Disclaimer: Refer to the prologue
Chapter 1: Sister
The bells of the Prontera church tolled solemnly as an armored figure stepped out into the bright streets of the capital.
'It seems that it's going to be a fine day.'
Angela Saxellian doesn't know how long she had been inside the church. As far as remembers, the morning light wasn't as dazzling as this when she entered. She could've been inside for hours, but since she is in a weeklong holiday, it doesn't matter if she's even in there for the whole day. Her sky blue eyes squinted in the intense sunlight for a moment, the wavy sea green hair down to her waist drifting elegantly in the wind like the waves of the sea. Mildly tanned skin and a slim but robust body had Angela, although it was often covered in her formidable full plate armor. A flamberge and zweihander hung by her side while a mysterious, wrapped spear was strapped to her back. People usually shot a look of trepidation at her ensemble of weapons, but for the Pronterans, it had somehow turned into security.
The capital was bustling and alive with the urban soul. The silence in the church sharply contrasted with the din of the city streets. Merchants shouted the bargain prices of their wares. Blacksmiths professionally talked with potential clients, displaying samples of their works. The alchemists sweet-talked customers into buying extra potions. Knights and swordsmen patrolled the streets alertly, their eyes darting from corner to corner. Those who recognized her gave salutes and seemed to work with an extra effort.
'Oh come on, I'm not on duty today.'
The knight casually walked about in the crowded streets, watching as Prontera live its life. The world capital is a gorgeous showcase of architecture and order, the very representation of Rune-Midgard. Stately edifices rose in every corner, imposing and elegant. The fearsome knights of the army capably guarded its citizens and subdued its threats. Angela mused that if she is ever in duty today, it would be her division's turn in making their rounds. She doesn't complain though – it was fine with her, although the reputation of the army itself seems to scare potential street criminals.
"Angela!"
Angela snapped out from her thoughts. Was someone calling her? With the crowd this thick and with a name like 'Angela', it could be bound to have someone with a similar name.
"Second Knight Commander Saxellian!"
Knowing fully well who are the commanders in the army, Angela was certain that someone is indeed calling her. But with the noise of Prontera all around her, she found it quite hard to pinpoint the source. She didn't have to exert an effort though – a split-second later a pair of delicate arms wrapped themselves enthusiastically around her waist.
"What on…?" the knight muttered in surprise, but she knew straightaway on who did that. "Elrodein, don't you ever get tired hugging my waist as a homecoming ritual?"
The acolyte grinned as she slipped her arms away. Elrodein Brellvien had shoulder-length straight sky blue hair and kind sea green eyes. "Of course, it's the most welcoming gesture for my older sister, so I don't phase it out." She beamed. "You like it, don't you?"
Angela ran a gauntleted hand through her wavy hair as she beamed back at the young acolyte. "Of course I do. Nothing beats a good sister, isn't it?" She fondly ruffled Elrodein's hair, although inside she is aware that hair-ruffling is Franzes' thing. "I'm on holiday, fancy a walk outside in the fields?"
The blue-haired acolyte nodded. "I have loads to tell you!"
"Geffen malt, please."
The bartender gave a small nod as he fetched a green long-necked bottle from the shelves behind him. Trevis Yuehn didn't bother to count on how many times he ordered the Geffen malt. It wasn't strong anyway, and he had developed a considerable tolerance to it.
"You intend in draining our supply of Geffen malt?" the bartender asked, slamming the bottle in the counter with more force than intended. "That's your third."
Trevis did not answer. He simply took the bottle and poured his glass with the liquor. The wizard may have a strong preference for the malt, but he isn't the kind capable of draining a glass in one glug. 'Maybe I should've tried Payon spirits instead,' he thought seriously. Geffen malt simply couldn't knock him out even with four bottles. Maybe one Payon spirits could send him to the much-needed oblivion. 'Darn it, I want to quit thinking about Geffen.' He mentally remarked to himself. He needs to shove the worry off his head, but it seems that worry has attached itself stubbornly in his mind. Now he has a reason to genuinely regret being a wizard.
You're a promising spell caster, Trevis! I just couldn't see you get wasted in this mad insurrection!
The young spell caster buried his face in his hands. He wants to go back – he couldn't bear not seeing his family, but at the same time he knows that going back means risking not only his neck, but at the very reason his father had sent him to the capital.
'Father, I can't…I can't just stay here in Prontera!'
