Wow indeed. Melissa had silently watched the entire display with a slightly open mouth and ever widening eyes. This magic was…it was pure and raw and ranging in power. It far surpassed whatever she was able to conjure up. Perhaps she should have felt jealous to her own lack of ability to Alice? No, she felt the opposite. She was proud for the girl, proud for her princess. “You…you did it!” Melissa hugged Alice tightly, embracing the taller girl in a warm display of affection. Unheard of in her recent years, but this moment was just too exciting for the both of them. “See, see? I said you could do it and you did!” At that moment, a light lit up, though this was not magic. Instead, it came from multiple smaller sources and was being emitted from the castle’s interior. On closer inspection, one could see that multiple torches were being lit up at once. Whoops. They had woken the castle. At once, a plethora of the princess’ guards stormed out of the castle and ran towards their princess. “Princess Alice, are you alright?” the first one asked in concern. “We saw lights and thought it to be an invasion…” His voice trailed off as he spotted Melissa. Unsheathing his blade, he held it out defensively towards the mage before grabbing Alice’s hand and pulling her back to safety. “Be wary your Highness! The prisoner has escaped!”

Alice was just about to respond to Melissa with a smile when she felt a jerk at her wrist. She nearly fell as she was pulled away from her spot. A gruff voice warned her to beware, but her ears were already red with a mix of rage and embarrassment. “Sir, you misunderstand,” she corrected, trying her best to keep her tone neutral. “This,” she continued, pulling her wrist from his grasp roughly to motion to Melissa, “is Melissa Bellum, my newest knight and personal guard.” “Forgive me, princess, but the witch seems to have put you under her spell.” Alice struggled internally at how to respond, but her anger only built. Finally, she whispered, “she has not bewitched me, sir. Go on your way.” “I won’t go until I am sure you are safe. Frankly, I don’t trust the vixen.” “Then do not trust her! Trust me, your Princess, Lord, and employer.” “Please come with me while we replace her in the dungeon.” “She is free now, and a servant of the state just as you and I. Now,” her tone was growing steadily louder and she fiddled with her dress in an attempt to distract herself. It was to no avail. “Begone!” she shouted, looking up slowly to meet the insolent knight’s eye. Flickers of red and black danced around her fingertips. She didn’t know what they did or how to control them, but the knight didn’t need to know that. “P-princess… Since when…?” “Did I stutter?” she asked, her voice still dripping with leftover rage. “No, you d-didn’t. Um… Call if y-you need anything,” he said, stumbling over his words. With a clumsy bow, he scurried off, followed unsurely by the guards he’d brought with him. Alice watched them go intently, rooted in her spot. Once the last of them was gone, the flickers faded and she felt suddenly a bit faint. She felt her knees shaking, ready to give out at any second beneath her. To save herself of that embarrassment, she swiftly let herself drop down to a sitting position on the ground, despite its hardness. “Well, I guess I’ll need to watch my usage for a little while. It’s a little...intense…”

Melissa widened her eyes at the new coloration to Alice’s awakened magic. No longer were they the soft hues from before, instead classified with dark shades of red and pitch black. Hearing the Princess herself defend a low-life like her did make a spark of admiration and affection light Melissa’s chest, though she pushed those feelings away in place of curiosity. Alice’s magical prowess was… “Well, I guess I’ll need to watch my usage for a little while. It’s a little...intense…” For a time, the Knight said nothing, only sitting down beside her friend and staring out at the horizon. The sun was quickly approaching the rising horizon, and the first day of war and invasion would begin. Little time was left. “Alice,” Melissa said carefully. “Alice that magic just now was something far more aggressive than what I witnessed earlier.” A moment of tense silence passed briefly between the two girls. “That was my magic Alice. Dark Magic.” She let those words sink in before continuing her explanation. “Most people can only ever master one element in their entire lifetimes. To master more than that means you have a high magical potential than most wizards or warlocks. What you practiced earlier was Light Magic, so to wield its complete opposite is…well, really, really, rare.” The one-eyed girl hugged Miranda close to her chest before tilting her head back in though. “It must be your royal blood-line then. That’s the only explanation I can see fitting here.”

“It might be. I’ve heard stories about my ancestors using magic to fight during the Crusades. After they ended though, it’s been frowned-upon for us to use it. My great-uncle Robert used to do beautiful light shows for me and all of my cousins, until one day he mysteriously died of sudden illness.” Alice considered for a while, looking up at the lightening sky. “It might be the dark magic ability that made them prohibit us from using magic. It seems dangerous, and dangerous is not what Crescentia stands for. Or...stood for. Now I guess it’s dangerous all over again.” She paused again, turning her attention to Melissa. Her hazel eyes softened, and a smile played lazily on her lips. “It’s okay, though. I suppose change is good, and I certainly don’t mind this particular change,” she purred, enunciating each word intensely. Dim purple wisps swirled slowly and thinly, though Alice either didn’t notice or didn’t care, because her eyes were locked on Melissa’s. Her squeaky-clean innocences was gone and hidden away, and this version of the princess was not likely to back down. Her stare smouldered as her body slowly slunk itself a bit closer to Melissa, hanging loosely and carelessly. Ah, yes. Demure as she might seem, Alice had always been determined and headstrong, and this was no exception. “Say, Melissa, what do you say we treat ourselves for accomplishing so much in such a short time?” Her voice was not sultry, but it was quiet and insistent, and Alice’s eyes wandered to the other girl’s lips for a while before meandering back up to lock eyes.

