Major Arcana

Another day, another completed job… if a bit of an odd one. One of Fairy Tail’s aces, Nessa Lux, had asked Vandrad to go in her stead to a school and help the little brats with some combat training. Apparently they believed that giving the rowdy children something to focus on would help their overall ability to interact in school. Frankly he thought teaching bullies how to punch better was just giving them better ammunition. But a hard kick in the ass from someone stronger and unwilling to talk nicely was in due order and there was no one better suited for that than the Prince of Bellum. It felt like being back home; running drills with fresh recruits and breaking them in. And much like the greenhorns that came into the military with an overinflated opinion of themselves, Vandrad had brought them kids down. By the end of the lesson, they were referring to him as ‘sir’ and following each and every order he issued. He assured them he would be back to check on their progress, both in their training as well as their attitudes. That had been enough of a warning for them to understand how serious he was. Their teacher had been over the moon at the sudden progress they had made. So long as it seemed like he hadn’t pushed his luck and caused any issues with Fairy Tail’s business, Vandrad was satisfied.

By the time he was leaving the school, it was late afternoon. The sun was beginning to set and people were starting to filter into homes and restaurants for dinner. The Prince walked through the emptying streets, already thinking about his own meal plans for when he returned to the guild hall. After all the effort he had put in today, he felt he had earned a nice, juicy steak. The perfect platter of protein before his evening workout. The very thought brought a small smile to his face – the only show of happiness he was ever willing to give, even to himself.

As he turned down a long, narrow street, he heard footsteps following behind him. It was only a moment later that a feminine voice called out to him from behind. “Hey Vandrad!”

For a brief, fleeting moment, a knot formed in his stomach. It could not possibly be Mercury, could it? Not at this hour – not after everything that had happened between them. He needed space in his normal day in and day out but he definitely needed a break from her now, more than ever. With an audible groan, he turned and found… well, not Mercury. In fact, he didn’t recognize the woman at all. She stood a few inches over him, though that was helped by the heel-tipped boots she wore on her feet, one of blue and the other of red. Long, chocolate hair hung off of her head in intricate little curls and points, coming to rest on the small of her back. Large, square glasses hung on her face, framing almost the entirety of her eyes. She wore a checkered dress, changing from blue to red, that came to an end in a short skirt near the top of her thighs. She wore black leggings underneath that ran the length of the seemingly toned limbs and a black sweater underneath the dress with sleeves that ran down to her wrists.

The Prince of Bellum turned to face her, his face wrought with confusion and annoyance. “I’m off duty, woman. If you have a job, post it on the board at Fairy Tail and I’ll get to it tomorrow.”

The woman looked puzzled, even a little amused. “I knew you were the stand-offish type but refusing to even talk to me? I’ll admit – I thought we had a good time in that cavern. You being an obstinate brute, me being the charming scientist. The two of us facing off against the perils of the buried ruins. It’s kind of like a romance novel if you ask me,” she said with a chuckle.

His brow furrowed. A cavern? Ruins? Wait a minute… “You’re that scientist. The one from Cedar.” Now that he stopped and looked at her closely, he finally saw it. Dr. Patricia Reeves she had said her name was. But it was no surprise he hadn’t recognized her at first. After all… “Your hair is different.”

“Yeah, so? I decided to change it up. Went to a magic salon and got the whole thing done and expanded. You seriously didn’t remember me because my hair was different?” She crossed her arms, glaring at him as she waited for an answer.

What the hell was she doing, giving him grief over nothing? “You should consider yourself lucky that I remember you at all. Now leave me alone – it’s been a long day and I plan on spending the rest of it away from company.” He turned and started to walk away, done with the conversation.

“Wow, I come all the way here to see you and you just blow me off like that? I thought you’d like to know the results of some of the testing I had done with the relics.” She followed right after him, unwilling to give up the chase.

“Why the hell would I care about that? My job was to keep you from getting killed. I did my job; end of discussion. I didn’t take the damn job to make friends,” Vandrad grumbled, shaking his head in disgust.

“Well excuse me for thinking that you were one of the kinds of guys that cared about the follow up on their jobs. You seemed so dead set on getting the job done, I thought you’d care about some of the amazing results.” She caught up to him, walking in step with him.

