"Stay out of this!" Blade barked at the Professor with such fervour her chest burned. She summoned some darts above herself and they rained down on those vines that kept her down as she strengthed her body not scratching her skin even once. Her aim was impeccable as the glistening shards tried to cut her free.
"Professor…" Nebula couldn't believe her eyes, he had come out of nowhere. 'I should have noticed him! Fuck! Why… just why!?' The inferiority was gnawing at her. Undecided. Of course, she wanted him gone. THEY were talking. The Professor hadn't been invited to the party. She ground her teeth as the tree wound around her and let her sink in deeper as if she were stuck in some bubble gum. 'Since when is everything a damn Cloud Tower?! How is he doing that?! Shit! Why does everyone else…?' She lost herself in her doubts.
Palladium raised his hand and each finger curled in slowly to tighten the grip of the vines. 'My word…' He was losing his patients with both of them. One froze up like a baby Beetledeer the other a raging digmole. A harsh scolding was in order, attacking each other like that with no safeguards and he had thought Blade and Mercury were a pain to reel in. 'Not to mention they are on probation cause of the PSI protocols…great… Edean will love this…' He was semi-sure considering the feed they had just a friendly discussion Joined Track style.
Blade kept struggling, "Get lost! I have some sense to pound into her!" She glared at those damn vines she just couldn't escape. Palladium's collected demeanour was infuriating. It was by the flick of his finger… he could have saved him… he…' She tried to take over the spell as she pumped some magic into it.
"Language!" Palladium promptly countered with more magic. 'We expected as much… they were too quiet in Shanna's group session… great. The others will take a few minutes…' He wanted to help Blade, both of them. The guilt was eating them up. Avalon's advice came to mind. Blade always was handled best when given enough leash to rampage and then tighten it with some wisdom for life once she was tired out and ready to listen. 'Nebula might just… hm… can't let them both fight…If it's PSI after all I won't hear the end of it. Alright, a slight adjustment. Time for me to have A TALK. Avalon always complains that I skip out on those.' Blade was still cursing under her breath, trying to get a better few where she could land some shots. An ever-so-tiny smirk rushed over his lips as he broke his silence again. "I think not," he reaffirmed after a nother nagging to let her go. With a certain finality, he declined and accepted the challenge before him. His hand prompted up at his hips, a bit of theatrics never hurt.
Blade struggled again and again to get up wasting her magic weapons. At this rate, she'd be stuck till her magic ran out. Yet then there was the slightest tare in one of the big vines that as right next to a stuck dart. She simply needed to place them right. "I DON'T NEED A BABYSITTER!" She growled and adjusted the trajectory. Finally, those stupid vines gave in under her darts' sharp edges. 'Of course, he was sent! Of course… too weak… too incompetent…' Her white darts cut through the vine, but Palladium saw through her plan and reacted accordingly. His vines clutched around the darts and crushed them as others retired her. It was so vexing. Shortly she halted her attacks. If she'd sick more darts around herself than vines at one point they all could be snapped at once.
Paciently Palladium had waited for her to be less feral and use more of her brain, "Babysitter?" Palladium raised an eyebrow if all of this wasn't so heart-breaking he'd laughed. He was a Professor, not a babysitter – theoretically. Sadly, currently one could make the opposite case. 'Why does she always throw out simple etiquette? Well, at least she calmed down. Don't get what's so hard, having a talk is easy, Avalon.' Suddenly, Palladium felt the magic built up above Blade and a barrage of darts shot down upon her. A simple and obvious choice of action. 'Seriously?! That girl…' Blade truly wanted a fight, no matter what. 'No wonder Avalon clashed swords with her…anything less…ahhh,' with a sigh he acknowledged the logic Avalon found in his peculiar way of handling their special students.
"You…" Under her teeth, the breath came forth like a sharp edge. Blade unhindered by Palladium shot down her hail and with one jump got up to her feet, panting, 'He let me! Shit. I can't do anything when outmatched. Nothing!' Her dagger reaching for Mercury's throat flashed up before her eyes. She bit her lip, she had to concentrate or she'd be tied to the ground in no time.
Palladium put on a smug face pushing the girl's buttons a bit further, which would help to drain her magic faster. If he had to do it, he'd do it right. "If you want a babysitter, I'll oblige this once. Land a hit, I'll leave you to your 'talk'. How does that 'game' sound? I already called for early pick up from kindergarten." Still, Palladium couldn't help himself to correct her etiquette blunder, "If you don't land a single hit, it's back to Professor and detention. There is a limit to addressing us so freely, Ms Ashfallow. I am first and foremost a Professor and you two are students of Alfea, we have standards." He made his offer and let her catch her breath just a bit.