Elrodein stretched her arms eagerly in the warm Pronteran sun. "Ah! Home is absolutely better!" she declared spiritedly. "Payon was way too cold for me." She dropped her arms back to her sides as she looked up at the knight. "So you're on a holiday, eh? What's the reason?"
"Like what I've told you for the fourth time." The knight said as she leaned on the nearest tree, watching as several novices ganged on a pupa. "The Grand Knight Commander says I'm in the need of it."
The acolyte looked at Angela dubiously. "The real reason, sister."
Angela looked at the acolyte with a strangely blank expression, but inside she was remarking how inquisitive Elrodein could be. "That's it! The Grand Knight Commander granted me the week himself."
"Knowing you Jelan, you would promptly decline a day-off as soon it is served to you," the acolyte said, sitting by the tree's roots near the knight's armored feet. "So why accept a whole week of it?"
'I couldn't just say it's because of that…' Angela thought. But she already has a good reason to hide the real reason. "That's it, yet again. I've always declined my day-offs, and so I got fatigued for a bit. The Grand Knight Commander got quite worried though, so he ordered me to a week-long holiday or he'll personally have me kicked out of the army."
"Oh…right."
Angela reached yet again for the acolyte's blue head and tousled it furiously. "I know the sarcasm behind the word 'right', you holy terror. I'd have you for that."
Elrodein gently shoved the knight's hand from her head. "My hair already looks as though a couple of hurricanes had gone through it," She said pouted, combing her hair with her hands. "Fine, so I believe that one now, although according to my beliefs you'd only have a day-off if you lost an arm or a leg."
Angela smirked at the comment. "How did Payon go, anyway?" she asked curiously. Elrodein had been to Payon with her friends for adventure, although the knight strongly cautioned her to leave whenever something unusual arises. Nowadays, Prontera is the only place that seems to be safe.
"Well…" the acolyte began tentatively. A lone cloud drifted across the sky, momentarily blocking the sun's dazzling light. "It was quite fine, yes, but…there's something strange about the Payonese people."
Angela had been expecting these. It could be the strange displays of hospitality. "Like…?"
"I'm not quite sure if I'm the only one who noticed, but some Payonese people were practically glaring at us when we passed through the town on our way to the cave." The acolyte related, frowning as she reminisced. "But it was really at our swordsman companion they were really giving the worst stares. It seems that at one point an archer was about to shoot him from a window, but I think I was the only one who saw that one."
'That's it,' the knight mentally remarked. 'Hatred for swordsmen means worse hatred for knights. And hatred of knights means hatred for the army…'
"The Payonese seemed to be…a little cold lately," Elrodein commented, leaning her head back on the sturdy tree. "I mean, colder than usual. It's like they'd rather fall dead than give our swordsman red potions."
TheMoroccans are not the only ones who's rough with the Pronteran authority, the knight thought as the acolyte rambled on and on about the hunters who were muttering something to their birds as they passed. 'They're better in hiding it though. The Payonese are proud of their independent pasts and sashay it about. They even made the most revolts in the kingdom…' Angela couldn't think of any reason to mention it to Elrodein. 'It won't make any difference anyway…unless the Payonese have stooped low as to attack innocent youngsters!' Payon is a proud city of honor and principles – finishing underage acolytes seem to be very ignominious.
"…By the time we reached the cave, the locals were, like, wishing we won't emerge from the cave alive." Elrodein stated sourly, scowling as she recalled the citizen's stony faces. "We just ignored them, you know-" She gave a sideward glance at her older sister and her scowl deepened. "Jelan, are you listening to me?" she virtually cried out in a fallaciously sweet voice. Angela is amiable and friendly, but she could be an introvert sometimes, drifting suddenly into deep reflections.
"Uh…yeah," The green-haired knight said perfunctorily, coming back to reality. "Did theghouls bit you?"
"Oh yes, they did," Elrodein said through gritted teeth. "They even barfed at us, really, and ghouls started to appear and whacked the life out of us-" She just hated it when she's having a 'moment' and nobody was listening, especially if it's Angela.
"Fine, so I'm sorry for being so absent-minded," Angela said apologetically. 'Darn it, I'm in a holiday. Why think about these things now?' She shook her head in an effort to stifle the thoughts away. Although it wasn't the real reason why she's in a day-off, it sort of contributed to the real reason. 'Here goes the headache if I don't stop.'
