Photuris

Luca hurriedly approached Leon as he collapsed on his chest. But before she could catch him Mary was already there. She caught him by his chest, knelt down and laid his head on her lap. She tried hard not to cry. Luca and Rhea saw her tears.

"You're here, Leon. You're here with me," Mary was sobbing and her voice coarsed. "I remember you, Leon. I remember you."

Luca was taken aback by what Mary had said. She didn't know what was going on. She could not comprehend what had just happened, especially with their vice captain's mood swing.

Leon's eyes slowly opened as his trembling right hand reached Mary's cheeks.

"I'm here," Leon's voice was trembling. "I remember." He gazed at his crew with relief and longing. "Please, take care of them, Mary." His hand shook as it ultimately failed to cling on to Mary's cheek. His decrepit hand softly fell to his side.

Luca and Rhea noticed it and tried rushing towards Leon. Mary noticed and stopped them. She gave them a silent hush with her forefinger by her lips. Leon was peacefully sleeping. The two felt relieved upon realizing. They walked slowly toward their superiors.

Mary tried standing but stopped upon having felt Leon's left hand was holding her by the strap on her waist. He was clinging on to her. She couldn't move.

Rhea looked at her vice captain and felt a very foreign ache she never knew she would ever feel. She was jealous. Luca though have calmed down she was still at a loss for words. 

Mary glanced at the two and immediately averted their gaze. She was embarrassed to be seen by her two friends like that. She casted mind link and instructed the two to take command.

"I'm sorry," Mary said in her thoughts. "You've got a lot of questions in your mind, I know. You're just as confused as I am the first time this happened. So please, bear with it, for now." Mary wept as she hugged Leon's head tightly closer to her chest. "You shouldn't see me like this. For now please take care of the rest. Just for a moment. Please, let me stay like this even just for a moment."

The Fireflies were visibly distraught. Feint whispers flooded the silent pile and ranks. They were still cautious for an unknown opponent they knew they wouldn't beat. The whispers turned to murmur as metals clashed and clanged. They were all worried and fearful.

While Luca was still deep in her thoughts. Rhea immediately noticed the growing tension of the Fireflies. Her eyes were filled with a half baked resolve. But she knew she needed to prove herself to Leon. She must not keep sulking. Not even her captain was blaming her. She felt stepping up for a change. She faced her crew with a wavering determination.

"E-e-everyone," she shouted. "P-p-please be a-a-at ease. The si-situation had already been resolved.. everyone?" No one was listening to her. They were all too busy with hysteria and panic. A riot emerged at one side of the formation.

Few of the adventurers wanted to quit. A handful of them decided to throw their weapon and shield to the ground. Unfortunately, one of them hit another adventurer's foot. Next thing that happened, shields and helmets were flying as a fist fight erupted.

Rhea casted mind link but even her inner voice was too faint to be heard by the adventurers that were fighting among themselves. Luca was worried and so she went with her. The parameter, that Mary ordered, broke. There were those who wanted to see the fray. Worst still were those who wanted to engage with the fighting. The supplies and records in the middle were left unguarded. Even the commanding officer cowered in a corner. The morale of Fireflies dwindled. It was apparent everyone was agitated. 

"E-everyone, p-please calm down," Rhea was voice trembling. "We can peacefully s-sort things out. We have procedures for.."

It dawned on her that she will never be noticed. Rhea decided to enter the fray. But immediately after trying she was thrown off to the ground. Luca tried stopping Rhea but she insisted. She tried pushing herself in the middle of the chaos. Luca followed through. They squirmed themselves through the crowd of the Fireflies.

"P-please c-calm down, everyone," her weak voice was too faint to be heard. Even her magic was waning. Only her eager spirit was what stopped her from breaking her magic link. "I--i-it doesn't have to be this way. We could talk this out, everyone. We're here. W-w-we'll listen. We're going to hear your grievances." She was thinking how Leon would handle the same situation.

One of the adventurers took a club and tried hitting another adventurer in their clash but was blocked.

"So we're going down this route, huh?" said the adventurer who blocked the blow. 

He took out his giant sword and swung it down hard. The one with the club evaded it. The ground shook as sand scattered in the air. Some of the unaware fighters snufted and spitted out sand. They were scratching their eyes trying to get the sand out. Those who saw it got serious and immediately drew out their weapons. Some who threw their weapon picked them up and readied for the fight. There were a few who stepped back and backed down. They were wise enough to leave the looming pandemonia.

