-Thérèse-

Thérèse was shaking with excitement as she gripped her rose-shaped malachite staff. "Finally!" she shouted.

'Aru, you ready?' she called in her mind.

Her anima connected with glee. 'Always! Slice them up, wielder!'

"Armement: Epée," Thérèse called. Her staff glowed brightly and transformed into a mid-length, double-edged sword which she held in one hand. She twirled it deftly and braced herself for a fight. Casimir and Dai flanked her, ready to offer their support as the sanscoeur fully appeared in the night air.

​It was a grotesque, twisted thing. A bone-like, dull grey shell covered its body, and it vaguely resembled a giant beetle with great, sharp mandibles. It screamed and clicked furiously, the two hollow eyes glowing a faint red.

"Ah," Aneirin McKaysaid, "a red one. This should be easy for the three of you."

Though he spoke lightly, Aneirin's crystal staff was glowing, his magic activated and ready to render aid if the fight went sour. Like it would, Thérèse thought. He and Diane, non-fighting mages, would stay back and let her handle things. With a battle cry on her lips, Thérèse bounded forward, Casimir and Dai at her heels.

The sanscoeur was huge. Thérèse was tall, maybe not as much as Casimir or Dai, but tall. She did not reach the height of the sanscoeur's clicking mandibles. She made the first strike, slicing upwards with her malachite sword, making little more than a scratch in the bone-like shell. The giant beetle hissed and raised up, pointing its pincers towards her.

'We need something bigger, much bigger,' mused Aru. 'Lots of force to slice it!'

"Tere, back!" Dai called. Thérèse did not hesitate; she took several long strides away from the monster. "Conjuration: Déformation."

A small area on the ground where Thérèse had been shimmered and began to swirl. The sanscoeur dove headfirst where its prey had been seconds earlier. It screamed in confusion as its head sank into the no longer solid ground.

"Interesting," mused Aneirin.

"Now!" Dai shouted and Thérèse grinned.

'Wielder do you see?' exclaimed Aru. Thérèse looked and saw a weak spot just behind what she assumed was the back of the creature's neck.

"Armement: Lame d'exécution," she said, and her sword glowed and transformed into a giant flat blade, like something that might be attached to a guillotine. She hefted it, a weapon almost larger than she was, and ran forward. She jumped and brought the blade down on the soft cartilage area between two bone plates.

There was a muffled scream as the blade sliced down. It stopped, caught on more bone most likely. Thérèse let out a cry and pushed harder. The sanscoeur thrashed and threw her off but could not dislodge the malachite blade. Casimir ran over and helped her to her feet.

"What now?" Casimir asked.

"Can't you do anything?" Thérèse demanded.

"Yea," Casimir drew out the word, "my Gift isn't really meant for this kind of thing."

Thérèse wanted to throttle him. The three of them had sparred plenty of times but, she realized somehow for the first time, Casimir was right. "You're a bit useless," she muttered, "you know that?"

"Hey," protested Cas, though his voice was barely audible over the screaming thing.

"Tere, Cas," Dai shouted. "I have an idea. If all we need is force behind it, neither of us are going to get that. But I can rig something."

Thérèse looked at Dai. He was amazing, sometimes, she had to admit. As strange as his Gift was, he was clever. Dai raised his staff and twirled it.

"Conjuration: Estrade de ricochet," he said, casting his spell. A flat disc of silvery-green light appeared at Thérèse's feet. "Jump," Dai explained.

Thérèse jumped and gasped when the disc rebounded her high up into the air. Casimir's eyes widened and his mouth formed an 'O' as he must have realized, when Thérèse did, what Dai was planning. She grinned widely.

"Alright," she said, landing for another jump. The sanscoeur wriggled, and the earth around it began to crumble as it loosened its trap.

"Now!" Dai shouted, pointing in the air.

His jade guandao was shining. Thérèse looked up; another shimmering disc appeared midair, aimed at the sanscoeur. Inside her mind, Aru was cackling with glee. Thérèse took a deep breath and launched herself towards the disc; she twirled midair so that her feet landed on Dai's platform, then spun once more as she shot towards the sanscoeur.

