(A/N: I cannot believe it took me 6 months to deliver the second chapter to you all and here I am following up on the story like clockwork.)
Of all the present captains of the Clover Kingdom, Conrad Leto could be considered to be the most desperately ambitious. He had the most drive and largest heart to become the next Wizard King. And yet, here he was, using his magic for his kingdom, to cut down men and women of another kingdom. In the flames caused by Vulkan's attack and the initial flames set by the Diamond Kingdom, he grimaced at a corpse by his feet. He wish he didn't have to do this, but it was either him or them.
Then, his ability to sense magic picked up something incoming from the sky. He barely had the chance to get out of the way. Then, a massive impact sundered the ground where he'd been, making a crater. Conrad turned to the source, finding a stone with holes in it on fire before it faded away into magic particles.
He then felt himself get slammed in the back multiple times before he managed to turn around and summon a portal with his key magic to fight back against the assault. Using, ice magic he had appropriated from a long dead mage, he froze the incoming projectiles and crumbled them into harmless ice crystals.
Sitting on a low-rising rooftop was a young woman in furred boots, a cropped top, and shorts. She was wearing a hairband with little knots designed to look like squirrel ears. There was also a club slung along her back that looked like a squirrel's tail. However, it was glowing in such a way that Conrad recognized it as a magic weapon of some variety.
The young woman had green eyes and a wide grin on her face. "Wooooow, not bad. Been a while since somebody could take a direct hit and not die." She conjured some small rocks in her left hand as she leaned her chin onto her right, then flicked the small rocks at Conrad. The rocks magnified in size, quickly becoming bigger than an elephant. Conrad used several "keyholes" to create blasts of wind that eroded the rocks into dust.
This resulted in him getting punched in the face by the young woman, who began wailing on him. "What's the matter, big boy? Can't keep up?" she asked, as she battered his face and torso.
Using a spell, Conrad generated a spherical barrier around himself to give himself some breathing room from this mysterious woman. The barrier expanded outward, giving him more than twice his arm span of room in any direction. He exhaled, catching his breath, rubbing his sore jaw.
"For a slowpoke, you think quick on your feet," the young woman said.
"Speed's not everything," Conrad responded.
She laughed. "Maybe not, but it's my calling. Name's Komi, people call me the Amber Squirrel." She raised a hand to the sky as a fast moving rock smashed against Conrad's barrier, cracking it in a single strike. "I'm the fastest spell slinger in the Diamond Kingdom, and it's all thanks to my beloved Asteroid Magic." Komi then disappeared from view, moving insanely fast and then slammed her fist into Conrad's barrier, breaking it instantly. She then proceeded to try and wail on him as she had before, but Conrad fired bolts of lightning from keyhole portals to try and hold her off. Komi, however, avoided the strikes and kicked Conrad hard in the back, knocking him away.
Conrad turned, crouching down on one knee, only for Komi's shin to smash him in the face. She then launched him into the air with a kick as she proceeded to slam an asteroid from high in the air, into his body and impacted both into the ground. She punctuated this action by clapping one palm down into her other hand. Upon impact, the asteroid faded into magic particles.
Conrad made to get up, but Komi suddenly had many asteroids ready to strike. "Asteroid Magic: Meteor Shower."
Conrad gasped, barley able to move. But move he had to, else get pulverized into dust. Digging deep into his magic reserves, he opened empty keyhole portals to absorb the incoming asteroids and then blasted them back at Komi. She dodged them all, used them as springboards and then slammed her fist into his stomach. She then battered him with a furious assault before hurling him high into the air.
More Asteroids appeared on the ground. "Asteroid Magic: Meteor Catapult!" she declared, and then flung them all at Conrad at different angles, converging on Conrad's location.
Conrad, however, was not about to be outdone. Summoning a bunch of portals, he fired a bunch of beams at his body. He suddenly felt stronger than ever before, enriched by pure, raw magic he had stored up. Then, with a wave of his hand, conjured a mighty portal that projected a shield in the shape of a keyhole that caused all of the attacks aimed at him to shatter against him. He then summoned one more portal, which released an insanely powerful keyhole shaped blast at Komi, though she easily dodged.
However, using wind magic he had stolen with his key magic, Conrad was easily able to get to the ground and used a portal full of lightning magic to blast at Komi. She dodged, but Conrad suddenly managed to get close to her, and she finally grabbed her club, using it to block an axe…made of jade light.
I really must thank young Marianne again sometime, Conrad thought aloud and fought with the axe to swing away at Komi's club. She willingly crafted me some light-based weapons at my request. The weapons clanged together a bit more. This way, in close, I'm not at a disadvantage.
With a manic grin on her face, Komi put both hands on her club, "Asteroid Magic!" she shouted as her club caught fire, "Extinction Event!" Komi took a swing at Conrad and missed, but when her club hit the ground, she destroyed practically everything around them in one giant explosion that tore into the night sky and lit it up like a volcanic eruption. The explosion blasted Conrad around as he was caught in it and he soon found himself laying prone on the edge of a crater. Even with the magic he'd absorbed that he'd previously stored away in some of his portals, it wasn't nearly enough. However, when he opened his eyes and saw naught but crater, he was horrified. No buildings. No walls. No roads. Nothing. Komi had blown it all sky high and left…nothing.
She tapped her club to her shoulder. "Well, how about that? You're still in one piece. Guess it's not as effective against strong guys if I don't land a direct hit."
"You…what did you do? The houses! The people!" Conrad shouted.
"Pffft," Komi scoffed. "Who cares? In Diamond, if you're weak, you die. It's their fault for living too close to the castle."
"You…you call yourself a magic knight!" Conrad snarled, only to nearly cough up a lung. His ribs hurt as he doubled onto his knees, spewing up a gout of saliva. His throat burned, his fingers itched and his body ached.
"Mage Warrior. Diamond's a bit different from you bleeding Clover hearts," Komi said and channeled magic into her club. "Batter up!" She then charged towards Conrad.
She's going to do it again! The mere thought horrified Conrad. No…no he would not allow this! But…he could barely move. Getting up to his feet…hurt. Yet still, as he stood their panting, he hadn't given up.
"Because not giving up…" he panted, "Is my magic."
Komi lifted her club and prepared to swing in for a direct hit. But Conrad was laser focused now. Whatever had held back his morals not to eradicate this woman and everything she stood for had been eroded away along with the battlefield.
