Chapter 1

"I win again, idiot," The whitely dressed woman smirked as her scantly clad sister gave a large hiss as she looked at the sprawling game board. They were sisters no doubt, even if they were apart of completely different races, but that wasn't the point. Once again Sara lost to her older sister in a game of wit, she couldn't let this pass, unless Sara wanted people to go around and think she was stupid, which she probably was.

"Gah, you're nothing but a dirty cheater anyway. I bet if I had those kind of tools I would conquer plenty of wor-" Sara gave a smile a horrible terrible smile, as she thought of something amazing an idea that only a four thousand year old demon queen would think of. She must have thought it was a wonderful woeful idea, the kind of that would make the skin of grown men shiver. Sara slammed the table as Karu eye twitched.

"W-what are you getting at Sara?" Karu stuttered, as Sara smiled before she finally spoke about a rather sore subject between he two sisters. "You know the world, that one called Fen? You and me both know that it's been a struggle trying to gain control of it. Karu mouth twisted as Sara simply continued speaking.

"So, how about a game? I bet I can gain control of Den within three months, and if I do you must state that I'm your mental superior." It was a high risking bet as Karu gave a light chuckle, no doubt the holy woman wanted to know her reward if her sister failed.

"And what would you do for me if you didn't make the deadline?" The light brown haired woman gave a light smiled as her younger sister crossed her arms.

"Then I shall pull out my troops and let you have it," one has to question Sara's tactical leadership when she was willing to let years of work go down the drain. Though Sara never said she was a war general, she was a queen, and queens don't have to think to much. Karu lips curved into a smile it was a one sided bet, it was perfect after all. The only person who would have to put work in was Sara, Karu could continue things like they were while her sister struggled to end and endless stalemate.

"Fine...let the game begin!"

With a giant twist the large board started to spin, no doubt this would be a grand game.

Dragging, the sound of someone being dragged was heard. But who was being dragged? Well that answer to that question was soon to be answer. "Gah." A red swordsman grumbled as two black clad warriors started to talk about what had happened in the unnamed forest.

"Sheesh, this is the second human that randomly appeared here, and in less than twenty-four hours too." One of the shadows grumbled as the other one chuckled.

"Yeah, master Shan seemed rather interested in them, so we probably going to get a raise or something. I rather humans get it then us, remember the last time we had a shortage of test subjects," the black clad man shivered as they continued to drag the unconscious swordsman through the forest. Or at least he should still be unconscious, as said swordsman eyes snapped open. Though this swordsman probably wasn't the brightest as he started to speak rather than quickly escaping.

"W-what happened?" The brown haired teen groaned as the two black clad men snapped to attention.

"Shit, knock him out!" No doubt one of the yelled that demand as he let go of the swordsman legs, which was the first mistake of the two. In the single motion the swordsman kicked off the ground reaching for his twin swords tied around his belt.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit! Why didn't we unarm him when we had the chance, we are ninjas we're suppose to think about these kind of things." The brown haired swordsman slowly looked up at his supposed attackers. They had identical white hair and red eyes, the could probably be twins if they wanted to as the red clad swordsman frowned.

"Who...are you guys." The swordsman eyes narrowed as the white hair men simply shrugged before asking a similar question.

"Hey, human don't go asking people's names when you are the one to intrude upon them, though I don't think knowing it wo-" the man statement was cut off as the teenager responded.

"Lloyd, now give me yours," the men didn't know whether to laugh at how blunt the boy was, or cry at the fact that neither of them had names to give, which probably just made them worthless fodder in the long run.

"W-we don't need to give a worthless human our names." It was an obvious lie to cover up, but it seemed Lloyd didn't catch on to that, in fact he took offense to that statement.

"How can you be so arrogant when, all you know about me is my name...what's wrong with you?" The to men simply sighed, now they were being made to look bad, when all they did was follow directions anyway, but none of that mattered. This swordsman, whoever he was had to come with them, or not. Humans could do whatever they wanted, if they got unlucky enough to be captured then it was their own fault.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Are you going to come quietly, or do we have to crush your bones into dust!" The two men entered fighting positions as Llyod followed, whoever these people were, they weren't friendly at all. There was no need continued talking, all that was left was the fight in the sun filled forest.