Vandrad stopped abruptly, turning to face her. “From the moment I arrived, I made my mission very clear. And you acknowledged it – went as far as to mock it. So don’t pretend you came here for some asinine reason as ‘results’. What are you really here for?” There was no way she had misinterpreted his personality that badly when she had so easily come to some amazing conclusions about his armor. In fact, she seemed quite fascinated with it. After a moment of silence, where the two stared – or rather glared – at one another, he finally spoke again. “It’s about the armor.”

“Fine! Yes, it’s about your armor. You provided absolutely no details about its materials and I can’t stop thinking about it. A hard case shell that’s damage preventative and flexible? Whoever crafted it is a genius and I need to know what makes it up.” She sounded so exasperated that her real reason had been picked up so easily. She scoffed and rolled her eyes as she spoke. She set her gaze on him once more. “I’m willing to pay you for it.”

“It’s not for sale,” Vandrad said with a tone of finality.

“Everyone has a price.”

“Not me.” With that, he started to walk away.

“Or maybe you just haven’t received the right currency? My company doesn’t just invest in relics; we support and create technology including weapons and armors. We’re one of the top corporations that has provided resources for the Rune Knights during their rehabilitation and—“

Vandrad paused. “You have connections with the Rune Knights?”

Patty blinked. “Well yes, a few. We have worked hand in hand with the Engineering—“

“What about it’s Director? Mythal Ragnos?”

“I’ve communicated with him, yes though not directly. Why?”

Vandrad paused, his eyes flicking from side to side. This woman had a direct line to Mythal then or at least as direct a line as anyone he’d run into thus far. “He’s a former friend. Childhood. I’ve been trying to reconnect with him for awhile now but with everything happening at the Rune Knights, it’s been tough to get ahold of him.” The fib came easily, surprisingly. He’d been practicing on his ability to bend the truth ever since his questions had almost outed him too easily to Mercury. He couldn’t have everyone just coming to the instant conclusion of them being related based on simple questions.

Luckily his tone seemed truthful enough that she believed him. “Tell me about it. He’s the one that reached out to us about expanding their magic technology and then getting a response from him is like pulling nails. I—“ Her rant came to a stop before it could even begin as her gaze shifted to something past him. “What’s that?”

Following her gaze, Vandrad turned to find that something small and rectangular was sitting right in the center of the road. From this distance, he could tell it was some kind of card or letter but it was resting in such a way that it was clearly intricately placed rather than dropped. He couldn’t recall if it had been there when he started down this road. Before he could speak, Patty walked right by him, heading straight towards it. “The hell are you doing?” He asked, following after her after a beat.

“A singular card is sitting in the middle of the road and you’re not the least bit curious?” she asked him, snapping him a look of derision. As she came to stand over it, her head cocked to the side before she bent down and picked it up. “It’s a tarot card,” he said in wonder, turning the item over curiously. She adjusted her glasses and leaned in a little to read the words inscribed intricately on the bottom of it. “The… Fool?”

It took a moment but Vandrad felt the shift before she did. The air was clenching in around them and bitter, piercing laughter began to echo out of the darkness around them. “Damnit woman; do you just read any strange thing you find?!” He barked at her angrily as he quickly tried to focus up his magic, preparing for the enemy that lay in the shadows.

“What kind of stupid question is that?” She snapped back at him as the tarot card dropped from her hand. “Of course I do! I’m a scient-“

Then everything went black.

As the air cleared almost as suddenly as it had darkened, Vandrad and Patricia Reeves were treated to a brand new sight. All around them was filled with the night sky; from the heavens above them to where the ground should have been at their feet, twinkling lights in the fabric of space winked at them from afar. The Prince of Bellum slowly looked in every direction, his eyes scanning each blinking light for a sign of danger coming their way. He hadn’t pushed himself into a transformation yet but his magic energy was flowing into his hands, prepared for anything that came their way.

“Fascinating…” He heard the doctor say from behind him. As he turned to face her, she was walking away, one hand tucked underneath her and the other tapping a finger against her chin. “Transportation magic embedded into a tarot card. Adding that together with the setting of the aforementioned card, it’s safe to say that this was meant to be a trap.”

