Chapter Sixty-Four: A Day in Hiroka (Part 2)
How's your day been, readers? I hope it was good, because the chapter for Day 4 will make it even better. Cya.
"Annalise!" the four exclaimed in unison.
"We haven't seen her since the attack on the capital," Oliver said.
"True, it has been so long, did you miss me?" Annalise winked maniacally.
"Cut the crap! Tell us, why are you here?!" Zuka demanded. "Is there something here the Eye of the Midnight Sun sent you to retrieve?!"
"Oh, no, not at all, I'm here on my own little mission," the spark mage answered. "To kill you,"
"How did you even know where we were?" Shauna then asked.
"That? A little birdie told me, a black birdie to be precise,"
The wood mage was the first to realize it. "The crow. It was the crow, that feathery little shit must belong to you, or at least a mage working with you,"
"Correct, and now that we have that out of the way, I can finally rid myself of you, all of you!" the spark mage exclaimed.
"No way that's happening, you couldn't beat me when we squared off in the capital, and now I've gotten stronger, not to mention it's 4 against 1," Zuka protested.
Annalise waved a finger. "Don't be so quick to underestimate me, I've learned some new tricks to kick your asses too, and for the record, I think you mean 4 against 2, because I didn't come alone," she said before snapping. Suddenly, a larger silhouette appeared behind her, the second figure violently moved its arms, dispersing all of the smoke and revealing itself. It was a corpse that was in the likeness of a woman, she almost stood at seven feet, decayed gray skin, flowing dark emerald hair, and a bandana with the terrorist mark wrapped around its face.
"W-What the hell is that?" Kenos asked with a slight tone of fright. "It looks like one of Rades' zombies,"
"That's right, meet the true second strongest member of the Number Corpse Series, cower in fear, fuckers, No. 0.5 - Clara Jane!" Annalise grandly exclaimed. "This wraith uses Energy Magic, her body can compile and increase both potential and kinetic energy respectively, then release it in devastating ways. For example, as she did just a few seconds ago, she generated tons of air pressure just with the movement of her arms, if she were to clap or flick, it would create strong air blasts, and if she were to crouch her legs, she could jump long and far distances,"
"It doesn't matter what the hell she can do! The only part that matters is us kicking your ass!" Zuka yelled at her.
Annalise's face grew dark. "Fine, if you want to kick my ass so bad, you can come here and try. Go, Clara Jane!"
The wraith rose one arm, her finger already shaped to make a flick. As she released her appendages, a massive amount of air force was coming straight at Oliver.
"Look out!" Kenos jumped in front of him, ready to protect them both. "Solar Creation Magic: Amaterasu's-," but he never got to finish the declaration. The attack was too fast and they were blown away a very far distance.
"Kenos! Oliver!"
Clara Jane wasn't done there. She bent down and crouched, the energy gathering in her legs was impossible not to feel. In a split second, she took off, leaping a great distance in the same direction as the solar and wood mages.
"Ah, what a shame, I was hoping to fight you and that Black Bull, but I guess the illusion girl will have to do for now," Annalise confessed. "No worries, I'll just tell Clara Jane to bring him to me alive, bruised and beaten, but alive, then I can enjoy torturing him before I kill you all,"
"You'll do no such thing. Ready for this, Shauna?" the sparkled mage asked.
"I am, you know I always have your back," she replied.
Zuka smiled before she took out her grimoire. "Then let's do this, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" she exclaimed, summoning her trusty weapon.
Meanwhile, up in the air, were Oliver and Kenos, the former turning his head to the latter. "Thanks for the block,"
"No problem, but now we have to survive this fall,"
"Don't worry, I can cover this," Oliver said as he took out his grimoire. "Wood Magic: Forest Upheaval!" he exclaimed as he extended his arm forward, the ground below rumbled for a few seconds before multiple pillars of wood shot up.
"We can land on those," the wood mage instructed.
"Actually, I have a better idea," Kenos politely countered, taking out his own grimoire. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Whip!" he declared, forming the weapon.
"Hold on!" he instructed, Oliver obeyed as Kenos launched the whip forward, the construct wrapping itself around one of the pillars, the solar mage using it to slow down their speed of descent. Once they had slowed down a bit, he let go, causing them to have a bit of a bumpy landing.
The two stood up. "Damn. Dude, that was awesome," Oliver praised as they fist-bumped.
"Thanks," Kenos accepted as another loud sound was heard, and it was pretty close by. They turned around to see Clara Jane, standing within a large crater she created with her descent. "Looks like our problem isn't over yet,"
"Then let's face it head-on, Wood Creation Magic: Wood Hammer!" Oliver declared, summoning his signature weapon.
