-Prologue Take II-
-We Wrap This Up-

Esther's day turned out to be going much better than she had thought it would. Granted, the sun was setting on the horizon and the day was almost over…but still. It had been fairly uneventful and soul suckingly boring for most of her hours and when Oakley had stolen her hat, which was absolutely off limits, she had expected to be in a bad mood for the rest of her night. Even more so when she accidentally fell off the train and tumbled into the river nearby. She had only just barely been able to catch up with the train right after.

What she didn't expect was to be dragged into a train fight, meeting a trio of bandits, and she most certainly didn't expect to stumble across a mage.

Right after she had agreed to assist the hat thief, Oakley, the duo made their way to the luggage car, where two of Oakley's 'associates' were hiding. Apparently, Oakley had gotten separated from the other two members of the Three Arm Bandits in the train station, on account of him getting distracted by Esther's "gorgeously stitched hat".

She had no idea what they were doing on the train, however, and she didn't bother to ask when she and Oakley met up with Chesil and Ares in the luggage car. Originally, she was just going to lay back and watch the chaos unfold for a while, but then she realized that the pikachu, Amir, was none other than a mage.

This couldn't have possibly gotten any better.

"Come on, Magic Man!" She teased the flustered mouse, who was skillfully dodging her punches. "I know ye can do better than that!"

He backflipped down to the ground, sticking a graceful landing. Esther had to admit, she was impressed. He couldn't have been much older than her, yet he seemed to know what he was doing.

'...at least, a little bit.' Esther snickered, thinking back to when he had gotten easily tied up by Ares within a few seconds of entering the luggage car.

Amir quickly scribbled something on the floor before leaping backwards. A large group of spikes shot out from the floor, an attempt to deter Esther from jumping down.

Grinning, Esther jumped straight down.

Amir froze. 'My eyes must be deceiving me. There is no way she is actually jumping down right now.'

"Hahahahaha! What other tricks do ye have, Magic Man?" Esther hollered, flipping mid-air and using her sword as a board to balance on a single spike. Using the momentum gained from the fall, she swing forward and landed on the floor, sporting a grin the entire time.

'Okay, my eyes are most certainly not deceiving me.'

Amir swallowed and backed away nervously. He held up his hands in a poor attempt to placate the crazed pirate. "Can we please come to a…compromise?"

"Aw, c'mon, Amir!" Esther said, her eyes twinkling, actually addressing the pikachu by name. Finally. "Don't tell me that's all ye have! Seems the reputation them mages got ain't nothin' more than flowery words!" Her eyes glinted, then her voice carried a more ominous tone. "Or is there somethin' else goin' on here?"

Amir swallowed, began to sign something, when the train violently shook, causing the luggages to bounce around the train car with the grace of a freshly hatched bird pokemon. Esther glanced over her shoulder with a frown, intently staring toward the back of the luggage car, not a single waver in her stance. Amir warily looked around as the disorganized luggages became ten times more disorganized. Trying to ignore feelings of irritation at the complete mess that had just been made, he tried to find the source of the sudden rumble.

His gaze was drawn toward where the pirate buneary had been looking and his eyes widened. 'What…?'

"Well, well, well," Esther began lightly. "Didn't take our three bandit friends for arsonists."

At the tail end of the luggage car, a large gaping hole had appeared in the wall, causing an orange light to shine over the three bandits, who were standing stiffly in front of the hole. The train tracks split through a wheat field, painting a rather scenic view. At least, had any of the occupants of the luggage car been able to take it in.

"Ugh…yeah, great." Cordell complained from inside the sack at Chesil's side. "What the hell did you psychopaths do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Oakley yelped, then pointed to the Bandits' leader, who had her arm outstretched. "It was her!"

The plusle blinked. "What? What did I do?"

"We needed an escape route," Ares replied dryly. "So you made the door go boom."

Esther let out a raucous laugh. "Seems simple enough to understand, aye? Might as well take yer leave right now, while ye have the chance."

Amir stared dumbly as the whole scene unfolded. By that point, he had completely forgotten what he was doing here. Was he supposed to be chasing the teddiursa? Was he stalling? Was he trying to make sure the crazy pirate lady didn't kidnap him? Did he now have to try and make sure the bandits didn't blow up anything else?

