Marisa had known that everything had gone wrong once the fog had rolled in. Not really a big surprise that things didn't go as planned. Plans were just plans after all and they never survived first contact. You just had to learn to adapt once things started to go bad.

It was just that… you'd think those supposedly trained knights would last longer or something. Somehow they were distracted by a splinter force and completely outmaneuvered by the rebels. Now the students they were supposed to be protecting were now taking the brunt of the fighting.

Or maybe it was less about the knight's incompetence and instead how competent Ashe's adoptive father actually was. He had spoken very fondly of the man and the brief moments that she did see him before the fog rolled in he certainly cut an imposing figure. Well as imposing as you could get outside of the few monsters you could find in Gensokyo. Still dangerous enough to everyone else.

Oh well, trial by fire and all that. If they survived they would probably get a lot out of this. Best to help out, but it was actually quite difficult for her to contribute while that fog was there. She didn't really have any spells to get rid of it. Maybe Patchy would've, well she most definitely would, but apparently weather manipulating spells wasn't something that she had prioritized teaching Lys.

Hmm. Might need to talk about adding that to her curriculum later.

Right now all Marisa could do was fly up above the fog and try to find a break within it. The enemy would have a hard time keeping track of her movements. The bad news was that this also applied to her. Normally it wouldn't be an issue, just indiscriminately throw spells around or use an Omnidirectional laser or two. However, she had people around that she kinda liked and unlike Gensokyo you couldn't really show your love here with a big laser. Needless to say, she actually had to worry about the concept of friendly fire.

Maybe she could do some precision strikes if she had a spotter or something, but Lys wasn't flying up either for whatever reason. It was actually a little worrying to have that girl caught in the chaotic melee below, up close was not really her strong suit.

Flying in and joining the melee herself would also be a terrible idea. Marisa knew her strengths and her weaknesses. Going straight into that utter chaos while being within stabbing distance of swords, spears, axes, and whatever weapons they could shove at her probably wouldn't end well.

"Yo Lys!" Marisa shouted into the fog, hoping for an answer. She casually dodged a couple of arrows that were shot in her general direction and fired back with a few small lasers of her own within the general area they came from. Hard to say if she actually hit anything there but the arrows did stop coming.

"Little busy here Marisa!" Lysithea shouted back. The sound of her voice and the subsequent fireball was enough for Marisa to discern the location of her fellow magician. Said fireball was then followed up with several flashes of rumbling earth and lightning.

That's good. Seems she was still up and fighting.

"Can't really do much with this fog here, can you do something about it?" Marisa asked.

"Aren't you the one good with water!?"

"Nah. Fog's not water based at all. Some sort of easy to breathe smoke. Surprised they haven't poisoned it or anything."

"Probably worried about damaging their homes and each other. One second, let me talk to the Professor." It was easy to keep track of Lysithea's movements as she flung spell after spell from the middle of the fog. The spells stopped for a brief moment, only to be replaced by the sound of steel against steel which blended in with the rest of the noises from the battlefield. "Marisa, do you see a tree line nearby? The caster must be pretty close to keep up a fog this thick."

"Yea, I see a small group of trees a bit south of us," Marisa replied.

"The Professor thinks the Mage is hiding there. It's close enough, keeps them hidden, and gives them plenty of cover to hunker down in even if we try to get rid of them."

"You guys send anyone there yet? Anybody close?"

"No not yet. We were planning to send a group. Why?"

"Well then I'm about to incinerate that chunk of forest."

"Wait! Marisa no!" Lysithea began shouting desperately in an attempt to warn those nearby. "Danger Close! Danger Close!"

Unfortunately for Lysithea, the Golden Deer around her simply looked at her in confusion. It was Blue Lions who looked at Marisa with proper expressions of eminent realization or in Felix's case, begrudged acceptance.

"Too late, already charging it!" Marisa shouted as she took out her Hakkero and pointed it at her intended target. "Love Sign:"

"By the Gods, everyone duck and cover!" It was the one desperate cry Lysithea could make before she dove to the ground and covered her head with her hands. A bit of an overreaction really.

"Master Spark!"

Power. Sheer raw primordial power taking form in the shape of a giant fuck all rainbow pride parade beam, Sumeriko's words not hers, that was what Lysithea and the rest of her classmates were welcomed to the sight of. It was hard not to notice, even in the fog.

