The Other Fifth Leaf

by KenosDC1

The grimoires of the Clover Kingdom have always had three leaves, which represent faith, hope, and love. Within the fourth leaf lies good luck, but within the fifth leaf, lies one of two things, either a devil, or...an angel. (Cover by Elena Parker)

102. The Good Witch

Chapter One Hundred-Two: The Good Witch

Hey there, readers, before you read the chapter, I'd like to share some good news: The Other Fifth Leaf now has an official TV Tropes page, courtesy of Warmachine375! I'm extremely grateful and wanted to let you all now. Of course, you're more than welcome to visit the page and add what you'd like, all I ask is that you're respectful, but more importantly, that if you add anything, make sure it's story-accurate and avoids spoilers, and that's all. Cya.

---

"C'mon, keep moving, you're almost there!"

Those were the words Teiko kept repeating in his mind as he was currently gliding over a body of water as fast as his magic would take him, his uncharacteristically serious eyes overlooking the capital that stood ahead of him.

"That strange building with the elves passed by here, the capital must be their destination, there's nowhere else that makes any sense," he thought to himself as he reached the body's end, now commanding the water beneath to thrust him upwards.

He landed softly on the ground, resummoning his water board as he continued. "However, there's still the question of how the elves are even alive. I was positive nobody but him was able to escape the massacre. Even if someone did manage to make it out that day, 500 years is a very long time, they should be dead, something else must be involved,"

His mind continued to search for a logical explanation, but in the middle of it, he couldn't help but look around him. Throughout the streets he glided, the place was empty, completely deserted. "Where is everybody? It's not that late, there should at least be a bit of activity. Could the elves be responsible? Are the people…hiding from them? So many questions, and no answers, this isn't good,"

He commanded his board to slow down ever so slightly, giving the water mage a few seconds to observe if there was any movement in one of the many alleyways. "Okay, no one here, no one there, and no one there either. I guess the place really is-," his choice was soon shown to be a mistake as projectiles fired straight at him from the darkness of one of those alleyways.

Teiko noticed it just in time, jumping off his board and into a dive roll, standing up seconds later in a battle stance with his face in the direction of the attack. "Show yourself!" he demanded, but no figure walked into the light. "Fine then, that's how you want to play it?! Then I'll make the first move!"

He extended a hand, his grimoire flipping through pages before landing on one. "Water Creation Magic: Umibozu Kaito!" water built up in both of his hands before he strongly threw them on the ground in front of him, forming a puddle, the puddle then raised itself up in the form of a figure with no features, merely a pair of oddly unnerving eyes.

"Check out that alleyway," he ordered, the creation obeying with a nod as its hand transformed into swords and it ran to where it was commanded, now shrouded in darkness. Teiko didn't have to wait for long though as it came into view a short twenty seconds later, merely shaking its head.

"You didn't find anyone? Damn it, they must've ran away when I wasn't taken out so easily," he deduced, but then his eyes fell on something: a remnant of the spell used against him, sticking out like a sore thumb on the dark-colored road.

"It's a…leaf?" he tilted his head before it disappeared, the semi-immortal deciding it was also time for Umibozu to disappear, doing so with a snap of his fingers. "Perhaps I should give chase, maybe they could tell me what's going on around here. I could try reading their mana and Ki to track them down,"

Teiko was about to run into that alleyway, but before he could, a loud, unified, voice pierced through the relative silence, reaching his ears. "That sound…those are kids. They must be in danger, but from the sound of it, there are good ways away, I suppose this whole thing will have to wait,"

He summoned his board again and raced off in the direction, but because of that, he never once noticed the pair of eyes that emerged from the alleyway right next to the one he was suspicious of, the eyes watching him as he glided into the distance. Once he was out of sight, the figure allowed themselves to chuckle a bit.

"Those moves, that spell, I didn't think it was possible, but it really is him. Things are about to get a lot more interesting, but before anything else, I had better find that brother of mine,"

---

"You all had better have a good explanation for this!"

The perspective shifts to some minutes earlier over at Green Praying Mantises HQ. When it came to the outside of the base, all seemed fine enough, but it was a whole different story inside.

Inside, it was complete chaos.

Attacks were flying every which way, small battles occurring between the emerald-clad knights and their possessed allies. Up on the second floor, Jack landed on the banister, making the prior statement as he jumped down to ground level.

Six of his possessed subordinates jumped after him, chasing him into a corner. "Crap, this human is a fast one, but there's nowhere to run, let's attack at once!" one of them ordered, the rest agreeing as a hextet of spells were released.

But this was Jack the Ripper, he had nothing to worry about. "Keh keh, did you all become idiots or something? Attacks that pathetic won't harm me! Severing Magic: Crossguard Blades!" he brought the blades on his arms together, blocking them with the forcefield it generated.

"What the? Ugh, this is getting tiresome," the man who made the earlier command groaned.

"Well of course it is, you lot made the terrible decision of choosing to fight your own captain of all people, don't be surprised," Jack retorted, crossing his arms.

"Shut it! You'll go down soon, you all will!" the elf turned to a page in his grimoire. "Flame Magic: Fire Drill Bunker!" he let loose his strongest spell. "Die already, you're just a human!"

The captain burst into laughter. "That's where you're wrong, I'm not just a human, I'm a lunatic, the strongest lunatic to ever walk this country! Severing Magic: Death Scythe!" he ran head-first, reeling the blade on his right arm back before meeting the opposing spell with one of his own, cutting it cleanly in half.

"And none of you better forget it!" he continued, moving in to close the distance, making the others back away, but that was what he wanted them to do. "Severing Magic: Death Sickle Storm!" his body became a tornado, magic slashes littering every direction, multiple of said slashes crashing into the knights, knocking them out cold.

Well, all but one that is, the flame mage. He bit his lip, conjuring all his willpower to not succumb to the attack and fall unconscious. "No, I can't lose,"

"Sorry to break it to you, but that's exactly what happened," Jack stood over him, grabbing a hold of his collar before raising him to eye level. "Now start talking, Nix, what's the meaning of all this?!"

"Nix? That's not my name," he said back with defiance.

This merely put a twisted grin on his captain's face. "So, that's how you want to play it? Very well," he revealed his other hand, a small, yet sharp blade protruding from his index finger, the tip glistening. "A little painful interrogation never hurt anyone,"

"Hold on, Jack!" a voice exclaimed from above, both knights looking up to see Glynda jump down to their level, her breathing notably heavy.

"What is it?" he asked, his tone switching from crazy to respectful in an instant. "Did you find something out?"

"Less 'found it out' and more 'I already knew it'. Whatever's happening here with some of our knights isn't their fault, my mana senses are picking up traces of Forbidden Magic around them all," she explained.

"Forbidden Magic? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Of course, you're talking to a witch, after all, we have an eye for these kinds of things," she winked. "The only question is: who cast it?"

"You can do whatever you want, filthy humans, I'll never talk!" the elf possessing Nix yelled.

"Hm, y'know, I've noticed they keep calling us humans, like they aren't humans themselves, it must be an effect of the magic," Jack remarked, noting his red facial mark before flicking his elongated ears. "Maybe it made them think they're bats?"

"Bats? I tire of your mockery! Just wait, once I free myself from your grasp, both of you are as good as-,"

"Quit your yapping," Jack chopped his neck in the middle of his sentence, knocking him out, he then laid his body gently against the nearby wall.

Glynda watched as he did so, a smile gracing her face. "Impressive plan, captain,"

He turned to her, raising a brow in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"When Marx told us to patrol our area in case the Eye of the Midnight Sun was going to attack, you suggested that half of us should stay here while the other half leave,"

"Um, yeah, just in case something happened,"

The witch put a hand on her hip. "Your intuition was correct. If we all went out and the others who are here became affected by the Forbidden Magic, there's a higher chance more civilians could've been put in danger, but now that's not the case. A good plan indeed,"

Jack couldn't help but blush softly at her words of praise. "U-Um, it's all thanks to you though, vice-captain. Before you joined the squad, I couldn't imagine myself doing such a thing, you've…made me a better man,"

She walked closely to him. "Don't sell yourself short, you put in the effort to change and look where it's gotten you. A teacher's job is only effective if the student does their part,"

"Is that so? Then good job to me," the severing mage gave her one of his rare, genuine smiles.

Glynda's face expressed annoyance at that as she quickly backed away and turned around, her cheeks reddening. "Ugh, why did he have to smile like that again? He's so damn handsome when he does that, now it's got me thinking about this whole thing again. Remember your anti-romance mantra: We have to be professional, professionalism is important, he probably doesn't even see you that way, so you can-," she cut herself off.

"Um, Jack?" she asked, still giving him her back.

"Yes?"

"Okay, maybe one tiny question won't hurt," she tried to convince herself, managing to let the words come out. "I know this may sound like an incredibly strange question, but by any chance, have you ever found me-,"

"AHHHHHH!"

Her question was interrupted by the sharp scream that entered their ears, the two squad leaders ran into view, seeing that it came from Sekke, the bronze mage running as fast as he could from the remaining group of elves who were shooting at him.

"Holy crap, don't hurt me! We're comrades! If there are any hard feelings you have, it's not my fault, everyone loves me!"

"Get him, don't let him escape!"

"Sekke, get behind me!" Glynda ordered.

"You don't have to tell me twice, boss lady!" he did as he was told.

"Open fire!"

The witch appeared unphased by the attacks coming their way. "Telekinesis Magic: Mental Fortitude!" she put up her defense, no spell succeeding in getting through. "I've got this, launch a counterattack, Jack!"

The slender man glanced at his subordinate who was right next to him. "I have a better idea," he grabbed him by the back of his robe and jumped, taking Sekke along for the ride.

"U-Um, captain, what are you doing?" he asked with uncertainty.

"I'm just making sure you do your part, now show them your stuff!" he answered, throwing the knight head-first into danger.

"Are you crazy?!" Sekke shrilled, quickly searching through his grimoire for something that would save him, because if he couldn't, he was done for. "Bah ha, there we go! Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke's Rolling Crash!" the turquoise sphere enveloped him, spinning rapidly as he crashed into them all with considerable force, launching them in various directions.

As Jack landed, he was pleased to see that the elven knights were all taken down. "Now that's how it's done!"

"Captain, are you insane?!" Sekke ran up to him. "Why'd you go and throw me like that without a warning?! I could've died,"

"You'd be just fine,"

"And how do you know that?!"

"I just did, I'm your captain after all," he replied.

The bronze mage growled quietly, choosing not to persist in the back-and-forth. "Whatever," he mumbled, advancing towards the entrance and opening the door, walking out to inspect the outside, but that's when he saw it.

"Uh, people, you may want to come and see this!" he called, the two squad leaders appearing by his side in mere moments, witnessing what he witnessed.

Multiple pillars of smoke rising in the distance.

"That's where the capital is, don't tell me this is happening there too," Glynda said.

"I suppose that's the case," Jack answered before pointing ahead. "Wait a minute, look at that!"

The other two did just that, letting them see another pillar of smoke emerge, but this one was bigger than the others and looked concentrated in the center. "If only we could find out where that specific one was coming from,"

"No need to fear, Sekke is here, bah ha," the bronze mage reached into his satchel, pulling out a magic item. "Magic binoculars, great for seeing through great distances,"

His vice-captain raised a brow. "Why do you just have those on your person like that? Those hardly seem applicable in most situations,"

The blonde teen began sweating profusely. "U-Um, no reason that you have to worry about,"

The woman put a hand on her hip, giving him a suspicious look. "We'll talk about this some other time,"

"Sure thing, boss lady," Sekke slumped, defeated as Jack snatched his item.

"Now, let's have a looksie," he brought it up to his eyes, the distance closing in an instant, everything becoming clear. "Holy crap, it's coming from the Royal Houses,"

"The Royal Houses!" Sekke yelled. "Holy shit, they're trying to kill the king, aren't they?! These guys are trying to stage a coup d'état!"

"Wait a minute," Glynda placed her hand under her chin. "During Marx's transmission, he said that Julius was fighting Licht atop Clover Castle, which is in the same vicinity as the Royal Houses," she recalled before her eyes widened. "You don't think he…lost, did you?"

"Nonsense, Julius is the most capable mage in the country, and I've seen Licht in action, trust me when I say there's nothing to concern yourself over, he's probably out handling another problem. However, that means it's up to me to defend the place,"

"Do you need me to get your broom?" Glynda requested.

