Adults...
For children, they can be teachers in life, or eternal evil spirits who do not understand them.
In essence, they are right - but neither the children nor the adults themselves take into account that they, too, were children.
Since time immemorial, adults have always blamed children for their "incompetence." And their children, when they become adults, begin to blame their own children.
Although it all looks like a hopeless cycle that will never break, there are those who have not forgotten their childhood.
And among them there are those who understand them from the bottom of their hearts with purest and noblest of intentions.
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As she climbed the stairs, Lucy noticed thick vines blocking her path. She decided to shoot them and they disappeared, albeit with some difficulty. Finding herself on the third floor, she almost froze, everything was covered with vines and turret flowers and the concentration of magic was quite strong. Dodging the seeds, she tried to shoot her way to the roof. On her way, she saw many schoolchildren tied with vines. She began to fear that if she got caught by it , she would be in trouble... Suddenly, a burst of energy almost flew towards Lucy, and when she turned her head to the source, she saw a furry animal similar to a raccoon. Oh no...
Looks like she still needs to fight her.
But before that she needs to deal with this little animal.
She chased him and he started to run away from her. In this chase, the little animal managed to take Lucy away from his mistress and when Lucy realized that the little animal had deceived her, the vines trapped her and now she would have to fight him. The little animal transformed into a young man and assumed a fighting pose.
- "It's for your own good..." - the man said nervously and he started shooting amulets towards Lucy.
- "Momosuke!" - Lucy jumped back - "I-I need to save Adri !"
Momosuke Katagawa (形川・萌々介)
"Peach Blossom Bud Soiled in Red"
- "...They told me to tell everyone that the ambassador would come and resolve this incident..."
- "But... My dad won't make it in time! You know he's always late!"
- "... I know, but the situation is serious right now. I don't want any of you to get hurt... "
- "If only you were on the lower floors! Sterling almost killed me!"
- "Is it really even worse down there than here?... Tch, it doesn't matter! I won't let you in! I just want to help you!" - Momosuke shook his head and used his first act.
ACT 1 –花実法：弥生桃の開花式 (Duality of Blossom Act: March Peach Blossom Ceremony)
"Eternity that was neither conquered nor equaled, but subdued"
The vines hardened, becoming similar to tree branches and peach blossoms bloomed from them. They shot out energy spurts, after which the flowers withered, but due to the high concentration of life energy in Momosuke (and it was pure, unlike Sterling), the flowers bloomed quickly. Momosuke himself continued to throw amulets at Lucy. Momosuke's amulets are similar to Lucy's bullets in that they weakened magic, but Momosuke's amulets were stronger and finite. Lucy shot at Momosuke while she dodged the energy spurts. Slowly but surely, Momosuke began to tire out and he stopped throwing amulets, and he concentrated all his energy into the flowers. The bullets began to shoot more often and faster and Lucy decided to wait out the act.
- "Just a little more..." Momosuke was out of breath, barely able to stand on his feet.
He unleashed his final attack, and the energy surge nearly damaged Lucy. Momosuke fell unconscious, and Lucy began to search for the source of all those vines. She noticed that all the vines led somewhere. Surely she would find the exit...
Following the vines, she reached the source of all these vines. In front of her stood a cat woman. She was of average height (which seemed tall to Lucy), she had dark purple hair because of the curse. Her face was the strangest thing - her eyes were like a cat, her nose was like a cat, and she even had whiskers like a cat.
- "You overslept," the cat remarked.
- "I-I know, Aunt Sage , but can I go up to the roof?"
THE WIZARD OF FLORA – Sage-Sylvestris O'Sullivan
"Florist and Pharmacist in the Field of Alchemy"
- "Out of the question! We are currently waiting for the ambassador to resolve this incident!"
- "But Aunt Sage! My dad is always late! B-Besides, it's my fault!"
- "What are you saying?! What's happening now is Adrianne's fault and Adrianne's fault alone. I can't let any of the students suffer because of her actions."
- "And why is it her fault?! What did she do wrong?!"
- "... She is summoning a demon without the teachers' knowledge, and it's not included in the curriculum. In addition, she is the source of those wisps that are walking around the school grounds. I don't know the details, I don't know why those wisps are walking around the school, but this is an emergency!"
Lucy is in a stupor...
- "Well? Do you understand why we are waiting for the ambassador to arrive?"
Lucy was already uneasy. She wanted to give up and rely on her dad, but...
Wake up... Remember...
But you promised...
That voice... It was like Adrianne's voice. Lucy knew that if she abandoned her on the last day of school, something terrible would happen. She couldn't give up now.
- "Yes, but I can't wait! A-Adri needs help!"
- "Lucy! Please listen!"
