Author's Note: Day 5
All things considered: Angelica had the best sleep of her life. She didn't even suffer the usual hot flash of her mana flaring up while she slept necessitating that she sleep naked, she even had to pull on a blanket in the middle of the night to stay warm as unbelievable the notion was. She wished that her day was shaping up the same way.
The First thing Angelica did after she got dressed that morning was to call an emergency meeting of her various followers to discuss the duel and round up possible candidates to participate. Sitting inside of her usual class room was only Angelica herself and Olivia, the two Demonic Maids Left and Right had prepared too much coffee and sweets for just four people. Angelica let out a sigh. If there was anything this mess of a situation had told her then it showed her who she could and could not rely on going forward.
"Sorry I'm late!" The door was opened as a new group entered the class room. "I had to pick up a few things."
Leon led the way as new groups of people entered the class room. At the front a Blonde haired girl with a streak of pink dye going through her hair and a chewed up tooth pick in her mouth.
"I heard this is the gathering place for people with a grudge against the five heirs?" Sarah Fia Winchester asked looking around at the barren room.
"Go ahead, it seems we have some openings available." Angelica indicated the table to the left of the room, where Sarah and her Posse sat. After Sarah was a mousy brown haired girl with large round glasses.
"I apologise that we couldn't meet under better circumstances lady Angelica." Jillian Fou Patton stated as she bowed to the Duchess.
"I'm sorry I didn't take the initiative to meet sooner." Angelica explained as she indicated the table on the right side of the room.
The third party came as a legitimate surprise to Angelica, not because of who they were but the state that they were in, an orange haired girl using a tissue to wipe tears from her eyes, Clarice Fia Atlee.
"Clarice?" Angelica stood up and walked over to Clarice's side. "What happened?"
"Jilk just broke up with her." A dark skinned man with a streak of red through his hair explained doing his best to support Clarice, Dan is what Angelica recalls Clarice calling him before. "We didn't even know about Marie until the riot yesterday." Angelica breathed a sigh of exasperation.
"Left. Would you mind taking her somewhere private until she's ready to join the meeting proper?" Angelica asked looking to the demonic maid in question. Left nodded silently and led Clarice away. Angelica paused at the door as if waiting expectantly for someone.
"Offrey isn't coming." Sarah stated bluntly waving her hand around. "Bitch probably happy to be separated from Brad, the way I hear she treated him."
"Right we should start with the obvious." Angelica sat down back her seat as she noted the gathered group. "Who here is willing and able to fight the Crown Prince and his entourage?"
"We are willing but Lady Clarice has expressly forbidden us from harming Jilk." Dan explained as he let out a sigh. This was understandable, whereas the others had known about Marie's whorish actions since the school year started Clarice had only yesterday and today to process the fact that the love of her life was cheating on her. Angelica could only let out a sigh of exasperation as she held her hand on her face, she turned her attention to Sarah's group.
"Greg beats up my followers for his amusement, if he uses the armour I gifted to him then they wouldn't stand a chance." Sarah was the daughter of an arms and armour manufacturer after all, they should safely assume that Greg has one of the best armours in the kingdom. "I could hire a mercenary if that's an option."
"It would make us look bad if we called on help outside of the Academy." Angelica let out a sigh. "Especially since Julius has already accused me of using my authority to separate him from Marie."
Next was Jillian.
"Well that takes calling on my father's men for help off the table too." Jillian didn't even have any followers, she was a commoner born girl who only got into the academy because her father is really good at commanding people.
"I'll do it." Leon stated raising his hand into the air. Angelica silently pondered the situation. Leon had the solid tactical awareness to not only beat that demon from the dungeon but also predicted the influence it would've gathered had they not killed it. Not only that but he could fight both Greg and Chris to a stand still and she's already seen the potency of his magic in a fight. There was one condition that still needed to be met though.
Modern Magic Armour borrows heavily from old human technology, through reverse engineering and trial & error Newmans have been able to build a crude approximation of the armours of old, though the quality is vastly inferior.
In lieu of a digital control unit Magic Armour makes use of an analogue gear based unit enhanced by magical jewels containing spell formula to aid in the control and operation of the unit Ala Babbage's Analytical Engine, dubbed a 'Magic Circle Box.'
