can't let Caspian catch on! If he knows I'm alive then he'll consider me a threat to his reign and eliminate me!"
"Surely noted, milady. But if I must be sure of you're telling the truth, I must know one thing."
"Already know what you're gonna say kiddo." The older woman paused as she pulled out a dark purple amethyst sphere surrounded in an intricate spiral of obsidian and silver vines, "The crown jewel of my father's kingdom. My mother gave it to me when we heard the news of our father's assassination. She always knew Caspian was a threat to my father's position. But the problem is, we have no proof that he did it."
"Your mother?"
"The former princess of a kingdom outside of Trinity, known as the Kingdom of Fortuna. It's part of the land of Aether, a faraway continent that's full of magic and would probably take maybe a week by sea to get to. Fortuna is the kingdom of good luck, and humbled by my father's story, she came to live in Obscure to help balance the bad and good luck. That's where the Kagami part of my name is. Good and bad reflect each other like a mirror, if you get what I'm saying."
"I see. So I'm guessing that while you and your mother were visiting your mother's family in Fortuna, Caspian struck?"
"Give the boy a prize, he is quick to learn!" Amethysia joked, and Shiro was nearly taken aback by the other's sudden change in personality, "Ah, sorry. I forget you're so used to knowing me in my Noir act. I assure you I'm less heartless than what the others think. I just don't like being caught off guard, that's all."
"I-I can see that. Anyways, continue."
"Right. So if you might know, both of us arrived and ran into each other 7 years ago in Obscure. I had been sent there at the age of 13 to spy on the current king of Obscure, and when the time is right, expose him for who he truly is. But a spy needs to gain the trust of it's target, before it can learn the truth of the matter."
"But now someone knows. And you want me to help you in exposing him in exchange for you assisting me?"
"Exactly. You seem to have a bit more loyalty to Stratos than to Caspian due to the crown princess. And from what I heard, the queen of Cryos has her suspicions on my father's death as well. Not to mention Caspian's own sons in the crossfire of it all." Amethysia pointed out, and she placed her foot on the table, "So here's my proposal Kiddo. You help keep my facade up in this, and I'll assist your group in getting evidance to expose Caspian, not to mention keep the crown princess of Stratos from being hurt by her sister."
Shiro thought about it for a second before nodding, "On one condition."
"Name it kiddo."
"You should tell your Paladin what you told me as well, since she's on the same side as us."
"Good point. You have a deal kiddo."
"Hey kiddo, get your head out of the clouds!"
Shiro's inner thoughts were interupted by a blast of dark magic flying past him, and looked over to see Amethysia looking at him upside down from a branch. "Reflecting on the past week?" the reaper asked as she jumped down.
Needless to say, All three of them had a long discussion and talk about their plans. At the very least though, his worries about the supposed princess of Obscure targeting Yukina was easily put to rest. And despite the rocky revelation that had been revealed to him, Amethysia was at the very least a bit nicer to him. It still didn't stop the occasional bag of peanut brittle to be stolen from his room though.
"Yeah. It's a lot to take in to be honest." Shiro admitted as he tugged his shoulder-length hair back into a ponytail, "What I still don't get is how you manage to keep the illusion up for so long."
"My father's mother had Serene blood. She taught me at a young age that all psychic magic could be seperated into several parts. But I get what you mean. It takes a lot of magic, concentration, and mental stamina to keep a program like this going. But I managed to convince Caspian into thinking when I first came to Obscure that my true form is more of an awakened battle form." Amethysia explained, "Despite what it looks like though, psychic element isn't what I use. Darkness magic is something that I always have, since it's the first type of magic I awakened."
"Wait, how come you have two elements then?"
"Contrary to what people think, psychic elemented mages awaken differently compared to everyone else. You'd have to ask Ranmaru or the king of Serene on why it happens, but all psychic elemented users awaken their potential through a mental awakening. Most of the mind's capacity is barely used if you're a normal person, like a barrier. But with the mental awakening, the barrier is removed, allowing more of it's potential to be used in combat. There's 3 main types of potental, known as Enhance, Blast, and Trance."
"So in other words, it's not really magic."
"Exactly. That's why I have what people would think is 2 elements." Amethysia paused as both of them dodged attacks from both Emily and Platina, "Oh, and if you haven't guessed, mine are a mix of trance and enhance."
