Chapter 1-Eclipse

Geffen, a city noted for its advanced magic and technology, lies in the middle of a lake by the base of Mt. Mjolnir. The crux of the city, the Arcane tower, can be seen even from Prontera, capital city of Rune-Midgard. Its streets are lined with various light posts, powered by magic, and people going about their daily lives.

At the far-eastern corner of the city lie one Arukatael la Croix, and his brother, Phoenix. Sent by their parents, they left their hometown, Al de Baran, to study at Geffen's Arcane tower.

"Ugh….."Arukatael or Aru, as his friends called him, had just woken up.

This young druid with the age of 18 always woke up late, and his professor would always shout so loud, the whole tower could hear her screams.

He looked around. Phoenix was already up and drinking coffee while reading a newspaper.

"Get up! You lazy bum!" Phoenix bellowed.

Aru got out of bed and fixed the sheets. He went over to his wardrobe, selected his clothes and went to the bathroom.

"Hurry up! Your professor's gonna be shouting the life outta you again!" Phoenix said as he took a sip of his hot coffee.

Phoenix, on the other hand, was a necromancer with the age of 24. His black hair and red eyes would strike fear into anyone that crosses his path. Although he sometimes bullies Aru, he really cares a lot about him.

Aru opened the bathroom doors, undressed himself and went in. He turned on the shower and was greeted by very, very hot water.

"AAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" He yelled as the water touched his skin. Practically the whole town heard his cry.

After a few minutes in the shower with the hot water, Aru had gotten used to the hot water, and somewhat…felt……..soothed. Outside, he could hear voices shouting through the small window they had in the bathroom.

"What happened?"

"That stupid mage did it!"

"Who did what?" Aru though to himself. "Must be those Fentons shouting again. Sigh…."

"Look what you've done!"

"I-I'm really sorry!"

"Hmm…that sounds like someone I know…." Aru said to himself again, not knowing he was saying it out loud.

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Phoenix shouted as he turned the pages of his newspaper and crossed his legs.

Aru opened the bathroom doors and the steam from the hot water filled the entire house.

He took his clothes and put them on. Today, he wore black, denim pants with little furry stuff by the ankles, his favorite bracelet; a black bracelet with bolts that looked like skulls, and a bloody red shirt that said "Don't dare defy me!" with a poring design on it.

He went to his wardrobe once more and drew out the standard druid uniform: a black cloak with some markings on it. He WAS a druid, after all!

He went over to the table, where Phoenix had prepared the classic breakfast: bacon and eggs. Outside the windows, he saw that the sky was turning to a dark brown color.

He checked his bracelet, which also told time. "It's only 9:00 am! Why is it so dark?"

"There was an eclipse." Phoenix had answered his question for him. "Looks like this mage caused it."

Aru took one bite of his bacon then went to the window to see what was going on.

"Where's the mage?" Aru asked.

"Down there."

"THAT'S JULIA!" Aru ran outside the house, his cloak trailing behind him. "JULIA!"

"Julia…..le Rouge?" Phoenix let out a sigh. "He didn't even finish his breakfast! DAMN! Why am I treating him like my own child? I don't care if he starves, he's 18, for God's sake!"

"Julia!" Aru said as he ran towards Julia. "JULIA!"

"Aru!"

"And exactly WHO are you?" One of the men said.

"Arukatael la Croix. Member of the high council of the Aduro Phasmatis, and student at the Arcane Tower." He said as he pointed at the Arcane tower to his right.

"Profession?"

"Druid."

"Fine! Take your little girlfriend there and make sure it doesn't happen again! What a waste of sunlight!"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"What-ever!" The man said, imitating a teenage girl's accent.

"A-Aru……I'm sorry." Julia said once the men were gone.

"What happened anyway?"

"I felt a presence near me, I thought someone was stalking me, so I wanted to reveal him, but ended up causing this eclipse."

"Hmm…you're supposed to be one of the top-ranking mages of our batch, why'd this happen?"

Julia blushed at his statement. There was just something about Aru she just couldn't help but look at. His azure, shoulder-length hair accompanied by his deep blue eyes she always found herself drowning in.

"Julia." She didn't respond, but rather, she just kept looking at him.

"Erm….Julia, where gonna be late for class!"

"Oh! Yes! That's right!" She said as she ran towards the tower. "Catch you later!"

Aru just stood there as Phoenix approached him from behind and pushed him lightly on the back.

"Don't you know yet? Isn't it obvious?" He was chuckling as he too, walked towards the tower.

"Know what?"

"I'm sorry I'm late, Professor Reisha."

The professor just banged her stick towards the blackboard.

"I have no time to shout right now. Just GO TO YOUR SEAT!" Obviously, she was controlling her anger.

Aru did as he was told. The only vacant seat he saw was at the far left corner of the room, by the window. He sat down and stared at the view outside, and began to daydream as the professor began writing words on the blackboard.

"Hmm…what did Phoenix mean? And why would Julia cause this eclipse? She always liked to look at the deep, blue skies Geffen was famous for. You couldn't see that in Prontera, it was too cloudy there.

He twirled his hair out of boredom. He could hear the professor's words but they all made no sense to him. They went in one ear and out the other.

"Mr. Arukatael!" The professor said as she banged her stick onto Aru's desk.

"….la Croix!" Aru didn't even hear her.

The professor just toppled over his desk, and Aru fell down to the floor. She was right. She had his attention now.

"P-Professor Reisha!" Aru could now see the slight vein bulging out of his professor's forehead.

"Mr. Arukatael, please read page seven-hundred eighty four."

"O-of what?"

At this statement, the professor lost it. She poured out all her anger at him. Her screams, once again, woke up the town of Geffen.

"PRINCIPAL!" Reisha said as she banged the principal's door open.

"Yes, what can I do for you, Professor Reisha?" The principal said with a smile glued to his face.

"This………PERSON was daydreaming in my class, for the 945th time!"

"Calm down, professor. Calm down." She did. And that made her loosen her grip on Aru.

"Now. What exactly would you like me to do with him?"

"Make him…….make him cast a thousand spells!" She said. Pausing in between to catch her breath.

"I can't."

"WHY NOT?" Reisha went furious once more at this statement.

"Something is wrong with Midgard's magic. The archmagi of Geffen just informed me a while ago."

"SO? IS THAT SUPPOSE TO BE A BAD THING?"

"Calm down. Even my magic doesn't work." He pointed his finger at a vase, attempting to lift it, but instead, broke it. "See?"

"Fine."

"Oh, by the way…." The principal grabbed a mike from beneath his desk. "Announcement: There shall be no hands-on magical-related activities until the department of Magic says it's okay to cast once again. Thank you."

"Just…..lecture. Please."

Reisha and Aru strode off into the halls and back into their classroom, where Reisha banged the blackboard once more.

"SILENCE!"

"How is it going?"

"Excellent! A mage just created this eclipse a while ago."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." The woman chuckled. "Only those that have perfected their skills may have the right to cast!"

"We do have one problem."

"And what is that?"

"Alchemy. The Sephiroth Network is still active and the various channels it has."

"Pathetic alchemists!"