A/N: I sincerely hope I do not regret posting this... This will be my second attempt at starting a multi-chaptered fic and first plunge into the MapleStory section of FF. Hello readers!
In regards to this story, currently I only have a basic outline for the first three or four chapters planned out. I am also attempting to suss out how to portray the characters of Phantom and Gaston. As such, any tips or pointers that you readers/ viewers may have would be greatly appreciated :).
I hope you enjoy the story and that my characterisation of the heroes are not too out of place... (If it is, please tell me.)
SUMMARY
POST-WAR. After the defeat of the Black Mage, an entity made of pure malice and evil, the peace Empress Aria dreamed of was restored. The five heroes have since parted ways. With immense wealth, enough to last several lifetimes, Master Thief 'Phantom' has 'retired', choosing to live out the rest of his life a merchant and traveller or so it would seem. The return of a blue-eyed stranger...complicates things... Plunged back into the world of thievery, 'Phantom' steals the one thing he would have never imagined stealing...a human child.
'Peace,' Phantom thought ruefully, 'had always been a fickle thing.'
LIVING RELICS
Prologue - Reprise of memories
An enormous explosion shook the entirety of the Black Mage's throne room. Debris; pieces of enchanted stone, coloured glass and concrete pierced through the air as a blonde-haired man rose his cane to parry them. To his left stood the young inheritor of the title of Dragon Master, an Onyx Dragon shielding both the boy and the Queen of Elves. A rumble behind and to his right alerted him to the actions his two other allies had taken to protect themselves.
The entire ceiling had been blown off by the force of their final combined attack.
Tendrils of dark energy and chains shot forward, encapsulating the entire area as they twisted and shrivelled as if in pain.
The five heroes looked upwards, war-beaten and grim they stood, weapons raised.
It was then the soft sunlight of a new dawn filtered in through the remains of the ceiling. The dark tendrils jerked still as chains of pulsing black mana appeared to tighten and tense. Bit by bit they disintegrated into dust particles before forming a thick mist that was swept away by the rising sun.
The dawn of a new era of peace had come.
'Aria,' Phantom thought wearily in the ensuing silence punctuated by ragged breathing. 'It's finally over.'
Through vision obscured by rainwater running down his face - the world passes as a dark, endless blur. One thought stabs at his mind as he takes in the world around him – the large oval shapes with thin spindly hands, too thin to be human, grey flowers that look dead –
He cannot find her.
The overhead downpour does little to calm his clenching chest and the cold, unadulterated fear ebbing away at his veins. He does not realise it at first. (What, after all, was fear to a Master Thief who danced with danger daily?) But when he does, running forever through the shadows of Ereve's gardens for an unseen location does not seem like such a farfetched idea. His boots splashing through rainwater, he does not think, he runs.
Beneath an ancient tree with moonlight as his sole guide, he spots the large, white form of Shinsoo. A sense of relief washes through him as he hastens his pace to make his way over, boots clacking against tiles. The scent of burning smothers the air, dying embers casting a flickering light on strewn rubble, cracked tiles and decimated stone arches - but he ignores it for now. It is not important. None of it is.
'You have come, Phantom...' the ancient, drained voice of Shinsoo echoes in his mind as large almond-shaped eyes open. They appraise him for a moment, sky-blue, before shifting. The great guardian deity moves one of its feathered wings to reveal Aria. Still and unmoving as if in sleep. But her cheeks are no longer rosy. Her chest does not rise and fall, softly, gracefully. Her eyes, blue eyes are closed. She does not greet him with a smile.
'If the rumoured master thief Phantom wants to help the Maple World, then you are welcomed to do so...' A pause. 'But first, tell me what your purpose is. Is it... because of that?'
The musty scent of books hits him at full force before he can register it. He is leaning against the wooden frame of an open window, a silk card balanced on the tip of his index finger. Propelled by the winds, the card floats towards the ground. Before him, a young brunette in thick red robes and golden lining fixes him with a levelled stare. The card is now in their hand.
Flipping it, knowing blue eyes close with mirth as a grim smile chances upon their lips. 'So you wanted to steal something but it got stolen from you instead?'
The bright, blue eyes of young Cygnus glance upwards at him in admiration. A child, through and through, he thinks, noting her appearance. But that power...
'I am glad to finally meet you again... Phantom.' she says in a small, shy voice.
Pausing, she glances to the side, fiddling with the hem of her silk blue tippet before moving her line of vision back to him once more. 'Meeting you makes me wonder what Empress Aria was like.'
A small smile graces her lips as she ponders.
'I bet she was a kind and beautiful person.'
It is another star-lit night in Ereve. Touching down silently on the balcony, he leans back casually against one of its intricate railings and watches. Watches as the cool night breeze fiddles coyly with strands of her long golden hair. A delicate ornament adorns her head, her light blue dress fluttering as she gazes far ahead of her. He has a strange inkling that it is not the night sky she watches from the balcony, swathed in light blues, but quickly dispels the notion. Appraising the small of her back, her slight frame, he cannot help but feel impressed by the power she eludes. The power of an empress.
Pushing away from the railings, he approaches her from behind, deliberately allowing his footfalls to echo against the balcony's floor. She whirls around, surprised innocent blues meeting suave amethyst. The Skaia sways side to side, grasped in her hands. She smiles softly, lips forming words:
'Phantom.'