"You two lovebirds done talking?" Platina as she landed in front of the two guards, Emily alongside her.
"Hate to disappoint ya, milady, but I'm dating someone else. She's a very nice woman, but her brother is a bit of a jerk." Shiro retorted in a defensive manner as Amethysia giggled, before resigning to the fact that he was stuck with being the odd one out in this argument and turning towards the youngest of their group, "So, any idea on how to defeat your sister's team Platina?"
"Not much right now. But I do have some idea of what Titania and her teammates are capable of. Big sis uses a scythe like you Noir, so she's gonna give us a bit of trouble."
"So in other words, she's suited for intermediate combat," Emily pointed out.
"Yes, that's right. Each member of the team has a way they like to fight. Both Ryutaro and Nile are magic users, but the only difference is Ryu prefers to use his magic from a distance. As for his brother, Ranmaru's the person to be weary of in close combat. He uses a pair of katanas that are enchanted, but it's how he fights that makes a person go on guard."
Emily nodded, and thought for a bit. "So in other words, we're facing a well balanced team in the first round. But maybe that's not a bad thing."
"What do you mean Emily?" Platina asked.
"Well, this is just my opinion, but..."
"Good grief. First round and I'm already wary of who we're fighting. Only one of them is a guard, but she's one to be careful of."
Atlantia chuckled as she jumped from stone to stone, avoiding some of the blasts of magma that were below her before firing water on the liquid to solidify it. The water based guard's team of contrasting elements had decided to train in the more rocky areas of Prism's lands, hoping to increase their evasion and defensive skills in the process. Over the course of the training though, the team had found themselves discussing their opponents in between attacks.
"It's a shame we're not fighting Nile's team this round. I really want to face of against his magic skills. An Eternian mage with the Solar Flare badge? That's very rare now these days, especially since he's in our age group." Atlantia pointed out as she moved forward, the blades of her chakrams colliding with Felipe's blade before the two jumped backwards in order to create some distance as Arturia fired a shower of magma bubbles with her wand, "But why is Arc a threat?"
"She's an alchemist like me cousin, and a very tricky on if that due to her roots as an alchemist of Amour," Arturia explained, firing more magma bubbles before continuing, "Ever heard of the candy queen of Amour?"
"I have." Aurora admitted as the others looked at her, and Atlantia noticed the paladin grow a little uneasy from the attention, "She creates her own weapons with her magic and elemental potions. As everyone knows, mages create their own staffs, and each one reflects the persons powers. It's hard to explain, unless you've seen it in action." The paladin of water explained.
Arturia nodded in agreement. "And I have seen it in action. It looks like a lollipop decorated with icing, but it creates different atmospheres that can make fighting extremely hard. Not to mention, she's a very strong healer because of her pool of magic."
"And that's gonna make it even harder to fight them, especially if it's combined with Trixx and Whimsy's abilities. They're both illusionists of different sorts, each of them with Serene magic. Whimsy is capable of fooling the mind, while her sister fools the senses." Aurora added.
"So then we're gonna need a really good strategy going into this battle," Felipe stated, earning nods of agreement, "The question is, who do we take out first?"
"No doubt it's gonna be Arc. Take her down, and the whole team falls as well."
"A trio of guards and the Paladin of Metal? This is definitely gonna be harder than people think it would be."
Dynamis nodded as he sat down, the rest of his team following his actions. The group had been training in another fielded area, not to far from where Lucas and his team were, and had decided to take a break, much to the relief of the others. "I've spared with Dashan in the past on missions for your mother. He's a lot tougher than people would think," Gingka stated as he looked over at Rosalina.
"Not to mention, Koto's pretty strong herself. 3 metal using mages aren't gonna be easy for me to handle, especially as a mage of Amour," Ruka admitted, cleaning the blades of her knives in the process.
"Well, we're gonna have to be prepared. I have a feeling this might be harder then any other tournament battle I faced in former tournaments. Especially with Chao Xin on their team," Dynamis pointed out, earning the attention of his teammates.
"What makes you say that?"
"Call it experience from past tournaments, but a metal and a light mage duo in a team is trickier than it sounds. With the use of the metal based attacks, A light mage could use his own light magic to weaken a person's performance to fight. Light reflects."
