Chapter 2 The Beginning
Morning of X777
When Marco first woke up that morning he was surprised to find that Cekos wasn't sleeping next to him like he usually was. "Huh I guess the lazy ass was hungry." Marco shrugged. He was well aware of the fact that Cekos had been acting differently lately but he was sure it wasn't a big deal.
But as the hours passed by Marco couldn't ignore the small amount of worry lingering deep in his chest. "Oh wait a second." Marco realized. "He's probably just sleeping outside. Heh to think I was getting worried for nothing." But as Marco traveled outside his worry worsened when he saw that Cekos still wasn't there. "Well uh... maybe he's just at one of his weird dragon meetings. Yeah that's it!" Marco said desperately.
Marco went to sit down back in the middle of the cave. "Yeah that's right... he'll be back. He has to come back." The day went on but Cekos never came.
The next day when Marco woke up Cekos still wasn't next to him. Marco grit his teeth and walked to the edge of the cave. "Is this some sort of joke!" He asked "Because it's not funny uncle Cekos!" Nobody answered his call and so Marco yelled again. "Come out here! You're not funny!"
Once again nobody answered his call and tears began to form in Marco's eyes. "I'll stop calling you uncle if you want! I'll never wake you up again! Just come back!" But despite all his yelling nobody ever answered him.
The very next day when Cekos didn't appear Marco went out into the woods and brought a large stone back to the cave. He placed it next to his mother's tombstone a picked a sharp rock off of the ground and started carving words into the stone. When he was finished the stone read 'Cekos the Dragon The best uncle I've ever had.'
After checking over his work Marco plopped onto the ground and stared at the newly made gravestone hoping that it would somehow bring Cekos back to him. To nobody's surprise it didn't.
Three days later a small group of teens were wandering through the woods Marco's cave was located in. The oldest of the group was a fifteen year old boy wearing shades and a black leather jacket. Behind him was a tall thin thirteen year old named Ricco Zar who wore a simple light brown t-shirt and black shorts. He had wild light blue hair and a bow and quiver strapped to his back.
The only female in the group was named Sakura Luna. She was also thirteen and had long pink hair and wore a light pink kimono with a flower petal pattern. She also seemed to prefer walking around barefoot. The final and youngest member of the group was named Yoro Mekler he was only twelve years old and wore a brown fedora and a beige t-shirt. He was also carrying a large backpack while his companions were carrying nothing. "Ughhh it's so hot out." Ricco complained.
"Stop complaining." Pete commanded. "It's the summer it was bound to be hot."
"Yeah but it's just the beginning of June." Ricco argued. "You'd think that things would stay cool for just a bit longer."
"Well sometimes you just don't get what you want." Sakura said. "Man my feet are killing me."
"Then put some shoes on!" Yoro snapped. "But I have to agree with Ricco here it's way to hot out."
Pete groaned. "Fine! We'll take a quick break in that cave up ahead but after that we're traveling nonstop. I want to get to Serpent's Fang by the end of the week."
"All right!" Yoro cheered as he plowed ahead of everyone else. "I'll race you guys there!"
"I still can't believe he can run that fast while still carrying our stuff." Ricco said.
"There's no doubt that he's our most physically strong member." Sakura agreed.
"Get a move on you two." Pete said. "You were the ones who wanted to take a break."
"He's so cold..." Sakura and Ricco shivered.
Having run ahead of everyone else Yoro had been the first one to arrive at the cave. He dropped his giant backpack and went to find a place to sit. In his search he noticed two large stones sitting near the back of the cave. "What the hell is this?" He asked. Yoro learned over and read the words written on the stones. "Lilac Vern... died to unknown disease? Are these tombstones?!"
"Yeah they are." Yoro jumped as he heard a voice from behind him. He swiftly turned around to see a purple haired kid that seemed to be around his age. Although he seemed to be a bit pale. The kid smiled "Sorry to scare you like that. I'm Marco Vern and this is my cave."
"Your cave?" Yoro asked. "Why don't you live in a house like everyone else?"
"Well I doubt that a dragon would fit inside a house." Marco answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah I guess that makes sense." Yoro said calmly. "Wait What?! A dragon!"
"Yeah!" Marco answered. "Why is that weird or something?"
"Yes it's weird!" Yoro yelled. "Dragons are extinct! Dead! Gone! They're not around any more!"
"Well I'm sorry to tell you that you've been misinformed." Marco glared. "Cekos was here just a few days ago. That means that Dragons can't be extinct!"
"Then where did they go exactly?" Yoro asked. "Have they just been hiding away for the past 300 something years?!"
"Oh yeah then I guess I've just been hallucinating the past thirteen years of my life then huh?" Marco shot back.
"You wanna fight?!" Yoro barked.
"Hell Yeah I do!" Marco yelled back.
"Yoro." That singular chilling voice was all it took to get both boys to stop and shiver. At the caves entrance Pete had just arrived. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Well uhh you see Pete I was trying to tell this guy that Dragons were extinct. But he didn't believe me so we started arguing and things just kinda escalated from there..." Yoro laughed nervously. "Whoops?"
