Ouroboros

by A Horseshoe Crab

Odysseus Enoteca, the vice-captain of the Blue Rose Knights, has his life upended when an evil organization from his past makes a resurgence. They are lead by a mysterious woman that he thought long dead. He must gather allies and rise through the Magic Knight ranks to challenge her. However, not all is as it seems. There might be more at stake than either of them realize.

2. Chapter 2

Maiden Voyage 1.2

⸻0⸻

The earthy aroma of freshly picked herbs was comforting to Magnolia Leto. Humming a tune, she rhythmically ground them into paste with a pestle and mortar. A mish-mash of green stains speckled her white coat and clothes, making the red cross emblem sewn over her heart stand out. Scooping a handful of leaves, Magnolia added them to the poultice.

She couldn't think of anything more relaxing than this.

The Tela Clinic had a calming atmosphere, at least when it was quiet. Bouquets of greenery hung from the ceiling and bottles of ingredients lined the shelves. Years of research and innovation was packed into that quaint little shop. It was an apothecary's dream.

It was the only medical facility on all of Straya Island. Converted from a cottage, the old floorboards creaked and the window shutters slammed maddeningly when the wind howled. Ancient mattresses stuffed with hay, and goddess knows what else, were used as patients' beds.

Outside, the morning laundry swayed on the line and a rusted windmill spun. Taking a break from her work, Magnolia looked out the window and watched a herd of dingoroos jump a stout wooden fence and continue on through the dry, expansive prairie that stretched beyond sight.

She enjoyed her time in this harsh, rural landscape. The decade since she moved here seemed like a lifetime ago, but also like it just happened yesterday. Time was weird here. Being only five when she left the Capital, there was little she remembered about living in the big city. Straya Island was pretty much all she knew. But she yearned for more.

She was fifteen; old enough to take the Magic Knight's Entrance Exam in the coming week. Truthfully, she had made up her mind about taking the exam. However, there were extenuating circumstances that held her in place, a kind of indecision that chained her to this island. There was a good chance that if she took the test, and actually passed, she could never return home again.

More importantly, her aunt would never support her choice. Could Magnolia actually go through with the exam despite that? Was she even good enough to pass? Would the Magic Knights and citizens reject her outright because of her family's history? Intrusive questions tore through her mind like a dust devil ripping up crops before the harvest.

It would be easier to let the winds tear her apart and take the choice out of her hands. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. She had big dreams. Dreams too big for this little island far off the coast of mainland Clover Kingdom.

Nothing worth achieving comes without risk.

"Are you still grinding those pollux weed leaves?"

The harsh, persnickety voice of her boss clobbered Magnolia with a sudden nervousness and wrenched her from her labyrinthian thoughts. She flinched and knocked over the mortar. Frantically trying to catch it, she spilled the dark green leaf paste all over the counter.

Oh Crap! Racing to get a towel, Magnolia tripped on a loose floorboard and slid into the wall, rattling the shelves. Laid out on the ground, she blew strands of hair out of her face and struck a casual pose with a hand on her hip, like it was all intentional. "I…er, um, Healer Velvet, G'arvo. I didn't hear you come in. Reckon you're finished with those errands?

The owner and head healer of the Tela Clinic, Velvet Tela, was a quintessential no-nonsense woman. Older than the mountains, even her frown lines had frown lines. Her long crooked nose was a perfect perch for her thick lensed glasses, which magnified her eyes and made the chagrin swimming in her milky gaze supremely evident.

Velvet sighed and brushed a hand through her gray hair, briefly touching the taut bun at the zenith—her other hand holding a verdant basket of waxy leaves and tiny seeds. There was a reason she never had children. Putting up with the antics of a fifteen year old girl was exhausting, especially one as clumsy as Magnolia Leto. If not for the girl's earnest tenacity, Velvet would have fired her a while ago. There was something endearing about it. "Just… get off the floor, child."

"I, uh, dropped something. That's why I'm down here." Glancing around, Magnolia plucked a stray leaf off the wooden floorboards and popped back up to her feet. "Found it. Nah yeah, exactly what I was looking for. Heh heh."

