Christian sneaked into Luna's bag, grabbed her small notebook full of spells, and ran off with it. If he was going to become stronger than he was now and prove to himself that he was just as good enough for Luna as Alejandra was, then he needed to do it alone; that is how he learned everything else he knew.
He kept running away until it was dead silent around him, save for the bugs and birds in the trees. He sat at the base of a tree and opened Luna's book, which was kept in pristine condition, including her neat handwriting and tabs on the edge of the pages listing various categories. He skipped healing and support magic altogether and went straight to ballistic spells, and to his surprise, there were not that many written down. Luna must prefer defensive magic, he thought to himself. Still, he vowed to learn every spell that his accessories enhanced in his system-- battle magic. He would prove to Luna that Alejandra was not the only man who could perform advanced magic in that way.
Christian spent hours deep in the forest behind their home, practicing his spells and physical attacks on thin trees and old tree trunks. He had eventually taken off his shirt and tossed it to the side, along with his gun and holster. The amount of magic he was performing left severe burns on his hands and arms, and his eyes were bloodshot. His normally tan skin was a sickly color, as his energy was slowly being drained. After three hours of overworking himself, he called it quits, camping out in that same area overnight.
Meanwhile right after Christian disappeared, Alejandra set out to look for him, worried that he may have run away in anger or heartbreak. He did not call out for him, as he thought this may make him run away farther. He sensed strong energy in the area but was not able to go any further because of how strong it was; it messed with his aura and could potentially stunt his magic in an emergency. When the sun began to set, he headed back to the house and reported his findings back to the others. Luna, who was the most concerned, called off the search until the next morning, knowing Albrecht would potentially strike the next afternoon.
The next morning, Christian woke up and began prepping himself for the invasion. He was hoping to reunite with the others later that day, potentially aboard Albrecht's ship during the (hopefully) final encounter. Whether they were planning the same attacks or not, Christian prepared himself to sneak aboard Albrecht's ship when he landed later that day and end it all right then and there-- just so Luna could be happy again.
He slid Luna's book into his bag and fished through the supplies that Ferdinand packed him back on A'cielinsulariä. Inside was a better knife, along with the old one he brought with him, some ammo for his gun, a warper, and some first-aid supplies that he had no use for because it was made for Lunestic anatomy. Christian had also packed his new jacket inside the bag. Since the t-shirt that he was wearing before the practice was tattered and burnt in some areas from the magic, he slipped on the jacket over his bare chest and left it open. He pulled his hair back into a knot and followed a worn path into town.
When he got into town, he stopped at a small food stand that was selling street tacos. He bought a couple from the nice old lady working the stand and ate while walking a little way down the sidewalk so he could still listen to the radio that was sitting on the ground next to the taco lady's chair for updates. It was not until he was on his way to the store to buy cigarettes that he heard the dreaded news from the radio.
"Breaking news: what seems to be a fleet of extraterrestrial ships are barreling towards Earth, and they seem to be armed. Avoid being outside at all costs," Christian quickly pulled out some cash, told the clerk to keep the change, grabbed his cigarettes, and began to run into the area where the broadcast said not to go. By the time he got there, the place was already overrun by the military. Cursing under his breath, Christian snuck around their makeshift base and hid in the brush until Albrecht came, if he were to land in that area.
Over at the house, Luna and Alejandra were planning with the others on how exactly they were going to foil Albrecht's plans. They planned for Luna and Alejandra only to enter the ship while the others helped fight off troops alongside their new allies. Though Luna was still worried about Christian, she knew that somehow, he was on the same page as them. She just hoped that he did not resort to anything too drastic. The worst he could do was kill the man, though she was not sure she wanted that right away either.
At that very same moment, Albrecht landed his ship in a clearing by the temporary military base that had been set up for his downfall. Instead of taking it on directly, he sent his small group of troops he had on his ship with them to take care of them. Before reacting, Christian analyzed the situation from his hideout. The warlocks killed off five American soldiers before he stepped in. He leaped from the tree limb he had climbed onto, his jacket and dog tag blowing in the wind the magic made.
"Stand back!" he told the soldiers, summoning the pistol from his satchel on the side. "They are way beyond your expertise," Somehow, the soldiers trusted him, but still collaborated with him to thin out the Lunestic troops. Christian used his pistol but resorted to magic every now and then, expertly dodging attacks with some short-range teleportation magic he quickly learned from Luna's spellbook. It was not long before the troops either all died or retreated. Christian spent a couple of minutes looting the bodies around the camp before filling in the soldiers about everything that had been happening. He even accepted his supposed past life and revealed his dog tag. The soldiers understood and reported everything to their higher-ups while Christian continued forward, with the new gear looted from Lunestic troops and a new shirt gifted by the soldiers he helped.
When he snuck to the clearing Albrecht's ship was at, he heard his friends on the other side approaching as well. When he saw a glint of Luna's hair shimmering in the sunlight, he peered in her direction and spoke to her in his mind while lighting a cigarette.