"Of course! That's why you were a little on edge when you found out who we were facing Dynamis!" Rosalina exclaimed, earning a nod from Dynamis as she continued, "With 3 metal users in one team, they could create a lot of metal from their attacks that could act as mirrors, and reflect the light to blind us in the process!"
"Exactly. It's gonna take a lot of strategy to figure out how to fight against that."
Gingka yawned absently, before giving a cheeky grin. "Sorry, just a little exhausted from training today." The red haired guard admitted, before pointing out the sky around them, "The sun's actually setting around us."
The others looked around, before giving a chuckle as they noticed the golden and orange sky around them. "I suppose this is what happens when we lose track of time while training," Rosalina pointed out, earning a nod from Dynamis in agreement.
"Let's get back to the kingdom and get something to eat and some rest. We all earned it after a day like this."
"I have to admit, the kingdom of prism has lovely architecture. Maybe I'll save a few as landmarks when we revive Nocturne."
Pluto chuckled darkly as he accompanied his sister down the nighttime streets of Prism. The dark haired male had to agree, the electric kingdom had a uniqueness to it that couldn't be seen in other kingdoms. hundred of aqua aura quartz crystals floated high in the air above the city, crackling with light energy. The spherical blue lanterns glowed on the light posts and above houses as they illuminated the night sky.
"There is a bit of beauty to it brother. Not as much as the beauty I see inside of Shiro. His energy swirls around him like a hurricane of emotion just waiting to explode." Chrona stated, her eyes sparkling in the lanterns around her.
Pluto gagged. "He's a soul that is easy to corrupt sister. Manipulating him was a brilliant plan, but do you have to act as if you love him?" The dark haired teen asked.
Chrona gave her brother a glare. "Tease him all you want brother. But don't ever question the love I have for him. He sees me as I see him, a person who had regrets of something happening to a family member." The green haired woman retorted.
"Oh really? Then what would happen if he changed sides? Do you remember who the paladin of wind is?"
A pause escaped Chrona, and she closed her eyes as she answered. "I suppose it all depends, dear brother. I do not judge betrayal lightly. If he did it for the sake of being a jerk, then yes, I will be upset and swear vengeance against him. But if he did it because he could not handle the stress of hurting his cousin... Then I will allow his leave. Shiro is not a pawn that I manipulated Pluto, you know that."
Pluto rolled his eyes. But just as the male took another step forward, his eyes widened on someone across from him. It was a young woman, her rose red hair tied into a plaited braid on the left side of her head and concealed what looked like a flower marking on her neck. Her azure eyes sparkled as she walked down the streets, occasionally smoothing out the red skirt that she wore with her white blouse. The young woman looked like a fiery angel as she moved, her steps light and crisp, and an aura of royalty around her.
"Isn't that-" Pluto whispered. to which his sister nodded.
"The Crown Princess of Vivia, Rosalina Tendo." Chrona stated, before noticing something appearing in her brother's eyes. It was like a dark inferno had lit up his eyes, a new determination seeping into his being. "Has she caught your attention, brother dear?"
"Like a moth to a flame. I found one thing that I will want when I become a king of Nocturne, dear sister. A queen of life, perfect to create a new dawn for the kingdom of death."
The whole psychic explanation is actually based on a manga I read called Psyren, a story where a high schooler and several others are sent in the future to discover what happened in the past that destroyed their world. They fight creatures with the ability known as Psy. If you get time to read manga, I highly recommend you guys check it out. It's awesome!
That being said... *grins* It has begun. The chaos that I have unleashed is beginning to unfurl *Cackles*
Dynamis: *pops in; gags*
Get over it Dynamis. This is destined to happen. It is in the will of the stars, as you would say.
Rosalina: *also pops in*...
Okay you two settle down *looks at viewers* Uh oh...
Well better get these done quick then. For my question of the day, which team are you rooting for in this tournament!? I'm staying neutral on the matter but I'd like to see your opinions. That's it for this chapter though. If you like how this story is progressing, don't hesitate to leave a review.
Until next chapter, this is Warrior signing out! Catch ya on the other side of the nexus! Now if you would excuse me...
Dynamis and Rosalina: WARRIOR!
*takes off running; hides the 3ds* YOU TWO ARE NOT DELETING MY POKEMON GAMES!