Victoria's eyes widen when she sees Cole start running at Xander. "Damn it." she swears and turns to Saul and the Rune Knights. "These guys have already secured the village. Secure Xander Break and defend the others!" she orders and the Rune Knights charge headfirst against Xander's little army.
Saul raises an eyebrow as he comes to stand beside Victoria. "How do you know that the village is secure?" he asks.
"Is this really the time for that?"
Meanwhile, Emile is trying to pull a frozen Mana away from a cackling Finn. "M-Mana, come on, you're not ready for this-"
Cole suddenly screams and starts running at Xander. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU YOU BASTARD!"
And everything erupts into chaos.
Episode 13: Maddox, Mason, and 'Brother'
Emile isn't cut out for this.
Does he enjoy flirting with girls? Yes.
Does he know how to make them smile? Not really, they mostly laugh at his poor attempts at flirting with them.
Does he know how to comfort them while they're currently being confronted by one of the sources of their trauma while that source is intent on bringing them back to the greatest source of their trauma?
Seeing as how Mana refuses to look away from Finn Brown and is still trembling from head to toe while tears incessantly fall from her eyes; Emile is going to go with no, he cannot. But there's a first time for everything.
But he really isn't cut out for this.
"M-Mana, come on," Emile stammers, trying to pull the girl up onto her feet. Normally he would have no problem but he has to admit, Finn is scaring him too. Cooley is on the overly-protective dad level and Finn is just...something else entirely.
Mana, her face pale, can only stare at Finn - teeth chattering and body trembling. The fear and terror she feels is doubled with Mary in her head. Mary can't cope with seeing Finn so suddenly so soon only a month after they escaped from him. "I…"
Finn barks out another laugh, "AHAHAHAHAHA! Come on, Manami, come back with dear ol' uncle. I missed you and my dear, dear niece so much." he says and beckons Mana towards him. "You don't want me to take out my sadness on your little friends, do you?" Finn asks, cracking his knuckles. "I assure you, your little escape act gave me plenty of feelings that I need to take out on somebody." he says. "Better you than your friends, right?" Finn laughs.
Mana flinches and covers her ears with her hands, shaking her head over and over again. "Please...leave me alone…" she whispers, her voice scared and weak.
"Aw, I can't even reunite with my dear little Mary-" Finn's eyes widen alongside Emile's and Mana's when a chain suddenly wraps itself around Mana's waist. "-what the hell?" he blinks.
Another chain wraps itself around Emile's waist.
The two of them nearly get the air knocked out of them when she's suddenly yanked backwards, flying clear across the battlefield until they collide with something warm that has a terrible potty mouth: "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! This is not what we signed up for." Akane coughs out when her teammates bodies collide against hers. She puts her arms around them and destroys the chains binding them with a single tug.
"A-Akane!?" Emile stammers. "What happened to that girl you were fighting?"
Akane just shakes her head. "She refused to fight and she disappeared when those two made their grand entrance." she says, glancing at a raging Finn fighting with the Rune Knights blocking his way to Mana and Xander fighting with a homicidal Cole. Then she glances at Mana and her tear stained cheeks. "I...I'm...sorry. For being so harsh with you." she apologizes meekly. "I heard everything." she says and glances at Finn. "I know they're twins but…" Akane shakes her head. "The resemblance is scary. And I'm assuming that old guy is Xander Break." she says.
Emile's eyes widen when he hears Akane apologize. "Does that mean…?" he trails off, looking at Akane hopefully.
Akane crosses her arms. "This isn't the time to be having a heart to heart, but," she glances at Mana. "you can't fake a reaction like that. I'm not saying I trust you with my life or anything, but, I'll stop doubting your story - well, Mary's story since she's providing a majority of the details." Akane says, waving her hand. "So, our original mission has gone terribly wrong and now Cole is trying to kill the man we were supposed to keep him from. What now?"
"I hate to ask a bunch of kids to risk their lives in some fight they didn't sign up for but I'm going to anyway. We need the help - not to just incapacitate the little army they brought with them but to protect the village." Victoria chimes in on Akane's and Emile's Earring Communications Lacrima. "Veiss has already informed me that the villagers themselves are safe - including your friend Calypso. I'd just like to prevent any damage done to the village itself and make sure that nobody is taken. You won't have to fight too long, one of the Rune Knights has already sent word to the Grand General and back to Soncha Kapa for reinforcements." she reports. "Our bloodthirsty general and the reinforcements should be here soon now that we have an exact location. Also, could you please make sure Cole doesn't get himself killed?"
Emile relays the information to a still silent Mana while Akane agrees to follow Victoria's orders.
"So," Akane hesitates for a second and turns to Mana. "what's the exact plan? We have our orders, how are we gonna carry them out?"
Mana blinks, a look of surprise on her face. "Y-You're asking...me…?" she finally speaks, her voice shaky.