"What happened next?" she said in an attempt to pacify the disgruntled acolyte.
The blue-haired acolyte glared at her first before continuing on in a lackadaisical manner. "Well…it was fine…at first."
Angela blinked. "At first?"
"Yes, at first." Elrodein repeated with tense emphasis. The green-haired knight patiently listened, as a model sister would, as the acolyte fulminate a discourse of how she hated the trip. From what Angela heard and pieced together in the ridiculously long diatribe, their party entered the cave and started to blast the reanimated life out of the zombies. Then something happened – something that Angela couldn't clearly understand in all her intellect – that sounded like the swordsman fainted because of the undead vomitus on his attire (Angela contemplated that even the most lily-livered of her knights could at least endure such things). Then a thief snuck upon Elrodein and attempted to steal her zeny, but she blasted him to the zombies with a 'Magnus Exorcismus worth of Holy Light'. The mage with them tried to convince her to stay, which she 'graciously' did. From that point on Angela couldn't grasp the events anymore. It has something to do with pet sohees being mistaken for a real monster and being reprimanded by its novice master, good-looking bonguns attracting their female mage companion, marina spheres appearing out of the thin air and detonating unexpectedly in the swordsman's face, the thief being ran over by smokies, and the knight could swear she heard 'I vow by the name of the Spear of Longinus that I would kill them the second time I'm around them.'
'Goodness, is this an acolyte I'm talking with?' she thought incredulously, grasping the spear behind her. 'Sounds more like some intense world-hater to me…sounds like…like…' Her grip loosened as her shoulder slacked with the recollection. 'Of course, you emotional fool, it would really sound like her!' Reminiscing is something she wouldn't like to have as a hobby.
"…Could you believe all of that happened to me?" Elrodein finished with heated sarcasm. All her annoyance was summed up in the brief statement. She was literally uprooting the grass around her as an expression of hatred. Angela seriously pitied it though. "That was appalling! Horrendous! Abhorrent! I could swear-"
"-by the name of the Longinus spear that you'll bury them alive in the Prontera cemetery, resurrect them, and feed them to the ghouls and skeletons of Glastheim, resurrect them for one last time and throw them to the Magma cave to get roasted for good."
"Exactly, sister! The same words!" Elrodein exclaimed with a positive clap. The knight chuckled in amusement. The acolyte looked at her older sister, slowly frowning with the realization dawning upon her. "Wait a jiffy…how did you know?" Since when did hindsight become a skill of knights?
Angela's laugh gradually lessened to a tickled grin. "Suppose I know someone who acts and looks like you and say the same kind of things." She explained austerely, still sporting her entertained smile. "Mind you, she was very amusing…and rough too. She's so like you – she gets ditched by her swordsman partners every three days and gets into a brawl every two days." Her smile widened and eventually turned to a laugh. "And I remember her cursing the same words at one point…"
"And who'll that be? My twin?" The blue-haired acolyte asked testily. The 'allusion' is quite sharp.
"You could say that, yes."
Elrodein groaned sulkily. "Not fair! You always know about me, but I don't know about your friends!" Indeed, she had only seen one friend of the green-haired knight: a 'blacksmith' with long brown hair in a ponytail and eccentric-colored eyes. But she is quite sure that Angela has other friends other than the blacksmith – she has heard of a huntress, an alchemist and the high priest of the First Priest Division, although for her it is more plausible that the knight has the saints inside the Prontera Church as friends due to the ludicrous amount of time she spends inside.
"When did I say that person was my friend?" Angela liked toying with Elrodein through words. It was like bringing the old times back.
"And so who is that person? Your boyfriend?"
"Are you saying that the saints of Prontera church sprang to life to be my boyfriends?"
"A fellow knight?"
"Nope. None of them has blue hair, sorry."
Elrodein hated guessing, especially when it is Angela who wants her to guess. It could go on for the whole day, and the answer could actually be as plain as the grass.
"I hate this! It's your best friend! Your mother! Your daddy! Your sister-!"
Angela froze by the mention of 'sister'. She felt her usually buoyant spirits immediately fall down to the depths, her gentle sky-blue eyes twinkling with a mournful sort of glimmer. Sister…? Providentially Elrodein was too busy stating an endless litany of possible people who could be the mystery 'person' who is similar to her to notice.
