Secrets Among Friends
Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or any of its characters or locations. However any of my own characters are indeed my own, as well as any elements and locations I happen to throw at your face.
Simple summary. Here we're going to hear about the legend that this plot will revolve around and the story that put as simply as possible, started it all.
Legends
All legends have to start somewhere. Everything has an end, but to have an end, it had to have a beginning, right? It only makes sense.
So let's start at the beginning, rather than throw you into the middle of a story you wouldn't quite understand otherwise. Let's rewind time in Mundus Magicus, all the way back to its first years. In a small village named Ariadne. Long before it became the city-state it is currently. And yet even then, it was bustling with activity, even if it was merely from the small number of residents who took housing here in this location. One side led to forests filled with beasts one could only imagine, until they saw them. The other side led to vast ocean with scattered islands that were left mostly unexplored. It was a simple and useful geographical location for them, at least.
Now the one thing the mostly beastfolk population of Ariadne never bothered to think about, was the same thing that most humans are guilty of. They never consider the things going on outside of the boundaries of their pretty and short lives. The considerations of those more powerful and more intelligent beasts that occupied the land around them. Why? Why do they always forget about those things? As peaceful as Ariadne was because it was so small and hard to notice, sometimes you might find yourself thinking this. The mysterious couple that moved into the village, they thought this often. A man and a woman who never spoke, other than saying their names. The human looking cream-skinned man named Sin, and the dark skinned beastwoman, Lian. But as long as they never caused trouble, which they never did, no one in the village questioned why they were there.
This isn't where we want to start though. We start with one of the said powerful intelligent beasts. Mikazuki was what he called himself. A powerful race of pure higher class dragon, he had plenty to feel proud of. He was three times the size of a house, powerful in both physical and magical combat, highly intelligent, donned jet black scales with deep purple membranes on his wings, and he was incredibly selfish and vain about what he was. Now, even the magical beasts knew their places and purposes in the world, but Mikazuki was too proud to accept to be merely some witness while these so called humans and half human hybrid races populated the world and took what they apparently thought was theirs. He was angry, and plenty bitter about what he was forced to watch. Unable to do a thing about it.
Ultimately, his pride and selfishness was not only his undoing, but just about the undoing of this innocent village. For years he flew Mundus Magicus, hunted once in a while, challenged by foolish ingrates who wanted to see if they were man enough to defeat such a glorious beast. Hah. Of course, such disgusting beings would see a majestic powerful creature, and only think of how much they want to drive their primitive tools through its body and kill it. Mikazuki stewed in his anger. The more scars he gained on his once beautiful scales, the more he wished to do something about this travesty. He had an ideal world in his mind, a world where these unwanted fools were all slain, and he ruled vast lands of only the worthy magical beasts.
Ariadne faced a truly dark day, the morning when Mikazuki landed to vent his outrage. All it took was one mistake. A small boy who aspired as hunter like his father wandering into the forested areas alone, which in itself was already a mistake. Trees knocked aside, the boy found his way to where a large black dragon roosted, resting from a long flight around the world. Knowing no better, he snuck up behind the dragon, and took out his knife. Mikazuki lifted his head in an angry roar when he felt a pinch of weak steel drive under the scale of his foot. Lifting himself into a standing position, fear overtook the boy and he turned, running for the village. He led Mikazuki right to Ariadne. Angry, Mikazuki crashed through trees, carelessly and blindly chasing his assailant until, the fearful cries of the young child and the rumbling broke the silence of the calm village. The villagers only saw the boy stumble into the town, and felt the rumble of the ground like some sort of warning. Suddenly, a woman cried out as the huge black dragon burst into view. He cared nothing of the witnesses as he growled and swiped a claw at the boy, sending him flying through the structure of a nearby shop, destroying the wall and definitely killing the boy on impact. This was the breaking point, not being able to control such a foolish child. These…mongrels. They all had to die. He glared at the fearful villagers, before he let out a deafening roar, and panic burst like a ripple in water. They scattered as Mikazuki's black fiery breath spread out over the ground for a good mile, anything caught in its blaze combusting, people and buildings alike. He smashed every manmade thing he could get near, smacked away the people in his path like flies, and snapped his massive jaws at anyone close enough.
Fires cast, blood spilled, cries of anguish and fear. That was enough. Mikazuki roared his strength once more, but was cut short by a sudden burst of yellow speeding past his head, barely skimming his ear. He stopped with an abrupt snarl, to look only at two, a human and beastfolk. Smoke curled from his snout when he huffed, half in irritation and half in amusement. Who were they, thinking they were something special enough to stand up to him? Puny, insignificant, and cocky.
The beastwoman looked up at Mikazuki. The human man lowered the hood of his cloak and also stared up at him. Mikazuki stopped with another short huff. Those eyes. What was it in those eyes? They were indeed different. You could see the worlds in those eyes, the amber eyes of the woman and the blue eyes of the man. Mikazuki spoke, his voice deep and booming. He demanded to know who they were. So they told him their names. The names that no one else in the village thought twice of, the same names that made Mikazuki feel almost a full second of hesitance. Sin and Lian. Outraged, Mikazuki denied this truth and opened his jowls, a jet of black fire streaming at them. It seemed to engulf them both, but soon the stream split into two halves before completely dispelling. Sin stood a step closer, holding up a white magical staff. Just as Mikazuki feared, it took an incredible level of magic to counter his power.
