Chapter One: A White-Winged Angel
I can't help it…
Couldn't stop it of I tried…
The same old heartbeat fills the emptiness I have inside…"Huh?" Savana blinked, holding up her tan hands. Her amber eyes looked down on her tight-fitting uniform. Black short shorts with a spaghetti-strapped khaki and purple tube top, straps hanging off her shoulders. One hand slipped to her waist where her metal sheath was pulling at its leather throng, wrapped around her hips. She was at the Chaos gate, and the entire root town of Mac Anu lay before her. "I'm in. Now where to start?"
Mac Anu was the main city in the Delta server. A sunset area and a beautiful town built over a river it's title, The Aqua Capital, seemed to fit perfectly. As usual it was crowded with players in search of better items and weapons.
"I guess I can start here." The woman replied, running her fingers through her long, shaggy, bright crimson hair.
Asking each of the shop owners proved pointless. They had so many customers a day that it was impossible to tell everyone apart. Nobody on the street had heard of him either.
"He was a blademaster who went by the online name Sieg." She continuously asked people. And each answer she received was a no.
"I thought he said he was popular!" she sighed as she opened the Chaos gate. "Damn him! Tomonari!" her fist beat against the metal frame of the portal. In a flash of blue light, she stumbled into a field of tall grass. It was night and the stars shone, illuminating the full moon even further.
"Woah! Where am I?!" she frantically glanced around. "Area Information!"
Immediatedly a screen flashed up in Tawna's view. "Non-elemental? Never been to one of those before. Level 25?!" she swallowed. "That's way to high for me! And-" she watched as a pack of Hell Hounds closed in around her while she had been under the screen. "I can't gate out while I'm in battle mode." She closed the menu and raised her sword. "All I can do is hope for the best."
The pack jumped her, ripping clothing and skin. The leaders surrounded her, cutting off any escape route she had. La Repth was a temporary source of health, but her SP diminished fast. With only 2 HP left, the female blademaster was having a hard time just staying standing. Tawna bit her bottom lip as the dogs closed in on their prey. 'I haven't saved…'
The pack leader growled and rushed her. Savana's knees gave out and she began to collapse…
…right into a pair of strong arms.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Savana simply nodded, not even bothering to see who had saved her life. She didn't have the energy.
"You don't seem like it. Let me get you out of here first."
She thought she was hallucinating as she suddenly saw the ground fifty feet below her. A stone structure came into view, before Savana's eyes blurred again. The arms wrapped around her let her down softly on a hard, yet smooth rock surface. Her forehead touched the cold marble floor as she lay over a pair of steps. She was completely exhausted. Moments seemed to pass like hours before she heard footsteps returning to where she was laying.
"You really took a beating." It was the same voice from before. A bright blue light surrounded Savana as the voice chanted a high-leveled healing spell that the player couldn't recognize. In an instant her HP bar was completely restored. "Better?"
She sat up, looking at her body as if she couldn't believe she looked like she was in health. She realized as she glanced up that she was on the steps of a mighty temple, similar to buildings in Mac Anu. Turning around, her eyes fell on the man who had saved her.
He was tall, with choppy ivory white hair that fell just over his shoulders. He wore blue and silver armor, accented here and there by green and gold and a massive sword at his waist. Snowy wings billowed out of his back and spread out behind him as he stretched, the downy fluff on his shoulders ruffling in the slight breeze. The length of his arms were encased in thick blue steel, but they paused to let through another set of feathers draping down to the length of his waist. He was fair-skinned too, a pale white color which somehow blended nicely with his wings and hair. His emerald eyes fell on her and he smirked.
"What were you doing here? What level are you? Twelve?"
"Thirteen, thank you very much." She said defensively. "And I teleported here on mistake."
"Well, sorry. My mistake." He bowed dramatically.
Savana gritted her teeth. "Who are you anyway?"
His eyes went wide for a moment, before he joined her on the steps. "You must be a total newbie." At the glare she gave him he held up his hands. "That's not a bad thing. I was a newbie, once."
"Once?" she looked over at him in curiosity.
"Yeah." He sighed, before smiling. " My name's Balmung. A blademaster."
"Savana." She smiled back. "I'm a blademaster too."
"I can see that." He paused. "You're really nice, you know. Most women I run into usually swamp me." Leaning back on the steps, his face searched the sky.
"Why? I mean, you're good-looking and all, but isn't that a bit to far?" she asked, running a hand through her crimson mane.
"Yeah, really. Tell me about it." He ignored her question, but she really didn't mind. He sat back up, a gloved hand resting on the handle of his sword. "I have to use this just to keep the ladies away."
"Modest are we?" she giggled.
"As modest as I can get." He stood up and took a few footsteps back. "Well, Savana, it's been nice talking to you. Maybe we'll run into each other again, the next time you need to have your life saved."
"This won't happen again." She promised him with a grin.
"I bet it won't. But then there won't be a next time, will there?" he smiled down on her as a golden circle surrounded him, his body materializing into nothingness.
"Wait!" she yelled, starting off the steps as his image disappeared into the night. "Damn, he gated out! I didn't even give him my member address! Balmung, how could you just leave me here?!"
She gated back to Mac Anu, angry that she hadn't found out anything.
"I wish I could stay, but I'm getting really tired. Okay, so my mission to save Tomonari tonight will have to be delayed till tomorrow afternoon, but still." She yawned as she walked down an alleyway. "And where did that damn Chaos gate get to??? Speaking of gates, I have to find that Balmung and give him a piece of my mind."
"Balmung?" one of the passing girls stopped her. She was dressed in red flare jeans with complicated markings on them and a red halter-top with the same designs. A long spear was shoved under one of her arms, the point resting on the concrete ground.She pushed a strand of her long blonde hair out of her teal eyes as she stared down at Savana. "Are you talking about Balmung of the Azure Sky?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe."
"He's about six feet tall with shaggy white hair and pretty dark green eyes." She went on, describing him in full detail.
"Yeah, that's him! That dumb idiot! How could he just leave me there?" the blademaster clenched her fists in frustration.
"Excuse me." The woman put a hand on Savana's shoulder. "You know Balmung?"
"Yeah." At the excite look on the other girl's face she added. "What's the big deal about him?"
"Big deal?! Are you a complete newbie?!"
"Okay, so I've only played six hours tops on this game." She sweatdropped. "So, explain."
"Balmung, if he's the one and the same Balmung you know, is Balmung of the Azure Sky. He watches over Beta server's Dun Lorieag and is a direct descendant of Fianna. He's supposed to be on e of the best players in the World. Nt only is he unmatched in fighting and magic, but he's a hottie!" she paused. "All the women talk about him all the time. But, very few have seen him. His appearance gives him away, so he gets publicity wherever he goes. He seems to hate that so he tackles super high-level dungeons or areas that seems different from other areas." She smiled. "But you've met him! That's so totally unbelievably cool! My name's Raquel. I'll give you my member address. Contact me, whenever you see Balmung again. He's the reason I got into playing this game."
"Okay…" as the woman bounded off, Savana was left with more unanswered questions. 'Balmung, a creator of the World? One of the best? Then why'd he bother to save me?' she wandered until she found herself at the Chaos gate. 'He has all this power, right? So why didn't he just leave me to die and laugh over me like the other experienced players sometimes do when I struggle? Why are you so different from every other man I've met here?' as the blue portal began to glow, she pulled out her sword, preparing to log out. "Balmung of the Azure Sky. You're an interesting man. So interesting, I might just have to search for you myself to find more answers."
-*END CHAPTER ONE*-