Nebula startled by the sound of ripping vines had watched how Blade had jumped to her feet. She was confused, she couldn't figure out how to escape that tree. And Blade succeeded where she failed with all her magic. 'How did-?' Yet the challenge stopped her circling thoughts, 'He's… teaching? Now?' She had expected him to go on a rant about conduct and rules and… world piece or something. He wasn't the one to offer a fight.
'Really… That exercise?! Urgh,' Blade bit her lip harder. He could phrase it however he wanted this was a lesson, obviously. The thought disappeared as quickly as it came. She saw that damn smirk of his—the one that vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving one to wonder if they had imagined it.
Of course, Blade would meet his challenge. Professor Palladium could see it in her eyes. He focused, drawing his leg back in a half circle. His green vest was without a wrinkle as he took his stance. "Light Sword," one hand on his back as the other snatched his magic sabre. A quick look around. The trees were close to each other but not too close. This would need his full attention or Blade, both of them, wouldn't feel taken seriously. 'Well then, talk to me,' a steeling gaze as he locked on to Blade indeed one could talk through trading blows, sometimes more than with words. Nebula didn't seem to resist his tree grapple at least for now. It was a perfect setup. After their encounter with the Reapers a reality check was in order… and maybe the truth. Faragonda hadn't decided to tell them so far. It clearly was backfiring on them. "Now, are you going to grow roots?" His golden sabre edge shimmered as the silver guard reflected the magic light beaming from it. With a swish he cut through the air and from him outwards a gust fanned out. The magic pressure Palladium created was palpable.
Blade's skin prickled in awe and exhilaration as her dreadlocks waved in the draft. "I hold you to that – Professor," she snarled. Her hands reached out behind grasping for her light magic darts that were still intact dashed forward. She slammed her hands to the front and shot the darts past her as she made a hard break at a fitting spot to prepare herself.
Unimpressed Palladium sidestepped the darts for the most part. As he danced on the spot his golden hair was like silk in his every move. Only those aiming for the dead centre he parried with his sabre. 'No head-on charge? Is she making progress or is timid?' He was a bit surprised, she loved rushing the enemy before they could recover. He took his stance again.
Blade's fists trembled. So vexing, 'Fine, want to play this this way, huh?' He was in the exact same spot as before like he simply had pressed the reset button. "Piercing Spear!" She summoned her own weapon right next to her. Ready to swoop it from the air just as he had.
"Desist!" In an instant, Palladium reached out, two fingers lifted from his sabre grip as he let the spear vanish into thin air. "You should be more careful where you summon those. Coolness only works if one is capable." Palladium remarked. Both girls had made their points to each other. Now it was his turn to help them understand each other and add some other lessons while at it, 'Sorry, Blade, I got two to teach, here.' He agreed if she couldn't use her weapons, she was in fact useless on the battlefield as a fighter. Nebula was blind to that truth. He felt Blade's frustration simmer all too clearly.
Nebula blinked in disbelief. 'He can do that!? But it was so close to her!' The tension was suffocating, this was bad for Blade. She knew that he could snatch flying spells. Now the question was if he could snatch it from her hand.' And if he can… others…' This was bad. Palladium made it so utterly clear to her.
Blade grimaced pissed, 'Again. Useless…' It was all written across her face. Half-frozen in place, her mind flooded by a storm of self-doubt. Her mind racing to find the perfect solution, the best tactic, if she stormed in… she'd just run out of magic. She'd hurt someone. Him. Nebula. 'Mer-' Palladium was too strong to beat if he went all out. She was unable to do anything - again.
Palladium watched her space out. 'Freezing up in battle is an even worse habit,' he went in for a dash, a quick spin. His free hand upfront, thrust, the hand connected with Blade's collarbones near the throat and with a decisive burst of magic sent her flying backwards against a tree. "…" He shook his head, she hadn't even reacted to him, not even a twitch in her muscles. "Maybe I should consider your request and indulge your wish to leave the Joined Track." He stated dryly. 'She's a mess…' It was good to see that she wasn't reckless, yet doing nothing was worse. Blade had that problem since day one. Less magic than anyone else. A fact. One she hadn't reconciled with, not truly, she kept falling for the same doubts over and over. If she would let that self-doubt grow she'd leave the track eventually. He was sure about that. She had to outgrow that sentiment sooner than later.
Nebula flinched in phantom pain. Watched some leaves fall from the blue oak Blade had slammed into. "HER WHAT?!" Nebula wide-eyed stared at Blade. She had never said anything to her about that! 'Leaving!? But why? She's so strong. Stronger than me…' She couldn't even ball her fists right now, stuck in that stupid tree. Now, she truly was considering giving her a smackdown on her own.
Blade grunted. Her back burned from the impact. She caught her breath and pressed against the tree trunk to pull up, "I never said that…" She grumbled pissed but didn't look into Palladium's eyes. 'I can do this… I just need… I need…' She had no answer. The blue plating of Mercury's armour traced by his blood kept flashing up. Blade bit her tongue, 'Not. Now.' Her eyes went up to face Palladium. The Professor wasn't playing around. He was dead serious. She needed a good strategy, pronto. Or he'd truly throw her out. The thought irritated her, 'Can he? Wait. No. Or? Concentrate! … His word does carry weight. But, he'd never… Right?' She searched his eyes, but Professor Palladium was an enigma to her.
