Too Late

A giant second fireball flew in their direction, speeding towards Ansel and Locke who were still at odds. The fire clashed with the ground, spreading its veins through the grass and up the trees as it began taking all the oxygen out of the area. Ansel had no time to think, running toward Locke, trying to ensure Talos’ safety, however the fire had given him an opening.

“[Lightning Step]!”

Thunder crackled as he returned to his goal, the golden boy that was discovered two years ago in Jandra. Gripping his right arm once more as he readied his exit. Kaito and Eira were only a few feet away from him, reaching out as he was being pulled away. Time seemed to slow in that moment, tears beginning to surface as Talos grit his teeth in frustration. He’d emptied out his mana supply practicing his spell, leaving himself useless after mustering up his last spell. Words caught in his throat as he looked at his family, reaching out his gloved left hand. Kaito took one last large step, finally grabbing hold of Talos. His eyes pooled in tears, the fear of being powerless sinking him deeper in a despair he was now acknowledging.

The line of trees surrounding the edge of the academy went up in flames as bellowing thunder sounded through the school. Kaito kept on tightly grabbing hold of the gloved hand, the copper arm now shining in the forest’s blaze. Eira fell to her knees feeling defeated and Ansel saw them both, alone, having seen their little brother being taken away right in front of them. The sorrow in his eyes grew, soon turning to anger as he looked around gasping for air. The flames on the ground roared as he saw its creator at the entrance of the Academy.

“WHY!” he yelled, “WHY MEKI!!”

She smiled warmly, now glowing in white as her flames made her clothes stand out even more.

Her eyes were kind yet flirtatious, her mouth puckering up as if trying to hold back a small giggle. Her grey eyes reflected Ansel inside her cage of flames, the anger in his eyes shooting darts at her

“For our survival” she said, tilting her head in confusion. Her tone implied it to be common sense, seemingly mocking his reaction.

“He is going to lead us to victory, a new recruit for the highest branch of The Order. It really is a true honor, something he should have definitely not run away from.”

—--

Her words spoke truth to her “friends,” the King having decreed a new ultimate branch for the Order just weeks after the discovery of Talos. His rare element of light was already valuable enough for him to have been a distinguished healer or swordsman, however light magic wasn’t his main, rather one of its rarest branches. The Order had made a point to hijack the information on all the adventurers in Jandra in search of powerful people; they'd completed one of their weekly searches in the guild when they came across an amazing child. His manaprint had shone yellow and white, signifying a branch element when touching the orb, just like Eira had a light blue hue on her print for her ice magic. Talos had a combination of the two, a rare occurrence demonstrating two elements, the white being his light magic, and the yellow being something even rarer—Solar magic.

The King’s Order had found its new shining star, a warrior born once in a hundred years with the capability to harness the power of the sun and use it to expel his or her foes. They searched the town for the boy wonder, learning of the party he was with and venturing out to find it. The War of Kings worsened, the endless fighting beginning to take its toll on the city’s population and military power. Because of this Locke was deployed to speed up the search, covering the four month trip from Eigo to Nuvilea in a matter of weeks, searching and buying information. He learned about the suspicious party arriving and leaving hurriedly almost a year ago, and the fairly low levels they were made up of. Locke soon left Nuvilea and spent the better part of half a year searching through every village in Gyoral before making it to its cold capital. He’d arrived in anger, having his whole operation take more than he’d anticipated. Having received his orders more than a year ago, he’d come up with nothing more than the boy’s party. He strutted down the city in fury, growing impatient, entering the guild located inside the city’s inner wall. He asked for information on the Spineful Party, expecting a confused expression on the guild receptionists face. However, when she heard the name she presented him with a nervous smile explaining the confidentiality agreement between the guild and its parties. Locke thrust his fist into the counter, earning him the scorn of all who were in the building. Despite being one of the strongest in the order, his combat prowess was most effective against a small group at best. The guild was filled with far more than a few adventurers, leaving him with no choice but to leave a message, something to let the party know that he was here.