Thérèse reached the great butcher's blade slicing into its neck just as the sanscoeur freed itself from the earth. Thérèse sucked in a sharp breath and brought her arms up to protect her face as the creature raised its pincers and swiped at her. The hard mandibles hit her and sent her flying. Pain shot through her side from the force of the sanscoeur's attack. Dai and Casimir both shouted her name. Her ears were ringing but she landed and rolled, getting back on her feet before the sanscoeur could react.

"Bon sang!" she cursed. And of course, she still had no weapon,stuck as it was in the back of the damned monster's head. "Dai, again!"

"I doubt it will fall forthe same trick a second time," Dai called.
|
"I don't care,"Thérèse shouted. "Dai, do it again. Casimir, distract it!"

She heard Casimir shout, "On it." His quartz staff flashed. His eyes, too, were shining, but less so than the quartz prism. "Illusion: Lumière éclairante!"

There was a bright flash of light, so blinding that even Thérèse had to look away for a moment. Her skin prickled and she felt a shiver run up her spine as she sensed the sanscoeur reacting. When she looked, the creature was turning in circles, confused, and disoriented.

"Illusion: Copies de lumière," continued Casimir. A bright light remained suspended, illuminating the immediate area. Then, rainbows began to refract from the light, and two copies of Casimir appeared, one in front of the sanscoeur, the other to its left near Thérèse.

Thérèse stared at it. The last time she had seen one of Casimir's clones, it was glitchy and off, something about the colors not right. This one was perfect; she might have thought it really was Casimir standing there. Was he doing this with just the moonlight?

"Tere, it's meant to distract the sanscoeur, not you," teased Dai from the other side of the hulking beetle. Thérèse felt her face grow hot, but she bit back a retort. "Jump again!"

"Alright," she said. She shook out her arms and legs and crouched. "Ready when you are."

Dai once again summoned his ricochet platform. This time when Thérèse jumped, she saw several more, at least three, platforms. From her vantage point with her first jump, she saw Casimir's light-clones dancing about. Casimir, off to the side behind a barrier of Dai's conjuring, had his hand and staff raised, fingers moving as if directing a performance.

The sanscoeur was hissing and clicking, but so far was still deceived. Like a cat chasing a mirror's reflection, Thérèse thought with a grin. Since the monsters relied on the scent of magic, Casimir must have been pouring a great deal of his Gift into the clones. The creature's mandibles were glowing red, and an orb of red energy began to swirl between its pincers.

"Alright," she said to herself. "Here goes!"

She put more force into her next jump, hurtling towards the disc closest to her, angling so that she would rocket towards the highest one facing straight down, directly on top of the sanscoeur's back.

'Yes, yes, yes!' giggled Aru. Thérèse hit the second platform with a speed that nearly took her breath away.

"Aru!" she shouted, reaching one arm towards her blade. "Armement: Aiguiser!"

The malachite blade glowed brightly, just as Thérèse landed on top of it with more force than she had anticipated. Her last spell sharpened its edge so that this time, when she landed, it sliced clean through the sanscoeur. The red orb of magic dissipated. With a final, gurgling scream, the sanscoeur turned to dull, grey stone, though part of its red magic pulsed beneath. The last remnants of the red glow of its eyes went out. Thérèse tumbled to the ground, and her malachite blade reverted to its usual staff form.

She looked up as she rolled to her knees. The stone creature was dissolving, and the red glow of its sand was fading fast.

"Quickly," called Diane, "before it's gone."

Thérèse shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was the first to grab her staff and run to the disintegrating creature. Dai and Casimir followed. The closer they came, the brighter their staves reacted to the red magic of the sanscoeur. The dust was drawn like a magnet to the crystals, and slowly the red light was absorbed by the three Mage Adepts' staves.

To Thérèse, it felt strange. Like the weakened presence of some other mind filtering through into her own.

'We grow stronger,' answered Aru, whose normally loud voice sounded drowsy now. 'They are part of us now.'

It was a strange sensation that Thérèse did not care for, but she understood it as part of her anima's nature. She looked at her friends; their expressions seemed to mirror how she felt. They all nodded at each other as Diane and Aneirin approached.

"Good work," praised the Healer. "But don't dally. The night is still young, and more will be on their way."

"No doubt," added Diane.