<I'm here, but don't tell the others. Lunestic troops were invading an American camp, but I wiped them out and took some supplies. We can rendezvous on the ship, but for now, I need you to stay quiet about me.>
Luna gasped quietly at the sudden message and glanced over to the other side of the clearing, where all she saw was the reflection of sunlight on Christian's dog tag and cigarette smoke. Though she desperately wanted to tell Alejandra where he was, she nodded softly to herself and replied to him.
<I won't. Just promise me you'll be safe.>
There was no reply.
By the time the group decided where Luna and Alejandra would infiltrate the ship, Christian already used some short-range teleportation to phase into the engine room. He figured if he could sabotage the ship, it would make defeating Albrecht easier because then he would not be able to get away if he were to retreat. He could easily just smash the engine with a decent-sized crescent wrench he had in his pack, but he would refrain from doing so in case he was not alone on the ship-- which he discovered was the case when he heard Albrecht scheming to himself through the wall into the cockpit. He could not have cared less about Albrecht's plans, as his own were more important-- he planned to simply shoot the emperor in the head if he did not cooperate.
At the same time, Luna and Alejandra snuck into the ship through a latch in the emergency exit they broke. The others stayed to fight other troops outside of the ship and on the battlefield as smaller drone ships landed all around. They hid in a closet as a few troops came on board to update Albrecht on the situation.
Christian heard another troop coming down the hall in his direction, so he did his best to hide under a counter, tucked into a shadow. The troop did not stay for long and was about to leave when suddenly Christian's wrench slipped out of his bag, making a loud clatter on the floor. His breath hitched as he saw the troop do a double-take and start heading toward him. The troop spread apart his legs and bent down to look in his hiding spot, so Christian slid between the legs and tried to make a run for it. The troop, startled, grabbed Christian by his ponytail since that was all he could reach. Christian was jerked back, landing on his bottom, trying to pry the troop's hands off his hair. Panicking, he reached for his knife, and quickly cut his ponytail off to escape.
Just as he made it out of the room, he heard a gunshot and felt a strong, shooting pain in his abdomen. He gasped sharply and looked down at his stomach, and he had been shot with a crystal bullet straight and clean through his stomach. He got lightheaded and staggered until he slammed into the wall, and he slid down it, holding his wound closed with his palm. The troop quickly left the room, probably to tell Albrecht, but Christian acted fast, weakly pulled out his pistol with his free hand, and shot the troop in the back of the neck, blowing his entire head off. As the troop thudded onto the floor, splattering him with his blue blood, Christian's breath continued to hitch as the pain got worse. He did not plan for this and still was not able to do any healing magic. He was on the other side of the ship, so he was certain the others did not hear the commotion if they were even aboard yet.
The best he could do was unclothe. He carefully slipped his jacket off and even more carefully slipped his shirt off, which stuck to his wound, and bits of cloth were melted into his skin. Tears swelled in his eyes as he cried out from the pain. While covering his wound with one hand, he held the shirt with the free one and ripped apart some of the cloth with his teeth. He stuffed his wound with bits of the shirt, then wrapped the remaining cloth around his abdomen, the blood quickly seeping through soon, but eventually slowing it as it clotted into the fabric. He lay against the wall for a while longer, catching his breath and regaining some strength, but unfortunately, he dozed off and fell unconscious right there on the cold steel floor.
Meanwhile, Luna and Alejandra were sneaking their way toward the cockpit, going a completely different route than Christian did. However, troops caught up with them, instantly incapacitating them with some sort of taser. Unable to move their limbs or speak, but still completely conscious and aware, they were dragged to the cockpit where Albrecht would smile wickedly down at them, the sounds of war and death muffled outside.
"I just got some news about your little friend," Albrecht said devilishly as another troop dragged a blue and red blood-covered and unconscious Christian in by the ankles. Luna saw this but was unable to react; she was distraught. "Guess he didn't think fast enough for my men. I don't even know if he's still alive, but with a wound like that, he wouldn't be for long anyway," Luna tried desperately to move but was unsuccessful. Then, she remembered that telekinesis did not require movement, but just needed thought, so she quickly used her rage to fling all the troops in the cockpit out of the window, which broke apart with the force of all their bodies. Albrecht grew slightly paler. "O-oh... well, that's fine! I'll just get rid of you myself,"
Alejandra got his strength back first, and he immediately lifted his still-shaky hand to shoot a fireball at Albrecht. The man dodged barely, but it left some of his hair singed.
"Fucking try, Albrecht," Alejandra croaked, "We've come to destroy you as well," This made the emperor cackle.
"Oh yeah? Remember the last time you tried that? I killed you, and I won't hesitate to do it again," Luna regained her strength next, the rage from Christian's injuries finally showing. Her eyes glinted back and forth between their natural color and her aura color, trying not to unleash whatever was inside of her. She quickly staggered up, making Albrecht take a couple of steps back.
"What... the fuck... did you do to my friend?!" She boomed, stomping her foot on the ground, making a small ring of glitter around her and Alejandra. Albrecht tried to keep his composure but was afraid nonetheless. The dark aura started to rise from his skin again, and he grunted before retorting.