Kenos put on his ring and activated it. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Blade!" he declared as well, holding onto his weapon.
This made the wood mage look at him and raise a brow. "You're left-handed?"
"That's right," he plainly answered. "But I'm not done yet," he then proceeded to close his eyes for a few seconds, shooting them open as he saw the white beads of mana around him before he pulled them in.
Oliver was a bit confused by what he was doing, regardless, he couldn't deny something. "I'm feeling a super-strong amount of mana right in front of him. Whatever's he's about to do, it'll be very powerful," he thought,
"This place is Zuka's home, I won't let anybody ruin it, Solar Reinforcement Magic - Mana Charge: Sunshine Aura!" Kenos mentally exclaimed.
"Okay Kenos, what's the plan? Do you want me to cover you while you-," the wood mage was asking, but stopped himself when he noticed Kenos was no longer next to him.
In a flash thanks to his godspeed combo, the solar mage was already up in the air, readying his blade to strike Clara Jane.
"Don't worry, Oliver, we won't need too complex of a plan, let's just focus on destroying this abomination!"
"I hope they're all doing okay," Croatia said.
About seven minutes had passed since she felt the explosion and saw smoke coming from afar. When it first happened, Oliver and Shauna, who was more or less asleep, suddenly woke up and burst out of the door. Gotta thank those knightley instincts.
Alma heard the woman's statement and came to her side. "You don't need to worry about Zuka and her friends, they're magic knights, whatever the problem is, it's nothing they've never seen before,"
"I know, but I still can't help but worry, I guess it just must be the mother in me," Croatia said back before another boom was heard. She looked and saw that miles away, a portal-like object appeared as silver stars fell down from there, but immediately as they did, they blew up. "Wait, something's wrong,"
Alma raised a brow. "There is?"
"Yeah, that spell in the distance was Zuka's Glittering Star Shower, but the stars exploded far too early," she told her, but then her eyes became serious as she clenched her fists and ran out of the house.
"Wait! Croatia!" Alma exclaimed, quickly running after her, but the old lady wasn't as young as she used to be, just a few seconds passed before she could feel herself losing her breath. On the other hand, the blue-haired woman just kept running.
Alma knew she couldn't stop the worried mother, so she merely put her hands together.
"Please be careful,"
Kenos was ready to strike down the wraith with his blade as he was close to landing, but Clara Jane wasn't going to surrender. With a soft growl, she merely turned around and kicked her leg upwards, creating a large amount of air pressure which pushed the solar mage back into the air.
"What in the? Fine then, let's try a different approach," Kenos said as his blade vanished. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Gauntlet!" he exclaimed, ready to come down again.
But before the abomination could do anything, Kenos raised his voice again. "Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!" he fired the orange beam of magic straight at her. "Now let's see you react!"
But once more to his surprise, Clara Jane did react, but not how he expected. The wraith reeled an arm back, potential energy magic gathering as she met his punch head-on. The solar mage had been in a few fist struggles in the past, but this was the very first time he could feel his force losing.
"No way in hell. I'm even using Mana Charge, my struggles with Vetto and Brosnan ended in a stalemate. Is it possible that this thing could be physically stronger than them both?" Kenos mentally said to himself as he was eventually pushed back, landing roughly on the ground.
He quickly got back up, ready to try again, but Oliver had beat him to the punch as he ran forward. "Take this, Wood Magic: Root Rampage!" he exclaimed, slamming his hammer on the ground, this caused the ground to rumble as roots shot out, traveling to Clara Jane as they wrapped around her and pulled her down.
"This is my chance, Wood Creation Magic: Forest Spear!" he continued as a medium-sized spear made of wood appeared in front of him, floating in the air. Oliver quickly positioned himself to the back right of the spear, and with all his might, hit the bottom with his hammer, the spear rocketing right into Clara Jane's shoulder.
The wraith gave no sound of pain, but its annoyance was apparent as she managed to free her hands, waving them, the pressure created through it managing to destroy the roots before she forcefully pulled out the spear lodged in her shoulder, dark blood leaking, but it didn't seem to care.
Oliver sighed. "Oh come the hell on, not even that worked, and it was a direct hit too,"
"There's nothing we can do about that. She's tough, but nothing's invincible, let's continue with our attack before she tries something else," Kenos said to him as he rapidly advanced, the wood mage doing the same.
"Wood Creation Magic: Pine Edge Wolf!" Oliver exclaimed as a wolf appeared and ran beside him, its fur made up of pine needles.
"Cool spell," Kenos complemented, slowing down by a decent margin to match the aqua deer's pace.
