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THE POLL IS OUT. IT'S DECIDED!!! TIME SKIP IT IS.
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Third Person POV
10 years later
In a vast, open-air training facility on the Kira estate grounds, the air itself seemed to vibrate with power. The clash of magic echoed off the white stone colonnades(A row of columns) as two figures, now young women on the cusp of their fifteenth birthdays, battled with an intensity that would have put some of the Magic Knights to shame.
Ignara Vermillion was a storm of crimson and gold. She moved with a feral grace, her body wreathed in the oppressive heat of her Inferno Flame Magic. With no grimoire to grant her formal spells, her power was a raw, untamed element. She thrust her palm forward, and a torrent of fire erupted, not as a simple ball, but as a roaring wave meant to burn everything in its path.
Her opponent, Acier Silva, was a fortress of silver and steel. She met the inferno head-on, stamping her foot on the paved ground. A wall of shimmering, liquid metal surged up from the stone, solidifying an instant before the flames hit, deflecting the blast in a shower of sparks and superheated steam. Acier's Metal Magic was the peak of its kind, a perfect blend of fluid defense and razor-sharp offense.
The fight was a blur of motion. Ignara, relying on her incredible sensitivity to mana, could almost feel Acier's attacks before they were launched. She used this sixth sense to stay relentlessly on the offensive. A barrage of fiery projectiles shot from her fingertips, each one exploding with concussive force. She used jets of flame from her feet and hands to propel herself across the arena, her movements unpredictable and explosive.
Acier, however, was a master strategist. Her mind was a calm sea in the midst of Ignara's storm. She never wasted a movement. She didn't just block attacks; she reshaped. The metal wall that had stopped the fire-wave dissolved, reforming instantly into a dozen metallic spears that shot toward Ignara from all angles.
Ignara twisted in mid-air, a grin plastered on her face. She loved this. The thrill of a real fight against a true equal. She clapped her hands together, creating a concussive blast of fire that shattered half the lances and sent the rest flying off course. But Acier had already anticipated that. The ground beneath Ignara's feet turned to liquid silver, trapping her ankles as it began to harden.
For a moment, Ignara was caught. But only for a moment. With a roar, she channeled her inferno magic downwards, melting the metal around her feet and using the explosive pressure to launch herself high into the air.
"Not bad, Steel Princess!" she yelled from above.
"You're getting predictable, Firecracker!" Acier shot back, already forming a new defense.
The fight went on, the advantage shifting with every exchange. Ignara's raw power and aggressive instinct would push Acier to her absolute defensive limits, only for Acier's calm, tactical mind to find a flaw in the assault and turn the tables with a precise and unavoidable counter-attack.
Finally, they both saw an opening. Panting, their bodies slick with sweat and their mana reserves running low, they squared off from opposite ends of the training ground. An unspoken agreement was passed between them. This was the final exchange.
Ignara's hands blazed with a terrifying, red/golden-hot energy. Acier's entire body began to glow as she drew upon every ounce of metal in the training ground, pulling it toward her.
With twin battle cries, they unleashed everything. A massive, spiraling beam of concentrated flame shot from Ignara. An enormous, sharpened spear of polished steel, spinning like a drill, launched from Acier.
The two attacks met in the center of the arena. For a single, silent moment, there was only a blinding light. Then, the world exploded. The resulting detonation of force and energy shook the very foundations of the estate, leaving a massive, smoking crater where the two teenagers had stood.
When the dust settled, both girls were on one knee, gasping for breath, their training clothes tattered. An intense stare-down followed, their eyes locking with a mixture of exhaustion and fierce respect. Then, a slow grin spread across Ignara's face, followed by a tired smile from Acier. The tension broke, and they both fell back, laughing breathlessly.
"A draw. Again," Ignara panted, staring up at the sky.
"You almost had me with that feint in the beginning," Acier admitted, her chest heaving.
"And you almost turned me into a pincushion," Ignara shot back. They praised each other's moves, their rivalry a perfect, tempered thing forged over a decade of shared struggle. "I can't believe it's been ten years," Acier said softly. "Tomorrow, we finally get them."
"Our grimoires," Ignara finished, her voice full of anticipation. "Finally. I'm tired of just throwing fire around. I want real spells."
As they were talking, their attention was caught by a series of brilliant, rhythmic flashes of light from a distant, more secluded training ground. Even from this far away, they could feel the immense, perfectly controlled pulses of mana.
A soft, fond smile bloomed on Acier's face. "He's gotten so strong."
Ignara nodded, her expression uncharacteristically gentle. "He's a monster. Remember how much he struggled at the start?"
They both remembered. They remembered the frustrating first year, when Michael couldn't even form a simple sphere of light. But they also remembered his response. He had pushed himself past his limits every single day, training with a terrifying determination that had left them in the dust. He had caught up, and then, he had surpassed them, mastering not only devastating attacks, but also impenetrable defenses and supportive light magic that could heal and enhance.
As they thought of him, they both fell into a comfortable silence, the same beautiful, lovesick smile gracing their faces. A moment passed before they turned to look at each other, catching the identical expression. Both of them froze. A deep, simultaneous blush crept up their necks.
"How in the hell," Acier finally whispered, breaking the awkward silence, "did we end up liking the same person?"
Ignara groaned, falling back onto the grass dramatically. "Fuck that. I thought I would never fall in love, period. Let alone with a guy my best friend is also in love with."
They both looked at each other, a shared look of utter bewilderment on their faces, and said in perfect unison, "How did this even happen?"
The answer came in a flood of shared memories. Flashes of a younger Michael, offering a hand to pull them up after a tough spar, that damned charming smile on his face. The sound of his dry, witty remarks could make them laugh even when they were exhausted. The memory of a group of older Kira cousins, trying to bully them and use the King's name to get their way, only for Michael to step in and beat them so thoroughly that they never bothered them again. Every act of kindness, every moment of fierce protection, every shared laugh… they had fallen for him, harder and harder, until now, here they were.
"You think Lady Seraphiel will tell him?" Acier asked, her voice laced with panic.
A specific, horrifying memory from a year ago played in their minds. Seraphiel had caught them both staring at Michael with wide, adoring eyes. She had figured it out in an instant, and to this day, she would tease them with a knowing wink or a little song about young love whenever Michael was out of earshot.
"WHAT?!" Ignara bolted upright, her panic flaring. "She wouldn't, right?!" She grabbed Acier by the collar of her tunic, shaking her slightly. "She wouldn't actually tell him, would she?!"
Acier pushed her back, trying to regain her composure. "She's Lady Seraphiel," she reasoned, though she sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "She's teasing. She surely wouldn't just… tell him. Right?"
As this crisis of the heart was unfolding, a different kind of battle was reaching its climax. In the private training arena, Michael and his mother moved as streaks of golden light. He wielded a spear of pure, solidified radiance, its point a deadly threat. She controlled a single, elegant blade of light that floated and danced around her, parrying his every thrust with impossible grace and speed.
They broke apart, pausing in the center of the scarred arena.
"This is our last spar before the ceremony tomorrow, Mich," Seraphiel said, a proud smile on her face. "Let's take this up a notch."
With a flick of her wrist, four more blades of light materialized from thin air, humming with power as they floated beside the first. Five blades against his one spear.
Michael's tired expression was replaced by a confident, eager grin. He settled into his stance, the light from his spear intensifying.
"Bring it on, Mother."
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Now you would ask, "Why are Acier and Ignara fine with liking the same man?". The answers is it is common practice in royalty. AND TRUST ME I won't ruin this by making this a catch it all harem. It's just these two, as I could not decide one between them. So please trust me, and let me cook.
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