Post by Hinota Yuiee✾ on Apr 13, 2023 16:07:47 GMT -5
Every moment that passed was one step closer to the threat that lingered within the witch's forest. The witch queen who was once an ally to the Clover Kingdom was actually the archdaemoness Lilith. From the battle records she once studied as a child this woman, no, this daemoness had helped protect the citizens of Clover offering aid in the war against the Diamond Kingdom. It had been baffling to her for the longest time but now that she thought about it, it wasn't as insane as she once thought, in fact, had she had been in the woman's position she would have likely done something similar. The aid hadn't been selfless, it had actually been a tactical decision and a brilliant one at that she had to admit as much as she hated doing so. By offering aid she could gain the confidence of the rulers of the Kingdom and even the Wizard King.
This is how she managed to go undetected for so long, how she managed to awaken the daemon that the former Wizard King had sealed within himself. The man that once fought to protect their kingdom had become a threat to it all because of that woman. When the news was released that the current Wizard King knew of her true identity for a long while and hadn't informed anyone the tension within the kingdom had been palpable at best. There was already civil unrest brewing thanks to what had happened in Kikka. That town had been kept under daemon control in pitch darkness for months. New information was coming out daily on what they had to endure in that time, some of it had been better than other bits but it was pretty bad regardless of how you looked at it.
From those events, a new grand mana zone had been 'born' from what the reports had said a shard of the shadow daemon Sven's palace. She wished it was all just speculation because no one really had the answer, but, she had been in that grand mana zone and it was like a twisted version of Kikka in ruins. If that wasn't enough proof the entire grand mana zone was thick in illusion mana. Sven had used illusions to set his traps for those tasked with stopping him and liberating the town of Kikka. He had sewn seeds of doubt in discourse over the months he had power over the citizens in that town that lingered even after he and his children had all perished. All wounds healed, it just took time. The issue was she didn't believe they would ever truly heal and because of this, the trust between civilians and magic knights had been permanently tarnished.
The worst thing was that she believed it was only going to get worse before it got better. Her captain had created a province within the shadow grand mana zone and that was perfectly fine for him and others who were able to see through the densely filled illusion area. She had wandered into the place without Luli or Junjie by her side and had gotten injured due to her lacking any semblance of sensory. Due to that injury, a rogue was able to take advantage of the situation and she truly believed the words that he had told her. That she was an orphan his family had taken in and had been betrothed for the longest of time. He had always acted so sweet and caring towards her, making sure she had no reason to doubt his words. That was until one faithful day.
The day that the rogue called a meeting of all his family members and it was announced he was to become the new head of the family. It had seemed as if not everyone was on board with this. This was when she had saw the mask slip. This was when she saw the darkness that lurked beneath the mask. The day that still haunted her even to this day. He had killed more than half his family for standing against him starting with his elder brother. She had run from the estate she believed her home not knowing where she would go as she believed her entire world was as he spoke of it. Luckily a farmer and his wife had found her in their stables and had taken her in treating her as if she was their granddaughter and return when they had fallen sick she had travelled to get the money for their medicine.
It was during the Yule festival she ended up at the tree of Sylph and heard of a castle made of ice. Thinking back on it now she had no idea why she believed she would find answers or funds to help with her grandparents but she went nonetheless. This was where she met Valo again. She couldn't remember him and where he seemed sincere and her heart kept skipping beats when he was telling her things it was so different from what she had been told that she got confused for the longest time. Yet, when he touched her or embraced her she felt so safe. His arms were warm, it was like he would shelter and protect her from harm no matter what would come her way. She tried to deny the feelings but she just couldn't.
Echo may have saved her, he may have protected her in the months following but she had always flinched and recoiled at his touch and embrace. Valo had requested some time away from the squad and as far as anyone else was aware she was still missing. Valo had taken her to the Aristaeus’ Basin where her magic was strongest in the hopes it would help her memory. The issue was she couldn't read her grimoire any longer, the text kept flickering to her and what made it worse was Valo was having issues with his own magic and his spirit partner looked as if she was on the edge of perishing. The three lived together in solitude. They shared everything with each other and while Valo would tell her things he would wait for her to ask the questions so that she wouldn't be overwhelmed by anything that was being told to her.
She was thankful that he allowed her to take her time in remembering and for his aid in her recovering as quickly as she did but she had felt guilty for him having been away from everything to help her. For a long while she believed that Valo's magic sickness was her doing because her own magic had been acting strangely but this wasn't the case. It turned out that his will to become stronger was heard by the mana and it started to change into something the same yet different. It was no longer fire but pure aura but still had the qualities of his blue fire. She knew how scary it must have been for him in that time of uncertainty and while she couldn't remember how it was to need to protect someone dear to them she could only imagine what he was feeling.
