The Hero and the Princess's Final Trick

~~~☁️~~~

The air wrapped them in a dizzying fall.

Leonoris screamed, though her voice blended with the deafening roar of the wind. Rei felt his stomach wrench, asking himself again and again why he had made that choice. The memory came back instantly.

"Leonoris, hold on to me! Don’t let go!"

She was terrified, her eyes wide, but with every bit of will she could muster, she clung with both hands to Rei’s left arm, as if her entire life depended on not letting go. The world spun in spirals around them, the wind tearing screams from her throat, but she held on desperately.

"Why did you do that?!" she cried between terror and tears.

"Focus for a minute!" Rei pulled out his last trump card with his right arm. A cylindrical bullet coated in gunpowder, reinforced with iron, and embedded with several ether crystals that Leonoris herself had helped set into place. His last invention—or rather, the first one they had created together. "Leonoris! Look at this. Do you remember this projectile? Help me light it up!"

Still trembling, she extended her hands. Her magic surged like a torrent, following the plan they had worked on back in the workshop. The ether crystals quickly overloaded with energy, and Leonoris was visibly growing weaker. The projectile began to blaze with a blinding white glow, more dangerous to handle than any spell she had conjured before.

Rei’s hands began to burn from the heat. In desperation, he placed the bullet into his pneumatic launcher, praying it would be enough while his heart pounded violently. The glowing sphere rested above the rail of the device, directly over his right arm, which he aimed at the ship.

The galleon was drifting north, slowly pulling out of range. But it didn’t matter. Normally, he couldn’t have made the shot, and Leonoris was too exhausted to cast again, but he knew he could do it on his own.

He pulled out an ether crystal, holding it in his left hand, and closed his eyes for an instant. He envisioned the stone statue before him, the winged woman carved in marble, one arm reaching to the heavens and the other wielding a sword.

"Please, if you truly exist, if you’re really there..."

He snapped his eyes open.

"Solaria, guide my shot!"

The crystal shone brighter than anything Rei had ever seen. A white flash surged through his arm, but as it crossed his chest, something changed. The glow turned into an orange light that soon engulfed the entire crystal. Leonoris, eyes wide in disbelief, muttered:

"Orange light... it can’t be."

She couldn’t look away. The orange glow from his summoning hadn’t been a coincidence. A light of impossible hue, scarcely more than a legend, now embodied itself in this battered, mischievous, and determined boy. There, clutching her arm, his copper hair and eyes gleaming with divine radiance, stood the Hero of Kounaria.

"Rei... truly... Solaria is within you."

He fired, with an inexplicable certainty that everything would be fine.

The projectile shot forth like a comet, leaving a blazing parabolic trail across the sky. Just like the falling stars he had once watched with his siblings at night, wishing they could see him now. A second passed. Two. Three.

A sudden flash blinded Rei and Leonoris, forcing their eyes shut. When they opened them again, a shockwave struck first, followed by a thunderous roar that deafened them for several seconds.

The explosion was brutal. The entire galleon shook, orange flames climbing the masts, sails ripping apart in flaming shreds. In mere seconds, the Scarlet Colossus had become a floating sphere of fire.

"Look!" cried a villager, turning both allies and enemies toward the burning ship.

"The Hero..." General Maedros, from atop his horse, watched the inventor and the Enlightened in awe.

From Luminas’ harbor, and even from the Castle, the unimaginable could be seen.

"The Pirate ship!" exclaimed High Counselor Nireya from her balcony, while Dalthon and Velina looked on in shock.

"Are the children in there?!" Queen Valeta gasped, covering her face with her hands.

"No..." King Conferius drew their attention. "There’s no way they’re dead. They... and Rei... they always have a plan."

Rei and Leonoris, still plummeting, could hardly celebrate.

"We did it! We brought them down!" Rei cried.

"Rei!" Leonoris screamed in terror.

Despite their triumph, the sea still waited below, threatening certain death. Why had they jumped, if there was no way to survive?

Rei glanced to the side, suddenly realizing the meaning behind Nessus’ signal. A small ship was speeding straight toward them. He instantly recognized the helm.

"It’s them!" he shouted. "Prepare the water!"

