Chapter 86: Fading Heat

Disclaimer: It's time for another 5-day update schedule for you guys! I will be uploading a chapter everyday from Monday to Friday.

This is Day 1 and you won't have to wait long for Day 2! Starting off with quite a long chapter as well.

There are references to events in past chapters to help with foreshadowing and whatnot. Here they are:

Chapter 34-37, 66, 72, 75, 85

P.S - There's a cool hint in the chapter title about what it actually means. See if you can figure it out! The answer will be in the NOTES section at the end.

A dark-grey canvas covered the early morning skies. The sun was hidden behind the dull colours that stretched across the entirety of the Clover Kingdom and beyond.

The Blue Rose Knights' HQ was relatively silent just as it was the night before. Only this time, along with the strong winds, the slow fall of clear raindrops from above softly dripped and splashed outside.

Daisy woke up in a cold sweat and propped herself up, looking around the room to get a sense of her surroundings. She put her right hand to her head, feeling how hot it was from how ill she was feeling.

"Urgh… I did not have a good sleep last night", she said to herself, stretching. As she moved to get off her bed, she stood up and drew her blue curtains apart. "I guess the morning isn't too good either, haha", she slightly smiled.

After spending the next few minutes looking outside, she finally decided to freshen up and get ready for the big day ahead. She put on her clothes which started with her white t-shirt and light-yellow sweater and then her short, blue skirt with the dark-blue frilly edges to them. In the end, she put on her dark-blue, ankle length boots.

"Since the captain gave me a few days off, I can do what I need to do! I already spent yesterday at the Witches' Forest so today will be spent on making things right!" She looked at herself in the mirror, putting on a smile. For a few seconds, her mind went back to last night but she quickly shook her head, trying not to think about it.

She then took the green cloth that was resting on top of her wooden desk and carefully wrapped it around her head into a neat bow shape.

Daisy opened one of her drawers and took the two glass vials with the Witch Queen's Blood magic inside. "Just wait a bit longer, Emi, Alice!"

In the time it took Daisy to wake up and leave her squad's base, the dull weather did not ease up at all. In fact, it started to get worse with the rain now starting to pour.

"Ah, I didn't even think to bring an umbrella!" Daisy shook her head as she quickly flew on her broomstick. "Emi's house isn't even too far from the base so I thought I'd be okay, but… Well, I guess it wasn't!" She pouted, dropping her shoulders.

Thankfully for the Ice mage, House Fuchal was just within eye distance, but that didn't really mean much since the house was huge anyway.

Landing by the start of the white marble and grey stone stairs, she looked all the way up to the large, brown, double doors that were closed with a single guard on post right outside.

"I haven't been here in a good few months". She looked around and all she could see was the noble house's large property spanning the entirety of her gaze. Her blue and violet-tinted eyes were taking it all in.

She ran to the top and greeted the guard who bowed to the Magic Knight.

"Lady Calor, it is nice to see you again", he said with a salute.

The guard was quite tall and built well. He was around 6ft which was just slightly shorter than the length of the door frame that he was by. He had grey-coloured eyes with a thick moustache that had started to grey out from its usual, black colour. His black hair was mostly hidden underneath his open, silver and purple-coloured helmet that was open to let his face show. He was wearing a light amount of armour which mainly covered his torso, legs and feet, leaving his arms free but even they were covered in a small amount of chained mesh for protection. The colour scheme for the rest of his attire was similar to his helmet with the main colour being silver steel and the edges and sides being a dark purple.

"Ah, you can drop the title, Benedict", she waved with her two hands. "You know I don't like it".

The guard put his hand down to his side and apologised. "Sorry about that. You know, after being assigned to House Fuchal, I still can't get used to it all".

"Oh, come on", Daisy lightly tapped the man on his arm. "It's been almost eight years since your last post. You're not telling me you still miss it?" She winked, smiling.

"A good 20 years of my life were spent with the previous House. Of course it takes time but… it's just slightly odd".

"Yeah, I understand. By the way, don't tell me they have you posted out here despite the weather being like this? You should've at least brought an umbrella or something!" Daisy pouted, rolling her eyes, conveniently forgetting that she didn't bring one either.

Benedict called her out on it though as he laughed afterwards. "Where is your umbrella then?" He pointed at her and then himself. "You do see that I'm wearing my armour, right? The rain isn't a problem and, besides, I do like my job so a bit of bad weather won't phase me", he replied, smiling.

"I guess that's alright then…", Daisy replied with a sigh.

"Anyway, I won't take anymore of your time. I assume you're here to see Lady Fuchal?" Benedict asked.

"Yep, I'm here to help!" She put her thumbs up.

"How would you- Well, I know not to doubt you so you can enter. Besides, Lady Fuchal said to always let you in no matter what so I apologise for wasting your time". Benedict opened the doors and bowed with the Magic Knight walking through.

The doors closed behind her and she was met with a large, open-plan living room. The glass panes to the side usually let in a lot of natural light which was nice but, considering how bad the weather was, all it let in was gloom.

"The fireplace should be on in this type of weather but… I can't really blame Emi or the guards since there's some more pressing matters", she thought to herself. After taking a quick look around, she hurried up the stairs to the head of House Fuchal's bedroom.

Despite it being a house in the Noble Realm where everything was usually spotless, the hallway outside of the bedroom was anything but. There were stacks of papers up high with a lot of medical terminology written on them. On the side, near the walls, there were shelves of different vials, pumps, and powders, all designed to ease pain.

Ignoring all of that, there were also a lot of servants and maids running about and going in and out of the bedroom.

"Okay, let's do this…". Daisy breathed in heavily and out slowly. She walked up to the open door and entered the room after knocking on it.

The bedroom was a mess. Though it was very big, the amount of clutter from scattered papers to small amounts of machinery was everywhere. The king-sized bed in the middle was only visible since there was a small path from the door that wasn't filled with mess.

"Emilia?" Daisy said, calling her by her full name, to really grab her attention. The reply came within a few seconds which eased the Ice mage's nerves.

"Daisy?" Emilia replied from near the bed. She was wrapped in a blanket and it looked like she had been sleeping right on the floor. She stood up, messing with her hair to straighten it up a bit. "How come you're here?"

"I've come t-!" She replied but quickly stopped as she saw the middle of the king-sized bed. There was a woman all wrapped up in plastic tubes going in and out of her stomach. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was very irregular as the condensation on her oxygen mask came up at random times. "Is that Madam Fuchal?"

"Y-Yeah…", Emilia replied with a sad look. "She's been like that since Doctor Owen found out she had a severe stomach disease. Every doctor from across the kingdom has come by to diagnose and help but they've all left saying it was impossible. "I… I don't know how long she has", she teared up.

