➨ "You're trying for the Royal Knights, right?" Mimosa asked you the next day.

You and her had decided to take a walk for some fresh air. Klaus had gone off to do whatever he does during his days, and you hadn't heard from Yuno since he got back from his hot springs trip or whatever he said.

Or he called it his kidnapping.

At first, you did debate whether or not you wanted to partake in the event they were going to have for that. Mainly, you didn't know if you wanted to go through all that work. Not that you were lazy, but did you really feel like marching into the Eye of the Midnight Sun's hideout?

Your main focus was the Spade Kingdom. Fighting this group might shift that.

"Not sure," you answered. "It all depends on how I feel."

"You totally should! You rocked when they attacked the capital. Oh, and don't forget when Diamond sent their generals at us. I believe you'd be selected easily."

It wasn't like you weren't talented or strong enough. Hell, you made it into the Golden Dawn so that counts for something at the very least.

"Man, but that means we're going against each other, right?"

She shrugged. "Well, perhaps. But I'm sort of hoping it's more of the other squads than just us fighting each other, you know? I want to see everybody succeed."

"Must be nice to want the best for everybody." You raised your arms above your head. "I wish everybody thought like you."

"Oh goodness, I would hope not. My mind is usually a genuine mess. I just say what the people want to hear."

"That's why they like you." You smile and nudge her shoulder.

You went to say something else to her, but there was a dinging sound coming from your pocket. When your fingers clasped around the circular object, you felt the vibrations of it. "I guess it is a good thing I take this with me."

When you pressed the green button, a fuzzy image of Vangeance popped up as a hologram in front of you. His regal virtual presence gave you the idea that something was... not right. Or amiss.

"Did I do something wrong, captain?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all. Actually, I was wondering if you and I could have a chat?"

Oh geez.

"Yeah, you'll just have to give me a second to get back to HQ." It was maybe an eight minute walk at best.

"Of course, and thank you." Then he disappeared.

"I definitely did something." You sighed and turned to Mimosa. "We'll take a raincheck to finish our little outing."

"I'm sure it's nothing bad. But yeah don't worry about me, I'll probably find some errands to run while I'm out anyway. See you later!"

———————

Whenever you had to talk alone with your captain, it gave you anxiety. You held high respect for him, and what he does; as well as showing interest in you, and your skills. Still, since you held him in that high light, the thought of disappointing him ripped apart your gut.

Luckily, he's never been upset with anything you did. Or really...you've never seen the man upset period.

Letting out a deep breath, you knocked on the shining door that led to his office. You heard his soft voice allowing you to come in. So you slipped inside, and gave the standard salute.

He chuckled. "Forcing the formalities doesn't suit you, Y/N."

"Yeah I know, but not doing it seems disrespectful." You brought your arm back down to your side. "So... what exactly did you want to talk about?"

He was standing by the window, observing the outside. The sun glistened off the material of his helmet. "Something tells me you might know."

"A few ideas, maybe."

"One of them is probably correct." He put his hands behind his back. "Tell me, what are you doing to prepare for the Royal Knights selection exam?"

You hummed in thought. "Well you see... I haven't even figured out if I want to go."

"I thought as much. Would you like to share why?" His voice came out calmly.

Honestly, he probably already knows why you aren't 100% certain. This is about to start sounding like a therapy session real soon.

"I'm just on the fence on if it's appropriate for me to give it a shot. With the incident that happened at the capital with the undead, I should probably be trying out to be the Eye of the Midnight Suns mascot."

His eyes narrowed through the mask. "You think too lowly of yourself. You know, the only reason I haven't said anything to your squadmates, about their animosity towards you, is because you haven't ultimately given me that command."

So he did know about that. "It's not that big of a deal. Besides, they act the same way towards Yuno, he doesn't care either."

"He's in the same boat. But you're 23, so I'm sure you'll know when enough is enough. More so, I want you to know that I place my trust in you regardless of how you view yourself, or how others do. I picked you for a reason. If you are unhappy here, I'm happy to make adjustments."

"No, I'm not unhappy in any way. Just it's been... rough."

That it has. You were a Magic Knight for maybe a month and a half before your father ended up passing away. It wasn't that long ago he was killed and taken from you. It was Spade, his own country. Everytime you thought about it, you searched your brain for how they could've done that to him, even after he was so loyal to his people.

Were they pissed about him falling in love with a woman from the Heart kingdom and then proceeding to have a child in Clover? Absolutely. But he made sure that his family was never in harm's way. That being said, you were very distanced from much relating to Spade besides your blood.

"I understand. Which is why I brought you here. You're extremely capable and I would hate it if you downplay yourself by not challenging your limits for this exam. You'll make your mark on this Kingdom one way or another, and this is a great way to do it. So please, just think about it. Ask some of your preferred friends to train with you."

Hearing that type of praise from the William Vangeance? It made you extremely optimistic. It also erased the mockery from the rest of the Golden Dawn. Perhaps he was seeing something your brain refused to acknowledge. He's extremely determined on getting you to compete for this thing.

