Long before the mercenaries reached Lazulis Island, even before all six of them met, there was a story. It wasn't the last, nor the first, but somewhere in the middle when they were still just kids struggling to get by. Before all of the fame and glory, before the war between nations, when the Empire was still facing internal conflict.

Chapter 1

In a tiny town on a smaller island, there was a little orphan girl. She'd lost her parents soon after her birth and her foster parents when she was just 6 years old, and had been living as a street rat ever since until one day when a large group of bandits came and tore the town to pieces. The crops were ruined, the harvest stolen, and the people left defeated. When the bandits returned for a second time, their raid was thwarted by a small group of people. Three young men put an end to the town's suffering. The oldest of the three found the orphan girl behind a stack of barrels after the chaos had died down a bit.

He picked her up with one arm saying, "You're gonna be with us now, yeah?" He carried her over to his two companions with a triumphant smile. "Look, boys, I've found another one!"

The two younger men looked at her then at each other and smiled. "Welcome to the team then," the blonde one said. "What's your name?"

She was scared at first. This big guy was holding her and she was suddenly crowded by strangers in funny clothes. "T-Tessa," she spoke quietly.

They took her to the docks where a very small ship was waiting with two other people already on board.

"Come on! Hurry it up already! We've got places to be," a beautiful blonde woman was enthusiastically waving, almost about to fall over the railing. "Wait, I think they've got something," she said to the black haired man next to her before jumping off of the deck of the ship and curiously running to the tall man. "Zoran, who's this?" she raised her hands to her mouth. "Oh! She's so cute!"

"Maria, meet Tessa," the tan brunette man introduced them.

"Dagran! Can we keep her?!" she reached out and took the frightened girl from Zoran's arm. "Please? I've always wanted a sister," she pouted playfully until he laughed.

His smile made Tessa feel a bit better about these strangers. "We wouldn't have brought her if we didn't intend to bring her with us," he walked passed her and onto the boat.

Maria beamed and squeezed Tessa just a little too tightly, causing her to flinch.

"What's this?" the dirty blonde boy looked up at the summer sky, which was now covered in specks of white. "Snow?"

The big man chuckled. "Looks like we've got ourselves a littl' ice mage," he bent down to look at her closely, only making her more nervous.

"Oh, poor thing must be nervous. Does she even know why she's here? Did you kidnap another kid?" Maria stood and scolded Zoran. "You can't just do that," she turned swiftly, "and you two!" The younger boys froze. "How could you just let him do crap like this? She's just a little girl!" They sulked away guiltily and she kneeled back down to Tessa, who was now sitting nervously on the floor. "Don't worry, love. We'll take good care of you," her smile was heart-warming. "I'm Maria, this big man is Zoran, and those two idiots are Dagran and Zael," she pointed them out as she said their names. "And that guy up there is Bayard. He may seem creepy and scary, but he really is a gentleman at heart."

Maria helped Tessa to her feet and walked with her towards the boat. "Um, why did you bring me here, Mister," she asked Zoran.

He crossed his arms. "You're alone, too, right?" he looked down at her through the corner of his eye. She hung her head sadly. "We were all alone before we found each other." She raised her head and followed them onto the ship, determined to get away from her old life and the loneliness.