"Never said that? Are you sure? I regret to inform you, that your inaction speaks volumes, Blade," Professor Palladium replied coolheaded. Saw how she searched for the truth instead of keeping her head in the fight, if he'd take advantage now he'd injure her. "We don't say it out loud all the time, nonetheless not everyone is qualified to finish the Joined Track. That all depends on you," The Professor's calm sword stance only reflected his statement. He had to give Blade a few seconds. 'Maybe I'm laying it on a bit too t-' He jumped backwards as a phanto-sword with its burning red energy blade tried to connect.
Blade's eyes ablaze with that fearsome determination she was actually known for. "I'm not done!" She stormed at him. Her sword hit nothing but air in her relentless slashing. 'Think damn it!' Inaction. She never had done - nothing. Stand at the sidelines. How she hated that new side of her and yet she couldn't shake it.
Palladium danced around the Fairy poking her into joints and tipping her balance by pushing into them with his sabre pommel. 'My…no wonder she lost all matches today… what a poor form.' He had noticed it these past hours, up close compared to his form, it hurt to even watch her tumbling around. Her doubts were all too clear in every one of her missed swings. Undecided if she truly wanted to hit him. Or not. The fear of not being able to stop her weapon in time. Hurt him. Draw the blood of a friend. Even now when he was her opponent. Every slash was half-hearted in its follow-through. 'Blade…' She had screamed through the forest at Nebula. And she didn't understand. Never had experienced that.
"BLADE! GET A GRIP! BREATHE!" Nebula called out to her. Nebula was getting pissed. He was mocking Blade. 'This won't help her! She is strong!' And he proved her wrong. Or rather right in her stupidity of a self-view. Nebula tried to call upon her magic yet the tree absorbed anything she amassed. 'What!?' She glared at the bark as if that would set it on fire before her head ripped towards the Professor. He had done something to that tree. Something she hadn't noticed. Again.
"Plasma Sphere," Palladium created an orb in his free hand while he parried Blade's next blow with ease. Blade's own red phanto-sword nearly slipped her grasp as she crashed to the ground past him. The Professor let his sabre vanish as he took a jump back. His brown boots skitting over the forest ground. 'Maybe not the best idea to have a sharp edge around those shaky knees.' He raised his hand challengingly as the yellow-greenish orb came to be, humming in a smooth rhythm reflecting his calm of mind. A sword was always sharp a spell's impact he could easily adjust.
Blade blocked the sphere that came rushing towards her with a clean swipe and the phanto-blade partially nullified the magic before the spell disintegrated at its edge. Such an obvious and slow shot. 'Damn it!' Blade knew she had screwed up there. The mockingly slow shot was laying that on thick. She shook her head trying to get some focus as she pulled up.
"You got to breathe!" Nebula tried her best to free herself yet the more she struggled to release magic she was gripped harder by the tree. "Fog Image!" She cast and her eyes widened. She couldn't project the magic away from her either. It simply didn't get through the bark.
Palladium smirked at her, "Why so scared, Nebula? You just said she's stronger than you. You'll only hold her back." He shrugged with his hands as if it couldn't be helped. It was priceless to see that face. That was a comment Nebula hadn't been ready for. "Plasma Sphere," Palladium created another one, this time it was tiny hovering at his fingertip. He had Nebula's attention, "You have no place in the Joined Track if you can't match to a commoner with next to no magic." He shot the tiny thing right at Nebula.
Blade growled and jumped right between it and Nebula. Her eyes were as sharp as a Giant Lightning Falcon. Her edge perfectly aligned as she split it. "Are you cra-!" She noticed too late that tiny speck of a Plasma Sphere exploded fiercely at impact. Her phanto-sword's edge shattered into a million pieces and threw her off her feet. Just in time she could connect with her hand on the ground and made a flick flack to land on her feet. "What?!" Bewildered she stared at the broken energy blade.
"BLADE!" Nebula shouted and ripped Blade from her daze. Nebula squinted her eyes together as the vines whipped through the air and barely missed her skin. The created air pressure caressed her skin. Blade just barely escaped being swiped off her feet a third time.
"Pierce!" Blade dashed to escape magic soaring through her muscles. Too far! Her hand clawed into the bark of a young pine and swung around it. She barely managed to align her spell. Hit right at the vines' emerging point. 'Get a grip damn it!' She was losing focus so often. Her attacks were half-assed. That way she'd never land a hit.