This earned a chuckle from the man. "A broom? Oh yeah, I never got to tell you, I don't really use brooms," he knelt down, putting himself in a startup position with both his arms and legs outstretched. "I prefer to run! Reinforcement Magic: Maximum Leg Strength Boost!" his lower half began glowing a bright green.

He was about to take off, but stopped as the telekinesis mage spoke to him. "Jack?"

"What is it?" he said, cocking his head in her direction.

"You be careful out there, you hear? Come back safe to us,"

He grinned in response. "Of course, I won't be dying tonight," with that, he took off, becoming a blur that left a cloud of dust in his wake.

A smile was on Glynda's face as she turned around. "Let's go check on the others," she said as they walked back inside, seeing unpossessed knights who were either checking on one another, or working to restrain the elven bunch.

With everything resolved, Sekke observed the collateral damage, whistling. "Damn, was it quite the shitshow in here? Good thing your students weren't here to see any of this, poor things would've been scarred for life," he made the offhand comment, but that managed to put a look of shock on the witch's face.

"Oh no,"

Sekke turned to her, looking a little shocked himself. "Are you okay, boss lady? I've never seen you look so worried before,"

"No, I am most certainly not okay," she paced around the room. "Jack and I were going to be busy handling something this morning that would've gone through the afternoon, so I told my students yesterday that we'd be having a late class for Magic Training. The hecticness of the current situation made it completely slip from my mind,"

"But everything is fine now, right?" he inquired. "We were able to take down all of our squadmates who went crazy, that means they'll be safe when they get here,"

"That's what's the problem, they're not going to be here," she began to explain. "They asked me if it was okay to have the late class back at our original classroom in the capital for old time's sake and I agreed, I didn't know all of this would happen," she then ran outside. "They could be in danger as we speak, I need to go and find them, if they get hurt, I could never forgive myself,"

"Should I come with you?" Sekke offered. "Two pairs of eyes will search far better than just one,"

"Thank you, but you should stay here. With Jack, En, and myself gone, I'll need someone I can trust to help mobilize the squad; assemble every non-affected member, and make sure they're tended to by our recovery mages, once everyone is healed up, head to the capital and help whoever you can. Have I made myself clear?"

He clover-saluted. "Yes ma'am, crystal clear,"

"Good," she walked back inside and extended her crop, the item glowing purple as a nearby broom glowed the same color, coming to her. "I'll be off then, wish me luck,"

"Good luck,"

She nodded before making her way back out, mounting her broom as she flew off as fast as it would take her, all the while her face held mixed emotions, combining anxiousness and determination.

"Please, just please be safe,"

---

Fifteen or so minutes passed as Glynda's feet dismounted her broom and touched the ground, her eyes overlooking a part of the capital that was, for some strange reason, completely deserted.

"Where is everybody? I was certain the attacks were happening everywhere. I guess they're concentrating it mostly in proximity to the Royal Houses or something, it's of no matter to me right now, that just means I don't need to have my guard up too much," she broke into a mad dash, running and running until she arrived at the familiar building that was her old classroom.

"I…made it," she huffed, not wasting any time in opening the door. "Kids!" she exclaimed, but no one was inside, it was just as empty as the surrounding area.

"Damn it, they must be somewhere nearby, I haven't a second to lose," she shut the door and dashed away, running up north.

"Okay, think Glynda, the kids aren't dumb, they know not to go headfirst into obvious danger. But what if one of the affected knights goes after them? Their training isn't anywhere near enough to engage in combat. Or, maybe they noticed the danger and went back to their homes? Although if that was the case, I'd have to confirm with each one just to be safe, or maybe-,"

Her train of thought halted as she was just about to run right past a wide alleyway, her peripherals noticing the shadow of a person quickly approaching. Preparing for the worst-case scenario, she stopped and backed up, assuming a fighting stance.

Thankfully, there was no fight to be had as the person in question ran into view, bending down to catch their breath. "Damn, what a trip,"

The telekinesis mage relaxed herself as she looked at the person. It was someone she had seen before. "Sol?"

The blue rose knight perked up at the sound of her name. "Yeah, who's asking?" she asked, coming face to face with the older woman. "Wait a minute, I know you, you're that chick who participated in the Royal Knights Entrance Exam. Um, Greta, was it?"

"Glynda," she corrected.

"My bad," Sol apologized, scratching the back of her head.

"It's quite alright, dear. Say, you looked out of breath earlier, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just fine, I was just doing something for the captain of the Black Bulls,"

That caught the witch's attention. "Yami wanted you to do something for him? What?"

"There was this thing he wanted me to take somewhere in the outskirts, even now I don't know what it was, but I owe him since he made a promise to me," she began, looking up at the sky. "He promised to save my captain,"

"Your captain? Charlotte Roselei? What happened to her?"

The earth mage frowned. "She got taken over by some kind of power and started attacking our squad,"

Glynda held her chin. "So, it happened to her too? If only I knew who cast the forbidden magic spell. Well, I'll have to worry about it later, right now, I have to find my kids,"

"If you want, I can help," Sol gave the same offer as Sekke. "It's always good to help a fellow sister out. What do they look like? Well, aside from looking like their mom,"

"Their mom?" Glynda repeated, tilting her head, chuckling as she figured out where the confusion spawned from. "Oh no, they're not my actual kids, I'm single. I'm looking for my students, I'm a teacher by the way,"

"Oops, my bad again, but if I could just say," Sol began, eyeing the older woman, noting her features. "You're a total smokeshow, and you have a nice, dignified look about you, someone like you would make a great mom. So, are there any super strong guys you got your eye on?"

Glynda couldn't help but blush a bit. "Well, there is this one guy, but I don't know if he…wait a minute, we're getting off track here, let's resume the-,"

"AHHHHH!"

The sound of unified cries cut her off, both eyes darting to the north, the eyes of Glynda trembling in fear. She recognized those voices, which meant her worst fear had come to pass.

"My students!" she mounted her broom and flew in the direction of the screams at top speed.

"Wait for me!" Sol followed not too far behind, using mana to strengthen her legs.

"SOMEBODY HELP!" the screams only got louder, meaning the two females were getting closer. Eventually, they found themselves in a wider, more open street, their eyes finally falling on the group of adolescents who were bunched up by the east side, Ria standing at the front.

A semblance of relief washed over Glynda, glad to see none were dead. "Kids!"

The eyes of her students all turned to her, their fearful cries quickly turning into equally relieved smiles. "Miss Goodwitch!"

The two knights rushed over to them, their teacher kneeling. "Oh thank heavens you're all safe, I was so worried,"

"We were too, but Ria was keeping us safe," one of the younger kids said.

"You don't say?" the witch's eyes turned to the girl.

"I-It wasn't too much of a problem, I'm used to protecting my younger siblings when En isn't around," she stuttered.

Her face didn't look awfully worried, a trait Glynda wasn't expecting her to portray, so she discreetly brought her gaze down to the little girl's hand…it was trembling. "Sweetie, it's okay," she told her softly.

Those were all the words needed for Ria to break down into tears and tightly embrace her teacher. "I-I was so scared! I…I thought we were going to die! I'm sorry, I just didn't want to worry you more!"

The witch gently caressed her hair. "Sweetie, look at me," she said, the girl obeying, coming face to face with the woman's warm smile. "Even though you were scared, you still tried to protect everyone, I'm so proud of you, and I know if En was here, he'd be proud too. You don't have to worry anymore,"

"She's right, the two of us will keep you safe," Sol added.

"T-Thank you…thank you so much," Ria buried her face in Glynda's chest.

"Ugh, are you people done yet, or do you want to face the same fate as these kids?"

The voice came from across them. Admittedly, both knights were so focused on locating the students that upon finding them, they made no motion to observe who exactly they were fleeing from. Sol turned first, looking at them, but Glynda was different; she continued to give the stranger her back as a dark purple aura enveloped and an expression of rage like no other appeared on her face. Her situation was similar to Kenos', as the look that formed felt wrong being there, to the point where even her students were a little spooked.

"How DARE you even think about harming innocent children?!" she gently let Ria go, standing up. "Mark my words, before the night ends, you will experience a world of pain never thought possible, so brace yourself for-..what?" she turned around in the middle of her threat, her anger lowering a bit, though only because it was replaced by sheer confusion. With her being so focused on the kids, she didn't automatically register the stranger's voice, but now, there was no denying it, she recognized the person in question.

"...Levi?"

Before them all was none other than her predecessor, the azure flame mage, but something was off about him, and it was the same thing that was off about a lot of people lately: he was possessed. The strength of his aura made his hair float ever so slightly with a red mark that resided on the right edge of his face.

The possessed mage facepalmed. "That's Garo to you. I swear, you're like the third person to call me that tonight, though I will admit, Levi is a pretty cool name, but Garo is still cooler,"

"It got to him too," the telekinesis mage said to herself.

"Now, as I was saying, if you two are done, then shoo, you'll get your turn eventually, but those brats are my first target," Garo pointed at the group of adolescents.

That managed to reignite Glynda's rage. "We won't let you lay so much as a finger on them!"

"What she said, you stupid man!" Sol pointed right back at him. "And why the hell do you want to kill a bunch of kids anyway? Are you some kind of psycho?!"

"Me? A psycho? Dream on, I may enjoy dabbling in a bit of mischief, but I'm not crazy. Killing those kids is the first step of my payback, after all, you didn't mind murdering our kids in cold blood,"

"What? What are you talking about?" the vice-captain inquired with bewilderment.

"Don't play dumb!" Garo suddenly raised his voice angrily. "You know exactly what your kind did, and now it's time you get what's coming to you!" he commanded his grimoire to flip to a recently used page. "Azure Flame Magic: Swirling Combustion!"

Glynda fearlessly stepped forward. "You're the only one who's going to get what's coming to them. Telekinesis Magic-,"

Her action to cast in response was interrupted by a sudden burst of water that shot from a different direction, colliding with the fireball, extinguishing it, and leaving behind a thick cloud of steam.

"It looks like I made it here just in time!" a new voice rang out. As the steam began clearing out, both parties turned to the north to see the foreign water mage standing there. It didn't take him long to assess the situation as he rushed to stand in front of the large group.

Garo didn't follow up with another attack, but not for the reason one might think. On his face was the look of pure confusion, that confusion focused on the newest interloper. "N-No way, it's not possible," he stuttered.

"...Teiko? Teiko Kyo?"

"Teiko Kyo? So that's his name? It's as strange as his getup," both ladies thought in unison.

The semi-immortal narrowed his eyes momentarily before widening them. "This Ki. You…you're Garo?"

"Hmph, I'm pleased to see you remember me after all this time. However, what I'd be more pleased to know is how are you still alive and young?"

"That's for me to know, not you. But how are you alive? It shouldn't be possible, nor should it be possible to change what you look like,"

"I guess that means it's my turn to know something you don't,"

Glynda ignored the question posed to the stranger, instead focused on something else. "Do you two know each other?"

Teiko nodded. "Yes, he's a friend of mine…an elven friend to be more specific, though his appearance has changed and his appearance here in general baffles me since he's supposed to be dead,"

"Elves? They're real?" Glynda placed a hand on her cheek, putting two and two together. "So that's what the Forbidden Magic did, it placed the souls of dead elves into living human bodies. I didn't think reincarnation of that level was possible,"

"So that's what happened?!" Sol exclaimed, comedically pumping her fists. "My beloved Char is being possessed by some pointy-eared shit?!"

Teiko heard her explanation too, but his reaction was more serious. "Forbidden Magic? That's what caused it?" he began thinking, but then his eyes widened again, his mind replaying a memory. "No, that can't be. What he did back then, it couldn't have done all of this, it just couldn't have,"

"HEY!" Garo's loud bellow not only brought Teiko out of his headspace, but got everyone's attention. The elf was pointing straight at him. "Don't go spouting bullshit like that! We're not friends, not anymore, not after what you did to us!"

"What we did to you? Garo, no, just hold on, you don't know the full story-,"

"Put a sandal in it!" the elf cut him off. "You can't fool me with your lies. I'm disappointed, Teiko, you never were one to be dishonest with me, or anyone else for that matter, but it appears that even though these past few centuries didn't change your body, it changed your heart,"

"Past few centuries?!" everyone else gasped.

