CHAPTER ONE – A nightmare, an evil spirit, and a
Guardian's Legend
"You'll never escape!"
The voice resounded through
Marrin Angelheart's head as she woke up from the nightmare that she had been
having for the past three months.
"Why am I having these dreams?" she thought. "What does
it all mean?"
The dreams were always the same: Marrin
was being chased by something totally evil, and she couldn't seem to get away.
Then, the thing descended upon her like some grand Archangel of death. But
right before it kills her, Marrin wakes up covered in sweat and breathing
heavily.
"WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!"
In the silence of her Balamb
Garden Dormitory, Marrin's scream seemed to echo through the walls, threatening
to wake everybody up. Fortunately, nobody woke up, even though Marrin was known
for her loud yelling voice. Marrin sighed and checked the time on her bedside
clock: 03h45.
"Wonderful," she said
softly. "I might as well go to the training center for a while."
Marrin got out of bed and
quickly got dressed into her casual clothing: a crimson red dress with a white
hooded cape. Then, she put her staff on her back and her crossbow and quiver of
arrows at her sides. Finally, she checked her Junctions and found that they
were still intact. Then she went to the training center to work up a sweat.
After all, being a SeeD these days was hard work…
But what Marrin didn't know
was that being a Sorceress and a SeeD would be much, much harder…
-------------------
The Grat was cut in two by
Marrin's razor-sharp staff.
"This was fun when I first
thought about it, but now it's just getting too easy! I need a challenge!" she
said to herself.
Marrin continued to walk
through the training center, when she heard something moving behind her. She
turned quickly, but nobody was there. Then she heard snickering behind her, and
then a voice spoke:
"So you need a challenge,
eh?"
Marrin turned around and
readied her staff for combat. The thing that stood before her had two large
black wings, a big, muscle-bound, bear-like body and pointed ears that looked
like they could probably pick up a radio signal from the moon. Right now, he
was leering down at Marrin and had a sword in his hand.
"Who the hell are you?" she
asked. The creature cackled.
"Darkwing is my name, and
killing's my game!" he said. "You wanted a challenge? Then, fight me, little
human!"
With that, Darkwing leapt at
Marrin, swinging his sword in a wide arc. Marrin blocked with her staff, only
to have it cut in two by the sharp edge of the blade! Marrin dropped her
now-broken staff and took out her crossbow and fired an arrow into his chest.
Darkwing laughed.
"Foolish human! A weapon
like that cannot defeat me! DIE!"
He knocked Marrin down and
prepared to run her through. Marrin closed her eyes and waited for the cold
steel to run through her chest. Then, she heard the sound of steel stopping
steel and opened her eyes. They went wide with the vision that she saw before
her. It was a man with large grey wings, and he had blocked Darkwing's sword
with his own.
"Let's take this somewhere
else, Dark One!" the winged man said.
"Very well!" replied
Darkwing. With that, the two fighters flew up into, and straight through, the
left wall of the Training Center and disappeared to do battle elsewhere.
Marrin, overcome by what she just witnessed, fainted.
--------------------
Meanwhile…
The two fighters flew through the skies
in the light of early dawn. They were involved in a massive battle, each trying
to destroy the other. Darkwing was confused as just who exactly his opponent
was.
"Who in the Nine Levels of the Abyss are
you?" he asked. The winged man swung his sword and knocked Darkwing's blade
from his hands.
"I am Marrin Angelheart's Guardian. If
you try and kill her, I'll kill you!" he replied. With that said, he blasted
Darkwing with a beam of energy and slammed him into the side of a nearby
mountain before flying off into dawn's early light…
------
Marrin woke up in the infirmary a few
hours after the unseen battle.
"Was it a dream?" she thought. "No,
it wasn't! Who was that winged man? Why did he save me?"
[I]"An Arch-Angel."
"..? Shiva, is that you?"
"Yes."
"What did you just say? An Arch-Angel?"
"Yes. You see, among us Summon
creatures, or any spiritual being, there exists a legend of sorts. This legend
speaks of a great evil known as the Blackwave, and a sort of…counterpart called
the Great Light. This 'Great Light' creates beings of unimaginable power known
as Arch-Angels. The one single purpose
of the Arch-Angel is to destroy evil and protect that which is good. Perhaps
you are of importance to this particular Arch-Angel, which could be why he protected
you from that evil spirit in the training center."[/I]
The Ice Guardian seemed to make some sort
of sense, but why did that spirit attack Marrin in the first place? Marrin
sighed and stood up and walked from the infirmary without Doctor Kadawoki
knowing it, and went to class.
----------------
Far above the Garden, the Arch-Angel
Tempest kept watch….
----------------
And in Edea's house, the Sorceress
Rebecca Angelheart waited patiently for the signal that her daughter was ready
to meet her face-to-face.
