[12.3] Got 'em

I went over to Felix's slumped-over unconscious body and helped him up alongside Cyrus. I scrunched my nose when the sickly sweet smell of flowers assaulted me.

Ugh! Why does he have to reek of flowers!? It's so strong!

I glared at Zephyr: <<Why won't you help!?>>

He shook his head quickly: <<I'm not helping! If I get close to him I will faint from that flower smell! It's too strong!>>

I glanced over at Caldwell who was also keeping his distance with a slightly dark expression. I guess he won't be able to help either.

When we finally arrived outside, Cyrus motioned to a bench. "Let's put him down there."

I nodded and placed him down with the help of Cryus.

I rubbed my back and glared at Zephyr and Caldwell who were still keeping their distance, "The two of you are useless. Aren't you supposed to be familiars? I thought familiars wouldn't let their masters do the heavy lifting!"

Caldwell scratched his cheek awkwardly, "It's not that I don't want to help, but Felix is a wood attribute. Those with a wood attribute always have such powerful smells that are nauseating for those with sensitive noses."

We heard something stir and looked over to see Felix's pale face. He looked around in a daze, "...What happened?"

Cyrus spoke, "You fainted in the Headmaster's office."

Felix looked down at his feet as he blushed, "I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to faint… It's just that… The Headmaster is so intimidating that I get scared."

I rubbed his head with a grin, "Eh… He's not so bad. He may look scary, but he's actually a big softie."

He flinched as I rubbed his head, "...Oh?"

Cyrus clenched his jaw and grabbed my hand, forcing me to stop.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "What?"

Cyrus looked away as he pressed his lips together.

Caldwell chuckled, "Young master… Did you get jealous?"

He jumped, "J-Jealous?! Why would I be?!"

Felix fiddled with his thumbs, "I-I'm sorry Prince Cyrus… I am sure that she would pet your head if you asked-"

"WHO SAID I WANTED THAT?!"

I noticed something move out of the corner of my eye and turned to look at it. I blinked in confusion as a figure that looked like a shadow, yet had a human shape, stare back at me silently from the trees.

I tilted my head as it did the same.

I cleared my throat, "Um… So I have a question."

They all stopped speaking and looked at me. Cyrus spoke, "What is it?"

I pointed at the shadow person, "Is that normal?"

They all turned to it and froze, "..."

Zephyr cleared his throat, "That is definitely not normal."

Caldwell jumped in front of Cyrus protectively, "Those are shadow puppets!"

"Shadow puppets?" I looked back at the creature that was slowly stepping out of the tree's shadow, "It doesn't look that dangero-oh no…"

I trailed off once dozens of shadow puppets were coming out from the shadow. Caldwell gulped, "Everybody… Remain calm. Any sudden screams will-"

Felix scrambled closer to the wall, "AAH!"

The puppets pounced towards us to attack. Caldwell fought off those that got too close to Cyrus.

I shouted, "Zephyr! Protect Felix!"

Zephyr whined, "Why do I have to babysit this weak kid?"

I pulled out my wand and sent an ice shard against the advancing shadow puppet, cutting it in half. I expected it to fall down in defeat, but instead, the two halves suddenly started forming the rest of their body. What had been one, soon turned into two.

My mouth dropped, "D-Did they just duplicate themselves?!"

A group of them went to pounce on Cyrus and clawed at Caldwell. Caldwell shouted in a panic, "Young Master!"

Cyrus glared at the advancing puppets and pulled out a strange-looking handle. Suddenly, a bright blue blade appeared out from the handle. He swiped down at the attacking puppets, cutting them in half. However, just like before, it only succeeded in making more of them.

Cyrus panicked as he realized he was surrounded and separated from Caldwell. They jumped at him again before he could prepare to defend himself. Suddenly, he felt himself lift up into the air by the collar.

He looked up to see me holding him with a smirk. Under our feet was a chunk of ice I had used to hoist us up into the air.

I stared at the sword in his hands, "That thing is so cool!"

He blushed and glanced away, "H-Haven't you ever seen a magical weapon before?"

I shook my head, "Nope! Never."

He opened his mouth to explain when Zephyr interrupted him with a shriek, "Oi! Dumb girl!? What about us!!!"

I looked back down at the ground and noticed they were all surrounded by countless shadow puppets. I nodded, "Right, right. Sorry. I got distracted."

I waved my wand and caused ice to form at their feet and lift them up into the air. Felix panicked as his face turned white, "I-I don't like heights!"

I smiled at him, "Bear with it for a bit."

I forced the ice chunks to turn and start moving away from the incoming shadow puppets. Caldwell turned into a snowy owl and rushed after us, "Young master!!"

Cyrus turned to look at me anxiously, "Where are we going?!"

"To a place where there are more people."

"And how is that a good idea?!"

I blinked at him in confusion, "...Is it not?"

We arrived on the main Academy's grounds where everyone was gathering for class. They froze when they saw us flying towards them with shadow puppets close behind us.

All of the students screamed and ran away as the shadow puppets turned their attention to them.

I snickered, "See? It's their problem now-"

Before I could finish my sentence, a shadow puppet appeared in front of me, knocking me off the ice chunk. Both Cryus and I were thrown forward as the rest of the ice chunks fell to the ground. Felix screamed and was saved by Zephyr who barked at me, "YOU DUMB BIT-"

I rolled on the ground until I came to a full stop.

I spat out the dirt from my mouth and looked up to see the chaos around me. Some students were frantically fighting while the rest ran around screaming. Felix looked like a frightened rabbit and ran off to hide.

