Chapter 8: Conclusion of Part 0

Garth sensed something was very wrong as he ran into the forest. The mana output just now was incredible as he rushed forward, letting the trees cover him. Garth was just in the healer's office supervising the wounded when his mana sensors detected something bad. Adam wanted to come also but Garth restricted him since he knew that something terrible was going on.

He slowed down as he saw some burnt trees as he looked in confusion at it. He went to one tree and placed his palm on it, lightning magic he thought but it felt more sinister. What in the blue moon just happened here, he thought with confusion.

He inspected the tree as he followed the trail of sloopy black gel that remained on the trails. He walked slowly trying to find clues of anything when he saw a figure lying on the ground, red blood covering his face.

Garth started walking faster towards the fallen figure when he saw a flash of blonde around the figure's head. No way, he thought with fear as he saw the lifeless face of Caleb with a slash mark clearly on his face.

He hurried towards his side and placed his hand on the forehead still warm and then proceeded to press his left ear at Caleb's chest. His breathing was very irregular but he was still alive as his heart beat weakly trying to keep him alive.

Garth immediately did the same thing he did to Seth not too long ago as he placed his hand on the slash mark and reversed the flow of blood to flow regularly in his body. It worked as Caleb's color returned as his heartbeat became stronger while his breathing became more regular.

Jeez what the hell happened here, Garth thought with amazement as he realized the person who did this to Caleb must be very strong as Caleb was known as a prodigy himself. Garth's eyes widened as he realized that if Caleb was in this state, Marielle and Edmund might be somewhere right now fighting the opponent.

He decided to leave Caleb there for a bit, he silently promised to himself that he would come back for Caleb as he placed a magic circle around Caleb so that Garth could track his body when he was far away from him.

Garth continued to proceed through the forest inspecting every little detail of it to spot any clues on what happened to Marielle and Edmund. He was never close to the three of them but he heard that Marielle was the child of the prophecy one day during a meeting with his superiors.

And that Caleb kid was supremely weird as Garth overheard that he was secretly an Extor. Meanwhile, Edmund was just a normal noble mage that got caught in their troubles, nothing spectacular to say about him.

Garth finally came into a clearing where a clump of trees were destroyed with smoke rising from it. A pool of blood was next to a body on the ground also laying down like Caleb. Garth walked up to the body which was laying face down with a peaceful face. He looked around for Marielle but did not see anything and knew what happened. A flash of disappointment crossed his face as he pondered what will happen now that she was taken.

The figure had dark brown hair that covered his face messily as Garth reached down to touch his face. This must be Edmund, he thought. Edmund looked rather dirty with his face full of burnt marks and his body was bleeding all over but he was alive as Garth inspected him closely.

Garth repeated the procedure that he did with Caleb to make the flow of his blood more regular as he looked up at the sky, the gray clouds not breaking apart as sunlight filled the forest. What a crazy day he thought while shaking his head. First he had to encounter the mages coming from random magic circles and then finding a kid getting consumed by a spirit while another boy's mana link broke into pieces. And then they had to deal with one of the craziest explosions this school has ever experienced when the South Tower was replaced with a gigantic crater the size of a meteor and then finding the victims transported into a different continent. Wait what was the continent again? A continent with demons and angels. He was then forced by Adam to not mention anything about it, how absurd but he promised him to keep shut about it.

"Don't say a word," was what Adam said after he talked to Emelia about it.

Demons and angels what the fuck, he thought with confusion. The world only had demons and that was in Spade or so he thought but he was going to take Emelia's word for it. If they were demons why won't there be angels?? It makes sense but it does not at the same time.

He finished his thoughts as he grabbed Edmund by the collars with ease. The boy did not weigh much as Garth slung him easily over his shoulder without any difficulty. The blood stained his shoulders as Edmund's mouth pressed onto it. As a blood user Garth felt something weird about it but he ignored it as he hurried back to Caleb.

He was slowed down with the weight of Edmund on his back when he walked back to where the magic circle was signaling him to go. Caleb was still there laying down barely conscious when he saw Garth coming over with Edmund over his back.

Garth came close enough for him to hear Caleb's whisper, "G-Garth, I failed them. W-where is Marielle?" He asked frantically for the first time looking unstable as Garth kneeled down next to him.

"I am afraid she was taken away," he said gently as he attempted to pick Caleb up but he swatted Garth's hand away.

His face darkened with effort as he replied, "If she is gone just kill me. I have no more use in the world, I failed my one and only job."

Garth looked bewildered at him, "Are you crazy man?!! You can recover fully, we need to take you back immediately to the healer's office right now. Marielle is still alive, we will eventually bring her back, don't worry about that."

Caleb stared emptily at him, "You don't know what you are saying...I failed my only duty and I promised her that it wouldn't happen. I broke a promise and the least I deserve is death."

Garth shook his head in disbelief as he said forcely, "Whether you want it or not, they wouldn't want you dying. If you are truly a person who does his duties then you would live on and attempt to search for Marielle again."