Emile looks on like a proud father while Akane shuffles uncomfortably: either from Mana's crying or from Emile staring at her like he's watching his daughter take her first steps, who knows? Maybe it's all three. "I don't want you to do - shouldn't you be the one to come up with the plan? If you're uncomfortable while you're fighting for your life with a plan that Emile or I come up with, you're not going to be fighting for very long." Akane says and crosses her arms again. Akane starts tapping her foot impatiently. "We're literally standing in the middle of a battlefield. You don't have a lot of time to think before they realize we're just standing here so think fast, Mana."
"I'm pretty sure it came from this direction." Seinaru says, leading the two Phoenix Fire men through the forest.
"Wow, you sound so confident and so concerned for someone leading us to our guildmates that are under attack." Alistair deadpans. "If we don't get there before it's too late, I'm giving your head to Theresa and Master Nadine."
Seinaru nods. "That's fine." he says, uncaring.
"Damn," Nelio says. "First you're indifferent about what happens to your friend Cole-"
"Not my friend." Seinaru interrupts him.
Nelio ignores him. "-and now you're unbothered by the threat of death." he says. "Even I'm not that dead inside. Dude, what's wrong with you?"
"Ugh," a voice that is very obviously not Seinaru's speaks up from somewhere in front of them. "Don't tell me I of all people got lost." a woman's voice says in disdain.
The three men watch as a woman emerges from the forest, arms crossed and an angry look on her face. Eventually, she notices the men just standing there and she turns to look at them, a conniving expression in her eyes that quickly disappears when she locks eyes with Alistair.
"Is there a problem?" Alistair asks when she keeps staring.
Nelio hums and taps his chin with his left hand, watching the woman closely.
The woman glances at Nelio, narrowing her eyes when she sees the silver Phoenix Fire mark on his hand.
Seinaru catches on, bracing himself as he puts his right hand on the katana at his side, showing off the white Aberrant Hydra mark on his hand.
The woman sucks her teeth. "Of course you're all Guild Mages…" she mutters, turning back to Alistair. She smirks. "I take it that means you don't want to come with me to see your bratty brothers?"
Alistair's eyes widen. "You know-?"
"Obviously." the woman says. "I'd give you the courtesy of showing you my guild mark but I guess you'll just have to take me at my word for it, won't you?" she says. "We've been treating Maddox and Mason...very well. I haven't been with Revenant Beasts very long so I can't tell you exactly how they grew up, but they do look a lot like you now, Alistair." she taunts.
Alistair doesn't say anything but with the look of rage on his face, nothing needs to be said anyway. With a single swing of his arm, he creates a wave of water under Nelio and Seinaru, sending them flowing past the woman despite their cries (Nelio's cries) of protest and, oddly enough (to Rosalia), cries of pain.
The woman laughs. "Water Magic, huh? This is going to be a breeze! I'll reunite you with your brothers soon enough, Alistair...one way or another." she says and her smile falls. "I know the pain of losing family all too well - the least I can do is kill all three of you and reunite you in death."
Alistair mumbles something under his breath.
"What was that?" the woman asks with a raised brow.
"What's your name?"
"Why does it matter?"
"I'd like to know the name of the bitch I'm about to kill." Alistair sneers and swings his arms at the woman. "Water Slicer!" Alistair creates a wave of scythe-like blades of water that fly at the woman like projectiles.
The woman scoffs and raises her arm: "Thorn Wall!" she casts. Vine-like plants start sprouting from the ground at a rapid speed, creating a wall in front of the woman that eventually blooms into a pretty wall of roses. "Can't you see that you're going to lose?" the woman says cockily. "Water beats fire, fire beats grass, and grass beats water." she says haughtily. "There's no way you can beat me like this." she says. "But if you must know the name of your killer, it's Rosalia Moore." the woman introduces herself and sighs. "It's such a shame, you would've made such a gorgeous husband."
Alistair doesn't say anything.
Rosalia eventually notices why. Alistair's water blades are quickly cutting through the thick flowers and they also seem to be emitting steam.
"Wh-What's this?" Rosalia stammers, quickly dodging the first blade to make it through her wall of roses. "It's just water! Plants use water to grow - my flowers should just be absorbing it!" she cries.
Alistair stares her down through the hole in the wall of roses. "That may be but since you've obviously failed to notice, my water is scalding." he says. "And although it pains me to compliment the bitch who's complicit in keeping my brothers hostage, your Magic seems to be strong enough to resist a good portion of my own power. Normally this spell would've just cut right through anything in its path: stone, trees, human flesh...by all means you should've been dead already." Alistair says. "But I guess I'll have to try a little harder."
"What, so you sent your little friends away on burning hot water?" Rosalia scoffs. "Some friend you are."
"I can't speak for Seinaru but Nelio has gone through far worse than a little hot water." Alistair says. "It's only touching the bottom of their shoes, anyway, they'll be fine. They might just have to replace their shoes, though..." he says and glowers at Rosalia. "You, however, will not be fine."
Rosalia grits her teeth, disappearing from behind her wall in a flurry of petals and quickly reappearing in front of Alistair: "Crescent Petals!" she casts, the petals around her quickly moving into the shape of a sword that she immediately swings at-
...Huh?
Rosalia blinks, staring at her sword. Instead of cutting Alistair's side open with her sword, he's...his flesh is rippling around her sword. Almost like…
"Water..?" Rosalia mumbles to herself, dumbfounded by what she's looking at.
