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Chapter 3

The First Battle

The Tower: upstairs

"Looks like the brat and his playmates are on their way. Is the secret weapon ready?" Cyril asked. He stared down the second man, with a malicious smile playing at his lips. He was talking to two of his comrades.

"Yes…She is waiting in the entrance with Ruprecht, Jibril and Nicolus," replied Vesper.

"Heh. The brat won't know what hit him. What a find she was," Cyril laughed. They all laughed evilly.

The Tower: downstairs

"Are you ready…Ariette?" Ruprecht asked.

"Yes," a female voice replied.

The Tower: outside

Claude and the gang got to the tower and entered cautiously. They were greeted by darkness, so thick nothing could be seen at all. Suddenly, a few lights were flashed on and they highlighted the three men standing ready for them. A light shone between the party and the enemies.

"Welcome, weaklings. How do you fare today?" Ruprecht laughed. Claude got his sword out ready.

"Haha, you think you can beat us? Think again," Jibril laughed. Claude growled and made a lunge for him. The enemies did not try to defend themselves. Instead, they stepped aside, allowing a fourth figure to emerge from the darkness and step forward.

The figure was a young girl, no older than Claude and she wore her long waist length hair down, curling beautifully around her arms and down her back. Her hair was flaming red and she had a long fringe, which flew past her ears. Her eyes were of the same colour of Claude's and they glowed a slight red. She was pale and she looked dejected. Her clothes were that of a black gothic gown. Claude stopped his lunge mid slash and stared at her. She stared at him blankly.

"Ari? Ari, is that you?" Claude asked. The girl just stood there.

"Haha, so you have recognised her that easily? I guess what they say is true, twins can spot each no matter what," Ruprecht laughed. The rest of Claude's friends gasped.

"Claude, you have a twin?" Ashton asked, now back to his usual self.

"Look at her, darling, she has the same face as Claude. Only she's prettier," Celine laughed.

"What have you done to her?" Claude shouted. The enemies laughed.

"Done? We've done nothing. This is what she herself is feeling. You hurt her, man. Real bad," Nicolus said. Claude looked confused.

"Ari! What the hell is going on? What happened to you…to your hair?" Claude asked. A tear dropped from the girl's eyes.

"You never saved me. I was screaming; hurting; crying. And you never came for me," she cried.

"Ariette! I was in trouble myself. It was hard enough for me to get anywhere. What…what happened to you?" Claude asked. Ariette stayed silent.

"Enough of this. Ariette, kill them. They have come to kill us," Nicolus ordered. Ariette stepped forward and two-half metre diameter circles, with spikes along the outer edge and handholds in the middle of the circles, appeared in Ariette's hands.

She stood sideways and held one circlet above her head and one near her waist, in a battle stance. Claude stared at her in shock.

"Ari! I don't want to fight you! Stop this, they're the bad guys," Claude said, as he raised his sword to block her attack. It turned into a one-on-one battle, with Claude trying to defend himself and everyone else. All that could be heard was the clash of metal and sparks went flying everywhere. Rena and everyone stared in shock and fear. The battle was a fierce one and neither would give in.

"Why are you doing this? What happened?" Claude asked. More slamming.

"You nor father came for me!" Ariette replied, taking a swipe at her brother. Claude dodged; side stepped and pushed her onto the floor. He pinned her to the ground and panted.

"Father and I set out to rescue you immediately after your kidnap. Things happened and I ended up here," Claude said.

"Liar! You and father went off and explored a planet called Milocinia and never came after me," Ariette shouted, struggling to free herself from her brother's grasp.

"No! We had to examine that planet. There were dangerous and unknown levels of energy being omitted from that place. Father said we have no choice and I believed him. I'm sorry I didn't try harder. Please forgive me," Claude said. Ariette pushed harder and got him off her. They stood staring at each other. Tears rolled down her face and she rubbed them with her hands.

"You have no idea how scared I was. T-they nearly….did really horrible stuff to me. And they experimented on me. I felt as if I wanted to end my life. Luckily I was saved by Cyril and brought here. They took care of me. I don't understand why you're fighting them," Ariette cried. "I wanna go home and talk to mother and father again." She had her hands to her face and bent over a little.