The ones ready for battle looked and glanced at each other with sharp and fierce eyes. They were ready and were waiting for one of them to start.

The one with the giant sword shouted a battlecry. He was mad for not being able to hit his aggressor. He felt ashamed and thought the other warriors were looking down on him. He swung his sword horizontally with all his might and not minding who he would hit. The warriors immediately stepped away to evade the reckless attack. But the fearful Rhea, with her eyes closed, stepped in the middle of the brawl. She was desperate to calm the situation. Luca tried stopping her but one of the adventurers held her back.

"Please! Stop this at once!!" Rhea desperately shouted. She didn't know why her feet just suddenly moved her there. Her arms were stretched out and her legs were shaking. Her eyes were closed. In her mind's eye she was picturing Leon valiantly leading the Fireflies.

Unfortunately, Rhea couldn't see the sword coming at her. She hadn't known. The warrior wielding the giant sword noticed too late. He could no longer stop the momentum of his slash. Luca screamed in the sidelines. She looked away as her grip on the adventurere's clothes tightened. She didn't want things to happen like last time.

Rhea suddenly disappeared and in her place Mary appeared standing and her head bowed down. Sheds of tears fell on the ground.

The sword hit. It sliced her right shoulder armor cleanly and sank beneath her soft skin. The momentum of the sword stopped before mid swing. The attacker felt like striking an immovable wall. A wave of air blasted around Mary. The Fireflies around felt the impact. But Mary was unfazed and unmoved. The vice captain nonchalantly looked at her shoulder where the sword hit. A drop of blood skid down her arm. 

The attacker tried to take back his sword but it was stuck in their vice captain's shoulder. He was fearful as he tried taking back his sword but it was fruitless. His sword would not budge. Mary looked up to the sky and shouted.

"Filthy insects!!"

Her eyes were cold and burning in anger and disappointment. She was furious. She easily pushed the blade with the palm of her left hand as she grabbed onto it. Her eyes were more fierce and sharp. Her fingers dug deeper into the blade of the sword as small cracks formed. She pulled the sword and the attacker was forcefully disarmed.

"Listen to your superior!" Mary shouted once more as she shattered the sword into pieces with her bare hand. She looked at Luca with serene eyes. She was released by the adventurer that held her.

"Go check on Rhea, she's with Leon," Mary ordered. The adventurers noticed who Mary was staring at. The Fireflies stepped back and gave Luca a path to their captain.

"Vice captain you're bleeding-" Luca asked but immediately noticed a blood orb was assimilating the blood that fell and dripped on the vice captain's arm. It was the same spell that healed Leon. Luca wondered whether it was actually Mary who healed Leon. The blood orb upon reaching a certain size began to dissipate and fully healed Mary's wound. Mary smiled.

***

Leon hugged her tightly. His hands on her waist strap clenched. He was afraid. For that moment he was like a child, innocent, weak and fragile. An emotion he never showed to his subordinates except to his lover, Mary. He was unconscious.

"I'll take it from here," Mary spoke to Rhea with her magic link. Her captain's spatial skill had just been used and she was with him.

Rhea's eyes widened. She could not believe what she had just happenes. She was blushing and trying her best to control her shaking. She felt embarrassed. The last thing Rhea remembered was that she was in the middle of the riot. She was trying to quell the riot and Luca suddenly screaming. In an instant, she found herself sitting on the ground. Her captain was on the ground, in a fetal position, and his head was on her lap. He was holding her tightly. He was in her mind all the time. She felt exaltic that it all became real.

Certain memories Rhea never knew flashed in her mind. She had somehow forgotten long ago and they were all trying to flood her thoughts. It was her captain's smiling face. She saw her face too. She was smiling. A smile that was different than what she had always worn. In those memories, she was at her happiest. 

She tried calming herself down by making her think of scientific formulas and magic recipes and tomes. She had always done it when her mind couldn't process things logically. She thought to herself it must be a magical backlash. The images and memories she saw were inconsequential afterproduct. It must be. There were no other explanations to it.

"Alternate reality? Me and captain Leon?" Rhea thought to herself. "Sealed memories?" She looked at her captain once more. An image suddenly came to her mind. It was small cabin on a snowy mountain. The dilapidated roof and walls covered in soot and dust. The moist spider web that sat on a corner. Gust of wind blew through cracks. A small bed cold and aged. The fireplace was unfilled with embers and unburnt fume of ashes. An old woman and a jar. Inside was a little firefly.

