This fanfiction matches a PG-13 rating, takes place many generations in the future. Do not anticipate every part of this fanfiction to be accurate.
Character List[]
Note: The following characters' names that have bold formatting are the main characters.
- Willow - A young, clever teen.
- Aureate - A saucy, extroverted pet, yet gets in the way with most missions. Deep down, he wishes to be some other pet than what he truly is on the outside.
- Pippet - A natural danger, the servant of the Puppet Master, loves to wreak havoc and destroy peace. Full details are included here.
- Giovanni - A wizard whose family has been turned to evil by the Puppet Master, if not deceased; referred as "Gio" by his friends.
- Embers - A bossy female Embershed whose family is long-lost along with Giovanni's.
Author's Notes[]
- Instead of "human," the word "wizard" replaces it.
- Please do not add on to the fanfiction unless working alongside me (collaboration), which hasn't happened yet. If you find any grammatical errors, please don't hesitate to fix them. I will be looking through search history to maintain the formality I desire.
- The first four chapters take place in the past, as it is part of a dream. Willow is, in fact, currently under the Puppet Master's mind illusion. Please do not change the tense to either future or present.
- The first chapter to be told from Gio's perspective will be Chapter Six.
Summary[]
The Order of Influence battles its way across the Academy. With her fleeing beloved Aureate, Willow unites with another wizard and his main pet, Embershed. Little does Willow know that her world that she grew up in will be struck to total darkness — waking up one day under a shadow enchantment, she forgets all her joyful past, present, and future events, all walloped and destroyed by the Puppet Master. While her friends are trying with all their might to save her, can she remember her formal self and end the spell herself?
Chapters[]
Chapter One[]
Part 1[]
Willow[]
Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, and Storm strikes. No signs of Shadow, which is odd. The whole attack was ordered by the Puppet Master, who controlled the Order of Influence. And their main element was Shadow. But other elements are used. So why is it so weird?
Oh, right, Willow reminds herself. The whole world is under control of the Puppet Master.
For two years straight. No ceasefires, no flaws in their plans. It seems as though they've thought of the assault way before they carried it out. Of course they have.
There was no point stopping them after this much into the blitz.
Willow slides off the windowsill and walks to the mount where the five Keystone elements once stood. Only a couple had been placed before the attack arrived. The marble, once so bright and breathtakingly beautiful, stood raided and dull. It also seemed to have an aura of gloom around it, making Willow wonder if that was intentional.
Anyways, no time to dawdle. I'm just going to find a nice resting place and hopefully by the time the war has become tedious, the next generation of wizards will find my body and bury it properly. If there even is a next generation, Willow thinks, realization dawning on her. The whole thought would have been funny if the time it was opinionated wasn't so scary.
The change of brightness brought her back to her senses. The temperature has probably just dropped down 20 degrees. Willow wraps her robes around her tightly and sets off down the staircase to the Great Hall.
Stopping only to recollect the countless memories of being in trouble—therefore being sent out of class to yet another adventure of detention—Willow enters the Academy Archives.
He should be here by now. Unless he's back up in our hideaway, killing more time because he's to afraid to show himself even though there's no one around. Willow grumbles to herself.
But were they alone? Willow was sure she saw something scuttle somewhere in those dreary shadows. She narrowed her eyes and peered closer. Through the fog she could make out a dark form that looked like—
No, it can't be, Willow shakes her head and looks out into the distance again. The shadowy figure was gone. I must have imagined it. After all, who knows what’s real and not real in a crisis like this? But Willow wraps her robes around her more tightly and continues walking.
"Oh, there you are. Suddenly you decide to show up." A salty voice accuses her from a nearby bookshelf.
Willow jerks her head up and sees an Aureate sitting atop an empty book on the top shelf, looking boredly down at her. "Who, me? I've been waiting for you this whole time, and… You know what, shut up. There's something eerie about this place and I don't like it."
Aureate snorts. "Now you find out this place is eerie? Or cursed? Whatever. Who gives a damn anymore after this place is so wrecked? What’s the thing in the darkness?"
So you know. Oh, what haven't you told me yet? Willow narrows her eyes again and twirls around, trying to find the creature in the dark.
