It had been three months since the Shadow Sovereign's defeat.
Solvia had slowly returned to life. Markets bustled. Schools of magic reopened. The Crystal Tower, once cracked and scorched, stood tall once more — a symbol of resilience.
The Six were hailed as living legends.
Yet, beneath the celebrations, a new unease stirred.
---
The Festival of Renewal
Akane Aika strolled through the city streets, her long scarlet cape fluttering in the spring breeze. Around her, festival banners danced — painted with images of wind, fire, earth, water, light, and dark.
Fumiko Haruki jogged up beside her, arms laden with grilled meat skewers.
"Here," she said, shoving one into Akane's hand. "You need to eat."
Akane laughed, taking a grateful bite. "I still can't get used to everyone treating us like royalty."
"You saved the world. Twice," Fumiko said with a shrug. "Deal with it."
Behind them, Chouka Daiki and Hitomi Ika admired a flower-draped float shaped like the Gates of Eternity — though Chouka muttered that the artists had made it look "way less terrifying than it actually was."
Tomomi Usagi and Suzume Tamami brought up the rear, quieter. Tomomi wore a simple black cloak despite the festive colors all around. Suzume, her light magic humming faintly, kept stealing glances at her.
"You okay?" Suzume asked under her breath.
Tomomi smiled weakly. "Just... remembering."
---
Suddenly, the sky darkened — not with magic, but with storm clouds gathering unnaturally fast.
A hush fell over the crowd. People looked up, murmuring in fear.
From the clouds descended a single, silver object — an ancient rune-marked spear. It embedded itself in the plaza with a thundering crack, sending a shockwave rippling through the square.
The Six were on their feet instantly, weapons drawn, magic at the ready.
At the base of the spear was a scroll, sealed with a symbol none of them recognized: a circle crossed by two jagged lines, like lightning split in two.
Akane approached cautiously and broke the seal. The scroll unfurled itself in mid-air, letters burning onto it in blue fire:
"To the Heirs of Astraea — the Forgotten Ones stir. You are summoned. Cross the Divide, or witness the end of magic itself."
There was no signature. No explanation.
Only a simple map — pointing beyond the eastern mountains, into a land that did not exist on any current chart.
---
Council of the Stars
Later that night, the Six gathered in the Council Hall with the High Magister and the Circle of Sages.
"This symbol..." one sage muttered, adjusting his spectacles. "It's ancient. Predating the founding of Solvia itself."
"Is it a threat?" Chouka asked, arms crossed.
"Or a warning," Hitomi murmured.
The High Magister looked grim. "The 'Forgotten Ones' are not myth. They were the original wielders of elemental magic, long before humans ever touched it. It is said that they vanished... or were banished."
"Banished why?" Fumiko demanded.
"Because they sought to reshape the very essence of magic itself," the Magister said. "And when they failed... their existence was erased from history."
Akane tightened her fist around the scroll. "If they're returning... it could undo everything we know."
"And if magic itself collapses," Suzume said softly, "the world will follow."
The Council fell silent.
"You Six are the only ones strong enough to answer this summons," the Magister said. "But be warned: beyond the eastern mountains lies the Divide — a rift between realms. We know nothing of what waits there."
Akane looked at her friends. They all nodded.
"We'll go," she said.
---
Crossing the Divide
The journey eastward was treacherous. The mountains were sheer and cruel, riddled with ancient wards that resisted their passage. Even Akane's wind magic struggled against the howling gales; Chouka's attempts to shape paths through the rock met unseen barriers.
They camped one night at a narrow ledge overlooking a black canyon — the Divide itself.
From their campfire, the Six gazed out over the vast emptiness.
"It's beautiful," Hitomi whispered.
And it was — in a terrible way. The canyon was a gash across the world, and at its bottom shimmered a lightless mist.
"There," Tomomi said, pointing to a bridge — or something like a bridge — stretching across.
It wasn't stone or wood, but threads of crystallized magic woven together into a shimmering path.
"No going back," Fumiko said, half-smiling.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Akane replied.
One by one, they stepped onto the bridge.
---
The Other Side
Crossing the Divide was like falling through a dream.
Each step warped reality — visions flashed at the corners of their eyes. They saw fragments of other worlds: oceans hanging in the sky, forests burning with blue fire, cities made of sound.
When they finally reached the other side, they found themselves in a land unlike any they had ever known.
The ground was covered in silvery grass that shimmered under a violet sky. Giant trees with crystalline leaves stretched toward twin suns that hung frozen in the heavens. Rivers flowed upward in spirals.
And in the distance, a citadel of pure light floated among the clouds — tethered to the ground by chains of golden energy.
"Welcome to the Resonance Fields," a voice said.
They whirled around.
Standing before them was a figure cloaked in robes of shifting colors — neither young nor old, male nor female — their presence radiating impossible power.
"I am a Herald of the Forgotten Ones," the figure said. "And you, Heirs of Astraea, have much to learn."
---
A New Challenge
The Herald gestured, and the landscape around them shimmered.
Before each of the Six appeared a figure — not an enemy, but... themselves.
Or rather, what they could become.
Akane faced a version of herself clad in storm armor, wielding a blade of compressed air.
Fumiko saw herself crowned in fire, her skin glowing like molten gold.
Chouka beheld a titaness, roots and mountains growing from her form.
Hitomi watched a goddess of tides, her hair a flowing river, her hands shaping seas.
Suzume saw a radiant being of pure light, blinding and beautiful.
Tomomi faced a shadow queen, her aura both terrifying and magnetic.
"These are your potential selves," the Herald said. "Should you master the Resonance."
"And if we fail?" Tomomi asked quietly.
The Herald's smile was thin. "Then you will cease to exist."
---
TO BE CONTINUED...