"Plasma Sphere," Professor Palladium raised his closed fist and opened up rapidly. Three spheres circled each other in that spell's unmistakable glow. Palladium leaned relaxed against another old blue-leafed oak. Yawned. "Now, let's see how many weapons you brought." He stretched his hand out towards Nebula, not Blade. "Better not run," he noted.
Blade fletched her teeth at him as she promptly pulled out the two phanto-axes she always had a pair with her in the belt pouch. A backup for Mercury or to get on his nerves during sparing. She fused magic into them afraid she'd lose those as well if she wouldn't fortify the axes. However, this time around, the orbs already vanished in proximity to their edges as the spell didn't have enough magi to withstand her magic aura.
"Oh, my mistake, I thought your senses were keen enough. Seems I was wrong. Maybe, you, leaving the Joined Track is the right choice. If you truly can't do anything without Snow that be a liability on missons. We can't always team you up with her." Palladium chuckled bemused. Blade had wasted magic there and she was always calculating so fiercely how to use even the slightest speck – if her head was in the game.
"Stop playing around!" Blade fuelled more magic into the axes and slashed through the air sending out Light Magic sickles. He read her like a child's book page by page. She could do nothing. NOTHING.
"Plasma Sphere!" Palladium's hands traced lines through the air in rapid succession following the sickles projection to a tee and in their wake, a bunch of spheres were created and shot out in the drawn line. Like a pearl neckless they smashed into the sickles and all the attacks went up in glistening smoke and thunder. "Ahhhh, what beautiful weather isn't it?" He raised his hand to the sky. Magic coursed around him like a raging storm before it shot upwards seemingly disappearing above him. It took a second before one saw dozens of Plasma Spheres forming.
Nebula stared at the sheer number. It was even more than she had created to break through Snow's ice wall. "By the Great Dragon…" It made her skin crawl. The air gusts that the magic created slightly bent the trees outwards. 'He only cast it once… and got so many!? But how? It's just one spell – how can he possibly make so many versions!?' She had never seen anything like it. Sure she managed maybe two or three at once when lucky and giving it her all. This. This was something else. 'Oh, crap.' She gulped she was still stuck in that tree. 'Blade can't stop all of those with Phanto-axes! And she can't use her magic weapons! He'll steal them! She needs back up!...' A realisation that was grand yet not helpful!
"Winx! CHARMIX! Spinning Chakrams!" Blade quickly drew on all she could muster of her depleted Light Magic. Formed as many weapons as she could. A half-panicked look over her shoulder towards Nebula, who hadn't managed to free herself. 'Has she even tried!?' Her friend was just dazzled by the power play, "Nebula!" Blade growled at her. Her heart pounded she could feel the sweat in her neck running down her spine. 'This is impossible for me to stop. What is the Professor thinking!?' Almost pleadingly she looked to Palladium. Resigning to her loss.
"You said you wanted to stay in the Joined Track. Proof yourself," Palladium answered indifferent yet neutral and let his hand swish down letting loose his barrage on the two girls. His hazelnut eyes fully concentrated on his attack and Blade. 'You can do this, Blade.' He was sure of it.
Blade ripped her arms around sending her Chakrams right into the fray. 'It's not enough!' Her heart skipped a beat. All those spheres were rushing in like a hail of arrows. Sometimes she got lucky and destroyed three with one chakram, sometimes hers shattered in proximity. Other times she missed targets as the orbs were so fast and she was simply overpowered by the sheer number in front of her. In her panic, she threw both axes to get those which had killed her magic in proximity. The hail wasn't ending though. 'I just can't! How am I?! UUURGHH!' She reached backwards as her Charmix faded and with it her Winx. "SHADION! Whirling Charkrams!" Instinctively she backed up with her Dark Magic.
"Watch out!" Nebula called out as she saw her friend struggle to keep up with coordinating her chakrams. Too late. One sphere hit her from the flank and sent her flying to the ground. The Professor was already creating more and sending them in as a follow-up. "Get up!" Nebula screamed as she saw all those spheres darting towards Blade. She had given up on freeing herself. She'd be her second pair of eyes instead as any magic she activated simply didn't make it through. The tree ate it all. The decision was too late. The second hail of Spheres was coming right at her. "Oh, crap…"
Blade spit out a leaf and some dirt. Her Chakrams lost mid-air without her control over them. Easily the Plasma Spheres made minced meat out of them. It didn't matter if Dark or Light. Obliterated. "NO!" Blade reached out. "SHATTER!" She roared eyes wide as she pulled up and rushed towards Nebula drawing a phanto-spear from her pouch.
A black and green streak of magic came crashing down from the sky like a pillar of darkness and doom. It hammered down right before Nebula. The closest Plasma Spheres collided triggering the dark and light reaction. The magic lit up. Everything was swallowed in a white flash. The heat prickled on their skin. The air pressed everyone back as the boom thundered and made their ears ring.
