Chapter 1 - An Innocent Encounter

A day at port
The sun beat down on the country of Bantia one hot afternoon. Lack of any rain for weeks made it seem even hotter, not to mention the country's naturally tropical climate. Located on one of Bantia's many islands sat the city of Johdine, a massive trading hub and port of call for shipping company worth its salt. On one of the smaller docks a ferry boat was in the process of unloading occupants, one of which was a young man with a nauseated look on his face. He had a white toque that covered most of his short black hair, accompanied by a t-shirt and baggy black pants. Swaying from side to side, he made his way down the dock until finally arriving at the end and leaned on one of the port's many moorings. "Zeke..." He moaned, struggling to hold down his lunch. "Remind me again why we had to take a boat to get here?"

A small feline like creature popped out of his backpack, in the middle of eating a small sandwich. He had grey and black striped fur, and wore a blue vest with similarly baggy pants to that of his companion. "Come on Axel, don't tell me you forgot already..." Axel didn't say anything, but Zeke quickly finished his snack and carried on regardless. "Jaina wanted us to pick up some medical stuff for her. And the Master said this would be the best place to look."

"Not that..." Axel huffed, seemingly getting his nausea under control. "Why did we have to take a boat? I hate boats." Axel stood up, and Zeke hopped up onto his shoulder. "Why couldn't you have flown us here?"

"I can't fly over an ocean. I'd get tired and fall in." Zeke said defensively, turning away from Axel's glair. "Swimming will make you just as sick as boating won’t it?"

Axel sighed, growing tired of arguing. Besides, he knew Zeke was right. "Let's just go. Sooner we get this stuff for Jaina the sooner we can go home." Zeke snickered to himself, and jumped off Axel's shoulder to follow on foot.

Traveling through the city, nether Zeke nor Axel could find whatever they had been sent to retrieve. The city's market was filled with all manner of things; Fish caught fresh from the ocean, rare foods from far off places, jewels and other trinkets brought in for trade; however there was no sign of any sort of any medicinal goods. Axel sniffed the air, but could only detect the strong odor of fish among the crowd. "Dammit, we'll be here all day at this rate."

"Maybe they aren't here?" Zeke suggested, kicking a crumpled piece of paper along as he walked. "Jaina could have come to get it herself if it was easy to come by, right?"

"I guess so." Axel seemed annoyed, but stopped himself when the paper at Zeke's feet un-crumpled a little and he caught a glimpse of a large printed title at the top. "Hey, what's that?" Zeke stopped, also noticed the large title, and unfolded the rest of the posted to read.

"Attention Mages." He began. "Looking for any skilled in magic to enter a friendly competition. Any who apply will be rewarded for their services." Zeke held the paper up for Axel to take, checking the poster over himself. "Sounds fun." Zeke said excitedly. "Can we go Axel? Please?"

"I don't know..." Axel studied the poster a bit longer, finding himself agreeing with his small companion; It did indeed sound like a good time. "We're supposed to be looking for medicine for Jaina."

"She'll never know." Zeke said confidently. "Besides, we can't do anything if it's not here in the first place. So what's the harm in doing a little work to make up for it?" Axel still didn't seem convinced that it was a good idea, however Zeke puffed up his cheeks and made the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster. "Please Axel?"

Axel stared back at Zeke trying his best to say no, despite finding himself pulled to the challenge as it was. After a brief pause, and looking around at the market one last time, Axel nodded. "Alright, we'll go. But then we have to find that stuff for Jaina, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah sure." Zeke said quickly, climbing up Axel's leg and coming to rest on his shoulder. "Come on, come on. Let's go see what they want us to do." Axel laughed a little, folding the posted and shoving it into his back pocket before setting off down the road.

The sun began to tough the ocean by the time Axel and Zeke arrived at the destination provided on the poster, an upscale mansion near the edge of the city. It looked relatively empty for the most part, except for a greeter standing at the door in a higher end butler’s uniform. As if he was reading their minds, he drew up to Axel the second he got close, bowing in respect. "I take it you are here per the job we posted, yes?"

