That's right. I haven't finished the jack and I'm already starting a new, long series. You can kill me now.
I've always wanted to make a fantasy series and never got the chance to actually write one, but now, here it is :D
Oh and, btw this story is basically my own world, so whatever I say is done in this story. So there's the explanation to everything incomprehensible in this story.
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: Once and for all, I do not own Junjou Romantica. Honestly, this is .
One day, deep within a forest, near a strange fog-covered area, lays a medium-sized cottage. It is simple, made of brick walls and wood-straw combination roof. The yard, about 4x5 meters wide, is filled with growing plants, be it herbs, vegetables, or spices. There's even a tree beside the house. Small animals are playing around the garden, nibbling at the plants but not enough to damage. Inside, a 23-year-old man sat inside his studies, busy fiddling with books, taking notes and such while looking at another book.
"Come on," the man said, his slim fingers flipping pages of the old book furiously, "I know it must be here somewhere…"
Finally, after abusing the poor book for a few minutes, he yelped in happiness, "finally!"
He then started writing furiously on another, more new-looking book, his quill running out of ink quickly. After a few minutes of doing the same routine, he slammed all of the books shut, sighing contently. He leaned back against the creaking wooden chair, throwing his silver-tipped quill triumphantly.
"I knew the information is in that damned old book!" he cheerfully said to himself. He finally sat upright, standing up while taking the newer book with him, "now, to test this out!"
He got out of the cramped studies and headed for the cauldron in the space he reserved for experimenting in the living room, on the upper right corner. Besides the cauldron—which, by the way, took a lot of space—the 3x3 meters wide space contained a cabinet that seems to stick to the wall, and the glass doors of it allowed people to see what's inside, which is glass bottles, flasks, beakers and jars that contains liquids, ingredients, powders, and preserved things. The wooden door below, though, remains a mystery… for now.
The next furniture sticks to the opposite wall from before, which is a wooden trunk that has the word 'POTIONS' engraved to it. There is a lock that prevents other people from opening it too. Beside it is a table with a smaller cauldron, a firewood stove below the cauldron, a set of cylindrical glasses, a ladle, and a chopping board with a knife to accompany it. There is also a book stand beside the big cauldron. The man put his book on the book stand and cracked his knuckles.
"Come on, Misaki! You can do it!" he cheered. He opened his book and pointed to the title on one of its pages, "Now, let's see… 'Metabolism-Boosting Potion'… Three pods of Edamame, two eggs, spring water…"
The man, who calls himself Misaki, began preparing the ingredients that he needed. His hands are beginning to be filled with herbs, fruits, a bottle, and so on and on. After gathering it all, he set it all on the chopping board. He then began to chop, mince, dice and boil ingredients. The small cauldron is filled with spring water, then dices of dried apples, a minced form of edamame, and other nameless things. It boils, changing colors from time to time, until finally settling with the color red with ribbons of green floating around. He sighed.
"And now for the most difficult part…" Misaki mumbled, rolling up his sleeves and went to his sofa. He returned with a wooden rod with a large crescent end, with a green orb embedded in between the tips of the crescent. He stood in front of the big cauldron, holding his rod nervously. After a sigh, he finally straightened up. He took his necklace's pendant—a sharp, upside-down cone-shaped silver one—and made a quick slash on his finger, drawing blood. He stretched his arm forward and let the blood drip to the clear water that filled the cauldron. As the blood goes to the water, a faint green glow is emitted from the water. Misaki smiled and drew his hand back. He wiped the excess to his pants and focused at the task at hand.
His hand holding the rod again, he closed his eyes, flipping his rod horizontally with the orb-containing end on his right. After a few seconds, a magic circle appeared below him and his cauldron. Ribbons of ancient rune started flowing out of the cauldron, glowing faint green. The rune circled the man and the cauldron, moving slowly. Misaki's mouth can be seen moving, chanting something. The water inside of the cauldron rippled, swirled, and then made strange motions as more rune is spewed out of it. After a solid wall of light made out of runes surrounded him, he opened his eyes and flipped his rod upright again. He slammed the rod to the ground, and the runes, at lightning speed, is absorbed to the orb now. Misaki jumped in surprise, then sighed.
"That always surprised me…" he moaned, then looked at the shining orb. Runes can be seen floating around, "at least it's finished…"
He walked to the small cauldron, clucking his tongue at the mess he made. He slammed the rod down again, and this time, the runes gently floated out of the orb and into the potion he made earlier. This caused the thick liquid to glow faintly. The runes continued to fill the concoction, until finally, it ended. The glow on the potion seems to have dispersed as well. When Misaki looked at the liquid once again, it is now a clear reddish potion. He smiled proudly.
