Disclaimer
This fan fiction is based of characters and personages from the former OblivionRO server. Some of the character names were changed by the author's own preference and the character's personalities are roughly based off how they act on the server, their back stories are purely created by the author. The original characters from the game they were based off belong to their respective owners.
Some of the events that take place in this story did actually happen on the server during a Role Play event, or were based off the RP events. Everything else is purely of the author's creation.
Ragnarok Online is copyrighted to Gravity. Wherein, this fan fiction is copyrighted to Teknomiku.
Foreword
This fan fiction is dedicated to all of my friends from the Oblivion RO server. You guys were the greatest and it was fun hanging around with you all while it lasted. Even though Yoshi (Ayarane) decided to shut down the server August 31 2005 after running ohRO for around 9 months (6 of which I was there for) you guys will always be a part of me. Maybe someday we'll meet up again.
If by chance, any of you are reading this now and wonder who is writing this. It would be me, Zaya. I call usually myself Teknomiku across the internet. Anyway, I'd like to thank you all for inspiring my crazy fan fiction mind to produce this.
Act 1 – Prontera City
Zaya Amiara stopped in front of the gates to the city. Above the oversized doorway was the heraldic emblem of the king, an impressive double-headed green eagle gilded in gold trim. At the guard post was a bored young man with auburn hair; he barely paid heed when she walked through the entryway. She never has been to Prontera City before despite it being so close to her home town of Izlude.
Zaya touched her belt pouch again, inside was the letter she was instructed to deliver by Cless Alevin, the head swordsmen instructor from Izlude, to the Prontera church. She assumed the letter has to deal with the request to assign acolytes to swordsmen for joint training since she seen the former upper level swordsmen training with them last term.
Past the gates, the street opened up with small buildings lining the cobble stone pathway. A few stray people hurried past her busily caught up in their own agendas. As she continued walking deeper into the city, more and more people started to appear from nowhere and as she paused in the middle of the city center, she looked around her in awe at the hundreds of people packed around her.
Merchants had set up their stands and carts all over the court displaying their goods with a few shouting out to passing people while all sorts of others flitted between them all. Zaya had never seen so many people gathered in one place before, and unlike Izlude, there were hardly any swordsmen and knights she could spot among the masses. She sighed softly before she resumed heading northward through the city center dodging the venders and the other travelers.
She remembered Cless telling her the Prontera Church was in the northeast corner of the city, so she walked around to find the church she looked around at the various buildings as she passed them. There were item shops selling supplies for the traveler as well as weapon shops proudly displaying their collection of swords, daggers and various pieces of armor lining the main court with numerous more smaller shops down the side road. The crowds of people thinned out the further down the road she went until she finally spotted the large silhouette of the church. The front had a large stained glass window of a cross above the doorway and a white crucifix on the top of the steepled roof. A stone sign in front of the building was engraved with the words PRONTERA CHURCH. She stopped a few feet from the entrance and looked the place over.
"So this is it...," she said aloud to herself.
After brushing back her straying locks of platinum-white hair, she stepped up to the slightly oversized doorway and with a firm tug pulled open the door. The interior of the annex was dimly lit by the rays of light filtering through the clearstory windows high above, there were also candles upon wooden holders lining the aisle as well as on a desk near the entryway. It took a few moments for Zaya's eyes to adjust to the church's less luminous lighting before she could spot a figure behind the desk busily doing something with their back to her.
She stepped up to the desk, letter in hand and at the desk she rested her arms against the edge of the desk leaning forward slightly. The young acolyte behind the desk was dressed in a blue tunic like robe that was a paler blue than his short cropped blue hair.
"Excuse me?" Zaya called out, attentively watching as the acolyte put aside the books he was sorting onto the bookcase against the wall.
"How may I—" he said turning around to see who was coming to the church at this time of the day when he stopped mid sentence at who he saw on the other side of the desk.
He stared in disbelief at the familiar girl leaning against the opposite side towards him. Her white hair was shorter then what he remembered and the face and figure of a young adult replaced the girl from his memory but her eyes were still the same. There was no way he could mistake nor forget her bicolored eyes that are half violet and half sky blue.
Zaya looked him over, returning the surprised gaze on his emerald eyes. He did seem familiar to her, but she couldn't understand why especially since this was her first trip to Prontera unless he was from Izlude himself. She blinked a few times confused re-examining his blue hair that partially covered his right eye when it finally came to her. Could it be him? She contemplated staring at him wide-eyed.
"Nephilim!" she gasped, "You became an acolyte!"
He chuckled a little trying to cover up his slight embarrassment, "That's right. And you ended up becoming a swordsman after all, Zaya."
"Ah, yes I did," she quipped smiling, "I didn't expect to see you again after that day your family moved from Izlude."
"Likewise," Nephilim said noticing that his childhood friend hasn't changed much at all.
Then from some room a little farther down the annex a figure emerged dressed in a long black tunic with red cuffs and gold embroidered trim and dark brown slacks. He strode over to them stopping between where they stood, it was immediately apparent by his demeanor of his high authority.
"What are you kids up to?" he said plainly before taking notice of Zaya's different clothing style. "And who may you be?"
Zaya was a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of the dark haired priest standing by her. "I'm Zaya Amiara. I was sent from the Izlude Swordsmen Association to deliver this letter from Cless Alevin."
He just stood there staring at her for a while before shifting his eyes down to the letter in her hand. "I suppose it would be for me then, since I'm the High Priest of the Prontera Church, Lucius. Let me see this letter Sir Alevin entrusted with you."
Zaya nodded holding out the still unwrinkled envelope out for Lucius. He half interestedly plucked the envelope from her grasp; he glanced at his name written in cursive script on the front before flipping it over to break the seal on the underside. Lucius read over the letter already knowing what message it contained.
"Ah yes…" Lucius said in though, "Now you said your name was Zaya, yes?"
"That's right," Zaya replied.
He nodded, "I see. Nephilim since you and Lady Zaya appear to get along you two are assigned to each other through the swordsman-acolyte training program"
Nephilim glanced over at Zaya shocked before turning back to Lucius. He heard about the program but only the best acolytes of the current group were able to participate and he honestly didn't consider himself part of that group. Most of the time he was assigned to research whatever he was instructed to, clean up the place and sometimes instruct people where to go in the church for whatever they were looking for.
"You're sure?" he said still unbelieving.
Lucius refolded the letter before replying to him. "Yes of course. You two kids go run off and do something in Prontera for a few hours," he said waving them away while turning to leave, "By then I'll have the letter for Lady Zaya and you to return to Sir Alevin."
They both stood there unmoving as Lucius walked back from where he approached from, disappearing behind one of the doors. They stood there for a moment as the realization sunk in. It could be much worse she reasoned to herself, after all Lucius would have no way to know that their relationship went farther back than just this day.
"Well, this was a bit unexpected…" Zaya said aloud.
"Agreed," he replied, mostly recovered from his surprise. "Well I guess I could show you around Prontera, which is much more exciting than organizing these books all day."
She eyed the half-reorganized bookcase again. "Yea. So where to Neph?" she asked walking next to him as they headed out the colossal double doors of the church.