"Well thank you, doctor. If you hadn’t been here to bestow that knowledge upon me, I never would have figured that out,” Vandrad snapped at her, snarling as he turned his back to her. "If you hadn’t foolishly walked over and touched the damn thing, let alone read what was inscribed on it, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

His anger didn’t seem to faze her as she turned to look at him. “Yet the question still remains; was this a trap meant for me or for you? Complicated equations aside, the possibility of it being either one of us is highly plausible.”

"And what the hell would anyone want with a fossil digging braniac like you?”

Patty grinned as she adjusted her glasses proudly. “Well I happen to be a world famous scientist, Vandrad. Entrepreneur, world traveler and owner of one of the finer magical construct corporations in all the world.” She was practically posing by the end of her little speech, standing there with a hand on her hip.

There was a long drawn out pause after that as Vandrad turned around to face her, his face showing absolutely no signs of being impressed. "That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Blackmail, Vandrad! Obviously they would want to capture me and ransom me back to my own company. They know that a lot of people would pay a lot of jewel to bring me back home, safe and sound. Are you insinuating that I’m not important enough to get captured? And who are you; some anti-social nobody. You’re a Fairy Tail wizard and that’s it – though calculations do seem to indicate that being a Fairy Tail wizard would paint quite a large target on your back. Have you, by chance, amassed a grouping of rivals and or archnemeses?”

Her rant had faded off into the background for Vandrad as he stared out into the abyss. While this blasted woman seemed fixated on the idea that she could be the target, he had a gut feeling that it was him. While the perception of him being just a Fairy Tail wizard was good to hear, he didn’t quite believe that was the case. After all, there were still plenty of people in Bellum who knew who he was. While he had crafted a viable and solid reason for his missing in action, that didn’t mean others wouldn’t do their own investigations. And as an officer of the Bellum military, he did have quite a few enemies. Most of them were dead but not all. How could they have tracked him here, he wondered. This magic was unmistakably a kind of space-alteration magic but he couldn’t recall anyone ever using anything similar near or on him.

Whatever the case was, he needed to find a way out. As he wondered to himself the possibilities, he had begun to pace from side to side. In his trance of thought, he didn’t see the space suddenly get filled by a white door. The feeling of his head hitting the wooden casing made him very aware of it though. "Son of a bitch!” he cursed as he fell back a step, already winding up to punch as if he’d just been struck by an enemy.

But he stopped, realizing it wasn’t a person but an object. An object that hadn’t been there before. Patty came trouncing over, uninterested in Vandrad’s forehead but rather the door. “Fascinating! Object materialization magic too. And what’s this?” She came around the front, cocking her head as she looked near the top of the casing. A pair of glowing, golden numerals hovered in the air just above it, sparkling as if they were crafted from treasure themselves. “X-“ She started to read it aloud.

Vandrad practically flew over to her, slapping his hand over her mouth and stopping her from saying anything further. The look he gave her caused her to freeze up, as he glared daggers at her. But before he could speak to chastise her, a loud and sharp laugh suddenly filled the entire void. It seemed to echo from all directions, fading in towards them and away from them all at the same time.

“Well, well, well, look at these flies that flew right into my web,” the laughter became a high-pitched voice, giggling with glee. “I’m so glad you picked up my tarot card; so many people just walk on by without paying them any mind. And that makes me so sad.”

"Well how about you come on out and I’ll give you something to be really sad about,” Vandrad shot back, raising a brow as he looked around the emptiness.

“Oh ho, in time, oh yes, definitely in time. But I want to play a game first. A teeny, tiny little game of survival. If you happen to make it all the way to the end, you get to see me! And if you get by me, you get to escape. If you don’t, you’ll die and I’ll be oh so happy!” The voice started giggling again, the rolling laughter pulsing out of the stars like waves. “There are four doors before mine. Each one is occupied by my brothers and sisters. Defeat them and me and you’ll be scot-free! But I really, really hope you die. Now turn the knob and start the game. But if you don’t, I’ll kill you right here. Fly little flies, fly!”

Maniacal laughter filled the realm once more as the entity, whatever it was, started to fade away. Vandrad waited until it had faded into nothing before pulling his hand off of Patty’s mouth. "Stop reading things, you idiot woman, before you get us both killed,” he hissed at her.