“Say, Melissa, what do you say we treat ourselves for accomplishing so much in such a short time?” “Uh, A-Alice?” Melissa did not struggle away from the sudden proximity of her princess. Rather, she was rooted to the spot from Alice’s unexpected tone of voice. Surely she should have seen this coming, no? She was to be courted after all, and so Alice’s advances were completely understandable. Then the thought of the guards flickered in her mind and the dark mage’s eye flickered away. “W-What about Crescentia?” she asked meekly, an intense blush warming her pale cheeks. “What will they think if they find out about us? Their leader and a witch like me…anyway, I doubt they’d approve of two girls…you know…” Clenching Miranda with trembling fingers, her own body unconsciously moved forward despite her feeble protests. “Still…I wouldn’t mind if…maybe just this once, I-I…” She blushed madly now, waiting for the other girl to make a move. Melissa lacked both tact and experience in these kind of intimate situations.

Melissa was floundering, utterly drowning in her own words. Alice actually found it sort of amusing, but she forced herself not to react. That would just make her feel bad. If she was perfectly honest, she had to admit that she wasn’t sure where he behavior was coming from either. She understood Melissa’s confusion. Still, that didn’t mean that she was any less determined. “Crescentia will go on. Don’t worry about that right now. Let me do the worrying.” Still, Alice was obviously not at all worried. It probably wasn’t much comfort. “Besides, no one has to know. It’ll be our little secret.” Her voice dropped to a whisper to emphasize the point. She felt a small morning breeze brush between them marking the passage of time, but Alice was in her own world in which time and consequences didn’t exist. In her hyper-focused state, nothing existed except for Melissa and herself. Alice reached for Melissa’s face and cupped her cheek, gently guiding their lips together. She focused on the hardness of the other girl’s jaw against her fingers. She focused on the coldness of her skin. She focused on the light feeling swelling in her chest. And despite focusing on all those things and more, she felt utterly, utterly relaxed.

“O-Our secret?” Melissa’s face became a shade redder, and she tried to fight down this strange new feeling in her chest. It was as if fireflies had buzzed their way into her stomach…was that the right way to describe it? It was weird…but it felt warm all the same. To be truthful, she hadn’t felt this way since the Ultimatum had… Not again. Never again. Setting her jaw line tight, the knight reached up to gently brush Alice’s hands with her own. Looking up at her beloved princess, Melissa gave her a look of determination and eternal loyalty. “I won’t let you die,” she said with finality. “I won’t let you die like everyone else. I’ll keep your feelings with me. Only for you…my Lady.” Smiling shyly, she gently rubbed Alice’s hand with her cheek affectionately. Yes, this was the right thing to do. She wanted Alice with her forever, by her side and smiling. Boom. The crash was loud and jarring, rocking the very ground they sat upon. Melissa slowly broke away from Alice’s gaze to look over the horizon of the castle. Something was approaching Crescentia’s borders from far away. If they could see it from here…then that something was huge. “The Ultimatum,” Melissa growled.

The loud sound jarred Alice from her trance, and she bolted upright, adrenaline roaring through her veins. “We don’t have much time!” She immediately took off running, hoping that Melissa would followed behind, but she was in too much of a hurry to check. “Assemble the troops!” Alice called through the calls. “We’re under attack! Assemble the troops!” Meanwhile, she whipped through, accelerating toward her chamber, where they’d kept many of Melissa’s personal affairs. When she arrived, she ignored the mess and clutter. Quickly, she retrieved the sword and tossed it onto the ground for Melissa to pick up. She also dug around in her bureau for a while, resurfacing with a well-aged cloak. Haphazardly throwing it over her own shoulders, Alice only explained briefly. “It was my great-grandmother’s. From what I’ve heard, it amplified her magic. I’m not sure if it works, but I’ll take any help I can get.” And just like that, she’d taken off running again, this time making a mad dash for the entrance to the castle, hoping to meet the Ultimatum’s troops head-on.

Melissa grabbed for the sword, testing its weight and balance before nodding towards her princess. The explanation of the magic cloak did not surprise her, as it was quite common for well-practiced magicians to cast powerful hexes or spells on their own clothing, effectively making them armor. Another crash interrupted her musings on this, and she turned to the horizon to catch another glimpse of the enemy. The sun was still rising, bathing all in a yellow glow…wait. Melissa narrowed her eye and looked closely, noticing that which she could not see before. A sense of dread crawled up her spine and she rushed to locate Alice. Grabbing the princess’ shoulder, she stopped her from charging headfirst into battle. Meanwhile, archers began to mount their weapons on the castle’s walls, already firing into the enemy’s front lines. However, they were soon firing into nothing, for none of them knew the enemy’s true size and strength. “Alice,” the knight said slowly. “Alice, the Ultimatum goes by many titles, but one of them is infamous throughout their victims and enemies. They’re called the Golden Army.” Sure enough, if one took a closer look, they’d realize that the sun’s rays were everything but. Instead, it was an ocean of golden-armored soldiers, each willing to engage in war. And above them all, standing atop a moving citadel bristling with weaponry and pulled by a mighty beast were two figures. A masked man and a knight covered in platinum armor. Yggdrasil.