When The Midnight Blooms

At the edge of the world, a shimmer of light, a whirl back in time…

A thousand years before the kingdom of Miracle wove its first spell, the edge of the world burned.

“I shall never let you win!”

A lovely voice, normally as sweet as a nightingale, but this time, it was raw. It wasn’t kind anymore; it cracked with a dangerous edge.

She leveled her wand at the looming darkness before her, unafraid. “You conquered every kingdom I vowed to protect, Atalas,” Her voice trembled slightly,“Everything. Can’t you leave this? Everything you took, isn’t it enough?”

Just then, a cold laugh broke the silence. Surrounding shadows started to lift from the air and joined others, soaring up like living ink. Instantly, the darkness began to swirl around, creating a figure that seemed to lower the word’s temperature with every breath.Strips of midnight wove together like muscle and bone, forming the figure of a young teenager that seemed no older then 18 years old, but in truth lived for thousands of years.From the center, two burning eyes snapped open, and Atalas loomed before her, his laughter echoing.

“Enough?” Atalas sneered.

His dark robes whipped against the wind like tattered crow wings. He glared, locking his gaze onto the last kingdom still blazing with the warm rays of light magic, the one the Goddess was protecting.

“Why, no, Naladia,” he laughed.A cold, malicious grin slowly curled as his dark smoke suddenly swallowed the remaining light, causing the light magic to plummet weaker.

Naladia felt her blood run cold. She raised her chin, refusing to let him see her tremble, but she felt an unsettling feeling in her mind.“What do you want?” she demanded, although she already knew the answer.

“The kingdom you guard,”

He raised a scepter of jagged obsidian, magic warping around it.

Naladia eyed it warily.

“It will be the final, perfect addition to my collection.”

His mouth twisted, his eyes darkening with a power-craving hunger.

“Never!You will never steal Miracle, not with me!” Before Atalas could reply, Naladia lunged.

“Aeterna Lux!”

A bright comet zipped through the air, catching Atalas off guard.

He froze, hurried to raise his scepter, “Tenebrae Aegis!”

A veil of dark smoke blocked the blazing comet. But Naladia didn’t panic. She raised up her own Wand of Light. “ Aeterna Luz,” she repeated. The comet soared upon her command——

“UGH!” Atalas growled, even more panicked.

His veil tore--

Don’t even talk about defeating her,” He realized.” He couldn’t even touch her white silk gown! His upset instantly wiped away the smirk on his face.

“Insolent spark!”

Swinging his scepter quickly, adding terrifying speed, “Vorago Mortis!”

Dozens of jagged shadow warriors slowly rose from the ground, tearing upward to swallow her…

Naladia spun, her silk dress fluttering, narrowly dodged the first three spears.

Quickly blocked two others with her wand--

Yet, the magic was too fast. One of the dark lances swung close to her. She gasped and raised her wand to block the sudden attack--

She succeeded in fighting them off, but one sank his sword in--

A sharp, unbearable pain stuck her, she felt as if she was going to explode, her vision blurred, her legs gave way, she knelt down in pain, wand clattering on the ground...

“Please...Amios...” Warm light flooded through her body, but it wasn’t enough, she could feel it, she could feel the dark forces overpower her--

Just then, a Scepter going down, about to crush her---She rolled away, just in time--

She snatched her wand, stopping the attack-barely.

Steel met obsidian. The clash of light and dark wove a dome of chaotic sparks—blinding to look upon, as the two gods locked weapons--

Atalas leaned into the clash, his scepter’s crushing weight forcing Naladia’s wand down millimeter by millimeter, her breath growing quicker, more exhausted--

“You’re fading, Naladia,” he hissed, his face inches from hers, his breath smelling of cold ash. “Your light is nothing, it can’t protect anything--”

Naladia’s muscles screamed in agony. Her knees knelt in defeat against the stone, and she could feel the dark aura of his scepter beginning to win..

He’s right, she realised, a cold spike of desperation piercing her heart. But I can’t stop..