The acolyte began to falter for words. She had mentioned almost everyone close enough to be like her – not only in looks, but also in deeds. And she assumes that to know someone, you must be pretty close to him or her. If it isn't a family, friend or acquaintance, then…
"Fine! I get it!" she declared triumphantly, effectively snapping the melancholy out of Angela. "You just made that one up, isn't it? You're tricking me again!" Elrodein felt quite sure of it. It isn't her friend, best friend, mother, sister, father, brother; one of her knights, fellow commander, one of the prisoners, one of the priests, another acolyte or a Pecopeco with blue feathers and sporting custom-made green contact lenses, then that person is all but smoke. "That one's nonexistent, isn't it?"
"Non…existent?" Angela muttered faintly, her eyes mildly downcast. "…It could be." Of course, she has been nonexistent in her life since a long time ago. How many years have passed since she had last seen her smile, her grimace, her scowls and her harangues? The knight could barely remember them now, but somehow, she could always see it.
"Sister, won't you ever give me a decent answer for a change?" The acolyte whimpered resentfully.
Angela reflexively placed a hand on her temple. The pain was starting to flood back to her head, throbbing furiously and clouding her mood. It wasn't the casual migraines that plague other people every other day. Angela knows that this one is a potential disaster. 'Oh good one, Jelan. You're supposed to be on a holiday and put these things at the back of your head, but it seems that you'll have to lose your head first before you learn it,' she berated herself. Pain mixed with unhappiness is always a dangerous combination.
'Misery, misery...isn't it good to reminisce once in a while?'
'For the love of God, shut up! Not now! Go back to wherever hell you came from!' Angela almost said aloud in frustration, rubbing her temple frantically. 'I've got no time for you!' Her hand involuntarily twitched and the next thing the knight knew it was already clasped at the wrapped spear strapped on her back. She tried unclasping it from the weapon, but it simply didn't obey her, as though it had its own mind. 'Oh please, this is bull dust!' The aching was reaching critical levels. This holiday is supposed to keep this thing off me, she thought irately. She gritted her teeth as she attempted to dismiss the bloody scenes flashing in her mind. 'Really, my misery, you'd have to try harder if you want me doing that kind of trash!'
"Uh…J-Jelan?" The voice seemed to be miles away inside a deep, yawning cave. It seemed familiar, and strangely enlightening, for the knight.
The knight blinked. In an instant the headache vanished, and her hand automatically unfastened itself from the cloth covering the spear. 'Zach…' She breathed deeply, trying to clear her mind of everything. 'I won't allow you. Never.' Not another victim. Certainly not me. Not her. Not anybody else.
"What?" Angela answered back in the most cheerful voice she could ever muster, looking at her younger sister with her bright sky-blue eyes. The acolyte looked fearful for a moment, and then peculiarly ogled at the knight's eyes intently, as though comprehending their color from the sky. "Ah…is there something wrong, Dein?"
For a moment, Elrodein could swear that something was definitely wrong. That the knight besides her wasn't Jelan, but another one. Someone more sinister. The sky blue eyes changed into frigid, dark blue ones, losing the calming glimmer in them and becoming more like fathomless orbs of malevolence. The way her face was staring blankly into the vast fields of Prontera was like of a possessed person, and Elrodein genuinely felt fear when she noticed that a shaking hand clasped around the mysterious spear by her back. It was like she wouldn't hesitate to swing it about…to impale anyone with it…to kill her with it…
"Hey," Angela said with a laugh, ruffling the acolyte's blue hair again. "What's with you?" She knows that Elrodein noticed it earlier, but she can't just tell to a young girl what had just transpired. She might be scared out of her wits. Elrodein gave herself a mental shaking. This is ridiculous. Her older sister couldn't do that. Never. Maybe she was imagining things, no matter how she tried not to accept that view. She hasn't slept ever since Payon anyway, so it's plausible. It's easier to admit than to think that a person like Angela would just snap out like a crazed, spear-wielding daft inane and start skewering people around. "Just…" she began, trying to find for words to explain that she needed sleep for she's dreaming awake in a formal way. "Just…well, tired." It seems too unsophisticated for the acolyte but she could truly feel the weariness clouding her consciousness.
"Tired? You mean you haven't got a sleep yet?"
