Late Summer, X972

"Did ya hear bout what happ'ned down at the capitol?" a drunken man slurred as he swished his cheap wine bottle around, the red liquid splashing onto the wooden table. "I heard from a lady interest of my friend that security has been tight since President Tommy and the Blazes were assassinated." The drunk man hiccupped then leaned forward to whisper. "I also been hearing that Crow is getting politically active, ya'know, since we need someone leading us."

The bartender smirked as he dried a wet glass. The bartender was an attractive young man with tan skin, opposite to the drunk man's pale complexion. His bright orange orbs were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and his ashy brown hair that flopped lazily into his face. He wore a standard uniform consisting of a white dress shirt with a collar under a black vest, black and grey striped slacks, along with black dress shoes. His chin had stubbles of patchy hairs that had not grown in his 19 years of living. The bartender, who's full name was Micah McCord, nodded to the customer.

"Yeah, you're right. Did you know people are actually escaping to other countries? Did you know we may have a dictator controlling us? Did you know the people in the slums are rebelling? And, here's the best one, did you know that the a group of mages are going against the government and creating artificial robots to-"

Before Micah finished with his revealing questions, a knife from the entrance of the bar was thrown swiftly and impaled itself directly into the drunken man's throat. He gasped for air desperately, choking on his own blood before slumping over and going limp. Micah watched the scene indifferently and shook his head at the women strutting his way.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really don't know how to have fun do you, Gianna." The 19 year old said with a sigh, pushing the dead man off the counter to clear of the blood staining wood.

Gianna, despite being 21 years old only stood at 5 feet even, glared up him with her deep wild berry colored eyes. Gianna was evenly developed and had dark green hair in a pixie cut. Her slim body was entirely covered by a black cape and hood, however she chose to let her feet covered in sandals in have full rein of freedom. Gianna bore a scowl as she clenched her fist and punched a chair out of anger, causing the wood to break apart. "You think you're so funny Micah. Well dumbass, what would you have done if I don't know, THE GOVERNMENT maybe was here, hearing all our secrets. How many drugs have you taken Micah?"

Said boy shrugged. "It's not big deal-

"It's not a big deal." Gianna corrected, causing Micah to roll his eyes. Deciding fighting with her would take up the whole night, Micah smoothly turned the direction of their conversation slash argument away from him. "So, what are you here for anyway?"

At that, Gianna's eyes lit up and she grabbed his hand, urging the tall teen away from the counter and out the small shack that was commonly used for weekend bars and weekday gambling event parties. The two were met with the cool crisp air that was arriving since the end of summer was finally coming to an end. Gianna led Micah down the bland streets of Asmia's party district.

The country Asmia was home to many different districts, such as a Party District full of drunks and a Trading District where many markets are built. Some are funded by the government, others, not so much. Ever since the President and his branch of Blazers, who enforce and rule, were assassinated, Asmia has faced money shortages for a while. The country just finished paying a huge war debt so now the citizens have lived without full support. Gianna came to a stop in front of a broken down, cobblestone house, a gleeful smile on her face. The house suffocated from its tight and poorly placed bricks and was crafted at the very end of the block, shunned by all neon lights.

Micah looked at the house in utter disgust as Gianna led him inside. The room was barely lit and beer bottles trashed the floor and broken furniture. It was like a tornado came up to a hurricane and suggested they destroy this depressing little home. Gianna raised her hand and smiled at her companion before bringing up a lacrima screen with the press of a projector button. "Welcome to my hideout! Now sit your arse down and watch what I'm about to show you." She hissed, tapping buttons to show a DNA gene spinning on the screen. Micah obediently sat down on the couch and propped his legs up on the half of a table that was not poked with daggers of all sizes.

"Word from our sources tell us that Crow is allying with some scientists to make genetically made soldiers to rule Asmia," Gianna started as she swiped the screen to the left to show many different pictures of Crow being interviewed by Asmiaranian press. Cornelius 'Crow' Nasal was a plump man with bulging biceps. Despite being chubby, his pale face covered with a thick maroon mustache covering his top lip displayed a menacing look. "We don't know what monstrosities he's brewing up but a few cases are proof he already began putting them to 'good' use."

