Beyond The Pacific
In which Raleigh Becket, an ostracized mage, tries to save the world once again. [Fantasy!AU]
It happened five years ago. Because of my recklessness, my lack of control of emotions, my brother, Yancy was captured by the dark forces that had created the Kaiju's, creatures that are made from their dark and twisted labs, solely for the purpose of inflicting as much pain: both emotional and physical.
I was an experienced mage at the time and Yancy was the best swordsman I knew. We were known as the two human heroes that defeated the Hydra, a five-headed dragon that threatened the Dwarf Kingdom. Since many people had died from the Hydra, we thought we were invincible. Our cockiness led to my brother's capture.
We were defending the Elven Kingdom in Upper Eurasia from two mythical monsters from Ancient Greece: the Nemean Lion and Cerberus. Although we had not known it, they were sick, Kaiju replicas of the Greek monsters. I had hit the Nemean Lion with a summoned Frost Giant from the isolated Alaskan Frontier. I thought it was dead, but Yancy went to check. I stopped him and he reluctantly agreed to face Cerberus. When I realized that Yancy was not at my side, I saw a flash of blonde hair so similar to my own disappear into the dense woodlands that only the Elves had any chance of navigating.
I blamed myself fully, destroying my reputation as the most powerful mage. I became one of the most hated people of my time period. Children ran away at the sight of me. Parents glanced disapprovingly at me and whispered to their children to never be Raleigh Becket.
I fled my hometown after death threats. I stayed in the cold Canadian Region, where almost no one lived. The perfect place for a hated mage. Eventually, life lost its meaning. I spiraled into depression and developed anorexia. If Stacker Pentecost had not found me when he did...
Stacker was the leader of an organization that recruited talented warriors to defend the world against the Kaiju. Apparently heroes has become hated and ostracized after my fiasco with Yancy. Another burden to bear.
I met Charles Hassen, who preferred to be called Chuck. He was an excellent swordsman, with the ability to summon fire at whim. I admired his strength, but he did not respect mine. He thought of me as a selfish coward who let his brother die. That hurt more than it should have, since I grasped the small hope that Yancy was still alive and I could save him. After I had saved him from being crushed by a Threat Level Three Kaiju, we were able to see each other as team mates, nothing more.
I met Sasha Talonovsky, direct descendant of the queen of the Russian Empire, who was a Paladin that followed their path of honesty and righteousness. Her choice weapon was a spear. We developed a strong relationship and eventually, I considered her a sister.
Mako Mori was another person I had met. She was the last remaining member of the fallen Japanese Royal Family. After Japan had collapsed into the sea, reclaimed by the underwater volcano that had created it, Mako barely survived. She was adept at knife-throwing. Also, Mako had the extremely rare ability to teleport. We never really talked, since neither of us were very social.
I was expected to be ready to be deployed against the Kaiju that threatened the world. After five years of isolation, I lost my touch. I could not cast a simple healing spell that only targeted one person. Other people laughed at my weak display of power, while Sasha, Mako and Chuck stayed by my side. Chuck had claimed that he, 'felt bad,' for the newbie. After months of hard work, I had more or less reached the mage I had been years ago in my glory days.
Before being deployed, I met the research team that focused on the Kaiju. One of them was a Fizzle, a mage that could not use their magical abilities. He went by Newt. The other member was a human, called Hermann, with no remarkable physical strengths. What he lacked of physically, he made up for it with his mathematical skills. He used probability and reasoning behind his research, unlike Newt, who used common-sense and patterns by creatures besides Kaiju behind his. The two argued a lot, but their theories were often correct.
A Threat Level Four Kaiju had been spotted off the coast of the San Franciscan Republic. The team I was sent with was made up of Sasha, Chuck and Mako. The Kaiju was nicknamed Gnasher, because of its large teeth. It was a successful mission, however there was an unknown evil also at the fight. He called himself the King of Kaiju. He was exceptional with a sword and he disarmed all four of us easily and sent us off with a warning: 'Stop killing the Kaiju or I will you.'
It was a year since the encounter with the King of Kaiju. No Kaiju had awoken from the depths of the Pacific in almost a year. Newt and Hermann were up every night with caffeinated drinks to figure out what had happened to the frequent Kaiju attacks. What had changed?
When I talked to them about it, they offered a coffee, which I politely refused. Insomnia was not a fun thing to live with. They said that the usual tremors around the Pacific Rim, the circle that all Kaiju's emerged from, was completely silent. It confounded them to no end, resulting in twice as many petty fights and stress on the two researchers.
It was then the King of Kaiju revealed himself. He challenged all who dared defy him to try and reach his stronghold in Antarctic Republic in the southern most tip of the Earth. I was sent, along with five other ragtag teams to infiltrate the stronghold and stop the Kaiju's from ever coming back. My team was Mako, Chuck and Sasha, unsurprisingly. We were the backup, if needed. Pentecost said we were his most valuable asset, revealing his true colors. He saw us as nothing but pawns in his fight against the Kaiju.
Being on a team with a depressed, hard candy enthusiast, quiet mage has its perks. I cast a spell that produced a heat shield that kept all the air inside of it at a comfortable sixty-five degrees. When I glanced at the other squads, they were huddling up to keep warm. It was a sad sight, but I could barely keep the spell up at night when I relied on my subconscious to keep it up.
We came across a Kaiju that quickly decimated the six strong resistance to a measly three team resistance with one mighty stomp that plunged twelve of our own into the frigid water. If hypothermia didn't get them, the Kaiju that patrolled underwater would.
I fired off a Proton Blast hex that produced thunder clouds that let down thunderbolts one hundred times stronger than the average one. It fried the Kaiju, and the unpleasant smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils as I passed the corpse.
When we walked a few hundred yards, I realized why there were no Kaiju attacks in over a year. There were four Threat Level Five Kaiju's set on killing us. The king was saving them to protect his stronghold.
One of them charged at the team in front of us and all I saw was red.
I recently watch Pacific Rim and was drawn in to the characters. I related to a lot of them, but I only shared one or two traits with each. Since I had discovered that, I decided to write a Pacific Rim Fanfiction! I hope the mythical AU isn't unappealing.
It's only like an introduction chapter. Kind of. I'll try to make the chapters long, but I am also balancing my other story, In Another Life.
Review! ;)