There! She knew she hadn't imagined it. She took a tentative step closer. It looked like a puppet, and… As soon as it opened its eyes, Willow knew she was doomed. Its eyes shone purple, like the Puppet Master's.
Then it's gone.
Then it is behind her, grabbing her neck and trying to twist it to the side. Its claw-like fingers digging into her skin, she could feel the beads of blood slowly oozing down.
I'm not going to die like this, Willow thinks. She grabs the wooden hands and thrusts them aside. Not stopping to swear her mother’s favorite string of cuss words, she launches herself at the puppet, drawing her wand and casting an Astral spell—Falling Star Smash, at the same time.
As soon as the dust clears, she can see her enemy correctly for the first time. Pippet, of course.
Pippet launches a Shadow Shock back at Willow, who clumsily dodges out of the way, but not fast enough. She is blown backwards as the spell hits her squarely in the chest. Willow regains her balance, trying to hold her intestines in.
"You wanna have it that way?" She shouts out, then stops. Stupid, stupid, stupid! What the actual…
"Yes, I want to have it this way. You're inferior to our plans. With you alive, we cannot carry out our plans. The new era is better off without you." Pippet replies, and prepares for another spell.
This is it. I'm going to die, Willow shuts her eyes.
But the spell didn't come.
Willow opens one eye, then the other. Pippet was slowly fading away, and from his eyes fell a runny line of blood streaming down to the wooden floor. He was drowning in his own blood.
And above him, holding the Black Knight Mace over his shoulder like a club, was a boy roughly about Willow’s age. He steps a foot on Pippet's dissolving body and raises his eyebrows at Willow.
I'm not alone, Willow thinks. There are other people like me out there, still alive.
"Hey. 'Name's Giovanni Illusionblade. But call me Gio for short or else you'll find your head mounted on a spike the next thing you know. You wanna join the rebellion?" Gio extends a hand to Willow just as she slides out of consciousness.
Chapter Two[]
Part 1[]
Willow[]
Willow sits up. How long have I been out? She repeats her question out loud.
"About 3 days? I dunno. Everything is so f**king wrong now, thanks to the Puppet Master. Who cares how many days have passed?" Gio shrugs.
Sh*t, Willow thinks. Three days. "Did I miss anything?"
"No."
Willow realizes that they were back in her and Aureate's hideaway. How did they find it?
"By the way, Aureate lead us here." Gio says in a muffled sort of voice, as though reading her mind. Willow turns and sees Gio's head buried in his hands before hearing quiet sobs.
And that's when she spots the Embershed. She was an amaranth red with bloodred freckles splashed here and there. Willow could make out a red violet pair of eyes, startlingly bright in the dimness of their sanctuary. Her horns were dimmer and lighter than other shades on different Embersheds. She had a dark crimson crest atop her head, blending into her scales near the start of her spikes, which were a deep purple. They continued down to the tip of her tail, where they conjoined together in something like a spiney club. Other than that, she was no different than all the other Embersheds Willow had ever encountered.
The Embershed must have noticed Willow staring, since she spoke for the first time. "Hey there. Who the hell are you and how are you still here? Aren't you under the damn mind control or something? Gio, how is this happening?" She had a deep cross voice, with a hint of snideness to it.
"Embers, take it down a couple thousand notches. This is our guest. Well, we're technically invading her home. But there's another wizard out there trapped in the Academy like us! Isn't that great?" Gio glares at Embers as though sending a telepathic warning.
"No, that's not great," Aureate pipes up. "I mean, the whole situation of being stuck in the Academy. What's great is that we—Willow and I—are not alone. Also, what's the rebellion?"
Gio's face lights up. "I'm glad you asked. The rebellion consists of all the remaining wizards still alive. We're hoping to find more, more enough so we can gather them all together and take the opposing side in the war and fight back. And now that we've found you, of course, we hope you can join."
"Cool, we'll join. I want revenge. We'll beat the sh*t out of the Influence." Willow smiles for the first time in what felt like forever.
"Don't we all, miss undercut?" Embers stands up. But she's smiling too, as though she's finally found someone who can understand her.
Gio grins as well. "So that's a legit yes?"
Willow nods.