He side-eyed them. "It's personal and we're strangers, please don't ask,"

Sol stepped forward. "Frankly, I'm a little confused about all this stuff, but what I'm not confused about is the fact that you need to go down! Earth Creation Magic: Raging Mother Goddess!"

In an instant, her trusty spell emerged behind her. "Let him have it!" she ordered, the golem doing so.

The possessed azure flame mage was ready to defend himself, however, in a sense of deja vu, before the attack could land, a mysterious set of green projectiles came to his rescue, pushing it back a considerable distance.

Teiko sucked his teeth, he recognized that spell, and that only meant one thing. "Ah damn it,"

"Well well well, so this is where you are? Already fighting some humans I see. But, were you really going to do it without me, brother?"

This time, the new voice originated from the upper southeast, everyone looking up to see a possessed mage standing atop the roof of a building, a mark identical to Garo's on the left edge of his face, staring down at them with a smug look on his face. Two people knew the elf behind the face, but when it came to the host, it was only someone Sylvester would know.

Cade.

The other elf grinned back at his twin. "Don't just stand there, Argo, get your ass down here!"

He didn't need any further encouragement as he jumped down and dug his hands into his pockets before walking to his brother's side, but not even a second passed after that when he was pulled into a tight embrace.

"I missed you, man,"

Argo freed his hands to return the embrace. "Same here," he said back as the embrace, but right after it did, he could hear giggling. "What's so funny?"

"It looks like the days of us being the same height are over. I'm the taller one now, shorty," he patted his head.

The possessed orca swatted his hand away. "Shut up! Height is a perfectly reasonable sacrifice since I clearly took over the stronger host,"

"You did not! My host is stronger, he even has some weird variant of attribute called Azure Flame Magic, no one in the village had that. What magic do you have?"

"Grass Magic, but it's totally more impressive than whatever Azure Flame Magic is. Those are just regular flames that happen to be blue, I bet it's all spectacle and no substance,"

"Bull. Shit. It's like, way hotter than regular flames, but grass is just grass, it's not even Plant Magic,"

The witch turned her head to the earth mage. "Sol, my students. Hurry, while those two are distracted,"

"You got it, Glynda," she replied, conjuring a trio of golems, the elven brothers noticing it just as they and the children were getting away.

"Take them somewhere safe!" Sol called out her order.

"Please be careful, Miss Goodwitch!" the students called back.

"I will!"

"What? Hang on!" Garo tried to give chase, but was stopped by a strong blast of water courtesy of Teiko. "Damn it,"

Argo made eye contact with the man. "It looks like you ran into Teiko as well. Did you get him to spill how he's here?"

"No,"

"I see, it's not a real problem though as his abnormally long life will end tonight,"

The water mage grit his teeth. "Grass and Azure Flame Magic. Great, it's just as bad as it was 500 years ago!" he turned to the women. "Glynda and Sol, those are your names, right? I know this may all seem confusing, but I must ask you to fight with me, we have to neutralize those two so they don't hurt anyone,"

The telekinesis mage nodded. "You can count on us, Teiko, if we don't take care of them now, that elf controlling Levi will go after my students,"

"And I intend on giving these elves a piece of my mind for what they did to my captain," Sol added.

"Thank you, both of you. However, if we're going to win this, there's something we cannot let happen under any circumstance,"

They raised a brow. "And that is?"

"Don't let them fight together," he replied seriously. "Even now, Garo and Argo's attributes are dangerous when properly used in conjunction with one another, so no matter what, we need to keep them separated,"

Glynda held her chin. "Doing that may be easier said than done. Perhaps we can try luring one of them away and fighting them somewhere else? The only question then would be how we'd pull it off," as soon as she finished saying that, her eyes picked up on something. "Everyone watch out!"

The other two looked in her direction, seeing the fireball from before coming their way, so everyone jumped out of its range. "Don't think we're just going to stand around and let you make a plan!" Garo pointed at them. "This pair of brothers will take you down once and for all,"

"In your dreams!" Sol spat back, her eyes now on her teammates. "Don't worry about keeping them apart, just leave that part to me. For now, just help me distance them from each other,"

"Not a problem. Telekinesis Magic: Psycho Bomb!" Glynda exclaimed, launching the purple orbs with accuracy, landing nearly all of them between the elves before snapping her fingers.

"Move!" Argo yelled as they jumped away from each other, just in time too as the orbs detonated, damaging the ground.

The water mage went on the move. "Sol, now!"

Her grimoire flipped to the desired page as she slammed her hands on the ground. "Earth Magic: Mud Wall Partition!" at her command, the spell began rising.

"Don't go overboard, we have to consider where we are, there's a high chance for severe collateral damage if you aren't careful!" the witch warned.

"Gotcha!" she answered, stopping the wall's growth a few seconds later. "There we go, thirty feet high should do the trick,"

From above, the partition was seen going down in a vertical sense, with Teiko and Garo on the western side, while Sol and Glynda were with Argo on the eastern side.

Garo whistled, staring at the spell that divided them for the moment. "Now there's something you don't see every day," his eyes then fell on his opponent. "Although, I take it this was your doing?"

"That it was, I figured keeping you from your brother would make our job a little easier," he replied. "Water Creation Magic: Waterwhip Conqueror!"

"You're still using that old spell? I figured, what with you apparently being immortal or whatever your situation is, that you'd have more tricks up your kimono,"

"Don't worry about me, I have plenty, observe! Water Creation Magic: Umibozu Kaito!" he declared as the figure from before stood by his side.

Garo cracked his knuckles. "That's more like it. It looks like my plans have changed, you'll be my first victim now! Azure Flame Magic: Brilliant Volley!" multiple blue orbs came to life and raced towards his opponent.

Umibozu was quick though, coming between its master and the attacks, its hands transforming into a large shield, blocking each fireball as it fizzled out and became steam.

Despite his attack essentially being stopped, Garo still allowed himself to smirk. "A fascinating spell indeed, so I think I'll go after a new target! Azure Flame Magic: Swirling Combustion!"

Teiko braced for it, believing himself to be this new recipient, but to his surprise, the elf quickly turned his body ninety degrees, firing the larger fireball at the mud wall. Contact was made, but to his disappointment, the structure remained undamaged.

"Ah, damn it, that thing's tougher than I thought, granted, fire isn't too good against earth, but I was positive my superior magic would handle it, oh well," he said to himself, eventually shrugging it off as he looked back at the human. "Looks like I'll be stuck here for a little longer, but worry not, that wall will fall, and when it does, you won't be far behind,"

"Then I'll have to take you down before you have the chance!" Teiko broke into a dash, Umibozu right beside him. The two wasted no time breaking up, the water mage running at a curve going northwest while his creation did the same going northeast.

Garo's eyes kept alternating between both directions as he entered a reactive stance. In an instant, his senses flared and his eyes darted to their west where Teiko was coming in hot, the man jumping into the air, his body suspended in a horizontal fashion as he spun powerfully, a whip from one of the cylinders coming out, rushing his way.

Without hesitation, he backflipped out of harm's way, shooting a pair of fireballs in response while in mid-flip, but just like him, his opponent was unharmed as he landed and commanded a whip from the other cylinder to hit it head-on.

"You're as skilled with those things as I remember," Garo commented, landing himself, but he didn't have time to engage in further conversation as the water figure transformed its hands into swords, raising them both to strike.

In response, the possessed azure flame positioned his feet in a certain manner, spinning his body to weave around it, now behind the figure. "Time to say bye-bye," he raised his hand, but before he could do anything, his eyes were drawn to its back, the water there bubbling ever so slightly. There was a feeling in his gut that told him to move away, so he did just that, and just in time too as spikes erupted.

"Crap, that was close, I could've been skewered," he thought as his mana sense went off, and lo and behold, there was Teiko, in the air behind him, his arms crossed above his head, preparing to strike him with both whips.

In a matter of seconds, Garo let himself drop to the ground, the semi-immortal's attack missing as the elf did a quick kip-up, the two now just a few inches apart. He attempted to use this chance to shoot a fireball at point-blank range, but that's when his enemy's Ki sense kicked in, moving his head out of the way.

"You know, that water thing of yours almost skewered me, I could've been riddled with holes by now if I wasn't careful, but then again…," his face darkened. "...I guess I would be used to it,"

From there, he focused mana into his legs, attempting to jump away, but Teiko was faster, sending out one of his whips to wrap around his leg as the water mage spun a few times, launching the elf straight into the mud wall.

However, after doing so, the man's expression softened. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Garo, really I am,"

"Don't lie to me!" the elf screamed back. "How can you say you're sorry when you're part of the reason it happened?!" his grimoire flipped to a page. "Azure Flame Creation Magic: Twin Severing Blades of Ignition!"

With the bladed gauntlets equipped, he charged forward, starting with a wide slash that Teiko dodged with relative ease. "Hold on, Garo, that's what I was trying to tell you earlier. Me and my friends weren't part of it, it was another group, and it wasn't their fault, they were under the influence of some sort of power,"

The elf's attacks became faster as Umibozu soon joined in, engaging with him. "Some sort of power, you say? And what exactly was this power?"

"I'm not entirely sure, even now,"

"Hmph, a power you don't know enough about to explain, but can still somehow absolve our assailants of all guilt? How convenient! You can't deceive me anymore! The only power influencing you back then was your greed and your jealousy!" he leaped into the air, raising both gauntlets for an attack, but the water figure responded with the same shield from before. This time, however, as contact was made, Umibozu had enough force to keep the mage suspended in mid-air as the flames from his weapons sizzled against the cooler element.

"You envied everything about us, our bonds, our culture, how much happier we were than you, but above all, you envied our power, it didn't matter who had to be hurt as long as you could have it for yourselves!" he yelled with so much fury. "Do you know what I had to witness? My parents, my friends, my cousin, and even my own brother, I had to watch all of them die right in front of me! I was just 16, I was just a kid, and no kid should ever experience even a fraction of what I did! And now, despite everything you put us through, you have the GALL to lie to my face!"

The flames burned even brighter after his enraged words, the bladed gauntlets managing to evaporate enough water to pass through the shield, cutting both of Umibozu's arms off, ready to go after the head next.

But not on Teiko's watch. He shot out both whips, wrapping them around the younger mage's wrists while he was winding them, leaving him open. "Please believe me, what I'm telling you is the truth!" he exclaimed back as the figure's arms grew back and enlarged to large proportions, though its height shrank a bit, but that didn't take away from the pain it would inflict.

"The only truth is that you're full of it!" Garo shot flames underneath his feet, thrusting his body in a circular fashion as he was now above Teiko. He may have still been restrained, but all that was important was that he avoided the upcoming attack, now he was ready to counterattack. Letting gravity do its thing, his body fell back down, but the additional momentum managed to get his feet stuck in Umibozu's body, and that gave him an idea.

"Time to see how tough you really are!" he focused mana into his feet and fired the strongest wave of flames he could from them, the figure bubbling as it quickly evaporated to nothingness from the sheer heat.

"Hmph, looks like that spell is still a work in progress, wouldn't you say?" he continued, now increasing the temperature of his gauntlets to evaporate portions of the whip. Although done hesitantly, Teiko decided to back up.

"Not really, it would've had a lot better luck going against a regular flame mage," he replied.

"Then I'm glad I'm not a regular flame mage. I actually prefer this attribute over my old one, even against attributes that should be stronger, if my rage is enough, it'll burn through it all!"

As he said that, his mana raged as flames emerged around him, doing the same.

"And trust me, I've got enough rage to last me a lifetime,"

---

"Hey, pretty lady, take down this wall!"

While the former friends were duking it out, the ladies were standing across from Argo. From what could be heard, Garo and Teiko had already started fighting, but the battle on the east side had yet to begin.

Sol zeroed in on two words he said, pointing to herself. "Are you talking to me?"

"No duh, you cast the spell, of course I'm talking to you,"

"What was with the compliment then? Are you trying to butter me up to reduce how bad we'll kick your ass?"

Argo put his hands on his hips. "Don't look too deep into it, I think your kind is evil, not ugly, it's just the way I talk sometimes. So, are you going to take down this stupid clump of dirt, or will I have to make you do it?"

The earth mage punched her palm. "Obviously the latter, bub. Do you really think I'd cast it to keep you from your brother just to undo it because you asked?!"

