MLII C1, P1- "Otherworldly Problems"

"Otherworldly Problems" is the first Part of "Miracula Luxia II" 's first Chapter. It was released on 30.09.2020.

## Plot

Having held the combined army of Rentar-Ihrno's worshippers and Dorikas's Darkside Loyalists at bay for the moment, Jared and his allies return to their normal lives, eager to take a break from all the chaos that was caused by their enemies.

Our hero, Jared returns to the White Dreams High School along with his friend Akari, excited to continue his studies and become a much more educated person.

However, soon, something important is going to happen. Something that is going to leave tears in the eyes of our heroes and make Jared more vengeful and angry than ever.

Something that will make him reconsider the decisions that he has made so far.

## Story

Jared and Akari walk through the halls of the White Dreams High School, talking about what they should do next.

"You know, we might have held them at bay."- Akari says- "But this solution is only temporary. They *will* return."

Jared nods.

"I know that very well, Aki."- He responds- "But we must calm down and settle the scores that we missed years ago."

"We *must* study, Aki. People expect us to be educated. And I am not planning to let them down."

Akari nods, but is still unconvinced by her friend's words.

Today, the two of them will attend the class of Jared's grandfather- Lethal, who is currently one of the few maths teachers at the school.

When the school bell rings, they enter the classroom and see that there are only four other students in there.

Jared sees his grandfather and approaches him.

"Grandpa, why are there so few people in here?"- He asks him.

Lethal shakes his head.

"There has been... a disturbance recently."- He says- "Most of your classmates decided that it's better off to hide in their homes rather than stay at school and risk their lives."

"Or so their parents said to me, at the very least."

Jared shakes his head.

"*What a bunch of cowards...* "- He whispers to Akari.

Akari nods.

The two of them sit down and listen to what Jared's grandfather has to say about their newest lesson in mathematics.

Jared seems to pay attention to the lesson, but Akari does not. She writes down whatever she could, but she is lost in thought. Something is worrying her.

A few minutes later, she hears something outside and stares at the window to the left of her.

Although she does not see anything unusual, she keeps staring at it for some reason.

The other four students- three girls and one boy, stare at her suspiciously.

"*Hey Lily.*"- One of the girls whispers to a black-haired girl next to her- "*Why does this girl keep staring at that window? She's so weird...* "

Lily shrugs.

"*I've got no idea.*"- She responds.

Lillian (Or Lily, for short) is a girl who has been enlisted in the White Dreams High School ever since she was a child. She is the daughter of Lydia Rupert- an influencial noble who does anything that she can to make the lives of other people miserable, including that of her own child.

That is the reason why Lily has found comfort in her friends. And the boy that is in front of her- Jared.

Although the rest of her friends keep staring at Akari, she stares at Jared instead.

And she has been staring at him ever since he entered the classroom.

"*He's so cute.*"- She says to herself- "*If only he could be mine...* "

Lily is not like her mother. She is loving, compassionate and even understanding, at times. And, when she falls in love with a boy, she becomes very, very shy.

That's why Lily acts weird when she is around her crush.

She tries to stare at him some more. However, she is left no time to daydream when she hears an explosion outside.

She stares at the window as well.

"Huh?"- She mutters- "Must have been my imagination... "

Then she hears a scream coming from nearby. This alerts everyone in the room.

Lethal stops talking and walks by the window, as if he is seeing something.

"Mr. Kaos, is something wrong?"- One of Lily's friends worriedly asks him.

Lethal turns back. He has a worried expression.

"There is... something going on out there."- He says.

Everyone approaches the window. When they see the battle between humans and Vahnatai outside, they gasp.

"N-no way!"- One of the girls says.

"Alien people? In our city?!"- Another girl continues.

"We're doomed! We're doomed!"- The boy with them yells.

The three girls and the boy quickly exit the classroom, running for their lives and leaving their friends behind.

Only Jared, Akari, Lily and Lethal are still in there, staring at the window.

"*How did they manage to penetrate the defenses?*"- Jared whispers to his grandfather.

Lethal shakes his head.

"*If only I knew...* "- He says.

He turns to Lily.

"Lillian, you *must* go with the others. We must evacuate the school before anyone gets hurt."

Lily shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kaos. I'm gonna stay here and make sure that you're safe."- She responds.

