Author's Notes:
First I would like to address the rating change. K+ is too restrictive for the direction I want to take this fic, so I changed it to teen. This fic is going to contain some violence, swearing, and sexual references. However, that does not mean I'm going to be immature and use potty humor or have characters swear every other line.

I would like to thank those of you who took the time to write me a review. It's great to know that there are people reading this fic.

Thanks to Phantom Kensai I now have the character endings for Lugh, Chad, and Rei. Personally, I think they are extremely lame compared to my story. I mean they're so ambiguous and uneventful. My story is going to have plot twisting action, heart pounding adventure, and (most likely) passionate romance.

An announcement I would like to make is that I will now do a story status thing in my profile. I will use it to update my progress on how my writing is coming along. This way if I don't update a story for two weeks you'll at least know I'm still alive.

As far as this particular chapter goes I must say that the story gets really interesting. Not only will you get to learn about what Lugh saw you also get to experience plot twists. If you want to know what those are you have to keep reading….

Chapter One:
A Magical Experience

Although the church was not unique Chad kept staring at it in fascination. He had never seen something so big in his life. It was Rei who brought him back to reality.

"Are you deaf? I asked you if you knew where my brother is."

"Chill, chill, I heard you." Chad brushed some leaves off his cloak. "You're so impatience when you don't get a good night's sleep. Don't worry, he's probably—"

"Rei, Chad, come quickly!"

With great speed Chad and Rei darted toward the Church. After arriving they saw what had frightened Lugh. They were looking in the huge room where mass was conducted. There, scattered amongst the pews, were the mutilated corpses of men, women, and children. On the altar was the skeleton that once belonged to a priest. Apparently the poor man had been the victim of some bizarre ritual. The worst part about the scene was the rotten smell of the decaying bodies.

"Disgusting," Chad murmured.

"So much death…" Lugh whispered. "This makes what Bern did look…humane."

Chad pushed Lugh aside and entered the Church. "I'm going to look for survivors. They'll need our help."

Lugh ran to his friend's side. "I'll help too," he said with newfound bravery. "I will not let anyone else die here."

"Stop!" Rei shouted in vain. Chad and Lugh were too caught up in helping those who might have survived this monstrosity.

Rei sighed in frustration and entered the Church. With all his strength he closed the gigantic door Lugh had opened. He then went searching through his bag and pulled out his Flux tome. Rei began to chant and succeeded in catching the attention of Lugh and Chad.

"What's going on?" Chad asked as he and Lugh returned to the entrance of the Church. "Did you kill the person responsible for this massacre?"

"Sometimes you two can be so dense." Rei glared at his friend and twin brother. "Something does not feel right about this. I think it's a trap."

Chad looked at Rei in disbelief. "A trap? There are corpses of children all over this gods forsaken place and you think it's a trap to get us?"

"That does sound a little far-fetched," Lugh added softly.

"Watch this then." Rei reached under his robes and pulled out a small staff. Despite being a mere one foot in length it was brilliantly decorated with glittering gemstones, gold beads, and a shiny red cylinder that capped it. Rei held the staff high in the air and began to chant. In a few moments a white light encompassed the room. As soon as the light died away the interior of the church vastly changed.

What had once been a comforting shrine to worship Saint Elimine was now a black citadel. The room was dimly lit by a large chandelier riddled with cobwebs. The walls were decorated with ominous pictures and the inmate objects in the room were coated with dust. However, the most frightening change was that of bodies. The corpses had become living people. They were wrapped in black cloaks except for the man on the altar. His robe was blood red.

"I'd hate to say I told you so." Rei grinned in spite of the terrifying scene.

"S-Save it for later," Chad stuttered.

"Let go of my cape, Chad," commanded Lugh with uncharacteristic forcefulness. "Remember what you told me when we first joined Lord Roy's army. 'We mustn't lose our heads in times of crisis'."

"You're right," Chad blushed as he unsheathed his sword.

