Tragic Trinity, Chapter One: Stigmata

“Ssshhh quiet…don’t move…” A whisper is heard coming from behind a pile of boxes in a dark alley in the middle of the night. Two cloaked figures were hiding in said alley as groups of man, carrying many different types of weapons, rush by not noticing the two hiding.

“That clown freak is still around, if it were just these guys I could take them but he…ok, cost is clear let’s go Lina…” One of the clocked figures says and both run out of the alley, the one behind seemed smaller than the other with thinner limbs than the one in front, but their hands never broke apart even when one went faster than the other.

The hood over the head of the one behind flips back with the wind and their movement revealing it to be a beautiful blond girl, around 18 years of age, with her eyes shut even while running. The one in front quickly turns around putting her hood back on and jumping into another alley.

“Careful Lina…Tsk…there are way too many of them around…ok…looks safe enough, get ready for another sprint.” He says and the girl simply nods with a smile as they both shoot out from the alley and run down the dark streets of Alma.

Not far from the location of the two runaways a group of man was on the lookout, up on the roof of a tall building of the ancient city, among the group of what looked like to be soldiers, was a very peculiar individual who just seemed like he couldn’t stop laughing, even though there was no reason to laugh, this made the others slightly uneasy but they were also used to it, for some reason was this man called The Joker, Leonard Stylurn. Leo's clothing had nothing to do with the standard uniform the others had, when he achieved his special rank, when he became a Captain, he was allowed to wear whatever the hell he wanted, of course he had to use his badge that showed his position but that was a minor detail. He wore a weird shirt full of color like he just randomly threw paint at it, one of the sleeves was long and the other was short, his pants had vertical stripes of blue, green, yellow, red and brown, his boots were a weird snot greed. On his back he had a backpack with cups, rings and other miscellaneous things hanging from it, he had around 7 bracelets in one arm and 3 watches in the other, around 5 golden and silver chains of different sizes hanged from his neck and he had severe piercing on his face, including his tongue, ears (plenty there), eyebrows and nose, an earring in particular had a rather colorful bell that rang every time he moved his head and he also had several rings in each finger. His hair was also weird as it was painted green on the left side, a yellow stripe in the middle and red on the right side, it was short and spiked. Truly a weird person.

“Where Oh where could my little birdies be!? Oh where oh where could they have gone!? Little birdies! Little Birdies! Please come back to Daddy! Mommy is worried oh so much! Where oh where have you been!? Where oh where are you now!? Where oh where will you be!? Here? There? Outside? Inside? ALIVE OR DEAD!?” Leo shouts in a dark and sinister melodious tone while making a small dance on top of the roof, of course he was laughing all the way.

“S…Sir! We just received word from group 17, the two subjects were spotted in sector B, heading for Sector C along one of the side streets, Sir!” One of the soldiers says while saluting the Captain as a form of respect. Leo’s laughter became louder and more sinister.

"Ahahahahaha! This! Is! Hilarious! Lighten up and laugh with me a little soldier!" Leo shouts in his trademark position, his back arched slightly back, his hand on his forehead and his other hand up, with his index pointing up. The soldier was stunned for a second and became increasingly nervous when Leo kept staring at him, waiting for him to laugh. Slowly the soldier forced a smile and then slowly a small laugh but before he could feel more at ease Leo’s palm meets his face, like it was grabbing his face and taking him down. The soldier’s back of the head slams against the hard tiles shattering those under his head.

“What the fuck are you laughing for soldier! Are you laughing at me!? Why aren’t you out there catching them!? You rather stay here and laugh at me!? Huh!? HUH!?” Leo shouts, his face seemed extremely angry for a couple of seconds as the soldier nearly soils himself in terror, cursing his actions in his head and praying at the same time. Sadly he was a dead man when he smiled, there was a bluish light coming out of the roof and the group, minus one, was seen jumping down and heading for Sector C.

Meanwhile one of the target’s of the mad Joker was standing close to a group of fallen soldiers, his breathing was hard like he used allot of his energy and actually was at his limit.

“Damn I used too much energy back at the church…Lina come on we have to move!” He shouts pulling his hood down, revealing that he was a young, around 16 years old, guy with black hair in a small pony-tail and square glasses in front of his pitch black eyes. He was about to grab the girl’s hand to start running again but suddenly pushes her back while jumping back himself as three projectiles pass between them at a furious speed, he quickly got into a fighting position and looked towards the location of the attacker, that’s when he heard the laughter, the worst case scenario just became true, Leo had found them before they could leave the city.

“Shit…Lina stay there! I’ll ugh…!” He shouts but something hits him square in the face sending him back quite a few feet.

“Rakan! What’s happening! RAKAN!” The girl shouts, her eyes still closed, trying hard to hear his voice or whatever was happening.

“I’m ok! Just stay there Lina!” Rakan shouts as he slowly gets up and looks towards Leo who was now slowly walking towards them while still laughing, his soldiers moving behind him but not even lifting their weapons up, they were previously ordered by Leo himself not to attack.

“Don’t worry child! We have orders not to harm the girl…but you on the other hand…we have orders to eliminate on site SO…I’ll be breaking the rules a bit and Ha…Haha….Hahahaha! Kill you slowly!” Leo says as he starts skipping up and down, like he was getting ready to strike.

“Oh will you ever shut up, freak…” Rakan says opening his cloak and revealing the hilt of a sword with a big seal on the big, golden colored hand guard. He places his hand on the bladeless sword and starts focusing energy but before he could even begin Leo was already in front of him, moving at a blinding speed, he quickly delivers a powerful punch to Rakan’s side of the face sending him stumbling back a few steps but Leo didn’t let up he follows up with grabbing Rakan by the back of the neck, pulling boy to him and delivering a bone shattering knee to Rakan’s chest cracking a few ribs and finally finishing him off with a back spinning kick again to the chest sending Rakan to the ground coughing up blood.