"He's been shot by one of my troops for trespassing. He’s probably dead-" Luna quickly made a sword from her magic and charged at Albrecht, who scrambled over to the other end of the room. Albrecht snapped out of his fear and leered her way.
"I'll fucking kill you!" She shouted at him, sobbing this time. Alejandra shot up and grabbed her around her chest, pinning her arms back. She dropped the sword and it shattered into glass shards.
"Luna, please stay calm," He called to her, "We can deal with Albrecht in a second, we need to tend to Christian's injuries," Luna panted, trying to break free from his grasp.
"You can tend to whatever the hell you want--me and this bitch are gonna fight first!" She broke free and charged at Albrecht again, this time socking him in the jaw, making him stumble. She continued to punch and kick him and eventually he started fighting back, not hesitating to pin her against a wall and breathing down her neck, his unnaturally dark aura now radiating at full capacity as he struggled to keep her still. Luna swallowed hard in her throat as she noticed the magic.
"Remember the last time we played this little game?" He growled in her ear as he tightened his grip on her wrists. "You didn't win... and you still won't," Luna locked eyes with him, glaring deeply, almost making him shudder.
"Y-your aura…," she said, quivering. His expression softened when he realized what was happening, but it was so strong that he couldn’t control it any longer. Luna, meanwhile, assessed the situation. She glanced between Albrecht and Alejandra before she lifted her leg quickly and kneed him in the gut, sending him to the floor.
Luna got on top of Albrecht and pummeled him for what seemed like ages, both auras mixing together in the air in a pink, golden, and black mess. After a few punches were thrown by Luna, Albrecht pushed her off of him and rolled away, his aura so dense he couldn’t see. He was losing control fast, and he did not know what to do. Luna thought this was unusual, especially for someone who wasn’t magical in any way before, but rushed at Albrecht regardless to throw another punch at his jaw. Finally, his eyes were fully covered by the magic, turning so dark that they resembled the very voids of Limbo itself. Luna’s eyes widened, and she froze with fear.
Alejandra, meanwhile, scrambled over to Christian to tend to his injuries. Christian weakly opened his eyes to Alejandra unwrapping his makeshift bandage.
"Al--"
"Do not speak," Alejandra ordered him. Christian ignored his demand and looked over at the fight, also noticing the black aura
"Albrecht is magical?" He asked. Alejandra raised an eyebrow, looking over. His skin grew pale.
"What the fuck?" Alejandra muttered under his breath as Luna was frozen in fear at his blacked-out eyes. Alejandra realized the danger Luna was truly in, but was not fast enough to stop Albrecht’s wrath.
At the same time, Albrecht finally had enough and flung Luna across the room with magic. She hit the wall with a loud thud and slid down the wall onto her bottom, the aura that was radiating off the emperor leaving black burns on her skin. He huffed and puffed and brushed off his coat, falling further into madness from the magic he couldn’t control.
"I've had enough of you, woman!" he exclaimed, unsheathing his sword from its scabbard on his belt. Christian's eyes widened, and he shoved Alejandra off him to throw his crescent wrench Albrecht's way as a distraction.
"Christian, you're hurt!" Alejandra called to him. Albrecht, with crazed eyes, jerked his head over and charged at him instead, prompting Christian to use the remaining strength he had left to scramble over to Luna's side. He drew his gun, pointing it at Albrecht's head while holding his wound with his other hand. Albrecht chuckled, still deranged, waving his sword toward Christian's face tauntingly.
"Oh, look! Gaiatian boy coming to... the rescue..." He noticed Christian's scars since he was shirtless and scoffed. "My apologies... Gaiatian girl--" Christian's eyes immediately flickered yellow with rage, his magic shooting into the barrel of his gun.
"Don't you ever... EVER... hurt my Lunabelle again!" He shouted, and with that, he shot the man clean through his forehead. The force of the shot made him fall through the broken window and land on the grass outside, his eyes still open with shock and blue blood dripping out of the bullet wound onto the small flowers under him. His aura slowly disappeared, and his darkened eyes faded back to their normal icey color.
Alejandra's jaw dropped and Luna was still processing what had happened since she hit her head hard. When she came to, she saw Christian turning around to face her and smiling weakly but also lovingly at her.
"Luna, I..." before he could speak, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed like a ragdoll to the floor, falling unconscious again. Luna immediately came to his aid, but before she could do anything to help him, Alejandra picked both up and flung them over his shoulders.
"We need to get the fuck out of here. Now," He carried them and their belongings quickly out of the ship through the window, landing next to Albrecht's body. The others in the group came to investigate, and they all watched as Albrecht's body was engulfed in a pitch-black shadow resembling smoke, and evaporated into the sky, leaving behind only the small pool of blood left from his bullet wound.
But even so, the battle continued. While Alejandra took Luna and Christian back to their house and let them recover there, the others in the group stayed by the mothership to fight off any remaining troops Albrecht had brought along with him.
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