Years ago...
"Maxwell, Cardes, Zevalhua, Afla Dilith...? And Lucius..."
"Summoner... traitor, you shall never touch day from this moment on...!"
"With ghosts? I have friends even better than that."
"Friends? Your Summoners and allies have not a chance of saving you. Your Units have been sealed off. I, after all, am God of the Gate."
"Those seals?"
Slash.
"This... this power!"
"Surprised? Humans grow all the time. We're not the enemies you think you can get rid of easily!"
"No matter. Fallen Gods, hear me!"
"Units, heed my call!"
~~~LD~~~
The present, 19th of July
The average student in this neighbourhood would wake up some time before the school bus arrives at their bus stop, to brush their teeth, clean themselves, eat breakfast, and whatever made their daily routines.
One such boy was occupied with his older sister at their front door.
Maxwell Graham Sheffield is a twelve-year-old student, soon turning thirteen in exactly two months. He has oak-brown hair tipped with a blending crimson red, which came from his mother and father respectively. His hazel eyes were hidden slightly by his unkempt, short and spiky hair. He stood at 4'9", with a build balancing lankiness and good muscle.
Like most uniformed male students in the area, he wore a crimson-red blazer with the insignia of a green tree on his breast pocket to the right of his blazer. Other than that, he wore a plain white shirt, a dark green tie and black trousers.
As for the older sister, her appearance is very similar to the boy in front of her, making her look like a tomboy at 5'6", but she still has a moderately-shapely figure that could turn heads at the age of sixteen. Her hair is spiky and short, but a long length of sleek hair at the back ran down to her waist. Like Maxwell, her hair is brown tipped with red, which meant that the hair on her back is completely red from the neck down.
She wore a white sleeveless vest, a midnight-black T-shirt with long sleeves reaching her wrists, matching black gloves with red patches on her knuckles, grey jeans with the faded military-shaped number '82' in a reddish-brown colour, and red sneakers. This is what Elle Ray-Isaac Sheffield would call her 'work outfit'.
"Okay," she was saying, "your water bottle?"
"Yeah," Maxwell lamely replied.
"Shoes?"
"They aren't slippers like last time."
"Where is your tie?"
"Wha-?" He checked his neck frantically-
"E-Elle! You didn't have to joke like that!" Maxwell shouted, but relieved he still wore it.
His sister just giggled and unexpectedly kissed his forehead, earning a slight blush from the younger sibling.
"Just stay out of trouble as much as you can in your new school this time, okay?" Elle said with a mixture of concern and confidence.
Maxwell gave her a grin. "I'll be fine. I made good friends back then, remember? I'll make friends faster than last time!"
And he ran off, not wanting to be late, yelling, "See you later sis!"
Seeing him run off, Elle told herself, "My dear brother is tough. He can take care of himself. Though hopefully he won't try to attract attention like those few times..."
She just shook her head and prepared to get her little sister to daycare.
Woodbury Private School, Middle School Building
Woodbury, the setting in which the following plot shall take place in, is a town not too far from Los Angeles, surrounded by a forest of pine and maple trees. It was well-known for its refreshing setting and convenient variety of stores and institutions anyone living there could use.
It was populated for such reasons that it could have become a city, yet it still was designated as a town, and it always stayed that way for years.
But back to our main character.
The Sheffields are a recent family of orphans whose parents were killed in ways most people would consider gruesome. Their uncle and aunt in San Francisco cared for them until Elle was sixteen and just old enough to be a legal guardian.
One day, they found out that their old house in Woodbury was given to Elle as inheritance, as notified by a lawyer, which was something their parents prepared as a sort-of parting gift. Deciding that it would be a waste to let the house crumble on its own for nothing, and not wanting an old home full of memories go, Elle took up ownership and had herself sign up for the convenient high school there (although a gas explosion at the high school building wrecked a huge part of it, delaying Elle's and the other students' attendance for a week), and Maxwell to middle school. Their three-year-old little sister, Isabelle, would go to a daycare, and soon, a kindergarten.
Their uncle, being a businessman with plenty of riches to spare, and their aunt, who is a popular seamstress and painter, added to that, always sent them money every now and then, although Elle was considering getting a part-time job out of a feel for independence.
So, the school.
It was a rather large place, school buildings being four stories high and occupying a large plot of land that most likely took up a quarter of Woodbury, and one quarter would estimate to around five dozen football fields (that could have made the town a city). Since it taught elementary, middle and high school levels, it would reasonably be huge.
The Sheffield siblings back then went to another nearby school in Clemen, a smaller town between Woodbury and Los Angeles, but more nearer to the forest town. The tuitions were cheap compared to Woodbury, and the education was pretty good, which were the main reasons their parents had them go there.