Alistair stares down at her with dead eyes. "A little technique I picked up from watching Fiore's Grand Magic Games." he says. "You can't hurt me. You might as well roll over and die now." he says.
Rosalia groans in frustration and tosses her sword to the side. "Screw this! I don't need this in my life!" she says and starts to disappear in a flurry of petals once more.
But Alistair acts faster.
"Water Lock." Alistair creates a large sphere of water around Rosalia and her petals, preventing her from moving anywhere. She comes back out of them, a look of panic on her face as she grabs at her neck. Alistair stares at Rosalia while she writhes in pain. "Oh, what's wrong? Can't breathe because there's no oxygen in there? The water is too hot and it's burning you both inside and out because you keep breathing it in? Gosh, Rosalia, I can't understand if you don't tell me what's wrong." he says and waves his hand, "Water Dome." Alistair casts, creating a large dome of water surrounding the two of them and snaps his fingers, releasing Rosalia from his spell.
Rosalia drops to the ground, soaked from head to toe and her skin reddened from the boiling temperature of Alistair's water, and starts throwing up large amounts of water.
Alistair watches, unmoved. "Now here's how this is going to work." he says, bending down and grabbing Rosalia by her neck, forcing her to look at him. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know. If I don't like your answer, you're going back in the Water Lock. If you cooperate, I won't let you go but I won't hurt you anymore. If you try to escape…" Alistair trails off and gestures at the dome of water surrounding them. "You've already felt what my water will do to you."
Rosalia shivers from fear, glancing at the walls of the dome. "F-Fine." she says. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
Alistair lets go of her neck, narrowing his eyes for a moment. He's quiet for a minute and then, "Do you know who Manami and Veiss Dregliark are?" he asks.
Rosalia scoffs. "I just had quite the reunion with that masked bitch, but yes, I know who she is. And I know of Veiss Dregliark but I've never met him myself." she says. "I have heard that he was one of our more...successful projects." Rosalia says with a sinister smile.
Alistair glares at her. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asks.
"I would tell you but don't you want to know how your brothers are doing first? The longer-"
Alistair grabs Rosalia by the neck again, "You already told me the one thing I've been dying to know for years and it's that they're alive." he snaps. "You'll tell me everything you know about them after you tell me what your freak scientists did to Veiss. Mary already filled in the blanks about her and Mana but that kid can barely remember how he escaped from you or what he did to accomplish that. Now talk."
Rosalia glares at Alistair but relents. "...Have you ever heard the name Fafnir?"
"So," Calypso starts, "you too, huh?" she asks.
Veiss turns to look at her, confused. "Excuse me?"
"Your, um, amnesia." Calypso says, trying to make conversation. "I heard that Revenant Beasts did stuff to you too." she says.
Veiss gives her a look. "Obviously." he says, pulling at his pointy ears. "I'm human. Do these look like normal human ears, Aurelia?" he says matter-of-factly.
She's not stupid, Veiss Dregliark. She's just a light that needs to be snuffed out. Get rid of her.
"Shut up." Veiss hisses under his breath, clutching his chest.
When will you finally learn that you can't get rid of me? You can only get rid of the girl and the rest of these worthless lives. And then, yourself.
"Shut up shut up shut UP!" Veiss snaps, making everyone around him jump.
Everyone except Calypso that is. "Veiss?" she calls calmly. "They did it to you too, didn't they." she says as more of a statement than a question.
"What the hell do you know?" Veiss says, glaring at Calypso as he tightens the bandages on his forehead.
Calypso crosses her arms. "I know that you're obviously not talking to anyone that the rest of us can hear and I heard that you were also 'treated' by Revenant Beasts." she says.
Veiss scoffs and moves to tighten the bandages on either of his arms. "Well good for you, you know stuff." he says sarcastically. "But I don't have to tell you shit about what I've been through. I'm not here to make friends with you and I'm not here to make friends with Akane or Emile." Veiss says rudely and stands up. "I joined Phoenix Fire to protect people and I joined this team for Mary and Mana. Where they go, I go. And if being around them means getting along with her teammates, I'll play nice with them. But that doesn't include you."
Ha! You tell her, Veiss Dregliark.
Calypso grits her teeth and stands up right with him. "What the hell have I done to you!?" she snaps. "I've known you for a month and this is the first time we've held a full conversation on our own without Emile, Mana, or Akane there."
Veiss rolls his eyes and lets out a fake laugh. "And you don't think there's a reason for that?" he says and steps close to Calypso, whispering, "I'm onto you, Calypso. And I know Akane isn't buying into your story just yet either."
Calypso steps back, a scared look on her face. "E-Excuse me?" she stutters and tries to distance herself from Veiss even more but he grabs the front of her shirt, pulling her back to him.
"Emile isn't sussing your story because he has a crush on you and Mana is just happy to 'relate' to someone else. I heard from Akane that Mary nearly shot a hole in your neck so I'm sure she's not completely buying your story just yet either and Akane is just a whole can of trust issues." Veiss whispers harshly. "But since you're still pretending to be a good person here, let me explain." he says. "I think you're full of shit, Calypso." Veiss says bluntly.