"Don't be embarrassed," Lugh said while flipping through his Aircalibur tome. "It's ok to get scared every now and then. Oh, Rei, I found your Nosferatu spell book in my bag the other day."

Rei snatched the tome from his brother's bag. "That's where it's been. Stop taking my stuff Lugh. It's annoying."

"This is weird." Chad surveyed the room. "Why haven't all those people ambushed us while we were standing here talking?"

"There is a simple answer to that question." The person on the altar was now standing. While his facial features were shrouded under his hood the man sounded surprisingly young. "That is because it doesn't matter. I'll admit I was surprised that your friend was in possession of Saint Helen's legendary staff, but that just means my followers and I can finish our job a little earlier."

Rei laughed. "Who the hell are you and what do you mean it doesn't matter we're armed or not? I'll have you know the three of us faced actual dragons and the most powerful nation in the world. Do you honestly think that you and your creepy followers can defeat us?"

"Ah, so clever and yet so foolish." The man on the altar jumped onto the ground. As if on cue, the people lying on the pews rose up and went to his side.

Chad gave the signal and the three companions attacked. Lugh and Rei started to cast their spells while Chad lunged forward. To their surprise, the spells Lugh and Rei tried to cast did not appear at all. Chad also had no success. As he went to strike he collided into an invisible barrier that sent him soaring back next to his friends.

"See, I told you it wouldn't matter," the man sighed. "Children these days. They never listen to their elders. Don't you get it? This is one of our special fortresses. We are virtually invincible in here. Sure, it costs a fortune in sacrifices to run this place but it doesn't bother me or my followers."

"So you have some special barrier that keeps us from kicking your ass…" Rei mocked. "How incredible. That makes you and cronies' wimps but at least you answered my first question. Now, I would like to learn a little more about you. A name and an explanation for this scenario would do quite nicely."

The man started to lose his patience. "Listen kid, you're in no position to be rude. I would kill you all right now if it weren't for the prophecy. You wretches consider yourselves lucky. Nothing else would make me hesitate." He regained some of his composure. "Anyway, to answer your question my name is Janus. I'm the leader of this clan here known as the Black Magi. We are a group of powerful renegade magi that study magic anyone wouldn't dare to even think about."

"I have a question," interrupted Chad. "How did we end up here? If I recall, a very nice monk serving Lord Roy gave us a map and told us we would be running an orphanage."

"I think I can answer that." One of clan members stepped in front of Janus and removed his hood.

"N-No way," Chad stammered. There stood the same man who he had thought worked for Roy.

"You see," the imposter monk continued, "the church your 'little ones' happened to seek to refuge was this dark sanctuary. We killed them and used their blood to prepare this place for your arrival. Invisible barriers like the one you encountered right now don't come cheaply. Nor do they work as long as I like but I'm digressing. Back to the point, I was sent by Janus to lead you here. He knew that you would not question a gentle young monk serving the general who defeated Bern and the dragons. It worked out quite nicely for us because we could lead you here easily and help fulfill the prophecy."

When the imposter monk finished talking he put the black hood back on and returned to his original location beside Janus. Lugh had studied the rebel mages since they had gotten off the pews. They stood there still as statues. It was like the clan members were frozen in time. He pondered that for a few moments but realized he had a more important question.

"What is the prophecy I keep hearing about?"

Janus sighed. "You three want to know everything don't you. Basically, it states that someone is to take one girl who is perfect in everyway and a nice, immensely powerful boy who is very opposite from his twin brother, sacrifice the girl then the boy on the altar of darkness in our main fortress, mix their blood, and drink it. It also says that the first person to taste the blood gains immortality. I plan on doing that."

"And what makes you think I'm that one of us is that—"

"Enough questions!" Janus bellowed. "I'm sick of this chatter. It's now time my followers. Grab the boy, head to the fortress, and throw him in the dungeon. I will return to my quarters and make the necessary preparations for the sacrificing that is to take place tonight."

Without a moments hesitation the two robed figures marched through the invisible barrier and grabbed Lugh. He screamed as they dragged him by the arms into side corridor where he disappeared into blackness.

