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The sun already set when Lotte stepped into the pine forest near her hometown with the light provided by old skull lantern inhabited by her will-o'-wisp familiar Wispy helping her navigating through.
It wasn't the first time the young Yanson entered the forest as she and her mother used to go there to visit their yeti acquaintance who provided them a type of traditional medicine base only he and his kin who moved to Finland could make — the same type of traditional medicine base necessary to brew the cure for certain supernatural ailments such as Greenman Disease.
But it was certainly the first time she did due to an appointment at certain part of the pine forest both her family and Wispy already familiar with.
When she was young, Lotte's grandmother, Aoife Yanson, told her about Keiran Circle, a stone circle deep in the heart of said pine forest. Keiran Circle was the reminder of their Tuatha Dé Danann ancestors' final conflict against Fomorians long ago. When Tuatha Dé Danann moved to underground regions of Ireland as per their peace treaty with Milesians who allowed to remain on the surface world, a splinter group of these transcendent entities led by Keiran the Warrior, the former protégé of Lugh, departed far north instead. Arriving at a land which later became Finland, Keiran and his followers intermingled with magical families who lived there, giving rise to his namesake coven of spiritual magic users, Triskeles of Keiran.
But then, a group of Fomorians who called themselves Children of Balor and led by Morganach the Scorching Spear, came to destroy Keiran's newly established community as vengeance for what his mentor Lugh done to their namesake forefather during the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh. In the heat of the ensuing battle between both groups, Keiran lost his prized spear to Morganach and found himself on her mercy as the result. Yet he refused to give up for the sake of his people thus confronted his nemesis once more, cut her down, and reclaimed the weapon from her grasp.
The legend of Triskeles of Keiran — which Yanson family happened to be part of — was neither myth nor child's fairy tale, and Lotte would be presented with its unmistakable proof that night; a great power which had been passed down through generations of her family since the era of Tuatha Dé Danann. For such occasion, she had changed to ceremonial outfit that won't be out of place during early Middle Ages; a grey tunic with darker outline, brown linen pants, leather wrappings around hands and feet as sort of makeshift fingerless gloves and footwear, a torc, and a sash around her hip with which she carried her wand.
She hoped she wasn't late. Her mother and grandmother would give her a hard time if she did.
After walking for what felt like hours, the Finnish witch-in-training and her will-o'-wisp familiar finally arrived at their destination; Keiran Circle, the stone circle in the clearing of the pine forest Aoife mentioned. The ancient structure consisted of eight huge rocks arranged in circular formation and a rectangular monolith carved with triskellion symbol at the center. The ground around said monolith was abundant with brown mushrooms. What caught the Finnish witch-in-training's attention most however, was a spearhead embedded deep into the base of the rectangular monolith.
Examining the spearhead closely, Lotte's curiosity grew upon finding its base being made of silver while the rest a golden crystal-like material. Tempted to try to pull the peculiar weapon off at first, Lotte changed her mind upon realizing it was there for a reason.
"Beautiful, isn't it, Lotte? That spearhead is the reason we are here."
A familiar voice startled the young Yanson that she promptly turned around. Emerging from the trees were a light orange-haired elderly woman with small pair of glasses and, to Lotte's surprise, the current headmistress of Luna Nova herself.
"Granny? Headmistress Holbrooke?"
"I actually intended to visit my best friend Aoife here but, after learning that her granddaughter is about to partake Trial of Keiran the Warrior tonight, I'm obliged to oversee this in case of worst case scenario", Holbrooke explained.
"Even with extensive precautions to ensure it would go smoothly, chances of its participant facing mortal perils are still there", Mrs. Yanson added matter-of-factly as she and her husband showed up with a wooden box and a small cauldron respectively. "In fact, I had few close calls during my own Trial."
"Thankfully, no one died so far and we wanted to keep it that way", Mr. Yanson added also.
Now that Yansons have gathered and even brought in everything they needed, they began their work as Holbrooke looked on. Lotte and Wispy assisted Aoife in arranging an altar with candles in front of the monolith while Mr. Yanson made a campfire on which he erected a wooden stand to suspend the cauldron above it with beside Keiran Circle. Mrs. Yanson on the other hand, procured ingredients of potion for her daughter's Trial of Keiran the Warrior, a clay bowl, and a spoon from the box.
Once her husband finished his part in their endeavor, Mrs. Yanson wasted no time filling the cauldron with a bottle of water as the first step of brewing said potion. The reason it had to be made on the spot was because of its crucial ingredient — brown mushroom which could only be found around the stone circle's monolith — must be freshly taken from the source. In addition of herbs and water, the rest of ingredients for the potion were hawthorn extract and bits of amber.
"The great power you mentioned... Are you talking about the spearhead in the monolith, granny?", Lotte wondered as she waited for her mother to complete the potion.
"Yes", Aoife nodded. "You'll have it in your hands soon enough. Once you defeat Morganach."