"Wh-What?"
"Emile has stupid romantic crap clouding his thoughts and Mana has the excuse of losing nine years of cognitive development but it's pretty fucking obvious." Veiss says. "This random sixteen year old girl-"
"I'm eighteen."
"-has a story that's nearly exactly the same as Mana's? Hers I know is true because I was with her during that time but you...out of everybody in the country and out of all the people Revenant Beasts has fucked over, you just so happen to escape around the same time as Mana and you just so happened to be found by Revenant Beasts' again and roped into their plan to get Mana and Mary back? You, of all people, who has a story oh so similar to Mana's." Veiss says. "You, some girl who has a ridiculous amount of Magic Power but doesn't know how to fight. Can't you see where I'm coming from? How suspicious that is?"
Calypso grits her teeth. "And you've kept these feelings to yourself for a month? Why would you let me around them without putting up a fight? It's not my fault I have sisters and it's not my fault I was born with a lot of Magic that I don't know how to use offensively." she says. "What can I do to make you trust me!?"
Veiss smirks and pulls a knife out of the jacket draped around his shoulders. "That guy from Veneto, your fake brother, is out there. Go put a knife in his back." he says and dangles it in front of Calypso like a treat.
Calypso pales. "Wh-What? You want me to kill him?"
"What's wrong?" Veiss says tauntingly. "The man is a mass murderer and works for the people that murdered your precious sisters. Why wouldn't you want to kill him?" he says. "Unless...you're lying about everything and that guy is your friend or something." Veiss challenges.
Calypso bristles and slaps the knife out of Veiss' hand. "Don't be stupid! I've never even fought anyone and you want me to go out and kill a man?! Who cares if he deserves it? I'm not a murderer!" she snaps.
Veiss' expression drops and he stares at Calypso with a calculating look in his eyes. Calypso and the villagers think he's about to challenge her again but he turns on his heel, heading towards the door of their shelter. "I'm going to give the others a hand outside," he says. "Your little boyfriend asked for me. I trust you can pick that knife back up and defend yourself if somebody does manage to break through these barriers?" Veiss asks and without waiting for an answer, he leaves.
You didn't kill her.
"Shut up…" Veiss mumbles under his breath. He hisses in pain as he unbuttons his shirt slightly and tightens the bandages around his chest. "I'm going to get rid of you just like I'm going to save Mary and Mana. Mary is going to have her body back and Mana...she's going to be fine. Nobody else has to die because of Revenant Beasts."
You know what they did to her, Veiss Dregliark. If they get separated, there's only one way that Mana's life will go. You might as well put her out of her misery now.
Veiss grits his teeth. "Don't be ridiculous." he says, shaking his head. "Even if...even if I did, Mana's body is what's keeping Mary alive. If I kill Mana, I kill both of them. And I'm not going to do that. I'll give into you before I have their blood on my hands."
So do it!
"That was rhetorical, Brother."
'Brother' doesn't say anything else.
Veiss sighs and rebuttons his shirt. "Come on, Veiss...wake up." he whispers to himself. "Can't lose focus now."
"We're literally standing in the middle of a battlefield. You don't have a lot of time to think before they realize we're just standing here so think fast, Mana."
Mana's and Emile's eyes widen as a blur of shiny metal and crimson leather flies past the back of Akane.
"What?" Akane asks. "Is it really so surprising for me to ask for someone else's opinion?"
"N-No - well, yes, but it's not that-" Emile starts but is quickly interrupted by the backup he requested a minute or two ago.
"Are you really letting your guard down in the middle of a battlefield, Kumiko?" Veiss says snarkily. "All three of you were about to be eaten by someone's familiar. I expected better of-" his eyes drift in the direction he threw his sword. Veiss' eyes widen. "What the hell are you doing!? NO! Don't eat it! STOP IT! MOONSAW IS NOT A SNACK FOR YOU TO EAT YOU DAMN HELLBEAST!" he cries and starts running towards Team No Name's would-be killer. "WHO THE FUCK DOES THIS BELONG TO!? RAGNIR!" Veiss casts angrily and summons a massive blade that's even bigger than Moonsaw that looks like it's purely made of black flame. "GIVE! IT! BACK!" he cries and starts swinging at the giant beast that just swallowed his precious sword.
"O-Okay," Mana says, clearing her throat and wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. "okay. I'll help Veiss with this side since it's away from...him." she says, glancing at Finn still fighting with the Rune Knights that are blocking his path to her. "You two can get that side?" Mana suggests unsurely.
Akane shrugs. "It's a plan. Let's go, scarface." she says and tugs on Emile's sleeve.
Emile beams. "Does this mean we're going to fight together together? No going off on your own?" he asks excitedly.
"We'll see what happens."
"Yay!"
"Shut up."
Mana sighs and quickly runs over to aid Veiss. "Veiss! What the hell is this thing!?" she calls up at the young man now swinging from the monster's face by Ragnir's handle.
