Hope you guys have been having a rockin' new years!

Enjoy!

Chapter 26: Revelations

"A glowing item?" Destiny asks making sure she heard her friends correctly. They nod and she continues "Yea a masked man dropped this gold colored chalice. I ran back to try and give it back to him but he disappeared. Is it something important?" She looks at them with a questioning look while the others look intensely at the golden cup.

"We have a theory that it is." Gabriel finally says breaking the ice. "We need to find Jack now, but first we need to know if you're with us." He crosses his arms as he waits for an answer.

"Ahh … why the hell not? I've cleared out this cave of most of the undead. Ever since I defeated Grubb this place has quieted down quite a lot. There's no need for me to guard this place anymore. I'm with you!" She says with a toothy grin. The others smile back and exit the cave, passing by the Death school, through the waterfall. Once they were back in the commons they discussed where Jack would probably be. Destiny unfortunately had no idea where he was and so they all stood there thinking where exactly their fire friend had gone.

"I think I have an idea." Gabriel says as he starts walking towards Unicorn Way. The others look at each other and start following him. He turns towards the arena and opens the giant gates that guard the battle grounds, only to find Jack and the masked man on the arena face to face. They seemed to be talking but Gabriel and the others wanted to gather information without looking like they were intimidating the man so they hid behind a few pillars and listened in.

"I'm not entirely sure you DO understand the situation the city is in. Not even fighters like you are a match for what's coming your way. Deth isn't alone. I'm sure you're also aware that the Incinerator also exists. Are you not?"

"Of course I do!" Jack yells with anger in his voice. "I'll take down those two with my own hands but I still need to train and as long as you're here doing that is impossible! But I'd like to know one thing from you." He pauses "Why me?" This catches Maso's attention. "What does any of this have to do with me? Does this involve any of my old team members as well? Who are you? Just what exactly are you after?" He still sounded angry but more suppressed. "I think we'll be able to handle ourselves just fine." Jack turns away from him and just as he's about to walk away Maso speaks up.

"If you don't listen … then you'll die." Jack turns around in protest but is cut off once again. "You stand no chance against this foe. He is like no one you've ever even seen before." Jack growls "But if you think you can take him on, then test it by first taking me on." The others eyes widened at the sound of this. Gabriel peeked out to analyze Maso with his myth eyes to see if his predictions were right. He charged mana and redirected it to his eyes and began his analysis.

Name: Maso (Full name unknown)

Armor: Templar's Blessed Mark

Type of Magic: Unidentifiable

Age: Unknown

History: -ERROR-

Estimated Power: 600,000 (*DANGER* equivalence: 6x Ambrose)

Gabriel tried to comprehend this data, was this right? He had recently changed the 'Estimated Power' to numbers but maybe he did something wrong. Could it be so that he couldn't calculate it correctly? He decided to test it on Jack hoping that wasn't the case.

Name: Jack DarkRiver

Armor: Draconian

Type of Magic: Fire

Age: 16

History: Lived peacefully on Earth. Transported to Wizard City with two others: Gabriel FairyMask and Seth LegendShard. Successful fire wizard.

Estimated Power: 50,000 (equivalence: 2x veteran wizard)

Gabriel's was stunned as he soon realized that Jack had improved so much during just a year but he snapped himself out of it and realized that the system was working perfectly fine. He analyzed everyone else and they had roughly a bit under Jacks power. So why? Why was Maso's insanely high? All he could think of was just the fact that his power wasn't something he could properly analyze. 'Was he stronger than the Incinerator? Than Deth? No … No he wouldn't panic about Deth if he was stronger.' Gabriel suddenly realized that if this Maso person would panic about Deth than he understood why he was trying to warn everyone of what might be coming. "If it's a battle you want then it's a battle you'll get!" Jack yelled snapping Gabriel out of his thoughts. He charged at Maso as fast as he could "Don't cry about it when I beat you!" Jack said as he unsheathed two blades from his back. Gabriel wanted to yell at him not to fight but he needed to know if the data was right. He needed more info on this man and see just exactly how capable this man truly was.

