A soldier ran for his life as magic spells and explosions lit up the street he was running in. His entire platoon was wiped out by an Anti-Magic artillery strike as the forces of the Gaisharan Allied Forces stormed the city of Verde Vista, capital of the Unified Elzarevian States. It was only five years before, that the Elzarevian Armed Forces launched an invasion of the Gaisharan continent after the Ministry of Intelligence discovered intel showing the Gaisharans responsible for espionage and sabotage against their country. The Absolute Leader of the UES declared war against all the countries in the GAF as retaliation. Unfortunately, the invasion force was repelled after three years of fierce, unproductive fighting and a year of naval battles. Now the Gaisharans invaded the Southeast Coast of the UES and in less than a year, managed to push all the way to the capital.
As he ran, he caught a glimpse of a Fieran Royal Air Force F9 Airship, the fuselage turrets firing at the remnants of the Elzarevian Air Force who were desperately trying their best to hold it back as it flew towards the People's Palace. He made a sharp right as he ran to the outer palace gates just as an Insnian Scout Car burst through a fence behind him. He kept running straight as an anti-tank gun fired upon the car, which dodged the shot and crashed into a warehouse for cover.
"FRIENDLY! FRIENDLY COMING THROUGH!" he screeched as he approached the ornate outer south gate, which was already riddled with shrapnel. The soldiers at the barricade started firing at Parginian soldiers that were on the end of the street as he climbed over the sandbags. An officer opened a smaller door in the gate to let him in.
"Soldier! Where's your squad?!" he asked.
"THEY'RE ALL DEAD! THE GAF BREACHED THE FRONT LINES!"
"Fuck..." the officer mumbled.
"I hope the Occult Ministry knows what they're doing..." he said under his breath. An explosion blew up one of the gate's guard towers as a Nevesian AX-9 Eagle turboprop fighter flew overhead as it gained altitude and started engaging the Elzarevian fighters. The FRAF Airship was now joined by a myriad of other airships from the different air forces of the GAF, along with more fighters. Their Air Force remnants were hopelessly outnumbered now.
"SHIT! SIR! THE FIERAN TRENCHRIPPERS HAVE BREACHED THE WEST GATE! THEY'RE INSIDE THE PALACE GROUNDS!"
The officer's eyes widened in shock and fear as he looked at the communication lacrima to see the West Gate in shambles as a ragtag group of soldiers stormed in, their magic spells raining destruction on the remnants of the vanguard.
"Oh Great Leader, it was...an honor I suppose...to serve this glorious country." He thought.
"TAAAAAANKKSSSS!" a soldier from the surviving guard tower with the AT gun screamed down, interrupting the officer's thoughts. An entire tank column of Mk. III "Battering Ram" tanks were rolling down the road.
"It looks like this is it..." he thought again. "Ready the cannon! We're taking down as much of those tanks as possible!"
They only managed to destroy two when the gate was blown open.
"Lokajita, this is madness! We've barely even had time to research this spell!" a black-haired man in a black and silver military uniform with a black sorcerer's cape said to his colleague, who was in a similar uniform. He had long, white hair, tanned skin and significant muscularity.
"That spell is our only hope of winning this war, Ferrero. We have NO. OTHER. CHOICE." he said with a tranquil tone of authority. The both of them were passing through a dark corridor, which was illuminated by stained glass windows. The corridor shook as an explosion rocked the palace complex. The both of them kept their balance before proceeding.
"Miss Teresia has managed to interpret the spell as best as she could. I and the Leader have hope in her abilities," the white-haired man said.
"Just because she's an expert in Time-based Magic doesn't mean her interpretation is perfect! We have to find another way..." the other man replied while worriedly looking out a series of broken windows. He saw a large airship with a Magic Cannon mounted in its fuselage which was glowing hot. It must have been the source of the explosion.
"Enough, Ezekiel! The only other way, is to surrender to those uncultured Gaisharan pigs! I doubt you have the balls to do so, especially as a such an action would make you a traitor punishable by death."
