3 Triplets, Perfect Children

[Admin]

Chapter 1:

Auri village was nestled deep in the forest, completely forgotten by the kingdom that held it. The village wasn't large, but it wasn't rural. It had it's own economy, and it seemed that money came into the village more than it exited it. There were no major pathways within the country that lead to Auri. There were actually no noticeable paths to enter, most people that leave already know the way back. And they know the way back from traveling with people who already knew the way back.

Most villagers had studied magic for a few years of their lives. Some of the villagers belonged to families who invented their own spells generations ago, and some just knew basic fire spells. Everyone seemed happy though, and from a visitors perspective, it didn't even seem like a town of mages.

Resting calmly amongst the other houses in the village lived the Immimella family. Arden and Luci lived peacefully with their 2 nephews and niece.

The triplets had recently turned 10, the first born of the 3 was Rusteo. He appeared to be a bulkier child, always acting rough with small animals and other children. His hair was dark brown and unclean, but his eyes were bright green, very trusting. The second born was Elle. She didn't speak as much as the other children her age. She barely spoke at all. Nobody paid more than a little attention to her. Most visitors forgot she lived there. The youngest of the 3 by a few hours, Rasu, was loud. Very loud. So loud, most never knew what the hell he was saying.

One casual Summer day, something happened that would destroy the culture and lifestyle of everyone living in the town.

The 3 children abandoned their studies on Saturdays, and often went off doing their own fun and games. This warm Summer day, Luci and Elle stayed home to prepare dinner for tonight. The family had a little extra money, and instead of saving, they would eat a little more.

CRASH

"What was that?" asked Luci, expecting equal confusion from Elle.

The two paused, continuing to prepare food, but the sound came back again.

THUD!

"This is odd, I'll go out and see what all the fuss is about. Don't stop chopping the carrots, though!" ordered Luci, as she poked slowly out the door.

Staring towards the mountainside, the woman saw an odd blanket of black charging from below the trees. Curiously, Luci continued staring. Arden and Rasu sprinted over to Luci, carrying axes.

"What the hell is that?" Arden asked.

Luci shook her head, shrugging.

CRASH!

They knew what the sound was now. It was the sound of houses collapsing. This wave of black had invaded the town, but the wave of black wasn't one creature, but thousands of hooded mages, surrounding the town, smashing everything in their path.

The townsfolk gathered in clumps to try to fight back, but the mages came in massive numbers, killing everyone in their path.

Chaos broke free, and Arden and Luci thought the best move was to try to break out, but Rusteo was missing, and there were so many mages in every direction, so they hid in the house.

...CRASH.

Hours passed, and eventually, the screaming and crashes stopped. The thousands of mages paced away, leaving as mysteriously as they came.

Out of the rubble, Elle crawled. Shaking, looking around, fearing that her voice might bring back another mage. The small, bloody girl dug through the wreck of dust and wood to find the remains of her family.

She found her aunt, neck crushed from heavy chunks of the broken roof.

She found her uncle, completely crushed and contorted by the main pillar that held the house up.

She found her brother, cut up and bleeding.

But he was alive.

Elle pushed rubble out of her way, desperately trying to dig out the rest of her brother. He doesn't respond, but his heart is still beating. She propped Rasu onto her back, and trudged out of the village, carrying the burden of having close to no idea where she was going, but hoping with all her might that she might be able to come across someone who does know where she can get him help.

[Wulfi]

I love the sudden mood reversal. This is very nice. =) Poor Elle, she's just a little muffin of misfortune, isn't she!

[Griffin]

Sounds like a nice buildup for a great adventure. Moar plox.

[Admin]

Chapter 2:

The forest stretched for miles, and having no compass or pathways to follow made the journey even more difficult for a battered Elle carrying a dying Rasu. Although she was healthy enough to move, the girl was still wounded. Her shoes squished against the dry forest grass from the pools of blood filling her shoes.

7 hours and 19 minutes. The girl didn't know how long she had been trekking through the forest, but it all felt too long. Rasu was in peril, and at this point, she even realized that her body had little strength. Despite her pain, her small size, the exhaustion, and the mystery of where she was going, she continued her journey in silence.

1 hour and 3 minutes. Although her thought process had stopped, she still moved with an objective. The forest seemed neverending, and her memory of the way life was before the annihilation was diluted with the thought of the trees. All the trees. She had already forgiven herself 4 hours ago for not learning healing magic, and pitted her wandering thoughts to the positive, but at that moment, after 8 hours and 22 minutes of walking, positive thinking had to be put on hold.