Dammit…this guy is too strong…Daniel was nothing compared to him…

Rakan thinks clutching his chest, he felt helpless against this guy and he didn’t even use the “tricks” he was known for.

“Hahahaha! You! Are! Pathetic! I was gonna play around with you a bit but it ain’t worth it! You killed my Daniel! It’s your fault he’s gone! I wish I could kill your love like you killed mine but alas…boss would kill me if I did anything to the girl so…I’ll just finish this boring party!” (Yes Leo is gay) Leo shouts staying a few feet away from Rakan, has he talked he kept moving, dong a little dance according to his words, showing how mentally disturbed that guy was “Oh Deus di glacialis polus , commodo audite meus dico quod veneratio mihi per per of glacialis rex rgis. Succurro mihi eliminate meus hostilis quod immortalis lemma ut pieces di meus glacialis aula. Custodis di eternus somnus , tribuo mihi meus votum sic is fidelis vernula can persevero ut vindico uranicus vitualamen. Glacialis Per!” Leo starts reciting this incantation, in Latin, while he keeps dancing but has he gets to the last line he stops and extends his hand to Rakan’s direction, putting his fingers ready to snap “Aka…Frozen Throne!” he says snapping his fingers, a seal made of bluish light covers the ground under Rakan and there was an explosion of bluish light and dust, everyone around could feel the cold air hit them, just being behind Leo was enough to send them chills, their hands and face became so cold that they covered them immediately, and Alma was a city on top of a mountain, so they were used to the cold.

As the blue dust cleared a stunning sight was revealed to the soldiers, a pillar of ice was right in the middle of the street where Rakan was before.

“A…Amazing…what power…in just seconds he…” One of the soldier’s says, stunned by the display of power from Leo who just kept laughing like a maniac in the middle of the street.

“Pfft Newby huh? Leonard is one of the 5 Archangels and the second strongest…only second to Sir Michael in terms of combat ability…and even then…last time it was a close call…” Another, older, guard says as he uncovers his mouth from behind a scarf he had prepared, knowing what would happen “That boy is as good as dead now…nothing can survive in tha…” the man was saying until he heard the sound of the ice shattering.

The ice began to shatter, Leo couldn’t help but laugh even more, the soldiers were all stunned as the pillar of ice was suddenly broken apart in a blast. Silence reigned in the area, not even Lina made a sound, only the sound of ice falling on the ground could be heard, black feathers started appearing around the street, gently falling towards the ground, even though Lina had her eyes closed she still she still cupped her hands as a feather landed in them and disappeared immediately, so do the others as they reach the ground.

Leo tilted his head to the side to look beyond the broken pillar of ice and sees Rakan sitting to his back against the wall of a building, blood all over his clothes and face, blood coming out of his sleeves and forehead, covering his eyes, he was completely out of energy, his breathing was harder than ever, he could barely keep his eyes open, yet he still managed to smile at Leo.

“Well…that…failed…miserably…wanna give it…another shot?” He asks Leo, taunting him, he raises his hand and extends his middle finger before dropping it, he didn’t even have enough strength to raise his hand, he was screwed to say the least.

“Hehe…Hahahahaha…Fantastic! So! You actually used it! Pfft I’ll finish this now kiddo! Oh Deus di glacialis polus! Tribuo mihi vestri omnipotens telum sic EGO pudi depono meus inimicus , em vestri nomen! Glacialis Telum! (Frozen Spear)” As soon as Leo finishes his little incantation a spear made completely of ice begins to form in his hands, as the tip of the blade touches the ground it starts to freeze it at a quick pace. Leo lifts up the spear and starts to spin it, making some rather flashy movements before shooting towards Rakan, spear in hand, aiming towards Rakan’s chest.

“LINA! RUN!!!” Rakan shouts, as he knows his death was near.

The thrum of the airship Perecles reverberated through the deck floor with a mechanical regularity. Still, despite its constant beat, Mercredi del Toro had difficulty sleeping. Of course, she blamed the sound of the ariship, but that was only partly true. The other half of the difficulty lie in the that she had tried to sleep from the hours of 5PM to 11PM. Not exactly her usual sleep cycle. She had spent most of the six hours just staring at the ceiling in the small sleeping compartment, turning over every few minutes to look at either one of the walls. She thought she might have dozed for maybe an hour or two, but ultimately the exercise seemd futile.

"You rested, which is the important thing." D'artagnan said with his deep gravely voice. "If things go as planned, you'll have plenty of adrenaline to keep you awake. If they don't, then it won't matter if you're sleepy or not."

Mercredi nodded. She was nervous. That was understandable, it was her first actual field assignment since becoming a fully instated agent for Cilantia's Bureau of Magic, and even though D'artagnan was along, she still couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach.

The pair was standing in the bottom deck of the Perecles, waiting. It was cold at this altitude, and it being the middle of the night didn't help that. Mercredi pulled the plush, midnight blue cloak around her to help hold in warmth. Her golden red hair was tied in a careful bun behind her head, only a few stray whisps laying across her shoulder, slashing crimson swathes into the blue cloak. She blinked her green eyes twice, her tongue running along her top lip nervously. A hand fell on her shoulder.

"Relax." D'artagnan tried ot sound soothing, but it never worked. He always sounded more annoyed than anything. He was much taller than she, at about six feet tall stood about seven inches over her. He was much older as well, in his forties, his dark hair long but neatly combed, his dark eyes sharp and beady behind his protruding hooked nose. He wore a black cowl over a perfectly tailored black, three-piece suit, the black only breaking where the white of his shirt showed through. He carried a cane, and looked altogether like he was gong to attend a party.

