Mana Rift II: Dawning Horizon~

E6: A Wondering Wisp Returns

[December 19, Kat's Room, 8:32 P.M]

Kat yawned whilst laying down on her bed. She looked to her window, which was repaired from the break-in, but with a few scratches on the screen. Light snow drifted down the night skies. "Christmas... that's just around the corner. Hopefully, it'll be the best one yet!" She yawned once again, and this time she pulled up her blanket and started to fall asleep. "If only time would flow faster..." instantly, she fell asleep after thinking that.

[December 20, Main Square, 7:49 A.M]

Kat, Mizuki, and Hunter planned to visit Monkey and his shop. There was a huge line, as always. The people around here seem to take a liking to his smithing skills. They waved at Monkey, who was already whipping up a brand new battle axe. They thought he was too busy to talk however, so they just left it at that and went to Kat's training grounds.

"Gaaaah! Seriously, if only it was summer I would so jump in right now..." claimed Hunter, who looked extremely ticked for that reason. Kat responded, "Haha! Grumpy much?" "No. I just hate this time of the year. Everything's too cold for me to do anything." "Then why don't you use your color powers to nullify the cold instead of using a heap of coats?" asked Mizuki. Hunter looked away. "It's not like I can just whip up my powers at any time! My mana drains as the magic takes effect." Snow started to fall once again. Light white streaks of soft snowflakes ran amok over their heads. Hunter's eyes sparkled. "Ha. Not so hateful now, right?" asked Kat in the way that she was totally right. The three soon enough heard a slash of wind past by. Hunter snapped out of his amazement over the snowflakes. "Uh... what was that?" Kat crossed her arms. "Probably just winter wind." "No..." Mizuki said in a curious tone. "...It definitely wasn't that. I felt a presence in the wind. It was just a second, but I felt it." "Right." Said Hunter. "And let me know if you think Railey is stalking you." he said sarcastically.

[Teal Wisps' Guild Hall, 4:21 P.M]

"Kaaaa! Kaaaaaaaa!" Yelled Drake as loud as his little voice can project across the room for desperate calls of escape. As Shiloh kept admiring Drake's aggressive cuteness, everyone else was sitting by the fireplace again. "Well, at least it isn't as cold as it was now!" said Meep cheerfully. She slowly crept over to Mizuki, who was standing close to Tak calmly, and whispered, "Alright spill it, what's with you and Tak? Are you possibly-" Mizuki completely ignored her by walking to another spot. Whilst doing so, Meep caught her blushing the second she turned her head. "Ooooh my! I'm gonna have a blast hooking them up!" She thought as she grinned, already thinking of the most surprising ideas. Then, suddenly, the guild door opened. It made a loud creek as it opened. Everyone looked towards it to see who it was. It was a man dressed in a pitch-black cloak which was drenched with white snow. "Uuh... who... are you?" Said Kat. Everyone stared. Tak was the only person who was looking away as if he had no interest. The man's cloak was hooded, hiding his face. He just stood there, still and silent. Mizuki approached towards him. "If you have some business with us, I could he-" The man stuttered. He turned around and quickly closed the door. "H-Hey! Wait!" She opened the door and looked around. The man was gone. All she saw was the white snow coming down from everywhere. "Tsk." She closed the door. "That was unexpected." claimed Monkey. "Just come and go, why don't he?" said Ruby, irritated as he just lost a game of Poker against Hunter because of that distraction. Zombie said his thoughts out loud. "Well, it's one thing for someone to come here unrevealed. But to just open the door and leave? Now, someone's up to something eh?" They all nodded. All but Tak, who still showed no interest in what just happened. Mizuki had a concerned face. "Who... was that exactly?..." she thought to herself.

[Route to Mizuki's House, 7:01 P.M]

Mizuki yawned, which was rare for her because she barely got tired at all. As she turned around the corner and saw her house, she heard a loud bang in the distance. She looked in the direction of the sound, which was assumed to be coming from Main Square. "What the..." Her sleepiness got the better of her. She continued walking to her house, but a louder bang soon erupted. "Okay, what's going on?" She ran towards Main Square in search for the source of that banging. She heard it again, but this time it was so loud she had to cover her ears. She ran to where it came from. Under the snowy white lights, she saw that same man in the pitch-black cloak. She could tell because it had a little stain of blood on the rims of the cloak, like she noticed back at the guild hall. She saw that he was clashing with someone else. "A girl?" she thought. The little girl had scars everywhere. She also wore a pink eyepatch to cover her right eye. "She must've been through a lot..." Her sympathy for the little girl broke at an instant. She saw her smile like a demon and laughed like a maniac. "OOOOOOOH MYYYYYYYYYYYYY..." She said. "YOU WANT TO FIGHT ME HERE? BUT SHOULDN'T YOU BE CONCERNED ABOUT HEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR?" The man looked surprised and looked at the spot Mizuki as hiding at. "Huh? Wait, does she mean me?" The little girl instantly appeared in front of her, making the face of a female devil. "PERHAAPS YOU WANNA PLAAAY WITH ME TOOO? HAHAHAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Her face intimidated Mizuki to the point that she was as shocked as she was immobilized. A gust of wind flew by. Mizuki was grabbed and saved by a person. A person with a gigantic sword. The night moon cast a silhouette on his face. "W-What? What's happening?!" She said. "Don't worry," The man said as he hopped towards in the night sky. "It's just a dream. At least for now." The words "For Now" echoed in her brain. She then woke up the next morning from an excruciatingly weird nightmare. panting and sweating with nervousness. She breathed a sigh of relief.