"Uh..." Axel exchanged glances with Zeke, who looked just as confused as he did. "Yes?"

"Excellent." The butler chirped, moving behind Axel and gently pushing him through the gate. "Come, come now we don’t have all day. It's almost time to start."

"Uh, start what?" Axel asked, slowly becoming annoyed by being pushed around.

"You and the other mages shall be part of tonight's entertainment for some guests of ours." He explained, pushing a side door open and leading Axel through. "You should be quite all right, it'll just be a bit of fun. No cause for concern." Something in his words seemed off, but Axel had no time to question it when he and the butler stepped into another room with a dozen or so other mages already present.

Axel took a quick look around the room, resembling what he assumed to be a dressing room, while the butler stood by the door. "If you would all prepare yourselves, we will divide you into groups and shall begin shortly."

Many grunted in response as the butler made his exit, doing whatever preparations they felt where necessary, and Axel took a seat on a bench one of the far corners. Zeke climbed down and sat on his lap, watching the others work. "Why does he need this many people to put on a show?" He asked curiously.

Axel thought about it for a moment, then had an idea. "Maybe there are a lot of people to entertain?"

"I don't know... Maybe..." They both shrugged, and Zeke began looking around for someone else to talk too. He soon found someone, a woman around the same age as Axel curled up into a ball on the far end of the bench from them. "Hey lady!" She jumped slightly at Zeke’s abruptness. "Do you know what we're supposed to be doing?"

Axel took a chance to look her over while she stared at Zeke in disbelief. She had long blue hair and her skin was deathly pale. Her cloths appeared to be a little too big for her, and she readjusted a pair of red glasses to look at Zeke, then again at Axel. "Who are you?" She asked in a soft voice.

Axel opened his mouth to answer, however Zeke beat him to the punch. "I'm Zeke." He announced proudly, before gesturing over his shoulder. "And he's my brother Axel."

"Brother?" She repeated quizzically. "You two don't look like..."

"Not actual brothers." Axel interrupted, though the words seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth. "Zeke is an Exceed but we were both taken in by the same old man, and the thought just sort of stuck I guess." Axel's expression hardened, his lips curling into a frown as he recalled the person in question. "That is, before he took off somewhere."

"I-I'm sorry." She backed away slightly. "I didn't mean to bring up something unpleasant." The woman sunk back into the corner, hugging her knees and trying to ignore the others in the room.

Axel didn't say anything else either, simply staring blankly out into the room lost in his thoughts. Zeke however remained oblivious to the situation, and began gently pushing on the woman's leg with his paw. "So what's your name?"

She stared at him for a moment, suppressed that he still wanted to talk. There was a small pause before she answered, as if she was having trouble remembering her own name. "Amber." She said slowly. "My name's Amber."

"Like the rocks that have bugs in them?" Zeke asked curiously. Amber stifled a laugh and nodded slightly. "Cool!" Zeke kept pushing at her leg, growing more interested in Amber the more he learned. "So where are you from?"

"Oh, I uh..." Amber became somewhat flustered, unable to formulate a thought as the butler re-entered the room.

"We are ready for you now." He announced, bringing many of the others to their feet. "If you would be so kind as to line up for us, we shall kick things off as soon as we are able."

"Come on Zeke.” Axel picked up his Exceed brother and placed him on his shoulder. "Quit bugging her already. This was your idea, so let's get to work." Zeke huffed, but didn't argue as everyone followed the butler’s instructions. "Sorry about him. He gets a little talkative sometimes."

"I-it's alright, I don't mind much." Amber followed after them, somewhat more opened to conversation than before. "I just... I just haven't talked with very many people lately." She blushed slightly, adding a bit of color to her sickly pail face. "It's nice to talk to people again."