D'artagnan. He had been something of a father to Mercredi, or at least as close as she would ever have to one. Having seen other fathers, Mercredi was certain that D'artagnan would qualify as a fairly poor father. Perhaps that was the wrong word...maybe uncle was a better familial concept. But regardless of wording, D'artagnan had been her reluctant caretaker from a very, very young age.

Mercredi didn't remember much of her childhood, but she had read about it many, many times as she had been trained and monitored at the Bureau of Magic. She had been an orphan, adopted by a man who was a rogue Diviner and used the many children he had to practice creating and developing new seals. She had vague recollections of the other children. She had stronger memories of the children who died, the ones whose bodies would collapse under the experimentation. She had vivid memories of the day her own seals had been etched onto her body...

It was those seals that the Bureau had been interested in studying, and it was to a gifted but stand-offish Diviner, D'artagnan, that she had been assigned. He studied her for months, at first treating her more like a project than a little girl. But Mercredi had been so lonely and so scared. She had been separated from the other children at her orphanage, and D'artagnan had been the only person she saw on a regular basis. So she began talking to him. Trying to play with him. And while at first he resisted, eventually his heart melted to the precocious five-year-old, and they had been inseparable since. Once D'artagnan had determined that her selas were stable and safe, he began to teach her how to use them.

The Bureau didn't like this notion, at first. But once Mercredi agreed to join the Bureau upon the completion of her training, they were delighted. She was more than happy to join. D'artagnan worked for the Bureau, and working for it would let her stay with him. She didn't know what else she would do with her life...

"No Cololnel yet?" The voice was booming and jovial as the twin set of footsteps echoed across the deck as they descended the stairwell. Standing side by side was a man and a woman, both looking to be in their twenties. They were the military attachment to the Bureau's Investigation Team, pulled from the Principality's finest to offer physical protection to the intellectual mages on the team.

The man was Captain Kile Layton, warrior extrordinaire. At 6'2 he had broad shoulders and thick arms that made his very presence imposing despite his sunny demeanor. He had a bristle of brown hair and light blue eyes, his face chiseled with a strong jaw and classic features. He was wearing a dark gray cloak, draped to cover the weapons that hung from his body...it didn't do a very good job. Hilts and handles slipped out the edges, betraying the dangerous truth about him. Kile had apparently grown up as a woodsman and hunter, but found himself very well suited to combat in the Bartonian military. Principality recruiters pulled him from the Bartonians and Kile moved up the ranks quickly. Captain, however, was usually a rank reserved for those who commanded platoons or batallions, and Kile was one to prefer following orders rather than giving them. His transfer to the Bureau of Magic's security division was a move that suited him fine; he was used to fighting alone, and he was used to obeying orders.

The woman was Karla Valdez, a marksman. She only carried a long rifle that she let hang on her back in plain sight, and a pair of pistols hung from each hip. A small bag, presumably full of ammunition, slung over one shoulder. She was beautiful; long legs, lean build, graceful face of mocha colored skin and dark almond shaped eyes. Her hair had been tied into a long braid that fell to the base of her back; apparently some deep south Aldennian tradition. Though a member of the Principality military, she wore civilian clothes; brown pants, white linen blouse, brown cloak draped on her shoulders. Karla didn't talk much, but was pleasant enough when she did. But the majority of her history remained shrouded in mystery.

"I suspect he'll be here shortly." D'artagnan replied flatly. Karla and Kile took positions behind them, waiting.

"Hope so. Can't wait to get on the ground..." Kile shuddered.

"You don't like flying?" Mercredi tipped her head at the soldier inquisitively.

"Not at all. People aren't supposed to fly, birds are supposed to fly."

"It's the most effective means of transport." Karla looked annoyed, as if she had been down this road with him before.

"Still don't like it."

"Good, you're all here."

Everyone spun towards the entrance. Descending the stairwell was Colonel William Ruby. He was a handsome man in a cold sort of way, angular face and steely eyes. He was probably in his early thirties, ice blue eyes and golden blonde hair cut neatly around his head. He was wearing a midnight blue uniform; fitted pants, black boots, blakc leather belt and a long sleeve shirt that was also well fitted. A golden line of embroidery extended from his right collarbone across his chest in a gentle slope, ending over his left breast where the insignia of the Bureau of Magic was embroidered. He held a cloak folded over one arm neatly, a sheaf of documents in the other, bound together with a leather strap. Save for the eagles around his neck, indicating his rank, his uniform was identical to Mercredi's.

He walked with crisp precision, passing D'artagnan and stood directly in front of her. Though they had shared the same airship for the past 12 hours, this was the first time she had met William Ruby face to face. His reputation preceeded him, of course. He was the only Bureau Investigator that had not been trained the Bureau of Magic specifically for that purpose, coming from a history in Bartonian detective work. He was relatively magic-ignorant; no knowledge of Divining spells, no understanding of advanced seal construction. But he was very good at what he did. Some say it was because he came from a different background, that his deductive reasoning saw situations from a different angle and prevented him from being fooled by methods that would've stumped a mage.

The other half of his success though, lay with D'artagnan. D'artagnan did not like authority, did not like submitting to investigators ,esepcially when those investigators double checked his Divination work or challenged his theories despite their "inadequate skill in the field of magic." D'artagnan was brilliant, and therefore hard to get along with. But with Ruby, there was no conflict. He relied on D'artagnan to deal with the complex issues of magic, and simply focused on locating the violators and outsmarting them for a capture. It was the perfect team.

And Ruby was apparently concerned about his perfect team being ruined.

"Mercredi del Toro, age 15." He turned his head to D'artagnan. "A relation?"

