Ok, now that you have the general idea of what's sorta going on, I can get into the main story now. Oh, and this doesn't take place in the Egyptian part of the mega-continent, or at least, it doesn't start there, sooner or later I'll draw a map, but yeah, starts off in the deciduous forest-like area…think like…New England, there you go.
P.S. – Ooh, this came out so good, chances are I'm going to start the next chapter right after I post this
Here we go!
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Chapter 1: Fate Calls the Sleeping
- Eria sat up in her bed, it was pitch dark. She wasn't sure what caused her to wake up, but she assumed that all she needed was a bit of water and she'd drift back to sleep. Rummaging around, she found her staff and with a simple chant illuminated the raindrop-shaped gem that topped it. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She kept her tired self steady with the staff as she made her way out of the room and into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she trekked through the dark house. She scooped up a cup full of water from the water basin and allowed the liquid to trickle down her throat, satisfying her thirst. Her nose tingled a bit, a feeling she was not particularly accustomed to, but familiar even so. She then noticed something that caused her grip on the iron goblet to fail, letting gravity throw the object and its contents to the floor. This made a loud clanging noise that reverberated all through the house. As if it weren't enough noise Eria yelped. "Sisters!" She yelled, "Sisters wake up!"
- Aussa was the first to show up, her dreams had been abruptly interrupted by the clanging of the cup, and she had come to investigate, only to find Eria standing in the kitchen shrieking. She fumbled around with her glasses and placed them over her sagging eyes. Now able to see correctly, she was also able to focus in on the same sight as Eria had. Her nose tingled and twitched as well and she started to exclaim, "My…" but couldn't finish.
- Wynn, the youngest of the inhabitants of the house entered the scene next, carelessly walking into the kitchen half-naked and asking what was wrong. She experienced the same olfactory phenomenon just as the fourth character came in. Hiita brushed at her nose when she felt the tingling sensation as if a fly had landed on her. She saw what the other three girls were gaping at and said, "Oh calm down you three, it's not like this hasn't happened before."
- "That is true, sister, but you forget that all four spots are filled already. This throws the whole balance of Nature off course! This is nigh impossible!" Aussa said. Although Hiita's expression didn't change, she felt funny inside, after all, Aussa was right.
--- Ok, now let me fill you in on what's going on. So here we have four girls, seemingly to be somewhere around the ages of 11-16. Firstly there's Eria (Air-ee-uh), fair-skinned with freckles playing on her cheeks and long blue hair that was silky to the touch. She is a Water Charmer, more into that later. Then we have Aussa (Aw-sa), somewhat darker skinned, with short brown hair and a pair of perfectly round spectacles, just like every one of the Charmer Sisters, she possesses a staff much like Eria's. This one, however, glows deep purple with a quartz-like decoration atop the wooden shaft. Aussa is an Earth Charmer Hiita (Hi-ee-ta) has what can only be described as a "fiery" complexion and short red hair, her staff shines with the natural light of fire which eternally burns, yet is cool to the touch. Fittingly so, Hiita is a Fire Charmer. Wynn (Win), who is indeed the youngest of the four sisters, has fair skin much like her sister Eria yet has messy green pigtails atop her head. The staff she bears glows bright green from an emerald gem that decorates her staff. If it wasn't obvious, she is a Wind Charmer.
--- Phew, glad that's settled. Oh, sorry for the late introduction, but you can call me Joel. I know many things. I know things that were never meant to be known by anyone, as well as things I share with the world. I am a traveling story teller, and I have many stories to tell, and right now I am telling you one of my finest. It's one of my finest because I can reiterate it to the very last detail. How do I know so much about it? Well, I was there. Now where was I? Ah, here we go.
- The object of interest was merely a stone that was placed on a table, nothing more. The rock was roughly the size of a maturing kitten (pardon my horrible comparison), was oval in shape and had elaborate designs engraved on the surface. Now, what was so eye-catching about this seemingly purposeless cobble was that said etched designs were glowing. Yes, they were glowing a florescent green much like the color of a firefly, or lightning bug, or whatever you might call the little buggers, excusing the pun. The light pulsated at a steady 85 beats per minute and was somewhat hypnotic.
