Ok so NOW we've got the starting group of heroes all set! This chapter will mark the beginning of the first true battle against a major villain. It'll also be the first chapter to introduce a face you readers might just be familiar with!
"And that's basically the gist of it." Adrian said, wrapping up his tale to Asuka, who looked skeptical but shrugged.
"Well, that sounds like the plot of a cartoon or something... but I guess I have to believe all that since I've already seen my fair share of craziness today and we have one of these Mamodo right here in front of us." The Japanese girl sighed.
"So you're not going to go tell the principal about this, right?" Josh asked.
"No, I was just looking for answers. You guys have just been acting really shady lately and I wanted to figure out what was going on." Asuka admitted before looking to Adrian and Windsor. "So what's next for you two? You're the only team here right now and Mr. Walker's already left." The boy and Mamodo looked to each other before looking back at the four students.
"I... don't really know. I mean, Mr. Walker did say he'll look into who hired that book-peddler and what the deal with that kid was. Aside from that I'm not really sure what there really is for us to do right now aside from training and sharpening our skills. I suppose we'll need it if we're going to master this new spell."
"Well you two will have plenty of time later." Hannah shrugged. "For now, I'm going home. Today's been one hell of a day."
"You got that right." Josh added with a stretch. "Besides, my parents will probably kill me if I get home late!"
"Yeah, it is getting dark. I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow." Aliyah added, looking up at the sky, which was now turning a brilliant shade of orange. As the three students bid their farewells and headed off in different directions, Asuka and Adrian remained in front of the school.
"So, uh, I guess we should be heading home, too." The bespectacled boy chimed in as he and his avian companion turned to leave.
"Hold on."
Adrian and Windsor stopped right in their tracks as Asuka called out to them, as the two boys turned to look back at the girl they noticed a look of embarrassment on her face.
"Can you... walk me home?"
"H-HUH?!" Adrian stammered, his face turning cherry red.
"Why should Adrian escort you to your home?" Windsor asked curiously. "Do you not know your way?"
"It's not that." Asuka sighed. "The money I paid Hannah was all I had to get home."
"Oh... I see..." Adrian replied, clearing his throat a bit as he tried not to look at the girl, who had just the faintest of blushes creeping up on her face as well. "Well, I suppose Windsor and I could help you. Windsor, do you have the strength to fly us home afterwards."
"Of course, but, are you sure? I do believe your parents will wish to know why you were out so late and I would imagine walking this young lady home may take some time as well, would her family also not be worried?"
"My parents probably won't notice I'm gone." Asuka interjected. "But if it's too much of a hassle for you..."
"I-It's no hassle! Come on, um, we should probably get moving before it gets darker out..."
Brendan gave a heavy sigh as he and Kolm approached the apartment complex they called home. The student-teacher looked at his Mamodo partner, who silently walked along, his head looking down at the ground and lost in his thoughts.
"Okay, I think that's enough of that." Brendan said with a start, crossing his arms as he looked at Kolm with a stern look that caught the giant's attention. "What's with you?"
"Hm?"
"Ever since we left the school basement you've been too quiet and it's clear that you have something on your mind. We're supposed to be partners, aren't we? You can trust me to listen to any problems you might be having."
"Right..." Kolm sighed. "I suppose I-"
The Mamodo suddenly stopped as his ears perked up. His gaze shifted to the roof of the building across the street from the duo. As Brendan turned to look at what had started his companion, he was suddenly pulled by the Mamodo, narrowly avoiding the sharp daggers that shattered like glass onto the apartment steps where Brendan once stood. The shards glimmered in the sunlight in an assortment of colors that bounced off of it and onto the walls around the two, confirming the material to indeed be stained-glass.
Shifting his gaze back to the rooftop, Brendan noticed two individuals looking down at them. The distance and setting sunlight made them a bit difficult to see, but Brendan and Kolm were certain that the two individuals were different in height. The taller of the two appearing to be holding a spellbook of a color they couldn't see. What the two could see however, was that this person appeared to be a woman with long, brown hair that appeared to wear a green jacket and brown pants. The Mamodo by her side was also female and appeared to be the size of a child, with large horns sprouting from her forehead, large eyes and a wickedly large grin. The Mamodo child's horns also appeared to be made of stained-glass. Upon being spotted by the men, the two girls gave them a nasty glare before the child moved her head in a manner that flashed sunlight into the men's eyes, blinding them for just long enough for them to escape unseen.
