Mana Academy: Beyond Borders IC

[Serah]

Ruta - Great Force, Small Package

Ruta waited for Ephraim’s response, and the young man seemed to forget what he was going to say or do. His eyes hazed over, and he seemed to be contemplating what the Jaeger was asking from him. He folded his arms, and gave the smallest smirk. The image of such a powerful being almost forgetting how to attack was oddly amusing.

Yet Ephraim’s attack, when he did make the decision, was terrifying. He summoned a tiny gun made of Earth Magic, not much larger than a .22. However, when the gun fired, Ruta almost had to duck for cover. The first dummy split apart from seam to seam, without warning. The sound from the shot was almost deafening, and Ruta covered his ears as the sound reverberated through the gym. “…Well…if that doesn’t awaken the neighborhood then-”

He pauses as Ephraim took two more shots. His ears were ringing, and he thought about how he may need to get them checked by John and Cecily after this encounter. When he did stand again, he was a little embarrassed by how badly he had flinched. Then again, nobody could say his reflexes were rusted, even after the previous evening’s fight with Michel. “…Well, Ephraim…it seems that your Magic chose to present itself through your…sudden epiphany regarding your next attack. Perhaps some…strong feeling buried deep pushed your bullet a little harder than expected…” he explained as he gathered himself.

Once silence fell and the ringing in Ruta’s ears subsided, he gave a little more of a smile. He could not remember that last time a student had suddenly spooked him that way. “…You will be an excellent addition to House Solum. Analytical, forceful, but unorthodox. And perhaps during that time, we can better understand why your powers work the way they do,” he explained. He only hoped that Chicago and the shoreline towns in Wisconsin had not heard that blast.

"...Could be feelings, true. But in that case why did the boulder not fly off, too?" Ephraim thought process was rattled, for two reasons, the first one was that his main theory flew out the window with the dummies.
The second one was genuine curiosity, as if he had scratched the beginning of a great treasure trove of knowledge, going deeper as the hypotheticals grew.

Ruta spoke of his admission in house Solum soon after, and although Ephraim remained in his thoughts for seconds after the news dropped, he finally looked at his now headmaster and nodded.

"Lovely!" He exclaimed, with a degree of relief that at least, he would have a place to sleep now, or at least he sure hoped so.
"Do I have to work in a particular way to get lodgings, or is that included?" It was fine, too. Though he figured he could always camp out in the woods for however long was needed, surely there would be food hiding out there?

He hadn't yet cleared his fears of simply being considered a tool, but the current events had at least abated them.
And even if he was, well, the perks were good for now.

[Luminesa]

Europe - The Battlegrounds Arranged

With Paris and Vienna both in shock, Blanchefleur and Joachim were making their moves while their enemies were frozen. Guards were soon to surround Salzburg and the other Houses of Von Kressel. Blanchefleur’s spiders and some other creatures had managed to spread around the territories as well. With Manfred betrayed and Heinrich supportive of the incoming movements, spies and soldiers from around Europe were being informed of the incoming invasions.

Shino and Meliora would most certainly not be left in the dark.

Two Jaegars in disguises managed to find the women, and left them notes on their person. Each note had the same message. Center on Salzburg. Bruja on the move. “Bruja” would signify Blanchefleur, though the message was not obvious to the casual looker.

The last people to get the message, unfortunately, happened to be those who needed it the most. While the wolves had sent the party to Paris, now the threat closest to their own home had moved to Salzburg. Saturninus, who was still sitting in the control room at Manfred’s mansion, scrambled to get a phone and to call someone. Anyone. He managed to find Henry’s number, and panted into the phone as he called. “…Henry?…Henry Von Kressel pick up…” he muttered.

Henry von Kressel

As the subway rumble seemed to end and they left the underground, Henry's phone started to ring. Identified as the home number of his uncle, Manfred, he gave the phone's screen a quizzical look, as if the news that awaited him would be extremely good or extremely bad, even if Pierre was an excellent addition to his party. But, who would be at the other side?

"Eglantine... this is Manfred. Hold on a second. Manfred, Henry here. Paris was quite... troublesome and I believe Blanchefleur is going for an all-in, this is was careless. I could tell you more but... you hardly call me even under normal circumstances. Can you tell me what happened? Is someone under attack?"

Saturninus - Call Me If You Get Lost

“I imagine Paris was. Listen…You need to get back to Salzburg. Manfred already knows and I imagine Heinrich will know soon. But…” He swallowed hard. The idea of Henry’s house being destroyed by Blanchefleur was a terrifying reality. Somehow, she had survived some calamity near the Alps. The TV and news on Manfred’s phone had informed him of some tower exploding…and he knew exactly which one it was. With Rise Castle possibly gone, he knew his mother would make her move now. She had to.

“My mother is planning on converging on Salzburg. She will take the territory if possible, especially if you are not there. You and whoever is with you…you need to get to Salzburg now. Once she takes Salzburg, she and…Great Lord Von Kressel…will claim it as theirs. That is why they fought when he arrived here…If possible, I will try to join you, but he probably will send forces over here as well to distract us. If you see anymore strange beasts-giant spiders, giant anything, anything evil and uncanny…burn it. She has more than spiders.” Saturninus found himself trying to spit as much information as possible, and his words came faster with every passing second.

Eglantine heard a little of Saturninus’s plea over the phone, and her skin shuddered. Blanchefleur’s forces attacking Salzburg. The only true home she had. She turned to Henry, and she looked back at Victor-Pierre. He had not heard the entire message, but he was standing, ready to go.

Indeed, Hans and Joachim would be moving toward Salzburg, but more monsters would be moving into Vienna as well. As long as Aloysius and Mercillia were still alive, they could keep the flood of evil from taking much of Europe. And as France was in a panic, more monsters crawled in the darkness toward the Abendroth home…

[Luminesa]

Co-Written With Kingdom of Irhk and Britannica

Salzburg

While the rest of the world shook and panicked at the news coming from outside Grenoble, Salzburg stood quiet and picturesque. The sun glowed over the estate, the water fountains bubbled, and the gardens were verdant and blooming. Without Henry and Eglantine, the estate was a little quiet, and Chloe did not like it. She kept following Sebastian as he cleaned things around the house, whimpering or trying to attack his shoes. She was no monster, however, and soon he would have bigger problems.

Deep from within the gardens, monsters moved out of the greenery without seeming to move at all. They blended well with the scene, but if one were to look closely, they might see parts of the garden suddenly stooping very low to the grass and slithering around the grounds of the Salzburg mansion. They searched for any holes and entrances to get into the building, the fortress they sought to control.

Along with the Von Kressel menace which was soon to arrive. Henry’s own family.

As Sebastian tended to the daily tasks of the house, the disturbance outside wouldn’t go unnoticed: the security measure created years ago by the former owner, Vladimir, in the form of a vibrating stone to be kept alongside him at all times, warned him that magical trespassers were heading to the center of the power for Salzburg seat. Picking the small Spaniel up, he ran through the corridors, warning the employees he met along the way of the danger that they would face. Turn after turn, door after door, he finally found something he never hoped to use: in the form of a keyhole, his shaky hands inserted its correspondent key, and with a turn, a scene worthy of the old stories happened, as every door and window slammed shut at the exact same time, and the house was covered by a magical veil.

Anneliese, Henry’s mother, would quickly catch up with Sebastian, as if she didn’t know the exact threat, but knew very well the measures that the House had. The mansion would resist, but for how long? Vladimir confided with her regarding the threats he imagined, yet he always kept some secrets to himself. Yet she knew that the definitive measure could only be activated by the Lord of the Seat…

Her son.

The monsters built themselves. Vines into knots, knots into limbs, limbs into thorny claws. Claws and sharp teeth. The amalgamations of Dark Magic hissed and crunched through the grass, subtle and deadly. However, as Sebastian had suggested, they were not hidden enough to avoid the security systems. And so they began the initial attack. Giant tails of thorns slashed at cameras, structures, and walls. Employees who found themselves outside felt the force of these giant, plant-like creatures ripping enormous, thorn-like plates into their chests, faces, and arms. Blood, petals, and thorns created a macabre display of power around the exterior of the estate. And then some still fought to get inside the building.

In Paris, Florian’s wolf seemed aware of a change in the flow of Magic in the air, and he looked to the team around him.

”...It is time.”

And in fact, there was no other time left to argue or worry. Anything that came next they borrowed from Mana, or whatever deities they held dear, or simply from Fate. A portal opened, and in its maw Henry, Eglantine, Ruby, Kimiko, and Victor-Pierre would rush into battle.

“Then let’s get going, and bring an end to this nightmare. And then, hopefully…we can sit and talk, as we should have when we were all kids.” Victor-Pierre turned and gave a kind smile to his younger cousin, and then a firm, knowing look to the rest. With little more to say, he went through the portal.

Ruby nodded for Kimiko to follow after her. “Stay by me, and whatever attacks, we’ll take it together,” she ordered. She then hurried into the portal, waiting for Kimiko and the others to follow.

Kimiko nodded and brandished a kunai in each hand--the battle in the Metro was still fresh in her memory, and the young woman kept a close watch on the mansion grounds and the approaching danger to herself and the team.

Eglantine looked to Henry, knowing the turmoil that must be going through his heart as he knew his own home-and his beloved uncle’s fortress-was being invaded. “...One more round together, huh?”

As the guards of Salzburg shot and slashed at the ever-changing creatures around them, Henry looked at Eglantine, who seemed ready to do battle. Yet he knew that to protect his power - and by extension, his home - he would need something different and another level of preparation.

“Eglantine, hold on. I need to access the House first. We fought too much and even if I was rested, these creatures are probably opening up space for something bigger. I need to fight a little bit smarter than this… and I doubt my uncle left this place unguarded. Victor, I know it is too much to ask of you, but I need you to team up with them while me and Eglantine reach the house.”

As Henry and Eglantine rushed towards the house, avoiding the bullets from their allies and the thorns from their foes, his eyes turned towards the house, entirely shut and covered in a veil which he prayed was smart enough to recognize its owner. Running towards the back of the house, Henry nearly threw himself into the house, the doors slamming once again right behind him and Eglantine.

At the corner of the corridor, stood Sebastian, weapon at hand and Kaiser by his side, letting out a sigh of relief once his eyes recognized the duo of troublemakers that could now be the duo of trouble solvers.

“Henry! Eglantine! Thank God you got there this quick, I… I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but we are under siege and… and… Henry, please, your mother wants to speak to you, but there is no time! She’s at the Arsenal and I suggest that both of you hurry behind me, now!”

Together, the well decorated halls of the palace turned into arches of stones as they went underground, with Sebastian’s hurried breathing and Kaiser’s paws marking the pace. Turn after turn, they found themselves into an underground area, with Lady Anneliese calmly expecting them.

“Oh, you are here! I was afraid that you’d get hurt along the way, but I am so glad to see that you are all alive and well… Henry, before you go up, I need to tell you something. Along with your aunt, Sarah, your uncle built… quite the uncommon defensive measures here. And by uncommon, I mean constructs, infused with magic and bound to the will of the one who holds the ring of this Seat, which means… you.

And… since he was a fighter once, he also told me that he kept… this.”

Behind a wooden wall, a large room sprawled in a circle: the walls were filled with swords, maces, flintlocks and rifles, magical grenades and shields, a collection fit for times of war. Yet among the armors, one stood quite in the center: its worn black painting, with a thin, silver outline, along with the thick, black robe with dragons carefully imprinted onto it near the legs that stood below it, seemed to be the armor that Vladimir himself once had.

“Henry, this is… this is your heritage. Eglantine, arm yourself at your will. Manfred or Sarah might arrive soon to help in the fight, and I will do what I can to hold them off, yet… be ready.”

Picking the armor from its stand, Henry changed from his traditional outfit into the one belonging to the Lord of Salzburg, as his own mother delivered him the spear he would carry to the battle. Her eyes displayed a mix of joy and worry, of pride and fear, as she saw her son’s hand covered by the metal of his protection.

As Anneliese and Sebastian left him and Eglantine alone, Henry carefully placed the spear’s head at his waist, held by an improvised waistband made of Salzburg’s banner.

“So… how do I look?”

Eglantine barely had enough time to absorb her surroundings, which included the strange monsters her aunt had summoned to attack the grounds, the numerable soldiers, and then the armory. Anneliese was also present, but not for tea and a chat. She had given Henry access to this armory in the first place, and anything that drew her to Salzburg surely was enough of a threat.

Yet she felt unworthy as she saw all of the weapons. These were Henry’s ancestors’ tools of their trade. Lady Sarah’s handiwork. She watched as Henry slipped into the armor which gave him the appearance of a dragon prince. All he needed to do next was to roar and to exhale a sea of flames over the plant-like creatures. Luckily, both of them were Fire Mages, so she figured combat would be easy. Yet her own aunt was not a dumb woman. She had to have other plans.

