Blue Waves
Prologue: Marlowe
Caelum, X776
Torches flickered in the darkness as soft murmuring and the clinking of small metal tools could be heard throughout the dark ruin, an occasion drip of water being heard at a steady pace. A man stood amongst the faintly glowing, ancient machinery, studying its design as best he could without taking it apart, watching a glowing blue liquid he knew to be pure magical energy flowed through transparent tubes that wove through the machine. His grizzled face twisted into a perplexed look as he let out a long, drawn-out sigh, rubbing his face with one of his hands before stepping away from the machine.
"Need a fresh set of eyes," the man murmured as he stepped away from the device as he looked around the dark room, his eyes adjusting to his darker surroundings, quickly darting between the other archaeologists in the room with him, each one of them bent over their own ancient device, "Any luck?" the man asked as he walked over to the nearest person.
"No sir, Dr. Marlowe. We've been down here a week waiting for the excavation team to clear that blockage and as far as I can tell, there's nothing to look at on this side of the blockage but random junk," the other archaeologist complained.
"Same as every other trip we've ever been on, eh? The Ancients sure loved their random machines," Dr. Marlowe said as he gave the man a firm pat on the shoulder.
"Feh… I'm sure some of it was useful at some point, but it's hard to tell what any of this was for. For all we know, we're looking at a pile of ancient toasters."
"Or maybe even a pile of bombs," Dr. Marlowe chuckled as the other man suddenly looked down at the device in front of him nervously before they heard someone calling out further in the ruins.
"Where's the doctor? Dr. Marlowe!" they heard as Dr. Marlowe gave them man another pat on the shoulder before heading off towards the sounds, "What is it, man?" he called back as he found the source of the noise, one of the escorting guild mages from one of Caelum's guilds, Blue Waves.
"The excavation team thinks they're about to get through the blockage! Master Shaw sent me to come get you, he thought you'd wanna see it when it happens!" the mage explained as the doctor quickly rushed past him.
"Damn right I wanna see it!" Dr. Marlowe declared as they quickly made their way through the winding stone hallways, glowing blue pipes and flickering lights and torches lighting their way, their footsteps echoing through the halls as they quickly made their way to where the blockage was, the doctor coming to a stop next to a large man dressed in a long black leather coat and a tricorn hat, "Shaw! They're about to get through?" Dr. Marlowe asked excitedly.
"I believe so, lad," the Guild Master replied, "I still have doubts that what yer gonna find is gonna be worth all the excitement though."
"If it is though… We'll finally be able to unlock the secrets behind the Ancients' greatest secrets. We'll be able to learn so much about them, their culture how they managed to create all this advanced magical technology, the constructs, the generators, even the Ancient Sentinels!" the doctor exclaimed, pacing back and forth next to the guild master.
"Perhaps such knowledge should remain lost… S'what I think anyways," Shaw stated as the doctor gave him an annoyed look. "All I know about all these tech doohickies is that they're dangerous in the wrong hands and if this turns out to be as big as ye think… well, I couldn't risk not being here in case something went wrong."
"And I appreciate that, just trust I know what I'm doing," Dr. Marlowe requested. Though as Shaw began to respond a rumbling noise could be heard from the debris blocking their path forward, "They're getting through!" the doctor exclaimed as a faint blue light could now be seen shining through small holes in the rubble, slowly crumbling away as the passage opened up more and more, the doctor drawing closer as mages and workers cleared the way and stabilized the passage.
"I'll be damned," Shaw muttered as enough of the passage opened up for him and Dr. Marlowe to step through, "The hell even is this. What is this doctor?" Shaw gasped as they looked around the room, his eyes drawn towards the object in the center of the room.
"I… don't… I don't know. This isn't what I expected. I… I don't know why something like this would be here," Dr. Marlowe muttered as he stared into the room as he slowly walked towards the object in the center.
"Doctor… I need you to tell me what it is I'm looking at right now. Why is this here? Why would the Ancients have something like this?" Shaw continued to question as the doctor continued to stare at the object.