- Wynn, who, unlike her sisters, seemed constantly in a state of oblivion, asked simply. "That means a dragon egg has appeared, right?" Hiita grumbled and rubbed her temples; to the sisters, that was a pointless question.
- Contrary to the Fire Charmer's actions, Eria answered her younger sister's question. "Yes dear, that is what it means. But the real question is why, even though there are four existing already? There cannot be another until much later."
--- Ok, something about dragons. Dragons are very famous creatures. Throughout history, as we know it, they appear in many different cultures, folklore, myths, and tales. Their mystic and arguable existence has popped up in many stories through the centuries and has captivated children's imaginations for even before them. And although parents and elders alike have quelled these wild imaginations by telling generation after generation that these stories were but fairy-tales and fiction, what hasn't been revealed to the modern world is that dragons did in fact exist.
--- Back when dragons were "real" they popped up everywhere, though a good percentage of them were considered False Dragons. False Dragons consisted of dragon fusions, ritually summoned dragons, and more commonly, the more reptilian animal dragons, who lived the lives of animals and not the magical lives of True Dragons. What do I mean by True Dragons? Well, True Dragons had something that other dragons didn't. Actually, they had quite a bit of things that False Dragons lacked. It is a whole complicated system that will ruin the momentum so basically all you need to know right now is that there shouldn't be more than four True Dragons alive at one time. Continuing…
- Aussa turned to Eria. "So what are we to do?" she asked, stifling a yawn. As Wynn noticed her shirtless self and covered up half-embarrassed, Eria shrugged in response. "Well," she said, "What else can we do but accept what kismet's thrown our way. We shall leave the egg there now and wait until morning to retrieve it. Truthfully, I'm too tired to mill about it now. When the sun rises, we'll fetch it and bring it to the egg ceremony site and hope for the best. Only time will tell what fate has in store." And with that, everyone groggily made their way back to bed.
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- Hidden by the cloak of mountains over two hundred leagues northeast from the last point of interest lies an air base slowly waking from last night's slumber. Lights flickered on throughout the building complex, hanger doors begin opening with mechanical grinds, and people exit their barracks, stretching and getting some crisp morning fresh air. Since this is ancient times, these people of the future have been hiding away from the primitive common folk ever since "The Big Rift" as it was called ((Referring to when the Magic World collided with the real world)). Although it is hidden, few do know of the base, mainly military leaders from ally countries, but also adventurers who have stumbled upon it while hiking the mountains.
- This is Gradius Air Force Bravo Outpost Airbase, and it plays an important role in the assistance of the Allied Forces that lie to the West and North of the mountains. Here, we find someone of utmost importance in this story. This character is 2nd Lieutenant Cedric Kelly, who pilots a Gradius FF-9 Fighter, is a commanding officer of the Gradius Bravo 3rd battalion, and is currently running an early-morning simulation.
- The simulation cockpit thrashes about and rumbles seemingly out of control. 30 minutes go by and the cockpit finally settles, opening up to reveal a man in his mid-20s, sporting inch long black hair, a pale face and piercing green eyes. He climbed out of the Gradius representation and removed his helmet, walking over to an ebony colored man sitting at a control console and reading a print-out evaluation of the last simulation. "Well, the statistics don't lie Ced," the black man said, "You're a horrible flier. But what you pull off in combat is what really keeps you here at Bravo Base."
- Cedric snickered and replied, "Yeah, that and, if you let me go, I could blab to all the Apes about this here establishment." Apes was the military slang many members of the Gradius squad used to call the ancient people that were too primitive to know about the air base and its goings on. It was derived from the proper military abbreviation AP, which simply meant "Ancient People."
- "Consider yourself lucky," said the dark man, "if we were back home, you'd be kicked outta here faster than you can wink." This was Kiloman Wiser, the computer engineer and operator. Despite his resemblance of a weightlifter or a bodyguard of some sort, he was the head of the computer maintenance and management department at the air base. On the base, everyone but the high officers called him Kilowatt, and he was widely revered as a good friend amongst all of the people at Bravo Base.
- "I can only imagine." Was Cedric's reply. He tucked his helmet under his arms and took the papers from Kilowatt sifting through them and scanning his synopsis. They walked down the hallway together, going nowhere in particular; they weren't needed anywhere anyways, what with the rest of the base just waking up.