Nebula managed to blink again her eyes burning. The smell of burned leaves and scorched ground in her nose. She spotted Blade holding on for dear life to her newly pulled spear. She staggered to get up, stumbling, positioning in front of her again. "Blade…" She was relieved and astonished that Blade had managed to hold off the attack on her own, 'Incredible.' Yet there was no denying it. She was out of magic – already.
Palladium had a smile flit over his lips, "Seems like you have come a lot further than you give yourself credit for, Blade." He had not underestimated her capabilities at all. He also hadn't overestimated them either. "But our fight ends here. Hedera!" With a flick of his wrist, he bound her again and pulled her back to the ground. 'If she goes into rampage mode now Pallagis will have my head.'
Blade grunted as she tried to pull up but she was stitched to the forest floor. 'Done? NEVER,' Her fighting spirit finally flaring up. Her chest painting. Her throat was dry. She summoned darts to her side – but nothing appeared. She had run out of magic. Hadn't noticed that in her last ditch effort, her Shadion had also dissipated. 'What!? No. Shit. I- crap,' She bared her teeth at Palladium. He had played her like a fiddle. Still, there was a certain rush. She had held off that barrage just now. She had.
"You know," Professor Palladium started out as he relaxed his posture. Brushed off some dust from his sleeves and a leave of his shoulder. "You're both wrong. Plasma Spheres," Palladium cast some more that rotated behind his back in a circle ready to be fired. "One spell can be cast in plenty of ways. It's all about control," Palladium looked to Nebula and checked her over just in case. "And no first-year student could have blocked that attack." A glance to Blade on the ground who was back to her old self that would go on until she'd faint. "And yet, you're both right. You only can do so much, Blade, and by wasting your magic like this you indeed will not be able to save anyone. And you Nebula, currently only use Plasma Spheres as a projectile spell there are plenty of Light spells to choose from. However – you both have a lot of room to grow. We all fight for the same thing. And we all have blind spots and weaknesses that our friends or allies cover for. Not even Grandmaster Votzaak would indefinitely hold out alone against a… Reaper." He paused. Waited. The kids' eyes widened. "You all were incredibly lucky. And did everything right. The fault here lies with no one but the incapability of the Magic Council. It's been centuries now and the Reapers are still at large. Able to escape, again and again, to wreak havoc. They have claimed hundreds. Even the greatest wizard of the Black Magic Hunter Division fights in a team when facing off against them. There is safety within numbers. Strength. And the potential to see what the other can't, what we can't see in ourselves. We all can be right and wrong at the same time." His voice gave way to his compassionate self. "I am so glad. You all came back alive." A heavy breath escaped his lungs almost a sigh. 'Faragonda might have my head for this… oh, well, I'll survive - somehow.'
"Reapers…?" Both couldn't quite believe what they heard. Reapers were the guys people told horror stories about. And the stories were less vivid than the actual horrors they committed. Their puppet spell they had seen; or at least a fake version at the hearing. The chaos and destruction made one's skin crawl just thinking about it. People fighting people with no regard for life and no mind of their own. And the records… The mutilated victims they left in their wake in assassinations. Neither Blade nor Nebula knew what to answer. Lucky? They weren't just lucky. A miracle.
"Flaming blades!" Palladium got half a jumpscare and shot out his weapons, "Light barrier!" He had barely noticed the moving shadows and humming magic in time. A bunch of his burning swords shot in all directions and a shield went up around the three before he even realised who had joined them.
Weapons clashed, flickers of elemental weapon attacks. Iolas had a firm grip on the flaming sword aiming for his forehead. A silent calculating gaze at all three of them. Everyone tense.
"Are you crazy to sneak up on me like that!" Palladium scolded the Council Guard squad in its entirety. "I nearly-"
Iolas raised an eyebrow at the younger Elf. "Easy there, Professor. You're the one who called…remember…" A bit salty at the implication he crushed the flaming blade with his hand. The protective gauntlets absorbed any dispersing energy. 'As if I'd lose to him… youngsters… He didn't even manage the entrance exams for the Council Guard…'
'Ahhh, be nice. His reaction time was great – for a Professor,' Ilrune chuckled in their PSI chat. He was the fastest of them all and if he was pleased it meant something.
Zhoron sighed as he put away his sword, 'Why are you talking out loud, Iolas? I thought PSI protocols were in place. And what was that magic shoot-out? That wasn't an everyday explosion,' He was so confused. They had been so sure a real fight had broken out and the girls were under a mind hack. But the Professor clearly wasn't in danger or in a tight spot. Nor were the girls' minds controlled as far as he could grasp it. Though he couldn't read their thoughts without touch.
'Obviously a false alarm,' Arael answered the question. 'Why is he flashing off Plasma Spheres like a peacock?' He eyed the rotating orbs with some questionable expression. Everyone stayed straight-faced short of bursting into laughter. It made no sense and it was a waste of magic. A party trick. Spheres and Orbs were meant to be shot directly or they'd lose power over time unless one kept the magic flow up.