"Has she gotten any worse since you told me about her yesterday?" Daisy asked, clutching at her grimoire satchel.

"No, actually. Usually, every week or so her health deteriorated further but, for a few days now, she's remained the same. Doctor Owen says that it's her fighting back but… without a cure… she'll…", she started crying.

The doctor they were talking about then walked in. The man looked tired with bags under his eyes. His spiky hair was no more and it was just flat from all the sweat that was on his head and body.

"I've just come back from the lab and… it's not looking good. Everything that we develop fails on her body and it's come to the point that… Faith's state is permanent", Owen sighed, covering his eyes with his hands.

Emilia lightly tapped his shoulder, trying to put on a smile. "I know… you did everything you could…".

"I can reattach severed limbs. I can heal torn apart bodies, I can even cure some of the worst pains known to man but this, and another boy's injuries, is something very foreign to me…", he said as he dropped his shoulders.

Daisy repeated Owen's words in her head again, focusing on the comment he made about a boy. "He can usually cure any type of injury but Asta's arms were different because they were cursed by Forbidden Magic. He… He doesn't know yet!"

"Doctor Owen!" She shouted, bringing his attention to herself.

"Daisy? How come you're here?" He asked, cleaning his glasses.

"Nevermind that. The boy you just spoke about - Asta, right?"

"Yeah, what about him? I feel so bad for him and I couldn't do anything…".

"He's healed! He's all better now!" Daisy assured him.

Right before the shocked doctor could say anything else, Faith then started coughing terribly and wriggling about in her bed.

"Mother!" Emilia shouted, holding onto her hand.

She was starting to cough up blood and her eyes were quickly going from closed to open as if she was being possessed or something. Suddenly, something drastic emerged from her stomach and went up to her face.

Emilia had no idea what it was but the same couldn't be said for Daisy or Owen.

The colour on Madam Fuchal's side were the same as Asta's arms when they were cursed. They had the same red and grey, grainy colouring that was steeped deep within the skin just like the Black Bull's.

"An ancient curse?!" The two thought in unison.

Daisy, shaking her head, quickly got to work. She hurried forwards and past Emilia without saying anything. The Blue Rose opened her satchel and took out the vial of blood that had already started to react to Faith's injury.

"Daisy, what are you doing?!" Emilia and Owen asked, shouting.

"Yesterday I, and a few others, were at the Witches' Forest to heal Asta's arms. They were fixed by the Witch Queen and I asked to be given the same treatment for you", she said as she looked into the surprised eyes of her best friend. "Right now… This is why I made the decision to go there in the first place!"

She opened the lid on the glass vial and strings of blood emerged from the inside. They wrapped around and touched Emilia's pained, yet unconscious, mother and a sphere of blood formed around her.

The ancient curse that started from her stomach and managed to extend to her face slowly faded as if nothing had ever happened. Faith stopped moving in her pain and eventually calmed down, beginning to rest.

Doctor Owen went to the machines that examined the information from the tubes. "Her readings are normal! Her breathing is back to regular levels and her…".

Emilia sat by her mother's side, squeezing her hand that, for the first time in a while, squeezed back. She looked back at Owen and quickly shouted, not caring for her loud tone. "H-Her hands… Her skin is warm again!"

Just like how the scene was unfolding, more shock and positivity came just a few seconds after the Blood Magic was administered. Faith slowly opened her dark, purple eyes and looked at her daughter whose hand she was holding.

"Th-Thank y…ou, every…one", she said weakly with a small smile, slowly switching focus from her daughter to the other two in the room. Soon after this, she fell asleep whilst keeping hold of Emilia's hand.

As if on cue, the bedroom door burst open with a tall man standing in its frame. He had short, silver hair with a few, thick, long strands going down the right side of his face and ending near his chin. He wore some clear glasses which showed his bewildered pink eyes from was wearing a black waistcoat with purple edges and a purple, long-sleeved shirt underneath with a black tie around its collar. His trousers were also black with a gold chain coming from his left pocket and around one of the lower buttons on his waistcoat. He wore some light-purple shoes as well.

"Father…!" Emilia smiled underneath her emotional expression.

"Emilia… and F-Faith…?" He said as he started to whimper. He took his glasses off, setting them to the side and quickly rushed over, dropping to the side to sit by his daughter.

Hearing her husband's voice, Faith opened her eyes once again but only for a brief moment as she was way too tired. "I'm all better now… Charles", she smiled.

A few minutes passed after treating Faith. Daisy and Owen left the room and headed downstairs whilst Emilia and her father stayed with Faith for the time being. Now, the house lively again with many of the servants able to continue with their normal routines, though most of them were tasked to clean the hallway near Faith's bedroom since the mess wasn't needed anymore.

"Daisy, how did you know about Faith's condition?" Owen asked, now a bit calmer than he was earlier.

"Emi told me yesterday whilst we were in Kiten. I could tell that something was off with her the whole time and eventually we talked about it", she said as she remembered their little argument. "I wish we didn't have to argue but that's all sorted now".

"And that's when you decided to go to the Witches' Forest?" Owen asked, sitting down on a chair near the wet window that overlooked parts of the Noble Realm.

Daisy then explained some of the events from yesterday. From learning about Asta's arms and Vanessa's home country to finally getting the vials of blood that she seeked from the Witch Queen.

"That… must've been quite the day for all of you", Owen gulped as he took all of the information in. "The ancient curse the Witch Queen healed - Could you tell me about that?"

"Honestly, I don't know much about it. All I know is that it's a form of Forbidden Magic but unless Madam Fuchal has been in contact with the Eye of the Midnight Sun, then the nature of the ancient curse is likely different", Daisy explained.

Just then, the bedroom door opened with Emilia rushing outside it. Not even pausing to collect herself, she just threw herself in her best friend's arms.

"Daisy!" She cried, hugging her tightly. "Th-Thank you so m-much…! I… I can't begin to explain how grateful we are…!"

"No need to worry, Emi", Daisy smiled as she rubbed the back of the noble's silver hair. "I'm with you".

"Father would be out as well but he physically cannot leave my mother's side", she started to chuckle. "He told me to tell you how thankful we are but… to make sure none of you see him in the state he's in right now, haha".

"I can't imagine what Master Fushal is feeling, right now", Owen said.

"How did you… manage to get such a thing? What even is the Witches' Forest and wait… What do you mean there's a Witch Queen?!" Emilia couldn't contain the multitude of questions that she had for her best friend and they all spilled out, one after the other.

"Okay, so basically…", Daisy started to explain most of the events from yesterday which took quite a long time.