Velvet stared at Magnolia. The silence was unrelenting to the young girl and seemed to last eons. Unable to meet her mistress's eyes, she looked up at the ceiling and counted the bushels of herbs, rocking back on her heels and softly whistling.

Breathing slowly out her nose, Velvet ordered, "Nevermind that. Get back to work. Looks like you've got a right mess to clean up. And after that I want you to press and dry these gefilte fennel leaves and properly store the seeds away in the cupboard."

"Yes, Ma'am! I'll get right on that!" Magnolia bowed her head several times and turned to get a towel, ramming into the corner of the counter. Limping with a hand on her bruised hip, she grabbed a clean rag and navigated back to her work station.

Having calmed down, Magnolia made quick work of her remaining tasks. Velvet, absorbed in her research, occasionally gave her young employee nods of approval when she lifted her nose from her notes. As far as students she has had in the past, Magnolia wasn't bad at all. Although, beyond her clumsiness, there was one fatal flaw that kept her from being an ideal healer's apprentice—

"Emergency! Healer Tela! We have an emergency!" A woman dressed in the same white uniform as Magnolia burst into the room. It was Iris Windberry, one of the other assistants that worked at the clinic. Unlike Magnolia, who spent most of her time preparing ingredients and brewing potions, Iris made house calls and typically served as a field medic.

Behind Iris, gently held aloft by the warm glow of her Float Magic, were several gruff and burly men. Their sun-kissed muscles, forged by years of hard labor, were wrapped in bandages; and the yellow waders which marked them as fishermen were stripped to ribbons, dangling like tassels on their scar-scored legs. She swiftly brought them into the building and lowered them onto the rickety cots.

"What happened?" Velvet asked, shoving her research notes aside and snatching her cane. Hobbling over to the injured, she called forth her grimoire. The book was red with white trim, a three-leafed clover adorning the middle. It hovered over her shoulder, autonomously flipping pages in a flurry.

"Their fishing boat was attacked by a Leviathan," Iris explained, and Magnolia gasped.

Straya Island was a peaceful, yet remote, place. It was so remote that most people didn't even know it existed, let alone where to find it on the map. Because of that, Straya Islanders had to be self-reliant. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, two very big abnormalities made it a very big problem.

The number one commodity was fish, and lately the industry had been plagued by two sea monsters known as the Twin Leviathans. There was Scylla, a snake-like wretch that enjoyed snatching people off their boats; and Charybdis, a titanic creature that loved to swallow entire vessels whole.

Appealing to the Magic Knights would only be met with crickets, if the townsfolk cared to try at all. It frustrated Magnolia, but at the same time she understood. Straya Island was a place that the Clover Kingdom sent their undesirables. They would rather not spare them any thought unless absolutely necessary. Sadly, such things have come to be expected.

"Which one?" Velvet asked.

"Charybdis. Their boat was obliterated. Luckily, one of the fishermen was an accomplished wind mage and hauled the crew out of the Leviathan's range. But many of them were still wounded during the attack."

"Fair dinkum? Fortunately, it wasn't Scylla. That beast is far more deadlier than her cousin. The venom alone is potent enough to kill from a single graze. With Charybdis, you will lose your ship, but Scylla will take the crew," Velvet said, and raised a hand, fingers spayed. The bandages covering them men began to move on their own, slithering off and exposing their injuries. Blood painted their abdomens, steadily pulsing out with each pump of the heart.

Magnolia caught a glimpse of the vermillion blotches staining the men and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't breathe and her head was swimming. Blood! So much blood! It was everywhere! The walls of the clinic, once cozy, were claustrophobic and closed in on her. The stench of iron hung heavy in the ethos.

"Magnolia! Get a hold of yourself, girl!" Velvet commanded, but it was in vain. The young girl fainted and crashed to the floor.

Yes, Magnolia Leto was a fine assistant healer, except for one fatal flaw—she was afraid of blood.

⸻1⸻

Waves tugged at her ankles as the ebb and flow of the ocean buried her feet in the sand. Dark clouds dotted the horizon, hinting at a storm in the distance, but the weather on the beach was sunny and warm. It did little to heat the cold stone of despair that settled in the pit of her stomach.