As Eglantine’s mind raced, she kept her eyes on Henry and Anneliese. They urged her to join, to be a part of their fight. She gladly obliged, though she did not grab any of the weapons. “…We’re not fighting the spiders this time, and…truth be told, I’m a little rusty with a sword. But not with my fists. And as for you, Henry…you look sharp as usual,” she commented. A grin slowly stretched across her face, and the confidence she felt warmed the inside of her chest.

Victor-Pierre stood outside with Ruby and Kimiko, as the Jaeger brandished her Kusanagi and rushed into combat. She began to slash at the appendages of smaller monsters first, helping the soldiers with some of the more obnoxious obstacles. He gave a nod to Kimiko, as he used his Earth Magic to summon something into his hands. Molded by stone and mud, he made an arm cannon which rested comfortably on his shoulder. “…I hope you’re not afraid of the sounds of war…because that’s what this has become.”

BOOOOOOOOM!

A single shot rang, as an enormous stone fired from the arm cannon and blasted through one of the larger monsters. Several soldiers lay dead already, under the falling thorns, roses, and vines.

“…If only this thing could fire faster!” Victor-Pierre moved to reload, only to note in horror that a soldier not too far away fell away with a withered, bark-like body. In his chest was a hole the size of a fist, and one of the monsters was withdrawing a tail. “…And there’s the catch. Get the smaller ones, we’ll work on the big ones together!” He fired again, the enormous stone screeching through the air as it blasted another thorn monster.

With the battle now joined for real, Kimiko decided now it was time to use some of her magic to help her fellow mages, throwing both of her knives towards two of the smaller monsters before using her shadow magic to seemingly melt into the darkness, appearing elsewhere to get a better angle to launching more attacks against her opponents and keeping them confused with her constant movements.

“Eglantine, no way you’re going to walk through that yard unarmed.” Henry looked around, eventually finding a vest with many holsters and pouches near the waist. Handing it over to her, he adjusted it to her, carefully placing flintlocks on the holsters across her chest, making it up for four at total.

“Well, now you are appropriately armed and ready. I do not know if Michel or Sarah would approve of giving you such firepower and ammunition, specially when you didn’t have a proper meal for some time, but I’ll take the risks. I assume that the last loud noise was your cousin’s weaponry at work, so let’s not keep them waiting, shall we?”

“Uh…hey! Wait…Ah…” Eglantine stared with bafflement as Henry scrambled to grab some weapons for his girlfriend to use. He found a vest, and apparently some flintlocks. Victor-Pierre used guns made from stone, and fired Magical ammunition almost like a flintlock. She wondered if she could do the same with fire. “…You know, I tend to fight with my fists and whatnot…but if this is your way of saying, ‘Keep a good distance’, I guess I can follow my cousin.”

Outside, Victor-Pierre nodded to Kimiko and Ruby as they seemed to work in tandem. Both of them could flitter around the battlefield, dancing in and out of shadows as they slashed at the monsters. While he knew the Jaegar could handle herself, he was glad that Kimiko was an independent fighter. He did not need to coach her, and she was causing damage to the monsters. “Good job! Keep it up!” he called. When Eglantine then joined a few moments later, he smirked. “Someone gave you guns, Geenie?”

“Henry’s worried about me,” she answered back, with a similar impish grin. She then aimed one of the flintlocks, and tried to channel her Fire Magic through the barrel. Faster than loading and reloading, a huge burst of flames roared in the air and she felt the first blast jam the gun against her shoulder. She winced, but the recoil barely bothered her.

A large plant-like monster erupted, thorns and roses torn apart by the sheer force of a flintlock-fired fireball, and it fell to pieces.

Yet as Henry came outside, another enemy would join the fight. Out of the street lights, crawling down in a spiral behind him, came snake-like bodies crackling with silver lightning. They hissed in a whisper, almost too soft for him to hear.

“HENRY!” Ruby called, as she slashed through an attacking vine. “Several of them, behind you! Look out!”

But before he could turn, one leapt and launched itself at his leg and sent a small shock through him. Several more were coming, all for him.

As Henry was locked in place by the small, snake-like creature that crept up on his leg, Ruby’s effusive warning told him that it was nothing but a set-up by the creatures that attempted to destroy his home. Focusing his Mana on the ground, Henry didn’t need to see with his eyes - as his masked mentor taught him - to stop the threat. Using the head of his trademark weapon, he sent forward the creature that tried to immobilize him, as with a spin of his free, right leg a wall of earth erupted from the ground, ensnaring the creatures that tried to capture him. Fighting as almost if he was shadowboxing, the wall became three separate walls, as he pushed back the threat from his back, hurting and enclosing them into a ball of earth. Lifting it past his head, Henry spit fire inside of it, as the creature inside let out screams of agony, be it from the spikes that held them firmly in place, be it from the fire that the Lord spit.

Closing it with a gesture of his hand, he sent it flying forward, as it exploded in pieces and entrails of the dark spawn that was sent to his home. Now extending his spear, he turned to the monsters who were burning from the explosion he created, while admiring Victor-Pierre’s craftsmanship cutting down through the ranks.

“Ruby! I need you to keep them both safe! I will close down the distance, but keep them firing!”

Yet outside, groups of minions and soldiers gathered, all under a different banner of the von Kressel…

Glad that Henry was taking care of himself, Ruby moved inward toward the thorn-like monsters, forcing them back. Kusanagi made quick work of most of the monsters, hacking and slashing them to pieces. She only moved back when one of the smaller ones gurgled and then spit acid from its mouth. “…This…madwoman…and her poison…” she grunted, as she beheaded a creature in front of her.

Victor-Pierre helped Ruby from the side, moving forward to keep the creatures from advancing. When they got too close for him to use his arm cannon, he would swing it in their faces to smash them. He enjoyed this rush of combat, especially when he was fighting on his own terms, and he smirked as a monster crumbled to the ground in a heap of vines.

Eglantine worked from the rear, keeping an eye on monsters working around the perimeter. Henry had a handle on the electric snakes which had moved out of the light fixtures, but she could not help but fire on them to keep them from trying again. The ground shook from the shots her cousin and now she herself took at the monsters, so much that the building itself seemed it might shake to its core. Inside, Chloe was hiding underneath the corner of the couch, hoping none of the shaking feeling would find her.

As another fireball burst from Eglantine’s flintlock, and some acid shot past her ear, she looked behind her and began to see soldiers gathering. “…And now it seems we have more company,” she called to Henry and Victor.

[Luminesa]

Ruta - Great Force, Small Package

Ruta waited for Ephraim’s response, and the young man seemed to forget what he was going to say or do. His eyes hazed over, and he seemed to be contemplating what the Jaeger was asking from him. He folded his arms, and gave the smallest smirk. The image of such a powerful being almost forgetting how to attack was oddly amusing.

Yet Ephraim’s attack, when he did make the decision, was terrifying. He summoned a tiny gun made of Earth Magic, not much larger than a .22. However, when the gun fired, Ruta almost had to duck for cover. The first dummy split apart from seam to seam, without warning. The sound from the shot was almost deafening, and Ruta covered his ears as the sound reverberated through the gym. “…Well…if that doesn’t awaken the neighborhood then-”

He pauses as Ephraim took two more shots. His ears were ringing, and he thought about how he may need to get them checked by John and Cecily after this encounter. When he did stand again, he was a little embarrassed by how badly he had flinched. Then again, nobody could say his reflexes were rusted, even after the previous evening’s fight with Michel. “…Well, Ephraim…it seems that your Magic chose to present itself through your…sudden epiphany regarding your next attack. Perhaps some…strong feeling buried deep pushed your bullet a little harder than expected…” he explained as he gathered himself.

Once silence fell and the ringing in Ruta’s ears subsided, he gave a little more of a smile. He could not remember that last time a student had suddenly spooked him that way. “…You will be an excellent addition to House Solum. Analytical, forceful, but unorthodox. And perhaps during that time, we can better understand why your powers work the way they do,” he explained. He only hoped that Chicago and the shoreline towns in Wisconsin had not heard that blast.

"...Could be feelings, true. But in that case why did the boulder not fly off, too?" Ephraim thought process was rattled, for two reasons, the first one was that his main theory flew out the window with the dummies.
The second one was genuine curiosity, as if he had scratched the beginning of a great treasure trove of knowledge, going deeper as the hypotheticals grew.

Ruta spoke of his admission in house Solum soon after, and although Ephraim remained in his thoughts for seconds after the news dropped, he finally looked at his now headmaster and nodded.

"Lovely!" He exclaimed, with a degree of relief that at least, he would have a place to sleep now, or at least he sure hoped so.
"Do I have to work in a particular way to get lodgings, or is that included?" It was fine, too. Though he figured he could always camp out in the woods for however long was needed, surely there would be food hiding out there?

He hadn't yet cleared his fears of simply being considered a tool, but the current events had at least abated them.
And even if he was, well, the perks were good for now.

Ruta - Knowing the Shadows

"Understanding, epiphany, it is a terrible force with which one can reckon. Finally knowing what you need to do in order to make an impact, that in itself is a magnificent feeling," Ruta explained. He had many small epiphanies in his life, most of which were painful. His life had led him to many snapshots of lives spent in darkness, and when he had taken his vows as a Jaegar, he had realized that he felt at home in the darkness. Even now, with all the pain in his joints, his chest, and his soul, that sentiment had not changed. No, Ruta still understood who he was. "Perhaps one day, when you truly understand who you are, you'll gain true control over your powers in this world, just as you did in your last."

Ruta had to take a certain pause, after making such a statement. He could not imagine the swirl of feelings which had filled Ephraim's heart in his short time of being alive. He hoped that if he had learned anything himself in his time as a Headmaster, he could always be more open to showing compassion. In such dark circumstances, with such uncertainty filling in the world across the water, Ruta knew that being an inspiration for any of his students could be a hope-spot for them.

Turning away from such a mystifying statement, however, Ruta chuckled at Ephraim's more mundane question. "Ah, your lodging is included. We will be glad to have you join our student body. Don't be nervous. We have a very unique student body. If you feel that you are uncertain about your place in the world, many of the students here are still learning their places as well. I'm very glad that however you did so, you managed to make your way here. So we'll get you a uniform and your lodgings, which I believe for now will work best in Solum," he explained.

Looking outside, he saw Michel starting to stare toward the interior of the campus. He seemed he had wanted to leave his son be, but perhaps in the not-so-far future, father and son would reunite. Even as Michel had slashed him and made him bleed several times in a blustery, cold, devastating evening, an odd sense of fatherly consolation fell over him as he watched the Jaegar staring toward one of the dorms. Perhaps that is why all of them came here...because we do belong, here in this strange place, he considered with a stern smile. He then nodded for Ephraim to follow him.

[Luminesa]

Soleil and Michel - Father and Son

Mana Academy, Sometime During The Morning Hours

Blanchefleur moving in the shadows somewhere in Europe, causing tremendous chaos and pain, was a dull pain in Soleil's stomach as the morning continued. He still had homework and studies, to which he struggled to attend as the morning moved forward. Something told him that today was not going to be a day to complete work, though he continued to read about Magical History for a half hour or so. He did not know how to feel about reading History when his own family had caused much of the suffering between the lines. Even now, as he sat in this library, his family was attempting to re-write certain boundaries. He did not yet know that Saturninus was indeed alive, or that Eglantine was about to face an awful threat in Von Kressel and even her own aunt. Yet he could imagine that across the water, this dull pain was exploding like overripe fruit.

He finished his work, and walked outside to look at the snow-covered campus. His eyes continued to turn toward the beach, toward the hooded figures wandering the borders between Mana and the Great Lakes. Even if the snow had stopped, the Great Lakes still shuffled their chilling winds around the island. Soleil wrapped his coat tighter around himself, looking toward Dominique's dorm. He was warm and kind, perhaps spending some time studying with him would warm his aching chest.

As he began to move across campus, which seemed almost too quiet, Michel had finished surveying the exterior of the island. He was not afraid of the less-explored parts of the Academy's surroundings, and though he had taken his time, he had moved with a purposeful quickness as well. He almost felt energized after the walk, to the point that other Jaegars raised their eyebrows as they saw him walking back and whistling "Eleanor Rigby" in a loud, clear whistle. "...What? You look like you've never seen another Jaegar patrol before! All of you need more work? Walk around campus a bit, huh? It'll defrost the blood in your veins! Mother Nature hates squirmy people at this time of year," he joked. He then turned his eyes toward the interior of the campus and noted a singular moving figure. He watched the short blonde bob, which now he could see a little more closely. He definitely had his mother's hair, but not the bouncy gait she had as a teenager.

"...Uh...sir, you're spacing-out a bit," one Jaegar muttered. When Michel did not respond, the man waited a few moments. "...Sir?"

But he never got a response. Michel decided that now was the time. He did not know if Blanchefleur would come to the island, or if that strange Fae would whisk him away to some other place to fight. He needed to try, though he knew that even he could not rebuild Rome in a day. As his boots crunched through the snow, he wondered if his own son would even recognize him.

