The Story of Valcrest | Chapter Five

Magnus and Acelina got a room inside the inn. They were lucky enough to find a room with two beds. When they got in, Magnus immediately got to one of the beds.
“Hey Ace, how about we just call it a day and start the investigation tomorrow morning…” Magnus said while yawning, but didn’t get a response. “Ace…?” Magnus sat up and looked at Ace, who was just sitting on the other bed, seemingly lost in thought. “Ace… are you thinking about-”
“Yeah, I’m still thinking about that…”
“Well, Ace… I’m sure that you aren’t the same person you were back then, so I say-”
Acelina turned back to Magnus. “This isn’t that simple Magnus! Sure I’ve changed, but that doesn’t just erase my past actions.” She shouted. “I killed those bandits. They were horrified. I can’t seem to get that damn thought out of my head! I just…” Acelina stopped yelling. “I just… wish there was a way to… get rid of this pain.”
Magnus was silent once again, trying to figure out what to tell Acelina. Finally, he figured out what to say, though he didn’t know if Acelina wanted to hear. “Look, Ace. I don’t really want to make your situation worse by saying this but…” Magnus took a deep breath. “… do you really think it would be fair for you to just… not feel what you’re feeling? Fair to those bandits?”
“Hm?”
“It wouldn’t be right for you to just… ignore that pain would it? That stuff did happen, and trying to just act like it didn’t happen… it just sounds wrong to your victims. Those thing did happen, and I…” Magnus shrugged. “… I guess you’re gonna have to learn to live with it…?” Magnus looked at Acelina’s face when he said that. It didn’t look good. He had a feeling that he was right; that Acelina didn’t want to hear that. “Ace, I’m sorry. I guess we’re just too tired for any of this right now. I say the two of us get some shut-eye, try to worry about this tomorrow.” Magnus laid back down.
“…ok…” Acelina said quietly as she tried to get some sleep as well. Outside of the inn was a young wizard, passing through town. The wizard seemed to go into the tavern.
“Good evening, what can I get you?”
“Hmm… what to pick, what to pick…” The wizard pondered the choices. The meat pie sounded amazing, but then there’s the pork stew. And what kind of drink should he get? Most likely one without alcohol. “Ok, I’ll have a pork stew. Just that.”
“Coming right up.”
“Thanks!” The young wizard waited for the stew. While he was waiting, another wizard walked into the tavern: Oskar. Oskar walked up to the bar, next to the young wizard.
“Oh, Oskar!” The wizard shouted. “You’re back! So, what’s up?”
“Hi Lex.” Oskar said, coldy. Lex was startled.
“Um… did something go wrong?”
“You know that guy that attacked our clan all those weeks ago?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
Oskar turned to Lex. “He was here.”
“What?! You ran into him?! What happened?! Did you win at least?!” You probably won seeing how you’re still here alive without any bad injuries-”
“No. I did not ‘win’. I found him here, he told me his reason for being here, I attacked him, I failed, but he let me off with a warning.” Oskar,trying his best to hide his frustration, signalled for a waitress. The waitress walked over to him. “Can I get a Bormada Ale?”
“Sure thing sir. One Bormuda Ale!” The waitress called out to the back.
Oskar got back to remembering his meeting with Gallan. “That guy… he is too powerful… and dangerous.”
“Wait, so what exactly did he want? Why was he here?” Lex asked. Just then, a waiter came to him carrying a large bowl of stew.
“Here’s your order sir. One pork stew.”
“Wow, that was fast! And it smells great!” Lex’s eyes lit up when he saw the stew. He pulled out 6 galleons from his pocket, put it on the counter, and grabbed a spoon.
“Thank you sir.” The waiter took the money and returned.
“Sorry about that, so why was the guy there exactly?” Lex began eating the stew.
“Same reason we’re here. And the same reason our clan mates came.”
“Wait, you mean the tra-” The moment Lex said that, Oskar put his hand over his mouth.