Axel thought to question her, however the clapping of the butler's hands drew his attention away before he got the chance. "Now, if you would be so kind as to follow me, we will begin the night's entertainment." He led the line of mages out through a long hallway, eventually stopping at a larger room with a number of large magic circles on the ground. "Now, each of you shall stand on the circle, and it will teleport you to the performance area."

The butler began to direct the mages to the circles, while one shouted out. "What'll we do when we get there?"

"Your task shall become clear once you arrive." He responded, finally turning to Axel, Zeke, and Amber. "Well, isn't he a cute one?" He scratched at Zeke’s head between his ears, making his hair stand on end. "You three can wait right here." The three of them stood on a circle farthest to the left of the entrance, and the butler turned to address the whole group again. "Now, in a moment your jobs will begin. Don't forget to put on a good show for us all. Good luck, and be careful."

He departed a moment later, leaving the mages to wait for their cue. Zeke crawled up onto Axel’s head, looking around at the others in the room. "Hey Axel? What did he mean by be careful?"

"What?" Axel seemed to be caught between thoughts. "It's just something you say to someone before they start a job, isn't it?" Zeke shrugged. "I mean, the master tells us that every time we go out on a job, doesn't he?"

"Master?" Amber repeated, backing away slightly. "Are you a part of a guild?"

Before Ether Axel or Zeke could answer a light began to envelop the room, originating from the magic circles they were all standing on. Everyone shielded their eyes from the blinding light, opening them again to find themselves in a different area.

Each group now stood in what looked like a large dining room, surrounded on all sides by people in lavish attire and masks. Axel looked around, finding that they had been sectioned off from the guests by large magic walls; as had every other group. "And now the entertainment portion of tonight's event." He turned again to see the butler standing in the middle of the room, talking into a small microphone. "For tonight, witness mages fight for their lives against a number of exotic beasts, imported from far off lands."

"Fight for our lives?" Zeke repeated. "He doesn't mean-."

A large cage rose up from the floor on the far side of their small prison, vicious growling emanating from within. "We've been screwed!" Axel shouted.

The same happened in the other rooms containing mages, each cage of a different size and make. "Now, let the entertainment begin!" The butler threw his microphone into the air, which disappeared in a flash of brilliant purple light. A loud buzzer sounded off, and Amber immediately clasped her hands over her ears.

She sunk to the ground, and Axel rushed to her side. "Hey, what's wrong?” The cadge door popped opened and the buzzer shut off, however it wasn't enough to draw Axel's attention. "Amber, what's wrong?"

Amber was pulled to her feet, and she looked up just in time to see a red blur closing in on them. "Look out!" She pushed Axel away, allowing whatever was in the cage to pass between them. It crashed into the magic barrier behind them, stunning itself long enough for Axel to get a good look.

It was covered in deep red scales, however its stance was more akin to that of a wolf than a lizard, and it possessed no tail. A large bony plate covered the top of its head, ending at a massive pair of slobbering jaws. It lacked any form of eyes, as far as any of them could tell, and they could hear it drawing large breaths through a pair of large nostrils on either side of its snout.

"What the hell is that?" Zeke shouted as Axel and Amber ran to the other side of the arena. The beast shook its head a few times, then turned back towards the group. "Axel, what is that thing?"

It growled at them, drawing low to the ground and ready to pounce. Axel glanced between it and Amber, thinking quickly about their predicament. "Can you fight Amber?" Amber still had a hand over one of her ears, and didn't respond. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine." She said, shaking her head a little to refocus herself. She placed a hand on the large belt around her waist, which began to glow. "Armeria, turn into the Syren." Her belt disassembled itself, breaking itself into pieces and reforming in Amber's hands in the form of a single edged sword.

The animal broke into a run, and Axel threw Zeke off his head to intercept it. He drew back his fist, charging electricity in his hand, and Amber covered her ears again from the sound again. "Lightning Dragon Fist!" He connected with the animal's head crest, barely slowing it down, and it bucked upwards in response. Axel moved back slightly, narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws that followed after him.

