Ch.4. – Arme/the final chapter
The Violet Mages were the most powerful group of magic users on the kingdom of Serdin 620 years ago. All of the mages of the guild were born with natural talent for magic. Their power was so great that none, be it men or monsters, dared to go against them. However, they were still human. With such power in their hands, the Violet Mages gradually became enslaved to the darkness, and abused their power. Eventually, the queen of Serdin at that time was forced to take action. She gave orders to Zeke Sieghart Carmesi, the founder of the Red Knights and the Royal Guard Master of Serdin, to make peace with the guild of mages, or destroy them.
However, Zeke had a strong bond of friendship with Heinas Violet, a direct descendent of the founder of the Violet Mages. Heinas was, as Sieghart saw it, the only one whose heart was not corrupt by the darkness. Together, they managed to set up a force field that nullified the magic of the guild members, and the corrupted mages were punished as saw fit by the queen.
A few years later, Heinas Violet founded the Violet Academy for Magical Arts, a school where children with magical talents came and learned the ways of magic.
620 years have passed since Sieghart went missing on a ruins expedition, and the Violet bloodline was lost. However, the Violet Academy for Magical Arts remained – as an elite school for geniuses.
However, there was one – someone who could not be called a genius, but who still managed to enroll in the school, Arme Florence.
The 15-year-old girl could be called anything but a genius. She always made mistakes in classes, and could not succeed in completing a single spell. And yet, she was accepted…..Why?
No one knew.
Rumors had it that she was special, had some hidden potential, and that only the headmaster knew the reason…..But rumors were rumors.
Naturally, the girl was a target of bullying.
"Hey! Purple-head! Get me a bottle of grape-juice!"
One of the seniors, Russell, shouted at her.
I'm not your servant! Arme thought furiously, You should get it yourself!
But of course, Arme did not say this out loud.
"Uh……I'll need some money to buy the drink….."
"What? You want MY money?"
The senior shook his fist at Arme several times before actually coming up to her and slapping her across the face. His friends behind him laughed. They would not have laughed if they could feel Arme's pain at that moment.
She could feel tears trying to escape through her violet eyes. She did not understand why this was happening to her. She did not deserve this kind of treatment – but she was getting it anyways.
"I have no money to give to a failure!"
That did it. Arme started sobbing loudly, and started running towards the exit of the hallway.
"You owe me a drink, Purple-head!"
The senior shouted after her loudly. Loud laughter could be heard after that comment, which made Arme sob even harder.
The violet-haired girl ran out of the school, and into the forest that surrounded the school. Leaning on a tree nearby, she started to cry her heart out. As she cried, she remembered her past in the orphanage. Only two years ago, she was just a girl, just another mistake born into the world by accident. For her, the headmaster who took her into a luxurious academy was like a saviour. Or so she had thought.
The life at the orphanage was better than this….. I could be myself! She cried inside, feeling her heart getting torn up.
Why…..Why……?
She felt that her life was miserable because no one was there for her, Arme had no one to depend on when trouble came, seeking her. No one was standing by her side when she was feeling depressed until that moment when someone had stepped beside Arme, tapping on her shoulders and muttering "There…..There….."
Almost as soon as she had that thought, she felt a feeling of warmth on her back.
Startled, she turned around to see a black-haired boy looking at her, obviously concerned.
"Are…..Are you okay?"
Arme studied the boy for a few seconds, and then replied after turning her back on him, with a hint of bitterness.
"Yea…"
"You don't look that okay."
The boy replied with such speed that Arme turned back again and studied him a bit further.
His face blushing, the boy introduced himself hastily.
"I…..My name is Tika."
Arme was caught off guard. She did not know that there was anyone who did not know about her. Thinking that it was only right to introduce herself in return, she took it to action.
"My name is Arme."
The boy named Tika did not seem surprised. Instead, he nodded at her.
"Well, Arme….. Shall I buy you a drink?"
Arme was about to refuse when she noticed her throat was dry from all the crying, and politely accepted.