"What was that!?" Hilda shouted as he lifted his head up from off the ground and looked at the destruction before him. "Does the Rebellion have a Mage Orb that's shooting giant laser beams at us?"

"That. Was Marisa," Lysithea replied as she picked herself up. She had quickly noted that the Blue Lions had immediately dived for cover and were picking themselves up first. All of them were now looking at where Marisa had fired her spell. All that was left of the forest, and the mages judging by how the fog was already starting receded, was a giant crater. "With her signature spell, the Master Spark."

"Marisa- she cast that thing by herself!?" Ignatz shouted. "That's the same power you get from an entire battalion of trained mages!"

Accurate enough. A Master Spark was essentially the equivalent of an entire siege group of skilled mages giving their all to ensure the nonexistence of everything in a large general area.

"She can do that five times in a single sitting actually," Lysithea informed them. "Though I guess after the fifth she'll be running on empty."

And that was on a normal day. During an incident where she could draw additional power from her firepower became ever more frightening to witness.

"Hah!" Catherine shouted triumphantly as she charged into the heat of battle now that the fog was dissipating. "She really wasn't just talk! Probably would be a good fight!"

"Assuming you don't get completely incinerated first and find some way to counter her flight," Lysithea replied. Still as much as she complained Marisa had gotten the job done. With the mages creating the fog done for, they now had clear vision of their enemy. This included all of the rebels that they were now starting to cut down.

"Why… why did things end up like this?" Ashe asked, though no one answered. Not even the Goddess that Fodlan worshiped. His voice trembled looking at the woman bleeding out before him. Her lips slowly moved before life vanished from her eyes. "Your son… he wouldn't have wanted this…"

Lysithea didn't approach. How could she? She had no idea how to respond to something like that. She didn't have to thankfully. The Professor was more than ready to do so.

"Who was she?" he asked as he stood behind Ashe, his eyes scanning the battlefield in case anything else happened.

"That was… Ms. Havis… her son died because of the plague, but she survived. She would always volunteer to look after the other kids in the village. Why… why? Why are we fighting? Why would Lonato compel them all to charge to their death?"

The Professor opened his mouth when the sound of a horn flew through the battlefield. Lysithea turned toward its source. An aged man in the distance dressed in heavy armor on top of a steed. Behind him was an entire host of soldiers, well equipped and beyond what they had expected from a small rebellion.

Did Lonato have all this equipment and men in reserve all this time? Or was there someone supplying him? Honestly the latter seemed more likely but it wouldn't be confirmed until they interrogated someone.

In the end there was no time to answer Ashe's question as Lonato's men charged. Marisa did what she could and flung out hellfire and destruction below, but the old man had adapted quickly and spread his men out in order to minimize the damage that each spell caused. Once the melee started and the two armies started blending together the flying Witch simply couldn't throw her most powerful spells around without catching their allies in the process. She still helped, there were still plenty of precise lasers being flown around, but in the end the brunt of the fighting would have to be dealt with by them.

All they could do was fight, kill, and survive. Every moment of combat ultimately just blended together for Lysithea. All she could focus on was what she could do. Quickly scan the enemy in front of her, determine the best spells to use from her wide arsenal.

"Fire Sign: Raging Wildfire!"

Flames spread throughout the area in front of her in a controlled fashion. The spell burned the enemy and corralled into positions that made it easier for her allies to strike them down. As she continued to feed the flames she tilted her head back to avoid the arrow that flew by her head, its head close enough to even take a few strands of her hair.

Focus. Keep track of every projectile. Focus on each spell in her hands. That was her Mantra in the chaos that was the battlefield. Something that she had long since developed since her time in Gensokyo.

A wave of flung spells, arrows, and falling stars bombarded the enemy. The devastation allowed them to move forward and slowly push the enemy back.

The fighting had grown fiercer, the melee getting even more chaotic, yet somehow they didn't lose anyone significant. Though some of the knights around them did fall, all of her classmates remained standing. As for the Professor, he didn't simply survive in the battlefield he thrived in it. Practically bathed in the sparks of clashing steel and the blood of his opponents spattering around him.