“Don’t talk about that so loudly in public.” Oskar whispered to him. “I don’t want to raise awareness to the public and cause a panic.”
“Mmm, guhh-chuh.” Lex mumbled out, though he was trying to say. “Ohhh, gotcha.”
“If we’re gonna talk more about this, I say we leave the tavern so no one can hear us.”
“Can I at least finish my stew first?”
“You can finish your stew first.”
“Yayyyy!” Lex dug into the stew, enjoying each spoonful.
Oskar looked at him in disbelief. “How is it that you got recruited for, what most consider, a dark clan…?”
“Can’t talk, eating.”
Finally, Oskar’s drink had come to him, so that he wouldn’t be lazing around in the tavern just watching Lex eat through his stew.
While this mission was going on, Luna and Lucien had begun to sail out so that they may get to their mission as well.
“You remember the mission, right Lucien?” Luna asked.
“Yes, obviously. Who do you take me for?” Lucien responded, a little irritated. “We’re to go to Redwake because there were reports of dark wizards appearing. We are to detain them with anti-magic binds and bring them back here.”
“Good. I just need to make sure…” There was a bit of silence on the boat. Luna decided to break it as it grew a bit uncomfortable. “So, Erik seems to be getting along with Jared and Ray from what I can see.”
“I can imagine that. Those two are rather sociable.” Lucien clenched his fist. “Jared is careless, but has a good heart nonetheless.”
“Come now. You know Acelina had taken it from his room. Don’t be mad at him.”
“The fact that he could allow it to be stolen so easily… it just proves how unattentive he is… although the blame is indeed on Acelina. Who does she think she is?”
“She’s been like that for as long as I can remember.” Luna sighed, then looked up into the sky. “I remember when Magnus brought her to the clan. She was so rambunctious. A little rude as well. Though if you asked me, Magnus’s lax nature seems to be rubbing off on her. It’s nice.”
“The clan has many… unique people in it, doesn’t it?”
“I doubt we aren’t part of those unique, you and I.” Luna and Lucien chuckled a bit. Luna then looked out to see how close they were to Redwake. “We’re nearing Redwake Lucien.”
“Good. Let’s make this a quick one, shall we?”
“Let’s try.”
Luna and Lucien docked their boat, and prepared to fight. They began walking through the rocky area, looking for any of the dark wizards they heard reports on. After a while, the pair found an abandoned tower.
“Something tells me we should go there.” Lucien pointed to the tower.
“Hm. Let us go.” Luna and Lucien walked to the building. The two walked into the abandoned tower. There, they saw three people wearing black sweaters and gray sweatpants.
“W-Who goes there?!” One of them shouted. They immediately created a magic circle in their hand, and fired a large blast of earth towards them. However, the pair had no problem moving to the side.
“I take it these are the dark wizards.” Luna said to Lucien.
“Yes. Let’s go now.” Lucien ran towards the earth wizard swiftly. He pulled out the anti magic chains and got up close. When the wizard saw Lucien running to him, he got scared, and immediately made a magic circle on the ground. Lucien saw the circle being formed, and came to a full stop before jumping back. The circle detonated, and a large dirt explosion came from the wizard’s position.
“Lucien, don’t get careless!” Luna called out. But then, the other two formed magic circles on their hands and aimed it at Luna.
“I’d worry about yourself first girlie!” Shouted one of them. He began shooting lava blasts from the circle, while the other fired a plasma beam. Luna gracefully leapt through the air, avoiding the attacks. She came to a landing, then proceeded to run towards them. That’s when the plasma and lava users made a big magic circle with both their hands, and began charging up together as Luna ran to them. The fact that Luna wasn’t backing down had made them more and more nervous. Then, when she was close enough that dodging would prove difficult…
“Magma Cannon!”
“Nova Bang!”
They fired both of their blasts. The speed of the projectiles was extreme, and the combined magical power was enough to destroy the wall on the other side. However, they quickly realized that Luna wasn’t in the path of that attack.
“You know, we aren’t trying to fight you.”