"Balor the Bale Eye's kin. Like his, Morganach's wrath was scorching sun itself. Out of many heroes who faced her, only Keiran who prevailed", Holbrooke stated. "Morganach believed that she was unstoppable after gaining possession of his prized Spear of Keiran but... "
"Having the weapon pierced her flesh at the same time means she was ironically at her weakest", Mrs. Yanson added as she dropped chopped bits of brown mushroom into the cauldron, which emitted a hiss of steam. "Even though you're going to face her echo, it is just as formidable as the original. Which is why both I and my mother trained you for this moment, though sometimes I wondered whether we were too harsh."
"What? No! You told me once to fight as if my life depended on it because one day, it might", Lotte argued. "Today is certainly that day."
"Trust our daughter's abilities, Charlotte. She is strong", Mr. Yanson reassured.
"Small it might be, her part in Yggdrasil's restoration has proved that point", Aoife added. "She inherited your talents and importantly, the blood of our Tuatha Dé Danann ancestors."
With each reassurance from her family, Mrs. Yanson felt better somewhat. In a bid to prepare Lotte for her upcoming Trial of Keiran the Warrior, she and Aoife taught her not just how to invoke spirits and faeries via. their family's ancestral song, but also combat techniques known to members of Triskeles of Keiran. The latter part was grueling, unbearable even, but she pressed on. Mrs. Yanson would be faintly surprised if Lotte's passion for both Night Fall series and the tale of their ancient community's founder Keiran the Warrior inspired her to move forward just as they made her realize how irrelevant every bad thing her childhood bullies said to her.
Just then, the potion turned to the same color as Spear of Keiran, prompting Mrs. Yanson to portion a serving of it from the cauldron into the prepared clay bowl with her spoon. Placing the bowl on the altar, she proceeded to sing a gentle, tranquil lullaby to invoke faeries inhabiting Keiran Circle. One by one, rocks that formed the stone circle began to engulf with small blazes of fire. The flames soon receded into small shapes resembling their rocks albeit with beady eyes, mouth, and aura not unlike Wispy's.
The last faery to emerge was the one from the monolith, its expression was akin to wise, elderly being who had seen many things. Surprised by the presence of Yansons and Holbrooke at first, the faery composed itself upon noticing Spear of Keiran lodged into its monolith and its friends stared at it expectantly. Sharing a glance with one another, stone circle faeries whistled a short lullaby, one which Lotte never heard before. And suddenly, the Finnish witch-in-training found herself surrounded with light.
The monolith faery stared at the motes of light as they fade away, ignoring the look of awe and confusion on her face. It nodded. Then finally, it spoke to her with Aoife interpreted, "Lotte Yanson is worthy to partake Trial of Keiran the Warrior!"
Mr. Yanson whooped and threw his fist in the air while his wife sighed in relief. Holbrooke on the other hand, rubbed her chin thoughtfully and commented, "So, they serve as impartial judges who determine the worth of the participant of this Trial."
"Indeed", Aoife nodded. "The stone circle our long time friends manifested from was touched by magic. Powerful and ancient. In addition of where Keiran and his fellow Tuatha Dé Danann conducted rituals and other magical practices to ensure prosperity and protection of the community they built, this place was the silent witness of the battle between Triskeles of Keiran and Children of Balor. Believe it or not, these faeries have been infused with residual magic released from both our divine ancestors' ancient arts and final war against Fomorians, endowing them abilities unique to them alone."
Descending from its monolith, the monolith faery inspected both the embedded Spear of Keiran and the potion on the altar before finally nodded and spoke to Lotte with Mrs. Yanson interpreted, "Are you ready to face Morganach, Lotte?"
Steeling her resolve for the moment she had been looking forward to, the Finnish witch-in-training nodded firmly, "Let me drink."
Kneeling in front of the altar, Lotte reached for the bowl and drank its contents. As she did, Aoife told her, "Remember, my granddaughter. As the chaotic embodiment of dark side of nature, Morganach is a powerful adversary. But you are stronger. Stronger than you know."
Aoife's words echoed in Lotte's ears as the potion took immediate effect. Sitting down, the last thing she saw before everything around her faded to black was her will-o'-wisp familiar who wasted no time to rush to her side.
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=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=
=================
The crackling sound of burning woods roused Lotte from her slumber. Correcting her glasses, the Finnish witch-in-training found herself awakened near the center of Keiran Circle. But something was off.
Firstly, everyone but Wispy was nowhere to be found. The box, the cauldron, and the altar were missing also. Then, the ground the stone circle stood on was barren, completely devoid of mushrooms and grass. Next, the surrounding trees had been reduced into smoking, smoldering ashes. Thankfully, it wasn't completely dark with moonlight illuminating the area.
Returning to her feet, Lotte readied her wand upon noticing a figure leaning against one of huge rocks in front of her with arms crossed. Said figure was clad in tattered, red hooded cloak secured by golden brooch which concealed her face, grey sleeveless tunic with golden outline, arm band made of leather and fangs, leather wrappings around hands and wrists, metal bracer on right arm, dark grey pants, red and crimson boots, and brown leather belt with which she carried a matching leather pouch and a dagger. A necklace with golden beads and animal fangs could be glimpsed on her neck as the wind blew her cloak Sensing its mistress' uneasiness, Wispy jumped onto Lotte's shoulder ready to assist her.
"So, you have come to face me again, disciple of Lugh", the figure greeted coldly before removing her hood.