Owen just smiled seeing how happy Emilia was as well as how a patient had been saved. He took off his glasses, cleaned the blur from them, and put them back on but a big thought was in his mind. As he kept thinking, his smile gradually faded and was replaced by a look of worry that he made sure the two teenagers wouldn't see.

"What was Faith - Madam Fushal - doing to be cursed with Forbidden Magic like this? I'm going to have to ask some questions as soon as she's strong enough to move again but… If Daisy didn't arrive in time then that would've been it…".

Following the positive outcome at House Fushal, one of Daisy's missions today was complete. She left the house in the Noble Realm and was now on the way to her second and last destination.

Contrary to the overall mood of the Blue Rose, the weather outside did not ease up at all. In fact, it had gradually started to worsen with the sound of rumbling thunder and the yellow flashes of lighting dancing amongst the dark-grey clouds.

"I should've asked for an umbrella from Emi…", Daisy face-palmed but quickly shook her head. "Since her house was the closest, I visited first but… Alice is also my top priority. Nean is a good few minutes away so let's hurry up and make my sister happy again!"

An hour or so passed in between leaving Emilia's home and reaching the Common Realm. It would've been quicker if not for the worsening weather. Daisy was almost drenched to the bone but some quick thinking towards the end saved her a little bit. Above her head was a spell that she conjured, protecting her from the rain.

"My mind is quite slow today…", she rolled her eyes. "Why didn't I think of casting Crystalised Barrier earlier when the rain just started to get worse?" She sighed loudly, dropping her shoulders. The mage then lifted her arms and felt her green ribbon on the top of her head. "Even this is all wet and dirty now…".

Just then, as she was cursing herself for a lack of thinking, she saw a church pop up in the near distance, signalling that she was now in her hometown, Nean.

Landing at the door of the large building, she looked up at it. As well as the main body having a bell at the top, there was a smaller body attached to the side with both of them having red-brick roofs that were triangular in shape. Both of them had lightly-coloured stones and bricks with both being joined together to give it a strong structure. Just above the door, there was a cross that had started to rust over time.

Daisy walked in quietly after slowly opening the door. "I know that school's on at this time but whether or not there's a break is a mystery to me…", she thought to herself.

As she got further in, the candles to the side came into view with their strong and warm flames lighting up most of the ground floor. This was on top of the small, glass panes to the side allowing in natural light.

"Daisy?" A voice came from further in.

The mage in question looked ahead and saw an old woman sitting on the front row of the wooden benches, writing something down in her notebook. She wore nun's clothing and the scar down her left eye was quite visible.

"Ah, hello there, Sister Theresa!" Daisy waved as she started to add pace to her footsteps.

"Keep a walking pace. Even though this can be classed as a school nowadays, it's still a church. Honestly, whenever you come to visit you always forget that!" Theresa scolded which made Daisy pout.

"Sorryyyyy", she said as she physically made a smile with her fingers on each side of her lips. "C'mon, be happy", she giggled. "Where are the kids?"

Theresa shook her head with a sigh at the 16-year-old's antics. "They're playing in the toy room right now but they should be back soon. Anyway, are you here to see your sisters? You usually let us know beforehand".

"Ah, yeah, a lot has been on my mind for the last few days so it kinda slipped. But yeah, I'm here for them. How are they?"

"Well, Chloe is getting better with her studies. Maths, English, even Science are all subjects that she's taken a liking to recently".

"Ooh, that's great. I've been teaching her a lot whenever I visit so hearing her progress is comforting. How's her shyness, by the way? Daisy asked, folding her arms.

"The same old… It's unfortunate because it prevents her from making friends but it doesn't seem like she's too bothered about it. She spends a lot of her time reading books in the library", Theresa replied.

"Figures. No surprise that I found her hiding in the library back when Lucas came to visit", she thought back. "Well, Chloe will find her way soon enough as long as you're here for her!" She patted the nun's back but the indifferent look from her made the Magic Knight stop.

"If you're done… The twins are doing fine, I guess. They don't really focus all that much on their studies and it seems like they're much more interested in making the other kids laugh. I'll tell you, it's a headache to ask them to focus sometimes…", the elder Flame Mage sighed. "It's those toys they carry everywhere. They keep throwing them about the place but when I take them away they start crying. It's a lose-lose situation with those two!"

Daisy face-palmed. "Grace and Sonia are known to be troublemakers. Even at home, they hardly listen to me. I suppose the fact that they're not troubling the other students is good though", she shrugged.

"Are you not listening, girl? I'm telling you they are making trouble since it makes the other kids join in with their antics!".

"Right…", Daisy sighed. "I'll talk to those two later on".

"As for Alice…", Theresa shook her head, letting out an audible sigh. "Something's up with her".

"What do you mean?" Daisy replied, worried.

"She's started to make trouble and it's not in the way that Grace and Sonia do. She's fighting the other kids, ripping up their work, and she even runs off sometimes".

"What?!" Daisy shouted, shocked.

Sister Theresa, not pointing out how loud the teenager shouted, carried on. "I haven't mentioned it before but it's been going on for a good few months or so. At first, the problems weren't all too bad with her acting like how the twins do right now but it's gradually gotten worse. I didn't mention it to you earlier since I believed it was something I could deal with but, every time I try, she just won't listen."

Daisy sat down on the opposite bench, head in her hands. "Do you know why?"

"I have a feeling it's related to what happened. Even without magic, she's a strong girl but… I can't do anything to help if she won't let me. She won't tell me anything about how she's feeling or what she's thinking. In fact, she's stopped talking to me as well as a lot of the others. The only ones she speaks to are her own sisters", she replied.

"She's been fine whenever I come back to visit, and it's quite often", Daisy scratched her chin. "Has she been hiding something from me? I've come to fix this no-magic problem but… her way of thinking is also a big thing. I need to talk with her first".

Just then, the door near the hallway to the right opened up, revealing a bunch of little children that started to pour through the small door frame. One after the other, they ran to the main room and stood near both Sister Theresa and Daisy.

"Thanks for letting them out", the Flame mage said to the other, younger nun.

"Miss Daisy is here again, yay!"

"Are you going to play with us?"

"Can you show us your magic?"

Excited shouts came from all of the children and Daisy tried her best to greet them all but her mind was preoccupied with the worries about Alice. Still, she took the time to look over the rest of the children until three familiar voices made her stop.

"Big Sis, we missed you!"

Three little children jumped into her arms, making her fall back on the bench she was sitting on. Now, she was laying with her body sprawled across with Chloe, Grace, and Sonia all sitting on top of her body.

Chloe, the one with short, red hair that was in a bun at the back, was sitting right in the middle. Her big, blue and violet-tinted eyes stared deeply at her older sister's. Her shirt with the picture of a brown bear in the middle was ruined with all sorts of different coloured paints all smeared in.