Pete growled and rubbed his temples. "Fine whatever but who the hell are you?"
Pete pointed at Marco who was struggling to form words. "Well uhh.. I'm Marco and I kinda live here."
And with that Pete's demeanor suddenly shifted. "Well then we apologize for our intrusion."
"What the fu- I mean no it's fine really." Marco said extremely confused.
"Ehhh don't mind him." Ricco said patting Marco on the back. "He's always like that a bit too much of a stick in the mud though if you ask me."
"Wait where did he come from?" Marco asked himself.
"Ricco." Sakura sighed. "You could at least introduce yourself before you buddy up to him. Like this, hi my name is Sakura Luna."
Marco shook her hand. "And I'm Marco Vern... wait why are you bare-"
"Don't ask." Ricco warned. "Anyways I'm Ricco Zar, best archer in Fiore if I do say so myself."
"Which he does, a lot." Sakura deadpanned.
"Oh... okay that's cool I just have one quick question though..." Marco said. "Why are you all in my house?"
Pete spoke up first. "We're sorry about the intrusion. We didn't know that this cave was inhabited." He bowed to Marco "We hope that you could forgive us."
"Uh no it's- Ah!" Marco was about to respond but Pete suddenly ended his bow and began to speak again.
"Well we won't be here for long we just need to rest for a bit before we head back out." Pete said professionally he then took out a map and a pen and began to study it.
Ricco sighed. "Damn workaholic doesn't even know how to rest." He then turned to Marco "So what was that about dragons? Do you really think that they still exist?"
"Of course they do." Marco said confidently. "I've known uncle Cekos for my entire life and he was definitely a dragon."
"Or you were hallucinating." Pete suggested without looking up from his map.
"Ugh! But I wasn't hallucinating!" Marco insisted. "Oh wait I know!" "Mind Dragon Memory Sphere" a light pink mist came out of Marco's head and formed a medium sized ball in front of him.
"What in the world is that?" Yoro asked.
"Here this sphere will allow you to see my memories." Marco explained. "I'll show you what happened just a few days ago."
The group looked into the most ball and saw Marco get into an argument with a giant pink dragon. "Kid shut up your giving me a headache."
"Oh come on uncle Cekos!" Marco persisted. "Just a quick match then I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day."
Cekos groaned. "Fine brat, I'll spar with you. Just don't get too upset when you lose." That was when the image got fuzzy and the sphere disappeared completely.
"See..." Marco who's face went from pale to a ghostly white said. "I told ya he was real..." He then collapsed on the floor of the cave.
"Whoa! What happened?!" Yoro asked.
Sakura felt his forehead "I think he has a fever."
"He's suffering from magic exhaustion." Pete said plainly. "Although I don't understand why one spell would do this much damage. Sakura can you..."
"Already on it." She answered "Summon Kappa" Sakura took a red card out of her requip space and strange creature popped out of it. It had a turtle's shell and a dick's bill. A glass plate laid on the center of its head and it had light green reptilian skin. The strangest part however was the doctor's coat and stethoscope that he wore.
"Ah lady Sakura." The creature said. "Are you in need of a check up?"
"No not today." Sakura said politely. "I was hoping you could take a look at him. He had collapsed in front of us and we don't know why." She explained.
"Yes of course." Kappa said. He then pointed at Yoro. "Nurse! Get me my stethoscope!"
"I'm not a nurse you senile old quack!" Yoro yelled.
Kappa bowed. "I apologize then." He turned and pointed to Ricco. "You there! Where is my stethoscope?! I need it for the patient!"
"It's around your neck you stupid duck!" Ricco yelled.
Kappa blinked. "Oh yes it is. Thank you for your cooperation then." Kappa went over to Marco and performed a few tests. To Yoro and Ricco's ire however he never once used the stethoscope.
"Hey Yoro I know a great recipe for turtle soup you want some?" Ricco growled.
"Personally I'm in the mood for roasted duck." Yoro replied.
"Behave yourselves." Pete commanded fridgedly.
"Yes sir!" The two said panicked.
"He's malnourished." Kappa said once he was finished his testing. "He hasn't eaten anything in the past six days. Other than that he seems to be going through emotional turmoil and thanks to that spell he's suffering from magic exhaustion as well."
Ricco glanced worryingly at Pete. "That sounds eerily familiar." He whispered.
"Hey... he said that dragon's name was Cekos right?" Yoro asked.
"Yes. But why does that matter?" Pete asked.
"Uhhh because it says Cekos on one of the gravestones over there." Yoro answered. "So that might have something to do with his emotional turbine or whatever he called it."
"Emotional turmoil" Kappa reinstated. "And yes the lost of a loved one could be the cause of emotional stress. If I had to guess I would say that he hasn't been feeding himself due to immense grief." The Four of them looked at the purple haired boy with pity. That is until... "Or he could just be to dumb to feed himself. Either works."
