August 25th, x778

In Central Fiore, in a hidden base near one of the country's innermost rivers, a dark guild had planted its roots upstream of the town, Sula. Their plan was simple: poison the water and make the residents of the city downstream sick. It would allow them to sell herbal medicines to the residents, boosting profits and taking in thousands of jewels for some grass mixed with water.

"Lilly! Lilly!"

They were the dark guild, Sweet Ivy.

"Someone's broken through the wall!"

The guild master, a middle-aged woman who had failed her studies to become a doctor, was on alert. She had blue eyes and brown hair, and her face was the epitome of irritation. "What do you mean we're under attack?" she snipped at a runaway she had gotten to help in her scheme. "No one should know where we are!"

The grunt opened his mouth to warn her before an explosion broke through the main room. The house they were crashing into was a single-story hunting lodge that had been left behind by some hunters ages ago. It wasn't stable, and with her teeth gnashed, she took out her backup plan to get them out of the mess: "Hold your breath!"

Lilly took out a glass vile of pink gas, holding her breath as she moved to open the cork, keeping the hallucinogenic substance contained before the air in front of her shimmered, and a single finger appeared out of nowhere before landing on the cork top stop her from popping it open. Lilly's eyes widened as she heard an emotionless voice echo through the room. She saw the air before her fade, like a misty haze dissipating to reveal a boy.

"Dammit..." he cursed. She immediately noticed he was a teen, wore a white overcloak, and had brown eyes and blue shoulder-length hair. However, the most striking feature was the red tattoo over his eye and how he took the bottle from her hand before holding an open palm to her stomach. His words were a vengeful grumble, "I told her to wait."

Lilly barely had time to reach out for her vial before a tiny orange flame flickered in front of the boy's hand, and she was blasted into the wall behind her. The wind knocked out of her lungs as bells rang in her head, and she could barely notice how her grunt tried to come to her rescue. Only for the boy to dodge a pitiful swing, conjure up some blue electricity between his fingers, and jab her grunt in the side, shocking him with who knows how many volts. Her grunt passed out a moment later.

Shit...

Lilly's vision was fading, her chest stung, and she knew it wouldn't be long before she passed out. She could barely see the boy's frown or hear his annoyed murmurs as the old wood began shaking around them, and she caught a glimpse of his hand. Her eyes widened once she saw the white guild mark before her vision tilted, and she murmured, "You..."

It was her last thought before her consciousness came crashing down.

"Phantoms..."

Along with the old wooden lodge.

A loud crash echoed through a sparsely populated forest near a bountiful river. Upstream from the creek that kept the town of Sula freshly washed and fed, the wreckage of an old wooden lodge sat near the riverbed. Dust lingered in the breeze as a wooden plank from the collapsed roof was lifted, and a boy with white shifted out from beneath it with two unconscious mages in hand.

Wonderful...

Siegrain felt his lips twitch downwards as he glanced at the dust all over his clothes before he snapped his fingers, and a cleaning spell tidied them. His eyes were still narrowed, but he felt less irritated as he heard some stray wood shift behind him. The sound was followed by a clear voice, "Woah."

In an instant, he was back to irritated. Listening to his newest partner stand up out of the rubble she had created wasn't pleasant.

"Maybe I went a little overboard," Mira murmured as she leisurely pushed a piece of the roof off her shoulder and dragged out one of the grunts she'd been fighting. The others were lying outside the collapsed wreckage. She didn't have time to shelter all of them, so she settled with throwing them through the wooden walls.

"My bad."

It was probably why the building came down so quickly.

"How'd you do, blue-haired bastard?" Mira asked as she glanced to the left and saw Siegrain giving her a bland look that teetered on annoyance if she had to guess. Then again, she could never tell, with his face a constant mix of blank looks and dull expressions. Even his voice was monotonous: "I told you to wait."

"And I never said yes," Mira rolled her eyes and ignored the half frown shot her way. "So, did you get the guild leader or what?"

"Of course." Siegrain replied plainly as he held up the unconscious guild leader for emphasis before dragging her and her grunt by the collar towards the other unconscious guild members that surrounded the wreckage, "Start piling them up, brute."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"You broke the lodge."

"Touché," Mira grumbled as she dragged her grunt over and threw him on top of another one she knocked out earlier. It didn't take her long to create a dog pile out of the unconscious members of Sweet Ivy, after which she got to see Siegrain tie them all together with threads that came out of his fingers. A process so enjoyable that she spoke without realizing it: "Hey, when'd you learn to do that?"

It was seriously cool. Each thread moved like a nerve connected to Siegrain's brain. They were so fluid and graceful that she couldn't believe it.