The possessed grass mage didn't say anything in response at first, but then he started chuckling, it started soft, but then it got louder, and louder. In no time at all, it was full-blown laughter as he covered the top half of his face with his hand.

Glynda and Sol gave each other a look, wondering if they should attack their opponent while he was in a vulnerable position, but they wondered no longer as the elf revealed his full face to them. Both magic knights were greatly taken aback by the unnerving smile that was now present on his face.

"I was hoping you'd say that! Mischief is so much more fun when there's a struggle, it makes it so much more satisfying!" his grimoire flipped to a page. "You put that wall up to separate me from Garo, aye? Clever, but ultimately futile. It'll go down sooner or later, but I'll have some fun with you two first! Grass Magic: Leaf Blade Shootdown!"

Glynda already stepped forward, extending her riding crop in between her and the incoming jagged projectiles. "Telekinesis Magic: Mental Fortitude!" she countered with her defense spell.

Sol ran out from behind her and towards him. "That wall isn't the only thing I can do, bub,"

"I'm aware of that. You also made those moving statue things that helped those kids from before get away. Just in case you were thinking of it, they won't do you much good,"

The girl just smirked back. "We won't know that until I try, but I'll save them for later, I'm taking a different approach," she retorted as her grimoire flipped to a recently obtained page. "Earth Creation Magic: Mother Goddess Knuckles!"

Upon declaring the spell, the rock and dirt-filled debris below her floated into the air before traveling to her hands, clumping together until they took the shape of bulky gauntlets.

Infusing mana into her legs to pick up speed, Sol used that in tandem with a well-timed leap, getting good airtime as she reeled her right fist back. "Take this, bastard!"

"Y'know what? I don't think I will," Argo quipped as he backflipped at the last second, narrowly missing her attack. The impact of her fist hitting the ground was powerful, a decently strong shockwave forming as a result.

The elf raised his brow in a somewhat amused manner. "That spell of yours packs quite a punch if it can do that,"

"I know, so do us both a favor and stand still!" she rushed forward, launching punch after punch, but the possessed grass mage was surprisingly quick on his feet.

"To quote your own words, human, do you really think I'd stand still just because you asked?" he taunted her as he backed up a foot or two before jumping into a front flip, landing just inches behind her. "Mischief doesn't stand still, it's always in movement, and so am I!" to add insult to injury, shortly after making his statement, he quickly reached out his hands and roughly tugged on her hair.

"Ugh, you no good brat!" Sol exclaimed, turning around rapidly in hopes of catching him off guard, but it was ineffective, the elf flipping around again, making sure to stay close.

The azure-clad knight was starting to grit her teeth in frustration. "Damn it, why is it so hard to land a hit on that little shit? To make matters worse, he's obviously staying close so Glynda won't be able to attack with confidence from afar. I need to find a way to stop him in his tracks," she began thinking, and then, an idea came to her. She made a few inches of distance between them and extended her hands.

"Earth Magic: Geoforce Cylinder!" she exclaimed, trapping him in the cylindrical tube. "Let's see you do all those fancy moves now!"

Within the entrapment, Argo crossed his arms, not looking very impressed. "She's not serious, is she?" he asked himself, staring straight up at the opening that was only a jump away. "I guess for these people, not being ugly comes at the cost of a working brain,"

Seeing that the opening was still free, he crouched his legs, leaping up vertically. "That wasn't a very smart plan-," he was cut off as his eyes finally raised over the tube…just to now see Sol with one of her fists raised, aiming it directly at him.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she grinned, firing medium-sized clumps of dirt and debris from her prior spell, hitting the possessed grass mage head-on, sending a decent number of feet back.

Despite that, he managed to land on his feet. "Both melee and ranged capabilities in just one spell? The magic of this era is incredible, it's a shame such power has to be in your hands, but no matter, once we're done and you're all dead, that won't be a problem,"

Sol pointed at him. "You talk a big game about wanting to kill us, but we're still standing!" she bumped her chest proudly with her fist. "Come at us if you think you can do it, I've never been scared of danger, and I won't start now!"

"I think you'll find me more frightening than danger!" Argo focused mana into his feet, breaking into a mad dash. The dark-skinned girl was taken aback by how much faster he was moving, in no time, he was right in front of her, his arm reeled back, mana filling his right fist.

"After all, nothing is more frightening than death!"

Sol managed to cross her arms before the attack made contact, but she planted her feet firmly on the ground, her action resulting in only being sent a single yard back, however, the throbbing pain in her arms was hard to ignore. "It appears I'm not the only one who packs a punch," despite the discomfort she was experiencing, she smirked, not daring to give her opponent the satisfaction of seeing a vulnerable expression. "But I'm nowhere near being frightened yet! You may wanna start trying a little harder if you want to intimidate me!"

The earth mage let loose another flurry of dirt blasts, but Argo jumped into the air to avoid them, and while in mid-air, his grimoire turned to another page. "Oh don't worry, I'll deliver on my word, just wait and see. Grass Creation Magic: Greenery Whiplash!" he took out a singular blade of grass from his tome, waving it around as it extended. With its length fully realized, he sent it out at high speeds.

To his surprise though, this gave another mage a chance for her to intervene, and she seized the opportunity quickly. "Telekinesis Creation Magic: Psychic Whip!" Glynda sent out a whip of her own, intercepting the elf's before it could strike Sol, the weapons wrapping around one another. But that wasn't all that happened, in a few seconds, the possessed orca found both himself and his whip enveloped in a purple glow.

"Hm, this is strange, I almost feel…lighter," he mused.

"Why don't you come here for a little while?!" Glynda exclaimed, pulling her crop back with one hand, bringing the enemy to her as he let go of the whip, watching as it fizzled away before he landed two yards from the vice-captain.

"Alright then, you want your turn? Very well," Argo searched his grimoire for a spell, arriving on one that piqued his intrigue. "This looks neat. Grass Creation Magic: Greenery Blades!" he exclaimed as the quartet of swords materialized around him.

The elf looked at the creation in awe. "Cool, four swords to account for each cardinal direction," he then raised one hand, watching as the western blade moved at the same time. "Plus, they're telepathically controlled, and Garo thinks he took over the better host,"

"Frankly, I don't care which of you think you're stronger, this is the end of the line for you!" the telekinesis mage established some more distance, wrapping her whip around some larger pieces of debris around her, flinging them at him.

"Time to take these things for a test run!" Argo charged dauntlessly toward the trio of projectiles, raising a hand high above him, the northern blade rising before both came down with force, cutting the closest one in half. "Awesome!" he grinned, using the western and eastern blades to make quick work of the rest.

Glynda sucked her teeth. "Damn,"

The possessed grass mage couldn't help but laugh a bit. "What was that about it being the end of the line for me? I swear, you humans are so full of yourselves, thinking you stand a chance even when the odds are in my favor, all talk and no-," he stopped abruptly, extending an arm behind him, not bothering to turn as the southern blade changed its position, coming into contact with something that blew a gust of wind against his hair.

Giving it some time, the elf turned his head, coming face-to-face with Sol, his sword currently blocking her punch. "Did you actually think you could sneak up on me?"

"A little bit, but hey, I was close,"

"No, not really," Argo retorted, waving his free hand, commanding the eastern sword to attack her.

In response, the girl ended the clash, jumping into a frontflip that put her directly above before firing dirt blasts, but he responded in his own way, commanding all four blades to cross together like an umbrella to protect him. With his quartet occupied, Sol immediately attacked upon touching the ground, however, the possessed grass mage weaved around her strike, throwing a clean uppercut that hit her head-on, sending her flying.

"Telekinesis Magic: Shrapnel Impalers!"

Just as he repelled one of his foes, Argo's eyes registered another set of attacks coming his way, these ones in the shape of drillheads. "Not so fast! Grass Creation Magic: Greenery Sentinel!" at his call, blades of grass emerged from his grimoire, clustering together to form a large circular shield that floated ahead of him, blocking each one.

"My attacks aren't working on him, I need to change my approach," Glynda thought, infusing mana into her legs as she ran at a curve going northwest until she was beside him, just in time for him to take down his defense.

"Telekinesis Binding Magic: Crushing Grip!" she pointed her crop at him, freezing him in place. "Nice," she praised herself, about to confiscate his grimoire.

However, before she could take a single step, Argo's body suddenly moved in an explosive manner, generating a force that pushed her back. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. "H-How did you do that?"

"It wasn't hard. I'm guessing that's a spell that uses the strength of your own mana to hold someone in place so long as their magic power isn't stronger than yours. Am I in the right field? If so, that move won't work against someone loved by mana such as myself," he explained, about to attack, but then he paused, pointing at the woman's head, or rather, what was on it.

"Nice hat,"

The magic knight was very confused by the sudden statement that came out of virtually nowhere. "Um…thank you,"

"If you have that kind of hat, then you must be a witch. I remember being told stories about them from elves who would leave the village, a society of women who kept to themselves, you're almost like us, that would also mean your ancestors had nothing to do with our extinction,"

"You watch your words, we aren't like you, you're endangering innocent people for no good reason, my students did nothing to you," Glynda retorted.

"Of course you're not like us, I said you're almost like us, you may be a witch, but you're still a human, and even though your kind weren't responsible, you choose to stand alongside the descendants of those who are, you're just as guilty,"

"No, I'm not guilty, no one here is, you're just spouting a load of nonsense because you need someone to blame,"

"Someone to blame? Pfft, hardly. Although, you say you're not guilty in the matter, it makes me curious regarding what you are guilty about, granted, that depends on how big your Chaos is,"

Glynda found herself confused a second time. "My…Chaos?"

"Yeah. I don't know what all my fellow brethren believe, but as far as Garo and I are concerned, there is no such thing as perfect people, we all got a little bad in us. The bad things we think, the bad things we say, the bad things we do, all for the sake of self-satisfaction and nothing more, that's what the two of us coined as Chaos. While no one is perfect, we elves are objectively better people, our Chaos can be annoying, but at the end of the day, it's harmless. But you…,"

He pointed straight at her. "You all are a different story, immorality and self-centeredness are an intrinsic part of you. Your Chaos is far greater by default! It doesn't matter who has to suffer, as long as it's for your own sake, you couldn't give any more of a damn!"

Those words struck a chord with the witch, her expression shifting from confusion to the rare look of guilt, one the elf saw. "Yes, it seems yours is big after all,"

Glynda did her best to push the encroaching thoughts to the back of her mind. "What you say may be true, but don't think you're excused either. Look at everything you elves are doing. No one here asked to be the descendants of your killers, but you're ready and willing to harm them anyway merely so you can take some form of indirect revenge. You are looking for someone to blame, and by your own logic, it makes your Chaos greater and more vile than anyone else's!"

Argo's face became enraged. "You shut up!" he prepared to attack her with all four swords.

"Telekinesis Magic: Mental Fortitude!" she blocked it, keeping the spell active for whatever else he planned to throw her way.

The elf stared at her, thinking of a way to get around it. He could very well just blitz around her with his superior, but he quickly landed on a more creative solution. Focusing on his northern blade, he kept moving one hand in a rapid, horizontal fashion starting down and periodically moving up, continuing until multiple horizontal cuts split the sword into various even pieces.

"What did you do?" his opponent questioned.

"You'll see," Argo raised the sword, shocking the witch by how much longer it appeared as each piece was elevated a few inches above the one below it. As it came down, Mental Fortitude managed to block the bottom half, unfortunately, the top half bypassed it and slashed her shoulder.

"Ugh!" she fell to her knees as her spell dropped, inspecting her bleeding cut, glad that it was nothing overly serious. "Why you little,"

"Ah ah ah, don't get mad at me for being smart," the boy wagged his finger smugly.

Glynda took a split second to dart her eyes behind her. "We'll see who's smart! Telekinesis Magic: Attracting Force!" she pointed her crop at him, enveloping him in a purple glow, but before he could do anything, the woman pulled on her tool, the elf accelerating her way.

"Take this!" the witch exclaimed as she leaped into the air, revealing Sol who had already blitzed their way, her fist reeled back before landing a clean punch on his face, launching him back with a thud.

"Thanks for the assist, Glynda,"

"You're welcome, dear,"

Sol punched her palm. "We've got him on the ground, let's keep up the pressure!" she pointed at the elf. "Time to meet my not-so-little friends, jackass! Earth Creation Magic: Divided Mother Goddess!" she conjured a quintet of golems. "Get him!" she ordered, all of them charging at him relatively fast.

