Entwined | 𝘠𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤

Rage

"No one lays a hand on my brother, except me," Mereoleona growled from her seat at the table. "So we are going to incinerate whoever is behind this."

The statement was followed by a chorus of mumbles from what was left of the Magic Knight Captains—and one deathly stare from Yami. The dark energy around him was so severe, no one dared sit next to him, much less address the elephant in the room.

His Charlotte was missing, along with Fuegoleon, Nozel, and William. Since the creation of the Black Briar Knights, that meant half the captains had been abducted by the enemy. An enemy that as yet was remained faceless, their only motive the message given from the sky.

"We will count on them holding their own until we organize a suitable response," Julius said, standing at the front of the room.

"What if they aren't together?" Rill asked, voice apprehensive. "We don't know where those portals took them, or if—"

"They're all Captain's for fuck's sake," Yami snapped. "The only one of us I'd be worried about is you, but that's not an issue, is it?"

The room went silent.

Captain Kaiser of the Purple Orca's cleared his throat, and Dorothy shifted and whined in her sleep.

"Every one of us is worked up," the Wizard King said, breaking the stifling tension in the room. A somber expression set his face in a line, hard as stone. "Be it from the loss of our leaders, friends, family, or youth."

Several kids had been killed or maimed by the attack, a few unable to recover even with the best of their healing mages. As a result, the entrance exam had been put on hold, and no new recruits had been added to the ranks.

But what gnawed at Yami the most was that he had been the target. It was him who was supposed to be the one in distress, and as ready as he was to put his life on the line for Charlotte, he wished they'd taken him. That she was the one in this chair right now, still in the capitol.

"We have been issued a challenge, and even if we disapprove of the methods, we cannot refuse. Our mission is to rescue those who belong to us," Julius paused to look Yami square in the eye, matching his stare. "There are six of you, eight squads, and four hostages."

"It sounded like they didn't want the leaders interfering," Jack said, his tongue licking the scar on his face.

"That's correct," Julius responded. "I assume they already have counter measures for all of you, regardless, I expect my Captains to overcome any obstacle placed before them. But I also think it would be wise to choose at least two of your younger members to accompany in the mission."

"Won't that be playing into their hands?" Kaiser asked.

"At this point, we have no choice." Julius let out a breath. "I am assigning all the squads who lost a Captain to this mission. The rest will stay here and protect the Capitol. Now go and form your plan of attack." He left the room, grumbling about fires starting all over the palace.

Mereoleona took his place and turned her fiery gaze upon the room. "Small piles of sand were found near each of the portals, which I recognized from one of my training ventures. It did not carry the scent of salt, as does the sand from the sea, and it was pitch black instead of while. Since this is our best lead, we must first go into the Obsidian Desert."

Eyes darted around the table, anxiety from the recent drama with the Diamond Kingdom still high. This particular location spanned their boarders—a sea of heat that was rarely, if ever, traversed.

Going into a battle there would take both preparation and skill, not something a new knight could handle. But they had been instructed to keep a young member in their team. This was a tricky situation indeed.

"Sounds like a plan," Yami huffed, chair scrapping the floor as he stood. "I'm leaving in two hours."

With that, he walked out. He already knew who he'd be taking with him, having gone over the possibilities endlessly by now. All this organized talking and waiting around made him restless, and this time drinking wouldn't make anything feel better. Acting was all he could do.

A rose in the desert was no good.

The others could either charge in with him, or stay and discuss a strategy, but he knew what he was going to do. If it took splitting the globe into a million pieces, he'd do it to get her back. To keep her safe. To pull her back in his arms, and never let go again.

A/n: I made some stuff up, sorry if it doesn't seem accurate. This goes for the whole story- I'm not checking if things are cannon or not, I simply write and post.