When the Signal Rings

Warnings: Triggering topics? (Blindness; deafness).
Characters: Oz, Eckhart, Mikhail, Hawkeye, Irina. Mentions of Demon Slayer and Damien.

“Now’s the time in taking back what was already mine.”

Read while listening to Children Record by Shizen no Teki-P.

---

 

There’s a rule in Maple World.

« Those who threaten the Empress will be eliminated. »

And that, has been its primary rule for centuries.

 

So what else would happen when the Black Mage rose up?

The Cygnus Knights were ready to fight. They were ready to combat anything the Black Mage had, and even more, because not only did they believe in the Empress and her heart, but they wanted to save Maple World. Even with the Heroes making their return, with the combined efforts, the Cygnus Knights wanted to bring him to his end.

So in the Underground, when the Heroes failed, and the Black Mage was all but ready to destroy the country and create a monarchy, this seemed all too perfect for both the Resistance, and the Knights. They laid in quiet silence, slowly gaining their strength – awaiting the day when the red sun would rise, and when they’d finally take back what was theirs.

The world was once a really beautiful thing – while horrible things as hate, murder, and everything in between existed, their own Empress was the representation of everything good. She was kind, lovable, amazing, and each one of them would be ready to die for her.

And finally – it came.

A man named Demon, and his younger brother Damien joined their ranks – both, once commanders of the Black Mage’s tyranny. Even without the Heroes, there was this hope – they’d make it. With Neinhart’s plans, Eckhart’s ingenuity, Mikhail’s sheer determination, and everything riding on their freedom… there was no way they’d fail.

It started with a signal.

‘When the signal rings, move on forward!’ said Neinhart.

So when the flare exploded, a strip of flame red burning through the gloomy sky, they charged. Streams of boys and girls, men and women, charging into the large, towering building – intent on razing it to the ground.

And despite being outmatched in numbers, in skill, they fought as fiercely as ever. White headphones on nearly every member – keeping them in contact, and yet blasting the same track over and over in their ears.

“Boys and girls its time to look ahead
So we can fight that sun and live tomorrow
Bring it back around, bring it back around
A hazy crescent that is slowly burning away
Now now coding the messages with zeroes
Now moving out to a world that we call real life
Over to warfront fantasies.”

Despite being a simple track – one that they’ve all heard and dedicated their lives to, it was the one connection they needed to really win. Seeing everyone else around them, forcing their way past the officers, using the odd weapons they had fashioned in the Underground … One person’s success led to another, and they were pushing back against the crowd – against the oppressive forces of the Black Mage.

And when every enemy of theirs laid on the ground, either dead or unmoving, five warriors stood at the stop of the stairs, each injured in their own right, but unwilling to give up in face of what was truly important.

Behind those doors would wait the one who had taken everything away – who had called this a game. The Black Mage would wait.

Mikhail, being both the strongest and the unofficial leader, shoved open the doors. Despite the wind that blew furiously out towards them – all five stood their ground, a mixture of hair and capes billowing out behind them. With a quick hand gesture from the black haired man – every single warrior charged.

All of them were subsequently knocked back by a blast of energy, and most of them were knocked unconscious. From where the five Knights lay, they shoved up to their feet, more exhausted than they had ever been, but with a gleam in their eyes, and determination set in their faces.

A single thought ran through their minds; ‘If we accept this, the future won’t exist.’

Perhaps they were never fated to win – but fate had been proven wrong countless times before, and they charged with all their might.

And by some miracle, they won.

With some costs.

A final, last blast of piercing energy ripped through them as the Black Mage roared in anger – meant to kill them entirely, but at his weak energy … It only crippled them severely.

Eckhart’s loss of sight, from a deliberate blade into his eyes. Irina’s deafened left ear, and her long hair now short, the torn strands now around her knees and feet as she kneeled. Mikhail, generally fine due to the armor he had donned, despite his deep cuts and bleeding … Hawkeye, not as fortunate. He had lost the use of one of his arms, because he tried to block the gusts from his body.

But possibly the worst of all was Oz.

She was physically unscathed, that was a given. She suffered the worst loss, however. Seeing her friends crippled around her, injured, in pain … She knew that they weren’t immortal, but she never thought that it would end like this. Irina, blinking around confused because she could only hear one side, Hawkeye, clutching at his dominant right arm because he once dreamed to be at the Empress’s right side… Mikhail, fussing over a blind Eckhart, who clutched at his eyes with a sort of desperation – because he knew, he’d never be able to see, but he couldn’t believe it.

She couldn’t handle it.

She crumpled to the ground and cried – cried because of all the cautious work that had to be done to win this fight, cried for all the losses they had suffered, cried for the tragedy that had befallen her friends …

They had won, but for a cost that could never really be solved.

And through everyone’s headphones, a simple verse played.

Boys and girls its time to look ahead
So we can fight that sun and move on forward
Bringing back the words swallowed in my mouth
“Goodbye tomorrow” “Hello” to another day and
“Hey hey, this world was really pretty mean and,”
“Hey, maybe I wasn’t paying much attention, but…”
There the signal goes.