"So, who started the fight?" Iolas ignored that little display and the fact Palladium hadn't lowered the shield yet. "Don't tell me it was you, Professor." He tapped with his staff on the ground hijacked the Hedera spell and commanded nature to release Nebula from the tree. Nonetheless, he let the vines wrap around her like a straitjacket. Same with Blade yet left her in a sitting position on the ground.
Palladium of course felt that his spell was nicked from him. His intuition held against it shortly but his resistance had easily been broken in the blink of an eye, "Of course not. Blade did."
"I did not! I clearly aimed for air! That kick meant nothing," Blade protested promptly. The tension the vines created wasn't pleasant at all. She wiggled around within them. In no mood to be caged right now. However, her magic was so low that she had a hard time catching her breath in the restraints as it was.
"Yeah, we were talking!" Nebula took Blade's side. "It was all in good spirit… No need to call the cavalry." She blew her curly hair out of her face. Being in vines wasn't much of an improvement to being stuck in a tree.
Palladium gave them a stern face, "And WHAT did we say about fighting outside of classes for the probation time? You're still all under observation! This will have consequences either way."
"Hey! You were the one to start obliterating everything!" Nebula growled a bit pissed as Blade was still breathing heavily. Her eyes darting between her laced with some worry.
The Professor stared at her long and silent, "I taught a lesson. And what did I say about addressing me correctly? We're not in the Head Hunters." He couldn't believe it. The kids were getting a bit confused with all that switching titles not to mention the Sorceresses ignoring etiquette most of the time anyway. "Seems you better write an essay about what you just learned and what you want to be taught in future. And don't forget some notes for your next sessions with Shanna." He left no room for discussion. "Two thousand words." The girls rolled their eyes at him. "Three."
"Okay, okay, we're sorry…Professor," Blade gave in. It had been her fault because of Mercury. She shortly closed her eyes as that nagging guilt came to bite her again. She just had broken free of that curse and now with no distraction…
Virion stepped forward and walked towards Blade. Palladium finally dropped the shield as the healer wanted to check up on the two Fairies. "There you go…" Virion eased off the vines slightly. Shortly a hand on Blade's shoulder and he felt she was simply out of magic and exhausted. "Had a sleepless night?"
"I'm fine…" Blade didn't even look into his eyes. Her eyes fixed on the star moss to her feet. The pressure easing up helped more than she had expected.
"Mh, hmmmm," Virion didn't believe her a second, 'She's-' He held onto the vine restraints and pulled Blade to her feet. There was no way around it either way. Edean had demanded to check anyone over if they acted out no matter how small.
'I know. We'll make two squads. Keryth, Thallan, Tolith and Dealeth you keep staying camouflaged. Ararel we'll split the party. You go on ahead with Nebula,' Iolas decided a short nod from everyone.
"Well, come on, Edean's waiting," Ararel walked towards Nebula. Sarlen and Ilrune flanked the girl and held on to the vines restraining her.
"Oh, please, not grumpy head guy again…" Nebula pleaded, "We're fine and in control of our own minds. I promise. We just…got a bit into a… discussion." She tried her best to appease them.
"And we said no fighting. You break the rules, you earn the consequences, move out," Ararel gave the command and she got slightly picked up and they dashed up ahead towards Magix City.
Nebula moaned, "Oh, come on!" Her voice faded with the distance.
Palladium watched as they left, "Take care of them." He felt for the two. Yet even if unlikely no one would take the chance of a PSI command being left behind. "And Blade… remember, in our first fight you barely managed a Pierce spell and puked afterwards. You've come so far. I am proud to be your Professor and that you stayed. If you ever decide to leave... don't let it be because of self-doubt. We all do at times."
"I never said I want to leave the Joined Track…" Blade didn't understand why he was saying that again now. She was so confused about where he got the idea from. Like, he knew something she didn't.
Iolas tilted his head slightly. Blade's reaction spoke volumes, 'How hard did you push her, Professor?' He asked over PSI just as Zhoron connected him.
'She's the one going down that spiral. I call it as it is. You should have seen her form. Never have heard it scream so loud. Even with Jewels, she wasn't that kind of down…She had a bone to pick so she was pissed. Rightly so. Now she's-'
Iolas held a hand up to silence him, 'Got it. Well, you still have classes to attend. Thanks for calling. We'll take her back as well. And maybe next time… give a heads-up that you're blowing up the forest for fun. So, we don't go into stealth on approach. Wouldn't want to SCARE you again. I am fond of my forehead and I hate scratches on my helmet.' He gave the Professor a hard slap on the shoulder and shot a pinch of magic through his shoulder.