She blinked before glaring back at him. “Clearly this maniac set this trap on purpose for one of us. He makes it sound innocent but trust me, this was planned.”

"Coming from the hole digger, that’s rich. I’ll trust my own instincts, thank you very much. At least I know they’ve been through battle before, unlike you.” Vandrad was having none of her, stomping away as he attempted to formulate a plan.

Patricia stared at the back of his head, her annoyance melting away into pained sadness. “You don’t know anything about me, Vandrad. Stop assuming things you know nothing about.” Her tone was sharp, lashing out from an entirely different place. It caused Vandrad to stop in his tracks, turning back to face her as he fully took in the sight of her pain. She swallowed hard and pointed at the door. “That… crazy person told us to go through the door or they’d kill us now. I have absolutely no desire to simply stand around and die without trying to get out. So stay here and… die for all I care. I’m going through this door and I’ll get as far as I can get.” With that, she turned and grabbed the handle.

"No! Idiot, don’t—“ But before he could finish, she swung the door inward and departed through a shimmering, inky film. Vandrad growled and closed his hands into fists in front of him. "Why? Why do I keep running into these insufferable women?!” he demanded of the stars. The only answer he got was more winking. Snarling, he turned and walked right towards the door, passing through the portal that was there.

He was going to get out of this place. And he would drag her kicking and screaming with him if need be.

Vandrad emerged from the portal between worlds, stumbling out into a brand new dimension. As his eyes cleared from the transition, he found himself standing upon a rug of pure, unfiltered grass. His brow furrowed as he turned his attention upwards, looking to take in the sight of the rest of the world. From a world of complete night sky he had stepped into one comprised of wild and untamed forest. Thick trees had grown up all around him, raising high into the air above to where they disappeared among a thicket of leaves and branches. Expansive bushes and ferns were spread out along the ground in all directions and immense boulders sat comfortable in resting places around several different streams and rivers that poured themselves between roots and outcroppings. He spotted alien looking critters dancing among the trunks, off in their own little world of scavenging.

Vandrad was stunned. He had seen plenty of things in the world but this was… impressive. Even if it was the creation of someone else’s magic, the intricate detail was astounding. He took a few steps forward as he looked around the realm further, taking in all the sights he could. He was so caught up in it that he was nearly knocked over when Patty came rushing up to him. “Vandrad! Look at this illusion! The amount of detail this person had to think of create such a fascinating design palette is incredible. This person is truly an artist… even if it is of the homicidal nature,” she said to him, pointing to several different objects as they caught her attention.

"The hell are you doing, rushing through that portal? It could have vaporized you!” The Prince of Bellum regained his senses enough to push himself away from her, sneering.

“Well clearly you weren’t thinking about that either, as you followed right after me. Were you…?” She paused, her brow knitting together as she pieced the information into a portrait “Were you worried about me? Oh Vandrad, look at you. Here I thought I was dealing with an emotionless thug but you really do have a heart in there, even if it is three sizes too small.”

"I do not care what happens to you, idiot woman, especially if you run into places without taking a second to think. But between the choices of taking a risky chance and facing oblivion, I opted to wager on the former. Whatever the case, it seems we need to locate this so-called sibling of our captor and slay him.” Vandrad had pulled himself out from his awe and was back to being as focused as ever. His eyes snapped over to a small creature, that looked like pig made of plant life. He brought his hand up and prepared to loose a blast at it, in hopes of either antagonizing whatever enemy lay within the thicket.

But Patty stepped in quickly, grabbing his wrist and pushing his hand upwards. “So you’re just going to start blasting anything moves?! How about a little decorum, Vandrad? You think they would make something look cute and cuddly and then have it turn out to be vicious?” Her own words caught up to her and she paused. “Actually, from a strategic standpoint, that would guarantee a fifty-four percent increase to possible victory. But they are clearly leaving us alone. We should be looking for something far more violent looking; something with claws and teeth and… what’s that noise?” As she spoke, there was a distinct rumbling echoing from the tree line before them. With every word it grew louder and stronger, shaking the very ground beneath their feet. There was also the fact that the trees were waving from side to side, pushed around by some tremendous force. Only a moment later did they spot a massive tree creature, quite literally frolicking between the trunks like a maiden in a garden. It chuckled as it went, a deep rumbling noise that bubbled and brewed magic power. But besides that, it seemed almost innocent.