Each swing of his blade was mesmerizing. Efficient, quick, and deadly. A man who developed all his skills through the battlefield alone. An Ashen Demon through and through. One that was on their side. One that seemed to be always at the right spot the moment that he was needed. It was as if he knew this battle. Knew how it would go and how it would end.

"Looks like the Ashen Demon isn't just rumor and hearsay," Catherine commented as she took her place on the Professor's right side. By comparison she was a ferocious beast charging through the enemy in a reckless frenzy.

Two titans on the battlefield. And now Marisa hovered above them and provided the destruction needed to break the line and carve a path straight for Lonato. All three of them seemed like they were in a league of their own. Compared to them, Lysithea found herself lacking as she was.

Even at her best she couldn't compete with Marisa, but that didn't mean she still wouldn't try,

"Out of my way!" Lysithea flung both her hands out, tearing apart the men that attempted to bar her way.

This wouldn't be enough to stop her. She wouldn't allow it. She would push forward through her own effort alone.

However no matter what she did it didn't change where things really mattered at the other side of the battlefield where Lonato had taken to the field. He had apparently caught sight of Catherine and shouted something. Something that Lysithea never had a chance to hear but judging by the O shape Marisa made with her mouth it wasn't anything particularly pleasant. Either way conflict between him and Catherine was inevitable as they charged at each other, practically bulling through anyone that had the misfortune of being caught in their way.

With a clash of steel and sparks their blades met. It was no elegant dance or even any strategy to be had for that matter. Just raw ferocious power as the two did their best to kill each other. For some, mainly the knights, it could be seen as awe inspiring. For Lysithea it was ugly in a way.

Where was the elegance? The beauty? The passion that didn't just come from raw blinding rage? It was honestly just hard for her to watch.

In the end though, no matter how ferociously Lonato fought it didn't change the fact that the rest of his men were being overwhelmed by the Knights and the students. Soon he was outnumbered. Even if he could trade blows with Catherine it didn't take long for the Professor to get behind him and land a crippling blow. After that they just whittled him down until he eventually fell to the ground.

Everything that Lonato fought for, his anger, his rage, his vengeance, all gone in an instant. Consumed by hatred, all the man could do was wildly claw at Catherine's direction before the life had left his body. If he had been in Gensokyo he would've made an excellent vengeful spirit.

"Is that it?" Lysithea asked herself.

"Is what it?" Felix asked next to her.

"Just…" she waved at the body of the previous lord of this territory, "Just so… anticlimactic." An unfitting end for a man that had apparently been as renowned as he had been. And a tragedy to those he had left behind. Ashe remained standing, somehow, but the sight of his adoptive father being cut down in front of him was likely something that he would never forget.

Felix grunted. "It's what happens when you let your emotions and past consume you like that. Just nothing but a wild animal in the end."

"A bit harsh," Lysithea commented. She did note that he had a habit of calling Dimitri a boar though. Was there really something there or was just Felix being… well Felix?

"Look at him. What's left of him. Fighting and dying over a dead son. And now he's left another one that's still alive to mourn him."

There might have been something to what Felix said, but for the time being they had other things to worry about. Mainly the cleanup. The knights had already begun gathering the corpses of the enemy to put into a pyre. Left to them, they'd probably just throw all the bodies in a ditch. No funeral rites for those that would rebel against the Church after all.

It was… honestly something that didn't deserve. Life and death had a sanctity that you didn't disturb. Those that still had business in the living world would inevitably come back and they would have to be dealt with one way or another, but those that had accepted their death at the very least deserved to have it respected.

"Hey, we've got prisoners ready for interrogation."

Lysithea jumped in the air and was only just able to remember to land on the ground before turning to Catherine who had snuck up on her. The woman seemed rather casual despite having just down someone that had such an intense hatred towards her. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Saying we've got a couple of people ready for that potion you and Marisa made."

"Oh. Uh right."

Catherine raised an eye. "You okay there kid?"

"I'm not a kid," Lysithea grumbled. Normally she would've lashed out a bit more but Catherine deserved some measure of respect. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd remember that."

"Alright. It's just that you're all kids from my point of view. Nothing wrong with that, reason why you're going to Academy. To learn and grow up."

Lysithea gave her a noncommittal hum.

"So what's bothering you?" Catherine asked. "Seems a bit tense there, arms crossed and all that."

"This… doesn't bother you at all?" Lysithea asked. "All this needless death?"

