I sincerly apologize for the long wait.

Beginnings
By Neko-chan the Mewse
11/25/09

'…They were heroes who disappeared inexplicably.

It began with the nephew of Kimlasca's king. He had a habit of disappearing, so no one put up much of a fuss, but when he failed to reappear after a few days, distress calls went out. The rest of the group immediately went on guard to no avail.

Yulia's last descendant was distressed by the absence of the king's nephew and spent her time with the princess of Kimlasca. The two were inseparable for a week before Yulia's descendant heard about a possible sighting of the king's nephew. She promised the princess she would return before setting out but when she did not contact the princess after the first few days, the princess knew that Yulia's descendent was lost to them as well.

The military officer of Malkuth became suspicious of the events and set out to see if his theories held any truth. He traveled throughout Malkuth and Kimlasca using the flying ship their group had borrowed during their journey and collected a vast amount of information. He returned to Grand Chokmah not long after he left with news of the next disappearance. The military officer had figured out that he was next to go and wanted to say farewell to his emperor before going. The emperor tried to follow him once he realized what was happening, but the military officer had already vanished.

The princess of Kimlasca was distressed by these mysterious vanishings and her father, the king, attempted to reassure her by placing more guards around her room. He was devastated when the guards informed him the next morning that she was gone. Unlike the others, however, the princess had left a note behind telling them not to be frightened and that everything would be alright.

The last Fon Master couldn't help but be scared despite the princess's message and traveled to Grand Chokmah to spend all her free time with the nobleman-servant. Despite the nobleman-servant's fear of women, he did his best to comfort her and keep her distracted from their missing friends. When she was called away to investigate mysterious activity at Mt. Zaleho, the nobleman-servant was worried that she would vanish too. The last Fon Master consoled him with the information that she would never willingly abandon him and told him she would be back within a week.

A week came and went and the nobleman-servant realized that the last Fon Master had disappeared with the rest of his group. Word of the last Fon Master's disappearance spread quickly and, worried for the nobleman-servant, the emperor of Malkuth issued guards around him at all times. The nobleman-servant was grief stricken by the loss of his companions and fell into a severe depression. He had only the cheagle belonging to the nephew of Kimlasca's king to keep him company and he knew that the cheagle needed to be returned to its colony.

The cheagle's exile was over, so the nobleman-servant set out to return the cheagle to its home. He assured the guards that he would be fine and entered the Cheagle Woods on his own. Not wanting to intrude on a private farewell, the guards consented and waited for the nobleman-servant's return. After several hours had passed, the guards decided that the nobleman-servant had had enough time for goodbyes and went into the forest to retrieve him.

They made it all the way to the cheagle's nest without encountering the nobleman-servant once and when they arrived at the nest, they were confusedly informed that the nobleman-servant had left a short time ago to head back. The guards quickly organized groups to search the forest, but not one of them found the nobleman-servant.

To this day, no one knows exactly where the heroic group went, only that they would return if the world were ever in trouble.'

"Huh," Luke chuckled in amusement. The book was a story of their journey to save the world and their subsequent disappearance. It was the epilogue that had him curious. "Hey guys, come look at this."

Tear peered over his shoulder at the book in his hands. "'The Missing Heroes'…Hm, this is surprisingly accurate."

"I always wondered how they took our disappearances." Natalia sighed.

"How did they know all of this?" Guy asked, taking the book from Luke and flipping through it quickly.

"I don't think Mohs recorded everything I sent him." Anise mused, being one of two people who had written about the events they went through.

"Don't look at me," Luke held his hands up when Tear glanced at him. "I burned my diary shortly before I left."

"Who wrote the book?" Ion asked, looking for a simple answer.

Guy flipped it over and read, "It says it was written by Jade." All eyes wandered to stare at Jade.

"What a shame," Jade sighed in that amused tone of his. "I told them to say it was anonymous. It's a good thing I didn't give them a last name."

"You wrote this?" Luke exclaimed incredulously. The thought of Jade writing anything, yet alone a truthful legend, was enough to have the others staring at him in shock.

Jade shrugged. "Yes. I didn't want to just leave it at that. This way, the truly desperate know that there is hope if something ever happens."

"If the world were ever in danger, we'd help stop it, wouldn't we?" Natalia asked, sounding uncertain as she looked at them for reassurance.

"Don't be silly, of course we would." Guy said.

"Hey, are you guys done yet?" Asch called from just outside the door of Daath's more secluded library.

"Yeah, one sec!" Luke yelled back. He turned back to the group with a slight smile. "So we'll meet up again next year, right? Where are we going to meet?"

"Let's go to Yulia City!" Guy exclaimed.

Luke gave him an exasperated look. "You just wanna look at the fon machines…" Luke's eyes shifted and he leaned over to whisper in Jade's ear. Jade's answering grin sent chills down everyone's spine.

"Alright then, we'll meet in Baticul," Jade's grin got wider and he added, "Make sure to show up in formal clothing, I have something planned. Now, I do believe Asch and Sync are tired of acting as distractions and lookouts. I'll see all of you in Baticul next year." He left the room through the window as a gust of wind and everyone sighed at his abrupt departure. Jade would never change.

"Err, yeah, I'll see all of you next year." Guy exited through the window as well, remaining in human form until he hit the ground as a splatter of mud.

Anise hugged Luke around the middle. "Don't forget about me, Luke!" She exploded into flames and Luke hurriedly backed away.

"Geez, couldn't you have stepped away first?" Luke grumbled, brushing the memory of burns off of him and the soot disappeared with it. "I'll see you later, Tear." He leaned over and gave Tear a kiss. "See you next year, everyone." Luke's exit was far less dramatic then the others'—he simply burst into a cloud of fonons that quickly dissipated.

"Oh my, Tear, when did this happen?" Natalia asked as Tear began blushing. Natalia was quick to notice the ring she was fiddling with as well. Natalia let out a little squeal of delight. "Did Luke finally propose to you?"

"Um, uh, I mean—Bye!" Tear hastily sidestepped the question the only way she could by slipping into the shadows.

"Why, I never," Natalia huffed. "I'll see you in Baticul next year, Ion. It was pleasant seeing you again."

"Yes, we don't seem to see each other often." Ion agreed. Natalia smiled and faded into a nearby beam of light. Ion sighed and glanced toward the door he knew Sync was guarding. "Sync, it's time to go." The only affirmation he received was the sound of a large amount of water hitting the door and floor. Ion glanced at the water leaking in from under the door with a sigh. Why couldn't their group be more normal? He reverted to fonon form, throwing off a large amount of water as a side effect and left the room.

Whoever found their mess would be most irritated indeed.