Windstorm night
Even if it was raining, it was a pleasant autumn night in Gregminister, capital of the Scarlet Moon Empire. In his traditional green robe, Leknaat's apprentice, Luc, walked around the city cautiously. He had a mission to fulfill, and it had to be done at either way.
"Why do I always have to do these suicide missions of her?" Luc complained to himself while walks toward the palace.
Along his way, he crossed paths with someone that was familiar for him. He was on the Magician's Island in the last week, when the emissaries of the Empire went there to take the Astral Conclusions.
The guy, that had wide and strong arms, and a red band in his hair carried a guilty air in his face, and kept his head lowered, probably hasn't noticed Luc's presence. The mage recalled that his name was Pahn.
Right behind Pahn there was a squad of six soldiers and two commanders from the palace. Luc dodged them, and tried not to be seen.
"So, the stars already started to move themselves" Luc sighed, holding his staff stronger "Let us gather some time, then."
As he walked through the gardens around Gregminister's palace, Luc saw a woman coming towards him. She wore a long blue dress and had blond and long tied hair. It was Windy.
"Who are you?" The woman stared at Luc that was holding his staff firmly, decided to lay down the woman's advance.
"You have absolutely no interest in knowing my name" Luc looked at Windy with scorn "What is of your interest, is the fact that I will not allow you to put your filthy hands in the Soul Eater."
"Interesting" Windy sounded intrigued "But you do not have the power to fight my Gate Rune, of the twenty seven true runes."
"In theory, you have only half of one true rune" Luc smiled "As for me, I have a whole true rune at my disposal" the mage raised his right hand, showing his True Wind Rune to Windy."
"The True Wind Rune" Windy smiled happily "So you are Leknaat's apprentice. That useless sister of mine. Never facing her own battles, and always hiding from me, her only sister."
"I think we all know the reason why she hides from you, right?" Luc gagged nervously.
"Nervous?" Windy could feel the fear from her challenger "I think you should leave, for your own sake."
"I am not afraid of you!" Luc swung his rod "I can defeat you without any trouble."
"I have absolutely no interest in you" Windy replied with scorn "But since you have decided to stay, I will keep your true rune too."
"I do not think that you will be able to take my True Wind Rune from my right hand" Luc smiled "But feel free to try."
"I am not alone in this journey" Windy laughed "Or do you think that I travel in this world for more than four hundred years after the true runes alone?"
Right behind Windy two mysterious figures appeared. One of them was a warrior equipped with a complete dark armor. He carried a sword with him and had a long blond hair, untied. The other was a vampire, dressing all in black.
"Leknaat warned me that you could hide behind two thugs" Luc smiled "But I am not here alone."
Luc started to stare at the skies. The rain was still falling, but he could clearly see the shadows of a dragon. Something jumped from the dragon and landed right next do Luc. It was an old man, with white short hair, a dragon wing ornament in his ears and using a silver and black armor.
"I hope I am not late" the man smiled.
"So, you brought Joshua Levenheit to fight against me?" Windy replied "This can bring some bad consequences to that Dragon's Den of yours in the future."
"I would not worry with my dragons if I was yourself" Joshua was carrying a long spear "I think you have bigger troubles coming for you."
"I do not see it as a problem. After all, it is two against three." Windy opened her arms to embrace her two companions "Neclord and Yuber are more than enough to take care of you."
In a blink of na eye, Neclord and Yuber rushed towards the two enemies. Joshua held Neclord's attack, while Luc shielded himself from Yuber's sword. Windy took the chance to cross the palace garden's, that now turned into a battlefield.
"Do you really thought that Leknaat would send two guys to take care of your thugs and no one to handle you?" a mysterious voice emerged from darkness.
"Traveler of the night!" Windy turned around searching for the source of the voice "Show yourself!"
"Worried about my presence?" the mysterious figure emerged from shadows, wearing a long black robe with yellow lines drawn to it, and with the skin as white as the snow, even if only the face remains visible.
