Disclaimer: Zatch Bell is copyrighted to Makoto Raiku (characters, series, and concepts). The only things I own that are currently revealed in the story are E, Nylon, Shine, Angelica Tsukoro, Curtis Herrakoro, Gretchen, Harumi Kisamaru, Haruko, Izo Uramori, Myriam Schwazden, Mystrael, Metallix, Professor Linda, Orion, Jade, Shine, Zale Schwazden, Thoria, Cassandra, Vini, Amanda, Phoebe, Samantha, Servor, and Jerrod.
Chapter 15: Another Light
"WHOO! I win again, baby!"
Curtis was prancing his happy self about his spacious bedroom, a video game controller in his hand. Gretchen was sitting on the end of the bed, deadpanning as she saw her character lying in defeat at the hands of Curtis's, as she mumbled in defeat, "…This game sucks…"
"Naw, you just suck at it!" Curtis objected, plopping onto his bedroom while grinning. "Wanna go again?" He asked. Gretchen gently placed the video game controller beside her as she declined, "Forget it. You're right—I do suck at this game. I need some air."
"Yeah, I'm tired of whupping yo sorry ass at Tekken." Curtis taunted, pulling his right eyelid down while sticking out his tongue. Gretchen's response was her lifting up her hand with all but the middle finger curled down as she walked out the room. Curtis only snickered as he turned off the game and accessed the channels. "Shoot. I forgot the news aired on this channel this time of day," Curtis groused in disinterest, "Oh well. Let's see what else—"
"Onto the next topic: the picture everyone is about to see is not doctored but real."
Upon hearing that, Curtis paused and paid attention to the newscast. Based only on that statement, something already was going down. When the man continued, the image of a monstrously tall tower with what seemed to be ancient civilization perched atop it came up.
"An unknown mountain suddenly appeared within the Resuka Mountain range, or what we believe to be a giant structure."
"Yo, Gretchen! Get in here; hurry!" Curtis called out loudly, hoping his Mamodo partner heard him. "What's up?" Gretchen responded, suddenly beside him. Unfazed, Curtis grabbed Gretchen's head as if he was forcing her to watch the newscast. "Check this out." He said. Gretchen sweat-dropped in annoyance, thinking that there was not much of a choice in the matter, and paid attention herself.
"This was taken by a field cameraman who happened to be at a nearby mountain. However, shortly thereafter, upon return to that exact same location, the structure was no longer there. This had led some to suggest it was a mirage or illusion."
"Why, that doesn't look suspicious." Gretchen commented sarcastically. "I wanna say that Mamodo are involved in this…" Curtis conjectured uncertainly, "But…" Gretchen then stated, "It's pretty obvious it is, but…what exactly is it?" The two stood there, cupping their chins in thought, as they contemplated on the situation.
Just then, they suddenly heard honking from a car horn outside. Putting the matter aside for the moment, Curtis and Gretchen approached the window of Curtis's room that faced directly out to the parking lot outside the terrace. They opened it and looked outside curiously.
"Hey, Curtis! Hope you're ready to go!"
"Hi, Gretchen-neechan!"
In a white sports car, looking at them radiantly was Harumi and a little girl. The little girl was nine-years-old and bore pale blond, curtly, chin-length hair and cerulean eyes. Her attire consisted of a white, bell-sleeved dress with a yellow slightly transparent mantle, and white bell-bottom pants with simple yellow shoes.
"Harumi? Haruko?" Curtis said, blinking in surprise, and then questioned them, "What are you doing here?"
Harumi, who was still wearing her uniform, frowned and crossed her arms, "You mean you forgot? You and Gretchen promised to take us to Megumi's concert!" Curtis thought about it for a second and said bluntly, "I damn sure forgot."
"IDIOT!" Harumi yelled as she, somehow and out of nowhere, chucked a big rock at Curtis's face. Haruko's eyes widened in shock as Gretchen stared on blankly, picking up the rock after it successfully floored Curtis. The seventeen-year-old male shot up from the ground, holding his nose, and shouted, "Why did you do that? Where the hell did you get that rock from anyway?"
"Your mother." Harumi answered brusquely. "…Go screw yo'self while we get dressed." Curtis angrily shut the window as Gretchen laughed wildly.