"Oh, you're up?" The blue eyed woman smiled as the black haired boy let out a low grumble, he was traveling though the halls of what appeared to be a church. It had to be as the glass windows had colors similar to that of a one. The teenager then looked at his odd sword before the brown haired woman smiled, before turning away from the young man, her blue eyes peering through her hair.

"Ah, if you were found by a regular citizen you would have been killed by the knights. Ah, I should thank my connections for this opportunity, either way, what are you going to do now? You aren't a registered human by any means, and going out now would be a death sentence. So I would recommend allow me to register you now,"

The black haired teen simply continued to look at the woman, as the woman gave a light chuckle before speaking once again. "I see, take your time, it's alright even though anyone with half a brain could figure out, you're not one of us. But the way you're dressed is like a royal, just be glad you didn't end up on the other side the planet, you'd probably be killed on the spot."

The woman joked about death so casually, as the teen remained silent, before the woman before him brought up a rather pointless question. "Isn't it polite to give your name that helped you?"

"...Leon Mangus."

These were chains alright, the girl known as Tear wasn't a stranger to them as she hanged from her arms in a tube like structure, white decor scattered her surroundings as she just hung there, staring in one direction. At this moment escape was impossible, from what she had heard through the tube. Guards had been stationed outside this beautifully designed room, even if said room was more like a laboratory.

Just then the golden doors leading out of the cell flung open, as a masked woman walked through them. Tear already was familiar with said woman as she visited everyday, simply to stare at Tear. The masked was unlike any she had ever seen, it was probably closer to a helmet in all honesty, as the woman hair was concealed as well. Her white dress was something to be looked upon, but none of that mattered in the current situation. The woman finally spoke, her voice rather distorted by the mask, this was actually a rather shocking turn of events. After all, the masked woman never spoke to Tear before, why now.

"Tear grants... Locrian Sergeant, first platoon." The masked woman read her title coldly as Tear eyes widened. She wondered if the woman in front of her was someone she had met before, but that wasn't possible. After all Tear never seen this place before, actually Tear didn't even know where she was or where anyone else was for that matter.

"Eh, that look. I love it, really Tear. I know everything about you, and what kind of person you are. Don't worry through, I won't kill you, I'll just keep you locked up here so you won't cause anymore trouble for anyone else," the masked woman chuckled before she resumed her sentence, her next line of words were rather cold.

"Ah, we are tracking your friends now, if they are in our territory they will be captured shortly...If they've been spirited away by demons, well I don't think you will be seeing them anytime soon." The woman turned to the door as she gave a casual wave as the two golden gates slammed closed.

"Gah! I can't believe you guys, this is no way to treat a lady!" The brown haired girl slammed on the bars as the black clad guards sighed. Really it was odd to find a human just laying around, even odder to find them in some kind of tights yellow jumpsuit thing.

"Not our fault you didn't have a weapon, really a bubble blower thing." The white haired man leaned back in his seat behind the desk. The cell hadn't been cleaned in a while, so it was only natural for everything to have a fishy smell as the girl pouted. It was dark, damp and empty. Though it was a rather unsettling feeling about the whole thing as the girl started to speak again.

"Hey! Why do you guys want me anyway...don't tell me you are planning on using me as a hostage for a million gald ransom!" Was she joking, she had to be as the guard gave a short chuckle before grinning, it seemed like he was going to enjoy telling the girl exactly what she was going to be used for.

"Sorry kid, but Shan is going to use you for some experiments, chances are you probably won't last for a week. If I were you, I'd be praying for a miracle, though I might not be the best example of that. Since I'm a demon and all..."

Once again the brown haired girl frowned, it seemed like it would be impossible to escape alone. Maybe a prince charming would rescue her from her inescapable prison, a girl can dream can't she?"

"...Grandad! He's waking up!" The boy screamed as he ran away from the bed, leaving the silver armored knight eyes fluttering before staring at the ceiling. He was actually rather use to sleeping in it at this point. After all he's done it some many times before it became second nature to him.

