DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.

Castle in the Air
THE PROLOGUE: Big Bang

"Where the heck is she? She's late…!" I mutter under my breath, pacing back and forth around the park. If I'm attacked by some mutated flower while I wait, I'm definitely blaming her… ugh. She was supposed to be here half an hour ago!

"She should be here soon, hopefully…" I say to myself as I look up at the blue sky with white clouds adorning it and the sun shining as strong as ever and collapse on the bench near me. I'm almost tempted to get up and run off to somewhere safer, somewhere where I'm less likely to be attacked by some mutated plant or animal.

For nearly all my life, these monsters have been living in my hometown, Edelstein. They were usually found in the park – which was surprisingly big for such a small town like this one – and farther away. Then again, I guess it's because the park is somewhat connected to the woods and the mines.

"I'm here, I'm sorry!" I hear a familiar yell from behind me and I clench my fists before standing up.

"And what were you doing?" I put my hands on my hips and shoot her a glare. I've never been good at glaring, or at least, that's what I think. She puts up her hands in an attempt to calm me down. I'm not that angry, but I would sure like to know why she's taken so long. Plus, looking intimidating is a good way to get an answer out of someone, after all.

"I… slept in," she looks down with an unreadable expression. Is it embarrassment? Either way, she always sleeps in… I sigh. Well, no use crying over spilled milk. And Ayana does look quite exhausted, probably from all that running.

"Oh well. Want to get some ice cream?" I ask casually, brushing off the fact that Ayana was late by about half an hour. Plus, why rub salt on the wound? Or however you say it… either way, she seems to pick on this quickly and nods, giving me a wide smile as we start to walk away from the park.

"Sure thing, Sion!"

"Melanie," I correct her with my middle name. I dislike being called 'Sion', my first name. Ayana already knows this, but sometimes she forgets.

"Sorry," she apologizes.

"It's alright."

"Well, anyway," I hear Ayana start with a light tone in her voice, as if her voice is about to jump out because she's so happy. I turn to my side to see what she's sounding so happy about. "Even if you don't like your first name, you're still my best friend!"

Suddenly I feel an arm wrapping itself around my neck from the side and pulling me over to the side. It's Ayana, of course, giving me a friendly side hug, and I return the hug like any other normal person. It looks like Ayana is being her cheerful, affectionate self like always even though she was late and looked tired.

By this time, we have already made it to the shopping street, where it basically looks more like some fun park than the one I was just at. Thank goodness the shopping street isn't that far away from the park – then again, there's also the fear that some monster might sneak into town and attack. But that's not likely to happen.

"Let's order!" Ayana cheerfully tells me, but I step back a little to allow her to go first since I'm not sure of what to order just yet. She's able to see the message I'm trying to convey to her when I step back, and she nods, stepping forward and looking at the flavours available.

"A strawberry soft serve, please," She tells the man in charge of selling the ice cream. The ice cream man nods and then looks at me. I jump slightly at the sudden stare I get from him, but I'm quickly able to compose myself.

"I'd like a scoop of green tea and mango," I tell him. "Oh, and in a cup, please," I add.

"Is that all?" He asks with a kind smile, and Ayana and I look at each other for a second before turning our heads back to the ice cream man and nodding.

Seconds later, we are now walking around the shopping district and eating our ice cream. This is so yummy…

"Hey, Melanie?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you getting tired of eating the same flavours all the time?" I turn my head and look at Ayana, who is also looking at me curiously. I glance down at my cup of ice cream.

"No," I reply to her question. "Why?"

"You should try new flavours," She looks at her almost finished ice cream cone, and for a second I wonder how she was able to finish up her ice cream so quickly. "Like strawberry!"

"I don't like strawberry…" I mumble, taking a small spoonful of ice cream and stuffing it in my mouth. Ayana looks at me with her eyes wide, but I ignore it, enjoying the taste of the dessert. I think that was a bad idea, though, because five seconds later, I feel a hand roughly slapping my back. The surprise and slight pain I received from the smack almost makes me spit out the ice cream in my mouth, though I'm glad I really didn't spit it out… that would have been gross.

"Hey!" I turn to look at Ayana who is glaring at me. "Why did you do that?"

"How can you not like strawberry?" Oh my goodness, don't tell me she slapped me because of that…

"I just don't!" I narrow my eyes at her. "I'm going to get you back for that!"

"Oh, no you don't!" She tells me with a sly grin, her hazel-coloured eyes carrying a playful light in them. Then, with one bite, she gobbles down the remains of her ice cream cone and breaks off into a run, her white hair bouncing off her shoulders as she does her best to run away as quickly as possible.

"That's cheating! Get back over here!" I scream, my voice cracking a little from almost laughing, and I start to run as soon as I'm able to get another spoon of ice cream in my mouth, holding the cup tightly. We may be fifteen right now, going into sixteen – but we still seem to have a lot of fun pretending that we are ten year olds instead.