Curtis and Gretchen got dressed for the outside world and headed off with Harumi and Haruko to Megumi's concert in Tokyo. They two also wore different attires than they did when fighting the Ancient Mamodo. Gretchen's new outfit consisted of a sleeveless, blackish-navy blue kosode with a white undershirt, and blackish-navy blue pants; she kept on her black combat boots. Additionally, she wore black wristbands on each wrist and black, fingerless gloves on each hand. Curtis's new outfit consisted of a green and brown basketball jersey shirt, a grey skull cap, grey sweatpants, and green and black Nike tennis shoes.
Soon enough, they arrived at the sight and, predictably, many people were present on the scene. "Crap. These lines are long." Harumi commented exasperatedly. "Oh, that reminds me." Curtis spoke, him and Gretchen digging into their pockets. Harumi and Haruko looked at them quizzically, only to gasp in shock as the two handed them VIP passes.
"H-How did you two get these?" Harumi interrogated, absolutely shocked. As he hung his own VIP pass around his neck, Curtis answered her, "Oh, me and Megumi go back, girl." That could be considered a half-truth. It wasn't as far as the phrase implied, but everyone after the battle against Ancient Mamodo became close allies and friends. Plus, all it took was one mention and the pop idol was more than willing to oblige.
"That's so cool!" Haruko said cutely as she placed the VIP pass around her neck. "Now, as Curtis would say, let's go look fly." Gretchen stated, hopping out of the roofless sports car while grinning. " 'Ey, you know it, girl!" Curtis replied, matching his Mamodo partner's grin as he exited the car.
Because of their VIP passes, the four entered the building relatively quickly—much to the chagrin of people who were less fortunate than they. They also managed to get front-row seats to the action. "Oh my God; front-row seats to one of Megumi's concerts!" Harumi squealed. Haruko was beaming elatedly at the stage, hoping for it to start. The only reason why Curtis and Gretchen were even there was for Harumi and Haruko. They knew how much they wanted to be at this concert, and they didn't want to delay that wish any longer.
Minutes later, when everyone was settled, the lights began to dim. Immediately, screams from both girls and boys alike rang throughout the building. Curtis and Gretchen covered their ears from the sounds—it didn't help that Harumi and Haruko contributed to them at different degrees.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, here's Megumi!"
The curtains onstage separated and all spotlights shone on the star. "Thank you, everyone, for coming here today! Now, it's on with the show!" Megumi struck a pose; she was wearing an expensive and stylish pink and white dress.
Once Megumi made her appearance, the crowd went even wilder. Curtis and Gretchen shut their eyes and gritted their teeth. They already knew this would be their first and last time to a concert, favor or otherwise. Through all the cacophony, Gretchen's eyes opened as she remembered something. She was prepared for this. Digging into her pocket again, she presented to her bookkeeper a pair of earplugs. Curtis's subsequent grin expressed his thanks as he took them immediately put them into his ears. Gretchen did the same. Now, the two didn't care how much noise everyone made—they couldn't hear it and that was all that mattered.
"Thanks for enjoying the show! I hope I made it your money's worth!" Megumi announced, the microphone in her hand amplifying her voice throughout the stands. With that, the curtains closed to signal another concert well done. Based on the audience's roars, Megumi's hopes were definitely fulfilled.
"Gretchen-neechan, Curtis," Haruko spoke, hopping off her seat and bowing gratefully, "We appreciate your time!" Harumi mimicked the gesture, utterly gracious. As Gretchen ruffled Haruko's hair, Curtis hooked an arm around Harumi, "Aw, don't sweat it. Ya'll my homies." Then, Curtis and Gretchen began directing the two females elsewhere, and it was not to the exit. "But, how 'bout meeting Miss Oomi herself?"
"You're joking." Harumi said with incredulity. Curtis grinned slyly but said nothing as he and his Mamodo partner guided Harumi and Haruko backstage relatively unseen. Not like staff could say anything since they had VIP passes around their necks provided by the pop idol herself. "Wait here fo' a sec." He said, the quartet stopping in front of a door. The ecru-haired proceeded to knock on the door.
"Coming!" was the reply of two female voices on the other side of the door. Two seconds afterward, Tia opened the door—all the way once she saw the familiar faces, "Hey, Curtis! Hey, Gretchen!" She greeted smilingly. "Sup, homegirls?" Curtis reciprocated the greetings, giving Tia a greeting high-five.
"Ah, I see you two took advantage of those VIP passes." Megumi, who was dressed in casual clothing, said, looking at them through the mirror. It was obvious she was getting ready to leave. "I bet'cha also remember why we asked for them in the first place." Curtis continued. Megumi turned completely around in her seat as Tia blinked confusedly.
