Chapter One
"Excuse me, sir!" a man yelled as he saluted the King. A banquet was being held for a successful charity event held by the Wizard King. He was talking to some guest in the room.
"Yes?" the blonde king asked.
"It's your sister...She's fallen terribly ill," the guard said. The Wizard King quickly sat down his wine glass and ran to the infirmary with the guard.
"How is she?" he asked the doctor on site.
"She's very ill. She's come down with a terrible case of the flu. We've got out best healing specialist doing their best but we're still not sure how long she'll last," she said. The King stood next to his sister's hospital bed. Not many people knew about her due to the fact that she's adopted. She came from an old family of nobles who had long since been whipped from the country. They were known for their strange eyes. The king grew up with the girl as friends. Her family was all gathered in the countryside for a family reunion when an assassin came in and murdered everyone. The girl had been spared and became an orphan. The King's family adopted her and she became his sister.
"Hello, Kara," the King held his sister's hand. She smiled and grasped his hand tightly. She had silver eyes and blonde hair.
"Hello, Julius...How are you?" she asked.
"I should be asking you that," the King laughed.
"Seriously, brother...How have you been? It's been a while since we've talked and I want to know how you are," Kara asked. The King sighed.
"I've been good, Kara. How about you?" he asked.
"Oh, I just feel like dying a bit," Kara said as she laughed then went into a coughing fit.
"Well, is there anything I can do for you?" The King asked.
"Other than the doctors, food, drinks, and shelter? No. I think I'm good," Kara smiled along with her brother.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can get for you?" he asked. The room went silent as she thought for a bit.
"Actually...Come here," she beckoned for him to lean closer. She whispered something into his ear and his eyes widened.
"Are you sure?" he asked. Kara nodded.
"Yes...Very. I want to see her again before my time's up," She said.
"Ok...it might take a while...You know how they are," the King said. He then ordered for his men to keep attending to his sister as he left the room.
"I know the exam is coming up soon. I think you should keep an eye out for her during it. I know you won't be there personally but have your guards look out...If you do find her there...Let her finish through with it. Don't make her take the nobles way out," Kara stopped him. He nodded and continued to walk.
A Few Days Later...
"Spiral Flame!" a man yelled. He was fighting a figure with a hood on. The figure was about five foot two and was fast. They were in the last portion of the Magic Knight Entrance Exam where they had to fight each other to pass. The figure managed to dodge the attack. They pivoted on one foot and pulled out a grimoire. It was pastel blue and white. The figure had cast a spell that surrounded the man in a thick mist. It grew dense. "What the hell is this?" the man yelled. He was blinded for enough time that the girl could swiftly run behind him and hit him in the head, knocking him out. He fell to the ground and the hooded figure was declared the winner. They reached up for their hood and pulled it back, revealing a little girl underneath. She had short icy blue hair that was styled into a bob that had silver eyes. She wore a light blue flared overall skirt, a white long sleeve shirt underneath, white knee-high socks, and black shoes.
"What the..." a low murmur grew in the audience. The girl walked back to the side of the arena so that the next match could begin. She walked back to a girl who looked like her but had red hair and wore a black flared overall skirt with a pastel pink long sleeve shirt underneath. Her eyes were also silver.
"Good work!" the girls hugged each other.
"Hey, kid!" someone yelled as they approached the girls. "What kind of spell was that? How did you take out that guy?" a boy with silver hair asked. The girls stayed silent.
"Asta, leave them be," a guy with black hair said.
"How old are you? you look like you're twelve!" the silver-hair boy said. A vein popped up on the redhead's forehead.
"Why don't you go bother someone else," she grabbed the bluenette's hand and pulled her away.
"You need to fight someone, Salem," she said. The redhead, who was apparently called Salem, sighed. She walked up to a lady leaning up against the wall.
"Hey, you. Fight me," she said. The lady sighed then agreed. She was very...mature...with blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore a brown tank top with jeans. They walked to the arena where some people cheered for the lady to go out with them when she won.
"No chance," she said. The battle began with the lady trying to use her plant magic to throw razor-sharp leaves at Salem. She flipped over them and pulled out her red and black grimoire.
"Flame sparrow!" a large bird made of fire appeared and Salem jumped onto it. She charged right at the lady. She didn't have enough time to dodge or defend so she took the full force of the attack.
"Agh!" she yelled as Salem was declared the winner.
"Woohoo! I did it, Harlem!" she cheered. She ran back to her sister and high-fived her. They were the last battles of the day. After they finished, they waited for their numbers to be called. They would be brought up to the front and the captain who wants them on their squad would raise their hand.
"Number 164," the announcer called. The boy with black hair walked to the front.
"He has the Four-leaf grimoire..." Salem whispered to Harlem. They watched as all hands went up for him. He went with Golden Dawn and Salem's eyes grew wide as the next person called was the silver-haired boy who was bothering them earlier.
"I sense no magic energy coming from him..." Harlem said. The boy joined the Black Bulls after a confrontation with their captain.
"Number 166," the announcer said. Harlem walked up to the front. "Do we have any hands?" The captains for the Black Bulls and Blue Rose Knights raised their hands.
'That boy would be interesting...' she thought.
"Black Bulls," She said. She heard Salem let out a small laugh. They were on the same train of thought.
"Number 167," The announcer said as Salem walked up.
"Black Bulls," She said without waiting to see who wanted her.
"Who said that we wanted you? No one raised their hands yet," the captain said.