Argo managed to rise to his feet just in time to avoid one of their punches. "So, those helpers of yours finally make an appearance? It's time to prove what I said earlier," he said, glaring at the wall before smirking. He had a plan.

Inhaling, he yelled as loud as he could. "Garo, can you hear me?!"

On the western side, the possessed azure flame mage was currently on the defensive, dodging strikes from Teiko's whip. "Yeah, I hear you. What's the problem?!" he yelled back.

"I'm going to send you a signal, you had better know what to do!"

"Of course! What kind of fool do you take me for?!"

"You already know the answer to that question!"

"Enough of the talk, take him down!" Sol barked her orders again, all the golems coming at him at once.

Argo didn't decide to face them head-on just yet, for now, he was running towards the partition, the creations in hot pursuit. Once he reached where he was going, he ran up the wall, using it to aid in a backflip, landing on one of the golem's heads.

"Hey, there's a pretty nice view from up here," he quipped, avoiding janky slaps from the giant victim who was trying to get him off. One of the other ones closed in further and prepared to throw a punch.

"I guess it's time for me to take my leave," Argo jumped off just in time for friendly fire to occur, the attacking golem hitting its comrade's neck. The possessed grass mage smirked, the second phase of his plan was beginning; he repeated the same action he performed earlier while in mid-air, elongating all four of his swords before he commanded them to do a vertical slash, cutting four of Sol's soldiers in half before they crumbled away.

Only one remained, the one he had mounted earlier. It brought both its hands together, slamming them down with tremendous force, but the possessed orca had been weaving and dodging everything they threw at him, getting around that was nothing, even if the resulting shockwave did shake him up a bit.

"Well well well, would you look at that? You can't hit me, don't worry, you still have the chance to be useful. Grass Creation Magic: Greenery Whiplash!" one of his swords transformed as he wrapped the whip around one of its legs. Focusing mana into his hands for a boost, he pulled with all his strength, tripping the golem before he began spinning slowly in a circle, speeding up as he took the earth giant for a ride.

Sol tilted her head. "...What is he up to?"

"He must be trying to throw it at us," Glynda guessed.

"What about that stuff he said to his brother?"

"I'm not too sure about that part, so we need to take him down…now,"

The earth mage gave the witch a worried look. "Um, is everything alright? You have a strange look on your face,"

Glynda cleared her throat and composed herself. "Yes, there's nothing you have to be concerned about. If Argo plans to throw your golem at us, he'll be vulnerable for a split second after he does so, if we react quickly enough, I can use Attracting Force, you land another punch, and then I use my Imprisonment Ball,"

"That spell you used on your squadmate during the exam? If it does what it looks like it does, then we're all set,"

The two females stood ready, watching carefully as Argo's rotation got even faster, the strength of his spinning strong enough to create a breeze that they could actively feel, and then…he let go. However, to their absolute shock, instead of coming at them, the golem rocketed towards the wall, a humongous dent being formed upon impact that destroyed the golem.

The eyes of the knights widened, knowing what this meant. "Oh no!"

"Woah, the world is spinning faster than when I died," Argo mumbled, the dizziness ending a few seconds later, and he saw what happened, his plan worked.

"Garo, now!"

"I'm on it!" he exclaimed as jumped, kicking Teiko dead in the chest one foot at a time while doing a full circle turn. Now, there was nothing at the moment to stop him as he dashed toward the compromised spot. "Azure Flame Magic: Vivid Spiral!"

Lifting himself off the ground, the elf became a speeding horizontal tornado of blue fire that crashed into the wall with all his might, that section of the spell finally giving way as a cloud of dust covered part of the east side, said cloud dispersing half a minute later to reveal the two brothers standing back to back.

"That was a pretty cool plan you cooked up, Argo,"

"Thanks. Oddly enough though, I owe it all to the humans,"

"Hey, whatever gets the job done, that's how we always rolled, anything goes,"

Not too long after, Teiko emerged from the hole and rejoined his comrades. "Damn it, this isn't good,"

Garo grinned. "You took the words right out of my mouth. I did tell you, the wall would come down, and now, it's time to follow suit,"

With its purpose being served, Sol brought her hands together in a vertical fashion in front of her chest, the wall receding until it was no longer visible. "I know you said they're dangerous when working together, but that isn't the end-all-be-all, is it?"

"No, but it's going to be difficult, granted, fighting individually should've weakened them significantly, we may still have a shot," he answered her.

"Don't count on it, you three are as good as dead," Argo said confidently. "Are you ready for this?"

"I've been ready all damn night,"

With that, they took off, stunning the knights by the fact that they were running in perfect sync, the perfect set of movements continuing as they became airborne.

"Telekinesis Magic: Psycho Bomb!" Glynda launched a flurry of the purple orbs while Teiko and Sol assisted with blasts of water and earth respectively. Once the bombs got close enough, she snapped her fingers.

However, in response to that, the brothers adopted a strange position where gravity brought Argo lower than Garo, but the possessed grass mage turned his body upside down, the possessed azure flame stepping atop his feet as the former gave the latter a boost up while the action forced him further down, both managing to completely avoid danger.

But things weren't done yet. "Grass Binding Magic: Pasture Restraints!" he called out upon landing, the long grass sprouting from the ground to ensnare the trio.

As for Garo, he looked down at them, ready to strike. "Azure Flame Magic: Brilliant Volley!"

With their movements restricted, the group had no choice but to take the force of the hit head-on, sending them flying into a nearby building.

"Ugh, is everyone alright?" Teiko asked with a painful groan, being the first to emerge.

"I'll live," Glynda replied.

Sol came out last, rubbing her arm. "Same, it's going to take more than that to take me down, though I can see what you meant by them working in conjunction, I've never seen anyone pull off a trick like that before,"

"Hopefully, we can take them down before they start using their more dangerous combos," the semi-immortal stated as he was again the first, this time regarding to the one who charged ahead.

"He's coming for more," Argo noted.

"Hey, while I was fighting him, I thought of something cool we can do with our new magic, and that whip of yours may come in handy. You in?" his brother requested.

"Heck yeah,"

Teiko's grimoire flipped to a page. "Water Creation Magic: Funayurei Boukou!" he declared, summoning a tall wave of water, and from the wave emerged skeletal apparitions dressed in waterlogged clothing.

The possessed grass mage sucked his teeth. "My Greenery Sentinel isn't going to be very useful against a move like that. Does your host have any defense spells?"

"Yup, but leave it to me to get us out of trouble like always," he snickered back.

"Hey, who was the one who took down that wall earlier? Not you,"

"Uh, technically it was,"

"W-Whatever, just use the damn spell already,"

"Alright, alright. I missed doing this with you, y'know. Azure Flame Creation Magic: Inferno Column!" the cylindrical tube rose from below, shielding them from the initial wave before the spirits approached, attempting to destroy the spell by ramming into it with their bodies, just for the immense heat to destroy and evaporate them.

The two actions resulted in the area around the elves to be covered with a thick cloud of steam, forcing Teiko to stop, but just a second later, an attack emerged from the unseen, wrapping itself around the man's bare wrist.

As the steam dissipated, the attack was revealed to be the grass whip, this brought a grin to Teiko's face. "It appears your aim was off, Argo," he fired, preparing to use his other hand to command his own whip to attack the occupied orca.

However, an even wider grin showed up on the younger one's face. "As a matter of fact, no it was not. Now!"

Before the water mage could wonder what was going on, Garo clutched the whip with his gauntlet-covered fist, blue fire quickly traveling, leaving ash in its wake, but that didn't as it reached Teiko, severely burning his wrist.

"AHHH!" he screamed loudly as he dropped to his knees, clutching the part tightly.

"Man, those screams are like music to my ears," Garo sadistically commented before he noticed a shadow looming over him, said shadow belonging to Sol, who was above him with her fist reeled back.

No words were spoken between the two as the possessed azure flame mage crossed his gauntlets in front of him, blocking her attack, however, it was evident from the look on her face that her hands were beginning to feel the heat, so she pushed herself off.

"If I'm not mistaken, you were the one to create that large wall from earlier, were you not? I'll give you your credit, that move of yours did indeed give us some trouble, but in true human fashion, it failed in time," he taunted.

"You really don't like humans, do you?" she rhetorically asked. "Then you're going to feel real bad when we do you in. Earth Creation Magic: Raging Mother-," she was cut off as she suddenly found her eyes looking up at the sky, courtesy of Argo who had snuck up behind her and delivered a swift and silent sweep kick.

"No, I don't think we'll feel bad at all," Garo jumped up above, reeling his gauntlet back horizontally to use the blade to slit her throat.

Not on Glynda's watch though. "Telekinesis Magic: Repulse Blast!" she fired the orb of magic, flinging Garo away, this giving Sol the chance to land on her feet and fall back.

"Thanks again for that,"

"It's alright," she said, now bending down to check on Teiko. "Are you okay?"

The man knew no recovery spells, so he did the next best thing and encased his wrist in a bubble of water. "It's not perfect, but it'll have to do," he responded, standing up.

"Okay guys, I think I have a plan," Sol spoke up, earning their attention. "Back when Glynda and I were fighting that Argo guy, we got a solid hit on him when she used Attracting Force to set me up. If she uses it again and Teiko helps me out, we might be able to do it,"

"I don't see why not, if it works, it works," Teiko agreed.

"If you're in agreement, we'll do it then. Telekinesis Magic: Attracting Force!" the witch pointed her crop at the elves, pulling them both in, at the same time, the trio advanced to speed up the time of confrontation.

"Oh man, it's this spell again," Argo grimaced. "I have a plan," he made an array of hand gestures which his brother nodded to.

For the first three seconds, everything was going fine for the trio, the fight would finally be over, but that's when the twins put their plan into motion. The brothers joined their hands, Argo spinning around before he released Garo, launching him back a few feet before he started getting pulled in again, from there, they adopted the same position they had used before, this time in a horizontal fashion as Argo was now the one be boosted while Garo was pushed back a bit more. This boost gave the possessed grass mage an increase in speed, allowing him to blitz right past them, painting shock on their faces.

Now behind them, the shorter elf gave a hand signal, making the taller one act as they both attacked from their respective directions.

"Azure Flame Magic: Swirling Combustion!"

"Grass Magic: Leaf Blade Shootdown!"

They were trapped. With how close both spells were, evasion wasn't an option, so they took the full brunt of both, getting close in the center of a big explosion, and when the dust settled, they were on the ground, cuts riddling their bodies and their clothes singed.

Both elves were released from the pulling spell as they reconvened, staring at the humans. "And just like that, we win," they said in unison before sharing a high-five, the mood souring just a bit as they saw them struggling to rise to their feet.

"You're still alive? Oh well, it's no big deal, you three can't possibly go any further," Garo told them. "You were able to hold your own when we were alone, but look at how fast you fall when we're together, because we work perfectly in sync. You've seen firsthand why the bond between elven siblings is the strongest sibling born in existence!"

"The strongest…sibling bond? You're…joking right?" Sol weakly pointed at them. "That honor belongs to us humans! Char and I may not be related, but we love each other like sisters!"

The possessed former vice-captain was neither enthused nor impressed. "Oh please, honorary siblings don't count for shit, you may as well just be really good friends,"

Teiko got to his feet next, about to say something, but he paused, a quick look of guilt forming before it vanished just as fast and another set of words came out. "What about Lumiere and Tetia?"

The only response that question got was a laugh from the two elves. "Okay, now that has got to be a joke," Argo said. "Tetia was pretty cool for the most part, heck, she even took part in some of our pranks, Lumiere though," his expression darkened immediately. "That guy was a total bastard,"

"Tell me about it," Garo joined in. "All that talk about peace and coexistence, it was nothing more than rubbish. His Chaos was through the roof, he was willing to kill his own sister on her wedding day, a terrible man, and an even worse brother," he then remembered something. "That reminds me. Argo, do you want to know what Teiko told me earlier?"

"What'd he say?"

"He said that those wretched pieces of filth that slaughtered us that day were apparently 'influenced' by 'some mysterious power' and that it means it's no longer their fault,"

Argo glared at the water mage. "Is that so? Did he say what this power was?"