Curtis and Gretchen stepped aside to reveal a thunderstruck Harumi and a less-thunderstruck Haruko standing behind them. "These people are Harumi Kisamaru and Haruko. I'm sure you remember those names we mentioned." Gretchen said.
Being kindhearted, Megumi and Tia approached both girls. "Hello, Harumi, I'm sure you're glad Curtis decided to fulfill your wishes, hm?" Megumi said nicely. Harumi shook herself out of her stupor, not wanting to act completely like the other millions of fans Megumi had. "Um, yes! Though, he almost forgot."
"'Ey, you better glad I thought about you!" Curtis retorted. Megumi giggled, "It's fine. It's fine. Nice to meet you."
"The same to you, Haruko!" Tia said, shaking heads with the pale blonde-haired girl. "Likewise, Tia." Haruko replied courteously.
Meanwhile, Gretchen was staring off to the side with narrowed eyes for some reason. Curtis almost caught that since Harumi, Megumi, Haruko, and Tia were busy acquainting each other. Since she was his Mamodo partner, he could instantly discern every kind of mannerism she had in every situation. And this one said one thing to him: an enemy was nearby.
"Where they at?" Curtis whispered questioningly, nudging Gretchen to get her attention. Gretchen looked at him and whispered back, "Outside. Somewhere on the roof." Curtis nodded as he suddenly said to the other females in the room, "Well, ladies, I'll leave you to each other. Me and Gretchen need to be off." Not giving them time to verbally respond, they dashed out of the room.
Harumi, Megumi, and Haruko were left bewildered at the action, but Tia managed to see one thing before they completely left—Curtis removing a battleship grey spellbook from his person. Tia looked at her bookkeeper and gave her a serious look. Megumi instantly knew what that meant too. Of course she would feel bad for leaving Harumi and Haruko like this, but it couldn't be helped.
"Um, Harumi? Haruko? You mind waiting here for a second?" Megumi requested. The two girls blinked but nodded their approval. With that done with, Tia and Megumi dashed out of the dress room and followed down the hall Curtis and Gretchen went.
Curtis and Gretchen bust through the door that lead to the roof of the building. Their respective spellbook and scythe were already out, and they knew the enemy was here too.
"Check it out, Servor, they found us."
"I see that, Jerrod; it saved us trouble."
Servor, the Mamodo, had pitch-black skin and two slanted white eyes that lacked pupils. The most outstanding thing about him was the large skeletal growth that took the appearance of a segmented snake that replaced his right arm. Additionally, he wore a skeletal chest-plate that was connected to the snakelike growth. His human partner, Jerod, was simply a gray-green haired adult male wearing a rugged business suit.
"Better to get this out of the way then you attacking people that were just leaving the concert." Gretchen said defensively, gripping her scythe with both hands. "Then let's make this short and sweet. There are more Mamodo in this building that we would like to eliminate." Servor said in a calm but cynical tone.
The blue-green spellbook in Jerrod's arms glowed as he exclaimed, "Dorusen!" The snakelike growth was outstretched and it fired a small drill to Gretchen and Curtis. "Curtis, let's block that!" Gretchen ordered, requesting a defense spell. "Ask and you will—"
"Ma Seshield!"
Suddenly, a circular pink and gold shield was summoned in front Gretchen that blocked the Dorusen rather effortlessly. "…Receive." Curtis finished his line with half-disappointment and half-surprise. "Ah, guess we couldn't fool you two." Gretchen said with a small smirk, looking at the newcomers. Predictably, Tia and Megumi were now on the scene as Ma Seshield went away. "Nope." Tia replied, matching Gretchen's smirk. "You two just leave the defense to us; you take over offense." Megumi advised as Curtis nodded in understanding.
"Today must be our lucky day." Jerrod said, idly spinning the blue-green spellbook in his hand. "Indeed." Servor hissed as he extended the snakelike growth again. At that moment, Gretchen dashed for him. "Quick but rather reckless." Servor commented. "Ganzu Dorusen!"
"Ganzu Ligar!" Curtis countered. As Gretchen ran, the blade of her scythe leaked dark energy. She rapidly swung it so that multiple dark, crescent-shaped projectiles could be unleashed. Servor had fired multiple small drills from his growth in response, both spells canceling each other.
"Hmmm. Interesting." Servor said as Jerrod proceeded to try out another spell. "Giga La Seoshi!" Suddenly, Servor was encased in a green dome. "What?" Servor and Jerrod exclaimed in shock. "Ha! Trying getting out of that one!" Tia challenged, her arm outstretched with the palm glowing green. "Giga La Seoshi redirects all attacks inside that barrier back to the user." Megumi explained.
