Aether and Nina: A Fated Meeting in Bantia

It was a warm midsummer say in the country of Bantia. The sun sat high in the sky with not a cloud in sight to block its rays. On one of the country’s many small islands, a cottage sat on stilts near the treeline facing the beach. A staircase wound its way along the side of the stilts leading to the first floor, then continued around the back to a second story observatory.

A collection of junk hung from pretty much everywhere, crudely tied to parts of the wooden roof, each housing some sort of plant. Vines growing from a cut open water jug, fruits growing from a suspended hanging planter, there was even a beer bottle with a flower poking out of the neck. It all gave the structure a very ramshackle appearance.

Leaning on one of the stilts next to the stairs, a woman with light purple hair watched the waves lap against the sand. She was just finishing the last of a stew she’d made, and when she was done she kicked off the post and picked up a bag of seeds that had been resting next to her.

A large grey bird landed on one of the windowsills, pecking at a small animal in its talons that was too mangled to identify. After picking over the bones, it gave a satisfied screech and flicked the carcass away. “Ribba..." The woman scolded, tending to a batch of plants growing from a discarded knight helmet. “Everything has its usages. Bone marrow can be valuable.”

The bird fluttered its wings in defiance, but still hopped of the windowsill and collected the bones once again. It returned to its perch after a moment, and the woman continued collecting the leaves of the plant she was tending to.

"You are a hard one to track down," said a voice from behind her. She turned to see man in red, with blue skin, pointed ears, and white hair. He began walking up to her. He had arrived completely undetected, even avoiding the smell of the animals. "Hello, Nina Firart."

Nina slowly got to her feet, cautiously eyeing the stranger. "Who are you?" She hissed in an annoyed expression, stepping away from her cottage and toward the ocean. "What do you want?"

"My name is Alexius," He said. "My master has sent me for... Recruitment." he hesitated on the last word, almost as if he was irritated by the notion. "Apparently you've peaked his interest. You have certain qualities that we lack, and my master believes that your abilities would help us greatly to achieve our ends."

"I'm not interested." Nina crossed her arms, annoyed that her day had been interrupted. “If you know who I am, then you should know I prefer to live alone.” Ribba once again hopped from his perch and began circling overhead as Nina took another step towards the ocean. “I don’t know what you’re after, but you’ve wasted your time. So leave me be.”

"I'm not sure you understand." Said Alexius, as he walked closer and closer. "My master always gets what he wants. And what he wants is you." He walked right in front of her. "Perhaps you haven't heard of me, but due to the atrocities I've done for my master, they call me Blue Devil."

"I've never heard of you or your organisation." A wave of ocean water washed across Nina's boot, and her eyes flashed a bright red color. "And I don't like being threatened." The sand below the water suddenly exploded, showering the area in mud and ocean water. In the chaos a massive crimson maw full of razor sharp teeth jumped at Alexius.

Alexius just stood there, but in a flash of blue light, once again he was gone. Above the creature that had just attacked him, he had appeared. He brought down his lightning-clad fist, aiming for the back of the creature, and hoping to defeat it in one blow.

The monster flopped back into the water, sending another wave high into the sky. Two rows of webbed spines flicked up on the creatures back, on either side of where Alexius landed, and it quickly flipped into a death roll hoping to catch him in the fray.

But after touching down, he once again disappeared in a flash. He appeared behind Nina. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not." He began to reach for her, with his hand cackling with Lightning, aiming to shock her into unconsciousness.

His hand met the flat of Nina's back, sending her rigid as electricity arced all over her. She wobbled for a moment, catching herself on Alexius's arm. The massive creature finished it's roll, a massive crimson crocodile with two tails instead of one. "Azmos!" She shouted through gritted teeth.

A black blur shot through the window of Nina's shack, a saber toothed cat the size of a large dog, and shot at Alexius claws first.

"Lightning Dragon's Giant Hammer!" called Alexius as lightning gathered in his hand. He launched it forward in the form of a powerful punch, aiming to release the paralyzing lightning unto the tiger with enough force to send it flying.

Nina sprinted after the tiger, skidding in the sand next to where it had landed. Azmos was stunned, obviously in pain, but very much alive. Nina glared up at Alexius; despite outnumbering him, they where obviously completely outmatched. She was quickly running out of ideas.