What kind of healer fainted during an emergency? Magnolia knew she was a joke, collapsing at the first sight of blood. Spying any amount of that crimson ichor was enough to trigger her and send her spiraling. Visions of her father looming over her, drenched in blood and dying, subjugated her mind. It's been ten years since then, but a single drop could take her right back to that moment as if it just happened.

She wanted to learn Recovery Magic from Velvet to make sure something like that never happened again, but she can't even heal her own psychosis. Pathetic.

The wind picked up, blowing a few strands of hair into her face. She had tried her best to braid her glossy black hair that morning, but the loose knot was falling apart. She flipped it over her shoulder and smoothed it out the best she could. Her aunt made taming unruly hair look so easy.

Autumn was creeping in as the days of summer shortened. The deadline which seemed like an eternity away was now right around the corner. Having gone nowhere, Magnolia felt like she was running in place.

"I figured I'd find you here," said the voice of a woman above Magnolia's head. She looked up and saw her aunt, Morganna Leto, standing with perfect balance at the tip of a broom. That was another thing her aunt was better at—Magnolia was lucky just to get a broom off the ground at all.

"Well, here I am. Congrats," Magnolia replied with little enthusiasm.

Morganna was twelve years older than her, and every bit the mature woman that she herself aspired to be someday. The woman exuded confidence and had a presence that enraptured a room. Her amethyst Magic Knight robe shone like a star in the sky; looking close enough to touch, yet deceptively out of reach.

"You always come to this exact spot on the beach whenever you need to think." Morganna's hair was black too, and was twisted into an immaculate braid that snaked halfway down her back. Her red eyes gleamed with amusement as Magnolia desperately tried to keep her own braid together. "You have become quite predictable, my dear niece."

"Yeah, nah, thanks for letting me know… Was that it? You took a break from work just for that, or's there something you need from me?"

Morganna stepped off the end of her broom and landed gracefully in the sand. Circling her niece with a smirk, she said, "Oh, don't be like that! I heard about what happened today and I wanted to see how you were holding up. You shouldn't let it get you down."

Crossing her arms, Magnolia glared at the taller woman. "And why shouldn't I? I need to be better. I have to get stronger no matter what."

Morganna tussled her niece's hair, messing it up even more. "And why are you so desperate to get stronger? You're only fifteen, there's still plenty of time for you to grow."

Wrestling free from her aunt, Magnolia patted down her tangled hair. "The Magic Knight's Entrance Exam is in less than a week! I don't have time to take it easy. They'll never take in a clumsy girl like me that faints at the sight of blood—"

An unexpected pain rattled Magnolia's cheek. Her aunt slapped her! It wasn't a particularly hard slap, a step above a light tap honestly, but the suddenness of it really caught her off guard. The fact that she struck her like that at all was what hurt the most. She took a step back, tears brimming in her eyes and a look of betrayal on her face.

Magnolia knew her aunt would react like that, but knowing something and experiencing it firsthand were two very different things.

Morganna looked down on her, eyes awash in enigmatic emotion. "Absolutely not. I forbid it. We talked about this! Why do you insist on this foolish dream? I know it's hypocritical of me to deny you the opportunity when I'm a member of the Purple Orcas, but you must understand: the nobles will never accept us. There is a sickness in this country, a wicked sinisterness that lurks beneath the surface, spawned by centuries of elitism."

"But if we don't try to change things, things will never get better!"

"And what, you're going to fix it? Just like that, huh?" Morganna snatched the girl by her shirt collar and lifted her off the ground until they were nose to nose, barely a few inches apart. "You!? A crybaby tearing up after a single slap? You have no idea what the Capital is like, what other Magic Knights are like. A naive country girl like you will be eaten alive! How many times do I have to explain this to you before it sinks into that thick skull of yours? You need to wake up!"

She pulled back her arm and tossed Magnolia into the ocean. "This is for your own protection!"