Before the knight could sit up all the way a rather elderly man walked towards the bed, putting his hand on the knights arm. "You shouldn't move so soon, you took quite the beating." The knight thought back about the events that lead him there. "That's right, those guys were after that boy..." The blond knight then turned and face the boy in question who had a rather silly grin on his face before rubbing his head and feeling the cloth that was wrapped around his skull.

"I have to thank you for saving my grandson." The old man smiled as he put a small cup of tea next to the bed rest before resuming the conversation. "Before I miss this chance, may I ask you your name?" The old man stated as the armored knight nodded.

"It's Cress Albane."

"So, I know this is a weird question to ask, but do you know where I am?" Cress asked as he held his head, the small boy eyes widened as he looked at the swordsman before the man laughed.

"Well, you're in the town of Huanghun, and don't worry about being awkward, a lot of people been asking that question lately, but I also recommend not causing too much of a scene."

Cress wondered what that meant; actually the swordsman had another question he needed to ask the old man, one that was much more pressing. "D-did you see anyone else with me?" No doubt he was referring to his five companions that he usually travels with as the old man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, when I found you no one else was here, that being said if you're not from around here I recommend skipping town as soon as possible."

The word skip was pretty hilarious, but the man seemed to be rather tense. Cress wondered if he should pry anymore as he lifted himself from the sheets. "Hey, are you sure you're strong enough to move?" The small boy asked as Cress nodded "Yeah, I'm fine thanks to you; actually I never got your names." Cress stated before the elderly man laughed.

"My name is Vincent, and this is my son Sennt." The brown haired boy smiled as his name was mentioned before Cress as the blond knight nodded once again.

"Okay, so can you tell me a little more about this town?" Cress asked as the old man eyes widened, the gray haired man then chuckled.

"Why don't you see for yourself, I'm sure the people around town would be interested in seeing you." Cress didn't really understand the point of doing that, but he didn't see any harm in doing so. Cress headed towards his sheath. No doubt that his sword was still inside its holder before leaving the house and going into the town.

The town itself had a rather dull, brown and green filled the knight's eyes as small houses and shops was in the field of view. People went around their daily chores with little care, but even Cress could tell that there was a certain strain on everyone and anyone. Before Cress took another step Sennt ran out of the house and ran up next to him.

"Hey, granddad said I should help you around town, if you don't mind that is." Sennt stated as Cress gave a small laugh.

"Ah, actually that would be rather nice, since I have no idea where I'm going."

"R-Rita, are you sure this is a good idea?" The pink haired princess asked as she was slowly pushed into the cramp car, though neither of them knew that it was a car at the time. Only a fast moving machine in a white colored city.

"Don't worry about it, plus this is the only way we can move around quickly, if someone left it out in the open like this, that's just asking for it to be stolen." The brown haired teen said that, but it was probably just an excuse to take it apart and identify what made it tick.

Skyscrapers lined the sky as the girl known as Rita moved to the front of the machine, preparing to blast it open in an instant, though saying prepared was wrong. Since she really did blast it open the whole machine shook causing the pink heart to jump.

Rita looked at the engine, she was actually rather surprised how similar to that of a blastia, which was even weirder. Since Rita got to that city she didn't have to rely on her blastia to use artes at all, she thought the machines wouldn't be necessary for it to run with a core. Though none of that mattered at the moment, she would investigate that later, for now getting out of the city was the most important thing at the moment as Rita stuck her hand into the odd object as she slowly moved bits and pieces of it. If it really was like a blastia then she should know how to work it.

Bam

"All it will take..."

Bam

"Is a little..."

Bam

"Work..."

With a rather satisfying click the core started to shake as Rita gave a small smile, before sliding into the driver's seat next to her pink haired friend. "Rita, are you sure this is a good idea, do you even know how to drive this thing?" It was an honest question that the princess asked as the young warlock simply pushed away as unimportant.

"Don't worry about it Estelle, I'll make sure things go smoothly...now how do I start this thing?" Rita was obviously excited about using it, as she noticed a small pedal on the floor. Being the genius that she was Rita slightly tapped the pedal, as the machine jolted forward before slowly coming to a stop. Rita noted that it took three times as long for it to stop then to accelerate.

