Chapter 1:
A lone sage traversed the streets of the capital. Nobody minded him since sages were common in Prontera, each one rushing to their destination. Well, this particular sage was different. He was fresh out of the Sage Academy, and he was sent here by the Arch Sages to further his knowledge and his abilities. But, unfortunately for him, this was his first time to visit Prontera. He had spent most of his life in the Geffenian area, particularly Aldebaran. In other words, this sage, who seemed immersed in deep thought, was, in fact, lost. He sighed as he pondered his predicament.
The sun was already setting and he still hasn't gotten the grasp of being in a city like this. He finally gave up walking around partly because his feet were sore. He found a vacant bench near the fountain of Odin and decided to rest there for a while. He found himself staring at Odin's statue. He was amazed with this creation, Odin, God of All, on his faithful horse, Sleipner. Suddenly, he heard a slight hiss behind him. He looked for the source but saw nothing. Then he looked down and saw messages on the stone road.
"Man...The one who wrote this sure has poor writing..." the sage commented. He heard a cough echo throughout that place but shrugged it off. Now his curiosity got the better of him. He followed the messages and soon he ended up a in a dark alley. There were still writings on the walls of this alley, and since he was the curious type, he followed them without hesitation. He sighed as he reached a dead end, disappointment evident in his face. He was about to go back when he felt something in his pocket, feeling around.
On instinct, he casted sight and thus revealing a rogue behind him, hand still in his pocket. The rogue started walking backwards, afraid that he had been discovered.
"And what do you think you're doing..." the sage asked him, feigning innocence.
"..." The rogue was silent as the sage kept on walking towards him. Slowly, he unsheathed a dagger behind him.
The sage was getting closer and closer. The rogue brought out his dagger and took a swipe at him. The sage immediately blocked it with his staff. Then he started chanting and soon bolts of fire came out of nowhere and hit the rogue. He staggered but still he held his ground, determined to beat this guy, whoever he was. The rogue moved quickly behind the sage and attempted to remove his armor, at which he succeeded. Thinking he has the upper hand now, he swiped again, not aware that the sage had casted another spell. A yellow sphere was in the sage's hands, which was growing bigger. Several souls erupted from the sphere and knocked back the rogue far away.
The sage reappeared beside him and was about to cast a final spell to finish this when the rogue suddenly begged for mercy.
"OK ok!!! I give up!! I still want to live!! I'm just another guy trying to make a living!! Please don't hurt me anymore!! I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!!."
The sage laughed a bit at this and cancelled his spell. Then he started walking towards the rogue to help him up.
" " he warned the rogue and started walking away. The rogue then stopped him.
The sage sighed...What now, he thought as he turned to face the rogue.
The rogue stuttered while he spoke, "C-can I a-acompany you for a while? Y-you are strong...I admit it." The person he asked seemed taken aback by what he said, taking him some time to reply.
"Alright, alright. The name's Ace, Ace Algiz. What's yours?" Ace answered finally, to which the rogue seemed pleased.
The rogue regained his composure, standing straight up, he told Ace his name proudly.
"I'm , pleased to meet you sir Ace." He bowed as he said this, making the sage blush a bit.
"What's with the bow? And the sir?" He inquired, quite curious as to why the rogue has said this.
"Just showing my respect to one as great as yourself sir." He replied back, stunning the sage for a second. Ace just sighed, thinking he won't be able to convince the rogue to stop doing that. He just walked towards the fountain once again to his bench. To his dismay, it was already taken by a pair of lovebirds, cuddling against one another. Ace just frowned at this scene being made by the two and went off to look for another bench, the rogue quickly following behind him.
Ace thought back to the two lovers back at the fountain and he sighed. How he missed her...Her eyes, her cute nose, her red lips. Her captivating voice, especially her touch. It always drove him mad with desire. He wanted her back but he knew that was now impossible.
As Ace walked on, still thinking, he didn't notice that he was near to bumping a person in front of him. Luckily, Jack was there to yank him from behind. Coming back to his senses, he turned around to face Jack, red anger in his eyes. He was about to blow his top when someone tapped him from behind. He was stunned by what he saw.
She looks just like her, Ace thought as he continued staring at the girl before him.
"Ehem.", Jack coughed.
Ace snapped back to reality and blushed, remembering what he had just done. He dropped to the ground, brought up his knees and covered his face in embarrassment. Jack just laughed at his companion's reaction while the priestess giggled. After Ace recovered from his...incident, the three introduced themselves. The pair soon learned that the priestess' name was Katherine Lockheart. Kat for short.
"Er...Hi.", Katherine said to the two. Ace stood to shake her hand, and to apologize.
"Um...Sorry for the way I acted earlier. It's just that you really remind me of someone close.", Ace explained.
"No problem Ace...Didn't mind you staring at me...", She kept her head down, cheeks tinted by red. Someone coughed from behind. It was Jack. Again. Ace shook his head. Again.
"So where to sir Ace?", Jack asked.
Might as well move...I keep getting lost in this place...Too big...Ace kept thinking about these things in his head. He didn't want to admit that HE of all of people was new to the capital.
But hey, Katherine's there right?
"How about Payon...er...Ace was it?
I wouldn't mind warping you there...", She said, her head never looking at Ace's face. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"But...There's a um...fee...", Kat continued.
Ace put a hand inside his pocket and brought out a pouch full of coins.
"How much then miss?", he asked her innocently while counting his coins.
"Oh that's not what I mean...I wanted to go with you...", She tilted her head upwards a bit to look at Ace's surprised face.
"Sure you can join us Kat! Right Ace?" Jack piped up from the side.
"H-huh? But why...?", the sage was curious as to why she would want to go with the two.
"N-nothing much...You don't expect a girl like me to stay put in this kind of place do you?", she was now fully looking at Ace's face, smiling.
"U-um....", was all Ace could say when Kat started chanting, a blue crystal in her open palm. She let it drop to the floor and soon light erupted from it.
"There you go...A portal to Payon, you two go in first.", she told them. Ace was fascinated by the portal in front of him. Jack just sighed and pushed him inside.
"Wha-Heeeey!!!", Ace yelled as he fell on the circle of light and disappeared.
"See you on the other side, my lady." He winked at her and stepped on the portal, disappearing as well. He was soon followed by Kat who closed the portal by her entering it. No trace of the portal was evident thereafter.
From across the road, a cloaked figure stood up from under a tree and walked towards a stall nearby. There was a wizard there, eyeing several pieces of excellent equipment. He pointed to one and soon after, he handed the merchant a bag full of money.
"Thank you kind sir.", the wizard bowed at the merchant.
"'Twas no problem, sir wizard, pleasure's all mine.", the merchant replied as he faced another one of his customers.
The wizard looked at his newly bought muffler, a wide grin shown on his face.
"What a bargain! Such a fine piece of armor! At such a low price as well! What a bargain, what a bargain...", he exclaimed. Then the cloaked figure approached him.
"Sir, they be goin to Payon now. Should I keep following 'em?" the figure asked grimly.
"No need good sir. I will be doing the following now if I may.", the wizard handed him a bag of zeny, bringing delight to the man's eyes. He left the man to his wonder and caught a warp bound for his next destination: Payon.