Catherine shrugged. "They made their choice when they chose to rebel and betray Lady Rhea. A quick death is what they deserved. No sweat off my back doing my job."

"And Lonato?"

"Look what happened with his son, I get why he didn't like me. But in the end the both of them chose to betray Rhea. I do feel a bit bad that it had to end this way, but what's the point of getting distracted about a dead man now?"

"I just… I don't think I could ever have the same sort of… devotion that you have towards the Church."

"Lady Rhea saved me. Gave me a title, home, and honor, when I had absolutely nothing." Catherine gripped the hilt of Thunderbrand. "I owe her everything which is why I choose to give her everything that I can. I understand if others can't do the same, not going to think any less of you for that."

"And… on the off chance that I would choose to do something that the Church doesn't quite approve of?" Lysithea asked. It was honestly a good question. As a budding Witch and a resident of Gensokyo, there were many things that she might have to do that those within the Church might not find acceptable.

Catherine remained silent for a moment, staring out into the horizon. "Then if and when that day comes you better not have any doubts." She smirked and then looked back at Lysithea. "I expect a lot out of you Lys. Try not to disappoint me or yourself alright?"

"Tch." Lysithea walked through the woods alone, her arms crossed as she stewed over the result of the interrogation. Not only had the Knight's methods been much more violent than she had expected, but they didn't get much out of the people they captured. It just made her feel dirty for her part in all that.

All that an old servant of Lonato's knew was that the now deceased Lord had apparently been meeting with a small group of robed figures before the rebellion had started. It was reasonable to assume that they might've shared responsibility for the rebellion, whether by providing Lonato the encouragement or the resources needed, but none of that could be proven. They had left no physical evidence or trace of themselves apart from being witnessed by just a few people. Nothing to indicate what they were even there to talk to Lonato about in the first place.

It was incredibly frustrating and inefficient. A waste of time and just a lot of needless pain toward people that were just following orders. Honestly the one among them that deserved to be punished the most was Lonato for leading them into that situation in the first place, but his body had already been thrown into a big pit dug up from what would've been some inconspicuous piece of land if not for the grave marker that Ashe had placed previously.

A grave marker that Lysithea had taken the time to stop by during her solitary walk. It was just the largest piece of scrap wood they could find with Lonato's name written on it.

It wasn't enough, nothing would ever be, but at the very least the Knights had allowed Ashe some room to mourn. Though they had clearly looked at him suspiciously as he did so. Probably judging his allegiances even though he had been willing to fight against his father and his people in the first place.

Lysithea shook her head.

Honesty, her Sensei would've thought even worse of them. Patchouli Knowledge wasn't particularly fond of zealots in general. As much as she liked to act like she was above it all because she had survived and prospered in a part of history many other Witches had gotten captured and executed, it was still clear that the Witch Trials had left their mark on her. A general distrust of most strangers and an animosity toward any large religious organization was evidence enough of that.

She gave the grave one last nod before continuing on her walk. In the end there was no point in worrying about what had happened. All that mattered was what she could do next… and possibly get back to the rest of the class before they wondered where she had wandered off. It wasn't like they had been forbidden from wandering, but she didn't exactly tell anyone out of a desire for some solitude.

On her way back though she heard something, or rather felt something. It was just a brief vibration underneath her feet. Perhaps something heavy had fallen nearby.

As she made her way toward the source, she eventually realized two things as the walk continued on without end.

One that the woods had gone unnaturally quiet, even the crickets had stopped chirping.

Two it wasn't something heavy falling nearby.

Lysithea froze in place as she stared at the large black figure that came into view

It was something obscenely large and weighted moving from a distance.

The thing was gigantic, larger than the houses in a village. It had the body and tail of a reptile yet its legs seemed almost equestrian in nature. Its hide was a scaly black with scarlet veins that traveled along its body all the way to its eyes. The most frightening thing however wasn't the large red gem on its head that indicated it as a Demonic Beast. The scariest thing here was the familiar presence of a Youkai right in front of her.

Some sort of twisted amalgamation between the two. A horrifying monster likely both twisted in body and mind.

This thing was not natural. Not even Gensokyo had the environment to create something as distorted as this.

Lysithea carefully took a step back. That step was then followed by another one.