In lieu of jointed servo-motors and hydraulics to operate the arms and legs of the unit the limbs of the machine is instead powered by internal musculature composed of strands of mana conductive crystal designed specifically to channel the power of support type magic controlled by the Magic Circle Box and the Newman pilot in order operate in the same capacity as a Newman, 'Mana Crystal Tissue.'
In lieu of a Nuclear Thorium battery or even a Solar Accumulator plus Lithium Battery capacitor the entire country instead has to import Alzeran mana crystals in order to provide an extremely limited supply of magical energy.
Most aggravating of all is your means of propulsion. What you call Float Stone in the time of my creators would've been known Unobtainium, a room Temperature Super Conductor, when faced with the strong magnetic current from the high mana atmosphere of the planet it's electrons becomes fixed, essentially remaining locked in position wherever it is left in relation to the magnetic field unaffected by Gravity but otherwise still able to be moved around by an outside force. With the amount the size of a thumbtack I could build the most powerful Quantum Super Computer to ever exist, with the amount inside of your average armour I could power the entire City ten times over. And the best use that you can think of for it is keep your armours and ships from sinking out of the sky.
A Missive from Work Shop Da Vinci to the Holfort Royal family.
"Do you have armour?" Angelica had picked Armours specifically as a way to avoid accusations that she was cutting down on the number of enemy combatants, after all Chris and Greg's aversion to magic was well known, as was Brad's lack of ability in close quarters. At the time she was expecting her followers, her friends, to stand up for her in her defence. The entire Duel was practically a farce, unlike the heirs Angelica didn't bet anything aside from having to drop whatever charges they imagined she laid against Marie. But not fighting would make her bleed in a sea of sharks.
"I do, but I'd rather not use it if I don't have to." Leon stated tapping his fingers on the desk. The others stared at him brows cocked. "I disagree with it."
Angelica blinked a few times before turning her head to Sarah.
"I'll have the best armour we've ever built sent straight over." Sarah stated cockily, a Cheshire grin on her face.
"Then in the mean time we have another matter we must attend to. Our impending midterms."
Before anyone had realised two months had flown by, in another two weeks would be the end of term tests. The fact that Leon was the one struggling the most with the content did not inspire confidence, but this was the same man who had also gotten the best Adventuring class marks because he spent every night inside the dungeon hunting angels. Luckily Olivia was eager to pay Leon back for his magic Study guide. Then Mere days from the day of the duel's declaration, a package arrived from the Winchester's factory, an armour with all the latest and best technology. The Crystal muscle tissue was thrice as dense as an average armour by virtue of a weaving technique to make it into rope. The Armour's shell was made out of a ultra light weight and strong material smelted from a very specific combination of dungeon materials. Each of it's weapons were designed specifically to disable each of the enemy armours without killing their pilots. And all of it so complete and utterly...
"Yeouch!"
Useless.
When Leon tries to sync to the armour he gets zapped, sparked, lines of electricity comes out of the suit itself and goes directly into his body. Leon was sprawled out on the ground as Olivia treated his injuries while the other girls stood around him looking down.
"At a peak of curiosity, are you a demi-human?" Sarah asked looking at Leon's pathetic form.
"It would explain it..." Jillian looked up and down at Leon's freakishly long proportions.
"No I'm not a Demi-human!" Leon snapped as he got into a seated position.
"If not a Demi-human than a Hybrid." Sarah stated letting out a sigh.
"This is a disaster." Angelica stated all but ready to smack herself in the face at this newest development.
"Um..." Olivia looked around at the concerned faces of the noble girls. "Am I missing something?" As one, they all looked at Olivia at the same time with a scathing glare.
"Magic armour is designed specifically to synchronise with the internal magic jewels of a human." Sarah stated bluntly. "A demi-human's internal anatomy is completely different from ours. Is this what you meant when you said that your armour 'disagrees with you?' It would've been nice to know that you can't pilot armours before we hedged our victory on you!" Ignoring Sarah Leon abruptly stood up and walked off.
"Excuse me I have to go see a broken cuckoo clock about some armour." Saying that Leon began making his way back to his dorm room.