"Tch. They got away!" Kolm grumbled.
"They must be part of that same group that kid, Emily, is a part of." Brendan said as he looked at the shattered glass. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed what looked to be a letter among the shards that looked out of place, even among the litter around the street. "Hey, it looks like they wanted to burn the book and send a message."
"A message? Well... If we must read it then we cannot do it out here."
Hurrying inside, the two entered Brendan's apartment with the bookkeeper shutting the curtains before looking at the note.
"'Your reputation amongst those who have a Mamodo companion has grown enough for you to become a threat. The cause of the attack against you is not personal, but simply to burn the spellbook in your possession. We refuse to allow any opposition against us and will take out any Mamodo that dare to challenge us, this includes the boy you are cooperating with. If by chance you have survived this assassination attempt, know that you will be within our crosshairs until your book has been burnt to a crisp. None shall be able to overcome the Musical Assassins.'"
"The Musical Assassins?" Kolm repeated aloud.
"Does that group ring any bells?"
"Not that I am aware of." The Mamodo hummed.
"Ugh, as if there wasn't enough we had to worry about..." Brendan groaned. "I guess I'll get started on dinner."
"Yes, that... sounds good."
"Wait... they mentioned 'the boy I'm cooperating with', they must mean Adrian and Windsor!"
"Most likely." Kolm sighed. "However, the two have proven today that they are more than capable of defending themselves."
"Maybe, but he shouldn't have to worry about some psychos going after him!" Brendan exclaimed.
"But what are we able to do about that now? They may be our allies, but we have no knowledge of the location of their home. Adrian is an intelligent young man though, and as pompous as he may be, Windsor has grown stronger since we fought. They would not go down without a fight."
"Right..." Brendan sighed. "I guess the only thing I can do is wait until we have a chance to confront these guys and get them to stop... and don't think I forgot what were talking about before though." Brendan continued. "You've had your mind on something and I want you to tell me what's going on with you."
"I... suppose I owe you that at least. I have mentioned before that I have been searching for a specific Mamodo..." Brendan watched Kolm expectantly, the Mamodo's expression grew conflicted before looking at his bookkeeper. "The Mamodo I am looking for is my daughter..."
Asuka had taken the lead as Adrian and Windsor followed right behind her. By now the sky was beginning to darken as the first few stars of the evening began to peek out.
"Not too much longer now, it's just one block over." Asuka explained.
"Hmm, your house actually isn't all that far from mine." Adrian noted.
"Yeah, well, I'd normally take the subway but I don't have any money on me."
"Right..."
"This subway..." Windsor began. "I don't believe we've used it yet. Why ever not?"
"It can get a bit cramped in there depending on how many people are there." Adrian began. "It doesn't help that you are, ahem, rather large compared to us. Being in such a confined space while underground can be... very uncomfortable for many people."
"Are... are you claustrophobic?" Asuka chuckled.
"So what if I am?"
"Hah, it's not a problem, just didn't figure you'd have that sort of phobia."
Adrian blushed in embarrassment with a pout on his lips. Windsor was about to say something when something caught his attention, his head snapping towards a nearby alleyway. The two students looked over to where Windsor was looking, an eerie silence growing amongst them.
"Windsor? What's-"
"You two need to get behind me!" Windsor exclaimed. Before either of the students could say something, a barrage of flowers sped out of the alley as though they were shurikens and towards Adrian. Acting as quickly as they could, Asuka pulled Adrian with the help of Windsor pushing him, allowing the young genius to narrowly avoid the flowers as they instead hit his Mamodo companion. Windsor grimaced as the plants scratched up his feathers before disappearing.
"Hmph, very impressive." A man's voice scoffed. The three looked into the darkness as they saw a tan-skinned man step out into the light of a nearby street lamp, a bright green spell book in his hands. By his side was a Mamodo that looked like an older teen with brown skin wearing a lime-green hoodie and dark green pants, his eyes were the same color as his hood.
"Who are you?" Windsor growled.
"That's not important." The teen hissed. "What is important is that your book goes up in flames!"
