Darkness.

Blood.

Horror.

Memories, sensations, feelings… many things passed by as Minerva suddenly found herself in a bright and pink-colored bedroom, unable to contain her shock, she immediately moved her hand to her hip—

"Ah, so you've finally awoken." a feminine voice came from her side, startling her as she realized that her blade wasn't with her. Minerva turned towards the owner of the voice, and saw a woman with yellow hair looking at her with a smile. From the clothes she was wearing, and the tray on her hand, she could tell that this was a maid. But then that begged the question...

"Where am I?" Minerva asked, making herself calm down as she couldn't sense anything that would tell her she was in danger.

Right… she was saved, wasn't she? 'My prince… ah, how foolish of me to have fallen unconscious just as I was saved by a handsome prince! His violet eyes…'

"You're in the guest room of the Indentia Estate. After Young Master Daniel Eldegard had found you, he quickly looked for someone to save you, and so he passed you onto Young Mistress Fiora Indentia who used her healing magic upon you, after which, Duchess Sylvia Indentia looked after you to ensure you and your brother were in a stable state. After which, she had sent for you to be in this chamber for now, after all, it's been many years since you and your brother's disappearance." the maid summarized for her, making her blink at the frankness and swiftness in her explanation.

"I… see… so my brother was saved too…" Minerva sighed in relief. Finally, they were saved… how long had it been? How long had it been since they have been able to act by their own accord? To be free of the chains of a dreadful and cursed spell?

She clenched her fists, they won't have to be trapped in that hell again. They could finally live their lives as they desired… they could finally live.

A tray was placed on the desk beside her bed, she could see a variety of fruits and meat for her to eat… for a moment she couldn't believe what was happening, but then she remembered just who she had been saved by in the first place. Right, her prince—rather, Daniel of the Eldegard House, had only found her, and she was actually saved by Fiora Indentia, the daughter of Duchess Sylvia… or to be more precise, the daughter of the Grandmaster Sage Sylvia.

That didn't add up for her, however… because she was sure that it was her prince—Daniel, who reforged her soul's connection… or whatever happened with the Light Magic that occured. She didn't know much either, as she was more of a Dark Mage than anything.

Then again, she did also feel a connection to a girl through Daniel, that must have been Fiora then, but…

No, she can think about that later. Minerva shook her head to rid her thoughts and blinked quickly as she started to regain control of her body.

Much of her muscles were still slightly stiff, but it was something that some light exercise could remedy later on, right now she had to take stock of her situation and—

Minerva suddenly screamed, clutching her chest as she grit her teeth. A sudden pain assaulted her everywhere.

It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt a lot.

Pain.

It wouldn't stop.

It wouldn't… 'Stop! Please!' Minerva pleaded, and the pain disappeared with a brief flash of crimson. She breathed roughly, her body now sore all over.

But things were different this time. She saw a crimson-haired girl standing by the side of her bed, a frown on her face, clashing with the calm and serenity in her deep blue eyes… ah. This was…

"Fiora…?" Minerva muttered unconsciously, watching as the girl's brow raised up at her words.

"Oh. You've seen me before?" the crimson-haired girl, now confirmed as Fiora, looked at her, seemingly confused.

"Ah… forgive me… It was in a… memory…?" Minerva muttered, furrowing her brows as she herself tried to wonder where she got that recollection from.

Rather, it didn't seem like it belonged to her, really, it was like… a fragment. It was a small piece of something that shouldn't have been known to her.

What?

Fiora, however, seemed to just frown before sighing. "Perhaps I'd messed up somewhere. Light magic isn't much of my specialty, sadly, so that was the best I could do to save you, Miss Minerva." she said with an awkward smile, "Well, I hope you're feeling fine now? Do forgive me if you get the occasional pains and such, I think your body is still trying to catch up with you right now, and the trauma that you experienced…" she explained, this time with a grimace.

Minerva just smiled at her, "It's enough that I'm still here, Miss Fiora… for what it's worth, I do thank you for having saved me and my brother from the dark spell we were under." she said, before she turned her eyes downwards, "Though… I did wish to thank the one that had carried me over to you as well. Mister Daniel… is he still here?" she asked, turning back to Fiora.