"-antom. Mr. Phantom!" Evan called, waving a bloodied hand before the purple eyed man's face. "Are you okay?"
Phantom looked up with a start.
"Evan?" he muttered, disbelief colouring his voice, much more than he would have liked.
At the sound of a loud, resounding clank and what appeared to be scattering pebbles, Phantom glanced down at his dominant hand, a frown creasing at his lips. Though barely noticeable it shook, locked in a position that was clenched but not quite a fist. The silk white material of the glove covering it had all been shredded – the remains matted with dried blood. Grimacing, he stilled his hand, directing his eyes down to the cracked floor where his most prized cane had fallen. Broken jewels of varying sizes and colours sparkled back at him in the dim light of the new day and for a moment, as he watched them sparkle; the world seemed to shine a little brighter.
'It's all over.'
Gently, methodically, for the first time in what appeared to be a lifetime, Phantom swept the soot that had collected on his military-styled jacket off with his hands, smoothed out any lines and mourned its tattered state as he inspected it. Ignoring his protesting wounds, he patted down on his brown trousers – even Evan's muffled voice seemed far off as he stared at his once pristine white cape. Shredded and bloodied, it was evident that it was unsalvageable.
On unsteady feet, he bent stiffly, picking up his cane and, pouring in what remained of his mana reserves, waited and watched with darkening vision as it morphed into a staff. The blue centrepiece gleamed up at him. Raising it slightly, a green glow enveloped his torso, knitting together skin and the soft flesh beneath. Heal.
Evan's bloodied hands were intrusive at best as they reappeared within his field of vision and in their flurry of motion were, of all things, fussing over him. The boy's incessant questions of: 'Are you okay?' 'Are you sure you're okay?' 'Your abdomen was...are you sure...' suddenly grew in volume the more Phantom listened to him. Grunting in ire, it was then he recognised his worsening mood. The flecks of blood accompanying every wave of Evan's hands in his direction (of all directions!) as the boy continued to wave about did little but contribute more to its deterioration.
Sniffling once in distaste, Phantom batted Evan's bloodied hands away with the side of his cane, eyes scanning the rips in the Dragon Master's robes, the pallor of skin, any stains of blood – the tell-tale signs of an injury in one casual sweep. Mentally noting that the boy did not appear to be severely injured, he limped to the right and towards the still and silent Mage of 'Light'.
"Luminous," Phantom called, testing out his parched throat.
In the following silence and the wide, decimated space that seemed to stretch on without end, the faint outline of hunched shoulders under white clothing and blue-tinted hair becomes visible to Phantom. The mage remains still.
There is no sign of acknowledgement.
Letting a sigh escape him, Phantom clicked his tongue. 'As affable as ever.'
Moving closer now, the faint click-clack of Mercede's shoes echo in the silence as he takes in the distinct tenseness of the mage's shoulders, the clenched fists, the bowed head and the tight jaw.
"Hey, twink-," Phantom paused, shaking his head. Nicknames in this situation just simply wouldn't do, even an idiot had enough tact to know that. Clearing his throat, he began again: "Luminous!"
Abruptly, the mage whirled to face him, an expression of pure fury setting one red eye, one blue eye alight.
Stiffening, Phantom frowned, a multitude of questions filling his mind as he stared thoughtfully into the mage's one ruby red eye.
'That Red Eye...'
'It's still there.'
Shifting uncomfortably and favouring his right side, Luminous closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again.
"The Black Mage is gone," he intoned, resolute, but his eyes spelt out other words, another story. Fainter now, he continued, "The only remaining traces...lie in me."
But it could have disappeared.
A stony silence set in between the two as they tolerated each other's presence. It had been a necessity, a requirement in order for them to collaborate in the war against the Black Mage. Now defeated three years later, this built up tolerance had yet to change. Phantom pursed his lips thoughtfully. He had never been one for comforting, trivial actions to show that you cared, however little... but...glancing towards Luminous, he supposed he could chip in something for a long-time ally, no matter how... antagonistic they had been towards each other in the past.
"Is there no way to extract it?" Phantom asked. 'That darkness,' went unsaid.
Luminous shot him a disgruntled look. It appeared that the mage too, had noticed the incongruity of the situation and Phantom's words.
"There must surely be a way..." Phantom continued, choosing to ignore Luminous's dubious look. The revelation. The glaring lack of a plausible solution. The fact that he – of all people was attempting to carry out the concept known as 'comforting'.
At times like this... Phantom sighed inwardly. If only Freud were here. He frowned. While the boy, Evan, had certainly filled out Freud's shoes well, earning his rightful title as the heir of the original Dragon Master...there was always the matter of knowledge. While Freud had been born a prodigy and a scholar, Evan had not... In place of theories and intricate creations, Evan had been but a simple farm boy...relying more so on his high emotional intelligence and adaptability rather than anything else to help him along the way. Clever... yet it wasn't enough, not yet.
Glancing up and around at the bodies of fallen allies, piles of rubble, scorched metal and twisted armour, Phantom brought one tattered hand up to the side of his head, hand ghosting over the cool circular jewel at the side of his hat. Soaking in the early morning sun that shone down on them and the crisp air, Phantom glanced upwards at the clouds floating by. They had attained victory at last, hadn't they?
Prologue - Reprise of memories END
Fun fact: the dialogue present in Phantom's mini flashback are taken from different parts of his canon storyline. Can you guess which scenes they belong to? :)