Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

XLVII: The Second Camaraderie

Less than half an hour had passed since Altina and the girls had arrived back at Alitia, and they were already standing together in the center of the courtyard. Countless students from the other schools of the Millennium Six were around them, but none of the other students seemed to particularly notice what they were doing or why they were talking to Zylphia.

Cessair and Nebula, on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on, though they didn't want to get too close and interrupt the last briefing Zylphia was giving the nine young girls. It was unsettling to know that they were going off to fight such an ancient, horrible force with the knowledge that they might not all come back from the battle, but nobody commented on it, leaving others to imagine how grim the reality of the situation truly was.

"You're going to encounter him in the woods near Alitia," Zylphia told the group. "I want you to do everything in your power to take him out, no matter what it is."

"We won't be letting him get away this time. If he wants to destroy Alitia, then he's going to have to go through us first," Iris declared, slamming a fist into her other hand, which was waiting as an open palm. "He's done too much harm to be allowed to live any longer, and as long as we're here, he won't have the chance to do anything ever again." The words were surprisingly dark for how chipper her tone was.

"I'm glad to hear that you're so determined... But remember that this isn't an ordinary man. He's incredibly dangerous, and I refuse to let anything happen to you because you got overly confident. What matters now is being prepared but not cocky. I don't know how else to put it. We're counting on you to take him down. I know this is a big responsibility for a group so young, but... I know you can do it," Zylphia said, smiling lightly.

"We're going to make sure that this madness ends today. I wish we had been able to take care of this sooner, but I suppose it just didn't work out that way," Tanith told Zylphia, looking up at her adopted mother with determination glinting in her eyes.

"I trust in all of you that you'll be doing the right thing. You're good girls, and your training has prepared you for this moment. We're all going to be waiting here for when the army itself arrives. He needs something to attack while he's fighting you," Zylphia frowned.

"Lucky for us, he's far too stubborn to want to call back his army of Shadows and students to help him fight us off. He'll think that he can handle it on his own, and that's when we'll get him," Carys smirked.

"What do you think will happen when we do finally get the chance to kill him off?" Helena asked, looking to Zylphia nervously.

"All the Shadows that he has been summoning will instantly disappear. After that, all the possession will break, as it can't survive without his magic to sustain it. The Thanatos curse hanging over Myra, Chester, and Sylvia will disappear immediately, as once again, the curse can't survive without somebody to be its host. This war started because he was searching for somebody to uphold the curse after he was gone, but since he never got the chance to pass on the ability to sustain such a curse, it will vanish once he is killed," Zylphia answered. "The rest of his army doesn't matter at the end of the day. He's the one we need to focus on stopping, because if he goes down, everything else will crumble alongside him."

"Well, I guess there's no choice but to power through and take him out once and for all now," Luce declared, swallowing nervously. She had been out on difficult missions before, but this was something special. Ever since arriving at Alitia, Luce had been in more danger than she ever had as a mercenary. This battle against Iago was going to be the culmination of everything she had learned both within the walls of Alitia and outside. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.

However, Luce's nerves faded away when she saw a pair of familiar figures approaching her. She smiled to herself, approaching Cryon and Lianna slowly. Behind her, the rest of her friends pretended not to watch despite very obviously staring at the trio of mercenaries.