"Thanks, I got the idea for this one from Shauna, she has a similar spell," Oliver explained before he looked ahead. "If we want to get close enough to Clara Jane, let's do what you did, use a long-range attack and turn it into an opening. Wood Magic: Gale of Splinters!"
"Good plan, Solar Creation Magic: Rain of Solar Daggers!" Kenos joined in. The two spells laid waste to the abomination as the two boys moved in.
Kenos was the first to act. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Limb Armor!" he exclaimed, his limbs ready for battle as he landed three direct punches on Clara Jane's face, jumping high into the air before kicking her dead in the face, reeling her face back.
The wraith was preparing to respond with a punch, but before she could, the pine wolf jumped on her, sinking its teeth into her already bleeding shoulder. Oliver didn't waste time either as he moved in behind her, aiming at her legs with his hammer. At the same time, Kenos jumped into the air once more, linking his hands together as he horizontally swung them, the simultaneous hit on her two halves causing her to lose her balance and begin falling to the ground.
"We're not done with you, Wood Magic: Forest Upheaval!" Oliver declared, the pillar rising from below Clara Jane's back, shooting her into the air. "Alright, this is it, she'll be vulnerable in the air, Wood Magic: Timber Descent!"
Above Clara Jane in the air, a well-sized log of timber was descending towards her. The wraith, however, was undeterred as she extended her arms and made a strong clap, successfully bursting the timber into small pieces, while at the same time using the force to increase the speed of her own descent.
"Son of a bitch," Oliver muttered as Clara Jane landed on her feet with a tremendous amount of force, pushing the two boys and the wolf back a considerable number of meters away.
The wood mage turned to his wolf, who had already gotten back up. "Sick her," he commanded as the wolf obeyed, charging towards her, jumping up again to inflict more bite damage.
But their enemy was ready, she quickly moved to the left, dodging the wolf, but she didn't end there as she launched a devastatingly powerful uppercut, blowing a hole through the wooden beast's torso, ignoring her bleeding fists that were punctured by the wolf's needle fur. She then raised both hands in a flicking position, this one, however, was different, as each hand had two fingers storing energy instead of one.
"Can this thing even be stopped?" Oliver wondered aloud.
"It has to be, Rades most likely has had that wraith for some time, if she truly was this hard to beat, he would've brought her with him during the Eye of the Midnight Sun's attack on the capital. But right now, we have another problem," Kenos said with slight panic. "If each hand is using two fingers, then the pressure blast she'll release will be four times stronger,"
"Then we can't let it hit us, or else we're dead," Oliver responded, taking the initiative as his grimoire flipped to a different page. "Wood Magic: Ironwood Fortification!" he declared as he raised his hands into the air, creating a wall of thick wood between them and the source of the impending danger.
Clara Jane then released her fingers, sending an incredibly strong blast of pressure towards the knights. Kenos and Oliver braced themselves as the wall took on the brunt of the attack, but only a few seconds passed before the spell began to give out, and the blast wasn't close to ending.
"I got this, Solar Creation Magic: Amaterasu's Guard!" Kenos bellowed, summoning the sun goddess just as the wall of wood completely gave out and burst, making his spell the next level of protection. "Damn, the power behind this is ridiculous, but I should be able to do it," he muttered as he gathered all his strength to not be overtaken a second time in that battle. And thankfully, the attack ended, but as Kenos undid his spell and looked around, he and the wood mage were shocked to see the destruction caused. The green grass was no longer seen, and many buildings nearby were destroyed, making the place look closer to a barren wasteland.
"No!" the solar mage exclaimed. "This place is Zuka's home, and you're destroying it! I won't let this continue!" he then screamed angrily.
"Once this thing gets a taste of Solar Cross Destroyer...in fact, screw that, it's good, but I need to go further, I'll use my wyvern spell, but I need to make sure there's indefinite contact," he continued to think before turning to his battle partner. "Oliver, can you restrain her again like last time with that root spell? I'm going to finish this right now,"
"No problem, the sooner we finish her off, the faster we can go help Zuka and Shauna take down Annalise," Oliver agreed fully as his grimoire flipped back to the page in question. "Wood Magic: Root-," he was in the middle of declaring but stopped, his brow raised in confusion as Clara Jane suddenly turned around.
The Rossiu shared his bewildered expression. "Um, what exactly is she doing?"
Their confusion only rose as the wraith crouched down, waiting a few seconds before she took off in the opposite direction.
"That was...strange," Oliver stated. "The direction she's headed to is where the girls and Annalise are. But why is she suddenly going there?"