“Look at him… he’s having so much fun,” Patty cooed softly, smiling at the dancing creature.

"He looks like a stupid oaf,” Vandrad commented with a scoff, shaking his head.

The dancing came to an abrupt stop. The creature turned slowly towards the two of them, the pleasantness in its features melting away as it lay its gaze on them. Its entire form turned to face off with them, its pleasant gallop through the forest coming to an abrupt end. “I think you made him mad, Vandrad…” Patty said to him softly as she took a step back.

A mind numbing roar erupted from the creature, a battle cry if there ever was one. Its arms jerked forward towards them and, from the trees above, vines came spiraling down towards them. Vandrad’s magical energy surged up around him, transforming him instantly into his Empowerment form. He thrust his hand upward and unleashed a blast of magic, vaporizing the first threads of forestry that came upon them. He reached out and grabbed Patty around the waist and shot off the ground as the vines came crashing down where they had just been standing.

“Hey! Let me go!” She demanded, wiggling in his grip.

"Stop moving you dolt, I am trying to get you to safety!” Vandrad hissed at her as he shot up into the trees. But as he approached the branches, they started to bend and stretch out towards him, their wooden limbs reaching. Growling, he jerked his body sideways and surged around several of the appendages, dipping just below the foliage. It was then that he saw the creature, having leapt up and brought back its fist to punch him. Acting as quickly as he could, he tossed Patricia away from him, hoping he had calculated his throw correctly. But he didn’t have time to see as the wooden fist crashed into him and sent him spinning through the air. He crashed through several tree trunks, tearing their wooden frames asunder and causing them to go crashing to the ground. One managed to hold up against his impact, though half of its body was reduced to wood chips. Embedded in the wooden crater, Vandrad ripped his limbs free and stood on the makeshift wooden lip his impact had made.

"So you want to play rough, huh?” He asked the creature, smirking as his aura ignited around him. He shot out and around the tree trunks, quickly catching back up to where he’d been hit the first time. As he emerged from the condensed area, he spotted a large boulder moving… with wooden limbs behind it. A moment later the creature threw the massive rock at Vandrad, looking to finish off what it had started. And to its credit the stone hit true, flying back several yards. But then it came to a stop, hovering in the air. Pressed against its face, Vandrad dug his fingers into the stone, cracking the smooth surface as he took a firm grip of it. His aura flared higher, the golden glow outlining the boulder. He rocketed forward with the rock in front of him, dipping down and slamming the makeshift weapon into the creature. It roared in agony as it stumbled back into a tree, breaking it off near its core before all three, rock, tree and beast, fell to the ground.

The Prince of Bellum grinned as he leveled his hand with the creature, magic compiling in his palm. But then the vines returned; snapping out from the darkness and wrapping around his limbs. Grunting, Vandrad fought against the tendrils to no avail. Meanwhile the creature started to get to its feet, a deep growl rumbling out of its throat. Its fist came back, this time growing pointed rocks and jagged tree limbs by its knuckles. It swung back, ready to deliver a far more fatal punch to the struggling Prince this time. But then its started to fall apart. Chunks of its body fell in odd shapes as its body upwards of its legs, crumbled to pieces. The glowing green light in its mouth and eyes started to dwindle and fade away as its being came to a sudden and abrupt end.

Vandrad stared in shock. The creature was dead just below him, despite it having the perfect opportunity to strike at him. Movement caught his attention and he turned to see Patricia Reeves floating up towards him, adjusting her glasses. Her right hand was completely coated in a pink light – no, it was pink ethernano energy not unlike his own. She came to stop right before him and swiped her hand through the vines, cutting them with the makeshift blade. As the energy projection faded, she stared at Vandrad studiously, taking in his form. “This magic…” She said in wonder. “You manipulate ethernano on a molecular level and shape it how you want. You’re… just like me.” She seemed just as stunned by the revelation as he was.