The school itself was still there, but Woodbury School was much more convenient this time, thanks to their relatives.
Anyways, the hallways of the large building were easy to get used to once you explored them a couple of times, which was what Maxwell had done a few days ago, allowing him to get to his classroom without any problems.
Like the dozen new students that came, he introduced himself plainly (yet with a noticeable kick to it) in front of his new classmates, all of them obviously interested in what newcomers like him had to offer.
That did not seem to be the case for Maxwell when they had their lunch break in the canteen.
While sporty students played outside, and studious ones kept on reading their books or doing their homework early, hungry ones ate at tables inside the canteen or outside, where there are tables for those who want fresh air during brunch. Most of them were familiar with each other, and freshmen were fitting in nicely, but Maxwell...
He sat at a long table, also occupied with a few students who ate and talked with their friends, but no one who would show any interest in him, other than looks at his hair... which honestly was not as odd as some other interesting hairstyles and colors he has seen in the school.
Maxwell sighed and started digging into the lunch his sister made for him. Feels like a homely four-star chef made it as always.
He sighed inwardly. His brilliant plan of making friends was unsuccessful, not that he had a good one in the first place. It would have been easier if he had something in common to talk about with another student, or anything to do together, but he did not. Getting attention now would feel awkward.
Racking his brains for something to do now that he finished his lunch, he got one idea and took out his smartphone for one particular game.
Brave Frontier.
It was a surprisingly popular mobile game like most others that originated from Japan. He had discovered it when he searched through the app stores (with the help of a terrible commercial. What was with the art style?) and downloaded it on the recommendation of his friends, and had been using it as a fun way to pass the time.
Once he was done beating up a few Totem Units, he heard a chorus of cheers of students who were obviously friends who were reuniting happily after their summer break. Looking up, he saw them happily cheering their approval of a developing couple within their group.
Man, he wished for at least more drama than he had right now... Well, at least not too much than he hoped for.
~~~LD~~~
The Sheffields' House
"Maxie, Maxie!" his sister cheered for him as he faced Elle in a game of Mario Kart.
"H-Hey Isabelle, what about me?" Elle looked genuinely hurt.
"Um... Elly!"
That was Isabelle, who had short and curly hair reaching her neck, with a green ribbon tied to the right side of her hair. The color was just like the other Sheffields': brown tipped with red.
Her small white sundress was striped with red lines running down, fluttering around her as she watched the TV and hopped on the sofa with excitement.
It was nighttime, and Elle had wanted a rematch just like that in their living room. Maxwell wanted some fun anyway, so he prepared to make his hands work.
Mario was taking the lead (Maxwell), but his newest rival, Rosalina (Elle), was catching up.
"You aren't getting past me-!" Maxwell said, determined to keep his three-in-a-row win streak.
"M-Mushroom!"
"Gah! No way!"
Fanfares blared from the TV speakers.
"Sis..."
Elle simply smirked. "At least you have been getting better."
They started to tidy up, though Isabelle let out a huge yawn.
"Sleepy..." she muttered.
"Elle, just get her to bed. I can take care of all of this," Maxwell said.
She smiled. "Thank you Maxwell. Come on Isabelle, back to your room..." Elle carried the toddler up and went out of the room, going up the stairs near to the front door.
A moment later, after changing into his maroon pyjamas, he reclined on his chair back in his room.
He glanced at the sketchbook on his desk. It was full of sketches and colorful drawings by him and Elle, all of which were to help the older sister in her future position in the art and crafts club at school, as she wanted to be an artist/architect/manager.
He had no doubts in her possible high social standing in the school once she attends it. She was already popular back at their old school, and she had been the vice captain of a kendo club. Who knew she was that talented? Although, Elle taking up kendo most likely had something to do with the responsibility of protecting her two siblings.
Maxwell sighed. Can he be a whole lot bigger than being average?
He decided to turn in for the night, not realizing a notice that had popped up on his phone.
~~~LD~~~
On a rooftop, shrouded in the night sky...
...was a man in a black trench coat, with a matching fedora and mask to hide his face.
He was obviously not like any workaholic or mad scientist who stayed up all night. He had a much more important purpose, and that started with keeping watch over the park.
They were going to meet soon there.
Buzz, buzz~ his cellphone went.
He took it out and flipped the screen open.
The cellphone itself looked like a deceptively older model that would be rare nowadays, but this one had been heavily modified to suit even more purposes.
He tapped on the larger-than-average keypad several times to send a message, then aimed the camera on the screen's back at the park.
They should be here now.
...And they did with a boom.
~~~LD~~~
This is the prologue finished, and we shall see more action in the next chapter.
EDIT (17 September 2016): Changed the color of Isabelle's ribbon (brown to green), filled in the word 'hair' and provided single line space.