"She is my ward." Mercredi had taken D'artagnan's last name many years ago. D'artagnan raised an eybrow at Ruby. "But you knew that."

Ruby ignored him, turning back to Mercredi. "You are a pyromancer, yes?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Follow orders and you'll do fine. Let's head down."

Heading down was not an easy process. The Perecles halted in midair, fighting against the turbulent winds, and lowered the team down in a something akin to a rowboat, the four ropes supporting them being lowered by hand cranks from the Perecles' crew. Kile looked sick, gripping the edge with all his might. The others looked bored. Mercredi felt sick as well, but from nerves rather than heights.

"D'artagnan..." Mercredi found herself saying. "Is it really possible? Magic without seals?"

The reports they had from Alma, where they were descending now, indicated that there was a man who was capable of creating ice spells without the visible use of seals. D'artagnan didn't look at her, keeping his gaze fixed on the approaching ground. "In ancient times all magic was done by conjuring. Without seals. Those arts were thought to have been lost...but is is possible that someone has either bee ntaught them, or discovered them in some other manner. So, yes, it is possible."

"On the other hand, it's equally possible that he is using cloaked seals. Something you should be familiar with, shouldn't it Mercredi?" Ruby spoke distantly, his mind elsewhere. Mercredi didn't respond, feeling rather uncomfortable.

When they were close enough, the team jumped over the edge and landed onto a vacant corner of the city. It began ascending immediately as the Perecles began its departure. Karla was on one knee, her rifle swung to her side and aimed. Kile had his hands on two hilts, the weapons still awkardly hidden beneath his cloak. Mercredi stood beside D'artagnan, who waited impatiently for Ruby to finish putting his own midnight blue cloak on. When completed, he gave a short nod, and the team moved.

They moved wordlessly and swiftly through the ancient city. Ruby picked where they stopped, where they stood. No one argued. Mercredi found herself struggling to keep up on some of the longer lengths, but Kile always fell slightly behind, close enough to protect her should something happen. This went on for several minutes...and then Mercredi began to hear.

Commotion. A lot of it...a lot of yelling, though how many voices and what they were saying wasn't clear. Ruby led them towards the voices, trying to keep silent. They came upon a frightening scene; a boy stood surrounded by fallen men, a girl huddled nearby. The boy was yelling something at another person...from the shadows, Mercredi traced the boy's line of sight to see a...

Horrible clown.

She grit her teeth. She had read the descriptions, and he matched it exactly...but in person it was far more gruesome than she had imagined it. Suddenly, ice burst forth and entrapped the boy in a pillar. More laughing. D'artagnan swore.

"No seal." Fear raced through Mercredi at the concept. Magic without seals? How fast could he perform spells then? Could he be stopped? Could his seals be taken apart if they didn't exist?

The situation changed again. The pillar shattered. The boy was revealed again, this time the crimson rivers of blood poured horrifically from his body. He seemed to say something else...but Mercredi couldn't make it out.

"Grab them." Ruby's order was short, vague. But everyone moved, everyone but Mercredi of course. All four of them rushed forward. Karla left her rifle slung, reaching for her pistols, Kile freed a throwing hatchet from his assortment.

Mercredi was watching, panicking. Should she follow? Her eyes darted back to the Joker. Ice had formed in midair again, this time a spear that spun in circles...was he going to throw it?

She didn't even think about her next moves. She rose both arms, pushing sleeves back with her hands to reveal her pale skin laced with dark red tatoos. One on her palm began to glow a brilliant orange as she focused her energy through it. In front of the fallen, bleeding boy, five flames the size of birthday candles flickered on the ground. Her mind twisted the flame, another part of her arm glowing as the five streaked across the ground in predetermined angular movements, leaving streaks of black on the ground. In less than a second, the seal was done, and the fire vanished.

All of the markings on her left arm began to glow.

As the spear of ice lanced towards the boy, a spiraling colum nof flame erupted from the seal, twisting with angry ferocity. It consumed the spear immediately, melting it into harmless water. She held the fire there, continuing to pour her energy into the seal. Eventually, however, the scorch marks that created the seal began to erode under the new flame, and the seal became compromised. The fire flickered out of existence just as quickly as it had appeared.

By that moment, however, it didn't matter. The four were already upon the fallen boy. D'artagnan unfolded a sheet of paper from his coat pocket and pressed it on the ground, placing both ahnds on it. The seal on the paper glowed a shimmering blue, and the ground in front of him cracked in a perfect rectangle. The earth shot up, creating a twelve foot wall between them and the ice clown.

"Back the way we came!" Ruby reached out with a hand and snagged the girl by the arm, and began running back towards Mercredi, dragging her. Kile slid his weapon away and scooped the boy up in massive arms as easily as he might pick up a bag of grain, and began runnign as well. D'artagnan was next, followed by Karla who was running backwards, weapons drawn and pointed at the wall...just in case.

Mercredi took a breath. D'artagnan had been right.
Plenty of adrenaline.

It was over, his body no longer held enough strength to allow him to move, he didn’t have many regrets, but all involved Lina, how he wasn’t capable of protecting her any longer, how the power that would be brought forth from his death would inevitably lead to her own death…or worse. But hope is always the last thing to die and the light of hope seemed to be coming from in front of him, amidst the darkness of the night, but it wasn’t a divine light of hope, they were more like five small flames dancing on the ground, he looked up, only moving his eyes and sees the spear raging towards his limp body but as it got close to him fire seemed to burst out of the ground between him and the spear, resulting in him only receiving a splash of water and pen sized stick of ice, melting, gently hitting his chest.

As the fire was formed and raged on Leo stopped laughing, one thing he hated was fire, more like he hated everything hot, being an ice mage he loved the cold and felt at ease in it, thus way he wore such thin clothing in a cold city like Alma where there was snow for most of the year, due to the high altitude.