Grace and Sonia were on either side of Chloe, and their black and white-patterned clothes were kept well unlike the youngest sister's. Both of their yellow-blonde hair that had curls at the bottom rested on Daisy's light-yellow sweater. They both had blue eyes but they were closed as they were also happily playing with their stuffed toys, the monkey and beaver.

"Hey, you three! I missed you too… even though it has only been a few days since I last saw you!" Daisy smiled, rustling all three of their heads.

"Even one day… is enough to miss you, Big Sis", Chloe pouted, dropping her head into the Blue Rose's chest.

"Aw, I'm sorry I can't come more often. Your Big Sis is working to keep the kingdom safe!" She cheered.

Sister Theresa smiled at the side, watching the siblings. "She says she can't come more often but she's here most of the time anyway". After that, she addressed the other kids and walked away with them. "Okay, all of you! Let's give them a bit of time while we start on some work, okay?"

The twins then asked;

"Are you here for a mission?"

"Which bad guy are you beating up this time?"

Grace and Sonia let go of their toys to mimic some loose boxing moves. Their punches were getting quicker until both accidentally hit Chloe on either shoulder which caused her to cry.

"Now look at what you've done…", Daisy sighed as she slowly sat down properly. She moved the twins to the side and brought Chloe up to her legs, having her sit down on them. "Chloe, look at me. What did I tell you to do if you're ever hurt?"

The small, red-haired child tried wiping her tears before replying. "You told me… th-that I'm allowed to cry… b-b-but I have to… defend myself w-with my words…".

"Good", she kissed her youngest sister on her forehead. "Can you do it or do I have to do it for you?"

Chloe finally wiped away her tears and looked at the two eight-year-olds on the bench. "I k-know you two didn't mean it but… what you did h-hurt. C-Can you be careful next… t-time, please…?"

The two blonde twins exchanged looks and nodded.

"Sorry, Chloe. It just… kinda happened".

"Yeah, we'll be careful from now on!"

Daisy then lifted Chloe and set her by the twins. The three siblings then started hugging each other and then laughter emerged from all three.

"Phew", Daisy said whilst pretending to wipe away sweat from her forehead. "Now, then. Where's Alice?"

The three younger siblings exchanged a few looks but they all shrugged.

"We don't know", they said in unison.

"You don't know where your sister is?" Daisy asked, getting slightly frustrated. "I always tell you to look out for each other, no matter what", she sighed.

"Sorry…", they apologised. "No. We haven't seen her for a while. I think Marco was with her earlier", Sonia replied.

Hearing his name, Marco walked over and stood opposite the Magic Knight. Daisy let her siblings go to Sister Theresa and bent down to greet the red-haired little boy.

"Hello there, Marco. Is Becks well?" Daisy smiled, pinching his cheek as she asked about Rebecca.

"Hi, Miss Daisy. Um, yeah, Sis is good", he replied whilst fidgeting. All the while, he refused to look the teen in the eyes.

Daisy then stood up and dropped to eye-level for the 10-year-old boy. She asked another question, now a bit stern with him. "Marco, do you know what's up with Alice?"

Marco kept looking around and started to panic. Seeing this, she brought the boy in for a hug which calmed him down but, after a few seconds, he teared up.

"I… said some mean things to her", he sniffed whilst his lip quivered.

"Were they having their arguments again?" Daisy theorised. "What did you argue about?"

The boy shook his head, refusing to answer. Instead, his expression turned angry. "It… was her fault! She started it when she ripped up my work a few weeks ago! I didn't know what was wrong so I asked but nothing. I apologised a few days after that but she just shouted at me! Then… she pushed me over. I kept saying sorry but… she never spoke nicely to me so… a few days later I… I s-s-said a mean thing…".

"Alice, what is up with you?" Daisy thought to herself. "Well, Marco, I'll try and get her to say sorry. You don't have to tell me about the argument since it sounds like she started it. Just tell me where she is, okay?"

Marco nodded and pointed up the stairs to the second floor of the church. "She ran into that room".

"Thank you. Now, hurry on along and get back to your studies", she softly pushed, smiling at the young boy.

Daisy looked over at the stone steps leading up to the second floor. "That room is for time-out. If Alice went there by herself, she feels bad for what happened. Okay, I'll go see what's up".

The Ice mage walked up hurriedly, wasting no time in going to see the nine-year-old. Upstairs, there was a single door on the side of the wall with the flickering light of a candle seen from the gap between the worn-out stone wall and door frame.

The 16-year-old opened the door and saw the remaining sister, huddled in a corner with her head in the gap between her knees.

Daisy saw the girl in a black and white-chequered dress. "I don't just want to give her the cure and let it be that. First, I need her to explain to me what's going on because if I just give the Witch Queen's blood to her, she'll most likely be too distracted with her mana to properly hear me out".

As she walked in, she dropped her shoulders, sighing at seeing her sister like this. She walked in and slowly closed the door behind her. "Alice?" She said quietly to not completely startle her.

She failed though as the long, orange-haired child jumped at the voice of her elder sister. She looked up and it seemed like she had been crying as the skin around her eyes were dry and puffy.

"Big Sis?" She said, trying to clear her face up by rubbing it. "I wasn't expecting you here". She leaned back slightly, her two blue ribbons on either pigtail swaying as she did.

"I can't come and see my sister? Damn, I guess that's that then", Daisy responded, slapping her hands together as if she was cleaning something off from them.

"N-No… I mean I'm happy and I… missed you", Alice added as she tried to smile.

"How did you manage to slip here unnoticed? Sister Theresa and the other teacher would've told me if you'd disappeared", the elder sibling asked, scratching her chin.

"Oh, it wasn't hard. Remember how we escaped Teacher Theresa to play Hide and Seek?"

"Yeah…", Daisy replied, rolling her eyes as she remembered how panicked she was that whole time.

"Well, yeah… I'm a bit sneaky like that, aha…", Alice replied, sticking her tongue out.

"So… how come you're in here on your own? Did Sister Theresa send you here for being naughty again?" Daisy quickly moved on from the previous topic. She folded her arms and pouted at the young girl.

"No, she didn't send me here. I… came by myself since I know I was bad", Alice replied, shrugging.

"What did you do?" Daisy asked even though she knew the answer from both of the conversations with Theresa and Marco. "Hearing it out of her own mouth would be good. I need to know how she's feeling before I rush into a conclusion".

Instead of an answer from the little sibling, there was only silence in the room as she opted not to answer the question at the time. Daisy, knowing how stubborn Alice can be, knew how to deal with her - by going along with her.