A creature of massive proportions slunk out of the messy slush of a very nearby river, surprising Elle. This creature looked towards Elle, sensing the blood she and Rasu were covered in, and for the first time in her life, 10 year old Elle realized that she has to kill before being killed.

This creature looked at Elle, licking the tips of it's rows of vicious teeth, showing clear intent of hunger.

Elle put Rasu down gently behind her, and spoke her first words to him in the past 8 hours.

"...I won't die until I get you help..."

The frightening dinosaur-like creature crawled forward quickly with it's mouth opened, ready to kill. Elle planted her trembling feet firmly on the ground, holding her left hard forward to defend her face, right hand in a tightly closed fist.

The Negative Dagger

Growing up, Elle stood out among her few friends when it came to magic. Her friends were good, and Elle was horrible. She remembered when one of the neighbors tried to teach her and the other neighborhood kids some basic water spells. One friend got so good, he made up his own skill that he called Aqua Pellets. It fired hundreds of sharp little blasts of water at once. Her second friend copied the move the neighbor used, called Laying Waterfall. It was a straight blast of violent moving water. When Elle learned the move, she couldn't get the move any stronger than the average water gun.

Having an odd determination to master at least one spell, she broke out the books that her ancestors wrote hundreds of years ago. Her uncle kept the books, even though he, nor the rest of the family could learn a single bit of it. An ancient people who invented their own style of combat, their own spells, and even developed upon an almost completely unknown battle style element. This fascinated Elle, captivated her, actually. Elle picked up the book for the first time when she was 6. She learned her first spell from it when she was 8. She memorized the book completely when she was 9, but could still barely do that one move.

"The Negative Dagger..."

Elle waited fearfully, as the lizard-like dinosaur creature charged faster, lunging forward. Elle whipped her right hand up, and a fluctuating black dagger that resembled a scaled down sword appeared in a flash above her. As the creature prepared to bite onto her, Elle lunged her fist with the hovering dagger into the skull of the creature, pushing her arm all the way through the back of it's head, ripping her arm up violently. The creature mumbled violently in pain, thrashing around the mucky ground, bleeding profusely.

The 10 year old shivered in fear. She won, probably killing the monster (which was now fleeing back below the river muck).

"W-Whoa! Are you okay?" called a young voice coming from the distance.

A voice.

Elle looked up, and several meters away was a young boy with shimmering blond hair similar to her own, charging close to her. Words didn't come from her mouth faster.

"Help us! Our village was destroyed, and my brother needs help, or he'll bleed to death!"

The boy continued his charge closer. He placed his hands roughly onto Rasu and closed his eyes. "I'm not exactly sure I've felt anything like this in class before, but I can tell you for sure, that this doesn't look good." The boy's hands glowed purple for a few seconds, and Rasu started to bleed badly again for a second, and then his wounds closed a bit.

"His bloodloss was very very bad, so I made new blood, and healed it as best as I could. He'll need a better healer than me, though. I didn't take the class on how to remove debris." the boy said again.

Elle watched in wonder as she saw hope come back, but didn't notice the boy putting his hands into her body.

The boy smiled bashfully as he introduced himself. Hark was his name, but it sounded more like Haruk, probably because he rolled the r in his name once. "I'm Elle, it's nice to meet you..."

Hark nodded as he finished observing the damage done to her body. "You're not as bad as your brother, but you've still got more than enough wrong to kill you later. The city I live in is about a 2 hour walk away. Are you going to be okay to walk there?"

She nodded meekly. "I carried him from around noon to sunset... I can carry him a little more."

Hark place his glowing purple hands on her. "I don't expect you to carry him. You're in no condition to, plus, with all that damage that's in your Spirit Core."

"I didn't realize that exhaustion damages the Spirit Core. Did my spell push it over the edge?"

Hark looked completely shocked. "While bigger spells under bad conditions damage it, your Spirit Core isn't stress damaged... it's mutilated. It's not even fresh wounds, what were you doing with your childhood?"

Elle didn't reply.

"Nevermind. No time for this now. We have a long walk back to the city."

The two walked together, for the next 2 hours. Elle knew Rasu was safe with Hark carrying him, and after the trauma of the past day, Elle was just happy that she gave Rasu a fighting chance to live.

Arriving back at the city, Hark entered a very beautifully constructed stone building.

"Elle, this is my school. Someone from one of the Seeded Expert classes can help."

What?

Elle didn't understand what he was talking about, but she nodded. The halls were warmly lit, and Hark knocked urgently on a door with the lights on inside.

The door opened, and an old man with a lovely carved staff stared the three children down bitterly.

"I'm teaching a class. What is so important?" the man asked, ignoring the fact that 2 of the children were battered up badly.

