1 year ago, Ellinian war zone, medical tent.

'PRIEST OR ANY HEALER, GET HERE NOW!'

Further echoes of the message was heard everywhere around the medical tent. Sadly, only a few would be attended by the teeming mass of clerics, priests and bishops plus an assortment of hybrid mages.

Too many wounds, too little healers.

Lupercalia ran towards the loudest voice she heard, mentally listing every treatment to any wound known. She was startled at the area of damage- the eyes. Eye damage was one of the most serious injuries in battle. Most of the victims went blind or went into shock.

And she was just a 13 year old fire poison who took healing courses for about two years, not even a cleric or a priest. The only thing she had was basic healing magic. But this was a war. If you had the basics, you were in.

'N-C-W?'

The universal code for 'Name' 'class' and 'wound' was shouted several times before the mage responded.

'Holy Avatar, Ice Lightning, crystal ilbis to both eyes.' He moaned in agony, clutching his eyes. Lupercalia bit her lip. Of all the god damn places in the human body, why the eyes?! The mage was definitely going to end up blind, but Lupercalia wasn't about to tell him that.

'You're going to have to move your hands away. I'm going to probe you with Heal,' she explained gently, patiently waiting for him to comply. The young man felt cold gentle fingers on his feverish eyelids and sighed as she began to access the horrific damage.

What the… the crystal's bonded with the eye?! This isn't supposed to be…

She cursed. Any complications weren't welcome. Not now in the war, while they were all low on mana and supplies.

'I'm going to have to melt the shards of crystal ilbi, okay?' Lupercalia began fusing healing magic into fire magic. This was about as unprofessional as it got.

'But I have to warn you, crystal ilbi contains an unidentified unstable isotope. It might cause mutation, it may even kill you. And it will most definitely blind you.'

She waited for him to digest the new piece of information. He smiled uneasily in her general direction.

'Lady, I was hit in the eye by two chunks of unstable metal from the Glimmer Man's dimension. I'm lucky to make it out alive.' He smiled sadly, shaking his head. 'If Scania wants me to die, I'll die.'

Lupercalia swallowed uneasily.

'Okay. I'm going to press a fire-heal onto your left and right eye simultaneously. It won't hurt.'

The man winced when she pressed both of her hands onto his eyes, but sighed in relief as the metal/crystal melted. Lupercalia felt her mana flow then ebbed after a few seconds.

'Well, I'm fresh out of mana. You think you could open your eyes now?'

He opened his eyes and Lupercalia took a step back. They were… pretty in a weird and twisted kind of way. Pure white, probably because of some complicated way the crystal ilbi fused with his eyes. She took a mental note to write it down in her report.

'Hey, I think I feel something. Almost see, maybe. It's everywhere.'

Lupercalia chuckled uneasily.

'Sorry to tell you this but… I'm pretty sure you're one hundred percent blind.' He cracked a grin at the poor joke and shook his head.

'Since we're in a war and all, there's going to be little or no aftercare. After all this war mess is cleared up, you better make sure you see a bishop, or it'll carry on hurting for the rest of your life.' He rolled his eyes at her, then winced.

'And I'm suspending you from active duty. In fact, I'm suspending you from any duty, short of learning how to deal with your eyes.'

She scribbled down the instructions and suspension on a clipboard and handed it to the mage who carted him off to the recuperation centre, giving him a little wave- a gesture of farewell that he never saw.

And that was the last time Lupercalia saw him.

This was war, anyway. You came in with a thousand friends, you came out with two or three, or maybe you don't even come out at all.

Sunday, Acer Mansion.

Holy Avatar

It was her. I knew it. I recognised the first flow of magic I had ever felt out of the millions after it. The unique twist of fire-poison and healing deeply embedded in each other, maybe more fire and poison magic than there was before. I could almost taste it.

But what was I supposed to say to her?

Hey you, aren't you the person who melted those chunks of metal in my eyes and told me I might die?

Oh, god. I knew I should've built up my social skills somehow. But I've been a loner for a year now. It's hard to break the habit. Especially when the world was dark to you, and you had a disconcerting ability to feel the 'flow' of magic.

I didn't even know what she looked like.

'So, blindy,' A voice suddenly interrupted my train of thought. I recognised the weak magic signature as one of a perma beginners'. I rolled my eyes. 'What're you going to do tomorrow when the games start? Start shooting random pieces of ice everywhere hoping to hit someone?'

I didn't say anything.

'Blindy going all high and mighty on us, huh? Let's see how you die tomorrow.' I rolled my eyes again. I didn't need my eyes to see. With those gone, I had developed enhanced senses of hearing and touch.

