Awaken

"Now that's a sight to see. Don't you think so, Aurora?" Rose asked, turning to see Aurora exhausted and gasping for breath. Leo held her up, like a child helping a grandmother walk up the stairs.

They stood on the cliff of a mountain overlooking a giant snake, wreaking havoc and devouring an entire army. Their attacks and weapons did nothing to the snake as it continued its rampage.

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A few minutes ago,

"Leo!" Aurora waved her hand and teleported him to her just as the snake came crashing down on where he stood.

"Are you ok?" She asked, patting him down.

"Yeah. This is scary stuff." Leo said with a smile on his lips and excitement in his eyes.

"You don't look scared. But, I guess that's alright."

"What are we going to do? The house is being destroyed." Leo asked as the snake charged at them again. Aurora created a barrier between them and they watched as its teeth tried to sink onto the barrier.

"Well, our first priority isn't the house. Rose is currently creating a portal, we just have to wait for it to open and then go through it with the snake." Aurora stopped when she saw Leo's panic-stricken face. "What's wrong?"

"Y-your arm."

"Arm?" Aurora saw a piece of broken wood sticking out of her arm. "Ohhhh~ It does look painful, doesn't it? But it isn't. Let me just-"

Aurora grabbed the wood and pulled it out with the movement of one undoing a button.

"There, see?" Aurora smiled but Leo's entire attention is on the gaping hole with blood gushing out of it, his face white as snow.

"It'll be better if you don't look at it, Leo. Ok?" Aurora tried to divert his attention by waving her hands around but that only spread the blood more. Terrifying the boy further.

Crack.

Aurora and Leo turned to look at the barrier, very slowly and they saw cracks on it.

"No way," Aurora said, smiling as she covered Leo from the falling shards. "No way."

"Aurora! I'm ready, where do I open the portal?" Rose shouted, her voice coming from below them as the ground began to glow.

"Hey, Leo?" She called the boy, still covering him with her body.

"Yeah?" Came his muffled reply.

"Do you trust me?"

"You're going to do something dangerous, aren't you?"

"What do you think?" Aurora spoke, never taking her eyes off the snake breaking her barrier like a mirror.

Leo struggled out of her arms and looked up to her, smiling, "Bring it."

He looks like a pumpkin.

"That's my boy." Aurora held her hand up and shouted, "Rose! On my signal!"

"What are you trying to do?" Rose asked, appearing beside them.

Aurora finally pulled her gaze away from the snake and onto Rose. A crazed smile on her face as she said again, "On my signal."

"Fine!" Rose touched the ground with the tip of her sword and the glowing intensified.

"Now!" Aurora put her hand down and grabbed Leo tighter as the barrier shattered, bringing the snake's open mouth down on them.

Rose raised her sword and the portal opened, the ground beneath them disappeared and they fell.

Before the snake's mouth could close on them, Rose grabbed the other two and created another portal, just as the snake's mouth snapped shut.

They fell from the sky and landed on the side of a mountain, overlooking the place the snake landed on. Aurora created a cushion for them to land on but the force still had an impact on their bodies, leaving them gasping for air after they landed.

And by them, it's only Aurora. Rose landed on her feet and Aurora still covered Leo from the impact.

While Aurora was trying to gather her breath, the pain from the wood earlier began to hurt as well, she looked around.

This place … It looks like … a battlefield? And, what's that rundown castle there?

"I sent everyone away under the pretence that I have a very powerful magic spell I wanted to perform and it would kill them too if they were anywhere close to it, that takes care of the witnesses. And it was somewhat of a truth."

"What is that place? They even have armies." Leo asked, trying to help the wheezing Aurora stand up.

"Scarin. This place is known for carrying out cruel experiments on anyone they can get their hands on. At first, it started as a harmless experiment on the mutation of plants so that their magical properties can be better understood and maybe, harvested as well. But then they began to become a bit … ambitious."