"Maybe I don't want your protection!" Magnolia yelled, surfacing from the water. Her braid had come completely undone and her mane bobbed uncontrollably on the waves. Her grimoire—a modest blue book with a gold three-leaf clover emblem on the cover—shot out of the surf. Opening on its own accord, it glowed red with magic. "You're not my mom and you're not my father—even if you'd like to be. I know I'm a screw-up and a klutz and I break everything I touch, but I still have to try. I won't let my father's dream die with him."

Morganna flinched at those words. Guilt briefly gnawed at her until it was incinerated by anger. She grabbed her own grimoire, freeing the black and gold book from the holster on her lower back. "You certainly know how to talk big, if nothing else. Unfortunately, talking isn't enough. If you think you're so tough that you don't need me anymore then show me with your actions!"

Reinforcement Magic circulating in her body, Magnolia burst out of the ocean and yelled,"I don't want to fight, but you are too stubborn to listen to my words. I guess I have no choice. Bottle Magic: Pride of Sagittarius!"

A bottle, with a black arrow contained inside of it, fell out of a white void above Magnolia and shattered on the ground. Freed from the glass confines, the arrow grew to over a meter long with the broadhead alone the size of her forearm. Snatching it by the shaft, Magnolia gave it a twirl and continued sprinting towards her aunt.

"You better be prepared to die, Maggie, cause I'm not gonna hold back. Key Magic: Maw of Babylon." A gold doorway made of light formed in the air behind Morganna, and she pulled out a key from her robe. Tossing it at the gate, the door opened in a blinding flash. "Gold Creation Magic: Aurum Argonaut!"

A titanic golden man stepped through the doorway and dropped to the ground. The beach trembled in a cloud of sand. Swiping a hand to clear the dust, the golem's gilded form was exposed and glittered in the sun. The face was featureless and obscure behind a helmet with a fin-like blade arching along the crown. Its skin was gold and wore ancient armor like the gladiators of myth. Gripped in its right hand was a sword; strapped to the left, a shield.

Only slightly perturbed by the behemoth's size, Magnolia summoned another bottle to her hand. A mini fire raged inside the glass vessel. It bounced off the walls and she could feel the heat, the raw energy, reverberating throughout. She threw it with a grunt, aiming for the golem's head.

The Argonaut raised up his shield, and Magnolia snapped her fingers. "Bottle Magic: Wrath of Leo!"

The bottle exploded into a miniature sun that swallowed the golden warrior's head—shield and all—in an intense onslaught of heat and flames that lasted for less than a second. Morganna blinked away the purple spots that plagued her vision and saw the top half of her creation was missing. Like a melted candle, orange-glowing molten gold rolled down its waist and legs. She let out a curt laugh and marveled the spell, feeling a bit of pride stirring in her chest.

Magnolia pushed off the ground, creating a small dust cloud of her own, and leaped over the golem. Leveling the tip at Morganna, she torqued her upper body and launched the black arrow. The projectile, filled with magic, sparked as it flew. "Pierce: Black Arrow!"

Morganna side-stepped the attack, allowing the arrow to slam into the sand harmlessly. The arrow had burrowed itself up to the fletching on the end. If that had struck her she would have been in trouble, she mused.

"Return!" Magnolia ordered, and the arrow started to worm backwards out of the earth.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Flicking her arm down, a long key slid out of her sleeve and Morganna caught it in her hand. She spun and thrust the key into the shaft of the arrow in one smooth motion; and turned it. "Key Magic: Stasis Lock!"

The arrow froze in place, refusing to budge or heed the call of its master.

With a flip and a growl, Magnolia landed on the beach and lashed out. Morganna caught the fist, winching a little from the impact, and yanked the shorter girl off balance. She kicked her in the ribs and sent her tumbling across the sand. "Well, you've gotten stronger since our last bout. I'm kinda impressed. You must have put in a lot of hours training."

"That… sounds very patronizing… complimenting my strength… after you just broke one of my ribs," Magnolia replied between panting breaths. Dragging herself to a seated position, she kept a hand pressed to her side. There was a sharp, penetrating pain that stabbed her every inhale. "I… have to get stronger… strong enough to join the Magic Knights. I want to show the world… the pride of the Leto family."