Fiora frowned before shaking her head with a smile, "No, sadly he… well, he and his family have just left a few hours ago."

"Oh." Minerva was slightly disappointed, but it was understandable, they were only here for the party after all. But… "Isn't it morning? Did something happen?" she asked, having realized the time after glancing at the rays of sunlight coming through the curtains into her room.

Fiora nodded at that, shrugging at the question. "We found you twins when the Red Star had attacked us—rather, attempted to assassinate the merchant Nolan Cornelius who'd just arrived from the Vordune Empire, waiting for the rest of his caravan and traders to arrive with him." The Empire? Then, if that's the case… "I'll spare you the details since you should already know most of it, but, essentially The Magic Tower and the Dark Moon Guild now have to handle and report this situation to the King. It'll be quite the hectic week for us, really." Fiora muttered the last part, groaning slightly. Nevertheless, she continued, "Since I had fortunately invited Daniel to this party, and he was quick to react to the situation and managed to retrieve you, the discussions have gone by smoothly and his parents were informed quickly and met with my parents swiftly, making the mobilization of men that much more swift. A lot of lucky coincidences, actually. Hmm, now that I think about it…" as Fiora trailed off in silence, Minerva just stared at her, intrigued by the series of events that she just explained.

It really was just a string of lucky coincidences. 'Hold on, didn't she say that she'd invited Daniel specifically to this party? Her own party, wasn't it? Oh… I suppose I can't really hope for much…' she thought to herself, a bit sad at the realization, but… she's had worse. Perhaps she'll have a chance later on. 'Though the way she talks about Daniel… it seems they're familiar with each other… quite close too, if the way she called him meant anything. Perhaps I'm looking too deeply into this, but… it's better if I try not to get my hopes up too much for now.' she then sighed, feeling a bit lost on what to do now.

Minerva stared at her palms, seeing the callouses and small scars upon it… not very ladylike.

Did she even still have a future to head towards…?

She didn't know either. Unconsciously, a tear fell from her eye, she'd only noticed it after a while when her blanket was starting to show some tear stains… As she was about to wipe her face with her palms, she saw a handkerchief being handed towards her. It was from Fiora.

Minerva smiled slightly in thanks, as she took the offered handkerchief and started to wipe her tears from her eyes…

But it didn't stop.

Like a floodgate that burst… her tears suddenly came out.

Many years of pent-up tears and sorrow.

She didn't know when it happened, but she suddenly found herself wrapped in a hug.

It was warm.

Comfortably so.

The cold that had haunted her for so long…

At that moment… it started to fade away.

Fiora couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she hugged Minerva softly, rubbing her back in slow circles. 'The loneliness she'd felt… the desperation she had as she continued to wait every day. Continued to hope against all hope… For having been able to get through all of that, she's certainly strong. I'm not so sure I'd be able to do the same.' she thought to herself, and Daniel silently agreed, seemingly busy with his own thoughts. She didn't mind, it was reassuring enough to know his presence was always there. Somewhere in the depths of her… soul? Mind? Even with all the knowledge she'd gained so far, it still didn't shed much light on her and Daniel's situation.

The first moment they'd discovered this connection… it was scary. Especially for her. She herself didn't have many friends around her at that time, so just suddenly hearing Daniel's voice in her head—most especially feeling his own sensations as her own—had frightened her… and yet… Daniel didn't seem scared at the time. He was just confused.

Fiora blinked, she was remembering the past again, her first meeting with Daniel with their mental connection. 'Well,' Daniel commented, 'It was certainly memorable. In fact, it's similar to what you're doing right now with Minerva, no? But now you're the one who's comforting someone else. For what it's worth, Fiora… I'm proud of you.' Unconsciously, she blushed at his praise. Having their thoughts be open to each other at all times was certainly both a blessing and a curse…

Fiora couldn't hide her fluster from his words, something he seemed quite amused of.

Still, '... Thank you. That means a lot to me.' she replied. It was moments like these that made her see just how far she'd gone… though, most of that was thanks to Daniel always being there for her.

'Fiora, don't undermine your own achievements. I only supported you with what I could.' 

'But your help was one of the main reasons why I even got this far in the first place… truly, I wish that I could help you with much more than I am able to right now… When I officially become a Sage, I—' Fiora suddenly felt a warm feeling over her heart. As though someone had touched her soul directly… it was Daniel. It was their method of reassuring each other.

Their mana seemed to meld as one with each other in moments like this… something neither of them truly understood just yet.

'Fiora,' Daniel's soft voice filled her mind once again, 'Don't worry too much about that. Believe me, you've helped me much more than you seem to think…' he then transmitted some of his own memories to her, and yet… 'No. Fiora, truly, you're rather dense at times, you know? But that's what makes you cute—regardless, don't underestimate what your simple presence does to me. If it weren't for you, I would have long since been lost in my own darkness. So, cheer up. I have a feeling you'll be of great help to me soon actually.'

Fiora had long since placed Minerva back down on the bed as she fell asleep in her arms. The conversation she was currently having with Daniel was just happening concurrently. She shook her head as she watched Minerva, muttering, "Poor girl…"

Even then, 'What makes you say that?' she asked Daniel, rather curious.

'Haven't you forgotten someone? Your brother dearest would be wounded, you know?' Daniel teased her, making her roll her eyes mentally. 

'Adrian? What about my brother?' she asked, but then the answer came to her almost immediately, catching onto his thoughts both literally and figuratively. 'Huh. I didn't actually think of that. It is a Royal Decree after all…'

'It would only make sense for a Royal Knight like him.'

'That's true. Then that would mean…' as she was about to finish that thought, she caught onto the familiar presence of her brother, Adrian Indentia, in the manor, approaching near. 'Ah.'

'This will be interesting.' Daniel thought, seemingly with nothing to do as he was just watching through her. Probably asleep in his carriage, 'Yes, I am asleep right now.' he confirmed, like she'd thought.

Fiora then moved to go out of the guest room, nodding to Dahlia on her way out. She walked through the hallways for a few steps before she paused as she was met with her brother standing just ahead of her with a smile as though he was waiting.

Adrian Indentia, clad in his signature 'casual' lightly armored white and red suit and his red hair as spiky as ever smiled at her. "You seem to be getting better at finding me, little sister."

Fiora let out a breath, giving him a small smile, "So it seems." she then shook her head, "You looked for me first before mother?" she asked, raising a brow, though Daniel had certainly given her a hint to this happening, it was still rather odd for Adrian to go to her immediately.

Adrian sighed, "Yes, I don't have much time and it would be best if I could get your assistance with this soon." he frowned, "After all, it would take too long if I had to ask mother about this. The Magic Tower is busy enough as it is right now, and although you're not officially a Sage yet, the capability that you hold is hardly a secret amongst the high nobles."

'This sounds more dire than I was told.' Daniel's thought, and Fiora agreed, 'I wonder what's really happening here…'

Fiora frowned, "I see. Then we shouldn't waste time." she said, nodding.

That seemed to surprise her brother, seeing his face, but he quickly nodded and pulled out a badge from his pocket. "Alright. Then take this and pour your mana into it." he said, giving her a yellow, slightly orange, emblem in the shape of a shield, the white-colored royal crest in the middle.

As Fiora poured her mana into it, she felt a foreign energy that imprinted itself upon her body. It was strange, but… it mainly just felt a lot like when the seeker's crest was imprinted upon Daniel.

But instead of imprinting itself among the lower, darker energies of mana, this one situated itself among the higher, brighter energies. Specifically, it seemed, it was closest to the pure Light Mana.

'Oh that certainly feels interesting.' Daniel commented,

'It does. A little different from the Seeker's crest which more or less burrowed itself into your body. This one just…'

'Attached itself.'

'Yeah.'

Fiora watched as the crest formed in front of her, like a shield. This time, instead of having a yellow orange outline, it was red. A bloody bright red that was reminiscent of their house's emblem.

"Interesting…" Fiora muttered, watching as it disappeared with a thought, turning to her brother, "So I'm a Knight's Apprentice now?"

Adrian looked at her with a raised brow before laughing, "You? An apprentice?!" he shook his head, still laughing, "Fiora, if anything, you're a Court Magician now."

"Oh." Fiora blinked.

'What.'

'Exactly my thoughts, Daniel.' Fiora then looked to Adrian, expecting an explanation…

But she never got one.

"We'll talk about the details later, first, hold my hand, we need to go quickly." Adrian said after he calmed down, still smiling as he held out his hand, "I look forward to seeing what you can do, little sister."

Fiora just rolled her eyes, "I'm not little anymore, Adrian." nonetheless, she took his hand.

And they disappeared from the Manor in a flash of light.

Lainei was a town by the border of Levaria and was also the closest town in Levaria to Vordune Empire. It wasn't really all too interesting apart from the fact that it was under Baron Aerza, but Daniel had a frown on his face as he walked through the town.

He couldn't quite pick up what it was at a distance but now that he was in the middle of the town with his sister… 

"You feel it too don't you?" Olivia said, glancing at him for a moment.

Right now they were disguised by a high-level illusion magic. This much was enough with Olivia's abilities as a Dark Sage.

Though Dark Sages tended to focus more on dark type magic, they were still a Sage. So they're not just limited to dark spells like how a typical Dark Mage or Necromancer would be.

And with the mastery of all the elements, also came with the ability to conjure illusion magic like this while being undetected by anyone who isn't at least in the 3rd or 4th Tier, the Sage/Master rank, essentially. At that point, if there really was an Upper-Tier Mage here, then they wouldn't have been able to do anything anyways.

Daniel looked around, looking for the source of the unnerving energy he felt.

He would use Fiora's Sage Eyes but she was currently busy right now and he also couldn't be sure that it would be a good idea anyways, it might even give them away.

So, despite his burning curiosity and discomfort—a trait he'd somehow gained from Fiora—he ignored it and just stayed wary of it for now. "Yes. It's… unnerving." Daniel muttered in reply.

Olivia nodded, "That's to be expected, this is concentrated aura after all."

"Aura?" Daniel blinked in surprise, recalling that from… Fiora's memories. So it really… "How is it here…?" he mumbled, suspicious of the fact that it was here in Levaria.

"Nobody's sure. But that's exactly why we were sent here to investigate." Olivia said, looking up as they approached an inn, the sign had the words 'The Wanderer's Inn' painted upon it. "They should be inside here, but we should still be careful." she turned to Daniel, rolling her left wrist and tapping the back of it with two fingers. An unnecessary gesture, considering they were already inside an illusion barrier, but it was a habit they'd gotten from their early days of training under their mother.

Daniel glanced at the signal, moving a hand up to pull the hood of his cloak down, discreetly sending four tiny needles into the air, which, as he pulled his hood downwards with his hand, landed on the ground at the four corners of the building. Letting out a small breath, a thin dark wisp of smoke came out of his mouth and made contact with the edges marked by the needles, a purple barrier appearing for a moment before disappearing as though nothing happened at all.

That happened in the span of a second.

"Twenty minutes." Daniel said, glancing at Olivia, "Any more than that and they'd be able to notice it."

His sister nodded, "More than enough time for us. Let's go meet the other Seekers." she then opened the door to the inn, and Daniel was greeted with the sight of a fairly empty dining area… save for the one table that had two people talking with each other.

A man with spiky dark blue hair, wearing a leather vest with his quiver and bow behind his back. On the table with him was a woman with short blonde hair wearing a brown jacket on top of a white blouse, dark grey pants and brown leather gloves, it didn't appear that she had a weapon near her, but a short glance at the unseeming hat she had placed down on the table in front of her told him everything he needed to know. It was faint, to the point that he might not have been able to detect it had it not been for him being at the level of a Master Assassin (and also certain things he'd learned from Fiora), but he was definitely sure now that she was not one to mess around with.

Very few tribes knew the art of rune inscription in these times after all. And looking at the slight features that the woman had with the slightly pointed ears… he was certain that she was a descendant of the Eldran tribe somewhere.

In contrast, the man beside her seemed more like a normal Hadran adventurer, but Daniel wasn't about to just ignore the man either, there's more to adventurers than just their appearances, and if this man was a seeker, then Daniel was sure that there was something rather special about him too.

"Ah, new customers?" the innkeeper blinked, he seemed surpried to see two new people coming in.

Daniel and his sister removed the hood of their cloak, Daniel looking around, mostly just to double-check the area, but he found nothing so he went back to looking ahead at the two people on the table, meeting their gazes.

"We're just here to visit for a bit." Olivia said with a smile, "What meal do you have for today?"

"Ah, call me Bart, please, and for today we still have some beef soup, just in time too for the two of you as well! We were lucky to have saved up enough just before the drought happened. It's been getting quite bad in this region lately." the innkeeper said, before making a gesture above the white crystal plate on his table, making it glow green for a brief moment. "How long will you two be staying?"

"Two days, we wanted to quickly check on some relatives just before going to Aleina." Olivia said, pulling out a red crystal card, handing it over to the inkeeper.

"That'll be 50 danir. Aleina huh? Your little brother going to try for the arena?" Bart asked, taking the card and placing it above the plate, after it glowed green, he gave it back to her, and she pocketed it. "It's been rather popular among the young ones lately. Even if they're not able to land a slot into the Academy, a lot of people still try for it nonetheless, some even going back there regularly because the payout is actually decent."

Daniel raised a brow at that, he knew about the arena and its importance in being an assessment for commoners that would be enrolled into the Academy, but he didn't know that others battled there repeatedly for profit too. He doubted those people ever really made any decent amount of money compared to just enlisting in the Army but… well, he didn't exactly know that kind of life so maybe he was wrong. They seem to like their freedom after all, it seems… at least they're not murdering other people, he supposed.

Then again, why don't they just become adventurers at that point then…?

Daniel was shook off his thoughts as Olivia put a hand on his shoulder, "Well, with my lil' brother's skills, the arena is barely even a challenge." she said proudly, and he just rolled his eyes, though it was technically true, but you can never really know.

"No, I'm just going to take the exam for the Academy there, it'd be too much of a hassle to go through the arena." Daniel said, pushing off Olivia's hand,

"Isn't that more difficult though? You'll be faced with the elites, and possibly even a few knights." the inkeeper blinked, seeming surprised,

"Takes much less time though, so I can't complain if I want to save time." he shrugged,

Bart just sighed and shook his head with a smile, "Kids these days, always rushing everything huh? It's not like the world's going to end in a few years so it's not like you need to rush literally everything."

"Yep! And that's exactly why I brought him over with me here today." Olivia grinned, "He's rather stubborn about getting things done quickly after all."

"As if you weren't the same before." Daniel grumbled crossing his arms, "You practically couldn't wait to get to the examinations—"

"I was just excited!" Olivia glared at him with a pout, "You're excited too, right? Admit it already!"

"No." Daniel responded flatly, giving her a deadpan stare.

Olivia just rolled her eyes, "Be like that then, anyways let's go sit down, I'm tired~"

"You're old." Daniel retorted, swiftly dodging a kick from her after a moment, "And slow too. Anything else you want me to point out to you, sis?"

"I hate you." Olivia glared,

"I know."

"But I love you." Olivia said after a moment, looking to be in thought, frowning.

"I know." Daniel smiled, when they got to their seats, he slowly tapped on the table twice, first with his middle finger, then the index finger.

A moment passed and their surroundings suddenly became quieter. The only sound that could be heard now was the slow tapping of his finger against the wooden table. After three taps, Olivia leaned forward and leaned on her arm on the table.

"So, I brought in the backup that was requested." she started, looking straight towards him. Daniel knew she wasn't talking to him though.

After a moment, a reply was heard, "I still can't believe that your little brother is a tier 4 already this early." a masculine voice, the archer guy, it seems. "Then again… this shouldn't really be surprising considering your family, but somehow, it still is." he sighed, "The world really is moving faster and faster now…"

"Stop sounding like an old man." A feminine voice, the blonde girl, spoke. "I have to ask, are his skills genuine?"

"You doubt his majesty's words?" Olivia said, smiling,

"No. I simply wish to see it for myself." the woman said, and Daniel smirked, tapping the wooden table again for a moment, manipulating the mana around him as a short blade appeared and disappeared quickly from his palms. Daniel didn't even need to look as he heard the slight intake of breath from behind him.

"How's that for a demonstration?" he said, slowly tracing the shadow-blade against her neck, not enough to make her bleed, but enough to leave a very light scratch.

"I… think that already speaks for itself. Uh, don't be too harsh on her now man, she's just a little tense." the man spoke this time, and he could feel the gaze actually directed at him this time.

'Okay, maybe that was a bit too far.' Daniel thought, summoning his blade back, hearing a short exhale from behind him. "Sorry about that."

"No… I asked for it after all." the woman sighed, "Things have been rough over here lately, and a lot of the help we'd gotten haven't exactly been of much 'help' so far."

"I've heard, I myself was rather confused when they'd given me this order to get my brother—which basically meant that it was enough to require the help of a Shadow Legionnaire… which is a concerning thing in and of itself." Olivia said, frowning as she leaned back to cross her arms. "Just what has been happening over here?"

"To be honest, Olivia, I don't know either." the woman sighed, "Right, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Alice Aavie, the leader of this sector of Seekers."

"And I'm Luke Axel, not exactly our real names, but, eh, that's how it is when you're an actual Seeker like us here." the man said, seeming to shrug even though it was ultimately pointless as they weren't exactly looking at each other.  "To think that we'd actually need the help of the Shadow Legion at a time like this… it's kind of dreadful, but—we really need all the help we can get right now, especially with the main problem going on right now—"

The ground rumbled for a few seconds, and Daniel froze, narrowing his eyes, there it was again… Aura.

And if what Fiora said yesterday was correct then…

The sound of glass breaking was all that was heard all around him.

In an instant, as though he'd been expecting all the protective barriers to break, he was now covered in his dark suit, complete with the dark scarf that covered the bottom half of his face, flowing behind as a short explosion wracked their area.

Then it stopped. Daniel was standing amongst his allies as they were somehow safe from the large blast that wracked the whole town to pieces. In his hand, was a floating cross-shaped white crystal that formed a white transparent shield all around them.

"Damn it…" Daniel muttered, "I really wished I was wrong…" or rather, he and Fiora were wrong… Even if they had a week more to prepare for this, they wouldn't have been able to prevent this—especially not with the sudden monster outbreak nearing the borders keeping a large amount of important and powerful people busy.

This was something that only someone like Sylvia, Fiora's mother, or Marisa, his mother, would be able to stop… if just barely in his mother's case.

'Daniel!' Fiora's voice suddenly reached his head, and he could hear the dread in her voice, 'They… they just…'

'I know. We both saw and experienced it at the same time.' Daniel thought, closing his eyes as he and Fiora just stared at each other in their mental plane, 'Are…  are the people you're guarding safe at least?'

'Daniel…' Fiora seemed like she would almost cry as she looked him in the eyes, walking towards his ethereal form in their own little world, 'I… I was only able to save two.' she was finally able to say, as she started to cry as she nearly fell, but Daniel caught her in his arms, 'I tried…  I tried everything I could… and yet—and yet it wasn't enough… Why? What use is all this power if we…'

Unfortunately for them, however, their time in their own little world came to an end in a snap, as they were both shaken back to reality by their respective siblings.

Daniel blinked as he opened his eyes and adjusted to his body again, looking around the tattered and broken town.

The town they were supposed to protect… the town they were supposed to save.

They…

ddrhckrzz

... yeah this chapter really shouldn't have taken this long. I need to enforce some sort of schedule for myself now goddamn. Ok, let's say this story will have a chapter weekly or something? Yeah that'll work out again... right? Curse you Civ 6 for taking all my time away from meeee!!

ddrhckrzz

UPDATE (April 24, 2020): Story will go on hiatus for now. I'll be taking a good look at this story first and planning everything out again because things are starting to become rather confusing for me. I'll be back in some time, I guess.