Soleil heard the rapid footsteps moving in his direction, and his eyes lit with confusion and worry. He whirled his head toward the source, and saw the tall man with greyed hair and gold eyes walking in his direction. He had caught him gazing toward him earlier, and at first he felt a chill in his spine. He took a step back, not sure whether or not to engage. Yet then, something told him to pause, as the man stopped within a few feet of him. He examined the stranger, looking him up and down, and he noticed that something about him just seemed...familiar. He walked with a bounce, with purpose. His eyes were that striking color, and yet they gazed on him with kindness. And deep, deep remorse. "...Um...is there something you need, sir?" Soleil questioned.

Michel could only give a sad smirk. He most certainly looked different, but he could tell that his son was trying to understand. He leaned down a bit, and gave a small chuckle. "...No, not something I necessarily need, Sol. But it is good to see you."

The man's voice immediately caused the younger Mage's heart to start pounding with shock and fear. That letter from Europe had told him that Michel was alive. Part of him could scarcely believe it, after everything else he had suffered. How much was reality, how much was a fiction, and how much was simply cruel. Yet Michel's voice was unmistakable. His Southern-French accent spoken in a lax tongue, with that deeply apologetic, knowing gaze. Soleil's own tongue froze in his throat for a few seconds as recognition rose to his eyes.

"...It's...been quite some time now. And I have to say...before anything else...I certainly left you a lot of pain. I can see it in your eyes." Soleil's father could see now that Soleil was starting to open himself to the reality before him, though processing it would take time. "...Um...it's not everyday your dad dies, and then suddenly reappears looking...completely different. I told myself that if I made it...I wouldn't be away forever. But twelve years is...a good chunk of forever, I'd say."

All Soleil could do was nod. Listening to his father's voice again was mesmerizing. He had held onto this memory from his childhood, from the echoes he sometimes heard in Florian's dream-world. When he slept at night, he forced himself at times to remember what his father's voice was like. He had made it a habit, something to keep himself sane. Even when his mother had forced that experiment onto him to try and fill his mind with voices, he kept an inner ear open for Michel's voice. Now, he felt as if his ears were swimming with the sound that validated his existence.

Michel's smile broadened, and he took a step closer. This time, Soleil did not move away.

"...I...um...I...I grew-up...and I became a Wind Mage. Like you." The first words the young Mage spoke were to confirm that he was not seeing an illusion brewed by the Lakes.

His father nodded. "I always figured you were going to be unique. You were born in a unique way, too."

Another nod from Sol. "...But...the scars weren't unique, though." The wind gusted by the two, biting both of their faces. The statement was incriminating enough. Soleil's eyes were still full of wonder and awe, but his voice radiated with feelings he could not begin to explain. For all the love he held, seeing the man before him and the one he knew drew the connection together. While Michel had been gone, the cycle had continued. Only with Solaine's death had the wheel been stopped, and even then his wounds were still healing.

Overcome with emotion, though he did not yet cry, Michel walked toward his son and hugged him. The smaller Mage did not pull away or resist. This embrace was the proof he needed, and all of his own pain bubbled to the surface. He began to sob in his father's arms, and Michel let him. The only way for them to reconnect after such a long, silent, agonizing loss was to let the flood slam over both of them. The father blinked away his own tears as he listened to his son gasping from crying against his chest. He covered his head with his arms, and his long coat's sleeves helped to shield Soleil somewhat from the wind.

"...A...And...and you...you...really loved me...after all this time? Did you?...Or...am I imagining that?" Soleil questioned, his voice hoarse from the deluge of tears filling his throat.

"...I did. And I did a terrible job at it. But...I promise, I did...I could have just fought to stay alive...and I did...but it wasn't enough, not for you...Not knowing...what could happen if everything failed..."

"...I wanted to be a Jaegar...like you..."

Michel felt a pang in his chest, perhaps almost the same as what Ruta felt when Soleil had asked him about becoming a Jaegar. "...No...Soleil, I...I went down that broken path...so you wouldn't have to. I liked the darkness, and shadows...and forbidden things. But you were always such a sweet kid...you wanted nothing but nature and animals. Is that...still true now?" His own voice was becoming hoarse from holding tears.

Soleil nodded, his blonde hair brushing against Michel's shirt a couple of times.

"...Then...if you love someone...if you love yourself...please...don't follow what I did...Live a life that your own kids...won't suffer for. I'm so sorry, Soleil. I'm so sorry." Finally, the tears ripped themselves out of the confines of his throat, and he tightened his embrace as he lowered his forehead against his son's. Soleil was so short that he had to reach down to do so, but he did not care. The words he had needed to say from the beginning now found their way through his lips.

Even if they were not enough, Soleil squeezed him tighter as well. He did not understand everything his father had attempted in the shadows. What he did understand, however, was how much he wanted to have his father back. He was a scoundrel, a man who was impossible to understand on this side of eternity, but the warmth and the genuine love in his voice called the boy to the only home he ever really wanted. "...And you won't leave?"

"No. No, Sol. I'm here to stay. I...I promise. If I can make one thing right, it's that I'm here to stay. Nothing is going to take me off this island, not unless I go with you."

They could hear each other's voices in the way they cried. As Soleil took a breath, and then another one, he watched his father's crying face. Sol had cried many times in the last month, but Michel had not cried in such a long time. Such a cry was full of the aches of a thousand years lived in a few decades. The young boy had been comforted by many, had been saved from despair by many, and he recalled the roses Allistor had created at his bedside to soothe his weary soul. Drawing back for a second, he used his Light and Wind to make a small construct. When his father looked through his teary eyes, he saw the soft, peaceful glow of a crown of rosebuds.

Putting the crown on his father's head, Soleil gazed up at him. "...I never had the right thorns to fight for myself...not until...I came here. And I made friends who taught me how to fight...and also...how to heal. And...I really think, Father...that you need to heal too."

Now Michel's own throat could barely give the right words. He could hear the brooding in his son's voice, the loss of so many formative years to abuse and loneliness. Yet within that darkness had indeed bloomed rosebuds. Here, in this place, he had found himself a home. "...Then here...both of us will stay..." he breathed. He felt his son pull him close for an embrace, and he could hardly believe what he felt. They had so much to discuss, so many scars to open. So many friends to discuss. But he just closed his eyes, and took off his jacket. Throwing it around Soleil's shoulders, he let the cold beat his back while his son stayed warm. "...Let's go inside, and get some shelter from the storm. And then...I want you...to tell me everything. Okay?"

Soleil gazed up at him and nodded. They looked toward the library, and walked back into the toasty, consoling space which awaited them. He could only wonder what all of his friends would think. Yet for now, he watched the crown of rosebuds on his father's head, as he walked carefully with him through the snow and felt his heavy coat protecting his shoulders. The real shelter from the storm was the love he had missed, and now somehow...he could have it. He could have many things now, and wishes seemed to multiply in the snow as well as in his heart.

[Luminesa]

Co-Write Between Luminesa, Kingdom of Irhk, Britannica, Finsternia, and Serah

The Beginning of the End

Henry, Eglantine, Ruby, Kimiko - Wicked Garden

Salzburg

While the rest of the world shook and panicked at the news coming from outside Grenoble, Salzburg stood quiet and picturesque. The sun glowed over the estate, the water fountains bubbled, and the gardens were verdant and blooming. Without Henry and Eglantine, the estate was a little quiet, and Chloe did not like it. She kept following Sebastian as he cleaned things around the house, whimpering or trying to attack his shoes. She was no monster, however, and soon he would have bigger problems.

Deep from within the gardens, monsters moved out of the greenery without seeming to move at all. They blended well with the scene, but if one were to look closely, they might see parts of the garden suddenly stooping very low to the grass and slithering around the grounds of the Salzburg mansion. They searched for any holes and entrances to get into the building, the fortress they sought to control.

Along with the Von Kressel menace which was soon to arrive. Henry’s own family.

As Sebastian tended to the daily tasks of the house, the disturbance outside wouldn’t go unnoticed: the security measure created years ago by the former owner, Vladimir, in the form of a vibrating stone to be kept alongside him at all times, warned him that magical trespassers were heading to the center of the power for Salzburg seat. Picking the small Spaniel up, he ran through the corridors, warning the employees he met along the way of the danger that they would face. Turn after turn, door after door, he finally found something he never hoped to use: in the form of a keyhole, his shaky hands inserted its correspondent key, and with a turn, a scene worthy of the old stories happened, as every door and window slammed shut at the exact same time, and the house was covered by a magical veil.

Anneliese, Henry’s mother, would quickly catch up with Sebastian, as if she didn’t know the exact threat, but knew very well the measures that the House had. The mansion would resist, but for how long? Vladimir confided with her regarding the threats he imagined, yet he always kept some secrets to himself. Yet she knew that the definitive measure could only be activated by the Lord of the Seat…

Her son.

The monsters built themselves. Vines into knots, knots into limbs, limbs into thorny claws. Claws and sharp teeth. The amalgamations of Dark Magic hissed and crunched through the grass, subtle and deadly. However, as Sebastian had suggested, they were not hidden enough to avoid the security systems. And so they began the initial attack. Giant tails of thorns slashed at cameras, structures, and walls. Employees who found themselves outside felt the force of these giant, plant-like creatures ripping enormous, thorn-like plates into their chests, faces, and arms. Blood, petals, and thorns created a macabre display of power around the exterior of the estate. And then some still fought to get inside the building.

In Paris, Florian’s wolf seemed aware of a change in the flow of Magic in the air, and he looked to the team around him.

”...It is time.”

And in fact, there was no other time left to argue or worry. Anything that came next they borrowed from Mana, or whatever deities they held dear, or simply from Fate. A portal opened, and in its maw Henry, Eglantine, Ruby, Kimiko, and Victor-Pierre would rush into battle.

“Then let’s get going, and bring an end to this nightmare. And then, hopefully…we can sit and talk, as we should have when we were all kids.” Victor-Pierre turned and gave a kind smile to his younger cousin, and then a firm, knowing look to the rest. With little more to say, he went through the portal.

Ruby nodded for Kimiko to follow after her. “Stay by me, and whatever attacks, we’ll take it together,” she ordered. She then hurried into the portal, waiting for Kimiko and the others to follow.

Kimiko nodded and brandished a kunai in each hand--the battle in the Metro was still fresh in her memory, and the young woman kept a close watch on the mansion grounds and the approaching danger to herself and the team.

Eglantine looked to Henry, knowing the turmoil that must be going through his heart as he knew his own home-and his beloved uncle’s fortress-was being invaded. “...One more round together, huh?”

As the guards of Salzburg shot and slashed at the ever-changing creatures around them, Henry looked at Eglantine, who seemed ready to do battle. Yet he knew that to protect his power - and by extension, his home - he would need something different and another level of preparation.

“Eglantine, hold on. I need to access the House first. We fought too much and even if I was rested, these creatures are probably opening up space for something bigger. I need to fight a little bit smarter than this… and I doubt my uncle left this place unguarded. Victor, I know it is too much to ask of you, but I need you to team up with them while me and Eglantine reach the house.”

As Henry and Eglantine rushed towards the house, avoiding the bullets from their allies and the thorns from their foes, his eyes turned towards the house, entirely shut and covered in a veil which he prayed was smart enough to recognize its owner. Running towards the back of the house, Henry nearly threw himself into the house, the doors slamming once again right behind him and Eglantine.

At the corner of the corridor, stood Sebastian, weapon at hand and Kaiser by his side, letting out a sigh of relief once his eyes recognized the duo of troublemakers that could now be the duo of trouble solvers.

“Henry! Eglantine! Thank God you got there this quick, I… I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but we are under siege and… and… Henry, please, your mother wants to speak to you, but there is no time! She’s at the Arsenal and I suggest that both of you hurry behind me, now!”

Together, the well decorated halls of the palace turned into arches of stones as they went underground, with Sebastian’s hurried breathing and Kaiser’s paws marking the pace. Turn after turn, they found themselves into an underground area, with Lady Anneliese calmly expecting them.

“Oh, you are here! I was afraid that you’d get hurt along the way, but I am so glad to see that you are all alive and well… Henry, before you go up, I need to tell you something. Along with your aunt, Sarah, your uncle built… quite the uncommon defensive measures here. And by uncommon, I mean constructs, infused with magic and bound to the will of the one who holds the ring of this Seat, which means… you.

And… since he was a fighter once, he also told me that he kept… this.”

Behind a wooden wall, a large room sprawled in a circle: the walls were filled with swords, maces, flintlocks and rifles, magical grenades and shields, a collection fit for times of war. Yet among the armors, one stood quite in the center: its worn black painting, with a thin, silver outline, along with the thick, black robe with dragons carefully imprinted onto it near the legs that stood below it, seemed to be the armor that Vladimir himself once had.

“Henry, this is… this is your heritage. Eglantine, arm yourself at your will. Manfred or Sarah might arrive soon to help in the fight, and I will do what I can to hold them off, yet… be ready.”

Picking the armor from its stand, Henry changed from his traditional outfit into the one belonging to the Lord of Salzburg, as his own mother delivered him the spear he would carry to the battle. Her eyes displayed a mix of joy and worry, of pride and fear, as she saw her son’s hand covered by the metal of his protection.

As Anneliese and Sebastian left him and Eglantine alone, Henry carefully placed the spear’s head at his waist, held by an improvised waistband made of Salzburg’s banner.

“So… how do I look?”

Eglantine barely had enough time to absorb her surroundings, which included the strange monsters her aunt had summoned to attack the grounds, the numerable soldiers, and then the armory. Anneliese was also present, but not for tea and a chat. She had given Henry access to this armory in the first place, and anything that drew her to Salzburg surely was enough of a threat.

Yet she felt unworthy as she saw all of the weapons. These were Henry’s ancestors’ tools of their trade. Lady Sarah’s handiwork. She watched as Henry slipped into the armor which gave him the appearance of a dragon prince. All he needed to do next was to roar and to exhale a sea of flames over the plant-like creatures. Luckily, both of them were Fire Mages, so she figured combat would be easy. Yet her own aunt was not a dumb woman. She had to have other plans.

As Eglantine’s mind raced, she kept her eyes on Henry and Anneliese. They urged her to join, to be a part of their fight. She gladly obliged, though she did not grab any of the weapons. “…We’re not fighting the spiders this time, and…truth be told, I’m a little rusty with a sword. But not with my fists. And as for you, Henry…you look sharp as usual,” she commented. A grin slowly stretched across her face, and the confidence she felt warmed the inside of her chest.

Victor-Pierre stood outside with Ruby and Kimiko, as the Jaeger brandished her Kusanagi and rushed into combat. She began to slash at the appendages of smaller monsters first, helping the soldiers with some of the more obnoxious obstacles. He gave a nod to Kimiko, as he used his Earth Magic to summon something into his hands. Molded by stone and mud, he made an arm cannon which rested comfortably on his shoulder. “…I hope you’re not afraid of the sounds of war…because that’s what this has become.”

BOOOOOOOOM!

A single shot rang, as an enormous stone fired from the arm cannon and blasted through one of the larger monsters. Several soldiers lay dead already, under the falling thorns, roses, and vines.

“…If only this thing could fire faster!” Victor-Pierre moved to reload, only to note in horror that a soldier not too far away fell away with a withered, bark-like body. In his chest was a hole the size of a fist, and one of the monsters was withdrawing a tail. “…And there’s the catch. Get the smaller ones, we’ll work on the big ones together!” He fired again, the enormous stone screeching through the air as it blasted another thorn monster.

With the battle now joined for real, Kimiko decided now it was time to use some of her magic to help her fellow mages, throwing both of her knives towards two of the smaller monsters before using her shadow magic to seemingly melt into the darkness, appearing elsewhere to get a better angle to launching more attacks against her opponents and keeping them confused with her constant movements.

“Eglantine, no way you’re going to walk through that yard unarmed.” Henry looked around, eventually finding a vest with many holsters and pouches near the waist. Handing it over to her, he adjusted it to her, carefully placing flintlocks on the holsters across her chest, making it up for four at total.

“Well, now you are appropriately armed and ready. I do not know if Michel or Sarah would approve of giving you such firepower and ammunition, specially when you didn’t have a proper meal for some time, but I’ll take the risks. I assume that the last loud noise was your cousin’s weaponry at work, so let’s not keep them waiting, shall we?”

“Uh…hey! Wait…Ah…” Eglantine stared with bafflement as Henry scrambled to grab some weapons for his girlfriend to use. He found a vest, and apparently some flintlocks. Victor-Pierre used guns made from stone, and fired Magical ammunition almost like a flintlock. She wondered if she could do the same with fire. “…You know, I tend to fight with my fists and whatnot…but if this is your way of saying, ‘Keep a good distance’, I guess I can follow my cousin.”

Outside, Victor-Pierre nodded to Kimiko and Ruby as they seemed to work in tandem. Both of them could flitter around the battlefield, dancing in and out of shadows as they slashed at the monsters. While he knew the Jaegar could handle herself, he was glad that Kimiko was an independent fighter. He did not need to coach her, and she was causing damage to the monsters. “Good job! Keep it up!” he called. When Eglantine then joined a few moments later, he smirked. “Someone gave you guns, Geenie?”

“Henry’s worried about me,” she answered back, with a similar impish grin. She then aimed one of the flintlocks, and tried to channel her Fire Magic through the barrel. Faster than loading and reloading, a huge burst of flames roared in the air and she felt the first blast jam the gun against her shoulder. She winced, but the recoil barely bothered her.

A large plant-like monster erupted, thorns and roses torn apart by the sheer force of a flintlock-fired fireball, and it fell to pieces.

Yet as Henry came outside, another enemy would join the fight. Out of the street lights, crawling down in a spiral behind him, came snake-like bodies crackling with silver lightning. They hissed in a whisper, almost too soft for him to hear.

“HENRY!” Ruby called, as she slashed through an attacking vine. “Several of them, behind you! Look out!”

But before he could turn, one leapt and launched itself at his leg and sent a small shock through him. Several more were coming, all for him.

As Henry was locked in place by the small, snake-like creature that crept up on his leg, Ruby’s effusive warning told him that it was nothing but a set-up by the creatures that attempted to destroy his home. Focusing his Mana on the ground, Henry didn’t need to see with his eyes - as his masked mentor taught him - to stop the threat. Using the head of his trademark weapon, he sent forward the creature that tried to immobilize him, as with a spin of his free, right leg a wall of earth erupted from the ground, ensnaring the creatures that tried to capture him. Fighting as almost if he was shadowboxing, the wall became three separate walls, as he pushed back the threat from his back, hurting and enclosing them into a ball of earth. Lifting it past his head, Henry spit fire inside of it, as the creature inside let out screams of agony, be it from the spikes that held them firmly in place, be it from the fire that the Lord spit.

Closing it with a gesture of his hand, he sent it flying forward, as it exploded in pieces and entrails of the dark spawn that was sent to his home. Now extending his spear, he turned to the monsters who were burning from the explosion he created, while admiring Victor-Pierre’s craftsmanship cutting down through the ranks.

“Ruby! I need you to keep them both safe! I will close down the distance, but keep them firing!”

Yet outside, groups of minions and soldiers gathered, all under a different banner of the von Kressel…

Glad that Henry was taking care of himself, Ruby moved inward toward the thorn-like monsters, forcing them back. Kusanagi made quick work of most of the monsters, hacking and slashing them to pieces. She only moved back when one of the smaller ones gurgled and then spit acid from its mouth. “…This…madwoman…and her poison…” she grunted, as she beheaded a creature in front of her.

Victor-Pierre helped Ruby from the side, moving forward to keep the creatures from advancing. When they got too close for him to use his arm cannon, he would swing it in their faces to smash them. He enjoyed this rush of combat, especially when he was fighting on his own terms, and he smirked as a monster crumbled to the ground in a heap of vines.

Eglantine worked from the rear, keeping an eye on monsters working around the perimeter. Henry had a handle on the electric snakes which had moved out of the light fixtures, but she could not help but fire on them to keep them from trying again. The ground shook from the shots her cousin and now she herself took at the monsters, so much that the building itself seemed it might shake to its core. Inside, Chloe was hiding underneath the corner of the couch, hoping none of the shaking feeling would find her.

As another fireball burst from Eglantine’s flintlock, and some acid shot past her ear, she looked behind her and began to see soldiers gathering. “…And now it seems we have more company,” she called to Henry and Victor.

Ruby and Kimiko continued to be locked in combat, with monsters still approaching from the sides. They roared and whipped their thorny appendages, and when those attacks did not work they leapt at their opponents. Their teeth were razor-sharp, and one managed to get a tear into Ruby’s cloak. She responded by detaching its head from its body with a swift flick of Kusanagi. Yet all the while, the monsters kept their focus on the two young women, and seemed to leave Henry and Eglantine open for the next act.

The company which Henry and Eglantine were about to greet was not reinforcements. Blanchefleur continued to move from the shadows, but in the meantime, wherever she was, she was glad to watch Von Kressel become the snake which ate its own tail. Locked in self-destruction, unable to turn toward herself. Eglantine pivoted her body to greet the incomers, especially as she saw soldiers walking down the long courtyard, pouring out of smaller limousines and expensive vehicles. She gave them a confused look as about sixteen guards stood at attention. When she caught a glimpse of who was in the long limousine which was at the back of the charge, she caught a gulp in her throat and looked back at Henry.

“...It looks like this might be a family affair after all…” she muttered, holding her fists ready.

Mercillia and Aloysius v. Blanchefleur's Dragons - The Fire Above

The dragons which had escaped the destruction of Castle Rise were vicious creatures. Hateful, disgusting. They had the lean, beautiful bodies of traditional western dragons, but none of the beauty. Twisted, gnarled, discolored, and sharp in their teeth and claws, they understood hunger, rage, consumption, and death. They certainly were smart enough to understand other concepts, as most dragons can. However, they only cared for those four things, and preventing two of them.

Flying from Grenoble, they went everywhere. Blanchefleur allowed for them to fly as they pleased, knowing that the havoc would not give any civilians the proper amount of time to react. Giant monsters which their measly police departments had never faced would surely bring despair to many, which was enough of a victory for her. Wear the populace down, throw them into confusion, make them fight each other.

Already, the mediaheads were arguing what sorts of things could cause the destruction of a mountainside in the Alps. Aliens, satellites falling out of orbit. Nuclear missiles. Any number of doomsday scenarios spilled from their mouths, and the willing listeners began to chat and argue amongst themselves. Helpless to stop anything with their own hands and efforts. However, hope did exist in strange places, and one of those strange places still sat at the center of Vienna.

House Abendroth’s servants had already had a stressful week. They had dealt with Aloysius’s meetings and Mercillia’s temper, especially now with a member of the International Committee very dead from an apparent assassination. Yet the morning had fallen into a tense lull, as everyone had worked to keep order in a world which had fallen out-of-order. Then the first strong breeze of the morning had informed a gardener that something dreadful had found its way to them.

“DRAGONS!”

He screamed toward the inside, as the first three dragons had landed.

“DRAGONS! MY LORD, MY LADY! TO ARMS! DRA-”

He valiantly screamed his last words, as the dragons reached for him together and reduced his speaking, shouting, moving form to jagged, bloodied, floppy slices of meat. They fought, shoved, roared, and screeched for food among their spoils, and ten more medium-sized serpents landed in various areas around the compound. All had smelled blood, human and beast. Even if Blanchefleur had not directly controlled them, her will was supreme. Destroy House Abendroth, and consume.

Shino and Melora - Witch's Brew

While Joachim and Hans headed for Salzburg to surround the building, Blanchefleur’s monsters continued to accumulate. Much like the spiders, they picked places a person might not normally examine. After all, villains could not be all dungeons and dragons. Her spiders had been successful in terrifying the populaces of Vienna, Germany, and France, all without hardly revealing themselves. Many of them were now dead, but that was a sacrifice that did not bother Blanchefleur. Eglantine’s parents were mostly out of the way, and her enemies were afraid.

While some monsters started to gather in the gardens, others moved in the lamps which lit the estate at night. All light needed to become fire was a spark, and as Shino and Melora had received the message to go to Salzburg, “Bruja” had sent more creatures to await their arrival. The light in those lamps swirled and moved in a strange fashion, almost writhing rather than glowing. If the ladies arrived early, they would find that the estate was eerily quiet, enough to make hairs stand at the ready like experienced sentries waiting for a fight.

A couple hours ago - Shino & Meliora

“...Bruja?” The two women stared at the paper incredulously, they had functionally fallen off the map, once again, and a vast amount of operations were set in motion.
Not least of which being the Paris incident, after they had negotiated with Theodore in Strasbourg.

Echoes of a major catastrophe in Grenoble still rang where they used to hide out.
Circumstances being that some nobles of house Hofmann did not take kindly to some of their allies being taken out.
Indeed, five of them had been assassinated already, pushing the two only possible culprits into hiding.

As such, the codenames and ciphers used by the Salzburg faction weren’t completely understood by them.

“It’s spanish, I think. I can’t speak spanish though.” Meliora continued. “I wasn’t exactly told to hunt way out there ever, sorry.”

The look of absolute confusion on Shino’s face did not help her feelings of guilt abate as the latter cried out:

“There’s no word like that in french either, you know! I can somewhat understand spanish as a whole and order at a restaurant, but I don’t know every word! Plus, it seems like this message is genuinely important, too!” The usually composed archer felt and looked positively beyond herself.
Worse yet, she didn’t have a phone on her, so no translating software was going to help her out of this one.

Seeing the pitiful display of her partner, Meliora sighed and shrugged her shoulders, they had a rough sketch of what the message wanted to say, but no certainty of who was moving.
Thus, they had begun making their way back to Salzburg, in hopes of finding answers there.

Which brings us to the present.

Eeriness and silence - Shino and Meliora

“... Awful silent. Didn’t he have a dog to bark at strangers?” Meliora spoke as she got off her horse letting it run away some distance away from the border of the estate.
Reflexively, she pulled her tome out.

Her partner acquiesced, not being able to shake off the feeling of being watched, or worse yet, feeling like they very well might’ve walked into a trap.

“I’ll be honest, I kind of sucked in modern geopolitics class, so I don’t know exactly who’s hallmark this is, but I’ll say that their taste is very, very off.” Cocking her head, Meliora tried to get a better look at the lights outside, and finally noticing that the things obstructing the lights were, in fact, dozens of spiders.
“Yep, it’s spiders alright.” A look of genuine disgust spread across her face as the pages of her tome began to turn and turn, until it reached a blank page.
Once it did, a yellow light, followed by the crackling of lightning appeared around her, shortly after, words appeared on the page, most being completely unreadable, except to Meliora herself.

Shino herself had not yet readied anything, and stood behind her partner, bow at the ready, trying to piece together how far the place had been compromised.

The ladies would find that the spiders encroaching on them were no normal creatures. They spilled out of the light fixtures, crackling with electricity. They flicked and flittered, each about the size of a fist. As soon as they sensed Shino and Meliora, they sped toward them, launching themselves at them by the dozens. Any spiders that landed gave a painful shock with their landing as well.

Not too far away, on the other side of the hedges, Henry and Eglantine had arrived with their party to fight to protect Henry’s uncle’s home. Cannonfire and the shrieks of fireballs sang in the air as the Rise cousins attacked the monsters, and Shino and Meliora would know that the property was slowly being encapsulated by Blanchefleur’s evil creatures. Even worse, they were driving forward quickly, leaving little time or room for breathing.

“Hold on, we had cannons?”

“Apparently so.” Shino replied by drawing her bow way past its draw length, light gathering in the would-be arrow’s place, turning into a yellow, shining bolt.
Soon after the arrow was formed, she loosed it towards the sky where it split into dozens of shards, effectively carpet bombing the enemy rushing towards them with a copious amount of holy magic.

“Man, I wish I could use that cannon. Imagine the style points of being a mage with a shoulder cannon or something.” Although Meliora daydreamed, she wasn’t without focus and soon let loose lightning worthy of Zeus onto the already shaken mass of writhing, crawling filth in front of her.

Though it wasn’t perfect, one of the spiders she thought had been burnt through and through somehow managed to land on her, giving her a mild taste of her own medicine.
The electricity coursed through her body for only about a second, to her brain, several times longer.
Once she got a hold of her bodily functions, she grabbed the spider with extreme prejudice and crushed it.

“It’s shocks for thee not for me, you accursed wretch!” Meliora growled at the now smoldering pile of ashes, only to be chastised by Shino, still firing away to carpet bomb the area.

“Don’t lose your cool now, we still haven’t joined up proper with our allies, if we stay here, we’re likely to get overrun.”

Out of the nearby bushes, more creatures had sensed that one of the two Mages had received a shock. The heavy, foreboding scent of ozone permeated the air, along with a faint waft of “gunpowder” that came from Victor-Pierre’s weapon on the other side of the yard. The thorny serpents which had assailed Henry’s own forces were now seeking to strike at Shino and Meliora, blending with the emerald grass as they slithered and aimed to strike. More of the spiders climbed out of the lampposts as well, as they believed that they could get a taste of flesh.

All of these creatures began to form a circle around the two Mages, closing from both a considerable height and also from the ground. They needed to make an opening in their defenses somehow.

In the meantime, however, someone else began to move toward the location. Despite the insistence that he should stay in the shelter of the other Von Kressel mansion, Saturninus had managed to stumble across one of the wolves which had approached Henry and company. Though he could not see his cousins on the other side of the yard, he had landed in a place near Shino and Melora, and he saw they were in danger. Knowing the eldritch-looking creatures to be his mother’s work, he stomped the ground and created his scythe from Earth Magic. He then moved toward a thorned snake slipping behind Shino in the grass and slashed his scythe like a pendulum. As soon as the creature’s head detached from its body, he called to the two Mages. “Hello! I came to help! Be careful of the ones behind you!” he called. His voice was still shaky, and he could not doubt that his body was still wracked with pain.

Yet if he knew how to do one thing, it was to fight to live. And so he would help the Mages who had now helped him to have a grasp at a better life, dangerous or not.

[Luminesa]

Saturn, The Eclipse, The New Morning

Some villains who rise to significant levels of villainy deserve dramatic endings, endings worthy of a story, of wonder and awe. They rise high enough that their fall generates sparks, flames, even wildfires or explosions. Yet Blanchefleur had never truly risen above humanity as so she had believed. Nor had she risen to the glory she had truly desired.

Hiding in her sister’s castle to survive, she had sent her dragons, her minions, to wreak havoc. Destroy what was left, and allow her to reshape the world to her wicked will. Yet even that was questionable in its ability. A student barely eighteen in age had managed to destroy a thousand years worth of evil heritage in her father’s castle. Her friends, a spy who had decided the job was not worth it, a Dark Mana Being who had long ago broken his chains, and her sister’s husband somehow brought back to life had all managed together to do what entire armies had planned and failed.

Darkness had overwhelmed darkness. The chaos of starting anew destroying the chaos of beginning a tired, broken tale of traps merely wrapped as traditions.

Her face never showed the dignity she had utterly lost. Not unless one looked in her eyes. Blanchefleur still stood tall in the darkness, weaving the bright, crackling, wicked Black Magic which spread the scents of death and destruction through Austria, France, and beyond. Yet her eyes were stone. The last remaining cornerstone of her broken and tired traditions.

Well, except for one.

Her son, whom she had revived under circumstances of true horror and disgrace, whose body in the last two days had been torn from the soft underearth to fight for her. And yet every breath he took now was warm, warm with a different fire that he could not quite define.

The family he had now was one he had never quite imagined himself having. And yet he was all the better for it. But before he could return to that family, he had to end the one with which he had severed all ties.

Dark, wispy smoke filled the main hall of Eglantine’s parents’ castle, as he managed to find his way back to his mother. Even if he was human once again, body and soul, he moved much like a ghost. His Uncle Michel would have been impressed, and perhaps the way he moved toward his mother’s location did in fact reflect some skill his uncle had taught him as a young child. Sneaking, shifting in the dark, becoming the cold chill of ages for a few moments in order to reach across an unreachable space.

“Mother.”

Blanchefleur slowly turned her eyes from her work, from watching her dragons face against Aloysius and Mercillia, to look toward her son. His clothing had changed. Wrapped in shadows, the blue robes were obsidian. His blue-eyes were almost black, with a glint of sapphire. Blood the color of wine dripped down his lips, from having fought away a couple of his mother’s own creations while teleporting here.

“...Saturninus, you are meant to complete your mission before returning to me.” There was no love, only a command. Or perhaps that was the only way she had ever known love. Pitifully untrained, deep in the grips of darkness so far that she could not even see her last chance at maternal love.

“My sister is gone, has been gone, and you pulled me from resting with her in the afterlife. You want me to kill my cousin, her boyfriend, Soleil, Uncle Michel…the people I have claimed as my family.”

His mother narrowed her eyes at his comments. She continued to fire her spells, even as one dragon of hers found itself crashing into a building due to sunlit fireball slamming into its chest. Only now did Blanchefleur show her anger.

“Are you unhappy that someone with a loving family is killing your tired, starving beasts, Mother?”

“What is all of this rebellion? Do you know what I can do to you?” Her threat was cold, cruel, a Sword of Damacles over her son’s head.

Saturninus held his scythe, and watched the images before him. Mercillia’s rose thorns had whipped into enormous vines around one dragon, and he listened as the vines snapped the huge creature’s neck. And it still had not been much of a creature. Scales dulled, teeth sharp, bones and muscles hardly sticking together from malnutrition. “Is it really rebelling if what we have built for eighteen years is dying, Mother?”

“You have never understood my plans, have you? All of this must die. For us to rebuild this world under our dominion, every single thread must be unwound and bound again by our name.”

He saw the delusion behind her words, and he felt nothing toward them. At one point, he had suffered and borne the weight of despair under those words. Now, freedom of a new sort was in his grasp. He took a few steps forward. They echoed slowly across the icy marble, which offered no relief and no place to hide. He had one chance, one way to end this all.

Another dragon found itself sliced in half by a blade made of sunlight. In Vienna, Joachim von Kressel faced down his son, but did not yet attack. Shino and Meliora had joined with Ruby and Kimiko to finish the other conjured monsters. Blanchefleur could see all of these things, and she continued to throw wave upon wave on the party. Someone would die. Them, or everyone around them. The true decay of a villain was not weakness or gentleness, but the loss of their mission, the loss of their vision. And Saturninus saw such decay in his mother’s fight against what was essentially an army.

“Uncle Michel is safe somewhere. Soleil is safe, and you have not reached for him. Eglantine is alive, and I am alive. And you…your name no longer exists.”

Blanchefleur raised a brow, and her teeth grit behind her lips at Michel’s name once again. “How dare you. You would be nothing without me.”

“A seed can still grow from nothing, mother. And I hope one day that I will.”

The first swing should have been his last, but it was not. She did not expect for it to come as close or as sharply as it did. She felt the slash rip into her collarbone, and she pulled back as she saw that her son wanted a duel at best.

Another dragon hit the ground, cut to pieces by enormous thorns. Blanchefleur watched it, as she lost control for a moment. She aimed to summon something against her son at the same time. Something with chains, glowing in the bloody colors which had signaled his coming death. He had died in Artosh’s arms, his eyes full of that same ichor. He could smell it, as something rose from the ground, as that deathly aura came for him.

“That is the last time you will EVER strike me!”

But Saturninus saw a red of a different sort. He remembered the distant memory of watching his uncle sparring with a scythe, much like his own, and he whirled around on his heel to give his attack more push. He swung his own huge scythe, and it made another gash into her. Up and down the chest, and blood spurt from the wound without warning.

A horrendous wound for anyone else, but she kept herself standing, even if her face finally showed an emotion it had not shown in decades. Shock.

“...Saturninus…”

All the while, another shadow appeared a few yards behind Blanchefleur. She could feel it, but with the blood rushing from her, she could not turn to look. Her son, however, saw the man decked in a heavy, silk-like cloak of obsidian. He stood with Cauchemar’s ruby-edged blade glinting in near-complete darkness, and with his gold eyes gleaming toward his dead wife’s sister, before they turned to his nephew. They both knew what came next.

“...Saturninus…”

Blanchefleur repeated her son’s name, somewhere between shock at her son slicing her so freely and anger at being challenged by someone. Even losing her Castle had not entirely broken her, or so she had thought. Now, her heritage, her life’s work-or so she also had thought-now stood seconds from a final blow.

The young heir waited for his uncle to nod to him once, and he swung to finish. He did not even quite know where he landed, but he gave his mother no due dignity in where his attack landed. All he knew was that it swung, and the hateful red ichor signaled the end.

And with her, with all of her work, her spells died. One by one, the remaining dragons met equally-violent ends. The creatures she had summoned died away suddenly, without any warning, and Vienna would slowly echo into a hesitant quiet. The heir to Von Kressel would stand tall, along with Eglantine, and Joachim von Kressel would stand without his partner-in-crime, alone as he was before. All of the puppet’s strings would fall.

All except Saturninus, whose blessing stood beyond what his mother could give him.

Like an Angel of Death who had stood ready to save him if necessary, Michel crossed the threshold, not even looking down at the body below. Nobody would. He instead moved to his nephew, who stood in shock and awe at his own actions.

He was soaked in blood, breathing heavily, and trying not to look down at the body he had slashed into pieces. He felt his uncle’s arms pull themselves around him, and he felt hot tears drip down his cheeks. Life, something that reminded him that he truly was alive. He shook, and buried his face in his uncle’s shoulders.

“Saturninus?” Michel’s strong voice spoke his name with due love and respect. When his nephew continued to shiver and sob in his arms, he pat his shoulder and rocked him. “...You don’t have to stay here. You don’t even have to process it all right here. But it’s over. And now…I want you to come with me, and to come see your cousins. It’s time for all of us to be together again.”

There was not anything to truly make the fight feel better for Saturninus, not at the moment. But he did want to see his family. His real family. Not the ones who had kept him in chains, but the ones who had prayed for him to be free. The ones who had loved him alive or dead.

And so he would go away from this place. Forever.

And the world would soon turn the page.

[Luminesa]

Co-Write With Lumi, Britannica, and Kingdom of Irhk

Home, Winter, And The Rest

Saturninus and Michel landed in the infirmary at Mana, and John and Cecily both jumped from shock. They stared at each other, and then at the young man, the same young man who had appeared at the Tournament maybe a month ago. Now he was here, alive again, soaked in blood, and his eyes were wide as the windows.

“Michel, how did you-”

“Cecily, can you get him into some dry clothes? Need to find a way to get all this blood out.”

