Vice President Richardson came out of the hearing with a smug smile on his face. It had all gone to plan. When he had explained to the CSOG the dangers of the revival of the Dark Oviri, they immediately became concerned. Ninety-two years ago, Darkyn caused a whole heap of trouble for the CSOG, ruining most of their plans.
It had been decided. The Stellatrium weapon would be fired. Richardson looked towards the old cannon. It was a strange shape with outdated technology. The cannon head was wide and had a bell-like structure. Directly underneath the silver head was crystallised orb of magic fire magic with a metallised magic circle in the shape of a star around it. The words magic output and a range of numbers from zero to twenty was carved into the bronze star. The cannon’s silver body was broken up into two pieces with another crystallised orb with the element of the stars within it. There were two dark grey metal rings around the pale purple sphere that were used to pinpoint the location that the magic was going to be sent. At the black base was a metal flame, which was the sensor that connected the Stellatrium Weapon to the MLC’s computers and a gear that changed the cannons structure depending on the coordinates.
He was sure to get in trouble with its creator for using Stellatrium without permission, but he would deal with those consequences later. Sure, it was a cheap way out of that disaster, but the matter had to be resolved. He had to solve the issue quickly to avoid further disaster.
The Vice President watched over the multiple people running around the headquarters of the MLC.
“Prepare the Stellatrium Weapon!” one of them called.
“Clear the area!” another ordered.
“Call on the soldiers to calm the people in the cities!” another shouted.
Richardson stepped up to the main computer. The man sitting in front of it turned to him.
“Sir we have gathered the information we need,” he claimed.
“Excellent, now we…” Richardson began.
“Sir wait!” the attendant from earlier insisted.
Richardson sighed, “What now…”
“I have located the Phoenix Hunter! She is near the area! I could call her and send her in…”
“No. She wouldn’t be bothered by something as trivial as this. I’m sure the response she’ll give you would be disappointing. We cannot wait a moment more for her to be bothered with saving us!” Richardson growled.
The attendant bowed and walked away, with a worried expression. The Vice President ignored it and continued to stare at the screen ahead.
“Sir we have pinpointed the location!” The programmer exclaimed.
“Very well. Everyone, prepare to fire!” Richardson bellowed.
The countdown commenced. In twenty minutes, the nightmare would be over.
After a long meal at lunch, Ray and Azaliea spent the rest of the afternoon together. Part way through Ray challenged Azaliea to a duel, thinking it was the perfect opportunity to remember more about her and the powers that Ray used to possess. Azaliea won of course. Not only did she contain powerful magic, but she was also quite skilled at several types of martial arts; Judo, Karate, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, Kendo, Ninjutsu. Azaliea excelled at them all. However, it was her ability to combine all of those techniques into one fighting style that made her a truly formidable opponent. It didn’t matter what trick Ray pulled, Azaliea was able to defeat him every single time. Despite being only a Semi-Flame Elemental, she was still able to beat him. It didn't matter how many times he read her movements or predicted how she'd move, Azaliea could do the same thing only ten times faster. Ray could move quicker, but Azaliea could analyse any situation in no time at all. However, Ray resented the fact that none of his memories had returned and all he could do while fighting Azaliea was his usual fire magic.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXvJfgDKXn
“We’re going to keep doing this until I win!” he had shouted, determined to defeat her and find out more about what he was capable of. After failing several times, Ray was disappointed when Azaliea got bored and refused to play along.
“It’s no fun, you always go easy on me,” Azaliea said, which made Ray wonder if he was subconsciously fighting with half his usual strength.
As soon as the stars came out, Azaliea wanted nothing more than to look up at them. They sat under a tree in the meadow just outside of the town with nothing but the sound of crickets chirping in the air. Azaliea told Ray that the stars had always fascinated her and about all the small details she had read in a book recently. The beauty of the sky had always amazed Ray too. It was one of the reasons he loved living in Asteria, where the stars shone the brightest. He enjoyed watching Azaliea’s eyes sparkle with joy as she talked about them. It made him wish that it would remain that way forever.
But that moment was short lived. A loud bang of an explosion filled the air. The rumbling and vibrating ground of the aftershock caused Ray to jump out of his skin. Azaliea stood up hastily and turned towards the town.
“Oh no…” she muttered.
He stood up to see what was going on. In the distance, he saw a thick cloud of smoke in the same direction as the town.
“What the…” he said in shock.
