The Mage in The Ashes

A Danganronpa V3 Fanfiction

Prologue - The World of Magic

A long time ago, humans of no abnormalities ruled over the Earth, using the natural resources around them to survive. All humans with abnormal traits were considered freaks, and executed in front of a crowd. But one night, a woman sentenced to be burned that eve, had escaped the ropes that bound her, and had vowed to paint the world in people with abnormal abilities, and this promise she had kept. By the few remaining humans, the ones who had survived, these people were now called "mages". However, these humans were too, eventually killed by the mages. All of the ones born with non-magical abilities were called "Cinders", and they would be the ones sentenced to a painful execution. Today, several powerful families of wizards reign, the most powerful being the Tanaka's, and the Yumeno's. However, this has caused the two kingdoms to enter a struggle of power.

However, our story is not about this struggle of power; it is about a Cinder, one who would go on a courageous journey with a few others, and find the truth at last.

Chapter 1 - Stories that Continue, End, Begin

Tenko had nearly escaped from the wizards sent by the Yumeno's to capture her. To her, it didn't seem fair. Just because she was a normal human, one with no magical powers, she should be able to earn the right to live. These thoughts filled her head as she was looking for a place to settle for the night.

She had eventually been traveling for so long, that she had ended up in a desert. It had looked as though it was coming out of a semi-cold winter, but trying its best to enter a warm spring. Because of this, it made Tenko feel as though this village was deserted. After close examination, she realized that it was, in fact, deserted. She went inside one of the bigger houses, and began to explore.

When Tenko looked inside the large house, she realized it looked more like an old-fashioned bar. It was dusty, with a lot of cobwebs on the walls and broken glass on the floor. There were also some bags on the tables, some papers sticking out of each bag. Realizing that there was no one here to tell her otherwise, her curiosity got the best of her, and she opened one of the bags at random. From the bag, she pulled out the first paper she was able to get her hands on, and began reading.

May 5, 2043

Ever since the war between Wishvale and Jadeve had struck out, the kingdoms have been fighting nonstop, over a single Cinder. If one kingdom is finally able to get their hands on that one Cinder, they will finally have superiority over the other kingdom. But ever since it all began just a month ago, the battlegrounds have gotten closer to our little town. I fear that we might have to move out of the area and make a home elsewhere. However, I fear that we will not be able to bring the buildings and structures with us. Even with the combined power of all of the adults, I don't think we will be able to levitate all of the structures until we find a proper place to settle. And so, I fear that we will temporarily need to lead the life of a dirty Cinder until we can settle somewhere else.

James Peterson

After reading this document, Tenko was in shock. Wishvale, the kingdom she was born in, fighting another kingdom that she had never heard of before, all for the sake of power over her? It was upsetting. She once again began to think of how unfair her situation was, as well as the situation that others before her, needed to face. And to top it all off, it was now June 14, meaning that this "feud" over her had been going on for two months now!

She was planning on finding a place to settle down for the night, preferably a motel, in this small, abandoned town, and she thought now was the time to do so. But first, she wanted to let all of her emotions of her journey flow out. This whole time, she was trying to put on a brave facade against the ones sent to capture her, but after she heard about this war, she couldn't help it. Knowing that no one would hear her, she went behind the counter of the bar, and began to roll herself in a ball.

"Why meeeeee?!" she cried as loud as she could, "Why does it have to be me of all people?! Why did I need to be chosen as a Cinder and not someone else?! Why do they hate all of the helpless ones, the ones that can't defend themselves using magic or something fancy like that?! I just want to be left alone, live a peaceful life at home! Continue training martial arts! We don't all have broomsticks to fly home, y'know!" Tenko continued to ramble on to herself until the moon was almost overhead the bar she was in. At that point, she had no more emotions that had been bottled up inside, that she needed to release. She fell asleep from exhaustion right then and there, and because of how tired she was, she slept peacefully.

When Tenko woke up in the morning, it seemed as though it was almost noon. Remembering that she had collected a clock on her Journeys, she took it out, and saw that she was right; it was almost noon. When she looked in front of her, she realized that someone was about to find her. The wall in front of her was slowly burning in bright violet flames. Scared for her life, she realized that there was an empty cupboard behind her, and had decided to hide herself in there.

Then, Tenko had heard footsteps enter the burned hole in the wall, footsteps filled with the curiosity to know more. It sounded as though the owner of the footsteps were wearing leather boots, sown with iron at the bottom. At first, the footsteps looked behind the counter, not bothering to open the cupboards. Then the footsteps looked under the tables, making sure no one was hiding under them. After checking everywhere they could, the footsteps seemed to finally leave the bar.

Because she wasn't sure, Tenko decided to stay in her place for a few more seconds, before determining that the person who had just come was gone for good. She sneaked through the burned hole in the wall, realizing that it led to an alleyway of some sorts. As she was walking along the alleyway, she noticed that there was someone else walking in her same direction as her. They were wearing a black traveling cloak, and a hat of the same color. The black cloak shined as bright as the full moon, a violet radiance glowing around them. They had a mouse-brown shirt, with a matching color of pants. And, just as Tenko had thought, the person was wearing leather boots. The violet amulet around their neck was ever so radiant in the hot sunlight of the desert, their eyes being a matching color And his spiky hair was a slightly darker color. Even though the clothes were a little bit different from what she remembered, she immediately recognized the person as a wizard, a guard of the Yumeno family.

Knowing that the wizard was here to capture her, Tenko had decided to run in the other direction until there was a crack in between two of the houses in the town. Then, she would be able to slip away in the other direction. Eventually, she had reached the first end of the alley, the end having a crack between two structures. Afraid of getting captured, she tried to run at a speed fast enough that Himiko would not be able to keep up with her.

However, she realized that if one of the wizard families had successfully captured and executed her, then this war would be over. And so, as she went through the gap between the two structures, and walked towards the wizard, hands up. But because he didn't notice her at first, she decided to speak up.

"I, Tenko Chabishira," started Tenko, "surrender to Wishvale."

The wizard had suddenly turned around, and had noticed Tenko's presence. In a flash, she was surrounded by radiant flames, the color of the flames being a matching color to the amulet around the wizard's neck. The flames had quickly covered the sky above her, and for a few seconds, all she could see was purple. But suddenly, the floor under her feet had changed from coarse, hard sand, to a quartz floor, separated into small rectangles. Slowly, the flames surrounding her had vanished, sinking into the floor. Sitting on three thrones in front of her. On the golden throne sat Queen Kirumi. On the blue throne sat King Korekiyo. And on the scarlet throne, there sat princess Himiko.

"My king," spoke the wizard at last, "This one surrendered herself, even though she has been running all this time." "Thank you, sir Kaito." spoke Queen Kirumi, "Now, please escort her to the dungeon." Her execution will take place on the same date as the others, on July 15."

Without a grudge, Kaito began to escort Tenko to the dungeon of the castle. Tenko hated men, but still, she went along with the wizard escorting her. But as she was walking along, she saw the faces of the members of the Yumeno family. The Queen was facing the floor with a pitiful expression, one that was filled with guilt. Perhaps it was the guilt of something bad that had happened in her life, and this moment was triggering that something. The King had an expression that screamed no mercy, one without the human emotion of love, or sympathy. And the young princess, she had an expression that held a combination of anger and sadness. However, this expression was impossible to read. And before Tenko could read it, the Yumeno family had left her sight behind a wall.