Lethal shakes his head.

"Lillian, everything is going to be fine. No one is going to-- "

His speech is cut short by another earthshattering explosion, this time much closer to the school.

When they stare at the window, they see Vahnatai entering the school. Screams can be heard from inside.

"There's no time for simple talk."- Lethal says- "We must help the people down there!"

Jared nods.

"There is no time to waste."- He says- "Let's go."

He picks up his bow from a nearby wall and goes outside.

"Wait for me, Jared!"- Lily says and goes after him.

Akari sighs as she watches her try to catch up her friend.

"*She is so infatuated with him.*"- She says to herself- "*From what it looks like, she will do anything to keep him close to her.*"

She draws her sword.

"*I haven't spoken to Lily a lot, but I have to protect her. She's Jared's friend. And any friend of him is my friend as well.*"

Jared runs towards the hallway and sees what has happened to his school and the people inside of it.

Many of the people in the school are getting attacked. Students, teachers and ordinary people are getting attacked by the Vahnatai, slain by their vicious blades.

Jared aims his bow at his enemies and starts to shoot, taking a few of them out.

The guards at the school, seeing that someone is fighting back against this dangerous force, decide to help him out, killing a few of them in the process.

The battle goes on for quite a while. As other people try to run away from the carnage, the defenders of the school fight valiantly against this hostile force.

Eventually, the defenders' power runs out. Jared stumbles back towards a nearby wall to rest, failing to hear a Vahnatai sneaking up on him.

The creature prepares to swing its blade at him. However, before it actually does, someone comes to Jared's aid.

It is Lily. She grabs the Vahnatai's arms and wrestles it, pushing it away from Jared.

"Stay away from my friend, you evil alien!"- She yells at it and punches it in the face.

As Jared regains his consciousness, he stares at her for a few moments, unable to help her out.

The Vahnatai decides that it is done with Lily and pushes her away. It draws its blade and swings it at a barely conscious Jared.

As Jared fully opens his eyes, he realizes that he is not dead. He looks at Lily and gasps.

It seems like Lily has taken a blow for him. She was chopped in the neck by the Vahnatai's blade, successfully defending her friend, at the cost of her own life.

As she gasps for breath and falls to the ground, Jared fails to keep his composure and enters a blind rage.

He pushes the Vahnatai's blade away and grabs it by the neck, choking it with all his might.

In a few seconds, the Vahnatai dies and Jared angrily throws it to the ground, breaking its skull in the process.

Afterwards, he kneels and looks at his wounded friend, tears quickly forming in his light blue eyes.

"Lily, no! Why did you do that? Why did you let yourself be hurt?"- He says- "Why didn't you just let me die?!"

Lily smiles and shakes her head. She touches her wound, which is still bleeding at an alarming rate.

She looks at her fingers. They are stained with blood.

"I guess... I finally got to be a hero for once, not a simple girl."- She says- "And I saved you, of all people."

Jared shakes his head. Tears continue to fall from his eyes.

"Do not go, Lily! You still have so much to live for!"- He says.

Lily shakes her head again and looks at her friend. She cleans the tears in his eyes, accidentally smearing them with some blood in the process.

"I don't want to see those eyes cry."- She responds- "You're a good guy, Jared. And you should know that well."

"Listen now. I know that I'll be gone soon, don't ya dare give up, okay?"- She continues- "Continue fighting those creatures, even when it seems impossible. You can always study later, when the world's safe."

She stands up weakly and gives him a kiss on the right cheek.

"I love you."- She says and closes her eyes, dying with a smile on her face.

Jared holds her in his arms and cries.

"No, no... "- He says weakly- "What have I done... ?"

"Why? Why was I so weak?!"

He remembers the dream that he had not long ago and realizes that this is only a part of the reality that is about to happen.

"*Is this... what Ghall-Ihrno meant by... the end of the world?*"- He says to himself- "*The end of... **my** world?*"

Two people approach them. Jared looks up and sees John and Annie.

However, instead of showing any emotion, he simply looks down at Lily and cries.

"Jared! We finally found you!"- Annie says.

John approaches him and kneels.

"Are you alright, buddy?"- He asks Jared- "Are you... hurt?"

Jared shakes his head.

