0713MM: Hey guys! I welcome you to the 13th chapter of The Silver Valkyrie! I do not own Black Clover, nor its characters, nor the OCs that are used in this chapter. The OCs are owned by Warmachine375. Chapter start!^^
Chapter 13
"Sir?" The pinkette Captain asked as she entered Julius's office, with the Wizard King sitting at his desk, and Marx next to him. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes I did." Julius replied as he stood up and handed Fana 2 gold stars. "While your squad members did get help, I am awarding you these 2 gold stars as the effort was put in to retrieve the magic stone."
"Thank you sir." Fana replied as she took them before slightly frowning. "But, that's the only reason you called me here, is it?" Julius frowned too and nodded.
"That's right." He answered. "We've interrogated the 3 Shining Generals that Valeria and Alice have captured in Kiten. They said that the Diamond King has plans for Evanora Chandler, Anna Dreyfus, and Ladros to infiltrate and attack the Witches Forest to capture the Witch Queen. The Diamond King believes that if the Witch Queen is captured, he'll be able to gain immortality." Fana flinched slightly at Julius's words, but nodded as she put it in her head as a mental note.
"Because of this," Julius continued. "I want your squad to take on the mission to get into the Witches Forest and obtain the magic stone that's there."
"I take it that the Witch Queen has it." Fana noted.
"While you and your squad are taking care of that, we have a problem that needs to be solved here." Marx told her. "It's in regards to the Eye of the Midnight Sun's attack on the Royal Capital."
"The attack was too organized, and it wasn't a full scale invasion either." Fana listed upon remembering taking part in defending Clover Kingdom's Royal Capital from the Eye of the Midnight Sun members.
"That's right." Julius nodded as he turned to look out the window. "Which means there's a traitor in our midst."
"Tra…..Traitor?" Fana repeated, uncertainty filled in her voice. Julius turned around and laughed.
"It's not you Captain Fana, nor your squad." He told her reassuringly. "If it was, you'd be down in the Captain's Meeting Room with the other 9 Magic Knight Captains."
"Oh…" Fana spoke softly. Julius put a hand on Fana's shoulder, which caused her to look up.
"It's alright. I'll be handling the 2nd interrogation." Julius told her. "Your squad is doing a fine job. Now, why don't you go back to your squad's HQ and tell your squad the mission I gave you." Fana nodded, then walked out of the office. After she left, Marx turned to Julius.
"Sir, should we get Asta?" Marx questioned. Julius went silent for a good minute before answering.
"Captain Acier has him in the Captain's meeting with her." Julius replied. "So once that meeting is done, the Captains can come down to the dungeons."
"Then we should call them to come down there." Marx retorted as he headed out of the office. Julius looked back out the window for a good 30 seconds before following Marx.
I have a bad feeling I'm not going to like who the traitor is… Julius thought.
"I can't believe you let a terrorist group leader get away Acier!" Guildre told her. Acier glanced at Guildre and frowned deeply.
"While he did get away, helping another squad was more important." Acier retorted.
"Humph! I agree." Mereoleona added in agreement.
"Keh keh! Well it won't really matter in the end!" Jack licked his lips. "Too bad I wasn't there! I would have slashed them up into tiny pieces!"
"Yeah right!" Yami laughed. "It would be boring for you if I wasn't there!" Jack chuckled at Yami's remark, then turned his attention to the muscular Captain.
"Then how about we slice and dice right now?!" Jack grinned. Charlotte groaned in irritation.
"Honestly… How do we even get things done in these meetings…?" Charlotte wondered aloud.
"I wonder the same thing." Asta replied to Captain Charlotte's words, despite him not being a Captain, even he had to agree with Captain Charlotte's words.
"Well, there's a meeting in the dungeon that needs to be taken care of." William remarked as he stood up from his chair. "Or did you guys not hear the beeping for us to go down there?" Dorothy continued to sleep as Guildre groaned.
