The pirate ship that Acelina and Magnus spotted had gotten close enough for them to get to with a leap spell. Acelina was getting excited, while Magnus wasn’t as excited but was indulging for Acelina. One of the pirates on the ship looked to the side, and saw the boat with them. He noticed that there was something coming from them as well.
“Uhh… captain?” Said the pirate.
“Da hell izzit?!” The captain shouted. The pirate flinched a little.
“I-I see two people over there on that boat. They’re probably wizards, captain.”
“Wizards eh?” The captain grew a grin. Just then, a loud boom came from the boat. The pirates were a little startled by it. The captain ran to the pirate who spotted Acelina and Magnus. “Oi, what ar’ they doin’?!” He saw the two soaring through the air, and landing onto the deck.
“‘Ello there scallywags!” Said Acelina, mockingly.
“Ey that ain’t how we talk!” Shouted one of the pirates. “Whaddya want wit us?!”
Magnus began looking around. “This is a nice looking pirate crew you got here.” Then he turned to the captain. “Been on any raids lately?”
“What’s it to ya?” Retorted the captain, puffing up his chest. Acelina chuckled a bit.
“Well that wasn’t a no, so…” Magnus stretched his arms and prepared for a fight. “That means that us beating you all would be a good thing.” He formed a magic circle with his hands, and aimed it at the timid pirate. “CRASH!!!” He fired the magic circle, and a blast of dark magic fired out of it at high speeds, hitting the pirate square in the chest, sending him off the boat. The pirates gasped.
The captain of the ship drew his cutlass. “Don’t just stan’ there ya blokes, ATTACK!!” Acelina and Magnus nodded at each other as the pirates charged at them. They dispersed, and got ready for battle. One of the pirates drew a shortsword and tried to slash at Acelina, but she was able to evade it. She drew one of her two swords, and jumped at another one. He tried to defend himself with his blade, however Acelina was able to swing at him so hard he fell overboard. The previous pirate tried to get another swing at her, but she jumped towards the side to avoid the attack. She drew her second sword, and began her counteroffensive, striking at the pirate, pushing him back, more and more. Then, she stabbed him, and violently ripped the sword from his body, allowing it to fall on its stomach, blood covering the floor. As she removed the sword, she felt guilty about it. She wasn’t sure why, she didn’t know this pirate, and he was stealing from people. Magnus jumped over the ever-growing blood puddle trying to gain distance from the two pirates he was battling, and created another magic circle.
“C’MON, FIGHT BE’ER YOU FOOLS!” The captain shouted, running towards the wheel of the ship, evading any conflict.
“We’re trying captain, they’re too strong-” One of them shouted, but they were interrupted by another shadow blast from Magnus. Magnus, however, didn’t let up. He used that same magic circle, and fired two shots at the second pirate. He evaded both shots, scared for his life each time they came close. His palms became sweaty, so sweaty that he dropped his dagger as he jumped around. He scrambled to get it, but right as his hand was about to reach, he received a swift kick to the face by Acelina, sending him flying back.
“Come on Mag, get serious here!” Acelina said, putting her swords away.
“These guys aren’t that strong though…” Magnus said under his breath. Acelina ignored him. She prepared a magic circle of her own, and aimed it at the pirate, who was so scared he was paralyzed with fear. He took a look at Acelina’s face. They were the eyes of a cold-blooded killer, a warrior who relished in the thrill of the fight. The pirate captain saw it from where he was too. But it reminded him of something… but what…
“INSANE CRYSTAL RHYTHM!!” Acelina shouted as she fired her beam at the pirate. There was a giant crystalline explosion on impact. Crystal bits were sent flying across the ship, some falling into the blood puddle. However, the moment the beam made impact, she felt as though she was washed in filth. For a second, she felt immense guilt, and she saw visions of another corpse. A headless body in the rain. She shook her head to try and snap out of it, then slapped her face. “Alright… took care of that…”
“Yeah, now then, let’s deal with the captain.”
“Oh, ok.”
“I’ll deal with the captain. There’s some things I wanna ask him.”
“Aww… fiiine.” Acelina walked away, and Magnus went up to the captain. The captain drew his cutlass, and charged at Magnus. Magnus was able to evade the blade, but the captain was too panicky to think of anything else. Magnus could see the desperation in each swing the captain took, and when he got bored, he grabbed him by the wrist and threw him over his shoulder, causing him to hurt his back and drop his sword. Magnus knelt down to his face.
“Which places did you raid exactly? We’re planning on taking this stuff back there.”
“Why should I tell you?! You bastards murdered me men!”
“Just do it dammit. Don’t make me bring her in.” Magnus pointed to Acelina who was at the other side of the boat, staring at the body of the pirate she stabbed. She seemed to be frozen, looking at it.