"You holding out on me?" Mira muttered with narrowed eyes as she saw Siegrain freeze in place. His back was to her as he finished tying up the rest of the grunts and then disconnected his threads. His voice sounded distant as he ignored her and returned to the town, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on. Quit being coy." Mira said as she trotted behind her gloomy rival/friend/future-punching bag and yawned, "I didn't know you knew thread magic."

Mira was still thinking about the threads and didn't even realize it.

"When'd you learn it?"

Siegrain had stopped listening to her, and she couldn't see his face.

"You never use those when we spar."

That's why it sent shivers down her spine. When she finally noticed him turn around and give her a robotic look, one that seemed more dead than alive, she realized she might have stumbled upon something that wasn't her business.

"Why would I..."

Even his emotionless drawl couldn't hide that.

"It's weak," Siegrain murmured with the faintest hint of bitterness, and that was all Mira needed to give up on her admittedly childish curiosity. She had fought Siegrain more than enough times when he wasn't interested in their spars. He was never shy to admit that he used them for practice more than anything, and even then, she had yet to land a hit.

"Okay then..."

She didn't want to think about how it would go when he was pissed off.

"Forget I asked," Mira mumbled as she rubbed her arm and watched Siegrain turn back down the path to Sula. As they walked silently, the forest thinned slightly, and the river trickled beside their path. Mira took the liberty of kicking a stone that crossed her path to fill the void during their trip back to town.

So much for a first mission...

Mira hadn't wanted things to go this way.

Hopefully, the next one will go better.

Mira hadn't wanted any of this at all.

Turns out the next mission didn't go any better. There was an animal smuggling ring in Flemmen, a town on the northern edge of Fiore's coastline. The transporters planned to take the exotic magic animals overseas and to the Alvarez Empire.

"Thank you for your help. These animals are a mainstay attraction for Flemming. Your reward would normally be 60,000 jewels, but..."

It had been going so well they had defeated the smugglers with minimal damage. Siegrain had chosen to get all the animals off the boat and left Mira to deal with the boss, a stereotypical pirate with a magic peg leg. Things had been going great before she threw a smidge too-hard punch and sent the dude's wooden leg flying through the ship's side. He was okay, as were all the smugglers.

"I'll need to deduct 50,000 for the damages."

She made sure to get them off the ship before it sank.

The third mission was humiliating. It happened during a mission to Crocus. She wouldn't go into details. They swore to take it to the grave.

Fourth and Fifth had damages, both her fault, and by the time a month passed, she had made Thirty thousand in jewels. Thirty thousand. At the rate she was going, she'd be out of debt in the next decade if lucky. She was irritated, pissed, mostly at herself, and by the time the sixth mission went wrong, she was too annoyed to care anymore. They were stuck on an island named Sevii because she'd broken some of the beams for the bridge they were supposed to fix, and it had gotten dark before she could try to fix it. She would have to wait until tomorrow to do it.

If I don't mess that up too...

Mira frowned at the thought, kicking a stray can out of the way as they walked the streets of Sevii. It was dark out; the stars shone surprisingly bright out here, and all she wanted was some food before heading back to the hotel to get some shuteye. She stared daggers at the soup in front of her face, holding the bowl in her hands and ready to chow down before a voice cut in and reminded her that she wasn't eating alone, "Please use a spoon."

"Screw off, buzzkill," Mira grumbled as she tilted the bowl to her lips and took the first couple of gulps. Letting out a refreshed sigh as she set the half-finished bowl down and wiped her lips. She gave a satisfied smirk as she shrugged off Siegrain's look of resignation and finished the rest of the bowl, down to the last drop, before setting it down and turning to see Siegrain still eating with a spoon made of thread. That was neat; she didn't know he could make stuff out of those threads.

Wonder what else he can make...

Mira pondered the thought for a little bit, wondering if he could make something besides the threads he'd used back on those bandits ages ago. Her thoughts distracted her from her sucky afternoon before she got bored and asked, "You always take this long to eat?"

"This food is good. Since I don't have to hurry, I want to savor it." Siegrain answered plainly, finishing the rest of his soup to the last drop. He dismissed his threaded spoon, left some leftover jewels on the table for their meal, and stood up. Mira followed suit with her hands behind her head as the two walked back to the hotel they were staying at. It was the only one on the island, made of wood and palm leaves.

On the way, they tried to quickly detour to avoid an old man named Tull. He was the one who originally oversaw the rickety wooden bridge's construction ages ago. Unfortunately, his old house was near the hotel's entrance, and he spotted them from his porch before they could go inside. His passing words were anything but friendly, "You better fix my bridge tomorrow, you youngins! That's the reason we brought you here!"

