Chapter One

In an empty field near Southtown, a man runs in carrying an unconscious woman and a staff on his back. Both the man and the woman are injuried, the man sustaining the worst wounds. The man sighs and slowly drops his companion onto the grass, wincing from his own injuries. He slowly eases himself onto the grass next to her and grabs his staff.

"Robin please hang in there." He mutters looking at his partner. Robin curls up in a ball and whimpers. The staff glows as the man mutters a spell. He then sits up and connects himself with nature.

Robin's POV

The first thing she remembered was fighting, and lots of it.

Robin was standing in the middle of what seemed to be a mixture between a throne room and a cathedral. Tome in hand, she could tell the battle had already begun. A male figure beside her began to dash towards the target, grunting in violent fury. A white cape was draped around his shoulders as it lagged behind him. His sword, though interesting in shape and overall design, was ready to pierce its target, a dark-skinned, tall, wicked-looking man with mage's robes decorated in a strange yet sinister pattern.

Robin could see the enemy was prepared for the other man's attack. A distinguishable feature of the man with the unique sword was his navy blue hair. Robin couldn't recall seeing hair that blue before, especially on a young man such as this one. However, she realized that when this lord went up to strike his opponent, the enemy quickly dodged two slashes of the sword and blocked the third with magic from a tome in the opposite hand. Focus! she warned herself. The young man struggled to gain the upper hand, so Robin felt the need to prepare for an attack.

Clenching her left fist and reciting a magic enchantment from the Thoron tome in her right hand. The light in her hand began to glow stronger, but the two men were free of each other's attacks and the enemy was striking. The navy-haired hero tucked and rolled forward to avoid the effects of the dark magic blast, though the blast still left an aftermath that barely missed its target. The young man quickly looked up, pointing his sword in the direction he looked.

"Up there!" he called out to Robin, who in turn looked up and saw the enemy awaiting his magic to be fully charged while in midair.

Not given much time to think or calculate any of the rest of the battle, the girl quickly leaped out of the way, knowing she wouldn't land on her feet, but being able to shoot the fully-charged Thoron bolt from her hand calmed her nerves ever so slightly. The bolt raced at its target as it escaped the hand of its caster, though it missed. The enemy had teleported out of Robin's range and back onto the ground, where it targeted the young man. Dashing towards him with an electrifying current, the enemy cornered the navy hero into the wall. Pieces of rock broke off and scattered as the young man struggled to his feet, gripping his sword and using it as a force to keep him steady.

The dark man laughed, shooting a blazing purple electric bolt at Robin's injured comrade. She wouldn't let that happen. Inside her, she felt an obligation to protect this man at any costs, and so she would.

Instead of it hitting the intended target, Robin stood up and forced the purple bolt to explode in its place as she shot another Thoron bolt to halt its movement. The resultant white light filled the room, blinding Robin. When she finally was able to see again, she was on the ground and the dark-skinned man stood and gave her a look mixed with disgust and fascination. Now that the riotous battle had calmed down, the young female could see the face of this man. His face was long, covered with black hair on the top and a sinister goatee on his chin. A widow's peak separated his hair from his dark skin. Robin could see a streak of silver hair on the man's facial hair, giving her an increasing sense of insecurity because of this man's menacing scowl. His eyes, however, conveyed a sense of pure evil and malice, unsettling her nerves even further.

This is it!" the young man cried out to Robin. "Our final battle! You're one of us, Robin, and no 'destiny' can change that. Now let's kill this dastard and be done with it!"

Robin's memory must have been fuzzy because she couldn't really remember any "us" regarding any of her relationships. In fact, she couldn't really remember any relationships she had. She couldn't remember the name of the young man she fought side by side with. She instead tried to look for the man that was assigned as her bodyguard. He was nowhere to be seen. How pathetic, she scolded herself. It was as though this experience wasn't real. It seemed more like a memory that had been buried and never awakened until now.

Regardless of her inner thoughts, she nodded her head at her partner in understanding. He turned from looking at her to focusing on the battle at hand. It seemed strange according to Robin, the way he had looked at her. She could tell that he genuinely cared for her, and it felt as though there was a similar feeling within her heart that conveyed the same message through her given expression towards him.

The young woman lightly shook her head, the hood of her dark robes, indicative of her tactician status, still covering her head. "Let's go!" she called out to her partner. She charged at the villain in the center of the room, standing near an alter with a seemingly evil purpose, though Robin couldn't deduce what it was for. Though it bothered her that she couldn't be sure of all of her surroundings, she could bring down this villain without having to worry about it. The young man followed suit and followed her lead, charging after the dark man.

It was strange; Robin could feel a strong bond between the two of them. It was as if this bond gave her the drive, the courage, to press forward and end this battle. Getting her tome ready, she charged it one last time to finish this battle off. While the man slashed his mighty sword at the foe, Robin released the power developing in her hand, ending the battle permanently.

The dark stranger fell to his knees, slowly disintegrating into the darkness as he fell on his stomach. The young male turned and gave Robin a smile filled with relief and hope, though this happiness was short lived.

"This isn't over," Robin could hear the dark voice filling the air. The mass of dark energy formed from the death of the enemy flew towards the blue-haired man, aiming to kill him. "Curse you both!"

Robin quickly pushed her friend out of the way without even thinking, taking the blow instead. She couldn't understand why she was acting so selfless for this man, but she could still feel a strong sense of duty and friendship between the two of them that compelled her to protect him. She was blasted away and landed on the floor.

Though she could still feel all of her muscles and nerves while on the ground because she could feel the pain of the blow and the pain of her impact on the ground, something didn't feel too right. The villain was gone and all that was left were the two companions.

The young man rushed over towards his nearly unconscious friend, still believing her to be perfectly normal. His panted breaths could be heard from many feet away which hinted at his increased exhaustion. "Are you alright?" he questioned worriedly.

As soon as he saw Robin's eyes flicker, he gave a quick smile. "That's the end of him," he announced, looking over at where the enemy used to be. He helped pull up his friend's back in order for her to sit up. "Thanks to you, we carried the day. We can rest easy now."

Oh to know how bittersweet those words would be.

Robin saw him look over at her with a giant smile. She, too, wanted to smile, but the pain fluctuating through her body prevented her from performing many basic actions without assistance. She moved her leg, but felt a sudden sensation completely unknown to her.

She raised her hand as a lightning bolt formed in her hand and stabbed the young man in the heart. The man shuddered and looked at Robin and died on the spot with an unsaid why.