"Nope,"

"Hmph, how convenient. To think that even now, you try to make excuses for your misdoings, but that's how your kind operates. It's all about satisfaction with you, you saw our immense power, the way mana favored us, it was something you wanted, something you envied, something you couldn't stand to see in the possession of another, so you plotted and you schemed, and then, you committed the ultimate crime!"

Teiko grit his teeth, it didn't matter what he could say to them, he would never be able to change their minds. They were too lost in their hatred.

However, at the same time, Glynda was also gritting her teeth. The witch was still on the ground while her allies stood, she didn't push herself back up yet, but that's because she was listening, listening to the brothers' rant, and remembering what one of them told her. Those words rang powerfully in her head, it forced a memory, a set of memories to start emerging in her mind, ones she didn't want to think about, but at this point, it was out of her control.

[Flashback]

Witches' Forest. Twenty Years Ago.

"Glynda…Glynda…wake up!"

The young witch's green eyes shot open at the calling of your name as she too shot up from bed, her ears finally picking up on the knocking.

"I'm awake, thank you, Cornelia," she said with a yawn as the knocking ceased.

"You're welcome, dearie, breakfast will be starting shortly," the witch on the other side informed her as she walked away.

Glynda let out another yawn and rubbed her eyes as she got out of bed. Her room wasn't overly big, but it was comfy, after all, it had everything she needed: a nice bed, a shelf with all of her favorite books, a well-sized desk with stacks of paper for studying, and a window that gave her a great view of the outside.

But most of all, the thing she loved most was her mirror, standing proudly in the center as she walked up to it, staring happily at her reflection. "Good morning, Glynda. Did you have a good night's sleep? Why yes, yes I did, thank you for asking," she took a few seconds to admire herself. "Today is going to be another productive day, another day of proving to the whole forest that you're one of the best and is the perfect person for that job,"

The little girl then stretched. "But first, I had better get ready, I can't keep the others waiting," she said as she grabbed a towel and exited the room. After half an hour, she emerged into the kitchen, where three pairs of eyes fixated on her.

"There you are," Cornelia smiled as she stood over the stove-like contraption. The witch looked surprisingly young, being in her early 30s, with her hat currently hanging on a nearby table, her short ruby hair was in full view, complimenting a modest light blue outfit. Sitting at the dinner table were two younger witches who were about the same age but were both younger than the future telekinesis mage, one was a dark-skinned girl wearing a simple green outfit, while the other one was more on the pale side, wearing a simple red outfit.

Glynda took her seat alongside her fellow young witches as the one in red excitedly banged on the table with her fists. "Alright, bring on the pancakes, I want pancakes!"

"Calm down, Cindy, rushing Cornelia won't make them get done any faster," the dark-skinned girl politely admonished her.

Cindy pouted. "Okay. I'm sorry, Emerald,"

"Excuse me? Did you forget what I told you?"

"Right, my bad. I'm sorry, Emmy,"

She smiled. "That's better,"

"Y'know, I never understood why you have such a problem with your full name. I think Emerald sounds nice," Glynda said.

"Well, I think it's embarrassing. Why couldn't I be given a normal-sounding name like the rest of you? The witches named me after a rock,"

Cornelia turned around with her hands full as she set plates of food on the table. "Eat up, you three," she sat down in front of them. "As for you, Emmy, there's no shame to be found in your name, after all, an emerald isn't just a rock, it's a pretty rock, but if you prefer this nickname, we'll respect it,"

The girl sighed. "Thank you," with that, they all began to eat. Things started off quiet, but the oldest woman broke it with a question.

"So, Glynda, how was practice yesterday?"

The girl swallowed her food before answering. "It went really well, I'm starting to be able to do some cool things with my magic, I can't wait to get my grimoire,"

"You shouldn't be in too much of a rush, after all, the things I've seen you do have been very impressive for just an eight-year-old, your teachers have been saying the same things too if I'm not mistaken,"

"So, why have you been practicing so hard anyway?" Cindy asked.

"No reason in particular, I'm just trying to be the best I can be," she replied with a half-truth.

Cornelia smiled at her. "That's what I like to hear, and speaking of the best you can be, let's hurry up so you three aren't late for class," with that, they quickened their pace, finishing ten minutes later before they all donned their hats and left the tree building. Their guardian mounted her broom before the other three quickly did the same behind her as they took off.

Not too much time passed before they reached a larger tree building, noticing other witches flying towards it. Cornelia flew in close, landing on a platform. "Okay, you three be good," she waited for them to dismount before waving goodbye and flying off.

After that, the three girls entered the building, coming across two doors that led to the two lone classrooms. "I'll see you two after class," Glynda told the two as they split up, the blonde walking to the room on the left.

Upon entering the room, the girl proudly inhaled, taking in the smell, this was one of her favorite places to be. As she confidently strode to her seat, someone bumped into her. "Hey, watch where you're going," she scolded her before locking onto the culprit, the sight of who it was making her internally groan.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, Glynda, it was an accident," the other girl apologized.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, Vanessa,"

"That's good, thanks," the younger witch pulled her into a tight hug.

Glynda's internal groaning only grew louder. While the classroom was one of her most favorite places, unfortunately for her, it contained one of her least favorite people. "Ugh, why can't this girl respect personal space? She's such a weirdo, and it doesn't help that she's the resident class idiot, of course she'd never be as smart as me, but she should at least know something about anything. Not to mention she's talentless, I mean, what four-year-old hasn't unlocked her attribute yet? A total joke to all witchkind, I had better make sure this hug doesn't last long or people might actually think we're friends," she complained in her mind.

Glynda pushed her away, making sure to not make it look malicious. "It wasn't a big deal, you don't need to worry," the two then walked to their seats, the older witch sitting in the front row while the younger one sat a few rows back.

Two minutes elapsed before an older woman walked in, dressed in white. "Good morning, class,"

"Good morning, Ms. Ozz," the girls said back in unison.

"What a nice welcome, let's not waste any time and get straight to the lesson. Does anyone remember what we start with on Tuesdays?"

Glynda's hand immediately shot up. "Tuesdays start with the History lesson, Ms. Ozz, followed by Mathematics, Literature, and Magic Science before we take a break for Lunch,"

Her answer garnered claps from the other students. "That's our Little Miss Good Witch, as smart as ever," some cheered.

Ms. Ozz chuckled as she silenced the class. "Very good, I can always count on you to be on top of things. As you said, we'll start with history; we left off yesterday's class with us discussing the history of the formation of Witches' Forest and its inner government. Would anyone like to share any thoughts they had,"

Multiple hands went up and multiple answers were given, all varying statements just about how nice it is and how much they like it. The teacher gave a nod. "Not bad responses, but can someone give me something a tad bit deeper?"

It was then that Glynda raised her hand and was promptly called on. "I find our system of ruling very interesting, one such thing being the rule of succession. From what we know about the outside world, the kingdoms also have kings and queens, but they operate on a system known as the monarchy, making it so that those of the same bloodline go on to rule, however, I find that as a bad system as it can allow inept people to obtain the throne. Meanwhile, we witches have created a better version through the Appointment of the Daughter,"

"Um…how would that work again? I thought the Queen was everyone's mom,"

The question came from the back, but Glynda already knew who it belonged to. The other girls all laughed at varying volumes regarding what Vanessa said.

The teacher put up a hand to silence everyone again. "Please, don't make fun of her," her eyes met with that of her top student. "Would you care to reinform her?"

"No problem," the future telekinesis mage turned in her chair to face the future thread mage, her eyes showing minor annoyance. "While yes, through a special ritual, we are all the offspring of the Witch Queen, when a successor is personally chosen by the current queen for their merits, they're given the title of 'Daughter'. The Daughter is then taken in and trained by the queen until she's ready to assume the position, and when she does, she's given a portion of her predecessors' power along with her longevity. Her majesty that rules over us now was also a Daughter, having trained under the prior Witch Queen, Brunhilde, until her tragic demise during the Advent War,"

"Thank you again, my dear. It has been a very long time and a new Daughter has not yet been appointed, but who knows, any of us can be the next, it can even be you,"

The young blonde giggled and waved the notion away. "Me? No, I'm nowhere near qualified," she tried to be modest, but her thoughts betrayed her. In reality, it was an honor she desired with every fiber of her being and believed she deserved. There were a handful of existing worthy candidates that could be the next Daughter, and she thought, no, she knew she was one of them.

Vanessa nodded her thanks as well, but with her question being answered, a new one emerged regarding those last two words. "The…Advent War?"

Glynda had to resist the urge to facepalm. "Don't you remember Her Majesty telling the public about it? It's the reason we observe one day of the year to Brunhilde's death. The Advent War was the first and last war the witches fought in, it started after something mysterious caused the continent to become overrun with-,"

She was cut off suddenly by the sound of multiple birds coming from outside in the direction of the platform, but then, the sound vanished in an instant, being replaced by the sound of footsteps, footsteps that ended on the other side of the door. And then, there was knocking.

"Hm, I wasn't expecting any visitors, who could that be?" Ms. Ozz walked to the door and opened it, but she gasped upon seeing who it was.

"Hello, Ozzmanda, how are you?" the figure greeted, said person being the Witch Queen herself, earning gasps from the students as well.

"I-I'm fine, Your Majesty, but what brings you here?"

"I was out for some sunshine and I thought I'd stop by, I did station you and other witches to be teachers at this school after all, it doesn't hurt to visit to check on your progress," the blood mage replied. "These are the next generation, it is my responsibility to ensure that they are as good as they can be,"

"Um, of course," Ozzmanda made her way to the blonde. "And what better place to start than with our star student? This is Glynda,"

Upon hearing her name, she rose from her seat and walked in front of the two older women, curtsying respectfully as her teacher continued talking. "Glynda is also very well-liked, the class even gave her a nickname: Little Miss Good Witch,"

"Little Miss Good Witch, you say? So, she's like a goody-two-shoes?" the blood mage asked.

"Yes, but beyond that, she's very astute and very magically talented, her Telekinesis Magic is also impressive. I have no doubt she is one of, if not the best student in this school,"

"Is that so?" the queen asked yet another question, her brow raising when she noticed something about the girl. "Tell me, child, why do you not look me in the eye?"

It was true, ever since she stood before her, Glynda had been directing her eyes to the floor. "My apologies, Your Majesty, but I'm not worthy to gaze upon your perfection directly," she replied.

A small smile formed on the blood mage's lips. "Yes, I am perfect, but…," she held the girl's chin, lifting it so that their eyes met. "...You are of my offspring, you are worthy,"

Glynda's eyes sparkled at her words. "Yes, I understand,"

She wasn't the only child to look at the ruler with eyes of awe as Vanessa was doing the same from where she sat, but in an instant, her throat dried as the woman's head shifted, their eyes meeting for a split second before the girl averted her gaze.

The queen put up a finger, pointing at her. "Ozzmanda, who is that girl over there with the pinkish hair?"

The teacher followed her finger, seeing who it was. "That's Vanessa, she's not what I'd call a model student, but she does her best, and that's enough for me,"

"I see,"

The awe in Glynda's eyes began to sour. Why was the queen showing interest in that joke of all people?

"What kind of magic does she have?" was the next question to come out of her mouth.

"We're not sure, she hasn't awakened hers yet. She's probably a late bloomer,"

"One of my offspring, a late bloomer?" the blood mage muttered. "Vanessa, come here,"

All eyes fell on the resident class idiot, and it made her feel a tad bit uncomfortable. The future thread mage nervously got out of her seat, but instead of walking, she stood still, her legs shaking.

"C'mon, you should know better than to leave Her Majesty waiting," Glynda scolded her.

Vanessa jumped at her tone, hurrying over, but that was a mistake as she tripped over herself and was now on a collision course with the floor.

Or was she?

Other people had lunged out, hoping to catch her, but she didn't require it as something else saved her. In the moment, she placed one of her hands in front to take the brunt of the fall while the other was raised above her, and from that raised hand, a material shot out and tied itself to something hanging on the ceiling.

Ozzmanda breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, that gave me a bit of a scare. On the other hand, that's quite a fascinating way to unlock your attribute. I wonder what it is though?"

"Thread Magic,"

The teacher's eyes fell on the queen, the gaze becoming unnerved by the unusually powerful gaze of the matriarch that was now fixated on Vanessa. "Excuse me?"

"Her attribute, it's Thread Magic," she repeated.