Vandrad had been told that his magic was rare; that people didn’t have a connection like he did to the natural world’s flow of ethernano. But he could sense it from her even now; she was open to the invisible lines that flowed through the atmosphere just as he was. He reached down and pulled the vines from his limbs, letting the limp growths fall down towards the ground. Then as his transformation faded, he looked at her. "How…?”

“When you threw me, I managed to get my magic going. And after I saw him focused on you, I snuck around and waited to strike.” She said matter-of-factually. “I told you before; you don’t know anything about me, Vandrad. I may be a doctor but that doesn’t mean I haven’t experienced battles before.” A sharp sound brought their attention to a new door appearing out of thin air, right on level with them. Two X’s glittered above the frame, signifying its occupant. She turned to face Vandrad once more. “One down. No point in stopping now.”

He was still trying to wrap his head around everything he had seen. But rather than lose his focus by dwelling on it too long he nodded in agreement. For now, survival was far more important than pondering. Questions and answers could come after. The pair floated towards the door and Patty turned the handle, leading them into the next area and the next trial.

The smell of death and decay met the pair’s noses as they passed through to the next room, walking into a freshly formed graveyard. A thick fog clung to the ground, hovering inches above the overturned dirt and coating their feet in it. The tombstones were unmarked and disheveled – as if they had been hastily thrown into place and forgotten about. And fresh pits lined the pots before the stone markers, with fresh piles of dirt resting beside them all around.

“A graveyard for former victims? Patty asked out loud, wandering over to the closest pit. She leaned in bit forward to get a good view and then pulled back with a firm nod. “Very fresh victims, it seems. They’ve barely started decomposing. Does that mean that others were pulled into this illusory palace at the same time? Are we all being tested to see who can best the voice? I wonder if they established a bracket system or it’s more lose than that…” The scientist began to hypothesize once more.

"Enough of that,” Vandrad said as he walked up beside her and turned her around aggressively, pulling her to face him by her shoulder. "Your magic. How the hell do you have it?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m a scientist, Vandrad – I know a lot of things. But if you must know, I came upon a book when I was barely a teenager. It had a lot of old magics inside of it but this was the most intriguing one. So I taught myself it. The real question is how did you come across Ethernano Manipulation?”

He started to answer but then stopped. "Ethernano Manipulation?”

“The name of the magic.”

"It’s called Energy Monarch. I’ve been told since the first day I displayed it that it was called that, not Ethernano Manipulation.” What a ridiculous name.

“Ah so you came by your magic naturally then? Probably passed down via your genetic line. Does your mother or father had some form of Ethernano Manipulation – that is the true name of the magic after all. Energy Monarch sounds so… conceited. Like having the magic automatically makes you royalty.”

"I am…!” He started to say that he was royalty, ready to blow the cover on her little theory. But he quickly bit the words back, remembering that he wasn’t telling anyone what he was. It was bad enough that he was fairly sure that Mercury already knew. Grinding his teeth, he fixed his gaze back on her. "I am sure that there is probably just a cultural distinction.” He decided to bring the budding argument to a middle ground.

“Well no, you see…” It was obvious she had no intention of letting the argument go until she had won.

“Look at thee heathens bicker like hyenas over a bone!” A voice boomed from the sky above them, drawing both of their attention. Up in the was a woman, clad in gold and silver armor and sporting two massive angel wings. She seemed to hum with a resonance of majesty and light, filling the dread area with a sense of purity. Vandrad stared up at her, unimpressed while Patty stared in studious awe. “Judgement is here to deliver unto thee thine reckoning. Behold thine punishment and repent!” The woman waved her arms towards the ground, a sweeping action that was far more grandiose than it needed to be.

From the graves emerged limbs. Hands scraping up the sides of the dirt walls and grasping at the overhanging grass and muck, legs bending upwards and placing themselves on the earth to try and get a solid footing. Four corpses pried themselves from their graves to face the pair, their groaning mouths hanging ajar was they started to stumble towards them. But Vandrad was having none of it; with a single push of his arm, he unleashed a blast that swallowed up the four shambling bodies in fire. As the explosion faded away, there was nothing but ash remaining of the resurrected enemies.

"Are you Judgement then? It seems your conviction is lacking. Or are you that afraid to come down here and judge me personally?” The Prince of Bellum called up to the angel, equally amused and annoyed with her presence.