"My queen," Leon whispered in a trembling voice. He suddenly glowed. Rhea failed to notice as she suddenly realized who she was. She was looking at him with tantalizing eyes. She didn't notice him glow as in her eyes he always had.

"C-C-Captain?" Rhea whispered. She remembered everything. She reluctantly reached out her hand to touch his face. She was trying not to but she felt herself being pulled towards him. Her breathing was heavy and her voice was amorous. "Captain." Her eyes were deep in trance.

***

"I appreciate your kindness. But right now, please go to Rhea's side," Mary spoke with sincerity and a kind face. It was as if she was never furious at her crew in the first place. "She must steel herself for the Fireflies. The same goes to you, Luca. We never know what might happen next" Luca felt terrified at such an ominous remark. Mary smiled at her once more before facing the rest of the Fireflies. Her demeanor changed to a strict leader. She was their vice captain, after all.

***

Luca was confused and terrified. Cold sweat slid down her temple as she passed by the warriors and adventurers. Her breathing was heavy. There were many things that had just happened. She couldn't comprehend anything at all. She was exhausted.

Sure, there were times before that the Babel Gateway had malfunctioned not to be able to work properly. There were attempts of forcefully tripping its system to redirect travelers to different places. Dimensional trap is not a myth. It happened. It happens. It was in the first place the primary function of the gateway. Luca tried sorting her thought of who would've done it. A shadow figure ran behind her. She felt it but decided to ignore it.

It was clear that Mary blasted Andrew away. She was certain that the green light they saw was healing magic. But she never knew her captain to be proficient at using healing magic. Let alone the distance. Perhaps it was Mary. She is great with magic after all. Rhea is a genius when it comes to all sorts of magic. But with the state she was in. Luca doubted Rhea's mental fortitude. 

The orb of blood spell was either used by Mary or Leon. Isaac came to her mind but she thought otherwise. But, then again, Isaac was personally picked by their captain to join them on this expedition. The orb fully regenerated their captain to full health and restored lost limb. Luca's sister appeared in her peripheral vision.

"Elaine?" with delirious eyes, she looked at the crowd. She looked left and right but could not find her sister. The adventurers and warriors gave her quick glances. They were ashamed to look at their superior. She thought herself overstressed and casted a spell to soothe her mind. After pausing for a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking. The whereabouts of Rhea and Leon were near but it felt like she was walking for hours.

She thought of how Andrew could've pulled it all. She doubted if ever he would even think of doing such an act. The Scholars of the Firefly was his beloved brother's crew. One could even say the whole Scholars of the Firefly is Leon himself. She asked herself whether he, Andrew, really despises his older brother. She thought hard if ever Andrew was only putting on an act.

She looked back and noticed the Fireflies went back to their formation surrounding Mary. They were very attentive to the vice captain. Mary was strict with Leon but she hardly remember the vice captain to be as terrifying to the rest. The way she took command. It was different. She was never angry before. She was strict but she always held back. The way she handled the situation. It was just all too different.

Mary was alway good with elemental magic. She was certain it was Mary who casted the blast of wind that blew Andrew away. Rhea could, but she wouldn't do that much. If she had suspected Andrew, she'd have Mary confront him. She will not do that. Andrew flew off a great distance away. Luca thought it would be fatal but the reassurance that came out of Mary's words were hard not to trust.

She thought of Mary's physical capabilities. It would be possible for the vice captain to be almost, if not, just as strong as their captain. But having the physical prowess to be able to pull off that amazing show of strength. It was as if Mary was not Mary at all. It would be possible that Mary casted a spell to enhance her physical capabilities. But to foolishly catch the full brunt of that mighty swing was certainly different. She did not even try to block it. Her shoulder armor broke. She even got wounded. Perhaps, Luca thought, the warrior was a master himself to be able to immediately stop the momentum of a forceful swing. She remembered the struggling face of the warrior as he tried to pull back his sword but ultimately failed. She also remembered the gust of wind that followed after Mary was hit. It was like hitting a giant metallic statue with a wooden stick. 

She remembered the blood dripping down Mary's arm. Mary was wounded, if not slightly cut. But she healed fast. There was no hint of healing magic that was used. But it was clear, the same magic to summon the blood orb was used to heal the vice captain.

She was lost in her thoughts when a small gentle hand suddenly held Luca's shoulder. She turned around and found it was her sister holding her. She was smiling with the same caring face she always had. Her sister spoke, her lips moved, but Luca couldn't hear any words. She blinked and her sister was not there. Her shoulder strap was caught on one of the warrior's sheathed sword. The warrior apologized and went back to the rest of the Fireflies.