"I'm pretty sure it's someone's familiar!" Veiss screams down at her as the beast swings him around like a ragdoll. "Some kind of hellbeast or something! Its Master can't be too far away from it - find them before it digests Moonsaw!" he begs.
Mana blinks. "Moon..saw?" she says, confused.
"My sword!" Veiss says as his jacket falls off of his shoulders, the moon-embroidered jacket making it click in Mana's head.
"Oh, your sword." she repeats. "...You named your sword?"
"IS THIS REALLY THE TIME FOR THA-!?" Veiss yells but the beast quickly interrupts him with an angry roar.
Mana pales as the beast pulls Ragnir out of its face and slams it and Veiss onto the ground with a sickening crunch. "V-Veiss..?" she stammers, stepping forward slowly. She's about to have another panic attack when Veiss doesn't move but then a strange black miasma starts swirling around his body.
"R-Rebirth…" Veiss groans painfully, stabbing Ragnir into the ground and pulling himself up onto his knees. Eventually, the miasma fades and he looks back up at the beast. "That hurt you fucker." Veiss swears at it angrily and without missing a beat, charges at it once more. "Come on, Mana! It has to be someone who isn't fighting - their focus needs to be on keeping this thing here!"
Mana nods and looks around quickly, surveying the area. "Someone not fighting, someone not fighting-"
There! Mary says suddenly, jerking Mana's head in the opposite direction.
Mana winces, "Mary that hurt-"
Shush - look! Behind that boulder!
"I see them-"
Black Mask!
Mana tries to facepalm but forgets that Mary just put her mask on and smacks herself in the face. She sighs and shakes her head. "Since when did you have this much control over my body when you're not in control of my body?" she asks.
This is what happens when we reunite with my uncle after being free for so long, panic attacks fuel my desire to not die. Now shut up and take that guy down so Veiss can get his sword back.
Mana grumbles under her breath, "'Shut up and take that guy down so Veiss can get his sword back.'" she repeats mockingly.
I am literally inside of you, I can hear everything you say. Mary deadpans.
"I know. I was just trying to make myself feel better." Mana says. She holds her palm out towards the boulder and grabs her wrist. "This isn't going to kill him...right?" she asks.
…
"Your silence isn't reassuring."
This is basically the first time you're using Magic in a real fight! I don't think you killed that Kenji guy - Devlio and the others didn't say anything about you killing him so I don't think a different kind of explosion is going to hurt. Mary says. But you don't really have a choice right now.
"I guess not." Mana sighs and braces herself. A dark sphere starts gathering in the palm of her hand, "Dark Executioner!"
Fire! Mary cheers.
Mana releases the energy and fires the sphere at the boulder. A dark, powerful beam expels itself from the sphere and pierces the boulder, exploding violently. Mana quickly glances behind her to see Veiss still fighting with the beasts so she runs over to check on the man she just exploded.
He's trapped under a fragment of the boulder, still conscious but dazed and confused as to what just happened. Mana breathes out a sigh of relief when she sees the man's clothes: it's not a Rune Knight or the guy that arrived with Victoria. Friendly fire averted.
Do you really think I would tell you to fire at someone if I wasn't sure they were an enemy?
Mana doesn't say anything.
Your silence isn't reassuring.
Mana just tells her to relax and with a swift kick to the Dark Mage's stomach, he's finally out cold. Mana turns back around to watch Veiss swing at the beast with Ragnir - only for the fiery black blade to go right through the beast.
"What…?" Veiss blinks and turns to look in the direction Mana ran off in. Mana gives him a reassuring thumbs up and he beams, turning back to the quickly fading beast. "Moonsaw!" he smiles, running up to pull his precious sword from the monster's fading stomach.
Mana warily approaches Veiss, the sound of his body crunching against the ground still at the forefront of her mind. "So, um, are you...okay?" she asks.
Veiss looks down at her, confused. "Yeah. Why? That monster was nothing." he says, swinging Moonsaw around to get the beast's bodily fluids off of it.
Mana frowns.
I wasn't imagining that, right? she asks Mary.
No, I heard it too. Mary says. Let's not push him for information right now, we have more important things to worry about. Veiss says he's okay and he looks fine so let's focus on-
Veiss raises his sword suddenly, eyes wide. "Behind you!"
Mana's eyes widen when she sees someone running at Veiss. "Behind you!" she says. "Duck!"
"Duck?"
"DUCK!" Mana repeats and Veiss quickly ducks down. "Just like training," she whispers to herself and creates another dark sphere in the palm of her hand. She throws it up in the air and just like she did during her initial training for their trip to Arkcester, she coats her foot in Darkness and shatters the sphere with a kick, "Dark Scatter Shot!"
The sphere explodes and emits innumerable little projectiles that hit the Dark Mage coming up behind Veiss and the one coming up behind Mana.
"Damn." Veiss says, looking at the collapsed Dark Mages. He sheathes his sword and gives Mana a high five. "Good job-"
"N-No! Akane! Give her back! AKANE!" comes Emile's terrified scream from across the battlefield.
Mana's heart drops.
"K-Kumiko?" Veiss blinks.
He and Mana don't waste anymore time, sprinting to where they knew Emile and Akane were supposed to be. Mana knew he would be there but the sight of him still has her trembling in her shoes and Mary has gone completely quiet.