Alexius began to walk over to Nina. Lightning was cackling around his body. "You're coming with me." Suddenly a blue flash appeared in front of Alexius. It quickly took the shape of a man, and delivered a powerful blow directly to his face. Alexius flew backwards, slamming through a tree. Despite the punch, he still managed to get back to his feet. "I was wondering when you'd find me."

A man in black, with a white Dragon tattoo on his shoulder, yellow eyes, two swords, and a fierce expression had arrived. His aura, a vibrant blue, raged around him. "You're not him," he said calmly, "but you feel like him."

"You must mean Saul Peregrine," said Alexius. "I am his successor. I have surpassed him in strength."

"Have you now," said the man. "Let's put that theory to the test."

Alexius' aura changed. Instead of blue lightning, it turned black. "Change Mode: Black Lightning Dragon!"

"You really are exactly like him." In the blink of an eye the two were in combat. Their punches clashed, but despite the increase in power, Alexius still couldn't get an advantage over the newcomer. He punched Alexius square in the face, sending him crashing into the ground.

"How could he be this strong?" Thought Alexius. "Saul could fight evenly with him, and I'm stronger than he was. He hasn't even activated Dragon Force.  I can't lose to him.  I won't!" His hair stuck up as his body became covered in flesh-colored scales. His sclera turned red, and his aura increased in size.

"Dragon Force?"

Alexius began charging up an attack between his cupped hands, aiming it at the man. "Black Light Dragon's...!"

"This is just like my Plasma Dragon's Electron Cannon."

Alexius smirked. Suddenly he changed his target to Nina. "Dark Cannon!" He fired the blast of black lightning at Nina. Aether just barely was fast enough to block the attack with his body, striking him directly in the chest. He flew backwards from the blast, but quickly recovered. He flew ahead, punching Alexius square in the jaw, sending him reeling backwards. Before the man could unleash another attack though, he dropped to the ground, clutching his chest in agony.

"This woman is a lost cause," said Alexius. "But I'll be back in a few days to pick up your corpse." He flew off, leaving the man there, lying on the ground in agony.

Nina slowly stood up, with Azmos circling around her legs. It was a short but intense fight, so she wasn't about to assume that would be the last she'd see of Alexius. Choosing to ignore the other man, turned to the massive red crocodile and pointed at a tree that had fallen next to her cabin during the attack. "Tobi, assist."

The creature growled and slowly crawled up the beach, taking one of the bigger branches of the tree in it's mouth and began dragging the tree away.

The man laying on the ground looked at Nina. In his face was etched both pain and confusion. He hadn't expected her to be so callous. He didn't expect her to be very appreciative, her demeanor seemed to dissuade the idea of her ever thinking he had actually saved her, but a little courtesy would have been nice. He tried to get back to his feet, his aura flared the brilliant blue as he attempted to give chase, but suddenly his aura fizzled out. He coughed up blood into his hand. His vision blurred. And he found himself falling onto the ground face first, having lost consciousness.

Ribba, who had been observing the whole event from the sky, landed next to him. It's dull grey eyes scanned over Aether's torso, then moved into the blood leaking from his mouth. He hopped up onto the man's chest for a better look, then flapped his wings and screeched at Nina.

"What?" She asked without looking away from what she was doing. "It's not our fault he rushed in without thinking." Azmos creped up to the stump of the fallen tree and Ribba squawked again, which began to annoy Nina as she stood up again. "He has nobody to blame but himself. We don't owe him anything."

Tobi gave a disapproving growl, and pushed Nina closer to Aether with one of his tails. Nina glared back at the beast, but Azmos began to mew as well before she got a word in. Ribba flapped his wings to get her attention again, and she found herself surrounded by her three companions expecting gazes.

With a long sigh, Nina pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "This can't be happening..."

Aether awoke, laying in a makeshift sleeping bag. He began to lean forward, but suddenly pain shot through his body, and decided against it. Where he had been hit by Alexius' attack, his body had been bandaged in white gauze. He touched the area of impact, it was still warm from the black lightning. "Where am I?" he asked himself as he began taking in his surroundings.

The bed he occupied was sitting in the corner of a small wooden room, illuminated by a yellow glowing lacrima hanging from the ceiling. The roof itself looked to be made of straw, and had many objects that most would have described as trash hanging from the support beams. The occasional flicker of sunlight made it through the wooden walls, and rustling leaves could be heard just outside.

What caught his attention most though, was a large grey bird perched on a dresser across the room. It hadn't moved since Aether noticed it, glairing at him with it's grey, almost dead looking eyes. Just as he began to suspect that the creature wasn't actually alive, it turned it's head to the side and emitted a high pitched shriek.