“Looks like the CSOG came back with reinforcements,” she said narrowing her eyes and clicking her tongue in annoyance. “They’re persistent, but I guess that’s what happens when you let them live.”
“That’s kind of a cruel way to put it…” Ray looked at her with a sigh, disappointed with her unmerciful behaviour.
“I’m just saying!” she sighed with a shrug. “It was a better idea to kill them while I had the chance. Fighting them now is going to be a pain.”
“Nah, that’s not any better…”
She placed her hands on her hips, “Well it looks like I don’t have a choice. It’s time for me to head back into battle.”
“Alright! How bad do you think the situation is?” Ray asked preparing himself for the battle ahead.
“Judging by the shouts in the distance and the amount of smoke, I’m guessing… maybe about a hundred enemies.”
“A hundred…! That’s an impossibly large number to defeat! It would be too dangerous to fight them even for you!”
Azaliea placed her hands behind her head and looked away from him.
“Perhaps…” she said. “But you never know something’s impossible until you try. Besides, we have no choice but to fight right now. We can’t let fear set us aside.”
Though he agreed with her the images of her possible death flashed in his mind once again, and words of the townsfolk echoed in his mind.
“The darkness within her would take over and leave nothing but emptiness and completely destroy her.”
Ray began to think that the day of that attack was the last day he saw Azaliea. It also may have been when he lost his memory. Once again he found himself confusing the dream with reality. He concluded that he couldn’t let her risk her life. He became determined to save her no matter what. He would make sure she would never disappear from his life again.
“Shall we go?” she smiled preparing to run into the open battlefield.
Before she could move anywhere, Ray used his Fire Trap spell to trap her in a cage of fire.
“Hey what are you doing!” she yelled, stepping back from the wall of flames.
“As powerful as you are you, can’t control another source of fire because you’re only a Semi,” Ray said not turning to face her.
“Then let me out! I need to go save the town!”
Ray shook his head, “I’m not letting you anything that dangerous. I’m going to do this myself!”
Leaving her behind, he ran towards the screams of the town as Azaliea called out his name.
He had fought with all his might, but the numbers were too much for him as he was not used to fighting in his younger body. At that rate, the town was sure to fall under the control of the CSOG. He dropped to his knees in exhaustion. He had been fighting for what felt like hours. As the moments passed his flames became weaker and weaker. Ray began to believe that it was foolish to have gone by himself. He just wasn’t strong enough. He closed his eyes as the soldiers came closer and closer, preparing to take his life.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67Y9UNQ9oh
“Pierce!” Azaliea yelled from a distance.
Ray opened his eyes at the sound of her voice. Sharp shards of crystallite began to fall from the sky. Half of them landed around the soldiers while others managed to strike through the backs of the CSOG men. Azaliea fell from the sky and landed in front of Ray. She swung her right arm out beside her, preparing for a second attack.
“Explode!” she muttered, staring down her opponents.
The crystallite began to spark with electricity before exploding and electrocuting the surrounding soldiers.
Ray watched as the surviving soldiers came towards her. She stood up as flames circled her wrists. She was unfazed by the number of warriors heading her way. With a click of her fingers a large flower made of fire formed under the feet of the CSOG.
“Flame Flower Burst!” She yelled as the flower closed on the soldiers and then exploded. Ashes and crystal shards filled the starry night sky.
She then turned to Ray, who was still sitting on the ground staring at Azaliea in surprise. With a scowling expression, he stormed up to him.
“What were you thinking taking them all on by yourself?! You haven't been able to... I mean, unlike me you...” she yelled, but her words became muddled. "My power thingy awakened... you know what I mean."
Ray looked at her with a confused look unable to make sense of anything she was saying.
Azaliea sighed. “And trapping me so I couldn’t help? You do realise I don't need to control fire to put it out. I mean I could just walk through it if I wanted to. Did it escape your memory that I'm almost as flame resistant as you?"
“I…” Ray began looking down.
Azaliea sighed again. “There are still more ahead. I’m going to go deal with them…”
Before she could walk away, Ray grabbed her wrist. He began to think that she wouldn't return and that the Akumu spell would force him to relive that moment forever. She turned back to him in surprise.
“What are you…”
“Don’t go…please,” he asked.
“Ray…”
He looked up at her with determination, “I want to be the one to protect you! You are always fighting for others and putting yourself in danger! One day you won't come back! You carry everyone’s misfortune that one day it will swallow you whole!”
