Lotus City had been a trading hub. It was never particularly popular, and the man in charge of the city was known for having a bad spending habit. This has led to numerous issues with roads and the forest not being cleared for nearby villages.
The city itself was never particularly popular and mainly served as a market for the nearby villages to sell their goods. Despite that, it was undeniable that this city held a lot of memories.
Olivia Lot had spent most of her life going to Lotus. She'd wake up in Fri every day and walk the non-existent path just to go to school. She'd try her best to improve but would go nowhere fast, and then, after school, to cheer herself up, she'd stop by the ice cream shop and get her the best flavor they had.
Some days she'd go to the arcade with Bruno. Others, she'd spend time alone in the library trying to read and research blood magic, only to be distracted by funny cat videos. Rare days she'd get into a fight with Ash or Trent, and as always, she'd lose.
There were plenty of bad days in Lotus. Even the bad stuff seemed fun to recall every now and then, and in the end, there was a lot more good.
Lotus had been a piece of the puzzle that was her life. Without this city, without the part it played in shaping her, she doubted she'd be the her of today.
Lotus was gone.
As soon as Falco gave the news, all of them were kicked into gear. Pock had rushed back and used his zipper magic to open a portal near the city. So many of them from the Phoenix Flight guild were leaving the base.
Obviously, she went; Olivia refused to stay behind, but she was also followed by Davi, Ken, Sieg, Ragna, Greenie, Falco, Pock, Laerton, and even Miranda. Practically all of them went. Olem and Ghost couldn't come along, sadly, due to their nature, and both Vlad and Gormay were the only two who refused to come, while Clause had apparently been held up with another matter and wasn't at the base while everything was going down.
As soon as Olivia stepped through the portal, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Pock had taken her and the others to outside the city walls, and they weren't the only ones who were here.
A massive crowd was running around. Olivia saw cops, the military, firefighters, ambulances, men in suits that worked directly under the king, and even a vast majority of the Pantheon guild. So many of the Knights were running around, such as Cinder and Sky, while Battery opened up various portals, straining his energy. Next to the man were Whisper and Myth, the guild's captain, barking out orders with a worried look on his face.
Past the crowd were the city walls and Lotus itself. The walls were charred black, and fire still hissed along the stone, burning through it. Buildings had crumpled and broken away, turning into less than ash, and the flames danced as if they were a river.
The entire city was on fire—every inch of it. Absolute immolation. Ash and smoke mixed in the air, and the smell of chemicals was powerful, but the senses that were truly overwhelmed were hearing, as people screamed out orders, trying to drown out the roaring of the crackling flame.
What had once been a city brimming with life was now a wasteland of scorched death.
"We must not let that fire spill out into the surrounding forest!" Myth screamed loudly, and his Knights were hard at work with the firefighters, helping to keep the fire held at bay.
Olivia trembled as she watched the fire eat away at this city she had come to enjoy. This place, which had been a part of her. What disturbed her the most, however, was that within this crowd of people who were all fighting the fire back, not one was a civilian.
Where were all the people…?
Surely they weren't still in the burning city, were they?
Laerton shook her head, getting over the shock faster than anyone else. "Alright, if you guys have magic that can deal with fire, get to work. If you don't, stay on standby or help with the hoses. Prioritize your own safety first. I'm going to go speak with Myth and see what the hell is going on."
"You heard her." Pock waved his hand out. "If you can do anything, then get to work!"
That kicked the Phoenix Flight members into high gear. All but Olivia. She remained standing next to Pock and watched the others numbly as they worked.
Ash and Sky from the Pantheon guild were using their wind magic to form domes over sections of the fire and pulled as much oxygen away as possible to smother the flames. While they did that, Sieg used his lightning magic to bring about a storm, causing rain to fall. This let several water mages, including Miranda, take control of the flowing liquid, using it to block most of the fire. The ones who did the most work, however, were Ken, Falco, and Cinder, the three fire mages using their resistance and magic to try and gain control of the fire and separate it from the horde.
Even with so many Knights working together, they barely made a dent. This was an entire city of flame, and all they could do was clear a starting path.
"Are you okay?" Pock placed a hand on Olivia's shoulder. "I know this likely can't be easy for you. This city is where you went to school, right? I heard you mention it to Ragna once."
"I'm fine."
"Olivia. You're crying."