“Fire!? What the fuck is this? He can use fire now?” Leo shouted, not to happy about the situation.

No…impossible, there must be someone else, back-up? A Pyro…

Leo thinks looking around, he saw what looked like two people getting behind the fire and then he sort of felt movement behind him, he looked back and saw an unknown man grab Lina’s arm, he ignored this, he had to find the source of the fire. The column of fire finally calmed down and started to disappear, the seal was being eaten away by its own flames, an inconvenience of using seals, not something Leo had to worry about. Then he saw her, Mercredi, hiding but something caught his eye, another seal seemed to have been activated, and a wall raised between him and Rakan.

Rakan feels his body being lift up by a big man that showed up out of nowhere, well to a person with vision as blurry as his, anywhere was nowhere. His eyes role to where he saw Lina next and saw her being pushed by a man that headed for the group, he seemed to be with their saviors…but Rakan didn’t think of them as saviors, he didn’t trust them, he didn’t trust anyone, only Lina, for years…centuries…only Lina.

Suddenly Leo began to laugh once more, he was laughing so hard his stomach began to hurt, the confused soldiers became even more confused. Leo raised one hand and snaps his fingers, five seals made of light formed on the ground towards the wall, each closer then the last and in a second columns of ice formed each bigger than the last with the one closets to the wall being around eleven feet tall. Leo simply skipped his way towards the top of the earth wall, using the columns as stairs or stepping stones. As he reached the top he looked to the street where he saw the girl and this time he saw a group composed of a big man carrying Rakan, another dragging Lina, the girl he saw before, another man and another girl with a rifle, running backwards.

“Hmm…Well organized bunch ain’tcha!? Pity I’ll have to juggle your hearts once I tear them from your chest! HEY! To whoever’s the Pyro! I’ll get you and tear you apart limb from limb! And you big man! I got a comfy bed back home, we should have some fun!” Leo shouts as loud as he could so that they could hear him even thought they were further and further away from him.

Leo then jumps from the wall, really to dart towards them, he was sure he could catch up and he only needed one spell to take care of the job but before he reached the floor his body seemed to get stuck in mid air, he looks down and simply sighs, raises his head and lifts his arm, his fingers ready to snap.

“What are you up to? Michael…” Leo says…his eyes moving to a roof while they fill with anger and hatred.

Meanwhile Lina was the most confused person in Alma for sure, she heard Rakan shout to her, telling her to run but then felt someone pulling her, at first she thought it was a soldier from the organization but there was a mix of sounds that made her consider this thought. She heard Leo’s ice form, something she heard many times, but then smaller flames, seconds later a bigger and louder sound of fire reached her ears, then rock and earth moving violently, the man that grabbed her shouting and then she felt more people nearing her, but she kept running as she didn’t feel any evil from them, well, nothing compared to Leo and his men at least. But amidst all this she could resist to call out for Rakan.

“Rakan!” she calls out, not very loud but not a whisper either.

“Lina…” Rakan says almost as a whisper, all he could do at that moment. Neither of them said another word, they knew each other for centuries, they knew each other better than anyone, the sound of them breathing, the way they sounded, the way they felt, everything and a simple exchange of words was enough to know, the other was alright…but she couldn’t help but worry about how weak Rakan felt…but she could see it…his light was still shining.

Meanwhile back to the Joker.

Leo was still floating in mid air, looking up when he heard a voice, it was sort of muffled like something was blocking the person’s mouth.

“Leonard…you know full well that our Leader didn’t give you the task of hunting the angel…you had orders to wait in your quart…”

“Oh shut the fuck up! That fucker killed Daniel! You know that I wouldn’t let him get away with that! Now back the fuck off! Let me go or else!” Leo shouts ready to snap his fingers.

“Or else…what? Leonard Stylurn…” The voice says, but this time a man comes out of the shadows. He was a rather interesting character, well dressed in black and red gentleman’s clothing with a tallhat and a cane in hand but oddly enough he was also wearing a gas mask covering his face completely and rubber gloves that covered up to his elbows. His left hand was raised, the palm aiming straight towards Leo, he gently and slowly closes his hand and Leo feels like something was pressing on his body from all sides but he didn’t show a hit of fear or pain, on the contrary, the hate in his eyes grew stronger.

“Oh look who’s all high and mighty now that he’s the Boss’ bitch!” Leo says beginning to laugh but it didn’t last long, he immediately felt something in his arm. The skin on two sides of his forearm, just after the elbow, begins to twist in two spirals more and more until it reaches it’s limit.

“Watch your mouth! Leonard!” The man shouts behind the mask, he lifts up his cane a few inches and then slams it on the floor again, what happened next was a horrible scene, the spirals on Leo’s arms suddenly twist the other way with quite some ferocity followed by a sort of explosion in his arm, but no more than the sound of a balloon popping was heard as Leo’s forearm was blown off clean from the rest of his arm.

Leonard began to scream in pain, his other hand grabbing the stump on his arm, he began to madly twist and turn while still in mid air, the soldiers were horrified, they’ve never seen something like that and more surprising was the fact that their captain Leonard got his arm blown off like that. But suddenly Leo stops and looks up like nothing happened, like he was feeling no pain at all, like he didn’t just loose one arm.

“You…are a fucking moron you know that?” Leo calmly says as something weird starts to happen to both his fallen arm and the stump, they both began to glow and freeze.

Elsewhere, inside the bell tower of one of Alma’s biggest churches was Nigel Graham , a white haired man, seemingly in his mid twenties and with odd pointy ears. In front of him was a big and elaborated rifle with a large scope, his eye was just in front of it, one hand on the handle of the rifle with the finger resting on the trigger while the other was scratching his buttocks.