Azaliea went to speak, but Ray shook his head and interrupted her.
“No, I won't let you go! It’s too dangerous! I don’t want you to disappear! After all this time I finally found you…so don’t…disappear…”
Azaliea looked down at him with a blank expression. She crouched in front of him and placed her hands on her knees.
“Ray…” she said with a dark expression, “I’m not actually real. You… I think it’s time you stop this dream and wake up.”
Ray’s eyes widened in shock. She said the three words that he didn’t want to hear. She told the truth that he wasn’t ready to face.
“How…”
“I’m sorry, but I’m nothing more than a fragment of your imagination,” she said with a sad smile. “And I think you already know that…”
Ray shut his eyes. He didn’t want her to find out or perhaps he was still holding on to the hope that she was the real Azaliea. He was afraid that if she wasn’t real that she didn’t actually exist at all.
“I don’t care if it’s a dream… I want to stay here with you!” he shouted.
When he opened his eyes small balls of light began to fill the sky, the town was slowly disappearing into the light. He looked to Azaliea who also began to disappear.
“It doesn’t matter… now that you know that it’s the truth it’s all going to disappear…”
“No,” he said his eyes widening in despair. “Isn’t there any way I can…”
Azaliea shook her head, “No there’s not. Besides… you can’t stay here. Your friends need you if you don't stop the person who trapped you in here things are bound to get a whole lot worse. I’ll lend you my magic. That way you can keep fighting for hope. Just like we promised…”
A small light illuminated in her hands. She reached out to Ray and placed her hand on his chest, transferring a little bit of her power to him. The light of her magic gave him warmth. He had stopped shaking and took a deep breath.
“But how did you know…?” Ray said looking away from her, “I didn’t want you to find out… I just wanted to…”
“I know…” she said. “Manipulation magic never really works on us. That’s why I can set you free from this dream.”
“I’m sorry that I…’
“I already know. I know that you don’t truly remember me or the time we have spent together. I wanted to stay here with you too. I just wanted to spend more time with you, but it would be selfish of me to keep you here…Other people need you right now. You need to leave this dream and continue with your life.”
“But…” Ray said, holding back tears. “There’s still so much I want to ask you.”
“Don’t be sad. The real me is still out there, and she needs you much more than I do. Don't let the adventure end here. We will meet again. I promise…” she said with a slightly shaken voice.
Ray stood up and shouted to her as everything around him disappeared.
“Then I promise that I’ll come and find you Azaliea! I won't stop fighting until we meet once more. I promise I won't give up until I can see your smile again!”
“Okay! I’ll look forward to the day we meet again. Until then, I'll wait for the day we can laugh together again…” she said turning around to face him one last time.
As she disappeared, she smiled at Ray, her bright green eyes filled with tears. Leaving her final sentence unfinished she vanished, far away from Ray's grasp once more.
Pennie screamed as another spell knocked her to the ground. It was no use. They had been fighting for over ten minutes, but they weren’t even able to land a single blow. Pennie knew she couldn’t give up. If she did the entire world would have come to an end. For the sake of the world, she had to keep fighting. However, once she got to her feet, she immediately fell to her knees. She no longer had the strength to stand.1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFecBBtsCZ
Visola laughed manically, “You’re too late. You are powerless against me now!”
“No, we’re not giving up,” Kaela uttered, who was also unable to stand.
Visola clicked her tongue, “Now you’re starting to get on my nerves…”
“We’re not giving up! No matter how many times you beat us up!” Pennie yelled.
“I’ve grown tired of this,” Visola scowled in a shrill tone as she flicked her hair behind her. “Now I’m gonna send you into an endless sleep, just like what I did with your friend! I’ll personally make sure it’s the most painful experience you’ll ever receive!”
Visola’s malevolent expression began to make Pennie shake with fear. That’s when a familiar voice from behind her growled.
“Yeah… that was quite a nasty trick you pulled.”
Pennie turned around to find the giant black crystal behind her beginning to crack.
"No, that's not possible!" Visola shouted. "How did he...?"
The crystal smashed into millions of tiny pieces, so small that they floated to the ground like snow.
“Ray…” Pennie sighed with relief when she saw Ray free from the crystals grasp.
She watched as Ray staggered to his feet. His arm was limp, and his body shaken, but he managed to stand up.
“Sorry I'm late guys," he said, with a devilish smile. "Did I miss anything interesting?"1034Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhEUIuKekL
