"Rivus!"

BANG!

"Auuugh!"

THUD!

"Owowowowowowow OW! Lupatriae filius, that freakin' hurt!"

Yoshika came around the corner in time to see Akira sitting up from where he had been sprawled on the ground, the right sleeve of his shirt scorched and smoking. His arm was also raw and burned in several places.

"Omigosh, Akira!" she gasped, and dashed over to him, kneeling in the grass next to him. "Here, hold still a moment." She held her hands over his arm and channeled her magic, creating a healing field around the wounds. They started to heal immediately.

"Thanks, Yoshika," he said, smiling at her, then made a face. "Gah, it itches!"

She giggled at his expression, then looked at him. "What happened?"

He shrugged a little. "To be totally honest, I haven't the slightest idea. I was practicing my magic, and tried to use one of my standard fire spells, but instead of launching a ball of flame at that target over there, it blew up in my face and singed my arm. I don't have the foggiest clue what the hell went wrong."

She finished and let the magic fade away. Then she stood up and helped him to his feet. "You sure you'll be okay?" she asked, concerned. Those burns had been really bad, which was a testament to the sheer level of power he controlled. She didn't want to see him get hurt again.

He flexed his arm, and Yoshika blushed a little at the way his muscles rippled. "Yeah, I'll be just fine," he said, oblivious to her reaction. She turned and walked away suddenly, and he stared after her in confusion for a few moments, then shrugged and turned back to the target. He pointed at the dummy. "Rivus!" This time, the dummy burst into flames with a loud rush of air. Akira stared at it thoughtfully for a few moments, then pointed at it again.

"Duratus!" he said, then yelped as his arm was suddenly encased in ice to the elbow. "Crap crap crap crap ow ow ow ow!" He turned and smashed his arm against the wall behind him, and the ice shattered with a sound like glass breaking. He shook his arm to get feeling back into it. His fingers were blue at the tips and felt heavy and thick.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he muttered to himself. Why was his magic acting up like this all of a sudden? It had never done anything like this before, so why was it doing it now? He looked at the dummy, which was still burning. He hesitated, then slowly raised his hand, palm facing it. "Immergo!" A sphere of water coalesced in front of his hand and then shot forward, splashing outwards over the dummy and dousing the fire.

He stood there for a while, looking down at his hands. What on earth was going on? He'd never heard of anything like this from his teachers, so why was it happening now? There had to be more going on here than he was aware of; magic didn't just STOP working. Off on the other side of the base, the dinner bell started to ring. He turned and walked slowly in that direction still completely lost in thought.

He had always been considered powerful. The fact that he was an adept class warlock proved that. Only adepts were powerful enough to use the anima proelium spell, which gave them access to the powerful battle forms. Akira had never used the spell himself, so he didn't know what his battle form actually was, and in many ways, he hoped it would stay that way. Warlocks were only supposed to use their anima proelium if they absolutely had to and there was no other option. The reasoning for this was simple; even the weakest of the anima proelium had enough power to level a city the size of London or Tokyo. It was also very easy for a warlock to lose themselves in the power of the anima, something warlocks called a "mind breach". When this happened, the warlocks mind was swamped with the energies of the battle form, and the anima's personality took over completely. This usually resulted in the anima proelium going on a devastating and nearly unstoppable rampage.

This had happened about a dozen times in the history of the warlocks. And every time, it had taken the combined might of six separate warlock councils to subdue the rampaging anima and allow the warlock to reassert control. In the process, entire areas had been utterly devastated, towns leveled, forests flattened, lakes blown away. The damage was often incalculable, and the warlocks would spend days, sometimes months, even years, helping rebuild and repair after the destruction.

He reached the dinning hall and shook himself out of his brooding thoughts; it wouldn't do to worry the others right now. He would just have to figure out this thing with his magic later. For now they had to focus on the Neuroi attack that was expected to arrive in a few days. They needed to focus all of their time and energy on being prepared. Everyone greeted him cheerfully as he walked through the door, and he smiled, taking a seat between Yoshika and Perrine.

"How's your arm?" Yoshika asked in between bites of food.

"Oh? Did something happen earlier?" Perrine asked, looking over in interest.

Akira made a dismissive gesture with one hand. "Nothing much, really. I had a spell backfire on me and it burned my arm. Yoshika happened to be right nearby and healed it for me."

"How does a spell backfire?" Hartmann asked, glancing at Akira curiously. "I've never heard of magic doing that."

"That's because warlock magic is different from witch magic," Akira explained, taking a sip of water. "A warlock's control over their magic stems from our willpower. While we may use only one or two words to cast a spell, what the spell does is largely based on the intent of the person casting it." He raised a finger. "For example; rivus!" A small flame appeared on his fingertip. "See, that's the same spell word that I use to launch fireballs and create explosions. But because I was focused on creating just this small flame, that was all that was created. It's the same for all of my other spells. Our intent defines the effect."

"But how does that cause them to backfire?" asked Barkhorn.