"This must be… the key. It must be the key to all of the Ancients' secrets! It is the only explanation!" the doctor exclaimed, "Quickly now! You! Come here!" Dr. Marlowe called out to one of the workers, listing out things he would need for the study as Shaw continued to stare up at the object, a frown twisting his face with dread and worry.
. : + : .
Eighteen Years Later, X794
"Argh!" a young man shouted in pain as he was shoved up against a brick wall, his nose bloodied as a larger man continued pushing him into the wall with his forearm.
"Not so quick now, are ya, Kip?" the man chuckled as Kip's golden eyes stared back at the man, the sun catching in them as he stared the man down before spitting on him.
"Getting a bit more observant, ain't ya, Simas?" Kip quipped back before the larger man punched Kip in the nose, smacking the back of his head against the wall.
"Mind yer manners, twink," Simas growled as he grabbed a handful of Kip's plum colored hair with his free hand, Kip doing his best to give the man a cheeky smile.
"Sorry I'm just terribly forgetful when I've smacked my head against a brick wall like that," Kip winced as his face was pulled closer to Simas'.
"You promised you were gonna be good to cover yer dear old dad's debt today, both today's payment and last month's," Simas growled before he pushed Kip back against the wall, "It'd be a shame if we had to visit yer ma again, y'know. Especially after you threw that big ol' fit last time too."
"You touch her and I'm gonna tie a cinder block around your neck and throw you in the ocean," Kip threatened, Simas only chuckling in response.
"Careful, Kippy, yer giving me ideas of what to do to you," Simas threatened, "And then who'd be around to protect yer ma? Yer dear old dad? He bailed on you five years ago!"
"Tch…" Kip growled as the sneer grew larger on Simas' face.
"Whatsamatter? Did I hit a nerve? Poor little…"
"Shut it!" Kip shouted as he swung one of his legs up as hard as he could smashing his knee into Simas' groin, causing the larger man to fall over in pain as Kip took a moment to stare down at the man who was now swearing to try and deal with the pain before Kip took off running out of the alley and into the streets of Port Solis, forcing his way through the crowded streets, many people quickly moving out of his way when they noticed the blood on his face. Kip kept running as fast as his feet could carry him though, quickly looking over his shoulder ever few steps, not focusing on who or what was in his way.
"Goddammit!" Kip loudly cursed after running right into someone who didn't move, sending Kip crashing down into the ground as he landed hard on his rear.
"What's this?" he heard the man ask loudly as he pulled up on the leather coat he was wearing.
"That blood on yer coat, Cap'n?" another man asked.
"I think that lil brat got blood on yer coat!" a third man exclaimed as the first man knelt down to grab Kip by the front of his shirt.
"Ye gonna apologize for that little incident, matey?" the man asked.
"Pirates? Seriously?" Kip groaned.
"Aye, we be pirates!" one of the goons confirmed.
"And you just got blood on the Cap'n's coat, ye did!"
"I'm waiting for me apology," the captain stated, the man's fowl breathe causing Kip to gag for a moment as he tried to angle his head away from the pirate captain.
"Right… So, so sorry about that. I should watch where I'm going better. I'm just a stupid little landlubber who couldn't possibly understand…"
"Quit yer blubbering!" the captain snapped! "I asked ye to apologize, not kiss me ass!"
"Right… My bad," Kip whimpered.
"Kip Marlowe!" he suddenly heard Simas shout from down the street.
"Dammit…" Kip cursed as the pirate looked down at him.
"Friend of ye's?" the captain asked.
"Nope," Kip answered, biting his tongue to keep himself from yammering too much.
"Good… I ain't done with ye, yet," the Pirate stated as he dragged Kip into a nearby alleyway, his two goons following shortly behind him, unaware of someone watching them from a distance.
"Now, then," the captain asked as he threw Kip onto the ground, the other two pirates circling around him to trap Kip between the three of them, "How're you gonna pay to have me coat cleaned.
"Would you believe I already have a prior debt I need to pay off?" Kip nervously laughed.