Olivia wiped at her eyes but was unable to hold herself back as she fully began to cry. "W-Where are all the people?"
Pock wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I don't know." He admitted. "We don't know the full situation. This fire might just be around the city. Maybe if we can get in, we'll find sections that haven't been touched yet, or maybe the people managed to hide underground. H-Have hope! I'm sure everyone will be fine." Even to his own ears, he didn't believe the words that poured from his mouth.
This wasn't okay. Nothing about the situation was okay. Why did this happen? Some people believe that the Almighty and Haru are the closest things to God. They say the Almighty has a plan, and the world is nothing more than a story that He is telling.
If that's truly the case, Pock finds himself with a question.
'Who thought this story was a good idea?'
Davi stood directly in front of the city's entrance. A bit of a path had been cleared, but the other mages were still struggling. The heat of the fire was so intense that he felt his flesh burn, and that was with his Heat Resistance.
Even Ken, Falco, and Cinder were unable to enter the fire due to its intense heat.
"Shit!" Ken clasped her hands together, and her flame spirit, Yujin, opened his mouth and began to pull the fire into himself, absorbing it. "This is insane! What the fuck is wrong with this kingdom?"
"This isn't normal." Falco shook his head and used a spell. He created his saber, but instead of his own fire, he used the flames before him. After he made the sword, he would put the fire out and then make another one, doing this over and over again.
"I'm glad you two are here," Cinder admitted. She was breathing heavily, and her face was pale. "I've about reached my limit. I've been casting spells nonstop, taking the fire from the city away. These seem to be chemical flames. They're growing faster than any of us can put out."
"Go ahead and take a break." Ken folded her arms. "Yujin and I can handle this."
"I'm your senior." Cinder chuckled before her look grew serious. "Besides. I can't give up. Not yet. M-My friend is in there." Her voice quivered.
"Your friend?" Ken raised an eyebrow.
"Snow," Cinder explained. "He took Ashley and Sera to check this city out, and we haven't heard back from them since."
"If they're in the city…" Falco trailed off.
Cinder forced herself to step forward and started using more spells, taking control of the fire around her and sending it flying into the air. "No!" She declared. "Snow is strong. He's brave. He's smart. If anyone can survive this attack, then it's him. He'd never let himself lose. Not while he has to protect two junior Knights! I'm confident he kept Ashley and Sera safe!"
"You said they're in the city still?" Davi asked.
"Yeah." Cinder nodded. "I have no clue where, but I'm sure Snow made a barrier or something."
"Got it." Davi nodded his head. "I'll find him."
"What?"
"Row Shadow Armor." His armor exploded around him without any warning. It covered him from head to toe; the helmet covered his head. Then, without missing a beat, he walked forward.
"What are you doing!" Ken said in a panic, but she wasn't fast enough to stop Davi as he stepped into the fire and began to walk into the burning city. "Get out of there, you idiot!"
"I'll be fine." Davi's voice came out strained. "This suit is made to handle a dragon's fire. T-This is—is nothing. Row Shadow Vault." His vault opened up, and he did his best to suck in all the flames and heat as he marched forward.
"Davi!" Ken growled and was about to enter, but before she could, a hand appeared on her shoulder. She glared up at Sieg, who shook his head. "Your brother is about to be flash-fried!"
"He won't," Sieg said simply.
"Yes, he will!"
"He won't," Sieg said again. "Davi will be fine. My brother is strong."
Falco and Cinder both looked unsure. "Even so," Cinder began. "If he can withstand it, his flesh will surely burn and sizzle. The pain he'd be in is enough to turn anyone away."
Sieg smirked, though it went unseen under his mask. "This all started because you opened your big mouth."
"Me?" Cinder looked confused.
"That's right." Sieg nodded. "You had to mention someone was in need of help. My brother's a good person. Unlike anyone else in this world, he's the closest thing to a true living saint. The moment you said someone needed help, pain, fear, or even the idea of his own death meant nothing to him. Davi will walk, and as his skin burns, his blood boils, and his organs rupture, he'll keep helping people."
"You're his older brother." Ken glared at Sieg. "Isn't it your job to make sure he's okay?"
"I am." Sieg turned away. "I'm here to make sure he doesn't die. That's why I'm not worried. Davi said it himself. He can handle dragon fire. This is nothing. Just watch. Davi's going to be okay-"
"You know," Ken cut him off. "He hasn't even talked to you."