Drawing all the magic power he could, Conrad lifted his arm and thrust it forward. As Komi began to swing in, her body suddenly locked in place. Translucent chains surrounded her in multiple locations and seemed to bind her movements before becoming invisible.
I…can't move, Komi thought, eyes darting around.
"You don't deserve your magic!" Conrad shouted, irradiated with anger. He stumbled forward and clenched his hands around Komi's throat. "And so…I'll take it for myself!"
In desperation to survive, Komi summoned her Grimoire, but that was what Conrad wanted. Summoning a key, he inserted it into Komi's Grimoire, turning the key into the lock he made and the Grimoire became stone. Komi's club faded into dust, only to reappear in Conrad's hands. He gently swung it at his side.
What…but that's…that's my…
"Asteroid Magic," Conrad said with all the coldness of an underground freezer, "Extinction event."
He then smacked Komi in the head with her own weapon and the impact turned her entire body into a fine, bloody mist, along with an explosion that didn't even leave the current crater.
Asteroid Magic, hmm? Conrad thought. Well, it's in better hands now.
Not all of the battles, of course were happening on the ground. One in particular, was clashing high above the highest tower near the Diamond Kingdom's castle. The Steel Warrior Princess, Acier Silva, was locked in combat with a fellow liquid metal user. A woman with long blue hair was fighting with far more thorough armor, though still with liquid metal wings capable of flight. And she was also fighting with a great sword to counter Acier's jousting lance, which shattered when the two clashed, flying past each other.
Introductions were already behind the ladies. Before Acier stood Cheryl, the Crystal Badger, and her whiter metal, compared to Acier, was an indication of her much sturdier liquid titanium magic.
"You should give up," Cheryl told Acier. "You can't win."
"I dunno, I'm kind of having fun. Didn't think you Diamond folk fought like me, after all," Acier said, making a new lance to replace her broken one.
"You're fighting my titanium with your steel," Cheryl said stoically, gazing at Acier with her magenta-colored eyes. She brandished her great sword, which had yet to break in comparison to Acier's now fifth lance. "You're at a massive disadvantage."
"Most mages might be intimidated by that," Acier told her. "But I'm me, so I'm not."
Cheryl scowled, turning her body to a defensive posture. She had two bladed bucklers on her forearms to ward off attack to cover for the heft and weight of her two-handed, double-edged sword. Unlike Acier, who looked like a Valkyrie in a storybook, Cheryl's armor was far more practical. Aside from parts of her face, practically every last part of her was covered in her durable liquid titanium.
Both women then witnessed the boom that was Komi's extinction event.
"Komi's getting out of hand, I see," Cheryl remarked.
"That's all you can say about how many people just lost their lives?" Acier asked.
"What's there to be done about it? They're dead. Not like Komi's going to be punished for it. A couple hundred dead men, women, and children is a noble sacrifice if it means the fall of the Clover Kingdom," Cheryl remarked with a disinterested attitude.
Acier's tone of voice became withdrawn and barely contained the storm within her anger. "What did you just say?"
"No point in getting upset about it, not like they were your citizens," Cheryl remarked.
"They're still people! Everyone has a life to live!" Acier shouted angrily.
Cheryl flew forward and shattered Acier's lance, forcing Acier to use liquid steel to block what would have been an otherwise instantly fatal blow.
"Let me tell you a little something about the sanctity of life, Captain. It's a load of shit," Cheryl said with a sullen, cynical expression and tone. "When you're weak, you don't get to decide how you live. You live because the strong say so. Nobody cares if you're hungry. Nobody cares if you're sick. So, if you don't claw yourself over hundreds of other potential bodies to get what you want." She took several swings at Acier, breaking defenses conjured on the spot and repeatedly coming damn near close to a decapitation, "You die. That's the fundamental law of nature."
Acier seemed to sympathize with her foe. "Must have been hard, surviving, I mean. Dead parents?"
"Since I was five."
"Home village?"
"It's a wasteland."
"Hmm," Acier responded. "Shame. You're really strong," she said, currently pushing back against Cheryl with a shield. "You could have done something with that strength besides give up on your humanity."
"I just want to live, and to be honest, I'm more scared of King Rudolph than you. I've survived this long following his orders and tucking my head in. Today's no different than any other," Cheryl responded, calmly.
"It is different, because tonight is your last night on Earth," Acier told her.
"Go ahead and try. You aren't the first person to try and kill me." She held up her sword. "You definitely won't be the last."
At this, the two clashed weapons yet again, with Acier's weapon breaking, each time it smashed into Cheryl's blade and accompanying strength.
"I told you, it's useless!" Cheryl shouted, annoyed at her opponent's poor common sense.
"I'll be the judge of that," Acier remarked. She and Cheryl zipped through the air, banging weapons against each other, impacting at different angles and altitudes.
"Your titanium magic is a reinforcement type, isn't it?" Acier asked.
"What's your point?" Cheryl asked.
"My point is, you're going to lose," Acier said and flew back from her foe. "For my liquid steel, has far more applications."
Cheryl suddenly noticed that she was surrounded by projectiles.
"Liquid Steel Magic: Silver Feather Shower!"
Hundreds, no thousands of projectiles battered towards Cheryl's armor and body. However, despite her heavy looking armor, and hefty looking sword, she was able to slice through all of Acier's projectiles.
Acier then darted towards her. "Liquid Steel Magic: Valkyrie's Drill!"
Cheryl took her blade and swung overhead at the spinning liquid steel drill. When she brought the blade down, she was surprised when it was her weapon that shattered and Acier tunneled her weapon into her armor. She didn't break skin, but the point had been made. Cheryl grabbed Acier's arm and brought her leg up to kick Acier away. Acier blocked with her arm, gauntlet shattering on contact.
"Nngh," Acier winced and let go of her steel lance, flying back.
Cheryl then replaced the damaged armor with a new replica. "All that just to break my armor once?"
"On the contrary. I did it once and I will do it again and again and again," Acier said, regenerating the gauntlet that broke.
"Your gauntlet says otherwise," Cheryl said.
"I see, so you still don't understand. Very well," Acier said.