"Which means we got an open kill-shot, baby!" Curtis exclaimed wildly, grinning, as he recited, "Ligar!"
"Don't underestimate us that quickly!" Jerrod said as he flipped pages quickly in the blue-green spellbook, "Ei Doruk!" The snakelike growth suddenly went underground and popped up on the outside of the barrier, spinning rapidly like a drill. Megumi, Tia, Curtis, and Gretchen were all shocked that, and the latter was the one who received the brunt of the attack.
"Gretchen!" Curtis yelled as his partner was knocked into the railing of the roof. "Megumi, our attack spell! Hurry!" Tia ordered. "Saisu!" Megumi recited, fulfilling her partner's orders. The palms of Tia's hand glowed orange as she swished them across her body, firing a somewhat weak energy boomerang at Servor. "Hm!" Servor grunted as he retracted his snakelike growth blocked the Saisu with it, "You'll have to do better than that!"
"Then try this, shithead!" Curtis shouted, "Raja Ligarsen!" Gretchen, having recovered from that attack, was charging up an immense amount of dark energy in the blade of her scythe. With a grunt, she unleashed a greatly larger crescent-shaped projectile. "Jerrod, back off!" Servor shouted in genuine concern for his bookkeeper. Jerrod jumped out of the way in time, but Servor had used his window of opportunity to make sure his book was kept safe. Raja Ligarsen hit point-blank.
"Nice shot!" Tia and Megumi replied in unison. "Thanks." Gretchen replied, jumping back over to them. A slash wound was seen on her across her left ribs area. "But that was just one lucky hit," Megumi said seriously, looking at the remnants of Raja Ligarsen and a struggling Servor, "We'll need a lot more than that."
"We got this," Curtis reassured confidently, "With ya'll two's shields and our scythes, this'll be a piece of a cake." At this time, Servor found the strength to stand back on his feet, getting over the initial shock and pain delivered by Gretchen's Raja Ligarsen. "Getting serious, they seem." Jerrod remarked. "Hmph. Then so will we." Servor asked as he extended his snakelike growth again. "Oruga Dorusen!"
Another type of drill was unleashed. This one, however, had a thinner but longer drill in the middle of it with a ring of smaller, wider drills rotating counterclockwise around the main one.
"Seoshi!"
"Ligaruk!"
Tia extended her hands and summoned a glassy dome shield over herself, Megumi, Curtis, and Gretchen. Oruga Dorusen came into contact with Seoshi and tried to hardest to penetrate the barrier. Meanwhile, Ligaruk went into effect. The blade of Gretchen's scythe became laden with dark energy; her wristbands and the neckline of the kosode also became coated with it.
"Hurry, Gretchen!" Tia pleaded, finding it more and more arduous to keep back Oruga Dorusen. "Leave this to me, Tia. Save your energy!" Gretchen directed as she got ready. Megumi stopped inputting heart energy into the spell; thus, Tia stopping performing Seoshi. At that moment, the Ligaruk-induced Gretchen dashed for the somewhat-weakened Oruga Dorusen and swung her scythe, sending out a powerful wave of dark energy that destroyed it.
Jerrod sneered in response, "Tch. Pretty persistent, aren't they?" Servor narrowed his eyes as he extended his snakelike growth, "No matter. The next spell, please!" The blue-green spellbook glowed once again, this time a bit brighter, as Jerrod read aloud, "Ariza Doruron!"
The segments of Servor's snakelike stretched out slightly, revealing elastic material in-between each segment. At the same time, metal drills appeared on the underside of each segment. "Careful, Gretchen!" Curtis alerted. "I don't need you to tell me that!" Gretchen objected as she gripped her scythe two-handedly, "The threat is clear as day!" With a grunt of effort, Servor bought Ariza Doruron down. The Ligaruk-induced Gretchen swung her scythe the drill segment coming down on her, but to her surprise, the spell was a lot more durable and stronger than it looked. She instantly caught hell trying to power, even with the power boost provided by Ligaruk, "M-Maybe it isn't…!" Gretchen said with a strained voice, finding herself on one knee.
"I told you! Damn it." Curtis said with distress, trying to figure out a way to help out his partner. "Megumi, we need to help Gretchen before that Mamodo drills a hole through her!" Tia alerted. Megumi nodded as she flipped pages in her book.