Sieg silently turned to look back at her.
Ken stared at him with a critical eye. "I get the feeling, he doesn't like you."
"Really now."
"Yeah." Ken turned her nose up at him. "You act like you know him. Why don't you drop the act?" She began to walk forward.
"What are you doing?" Falco demanded.
"Getting that dumbass back." Ken lazily flipped the senior member of her team off and then strolled into the fire. Her clothes ignited and began to burn away, and she would have been cooked alive even with her fire resistance, but she silently fused herself with Yujin, her hair shifting into a golden color, and a pair of ears and a tail growing from her. Even so, just walking through the flames was utter hell.
If this is what it was like for her, what the hell was Davi going through? And why?
"For fucks sake!" Falco tried to follow her in, but barely got five steps in before he came running out and had to be sprayed down with water magic. "Nope! No way! That shit is way too hot!"
"Shit." Cinder cursed. "Those two need to leave then."
"No." Falco shook his head.
"What?"
"I'll admit, it's bad, but our guild is strong." Falco gave a half smirk. "If Davi and Ken think they'll come back, they will."
Cinder stared down at the man with a begrudging amount of respect. Just what made Phoenix Flight act like this? Or had they always been like this?
Over with Laerton, she stood next to Myth and Whisper. The captain of Pantheon had blood trailing down his chin from how hard he bit his lip, and his fists were balled so tightly together the bones within his hands creaked.
"Out of everyone that could have come to our aid, it was your guild?" Myth didn't look at Laerton. He kept his gaze focused on the destruction that stood before him.
"Are you annoyed?"
"To be honest, yeah." Myth didn't try to hide the sorrow that was in his tone. "Look, I don't have anything against your guild like the other captains do. I think as long as you all do your job and try your best, you belong as Arcane Knights. That said, I won't lie; I would have rather Umbra Morits arrived before you. We could really use the help of Crow or Mermaid right about now. I'd even take the Shining Sentinels. Those pricks talk a big game, but a miracle is what we need right now."
"Why didn't they show up?" Laerton questioned.
"They're held up." Whisper winced.
Laerton's frown grew at that answer. "An entire city is on fire, and they're held up?"
"It's not the only city that was attacked…" Myth squeezed his eyes shut, and Laerton felt a sudden chill go down her spine.
"Are you saying there are more cities that were reduced to this state?" Laerton demanded.
"Two others." Whisper gave a weak nod. "Sunflower and Achillea City. We heard the report over the channel. Sunflower is a crater in the ground. The Shining Sentinels are on site, but the incident is now over. Achillea is left standing, but all the people are…" Whisper shook her head. "Umbra Mortis is on site over there, along with the Mourning Stars. The other guilds are all running around checking on the other cities, towns, and villages, making sure no other place was attacked."
"This doesn't make any sense!" Laerton raised her voice, and both Pock and Olivia looked over to where she was, as did Ash and Cinder. "Three cities were attacked? How did we not know about this until just now!"
"I don't know." Myth growled and bared his teeth. "Whoever did this had some way of shutting down communication or something. None of the cities sent out a distress signal. We weren't able to tell anything was wrong until after the attack. There's one group that specializes in this method of attack."
Laerton's hand grew tight around the handle of her sword. "You think Mordheim is at play?"
Mordheim had become very famous for its siege warfare. Because of a mage known as Thorn, the Spell Blades of Mordheim were able to teleport directly into cities in Rossum. If Thorn had enough information, he could even teleport these soldiers directly into places of communication within Rossum, allowing the Spell Blades to destroy those areas and isolate that place from the rest of the Rossum nation. Rossum literally wouldn't know an attack had happened until after it had occurred.
This sort of attack seemed on brand for Thorn and the people of Mordheim, but there was one issue.
The cities in Rossum were way smaller than those in Esteria. Not to mention, Rossum was extremely backwater. This meant it was much easier to disrupt their communications, as they were using magic and signal flares or birds to communicate, unlike Esteria, which had the internet and phones.
Even then, if Thorn did somehow gather his forces and destroy circuit towers in the city to shut off communications, that would instantly alert the king's core, who would find the attack suspicious and send out Knights to investigate immediately.