"I was excited to meet you." Elrodein grinned sheepishly. True, after the long fiasco in Payon the only thing she was looking up to is to meet her sister. "But all things aside..." She was still curious about the 'riddle' earlier. "Who's that person so similar to me anyway?" Whenever the two talks, it's always between the two of them. It is a rare occasion to have the knight talk about herself or about the people around her. She always reasoned that she is always careful to separate what is supposed to be separated. "Is she real? Or a simply one of your teasing allusions to me?" Elrodein is eager to know something about Angela. She simply conceals any 'unrelated' information between the two of them. But the acolyte gets the idea that this person might be real. There was something in the knight's expressions at that time that vaguely suggests his or her reality…
It was a while before Angela replied. It could be a way to close the conversation – but she wanted it to be an open-ended one, anyway. A faint smile materialized in her sunlight-dappled face. "What do you think?"
"What do I think?" The acolyte repeated, perplexed.
"Do you think I just made her up?"
"We are asking you nicely, Governor Yuehn. Don't force us in using the other way around."
Zenin Yuehn could barely contain his anger, yet he knows that he could do nothing. He sat glued on his comfortable armchair, glaring darkly at the half a dozen wizards standing triumphantly over his cluttered desk. His hands were visibly sore from rapping the table to emphasis his repudiation, yet it doesn't seem to help his point.
"This is something I cannot do, Mister Halraence! It is simple unbearable for my part!" he said, trying to keep his voice even, yet it still shook with pent-up rage. "Trevis is my only son! I cannot allow him to be wasted away in your rash plans!"
Mheian Halraence merely smirked at the governor's statement. "Your son's talent would not get wasted, and neither is his life. We are making him a part of Geffen's revival, which would be a great honor for him-"
"Great honor?" Zenin repeated with agitated sarcasm. "Great honor? Geffen's revival? This is mad, Mheian Halraence, this is insanity! You are planning to lead all of Geffen's promising wizards to untimely deaths! There is no honor in this!"
Several of the wizards bristled at the elderly governor's words. Zenin Yuehn may be old and withered in appearance, but behind the frail exterior is the unbendable loyalty to Prontera. Mheian sighed uprightly. Some people are too blinded by power to see the nobleness of his plans, he thought. And Trevis Yuehn is could prove helpful to these noble plans. He needs the young wizard to accomplish them.
"Very well, Governor Yuehn. You leave us with no other alternative." The astute wizard gestured for his companions. They nodded in understanding and quickly left his side, briskly walking across the splendid, carpeted office towards the door. "It pains me greatly to resort to this, but we have no other choice."
The door ominously creaked open. The old governor gasped in horror. "Mheian Halraence, I didn't expect that you had stooped this low!" he screamed hoarsely at the incisive wizard. "Leave my daughter out of this! She isn't the one you are looking for!" He looked despairingly at the teenage mage heavily bound by thick ropes, her mouth covered with cloth and held by two strapping guards. He felt the overwhelming urge to rise from his seat and free his daughter from the foul beings that held her captive – that hold them captive. Yet he knew that age has taken its toll on his strength. The sword by his side is for decorative purposes only - although he still knows how to effectively wield it, his frail body is preventing him to do so.
"She isn't out of this, Governor," Mheian said softly. Every word was assaulting the elderly administrator like poison. Every particle of his being revolted at the sight of the hated wizard by his daughter's side, playfully stroking her chin. The mage tried to maintain calm and composed, but a small, stifled cry issued from her mouth. "By the way, I have your other daughter and her husband plus your wife. The mature woman doesn't seem she could take more stress though…" he smirked. Zenin's breath left him for a split-second in intense fury. He would've done anything to tear the condescending smile from Mheian's face. "The only way out is simple, Zenin Yuehn. We only need your cooperation."
The royal governor of Geffen buried his face into his hands. He had never been in a much tighter situation than this.
Notes from Aizhen: So, the promised revamp! This pretty much unfolds a great deal about the plot. I hope it is better than before. There is more to this than what is in here, but I thought that it would be putting too much in the first chapter, so it's going to be in the second chapter. You might've noticed it's longer – my prologue alone is lengthier than the previous prologue and chapter one combined. I also retained some of the lines and scenes in the earlier version of chapter 1. Oh yes, thank you very much for the reviews! This is still bound for some last-minute corrections, like correcting typos or 'tightening' of the plot. I write after school hours – so I could be incredibly tired and disoriented and affect my writing. (Plus quiz bees and plays and neglected homework. Oh man…what could a mere sophie do?) Chao!
