Doite turned upon hearing their approach. They weren't exactly prioritizing stealth. Nerluce wondered how long he'd known they were following him and he wondered if Doite had chosen to let them catch up with him.

He smiled at them, friendly and charming. It was as though Nerluce had walked into the fire Affinity common room and there Doite was, sitting with his friends in the middle of everything, exuding warmth. He didn't look guilty. He didn't look like they'd caught him in the act of kidnapping. Everything about the scene was off, from his smile to easy posture to the joy of Kierli's own giggles.

"Head Disciple Aristide," Doite said, "I figured it was you following me." He turned to Nerluce. "I'm a bit more surprised to see you Nerluce. How can I help you both?"

"Return the Chosen Light," Aristide said.

Aristide didn't look the slightest bit deterred by Doite's friendly voice or easy smile. In fact, it seemed his hackles had risen even higher. Nerluce set his expression into something as hard as he could make it. Whatever was going on, it didn't change the fact that the Chosen Light had disappeared, and now, here was Doite, holding her.

"Ah, I'm afraid I can't do that," Doite said, smiling down at Kierli. He waggled a finger at her and the toddler laughed and grabbed it. "The Chosen Light... that's no title a child should grow up bearing. She's too young. She's far too young to be a soldier in your war. You ought to understand that, Head Disciple Aristide."

The muscles in Aristide's arm tensed and his fingers were outstretched, ready to summon Kōttaiki at a breath. "Return the Chosen Light to me or else I will use force."

Doite sighed and shook his head. "Aristide... please understand, I'm doing this for her own good. Do you really think that the Head Priestess has any interest in raising this child? Do you really think that the Head Priestess will see her as a person and not just a weapon?"

Aristide scoffed. "And you do?"

"Of course!" Doite looked genuinely offended. "Sure, the Chosen Light is the prophecy we've all been waiting for, but to me, Kierli is more than just a prophecy!"

"You do not get to use her name," Aristide snapped.

He took a step forward. Nerluce gripped his wrist. Aristide needed to calm down. He needed to think rationally. That was the only way they'd be able to get out of this. "Doite," Nerluce said, turning to his senior with a nervous smile. "Why don't we just all go back and talk this out. I'm sure the High Priestess will hear and understand your concerns. You're a Seraph now."

"I wish it was that simple, Nerluce," Doite said. "But if I didn't think that this was the best option, I wouldn't be doing it. Kierli is a child! I can't stand by idly and watch as she is neglected by her mother and raised for the sole purpose of dying! She isn't this world's scapegoat!" His eyes burned with fire and passion. "I'm going to take her away from all of this mess and when she's old enough - an adult for gods' sake - she can come back and save your world."

"You can't keep light to yourself, Doite. It's selfish," Aristide said. "What makes you think you're any different than the High Priestess."

"Because I love her!"

Aristide's expression hardened and with the slightest twitch, Kōttaiki was in his hand. "Then you ought to have no problem handing over my child back to me." His face was colder than his icy sword. "This is my final warning."

"You don't love that child, Aristide," Doite said with a bitter laugh. "If you did, you wouldn't let her mother use her like this."

The sword went flying towards Doite. Doite dodged, Aristide missing by only a hair. There wasn't a moment's pause before Aristide attacked again. His onslaught was brutal and skilled, not leaving the space for a single error. That was how Aristide always fought. Nerluce watched in awe of Aristide's pure power and skill. And he watched as Doite moved just as perfectly, never making an error and never letting the sword graze him or Kierli.

Kierli.

Shit. Aristide couldn't fight to his fullest potential with Kierli in the way. Doite couldn't either. He was stuck mainly on the defensive in this fight. Yet, despite his perfect dodging, he found the time to snap his fingers and summon his own sword: Imignis.

Imignis was a rather impressive weapon. Though it wasn't much to look at - perhaps one of the most physically indistinct swords Nerluce had ever seen - it was extremely fast and held up well against Aristide's Kōttaiki, which Nerluce felt might be one of the most powerful swords in their generation if not ever.

The two Magickians battled against one another ferociously, neither giving the other any room to breath. Nerluce quickly saw that this was going to become a battle of seeing which one of them would make a mistake first. Doite was a genius, talented, and admired through the fire Affinity dorms, but Aristide was an experienced soldier and the Head Disciple. Doite stood no chance.

Doite must've realized this at the same time that Nerluce did. His expression soured and his eyes narrowed as he focused his concentration on commanding Imignis while dodging Kōttaiki. His forehead was beaded with sweat and his hair was plastered around his face. Kierli was still positioned firmly in his arms but her smile had long disappeared. She looked like she was one blow away from crying.

She really was just a toddler. She didn't need to be witnessing this sort of thing! Nerluce bit the inside of his cheek and prayed to all gods Aristide would be able to finish this quickly and without bloodshed.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Doite must've thought the same thing.

Because in the next moment, Imignis went whizzing straight past Aristide and towards Nerluce. Imignis was never the most beautiful weapon but it was never the ugliest either. Yet, as it soared straight for Nerluce he swore it never looked worse. There was little to no control behind Imignis and it seemed more a fireball designed to do as much damage as possible than slay Nerluce in one blow.

Thoughts rushed through Nerluce's head. Everything seemed to come at once as Nerluce tried to think of an out. Run? No, he wasn't fast enough. Dodge? No there were still snakes everywhere. Redirect the fire? No, Doite wouldn't release control until it was already too late. Was this really Nerluce's end? Was he really going to dire like this, killed by one of his classmates? And why? Unless... Nerluce wasn't the target...