"Not as much as she is."- He says stoically and continues to stare at Lily's lifeless corpse.

John looks at Lily and gasps.

"Wait a minute!"- He says- "Isn't this one of your classmates? Lillian?"

Jared nods.

"Yes."- He responds- "And she is dead because of *me*."

Akari approaches them and stares at Lily.

"Dear god."- She says- "Poor Lily... "

John raises his eyebrow.

"So... she saved your life?"

Jared nods sadly. Then, he looks at Akari.

"I lost her, Aki."- He says- "I... lost her."

Akari shakes her head.

"How did it happen?"- She asks him.

He sighs.

"It all happened so suddenly that I did not have the chance to... to... "

He breaks down into tears again.

John sighs.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, my friend."- He says- "But we must get out of here. More Vahnatai are approaching and you might die along with her if you don't come with us."

Jared shakes his head.

"I am not... going anywhere. Without her."- He says stoically.

John shakes his head.

"I understand that you don't want to leave her behind. She's your friend and you don't want to leave her side, even she's dead. But we must get out of here before we get killed. I promise that we will return to recover her corpse and bury her soon, but first, we must concentrate on-- "

Jared looks at John angrily.

"I said that I am not going ***ANYWHERE!***"- He screams.

Suddenly, a very bright light blinds everyone.

"Cover your eyes! Quickly!"- John yells and does this himself as both humans and Vahnatai scream in the distance.

After a few moments, the light fades away.

John, Annie and Akari look around and see what the strange piece of magic has done.

The rest of the humans are still alive, but the hostile Vahnatai were incinerated and turned into small piles of white dust.

John stares at Jared, amazed.

"Did... did you do this?!"- He says.

Jared looks up and stares at the damage that he has done to the attacking Vahnatai.

"I... did?"- He says weakly.

Annie helps him stand up. Meanwhile, John grabs Lily's corpse and pulls her.

"You said that you're not going anywhere without her."- He says to his friend- "And I'm not planning to leave neither of you behind."

He walks forward.

"Let's get out of this mess."- He says.

The four of them walk out of the ruins of the school.

Jared stops and looks back one last time.

"Rentar-Ihrno's Vahnatai, those insolent brats, have actually destroyed my school."- He says to himself- "They killed my friends, destroyed this sacred place and ruined our lives even further."

He clenches his fist.

"*I did not like them at all before, but now I **hate** them! They have gone **too far** and I **will** make them all pay. None of them shall be left to live. **None of them!***"

He turns to John.

"We need to find out who sent them."- He says stoically.

John nods.

"Indeed. But we must first wait for your grandpa to get out of the school."

The four of them wait for a few minutes. Eventually, Lethal leaves the school and slowly approaches them, gasping for breath.

He places his hand on Jared's shoulder and sighs.

"Jared, I saw what happened back there."- He says- "I tried to help you, but... it was too late. I failed to save Lillian."

Jared shakes his head. A few tears fall from his eyes.

"I was weak, grandpa. I did not manage to keep her alive."- He says weakly- "What kind of a hero am I if I cannot even save the people close to me?"

Lethal does not agree to this statement.

"I know that it feels bad for you, Jared, but sometimes you have to lose someone close to you to understand what you have to do."- He says- "Remember when your mother died and how you gained the confidence to defeat Farrar afterwards?"

Jared nods sadly.

"Don't remind me."- He says- "I am still pained by those horrible events... "

Lethal nods.

"I understand that very well."- He responds- "But you must fight back. If you want to be a true hero, you must fight against those who killed the people close to you. Do you understand?"

Jared nods.

"Then go for it. Don't let those evil Vahnatai kill even more people. Fight them and show them that you have them for what they did to you!"

Jared's eyes light up.

"You're right, grandpa."- He says- "I will train even harder and show them that it was a grave mistake to mess with us!"

He runs forward, eager to continue his training and make his enemies pay.

John stares at Lily's corpse. Then, he looks at Annie, Akari and Lethal.

"We should do something about her."- He says- "We can't just leave her here!"

Lethal stares at the nearby graveyard and points at it.

"Let's bury her there."- He says- "It is the least that we can do for Jared, to ease his pain."

John nods and carries Lily's corpse to the graveyard, Annie, Akari and Lethal coming with him.