"Flosur!" The man called out. Another barrage of flower shurikens sprouted out of the teen's hands as they spun towards Windsor.
"Uishiru!"
The flower shurikens spun around Windsor's tornado shield, adding spots of red, blue and white to the dark grey tornado before the flowers were spit back at the strange pair. The rebounded attack never hit its mark however, as it fizzled out of existence before hitting them.
"You're willing to get an innocent civilian involved?" Adrian spat. "What if she gets hurt?"
"We'll make sure she forgets any of this happened." The man replied, his tone eerily calm. "What's important is destroying your book!"
"Adrian, these guys are seriously creepy..." Asuka whispered.
"Tell me about it. You go and head home, we'll hold them off."
With a quick nod to the boy, Asuka turned to run in the direction of her home. She managed to take three steps before...
"Flosur!"
The pair sent another wave of shurikens towards the ground in front of the girl, stopping her right in her tracks.
"I'm afraid we can't allow you to leave." The man said. The two students glared at the duo as they tried to remain calm.
"Your... daughter?" Brendan asked.
"Yes..." Kolm said, looking down onto his dinner plate. "She is among the Mamodo that have been sent to this world to participate in the battle. In human years, she should be about six years old."
"What, that young?!"
"Yes, some Mamodo can be sent here at an even younger age, depending on their species."
"So then how old are you exactly? You look like a grown man that's not that much older than I am.."
"I would be around twenty-two years old as a a human. In my culture, those that are the equivalent of sixteen in human years are old enough to start families of their own if they choose to do so. I... I met a young woman from another tribe by the name of Ulura who captured my heart. We were, or I suppose still are, very happy together. Eventually, we had a child together; a daughter."
Brendan sat and ate in silence as he listened intently, taking note of the serene smile Kolm had when talking about his wife and child.
"When our daughter first began showing signs of her spell powers forming, I wasted no time in trying to train her, even though neither I nor Ulura knew exactly what her power would be. Typically, a Mamodo inherits their power from one of their parents, though their spells can contain qualities and can even be passed down from their ancestors to them, either willingly or unintentionally. For my daughter, she appears to have inherited some of the physical qualities of her mother's spells, that being spike-based powers and her general appearance. However, she has also shown traits from my spells, with an emphasis on hand-to-hand combat and abilities stemming from the arms."
"So what exactly makes you want to find her so badly?" Brendan asked. "Are you worried about the kind of bookkeeper she has?"
"Well, that is one reason." Kolm sighed as he buried his face in one of his hands. "She has the potential to even surpass me in raw power if she trains hard enough, but she is rather timid and dislikes conflict. If her keeper were to be the sort to abuse her or push her to fight unwillingly then I need to find her and do what I can to help. However, a cruel bookkeeper is not my main concern. Aside from the obvious worry about her book being burned, I fear that the battle may have forced her to go through a personality shift."
"Can a Mamodo become a completely different individual mentally when they come to Earth?" Brendan raised an eyebrow.
"In a way, yes. Not in the typical sense of their demeanor changing completely, but from the previous battle, I was told that there are certainly cases in which a Mamodo does not want to participate in the battle and is purely pacifistic, much like my dear daughter is. Mamodo that act this way are prone to changing from benevolent beings into bloodthirsty combat machines once their bookkeeper recites a spell. I could not bear to see my sweet child go from a kind-hearted angel to a..."
"So you think that she might be here somewhere in New York?"
"I... have no way of knowing. When the Mamodo first arrived to this world, we are simply drawn to the human who is meant to hold our spell books. We have no way of knowing where another Mamodo may be nor what they may look like, as many of us can appear human. Most of the time, a humanoid Mamodo can identify another."
"Well, New York is big. Even if she's not in the city, there's still a lot of land further north. Anything outside of the state is going to be more of an issue. I can't just go and drop everything to search for your daughter across the whole country. Plus there's still the issue of the team that attacked us earlier."
"Yes, I believe they called themselves the 'Musical Assassins'. I assume it's too late to contact Adrian and Windsor to warn them about them also being targets?"
"Yeah, not like I could anyway. I don't have any way to contact them at all nor do I know where he lives. It wouldn't be professional for a teacher to know his students personal info like that anyway." Brendan replied. "But we can't just sit here an wait for those assassins to forget about us, it's pretty unlikely they would anyway."