"Pride is worthless," Morganna said, her voice devoid of emotion. She jerked the arrow out of the sand and steadily approached the debilitated Magnolia. "I'd rather the Leto name be scorned forever than lose another member of my family. You are too valuable to trust with those backstabbing Magic Knights."

So that's what this was all about. The thought abruptly dawned on Magnolia. "You're… worried that the nobles… and the Magic Knights… will kill me… like they killed Conrad?"

"Of course, you stupid fool." Morganna held the tip of the black arrow under her niece's chin. "That's literally what I've been saying this entire time. You are so incredibly dense that it would be really fucking easy to trick you into a trap. You're too headstrong and always quick to trust others and ready to help total strangers at a moment's notice. I… do really love that about you, but they're not exactly good traits for your continued survival. If you understand my feelings do you yield?"

"I—"

"Yoo-hoo, hello over there!" a voice called out to them from a distance. The two women turned their heads and looked out over the water. Slowly drifting into shore was the leaking corpse of Scylla. Blackened blood trailed behind it like an ink cloud, draining from the headless necks dangling under the surface.

A mage stood atop the Leviathan. He appeared to be some kind of vagrant—his dark cloak was tattered and ripped in several places and he had a half-polished bottle of booze in his hand. Wavy pink hair was slicked back and out of his admittedly handsome face. Intriguingly, a black leather eyepatch covered his left eye. The symbol embroidered on the patch was one that Morganna readily recognized, despite not having visited the mainland in many years. It was the emblem of the Blue Rose Knights.

Perhaps more unnerving was the fact that he was riding on the corpse of one of the most vicious predators known to prowl the seas. He looked young, only a few years older than Magnolia, but the amount of magical power Morganna sensed rolling off of him exceeded her own. Just who was this guy?

Hope I'm not interrupting anything," the man continued, "this seems like a real somber moment. Like, sisterly bonds and family fighting, screaming about your dreams and what have you. Very dramatic tear-jerking stuff, and I get that. I really do. I've just been patiently waiting for a chance to sorta step in and have a chat, but there never was, like, a good time to do so. So I figured if it was gonna be awkward regardless, I might as well go ahead before the murder scene. Oh right, hi! I'm Odysseus Enoteca. Nice to meetcha."

As the corpse reached the shore, Odysseus made to disembark when he tripped over a ridge on the monster's back and fell face first into the sand ten feet below. He didn't move. Morganna awkwardly passed Magnolia the black arrow and approached him, their fight forgotten for the moment. Did he… Did he just knock himself unconscious?

"Are you okay?" Morganna asked.

"My booze; I spilt it," Odysseus replied, lifting his head from the sand with a tear in his eye. The bottle he had been drinking from was broken and the alcohol had sunk into the earth.

Stepping on the back of his head and forcing it further into the sand, Morganna growled, "So you were pouting? I thought you were hurt, you fucking yobbo!"

The man grabbed her leg and threw her off, letting Morganna fall on her butt. "Shut up! It was imported from the Heart Kingdom. I'm allowed to mourn."

Magnolia watched the exchange feeling incredibly confused. It was like a great balloon of tension had deflated by this man's timely intervention, a second before it could pop irreparably. Laying their stunned in the sand, the fight she just had with her aunt would have seemed like a dream if her ribs weren't still throbbing in very real pain. Did he do that on purpose or was it all a coincidence?

Summoning a bottle to her hand, Magnolia touched the tip of the black arrow to it and the weapon shrunk to magically fit inside. Capping it with a cork, the bottle disappeared in motes of white light.

Getting up off the ground, Odysseus brushed the sand off his clothes and asked, "Hey, this might be a bit of a random question, but do either of you know where I can get some awakenberries?"

⸻2⸻

There was only a single village on all of Straya Island, and as such, it was never given an official name. There wasn't really a point to it. Most of the locals simply called it 'Straya Village' if they had to call it anything at all.

The buildings were modest log cabins and ranches, the wood cracked and paint peeling from the intense sunlight and wind blown dust. Sheep—corralled in spacious pens—plodded and grazed the sparse patches of grass that grew gnarled and withered in the arid soil. Nearby, farmers tilted the earth, wiping sweat off of their dirt-smudged brows below the frayed brim of hand-woven straw hats.