Lotte couldn't believe her own eyes. The figure in front of her was... Croix, yet not. She shared the former Luna Nova Modern Magic professor's sharp face, though her short hair — which front pulled out of her face by a ponytail — and eyes were black with a slight blue tint to them. A scar could be seen running from her left cheek to her upper lip. Her sheer presence filled Lotte's heart with dread in the way it indicated her not a mortal.
No, she's not Professor Croix. The woman in front of me must be Morganach the Scorching Spear, Lotte thought to brush her initial confusion aside before finally challenged her would-be opponent. "I'm here for the power you have stolen!"
The figure, Morganach, smiled as she took a step forward, "Then come. Take it if you can."
Her curious resemblance to Croix was nothing compared to the next surprise she had stored for Lotte and Wispy. As the Finnish witch-in-training and her will-o'-wisp familiar watched the leader of Children of Balor pulling out her dagger from its sheath, it appeared Morganach was about to fight them with such seemingly mundane weapon. When she unexpectedly cut her own palm with it, that proved to be not the case.
In a burst of yellowish energy, Morganach shed away her human appearance, unveiling her aquatic, monstrous true form approximately one and a half the size of a fully grown man. A dark red, nearly black layer of energy tightly formed around her body akin to second skin starting from her regenerating palm. Fins protruded from her calves and forearms. Nails elongated into sharp talons. The number of toes on each feet reduced into two as they elongated and formed webbing between them. Two pairs of gills not unlike those of salamander larva or axolotl emerged from each side of the neck. Her face became featureless save for glowing white eyes and jagged mouth. Finally, in place of her human form's clothing was dark grey carapace-like exoskeletal armor encasing head, chest, shoulders, forearms, spine, upper back, hips, and lower legs. The exoskeletal armor around Morganach's hip best described as sort of organic kilt, consisting of segmented plating and membrane resembling webbing between her toes, while the one around her head crudely shaped after goat skull complete with a pair of short horns. Morganach's transformation concluded by the glow on her fins, webbed feet, gaps on her exoskeletal armor, and organic kilt's membrane shining intensely in electric yellow.
Fomorians were described as giant-like transcendent entities who represented harmful and destructive aspects of nature thus effectively the opposite of their rival race Tuatha Dé Danann who embodied beneficial and helpful aspects of nature. But the biggest mystery about them was how they exactly looked like. Some said they have the body of man and the head of a goat. Other described them as humanoid monstrosity with one eye, one arm, and one leg. Even in popular culture, they were depicted as something akin to either storybook giants or monsters. Looking at Morganach's transformed state, Lotte finally understood for the first time why elders of Triskeles of Keiran such as Aoife claimed the first one being closest to the truth.
Conjuring a dark yellow spear made of fiery vermilion and green magic, Morganach commenced the duel by charging toward her opponents while raising it overhead. Lotte and Wispy promptly jumped out of the way before the attack connected, resulting the spearhead striking the ground where they previously stood at. Wispy spewed forth rapid bursts of green flames at the Fomorian warrior while Lotte recited, "Kergar Syshare", generating a bow made of emerald magic around her wand with which she let loose three wind projectiles each condensed into arrow-like shape. Shrugging off Finnish witch-in-training and her will-o'-wisp familiar's assaults which barely scratched her multi-layered defenses, Morganach responded by twirling her spear, hurling multiple softball-sized vermilion fireballs at her opponents.
"Ker Guintana!", Lotte hastily exclaimed with her wand raised aloft, generating a cloak of mobility-enhancing wind around herself that allowed her to seamlessly dodge the Fomorian warrior's long-range spell — a wise decision in her part as she soon learned incoming projectiles' destructive power; one of Morganach's fireballs utterly obliterated a huge rock behind her, leaving nothing but a lava pool in its place.
Not taking any chances, Lotte and Wispy decided to go offensive. With a nod from its mistress, the will-o'-wisp exhaled a stream of fire to create a wall of bright green inferno between them and Fomorian warrior whereas Lotte recited a spell to bolster her Wind Magic, "Meigareg Kristiare!", Morganach dispelled the fire wall with a shockwave via. a single swipe from her dark yellow spear only to hear Lotte casted another spell, "Kando Mioher Guintana", which soon followed by a concussive blast of enchanted wind that nearly knocked the Fomorian warrior's weapon off her grip. Casting her next spell, "Kartia Goia Guintana", Lotte projected another wind blast which this time, causing her opponent's exoskeleton to fracture slightly.
"Wind Magic? You truly share one of Lugh's Elemental Magic affinities. Not enough to stop me", Morganach laughed, impressed by Lotte's demonstration of wind-based spells so far before assuming a throwing stance with her spear.
Simultaneously, Lotte recited, "Lankabahu Guintana!", generating another bow of green magic around her wand before pulling the string. Unlike previous similar spell, the materialized wind arrow was surrounded by a wind vortex which signified greater firepower, more so from Wind Strike Spell she casted prior. Wispy breathed its flame at the notched arrow, igniting it and strengthening it further.