“That can…be easily done with some Water Magic, but it may take a few minutes. I…very well.” Flustered somewhat by the sudden appearance, the nurse still ran to find clean clothes. When she found a spare set that seemed to be roughly his size, she handed Saturninus his clothing and ushered him to a changing room. “Here, here. Put that clothing on.”

“Get him some water and something to eat, too.” He nodded to Cecily again, who then ran out of the room into the snow to complete the request. While he was out of the room, he turned to the other man present, and he walked over to him.

“Soleil’s been looking for you, he said you were here and you needed to-”

“Pick someone up from across the pond? Yep. I did.” He grinned at John, and then leaned over in his ear. “And now Blanchefleur is dead.”

The ex-Army Mage lifted his brows high into his hair, and he stared at the former Jaeger with shock. He almost could not form words for a few seconds, as Michel grinned at him. “…He…you…and…she…”

“He killed her. I’m telling you this because he’s not going to know how to handle it for a very long time. But that part is done.” Michel continued to whisper, not wanting to disrupt or frighten his nephew still changing in the bathroom.

“So it is…” John took the deepest breath, and he looked out toward the snow flaking on the grounds. He could not have said much else at the moment. Ruta would want to know more soon himself.

But the barrage did not end there. Soleil had rushed to the infirmary, and he had thrown open the front door. Cecily was not far behind him, and Saturninus just so happened to walk out in his new clothing as he saw his younger cousin staring at him.

“…Sol…”

Soleil gulped, and he stepped very slowly into the room. His legs were shaking, both from running and from the realization. Not only was his father alive now, but also his cousin. Both by mysterious means, but they now stood face-to-face. When Michel had told Sol that he was going to go get someone and return, the boy had almost felt as though he was going to lose a limb. Now they were whole.

He hurried to his cousin and pulled him into an embrace. All of the horrors and pains from a month ago, the death of Etienne Bon, the demons which had pushed, picked, and pried at Saturninus’s body and soul to make him do such things…this was a different Saturninus. In his clothes, in his squeeze, in the quiet way he stood and allowed for familial affection to move him. The child who had been buried under a thick darkness had clawed his way back to the light.

“…I’m so happy you’re back…I’m so happy…”

Saturninus still felt the immense guilt of his actions. Etienne’s murder was something he still felt deep in his chest. His mother was dead by his own hands, though his actions had rid the world of a true menace. Yet he would process all of those things in due time. For now, despite the evil that had brought him back, the Magic gods had desired to give him one more chance.

And he would take it, hugging his little cousin as hard as he could. Both of them, a moment later, found themselves in the embrace of Soleil’s father as well. Sadness, redemption, joy, and pain fell like gently-drifted snow.

***
In Vienna, the battle was won, though the immediate response was not one of joy. Blanchefleur had managed to kill quite a few civilians. Her dragons had caused damage. Her summoned monsters had attacked Salzburg and other estates of Von Kressel, and now they would wither away for good. Yet the silence was unsteady, at least for the moment.

Eglantine watched the monsters become their basic components. Light, fire, grass, thorns. All of their viciousness and evil immediately forgotten in the light of nature stealing back what was hers. The Rise Mage took a few deep breaths, and she turned to look back at Henry. At what was coming to the end.

“…They’re…gone?” she murmured. “Wait. But I don’t get it. Why…”

Fortunately for them, information now would travel fast. Mercillia and Aloysius had received the message, and not too long after the silence had begun, their burning lion had found its way to the estate, leaping over the Von Kressel limo to greet the congregants. It threw something large, thick, and black to the ground, something which smelled of sickly-sweet blood.

Blanchefleur’s cloak. Now soaked in her own blood, and painted with the symbol of her clan on the back.

Blanchefleur was dead.



As the battle went on for God knows how long, so Henry’s willingness to stand went on and on. His spear met every wretched foe Blanchefleur sent at his gates. The shots from Pierre’s cannon eventually composed their own orchestra: if Mars brought the war through the powerful use of the violins, the French enacted violence through the use of his magic. The ears of the Lord of those lands became used to the sound that gave structure to his violent dance. Not rushing or dragging, perfectly timed as Henry kept fighting.

The line of fire - made by Sebastian alongside Hellbrunn’s guard - was another layer to the art made up by sounds of violence. No dragon sent by Blanchefleur burned brighter than Henry’s disposition to die at his own lands - if needed - and Anneliese’s powerful barrage from her safe place within the home itself.

Yet, the battle that seemed eternal indeed finished. The creatures that kept marching through the fields became little more than pieces of the elements used to create them, and even Eglantine, who wasn’t a stranger to the methods of her bloodline, was shocked.

The dance and its song were over: Asmodeus, the burning lion kept by Mercillia as a house pet - which was certainly an expression of Mercillia’s peculiar personality - carried the mark of the kill.

Blanchefleur was dead.

Slowly, Henry walked to the lion, gently taking the cloak away from his maws. His eyes took their time upon examining it. Eglantine’s lighter breathing left no doubt that it was indeed Blanchefleur’s personal item of clothing, and Asmodeus made it back safely to Austria.

For the first time, in a long time, Henry let go of his spear, as the edge of his sight started to darken…

“Das… das ist gut.”

Hellbrunn was safe. And knowing that, Henry fainted.

Eglantine ran to catch him, jolting a little as she realized how heavy his armor was. Yet she held him, heat and all, and she glared over toward Joachim and his armor. She stood in silence, stunned but vigilant. As long as they were present, the fight was not yet over.

She looked over at her enemies, and she then turned to Victor-Pierre. As he let his arm-cannon dissipate, she nodded to him, and handed Henry’s unconscious body over to him for a moment. Her eyes then unsheathed their daggers at Hans, who stood in front of the limousine with a grin on his face.

Still fueled with plenty of energy, she walked past Asmodeus, and she let one more fire wrap around her wrist. She would not give any simple slap, no. She hardly even gave him a heads up, before she moved into her fighting stance and swung a firm right-hook at his face. Not only did his chin turn sharply, but the limo behind him would have caught his fall. She glared down at him, standing with her arms folded across her chest.

“So much for your stupid plot. Anyone else wanna join him in the dirt?” She looked at the rest of the soldiers who had joined Hans’s side, her bright-blue eyes set ablaze with righteous vindication. She was alive, Blanchefleur was not. Victory was hers, and now the flame wrapped around her fist was the afterglow.

To point out that Hans flew would be an understatement: he was sent into a one way trip straight to the car that brought him here, enough to bend a part of the protection the vehicle had inside. As his soldiers promptly pointed their guns to Eglantine - with hands that shook as the leaves against the wind - they realized it was over. No amount of extra money would be worth facing a lion that firmly stood near the boy who fainted, alongside what seemed to be his girlfriend, his mother - now at the door, with a stare that made the lion look like a friendly house cat - and the guns pointed out at them.

Defensively, they gathered around Hans: there were no words the boy could give or orders he could enforce to push against the mansion in front of them. They defended their “contractor”, fleeing organizedly, leaving Hellbrunn alone… hopefully.

They left without the slightest of fights, and Eglantine was happy that way. Now, she had time to absorb the news. She turned back around, and she looked at Victor-Pierre and Henry. Her eyes then turned to Asmodeus, and then to Anneliese. She gulped gently, as the rawness of the situation hit her. A grin came across her face. “…The witch…the witch is dead, Victor…she’s dead…”

Victor-Pierre nodded, before he also turned back toward Anneliese. He walked toward her, and looked at her eyes. The same fire as her son. He nodded, and as he carried Henry over to her, a smile came over his own face as he held back relieved tears.

“Lady Von Kressel?” he muttered, as he held Henry out to her. “I’m sure he’ll wake-up, but…geez. It’s really over. We couldn’t have done this without him. Your hero son might have just helped us to save our family…and yours.”

“I doubt my son would like the title ‘hero’, Victor… yet for many reasons, honorable or not, I think it may be the one he ends up with. And to you, I am thankful for your support and expertise… if I may ask you one last favor, would you please carry my son inside? I feel like he’ll need some rest until… well, until he wakes up.”

With graceful steps, Anneliese walked closer and closer to Eglantine, who seemed ready to punch through any army that stood in front of her. Slowly, Anneliese’s hands caressed the cheeks of the French girl, nearly cupping her face in, while staring at her with a gentle smile. One of her hands went down to Eglantine’s hand, the one who minutes ago looked like a mystical weapon of sorts, holding it tightly.

“Oh Eglantine… you can calm down now, hm? You can rest and look even prettier than what you already are. Your parents must be so proud of the talented lady you became… Henry did choose well, it seems: your fight is pretty as your eyes for now, as I am sure that after Blanchefleur’s… fortunate demise, if I may use this adjective, they’ll be even happier. Mind if I give you a hug, my dear?”

“I can certainly do that, ma’am,” Victor-Pierre answered. He bowed to her, while Henry still laid in his arms, and he walked past her to bring him into the house. Not long later, as he walked with Sebastian and opened the door, they would hear Chloe and Kaiser barking and rushing to see their beloved master.

And Eglantine stood with his mother, who moved with a regal gentleness that Calixte had only just learned. No, Anneliese had felt the emotional restraint her husband had placed on his family for over a decade, almost two. Now, no more. She reached for the Rise girl as if she was her own daughter, and tears streaked down her eyes. “…Y…Yeah. I’d like that, actually,” she murmured.

Anneliese pulled Eglantine in firmly: the Rise weren’t particularly known for their warm hugs, and the knowledge she had on Eglantine’s escapade from their grasp made Anneliese believe that Eglantine needed to be cared for, even if she wouldn’t admit it openly.

“Oh, my dear… you’re safe now. Let yourself be cared for a bit, hm? I promise I won’t tell Henry anything you tell me, but if you ever need a hug or a shoulder to cry on, I’ll be nearby. I admire you so much and I want you to know this, sweetheart. You are loved by this household and you are loved by me, and as long as you need, you’ll have a space here. Go on, don’t be shy! You can hug me back as well.”

Eglantine had not cried this hard since she had seen her family again, especially after Apollinaire’s surgery. She wrapped her arms tightly around Anneliese, and her eyes hid in her shoulder as she let the tears fall. It was almost strange at times to receive maternal love so freely. For most of her life, it had been hidden from her. Now she had it. From Calixte, and from Anneliese.

“…Thank you. We…We’re free now. We can…keep living. And Henry and I…w…we can go back to Mana and see everyone…my…my cousins and Rabbit and…everyone…”

All the while, the wolves which had traveled with Henry and Eglantine, and who had warned and protected the students, now all stood tall, looking up toward some invisible force in the sky. Or somewhere, perhaps beyond the sky. No matter where they were, The Lavender King smiled down on the world below.

And soon it was indeed time to go home.

The couple needed to take their time, as did the rest of the world as they learned the news. How much love did the two young Mages feel between each other, and how much excitement and uncertainty, as they drove to Grenoble to tell her parents the news. Asmodeus, after all, had returned to his owners who now had international business to begin to settle. Mages around the world would soon know the news, which would shock and leave many questions. What of House Rise, now that their leader was dead?

Ah, but the heirs were not. Nor were the other parents, who now would aid their children in that leadership. But first, many little reunions were in order.

Eglantine would go back to see her parents, who were amazed to hear the news. Apollinaire, who had slowly improved over the last couple of days, stopped from eating a hearty meal when his daughter told him the news. He then almost crushed her in a hug. Even if he had kept both arms, he could barely contain the joy and the relief. His daughter was now safe, their family was now safe.

Calixte could barely contain her own emotions, but she held onto them in order to speak to Henry. “Once you return to Mana, there will I’m sure be talk of succession. But know that we are here, and we will aid her. And you, for all you’ve done.” She gave a wide, caring smile. “Our traditions, our rules, our homes even…everything will have to change. Everything. To prevent all of this from ever happening again. Even with the help we can give you…I hope you’re prepared.”

Henry’s recovery was a relatively slow one: under the insistence of pretty much everyone, he was kept under watch, allowing his body the appropriate time to heal, and progressively, he left the room to rediscover the halls of Hellbrunn.

“Madame Calixte, I… I would hug you, but my shoulders and my neck remain a little bit stiff. Think I overdid some of the swings and spins with the spear, but your daughter’s been a wonderful caretaker.

I do not know if another foe like Blanchefleur will rise - pardon the joke - in the next years, however… I’ll be prepared, yes. If I will be alive after it is another discussion entirely, but… not only I will be prepared but we, as a group, will be prepared. My skill will take me as long as its possible and when it isn’t enough… well, grit will take me farther. Grit, wrath… but we won’t go easily.”

“We’ll make sure to keep you alive long enough to get us some grand-OW!” Eglantine poked her father rather hard in the shoulder, all while her face was ablaze. She then whirled her head toward Henry, and she sighed. “Ah…yeah…I…We’re going to stay alive…because we want to stay alive. And we do have work to do.”