It was a quiet peaceful town, a model sleepy village. It made Odysseus happy and put a smile on his face. Calm and rustic, it felt like time moved differently here somehow; slower. Beyond the hustle and bustle of the Capital, or the hectic life of a Magic Knight, he suspected that he could come back here a hundred years later and it would still be the same. A land that time had abandoned.

Overshadowing the rest of the town was a monumental rock. It stuck out of the otherwise flat plains like a stone dorsal fin of a colossal fish and dominated the skyline. The rock had a powerful aura to it that demanded respect and attention. Distracted, Odysseus nearly veered off the path and into the bush. His two guides, Morganna and Magnolia, steered him back onto the road.

The road they were leading him down cut right through the center of town and was paved with dirt trampled flat by generations of working boots and animal hooves. The townsfolk were disinclined to fly on broom sticks and opted to walk most places.

Passing farm after farm, it became clear that magic usage was surprisingly low. Morganna had explained that here magic was considered a luxury only to be used in times of emergency, but it was hard for him to imagine a place where working with one's own hands was more highly regarded than magical power until he saw it for himself.

Strange, yes. But he didn't hate it. The sentiment was a far cry from the environment he was born in, and yet the idea felt oddly nostalgic. Contrary to the average mage, Odysseus trained his body along with his magic and he could understand where the Straya Islanders were coming from. In a roundabout way, he was training his muscles at that very moment.

"Are you sure you don't need help carrying your friends?" Magnolia asked, concerned. Her inner healer was cringing at the sight. Odysseus had Mimosa slung over his shoulder like a sack of corn and he was dragging Kirsch along the ground by the back of the man's pink Magic Knight robe, pants practically painted umber from the dirt road.

The pain in her ribs had subsided to a dull throbbing and she soldered on without wincing.

Glancing back at the vice-captain,Odysseus replied, "Oh, him? Yeah, he'll be fine. He might act and dress all prim and proper, but he actually likes to be dirty and scuffed. Trust me. I don't lie ever."

"Yeah nah, that defo sounded like a lie just then."

The two mages that Odysseus had arrived with were both unconscious, submerged in a magically induced coma brought on by the trauma of Scylla's venom. Although the poison was no longer in their systems, their bodies needed time to properly recuperate.

That's why the awakenberries were necessary. They were a magical fruit that contained properties that helped, as the name suggested, wake people up. Without it, the two should still wake up on their own, but nobody knew when that would be: days, months, or perhaps even years. It was a miracle that they were even alive at all. Magnolia had never heard of anyone surviving a bite from Scylla. Until now.

Odysseus claimed to have healed his two companions and he knew about awakenberries. He must be a recovery mage of some renown, Magnolia concluded, but he certainly didn't look it. Unlike the old and gray Velvet Tela, his face was young and beautiful, and his body was rippling muscle—not that she was particularly interested in that. She just happened to notice he was in good shape when she was checking him out, er, checking him over… for any injuries. Yeah, that was it.

She looked away, a hint of blush on her cheeks.

Sensing someone close by, Odysseus spotted a young boy peeking out from behind the smooth white bark of a eucalyptus tree. His overalls were abraded at the knees and blemished, a pitchfork laid at his feet. He gave Odysseus a look of cautious curiosity. It wasn't often that the boy saw someone he didn't know. Strangers were hard to come by around here.

Eyes drifting to the torn blue garment hanging by a thread from Odysseus's neck and the glint in his gaze sharpened to suspicion. Though it was badly damaged, the boy recognized it as a Magic Knight's robe. The froufrou fella being hauled down the road also had one on, albeit in a different color.

Evidently, the boy didn't care much for Magic Knights. Making eye contact, Odysseus stuck his tongue out at him. The boy was taken back by the childish action and blinked in surprise. In response, he stuck his own tongue out as if to challenge him. The battle raged for almost a full minute before Morganna got fed-up and slapped Odysseus on the head, causing him to bite his tongue.

"Will you knock it off already?!"

"That seemed a tad unwarranted. I get the feeling that you often resort to violence," Odysseus said, swishing around his injured tongue and tasting blood in his mouth, "I was just trying to be friendly. Well, sorta. In my own way."