The two continued to clash, steel to titanium. Acier continued to have her armor and weapon broken again and again and again, but she also peppered it with other attacks, such as her Silver Feather Shower. Cheryl now had to be on guard as Acier was now keeping a continuous wheel of liquid steel swords around her armor. They all broke when they so much as slammed into Cheryl's armor.
"Armor that sturdy, must be pretty hard to maintain, right?" Acier asked, veering out of the way of a downward swing from Cheryl. Cheryl then shattered an incoming sword. Acier then fired a bunch of liquid steel spheres at Cheryl, bigger but fewer in number, and faster than her silver feather shower. Cheryl shattered them all.
"Cease your worthless prattle," Cheryl told her.
"Fine, fine, don't listen to me," Acier responded with a smile.
The battle kept going and going and going, with Acier coming up with new and creative ways to attack Cheryl and her seemingly unbreakable defense, but to no avail. Eventually, Acier was starting to sweat.
"Boy, I gotta say, I'm a bit winded. But…what about you, I wonder?" Acier asked.
And then, in the next instant, cracks appeared all along Cheryl's armor and sword and it shattered like glass, leaving her helpless as she started free falling towards the ground.
Acier met her long, long descent towards the ground.
Cheryl, panicking, tried to summon another sword, but…nothing. She was confused and also terrified.
"You're out of magic," Acier told her calmly. "Your titanium armor is powerful, but your magic lacks versatility. And, as someone that uses liquid metal armor, I can tell you it is a pain to maintain. So, repeatedly suffering attacks, having to constantly keep it up, it takes a lot out of you."
"But then why…you used so many attacks, you should…why can you still use your magic?"
"Oh, because I'm stronger than you," Acier stated with all the casual delivery of someone ordering lunch, "I knew that, from the moment I met you."
Cheryl now looked horrified.
"In battle, when two powers are inequal, the stronger foe almost always wins. You lacked the comprehension of that, and that was why you lost. You took your advantages for granted and never stopped to think that you were outmatched in both power and versatility. And that's why," Acier said, twirling up into the air before plunging back down and impaling Cheryl with her lance, "You now die."
Cheryl coughed up blood before Acier slammed her pierced body into the ground below. The impact against the back of Cheryl's head, with no magic power left to protect herself, cracked the back of her head wide open and caused brain matter and blood to splatter the ground.
Terrified, cold and dying, she reached her shaking arms up towards Acier. Then, the light faded from her eyes, and her arms fell to the ground with a thud.
Acier, frowning, closed the woman's eyes for her, then bowed and walked away.
Not realizing that all of his shining generals had been otherwise counter-assassinated, Rudolph continued to clash with Cecilia, axe to sword, flame to crystal.
"Ruby Magic: Sundering Spike!" Rudolph punched the ground and Cecilia leapt away as a massive stalagmite roared out of the ground, having attempted to impale her.
"Heavenly Fire Magic!" Cecilia shouted, while airborne. A wheel of flame began to form around her and the spun faster and faster, "Wheel of Great Fortune!" A spiraling, blazing tornado of fire burned towards Rudolph. With a surge of magic power and a swing of his axe, he dispelled it with one swing, scattering the flames to the walls of the room.
"You are strong, Cecilia Milanova, but you are far weaker than I," Rudolph stated.
"You have yet to prove that," Cecilia stated. And then, in the next instant, all of her accompanying mages appeared behind her, courtesy of Julius's time magic.
Rudolph gasped.
"And I believe I have easily proven which kingdom reigns supreme." She raised Elsdocia to the ceiling. One by one, yes, even Marianne and Charles, everyone offered a portion of their magic power to the fabled blade, which then surged with a powerful, thick flame, the likes of which Rudolph had never seen.
"This is the power of the Clover Kingdom," Cecilia said and tilted the blade so that Rudolph could see his own, terrified visage reflected in the crystal surrounded by flames. "My power. Where is your army? You claim to stand for strength, Rudolph, but there you stand, the good man, alone, with naught but dirt to call a kingdom. And that is why," Cecilia said and broke into a run. "You shall FALL!"
Rudolph began bombarding Cecilia with explosive mines of giant chunks of ruby, but Cecilia either dodged the attack or sliced it in two with her powered up Elsdocia.
"This is the end!" Cecilia shouted triumphantly. "Heavenly Flame Magic: Elsdocia Style – RAGNAROK!"
It was a slash that would go unwitnessed by the Diamond Kingdom's citizens, but would be felt by their people for years to come. In one smooth motion, Cecilia sliced right through Rudolph's whole body and set it ablaze, creating a towering inferno that blew the castle sky high, causing the rubble to fall like burning boulders and rain down like hellfire onto the kingdom below.
Twirling the blade and satisfied with her victory, Cecilia then sheathed it at her side. The mages of the Clover Kingdom met her smile in the still scorched night air.
"My friends," Cecilia said with a smile, "You have all fought bravely, and we have all made it out alive. I thank you for this victory. We shall return to the Clover Kingdom. And then—"
Whatever Cecilia was going to say, she would never finish that sentence. In the next moment, a bunch of spikes, blacker than ink, with strings attached to the loops on the end, impaled her from behind all the way down her torso. The spikes then retracted, leaving her to fall onto her back, dying instantly on impact.
"C-CECILIAAAAAAAAA!" Lovilia shouted, horrified. She ran over to her sister.
"Lovilia!" Conrad called, running after her.
Charles was the most horrified of all. There was no trace of Rudolph's body. What could have possibly—
In the next moment, a massive fire nearly consumed them all and Julius had to temporally displace himself and his allies to elsewhere in the Diamond Kingdom, far from the blaze as the entire royal quarter went sky high in a hellish blaze.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Lovilia called out in tears.
"I'm sorry, your majesty," Julius said to Charles. "But…"
"No, you made a good call, Julius," Charles told him. "But what could have?"
"That would be me," a calm, devilish sounding voice remarked. And devilish was rather appropriate given the owner.
From a nearby rooftop, a figure walked out from the burning shadows, Elsdocia clutched in their hand, and night sky black hair. Wings protruded from their back, and their piercing red eyes were accented by their green irises and diamond shaped pupils. Their teeth looked even less friendlier than the smile of a shark, and they wore no clothes in the traditional sense. Instead, thick black shadows covered their body from feet to neck. A series of horns protruded from below their hairline, made to look like a crown around their head. They appeared to be walking down from the rooftop atop several platforms of thinly made strings.