"Can't catch me!" I hear a playful laugh from afar.

"It's just because I'm still holding my ice cream cup!"

"Well, you eat too slowly!"

"What was that? I'm going to get you twice, now!"

"But you can't even catch me, Melanie! Come on!" She speeds up. Dang it, how am I supposed to catch her now? Maybe I should finish my ice cream first…

Deciding to stop running and finishing up my dessert first, I stick out my tongue at the still running Ayana and start to eat the ice cream as fast as I can. Better catch up, after all – but I can tell I will have to look around for her first, since she hasn't stopped running.

After quickly golfing down my ice cream, I flinch, a shiver going up my spine. Stupid brain freezes…

"Now, time to get going," I mutter under my breath after shaking off the brain freeze and throwing away the empty cup in my hand. "Where could she have run off to…?"

I take a deep breath and start to run. I hate running, but if I want to find Ayana faster, I'll have to be faster myself as well. I hope I don't sweat too much; I'm wearing a new dress, so it'd be pretty sad for me to get it drenched in sweat.

Where could Ayana have gone? Like me, she is quite girly too, so maybe she could be hanging around the shops in this shopping district. Well, I'm there right now, so might as well check it out.

I sigh. Oh, how I wish I could grab one of those small patrol robots flying everywhere, recording every move of every citizen. That way, I could see where that girl is running off to and find her right away.

Ah, well. Enough sulking for me – let the search begin…

… … … .. .. ….. …. … … …. …. … .. . . . .. .

I drop down on the grass, panting. Thirty minutes. I took thirty minutes looking for Ayana – and I still can't find her! What's up with that? She was always good at hiding back when we played hide and seek in the orphanage, but this has gone too far!

I've checked the shopping district (too big and distracting), at the park (it was scary…), by her house, and I've asked some people around town like Belle the policewoman, Checky the guy dressed up in a bear suit(how does he manage to stay inside that suit for so long and not complain about it?) and some friends. None of them saw Ayana around.

I remain seated in the grass, staring off into space and trying to think of where Ayana is at while tying up my mid-length blond hair into a ponytail. I should resume my search soon…

[[[[[[[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ [[[ ]]]] ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]]]]]]

"…Eh?" I suddenly start to look around aimlessly before my mind registers that familiar sound. It's a loud bell, coming from the mansion at the center this town. The council president, Anthony, lives in the mansion as far as I know. I've never known much about the government and whatnot, so I can't be too sure. However, I do know that when this bell is rung, that it's because the council has something to announce.

Getting up from the grass, I look around again for a little bit to see which way I have to go to get to the mansion, and after a minute, I start to walk.

Turning on corners, crossing the streets and passing by houses and shops, I eventually arrive to the mansion. There's many people gathered around it, and one of the many people I see looks very familiar…

"Ayana!" I yell out in between the chatting and whispering going on between everyone right now. I gather my breath to call out to her again, but I notice that it's not necessary since she has just turned to look at me.

"Melanie!" She looks a bit surprised, but she runs and makes her way to me. "You're here!"

I snort. "Of course I am! Where were you, anyways?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," she smiles. And suddenly, I am overtaken by a feeling of curiosity about why the president summoned all of us here – so I wave off what she just told me and ask her a question.

"So, what is going on?"

"The president has something to tell us…"

"Is he finally going to retire?" I ask hopefully. Nearly all my life, this town has been a bit depressing due to the fact that they live in fear of the Black Wings, the people who have control over our town. So if council president Anthony were to leave…

"I don't know," Ayana shakes her head. "Nobody knows."

"Well, I hope he does leave…" I mumble, and Ayana looks at me worriedly for a second. It's probably because everyone here is expected to respect all members of the Black Wings, but I can't help it.

"This place is so crowded…" She looks around, nervousness evident in her eyes.

"It'll be alright… hopefully," I say the last part of that sentence hesitantly. When it comes to the Black Wings, it's really hard to tell whether it will be alright or not.

I open my mouth to say talk some more, but before I'm able to say anything, I'm interrupted by a loud thumping sound coming from the mansion. Ayana and I look up.

"Quiet!" A voice that sounds quite tacky. It is none other than President Anthony, who had bumped the microphone with his hand to cause the thumping sound. Everyone quickly shuts up and looks up at him.

As always, President Anthony isn't alone. He never was each time he made an announcement, anyway. There are the people that were next to him all the previous times he made an announcement: Watchman Bavan, Leonore, Wonny and other members of the Black Wings that lurk around our town. But amidst the familiar faces, there are also some unfamiliar ones. Two unfamiliar faces, to be exact.

To the right of the president is a woman who seems to be in her mid thirties or forties. She has tanned skin, silver hair that stops above her shoulders and her purple lips are curved in a frightening smile. I want to know how her eyes look like, but the big, purple hood on her head covers them. The rest of her clothing is purple as well, decorated by purple trimming and embroidery. I would've said she looks cool, if not for the scary aura she gives out by just looking at her.