Leonoris, tears in her eyes, looked toward their comrades, and hope surged back through her. She raised her hands, conjuring a liquid cushion beneath them. At the very moment they crashed down, a surge of water cushioned their fall and hurled them onto Nessus’ deck.

The impact drenched everyone, while the two fallen from the sky were grateful to be on solid ground again—dizzy, soaked, but alive.

"Damn it! Why do I always have to be the one who gets soaked?!" Nessus yelled, spitting water.

"Stop complaining!" Ettor, who had been waiting for them, finally smiled with relief that both were safe.

Without thinking, Leonoris wrapped Rei in a tight embrace, refusing to let go.

"Never again..." she whispered against his shoulder. "Don’t you ever do that again!"

Rei held her, still dazed, but with a peaceful smile. Even soaked, the warmth made him never want to let go.

"I’m sorry. But we did it."

"Yes, we did!" Nessus cheered. "Look! They’re retreating!"

The pair, still in each other’s arms, were forced to move and peer over the side of the ship toward Luminas. The smaller raiding vessels were withdrawing from the city, terrified by the sight of their flagship burning.

"Yes!" Rei shouted, his joy infectious among the other three crewmates. They had won. Kounaria had beaten back the pirates’ assault.

"That was awesome!" Nessus exclaimed. "We saw you falling from afar, and then the projectile flew, and the Colossus went bam! It was incredible! How’d you do it?"

"Well," Rei said proudly, glancing at Leonoris, "we did it together. The ether crystals overload, so we embedded them in the projectile. Leonoris helped me charge them, and I managed to summon Solaria and—"

"Leonoris overloaded the crystals."

"Leonoris used too much magic."

"What’s wrong, Rei?" Nessus asked, noticing his pause.

"Leonoris... did anything bad happen after you used that much magic?"

"Um... aside from the fall, no."

"So your bad luck..."

A silence fell, born of the thought on everyone’s mind. Slowly, their eyes turned back toward the Scarlet Colossus.

The fishing boat was heading straight toward the burning galleon. The fishing boat was faster, dangerously close now.

"No way, rig—"

A second great explosion tore through the ship, and a thousand shards blasted outward toward the small vessel. Nessus groaned at the irony.

"Oh, for fu—"

"Look out!"

At his sister’s cry, Nessus yanked the helm hard, dodging the first chunk of wood and throwing everyone off balance.

The splinters whizzed past, slicing sails and ropes. One slammed into the prow, splintering it and making the boat lurch.

"Take cover and keep dodging!" Ettor leapt with his katana, slicing chunks of debris before they could fall on them.

"Ah!" Leonoris nearly slipped by the edge, but Rei caught her just in time, pulling her close.

"I’m used to it, don’t worry," he joked, trying to ease the tension.

For what felt like endless seconds, they dodged the fiery rain until silence finally returned. Behind them, the Colossus split in two, sinking into its watery grave wrapped in flames.

The smaller pirate ships buzzed past like bees around a shattered hive before fleeing far from a shore that had fought harder than they expected.

And then, with a thunderous crash that shook both sea and sky, the Scarlet Colossus collapsed into the ocean, sending a mythical column of water and fire rising into the air. The sound reverberated deep into the continent, possibly even across the Great Ocean.

From Luminas, the people saw it all. At the very moment of impact, the city erupted in celebration.

"We won! The Hero saved us!" cried the people, the barricades bursting into jubilation.

The four of them, exhausted but alive, sailed back in the small craft, barely hovering, slowly losing altitude.

"Damn it, at this rate we won’t make it to shore by air. Get ready to get wet again!"

They lasted less than thirty seconds aloft before splashing into the sea, once again soaked through.

"Nessus, I bet you don’t think normal boats are boring anymore," Rei teased.

"What are you talking about? This is suuuper boring!" Nessus threw his head back, though he smiled right after. "But it saved us, so I guess it’s not that bad."

Rei looked at his companions. Nessus still laughing through the water, Ettor quiet but proud, and Leonoris still trembling at his side—but with eyes full of joy and gratitude beyond words. They were alive, and they had won.

When they finally reached the harbor, the city greeted them with cheers, tears, and the roar of a people who had conquered fear. Rei raised an arm in greeting, met by thunderous applause, then looked up at the sky, feeling a single tear slide down his cheek.

"I’ll return home," he thought. "But first, I must protect this world."