"Elaine," Luca turned around and continued walking towards Rhea and Leon. Her steps were heavy as her thoughts were still scattered between her sister appearing and what had just happened.

***

When Luca finally arrived she was even more speechless. Rhea was touching Leon’s face and was about to give her a kiss. She had never known the secretary to bear any interest in their captain other than adoration and respect.

“Rhea, what are you doing?” Luca asked. Rhea’s eyes widened in embarrassment as her mind went blank. The secretary casted a wind spell aimed at Luca. Translucent and sharp gust of wind headed straight for her. It happened so fast that she was unable to react. Luca closed her eyes and tried blocking with her arms.

The magic stopped a few inches before it hit Luca. It was as if an invisible barrier blocked Rhea's magic. Upon seeing this Rhea stood and simultaenously casted five spells. She understood the situation enough to only use hard to notice spells. 

Luca’s feet suddenly sank beneath the sand and it suddenly hardened. Luca tried lifting her feet but she was stuck. She tried screaming but she couldn’t. An enchantment was placed in Luca's throat rendering her unable to speak.

She tried casting a spell of her own but her hands were suddenly grabbed by tendrils made out of hardened sand and pulled her down. Instead of falling flat on the ground it made her kneel. She felt pain in her tendons from her sunken feet. Tears fell off Luca’s eyes as she tried freeing herself. The grip of tendrils tightened. She was shaking in pain as she raised her head and looked at the Fireflies. She once more tried screaming but there was nothing. The tendrils on her arm tightened the more she moved. She wanted to heal herself but the pain grew too unbearable. She looked at her captain who was peacefully sleeping. She could not cast any spell. She was in pain. No one noticed her suffering. She could not do anything. She was helpless. She then looked at Rhea. Her face was relieved and smiling.

“No one will separate us again,” Rhea spoke with resentment and grief. “It had been so so long.”

Rhea aimed her palm at Luca. The air smelled of ash and electricity. It was translucent in color, in the distance no one would be able to tell. A beam of plasma shot out of Rhea’s palm and headed towards Luca’s palms. Luca hesistantly accepted her fate and closed her eyes.

***

"You, lot!" Mary shouted. It was both a magic link and her voice. It reverberated that even the sand around her shook and billowed. Her emotions overflowed. "Our captain just saved our hides, and you show your appreciation like this? Starting a riot?"

She stomped her foot on the ground. It did not have any effect as their captain but those around her knew she was mad. But she kept her posture. She was the vice captain after all. "Those who are afraid and would no longer wish to be part of the Fireflies, you may return me the contract you have and by my power terminate our agreement. We will have you escorted back to Jerusalem and await your transport back to your own home. For those without a place to call home, we give you an option to be stationed there. Accomodations as well supply will be free for a month so long as you keep yourself from doing any misconduct that will either endanger the peace and tarnish the name of the Scholars of Fireflies." Mary walked towards the warrior who wielded the club. She smiled at him and took the club by his side. The warrior awkwardly smiled back. He was afraid. She waved it playfully like a magic wand. "Also, a dispute among the Fireflies is best done with verbal prowess. If you could not talk it among yourself, have an official mediate. We will listen." With a might swing in the air, Mary broke the club in two. A small part of the club held the other half from splitting. "We are scholars, after all. We're not savages." The Fireflies took a step back as they grew more fearful towards their vice captain.

Mary ordered the commanding officer to gather the contracts of the warriors and adventurers that wanted to leave. On the other hand, she oversaw the conclusion of the recent squabble. The warriors involved eagerly apologized and admitted their fault for causing the chaos. They became afraid when they were trapped and helpless in the red moon dimension. More so when they saw their beloved leader in a broken state. Mary laughed at their remark towards Leon.

"Vice captain, the adventurers and warriors, and especially those involved in the recent dispute, never in the first place wanted to leave. The morale among the ranks dwindled after seeing captain Leon broken," reported the commanding officer.

"The captain, you say is broken?" Mary asked with a smile. Her face contradicted her cold voice. The air suddenly became heavy. "Is that how weak you see Leon?" Sparks of electricity discharged around her. She would not tolerate anyone who belittles her beloved.

"Vice captain," a warrior emerged from the crowd. "Isaac has returned. He has Andrew with him."

Thunderclouds formed above the Fireflies. Roars of fury echoed in the sky. Mary could hardly restrain her resentment.