'Leave him alone, you retards.' It was her. My heartbeat quickened. 'Just 'cause the pressure's on you to die first doesn't mean you get to taunt him.'

The perma beginner left quickly and she sat down beside me on the training mat.

'War and impending death brings out the worst in everyone.' I heard her turn towards me and heard her breath stop. She breathed in sharply.

'Oh…It's you.'

'Yes,' I agreed. 'It's me.'

Jakiro

I'll admit it. I was sick, sick to my stomach about what was going to happen tomorrow. Fear twisted like a fire, destroying me from the inside. And most of all, I felt numb.

This was it. No going back. Twenty people, perfectly capable of destroying each other was going to be shut in an arena tomorrow. I had a 95 percent chance of dying, with no allies whatsoever.

I was going to die.

But before I did, there was one thing I had to do.

I turned to the magician's corner of the co-training room. Yes, Nic was there, training furiously with a grim expression on her face. I'd hate to get on her bad side. I walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Nic, we have to talk. Rooftop at 9?'

Probably without even thinking the question through, she nodded. I smiled sadly to myself as I walked away, looking at our surroundings for probably the very last time.

All but one of us were going to die.

…

I think I was going to throw up.

Redcrosse

I wasn't exactly sure when our alliance happened. I wasn't even sure if we were allies. It was one of those things you didn't say aloud, didn't think to question. All I realise is that all of a sudden, I'm saddled with a 14 year old fire poison mage hybrid who could heal and cast a weak bless.

And all of a sudden, I'm being ordered around by someone 5 years younger than me. From mercenary to a babysitter. Quite a fall from grace.

Maybe I should have approached the priestess of the mage group first, but I'm comfortable with the strange little alliance. Lupercalia chatters on too much while I'm silent, she laughs at me while I try to exert my calmness. She pesters me with questions about Zakum and Horntail, she pesters me about the guild system of the world.

I'm surprised she doesn't know much about the society we all belong to.

One of the priests I was partnered with called me 'a man of few words', but the thing is, I just don't have much to say about anything. If I had more to say, maybe this mistake wouldn't have happened.

Maybe it was wrong for me to partner with someone of another class so easily. Would Dances with the Balrog disapprove? I already knew his strong opinion towards mages.

And Lupercalia had just basically come up to me, quite literally told me that 'we're allies' and sat down beside me, chattering on about something or another.

I really, really needed to learn how to just say 'no' to people.

It was starting tomorrow. The games, I mean. But to me, it was survival of the fittest, and there was no doubt in my mind that I was, in fact, the fittest. Maybe I should break it gently to the younger fire poison mage that I was uninterested in the alliance.

But she came back with restrained tears and looked up at me. And she frowned and whispered to me a little innocent phrase that I've heard once before.

'Red, I don't want to die.'

Rooftop, 9pm.

Jakiro

Now that she was here, I didn't know what to say.

'I owe you one,' I said. It sounded bitter and antagonistic, but it was the best thing I could come up with. Catching her confused expression, I explained.

'The maze. You healed me.'

'Oh.'

There was another awkward pause.

'That's… all?'

She sounded hopeful, but what was she expecting? Instant love, gratitude, friendship? She had discarded me like some useless item, ignored me, didn't even try to make contact with me.

What was she expecting from me?

'Look, Jak, I'm sorry about, well, everything. I know I messed up. I… well. I'm sorry.'

I fought an internal battle with myself for a brief moment- reconcile or bat away any chance of friendship? Then I remembered the sting of betrayal.

'Sorry just doesn't cut it, Nic,' I looked away. 'And my name is Jakiro.'

I smiled at her for maybe the last time. A stranger's smile, not one of a best friend's.

'Not Jak.'

I left her standing there, forcefully turning my thoughts to what was going to happen in a handful of hours. I owed her one. After that, she wasn't of my concern.

Nic, what are you expecting from me?

Sylph Arderson

Monday morning, 8am

'Look lively, my lovely little lambs!' I slumped on the table, trying to fit more sleep in.

'Now, we wouldn't want you falling asleep on your feet while you're in the arena, would we?'

I was starting to really, really hate Arenare. As in, I was prepared to go on a murdering spree just to take him down. I wasn't exactly dead tired per se, but every second I could stay awake helped, right? Plus I hadn't exactly been able to get to sleep last night.

Besides, I trusted Yasa and Yascal enough to cover my back if I wanted to have a snooze. We had gotten some great bonding time during the week. Admittedly, a week wasn't much to build a lot of trust, but this was a different situation.

Not that I implicitly trusted them with my life, of course.