- "I still can't see why they still have you as 2nd Lieutenant and a CO," Kilowatt's booming voice wondered aloud, "not doubting your abilities or anything, but you can be considered a danger to those around you. I mean, just look at the simulation stats." He gestured towards the loose leaf in Cedric's hands.
- "Oh, Kilowatt, you know simulation is nothing like real life." Said Cedric in mild defense, "I guess when out on the battlefield, I'm an entirely different person." He shrugged and thrust the now disheveled papers back into Kilowatt's arms.
- Fumbling with the papers a bit, Kilowatt said, "I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest." And went off back to work.
- Cedric smirked and pushed open the door to the debriefing room. In it was the usual long table with chairs all around and a podium at one end. In it were four people, the 1st Lieutenant, and head CO of the 3rd Battalion, Karly Banks; Sergeant Louis Veece; and two other members of the 3rd Battalion. The Sergeant stood firmly on the opposite side of the table from Cedric; Karly sat sideways in a chair; one of the privates on the desk, and the other in another chair. They fell silent and looked toward Cedric as he walked in. He rested his helmet on the table. "Well, don't let me interrupt your conversation, what's going on?" He asked as he pulled out a chair, kicking his feet onto the desk very nonchalant. "What're we talking about?" he reiterated.
- Karly sighed and said, "We're discussing a mission HQ gave us; a reconnaissance mission to seek out a settlement allegedly spotted by a pilot of Alpha Base's 2nd Battalion undiscovered by our records. It was reported seen in the mountains southwest of here, though it was cloudy when the pilot noticed the small blip in the mountains, that's why they'll be sending us-" she motioned to the original four that were in the room, "-to check it out."
- Cedric swung his feet of the table and gave a clap, "Cool, count me in to this one, I've been itching for a little bit of flying lately. Those simulations get old really fast, you know."
- Karly opened her mouth and hesitated a bit, reluctant to say what she was about to. "I- ah…" Was all she got out. Sergeant Louis noticed this and spoke for her. "What Lieutenant Karly wants to say is that we were going to have you sit this one out."
- Cedric's smile slowly faded and was replaced with a puzzled, let down look, like a kid who was told Santa Claus wouldn't be able to make it this Christmas. "Wha-?" he said quizzically and cocked his head a bit.
- Karly took over again, "Well, it's just…you're flying is so…how should I put this, drastic, and on such a small mission like this we won't need you putting the other guys in any…well…any danger."
- Cedric, whose expression changed to a humored denial, gave a mock laugh and said, "You're kidding, right? This…this is a joke." He chuckled again and after scrutinizing the faces of those before him, his expression faltered and he got more serious. "You're not kidding." He stated angrily, he stood up, bent over the table his fists clenched. "I am Second Lieutenant, Commanding Officer, and a sure as hell necessary addition to this Battalion, hell, to the entire Squadron; and you're telling me that I can't go on a simple enough mission as a recon!" He disallowed response from his fellow officers, "I think I've done enough for the squad to decide for myself whether I go on a mission or not." He continued the rage for a few more unnecessary moments, "…I mean it's my own Battalion too! I-"
- "Lieutenant!" he was cut off by Karly. "As 1st Lieutenant, Chief Commanding Officer, and, to put in the simplest terms, your boss," she paused to let her interjection sink in, "I will decide whether or not you take part in a mission, especially if there is potential for you putting my men in any unnecessary danger. This is no request Lieutenant, this is an order. Is that clear, Lieutenant?" Cedric raised a finger and opened his mouth, ready to protest, but Karly would not allow it. "I said 'Is that clear?'"
- Cedric let a second pass by before saying, "Yes ma'am," and grabbing his helmet while forcing himself to attention. The tension in the room was unbearable. Finally Karly broke the silence, "Good, now if you excuse me, I have important matters to attend to. You are dismissed, Lieutenant."
- Through gritted teeth, Cedric uttered a "Thank you ma'am," saluted and exited the room. He stopped outside the door, ran his fingers through his hair, and decided it would be wise to walk off his problems. He needed a coffee.