Kenos pondered the thought, but then looked at his ring, he was surprised to see three outlines already gone. "I'm not too sure either, but with how tough that wraith was, we can't let Zuka and Shauna fight her and Annalise by themselves," he said before kneeling down. "Climb onto my back and hold on tight, I'll use the last of my enhanced speed to get us there as fast as I can,"
Oliver merely nodded as he climbed onto the solar mage's back and held on as tight as he could, knowing how fast Kenos could move, and soon enough, they were off, leaving a cloud of dust behind them as they hurried to aid their allies.
Meanwhile, while the wood and solar mages were fighting Clara Jane before the wraith suddenly made its getaway, Zuka and Shauna were already into their fight with Annalise.
Zuka and the spark mage suddenly clashed, Zuka with her lance, and Annalise with a fist boosted by her Flickering Melee spell, both girls pushing with all their might.
"Alright then, I'll give it to you, you've gotten stronger, you managed to stop my Glittering Star Shower in a pretty clever way too," the sparkle mage praised her enemy.
"You act like it was a hard thing to do, I stopped that spell with no problem during our first encounter, and now, it wasn't even a challenge," Annalise sneered.
Zuka then ended the struggle, her grimoire flipping through pages. "Is that so? Then I'll just have to give you a challenge, Sparkle Reinforcement Magic: Rampage Force!" she exclaimed, being enveloped in her aura.
"Ooh, I'm so scared," Annalise mocked before a third voice declared something.
"Illusion Magic: Creature of the Unknown!" it was from Shauna as the red beast appeared and lunged at Annalise.
"That thing again, lame," the purple-haired girl taunted as she stood her ground and punched a hole in its torso, causing it to dissipate. "These were the same spells you've used from our last battle. That was months ago, haven't you learned anything new? Or are you all just one-trick ponies?"
"You have no idea how wrong your statement just was, but instead of saying we've gotten better, we'll show you," Shauna fired back as her grimoire flipped to one of her newest obtained pages. "Illusion Magic: Pestilence Swarm!"
At her call, she put her hands up, sending a mass group of flies towards her. The spark mage could hear their united buzzing sound, which made her feel uncomfortable, but that wasn't the only thing they did.
"W-What's going on?" Annalise began to wonder as she could feel herself getting kind of dizzy.
"Similar to my Creature of the Unknown, Pestilence Swarm is an interactive illusion spell, the sound they create causes my targets to experience dizziness," the illusion mage explained.
"Damn it, I guess you have gotten better, but a little dizziness isn't going to stop-,"
She never got to finish her statement as Zuka moved in, using her enemy's disorientation to slam her head with the side of her lance, sending her back a few feet. "How did you like that?"
Annalise held the side of her head for a few seconds, the dizziness from Shauna's spell wearing off. "It's nothing I can't handle, time for me to get on the offensive, Spark Magic: Ground Sparks!" she exclaimed before punching the ground, sending the dectet of spark trails towards the sparkle mage.
"Ah, the ones that follow you," Zuka mumbled as she ran, confirming her statement as the trails were right on her trail. This put a wide grin on her face.
Her sudden change in expression didn't go unnoticed by Annalise. "And just what are you grinning at?"
"Why don't I show you?" Zuka replied as she suddenly turned and jumped towards Annalise.
This action put a look of shock on the faces of both Shauna and the spark mage herself.
Zuka's grin only grew wider at the look of her opponent's shock. "I can't believe I never realized how the tracking part of your spell could have such a huge disadvantage. All I have to do is quickly come back to you and the trails will do the same, I'm almost ashamed that I didn't exploit this sooner," the blue and magenta-haired girl explained.
Annalise quickly canceled her Ground Sparks spell as Zuka landed next to her. "Spark Magic: Flickering Melee!" she exclaimed, ready to take down her nemesis.
"Sparkle Magic: Dance of the Fluttering Fairy!" Zuka responded, her feet glowing as she started to dodge the attacks coming at her, she launched her own, but Annalise managed to meet them with her palm.
"We're evenly matched," the two girls both thought.
But that stalemate didn't last for long as a large shadow loomed behind Annalise, she turned around to see a towering stone slab about to fall on her, but then it suddenly disappeared.
"The illusion mage," Annalise realized, but Shauna's move wasn't in vain as Zuka used the spark mage's lack of concentration to kick her in the back.
"Thanks a bunch, Shauna!" Zuka called.
"It's all good, I'm your support mage, I have your back!" Shauna called back.
"Uh, you bitches are so annoying!"
Shauna then started to run towards Zuka. "Then that means we're doing a great job," she fired as her grimoire flipped to a page. "Illusion Magic: Disappearing Act!" the red-haired teen exclaimed, taking hold of her squadmate's hand, turning them both invisible.