"Thread Magic? In all my years, I've never heard of anyone having that,"

Glynda was also surprised by the turn of events, but in her mind, she wasn't really that impressed. "It's nice she finally awakened her attribute, but what's so special about it anyway? My magic is easily more amazing,"

Without warning, the queen made her way to the little girl, taking hold of her hand and walking her to the door. "Ozzmanda, please contact her guardian and inform her I'm taking Vanessa into my care,"

The woman was shocked to hear that. "U-Uh, of course. But why, if I may ask?"

"Why?" she gave the future thread mage a quick look. "I've chosen her to succeed me…as the next Daughter,"

---

Hours passed as the day ended and night fell over the forest. Within the familiar residence, Cornelia had just finished preparing supper, placing it at the table. "So, how was class today? I heard the queen paid the school a visit,"

Cindy eagerly dug into the chicken drumstick in her hand. "Yeah, I didn't talk to her directly, but Emmy and I got to see her as she was passing by," she spoke with food in her mouth.

"What did I tell you about speaking and eating at the same time?"

The girl blushed with minor embarrassment, swallowing her food. "Sorry,"

"It's okay. Back to what I was talking about, I overheard some gossip that the queen chose someone there to be the next Daughter, but I'm guessing it was just a rumor,"

"No, it happened," Emmy told her.

Cornelia couldn't believe what she just heard. "What?! Really?! Well, who was it?"

"You'd have to ask Glynda, the girl was in her class,"

The older witch locked eyes with the future telekinesis mage, a bit worried upon seeing her fidget with her food. "Are you not hungry?"

"No, not really. If you want to know about the queen's successor, it was some little girl, Vanessa's her name," she answered.

"I see. Are the two of you friends? You must be happy for her then?"

"Friends? There's a better chance of Brunhilde rising from the dead right in front of us than me referring to her in that manner," she spat back, standing up. "I'd like to be excused, I'm heading to bed early,"

After saying her goodnights, she calmly walked into her room, and she was just as calm as she closed the door and locked it, but then…the calmness ended.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" she yelled, running to her desk, slamming her fists on them over and over again, knocking over the papers as they splattered over the floor. "It was supposed to be me, I was supposed to be given that honor!"

Glynda walked over to her mirror, staring deeply as the angry face in the reflection stared back at her. "You did everything you were supposed to, you studied hard and became the best student, you were given incredible magic and the skills to use it, the thing you wanted most was attainable. But then, that good-for-nothing idiotic brat comes in and takes it all away from you!"

She began to erratically pace around her room, resisting the urge to punch the wall, coming back to the mirror after thirty seconds. "It should've been me, not her, it's not fair! This must've been some kind of mistake-,"

She stopped herself, that was it. In an extremely rare moment for the witch, a crazed smile was now plastered over her face. "Yes, that's exactly what this must've been, a mistake. Even perfect people like the Witch Queen are allowed just one error. Once she sees how worthless Vanessa is, she'll take back her choice and select the proper Daughter, it's due to happen any day now, any day now,"

.

.

.

.

.

"Any day now,"

She spoke those same three words in the mirror, looking at the reflection of her older self, still waiting for the fateful moment, but it didn't come. Nothing happened after a day, then a day became a week, then a week became two weeks, a month, a year…a decade. The little girl wasn't little anymore, she was 18, but she still spoke those three words, becoming her daily mantra after getting out of bed.

Fixing her glasses, Glynda left her room, passing by the kitchen where Cornelia was sipping a cup of tea. "Good morning, Cindy and Emmy already left for their trip. Are you heading out to the school?"

"Yeah, I'll be back," she replied, exiting the tree on her broom, and arriving at her old school soon after.

She dismounted and walked a familiar set of steps, entering her old classroom, her eyes falling on a group of young girls as she stood at the center of the room.

"Good morning, Ms. Glynda!"

"And a good morning to you too, class," she said back as she noticed a woman sitting at the northwestern edge of the classroom. "Thank you again for this opportunity, Ms. Ozz,"

"Oh please, there's no need for that anymore, Ozzmanda is fine, after all, you're a fellow teacher now," she smiled. "I knew it was a good idea to recommend you, you were the best student I had the pleasure of teaching, if anyone is ready to lead the younger half of your generation, it's you,"

"I'm honored," was all Glynda said before turning attention to her students. "Alright, since it's Tuesday, we'll begin with history,"

From beginning to end, the school day went off without a hitch, the telekinesis mage was a natural, but throughout all of it, a lone thought resided in the back of her mind, the same thought that had been living there for ten years. "I'll see you, tomorrow, Ozzmanda,"

"See you tomorrow, dear," her former teacher waved as she left.

Glynda waited a few minutes before mounting her broom and flying off, but her route wasn't leading to her house, it would lead her to a different place, a place she made it to in fifteen minutes.

"The Witch Queen's palace, it's been a while since I've been this close to it," she muttered to herself. "A whole decade has passed since I got robbed, I suppose that means Vanessa isn't entirely worthless, but let's see how good she really is,"

She flew in closer, searching for an optimal spot for some eavesdropping, finally finding a small circular window near the top. The teenager peered through it, hoping to see what she was looking for, but instead, she witnessed a different sight.

It was the queen, all by herself, training in her throne room. She had her blood scythe in hand, skillfully weaving her body while twirling the weapon, transitioning into high jumps that ended with her striking a fierce pose. "There we go, practice is needed to maintain perfection,"

To say Glynda was in awe would be an understatement. "I actually got to see Her Majesty train, what an honor. She really is perfect, her grace, her elegance, her power, it was all exuding from every movement. If only I had the chance to learn from her," she thought.

Upon undoing her construct and closing her grimoire, the queen held her chin. "Hm, I suppose it's time to see how that daughter of mine is doing," she mused, leaving the room.

Glynda could feel her blood beginning to boil as she said those words, but she calmed down, right now, she needed to find where Vanessa was. But how? Thankfully, she wouldn't have to worry for long as the faint sound of humming entered her ears, the sound coming from a nearby window.

She began to fly up to it. "There she is. Listen to her humming, I bet she's been busy living it up with the queen," her fists were clenched with rage as she made it, seconds away from peering inside. "I swear, Vanessa, I'll never-,"

Her angry tirade ceased right then and there as her eyes fell upon the room, it was bleak and empty, the only thing there being an oversized bird cage, with an older Vanessa inside.

This was nothing like she'd imagined. "What's…what's going on?"

"Hello there," Vanessa stopped her humming to say, making Glynda jump as she thought she'd been spotted, but in reality, the future thread mage was speaking to a doll on the table. "What's your name?"

"Hello, I'm Dandy," the young teenager replied to her own question, altering her voice to a deeper tone.

The telekinesis mage was a little weirded out by the short exchange. "She's talking to herself?" she whispered, but frowned, after all, she wasn't that much more innocent.

"Is this how you choose to waste your time, daughter? On pointless dolls?"

A clear expression of fear was on Vanessa's face as the queen entered the room, standing atop her murder of crows. Even Glynda was a little shaken up, not by the abrupt entrance, but by the borderline hostility coming off from her tone, one she couldn't even dream of hearing coming out of her mouth.

"M-Mother," Vanessa stammered, unraveling Dandy until the doll ceased to exist. "I-I've been practicing,"

"Have you now?" she flew in closer. "Then have you created it?"

"Created…what?"

"If you did so, you'd know what I'm talking about. Continuing trying, but know that I am beginning to grow impatient. The power that you're capable of creating can benefit all of witchkind, but every year you spend failing is a year I and your fellow women are deprived of it. Perhaps keeping you in this cage wasn't enough, maybe I should take more of your freedom? I can always station a crow to make sure you don't play around,"

That managed to get a rise out of Vanessa as she shot up from her seat and held her bars. "Please don't, mother. I'll work harder, I swear!"

The queen cracked a grin. "Very well then, get to it," she mentally commanded her crows to turn around.

"Um, mother?"

The advance of birds stopped at the timid sound of the girl's voice. "Yes?"

"Once I do whatever I need to, can I…can I go outside?" she asked, clutching her gown.

"Go outside? Are the things I've provided for you not enough?" the older one asked back in an almost accusatory manner.

"No, of course not, it's just, I've wondered what it's like to see more of the forest past what I see from my window. And I want to know if they're real,"

The blood was intrigued by that last part, going as far as to physically turn around. "If who's real?"

"It didn't happen too often when I was younger, but lately, I've been having the same kinds of dreams lately, dreams of me in places I don't remember being with people I don't remember knowing," she replied. "Please, you have to tell me, mother, was I born here, or brought here!? Are those things in my dreams real or was it all just my imagination?!"

Her mother paused for a minute before giving her an answer. "Born here, brought here. Real places and people, fake places and people. My daughter, let the truth be whatever you want it to be, because it doesn't concern me, and it shouldn't concern you either, all that should concern you is giving me what I desire,"

Vanessa stared at the floor, defeated. "Whatever you say, mother,"

"Good," with that, she exited the room.

And once she was gone, the caged girl sank to her knees, crying, she didn't say another word, all she did was cry. At that point, Glynda couldn't watch anymore, she flew away, her face hidden from sight.

She arrived at home quietly, walking inside slowly. To her surprise though, Cornelia wasn't around, but perhaps that was for the best. She sulked over to her room, closing the door behind her softly before pressing her back against it and sinking to the floor. At that moment, focus finally returned to her face.

And it was full of dread.

How could this be? All her life she had looked up to the queen, wishing more than anything to be her successor, wanting to bask in her idealized presence, one of grace, of care, of love, but now, everything was different. Glynda never believed the woman could be so capable of cruelty and apathy, and worst of all, she didn't seem phased by her behavior in the slightest.

And then there was Vanessa, the innocent girl wasn't a successor, she was a victim. How long had she been in that cage for? Maybe the very same day she was chosen. She had been in there so long, she honestly believed she'd never been a part of the outside world, no one deserved that. The future thread mage was suffering, she must have been suffering for such a long time, alone, without any love from anywhere, just demands from a cruel power that didn't care. But that's when it hit Glynda, the younger witch had been in turmoil for so long, and what was she herself doing? Cursing her, spending years and years hating her to her core, fantasizing innumerable times about telling her off to her face for taking what she believed was rightfully hers.

"What is wrong with me?" she muttered, rising to her feet. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!"

The telekinesis mage approached her mirror, staring once again at the reflection she was so proud of, the object that she used to air out her every grievance, but now…

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" the girl yelled at the top of her lungs as she grabbed a chair and threw it at the mirror with all her might, the glass shattering on impact.

Breathing heavily, Glynda stood straight, she knew what she had to do. Laying out the largest bed cover she could find, she scurried around the house, gathering her essentials and placing them on it before tying it up and around her back.

There was only one thing left to do. As she walked into the kitchen, she placed a note on the table before leaving. The note's title consisted of just one word.

Goodbye.

---

It didn't take overly long for Glynda to reach the entrance of the forest. It was an interesting sight for her, while witches were permitted to leave just so long as they came back in a timely manner, it was something she never did.

Taking a few more steps forward, she placed her rolled up on a big rock and started pacing around it. "Okay, now that I have my things, all that's left to do is get to my main plan: free Vanessa. This won't be easy by any stretch of the word, I have to find a way to infiltrate the palace without the queen noticing me, reach Vanessa's room, free her, and make it back here before we're caught,"

Before long, an idea came to her head, but she snuffed it out. "No, I can't get Cornelia and the others involved in this, even if they would want to help. Maybe I should try to make a distraction, then I can-,"

She ceased her planning as she heard footsteps, turning around, she saw a person in the distance, tall and gruff-looking. "Hold on, is that who I think it is? It's…a man? A real-life man," she deduced.

She was right, it was a man, said man being none other than Yami. "Oh, sorry for startling you there. Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, but who are you?"

"I can ask you the same question,"

"I'd rather not say,"

"Then neither will I,"

Glynda was suspicious of this man. "I wonder what he's doing here? There should be no civilization near the outside of the forest, it's implausible for one to just wander here," she internally wondered, noticing the sheathed katana. "You have a weapon on you. Are you here to fight someone?"

Yami chuckled. "Nice observation skills, yeah, your guess was on the money,"

"A fighter, aye? Are you strong?"

The dark mage playfully narrowed his eyes. "Is that a challenge I hear?"

"Maybe it is,"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not, I'll go easy on you," he took out his grimoire and unsheathed his blade. "Think fast. Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!"