The part of her that was the aspiring Witch wanted to examine the beast closely. Record its behavior and biology and possibly discern its origin. The other considerably self-preservative part was telling her to high tail it the fuck away.

Marisa's words not hers.

As sight of the Youkai began to be covered by the foliage of the woods once more, Lysithea let out a breath. That had been her mistake. A rumbling nearby and growling in her direction was all the warning that she had needed.

With stealth no longer an option Lysithea quickly shot a bright ball of light into the air to act as a flare as she prepared another spell with her other hand.

"Wood Sign: Hanged Man's Willow!"

The woods itself came alive as the branches of the nearby trees grew and wrapped themselves around the Youkai. However, it broke free with a single twist of its body.

Lysithea slammed her hands to the ground. "Earth Fire Sign: Volcanic Crater!"

The earth erupted underneath the monster billowing out a steady stream of molten rock. Lava at least 1,250 Celsius in temperature was supposed to burn and bury it yet the beast walked through it with ease, its eyes now looking straight at her.

"Gods damn it," Lysithea cursed as she spun on her heel, pushed herself off her feet, and soared between the trees. No point in running on foot; she needed to make some distance immediately.

Yet no matter how quickly she flew or how deftly she moved between the trees, the Youkai was catching up. The sound of it thrashing through the forest, the rampant destruction in its path was proof enough of that and encouragement enough to keep flying as quickly as she could.

"Earth Metal Sign:" Lysithea twisted around until she was facing the beat midair. "Ten Thousand Li Wall!"

A great stone wall not quite ten thousand miles long but still quite large and robust appeared in front of the Youkai. A wall that the beast easily smashed with a single swing of its head.

"Sun Fire Sign: Ardent Solar Flare!"

A blinding burning light burnt through the trees in its way and struck the Youkai center mass. Yet despite the smoking from the continuous rays, the shell didn't seem to break or burn at all. Not even the light, fire, and smoke seemed enough to block its vision considering it was still heading straight for her.

The Youkai was tough or highly resistant to magic. She was doing everything she could but nothing was working.

"Metal Wood-" She was interrupted and shrieked as the trunk of a tree had been ripped out of the ground and thrown at her, just barely grazing her side.

She had to do something. There was an element that she still hadn't used yet. But-

"W-Water Si- GYAH!" Lysithea screamed as the spell imploded in her hands, leaving her palms stinging red. She turned back around and angled herself upwards hoping to gain enough altitude to get out of the beast's range.

She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't do this alone. She needed help.

A dark shadow cast over her and blotted out the setting sun. Lysithea's breath turned ragged. She didn't need to turn around to know that the beast had the strength to jump above her.

Sensei. Professor. Anyone.

The beast slammed into her back and she let out one last desperate shriek as the weight of it sent her downwards. That was the last thing that would ever come out of her mouth. A pathetic death knell of a magic user that failed to become a Witch.

So resigned to her fate that she didn't realize that the beast had completely overshot her until it had quite literally flown past her head and landed into the forest below.

But then what hit her b-

Lysithea let out a ragged gasp as she was suddenly lifted back into the air by the scruff of her neck. High into the skies far past the tree line. She didn't even have a chance to turn her before she was dragged by her shoulder and turned around to face Marisa.

She wasn't a reassuring sight though. If anything the expression on Marisa's face was somehow enough to make Lysithea go even paler than before.

"What was that?" Marisa growled. In her eyes was a fury that Lysithea had only ever seen a few times, ones that she never had the misfortune of being pointed at her.

"I…" It was all Lysithea could say. There was rarely a time where Marisa didn't have an impact on those around her. She was a force of nature in a way, something you never truly got used to. Perhaps though, that was her charm. She was always a person that wore her heart on her face, someone who could never truly deceive another person. Someone who could draw countless others around them and make them feel like they were living the most out of their lives with her very presence.

Alice had compared her to a shooting star. Fleeting, but brilliant and bright for the moment that it was there. Something that would leave an impression with you for an eternity. Remilia permitted Marisa to enter the mansion because she was fun and even Sensei had admitted that it was never boring with her around.

That was why when confronted with the sheer fury and disappointment in Marisa's eyes, exposed to it in all its entirety, Lysithea simply lacked a response.

"You were going to let that Youkai run you over."