"Is that…a devil?" Acier gasped, eyes shaking with shock.
"Who are you?" Charles demanded to know.
"I am Bereto, leader of the 85th legion of the underworld, at your disservice."
"MURDERER!" Lovilia shouted, only to be pulled back and shielded by Conrad's arms and then, as he turned his body, his shoulder.
"Yes, scream, and give into that fear," he said as wispy black smoke suddenly escaped from Lovilia's throat. "It's all the sweeter."
"Lovilia!" Conrad shouted, shaking her as she fell unconscious.
Bereto swallowed audibly. "There is nothing tastier than a human's despair. Not that I expect any of you to understand." He turned his head to one side, running his hand through his hair.
"We haven't the time to deal with you," Julius told him. "Out of our way."
"Oh, but why leave? When the fun is just beginning," strings shot out of Bereto's body as he raised his arms, as figures appeared on the battlements and emerged from the blaze. "This is my devil magic: Cursed Army Magic, though you mortals may confuse it with mere puppet magic."
"Are all those…" Vulkan questioned, eyes wide.
"Diamond Kingdom citizens, yes. It was well worth hijacking Rudolph. You see, I need an army if I'm to open the door for my brethren. And what better army than the willing souls of the Diamond Kingdom? Well, even if I'm defeated, which I won't be, my presence won't be remembered in the history books." He scoffed. "A devil did it." He spoke normally. "What drivel. You all will be remembered as invaders who slaughtered good men and women selfishly to protect your own lives."
"Don't speak to me about good and evil! I'll cut out your forked tongue!" Acier shouted, rushing forward, putting on her Steel Valkyrie Dress.
"Acier!" Julius shouted in alarm, but she was already charging forward.
Acier suddenly found herself entangled in strings and spikes were pounding their way into her armor.
To save her, knowing she could take the heat, Vulkan burned through the strings with an eruption of magic. He then clutched his fists to make the explosions as small as possible.
"Don't approach him carelessly!" Charles ordered.
"No need to worry about that, your majesty," Julius stated, creating a chronosphere in between his hands. "I have it under control."
Setting it off by collapsing it, Julius intended to use time magic to undo the demonization of the Diamond Kingdom citizens under Bereto's control. …But nothing happened.
"Ah, time magic, is it? You'll have to forgive my puppets. They were just born today, after all. Once the demonization takes hold of a corpse, it's like they are reborn a new. You can't undo it."
Julius, in turn, turned his magic on Bereto, but nothing happened.
Bereto shook his head. "That won't do. I am so old, you see, that you would run out of magic before I was undone at the point of my conception."
"Then it's a good thing time works in two directions," Julius remarked and turned his wrist.
Bereto screamed as his body aged rapidly into dust, crumbling before everyone's very eyes.
"Did we get him?" Kaiser wondered aloud.
"A guy that sinister? You have to ask?" Vulkan questioned.
Hideous laughter surrounded the Clover Kingdom mages as seemingly copies of Bereto appeared on the battlements.
"I believe I told you," one copy said.
"That I commanded the 85th legion of the underworld," another continued.
"And what better army than myself, don't you think?" A third one finished.
Then, all at once, the Bereto copies descended onto the Clover Kingdom mages like an unholy swarm, pelting them with all manner of corrupted magics, including fire, frost, darkness and black lightning. The mages were scattered, injured or just forced to give ground, it varied by individual.
"If someone has a plan, I'd sure like to know it!" Acier exclaimed, wiping sweat from her right cheek with her left hand.
One of the Beretos cackled madly, pulling Elsdocia from the ground where the previous Bereto had once stood via a plethora of strings. "You can try! I know eighty-five different magics, for I am a devil with eighty-five souls! Well, eighty-four now," he said, with a cocky grin, "But who's counting?"
"Julius," Conrad said.
"I know. Allow me."
Although time magic seemed to only work only so effectively against Bereto, the same, it seemed, could not be said of Elsdocia, which Julius time slipped right into Conrad's hand.
"Hey! Who said you could just—" Vulkan began to object, but Charles put a hand in front of Vulkan's face.
"No, allow him," the Emperor said, watching Elsdocia glow. "Without Cecilia, the people need a new hero. If Conrad can pull this off, he will go down in history…"
Conrad raised the fabled blade to the sky.
"…AS THE NEXT WIZARD KING!"
What happened next burned itself into Marianne's memories for years to come. In legend, devils were considered the apex predator, a monster that would take an entire kingdom just to shut one down. Yet Conrad stood there, Elsdocia in hand, fearlessly, drawing magic from everywhere, including the reanimated corpses.
"Begone, monster!" Conrad shouted. "This world is no place for you!"
Key Magic – Elsdocia Style: Open the Gates!
Hundreds of portals then opened spawned from the same number of keys as beam of light after beam of light after beam of light was released. Each one zig-zagged through the air, striking a Bereto copy one right after the other.
"Be burned by the light of the holy and repent!" Conrad shouted as the hundreds of small portals became two gigantic ones, lighting up the night like the break of dawn.
Bereto and his copies were hit with a blinding white light that seemed to spread rapidly across the entire Diamond Kingdom. It ignored the buildings, the landscape, the people and the cattle, and the bright light consumed only one thing: the devil that meant harm to the human world.
Bereto shrieked and hissed as his body was torn apart. His copies combined into one big devil as he shrieked in furious anger. "GiVe Me tHe BlAdE!" He snarled.
"You want it, then here, taste it! Burn it into your memory!" Conrad shouted and aimed the tip at the foul monster, "And be cleansed!"
A massive beam of light shot out from Elsdocia and completely and utterly eradicated Bereto. He recoiled and screamed and clawed at the air as his face was stretched out before being disintegrated by the light.
Marianne was just…in awe. The legendary, awful power of a devil, defeated…in one spell…by one man…the next Wizard King.
That day was two weeks ago. Marianne could still remember how in awe she was, how wide the gap to the top still was. Even Acier had only been able to look onward at Conrad's stalwart and fearless purge of Bereto, saving not only the Diamond Kingdom, but the Clover Kingdom as well.
Cecilia's royal funeral had been held last week. Her body had been lost to the blaze that consumed Diamond Kingdom castle, so all that could be buried were her memories. Tonight, however, there was no despair. There was no misery. Tonight was a festival that was celebrated through the entire Clover Kingdom.