Slowly everything started to settle. She had started to remember what was true though some things remained foggy even to this day and both their magics seemed to have shown new aspects. Valo with his pure aura and her with her angelic magic. She could remember the bad feelings she had welling up every now and again. The toxic and sickening feeling that came with it, she hated it but now it seemed to have vanished. She knew it wasn't the case as she could still feel it deep down if she tried, however, it was as if it was in a dormant sleep. She knew she would have to return home and do what was expected of her as a daughter before she would eventually have to go and protect the kingdom once again. She was frightened about the ordeal. She had just started recovering and yet she had a chance to lose it all or worse. Lose him.
When she returned home she remained within her palace for days refusing visits from anyone including her brothers, she had informed those who tended to her to tell them she wasn't feeling well and would contact them as soon as she was well enough. She normally compartmentalized everything, she remembered that but she was finding it hard to do such a thing at current due to the things that had led to that point. The battle with the witch queen was quickly rushing towards the group and she was unsure if any of them were ready to deal with such a daunting task. It was true that everyone bar Amaya had dealt with daemons in the past but that meant absolutely nothing in her mind. Daemons were like them in the aspects of personality, power and magic. They all differed.
Serena was mildly cunning and deceptive yet she used force at the end of the day. Sven was a trickster. Sure, he kept to his word but he always twisted it to his benefit while sowing seeds of unrest as he knew his demise was coming. The two that they met at the Blake estate, the woman seemed bloodthirsty and somewhat psychotic yet the male appeared to have a twisted sense of honour if not more than a little judgemental of his opponents. Due to this, there was no real way to know how to prepare but she was quite sure even if they were to then something would happen to derail it making them need to adapt to the new situation. This came with its own issues as it would put them off balance. She could guarantee they knew a lot about those they would be facing but there was little to no knowledge available to them of their foes which already put them at a greater disadvantage.
She thought back to her first dungeon which was known as the wedding well and how she couldn't sense a single thing after they entered so far then there was Kikka and finally the Shadowlands grand mana zone. In each of these places, she had been a burden to those who she had been with due to her sheer lack of ability in sensory. In the time she had been with Echo, he had attempted to help her learn and where she did get slightly stronger in it, it was still nowhere near the level she believed it would need to be, for it to be useful to her. It is true she could have asked her Captain or even Hania for aid but they were dealing with Asmodeus at current so that was impossible.
She then remembered that some people didn't rely on sensory and yet they could still sense things just in a different way. Valo was one such person as was her brother Ozma's captain. If her memory served her correctly it was called Ki and it had its own strengths and weaknesses just as sensory did. If this had the potential for her to be safer and not be a burden then she decided it would be beneficial for her to learn it at least until she could strengthen her sensory more. Then again, even when that happened she was unsure just how strong it would or could become as she had spent so long refining her healing and other support abilities. In any case, her mind was made up, she would learn Ki but now the problem was she didn't have a tutor. Ardere was fighting Asmodeus and Valo was busy with his own training so didn't want to burden him.
Word Count: 1,962
This is how she managed to go undetected for so long, how she managed to awaken the daemon that the former Wizard King had sealed within himself. The man that once fought to protect their kingdom had become a threat to it all because of that woman. When the news was released that the current Wizard King knew of her true identity for a long while and hadn't informed anyone the tension within the kingdom had been palpable at best. There was already civil unrest brewing thanks to what had happened in Kikka. That town had been kept under daemon control in pitch darkness for months. New information was coming out daily on what they had to endure in that time, some of it had been better than other bits but it was pretty bad regardless of how you looked at it.
From those events, a new grand mana zone had been 'born' from what the reports had said a shard of the shadow daemon Sven's palace. She wished it was all just speculation because no one really had the answer, but, she had been in that grand mana zone and it was like a twisted version of Kikka in ruins. If that wasn't enough proof the entire grand mana zone was thick in illusion mana. Sven had used illusions to set his traps for those tasked with stopping him and liberating the town of Kikka. He had sewn seeds of doubt in discourse over the months he had power over the citizens in that town that lingered even after he and his children had all perished. All wounds healed, it just took time. The issue was she didn't believe they would ever truly heal and because of this, the trust between civilians and magic knights had been permanently tarnished.
The worst thing was that she believed it was only going to get worse before it got better. Her captain had created a province within the shadow grand mana zone and that was perfectly fine for him and others who were able to see through the densely filled illusion area. She had wandered into the place without Luli or Junjie by her side and had gotten injured due to her lacking any semblance of sensory. Due to that injury, a rogue was able to take advantage of the situation and she truly believed the words that he had told her. That she was an orphan his family had taken in and had been betrothed for the longest of time. He had always acted so sweet and caring towards her, making sure she had no reason to doubt his words. That was until one faithful day.
The day that the rogue called a meeting of all his family members and it was announced he was to become the new head of the family. It had seemed as if not everyone was on board with this. This was when she had saw the mask slip. This was when she saw the darkness that lurked beneath the mask. The day that still haunted her even to this day. He had killed more than half his family for standing against him starting with his elder brother. She had run from the estate she believed her home not knowing where she would go as she believed her entire world was as he spoke of it. Luckily a farmer and his wife had found her in their stables and had taken her in treating her as if she was their granddaughter and return when they had fallen sick she had travelled to get the money for their medicine.
It was during the Yule festival she ended up at the tree of Sylph and heard of a castle made of ice. Thinking back on it now she had no idea why she believed she would find answers or funds to help with her grandparents but she went nonetheless. This was where she met Valo again. She couldn't remember him and where he seemed sincere and her heart kept skipping beats when he was telling her things it was so different from what she had been told that she got confused for the longest time. Yet, when he touched her or embraced her she felt so safe. His arms were warm, it was like he would shelter and protect her from harm no matter what would come her way. She tried to deny the feelings but she just couldn't.
Echo may have saved her, he may have protected her in the months following but she had always flinched and recoiled at his touch and embrace. Valo had requested some time away from the squad and as far as anyone else was aware she was still missing. Valo had taken her to the Aristaeus’ Basin where her magic was strongest in the hopes it would help her memory. The issue was she couldn't read her grimoire any longer, the text kept flickering to her and what made it worse was Valo was having issues with his own magic and his spirit partner looked as if she was on the edge of perishing. The three lived together in solitude. They shared everything with each other and while Valo would tell her things he would wait for her to ask the questions so that she wouldn't be overwhelmed by anything that was being told to her.
She was thankful that he allowed her to take her time in remembering and for his aid in her recovering as quickly as she did but she had felt guilty for him having been away from everything to help her. For a long while she believed that Valo's magic sickness was her doing because her own magic had been acting strangely but this wasn't the case. It turned out that his will to become stronger was heard by the mana and it started to change into something the same yet different. It was no longer fire but pure aura but still had the qualities of his blue fire. She knew how scary it must have been for him in that time of uncertainty and while she couldn't remember how it was to need to protect someone dear to them she could only imagine what he was feeling.
Slowly everything started to settle. She had started to remember what was true though some things remained foggy even to this day and both their magics seemed to have shown new aspects. Valo with his pure aura and her with her angelic magic. She could remember the bad feelings she had welling up every now and again. The toxic and sickening feeling that came with it, she hated it but now it seemed to have vanished. She knew it wasn't the case as she could still feel it deep down if she tried, however, it was as if it was in a dormant sleep. She knew she would have to return home and do what was expected of her as a daughter before she would eventually have to go and protect the kingdom once again. She was frightened about the ordeal. She had just started recovering and yet she had a chance to lose it all or worse. Lose him.
When she returned home she remained within her palace for days refusing visits from anyone including her brothers, she had informed those who tended to her to tell them she wasn't feeling well and would contact them as soon as she was well enough. She normally compartmentalized everything, she remembered that but she was finding it hard to do such a thing at current due to the things that had led to that point. The battle with the witch queen was quickly rushing towards the group and she was unsure if any of them were ready to deal with such a daunting task. It was true that everyone bar Amaya had dealt with daemons in the past but that meant absolutely nothing in her mind. Daemons were like them in the aspects of personality, power and magic. They all differed.
Serena was mildly cunning and deceptive yet she used force at the end of the day. Sven was a trickster. Sure, he kept to his word but he always twisted it to his benefit while sowing seeds of unrest as he knew his demise was coming. The two that they met at the Blake estate, the woman seemed bloodthirsty and somewhat psychotic yet the male appeared to have a twisted sense of honour if not more than a little judgemental of his opponents. Due to this, there was no real way to know how to prepare but she was quite sure even if they were to then something would happen to derail it making them need to adapt to the new situation. This came with its own issues as it would put them off balance. She could guarantee they knew a lot about those they would be facing but there was little to no knowledge available to them of their foes which already put them at a greater disadvantage.
She thought back to her first dungeon which was known as the wedding well and how she couldn't sense a single thing after they entered so far then there was Kikka and finally the Shadowlands grand mana zone. In each of these places, she had been a burden to those who she had been with due to her sheer lack of ability in sensory. In the time she had been with Echo, he had attempted to help her learn and where she did get slightly stronger in it, it was still nowhere near the level she believed it would need to be, for it to be useful to her. It is true she could have asked her Captain or even Hania for aid but they were dealing with Asmodeus at current so that was impossible.
She then remembered that some people didn't rely on sensory and yet they could still sense things just in a different way. Valo was one such person as was her brother Ozma's captain. If her memory served her correctly it was called Ki and it had its own strengths and weaknesses just as sensory did. If this had the potential for her to be safer and not be a burden then she decided it would be beneficial for her to learn it at least until she could strengthen her sensory more. Then again, even when that happened she was unsure just how strong it would or could become as she had spent so long refining her healing and other support abilities. In any case, her mind was made up, she would learn Ki but now the problem was she didn't have a tutor. Ardere was fighting Asmodeus and Valo was busy with his own training so didn't want to burden him.
Word Count: 1,962