“That girl… why is she so… familiar…” The captain wondered.
Magnus turned back to the captain. “So, you wanna talk or what?” The captain didn’t respond. He just kept staring at Acelina. Trying to piece together who she is, trying to figure out-
And then it hit him.
“That girl… is she… the Bringer of Carnage?!”
“The wha?”
“There were stories of a female bandit… a terrifyin’, violent bandit who could use magic. She started out weak, but she became strong… VERY strong… she was insane…”
Acelina then grew bored and went over to Magnus. “Ugh, Mag are you done questioning him as yet-”
“Ova-time, her gang didn’t want to work with her anymore b’cause of how inhumane she was… but when she learned they were kickin’ her out, she murdered them. Each and every one of them. None a’ them were ever seen again… and neither was she…”
Acelina came right in time to hear that segment of the captain’s story. When she heard that, she began to remember moments of her past. She remembered the faces of those bandits as they tried to run away from her, but she used her crystal magic to massacre them all.
“How about you shut your damn mouth, worm.” Acelina said in a cold tone. She stepped on the captain’s hand. The captain let out a loud shout in pain.
“PLEASE! SPARE ME! D-DON’T KILL MEEE!” The captain cried out. The sight of it made Magnus look away, but as he did, he looked at a bandit slowly getting up. It was the bandit Magnus hit with his shadow magic that didn’t fall off the ship. He got up and grabbed a wooden plank that got knocked loose when Magnus missed his other shots, and he got up, right behind Acelina.
Magnus tried to stop him and save Acelina. “ACE LOOK OUT-” He warned. But he was too late. The pirate knocked Acelina on the head with the plank in a desperate attempt to save the captain. Acelina fell down, completely blacked out. But while she was unconscious, she began to dream of her past… including the night she left her bandit gang.
It was a dark and stormy night, many years ago. The Crystal Gang, named after Acelina’s abilities, had finally mustered the courage to tell Acelina that they were parting ways with her.
“I… I don’t understand…” Acelina said, calmly.
“Listen kid. We’re grateful to you, and all the treasure we’ve earned because of you.” The bandit captain said. “It’s just that your methods are a little… you know…”
“SCARY!” One of the bandits blurted out. “The way you brutally murder the wizards that come after us is too much! You’re far too inhumane and we just can’t handle that ok?”
“Ohhh… now I understand…” The bandits were a bit relieved when they heard that. “So you’re all a bunch of cowards. Afraid to get your hands dirty while committing a crime, huh?” The captain’s eyes widened. “Without me, your asses would’ve been rotting in a prison. So stop with this ‘kicking me out’ crap…”
“I… I…” the captain tried to let some words out.
“Oh? Got something else to say?”
“Well… I just…”
“Come on. Say it. Make my day.” Acelina got up from her seat. The captain walked back instinctively.
“I… I can’t…”
“Go on…” Acelina began to grin. “Let’s hear it, weakling.” Those words rang in the captain’s head as he tried to speak. He knew that it was true. Compared to Acelina, he was weak. But he had to stand his ground. He refused to be afraid of Acelina any longer.
“I WON’T LET YOU COMMIT THESE ATROCITIES ANYMORE-” The moment the captain got the words out of his mouth, he felt something sharp and painful in his stomach. He looked down, and saw a crystal beam going right through him. The beam dissolved, and as he grasped his wounds, he fell back, his consciousness fading rapidly, before all he saw was black.
The other four bandits saw what happened, then looked up at Acelina, an evil smile on her face as the dead body bled out. She looked up to the others.
“Who’s next?”
The bandits tried to run away from their hideout, but one failed. Acelina grabbed a dagger and threw it at one of the bandits. It hit her in the back, and she fell on her stomach on the ground, the wind getting knocked out of her. As she gasped for air, the deranged wizard walked up to her body, creating a magic circle on it. She muttered the words “Fatal Crystal Behemoth.” And a giant crystal formed right on the circle, creating a massive hole through her torso, and then the crystal burst, sending the body flying in countless pieces, blood splattering on her face. She licked the blood from her lips, then chased the others. The other three were able to get out of the hideout, and started running away. For a moment, they all thought they were safe. Their only objective was to keep running away from Acelina, to keep the distance between them and her.