The shaft of fire and wind left Lotte's hand at the same time Morganach hurled her dark yellow spear with all her might. Both projectiles clashed mid-air, slightly altering the angle of their respective trajectory. The Fomorian warrior's weapon scratched the Finnish witch-in-training's left side whereas the wind and fire arrow pierced through its target's right shoulder. Both combatants stumbled back from wounds they inflicted upon one another.
"Is that it?", Morganach taunted, barely affected by the pain from her wound which visibly worse than Lotte's.
The Finnish witch-in-training was faintly surprised by her opponent's survival against one of her and her will-o'-wisp familiar's strongest Fusion Magic techniques. Owing to their semi-divine nature, Fomorians such as Morganach cannot be harmed by mortal weapons. It took more than most devastating of high-tier spells casted by mortal magic users to significantly harm one. Weapons of mass destruction of mundane design such as nuclear bomb? Probably, but not worth trying.
As her wounds rapidly healed and cracks on her exoskeleton faded, Morganach raised her left hand, conjuring a dozen of floating dark yellow daggers made of vermilion and green magic that hovered around her and aimed at Lotte and Wispy. "Now, it's my turn!"
With a wave from her hand, the Fomorian warrior sent the daggers flying toward her targets. Having a gut feeling that barrier of magic energy won't do any good against them, Lotte exclaimed while raising her wand, "Aros Gar Sufie!", conjuring a tornado around herself in hopes of repelling incoming projectiles while her Wind Strike Spell still active.
The tornado successfully redirected Morganach's conjured dark yellow daggers, though they managed to do some damage on its caster. Several cuts could be seen all over Lotte's body and clothing to the point of her barely able to stand. To make matter worse, the effects of both Dancing Wind and Wind Strike Spells have worn off.
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=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=
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"Is this what you mean about your granddaughter going to fight as if her life depends on it?"
Holbrooke couldn't believe what she saw. A moment ago, Lotte kneeled in front of the altar and closed her eyes as if fell under a trance followed by Wispy entering her body. In the next, some unseen force rapidly slashed the Finnish witch-in-training's unconscious form starting from her left side. At that point, Jane, and Nicholas showed up to join her and Yansons watching Lotte's progress.
"Yes. The potion Lotte consumed brought sleep upon her, bringing her consciousness into a dueling ground at her mindscape. There, she must fight the echo of Morganach for possession of Spear of Keiran. A sacred test of mind inspired by how Keiran fought Morganach herself both to protect his people and importantly, reclaim his prized weapon long ago", Aoife explained. "The challenge remains straightforward and consistent for each participant."
"Even though she signed up for this at her own free will, I can't stop worry about her considering how extremely dangerous the Trial is", Mrs. Lotte stated uneasily. "Any wounds she sustained there will be reflected by her physical body here. Which means if she dies fighting the manifestation of our ancestor's enemy..."
"She'll die in real world. Such kind of scenario never happened to those before her so far", Nicholas continued.
"That being said, many of them made it because of either well-prepared or just extremely lucky", Jane added.
"I was among those who lucky", Mrs. Yanson stated before sadly reaching into one of her robe's pockets, procuring a wooden wand and a crystalline spearhead not unlike the one in the monolith. "She had a choice: To live a more mundane life or to serve something greater than herself. Things might be peaceful nowadays but, there will be a time when the great power we inherited from our Tuatha Dé Danann ancestor is needed."
"Indeed. Having Wispy on her side is a small comfort", Aoife nodded. "Let us hope for their success."
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=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=
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"It's a pity you lacked Lugh's strengths or skills. Many heroes fell to me, and you will be next!"
Thrusting her right palm, Morganach conjured streams of fire at Lotte and Wispy. Unable to jump out of the way due to her injuries, Lotte raised a barrier of pure magic energy with Wispy reinforcing it with its flames to fend off incoming blast. Despite their best efforts, the two could only hold for so long as the barrier began to give in. When it appeared their end became certain, Lotte remembered her grandmother's message:
Remember, my granddaughter. As the chaotic embodiment of dark side of nature, Morganach is a powerful adversary. But you are stronger. Stronger than you know.
Slim her chances to win might be, giving up was absolutely never an option. Akko persevered in overcoming her own challenges, and therefore Lotte realized she must follow her best friend and roommate's example. In her determination, the Finnish witch-in-training felt something new; a surge of power, like nothing she'd ever experienced before. She was more than certain she could use it to turn the tide of their fight albeit in crude way.
Reaching for the power she felt earlier and embracing it, Lotte, with a resolute yell, planted the tip of her wand into the ground, sending it out in form of a tremendous shockwave. The energy burst dispelled Morganach's fiery stream and knocked the Fomorian warrior to the ground.
Recovering from the blast, Morganach's eyes widened in shock. The dust settled to reveal unexpected changes in the Finnish witch-in-training; a shroud of yellow energy enveloped her whole body, her eyes glow in the same color, and her hair flared up like fire. Lotte herself finally realized what just transpired when she felt her wounds rapidly healed. Even her eyesight similarly restored, as her surroundings looked blurry when she had her glasses on (hilariously, it took her taking them off and then putting them on a few times to confirm such unexpected improvement).
Placing her glasses on her sash, Lotte stated to the bewildered Wispy, "I don't know what happened to me but, we can do this, Wispy. We can win this fight!"