"Sorry Professor, I'm Hark Chrys, Specialty General Battle Tactics student. Sorry to interrupt, but my friends are from a village pretty far away, and it was destroyed. They're dying, and my healing spells aren't up to par with my battle skills. Is there anyone here who could possibly help?

The professor perked up, and turned to his class. "Afelle, Riruio, check their damage. Chiun, heal the girl. Anme, heal the boy."

Four students quickly stood, pulling the children in, sitting them in 2 free chairs. One student placed her hands on Elle, the other examined Rasu.

The student girl spoke first, "Infection forming in wounds in the upper back, nearly complete mutilation of the Spirit Core."

What's so wrong with my Spirit Core?

The male student spoke next, "The boy has suffered major bloodloss, muscle damage from debris, possible nickel poisoning from debris, and... hmm... it's not as critical as everything else, but his Spirit Core is also oddly formed."

Weird. Him too?

The two students quickly began working on their wounds. Elle felt the painful rip and removal of the filthy debris that was housed in her body for hours, but the student treating her worked quickly on the irritating wound, and even completely repaired the mutilated magical energy-emitting organ.

Rasu took a little more time, and all 4 of the students standing eventually treated him. After about 40 minutes, Rasu was without a single wound.

Hark and Elle thanked the professor, but Rasu was still knocked out from the massive body trauma. The professor assured the two that he'd be up by tomorrow, if he survived the night.

Elle and Hark sat on the stair outside with Rasu sleeping beside them.

"Where will you go now, Elle?"

Elle sat there, and realized at that moment...

Her old life was over, and a new one was beginning all too fast.

[Admin]

(Oh shit, overkill...)

[Griffin]

I really like this. It's a fresh look on magic, at least for me. And the whole Spirit Core thing is suspenseful and interesting. Can't wait for more.

[Wulfi]

I fully agree with Griffin. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to the next installment! I wanna know more about the Spirit Core!

[Admin]

Chapter 3;

Arden is dead.
Luci is dead.
Rusteo is dead.
All my friends are dead.
I am alive.
Rasu is alive.
I must collect my losses and move on.

Elle was silent in her thoughts for a few moments. Hark waited for her answer patiently, but before Elle even noticed he was there, the boy chimed in.

"My father is the governor, and he could probably help!"

"...Would it be troublesome?"

"Not at all! Besides, you two need a place to stay for the night, right? I live in the villa on the base of the mountain trail. It's not too far away, either."

Elle shrugged, not wanting to be a burden, but also acknowledging she had no other options. Just this once, she'd force herself to impose on people - for her brother's sake.

"C'mon" said the boy, as he gestured politely towards the bright street. Elle followed, carrying Rasu on her back. The 10 minute walk through the street was silent, but amazing. The buildings were all so new and unfamiliar, it made the 10 years in her little village feel like a prison.

The 3 arrived at the charming little villa by the mountainside. The governor wanted his house there for protection from oncoming armies. No army would be capable of climbing a mountain. It's logical, and pretty sweet that he'd build a house to protect his family.

Hark opened the beautiful wooden double doors casually. The large white house had a massive parlor to enter into. Elle and Rasu waited quietly as Hark walked off, pulling his parents from their study.

The man stood almost a whole foot taller than any of the other men that Elle had seen. He had light brown hair pushed back, and some face stubble. His eyes were very cold, but somehow compassionate.

"My son tells me you're orphans?" asks the man in a voice with no consideration for their situation.

"Y-yes sir..." spoke Elle, "...and... we have no home to return to. My brother was really hurt from our house collapsing on him, so... uhm..."

"So is there anything you can do for them, Dad?" Hark interrupted.

"Of course. You two can stay here, we can get you enrolled in quality schools tomorrow."

"But Elle is really good at magic! She should go to my school!" interrupted Hark again.

"I can arrange for them to apply tomorrow. Would you two like that?"

Elle nodded. "My brother is even better than me at magic... so..."

"Very well, then." the man finished. "I can set up two guest rooms, but first, you should eat. It was a bad day, I'll assume, and you need time to rest."

Dinner went well. Hark was nice, and his father (who never introduced himself) treated them well. After dinner, everyone sat in the study, discussing worthless things. Money, status, school. All was fairly stupid at this point. To Elle at least.

Eventually, Elle was allowed time to sleep. It didn't seem to come fast enough. Maybe she'd think better of everyone and everything in the morning.

"Elle! Elle! I found a puppy!"

That was none other the voice of her brother, Rasu.

"...It's cute."

Auri Village was always beautiful in the early Winter.