"She wouldn't want anything to do with me after I failed her," Caleb said dispiritedly as he looked away from Garth.

"And why would that be?"

"Because I am a person who breaks promises, she won't trust me anymore," he said with resignation.

"No shut up. I am bringing you back no matter what and when we are ready we will go find her but you need to heal up before you do that," Garth snapped at him as he lifted Caleb up and princess carried him before Caleb thought of something.

He was back as a 13 year old in the dim light of the lamp that was shining from Marielle who was facing him with a…..he can't even describe it to this day. An expression that was a mix of sad and happy.

She said softly, "Whatever happens to me I just want you to promise me that you won't give up no matter what and keep kicking at anything in your way."

Caleb at the time took the promise lightly as he nodded but now the promise resonated differently in his soul.

Caleb was not a fan of losing so he grumbled with annoyance, "Fine, take me to the healer's office."

Garth grinned at him as he carried the both of them without any complaint taking them to their next location, the healer's office.

—----

A few moments later, they appeared at the entrance of the healer's office which had no door anymore as it was blown off its hinges. A man was patrolling the entrance in case someone unwelcome would intrude. The man wore a golden cloak around him, Marxis The Golden Dawn Squad Captain.

He greeted him cheerfully until he saw the people carrying, "What the…. What is this, where is the girl?" He asked with alarm at Garth.

Garth replied, "We will talk about that after I set these two kids straight."

Garth walked fastily as they approached the narrow window of the infirmary as he knocked on the door. Winnie, who was tending a patient, opened the door while Marxis trailed behind impatiently, wanting to hear the news on Marielle.

"Oh my," she gasped in horror at the sight of Edmund and Caleb, both bloody. Caleb has resigned to closing his eyes as he fell asleep with exhaustion.

The beds lining up the wall were still occupied with Bobby, Takumi, Isaac, Seth, Jamie, and now Felix who was bandaged on the head. Antione was by his bed thinking deeply about something until he saw Garth.

"Garth, you are back, wait…" he stopped as he caught sight of Caleb and then Edmund who was placed gently on an empty bed by Garth.

"What happened to him," Antione demanded as he looked up at Garth.

"I don't know, I just came across him in the woods sensing some weird mana and found him lying here like that. Marielle is gone, taken by the idealists," he finally announced with depressed eyes as Marxis sucked into a huge breath. Antione merely looked stunned at the turn of events.

"She's taken?!!!" Marxis exclaimed with fury at the announcement as he started pacing back and forth with vivid frustration.

"Oh god, Edmund tried to protect her and now he is going to die," Antione said with fear as he looked at Edmund's wounds.

Garth chuckled, "You guys are acting like this is the end of the world. Both Caleb and Edmund will recover fully soon enough."

Marxis looked unbelievably at him and shouted, "How can you find any humor at this moment? I don't care if they are going to recover fully, the damage has been done. Spade has possession of Marielle and all the allied countries will wage war on them for taking the prophecy child!"

Marxis who realized his explosion immediately apologized silently while Garth ignored him, "So what? We can always bring her back and beat Spade. No biggie," he shrugged at him, completely unaware of the dangers this event brings.

Marxis sighed and a small smile formed around his lips, "You are always so optimistic but I realized long ago to not battle it. Being pessimistic would only make things worse for everyone."

Garth laughed loudly and said, "Finally you learned from me. I feel so proud of myself now, the mentor of the Golden Dawn captain!"

Marxis shook his head again as Antione spoke up, "So about this… Marielle incident. I'm not really close to her but how would we bring her back?"

"By attacking Spade of course," Garth said matter of factly.

"So are you saying what I am thinking," Antione stated out loud.

"About what?"

"About a whole new war starting but this time on a much bigger scale and over one person, Marielle Winston."

—----

A year has passed since the departure of Marielle and things have more or less settled back to what it was before with a twist. Many people are missing in action and many still haven't woken up from their coma.

She saw the images flash through her eyes as she continued slumbering. The images of a white dog chasing her with its tails waving wildly behind. An image of a man slapping her, then an image of a boy with dark blue hair smirking at her. The images progressed as she saw them with more clarity.

This time she was entering a mess hall filled with grandeur as golden lights shone around it. Then the image of an owl staring at her and then a boy with blonde hair sitting next to her. Then a boy with brown hair introduced himself while they shook hands.

And more as she felt the embrace of a girl with blonde hair and then seeing the blonde hair girl succeed in repairing a broken mirror. Then she saw a troll who was hiding in the dungeons who greeted her shyly. She took out her hand and the troll took hers. Then finally, the memory of a boy looking at her with helpless eyes as she was whisked away.

Those memories flashed through her brain as she was slumbering but the names faded slowly as the days progressed. And as the days progressed even more, the events became less clear as she started forgetting them slowly but surely.

Soon enough, she forgot everything in her life including knowledge of herself. Her birth status, her family, her location, even her appearance was forgotten. The only thing she did not forget was her full name.

Marielle WInston.