'Wait a minute,' Amir paused. 'The hole is right behind them…'

Without missing a single beat, Amir knelt onto the floor and began tracing a circular pattern on the floor, keeping his gaze intently on the Three Arm Bandits.

Esther noticed the scribbling sound and turned around. "What are ye-"

Amir stopped scribbling and smiled at Esther. The circular pattern on the floor lit up.

Esther's eyes widened as the floor morphed in front of her, transforming into a pillar that shot toward the Three Arm Bandits without warning.

The trio didn't notice before it was too late. They were shoved out of the train, stumbling on the train tracks as the distance between them and the train grew larger and larger, cursing and shouting unpleasantries all the way.

"Curses! That mage one-upped us!"

"Ahhhh, I am so unbearably terrified right now."

"HOW ARE YOU TWO COMPLETELY CALM OVER THIS?! WE'RE GOING TO DIEEEEE-"

Silence.

"Well," Esther finally said, then grinned. "That sure was interesting. Though, I feel I should point out ye lost yer fancy knife."

Amir stared, then slumped over on the floor. 'Oh, I knew I forgot something!'

"Anywayyyy," Esther drawled. She twirled her cutlass and pointed it dramatically at Amir. She winked. "Ready fer another round?"

Amir blinked slowly at Esther before slowly sitting on the back of his heels. "No."

The buneary frowned. "What do ye mean, 'no'?"

Amir didn't respond. Instead, he reached at his side and pulled out eight pouches, four from his right side and four from his left. He laid them out neatly on the floor and opened them, one by one, revealing the sharp kunai knives all organized by size, shape, and design. Each knife in its own individual slot. He slowly got to his feet and walked over to the fallen kunai knife he had dropped earlier on in the fight.

'Huh.' Esther thought dumbly. She watched Amir delicately place the kunai knife back into its slot. He began to sort through the rest of the kunai, rearranging them and muttering under his breath as he did so.

She sheathed her cutlass at her side in its scabbard and walked over to Amir. She squatted down next to him, leaning on her wooden foot and watched in fascination as Amir stared intently at his "project".

"Sooo…if we aren't goin' to fight, then do ye want to introduce yerself?"

Amir paused and turned around in confusion. "I already did that earlier, remember?"

"Oh, I remember." Esther drawled. "I just think it'd be swell to do it in a wee bit more of a…relaxed setting."

There was a moment of silence, the only sounds that filled the buneary's ears being the soft clinking of Amir's knives and the rumbling of the train against the tracks.

Amir gently tied up his pouches once more, one by one, before attaching them back to his sides. Once finished, he turned around, folding his legs underneath his thighs and adjusted his cloak. Esther decided to make herself comfortable as well and leaned against one of the luggages, her hands behind her head and her legs outstretched.

"I have a question for you." Amir signed.

"Aye."

"What exactly do you need a mage like me for?"

Esther cracked a grin. "Figured that much out, have ye?"

"You just seemed awfully interested in me after I had started using my magic. I am not unaccustomed to those wanting to use a mage for…" he winced, then continued, moving his hands a bit more weakly than before. "...their unique prowess."

"That so?" Esther smirked. "Ye got a lot of landlubbers gunnin' after ye?"

"...something like that, yes."

"Well, I could've just asked ye to help me in that case, but then again, where's the fun in that?" She grinned and removed her hat from atop her head. Turning it over, she gently pulled out what looked to be a frayed piece of parchment from the inside. She laid it out gently on the floor, allowing Amir to see the softly drawn diagrams of land and sea intertwined together on the map, along with numerous inscriptions on the sides.

'A map…?' Amir narrowed his eyes, carefully analyzing the parchment. The map showed a large mass of land divided into two sections, the upper half marked "Solia" in large stylistic letters, while the lower half was marked "Stellia". On the left side, a large group of islands were bunched together in a circular pattern, with a large gap of water in between them. In much smaller letters than the other two, it was marked "Lunalia". At the very top right corner of the map, in large letters, was "Mysteria". Below it, a small drawing of a compass and further below that was a large wall of text that stretched to the bottom of the map.