Rose pointed to a rundown castle not too far from the battleground.

"They began using humans as test subjects. The things they did to them ... " Rose looked at Leo and decided against talking further about it. "Those armies you see?"

She pointed to the people attacking the snake, they numbered thousands, looking like ants swarming food.

"They are experiments. Everything about them is enhanced. That's why it's so difficult for us to get past them to the castle there. Seems that snake is scarily powerful. She took most of them out like it is nothing."

"That's Miss for you. No one can beat her." Aurora gasped, taking one step at a time with Leo helping her.

"Well, colour me excited. This will be a show to watch." Rose smiled, turning her attention back to the battle.

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Present time,

"Here, come watch." Rose patted to a stone beside her and Aurora plopped down on it.

"Oh, Leo." Aurora touched his forehead and the boy fell asleep. She kept him afloat using her magic while blood ran down the open wound on her arm.

"Why did you do that for?" Rose asked, tearing a cloth from her shirt and wrapping it around her wound to stop the bleeding. "And if you still have the energy to use magic, use it to heal yourself first."

"Oh yeah. I forgot that you can't heal people. That's why you always have to be accompanied by, either a Division One or a Division Two, it must suck so ba- Ouchouchoutchouch. Not that tight."

Rose smiled at her in triumph, bandaging the wound up properly. "You do remember that you are the only one, who is a commoner and a Magic-Wielder right? Only those with royal blood are Magic Wielders but you just happen to be a Magic Wielder. That's why you can heal and attack."

"Is someone jealous and bitter?" Aurora teased again, her hand over her mouth in a mocking manner.

"I have no reason to be envious of you. After all, who's the one with a miserable life here?"

Tension filled the air as the two stared each other down. Neither backed away as they continued to stare each other down.

Aurora smiled, deciding to defuse the tension because Rose has too much pride to back down first.

"You asked why I did this, right?" Aurora pulled the boy's body to her, letting him sleep while she held him on her lap. "He saw his entire village get massacred by a giant snake, this I'm sure you know and do not give me that look. We confirmed that it isn't Miss."

"Are you sure? Look at the destruction she is causing. We have been battling against them for so long and she is having no problem taking them out on her own."

"Yeah. She looks magnificent, doesn't she?" Aurora looked in awe as the snake took each one of them out without losing speed.

"Didn't you always preach about the value of human life? You're watching this with so much glee, I wonder if you actually believe what you said."

Aurora narrowed her eyes at Rose, who was looking back at her with the same taunting expression she had.

"A human life is very valuable. You cannot replace a human's life once lost. But over the years that I have lived, Rose, there are many cases that you can't compromise. Consequences are always there, whether you kill for a good reason or bad, nothing will ever change that. Whether a person is good or bad doesn't change the value of their soul either so you are still taking something invaluable when you kill someone. But then you already know all this, right Rose?"

Aurora smiled up at her making Rose turn away, focusing on the ground as it kept getting stained red.

"So, if something bad happens, are you ready for the consequences that will come after this? After all, it's your decision. If anyone questions it, she can say that she didn't know but you are the one that brought her here. Knowing what will happen." Rose asked, a thick smell of filling the air.

"For Miss, I would do anything. If something bad happens, I will take care of it. This is nothing compared to all the other things I would do for her. Of course, I'm ready."

Rose peeked a glance at Aurora, she had a very satisfied countenance to her even as she watched people die.

Aurora had always been the quiet one ever since they arrived at the Society. She didn't stand out much, only doing what she needed to do with absolute perfection and then disappearing to who knows where.

She always concealed her presence almost as if she would be bothering everyone if they knew she was there. For a long time, she seemed more like a ghost than a student.

It's safe to say that she intrigued everyone there from the teachers to the students.

She is so different now though. The look on her eyes as she watched the scene in front of her unfold. I would have never expected Aurora to be able to make that face.

Well, people change over time. But do they change this much?