They both stopped in front of a stone wall with elaborate carvings. The white-haired man pressed his palm on a hand-shaped carving on the wall. As he did, the carvings lit up with a bluish-white glow and the wall slowly pulled up. The two hastily stepped in as the wall closed.
"Ugh! I hoped it would never come to this!" the other man thought.
"Putting the entire country at risk on a spell we just managed to dig out of an old spellbook...how insane have they become?"
They were now in another corridor which was even darker than the previous one. It was illuminated by some glowing lacrima crystals embedded in the ceiling now. On the the other end was more brightly lit room. It had a staircase leading down.
"Is everyone present at the Contingency Chamber?"
"Yes," the white-haired man replied. "The Leader is present, together with those of his Cabinet who did not flee and all of our colleagues from the Ministry."
"Good...I guess..."
Ezekiel let the other man go first as they descended down the stairwell. More explosions rocked the building, but they felt very little of them.
"The Gaisharans have no respect for the eons' worth of cultural treasures we have, do they not?" he asked.
Ezekiel could only look down.
"If we hadn't invaded them then maybe they would have appreciated them instead..." he thought.
Ezekiel himself was a high-ranking member of the Elzarevian Occult Ministry. As such, he was an Occult Mage who specialized in different kinds of magic. But even he was not privy to the true reason as to why the Leader declared war on Gaishar. Maybe it was because when the war started, he was not yet a member of the Occult Research Council, but why did they withhold the knowledge from him since the start?
After a while, Ezekiel and Lokajita reached the bottom of the steps and entered a wooden door leading to the aforementioned Contingency Chamber, a secret complex hidden in the People's Palace in the event that something that would threaten the Unified Elzarevian States' existence would occur. All the senior members of the government would have to assemble there in times like these. They entered it and were greeted by a soldier from the EAF's Special Operations Division.
"Grand Mages, sir!" he said as he saluted. The soldier was wearing what appeared to be a cross between a knight's armor and World War 2 era military gear. Most of the metal armor around the joints were removed for mobility purposes, except the knees.
"At ease," Lokajita calmly said.
"Grand Mage, I was tasked with waiting for the both of you and informing you that the Absolute Leader and the rest of our comrades are awaiting us at the Situation Room," he said.
Lokajita glanced at Ezekiel before replying.
"Then what are we waiting for? Show us the way."
After being led down a few short corridors, which looked very utilitarian and plain compared to the grandiose halls of the palace itself, they entered the Situation Room. Just like the rest of the Contingency Chamber, it was also very utilitarian-looking and plain, with faded gray walls. It resembled a very large conference room, with a lacrima screen showing a live map of the city itself. Many of its portions were obscured in the color red, marking how much territory the Gaisharan Allied Forces had occupied. The orange tint that signified the Elvarevian military marked only a tiny portion of the People's Palace.
Several surviving members of the Elzarevian Occult Ministry were in front of the screen, beside another door. Most of them were only newly-appointed Occult Mages, and they were lamenting their current situation after all those years of studying and training. The remnants of the Special Ops Division were the other people present, some sitting down on the old chairs, waiting for their inevitable last stand.
"Grand Mage Lokajita! Grand Mage Ferrero! Our senior was wondering what took you so long," a rookie worriedly said to them as they approached. She had pink hair that was tied in a ponytail that reached her lower back. She was wearing the female Occult Apprentice Mages' uniform, which consisted of a black blazer with silver trim over a white blouse, a black pleated skirt with silver trim, white stockings, black military boots, and a gray sorcerer's cape. The crest of Elzarevia was emblazoned on the cape.
"Where is your senior, Apprentice Maria?" Lokajita asked the girl just as the door opened, answering his inquiry.
"All of you. Inside," a voice said. Said voice belonged to none other than the aforementioned senior, who was Grand Mage Ulma Teresia. Teresia herself was also dressed similarly to Ezekiel and Lokajita, except she was wearing the cape over a tight black button-up dress with silver trim that reached up to her knees. She had knee-high boots on, and a belt that wrapped around her waist carried two large, round pouches on her left and right. Her long, raven-black hair was held back by a white headband, accentuating her auburn eyes and her face.