“Ohhhhh yea…who said nuns ain kinky…gigty gigty go!” The man nicknamed Elf says as he peeps on a couple of nuns changing clothes in a dormitory close to the church, they were wearing quite…naughty lingerie underneath their garbs, which didn’t surprise Elf all that much as he was used to peeping on nearly every woman in Alma…between the ages of 15 and 40 of course.

Nigel suddenly remembers the reason why he had his rifle this time and why he was in the tower, he moves the rifle along with the scope slightly to the side and aims to where Leo and Michael were. “Ohhh them two are at it agin…naw whea are tha targets…” he says smiling as he searches for Mercredi’s group.

Back to Leo and Michael.
Leo already had his feet on the ground after Michael released him and surprisingly he had both arms intact, there weren’t even scars or marks on the arm that was blown up, it was like nothing happened. A woman’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Frost…Our God’s orders to capture the escaped angel were directed to the Assassination division’s Accelerator and Lady, not to you…” A woman walks gracefully behind Leo, she was wearing a hood over her head hiding her identity unlike the rest of the captains. This woman had a stern tone of voice and in one hand was a rosary while in the other a handgun.

“Oh goody…MEAN is here…” Leo mockingly says, turning to the woman.

“Please address me by my correct codename or at least by my name…Frost.” The woman says. Although stern she seemed polite while her body was doing something different, her gun was pointing to Leo’s head while she spoke, something that didn’t scare Leo at all.

“I am very showy…pwese fogive meh…Ahahahah!” Leo says laughing his arse off.

Ignoring Leo the woman turns to Michael and points her gun down while making a bow to the masked gentleman.

“Sir Michael…would you please be so kind as to signal Accelerator? Lady has already gone ahead.” She says not raising her head showing too much respect for Michael.

Michael simply nodded and turned his head to the tower where Elf was stationed. Suddenly Elf started hearing words in his head, Michael’s voice giving him orders to take them down but not to harm the girl. Elf moved his scope to where Michael was, this always freaked him out, but as he reached the area, it empty…only the wall and the ice remained.

“Sheesh…couldn tha guy lan tha talk tha people directly…freakin meh out…” Elf says moving his rifle again this time aiming for the group. The searches for the best target and ends up aiming for Captain Kile, carrying Rakan, the sniper’s sight was perfectly placed so that the bullet would go straight trough Kile’s head, the finger that was resting on the trigger suddenly and without a hint of remorse pulls the trigger, a loud bag followed, along with the bullet coming out of the rifle.

As the bullet came out of the rifle, if one would slow down time he would see that it was longer than the average rifle bullet, the front half was straight and pointy but the back was in the form of a screw. As it leaves the rifle the bullet rages towards Kile’s head, about halfway to the man however the back of the bullet breaks off, reducing weight and allowing it to keep acceleration but there was more, on the back of the bullet would see (if he slowed time again) a seal. There was a small burst behind the bullet and it became faster and deadlier then before.

Gotta be a headshot, baby!

Elf thought when he fired the weapon.

Come on, I should be the weaker of the two of us! Why aren't you...? The red cowl turned to the side noticing the person he was speaking to wasn't there. The realization that no one should have been there quickly filled his mind, causing the figure to emit a sort of snarl at the air before returning to walking. He leaned on his elegant staff, definitely more than a mere walking stick, but it provided support all the same. He looked about, all seeming dead to him. The occasional cough broke his silent meditation, but it failed to break his stride. Nothing would stop him, not hordes of men, angels, or demons, let alone a simple cough, a cursed malady of being bound to this sack of flesh and bone.

He tried to pick up the pace. His objective being very, very near. His gloomy vision seemed to disregard the rotting decay that was nature and looking straight ahead, doing his level best to not give in to the excitement; the proximity of his goal however, was almost about to drown his psyche in a tidal wave of primal emotions. Rarely did anyone put o much labor towards one task only to realize the true value of success. Right now, no would understand him, no one could. He was alone in this world, but that was fine. No other could hope to achieve what he had set out to do.

Approaching a path near an outcropping, the figure immediately began to accelerate, but it was because he sensed something, something that immediately drained his euphoria and replaced it with something more akin to anger, indignation, rage. Somehow, people were here. He could tell by the stench of magic. Someone was using magic, a scattering of ice, fire, and moving figures indicated that some sort of skirmish was transpiring. The stranger in red curled his fingers as if he was going to rip out someone's throat. Impossible! Can anyone know what lies here!? How dare they! The wanderer began to scurry down the hill, approaching the town, his completely red and archaic garb providing very little camouflage. As he got closer, the eyes under his hood narrowed, his lips parted revealing two rows of teeth clenched together. When they parted, his throat emitted a garble of audible frustration and confusion. It wasn't supposed to be like this! It wasn't supposed to happen!

The man almost betrayed his presence completely, but common sense got a hold of him. There were others here. They would have to be dealt with. If they were fighting, then they obviously weren't here for the same reason. They were oblivious to what lay here. Still, without the others this could be difficult. He was less than a mile away from the buildings, he stopped for a moment and readied himself, loosening a pouch where several objects gave a crunching sound as his fingers disturbed the pouches top. He muttered something intelligible as his concentration became increasingly sharp. He didn't know why anyone else would be here, but it did not matter. He had come, and that was all that there was to it. Finally ready, the first challenge presented itself. Two figures seeming as if they were searchign for something, picked the newcomer out and didn't seem likely to ask why he was here.

The staff glowed, a single symbol on one of the sides holding a crystal ball in place being the source of the light. With a single phrase and point of the hand, a swift breath of fire enveloped the two helpless victims, quickly silencing their cries by scorching their throats. Life did not remain in them for long, as the spell quickly did its work. Finally something had gone right.