"Don't think that you three out of the picture." Servor suddenly said. Curtis, Megumi, and Tia then saw—with much surprise and dread—that the head of the growth was aimed straight at them. "Checkmate!" Jerrod exclaimed triumphantly, "Dorusen!"
"Reflero!"
Suddenly, a glowing, golden, glassy cross materialized before Tia, Megumi, and Curtis. The small drill launched from the snakelike growth's mouth connected against the cross. Then, it was reflected straight back into the growth's mouth, significantly damaging Ariza Doruron.
"What?" Jerrod and Servor exclaimed in shock. "Wh-Who the heck?" Curtis and Megumi commented in disbelief. No one saw it, but Gretchen was smiling as she started to that drill segment of Ariza Doruron upward. "Looks like you figured it out too, Haruko." She said.
Tia, Curtis, and Megumi all turned around and saw Haruko and Harumi. The former's hand was glowing a celestial blue color as she manipulated Reflero, and in the latter's hand was a dark khaki spellbook. "You guys should be a bit quieter in your fights." Harumi said offhandedly. Curtis got over his shock as he retorted, "Girl, why da hell didn't you tell me you were a bookkeeper? Oh my God, all my best friends are bookkeepers! Ain't that something?"
"I knew there was something about you, Haruko?" Tia stated, winking the blonde Mamodo. Haruko chuckled nervously as she let her hand drop, "It's pretty hard to hide the fact you're a Mamodo from others…" Megumi then stated smilingly, "Regardless. Now, it's three teams against one. Those are odds I always welcome."
"And, meanwhile, as you people converse, Gretchen is over here still struggling and bleeding profusely!" Gretchen yelled, her voice dripping with sardonicism to express her situation. Even after the main part of the transformed snakelike growth was struck, Ariza Doruron was still going strong, reducing Gretchen back to one knee and even causing her right shoulder to bleed, despite her best efforts with her scythe.
"Crap! Our bad, Gretchen!" Curtis shouted in anguish and looked to his other female allies, "Do something, ya'll! 'Fore Gretchen gets screwed over more!" Tia and Haruko both nodded in understanding and then requested to their bookkeepers, "Attack spell!"
"Saisu!"
"Haosen!"
Both of Tia's hands glowed orange as she crossed them, firing an orange energy boomerang. Haruko assumed an archery stance and a bow of light materialize. Pulling back the string, an arrow of light was generated and she promptly fired it. Both attack spells of the female Mamodo struck the head of the growth again. This time, Ariza Doruron was immediately cancelled out, causing Servor to begrudgingly recall it back to original length.
"Gretchen, you aight?" Curtis shouted concernedly as he approached his injured partner. Gretchen was hunched over in her stance, blood covering her shoulder and straining her kosode. "Never been better." Gretchen responded after a few pants. At this point, the battleship grey spellbook stopped glowing and Ligaruk automatically deactivated. "Shit. I just ran out of heart energy." The ecru-haired said through gritted teeth.
"We'll take care of that, Curtis." Tia said as she raised her arms above her head, "We need Gretchen for offense against that brute." Haruko went over to Gretchen and outstretched her arms, "And we need to keep you healthy."
"Saifojio!"
"Maifojio!"
A pink sword appeared above Tia and she promptly threw it into Curtis where it began healing him. Haruko's hands glowed white as light energy leaked onto Gretchen, healing those wounds she got from Ariza Doruron. Soon enough, both healing processes were finished at the expense of Harumi and Megumi losing more heart energy.
"That's better. 'Preciate it." Curtis thanked as Gretchen faced the disbelieving enemies once again. "No matter," Jerrod said in a hushed tone as the blue-green spellbook glowed again, "We'll just attack you even harder than before. Ganzu Dorusen!" Servor fired multiple small drills from the mouth of his snakelike growth. "Seoshi!" Megumi recited another defense spell in response. Tia summoned a glassy dome over all of her allies so that the drills could not hit them.
"Jerrod! Attack them from underground like last time!" Servor ordered. "Got it! Ei Doruk!" Jerrod shouted. The snakelike growth suddenly went underground. Tia's and Megumi's eyes widened in shock. Not this again! Luckily, Harumi caught their expressions and quickly recited, "Mashield!"
Haruko quickly placed her hands on the ground and, underneath Seoshi, a gold and white square barrier that resembled the gates to heaven was formed. Evidently by the subsequent BAM, it had blocked Ei Doruk. "Nice one, Haruko!" Tia commented, rather impressed. "Tia, let me out," Gretchen ordered, "I need to get close-range to that guy."