Lastly, and most bizarre of all, while Thorn could get the forces needed to attack a city and could destroy the communications, Mordehim was still in a war with Rossum, across the sea, and likely had no reason to pick a fight with Esteria, and even if they did, Thorn could only use his power to create a single gate at a time. It was a well-known weakness he had, and that also meant when they did attack and silence a city in Rossum, they could only do this to one city at a time.
Hitting three locations wasn't something Thorn should have been able to do.
"Someone declared an attack on us." Myth spat out. "They destroyed three of our cities and killed so many innocent people, and they did it all without us even knowing about it until it was far too late! I cared for this city! I cared for its people! This kingdom is my home! I do not know who was behind this, but mark my words, I will find out, and when I do, I will personally avenge this city and all those who were destroyed! So says Myth!" He took a calming breath and turned to look toward Laerton. "I need to know. Tell me everything about that blood mage that you brought up at the last captain's meeting."
Laerton gave a hesitant nod but then paused. "Why do you want to know about the blood mage?" She questioned.
"Because we believe they might be connected to these attacks." Myth admitted. "I apologize that the other captains didn't listen to you, but I personally looked into the matter that you brought up. I was unable to find anything of true merit; that was, until earlier today. Both Sunflower and Achillea had a single survivor. One person each, who somehow managed to survive the massacre of their village. Sunflower claims that the one who attacked was a clock-shaped monster. Unfortunately, the survivor was mutilated, the damage being caused by curses. They died on the operating table before any more information could be discovered. In Achillea, the survivor there is still alive. She told Mermaid that the one who attacked was a mutant that took the heads of all the people and wore them as their own. What stood out about her story to me, though, was the fact that she claims this mutant had blood magic."
Olivia felt a tightness in her chest. She had remained next to Pock and overheard the entire conversation. Bloom and those other monsters had been the ones to do this?
"Shit." Laerton nodded her head. "Yeah. That's Bloom. The mutant fucker I told you about."
"I figured." Myth let out a tired sigh. "We'll have a talk about this—"
"Something is coming!" People turned as several Knights yelled out.
From the entrance of the gate, a figure came walking out of the fire. Ken marched forward, her hair shifting back to normal as she came out of the blaze. Her clothes were utterly gone, and a gourd hung from a string, held between her teeth. A black armored figure was flung over her shoulder.
It was Davi, his black armor, gushing out steam. A cloak of fire still sprang around him, and several water mages rapidly put him and Ken out, who was also fine, shockingly enough.
Ken dropped Davi and then also collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily. "Healers." She spat out. A moment later, a cloak was flung over her, and she glanced up, finding Sieg, the blonde man, draping a blanket to cover her modesty, though she hardly cared.
Davi rolled over onto his back, loudly groaning, and his helmet bubbled and melted, pulling away. His skin was a nasty red, and he looked to have a bad sunburn, but besides that, he was shockingly fine. A healer ran over to him and began to rapidly cast spells.
"Save your mana." Davi managed to say. He winced and held his hand out. "Row Shadow Vault." His shadow expanded and opened, and from it a large block of ice shot out, nearly as big as a truck. "I found them."
The block of ice dropped to the ground with a loud rumble, and Cinder was the first to reach it. She rammed her hand into it hard enough to shatter the ice. A body collapsed out of it, wearing icy armor.
"Snow!" Cinder let out a relieved yell and supported her friend. The armor managed to stay pieced together, but it was melted at some sections. "Thank Haru, you're okay—" Cinder's words were cut off when the helmet slipped off the armor.
Long, black hair spilled out, and the face of a woman became visible. Sera, Squire of the Pantheon guild, remained inside the armor, her skin burned and charred slightly, and her eyes squeezed shut, but still breathing.
Cinder stared down at the woman in her arms in confusion. Then she heard a groan. Her head weakly turned, and she peered into what remained of the ice. Snow was inside. His armor was gone, as was most of his flesh, leaving nothing more than blackened muscles and bones. Even now, he was slowly burning up and turning into ash.
Cinder knew what he did instantly. Snow couldn't maintain multiple suits of armor and a barrier while under the pressure of the fire. He had given his suit to Sera and shielded her, while he alone cooked inside the cube of ice he created, prolonging his death so he could keep Sera safe.
"C-Cinder." Snow managed to croak out. Her friend, her brother in arms, the one who she first met when she joined the Knights, was...
