A young, pale-skinned teenage girl who bared a paler color of hair ran through a forest during a moonlit night whilst wearing a trench coat. She gripped a hand of a teenage boy with dark hair and three strands crossing down the side of his head.
"Solus please, run faster damn it!" The girl groaned, gritting her teeth and the boy, Solus, let out gutted, rough coughs.
"They want… me… Sciel…" He coughed between words.
Scarlet blood leaked from the corners of his lips. Sciel saw the horror bringing hurt eyes down her cheeks; she shook herhead as the two continued to run.
Gunfire soon met their direction, and blood gushed out of Sciel's shoulder as the bullet had just nicked her.
"Sciel!" Solus coughed, and he groaned with a fierce look towards the gunshots.
"It's fine, it's just a nick!"
Sciel suddenly stopped with Solus, and what beheld before themselves was the edge of their path, beneath them the trees below looked as if it were fluffy ants, Sciel
groaned at the sight as Solus continued suffering.
"Solus…" She turned to him, her eyes widened at the sight of a black print had scattered across his neck, it was spreading rapidly across his body underneath.
"No, no no no no!"
She lifted the boy's shirt, the disease coated his entire body, and her jaw
drops as-well as tears.
"No please, why is this happening?!" Her eyes-tired red as her sobbing continued; Solus smiles softly, placing his hand to hers.
"Sciel, I'll be okay" Sciel's eyes scattered up and down his look, trembling where she stood, she hugged the boy in tears.
"Please, please I'm begging you, please" Her sobbing caused an ache to his stomach, not from a disease transforming his body, but from the pain of Sciel's voice.
The tears he withheld broke through his will, hugging the girl back.
"I'll be okay, I just need you to live, I'll find you Sciel, I promise" Solus gripped her back,
a shocking pain seized her back, but Sciel didn't care, she continued to cry into the wet raincoat he bared.
"What do you mean you'll find me? You're not leaving me, Solus!" Sciel cried as his hands wrapped her waist.
"This is goodbye for now… I love you, my beloved Sel" Suddenly her body felt the force of a push, her eyes grew agape at the sight of Solus with extended arms and the wind
piercing from behind her.
"Solus!" Sciel's throat burned out as she fell; the gunshots muffled by the thunderous rain and a feeling of intense pain inflicted on her back once again.
The sound of a beautiful tone echoed her ears. That was the last Sciel has heard of Solus in three years.
The birds chirped on a tree outside of an opened window soon closed by a Sciel who suffered from a rough bedhead.
She yawned as she walked through the small room she had stayed in at a town cottage. The twist of a cold, metal doorknob led her into a cozy bathroom, an incredibly comfortable one unlike the ones she stayed before.
"Oh, I look horrible… I really need to figure out how to move less in my sleep" She reached her head down to the faucet of the sink, water in the cusp of her palms splashed her face, and soon met a soft towel besides the bathroom door. Her hair allowed the bristles of a brush to take long, easy strokes down all the way to her chest, but a familiar pattern of three colored strands of black hair
was on the side of her head.
She reached for the two, black bows present on the sink counter and reached for her hair; she styled herself with a casual, loose ponytail using both of the bows..
"That's much better" She softly smiled before taking a gander at the strips of black hair, sighing at the sight of them as she stroked it with her fingers.
"I'll find you… Solus…" As she turned her gaze outside of the bathroom where a sheathed sword leaned against the beige wall.
Soon before she left the comfort of her home, she wrapped a well cared scarf around the base of her neck.
The streets she met with were as lively as every morning before. Vendors and traveling merchants filled the streets selling their goods to the locals of the town known as Velan. And as she gazed down the street, she noticed a flurry of small steps making way to her.
"Hi, Miss Solus!" A young boy leading the group of other kids greeted the lady.
"Well, hi there Benny, Jen, and Fin!" She knelt to the group of kids, giving off her charming smile.
"Are you going to be competing in the tournament again?" Jen asked as she looked upon the sword brandished on Sciel's waist.
"Yes, I am! But, what do you kids know about tournaments hm?" The kids awkwardly chuckled in response.
"Nothing! Bye, Miss Solus!" Benny grabbed the two kids' hands before running off the street and as Sciel watched them; she sighed.
"The tournament, I really need this money…"
The sound of a roaring crowd echoed across the arena where Sciel found herself in, wielding her blade and panting for a single breath of air.
Her opponent of this tournament had a hulk of a body who wielded a giant sword and a gladiator's helmet for protection.
The two kept distances away from each other, gripping their focus whilst the red leaked through the cracks of their fingers.
"This battle is heating up intensely folks!" An announcer's voice roared through the arena
around them; the audience cheering in support.
"Finish her, Wind Piercer!" The crowd cheered for the man with black hair.
"You got this, White-haired Warrior!" The crowd cheered on for Sciel.
Sciel could barely feel the muscles in her legs, and the blood leaking through down her temple caused blindness to her left eye.
"Damn it, I'm losing consciousness…" She
bent a knee, and in this single moment of weakness it allowed her opponent to sneak a strike, but as he went for the blow Sciel was gone. In his last thought, Sciel stood as the winner as the man against her collapsed.
"Oh my Valens! Folks, the winner has been decided for today's tournament, the one and only, the White-haired Warrior!" The audience's roars brought a small smile from Sciel.
Sciel found herself cleaning her blade and the scar left on her cheek. She was in a room filled with sweaty clothes and multiple scattered blades covered in opponents' blood
across the floor; the air filled with nasty odors.