"Yeah yeah, we heard it Vangenance." Guildre remarked as he too, as well as the rest of the Captains stood up and left the meeting room; Asta followed behind Acier.
"Hey wait a minute, where's the Amber Phoenix Squad Captain?" Guildre asked as they got down to the dungeons, where Julius and Marx were waiting with the 10 Dark Disciples. "Shouldn't she be here too?"
"Normally that would be the case." Julius replied. "But, since the Amber Phoenix squad was created after the attack on the Capital, the chances of Fana's squad of having any traitorous mages is slim to none." Guildre flinched internally.
Dammit. He thought.
"We had Asta go to the Captain meeting prior to this because he is necessary to allow us to look at these Dark Disciple's memories." Marx explained. "Asta, if you would."
"Right." Asta nodded as he took the Demon-Slayer Sword from his grimoire and tapped the foreheads of each Dark Disciple, much to their frustration. "Done. Do your thing mushroom head." Marx twitched at the nickname, but didn't say anything as his grimoire opened up and began to look into the minds of each Dark Disciple. The 9 Magic Knight Squad Captains, along with Julius, watched as each of the Dark Disciple's memories were revealed one by one. While this was going on, Guildre began to feel more and more nervous.
"We…..don't know much…" One of the female Dark Disciples muttered.
"But enough for us to find out the truth." Marx retorted.
At the Amber Phoenix base, Dazu was telling Bow, her husband, mother-in-law, as well as the rest of the squad of her brawl with the 2 girls that looked down at her for her lack of magic.
"Proud of you dear." Meshu smiled. "Those 2 ladies got what they deserved. Especially for joining a terrorist group."
"Karma at its finest." Vide chuckled.
"I agree." Lily nodded with a slight frown on her face. "Joining a terrorist group just gives you a reason to beat them up."
"Yeah." Alice remarked.
"That's just wrong." Mars frowned deeply.
"I'm back from the Capital." Mars and the others turned to see Fana at the front door's threshold.
"Captain Fana!" Friede grinned.
"So, what happened at the castle?" Valeria asked. At first, Fana didn't say anything for a good few minutes. Eventually, after another minute, she spoke.
"The Wizard King has assigned us the task of going to the Witches Forest to obtain the magic stone there." Fana revealed. "On my way back from the Wizard King's office, Marx messaged me about the 3 Shining Generals revealing that the Diamond King planned for 3 of the other Shining Generals to attack the Witches Forest to capture the Witch Queen." She paused, then added. "The Diamond King believes that if he captures the Witch Queen, he'll be able to gain immortality." Alice scowled while Fanzell, Dominante, and Valeria frowned deeply.
"It's honestly a foolish goal." Alice remarked. "Even if the Witch Queen is captured by Diamond, the Diamond King could not gain immortality."
"Sounds like a senile and paranoid old man." Valeria scoffed. Fanzell, Dominante, and Alice nodded in agreement at Valeria's words.
"Regardless." Fana continued, getting there attention again. "I will be going on this mission." She turned to Mars. "You okay with staying at the base, Mars?" Mars looked over at his girlfriend and nodded.
"Yes." He replied before frowning. "But who will go with you on this mission?"
"I will." Alice spoke up. Fana glanced at Alice and smiled softly.
"Alice." Fana spoke before looking at the others. "I'll need at least 3 more."
"I'll go with you as well." Valeria stepped forward. Fana glanced at Valeria and nodded.
"So will I!" Dominante smiled. "Gives me a chance to use my magic and not be stuck in a house all day." She glanced at Fanzell, who took notice of his wife's glance and he chuckled awkwardly.
"I will go too." Lily smiled. "While I'm not much of a fighter due to my past work, I should use my magic to help." She glanced at Friede, who was laughing lightly, then back at her Captain. "Besides, Bow can heal us when we get back should we need it." The brunette woman nodded at Lily's words.
"Right; of course." Bow nodded.
"In that case, I better be getting suited up." Alice grinned as she left the main room of the base to the basement.
