Chapter 6: Where the Lions Dwell

The sun was just starting to crest over the clouds, while the birds in the trees started to chirp. Shezu came out of his house door, dressed in a traveling cloak traveling bag strapped to his back. It was loaded with clothes, books, and any other items Shezu wanted to take with him. He was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, when both his parents came up from behind him. Unlike the looks of concern and anxiety they had for him when he went to the Magic Knights exam, they now had looks of happiness...yet also sorrow. They were seeing their son go out on his own, but they were also having to say goodbye. Shezu also knew this.

"Well, here I go…" the boy said, with some degree of doubt. As he made his way out though, his father called for him.

"Wait son," called Eurale. Shezu turned towards him in curiosity.

"In order to celebrate you getting into the Magic Knights, we got you this," and as Carmilla said the words, she brought out the clothed item that was hiding behind her back. Quickly removing it, she revealed a cage, and within that cage was a small bird. It had mostly black feathers, but a white head and under tail. What was notable though, was that it had a leather harness on with a holster in the back.

"Is that-," Shezu started.

"Yep, it's a Pen-tail. We have it's second cage upstairs for it to come back to, in case...you know...you want to write back…"

Suddenly tears started to well in the mother's eyes, and in turn, tears started to well in Shezu's. Even Eurale's eyes started to water a bit. Shezu then proceeded to give his parents the biggest hug he could possibly muster. After a few moments locked in the embrace, they all let go. After tying the Pen-tails' cage to his traveling bag, Shezu set off for the Crimson Lions headquarters, but not before giving one last wave goodbye towards his parents.

It was still early morning, with the sky just starting to turn orange, when Shezu arrived at the base of the Crimson Lions. It was a large compound, located in the outer edge of the noble realm. It had two housing buildings on both sides, while a megastructure sat in the middle. In the very back of the compound, Shezu could make out the outline of a tower. The walls around the headquarters were made of stone that were at least two people high. Vibrant, green vines covered them, and a metal gate is what prevented anyone from entering the front door. However, the odd thing about this gate was that they seemed to be welded in the middle with a golden lion's head. Approaching the entrance, Shezu looked to see if there was anyone who would let him in.

"Hello? It's the new recruit from yesterday?"

No one answered

"Um...does anyone hear…"

But before he could finish his sentence, the golden lion's head started to talk!

"Who goes there," it said in a deep, commanding, yet calm voice?

The shock of the lion speaking surprised Shezu, making him jump a little off the ground. Whenever the lion spoke, it's mouth would not move, but the eyes did glow a deep orange. The lion head asked once again.

"Who goes there?"

Shezu honestly had no choice but to respond.

"Um...Shezu Ichor, the new recruit to the Crimson Lions."

"Letter."

Shezu remembered what the captain had given him. He took his travel pack off and fished out what the head had asked for. Taking the piece of paper out of the envelope, he showed it to the lion. The statues eyes flashed a bright orange, and both the letter and envelope caught fire immediately. Shezu quickley let go of them, and they both incinerated before they could hit the ground.

"Shezu Ichor, know that you are now granted access to the headquarters of the Crimson Lions. You may come and leave whenever you wish, all you must do, is speak your name."

"Well, alright then."

Shezu readjusted his backpack and tried to go in, but the front gate wouldn't open for him.

"Hey, what the?"

The boy had a look of confusion and frustration on his face for a few seconds, that is, until he figured it out.

"Um...Shezu Ichor?"

The lion's eyes glowed once more, and the statue started to spin counter clockwise, the gears grinding behind it like a rusty safe. Finally there was a click, and the gate swung wide open. Shezu stepped through the entrance, the gate closing behind him by itself, clicking shut. Now that he was through the main gate, he now had a good view of the main courtyard. And what a view it was. Right in front of him was a fountain that had four lions each facing away from each other at the base, each spitting out water. Atop their heads was a giant saucer of water where a couple of birds were washing themselves. To his left and right were identical buildings. They were three stories high, with ten doors to each level. Each door was under an arch, and red flags of the Crimson Lion's embel hung from the levels in front of the columns. That was just on the two top layers, the bottom one had large pine trees instead of flags.

"Ah, there you are."

Looking to see where the voice came from, he saw the captain come from behind the water fountain, with the same attendant he had at the magic knights exam. Shezu went right up to greet him.

"Uh, hi. How have you…"

"Is that any way to greet your captain," Fuegoleon said in a sudden stern voice, with a look of what appeared to be insult on his face. The sudden shift in personality really took Shezu off guard. It was like the captain in front of him was a different person entirely.

"Um...excuse m-"

"At attention Knight!"

Shezu immediately straightened up his back and puffed out his chest as much as he could. He had no idea of the formal proceedings for Magic Knights, but his captain's sudden shouting made him try to look as serious as possible. After all, he didn't come this far just to be kicked out.

"Now listen here," Fuegoleon continued, "I was willing to be as warm and as curious as I could possibly be. After all, when we first met, you were a civilian."

This comment made Shezu recall the way the captain interacted with him in the past, making the encounter he was having with him now all the more bizarre.

"However, you are no longer just a civilian...You are a Magic Knight!"

He said all this while circling round Shezu, like a vulture inspecting his next meal.

"As a Magic Knight, it will be your job to protect the people of this country, and even the life of the king himself! You will be expected to give everything you have towards this endeavor, even your life if need be."