“But I can’t stop now……” Tears of sadness, fear, anger, frustration, remembering, knowing, all melted together in one sentence she knew—“Always do the right thing, however the cost,” Her closest friend, Alysumn, had said,” It’ll break my heart if you couldn’t come back fighting Atalas, but winning comes at a cost. You can’t win without losing.”

“Oh, Alysumn, how you’ll be pained if I do this..” Naladia slowly stood up.” Forgive me, this is the only way—-

Her body cried out in protest, but she ignored them. Raising up her wand, she stared up at Atalas, fearless.

“You—you can stand?” Atalas stared at her in complete surprise. Naladia stared back at him, ignoring the pain in her body, and for the last time, she looked back at the innocent, beautiful final land she had promised to love and protect. A burning tear slid down her face as she clutched her wand tightly, her knuckles turning white.

With a final, fierce surge of will, Naladia stopped resisting. Instead of pushing back, she twisted her blade, letting Atalas’s scepter slide past her shoulder.

“Wh-what?” He sputtered--

Instantly, before he could recover, Naladia reversed her grip and drove her glowing wand straight down, plunging it towards Atalas, who was still frozen with surprise.

“Sanguis Meus, Custodia Semper!” she cried out, her voice shattering like glass.

’You—you are seriously sacrificing yourself for all this?!”

“Yes, from the bottom of my heart,” Naladia replied, softly. She closed her eyes as she unleashed the core of her soul. The magic ripping through her veins like liquid fire, tearing her physical form apart little by little, her body fading to the almighty sealing spell--

The last thing she saw, was Atalas’s scream in fury, raising her scepter--her spell worked, he was sucked into a vortex of light, trapped....

She won.

Even as her body started fading away and drifted into the wind, Naladia smiled. The shield held. The kingdom of Miracle, the final kingdom, was safe—

The flash of the barrier faded, leaving behind a heavy silence. The shield of light hummed above the final kingdom. But the Goddess... Her glowing form began to break apart, turning into tiny, fragile embers that drifted away...

Suddenly, warm light covered the ground. The light caught the remainings of Naladia’s magic, pulling them, snapping to place-

It whirled in a tiny tornado, creating a figure, a handsome teenager who is in fact a god who lived for thousands of years, stepped onto the ground.

“Naladia!”

He rushed forward, his hands reaching out to catch the last glowing shards of her form, his fingers passed through empty air.

Just then, the horrible truth struck. She was already gone.

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the cliffs. Alysum fell to his knees on the scorched rock, right where the Goddess of Light had just stood. A sob tore from his throat. Hot tears spilled down his cheeks, sizzling as they hit the cold stone.

He had arrived too late. The love of his life was gone.

“Forgive me,” he whispered into the empty air, his hands trembling.

He looked back at the beautiful, unknowing Kingdom of Miracle, the one Naladia had died to save. The others were surrounded by dark forces...

He knew what he had to do.

The stray sparks of light rushed into his palms, warming his skin one last time.“Aeterna Memoria,”he whispered, a sad incantation cracking his voice.

He wove her remaining light together, molding the raw energy until it turned into five relics. With a heavy sweep of his arm, Alysumn scattered them into the sky. The relics streaked across the dark horizon like shooting stars, flying toward the five ruined kingdoms to protect them and wait for the day they could be recovered.

Turning his gaze to the shielded kingdom of Miracle, Alysum looked down at his own glowing hands. To ensure this final world would always remain peaceful and safe, he poured the very core of his own divine power directly into the soil.

There was a silence--then a miracle happened. A massive, powerful Tree grew from the magic, blossoming pink flowers, glowing petals falling gently from the weeping branches. The Tree of Life is born--and it will remain the guardian until the day...

Exhausted, his own magic nearly spent from the effort, Alysum looked back at the mortal world.For Naladia, he thought, another tear falling.

He would wait, and he would watch over her kingdom, keeping his true identity a secret. Waiting...knowing...until the worthy one arrived.