'Oh, come on little rangeress. You can't expect to beat off the nasty perma beginners with your face in your breakfast.'

I rolled my eyes.

'I can beat them with my face in my breakfast and my feet in my lunch.'

I heard Arenare chuckle.

'Now that's the spirit,' I started lifting my head up to glare at him. 'Now that sleeping beauty has awoken from her slumber, shall we go and get you guys ready?'

Arenare single-handedly destroyed all calmness and self-confidence with that last sentence. I could hear Renas hyperventilating beside me.

Well done, bastard. Very well done.

Nic

Our mentor, Athame began talking rapidly to us in a low voice as we left the Acer Mansion. If he wasn't delivering us to our deathbeds, I'd almost say he was concerned for us.

'Okay, stick close. The arena is big, it's as large as a quarter of Victoria Island and it resembles Ellinia well. You guys have an advantage because of that.'

Athame turned to Lupercalia and motioned for her to come closer.

'Okay Cal, you have a major advantage. Just don't burn down half the arena or you'll lose your cover, kay?'

She nodded, tears brimming around her eyes. She quickly wiped them away while Athame patted her on the shoulder.

'Nic, you need to find an ally quickly.' He saw the look on my face. 'I'm not discriminating, you need to find one.'

I nodded grudgingly. Athame's advice was usually valuable.

'Holy, I don't even think of you as being blind anymore.' He slapped the mage on the back. 'Remember what we discussed about leeching.'

Holy nodded.

While Athame discussed tactics with the last mage on our team, I began to seriously think about allying with someone. Maybe I should've said yes to the Ranger- what was her name… Sylph?

If Jak, no, Jakiro wasn't so… well. I felt bitter about it. I thought he was going to forgive me before we were sent to our deaths, but no-o.

He could suit himself. I'd find a kick-ass ally and survive.

Yeah…

And maybe Grendel would jump over Ossyria and dance the can-can.

Jakiro

'We don't get a choice in our clothes?'

I picked up the ensemble consisting of a black cotton shirt and black trousers, a black cap, combat boots and a black cape.

I wasn't one for fashion, but seriously?

'I'm going to feel like the damn grim reaper.'

Felicite, the Kerning hacker representative rolled her eyes at me.

'Remember this, kid: Archers are emerald. Mages are Navy. Warriors are red. Perma noobs are yellow.' She grinned. 'And thieves, of course, are black.'

Psh. So even the hackers had some sort of colour stereotype. Shrugging, I turned my back on Felicite and started putting the clothes on. They fit pretty comfortably.

'Any time today, now…' She drawled, tapping a foot impatiently. Without even waiting for an answer, she dragged me out to the main meeting room where the rest of the thieves were assembled.

'Yo K-C,' I grinned at the dagger-throwing girl who was fiddling with the corners of her cape. She looked up and nodded at me.

'Hey.'

I slumped against a wall and sighed- an exhausted, long sound that pretty much summed up the general mood.

Then I realised that our thief mentor hadn't even bothered to show up.

This was not going to go well.

Redcrosse

None of the other warriors were talking to me. They had all allied with the same Rangeress- the one who set my danger alarm off. She might not be all that high leveled, but she had managed to pull not one, not two, but three warriors into an alliance.

And that was saying something.

Instead, Lupercalia skipped up to me and smiled half-heartedly.

'Hey, Red?'

'Yes?'

She imitated me and leaned casually on the wall, but a corner of her lips curled downwards.

'I forbid you to die, okay?'

I raised an eyebrow. Who was she joking? If I managed to survive my initiation into the 4th job advancement, I could probably survive this.

'Shouldn't I be saying that to you?'

'Not really.'

I looked down at her, noticing the faraway expression in her eyes. Probably thinking something along the lines of something grand she had managed to get through.

'Okay… if you say so.'

The door opened. None of us looked up. We all knew who it was, anyway.

'None of you look very happy to see me.' the Organiser observed.

I think I heard Lupercalia mutter a 'No shit, Sherlock,' under her breath. If the Organiser heard it, he probably didn't care. We were all just toys to him, like the wooden soldiers that were so popular in Ludibrium.

I heard a hissing noise as the entire room began to move downwards. After a few seconds, it stopped and the doors opened, leaving us to gaze at what seemed like an enlarged version of Ellinia.

'Holy shit, it's huge.'

Wise words from a permabeginner.

'Felicite, Arenare, Raeske, Sebastian, if you please.'

Sebastian, the Perion representative motioned for us to follow him, and we left the room quickly.

'Yasa, to the first circle. Xemira, to the circle next to her. Red, you're on third. Yascal, fourth.'