Palladium flinched under the grip. He hadn't noticed how tense he was. '…' A grim glare at Iolas, who had a bright grin on his face. That feeling made anyone's skin crawl. 'Thank you… I'll remember it.' He stepped back to massage the spot to counter that strange feeling left behind and tried to relax. He could fool the kids, not an Elf double his age. Palladium was always worried sick for all of them. Always. The downsides of being a Professor. The revelation that the Reapers had crossed their students' path - unthinkable. Reapers were nothing to laugh at and they could have lost all of them that day. Something that even left him a bit sleepless these last two days. He could make as many illusion spells as he wanted to hide those red eyes of his.
Iolas looked deep into his eyes, 'Hey, if you need to talk. I'm here, Professor. This isn't just a pain to deal with for them. And it's been a while since y-'
Palladium rolled his eyes and straightened out his vest as he turned around a tiny bit offended, 'I already have one Avalon in my life… I don't commit to another know-it-all.' And vanished behind the tree line.
'I think you hit a soft spot,' Haldir chuckled in the PSI link as the Professor left it. 'At least you're a genius now as well. Avalon's getting some competition.' He couldn't help it. They joked around these last days nonstop. Their way of getting the stress out of their systems.
"Stop staring," Blade growled at Zhoron who kneeled before her. "I swear if you enter my mind I'll throw you out so fast you can't even say Yaggdrasor."
Zhoron shook his head, "Why do people always think so little of my PSI skills…? You two are underestimating me a lot…" He tucked at his tunic as he rose again staring into the direction of Ararel and the rest.
"Two? What do you mean two?" Blade was so lost. "Hey!" She nagged as Haldir took a good hold on that vine ribcage. "Remove that thing already. I can't do anything to you anyway…"
"Blade… You broke the rules this is protocol," Iolas explained as he refocused back on her after a quick chat with Virion. "And it's not to protect us. It's to protect you."
"That makes no sense, how am I safer when I can't even scratch my nose," Blade breathed out heavily.
Iolas ruffled her hair a bit, "Exactly my point, now, don't use magic to try and free yourself. Or you'll be cursing that you did. There are more protocols after all."
Magix City came in sight. Iolas's group had a slower pace as they stayed away from the first group and within Zhoron's PSI link range just in case trouble arose. The mission went smoothly and all arrived in one of the Council's compounds where Edean had been summoned to. To say Edean was pissed was an understatement. It took Edean less than a minute to confirm the two Ladies had been fighting purely by choice. Just to get the point across, he set the memory in a loop, where the kids had been drilled into NOT starting a fight during the live test. For an entire hour that two-minute speech rewinded in their heads. And of course, he was long gone when they 'awoke' from their little lesson.
On Edean's advice, Iolas took Blade for a stroll through the hallways. The silence was heavy. Every step echoed out. It was rather empty in this little building that was solely dedicated to work with Zaltora, School for Psychic Arts. Victims of PSI attacks weren't frequent, yet often enough that the Council Guard helped them out with security. And it kept problem cases from the school itself. So, beginners were not tempted or in danger.
Iolas eventually halted before a bigger stone door. A little magic and the stone sank into the ground with an inviting gesture he let Blade enter first.
Blade followed a few steps before she placed the plants that were in this little cave that was lit by Moonlight Crystals. "Medecin herbs…" She uttered under her breath. A bit confused she looked back at Iolas. "What are we doing here?" She officially broke the silence.
Iolas ignored her and simply made a little leap onto a bigger boulder and sat down. He took off the helmet and armoured gloves, and let them vanish. His blond ponytail swung gently as he stretched. Iolas focused on the sparkling cave ceiling like a night sky the crystal shards adorned the otherwise rough stone. He closed his eyes and honed in on the quiet stream that carved its way through the herbs.
Blade shook her head, "I'm not in the mood for another lesson…" She rubbed her forehead that one hour's repeat had given her a slight headache. Still, the beauty of this herb garden wasn't lost on her. Nor the picture-perfect sight of Iolas, his earthy green cape beneath him, the golden scale armour reflecting that moonlight shine. His sturdy dragon leather war skirt where the white tunic cloth draped over. What was most prominent though was the boots reflective of dragon wings and had several Red Jade crystals imbedded, which under this light weren't that shiny red but more of a calming deep red. She simply couldn't help herself and raced her arm with the bracelet adjusted the angle and clicked.
Iolas turned his head, "You should enjoy the real beauty not making an inferior copy." An ever so slight admonishment.
"Ah, you know, I can sell it for the Sorceressess' hot guys calendar, they are still searching to fill all the days of the year," Blade joked around, yet Iolas didn't quip back or even raise an eyebrow, which made this really uncomfortable. "Okay, okay, I'll delete it…" Blade mumbled already opening the folder.
"Blade." Iolas raised his voice and stopped her in her tracks, "Talk to me." He didn't look at her, didn't want to confront her; to push too hard.
Blade lowered her hand again the transparent windows from the bracelet vanishing, "There's nothing to talk about."