Thérèse nodded, her head already beginning to clear. She turned to Dai and Casimir. All at once, they raised their crystal staves and knocked them together, sharing a grin and a laugh.

***

-Casimir-

Later, when the night was more than halfway over, Casimir, Dai, and Thérèse sat together, praising themselves on their first successful purge. Casimir clapped Dai on the back even as Thérèse punched Casimir in the arm. Nothing could dampen their spirits, and off to the side, Mage Experts Bureau and McKay exchanged knowing grins. They still remembered their first purge.

Thérèse had opened her latest bottle of wine, which Casimir suspected she had Dai sneak through the Gate. It was not from her family's vineyards, and she wasted no breath in complaining about it even as she drained the last drops. Dai settled back, pulling out one of his Old-World guitars he had also snuck through along with Thérèse's wine. They had found both the wine and the guitar at a shady merchant's shop in one of the outer districts. Dai often had a habit of collecting things he was not supposed to have; Thérèse simply liked to drink.

Casimir laughed. "Your Gift does come in handy," he commented. Dai smirked and shrugged. "Where does it all go?" Casimir asked.

"Abi just sort of," Dai wriggled his fingers as he seemed to search for the right words, "disappears it? And when I need it, it reappears. I don't really know. It's as if objects just cease to exist until I need them again."

"And here I thought Eta's gift was useful," mumbled Casimir. In his mind, his anima scoffed.

'We are useful! And we are beautiful,' the anima was spritely and enthusiastic. It gave Casimir a headache sometimes.

Diane Bureau's crystal staff lit up with a connection from Master Mélissa. "Well done," Mélissa's distorted voice filtered through. "Quick and efficient, no traces of wild magic left outside the Stream. No injuries?"

"None," said Aneirin as he stood beside Diane. "A few cuts and bruises, mostly from our Battlemage not paying close attention to her teammates." The Healer sounded more amused than anything.

"Well, Battlemages aren't known for their caution," Mélissa sighed. "Listen, a few of our Sensors have picked up a strange reading near you. It's a bit more chaotic than a typical sanscoeur, so it could be a white. In fact, it's highly likely to be a white. We're not sure what's attracting it, since there aren't any Déchu around."

Out of the corner of his eye, Casimir saw Diane and Aneirin exchange a worried glance. "Understood, Master Mélissa," Diane responded quietly.

"Good. Be on high alert. Don't want a few untried Adepts-"

Diane's brows knit together. "Master Mélissa?" she called. "Communication: Mélissa Rayne. Communication: Sébire Shimano." Nothing happened. She tried again. Her staff glowed when she spoke the spells, but quickly dulled. Diane looked at Aneirin.

"What happened?" the Healer asked.

"I can't connect to Lutèce," Diane responded, her voice quiet and shaking. "No one is answering."

"Is it on our end, or theirs?" prompted Aneirin. Diane shrugged and shook her head, at a loss for words.

Casimir felt the influx of magic from the Stream hit him like a dam breaking. It was like a great flood of chaos, and Casimir jumped. Next to him, Dai's fingers slipped and the string he had been tuning broke. Thérèse's eyes focused as she was knocked sober. Casimir had never felt anything quite like this, but Thérèse looked tense, on edge, like a predator that had just sensed something even more dangerous than itself.

"What in Elam's Name is that?" demanded Casimir, getting to his feet. 'Eta, can you sense it?'

The anima's response came at the same time Aneirin's did. "A white," he told them, his voice grim. "Nothing compared to the reds you fought tonight."

"But it's almost dawn! How is it here?" Casimir pressed. His knuckles were white from holding his staff so tightly.

"Whites are more powerful," Diane explained. "They can slip through more easily and have less fear of the light. They still don't appear during the day, but dawn and dusk are not off limits."

"We need to get out of here," Aneirin continued. "Now."

"What, and miss an opportunity like this?" Thérèse scoffed beside Casimir.

"It's too dangerous," Diane told them. "We have strict orders to get out of sight and hide if a white appears."

Thérèse turned to Casimir, who was still processing everything. "Casimir?" she asked. "Let's go after it!" She had already transformed her staff into a sword nearly as long as she was tall.

"Perhaps we should wait and see," suggested Dai from behind Casimir, though he had clearly summoned his anima as well, for his jade guandao was emitting a soft light of its own.

