“What do you mean by your greatest failure?” Erica asks.

Rielle sighs and begins explaining.

“It was roughly 100 years after you passed that I met him. He was a bit of a joker, but he was kind, strong, and the first fellow magic user I’d been with.” Rielle explains. “He was experimented on by dark sorcerers and it was through that, that he had gained his magic. He had a split personality that was his polar opposite. Day by day he could feel his mind slipping. His nightmares of committing atrocious acts became daydreams, and the daydreams became his waking thoughts. I worked night and day to try and provide him some kind of salvation. But I was too slow. One day he left and when I found him, he’d already destroyed an entire village. Slaughtered everyone there. I couldn’t save him… So the only thing I could do was kill him. I spent my last 200 years regretting that moment.”

Rielle begins tearing up and Erica wraps her arms around her.

“It’s okay. You did what you had to. If you left him, he’d only have caused more harm in the end.” Erica states.

“Even so, I was able to do so much for you and the others, but even after being 800 years old there was nothing I could do about it!” Rielle exclaims.

“How could you know about dark sorcery? You know those are forbidden arts. You would never tarnish your mother’s legacy by learning that. You did everything you could, I know you were looking to your successes of the past, but not everyone succeeds at something. You’re not perfect, none of us are. So don’t put yourself down like that.” Erica states before smiling.  “It’s just like you told me. You don’t need to do everything alone, because I’m here for you.”

Rielle smiles.

“I can always count on you to make my mood better,” Rielle says. “Thank you, Eri.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Erica states.

After leaving the barracks and returning to the residential district. The group met up at Rielle’s house, and they all sat in the living room together. Rielle felt it was best to explain to the others what happened with her fifth lover, to make sure everyone knew. 

“I understand how you feel.” Maira begins. “I don’t know how I’d live with the thought if I’d done that to you.”

“It’s certainly a deep pain.” Artorius agrees.

“Either way, it’s all in the past. Right now there are things that we need to do.” Rielle states.

“Right, figuring out who’s been dealing with all the magic users is a priority,” Erica states.

“Tonight’s the night,” Rielle says. “Let’s go over the plan once more before making our move.”

Hours pass by as Rielle and the others go over the plan. Night falls upon the city and with it, frigid air and a ghastly aura of darkness. Rielle sits in the park alone, at one of the swings, and is gently rocking back and forth. Rielle releases her magic, allowing herself to be found.

Here goes nothing.” She thinks.

Back and forth, the swing moves as Rielle is silently waiting. The flickering of the street light, left her figure occasionally darkened by the night. She looks into the sky noticing the star-like objects in the sky. 

Then, her attention is brought back to the ground by the sound of footsteps behind her. Rielle stands up and turns to face the person behind her. Stepping forth from the darkness was a man with long silver hair, slicked back. He had eyes of gray and light skin. He was dressed in a hooded cloak. Rielle takes a few steps back. Her breathing grows rapid and unstable. Sweat begins forming on her face. Her whole body runs cold.

“Mikhail…?!” Rielle mutters.

“It’s great to see you again, Rielle.” He states as takes a bow. “I haven’t forgotten the gift you gave me, at our parting.”

“I… I had no choice! It was the only way to stop you.” She states, placing a hand over her chest. 

He wags his finger and sighs.

“You weren’t willing to do what was necessary to reach the pinnacle of magic.” He states.

“And you justify killing innocent people as necessary? You’re insane! You were never like this before! Something changed you!” She exclaims.

“The only thing that changed, was you. When you couldn’t save me, you switched up and decided to kill what you couldn’t understand.” He states. “You’re just like every other sheep out there. Afraid of things outside the norm, so desperate to cling to the status quo.”

“You’re right, I am afraid, of what you’ve become. But more importantly, how did you do it?” Rielle questions.

This isn’t good. He prepared either prepared a barrier in advance or left it to someone else. Either way, I can’t contact the others. 

He tilts his head in confusion.

“How did you come here? There’s no way you’d have even made it past the scales, especially with all the people you killed.” She questions.

He smirks.

“As if I’d tell you. You always were quite smart, but there are things even you can’t figure out.” He states.

Rielle reaches out to summon her spear, but nothing appears.

“Spacial magic is your weakest form. If someone better appears, they can easily cancel out your own.” He states.

He reveals his staff from the darkness of his cloak. It’s made from a black wood, pulsing with blood-red veins traveling throughout the length of the staff.

“I believe this is checkmate.” He states.

“Not yet,” Rielle states.

Rielle runs toward him, pointing her finger. A sudden blast of frigid air overtakes his vision, causing him to shield his face. A bit of blood trickles out of his mouth as he looks down at the icicles in his stomach. Looking up, he sees Rielle above with a sword made of ice in her hand. Mikhail smiles at her warmly as she comes down, and she hesitates. Several tendrils of darkness rise from the ground and erupts toward her, piercing through her stomach. Rielle coughs up blood and is thrown across the park, leaving a trail of blood. She coughs as her vision begins to blur. He walks over to her and pulls the glove off her hand, revealing her cyan-colored nails.

“Magic-infused nail polish. Quite creative, acting as a catalyst to use magic when you can’t use your staff.” He states.

He grabs her by the hair and raises her.

“It was fun seeing you again.” He says.

“I can’t say the same,” Rielle mutters.

A bluish glow surrounds her body as it is siphoned into Mikhail’s body. Rielle lets out a scream of agony as she struggles to remove his hand from her head.

“That’s enough!” A shout says within Mikhail’s mind.

He releases her from his grasp causing her to drop to the dirt, heaving for air. Mikhail grips his forehead and stumbles away from her.

“Whatever that was… The barrier was dropped… Now is my chance…” Rielle thinks. 

“Erica! He’s here!” Rielle messages.

Meanwhile, Erica darts out of her house and recalls the conversation they had.

“If you’re waiting nearby they might not show. Therefore, you wait with Mai, and Art and I’ll give the signal.” Rielle states.

Erica is running down the street at full speed, hopping over homes, businesses, and everything else in her path.

“I’m almost there.” Erica thinks.

Erica lands in the park with so much momentum she comes into a slide and spots Mikhail leaving as quickly as he can while dealing with the pain in his head. Erica draws her sword and begins dashing toward him when she feels the other magic power in the park. Like a dying flame, the ether was barely leaving any trace of itself behind. Looking in its direction, she sees Rielle lying in the grass, lying in a pool of blood.

“Ri?!” Erica shouts.

She looks back at Mikhail, as he’s escaping and grits her teeth. Erica grabs Rielle and starts running. Building after building, Erica can feel Rielle’s fading warmth. With each second that passes it’s a moment of precious time lost. 

“Art! Make sure you’re ready for a treatment! Ri is badly injured!” Erica exclaims, via message.

A few moments later, Erica bursts into the house with Rielle in hand and lays her on the table in the living room. Maira shoots up from the chair. 

“What happened?!” Maira questions.

“I… I don’t know. When I got there she was already like this.” Erica states.

“Leave it to me,” Artorius says.

He hovers his hands over her body and a green light emits from his palms. The energy begins to envelop her body, as her wounds begin to heal. 

“She’s lost a lot of blood, so it's not looking good. We’ll need to give her a transfusion.”  Artorius thinks.

Rielle lies on the table, unable to hear their voices, her vision fading in and out before darkness finally takes her.