Finally, Lysithea found the words in her mouth. "I-it's too strong! And resistant to magic! You saw how it was just shrugging off all my spells!"

"Then why do you keep holding back!" Marisa shrieked. "I know you're stronger than that. It's one thing when you don't want to bother in the Academy, but why would you let yourself get killed over it!"

Lysithea felt herself being pushed and let go from Marisa's grip. She didn't even try to let herself fall. She knew that Marisa would grab her and drag her back up. Floating there, it exposed one of the many secrets that she had kept. Exposed it to everyone below who had come due to commotion from the woods. They would see her and also the rampaging monstrosity below that was now closing in on them.

"I know that you can put up a better fight than that. So what if that Youkai down there is some unholy experiment, so what if it's tough against magic. I know that you could still tear it apart and make it bleed." Marisa lifted her hand and slammed her finger to Lysithea's chest with each of her next few words. "So. Why. Don't. You?

Why didn't she? She didn't know the answer to that. Because if she did truly release the restriction on her power, then she would be nothing better than her Crests in the end.

"I'm afraid," Lysithea finally admitted as tears fell from her eyes.

"Of what?" Marisa asked as her temper cooled a bit.

"If my Crests are the only reason why I've succeeded before… If everyone else knew that I was no better than not just one but two of them." The floodgates opened and Lysithea could no longer hold back the tears that poured from her eyes. "Then I really am nothing but a lab rat."

It was the first thing that Sensei had wanted her to be when they first met. It wasn't until she had accidently proven her worth that Sensei had finally saw some value in her. Maybe it was all a lie in the end though. Maybe her only worth was from being experimented on.

Marisa didn't give Lysithea her answer. She simply grabbed her forehead and let out a curse.

"Fuck. You have to know that Patchy doesn't think of you like that."

"B-but Sensei said."

"Patchy is shit at talking with people and doesn't apologize for a lot of things that she should. It's especially bad when she has to express her own feelings. She does care about you, more than you think and more than just as a fellow Magician."

Lysithea gulped. It would be wonderful if she could believe that.

Marisa let out a deep sigh. "Lys. I talked to Hanneman a lot about Crests. He talked about how hard it can be for a body to handle one Crest, much less two. You always had to visit Eirin a lot, didn't you?"

"I can't… they can't know. I…"

She had thought she could handle it when Hanneman and Lindhart had found out about her Crests, but the way they talked about her like a test subject… it brought back memories she had tried to suppress. And now when everything truly mattered, when her life was on the line, she couldn't make it. Couldn't get past that monster without relying on her Crests. A terrible curse that was killing her.

If she was only ever worth anything because of those experiments those monsters did on her. That in the end she alone amounted to nothing.

She felt something heavy hit her head and her eyes were covered by shade. She looked and found herself looking at the wide brim of Marisa's hat, now placed on her head.

"I'm sorry," Marisa said.

"What?" Lysithea asked as she held onto the brim on Marisa's hat like it was her lifeline.

"I'm sorry that I didn't realize how serious this was for you. I must've hurt you a lot with what I said before."

"No," Lysithea whispered. "You didn't hurt me. I just…"

"Yea… I get it. Or I'll try to," Marisa replied as she patted Lysithea's head through her hat. "You're not ready are you?"

Lysithea shook her head.

"Then… take the time you need. You're always rushing ahead without pausing." Marisa chuckled. "Funny coming from me, but well even I know when I've hit a brick wall and need to figure things out."

"But that Youkai, people will die if I don't-"

"It's fine. Figure things out while you still can." Marisa turned toward the Youkai that had just started fighting with the people below. "I told you that I was your Senpai."

A rune formed above Marisa and in what seemed like an instant she jettisoned from the air and slammed straight into the body of the Youkai. The beast roared as it was toppled before quickly tucking itself into a roll and maneuvering back into a standing position. It now faced Marisa with all of its animosity and rage, but the elder Magician remained undaunted.

"And that means tearing apart the bastard that hurt you."

A/N

Well, here's another chapter finally finished. New job was rough and it took me a long time to get this chapter in a state that I find somewhat satisfactory. I hope you all enjoy and don't be afraid to let me know of any areas you think I could improve on.

Also attached below is my newly made Kofi account. Any tip is appreciated though I will still do my best to keep writing nevertheless.

/soul249134