Before Aether could collect his thoughts, he heard the wooden floor creek and turned to see Nina watching him from the doorway. "You're up." She said without a hint of emotion.

"Where am I?" asked Aether. "Who are you? And what happened to me?" The various questions caused him a headache. He was thinking too much, despite the pain he had just endured. He had taken attacks like that one no problem. How come this particular spell had done so much damage to his body?

"You're in my cabin." She said bluntly, flicking a single braid of her otherwise straight hair off her shoulder. "You where knocked out after you stepped in on a fight between me and... Alexius, was it?" A rather condescending smirk appeared on Nina's face, which Aether found stanchly annoying. "You're quite the careless one, aren't you?"

"I got overconfident," said the man. "I had been tracking his magical signature for some time, it was the same as another man I had killed in the past. I recognize now that they are two completely separate entities. I had no idea he had increased the power of the Black Lightning Dragon Mode to such a degree." He touched his scorched abdomen when mentioning this. "What's your name? I'll need to show gratitude to the one that saved me. Even if you seemed reluctant to do so before I lost consciousness."

"Just call me Nina." She said, leaving to head into the other room. "And that won't be necessary. As soon as you're well enough, I expect you to leave. I really don't care for visitors."

"That's fair," said the man. "I could tell from your place of residence that you preferred to be left alone. My name's Aether by the way." He looked at his hand, and coated it in his magical energy. Pain shot through his body. His hypothesis was correct. He couldn't use magic.

Guessing at what he was doing, mostly by the pained grunt he gave, Nina said. "I wouldn't do that if I where you. Not for a couple days, at least." Aether glanced at her through the door as she sat down at a table covered in potted plants. "I don't know what it's called, but that man you fought seems to have infected you with some sort of disease that attacks your magic supply."

"It's like Magical Barrier Particles," said Aether. He laid back down onto his bed. "Some Guardian of Crocus I turned out to be."

For the first time since Aether woke up, Nina showed some hint of emotion. Dropping her guard just long enough to look surprised. "You're not a local?" Her cold demeanor reappeared almost instantly, but her tone of voice remained a bit less hostile. A small bit... "That makes thing's easy."

"No," answered Aether. "I'm from Fiore. Crocus, as you probably guessed.  I took a leave of absence from my guild to follow that man who attacked you." Aether his fingers along his abdomen. "How much longer do you think it will take before my body heals? It will be a long journey home."

"I'm not keeping you hostage, you're free to leave whenever it suites you." She paused a moment, seemingly hinting at something. "But... I'd recommend resting for the next few days at least. Whatever you called it is still feeding on your magic. My treatment seems to be working, but I'm no expert on the subject." She took out a small pair of tweezers, and began trimming the leaves off a small flower. "You may experience some... Side effects."

"Side effects?" said Aether quizzically. He immediately brushed it asside however. "You seem to dislike most humans Nina, yet you helped me. Why is that?"

"Because you're all nosy." She snapped. Riba flapped his wings and began to caw, apparently disapproving of Nina's reaction, but she largely ignored him. "Enough questions, go back to bed and heal. I have to leave for a while, so don't touch anything either." With an annoyed huff, Nina stood up and headed into another room. Aether heard the opening and shutting of a door, indicating that he'd been abandoned for the moment.

Aether continued to rub his stomach wound. Periodically looking over at the bird. He had heard what Alexius had said earlier. That he'd "pick up the corpse later", and that didn't sit well with him. He thought, for only a second, that he was going to die.

Aether had been laying in bed for what felt like forever now. The pain he was in would come and go, but without a clock and him suspecting that he might have dozed off a bit, he had no real idea how much time had passed. Riba had continued to stand watch over him, occasionally plucking at his feathers or stretching out his wings, but had barely moved from it's perch. Growing both bored and frustrated, and wondering where Nina had gone off to, Aether slowly rolled out of bed to have a look around.

He rose to his feet, and looked around. He began to walk, but suddenly the pain shot through his body, and fell right back over into his face.

Riba screeched as soon as Aether fell, almost like it was laughing at him. Soon it lept from the desk and soared over his head and landed at the table Nina had been working at a little while ago, where it began watching Aether's progress anew.

Aether got back to his feet, and dusted himself off, shooting the bird a threatening look. He continued to look around the cabin, finding the items very intriguing. He began sniffing them, his Dragon Slayer senses helping to identify the different plants and other objects present.