"I go where my sister goes. We're a double package," Salem said as she walked through the exit gates and met up with her sister.
"This will be interesting," she whispered to her as the corner of her lip curled into a smile.
Later...
"Are you kidding me?" Salem said as she found where the Black Bulls were staying.
"It's not that-" "You know, sometimes I think we would have been better off with mom and uncle," Salem interrupted Harlem before walking up to the large, oddly-shaped, building. As she walked closer she heard a large explosion from to the right of them.
"They are said to be the most reckless," Harlem sighed.
"C'mon, Harley," Salem said. 'Harley' was Harlem's nickname. The twins walked over to the explosion but stayed out of sight. They saw the silver-haired boy from before with a large sword fighting a member of the Magic Knight squad. They watched as the boy was given a black shoulder length cloak with the Black Bulls signal on it.
"Let's go, Harley. I don't think we need to bother them tonight," Salem said. She watched as the silver-haired boy looked in their direction. Salem grabbed her sister's sleeve and pulled her under the bush in front of them. She shushed her as the boy alerted the others that he thought he saw something. They went on the offensive and called for the twins to show themselves.
"Should we try to leave?" Harlem asked as quietly as she could.
"Yeah," Salem slowly backed up to leave. They somehow went unnoticed and managed to leave. "Let's sleep over here," Salem said pointing to a tree with low hanging branches. They climbed into the tree and Salem decided to stay up in case anyone came.
The Next Morning...
Harlem woke up in a strange room. She noticed that Salem was already awake. She rubbed her eyes as she stood up.
"We're in their base," Salem said. The redhead sighed as she opened the door to their room and walked out into the hallway. They heard voices from down the hall. The girls had built up their senses so they knew which direction to walk in. They found everyone from the night before sitting in a large dining area. The hadn't walked out yet but simply peeked from around the corner.
"You know you can come in and eat with us?" a boy with brown hair said. Everyone turned to the two.
"We really need to work on our hiding skills," Salem said as they cautiously walked into the room.
"You must be the other new recruits. The 'double package' Yami was talking about," a guy with black and white hair said as he stood up. The girls sat down at the farthest end of the table as a sheep brought out their breakfast. They stayed quiet as they ate.
"I remember you two from the exam! Hey, I'm Asta," the silver-haired boy said. He held his hand out for the girls to shake but they didn't. Asta's sweat dropped.
"C'mon, Harley," Salem said as she grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her away when they finished their food.
"Hey! C'mon!" Asta said chasing after them.
"Leave us alone," Salem said.
"I just want to be friends!" Asta called as he kept following them. Salem stopped walking. She sighed then angrily stomped back to the dining room. She was still holding Harlem's hand as she plopped down onto the table. She sat down with such force that the cups and bowls rattled slightly. Her sister sat down with grace. The room went silent. Smoke began rising from the bench Salem sat on. Harlem tightened her grasp and Salem looked at her then sighed.
"I'm sorry," she said. The smoke stopped and she looked over at Asta.
"So, what's your name, kid?" a lady with pinkish hair asked. Salem hesitated.
"My name is Salem," she said.
"I heard you call this one Harley," a boy with blonde hair said as he stood next to Harlem.
"It's Harlem to all of you," Salem said sternly.
"It's nice to meet you," Harlem said, barely loud enough to be heard.
"What kind of magic do you use?" a guy with a black mohawk asked.
"Haven't you asked enough questions, already?!" Salem asked. She received a light kick from Harlem. She sighed then apologized. "I use fire based magic. My sister uses ice," she explained.
"Classic fire and ice duo?" the blonde boy before asked with a bit of excitement.
"Yeah...It's, uh, our thing," Salem said.
It's what we were known for back home," Harlem said.
"Where exactly is back home?" asked the mohawk guy.
"South," Salem said. She was getting annoyed by all the questions. The room went silent for a second.
"Woah! I just noticed your eyes!" Asta said. Everyone looked at the girls' eyes.
"Silver?" the pinkette asked.
"How about you tell us your names? We've told you ours so it's only fair we know yours," Salem asked as she tried to change the subject.
"I'm Magne. This here is Luck, Vanessa, Charmy, Finral, Gordon, Grey, and Gauche," the mohawk guy said as he pointed to each person as he said their name.
"Look at my little sister Marie. Isn't she the most precious thing you've ever seen?" Guache asked as he shoved a picture of a little girl in Salem's face.
"Yeah," she said as she turned away. Charmy offered her some more food and Luck offered her a fight. can you guess which one she agreed to? She ate her food given to her by the sheep chef and watched as Harlem fidgeted in her seat.
"You ok?" she asked. Her sister nodded. She really wasn't. She was worried about something. "Look, everything's fine. We're safe," Salem whispered to her.
"How old are you kids anyway? You look twelve," Vanessa said. A vein popped in Salem's head.
"We're fifteen," she deadpanned.
"Hey! so am I!" Asta pointed out.
"Oh, joy," Salem rolled her eyes. She stood up after she finished her meal.
"Thank you for the food," she thanked Charmy then left with her sister who bowed before running after her.
"Do you think they'll find us? They've got to be looking," Harlem asked as soon as they were out of hearing range.
"There's no doubt in my mind that they are looking for us...But we can't go back. We can start anew. No more judgment, no more royal treatment, no more shielding from the outside world. We're no longer Alteri's," Salem said as she grasped her twin's hand. The bluenette nodded in return.