Said door had some rather crude and unflattering words and images written over it, and someone had taken a crow bar to the door itself. The light scent of dung wafted in their and Leon suspected it was only going to get worse. It appears that Angelica's private meeting room wasn't so private after all. Letting out a sigh Leon opened the door and was greeted by the sight of five students with their heads locked in the jaws of the Hounds of Baskerville, the light scent of seared flesh indicating how close the flaming headed beasts had come to permanently disfiguring the individuals in question.
"I don't have time for this, take them outside, and make sure they clean their scrawl off of my door." Leon instructed his patience with this school having hit an all time low. The five mutts were dragged out of the room by the Hounds, a small scream echoed out later indicating that one tried to escape but Leon ignored them. Instead his attention landed on the Clock. "How much do you know?" As Leon asked he could swear he saw the clock grinning at him.
The girls had gone back to the meeting room, where Left and Right were under going their interrogation at the hands of Angelica.
"What is the deal with this Mystery armour?" Angelica naturally chose to cut strait to the point.
"It's a demon." Left stated as if it was obvious.
"The Armour's a demon?" Olivia parroted the statement in confusion as Left and Right both glared at her.
"His weapons are Demons, his pets are Demons, we're Demons!" Right snapped as if it should be obvious. "All of the Umbran Clan Techniques revolve around the summoning and binding of demons for different tasks!"
"There's magic for summoning hot girls?" Sarah questioned brow cocked in the air and a perverse look on her face. "How exactly does one learn this magic?"
"So what is it about this demon that has him upset?" Angelica steered the topic back on track.
Umbran Clock Tower: A clock tower and symbol of the Umbra that once stood proudly on the cliffs on the edge of Vigrid, quietly keeping time as the world turned.
During the Great War between the Umbra Witches and the Lumen Sages 1500 years ago, the tower was knocked over and into a pit by attacking angels, with the Umbran Elder and several other witches who were defending the tower still inside.
The witches and the tower all plunged into Inferno, and the souls of the witches merged with the wreckage of the tower, which was ultimately reborn as a cursed fortress.
The structure is full of countless weapons, seemingly manifestations of the witches' lingering resentment, and any being that approaches is instantly greeted and decimated by them. Because it is a building, it cannot move from the location where it appears, but its nigh-impenetrable walls offer the most solid defence in Inferno.
Lemegeton's Guidebook of Demons
"...it's called the Umbran Clock Tower. The Clan has had it's ups and downs, at one point in time it was based in a clock tower, up until the tower itself was destroyed, with most of the clan inside of it. Upon their arrival in Inferno, they fused together with the demonic magic of the clock into one singular entity." Left explained bluntly. "Before that though? Leon's grand mother slept with someone she shouldn't have, his Mum was the result of that affair, as punishment mother was separated from child and locked in a cage for the entire childhood of the daughter. Apparently a unanimous decision from the clan itself." Left explained to the horror of Olivia.
"From what I heard they only let her out when the Clock Tower itself was being directly threatened, before shoving weapons into her hands and telling her to go fight to defend them." Right explained bluntly. "Notably, the weapons in question were considerably weakened from their full power, almost as if they were planning on using the battle itself as an excuse to kill her."
"That's horrible!" Olivia stated eyes wide in shock. Even the normally crass Sarah was a little disturbed by the story. "They actually let that thing roam free?"
"It's a demon, it's been bound like any other." Left stated shrugging her shoulders.
"A very strict demon." Right followed up. "It's been tasked as Leon's minder until he finishes his schooling here. Perhaps his Mum has forgiven the people it used to be, but Leon hasn't and I doubt he ever will."
"And he has to convince this creature to help us?" Angelica asked brow cocked in suspicion. The two maids nodded their heads in the affirmative.
"Oh this is rich!" Leon could tell that the clock was enjoying itself, it's hard to imagine a broken Cuckoo Clock being so expressive, he guessed it had something to do with all the extra voices it spoke with. "You lost your temper again, decided that you want to go on a rampage again, only you can't because you are on a leash, and you want me to let you off?" Leon wondered if this is what Grandma Rosa felt like when she was being tormented by these witches. "Not only that, but you are actively asking me to participate in the rampage?" The Clock started laughing again.
"I was sent here to make connections-"
"You were sent here to learn self restraint!" The Clock snapped bluntly. "So far I don't see any sign of it!"
"-and right now there are four prime connections waiting to be made in this nation's industry, Military, Economy and Politics, and you want me to let them go to what? Spite me?"