The two quickly turned around, and saw Luna, untouched by either of their attacks, arms folded. The pair jumped back.
“Shut up!” Yelled the lava wizard. “You’re probably working with the Grand Navy to send us to prison.”
Luna’s calm demeanor changed, and she grew cold and harsh for a second. “Don’t you ever even SUGGEST… that I would work with the Grand Navy. Ever.” The lava and plasma wizards were startled, and they tried to gain distance from Luna. However, every time they jumped back, Luna would be right in front of them again, trying to grab them and hold them down. While this was happening, Lucien began firing shadow blasts of his own against the earth wizard. The blasts from the earth wizard and from Lucien began to clash. The earth wizard began sweating, trying to force out every last bit of magic so that he didn’t lose this fight, while Lucien was calm and collected, not even going at full power. Eventually, the earth wizard began to lose steam, and at that moment, Lucien put a bit more power into his next shot.
“Shadow Wisp.” He muttered under his breath, firing off a shadow blast at the earth wizard. It hit him directly, and created a black explosion. The earth wizard was sent flying into the wall behind him, and was knocked unconscious. Lucien walked over to him to properly wrap him in the chains, frowning. He pitied the dark wizard. It reminded him of himself and Luna. While that happened, Luna had gotten close to the plasma and lava wizards. She grabbed one of them, and threw them over her shoulders onto the ground.
The lava wizard charged at her for this. “BASTARD! LEAVE CHARLES ALONE!” Luna quickly turned towards him, and when he tried to punch her, she moved away from the punch, and swept his leg. She jumped back, forming a bright magic circle, which she sent towards the plasma and lava wizards.
“I promise this will only hurt a little.” She said quietly as she was about to detonate it. “Shining Festival.” The magic circle created a bright explosion, the light engulfing the two wizards Luna had fought. Lucien covered his eyes from the brightness.
When the light went away, the two wizards were knocked out. Luna promptly began tying them up. Lucien walked over to her.
“That is a job well done I’d say.”
“Yes. Yes it is.” The two smiled at each other and gave each other a high five, before dragging the dark wizards in chains back to their boat.
As the pair began walking out of the tower, Lucien started getting thoughts about his past. After a while, he began to speak.
“Luna…”
“Hmm?”
“Do you sometimes think of what would happen, had we not met Guild Master Zachary…?”
“Hmm?”
“You know how bad things had gotten ever since Ms Kaitlyn… had passed… how we were left to fend for ourselves… all of that struggle… if we never met Guild Master, then-”
“But we did meet him, Lucien. There’s no reason for us to worry about such outcomes when they never happened.”
Lucien felt a little silly now. “You’re right, I know you are. And yet, when I look at these dark wizards… I’m sort of reminded of how close we were to the point of no return.”
“I understand Lucien.” Luna stopped pulling the dark wizards, and patted Lucien. “But we don’t have to worry ourselves. We’re fine now. And even though our clan is being stepped on by…” Luna clenched her fist, a bit of magic going into it due to rage. “… him, I’m sure it will all work out.
“Thanks Luna.” Lucien felt better after talking with Luna. The two of them were almost at the boat. Just then, they felt something in the air.
“Lucien.”
“I feel it too Luna.” Lucien closed his eyes, and focused. “Something is speeding down this way… through the air!” Lucien opened his eyes, then turned east. He saw a person dressed in white, bursting through wind. The man landed in front of Lucien and Luna.
“Um… who are you…?” Luna asked, cautiously placing the lava and plasma wizards on the ground.
The man looked towards the binded wizards. “Those must be the dark wizards I’ve been sent to capture.” He stuck his hand out. “Give them to me, now. The Grand Navy is trusting me to-”
“Wait a minute.” Now Lucien dropped the earth wizard he bounded up, not as cautiously as Luna. “Did you say… Grand Navy?”
“Yes. I am helping them out by bringing to them these three dark wizards. They were apparently rookie soldiers who defected. I didn’t ask for what, though. I just need to bring them in.”