"Suited up?" Dominante questioned. Lily shrugged. Valeria was about to answer, but didn't get a chance as they heard a small quake. While Dominante, Lily, Fanzell, Friede, Vide, Meshu, Dazu, Bow, Onoby, Siona, Kabwe, Mars, and Fana were surprised, Valeria was not.
"Oh dear!" Meshu cried out. "What on earth is that quaking?!" Vide and Dazu staggered backwards as the quaking happened again. Valeria looked outside to see the giant armored figure was standing near the doors to the base.
"Looks like we should head out then." Valeria remarked.
"Unfortunately, Vide hasn't been near the Witches Forest." Dazu frowned. "So it looks like you'll have to fly there."
"That's fine." Fana replied.
"I can lead us there." Dominante added as she, Fana, Lily, and Valeria all began to leave the base.
"We'll hold down the fort, Fana!" Mars called to his girlfriend. "Just come back safe, okay?" Fana didn't turn around, but replied nonetheless.
"Alright. Thank you Mars." Fana retorted. And with that, Fana, Dominante, Lily, Valeria, and the armored man (Alice) flew off on their brooms. Or in Alice's case, jumping via her armor.
Evanora, Anna, and Ladros rode on their brooms towards the large forest at the horizon.
"So, the Witches Forest is your former home?" Anna asked her fellow Shining General. Evanora remained silent for several minutes before finally responding.
"Yes, it is." Evanora spoke before she narrowed her eyes. "I don't like to remember my life there, but you 2 need to know."
"Hoh?" Ladros wondered. "What about it?"
"About the Witches Forest, my life there, and…" Evanora clenched her right hand into a fist. "My Mother. For my Mother is the Witch Queen." Anna and Ladros fell silent at that revelation. Evanora continued. "For starters, I was born-no, created by the Witch Queen to be her ultimate defense against intruders and traitorous witches that should decide to return. My life at first was pretty normal. But once my magic began to blossom…..Mother didn't care that I was my own person. She trained me nonstop for several years. Each day was tiring to the point of exhaustion." Evanora stared ahead as the forest became closer. "But after 13 years of vigorous training by Mother…...she created Vanessa Enoteca, the user of Thread Magic. At first, I saw this as a good thing. Since I was no longer being vigorously trained to handle and fight against traitorous witches and intruders." She chuckled. "Which by the way, I was able to defeat full grown people with more experience than me at that time because of the vigorous training and the Witches Forest being my home turf at the time. But that's besides the point." She turned to look at Anna. "You know how old I was when I left the Witches Forest officially?" When Anna shook her head, Evanora continued. "Age 18. Which was when Vanessa was 5 years old. That was the time Vanessa's Thread Magic truly bloomed. Which meant she was locked up in a cage until she could learn the Red Thread of Fate Spell." Evanora paused to allow what she said to sink into Anna and Ladros's minds.
"So that's why…" Anna whispered.
"Yes." Evanora retorted. "Vanessa being treated like a slave was the last straw for me. So I fled and entered the Diamond Kingdom with Dominante. Where we met Lotus Whomalt and Fanzell Kruger respectively. The rest from that point is nothing new to you."
"Right." Anna replied.
"Does this mean we get to kill the traitors from Diamond should they show up too?" Ladros asked. Anna chuckled while Evanora sighed.
"You can. But I will not." Evanora retorted. "I have no will against them. Unlike you." Ladros tsked, but didn't say anything as the 3 Shining Generals, as well as their forces continue to head towards the Witches Forest.
While Evanora, Anna, and Ladros headed towards the WItches Forest from one end, the other Fana and her Eye of the Midnight Sun members flew on their brooms towards the Witches Forest as well. Fana of the Eye of the Midnight Sun's Third Eye stared hatefully at the Witches Forest.