"Even nine hundred years can't prepare you for the battlefield," Iolas tried to help her open up. Yet she only turned her head to face some herbs staring at them and pushing him away.
"Seventeen," Iolas stated without rhyme or reason. His chest filled with a heavy sigh.
Blade hissed with spite, "I know I'm seventeen…I'm no child, thank you." She ground her teeth unwilling to talk. 'I know! I know… I'm allowed to screw up. That I don't know better!'She bit her lip so she wouldn't scream at him. She didn't want to hear it. Nothing was OKAY about this. All that cheering up didn't change anything. She had hurt Mercury and nothing, 'NOTHING will change that.' She clicked her tongue annoyed.
"Nym, he was the youngest of all seventeen so far. He was a jokester, always up for some fun, especially after hours. Has a little sister, she's about two hundred by now. Hates my guts," Iolas continued his face more solemn now as he closed his eyes. "He just made Armiger rank. He was overjoyed and eager, too eager. I didn't reign him in enough. I didn't want to stifle his enthusiasm. He rushed at a Golem. We were hunting traffickers, they had captured one from Lumenia. Without the light energy of the river, it went crazy. Rampaged, fell to darkness. Golems are immune to magic. Nym wasn't prepared. He got impaled by a splinter of the back crystal of the Golem." Iolas paused shortly. "There was nothing we could do for him. The crystal spread and transformed him into a corrupted Golem as well. I brought the ceiling down on him and he broke to pieces." He opened his eyes again.
Blade's breath caught, she froze up. That uneasy feeling that spread through her made her hair stand up. Her entire body tensed up.
"Hagduin," Iolas kept staring at the cave ceiling his voice filling with bitterness. "He was my first. We were both Equesters at the time. Our team ran into a Black Wizard on a random patrol. It was a bloody mess. That guy killed half of the team, leaders included, and we were the last two standing. Somehow we managed to overwhelm him. We were just confiscating the staff and about to tie him up when Hagduin grabbed the staff, got cursed, a trap. From the fight, our armour had been greatly damaged. The armour was unable to repel the spell. He slashed his sword at me. I don't even remember. I reacted so fast… He missed, I struck him down. I survived. He died. The Division Hunter Healer couldn't save him and resurrection was out of the question, he was cursed."
Blade just stood there. Unmoving. Her lips trembling. Tears graced her cheeks as they ran down the chin line and fell to the ground in a silent echo. All those moments of their fight, the split-second decisions. There she had just reacted not thought. Didn't have the time.
Iolas gulped so hard, and closed his eyes again as tears filled his, "The Darkar War, not more than forty years ago… Mythanar…my second in command before Ararel. The Council Guard went in to distract Darkar's armies so the Winx Club and Company of Light could reach Darkar in time to save Queen Bloom. It was a fierce battle we were prepared and had such a large force with us. Still, battles are unpredictable. The tunnel we were in collapsed. He rushed in to save people from another team. I hadn't even noticed, there was so much going on. I heard the crashing stones behind me. He was only laughing when he came out of the dust cloud. We were cut off from the main force. 'Makes us a better distraction' Mythanar made light of it. You can't connect to nature in those tunnels. Darkar's domain is absolute. It was only an hour later or so when his magic was beginning to fade that I picked up on it. He was badly wounded internally. Our healers were already spent and everything we had left on magic we needed to get up top again. Mythanar knew that. It would have been a gruesome death. He never would have made it. So, he asked me… … As he wished I burned his corpse took the ashes and brought them back to his family tree on Yaggdrasor." Iolas's fist balled. His voice filled with anger, "He was a fool. If he had said something sooner. Just maybe…" He went quiet. It was written all over his face. It would have risked everyone else. Mythanar had made a choice he as leader wouldn't have been able to make.
"You…" Blade had no words. The world around her was spinning. Her throat was dry. Her breath was ragged. Her head shook forth and back in disbelief as she stepped backwards. Her knees shaky. The blood-tainted blue armour, the dagger in her hand. The dart in Mercury's back. She squinted her eyes shut. The thought that Iolas had killed one of his own. That she just might have had to kill Mercury. If the reinforcement hadn't reached them when they did. Her eyes ripped open, the thought of killing one of her own…
Iolas turned his head to face Blade. Her eyes were so piercing and full of pain. Her knees gave way and he slumped to the ground among the herbs. Slowly he sat up an understanding pained smile on his lips. He slid down the rock and closed the gap. Cubbed her face and pressed her head against his scaled armour. The tunic eased the cold of the metal. "Mercury's ALIVE." She was shaking in his arms violently, grasping for hold, for anything – anyone to make that pain stop – that fear. "You didn't miss and you weren't too late. You didn't overlook anything. You saved him from further corruption. – You. Did. EVERYTHING. RIGHT." Her outcries broke through like a tidal wave, rang out and filled the cave booming from its walls.