Luna and Lucien were silent upon hearing that.
“So, will you hand them over?”
Not a word. They stared at him, their gaze growing angrier and angrier.
“I guess that’s a no then.”
“What is your name…” Luna asked the man, trying to hide her rage.
“My name is Thomas. Why do you want to know?”
“I simply wish to remember you once I’ve killed you…” Luna ran forward, creating a magic circle underneath Thomas. Thomas, however, didn’t seem bothered. “SHINING CARNIVAL!” She detonated the circle, and created another bright explosion. She thought she had landed a direct hit on Thomas, but when the brightness came about, he was nowhere to be seen.
“Luna! Above you!” Lucien shouted as he drew his sunken sword and jumped high into the air. Luna looked as she saw Lucien in the air, and was shocked to see Thomas rushing down to him. Lucien swung his sword at Thomas, but barely missed him. Tiny drops of water flew onto Thomas’s face, but then he threw a punch at Lucien’s chest. The impact caused Lucien to cough up some spit, but then he was sent rocketing into the ground, landing on his back. Thomas landed onto the ground, then turned to face Luna.
“How did you evade my spell?!” Luna shouted.
Thomas smirked. “I used a leap spell. But you couldn’t tell because my magic circles blended in with yours.” Two magic circles appeared on Thomas’s feet. “But if you couldn’t keep your eyes on me then you’ll have a hard time.” The circles detonated, and Thomas blasted off into the air again, a large gust blowing against Luna. Luna made sure to keep an eye on him this time. She formed magic circles on her feet as well.
“Who said I couldn’t?!” Luna ran towards Thomas, bursting through the air. “Luminous Ascent!” Luna soared through the air, chasing after Thomas She got in range, and was about to grab onto him. But then, she noticed there were two magic circles on his hands as well. Luna’s first thought was that he was trying to counterattack him, so she immediately threw her arms up to block. Thomas aimed the magic circles at Luna, but when he did, Luna saw his face. He was grinning. Why was he grinning again? What was he about to plan-
“Wind Boost!” Thomas shouted as the magic circles on his hands launched him back down to the ground, the wind pushing Luna away a little.
“Another leap spell?!” Luna thought as she was nearing the ground. “He uses more than one?!”
“Now get back here!” Thomas flipped around so that he would land on his feet, then created two more magic circles on them. He used them to skyrocket once more towards Luna, and delivered a kick to her face. Luna stumbled back, falling down.
Thomas landed down. He began looking around for Lucien, but didn’t see him, making him grow more wary. He then turned to Luna, who jumped right back up. “I suggest you guys surrender. If you let me have the dark wizards-”
“NO!!” Lucien shouted as he jumped at Thomas from behind with his sword. Thomas was able to evade the slash, and then Lucien started swinging the sword at Thomas quickly. Thomas had been able to dodge all of them, but one of the slashes got close enough to graze his cheek. Thomas immediately ducked under the next attack and struck Thomas in the face with a punch, before sending him down with a roundhouse kick to the head. He made two more magic circles, and flew into the air. He winded up his fist, making a magic circle on it. Luna rushed towards Thomas, trying to stop him before he landed his attack. She put her hands together, forging a large magic circle with them. She aimed it at where Thomas would be as he descended, right about Lucien so he wouldn’t get hit.
“Moonlight Cleansing!!” Luna shouted as she fired off a beam. However, right before it reached Thomas, Thomas threw down his fist, and the magic circle fired off enough wind to send him above the light beam, shocking Luna. He formed a magic circle on his left foot, and blasted off towards Luna. He threw a kick with the foot that he boosted with, but Luna was able to evade it. The moment he landed, however, he dashed towards Luna, throwing another kick. Luna blocked the kick, and for a moment, their eyes met. They had a staredown for a second, before they each jumped back.
“You sure you won’t want to surrender?” Thomas asked.
Hearing Thomas ask that almost made Luna puke. “I would never surrender. Never to you.”