"Read the mood you crusty old tortoise!" Yoro and Ricco yelled in unison.
"Kekekekeke." Kappa laughed. "Sorry about that, but he should be fine. Just give him some time to rest and get him to eat something once he wakes up."
"Okay well thank you Kappa." Sakura said. "I appreciate your help."
"Kekekeke, don't think anything of it." Kappa laughed. "Just call on me again when you have another medical emergency." Kappa then vanished in a flash of light.
"You make friends with the weirdest people Sakura." Ricco deadpanned.
"Hey I can't help it if he's a bit old." Sakura countered. "Besides he's an incredibly skilled doctor so who cares if he's a tad bit senile."
"You wouldn't be saying that if he was performing surgery on you." Yoro shivered as he remembered that particular incident.
"It was your own fault for fighting someone named 'The bone crusher.'" Sakura shot back.
"I thought it was just a title, you know like what wrestlers have." Yoro explained.
"That might actually be the dumbest thing that I've ever heard." Ricco deadpanned.
"Shut up all of you." Pete said stoically. "We have more important things to discuss."
"Spoilsport." Ricco whined.
"Wait what do we have to discuss exactly?" Yoro asked obliviously.
"What we're going to do with Marco of course." Sakura answered. "We can't just leave him here alone or he'll just end up killing himself."
"Yeah I really don't want that on my conscious." Ricco admitted.
"So this isn't really a discussion and more like an initiation." Yoro realized.
Pete nodded. "That's right the only way we can insure that he doesn't do anything this stupid again is if we take him along with us."
"Man that's going to be hard to get used to." Ricco said. "I mean Sakura was our last new member and she joined us years ago."
"That may be true but there's no other option." Pete said. "Once he wakes up we'll tell him the good news."
Three hours later
After three hours of waiting Marco had finally started to stir. "Oh thank god!" Ricco groaned "I thought we'd be here for days!"
"I was convinced that he was dead." Yoro deadpanned.
"Ugh... what happened?" Marco asked groggily.
"You passed out." Pete said unemotionally. "Now eat this."
"Wait why are you guys still- Mmph!" Marco was interrupted when Pete shoved an entire turkey leg into his mouth.
"You're malnourished you need food." Pete said seriously.
Marco rolled his eyes and took a bite of the meat. "Alright fine I ate now why are you all still here?"
"Less talking more walking." Pete commanded. "You're coming with us."
"That's not going to happen." Marco deadpanned. "No offense against you guys but I'd rather stay here."
"Well that's to bad." Yoro said as he threw Marco over his shoulder. "Because we're not giving you a choice."
"Hey put me down!" Marco objected "Mind Dragon Roar" the sudden blast knocked Yoro off balance and Marco was able to free himself. "Get away from me you psychopaths!"
"Don't let him get away!" Pete commanded.
"Yes sir!" The small group chased Marco into the forest. Ricco was the first one to catch up to him. "Just stay still alright."
"No way you guys are insane!" Marco yelled as he dodged Ricco and ran further into the woods.
"I mean that's not untrue..." Ricco said to himself. "Ah! Don't get distracted! Marco wait up!"
"Don't worry Ricco I got this!" Yoro shouted. "Earth Make Walls" Four stone walls rose out of the ground and trapped Marco inside. "Ha! Now we've got him!" "Mind Dragon Roar" Marco blasted through the wall and continued to run away from the group "Oh that's just not fair." Yoro whined.
As Marco kept running he caught Sakura scent and suddenly rolled as she pounced from the treetops. "Oh come on!" She groaned. "How did he even know I was going to do that!?"
"I could smell you!" Marco yelled.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Sakura asked angrily.
Pete sighed. "Fine I'll handle this since you three are clearly unable to catch this kid." "Shadow Serpents" Pete raised his right hand and hundreds of serpents made of shadows appeared and captured Marco using their impossibly long bodies. "Now just calm down and listen to us." Pete commanded.
Marco did stop trying to escape but it wasn't because he had calmed down. Instead it was due to him being incredibly intimidated by Pete. "Al-alright I'm listening." He said.
"Good." Pete said stoically. "Now we're going to take us with you because you are a danger to yourself."
Marco was confused by Pete's statement until Ricco chimed in. "You're not taking care of yourself. If we didn't come here when we did you probably would have died."
"That's why we want you to come with us." Sakura explained. "We don't really know you but we still don't want you to die."
Marco tried to counter their argument but ultimately he knew they were right. He hadn't eaten in days and that one spell took way too much effort to perform. "Fine..." He relented "I'll go with you."
Ricco, Sakura, and Yoro looked relieved that they didn't have to convince him further while Pete had a small smirk on his face. Which was the first bit of emotion he had shown all day. "Perfect." He said. "Now get packed up we'll leave in five."
Marco sighed and went to pack up his few valuables unaware of the adventures he would go on as the newest member of this strange new group of friends he stumbled upon.