And the two walked into the school café together.
After a year had passed, the two became almost inseparable. Where Arme was, Tika was. Much to Arme's surprise, Tika was a popular guy in the school, not to mention that he was at the top of his classes. Thanks to his carefree personality, almost all the students in the school were his friends.
Thanks to that, the bullying of Arme stopped – almost.
No one openly bullied Arme anymore, but small things like calling her names continued.
It wasn't long before Arme realized that she held feelings for Tika. She wanted to be more than just friends with him.
But how can I tell him that? She thought, He saved me and I tell him that? I'd rather stay friends than do something so shameless!
Little did she know, that Tika felt the same way towards her.
On the night of the 's dance, Tika invited Arme to be his partner.
Arme was never invited to a dance before, so she wasn't sure of what to do. However, she accepted the invitation willingly due to the fact that she was in love with the guy. Much to her panic, she had no dress, so she had to ask one of her new friends where to buy one. During the dance, there was an awkward silence that fell between them, and so neither of them talked much.
"You look….. Stunning."
That was the first sentence that Tika had said to Arme,
"You look…..Amazing."
And that was the first sentence that Arme had said to Tika.
After the dance, Tika took Arme to a high-quality restaurant especially made for the nobles.
"Wow….."
Arme stared at the grand entrance of the restaurant, and wondered if she really deserved this from Tika.
"Can I really go in?"
" Of course."
Tika smiled at Arme, making her blush. Then he muttered a few words quietly behind her back.
"Anything for you….."
"…..And can I have this, that, and this……."
Tika was ordering every kind of food he knew for Arme. However, he had no clue that this was making Arme really uncomfortable.
Arme decided to confess his feelings for Tika that night. She would find a right moment, and tell him. The problem was that she couldn't find a right moment for it.
Tika had the same problem. His nervousness made him eat fast, and was ordering food almost as fast as he ate. He couldn't find a right moment for his confession either. So he decided to take the initiative.
His face suddenly grew serious, and he started talking to Arme.
"Listen, Arme….. I've been wanting for tell you this for a long time."
The purple-haired girl couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I always thought you were amazing and….."
She secretly pinched herself to see if it was a dream – it wasn't.
"and… I lo - "
Boom
The whole restaurant shook violently at that moment. The waiters that were serving food suddenly dropped their dishes, and the customers began screaming.
However, the tragedy that was about to happen did not slow down for the panicking customers. At that moment, an evil aura hit arme, and her mind felt as if it was surrounded by a fog.
Boom
Another small quake.
Then the floor of the restaurant slowly started to move, the lavish tiles cracking upward, and several large holes appeared through the cracks.
The first one to sense danger was Tika.
"Arme, Let's get out of he-"
His sentence was interrupted by a loud roar. An Orc emerged from one of the holes, his head first coming out. It grabbed the nearest customer, who was screaming, and threw him into its mouth.
The black-haired boy grabbed Arme's hand, and started running for the exit, but was stopped when another Orc emerged from the underground. One…..Two…..Three….. The Orcs just kept on coming out through the holes, like flies gathering onto meat.
Tika and Arme were no exceptions.
An Orc reached for Arme, who was still in a daze, and tried to grab her.
"Fire ball!"
Tika enchanted the spell, directed at the hand of the monster. Blinded with pain, the Orc threw its club at Arme. Tika did not have time to mutter an incantation. He acted on pure instinct.
He pushed Arme out of the way, and was hit by the flying club instead.
Tika then fell, as Arme was suddenly brought back to reality.
She looked at Tika and then at the Orc that was grunting in satisfaction. She looked at Tika again, and walked over to him. Her arms lifted up his head, and looked at him face to face.
Tika looked at Arme, and grinned faintly. He then muttered his last words:
"Be safe….."
And then, he fell into his everlasting slumber.
Arme dropped Tika's head gently back down as she stood up, uncomprehending. She did not understand. She did not know why Tika had to die. She did not know why an Orc was standing behind her, raising its fists – she did not want to know.
