HOTARU SULKED AS SHE watched the other three engage Goldie in idle chatter. Classes didn't start for St. Magnus students for another three days, so Goldie—expressing his desire to see his friends off—had planned to surprise them by showing up on their first day, traveling four and a half hours by horse and carriage to Marlia City. Chiaki and Will recounted their morning, telling him about the Monarchs, meeting Daytona, and the monster of unknown origin that attacked them and fatally wounded Hotaru. Or rather, that should have been the case. She ran her hand over her plexus and found that her skin had been completely restored, leaving only a gaping hole in her uniform blouse and some dried-up blood. 

Hotaru thought for sure that she was dead. How that attack didn’t kill her was beyond her understanding. Did she somehow develop a regenerative healing factor before she got impaled? It was hard to say. She couldn't possibly be capable of such a thing. She was warned to be cautious of her powers as they may change somewhat during puberty, but suddenly healing after suffering damage that would’ve killed any other human was…simply put, far beyond what anyone could’ve expected.

And to make matters worse, the troglodyte—her alternate nickname for Goldie—was here. Of all days, he would go and pick the craziest day in recent memory to show up. Now she had to stand here and listen to him feign concern over her well-being.

“My, my. A chaotic morning, indeed.” Goldie put a hand to his chin. His dark brown eyes found Hotaru. “Are you sure you’re alright, Ms. Hotaru?”

And there it is.

Rolling her eyes, Hotaru turned away from him, scanning the battlefield, noting that the ground had reshaped itself back to its original state before they were forced to land here. This entire area had been imbued with manatite, and its magical properties were set to restore the pavement no matter how much damage it had sustained. Modern-day magitek was truly something else.

“Hotaru?”

Chiaki’s voice brought Hotaru’s eyes back over to them. She was met with three other concerned faces. She sighed, knowing that seeing her in that state must’ve been a very traumatic experience for them.

“Look, I know what you saw must’ve freaked you guys out,” she began. “Trust me, I was just as freaked out when I woke up.” She placed her hands over her midsection. “All I remember is the searing hot pain when that thing’s talon entered me and then…darkness.” 

No matter how hard she tried, Hotaru couldn’t recall anything beyond that point.

“Hmm. What exactly could this be?” Will placed two fingers on his temple in thought. “Any ideas, Chiaki?”

“I haven’t a clue,” she stated glumly. “This entire situation is just…downright bizarre. We should bring this to Mr. Peterson as soon as possible. He’ll know what to do. But for right now…” She took Hotaru’s hands in hers, causing the latter to blush heavily. “...I’m just glad we didn’t lose you, Hotaru.”

Chiaki…

That warm and fuzzy feeling returned. She never wanted to put her friends through something like that again. 

Daytona nodded. “Yeah, same here. I’ve only known youse guys for a little bit, but after what we just went through…Mmm—I dunno —You lot don’t necessarily feel like strangers to me is all.” Looking somewhat embarrassed, she averted her gaze. “As…as corny as that sounds.” 

Her words touched Hotaru's heart. Now that she thought about it, she'd also become fast friends with both Will and Chiaki all those years ago. To this day, she still didn't know how, but there was something in their eyes that resonated with her on a personal level and before she knew it, the three of them were inseparable. To her, it almost felt like their meeting was somehow etched in stone. Daytona, oddly enough, was no different.

“Aw.” Hotaru smiled at her. “I don’t think that’s corny at all.”

Will made a dubious face. “Eh, it’s pretty corny.”

Hotaru stifled a laugh. His sudden and direct response caught her off-guard.

“Will, don’t be mean,” Chiaki scolded. 

But Daytona simply laughed. “He’s fine,” she assured. “I knew that someone was bound to think so.”

“Ah! I haven’t properly introduced myself! Where are my manners?” Goldie turned to Daytona and cleared his throat. “I am Jonathan Wayland Shepherd, son of Hendrix D. Shepherd, patriarch of the noble House of Shepherd and Lord of Wilmington upon Bight. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

He bowed deeply. During his tired rehearsed introduction, Hotaru matched his every word by using her right hand as a puppet, mocking him. Daytona gave him a friendly smile and introduced herself.

His eyes lit up. “Fields, you say? So, you’re…”

“A bastard,” she said in a surprisingly guarded tone. “I know.”

“Oh, no, no, no!” He waved his hands in protest. “I would never use such a dehumanizing term. I was going to say that you’re a child of the Everwoodian Forest. You see, my older brother and I have a shared fascination for things beyond our realm of understanding. Everwoodian culture being one of them.” 

“Oh,” Daytona said, now looking a tad embarrassed. “S-Sorry for jumping the gun like that. It’s sort of a reflex I developed when dealing with nobles.”

“It’s quite alright. I’m well aware of our society’s…uglier side. My own family isn’t completely guilt-free, either.” His expression darkened upon saying this. He then rallied. “That being said, I wish for us to become the best of friends.”