“Just keep running guys! Just keep running!!” One of the bandits shouted, the adrenaline kicking in as he was losing stamina. Then, he heard an explosion, and looked to his right. A beam had hit the bandit on his right, creating an explosion. His body flew right into a tree, and he banged his head on it forcefully. When he hit the ground, his body didn’t move. The bandit didn’t even turn back, yet he knew that the distance he thought he had on Acelina was nothing but wishful thinking. He continued to run, but his comrade on the left was tired of running. He saw in the corner of his eye that the bandit came to a stop, and drew his shortsword. He heard the bandit’s war cry as his voice faded away, running towards Acelina. Just then, he heard a loud explosion. The bandit had died, he knew it. He felt it in his heart. Just then, he tripped over his own foot, and began to fall hitting his head onto a rock. However, the moment his head made impact, Acelina was sent to his position. As if she was the one trying to run for her life. But when it happened, she felt all of the things that this bandit had felt at that moment. His blurry vision from hitting his head, his dizziness, the blood flowing from his forehead, his out of control breathing. He was losing sense of his surroundings amidst all of his anxiety. But without looking, he could tell that Acelina finally caught up to him, standing behind him, watching him pitifully.
“W-Why…? Why did you do it…?” She asked quietly.
“Honestly, the question should be why I didn’t do it sooner.” Acelina walked up to the bandit. “Ever since I got these magical abilities, I always wanted to fight people, and become stronger. It felt amazing coming across other wizards, and fighting them to the death. Being in your bandit gang was a perfect excuse to do it.” Each step she took made her other self more and more fearful. “But all of you were so disgustingly weak. I couldn’t stand how you all needed me to help you fight when you were about to be taken down. It disgusted me. I hated being surrounded by you weaklings. But now that you don’t want to be around me either…” Acelina knelt down to the other Acelina, the one dreaming, and whispered it into her ear. “This all works out. I finally have a reason to do this.”
Acelina felt a chill up her spine as she heard the sound of a magic circle being formed under her chin. Her breathing became even quicker, the sound of her heart beating rapidly was as loud as a blacksmith beating hot metal. A loud voice was screaming in her head, telling her she was about to die. She was about to die. She was about to die! She was about to die! SHE WAS ABOUT TO DIE SHE WAS ABOUT TO DIE SHEWASABOUTTODIE-
“So, adios… Jayden.”
SHEWASABOUTTODIESHEWASABOUTTODIESHEWASABOUTTODIESHEWASABO-
“NO!”
Acelina woke up, immediately sitting up, drenched in sweat. Her breathing was fast as she looked around, panicky.
“Woah woah woah, calm down Ace.” She felt someone grab her, and she started swinging in that direction, struggling, until her arms were gripped so tightly she couldn’t move them. Then, she saw clearly that it was Magnus.
“M… Magnus…? What the hell happened?! Where are we?! What is-”
“Calm down, calm down. You got hit in the head by a bandit. I thought I took him out with my shadow magic, but he was still conscious. I finished him off afterwards. The captain told me he took some of the stuff on his ship to Dawn Island, and since we’re heading there, I figure we just dump all this treasure on the port as we enter.” Magnus pointed to the pile of treasure behind them.
“Wait are we on top of the pirate ship?”
“Yep.”
“What about our boat?”
“Tied a rope around it onto this ship so it gets dragged along with us.” Magnus pointed to a piece of rope tied around a pole holding up a sail on the ship. “Also, they apparently had very long rope.” Acelina was silent for a while. Magnus didn’t like the silence so he continued to speak. “Man, weird how Dawn Island is getting attacked lately. First bandits, then pirates, and now there may be a dark wizard trafficking ring? I thought this was a port town not a crime town, haha… ha…” Acelina looked downward. Finally, Magnus decided to address the elephant in the room. “So uh… that captain talked about some stuff… stuff about you… how you-”
“Yeah. I did. I killed them all. Those bandits tried to run for their lives and I killed them in cold blood. But now, that night’s starting to haunt me. I don’t know why now of all times. Before I was able to fight and live without anything plaguing me, but now lately I’m…” Acelina clenched her fists. “… I’m starting to feel all my sins weighing me down…”
Magnus didn’t know what to say in response to that. He knew Acelina had a dark past but this just blew his expectations out of the water.
“I know you said you don’t care about my past… that’d you’re my friend no matter what… but now that you know the full extent of it… is that true…?” Acelina looked up at Magnus. Magnus still couldn’t find the answers for it. He just sat there, trying to contemplate the bombshell that was dropped on him. Just then, he saw Dawn Island.
“We’ll talk about it later, we’re here.” Magnus said as he pointed to the island. “If you can, try carrying some of the stuff off the ship. It’s quite a few bags.” Magnus got to the pile, preparing to carry them. Acelina simply sat there, lost in thought.
“He… he didn’t answer…” She thought to herself, over and over.
Acelina and Magnus got off the pirate ship, returning the treasure that was stolen from Dawn Island. However, Magnus didn’t know how much of the treasure was from Dawn Island, so he began dropping the bags from the ship and decided to let the citizens on the island figure it out for themselves.
