-Naofumi-

"You know, if I ever get back home, this experience will make for a really great thesis," Naofumi mused as he walked through Melromarc's crowded and noisy streets. Arms behind his head, his shield was on full display for the world to see as civilians both adult and child alike would pull away and avoid the young man as if he were a living pox laid upon their fair city.

"Raphtalia… Raphtalia, Raphtalia…" Naofumi murmured, "Where am I supposed to find Raphtalia?" The young man asked no one as he scratched his head in worried ponder for his predicament, "Maybe there's an information broker I can talk to? Private eye?"

"Looking for someone, kid?" A shady and mysterious man obscured by a heavy cloak called out causing Naofumi to flinch.

"Oh… uh, yeah. I think I'm looking for a girl?" Naofumi somewhat replied, though he wasn't so sure.

"You think you're looking for a girl?" The mystery man asked slightly bewildered, "This 'girl' got a name?"

"Raphtalia," Naofumi replied with a bit more assurance, hoping to whatever god would listen that he wasn't insane. A god was listening alright. They just had a weird sense of humor.

Nodding, or at least appearing to nod, the cloaked man knocked on an inconspicuous wall of wood twice before a board slid away.

"Oh, he's a cute one~" A feminine voice purred before more boards slid away just as a hand took hold of Naofumi by his sweater and pulled him in. Behind him, the boards were immediately put back in place as, unbeknownst to him, a small group of royal knights passed by in search of the wayward hero.

/- - -/

-Ren-

"Okay, now where am I!?" The raven haired boy growled in desperation and anxiety as he looked at a public town map… written in an unknown language as he threatened to pull his own hair out, "Okay! Calm down, Ren. You aren't the most avid gamer, but you know enough to read a simple map!" Taking a breath, Ren gave his face a good pat with both hands before pouring over the map again until he found the image of an anvil as well as a triangle he hoped was his position in town.

Nodding to himself, the boy set off… in the wrong direction entirely. Ren looked high and low, dipping his head every now and again into various shops and buildings as if in hopes of finding the town blacksmith before he found a stone bench to rest on.

"Ugh, I don't get this confusing town~" The older teen whined as he fell on his back.

"Hey," A tomboyish, yet nervous, voice called out as Ren immediately sat up and put on his signature 'Stone Faced Stare', "Are you lost or something mister?"

"I suppose you could say that," Ren replied calmly as he gave the strange girl before him a sideways glance, "What gave me away?"

The girl looked no older than he, at least seventeen if he was guessing. She had incredibly messy and long mint green hair with a thick line of seafoam green highlight coloring the hair directly above her right eye. Blinking, he thought he noticed the hair at her side twitch before his eyes caught the incredibly well kept length of hair trailing behind her.

Her eyes were golden and accentuated behind a pair of large circular glasses. Atop her head was a rather large black and white hat adorned with some sort of golden crest. Her attire denoted some form of anime aesthetic academic if her uniform like corset and white jacket adorned with the same crest meant anything. Around her neck was a fluffy black… necklace would be a good word as he wasn't very fashion savvy to begin with adorned with a blue gemmed broach.

"Something on my face?" She asked as she took a sip from a straw. A blue liquid from within a chemistry set flask bubbled from the agitation.

"Ah, no… No! No, not at all," Ren stammered as he cleared his throat as the girl before him continued to sip her beverage, "Ah… I'm Uh… Ren. Ren Amaki, the- A. Shield Hero."

"A Shield Hero?" The girl questioned with a raised eyebrow, her hair twitching again as her lips formed a thin smile, "Not The Shield Hero like you originally said?"

"That's um… complicated?" Ren offered as he held up his Shield, "This is my Shield, one of four."

"Can I run a test?" The girl said as she left a small amount of her drink within her flask as she let the straw slide away from her lips, "My name is Sucrose, by the way. It's a pleasure."

"Wait, what kind of te-" Before he could say more, his Shield was yanked as the remainder of the liquid was poured into the gem. With a small shine, the Shield transformed into a cartoonist splash of light blue, bubbling liquid, "Oh… that kind of test."

"Hm, I did think that one was a bit stronger than my last brews," Sucrose said with an easy smile, "Let's continue," Without another word, Sucrose smashed her now empty flask onto the Shield. As the glass shattered against the splash shield, the shards that would have been sent flying were immediately sucked into the gemstone as the Shield transformed once more into a glass body reminiscent of its base form, "Now that is strange."

"What? What's so strange?" Ren asked with ever growing curiosity.

"You said this is one in a set of four?" Sucrose asked as he gave a nod, "This may just be a theory, but do you think the Shield may be compounding materials?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ren asked before he was pulled up to his feet, "Wait, where are we going?"

"To the Guild Hall, you doofus," Sucrose replied with a lazy smirk, "If I found you alone, then that means the other three are alone as well. They are still in this city, aren't they?" As Ren nodded, Sucrose gave a short giggle, "Then we'll get you registered first and then gather the other Heroes."

/- - -/

-Itsuki-

Things had not exactly gone to plan for the youngest Shield Hero.