"Snow!" Tears flowed down Cinder's face, and she let out a choked scream. Several Pantheon Knights ran to Snow's side, many using all their mana to try and heal him, but it was of no use. These wounds weren't something any of them could heal. "You idiot!" Cinder yelled out. "W-What did you do!"
"I—I kept her safe." Snow's words were weak. He barely managed to hang on. "A-Ashley was… T-They took her. It took her."
Cinder was unable to hold back anymore and began to fully cry now. Sky took over, knowing Snow didn't have much time left. "Who took her?" The blue-haired woman asked quietly. She used a bit of mana to try to ease his pain.
Snow's eyes shut tightly. "A mutant. It looked like a horse. L-Liquid magic. It can control liquid. I—it broke through my shield. Took Ashley away. D-Didn't kill her. E-Everyone else… They all."
"It's okay." Sky gave a sad nod. "You did well. You don't need to hold on anymore. We'll make sure Sera is okay."
"T-Thank you."
Davi remained sitting, and he stared on with a distant look as Snow died. "I thought if I got him here, they could save him."
Ken shook her head sadly. "No. Wounds like those are too much even for me. Don't beat yourself up, Davi. He was dead already. Through sheer will, he kept himself going just on the chance his companion could be saved."
"I know. I still wish I did more."
"You're a good person." Ken sighed. "It's so frustrating."
"I'm really not that good—"
"Just shut up." Ken shook her head and punched him in the shoulder. "I'm going to heal you now."
"Davi." Davi weakly looked up at Sieg. "How are you feeling?"
"Good." Davi turned his head away, not meeting his brother's eyes.
Sieg's frown grew, and the words Ken had said to him ran through his mind. "Why don't you go help somewhere else?" Ken spat out when she noticed Sieg standing around.
"Right." Sieg turned around and was about to leave, but paused. "Sorry." Then he walked away.
The Knights of Pantheon mourned for their friend, but they still had a job to do. Not all of them were able to return to work, but those who did tried to contain the fire further. Even if no one else could be saved, the fire needed to be stopped before it reached the forest.
"Are you okay?" Laerton asked quietly.
Myth stared numbly at the body of Snow. "It always hurts. No matter how many times it happens."
"Yeah." Laerton placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Myth brushed her hand away. "You helped recover his body and saved one of my Squires. I'm grateful."
"I'll tell you everything I know about the blood mage." Laerton looked to Sera and then to Snow's body. "Let's kill those fuckers."
"Thank you."
"We're not done yet." Whisper let out a weak sigh. "The cities were our first priority, but we need to check the villages nearby as well."
"The villages?" Laerton looked to Whisper and raised an eyebrow.
"The cities were all attacked, but so were nearby villages," Whisper explained. "From what we can tell, one village was also taken out along with the city. We had some people check out Violet, and it appears to be in good condition. All that's left is—"
Davi was gone. One moment he was sitting next to Ken, and then, in the next, he took off running, sprinting fully into the woods. It caught everyone off guard, save for two. Olivia and Ash also took off running as fast as they could, trying to keep up with Davi.
Olivia ran with everything she had, a sense of dread washing over her. It was just in her head, though, right? The reason none of them had been able to get in touch with Rosco was simple. The connection had been down. He was okay. Fri was okay. Lotus was gone, but the village she grew up in and the man who raised her were all still going to be the same!
She was running for nothing, right? Just worried about the slight chance something was amiss. She'd break through the trees, see her village, and see how happy everyone was.
Fri was still there.
Her village was still there.
Everything was going to be okay.
Davi reached it first and came to a halt. Ash stumbled past him, breathing heavily, and Olivia was about to, but before she could, Davi spun around and wrapped his arms around her. Everything went dark as his hand covered her eyes.
"Olivia. Don't look." Davi's voice nearly caused her heart to shatter. Why was he holding her? Why was he blocking her view? Fri was fine!
Then, a loud scream of rage, anguish, and fear erupted out of Ash. Why was he screaming? Fri was fine, Fri was fine, Fri was fine—she'd look and it would be there, everyone would be okay, everyone would be well, her world would still be together—
"Stop." Davi tried to hold her, but she forced her way out of his arms. "Olivia."
She stumbled past him and past the collapsed and sobbing Ash and finally stopped as she looked at Fri. All the villagers were in front of her. As were the spikes that went through their bodies, forcing them to stay standing.
Olivia felt her legs give out, and as she collapsed, so too did her world.
Fri was gone.