“Likewise,” Daytona nodded. “If you ever want to learn about Everwoodian Culture or the Eternal Fields in general, I’d be happy to share.” She then gave a sheepish grin. “Although…if you wanna learn about elves, I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I’ve never even met one.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, they like to keep to themselves. They don’t call it the Hermit Forest for nothin’, I suppose.”

“Oh, I see.” Goldie looked rather disappointed, then rallied once again. “Well, regardless, Ms. Daytona. I’d be more than happy to learn the Everwoodian ways.” 

“Cool. And ‘Daytona’ is just fine. ‘Ms.’ sounds a bit weird comin’ from someone my age.”

“Ah. Daytona it is, then.”

Chiaki glanced down at the weapon in Goldie’s sheath. “S-So John,” she began. “I see you’re putting the athame to good use…”

“Hm? Oh, yes!” He drew the athame once more and held it aloft, its steel blade gleaming in the morning sunlight. After stopping to admire the blade some more, he then glanced over at Chiaki, beaming. “As you can see, it works like a charm!” 

About a year ago, Goldie’s trusty shortsword broke after he and Chiaki saved a little boy from a pack of dire wolves that wandered out of the forest. Because he used the shortsword to protect her from harm, Chiaki felt responsible and thus, hatched a plan to give him a replacement. Hotaru had watched her spend countless hours gathering all of the necessary materials to craft the weapon. She’d made the blueprints for the athame herself, paying special attention to the intricately designed hilt which bore similarities to his old shortsword. Chiaki then took her plans and materials to a dwarven blacksmith and in only a matter of days, the Wiccastrean athame with a House Shepherd motif was finally complete. 

On graduation day, following the ceremony, Chiaki gave Goldie the athame as a parting gift before he left for Bevenhome. Recalling all this now, made the weed in Hotaru’s stomach twist and turn more ferociously than ever before.

“Well, I’m glad to see it’s working well for you,” Chiaki said, her cheeks flushing an impressive shade of red. “Although, it is a Wiccastrean weapon. You don’t think using it goes against mystic knight tradition?”

“Nonsense,” he said, now holding the weapon flat in his hands. “There are numerous historical records of mystic knights in the Middle Age who wielded weapons crafted by their friends or lovers from Wiccastrea.”

That last part made Hotaru grit her teeth.

“L-Lovers?” Chiaki stiffened, covering her mouth with both hands. “I-I had no idea!”  

She totally did…

“Aye,” Goldie nodded, running his fingers along the gold and silver hilt. “However, in those times, many others considered this to be sacrilegious and it wasn’t uncommon for those mystic knights to be exiled or even executed.” He paused, glancing back to Chiaki. “And of course, my father, being the purist that he is, voiced his disapproval, as athames have never once been wielded by a Shepherd. Well, until now, that is. Nonetheless, a mystic knight’s weapon of choice is ultimately up to them. And I have chosen.”

“Oh, I-I see…”

“I shall cherish this gift with my life. I cannot thank you enough, Ms. Chiaki.”

“D-Don’t mention it…” The blushing young witch twirled her ash-blonde hair with her right index finger. “We are friends after all.”

Hotaru felt a sharp pang in her chest. It wasn’t like the burning sensation from earlier, no. This…was another type of pain entirely. Seeing them interact. The way she looked at him…

Her hands clenched into fists. Unable to bear it any longer, Hotaru rushed in between Chiaki and Goldie.

“H-Hotaru?”

“Ah, Ms. Hotaru,” Goldie greeted her with a smile, but his charm had zero effect on her. “Was there something you wished to discuss?”  

“Yeah. You and me, right now!” she demanded, folding her arms. As soon as those words left her lips, all eyes landed on her.

“Oh?”

“Whoa, hold on, Hotaru. You wanna duel this early in the morning? After what you’ve been through?” Daytona shook her head. “You can’t be serious!”

“Dead serious, I’m afraid,” Will affirmed. “She’s not one to take these things lightly.”

“Hotaru, stop!” chided Chiaki. “Daytona’s right. You just got impaled by that monster not too long ago and you’re already trying to pick a fight?”  

“Not to mention the fact that John just saved our lives,” Will added. “But, I mean, sure, what better way to repay the guy, am I right?” 

Hotaru said not a word. She didn’t care how this made her look. In all five hundred and fifty of their duels, she hadn’t won a single one. Now that Goldie was here, Hotaru planned on settling the score with the posh shithead once and for all and she wasn’t going to budge until he accepted her challenge. 

If I beat him here, then I can start my freshmen year with my head held high! Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest. And then…maybe then…Chiaki will… She silenced the delusional thoughts creeping in from the back of her mind.

As he met her gaze, Goldie's smile faded. They remained like that for a while, as if engaged in some sort of silent deliberation. After a few tense seconds that felt like an eternity, the boy nodded, his smile returning, brighter than ever.

“Does anyone have the time?”