It was almost comical how quickly Mira's mood soured. In an instant, she was ready to scream at the man to 'fuck off,' but instead, she was greeted with a hand over her mouth and Siegrain's quick attempt to divert her anger, "We'll do our best." Siegrain said, barely even flinching as Mira bit his hand harshly. His only indication of it was a small bow to the barely appeased old man before he dragged his angered partner into the hotel lobby. The two inside as they heard the elderly man's fading yell, "You better!"

Siegrain ignored the old man's bellow and immediately moved his hand, checking it briefly to see if there was any blood. Once he was assured there wasn't, there was only a bite mark that would fade and leftover saliva that he promptly shook off. He turned to Mira. He opened his mouth before she spoke flatly, "I'm not apologizing." Then he closed it and gave a dull shrug, "Okay."

He didn't mind; he simply didn't want to antagonize the villagers more than necessary.

"Lead the way." Siegrain offered as a way not to antagonize his partner more than necessary. Mira looked frustrated, irritated, and downtrodden, and the sassy retort he was expecting ended up being a slight huff she gave before she marched through the hotel. The room they booked was near the back of the single-story hotel, and it didn't take long for them to reach it. Once they did, there wasn't a moment before Mira kicked the door open and marched in without a second glance.

"I'm going to sleep," Mira grumbled with bags under her eyes as she marched into the joint hotel room they had booked for the night to save money. Two twin beds were beside each other, so she jumped on the one closest to the window. The moonlit sky outside gave her a clear view of the town they were staying in. Their latest mission left them in an island town a stone's throw from Fiore's coast. It was beautiful, but she ignored the scenery and instantly locked onto the nearby beach she could go to if she felt the need to break something in the middle of the night.

"Wake me if there's an earthquake."

Something besides the bridge they were supposed to help repair.

Hours Later*

Siegrain was very tired, but surprisingly, he couldn't fall asleep. His partner was the first to hit the hay, her loud snores filling the room as he stewed in thought. It was his first time seeing how she slept; they had separate tents whenever they needed to camp out in the woods, and they would usually get separate rooms whenever they had to stay in a town overnight. They only booked one room this time to save the little money they had after repeatedly botched missions where they had to pay for damages.

Why's this going so badly...

He wouldn't pretend that the whole situation surrounding a new partner was ideal; he would've preferred that Vera never lose his magic in the first place, but all things considered, Mira would've been his next choice. She was strong, and they got along well enough. She was brash, but Vera was brash sometimes too. It wasn't new. The breaking things were new, and he couldn't figure out why.

We've been on six missions now.

Siegrain was at a total loss, if he was being honest.

Something's gone wrong in every single one.

Siegrain frowned as he sat on his bed and tilted his head to the brute snoring across the room in her goth punk attire she hadn't bothered to change. She slept loudly, which wasn't surprising if he was being honest, but she seemed more relaxed. The light from the moon outside trickled in and highlighted her face, which wasn't contorted in a vicious grin for once. She looked comfortable, with the faint flicker behind her closed eyelids only indicating her dreams. She almost looked peaceful.

I don't get it...

Unfortunately, he was her go-to for any sparring-related instances, so he knew she could be anything but peaceful. She was more battle-hungry than anyone. When he thought back to all the mages he'd personally fought, she was close to the top regarding purely physical strength. That became increasingly apparent on every botched mission, but it still felt off. Siegrain had fought her, so he was confident.

She shouldn't be this bad at controlling her magic.

She shouldn't be having so many of these amateurish incidents. She was a better mage than that.

Is she nervous about going on missions?

Siegrain briefly mulled over the thought before shaking his head and tossing it. He didn't know a lot about his new partner, but she didn't seem the type to get stage fright. It was still odd, though, so he took out his lacrimal vision and called his old partner for advice. He held out the orb and let it ring for a few seconds before a strained voice picked up on the other end. It sounded like the person was out of breath.

"Wow, calling me in the middle of the night, Siegrain? I was about to get some shut-eye."

That wasn't good. Siegrain had seen Vera less since they stopped being partners, but he noticed things when he returned from missions. Most prominently, Vera went out to the training field at dusk and returned at dawn, covered in sweat and bloody blisters. Some days, Vera could barely stumble into the apartment before he passed out till noon.

"Bullshit."

Siegrain had seen it happen every time he returned to Oak Town.

"I know you were working out again." Siegrain muttered with a frown as he watched the orb flicker as if the maniac on the other end was embarrassed at being caught, "Okay, you got me. In my defense, though, I have a lot of muscle to build up."