"This puppy was cold, so I'm taking it inside until the weather is nicer."

"You should ask Uncle Arden and Aunt Luci. It's their house."

Rusteo jumped out from behind a wall, and pulled on the puppy's ear playfully. "It's cute! Take it home! We can build a home for it!"

Rasu handed the puppy to Rusteo and walked to Elle.

"Thank you, sister. You could've just left my body under all that rubble..."

"W-what do you mean brother?" asked Elle.

"Nevermind. You should enjoy your rest. I'll miss you, Elle. I will. It was fun having another adventure with you, but... It's our last. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this in person, but you'll get the message. It's time for you to wake up now."

Elle threw off her sheets in terror. Her brother! That was HIS voice! She threw open her door, and crossed the hall urgently, but silently. It was probably just in her imagination.

She opened the door to the room her brother was layed in, and looked down at him. She placed her hand on his face, expecting it to be as cold as ice.

...It wasn't. Rasu stirred grumpily. Elle exhaled gratefully. She embraced Rasu tightly, as he looked confused at his surroundings.

"Elle... where the hell am I?"

"Rasu... it's a long story. It's a very long story. The village was invaded by dark mages, and they collapsed all the houses, and we're the only ones who survived, but you were bleeding to death, so I carried you through the forest, and I met a boy, Hark, who helped us out, and took us to his house. That's where we are now."

Rasu was silent. "So... where's everyone?"

"They're dead. Everyone. Every single last person. They're dead."

Rasu shook his head in disbelief. "Could you give me a few minutes to process this?"

"I'll be downstairs."

Elle descended the staircase. Hark and his family were eating breakfast already. Hark waved Elle over eagerly.

"Is your brother up yet? I want to meet him."

"He's up, but he needs time to process everything." Elle replied.

"You two will be applying for Hark's school today. You'll really have to impress the directors. It's very exclusive, but it's the best school in this country. You'll have to work even harder, since you're entering during the 3rd quarter." said the governor.

"Yeah! It's a two part process! You have a private verbal audition, and you have to display your magic abilities. Maybe even in front of the whole school. Don't freak out to much, you'll be great."

...Oh damn. I suck at magic.

"I'll try..."

Rasu came timidly down the stairs, looking through the faces of everyone.

"Hello everyone. I'm Rasu... I'm a bit confused as to who you all are."

"I'm Hark! It's nice meeting you!"

"I'm Omirus, Hark's father. It's nice to see you well."

Omirus! I'll remember that.

Then, for the first time, Elle heard Hark's mother speak. Her voice was catty and crude. It held a lot of sass and tone to it. "Lucia."

Lucia. She didn't tell me her name either.

Rasu nodded shyly, sitting next to Elle on the far side of the table.

Conversation carried on. Nothing happened that was too shocking. Rasu heard more details of how bad condition he was in, how everyone was dead. God, how many times does he have to hear that everyone he knew and loved, besides his meek sister that barely talked to him, was dead?

Hours passed, and Hark took Rasu and Elle back to the school they had been to that previous night.

"Okay guys. My dad talked to the directors. Your audition is today. Like I said, you'll start with the public display, which will be in front of the Specialty Battle Tactic Class, Specialty Healing Class, and Specialty General Class. Don't worry, though. I'm in the Battle Tactics Class, so I'll put in a good word. Okay? After that, you have an interview. It's tough, but just be yourselves. Okay?"

The walk was shorter than Elle desired. Looking at chow confident Rasu was, it made her envious.

The two entered the office, and were seated by a pushy looking pale guy with thick glasses.

Sit down! Sit down! You have to wait for the classes to enter the arena before you are allowed within the school. This guy is a joke.

17 minutes. 32 seconds.

After that wait, Rasu and Elle were walked down a staircase, through some thin halls, and into a locker room.

The man leading them instructed "When they call your name, go out there, and do whatever the directors ask of you. Best of luck to you."

"Our first applicant, Rasu Fumiura, please step into the arena."

"Good luck, Rasu..." said Elle, as he walked out, sighing.

Rasu stepped into the room, surprised at how massive it was. And the intricacies of the arena were phenomenal. A panel of 5 people sat behinds granite desks at the left side of the arena, and surrounding him were students, all seeming VERY judgmental.

"Nice to meet you, Rasu. Please display your best magic for everyone to see." said the elderly woman in the middle.

"Okay. This is a skill I made up myself..."

Rasu held his hand above his head, and above him, a black blade appeared. It was similar to Elle's Negative Dagger, but it wasn't as sturdy or powerful. He threw it up in the air... clenched his fist...

And warped.