"Turning invisible won't save you, I can still track your mana!" Annalise roared.
"I don't know, I kinda doubt that, after all, you didn't see this coming," a voice suddenly said, the spark mage turned around and saw Shauna behind Zuka, the latter holding her signature long-range weapon.
"Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!" she exclaimed, releasing the string as one arrow fired, successfully hitting Annalise's shoulder. The sparkle mage wasn't done there as she quickly shot another one.
But her opponent wasn't about to let two shots hit her. "Spark Creation Magic: Wall of Sparks!" she exclaimed, creating a defense to protect herself. "Okay, that's it, no more playing around, it's time I bring out the big guns,"
Zuka's eyes narrowed in a serious manner. "Shauna, stay behind me, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Barrier!" she exclaimed, forming protection of her own. "Bring on your Flickering Detonation, or even Twin Flickering Detonation. I'm ready for either one,"
After those words left the sparkle mage's mouth, it was Annalise's turn to grin. "Oh no, I won't be using those. You see, my rage has given me access to a new spell, one that puts the other two to shame. Be honored, I was originally planning this for the Black Bulls, but you can be its first human victims!" she laughed as her grimoire flipped to the page of her new spell.
"Get ready, Spark Creation Magic: Discharge Dragon's Detonation Field!" she exclaimed as a white dragon appeared behind her, the dragon looking very similar to Salamander's dragon form.
"What the hell?" Zuka and Shauna muttered in unison.
The white dragon growled, creating twenty spherical bombs which looked like Annalise's Flickering Detonation, but bigger. The two aqua deers watched as the spheres littered the area.
"I hope you've enjoyed your lives, because they're ending right now," Annalise grinned as she raised a finger in the air. "Bang!"
At her command, the dragon let out a loud roar, triggering every bomb to go off simultaneously, causing a massive explosion, forming a large dust cloud. The spark mage, however, was safe from the blast as the dragon spread out its wings to protect her. Once the dust cloud began to settle, Annalise excitedly waited to see the non-existent remains of her enemies before her, but once the dust was gone, she was surprised to see them both on the ground, hardly conscious, the barrier gone.
Annalise put a hand on her chin. "You two are still alive? Alright, I'll give that barrier of yours some credit, it's a lot stronger than I originally believed," she stated. "But no worries, this spell may have a hefty mana cost to cast, I have enough mana for one or two more, so let's do it another time,"
Zuka was struggling to pick herself up, that blast was devastating if it wasn't for her barrier, the two of them would most likely be dead, she turned to Shauna who was on the ground beside her. "…Hey, how are you holding up?"
"I'm barely managing to hold up at all, whatever that spell was…it's a lot more powerful than anything she's ever used before," the illusion mage replied. "I wish Oliver was here, we could really use his recovery magic,"
"I know, but we can't stop fighting," the sparkle mage told her, taking some time to look around her, seeing the destruction being laid on her village, her fist clenching in anger and determination. "I won't let her destroy my village, or hurt its people,"
"Zuka!" a voice suddenly exclaimed from afar. The sparkle mage's eyes widened in fear as she recognized the voice, that fear only growing once she could see the person's face.
Croatia.
"Mom, stay back!" Zuka screamed with all her might. "It's dangerous here! Get back to the house!"
"No, you're hurt! I know you're a magic knight and this is normal for you, but you're still my daughter, I want to help you if I can!" the woman retorted.
Annalise looked at the blue-haired woman and heard the short exchange between her and Zuka, her mind immediately thinking of something she said to Fana before the flame mage left for the Witches' Forest.
"I never really had a family,"
"So, that's your mother, Zuka?" the spark mage mumbled. "You're lucky,"
[Flashback]
The Clover Kingdom. Many Years Ago.
It was mid-afternoon in the Clover Kingdom. People in between the Common Realm and the capital were moving about, closing stands and other businesses as they were ready to head home. And in an alleyway not too far from all that, was a young Annalise, wearing a worn-out gray shirt and shorts, her purple hair short and dirty.
"I've been alone for most of my life. My dad died a little while after I was born, my mother became a prostitute to pay for bills and help cope with his death, but eventually, she got hooked on it and practically lived at the brothel. I was left by myself, no one else I knew, nowhere else to go," Annalise mentally narrated.
The young Annalise's stomach began to growl furiously, she had not eaten for the entire day. She peeked out of the alleyway she was at and noticed the closest stand that had yet to close, it was one selling fruit. The little girl's eyes quickly fell on a golden pear among them, her mouth salivated at the thought of enjoying its sweet juiciness.