"Spite you?" Leon somehow imagined the clock trying to leap off of the wall to get into his face. "You and your siblings are the last best hope for this world as a whole and the Umbran Clan specifically! You miserable few carry the last of the Clan Chieftain's blood, the secrets of the Umbran witches and the very fibre of your being carries so much demonic power we want to gobble you up right now! And We despise you and your entire family! If not for your whore of a grandmother your entire accursed Bloodline would never exist! The Witch war would have never come to pass! And the Eyes of the World would still exist! Our clan has one sacred duty-"
"And you screwed it up!" Leon only has so much patience to waste on a stupid clock like this that can't even tell time. "The carrier of the Left Eye of the World got locked away in a cage unable to train or maintain her abilities! Then when the enemy was at the gates you threw her at them! The carrier of the Right Eye got exiled and went down on the war path starting the whole bloody conflict to rescue his family! The one that came after was abandoned by the clan and had to be trained by an outcast, who then tried to kill her! You are entirely to blame for your own situation!" Leon stood up and walked forward as he glared face to face with the accursed clock. The entire argument was heard from outside of the room by the vandals, they felt compelled to leave but the growling dogs from hell were making things difficult.
BREAKING NEWS: FOUNDING HEIRS CHALLENGE DUCHESS REDGRAVE TO DUEL!
Earlier this week following a heated argument between the Crown Prince Julius Rapha Holfort and his Fiance Angelica Rapha Redgrave the Crown Prince challenged the Duchess to a duel! Witnesses within the Academy report that the Prince accused the Duchess of having his Lover, one Marie Fou Lafan, whom he also identified as the Rumoured Saintess Candidate, arrested on false charges! The Duchess has denied the accusation, Stating that Viscountess Lafan has been taken into the custody of the royal family the affairs of whom are reportedly 'No longer of any concern to' the Duchess. The terms of the duel are simple, should the prince and his entourage win then Duchess Angelica will drop all charges against Viscountess Lafan and have her released immediately, should the Duchess Champion win then the Prince alongside his fellow champions will be disinherited. The Remaining four heirs of the Five Founding Families Brad Fou Field, Greg Fou Seburg, Chris Fia Arclight and Jilk Fia Marmoria have also volunteered to serve as Champions alongside the Crown Prince. Reports from within the school proper states that Newly Promoted Baron Leon Fou Blackmore will be acting as sole champion for the Duchess Redgrave. Students report witnessing an Armour produced by the Winchester Family being delivered to and tested by the Baron to sub standard results. It is a sad day indeed for the reputable Redgrave Family for such an appalling champion to be the only one to come to their aid!?
Excerpt from the Daily Adventurer Newspaper
The Girls were inside of the room again, seated around a singular newspaper with the day's headlines on it.
"So just as planned then?" Angelica asked looking at the rest of the girls.
"Correct." Jillian's glasses shined as she adjusted them. The Girls knew for a fact that Jilk was a rotten schemer, he already sent a bunch of lower ranked students to trash Leon's room after all, so the only way to make sure that he doesn't sabotage them is to make him think that said sabotage was unnecessary, or failing that draw his attention to the wrong armour. "It does raise the more serious issue though." Jillian had not neglected the elephant in the room as her attention turns to Olivia. "What about Leon's demon?" Olivia looked down for a few moments.
"It'll help." Olivia got the jist of the screaming match Leon had with his clock from the five that were outside cleaning the hallway. "He's not happy."
"And what price has he paid for this creature's assistance?" Sarah asked suspicious, the deals with demons from rumour and myth always carry a heavy price.
"Winter Break." Olivia stated bluntly, a heavy silence was pulled over the meeting. "For the Entire Winter Break Leon has to do whatever the Clock says."
"That's it? I expected more talk about selling his soul?" Sarah gave a rather crass remark.
"It's more of a loan really." Leon explained as he entered the doorway. "How's she doing?" To Leon's comment the group's attention was turned to Clarice, who was apparently given something to help her to sleep and was now passed out on the couch along with that Dan guy watching over her.
"I've seen better." Angelica stated simply. "You helped me out of a similar funk, if you could do the same for her." Leon looked at Clarice, his icy blue eyes turning red for a moment.
"She's depressed, not possessed." Leon replied bluntly. "She needs therapy not an exorcism."