The man standing to the left of the president looks worse, however. He appears to be scarier than the woman herself. The woman already reminds me of those witches I see in those T.V shows… and this man here just looks like some cursed entity. The president has already started talking, but I find myself unable to hear, distracted by the frightening features of the old man.

I'm not exaggerating about the man's features. Compared to the woman, the man has skin that is pale enough to be called unhealthy. His face is marred with wrinkles, his mouth covered by a long white beard, and his dark eyes that surprisingly stood out the most could be described as looking similar to cat-like slits. His hair is pure white and long like Ayana's. To contrast his pale figure, he wore black robes with gold trimming, holding a skull on his left hand and a long, pointy staff on his right hand.

I blink, snapping back to reality and shivering unconsciously at the sight of these people, and suddenly I start feeling a bit sick with anticipation, feeling as if something bad is going to happen very soon. Shaking my head vigorously for a few seconds, I find myself being able to hear the president talk.

"And so, with our goal being a success…" The president pauses, a sly smirk forming on his face. "Bow down, citizens of Edelstein!"

Bow down? What does he mean? Before I know it, the president steps away, and the two people next to him step forward, positioning themselves so that the woman is at the front and the man is at the back. Then, I see their mouths start moving and chanting something in a language I can't understand.

A bright, shining circle that looks very similar to those magic ones I've heard of appear at the bottom of their feet, and just by looking at that I come to an understanding of what is going on: They are casting a spell.

"A new leader has come," The president continues, his smile never fading as he looks at the giant, black snake that appears behind the man. The woman speaks some more gibberish, and then suddenly is launched into the air, floating in front of the man. Everyone gasps at this. "One as powerful enough to change the world as we know it…"

The sky starts to turn darker, and everyone looks around with a horrified look on their faces. A powerful blast of energy is seen being formed in between the outstretched arms of the woman, and a red aura is seen glowing around the man.

"To riddle the land with dungeons filled with intelligent monsters," At this point, everyone is ignoring what the president is saying, and anxiously whispering to each other as to what is going on. I turn to look at Ayana, who seems to be paralyzed in fear. I open my mouth to say something, but find out that even I can't speak.

The ball of energy becomes bigger and it expands, letting out a piercing screech, forcing everyone to cover their ears in pain.

"What… what is going on?" I scream, my eyes squeezed shut.

"I-I don't know!" Ayana sounds just as scared as I am.

"He is the Black Mage!" We all turn to the president who has an insane smile on his face. The ball of energy floats into the sky and breaks, causing a giant explosion, and suddenly, I start to feel a gentle shake coming from the ground and I look around desperately, trying to register what is going on.

"An earthquake!" Someone in the crowd screams in a terrified voice. Everyone starts to scream and run as the gentle shake goes from barely perceptible to draconian.

"M-Melanie…!" I feel a frightened Ayana grab my wrist. "I'm scared! We have to get out of here!"

"I-I…" I can't speak. I'm scared. What's going on? Who is the Black Mage? When will the earthquake stop?

"Come on!" She roughly pulls me away and before I know it I'm running around to who knows where with Ayana, the president's voice clear in our heads.

"He will ensnare this land in darkness," Ayana and I scream and jump back as a piece of rubble falls right in front of us, and we turn to the other way to keep running. "And crush all who dare to defy him…"

I step on a pebble and trip, falling forward. My hand slips from Ayana's grasp, and she skids to a halt after taking a few forced steps, turning to look at me.

"Melanie! Watch out!" She screams, sounding completely horrified and I look up, my eyes widening at the sight of another piece of rubble getting closer to my face. I desperately try to get up, however, my now wounded knee pulls me back down and I feel something hard and solid roughly slamming into my head.

And before everything goes black for me, I see a giant and dark hooded figure looming in the cloud covered sky, his eyes looking like they were flames themselves.

"Say farewell to your precious world," the familiar haunted voice speaks. "For a new story is about to be written!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, that's just about it for the prologue. I've actually been working on this for a while now, but I was too lazy (and busy) to continue it. So here it is, the prologue of my first posted story: Castle in the Air.

I'd like to ask for as much criticism as possible on this story, so if you're able to stop and critique, I'd really appreciate that. Also, for what Anthony was saying, I took the quotes out of one of the Big Bang trailers… so if I wrote anything incorrectly, please let me know as well.

EDIT 1: Fixed some mistakes that were pointed out to the best of my ability.
EDIT 2: So, I finally got around to re-reading the prologue and catching some other mistakes. Goodness, did I really make that many mistakes when it came to switching from present tense to past tense? Anyway, I also did what I could to make some awkward sentences and events flow in a nicer way, so hopefully this looks better than before (and is also hopefully my last edit on this, but if anyone catches more mistakes, I'll be more than glad to look over it and change it).