"Not my problem," the captain stated, growling down at Kip, "Ye just so happened to have bloodied my coat, so that means ye have to pay for it. Whether it's by gold or blood, doesn't matter to me much, "What's the matter? Cat got yer tongue?" the captain asked as Kip just sat there on the ground in complete silence, slightly trembling, "Pfeh… another yellow-bellied coward. Blood price it is then," the captain stated as he drew a sword with his right hand before raising the blade up into the air, Kip looked up for just a moment when he saw a flash of blue rushing towards them before flash of silver cut through the air and into the captain's raised hand, severing it before it flew through the air, the captain screaming in pain as the blue figure rushed past the captain, slashing through the chest of one of the other pirates as the third one drew his own sword in time to clash with the blue-haired woman who was pressing her own sword against the pirate's.
Kip didn't waste another moment before scrambling to his feet and taking off down the alleyway, his feet carrying him as fast as they could as he ran through the streets and towards the outskirts of town, quickly coming to a stop in front of a house and opening the front door.
"Is that you Kip, sweetie?" a woman's voice called out as Kip rushed into the kitchen, a woman stepping in from another room, "Kip! Your face!" she gasped as she rushed to his side, "What happened to you?"
"Simas mostly, then some pirates. Don't worry about it, mom," Kip quickly explained.
"Let me wash that off," Kip's mother offered as she quickly found a washcloth and soaked it in water, chasing Kip into his bedroom, "Kip!"
"Simas is still after me, mom, I don't got time," Kip huffed as he opened up a drawer and began digging through it, eventually pulling out a gray and brown metal cylinder, Kip struggling to tinker with it as his mom insisted on scrubbing his face clean of blood while he was doing that.
Eventually Kip managed to accomplish what he was doing moving out of his mother's grip now that his face was clean of blood and pushing a button on the cylinder before several clear tubes wrapping around the device came to life, glowing with a light blue light before the tip sparked with electricity.
"Kip! You still have one of those?" his mother gasped.
"Old man was good for something," Kip huffed as he stepped out of the bedroom, his mother following him.
"What are you planning on doing!?"
"What I should've done a long time ago," Kip stated, "I should never of let Simas bully us for so long," he said as reached the front door.
"But you could get hurt even worse! I can't lose you too!" his mother begged, Kip turning to take a long look at her.
"Sorry, mom," he apologized before opening up the front door and stepping outside.
"There he is!" he heard from the down the street, Kip turning his head to see Simas walking towards the house, "You saved me the trouble of knocking down your door and paying a visit to your ma, Kip! Mighty kind of you!"
"Simas," Kip said lowly, staring down the larger man.
"I hope you know that stunt you pulled doubled what you owe me!" Simas shouted, "No! Tripled for making me run so much afterward!"
"How about a I offer you a new deal, we don't owe you anything anymore!" Kip shouted back, pointing the ancient device at Simas.
"Oh! Little Kip thinks he's a big man now that he's got a weapon! How about, not a damn chance in hell!" Simas laughed as he marched up to Kip, who tried to quickly rush Simas, thrusting the device towards Simas, who was able to grab Kip by the arm and throw him to the ground, knocking the device from Kip's hand in the process.
"What're you gonna do now, Kip!?" Simas asked as he watched Kip try to scramble for the device as he quickly stomped down on Kip's back, earning a scream from the smaller man before moving to stomp down on Kip's arm just before he managed to grab onto the ancient device.
"Dammit!" Kip yelled his fingers just barely brushing against it.
"This is what you get for thinking you can fight back!" Simas exclaimed, stomping down on Kip's arm again, "No one disrespects me like you did! Nobody! And this is gonna send a message to anyone who thinks they can!" Simas declared loudly, laughing when he heard sobs from Kip's mother who had stepped outside to see what was happening.
"No…" Kip murmured, his consciousness fading for just a moment before he felt… different. A pulsing energy reaching out from him to the device, whisps of magical energy reaching out from the device and into his left arm.
"What the hell?" Simas gasped for a moment before a bright flash of light erupted from Kip's left arm, fading away to reveal it was no coated in brown and black metal, tubes of blue magic crossing around and through it as his hand sparked with electricity. Kip acted on instinct while Simas was still off guard, grabbing onto his ankle as a powerful jolt of electricity surged through Simas, the man screaming in pain as Kip pulled himself back up onto his feet, eventually letting go as Simas fell over, unconscious.