"People of Clover, I give you, your 27th Wizard King, Conrad Leto!" Charles announced with a raise of his fist. "May his reign be long and cherished!"
Cheers erupted from the people and business carried on. So many food vendors were offering their latest creations while higher quality food was served in the castle banquet hall for the nobility. Marianne herself was in the main plaza of the kingdom's largest sector, just one step down from the royal quarter.
"Man, a real Wizard King coronation ceremony," Nicholas said, walking up behind Marianne, shielding his eyes from the bright lights, "Never thought I'd get to see another one while I was still young enough to drink. I thought Lady Cecilia would be with us until she was in her 70s with grand kids."
"Historically speaking, no Wizard King has ever lived that long," Elizabeth cut in, forking a piece of custard from her plate to her mouth, "People consider 70 to almost be some kind of cursed number. Three Wizard Kings almost made it there, the 5th, 10th and 20th, but no one actually lived to see their 70th birthday if they were Wizard King."
"Well, well, someone's studied," Marianne remarked.
"Lady Marianne, please tell me you at least knew that," Elizabeth stated.
Marianne shrugged. "It's not terribly important to me. Wizard King is Wizard King. Age is only a number. I'm far more interested in the younger Wizard Kings of history, prodigies like myself that rose above the odds and ruled whole nations, like our beloved Lemiel, the infamous Jester Garandros, and now, it seems even Conrad. He's only 26 you know."
"HE IS!?" Elizabeth shouted. "He looks like he's 30!"
"You know, women aren't the only sex that feel wounded by having their age misappropriated. You'll make Conrad feel self-conscious if he heard you say that," Nicholas remarked, rubbing the back of his head. He then put on a giddy face and waggled his fingers at Elizabeth. "He might even lock you up for crimes against the crown."
Elizabeth slapped her friend across the face and folded her arms. "What do I look like do you? Twelve?"
"I'm surprised you're here, Elizabeth. Didn't you have plans with your crush?" Marianne asked.
Elizabeth blushed bright red. "N-No! I…I! Now hold on just a moment! Jarrod is just a friend!"
Marianne poked her cheek. "Awwwww, you liiiiiike him."
Elizabeth turned away, more embarrassed than ever, covering her ears. "Lalalalala! I can't hear you!"
"Lively bunch as ever, it seems."
Marianne looked in the direction of the comment to see Julius's approach.
"Ah! Captain!" Elizabeth exclaimed, fanning her fingers in front of her face.
"Good to see you in good spirits, sir," Marianne replied, bowing.
"Quite," Julius stated. "I just had a brief chat with Conrad before the coronation. I hate to pull you away from your friends, Marianne, but I require your duties as Vice-Captain, if you'd be so kind."
"But of course, sir, duty calls," Marianne remarked, bowing once more and followed Julius straight into the royal banquet hall. Marianne curled her nose. She always hated this place, full of stuffy nobles that only cared about their pockets and how to raise the price of eggs.
"Lady Marianne!"
…Okay. There were exceptions.
Marianne leaned over as an excited Cornelia ran right up to her.
"Well hello there, Princess. Having fun tonight?" Marianne asked.
"Mmmhmmm!" Cornelia nodded enthusiastically. "Look what I made you!" She handed Marianne a very crudely made ceramic star with dried paste marks all over it. Carved on the inside of the star, it read "Comeration of Excellance" Marianne covered her mouth to silence her laughter. The misspellings of a small child were simply precious.
"Oh, it's wonderful, Princess. You know what I'm going to do with this? I'm going to glue a pin to it and keep it on the inside of my lapel so that it's always close to my heart."
Cornelia hugged Marianne's leg.
Marianne laughed. "Kids."
"You're going to make a fine mother one of these days."
"Captain, please, I'm barely seventeen," Marianne laughed.
"That may be, but look around you," Julius pointed out. Marianne did, in fact, take a look around. Although the room was full of the usual disdainful stares for her commoner origins, so too were many men, both old and young, giving her…a different sort of look. One that suggested they saw her not as something ugly, but as a woman.
Marianne, in response, fluffed her hair, wondering if even one man would have the stones to approach her. Sure, motherhood was the furthest thing from her mind, but a rags to riches story would be a fine claim to the Lamperouge name.
However, before any potential suitors approached, Conrad stood up on a chair, banking a champagne glass with a spoon. "Everyone, may I have your attention, please?"
Everyone immediately stopped their chit chat to hear the first speech of their newest Wizard King. All eyes were now on Conrad. The young man gazed over at Charles. "Your majesty…do you think we could…"
Charles nodded and clapped. Through some magic artifacts wheeled into the center in the room by some servants, and aimed at Conrad, his image and the entire wall was projected high above the Clover Kingdom so that all attendees of the coronation festival could see their Wizard King's first ever speech even in the night sky.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I…I know this is quite suddenly…er…sudden," Conrad started, fumbling his words.
Julius palmed his eye at his friend already botching his first impression to the people.
"I know that I have big shoes to fill. Lady Cecilia was beloved by so many, even the nobility had started to be warmed by her heavenly fire. She will be sorely missed. Not a day goes by that my dear Lovilia does not grieve. But Lady Cecilia's dreams for the Clover Kingdom do not have to end with her death. In fact, they will not end with her death. I believe in a peaceful Clover Kingdom, where all men and women smile at each other and laugh and play with each other, just as she did. Where men and women of different social classes respect one another, regardless of how little they know of each other. It is a dream I have held since I was a boy, growing up in the countryside. And so, before I say more, I propose a toast to honor the dead once more," Conrad lifted a full wine glass, "To our late and great Lady Cecilia, may her memory never be tarnished." He then downed the glass of wine. Many nobles sipped their own drinks. "And now, to emphasize this happy occasion, there is something I have wanted to do for quite some time now. My dearest Lovilia, would you please step forward."
Lovilia walked forward until the artifacts were picking her up.
Julius smiled. He had a pretty good idea where this was going.
Conrad got down on one knee and took out a leather box. "My dearest Lovilia Milanova, love of my life and my treasured vice-captain." He opened the box, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring in the shape of a 3-leaf clover, "Will you marry me?"