“Afraid?” He leaned closer, his eyes spiraling in anger, “I’ll give you something to be afraid about if you don’t give me what I want.”

“HEY! Is there a problem?” a distant voice called out.

“Yeah you need something!?” said another, itching for a fight.

Locke walked out swiftly—deciding to blow off some steam in the city’s slums.

He later returned, knowing it was about time to make contact he kneeled down in the middle of the street. A few passerbys gave him weird looks, the looks given to a strange man doing a strange thing. He was waiting for a comrade, much like the ones in the other cities. The Order’s reach spanned far and wide, its force spread throughout all of Mesiarrah with at least once sleeper agents in all of the Gyoral’s major cities. The dark night and dim lights of stores began to go out as he waited. The night had fallen onto the man, the wind picking up stray leaves and trash. Bandits became louder, running through the streets of Karma, later followed by the clanking of armor, the soldiers on night duty defending the town.

Steps sounded in the cold night, the white beginning to fall from the sky as the temperature. As the small stars fell, water began to flow upon their landing. The floor grew slippery with the snow, making the steps sound rough and wet. Locke heard the direction they came from, his eyes openly looking at the ground as the footsteps grew closer, walking toward him. Stopping right in front of him, Locke saw the ragged dress they were wearing and the wooden clogs of his comrade. A feminine voice, much deeper than what it sounded like during the day, came from his fellow comrade.

“Name?” she said.

“Locke Wilmheart.”

“Update?”

“The new king is different. The war is turning in their favor and their princess is leading their force.”

“Mission?”

“A boy with immense potential was spotted two years ago, I have learned he is here with his party. A broad man, a magic swordswoman, and a swordsman accompany the boy as well. They go by the name of Spineful Party”

“You may stand.”

Following orders, Locke stood to face his comrade, a shorter girl who seemed to be no older than twenty-one. The girl smirked, her freckles moving upward as she relaxed her eyes and held back a small giggle.

“Meki Grandall, last sleeper in Karma. I’ve found your Spineful party.”

She was grinning from ear to ear, finally being able to switch out and return to the battlefield.

—--

“THAT’S NOT YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE!” Ansel yelled, stomping toward her in a rage. Kaito was just as shocked as Ansel, frozen by the sudden change in events. He felt a rough hand grab his shoulder, shaking him back to his senses.

“C’mon! We don’t have time to worry about that, we need to catch up to Talos, there's no way that bastard can get away with this!”

Meki caught them mid stride, shooting a hose of flames at them. The fire drew a wall of flames, rising to the height of a goblin without so much as a warning. It spread far, encircling the entrance and also becoming a shield for Ansel, the flames rising high in front of her. Both Kaito and Eira were caught off guard, pushing themselves back as they were faced with the hot temperature. Looking at Ansel, her kind smile no longer represented a warmth, but rather a much more sinister emotion.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t have you disrupting this.”

“He’s OUR brother!! You're gonna get him KILLED!!”

“If he dies before the demons, then it was a noble sacrifice made for the country. You all should be proud!” Her playful voice made it sound like they were saving him, making him a hero.

“Screw this!!” Kaito yelled, running back to gain distance before full sprinting right into the wall of flames.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Oh YEAH?” Eira replied, turning the surrounding flames into ice for a brief second. Kaito ran straight through, catching just a small part of his shirt on fire, a part that he patted off quickly as he stopped on the other side. His eyes looked at Meki in anger, seeing the person they thought was kind turn out to be one of them. He then turned to the open entrance, putting his toned legs to use and running toward the gate.

“I told you not to.”

Mek said, before pointing her finger at the entrance, a few feet from where she stood.

“[Fire Border].” In an instant, a red line shot through the ground before disappearing. Kaito was just a few steps away from it when a blood red wall of flames erupted from the marked area. Kaito quickly threw himself to the side, trying to cancel out his momentum, as the wall of flames rose well over a two story building. The sheer size of the flames made the area around it begin to burn, making Kaito’s body feel like it was inches away from an active volcano. Scrambling to his feet he ran parallel to the wall of flames, running straight at her.