"Kip!" he thought he heard his mother call out as he began to stagger. He briefly saw a flash of blue hair as he fell over backwards, "It's you…" he muttered as he looked up at a face etched with worry and heard his mother continue to call out as she ran towards him before his eyes shut.
. : + : .
Kip let out a groan as his golden eyes slowly opened, his head pounding as he winced, looking up at the ceiling light in his bedroom. Kip slowly sat up, noticing several bandages wrapped around his torso and head. He briefly took notice of the time on the clock in his room and that several hours had passed from what he last remembered.
"Wait… Simas!" Kip suddenly shouted in panic, scrambling out of bed but quickly falling over in pain, clutching his body as his mother quickly entered his bedroom.
"Kip! Sweetie, calm down, it's fine," she said quickly moving to his side and helping him back up to his feet.
"What happened?" Kip groaned, leaning onto his mother's shoulder.
"I'm not really certain… but Miss Miyagawa thinks you used magic," she answered, looking down at the ground, her eyes slightly narrowing, the faint wrinkles on her face deepening with worry.
"Miss Miyagawa?" Kip repeated, standing up on his own while his mother appraised him, making sure he was steady on his feet before moving to his dresser and grabbing a t-shirt before handing it to Kip.
"Yes, we have a guest who wants to speak to you. She got rid of that awful man after you fell unconscious," Kip's mother explained while Kip put on the shirt, "Come say hello and thank her," she added, quickly ushering him out of the bedroom and into the living room where Kip saw a woman sitting down on the family couch, her short light blue hair quickly jogging Kip's memory.
"It's you. You saved me from the pirates," Kip muttered as the woman glanced over her shoulder at him, her silver eyes almost staring right through him as Kip noticed the katana laying on her lap in its scabbard as she was holding a cup of tea in her hands.
"I believe the words you're looking for are 'Thank you,'" the woman retorted, giving him a hard, stern look as Kip suddenly stood up straight, arms at his sides as he managed to stammer out a 'thank you' before the woman broke out into gentle laughter as she set the cup down on the table in front of the couch, "I'm only kidding, of course, I'd do it again," the woman laughed.
"Sorry," Kip sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "I shouldn't have run off without thanking you, but…"
"I understand completely, debt collectors are relentless and yours was especially nasty," the woman responded, standing up from her seat, holding the weapon in her hand now, "I'm just glad I listened to my instincts and chased you down as soon as I could. But where are my manners? My name is Eiko Miyagawa. I'm an S-Class mage of the guild Blue Waves," Eiko stated as she reached out a hand towards Kip.
"Kip Marlowe," Kip replied in kind, reaching out to shake Eiko's hand and receiving a far firmer handshake than he was expecting.
"Wait, as in that Blue Waves? Number one mage guild in Caelum, Blue Waves?" Kip asked.
"The very one," Eiko answered as Kip looked at her awe and bewilderment in his eyes, "Pardon my rudeness for asking this though, ma'am… But, are you two related Doctor Bran Marlowe?" she questioned as both Kip and his mother's faces fell.
"He was my husband and Kip's father," Kip's mother explained, "He vanished five years ago now and we have no idea where he went or why he left."
"My apologies for bringing it up. It's just that I remembered that our former guild master was good friends with the doctor," Eiko stated, bowing slightly in apology.
"Yes, I remember Mr. Baumbach. He was a family friend for a long while. I heard he suffered a terrible injury a few years ago."
"I don't remember ever meeting any guild master," Kip huffed as he stared at a family picture hanging on the wall, "Certainly not any of dad's crappy friends."
"They had a falling out several years ago. You were very young when it happened," Kip's mother explained.
"More importantly though, Kip," Eiko began to say, the young man glancing back at the blue haired woman, "Have you ever used magic before today?"
"Is that really what that was?" Kip asked in response, turning to look at her directly, "I never had any talent for before, hell, I straight up had mages tell me I lacked the natural talent for it."
"Magic often reacts to stimuli out of the user's control, such as mortal danger. It's certainly not unheard of for a formerly magicless individual to suddenly gain magical powers when their life is in danger," Eiko explained, Kip watching her closely as his mother looked up at him with worry, "May I make a request of you, Kip?"