Gianna showed a picture of a street with blood and papers scattered along the brick walls and yellow 'Do Not Pass' tape securing the perimeter of the scene. "On August 13, a group of strong minded debaters protested at a press meeting, declaring that Crow's leading will lead to misery and no true way of government. They even gone as far to getting press to present their petition to the Blaze Branch, however, later that day at approximately 11:27 PM, their limbs were found in the alley. Witness say that they heard screams yet Troopers kept the citizens in that neighborhood for a drill issued by Crow. The petition papers were never delivered to the Blaze Branch."

"Okay? So you think Crow is planning to mass murder everyone in the country if they go against them?" Micah asked lazily, his hands rested behind his head.

The petite female thought about the question for a moment. "I don't think, I know. I have some hardcore proof. You think this is the only case?" Gianna switched to a video of a tall, slender black creature move slyly around a block. Its white beady eyes turned to the camera, it hissed and scaled up the building, turned to hiss at the camera again, then scurried off to the Dome, capitol of Asmia. "This was footage taken by Dr. Locke. He was actually able to catch one, he calls it Nightstalker, and extracted its DNA. Its entire body is artificial and seems to be running on a Rune. It took hours for our team to break it. Locke is saving it in a tube for further research."

Gianna looked at Micah scratch his head. It was kind of odd that he wasn't stating his opinion or asking stupid questions. Instead, the boy yawned and scratched his head some more, which irked Gianna since she worked on this presentation to no end. Honestly, Micah was trying to wrap his head around to what his companion was suggesting. He wasn't a fan of Crow but he never came to the assumption that having Crow as a leader could change his bland life in Asmia. Micah was not actively involved with anything that happened; politically or mentally. Heck, he barely had the energy to put on a matching pair of socks so figuring out everything could change was not on his Thursday night schedule.

Finally, the male looked back at the screen and stroked his chin, "So what was the purpose of showing me these cases? What, are you like forming some rebellion to take down Crow for the good of the nation?" Micah questioned with a chuckle, finding his suggestion hilarious.

"Yes."

Micah's eyes widened and he stared at Gianna with his mouth wide open, surprised at her blunt answer. He was just joking! Micah stood up to his feet and waved his hands back and forth. "Hold on, hold on hold on! I don't remember signing up for some modern revolution!"

"That is correct. But I'm not done, don't interrupt." Gianna said with a scowl before turning back to her lacrima screen to change to a video that said LIVE in red, bold letters at the top, left corner. The scenery in the video took place in a white lab with equally white tables. A man with spiky dark orange hair and fair skin hopped in front of the screen and smiled goofily, showing off his crooked teeth, and scars lining his neck. Despite looking like a childish teen, the 23 year old man was known as the Underground Scientist. His outfit consisted of a bright yellow V-Neck under an opened lab coat, dark grey jeans, and black fur ankle boots. His emerald green eyes were glistening into the screen as he waved. Gianna waved back.

"Locke, we're ready for the presentation."

Dr. Locke grinned and jumped back and clumsily scooped up many trays of vials full of liquid and lacrima balls. He caused a mess throwing them onto his desk but raced back to the camera and pushed up his thin, black glasses. "I'm so glad you're finally ready. I went through three bottles of booze waiting for you. Have you ever noticed that cute cat hanging off a tree branch in my office before? Oh and you won't even BELIEVE what new tea flavors were just shipped off. I'm lovin' it so you will be lovin it too!"

Gianna sighed, embarrassed that Locke was already distracted in 7 seconds top. She looked out the corner of her eye at Micah, who had a blank face, looking way too bored... yet amused at the same time. "Locke, the science behind our plan please?" Gianna asked, stretching out her voice in an annoyed tone.