“Suit yourself.” Thomas dashed towards Luna once again.
While this fight was going on, back at Dawn Island, Acelina and Magnus tried to get some sleep. The sun was setting, they were tired from their fight, and also Acelina’s revealed crimes. However, they just couldn’t stop thinking about it, so they simply laid there, eyes forcefully closed, rolling around to try and get comfortable. Just then, they heard a knock on the door. Magnus jumped out of bed and went to answer it. When he opened the door, he saw Oskar.
“Oskar? What’s up?” Magnus was happy to see Oskar.
“The man running the inn told me you’d be here. Good to see you Magnus.” Oskar and Magnus hugged briefly. Oskar walked into the room. “Acelina seems to be asleep.”
“Uh yeah. She is. Best not to bother her.”
“Right. Anyways, I want to talk to you about the mission we’re in for.”
“What’re you talking about?”
Oskar began to explain to him what he heard from Gallan, about how Gallan is using them to show off to the clients that will be bidding for the dark wizards, to get them to give him various resources in exchange for their safety and a bit of authority in his new world order. Once the explanation was done, Magnus was frustrated. Acelina heard all of it too while she was pretending to be asleep.
“Dammit all, we’re just being played around like chess pieces!” Magnus punched the wall. “We really are just pawns for him! But why would he even explain this stuff to us?!”
Oskar put his hand to his chin. “Because, he knows us… he’ll know that we don’t just leave Dawn Island without fulfilling our mission. He knows we wouldn’t knowingly leave these dark wizards to being sold off as slaves. And honestly… he’s right.” Oskar looked up at Mangus. “What exactly do we do about this? How do we win?”
Magnus sat down on his bed. “I dunno. And it’s not like we can just defy him. He’s way too strong for us to just fight…” All of this news got to Magnus, but just then, he realized something. “Uhh… Oskar, where’s Lex? Isn’t he supposed to be with you? You two were sent here as a pair no?”
“Oh, yeah. About that, we found out some stuff and he said he was gonna look into it. After we talked about what that bastard Gallan told us, we overheard someone talking about dark wizards. We eavesdropped and found that on Redwake, three dark wizards who were supposedly new recruits for the Grand Navy had defected. We aren’t sure why, they didn’t say. But they retreated somewhere to Redwake.”
“Redwake huh…?” Just then, Magnus remembered something. “Wait a minute, Luna and Lucien said they had to accept a mission from the Guild Master earlier today, it was before we set off… do you think they were going to Redwake to deal with them?”
“Huh… there’s a chance they may be on that.”
“I wonder how they’re doing.”
“Well, knowing Lex, his curiosity’s gonna get the better of him and he’ll be sailing to Redwake to find out more.” Oskar shook his head. “At this point I’m not even gonna fight it. He should be fine anyways.”
“You sure you shouldn’t try to get him to stay?”
“Eh, let him go. I’m sure he’ll be able to take care of himself. Maybe he won’t have to if Luna and Lucien’s mission goes smoothly.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
“Anyways, I just wanted to let you know what I knew. By the looks of it you guys can use a break. If you want, I’ll send word back to the island to let the Guild Master know you’ll be here for the night.”
“Thanks.” Magnus laid down in the bed, prepared to try and sleep again.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll investigate tomorrow morning. See you then.” Oskar walked out of the room, leaving Magnus and Acelina alone.
“You heard all that stuff, right Ace?” Magnus said, staring at the ceiling.
“Mhm.” Acelina didn’t even move to look at him.
“Infuriating, right?”
“Yeah…”
Silence filled the room after that. “Look Ace…” Magnus turned to Acelina, who was turned away from him. “I guess what I said didn’t exactly make you feel any better… but I hope that your past doesn’t weigh down on you too much to the point where you can’t help… the clan still needs you y’know.”
Acelina didn’t say anything.
“Just, try to get some sleep. And if you do get any nightmares, just know that I’m gonna be here for you to talk to.”
“… thanks Mag.”
“No prob.”