"Get him Axel!" Zeke cheered, hovering on a pair of small wings that had sprouted from his back. He looked back to find Amber crouching below him, still covering her ears. "Hey! What are you doing? You need to fight too!"

"I- I know that..." She slowly got back up to her feet, taking her sword in both hands and running at the creature. Axel jumped back to allow her room to attack, but the beast suddenly lunged forwards and out of Amber's reach. It dug its claws into Axel's shoulders, and Axel took hold of its top and bottom jaw to keep its snapping teeth away.

The crowd cheered as blood began to run down Axel's arms, more so when Amber repositioned her sword and charged again. The creature thrashed out in its struggle with Axel, just enough so as to avoid being impaled by Amber's blade. It instead slid down the beast's side, drawing a hairline cut along its ribs.

The creature roared, dragging its claws down Axel's chest and throwing itself backwards into Amber. All three of them landed hard on the ground, however the beast was the first to recover and pounced again on the still prone Amber. "Look out Amber!" Zeke swooped in and grabbed her just as the beasts claws ripped through the ground.

They landed again, however the creature was faster than they imagined; drawing up on them in less than a heartbeat. Its jaws clamped down on Amber's sword and it began violently shaking its head, thinking it had bitten into flesh.

Amber had no choice but to move with the monster, being outclassed by its shear muscle, and took hold of her sword at either end to stop it from being pulled from her grasp. One tug pulled Amber closer to the ground, and the beast suddenly reared back on its hind legs, slamming its head plate into Amber's forehead.

She was immediately stunned, falling to the ground and losing hold of her sword. The creature bore down on her prone state, before a flash of light appeared from the place Axel had been laying. "Lightning Dragons Bolt!" Lightning shot into the creature's side from Axel's hand, blasting it away from Amber and into one of the magic walls surrounding them.

Zeke landed next to her as the creature thrashed in pain, watching blood run between Ambers eyes. "Axel, she's hurt!" She moaned slightly as Zeke attempted to role her onto her back. "What do we do?"

The beast rolled back up to its feet, shifting its focus to Axel. The two of them growled at each other, and electricity began to jump through the air around Axel. "Come on!" He yelled at it. "I'm right here! What are you waiting for!?" The beast snarled at his challenge, galloping at Axel as fast as it could. Axel stood at the ready, preparing himself for a battle of strength, when the beast lunged up at his neck.

Axel took hold if it's head, grabbing at its nostrils for leverage, and began pushing back. The two struggled for a moment, however Axel's hands slid down the beast's neck with each thrash; allowing its jaws to inch closer and closer by the second. Axel gritted his teeth, electricity shooting out in every direction, and began to channel magic to the back of his throat.

"Lightning Dragons..." He brought his knee up into the beast's bottom jaw, stunning it momentarily, then took hold of its head plate and lifted it upwards to expose its softer underbelly. "Roar!" Lightning enveloped the creature, launching it away and blinding the spectators. The magic wall that Axel was facing cracked with the impact, then shattered when the beast's body followed not a second later.

The guests scattered immediately, finding the prospect of being in a room with a pissed of mage and a thoughtless beast much less entertaining than before. "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm." In the middle of the chaos, the butler swiftly executed the creature Axel had been fighting by driving a sword through it's neck. "No harm shall befall any-."

In that instant the massive door at the far end of the room exploded inwards, showering wooden splinters throughout the hall. An impossible tall elderly man stepped through the smoke, followed by swarms of solders lining up on either side of him. "I am Yog Longshaw of the Magic Council." He announced in a booming voice, gaining the attention of just about everyone in the room. "You are all under arrest."

The magic walls around the mages all shattered like glass, freeing everyone who had survived the battles. "Crap, it's the rune knights." Zeke muttered, still trying to rouse the unconscious Amber."What do we do Axel?" Axel looked down at their unconscious acquaintance, then up at the rune knights rounding up both mage and guest alike. "Axel, say something!" Zeke urged.