Teresia frowned as she eyed the two men as the apprentices entered, closing the door after the two had entered.
"Premier Santiago wants us to do this spell now. What were you two doing that took so pointlessly long?" she said as they walked. They climbed down another set of stairs that led deeper underground to another bunker under the Contingency Chamber.
"A bomb dropped by the Gaisharans blocked one of the corridors leading here," Lokajita said to her. "Me and Ferrero had to take a detour."
"...I see."
"Teresia...are you...sure the spell has been properly finalized? I mean...even Miss Irina had quite a difficult time," Ezekiel said to her.
"Are you...doubting me, Ferrero?" Ulma replied in a menacing tone.
"No! I'm just...concerned. For everyone who's going to take part."
"I am confident that it has been. If you do not wish to partake, then so be it. I hope the Gaisharans treat you well," Ulma said as she walked through the door at the bottom.
The room they and the apprentices entered was a large circular room. It had four doors, one of which was the door they exited. The other three led to three separate rooms. Ezekiel saw that the floor had a large circular pattern in the shape of ritual circle made out of lacrima.
"Wow...so this where we're performing the spell. I've heard it requires a lot of Magic Power..." Ezekiel thought as he looked up and saw a giant lacrima crystal ball embedded in the ceiling. It resembled a disco ball made of crystal, with some platinum embellishings bordering it. Ezekiel realized that this area was right under the tallest tower of the People's Palace, which was were the Etherano Absorption Collector for the palace's magic-powered generator was located.
"Fashionably late, Lokajita," a voice said. In the middle of the circle was the Absolute Leader and Premier of the UES, Santiago Pelaver.
"My Leader!" Ezekiel and Lokajita said as they knelt down and bowed. Ezekiel did so hastily, almost falling over unlike Lokajita, who did so with class. Ulma did the same, but with elegance.
"Rise, Grand Mages," he said. "I understand. I saw on the screen that the shortest route here was bombed. What matters is that we get this ritual underway," Santiago spoke as he turned around dramatically.
The general's uniform looked surprisingly utilitarian compared to the Grand Mages'. The only embellishments were his military awards. Pelaver himself didn't look like the expected dictator. In fact, he looked more like the general under the dictator's command. He appeared to be in his 40s when really he was actually around 55. His black hair didn't help.
"Let us not waste time. We only have little of it left," Santiago said as he motioned the apprentices to take their positions on the circle.
"Pardon me, my Leader, but I was expecting more people to be here..." Lokajita said. He noticed that only Pelaver's personal aides, and only a few of the Cabinet Ministers were present.
"Me as well. But unfortunately, it seems the Gaisharans got to most of them first. May the gods have mercy on their souls...if there were gods..." Santiago said. "Mage Teresia, we must start now."
"As you wish, my Leader," Ulma replied as she and the other two Grand Mages walked over to their respective points on the ritual circle. Ezekiel took a deep breath. This spell was supposed to send them back in time in order for them to fix what happened in the war. At least, that's what they could gather from the archaic spellbook they got it from. However, the spell was not fully translated properly. He worried that it would not work as intended or worse considering that they did not completely interpret the four pages that detailed it and its effects.
It was also discomforting to know that the three of them and the apprentices present were all that was left of the Occult Ministry, as the rest were either dead, captured or executed. Same went for the remaining SpecOps, the soldiers still fighting outside, and Pelaver and the ministers. They were all that was left of the Elzarevian government and military.
How the mighty have fallen indeed.
Everyone present stood on top of the patterned lacrima circle and under the large disco ball-like lacrima on the ceiling. The Grand Mages, Pelaver and the Cabinet ministers all held hands in a circle, while the apprentices did a similar circle around them, but with one hand on the inner circle's shoulders and another on their left's shoulder.