"So, she sent you to take care of me?" Windy was laughing maniacally "I should say that I am honored to see you again, Zerase."
"Consider this as a favor that I did for both." Zerase was serious "Leknaat made me a request, and I could not lose the chance to see you again, dear Windy."
"Why so much sacrifice for the Soul Eater?" Windy started to get really nervous. Luc and Joshua were ok, but involving Zerase in this matter, Leknaat went too far "Can she just give me the rune without fighting for it?"
"We are running for three hundred years, waiting for the moment to fight back" Zerase could feel how nervous Windy was, and for her, that was enough payment for this task "The moment is here, the stars are gathering. You reign is coming to an end."
"I think I have the advantage" Windy smiled "I can surround the town and eliminate every citizen in Gregminister, just to finish off all this damn walking stars."
"Do not forget that none of us can use all of our power here in Gregminister, because we are all under the effect of the Soreveign Rune from Barbossa." Zerase replied
"I do not need magic when I have Yuber and Neclord by my side, and all the Scarlet Moon Empire troops at my disposal" Windy was furious, because, deep inside, she knew that Zerase was right.
"I do not think that Yuber and Neclord are in condition to help you right now", Zerase complained to Windy, as the fights in the garden started to get really intense.
Joshua and Neclord were even opponents. Although Neclord could not be reached by regular attacks, somehow Joshua's spear appeared to be effective against him.
"How can you surpass my Blue Moon Shield?" the vampire complained while fight against the Dragon Lord.
"I bear one of the twenty seven true runes, and I am doing this way more time than you" Joshua laughed as he saw through Neclord's despair in being hit.
"This is not possible! Only the Night Rune could hit me in these conditions." Neclord was surprised and shocked that someone that he doesn't even know was able to attack him.
"How is it possible?" Windy was paralyzed with what she saw. "That man can reach Neclord's body! How?"
"I told you already" Zerase replied to her, "The Sovereign Rune keeps all other runes under control, making them less powerful than what they really are"
"It does not matter" Windy was furious with all that talk, and for her plans not being so successful "I will personally kill you all here tonight."
Luc was having a tough time with Yuber. The knight was way more powerful than him, and all he could do was defend himself from the sword of his opponent. His True Wind was not fighting at one hundred percent strength and he doesn't know why that was happening.
"Having trouble fighting me?" Yuber started to laugh "You should find some easier opponent, someone suited for your strength, like that fur ball monsters, for instance."
"How dare you!" Luc replied, and Yuber could see the fury in his enemy eyes "I am gonna make you suffer, and a lot!"
As Yuber's sword attacked Luc's staff, the mage suddenly used the power of his True Rune to create a powerful gust around his weapon, and focused all his power to repel the dark knight to far away.
"Not bad, I guess" Yuber stated as he was repelled a little by the True Wind attack "Is this your true power?"
"This is only the beginning" Luc smiled, a little more confident in his skills "Come at me if you want more."
Luc was actually shaking in his boots, but all he could do was fight. Leknaat promised him that everything would finish in a good way, and all that he needed to do was to hang on a few hours, while the Soul Eater leaves Gregminister.
"Do you hate yourself that much?" Yuber sheathed his sword as he talked "You hate your own existence in that deep way, that you wish to destroy yourself here and now?"
"What are you talking about?" Luc was confused with what he was hearing "Draw your weapon, fight me!"
"I have no desire to kill you, it is no fun at all" Yuber laughed a little "Even if it is an easy thing to do"
"You are teasing me. Tell me what you have in mind, demon!" Luc was getting desperate by Yuber's behavior, and deep inside him, he only wanted it all to end.
"I know what you are" Yuber smiled "You are nothing but a vessel, an empty body, used only to hold a True Rune."
"You're… you're lying" Luc was unstable, nervous and scared. How could he possibly know that, he thought.
