Next Mage
51.Restart-1

~Oliver's POV

"Wh-what do you guys know...a-about...Ultimates?"

The sentence hung in the air, as if waiting for us to respond. Finally, Marilla broke the silence.

"U-Ultimates?" She murmured, her expression questioning. Elvira nodded slightly.

Marilla and I exchanged a look.

I vowed not to tell Elvira about the 'kiss' incident now that she was sane.

The rest of the free mages came over quietly to listen, with some turning their backs on us to watch the Ragnarok mages, but they seemed to be at standstill.

"Y-es... Ultimates. I..." Elvira was then sent into a bout of coughing as her long eyelashes fluttered closed over her now-green eyes, and her whole body went limp as Marilla gently lowered her onto the ground. Her skin was the color of chalk. The rest of the mages came over to listen, some with their backs to us, facing the Ragnarok mages in case they attacked.

They didn't.

"No! Elvira, don't die!" I exclaimed as Elvira's head lolled to one side, her breathing becoming ragged and shallow. Then two hands slapped me sharply on the arm, but one of them extremely pale and significantly weaker.

"Ow!" I yelped in protest as two red hand-marks began to appear on the underside of my arm. I heard a few snickers from the crowd. "What was that for?" Elvira opened one eye slightly in annoyance, and Marilla looked exasperated as she put her hands on her hips and gave me her signature seriously? look.

"What are you, and idiot?" They both said in unison.

"I was just resting, dumbass," Elvira said huffily. "All this...urgh, my head hurts... All this fighting with the Ragnarok is driving me crazy..." She puffed.

"Well, it's driving us all crazy," I quipped. Marilla glared at me and slapped me once more.

"This is not the time for jokes," she hissed.

"Fighting? What do you mean?" I heard Emma ask. Everyone turned towards her, then looked back at Elvira expectantly.

"It--" Elvira broke into a hacking wheeze, as if her throat was closing up and stopping her from talking. I frowned.

Was it really her throat that was stopping her?

"Elvira--it's okay, you don't have to talk--" I started, but Elvira shook her head and held up a finger, as if to say, shut up. and covered her mouth as she convulsed once more. She then cleared her throat, wiped her mouth, and, looking a little sickly green, she began to explain.

"I've been trying to get out of the Ragnarok's control for a month," she croaked. When we gave her a puzzled look, she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "At least it seemed like a month."

"Oh yeah," Cam said. "That was because Marilla's mom stopped time for us. She's a Spirit mage, but her ability is really hidden, apparently," he explained. Elvira looked astonished as she turned to Marilla's mother, who, surprisingly, gave her a shy smile and turned back to face the Ragnarok mages, who were at standstill.

"Oh," Elvira smiled weakly. "That's great."

An awkward silence filled the air, before Elvira spoke up once moore.

"Um. I-I'm still unstable even though I've escaped from the Ragnarok's grip, so I'll have to do this quick. You'll never know when I could snap back into a Ragnarok mage." Elvira took in a deep breath.

"I have an Ultimate. And I have to use it now." She said.

~Marilla's POV

"I have an Ultimate. And I have to use it now."

The area was silent, no more screams echoing through the dry fields of grass, and no one, not even the Ragnarok mages, moved. Most of us just gawked and goggled at her, eyes popping and mouths gaping, while the rest looked on, either looking befuddled or curious.

"I mean it," Elvira said fiercely, eyes blazing as she attempted to struggle off the dry, hard ground. Instead, her arms buckled beneath her and she fell back down with a slight thump.

"Don't push yourself," Oliver said worriedly. "Tell us: exactly what is you Ultimate, anyway? And how would you even prepare one, if you were stuck under the Ragnarok's control?" Everyone gazed at her in curiosity.

"You really are a blockhead," Elvira said half-affectionately, half-exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "Why else do you think I was away for so long?"

"Um, everyone said you were on a mission. Or a few missions. I can't remember," Oliver said as I added two and two.

"Yes, I was on a few missions, but in between them--"

"You were developing your Ultimate," I finished.

"Finally. There you go, she's smart," Elvira said, grinning. For the first time since I met her, Elvira and I smiled at each other. She looked back to the crowd of mages that surrounded us, then at Oliver, then at me once more. "My Ultimate...is called 'Restart'."

dashy line thingo

~Narrator

The Ragnarok's blood boiled in fury.

Why couldn't it break into the girl's mind? Why couldn't it see her thoughts, her feelings, her deepest, darkest, secrets?

"Why can't I just defeat a measly little Spirit mage?" The Ragnarok spat the last two words out in the way someone would say blood-sucking monster.

The Ragnarok snarled as it ripped it's prey's neck out, chewing on the juicy human's neck flesh as it stalked away from the decaying corpse.

Why did it care?

It had everything in the world, literally. Power, riches, scrumptious, succulent humans and prey to feast on for eternity. So why did it care if just one Spirit mage had strayed out of it's clutches? It still had plenty more to spare. Feeling only slightly better, the Ragnarok's serpent-like, red eyes darted about as it searched for more prey, muscles taut and ready to spring. A black forked tongue tasted the air.

The Ragnarok's dark pupils contracted even further until they were almost consumed by the vile devil-red of it's irises. Thin, pale lips opened to reveal a wide, gaping mouth and rows of teeth like shining razors.

Prey.