She sat down next to her sister with her own back against the same wall. Instead of talking, she just looked around the room. The teen saw that the 'time-out' room wasn't really that but was more of a storage room. "I've never been in here so I thought this room would be more… I don't know - scarier for a kid?"

There were plenty of toys scattered around the floor. The desks in the room looked quite worn out and the blackboard on the side of the wall still had notes from years ago since the colour was fading away.

"It's literally just storage and a place for some of the old equipment. Hm, I assume that the kids themselves dubbed this the 'time-out' room since none of them have ever been in here", Daisy theorised.

Then, breaking the silence in the room, the loud sound of thunder crashed through the walls which made both siblings jump with their hearts now beating incredibly quickly.

"That…",

"Was",

"Scary!" Both Daisy and Alice said in unison. After realising exactly that, the two started laughing together.

Eventually, Alice started to open up about everything that happened.

"Big Sis, I… haven't been the nicest person lately. I don't think Marco wants to be friends with me anymore because I've done some… bad things", she started explaining.

Daisy nodded. "I noticed that Marco was upset. What happened?"

A slight wind blew through one of the cracks in a small, glass window above the two siblings' heads.

FLASHBACK - TWO MONTHS AGO:

I'm not such a little kid that I don't know what's going on with me. I know my magic is completely gone but… the days after the incident, it didn't really click in my mind.

"Okay, kids, we're going to be practising our magic for today's session", Sister Theresa said as she clapped her hands together.

It was a nice afternoon in Nean with a subtle breeze blowing through the otherwise warm area. The kids all walked outside one after the other and into the courtyard. Theresa shut the door behind them and all of the children stood in a single file, opposite a row of targets with a red circle in the middle.

"Um…", Alice put her hand up. "What… should I do?"

Theresa sighed. "We do this practise a few times a week but, after the whole cave incident, a lot has changed…". She walked up to the Calor sibling and walked her over to a different area of the courtyard. "Here. Work on your aiming with this".

"Flame Creation Magic: Firing Light Leopard", she said, summoning a similar spell to the orange and red animal that had previously worked to save the children from the Eye of the Midnight Sun a few weeks ago. "Now, I know what's happened and you shouldn't feel out of place. So, place your hand on the leopard's back and, every time you do, it'll shoot a little ball of fire out", she whispered to the little girl. "The aim and trajectory is all up to you though, okay?" She said before walking off.

"Pretty…", Alice smiled before going to pet it.

"Alice!" Theresa raised her voice. "What did I just tell you? Whenever you place your hand, it'll react with a little ball of fire. You have to be careful, okay?"

The nine-year-old jumped. "Sorry…", she mouthed.

Theresa walked away and behind all of the children. In front of her, they all stood ready to practise their magic control and power.

"Marie, go", she instructed first.

The young Adlai squinted her eyes which controlled a small, wooden dart in front of her. She then looked at the red circle on the target opposite and fired the projectile at it.

"Ah, I did it!" Marie cheered and clapped.

"Nice job!" Theresa smiled. Then, she turned to the next few kids.

"Stefan, go".

"Byron, now you".

"Luca, your turn".

Rebecca's sister, Luca, pointed her fingers at the target. Small, multi-coloured petals came out but barely missed the middle as they landed all around the red circle.

"Almost had it…!" She softly hit her forehead with her fist. "After that whole kidnapping incident, I need to practise with my Flower Magic even more!"

A few other kids had their turn until it was time for the four Calor siblings to go.

"Go on, Chloe", Theresa asked.

The red-haired girl focused on the red circle and pointed both of her hands at it. It took a while but a small blue sphere started to form from her palms. After a few more seconds, she fired the Water Magic at the target but it completely missed, going on to hit the fence beyond.

She dropped her head. "I'm never good at this kind of stuff…".

Theresa knelt down by the girl who was upset. "I'll tell you what. You get to have another chance but I'll help you out, alright?"

Chloe sniffled. "O-Okay, Teacher Theresa…".

This time, Theresa held Chloe's arms with her own. She was kneeling down behind her and stretched her right and left arms forward, helping guide the Water Magic user's. "Now, breathe in and out, slowly but properly".

The youngest Calor sibling did just that and, right before she was supposed to fire her magic, Theresa slowly eased up her grip.

Water started to form in the middle of the girl's palms again and she shot the magic out. However, she noticed Theresa let go of her arms and she panicked.

"No, no… you let go and I must've missed it!" She pouted and closed her eyes, even before looking at where she hit.

"Calm down, girl. Why don't you open your eyes and look at the target?" The nun asked. She used her hands to gently take Chloe's hands away from her eyes so that she could see.

Eventually, she opened her eyes and slowly looked at the target she fired at. Her blue and violet-tinted eyes widened at what she saw.

"The target… It's wet! That means… I hit it!" Chloe laughed, jumping up and down. "Look, Grace. Look, Sonia! I did it!"

The twins smiled, rubbing their younger sibling's head.

Theresa got up and walked by the two twins. "Chloe needs a bit of help with magic control but it's like learning how to ride a bike. Give them a bit of guidance at the start and then slowly ease up", she smiled before instructing again. "Now, now, leave your sister alone and… go!"

The two, blue-eyed twins fired out their magic, one after the other. It looked like small amounts of mist left their fingertips with Grace's being slightly quicker. Sonia wasn't too far off in matching her time with her twin though. They looked at their red circles which had a hole through the middle of each.

"Easy, peasy", they smiled whilst high-fiving each other.

"Hm, Steam Magic, is it?" Theresa thought to herself. "All the Calor's have either Water Magic or a close link to it. Ice Magic, Water Magic, Steam Magic… Talk about a family line, Freya", she chuckled to herself.

After that, it was Alice's turn. "Take your time, Alice. Just do as I told you", Theresa pointed.

Alice breathed in and out, slowly. She eyed up the red circle in the middle of the target. "I'm always at the top of the class with my magic control. Things are a bit different now but… I'm still strong!"

She placed her hand on the leopard's spotted back and it opened its mouth, firing a small bullet of fire outwards. Alice looked at the target and was so sure it was going to hit. However, as it got closer, it missed.

"What?" The past Ice Magic user asked herself. "C-Can I try again?"

"Sure, you can do it as much as you want", Theresa replied, supporting the nine-year-old.

Alice tried again. She placed her hand on the animal and it did the exact same thing.

"This time… for sure!"

It missed again. This time, the angle was even worse with the fire not even staying on course for more than a second.

"Again!"

"Again…!"

"… Ag… ain!"

Every time she tried to use the leopard, her aim was getting even worse until the animal stopped firing altogether.

"It… has to be the leopard's fault! I know I'm doing well but your spell is messing everything up!" Alice protested, panicking at the same time.