"So you’re from the council huh?" The butler asked, requiping another sword into his free hand. "A shame. I'd hoped to stay under the radar for a bit longer; there is quite a bit of money to be made in organising these things you know." Rune knights began rounding up guests however the butler seemed disinterested by it, keeping his focus solely on the massive Councilmen before him. "I suppose I need to cross you off now, don't I?"

"Then fight for your freedom, whelp." Yog said calmly, his magic flaring up. The butler grinned, braking his haughty persona for the first time that night. He ran at the massive mage, dragging the tips of his swords along the ground behind him. Yog didn't move, even after the butler drew back his swords and leapt high at the elderly man's head. In the blink of an eye Yog brought his massive fist up at the last second and knocked the butler high into the roof.

The impact left an imprint of the butler on the ceiling, and he slowly began to fall back to the floor. Before he could reach it however Yog through another punch at him, sending the butler soaring across the room and crashing into a table on it's far side. He twitched a little, then slumped unconscious as rune knights closed in around him. "Anyone else care to resist?" Yog asked, scanning over the room once again.

"Let’s go." Axel whispered, picking Amber up over his shoulder and spotting a hole in the wall created by his previous roar attack. He broke into a run, prompting a small group of rune knights to chase after him. "Zeke, don't forget her weapon!"

"Gotcha'!" Zeke flew back and grabbed the hilt of Amber's sword, flying over the heads of the people in pursuit. "What do we do now Axel?" He asked, landing on Axel's other shoulder and holding the sword with his tail.

"Just don't look back." Axel said confidently. He could see out over the ocean through the hole in the wall, and it was apparent that they weren't on the ground floor. Axel remained grinning however as electricity arced from his free hand, and with one final step he leapt out into the open air. Just as the trio began to fall, Axel spotted a nearby tower, and reached out with his free hand. "Lightning Dragon's Chain!" Electricity jumped from his hand, taking the shape of a claw and digging itself into the towers outer wall. Axel used this to swing out over the rooftops, quickly vanishing from sight over the horizon.

One of the mages pursuing them turned back at their leader Yog, who had been slowly making his way towards the commotion after dealing with the butler. "I'm sorry sir..." He said with a salute. "Some of the mages escaped. Shall we chase after them?"

"Don't bother." Yog waved his hand, signalling the solder to be at ease. "From the looks of things, the mages where the victims here. So there's no point in tracking them down." He knelt down to pear through the hole Axel and the others had used to escape, and chuckled to himself. "Besides, I know who he was. Little troublemaker from that Blazing Soul guild on the mainland. Guarantee that's where he's headed now." The massive man righted himself, then turned back to his solders. "Focus your efforts on apprehending the guests. And making sure none of their precious pet's escape into the city." The solders saluted again, then began carrying out their orders as Yog made his exit.

Axel continued to run along the rooftops, putting as much distance as he could between himself and the Council mages. Lights turned on all throughout the city as he ran, awoken by the noise emanating from the manor, and people began to fill the streets. After about a minute Axel stopped to catch his breath, looking back at the manor in the distance. "I think we lost them."

"They never followed you in the first place." Zeke said flatly as Axel laid Amber down on the roof. She still hadn't awoken from her blow to the head, and Zeke brushed the hair from her face to see a small cut on her forehead. "Is she dead?" She looked peaceful enough, but hadn't made a sound since the beast they had fought knocked her out. "Axel, she's not dead is she?"

"I don't think so." Axel felt her wrist for a pulse, then watched her stomach rise and fall slightly with each breath. "She looks fine to me. Sort of like she's sleeping." He noticed the dried blood between her eyes, then gestured to his forehead. "Except, you know... That."

"Well that's good." Zeke said proudly, resting Amber's sword next to her on the roof. "Guess we should be getting home huh? The master's going to want to know what happened before he hears about it from the council."

"Sure, but uh..." Axel looked at Amber laying on the rooftop beside him, then again at the council mages in the distance rounding up any stragglers from the arena. "What do we do with her?"

Next Chapter - Starting Over