Glynda hurriedly took out her grimoire as well. "Telekinesis Magic: Mental Fortitude!" she drew the circle with her finger as it expanded into the shield. "My turn. Telekinesis Magic: Repulse Blast!"

Yami stood still as the attack neared him, taking a deep breath, he skillfully cut the orb in half, surprising his opponent. "That wasn't too bad, let's see what else you can do," he said as they charged at one another.

Ten long minutes passed as the fight came to a close. Glynda was on all fours, breathing heavily with sweat pouring down her forehead, meanwhile, Yami hardly broke a sweat, despite that, the Gray Deer grinned. "You've got some good moves there, missy, a little bit of training and you'll be a beast,"

Despite his words of praise, Glynda knew she'd need more than a 'little' training to be a match for him. She'd never seen a mage so strong that was the ruler of the forest, and from what she could infer, they appeared to be the same age. "Thanks, but you, you're on a whole other level,"

"Thanks as well, I just hope I got enough power to fight the queen,"

Those words shocked her. "Pardon me? You know the queen?"

"Yeah, it's the whole reason I'm here. I've got nothing to do for the next few days, so I thought I would follow up on some rumors I heard about a queen of witches or something that lived around here. She's supposed to be super tough though, a battle between us will be a perfect opportunity to push past my limits,"

The telekinesis mage couldn't believe her luck. "A person as strong as him certainly has a better chance at freeing Vanessa, but I can't just ask him to do so, I don't know a thing about him, unless…,"

"It's your lucky day, mister, I just so happen to be a witch, I can direct you to the queen's palace,"

"Really? Wow, that's mighty kind of you," he accepted her help as they mounted her broom, flying up high.

"Do you see that big building right in the center?" she pointed to it.

"Yup,"

"That's where you'll find her, but move quickly, the forest has defense mechanisms for male intruders,"

"Don't worry, moving quickly is one of the things I do best. Any tips I could use?"

She pondered on what to tell him. "Hm, no, but something to know is that Her Majesty isn't too concerned regarding the building's collateral damage, so don't be afraid to wreck the place a little,"

"I'll keep that in mind,"

"Oh, and one more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"After you're done, can you come back here, I'd…like to have another spar,"

"Um, no problem," he answered, hopping off and heading out.

Glynda landed back on the ground. "Good luck,"

From there, she didn't know how much time passed, all she could focus on were the subsequent screams and explosions erupting from inside the forest, along with the hope that her plan would work. Before long, she found herself pacing around the same large rock, beyond anxious.

"Damn, was that fight awesome or what?!"

"Y-Yeah, I've never seen mother fight so hard against someone like that,"

The sound of those two voices brought relief to her as she saw Yami and Vanessa running her way. It all worked out.

"Yo, guess who I found? Some girl who said she was born in a cage. Isn't that the funniest thing?" Yami joked, but Glynda ignored him, just running up to embrace the younger witch for a moment, however, a look of guilt formed and she let her go. "Um, okay. Say, I think the three of us should skedaddle, the queen did not look happy,"

---

"For the time being, you can crash here," Yami told them as perspective shifted to what would be the future Black Bulls base as they entered through the front gates, being met with an empty and somewhat dirty sight.

"I see it's not the cleanest place in the world. Do you live here by yourself?" Glynda commented before inquiring.

"Sort of, I got a friend who lets me live here. Make yourselves comfortable, sorry about the mess though, I only drop by if I'm too far from my squad base,"

"I see," the females took a seat on the only piece of furniture present, that being a couch. "Anyways, I have to thank you for what did, you didn't have to free Vanessa, but you did, I'm in your debt,"

Yami waved it off. "No need for that kind of talk, you already did me a favor,"

Glynda smiled at that, but the smile vanished as she noticed Vanessa giving her a cryptic look of sorts. "Yes?"

The future thread just kept staring, tilting her head back and forth. "...Do I…know you?"

"Yes, you do, perhaps this will jog your memory," Glynda began. "Little Miss Good Witch,"

"Hm, Little Miss Good Witch…Little Miss Good Witch…Little Miss Good Witch. Hold on," Vanessa gave the woman another look, her mind conjuring up the image of a girl from her dreams, her face blurred out, but she kept on repeating the four words, the blurriness becoming clearer and clearer, until a face could be recognized.

"It's you!" Vanessa suddenly hugged her. "I think I remember you, you were that girl who was really cool and smart, and was really nice to me!" she exclaimed happily, but the mood soured as she heard sniffling, she looked up and saw tears welling up in the older teen's eyes. "Are you okay?"

Before she could realize it, the blonde returned the hug. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!"

"Sorry? For what?"

"...For everything,"

"I don't know what you're apologizing for, but if it makes you feel better, I want you to know that I forgive you, Glynda,"

"Thank you. Thank you so much," she said as the younger girl wiped away her tears.

Yami, having sensed the emotional importance of the situation, decided not to interrupt until he was sure it was alright to. "So, your name's Glynda, I forgot to ask. I'm Yami Sukehiro,"

"Nice to meet you, Yami,"

The dark mage could still feel some tension, he needed to change the subject. "So, when I was rescuing Vanessa, she told me she didn't have a last name. Do you have one?"

Finally calming down, the telekinesis mage answered him. "No, witches don't have last names,"

"Well, that's a bummer. Why don't you give yourself a last name? Something cool-sounding and important,"

"Something cool or…important?" she pondered on one, taking a look at Vanessa who was smiling at her, making her smile back.

"I think I got it. From now on, call me…Glynda Goodwitch,"

[End Flashback]

"That's right, I gave myself that last name so I'd never forget who I'd have to be from now on, someone good, and I won't let that be mocked," Glynda thought to herself as she fully rose to her feet.

"Okay then, we'll take those poorly thought-out words as your final ones," Garo crossed his arms. "Now it's time for you pack of humans to meet your-,"

"BE QUIET!"

The elves went silent, even Sol and Teiko were a little shocked by how loud the woman yelled, not saying a word as she walked past them.

"Oh yeah, I guess you didn't say any final words yet," Argo recalled. "But don't you dare lie and try to spout nonsense about your supposed innocence, I saw that look on your face earlier, your Chaos is strong,"

"What you say has truth in it, my Chaos was strong, I don't like the person I used to be, not one bit, my desire and my hatred shaped me into something I now look at with shame. I won't talk of innocence, because I'm not innocent, you said yourself that there's bad in everyone, and that's true, but what's also true is that we can learn from the bad sides of ourselves, and rise above them by doing our best. My words to you aren't words of deflection, instead, I want to reach out to you, in a way, I see you as I saw myself, drowning in hate. Even if your reason is justified, when hatred consumes you, it does no good for anyone, yourselves included, so please, stop this.

The brothers stared at the woman for a time, and then their faces shifted, showing unbridled rage. "You dare mock us?! We have you at our mercy and you decide to lecture us?!" Garo exclaimed.

"That was your last mistake!" Argo pointed.

Glynda weakly assumed a stance. "Then give me your best shot, it won't be easy, but I'll save you from your Chaos, even if I have to beat you into submission…because I am a good witch," she said proudly as her grimoire flipped to a blank page, inscribing words onto it.

"Oh my, a new spell? I haven't gotten one of those in many years. I just hope it's enough to finally put an end to this! Telekinesis Magic: Psionic Beacon!"

A powerful glow of purple mana erupted from her body, dimming in luminescence as it traveled along her person, entirely coating her cape as it glowed, the mana then made its way up to her hat, becoming glowing purple accents, and those same glowing accents formed on her riding crop, finally, her eyes glowed purple, the pupils no longer visible.

"Holy shit, she looks amazing!" Sol cheered.

"It certainly does look interesting," Teiko added.

The witch spoke seriously to her enemies. "This is your final chance, surrender!"

"Never! What it looks like is irrelevant, everything you've thrown at us failed, and this will be the same! Grass Magic: Leaf Blade Shootdown!"

Glynda stood undaunted by the attack coming at her, merely extending her crop out, encasing the razor leaves in a purple aura before clenching her other fist, crumpling them.

"Huh?" the possessed orca gasped, watching as she tossed them aside. "What did she do?"

"Psionic Beacon is a spell that enhances my telekinetic abilities, it's over for you now!" she encased herself in the same aura, taking to the skies.

"Woah, she can even fly without a broom," the earth mage commented.

"Correction, my dear, we can fly," she pointed the crop at her and Teiko, the same thing happening to them as they joined her in the air.

"Azure Flame Magic: Brilliant Volley!" the possessed former vice-captain fired his own attack.

Teiko readied his whips. "I've got it,"

"No, I've got it," Glynda pointed her crop at them as they stopped in mid-air. "You can have these back," she flung them back to their origin.

The brothers weaved around them, the taller one sucking his teeth. "Things are going to be a lot harder if they maintain the high ground,"

"Then we have to meet them at their level, boost me!" his twin instructed, Garo coupling his hands, thrusting him up.

"You turn! Grass Creation Magic: Greenery Whiplash!" Argo wrapped the whip around his brother's arm, pulling him up to an even further level than himself.

"Nice one," he praised, now at the right level, he performed a wide kick, shooting an arc of blue flames.

Glynda responded quickly, pulling her hand back, the action making everyone back up respectively. Teiko noticed this and tried to see if he could make his body do the same, but to no avail.

"Glynda, it doesn't look like we can control our advancements, it's up to you to move us around," he informed her.

"I see, then I suppose that makes moving people independently from myself a little difficult right now, but with enhanced abilities comes enhanced control, I'll get the hang of it eventually,"

Going back to the twins, they landed on a nearby roof, focusing mana in their legs as they jumped after Sol and Teiko, reeling their fists back. This gave the telekinesis mage an idea, dropping her control over her two allies, allowing them to weave around the punches, giving them a chance to counterattack, sending them on a collision course with the ground. The two mages would soon join them before the purple aura came to save them.

"What the hell? How are they sweeping the floor with us?!" Argo clenched his fists.

"It's alright, I think it's time we bust out the best these grimoires got," the brothers searched through their tomes, locating their best spells.

"Grass Magic: Leaf Blade Hurricane!"

"Azure Flame Magic: Bonfire Conflagration!"

Their spells took form at the same time, the turbulent winds blowing against the fire, that gave them an idea.

Garo gave his brother a look. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Heck yeah," he replied as his twin jumped into the air, throwing the fireball into the tornado, the two spells meshing together, firing flaming blades of grass.

The trio watched the flaming tornado with caution. "If we don't take care of that thing soon, the damage it's going to cause will be insane," the azure-clad knight stated.

"Agreed, but I can handle this," Glynda told them, bringing the three of them to a nearby roof, feeling the immense amount of heat. "I need you two to provide me with some of your basic magic,"

Her allies nodded, firing water and dirt into the air respectively, the enhanced telekinesis mage using her crop to keep it airborne until enough was gathered. "Thank you," she focused mana into her legs, jumping many meters above the fiery twister, pointing her crop at the two masses and spinning the tool around, mixing the water and earth together as it amassed behind her.

"It's over!" she cried triumphantly, meeting the spell with her attack, dissipating it upon contact, putting shock on the elves' faces. However, things would only get worse for them as the woman suddenly appeared in between them.

"What the?" they gasped as they were enveloped in the purple glow, unable to move as they flew to a wall, Glynda having undone the control just in time for momentum to take control and slam them into the wall at full force, knocking them unconscious.

"Telekinesis Binding Magic: Imprisonment Ball!" she created two spheres to trap them.

Sol and Teiko jumped down and reconvened with her. "That was awesome, Glynda, you kicked serious ass,"

"Thank you, Sol," she said, turning to the semi-immortal. "And thank you to you as well, I know we just met tonight, but I wouldn't mind us meeting again,"

"Same here, you're pretty cool, and you've got an interesting sense of fashion,"

"I don't think I would mind that,"

All three of them were smiling, glad the battle was over. "By the way, Sol, do you know where my students are?"

"Yup, my golems are still active, I can take you to them," she responded.

"Good, then let's get moving," Glynda encased herself and Sol in the glow, heading in one direction, the two purple spheres not far behind.

Teiko was all by himself again, as he turned, his eyes fell on Clover Castle. "This battle was a tough one, but something tells me they'll be more on the way, and they'll be even tougher…but we will survive," he said, summoning the water board and gliding away.