"You humas… You'll pay…..!" Elf Fana growled lowly. "I'll burn you all with my rage…!" She gaped as memories of her past from 500 years ago flowed into her mind for a good minute or 2. She shook his head, undeterred. "No…. It's too late for that…"
"The traitor…" The now captured Betty and Veronica spoke simultaneously. "Is Guildre Poizot." The other 8 Magic Knight Captains, including Asta, turned to face Guildre, who had a freaked expression on his face.
"What? Are you seriously going to believe what those 2 say?" Guildre questioned. "You'd have to be crazy to believe them! They are working with the terrorist group! They're spouting lies to confuse you!"
"Impossible." Marx retorted. "They have spoken the truth through and through." Guildre felt his body twitching as he moved backwards. Mereoleona activated her Flame Magic.
"Disgusting." Mereoleona snarled. "And you call yourself a Captain?!"
"Traitor!" Asta growled. "You betrayed your own country for money and power?!"
"Keh! I say let's get him!" Jack grinned as he licked his lips while holding up his mana blades.
"For once I agree battle crazed Green Mantis Captain!" Mereoleona grinned. But before either of them could launch their attack on Guildre, nor before Guildre could even cast his own spell in defense, a steel cube encased Guldre.
"Steel Binding Magic: Perfect Cube." Acier spoke. Jack groaned in irritation while the other Captains (minus Mereoleona), were surprised.
She moved that fast…?! William thought.
Steel Warrior Princess definitely fits her. Yami thought.
"That was amazing Captain Acier!" Rill grinned. "So inspiring! A new art for me to figure out!"
"I appreciate the words Rill, but now is not the time." Acier told the young Captain before turning her attention to Julius and Marx. "Interrogate the now former Captain of the Purple Orcas later."
"Hmm? But why?" Charlotte questioned. "A disgusting man like him needs to pay for his actions." Acier shook her head at Charlotte's words to describe Guildre.
"While I do agree with you on that, not all men are vile as him, Charlotte." Acier retorted as she gestured to the captured Captain.
Dammit! Now what?! Guildre thought frantically.
"Alright Miss Steel Princess, I think we can handle it from here." Yami told Acier nonchalantly.
"Yes." Julius nodded. "Now that Guildre has been captured, I will ensure you all check your squads to make sure no one else is working with the enemy."
"Sir!" All 9 Captains saluted. Just as Acier and Asta were about to leave with the other Captains, Julius stopped them.
"Captain Acier." Julius began. "I gave Captain Fana and her squad the mission to head to the Witches Forest while this interrogation took place. Not just because of the magic stone that's there according to our captives, but-"
"You're testing Fana and Mars's loyalty to Clover." Acier interjected, finishing his sentence.
"Yes." Julius nodded. "So, I'd like for you to go as backup for them in case things fall flat." He paused, then added. "Of course, I don't truly believe Fana will betray Clover. Regardless, our Shining General captives did say that the Diamond King plans to launch an attack on the Witches Forest to capture the Witch Queen."
"According to legend, the Witch Queen has the power of immortality." Acier remembered before frowning. "That means the Diamond King is getting too old and needs a way to keep himself alive forever. If the Witch Queen truly is immortal, which if is the case, we cannot allow her to be captured by Diamond."
"Indeed." Julius agreed. "In that case, I'd like for you to send Courtney, Asta, Noelle, and Nebra as backup for the Amber Phoenix Squad Members that did go." Acier nodded approvingly as she saluted.
"I will do so." Acier replied.
And hopefully, this might lead me to get the final pieces needed to make sure House Kira doesn't stay in power for too much longer. Acier thought as she and Asta left the dungeon.
"Come on Courtney! Hurry up!" Nebra yelled at the door to Courtney's room. Asta, Noelle, and Nebra stood outside Courtney's room, waiting for her to finish whatever she was doing so they could leave.
"I'll be out in 5 minutes! Promise!" The 3 heard Courtney retort, only for Nebra to scowl at Courtney's words.
"You said that 5 minutes ago! And 5 minutes before that!" Nebra replied, irritation, as well as slight impatience in her voice.