Amir looked over it a little bit longer before tapping on Esther's shoulder to catch her attention. "This map is old."

Esther snorted. "Aye, no kiddin'."

"No, I mean…the map includes Lunalia." Amir signed hesitantly, feeling his stomach twist itself into a knot. "Every map drawn of Mysteria in the past few decades excludes it. Nowadays, it is simply considered a part of Solarian land, ruled by the Solia kingdom."

"Oh?" Esther raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Amir averted his gaze. "You…are not from Mysteria, are you?"

Esther tilted her head from side to side for a moment. "Sort of. I'm from the Isle of Leigh, southeast of Stellia. Ever heard of it?"

"The…forbidden lands?"

"Aye, that's the one!" Esther grinned cheerfully. She tossed her hat in the air and dramatically flipped, catching it with her ear and placing it on her head. She adjusted it and puffed her chest out. "I, Esther Charon, proudly hail from the forbidden god forsaken lands that is The Isle of Leigh! A pirate by trade, I helped out me mother's pirate crew in all their pillaging escapades and exploits!"

Amir blinked and politely set his hands on his lap, to hint at her that he was listening. Completely and utterly confused, but still listening.

"We were known as the Pyrite Flora, a band of pirates feared throughout all the Pearl Seas! Our goal? To conquer the ocean! We had drawn out detailed maps, pillaged intricate charts from army ships, and managed our loot better than any other pirate in existence!" Esther's eye twinkled and she drew her cutlass from its scabbard, dramatically flourishing it to the sky. "That isn't all we did, of course. We hunted treasures too." She winked and gestured to the map. "Ones using maps like this one."

Amir picked up the map of the floor and looked over it once more. His attention was drawn to the inscription at the side. 'This is…Cressel…?'

"A famous treasure it is, one many pirates sought after, hunted for their entire lives, yet their attempts were futile." Esther began twirling her cutlass in circles as she paced back and forth. "Me mother's crew had quite the struggle trying to find a map to this treasure…one even those from Mysteria supposedly struggled trying to find it."

Esther stopped pacing in front of him and pointed her cutlass at him. Amir blinked and stared up at her.

"The Arc Amulet," she whispered. Amir's eyes widened and he tightened his grip on his cloak. "That there map yer holding? The only known clue I've got to find it. Aside from, of course, the fact that I need a mage to help decipher those notes."

Amir shakily inhaled. His eyes darted over the map again, taking in every detail he could, even the small tears in the parchment. He gently set it down on his lap and warily looked up at the exuberant pirate. "If I may ask…why exactly are you looking for the Arc Amulet?"

Esther's grin faltered briefly before she recovered, though her gaze was hard and the jubilant emotion on her face seemed more forced. "Now, now, Amir," she chided. "It ain't exactly fair if I shared all of me secrets without learnin' about ye, first."

Amir suddenly felt like the room had gotten smaller. He got to his feet and took a hesitant step back. "...I need to go."

Esther frowned. "What do ye-"

Without warning, Amir swiftly drew a kunai from his side and scribbled a circle in the ground. He pressed his hand against it, causing an explosion of wood chips to erupt from the floor beneath them. Esther covered her face with her arms and squinted through the smoke. "O-oi!" She called out as Amir fled through the luggage car, leaping over fallen piles of luggage with the grace of an acrobat.

She growled, about to run after the fleeing pikachu, when a piece of paper caught her attention. She bent down and picked up the fallen parchment on the floor and stared at it, dumbfounded. Hurriedly scribbled in the top right corner of the map was the word "sorry".

"Well," she said. She paused and said nothing after, letting silence fill the luggage car once more. She looked behind her at the gaping hole made by the Three Arm Bandits. The sun had completely set, orange streaks in the sky turning to light purple. She let out a heavy sigh and flopped backwards onto the floor. "This was…a day."

A brief pause once more.