"What?"
"I'd like to see it again, your magic," Eiko requested, bowing slightly as Kip held up his left arm, staring at it for a while, examining it and seeing that it was completely back to normal.
"I don't even know how to make it happen again. I was reaching for dad's old construct taser when suddenly my arm transformed and looked like one of those devices made the by the Ancient Caelumites," Kip said, recalling what had happened earlier as best as he could.
"An instinctual reaction then," Eiko stated as she reached out and grabbed Kip's hand, a bit of color rushing to his face as Eiko began to talk again, "Focus on the sensations you felt when your arm transformed, try recalling the object you described, the magic rushing through your arm," Eiko explained, trailing a finger down each side of Kip's arm as whisps of magic were left behind by her finger, Kip focusing on her words as he felt the rush of magic return and his arm transformed again, the black and brown metals glistening as the blue lights on his arm shone brightly.
"Remarkable," Eiko said in praise as she examined Kip's transformed arm.
"What happened?" Kip asked, "Why can my arm do this?"
"My best guess… Is a kind of Take-Over Magic, but for objects? I didn't think something like that was possible, but I'm hardly an expert in Take-Over," Eiko admitted.
"Is this safe for him to do? It won't hurt him?" Kip's mother asked.
"I believe so, but no magic is truly safe, not without training and discipline," Eiko stated, stepping away from Kip, "Whether or not Kip wishes to pursue the life of a Mage is up to him though," she said while Kip's arm shone a bright light as magic whooshed around it before dispersing, revealing his arm had returned to normal.
"Mom," Kip said, turning to look at his mother.
"Oh no," she sighed, "I know that look too well."
"I… think I have to," Kip murmured.
"I know," she sighed again, "You go do what you feel you need to do. I'll be fine here, Miss Miyagawa settled things with your father's debtors."
"Wait, what?" Kip gawked, turning to look at the blue haired woman again.
"They won't bother her again, I made sure of it," Eiko said lowly.
"Right… thank you, really," Kip stated, "If it even comes close to helping repay you for that, will you take me to join your guild, to join Blue Waves?" he asked, a smile appearing on the woman's face.
"If that is what you feel you must do, of course," Eiko answered, "I must warn you though, Blue Waves is not what your mother might remember it being, the current Guild Master, Baran Metaxes, is a harsh leader who expects results and discipline from his mages. Our former Guild Master is still a part of the guild, but he is mostly retired now due to his injuries."
"I think I can live with that for now," Kip replied, "When do we leave?"
"We'll leave tomorrow morning. That way you can finish resting and have plenty of time to pack and say goodbye to your mother. Port Lunae is still on this island, but it's on the other side, so it will take a while to get there," she explained as Kip's mother leaned in to grab onto his arm and hold him against her, "I will leave you for the day so you can prepare, I'll see you both in the morning," Eiko stated before heading for the door, Kip focused on what the future held for him.
Credits:
Doctor Bran Marlowe – Dreadburner94
Shaw Baumbach – Dreadburner94
Kip Marlowe – Dreadburner94
Simas – Dreadburner94
Linnet Marlowe – Dreadburner94
Eiko Miyagawa – Dreadburner94
Author's Note – It's been a while since I've written anything. About a year now, but a new job that requires me to do a lot of studying for license exams will do that, I guess. But now I'm finally past the point where a lot of my free time is eaten up by studying so I'm finally back to writing and I figured I might as well start something new while I was at it. Course I intend to get back to everything else I had going on too before I disappeared from writing for a while.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed that first chapter and if you didn't pick it up from the chapter, this story is based in the island nation of Caelum and will revolve around Kip and the Mage's Guild Blue Waves, a guild with a long history in the island nation.
I have placed all the information for the story in my profile, including the OC Form. I will be updating my profile as time goes by with new information and restrictions as they become relevant, but for more up to date information, please visit the discord as I'll be much more active there.
I will be accepting a total of 20 characters from submitters; however, it will not be first come first serve. Submissions will be open until August 12th, so please feel free to take your time putting your characters together.
Thanks for reading and showing an interest so far. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Till next time.
Dreadburner94.