Lovilia was so shocked she covered her face with both her hands, tearing up. She quavered and shook her head slightly before nodding rapidly and grabbing the ring, slipping it on. She pulled Conrad up and towards her, locking lips with her newly christened fiancé.
Cheers went all around the room as Charles raised a wine glass. "A toast to the soon to be newlyweds!"
"HIP HIP HUZZAH! HIP HIP HUZZAH! HIP HIP HUZZAH!"
As things calmed down from Conrad's proposal, and more alcohol had been consumed, it was getting to be late at night, so late that Cornelia had long since been escorted off to bed. Marianne had yet to go back to the Common Realm to yuck it up with her squad mates, opting instead to simply watch Conrad and his new fiancée dance in the middle of the hall to the sound of a single piano. A dessert plate, fully polished off, sat on the table to Marianne's right. She reached for the nearest glass, sipping virgin cider with ladylike aplomb.
And it was now that a man did approach, and one of the last people Marianne expected to come straight to her: Emperor Charles. He smiled at her, offering his hand. "My lady, would you honor me with a dance?"
Marianne was shocked, but one did not simply refuse the Emperor such an honest request. Marianne wordlessly accepted Charles's offer, taking his hand as he swept her into the center of the hall. His gloved hand upon her back was firm and reassuring. His bright purple eyes were, in a way, captivating.
"Your majesty, this is so sudden. And I am young enough to be your daughter," Marianne remarked.
"That's funny, your captain had just finished telling me you think age is merely a number," Charles responded, smirking.
"Your majesty, that is so out of context," Marianne responded, only to be dipped over Charles's sturdy arm. "Oh! Oh my!" She was brought upright, blushing. "How…many women have you…?"
"I honestly lost count. I often have to have my servants read me a list of my children so I don't forget even one of them," Charles remarked.
"That…please tell me that's a joke," Marianne remarked, cheeks turning redder.
"Ah, but I wish it were. There are many fine women all around the Clover Kingdom. I see it as a shame not to have those yearning for a better lot in life not at my side," Charles answered honestly.
"Well, you are making the room jealous," Marianne stated, looking at all of the men of different ages now too intimidated to approach her.
The more she and the emperor danced, the more it stopped feeling weird and the more it felt…a touch romantic, just a touch, but still…
"Honestly, I have long hoped a woman like you would join the kingdom's magic knights," Charles said.
"A woman like me, sir?" Marianne questioned.
"Power belongs to the powerful," Charles stated plainly. "You comprehend this. You stand there, a good woman, steeped in her own strength, using it to set an example of what the powerful should do with that power. The people love you, just as they did Cecilia. You'd make a fine Wizard King yourself one day."
Marianne smiled. "Well, I always thought so. But flattery will not see me to your bedchambers."
Charles laughed. "Ah, I haven't had a sharp wit cut me like that in years. I knew I wanted to ask you to dance for a reason."
"Sure it's not because you like robbing cradles?" Marianne teased. Charles 26 years older than her at 43.
Charles chuckled. "You're less than a year away from what many consider adulthood." He spun her around and crossed her arms over her chest. His broad chest touched the back of her head. "And there are many who have wed sooner, even as kingdom becomes more modern."
"Even so," Marianne said as Charles spun her back around to face her, "I see my whole life ahead of me, your majesty."
"I'm sure you do," Charles said with a smile. "I do my best to research all of the prominent mages under my command, you see. I know you come from humble beginnings, yet you lead with such radiance, I can't help but feel smitten in a way. A charming young woman will one day grow into a fine woman without her youth." Charles bowed, raising Marainne's arm, "Imagine what Elsdocia would look like one day in your dainty fingers."
Marianne did have to take a moment to fantasize. Her. Wizard King. Up until two weeks ago, it had merely been motivated to stay alive, a means to spite royalty. Yet now, as she thought about it, her in in the finest silks, standing there with the strongest weapon in the entire kingdom, yes, that did seem to be a prosperous age. She could almost see it. Wait, no, that was the light of the main chandelier's flame in her eye.
She looked across the hall to Conrad and Lovilia. A man she had considered no different from her own captain now led the nation and he too now stood atop the rest, intending to lead by example.
Marianne turned her head away. "Truth be told, I haven't yet thought of what a Clover Kingdom would look like with my head at the helm."
"But you have thought about it," Charles denoted.
"Yes, but, admittedly just to shut up those who said I could never," Marianne admitted.
Charles's smile grew. "A woman after my own heart."
"Pardon?"
"Come, follow me. I would like to show you something," Charles said as he stopped dancing. Marianne followed, all too curious. She followed the Emperor straight to a long hall full of paintings. In it, she saw paintings of Charles in his youth, many others of children around that youth's age. "This hall is one I often come to in order to reflect," Charles said, standing in front of the painting of his coronation. "It reminds me of where I came from."
"Where you came from, sir?" Marianne asked.
"I can see it when you move and in your gaze," Charles said, staring at the painting. "You are someone who knows what it's like to watch what you love and cherish die, but are forced to carry on anyway, forced to kill your heart just to survive. You see people as pawns, not as humans."
"Well…" Marianne had to admit, Charles wasn't exactly entirely wrong, but she hesitated to agree aloud.
"When I was young, my siblings slaughtered each other to earn my father's love. Such open massacres were never spoken to the public, or it would be an outcry. Once, my entire home was uprooted by an older half-sibling of mine. Servants, midwives, even mere temporary housekeepers, slaughtered in the name of attempting to keep my hands off the throne.
Charles could remember the blaze, how he and his brother watched on in horror at the gory slaughter.
"And that was the day, I first picked up a sword, and killed another man in cold blood. I was outcast, made a pariah, but I bit my tongue and coddled up to the Silvas and the Vermillions to evade execution. Then I became a magic knight, rose in rank, started a revolution and overthrew my father. And now, his throne is my own."
Marianne let the story sink in. Truthfully, her tale wasn't much different, she realized. She remembered crawling through the Grand Magic Zone, desperate to live, squelching mud between her fingers to push herself forward in the rain. She now tilted her head to gaze up at Charles's picture. "Does anyone else know about your blood-soaked takeover of the throne?"
"Those who do no longer live. Captain Vulkan and Captain Acier were not in power at the time of my coronation. It was their parents that helped me ascend, and those same parents that now lay in the dust. Politics is a messy business."