"You know that I am right" Yuber was getting closer and closer, Luc was shivering "And you know exactly what I am saying"
"It's… not true… not true" Luc started to cry "I am no vessel!" Luc yelled as he activated the full power of his rune.
A powerful windstorm started in the gardens. Luc was furious and his power was out of control. Yuber smiled, a big smile, like his mission was accomplished.
"I believe this concludes our conversation for today, Windy" Zerase was static, like there was no wind at all "I would love to say that I hope to see you again soon, but this is not going to happen."
"Wait!" Windy yelled "We haven't fought yet"
"But who told you exactly that I came here looking for a fight?" Zerase replied "I came here to talk to you, while the Rune of Life and Death leaves Gregminister, and at this time, the rune is far away from here."
"How dare you!" Windy was mad with the sorceress "You will pay for that, and you can be sure"
"I am terribly sorry to say that, but I have no wish to involve myself in this particular fight of yours" Zerase replied with her usual harsh way, leaving Windy without reaction, as she disappeared in the shadows.
As the windstorm begins to grow stronger, Joshua decides to stop fighting. Neclord also felt the huge amount of power coming from the young mage and stopped his attacks. Joshua looked deeply at Neclord's eyes and made a sad expression in his face.
"I am terribly sorry for what you have been through" Joshua kept the sad expression in his face "This all happened because of your lust for power, and now you must face the consequences"
"What are you talking about?" Neclord was confused by the words of the strange man "What are you trying to say to me?"
"I am on the same boat as you" Joshua smiled "Our souls are growing tired, and our desire for power brought this to us"
"I am never tired" Neclord implied "I am an immortal vampire, owner of the Blue Moon Rune"
"You do not understand my words now, but maybe in the nearby future you will be able to do so" Joshua started to look at the skies, the rain still falling, and the wind growing bigger and stronger "I am sorry to leave you in these conditions, but maybe we can talk again at another time"
Joshua jumped high and got carried by the wind. A dragon appeared in the skies and took Joshua, then, they left the palace.
Luc was out of control. His power was beyond his control, but he wanted more, he wanted more power, he needed more power to defeat that enemy. How dare he say such things to him? How dare he say that he is just a puppet? How dare he stand before him and say such things?
The mage was focused on Yuber, the knight was standing there, doing nothing but observe Luc, as the wind grows stronger at each minute. Then, Yuber disappeared.
Where is he? How could he possibly disappear like that? He was just before his eyes, and now, he is gone. What next?
"When you are ready and willing to make something to change this sad reality of yours, feel free to use this mark to contact me" Yuber appeared right before Luc, and touched his right shoulder with his left hand "Until there, stay alive."
After Yuber final words, everything went dark. Luc felt some kind of pain in his shoulder, as Yuber touched it, and then he blanked out.
The windstorm stopped, and Yuber, Neclord and Windy were standing there, in the garden, that was in perfect conditions, like nothing has ever happened. Soon after that, the guards came arresting Ted, and Windy smiled, victorious.
Neclord was wounded in the arm, so he went inside the castle, to find some servant to recover himself, by sucking her blood. Yuber smiled, and then disappeared in the shadows. Windy took Ted inside the Palace, in order to interrogate and remove the rune from him.
Luc woke up in the Magician's Tower, in his room. His head was hurting a lot, and he had some blanks of that night. It was daylight, so he thought that he slept during the rest of the night. He looked at the window and he could see the entire Magician's Island, and how beautiful it was.
He remembered the first time that he came to the island, when Leknaat rescued him from Harmonia. At that time, he already knew what he was, and what his purpose was. But he denied it, until that night.
He looked at his shoulder, and there was a strange mark, glowing in red. "Change my sad reality" he recalled Yuber talking to him. "I don't have power for that yet, I think" he remembered his last fight, and how he was powerless against Yuber. "Maybe in a few years I will be able to change my destiny, but now is not the time."
Luc decided to forget about this incident for the time being, and get back to his normal life, learning with Leknaat at the Magician's Island.