Small Miracles.
"Olivia gave us the bluff notes for the meeting with the Clock." Angelica stated bluntly.
"Yeah. Got the Stingy pain in the rear to sweeten the pot." Leon attempted to look on the bright side, of spending his entire winter break enslaved to the demented whims of a malfunctioning Cuckoo Clock, there weren't many.
"How sweet?" Sarah asked intrigued resting her chin on her fist.
"Since I doubt I'm going to be able to give Julius the remaining 1534 punches that I owe him-"
"Wasn't it 999 before?"
"I'll have to settle for creating such a massive spectacle that he and his fellow boy toys are left utterly humiliated with anything resembling the respect or dignity they once had ground to dust and left to the mercy of the public." Leon stated as he let out a put upon sigh. "My god father prepared 500 platinum for me to serve as the starting seed of my business, I spoke to the book keepers today and bet every last Dia on myself." The girls collectively winced at that. "Currently the odds are set to two thousand to one. When I win I will get 2000 times my payout back to me." The Girls collectively winced at that, again.
"Leon you shouldn't gamble!" Olivia scolded Leon like she was chastising a puppy for peeing on the carpet instead of wagging her finger at her social superior.
"I woke up this morning to garbage blocking my door Olivia." Leon stated in no uncertain terms. "Me and the Twins had to take it out by ourselves. Horse dung has been ground into the carpet outside my room and death threats have been graffiti all over the hallway." Leon had an emotionless thousand yard stare. "I was ambushed on my way over here by a group of demi-human servants." The Warlock threw a fistful of teeth onto the table between the girls. "I have been threatened, harassed, attacked and I smell like horse butt. I owe the fine people of this school at least this much! I won't even mention the emotional ship wreck over there." Leon finished his tirade by indicating Clarice.
"I have no doubt that each of the heirs will say something exceptionally incriminating after each of their defeats." If Leon wasn't even going to act like they were going to lose then they might as well plan around that. "Take their hypocracy and throw it back into their faces, emphasise their lack of maturity." Jillian explained as she adjusted her glasses. "Let's take every ounce of the bile and hate that the student body is going to throw at you, and let's have them dump all of it on the Five Fools instead." Leon snorted in amusement.
"Oh I like this one!"
"If you don't want him I'll take him." Sarah chose this moment to pipe up. Angelica gave a dead pan stare at that, ruined slightly by her light blush.
"Thank you Sarah, that's all I needed a reminder about my love life."
Mylene sat in her office, staring down at the Daily Adventurer newspaper, and the story it had in place defaming the Redgrave family, 'exposing' Marie as the saintess and announcing to the whole city the duel.
"My son is an idiot." Mylene had no words to defend herself or her family, nothing that can be possibly said to appease the man in front of her. "He has cut himself off from the royal palace and thrown himself into preparations for the duel."
"What does he have to prepare exactly?" Vincent snapped glaring balefully. "He doesn't know how to perform maintenance on his armour! He clearly doesn't need to recruit any more help!"
"Until the day of the duel he and the other four heirs intend to continue to train and maintain their skills." Mylene replied as she let out a sigh.
"And Mister Lucas?" Vincent asked short and tart, over all he was being more reasonable than his son, Vincent had to seal off Gilbert's armour in order to keep him from personally volunteering to be Angelica's champion. Despite how cross he was with the Royal family he was doing them the favour of letting them clean up their own mess. "According to rumours he is serving as witness to the terms of the duel."
"There is little that I, a humble tea master and civilian, can do in the face of the crown prince." Lucas picked that moment to make his presence known. "I was able to give young Angelica one week to prepare her champion."
"And look at how well that is doing!?" Vincent asked as he held up a newspaper for the tea master to read informing him of the situation.
"So I've heard." Lucas stated letting out a sigh. "I have news that neither her majesty or Master Vincent are not going to like to hear concerning young Angelica's champion."
Before anyone realised it, a week had gone past and the day of the duel arrived. Five machines were waiting inside of the open arena that was in the middle of the city. Normally reserved for the entertainment of the various nobility, today was nothing but packed seats as the entire capital came to watch the fate of the Kingdom unfold. Both sides had VIP seats prepared, in Julius's corner was the Queen, along with a woman who could've been the pope the way that she was dressed and the king.