"Don't be so sure of yourself, disciple of Lugh, as you are facing the wrath of the sun itself!", Morganach snapped to get Lotte and Wispy's attention before ripping her head carapace off as if it was a helmet, revealing a detail the Finnish witch-in-training overlooked: A diamond-shaped marking on the center of her previously covered forehead that glow ominously in same color as her eyes and mouth. As if it was a cue, the charred forest around their duelling ground burst into flames once more.
Wispy urgently stated something to Lotte which piqued her interest that she responded in pleasant surprise, "You know how do I use this power? Excellent. Guide me, Wispy!"
And so, Wispy flew upward like a comet before descending upon its mistress. As it did, the Finnish witch-in-training felt the heat of her will-o'-wisp familiar entering her skull. Up until partaking Trial of Keiran the Warrior, she had admittedly never let a will-o'-wisp possessing her. She'd learned what would happen from her studies but, she never would have guessed how intoxicating it felt. Lotte felt herself becoming lighter and lighter both figuratively and literally with her heels, then her toes, lifted off the ground also...
Shaking her head, Lotte knew better than giving in to such sensation. She must remain focused in order to complete her Trial. Besides, rather than seizing control, Wispy's possession on her was meant to 'feed ideas into her brain' as she put it. Providing her instructions on how to harness her newly awakened strange power against the Fomorian warrior.
With her will-o'-wisp familiar guiding her from the inside, the Finnish witch-in-training started by running her hand against her wand, manifesting a spear made of both magic energy from its battery and yellow energy emanating from her very being around the magical instrument before assuming a combat stance.
Intrigued by Lotte who have both unlocked her full potential and even fully synched with Wispy who possessed her (Lotte's left eye glow in same color as her will-o'-wisp familiar's), Morganach conjured two identical dark yellow spears made of fiery vermilion and green magic. Unlike the previous one, twin polearms in the Fomorian warrior's hands each sported shorter handle and longer, jagged spearhead. Flashes of yellow light could be seen on her back as she assumed her own combat stance, which soon followed by her weapons emanating aura of same color.
Lotte and Morganach continued their duel, bringing it to the next level by engaging in fast-paced melee combat — an approach the the Finnish witch-in-training now confident of. The former utilized her supernaturally enhanced speed and agility to evade the latter's aggressive assaults and deliver precise thrusts, slashes, and kicks where she could at the same time. The Fomorian warrior didn't make things easy for her by alternating between leaping across the dueling ground to attack with spears-first aerial dive, double charging thrusts, somersault stabs, spinning slashes, and rapid thrusts. Blow after blow, they hammered at each other.
Having enough with their fight that started getting nowhere, Morganach decided to go all-out. She stabbed both her spears to the ground creating yellow lightning-like energy surge in a large radius with herself as the center, forcing Lotte to retreat lest she got caught in the blast. The Finnish witch-in-training soon only had few seconds of respite before dodging the Fomorian warrior's next destructive attack; a conical beam of white fire surrounded by yellow lightning projected from her forehead marking. To her horror, the beam utterly vaporized a whole part of burning forest behind her, leaving nothing but an approximately miles long trail of smoking, smoldering ground.
It was no longer a surprise for Lotte that her opponent could perform such terrifying feat; she was channeling the magic of Spear of Keiran lodged somewhere in her body. Without it, her forehead beam would be certainly less catastrophic. She apparently harnessed the same magic to reinforce her twin spears and generate aforementioned lightning-like energy surge.
Fortunately, the Finnish witch-in-training's odds against the Fomorian warrior were still in her favor; shortly after ceasing her forehead beam attack, Morganach dropped into her knees, visibly strained from performing such destructive display of magic. As it happened, her conjured twin spears dissipated into light particles.
"This must be what mom and Headmistress meant about Morganach being at her weakest despite possessing Spear of Keiran's magic in her disposal. The manner she's harnessing combined power of both it and her own magic is as taxing as it makes her unstoppable", Lotte wondered. "She should've known that there's a proper way to do that."
Wispy suggested an idea which left Lotte speechless at first, though she soon understood it would hopefully ensure their victory over their formidable opponent. "What? ...alright, let's do it."
The Finnish witch-in-training charged head on with her energy spear aimed at the weakened Fomorian warrior. Unimpressed, Morganach stopped the incoming blow by catching Lotte's spearhead with her left hand at the last moments, energy layer covering her fingers and palm prevented it from injuring her. "Nice try but, you have sealed your own fate!", she taunted.
"Is that so?", Lotte responded as Wispy phased out of its mistress' body and hurled a softball-sized sphere of highly condensed green fire aimed at Morganach's forehead marking. The sphere detonated upon impact, disorienting her that she stumbled back and held her forehead in agony.
A moment was all it took. Sliding past the Fomorian warrior, The Finnish witch-in-training concentrated all of her magic power and yellow energy into her weapon's spearhead before delivering a decisive blow from behind her opponent. Swinging her energy spear with all her might, Lotte unleashed a wave of green and yellow magic which flew with such force it propelled Morganach toward the monolith at the center of their dueling ground. The energy wave violently burst upon both it and the Fomorian warrior's collision against the huge structure, reducing the monolith into pieces which buried Morganach's crippled form.