"Father's dead," Claude said. Ariette looked up in shock and started crying harder.

"And the one's who you're working for are his killers. They wish to destroy the universe. They already destroyed the planet that most of my friends come from," Claude said. Ariette gasped and stepped away from the wise men, who were starting to advance.

"Well, well. Looks like we will have to go onto plan B," Ruprecht said. They laughed, as they each lifted an arm and pointed them at Ariette. Ariette stumbled and went blank. After a few seconds, she lifted her eyes and the red glow was back in her eyes. She wore an evil grin, lifted her circlets and ran straight for Claude, ready to attack. Claude raised his sword and blocked her blow. She released one of them and quickly made a slash for Claude's lower body. A loud scream was heard and blood spattered the ground, as Claude fell back into his pool of blood. Everyone gasped and Rena ran forward in tears and sunk to his side, frantically starting to heal him. Dias came in and blocked Ariette's attack, which was aimed for Rena. Ashton, Opera, Ernest and Precis went for Ruprecht and Jibril, two on one. Noel helped with healing and red mage attacks from the sidelines and Celine was watching out for the perfect moment to strike. Bowman and Chisato attacked the third one Nicolus. Dias kept Ariette from fighting, by blocking her attacks and leading her into a corner. Leon, however, was hiding behind a pillar, frozen in fear.

Celine watched Ariette's movements and had a sudden idea.

"We need to get Ariette out of her possession! Leon, come here and help me chant this ancient rune. Hurry!" Celine shouted. Everyone agreed and Leon walked a little forward.

"But-but, I've never done that sort of magic before, it is impossible! I am a scientist who specialises in contracting daemons and bringing forth unfortunate weather. I can't handle this!" Leon shouted. Everyone gasped and turned to Leon, silence plaguing the room.

"How the HELL are you saying that now, you little brat?! After all that crap you fed us? 'Oh, I'm the best and I don't need anyone's help. I can handle this myself'. You little brat! Get your butt over here!" Precis shouted. Leon still looked frightened.

"Do you want to end up dead? Claude risked his life for us. Now come help and no one else will have to take the fall," Celine said. Leon wiped his eyes.

"Big brother…." Leon cried. He ran over to where Celine stood, holding a scroll with ancient symbols.

"We will start chanting this and everyone must keep us safe," Celine said. Everyone nodded and strengthened their attacks and defence. Adrenaline was pumping through everyone's bodies and they kept the enemies away from the two heraldic users.

"Light from the heavens and Darkness from the Underworld,

Come forth and grant us thine glorious power.

With the power of the stars and the power of the void unfurled,

Unleash this divine shower.

Upon thee who hath doth been affected,

With dark powers taking thy conscious.

Now come forth and be corrected,

From such beings who doth be monstrous.

Take this spell into thy hand,

Take this blood into thy throat.

Come doth back and reprimand,

To thine brother upon you doth dote.

So come back here and make it right.

"UNLEASH! HEAVENLY DARK BLESSING!"Leon and Celine shouted. A black and white nebula appeared above the fighting area. The stardust came down and circled Ariette, wrapping around her, while she struggled and pleaded to be released from the binding. Light blinded everyone and after a while, everyone's vision came back. Ariette lay unconscious on the ground. Dias quickly ran to her, dragged her up and ran back to where Rena was sobbing over Claude's body. He guarded the three of them, while the battle went back to normal. Leon and Celine clasped hands and chanted their spells together, unleashing massive surges of power. Leon and Celine's joint Southern Cross vaporised the three enemies and they all relaxed slightly.

"What do we do now?" Bowman asked. Everyone looked at where Dias was standing. He sheathed his sword and knelt down next to Rena.

"How's Claude? He's not-," Bowman said, unable to carry on the sentence.

"…He's lost a lot of blood. But thanks to Rena, he may survive. It might depend on his conscious," Dias said. "But we can't take them with us. Rena, you go with the rest and leave these two with me. We'll catch up later." Rena stood up and looked at Dias.

"But I want to stay with Claude," Rena cried.

"They need your powers more. You are the best healer around here. Do you want them to die?" Dias asked. Rena had wide eyes. She stared at the ground and nodded. Dias put his hand on her head and rubbed her hair, telling her she was a good girl.