"So what shall we do?"
"We're going to continue on as normal. I have to go back to school tomorrow and I have work afterwards, so you're going to have to stay here for the day. I'll be back after classes are over, so I'll bring some lunch before I head to work."
"I see, then I suppose you can inform Adrian about this issue while you're there."
"Oh, no, I'm not going to Adrian's school. I'm not a full-fledged teacher yet, just a student-teacher. The 'student' part of that title means I'm still learning and I have to take classes in order to properly become a teacher. Those classes are in the university I go to further in the city."
"So when do you plan on returning to Adrian's school?"
"The day after." Brendan answered, raising a hand to his chin. "I suppose when I go back I can check in with the other kids whose books we burned on the off chance Adrian himself is absent. Depending on what happens they say, Adrian might be in trouble."
"So we can really only wait until the day after tomorrow?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Ventir!"
"Flosushield!"
The green-clad Mamodo slammed his palms onto the concrete, summoning a sunflower in front of him and his bookkeeper that completely blocked the wind blast that Windsor sent towards them.
"Why are you still trying to fight back. You're completely outmatched." The man scoffed with a shake of his head.
"Gah! Don't act as though you've already won, you ruffians!" Windsor scoffed, earning a growl from the enemy Mamodo.
"Please..." He scoffed. "You haven't even landed a hit on me yet, bird brain!"
"You haven't managed to hit either of us either! If anything we've reached a stalemate!" Adrian noted with a firmness in his voice and a fierceness in his eyes. His determination wavered a bit when he saw the older man smirking.
"Is that what you want to believe?" He said with a snicker. "No, boy, we simply chose to go easy on you in the hopes that you would either surrender, or be an easy target to dispose of once you dropped off your friend. Unfortunately for you, your Mamodo had to spot us."
"Speaking of which." Asuka sighed, finally speaking up. "Why even bother keeping me around? It's not like I could stop you even if I tried. If this is about me being a witness to all this then you two can relax, it's not like the police would believe any of this anyway."
"Shut up!" The plant-wielder snapped. "Nobody's talking to you!"
"Easy now." The bookkeeper said, placing a hand on his associate's shoulder. "You see, kid, it's not that simple. We know about that teacher of yours and his Mamodo, too. To keep this short and sweet, we want to burn your books. Some associates of ours are already after the other guy, and with any luck, they're already done. Once you're taken care of we'll erase your memory of this whole battle and you two can go back to just being normal kids."
"We're not going to let that happen!" Adrian shouted.
"Correct!" Windsor added. "You shall not burn our book, and if you have harmed our friends then we shall do unto you the pain you've inflicted on them tenfold!"
"Please just kick their butts already." Asuka sighed.
"I'm afraid things won't turn out the way you want." The shady man snickered. "Amiflor!"
With another slam of his palms onto the concrete, the dark-skinned Mamodo sprouted a web of vines underneath Adrian and Windsor, binding their arms and legs. Adrian tried to recite another spell, but more vines covered his mouth. The man reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. The blade gleamed in the light of the street lamp as he began to walk over to the two boys, Asuka tried to move but found her feet were also wrapped up in the vines.
"What, did you think I forgot about you?" The teen Mamodo asked. "Nah, I'm not that stupid!"
Adrian began to sweat as he saw the smirk on the older man's face only grow wider. Just as he was getting close, the sound of footsteps running towards him caused him to freeze in his tracks. Before he knew it, the shady guy was met with a swift kick to the face by what appeared to be a young girl with shoulder-length purple hair. This new girl appeared to be about eight or nine years old and wore a black tube-top with purple shorts and purple sandals. Interestingly, on her back was a purple spellbook that the girl quickly grabbed and shoved into Asuka's hands.
"Who the heck are you?!" Asuka shouted.
"We can do introductions later, we kind of have an issue right now!" The girl replied, her eyes locked on the man, who was recovering from the kick and scowling at the girl despite him being three times her size.
"Cute..." He growled. "But it'll take more than an inexperienced pair to win. You don't even know what kind of element your spell is, and you won't find out!"
