Prologue

Hundreds of miles away from any town, a tall, frost covered mountain range stood tall, the howling wind audible even at the mountains base. A low rumbling echoed throughout the valley, warning anyone who dared approach the vast mountains of danger. Yet, nary had a soul set foot in these parts for centuries. Not only was it a threat to any it viewed as a trespasser, but these mountains were not available to the public.

The area surrounding the mountain range, estimating to be a near 100 acres, was cordoned off by the magic council. Why they did this was a mystery to anyone aside from the ones in charge of the cordon. They had just assumed that whatever it was was for the good of Fiore. All they did was set up fences around it. They didn't ask about it, mindlessly obeying the orders of their superiors.

What they didn't know, was that it wasn't the mountains that were important, rather what was beneath them. A quarter mile underneath the surface, worked on by several metal smiths and construction workers, a research lab was created in secret. The purpose was to create a new weapon, one which would be as powerful as Etherion itself, but a smaller and more condensed version. It would be more focused so that the voting for its use wouldn't be needed. They would also carry out missions across Fiore, ones the council didn't find suitable for any guild to take.

The facility, dubbed Inquisitive Magic and Development, IMD for short, only took up a fifth of the total separated area. The scientists ordered to work there only needed that much. And one room in particular was of any importance to them. The central area of the lab, the biggest room, where everything would take place. And in this room, the key people of the entire project could be located, directing several people who were moving unmarked crates to several locations.

The first of these people was a male in his mid to late twenties, a shaved head, a pair of green eyes, and pencil thin eyebrows that even close up they were hard to see. His face was clean cut, not a single trace of facial hair, and it was mostly round, the only exception being his chin, which was pointy enough that it could probably take an eye out. His attire consisted of a white lab coat, left opened to show he simply had a plain white t-shirt on under, white pants, and, oddly enough, no shoes. He was pale enough that if he almost blended in with his all white outfit. At the moment he seemed to be yelling at the workers. "Oi, not over there you frick frackety-ing ninny boo boos!" His voice had a thick, Indian accent, gaining a few stares from the people he wasn't yelling at. "Don't put the ionized polycarbons by the sheets of dihydrogen monoxide! The go over there by the multigranular disaccharides!" As he yelled, he began to stomp his foot down on the floor, just making a small and unintimidating slap like noise.

This little show had earned him a small chuckle from the only other scientist in the room. Unlike the first, the second one was a she and wasn't quite as pale. She at least had a light tan, and a more narrow, slender face. Her hair was the color of chocolate brown, put up into a high ponytail, and her eyes were a deep sea blue. Her attire was mostly the same as her partner's, but the main differences were that her lab coat was buttoned up all the way, and she had on a pair of black penny loafers. Also, she had on a pair of thin framed, rectangular glasses. Her laughter seemed to get the other man's attention, since he glared in her direction. She quickly shook her head, walking over to him and patting him on the head, being a few inches taller than him. "Oh, Abraham. You need to stop with the comedy act. I mean 'frick frackety-ing ninny boo boos'? And in that ridiculous accent." She couldn't help but chuckle again, imagining his voice saying that. Of course, this only caused the male, Abraham, to scowl at the slightly taller female.

"Geez," he said with a cockney accent this time, and venom dripping from his words. "I'll speak however I want to Artistry."

"It's Artemis, not Artistry. Get your boss's name right," the girl, Artemis, said with a superior tone. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but the loud thud of a crate falling drew her train of thought away from the conversation, and to the source of the noise. One of the workers had dropped a box containing some sort of purplish blue crystals. The crystals were all unharmed, but the box was in shambles. The head scientist sighed, put a hand on her forehead, and moved her head side to side. "Oh come on." Artemis then walked over to the pile of crystals, kneeling down and scooping them up. "You need to be more careful. These Britarex crystals are rare in Fiore." She looked up over her glasses at the people, who immediately began to follow her example.

Across the room Abraham was yelling at the workers again, something about carbohydrates and titanium. Honestly, Artemis didn't care about Abraham's yelling. He was the person in charge of designing the weapons, she was just there to double check his work and make improvements as she saw fit. The baldy was the person behind it all and, despite Artemis' position, would get all the credit. Not that that was what it was all about, but it was a good chunk in her mind.

She got the crystals all organized together, beginning to scold the workers. After she finally finished, they walked off to continue their work. Artemis just watched them walk away, feeling a small headache come on. She was about to tell Abraham to take over while she left for a bit when she felt something tug on her pant leg. She looked down, seeing a small girl, probably about the age of 4 or 5, in a pink onesie with a yellow floral pattern. She was rubbing one eye, the other one open, showing her blue-green eye. Her hair was orange, reaching her shoulder, waving as she swayed her head back and forth, obviously trying to stay awake. She was pulling on Artemis' pants with her free hand, a yawn escaping her lips as she did so. "Mommy?" The girl said tiredly, another yawn escaping her lips after she said that.

The brunette couldn't help but smile at the small girl picking her up in her arms. "What's the matter sweetie?" The little girl hugged her mother as she was being held, resting her head on Artemis' shoulder.

"I'm tired, and I can't find my bed room," the daughter nuzzled against her mother, yawning once more.

Artemis smiled at her daughter, kissing her on the forehead. "Well, why don't we go find it then?" She suggested. With a weak nod, the young girl agreed. Artemis then walked over to Abraham, who didn't even need an explanation, simply nodding his head in understanding before he began yelling at the workers again, this time in a Scottish accent.

With Abraham knowing she was leaving, the brunette walked out of the room, heading to the bedroom she and her daughter shared. Most people would have thought it was unprofessional to bring their child to the office, and some probably thought that of her, but Artemis didn't have too much of a choice. She was a single mother, and she didn't feel comfortable leaving someone to take care of her daughter for months, and possibly years occasionally, at a time.

It didn't take long to find the bedroom, since Artemis had memorized the schematic of the lab, taking about a total of 23 minutes. Artemis entered the room, using one hand to hold her child and the other to open the door, and then close it. The room was actually quite plain, being completely cube shaped with two beds and two dressers, leaving it plenty of room for personalization. It may not have been much, but to the family of two, for now at least, it was home.

Artemis walked over to one of the beds, laying her daughter down on it, moving the covers to tuck her in. "Mommy," the little child said, looking up at her mother with tired eyes. "Are you going to be working to take down the bad guys tomorrow?" The question was a silly one, she knew, but she wanted to know what her mom's plans would be so that she knew when she could play with her.

Artemis smiled down at her child, stroking the young girl's hair. "Yeah, that's right. But we need to make sure everything is ready before we work. Don't worry, we'll play as soon as I'm free." She then leaned down, kissing the girl on the forehead. "Now get some sleep, you have a big day ahead tomorrow."

"I know mommy. My tutor right?"

"Yeah, that's right angel. You be a good girl."

The blonde nodded her head, smiling at her mother. "I will. Night mommy~!"

Artemis kissed her baby girl on the cheek, and then walked to the door. "Good night Lucina, sweet dreams." And with that, the brunette turned off the lights, and exited the room. Lucina was left alone, turning in the bed, quickly falling asleep, dreaming the happiest of dreams. A sweet innocent child, ignorant of what was really going on. Only time would tell what would happen to all of them, and what fate had in store wasn't a kind gift. Not for Lucina, Artemis, or anyone in the IMD.