"You didn't—"
"No. They did," he stated, implying enemies of his reign tried to end it. "But as I said before, when you have power, you can do anything. I intend to lead this country as I see fit, following my own set of rules. As I often say, all men are not created equal, for it is the strong with ambition destined for greatness." Charles turned towards Marianne. "I see ambition in you, young Marianne, a will to climb to great things beyond what life originally laid out for you. That ambition is a drink far sweeter than any wine," he said and cupped her cheek, smiling.
Marianne did not smile back, not because she wasn't flattered, but because Charles's words were sinking in, rather deep as it were. She gazed now not at the painting, but at the light fixture above her head. "Wouldn't the world be wonderful…if people didn't lie to each other?" she asked.
Charles raised an eyebrow.
Marianne clutched a hand to her chest. "Lady Cecilia…if the Diamond Kingdom had never deceived us…she would still be with us. I'm sure Conrad will make a fine ruler, but I always admired Lady Cecilia. Watching a woman stand as a goddess among men uplifted me as a child, knowing that behind all those great men, it was a woman in charge. …Now she's gone."
Charles nodded. "Follow me."
Marianne obeyed these instructions once more, following Charles once again, this time down. They stepped down a long, twisting staircase that seemed to go underground. And, eventually, it led out into a secret study full of magic artifacts that Marianne could only imagine what they were for. Yet, on a big chalkboard in the back, pages and blueprints were hung over it with string. They had intricate designs, like the base of a tower. Another one looked like a redrawing of a temple in an old book. And, on another page, a mighty fine magic sword, rivaled in intricacy only by Elsdocia itself was written in the ancient language of the elves.
"What is…all of this?" Marianne inquired.
"What you are looking at is my own private study, and on that board there are notes I have taken, for a glorious plan to push the Clover Kingdom into eternal prosperity," Charles told her. "I call it Project Ragnarok."
"Ragnarok…like Lady Cecilia's greatest spell?" Marianne asked, pinching one of the parchments and turning her head to look at the Emperor. He was plucking a book off a bookshelf.
"The same term, but wholly different meaning." He put on a pair of spectacles as he flipped through the book. "My research is still in its infancy stages, but I do know three things for certain."
"What are they?"
"The Sword of Ragnarok, which you are looking at on that page, is a blade that can bring about the end of the world, but also its renewal. The Akashic Temple," Charles said, tapping his finger to another page on the chalkboard, "Is often considered the world's core, where all magic heralds from and flows in and out of. It is a dungeon thought to have never been seen since before the rise of the Clover Kingdom. Supposedly it is impossible for it to surface via random chance, and must be resurfaced through a special ritual…or by force."
"And the third thing?" Marianne asked.
"As I said," Charles remarked, eyes closed, stroking his chin sideways, "My research is still in its infancy, but whomever can bring the Sword of Ragnarok to the Akashic Temple will face the ultimate reward, or so I believe."
"What reward is that?" Marianne asked.
"They can rewrite all of reality to their every whim, or so legends would have you believe. Right now I am conducting small scale experiments with magic particles. Very top secret stuff, you understand."
Marianne nodded and turned to face him. "Why tell me all of this?"
"Because my dear, I believe you are the type that will embrace it, someone sick of this world and its lies, someone that wants better than what life gave you. The ultimate answer to the ultimate hell."
Marianne nodded. "Life is unfair, I do agree. Yes," she smiled. "I would be overjoyed to see a world free of misery, of hatred and despair."
Charles smiled. "I am truly fortunate to have met you, young Marianne." He reached over to a phonograph and put on a classical tune. "Do you think you'd honor me with one last dance before the night passes into tomorrow?"
Marianne smiled. "Your majesty, I would be honored."
The two danced one last time before the stroke of midnight, and then sealed their secret meeting with a similarly secret kiss.
Marianne was late getting back to the Grey Deer's base, so much so that she was spooked to find her captain sitting up with a newspaper in the lobby by candlelight, like some sort of paranoid dad.
"Marianne, you've returned. I was beginning to worry," he smiled, lowering the paper.
"Julius…er, I mean…Captain. You startled me," Marianne remarked, hand on her chest.
Julius laughed. "Marianne, you look like a five-year-old whose hand I found stuck in the cookie jar. Are you quite all right?"
"I'm…I'm fine," Marianne responded, coughing into her hand, hoping she wasn't blushing.
"Last I saw you, you were whisked away by his majesty. He didn't do anything…unsavory to you, did he? The way Charles became intrigued by you when we chatted, I had hoped to speak with you first, but alas he beat me to it. You are…all right though?" Julius asked.
Marianne bowed. "I'm a big girl, Julius. I can take care of myself."
"Girl is an appropriate choice of words, Marianne. He didn't erm…make you a woman, or something of that nature, did he? I know how loose his majesty's belt can be by reputation."
Marianne broke into a fit of laughter, despite the risk it brought waking her fellow knights. "Julius, honestly. That's so awful to say of our Emperor," she chortled. She smiled widely. "Really, I'm fine though. Thank you for worrying about me."
Julius smiled warmly. "Well, if you say it's all right, it's all right. I like to think I have earned your trust enough that you would tell me if something was wrong."
Marianne nodded to her captain. "You have nothing but my utmost respect, Captain. Of that, you have my word."
Julius smiled. "Respect isn't the same as trust, but I'll take it how I choose to interpret it." He got up from the couch. "Have a good night's sleep, Marianne. Pleasant dreams."
"You the same," Marianne told her captain and made for her room. However, upon arriving, she noticed the window was flung wide open. Curious, she cautiously went over to it, only to spot a paper crane of many colors on her windowsill. It was a message that needed no words, and its recipient understood its meaning. However, Marianne dared not venture out into the night at this hour, not with Julius watching her every move for the evening. So, she simply got into her night clothes and climbed into bed. Tomorrow would be another day.
The following night, after breaking bread at dinner and enjoying a hearty meal, Marianne excused herself for a late night tryst.
"With the Emperor?!" Elizabeth asked excitedly. Apparently rumors had flown around quick.
"Now, Elizabeth," Marianne laughed. "Something of a far more personal nature." She then left the building and out into the night air, venturing into the Forsaken Realm of the Clover Kingdom, out into a frog and dragon fly ridden lake she'd discovered sometime last year. The lake was deep enough to swallow up a grown person, and the grass was tall enough to hide a small child. But neither of these things were as important as the woman with green hair settled down by the bank with a fishing rod dipped into the water. A familiar horned anti-bird was perched upon her shoulder.