"I don't think it's that. My leopard never misses its mark so, for him to be missing every target, it's because of the user controlling it. I… can't say the real reason otherwise her confidence will be fully blown… but, as a teacher I have to tell her the truth so it doesn't mess with her", Theresa sighed. "Alice, maybe it's just an off day for you. You can rest now and we'll move on. We'll try again tomorrow, okay?"

However, instead of listening to Theresa, Alice was in her own world.

"I've always been the best at this… If I fail now then… what will the others think of me?"

"N… No! I'll try again!"

Alice tried patting the leopard time and time again but it had stopped firing. At this point, she was essentially hitting its back as hard as she could but, just as Theresa had theorised, the leopard had stopped responding.

Theresa made her spell vanish and the leopard disappeared. Then, Alice fell to the floor on her knees, wide-eyed. Tears started to well up ever so slightly but she wiped them away as quickly as possible so that the others wouldn't see.

"I… made a mistake in having her participate. I knew the risks and I still assured her it'll be okay. I didn't want her to feel left out", Theresa thought, shaking her head. "At the end, I'll talk with her".

A few minutes passed after that. Alice refused any help from Theresa and her sisters were also left in the dark about how she was feeling. The Flame mage had to continue the rest of the lesson though, and that's what she did.

A few other kids went and had their turn until it was Marco's turn.

"Go!" Theresa instructed for the last time since there were no other kids in the row.

Marco raised his hands and his fingers tingled. Small but sharp leaves started to form from them and he shot them out. Despite them being slow, they hit the target but just bounced off.

"Um… did I pass?" Marco asked, rotating his hands as it was the first time he'd ever felt like that.

"Pass?" Theresa repeated. "No. This isn't an exam but you are getting better. In fact, that was the first time you've actually given your magic a physical form".

"Y-You're right. Before, I couldn't summon anything… So, am I a bit stronger?" He asked, still staring at his fingers.

"You are", Theresa smiled, patting the boy's red hair.

The lesson had now ended and it was time to go back inside to continue onto the next subject. All the kids walked in, one by one, until there were only three people remaining.

"Alice?" A voice called out but the one who it originated from was ignored. The nine-year-old was in her own world, once again, as she stared at the stone floor.

"I'm not an idiot. I know I have no magic… but I'm supposed to be the best here!"

"Alice, you there?" The same voice asked, but it was ignored once more.

"I… have to be the stand-in big sister since Big Sis is a Magic Knight. I want to be strong… so the bad guys don't come back!"

"Alice, hey!" The voice shouted this time, prompting Alice to jump as she finally heard who had been calling her. "Hey, I was calling for you a few times now!"

"Oh, hi, Marco", Alice said as she faked a smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to ask if you saw my improvement. Soon, I'll be as cool as you!" He laughed, flexing the muscle on his right arm by putting the other on it.

"Y-Yeah, I'll be rooting for you!" Alice smiled, closing her eyes.

"You will? Usually you're all competitive, haha, what's up?" Marco laughed as he walked in through the doors.

"I'm still competitive, you dork! Didn't you see how I acted when I failed so miserably?"

Then, the next and last person called out the Calor's name. It was Theresa and she began to kneel down in front of the child to address her.

"Hey, Alice. Do you want to talk about… well, anything you want?" She asked, trying not to explicitly say what was on her mind.

"No, thanks", she replied quickly. Alice turned away and walked through the doors, leaving the nun on her own.

After that day, everything started to annoy me. I began sitting out of Magic Control class completely and… Marco started to catch up to me.

Marco jumped up in the air, punching it as high as he could. The first person he turned to was Alice who was sitting on the floor, drawing in the muddy grass with a brown stick she had found.

"Alice, Alice! Did you see that?"

"Yeah…", she nodded without looking into his eyes. "You're… getting better again", she said with her own, yet half-hearted, punch in the air.

"Maybe… we can spar? You know, like the grown-ups do?" He said with a smile. After that, he ran ahead since it was time for the next subject.

Alice stopped her drawing and started to scribble it out with her stick, violently. "Are you an idiot? We can't spar since I have no magic!"

Soon after… my anger started to boil over and I couldn't concentrate.

"Alice! Take a look at my drawing!" Marco shoved the piece of paper in her face.

"I don't want to!" She shouted back. However, she realised how she came across and held her hand to her mouth. "S-Sorr-!"

She was about to apologise but she saw the drawing he made on the floor. It was of him and her, both standing opposite each other shooting their colourful magic spells at one another. It was an innocent drawing but for Alice, it hurt her.

"You want a fight? I'll give you something to fight about!"

She ripped up his drawing, throwing it in the bin afterwards. The look on Marco's face was of horror - he was shocked to see her actions.

Then, it happened more and more. I… wanted to stop but every time I decided to, I was reminded of how weak I was.

"Sorry, Alice. I… I don't know what I've done wrong but I'm sorry", he apologised, bowing his head.

"I…", Alice began to reply but was reminded of him catching up to her in Magic Control class. "Just… leave me alone!"

For the first time, she pushed the boy back and onto the floor.

Every time, Teacher Theresa would shout at me for what I did. I know it was wrong but I couldn't stop. The next week, we were separated but he still walked up to me when the adults had left the room for a few minutes.

"I… think I know what I did wrong", he pouted. "I know… about what happened.I was there so, of course, I do but… I didn't want to treat you any differently than normal. I'm the weakest here with magic so… I know how it feels to be the odd one out so I didn't want you to feel like that", he teared up.

I wanted to say sorry for how I had been acting but… it was hard.

"I don't care", Alice replied, turning away.

This went on for a few days until anger started to boil over for Marco this time.

"I've been saying sorry… every single day but you don't care. You're just… upset that I've become stronger than you since you have no magic!" Marco shouted but, just as Alice had done before, he quickly put his hand to his mouth.

However, the damage had already been done as Alice lunged on him to fight.

FLASHBACK - END

"Teacher Theresa broke up the fight but, now… I think he hates me…". Alice said as she dropped her head.

Daisy was silent for the first few moments before eventually responding to everything that her sister had told her.

"Alice… You've got to apologise to him properly. He knows he said something bad to you since he was even panicking earlier when he told me you two had an argument", she sighed.

"He was?" Alice asked, gasping. She didn't think he was in the wrong at all. "I… fought with other people as well…", she added instead of focusing only on the red-haired boy.

Then, she felt a hand wrap around her back which pulled her in. Daisy had got in close and hugged her little sister tightly.

"I wish… you weren't so high-maintenance but, then again… you know how we Calors are", Daisy winked. "Nah, I'm joking, you can act however you want with me… you know, within reason, since I can take it. I know how you are but Marco, and the other kids… now that's different", she said as she rustled her sister's long, orange hair.