Meki raised her finger to finish the job when an arm went through the flames in front of her, grabbing hold of her small shoulder.

“MEKIIII!!!!” Ansel pulled her towards him as his arm burned through the flames. She’d been so distracted by Kaito that her peripheral vision had failed to see the man get in front of her. Another arm shot through the flames, a fist heading straight for her face. She quickly pointed her palm at an angel to the ground. She yelled her spell without an incantation just flowing mana to the palm of her hand and releasing it.

“[Bomb]!!!”

An explosion sounded, launching herself into the air and releasing her from Ansel’s grasp. Her hand had been burned to a painful red and black scarring, the bomb having gone off at the very palm of the hand she’d poured mana into. Hissing in pain she took a few deep breaths and composed herself, having used the tactic multiple times over her year in the King’s Order. Her smile quickly returned—laughing at the attempt.

“Wow!! You were really about to hit a woman!” she joked, waving her burnt hand up and down as if she was drying it.

“That’s not good manners, did your mother never teach you to not hit girls?”

“So what about me!” Eira shouted, popping out from behind Ansel pointing the point of her blade at the distant Meki. She called out her spell, [Frozen Spear], generating a small light blue dot of light at the tip of her sword.

The dot propagated a spear made of ice, shooting at an incredible speed in Meki’s direction. The cold ice pierced her shoulder, clean through her white robe, and out into the tree behind her. Upon impact the tree froze in its entirety, the ice spreading like a virus down to its roots and up toward its leaves. In a panic, Meki mumbled her own incantation and created a flame to combat the ice that was beginning to spread. She wailed in pain, as the ice continued to fight her flame.

Kaito finally reached the bakery worker, looking at her in anger as she fell on her knees to focus on her flame. In anger Kaito grabbed her wrist, making Meki look up at him and the tears in her eyes suddenly flowing.

“Crocodile tears won’t work!” he asserted, beginning to pry her arm away from her freezing shoulder.

“AHHHHH!!” she cried out, “okay okay STOP!”

“Make him come back!”

Kaito looked at her with disdain, his words menacing. Over the past two years in the new world, he’d learned that the kindness that Talos, Ansel and Eira showed him was a rarity. His trust in her had been broken the moment he saw the robe she was wearing, the uniform of the order.

“I can't,” she smirked, putting on a brave face and holding back her pain. "He's probably at least a day by now.”

“A day?!”

Ansel and Eira approached them, having heard what she said. Eira kneeled down in front of her looking at her coldly as she inquired on the man’s destination.

“I told you…” she said turning to Ansel, “He’s going to lead us to victory, in the King’s Order’s highest branch. A new unit.”

“In Jandra?” Ansel asked.

Meki nodded before looking down to the ground, upset over her own weakness. The years of waiting had taken its toll on her skills which led to her defeat to three C rank and lower adventurers. Forcing a smile she looked at them her emotions held off only to her.

“What the hell is going on here?!” an old man yelled, his coat a dark deep green and grey facial hair accentuating his hair—the principal of the academy. He looked fit, as tall as Kaito, and wore glasses which he used to focus on the scene at hand. Two other grown adults made their way behind him, seemingly catching up with the old man.

“You all have a LOT of nerve coming in here and disrupting this place!!”

“Now now.” The old man said composing himself and patting the back of one of the grown adults.

“But sir- you.”

“Yes I did yell at them, but hearing you right now reminded me of my position. I hope my words will do the same for you.”

“A- I- yes sir.”

The same old man who’d just as what the hell was going on had changed personalities in an instant, almost as if it was something he did on the regular.

“Sorry sir,” Kaito turned to look at him whilst having a death grip on Meki’s wrist. “We have some business with her at the moment.”