"It's done!" he exclaimed, suddenly laughing out loud, "After five fucking tries, it's done! YES!"
He did a little dance of victory on his success, carefully twirling his rod while laughing absurdly. After he realized how embarrassing that was, he stopped and coughed awkwardly, "I-I'll just pack this up."
He went to the cabinet and took some glass vials and funnel and went back to the cauldron. Carefully, he began to fill the vials, scooping up the potion while moving the funnel. After he's done, he made about 15 vials.
"This should sell," he sighed, "oh yeah, the labels."
He took some paper and glue, along with his quill and ink. He began writing 'Metabolism Enhancing Potion' over and over. After that, he carefully folded and ripped the paper, sticking it to each one of the vials. After he's done yet again, he grabbed a cloth bag that lay absentmindedly on the side of the table and filled it with the vials. He grabbed his rod, went to the coat hanger to get his robe, and went out, the mid-spring air blowing gently on his face.
After the walk from his house to the small village where his shop resided—which is quite long, it took about 30 minutes—he sighed as he finally made it to his money-making building. The shop is much smaller than his house, but still manageable. It's about 3x3 in size, and it has a cream cemented wall with red roof tiles made out of stone. The door is the typical rectangular wooden door with a wooden sign that read 'closed'. A sign hangs near the door as well, with cursive words that read 'Misaki's Potion Shop', and some moss has started to grow on it, but it only added to the charm of the shop. Misaki smiled. He still remembered how his brother, his brother's wife and he built the store with the assistance of a fellow carpenter. He also remembered the way they parted, as his brother, who is a knight, have to go to the kingdom faraway from here—if he remembered, the kingdom is named 'Aliastra' or something—and part with his beloved brother. Misaki could've come with him, but he wanted to stay and be independent, leading a simple life like he always wanted to.
The village they're residing at, Naturia, is a village that doesn't have a kingdom, or as others put it, a stray village. He didn't think that this village is stray. The people here just follow their lives without being governed by a leader who is always right, that's all.
He fished out the key from his pocket and opened the door, inhaling the scent of herbs and spices his shop held. He moved to the back of the counter, writing in the chalk board on the wall behind him: 'Metabolism Boosting Potion available!' under the list of potions that are available in the store as well. He opened the trunk that is hidden behind the counter and carefully arranged the potions to the empty spaces and closed the trunk back. He shed his coat and hung it on the small hook hanger that he installed near the chalk board. He went outside and flipped the 'closed' sign to the side that read 'open', and went back to the shop.
Misaki is reading a book about magical ingredients when the door slammed open. There, stood in his doorway is a man about the same age as Misaki with blond hair and a bronze rod with white orb.
"Misaki, hide me!" he exclaimed as he slammed the door shut and ran to the counter. Misaki chuckled.
"Kamijou again, eh? Why did you ask him to teach you when you're so scared of him?" Misaki asked, closing his book and folding his arms.
"Well, you know why!" he yelled, sitting on the floor, "he's one of the best in the village!"
"That doe—"
"SHINOBU!" suddenly someone burst into Misaki's shop, looking pissed and ready to smack his iron rod to anyone, "you little piece of shit! Come back here!"
Shinobu, the blond, would have succeeded in hiding if it weren't for his loud yelp he emitted when the demon teacher burst in. Now he is being dragged back outside, writhing while the iron staff landed on his head, officially knocking him out. Silence returned to Misaki's shop once more.
"Those two are really loud," Misaki said, opening his book again, "but maybe I should ask someone to teach me too… I mean, I'm good but I can be better, right?"
He finally realized that he was talking to himself and blushed, burying his head to the book once more.
The door to Misaki's shop opened once again, and Misaki looked up to see that a brown-haired guy with a ridiculously shiny aura has come in. Misaki smiled.
"Ah, Yukina-san!" Misaki said, closing his book again, "how can I help you?"
"I need a potion," Yukina said, scratching his head, "Kisa-san is really straining himself with training today."
"Of course, but you're a sorcerer too, right? Why don't you make some?" Misaki asked while opening his trunk.
"Well, Kisa-san has been emptying the shelves, so I don't really have anything to make a batch with."
"Oh, I see," Misaki said while popping his head again, holding two vials, "let's see… a fatigue reducing one, and I have something new today. Metabolism boosting! Kisa-san's training will be better with this, I think. Would you like some?"
"That would be great! How much?" Yukina grabbed his bag and took out his wallet.