"Stop! In the name of Justice!" Itsuki shouted as he used one of his out of nowhere newfound shields to blast an unknown bubbling liquid at a group of men. Said men laughing at the boy as they wiped off the sweetened liquid, "Oh for the love of-"

The next thing he knew, he was met with a hammer blow from behind, the gong-like sound was the last thing he heard before losing consciousness. As his eyes slowly fluttered open, he found himself bound at the wrists and ankles with thick and heavy rope and surrounded by several women and children, "Kidnapped," He gasped out, "Not even a day here and I've been kidnapped…"

"Fueeeeehhh…" A pitiful feminine cry echoed from just left of him. Quickly turning his head and giving himself intense whiplash, he was met with a young, green haired teen in what he guessed used to be a high class dress, now riddled with holes and smudged with grime.

"Don't mind her much," A gruff looking child called out to Itsuki's right, "She's been crying a lot this entire voyage."

"V-voyage!?" Itsuki shouted.

"Ya don't have to shout!" The child screamed, "We're all prisoners here after all."

"Wait what!?" Itsuki continued to shout, "No no no no no! I can't be a prisoner! I'm the Shield Hero! The Shield Hero!"

"Yeah!? And I'm queen Melromarc!" An older woman shouted.

"As you can see, jokes will only get a person so far in here," The child from before continued.

Itsuki could only groan as he slammed the back of his head on the wall he rested on, "Let's split up, he said! Look for clues, he said! Find Raphtalia, he said! She CoULd bE tHE ansWer tO EVERYTHING, HE SAID!"

"This guy you're shouting about sounds like an idiot," The child offered.

"I mean he's not!" Itsuki argued, "Honestly… this is my fault for grandstanding. Instead of running like I should have from my kidnappers, I stood my ground and shouted Justice!"

"Wow," The child said in awe, "You're an idiot."

"Yeah…" Sighing, Itsuki let his head fall on the wall one more time before her felt something strange on his arm. Looking down, he took note of a glass like sheen. Humming, Itsuki attempted to move his shield arm as he heard a gentle tapping of what he believed was glass on metal.

"Oi, what's that sound you're making?" The child asked.

"It's my Shield," Itsuki replied as he scraped and struck the floor with his shield, "I just wish I knew what- Ah!?"

"Keep quiet! Some of us are trying to sleep!" Another woman shouted to which Itsuki gave a loud 'Sorry!' in response.

Sighing, Itsuki took note of a holographic display in his vision, showing him a glass shield, "I don't know how you got here… but thank you," He whispered before he resumed his tapping and scraping anew.

/- - -/

-Motoyasu-

"Hello ladies-" Motoyasu began as a noble dressed woman turned their nose up at him and humphed as they walked away, "If you'd only-" Another lady, an adventurer in lightweight metal armor humphed as well as she walked past the ponytailed hero, "Just a moment of your time?"

No matter what he did or where he went, not a single person gave him the time of day… all because-

"It's all because of this Shield, isn't it?" He asked no one as he looked at the slab of metal, "I'm a loser now and everyone knows it…" Slumping onto the floor, he gave a forlorn sigh as he lied upon the hard cobblestone floor of the city, uncaring if anyone were to step on him.

Not that anyone ever did. Infact, it almost seemed as if people went out of their way to avoid him, as if so much as touching him would cause a burst of disease to overcome them.

"Oh dear, Sir Shield Hero?" A sweet voice ringing with compassion called out as Motoyasu immediately raised his head.

"Oh… pretty lady…" He gasped out as the woman standing over him smiled, her red hair bouncing ever so slightly as she giggled.

"I am glad you believe so," The lady replied as she knelt down and offered her hand, "My name is Myne Sophia. I heard takes and rumors that the Four Legendary Heroes had just been summoned."

Nodding, Motoyasu took hold of the woman's dainty hand and slowly took to his feet, "Yeah… yeah. All four Shields."

"Shields?" Maybe asked, "But what of the other three Legendary Weapons?"

"I wish I knew," Motoyasu groaned, "I'm pretty sure that damn king planned the whole thing," Myne flinched as he said 'damn king'.

"What makes you believe the king is culpable of wrongdoing?" Myne asked curiously.

"Well, for one, he flat out told us how much he hated the Shield," Motoyasu explained as he held out his hand and raised his fingers as he counted them idly, "Two, he called us all leeches when he summoned us to keep his Kingdom safe. Three, he practically kicked us out without so much as a piece of gold to make sure we wouldn't starve out here. All in all, I'd say the king screwed the pooch on this one."

"He would never!" Myne shouted in disgust.

"Hey, the guy doesn't seem like the nicest person right now because of all this," Motoyasu argued before sighing, "Yeah sure, hate us, but we're supposed to… you know, save the world?" He asked more than said as he shrugged, "A little cash would have been nice."

Humming and mulling his words in her mind, Myne gave a resolute nod, "Well, convince me of any practical skills you may have and I may be willing to invest in you, Sir Shield Hero~" She gave a playful wink as something within the long haired blonde reawakened his hopes.

"Don't you worry, Miss Myne! If ol' Motoyasu here has pride in anything, it's his needlework!" The would be Hero declared as he jabbed his thumb into his chest, Myne giggling at the over the top display.

"Oh ho ho, with bravado such as yours, I'm almost giddily awaiting your show of skill," Myne said haughtily, a hand hiding the devil's smirk upon her lips.

/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - /

AAAAAAAND DONE! Azure here, folks! I hope you've all enjoyed what you've read so far. As always, I love everyone of you and will always appreciate your continued support!

Consider this an early Easter present. Now then as you can see fate has separated our four heroes. Now what paths will they follow hmm? What secrets will be revealed. I will never tell XD.