His fist punched at the base of the swirling blade, his body following the dagger with every clench of his fist. Rasu grabbed onto the dagger in this final warp, and landed suavely on the ground. The students watched in awe at a technique that was thought to be impossible. As Rasu bowed, the students rose with a wild cheer. At least, most of them. Some students were too arrogant and proud to admit to not being the best.

"Warping is an amazing technique. Rasu Fumiura, congratulations, you've made a stellar impact on us and the crowd for the first part. Your interview will begin after your sister begins.

...Rasu was amazing... What will I do?

And Elle stood, looking in at her brother, wondering how all her hard work seemed to pass her, and entered her brother, who never seemed to try to accomplish anything at all.

In that moment, Elle realized that no matter how strong she got... she'll always look like a failure.

[Griffin]

Very nice, as always.

[Wulfi]

You never cease to impress me. =)

[killerinstinct]

I concur. But, I think that it went too fast at the beginning. Still, I love where it's going.

[Admin]

Chapter 4:


Running is not bad.
You can admit that you lost.
I am not as skilled.

A Self-Defeating Haiku, by Elle

Elle poked her head outside of an arena door, watching her brother walk towards her.

This crowd really was impressed with the flair of his move... Except those assholes. That was great, why wouldn't you clap? Fuckers. O-Oh jeez... What can I do? I don't have any flashy skills... ...heh... I know what to do.

"Elle Fumiura, you're next. Please enter the main arena."

Shit!

Elle crept out from behind the door, which eflt like removing a security blanket. Walking out to the claustrophobic stage, she couldn't help feeling anxious that the crowd was already judging her. She could already hear whispers of "That girl has such dirty looking hair." "What the hell is that pasty bitch doing there?" "Weird emo girl." "Does she sleep? She looks scary." "I bet she'll fuck up." "Her brother just revolutionized magic, no matter what she shows, she'll never be able to impress the headmasters..."

Don't cry...

Elle practically floated to the administrators of the school. Half way on her haunting walk, she caught her brother's eye.

"I don't know what you'll do, but you'll blow them away. You know a spellbook, I just know that one skill." Rasu said, as he passed.

Elle wanted to turn and embrace her brother, elated that he was alive, and grateful because she knew that what he said was absolutely, 100% true.

"Hello Elle. I'm the Head administrator of Stacking Wings Elite Magic Academy. You may call me Professor Isapianne. Although my professors beside me are valid opinions, it's ultimately my decision if you and your brother are accepted into this school."

"...Professor... Why are there all these students here, if this is your decision...?"

"Good question! Because I only teach final year students, I'm unsure of the progress of the individual classes. You don't enter a new class every year, like other schools. To enter a new grade, you have to have unique abilities that qualify you to be exceptional in one aspect of the class. The students here personally show how impressive you are. By cheering, if you hadn't guessed. Do you have any more questions?"

"Uhm... yes, actually. Would it be against the rules if I had a random student help me show off my moves?"

"Is it necessary?" Professor Isapianne replied.

Elle nodded, "I promise that I won't break any rules, or cheat or anything."

Isapianne turned too her colleagues, who all seemed to agree. The professor nodded.

Who didn't clap for my brother...?

Elle scanned the rows of students, she saw younger students on her left, all who seemed stunned by Rasu. She looked above the professors heads, and saw slightly older students, also impressed. The farther to the right, the fewer impressed people. Then she caught eyes with someone who just glared at Rasu... and her apparently. I really want to emasculate him...

Elle daintily walked over to the young, angry man. He has dirty blond, almost brown hair that curled a bit after a few inches, making his head look like an angry mop.

"Excuse me! You right there, could you come help with my application?" Elle asked sweetly to the young man, pointing her finger, bobbing her index finger up and down, assuring that she had his attention.

"Are you sure? I'm a pretty high class student, you sure you don't want someone else?" he said arrogantly.

"Trust me, I want you." Elle replied, with a daring challenge in her eyes.

The young man stood up strongly. He hopped over the barrier and fell a few feet to the ground, landing smoothly. "What do you want me to do?"

Making sure to announce, Elle demanded directly, "Stand center stage, and please make the strongest brrier you can!"

The man, who now appeared to be about 5 years older than her, stood boldly center stage, holding his hand out, wrapping himself in a translucent, thick, glowing red shield. "I'm holding back for you."

Ignoring the cocky boy, Elle turned to her judges, professors and students, and smiled. "The first move I'm going to display is a skill called the Negative Dagger. It's a matter-forming skill with an added effect. Curious?"

The professors looked curiously at the girl. What was the trick?

Elle held her hand up, and in a swirl of purple and black bubbling magic escaping the palm of the right hand, she bravely gripped the conjured weapon.