Just as it hit Nerluce, Aristide was moving. Kōttaiki wouldn't be able to stop a blow this large. That was why Doite had loosened his grip. Nerluce saw Doite's lip curl up. He opened his mouth to scream but... it was too late. Aristide took the blow in an instant, his body crumpling against Doite's powerful flames.

Ice always did melt when it got too close to fire...

"Angel!" Nerluce screamed, running up to Aristide's collapsed form.

Aristide was flat on the ground, his clothes blackened and his hair singed. His eyes were sealed shut and frost coated his lashes, turning them into a pale white. In fact, most of his body was creeping with frost and ice, moving almost on their own to coat the burn wounds. His breaths were rapid and shallow, but at least he was breathing.

"He'll live," Doite said, firmly. Kierli was screaming at this point, howling and reaching out for the injured Aristide. She probably didn't know what was going on but she knew that Aristide was in pain and that was enough to make her scream. "You ought to take him back now. The burns won't scar if he gets proper treatment."

"How... did you know he was going to block?" Nerluce asked.

"I knew. You were never in any danger, Nerluce. Believe it or not, I do like you." Doite smiled at him and hoised Kierli closed to his chest. "Alright, little light, let's get you out of here."

Nerluce stumbled to his feet. "No."

Doite paused and raised a brow. "No?" he echoed as if he were amazed by this small word of resistance coming from Nerluce. "I said I liked you Nerluce, but that doesn't mean I won't hesitate to do the same to you as I did to Head Disciple Aristide. This is more important than you or me or any of us."

"I'm not letting you kidnap a kid away from her rightful parents," Nerluce snapped.

There shouldn't have been any way for Doite to know with certainty that Aristide would use his body to block the blow for Nerluce. They weren't openly friendly with one another and if anything seemed more akin to rivals. Or Nerluce was an annoyance that Aristide barely tolerated. In private, Nerluce sometimes felt those things to be more true than... whatever the reality of their relationship was.

It was impossible to say that Aristide would block. Doite had taken a gamble and it had paid off, nothing more. But Aristide had taken a gamble of his own. In jumping in front of Nerluce, he gambled that Nerluce would uphold his vow to Aristide and to Kierli no matter the cost.

And that was what Nerluce was going to do.

Nerluce bit the inside of his lip and listened. Around him, he heard the sound of snakes, crawling on their bellies. They were nervous from the sounds of the fight but angry too. They were so angry. Nerluce could feel their anger inside of him. Using his life Magick would be as easy as breathing. He could take control of the snakes. Who cared if he did so? Snakes were evil to begin with so would robbing them of the opportunity to do evil really be anything less than good?

He could do it. He could do it to keep his promise and save the sniffling Kierli. She wouldn't know what happened and if the snakes killed Doite then... no one would ever know. The sin would go on forever without a witness. There was no one who could punish Nerluce. There was no reason not to destroy Doite.

Destroy him for stealing Kierli. Destroy him for trespassing. Destroy him for hurting Aristide. Destroy him hurting his breather. Destroy him, destroy him, destroy-

Another promise. Another vow.

Nerluce took a deep breath. Snakes were not evil, they were creatures of survival, just like him. If they were evil, he was too and Nerluce refused to walk a wicked path ever again. He wanted to do good and be kind.

A small cry of pain echoed inside of his chest. Nerluce turned his head to see that a plant had caught fire during the battle between Aristide and Doite. The flame was small, barely noticeable, but more than enough for Nerluce to utilize. He didn't think he stood a chance against Doite, but... he really didn't need to. He just needed to let everyone know exactly where they were.

Nerluce seized control of the flame and prayed the souls of the nearby plants would forgive him. The snakes, on the other hand, well he'd be doing the world a favor. Nerluce closed his eyes and as he'd been trained, started to move, growing the flame larger and larger.

Doite's eyes widened. He braced for attack. But... it didn't come. Nerluce just kept growing the flames. He needed them big. Big enough that the whole mountain would see them. Big enough that the whole mountain would come running towards them. Doite sputtered a curse and turned to run but the flames were big and they all belonged to Nerluce. They wrapped around the path, cutting off the exit.

Trapped in Nerluce's prison of fire, Doite turned around. He tried smiling but Nerluce knew a fake smile when he saw one, especially on the face of someone like Doite, who hadn't grown up forced to wear one. He was a poor man's son and that showed in every aspect of his being, as well as his poor aptitude at lying.

"Nerluce," he said, "you know that I'm right."

"Perhaps," Nerluce said, his body never stopping moving even for a moment and the conversation only driving his focus. "Perhaps not. I do know that no matter what you say or do, you're still stealing that child away from the only person in this world who loves her for who she is, not what she is."

"And who's that?" Doite said, the tension in his body snapping the facade. "You? The High Priestess?"

Nerluce shook his head. "Aristide."

Upon hearing her favorite caretaker's name and under all the stress that she'd priorly gone through, Kierli burst into tears and began screaming, "Ari! Ari! I want my Ari! Where is Ari? I want Ari!"

Doite looked utterly panicked, unable to console the child in his arms.

"Don't you get it?" Nerluce asked. "The Chosen Light? That's all shit. That's just a little girl who loves Aristide more than anyone else in this world." Nerluce lifted his chin. "And I will not let you or anyone else take her away from him."

Doite gritted his teeth but he was no fool and could see he'd lost. The fire was too big. He held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, Nerluce, you win. But one day you'll see I was right."

And that was when the teachers and Seraphs finally arrived.

And that was when the Chosen Light was found again.