Sin handed the staff to Lian, who held it over her head. It flashed, glowing with a brilliantly blinding white that engulfed both of them. Mikazuki stepped back, snarling as the magic burst around them, their forms lifting off the ground and glowing until you could no longer spot any features on their bodies. However their outlines began to shift, and change. Change, until what was left when the light faded, was a vision that made everyone in the burning village stop and stare. A female phoenix adorned with yellow and white feathers, and fiery eyes, orange flames extending from the tips of the feathers of her wings and tail feathers. Around her, circled a serpent dragon, not covered in scales, but actually in soft white fur, a blue eyed head extending off the body that must have extended for more than a mile if unraveled. Everything about them felt and looked…almost divine. The Guardian Spirits. Settling in this village, seeing Mikazuki's years away from it actually happening. And so they took it upon themselves to contain the dragon's power before he could do worse.
Mikazuki roared defiantly to the higher beings. No! He was far too powerful to be taken down, even by these celestial guardians. Proof more that his mentality had strayed so far from what it was meant to be upon the dragon's creation on this land. His desire to prove his superiority and power over other beings had corrupted his being from the very beginning. Mikazuki spread his wings, the incredible wingspan swiftly piercing the sides of nearby small houses and summoning gusts of wind strong enough to blow anyone nearby off their feet. More powerful were the whirlwinds he summoned when he beat his wings, lifting into the air, challenging the two celestials to a fight where they had more space. A battle in the air. What they intended, however, was not a battle. As strong as Mikazuki was, he underestimated the calculating skills of his opponents. He lacked the experience of fighting with truly intelligent beings on his level, to know how to combat them.
And so all three rose higher into the air, immediately met by Mikazuki's jet of fire, missing both the phoenix and the dragon when they both unwound, separating from each other to avoid the blast. Lian circled Mikazuki's head, almost mocking him as he missed her constantly, the bird's movements too swift for his claws to catch. Meanwhile Sin circled a wider diameter around them both, literally following the tip of his tail like a ring around Mikazuki. He was a fool for thinking he could take them on. They didn't desire his blood, not his life. No, they desired punishment, divine punishment for where his choices led him. He had to be controlled. Sin began to glow brightly, a flood of white coming off his furred body and head as he circled, now quite literally creating a ring of white glowing magic. Mikazuki stopped swiping at Lian, finally taking note of the magic. He growled as Sin separated from the ring of his magic, closing in on the giant dragon and wrapping his serpent-like body around the beast's body and limbs, leaving his wings free. Mikazuki roared out in rage as Lian hovered far above his head, spreading her feathered wings, glowing light flung from them like water. He was done, there was nothing he could do. The ring around them glowed as bright as the sun now, drawing everyone's gaze away from it as it flashed, the bright light filling the expanse of the entire territory. The beam of light that burst from the three beasts in the middle crashed to the ground below, a wave of white magic flooding over the singed ground, Mikazuki's fires abruptly put out from the waves. The tide of magic circulated the area, concentrated in one spot in the middle of the downed village.
What remained when the light faded, and the battle was over, was an astonishing sight. A stone monument it looked like. The petrified beasts, Lian in the middle with Sin loosely wrapped around her, both their heads lifted towards the heavens above, Lian's wings spread wide. On the stone platform below, there was a purple gem, the size of an amulet. Resting there above it, were three necklaces, with empty slots in them, and two other gems, one yellow and one white. Suddenly, the yellow and white gems flashed, and shot high into the sky, suddenly sharply turning, sent to another location, perhaps for safety. The gems that now held the spirits of Lian, Sin, and Mikazuki. The celestial beings had given their physical lives to restrain and seal away Mikazuki's evil from the land. They had stayed in Ariadne that entire time, to rise when the village needed to be saved. This was the day the townspeople gained their new belief in the guardians, who were willing to so far as to give up treading this world to save what could only be insignificant lives compared to their own. And the only thing they had to do was watch over the trinkets left behind, and ensure that they never fall into wrongful hands.
The Ariadne that stands here today, is something to be proud of. An independent city-state, its own authority, complete with its own laws and guard. They're well known for their contribution of the Valkyrie Brigade, a guard comprised of the top qualifying soldiers trained at their prestigious magical academy, Ariadne Academy, however there are neighboring academic premises that contribute male soldiers, bound to someday leave Ariadne and affiliate themselves with guards such as the Imperial Guard, should they prove worthy enough. The monument of Lian and Sin still stands in the middle of the vast city-state. However like any legend, their true story and purpose has turned into nothing but a mere myth, a heroic bedtime story to tell the children before they drift into the land of dreams. People are always bound to forget their roots, the reason why they are still standing today. It's the nature of life. However, it is said that one who does not know the past well enough, is doomed to relive it.
Hey, hey! Hehe, this is the intro chapter, hope you liked it ~ and no, Sin is not whatever you're thinking. Sin is a male Sumerian name that means wisdom and the name of a god of the moon. So yeah. Lian is Chinese, for the daughter of the sun. You see the connection between the man and woman now? Mikazuki is a Japanese name for new moon. Mostly cause of the darker setting of his character.
The title comes from "Legends" by Madina Lake. Yes, I'm naming the chapters after song titles. Call me weird. I know I am.
This is my third attempt at trying to write this story about the Ariadne girls, so bear with me. I know I can do it this time! –Fist pump- In case you didn't know, my last attempt was my dropped project, Iter Itineris.
Read and review, do you look forward to the beginning of the actual story? Heh.