"Here goes nothing..." Ulma thought. "Everyone. Bow your heads, close your eyes and repeat what I say."
Ezekiel gulped. "This is it."
"O tempore aeterna fluit."
"O TEMPORE AETERNA FLUIT."
"Mitte nos retrorsum per annos quinque."
"MITTTE NOS RETROSUM PER ANNOS QUINIQUE."
"Id est ad ipsum locum."
"ID EST AD IPSUM LOCUM."
"Et numisma in mundum."
"ET NUMISMA IN MUNDUM."
"Ut tibi videbitur."
"UT TIBI VIDEBITUR."
Nothing happened.
"Huh?" one apprentice suddenly asked.
"I knew this wouldn't work!" Ezekiel said as he mentally facepalmed.
"WE'RE DOOMED! IT'S ALL OVER!" a Cabinet official said as he panicked. Pelaver, however, was unperturbed.
Suddenly, the lacrima ball and ritual circle started gradually glowing brighter. The whole room shook violently as the center of the ceiling and floor started breaking apart, revealing a bright, bluish-white void.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They all screamed as the whole room fell apart. Ezekiel found himself falling uncontrollably into the bright abyss.
When the Gaisharans stormed the palace, they found no trace of the room in the Contingency Chamber. Only a stairwell that led to a dead end.
4 years earlier...
June 28, X914.
Ember, Kingdom of Fiera, Gaishar
The door chime of the Stahlern Tavern rang as another customer walked in. The tavern itself was actually quite upscale, considering that it looked like a high-class bar inside. Velvet seats, decent-looking furniture, overall cleanliness and being one of the few establishments of its kind in the working-class area of the city with a fully air-conditioned interior. Same goes for the rooms it offered on the second and third floors. It was like a small hotel, so it was no wonder why many frequented it despite the rules imposed by its owners, the Stahlern siblings.
"Gooood afternoon! How are ya today, Luci?" one of the owners and waitresses, Miranda Janus Stahlern, happily said to her friend and frequent customer, Lucia Artecyva or "Luci".
"Oh. Hi, Mira," she said as she trudged to a table and slumped on the chair. Luci was wearing a zipped-down white jacket with a pattern of a blue line that crossed her breasts and back, another pair of lines that lined her sleeves with a blue zipper, a sleeveless pink blouse underneath, dark blue jeans and black sneakers. She was also wearing a brown messenger bag that she dumped on the chair beside her as she crossed her arms on the table and buried her head. Meanwhile, Miranda was wearing a posh, red waiter's uniform.
"Awww. I take it that you're having some trouble again?" she asked.
Luci just nodded without pulling her head up. Apparently the upbeat music playing on the jukebox wasn't helping her mood.
"Let me guess...rent?"
"Yessssss..." This time she finally pulled her head up and slouched.
"I went to three different scoops around Ember yesterday...and then my landlord came over again this morning..." she said unenthusiastically. Miranda motioned a colleague to bring her a drink as she pulled a chair and sat beside her.
"Is your rent overdue?"
"Not really...maybe like two days I think..."
"What about your money?"
"My boss at the local paper said that he'd give me my paycheck tomorrow...for the sixth time."
"Seriously?"
A waiter put down a tray with a bottle of beer. Miranda pulled him over.
"I meant water, not liquor!" she whispered into his ear. They both heard a pop and saw Luci drink half the bottle.
"You know, I could lend you some money again if it's that bad-"
"Oh nonono! That won't be necessary!" Luci said as she shook her head.
"I insist."
"I owe you way too much Mira! Just letting me talk to you is more than enough!"
"I don't mind! As long as Eli doesn't know it's okay. Lisa doesn't mind either. I mean look at how much we're earning! A hundred thousand wouldn't put a dent in our budget," she said as she smiled.
*CRASH*
The whole bar fell silent as Luci and Miranda looked to where the sound came from. They both spotted a pink-haired man and a black-haired man arguing.
"Watch where you're going, idiot!"
"Ah, fuck ye! You're in mah way!"