The cross swayed as Nick stood there, the wind blushing his shoulders, playing with his red hair. Before him is Knock, the man who was once proclaimed the strongest man alive. These two men had met and clashed on multiple occasions, and now was it, their final match.
"I must say." Knock smiles with grim desperation. "I never thought it would come to this."
Nick just scoffed. "If it hadn't then nothing would change."
They were standing on top of a castle marked with flame and ruin. Screams escape from the mouths of those who were near death.
"When I was young." Knock began. "I dreamed of a world where humanity was united with one goal, the annihilation of the Curse."
"And yet you strayed. You failed your dream in every definition of the word. I hope you understand I am not the villain here."
When the two clashed the earth shook and the heavens split, ending the era of madness with one final fight.
Four hundred years later.
"Man your a total loser." Lance stands up running his hand through his hair. "It isn't so hard to pick up chicks."
"Yeah?" Vaut sighs. "If it's so easy then why don't you have a girlfriend?"
"You're asking me that?" Lance slams his hands into the table with passion "They merely fail to understand my greatness."
Vaut shoves a bagel into his mouth sarcastically saying, "Yep."
"Please, one of these days you will understand, and when that day comes. You shall also bow."
Vaut couldn't help but wonder if Lance was dropped as a baby. Or maybe he was just an idiot, a idiot stuck with middle school syndrome. To Vaut it didn't matter, because the loser in front of him was a long time friend.
"I got practice after school, but do you want to hop on at eight?" Vaut asked.
"Oh, sure."
Vaut walked home, bag slung around his back. That is until stopping, a red haired man stands in his path, a cross dangling around his neck. There were no words spoken between the two, just a rushed gaze, as the man counted in the direction of the school. Even so Vaut felt frozen in fear. His whole life flashed before his very eyes, and now he wondered what that man was. Whatever it was, he knew it was not human.
When he returned home he had a bad feeling, and the feeling only deepened when the usually always locked door was left cracked. Vaut feared to enter, he feared to move. "Mom, dad?" His lips trembled as he pried the door open, revealing blood smearing every surface. The shock took him, causing his mind to become blank. His face empty, staring at the blood shed.
"Vaut." Lance steps in front of him, shutting the door. "You weren't supposed to see that." He had a mask on, but there was no mistaking his voice and dark blue hair.
"Lance?" Vaut's voice cracks.
Lance shifts on his feet. "Come now, it seems we have an unwelcomed guest." The fox mask covering his face jiggles with each word.
"Lance you know the rules." A woman stands on the fence post. "Civilans who witness the curse must be eliminated." Her vibrant green hair spills through the wind.
"Not going to happion, Vaut here is my friend, besties for resties, you know what that means." His smirk escapes the mask. "I have to kill the witness of the witness."
She frowns a blade appearing in her hand. Vaut could barely witness it as Lance's hand collided with the sword, just for it to bounce off, and his hand to cling around her throat. "Now now, don't make a fuss." His grip tightened as her eyes widened.
"Lance, you're going to kill her!" Vaut screams.
"That's the intent." Lance squeezes even harder and her body falls limp. "Sad excuses for mages don't deserve to exist anyways. Isn't that right Vaut!" He leans back far enough for me to see his face.
"Lance, you're scaring me." Vaut stumbles back.
"Oh, I have not even started yet." The mask slides off Lance's face revealing an ear to ear smile. "But that is not for you my dear Vaut, my BFF." Lance tossed the corpse onto the floor. "Looks like a position has opened up, what do you say to joining the council? Oh, please I know your answer. Welcome aboard." Lance wraps his arm around the trembling's Vaut's neck. "Us normals got to stick together."
A pentagram sputters into life beneath them as they disappear from where they stand.
A man comes into view, his black hair slips into his disgusted eyes. "Poor Gray, looks like the young master is at it again."
"Can I eat the body?" A rough obese man squats beside him.
"Mind your manners Lusius, it would be barbaric to eat right off the bone." THe black haired man condones him
"But I wonna, she looks so yummy." He complains back.
"Once you secure the zone we can eat."
"Fine!" The fat man begrudgingly agrees. Sticking his hand in his mouth he pushes it down his throat and draws out a key. Injecting it into the air he turns it as if unlocking a lock, then the house completely vanished from existence leaving an empty lot.
Within the old Freed compound just outside the city proper. The air begins to vibrate as it breaches revealing two men. "Your new home, my dear sir!" Lance stumbles around the large yard. "Aren't I generous host?"
There were two buildings: the main annex used by the family, and the sub annex used by the mages. Well both the buildings were built in the same style it was obvious who was more important.
"Lance!" A small girl jumps onto his back smiling the whole way. "Welcome home."
"Little Luna, it is nice to be back." He pats her on the head.
"Detected presence, initiating elimination protocol." A rock golem flies at Vaut, just for it to get its face punched through by Lance.
"Now my dear friend, let us eat." He smiles harshly.
Vaut stumbles behind him in confusion. All the events of the day have yet to catch up to him. He failed to even comprehend the current situation, or its absurdness.
Prancing inside Lance takes a seat at a long table. At its head is a tough faced older man with a gray beard. "I see you brought a friend over to play." He says as he flips through his newspaper.
"Meet to the new Gray, Mister Vaut River." Lance happily rips into his food.
The older man glances away from the paper saying. "Does he know magic, or any thing of the outside world?"
"Nope." Lance pulls Vaut's hand forcing him to take a seat. "Isn't that great!"
"The clans aren't going to like this." The older man sets down his paper taking a long sip of tea. "But boy, we are the council, at least a member of it. Our job is to destroy the curse and prevent knowledge of it from spreading. From now on that is your job to. I wish you luck."
"Is that all I get to know?" Vuat stammers. "Why did my family die?"
The older man raises an eyebrow. "It was the curse I would assume. Nasty thing isn't it? And exactly why we can not let people know of it. Those who know are at a greater risk of corruption. Us mages are no exception."
"And me? What of me?" Vaut slams the table. "Aren't I a risk?"
"All mages are a risk, but a necessary one." The calm tone never left his voice. "Without us the world would be in ruin. That is why you must strive to succeed as a mage, or risk annihilation."
"The act of being a mage goes back past the dawn of history." An older woman joins the conversation. "We are the light that burns in the darkest darkness." She stumbles over to the table taking the other end.
"As my wife put it…" The older man wipes his mouth despite not eating any of the food. "I will see you all in the morning."