"Here's your reward" The man who had been the announcer handed Sciel a ticket of some use; the two were standing outside of the arena.
"What is this? This isn't money," Sciel said, confused about what's between her fingers.
"Listen, risking your life for a couple hundred bucks isn't gonna get you anything but a lost life" Sciel's annoyed look turned softer, feeling the scar on her forehead sting at his words.
"So, what is this?"
"You don't know,?" The man asked which Sciel replied with a head shake.
"It's called a favor ticket. If someone asks you for a favor, they give you one of these and when you need one you give it back to them, that's how you both get a even trade" Sciel examined the ticket noticing two names across two layered lines.
"Hanna Hart and Sumer."
"Here" The girl looked up to the sight of a few ten dollars, snatching it quickly from the man's hands.
"Use that to get to the Kingdom of Manirosol, there's a train you can take to it and once you get there look for Hanna Hart, she's a beautiful woman with black hair and blue tips, give her this and she'll know who you are"
"What are you planning?" Sciel asked a skeptical.
"She'll help you make a stable living kid; you're only sixteen doing a job adults do and that ain't nice to see," Sciel blew air between her lips as she looked down at the couple bucks and the favor ticket.
Sciel walked through the once lively street that had turned as if it had been vacant.
"The sun's setting early again?" Sciel turned setting eyes on the beautiful horizon.
"Primascen Narens must be getting weaker, I hope she's okay, as Valens Narens' wife it
must be stressful for her."
"Manirosol… I only remember that kingdom for being notorious for having no male leaders or children, just female ones" Sciel spoke out loud.
"I hope they're kind. It would kinda suck if I wasn't liked there huh?" She chuckled softly as she scratched her temple.
She slowly lowered her finger, her expression turned pale as the highlight in her eyes pulsated.
"Solus… I hope I'll be able to find out more about who took you," Sciel dug into her pocket to which she held the end of a feather between her thumb and index.
It bared the writing of ink with the name Solus.
On that tragic night it seemed the young boy had made a mark to a feather which Sciel found within her pocket. In Sciel's memory she knew of Solus's special yet odd ability of imbuing some of his energy into certain items to which tracks his life force. Sciel found out later on that this energy was known as 'Prizma'.
Soon after arriving home, she collapsed her blade to the floor as well as herself to her bed. The warmth of her sheets kept her spirit comfortable and as she curled her legs; her tired eyes shed to wet the sheets.
"I miss you so much"
The next day she had readied herself for Manirosol. As she brung a couple items into a bag she held, Sciel stood on the ledge of the platform waiting for the train to arrive.
The wind blew heavily through her white hair and scraped the sheathed blade that was brandished on her waist. The spark in her eyes pulsating darker and brighter.
Soon after waiting, the sound of a steam whistle alerted everyone nearby.
"Come on, you lot I ain't got all day!" The train conductor through the window yelled as the people entered.
"We're getting in, you annoying geezer!" Another person yelled, "Well get in faster, ye morons!"
Sciel took an empty seat of the train; each coach had comfortable maroon leathered seats outlined with gold-colored metal and dim yellow lights that had completed the cozy
aesthetic.
"Take ya seats, this is conductor Harris!" His coarse and demanding voice ruined comfort.
"There are two rules and only two rules, no making a mess and no sleeping, a'right?! Or ya banned!"
The sound of the horn whistled and the train took off.
An attendant with a cart passed through the seats handing out small snacks.
"Hey ma'am, would you like a drink or something to snack on?" The woman asked with a soft smile, but Sciel responded with a head shake.
"No thank you, I'll be okay."
"No sleeping on a train, what is this stupid rule?"
Sciel was quiet through the train ride. Only looking out at the grassy lands and the mountain landscape further ahead, though her daydreaming would turn into a nightmare.
5 hours later.
"Hey, come on man!" Sciel yelled as she stood on the platform outside the train cab window.
"Sorry young lady but ya banned two weeks! You fell asleep on my train, and I specifically told ya it ain't allowed so get out of my face!" Conductor Harris shut the window in her face; she groaned as she clenched her fist but let out a sigh.
She walked towards the seats of the train station; her forehead planted onto her palms and elbows to her lap.
"Damn it, what am I supposed to do now?" Sciel sighed thinking of various plans.
"I can't wait two weeks to get to Manirosol"
"Manirosol you say?"
Sciel gripped the hilt of her blade, and the girl who had spoken lent her arms out defensively.
"Hey, wait calm down!" The girl screamed as Sciel stared at her.
"You shouldn't sneak up on people, especially with how close you were" Sciel lowered her blade and the girl chuckles awkwardly.
"Yeah, you're right… I shouldn't have snuck up on a person with a sword," She scratched the back of her golden blonde hair tied to a ponytail.
"But, you did say you were trying to get to Manirosol right?" The girl leaned forward with a tilted head.
"I was going to… till I got banned for two weeks," Sciel sighed and the girl grinned in response.
"Well, I have a solution for your problems!" She raised her elbow as she placed her hand to her chest, giving Sciel a prideful grin.
Sciel chuckled in response "Okay, I'm listening" She smiled crossing her legs.
"So, you'll do it?!" Before Sciel could answer, she felt her step touch the ground and her body lunged forward by her arm.
"Hey whoa I didn't agree to anything yet!" She screamed as the girl dragged her away.
"You're going to kick so much ass and we're getting that ticket!"
"What?! What ticket are you talking about and what ass kicking?! And who even are you?!"
She giggled loudly "Right, I forgot, my name's Henao, Henao Hart!"