"Okay, I think I've got it..." Rita paused as she slammed on the pedal, not realizing it used a lever system that is equal to the force that is applied to it. And alas, these machines do not have breaks; considering they were designed for holy ones in mind it only made sense that only holy ones could pilot them well. Rita was not a holy one, so the machine went flying full speed, with no way to stop it of course.

Destruction was the only thing left on their path, as destroyed street signs and cracked windows was scattered across the street as a single car totaled, slammed into the great crystal in the middle of the city. The two culprits had their faces stuffed in two air bags as they struggled to get free. After a moment of resistance.

"R-Rita, what did you do?" The pink haired princess was obviously disturbed from guilt and fear, after all they destroyed innocent people's property and damaged the brilliant gem in the middle of town.

"I don't know?! I didn't think it would take off like that, actually this is pretty interesting," it seemed Rita completely forgot the situation they were in as she deflated the air bag and walked out of the machine towards the front. Unfortunately opening the lid would be impossible, it was completely crushed.

Rita didn't know how to react, a fine piece of machinery was completely destroyed. That would be sad no matter what the situation was as Estelle popped her head out of the smashed window before her expression turned to dread.

"Rita, you might want to look at this..." The pink haired girl stuttered as she looked into the distance, before Rita could even turn to see what her friend was looking at a large ear grating noise boomed through the air.

"Stop criminal scum! You've violated the law!"

This was not a good situation to be in, not at all.

"Oh my." The brown haired woman eyes widened as she looked at the news paper. "It seemed two human girls were arrested for car jacking and vandalism, isn't that just the most oddest thing that you ever heard?"

The woman took a sip of her tea as Leon sat across of her, uninterested in the whole situation.

"Well, it would be a shame for us to let them die right? Maybe I should post their bail and get them registered?" The woman pondered as Leon grumbled, he really didn't have time for this, in all honestly he just wanted to leave and be on his way. But as the woman would put it, he wasn't registered and escaping a city like this would be a hassle.

Though while he was here, he should ask the woman a simple question. "Who are you exactly?" Leon was blunt with the words as the woman gave a short laugh and smiled.

"Ah, just someone named Yulia, not a big deal. I doubt you heard of it, now if you excuse me, I must be going out. I'm interested in those two girls and I'm going to get you registered, of course you don't need to come if you don't want to. But I would highly recommend you doing so." Yulia stated as Leon's eyes narrowed, the truth of the matter, he really wasn't in a position to say no, better just to get it all over with in a single swoop.

"Fine, better than staying in a place like this."

As they exited the large cathedral, Leon took note at the amazing city, he actually never saw anything similar to it before. Nothing less, nothing more, just an absolute untainted milk mixed with clear water. Despite its beauty Leon knew such a place had things to hide, after all if what Yulia said was true they probably would kill anyone who dared to break the smallest laws.

It made sense, if someone breaks the law then they probably deserve their punishment, but what this city did was less about punishing those who deserve it, but keeping everything as tightly wrapped as possible.

Another odd thing was everyone looked similar, blue eyes and blond or brown hair with some black haired men mixed in. This was rather jarring as well, but once again none of this mattered to Leon, it was better to bury such thoughts away for something more pressing.

"Well that's the town. So how do you like it?" Sennt asked obviously trying to impress the current guest as the two walked out of the general store. Cress wondering what his next course of action it is, plus what Vincent was talking about when he said that he should skip town soon. Either way once of those questions was about to be answered shortly as Sennt gaze froze towards the entrance of the town.

Cress eyes moved up as he saw a small troop of what appeared to be ninjas ascend upon the town. Though who were leading them was simply a black haired woman with a long lab coat, she was no doubt apart of the research division of the place where they worked, wherever that was.

"W-what those guys doing here?" The boy stuttered as Cress simply looked at the brown haired boy before asking him a question.

"Hey, who are those people?"