“I sent thee enemies to test thine might. Thou possesses the strength to face Judgement head on!” And with that said, the angel came soaring down straight at Vandrad. Her sword slid out of its sheath and into her hand, the flaming blade billowing with furious might. As she came upon him, she arched her body and swung at him, her intent to cleave him from head to navel in one swing. But the Prince’s hands came around and caught the weapon on either side of its flat body, stopping it fully before it could connect. His energy crackled around him as he fed his magic into his protective aura, keeping the flames at bay.

He would have made to tear the weapon from her hands too, were it not for the sudden pain as something stabbed into his shoulder. Gasping and growling, his head snapped around to see Patty, her energy sword ignited and currently pierced into his body. He would have assumed treachery were it not for the tears falling from her eyes and the utter look of agony in her features. “I’m… sorry… I can’t… stop…” she spoke in short starts, forcing herself to explain against the control that had overtaken her.

“Thine ally is feeble. She will make a fine trophy for mine own purposes,” Judgement hissed as she pressed the sword hard towards Vandrad, pushing him back a step.

So this being sought to use Patty against him then? "You have no honor…” Vandrad growled as his aura sparked to life around him. "You would use others to fight for you rather than do the duty yourself. You are not worthy of being my judgement!” He roared as his hands pressed harder into the metal blade, the smooth edge cracking. The anger welling up inside of him caught fire and crimson melted into his energy dispersal and colored his hair and eyes. It was only there for a brief moment but it was long enough for him to fracture the blade in two. His hand snapped out and grabbed the point of the broken weapon, turning it around and thrusting it right into the slits of Judgement’s helmet. White light burst from inside as he impaled her head, her cries of agony causing her body to shake violently. And then with one final shuddering gasp, she crumbled to the floor.

Patty suddenly gasped as well, stumbling backward and falling over. Seeing her fall caused Vandrad to lose his concentration and his new form dissipated back into his regular golden one. He walked over to her and grabbed her, pulling her to him. "Care to try that trick again?” He asked her in a low, threatening voice.

Before she could answer, she wiggled herself out of his grip and threw herself past him. As he turned around, he came face to face with the remnant of Judgement’s sword, inches away from stabbing him. There crouched was Judgement’s body, having somehow brought itself back after being impaled for one more attack. But the head was missing; it had been cleft from the neck by Patty’s blade, the helmet rolling away from her. She snapped the blade off and turned to face him. “Her aura contained impressive amounts of mood-changing particulates that I wasn’t prepared for. I’m surprised you were able to resist it so well.”

"I already had someone try and take control of my mind. I swore then and there that no one else would take my free will from me.” She seemed a bit taken aback by the answer. He had just willed himself not to be controlled then? It didn’t seem logical. As the next door materialized over the corpse of Judgement, Vandrad walked by her and only said one thing. "And it’s called Energy Monarch.”

Vandrad was so focused on moving forward that the lingering pain where Patty had stabbed him didn’t even give him pause. He simply wanted to get out of this ridiculous realm. But he also wanted more answers from the scientist; she had run into him, almost seemingly out of mere circumstance, and happened to have a magic almost exactly the same as him? Yet she could do a bit more than he could – though that was more out of focus than expertise. Vandrad was more than aware that, if he wanted, he could create weapons from his magic to utilize. But he’d always focused it inwards, forging it as a buffing battery to his strength already. Whatever the case, it required further investigation.

The next room was one of sunlight. The realm was made up a clouds of all shapes and colors, basking in the glow of an illumination that seemed to be both dawn and dusk. At the center of the room was the origin of the light; a woman in lavish armor and wielding an impressive sword and shield. Getting near her was a challenge in and of itself – she was so bright that it was likely she would have blinded them. Instead, it came down to Patty having to distract her and draw her attacks so that Vandrad could once again sweep up behind and finish her off with a significant blast.