Jack charged into battle with full force. He moved in a blink of an eye and tried landing the first hit. He swung his blades at his chest expecting to cut right through the armor and try making him forfeit right off the bat. He put all of his power into the slash, picking up a lot of dust in the process. He could feel that he connected with something but he waited for the dust to clear. He looked up only to see Maso caught it between his fingers, his backhand facing Jack as he stared him in the eyes. Jack only stared at this man wondering how in the world can someone catch two blades between their fingers and not even bleed? "My turn." Maso says snapping Jack back to reality. He pulls back his left arm as it starts to glow gold and punches Jack straight into the stomach at an unbelievable speed that could rival a supersonic jet. Jack falls to the floor holding his stomach as Maso begins to speak. "You're a capable fighter with a set mind Jack, however, you still have much to learn about fighting." He leaves a claymore like greatsword in the ground in front of Jack. "You also have much to learn about the truth." He watches as Jack looks up and gives him an ice cold stare and walks away.

"Wait!" Jack yells as he disappears into the air. He stands back up and brushes himself off of the dust and the dirt. He looks around and yells "You can come out now! I know you guys are there, you don't have to hide." They slowly peek out and Jack nods. They all come out of their cover to meet with him face to face, Neo seemed nervous. She had heard that Jack was a bit more aggressive ever since Seth had died and she really didn't want them to get off to a bad start. "What do you guys want? I only have a few minutes so make it quick." He says with impatience.

"We need your help." Destiny says catching Jack off guard.

"With what exactly?" Jack responds back

"We have a special request by Ambrose. We need to reunite our old team. If we're going to do exactly that we need you as well." Gabriel explains as Jack gives them all a questioning look. He stops and looks at Neo specifically, staring at her. She stands firm and steady on the outside but on the inside she's more nervous than before.

"I'm guessing that she's the new life wizard of this team?" Jack guesses and they all nod. "I'll join back." He says and the others sigh in relief "IF the newbie can prove herself." They all look at Neo and she hesitates at first but she nods. "I just want one thing from you. Hit me with your best shot and we'll see what happens from there." She nods again and jumps down into the arena. She focuses on putting power in her right fist and charges her mana as Jack waits on the other side of the arena waiting for her. She reaches the peak of her power and charges at Jack. He stands completely motionless as he takes on the super powered fist head on. It collides with him but the force was so great that the wall behind him still had a hole blown into it! He still stood there motionless with blood coming out of his mouth; Neo had started to wonder if she had overdone it. He puts his hand on her arm and slowly looks up to her with a smile. "Good, you can at least make me bleed." He says with a smile "I'm with you guys then."

"You know, I thought for sure it would take a lot more to try and convince you to join back to be honest." Jocelyn says as she puts her hands on her hips.

"It would've but that masked man … let me see more of the truth than I would have liked. My desire for vengeance was my own downfall. Still, it also means that I need to get stronger for there are still beings more powerful than I am. I'll join but only until I defeat that masked man." Jack says as he looks at the sky. He walks over to the blade in the ground and draws it from the dirt floor. He inspects it before tossing it over to Gabriel who catches it with one hand.

"You know what this sword is?" Gabriel asked.

"I know it's a sacred artifact, something that shouldn't exist anymore but that man had several didn't he?" Jack replied without looking at him.

"Yea, now that we have all of the clues, what do we do with them?" Jocelyn asks wondering what they do now.

"I know exactly what to do. Follow me, hopefully she can decrypt anything we throw at her." Gabriel says as he leads the way out of the arena. The others follow hastily as they make their way to Ravenwood and into the storm classroom. In there they met up with Titania ThunderHeart, their very first ally. She was drawing on the bored several pictures of just random things but there were some brainteasers on the side of them that she referred to as 'warm ups'. She finally notices that they've entered and happily greets them.

"What's up guys! Long time no see! How you guys been? I see you've recruited a new member for your team, nice to meet ya! Names Titania ThunderHeart, and yours?" She seemed to be an a particularly cheerful mood.

"Neo Hinamori. Nice to meet you!" She says with a smile.

"A great attitude! Now then, what can I help you guys with?"

"Well, we're going to need a more private place to discuss this. Is that fine with you?" Gabriel asks as he knows not to trust the city ever since Iridian told him not to.

"Ah I get it, something more personal huh? Gotcha." Nia snapped her fingers and they were all suddenly in the private rooms of the Library. "Now then," she starts as she sits down in the provided chair. "What's on your minds?"

"Recently we've been encountering this masked man quite often. From what I analyzed his name is Maso but that's all the info I have on him. He wears this templar looking armor and every time we tried catching up to him to talk he just left these sacred artifacts behind." This catches Nia's attention as Gabriel lays down a book, a ring, a chalice, and a sword. She waited for him to continue while also examining the objects. "We think it's some part of big puzzle but we can't be too sure of it. Do you think you can determine anything about them?"