Apollinaire chuckled and nodded. “It will be a group effort. But when you do get back to your school, let that bastard Michel know that we said hello.” He still feared the man quite a lot, but with Blanchefleur gone, the world was much less frightful. His strangeness and his love of causing confusion were tolerable, and he had the experience to help the younger Mages to lead.

All in all, between visiting, making arrangements, and fixing Salzburg, the process of leaving Europe took a few days. Chloe would come with Eglantine, and they would travel privately. In that time, the news spread around the world, and the Jaegars saw that Rise Castle’s destruction and Blanchefleur’s death were truly what they saw-the death of an evil conduit, and hopefully the beginning of something rising from the ashes.

Holstein-Schleswig was buried, and discussions between The International Committee’s members carried into the night. Aloysius and Mercillia were firm: the Committee would do everything in its power to guard not just Europe, but the world, to make sure nothing like Blanchefleur ever appeared again.

But not even indomitable bureaucracy could keep Eglantine and Henry from going to their home, among their classmates.

Ruby, Kimiko, and the wolf which had traveled with them arrived in Salzburg on the fourth day, and the wolf spoke to the students and teacher. It also addressed Victor-Pierre, once he managed to arrive a little late from making arrangements of his own. He would at least go to visit his little cousins, before he decided to go back to his own home.

“All of you have done something truly phenomenal in these last few days. I do not quite know all of the effects, as I cannot see that future. But goodness and blessings can now bloom among the earth, as it heals from its demonic presence. As the Lavender King speaks, I may grant all of you one wish, as it is in his power. What might that be, as your reward?” He first looked to Kimiko, who had entered battle as a journeywoman and had emerged among the champions.

The young Taira scion considered her quest to this point. It seemed like eons ago that the wolf tasked her with joining the heroes, first to Paris and then elsewhere to battle the forces of darkness. She had joined this quest for one reason, after all.

“I want…I want the power to protect my Clan, my family,” she said, in barely a whisper. “That’s all I've ever wanted.”


The wolf looked toward her, as did Florian from his own realm. The Lavender King smiled. She was a warrior, maybe a young one with many ambitions, but she spoke with humility and awareness of herself. The creature walked up toward her, and Kimiko would feel the aura of spring rain thickening around her.

“Young Taira warrior, rest assured that your actions have helped to secure your family for generations. However, if you need a symbol, a badge of honor as you humans like…”

The rain-aura turned into a long sword, with a mist-colored blade and a hilt in her clan’s colors. When it swung through the air, a gentle mist did indeed follow, and with the coolness of that first spring rain came also the sharpness of iron.

“Should you ever require my authority, or my aid, let them know of your gifts for the world. Only those who truly save and preserve the Fey-lines and the natural cycle of Magic ever receive such gifts. And they are very few in nature.”

Kimiko accepted the blade with both her hands, as if touching something sacred. She held it there for a few moments, gazing at its beauty before bowing low.

“I understand…and…thank you.”

The wolf also bowed low, giving her the honor due to a brave young swordswoman. “Of course. And…Lady Ruby, you have been her guide through this strange human world. What wish do you desire?”

Ruby frowned as she thought on the question. She had a list, but most of them were related to the Jaegars. So many things to fix, so many things to question. She then gave a small smile. Her own desires were rather simple, much like Kimiko’s. Yet simplicity did not take away from the value of a wish. Not at all. “Perhaps…I want the students to be happy. That sounds a little silly, but they’ve suffered under every possible darkness for months. I just want happiness for them.”

The wolf nodded solemnly. “And rest assured, so will your happiness be as well. When you return to the island, Mana will be at peace. It is now under my protection until the end of its existence. As are you.”

And the Jaegar would feel the freshness of summer air around her, and suddenly something would appear over her usual Jaegar’s cloak. A lavender cloak, decked with embroidered flowers of lavender and daisies. In awe, she felt it under her fingertips. It was soft as silk, but strong as steel. “...I…wow. Thank you, again.”

“A sign of my blessing, once again. And for you?” He looked to Henry, noticing the stiffness in his shoulders. “What do you wish for yourself?”

“Well…” said Henry, while inspecting his own thoughts to see if he could find a possible gift to be given. He had a privileged upbringing, definitely: he had money to get important assets; weapons and armor made by the finest blacksmiths he could find; he had a noble title, and was instructed in the arts of battle well enough to stand his ground.

“I wish for myself an extension of my magical arsenal to hold against my enemies. I hold Earth, Fire and their combinations by blood, and even if I may be able to access my mother’s special abilities with Fire…

My father went after… questionable methods of reassuring the power of his bloodline. He went after the very power that dragons once held, as I was informed by my mother and confirmed by my uncle’s research, which partly justifies certain traits I possess, positive and negative… Yet I do not wish to hold an objective of my House only.

I wish to extend this spark to another level… when I visited your realm, I became a dragon, apparently a reflex of the deal. I… want to be able to execute this transformation in this world as well, a secret my closest allies will keep and count on if the need arises, King.”

Eglantine took a look over at Henry, confused by the unique nature of his request. Yet the wolf seemingly was not. Florian nodded slowly, as did the wolf. It then summoned a flame which wrapped around Henry’s body and armor. The Von Kressel Mage would feel a striking heat against the back of his armor, but he would then see the reason as it planted in his mind. A lavender-colored dragon, wings outstretched, jaws lifted toward the air as it roared of its dominance. Of its primacy. Of a birthright that was once taken away, and now returned.

“When your young friend Soleil entered my realm as a child, he had much potential as you did. So I taught him to use his Magic to make even stronger constructs…based on the feelings he wished to bring out of his wounded self. Now, you have been heavily wounded, but your potential is here realized. And soon, your friend’s shall be as well. You are whole, as is the command of The Lavender King. Should you choose to become the dragon that you were, or to change back, you may do so once per day. And…”

The wolf walked closer to Henry, and Florian stood from his throne. He drew his sword, and Henry would feel an invisible blade of diamond over one shoulder. Then the other.

“Once again, your authority is guaranteed by myself, so long as you and your children live. And you shall be known not only as Henry Von Kressel, but as The Dragon of the Lavender Court. Those who hear your honorary title, young man, will know that I stand with your actions.”

“I thank you for that, King. Should you ever need my help, and if it is within my reach to provide it, you know well where to find me and the extent that I can employ my abilities in your quests. It was my pleasure to fight alongside you, and it will be my pleasure to talk with you, be it about the matters of your realm or mine.”

Florian smiled from his end. He had few quests in which he embarked these days. Very rarely did other Fae choose to cross him, and those who did lasted only for a short time. Henry would have seen the brief vision of the Lavender King smiling at him, perhaps a blessing in itself.

“I have few enemies who would ever wish to come into my realm, and thus my time for many centuries has been peaceful. However, you are indeed a worthy knight and guard, and should I ever require you, I would be glad to grant my assistance. And now…”

He looked finally to Eglantine. She stared at the wolf, a little confused. She had many possible ideas for her wish, and she could only make one. She shivered as she realized the power of the Fae behind the wolf’s gaze, and she looked to Henry before she made a decision. “Well…I could always ask for a few things. A home for Henry and I, a new car, good health…but I want anyone who was Bound to be healed. If you can make it happen. It…the ritual destroyed my childhood and those of my cousins. So…I want it to be gone.”

Florian finally gave a small frown. Binding was not unique to The Rise. However, they had made it the most potent and the most dangerous, almost as if they had perfected a Magical and spiritual sort of atomic bomb, one which fueled Magic at the expense of one’s lifespan. The wolf gave a short nod, and a deep, wintry chill fell around Eglantine. Spring, summer, fall, and now she was winter.

“Though you, like your lover, are fire and flames, the cold sends away such heat and darkness of demons. And so if this is your wish, I grant you this power.”

Eglantine felt herself breathing an icy fog as she stood and stared at the wolf. Her eyes became a brighter-blue, almost the color of steel, and she blinked. She felt more awake than she had in years, and she stared toward Victor-Pierre. She then looked down at her hands, and she saw misty-blue tattoos which ran down her arms. They were sparkling and elegant, shaped like vines with blooming lavenders and lilies.

“The Lavender Court sends away illnesses and things which inhibit the growth of Mages. What is bound shall now be loosed, and you have my word, when you come upon those who have been bound, the demon’s bond shall break from the cold of winter in your veins.”

She gave another breath, and icy air escaped her throat. She then grinned, and nodded to Florian. Fire and ice.

Victor-Pierre also had a request, and so winter he was as well. He wanted a home which would be close to his new family, one which would allow him to be a more useful healer. Florian gave a smirk, and the wolf winked at him for his request.

“The Fae’s Apothecary…That sounds quite wonderful, I believe.”


The joy in the Fae’s voice was a rare sound, as he created the key which Victor-Pierre then wore around his neck. Lavender with arabesque patterns, he could now enter a place in the Fae world which would supply any and all medicines he needed for the healings of others. But Florian’s joy, even more, came from the fact that the world was healing.

And he was never truly far away.

In fact, he would lead the students back to campus, opening the portal once more to allow them to return to Mana.

“Beyond this point, your journey-at least, this chapter of it-ends, and your lives begin once again.”

Ruby and Kimiko would leave beyond this point, and the scent of lavender would follow them. Victor-Pierre would go on ahead as well, as he wished to go see his younger cousins. He also wished to allow Henry and Eglantine a moment.

“Don’t take too long, kids,” he joked, as he winked and then walked through the portal.

Eglantine then turned toward Henry, and she gulped. This chapter of their adventure was indeed coming to a happy ending, and she was excited to see what lay ahead. Away from France, away from the scars on the earth, away from her pain. Her family, her friends, none of them could ever truly be separated by distance ever again.

“...Well…I guess it’s time to move on.” She took his hand, and interlaced her fingers with his. She then leaned in, and she kissed him softly before pulling back. A bright blush across her pale cheeks highlighted her ice-colored eyes, and she snickered nervously. “We’ve got better times to make ahead, don’t we?”

“Well…”

For a minute, he thought of teasing Eglantine due to her redness, or that she felt comfortable enough to be affectionate to him in public. Or that finally she was smiling, feeling lighter than the air and optimistic of the future. But the truth is: he was also red, comfortable, smiling and optimistic for the times to come.

“I guess that depends on your opinion about me adopting a mustache, love.”

“You’ll look good any way, Henry. I love you, and that’s all that matters.” She finally coughed it up, with just enough time to spare.

Florian did not rush them, however. He found this whole affair strangely sweet, and he did not normally care for the affairs of humans.

And so Eglantine looked toward the portal with Henry. They would walk together, with their friends and made families, into the unknown that they would define together.

And Mana Academy would always be with them.

[Luminesa]

Epilogue - Mana Academy, Beyond Borders

The first meeting back with all of the Rise cousins and their uncle was a whirlwind of emotions. They had not been united in such a way in what felt like ages. They almost did not quite know how to react to each other, and as their friends came to see them, they found the group crying in each other’s arms. Eglantine with her arms around Soleil, Saturninus with his arms around them both, Victor-Pierre with his arms around Eglantine and Saturninus squeezing them all together. Michel with them, hugging Soleil from the other side. Only Apollinaire, Calixte, Victor-Pierre’s parents, and Celestine were missing. At least, Celestine was not physically present, but one might have almost felt her squeezing her brother tight somewhere in the mix.

Henry was able to return to everyone as well, now with his new lover and two new, excited puppies. Chloe had never gone outside to play in the snow, and Henry would have spent the first five minutes trying to keep the rambunctious puppy from getting lost in several inches, if not a foot, of snow. All the while, he would have been able to see the Rise family, or most of it, embracing in a reunion that was beyond words.

And Saturninus was not done, nor was Henry. Rabbit came outside in the morning alongside Artosh, and both of them gasped at the size of the reunion. The masked professor especially was emotional to see the happy family, and then to see that his charge had returned home safely.

Before he even talked to Rabbit, Chloe’s adventures in the snow reminded Henry that he brought a gift to Soleil: a dedicated lover of animals - dangerous or not, the future French lord was always set on his ways to hug them all - could not be given a better gift than a companion of his own, it seems. Wrapped in a blanket, Henry picked up a somewhat sleepy pup from the ground, before extending it to Soleil.

“Well, Soleil… I was passing by a pet shop back in Austria, and… what can I say, this big fellow reminded me of you. They assured me he’ll get big and friendly, and while big defined Asmodeus, I am not sure that friendly is exactly the word I’d use to describe a flame-wielding mystical lion, especially when said specimen is owned by Mercillia. Which is why I decided to get you just a normal bulldog. Go on, pick it up! See if a name comes up while you look at his face.”

Soleil was not sure how many more emotions he could feel in one day. Joy had bloomed in his chest in a way he had never felt in his life. The freedom of a happy family joined together, and now his close friend had returned not only with his long-lost cousins, but with a little puppy.


He approached it with shock, pulling the curious, rolly-faced pup into his arms and holding him carefully to avoid his paws getting cold. All the while, Eglantine had dived into the snow after Chloe to grab her once again, and the little spaniel was wriggling excitedly in her arms.