But that wasn’t the end of the adventure. No, as the light faded from the dead woman, the entire room was cloaked in darkness. A massive moon materialized up above them all, blaring its brilliant white light over the darkness. The ground gave out beneath them, dropping them both into icy cold water. As they quickly resurfaced, they looked about for their next enemy. It wasn’t until Vandrad looked up to the moon that he saw the figure plastered against it’s image. Yet another being, who seemed to be as attuned with the moon as the last one was with the sun. As the Prince of Bellum pulled himself up out of the water, the liquid suctioned itself around Patty, attempting to drag her under. That complicated things but only for a few minutes, until Vandrad was able to get his hands around the woman’s neck and twist her head violently off.

Then they were in the final room, which was the first room they had started in. "Imagine how surprised I am…” the Prince muttered as he looked around.

“Those were four beings, just like the voice said. So supposedly we should be finding them next,” Patricia mused aloud.

"Or they lied and gave us the runaround. That’s exactly how cowards would react after their siblings are destroyed.”

“Coward am I?!” The voice screeched. All at once the room jerked and the stars started to expand. Where once were only glimmering lights became hundreds and full galaxies and glowing constellations took over their sights. As the room slowed down, a single star sparkled a bit brighter than the rest. Suddenly it began to move and the rest of the room dimmed, seemingly focusing all of the attention on the single moving light. It swung down and around, getting closer and closer to them until it exploded into streams of pink, purple and blue energy. A young girl, looking to be about twelve years old, emerged from the dispersal and posed dramatically. “I’m here!”

Vandrad and Patty simply stared at her, unimpressed. “A child? We’ve been challenged and threatened by a child? That’s… underwhelming.”

"I’m hardly surprised. Trapping us, making us play games to entertain them – sounds exactly what a brat would do,” Vandrad said with a snort.

“Oh you better be careful, Mr. Strong Man. I’m the Star and I am destined to become the Sun! That’s why I had you kill her! Now that she’s gone, all I have to do is kill you and I’ll finally become the Sun!” As she revealed her master plan, if one could call it that, she stretched her arms out to the side. From the skies around her, stars surged out of the blanket of the galaxy and came down to her, becoming orbs of starlight that hovered around her. She began to cackle, clearly believing herself the winner before the battle had already begun.

But the Prince had had enough. There was no challenge here – there was no opportunity to better himself against a child playing her own little game. In one motion he transformed into Empowerment and set his hand right at her. Magical energy gathered in his palm quickly, forming a malicious looking orb. And then he pushed it forward, sending it crashing into her. She was clearly not prepared, lifting from the ground and hurdling backwards, literally wrapped around the ball as it ascended higher into the galactic sky. Then it exploded, a detonation that was far larger than anything Vandrad had created since Desierto.

He smiled for a moment, glad to be rid of her. But his amusement quickly faded as he noticed energy falling back towards them. No, it wasn’t magic – it was stars. They were falling towards them quickly, spreading out further as they came within range. There were far too many to destroy. Patty gasped as one came down upon her, too surprised to react. But the Prince’s body flung itself in front of her, taking the brunt of the damage and cracking his armor. He grunted as he pushed his magic to the forefront of his form, adding energy-laden shielding in several layers. But every star cracked the invisible film, causing further damage to his armor and body.

“There’s too many! You’re going to die.” Patty cried in his ear. He didn’t answer; trying to too hard to focus on staying alive. The scientist shook her head. “I have something that might help… I haven’t used it on a person in a long time so this… might be kind of a rush.”

That caught his attention but before he could question her, her hand was on his back. And energy unlike he’d ever felt before shot through his form, igniting parts of his core that hadn’t yet been opened. His transformation exploded with power, warping from gold to a billowing blue, along with staining his hair and eyes the same color. It only took him a moment to realize that the intense pressure he was feeling was actually coming from him. And it was strong – stronger than anything he’d ever felt before.

With this new magical level, his defenses built back rapidly, granting him a moment to look about the stars. That’s when he spotted it; an unmarked door behind the shower of stars. He pointed at it. "There,” he pointed at it for her to see. "Grab onto me, woman. We’re getting out of here.”

She did… but then her head came around, another hand reaching out to take his face and pull it to hers. Before he could say anything further or question her motives, her lips were on his. The Prince of Bellum was utterly shocked for those few seconds as she kissed him and then pulled away. “For luck,” she told him.

He didn’t have the wherewithal to quiz her on. He simply left up and surged into the sky, ready to leave this god forsaken place.