"I've already determined several theories myself with the provided information. However only one really works with all of the info you've given me. I'll cut to the chase; these artifacts are holy as you know and this masked man was wearing templar looking armor. All of these point to a particular legend that anyone would remember. The legend of the great King Arthur himself, or as many call him, the King of Balance." She picks up the book "Books were originally meant to tell stories and pass them on to new people. Even informational books tell a story of anything on the subject. As for the chalice, this seems to be the same one from the era Arthur was in, giving us a time period of when this story happened. The ring with an engraved lion on it represents courage. The lion represents both a king and its unyielding courage as he fights till the bitter end. Finally this sacred sword represents, as you probably guessed by now, the sword of light: Excalibur. The tricky part is what's after we decode the story. There has to be something after this like somewhere we have to go or something we have to do but off the top of my head, I can't think of anything. I'll need some time to think." She said as she closes her eyes and thinks.

"Well honestly, that was plenty of information already. Thanks for the he-" Jack was cut off as Nia blurted out a certain place.

"Golem Court! That's where you'll find your next clue! At Golem Court!" They all glanced at each other for a bit and listened for the explanation. "When Arthur died or rather 'went missing' the city made him a memorial for all of his services here. That tower is the memorial itself. If you've really noticed it's completely symmetrical, but due to recent years with the discovery of the dragon cave and growing bushes and trees it's no longer as symmetrical as it originally was." They speculate and thank Nia before leaving "Wait!" She yells halting them. "I don't know what will happen if you go there now. You might have to fight or be kidnapped or maybe even killed as worst case scenario. The point is you should all brush up on your skills before even considering going into that tower otherwise, we might end up with six new gravestones." They stare at each other for a moment but eventually nod and leave. "Good luck guys" Nia says as she watches them leave the library. "You're gonna need it." She says as she looks over at Maso who's behind her. He had his arms crossed and was leaning on the door frame of one of the private rooms.

"Hey there Nia" He starts "How're you doing these days?" She didn't look at him and instead just stood looking over the ramp.

"Heh, things have been fine, and what about you o great masked wizard? Or should I say" She mouths a name and his eye widens. She turns around to face him "You honestly thought you could fool me with a new appearance and some new magic?" She smiles as she closes her eyes leaning on the ramp. "Still, it's good to know you kept your promise." Maso snapped out of his surprise and responded to her.

"Hmph, it seems that your detective skills are far more superior to that of Sherlocks. Out of everyone actually." He stands up straight. "But how did you find out so quickly? It's actually more amazing that someone pieced it together with only bits and pieces of info with major gaps missing between."

"Do you remember who you're talking to? But enough of that, I want to ask you a question."

"What is it?" She opens her eyes and stares him directly in his eye.

"Are they ready?" They stand there in silence for a moment before she continues "Are they ready to go back out there and be a team again? Are they ready to put all of their trust in each other again and fight back to back? Are they ready to stare the reaper in the face again?" She asks. Maso stares and responds with his own question.

"Are they ready to fight Deth; is what you're asking me?" He closes his eye as she waits for a response from the masked warrior. "No. Not yet. But Deth isn't ready either. Although it's been a year since his rebirth into this world, he still needs to fully develop his power to try and take over the spiral." Nia was about to argue until he put his hand up to stop her from trying. "I've already scouted the area and believe me, I've tried as well. I thought if I could strike while he wasn't ready I'd win. Turns out he's equivalent to my own full power and worse, he's developed the ability to raise an undead army without any effort." She stood horrified listening to his words. "There's a war coming this way and at this rate we won't be ready." He walks up to her and gives her a golden key with a phoenix inscribed onto it. "When they all come back from training, give it to them." With that he vanishes leaving nothing but dust behind. Nia looked at the key and clenched it tightly in her hand.

Connor, Somewhere in Celestia

He slid back blocking a powerful attack from what looked like a muscle build fish. "That all you've got?!" It shouted at Connor. "You're a worthless wizard if it is! How can you expect to win against I, Cablooey, if you're so weak?!" Connor said nothing as he stood still trying to catch his breath. "If this is Wizard City's best" It started as Connor looked back up at it. "Then it shouldn't be a problem slaughtering every last wizard there." Connor's eyes intensified as he gritted his teeth. "Then again, I do have a large amount of raw magic. Maybe I'm just too strong for you, after all" Connor was holding everything back not to jump in and attack it. "You can't even protect yourself." That set Connor over the deep end. He charged at the giant fish with everything he had in a fit of rage. It just stood there smiling as he saw the ice wizard basically go into a suicide move. He smashed his two hands together not expecting him to slide underneath it. Connor took his hand and pushed the fish's chest with enough force to start making it barely bleed. The fish started to laugh seeing as Connors attempt at killing it had failed and he was in such a vulnerable position. "I told you kid, not even yourself." He got ready to slam his hands together again but he heard Connor whisper something. The trident in his other hand had started to glow an incredibly bright neon blue color.