"Because if a warlock's focus shifts while he's casting a spell, it can drastically alter the spell's effects," Akira explained patiently, enjoying himself. He'd always liked teaching others about the things he was able to do. Then something occurred to him and he smiled. "I've got an idea. How would you guys like to see some more of my magic? I have a few spells and skills that you guys might really like."

"Absolutely!" said Lynette, grinning excitedly. The others nodded in agreement.

Akira grinned and led them out to the hangar. He gestured for them to stand behind him and then closed his eyes to focus for a moment, then opened them and threw out his hands. "Spera de Forma!" Several spheres of energy formed to hover in the air about his head. "These are called the Spheres of Beauty. They're used for song spells."

"Song spells?" asked Yoshika in surprise.

Akira grinned at her over his shoulder. "What, did you think us warlocks were only good for causing chaos and blowing stuff up? We do have an artistic side, you know." He turned back to the spheres and closed his eyes. "Canto!"

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then, slowly, quietly, sound began to flow from the spheres. It resolved into music, riseing and dipping, filling the air. The song was beautiful, unlike anything any of the girls had ever heard before. It was joyful and bouncy, and it got the girls tapping their feet. Soon, Francesca and Charlotte started dancing, and then the other girls quickly joined in. Akira flowed from one song to another, letting his music fill the air, smiling as the girls danced and laughed. After a while, when the girls were out of breath and he was almost out of songs, he let the magic go. The spheres faded away, and he sat down on the floor with the girls, who were all panting, tired, though still happy and grinning.

"That was amazing, Akira!" Charlotte exclaimed from where she lay sprawled on her back on the floor.

"Yeah!" Yoshika and Lynette said in unison. The other girls all grinned and nodded their agreement.

"Where did you learn those songs?" asked Sanya, causing Akira to start a little. She and Eila hadn't been dancing with the others, but had been sitting off to the side, listening quietly. Akira had totally forgotten they were there.

"Actually, my father taught them to me," Akira said, smiling a little at the memory. "Music has always been big thing in our family. That is most of the songs I know, sadly. I didn't get a chance to learn more from him."

"Why was that?" asked Francesca, innocently. Yoshika and Charlotte both tensed and Charlotte tried to clap her hand over Francesca's mouth, but Akira shook his head at them.

"No, it's alright guys," he said, motioning for Charlotte to let go. "My father was killed during the Neuroi's first attack wave." He told the others everything he had said to Charlotte and Yoshika two days before, though he left off the emotional breakdown. Everyone was very sympathetic to him, and that actually helped ease some of the ache he'd been feeling the last several weeks. They chatted for a while longer before everyone eventually had to get up to take care of their assigned chores.

Later that night, as Yoshika was headed back to her room, she happened to notice there was a light on over the terrace on the western side of the base, overlooking the sea. Thinking that someone had simply forgotten to turn it off, she walked outside and over to the switches.

"Spera de forma!" Yoshika froze, her finger on the light switch. That had been Akira, casting that song spell of his. "Canto!" She held still, barely breathing as music softly filled the air. She stepped out from around the wall and looked around. Akira stood at the railing, eyes closed, hands moving slowly as he controlled the flow of his magic and the sound. The song was beautiful, and yet very sad, making her heart ache and her eyes tear up a little. The song flowed on, and she noticed that Akira was also crying, though silently. The song ended and the echoes slowly faded away.

"Akira?" she said softly. He yelped in surprise and jumped, almost toppling over backwards over the railing, catching himself at the last moment.

"Yoshika!" he said, totally caught off guard. "I had no idea you where there! Don't do that, you nearly gave me heart failure!"

She giggled at the rueful expression on his face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

He shrugged and shook his head. "Eh, it's fine."

"So what was that song you were just playing? It wasn't one of the ones you showed us earlier."

"Oh, you heard that, hm?"

She nodded, and he sighed.

"That was what we warlocks call a heartsong," he said, turning to stare out over the sea. "Heartsong's are written when something powerful had happened to a warlock. The song is supposed to be a reflection of how the warlock feels within his heart. Many are happy, joyous songs, but some, like that one, aren't. I created that one in memory of my father."

Yoshika thought about it for a few moments, then looked at Akira. "Can you play it again please? I'd like to hear it again." Akira looked at her in surprise for a moment, then nodded. He closed his eyes and started to play, letting the music flow through him. Yoshika listened to the song, hesitating, then shook her head and made up her mind. She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms gently around his neck and pressed her face into his chest. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He smelled nice, like juniper and mint. She just stayed there, holding him, losing herself in the music and the warmth of his body against hers.

Akira almost froze in shock when she embraced him, but slowly recovered and wrapped his arms around her as well, holding her closer to him. She felt so right against him that he closed his eyes and smiled, feeling the rest of the tension and heartache flow from his body. New melodies sprang unbidden into his mind, and he let them flow out into the spheres, letting the song change and soar wildly. Now it was no longer a song of pain and loss, but was changing into a song of joy and love.

Behind them, and unnoticed by either, Charlotte shut the door soundlessly and grinned in delight. Then she turned and headed back to her room.

I hope you guys like it! Please, let me know what you think! And if any of you were wondering, the heartsong that Akira plays is "Bad Wings" by Glitch Mob.