Finn stands in the middle of several collapsed Rune Knights and Dark Mages with a severely beaten down Emile at his feet. He's laughing cruelly and dangling an unconscious and beaten Akane by her arm. "Hm...she was a feisty one. Strong and stubborn. I'm sure she would make a great candidate for one of Master Raoul's experiments." Finn says and turns to Veiss and Mana. "Ah, Mana, I see you've brought back another one of our runaways." he smirks. "Veiss, so good of you to come back home. How is 'Brother' treating you?" Finn laughs.
Veiss grits his teeth and puts his hand on Moonsaw's hilt. "Shut up." he says, his hands shaking. "Just shut up."
"Aw, is that still all you know how to say?" Finn pouts mockingly. "Poor Veiss. Is this not the adventure you wanted?" he taunts.
"Shut UP!" Veiss screams and raises his arm. "DRACO!" he yells. Mana and Emile watch as Veiss' hand turns into a grotesque serpentine, multi-eyed dragon head with a scary number of fangs.
Emile stares at the dragon head with a mixture of fear and awe. "V-Veiss..?" he mumbles, confused.
"SHUT UP!" Veiss cries and uses his transformed hand to bite at the arm Finn is using to hold Akane. Finn drops Akane instinctively and Veiss quickly scoops her up before she hits the ground, slinging Akane's body over his shoulder. He raises his serpentine hand again and it spits out a dark fire at Finn's face, blinding him.
"I-Is she still breathing?" Mana asks as Veiss runs back over and carefully deposits Akane in her arms.
"I don't-"
Finn starts laughing again. "Oh Veiss, you didn't think that would be enough to actually hurt me, did you?" he asks, waving the smoke out of his face. "It was a little hot, I'll give you that. You've improved."
Veiss clenches his fist and raises the serpentine hand at Finn again only for a very angry, tiny woman to step in front of Team No Name.
"I thought I told you to make sure that brat doesn't die!" Victoria snaps angrily. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she demands.
"I-I-" Emile stammers, still shaken over what he and Akane just went through.
"It doesn't matter." Victoria sighs and looks over the state of the four teenagers. "You." she points at Veiss. "Go find Cole and make sure Xander doesn't kill him." she orders. "You." she points at Mana. "Go take your friends somewhere out of sight and make sure they don't die. Take this with you." Victoria says, shrugging off the giant silver cross-shaped case on her back. Her tough expression falters as she looks at the unconscious Akane. "This wasn't supposed to happen…" Victoria whispers under her breath and turns around to face an incredulous looking Finn.
"What the hell is a kid nun doin-?" Finn demands but Victoria interrupts him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Victoria snaps. "Big strong man can't fight anyone but some kids with years less experience than him? Oh you're so tough aren't you?" she says sarcastically and pulls at the zippers on her arms with both of her hands. "I hate people like you." Victoria says, pulling out something small and shiny from the pocket with each hand. "Blood-Make..."
Veiss' eyes widen. "Blood-Make? Don't tell me-"
Victoria squeezes her hands shut and blood gushing from her hands, pouring out from her palm and her knuckles.
"Red Longinus!"
The four conscious members of Team No Name (counting Mary) wince.
Victoria shapes the blood coming out of her hands into a rather pretty ornate spear and stabs at Finn, the latter quickly jumping back to dodge. She turns back to Team No Name, "What the hell are you still doing here!? GO!" she shouts and turns her attention back to Finn.
The man starts laughing again. "Oh I've heard of you! The Crimson Witch, Aberrant Hydra's strongest Mage, rivalling their Master Glinda Goldkuhl herself!" he grins wildly and in a flash of white light, a gun appears in his hand. He runs his hand along the barrel, leaving a dim yellow light in its wake. "Shocker Rounds. I know my dear niece and her little friend are very familiar with what these can do." Finn says with a sadistic grin, laughing again when he hears Mana whimper in fear. "Come on, Crimson Witch! It'll be a pleasure to beat someone as strong as you!" he says and fires the gun. White lightning arcs out from the barrel of the gun and makes its way right for a ready and waiting Victoria.
"Come on," Emile says suddenly, pulling Mana's attention away from the fight. "let's go. I need...I need to breathe." he says. "I sent Novem into the village when Finn interrupted our fight with the Dark Mages...let's find him." he says, standing up on shaky legs and grabbing Victoria's silver case.
"R-Right." Mana nods, readjusting Akane in her arms.
"Then I'm off." Veiss says and turns to Emile and Mana. "...Don't die. I need to make sure Kumiko knows I was the one who saved her." he says and runs off towards the sound of Cole's angry screaming.
Emile scoffs, a weak smile on his face as he leads Mana into the village. "We're growing on him." he says.
"Yeah." Mana agrees absentmindedly, glancing down at Akane. "She is not going to be happy when she finds out that Veiss rescued her."
"Light Magic: Blade Storm."
Veiss starts running faster when he sees swords of light start forming around Xander. "Shit." he says. "Black Arms!" he casts quickly and uses them to pull a reckless Cole out of the line of fire just in time.