My name, she thought as her vision was clouded with darkness.

Voices surrounded her as she heard an old man's voice saying, "It's been a long time repairing her mana levels and wiping her memory but I think she will wake up soon."

Another man's voice sounded much younger as it replied, "Finally we can get things done. Wiping her memory would make it much easier for her to control, if she just didn't run away from those idiots, this would've been so much easier."

"Yeah, yeah it would be," the older voice replied.

She slowly heard the steps surrounding the voices walk away as her fear was suddenly gone. She felt empty but curious about her location and what those people were talking about. With a sudden gasp, she flung herself up in a sitting position.

Eyes opened as she looked around her vicinity. She was on a fancy bed, a dark blanket with stars was placed over her as she looked at the cozy room around her. The windows outside signified that it was nighttime as the moonlight gave a surreal glow to her room. Magical devices were placed all around her as it scattered all over the tables. They looked maliciously at her in the glow of the moonlight.

She looked down at herself, she was dressed plainly in all white, her dark blue hair gently brushed and combed. She was now curious about her appearance as she forced herself to move out of the bed.

She stumbled out of her bed, her legs felt like jelly but she held on as she stared into the person in the mirror. The person in the mirror had dark blue hair and her eyes were light gray as they stared back at her. The girl in the mirror was gorgeous, her face pale and skin clear, her features angelic and ethereal.

"Wow, pretty," was all she said as she stared at herself.

A year and half passed after that incident….as we go take a look at a certain location

A sky prison, a notorious prison known for hosting the most devious criminals out of the 2 continents was placed in the middle of the sea. It floated high above it, high above the clouds as it was reinforced with ancient mana layers to keep ahold of it.

Footsteps sounded as the entrance to the sky prison had a drawbridge to it connecting it to the floating mechanical island of Quilboar which was kept afloat by machines created by the genius inventor, Arghor the Emperor. Arghor gave the island as a gift to the people of Joker Kingdom who wanted freedom from the tyrannical rule of its emperor and now it stands afloat in the middle of the sea in between the continents that hold Joker and Ace and the Cards Continent together.

A young gentleman around the age of 15 with white hair walked across the drawbridge with his cloak flying around behind him as he approached the two guards who looked puzzled at the boy coming towards them with a cold expression.

"Who are you, state your purpose," the guards asked uniformly as the boy approached them still looking at them with a cold expression.

He didn't say anything as frozen frost started surrounding the two guards. The frost already reached halfway up to their body before they realized what was happening to them as they yelled in freight.

"What the fuck is happening?!" one guard screamed in terror as he felt his whole body freezing up as he stopped screaming, his face frozen.

The other guard who was also getting frozen stopped yelling as the boy looked at them with distaste as he walked into the entrance of the prison.

His footsteps echoed loudly in the first floor of the prison. He needed to head to the top where the thing he was looking for was there.

Alarms sounded as mana sensors detected an unknown source of mana entering the interior of the prison as otherworldly creatures started soaring from above the floors seeing that the boy had entered the center of the prison.

The boy looked up at the creatures flying towards him and grinned sadistically at them. This was a form of training in a sense for this boy as he felt like he was much stronger than he was on that fateful day when his father died.

He would get revenge that way. That way by showing the world his resentment and hatred as he placed both hands on the ground and willed all his mana in it.

Two insanely large ice spikes erupted from the floor piercing the 10 floored prison itself. One can see the three large spikes protruding from the top of the sky prison even from far.

The temperature dropped to an absolute zero as the creatures were either frozen or pierced by the monstrous spikes. The boy who felt a little drowsy from the output of the mana started running up the spike, the mana connecting him to his creation as he started running upwards without even the urge to fall.

The prisoners who felt the cold but were protected by it looked at the boy in awe and horror as they saw him running up to the top of the ice spike, seemingly heading to the tenth floor. His face was determined as he finally ran up to the top of the spike.

At the top, he looked around at the tenth floor which had a hole on the side from the spike as he let his mana erupted around him sensing the thing he was looking for.

He walked around the prison cells as prisoners catcalled and yelled at him. He ignored them as he reached the end of the passage looking at the left side of it.

What he saw was a boy with long white hair covering his face, he was dressed in a black shirt with white shorts, all raggedly looking as he felt the lock of the prison.

They really thought a lock could stop him from saving him, his hands pressed on the mana lock and inserted his mana into it while controlling it so that it would destroy the lock from inside. The mana control lessons finally came into fruition as the lock was blasted from inside, it opened as the boy swung the door open and stepped into the cell.

He kneeled down on the sleeping boy as he poked him on the face, "hey wake up."

The other boy twisted uncomfortably as he looked up with tired puppy eyes at him, "Huh, who is this?"

The boy giggled manically as he answered with finality, "You sure are an idiot. I am the future savior of Spade and I am the 3rd prince!"

The other boy who looked around 18 merely asked, "So what is your name?"

"Kori Regalia it is a pleasure to meet you Jack Socturn."

Conclusion of Part 0