"By taunting a child?"

"What can I say? I'm a complicated guy. I contain multitudes."

The mother of the child, a wary middle-aged woman in a sundress, collected the boy and shepherded him to the house. She looked over her shoulder at Odysseus, her distrust more veiled than her son's but it was still there. They entered the farmhouse and the door swung shut with a definite clap. Not long after, the curtains were drawn shut.

Turning his head, Odysseus observed a man tending to his garden on the other side of the street. The guy met his eye briefly and then spat on the ground, pointedly ignoring the Magic Knight. Come to think of it, since arriving on this island almost everyone Odysseus looked at received him with grimacing visages, huddled heads, or hurried walking.

"I'm afraid the people on this island aren't too keen on making friends with Magic Knights," Morganna informed him, "This place—Straya Island, I mean—it's a bit of a dumping ground for anything the nobles in the Capital find inconvenient for them. Former servants, illegitimate children, mistresses, criminals, or even people that simply offended the wrong person; whatever the reason, they wound up here. Either directly or as a descendent, a sizable chunk of our population is made up of those people. Exiles in all but name."

Magnolia spoke up. "The ones that enforced the nobles' orders, and usually are nobles themselves, are the Magic Knights. To a typical Straya Islander, the Magic Knights are nothing more than tools, puppets of nobility. They don't consider them to be the protectors of everyday citizens and view the profession with scorn. There are a handful of Magic Knights that most Islanders give begrudging respect to, like my aunt."

"Though it did take me ten years to earn it."

"Straya Island… Straya Island… y'know, I think I've heard of this place before." Odysseus lit up as a distant memory was hoisted from his foggy brain and brought to the forefront. The island was mentioned in a book… or was it a newspaper? "Medea Midas! I remember now! There was that scandal, like, six years ago and Medea Midas, the former captain of the Golden Deer, was arrested and sentenced to life in Ulurock Prison."

"Ah. So, you do know. Yeah, you're right. Straya Island is home to Clover Kingdom's largest penitentiary, the Ulurock Prison. It's quite an impressive building. You should take a tour before heading back to the mainland. See, it's built into that big rock over there. You can't miss it," Morganna said, and pointed at the monolithic stone hill that Odysseus made note of earlier.

"Oh, that's actually a building, eh? I thought it was just, like, a mountain or something."

"You should have her give you the tour," Magnolia suggested, "She can get you the hook-up. After our little trip to the Tela Clinic is wrapped up, of course."

"Really? You seem to be kinda important. And with the amount of magical power I sense from you, I doubt you're some nameless grunt. So, who are you?"

The woman put a hand on her chest, an arrogant smirk on her face. "Allow me to reintroduce myself: from the Purple Orcas, I am Morganna Leto, Senior Magic Knight First Class, and the Warden of Ulurock Prison. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Scarlet Prince."

Hearing that moniker, Odysseus paused mid-stride.

⸻3⸻

In a dark cell, tucked deep within the tomb-esque walls of Ulurock, Medea Midas opened her eyes. She touched the decadent stone pendant hanging from her neck. They will come for her. It was only a matter of time.

And then, Morganna Leto, she will have her revenge.

The guard stationed outside the cell shivered as the woman's haunting laughter echoed down the hall.

End of Chapter

⸻Author's Note⸻

If it wasn't already obvious, Straya Island is based off of Australia. I know in canon that the Clover Kingdom had a prison located in the Capital, but the idea of a penal colony island was too good to pass up. In this story, the Royal Capital Prison is more for holding suspects awaiting trial, and after sentencing prisoners are transferred to Ulurock (inspired by Uluru, duh).

It might be kinda weird to start the story with an original/non-canon arc set in an original/non-canon place, but I promise that Straya Island will be an important and recurring setting as things progress.

Fun Fact: One of my personal goals for this story is to have a fight scene in every chapter. It shouldn't be too hard.

Coruscatingly Yours,

A Horseshoe Crab

Chapter Word Count: 5,603

Arc Word Count: 11,448

Story Word Count: 11,448