As she laid dead among the rubble, Morganach reverted to her human form. This was not unusual in the slightest considering transcendent entities such as Fomorians could pass as normal humans while either weakened or actively suppressing their true nature and powers. What was unusual was that her cloak turned darker as something emerged from beneath it.
Cautiously approaching her now lifeless adversary, Lotte used her energy spear to remove Morganach's cloak, revealing a familiar spearhead lodged in her right shoulder blade. Burn scars could be seen on the skin around the it, which was certainly the result of being burned by its magic whenever the Fomorian warrior tapped on its power. Putting aside her curiosity whether Morganach chose not to heal her back scar, Lotte, with Wispy's encouraging nod, dispelled her energy spear so she could insert the tip of her wand into her would-be prize's socket...
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=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=
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It was midnight in real world when Holbrooke and the others at Keiran Circle saw Lotte, who revealed to be in her empowered state and even fully healed, stood up and proceeded to insert her wand into Spear of Keiran's socket before pulling them both from the monolith. Finally freed from the stone structure, the spearhead transmogrified into an ornate silver spear in a burst of yellow lightning. Its shaft was about same length as the Finnish witch-in-training's height with the handle of her wand as the pommel. The base of its spearhead became more intricate in design, bearing a symbol in form of two concentric circles containing a simple triskellion — Triskeles of Keiran's insignia — while its crystalline blade, which surrounded in yellow aura not unlike it's wielders own, extended to the point of suitable for slashing as much as piercing. As Lotte gave it experimental swings, she willed the activated weapon to reconfigure into a shortsword of Celtic design; its shaft shortened while its crystalline blade elongated and assumed nearly leaf-like shape.
"Told you she'll make it!", Mr. Yanson exclaimed excitedly to his relieved wife.
As if being splashed with a bucket of cold water, Lotte regained her senses upon hearing her father's voice. It didn't take long for her to realize that just as she extracted Spear of Keiran from Morganach's back in her mindscape she had miraculously extracted the same spearhead from the monolith in reality.
Exhaustion from overcoming Trial of Keiran the Warrior caught up to Lotte as she stumbled forward, almost dropped into her knees. Wispy phased out of her body just as yellow aura emanating from her very being dissipated completely. Finally realizing her eyesight in real world restored also thanks to curious power she awakened while fighting Morganach, the Finnish witch-in-training took off her glasses and kept them on her sash.
"I knew you would prevail, Lotte", Aoife smiled proudly as she placed her hand on her granddaughter's shoulder.
"Even if it was just her echo, Morganach was as powerful as you described, granny" Lotte stated. "Had it not for that curious power, I would probably be goner."
"Yet you didn't. I'm glad your training paid off as we hoped and importantly, you're still with us", Mrs. Yanson's voice cracked as she pulled Lotte into a hug. "For a moment, I... I though I would lose you."
"It's okay, mom. I'm here", Lotte stated reassuringly as she reciprocated her mother's hug.
"Now that you're back, I think it's call for celebration!", Mr. Yanson exclaimed excitedly only to realize faeries of Keiran Circle stared at him curiously.
The monolith faery spoke to him sheepishly with Aoife interpreted, "How about if we celebrate here? It's admittedly far too long since our friends have fun with us. That being said, there is one last matter to attend to before we begin. Charlotte?"
Readying her wooden wand, Mrs. Yanson muttered a spell which generated a small sphere of green magic on its tip. Lotte promptly pulled the collar of her tunic to show her mother her left collarbone, allowing the latter to trace Triskeles of Keiran's insignia on her daughter's skin. The glowing symbol lingered for a moment before vanished, seemingly absorbed into the Finnish witch-in-training's shoulder.
"With this, you are one of us, Lotte Yanson. Spear of Keiran is yours for defeating the echo of Morganach the Scorching Spear", Aoife concluded. "You may harness both divine power you awakened during the Trial and the full might of Spear of Keiran only in times of dire need."
"Understood, granny", Lotte nodded firmly.
"Excellent", Aoife responded before added to Wispy, "You did great in guiding my granddaughter, Wispy. Keep it up."
Wispy responded with a proud smile.
"Now then", Aoife finally stated to everyone present, "Shall we begin the party?"
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=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=
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The party to celebrate Lotte's success in completing Trial of Keiran was simple yet no less enjoyable. Lotte, Wispy, Mr. Yanson, Mrs. Yanson, Aoife, Holbrooke, Jane, Nicholas, and faeries of Keiran Circle had some tea and cakes while relaxing and sharing stories under the moonlight illuminating the forest clearing. Jane shared the group some soda bread and shortbread she baked prior, wanting to try cooking other pastries beside her usual hapansilakka pies. Holbrooke and Aoife were reminiscing about their time as Luna Nova students, bringing up about a particular day when they helped a fellow student establishing the academy's very own apple and berry orchard among other things. The monolith faery and its friends evidently enjoyed themselves with their human companions despite not interested with their shared food, leaving Mr. Yanson and Nicholas wondering whether they should spent some time together like this a bit more often.