She looked and noticed that the owner had his back turned, so she quickly ran up and snatched the pear.
"And because of that, I did whatever I needed to survive," she stated again.
The owner heard the motion and whipped his body around, seeing Annalise already in the distance with his fruit. "Thief! Thief!"
The young spark mage heard his cry, but didn't look back as she kept running, on her way, she suddenly tripped, it didn't stop her though as he stood back up and ran behind the alleyway.
Annalise leaned on the wall and sank down, ignoring her minorly bleeding knee, her focus instead on the pear in her hand, childlike wonder in her eyes. She quickly sank her teeth into it, tears falling down her face, it was even better than she expected.
"I lived that kind of life for years, just managing to scrape by after each one. But that changed…when I met him,"
Time passed and Annalise was now fourteen years old, her hair grew longer, and was beginning to grasp her magical attribute. With it, stealing had gotten easier, but that often resulted in more physical confrontations.
"Damn it, girl, hand over that bread!" a stand owner exclaimed, shooting wind at her.
"Not a chance!" she exclaimed back, firing sparks to meet his wind. "If you want it back, you'll have to either beat me or catch me!"
With that, the spark mage ran away, having what she wanted, she would get to eat that night. Her eyes looked back to make sure the owner wasn't behind her, they stayed like that as she entered the alleyway, but surprisingly, she bumped into someone.
Annalise's instincts kicked in and she immediately turned around to blast sparks at whoever it was, but the person quickly ducked and did a sweep kick, sending her to the ground.
"Wasn't expecting that," she mumbled as she looked up at her opponent. It was a man, his skin an odd gray color with weird marks on it, his hair short and silvery, and he wore a white robe with black and gold markings around the center.
Annalise was quite bewildered at the man before her, but that bewilderment vanished once she realized the bread was no longer in her hand. She saw that it was on the floor behind her victor. Her gaze was no longer on him, but rather on the bread, her eyes filled with desperation to get it back.
The man noticed her expression and looked behind her, seeing the small loaf, he walked towards it and picked it up, making Annalise fear the worst, but to her surprise, he merely went to her, kneeling down as he extended it.
"Is this yours?" he asked gently, despite the fact that she attacked him.
Annalise slowly took the bread from his hand, cleaning off the small specks of dirt on it. "Yeah," she replied. "Um, sorry for attacking you,"
"It's alright, your back was turned when you bumped into me, I understand that you were only startled," he accepted. "My name is Valtos, and you are?"
"Um, Annalise. Annalise Luterron," she replied.
"Annalise, aye, a beautiful name," Valtos said. "Do you live around here?"
Annalise could only chuckle. "Around here? I think you mean right here, I don't…have a home, or a family," her tone grew somber.
"I see, it must've been tough, living like this, I went through the same myself for a number of years," Valtos said before he thought of something. "I have an idea, why don't you come with me, there's someone I'd like you to meet,"
The spark mage quickly accepted. "Sure, why not, I have nothing to lose,"
Valtos nodded, creating a portal under them as they sank into it, arriving in a dimly lit area.
"Wow, what is this place?" Annalise wondered aloud.
"You'll find out soon enough, follow me," Valtos led her into another room, a much brighter room, and in it stood Rhya, Vetto, Fana, Rades, Sally, and at the center of them, Licht.
Valtos kneeled. "Master Licht, I've returned from scouting the kingdom, your prediction of their low defenses was correct,"
"Good, thank you, Valtos," Licht said with a smile before looking at Annalise beside him. "Hello,"
"Um…hi,"
"Who the hell is she?" Rades asked with a raised brow.
"This is Annalise Luterron, a homeless girl, I encountered her during my mission, she has quite the interesting battle instinct," Valtos replied.
"Homeless, aye? Then you must've felt a great amount of despair?" Vetto asked as he approached her.
"So? I'll go through whatever amount of despair is necessary to survive," she fired.
A grin formed on the beast mage's face. "Ooh, I like this one, she's feisty,"
Rhya lazily walked over to them, leaning his elbow on the beast mage's shoulder. "Don't let him bother you. He's Vetto, you can call me Rhya, the pink-haired beauty over there is Fana, the annoying shit who asked who you were is Rades, then there's-," he began introducing everyone, but stopped once he noticed he didn't see the gel mage.
But he didn't have to wonder for long as she was right behind Annalise, poking at her back.
"Wow, a new potential specimen, I like your hair, say, what type of magic do you use?" she asked excitedly.
"And that's Sally, she's a bit of an oddball, but she's smart as hell," Rhya said.
"I see," Annalise nodded before turning to Sally. "As for my magic, I'm not too sure right now, but I think it's some kind of spark magic,"
"Spark Magic? Fascinating, you have to let me experiment on you!"