In the other Corner were Angelica, Olivia, Clarice, Jillian and Sarah.
"Are you kidding me!?" Sarah was lamenting her rotten luck.
The Armour she had prepared for Greg was state of the art, only on par with the one she had prepared for Leon. It was also not here. Instead standing out in the middle of the fighting field on the side of the prince and his entourage directly behind Greg was a heavily out-dated Kardatolle model of armour, it's entire body covered in a spider web pattern of welded cracks from the repeated repair jobs done to it over the years. Not only was the technology inside heavily out of date, Greg had taken such poor care of it that it'll fall apart at the slightest love tap. Sarah didn't know why Greg was using the old piece of garbage, though she felt both confused, disappointed and excited. Mostly though she was upset that she lost the chance to have one of her followers beat Greg in his smug face.
"Kick that loser's ass Leon!" Clarice at least looked like she felt better, The Bottle of jack in her hand and her flush face were good indicators why though.
"For the love of he's not even out..." As she was talking Jillian saw the same thing Clarice saw. "Oh."
Leon was dressed in black, the usual pilot's suit was worn underneath a leather Biker's jacket and a pair of Cattle Slacks, a small device was attached to the side of his head most likely a microphone. He was also without his armour.
"Where's your armour Blackmore!?" Julius shouted pointing a finger at Leon accusingly. Leon snapped his fingers twice into his Microphone, the sound echoed across the entire arena, the device using magic to amplify its sound.
"Kneel!" Leon used a single finger to point down at his feet as the demand echoed throughout the arena.
"Excuse me!?" Julius asked a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"For the past week I have received continuous harassment from either your subordinates or those acting on your behalf! When your precious Marie was being harassed by Angelica's followers you went to her and demanded an apology!" Leon snarled as he glared dead ahead, finger indicating the dirt beneath his feet still in the air. "Stick your noses on the ground or I will do so for you!"
"You and what Armour!?" Jilk snapped eyes already gloating their victory. Suddenly music started to play in the arena, an entire orchestra by the sounds of things from every dark corner in the arena.
"It seems that Leon has been to Alzer before." Angelica commented and couldn't help but smirk, familiar with their infamous electronics.
The sky above the arena was blotted out as a huge Kilometre long sky ship parked above the arena, the one thing that everyone who could see the full length of the beast thought was 'Why does that ship have a clock on it?' the second thing they thought was 'And why is the time on it wrong?' The bottom of the massive warship opened up, from which a single light was projected from the kilometre long monster all the way to the ground. From the ship a single armour was lowered, a hulking beast at least two of its competitors combined wide and one in a half tall, painted in black. There was no head as with more common armours, instead a large dark dome occupied the entire upper torso. Both of its arms end in a multi-barrelled machine gun, with three part grasper claws playing at being fingers while the legs consisted of backwards bending hefty mechanical legs ending in three mechanical toes. Most notable of all, the large crescent moon shaped fin on the back, a thruster mounted in the middle of the crescent was sticking out from behind. As the machine was dropped onto the ground it reached from behind and pulled out a weapon for Melee: A combat shovel. Then as quickly as it had appeared the ship that had transported the armour there had disappeared again, passing through some kind of massive magic formation like a doorway to another place.
"Mine!"
Review Section:
Rodvek97: I wondered about that myself. I've seen concept art for Angie indicating that she's at least proficient with armour but she never steps up to use it herself.
RonaldM40196867: Why not? Humans and Humanoid demons can breed with each other, theoretically the same is true for angels, so why not with each other?
RedRat8: 'The Prince Misled us! He told us he needed help finding Miss Angelica! We didn't know that he was on a witch hunt!' Said the kids to their parents.
PCHeiintz72: It's almost as if Julius is a stupid, sheltered brat who has already decided that Angelica is the source of all his problems and thus defeating her will resolve them... oh wait! Considering he already rounded up a mob to lynch her not giving him a safe way of diffusing the situation would result in him escalating the situation beyond anyone's control, nor did Lucas want to enable him to do anymore damage than he already was going to do. Angelica didn't assume that Leon would be the only one to come to her defence here, at the time she had several male followers whom she knows has armour, and as explained above it's the only mode of combat the Five Fools have in common. Luxion will never work for Julius, and luckily for him he doesn't have to either.