The red-eyed sibling looked at her eldest sister's blue and violet-tinted eyes. "I… I will say sorry to everyone", she nodded as her lip quivered ever so slightly.

All of a sudden, the Blue Rose stood up in a flash. "Now…", she began as she rummaged around in her grimoire satchel. "Shall we get to business?"

"Business?" Alice repeated, tilting her head with a confused expression. "What is that?" She pointed at the object that Daisy brought out.

The glass vial of blood was in the Ice mage's right hand. The liquid inside wasn't squirming around like it was with Emilia's but the 16-year-old didn't notice. Instead, she was only focused on the girl in front of her.

"I… went to a faraway place yesterday. It was called the Witches' Forest… I only went there for one thing - a cure".

Juxtaposing the rather uplifting moment, more thunder came crashing around. This time, lightning even shot down from the darkened clouds in the faraway distance. However, the two Calors ignored it, or rather they were too engrossed in what was happening.

"What's that for?" Alice asked, not being able to put the pieces together.

"It's for… well, you. If I open this vial, your mana will come back!" She smiled.

"No way. I can't believe such a thing exists!"

"Okay, okay, then I'll take it back. The Witch Queen was so generous as well but I guess she won't be too upset if I go and return it", Daisy lied as she looked away with an awkward expression.

"No, no! I mean… it's too good to be true, right? But… then again, I'm not complaining! With this… I can finally feel like, well, me!" Alice giggled, punching the air with both fists.

"Okay, here goes…", Daisy thought to herself as she breathed in heavily and exhaled slowly. She prepared herself for the response and to finally help her sister out.

She opened the vial, pulling the wooden cork out. The blood started to rise up, presumably in response to Alice who was right next to her sister.

"Oh my…", Alice gasped, ready for her mana to be restored. She saw the blood come up and it looked like it was about to come to her.

The recovery spell rose slowly but came to a halt when the whole liquid left the bottle. Instead of strings coming out from the liquid to attach to the patient, nothing happened - nothing at all.

"Huh?" Both Calors said to themselves and at the situation.

"Um, why isn't it working…?" Daisy started to panic as her head was pumping.

Unlike with Faith, Emilia's mother, the blood wasn't doing anything. It wasn't attaching itself to Alice, nor was it forming a sphere of blood around her.

Worried, Daisy put the vial nearer to Alice where it was practically touching her. Still, the blood did nothing. In fact, the liquid just fell to the floor and started to evaporate upon touching the hard wood beneath.

"Big Sis, was that… supposed to happen? I mean… I don't feel any different", Alice said as she twirled in a circle, looking at her arms and legs to see if she felt anything.

"N-No… that wasn't supposed t-t-t-to happen", she replied, holding her hand over her mouth as she felt like she was going to throw up.

Again, thunder struck and it sounded like it hit something nearby as the sound was extremely loud - louder than it had been before. The lightning also occurred which briefly illuminated the very dimly-lit room with a yellow and blue hue. This only lasted a second but it was enough for Daisy to see Alice's expression.

She was smiling.

"Aha, Big Sis, this was some type of prank, right? It was a thing to build my character or something, huh? Like when Grace was obsessed with that old dessert that was quite popular a few years ago but it ended up making your teeth fall out! Remember when you showed her that article of some old man's teeth all gone and then, when you offered her that exact dessert she was put off from it! This was something like that, huh?"

Daisy was silent. The dark shadows that were in the room masked her wavering eyes that looked devoid of colour.

"I know you'd never lie to me so it must've been something like that! I know I'll never get my mana back and that things will have to change with how I do things. I mean… it was kind of mean of you but I understand what you meant, Big Sis. You're just preparing me for how life is going to be - full of ups and downs, huh?"

Daisy slowly stood up and she turned around to look outside. She couldn't even look her sister in the eyes right now after giving her some hope. Fortunately for her, Alice took it in the complete wrong way which turned out quite positive in the end. However, Daisy was broken.

Suddenly, she felt a hug from behind.

"Big Sis. Thank you for that little.. Uh, experiment? I know that things won't always work my way and that's perfectly fine. I'll… apologise to Marco and everyone else and work with Teacher Theresa properly to find a different way to use magic. Maybe she'll let me use that leopard again?"

Alice scratched her chin with one hand whilst the other was folded underneath around her waist. She nodded with her eyes closed as if she was thinking of something and putting some pieces together in her head.

"Yeah, that'll work", she giggled. "Wow, I've got like a whole different perspective and everything".

After another hug, she skipped out of the room and her little footsteps ran down towards the ground floor where everyone else was.

Daisy remained silent the whole time but her eyes were fixated on the darkness outside. Her blue and violet-tinted eyes were blurred against the reflection of the falling raindrops outside. There was a candle outside that came from inside a house that her eyes slowly darted towards and that was when she was able to see herself in the glass window.

Tears running down her face with a pained frown etched across.

"Why did that not work?"

"Why did that not work?"

"Why did that not work?"

The same question was on Daisy's mind for the next hour. She had made her way outside of the church and inside the local restaurant. The inside was pretty empty with there being one other person who was sitting at a table by himself.

Daisy was sitting in the corner by herself. Her table had nothing but a small napkin on as well as a glass of cold water right in front. Her elbows were on the wooden table and her arms slanted towards her mouth where her hands were clamped together in front of.

Her cold eyes were blank and she was staring at nothing. Instead, her mind was doing all of the work and it was haywire right now.

"I need to understand why the Recovery Magic worked on Emi but not on Alice! Everything was there and everything was going to be all fine if… it… just… worked! The spell heals wounds, physical or magical, right? It healed Asta's arms, my wounds, and everyone else's injuries yesterday. Then, today, it healed Madam Fushal's so why not… Alice's?!"

"It can't have been because of the spat the Witch Queen and I had, right? She wouldn't be so childish… and it wouldn't make sense since if that was true, the treatment earlier wouldn't have worked! So… it was just Alice that it didn't work for. Was it because… Madam Fushal was in the process of her treatment? The ancient curse was already there as the blood got to work so does the injury have to be active for the cure to work?! Does that mean… Alice's condition isn't even classed as an injury anymore or is it that she's not classed as having anything wrong with her?!"

"Wait. The Witch Queen told me the conditions when she gave me the two vials!"

FLASHBACK - YESTERDAY:

"I'm not leaving without having a way to cure both Alice and Emi!"

Daisy shouted at the Witch Queen who was sitting on her throne above. Vanessa had left the room a few minutes ago with satisfied look to her face. Now, it was the Blue Rose's turn to speak to the head witch, face to face.