The man lunged at Asuka and the purple-haired girl as the schoolgirl opened the purple spellbook. She wasn't sure if the vines latching onto her were laced with something, if she was hit on the head and was now hallucinating, or if she had just gone insane, but somehow Asuka found herself able to read the sigils and symbols within the book. With a mix of desperation and adrenaline fueling her, Asuka read the purple colored words aloud.
"Joboido!"
The mysterious girl glasped her hands together, leaving a hole in between her fingers that suddenly sprayed a wave of purple fluid out towards the man who was barely able to jump out of the way of the attack. However, he was not able to get away unscathed as some of the liquid splashed onto his clothes. The liquid began to sizzle as it dissolved and burned through the cloth, leaving only exposed skin.
"Wha- Acid?!" He grumbled. With her eyes widening in realization, Asuka looked at Adrian and Windsor, who were still tied up.
"Quick!" Asuka called out. "Aim at the boys and try to avoid hitting their book!"
Quickly reciting the spell again, the acid burned right through the vines binding the pair though somehow not burning Adrian's school uniform. With the numbers now stacked against them, the man quickly ran back to his Mamodo's side.
"Damn!" He cursed. "We can't take on two at once! Especially with that girl being able to cut right through your moves!" He quickly turned to the four fighters with a look of pure rage. "This isn't over! Next time we catch you alone those books are as good as burned."
"What, are you too two too wimpy to fight a little girl?" The purple child scoffed. Opting to ignore the child, the man ran back into the alley he emerged from, his companion was about to follow him before turning to look at the four one last time.
"We'll be back." He said. "And even if by some miracle you manage to beat us, you've still got six others after you!"
"Six others...?" Windsor sighed.
"And if they're as tough as him, then we might be in for a rough time." Adrian added. The new arrival puffed out her chest and with her hands on her hips, she gave the three a proud smirk.
"Ah, don't worry about them! We'll burn their book next time and beat anyone else they want to send!" She proclaimed.
"And you are?" Asuka asked, giving the girl a skeptical look.
"Hahaa! I'm Venam, poison princess and kick-butt fighter, at your service!"
"Do you think you can tell me more about your daughter? If we're going to find her then knowing what she looks like and what her name is can help." Brendan asked, finishing the last of his supper and getting his and Kolm's plates.
"Yes, like human children, at her age she would be rather small. However, just like other Mamodo, she has physical qualities that are too unnatural to be considered human, with her hair and eye color being a soft pink and with curls just like her mother's.
"Pink, huh." Brendan thought. "Well that does certainly stand out. But like I said, New York is a pretty big state and it'll take time to comb through all of it."
"Which is why I wish to start searching as soon as possible!"
"Woah there, hold on now. I get why you're so hung up on this, believe me. But there is one more thing that has me curious. You mentioned that she's a pacifist, right? We've seen from Adrian and Windsor that not every Mamodo and their bookkeeper are evil. What do you suppose the odds are that she's found a good bookkeeper that will take care of her and that she's made friends that can protect her?"
Kolm sat in silence as he contemplated what Brendan had said. With a heavy sigh he seemed to relax just a little bit.
"I... suppose I tend to be a bit overprotective of her. While her mother and I have shown her some of our world outside of our village, she does not have too much experience with other Mamodo her age. You may be correct in that not all of the Mamodo may be malevolent, but all of us know the duty we must fulfill in this battle, whether we like it or not."
"Even if she doesn't have much experience, as long as she's made one friend that is in this battle right now, that might be all she needs. Do you know of any that fit that bill?"
Kolm was silent for another moment before he had a slight spark in his eye.
"There are two..." He said. "They did not speak to each other much, but I recall two Mamodo she had one interaction with in the Mamodo world. Both of them are around the same age as her as well, the first is another girl with her hair being a darker pink color. The second child was a boy with blonde hair, wearing a dark cloak. I... I'm not quite certain, but I believe that boy may be the son of King Bell, the winner of the previous Mamodo battle that took place exactly one-hundred years ago."
Brendan gave his partner a warm smile as the two locked eyes.
"If she has friends then I think she'll be alright, as long as they can stick together. Plus, if one of them is the Prince of the Mamodo world, he must be tough."