Patrol, or very inept guards. Though I need to be on the lookout for the magic users. This will be a most pleasant diversion. The man almost laughed.

Captain Kile Layton fell forward.

The team barely had a moment to register the sound of the accelerating sniper rifle shot before Kile immediately stumbled forward, crashing his massive form onto the boy in his arms, his weapons and armor screeching against the ground with a horrible grate. Ruby and Mercredi, who were ahead of Kile, spun around immediately. The Colonel took one arm and slammed the teenaged girl against the wall, pressing her forcefully to reduce her size as a target, Mercredi did the same, trying to become as flat as possible. D'artagnan and Karla were behind Kile, and when the mountain of a man fell over, they stopped in their tracks.

Both moved, however. Karla's arms moved in the blink of an eye, holstering the pistols and unslinging her loaded rifle, raising it towards the tower she surmised the shot had come from and let loose a round of her own, hoping to if not kill their attacker, at least buy them a spare moment. As soon as the bullet was sent flying, she yanked on the bolt action, jettisoning the expended shell and raising a new shell into the chamber.

D'artagnan yanked out another sheet of paper and dove at a wall. The paper stuck to the wall and began to shimmer blue as he activated the seal prepared on it. A blue line etched along the wall, creating an archway that immediately fell backward into the building, creating a door.

"Quickly!" D'artagnan barked as he bent down at Kile's legs, dragging him with all his might. Ruby took the girl's hand and shoved it into Mercredi's, then ran to the bleeding boy, bending down to pick him up in his arms.

Karla fired again.

D'artagnan somehow managed to bring Kile through the door. Ruby was next with the boy and Mercredi led the girl through the artificial archway. Karla let off one more round towards the tower before rushing through the archway herself. The moment the marksman was through, D'artagnan pulled off the paper from the fallen archway door-wall. Immediately the blue energy shimmered, and the fallen bricks rose into the air and replaced themselves from their original position, recreating the wall seamlessly.

"Light." Ruby ordered. Mercredi slid her hand from the terrified girl's and held out her palm. A seal etched itself in orange light on the surface, and an orb of flame ignited, casting a ring of illumination on the team. They seemed to be in a storehouse, barrels and crates of all shapes and sizes stacked along the walls and piled on top of one another, labels identifying their contents pasted neatly to their sides.

"Dead." D'artagnan's gravely voice echoed in the storehouse. He was bent down next to Kile, examining his head. The bullet has pierced cleanly through the base of his neck. Mercredi's stomach began to turn as grief and revulsion flooded her. Karla was speaking in a low voice, letting out a string of swears against the sniper's mother, cousin, sister and offspring and the various ways they were defiling one another. Ruby seemed apathetic to the information.

"Can you use it?"

D'artagnan glowered, then looked down at Kile's body. He nodded once, then knelt down next to Kile's side, reaching into his coat pockets and pushing the cloak up to reveal the back of his armor.

"Good. Karla, field dress this boy, we can't let him bleed out." Karla nodded, reaching into her back and pulling out an emergency medical kit taking Ruby's position with the boy. Ruby was covered in blood now, and pulled out a handkerchief, cleaning his hands as he approached the blonde girl.

"You're safe, for now. My name is William Ruby, I'm from the Principality. We will do our best to get you and your companion to safety, but I need to know everything you know about your attackers. Anything, no matter how small, can greatly improve our chances of escape. Can you do that?"

Mercredi still felt sick. It was a struggle to hold the flame up, but she knew that both Karla and D'artagnan needed it...she looked over at D'artagnan. He had a brush and inkwell in his hand was meticulously creating a complex seal on the back of Kile's armor...what was he doing?

As he witnesses the body of his target fall forward Elf couldn't help but celebrate with himself, not taking his eye of the sniper scope and his finger from the trigger but the rest made a sort of little dance which was really weird but he soon stopped as he saw the girl pick up a rifle and start firing at the tower where he was. Elf moved quickly, he rolled on the ground taking his sniper with him and took shelter behind a stone pillar. The bullets kept hitting the tower, almost randomly like she didn't know exactly where he was. As the shower of bullets rained down on the tower Elf was actually dismantling his snipper, one or two shots were a near miss or should I say a near hit, but the cover he took behind the pillar was just perfect, then the firing stopped for a second or two, Elf was about to pop his head out before she started firing again.

"STOP SHOOTING AT ME YOU PSYCHO BITCH!!!" Elf but shout, of course this was a little weird considering he just shot and killed one of her comrades but it's just the kind of man that Elf was, a total ass.

Truth be told she ain't half bad, she figured out my location rather quickly and that weapon she's got is good enough to keep them covered and pinned me here...tsk I'd better get a little...up close and personal...

These were the thoughts in Elf's head as he finished packing his sniper into a large briefcase. As the shooting stopped Elf gave it a few seconds before looking at his targets using binoculars.

"Ohhh...nice improve escape route...that's an earth seal user right there...and a good one at that." Elf says as he gets to his feet and steps from behind the pillar, he opens his long over coat and reveals the many weapons he had on the inside of his jacket. Elf glanced around the armament and took out s shotgun and two 8 shot revolvers, placing the shotgun on his back and a handgun in each hand, the hammer pulled back already, ready to fire at any second. Elf then suddenly jumps from the tower, like it was just a small fall, but he didn't seemed to be worried as two metallic seals on the soles of his boots started to glow.

Meanwhile, in Rakan and Lina's new group.