"Um, the fatigue reducing one is 200 Gill and the new one is 400," the brunet counted, "that's 600 Gill."
Yukina fished out some 50 coins and four 100 coins, "here."
"Thank you!" Misaki said, "Have a good day!"
"You too," Yukina smiled, sending away sparkles to Misaki's eyes. Misaki blushed and smiled back. Then silence greeted him again.
"I wish I have a partner too…" Misaki sighed, pushing his book away. He wasn't talking about romantic interests, but a training partner, or a battle partner. Of course, one doesn't have to have one, but it would be nice. Partners are mostly sorcerer-knight, but it can be different. The only reason it's so common because it's balanced. While a sorcerer prepares a spell, the knight can protect the sorcerer.
He isn't the only one alone in the village, but most people already have their respective partners. Most people who are partners tend to be lovers—that made Misaki blush—because of the time they spent together. Misaki counted the people who haven't had any partner yet.
"One, two, three, four… that's five including me," Misaki hung his head. Maybe he doesn't need any partners. But then, he is a bit weak… He shook his head.
"I shouldn't think about stuff like this. I should just improve myself. Who knows, maybe people will throw themselves to me later," he laughed awkwardly and continued reading his book, despite not paying any attention to the words written.
Misaki closed the door to his store and locked it, sighing. He sold about seven vials today and earned about 2500 Gill. Maybe he can replace his home's roof to terracotta slabs, but that would be expensive… or maybe he should buy himself a new rod!
"I just earned this much and I'm already spending it like crazy…" he sighed, walking the path he always took to his house. The brick road made a knocking sound upon meeting with Misaki's leather shoes, accompanying him on his trip. The bag swung back and forth whiles the afternoon wind blowed gently, carrying the sweet scent of flowers and nature. Misaki always likes it in the afternoon. The sunset, the gentle breeze, the sounds of small animals and bugs singing, he never got bored of it all.
The path changed to a dirt one halfway through the journey. It's almost dark, but the path is illuminated by blue glowing butterflies. Misaki smiled. Though the dark is scary, the atmosphere is always calming. Suddenly, a loud rustling followed by a howl that echoed through the night surprised him.
"Please, just be my imagination, please—"and more howling resonated, followed by the sounds of metal clashing to something hard. Misaki gulped. Should he take a look?
…Maybe he should.
So Misaki took a step to his left, very aware that he's leaving the path that lead to his house. He tried to be as quiet as possible, gripping his rod with both arms. Sweat trickled down his forehead despite the temperature being cold. His pace quickened though, when he heard a low grunt coming from his front. When he arrived, he found a wide clearing. Two creatures that resembled humans stood, their backs facing him, but those were definitely not humans. The triangular ears, the furry body, the hunching posture, and most of all… the growling that came from both of them. He squinted, and he swore he saw someone in front of those beasts. So he did the thing he is best at.
He ran to the group, holding his rod with both hands. He started chanting, and the orb started glowing. The creatures noticed him and left the stranger, running towards the brunet. Misaki only prayed that this will work, since he rarely used offensive spells. He stopped and pointed the rod to the incoming beasts. Huffing, he said the last of the spell.
"…incarteum."
He then swung the rod horizontally, and a fire shockwave appeared, knocking back the beasts. Misaki then sighed, thinking the beasts have already been defeated. But they both stood again, a burn mark visible on their stomachs. The creatures ran again, this time enraged. The only thing Misaki is thinking as he stood frozen to the spot is:
'I'm fucked.'
Then, Misaki saw someone running to the creatures. When he shut his eyes, waiting for the impending doom, a slashing sound made its way to his ears. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see a sight of two headless beasts in front of him. His eyes widened to the size of saucers, trembling as the bodies fell down to the ground, tainting the soil with red liquid. He can't look away.
"You're pretty brave."
He looked up. The stranger is smiling. His hair is silver, reflecting the moonlight, and, although his face is hidden by the shadows, Misaki can clearly see his piercing violet eyes. Once again, he caught himself unable to look away.
"I'm Akihiko," he extended his right arm. Misaki stared at it for a while, before extending his own.
"My name is Misaki."
I don't know why, but this chapter is longer than I intend it to be.
Nevertheless, I'm proud of myself. I mean, I actually wrote a chapter that is more than 2000 words! :D
Um by the way, 100 Gill equals to roughly $10, so you can count how much money Misaki earned yourself ;)
And I'm writing this story at my own leisure, which means if I want to write it, I will. If not, then no.
Did ya enjoy reading? If you do, review! I'll love you for it 3