Then she understood.
Her violet eyes started piercing tears. However, she did not cry out loud. Her movements were in control when she silently looked at the Orc in the eyes.
The creature flinched.
However, it recovered after a second, realizing that it was just a little girl who could not hurt it at all. Snarling, it raised its club, and brought it down at the purple-haired girl, at full force.
The girl was muttering magic.
"Holy Blast!"
She shouted as white rays of light surrounded her, and the Orc that was the closest to her was repelled back a few meters. The rays of light kept shimmering around Arme, when suddenly the Orcs that were eating the customers felt a force of powerful holy energy upon them. The Orcs were then purified, their evil flesh dissolving into the holy light. All that was left of the monsters were their oversized skeletons.
Arme then went back to Tika, and put his head on her lap.
There were a total of six survivors after the incident, not counting Arme. All of the survivors witnessed a bright light casting over the restaurant, and the monsters dying instantly.
Arme was now standing on the top of Cruzan Hill, her favorite place as well as Tika's.
"You have done well."
Arme turned around at the voice, and was not at all surprised to see the Headmaster standing close to a tree.
"I have failed Tika, sir." She responded bitterly, and turned back around.
The old mage sighed.
"Your friend's death was not your fault. Your mind was clogged by darkness, I presume?"
The purple-haired girl did not respond.
"All the powerful mages in the country experienced it that day."
Arme still did not say a word.
"If he had not died, everyone in the restaurant would have died on that day."
Arme blurted out, almost angrily.
"If only I had not been clogged –"
"Your power came from emotion, Arme. Without his death, you couldn't have used such power. His death opened the pathway for your magic to get through."
Cutting her off, the Headmaster continued.
"It was his death that saved you and the six other people. You must thank him – his death will be greatly grieved."
Arme felt tears filling up her purple eyes. A sob escaped her, and she could not hide it anymore. She cried and cried. It was just like when she had met Tika. She was crying that day, too, when Tika came to console her and stood for her. She did not hide it now – she did not see any point in doing so. She sat down and cried out loudly.
The Headmaster still did not leave. There was something he wanted to tell the crying girl, so he waited silently.
After what seemed like a few hours, Arme stopped crying. Yet still, small sobs escaped her frequently.
"Child, I think it is the time I told you your full name."
Arme did not want to know her full name. She just wanted Tika to be with her –
"Your full name is Arme Florence Violet."
Arme stopped crying.
"You are a direct descendent of Heinas Violet, the founder of this school."
"I do not know how you were born, but that mark on the small of your back – yes, I looked at it – is only unique to the bloodline of the Violet."
The Headmaster continued to speak.
"I sensed your vast magical energy, and decided to take you in. However, you seemed to be unable to use any kind of magic at that time. I trusted that one day, you will realize your true potential, and I was right."
Arme was shocked. Her? The descendent of the Violet?
The Headmaster sighed again, and continued.
"And now, I am making an offer to you. An offer that I think you would be very interested in."
"The queen of Serdin is making a team – a team of special warriors to defeat the Dark Lady."
Arme did not want to join in. She had no reason to.
"Why should I?"
The Headmaster eyed Arme for a second, and told her the reason.
"Because the Dark Lady was the one behind the Orc attack at the restaurant."
The violet-haired girl finally found another reason for living: revenge.
Noticing this, the Headmaster shook his head.
"This is why I did not want to tell you this Arme. Revenge is a terrible thing. It will only bite you ba-"
"How do I join?"
The old mage looked at Arme sadly, and said:
"You have already accepted the invitation. Go to the Serdin castle tomorrow."
With that, he turned away and left.
Arme sat down on a nearby rock. She thought about Tika, his kind face, and his caring words. She thought again of how his words would always soothed her, how they always calmed her down, and how they were always there for her. She felt tears on her eyes again, and let them flow down. She would remember Tika. Always and forever.
She looked up at the sky, and saw that one of the cloud looked like a smiling boy.