Cole angrily turns towards Veiss, a wild, hateful look in his eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? This is MY fight! Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?!" he demands.
"Do you know how stupid you're being!? You can't fight someone on his level on your own, especially as you are now!" Veiss yells at him. "You're going to get yourself killed! Do you know how worried your guildmates are!? Victoria has asked us a ridiculous amount of times to make sure you don't die and your Guild Master's parting words to us were to make sure that you don't die! She has people scouring Arkcester for you! They're all worried about you!" he rants angrily. "Are you seriously going to risk your life fighting a man who's obviously toying with you for a ten year old vendetta!?"
Cole falters for a moment, his expression calming.
"You should listen to pointy ears, my boy." Xander says. "I don't have the time to deal with you right now. Have you run out of energy yet?" he asks.
And Cole's rage comes right back.
But before any one of them can make a move against the other, a broad white blade appears beside Xander's neck. "Xander Break." a bored, dead voice says from behind him.
"Man with a sword." Xander nods back, ever so calm despite the sword threatening to cut his head off.
"You've made my life a lot harder than it needs to be." the voice says. "Do you know how long I've been looking for him?" the voice says, still holding their sword against Xander's neck as they move to step beside him. "Such a drag…that guy even made my clothes wet with his Magic..."
"Seinaru!?" Cole gasps, his eyes widening. "I-I didn't think you would come - of all people - n-no offense-"
Seinaru turns to Cole, unbothered, and his eyes as dead as ever. "Neil and the others wouldn't shut up about how worried they were about you." he says. "I'm taking you back."
Cole hesitates, glancing between the unmoving Xander and Seinaru. "I…"
"What's wrong, my boy? Do you think I'm going to prevent you from leaving? It's like I said, I don't have time for you right now." Xander says. "But I'm sure we'll meet again. And when we do, you will be so much stronger, just like Drake."
But instead of Cole getting mad, surprisingly, it's Seinaru. He moves his sword closer to Xander's neck, cutting into it slightly. He narrows his eyes. "Stop trying to rile him up. Cole isn't strong enough to face you in a fair fight right now but I am." he says as another person comes out from behind him.
"So you do have feelings! Wow, I can't remember the last time I felt something other than crippling depression and anxiety." a familiar voice says dryly.
"Nelio?" Veiss gasps.
Nelio gives Veiss a mock salute. "Yo. Where are the others?" he asks.
"Somewhere in the village. What are you doing h-?"
"Sorry, can't talk, trying to avoid the feelings I get from violence. Bye." Nelio says quickly and runs along the edge of the forest towards the village.
"Er…" Veiss trails off.
Suddenly, everyone and everything on the battlefield stills and goes silent when a bright, blinding light crashes into the middle of everything.
"Well! Don't stop on my account!" a familiar cheerful yet crazed voice says happily. "I only brought some reinforcements for my lovely Rune Knights." When the light dissipates and everyone recovers their vision, they all look back to see the smiling Grand General of Valiance with a small army of Rune Knights to match the Dark Mage army Xander and Finn brought. Ace is covered in dirt and blood and her clothes are torn. "That took a lot longer than I thought it would but Uzlamain put up a great fight!" she beams. "That was the first time I fought a God Slayer."
One of the Rune Knights who arrived with Victoria stares at their leader in disbelief. "G-Grand General, have you been fighting that guy this whole time?" they ask.
Ace nods. "Yup! I only just finished - I grabbed these guys on my way here." she says. "Now come on! Let's get this show on the road! Where's Xander Break?" she asks, looking around.
And the battlefield erupts into chaos one again.
Xander looks troubled for the first time since he's made his appearance. "Ace." he mutters under his breath. "This isn't good-"
"No, it's not." Ace says from behind Xander. She grabs him by the back of his neck and slams his face into the ground. "It's been a while, Xander Break. You're under arrest." she says with a smile. Ace tilts her head to the side. "Well, 'under arrest' if I take you in alive. My orders were to 'take care of' you - that means I take you in dead or alive." she says.
"B-But-"
Ace looks up, staring at Cole intensely. She sniffs the air, her eyes widening slightly. "...Drake Match?" she questions. "No," Ace sniffs again. "you're his son." she says and finally shows some other emotion other than 'happy'. Ace grabs Xander by his head and lifts it up so he can respond to her: "So not only did you kill one of my Rune Knights and his wife, but you left his son to stew in anger and depression for years." she snarls. "I think I'll take you in dead, how does that sound?"
Cole blinks, staring at Ace in surprise. "Y-You knew my parents?" he asks. "But you're so...young."
Ace looks back up at everybody else, her signature smile back in place. "I may look like a cute young woman but I'm actually over hundreds of years old." she says.
…
…
…
"Just kidding, I'm twenty five years old."
"Um-"
"Or am I?" Ace winks and like the enigma that she is, she turns back to Xander. "Well? Talk to me before I rip out that beard hair by hair." she says with a dangerous smile.