"You - You came for something, didn't you?" The Witch Queen said with a stern look.

"I did. I need you to teach me the ancient dispelling magic. We brought it up earlier in the day since Vanessa needed it for Asta, but I also need it for my little sister and my best friend", Daisy replied.

"I cannot just teach a mere human ancient magic on the level of that".

"Are you still hung up about what happened earlier? I mean... you kind of had everything coming, you know?" Daisy lifted her hands and shrugged her shoulders.

"No. What I mean is that humans cannot learn magic like that whatsoever unless they want to sacrifice something. However, I could give you a portion of my magic to use as you need", the witch clarified.

Daisy sweat-dropped. "Ah, so that's what you meant...", she said quietly.

"Blood Recovery Magic: Curse-Breaking Blood-Filled Cocoon".

Thin, red threads of her magic came out from her large grimoire and condensed into a liquid form. The Witch Queen conjured up two glass vials and the blood poured into both. Soon after, she handed them to the blue and violet-eyed mage.

"Th-That was it?" Daisy said, surprised with how easily she gave her what she needed.

"Yes. Unless you wanted to fight for it?" The Witch Queen asked, lowering her voice.

Daisy thought back to their last fight and how extremely one-sided it was. She shuddered at the prospect of fighting again. "No, I'm good".

"I will warn you, though, you need to know how my magic works if you are to use it. First, they will heal any wound - physical or magical".

"Sweet", she said as she turned around, already heading for the door.

"Second, there are conditions that need to be met. If they're not, then the Recovery Magic will not work. The injury has to be in effect for the blood to heal. If the injury is gone, or has disappeared, then the blood will fail. Think of an empty glass - no water will fall if there isn't some in the first place. You need for there to be something so that it is influenced".

"So, if the person has an injury and if it's still there, then it'll work. I got it".

FLASHBACK - END

"I... I thought that it would work on Alice because she's supposed to have mana. Since her mana has completely gone, it's not classed as an injury anymore?! Does that mean... she'll never have mana again?"

"I... I'm so stupid!"

"I… gave her false hope. I can't believe that, as the elder sister, I did something like that to my sibling. I know she brushed it off as some sort of character building rubbish but… I know for a fact that I got her hopes up with how she was acting just before I opened that glass vial. I… played with my sister's emotions and then disappointed her. I'm just the worst".

The room then started to spin and the heat she felt on her body made her skin crawl. Her palms and her fingertips were dripping sweat on the table making it a darker shade of brown where they fell. Her eyes were pulsating from being big to going small and this happened continuously. Objects in her view were closer than they appeared but when she tried to reach out to them, she felt nothing. Her throat started to close up and her mouth was becoming dry with her saliva tasting bitter like acid. She went to clutch at her throat as an instinctive response but she could do nothing as the nausea and dizziness were at a high.

"I… I'm the worst. I…don't know what I should be doing. I…".

Her mind started to spiral with her not being able to focus. Images of her sisters, mother, friends, colleagues all passed by. Memories started to flood through until one voice stayed etched into her panicked mind.

"Daisy Haines, the Fallen Noble…".

In a knee jerk reaction, she toppled the glass of water and it fell to the floor. She watched as it smashed and she tried to clean the mess up but she lost her balance and her footing made her fall to the floor.

From the side, Rebecca came rushing over. She immediately knelt down and grabbed a jug of water from her tray that was on the side and poured it into a spare glass for her.

"Drink this, Daisy! You're as pale a ghost right now!"

She could hardly see through her eyes as everything was swirling. She was trying to speak but no words were coming out. Instead, the only noise she was making was from her terribly irregular breathing.

"Daisy!"

Rebecca shouted but she wasn't responding. The only thing she could think of to do was to throw the cold water at the Blue Rose and that was exactly what she did.

Soon, after the water splashed on her face, she started to calm down as the cool temperature of the body lowered her body heat. She was sitting on the floor with her legs sprawled across and her skin cold to the touch - a big difference from her hot temperature just a moment ago.

"I… I… What j-just happened…?" Daisy asked, feeling her heartbeat start to turn normal again.

"Daisy, I think you… just had a severe panic attack…", Rebecca said softly as she massaged the teen's back.

"A p-panic attack? Y-You're kidding… M-Me?!" She shouted, eyes widened. She pointed at herself as if she couldn't believe that she had one.

The Blue Rose thought back to the middle of the panic attack but all she could hear was the same words over and over again like they were permanently scarred in her mind.

"Daisy Haines, the Fallen Noble…".

She stood up quickly, still as pale as possible but made her way towards the door.

"Where on earth do you think you're going?! It's not safe for you as you are right now!" Rebecca shouted but, as she stood up to go towards her friend, she was already gone.

The thunder and lightning were as violent as possible at this time. The afternoon had almost ended and the evening was fast approaching.

Again, forgetting the umbrella, or maybe just because she was too preoccupied with another matter, she flew in the air on her broomstick.

"If anything… I have to get this voice out of my head. I can't think of what I did to Alice right now… Instead, I have to do this, at least!"

She flew towards the same direction she came from - the Noble Realm.

The rain was heavily pouring and all of her clothes were absolutely drenched. Her skin was getting the full force of the wet downpour but she wasn't reacting to any of it. Instead, she was focused as her eyes didn't move one inch.

Her green ribbon was all wet. From the usual light-green colour, it had now turned completely dark with bits of dirt all over. Daisy shook her head as the ends of the ribbon were getting in the way of her eyes but the clothing accessory wasn't budging. So, for the first time ever, she took the ribbon off and threw it away.

That would prove to be the last time she ever wore that ribbon for a very long time.

NOTES:

This chapter was one that was a long time coming. Daisy is going through a LOT of stuff and, well, what do you think?

It's a continuation of the last part of the previous chapter with it still focused on Daisy and it being only the next day.

Emilia and her mother are all good now :) But how did Faith get that ancient curse in the first place, hmmmm?

Then, it was time for Alice to be cured but… the author of this fic had different plans, hehe… :(. Did you guys think she would be cured as well or not? I'm curious about what you think.

The panic attack is something I've been wanting to write for Daisy for a long time. It might sound kind of evil but I do want to delve deeper into her life and explore it. Unfortunately for her, and for the Daisy enjoyers, it'll get messy :(.

The meaning of the title - Fading Heat is, well, a heat that is fading but that doesn't exactly make sense in the context of this chapter. You could potentially see it as a warmth that is slowly going away but, anyway, this is the way that I meant it in - The Heat in 'Fading Heat' translates to 'Calor' in Spanish and if Calor is fading then she's essentially breaking down. Idk, I felt like it was kinda smart, hehe.