You shut your eyes for a moment to think. However, the only thing you could see behind the darkness of your eyelids, was an image of your father. It was blurry, but not because you were forgetting his appearance, but because you couldn't bring yourself to look at it with full resolution.

Of course. He was the one that pushed you to become a knight in the first place.

Opening your eyes once again, now it was Vangeance who stood in front of you. With a slight tilt in his head.

"Alright alright." You said at last. "But if I don't get in, it's your fault for the encouragement."

"That just means you have to be at your best. But you always are. Well, most times at least." He added the last part somewhat underneath his breath.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm just saying you have your moments just like everybody does." To be fair, he actually has quite a few people here that have their moments. "Anyway, I'm grateful you took the time to talk. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

This was the best time to do so if you did. So you chose to think about it–something random that you might want to know.

Actually, there was something that wasn't so far-fetched that you wanted information on.

"Do you know anything about the Spade Kingdom?"

There was minimal hesitation in his voice. But you could tell his guard was put back up just slightly. "I wouldn't think I know anymore than you do. Considering your circumstances, my knowledge would just be repeated information."

Go figures.

"Nothing at all?"

He shook his head. "To my current understanding, no. If I do come across anything, I'll share it with you. Also, Y/N, I do want to advise against doing anything brash. That Kingdom is a true wildcard, and nobody has a clear view of what is happening over there at the moment. It's best you keep your head on straight when treading in those waters."

"Yeah I know that," you admitted. "But does that mean I can't try? I want answers, and I'll get those answers either way." It was one of the few goals you really were dead set on accomplishing. Those don't happen very often.

Your captain seemed to be at a bittersweet loss. With a final solemn nod he concluded. "As long as you're aware. I can't force you to do or not do something. Please though, whatever you choose to do, be safe, and be mindful."

"Understood."

You closed the door to his office and let out a long sigh. Things were too difficult. Now you have to participate in this exam. Which you really didn't want to do. Maybe you'll just throw it.

Nah.

Giving random people an easy victory? No point in that.

Maybe you could find Mimosa around running her errands still. Even if you didn't, there's no point in sitting around.

———————

Strolling around the city actually proved to be quite boring.

Everywhere you went, you were just flat out... bored.

That was until you heard a shriek coming from the opposite direction. When you turned, there was an explosion coming from a nearby alleyway. Otherwise, the area was desolate. Maybe it's a good thing that you came this way.

Turning on your heel you waved your hand in front of you and summoned your grimoire. "Puppet creation magic: Marionette Roulette."

You waited for just a few moments before a small shadow appeared on the ground in front of you. Luckily by now, you could tell which one was being spawned by the size. The acrobat.

A toddler sized being came out of the black abyss in a handstand position. A brightly colored pink and white striped leotard with frilly ruffles popped out of the abyss. "I was hoping it would be you, Acro. Find out what that was for me, won't you?"

Now, you know they didn't respond, but they clearly understand. Running on its hands, it skipped over at high speed and around the corner. Acro was the fastest one you could summon, and the most agile. If truth be told, they were the reason you started training to be more flexible so you could move more freely during combat.

You started to shut your eyes, and focused your energy on looking through the eyes of your puppet to make sure you wouldn't immediately get murdered from whatever it was. The technique was extremely useful for scouting basically anything necessary.

Slowly you could see the pictures forming. It was moving so fast you were struggling to keep up, and it was blurry.

"Damn I forgot." You opened them again once you realized.

Acro's rarely on their feet. So all you'd be able to see was the ground. It's a problem you still have to work on.

So you ended up running and following it down where it had run off to. As soon as you hit the edge of the corner, you skidded to a stop at the scene.

There were actually 2 people. Both were unrecognizable, but one was smashed into the ground unconscious. The other was crouched down in front of Acro with a confused look.

Firstly, the mask caught your eye. It covered the entire bottom half of his face, but exposed his mouth which was filled with razor sharp teeth. The man looked up as you came into his view, and that's when you were met with slender eyes, with some sort of... eyeliner design? Whatever it was, swirled out from the edges of his eyes.

"Is this your freaky ass toy?" He flicked the forehead, probably expecting it to topple over. When it didn't, his pierced eyebrow curled up. "Oh? It's a sturdy little doll."

After that, Acro flipped off its arms, kicking their legs and ended up striking the man in the chin causing his head to fling backwards and falling onto his back. All while they landed back on the mystery person's left arm and struck a one-handed pose.

Your eyes shifted back to the man who was struck down into the concrete. Walking over, you put two fingers to his pulse point. Up close, you knew he was from the Aqua Deer by the blue coat on his shoulders. He's alive though.

"So, what's the deal with this?" You asked him, knowing you might not even get an answer.

"I'm just cleansing the Magic Knights. You guys sure do accept a whole lot of pitiful pieces of scum, you know that?" He rubbed his face as he pushed himself off the ground.

"So you're some type of..." You stood back up and looked over the man. "...Vigilante I guess?"

"What a boring way to put it." He snickered and summoned his own grimoire.