Walking patiently over to the man with the shield, she poked her head close to him, without touching his shield.

"Is this a solid shield, and by that, is it difficult to break?"

The boy sighed, and glared at her. "I've never had anyone get more than a dent in this shield. It's the best one in the school."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. Cracking her knuckles with the tension in her hand from gripping the dagger, she slashed through the shield, visibly inhaling the magic from the shield into her dagger, causing it to expand and grow into a large black sword.

"As you can see, this skill is used to cut through all forms of created matter, even matter made by magic. Although it appears to be dark magic, it's actually derived from a different source. Different subjects of matter are formed while different emotions fuel the spirit core, right? This technique is developed by the fueled emotion of 'Determination from the Failure of Attempted Magic'. Unlike earth spells that are fueled by confidence, and misery of dark magic, this brand of magic is derived entirely of determination, being tainted by no arrogant influence whatsoever."

The boy looked mortified at his shield being broken so easily. Elle bowed, and the crowd cheered madly (the students in the young man's class seemed to cheer the loudest.)

"Could I show off just one more thing, please?" asked Elle.

The professor lit up. "Certainly! I'm very impressed, thus far!"

Elle then turned to the bitter, vicious looking young man.

"I didn't catch your name... I'm sorry."

"It's Akayajuu. Don't forget it." he said bluntly.

"Akayajuu, please, if you will, I want to display my shield now. Do you mind attacking me? I promise my shield won't break."

I'll teach you some manners.

"Hmph, don't be too sure."

Elle nodded, "Whenever you're ready."

Akayajuu clutched his fist, and a swirling blue fire swarmed his hand, and before Elle put her shield up, he punched his fist through the air, sending a column of nuclear-hot energy towards Elle.

Maiden's First Defense...

Elle swirled her fingers, and in a blink of an eye, Elle was surrounded by a pure black energy ball. The flames collided with her shield, and the crowd sat in fearful silence as they saw Akayajuu try to burn the girl alive.

30 seconds passed, and the flames Akayajuu fired had finally subsided, and he knelt to the ground, sweaty and fatigued.

The smoke and ash cleared from the point he aimed at, and the black ball remained. A tiny snap was heard, and the shield dissolved into a field of dancing magic bubbles, that flew erratically, and faded into infinity.

"The Maiden's First Defense. It's a spell designed for close range protection. Very sturdy. I kept my promise."

The room was deafening with the sound of cheering. Elle put a huge asshole in his place, and with seemingly no effort at all.

"Elle Fumiura! I'm more impressed! You and your brother are extraordinary. I think it would only be appropriate if I interviewed you!"

Suck it, asshole. You just got your ass handed to you by us.

Rasu ran onto the stage, and embraced Elle. "I didn't know you could do that!"

Elle smiled awkwardly. "I've never had anyone fight me, or put a shield up, but the book says 'Negative Dagger's properties of combat are corrosive to non magic matter, but absorb all solid manifests of magic.' It was neater than I imagined it'd be."

The two followed the professor to the back, and watched Hark screaming as he exited the stands and went back to class. All Elle or Rasu could really make out from his babbling was "Yeah!"

The two were seated in the same office as before, and the same boring, stuck up person said, "Young lady, meetings are private, your brother will go in first, and then you'll get your turn. Keep your patience up!"

I could wait for hours!

Rasu entered, and less than 6 minutes later, he exited, glowing with joy.

"She said I'm qualified to enter the Standard General Battle Tactics class and the Specialty Magic Technique class! She just reviewed the classes for a few seconds, so I signed up for the Standard General Battle Tactics class. I never told her that I didn't know any of the spells that you do. Keep it our secret."

Elle entered the room, and sat with Professor Isapianne.

"Elle Fumiura! Wonderful to finally get to talk to you face to face! I loved the show you put on, you really stuck it to that little asshole."

She figured me out? I like this lady.

"Thank you, professor."

"Akayajuu is a great mage, but since he started advancing in classes, he's been a brat with a pitiful attitude. This will do him some good."

"I'm happy that I could have been of help."

"Now, Elle," started Isapianne, "this is just basic protocol to see where you stand academically... it should only take a few minutes. We're just going to make sure you understand the skills learned in each class, up until there's a class where you would benefit,but would not fall behind.

First class we'll go over quickly. Do you know what the spirit core is?"

"Yes, it's the organ in the human body which conjures all spells, based on emotions and gestures."

"Correct. And what are the 4 basic spells summoned?"

"Fire, fueled by rage, earth, fueled by confidence, water, fueled by awareness, and wind, fueled by joy."