"Are you sure we shouldn't kill the other two now?" a Black Magi member asked Janus. "They could come back and foil our plans. We also could use them as sacrifices."

"Don't worry yourself," Janus reassured his follower. "They will never breakthrough our defenses let alone find our hideout. Besides after the ceremony tonight it won't matter. Our energy must be saved. We have more important tasks to worry about."

Janus raised his hands muttered a spell. Rei and Chad were engulfed in darkness and lost consciousness.

"Ugh." Chad found Rei and himself in the field they were at earlier in the day. Not much time had passed since the sun was as bright as it was before. However, the time spent in the Dark Sanctuary felt like an eternity to them.

"So, what now?" Rei said; looking at the sky while lying on the grass.

"How could you ask that?" replied Chad with intensity. "We have to save Lugh and stop this mad man from fulfilling his stupid prophecy."

"I guess we could. Personally, I think the prophecy is a bunch of garbage and that guy just happened to master a very exclusive part of elder magic. By that part I mean what we saw in that room down there."

"But what about Lugh?"

"It's really his fault when you think about." Rei sat up. "I knew there was something fishy about that church. If he hadn't been running ahead, opening that stupid door, I could have used my staff to discover what is about…before it was too late."

Chad finally lost all patience he had for Rei. Filled with rage, he struck him hard in the nose. "I have had it with you! Lugh says you're a good guy deep down but how am I supposed to believe that? All you can do is play the blame game while your twin brother is locked away in some crazy fortress. You don't sound the least bit concerned. Not only that but you are the bitterest person I have ever met. I swear, you could take the most beautiful thing in the world and find something ugly about it. Well I'm through…."

As Chad continued to rant Rei healed his nose by snorting the liquid of a pre-concocted potion he stored in his robes. Slowly, he stood up and looked Chad in the eyes.

"I'm not going to attack you because killing each other won't accomplish anything," Rei said trying to remain calm. "How dare you say that I don't care about my brother. Just because I don't throw a hissy fit over everything doesn't make me a heartless jerk. So what if I'm bitter? It's not like your mister perfect. I can think of so many negative qualities about you that I can stand here all day reciting them. It's a shame I don't have the time at the moment because I would enjoy doing that right about now. You know what? If you think I'm such a terrible person why don't you go rescue Lugh all by yourself? You might as well do it since I don't care about anything and enjoy letting my twin brother get sacrificed by some lunatic!"

"I think I will," replied Chad defiantly. He grabbed his bag and marched off into the forest heading towards a nearby village.

Rei remained alone in the field. He was deeply shaken by the terrible fight he had with his friend. However, he was tired of Chad being so critical of him. Deep down Rei was emotional and caring but it was not in his nature to show that. Unlike his brother, losing his parents made him bitter and traveling made him cynical.

Rei brushed a small tear from the corner of his eye and directed his attention on saving his brother. He made sure he had his belongings and pressed toward the fake church. In his haste, Janus had forgotten to leave people to guard his precious Dark Sanctuary. Rei would now search to see if he could find any clues of where Lugh was located.

How's that for some plot twisting action? I bet you never expected Lugh to be abducted by a cult or Rei and Chad to fight like that and go their separate ways. I'll admit the prophecy thing is a little weak but it was that thin plot element that allowed the exciting parts of the plot to take place. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of Lugh's cellmate (maybe cellmates).

As far as the romances I'm planning, there is an m/f couple and an m/m (not Lugh/Rei) couple. Is there anyone here who is so against slash pairs that they will avoid this fic like the plague and other related colloquialisms? I would love to do the pair I'm thinking about but I want to be fair and get some input from readers. And no, I will not reveal romance pairs that I'm thinking about as that would kill some of suspense in the story and I might change my mind later.

In other announcements if you're someone who enjoys proofreading and likes making fun of other people's grammar shoot me an email. My writing is riddled with many small errors I can't catch. Also, if anyone has any links to websites that teach or give creative tips send please send them to me. I'm always trying to improve my writing when I have the time.