"E-Experiment? I'm good, no thanks,"
The light mage spoke up next. "Sally, don't scare her. Welcome, Annalise, as you heard Valtos say, I am Licht. We are the Eye of the Midnight Sun,"
"The Eye of the Midnight Sun? What's that?"
"An organization dedicated to usurping the current higher-ups of the kingdom, to make it a better place for those at the bottom. Capture, kill, whatever it takes," he replied.
"That sounds intense. Um, not that I'm not grateful, but you all just met me a few minutes ago, but you're being kind to me, and even telling me your deal. Why?" Annalise asked.
"Valtos said you were homeless, did he not? You must hold some sort of enmity towards this kingdom," Fana said.
"No, not really, if anything, I have more enmity towards my mother, she left me alone for years just to become some whore. But in a way, the kingdom is partially responsible for that, they have no good way of helping struggling families, who knows, probably in some place right now, someone else is struggling like I was, without a family, while neither the kingdom or the magic knights bat an eye," Annalise told them all.
Licht looked at her for a few seconds before walking over to her. "Then join us, once we achieve our goal, you can help all the people who were in your predicament. You may have lost your family, but don't worry, we'll be your family,"
The spark mage thought about what he said to her, but she already made up her mind.
"Alright then, it'll be a pleasure,"
[End Flashback]
"Valtos came and rescued me from my horrible life, I joined the Eye and made a new family, one who loved me, and one who I loved back just as much…but you all kept taking them away from me!" Annalise thought as she ran towards Croatia. "So it's my turn to take away someone you love!" she screamed.
"No!" the sparkle mage screamed.
The spark mage's grimoire flipped to a page. "Spark Magic: Twin Flickering-," she was about to exclaim, but was stopped as sparkling mana enveloped Croatia's fist before she punched Annalise dead in the face.
The purple-haired girl was only pushed back a few feet. "Not bad, you got a hit on me, wasn't expecting that,"
"My daughter may be a magic knight, but while I'm here, I won't let you hurt her, that's what a mother does!" the blue-haired woman exclaimed.
"What a mother does, aye? That's nice to know, Spark Magic: Ground Sparks!" she sent the dectet of trails her way.
Croatia ran, but the sparks were moving too quickly, she was almost about to get hit before…
"Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Barrier!" Zuka jumped in with everything she had, casting the spell to protect her. "You bitch, I'll be damned if I let you hurt my mom! Screw beating you, try that again, and I'll kill you!"
"I can't believe you had enough strength to move after my last spell, well, that's adrenaline for you," Annalise said as she made some distance.
Zuka's barrier fell. "Mom, are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine, thanks for the save," Croatia answered, but just then, the ground rumbled again as someone abruptly landed near them.
"No way, it's Clara Jane," Shauna gasped. "But then what about Oliver and Kenos? Are they…?"
"Girls, we're here!" before the illusion mage could fear the worst, the two boys arrived, Oliver jumping off of Kenos' back.
"You guys are safe!" Zuka cheered.
"Yeah, but you two look kind of beaten up, in fact, we all look like we could use a boost, Wood Recovery Magic: Healing Branches of Yggdrasil," Oliver said as the small leafless tree appeared, its branches touching them, and healing them.
"Alright, that feels better," Zuka happily stated.
"True, but the fight isn't over yet," Kenos told them as he pointed at their two opponents.
Annalise looked at Clara Jane, inspecting her wounds. "Damn, that's bad, those two hurt you even more than I thought. You have to be careful, Rades said that while you're the toughest of all his wraiths, when you lose blood, you become increasingly weaker,"
The four knights stood ready, with Croatia behind them, Kenos was the one to speak up. "We can't allow either one of them to counterattack, I'll finish them right now,"
But suddenly, Zuka extended an arm. "No, they came to my home, hurt my people, and tried to kill my mother. If anyone's taking them down, it's going to be me," she said as she started to advance alone.
"But can you do it alone?" the solar mage asked worryingly.
"I'll try," was her only response. "Hey!"
Annalise and Clara Jane looked at the sparkle mage, ahead of her peers. "What are you trying to do?"
Zuka completely ignored her as she started to speak. "You know something? Yesterday was the anniversary of my dad's death, and I doubt he'd want me to die the day after, besides, I still have so much left to do with life and people who I care dearly for,"
She looked at Croatia. "Dad's already gone, I won't leave mom by herself," then to Shauna and Oliver. "Those two are my best friends, we're a friendship trio, I could never burden them by dying," and finally, to Kenos. "And as for you, I definitely can't die until I muster up enough courage to tell you how I feel about you…and just how much you mean to me. So I can't die here, I won't die here!"