"Got it!" Tia and Megumi said in unison and dropped the Seoshi spell. Instantly, Gretchen made a break for Servor. "Ha! Don't make us laugh." Jerrod said condescendingly before casting the next spell, "Ariza Doruron!" This time, when Servor unleashed the segmented growth with drills on its underside, he had made sure it was long enough to reach both Gretchen and the others.
"Oh man! We can't defend ourselves and Gretchen!" Megumi exclaimed in shock. "And Zena Shield ain't no way near strong enough to stop that mess!" Curtis added. Harumi said optimistically, "Yes we can. Megumi, you worry about defending us. Leave Gretchen to me and Haruko." Haruko extended her hands again and said, "Please trust us."
Although Tia was less willing, Megumi was able to find the ability to understand and trust them. "Right." The pop idol responded before reciting, "Seoshi!" A glassy dome covered Curtis, Haruko, Harumi, Tia, and Megumi. "Mashield!" Harumi then casted. As Gretchen waited patiently, the same gold and white heavenly shield from before appeared above her. Thanks to that, everyone was safely blocked from Ariza Doruron.
Harumi then proudly explained, "Mashield has the ability to defend anyone anywhere and anytime. Not just us." Megumi smiled brightly as she said, "That's awesome!" Tia smirked at Haruko and complimented, "You go, girl!" Haruko blushed in embarrassment, "I-It's nothing really…"
Servor refrained from snarling uncharacteristically as he called his snakelike growth yet again. "Jerrod, use my strongest spell. Let's eliminate them right here and now." Jerrod nodded as he flipped to practically the back of the blue-green spellbook and casted with much fervor, "Fanbai Dorudon!" Servor extended his snakelike growth again, but it increased dramatically in size, was covered in a layer of grey steel, and its open mouth possessed a large drill inside it.
"C-Curtis!" Gretchen yelled to her bookkeeper, hoping he had thought of something. Besides, she was the closet one to it. "Get out of there, Gretchen!" Curtis yelled back, "We don't have a spell powerful enough to take that on!" Tia cried out, "Neither do we!" Jerrod smirked as he said to his Mamodo partner, "You hear that, Servor? We got them on the ropes now!" Servor replied cynically, "And it's about time too. Time for them to be sent back to the Mamodo World."
"Gigano Reflero!
Haruko and Harumi once again came to the rescue. Another golden cross appeared. This one, however, glowed much more radiantly and had an angel-wing style bowtie connected to the middle. Fanbai Dorudon connected against Gigano Reflero. A struggle for supremacy immediately came forth. Some seconds afterward the giant drill snake was coated in an aura of light.
"W-What sorcery is this?" Jerrod shouted. Then, Fanbai Dorudon was actually directed back to Servor and Jerrod. "A Gigano-class spell…" Servor said in a thunderstruck tone, "…deflected a…high-tier spell?" Jerrod and Servor screamed in pain as they felt the impact of their own spell.
"…Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, and Saint Joseph. That was…off the hook." Curtis commented, his whole body stagnant with amazement. "That just about sums it up." Megumi said in the same state as Curtis. Haruko left her arms drop as he panted laboriously. "Man…That was hard…" Harumi remarked, equally tired as she closed the dark khaki spellbook and hunched over. "But that was still pretty awesome." Tia said to them comfortingly, winking. The two girls responded with a soft smile.
When the dust and smoke settled, Servor was bloodied and staggering. "You little…" It was then his body began to become transparent, "What…? I'm fading?" He turned to see his bookkeeper was laying unconscious and his spellbook being swallowed up by purple flames. "How unsightly…" Servor sneered as he completely disappeared, signaling his elimination from the tournament.
"And that's that." Curtis declared, closing the battleship grey spellbook. "Thank goodness." Megumi said graciously, putting away the orange spellbook. Gretchen, by now, had rejoined the group, "Not bad, you guys. Not bad." Tia and Haruko gave the older female a thumbs-up and a smile respectively.
"Good thing we didn't get all that beat up." Curtis remarked. "Save for me." Gretchen stated disdainfully. "You look fine, Gretchen." Harumi said earnestly. "Anyway," Megumi spoke, "Since that's over with, let's go eat! My treat."
Everyone, predictably, did not object to that.
The city of Mochinoki reflected off a metal mask of someone overlooking the city on a hill. "So this is the place?" The breeze made loose clothing sway before the entity continued, "Hmph. So, now, it is time to retrieve what we need."
Four shadowed figures were looming over the horizon. It was time for the next adventure to begin.