"Sis," Noelle began. "we know how long it takes for Courtney to get her hair done. Besides, you and Nozel can't exactly talk. Not even I can."
"Wait...it takes you guys a long time to get your hair done?" Asta questioned. Noelle snickered, remembering how long it takes Nozel to get his hair like it is now.
"Oh, Nozel takes the longest." Noelle continued to laugh. "Mother doesn't let the maids and servants do it because she wants us to do it ourselves. We only go to the maids and servants for help on it, or if we're needed for a mission ASAP. Other than that, we have to do it on our own."
"Okay, now I'm ready." Courtney spoke as she opened her quarter's door. Nebra crossed her arms in amusement.
"Took you long enough Roulacase." Nebra told her. Courtney gave Nebra a look, but regained her composure as she opened up a spatial portal. "Captain Acier has work to do here, or so she told me. So I'm going in her place."
"Great!" Asta grinned.
"How far will this portal bring us?" Noelle asked Courtney as Asta and Nebra went through the spatial portal.
"The outside of the Witches Forest." Courtney replied. "Since the Witches Forest will most likely be under attack from Diamond and the Eye of the Midnight Sun as well, the Witches Forest's little guard golems will not take notice of us."
"Right." Noelle nodded as she headed through the spatial portal. "Let's go, Courtney!"
"I'm right behind you Noelle." Courtney retorted as she went through her own spatial portal; thus it disappeared soon thereafter.
"We're almost there!" Dominante told the others, pointing to the large forest in front of them.
"Good." Fana replied. "Once we're inside, we will need to defend the other witches and the forest from Diamond and Eye of the Midnight Sun." Dominante guided the 5 of them into a deep and secluded section of the forest where no one would spot them.
"This'll do as a good campout spot." Dominante noted. But as soon as she said that, a fire blast hit the tree(s) behind them; thus setting them on fire. Lily, Valeria, and Fana all sweatdropped. So did Dominante shortly after. "Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr not."
"You humans will die by my flames of hatred!" Elf Fana shrieked from afar. Though she was far away, her Flame Magic could travel long distances. Elf Fana turned her attention to the 3 Shining Generals and their men. "You lot, handle these pitiful humans, I'm going after the-" But before she could finish, a giant armored fist punched her in the face; thus making her go flying off her broom.
"Who was that?" Anna wondered aloud as she commanded her troops to attack the Eye of the Midnight Sun members.
"Looked like Fana to me." Ladros remarked. "After her!"
"No." Evanora answered. "I think that giant has it covered. But if you want to go and find out, you can." She turned to Anna and then Ladros. "As for me, I have my personal reasons. Reasons you already know." She turned to face the Witch Queen's little throne room, which was in the heart of the forest.
I'm going to face you, Mother. And I'm going to defeat you. Evanora thought as she flew towards the heart of the forest.
What is Alice thinking? Valeria thought as she turned to look at the others in her group.
"We have to go and fight." Valeria remarked.
"I can stay here to put the fires out." Lily suggested.
"Good idea." Fana nodded. "Valeria, think you can stay here to protect Lily?"
"Sure." Valeria replied.
"Cool! That means me, Captain, and...that giant armored man fighting against Diamond Kingdom and the Eye of the Midnight Sun!"
"That is the plan. So, let's do it!" Fana smiled as she flew up and into the air, followed by Dominante.
"Oh! There is the traitor!" Ladros grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll take her down myself!" Anna just chuckled.
"Fine fine, then I'll-" Anna was about to finish, but Asta slammed her in the head with the Demon-Slayer Sword.
"Gotcha!" Asta grinned as he then landed on the ground. Courtney, Nebra, and Noelle soon came out of the spatial portal and landed on the now charred ground. Anna shook her head to snap herself out of her dizziness.
"Huh? Magic Knights?" Anna questioned before smiling. "Perfect! This'll be fun! Ladros! Help me out!"