Like machines, we moved mechanically to our stations. I finally recognised what it was like to have 'blood pounding in my head' and allow me tell you, it didn't feel as wonderful as the Ellinian librarian-writers made it out to be.

Really, it wasn't.

Jakiro

I cast a discreet look around for anything distinctly valuable. There was a set of crystal ilbis nearby complete with a black Scarab, but not enough to get me to fight the hermit eyeing it hungrily. Instead, I focused on a black backpack- black for thieves, I guessed. It was near the archers.

'Everybody in position?'

A trickle of sweat ran from my hair to my neck as I got ready to charge forward. I noticed a glint of metal hidden under a pile of leaves right beside me- I would get it the first chance I got.

'Okay then.'

Suddenly, the Organiser's voice switched to thunderous and booming mode, echoing down from high above.

'Ladies and gentlemen… We present to you the very first Acer games.' There was a pause. 'Let the games… begin!'

A large klaxon sounded and I charged straight for what was hopefully a weapon- yes! A semi-useful Deadly fin. I charged straight for the black backpack that had not been retrieved by a thief yet. Most had gone for the sharp pointy stuff.

Wait, a perma beginner was in the way. Desperate, I sidestepped him but he whacked me- painfully- on the arm with a wooden club, and I shot him a frustrated look as if to say 'back off'.

If he did understand the look, he didn't seem to pay any attention to it, because he went for my head this time with his club. Growling with frustration, I decided to deliver a non-fatal wound to the back of his hand.

'Last chance, noob, get out of my way.' I raised the Deadly fin menacingly, hoping that would scare him off. He sneered at me in response and tried to bash my head in with the blunt end of his club, but I jerked my body awkwardly out of the way of his lumbering form and managed to grab the pack.

'That's mine, idiot!'

The perma beginner pulled at the straps, finally allowing me to believe that he was suicidal. I delivered a swift kick to his stomach, and swiped my deadly fin across his cheek but instead-

A young archer fell, his eyes lolling back into his sockets. Blood trickled from a deep gash at the side of his temple, staining his uniform and the grass a crimson red. Some trickled out from his mouth.

I had used more force than I had needed and… this was the result. The permanoob screamed shrilly as some of the blood dyed his shirt and face, his face a chalky white as he realised that the corpse lying on the ground could have been him.

The cries attracted the attention of the Rangeress of the archer team. She looked at me, than followed my gaze to the ground. She stumbled over blindly.

'Renas…?' she whispered, her eyes widening. Then she focused on me, holding the bloodstained Deadly fin. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. 'You…'

Without even thinking, I hasted myself and ran out of the place as fast as I could, hearing her cries ringing in my ears as I left.

'You killed him! You murderer… I'll kill you for what you've done. I will kill you all.'

I fled, hearing her bloodlustful screams and murderous thoughts echoed by every whisper of the leaves.

I whispered her words to myself.

Murderer.

Tears welled up but I quickly wiped them away harshly. What was done remained done, could not be undone.

I am a murderer.

I'm in trouble here. I keep forgetting that the warrior spots are in fact full, so musicalbox, I'm sorry that I couldn't enter your warrior person. I am very, very sorry. But 1 magician position happens to be available.

Beware: I haven't even chosen someone to be the rampaging insane killer yet. And I know my action scenes, well, suck. :P I'll work on that.

Oh yeah, you might notice that all of the warriors seemed to be paired up somehow. They're the strongest. Everybody wants them. It'll change rapidly. I promise that much.

There will be no romance. I don't do romance that well.

List of characters, in case you lose track.

[D] = deceased.

[1]Number indicates which chapter the character first majorly appears.

[A] means that the character is allied, along with the ally leader person. For example:

[AS] means Allied to Sylph.

[AL] means allied to Lupercalia.

I'll add more as we go along.

Permanoobs are not mentioned because quite frankly, they won't survive for that long. Plucky underdog clichés don't work well with me.

Mages

[2]NicPriest

[3][AL]LupercaliaFire poison mage

[4]HolyAvatarIce Lightning

[0]UndecidedUndecided

Thieves

[0]KoreaCoreaChief Bandit

[2]JakiroSindit

[3]UnknownHermit

[2]NinjaDagger thrower

Archers

[2]Renas [D]Crossbowman

[2]FerinRanger

[2]UnknownHunter

[2][AS]SylphRanger

Warriors

[4][AL]RedcrosseDark knight

[2][AS]XemiraCrusader

[2][AS]YascalDragon Knight

[2][AS]YasaDragon Knight

[Disclaimer] I do not own Maplestory.