"Correct. And you can cast each of these spells in the form of a basic level projectile?"

"...U-uhm... In my youth, my spirit core was mutilated, so... I've never actually performed any basic level spells without it being much weaker than expected..."

The professor stopped, and looked stunned. "...Oh gosh... no... Elle, please say that's not true, we haven't even cleared the first class. If this is the case, the only class you qualify for is... basic level beginner... You'll advance quickly, but this is a horrible turn of events that you have to start here..."

"I'm fine. I was actually expecting to not get in this school at all. Any class would be better than none."

"...I'll make an expection... Elle, I hope you don't mind, but I want to see you in Specialty General Battle Tactics. It's the class Akayajuu is in. It'll do him good. We also can't have you without basic magic, so I could tutor you during your free period after school."

"Thank you, professor, so much." Elle nodded with a smile.

"Report to class tomorrow, your class is 3rd floor. North Room."

Elle walked out of the office, and took Rasu. The two wandered the streets for a few minutes talking before they decided to go to their new home to inform their peculiar parental figures that they excelled in their test of skill and savvy.

Hours later, Hark came home, pretty much bouncing off the walls.

"You were both phenomenal! My class was talking about both of you all day! Especially Akayajuu! He wants to kill you Elle! It's great, because he CAN'T! HAH!"

Hark babbled more. it was supporting, and loving, and caring, and intelligent. He knew what he was talking about.

Night came, and Elle sat wit Hark in the garden.

"We'll be in the same class tomorrow." Elle said.

"I know, when Professor Isapianne came into the classroom to add you to the roster, everyone broke out in chaos. It was so much fun. Our professor had us speculate the pros and cons in your fighting style, from what we saw today. The class shared our lists, and everyone was so freaked out by what else you might be able to do!"

"I can do some other stuff, but Rasu is a one trick pony."

"No way! I'd have never guessed that..."

"It's true. Can you believe we're going to be in the same class together?" Elle asked.

"It'll be great. We can grow to be the best mages we can be. Just you and me, together."

Elle looked at Hark, and realized that there was something solemn about him when he wasn't bustling with energy. There was a sincere solid life force that was perfect. And beautiful.

I didn't know him.
But my village died for me.
I thank them, for him.

It almost goes against my code of conduct; The Rules of Elle.

I'll try disobeying the rules. Because I deserve to be in love.

Things will be okay this time.

-A sappy Haiku and some chunks of my inner thoughts. By Elle.

A happy Elle.

[Griffin]

Best yet Brandon. Better and better each time.

[Admin]

Chapter 5:

6 Years Later

In the past 6 years, nothing much has happened. Hark, Rasu, and I graduated first in the class of Stacking Wings Elite Magic Adademy

Omirus and Lucia never adopted us for some reason.

Hark calmed down after a while. He wanted to teach magic 2 years ago, so he went trolling around tournaments and arenas. Somehow, he found a little girl-mage, and he's going to teach her.

And he really wants to find out what happened to my village. When Rasu and I were 12, we went back to the village to look and see if we could find anything suspicious. Besides the fact that an entire village was rubble, it wasn't too suspicious. The scariest part of that whole ordeal was that we didn't know what to do before we left. Rasu wanted to investigate the shambled houses to possibly find some information about our village history. I didn't want to. We'd see too many bodies, and there were probably poisonous spiders. And mold. Whatever was in there was bound to be useless to us anyway. This village was in the past. I convinced him to refrain from peeking through rubble. He insisted we look through the wreckage that was once our home. I didn't disagree. I was curious. I was really curious.

It was much harder to find our home than we thought, but when we found it, we knew we found it. We start moving pillars and beams away. It didn't take long before we found barely fleshy skeletons. Rasu seemed more disturbed by this than I did. He threw up a few times, and cried, and paced around.

It was much worse seeing it fresh. I don't know what he was freaking out for.

I'm not sure how we decided this, but we ran to the edge of our former village, and we lit all the remains on fire. The village lit up for the first time in 2 years.

In the future, I'd like to build a new town here. And a road. It's a real bitch having to travel to a village that only about 10 or so people know exists.

I didn't stay to watch the burning. It smelled horribly. I assume it's all gone. I'll check again someday.

Hark and I are engaged. It just sort-of happened. We plan to get married in a year.

Rasu is fine. He got really good at magic. He's been bustling around, never explaining anything. He's probably a local mercenary... I've seen him pass by some pubs. I know he doesn't drink, because he's not old enough to drink, so he's probably out doing odd jobs. He does always have money...

Where am I now?

I'm waiting in the garden for Hark to come home. He's been training that girl.