"...a GREAT day!" She shouted suddenly, waving her cutlass in the air in front of her. She must've looked like a dying fish to anyone watching. "OHOHOHOHO THIS WAS THE MOST SWASHBUCKLIN' TRAIN RIDE EVER! Not that I've ever been on a train before, of course, but still! AHHH, I SHALL RETURN TO YER WONDERFUL SERVICES, STRATFORD TRAIN STATION! BLESS ME WITH YER WONDERFUL PROWESSES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Ah, it was a tale of misery and woe for the all powerful being. Reduced to little more than a pathetic guard for three idiots who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between their own appendage and another's. Sorrow came off of him in waves, for no matter how he thought of the situation, it still turned out to be bleak. Bleak, much like his own moral compass. He preferred not to look at the world through a black and white lens like the other residents of this planet. He much preferred the color gray."

"Question!" Chesil's hand shot up.

Cordell sighed with annoyance as he floated in the air in front of the Three Arm Bandits, who trailed behind him, listening to his yarn. "Yes?"

"Do the people on the planet all wear glasses?"

"...what?" Cordell said dumbly.

"Well, you said that they looked at the world through 'lenses', so that must mean that they're wearing glasses, right?"

"What? No!" Cordell cried out. "That was supposed to be a-ugh, you know what, nevermind. Just keep walking."

"I'm trying to understand your story!" Chesil huffed and crossed her arms. "It's not my fault you're babbling nonsense…"

"Need I remind you whose fault it is that we are walking through miles of fieldland to our destination instead of on a train like normal and civilized creatures?"

"We're not normal," Ares said dryly, adjusting the bandana tied around his neck. "We're not civilized either. And last I checked, the one who got us thrown out of the train was that little mage of yours. Kid had no mercy."

"Kid?" Cordell turned around questioningly. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Ares replied simply.

"I'm seventeen!" Chesil chimed in.

"Yeah, same," Oakley added. "Uh…me being seventeen, that is."

"Huh," Cordell said. "Still haven't gotten past your emo phase?"

As if it were somehow possible, Ares' permanent frown went even deeper. "My what phase?"

"It's…" Cordell started, then sighed, deciding against it. "Nevermind. You're basically still a kid. Drinking age means nothing when your brain is still all sorts of jacked up. My advice? Don't go to any drinking holes."

"Oh, we already do that." Oakley snorted. "Turns out, the drinking hole is where the real money is. It's a lot easier to rob some rich noble or such if they're so blackout drunk they forget their own name and species."

Cordell let out an exasperated sigh. "Of course you do…"

"Oh, don't worry," Oakley waved him off. "It's not like we try to get drunk or anything. We are lawful citizens who will not drink until we are of legal age!"

"...and yet, you're literally a trio of bandits." Cordell pointed out.

"We are lawful citizens when we want to be," Oakley amended.

"I see." The kunai said doubtfully.

The group continued on their trek on the train tracks, taking in the scenery around them. Acres of green fields were spread out around them. Flowers, wheat, and abundant orchards filled to the brim with various types of fruits. In the distance, hills could be made out in waves.

Chesil let out a tranquil sigh and put her hands behind her head. "Say, fancy knife dude,"

"Kunai," Cordell corrected, irritated.

"Yeah, whatever. Why exactly are you going to Oar's Rest anyway? Are the Velvet Suits planning some huge operation or something?"

"Chesil!" Oakley hissed and clasped his hands over her mouth. "You can't just ask something like that! We'll get killed!"

Chesil raised an eyebrow and shoved him away. "If he wanted to kill us, he would've done that already." She turned to Cordell. "You don't work for Oltony at all, do you?"

"...something like that." Cordell remarked casually.

"...what about that other guy? Oakley mentioned some roserade that was in that car too."

"Oh…" Oakley groaned and slumped forward, putting his face into his hands. "Asking too many questions only leads to demise…"

"...listen to your partner, kid. There are some things you just shouldn't know. Especially when it involves messy business like anything involving the criminal underworld."

The bandit trio exchanged uneasy glances at the statement. An uncomfortable silence settled in the group.

Ares glanced up at the darkened sky. "The sun is starting to set. How long until we arrive at Oar's Rest? Or the next train station?"

"No dammed idea," Cordell supplied helpfully.

"Ooh, I bet one Ward we'll only reach the closest station after dark!" Chesil cheered and brandished a silver coin.

"I'll take that bet…" Oakley groaned.