Magnus finished dropping off the items. After everything that happened, he was ready to take a power nap before the investigation. “Alright, we’re done. I’m sure everyone else can-” Magnus began speaking to Acelina, but was cut off because he felt something… off. “Hey… Ace… does something feel… wrong?”
“You mean besides the weight of my sins?” Acelina asked, a little down.
“Yeah… I dunno, it’s hard to explain… maybe I’m just tired. I really need to sleep.”
“Oh! If you need rest, I can help you!” Said one of the citizens running to them. “Hello, you may call me Alcino.”
“Hi Alcino.” Said Magnus waving.
“I wanted to thank you for returning my family heirloom! I’ll allow you to stay in the inn I run for the night for free! How does that sound?”
“I dunno, we were planning on just setting up some sleeping bags and sleeping on the pirate ship.”
“Nonsense! You deserve this! You’re heroes!”
“Well…” Magnus rubbed the back of his head. “Alright, we’ll take you up on your offer. Come on Ace!” Magnus grabbed Acelina, along with their equipment, and they went to the inn.
Meanwhile, watching from far away, was none other than Gallan.
“So, they finally came. Took them a while…” he said, smirking.
“Hey, you.” Gallan heard a voice behind him. He turned around, and saw someone, presumably a wizard who wielded an axe. “What’re you doing here?”
Gallan looked at him for a while. “… do you know me…?”
“Yeah… I think I do…”
Gallan turned away. “If you want to get revenge on your dead brother or sister or whoever I may have killed, you should seriously think about it. I’m not someone you just challenge to a fight thinking you stand a chance.”
“I’m not here for revenge or anything dammit. I’m part of the Ashes of Valcrest.”
Gallan turned back. “Oh, are you.” He smiled a bit. “And your name?”
“Oskar Clay.”
“Well, Oskar, if you really are part of the Ashes of Valcrest, you should know that I own you. All the more reason for you to stand down.”
“Well, you still haven’t answered my question. What business do you have here?”
Gallan sighed. “Well, no harm explaining I guess. Not like you’d all leave the wizards to dry. I’m assuming you’re one of the scouts of the Ashes of Valcrest if you’re here. I don’t remember seeing you at the actual clan hall during my visits. And if you’re scouting here, you must be aware of the dark wizard trafficking.”
Oskar’s eyes widened. “It’s real?! Lex was right. I’m glad he sent word back to the clan about it then.”
“Yes, praise Lex, whatever. I’m simply here because I know that the clan would’ve found out about it. I’m counting on it.” Gallan turned back to the town below the hill he was on. “I didn’t know they had scouts, but it matters not. Now that they’re here, you’ll get into the trafficking ring.”
“Wait, if you care that much about it existing, why don’t you do it yourself? If you’re strong enough to fight the clan on your own then-”
Gallan turned back at Oskar, his glare startling him a bit. “Why do you think I have your clan? To do my dirty work. And it’ll also be a good way to assert dominance on the rich snobs who will most certainly be attending. When those wizards intervene, and start attacking everyone, I’ll appear. I’d have demonstrated the wizards I have on command, assert the power I have on hand. Once I’ve demonstrated my command, I will give them an offer: to become sponsors for my operation, possibly even a bit of authority over my empire, or to become my enemy, and die there.”
“You evil… do the others know that you’re planning this?!”
“I doubt they even know I’m here.” Gallan chuckled, turning back to the town once more.
“So you’re just using them to get people to give you money?!”
“And other resources, yes. Why? Is there a problem?”
“I’m not gonna let you get away with that!” Oskar created a light magic circle with his hands, and aimed it at Gallan. Gallan smirked. He began sprinting to Oskar as he prepared the circle.
“Moonlit Chaser-” Oskar shouted as he was about to fire, but Gallan grabbed his hand with his dark arm, and twisted Oskar’s wrist, causing the beam to be fired away from the town. After the beam went away, Gallan kneed Oskar in the stomach, and punched him in the face. Oskar was knocked down on his back, clenching his stomach. He was going to use his free hand to make another magic circle, but saw Gallan looking down on him with an arrogant grin.
“I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let you off with a warning. You’d best not try that again. Unless you want to end up hurt worse.”
Heeding his warning, Oskar gritted his teeth, and fired the magic blast into the air.
“Good boy. Now, I must get going. You take good care of your clan mates for me. Ta-ta Oliver.” Gallan began walking away from Oskar, leaving Oskar on the ground, defeated and frustrated.
“Damn that guy…” He said to himself, punching the ground. “This is who the clan got themselves mixed up with?!”