Fuegoleon looked Shezu straight in the face when he said his last sentence, making it clear that he was serious. The boy could do nothing but gulp in response.

"First thing's first, whenever I address you, or vice versa, you will snap your heels together, and give me the Magic Knights Salute!"

The first command was easy enough, with young man bringing his heels together all the while standing straight. However, with the last request…

"Um, excuse m-"

"You will start and end every sentence with 'sir' when you address me Knight!"

"Ah, sir, how do I do the Magic Knights salute sir?"

"Is that something you really don't know?"

"Sir, no sir."

Fuegoleon gave an exasperated sigh, then quickly grabbed Shezu's right hand. He joined the pinky and thumb together, making a circle. He then made sure that the remaining three middle fingers were sticking out. Finally, he placed the entire hand itself on the boy's chest.

"THAT-is the Magic Knights salute. Learn it, love it."

"Err, yes sir. Understood sir."

"Hmph, very well. This right here, is Leopold Vermillion. He is my younger brother."

Fuegoleon stepped to the side and gestured towards the person he was talking about, giving him the spotlight.

"Not only is he my younger brother, he is also your senior. As such, when I am not around, he is the one you refer to. Give him any courtesy you would show me. Now then, I need to be off. Leopold will take things from here on out."

With that, fuegoleon turned around and started walking towards the Tower in the center. Left alone, the two boys just looked at each other in a terse moment of silence. Now that Shezu had a good chance to look at him, he could finally see how similar he was to his older brother. They both had fire red hair, the same tone of skin, and even the same facial features regarding nose, ears, and chin. In all honesty, Leopold looked somewhat like a younger Fuegoleon. However, there were a few differences that set them apart. While the captain had smooth, long hair, his brother's was short, spiky, and had a pony tail coming out the back. Not only that, but while Fuegoleon had purple eyes, his brother had green. There was even a bit of difference in how they dressed. The older brother wore pants that went down into leather boots, while the younger one wore shoes instead, exposing his shins. But other than those details, the two were practically alike.

"Well, then," Leopold spoke, ending the silence, "seems like you're new recruit. The only one the captain seemed to pick this year."

This perked Shezu's attention.

"Wait, I'm the only Crimson Lion recruit this year?"

Leopold raised an eyebrow.

"Um...sir?"

"Why yes. Yes you are," the brother continued in serious yet somewhat mocking tone. He placed his right hand on Shezu's shoulder.

"No pressure."

"Yeah, no pressure...sir."

"Well then, with that out of the way," Leopold continued, letting go of Shezu's shoulder, "let's show you around the base, shall we?"

Shezu was given a tour of what would be his new home. First, was the dining hall. It was in the center of the compound on the left side of the middle tower, a rectangular building with a triangle roof. The windows were stained glass, with each one showing the Crimson Lion's insignia in bright red and orange. The wooden table and benches were all lined up, with four rows of them. The wall were decorated with weapons, animal heads, and scraps of cloth. Presumed trophies from won battles. The rules of the kitchen were simple, if you wanted to eat, you had to make it yourself. There even a few members of the Lions in there. Next, was the training area, that was opposite of the dining hall. It was a large open field, with training dummies and even a few sparring arenas for mages to fight in. Behind it were the baths. There were two, one for the men, and one for the women. The bath was a large rectangular pool, being fed by a lion head that had water constantly streaming from its mouth. The building it was in had solid stone pillars supporting the roof, while the steam of the bath would escape from square holes at the top of the walls. This was where the members were supposed to get clean after a hard training session… or just get clean in general. In between the dining hall and the training field was the stone tower, where the captain of the Crimson Lion's resided.

"Now then, time to show you your room," Leopold said, leading Shezu to the large structures at the front of the entrance. He brought him to the building on the left side, bringing him to a door on the third level.

"This, is where you'll be sleeping. Use this day to settle in and get rested up… trust me, you'll need it."

Leopold told all this to Shezu with a devilish grin, all the while handing him a key. With that, the tour was over, and the brother started to go on his way. Shezu noticed that the number of his room was thirty seven, but not only that, he also saw the symbol on his door under it. It had the letter 'J' with the number five right next to it.

"Excuse me, but what does this symbol mean," he said, pointing to it.

"Oh, that just the symbol of your rank as a magic knight," Leopold responded.

"Ah, I see...so what rank does this symbol mean?"

"It means Junior Magic Knight, fifth class, the lowest rank there is."

"Well, better get to changing that huh?"

"Heh, yeah...better get to it."

With a chuckle and a smirk, Leopold went on his way, leaving Shezu all on his own. Opening the door, Shezu got a first look at what would be his new room. It was a medium sized room with a red and orange diamond pattern on the walls that had quite a bit of space to it. There was a bed with red sheets to the right of the door, with a square, clear window opposite of it. Beside the bed, there was really nothing else in there, not even a wardrobe to put his clothes in… or a rug, leaving the wooden floor barren. Shezu unpacked everything he had and put it into the left corner, including his pen-tail's cage. Unlocking the latch on the window, he opened it up, taking in the blue sky, fresh air, and looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

Notes: Another chapter done. Given that the Crimson Lion's base hasn't been shown yet, I tried my best to give it it's own feel and a few cool elements of its own. Until next time.