“...I…Henry…”

He found himself choking on his words. His chest felt as if it might cave from so much affection, but he held himself together as he hugged the puppy and let the tears fall from his eyes. “...He’s such a sweet little dog…I…I love him.”

“What’re you gonna name him?” Michel walked next to him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, smiling down at his son as he experienced something he had missed for most of his life-his first pet.

The little bulldog whined a little, and then licked Soleil’s face, as if he too was asking for a name. He smiled down at the puppy, and salty tears fell onto his nose. The dog proceeded to lick those as well. “Cannelle.” He looked up at Henry, and he giggled. “He looks like a cinnamon roll, but as a dog.”

All the while, as they spoke, Rabbit walked a little closer to the group, as though he was making sure that what he was seeing was real.

“I see you’ve finally made it back alive,” the gentle teacher spoke to Henry, and to Eglantine as well. “Welcome back.”

For some time, Henry looked at the familiar masked professor: he certainly missed the maternal approach Rabbit had to his students, and the mask who seemed so scary to his foes was also a reassuring sight for his friends.

“Well, you didn’t think that your students would die to a random wicked witch, did you Rabbit?”

Dropping the formalities of his return - as Soleil was still enchanted by how round and soft the pup was – Henry went in to hug Rabbit. The teacher, who was always cared for him in times of need and was a mentor for magical, physical and emotional affairs, was missed by Henry not only by his expertise in the usage of Mana. He was also missed as the relative he became as the time passed.

“It’s nice to see you’re alive as well, Rabbit. I missed you a lot. So did Kaiser, you got him way too used to constant pets. And treats. Besides, Eglantine can’t live without you being a mom over all of us too.”

Rabbit blinked behind his mask as Henry hugged him. The war had indeed changed all of them, but he could truly hope that now it had been for the better, with them as victors. He blinked again, and he squeezed his student as he realized that indeed, all of his students had become just as much his children as any mother’s flesh and blood. “...I’m…very glad to see you all made it back alive. All of you.” Even Saturninus received a kind gaze from him. Once, they had been enemies, but knowing now how much of a victim the boy had been to his mother’s wicked magic, he could not help but slowly welcome him among the students.


And indeed, Artosh would not find himself outside of the loop. Saturninus had remembered the teacher who had found his body, who had held him as he had died. A mercy that neither of them had understood at the time, but one which meant everything now. He walked over to the kind young teacher, and after he looked over him for a few moments, he pulled him into a tearful hug himself.

“...I didn’t think…I never imagined…being alive and being able…to say thank you. You had no reason to show me any kindness, and you…you made sure I wasn’t alone when I died. Not even my own mother would…would have done that for me…” Tears would begin to run into Artosh’s shoulder, as the young man released trauma which had marked him for half his life into welcome arms. Someone who perhaps did not understand everything, but someone else who had also found himself stolen away from death, though Artosh had been stolen away by more benevolent forces. Yet who or where did not matter, only the now.

“Thank you…thank you.”

An audible gasp is pulled out of Artosh's lips when he sees the young man before him, who came barreling to hug him. The last time he saw the boy he was dying and bleeding away in his grasp. The young teacher tried to comfort the boy in his last moments, even trying to stave away his death until medics came, but Artosh could only witness the dying light in Saturninus' eyes that day. What was once a breathing lad went still in his arms, his warm flushed face slowly turning stone cold as moments passed.

Saturninus was correct that Artosh really didn't need to stay with him, that the man had no reason to care for a diabolist such as him. But how could a teacher leave a student to die alone and be lost alone? Artosh tightly squeezes the young man in his arms as he gently pats his back and ruffles his hair. "...You don't need to thank me, Saturninus… I'd do it again… but I'd rather see you thrive now that you are alive and free…" Artosh then holds Saturninus by the shoulders, reaching up to wipe his tears. His fingertips glow a faint earthly color that transitions to a green light. Flowers start to pop out of the glow, wildflowers of all shapes and colors. They weave themselves into a quaint flower crown that Artosh gently places atop Saturninus' head. "...Welcome back to the living… to us… Saturninus… I hope that in this new life… the world will be sweeter and kinder to you…"

Somewhere deep, buried in Saturninus’s early childhood, had been a gentle child much like Soleil. He remembered being small enough to get away from home and to carry his younger cousin on his shoulders as they played together. Somehow, little Sol would always end-up making a flower crown, either for himself or for someone else. Feeling the Fae-touched flowers in his hair resurrected a sensation he himself had thought was dead, but was indeed alive. Gentleness.

The first spring in his life in a long time.

“…I…I don’t know what to say. Thank…thank you…” he murmured, before he embraced Artosh again and cried freely in his arms.

And slowly the darkness which had fallen over the island in the last week now began to leave. Extra Jaegars saw the scene and left, knowing very well not to interrupt this coalescence of the remaining members of House Rise. At least, most of them. Those who would lead were here.

Even the Knights from the Obsidian Towers would watch the Jaegars leave, knowing that their business was no longer necessary on the island. Even for Catherine, who had struggled so long to find her place and to have what was hers, would be able to have peace. Even if the Towers still floated in Mana’s lake, they had played their own mysterious part in breaking the chains of a great evil. And Florian would notice.

Slowly, wherever she was, she would find that a gentle summer breeze had fallen over her wounds, and the broken, damaged skin would slowly weave itself whole. And her lost arm would heal itself as well, as for the first time her body would not feel the immense suffering she had dealt with for months, but the seeds of relief.

Only Ruby and Ruta remained, out of the Jaegars on the island. Ruta was still the headmaster and still the father-figure who had watched Soleil from afar. Now that he was with his real father, he almost felt…unsure of himself. Useless, in a way. He had done so much, and yet he still held so, so many regrets. He even hesitated to come close to the party for a few moments, until Soleil hurried over and gave him a hug. So they had survived, as had every Professor on the island. In a way, sorrow on the island was truly broken, so much that even Ruta in his normal melancholy state could not help but squeeze the student who had considered him a guardian for so long.

“Thank you, Professor…I’m so glad everyone is safe now…and…you’ve protected…me and all of us.”

The headmaster had to pause before he managed a response. “I’ve not done a very good job, Soleil…” Ruta murmured, barely holding back the strain of emotion in his throat. “But from here on out…I promise, I’ll make things better. For all of you…”

And he felt a breeze pass over him as well. An autumn wind, sweet and earthy, calling him. Florian would not forget him either, and the Lavender King had known what had caused him so much pain for so many years. Ruta heard it in his ear, clear as day.

“Thank you, Antonius…”

Yona.

The simple words were enough. An old love bloomed in his heart, and he saw her in the fields of lavender. Burning-red hair, standing tall and lovely, healed of darkness and pain-much in the way Artosh and Rabbit had been healed. She was not in his world, but Florian almost seemed to give a wink somewhere in the wind. She was never far away.

This world and the Lavender Court were so close, he-and all of the students-could breathe it in.

And it smelled like freedom. The freedom all of them had found, some way or another, at Mana.

Epilogue - TWO YEARS LATER

Time passed like molasses from here on out. But nobody exactly complained. Slowly, school continued, but now cut in and out by the need to rebuild House Rise into a better image. Saturninus, despite being almost 19, became a member of the class, and Eglantine along with him. Victor-Pierre became a medic on campus, and Michel gave Ruta a hand by assisting in combat courses. Not to mention that nobody would dare to ever attack Mana Academy with two powerful Jaegars guarding the realm.

Holidays came, birthdays came. The students grew, and grew closer. Soleil eventually found the nerve, after his 18th birthday, to ask Dominique to officially date him. Where? Who knew. What would he do when he graduated? He had no clue. But with Cannelle next to him and a bundle of flowers in his hand, he made the offer to try his luck with someone who had first warmed his heart in a harsh winter, sitting with him in Mana’s kitchen.

But he was here, and he could say yes. He was not the only one.

Eglantine and Henry had already dated now for three years, and both of them could tell that the time was coming soon to propose. They wanted to wait, however, until both of them had graduated. Oliver and Ambrosia got engaged first, a few months after graduation, and she had been the one to propose. Soleil and Dom were in their budding relationship, and Shaun and Allistor were still together, knit like threads in a glove. Rabbit and Artosh got engaged, and planned to marry sometime in the next year. But the Rise Mage and her Von Kressel lover were simply glad to watch the world bloom and heal around them first. No rush.

Catherine’s body had healed, and she and Hailey continued their studies and re-bonded with classmates. John grew closer to Shade, a quiet relationship which seemed to bring them closer as friends and coworkers. Only Cecily seemed to hold onto some sort of lost pain in the end, and the reality was that she had long ago been cut loose from destiny’s threads, now destined to wander and to write her own life. So she left Mana, hoping to find what she really had wanted and had missed a chance to have. Sometimes fulfillment came in such stages.

And indeed one could say such for Ruta.

Ruta had been anxious to try and go into the Lavender Court, and for a year he refrained. Yet the dreams continued. Florian meant no harm. A gift was a gift, and he was not one to take away gifts unless someone had truly committed an offense. Yet the Jaegar feared being harmed again by love’s sword. This time, however, when he finally broke and went into that world, love broke even.

Yona had waited. And waited. And waited. Regrowing her hair, living from Magic and from Florian’s grace. Regaining Magic which had been cursed by her vow as a Jaegar. No, now she was alive, and well. And she had chosen to return, pulling away from the cycle in which all homunculii had once suffered so that she could live a human woman’s life. Or a Changeling’s life. And she was a happy Changeling, the moment Antonius Ruta saw her in the lavender fields and pulled her into his arms.

“…Yona. Yona my dear…oh God…”

A shivering breath left him, and he gave her the longest, warmest kiss his tired body could fathom. He held her long and tight, and she was glad to return his love. The two runaways, reunited in a strange world, now both growing back from ashes and dust into beautiful, soothing lavender.

“Oh God, how I missed you…how I missed you…”

She grabbed him, and pulled him into the grass. Not for any nefarious reasons, but to feel the lost feelings of a summer embrace. She pulled him close, and he held her. Laying in the grass with a beautiful lover would have seemed foreign a long time ago. But now he realized that he had desired her warmth, her kindness, to remind him of what virtue was in his heart. For two years, he had worked harder to make Mana safer, both from monsters and politics.

And now his reward for bearing the harsh world was softness.

“How I missed you too, Antonius…and I’m ready to go home…” She kissed his neck, and then his cheeks, and then his lips. Sweet, gentle, healing love.

“We will go home soon, my love. I cannot wait to begin my life again with you. But…can we lay here for a few more minutes?” Ruta whispered, a little sweetness and neediness in his breath.

She kissed him again, and hugged him close.

Someone else would also come home as well. Soon enough, a younger redhead who had been taken from her home, she would go to find the friend and companion she had lost as well. Gentle Aria, a song in the wind, one Florian had also not forgotten. Everyone needed the music which made their hearts sang, and Aria had done just that in the hearts of her friends and her dearest Catherine. And as Ruta and Yona rose to go home, hand-in-hand, the young girl’s shadow would follow them.

And Florian watched over both his world, and Mana, at students who stayed and students who prepared to enter the world, Magic and all. And he smiled at this story, one which had done more than entertain. It had built bonds which would last for longer than any of them would realize. And it had built them a home.

For all of them, Mana would always be home.

Mana has been MY home for the last six years or so. I remember coming here as a player, then as a co-OP, and then I nursed this RP, along with our little group of rascals, for six long years. Lots of twists and turns, lots of questions, lots of answers. It was my dream to make this not only a long-running RP, but one which had built a good story. We found ourselves interrupted at times, sometimes frustrated as it goes with long-term projects. But I’m proud of what all we have built here together. I’m really proud.

To everyone who made this project, this is a co-write for all of us, in a way. Mana Academy has been OUR project. In it’s good moments and bad moments, I held a hope and a love for this RP as it was my own. I hate to say goodbye, because it’s not truly ever goodbye. It’s see you later to Mana. I hope we’ll one day come back to this place and smile, cry, and maybe cringe a little sometimes (cringe is acceptable, we were all young and grew-up with this RP).

Thank you to every RPer who made Mana Academy as fun as it has been for us to write. Thank you to my co-OPs, Kingdom of Irhk and Chrome Legion, for directing me when I had no idea what to do. Thank you for making the characters and the setting such a joy. Thank you for inspiring me to write daily, to read your work and to marvel at the fun and beauty of storytelling as it is. It’s what always brings me back is the need to make good stories. And regardless of how we got here, I hope that’s what we’ve made.

And thank you, Rhomaia, wherever you are. Your presence was always a joy, your friendship a joy, your writing wonderful, and I hope I’ve done your characters some justice. Thank you for making this wonderful RP in the first place. Thank you for giving us this place to congregate and to make friends who I’ll keep with me forever.

To Mana Academy-my first home, and my forever home. We’ll always come back here. To this wonderful, weird, crazy story we made.

Thank you.