You narrowed your eyes down. "I'll let you know right now. If you fight me, you'll lose."

His pointy teeth spread into a wide grin. "Oh, who said I was going to fight you? What if I was just going to try to skim through my grimoire?"

"I've never heard that excuse before," you told him. "Besides..." You brought your fingers into a tight fist and thin strings appeared over his arms.

He looked up and struggled against the bindings. Not getting very far with the attempts. "What the hell is this?"

"Limb manipulation," you said. Controlling his arm movements with your hands brought a smile to your face. "I'll give you a chance though. Stand down now and turning you in will be easier for the both of us."

You manipulated the thread, and his arms crossed above his head. Leaving him defenseless to Acro's array of flips, and jump kicks.

"Cut the shit out." He groaned and tried to time a swift kick to possibly knock down the 'freaky ass toy' from hitting him. "Isn't this against some knightly code you should be following?"

"If there is one, I don't know about it." You shrugged. "This is really childs play though. This is actually one of my weakest ones."

"Ouch, hurts my feelings a little bit."

"That's a shame, really." You took a step backwards slightly. Barely. Just barely.

And when you did, a white magic circle appeared beneath your feet. You looked down in confusion, immediately trying to move out of the way of whatever it was that was about to happen. Although when you did give it a shot, sand and dust exploded in your face, stinging your eyes.

You coughed up whatever was now in your lungs, and attempted to shield your eyes from the remainder of the particles.

While your eyes were shut, you once again focused on seeing through Acro's eyes. While you had a great view of the ground, you didn't mind it at this point. It was always doing flips and tricks while in motion so if you waited...

Your own ears heard the sound of something else activating.

Acro leaped up into the air, letting you see the scene from a birds eye view. The red-head was conjuring up another one of his tricks.

You had to be quick.

Yanking on the strings that were attached to his arms, he was pulled in the opposite direction of where you were doubled over. You squeezed your other fist together. "Puppet pulse..."

Acro was landing close to the ground now, and you were about to see nothing but ground again. But what you did witness was your opponent also going down on a knee.

Finally, the sand subsided, and you could somewhat open your eyes. The spell you just used is meant to act as an enhancer after using limb manipulation. It's made to make the target extremely dizzy, and slow them down.

Your vision stung, but you stayed on your guard. "Alright now, I'll give you that one."

"Please don't speak to me. My fuckin' head hurts." He groaned. "What are you, some type of puppet master?"

"Puppeteer," you corrected him with the correct term. "But yes. Anyway, who are you?"

He pushed himself back up on his feet, with a rocky sway. "None of your damn business. I'm not giving myself up to a Royal."

So he thinks you're royalty? That's a fun one.

"Assault on a Royal and a Magic Knight?" You shook your head and tutted. "How much time do you think you'll be doing?"

"I didn't assault you." He countered. "Your thing kicked me, and then you tied me up. I'm actually the helpless victim in this situation."

"Oh please. And what's the story behind you beating this guy into the ground?" You pointed back to the downed Aqua Deer member.

He reached into his back pocket and you raised your arm ready to attack but he didn't seem phased. "Don't lose your shit, here," he tossed over a pouch, filled to the brim with shining coins.

You skeptically looked at the bag. "So you're a thief?"

"Nah, but he is." He gestured over to the unconscious man. "I was just minding my business when I watched him steal all the money from the tip jar in the bar over there. The poor bartender didn't even see it happen. If anything, he probably is just now noticing."

It wasn't unheard of that there were some questionable people in the ranks. Hell, you don't even know if most people are really serious about the job. But to do something so mundane as stealing money from citizens? That pissed you off in a different way.

Just to make sure it wasn't another trap, you made Acro pick up the pouch and waddled it back over to the man who threw it at you. Seeing it didn't explode or anything upon touch, he was telling the truth.

"I think you should return it to them."

"No can do." He yawned and laid down on the ground, resting his head on his hand. "I'm still reeling from whatever hypnosis you put on me. But hey, if you go do it, I'll be right here when you get back. It's not that far, and I'm beat."

He must think you were born yesterday if he's lying so casually.

"That's not a smart idea. Unless you want to be captured and questioned, I suggest leaving before reinforcements come in."

He opened one eye. "Reinforcements?"

"Well duh. Somebody has to get him help."

"Help him yourself. Is that not your job? I didn't do anything serious to the guy." He flicked a rock near his hand. "I'd expect a little more from the Golden Dawn."

"Oh I know you didn't do anything serious. After that fight, I'm not sure it's within your capabilities." You flicked your wrist, returning his nonchalant behavior. "Anyway, I don't want to be the cleanup crew today." You rolled your eyes and left him to his own devices in the alleyway.

"Ow." You heard him wince and place his hand over his heart dramatically.

Later on when the report you filed would come back to you, it would say that nobody else was in the area upon arrival.

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Ok listen real quick. Im not going to make you say every damn spell outloud LMAOAO. Ill italicize it after it's been mentioned once. Im doing it so yall know whats going on so you get a feel for it, ykyk??