"Frostbite." The fish started to freeze over until he was in a block of ice. However, shortly after the fish had broken free of the icy prison and stood there smiling at Connor as he realized he was as good as dead now.

"Your poor little spell wasn't enough to keep me down huh? Don't worry, I'll show you how a real spell is done! Feast your eyes as my raw magic devours all!" He thrusts his arms forward at Connor but nothing happens. The fish tries again and again but still nothing happened. "What the hell?!" Connor simply smiles and looks back up at him.

"This fight is over." With that he spins his trident and jabs him in the same place he struck before. The beastly fish freezes before it can hit Connor one last time and basically becomes a big chunk of ice. Connor punches the middle of it and it shatters into multiple pieces before vanishing into thin air. He falls to the ground sweating as he tries to catch his breath until a shadow falls upon him. He jumps up ready to fight but sees that it's only his friend, Jackal. "What do you want? I'm busy so make it quick." He stands back up not facing her.

"Can't a friend check up on another friend?" She asks crossing her arms. Connor only glances at her with a serious expression. She sighs and begins speaking again. "I can't let you destroy yourself like this Connor. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I just let one of my best friends kill themselves by fighting like this. You've been extremely distant lately and you keep coming back half dead when you're in the city and you just leave when you feel better. Why are you doing this to yourself?" the tone in her voice had started to sadden. Connor just stared at her. He turns back around and starts walking. "Why?" He stops in his tracks. "I won't leave without a reason Connor so just tell me at least why you've been acting this way!" She sounded demanding, something Connor hasn't heard in a while. He turns around to face her directly and says in a hostile tone.

"I don't need to give you an explanation. Go away, you're not wanted here. You'll only get in my way."

"You need help Connor. Can't you see that you're not the only one at stake here? We're all in this together so just let us help!"

"I don't need your help!"

"Yes you do Connor! That fight just now was nothing compared to the Incinerator, let alone Deth. You need to stop before you get seriously hurt!"

"If you don't shut up you'll be the one who gets hurt!"He turned away and began walking again. She clenches her fists as she remembers how their friend Taylor turned into something like this. He was also a kind person wanting to protect but now, now he was lost in his own goals. He stopped at almost nothing to achieve his goals and it was her and Connor that had to stop him, permanently. Now it's happening all over again but this time, there won't be anyone there with her this time. She bit her lower lip and a few tears started to form in her eyes.

"Fine! Just leave then!" She shouted at him. "I thought we were different from rouge wizards! I thought we were different from Taylor! I thought you were Connor Frostbreath!" She had tears streaming down her face now while Connor only stared at her with a slightly surprised look. He hadn't seen her crying since the incident with Taylor. He felt a rush of guilt well up in his chest. "In the end you're just like him!" She was the one to turn around this time "I won't stop you, but if you happen to see my friend on this road to self destruction" She starts "Tell him … I said goodbye." She started to walk the other way while silently sobbing. She heard footsteps catching up to her and eventually felt a hand on her shoulder. "Get off of me!" She turns to face him "You're not my friend! You're not even someone I know anymore! You're-" She was cut off by a sudden hug from him.

"Sorry." He whispered into her ear. She was stunned to hear these words after the ones he had just said to her. He starts to speak again. "I'm sorry for betraying your feelings, for pushing you away, for being an ass in general really." She just stands there accepting the hug. "I can handle a lot of things without a problem, but if there's one thing I can't handle on my own, it's losing a friend like you." She begins to hug him back tightly. They both start to remember memories of when they first met. How Connor was a much more closed off person before he had met her, how she basically changed him into this caring ice wizard that hugs her now. "I'm sorry." He says one more time before they start heading back to the city together.

Aaaannnnnnnd end chapter here. Welp I'm pretty satisfied with this part of the story filled in, now, onto the greatest battle I can possibly think of!

Next time! Or is it?

On a side note, I was wondering if I should create a prequel story about Connor and Jackal during what happened during the Taylor incident and I was wondering what your opinions would be.

To be or to possibly most likely absolutely maybe not but questionably be.

Hope you guys have been having a great New Year so far!

Cya later!

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