"Glad I thought ahead about replacement lenses in case of eyesight improvement 5 the awakening of your Tuatha Dé Danann half and knowing how much you like your glasses", Mrs. Yanson stated as she returned Lotte's glasses to their owner.
Putting her glasses on, Lotte was pleased by how she could see though their new lenses perfectly since they were purely cosmetic unlike previous ones. "Thanks, mom", she smiled.
The mother and daughter then sat together on a nearby rock. Wispy, Aoife, and Holbrooke soon joined them with latter two bringing in some tea to share. Looking down, the Finnish witch-in-training's mind wandered to circumstances of her Trial of Keiran the Warrior earlier.
"You have a stormy look, Lotte", Mrs. Yanson commented, noticing how distracted her daughter unexpectedly became.
"You and granny said Fomorians were no more after Second Battle of Mag Tuired and our ancestors' war against Children of Balor, right? Does it mean they had extinct? They had no demigod descendants?", Lotte wondered.
"Good question", Mrs. Yanson replied thoughtfully. "It's true they were last seen in the aftermath of those conflicts. Anything could happen afterwards."
"Some of us believed that they died out. Of course, I had some doubts considering how powerful they were", Aoife added. "No. It's unwise to rule out the prospect of Fomorians survived by their demigod descendants."
The wind blew ominously around Keiran Circle unknown to everyone save for Lotte, Wispy, Mrs. Yanson, Aoife, and Holbrooke. Uneasily looking up at a darkened part of the pine forest as if she noticed something watching them in the shadows, she continued, "The release of Grand Triskellion ensured not just our future, but also resurgence of same supernatural threats our ancestors faced long ago."
"If Fomorians returned one way or another, it would be preferable to have them as allies instead of enemies", Holbrooke added.
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=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=
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Author's Note: This Lotte-centered one-shot was fun to write, if I said so myself. Although I originally intended it to be a chapter for the main story of Witches of Midgard-verse series, I eventually settled it to be a one-shot prequel just like Jasminka and Mo and Promise to Meet Again prior after due considerations. My initial premises for this fic would involve Annabel Crème and Night Fall but, I couldn't get it right at all and ended up hit writer's block in the process. It was awful because I worked on what would become Spear of Keiran since around 2019 and managed to finish this very recently as of this writing.
My major inspirations for Spear of Keiran were unused concepts for Lotte which revealed in the official panel of Little Witch Academia at Anime Expo 2017. Apparently, at least in anime TV series adaptation, Yoshinari originally intended her to be able to not just communicate with faeries and spirits as we know it, but also attain physical and magical boost by letting them possessing her while she still in control. He also came up with an episode idea where Lotte's ability to synchronize with possessing faeries/spirits would be put into a test when she stumbled upon an ancient sword inhabited by the restless spirit of long dead Celtic warrior who originally owned it. It's unfortunate those concepts ended up scrapped likely due to the prospect of being too out of place in TV Series' mostly family-friendly setting, even second cour which darker than the first, as they would cement Lotte's capacity to be badass if situation calls for it not unlike how she awakened faeries who inhabited a sunken pirate ship against a lake monster in Terio Teri manga. This one-shot fic is probably not exact adaptation of those concepts but, their influence was still there. Here are links for concept sketches and screenshot of reddit conversation pertaining Lotte's unused character concepts:
- https://little-witch-academia.fandom.com/wiki/File:The_comment_about_Lotte%27s_scrapped_idea_from_Interesting_Little_Witch_Academia_character_backstory_tidbits_from_TRIGGER_Panel_at_AX2017_article_at_Reddit.png
- https://little-witch-academia.fandom.com/wiki/File:Close_up_of_Lotte_empowered_by_the_soul_of_the_owner_of_ancient_Celtic_sword_concept_art.jpg
- https://little-witch-academia.fandom.com/wiki/File:Lotte_with_Celtic_Sword_concept_art.jpg
Those who ever played Wrath of the Druids DLC of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla might find certain stuff in this one-shot reminding them to Amber Sun (the quest where Eivor fights Balor for possession of Gae Bolg). Well, they're not wrong because the plot of Spear of Keiran was meant to be the homage to the game's DLC quest. Hopefully I tweaked the fic's story enough to make their similarities less obvious. Wished I came up with something more original.
Regarding Lotte's grandmother and Headmistress Holbrooke being best friends, it was a nod to Red Reef's Akko Kagari Universe series which established the two as one in the same. Akko Kagari Universe is one of my recommended Little Witch Academia fanfics not only for reimagining J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, but also criticized it at the same time countrary to the author's claim where the jabs at the series being for humor. As for why I named her Aoife, I intended Lotte in my fanfic series having Celtic heritage.