"Huh?! Oh come on Anna!" Ladros complained. "I wanted to kick Fana's ass into oblivion!"
"You can do it later!" Anna replied. "For now, we have Clover Magic Knights to deal with!"
Meanwhile with Elf Fana, she had just recovered from the punch and stared hatefully at the giant armored man. She had her Phoenix Wings Spell activated.
"You dare attack me like that?!" Elf Fana hissed. "Then how about this? Flame Creation Magic: Raging Phoenix!" A phoenix created from her Flame Magic launched at the giant armored man. However…
"Golden Eye Magic: Heat Ray." The giant armored man retorted; thus firing 2 beams of energy out of his eyes and at the phoenix. Elf Fana just laughed.
"Ha! Oh please! You can't burn through my flames of hatred like that! Now die!" The phoenix connected on the armored; thus beginning to overheat it.
Shit! Alice thought. If though this armor protects me, I'll still get burnt because her flames are seeping through my armor!
"Soon you'll be nothing but ash!" Elf Fana sneered as she fired more of her Flame Magic at the armor. Suddenly, the top of the armor opened out and out came Alice, who landed on her feet. Her armor vanished. Elf Fana stopped her attacks and turned to look at Alice, her light blue eyes widening with anger.
"A human?!" Elf Fana screeched. "You'll pay! All of you!" Elf Fana raised her right hand up and fired more Flame Magic blasts at Alice, who evaded them. Alice then fired her Golden Eye Magic: Heat Ray spell at Elf Fana several times, but Elf Fana was able to evade them and counterattack against Alice. Alice managed to evade the Flame Magic attacks, but then she got hit by a Flame Magic burst in the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain and hold it with her opposite arms' hand. Elf Fana grinned utmost satisfaction.
"Now you can burn! Just like all of you humans deserve!" Elf Fana vowed. "Flame Creation Magic: Raging Phoenix!" Alice's eyes widened, realizing she couldn't dodge this one in time due to her shoulder injury. But then...
"Flame Creation Magic: Blazing Phoenix!" Unlike Elf Fana's Raging Phoenix, Blazing Phoenix had a much lighter color to it; thus cancelling out Elf Fana's attack. Both Alice and Elf Fana looked up to see who had fired the spell. Also wearing/using Flame Creation Magic: Phoenix Wings, floated Fana, Captain of the Amber Phoenix.
"Captain…!" Alice breathed.
"A human just like me?" Elf Fana gnashed her teeth in fury. "How dare you impersonate me, human!"
"I'm no impersonation." Fana replied. "I'm the real deal."
The Witch Queen, who wore a light green dress with black stripes on it, as well as a green and black striped witch's hat, watched the events unfold within the Witches Forest from within her throne room-like area. She held a smile on her facial features.
"Everything has gone according to my predictions." The Witch Queen mused. "Still, it makes no difference. I know why the Eye of the Midnight Sun and the Diamond Kingdom are here, but why are there Clover mages here?" She turned her attention to a screen showing Asta, Noelle, Nebra, and Courtney fighting against both the Eye of the Midnight Sun and the Diamond Kingdom mages. "Ah yes…. One of the major components to my need is here. The boy without a single drop of mana. All that's left is to reclaim Vanessa and get her to learn the Red Thread of Fate spell. Then, no one will be able to beat me. I will be absolute perfection."
"In your dreams, Mother." The Witch Queen deactivated her monitors and turned slightly to see the wall behind her had disintegrated. Standing before the Witch Queen was Evanora Chandler-Whomalt. Her dark purple eyes gleaming with determination.
0713MM: So I'm doing the Witches Forest Arc before the Seabed Temple Arc. Reason for this? The (higher up) witches like the Witch Queen and Evanora Chandler know about the Elf Tribe and the Magic Stones. Meaning I see it as more important than the Seabed Temple Arc. Regardless, there will be an arc after this one, but it will not be the Seabed Temple Arc. I think you readers will like what will come after the Witches Forest Arc.^^