- "But I can't! I can't leave Adri alone! Let me at least see her!"
Sage was already on edge. The surge of magic was giving her a massive headache in a most literal way possible, but since she was already familiar with this surge of magic, she was more or less able to use it to her advantage. But she's one of the few who can work in such an emergency, and the children were the ones who suffered the most from the surge. She already has 20 children in her vines, and now Lucy is starting to act irrationally.
She raised her staff and got into a fighting stance. She didn't want to fight her "niece", but if she continued to be a stubborn girl, she would have to fight her.
- "You leave me no choice ."
Flower turrets grew out of the vines and Sage began to dodge Lucy's bullets. Luckily for Lucy, Sage wasn't as agile as she used to be. The bullets were able to hit their target, and Sage began her first act:
ACT 1 – LESSER ATROPA BELLA-DONA
"The Beauty of the Deadly Nightshade"
Giant berries began to sprout from under the floor and Sage began to kick them towards Lucy, which exploded upon contact with the surface and left behind a smoke that was intended to slow down the victim. Lucy dodged them, wary of the smoke and projectiles and simultaneously shooting at Sage. Sage's legs were getting tired, and she changed the act.
ACT 2 – NETHER NERIUM OLEANDER
"An Instructive Tale about Oleanders"
The turrets took the form of oleander leaflets and the seeds began to shoot seeds at a high frequency. Lucy covered herself with a scarf so that the seeds would not get into her respiratory tract and infect her. Soon the oleander petals joined in and Lucy had to dodge them. Some petals hit Lucy's magical barrier, but they do not cause much damage individually, the main thing is not to trap herself. While Lucy was dodging, Sage realized that her act was ineffective against Lucy - who managed to clung to her sanity during the surge of magic and she used her third act.
ACT 3 – SMALL-FRY'S RICINUS COMMUNIS
"Also Known as Castor Bean"
Spiky fruits started shooting out from everywhere and jumping all over the place. Lucy accidentally stepped on them and her leg immediately started itching. Her concentration was broken. Sage thought she had won, but Lucy still overcame herself and continued the battle despite the pain. Lucy started shooting at the spiky fruits and soon they were all destroyed. "Damn, I guess I'll have to use extra acts..." Sage thought and decided to use the fourth act.
ACT 4 – LOWER CONVALLARIA MAJALIS
"Return of Happiness"
Lily of the valley flowers began to sprout from the ceiling, which began to drip toxic tears. Lucy had to literally avoid the rain. And after they dried up, these flowers turned into berries and fell, forming a small splash. This is already one of the serious acts in Sage's arsenal . It's also bad that Sage regained her strength and began to dodge Lucy's bullets again. Lucy did not have time to wait out this act, and she intends to defeat Sage once and for all. They skillfully dodged the projectiles flying in their direction, although Sage 's strength is no longer what it used to be, she cannot keep up with a little girl full of strength and energy. She slipped and Lucy finished her act.
The final act has begun.
LAST ACT – WEAKENED BRUGMANSIA SUAVEOLENS
"Tearful Angel's Trumpet "
Another, more dangerous flower began to fall from the ceiling. Lucy immediately began to hallucinate and in them she began to see the silhouette of Sage . She began to shoot back, but the illusion did not move. In confusion, she began to shoot at everything that moved - she was in a state similar to delirium. Vines began to envelop Lucy, introducing her into an even greater panic. "I can't give up!" - she thought to herself. She covered herself with a scarf and began to shoot at the flowers that emit this gas, but they began to shoot back at her. Sage began her attack and began to shoot petals of various flowers. Under adrenaline, Lucy decided to shoot at the flowers that were hovering above Sage and, lo and behold, the seeds hit Sage . "What a sly little girl..." Sage said and began to use vines to make Lucy stumble. Lucy tried to jump over them, but being an inexperienced girl, she still fell and Sage damaged her on the barrier. Lucy screamed in pain, from which Sage was finally able to relax and was ready to tie Lucy up. Lucy barely got up and through hallucinations she decided to use her act-stopper as her last chance to defeat Sage.
ACTSTOPPER - IONIZING RADIATION : NEUTRON
This took Sage by surprise and she was thrown to the side, and she fell against the wall. Sage had no more strength and no more acts left, Sage was defeated. Lucy regained her strength and ran to the stairs.
- "No!! Stop!!" - Sage tried to catch up with her, but the ceiling fell, separating her from Lucy. She tried to lift the boards, but she heard children's voices
- "Mrs. O'Sullivan!"
It was Aislin and Sterling, they had come to help Lucy. Sage would have to deal with them now. With a heavy heart, she had to trust Lucy and hope that Fortune would save them both.