Ares sighed.

This was going to be a long walk.

At the very front of the train, Rosalio walked, his eyes focused ahead. The very first cabin had been blocked off to the public, due to some construction issues that led to the cabin only having a single seat and having a door without a method of opening it. It was a terrible place for commodities, but it was a wonderful place to go to when one had something to hide. The roserade glanced around before drawing a patterned circle on the door with his hand, lightly pressing against the door as to not disturb the rosy appendage that was a part of him. The circle briefly glowed and he smirked, stepping forward and phasing through the door entirely.

Inside, the cabin was entirely empty, only having just been carpeted. Rosalio knelt down in front of the only seat and opened a small compartment at the side. Electricity emitted from the seat sporadically and he smirked. Tendrils of electricity creeped toward the window before phasing into the walls of the train. "Feisty one, aren't you?" He took out a wooden box, with intricate designs of each lunar phase surrounding it, a "gift" from his mage. He would have preferred a more natural and sun based design, representative of the powerful kingdom of Solia, but who was he to deny an artist their expression?

"Unfortunately, I cannot risk opening this box just yet." He chuckled. "We'd need to do that in a more…privatized setting. Now, hush, before Oltony starts to suspect something else is going on here. Last thing I need is the actual Stellian Royal Guard to show up." He paused, then snickered. "As incompetant as they are."

Striding over to the window, he stroked the box in his hands. The sky had turned purple and only faint traces of an orange glow could be made out over the horizon. "Hehehehehe…"

A sudden rhythmic knocking on the door threw him out of his thoughts. Two knocks, a pause, one knock, a pause, then two knocks again. Rosalio narrowed his eyes and walked over to the door. Pressing his hand against the door, a circle glowed briefly before disappearing. "Come in," he said, smirking as his mage hesitantly phased through the door. "Amir."

The mage bowed respectfully, keeping his gaze intently toward the floor.

"Judging by how you're here empty handed, I'm assuming that teddiursa got away." Rosalio drawled. Amir didn't flinch, though he began fidgeting with his clothes. "Well, no matter. Oltony and his bodyguards are likely hiding in one of the train cars. I'd bet ten Wards the man completely forgot about that." His glare deepened as he stared intently at Amir. "You got lucky."

Amir weakly nodded in acknowledgement, still keeping his gaze toward the floor.

"Hmph. At ease. You'll strain your back if you keep posturing like that." Rosalio snidely commented as he sat down on the train seat, crossing his legs with the wooden box on his lap. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Sit down or something. I don't want you completely tired out before we get to Oar's Rest. There's more work to be done when we get there."

Amir nodded, though the man still had his eyes closed. He slid against the wall onto the floor, staring outside the small window in the cabin. As blurs of green flew past, he felt himself sink further into the floor. He couldn't sleep, of course, given that he was still under orders to guard Rosalio, but he felt his eyelids grow heavy.

'What a day this was…' He put his face in his hands. 'I hope Cordell is doing alright. Hopefully, he will figure out where to find us once we get to Oar's Rest. Even if…trouble will most certainly be brewing there.'

He pulled his hands away from his face and stared at his palms intensely. He furrowed his brows and hesitantly pulled up his right sleeve, revealing a tightly wrapped arm in bandages. 'I wonder…why was that pirate looking for the Arc Amulet? She seemed oblivious to Lunalia's plight…and she is from the Isle of Leigh. On top of that, her fighting ability…'

Before Amir's thoughts could wander to the train fight, he violently shook himself out of his thoughts and rolled down his sleeve. He crossed his arms and glanced at Rosalio, who had appeared to have fallen asleep. 'No time for thinking over the fight right now…I need to think about how to get out of this deal with Rosalio…'

Eventually, he let out a sigh and turned back to the window. 'Just as long as I do not get distracted by petty things anymore, like earlier in the luggage car.' Unbeknownst to him, his eyebrow began twitching. 'Those luggages…they were…'

'...SO DISORGANIZED! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!'

Once the thought entered his head, it refused to leave him. This…was not a good day. He could only hope his time in Oar's Rest would go smoother.

Unfortunately, Amir was a natural when it came to being a trouble magnet.