At that, Dr. Locke stopped his rambling and cleared his throat. "Sorry bout that. Did I mention I was hungry? Anyhow, let us get this show on the roll!" Dr. Locke rolled a cylinder in his hand with neon green liquid inside it. He stared at it for a few seconds before shoving it into the camera, causing Gianna to flinch at the sound of glass hitting glass. "This here is DNA I extracted from the Nightstalker. It is a bit acid-y so I mixed it with mercury and Elane enchanted it to a good use so its not harmful to human touch... But it is harmful to Nightstalker touch HAHAHAHAHA! This beast can not be destroyed and sadly, I have no clue how Crow created it. HOWEVER! If you can get me a whole million dozens of Nightstalkers, I can mass produce this handy dandy liquid I like to call Lunar Vile, and we can transmit it into weapons and we can defeat Crow's beast army dozen by dozen! Regarding my extreme idea, we can mix the Lunar Vile with a mage and we'll have ultimate soldiers working behind the scenes. I need some mages to test it out though... Well, that is all I have for you. Toodles!" With that Dr. Locke tripped over his seat and crashed into the camera, stopping the footage. Gianna sighed and turned to see Micah staring at the blank screen in interest.

"That is Locke's project, and I want you part of the team." Gianna stated. Micah rubbed his jaw, thinking. He hummed a bit and stood up yet again to pace around the room.

Micah sighed, "I need more info then this Gi. Give me more details, something!"

"Crow will be the end of Asmia. If we don't prevent it now, we cant stop it in the future. Our plan is destroy him from the inside. It's a bit sneaky but if we publically revolt, there's no doubt about it that Crow will lash out. We don't need innocent deaths... but we do need some mages."

"Oh good potato chips, you want me to recruit teenagers to inject themselves with some acid for your cause!?" Micah shouted, a nerve popping somewhere. Sure, he was a jerk... and an arrogant bastard... and a womanizer... and a lazy moron... but he was not about to ask some kid off the street to devote their time and lives to an army that can endanger everyone they love. Micah ran his hand down his face and sighed as Gianna grunted.

"Come on Micah! You basically know everyone in the streets. You have the best connections. Find some mages, find some people dedicated, and bring them to our side. You heard about people escaping to other countries right? They know Crow's leadership will lead to disaster and we can prevent that, right here, right now! Think about the glory you selfish son of a bitch! How famous do you think you'll get after saving a country!" Gianna pushed on. She wasn't done yet. "Do you want kids to grow up without being able to grow up making their own choices?!"

Gianna opened her mouth to scream again but Micah pushed her onto the ground and hopped on top of her. He rolled them underneath a table, hidden by a thick black tablecloth. Micah placed a finger over the blushing Gianna's mouth to shush her as the door to the crappy house creaked open. Even though she knew she should be on head alert, Gianna couldn't help but let her eyes travel across Micah's face as he stared at the door. He turned back and stared intensely at the blushing young women before a smile was created among his featured and he rolled out with a girlish squeal.

"Look Gi! It's a dog!" Micah announced proudly.

Gianna face went from a deep red from blushing to a raged expression before attacking Micah with a flurry of punches. "Damn you perverted, no good, selfish, advantage taking, nose picking, loser!" Each insult was accompanied with a punch to the gut. Micah writhered in pain and lifted his hands up in surrender. She felt so violated! Gianna was a professional but their was no way she was going to let Micah off the hook.

"Ow. Ow! Okay, stop it!" He shouted.

When Gianna finally stopped her violent attacks, her hair was messy and all over the places and Micah lay curled up on the floor and the dog ran out. After fixing themselves up, Gianna and Micah sat crisscross on the floor, facing each other. Micah was the first to address her, "So... what is this project thing even called anyway?" He asked awkwardly, causing Gianna to smirk.

"Operation Mage Eaters."

I feel so horrible.

Let me just address that this will appear to be the "1st" story on my account, however its actually not. I was typing up a reboot and another story but then my computer had some trouble and it never charged right and wouldn't turn on which was frustrating.

So with the arrival of Mage Eaters, my fanfiction account will be renewed. I'll have new stories and a new profile because I just need to start off fresh. Since this will be my only story for a while, I'm going to add the Adventure/Romance of Wonder Reins and Action/Deaths of Scouts of the Fire Sword guild.

I also have some inspiration for this story from the animes Black Bullet, God Eater, and Attack on Titan however this plot is entirely my own imagination.

One thing I must add is this is a SYOC and if you are interested in sending a character, the form and all details you need/want to know are all on my Profile.

(Instead of starting a whole bunch of stories on after the other without finishing one, Mage Eaters will be my only SYOC for a long, long time so I can focus on it better because I really want to finish this idea that has been haunting me to write.)

I hoped you liked the taste of this prologue :)