"I got your message. Apologies for being late. My captain feels like he's earned the right to be my dad," Marianne said, illuminated by the setting sun.
"Come sit down," C.C. requested, stroking the grass to her left.
Marianne sat down next to her. Nero flapped her wings and moved from C.C's shoulder to Marianne's.
"How are you enjoying being a magic knight?" C.C. asked her. "Is it everything you ever dreamed?"
"All that and more," Marianne responded. "I got to know the Emperor a lot last night." She curled a finger through her hair. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but…even though he's old enough to be my father…I'm kind of…smitten with him."
C.C. lifted her whole body back and stared at Marianne, intrigued by her words. Nero stared up at her as well.
Marianne became self-conscious. "Well, I mean, I know he's married and fathered children with many women, many much older than myself, but…I don't know." Marianne smiled, "I think I want that life for myself."
"Ha! You've been seduced!" C.C. remarked, smirking, leaning over her knees and gazing out to the sunset.
Nero seemed to share this sentiment by pecking Marianne repeatedly. "Aaaaaaaaaah! C.C, control your pet!"
C.C. took a full ten seconds to very slowly reach into a small pouch and take out a tree nut. "Nero." She called and then whistled. Nero flew over to C.C.'s hand and began munching on the nut with earnest.
Marianne rubbed her sore forehead. "Seriously, though, C.C., aren't you tired of the great outdoors?"
"Not really. It builds character. I offered to let you stay, but you were so insistent to return to civilization," C.C. remarked.
"I mean…" Marianne trailed off, thinking on her experiences. She sank down onto her knees, thinking on her first star awards ceremony when Lord Oliver had disrespected her. It was not an isolated incident. She thought about her conversation with Charles last night. Upper nobility lied, cheated and stole and nobody really put a stop to it. You had to be part of that upper nobility to stop that upper nobility. Acier Silva was living proof that not every noble was the same. Heck, Princess Cornelia was living proof that some of them were just out and out adorable and squishy. "You can't run from people forever, C.C. At some point, you have to live."
C.C. stood up. "Perhaps you won't be able to fulfill my wish after all then."
Marianne gazed up at C.C., surprised.
"My wish is to die, Marianne. I have grown tired of living, but I lack the power to break my curse, a curse of immortality so foul, I can't even kill myself."
Marianne stood up, shocked. "What?"
"I have lived for centuries. I have watched the Clover Kingdom rise up from where a clump of villages once stood. But the history of the Clover Kingdom has done nothing to change one important fact, that life…has ceased to have meaning for me." C.C. gazed down at the grass.
"You just need to give it meaning."
"No. Believe me. I've tried. But it is hard to go on, knowing that everything around you will one day vanish. Nero is a constant reminder of that. She has been with me since I first discovered her more than three hundred years ago. I don't know what cursed her so, but I know that she has been the only constant in my long, miserable life. Without her, I'd have likely lost my sanity, along with my will to live," C.C. stated.
"I…" Marianne didn't know what to say to that.
Nero made sad cooing noises, as if she understood her friend's pain.
Marianne balled her fists. "Life is…simply unfair, don't you think?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then…then I'll change life," she said, putting a hand on her chest. "I'll change the world as we know it, make it where no one has to suffer, where there's no such thing as curses, where you aren't tired of living, where mankind thrives and is happy every second of every day! I'll remake it in my own image, and I won't stop until you finally decide you want to live again!"
Marianne was focused so much on C.C., she didn't see the wonderous look she was getting from Nero.
C.C. gasped and then smiled. "You're a strange woman, Marianne Lamperouge."
Marianne hugged C.C. "You're the only real friend I've ever had. You took care of me when I had nothing, gave me the chance to live once more." She held C.C. at arm's length. "You deserve that chance, to live again and not forever if that is what you wish."
"If such a world is possible, I would like to see it."
Nero flapped her wings and made her way to the top of Marianne's head, perched up high like a sentinel.
"And it would seem that Nero agrees with you," C.C. stated and smiled. "All right, fine. If you think you can change the world, then try. Take Nero with you. She will be my eyes and ears. And if you somehow manage the impossible and become Empress, or even Wizard King, I will come live with you. You have my word."
Marianne, heart swelling with confidence and feeling like she'd been given a full purpose in life, bowed forward towards her friend, "Thank you very much!"
C.C. plucked her fishing rod out of the lake. "I imagine we'll meet again before that time, of course. Until then…" she began to walk away, saying nothing further.
"C.C.! Wait!" Marianne called out.
C.C. stopped, turning to look at Marianne with a neutral expression.
"Thank you," Marianne told her. "For everything. Really, I mean it."
C.C. smiled at her friend. Then, she turned back around, and walked away. Evening mist followed her departure. And, when they cleared as quickly as they came, the green haired witch had vanished into the night.
Marianne picked up Nero off her head and placed her on her shoulder, stroking her head a few times. "Come on, Nero. We've got a kingdom to fix."
Nero nodded, invigorated, tail feathers sticking outward rigidly.
Marianne gazed at where C.C. had been. She then opened her uniform a bit, gazing at the crudely made star inscribed with Cornelia's arts and crafts skills on the inside of her lapel. She then tucked it away. She then gazed in the direction of the Grey Deer's base.
I'll do it, she thought, heart full of conviction. I'll do it! I'll change the world! She clenched a sturdy fist. I'll remake it so that no one has to suffer!
Now who dares to stop me?
(A/N: Start of darkness? Maybe. Great character drama? Absolutely. Next chapter is when the status quo starts to shake up in a way that will have you questioning if I'm going full AU or not. What do I mean by that? You'll have to wait and see!
Also, I think I did a good job making Marianne and Charles's relationship not look like pure squick. If anyone thinks I did a poor job, please tell me. I did my best here, really. Eheh! But anyway, until then, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!
SPECIAL THANKS to my Patrons ShawnH, Nier 99, and Wizard Aro. Without the support of you and all of the rest of you reading this, none of this would be possible! If you'd like to support my work, consider subscribing. Feel free to also leave a comment, write a review, or just say hey. It helps out a lot and it keeps me motivated to write more. And I'm sure everyone wants that :D I know I do!