Lina was scared, she saw the light, the soul of the man in front of her just disappeared, she saw as he died right in front of her, she also heard the bang from the sniper rifle and this was enough for both Lina and Rakan to know who did this, Elf. When they were inside she heard one of the people that saved them order for light and the hand that guided her into the building let go of her hand, she saw her saw start to shine as she started using her magic. Lina "looked" around, keeping her eyes closed like always, searching for Rakan, she heard many thing, one man saying saying that the other was dead, the girl with the guns cursing at Elf and something from another about being able to use something. But when she heard the man order this Karla to help Rakan, Lina step forward and gently placed her hand on Karla's shoulder, it was impressing as she still didn't open her eyes.

"I...I'll do it...pl...please don't look directly at the seals..." Lina says kneeling down next to Rakan and taking a deep breath. She then slammed both her palms against each other and then placed them on Rakan's chest, immediately something on her back begins to shine, the glow was so intense that the light passed trough two layers of clothing she had revealing a sort of seal on her back, then something amazing started to happen, several seals started to appear, randomly around Rakan, most in mid air above him, some in a diagonal position or vertical, some bigger then others, but there were plenty and their glow was getting more and more intense, to a point where one wouldn't be able to look directly at the seals even with sunglasses. After a couple of seconds the glow started to fade, the seals disappearing and as the only light source was from Mercredi's flames Lina starts falling to her side but is quickly caught by Rakan, he was sitting up now, no blood was even found on him, no wounds, no scratches, nothing that indicated that he was injured besides the clothing, but he wasn't fully recovered, his body was still pretty worn out, but this didn't matter now.

"Lina I told you not to do this...you'll sho..." he says but Lina starts coughing, a bit of blood coloring her hands but she quickly wiped them on the inside of her cloak.

"It...It's ok...It was for you..." Lina whispers but then, before Rakan could answer Ruby spoke to them. Rakan seemed to ignore him as he picked up Lina and sat her down against a pile of wooden boxes.

Rakan then got to his feet and turned to Ruby and his group, his expression turned from warm and worried to cold and dead serious, he looked everyone up and down and then at the man on the ground, dead, he closes his eye, facing towards him and gives a small prayer before opening them again and turning to Ruby while speaking.

"You...are all going to die if you stay too close to us...Those guys don't care if you're from the Principality or some group of unlucky bastards from Alma...Your friend over there...was lucky, he was killed by Elf, and unlike little miss trigger happy over there he doesn't moronically waste his ammo on a target he can't see...One Shot, One Kill...That's Elf, one of the Archangels. You guys should just back off and let us handle it, before you end up like him." Rakan's voice was cold and he was straight to the point, warning them what would happen if they stick with them. He was about to turn to Lina and pick her up when he heard her speak.

"Rakan...Tell them...what they want to know...please...they...are not evil...they can help..." Rakan paused, his hand closed into a fist, he seemed to be struggling with himself. The truth was that Rakan wanted help, for years he wanted someone to help him and Lina but, all that helped them either ended up turning on them or dying. But Lina was different, she trusted people, a little too much sometimes.

"Fine...listen up...These guys are from a group we call The Organization...and tho..." he was saying but suddenly the sound of a window breaking filled the area, Rakan only had time to turn to Lina when a can like object falls on the ground between them, the flash grenade explodes in a flurry of light and sounds, impeding Rakan's senses, even making him loose balance. He wasn't able to hear what came next, two shots were fired, one headed for Karla and the other straight for Mercredi, the two main targets right now, the one with the guns and the one with the fire.
Rakan only had time to shout, even with his senses going berserk, he knew.

"ELF!"

The sounded reverberated through the area, the mysterious figure could almost feel it in his bones. Whatever it is, I am getting closer...another set of arrogant guards have been purified by fire. It wasn't witty, but the man chuckled, finding his power very entertaining, especially when inflicted on those who stood in his way. If I'm right, the town center should be over...there. His staff glowed towards the top again, but this time a different side was glowing, and it gave off a warm green light. Muttering a few words, the magic user disappeared in a flash, a bulge of earth remaining where he once stood. This bulge then shifted quickly to the side, tracing a motion like a mole underground, but much more rapidly. Within the chaos that was ensuing, it was a rather unnoticeable occurrence, no one would bother with it.

Finally the phenomena stopped and the wielder of magic had returned. Shuffling over towards a structure, he surveyed the area momentarily, assuring himself he was at the right location. The statue in the center of the courtyard confirmed this. Wasting no time, he approached, already growing suspicious that somehow this was just another wild goose chase. He lifted his gloved hand, stretching his fingers towards the base, and holding its position. It wavered but other than that nothing happened.

He wanted to curse loudly enough for the entire nation to hear.

It's no use, this trip has been for nought.

Quickly stretching his staff out, two lights glowed towards the end, white and blue respectively. A vaporous cloud soon was steaming out from the ground. Moments later, a gust of wind blew the smoke away again revealing that no one was there. If I don't proceed quickly there will be trouble. The stranger had appeared to another set of structures, the whole area seeming as if this was an entirely different town, but it was the same locale as for as he could tell. The only difference was the sound of voices inside. Some were older, some were younger, and some other noises were the sound of slumping bodies.

Despite the need to escape, the stranger couldn't help but be curious. A familiar multi-colored glow of the staff soon peeled the color away from his body until all that remained was the outline of some form. At a glance it looked like a ghost, some vague figment of the imagination. Too much magic and someone might sense it. Besides it seems rather dark in there. Quickly coming around the side of the structure, the stranger was able to deduce that someone had been injured, possibly more, but the entire group seemed to be hiding from some presence. This implied that it was possible these belonged to the faction that didn't send those patrolmen after him, consequently, marking them as a people of extreme interest to him.

Still, it wasn't long before more figures approached, and given the reaction of those inside with the addition of an explosion, it would seem that battle had been joined.

I should prepare to introduce myself then.

Ensuring that no surface would give a reflection of light within the general vicinity, the robed stranger began muttering once again, the staff dimly glowing once again.