Then suddenly her grimoire glowed, flipping to a blank page before text became inscribed on it. The look of shock on Zuka's face was unmissable. "It's…a new spell,"
"It doesn't matter if you got a new spell, I can just use my dragon again and end you. Clara Jane, get back!" Annalise exclaimed.
But it was too late as Zuka was already ready to cast her new spell. "This fight is over, it's been fun, Sparkle Creation Magic: Scintillating Aurora!"
At her call, sparkling light gathered behind her, forming into the upper half of the mighty Roman goddess, she wore a glittering white dress, her long hair and glittering blue and magenta. The spell extended its arms, colorful orbs forming on each hand, she then brought them together before firing a devastating blast of magic.
Clara Jane quickly got in front of Annalise, sending another quadruple power flick, but this one was no match for the sparkle's mage attack as the pressure blast was quickly overpowered, the blast laying waste to the wraith, turning her to dust.
Annalise cast her Wall of Sparks spell to protect her further, but it was no use as she was launched back violently.
The other three watched in amazement, Kenos was the first to speak. "Wow, that spell is…incredible," he muttered. "In terms of raw destructive power, it may be right up there with my wyvern spell,"
The spark mage weakly got up, shocked to see that Clara Jane was no more, completely eliminated. But just then, a familiar purple portal appeared below her as she slowly sank into it. "Damn it, Valtos located me. I guess I have no choice but to retreat for now, but mark my words, Zuka, this isn't the end, next time we fight, we'll see which of our ace spells will come out on top,"
Annalise then appeared at the base, Valtos and Rades were standing in front of her. "How did you find out where I was?"
"Dowin told me," Valtos replied. "Why did you go without telling anyone else?"
"Because I wanted to take revenge with my own two hands, I only brung Clara Jane to keep out any unwanted interference, but things didn't go out as I planned," she responded.
"I see," the spatial mage said as he walked to her. "Don't worry, you just learned your new spell recently, there's still tons of space to improve. You'll have another chance to get revenge,"
The spark mage smiled. "Thank you,"
"Hey!" Rades cut in. "Speaking of Clara Jane, where is she?!"
"Yeah, about that, she got vaporized," Annalise replied.
"What?!" the wraith mage screamed. "Now I only have one Number Corpse Series wraith left, great,"
Back at Hiroka, everyone was finally relieved that the battle was over as they made their way to Croatia's home.
"What a morning," Oliver said before turning to Zuka. "Plus, that new spell of yours was incredible, totally blew my mind,"
"Me too," Shauna agreed.
"Thanks, but the true mind-blower here was my mom," Zuka said. "That punch you got on Annalise was amazing. I didn't know you could fight. I would love to know how you used your sparkle magic when you were younger,"
"I just know a few things, nothing overly impressive, but that doesn't matter, protecting your child is the main purpose of a mother, you'll understand when you become a mother too," she told her daughter.
"Me, a mother?" Zuka wondered as Croatia bent down to whisper something to her daughter.
"Of course, once you marry Kenos, that is," a sly grin creased her face, making Zuka's face go red.
"B-But, how?"
"Don't underestimate a mother's intuition. Plus, I saw you and Kenos in the kitchen last night, the face you made when helping him was so precious. I'd be happy to have him as a son-in-law," she whispered her response.
"You're not going to tell him, are you?" Zuka asked, her blush not fading.
"Of course not, you'll do that by yourself, and if he says no, I'll kill him," Croatia replied, earning a deadpan from Zuka. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding,"
"Thanks for your support, mom," Zuka said as she hugged her.
"You're welcome," she said before something else came to mind. "But what are we going to do about all of this?"
They all turned around and saw the devastation caused by the two separate battles, buildings crumbled, vegetation ruined, but luckily, there wasn't a single casualty.
"I have an idea," Kenos spoke up. "I can go to my base and ask my captain if our squad could come here to help fix this place up,"
"Yeah, we can ask Captain Rill if we could do the same," Zuka added. "It's the least we could do. Annalise only came here and did all of this because we were here,"
"Of course you can do that, I'll tell Moiru. Besides, it'd be nice to spend some more time with you and your friends," Croatia agreed.
"Awesome, let's head to our bases and get this started," Shauna said as they all ran inside and got their brooms, flying into the sky.
"Bye mom, I'll see you in a few hours!" Zuka waved.
Croatia waved back as the four knights were eventually out of sight, a smile forming on her face. "Oh Leroy, I wish you could see how much our daughter has grown, you'd be so proud of her,"