Caldwell caught Cyrus when he fell off the ice chunk and returned to his human form. Once he put Cryus back on the ground, the two of them continued to fight off the shadow puppets who attacked them.

I let out a dry laugh, "I guess it wasn't that good of an idea…"

Zephyr shrieked, "YOU THINK!?"

*BOOM*

A sudden explosion caused the puppet to shatter and disappear into the air. It didn't even have the opportunity to duplicate. Once the smoke cleared, the Headmaster stood in front with a frosty expression.

He looked coldly at the puppets, "Who dares cause trouble at my Academy?!"

"Headmaster!" Everyone shouted as they stared at their savior with admiration.

I clicked my tongue, "It's about time you show up."

The Headmaster glanced at me, "You can retreat now. I will take care of this."

I nodded obediently, but when he couldn't see me anymore, I frowned.

Retreat?! RETREAT!? There's no way I'm going to retreat! This is fun!

My eyes lit up as I watched the Headmaster fight off the shadow puppets with the explosive magic. The Headmaster turned to those fighting and shouted, "They will keep duplicating unless you destroy them completely. Only destructive fire magic will work!"

Everyone nodded and quickly changed their attacks. Cyrus closed his eyes and forced his mana into the sword. It suddenly burst into flames. Now when he attacked, the shadow puppets couldn't duplicate before they were set on fire and disappeared.

I jumped up and down as I watched the Headmaster continue to cause the puppets to explode, "That's so cool! I want to make a puppet explode!!"

Zephyr glanced at me feeling a bit nervous, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

I watched with a malicious giggle, "Why wouldn't it be a good idea?"

Zephyr shrank back a bit afraid and looked around for help. It was then he noticed that Cyrus was being attacked and driven away from the others. Caldwell struggled to protect him, but there were too many puppets for one man and child. Because of the chaos, no one had noticed Cyrus being put in a dire situation.

Zephyr shouted quickly, "L-Look! That blonde idiot child is about to be hurt!"

I looked to where he was pointing and frowned. I waved my wand, summoning an ice chunk. As I jumped on it and flew over, I sent huge pieces of hail towards the puppets attacking Cyrus. The hail barely managed to knock them away before it could hurt Cyrus.

Cyrus looked at me with eyes full of admiration, "Y-You saved me!"

I flipped my hair with a smug smile. I bet I look so cool right now.

I slowly jumped off my ice chunk and floated to the ground while I posed for dramatic effect. My foot touched the ground and I immediately fell onto my face.

Cyrus: "..."

I hastily scrambled to my feet and cleared my throat.

I stuck my nose into the air, "Little boy, you should be more careful. I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Luckily, I'm a magical genius and saved you just in time."

Cyrus felt his smile twitch, "T-Thank you?"

I looked at Zephyr with a mix of arrogance and excitement: <<Well? Did I look cool!? Didn't I look like a superhero just now!?>>

Zephyr made a disgusted expression as he watched me, <<...What is wrong with you?>>

Cyrus looked to the side and shouted, "Look out!"

I looked over with an innocent expression to see a puppet swing his sword down at me. I scrambled to use a spell but felt my mind go empty. Cyrus grabbed my collar and pulled me back, barely managing to save me from the attack. He took advantage of the momentum and swung his flaming sword down at the shadow puppet, causing it to explode into smoke.

I forced a smile at him, "T-Thanks…"

His eyebrow twitched, "I thought you were a magical genius?"

I cleared my throat and looked away, "I-I am! It's just that… I'm not good with close combat."

Fighting from far away was easy because I had more time to think. But how could I possibly think when there's a sword about to crack open my head?!

Cyrus smirked, "I see. Well, you fight those far away and leave the close combat to me."

Working together, Cyrus beat back those who got close to us while I used fire to burn those far enough away to a crisp. I stared at the flames enveloping the puppets and frowned. My flames weren't as controlled as everyone else's and were so hot, I could feel the heat on my skin.

A painful stinging sensation attacked my head and caused it to throb as I watched the puppets burst into flames. However, the pain didn't last long since a comforting and cold feeling soon replaced it.

It felt as if gentle hands were rubbing my head to soothe me.

I clicked my tongue, "This is taking forever. It was fun at first, but now it is just boring. I'm done playing. Let's just end it already!"

Cyrus glared at me, "And just how do you suppose we do that?! The more you damage them, the more they duplicate!"

"Don't worry." I grinned as an idea flashed in my mind, "I have a perfect plan that couldn't possibly fail."

Cyrus looked at me with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, "Just now… Was that a twinkle in your eye?!"

I laughed triumphantly, "I just have to take them all out at once!"

Zephyr panicked upon hearing this, "WAIT! YOU IDIOT GIRL!!! DON'T DO IT!!!"

I ignored him and waved my wand at the attacker, "BURN BITC-"

*BOOOOOOOM*

Fire erupted from my wand and created an explosion so gigantic it could have destroyed the entire Academy.

As the burning flames around me scorched my skin and burnt off my eyebrows, I felt an oddly familiar sensation.

Hadn't I felt this kind of thing before?

Before I could figure out where I had felt it from, my entire body was protected by an ice barrier that hastily soothed my scorching skin.

The explosion was so powerful, it shook the entire empire and caused several earthquakes at once. Birds cawed as they panicked to fly away from the powerful shockwaves. Luckily, the Headmaster was quick enough to put a protective barrier up and to stop the explosion from destroying everything and everyone.

Everyone was now covered in ash and dirt as they stood in front of a huge crater. Once the rubble cleared, I coughed out a puff of smoke.

Everyone turned to glare at me.

I forced a smile, "At least I got them?"