Sennt balled his fist. "Those people are Shan's shadows; they hang around the forest and take anyone they find they take them to some kind of research facility and turn them into something less than human. But they never actually enter the town before now…" Cress frowned at the explanation; something like that really shouldn't be allowed. Cress clenched his sword as the boy continued to speak.

"They only do this because we're humans; they think they have the right to treat us like rats."

The black clad man slowly walked towards the middle of the town, the woman in the lab coat checking what seemed to be a clip board, everyone simply stood there. Not moving a single muscle hoping the intruders would leave without incident. Alas their wishes would not come true, at least not this day.

"May I have your attention?!" The woman yelled before she gave a light cough continuing her sentence. "It seemed two of our companions have been killed in the forest early today, it was a shame that two members of our family has vanished…" The woman wiped a nonexistent tear from her eyes before continuing.

"So, it was decided that we should take two of yours, it's only natural right? I mean there is no doubt that a human did it? So we're going to take two of you away for a long nice trip." More silence as the red eyed woman scanned the crowd. At that moment her eyes locked onto a girl, she probably wasn't any older than thirteen as the woman smiled.

"You there, come with us, or we can start killing people, your pick." The small brown haired teen posture straightened, she was looking towards her fellow villagers for him, but they all simply looked towards the ground. They didn't want to be involved; all of them prayed that they wouldn't be picked. So if someone else was picked it was actually good for them.

"Well? I'm waiting, unless you want people do die because of you, which make sense, after all you humans are rather selfish creatures." The woman shrugged as the girl winced a bit; she knew there was no other way so she simply excepted her fate. Or she should have accepted it.

"I think I've heard enough..." Cress really sit back and do nothing, not when innocent people were going to get hurt, as the blond knight walked towards the red eyed demons they simply stared in confusion, a human was actually threatening them. Something like that was simply unheard of.

"Eh, whoever you are, I suggest you back down for now. After all it would be a shame if you would be dragged for experimentation." The red eyed researcher pushed her glasses up as she smirked, Cress simply glared at the demons, taking note that there were only three black clad Ninja's with the woman.

"Actually, I think you are the ones that should back down are you." Cress gritted his teeth as the woman's eyes twitched, it seems that she was insulted. She couldn't let a mere human get away with that as she glared at her three subordinates, two of them vanished from behind the woman as she reappeared in front of her.

"It seems this guy want to be a hero...teach him a lesson." The two enemies rushed Cress as he drew his sword, one aimed high as the other aimed low. No doubt aiming for his head and feet, Cress eyes narrowed as he ran his sword against the ground. The artes name was...

"Demon fang!" The black clad warrior eyes widened as he tried to twist his body to avoided the sharp wave, alas. Even though he avoided being cut in half, his arm wasn't as lucky. It was cut clean from off his shoulder, but the odd thing about it. The warrior showed no emotion at it, in fact his words were probably the most disturbing thing about the whole situation.

"Whatever, I'm just a shadow."

Cress didn't have time to think to much about such a thing as the leaping ninja, as Cress lowered his center of gravity as he pushed off the ground with his left foot. "Swallow dance!" It was three swift kicks as the black clad warrior was sent flying for only a second before landing on his feet and saying something as odd as the other one.

"Who cares."

Cress simply looked as the woman with the thick glasses balled her fist before removing said objects from her face. "Useless, the lot of you, fine I'll take care of this in one swift motion, after all I am Darkmante. With those words the woman nearly gilded against the ground, moving at a speed that should have been impossible for anything living to reach.

Cress prepared for impact, but that never came, it seemed the woman stopped about five feet away from the swordsman as she took a deep breath...

In that moment, he mouth gaped open shooting out a large poisonous smog that enveloped Cress. "D-damn." He cursed himself for not seeing such a simple trick as his vision blurred, he slowly collapsed on the ground coughing uncontrollably. He couldn't move his body at all.

"Sweet dreams..." That was the last thing Cress heard before his vision went completely black.

Author notes

Don't worry, we'll get to more character's later. That being said, I didn't want to add to many tales of games into this fic, as keep track of all the characters would be a hassle and mind numbing. But from the Tales of games I am using I am using all the characters. The tales of games I'm using are.

ToP

ToS

TotA

ToL

ToD

ToV