Siegrain clicked his tongue, forced to let Vera continue with his explanation because, logically, he knew it held merit. Vera had been in a coma for almost a month. He lost a lot of muscle mass during that time. It was essential to build it back up.

"The quicker I get my body back in shape, the quicker I can move on to the other stuff."

Siegrain would be lying if he said he enjoyed it, though. It was harsh on the body, and in his opinion, it wasn't sustainable. If anyone else were doing it, he would tell them to stop and force them to if he had to, but this was Vera, and Vera had survived the lab.

"Plus, I only threw up once this time, so it's obviously working. Why stop now?"

Some midnight training was nothing compared to that.

"You just got out of a coma, for one," Siegrain grumbled defeatedly as he heard a sheepish chuckle from the other end of the orb. Siegrain sighed slightly before resting his chin on his palm and pinching his nose. "Whatever, try not to put yourself in another one if possible."

"No promises."

"You're impossible," Siegrain replied flatly as he heard soft chuckles from the other end of the line. The quiet atmosphere brought the slightest smile to the edge of Siegrain's lips before he hid it and proceeded with his main intentions.

"That aside, I called you because I have a question."

"This couldn't wait till morning?"

"You wouldn't be awake."

"Damn, that's a good point. Ask away." Vera's begrudging voice echoed from the orb as Siegrain glanced at the snoring demon to his right and asked with all the seriousness he could offer, "Does the brute like destroying things?"

That was the only explanation he could think of for why she kept destroying things. He didn't think it was nerves or that she didn't care about money. Debt was a good motivation. Regardless, he couldn't think of anything else.

"She keeps breaking things when we go on missions. It's costing us a lot of the reward money."

He figured the logical explanation must be the best.

"I don't know why else she'd be doing it," Siegrain admitted as he heard Vera humming from the other end of the orb. A few seconds ticked by before Vera's voice echoed from the other end of the line, "I guess she probably likes breaking things. Breaking shit does feel nice every once in a while."

Okay, good. That was a logical answer.

"I doubt that's why she's doing it, though."

Never mind. Wrong answer.

"She wouldn't screw up missions for a bit of fun," Vera said from the other end of the line and instantly shot down any progress Siegrain believed he'd made. He was stuck to square one. He almost wanted to chalk it up to nerves before he heard Vera's voice and realized he was overthinking things.

"Why don't you ask her."

If anyone knew what was going on with the brute. It was the brute. Why didn't he think of that?

"Thanks, Vera. I'll do that." Siegrain said, unable to hear Vera's "Wait. Not now," before he ended the lacrimal call and turned to the brute. He idly noticed that her eyelids were fluttering quicker, and her face was scrunched up as if she were having a bad dream, but he'd already shaken her awake before he could dwell on it. "Hey, brute. I have a question."

"Mgg... what?" Mira half snored, half grumbled. It was evident that she wasn't fully awake. Siegrain wasn't even sure if she was listening, but he figured she'd be able to hear his question.

"Why are you so bad at missions?"

He knew it for a fact when she chucked a pillow at him and sent him flying through the wall.

In the forests outside of Oak Town, underneath the moonlight, a boy sat in a pool of sweat with a lacrimal orb in his hands. His eyes were glued to it for a few seconds before he sighed and tossed it next to his backpack, murmuring under his breath. "That dumbass."

Vera sighed as he tilted his head at the sky. A part of him wanted to try and call Siegrain back to save him from whatever dumb shit he was about to do, but he decided that Siegrain could deal with it. Besides, Vera had more important things to do.

He'll be fine... probably.

Vera hummed at the thought before he tilted his head towards his sword and left Siegrain to his fate. The moonlight tinged his weapon from above as he thumbed the white sheathe and slid it open. Gazing at the cool steel before he slid the sheathe back in its place and stood up to begin another round of physical torture. The truth was he lied to Siegrain a little bit. He needed to recover his physical strength, and it might take another month to recover completely, but he didn't need to be here to work out. He could've done that in the daytime.

Soon...

He was out here in the middle of the night because he needed to be alone. Not at the moment, but he'd need to be alone once he mastered this blade. It was better to get into that habit now rather than later. That's why he was out here, swinging the blade Jose gave him until his fingers bled and bones felt like they were broken.

Soon, my body will recover.

Vera hadn't talked to Jose since that day, he honestly didn't know what to say, but he'd probably go along the lines of 'Thanks, asshole.' That bastard was cruel, but he was correct and damn clever. That's why Jose gave Vera this particular blade. It was perfect.

Once that's done...

It was called Raimei.

I'll be able to leave Oak Town.

It meant Thunder.