His eyes were empty yet filled with rage, looking back to face her, he showed no remorse over the pain he was currently causing. Meki looked at him with a forced smile, one that seemed to grow the longer he held her.

“Can I assume this lass here is the one responsible for this?”

“Yes, her and another man both from the King’s Order.” Ansel replied looking at the man holding a contorted face, processing all the different emotions he was currently feeling.

“They took Talos, one of your students.”

“Talos…” He seems to mumble under his breath, looking down and placing his hand on his chin.

“...I see.”

“I SEE?1” Eira shouts, “You are supposed to be responsible for ALL of these students!!”

“[Freeze]” waving his finger in Kaito’s direction, Meki’s body becomes enveloped in a crystal of ice, leaving everything but that hand that was being held by Kaito frozen. Kaito shot a glance at him, clearly displeased.

“She was about to be done playing hostage. So I made sure she regretted her cockiness.” The old man’s smile was menacingly normal. His face commanded respect as the sunlight reflected off his glasses, hiding his eyes.

“Now then, I’m sure they didn’t just randomly find Talos, yes?”

He looked at the three, showing a sign of surprise to Ansel nodded, side-eyeing the now frozen Meki, smiling maniacally within the ice.

“Please come with me, I want to know more.”

—--

The day came to an end and the Spineful Party was finally released from the academy. The principal had grilled them about the incident and ultimately decided to pin all the damage on Meki and the King’s Order. He seemed to empathize with the party yet remained firm in his standing and objective view. Before sending them out of his office, the principal told them words that he whole heartedly believed.

I’m sure Talos will be fine. He hasn't even scratched the surface of what he’s capable of.

The three looked at each other dejected. Their sibling had just been kidnapped, and a person they were growing close to turned out to be one of the kidnappers. They wallowed in sorrow all the way home. Emotions mixed and melted in their heads as they entered their home. Kaito grabbed his backpack and changed his clothes in the dark, Ansel and Eira closely following his lead. They’d resolved themselves to this the moment they saw Talos disappear in the lightning, a fire that lit with the sound of thunder. Kaito looked at himself in the moonlit bathroom, his right side slightly scarred and blemished from the sheer heat of Meki’s flames. Pulling his right arm across his body he saw the dried blood and reddened skin shift with his movement. A sharp pain shot through it, making him breath in through his teeth.

The three packed in silence, loading up their swords, spare clothes and money. In the dead of night they walked out of the house, the house the four had worked hard to buy over their run through Gyoral. Kaito looked up at the sky as they crossed the inner gate, then the outer gate, until the dirt road that stretched for miles until the next major city. He thought to himself of how fast the man was, how powerless he’d been, and how quickly it all happened.

Just you wait, Talos. We’ll come and get you.

—--

7 Months Later:

The Spineful Party had grown stronger, now easily an average level of 8 when comparing themselves to the dungeons floors. The three were on a small boat, having left the port of Eigo the day prior. They woke in the same room to the sun shining through the small window. They’d slept together being cost efficient for the unusually expensive trip, much more expensive then when Ansel and Eira first came to Eigo.

The captain had given them a dirty look when they asked him to take them, as all the sailors in the port seemed to charge much more or not even sail there at all, the captain humored the party and its antics.

“Land! Ho!” He yelled apathetically. His ship had two small rooms under the cockpit, however only one room was being occupied. Its door opened and released the party to the deck, where they looked over at the distance. A bunch of black rocks filled the ocean behind a thick fog. The three squinted but saw nothing other than the black rocks which were strangely bunched together in the sea.

“Uhh Captain where is it?” Ansel looked up at the cockpit directly above them.

“You're looking at it.”

Looking harder, the fog dispersed and the view became clearer in the sun. Their hearts sank as they looked out at sea. The water growing browner and uglier with each meter closer to the shore. Eira fell to her knees and held the taffrail in pain. What they’d been looking at were not rocks, rather houses. The houses of Jandra, burnt to a black rubble floating in the ocean.