"No waiting," Diane commanded, "and certainly no fighting. Lutèce lets the Déchu handle whites or will send Mage Expert-level teams in emergencies. Aneirin and I aren't fighters, and you aren't ready for something like this."

Dai and Thérèse looked at Casimir. Though Thérèse might call the shots in actual combat, he was their leader. They had always looked to him without question. He was not sure why; he got them into more trouble than Dai could get them out of most days.

"Let's do as they say," Casimir acquiesced. "They're our proctors. And I'm sure we'll have plenty of chances later." His glance towards Dai made him more certain of his decision, even though Thérèse was fuming.

"Good," Diane said. "Glad you understand. Adept Lang, can you create a dimension just large enough for all of us? We'll hide and wait it out."

Dai nodded and twirled his staff. "Conjuration: Petite sphère." The space around the five mages wavered and distorted as an orb enclosed them. Diane's staff glowed as she crafted a spell, attempting to infuse it into Dai's magic, but it did not work. Diane frowned.

"I forgot," she sighed. "You're rarissime. I can't change or tamper with your Gift, Adept Lang."

Dai looked apologetic. He and Casimir could combine spells, but other Élu could not. Dai was quick to offer, "We should remain undetected. Those within my sphere and those without cannot interact." This seemed to satisfy Diane.

In a small attempt to perhaps appease Thérèse, Casimir ventured, "Couldn't we at least have a look at it? If it won't be able to sense us, then where's the harm?"

"I'm certain I can keep us in the air, and unseen," promised Dai. He was likely as eager to see this sanscoeur up close as Thérèse was to fight it. Diane sighed but nodded. Thérèse threw her fist into the air, a look of triumph on her face. At a silent command from Dai, the orb encasing the group floated upwards, moving towards the chaotic surge.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," complained Casimir, shutting his eyes tight. The ball lurched and he reached out to hold Thérèse's shoulder. She rolled her eyes.

"I would advise against it," Dai responded, teasing.

Thérèse peered over her shoulder. "I know we can't be seen, but it still feels weird flying through the air like this." Dai smirked. Casimir felt his stomach churning again and retched. Thérèse scoffed. "Some fearless leader," she grumbled.

"Acrophobia is a relatively common fear, Tere," Dai said matter-of-factly. There was a lightness to his voice that made Casimir, in that moment, irritated with his best friend.

"Not...afraid..."Casimir groaned.

"Yeah," countered Thérèse, "more like terrified!"

Casimir did not have the energy to roll his eyes. An explosion missed them mid-air, and Dai's sphere jolted. Casimir thought it might shatter. The group halted, midair, still contained by Dai's pocket dimension.

"Great Elam," Casimir breathed as his eyes fell on the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. Shivers ran over his skin. He pointed, and the others followed his gaze. "Illusion: Agrandir," he said, and part of Dai's sphere became more transparent, and the image of the creature magnified. Casimir heard Diane gasp, but mostly everyone just stared.

The creature was no sanscoeur. It was tall and stood mostly upright. It had white-blue skin, eyes, and hair of different shades. It had black slits for pupils, long pointed ears, and claws with four sharp, curved digits on each hand. It was not a twisted animal-like creature, but rather a grotesque mockery of a human. It seemed vaguely female. She floated mid-air, likely riding the Stream the way other sanscoeur and the gold-blooded Déchu did. Beside Casimir, Thérèse was shaking. She glared at this strange creature, teeth clenched and knuckles white from gripping her longsword.

"Thérèse," Casimir warned, looking around.

"We need to leave, now," Diane warned.

"I agree." Dai's voice was quiet, and Casimir looked at him. He was still staring at the blue-white creature in front of them.

"We have to do something!" protested Thérèse, brandishing her weapon. "A creature like that could destroy cities!"

Part of Casimir thought that sounded like an exaggeration, but the more he looked at the monstrosity floating there, he wondered just how much destruction could be brought by it.

"The Déchu will handle it," insisted Aneirin. "We can't! And it's unlikely Lutèce can send back up, not with the way the Stream is acting up!"

"If we are going to leave," Dai cut in, his eyes having not moved from the strange sanscoeur, "then I suggest we do it now. We might be invisible to normal sanscoeur, but I don't think we're invisible to her."