"I'm not so sure about that." Kolm said, sighing yet again. "That boy, just like my daughter, was a bit of a pacifist if I remember correctly. The other girl appeared to be stronger than him, and I believe she had quite the temper as well. Still..." Kolm's slightly melancholic expression changed to that of a warm smile. "...They all seemed to get along with each other. It's rather tragic that soon after I found the three playing together, the battle began."
"From a peaceful time to being thrown right into the dragon's den." Brendan noted. "...What's her name?"
"My daughter's name?" Kolm asked before chuckling to himself. "You may find this funny, but my wife and I actually found her name a bit difficult to think of, so we eventually decided on combining her name and mine."
"Hah, that is kind of funny! So your name is Kolm and her name is Ulura, right?"
"Yes, Kolm and Ulura..." Kolm repeated. With the amount of time that had passed since the attack on the two of them, Kolm deemed it safe to try opening the curtains to the window. With nothing happening as the view to the streets were revealed, Kolm allowed himself to fully relax as he looked out at the lights below.
"Kolulu. Our daughter's name is Kolulu."
"You're late."
The shady man and his plant-wielding Mamodo shut the door behind them and looked at the brown haired woman and her horned partner. Just like their attack, the Mamodo's horn was also made of stained glass.
"Yeah, well, I had to change." The man scoffed. "A new Mamodo blindsided me before I could take out that kid's book. They used some kind of acid spell and burned through one of my good suits!"
"Excuses, excuses!" The woman groaned as she rolled her eyes. The man grit his teeth as he was about to yell something before another voice shut the two down.
"Enough!"
This voice sounded almost inhuman as it reverberated through the office they had been sitting in. The lights flickered a bit with the low power it had, obscuring the owner of the voice but allowing a clear line of sight to the egg shell white spell book on the table in front of them. In front of the voice's owner sat a man in an office chair wearing a fancy suit under a trench coat, his features obscured in the darkness.
"Are you finished?" The man asked, his voice nasally, yet professional. "If so then please be seated. We're expecting our final members to arrive soon."
The man and woman sat down across from each other at the same table as the suited man, their respective Mamodo by their sides. Sitting along with them were three other people who's features were also obscured.
One was a muscular dark skinned man wearing a yellow sleeveless hoodie with the number 52 on it and green jeans with white sneakers. From above him, a set of red glowing eyes glared down onto the rest of those seated at the table. A mahogany colored book laid out in front of the man.
Across from him appeared to be a woman wearing a black sweater and grey pants, the woman's nails were painted black as well. The dark colors complimented her rather pale skin. The soft grey book she had on the table matched the color of the wool that belonged to the hoofed beast that stood on two legs behind her.
Seated next to the suited man was a thin woman wearing a yellow jacket with a red dress underneath that matched her red high heels. A hulking mass with grey skin stood behind her, wearing nothing but red shorts. In front of her was a slate grey spellbook.
The six of them waited for just a moment before a knock on the door caught the attention of everyone but the suited man. A man and a young girl entered the office, straining to look at everyone. The man wore a yellow button-down shirt and green pants with a gold-studded belt. He also wore a jacket in the same color as his pants, a gold medal around his neck and a brown fur hat. A deep orange book was cradled in his hands, ready to be opened if necessary.
The girl wore a light and dark blue dress that had a white ball attached to the back that resembled a rabbit's tail with a pink heart-shaped chest plate and pink ballet shoes. Her hair was a turquoise color that was styled in two pigtails pointed upwards, each wrapped in pink bows. Resting atop her head was a tiara. When the two entered the man with the suit smiled, his teeth a pearly white.
"Ah, you must be Penny and Uri! Please, have a seat!"
Ok NOW we've introduced the last of the main protagonists for the arc! Just like the original series you can expect more major characters to be properly introduced as the story goes on, some will be recurring characters and some won't.
On the topic of the original series, I did see artwork somewhere of Kolulu with what are supposed to be her parents and her dad doesn't look like Kolm. I hope you all understand that this story is an AU so I'm bending the lore a bit if that is official art. Otherwise, I hope you all like that bit about Kolm being her father. As for the other non-OC pair that debuted in this story; what are your thoughts on Penny and Uri appearing and what do you think they have to do with this group?
Stay tuned and find out as, starting next chapter, we'll dive deeper into this story arc as our heroes begin facing off against the first major villain(s) of this story: The Musical Assassins!