It was aforementioned scrapped episode about Lotte and an ancient sword inhabited by the ghost of a fallen Celtic warrior who owned it which piqued my interest in Celtic mythology and learned about Tuatha Dé Danann's conquest on Ireland leading to their rivalry against Fir Bolg, Fomorians, and Milesians in the process. Such intriguing discovery not only inspired this Lotte-centered one-shot, but also certain stuff of my planned take on Croix Meridies in Witches of Midgard-verse series (can't reveal what would it be due to being a major spoiler!). Although I had made up my mind about it, the latter brought back troubled memories which bothered me more than I let on. It probably took more than sharing this to you guys to get them over with but, still worth a shot:
Some time after the airing of the final episode of Little Witch Academia TV Series, which was around mid 2017, I collaborated with a fellow FANDOM user — whom we will just address as AEKI — in working on what would be beta version of Witches of Midgard-verse series, Little Witch Academia: Ragnarok Tetralogy. Unlike Witches of Midgard-verse, Little Witch Academia: Ragnarok Tetralogy was intended to be sort of fan remake of Little Witch Academia TV Series with extra lore and storyline we made for it and few changes from source material here and there. We made tons of blogs pertaining said fan project of ours at Little Witch Academia Wiki that someone eventually kindly provided us a better working space for it; Little Witch Academia Fanon Wiki. Despite AEKI's first impression being that of jaded and cynical person through their conversation with other fellow FANDOM users (they once discussed a long debunked theory of Bernadette sacrificed herself to restore Diana's magical abilities which previously handicapped by Dream Fuel Spirit as elaborated below), our collaboration was fun until they revealed their true colors.
AEKI was regrettably among those who pissed beyond relief upon the plot twist of Ursula aka. Shiny Chariot being the one who responsible for Akko's shortcomings in magic all along in Episode 22 of Little Witch Academia TV Series. To elaborate, during her fateful show at Japan as shown in Episode 1, Shiny Chariot utilized a deceptively harmful experimental magic called Dream Fuel Spirit on her own audience to improve her show, severely handicapping their magic potential in process. Akko and Diana were among those who affected. When Croix and Ursula revealed this to Akko in that episode, it seemed that Ursula did that on purpose. However, it became apparent in subsequent episodes that Ursula was tricked to perform such terrible magic by Croix who deliberately didn't tell her its full effects and that neither of her nor Croix herself would lose their way had Woodward not too jaded and apathetic to properly guide them. Even with condemning evidence of Ursula aka. Shiny Chariot being too much of a scapegoat and that she was truly haunted by what she did hence her motivation to set things right, AEKI still think of her as a despicable villain and monster unworthy of second chance and, if I didn't know any better, dismissed it all as ****ING BULL****. I knew that because we had a huge fight the last time we discussed such matter and some of their scenario ideas revolving Ursula suffering more than she deserved.
If their petty and unreasonable resentments toward Ursula aka. Shiny Chariot was bad (Ursula aka. Shiny Chariot did terrible things, alright. But refusing to acknowledge that she both truly regretted what she had done and deserved to have a second chance is utterly unforgivable), our escalating difficulty in compromising each others' ideas was worse. AEKI came up with increasingly preposterous ideas for Little Witch Academia: Ragnarok Tetralogy and pressured me to implement them into it one way or another. They even more and more dismissive to both my ideas and revised versions of theirs. Same went to intriguing stuff I learned from Norse Mythology in which they put up 'too convoluted' excuses. Being amateur fanfic writers/developers back then won't justify our shortcomings nor AEKI's behavior as Little Witch Academia: Ragnarok Tetralogy became more like their fan project than ours. To add insult to injury, AEKI abruptly left just as I had a second thought about our now doomed collaboration fan project which reduced into convoluted mess in our heated arguments.
As upset as I was, I took it as the opportunity to start over and importantly, undo whatever messes AEKI left behind at Little Witch Academia Wiki. True to my suspicions, information they added into some of the Wiki's pages, especially ones concerning Ursula aka. Shiny Chariot and related articles, were marred by their aforementioned bias that I had to completely revise them. Following my promotion into Little Witch Academia Wiki's admin, I placed protections on those pages as well as other important ones to ensure biased and/or irresponsible users from vandalizing/messing them again, especially after that Little Witch Academia Wiki got attacked by the so-called group of possibly terroristic anti-FANDOM trolls called Project Sengula twice. When AEKI eventually returned and it appeared we started to discuss things as if nothing happened, I knew better than listening to their demands or falling into their gaslighting tactics or whatever. Although I admittedly saw that coming, I sorely disappointed upon seeing them didn't go any better since our last argument, nor learning why our past collaboration fan project went badly. Our another heated argument, this time about my planned take on Croix Meridies for Witches of Midgard-verse series inspired by Celtic Mythology I mentioned earlier, said it all.
I'd probably exaggerated certain details pertaining our sordid history while writing this. But one thing was certain; our dynamic was no different than a toxic relationship, more so because AEKI was never the one who provide constructive criticisms nor supportive from start. A year or two had passed since our last argument as of this writing and they stopped contacted me ever since. I won't contact them either, which was for the best. That said, I must stay vigilant in case of AEKI got enough nerve to try to contact me.
Okay, I have finished my vent. I'm sorry if this is a bit long. Very few of my friends who aware of this issue of mine and one of them noticed how it bothered me so much. Hence I included this as this fic's Author's Notes.
Anyways. It's time to move on. Got a lot of things to do than dwelling in the past.
Update(s):
- September 4, 2023: Update on description of Spear of Keiran in its activated form as Lotte extracted it from the monolith.