Xander grits his teeth and the blue ring on his thumb suddenly begins to light up. "Haze-"
Ace grabs Xander's thumb and bends it backwards. It breaks with a sickening crack and Ace slams his face back into the ground. "Wrong choice." she says and motions at Veiss. "You. Drop him." she says, pointing at Cole. Veiss nods slowly and releases Cole from his grasp.
"...What are you going to do?" Cole asks. Behind him, Veiss gasps but Cole doesn't acknowledge it because Ace continues speaking.
"You want to kill him so bad? Go right ahead." Ace says. "I'll hold him here-"
"I don't think so." a new, cold voice interrupts them.
Everyone turns to see a tall, thin man standing behind Veiss while holding a shadowy sword to his neck. The unfamiliar man is wearing a camouflage tank top with black shorts and combat boots and he has black piercings on both ears with odd looking pendants dangling from them.
"Let go of Master Xander and I won't cut the kid's head off." the man says simply.
Veiss pales. "U-Um, I rather like having my head, so would you please-"
"Hey now, what's all this? You guys are having fun without me." yet another new voice says.
Veiss very slightly turns his head to see a young man with acacia gray hair smiling and holding a drawn bow at the Dark Mage. It's a simple, standard longbow made of some kind of dark wood - it doesn't seem to be giving off any Magic Power. The young man smiles at Veiss. "Hi, I'm Saul." he says with a wink.
"Hi, I'm not interested." Veiss deadpans.
Saul pouts mockingly. "Boo. I guess I'll leave you to be beheaded then."
Nobody says anything or makes a move for a minute.
"Pretty elf boy with the bandages," Saul breaks the silence.
"I'm human and what?"
"Duck."
Veiss ducks.
It all happens in less than ten seconds: Saul fires an arrow at the Dark Mage, the Dark Mage suddenly dips into the ground and disappears in Veiss' shadow, Xander disappears in Ace's shadow, and the both of them reappear behind Saul who gets a quick kick to the back of his knees, making him drop to the ground.
"We'll be going now. You can have your stupid village." the man says, standing beside Xander proudly.
Xander smiles strangely at Cole. "We'll meet again, my boy. And when we do, I'll reunite you with your dear father. I'll purify the world with light, just you wait." he says and then he and the man sink into the shadow of a tree, disappearing.
"No!" Cole cries, running up to the shadow and dropping to the ground. He delivers several fiery punches to the ground, "No! No! No! Damn it! DAMN IT!" he whines. "I...I lost him, after all this time…"
In another area of the battlefield, Victoria dodges another hit from Finn when he suddenly starts sinking into the shadow of a nearby tree.
"What in the name of the Goddess…?" Victoria mumbles.
Finn's eyes widen. "No! NO, DAMN IT! I'M NOT DONE HERE!" but alas the shadow doesn't listen to him and he keeps disappearing into it. "MANAAA! MARYYYY!" he screeches. And then, he's gone.
The fighting quickly stops when the Dark Mages realize that their leaders are gone and that they've been left for dead. They throw down their weapons and snuff out their Magic in frustration, realizing that they're not going to win, and they surrender.
And then everything is quiet.
Ace pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing in frustration as some Rune Knights approach her with the rounded up Dark Mages they were fighting.
"Grand General?" one of them calls. "All of the prominent Dark Mages have disappeared. Finn Brown, Hibiki Ito, that Devlio guy…"
Ace shakes her head. "Of course." she sighs. "Round up the Dark Mages like you've been doing. Then attend to all of the wounded...I don't smell anyone dead so that's a good thing." she says. "I'll speak to the villagers."
"And that's everything?"
Rosalia rolls her eyes. "Trust me, I don't quite fancy being boiled alive again." she says. "That's everything I know. I promise." she says.
Alistair stares down at her and turns on his heel. With a wave of his hand, the water dome surrounding them falls down drenching the soil and trees. "Go."
Rosalia looks at him warily. "..Go?" she questions.
"That's what I said."
"But you said-"
"I know what I said." Alistair says. "But I'm not in the mood to make sure you don't run away from me while I bring you in. I have...friends to check up on." he says. "So go. Next time I see you though-"
Rosalia scoffs. "Next time you see me I'll have figured out a way to beat your stupid hot water." she says and pauses for a moment while she stands up on wounded, shaky legs. "...Thanks, I guess." she says.
Alistair doesn't say anything and keeps his back to Rosalia until he no longer hears her trudging away from him. He sighs and turns back around, making his way towards the other side of the forest. "Fafnir, hm." he mumbles under his breath. "...That's not good."
PF x AH x SS
A/N why has Saul suddenly reappeared, you ask? why was he even introduced here when i barely used him this arc, you ask?
why to reintroduce our dear silver sabelum guild to team no name of course :poggies:
So the end of the first arc has finally come upon us :omaiga: Unfortunately, Cole wasn't able to sate is bloodlust, all of the prominent Dark Mages got away, and Xander has threatened to 'purify the world with light'. But Cole has learned the power of friendship, as every Fairy Tail character should learn, so next time he faces off against Xander, hopefully it'll go better ? :pepecurious:
in other news
beef with Veiss and Calypso beef with Veiss and Calypso beef with Veiss and Calypso beef with Veiss and Calypso :poggershype: