Stars don't vanish... They die. [EXAM]

The night drained on and on without no end in sight. Just an endless sea of stars hovering in front a void of darkness, shining down on the world below without a single care in the world. These lights appeared every day once the sun set, and they would continue to do so until the end of time. That fact would not change. Although something was off this one particular night. The stars were not as bright as they once were. They no longer grasped the attention of the populace like they once did. Instead they found themselves hidden behind a veil of smoke and ruin. The orange glow of war far below the celestial bodies was faint enough to be seen from a great distance. Tonight, they did not shimmer. Instead they stayed still, awaiting their time to be viewed once more once the fires of death and destruction blew away. For only then could they be appreciated in all their splendor. Not this night it would seem. Far below the still lights of the sky, the castle towered over the woodland countryside. It’s mighty towers rising up to touch the rim of the atmosphere. Normally, the sheer magnificence of the building’s pure might would be enough to paralyze anyone in awestruck. However, tonight it would be different. Now the castle was altered. The fires burned its insides, and the smoke trailed up towards the moon. The once great building was now crumbling down to mere ruins. Everywhere, the residents ran for their lives. It was chaos. Burning pillars of wood and stone broke off from their places, windows shattered from the heat, and the supports of many towers withered and creaked by unknown forces. It was pure chaos. It was beautiful.

Colored lights shot at each other over distances towards the top of one of the castle’s tallest towers. Upon its peak, two individuals stood as the smoke filled wind washed over the area, a sea of orange light shining from far below. The two were wizards, both casting spell after spell at each other in what seemed a duel of fates. A tall, older man with a staff. His eyes brimmed with justice as his magic did the same, aiming and firing at the other. A shorter, younger woman. Black hair, and a golden eye. A smile across her lip. She was enjoying every second of this. She danced and twirled her way just out of reach of every single spell the man threw at her. He was skilled as well, however. His combination of magic and intellect allowed him to quickly dodge or redirect the woman’s own attacks. She used twin weapons against her adversary. Both were completely locked in on eachother. Their battle was a legendary site to behold. A duel that could very much determine the fate of all the people there. Atop the tallest tower in a burning castle. Both sides fought with equal purpose, and equal might. But it would not last forever. Spell after spell was thrown in an array of yellow and blue, and each was either dodged or blocked. Mythica seemed to be enjoying this much more than her opponent. The man was waning, his stance beginning to fail. Each step he took was one step backwards. Mythica could see this, and she pressed harder and harder in her attacks. They grew more and more intense. He was forced to sacrifice more and more ground until finally… He tripped. One misstep proved to decide the battle. He fell straight on his back before suddenly she appeared in front of him. Mythica towered over the fallen wizard with her glowing eye, insane grin, and nothing but the faint orange light of the burning castle to illuminate the area. He tried to reach over for his staff, but Mythica reacted first, her foot stomping on his arm, holding it in place. It was hard enough to crack bone. He grunted in pain, looking back up at her. She now held her rifle straight to his head. He grunted. “Wh- Why?! WHy are you doing this?! These people did nothing to you! What could you possibly gain from killing them?!” Mythica couldn’t help but giggle. “Gain? GAIN!? Why I gain satisfaction knowing that their last moments were filled with fear and doubt! I GAIN the feeling of excitement as I see them hopelessly run away. I GAIN PLEASURE IN WATCHING THEM TURN ON EACH OTHER FOR THE NEED TO SURVIVE!” She yelled in his face. Mythica sighed. “But to be honest, it’s not their lives I really gain anything from.” The man looked confused for a second. “Truth be told, I don’t really care what happens to them. No, I am more interested in a much greater prize.” She leaned in close. “Tell me… Don’t you think the night sky is… Missing something?” When she said this, his eyes grew wide. “N- No… You don’t..” He shuddered with fear, sweat pouring down the sides of his face as his very eyes shook, staring at Mythica’s. “OHohoho… I do.” She grinned mysteriously. “You ca- Can’t! I have n- no idea who you are.. B- But this is not something you w- want to be messing with!” He said, sounding far more concerned about something else, rather than the gun at his head. “Trust me buddy, I’ve already made up my mind.” She said, her expression unchanging. “I- I’m warning you… You won’t be able to contain him! Nobody will! Even if you do manage to somehow bring him back.. He won’t listen to anyone!”
“I’m counting on it.” She said finally, pulling the trigger. An explosion of light shot from the end of her musket, piercing the man’s skull. He slumped to the stone ground, dead. Mythica took a few steps back, and closed her eyes. She outstretched her hands as the weapons faded from her palms. She breathed in the destruction around her, taking it all in… Before finally opening her eyes. Far above her, beyond the veil of fire and smoke the night sky continued to twinkle. Although something strange happened. A small flicker of light appeared in a patch of sky that had previously been empty. It was faint at first, but it finally showed itself. A new star appeared in the night. It was ominous. It glowed far brighter than those around it, and it shared a red tone. Mythica stood atop the burning tower staring up at it with glee, her lip opening to reveal her white teeth, contorting into a twisted grin of insanity. She lifted her hand and reached out for it, closing her fist around the star. “Soon, friend! We will meet face to face!” She said to herself. Mythica then turned her body and began walking towards the center of the tower, until a yellow flash took her away… She had completely vanished.

The wizard wandered around for many days after that event, the news of the old castle’s destruction spread among the locals, along with the death of the head wizard stationed there. Him and his entire family were lost in the blaze. Or so that’s what the newspapers said. Few people noticed the odd star that appeared in the sky among the sea of hundreds, but Mythica knew for sure there would be some people taking notice of it… And they would be preparing for what it meant. She was determined to make their efforts meaningless, though. Luckily, her identity was still a secret to her prey, so she had that covered. She could wander around Fiore without being recognized as the murderer she was, and that is what she was going to do for as long as she could. So many wizards these days she had met cared only for the fame that their actions would give them. Mythica on the other hand wanted none of that. For her plans to work, secrecy was paramount. She could cause as much destruction and mayhem as possible, but she needed to make sure no witnesses were left afterwards. If even one person was able to recount the tales of her exploits to an authoritative figure, she’d be exposed. She was extremely lucky she had gotten this far to begin with, and was even starting to doubt her exploits would go unnoticed for long. The closer she got to her goal, the more death she seemed to cause. This would attract higher ranking wizards to investigate this, and eventually she knew she’d be found before it ended. She just needed to make sure her identity wasn’t discovered until it was too late for anyone to do anything. And she had finally figured out how to achieve her goal. The one thing she had been working so hard to discover after all this time. After finding that artifact from the crime lord and his associates, and let Mythica down a trail thought to have been discarded long ago. Unfortunately for everyone, it had resurfaced in Mythica’s hands. She was lucky enough to find this piece of evidence which hinted at a much larger mystery. A legend that spoke of a power so terrible, none could control it. Not even the one who wielded it. She was determined to track this power down, whatever the cost. With this, she could finally speed things up. And she had just taken the first steps to completing this mission. The new star shining in the sky was the first of many. There were powerful mages scattered across Fiore which all housed bodylink magic within themselves that linked to a hidden celestial body far above the sky. Killing them would reveal even more red stars… And once they were all back in the sky… Mythica couldn’t help herself from reveling in the feelings of excitement that overwhelmed her. This was it. The first steps to achieving her long awaited goals. For now she would remain a mystery to the world.. But soon the whole realm would know exactly what she was. Even if it would be for a brief moment of time. Nobody would be able to stop what was coming. The only thing that could prevent Mythica from attaining her goals now were if someone were to catch wind of her plans. But luckily the order of wizards which housed the magic she needed to release had no idea who she was. She still had that going for her, and she’d keep it for as long as possible.

The clock eyed wizard would finally find herself back in a familiar place. She wandered the streets of the neutral grounds as rain poured from the grey clouds above. She didn’t stand out like she normally would’ve. No, she wore her casual black dress, and evenly distributed twin tail hairstyle that seemed normal among the rest of the populace. She turned down a dark street and proceeded to walk down it alone. Soon she came across a flight of stairs that went downwards and proceeded to walk down them. She eventually came to a door at the bottom, checking to make sure she wasn’t followed, Mythica entered. Inside it was dark, nothing to light the room except the faint glow of Mythica’s eye that could now be seen glowing in the interior of the dark room. She felt along the walls for a moment until she found what she was looking for. A heavy switch. Pulling it downwards, the roof of the room began to flicker to life once again. Soon, small lights sputtered on and lit up the interior, revealing a long narrow hallway. Mythica walked down it, rounding the corner to come across more stairs with a door at the bottom.

The light filled the room as Mythica opened the door. She stood atop a small balcony overlooking what appeared to be some sort of abandoned packaging center. Old converter belts and unpackaged boxes lay strewn across the room at random. It was completely quiet… Except for one sound. The muffled yells of someone. Mythica ignored them for a few moments, stretching her arms out and yawning before opening her palm as a yellow gun materialized in it. She walked down the stairway towards the ground level and passed a few old desks until she finally came to her quarry. A short man, tied up, gagged, and beaten lied on the cold concrete floor before her. Mythica smiled widely, seeing him.

“Turns out you were telling the truth about your pal at the castle… Now then…” She stepped closer and leaned down to eye level as he muffled in fear from her. “Where is the rest of your star hiding gang..?”