Elle kicked the dirt on on path around.

He's late... Where is he?

The 16 year old girl opened the fence door, and walked the path to the street. She looked around impatiently, and tapped her foot.

"It's sweet that he's teaching that girl and everything, but I wish I had just an extra hour to spend with him..."

"Elle!" shouted a voice from the distace.

Elle turned eagerly, to meet face to face with Meridan.

"Hey." he said.

Meridan was 21, had dark brown hair with bangs that seemed to be trying to blind him. Behind the layer of brown hair, Meridan had simple brown eyes. He was a nice guy, and one of the only people that Elle made friends with. He lived 2 houses down the street, and was prone to sleeping face down on his front lawn. Elle encountered him quite a bit, always concerned that he'd finally suffocate on clumps of grass. Eventually, they started hanging out when Hark was busy. Elle loved Hark, but her best friend was clearly Meridan.

"Hey Merry. Are you doing well?"

"As well as I can possibly be. I was actually looking for something."

"What?"

Meridan shrugged. "Someone was jumping through the trees. It was headed up the street, and it probably jumped through the trees in your yard."

"That's really weird. Who was it?"

"I'm not sure, but I want to follow him, just in case it's dangerous. You don't want civilians getting hurt, now do you?"

"Point taken. Lead the way."

Meridan lead Elle through the street, both looking carefully through the treetops. They wandered around, until they stopped at a field, exhausted.

"Maybe we lost him... or whatever it was."

The trees rustled, and a figure leaped from a tree to the empty field the two others stood in.

"Elle Fumiura. Do you recognize me?" said the figure.

It stood at about 6 feet, and had long, shaggy brown hair pushed back. His eyes were green. His body was a massive force of muscle and bulk.

...Brown hair... Green eyes... Recognize... Y-You're...

"Rusteo! Is that you?!" Elle said as she rushed over to her long lost brother.

IMPACT.

Elle felt his fist digging into her gut as she stumbled back in shock.

"Elle, after all these years, you recognize me, and yet, never once did you question why I wasn't in the village at the time of it's destruction? Are you truly that stupid?"

Elle didn't reply, her stomach was burning with pain.

"It was my wish, Elle. Those faceless mages... all of them were constructs of my wish. All of them were constructs of your energy. I was stealing the magic energy from your body, Elle. We destroyed the village together, Elle. We 3 triplets, perfect children of destruction. And my wish came true so far. Kill everyone in that village except Elle and Rasu. Those two, I want to kill myself."

"W-Why brother...?"

"Because I found out why our parents are gone. It was predicted that one of the three of us was going to murder the entire village, with the exception of the other two they shared a womb with. I didn't want to be the one to suffer, so I made sure I was the one who killed everyone."

"...You're mad..."

"Maybe so, Elle, but you aren't without flaw. I know people who want you dead. Today is the day I may the bricks to prepare their wish."

Meridan drew two knives from his sleeves. Elle lifted herself up carefully. Before she could catch her footing completely, Rusteo hammered his fist into her chest.

Elle topped back again, bleeding from the mouth.

What happened? Why didn't my shield summon? And why am I bleeding? He didn't hit me that hard.

Meridan threw his first knife at Rusteo. It hit Rusteo cleanly between the eyes, but instead of wedging into his flesh, it bounced off, as if the sharp knife was made of light plastic.

"Shit!"

Rusteo jumped towards Elle, collapsed on her ground, and he rose his might foot high before slamming it down-

"Get away!" screamed Meridan as he lunged towards Rusteo, aiming his second knife sharply into Rusteo's foot. The two attacks collided, and Meridan was knocked back several feet, also bleeding from getting hit from an attack that seemed to have done no outer harm. Rusteo landed sloppily on the ground from his failed kick, and pulled the knife from his foot sternly.

"Whatever... The preparations have been made. I'll finish this another time." Rusteo said as he jumped back into the trees, and hustled off.

Meridan looked at his arm. The collision from the kick grazed his forearm. It was bleeding.

"Elle, are you okay?"

Elle coughed twice, inhaled deeply, and wiped the blood from her face. "I'm fine... But also... very scared... and very sad..."

"I'll help you home, Elle." Meridan said.

Rusteo is alive. And he destroyed the village. I wonder... if he had never known of the prediction, would we still be happy?

Drink the warm madness,
Intoxicating triplets,
Triplets born to kill.

A haiku by the girl who accidentally took part in destroying a village.

[killerinstinct]

Sniff... Just when Elle started living peacefully...

[Golden Emblem]

I feel so bad for Elle...

[Admin]

Official message: I quit this round.